(NOTE: The electronic text obtained from The Electronic Bible Society was
not completely corrected. EWTN has corrected all discovered errors.)

Transliteration of Greek words: All phonetical except: w = omega; h serves
three puposes: 1. = Eta; 2. = rough breathing, when appearing intially
before a vowel; 3 = in the aspirated letters theta = th, phi = ph, chi =
ch. Accents are given immediately after their corresponding vowels: acute =
' , grave = `, circumflex = ^. The character ' doubles as an apostrophe,
when necessary.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

THE INSTRUCTOR [PAEDAGOGUS.]

BOOK I

CHAP. I. THE OFFICE OF THE INSTRUCTOR.

   AS there are these three things in the case of man, habits, actions,
and passions; habits are the department appropriated by hortatory discourse
the guide to piety, which, like the ship's keel, is laid beneath for the
building up of faith; in which, rejoicing exceedingly, and abjuring our old
opinions, through salvation we renew our youth, singing with the hymning
prophecy, "How good is God to Israel, to such as are upright in heart!"[1]
All actions, again, are the province of preceptive discourse; while
persuasive discourse applies itself to heal the passions. It is, however,
one and the self-same word which rescues man from the custom of this world
in which he has been reared, and trains him up in the one salvation of
faith in God.

   When, then, the heavenly guide, the Word, was inviting[2] men to
salvation, the appellation of hortatory was properly applied to Him: his
same word was called rousing (the whole from a part). For the whole of
piety is hortatory, engendering in the kindred faculty of reason a yearning
after true life now and to come. But now, being at once curative and
preceptive, following in His own steps, He makes what had been prescribed
the subject of persuasion, promising the cure of the passions within us.
Let us then designate this Word appropriately by the one name Tutor (or
Paedagogue, or instructor).

   The Instructor being practical, not theoretical, His aim is thus to
improve the soul, not to teach, and to train it up to a virtuous, not to an
intellectual life. Although this same word is didactic, but not in the
present instance. For the word which, in matters of doctrine, explains and
reveals, is that whose province it is to teach. But our Educators being
practical, first exhorts to the attainment of right dispositions and
character, and then persuades us to the energetic practice of our duties,
enjoining on us pure commandments, and exhibiting to such as come after
representations of those who formerly wandered in error. Both are of the
highest utility,--that which assumes the form of counselling to obedience,
and that which is presented in the form of example; which latter is of two
kinds, corresponding to the former duality,--the one having for its purpose
that we should choose and imitate the good, and the other that we should
reject and turn away from the opposite.

   Hence accordingly ensues the healing of our passions, in consequence of
the assuagements of those examples; the Paedagogue strengthening our souls,
and by His benign commands, as by gentle medicines, guiding the sick to the
perfect knowledge of the truth.

   There is a wide difference between health and knowledge; for the latter
is produced by learning, the former by healing. One, who is ill, will not
therefore learn any branch of instruction till he is quite well. For
neither to learners nor to the sick is each injunction invariably expressed
similarly; but to the former in such a way as to lead to knowledge, and to
the latter to health. As, then, for those of us who are diseased in body a
physician is required, so also those who are diseased in soul require a
paedagogue to cure our maladies; and then a teacher, to train and guide the
soul to all requisite knowledge when it is made able to admit the
revelation of the Word. Eagerly desiring, then, to perfect us by a
gradation conducive to salvation, suited for efficacious discipline, a
beautiful arrangement is observed by the all-benignant Word, who first
exhorts, then trains, and finally teaches.

CHAP. II.--OUR INSTRUCTOR'S TREATMENT OF OUR SINS.

   Now, O you, my children, our Instructor is like His Father God, whose
son He is, sinless, blameless, and with a soul devoid of passion; God in
the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father's will, the Word who
is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father's right hand, and with
the form of God is God. He is to us a spotless image; to Him we are to try
with all our might to assimilate our souls. He is wholly free from human
passions; wherefore also He alone is judge, because He alone is sinless. As
far, however, as we can, let us try to sin as little as possible. For
nothing is so urgent in the first place as deliverance from passions and
disorders, and then the checking of our liability to fall into sins that
have become habitual. It is best, therefore, not to sin at all in any way,
which we assert to be the prerogative of God alone; next to keep clear of
voluntary transgressions, which is characteristic of the wise man; thirdly,
not to fall into many involuntary offences, which is peculiar to those who
have been excellently trained. Not to continue long in sins, let that be
ranked last. But this also is salutary to those who are called back to
repentance, to renew the contest.

   And the Instructor, as I think, very beautifully says, through Moses:
"If any one die suddenly by him, straightway the head of his consecration
shall be polluted, and shall be shaved,"[1] designating involuntary sin as
sudden death. And He says that it pollutes by defiling the soul: wherefore
He prescribes the cure with all speed, advising the head to be instantly
shaven; that is, counselling the locks of ignorance which shade the reason
to be shorn clean off, that reason (whose seat is in the brain), being left
bare of the dense stuff of vice, may speed its way to repentance. Then
after a few remarks He adds, "The days before are not reckoned
irrational,"[2] by which manifestly sins are meant which are contrary to
reason. The involuntary act He calls "sudden," the sin He calls
"irrational." Wherefore the Word, the Instructor, has taken the charge of
us, in order to the prevention of sin, which is contrary to reason.

   Hence consider the expression of Scripture, "Therefore these things
saith the Lord;" the sin that had been committed before is held up to
reprobation by the succeeding expression "therefore," according to which
the righteous judgment follows. This is shown conspicuously by the
prophets, when they said, "Hadst thou not sinned, He would not have uttered
these threatenings." "Therefore thus saith the Lord; "Because thou hast not
heard these words, therefore these things the Lord;" and, "Therefore,
behold, the Lord saith." For prophecy is given by reason both of obedience
and disobedience: for obedience, that we may be saved; for disobedience,
that we may be corrected.

   Our Instructor, the Word, therefore cures the unnatural passions of the
soul by means of exhortations. For with the highest propriety the help of
bodily diseases is called the healing art--an art acquired by human skill.
But the paternal Word is the only Paeonian physician of human infirmities,
and the holy charmer of the sick soul. "Save," it is said, "Thy servant, O
my God, who trusteth in Thee. Pity me, O Lord; for I will cry to Thee all
the day."[3] For a while the "physician's art," according to Democritus,
"heals the diseases of the body; wisdom frees the soul from passion." But
the good Instructor, the Wisdom, the Word of the Father, who made man,
cares for the whole nature of His creature; the all-sufficient Physician of
humanity, the Saviour, heals both body and soul. "Rise up," He said to the
paralytic; "take the bed on which thou liest, and go away home;"[4] and
straightway the infirm man received strength. And to the dead He said,
"Lazarus, go forth;"[5] and the dead man issued from his coffin such as he
was ere he died, having undergone resurrection. Further, He heals the soul
itself by precepts and gifts--by precepts indeed, in course of time, but
being liberal in His gifts, He says to us sinners, "Thy sins be forgiven
thee."[6]

   We, however, as soon as He conceived the thought, became His children,
having had assigned us the best and most secure rank by His orderly
arrangement, which first circles about the world, the heavens, and the
sun's circuits, and occupies itself with the motions of the rest of the
stars for man's behoof, and then busies itself with man himself, on whom
all its care is concentrated; and regarding him as its greatest work,
regulated his soul by wisdom and temperance, and tempered the body with
beauty and proportion. And whatever in human actions is right and regular,
is the result of the inspiration of its rectitude and order.

CHAP. III.--THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE INSTRUCTOR.

   The Lord ministers all good and all help, both as man and as God: as
God, forgiving our sins; and as man, training us not to sin. Man is
therefore justly dear to God, since he is His workmanship. The other works
of creation He made by the word of command alone, but man He framed by
Himself, by His own hand, and breathed into him what was peculiar to
Himself. What, then, was fashioned by Him, and after He likeness, either
was created by God Himself as being desirable on its own account, or was
formed as being desirable on account of something else. 'If, then, man is
an object desirable for itself, then He who is good loved what is good, and
the love-charm is within even in man, and is that very thing which is
called the inspiration[or breath of God; but if man was a desirable object
on account of something else, God had no other reason for creating him,
than that unless he came into being, it was not possible for God to be a
good Creator, or for man to arrive at the knowledge of God. For God would
not have accomplished that on account of which man was created otherwise
than by the creation of man; and what hidden power in willing God
possessed, He carried fully out by the forth-putting of His might
externally in the act of creating, receiving from man what He made man;[1]
and whom He had He saw, and what He wished that came to pass; and there is
nothing which God cannot do. Man, then, whom God made, is desirable for
himself, and that which is desirable on his account is allied to him to
whom it is desirable on his account; and this, too, is acceptable and
liked.

   But what is loveable, and is not also loved by Him? And man has been
proved to be loveable; consequently man is loved by God. For how shall he
not be loved for whose sake the only-begotten Son is sent from the Father's
bosom, the Word of faith, the faith which is superabundant; the Lord
Himself distinctly confessing and saying, "For the Father Himself loveth
you, because ye have loved Me;"[2] and again, "And hast loved them as Thou
hast loved Me?"[3] What, then, the Master desires and declares, and how He
is disposed in deed and word, how He commands what is to be done, and
forbids the opposite, has already been shown.

   Plainly, then, the other kind of discourse, the didactic, is powerful
and spiritual, observing precision, occupied in the contemplation of
mysteries. But let it stand over for the present. Now, it is incumbent on
us to return His love, who lovingly guides us to that life which is best;
and to live in accordance with the injunctions of His will, not only
fulfilling what is commanded, or guarding against what is forbidden, but
turning away from some examples, and imitating others as much as we can,
and thus to perform the works of the Master according to His similitude,
and so fulfil what Scripture says as to our being made in His image and
likeness. For, wandering in life as in deep darkness, we need a guide that
cannot stumble or stray; and our guide is the best, not blind, as the
Scripture says, "leading the blind into pits."[4] But the Word is keen-
sighted, and scans the recesses of the heart. As, then, that is not light
which enlightens not, nor motion that moves not, nor loving which loves
not, so neither is that good which profits not, nor guides to salvation.
Let us then aim at the fulfilment of the commandments by the works of the
Lord; for the Word Himself also, having openly become flesh,[5] exhibited
the same virtue, both practical and contemplative. Wherefore let us regard
the Word as law, and His commands and counsels as the short and straight
paths to immortality; for His precepts are full of persuasion, not of fear.

CHAP. IV.--MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE UNDER THE INSTRUCTOR'S CHARGE.

   Let us, then, embracing more and more this good obedience, give
ourselves to the Lord; clinging to what is surest, the cable of faith in
Him, and understanding that the virtue of man and woman is the same. For if
the God of both is one, the master of both is also one; one church, one
temperance, one modesty; their food is common, marriage an equal yoke;
respiration, sight, hearing, knowledge, hope, obedience, love all alike.
And those whose life is common, have common graces and a common salvation;
common to them are love and training. "For in this world," he says, "they
marry, and are given in marriage,"[6] in which alone the female is
distinguished from the male; "but in that world it is so no more." There
the rewards of this social and holy life, which is based on conjugal union,
are laid up, not for male and female, but for man, the sexual desire which
divides humanity being removed. Common therefore, too, to men and women, is
the name of man. For this reason I think the Attics called, not boys only,
but girls, paida'rion, using it as a word of common gender; if Menander the
comic poet, in Rhapizomena, appears to any one a sufficient authority, who
thus speaks:--

   "My little daughter; for by nature
   The child (paida'rion) is most loving."

A'rnes, too, the word for lambs, is a common name of simplicity for the
male and female animal.

   Now the Lord Himself will feed us as His flock forever. Amen. But
without a sheperd, neither can sheep nor any other animal live, nor
children without a tutor, nor domestics without a master.

CHAP. V.--ALL WHO WALK ACCORDING TO TRUTH ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.

   That, then, Paedagogy is the training of children (pai'dwn agwgh'), is
clear from the word itself. It remains for us to consider the children whom
Scripture points to; then to give the paedagogue charge of them. We are the
children. In many ways Scripture celebrates us, and describes us in
manifold figures of speech, giving variety to the simplicity of the faith
by diverse names Accordingly, in the Gospel, "the Lord, standing on the
shore, says to the disciples"--they happened to be fishing--"and called
aloud, Children, have ye any meat?"[1]--addressing those that were already
in the position of disciples as children. "And they brought to Him," it is
said, "children, that He might put His hands on them and bless them; and
when His disciples hindered them, Jesus said, Suffer the children, and
forbid them not to come to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."[2]
What the expression means the Lord Himself shall declare, saying, "Except
ye be converted, and become as little chidren, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven; "[3] not in that place speaking figuratively of
regeneration, but setting before us, for our imitation, the simplicity that
is in children.[4]

   The prophetic spirit also distinguishes us as children. "Plucking," it
is said, "branches of olives or palms, the children went forth to meet the
Lord, and cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord; "[5] light, and glory, and praise, with
supplication to the Lord: for this is the meaning of the expression Hosanna
when rendered in Greek. And the Scripture appears to me, in allusion to the
prophecy just mentioned, reproachfully to upbraid the thoughtless: "Have ye
never read, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected
praise?"[6] In this way the Lord in the Gospels spurs on His disciples,
urging them to attend to Him, hastening as He was to the Father; rendering
His hearers more eager by the intimation that after a little He was to
depart, and showing them that it was requisite that they should take more
unsparing advantage of the truth than ever before, as the Word was to
ascend to heaven. Again, therefore, He calls them children; for He says,
"Children, a little while I am with you."[7] And, again, He likens the
kingdom of heaven to children sitting in the market-places and saying, "We
have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned, and ye have
not lamented;"[8] and whatever else He added agreeably thereto. And it is
not alone the Gospel that holds these sentiments. Prophecy also agrees with
it. David accordingly says, "Praise, O children, the LORD; praise the name
of the LORD."[9] It says also by Esaias, "Here am I, and the children that
God hath given me."[10] Are you amazed, then, to hear that men who belong
to the nations are sons in the Lord's sight? You do not in that case appear
to give ear to the Attic dialect, from which you may learn that beautiful,
comely, and freeborn young maidens are still called paidi'skai, and
servant-girls paidiska'ria; and that those last also are, on account of the
bloom of youth, called by the flattering name of young maidens.

   And when He says, "Let my lambs stand on my right,"" He alludes to the
simple children, as if they were sheep and lambs in nature, not men; and
the lambs He counts worthy of preference, from the superior regard He has
to that tenderness and simplicity of disposition in men which constitutes
innocence. Again, when He says, "as suckling calves," He again alludes
figuratively to us; and "as an innocent and gentle dove,"[12] the reference
is again to us. Again, by Moses, He commands "two young pigeons or a pair
of turtles to be offered for sin;"[13] thus saying, that the harmlessness
and innocence and placable nature of these tender young birds are
acceptable to God, and explaining that like is an expiation for like.
Further, the timorousness of the turtle-doves typifies fear in reference to
sin.

   And that He calls us chickens the Scripture testifies: "As a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings."[14] Thus are we the Lord's
chickens; the Word thus marvellously and mystically describing the
simplicity of childhood. For sometimes He calls us children, sometimes
chickens, sometimes infants, and at other times sons, and "a new people,"
and "a recent people." "And my servants shall be called by a new name"[15]
(a new name, He says, fresh and eternal, pure and simple, and childlike and
true), which shall be blessed on the earth. And again, He figuratively
calls us colts unyoked to vice, not broken in by wickedness; but simple,
and bounding joyously to the Father alone; not such horses "as neigh after
their neighbours' wives, that are under the yoke, and are female-mad;"[1]
but free and new-born, jubilant by means of faith, ready to run to the
truth, swift to speed to salvation, that tread and stamp under foot the
things of the world.

   "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; tell aloud, O daughter of
Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh, just, meek, and bringing salvation;
meek truly is He, and riding on a beast of burden, and a young colt."[2] It
was not enough to have said colt alone, but He added to it also young, to
show the youth of humanity in Christ, and the eternity of simplicity, which
shall know no old age. And we who are little ones being such colts, are
reared up by our divine colt-tamer. But if the new man in Scripture is
represented by the ass, this ass is also a colt. "And he bound," it is
said, "the colt to the vine," having bound this simple and childlike people
to the word, whom He figuratively represents as a vine. For the vine
produces wine, as the Word, produces blood, and both drink for health to
men--wine for the body, blood for the spirit.

   And that He also calls us lambs, the Spirit by the mouth of Isaiah is
an unimpeachable witness: "He will feed His flock like a shepherd, He will
gather the lambs with His arm,"[2]--using the figurative appellation of
lambs, which are still more tender than sheep, to express simplicity. And
we also in truth, honouring the fairest and most perfect objects in life
with an appellation derived from the word child, have named training
paidei'a, and discipline paidagwgi'a. Discipline (paidagwgi'a) we declare
to be right guiding from childhood to virtue. Accordingly, our Lord
revealed more distinctly to us what is signified by the appellation of
children. On the question arising among the apostles, "which of them should
be the greater," Jesus placed a little child in the midst, saying,
"Whosoever, shall humble himself as this little child, the same shall be
the greater in the kingdom of heaven."[4] He does not then use the
appellation of children on account of their very limited amount of
understanding from their age, as some have thought. Nor, if He says,
"Except ye become as these children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
God," are His words to be understood as meaning "without learning." We,
then, who are infants, no longer roll on the ground, nor creep on the earth
like serpents as before, crawling with the whole body about senseless
lusts; but, stretching upwards in soul, loosed from the world and our sins,
touching the earth on tiptoe so as to appear to be in the world, we pursue
holy wisdom, although this seems folly to those whose wits are whetted for
wickedness. Rightly, then, are those called children who know Him who is
God alone as their Father, who are simple, and infants, and guileless, who
are lovers of the horns of the unicorns.[5]

   To those, therefore, that have made progress in the word, He has
proclaimed this utterance, bidding them dismiss anxious care of the things
of this world, and exhorting them to adhere to the Father alone, in
imitation of children. Wherefore also in what follows He says: "Take no
anxious thought for the morrow; sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof."[6] Thus He enjoins them to lay aside the cares of this life, and
depend on the Father alone. And he who fulfils this commandment is in
reality a child and a son to God and to the world,--to the one as deceived,
to the other as beloved. And if we have one Master in heaven, as the
Scripture says, then by common consent those on the earth will be rightly
called disciples. For so is the truth, that perfection is with the Lord,
who is always teaching, and infancy and childishness with us, who are
always learning. Thus prophecy hath honoured perfection, by applying to it
the appellation man. For instance, by David, He says of the devil: "The
LORD abhors the man of blood;"[7] he calls him man, as perfect in
wickedness. And the Lord is called man, because He is perfect in
righteousness. Directly in point is the instance of the apostle, who says,
writing the Corinthians: "For I have espoused you to one man, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,"[8] whether as children or
saints, but to the Lord alone. And writing to the Ephesians, he has
unfolded in the clearest manner the point in question, speaking to the
following effect: "Till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ: that we be no longer children, tossed to and fro by
every wind of doctrine, by the craft of men, by their cunning in stratagems
of deceit; but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up to Him in all
things,"[9]--saying these things in order to the edification of the body of
Christ, who is the head and man, the only one perfect in righteousness; and
we who are children guarding against the blasts of heresies, which blow to
our inflation; and not putting our trust in fathers who teach us otherwise,
are then made perfect when we are the church, having received Christ the
head. Then it is right to notice, with respect to the appellation of infant
(nh'pios), that to nh'pion is not predicated of the silly: for the silly
man is called nhpu'tios: and nh'pios is neh'pios (since he that is tender-
hearted is called h'pios), as being one that has newly become gentle and
meek in Conduct. This the blessed Paul most clearly pointed out when he
said, "When we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ, we
were gentle (h'pioi) among you, as a nurse cherisheth her children."[1] The
child (nh'pios) is therefore gentle (h'pios), and therefore more tender,
delicate, and simple, guileless, and destitute of hypocrisy,
straightforward and upright in mind, which is the basis of simplicity and
truth. For He says, "Upon whom shall I look, but upon him who is gentle and
quiet? "[2] For such is the virgin speech, tender, and free of fraud;
whence also a virgin is wont to be called "a tender bride," and a child
"tender-hearted." And we are tender who are pliant to the power of
persuasion, and are easily drawn to goodness, and are mild, and free of the
stain of malice and perverseness, for the ancient race was perverse and
hard-hearted; but the band of infants, the new people which we are, i.s
delicate as a child. On account of the hearts of the innocent, the apostle,
in the Epistle to the Romans, owns that he rejoices, and furnishes a kind
of definition of children, so to speak, when he says, "I would have you
wise toward good, but simple towards evil."[3] For the name of child,
nh'pios, is not understood by us privatively, though the sons of the
grammarians make the nh a privative particle. For if they call us who
follow after childhood foolish, see how they utter blasphemy against the
Lord, in regarding those as foolish who have betaken themselves to God. But
if, which is rather the true sense, they themselves understand the
designation children of simple ones, we glory in the name. For the new
minds, which have newly become wise, which have sprung into being according
to the new covenant, are infantile in the old folly. Of late, then, God was
known by the coming of Christ: "For no man knoweth God but the Son, and he
to whom the Son shall reveal Him."[4]

   In contradistinction, therefore, to the older people, the new people
are called young, having learned the new blessings; and we have the
exuberance of life's morning prime in this youth which knows no old age, in
which we are always growing to maturity in intelligence, are always young,
always mild, always new: for those must necessarily be new, who have become
partakers of the new Word. And that which participates in eternity is wont
to be assimilated to the incorruptible: so that to us appertains the
designation of the age of childhood, a lifelong spring-time, because the
truth that is in us, and our habits saturated with the truth, cannot be
touched by old age; but Wisdom is ever blooming, ever remains consistent
and the same, and never changes. "Their children," it is said, "shall be
borne upon their shoulders, and fondled on their knees; as one whom his
mother comforteth, so also shall I comfort you."[5] The mother draws the
children to herself; and we seek our mother the Church. Whatever is feeble
and tender, as needing help on account of its feebleness, is kindly looked
on, and is sweet and pleasant, anger changing into help in the case of
such: for thus horses' colts, and the little calves of cows, and the lion's
whelp, and the stag's fawn, and the child of man, are looked upon with
pleasure by their fathers and mothers. Thus also the Father of the universe
cherishes affection towards those who have fled to Him; and having begotten
them again by His Spirit to the adoption of children, knows them as gentle,
and loves those alone, and aids and fights for them; and therefore He
bestows on them the name of child. The word Isaac I also connect with
child. Isaac means laughter. He was seen sporting with his wife and
helpmeet Rebecca by the prying king.[6] The king, whose name was Abimelech,
appears to me to represent a supramundane wisdom contemplating the mystery
of sport. They interpret Rebecca to mean endurance. O wise sport, laughter
also assisted by endurance, and the king as spectator! The spirit of those
that are children in Christ, whose lives are ordered in endurance, rejoice.
And this is the divine sport. "Such a sport, of his own, Jove sports," says
Heraclitus. For what other employment is seemly for a wise and perfect man,
than to sport and be glad in the endurance of what is good-and, in the
administration of what is good, hold, ing festival with God? That which is
signified by the prophet may be interpreted differently,namely, of our
rejoicing for salvation, as Isaac. He also, delivered from death, laughed,
sporting and rejoicing with his spouse, who was the type of the Helper of
our salvation, the Church, to whom the stable name of endurance is given;
for this cause surely, because she alone remains to all generations,
rejoicing ever, subsisting as she does by the endurance of us believers,
who are the members of Christ. And the witness of those that have endured
to the end, and the rejoicing on their account, is the mystic sport, and
the salvation accompanied with decorous solace which brings us aid.

   The King, then, who is Christ, beholds from above our laughter, and
looking through the window, as the Scripture says, views the thanksgiving,
and the blessing, and the rejoicing, and the gladness, and furthermore the
endurance which works together with them and their embrace: views His
Church, showing only His face, which was wanting to the Church, which is
made perfect by her royal Head. And where, then, was the door by which the
Lord showed Himself? The flesh by which He was manifested. He is Isaac (for
the narrative may be interpreted otherwise), who is a type of the Lord, a
child as a son; for he was the son of Abraham, as Christ the Son of God,
and a sacrifice as the Lord, but he was not immolated as the Lord. Isaac
only bore the wood of the sacrifice, as the Lord the wood of the cross. And
he laughed mystically, prophesying that the Lord should fill us with joy,
who have been redeemed from corruption by the blood of the Lord. Isaac did
everything but suffer, as was right, yielding the precedence in suffering
to the Word. Furthermore, there is an intimation of the divinity of the
Lord in His not being slain. For Jesus rose again after His burial, having
suffered no harm, like Isaac released from sacrifice. And in defence of the
point to be established, I shall adduce another consideration of the
greatest weight. The Spirit calls the Lord Himself a child, thus
prophesying by Esaias: "Lo, to us a child has been born, to us a son has
been given, on whose own shoulder the government shall be; and His name has
been called the Angel of great Counsel." Who, then, is this infant child?
He according to whose image we are made little children. By the same
prophet is declared His greatness: "Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace; that He might fulfil His discipline:
and of His peace there shall be no end."[1] O the great God! O the perfect
child! The Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son. And how shall not
the discipline of this child be perfect, which extends to all, leading as a
schoolmaster us as children who are His little ones? He has stretched forth
to us those hands of His that are conspicuously worthy of trust. To this
child additional testimony is borne by John, "the greatest prophet among
those born of women:"[2] Behold the Lamb of God!"[3] For since Scripture
calls the infant children lambs, it has also called Him--God the Word--who
became man for our sakes, and who wished in all points to be made like to
us--"the Lamb of God"--Him, namely, that is the Son of God, the child of
the Father.

CHAP. VI.--THE NAME CHILDREN DOES NOT IMPLY INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY
PRINCIPLES.

   We have ample means of encountering those who are given to carping. For
we are not termed children and infants with reference to the childish and
contemptible character of our education, as those who are inflated on
account of knowledge have calumniously alleged. Straightway, on our
regeneration, we attained that perfection after which we aspired. For we
were illuminated, which is to know God. He is not then imperfect who knows
what is perfect. And do not reprehend me when I profess to know God; for so
it was deemed right to speak to the Word, and He is free.[4] For at the
moment of the Lord's baptism there sounded a voice from heaven, as a
testimony to the Beloved, "Thou art My beloved Son, to-day have I begotten
Thee." Let us then ask the wise, Is Christ, begotten to-day, already
perfect, or--what were most monstrous--imperfect? If the latter, there is
some addition He requires yet to make. But for Him to make any addition to
His knowledge is absurd, since He is God. For none can be superior to the
Word, or the teacher of the only Teacher. Will they not then own, though
reluctant, that the perfect Word born of the perfect Father was begotten in
perfection, according to oeconomic fore-ordination? And if He was perfect,
why was He, the perfect one, baptized? It was necessary, they say, to
fulfil the profession that pertained to humanity. Most excellent. Well, I
assert, simultaneously with His baptism by John, He becomes perfect?
Manifestly. He did not then learn anything more from him? Certainly not.
But He is perfected by the washing--of baptism--alone, and is sanctified by
the descent of the Spirit? Such is the case. The same also takes place in
our case, whose exemplar Christ became. Being baptized, we are illuminated;
illuminated, we become sons; being made sons, we are made perfect; being
made perfect, we are made immortal. "I," says He, "have said that ye are
gods, and all sons of the Highest."[5] This work is variously called
grace,[6] and illumination, and perfection, and washing: washing, by which
we cleanse away our sins; grace, by which the penalties accruing to
transgressions are remitted; and illumination, by which that holy light of
salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly. Now we call that
perfect which wants nothing. For what is yet wanting to him who knows God?
For it were truly monstrous that that which is not complete should be
called a gift (or act) of God's grace. Being perfect, He consequently
bestows perfect gifts. As at His command all things were made, so on His
bare wishing to bestow grace, ensues the perfecting of His grace. For the
future of time is anticipated by the power of His volition.

   Further release from evils is the beginning of salvation. We then
alone, who first have touched the confines of life, are already perfect;
and we already live who are separated from death. Salvation, accordingly,
is the following of Christ: "For that which is in Him is life.[1]" Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that
sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into condemnation, but hath
passed from death to life."[2] Thus believing alone, and regeneration, is
perfection in life; for God is never weak. For as His will is work, and
this s is named the world; so also His counsel is the salvation of men, and
this has been called the church. He knows, therefore, whom He has called,
and whom He has saved; and at one and the same time He called and saved
them. "For ye are," says the apostle, "taught of God."[4] It is not then
allowable to think of what is taught by Him as imperfect; and what is
learned from Him is the eternal salvation of the eternal Saviour, to whom
be thanks for ever and ever. Amen. And he who is only regenerated--as the
name necessarily indicates--and is enlightened, is delivered forthwith from
darkness, and on the instant receives the light.

   As, then, those who have shaken off sleep forthwith become all awake
within; or rather, as those who try to remove a film that is over the eyes,
do not supply to them from without the light which they do not possess, but
removing the obstacle from the eyes, leave the pupil free; thus also we who
are baptized, having wiped off the sins which obscure the light of the
Divine Spirit, have the eye of the spirit free, unimpeded, and full of
light, by which alone we contemplate the Divine, the Holy Spirit flowing
down to us from above. This is the eternal adjustment of the vision, which
is able to see the eternal light, since like loves like; and that which is
holy, loves that from which holiness proceeds, which has appropriately been
termed light. "Once ye were darkness, now are ye light in the Lord."[5]
Hence I am of opinion man was called by the ancients phw's.[6] But he has
not yet received, say they, the perfect gift. I also assent to this; but he
is in the light, and the darkness comprehendeth him not. There is nothing
intermediate between light and darkness. But the end is reserved till the
resurrection of those who believe; and it is not the reception of some
other thing, but the obtaining of the promise previously made. For we do
not say that both take place together at the same time--both the arrival at
the end, and the anticipation of that arrival. For eternity and time are
not the same, neither is the attempt and the final result; but both have
reference to the same thing, and one and the same person is concerned in
both. Faith, so to speak, is the attempt generated in time; the final
result is the attainment of the promise, secured for eternity. Now the Lord
Himself has most clearly revealed the equality of salvation, when He said:
"For this is the will of my Father, that every one that seeth the Son, and
believeth on Him, should have everlasting life; and I will raise him up in
the last day."[7] As far as possible in this world, which is what he means
by the last day, and which is preserved till the time that it shall end, we
believe that we are made perfect. Wherefore He says, "He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life."[8] If, then, those who have believed have
life, what remains beyond the possession of eternal life? Nothing is
wanting to faith, as it is perfect and complete in itself. If aught is
wanting to it, it is not wholly perfect. But faith is not lame in any
respect; nor after our departure from this world does it make us who have
believed, and received without distinction the earnest of future good,
wait; but having in anticipation grasped by faith that which is future,
after the resurrection we receive it as present, in order that that may be
fulfilled which was spoken, "Be it according to thy faith."[9] And where
faith is, there is the promise; and the consummation of the promise is
rest. So that in illumination what we receive is knowledge, and the end of
knowledge is rest--the last thing conceived as the object of aspiration.
As, then, inexperience comes to an end by experience, and perplexity by
finding a clear outlet, so by illumination must darkness disappear. The
darkness is ignorance, through which we fall into sins, purblind as to the
truth. Knowledge, then, is the illumination we receive, which makes
ignorance disappear, and endows us with clear vision. Further, the
abandonment of what is bad is the adopting[10] of what is better. For what
ignorance has bound ill, is by knowledge loosed well; those bonds are with
all speed slackened by human faith and divine grace, our transgressions
being taken away by one Poeonian[11] medicine, the baptism of the Word. We
are washed from all our sins, and are no longer entangled in evil. This is
the one grace of illumination, that our characters are not the same as
before our washing. And since knowledge springs up with illumination,
shedding its beams around the mind, the moment we hear, we who were
untaught become disciples. Does this, I ask, take place on the advent of
this instruction? You cannot tell the time. For instruction leads to faith,
and faith with baptism is trained by the Holy Spirit. For that faith is the
one universal salvation of humanity, and that there is the same equality
before the righteous and loving God, and the same fellowship between Him
and all, the apostle most clearly showed, speaking to the following effect:
"Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith
which should afterwards be revealed, so that the law became our
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith;
but after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."[1] Do
you not hear that we are no longer under that law which was accompanied
with fear, but under the Word, the master of free choice? Then he subjoined
the utterance, clear of all partiality: "For ye are all the children of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as were baptized into Christ
have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus."[2] There are not, then, in the same Word some "illuminated
(gnostics); and some animal (or natural) men;" but all who have abandoned
the desires of the flesh are equal and spiritual before the Lord. And again
he writes in another place: "For by one spirit are we all baptized into one
body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and we have all drunk
of one cup."[3] Nor were it absurd to employ the expressions of those who
call the reminiscence of better things the filtration of the spirit,
understanding by filtration the separation of what is baser, that results
from the reminiscence of what is better. There follows of necessity, in him
who has come to the recollection of what is better, repentance for what is
worse. Accordingly, they confess that the spirit in repentance retraces its
steps. In the same way, therefore, we also, repenting of our sins,
renouncing our iniquities, purified by baptism, speed back to the eternal
light, children to the Father. Jesus therefore, rejoicing in the spirit,
said: "I thank Thee, O Father, God of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes;
"[4] the Master and Teacher applying the name babes to us, who are readier
to embrace salvation than the wise in the world, who, thinking themselves
wise, are inflated with pride. And He exclaims in exultation and exceeding
joy, as if lisping with the children, "Even so, Father; for so it seemed
good in Thy sight."[5] Wherefore those things which have been concealed
from the wise and prudent of this present world have been revealed to
babes. Truly, then, are we the children of God, who have put aside the old
man, and stripped off the garment of wickedness, and put on the immortality
of Christ; that we may become a new, holy people by regeneration, and may
keep the man undefiled. And a babe, as God's little one,[6] is cleansed
from fornication and wickedness. With the greatest clearness the blessed
Paul has solved for us this question in his First Epistle to the
Corinthians, writing thus: "Brethren, be not children in understanding;
howbeit in malice be children, but in understanding be men."[7] And the
expression, "When I was a child, I thought as a child, I spoke as a
child,"[8] points out his mode of life according to the law, according to
which, thinking childish things, he persecuted, and speaking childish
things he blasphemed the Word, not as having yet attained to the simplicity
of childhood, but as being in its folly; for the word nh'pion has two
meanings.[9] "When I became a man," again Paul says, "I put away childish
things."[10] It is not incomplete size of stature, nor a definite measure
of time, nor additional secret teachings in things that are manly and more
perfect, that the apostle, who himself professes to be a preacher of
childishness, alludes to when he sends it, as it were, into banishment; but
he applies the name "children" to those who are under the law, who are
terrified by fear as children are by bugbears; and "men" to us who are
obedient to the Word and masters of ourselves, who have believed, and are
saved by voluntary choice, and are rationally, not irrationally, frightened
by terror. Of this the apostle himself shall testify, calling as he does
the Jews heirs according to the first covenant, and us heirs according to
promise: "Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing
from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and
governors, till the time appointed by the father. So also we, when we were
children, were in bondage under the rudiments of the world: but when the
fulness of the time was came, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons "[1] by Him. See how He has admitted those to
be children who are under fear and sins; but has conferred manhood on those
who are under faith, by calling them sons, in contradistinction from the
children that are under the law: "For thou art no more a servant," he says,
"but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God."[2] What, then, is
lacking to the son after inheritance? Wherefore the expression, "When I was
a child," may be elegantly expounded thus: that is, when I was a Jew (for
he was a Hebrew by extraction) I thought as a child, when I followed the
law; but after becoming a man, I no longer entertain the sentiments of a
child, that is, of the law, but of a man, that is, of Christ, whom alone
the Scripture calls man, as we have said before. "I put away childish
things." But the childhood which is in Christ is maturity, as compared with
the law. Having reached this point, we must defend our childhood. And we
have still to explain what is said by the apostle: "I have fed you with
milk (as children in Christ), not with meat; for ye were not able, neither
yet are ye now able."[3] For it does not appear to me that the expression
is to be taken in a Jewish sense; for I shall oppose to it also that
Scripture, "I will bring you into that good land which flows with milk and
honey."[4] A very great difficulty arises in reference to the comparison of
these Scriptures, when we consider. For if the infancy which is
characterized by the milk is the beginning of faith in Christ, then it is
disparaged as childish and imperfect. How is the rest that comes after the
meat, the rest of the man who is perfect and endowed with knowledge, again
distinguished by infant milk? Does not this, as explaining a parable, mean
something like this, and is not the expression to be read somewhat to the
following effect: "I have fed you with milk in Christ; " and after a slight
stop, let us add, "as children," that by separating the words in reading we
may make out some such sense as this: I have instructed you in Christ with
simple, true, and natural nourishment,--namely, that which is spiritual:
for such is the nourishing substance of milk swelling out from breasts of
love. So that the whole matter may be conceived thus: As nurses nourish
new-born children on milk, so do I also by the Word, the milk of Christ,
instilling into you spiritual nutriment.

   Thus, then, the milk which is perfect is perfect nourishment, and
brings to that consummation which cannot cease. Wherefore also the same
milk and honey were promised in the rest. Rightly, therefore, the Lord
again promises milk to the righteous, that the Word may be clearly shown to
be both, "the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end;"[5] the Word being
figuratively represented as milk. Something like this Homer oracularly
declares against his will, when he calls righteous men milk-fed
(galaktopha'goi).[6] So also may we take the Scripture: "And I, brethren,
could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as
unto babes in Christ; "[7] so that the carnal may be understood as those
recently instructed, and still babes in Christ. For he called those who had
already believed on the Holy Spirit spiritual, and those newly instructed
and not yet purified carnal; whom with justice he calls still carnal, as
minding equally with the heathen the things of the flesh: "For whereas
there is among you envy and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"[8]
"Wherefore also I have given you milk to drink," he says; meaning, I have
instilled into you the knowledge which, from instruction, nourishes up to
life eternal. But the expression, "I have given you to drink" (epo'tisa),
is the symbol of perfect appropriation. For those who are full-grown are
said to drink, babes to suck. "For my blood," says the Lord, "is true
drink."[9] In saying, therefore, "I have given you milk to drink," has he
not indicated the knowledge of the truth, the perfect gladness in the Word,
who is the milk? And what follows next, "not meat, for ye were not able,"
may indicate the clear revelation in the future world, like food, face to
face. "For now we see as through a glass," the same apostle says, "but then
face to face."[10] Wherefore also he has added, "neither yet are ye now
able, for ye are still carnal," minding the things of the flesh,--desiring,
loving, feeling jealousy, wrath, envy. "For we are no more in the
flesh,"[11] as some suppose. For with it [they say], having the face which
is like an angel's, we shall see the promise face to face. How then, if
that is truly the promise after our departure hence, say they that they
know "what eye hath not known, nor hath entered into the mind of man," who
have not perceived by the Spirit, but received from instruction "what ear
hath not heard,"[12] or that ear alone which "was rapt up into the third
heaven?"[13] But it even then was commanded to preserve it unspoken.

   But if human wisdom, as it remains to understand, is the glorying in
knowledge, hear the law of Scripture: "Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his might; but let him that
glorieth glory in the Lord."[1] But we are God-taught, and glory in the
name of Christ. How then are we not to regard the apostle as attaching this
sense to the milk of the babes? And if we who preside over the Churches are
shepherds after the image of the good Shepherd, and you the sheep, are we
not to regard the Lord as preserving consistency in the use of figurative
speech, when He speaks also of the milk of the flock? And to this meaning
we may secondly accommodate the expression, "I have given you milk to
drink, and not given you food, for ye are not yet able," regarding the meat
not as something different from the milk, but the same in substance. For
the very same Word is fluid and mild as milk, or solid and compact as meat.
And entertaining this view, we may regard the proclamation of the Gospel,
which is universally diffused, as milk; and as meat, faith, which from
instruction is compacted into a foundation, which, being more substantial
than hearing, is likened to meat, and assimilates to the soul itself
nourishment of this kind. Elsewhere the Lord, in the Gospel according to
John, brought this out by symbols, when He said: "Eat ye my flesh, and
drink my blood; "[2] describing distinctly by metaphor the drinkable
properties of faith and the promise, by means of which the Church, like a
human being consisting of many members, is refreshed and grows, is welded
together and compacted of both,--of faith, which is the body, and of hope,
which is the soul; as also the Lord of flesh and blood. For in reality the
blood of faith is hope, in which faith is held as by a vital principle. And
when hope expires, it is as if blood flowed forth; and the vitality of
faith is destroyed. If, then, some would oppose, saying that by milk is
meant the first lessons--as it were, the first food--and that by meat is
meant those spiritual cognitions to which they attain by raising themselves
to knowledge, let them understand that, in saying that meat is solid food,
and the flesh and blood of Jesus, they are brought by their own
vainglorious wisdom to the true simplicity. For the blood is found to be an
original product in man, and some have consequently ventured to call it the
substance of the soul. And this blood, transmuted by a natural process of
assimilation in the pregnancy of the mother, through the sympathy of
parental affection, effloresces and grows old, in order that there may be
no fear for the child. Blood, too, is the moister part of flesh, being a
kind of liquid flesh; and milk is the sweeter and finer part of blood. For
whether it be the blood supplied to the foetus, and sent through the navel
of the mother, or whether it be the menses themselves shut out from their
proper passage, and by a natural diffusion, bidden by the all-nourishing
and creating God, proceed to the already swelling breasts, and by the heat
of the spirits transmuted, [whether it be the one or the other] that is
formed, into food desirable for the babe, that which is changed is the
blood. For of all the members, the breasts have the most sympathy with the
womb. When there is parturition, the vessel by which blood was conveyed to
the foetus is cut off: there is an obstruction Of the flow, and the blood
receives an impulse towards the breasts; and on a considerable rush taking
place, they are distended, and change the blood to milk in a manner
analogous to the change of blood into pus in ulceration. Or if, on the
other hand, the blood from the veins in the vicinity of the breasts, which
have been opened in pregnancy, is poured into the natural hollows of the
breasts; and the spirit discharged from the neighbouring arteries being
mixed with it, the substance of the blood, still remaining pure, it becomes
white by being agitated like a wave; and by an interruption such as this is
changed by frothing it, like what takes place with the sea, which at the
assaults of the winds, the poets say, "spits forth briny foam." Yet still
the essence is supplied by the blood.

   In this way also the rivers, borne on with rushing motion, and fretted
by contact with the surrounding air, murmur forth foam. The moisture in our
mouth, too, is whitened by the breath. What an absurdity[3] is it, then,
not to acknowledge that the blood is converted into that very bright and
white substance by the breath! The change it suffers is in quality, not in
essence. You will certainly find nothing else more nourishing, or sweeter,
or whiter than milk. In every respect, accordingly, it is like spiritual
nourishment, which is sweet through grace, nourishing as life, bright as
the day of Christ.

   The blood of the Word has been also exhibited as milk. Milk being thus
provided in parturition, is supplied to the infant; and the breasts, which
till then looked straight towards the husband, now bend down towards the
child, being taught to furnish the substance elaborated by nature in a way
easily received for salutary nourishment. For the breasts are not like
fountains full of milk, flowing in ready prepared; but, by effecting a
change in the nutriment, form the milk in themselves, and discharge it. And
the nutriment suitable and wholesome for the new-formed and new-born babe
is elaborated by God, the nourisher and the Father of all that are
generated and regenerated,--as manna, the celestial food of angels, flowed
down from heaven on the ancient Hebrews. Even now, in fact, nurses call the
first-poured drink of milk by the same name as that food--manna. Further,
pregnant women, on becoming mothers, discharge milk. But the Lord Christ,
the fruit of the Virgin, did not pronounce the breasts of women blessed,
nor selected them to give nourishment; but when the kind and loving Father
had rained down the Word, Himself became spiritual nourishment to the good.
O mystic marvel! The universal Father is one, and one the universal Word;
and the Holy Spirit is one and the same everywhere, and one is the only
virgin mother. I love to call her the Church. This mother, when alone, had
not milk, because alone she was not a woman. But she is once virgin and
mother--pure as a virgin, loving as a mother. And calling her children to
her, she nurses them with holy milk, viz., with the Word for childhood.
Therefore she had not milk; for the milk was this child fair and comely,
the body of Christ, which nourishes by the Word the young brood, which the
Lord Himself brought forth in throes of the flesh, which the Lord Himself
swathed in His precious blood. O amazing birth! O holy swaddling bands! The
Word is all to the child, both father and mother and tutor and nurse. "Eat
ye my flesh," He says, "and drink my blood."[1] Such is the suitable food
which the Lord ministers, and He offers His flesh and pours forth His
blood, and nothing is wanting for the children's growth. O amazing mystery
l We are enjoined to cast off the old and carnal corruption, as also the
old nutriment, receiving in exchange another new regimen, that of Christ,
receiving Him if we can, to hide Him within; and that, enshrining the
Saviour in our souls, we may correct the affections of our flesh.

   But you are not inclined to understand it thus, but perchance more
generally. Hear it also in the following way. The flesh figuratively
represents to us the Holy Spirit; for the flesh was created by Him. The
blood points out to us the Word, for as rich blood the Word has been
infused into life; and the union of both is the Lord, the food of the
babes--the Lord who is Spirit and Word. The food- that is, the Lord Jesus--
that is, the Word of God, the Spirit made flesh, the heavenly flesh
sanctified. The nutriment is the milk of the Father, by which alone we
infants are nourished. The Word Himself, then, the beloved One, and our
nourisher, hath shed His own blood for us, to save humanity; and by Him,
we, believing on God, flee to the Word, "the care-soothing breast" of the
Father. And He alone, as is befitting, supplies us children with the milk
of love, and those only are truly Messed who suck this breast. Wherefore
also Peter says: "Laying therefore aside all malice, and all guile, and
hypocrisy, and envy, and evil speaking, as new-born babes, desire the milk
of the word, that ye may grow by it to salvation; if ye have tasted that
the Lord is Christ."[2] And were one to concede to them that the meat was
something different from the milk, then how shall they avoid being
transfixed on their own spit, through want of consideration of nature?[3]
For in winter, when the air is condensed, and prevents the escape of the
heat enclosed within, the food, transmuted and digested and changed into
blood, passes into the veins, and these, in the absence of exhalation, are
greatly distended, and exhibit strong pulsations; consequently also nurses
are then fullest of milk. And we have shown a little above, that on
pregnancy blood passes into milk by a change which does not affect its
substance, just as in old people yellow hair changes to grey. But again in
summer, the body, having its pores more open, affords greater facility for
diaphoretic action in the case of the food, and the milk is least abundant,
since neither is the blood full, nor is the whole nutriment retained. If,
then, the digestion of the food results in the production of blood, and the
blood becomes milk, then blood is a preparation for milk, as blood is for a
human being, and the grape for the vine. With milk, then, the Lord's
nutriment, we are nursed directly we are born; and as soon as we are
regenerated, we are honoured by receiving the good news of the hope of
rest, even the Jerusalem above, in which it is written that milk and honey
fall in showers, receiving through what is material the pledge of the
sacred food. "For meats are done away with,"[4] as the apostle himself
says; but this nourishment on milk leads to the heavens, rearing up
citizens of heaven, and members of the angelic choirs. And since the Word
is the gushing fountain of life, and has been called a river of olive oil,
Paul, using appropriate figurative language, and calling Him milk, adds: "I
have given you to drink;"[5] for we drink in the word, the nutriment of the
truth. In truth, also liquid food is called drink; and the same thing may
somehow be both meat and drink, according to the different aspects in which
it is considered, just as cheese is the solidification of milk or milk
solidified; for I am not concerned here to make a nice selection of an
expression, only to say that one substance supplies both articles of food.
Besides, for children at the breast, milk alone suffices; it serves both
for meat and drink. "I," says the Lord, "have meat to eat that ye know not
of. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me."[1] You see another kind
of food which, similarly with milk, represents figuratively the will of
God. Besides, also, the completion of His own passion He called
catachrestically "a cup,"[2] when He alone had to drink and drain it. Thus
to Christ the fulfilling of His Father's will was food; and to us infants,
who drink the milk of the word of the heavens, Christ Himself is food.
Hence seeking is called sucking; for to those babes that seek the Word, the
Father's breasts of love supply milk.

   Further, the Word declares Himself to be the bread of heaven. "For
Moses," He says, "gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He that cometh down
from heaven, and giveth life to the world. And the bread which I will give
is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."[3] Here is to be
noted the mystery of the bread, inasmuch as He speaks of it as flesh, and
as flesh, consequently, that has risen through fire, as the wheat springs
up from decay and germination; and, in truth, it has risen through fire for
the joy of the Church, as bread baked. But this will be shown by and by
more clearly in the chapter on the resurrection. But since He said, "And
the bread which I will give is My flesh," and since flesh is moistened with
blood, and blood is figuratively termed wine, we are bidden to know that,
as bread, crumbled into a mixture of wine and water, seizes on the wine and
leaves the watery portion, so also the flesh of Christ, the bread of heaven
absorbs the blood; that is, those among men who are heavenly, nourishing
them up to immortality, and leaving only to destruction the lusts of the
flesh.

   Thus in many ways the Word is figuratively described, as meat, and
flesh, and food, and bread, and blood, and milk. The Lord is all these, to
give enjoyment to us who have believed on Him. Let no one then think it
strange, when we say that the Lord's blood is figuratively represented as
milk. For is it not figuratively represented as wine? "Who washes," it is
said, "His garment in wine, His robe in the blood of the grape."[4] In His
Own Spirit He says He will deck the body of the Word; as certainly by His
own Spirit He will nourish those who hunger for the Word.

   And that the blood is the Word, is testified by the blood of Abel,[5]
the righteous interceding with God. For the blood would never have uttered
a voice, had it not been regarded as the Word: for the righteous man of old
is the type of the new righteous one; and the blood of old that interceded,
intercedes in the place of the new blood. And the blood that is the Word
cries to God, since it intimated that the Word was to suffer.

   Further, this flesh, and the blood in it, are by a mutual sympathy
moistened and increased by the milk. And the process of formation of the
seed in conception ensues when it has mingled with the pure residue of the
menses, which remains. For the force that is in the seed coagulating the
substances of the blood, as the rennet curdles milk, effects the essential
part of the formative process. For a suitable blending conduces to
fruitfulness; but extremes are adverse, and tend to sterility. For when the
earth itself is flooded by excessive rain, the seed is swept away, while in
consequence of scarcity it is dried up; but when the sap is viscous, it
retains the seed, and makes it germinate. Some also hold the hypothesis,
that the seed of an animal is in substance the foam of the blood, which
being by the natural heat of the male agitated and shaken out is turned
into foam, and deposited in the seminal veins. For Diogenes Apollionates
will have it, that hence is derived the word aphrodisia.[6]

   From all this it is therefore evident, that the essential principle of
the human body is blood. The contents of the stomach, too, at first are
milky, a coagulation of fluid; then the same coagulated substance is
changed into blood; but when it is formed into a compact consistency in the
womb, by the natural and warm spirit by which the embryo is fashioned, it
becomes a living creature. Further also, the child after birth is nourished
by the same blood. For the flow of milk is the product of the blood; and
the source of nourishment is the milk; by which a woman is shown to have
brought forth a child, and to be truly a mother, by which also she receives
a potent charm of affection. Wherefore the Holy Spirit in the apostle,
using the voice of the Lord, says mystically, "I have given you milk to
drink."[7] For if we have been regenerated unto Christ, He who has
regenerated us nourishes us with His own milk, the Word; for it is proper
that what has procreated should forthwith supply nourishment to that which
has been procreated. And as the regeneration was conformably spiritual, so
also was the nutriment of man spiritual. In all respects, therefore, and in
all things, we are brought into union with Christ, into relationship
through His blood, by which we are redeemed; and into sympathy, in
consequence of the nourishment which flows from the Word; and into
immortality, through His guidance:--

  "Among men the bringing up of children
   Often produces stronger impulses to love than the procreating of them."

The same blood and milk of the Lord is therefore the symbol of the Lord's
passion and teaching. Wherefore each of us babes is permitted to make our
boast in the Lord, while we proclaim:--

   "Yet of a noble sire and noble blood I boast me sprung."[1]

And that milk is produced from blood by a change, is already clear; yet we
may learn it from the flocks and herds. For these animals, in the time of
the year which we call spring, when the air has more humidity, and the
grass and meadows are juicy. and moist, are first filled with blood, as is
shown by the distension of the veins of the swollen vessels; and from the
blood the milk flows more copiously. But in summer again, the blood being
burnt and dried up by the heat, prevents the change, and so they have less
milk.

   Further, milk has a most natural affinity for water, as assuredly the
spiritual washing has for the spiritual nutriment. Those, therefore, that
swallow a little cold water, in addition to the above-mentioned milk,
straightway feel benefit; for the milk is prevented from souring by its
combination with water, not in consequence of any antipathy between them,
but in consequence of the water taking kindly to the milk while it is
undergoing digestion.

   And such as is the union of the Word with baptism, is the agreement of
milk with water; for it receives it alone of all liquids, and admits of
mixture with water, for the purpose of cleansing, as baptism for the
remission of sins. And it is mixed naturally with honey also, and this for
cleansing along with sweet nutriment. For the Word blended with love at
once cures our passions and cleanses our sins; and the saying,

   "Sweeter than honey flowed the stream of speech,"[2]

seems to me to have been spoken of the Word, who is honey. And prophecy oft
extols Him "above honey and the honeycomb."[3]

   Furthermore, milk is mixed with sweet wine; and the mixture is
beneficial, as when suffering is mixed in the cup in order to immortality.
For the milk is curdled by the wine, and separated, and whatever
adulteration is in it is drained off. And in the same way, the spiritual
communion of faith with suffering man, drawing off as serous matter the
lusts of the flesh, commits man to eternity, along with those who are
divine, immortalizing him.

   Further, many also use the fat of milk, called butter, for the lamp,
plainly indicating by this enigma the abundant unction of the Word, since
He alone it is who nourishes the infants, makes them grow, and enlightens
them. Wherefore also the Scripture says respecting the Lord," He fed them
with the produce of the fields; they sucked honey from the rock, and oil
from the solid rock, butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of
lambs;"[4] and what follows He gave them. But he that prophesies the birth
of the child says: "Butter and honey shall He eat."[5] And it occurs to me
to wonder how some dare call themselves perfect and gnostics, with ideas of
themselves above the apostle, inflated and boastful, when Paul even owned
respecting himself, "Not that I have already attained, or am already
perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am
apprehended of Christ. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and
stretching forth to those that are before, I press toward the mark, for the
prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus."[6] And yet he reckons himself
perfect, because he has been emancipated from his former life, and strives
after the better life, not as perfect in knowledge, but as aspiring after
perfection. Wherefore also he adds, "As many of us as are perfect, are thus
minded,"[7] manifestly describing perfection as the renunciation of sin,
and regeneration into the faith of the only perfect One, and forgetting our
former sins.

CHAP. VII.--WHO THE INSTRUCTOR IS, AND RESPECTING HIS INSTRUCTION.

   Since, then, we have shown that all of us are by Scripture called
children; and not only so, but that we who have followed Christ are
figuratively called babes; and that the Father of all alone is perfect, for
the Son is in Him, and the Father is in the Son; it is time for us in due
course to say who our Instructor is.

   He is called Jesus: Sometimes He calls Himself a shepherd, and says, "I
am the good Shepherd."[8] According to a metaphor drawn from shepherdS, who
lead the sheep, is hereby understood the Instructor, who leads the
children--the Shepherd who tends the babes. For the babes are simple, being
figuratively described as sheep. "And they shall all," it is said, "be one
flock, and one shepherd."[9] The Word, then, who leads the children to
salvation, is appropriately called the Instructor[1] (Paedagogue).

   With the greatest clearness, accordingly, the Word has spoken
respecting Himself by Hosea: "I am your Instructor."[2] Now piety is
instruction, being the learning of the service of God, and training in the
knowledge of the truth, and right guidance which leads to heaven. And the
word "instruction"[3] is employed variously. For there is the instruction
of him who is led and learns, and that of him who leads and teaches; and
there is, thirdly, the guidance itself; and fourthly, what is taught, as
the commandments enjoined.

   Now the instruction which is of God is the right direction of truth to
the contemplation of God, and the exhibition of holy deeds in everlasting
perseverance.

   As therefore the general directs the phalanx, consulting the safety of
his soldiers, and the pilot steers the vessel, desiring to save the
passengers; so also the Instructor guides the children to a saving course
of conduct, through solicitude for us; and, in general, whatever we ask in
accordance with reason from God to be done for us, will happen to those who
believe in the Instructor. And just as the helmsman does not always yield
to the winds, but sometimes, turning the prow towards them, opposes the
whole force of the hurricanes; so the Instructor never yields to the blasts
that blow in this world, nor commits the child to them like a vessel to
make shipwreck on a wild and licentious course of life; but, wafted on by
the favouring breeze of the Spirit of truth, stoutly holds on to the
child's helm,--his ears, I mean,--until He bring him safe to anchor in the
haven of heaven.

   What is called by men an ancestral custom passes away in a moment, but
the divine guidance is a possession which abides for ever.

   They say that Phoenix was the instructor of Achilles, and Adrastus of
the children of Croesus; and Leonides of Alexander, and Nausithous of
Philip. But Phoenix was women-mad Adrastus was a fugitive. Leonides did not
curtail the pride of Alexander, nor Nausithous reform the drunken Pellaean.
No more was the Thracian Zopyrus able to check the fornication of
Alcibiades; but Zopyrus was a bought slave, and Sicinnus, the tutor of the
children of Themistocles, was a lazy domestic. They say also that he
invented the Sicinnian dance. Those have not escaped our attention who are
called royal instructors among the Persians; whom, in number four, the
kings of the Persians select with the greatest care from all the Persians
and set over their sons. But the children only learn the use of the bow,
and on reaching maturity have sexual intercourse with sisters, and mothers,
and women, wives and courtesans innumerable, practised in intercourse like
the wild boars.

   But our Instructor is the holy God Jesus, the Word, who is the guide of
all humanity. The loving God Himself is our Instructor. Somewhere in song
the Holy Spirit says with regard to Him, "He provided sufficiently for the
people in the wilderness. He led him about in the thirst of summer heat in
a dry land, and instructed him, and kept him as the apple of His eye, as an
eagle protects her nest, and shows her fond solicitude for her young,
spreads abroad her wings, takes them, and bears them on her back. The Lord
alone led them, and there was no strange god with them."[4] Clearly, I
trow, has the Scripture exhibited the Instructor in the account it gives of
His guidance.

   Again, when He speaks in His own person, He confesses Himself to be the
Instructor: "I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of
Egypt."[5] Who, then, has the power of leading in and out? Is it not the
Instructor? This was He who appeared to Abraham, and said to him, "I am thy
God, be accepted before Me;"[6] and in a way most befitting an instructor,
forms him into a faithful child, saying, "And be blameless; and I will make
My covenant between Me and thee, and try seed." There is the communication
of the Instructor's friendship. And He most manifestly appears as Jacob's
instructor. He says accordingly to him, "Lo, I am with thee, to keep thee
in all the way in which thou shalt go; and I will bring thee back into this
land: for I will not leave thee till I do what I have told thee."[7] He is
said, too, to have wrestled with Him. "And Jacob was left alone, and there
wrestled with him a man (the Instructor) till the morning."[8] This was the
man who led, and brought, and wrestled with, and anointed the athlete Jacob
against evil.[9] Now that the Word was at once Jacob's trainer and the
Instructor of humanity [appears from this]--"He asked," it is said, "His
name, and said to him, Tell me what is Try name." And he said, "Why is it
that thou askest My name?" For He reserved the new name for the new people-
-the babe; and was as yet unnamed, the Lord God not having yet become man.
Yet Jacob called the name of the place, "Face of God." "For I have seen,"
he says, "God face to face; and my life is preserved."[10] The face of God
is the Word by whom God is manifested and made known. Then also was he
named Israel, because he saw God the Lord. It was God, the Word, the
Instructor, who said to him again afterwards, "Fear not to go down into
Egypt."[1] See how the Instructor follows the righteous man, and how He
anoints the athlete, teaching him to trip up his antagonist.

   It is He also who teaches Moses to act as instructor. For the Lord
says, "If any one sin before Me, him will I blot out of My book; but now,
go and lead this people into the place which I told thee."[2] Here He is
the teacher of the art of instruction. For it was really the Lord that was
the instructor of the ancient people by Moses; but He is the instructor of
the new people by Himself, face to face. "For behold," He says to Moses,
"My angel shall go before thee," representing the evangelical and
commanding power of the Word, but guarding the Lord's prerogative. "In the
day on which I will visit them,"[3] He says, "I will bring their sins on
them; that is, on the day on which I will sit as judge I will render the
recompense of their sins." For the same who is Instructor is judge, and
judges those who disobey Him; and the loving Word will not pass over their
transgression in silence. He reproves, that they may repent. For "the Lord
willeth the repentance of the sinner rather than his death."[4] And let us
as babes, hearing of the sins of others, keep from similar transgressions,
through dread of the threatening, that we may not have to undergo like
sufferings. What, then, was the sin which they committed? "For in their
wrath they slew men, and in their impetuosity they hamstrung bulls. Cursed
be their anger."[5] Who, then, would train us more lovingly than He?
Formerly the older people had an old covenant, and the law disciplined the
people with fear, and the Word was an angel; but to the fresh and new
people has also been given a new covenant, and the Word has appeared, and
fear is turned to love, and that mystic angel is born--Jesus. For this same
Instructor said then, "Thou shalt fear the Lord God;"[6] but to us He has
addressed the exhortation, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God."[7] Wherefore
also this is enjoined on us: "Cease from your own works, from your old
sins;" "Learn to do well;" "Depart from evil, and do good;" "Thou hast
loved righteousness, and hated iniquity." This is my new covenant written
in the old letter. The newness of the word must not, then, be made ground
of reproach. But the Lord hath also said in Jeremiah: "Say not that I am a
youth: before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before I brought
thee out of the womb I sanctified thee."[8] Such allusions prophecy can
make to us, destined in the eye of God to faith before the foundation of
the world; but now babes, through the recent fulfilment of the will of God,
according to which we are born now to calling and salvation. Wherefore also
He adds, "I have set thee for a prophet to the nations,"[9] saying that he
must prophesy, so that the appellation of "youth" should not become a
reproach to those who are called babes.

   Now the law is ancient grace given through Moses by the Word. Wherefore
also the Scripture says, "The law was given through Moses,"[10] not by
Moses, but by the Word, and through Moses His servant. Wherefore it was
only temporary; but eternal grace and truth were by Jesus Christ. Mark the
expressions of Scripture: of the law only is it said "was given;" but truth
being the grace of the Father, is the eternal work of the Word; and it is
not said to be given, but to be by Jesus, without whom nothing was.[11]
Presently, therefore, Moses prophetically, giving place to the perfect
Instructor the Word, predicts both the name and the office of Instructor,
and committing to the people the commands of obedience, sets before them
the Instructor. "A prophet," says he, "like Me shall God raise up to you of
your brethren," pointing out Jesus the Son of God, by an allusion to Jesus
the son of Nun; for the name of Jesus predicted in the law was a shadow of
Christ. He adds, therefore, consulting the advantage of the people, "Him
shall ye hear;"[12] and, "The man who will not hear that Prophet,"[13] him
He threatens. Such a name, then, he predicts as that of the Instructor, who
is the author of salvation. Wherefore prophecy invests Him with a rod, a
rod of discipline, of rule, of authority; that those whom the persuasive
word heals not, the threatening may heal; and whom the threatening heals
not, the rod may heal; and whom the rod heals not, the fire may devour.
"There shall come forth," it is said, "a rod out of the root of Jesse."[14]

   See the care, and wisdom, and power of the Instructor: "He shall not
judge according to opinion, nor according to report; but He shall dispense
judgment to the humble, and reprove the sinners of the earth." And by
David: "The Lord instructing, hath instructed me, and not given me over to
death."[15] For to be chastised of the Lord, and instructed, is deliverance
from death. And by the same prophet He says: "Thou shalt rule them with a
rod of iron."[1] Thus also the apostle, in the Epistle to the Corinthians,
being moved, says, "What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in
love, in the spirit of meekness?"[2] Also, "The Lord shall send the rod of
strength out of Sion,"[3] He says by another prophet. And this same rod of
instruction, "Thy rod and staff have comforted me,"[4] said some one else.
Such is the power of the Instructor--sacred, soothing, saving.

CHAP. VIII.--AGAINST THOSE WHO THINK THAT WHAT IS JUST IS NOT GOOD.

   At this stage some rise up, saying that the Lord, by reason of the rod,
and threatening, and fear, is not good; misapprehending, as appears, the
Scripture which says, "And he that feareth the Lord will turn to his
heart;"[5] and most of all, oblivious of His love, in that for us He became
man. For more suitably to Him, the prophet prays in these words: "Remember
us, for we are dust;"[6] that: is, Sympathize with us; for Thou knowest
from personal experience of suffering the weakness of the flesh. In this
respect, therefore, the Lord the Instructor is most good and unimpeachable,
sympathizing as He does from the exceeding greatness of His love with the
nature of each man. "For there is nothing which the Lord hates."[7] For
assuredly He does not hate anything, and yet wish that which He hates to
exist Nor does He wish anything not to exist, and yet become the cause of
existence to that which He wishes not to exist. Nor does He wish anything
not to exist which yet exists. If, then, the Word hates anything, He does
not wish it to exist. But nothing exists, the cause of whose existence is
not supplied by God. Nothing, then, is hated by God, nor yet by the Word.
For both are one--that is, God. For He has said, "In the beginning the Word
was in God, and the Word was God."[8] If then He hates none of the things
which He has made, it follows that He loves them. Much more than the rest,
and with reason, will He love man, the noblest of all objects created by
Him, and a God-loving being. Therefore God is loving; consequently the Word
is loving.

   But he who loves anything wishes to do it good. And that which does
good must be every way better than that which does not good. But nothing is
better than the Good. The Good, then, does good. And God is admitted to be
good. God therefore does good. And the Good, in virtue of its being good,
does nothing else than do good. Consequently God does all good. And He does
no good to man without caring for him, and He does not care far him without
taking care of him. For that which does good purposely, is better than what
does not good purposely. But nothing is better than God. And to do good
purposely, is nothing else than to take care of man. God therefore cares
for man, and takes care of him. And He shows this practically, in
instructing him by the Word, who is the true coadjutor of God's love to
man. But the good is not said to be good, on account of its being possessed
of virtue; as also righteousness is not said to be good on account of its
possessing virtue--for it is itself virtue.--but on account of its being in
itself and by itself good.

   In another way the useful is called good, not on account of its
pleasing, but of its doing good. All which, therefore, is righteousness,
being a good thing, both as virtue and as desirable for its own sake, and
not as giving pleasure; for it does not judge in order to win favour, but
dispenses to each according to his merits. And the beneficial follows the
useful. Righteousness, therefore, has characteristics corresponding to all
the aspects in which goodness is examined, both possessing equal properties
equally. And things which are characterized by equal properties are equal
and similar to each other. Righteousness is therefore a good thing.

   "How then," say they, "if the Lord loves man, and is good, is He angry
and punishes?" We must therefore treat of this point with all possible
brevity; for this mode of treatment is advantageous to the right training
of the children, occupying the place of a necessary help. For many of the
passions are cured by punishment, and by the inculcation of the sterner
precepts, as also by instruction in certain principles. For reproof is, as
it were, the surgery of the passions of the soul; and the passions are, as
it were, an abscess of the truth,[9] which must be cut open by an incision
of the lancet of reproof.

   Reproach is like the application of medicines, dissolving the
callosities of the passions, and purging the impurities of the lewdness of
the life; and in addition, reducing the excrescences of pride, restoring
the patient to the healthy and true state of humanity.

   Admonition. is, as it were, the regimen of the diseased soul,
prescribing what it must take, and forbidding what it must not. And all
these tend to salvation and eternal health.

   Furthermore, the general of an army, by inflicting fines and corporeal
punishments with chains and the extremest disgrace on offenders, and
sometimes even by punishing individuals with death, aims at good, doing so
for the admonition of the officers under him.

   Thus also He who is our great General, the Word, the Commander-in-chief
of the universe by admonishing those who throw off the restraints of His
law, that He may effect their release from the slavery, error, and
captivity of the adversary, brings them peacefully to the sacred concord of
citizenship.

   As, therefore in addition to persuasive discourse, there is the
hortatory and the consolatory form; so also, in addition to the laudatory,
there is the inculpatory and reproachful. And this latter constitutes the
art of censure. Now censure is a mark of good-will, not of ill-will. For
both he who is a friend and he who is not, reproach; but the enemy does so
in scorn, the friend in kindness. It is not, then, from hatred that the
Lord chides men; for He Himself suffered for us, whom He might have
destroyed for our faults. For the Instructor also, in virtue of His being
good, with consummate art glides into censure by rebuke; rousing the
sluggishness of the mind by His sharp words as by a scourge. Again in turn
He endeavours to exhort the same persons. For those who are not induced by
praise are spurred on by censure; and those whom censure calls not forth to
salvation being as dead, are by denunciation roused to the truth. "For the
stripes and correction of wisdom are in all time." "For teaching a fool is
gluing a potsherd; and sharpening to sense a hopeless blockhead is bringing
earth to sensation."' Wherefore He adds plainly, "rousing the sleeper from
deep sleep," which of all things else is likest death.

   Further, the Lord shows very clearly of HimSelf, when, describing
figuratively His manifold and in many ways serviceable culture,--He says,
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." Then He adds, "Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that
beareth fruit He pruneth, that it may bring forth more fruit."[2] For the
vine that is not pruned grows to wood. So also man. The Word--the knife--
clears away the wanton shoots; compelling the impulses of the soul to
fructify, not to indulge in lust. Now, reproof addressed to sinners has
their salvation for its aim, the word being harmoniously adjusted to each
one's conduct; now with tightened, now. with relaxed cords. Accordingly it
was very plainly said by Moses," Be of good courage: God has drawn near to
try you, that His fear may be among you, that ye sin not."[3] And Plato,
who had learned from this source, says beautifully: "For all who suffer
punishment are in reality treated well, for they are benefited; since the
spirit of those who are justly punished is improved." And if those who are
corrected receive good at the hands of justice, and, according to Plato,
what is just is acknowledged to be good, fear itself does good, and has
been found to be for men's good. "For the soul that feareth the Lord shall
live, for their hope is in Him who saveth them."[4] And this same Word who
inflicts punishment is judge; regarding whom Esaias also says, "The Lord
has assigned Him to our sins,"[5] plainly as a corrector and reformer of
sins. Wherefore He alone is able to forgive our iniquities, who has been
appointed by the Father, Instructor of us all; He alone it is who is able
to distinguish between disobedience and obedience. And while He threatens,
He manifestly is unwilling to inflict evil to execute His threatenings; but
by inspiring men with fear, He cuts off the approach to sin, and shows His
love to man, still delaying, and declaring what they shall suffer if they
continue sinners, and is not as a serpent, which the moment it fastens on
its prey devours it.

   God, then, is good. And the Lord speaks many a time and oft before He
proceeds to act. "For my arrows," He says, "will make an end of them; they
shall be consumed with hunger, and be eaten by birds; and there shall be
incurable tetanic incurvature. I will send the teeth of wild beasts upon
them, with the rage of serpents creeping on the earth. Without, the sword
shall make them childless; and out of their chambers shall be fear."[6] For
the Divine Being is not angry in the way that some think; but often
restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows what ought to be done.
And this is a good device, to terrify lest we sin. "For the fear of the
Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear cannot be justified,"[7]
says the Scripture. And God does not inflict punishment from wrath, but for
the ends of justice; since it is not expedient that justice should be
neglected on our account. Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will
chooses punishment, and the blame lies with him who chooses.[8] God is
without blame. "But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of
God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous, who taketh vengeance? God
forbid."[9] He says, therefore, threatening," I will sharpen my sword, and
my hand shall lay hold on judgment; and I will render justice to mine
enemies, and requite those who hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with
blood, and my sword shall devour flesh from the blood of the wounded."[1]
It is clear, then, that those who are not at enmity with the truth, and do
not hate the Word, will not hate their own salvation, but will escape the
punishment of enmity. "The crown of wisdom," then as the book of Wisdom
says, "is the fear of the Lord."[2] Very clearly, therefore, by the prophet
Amos has the Lord unfolded His method of dealing, saying, "I have
overthrown you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; and ye shall be as a
brand plucked from the fire: and yet ye have not returned unto me, saith
the LORD."[3]

   See how God, through His love of goodness, seeks repentance; and by
means of the plan He pursues of threatening silently, shows His own love
for man. "I will avert," He says, "My face from them, and show what shall
happen to them."[4] For where the face of the Lord looks, there is peace
and rejoicing; but where it is averted, there is the introduction of evil.
The Lord, accordingly, does not wish to look on evil things; for He is
good. But on His looking away, evil arises spontaneously through human
unbelief. "Behold, therefore," says Paul, "the goodness and severity of
God: on them that fell severity; but upon thee, goodness, if thou continue
in His goodness,"[5] that is, in faith in Christ.

   Now hatred of evil attends the good man, in virtue of His being in
nature good. Wherefore I will grant that He punishes the disobedient (for
punishment is for the good and advantage of him who is punished, for it is
the correction of a refractory subject); but I will not grant that He
wishes to take vengeance. Revenge is retribution for evil, imposed for the
advantage of him who takes the revenge. He will not desire us to take
revenge, who teaches us "to pray for those that despitefully use us."[6]
But that God is good, all willingly admit; and that the same God is just, I
require not many more words to prove, after adducing the evangelical
utterance of the Lord; He speaks of Him as one, "That they all may be one;
as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us:
that the world also may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which
Thou hast given Me I have given them; that they may be one, as We are one:
I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one."[7] God is
one, and beyond the one and above the Monad itself. Wherefore also the
particle "Thou," having a demonstrative emphasis, points out God, who alone
truly is, "who was, and is, and is to come," in which three divisions of
time the one name (ho` w'n); "who is,"[8] has its place. And that He who
alone is God is also alone and truly righteous, our Lord in the Gospel
itself shall testify, saying "Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast
given Me be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou
hast given Me: For Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. O
righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and
these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared to them Thy
name, and will declare it."[9] This is He "that visits the iniquities of
the fathers upon the children, to them that hate Him, and shows mercy to
those that love Him."[10] For He who placed some "on the right hand, and
others on the left,"[11] conceived as Father, being good, is called that
which alone He is--" good;"[12] but as He is the Son in the Father, being
his Word, from their mutual relation, the name of power being measured by
equality of love, He is called righteous. "He will judge," He says, "a man
according to his works,"[13]--a good balance, even God having made known to
us the face of righteousness in the person of Jesus, by whom also, as by
even scales, we know God. Of this also the book of Wisdom plainly says,
"For mercy and wrath are with Him, for He alone is Lord of both," Lord of
propitiations, and pouring forth wrath according to the abundance of His
mercy. "So also is His reproof."[14] For the aim of mercy and of reproof is
the salvation of those who are reproved.

   Now, that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus is good, the Word
Himself will again avouch: "For He is kind to the unthankful and the evil;"
and further, when He says," Be merciful, as your Father is merciful."[15]
Still further also He plainly says, "None is good, but My Father, who is in
heaven."[16] In addition to these, again He says, "My Father makes His sun
to shine on all."[17] Here it is to be noted that He proclaims His Father
to be good, and to be the Creator. And that the Creator is just, is not
disputed: And again he says," My Father sends rain on the just, and on the
unjust." In respect of His sending rain, He is the Creator of the waters,
and of the clouds. And in respect of His doing so on all, He holds an even
balance justly and rightly. And as being good, He does so on just and
unjust alike.

   Very clearly, then, we conclude Him to be one and the same God, thus.
For the Holy Spirit has sung, "I will look to the heavens, the works of Thy
hands;"[1] and, "He who created the heavens dwells in the heavens;" and,
"Heaven is Thy throne."[2] And the Lord says in His prayer, "Our Father,
who art in heaven."[3] And the heavens belong to Him, who created the
world. It is indisputable, then, that the Lord is the Son of the Creator.
And if, the Creator above all is confessed to be just, and the Lord to be
the Son of the Creator; then the Lord is the Son of Him who is just.
Wherefore also Paul says, "But now the righteousness of God without the law
is manifested;"[4] and again, that you may better conceive of God, "even
the righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ upon all that
believe; for there is no difference."[5] And, witnessing further to the
truth, he adds after a little, "through the forbearance of God, in order to
show that He is just, and that Jesus is the justifier of him who is of
faith." And that he knows that what is just is good, appears by his saying,
"So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good,"[6]
using both names to denote the same power. But "no one is good," except His
Father. It is this same Father of His, then who being one is manifested by
many powers And this was the import of the utterance, "No man knew the
Father,"[7] who was Himself everything before the coming of the Son. So
that it is veritably clear that the God of all is only one good, just
Creator, and the Son in the Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever,
Amen. But it is not inconsistent with the saving Word, to administer rebuke
dictated by solicitude. For this is the medicine of the divine love to man,
by which the blush of modesty breaks forth, and shame at sin supervenes.
For if one must censure, it is necessary also to rebuke; when it is the
time to wound the apathetic soul not mortally, but salutarily, securing
exemption from everlasting death by a little pain.

   Great is the wisdom displayed in His instruction, and manifold the
modes of His dealing in order to salvation. For the Instructor testifies to
the good, and summons forth to better things those that are called;
dissuades those that are hastening to do wrong from the attempt, and
exhorts them to turn to a better life. For the one is not without
testimony, when the other has been testified to; and the grace which
proceeds from the testimony is very great. Besides, the feeling of anger
(if it is proper to call His admonition anger) is full of love to man, God
condescending to emotion on man's account; for whose sake also the Word of
God became man.

CHAP. IX.--THAT IT IS THE PREROGATIVE OF THE SAME POWER TO BE BENEFICENT
AND TO PUNISH JUSTLY. ALSO THE MANNER OF THE INSTRUCTION OF THE LOGOS.

   With all His power, therefore, the Instructor of humanity, the Divine
Word, using all the resources of wisdom, devotes Himself to the saving of
the children, admonishing, upbraiding, blaming, chiding, reproving,
threatening, healing, promising, favouring; and as it were, by many reins,
curbing the irrational impulses of humanity. To speak briefly, therefore,
the Lord acts towards us as we do towards our children. "Hast thou
children? correct them," is the exhortation of the book of Wisdom, "and
bend them from their youth. Hast thou daughters? attend to their body, and
let not thy face brighten towards them,"[8]--although we love our children
exceedingly, both sons and daughters, above aught else whatever. For those
who speak with a man merely to please him, have little love for him, seeing
they do not pain him; while those that speak for his good, though they
inflict pain for the time, do him good for ever after. It is not immediate
pleasure, but future enjoyment, that the Lord has in view.

   Let us now proceed to consider the mode of His loving discipline, with
the aid of the prophetic testimony.

   Admonition, then, is the censure of loving care, and produces
understanding. Such is the Instructor in His admonitions, as when He says
in the Gospel, "How often would I have gathered thy children, as a bird
gathers her young ones under her wings, and ye would not!"[9] And again,
the Scripture admonishes, saying, "And they committed adultery with stock
and stone, and burnt incense to Baal."[10] For it is a very great proof of
His love, that, though knowing well the shamelessness of the people that
had kicked and bounded away, He notwithstanding exhorts them to repentance,
and says by Ezekiel, "Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of scorpions;
nevertheless, speak to them, if peradventure they will hear."[11] Further,
to Moses He says, "Go and tell Pharaoh to send My people forth; but I know
that he will not send them forth."[12] For He shows both things: both His
divinity in His foreknowledge of what would take place, and His love in
affording an opportunity for repentance to the self-determination of the
soul. He admonishes also by Esaias, in His care for the people, when He
says, "This people honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from
Me." What follows is reproving censure: "In vain do they worship Me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."[1] Here His loving care,
having shown their sin, shows salvation side by side.

   Upbraiding is censure on account of what is base, conciliating to what
is noble. This is shown by Jeremiah: "They were female-mad horses; each one
neighed after his neighbour's wife. Shall I not visit for these things?
saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"[2]
He everywhere interweaves fear, because "the fear of the LORD is the
beginning of sense."[3] And again, by Hosea, He says, "Shall I not visit
them? for they themselves were mingled with harlots, and sacrificed with
the initiated; and the people that understood embraced a harlot."[4] He
shows their offence to be clearer, by declaring that they understood, and
thus sinned wilfully. Understanding is the eye of the soul; wherefore also
Israel means, "he that sees God"--that is, he that understands God.

   Complaint is censure of those who are regarded as despising or
neglecting. He employs this form when He says by Esaias: "Hear, O heaven;
and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have begotten and
brought up children, but they have disregarded Me. The ox knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known Me."[5] For
how shall we not regard it fearful, if he that knows God, shall not
recognise the Lord; but while the ox and the ass, stupid and foolish
animals, will know him who feeds them, Israel is found to be more
irrational than these? And having, by Jeremiah, complained against the
people on many grounds, He adds: "And they have forsaken Me, saith the
LORD."[6]

   Invective[7] is a reproachful upbraiding, or chiding censure. This mode
of treatment the Instructor employs in Isaiah, when He says, "Woe to you,
children revolters. Thus saith the LORD, Ye have taken counsel, but not by
Me; and made compacts, but not by My Spirit."[8] He uses the very bitter
mordant of fear in each case repressing[9] the people, and at the same time
turning them to salvation; as also wool that is undergoing the process of
dyeing is wont to be previously treated with mordants, in order to prepare
it for taking on a fast colour.

   Reproof is the bringing forward of sin, laying it before one. This form
of instruction He employs as in the highest degree necessary, by reason of
the feebleness of the faith of many. For He says by Esaias, "Ye have
forsaken the LORD, and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger."[10]
And He says also by Jeremiah: "Heaven was astonished at this, and the earth
shuddered exceedingly. For My people have committed two evils; they have
forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewn out to themselves
broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water."[11] And again, by
the same: "Jerusalem hath sinned a sin; therefore it became commotion. All
that glorified her dishonoured her, when they saw her baseness."[12] And He
uses the bitter and biting[13] language of reproof in His consolations by
Solomon, tacitly alluding to the love for children that characterizes His
instruction: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the LORD; nor
faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the LORD loveth He chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth;"[14] "For a man who is a sinner
escapes reproof."[15] Consequently, therefore, the Scripture says, "Let the
righteous reprove and correct me; but let not the oil of the sinner anoint
my head."[16]

   Bringing one to his senses (phre'nwsis) is censure, which makes a man
think. Neither from this form of instruction does he abstain, but says by
Jeremiah, "How long shall I cry, and you not hear? So your ears are
uncircumcised."[17] O blessed forbearance! And again, by the same: "All the
heathen are uncircumcised, but this people is uncircumcised in heart:"[18]
"for the people are disobedient; children," says He, "in whom is not
faith."[19]

   Visitation is severe rebuke. He uses this species in the Gospel: "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are
sent unto thee!" The reduplication of the name gives strength to the
rebuke. For he that knows God, how does he persecute God's servants?
Wherefore He says, "Your house is left desolate; for I say unto you,
Henceforth ye shall not see Me, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord."[20] For if you do not receive His love, ye
shall know His power.

   Denunciation is vehement speech. And He employs denunciation as
medicine, by Isaiah, saying, "Ah, sinful nation, lawless sons, people full
of sins, wicked seed!"[21] And in the Gospel by John He says, "Serpents,
brood of vipers."[22]

   Accusation is censure of wrong-doers. This mode of instruction He
employs by David, when He says: "The people whom I knew not served me, and
at the hearing of the ear obeyed me. Sons of strangers lied to me, and
halted from their ways."[1] And by Jeremiah: "And I gave her a writing of
divorcement, and covenant-breaking Judah feared not."[2] And again: "And
the house of Israel disregarded Me; and the house of Judah lied to the
LORD."[3]

   Bewailing one's fate is latent censure, and by artful aid ministers
salvation as under a veil. He made use of this by Jeremiah: "How did the
city sit solitary that was full of people! She that ruled over territories
became as a widow; she came under tribute; weeping, she wept in the
night."[4]

   Objurgation is objurgatory censure. Of this help the Divine Instructor
made use by Jeremiah, saying, "Thou hadst a whore's forehead; thou wast
shameless towards all; and didst not call me to the house, who am thy
father, and lord of thy virginity."[5] "And a fair and graceful harlot
skilled in enchanted potions."[6] With consummate art, after applying to
the virgin the opprobrious name of whoredom, He thereupon calls her back to
an honourable life by filling her with shame.

   Indignation is a rightful upbraiding; or upbraiding on account of ways
exalted above what is right. In this way He instructed by Moses, when He
said, "Faulty children, a generation crooked and perverse, do ye thus
requite the LORD? This people is foolish, and not wise. Is not this thy
father who acquired thee?"[7] He says also by Isaiah, "Thy princes are
disobedient, companions of thieves, loving gifts, following after rewards,
not judging the orphans."[8]

   In fine, the system He pursues to inspire fear is the source of
salvation. And it is the prerogative of goodness to save: "The mercy of the
Lord is on all flesh, while He reproves, corrects, and teaches as a
shepherd His flock. He pities those who receive His instruction, and those
who eagerly seek union with Him."[9] And with such guidance He guarded the
six hundred thousand footmen that were brought together in the hardness of
heart in which they were found; scourging, pitying, striking, healing, in
compassion and discipline: "For according to the greatness of His mercy, so
is His rebuke."[10] For it is indeed noble not to sin; but it is good also
for the sinner to repent; just as it is best to be always in good health,
but well to recover from disease. So He commands by Solomon: "Strike thou
thy son with the rod, that thou mayest deliver his soul from death."[11]
And again: "Abstain not from chastising thy son, but correct him with the
rod; for he will not die."[12]

   For reproof and rebuke, as also the original term implies, are the
stripes of the soul, chastizing sins, preventing death, and leading to
self-control those carried away to licentiousness. Thus also Plato, knowing
reproof to be the greatest power for reformation, and the most sovereign
purification, in accordance with what has been said, observes, "that he who
is in the highest degree impure is uninstructed and base, by reason of his
being unreproved in those respects in which he who is destined to be truly
happy ought to be purest and best."

   For if rulers are not a terror to a good work, how shall God, who is by
nature good, be a terror to him who sins not? "If thou doest evil, be
afraid,"[13] says the apostle. Wherefore the apostle himself also in every
case uses stringent language to the Churches, after the Lord's example; and
conscious of his own boldness, and of the weakness of his hearers, he says
to the Galatians: "Am I your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"[14] Thus
also people in health do not require a physician, do not require him as
long as they are strong; but those who are ill need his skill. Thus also we
who in our lives are ill of shameful lusts and reprehensible excesses, and
other inflammatory effects of the passions, need the Saviour. And He
administers not only mild, but also stringent medicines. The bitter roots
of fear then arrest the eating sores of our sins. Wherefore also fear is
salutary, if bitter. Sick, we truly stand in need of the Saviour; having
wandered, of one to guide us; blind, of one to lead us to the light;
thirsty, "of the fountain of life, of which whosoever partakes, shall no
longer thirst;"[15] dead, we need life; sheep, we need a shepherd; we who
are children need a tutor, while universal humanity stands in need of
Jesus; so that we may not continue intractable and sinners to the end, and
thus fall into condemnation, but may be separated from the chaff, and
stored up in the paternal garner. "For the fan is in the Lord's hand, by
which the chaff due to the fire is separated from the wheat."[16] You may
learn, if you will, the crowning wisdom of the all-holy Shepherd and
Instructor, of the omnipotent and paternal Word, when He figuratively
represents Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep. And He is the Tutor of the
children. He says therefore by Ezekiel, directing His discourse to the
elders, and setting before them a salutary description of His wise
solicitude: "And that which is lame I will bind up, and that which is sick
I will heal, and that which has wandered I will turn back; and I will feed
them on my holy mountain."[1] Such are the promises of the good Shepherd.

   Feed us, the children, as sheep. Yea, Master, fill us with
righteousness, Thine own pasture; yea, O Instructor, feed us on Thy holy
mountain the Church, which towers aloft, which is above the clouds, which
touches heaven. "And I will be," He says, "their Shepherd,"[2] and will be
near them, as the garment to their skin. He wishes to save my flesh by
enveloping it in the robe of immortality, and He hath anointed my body.
"They shall call Me," He says, "and I will say, Here am I."[3] Thou didst
hear sooner than I expected, Master. "And if they pass over, they shall not
slip,"[4] saith the Lord. For we who are passing over to immortality shall
not fall into corruption, for He shall sustain us. For so He has said, and
so He has willed. Such is our Instructor, righteously good. "I came not,"
He says, "to be ministered unto, but to minister."[5] Wherefore He is
introduced in the Gospel "wearied,"[6] because toiling for us, and
promising "to give His life a ransom for many."[7] For him alone who does
so He owns to be the good shepherd. Generous, therefore, is He who gives
for us the greatest of all gifts, His own life; and beneficent exceedingly,
and loving to men, in that, when He might have been Lord, He wished to be a
brother man; and so good was He that He died for us.

   Further, His righteousness cried, "If ye come straight to me, I also
will come straight to you but if ye walk crooked, I also will walk crooked
saith the Lord of hosts;"[8] meaning by the crooked ways the chastisements
of sinners. For the straight and natural way which is indicated by the Iota
of the name of Jesus is His goodness, which is firm and sure towards those
who have believed at hearing: "When I called, ye obeyed not, saith the
Lord; but set at nought my counsels, and heeded not my reproofs."[9] Thus
the Lord's reproof is most beneficial. David also says of them, "A perverse
and provoking race; a race which set not their heart aright, and whose
spirit was not faithful with God: they kept not the covenant of God, and
would not walk in His law."[10]

   Such are the causes of provocation for which the Judge comes to inflict
punishment on those that would not choose a life of goodness. Wherefore
also afterwards He assailed them more roughly; in order, if possible, to
drag them back from their impetuous rush towards death. He therefore tells
by David the most manifest cause of the threatening: "They believed not in
His wonderful works. When He slew them, they sought after Him, and turned
and inquired early after God; and remembered that God was their Helper, and
God the Most High their Redeemer."[11] Thus He knew that they turned for
fear, while they despised His love: for, for the most part, that goodness
which is always mild is despised; but He who admonishes by the loving fear
of righteousness is reverenced.

   There is a twofold species of fear, the one of which is accompanied
with reverence, such as citizens show towards good rulers, and we towards
God, as also right-minded children towards their fathers. "For an unbroken
horse turns out unmanageable, and a son who is let take his own way turns
out reckless."[12] The other species of fear is accompanied with hatred,
which slaves feel towards hard masters, and the Hebrews felt, who made God
a master, not a father. And as far as piety is concerned, that which is
voluntary and spontaneous differs much, nay entirely, from what is forced.
"For He," it iS said, "is merciful; He will heal their sins, and not
destroy them, and fully turn away His anger, and not kindle all His
wrath."[13] See how the justice of the Instructor, which deals in rebukes,
is shown; and the goodness of God, which deals in compassions. Wherefore
David--that is, the Spirit by him--embracing them both, sings of God
Himself, "Justice and judgment are the preparation of His throne: mercy and
truth shall go before Thy face."[14] He declares that it belongs to the
same power both to judge and to do good. For there is power over both
together, and judgment separates that which is just from its opposite. And
He who is truly God is just and good; who is Himself all, and all is He;
for He is God, the only God.

   For as the mirror is not evil to an ugly man because it shows him what
like he is; and as the physician is not evil to the sick man because he
tells him of his fever,--for the physician is not the cause of the fever,
but only points out the fever;--so neither is He, that reproves, ill-
disposed towards him who is diseased in soul. For He does not put the
transgressions on him, but only shows the sins which are there; in order to
turn him away from similar practices. So God is good on His own account,
and just also on ours, and He is just because He is good. And His justice
is shown to us by His own Word from there from above, whence the Father
was. For before He became Creator He was God; He was good. And therefore He
wished to be Creator and Father. And the nature of all that love was the
source of righteousness--the cause, too, of His lighting up His sun, and
sending down His own Son. And He first announced the good righteousness
that is from heaven, when He said, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father;
nor the Father, but the Son."[1] This mutual and reciprocal knowledge is
the symbol of primeval justice. Then justice came down to men both in the
letter and in the body, in the Word and in the law, constraining humanity
to saving repentance; for it was good. But do you not obey God? Then blame
yourself, who drag to yourself the judge.

CHAP. X.--THAT THE SAME GOD, BY THE SAME WORD, RESTRAINS FROM SIN BY
THREATENING, AND SAVES HUMANITY BY EXHORTING.

   If, then, we have shown that the plan of dealing stringently with
humanity is good and salutary, and necessarily adopted by the Word, and
conducive to repentance and the prevention of sins; we shall have now to
look in order at the mildness of the Word. For He has been demonstrated to
be just. He sets before us His own inclinations which invite to salvation;
by which, in accordance with the Father's will, He wishes to make known to
us the good and the useful. Consider these. The good to` kalo'n) belongs to
the panegyrical form of speech, the useful to the persuasive. For the
hortatory and the de-hortatory are a form of the persuasive, and the
laudatory and inculpatory of the panegyrical.

   For the persuasive style of sentence in one form becomes hortatory, and
in another dehortatory. So also the panegyrical in one form becomes
inculpatory, and in another laudatory. And in these exercises the
Instructor, the Just One, who has proposed our advantage as His aim, is
chiefly occupied. But the inculpatory and dehortatory forms of speech have
been already shown us; and we must now handle the persuasive and the
laudatory, and, as on a beam, balance the equal scales of justice. The
exhortation to what is useful, the Instructor employs by Solomon, to the
following effect: "I exhort you, O men; and I utter my voice to the sons of
men. Hear me; for I will speak of excellent things; "[2] and so on. And He
counsels what is salutary: for counsel has for its end, choosing or
refusing a certain course; as He does by David, when He says, "Blessed is
the man who walketh not in the counsels of the ungodly, and standeth not in
the way of sinners, and sitteth not in the chair of pestilences; but his
will is in the law of the LORD."[3] And there are three departments of
counsel: That which takes examples from past times; as what the Hebrews
suffered when they worshipped the golden calf, and what they suffered when
they committed fornication, and the like. The second, whose meaning is
understood from the present times, as being apprehended by perception; as
it was said to those who asked the Lord, "If He was the Christ, or shall we
wait for another? Go and tell John, the blind receive their sight, the deaf
hear, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up; and blessed is he
who shall not be offended in Me."[4] Such was that which David aid when he
prophesied, "As we have heard, so have we seen."[5] And the third
department of counsel consists of what is future, by which we are bidden
guard against what is to happen; as also that was said, "They that fall
into sins shall be cast into outer darkness, where there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth,"[6] and the like. So that from these things it is
clear that the Lord, going the round of all the methods of curative
treatment, calls humanity to salvation.

   By encouragement He assuages sins, reducing lust, and at the same time
inspiring hope for salvation. For He says by Ezekiel, "If ye return with
your whole heart, and say, Father, I will hear you, as a holy people."[7]
And again He says, "Come all to Me, who labour, and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest;"[8] and that which is added the Lord speaks in His own
person. And very clearly He calls to goodness by Solomon, when He says,
"Blessed is the man who hath found wisdom, and the mortal who hath found
understanding."[9] "For the good is  found by him who seeks it, and is wont
to be seen by him who has found it."[10] By Jeremiah, too, He sets forth
prudence, when he says, "Blessed are we, Israel; for what is pleasing to
God is known by us;[11]--and it is known by the Word, by whom we are
blessed and wise. For wisdom and knowledge are mentioned by the same
prophet, when he says, "Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life, and give
ear to know understanding."[12] By Moses, too, by reason of the love He has
to man, He promises a gift to those who hasten to salvation. For He says,
"And I will bring you into the good land, which the Lord sware to your
fathers. "[1] And further, "And I will bring you into the holy mountain,
and make you glad,"[2] He says by Isaiah. And still another form of
instruction is benediction. "And blessed is he," He saith by David, "who
has not sinned; and he shall be as the tree planted near the channels of
the waters, which will yield its fruit in its season, and his leaf shall
not wither "[3] (by this He made an allusion to the resurrection); "and
whatsoever he shall do shall prosper with him." Such He wishes us to be,
that we may be blessed. Again, showing the opposite scale of the balance of
justice, He says, "But not so the ungodly--not so; but as the dust which
the wind sweeps away from the face of the earth."[4] By showing the
punishment of sinners, and their easy dispersion, and carrying off by the
wind, the Instructor dissuades from crime by means of punishment; and by
holding up the merited penalty, shows the benignity of His beneficence in
the most skilful way, in order that we may possess and enjoy its blessings.
He invites us to knowledge also, when He says by Jeremiah, "Hadst thou
walked in the way of God, thou wouldst have dwelt for ever in peace; "[5]
for, exhibiting there the reward of knowledge, He calls the wise to the
love of it. And, granting pardon to him who has erred, He says, "Turn,
turn, as a grape-gatherer to his basket."[6] Do you see the goodness of
justice, in that it counsels to repentance? And still further, by Jeremiah,
He enlightens in the truth those who have erred. "Thus saith the LORD,
Stand in the ways, and look, and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord,
what is the good path, and walk in it, and ye shall find purification for
your souls."[7] And in order to promote our salvation, He leads us to
repentance. Wherefore He says, "If thou repent, the LORD will purify thy
heart, and the heart of thy seed."[8] We might have adduced, as supporters
on this question, the philosophers who say that only the perfect man is
worthy of praise, and the bad man of blame. But since some slander
beatitude, as neither itself taking any trouble, nor giving any to any one
else, thus not understanding its love to man; on their account, and on
account of those who do not associate justice with goodness, the following
remarks are added. For it were a legitimate inference to say, that rebuke
and censure are suitable to men, since they say that all men are bad; but
God alone is wise, from whom cometh wisdom, and alone perfect, and
therefore alone worthy of praise. But I do not employ such language. I say,
then, that praise or blame, or whatever resembles praise or blame, are
medicines most essential of all to men. Some are ill to cure, and, like
iron, are wrought into shape with fire, and hammer, and anvil, that is,
with threatening, and reproof, and  chastisement; while others, cleaving to
faith itself, as self-taught, and as acting of their own free-will, grow by
praise:-

   "For virtue that is praised
   Grows like a tree."

And comprehending this, as it seems to me, the Samian Pythagoras gives the
injunction :--

   "When you have done base things, rebuke yourself;
   But when you have done good things, be glad."

Chiding is also called admonishing; and the etymology of admonishing
(nouthe'thsis) is (nou enthematismo's) putting of understanding into one;
so that rebuking is bringing one to one's senses.

   But there are myriads of injunctions to be found, whose aim is the
attainment of what is good, and the avoidance of what is evil. "For  there
is no peace to the wicked, saith the LORD."[9] Wherefore by Solomon He
commands the children to beware: "My son, let not sinners deceive thee, and
go not after their ways; and go not, if they entice thee, saying, Come with
us, share with us in innocent blood, and let us hide unjustly the righteous
man in the earth; let us put him out of sight, all alive as he is into
Hades."[10] This is accordingly likewise a prediction concerning the Lord's
passion. And by Ezekiel, the life supplies commandments: "The soul that
sinneth shall die; but he that doeth righteousness shall be righteous. He
eateth not upon the mountains, and hath not set his eyes on the devices of
the house of Israel, and will not defile his neighbour's wife, and will not
approach to a woman in her separation, and will not oppress a man, and will
restore the debtor's pledge, and will not take plunder: he will give his
bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked. His money he will not give on
usury, and will not take interest; and he will turn away his hand from
wrong, and will execute righteous judgment between a man and his neighbour.
He has walked in my statutes, and kept my judgments to do them. This is a
righteous man. He shall surely live, saith the Lord."[11] These words
contain a description of the conduct of Christians, a notable exhortation
to the blessed life, which is the reward of a life of goodness--everlasting
life.

CHAP, XI.--THAT THE WORD INSTRUCTED BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS.

   The mode of His love and His instruction we have shown as we could.
Wherefore He Himself, declaring Himself very beautifully, likened Himself
to a grain of mustard-seed;[1] and pointed out the spirituality of the word
that is sown, and the productiveness of its nature, and the magnificence
and conspicuousness of the power of the word; and besides, intimated that
the pungency and the purifying virtue of punishment are profitable on
account of its sharpness. By the little grain, as it is figuratively
called, He bestows salvation on all humanity abundantly. Honey, being very
sweet, generates bile, as goodness begets contempt, which is the cause of
sinning. But mustard lessens bile, that is, anger, and stops inflammation,
that is, pride. From which Word springs the true health of the soul, and
its eternal happy temperament (eukrasi'a).

   Accordingly, of old He instructed by Moses, and then by the prophets.
Moses, too, was a prophet. For the law is the training of refractory
children. "Having feasted to the full," accordingly, it is said, "they rose
up to play; "[2] senseless repletion with victuals being called cho'rtasma
(fodder), not brw^ma (food). And when, having senselessly filled
themselves, they senselessly played; on that account the law was given
them, and terror ensued for the prevention of transgressions and for the
promotion of right actions, securing attention, and so winning to obedience
to the true Instructor, being one and the same Word, and reducing to
conformity with the urgent demands of the law. For Paul says that it was
given to be a "schoolmaster to bring us to Christ."[3] So that from this it
is clear, that one alone, true, good, just, in the image and likeness of
the Father, His Son Jesus, the Word of God, is our Instructor; to whom God
hath entrusted us, as an affectionate father commits his children to a
worthy tutor, expressly charging us, "This is my beloved Son: hear Him."[4]
The divine Instructor is trustworthy, adorned as He is with three of the
fairest ornaments--knowledge, benevolence, and authority of utterance;--
with knowledge, for He is the paternal wisdom: "All Wisdom is from the
Lord, and with Him for evermore;"--with authority of utterance, for He is
God and Creator: "For all things were made by Him, and without Him was not
anything made;"[5]--and with benevolence, for He alone gave Himself a
sacrifice for us: "For the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep;
"[6] and He has so given it. Now, benevolence is nothing but wishing to do
good to one's neighbour for his sake.

CHAP. XII.--THE INSTRUCTOR CHARACTERIZED BY THE SEVERITY AND BENIGNITY OF
PATERNAL AFFECTION.

   Having now accomplished those things, it were a fitting sequel that our
instructor Jesus should draw for us the model of the true life, and train
humanity in Christ.

   Nor is the cast and character of the life He enjoins very formidable;
nor is it made altogether easy by reason of His benignity. He enjoins His
commands, and at the same time gives them such a character that they may be
accomplished.

   The view I take is, that He Himself formed man of the dust, and
regenerated him by water; and made him grow by his Spirit; and trained him
by His word to adoption and salvation, directing him by sacred precepts; in
order that, transforming earth-born man into a holy and heavenly being by
His advent, He might fulfil to the utmost that divine utterance, "Let Us
make man in Our own image and likeness."[7] And, in truth, Christ became
the perfect realization of what God spake; and the rest of humanity is
conceived as being created merely in His image.

   But let us, O children of the good Father--nurslings of the good
Instructor--fulfil the Father's will, listen to the Word, and take on the
impress of the truly saving life of our Saviour; and meditating on the
heavenly mode of life according to which we have been deified, let us
anoint ourselves with the perennial immortal bloom of gladness--that
ointment of sweet fragrance--having a clear example of immortality in the
walk and conversation of the Lord; and following the footsteps of God, to
whom alone it belongs to consider, and whose care it is to see to, the way
and manner in which the life of men may be made more healthy. Besides, He
makes preparation for a self-sufficing mode of life, for simplicity, and
for girding up our loins, and for free and unimpeded readiness of our
journey; in order to the attainment of an eternity of beatitude, teaching
each one of us to be his own storehouse. For He says, "Take no anxious
thought for to-morrow,"[8] meaning that the man who has devoted himself to
Christ ought to be sufficient to himself, and servant to himself, and
moreover lead a life which provides for each day by itself. For it is not
in war, but in peace, that we are trained. War needs great preparation, and
luxury craves profusion; but peace and love, simple and quiet sisters,
require no arms nor excessive preparation. The Word is their sustenance.

   Our superintendence in instruction and discipline is the office of the
Word, from whom we learn frugality and humility, and all that pertains to
love of truth, love of man, and love of excellence. And so, in a word,
being assimilated to God by a participation in moral excellence, we must
not retrograde into carelessness and sloth. But labour, and faint not. Thou
shalt be what thou dost not hope, and canst not conjecture. And as there is
one mode of training for philosophers, another for orators, and another for
athletes; so is there a generous disposition, suitable to the choice that
is set upon moral loveliness, resulting from the training of Christ. And in
the case of those who have been trained according to this influence, their
gait in walking, their sitting at table, their food, their sleep, their
going to bed, their regimen, and the rest of their mode of life, acquire a
superior dignity.[1] For such a training as is pursued by the Word is not
overstrained, but is of the right tension. Thus, therefore, the Word has
been called also the Saviour, seeing He has found out for men those
rational medicines which produce vigour of the senses and salvation; and
devotes Himself to watching for the favourable moment, reproving evil,
exposing the causes of evil affections, and striking at the roots of
irrational lusts, pointing out what we ought to abstain from, and supplying
all the antidotes of salvation to those who are diseased. For the greatest
and most regal work of God is the salvation of humanity. The sick are vexed
at a physician, who gives no advice bearing on their restoration to health.
But how shall we not acknowledge the highest gratitude to the divine
Instructor, who is not silent, who omits not those threatenings that point
towards destruction, but discloses them, and cuts off the impulses that
tend to them; and who indoctrinates in those counsels which result in the
true way of living? We must confess, therefore, the deepest obligations to
Him. For what else do we say is incumbent on the rational creature--I mean
man--than the contemplation of the Divine? I say, too, that it is requisite
to contemplate human nature, and to live as the truth directs, and to
admire the Instructor and His injunctions, as suitable and harmonious to
each other. According to which image also we ought, conforming ourselves to
the Instructor, and making the word and our deeds agree, to live a real
life.

CHAP. XIII.--VIRTUE RATIONAL, SIN IRRATIONAL.

   Everything that is contrary to right reason is sin. Accordingly,
therefore, the philosophers think fit to define the most generic passions
thus: lust, as desire disobedient to reason; fear, as weakness disobedient
to reason; pleasure, as an elation of the spirit disobedient to reason. If,
then, disobedience in reference to reason is the generating cause of sin,
how shall we escape the conclusion, that obedience to reason--the Word--
which we call faith, will of necessity be the efficacious cause of duty?
For virtue itself is a state of the soul rendered harmonious by reason in
respect to the whole life. Nay, to crown all, philosophy itself is
pronounced to be the cultivation of right reason; so that, necessarily,
whatever is done through error of reason is transgression, and is rightly
called, (hama'rthma) sin. Since, then, the first man sinned and disobeyed
God, it is said, "And man became like to the beasts:"[2] being rightly
regarded as irrational, he is likened to the beasts. Whence Wisdom says:
"The horse for covering; the libidinous and the adulturer is become like to
an irrational beast."[3] Wherefore also it is added: "He neighs, whoever
may be sitting on him." The man, it is meant, no longer speaks; for he who
transgresses against reason is no longer rational, but an irrational
animal, given up to lusts by which he is ridden (as a horse by his rider).

   But that which is done right, in obedience to reason, the followers of
the Stoics call prosh^kon and kathh^kon, that is, incumbent and fitting.
What is fitting is incumbent. And obedience is founded on commands. And
these being, as they are, the same as counsels--having truth for their aim,
train up to the ultimate goal of aspiration, which is conceived of as the
end (te'los). And the end of piety is eternal rest in God. And the
beginning of eternity is our end. The right operation of piety perfects
duty by works; whence, according to just reasoning, duties consist in
actions, not in sayings. And Christian conduct is the Operation of the
rational soul in accordance with a correct judgment and aspiration after
the truth, which attains its destined end through the body, the soul's
consort and ally.[4] Virtue is a will in conformity to God and Christ in
life, rightly adjusted to life everlasting. For the life of Christians, in
which we are now trained, is a system of reasonable actions--that is, of
those things taught by the Word--an unfailing energy which we have called
faith. The system is the commandments of the Lord, which, being divine
statues and spiritual counsels, have been written for ourselves, being
adapted for ourselves and our neighbours. Moreover, they turn back on us,
as the ball rebounds on him that throws it by the repercussion. Whence also
duties are essential for divine discipline, as being enjoined by God, and
furnished for our salvation. And since, of those things which are
necessary, some relate only to life here, and others, which relate to the
blessed life yonder, wing us for flight hence; so, in an analogous manner,
of duties, some are ordained with reference to life, others for the blessed
life. The commandments issued with respect to natural life are published to
the multitude; but those that are suited for living well, and from which
eternal life springs, we have to consider, as in a sketch, as we read them
out of the Scriptures.

THE INSTRUCTOR

BOOK II.

CHAP. I.--ON EATING.

   KEEPING, then, to our aim, and selecting the Scriptures which bear on
the usefulness of training for life, we must now compendiously describe
what the man who is called a Christian ought to be during the whole of his
life. We must accordingly begin with ourselves, and how we ought to
regulate ourselves. We have therefore, preserving a due regard to the
symmetry of this work, to say how each of us ought to conduct himself in
respect to his body, or rather how to regulate the body itself. For
whenever any one, who has been brought away by the Word from external
things, and from attention to the body itself to the mind, acquires a clear
view of what happens according to nature in man, he will know that he is
not to be earnestly occupied about external things, but about what is
proper and peculiar to man--to purge the eye of the soul, and to sanctify
also his flesh. For he that is clean  rid of those things which constitute
him still dust, what else has he more serviceable than himself for walking
in the way which leads to the comprehension of God.

   Some men, in truth, live that they may eat, as the irrational
creatures, "whose life is their belly, and nothing else." But the
Instructor enjoins us to eat that we may live. For neither is food our
business, nor is pleasure our aim; but both are on account of our life
here, which the Word is training up to immortality. Wherefore also there is
discrimination to be employed in reference to food. And it is to be simple,
truly plain, suiting precisely simple and artless children--as ministering
to life, not to luxury. And the life to which it conduces consists of two
things--health and strength; to which plainness of fare is most suitable,
being conducive both to digestion and lightness of body, from which come
growth, and health, and right strength, not strength that is wrong or
dangerous and wretched, as is that of athletes produced by compulsory
feeding.

   We must therefore reject different varieties, which engender various
mischiefs, such as a depraved habit of body and disorders of the stomach,
the taste being vitiated by an unhappy art--that of cookery, and the
useless art of making pastry. For people dare to call by the name of food
their dabbling in luxuries, which glides into mischievous pleasures.
Antiphanes, the Delian physician, said that this variety of viands was the
one cause of disease; there being people who dislike the truth, and through
various absurd notions abjure moderation of diet, and put themselves to a
world of trouble to procure dainties from beyond seas.

   For my part, I am sorry for this disease, while they are not ashamed to
sing the praises of their delicacies, giving themselves great trouble to
get lampreys in the Straits of Sicily, the eels of the Maeander, and the
kids found in Melos, and the mullets in Sciathus, and the mussels of
Pelorus, the oysters of Abydos, not omitting the sprats found in Lipara,
and the Mantinican turnip; and furthermore, the beetroot that grows among
the Ascraeans: they seek out the cockles of Methymna, the turbots of
Attica, and the thrushes of Daphnis, and the reddish-brown dried figs, on
account of which the ill-starred Persian marched into Greece with five
hundred thousand men. Besides these, they purchase birds from Phasis, the
Egyptian snipes, and the Median peafowl. Altering these by means of
condiments, the gluttons gape for the sauces. "Whatever earth and the
depths of the sea, and the unmeasured space of the air produce," they cater
for their gluttony. In their greed and solicitude, the gluttons seem
absolutely to sweep the world with a drag-net to gratify their luxurious
tastes. These gluttons, surrounded with the sound of hissing frying-pans,
and wearing their whole life away at the pestle and mortar, cling to matter
like fire. More than that, they emasculate plain food, namely bread, by
straining off the nourishing part of the grain, so that the necessary part
of food becomes matter of reproach to luxury. There is no limit to
epicurism among men. For it has driven them to sweetmeats, and honey-cakes,
and sugar-plums; inventing a multitude of desserts, hunting after all
manner of dishes. A man like this seems to me to be all jaw, and nothing
else. "Desire not," says the Scripture, "rich men's dainties;"[1] for they
belong to a false and base life. They partake of luxurious dishes, which a
little after go to the dunghill. But we who seek the heavenly bread must
role the belly, which is beneath heaven, and much more the things which are
agreeable to it, which "God shall destroy,"[2] says the apostle, justly
execrating gluttonous desires. For "meats are for the belly,"[3] for on
them depends this truly carnal and destructive life; whence[4] some,
speaking with unbridled tongue, dare to apply the name agape,[5] to pitiful
suppers, redolent of savour and sauces. Dishonouring the good and saving
work of the Word, the consecrated agape, with pots and pouring of sauce;
and by drink and delicacies and smoke desecrating that name, they are
deceived in their idea, having expected that the promise of God might be
bought with suppers. Gatherings for the sake of mirth, and such
entertainments as are called by ourselves, we name rightly suppers,
dinners, and banquets, after the example of the Lord. But such
entertainments the Lord has not called agapoe. He says accordingly
somewhere, "When thou art called to a wedding, recline not on the highest
couch; but when thou art called, fall into the lowest place;"[6] and
elsewhere, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper;" and again, "But when
thou makest an entertainment, call the poor,"[7] for whose sake chiefly a
supper ought to be made. And further, "A certain man made a great supper,
and called many."[8] But I perceive whence the specious appellation of
suppers flowed: "from the gullets and furious love for suppers"--according
to the comic poet. For, in truth, "to many, many things are on account of
the supper." For they have not yet learned that God has provided for His
creature (man I mean) food and drink, for sustenance, not for pleasure;
since the body derives no advantage from extravagance in viands. For, quite
the contrary, those who use the most frugal fare are the strongest and the
healthiest, and the noblest; as domestics are healthier and stronger than
their masters, and husbandmen than the proprietors; and not only more
robust, but wiser, as philosophers are wiser than rich men. For they have
not buried the mind beneath food, nor deceived it with pleasures. But love
(agape) is in truth celestial food, the banquet of reason. "It beareth all
things, endureth all things, hopeth all things. Love never faileth."[9]
"Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."[10] But the
hardest of all cases is for charity, which faileth not, to be cast from
heaven above to the ground into the midst of sauces. And do you imagine
that I am thinking of a supper that is to be done away with? "For if," it
is said, "I bestow all my goods, and have not love, I am nothing."[11] On
this love alone depend the law and the Word; and if "thou shalt love the
Lord thy God and thy neighbour," this is the celestial festival in the
heavens. But the earthly is called a supper, as has been shown from
Scripture. For the supper is made for love, but the supper is not love
(agape); only a proof of mutual and reciprocal kindly feeling. "Let not,
then, your good be evil spoken of; for the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink," says the apostle, in order that the meal spoken of may not be
conceived as ephemeral, "but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost."[12] He who eats of this meal, the best of all, shall possess the
kingdom of God, fixing his regards here on the holy assembly of love, the
heavenly Church. Love, then, is something pure and worthy of God, and its
work is communication. "And the care of discipline is love," as Wisdom
says; "and love is the keeping of the law."[13] And these joys have an
inspiration of love from the public nutriment, which accustoms to
everlasting dainties. Love (agape), then, is not a supper. But let the
entertainment depend on love. For it is said, "Let the children whom Thou
hast loved, O Lord, learn that it is not the products of fruits that
nourish man; but it is Thy word which preserves those who believe on
Thee."[14] "For the righteous shall not live by bread."[15] But let our
diet be light and digestible, and suitable for keeping awake, unmixed with
diverse varieties. Nor is this a point which is beyond the sphere of
discipline. For love is a good nurse for communication; having as its rich
provision sufficiency, which, presiding over diet measured in due quantity,
and treating the body in a healthful way, distributes something from its
resources to those near us, But the diet which exceeds sufficiency injures
a man, deteriorates his spirit, and renders his body prone to disease.
Besides, those dainty tastes, which trouble themselves about rich dishes
drive to practices of ill-repute, daintiness, gluttony, greed, voracity,
insatiability. Appropriate designations of such people as so indulge are
flies, weasels, flatterers, gladiators, and the monstrous tribes of
parasites--the one class surrendering reason, the other friendship, and the
other life, for the gratification of the belly; crawling on their bellies,
beasts in human shape after the image of their father, the voracious beast.
People first called the abandoned asw'tous, and so appear to me to indicate
their end, understanding them as those who are (asw'stous) unsaved,
excluding the "s". For those that are absorbed in pots, and exquisitely
prepared niceties of condiments, are they not plainly abject, earth-born,
leading an ephemeral kind of life, as if they were not to live [hereafter]?
Those the Holy Spirit, by Isaiah, denounces as wretched, depriving them
tacitly of the name of love (agape), since their feasting was not in
accordance with the word. "But they made mirth, killing calves, and
sacrificing sheep, saying, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." And
that He reckons such luxury to be sin, is shown by what He adds, "And your
sin shall not be forgiven you till you die,"[1]--not conveying the idea
that death, which deprives of sensation, is the forgiveness of sin, but
meaning that death of salvation which is the recompense of sin. "Take no
pleasure in abominable delicacies," says Wisdom.[2] At this point, too, we
have to advert to what are called things sacrificed to idols, in order to
show how we are enjoined to abstain from them. Polluted and abominable
those things seem to me, to the blood of which, fly

"Souls from Erebus of inanimate corpses."[3]

"For I would not that ye should have fellowship with demons,"[4] says the
apostle; since the food of those who are saved and those who perish is
separate. We must therefore abstain from these viands not for fear (because
there is no power in them); but on account of our conscience, which is
holy, and out of detestation of the demons to which they are dedicated, are
we to loathe them; and further, on account of the instability of those who
regard many things in a way that makes them prone to fall, "whose
conscience, being weak, is defiled: for meat commendeth us not to God."[5]
"For it is not that  which entereth in that defileth a man, but that which
goeth out of his mouth." [6] The natural use of food is then indifferent.
"For neither if we eat are we the better," it is said, "nor if we eat not
are we the worse."[7] But it is inconsistent with reason, for those that
have been made worthy to share divine and spiritual food, to partake of the
tables of demons. "Have we not power to eat and to drink," says the
apostle, "and to lead about wives"? But by keeping pleasures under command
we prevent lusts. See, then, that this power of yours never "become a
stumbling-block to the weak."

   For it were not seemly that we, after the fashion of the rich man's son
in the Gospel,[8] should, as prodigals, abuse the Father's gifts; but we
should use them, without undue attachment to them, as having command over
ourselves. For we are enjoined to reign and rule over meats, not to be
slaves to them. It is an admirable thing, therefore, to raise our eyes
aloft to what is true, to depend on that divine food above, and to satiate
ourselves with the exhaustless contemplation of that which truly exists,
and so taste of the only sure and pure delight. For such is the agape,
which, the food that comes from Christ shows that we ought to partake of.
But totally irrational, futile, and not human is it for those that are of
the earth, fattening themselves like cattle, to feed themselves up for
death; looking downwards on the earth, and bending ever over tables;
leading a life of gluttony; burying all the good of existence here in a
life that by and by will end; courting voracity alone, in respect to which
cooks are held in higher esteem than husbandmen. For we do not abolish
social intercourse, but look with suspicion on the snares of custom, and
regard them as a calamity. Wherefore daintiness is to be shunned, and we
are to partake of few and necessary things. "And if one of the unbelievers
call us to a feast, and we determine to go" (for it is a good thing not to
mix with the dissolute), the apostle bids us "eat what is set before us,
asking no questions for conscience sake."[9] Similarly he has enjoined to
purchase "what is sold in the shambles," without curious questioning?

   We are not, then, to abstain wholly from various kinds of food, but
only are not to be taken up about them. We are to partake of what is set
before us, as becomes a Christian, out of respect to him who has invited
us, by a harmless and moderate participation in the social meeting;
regarding the sumptuousness of what is put on the table as a matter of
indifference, despising the dainties, as after a little destined to perish.
"Let him who eateth, not despise him who eateth not; and let him who eateth
not, not judge him who eateth."[11] And a little way on he explains the
reason of the command, when he says, "He that eateth, eateth to the Lord,
and giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not,
and giveth God thanks."[1] So that the right food is thanksgiving. And he
who gives thanks does not occupy his time in pleasures. And if we would
persuade any of our fellow-guests to virtue, we are all the more on this
account to abstain from those dainty dishes; and so exhibit ourselves as a
bright pattern of virtue, such as we ourselves have in Christ. "For if any
of such meats make a brother to stumble, I shall not eat it as long as the
world lasts," says he, "that I may not make my brother stumble."[2] I gain
the man by a little self-restraint. "Have we not power to eat and to
drink?"[3] And "we know"--he says the truth--"that an idol is nothing in
the world; but we have only one true God, of whom are all things, and one
Lord Jesus. But," he says, "through thy knowledge thy weak brother
perishes, for whom Christ died; and they that wound the conscience of the
weak brethren sin against Christ."[4] Thus the apostle, in his solicitude
for us, discriminates in the case of entertainments, saying, that "if any
one called a brother be found a fornicator, or an adulterer, or an
idolater, with such an one not to eat;"[5] neither in discourse or food are
we to join, looking with suspicion on the pollution thence proceeding, as
on the tables of the demons. "It is good, then, neither to eat flesh nor to
drink wine," [6] as both he and the Pythagoreans acknowledge. For this is
rather characteristic of a beast; and the fumes arising from them being
dense, darken the soul. If one partakes of them, he does not sin. Only let
him partake temperately, not dependent on them, nor gaping after fine fare.
For a voice will whisper to him, saying, "Destroy not the work of God for
the sake of food." [7] For it is the mark of a silly mind to be amazed and
stupefied at what is presented at vulgar banquets, after the rich fare
which is in the Word; and much sillier to make one's eyes the slaves of the
delicacies, so that one's greed is, so to speak, carried round by the
servants. And how foolish for people to raise themselves on the couches,
all but pitching their faces into the dishes, stretching out from the couch
as from a nest, according to the common saying, "that they may catch the
wandering steam by breathing it in!" And how senseless, to besmear their
hands with the condiments, and to be constantly reaching to the sauce,
cramming themselves immoderately and shamelessly, not like people tasting,
but ravenously seizing! For you may see such people, liker swine or dogs
for gluttony than men, in such a hurry to feed themselves full, that both
jaws are stuffed out at once, the veins about the face raised, and besides,
the perspiration running all over, as they are tightened with their
insatiable greed, and panting with their excess; the food pushed with
unsocial eagerness into their stomach, as if they were stowing away their
victuals for provision for a journey, not for digestion. Excess, which in
all things is an evil, is very highly reprehensible in the matter of food.
Gluttony, called opsophagi'a, is nothing but excess in the use of relishes
(o'pson); and laimargi'a is insanity with respect to the gullet; and
gastrimargi'a is excess with respect to food--insanity in reference to the
belly, as the name implies; for ma'rgos is a madman. The apostle, checking
those that transgress in their conduct at entertainments,[8] says: "For
every one taketh beforehand in eating his own supper; and one is hungry,
and another drunken. Have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise
ye the church of God, and shame those who have not?"[9] And among those who
have, they, who eat shamelessly and are insatiable, shame themselves. And
both act badly; the one by paining those who have not, the other by
exposing their own greed in the presence of those who have. Necessarily,
therefore, against those who have cast off shame and unsparingly abuse
meals, the insatiable to whom nothing is sufficient, the apostle, in
continuation, again breaks forth in a voice of displeasure: "So that, my
brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait for one another. And if any
one is hungry, let him eat at home, that ye come not together to
condemnation."[10]

   From all slavish habits" and excess we must abstain, and touch what is
set before us in a decorous way; keeping the hand and couch and chin free
of stains; preserving the grace of the countenance undisturbed, and
committing no indecorum in the act of swallowing; but stretching out the
hand at intervals in an orderly manner. We must guard against speaking
anything while eating: for the voice becomes disagreeable and inarticulate
when it is confined by full jaws; and the tongue, pressed by the food and
impeded in its natural energy; gives forth a compressed utterance. Nor is
it suitable to eat and to drink simultaneously. For it is the very extreme
of intemperance to confound the times whose uses are discordant. And
"whether ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God,"[12] aiming after
true frugality, which the Lord also seems to me to have hinted at when He
blessed the loaves and the cooked fishes with which He feasted the
disciples, introducing a beautiful example of simple food. That fish then
which, at the command of the Lord, Peter caught, points to digestible and
God-given and moderate food. And by those who rise from the water to the
bait of righteousness, He admonishes us to take away luxury and avarice, as
the coin from the fish; in order that He might displace vainglory; and by
giving the stater to the tax-gatherers, and "rendering to Caesar the things
which are Caesar's," might preserve "to God the things which are God's."
[1] The staler is capable of other explanations not unknown to us, but the
present is not a suitable occasion for their treatment. Let the mention we
make for our present purpose suffice, as it is not unsuitable to the
flowers of the Word; and we have often done this, drawing to the urgent
point of the question the most beneficial fountain, in order to water those
who have been planted by the Word. "For if it is lawful for me to partake
of all things, yet all things are not expedient."[2] For those that do all
that is lawful, quickly fall into doing what is unlawful. And just as
righteousness is not attained by avarice, nor temperance by excess; so
neither is the regimen of a Christian formed by indulgence; for the table
of truth is far from lascivious dainties. For though it was chiefly for
men's sake that all things were made, yet it is not good to use all things,
nor at all times. For the occasion, and the time, and the mode, and the
intention, materially turn the balance with reference to what is useful, in
the view of one who is rightly instructed; and this is suitable, and has
influence in putting a stop to a life of gluttony, which wealth is prone to
choose, not that wealth which sees clearly, but that abundance which makes
a man blind with reference to gluttony. No one is poor as regards
necessaries, and a man is never overlooked. For there is one God who feeds
the fowls and the fishes, and, in a word, the irrational creatures; and not
one thing whatever is wanting to them, though "they take no thought for
their food."[3] And we are better than they, being their lords, and more
closely allied to God, as being wiser; and we were made, not that we might
eat and drink, but that we might devote ourselves to the knowledge of God.
"For the just man who eats is satisfied in his soul, but the belly of the
wicked shall want,"[4] filled with the appetites of insatiable gluttony.
Now lavish expense is adapted not for enjoyment alone, but also for social
communication. Wherefore we must guard against those articles of food which
persuade us to eat when we are not hungry, bewitching the appetite. For is
there not within a temperate simplicity a wholesome variety of eatables?
Bulbs,[5] olives, certain herbs, milk, cheese, fruits, all kinds of cooked
food without sauces; and if flesh is wanted, let roast rather than boiled
be set down. Have you anything to eat here? said the Lord[6] to the
disciples after the resurrection; and they, as taught by Him to practise
frugality, "gave Him a piece of broiled fish;" and having eaten before
them, says Luke, He spoke to them what He spoke. And in addition to these,
it is not to be overlooked that those who feed according to the Word are
not debarred from dainties in the shape of honey-combs. For of articles of
food, those are the most suitable which are fit for immediate use without
fire, since they are readiest; and second to these are those which are
simplest, as we said before. But those who bend around inflammatory tables,
nourishing their own diseases, are ruled by a most lickerish demon, whom I
shall not blush to call the Belly-demon, and the worst and most abandoned
of demons. He is therefore exactly like the one who is called the
Ventriloquist-demon. It is far better to be happy[7] than to have a demon
dwelling with us. And happiness is found in the practice of virtue.
Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts,[8] and
vegetables, without flesh. And John, who carded temperance to the extreme,
"ate locusts and wild honey." Peter abstained from swine; "but a trance
fell on him," as is written in the Acts of the Apostles, "and he saw heaven
opened, and a vessel let down on the earth by the four corners, and all the
four-looted beasts and creeping things of the earth and the fowls of heaven
in it; and there came a voice to him, Rise, and slay, and eat. And Peter
said, Not so, Lord, for I  have never eaten what is common or unclean. And
the voice came again to him the second time, What God hath cleansed, call
not thou common."[9] The use of them is accordingly indifferent to us. "For
not what entereth into the mouth defileth the man,"[10] but the vain
opinion respecting uncleanness. For God, when He created man, said, "All
things shall be to you for meat."[11] "And herbs, with love, are better
than a calf with fraud."[12] This well reminds us of what was said above,
that herbs are not love, but that our meals are to be taken with love;[13]
and in these the medium state is good. In all things, indeed, this is the
case, and not least in the preparation made for feasting, since the
extremes are dangerous, and middle courses good. And to be in no want of
necessaries is the medium. For the desires which are in accordance with
nature are bounded by sufficiency. The Jews had frugality enjoined on them
by the law in the most systematic manner. For the Instructor, by Moses,
deprived them of the use of innumerable things, adding reasons--the
spiritual ones hidden; the carnal ones apparent, to which indeed they have
trusted; in the case of some animals, because they did not part the hoof,
and others because they did not ruminate their food, and others because
alone of aquatic animals they were devoid of scales; so that altogether but
a few were left appropriate for their food. And of those that he permitted
them to touch, he prohibited such as had died, or were offered to idols, or
had been strangled; for to touch these was unlawful. For since it is
impossible for those who use dainties to abstain from partaking of them, he
appointed the opposite mode of life, till he should break down the
propensity to indulgence arising from habit. Pleasure has often produced in
men harm and pain; and full feeding begets in the soul uneasiness, and
forgetfulness, and foolishness. And they say that the bodies of children,
when shooting up to their height, are made to grow right by deficiency in
nourishment. For then the spirit, which pervades the body in order to its
growth, is not checked by abundance of food obstructing the freedom of its
course. Whence that truth-seeking philosopher Plato, fanning the spark of
the Hebrew philosophy when condemning a life of luxury, says: "On my coming
hither, the life which is here called happy, full of Italian and Syracusan
tables, pleased me not by any means, [consisting as it did] in being filled
twice a day, and never sleeping by night alone, and whatever other
accessories attend the mode of life. For not one man under heaven, if
brought up from his youth in such practices, will ever turn out a wise man,
with however admirable a natural genius he may be endowed." For Plato was
not unacquainted with David, who "placed the sacred ark in his city in the
midst of the tabernacle ;" and bidding all his subjects rejoice "before the
Lord, divided to the whole host of Israel, man and woman, to each a loaf of
bread, and baked bread, and a cake from the frying-pan."[1]

   This was the sufficient sustenance of the Israelites. But that of the
Gentiles was over-abundant. No one who uses it will ever study to become
temperate, burying as he does his mind in his belly, very like the fish
called ass,[2] which, Aristotle says, alone of all creatures has its heart
in its stomach. This fish Epicharmus  the comic poet calls "monster-
paunch."

   Such are the men who believe in their belly, "whose God is their belly,
whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." To them the
apostle predicted no good when he said, "whose end is destruction."[3]

CHAP. II.--ON DRINKING.

   "Use a little wine," says the apostle to Timothy, who drank water, "for
thy stomach's sake;"[4] most properly applying its aid as a strengthening
tonic suitable to a sickly body enfeebled with watery humours; and
specifying "a little," lest the remedy should, on account of its quantity,
unobserved, create the necessity of other treatment.

   The natural, temperate, and necessary beverage, therefore, for the
thirsty is water.[5] This was the simple drink of sobriety, which, flowing
from the smitten rock, was supplied by the Lord to the ancient Hebrews.[6]
It was most requisite that in their wanderings they should be temperate
[7]

   Afterwards the sacred vine produced the prophetic cluster. This was a
sign to them, when trained from wandering to their rest; representing the
great cluster the Word, bruised for us. For the blood of the grape--that
is, the Word--desired to be mixed with water, as His blood is mingled with
salvation.

   And the blood of the Lord is twofold. For there is the blood of His
flesh, by which we are redeemed from corruption; and the spiritual, that by
which we are anointed. And to drink the blood of Jesus, is to become
partaker of the Lord's immortality; the Spirit being the energetic
principle of the Word, as blood is of flesh.[8]

   Accordingly, as wine is blended with water,[9] so is the Spirit with
man. And the one, the mixture of wine and water, nourishes to faith; while
the other, the Spirit, conducts to immortality.

   And the mixture of both--of the water and of the Word--is called
Eucharist, renowned and glorious grace; and they who by faith partake of it
are sanctified both in body and soul. For the divine mixture, man, the
Father's will has mystically compounded by the Spirit and the Word. For, in
truth, the spirit is joined to the soul, which is inspired by it; and the
flesh, by reason of which the Word became flesh, to the Word.

   I therefore admire those who have adopted an austere life, and who are
fond of water, the medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possible from
wine, shunning it as they would the danger of fire.[1] It is proper,
therefore, that boys and girls should keep as much as possible away from
this medicine. For it is not right to pour into the burning season of life
the hottest of all liquids--wine--adding, as it were, fire to fire.[2] For
hence wild impulses and burning lusts and fiery habits are kindled; and
young men inflamed from within become prone to the indulgence of vicious
propensities; so that signs of injury appear in their body, the members of
lust coming to maturity sooner than they ought. The breasts and organs of
generation, inflamed with wine, expand and swell in a shameful way, already
exhibiting beforehand the image of fornication; and the body compels the
wound of the soul to inflame, and shameless pulsations follow abundance,
inciting the man of correct behaviour to transgression; and hence the
voluptuousness of youth overpasses the bounds of modesty. And we must, as
far as possible, try to quench the impulses of youth by removing the
Bacchic fuel of the threatened danger; and by pouring the antidote to the
inflammation, so keep down the burning soul, and keep in the swelling
members, and allay the agitation of lust when it is already in commotion.
And in the case of grown-up people, let those with whom it agrees sometimes
partake of dinner, tasting bread only, and let them abstain wholly from
drink; in order that their superfluous moisture may be absorbed and drunk
up by the eating of dry food. For constant spitting and wiping off
perspiration, and hastening to evacuations, is the sign of excess, from the
immoderate use of liquids supplied in excessive quantity to the body. And
if thirst come on, let the appetite be satisfied with a little water. For
it is not proper that water should be supplied in too great profusion; in
order that the food may not be drowned, but ground down in order to
digestion; and this takes place when the victuals are collected into a
mass, and only a small portion is evacuated.

   And, besides, it suits divine studies not to be heavy with wine. "For
unmixed wine is far from compelling a man to be wise, much less temperate,"
according to the comic poet. But towards evening, about supper-time, wine
may be used, when we are no longer engaged in more serious readings. Then
also the air becomes colder than it is during the day; so that the failing
natural warmth requires to be nourished by the introduction of heat. But
even then it must only be a little wine that is to be used; for we must not
go on to intemperate potations. Those who are already advanced in life may
partake more cheerfully of the draught, to warm by the harmless medicine of
the vine the chill of age, which the decay of time has produced. For old
men's passions are not, for the most part, stirred to such agitation as to
drive them to the shipwreck of drunkenness. For being moored by reason and
time, as by anchors, they stand with greater ease the storm of passions
which rushes down from intemperance. They also may be permitted to indulge
in pleasantry at feasts. But to them also let the limit of their potations
be the point up to which they keep their reason unwavering, their memory
active, and their body unmoved and unshaken by wine. People in such a state
are called by those who are skilful in these matters, acrothorakes.[3] It
is well, therefore, to leave off betimes, for fear of tripping.

   One Artorius, in his book On Long Life (for so I remember), thinks that
drink should be taken only till the food be moistened, that we may attain
to a longer life. It is fitting, then, that some apply wine by way of
physic, for the sake of health alone, and others for purposes of relaxation
and enjoyment. For first wine makes the man who has drunk it more benignant
than before, more agreeable to his boon companions, kinder to his
domestics, and more pleasant to his friends. But when intoxicated, he
becomes violent instead. For wine being warm, and having sweet juices when
duly mixed, dissolves the foul excrementitious matters by its warmth, and
mixes the acrid and base humours with the agreeable scents.

   It has therefore been well said, "A joy of the soul and heart was wine
created from the beginning, when drunk in moderate sufficiency."[4] And it
is best to mix the wine with as much water as possible, and not to have
recourse to it as to water, and so get enervated to drunkenness, and not
pour it in as water from love of wine. For both are works of God; and so
the mixture of both, of water and of wine, conduces together to health,
because life consists of what is necessary and of what is useful. With
water, then, which is the necessary of life, and to be used in abundance,
there is also to be mixed the useful.

   By an immoderate quantity of wine the tongue is impeded; the lips are
relaxed; the eyes roll wildly, the sight, as  it were, swimming through the
quantity of moisture; and compelled to deceive, they think that everything
is revolving round them, and cannot count distant objects as single. "And,
in truth, methinks I see two suns,"[1] said the Theban old man in his cups.
For the sight, being disturbed by the heat of the wine, frequently fancies
the substance of one object to be manifold. And there is no difference
between moving the eye or the object seen. For both have the same effect on
the sight, which, on account of the fluctuation, cannot accurately obtain a
perception of the object. And the feet are carried from beneath the man as
by a flood, and hiccuping and vomiting and maudlin nonsense follow; "for
every intoxicated man," according to the tragedy,[2]--

   "Is conquered by anger, and empty of sense,
   And likes to pour forth much silly speech;
   And is wont to hear unwillingly,
   What evil words he with his will hath said."

And before tragedy, Wisdom cried, "Much wine drunk abounds in irritation
and all manner of mistakes."[3] Wherefore most people say that you ought to
relax over your cups, and postpone serious business till morning. I however
think that then especially ought reason to be introduced to mix in the
feast, to act the part of director (paedagogue) to wine-drinking, lest
conviviality imperceptibly degenerate to drunkenness. For as no sensible
man ever thinks it requisite to shut his eyes before going to sleep, so
neither can any one rightly wish reason to be absent from the festive
board, or can well study to lull it asleep till business is begun. But the
Word can never quit those who belong to Him, not even if we are asleep; for
He ought to be invited even to our sleep.[4] For perfect wisdom, which is
knowledge of things divine and human, which comprehends all that relates to
the oversight of the flock of men, becomes, in reference to life, art; and
so, while we live, is constantly, with us, always accomplishing its own
proper work, the product of which is a good life.

   But the miserable wretches who expel temperance from conviviality,
think excess in drinking to be the happiest life; and their life is nothing
but revel, debauchery, baths, excess, urinals, idleness, drink. You may see
some of them, half-drunk, staggering, with crowns round their necks like
wine jars, vomiting drink on one another in the name of good fellowship;
and others, full of   the effects of their debauch, dirty, pale in the
face, livid, and still above yesterday's bout pouring another bout to last
till next morning. It is well, my friends, it is well to make our
acquaintance with this picture at the greatest possible distance from it,
and to frame ourselves to what is better, dreading lest we also become a
like spectacle and laughing-stock to others.

   It has been appropriately said, "As the furnace proverb the steel blade
in the process of dipping, so wine proveth the heart of the haughty."[5] A
debauch is the immoderate use of wine, intoxication the disorder that
results from such use; crapulousness (kraipa'lh) is the discomfort and
nausea that follow a debauch; so called from the head shaking (ka'ra
pa'llein).

   Such a life as this (if life it must be called, which is spent in
idleness, in agitation about voluptuous indulgences, and in the
hallucinations of debauchery) the divine Wisdom looks on with contempt, and
commands her children, "Be not a wine-bibber, nor spend your money in the
purchase of flesh; for every drunkard and fornicator shall come to beggary,
and every sluggard shall be clothed in tatters and rags."[6] For every one
that is not awake to wisdom, but is steeped in wine, is a sluggard. "And
the drunkard," he says, "shall be clothed in rags, and be ashamed of his
drunkenness in the presence of onlookers."[7] For the wounds of the sinner
are the rents of the garment of the flesh, the holes made by lusts, through
which the shame of the soul within is seen--namely sin, by reason of which
it will not be easy to save the garment, that has been torn away all round,
that has rotted away in many lusts, and has been rent asunder from
salvation.

   So he adds these most monitory words. "Who has woes, who has clamour,
who has contentions, who has disgusting babblings, who has unavailing
remorse?"[8] You see, in all his raggedness, the lover of wine, who
despises the Word Himself, and has abandoned and given himself to
drunkenness. You see what threatening Scripture has pronounced against him.
And to its threatening it adds again: "Whose are red eyes? Those, is it
not, who tarry long at their wine, and hunt out the places where drinking
goes on?" Here he shows the lover of drink to be already dead to the Word,
by the mention of the bloodshot eyes,--a mark which appears on corpses,
announcing to him death in the Lord. For forgetfulness of the things which
tend to true life turns the scale towards destruction. With reason
therefore, the Instructor, in His solicitude for our salvation, forbids us,
"Drink not wine to drunkenness." Wherefore? you will ask. Because, says He,
"thy mouth will then speak perverse things, and thou liest down as in the
heart of the sea, and as the steersman of a ship in the midst of huge
billows." Hence, too, poetry comes to our help, and says:--

   "Let wine which has strength equal to fire come to men.
   Then will it agitate them, as the north or south wind agitates the
Libyan waves."

And further:--

   "Wine wandering in speech shows all secrets.
   Soul-deceiving wine is the ruin of those who drink it."

And so on.

   You see the danger of shipwreck. The heart is drowned in much drink.
The excess of drunkenness is compared to the danger of the sea, in which
when the body has once been sunken like a ship, it descends to the depths
of turpitude, overwhelmed in the mighty billows of wine; and the helmsman,
the human mind, is tossed about on the surge of drunkenness, which swells
aloft; and buried in the trough of the sea, is blinded by the darkness of
the tempest, having drifted away from the haven of truth, till, dashing on
the rocks beneath the sea, it perishes, driven by itself into voluptuous
indulgences.

   With reason, therefore, the apostle enjoins, "Be not drunk with wine,
in which there is much excess;" by the term excess (aswti'a) intimating the
inconsistence of drunkenness with salvation (to` a'swston). For if He made
water wine at the marriage, He did not give permission to get drunk. He
gave life to the watery element of the meaning of the law, filling with His
blood the doer of it who is of Adam, that is, the whole world; supplying
piety with drink from the vine of truth, the mixture of the old law and of
the new word, in order to the fulfilment of the predestined time. The
Scripture, accordingly, has named wine the symbol of the sacred blood;[1]
but reproving the base tippling with the dregs of wine, it says:
"Intemperate is wine, and insolent is drunkenness."[2] It is agreeable,
therefore, to right reason, to drink on account of the cold of winter, till
the numbness is dispelled from those who are subject to feel it; and on
other occasions as a medicine for the intestines. For, as we are to use
food to satisfy hunger, so also are we to use drink to satisfy thirst,
taking the most careful precautions against a slip: "for the introduction
of wine is perilous." And thus shall our soul be pure, and dry, and
luminous; and the soul itself is wisest and best when dry. And thus, too,
is it fit for contemplation, and is not humid with the exhalations, that
rise from wine, forming a mass like a cloud. We must not therefore trouble
ourselves to procure Chian wine if it is absent, or Ariousian when it is
not at hand. For thirst is a sensation of want, and craves means suitable
for supplying the want, and not sumptuous liquor. Importations of wines
from beyond seas are for an appetite enfeebled by excess, where the soul
even before drunkenness is insane in its desires. For there are the
fragrant Thasian wine, and the pleasant-breathing Lesbian, and a sweet
Cretan wine, and sweet Syracusan wine, and Mendusian, an Egyptian wine, and
the insular Naxian, the "highly perfumed and flavoured,"[3] another wine of
the land of Italy. These are many names. For the temperate drinker, one
wine suffices, the product of the cultivation of the one God. For why
should not the wine of their own country satisfy men's desires, unless they
were to import water also, like the foolish Persian kings? The Choaspes, a
river of India so called, was that from which the best water for drinking--
the Choaspian--was got. As wine, when taken, makes people lovers of it, so
does water too. The Holy Spirit, uttering His voice by Amos, pronounces the
rich to be wretched on account of their luxury:[4] "Those that drink
strained wine, and recline on an ivory couch," he says; and what else
similar he adds by way of reproach.

   Especial regard is to be paid to decency[5] (as the myth represents
Athene, whoever she was, out of regard to it, giving up the pleasure of the
flute because of the unseemliness of the sight): so that we are to drink
without contortions of the face, not greedily grasping the cup, nor before
drinking making the eyes roll with unseemly motion; nor from intemperance
are we to drain the cup at a draught; nor besprinkle the chin, nor splash
the garments while gulping down all the liquor at once,--our face all but
filling the bowl, and drowned in it. For the gurgling occasioned by the
drink rushing with violence, and by its being drawn in with a great deal of
breath, as if it were being poured into an earthenware vessel, while the
throat makes a noise through the rapidity of ingurgitation, is a shameful
and unseemly spectacle of intemperance. In addition to this, eagerness in
drinking is a practice injurious to the partaker. Do not haste to mischief,
my friend. Your drink is not being taken from you. It is given you, and
waits you. Be not eager to burst, by draining it down with gaping throat.
Your thirst is satiated, even if you drink slower, observing decorum, by
taking the beverage in small portions, in an orderly way. For that which
intemperance greedily seizes, is not taken away by taking time.

   "Be not mighty," he says, "at wine; for wine has overcome many."[6] The
Scythians, the Celts, the Iberians, and the Thracians, all of them warlike
races, are greatly addicted to intoxication, and think that it is an
honourable, happy pursuit to engage in. But we, the people of peace,
feasting for lawful enjoyment, not to wantonness, drink sober cups of
friendship, that our friendships may be shown in a way truly appropriate to
the name.

   In what manner do you think the Lord drank when He became man for our
sakes? As shamelessly as we? Was it not with decorum and propriety? Was it
not deliberately? For rest assured, He Himself also partook of wine; for
He, too, was man. And He blessed the wine, saying, "Take, drink: this is my
blood"--the blood of the vine.[1] He figuratively calls the Word "shed for
many, for the remission of sins"--the holy stream of gladness. And that he
who drinks ought to observe moderation, He clearly showed by what He taught
at feasts. For He did not teach affected by wine. And that it was wine
which was the thing blessed, He showed again, when He said to His
disciples, "I will not drink of the fruit of this vine, till I drink it
with you in the kingdom of my Father."[2] But that it was wine which was
drunk by the Lord, He tells us again, when He spake concerning Himself,
reproaching the Jews for their hardness of heart: "For the Son of man," He
says, "came, and they say, Behold a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of
publicans."[3] Let this be held fast by us against those that are called
Encratites.

   But women, making a profession, forsooth, of aiming at the graceful,
that their lips may not be rent apart by stretching them on broad drinking
cups, and so widening the mouth, drinking in an unseemly way out of
alabastra quite too narrow: in the mouth, throw back their heads and bare
their necks indecently, as I think; and distending the throat in
swallowing, gulp down the liquor as if to make bare all they can to their
boon companions; and drawing hiccups like men, or rather like slaves, revel
in luxurious riot. For nothing disgraceful is proper for man, who is
endowed with reason; much less for woman to whom it brings modesty even to
reflect of what nature she is.

   "An intoxicated woman is great wrath," it is said, as if a drunken
woman were the wrath of God. Why? "Because she will not conceal her
shame."[4] For a woman is quickly drawn down to licentiousness, if she only
set her choice on pleasures. And we have not prohibited drinking from
alabastra; but we forbid studying to drink from them alone, as arrogant;
counselling women to use with indifference what comes in the way, and
cutting up by the roots the dangerous appetites that are in them. Let the
rush of air, then, which regurgitates so as to produce hiccup, be emitted
silently.

   But by no manner of means are women to be allotted to uncover and
exhibit any part of their person, lest both fall,--the men by being excited
to look, they by drawing on themselves the eyes of the men.

   But always must we conduct ourselves as in the Lord's presence, lest He
say to us, as the apostle in indignation said to the Corinthians, "When ye
come together, this is not to eat the Lord's supper."[5]

   To me, the star called by the mathematicians Acephalus (headless),
which is numbered before the wandering star, his head resting on his
breast, seems to be a type of the gluttonous, the voluptuous, and those
that are prone to drunkenness. For in such[6] the faculty of reasoning is
not situated in the head, but among the intestinal appetites, enslaved to
lust and anger. For just as Elpenor broke his neck through intoxication,[7]
so the brain, dizzied by drunkenness, falls down from above, with a great
fall to the liver and the heart, that is, to voluptuousness and anger: as
the sons of the poets say Hephaestus was hurled by Zeus from heaven to
earth.[8] "The trouble of sleeplessness, and bile, and cholic, are with an
insatiable man," it is said.[9]

   Wherefore also Noah's intoxication was recorded in writing, that, with
the clear and written description of his transgression before us, we might
guard with all our might against drunkenness. For which cause they who
covered the shame[10] of his drunkenness are blessed by the Lord. The
Scripture accordingly, giving a most comprehensive compend, has expressed
all in one word: "To an instructed man sufficiency is wine, and he will
rest in his bed."[11]

CHAP. III.--ON COSTLY VESSELS.

   And so the use of cups made of silver and gold, and of tohers inlaid
with precious stones, is out of place, being only a deception of the
vision. For if you pour any warm liquid into them, the vessels becoming
hot, to touch them is painful. On the other hand, if you pour in what is
cold, the material changes its quality, injuring the mixture, and the rich
potion is hurtful. Away, then, with Thericleian cups and Antigonides, and
Canthari, and goblets, and Lepastae,[1] and the endless shapes of drinking
vessels, and wine-coolers, and wine-pourers also. For, on the whole, gold
and silver, both publicly and privately, are an invidious possession when
they exceed what is necessary, seldom to be acquired, difficult to keep,
and not adapted for use. The elaborate vanity, too, of vessels in glass
chased, more apt to break on account of the art, teaching us to fear while
we drink, is to be banished from our well-ordered constitution. And silver
couches, and pans and vinegar-saucers, and trenchers and bowls; and besides
these, vessels of saver and gold, some for serving food, and others for
other uses which I am ashamed to name, of easily cleft cedar and thyine
wood, and ebony, and tripods fashioned of ivory, and couches with silver
feet and inlaid with ivory, and folding-doors of beds studded with gold and
variegated with tortoise-shell, and bed-clothes of purple and other colours
difficult to produce, proofs of tasteless luxury, cunning devices of envy
and effeminacy,--are all to be relinquished, as having nothing whatever
worth our pains. "For the time is short," as says the apostle. This then
remains that we do not make a ridiculous figure, as some are seen in the
public spectacles outwardly anointed strikingly for imposing effect, but
wretched within. Explaining this more clearly, he adds," It remains that
they that have wives be as though they had none, and they that buy as
though they possessed not."[2] And if he speaks thus of marriage, in
reference to which God says, "Multiply," how do you not think that
senseless display is by the Lord's authority to be banished? Wherefore also
the Lord says, "Sell what thou hast, and give to the poor; and come, follow
me." [3]

   Follow God, stripped of arrogance, stripped of fading display,
possessed of that which is thine, which is good, what alone cannot be taken
away--faith towards god, confession towards Him who suffered, beneficence
towards men, which is the most precious of possessions. For my part, I
approve of Plato, who plainly lays it down as a law, that a man is not to
labour for wealth of gold or silver, nor to possess a useless vessel which
is not for some necessary purpose, and moderate; so that the same thing may
serve for many purposes, and the possession of a variety of things may be
done away with. Excellently, therefore, the Divine Scripture, addressing
boasters and lovers of their own selves, says, "Where are the rulers of the
nations, and the lords of the wild beasts of the earth, who sport among the
birds of heaven, who treasured up silver and gold, in whom men trusted, and
there was no end of their substance, who fashioned silver and gold, and
were full of care? There is no finding of their works. They have vanished,
and gone down to Hades."[4] Such is the reward of display. For though such
of us as cultivate the soil need a mattock and plough, none of us will make
a pickaxe of silver or a sickle of gold, but we employ the material which
is serviceable for agriculture, not what is costly. What prevents those who
are capable of considering what is similar from entertaining the same
sentiments with respect to household utensils, of which let use, not
expense, be the measure? For tell me, does the table-knife not cut unlest
it be studded with silver, and have its handle made of ivory? Or must we
forge Indian steel in order to divide meat, as when we call for a weapon
for the fight? What if the basin be of earthenware? will it not receive the
dirt of the hands? or the footpan the dirt of the foot? Will the table that
is fashioned with ivory feet be indignant at bearing a three-halfpenny
loaf? Will the lamp not dispense light because it is the work of the
potter, not of the goldsmith? I affirm that truckle-beds afford no worse
repose than the ivory couch; and the goatskin coverlet being amply
sufficient to spread on the bed, there is no need, of purple or scarlet
coverings. Yet to condemn, notwithstanding, frugality, through the
stupidity of luxury, the author of mischief, what a prodigious error, what
senseless conceit! See. The Lord ate from a common bowl, and made the
disciples recline on the grass on the ground, and washed their feet, girded
with a linen towel--He, the lowly-minded God, and Lord of the universe. He
did not bring down a silver foot-bath from heaven. He asked to drink of the
Samaritan woman, who drew the water from the well in an earthenware vessel,
not seeking regal gold, but teaching us how to quench thirst easily. For He
made use, not extravagance His aim. And He ate and drank at feasts, not
digging metals from the earth, nor using vessels of gold and silver, that
is, vessels exhaling the odour of rust--such fumes as the rust of smoking s
metal gives off.

   For in fine, in food, and clothes, and vessels, and everything else
belonging to the house, I say comprehensively, that one must follow the
institutions of the Christian[6] man, as is serviceable and suitable to
one's person, age, pursuits, time of life. For it becomes those that are
servants of one God, that their possessions and furniture should exhibit
the tokens of one beautiful[7] life; and that each individually should be
seen in faith, which shows no difference, practising all other things which
are conformable to this uniform mode of life, and harmonious with this one
scheme.

   What we acquire without difficulty, and use with ease, we praise, keep
easily, and communicate freely. The things which are useful are preferable,
and consequently cheap things are better than dear. In fine, wealth, when
not properly governed, is a stronghold of evil, about which many casting
their eyes, they will never reach the kingdom of heaven, sick for the
things of the world, and living proudly through luxury. But those who are
in earnest about salvation must settle this beforehand in their mind, "that
all that we possess is given to us for use, and use for sufficiency, which
one may attain to by a few things." For silly are they who, from greed,
take delight in what they have hoarded up. "He that gathereth wages," it is
said, "gathereth into a bag with holes." [1] Such is he who gathers corn
and shuts it up; and he who giveth to no one, becomes poorer.

   It is a farce, and a thing to make one laugh outright, for men to bring
in silver urinals and crystal vases de nuit, as they usher in their
counsellors, and for silly rich women to get gold receptacles for
excrements made; so that being rich, they cannot even ease themselves
except in superb way. I would that in their whole life they deemed gold fit
for dung.

   But now love of money is found to be the stronghold of evil, which the
apostle says "is the root of all evils, which, while some coveted, they
have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows."[2]

   But the best riches is poverty of desires; and the true magnanimity is
not to be proud of  wealth, but to despise it. Boasting about one's plate
is utterly base. For it is plainly wrong to care much about what any one
who likes may buy from the market. But wisdom is not bought with coin of
earth, nor is it sold in the market-place, but in heaven. And it is sold
for true coin, the immortal Word, the regal gold.

CHAP. IV.--HOW TO CONDUCT OURSELVES AT FEASTS.

   Let revelry keep away from our rational entertainments, and foolish
vigils, too, that revel in intemperance. For revelry is an inebriating
pipe, the chain[3] of an amatory bridge, that is, of sorrow. And let love,
and intoxication, and senseless passions, be removed from our choir.
Burlesque singing is the boon companion of drunkenness. A night spent over
drink invites drunkenness, rouses lust, and is audacious in deeds of shame.
For if people occupy their time with pipes, and psalteries, and choirs, and
dances, and Egyptian clapping of hands, and such disorderly frivolities,
they become quite immodest and intractable, beat on cymbals and drums, and
make a noise on instruments of delusion; for plainly such a banquet, as
seems to me, is a theatre of drunkenness. For the apostle decrees that,
"putting off the works of darkness, we should put on the armour of light,
walking honestly as in the day, not spending our time in rioting and
drunkenness, in chambering and wantonness." [4] Let the pipe be resigned to
the shepherds, and the flute to the superstitious who are engrossed in
idolatry. For, in truth, such instruments are to be banished from the
temperate banquet, being more suitable to beasts than men, and the more
irrational portion of mankind. For we have heard of stags being charmed by
the pipe, and seduced by music into the toils, when hunted by the huntsmen.
And when mares are being covered, a tune is played on the flute--a nuptial
song, as it were. And every improper sight and sound, to speak in a word,
and every shameful sensation of licentiousness--which, in truth, is
privation of sensation--must by all means be excluded; and we must be on
our guard against whatever pleasure titillates eye and ear, and
effeminates. For the various spells of the broken strains and plaintive
numbers of the Carian muse corrupt men's morals, drawing to perturbation of
mind, by the licentious and mischievous art of music.[5]

   The Spirit, distinguishing from such revelry the divine service, sings,
"Praise Him with the sound of trumpet;" for with sound of trumpet He shall
raise the dead. "Praise Him on the psaltery;" for the tongue is the
psaltery of the Lord. "And praise Him on the lyre."[5] By the lyre is meant
the mouth struck by the Spirit, as it were by a plectrum. "Praise with the
timbrel and the dance," refers to the Church meditating on the resurrection
of the dead in the resounding skin. "Praise Him on the chords and organ."
Our body He calls an organ, and its nerves are the strings, by which it has
received harmonious tension, and when struck by the Spirit, it gives forth
human voices. "Praise Him on the clashing cymbals." He calls the tongue the
cymbal of the mouth, which resounds with the pulsation of the lips.
Therefore He cried to humanity, "Let every breath praise the Loan," because
He cares for every breathing thing which He hath made. For man is truly a
pacific instrument; while other instruments, if you investigate, you will
find to be warlike, inflaming to lusts, or kindling up amours, or rousing
wrath.

   In their wars, therefore, the Etruscans use the trumpet, the Arcadians
the pipe, the Sicilians the pectides, the Cretans the lyre, the
Lacedaemonians the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyptians the drum,
and the Arabians the cymbal. The one instrument of peace, the Word alone by
which we honour God, is what we employ. We no longer employ the ancient
psaltery, and trumpet, and timbrel, and flute, which those expert in war
and contemners of the fear of God were wont to make use of also in the
choruses at their festive assemblies; that by such strains they might raise
their dejected minds. But let our genial feeling in drinking be twofold, in
accordance with the law. For "if thou shalt love the Lord try God," and
then "thy neighbour," let its first manifestation be towards God in
thanksgiving and psalmody, and the second toward our neighbour in decorous
fellowship. For says the apostle, "Let the Word of the Lord dwell in you
richly."[1] And this Word suits and conforms Himself to seasons, to
persons, to places.

   In the present instance He is a guest with us. For the apostle adds
again, "Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, in psalms, and
hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to God." And
again, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and His Father." This is our thankful revelry.
And even if you wish to sing and play to the harp or lyre, there is no
blame.[2] Thou shalt imitate the righteous Hebrew king in his thanksgiving
to God. "Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; praise is comely to the
upright,"[3] says the prophecy. "Confess to the Lord on the harp; play to
Him on the psaltery of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song." And does not
the ten-stringed psaltery indicate the Word Jesus, who is manifested by the
element of the decad? And as it is befitting, before partaking of food,
that we should bless the Creator of all; so also in drinking it is suitable
to praise Him on partaking of His creatures.[4] For the psalm is a
melodious and sober blessing. The apostle calls the psalm "a spiritual
song."[5]

   Finally, before partaking of sleep, it is a sacred duty to give thanks
to God, having enjoyed His grace and love, and so go straight to sleep.[6]
"And confess to Him in songs of the lips," he says, "because in His command
all His good pleasure is done, and there is no deficiency in His
salvation."[7]

   Further, among the ancient Greeks, in their banquets over the brimming
cups, a song was sung called a skolion, after the manner of the HeBrew
psalms, all together raising the paean with the voice, and sometimes also
taking turns in the song while they drank healths round; while  those that
were more musical than the rest sang to the lyre. But let amatory songs be
banished far away, and let our songs be hymns to God. "Let them praise," it
is said, "His name in the dance, and let them play to Him on the timbrel
and psaltery."[8] And what is the choir which plays? The Spirit will show
thee: "Let His praise be in the congregation (church) of the saints; let
them be joyful in their King."[9] And again he adds, "The LORD will take
pleasure in His people."[10] For temperate harmonies[11] are to be
admitted; but we are to banish as far as possible from our robust mind
those liquid harmonies, which, through pernicious arts in the modulations
of tones, train to effeminacy and scurrility. But grave and modest strains
say farewell to the turbulence of drunkenness.[12] Chromatic harmonies are
therefore to be abandoned to immodest revels, and to florid and
meretricious music.

CHAP. V.--ON LAUGHTER.

   People who are imitators of ludicrous sensations, or rather of such as
deserve derision, are to be driven from our polity.[13]

   For since all forms of speech flow from mind and manners, ludicrous
expressions could not be uttered, did they not proceed from ludicrous
practices. For the saying, "It is not a good tree which produces corrupt
fruit, nor a corrupt tree which produces good fruit,"[14] is to be applied
in this case. For speech is the fruit of the mind. If, then, wags are to be
ejected from our society, we ourselves must by no manner of means be
allowed to stir up laughter. For it were absurd to be found imitators of
things of which we are prohibited to be listeners; and still more absurd
for a man to set about making himself a laughing-stock, that is, the but of
insult and derision. For if we could not endure to make a ridiculous
figure, such as we see some do in processions, how could we with any
propriety bear to have the inner man made a ridiculous figure of, and that
to one's face? Wherefore we ought never of our own accord to assume a
ludicrous character. And how, then, can we devote ourselves to being and
appearing ridiculous in our conversation, thereby travestying speech, which
is the most precious of all human endowments? It is therefore disgraceful
to set one's self to do this; since the conversation of wags of this
description is not fit for our ears, inasmuch as by the very expressions
used it familiarizes us with shameful actions.[1]

   Pleasantry is allowable, not waggery. Besides, even laughter must be
kept in check; for when given vent to in the right manner it indicates
orderliness, but when it issues differently it shows a want of restraint.

   For, in a word, whatever things are natural to men we must not
eradicate from them, but rather impose on them limits and suitable times.
For man is not to laugh on all occasions because he is a laughing animal,
any more than the horse neighs on all occasions because he is a neighing
animal. But as rational beings, we are to regulate ourselves suitably,
harmoniously relaxing the austerity and over-tension of our serious
pursuits, not inharmoniously breaking them up altogether.

   For the seemly relaxation of the countenance in a harmonious manner--as
of a musical instrument--is called a smile. So also is laughter on the face
of well-regulated men termed. But the discordant relaxation of countenance
in the  case of women is called a giggle, and is meretricious laughter; in
the case of men, a guffaw, and is savage arid insulting laughter. "A fool
raises his voice in laughter,"[2] says the Scripture; but a clever man
smiles almost imperceptibly. The clever man in this case he calls wise,
inasmuch as he is differently affected from the fool. But, on the other
hand, one needs not be gloomy, only grave. For I certainly prefer a man to
smile who has a stern countenance than the reverse; for so his laughter
will be less apt to become the object of ridicule.

   Smiling even requires to be made the subject of discipline. If it is at
what is disgraceful, we ought to blush rather than smile, lest we seem to
take pleasure in it by sympathy; if at what is painful, it is fitting to
look sad rather than to seem pleased. For to do the former is a sign of
rational human thought; the other infers suspicion of cruelty.

   We are not to laugh perpetually, for that is going beyond bounds; nor
in the presence of elderly persons, or others worthy of respect, unless
they indulge in pleasantry for our amusement. Nor are we to laugh before
all and sundry, nor in every place, nor to every one, nor about everything.
For to children and women especially laughter is the cause of slipping into
scandal. And even to appear stem serves to keep those about us at their
distance. For gravity can ward off the approaches of licentiousness by a
mere look. All senseless people, to speak in a word, wine

   "Commands both to laugh luxuriously and to dance,"

changing effeminate manners to softness. We must consider, too, how
consequently freedom of speech leads impropriety on to filthy speaking.

   "And he uttered a word which had been better unsaid."[3]

   Especially, therefore, in liquor crafty men's characters are wont to be
seen through, stripped as they are of their mask through the caitiff
licence of intoxication, through which reason, weighed down in the soul
itself by drunkenness, is lulled to sleep, and unruly passions are roused,
which overmaster the feebleness of the mind.

CHAP. VI.--ON FILTHY SPEAKING.

   From filthy speaking we ourselves must entirely abstain, and stop the
mouths of those who practise it by stern looks and averting the face, and
by what we call making a mock of one: often also by a harsher mode of
speech. "For what proceedeth out of the mouth," He says, "defileth a
man,"[4]--shows him to be unclean, and heathenish, and untrained, and
licentious, and not select, and proper, and honourable, and temperate.[5]

   And as a similar rule holds with regard to hearing and seeing in the
case of what is obscene, the divine Instructor, following the same course
with both, arrays those children who are engaged in the struggle in words
of modesty, as ear-guards, so that the pulsation of fornication may not
penetrate to the bruising of the soul; and He directs the eyes to the sight
of what is honourable, saying that it is better to make a slip with the
feet than with the eyes. This filthy speaking the apostle beats off,
saying, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what
is good."[6] And again, "As becometh saints, let not filthiness be named
among you, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which things are not seemly,
but rather giving of thanks."[7] And if "he that calls his brother a fool
be in danger of the judgment," what shall we pronounce regarding him who
speaks what is foolish? Is it not written respecting such: "Whosoever shall
speak an idle word, shall give an account to the Lord in the day of
judgment?"[8] And again, "By thy speech thou shalt be justified," He says,
"and by thy speech thou shalt be condemned."[1] What, then, are the
salutary ear-guards, and what the regulations for slippery eyes?
Conversations with the righteous, preoccupying and forearming the ears
against those that would lead away from the truth.

   "Evil communications corrupt good manners,"

says Poetry. More nobly the apostle says, "Be haters of the evil; cleave to
the good."[2] For he who associates with the saints shall be sanctified.
From shameful things addressed to the ears, and words and sights, we must
entirely abstain.[3] And much more must we keep pure from shameful deeds:
on the one hand, from exhibiting and exposing parts of the body which we
ought not; and on the other, from beholding what is forbidden. For the
modest son could not bear to look on the shameful exposure of the righteous
man; and modesty covered what intoxication exposed--the spectacle of the
transgression of ignorance.[4] No less ought we to keep pure from
calumnious reports, to which the ears of those who have believed in Christ
ought to be inaccessible.

   It is on this account, as appears to me, that the Instructor does not
permit us to give utterance to aught unseemly, fortifying us at an early
stage against licentiousness. For He is admirable always at cutting out the
roots of sins, such as, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," by "Thou shalt
not lust."[5] For adultery is the fruit of lust, which is the evil root.
And so likewise also in this instance the Instructor censures licence in
names, and thus cuts off the licentious intercourse of excess. For licence
in names produces the desire of being indecorous in conduct; and the
observance of modesty in names is a training in resistance to
lasciviousness. We have shown in a more exhaustive treatise, that neither
in the names nor in the members to which appellations not in common use are
applied, is there the designation of what is really obscene.

   For neither are knee and leg, and such other members, nor are the names
applied to them, and the activity put forth by them, obscene. And even the
pudenda are to be regarded as objects suggestive of modesty, not shame. It
is their unlawful activity that is shameful, and deserving ignominy, and
reproach, and punishment. For the only thing that is in reality shameful is
wickedness, and what is done through it. In accordance with these remarks,
conversation about deeds of wickedness is appropriately, termed filthy
[shameful] speaking, as talk about adultery and paederasty and the like.
Frivolous prating, too, is to be put to silence.[6] "For," it is said, "in
much speaking thou shalt not escape sin."[7] "Sins of the tongue,
therefore, shall be punished." "There is he who is silent, and is found
wise; and there is that is hated for much speech."[8] But still more, the
prater makes himself the object of disgust. "For he that multiplieth speech
abominates his own soul."[9]

CHAP. VII.--DIRECTIONS FOR THOSE WHO LIVE TOGETHER.

   Let us keep away from us jibing, the originator of insult, from which
strifes and contentions and enmities burst forth. Insult, we have said, is
the servant of drunkenness. A man is judged, not from his deeds alone, but
from his words. "In a banquet," it is said, "reprove not thy neighbour, nor
say to him a word of reproach."[10] For if we are enjoined especially to
associate with saints, it is a sin to jibe at a saint: "For from the mouth
of the foolish," says the Scripture, "is a staff of insult,"[11]--meaning
by staff the prop of insult, on which insult leans and rests. Whence I
admire the apostle, who, in reference to this, exhorts us not to utter
"scurrilous nor unsuitable words."[12] For if the assemblies at festivals
take place on account of affection, and the end of a banquet is
friendliness towards those who meet, and meat and drink accompany
affection, how should not conversation be conducted in a rational manner,
and puzzling people with questions be avoided from affection? For if we
meet together for the purpose of increasing our good-will to each other,
why should we stir up enmity by jibing? It is better to be silent than to
contradict, and thereby add sin to ignorance. "Blessed," in truth, "is the
man who has not made a slip with his mouth, and has not been pierced by the
pain of sin; "[13] or has repented of what he has said amiss, or has spoken
so as to wound no one. On the whole, let young men and young women
altogether keep away from such festivals, that they may not make a slip in
respect to what is unsuitable. For things to which their ears are
unaccustomed, and unseemly sights, inflame the mind, while faith within
them is still wavering; and the instability of their age conspires to make
them easily carried away by lust. Sometimes also they are the cause of
others stumbling, by displaying the dangerous charms of their time of life.
For Wisdom appears to enjoin well: "Sit not at all with a married woman,
and recline not on the elbow with her; "[1] that is, do not sup nor eat
with her frequently. Wherefore he adds, "And do not join company with her
in wine, lest thy heart incline to her, and by thy blood slide to ruin."[2]
For the licence of intoxication is dangerous, and prone to deflower; And he
names "a married woman," because the danger is greater to him who attempts
to break the connubial bond.

   But if any necessity arises, commanding the presence of married women,
let them be well clothed--without by raiment, within by modesty. But as for
such as are unmarried, it is the extremest scandal for them to be present
at a banquet of men, especially men under the influence of wine. And let
the men, fixing their eyes on the couch, and leaning without moving on
their elbows, be present with their ears alone; and if they sit, let them
not have their feet crossed, nor place one thigh on another, nor apply the
hand to the chin. For it is vulgar not to bear one's self without support,
and consequently a fault in a young man. And perpetually moving and
changing one's position is a sign of frivolousness. It is the part of a
temperate man also, in eating and drinking, to take a small portion, and
deliberately, not eagerly, both at the beginning and during the courses and
to leave off betimes, and so show his indifference. "Eat," it is said,
"like a man what is set before you. Be the first to stop for the sake of
regimen; and, if seated in the midst of several people, do not stretch out
your hand before them."[3] You must never rush forward under the influence
of gluttony; nor must you, though desirous, reach out your hand till some
time, inasmuch as by greed one shows an uncontrolled appetite. Nor are you,
in the midst of the repast, to exhibit yourselves hugging your food like
wild beasts; nor helping yourselves to too much sauce, for man is not by
nature a sauce-consumer, but a bread-eater. A temperate man, too, must rise
before the general company, and retire quietly from the banquet. "For at
the time for rising," it is said, "be not the last; haste home."[4] The
twelve, having called together the multitude of the disciples, said, "It is
not meet for us to leave the word of God and serve tables."[5] If they
avoided this, much more did they shun gluttony. And the apostles
themselves, writing to the brethren at Antioch, and in Syria and Cilicia,
said: "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no
other burden than these necessary things, to abstain from things offered to
idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication,
from which, if you keep yourselves, ye shall do well."[6] But we must guard
against drunkenness as against hemlock; for both drag down to death. We
must also check excessive laughter and immoderate tears. For often people
under the influence of wine, after laughing im-moderately, then are, I know
not how, by some impulse of intoxication moved to tears; for both
effiminacy and violence are discordant with the word. And elderly people,
looking on the young as children, may, though but very rarely, be playful
with them, joking with them to train them in good behaviour. For example,
before a bashful and silent youth, one might by way of pleasantry speak
thus: "This son of mine (I mean one who is silent) is perpetually talking."
For a joke such as this enhances the youth's modesty, by showing the good
qualities that belong to him playfully, by censure of the bad quatities,
which do not. For this device is instructive, confirming as it does what is
present by what is not present. Such, certainly, is the intention of him
who says that a water-drinker and a sober man gets intoxicated and drunk.
But if there are those who like to jest at people, we must be silent, and
dispense with superfluous words like full cups. For such sport is
dangerous. "The mouth of the impetuous approaches to contrition."[7] "Thou
shalt not receive a foolish report, nor shall thou agree with an unjust
person to be an unjust witness,"[8] neither in calumnies nor in injurious
speeches, much less evil practices. I also should think it right to impose
a limit on the speech of rightly regulated persons, who are impelled to
speak to one who maintains a conversation with them. "For silence is the
excellence of women, and the safe prize of the young; but good speech is
characteristic of experienced, mature age. Speak, old man, at a banquet,
for it is becoming to you. But speak without embarrassment, and with
accuracy of knowledge. Youth, Wisdom also commands thee. Speak, if you
must, with hesitation, on being twice asked; sum up your discourse in a few
words."[9] But let both speakers regulate their discourse according to just
proportion. For loudness of utterance is most insane; while an inaudible
utterance is characteristic of a senseless man, for people will not hear:
the one is the mark of pusillanimity, the other of arrogance. Let
contentiousness in words, for the sake of a useless triumph, be banished;
for our aim is to be free from perturbation. Such is the meaning of the
phrase,[1] "Peace to thee." Answer not a word before you hear. An enervated
voice is the sign of effeminacy. But modulation in the voice is
characteristic of a wise man, who keeps his utterance from loudness, from
drawling, from rapidity, from prolixity. For we ought not to speak long or
much, nor ought we to speak frivolously. Nor must we converse rapidly and
rashly. For the voice itself, so to speak, ought to receive its just dues;
and those who are vociferous and clamorous ought to be silenced. For this
reason, the wise Ulysses chastised Thersites with stripes:--

   "Only Thersites, with unmeasured words,
   Of which he had good store, to rate the chiefs,
   Not over-seemly, but wherewith he thought
   To move the crowd to laughter, brawled aloud."[2]

"For dreadful in his destruction is a loquacious man."[3] And it is with
triflers as with old shoes: all the rest is worn away by evil; the tongue
only is left for destruction. Wherefore Wisdom gives these most useful
exhortations: "Do not talk trifles in the multitude of the elders."
Further, eradicating frivolousness, beginning with God, it lays down the
law for our regulation somewhat thus: "Do not repeat your words in your
prayer."[4] Chirruping and whistling, and sounds made through the fingers,
by which domestics are called, being irrational signs, are to be given up
by rational men. Frequent spitting, too, and violent clearing of the
throat, and wiping one's nose at an entertainment, are to be shunned. For
respect is assuredly to be had to the guests, lest they turn in disgust
from such filthiness, which argues want of restraint. For we are not to
copy oxen and asses, whose manger and dunghill are together. For many wipe
their noses and spit even whilst supping.

   If any one is attacked with sneezing, just as in the case of hiccup, he
must not startle those near him with the explosion, and so give proof of
his bad breeding; but the hiccup is to be quietly transmitted with the
expiration of the breath, the mouth being composed becomingly, and not
gaping and yawning like the tragic masks. So the disturbance of hiccup may
be avoided by making the respirations gently; for thus the threatening
symptoms of the ball of wind will be dissipated in the most seemly way, by
managing its egress so as also to conceal anything which the air forcibly
expelled may bring up with it. To wish to add to the noises, instead of
diminishing them, is the sign of arrogance and disorderliness. Those, too,
who scrape their teeth, bleeding the wounds, are disagreeable to themselves
and detestable to their neighbours. Scratching the ears and the irritation
of sneezing are swinish itchings, and attend unbridled fornication. Both
shameful sights and shameful conversation about them are to be shunned. Let
the look be steady, and the turning and movement of the neck, and the
motions of the hands in conversation, be decorous. In a word, the Christian
is characterized by composure, tranquillity, calmness, and peace.[5]

CHAP. VIII.--ON THE USE OF OINTMENTS AND CROWNS.

   The use of crowns and ointments is not necessary for us; for it impels
to pleasures and indulgences, especially on the approach of night. I know
that the woman brought to the sacred supper "an alabaster box of
ointment,"[6] and anointed the feet of the Lord, and refreshed Him; and I
know that the ancient kings of the Hebrews were crowned with gold and
precious stones. But the woman not having yet received the Word (for she
was still a sinner), honoured the Lord with what she thought the most
precious thing in her possession--the ointment; and with the ornament of
her person, with her hair, she wiped off the superfluous ointment, while
she expended on the Lord tears of repentance: "wherefore her sins are
forgiven."[7]

   This may be a symbol of the Lord's teaching, and of His suffering. For
the feet anointed with fragrant ointment mean divine instruction travelling
with renown to the ends of the earth. "For their sound hath gone forth to
the ends of the earth."[8] And if I seem not to insist too much, the feet
of the Lord which were anointed are the apostles, having, according to
prophecy, received the fragrant unction of the Holy Ghost. Those,
therefore, who travelled over the world and preached the Gospel, are
figuratively called the feet of the Lord, of whom also the Holy Spirit
foretells in the psalm, "Let us adore at the place where His feet
stood,"[9] that is, where the apostles, His feet, arrived; since, preached
by them, He came to the ends of the earth. And tears are repentance; and
the loosened hair proclaimed deliverance from the love of finery, and the
affliction in patience which, on account of the Lord, attends preaching,
the old vainglory being done away with by reason of the new faith.[10]

   Besides, it shows the Lord's passion, if you understand it mystically
thus: the oil (e'laion) is the Lord Himself, from whom comes the mercy
(e'leos) which reaches us. But the ointment, which is adulterated oil, is
the traitor Judas, by whom the Lord was anointed on the feet, being
released from His sojourn in the world. For the dead are anointed. And the
tears are we repentant sinners, who have believed in Him, and to whom He
has forgiven our sins. And the dishevelled hair is mourning Jerusalem, the
deserted, for whom the prophetic lamentations were uttered. The Lord
Himself shall teach us that Judas the deceitful is meant: "He that dippeth
with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me."[1] You see the treacherous
guest, and this same Judas betrayed the Master with a kiss. For he was a
hypocrite, giving a treacherous kiss, in imitation of another hypocrite of
old. And He reproves that people respecting whom it was said, "This people
honour Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me."[2] It is not
improbable, therefore, that by the oil He means that disciple to whom was
shown mercy, and by the tainted and poisoned oil the traitor.

   This was, then, what the anointed feet prophesied--the treason of
Judas, when the Lord went to His passion. And the Saviour Himself washing
the feet of the disciples,[3] and despatching them to do good deeds,
pointed out their pilgrimage for the benefit of the nations, making them
beforehand fair and pure by His power. Then the ointment breathed on them
its fragrance, and the work of sweet savour reaching to all was proclaimed;
for the passion of the Lord has filled us with sweet fragrance, and the
Hebrews with guilt. This the apostle most clearly showed, when he said,
"thanks be to God, who always makes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh
manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are to
God a sweet savour of the Lord, in them that are saved, and them that are
lost; to one a savour of death unto death, to the other a savour of life
unto life."[4] And the kings of the Jews using gold and precious stones and
a variegated crown, the anointed ones wearing Christ symbolically on the
head, were unconsciously adorned with the head of the Lord. The precious
stone, or pearl, or emerald, points out the Word Himself. The gold, again,
is the incorruptible Word, who admits not the poison of corruption. The
Magi, accordingly, brought to Him on His birth, gold, the symbol of
royalty. And this crown, after the image of the Lord, fades not as a
flower.

   I know, too, the words of Aristippus the Cyrenian. Aristippus was a
luxurious man. He asked an answer to a sophistical proposition in the
following terms: "A horse anointed with ointment is not injured in his
excellence as a horse, nor is a dog which has been anointed, in his
excellence as a dog; no more is a man," he added, and so finished. But the
dog and horse take no account of the ointment, whilst in the case of those
whose perceptions are more rational, applying girlish scents to their
persons, its use is more censurable. Of these ointments there are endless
varieties, such as the Brenthian, the Metallian, and the royal; the
Plangonian and the Psagdian of Egypt. Simonides is not ashamed in Iambic
lines to say,--

   "I was anointed with ointments and perfumes,
   And with nard."

For a merchant was present. They use, too, the unguent made from lilies,
and that from the cypress. Nard is in high estimation with them, and the
ointment prepared from roses and the others which women use besides, both
moist and dry, scents for rubbing and for fumigating; for day by day their
thoughts are directed to the gratification of insatiable desire, to the
exhaustless variety of fragrance. Wherefore also they are redolent of an
excessive luxuriousness. And they fumigate and sprinkle their clothes,
their bed-clothes, and their houses. Luxury all but compels vessels for the
meanest uses to smell of perfume.

   There are some who, annoyed at the attention bestowed on this, appear
to me to be rightly so averse to perfumes on account of their rendering
manhood effeminate, as to banish their compounders and vendors from well-
regulated states, and banish, too, the dyers of flower-coloured wools. For
it is not right that ensnaring garments and unguents should be admitted
into the city of truth; but it is highly requisite for the men who belong
to us to give forth the odour not of ointments, but of nobleness and
goodness. And let woman breathe the odour of the true royal ointment, that
of Christ, not of unguents and scented powders; and let her always be
anointed with the ambrosial chrism of modesty, and find delight in the holy
unguent, the Spirit. This ointment of pleasant fragrance Christ prepares
for His disciples, compounding the ointment of celestial aromatic
ingredients.

   Wherefore also the Lord Himself is anointed with an ointment, as is
mentioned by David: "Wherefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the
oil of gladness above thy fellows; myrrh, and stacte, and cassia from thy
garments."[5] But let us not unconsciously abominate unguents, like
vultures or like beetles (for these, they say, when smeared with ointment,
die); and let a few unguents be selected by women, such as will not be
overpowering to a husband. For excessive anointings with unguents savour of
a funeral and not of connubial life. Yet oil itself is inimical to bees and
insects; and some men it benefits, and some it summons to the fight; and
those who were formerly friends, when anointed with it, it turns out to
deadly combat.

   Ointment being smooth oil, do you not think that it is calculated to
render noble manners effeminate? Certainly. And as we have abandoned luxury
in taste, so certainly do we renounce voluptuousness in sights and odours;
lest through the senses, as through unwatched doors, we unconsciously give
access into the soul to that excess which we have driven away. If, then, we
say that the Lord the great High Priest offers to God the incense of sweet
fragrance, let us not imagine that this is a sacrifice and sweet fragrance
of incense;[1] but let us understand it to mean, that the Lord lays the
acceptable offering of love, the spiritual fragrance, on the altar.

   To resume: oil itself suffices to lubricate the skin, and relax the
nerves, and remove any heavy smell from the body, if we require oil for
this purpose. But attention to sweet scents is a bait which draws us in to
sensual lust. For the licentious man is led on every hand, both by his
food, his bed, his conversation, by his eyes, his ears, his jaws, and by
his nostrils too. As oxen are pulled by rings and ropes, so is the
voluptuary by fumigations and unguents, and the sweet scents of crowns. But
since we assign no place to pleasure which is linked to no use serviceable
to life, come let us also distinguish here too, selecting what is useful.
For there are sweet scents which neither make the head heavy nor provoke
love, and are not redolent of embraces and licentious companionship, but,
along with moderation, are salutary, nourishing the brain when labouring
under indisposition, and strengthening the stomach. One must not therefore
refrigerate himself with flowers when he wishes to supple his nerves. For
their use is not wholly to be laid aside, but ointment is to be employed as
a medicine and help in order to bring up the strength when enfeebled, and
against catarrhs, and colds, and ennui, as the comic poet says:--

              "The nostrils are anointed; it being
A most essential thing for health to fill the brain with good odours."

The rubbing of the feet also with the fatness of warming or cooling
unguents is practised on account of its beneficial effects; so
consequently, in the case of those who are thus saturated, an attraction
and flow take place from the head to the inferior members. But pleasure to
which no utility attaches, induces the suspicion of meretricious habits,
and is a drug provocative of the passions. Rubbing one's self with ointment
is entirely different from anointing one's self with ointment. The former
is effeminate, while anointing with ointment is in some cases beneficial.
Aristippus the philosopher, accordingly, when anointed with ointment, said
"that the wretched Cinoedi deserved to perish miserably for bringing the
utility of ointment into bad repute." "Honour the physician for his
usefulness," says the Scripture, "for the Most High made him; and the art
of healing is of the Lord." Then he adds, "And the compounder of unguents
will make the mixture,"[2] since unguents have been given manifestly for
use, not for voluptuousness. For we are by no means to care for the
exciting properties of unguents, but to choose what is useful in them,
since God hath permitted the production of oil for the mitigation of men's
pains.

   And silly women, who dye their grey hair and anoint their locks, grow
speedily greyer by the perfumes they use, which are of a drying nature.
Wherefore also those that anoint themselves become drier, and the dryness
makes them greyer. For if greyness is an exsiccation of the hair, or defect
of heat, the dryness drinking up the moisture which is the natural
nutriment of the hair, and making it grey, how can we any  longer retain a
liking for unguents, through which ladies, in trying to escape grey hair,
become grey? And as dogs with fine sense of smell track the wild beasts by
the scent, so also the temperate scent the licentious by the superfluous
perfume of unguents.

   Such a use of crowns, also, has degenerated to scenes of revelry and
intoxication. Do not encircle my head with a crown, for in the springtime
it is delightful to while away the time on the dewy meads, while soft and
many-coloured flowers are in bloom, and, like the bees, enjoy a natural and
pure fragrance.[3] But to adorn one's self with "a crown woven from the
fresh mead," and wear it at home, were unfit for a man of temperance. For
it is not suitable to fill the wanton hair with rose-leaves, or violets, or
lilies, or other such flowers, stripping the sward of its flowers. For a
crown encircling the head cools the hair, both on account of its moisture
and its coolness. Accordingly, physicians, determining by physiology that
the brain is cold, approve of anointing the breast and the points of the
nostrils, so that the warm exhalation passing gently through, may
salutarily warm the chill. A man ought not therefore to cool himself with
flowers. Besides, those who crown themselves destroy the pleasure there is
in flowers: for they enjoy neither the sight of them, since they wear the
crown above their eyes; nor their fragrance, since they put the flowers
away above the organs of respiration. For the fragrance ascending and
exhaling naturally, the organ of respiration is left destitute of
enjoyment, the fragrance being carried away. As beauty, so also the flower
delights when looked at; and it is meet to glorify the Creator by the
enjoyment of the sight of beautiful objects.[1] The use of them is
injurious, and passes swiftly away, avenged by remorse. Very soon their
evanescence is proved; for both fade, both the flower and beauty. Further,
whoever touches them is cooled by the former, inflamed by the latter. In
one word, the enjoyment of them except by sight is a crime, and not luxury.
It becomes us who truly follow the Scripture to enjoy ourselves
temperately, as in Paradise. We must regard the woman's crown to be her
husband, and the husband's crown to be marriage; and the flowers of
marriage the children of both, which the divine husbandman plucks from
meadows of flesh. "Children's children are the crown of old men."[2] And
the glory of children is their fathers, it is said; and our glory is the
Father of all; and the crown of the whole church is Christ. As roots and
plants, so also have flowers their individual properties, some beneficial,
some injurious, some also dangerous. The ivy is cooling; nux emits a
stupefying effluvium, as the etymology shows. The narcissus is a flower
with a heavy odour; the name evinces this, and it induces a torpor
(na'rkhn) in the nerves. And the effluvia of roses and violets being mildly
cool, relieve and prevent headaches. But we who are not only not permitted
to drink with others to intoxication, but not even to indulge in much wine?
do not need the crocus or the flower of the cypress to lead us to an easy
sleep. Many of them also, by their odours, warm the brain, which is
naturally cold, volatilizing the effusions of the head. The rose is hence
said to have received its name (ro'don) because it emits a copious stream
(reu^ma) of odour (odwdh'). Wherefore also it quickly fades.

   But the use of crowns did not exist at all among the ancient Greeks;
for neither the suitors nor the luxurious Phaeacians used them. But at the
games there was at first the gift to the athletes; second, the rising up to
applaud; third, the strewing with leaves; lastly, the crown, Greece after
the Median war having given herself up to luxury.

   Those, then, who are trained by the Word are restrained from the use of
crowns; and do not think that this Word, which has its seat in the brain,
ought to be bound about, not because the crown is the symbol of the
recklessness of revelry, but because it has been dedicated to idols.
Sophocles accordingly called the narcissus "the ancient coronet of the
great gods," speaking of the earth-born divinities; and Sappho crowns the
Muses with the rose:--

    "For thou dost not share in roses from Pieria."

   They say, too, that Here delights in the lily, and Artemis in the
myrtle. For if the flowers were made especially for man, and senseless
people have taken them not for their own proper and grateful use, but have
abused them to the thankless service of demons, we must keep from them for
conscience sake. The crown is the symbol of untroubled tranquillity. For
this reason they crown the dead, and idols, too, on the same account, by
this fact giving testimony to their being dead. For revellers do not
without crowns celebrate their orgies; and when once they are encircled
with flowers, at last they are inflamed excessively. We must have no
communion with demons. Nor must we crown the living image of God after the
manner of dead idols. For the fair crown of amaranth is laid up for those
who have lived well. This flower the earth is not able to bear; heaven
alone is competent to produce it.[4] Further, it were irrational in us, who
have heard that the Lord was crowned with thorns,[5] to crown ourselves
with flowers, insulting thus the sacred passion of the Lord. For the Lord's
crown prophetically pointed to us, who once were barren, but are placed
around Him through the Church of which He is the Head. But it is also a
type of faith, of life in respect of the substance of the wood, of joy in
respect of the appellation of crown, of danger in respect of the thorn, for
there is no approaching to the Word without blood. But this platted crown
fades, and the plait of perversity is untied, and the flower withers. For
the glory of those who have not believed on the Lord fades. And they
crowned Jesus raised aloft, testifying to their own ignorance. For being
hard of heart, they understood not that this very thing, which they called
the disgrace of the Lord, was a prophecy wisely uttered: "The Lord was not
known by the people "[6] which erred, which was not circumcised in
understanding, whose darkness was not enlightened, which knew not God,
denied the Lord, forfeited the place of the true Israel, persecuted God,
hoped to reduce the Word to disgrace; and Him whom they crucified as a
malefactor they crowned as a king. Wherefore the Man on whom they believed
not, they shall know to be the loving God the Lord, the Just. Whom they
provoked to show Himself to be the Lord, to Him when lifted up they bore
witness, by encircling Him, who is exalted above every name, with the
diadem of righteousness by the ever-blooming thorn. This diadem, being
hostile to those who plot against Him, coerces them; and friendly to those
who form the Church, defends them. This crown is the flower of those who
have believed on the glorified One but covers with blood and chastises
those who have not believed. It is a symbol, too, of the Lord's successful
work, He having borne on His head, the princely part of His body, all our
iniquities by which we were pierced. For He by His. own passion rescued us
from offences, and sins, and such like thorns; and having destroyed the
devil, deservedly said in triumph, "O Death, where is thy sting?" [1] And
we eat grapes from thorns, and figs from thistles; while those to whom He
stretched forth His hands--the disobedient and unfruitful people--He
lacerates into wounds. I can also show you another mystic meaning in it.[2]
For when the Almighty Lord of the universe began to legislate by the Word,
and wished His power to be manifested to Moses, a godlike vision of light
that had assumed a shape was shown him in the burning bush (the bush is a
thorny plant); but when the Word ended the giving of the law and His stay
with men, the Lord was again mystically crowned with thorn. On His
departure from this world to the place whence He came, He repeated the
beginning of His old descent, in order that the Word beheld at first in the
bush, and afterwards taken up crowned by the thorn, might show the whole to
be the work of one power, He Himself being one, the Son  of the Father, who
is truly one, the beginning and the end of time.

   But I have made a digression from the paedagogic style of speech, and
introduced the didactic.[3] I return accordingly to my subject.

   To resume, then: we have showed that in the department of medicine, for
healing, and sometimes also for moderate recreation, the delight derived
from flowers, and the benefit derived from unguents and perfumes, are not
to be overlooked. And if some say, What pleasure, then, is there in flowers
to those that do not use them? let them know, then, that unguents are
prepared from them, and are most useful. The Susinian ointment is made from
various kinds of lilies; and it is warming, aperient, drawing, moistening,
abstergent, subtle, antibilious, emollient. The Narcissinian is made from
the narcissus, and is equally beneficial with the Susinian. The Myrsinian,
made of myrtle and myrtle berries, is a styptic, stopping effusions from
the body; and that from roses is refrigerating. For, in a word, these also
were created for our use. "Hear me," it is said, "and grow as a rose
planted by the streams of waters, and give forth a sweet fragrance like
frankincense, and bless the Lord for His works."[4] We should have much to
say respecting them, were we to speak of flowers and odours as made for
necessary purposes, and not for the excesses of luxury. And if a concession
must be made, it is enough for people to enjoy the fragrance of flowers;
but let them not crown themselves with them. For the Father takes great
care of man, and gives to him alone His own art. The Scripture therefore
says, "Water, and fire, and iron, and milk, and fine flour of wheat, and
honey, the blood of the grape, and oil, and clothing,--all these things are
for the good of the godly."[5]

CHAP. IX.--ON SLEEP.

   How, in due course, we are to go to sleep, in remembrance of the
precepts of temperance, we must now say. For after the repast, having given
thanks to God for our participation in our enjoyments, and for the [happy]
passing of the day,[6] our talk must be turned to sleep. Magnificence of
bed-clothes, gold-embroidered carpets, and smooth carpets worked with gold,
and long fine robes of purple, and costly fleecy cloaks, and manufactured
rugs of purple, and mantles of thick pile, and couches softer than sleep,
are to be banished.

   For, besides the reproach of voluptuousness, sleeping on downy feathers
is injurious, when our bodies fall down as into a yawning hollow, on
account of the softness of the bedding.

   For they are not convenient for sleepers turning in them, on account of
the bed rising into a hill on either side of the body. Nor are they
suitable for the digestion of the food, but rather for burning it up, and
so destroying the nutriment. But stretching one's self on even couches,
affording a kind of natural gymnasium for sleep, contributes to the
digestion of the food. And those that can roll on other beds, having this,
as it were, for a natural gymnasium for sleep, digest food more easily, and
render themselves fitter for emergencies. Moreover, silver-footed couches
argue great ostentation; and the ivory on beds, the body having left the
soul,[7] is not permissible for holy men, being a lazy contrivance for
rest.

   We must not occupy our thoughts about these things, for the use of them
is not forbidden to those who possess them; but solicitude about them is
prohibited, for happiness is not to be found in them. On the other hand, it
savours of cynic vanity for a man to act as Diomede,--

   "And he stretched himself under a wild bull's hide,"[1]--

unless circumstances compel.

   Ulysses rectified the unevenness of the nuptial couch with a stone.
Such frugality and self-help was practised not by private individuals
alone, but by the chiefs of the ancient Greeks. But why speak of these?
Jacob slept on the ground, and a stone served him for a pillow; and then
was he counted worthy to behold the vision--that was above man. And in
conformity with reason, the bed which we use must be simple and frugal, and
so constructed that, by avoiding the extremes [of too much indulgence and
too much endurance], it may be comfortable: if it is warm, to protect us;
if cold, to warm us. But let not the couch be elaborate, and let it have
smooth feet; for elaborate turnings form occasionally paths for creeping
things which twine themselves about the incisions of the work, and  do not
slip off.

   Especially is a moderate softness in the bed suitable for manhood; for
sleep ought not to be for the total enervation of the body, but for its
relaxation. Wherefore I say that it ought not to be allowed to come on us
for the sake of indulgence, but in order to rest from action. We must
therefore sleep so as to be easily awaked. For it is said, "Let your loins
be girt about, and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves like to men that
watch for their lord, that when he returns from the marriage, and comes and
knocks, they may straightway open to him. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching."[2] For there is no use of a
sleeping man, as there is not of a dead man. Wherefore we ought often to
rise by night and bless God.[3] For blessed are they who watch for Him, and
so make themselves like the angels, whom we call "watchers." But a man
asleep is worth nothing, any more than if he were not alive.

   But he who has the light watches, "and darkness seizes not on him,"[4]
nor sleep, since darkness does not. He that is illuminated is therefore
awake towards God; and such an one lives. "For what was made in Him was
life."[5] "Blessed is the man," says Wisdom, "who shall hear me, and the
man who shall keep my ways, watching at my doors, daily observing the posts
of my entrances."[6] "Let us not then sleep, as do others, but let us
watch," says the Scripture, "and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night," that is, in
the darkness of ignorance. "But let us who are of the day be sober. For ye
are all children of the light, and children of the day; we are not of the
night, nor of the darkness."[7] But whoever of us is most solicitous for
living the true life, and for entertaining noble sentiments, will keep
awake for as long time as possible, reserving to himself only what in this
respect is conducive to his own health; and that is not very usual.

   But devotion to activity begets an everlasting vigil after toils. Let
not food weigh us down, but lighten us; that we may be injured as little as
possible by sleep, as those that swim with weights hanging to them are
weighed down. But, on the other hand, let temperance raise us as from the
abyss beneath to the enterprises of wakefulness. For the oppression of
sleep is like death, which forces us into insensibility, cutting off the
light by the closing of the eyelids. Let not us, then, who are sons of the
true light, close the door against this light; but turning in on ourselves,
illumining the eyes of the hidden man, and gazing on the truth itself, and
receiving its streams, let us clearly and intelligibly reveal such dreams
as are true.

   But the hiccuping of those who are loaded with wine, and the snortings
of those who are stuffed with food, and the snoring rolled in the bed-
clothes, and the rumblings of pained stomachs, cover over the clear-seeing
eye of the soul, by filling the mind with ten thousand phantasies. And the
cause is too much food, which drags the rational part of man down to a
condition of stupidity. For much sleep brings advantage neither to our
bodies nor our souls; nor is it suitable at all to those processes which
have truth for their object, although agreeable to nature.

   Now, just Lot (for I pass over at present the account of the economy of
regeneration[8]) would not have been drawn into that unhallowed
intercourse, had he not been intoxicated by his daughters, and overpowered
by sleep. If, therefore, we cut off the causes of great tendency to sleep,
we shall sleep the more soberly. For those who have the sleepless Word
dwelling in them, ought not to sleep the livelong night; but they ought to
rise by night, especially when the days are coming to an end, and one
devote himself to literature, another begin his art, the women handle the
distaff, and all of us should, so to speak, fight against sleep,
accustoming ourselves to this gently and gradually, so that through
wakefulness we may partake of life for a longer period.

   We, then, who assign the best part of the night to wakefulness, must by
no manner of means sleep by day; and fits of uselessness, and napping and
stretching one's self, and yawning, are manifestations of frivolous
uneasiness of soul. And in addition to all, we must know this, that the
need of sleep is not in the soul. For it is ceaselessly active. But the
body is relieved by being resigned to rest, the soul whilst not acting
through the body, but exercising intelligence within itself.[1] Thus also,
such dreams as are true, in the view of him who reflects rightly, are the
thoughts of a sober soul, undistracted for the time by the affections of
the body, and counselling with itself in the best manner. For the soul to
cease from activity within itself, were destruction to it. Wherefore always
contemplating God, and by perpetual converse with Him inoculating the body
with wakefulness, it raises man to equality with angelic grace, and from
the practice of wakefulness it grasps the eternity of life.[2]

  CAP. X.[3]--QUAENAM DE PROCREATIONE LIBERORUM TRACTANDA SINT.[4]

   Tempus autem opportunum conjunctionis solis iis relinquitur
considerandum, qui juncti sunt matrimonio; qui autem matrimonio juncti
sunt, iis scopus est et institutum, liberorum susceptio finis autem, ut
boni sint liberi: quemadmodum agricolae seminis quidem dejectionis causa
est, quod nutrimenti habendi curam gerat; agriculturae autem finis est,
fructuum perceptio. Multo autem melior est agricola, qui terra in colit
animatam: ille enim ed tempus alimentum expetens, hic veto ut universum
permanent, curam gerens, agricolae officio fungitur: et ille quidem propter
se, hic veto propter Deum plantat ac seminat. Dixit enim:
"Multiplicemini;"[5] ubi hoc subaudiendum est: "Et ea ratione fit homo Dei
imago, quatenus homo co-operatur ad generationem hominis." Non est
quaelibet terra apta ad suscipienda semina: quod si etiam sit quaelibet,
non tamen eidem agricolae. Neque veto seminandum est supra petram, neque
semen est contumlia afficiendum, quod quidem dux est et princeps
generationis, estque substantia, quae simul habet insitas nature rationes.
Quae sunt autem secundum naturam rationes, absque ratione
praeternaturalibus mandando meatibus, ignominia afficere, valde est impium.
Videte itaque quomodo sapientissimus Moyses infrugiferam aliquando sationem
symbolice repulerit: "Non comedes, inquiens, leporem, nec hyaenam."[6] Non
vult homines esse qualitatis eorum participes, neque eis aequalem gustare
libidinem: haec enim animalia ad explendum coitum venereum feruntur insano
quodam furore. Ac leporem quidem dicunt quotannis multiplicare anum, pro
numero annorum, quos vixit, habentem foramina: et ea ratione dum leporis
esum prohibet, significat se dehortari puerorum amorem. Hyaenam autem
vicissim singulis annis masculinum sexum mutare in femininum: significare
autem non esse illi ad adulteria prorumpendum, qui ab hyaena abstinet.[7]

   Well, I also agree that the consummately wise Moses confessedly
indicates by the prohibition before us, that we must not resemble these
animals; but I do not assent to the explanation of what has been
symbolically spoken. For nature never can be forced to change. What once
has been impressed on it, may not be transformed into the opposite by
passion. For passion is not nature, and passion is wont to deface the form,
not to cast it into a new shape. Though many birds are said to change with
the seasons, both in colour and voice, as the blackbird (ko'ssuphos), which
becomes yellow from black, and a chatterer from a singing-bird. Similarly
also the nightingale changes by turns both its colour and note. But they do
not alter their nature itself, so as in the transformation to become female
from male. But the new crop of feathers, like new clothes, produces a kind
of colouring of the feathers, and a little after it evaporates in the rig-
our of winter, as a flower when its colour fades. And in like manner the
voice itself, injured by the cold, is enfeebled. For, in consequence of the
outer skin being thickened by the surrounding air, the arteries about the
neck being compressed and filled, press hard on the breath; which being
very much confined, emits a stifled sound. When, again, the breath is
assimilated to the surrounding air and relaxed in spring, it is freed from
its confined condition, and is carried through the dilated, though till
then obstructed arteries, it warbles no longer a dying melody, but now
gives forth a shrill note; and the yoice flows wide, and spring now becomes
the song of the voice of birds.

   Nequaquam ergo credendum est, hyaenam unquam mutare naturam: idem enim
animal non habet simul ambo pudenda maris et feminae, sicut nonnulli
existimarunt, qui prodigiose hermaphroditos finxerunt, et inter marem et
feminam, hanc masculo-feminam naturam innovarunt. Valde autem falluntur, ut
qui non animadverterint, quam sit filiorum amans omnium mater et genetrix
Natura: quoniam enim hoc animal, hyaena inquam, est salacissimum, sub cauda
ante excrementi meatum, adnatum est ei quoddam carneum tuberculum, feminino
pudendo figura persimile. Nullum autem meatum habet haec figura carnis, qui
in utilem aliquam desinat partem, vel in matricem inquam, vel in rectum
intestinum: tantum habet magnam concavitatem, quae inanem excipiat
libidinem, quando aversi fuerint meatus, qui in concipiendo fetu occupati
sunt. Hoc ipsum autem et masculo et feminae hyaenae adnatum est, quod sit
insigniter pathica: masculus enim vicissim et agit, et patitur: unde etiam
rarissime inveniri potest hyaena femina: non enim frequenter concipit hoc
animal, cum in eis largiter redundet ea, quae praeter naturam est, satio.
Hac etiam ratione mihi videtur Plato in Phoedro, amorem puerorum repellens,
eum appellate bestiam, quod frenum mordentes, qui se voluptatibus dedunt,
libidinosi, quadrupedum coeunt more, et filios seminare conantur. Impios
"autem tradidit Deus," ut air Apostolus,[1] "in perturbationes ignominiae:
nam et feminae eorum mutaverunt naturalem usum in eum, qui est procter
naturam: similiter autem et masculi eorum, relicto usu naturali, exarserunt
in desiderio sui inter se invicem, masculi in masculos turpitudinem
operantes, et mercedem, quam oportuit, erroris sui in se recipientes." At
vero ne libidinosissimis quidem animantibus concessit natura in excrementi
meatum semen immittere: urina enim in vesicam excernitur, humefactum
alimentum in ventrum, lacryma vero in oculum, sanguis in venas, sordes in
aures, mucus in hares defertur: fini autem recti intestini, sedes cohaeret,
per quam excrementa exponuntur. Sola ergo varia in hyaenis natura,
superfluo coitui superfluam hanc partem excogitavit, et ideo est etiam
aliquantisper concavum, ut prurientibus partibus inserviat, exinde autem
excaecatur concavitas: non fuit emm res fabricata ad generationem. Hinc
nobis manifestum atque adeo in confesso est, vitandos esse cum masculis
concubitus, et infrugiferas sationes, et Venerem praeposteram, et quae
natura coalescere non possunt, androgynorum conjunctiones, ipsam naturam
sequentibus, quae id per partium prohibet constitutionem, ut quae masculum
non ad semen suscipiendum, sed ad id effundendum fecerit. Jeremias autem,
hoc est, per ipsum loquens Spiritus, quando dicit: "Spelunca hyaenae facta
est domus mea,"[2] id quod ex mortuis constabat corporibus detestans
alimentum, sapienti allegoria reprehendit cultum simulacrorum: vere enim
oportet ab idolis esse puram domum Dei viventis. Rursus Moyses lepore
quoque vesci prohibet. Omni enim tempore coit lepus, et salit, assidente
femina, earn a tergo aggrediens: est enim ex iis, quae retro insiliunt.
Concipit autem singulis mensibus, et superfetat; init autem, et parit;
postquam autem peperit, statim a quovis initur lepore (neque enim uno
contenta est matrimonio) et rursus concipit, adhuc lactans: habet enim
matricem, cui sunt duo sinus, et non unus solus matricis vacuus sinus, est
ei sufficiens sedes ad receptaculure coitus (quidquid enim est vacuum,
desiderat repleri); verum accidit, ut cure uterum gerunt, altera pars
matricis desiderio teneatur et libidine furiat; quocirca fiunt eis
superfetationes. A vehementibus ergo appetitionibus, mutuisque
congressionibus, et cure praegnantibus feminis conjunctionibus, alternisque
initibus, puerorumque stupris, adulteriis et libidine abstinere, hujus nos
aenigmatis adhortata est prohibitio. Idcirco aperte, et non per renigmata
Moyses prohibuit, "Non fornicaberis; non moechaberis; pueris stuprum non
inferes,"[3] inquiens. Logi itaque praescriptum totis viribus observandum,
neque quidquam contra leges ullo modo faciendum est, neque mandata sunt
infirmanda. Malae enim. cupiditati nomen est hu'bris, "petulantia;" et
equum cupiditatis, "petulantem" vocavit Plato, cure legissit, "Facti estis
mihi equi furentes in feminas."[4] Libidines autem supplicium notum nobis
facient illi, qui Sodomam accesserunt, angeli. Ii eos, qui probro illos
afficere voluerunt, una cum ipsa civitate combusserunt, evidenti hoc
indicio ignem, qui est fructus libidinis, describentes. Quae enim veteribus
acciderunt, sicut ante diximus, ad nos admonendos scripta sunt, ne eisdem
teneamur vitiis, et caveamus, ne in poenas similes incidamus. Oportet autem
filios existimare, pueros; uxores autem alienas intueri tanquam proprias
filias: voluptates quippe continere, ventrique et iis quae sunt infra
ventrem, dominari, est maximi imperii. Si enim ne digitum quidem temere
movere permittit sapienti ratio, ut confitentur Stoici, quomodo non multo
magis iis, qui sapientiam persequuntur, in eam, qua coitur, particulam
dominatus est obtinendus? Atque hac quidem de causa videtur esse nominatum
pudendum, quod hac corporis parte magis, quam qualibet alia, cum pudore
utendum sit; natura enim sicut alimentis, ita etiam legitimis nuptiis,
quantum convenit, utile est, et decet, nobis uti permisit: permisit autem
appetere liberorum procreationem. Quicumque autem, quod modum excedit,
persequuntur, labuntur in eo quod est secundum naturam, per congressus, qui
sunt praeter leges, seipsos laedentes. Ante omnia enim recte habet, ut
nunquam cure adolescentibus perinde ac cum feminis, Veneris utamur
consuetudine. Et ideo "non esse in petris et lapidibus seminandum" dicit,
qui a Moyse factus est philosophus, "quoniam nunquam actis radicibus
genitalem sit semen naturam suscepturum." Logos itaque per Moysen
appertissime praecepit: "Et cure masculo non dormies feminino concubitu:
est enim abominatio."[1] Accedit his, quod "ab omni quoque arvo feminino
esse abstinendum" praeterquam a proprio, ex divinis Scripturis colligens
praeclarus Plato consuluit lege illinc accepta: "Et uxori proximi tui non
dabis concubitum seminis, ut polluaris apud ipsam.[2] Irrita autem sunt et
adulterina concubinarum semina. Ne semina, ubi non vis tibi nasci quod
seminatum est. Neque ullam omnino tange mulierem, praeterquam tuam ipsius
uxorem," ex qua sola tibi licet carnis voluptates percipere ad suscipiendam
legitimam successionem. Haec enim Logo sola sunt legitima. Eis quidem
certe, qui divini muneris in producendo opificio sunt participes, semen non
est abjiciendum, neque injuria afficiendum, neque tanquam si cornibus semen
mandes seminandum est. Hic ipse ergo Moyses cum ipsis quoque prohibet
uxoribus congredi, si forte eas detineant purgationes menstruae. Non enim
purgamento corporis genitale semen, et quod mox homo futurum est, polluere
est aequum, nec sordido materiae profluvio, et, quae expurgantur,
inquinamentis inundare ac obruere; semen autem generationis degenerat,
ineptumque redditur, si  matricis sulcis privetur. Neque vero ullum unquam
induxit veterum Hebraeorum coeuntem cum sua uxore praegnante. Sola enim
voluptas, si quis ea etiam utatur in conjugio, est praeter leges, et
injusta, eta ratione aliena. Rursus autem Moyses abducit viros a
praegnantibus, quousque pepererint. Revera enim matrix sub vesica quidem
collocata, super intestinum autem, quod rectum appellatur, posita, extendit
collum inter humeros in vesica; et os colli, in quod venit semen, impletum
occluditur, illa autem rursus inanis redditur, cum partu purgata fuerit:
fructu autem deposito, deinde semen suscipit. Neque vero nobis turpe est ad
auditorum utilitatem nominare partes, in quibus fit fetus conceptio, quae
quidem Deum fabricari non puduit. Matrix itaque sitiens filiorum
procreationem, semen suscipit, probrosumque et vituperandum negat coitum,
post sationem ore clauso omnino jam libidinem excludens. Ejus autem
appetitiones, quae prius in amicis versabantur complexibus, intro
conversae, in procreatione sobolis occupatae, operantur una cum Opifice.
Nefas est ergo operantem jam naturam adhuc molestia afficere, superflue ad
petulantem prorumpendo libidinem. Petulantia autem, quae multa quidem habet
nomina, et multas species, cure ad hanc veneream intemperantiam deflexerit,
lagnei'a, id est "lascivia," dicitur; quo nomine significatur libidinosa,
publica, et incesta in coitum propensio: quae cum aucta fuerit, magna simul
morborum convenit multitudo, obsoniorum desiderium, vinolentia et amor in
mulieres; luxus quoque, et simul universarum voluptatum studium; in quae
omnia tyrannidem obtinet cupidity. His autem cognatae innumerabiles
augentur affectiones, ex quibus mores intemperantes ad summum provehuntur.
Dicit autem Scriptura: "Parantur intemperantibus flagella, et supplicia
humeris insipientium:"[3] vires intemperantiae, ejusque constantem
tolerantiam, vocans "humeros insipientium." Quocirca, "Amove a servis tuis
spes inanes, et indecoras," inquit, "cupiditates averte a me. Ventris
appetitio et coitus ne me apprehendant."[4] Longe ergo sunt arcenda
multifaria insidiatorum maleficia; non ad solam enim Cratetis Peram, sed
etiam ad nostram civitatem non navigat stultus parasitus, nec scortator
libidinosus, qui posteriori delectatur parte: non dolosa meretrix, nec ulla
ejusmodi alia voluptatis bellua. Multa ergo nobis per totam vitam
seminetur, quae bona sit et honesta, occupatio. In summa ergo, vel jungi
matrimonio, vel omnino a matrimonio purum esse oportet; in quaestione enim
id versatur, et hoc nobis declaratum est in libro De continentia. Quod si
hoc ipsum, an ducenda sit uxor. veniat in considerationem: quomodo libere
permittetur, quemadmodum nutrimento, ita etiam coitu semper uti, tanquam re
necessaria? Ex eo ergo videri possunt nervi tanquam stamina distrahi, et in
vehementi congressus intensione disrumpi. Jam vero offundit etiam caliginem
sensibus, et vires enervat. Patet hoc et in animantibus rationis
expertibus, et in iis, quae in exercitatione versantur, corporibus; quorum
hi quidem, qui abstinent, in certaminibus superant adversarios; illa vero a
coitu abducta circumaguntur, et tantum non trahuntur, omnibus viribus et
omni impetu tandem quasi enervata. "Parvam epilepsiam" dicebat "coitum"
sophista Abderites morbum immedicabilem existimans. Annon enim consequuntur
resolutiones, quae exinanitionis ejusque, quod abscedit, magnitudini
ascribuntur? "homo enim ex homine nascitur et evellitur." Vide damni
magnitudinem: totus homo per exinanitionem coitus abstrahitur. Dicit enim:
"Hoc nunc os ex ossibus meis, et caro ex came mea."[1] Homo ergo tantum
exinanitur semine, quantus videtur corpore; est enim generationis initium
id, quod recedit: quin etiam conturbat ebullitio materiae et compagem
corporis labefactat et commovet. Lepide ergo ille, qui interroganti,
"Quomodo adhuc se haberet ad res venereas," respondit: "Bona verba, quaeso:
ego vero lubentissime isthinc, tanquam ab agresti et insano domino,
profugi." Verum concedatur quidem et admittatur matrimonium: vult enim
Dominus humanum genus repleri; seal non dicit, Estote libidinosi: nec vos,
tanquam ad coitum natos, voluit esse deditos voluptati. Pudore autem nos
afficiat Paedagogus, clamans per Ezechielem: "Circumcidamini fornicationem
vestram." Aliquod tempus ad seminandum opportunum habent quoque rationis
expertia animantia. Aliter autem coire, quam ad liberorum procreationem,
est facere injuriam naturae;[2] qua quidem oportet   magistra, quas
prudenter introducit temporis commoditates, diligenter observare,
senectutem, inquam, et puerilem aetatem. His enim nondum concessit, illos
autem non vult amplius uxores ducere. Seal non vult homines semper dare
operam matrimonio. Matrimonium autem est filiorum procreationis appetitio,
non inordinata seminis excretio, quae est et praeter leges eta ratione
aliena. Secundum naturam autem nobis vita universa processerit,[3] si et ab
initio cupiditates contineamus, et hominum genus, quod ex divina
providentia nascitur, improbis et malitiosis non tollamus artibus: eae
enim, ut fornicatiohem celent, exitialia medicamenta adhibentes, quae
prorsus in perniciem ducunt, simul cum fetu omnem humanitatem perdunt.
Caeterum, quibus uxores ducere concessum est, iis Paedagogo opus fuerit, ut
non interdiu mystica naturae celebrentur orgia, nec ut aliquis ex ecclesia,
verbi gratia, aut ex foro mane rediens, galli more coeat, quando orationis,
et lectionis, et eorum quae interdiu facere convenit, operum tempus est.
Vespere autem oportet post convivium quiescere, et post gratiarum actionem,
quae fit Deo pro bonis quae percepimus. Non semper autem concedit tempus
natura, ut peragatur congressus matrimonii; est enim eo desiderabilior
conjunctio, quo diuturnior. Neque vero noctu, tanquam in tenebris,
immodeste sese ac imtemperanter gerere oportet, sed verecundia, ut quae sit
lux rationis, in animo est includenda. Nihil enim a Penelope telam texente
differemus, si interdiu quidem texamus dogmata temperantiae; noctu autem ea
resolvamus, cum in cubile venerimus. Si enim honestatem exercere oportet,
multo magis tuae uxori honestas est ostendenda, inhonestas vitando
conjunctiones: et quod caste cum proximis verseris, fide dignum e domo
adsit testimonium. Non enim potest aliquid honestum ab ea existimari, apud
quam honestas in acribus illis non probatur certo quasi testimonio
voluptatibus. Benevolentia autem quae praeceps fertur ad congressionem,
exiguo tempore floret, et cum corpore consenescit; nonnunquam autem etiam
praesenescit, flaccescente jam libidine, quando matrimonialem temperantiam
meretriciae vitiaverint libidines. Amantium enim corda sunt volucria,
amorisque irritamenta exstinguuntur saepe poenitentia; amorque saepe
vertitur in odium, quando reprehensionera senserit satietas. Impudicorum
vero verborum, et turpium figurarum, meretriciorumque osculomm, et
hujusmodi lasciviarum nomina ne sunt quidem memoranda, beatum sequentibus
Apostolum, qui aperte dicit: "Fornicatio autem et omnis immunditia, vel
plura habendi cupiditas, ne nominetur quidem in vobis, sicut decet
saneros."[4] Recte ergo videtur dixisse quispiam: "Nulli quidem profuit
coitus, recte autem cum eo agitur, quem non laeserit." Nam et qui
legitimus, est periculosus, nisi quatenus in liberorum procreatione
versatur. De eo autem, qui est praeter leges, dicit Scriptura: "Mulier
meretrix apro similis reputabitur. Quae autem viro subjecta est, turris est
mortis iis, qui ea utuntur." Capro, vel apro, meretricis comparavit
affectionem. "Mortem" autem dixit "quaesitam," adulterium, quod committitur
in meretrice, quae custoditur. "Domum" autem, et "urbem," in qua suam
exercent intemperantiam. Quin etiam quae est apud vos poetica, quodammodo
ea exprobrans, scribit:--

   Tecum et adulterium est, tecum coitusque nefandus,
   Foedus, femineusque, urbs pessima, plane impura.

Econtra autem pudicos admiratur:--

   Quos desiderium tenuit nec turpe cubilis
   Alterius, nec tetra invisaque stupra rulerunt
   Ulla unquam maribus.

   (5)For many think such things to be pleasures only which are against
nature, such as these sins of theirs. And those who are better than they,
know them to be sins, but are overcome by pleasures, and darkness is the
veil of their vicious practices. For he violates his marriage adulterously
who uses it in a meretricious way, and hears not the voice of the
Instructor, crying, "The man who ascends his bed, who says in his soul, Who
seeth me? darkness is around me, and the walls are my covering, and no one
sees my sins. Why do I fear lest the Highest will remember?"[6] Most
wretched is such a man, dreading men's eyes alone, and thinking that he
will escape the observation of God. "For he knoweth not," says the
Scripture, "that brighter ten thousand times than the sun are the eyes of
the Most High, which look on all the ways of men, and cast their glance
into hidden parts." Thus again the Instructor threatens them, speaking by
Isaiah: "Woe be to those who take counsel in secret, and say, Who seeth us?
"[1] For one may escape the light of sense, but that of the mind it is
impossible to escape. For how, says Heraclitus, can one escape the notice
of that which never sets? Let us by no means, then, veil our selves with
the darkness; for the light dwells in us. "For the darkness," it is said,
"comprehendeth it not."[2] And the very night itself is illuminated by
temperate reason. The thoughts of good men Scripture has named "sleepless
lamps;"[3] although for one to attempt even to practise concealment, with
reference to what he does, is confessedly to sin. And every one who sins,
directly wrongs not so much his neighbour if he commits adultery, as
himself, because he has committed adultery, besides making himself worse
and less thought of. For he who sins, in the degree in which he sins,
becomes worse and is of less estimation than before; and he who has been
overcome by base pleasures, has now licentiousness wholly attached to him.
Wherefore he who commits fornication is wholly dead to God, and is
abandoned by the Word as a dead body by the spirit. For what is holy, as is
right, abhors to be polluted. But it is always lawful for the pure to touch
the pure. Do not, I pray, put off modesty at the same time that you put off
your clothes; because it is never right for the just man to divest himself
of continence. For, lo, this mortal shall put on immortality; when the
insatiableness of desire, which rushes into licentiousness, being trained
to self-restraint, and made free from the love of corruption, shall consign
the man to everlasting chastity. "For in this world they marry and and are
given in marriage."[4] But having done with the works of the flesh, and
having been clothed with immortality, the flesh itself being pure, we
pursue after that which is according to the measure of the angels.

   Thus in the Philebus, Plato, who had been the disciple of the
barbarian(5) philosophy, mystically called those Atheists who destroy and
pollute, as far as in them lies, the Deity dwelling in them--that is, the
Logos--by association with their vices. Those, therefore, who are
consecrated to God must never live mortally (thnhtw^s). "Nor," as Paul
says, "is it meet to make the members of Christ the members of an harlot;
nor must the temple of God be made the temple of base affections."[6]
Remember the four and twenty thousand that were rejected for
fornication.[7] But the experiences of those who have committed
fornication, as I have already said, are types which correct our lusts.
Moreover, the Paedagogue warns us most distinctly: "Go not after thy lusts,
and abstain from thine appetites;[8] for wine and women will remove the
wise; and he that cleaves to harlots will become more daring. Corruption
and the worm shall inherit him, and he shall be held up as public example
to greater shame."[9] And again--for he wearies not of doing good"He who
averts his eyes from pleasure crowns his life."

   Non est ergo justum vinci a rebus venereis, nec libidinibus stolide
inhiare, nec a ratione alienis appetitionibus moveri, nec desiderare
pollui. Ei autem soli, qui uxorem duxit, ut qui tune sit agricola, serere
permissum est; quando tempus sementem admittit. Adversus aliam autem
intemperantiam, optimum quidem est medicamentum, ratio.[10] Fert etiam
auxilium penuria satietatis, per quam accensae libidines prosiliunt ad
voluptates.

CHAP. XI.[11]--ON CLOTHES.

Wherefore neither are we to provide for ourselves costly clothing any more
than variety of food. The Lord Himself, therefore, dividing His precepts
into what relates to the body, the soul, and thirdly, external things,
counsels us to provide external things on account of the body; and manages
the body by the soul (pyuchh'), and disciplines the soul, saying, "Take no
thought for your life (psuchh^) what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body,
what ye shall put on; for the life is more than meat, and the body more
than raiment."[12] And He adds a plain example of instruction: "Consider
the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse
nor barn; and God feedeth them."[13] "Are ye not better than the
fowls?"[14] Thus far as to food. Similarly He enjoins with respect to
clothing, which belongs to the third division, that of things external,
saying, "Consider the lilies, how they spin not, nor weave. But I say unto
you, that not even Solomon was arrayed as one of these."[1] And Solomon the
king plumed himself exceedingly on his riches.

   What, I ask, more graceful, more gay-coloured, than flowers? What, I
say, more delightful than lilies or roses? "And if God so clothe the grass,
which is to-day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven, how much
more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith!"[2] Here the particle what
(ti') banishes variety in food. For this is shown from the Scripture, "Take
no thought what things ye shall eat, or what things ye shall drink." For to
take thought of these things argues greed and luxury. Now eating,
considered merely by itself, is the sign of necessity; repletion, as we
have said, of want. Whatever is beyond that, is the sign of superfluity.
And what is superfluous, Scripture declares to be of the devil. The
subjoined expression makes the meaning plain. For having said, "Seek not
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink," He added, "Neither be ye of
doubtful (or lofty)[3] mind." Now pride and luxury make men waverers (or
raise them aloft) from the truth; and the voluptuousness, which indulges in
superfluities, leads away from the truth. Wherefore He says very
beautifully, "And all these things do the nations of the world seek
after."[4] The nations are the dissolute and the foolish. And what are
these things which He specifies? Luxury, voluptuousness, rich cooking,
dainty feeding, gluttony. These are the "What?" And of bare sustenance, dry
and moist, as being necessaries He says, "Your Father knoweth that ye need
these." And if, in a word, we are naturally given to seeking, let us not
destroy the faculty of seeking by directing it to luxury, but let us excite
it to the discovery of truth. For He says, "Seek ye the kingdom of God, and
the materials of sustenance shall be added to you."

   If, then, He takes away anxious care for clothes and food, and
superfluities in general, as unnecessary; what are we to imagine ought to
be said of love of ornament, and dyeing of wool, and variety of colours,
and fastidiousness about gems, and exquisite working of gold, and still
more, of artificial hair and wreathed curls; and furthermore, of staining
the eyes, and plucking out hairs, and painting with rouge and white lead,
and dyeing of the hair, and the wicked arts that are employed in such
deceptions? May we not very well suspect, that what was quoted a little
above respecting the grass, has been said of those unornamental lovers of
ornaments? For the field is the world, and we who are bedewed by the grace
of God are the grass; and though cut down, we spring up again, as will be
shown at greater length in the book On the Resurrection. But hay
figuratively designates the vulgar rabble, attached to ephemeral pleasure,
flourishing for a little, loving ornament, loving praise, and being
everything but truth-loving, good for nothing but to be burned with fire.
"There was a certain man," said the Lord, narrating, "very rich, who was
clothed in purple and scarlet, enjoying himself splendidly every day." This
was the hay. "And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at the rich
man's gate, full of sores, desiring to be filled with the crumbs which fell
from the rich man's table." This is the grass. Well, the rich man was
punished in Hades, being made par-taker of the fire; while the other
flourished again in the Father's bosom. I admire that ancient city of the
Lacedaemonians which permitted harlots alone to wear flowered clothes, and
ornaments of gold, interdicting respectable women from love of ornament,
and allowing courtesans alone to deck themselves. On the other hand, the
archons of the Athenians, who affected a polished mode of life, forgetting
their manhood, wore tunics reaching to the feet, and had on the crobulus--a
kind of knot of the hair--adorned with a fastening of gold grasshoppers, to
show their origin from the soil, forsooth, in the ostentation of
licentiousness. Now rivalry of these archons extended also to the other
Ionians, whom Homer, to show their effeminancy, calls "Long-robed." Those,
therefore, who are devoted to the image of the beautiful, that is, love of
finery, not the beautiful itself, and who under a fair name again practise
idolatry, are to be banished far from the truth, as those who by
opinion,[5] not knowledge, dream of the nature of the beautiful; and so
life here is to them only a deep sleep of ignorance; from which it becomes
us to rouse ourselves and haste to that which is truly beautiful and
comely, and desire to grasp this alone, leaving the ornaments of earth to
the world, and bidding them farewell before we fall quite asleep. I say,
then, that man requires clothes for nothing else than the covering of the
body, for defence against excess of cold and intensity of heat, lest the
inclemency of the air injure us. And if this is the object of clothing, see
that one kind be not assigned to men and another to women. For it is common
to both to be covered, as it is to eat and drink. The necessity, then,
being common, we judge that the provision ought to be similar. For as it is
common to both to require things to cover them, so also their coverings
ought to be similar; although such a covering ought to be assumed as is
requisite for covering the eyes of women. For if the female sex, on account
of their weakness, desire more, we ought to blame  the habit of that evil
training, by which often men reared up in bad habits become more effeminate
than women. But this must not be yielded to. And if some accommodation is
to be made, they may be permitted to use softer clothes, provided they put
out of the way fabrics foolishly thin, and of curious texture in weaving;
bidding farewell to embroidery of gold and Indian silks and elaborate
Bombyces (silks), which is at first a worm, then from it is produced a
hairy caterpillar; after which the creature suffers a new transformation
into a third form which they call lava, from which a long filament is
produced, as the spider's thread from the spider. For these superfluous and
diaphanous materials are the proof of a weak mind, covering as they do the
shame of the body with a slender veil. For luxurious clothing, which cannot
conceal the shape of the body, is no more a covering. For such clothing,
falling close to the body, takes its form more easily, and adhering as it
were to the flesh, receives its shape, and marks out the woman's figure, so
that the whole make of the body is visible to spectators, though not seeing
the body itself.[1]

   Dyeing of clothes is also to be rejected. For it is remote both from
necessity and truth, in addition to the fact that reproach in manners
spring from it.[2] For the use of colours is not beneficial, for they are
of no service against cold; nor has it anything for covering more than
other clothing, except the opprobrium alone. And the agreeableness of the
colour afflicts greedy eyes, inflaming them to senseless blindness. But for
those who are white and unstained within, it is most suitable to use white
and simple garments. Clearly and plainly, therefore, Daniel the prophet
says, "Thrones were set, and upon them sat one like the Ancient of days,
and His vesture was white as snow."[3] The Apocalypse says also that the
Lord Himself appeared wearing such a robe. It says also, "I saw the souls
of those that had witnessed, beneath the altar, and there was given to each
a white robe."[4] And if it were necessary to seek for any other colour,
the natural colour of truth should suffice.[5] But garments which are like
flowers are to be abandoned to Bacchic fooleries, and to those of the rites
of initiation, along with purple and silver plate, as the comic poet says:-
-

   "Useful for tragedians, not far life."

And our life ought to be anything rather than a pageant. Therefore the dye
of Sardis, and another of olive, and another green, a rose-coloured, and
scarlet, and ten thousand other dyes, have been invented with much trouble
for mischievous voluptuousness. Such clothing is for looking at, not for
covering. Garments, too, variegated with gold, and those that are purple,
and that piece of luxury which has its name from beasts (figured on it),
and that saffron-coloured ointment-dipped robe, and those costly and many-
coloured garments of flaring membranes, we are to bid farewell to, with the
art itself. "For what prudent thing can these women have done," says the
comedy, "who sit covered with flowers, wearing a saffron-coloured dress,[6]
painted?"

   The Instructor expressly admonishes, "Boast not of the clothing of your
garment, and be not elated on account of any glory, as it is unlawful."[7]

   Accordingly, deriding those who are clothed in luxurious garments, He
says in the Gospel: "Lo, they who live in gorgeous apparel and luxury are
in earthly palaces."[8] He says in perishable palaces, where are love of
display, love of popularity, and flattery and deceit. But those that wait
at the court of heaven around the King of all, are sanctified in the
immortal vesture of the Spirit, that is, the flesh, and so put on
incorruptibility.

   As therefore she who is unmarried devotes herself to God alone, and her
care is not divided, but the chaste married woman divides her life between
God and her husband, while she who is otherwise disposed is devoted
entirely to marriage, that is, to passion: in the same way I think the
chaste wife, when she devotes herself to her husband, sincerely serves God;
but when she becomes fond of finery, she falls away from God and from
chaste wedlock, exchanging her husband for the world, after the fashion of
that Argive courtesan, I mean Eriphyle,--

   "Who received gold prized above her dear husband."

Wherefore I admire the Ceian sophist,[9] who delineated like and suitable
images of Virtue and Vice, representing the former of these, viz. Virtue,
standing simply, white-robed and pure, adorned with modesty alone (for such
ought to be the true wife, dowered with modesty). But the other, viz. Vice,
on the contrary, he introduces dressed in superfluous attire, brightened up
with colour not her own; and her gait and mien are depicted as studiously
framed to give pleasure, forming a sketch of wanton women.

   But he who follows the Word will not addict himself to any base
pleasure; wherefore also what is useful in the article of dress is to be
preferred. And if the Word, speaking of the Lord by David, sings, "The
daughters of kings made Thee glad by honour; the queen stood at Thy right
hand, clad in cloth of gold, girt with golden fringes," it is not luxurious
raiment that he indicates; but he shows the immortal adornment, woven of
faith, of those that have found mercy, that is, the Church; in which the
guileless Jesus shines conspicuous as gold, and the elect are the golden
tassels. And if such must be woven[1] for the women, let us weave apparel
pleasant and soft to the touch, not flowered, like pictures, to delight the
eye. For the picture fades in course of time, and the washing and steeping
in the medicated juices of the dye wear away the wool, and render the
fabrics of the garments weak; and this is not favourable to economy. It is
the height of foolish ostentation to be in a flutter about peploi, and
xystides, and ephaptides,[2] and "cloaks," and tunics, and "what covers
shame," says Homer. For, in truth, I am ashamed when I see so much wealth
lavished on the covering of the nakedness. For primeval man in Paradise
provided a covering for his shame of branches and leaves; and now, since
sheep have been created for us, let us not be as silly as sheep, but
trained by the Word, let us condemn sumptuousness of clothing, saying, "Ye
are sheep's wool." Though Miletus boast, and Italy be praised, and the
wool, about which many rave, be protected beneath skins,[3] yet are we not
to set our hearts on it.

   The blessed John, despising the locks of sheep as savouring of luxury,
chose "camel's hair," and was clad in it, making himself an example of
frugality and simplicity of life. For he also "ate locusts and wild
honey,"[4] sweet and spiritual fare; preparing, as he was, the lowly and
chaste ways of the Lord. For how possibly could he have worn a purple robe,
who turned away from the pomp of cities, and retired to the solitude of the
desert, to live in calmness with God, far from all frivolous pursuits--from
all false show of good--from all meanness? Elias used a sheepskin mantle,
and fastened the sheepskin with a girdle made of hair.[5] And Esaias,
another prophet, was naked and barefooted,[6] and often was clad in
sackcloth, the garb of humility. And if you call Jeremiah, he had only "a
linen girdle."[7]

   For as well-nurtured bodies, when stripped, show their vigour more
manifestly, so also beauty of character shows its magnanimity, when not
involved in ostentatious fooleries. But to drag one's clothes, letting them
down to the soles of his feet, is a piece of consummate foppery, impeding
activity in walking, the garment sweeping the surface dirt of the ground
like a broom; since even those emasculated creatures the dancers, who
transfer their dumb shameless profligacy to the stage, do not despise the
dress which flows away to such indignity; whose curious vestments, and
appendages of fringes, and elaborate motions of figures, show the trailing
of sordid effeminacy.[8]

   If one should adduce the garment of the Lord reaching down to the foot,
that many-flowered coat[9] shows the flowers of wisdom, the varied and
unfading Scriptures, the oracles of the Lord, resplendent with the rays of
truth. In such another robe the Spirit arrayed the Lord through David, when
he sang thus: "Thou wert clothed with confession and comeliness, putting on
light as a garment."[10]

   As, then, in the fashioning of our clothes, we must keep clear of all
strangeness, so in the use of them we must beware of extravagance. For
neither is it seemly for the clothes to be above the knee, as they say was
the case with the Lacedaemonian virgins;[11] nor is it becoming for any
part of a woman to be exposed. Though you may with great propriety use the
language addressed to him who said, "Your arm is beautiful; yes, but it is
not for the public gaze. Your thighs are beautiful; but, was the reply, for
my husband alone. And your face is comely. Yes; but only for him who has
married me." But I do not wish chaste women to afford cause for such
praises to those who, by praises, hunt after grounds of censure; and not
only because it is prohibited to expose the ankle, but because it has also
been enjoined that the head should be veiled and the face covered; for it
is a wicked thing for beauty to be a snare to men. Nor is it seemly for a
woman to wish to make herself conspicuous, by using a purple veil. Would it
were possible to abolish purple in dress, so as not to turn the eyes of
spectators on the face of those that wear it! But the women, in the
manufacture of all the rest of their dress, have made everything of purple,
thus inflaming the lusts. And, in truth, those women who are crazy about
these stupid and luxurious purples, "purple (dark) death has seized,"[1]
according to the poetic saying. On account of this purple, then, Tyre and
Sidon, and the vicinity of the Lacedaemonian Sea, are very much desired;
and their dyers and purple-fishers, and the purple fishes themselves,
because their blood produces purple, are held in high esteem. But crafty
women and effeminate men, who blend these deceptive dyes with dainty
fabrics, carry their insane desires beyond all bounds, and export their
fine linens no longer from Egypt, but some other kinds from the land of the
Hebrews and the Cilicians. I say nothing of the linens made of Amorgos[2]
and Byssus. Luxury has outstripped nomenclature.

   The covering ought, in my judgment, to show that which is covered to be
better than itself, as the image is superior to the temple, the soul to the
body, and the body to the clothes.[3] But now, quite the contrary, the body
of these ladies, if sold, would never fetch a thousand Attic drachms.
Buying, as they do, a single dress at the price of ten thousand talents,
they prove themselves to be of less use and less value than cloth. Why in
the world do you seek after what is rare and costly, in preference to what
is at hand and cheap? It is because you know not what is really beautiful,
what is really good, and seek with eagerness shows instead of realities
from fools who, like people out of their wits, imagine black to be white.

CHAP. XII.--ON SHOES.

   Women fond of display act in the same manner with regard to shoes,
showing also in this matter great luxuriousness. Base, in truth, are those
sandals on which golden ornaments are fastened; but they are thought worth
having nails driven into the soles in winding rows. Many, too, carve on
them[4] amorous embraces, as if they would by their walk communicate to the
earth harmonious movement, and impress on it the wantonness of their
spirit. Farewell, therefore, must be bidden to gold-plated and jewelled
mischievous devices of sandals, and Attic and Sicyonian half-boots, and
Persian and Tyrrhenian buskins; and setting before us the right aim, as is
the habit with our truth, we are bound to select what is in accordance with
nature.

   For the use of shoes is partly for covering, partly for defence in case
of stumbling against objects, and for saving the sole of the foot from the
roughness of hilly paths.

   Women, are to be allowed a white shoe, except when on a journey, and
then a greased shoe must be used. When on a journey, they require nailed
shoes. Further, they ought for the most part to wear shoes; for it is not
suitable for the foot to be shown naked: besides, woman is a tender thing,
easily hurt. But for a man bare feet are quite in keeping, except when he
is on military service. "For being shod is near neigh-hour to being
bound."[5]

   To go with bare feet is most suitable for exercise, and best adapted
for health and ease, unless where necessity prevents. But if we are not on
a journey, and cannot endure bare feet, we may use slippers or white shoes;
dusty-foots[6] the Attics called them, on account of their bringing the
feet near the dust, as I think. As a witness for simplicity in shoes let
John suffice, who avowed that "he was not worthy to unloose the latchet of
the Lord's shoes."[7] For he who exhibited to the Hebrews the type of the
true philosophy wore no elaborate shoes. What else this may imply, will be
shown elsewhere.

CHAP. XIII--AGAINST EXCESSIVE FONDNESS FOR JEWELS AND GOLD ORNAMENTS.

   It is childish to admire excessively dark or green stones, and things
cast out by the sea on foreign shores, particles of the earth.[8] For to
rush after stones that are pellucid and of peculiar colours, and stained
glass, is only characteristic of silly people, who are attracted by things
that have a striking show. Thus children, on seeing the fire, rush to it,
attracted by its brightness; not understanding through senselessness the
danger of touching it. Such is the case with the stones which silly women
wear fastened to chains and set in necklaces, amethysts, cera-unites,
jaspers, topaz, and the Milesian

   "Emerald, most precious ware."

And the highly prized pearl has invaded the woman's apartments to an
extravagant extent. This is produced in a kind of oyster like mussels, and
is about the bigness of a fish's eye of large size. And the wretched
creatures are not ashamed at having bestowed the greatest pains about this
little oyster, when they might adorn themselves with the sacred jewel, the
Word of God, whom the Scripture has somewhere called a pearl, the pure and
pellucid Jesus, the eye that watches in the flesh,--the transparent Word,
by whom the flesh, regenerated by water, becomes precious. For that oyster
that is in the water covers the flesh all round, and out of it is produced
the pearl.

   We have heard, too, that the Jerusalem above is walled with sacred
stones; and we allow that the twelve gates of the celestial city, by being
made like precious stones, indicate the transcendent grace of the apostolic
voice. For the colours are laid on in precious stones, and these colours
are precious; while the other parts remain of earthy material. With these
symbolically, as is meet, the city of the saints, which is spiritually
built, is walled. By that brilliancy of stones, therefore, is meant the
inimitable brilliancy of the spirit, the immortality and sanctity of being.
But these women, who comprehend not the symbolism of Scripture, gape all
they can for jewels, adducing the astounding apology, "Why may I not use
what God hath exhibited?" and, "I have it by me, why may I not enjoy it?"
and., "For whom were these things made, then, if not for us?" Such are the
utterances of those who are totally ignorant of the will of God. For first
necessaries, such as water and air, He supplies free to all; and what is
not necessary He has hid in the earth and water. Wherefore ants dig, and
griffins guard gold, and the sea hides the pearl-stone. But ye busy
yourselves about what you need not. Behold, the whole heaven is lighted up,
and ye seek not God; but  gold which is hidden, and jewels, are dug up by
those among us who are condemned to death.

   But you also oppose Scripture, seeing it expressly cries "Seek first
the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you."[1]
But if all things have been conferred on you, and all things allowed you,
and "if all things are lawful, yet all things are not expedient,"[2] says
the apostle. God brought our race into communion by first imparting what
was His own, when He gave His own Word, common to all, and made all things
for all. All things therefore are common, and not for the rich to
appropriate an undue share. That expression, therefore, "I possess, and
possess in abundance: why then should I not enjoy?" is suitable neither to
the man, nor to society. But more worthy of love is that: "I have: why
should I not give to those who need?" For such an one--one who fulfils the
command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"--is perfect. For this
is the true luxury--the treasured wealth. But that which is squandered on
foolish lusts is to be reckoned waste, not expenditure. For God has given
to us, I know well, the liberty of use, but only so far as necessary; and
He has determined that the use should be common. And it is monstrous for
one to live in luxury, while many are in want. How much more glorious is it
to do good to many, than to live sumptuously! How much wiser to spend money
on human being,(3) than on jewels and gold !How much more useful to acquire
decorous friends, than lifeless ornaments !Whom have lands ever benefited
so much as conferring favours has? It remains for us, therefore, to do away
with this allegation: Who, then, will have the more sumptuous things, if
all select the simpler? Men, I would say, if they make use of them
impartially and indifferently. But if it be impossible for all to exercise
self-restraint, yet, with a view to the use of what is necessary, we must
seek after what can be most readily procured, bidding a long farewell to
these superfluities.

   In fine, they must accordingly utterly cast off ornaments as girls'
gewgaws, rejecting adornment itself entirely. For they ought to be adorned
within, and show the inner woman beautiful. For in the soul alone are
beauty and deformity shown. Wherefore also only the virtuous man is really
beautiful and good. And it is laid down as a dogma, that only the beautiful
is good. And excellence alone appears through the beautiful body, and
blossoms out in the flesh, exhibiting the amiable comeliness of self-
control, whenever the character like a beam of light gleams in the form.
For the beauty of each plant and animal consists in its individual
excellence. And the excellence of man is righteousness, and temperance, and
manliness, and godliness. The beautiful man is, then, he who is just,
temperate, and in a word, good, not he who is rich. But now even the
soldiers wish to be decked with gold, not having read that poetical
saying:--

   "With childish folly to the war he came,
   Laden with store of gold."[4]

   But the love of ornament, which is far from caring for virtue, but
claims the body for itself, when the love of the beautiful has changed to
empty show, is to be utterly expelled. For applying things unsuitable to
the body, as if they were suitable, begets a practice of lying and a habit
of falsehood; and shows not what is decorous, simple, and truly childlike,
but what is pompous, luxurious, and effeminate. But these women obscure
true beauty, shading it with gold. And they know not how great is their
transgression, in fastening around themselves ten thousand rich chains; as
they say that among the barbarians malefactors are bound with gold. The
women seem to me to emulate these rich prisoners. For is not the golden
necklace a collar, and do not the necklets which they call catheters s
occupy the place of chains? mid indeed among the Attics they are called by
this very name. The ungraceful things round the feet of women, Philemon in
the Synephebus called ankle-fetters:--

   "Conspicuous garments, and a kind of a golden fetter."

What else, then, is this coveted adorning of yourselves, O ladies, but the
exhibiting of yourselves fettered? For if the material does away with the
reproach, the endurance [of your fetters] is a thing indifferent. To me,
then, those who voluntarily put themselves into bonds seem to glory in rich
calamities.

   Perchance also it is such chains that the poetic fable says were thrown
around Aphrodite when committing adultery, referring to ornaments as
nothing but the badge of adultery. For Homer called those, too, golden
chains. But new women are not ashamed to wear the most manifest badges of
the evil one. For as the serpent deceived Eve, so also has ornament of gold
maddened other women to vicious practices, using as a bait the form of the
serpent, and by fashioning lampreys and serpents for decoration.
Accordingly the comic poet Nicostratus says, "Chains, collars; rings,
bracelets, serpents, anklets, earrings."[1]

   In terms of strongest censure, therefore, Aristophanes in the
Thesmophoriazousae exhibits the whole array of female ornament in a
catalogue:--

         "Snoods, fillets, natron, and steel;
          Pumice-stone, band, back-band,
          Back-veil, paint, necklaces,
          Paints for the eyes, soft garment, hair-net,
          Girdle, shawl, fine purple border,
          Long robe, tunic, Barathrum, round tunic."

But I have not yet mentioned the principal of them. Then what?

         "Ear-pendants, jewelry, ear-rings;
          Mallow-coloured cluster-shaped anklets;
          Buckles, clasps, necklets,
          Fetters, seals, chains, rings, powders,
          Bosses, bands, olisbi, Sardian stones,
          Fans, helicters."

   I am weary and vexed at enumerating the multitude of ornaments;[2] and
I am compelled to wonder how those who bear such a burden are not worried
to death. O foolish trouble ! O silly craze for display !They squander
meretriciously wealth on what is disgraceful; and in  their love for
ostentation disfigure God's gifts, emulating the art of the evil one. The
rich man  hoarding up in his barns, and saying to himself, "Thou hast much
goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, be merry," the Lord in the Gospel
plainly called "fool." "For this night they shall take of thee thy soul;
whose then shah those things which thou hast prepared be? "[3]

   Apelles, the painter, seeing one of his pupils painting a figure loaded
with gold colour to represent Helen, said to him, "Boy, being incapable of
painting her beautiful, you have made her rich."

   Such Helens are the ladies of the present day, not truly beautiful, but
richly got up. To these the Spirit prophesies by Zephaniah: "And their
silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the
LORD's anger."[4]

   But for those women who have been trained under Christ, it is suitable
to adorn themselves not with gold, but with the Word, through whom alone
the gold comes to light.[5]

   Happy, then, would have been the ancient Hebrews, had they cast away
their women's ornaments, or only melted them; but having cast their gold
into the form of an ox, and paid it idolatrous worship, they consequently
reap no advantage either from their art or their attempt. But they taught
our women most expressively to keep clear of ornaments. The lust which
commits fornication with gold becomes an idol, and is tested by fire; for
which alone luxury is reserved, as being an idol, not a reality.[6] Hence
the Word, upbraiding the Hebrews by the prophet, says, "They made to Baal
things of silver and gold," that is, ornaments. And most distinctly
threatening, He says, "I will punish her for the days of Baalim, in which
they offered sacrifice for her, and she put on her earrings and her
necklaces."[7] And He subjoined the cause of the adornment, when He said,
"And she went after her lovers, but forgot Me, saith the LORD.[8]

   Resigning, therefore, these baubles to the wicked master of cunning
himself, let us not take part in this meretricious adornment, nor commit
idolatry through a specious pretext. Most admirably, therefore, the blessed
Peter[9] says, "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves not with
braids, or gold, or costly array, but (which becometh women professing
godliness) with good works." For it is with reason that he bids decking of
themselves to be kept far from them. For, granting that they are beautiful,
nature suffices. Let not art contend against nature; that is, let not
falsehood strive with truth. And if they are by nature ugly, they are
convicted, by the things they apply to themselves, of what they do not
possess [i.e., of the want of beauty]. It is suitable, therefore, for women
who serve Christ to adopt simplicity. For in reality simplicity provides
for sanctity, by reducing redundancies to equality, and by furnishing from
whatever is at hand the enjoyment sought from superfluities. For
simplicity, as the name shows, is not conspicuous, is not inflated or
puffed up in aught, but is altogether even, and gentle, and equal, and free
of excess, and so is sufficient. And sufficiency is a condition which
reaches its proper end without excess. or defect. The mother of these is
Justice, and their nurse "Independence;" and this is a condition which is
satisfied with what is necessary, and by itself furnishes what contributes
to the blessed life.

   Let there, then, be in the fruits of thy hands, sacred order, liberal
communication, and acts of economy. "For he that giveth to the poor,
lendeth to God."[1] "And the hands of the manly shall be enriched."[2]
Manly He calls those who despise wealth, and are free in bestowing it. And
on your feet[3] let active readiness to well-doing appear, and a journeying
to righteousness. Modesty and chastity are collars and necklaces; such are
the chains which God forges. "Happy is the man who hath found wisdom, and
the mortal who knows understanding," says the Spirit by Solomon: "for it is
better to buy her than treasures of gold and silver; and she is more
valuable than precious stones."[4] For she is the true decoration.

   And let not their ears be pierced, contrary to nature, in order to
attach to them ear-rings and ear-drops. For it is not right to force nature
against her wishes. Nor could there be any better ornament for the ears
than true instruction, which finds its way naturally into the passages of
hearing. And eyes anointed by the Word, and ears pierced for perception,
make a man a hearer and contemplator of divine and sacred things, the Word
truly exhibiting the true beauty "which eye hath not seen nor ear heard
before."[5]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

BOOK III.

CHAP. I.--ON THE TRUE BEAUTY.

   IT is then, as appears, the greatest of all lessons to know one's self.
For if one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God, he will be
made like God, not by wearing gold or long robes, but by well-doing, and by
requiring as few things as possible.[1]

   Now, God alone is in need of nothing, and rejoices most when He sees us
bright with the ornament of intelligence; and then, too, rejoices in him
who is arrayed in chastity, the sacred stole of the body. Since then the
soul consists of three divisions;[2] the intellect, which is called the
reasoning faculty, is the inner man, which is the ruler of this man that is
seen. And that one, in another respect, God guides. But the irascible part,
being brutal, dwells near to insanity. And appetite, which is the third
department, is many-shaped above Proteus, the varying sea-god, who changed
himself now into one shape, now into another; and it allures to adulteries,
to licentiousness, to seductions.

   "At first he was a lion with ample beard."[3]

While he yet retained the ornament, the hair of the chin showed him to be a
man.

   "But after that a serpent, a pard, or a big sow."

Love of ornament has degenerated to wantonness. A man no longer appears
like a strong wild beast,

   "But he became moist water, and a tree of lofty branches."

Passions break out, pleasures overflow; beauty fades, and falls quicker
than the leaf on the ground, when the amorous storms of lust blow on it
before the coming of autumn, and is withered by destruction. For lust
becomes and fabricates all things, and wishes to cheat, so as to conceal
the man. But that man with whom the Word dwells does not alter himself,
does not get himself up: he has the form which is of the Word; he is made
like to God; he is beautiful; he does not ornament himself: his is beauty,
the true beauty, for it is God; and that man becomes God, since God so
wills. Heraclitus, then, rightly said, "Men are gods, and gods are men."
For the Word Himself is the manifest mystery: God in man, and man God. And
the Mediator executes the Father's will; for the Mediator is the Word, who
is common to both--the Son of God, the Saviour of men; His Servant, our
Teacher. And the flesh being a slave, as Paul testifies, how can one with
any reason adorn the handmaid like a pimp? For that which is of flesh has
the form of a servant. Paul says, speaking of the Lord, "Because He emptied
Himself, taking the form of a servant,"[4] calling the outward man servant,
previous to the Lord becoming a servant and wearing flesh. But the
compassionate God Himself set the flesh free, and releasing it from
destruction, and from bitter and deadly bondage, endowed it with
incorruptibility, arraying the flesh in this, the holy embellishment of
eternity--immortality.

   There is, too, another beauty of men--love. "And love," according to
the apostle, "suffers long, and is kind; envieth not; vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up."[5] For the decking of one's self out--carrying, as it
does, the look of superfluity and uselessness--is vaunting one's self.
Wherefore he adds, "doth not behave itself unseemly:" for a figure which is
not one's own, and is against nature, is unseemly; but what is artificial
is not one's own, as is clearly explained: "seeketh not," it is said, "what
is not her own." For truth calls that its own which belongs to it; but the
love of finery seeks what is not its own, being apart from God, and the
Word, from love.

And that the Lord Himself was uncomely in aspect, the Spirit testifies by
Esaias: "And we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness but His form was
mean, inferior to men."[1] Yet who was more admirable than the Lord? But it
was not the beauty of the flesh visible to the eye, but the true beauty of
both soul and body, which He exhibited, which in the former is beneficence;
in the latter--that is, the flesh-immortality.

CHAP. II.- AGAINST EMBELLISHING THE BODY.

   It is not, then, the aspect of the outward man, but the soul that is to
be decorated with the ornament of goodness; we may say also the flesh with
the adornment of temperance. But those women who beautify the outside, are
unawares all waste in the inner depths, as is the case with the ornaments
of the Egyptians; among whom temples with their porticos and vestibules are
carefully constructed, and groves and sacred fields adjoining; the halls
are surrounded with many pillars; and the walls gleam with foreign stones,
and there is no want of artistic painting; and the temples gleam with gold,
and silver, and amber, and glitter with parti-coloured gems from India and
Ethiopia; and the shrines are veiled with gold-embroidered hangings.

   But if you enter the penetralia of the enclosure, and, in haste to
behold something better, seek the image that is the inhabitant of the
temple, and if any priest of those that offer sacrifice there, looking
gave, and singing a paean in the Egyptian tongue, remove a little of the
veil to show the god, he will give you a hearty laugh at the object of
worship. For the deity that is sought, to whom you have rushed, will not be
found within, but a cat, or a crocodile, or a serpent of the country, or
some such beast unworthy of the temple, but quite worthy of a den, a hole,
or the dirt. The god of the Egyptians appears a beast rolling on a purple
couch.

   So those women who wear gold, occupying themselves in curling at their
locks, and engaged in anointing their cheeks, painting their eyes, and
dyeing their hair, and practising the other pernicious arts of luxury,
decking the covering of flesh,--in truth, imitate the Egyptians, in order
to attract their infatuated lovers.

   But if one withdraw the veil of the temple, I mean the head-dress, the
dye, the clothes, the gold, the paint, the cosmetics,--that is, the web
consisting of them, the veil, with the view of finding Within the true
beauty, he will be disgusted, I know well. For he will not find the image
of God dwelling within, as is meet; but instead of it a fornicator and
adulteress has occupied the shrine of the soul. And the true beast will
thus be detected--an ape smeared with white paint. And that deceitful
serpent, devouring the understanding part of man through vanity, has the
soul as its hole, filling all with deadly poisons; and injecting his own
venom of deception, this pander of a dragon has changed women into harlots.
For love of display is not for a lady, but a courtesan. Such women care
little for keeping at home with their husbands; but loosing their husbands'
purse-strings, they spend its supplies on their lusts, that they may have
many witnesses of their seemingly fair appearance; and, devoting the whole
day to their toilet, they spend their time with their bought slaves.
Accordingly they season the flesh like a pernicious sauce; and the day they
bestow on the toilet shut up in their rooms, so as not to be caught decking
themselves. But in the evening this spurious beauty creeps out to candle-
light as out of a hole; for drunkenness and the dimness of the light aid
what they have put on. The woman who dyes her hair yellow, Menander the
comic poet expels from the house:--

   "Now get out of this house, for no chaste
   Woman ought to make her hair yellow,"

nor, I would add, stain her cheeks, nor paint her eyes. Unawares the poor
wretches destroy their own beauty, by the introduction of what is spurious.
At the dawn of day, mangling, racking, and plastering themselves over with
certain compositions, they chill the skin, furrow the flesh with poisons,
and with curiously prepared washes, thus blighting their own beauty.
Wherefore they are seen to be yellow from the use of cosmetics, and
susceptible to disease, their flesh, which has been shaded with poisons,
being now in a melting state. So they dishonour the Creator of men, as if
the beauty given by Him were nothing worth. As you might expect, they
become lazy in housekeeping, sitting like painted things to be looked at,
not as if made for domestic economy. Wherefore in the comic poet the
sensible woman says, "What can we women do wise or brilliant, who sit with
hair dyed yellow, outraging the character of gentlewomen; causing the
overthrow of houses, the ruin of nuptials, and accusations on the part of
children? "[2] In the same way, Antiphanes the comic poet, in Malthaca,
ridicules the meretriciousness of women in words that apply to them all,
and are framed against the rubbing of themselves with cosmetics, saying:-
"She comes,

    She goes back, she approaches, she goes back.
    She has come, she is here, she washes herself, she advances,
    She is soaped, she is combed, she goes out, is rubbed,
    She washes herself, looks in the glass, robes herself,
    Anoints herself, decks herself, besmears herself;
    And if aught is wrong, chokes [with vexation]."

Thrice, I say, not once, do they deserve to perish, who use crocodiles'
excrement, and anoint themselves with the froth of putrid humours, and
stain their eyebrows with soot, and rub their cheeks with white lead.
These, then, who are disgusting even to the heathen poets for their
fashions, how shall they not be rejected by the truth?[1] Accordingly
another comic poet, Alexis, reproves them. For I shall adduce his words,
which with extravagance of statement shame the obstinacy of their
impudence. For he was not very far beyond the mark. And I cannot for shame
come to the assistance of women held up to such ridicule in comedy.

   Then she ruins her husband.

   "For first, in comparison with gain and the spoiling of neighbours,
   All else is in their eyes superfluous."

   "Is one of them little? She stitches cork into her shoesole.
   Is one tall? She wears a thin sole,
   And goes out keeping her head down on her shoulder:
   This takes away from her height. Has one no flanks?
   She has something sewed on to her, so that the spectators
   May exclaim on her fine shape behind. Has she a prominent stomach?
   By making additions, to render it straight, such as the nurses we see
in the comic poets,
   She draws back, as it were, by these poles, the protuberance of the
stomach in front.
   Has one yellow eyebrows? She stains them with soot.
   Do they happen to be black? She smears them with ceruse.
   Is one very white-skinned? She rouges.
   Has one any part of the body beautiful? She shows it bare.
   Has she beautiful teeth? She must needs laugh, That those present may
see what a pretty mouth she has;
   But if not in the humour for laughing, she passes the day within,
   With a slender sprig of myrtle between her lips,
   Like what cooks have always at hand when they have goats' heads to
sell,
   So that she must keep them apart the whilst, whether she will or not."

   I set these quotations from the comic poets[2] before you, since the
Word most strenuously wishes to save us. And by and by I will fortify them
with the divine Scriptures. For he who does not escape notice is wont to
abstain from sins, on account of the shame of reproof. Just as the
plastered hand and the anointed eye exhibit from their very look the
suspicion of a person in illness, so also cosmetics and dyes indicate that
the soul is deeply diseased.

   The divine Instructor enjoins us not to approach to another's river,
meaning by the figurative expression "another's river," "another's wife;"
the wanton that flows to all, and out of licentiousness gives herself up to
meretricious enjoyment with all. "Abstain from water that is another's," He
says, "and drink not of another's well," admonishing us to shun the stream
of "voluptuousness," that we may live long, and  that years of life may be
added to us;[3] both by not hunting after pleasure that belongs to another,
and by diverting our inclinations.

   Love of dainties and love of wine, though great vices, are not of such
magnitude as fondness for finery.[4] "A full table and repeated cups" are
enough to satisfy greed. But to those who are fond of gold, and purple, and
jewels, neither the gold that is above the earth and below it is
sufficient, nor the Tyrian Sea, nor the freight that comes from India and
Ethiopia, nor yet Pactolus flowing with gold; not even were a man to become
a Midas would he be satisfied, but would be still poor, craving other
wealth. Such people are ready to die with their gold.

   And if Plutus[5] is blind, are not those women that are crazy about
him, and have a fellow-feeling with him, blind too? Having, then, no limit
to their lust, they push on to shamelessness. For the theatre, and
pageants, and many spectators, and strolling in the temples, and loitering
in the streets, that they may be seen conspicuously by all, are necessary
to them. For those that glory in their looks, not in heart[6] dress to
please others. For as the brand shows the slave, so do gaudy colours the
adulteress. "For though thou clothe thyself in scarlet, and deck thyself
with ornaments of gold, and anoint thine eyes with stibium, in vain is thy
beauty,"[7] says  the Word by Jeremiah. Is it not monstrous,  that while
horses, birds, and the rest of the animals, spring and bound from the grass
and meadows, rejoicing in ornament that is their own, in mane, and natural
colour, and varied plumage; woman, as if inferior to the brute creation,
should think herself so unlovely as to need foreign, and bought, and
painted beauty?

   Head-dresses and varieties of head-dresses, and elaborate braidings,
and infinite modes of dressing the hair, and costly specimens of mirrots,
in which they arrange their costume,--hunting after those that, like silly
children, are crazy about their figures,--are characteristic of women who
have lost all sense of shame. If any one were to call these courtesans, he
would make no mistake, for they turn their faces into masks. But us the
Word enjoins "to look not on the things that are seen, but the things that
are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things
that are not seen are eternal."[1]

   But what passes beyond the bounds of absurdity, is that they have
invented mirrors for this artificial shape of theirs, as if it were some
excellent work or masterpiece. The deception rather requires a veil thrown
over it. For as the Greek fable has it, it was not a fortunate thing for
the beautiful Narcissus to have been the beholder of his own image. And if
Moses commanded men to make not an image to represent God by art, how can
these women be right, who by their own reflection produce an imitation of
their own likeness, in order to the falsifying of their faces? Likewise
also, when Samuel the prophet was sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse
for king, and on seeing the eldest of his sons to be fair and tall,
produced the anointing oil, being delighted with him, the Lord said to him,
"Look not to his appearance, nor the height of his stature: for I have
rejected him For man looketh on the eyes, but the Logo into the heart."[2]

   And he anointed not him that was comely in person, but him that was
comely in soul. If, then, the Lord counts the natural beauty of the body
inferior to that of the soul, what thinks He of spurious beauty, rejecting
utterly as He does all falsehood? "For we walk by faith, not by sight."[3]
Very clearly the Lord accordingly teaches by Abraham, that he who follows
God must despise country, and relations, and possessions, and all wealth,
by making him a stranger. And therefore also He called him His friend who
had despised the substance which he had possessed at home. For he was of
good parentage, and very opulent; and so with three hundred and eighteen
servants of his own he subdued the four kings who had taken Lot captive.

   Esther alone we find justly adorned. The spouse adorned herself
mystically for her royal  husband; but her beauty turns out the redemption
price of a people that were about to be massacred. And that decoration
makes women courtesans, and men effeminate and adulterers, the tragic poet
is a witness; thus discoursing:--

   "He that judged the goddesses,
   As the myth of the Argives has it, having come from Phrygia
   To Lacedaemon, arrayed in flowery vestments,
   Glittering with gold and barbaric luxury,
   Loving, departed, carrying away her he loved,
   Helen, to the folds of Ida, having found that
   Menelaus was away from home."[4]

   O adulterous beauty! Barbarian finery and effeminate luxury overthrew
Greece; Lacedaemonian chastity was corrupted by clothes, and luxury, and
graceful beauty; barbaric display proved Jove's daughter a courtesan.

   They had no instructor[5] to restrain their lusts, nor one to say, "Do
not commit adultery;" nor, "Lust not;" or, "Travel not by lust into
adultery;" or further, "Influence not thy passions by desire of adornment."

   What an end was it that ensued to them, and what woes they endured, who
would not restrain their self-will! Two continents were convulsed by
unrestrained pleasures, and all was thrown into confusion by a barbarian
boy. The whole of Hellas puts to sea; the ocean is burdened with the weight
of continents; a protracted war breaks out, and fierce battles are waged,
and the plains are crowded with dead: the barbarian assails the fleet with
outrage; wickedness prevails, and the eye of that poetic Jove looks on the
Thracians:--

   "The barbarian plains drink noble blood,
   And the streams of the rivers are choked with dead bodies."

Breasts are beaten in lamentations, and grief desolates the 'land; and all
the feet, and the summits of many-fountained Ida, and the cities of the
Trojans, and the ships of the Achaeans, shake.

   Where, O Homer, shall we flee and stand? Show us a spot of ground that
is not shaken!--

   "Touch not the reins, inexperienced boy,
   Nor mount the seat, not having learned to drive."[6]

   Heaven delights in two charioteers, by whom alone the chariot of fire
is guided. For the mind is carried away by pleasure; and the unsullied
principle of reason, when not instructed by the Word, slides down into
licentiousness, and gets a fall as the due reward of its transgression. An
example of this are the angels, who renounced the beauty of God for a
beauty which fades, and so fell from heaven to earth.[7]

   The Shechemites, too, were punished by an overthrow for dishonouring
the holy virgin. The grave was their punishment, and the monument of their
ignominy leads to salvation.

CHAP. III.--AGAINST MEN WHO EMBELLISH THEMSELVES.

   To such an extent, then, has luxury advanced, that not only are the
female sex deranged about this frivolous pursuit, but men also are infected
with the disease.[1] For not being free of the love of finery, they are not
in health; but inclining to voluptuousness, they become effeminate, cutting
their hair in an ungentlemanlike and meretricious way, clothed in fine and
transparent garments, chewing mastich,[2] smelling of l perfume.[3] What
can one say on seeing them? Like one who judges people by their foreheads,
he will divine them to be adulterers and effeminate, addicted to both kinds
of venery, haters of hair, destitute of hair, detesting the bloom of
manliness, and adorning their locks like women. "Living for unholy acts of
audacity, these fickle wretches do reckless and nefarious deeds," says the
Sibyl. For their service the towns are full of those who take out hair by
pitch-plasters, shave, and pluck out hairs from these womanish creatures.
And shops are erected and opened everywhere; and adepts at this
meretricious fornication make a deal of money openly by those who plaster
themselves, and give their hair to be pulled out in all ways by those who
make it their trade, feeling no shame before the onlookers or those who
approach, nor before themselves, being men. Such are those addicted to base
passions, whose whole body is made smooth by the violent tuggings of pitch-
plasters. It is utterly impossible to get beyond such effrontery. If
nothing is left undone by them, neither shall anything be left unspoken by
me. Diogenes, when he was being sold, chiding like a teacher one of these
degenerate creatures, said very manfully, "Come, youngster, buy for
yourself a man," chastising his meretriciousness by an ambiguous speech.
But for those who are men to shave and smooth themselves, how ignoble! As
for dyeing of hair, and anointing of grey locks, and dyeing them yellow,
these are practices of abandoned effeminates; and their feminine combing of
themselves is a thing to be let alone. For they think, that like serpents
they divest themselves of the old age of their head by painting and
renovating themselves. But though they do doctor the hair cleverly, they
will not escape wrinkles, nor will they elude death by tricking time. For
it is notre dreadful, it is not dreadful to appear old, when you are not
able to shut your eyes to the fact that you are so.

   The more, then, a man hastes to the end, the more truly venerable is
he, having God alone as his senior, since He is the eternal aged One, He
who is older than all things. Prophecy has called him the "Ancient of days;
and the hair of His head was as pure wool," says the prophet.[4] "And none
other," says the Lord, "can make the hair white or black."[5] How, then, do
these godless ones work in rivalry with God, or rather violently oppose
Him, when they transmute the hair made white by Him? "The crown of old men
is great experience,"[6] says Scripture; and the hoary hair of their
countenance is the blossom of large experience. But these dishonour the
reverence of age, the head covered with grey hairs. It is not, it is not
possible for him to show the head true who has  a fraudulent head. "But ye
have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and  have been
taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off, concerning the
former conversation, the old man (not the hoary man, but him that is)
corrupt according to deceitful lusts; and be renewed (not by dyeings and
ornaments), but in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."[7]

   But for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a
razor, for the sake of fine effect, to arrange his hair at the looking-
glass, to shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them, how
womanly! And, in truth, unless you saw them naked, you would suppose them
to be women. For although not allowed to wear gold, yet out of effeminate
desire they enwreath their latches and fringes with leaves of gold; or,
getting certain spherical figures of the same metal made, they fasten them
to their ankles, and hang them from their necks. This is a device of
enervated men, who are dragged to the women's apartments, amphibious and
lecherous beasts. For this is a meretricious and impious form of snare. For
God wished women to be smooth, and rejoice in their locks alone growing
spontaneously, as a horse in his mane; but has adorned man, like the lions,
with a beard, and endowed him, as an attribute of manhood, with shaggy
breasts,--a sign this of strength and rule. So also cocks, which fight in
defence of the hens, he has decked with combs, as it were helmets; and so
high a value does God set on these locks, that He orders them to make their
appearance on men simultaneously with discretion, and delighted with a
venerable look, has honoured gravity of countenance with grey hairs. But
wisdom, and discriminating judgments that are hoary with wisdom, attain
maturity with time, and by the vigour of long experience give strength to
old age, producing grey hairs, the admirable flower of venerable wisdom,
conciliating confidence. This, then, the mark of the man, the beard, by
which he is seen to be a man, is older than Eve, and is the token of the
superior nature. In this God deemed it right that he should excel, and
dispersed hair over man's whole body. Whatever smoothness and softness was
in him He abstracted from his side when He formed the woman Eve, physically
receptive, his partner in parentage, his help in household management,
while he (for he had parted with all smoothness) remained a man, and shows
himself man. And to him has been assigned action, as to her suffering; for
what is shaggy is drier and warmer than what is smooth. Wherefore males
have both more hair and more heat than females, animals that are entire
than the emasculated, perfect than imperfect. It is therefore impious to
desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness.[1] But the embellishment of
smoothing (for I am warned by the Word), if it is to attract men, is the
act of an effeminate person,--if to attract women, is the act of an
adulterer; and both must be driven as far as possible from our society.
"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered," says the Lord;[2] those
on the chin, too, are numbered, and those on the whole body. There must be
therefore no plucking out, contrary to God's appointment, which has
counted[3] them in according to His will. "Know ye not yourselves," says
the apostle, "that Christ Jesus is in you?"[4] Whom, had we known as
dwelling in us, I know not how we could have dared to dishonour. But the
using of pitch to pluck out hair (I shrink from even mentioning the
shamelessness connected with this process), and in the act of bending back
and bending down, the violence done to nature's modesty by stepping out and
bending backwards in shameful postures, yet the doers not ashamed of
themselves, but conducting themselves without shame in the midst of the
youth, and in the gymnasium, where the prowess of man is tried; the
following of this unnatural practice, is it not the extreme of
licentiousness? For those who engage in such practices in public will
scarcely behave with modesty to any at home. Their want of shame in public
attests their unbridled licentiousness in private.[5] For he who in the
light of day denies his manhood, will prove himself manifestly a woman by
night. "There shall not be," said the Word by Moses, "a harlot of the
daughters of Israel; there shall not be a fornicator of the sons of
Israel."[6]

   But the pitch does good, it is said. Nay, it defames, say I. No one who
entertains right sentiments would wish to appear a fornicator, were he not
the victim of that vice, and study to defame the beauty of his form. No one
would, I say, voluntarily choose to do this. "For if God foreknew those who
are called, according to His purpose, to be conformed to the image of His
Son," for whose sake, according to the blessed apostle, He has appointed
"Him to be the first-born among many brethren,"[7] are they not godless who
treat with indignity the body which is of like form with the Lord?

   The man, who would be beautiful, must adorn that which is the most
beautiful thing in man, his mind, which every day he ought to exhibit in
greater comeliness; and should pluck out not hairs, but lusts. I pity the
boys possessed by the slave-dealers, that are decked for dishonour. But
they are not treated with ignominy by themselves, but by command the
wretches are adorned for base gain. But how disgusting are those who
willingly practise the things to which, if compelled, they would, if they
were men, die rather than do?

   But life has reached this pitch of licentiousness through the
wantonness of wickedness, and lasciviousness is diffused over the cities,
having become law. Beside them women stand in the stews, offering their own
flesh for hire for lewd pleasure, and boys, taught to deny their sex, act
the part of women.

   Luxury has deranged all things; it has disgraced man. A luxurious
niceness seeks everything, attempts everything, forces everything, coerces
nature. Men play the part of women, and women that of men, contrary to
nature; women are at once wives and husbands: no passage is closed against
libidinousness; and their promiscuous lechery is a public institution, and
luxury is domesticated. O miserable spectacle! horrible conduct! Such are
the trophies of your social licentiousness which are exhibited: the
evidence of these deeds are the prostitutes. Alas for such wickedness!
Besides, the wretches know not how many tragedies the uncertainty of
intercourse produces. For fathers, unmindful of children of theirs that
have been exposed, often without their knowledge, have intercourse with a
son that has debauched himself, and daughters that are prostitutes; and
licence in lust shows them to be the men that have begotten them.

These things your wise laws allow: people may sin legally; and the
execrable indulgence in pleasure they call a thing indifferent. They who
commit adultery against nature think themselves free from adultery.
Avenging justice follows their audacious deeds, and, dragging on themselves
inevitable calamity, they purchase death for a small sum of money. The
miserable dealers in these wares sail, bringing a cargo of fornication,
like wine or oil; and others, far more wretched, traffic in pleasures as
they do in bread  and sauce, not heeding the words of Moses,  "Do not
prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to  be a whore, lest the land fall to
whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness."[1]

   Such was predicted of old, and the result is notorious: the whole earth
has now become full  of fornication and wickedness. I admire the ancient
legislators of the Romans: these detested effeminacy of conduct; and the
giving of the body to feminine purposes, contrary to the law of nature,
they judged worthy of the extremest penalty, according to the righteousness
of the law.

   For it is not lawful to pluck out the beard,[2] man's natural and noble
ornament.

   "A youth with his first beard: for with this, youth is most graceful."

   By and by he is anointed, delighting in the beard "on which descended"
the prophetic, "ointment"[3] with which Aaron was honoured.

   And it becomes him who is rightly trained, on whom peace has pitched
its tent, to preserve peace also with his hair.

   What, then, will not women with strong propensities to lust practise,
when they look on men perpetrating such enormities? Rather we ought not to
call such as these men, but lewd wretches (bata'loi), and effeminate
(gu'nides), whose voices are feeble, and whose clothes are womanish both in
feel and dye. And such creatures are manifestly shown to be what they are
from their external appearance, their clothes, shoes, form, walk, cut of
their hair, look. "For from his look shall a man be known," says the
Scripture, "and from meeting a man the man is known: the dress of a man,
the step of his foot, the laugh of his teeth, tell tales of him."[4]

   For these, for the most part, plucking out the rest of their hair, only
dress that on the head, all but binding their locks with fillets like
women. Lions glory in their shaggy hair, but are armed by their hair in the
fight; and boars even are made imposing by their mane; the hunters are
afraid of them when they see them bristling their hair.

   "The fleecy sheep are loaded with their wool."[5]

And their wool the loving Father has made abundant for thy use, O man,
having taught thee to sheer their fleeces. Of the nations, the Celts and
Scythians wear their hair long, but do not deck themselves. The bushy hair
of the barbarian has something fearful in it; and its auburn (xantho'n)
colour threatens war, the hue being somewhat akin to blood. Both these
barbarian races hate luxury. As clear witnesses will be produced by the
German, the Rhine;[6] and by the Scythian, the waggon. Sometimes the
Scythian despises even the waggon: its size seems sumptuousness to the
barbarian; and leaving its luxurious ease, the Scythian man leads a frugal
life. For a house sufficient, and less encumbered than the waggon, he takes
his horse, and mounting it, is borne where he wishes. And when faint with
hunger, he asks his horse for sustenance; and he offers his veins, and
supplies his master with all he possesses--his blood. To the nomad the
horse is at once conveyance and sustenance; and the warlike youth of the
Arabians (these are other nomads) are mounted on camels. They sit on
breeding camels; and these feed and run at the same time, carrying their
masters the whilst, and bear the house with them. And if drink fail the
barbarians, they milk them; and after that their food is spent, they do not
spare even their blood, as is reported of furious wolves. And these,
gentler than the barbarians, when injured, bear no remembrance of the
wrong, but sweep bravely over the desert, carrying and nourishing their
masters at the same time.

   Perish, then, the savage beasts whose food is blood! For it is unlawful
for men, whose body is nothing but flesh elaborated of blood, to touch
blood. For human blood has become a partaker of the Word:[7] it is a
participant of grace by the Spirit; and if any one injure him, he will not
escape unnoticed. Man may, though naked in body, address the Lord. But I
approve the simplicity of the barbarians: loving an unencumbered life, the
barbarians have abandoned luxury. Such the Lord calls us to be--naked of
finery, naked of vanity, wrenched from our sins, bearing only the wood of
life, aiming only at salvation.

CHAP. IV.--WITH WHOM WE ARE TO ASSOCIATE.

   But really I have unwittingly deviated in spirit from the order, to
which I must now revert, and must find fault with having large numbers of
domestics. For, avoiding working with their own hands and serving
themselves, men have recourse to servants, purchasing a great crowd of fine
cooks, and of people to lay out the table, and of others to divide the meat
skilfully into pieces. And the staff of servants is separated into many
divisions; some labour for their gluttony, Carvers and seasoners, and the
compounders and makers of sweetmeats, and honey-cakes, and custards others
are occupied with their too numerous clothes; others guard the gold, like
griffins; others keep the silver, and wipe the cups, and make ready what is
needed to furnish the festive table; others rub down the horses; and a
crowd of cup-bearers exert themselves in their service, and herds of
beautiful boys, like cattle, from whom they milk away their beauty. And
male and female assistants at the toilet are employed about the ladies--
some for the mirrors, some for the head-dresses, others for the combs. Many
are eunuchs; and these panders serve without suspicion those that wish to
be free to enjoy their pleasures, because of the belief that they are
unable to indulge in lust. But a true eunuch is not one who is unable, but
one who is unwilling, to indulge in pleasure. The Word, testifying by the
prophet Samuel to the Jews, who had transgressed when the people asked for
a king, promised not a loving lord, but threatened to give them a self-
willed and voluptuous tyrant, "who shall," He says, "take your daughters to
be perfumers, and cooks, and bakers,"[1] ruling by the law of war, not
desiring a peaceful administration. And there are many Celts, who bear
aloft on their shoulders women's litters. But workers in wool, and
spinners, and weavers, and female work and housekeeping, are nowhere.

   But those who impose on the women, spend the day with them, telling
them silly amatory stories, and wearing out body and soul with their false
acts and words. "Thou shalt not be with many," it is said, "for evil, nor
give thyself to a multitude;"[2] for wisdom shows itself among few, but
disorder in a multitude. But it is not for grounds of propriety, on account
of not wishing to be seen, that they purchase bearers, for it were
commendable if out of such feelings they put themselves under a covering;
but it is out of luxuriousness that they are carried on their domestics'
shoulders, and desire to make a show.

   So, opening the curtain, and looking keenly round on all that direct
their eyes towards them, they show their manners; and often bending forth
from within, disgrace this superficial propriety by their dangerous
restlessness. "Look not round," it is said, "in the streets of the city,
and wander not in its lonely places."[3] For that is, in truth, a lonely
place, though there be a crowd of the licentious in it, where no wise man
is present.

   And these women are carried about over the temples, sacrificing and
practising divination day by day, spending their time with fortune-tellers,
and begging priests, and disreputable old women; and they keep up old
wives' whisperings over their cups, learning charms and incantations from
soothsayers, to the ruin of the nuptial bonds. And some men they keep; by
others they are kept; and others are promised them by the diviners. They
know not that they are cheating themselves, and giving up themselves as a
vessel of pleasure to those that wish to indulge in wantonness; and
exchanging their purity for the foulest outrage, they think what is the
most shameful ruin a great stroke of business. And there are many ministers
to this meretricious licentiousness, insinuating themselves, one from one
quarter, another from another. For the licentious rush readily into
uncleanness, like swine rushing to that part of the hold of the ship which
is depressed. Whence the Scripture most strenuously exhorts, "Introduce not
every one into thy house, for the snares of the crafty are many."[4] And in
another place, "Let just men be thy guests, and in the fear of the Lord let
thy boast remain."[5] Away with fornication. "For know this well," says the
apostle, "that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous man, who is an
idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."[6]

   But these women delight in intercourse with the effeminate. And crowds
of abominable creatures (knaid'es) flow in, of unbridled tongue, filthy in
body, filthy in language; men enough for lewd offices, ministers of
adultery, giggling and whispering, and shamelessly making through their
noses sounds of lewdness and fornication to provoke lust, endeavouring to
please by lewd words and attitudes, inciting to laughter, the precursor of
fornication. And sometimes, when inflamed by any provocation, either these
fornicators, or those that follow the rabble of abominable creatures to
destruction, make a sound in their nose like a frog, as if they had got
anger dwelling in their nostrils. But those who are more refined than these
keep Indian birds and Median pea-fowls, and recline with peak-headed[7]
creatures; playing with satyrs, delighting in monsters. They laugh when
they hear Thersites; and these women, purchasing Thersiteses highly valued,
pride themselves not in their husbands, but in those wretches which are a
burden on the earth, and overlook the chaste widow, who is of far higher
value than a Melitaean pup, and look askance at a just old man, who is
lovelier in my estimation than a monster purchased for money. And though
maintaining parrots and curlews, they do not receive the orphan child;(1)
but they expose children that are born at home, and take up the young of
birds, and prefer irrational to rational creatures; although they ought to
undertake the maintenance of old people with a character for sobriety, who
are fairer in my mind than apes, and capable of uttering something better
than nightingales; and to set before them that saying, "He that pitieth the
poor lendeth to the LORD;"(2) and this, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
the least of these My brethren, ye have done it to Me."(3) But these, on
the other hand, prefer ignorance to wisdom, turning their wealth into
stone, that is, into pearls and Indian emeralds. And they squander and
throw away their wealth on fading dyes, and bought slaves; like crammed
fowls scraping the dung of life. "Poverty," it is said, "humbles a man."(4)
By poverty is meant that niggardliness by which the rich are poor, having
nothing to give away.

CHAP. V.--BEHAVIOUR IN THE BATHS.

   And of what sort are their baths? Houses skilfully constructed,
compact, portable, transparent, covered with fine linen. And gold-plated
chairs, and silver ones, too, and ten thousand vessels of gold and silver,
some for drinking, some for eating, some for bathing, are carried about
with them. Besides these, there are even braziers of coals; for they have
arrived at such a pitch of self-indulgence, that they sup and get drunk
while bathing. And articles of silver with which they make a show, they
ostentatiously set out in the baths, and thus display perchance their
wealth out of excessive pride, but chiefly the capricious ignorance,
through which they brand effeminate men, who have been vanquished by women;
proving at least that they themselves cannot meet and cannot sweat without
a multitude of vessels, although poor women who have no display equally
enjoy their baths. The dirt of wealth, then, has an abundant covering of
censure. With this, as with a bait, they hook the miserable creatures that
gape at the glitter of gold. For dazzling thus those fond of display, they
artfully try to win the admiration of their lovers, who after a little
insult them naked. They will scarce strip before their own husbands
affecting a plausible pretence of modesty; but any others who wish, may see
them at home shut up naked in their baths. For there they are not ashamed
to strip before spectators, as if exposing their persons for sale. But
Hesiod advises

   "Not to wash the skin in the women's bath."(5)

The baths are opened promiscuously to men and women; and there they strip
for licentious indulgence (for from looking, men get to loving), as if
their modesty had been washed away in the bath.(6) Those who have not
become utterly destitute of modesty shut out strangers; but bathe with
their own servants, and strip naked before their slaves, and are rubbed by
them; giving to the crouching menial liberty to lust, by permitting
fearless handling. For those who are introduced before their naked
mistresses while in the bath, study to strip themselves in order to
audacity in lust, casting off fear in consequence of the wicked custom. The
ancient athletes? ashamed to exhibit a man naked, preserved their modesty
by going through the contest in drawers; but these women, divesting
themselves of their modesty along with their tunic, wish to appear
beautiful, but contrary to their wish are simply proved to be wicked.(8)
For through the body itself the wantonness of lust shines clearly; as in
the case of dropsical people, the water covered by the skin. Disease in
both is known from the look. Men, therefore, affording to women a noble
example of truth, ought to be ashamed at their stripping before them, and
guard against these dangerous sights; "for he who has looked. curiously,"
it is said, "hath sinned already."(9) At home, therefore, they ought to
regard with modesty parents and domestics; in the ways, those they meet; in
the baths, women; in solitude, themselves; and everywhere the Word, who is
everywhere, "and without Him was not anything."(10) For so only shall one
remain without failing, if he regard God as ever present with him.

CHAP. VI.--THE CHRISTIAN ALONE RICH.

   Riches are then to be partaken of rationally, bestowed lovingly, not
sordidly, or pompously; nor is the love of the beautiful to be turned into
self-love and ostentation; lest perchance some one say to us, "His horse,
or land, or domestic, or gold, is worth fifteen talents; but the man
himself is dear at three coppers."

   Take away, then, directly the ornaments from women, and domestics from
masters, and you will find masters in no respect different from bought
slaves in step, or look, or voice, so like are they to their slaves. But
they differ in that they are feebler than their slaves, and have a more
sickly upbringing.

   This best of maxims, then, ought to be perpetually repeated, "That the
good man, being temperate and just," treasures up his wealth in heaven. He
who has sold his worldly goods, and given them to the poor, finds the
imperishable treasure, "where is neither moth nor robber." Blessed truly is
he, "though he be insignificant, and feeble, and obscure;" and he is truly
rich with the greatest of all riches. "Though a man, then, be richer than
Cinyras and Midas and is wicked," and haughty as he who was luxuriously
clothed in purple and fine linen, and despised Lazarus, "he is miserable,
and lives in trouble," and shall not live. Wealth seems to me to be like a
serpent, which will twist round the hand and bite; unless one knows how to
lay hold of it without danger by the point of the tail. And riches,
wriggling either in an experienced or inexperienced grasp, are dexterous at
adhering and biting; unless one, despising them, use them skilfully, so as
to crush the creature by the charm of the Word, and himself escape
unscathed.

   But, as is reasonable, he alone, who possesses what is worth most,
turns out truly rich, though not recognised as such. And it is not jewels,
or gold, or clothing, or beauty of person, that are of high value, but
virtue; which is the Word given by the Instructor to be put in practice.
This is the Word, who abjures luxury, but calls self-help as a servant, and
praises frugality, the progeny of temperance. "Receive," he says,
"instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than tested gold; for
Wisdom is better than precious stones, nor is anything that is valuable
equal in worth to her."(1) And again: "Acquire me rather than gold, and
precious stones, and silver; for my produce is better than choice
silver."(2)

   But if we must distinguish, let it be granted that he is rich who has
many possessions, loaded with gold like a dirty purse; but the righteous
alone is graceful, because grace is order, observing a due and decorous
measure in managing and distributing. "For there are those who sow and reap
more,"(3) of whom it is written, "He hath dispersed, he hath given to the
poor; his righteousness endureth for ever."(4) So that it is not he who has
and keeps, but he who gives away, that is rich; and it is giving away, not
possession, which renders a man happy; and the fruit of the Spirit is
generosity. It is in the soul, then, that riches are. Let it, then, be
granted that good things are the property only of good men; and Christians
are good. Now, a fool or a libertine can neither have any perception of
what is good, nor obtain possession of it. Accordingly, good things are
possessed by Christians alone. And nothing is richer than these good
things; therefore these alone are rich. For righteousness is true riches;
and the Word is more valuable than all treasure, not accruing from cattle
and fields, but given by God--riches which cannot be taken away. The soul
alone is its treasure. It is the best possession to its possessor,
rendering man truly blessed. For he whose it is to desire nothing that is
not in our power, and to obtain by asking from God what he piously desires,
does he not possess much, nay all, having God as his everlasting treasure?
"To him that asks," it is said, "shall be given, and to him that knocketh
it shall be opened."(5) If God denies nothing, all things belong to the
godly.

CHAP. VII.- FRUGALITY A GOOD PROVISION FOR THE CHRISTIAN.

   Delicacies spent on pleasures become a dangerous shipwreck to men; for
this voluptuous and ignoble life of the many is alien to true love for the
beautiful and to refined pleasures. For man is by nature an erect and
majestic being, aspiring after the good as becomes the creature of the One.
But the life which crawls on its belly is destitute of dignity, is
scandalous, hateful, ridiculous. And to the divine nature voluptuousness is
a thing most alien; for this is for a man to be like sparrows in feeding,
and swine and goats in lechery. For to regard pleasure as a good thing, is
the sign of utter ignorance of what is excellent. Love of wealth displaces
a man from the right mode of life, and induces him to cease from feeling
shame at what is shameful; if only, like a beast, he has power to eat all
sorts of things, and to drink in like manner, and to satiate in every way
his lewd desires. And so very rarely does he inherit the kingdom of God.
For what end, then, are such dainty dishes prepared, but to fill one belly?
The filthiness of gluttony is proved by the sewers into which our bellies
discharge the refuse of our food. For what end do they collect so many
cupbearers, when they might satisfy themselves with one cup? For what the
chests of clothes? and the gold ornaments for what? Those things are
prepared for clothes-stealers, and scoundrels, and for greedy eyes. "But
let alms and faith not fail thee,"(6) says the Scripture.

   Look, for instance, to Elias the Thesbite, in whom we have a beautiful
example of frugality, when he sat down beneath the thorn, and the angel
brought him food. "It was a cake of barley and a jar of water."(1) Such the
Lord sent as best for him. We, then, on our journey to the truth, must be
unencumbered. "Carry not," said the Lord, "purse, nor scalp, nor shoes;"(2)
that is, possess not wealth, which is only treasured up in a purse; fill
not your own stores, as if laying up produce in a bag, but communicate to
those who have need. Do not trouble yourselves about horses and servants,
who, as bearing burdens when the rich are travelling, are allegorically
called shoes.

   We must, then, cast away the multitude of vessels, silver and gold
drinking cups, and the crowd of domestics, receiving as we have done from
the Instructor the fair and grave attendants, Self-help and Simplicity. And
we must walk suitably to the Word; and if there be a wife and children, the
house is not a burden, having learned to change its place along with the
sound-minded traveller. The wife who loves her husband must be furnished
for travel similarly to her husband. A fair provision for the journey to
heaven is theirs who bear frugality with chaste gravity. And as the foot is
the measure of the shoe, so also is the body of what each individual
possesses. But that which is superfluous, what they call ornaments and the
furniture Of the rich, is a burden, not an ornament to the body. He who
climbs to the heavens by force, must carry with him the fair staff of
beneficence, and attain to the true rest by communicating to those who are
in distress. For the Scripture avouches, "that the  true riches of the soul
are a man's ransom,"(3) that is, if he is rich, he will be saved by
distributing it. For as gushing wells, when pumped out, rise again to their
former measure,(4) so giving away, being the benignant spring of love, by
communicating of its drink to the thirsty, again increases and is
replenished, just as the milk is wont to flow into the breasts that are
sucked or milked. For he who has the almighty God, the Word, is in want of
nothing, and never is in straits for what he needs. For the Word is a
possession that wants nothing, and is the cause of all abundance. If one
say that he has often seen the righteous man in need of food, this is rare,
and happens only where there is not another righteous man.(5)
Notwithstanding let him read what follows: "For the righteous man shall not
live by bread alone, but by the word of the Lord,"(6) who is the true
bread, the bread of the heavens. The good man, then, can never be in
difficulties so long as he keeps intact his confession towards God. For it
appertains to him to ask and to receive whatever he requires from the
Father of all; and to enjoy what is his own, if he keep the Son. And this
also appertains to him, to feel no want.

   This Word, who trains us, confers on us the true riches. Nor is the
growing rich an object of envy to those who possess through Him the
privilege of wanting nothing. He that has this wealth shall inherit the
kingdom of God.

CHAP. VIII.--SIMILITUDES AND EXAMPLES A MOST IMPORTANT PART OF RIGHT
INSTRUCTION.

   And if any one of you shall entirely avoid luxury, he will, by a frugal
upbringing, train himself to the endurance of involuntary labours, by
employing constantly voluntary afflictions as training exercises for
persecutions; so that when he comes to compulsory labours, and fears, and
griefs, he will not be unpractised in endurance.

   Wherefore we have no country on earth, that we may despise earthly
possessions. And frugality(7) is in the highest degree rich, being equal to
unfailing expenditure, bestowed on what is requisite, and to the degree
requisite. For has the meaning of expenses.

   How a husband is to live with his wife, and respecting self-help, and
housekeeping, and the employment of domestics; and further, with respect to
the time of marriage, and what is suitable for wives, we have treated in
the discourse concerning marriage. What pertains to disciplane alone is
reserved now for description, as we delineate the life of Christians. The
most indeed has been already said, and laid down in the form of
disciplinary rules. What still remains we shall subjoine; for examples are
of no small moment in determining to salvation.(8)

   See, says the tragedy,

   "The consort of Ulysses was not killed
   By Telemachus; for she did not take a husband in addition to a husband,
   But in the house the marriage-bed remains unpolluted."(9)

Reproaching foul adultery, he showed the fair image of chastity in
affection to her husband.

   The Lacedaemonians compelling the Helots, their servants (Helots is the
name of their servants), to get drunk, exhibited their drunken pranks
before themselves, who were temperate, for cure and correction.

   Observing, accordingly, their unseemly behaviour, in order that they
themselves might not fall into like censurable conduct, they trained
themselves, turning the reproach of the drunkards to the advantage of
keeping themselves free from fault.

   For some men being instructed are saved; and others, self-taught,
either aspire after or seek virtue.

   "He truly is the best of all who himself perceives all things."(1)

Such is Abraham, who sought God.

   "And good, again, is he who obeys him who advises well."(2)

Such are those disciples who obeyed the Word. Wherefore the former was
called "friend," the latter "apostles;" the one diligently seeking, and the
other preaching one and the same God.  And both are peoples, and both these
have hearers, the one who is profited through seeking, the other who is
saved through finding.

   "But whoever neither himself perceives, nor, hearing another,
   Lays to heart--he is a worthless man."(3)

   The other people is the Gentile--useless; this is the people that
followeth not Christ. Nevertheless the Instructor, lover of man, helping in
many ways, partly exhorts, partly upbraids. Others having sinned, He shows
us their base-ness, and exhibits the punishment consequent upon it,
alluring while admonishing, planning to dissuade us in love from evil, by
the exhibition of those who have suffered from it before. By which examples
He very manifestly checked those who had been evil-disposed, and hindered
those who were daring like deeds; and others He brought to a foundation of
patience; others He stopped from wickedness; and others He cured by the
contemplation of what is like, bringing them over to what is better.

   For who, when following one in the way, and then on the former falling
into a pit, would not guard against incurring equal danger, by taking care
not to follow him in his slip? What athlete, again, who has learned the way
to glory, and has seen the combatant who had preceded him receiving the
prize, does not exert himself for the crown, imitating the eider one?

   Such images of divine wisdom are many; but I shall mention one
instance, and expound it in a few words. The fate of the Sodomites was
judgment to those who had done wrong, instruction to those who hear. The
Sodomites having, through much luxury, fallen into uncleanness, practising
adultery shamelessly, and burning with insane love for boys; the All-seeing
Word, whose notice those who commit impieties cannot escape, cast His eye
on them. Nor did the sleepless guard of humanity observe their
licentiousness in silence; but dissuading us from the imitation of them,
and training us up to His own temperance, and falling on some sinners, lest
lust being unavenged, should break loose from all the restraints of fear,
ordered Sodom to be burned, pouting forth a little of the sagacious fire on
licentiousness; lest lust, through want of punishment, should throw wide
the gates to those that were rushing into voluptuousness. Accordingly, the
just punishment of the Sodomites became to men an image of the salvation
which is well calculated for men. For those who have not committed like
sins with those who are punished, will never receive a like punishment. By
guarding against sinning, we guard against suffering. "For I would have you
know," says Jude, "that God, having once saved His people from the land of
Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not; and the angels which
kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath
reserved to the judgment of the great day, in everlasting chains under
darkness of the savage angels."(4) And a little  after he sets forth, in a
most instructive manner, representations of those that are judged: "Woe
unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and run greedily after
the error of Balaam, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." For those,
who cannot attain the privilege of adoption, fear keeps from growing
insolent. For punishments and threats are for this end, that fearing the
penalty we may abstain from sinning. I might relate to you punishments for
ostentation, and punishments for vainglory, not only for licentiousness;
and adduce the censures pronounced on those whose hearts are bad through
wealth,(5) in which censures the Word through fear restrains from evil
acts. But sparing prolixity in my treatise, I shall bring forward the
following precepts of the Instructor, that you may guard against His
threatenings.

CHAP. IX.--WHY WE ARE TO USE THE BATH.

   There are, then, four reasons for the bath (for from that point I
digressed in my oration), for which we frequent it: for cleanliness, or
heat, or health, or lastly, for pleasure. Bathing for pleasure is to be
omitted. For unblushing pleasure must be cut out by the roots; and the bath
is to be taken by women for cleanliness and health, by men for health
alone.(6) To bathe for the sake of heat is a superfluity, since one may
restore what is frozen by the cold in other ways. Constant use of the bath,
too, impairs strength and relaxes the physical energies, and often induces
debility and fainting. For in a way the body drinks, like trees, not only
by the mouth, but also over the whole body in bathing, by what they call
the pores. In proof of this often people, when thirsty, by going afterwards
into the water, have assuaged their thirst. Unless, then, the bath is for
some use, we ought not to indulge in it. The ancients called them places
for fulling(1) men, since they wrinkle men's bodies sooner than they ought,
and by cooking them, as it were, compel them to become prematurely old. The
flesh, like iron, being softened by the heat, hence we require cold, as it
were, to temper and give an edge. Nor must we bathe always; but if one is a
little exhausted, or, on the other hand, filled to repletion, the bath is
to be forbidden, regard being had to the age of the body and the season of
the year. For the bath is not beneficial to all, or always, as those who
are skilled in these things own. But due proportion, which on all occasions
we call as our helper in life, suffices for us. For we must not so use the
bath as to require an assistant, nor are we to bathe constantly and often
in the day as we frequent the market-place. But to have the water poured
over us by several people is an outrage on our neighbours, through fondness
for luxuriousness, and is done by those who will not understand that the
bath is common to all the bathers equally.

   But most of all is it necessary to wash the soul in the cleansing Word
(sometimes the body too, on account of the dirt which gathers and grows to
it, sometimes also to relieve fatigue). "Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites!" saith the Lord, "for ye are like to whited
sepulchres. Without, the sepulchre appears beautiful, but within it is full
of dead men's bones and all uncleanness."(2) And again He says to the same
people, "Woe unto you! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and platter,
but within are full of uncleanness. Cleanse first the inside of the cup,
that the outside may be clean also."(3) The best bath, then, is what rubs
off the pollution of the soul, and is spiritual. Of which prophecy speaks
expressly: "The Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of
Israel, and will purge the blood from the midst of them"(4)--the blood of
crime and the murders of the prophets. And the mode of cleansing, the Word
subjoined, saying, "by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning."
The bathing which is carnal, that is to say, of the body, is accomplished
by water alone, as often in the country where there is not  a bath.(5)

CHAP. X.--THE EXERCISES SUITED TO A GOOD LIFE.

   The gymnasium is sufficient for boys, even if a bath is within reach.
And even for men to prefer gymnastic exercises by far to the baths, is
perchance not bad, since they are in some respects conducive to the health
of young men, and produce exertion--emulation to aim at not only a healthy
habit of body, but courageousness of soul. When this is done without
dragging a man away from better employments, it is pleasant, and not
unprofitable. Nor are women to be deprived of bodily exercise. But they are
not to be encouraged to engage in wrestling or running, but are to exercise
themselves in spinning, and weaving, and superintending the cooking if
necessary. And they are, with their own hand, to fetch from the store what
we require. And it is no disgrace for them to apply themselves to the mill.
Nor is it a reproach to a wife--housekeeper and helpmeet--to occupy herself
in cooking, so that it may be palatable to her husband. And if she shake up
the couch, reach drink to her husband when thirsty, set food on the table
as neatly as possible, and so give herself exercise tending to sound
health, the Instructor will approve of a woman like this, who "stretches
forth her arms to useful tasks, rests her hands on the distaff, opens her
hand to the pool, and extends her wrist to the beggar."(6)

   She who emulates Sarah is not ashamed of that highest of ministries,
helping wayfarers. For Abraham said to her, "Haste, and knead three
measures of meal, and make cakes."(7) "And Rachel, the daughter of Laban,
came," it is said, "with her father's sheep."(8) Nor was this enough; but
to teach humility it is added, "for she fed her father's sheep."(9) And
innumerable such examples of frugality and self-help, and also of
exercises, are furnished by the Scriptures, In the case of men, let some
strip and engage in wrestling; let some play at the small ball, especially
the game they call Pheninda,(10) in the sun. To others who walk into the
country, or go down into the town, the walk is sufficient exercise. And
were they to handle the hoe, this stroke of economy in agricultural labour
would not be ungentleman like.

   I had almost forgot to say that the well-known Pittacus, king of
Miletus, practised the laborious exercise of turning the mill." It is
respectable for a man to draw water for himself, and to cut billets of wood
which he is to use himself. Jacob fed the sheep of Laban that were left in
his charge, having as a royal badge "a rod of storax,"(1) which aimed by
its wood to change and improve nature. And reading aloud is often an
exercise to many. But let not such athletic contests, as we have allowed,
be undertaken for the sake of vainglory, but for the exuding of manly
sweat. Nor are we to straggle with cunning and showiness, but in a stand-up
wrestling bout, by disentangling of neck, hands, and sides. For such a
struggle with graceful strength is more becoming and manly, being
undertaken for the sake of serviceable and profitable health. But let those
others, who profess the practice of illiberal postures in gymnastics, be
dismissed. We must always aim at moderation. For as it is best that labour
should precede food, So to labour above measure is both very bad, very
exhausting, and apt to make us ill. Neither, then, should we be idle
altogether, nor completely fatigued. For similarly to what we have laid
down with respect to food, are we to do everywhere and with everything. Our
mode of life is not to accustom us to voluptuousness and licentiousness,
nor to the opposite extreme, but to the medium between these, that which is
harmonious and temperate, and free of either evil, luxury and parsimony.
And now, as we have also previously remarked, attending to one's own wants
is an exercise free of pride,--as, for example, putting on one's own shoes,
washing one's own feet, and also rubbing one's self when anointed with oil.
To render one who has rubbed you the same service in return, is an exercise
of reciprocal justice; and to sleep beside a sick friend, help the infirm,
and supply him who is in want, are proper exercises. "And Abraham," it is
said, "served up for three, dinner under a tree, and waited on them as they
ate."(2) The same with fishing,(3) as in the case of Peter, if we have
leisure from necessary instructions in the Word. But that is the better
enjoyment which the Lord assigned to the disciple, when He taught him to
"catch men" as fishes in the water.

CHAP. XI.--A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

   Wherefore the wearing of gold and the use of softer clothing is not to
be entirely prohibited. But irrational impulses must be curbed, lest,
carrying us away through excessive relaxation, they impel us to
voluptuousness. For luxury, that has dashed on to surfeit, is prone to kick
up its heels and toss its mane, and shake off the charioteer, the
Instructor; who, pulling back the reins from far, leads and drives to
salvation the human horse--that is, the irrational part of the soul--which
is wildly bent on pleasures, and vicious appetites, and precious stones,
and gold, and variety of dress, and other luxuries.

   Above all, we are to keep in mind what was spoken sacredly: "Having
your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that, whereas they speak
against you as evil-doers, they may, by the good works which they behold,
glorify God."(4)

Clothes.

   The Instructor permits us, then, to use simple clothing, and of a white
colour, as we said before. So that, accommodating ourselves not to
variegated art, but to nature as it is produced, and pushing away whatever
is deceptive and belies the truth, we may embrace the uniformity and
simplicity of the truth.(5)

   Sophocles, reproaching a youth, says:--

   "Decked in women's clothes."

For, as in the case of the soldier, the sailor, and the ruler, so also the
proper dress of the temperate man is what is plain, becoming, and clean.
Whence also in the law, the law enacted by Moses about leprousy rejects
what has many colours and spots, like the various scales of the snake. He
therefore wishes man, no longer decking himself gaudily in a variety of
colours, but white all over from the crown of the head to the sole of the
foot, to be clean; so that, by a transition from the body, we may lay aside
the varied and versatile passions of the man, land love the unvaried, and
unambiguous, and simple colour of truth. And he who also in this emulates
Moses--Plato best of all--approves of that texture on which not more than a
chaste woman's work has been employed. And white colours well become
gravity. And elsewhere he says, "Nor apply dyes or weaving, except for
warlike decorations."(6)

   To men of peace and of light, therefore, white is appropriate.(7) As,
then, signs, which are very closely allied to causes, by their presence
indicate, or rather demonstrate, the existence of the result; as smoke is
the sign of fire, and a good complexion and a regular pulse of health; so
also clothing of this description shows the character of our habits.
Temperance is pure and simple; since purity is a habit which ensures pure
conduct unmixed with what is base. Simplicity is a habit which does away
with super-fluities.

Substantial clothing also, and chiefly what is unfulled, protects the heat
which is in the body; not that the clothing has heat in itself, but that it
turns back the heat issuing from the body, and refuses it a passage. And
whatever heat falls upon it, it absorbs and retains, and being warmed by
it, warms in turn the body. And for this reason it is chiefly to be worn in
winter.

   It also (temperance) is contented. And contentment is a habit which
dispenses with super-fluities, and, that there may be no failure, is
receptive of what suffices for the healthful and blessed life according to
the Word.(1)

   Let the women wear a plain and becoming dress, but softer than what is
suitable for a man, yet not quite immodest or entirely gone in luxury. And
let the garments be suited to age, person, figure, nature, pursuits. For
the divine apostle most beautifully counsels us "to put on Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the lusts of the flesh."(2)

Ear-rings.

   The Word prohibits us from doing violence to nature(3) by boring the
lobes of the ears. For why not the nose too?--so that, what was spoken, may
be fulfilled: "As an ear-ring in a swine's nose, so is beauty to a woman
without discretion."(4) For, in a word, if one thinks himself made
beautiful by gold, he is inferior to gold; and he that is inferior to gold
is not lord of it. But to confess one's self less ornamental than the
Lydian ore, how monstrous! As, then, the gold is polluted by the dirtiness
of the sow, which stirs up the mire with her snout, so those women, that
are luxurious to excess in their wantonness, elated by wealth, dishonour by
the stains of amatory indulgences what is the true beauty.

Finger- rings.

   The Word, then, permits them a finger-ring of gold.(5) Nor is this for
ornament, but for sealing things which are worth keeping safe in the house
in the exercise of their charge of housekeeping.

   For if all were well trained, there would be no need of seals, if
servants and masters were equally honest. But since want of training
produces an inclination to dishonesty, we require seals.

   But there are circumstances in which this strictness may relaxed. For
allowance must sometimes be made in favour of those women who have not been
fortunate(6) in falling in with chaste husbands, and adorn themselves in
order to please their husbands. But let desire for the admiration of their
husbands alone be proposed as their aim. I would not have them to devote
themselves to personal display, but to attract their husbands by chaste
love for them--a powerful and legitimate charm. But since they wish their
wives to be unhappy in mind, let the latter, if they would be chaste, make
it their aim to allay by degrees the irrational impulses and passions of
their husbands. And they are to be gently drawn to simplicity, by gradually
accustoming them to sobriety. For decency is not produced by the imposition
of what is burdensome, but by the abstraction of excess. For women's
articles of luxury are to be prohibited, as things of swift wing producing
unstable follies and empty delights; by which, elated and furnished with
wings, they often fly away from the marriage bonds. Wherefore also women
ought to dress neatly, and bind themselves around with the band of chaste
modesty, lest through giddiness they slip away from the truth. It is right,
then, for men to repose confidence in their wives, and commit the charge of
the household to them, as they are given to be their helpers in this.

   And if it is necessary for us, while engaged in public business, or
discharging other avocations in the country, and often away from our wives,
to seal anything for the sake of safety, He (the Word) allows us a signet
for this purpose only. Other finger-rings are to be cast off, since,
according to the Scripture, "instruction is a golden ornament for a wise
man."(7)

   But women who wear gold seem to me to be afraid, lest, if one strip
them of their jewellery, they should be taken for servants, without their
ornaments. But the nobility of truth, discovered in the native beauty which
has its seat in the soul, judges the slave not by buying and selling, but
by a servile disposition. And it is incumbent on us not to seem, but to be
free, trained by God, adopted by God.

   Wherefore we must adopt a mode of standing and motion, and a step, and
dress, and in a word, a mode of life, in all respects as worthy as possible
of freemen. But men are not to wear the ring on the joint; for this is
feminine; but to place it on the little finger at its root. For so the hand
will be freest for work, in whatever we need it; and the signet will not
very easily fall off, being guarded by the large knot of the joint.

   And let our seals be either a dove, or a fish, or a ship scudding
before the wind, or a musical lyre, which Polycrates used, or a ship's
anchor, which Seleucus got engraved as a device; and  if there be one
fishing, he will remember the apostle, and the children drawn out of the
water. For we are not to delineate the faces of idols,(1) we who are
prohibited to cleave to them; nor a sword, nor a bow, following as we do,
peace; nor drinking-cups, being temperate.

   Many of the licentious have their lovers(2) engraved,(3) or their
mistresses, as if they wished to make it impossible ever to forget their
amatory indulgences, by being perpetually put in mind of their
licentiousness.

The Hair.

   About the hair, the following seems right. Let the head of men be
shaven, unless it has curly hair. But let the chin have the hair. But let
not twisted locks hang far down from the head, gliding into womanish
ringlets. For an ample beard suffices for men. And if one, too, shave a
part of his beard, it must not be made entirely bare, for this is a
disgraceful sight. The shaving of the chin to the skin is reprehensible,
approaching to plucking out the hair and smoothing. For instance, thus the
Psalmist, delighted with the hair of the beard, says, "As the ointment that
descends on the beard, the beard of Aaron."(4)

   Having celebrated the beauty of the beard by a repetition, he made the
face to shine with the ointment of the Lord.

   Since cropping is to be adopted not for the sake of elegance, but on
account of the necessity of the case; the hair of the head, that it may not
grow so long as to come down and interfere with the eyes, and that of the
moustache similarly, which is dirtied in eating, is to be cut round, not by
the razor, for that were not well-bred, but by a pair of cropping scissors.
But the hair on the chin is not to be disturbed, as it gives no trouble,
and lends to the face dignity and paternal terror.(5)

   Moreover, the shape instructs many not to sin, because it renders
detection easy. To those who do [not](6) wish to sin openly, a habit that
will escape observation and is not conspicuous is most agreeable, which,
when assumed, will allow them to transgress without detection; so that,
being undistinguishable from others, they may fearlessly go their length in
sinning.(7) A cropped head not only shows a man to be gave, but renders the
cranium less liable to injury, by accustoming it to the presence of both
cold and heat; and it averts the mischiefs arising from these, which the
hair absorbs into itself like a sponge, and so inflicts on the brain
constant mischief from the moisture.

   It is enough for women to protect(8) their locks, and bind up their
hair simply along the neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste locks
with simple care to true beauty. For meretricious plaiting of the hair, and
putting it up in tresses, contribute to make them look ugly, cutting the
hair and plucking off it those treacherous braidings; on account of which
they do not touch their head, being afraid of disordering their hair.
Sleep, too, comes on, not without fear lest they pull down without knowing
the shape of the braid.

   But additions of other people's hair are entirely to be rejected, and
it is a most sacrilegious thing for spurious hair to shade the head,
covering the skull with dead locks. For on whom does the presbyter lay his
hand?(9) Whom does he bless? Not the woman decked out, but another's hair,
and through them another head. And if "the man is head of the woman, and
God of the man,"(10) how is it not impious that they should fall into
double sins? For they deceive the men by the excessive quantity of their
hair; and shame the Lord as far as in them lies, by adorning themselves
meretriciously, in order to dissemble the truth. And they defame the head,
which is truly beautiful.

   Consequently neither is the hair to be dyed, nor grey hair to have its
colour changed. For neither are we allowed to diversify our dress. And
above all, old age, which conciliates trust, is not to be concealed. But
God's mark of honour is to be shown in the light of day, to win the
reverence of the young. For sometimes, when they have been behaving
shamefully, the appearance of hoary hairs, arriving like an instructor, has
changed them to sobriety, and para-lysed juvenile lust with the splendour
of the sight.

Painting the Face.

   Nor are the women to smear their faces with the ensnaring devices of
wily cunning. But let us show to them the decoration of sobriety. For, in
the first place, the best beauty is that which is spiritual, as we have
often pointed out. For when the soul is adorned by the Holy Spirit, and
inspired with the radiant charms which proceed from Him,--righteousness,
wisdom, fortitude, temperance, love of the good, modesty, than which no
more blooming colour was ever seen,--then let coporeal beauty be cultivated
too, symmetry of limbs and members, with a fair complexion. The adornment
of health is here in place, through which the transition of the artificial
image to the truth, in accordance with the form which has been given by
God, is effected. But temperance in drinks, and moderation in articles of
food, are effectual in producing beauty according to nature; for not only
does the body maintain its health from these, but they also make beauty to
appear. For from what is fiery arises a gleam and sparkle; and from
moisture, brightness and grace; and from dryness, strength and firmness;
and from what is aerial, free-breathing and equipoise; from which this
well-proportioned and beautiful image of the Word is adorned. Beauty is the
free flower of health for the latter is produced within the body; while the
former, blossoming out from the body, exhibits manifest beauty of
complexion. Accordingly, these most decorous and healthful practices, by
exercising the body, produce true and lasting beauty, the heat attracting
to itself all the moisture and cold spirit. Heat, when agitated by moving
causes, is a thing which attracts to itself; and when it does attract, it
gently exhales through the flesh itself, when warmed, the abundance of
food, with some moisture, but with excess of heat. Wherefore also the first
food is carried off. But when the body is not moved, the food consumed does
not adhere, but falls away, as the loaf from a cold oven, either entire, or
leaving only the lower part. Accordingly, the faeces are in excess in the
case of those who do not throw off the excrementitious matters by tile
rubbings necessitated by exercise. And other superfluous matters abound in
their case too, and also perspiration, as the food is not assimilated by
the body, but is flowing out to waste. Thence also lusts are excited, the
redundance flowing to the pudenda by commensurate motions. Wherefore this
redundance ought to be liquefied and dispersed for digestion, by which
beauty acquires its ruddy hue. But it is monstrous for those who are made
in "the image and  likeness of God," to dishonour the archetype by assuming
a foreign ornament, preferring the mischievous contrivance of man to the
divine creation.

   The Instructor orders them to go forth "in becoming apparel, and adorn
themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety,"(1) "subject to their own
husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they may without the word be won
by the conversation of the wives; while they behold," he says, "your chaste
conversation. Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of
plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but
let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God
of great price."(2)

   For the labour of their own hands, above all, adds genuine beauty to
women, exercising their bodies and adorning themselves by their own
exertions; not bringing unornamental ornament wrought by others, which is
vulgar and meretricious, but that of every good woman, supplied and woven
by her own hands whenever she most requires. For it is never suitable for
women whose lives are framed according to God, to appear arrayed in things
bought from the market, but in their own home-made work. For a most
beautiful thing is it thrifty wife, who clothes both herself and her
husband with fair array of her own working;(3) in which all are glad--the
children on account of their mother, the husband on account of his wife,
she on their account, and all in God.

   In brief, "A store of excellence is a woman of worth, who eateth not
the bread of idleness; and the laws of mercy are on her tongue; who openeth
her mouth wisely and rightly; whose children rise up and call her blessed,"
as the sacred Word says by Solomon: "Her husband also, and he praiseth her.
For a pious woman is blessed; and let her praise the fear of the LORD."(4)

   And again, "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband."(5) They must,
as far as possible, correct their gestures, looks, steps, and speech. For
they must not do as some, who, imitating the acting of comedy, and
practising the mincing motions of dancers, conduct themselves in society as
if on the stage, with voluptuous movements, and gliding steps, and affected
voices, casting languishing glances round, tricked out with the bait of
pleasure. "For honey drops from the lips of a woman who is an harlot; who,
speaking to please, lubricates thy throat. But at last thou wilt find it
bitterer than bile, and sharper than a two-edged sword. For the feet of
folly lead those who practise it to hell after death."(6)

   The noble Samson was overcome by the harlot, and by another woman was
shorn of his man hood. But Joseph was not thus beguiled by another woman.
The Egyptian harlot was conquered. And chastity,(7) assuming to itself
bonds, appears superior to dissolute licence. Most excellent is what has
been said:-      "In fine, I know not how

   To whisper, nor effeminately,
   To walk about with my neck awry,
   As I see others--lechers there
   In numbers in the city, with hair plucked out."(1)

But feminine motions, dissoluteness, and luxury, are to be entirely
prohibited. For voluptuousness of motion in walking, "and a mincing gait,"
as Anacreon says, are altogether meretricious.

   "As seems to me," says the comedy, "it is time(2) to abandon
meretricious steps and luxury." And the steps of harlotry lean not to the
truth; for they approach not the paths of life. Her tracks are dangerous,
and not easily known.(3) The eyes especially are to be sparingly used,
since it is better to slip with the feet than with the eyes.(4)
Accordingly, the Lord very summarily cures this malady: "If thine eye
offend thee, cut it out,"(5) He says, dragging lust up from the foundation.
But languishing looks, and ogling, which is to wink with the eyes, is
nothing else than to commit adultery with the eyes, lust skirmishing
through them. For of the whole body, the eyes are first destroyed. "The eye
contemplating beautiful objects (kala'), gladdens the heart;" that is, the
eye which has learned rightly (kalw^s) to see, gladdens. "Winking with the
eye, with guile, heaps woes on men."(6) Such they introduce the effeminate
Sardanapalus, king of the Assyrians, sitting on a couch with his legs up,
fumbling at his purple robe, and casting up the whites of his eyes. Women
that follow such practices, by their looks offer themselves for
prostitution. "For the light of the body is the eye," says the Scripture,
by which the interior illuminated by the shining light appears. Fornication
in a woman is in the raising of the eyes.(7)

   "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, and concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry: for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the
children of disobedience,"(8) cries the apostle.

   But we enkindle the passions, and are not ashamed.

   Some of these women eating mastich,(9) going about, show their teeth to
those that come near. And others, as if they had not fingers, give
themselves airs, scratching their heads with pins; and these made either of
tortoise or ivory, or some other dead creature they procure at much pains.
And others, as if they had certain efflorescences, in order to appear
comely in the eyes of spectators, stain their faces by adorning them with
gay-coloured unguents. Such a one is called by Solomon "a foolish and bold
woman," who "knob not shame. She sits at the door of her house,
conspicuously in a seat, calling to all that pass by the way, who go right
on their ways;" by her style and whole life manifestly saying, "Who among
you is very silly? let him turn to me." And those devoid of wisdom she
exhorts, saying, "Touch sweetly secret bread, and sweet stolen water;"
meaning by this, clandestine love (from this point the Boeotian Pindar,
coming to our help, says, "The clandestine pursuit of love is something
sweet"). But the miserable man "knoweth not that the sons of earth perish
beside her, and that she tends to the level of hell." But says the
Instructor: "Hie away, and tarry not in the place; nor fix thine eye on
her: for thus shalt thou pass over a strange water, and cross to
Acheron."(10) Wherefore thus saith the Lord by Isaiah, "Because the
daughters of Sion walk with lofty neck, and with winkings of the eyes, and
sweeping their garments as they walk, and playing with their-feet; the Lord
shall humble the daughters of Sion, and will uncover their form"(11)--their
deformed form. I, deem it wrong that servant girls, who follow women of
high rank, should either speak or act unbecomingly to them. But I think it
right that they should be corrected by their mistresses. With very sharp
censure, accordingly, the comic poet Philemon says: "You may follow at the
back of a pretty servant girl, seen behind a gentlewoman; and any one from
the Plataeicum may follow close, and ogle her." For the wantonness of the
servant recoils on the mistress; allowing those who attempt to take lesser
liberties not to be afraid to advance to greater; since the mistress, by
allowing improprieties, shows that she does not disapprove of them. And not
to be angry at those who act wantonly, is a clear proof of a disposition
inclining to the like. "For like mistress like wench,"(12) as they say in
the proverb.

Walking.

   Also we must abandon a furious mode of walking, and choose a grave and
leisurely, but not a lingering step.

   Nor is one to swagger in the ways, nor throw back his head to look at
those he meets, if they look at him, as if he were strutting on the stage,
and pointed at with the finger. Nor, when pushing up hill, are they to be
shoved up by their domestics, as we see those that are more luxurious, who
appear strong, but are enfeebled by effeminacy of soul.

   A true gentleman must have no mark of effeminacy visible on his face,
or any other part of his body. Let no blot on his manliness, then, be ever
found either in his movements or habits. Nor is a man in health to use his
servants as horses to bear him. For as it is enjoined on them, "to be
subject to their masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward,"(1) as Peter says; so fairness, and forbearance,
and kindness, are what well becomes the masters. For he says: "Finally, be
ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another; love as brethren, be
pitiful, be humble," and so forth, "that ye may inherit a blessing,"(2)
excellent and desirable.

The Model Maiden.

   Zeno the Cittiaean thought fit to represent the image of a young maid,
and executed the statue thus: "Let her face be clean, her eyebrows not let
down, nor her eyelids open nor turned back. Let her neck not be stretched
back, nor the members of her body be loose. But let the parts that hang
from the body look as if they were well strung; let there be the keenness
of a well-regulated mind(3) for discourse, and retention of what has been
rightly spoken; and let her attitudes and movements give no ground of hope
to the licentious; but let there be the bloom of modesty, and an expression
of firmness. But far from her be the wearisome trouble that comes from the
shops of perfumers, and goldsmiths, and dealers in wool, and that which
comes from the other shops where women, meretriciously dressed, pass whole
days as if sitting in the stews."

Amusements and Associates.

   And let not men, therefore, spend their time in barbers' shops and
taverns, babbling nonsense; and let them give up hunting for the women who
sit near,(4) and ceaselessly talking slander against many to raise a laugh.

   The game of dice(5) is to be prohibited, and the pursuit of gain,
especially by dicing,(6) which many keenly follow. Such things the
prodigality of luxury invents for the idle. For the cause is idleness, and
a love(7) for frivolities apart from the truth. For it is not possible
otherwise to obtain enjoyment without injury; and each man's preference of
a mode of life is a counterpart of his disposition.

   But, as appears, only intercourse with good men benefits; on the other
hand, the all-wise Instructor, by the mouth of Moses, recognising
companionship with bad men as swinish, forbade the ancient people to
partake of swine; to point out that those who call on God ought not to
mingle with unclean men, who, like swine, delight in corporeal pleasures,
in impure food, and in itching with filthy pruriency after the mischievous
delights of lewdness.

   Further, He says: "Thou art not to eat a kite or swift-winged ravenous
bird, or an eagle,"(8) meaning: Thou shalt not come near men who gain their
living by rapine. And other things also are exhibited figuratively.

   With whom, then, are we to associate? With the righteous, He says
again, speaking figuratively; for everything "which parts the hoof and
chews the cud is clean." For the parting of the hoof indicates the
equilibrium of righteousness, and ruminating points to the proper food of
righteousness, the word, which enters from without, like food, by
instruction, but is recalled from the mind, as from the stomach, to
rational recollection. And the spiritual man, having the word in his mouth,
ruminates the spiritual food; and righteousness parts the hoof rightly,
because it sanctifies us in this life, and sends us on our way to the world
to come.

Public Spectacles.

   The Instructor will not then bring us to public spectacles; nor
inappropriately might one call the racecourse and the theatre "the seat of
plagues;"(9) for there is evil counsel as against the Just One,(10) and
therefore the assembly against Him is execrated. These assemblies, indeed,
are full of confusion" and iniquity; and these pretexts for assembling are
the cause of disorder--men and women assembling promiscuously if or the
sight of one another. In this respect the assembly has already shown itself
bad: for when the eye is lascivious,(12) the desires grow warm; and the
eyes that are accustomed to look impudently at one's neighbours during the
leisure granted to them, inflame the amatory desires. Let spectacles,
therefore, and plays that are full of scurrility and of abundant gossip, be
forbidden.(13) For what base action is it that is not exhibited in the
theatres? And what shameless saying is it that is not brought forward by
the buffoons? And those who enjoy the evil that is in them, stamp the clear
images of it at home. And, on the other hand, those that are proof against
these things, and unimpressible, will never make a stumble in regard to
luxurious pleasures.

   For if people shall say that they betake themselves to the spectacles
as a pastime for recreation, I should say that the cities which make a
serious business of pastime are not wise; for cruel contests for glory
which have been so fatal are not sport. No more is senseless expenditure of
money, nor are the riots that are occasioned by them sport. And ease of
mind is not to be purchased by zealous pursuit of frivolities, for no one
who has his senses will ever prefer what is pleasant to what is good.

Religion in Ordinary Life.

   But it is said we do not all philosophize. Do we not all, then, follow
after life? What sayest thou? How hast thou believed? How, pray, dost thou
love God and thy neighbour, if thou dost not philosophize? And how dost
thou love thyself, if thou dost not love life? It is said, I have not
learned letters; but if thou hast not learned to read, thou canst not
excuse thyself in the case of hearing, for it is not taught. And faith is
the possession not of the wise according to the world, but of those
according to God; and it is taught without letters; and its handbook, at
once rude and divine, is called love--a spiritual book. It is in your power
to listen to divine wisdom, ay, and to frame your life in accordance with
it. Nay, you are not prohibited from conducting affairs in the world
decorously according to God. Let not him who sells or buys aught name two
prices for what he buys or sells; but stating the net price, and studying
to speak the truth, if he get not his price, he gets the truth, and is rich
in the possession of rectitude. But, above all, let an oath on account of
what is sold be far from you; and let swearing, too, on account of other
things be banished.

   And in this way those who frequent the market-place and the shop
philosophize. "For thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in
vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in
vain."(1)

   But those who act contrary to these things--the avaricious, the liars,
the hypocrites, those who make merchandise of the truth--the Lord cast out
of His Father's court,(2) not willing that the holy house of God should be
the house of unrighteous traffic either in words or in material things.

Going to Church.

   Woman and man are to go to church(3) decently attired, with natural
step, embracing silence, possessing unfeigned love, pure in body, pure in
heart, fit to pray to God. Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be
entirely covered, unless she happen to be at home. For that style of dress
is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who
puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to
fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word,
since it is becoming for her to pray veiled.(4)

   They say that the wife of AEneas, through excess of propriety, did not,
even in her terror at the capture of Troy, uncover herself; but, though
fleeing from the conflagration, remained veiled.

Out of Church.

   Such ought those who are consecrated to Christ appear, and frame
themselves in their whole life, as they fashion themselves in the church s
for the sake of gravity; and to be, not to seem such--so meek, so pious, so
loving. But now I know not how people change their fashions and manners
with the place. As they say that polypi, assimilated to the rocks to which
they adhere, are in colour such as they; so, laying aside the inspiration
of the assembly, after their departure from it, they become like others
with whom they associate. Nay, in laying aside the artificial mask of
solemnity, they are proved to be what they secretly were. After having paid
reverence to the discourse about God, they leave within [the church] what
they have heard. And outside they foolishly amuse themselves with impious
playing, and amatory quavering, occupied with flute-playing, and dancing,
and intoxication, and all kinds of trash. They who sing thus, and sing in
response, are those who before hymned immortality,--found at last wicked
and wickedly singing this most pernicious palinode, "Let us eat and drink,
for to-morrow we die." But not to-morrow in truth, but already, are these
dead to God; burying their dead,(6) that is, sinking themselves down to
death. The apostle very firmly assails them. "Be not deceived; neither
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers," and whatever else he
adds to these, "shall inherit the kingdom of God."(7) Love and the Kiss of
Charity.

   And if we are called to the kingdom of God, let us walk worthy of the
kingdom, loving God and our neighbour. But love is not proved by a kiss,
but by kindly feeling. But there are those, that do nothing but make the
churches resound with a kiss,(1) not having love itself within. For this
very thing, the shameless use of a kiss, which ought to be mystic,
occasions foul suspicions and evil reports. The apostle calls the kiss
holy.(2)

   When the kingdom is worthily tested, we dispense the affection of the
soul by a chaste and closed mouth, by which chiefly gentle manners are
expressed.

   But there is another unholy kiss, full of poison, counterfeiting
sanctity. Do you not know that spiders, merely by touching the mouth,
afflict men with pain? And often kisses inject the poison of
licentiousness. It is then very manifest to us, that a kiss is not love.
For the love meant is the love of God. "And this is the love of God," says
John, "that we keep His commandments;"(3) not that we stroke each other on
the mouth. "And His commandments are not grievous." But salutations of
beloved ones in the ways, full as they are of foolish boldness, are
characteristic of those who wish to be conspicuous to those without, and
have not the least particle of grace. For if it is proper mystically "in
the closet" to pray to God, it will follow that we are also to greet
mystically our neighbour, whom we are commanded to love second similarly to
God, within doors, "redeeming the time." "For we are the salt of the
earth."(4) "Whosoever shall bless his friend early in the, morning with a
loud voice, shall be regarded not to differ from cursing."(5)

The Government of the Eyes.

   But, above all, it seems right that we turn away from the sight of
women. For it is sin not only to touch, but to look; and he who is rightly
trained must especially avoid them. "Let thine eyes look straight, and
thine eyelids wink right."(6) For while it is possible for one who looks to
remain stedfast; yet care must be taken against falling. For it is possible
for one who looks to slip; but it is impossible for one, who looks not, to
lust. For it is not enough for the chaste to be pure; but they must give
all diligence, to be beyond the range of censure, shut-ring out all ground
of suspicion, in order to the consummation of chastity; so that we may not
only be faithful, but appear worthy of trust. For this is also consequently
to be guarded against, as the apostle says, "that no man should blame us;
providing things honourable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in
the sight of men."(7)

   "But turn away thine eyes from a graceful woman, and contemplate not
another's beauty," says the Scripture.(8) And if you require the reason, it
will further tell you," For by the beauty of woman many have gone astray,
and at it affection blazes up like fire;"(9) the affection which arises
from the fire which we call love, leading to the fire which will never
cease in consequence of sin.

CHAP. XII.--CONTINUATION: WITH TEXTS FROM SCRIPTURE.

   I would counsel the married never to kiss their wives in the presence
of their domestics. For Aristotle does not allow people to laugh to their
slaves. And by no means must a wife be seen saluted in their presence. It
is moreover better that, beginning at home with marriage, we should exhibit
propriety in it. For it is the greatest bond of chastity, breathing forth
pure pleasure. Very admirably the tragedy says:--

   "Well! well! ladies, how is it, then, that among men,
   Not gold, not empire, or luxury of wealth,
   Conferred to such an extent signal delights,
   As the right and virtuous disposition
   Of a man of worth and a dutiful wife?"

   Such injunctions of righteousness uttered by those who are conversant
with worldly wisdom are not to be refused. Knowing, then, the duty of each,
"pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye know that
ye were not deemed with corruptible things, such as silver or gold, from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot."(10) "For," says Peter, "the time past of our life may suffice us to
have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness,
lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable
idolatries."(11) We have as a limit the cross of the Lord, by which we are
fenced and hedged about from our former sins. Therefore, being regenerated,
let us fix ourselves to it in truth, and return to sobriety, and sanctify
ourselves; "for the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are
open to their prayer; but the face of the LORD is against them that do
evil."(12) And who is he that will harm us, if we be followers of that
which is good?"(1) "us" for "you." But the best training is good order,
which is perfect decorum, and stable and orderly power, which in action
maintains consistence in what it does. If these things have been adduced by
me with too great asperity, in order to effect the salvation which follows
from your correction; they have been spoken also, says the Instructor, by
me: "Since he who reproves with boldness is a peacemaker."(2) And if ye
hear me, ye shall be saved. And if ye attend not to what is spoken, it is
not my concern. And yet it is my concern thus: "For he desires the
repentance rather than the death of a sinner."(3) "If ye shall hear me, ye
shall eat the good of the land," the Instructor again says, calling by the
appellation "the good of the land," beauty, wealth, health, strength,
sustenance. For those things which are really good, are what "neither ear
hath heard, not hath ever entered into the heart"(4) respecting Him who is
really King, and the realities truly good which await us. For He is the
giver and the guard of good things. And with respect to their
participation, He applies the same names of things in this world, the Word
thus training in God the feebleness of men from sensible things to
understanding.

   What has to be observed at home, and how our life is to be regulated,
the Instructor has abundantly declared. And the things which He is wont to
say to children by the way,(5) while He conducts them to the Master, these
He suggests, and adduces the Scriptures themselves in a compendious form,
setting forth bare injunctions, accommodating them to the period of
guidance, and assigning the interpretation of them to the Master.(6) For
the intention of His law is to dissipate fear, emancipating free-will in
order to faith. "Hear," He says, "O child," who art rightly instructed, the
principal points of salvation. For I will disclose my ways, and lay before
thee good commandments; by which thou wilt reach salvation. And I lead thee
by the way of salvation. Depart from the paths of deceit.

   "For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous, and the way of the
ungodly shall perish."(7) "Follow, therefore, O son, the good way which I
shall describe, lending to me attentive ears." "And I will give to thee the
treasures of darkness, hidden and unseen"(8) by the nations, but seen by
us. And the treasures of wisdom are unfailing, in admiration of which the
apostle says, "O the depth of the riches and the wisdom!"(9) And by one God
are many treasures dispensed; some disclosed by the law, others by the
prophets; some to the divine mouth, and others to the heptad of the spirit
singing accordant. And the Lord being one, is the same Instructor by all
these. Here is then a comprehensive precept, and an exhortation of life,
all-embracing: "As ye would that men should do unto you, do ye likewise to
,them."(10) We may comprehend the commandments in two, as the Lord says,
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength; and thy neighbour as thyself." Then from these
He infers, "on this hang the law and the prophets."(11) Further, to him
that asked, "What good thing shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life?"
He answered, "Thou knowest the commandments?" And on him replying Yea, He
said, "This do, and thou shalt be saved." Especially conspicuous is the
love of the Instructor set forth in various salutary commandments, in order
that the discovery may be readier, from the abundance and arrangement of
the Scriptures. We have the Decalogue(12) given by Moses, which, indicating
by an elementary principle, simple and of one kind, defines the designation
of sins in a way conducive to salvation: "Thou shall not commit adultery.
Thou shall not worship idols. Thou shalt not corrupt boys. Thou shalt not
steal. Thou shall not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy
mother."(13) And so forth. These things are to be observed, and whatever
else is commanded in reading the Bible. And He enjoins on us by Isaiah:
"Wash you, and make you clean. Put away iniquities from your souls before
mine eyes. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Deliver the wronged. Judge for
the orphan, and justify the widow. And come, and let us reason together,
saith the Lord."(14) And we shall find many examples also in other places,-
-as, for instance, respecting prayer: "Good works are an acceptable prayer
to the Lord," says the Scripture.(15) And the manner of prayer is
described. "If thou seest," it is said, "the naked, cover him; and thou
shalt not overlook those who belong to thy seed. Then shall thy light
spring forth early, and thy healing shall spring up quickly; and thy
righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall encompass
thee." What, then, is the fruit of such prayer? "Then shall thou call, and
God will hear thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He will say, I am
here."(16)

   In regard to fasting it is said, "Wherefore do ye fast to me? saith the
Lord. Is it such a fast that I have chosen, even a day for a man to humble
his soul? Thou shall not bend thy neck like a circle, and spread sackcloth
and shes under thee.Not thus shall ye call it an acceptable fast."

   What means a fast, then? "Lo, this is the fast which I have chosen,
saith the Lord. Loose every band of wickedness. Dissolve the knots of
oppressive contracts. Let the oppressed go free, and tear every unjust
bond. Break thy bread to the hungry; and lead the houseless poor into thy
house. If thou see the naked cover him."(1) About sacrifices too: "To what
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith the Lord. I am
full of burnt-offerings and of rams; and the fat of lambs, and the blood of
bulls and kids I do not wish; nor that ye should come to appear before me.
Who hath required this at your hands? You shall no more tread my court. If
ye bring fine flour, the vain oblation is an abomination to me. Your new
moons and your sabbaths I cannot away with."(2) How, then, shall I
sacrifice to the Lord? "The sacrifice of the Lord is," He says, "a broken
heart."(3) How, then, shall I crown myself, or anoint with ointment, or
offer incense to the Lord? "An odour of a sweet fragrance," it is said,(4)
"is the heart that glorifies Him who made it." These are the crowns and
sacrifices, aromatic odours, and flowers of God.

   Further, in respect to forbearance. "If thy brother," it is said, "sin
against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. If he sin against
thee seven times in a day, and turn to thee the seventh time, and say, I
repent, forgive him."(5) Also to the soldiers, by John, He commands, "to be
content with their wages only;" and to the publicans, "to exact no more
than is appointed." To the judges He says, "Thou shalt not show partiality
in judgment. For girls blind the eyes of those who see, and corrupt just
words. Rescue the wronged."

   And to householders: "A possession which is acquired with iniquity
becomes less."(6)

   Also of "love." "Love," He says, "covers a multitude of sins."(7)

   And of civil government: "Render to Caesar the things which are
Caesar's; and unto God the things which are God's."(8)

   Of swearing and the remembrance of injuries: "Did I command your
fathers, when they went out of Egypt, to offer burnt-offerings and
sacrifices? But I commanded them, Let none of you bear malice in his heart
against his neighbour, or love a false oath."(9)

   The liars and the proud, too, He threatens; the former thus: "Woe to
them that call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter;" and the latter: "Woe unto
them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight."(10)
"For he that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that exalteth
himself shall be humbled."(11)

   And "the merciful" He blesses, "for they shall obtain mercy."

   Wisdom pronounces anger a wretched thing, because "it will destroy the
wise."(12) And now He bids us "love our enemies, bless them that curse us,
and pray for them that despitefully use us." And He says: "If any one
strike thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one
take away thy coat, hinder him not from taking thy cloak also."(13)

   Of faith He says: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye
shall receive."(14) "To the unbelieving nothing is trustworthy," according
to Pindar.

   Domestics, too, are to be treated like ourselves; for they are human
beings, as we are. For God is the same to free and bond, if you consider.

   Such of our brethren as transgress, we must not punish, but rebuke.
"For he that spareth the rod hateth his son."(15)

   Further, He banishes utterly love of glory, saying, "Woe to you,
Pharisees! for ye love the chief seat in the synagogues, and greetings in
the markets."(16) But He welcomes the repentance of the sinner--loving
repentance--which follows sins. For this Word of whom we speak alone is
sinless. For to sin is natural and common to all. But to return [to God]
after sinning is characteristic not of any man, but only of a man of worth.

   Respecting liberality He said: "Come to me, ye blessed, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you  from the foundation of the world: for I was an
hungry, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a
stranger, and ye took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; sick, and ye visited
Me; in prison, and ye came unto Me." And when have we done any of these
things to the Lord?

   The Instructor Himself will say again, loving to refer to Himself the
kindness of the brethren, "Inasmuch as ye have done it to these least, ye
have done it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting life."(17)

   Such are the laws of the Word, the consolatory words not on tables of
stone which were written by the finger of the Lord, but inscribed on men's
hearts, on which alone they can remain imperishable. Wherefore the tablets
of those who had hears of stone are broken, that the faith of the children
may be impressed on softened hearts.

   However, both the laws served the Word for the instruction of humanity,
both that given by Moses and that by the apostles. What, therefore, is the
nature of the training by the apostles, appears to me to require to be
treated of. Under this head, I, or rather the Instructor by me,(1) will
recount; and I shall again set before you the precepts themselves, as it
were in the germ.

   "Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we
are members one of another. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath;
neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but
rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that
he may have to give to him that needeth. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and
anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one
another, as God in Christ hath forgiven you. Be therefore wise,(2)
followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath
loved us. Let wives be subject to their own husbands, as to the Lord. And
let husbands love their wives as Christ also hath loved the Church? Let
those who are yoked together love one another "as their own bodies."
"Children, be obedient to your parents. Parents, provoke not your children
to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Servants, be obedient to those that are your masters according to the
flesh, with fear and trembling, in the singleness of your hearts, as unto
Christ; with good-will from the soul doing service. And, ye masters, treat
your servants well, forbearing threatening: knowing that both their and
your Lord is in heaven; and there is no respect of persons with Him."(3)

   "If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Let us not be
desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. Bear ye
one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Be not deceived;
God is not mocked. Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due time we
shall reap, if we faint not."(4)

   "Be at peace among yourselves. Now we admonish you, brethren, warn them
who are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient
toward all men. See that none render evil for evil to any man. Quench not
the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things: hold fast that
which is good. Abstain from every form of evil."(5)

   "Continue in prayer, watching thereunto with thanksgiving. Walk in
wisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech
be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to
answer every man."(6)

   "Nourish yourselves up in the words of faith. Exercise yourselves unto
godliness: for bodily exercise profiteth little; but godliness is
profitable for all things, having the promise of the life which now is, and
that which is to come."(7)

   "Let those who have faithful masters not despise them, because they ate
brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful."(8)

   "He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with
diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without
dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be
kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honour preferring
one another. Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.
Given to hospitality; communicating to the necessities of the saints."(9)

   Such are a few injunctions out of many, for the sake of example, which
the Instructor, running over the divine Scriptures, sets before His
children; by which, so to speak, vice is cut up by the roots, and iniquity
is circumscribed.

   Innumerable commands such as these are written in the holy Bible
appertaining to chosen persons, some to presbyters, some to bishops, some
to deacons, others to widows,(10) of whom we shall have another opportunity
of speaking. Many things spoken in enigmas, many in parables, may benefit
such as fall in with them. But it is not my province, says the Instructor,
to teach these any longer. But we need a Teacher of the exposition of those
sacred words, to whom we must direct our steps.

   And now, in truth, it is time for me to cease from my instruction, and
for you to listen to the Teacher.(11) And He, receiving you who have been
trained up in excellent discipline, will teach you the oracles. To noble
purpose has the Church sung, and the Bridegroom also, the only Teacher, the
good Counsel, of the good Father, the true Wisdom, the Sanctuary of
knowledge. "And He is the propitiation for our sins," as John says; Jesus,
who heals both our body and soul--which are the proper man. "And not for
our sins only, but also for the whole world. And by this we know that we
know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and
keepeth not His commandments, is a liar; and the truth is not in Him. But
whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby
know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself
to walk even as He also walked."(1) O nurslings of His blessed training!
let us complete the fair face of the church; and let us run as children to
our good mother. And if we become listeners to the Word, let us glorify the
blessed dispensation by which man is trained and sanctified as a child of
God, and has his conversation in heaven, being trained from earth, and
there receives the Father, whom he learns to know on earth. The Word both
does and teaches all things, and trains in all things.

   A horse is guided by a bit, and a bull is guided by a yoke, and a wild
beast is caught in a noose. But man is transformed by the Word, by whom
wild beasts are tamed, and fishes caught, and birds drawn down. He it is,
in truth, who fashions the bit for the horse, the yoke for the bull, the
noose for the wild beast, the rod for the fish, the snare for the bird. He
both manages the state and tills the ground; commands, and helps, and
creates the universe.

   "There were figured earth, and sky, and sea,
   The ever-circling sun, and full-orbed moon,
   And all the signs that crown the vault of heaven."(2)

   O divine works! O divine commands! "Let this water undulate within
itself; let this fire restrain its wrath; let this air wander into ether;
and this earth be consolidated, and acquire motion! When I want to form
man, I want matter, and have matter in the elements. I dwell with what I
have formed. If you know me, the fire will be your slave."

   Such is the Word, such is the Instructor, the Creator of the world and
of man: and of Himself, now the world's Instructor, by whose command we and
the universe subsist, and await judgment. "For it is not he who brings a
stealthy vocal word to men," as Bacchylidis says, "who shall be the Word of
Wisdom;" but "the blameless, the pure, and faultless sons of God,"
according to Paul, "'n the midst of a

crooked and perverse generation, to shine as lights in the world."(3)

   All that remains therefore now, in such a celebration of the Word as
this, is that we address to the Word our prayer.

PRAYER TO THE PAEDAGOGUS.

   Be gracious, O Instructor, to us Thy children, Father, Charioteer of
Israel, Son and Father, both in One, O Lord. Grant to us who obey Thy
precepts, that we may perfect the likeness of the image, and with all our
power know Him who is the good God and not a harsh judge. And do Thou
Thyself cause that all of us who have our conversation in Thy peace, who
have been translated into Thy commonwealth, having sailed tranquilly over
the billows of sin, may be wafted in calm by Thy Holy Spirit, by the
ineffable wisdom, by night and day to the perfect day; and giving thanks
may praise, and praising thank the Alone Father and Son, Son and Father,
the Son, Instructor and Teacher, with the Holy Spirit, all in One, in whom
is all, for whom all is One, for whom is eternity, whose members we all
are, whose glory the aeons(4) are; for the All-good, All-lovely, All-wise,
All-just One. To whom be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

   And since the Instructor, by translating us into His Church, has united
us to Himself, the teaching and all-surveying Word, it were right that,
having got to this point, we should offer to the Lord the reward of due
thanksgiving--praise suitable to His fair instruction.

A HYMN TO CHRIST THE SAVIOUR.

COMPOSED BY ST. CLEMENT.(5)

I.

   Bridle of colts untamed,
       Over our wills presiding;
   Wing of unwandering birds,
       Our flight securely guiding.
   Rudder of youth unbending,
       Firm against adverse shock;
   Shepherd, with wisdom tending
       Lambs of the royal flock:
   Thy simple children bring
   In one, that they may sing
   In solemn lays
   Their hymns of praise
 With guileless lips to Christ their King.

II.

   King of saints, almighty Word
   Of the Father highest Lord;
   Wisdom's head and chief;
   Assuagement of all grief;
   Lord of all time and space,
   Jesus, Saviour of our race;
   Shepherd, who dost us keep;
       Husbandman, who tillest,
   Bit to restrain us, Rudder
       To guide us as Thou willest;
 Of the all-holy flock celestial wing;
 Fisher of men, whom Thou to life dost bring;
   From evil sea of sin,
       And from the billowy strife,
   Gathering pure fishes in
       Caught with sweet bait of life:
   Lead us, Shepherd of the sheep,
       Reason-gifted, holy One;
   King of youths, whom Thou dost keep,
       So that they pollution shun:
   Steps of Christ, celestial Way;
       Word eternal, Age unending;
   Life that never can decay;
       Fount of mercy, virtue-sending;
   Life august of those who raise
   Unto God their hymn of praise,
                       Jesus Christ!

III.

   Nourished by the milk of heaven,
   To our tender palates given;
   Milk of wisdom from the breast
   Of that bride of grace exprest;
   By a dewy spirit filled
   From fair Reason's breast distilled;
   Let us sucklings join to raise
   With pure lips our hymns of praise
   As our grateful offering,
   Clean and pure, to Christ our King.
   Let us, with hearts undefiled,
   Celebrate the mighty Child.
   We, Christ-born, the choir of peace;
       We, the people of His love,
   Let us sing, nor ever cease,
        To the God of peace above.

   We subjoin the following literal translation of the foregoing hymn:--

   Bridle of untamed colts, Wing of unwandering birds, sure Helm of
babes,(1) Shepherd of royal lambs, assemble Thy simple children to praise
holily, to hymn guilelessly with innocent mouths, Christ the guide of
children. O King of saints, all-subduing Word of the most high Father,
Ruler of wisdom, Support of sorrows, that rejoicest in the ages,(2) Jesus,
Saviour of the human race, Shepherd, Husbandman, Helm, Bridle, Heavenly
Wing of the all-holy flock, Fisher of men who are saved, catching the
chaste fishes with sweet life from the hateful wave of a sea of vices,--
Guide [us], Shepherd of rational sheep; guide unharmed children, O holy
King,(3) O footsteps of Christ, O heavenly way, perennial Word,
immeasurable Age, Eternal Light, Fount of mercy, performer of virtue; noble
[is the] life of those who hymn God, O Christ Jesus, heavenly milk of the
sweet breasts of the graces of the Bride, pressed out of Thy wisdom. Babes
nourished with tender mouths, filled with the dewy spirit of the rational
pap, let us sing together simple praises, true hymns to Christ [our] King,
holy fee for the teaching of life; let us sing in simplicity the powerful
Child. O choir of peace, the Christ-begotten, O chaste people, let us sing
together(4) the God of peace.(5)

TO THE PAEDAGOGUS.

   Teacher, to Thee a chaplet I present,
   Woven of words culled from the spotless mead,
   Where Thou dost feed Thy flocks; like to the bee,
   That skilful worker, which from many a flower
   Gathers its treasures, that she may convey
   A luscious offering to the master's hand.
   Though but the least, I am Thy servant still,
   (Seemly is praise to Thee for Thy behests).
   O King, great Giver of good gifts to men,
   Lord of the good, Father, of all the Maker,
   Who heaven and heaven's adornment, by Thy word
   Divine fitly disposed, alone didst make;
   Who broughtest forth the sunshine and the day;
   Who didst appoint their courses to the stars,
   And how the earth and sea their place should keep;
   And when the seasons, in their circling course,
   Winter and summer, spring and autumn, each(6)
   Should come, according to well-ordered plan;
   Out of a confused heap who didst create
   This ordered sphere, and from the shapeless mass
   Of matter didst the universe adorn;--
   Grant to me life, and be that life welt spent,
   Thy grace enjoying; let me act and speak
   In all things as Thy Holy Scriptures teach;(7)
   Thee and Thy co-eternal Word, All-wise,
   From Thee proceeding, ever may I praise;
   Give me nor poverty nor wealth, but what is meet,
   Father, in life, and then life's happy close.(8)


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland beginning in
1867. (ANF 2, Roberts and Donaldson.) The digital version is by The
Electronic Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

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