Letter 501: Service is not degradation, Apollonios.

Of the power and strength of the Apostle, he brought forward many witnesses to prove that he was neither lying nor boasting. For "I speak the truth in Christ," he says, "I do not lie, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit." If then he brought forward truth itself, and Christ, and his refusal to lie, and his conscience, and the Holy Spirit as witnesses of what he was about to say, who could believe that he was thinking of something lowly and insignificant, yet was carried to such an extreme of solemn assertion? But if you still think small thoughts, crawling upon the earth, and refuse to conceive anything great and noble, setting aside the God-beloved Moses who prayed to be blotted out of the divine book if those under his charge were given over to utter destruction (for what the Apostle did was greater: Moses prayed to perish with them, but Paul prayed to perish so that others might be saved) — I shall attempt to demonstrate this from a noble woman, comparing a small thing to a great one. Rebecca, possessing what one might call an apostolic magnanimity, chose to endure a curse so that her child might inherit the blessing. She yielded the good things to him — for she was not going to share in the blessing with him — while she herself prepared to endure the evils alone. And she arranged the drama so eagerly that she was impatient with delay, rejoicing in swiftness, and urging the child onward — even though the greatest danger was at hand. For instead of saying, "Your father has reached deep old age, and the sharpness of his perception has been taken away, and he will not detect the deception," she cut short all such reasoning and said to the child who was shrinking back in fear: "Upon me be your curse, my child." Only do not ruin the drama I have arranged, nor let slip the prey which is so quick, nor betray the treasure. If therefore a woman, who possessed neither a woman's courage nor magnanimity, chose to be cursed so that another might be blessed, would not so great and mighty an Apostle have prayed to suffer such a thing, so that the Jews might believe, and God not appear to be blasphemed as one who made promises to some but raised others to such dignity? Indeed he said these things — not as though the promise had actually failed (for he said, "It is not as though the word of God has fallen away," the word spoken to the fathers; for the promise was fulfilled in them). To Sosimus the Presbyter: Your former transgression seemed to be made forgivable by a plausible pretext — your brother who was thought to have been wronged. But for your present transgression you have no such covering, and you have even forfeited the former pardon. For if you were previously defending yourself on account of your wronged brother, how is it that you are not ashamed now to be wronging and driving away on every side the very one on whose behalf you then claimed to be fighting? You have therefore made it plain that your earlier action too was done by deliberate choice. For he who does not spare his own brother, how would he spare a stranger? To Boethus the Monk: Let not the fact that many lovers of virtue suffer countless terrible things in this life disturb you, but let it bring you to the realization that the friends of earthly kings are precisely the ones who risk their lives in wars, who bear wounds through which they set up trophies, and who are sent on long campaigns abroad. But if you will not accept this, consider that there are some among the righteous who prosper even here below. So if those who are in trials scandalize you, being somewhat weak, let those who are at ease edify you. And if those wicked men who are at ease scandalize you, let those who are under punishment and chastisement set you upright.

EPISTOLARUM LIB. II. EPIST. LVIII. σης δυνάμεως καὶ ῥώμης, πολλοὺς μάρτυρας παρ- έστησε τοῦ μὴ ψεύδεσθαι καὶ κομπάζειν. Καὶ γὰρ ἀλήθειαν λέγω, φησὶν, ἐν Χριστῷ, οὐ ψεύδομαι, συμμαρτυρούσης μοι τῆς συνειδήσεως ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ. Εἰ τοίνυν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν, καὶ τὸ μὴ ψεύδεσθαι, καὶ τὴν συνείδησιν, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον μάρτυρας τῶν λεχθησομένων παρ- έστησε, τίς ἂν πιστεύσειεν, ὅτι ταπεινόν τι ἐννοῶν καὶ οὐδαμινὸν, εἰς τοσαύτην ἐξηνέχθη διαβεβαιώσεως ὑπερβολήν; Εἰ δ᾽ ἔτι μικρὰ φρονεῖς, καὶ περὶ γῆν εἰλυσπώμενος, οὐδὲν μέγα καὶ νεανικὸν ἐννοῆσαι βούλει, παρεὶς τὸν θεοφιλῆ Μωσέα, εὐξάμενον ἐκ τῆς θείας βίβλου ἐξαλειφθῆναι, εἱ οἱ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῷ τε- λοῦντες πανωλεθρίᾳ παραδοθεῖεν (36) (μείζον γάρ ἐστι τὸ τοῦ ᾿Αποστόλου· ὁ μὲν γὰρ συναπολέσθαι, ὁ δ᾽ ἀπολέσθαι, ἵνα ἄλλοι σωθῶσιν, ηὔξατο)· ἀπὸ γυ- ναικὸς γενναίας, ὡς ἂν τις μικρὸν μεγάλῳ εἰκάσειε, τοῦτ᾽ ἀποδεῖξαι πειράσομαι· Ἡ Ῥεβέκκα ἀποστολι- κὴν, ὡς ἄν τις εἶποι, ἔχουσα μεγαλοψυχίαν, είλετο κατάραν ὑποστῆναι, ἵν᾿ ὁ παῖς εὐλογίαν κληρονο- μήσῃ· καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀγαθῶν ἐκείνῳ παρεχώρει· οὐ γὰρ δὴ μετ᾿ ἐκείνου εὐλογεῖσθαι ἤμελλε · τὰ δὲ κακὰ αὐτὴ μόνη παρεσκευάζετο ὑπομένειν. Καὶ οὕτω προθύμως παρεσκεύαζε τὸ δρᾶμα (37), ὡς καὶ τῇ μελλήσει δυσχεραίνειν, καὶ τῇ ταχυτῆτι χαίρειν, καὶ κατεπείγειν τὸν παῖδα· καὶ ταῦτα, κινδύνου μεγίστου παρεστῶτος. ᾿Αφεῖσα γὰρ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Ὁ πατήρ σου εἰς γῆρας βαθὺ ἐλήλακε, καὶ τὸ τρανὸν τῆς αἰσθή- σεως ἀφῃρέθη, καὶ οὐ φωράσει τὸν δόλον· ταῦτα πάντα συντεμοῦσα, ἔφη τῷ παιδὶ ἀναδυομένῳ καὶ δεδοικότι· «Ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἡ κατάρα σου, τέκνον.» Μόνον μὴ διαφθείρῃς τὸ κατασκευασθὲν παρ' ἐμοῦ δρᾶμα, μηδ᾽ ἀπολέσῃς ὀξύτατον ὃν τὸ θήραμα, μηδὲ προδῷς τὸν θησαυρόν. Εἰ τοίνυν γυνή, ἡ μηδὲ γυναικός ἔχουσα ἀνδρίαν μηδὲ μεγαλοψυχίαν, είλετο καταρα- θῆναι (38), ἵνα ἄλλος εὐλογηθῇ, ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τη- λικοῦτος ᾿Απόστολος οὐκ ἂν ηύξατο τοιοῦτόν τι παθεῖν, ἵν᾿ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι πιστεύσωσι, καὶ μὴ δόξῃ βλασφημεῖσθαι ὁ Θεὸς, ὡς ἄλλοις μὲν ἐπαγγειλά- μενος, ἄλλους δὲ εἰς τοσαύτην ἀξίαν ἀναγαγών ; Πάνυ μὲν οὖν ταῦτα· ἔλεγεν· οὐχ ὡς τῷ ὄντι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας διαπεσούσης. (ἔφη γὰρ, οὐχ οἷον δὲ ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας δηλονότι γεγενημένος· ἐξέβη γὰρ ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἐν ---CONTINUES--- ΚΔ. – ΣΩΣΙΜΩ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΣΩ. Τὸ μὲν πρότερόν σου παρανόμημα, πρόφασις εὐπρεπὴς ἐδόκει ποιεῖν συγγνωστὸν ὁ ἀδελφός σου ἐκα δεδικῆσθαι νομιζόμενος· τοῦ δὲ νῦν παρανομήματος οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἔχεις παραπέτασμα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς προτέρας συγγνώμης ἐξέπεσες· εἰ γὰρ διὰ τὸν ἀδι- κηθέντα σου ἀδελφὸν πρώην ἡμύνου, πῶς αὐτὸν νυνὲ τὸν ὑπὲρ οὗ τότε, ὡς φὴς, ἡμύνου ἀδικῶν καὶ ἐλαύ νων πάντοθεν οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ; «Δῆλος τοίνυν γέγο- νας (45;' ἐκ τούτου κἀκεῖνο ἐκ προαιρέσεως ποιήσας· ὁ γὰρ ἀδελφοῦ μὴ φειδόμενος, πῶς ἂν ἀλλοτρίου ἐφεῖ. Ο σατο; ΣΠΒ΄. – ΒΟΗΘΟ ΜΟΝΑΧΩ. Μὴ θορυβείτω σε τὸ πολλοὺς τῶν φιλαρέτων μυρία ἐνταῦθα πάσχειν δεινά, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ἔννοιαν ἀγέτω, ὅτι καὶ οἱ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς βασιλέων φίλοι, οὗτοι μάλιστα παρακινδυνεύουσιν ἐν πολέμοις, καὶ τραύματα ἔχουσι, δι' ὧν τὰ τρόπαια ἔστησαν, ἀποδημίας τε μακρὰς στέλλονται. Εἰ δὲ οὐ καταδέχῃ, ἐννόει ὅτι εἰσί τινες καὶ τῶν δικαίων κἀνταῦθα εὐημεροῦντες. Ὥστε εἰ σκανδαλίζουσί σε, ἅτε ἀσθενέστερον ὄντα, οἱ ἐν πειρασμοῖς, οἰκοδομείτωσάν σε οἱ ἐν ἀνέσει. Καὶ εἰ σκανδαλίζουσί σε οἱ ἐν ἀνέσει τῶν πονηρῶν, ὀρθούτωσάν σε οἱ ἐν κολάσει καὶ τιμωρίαις.