Letter 37: Theodore Studite, Letter 37; Greek heading: Ἰωσὴφ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Θεσσαλονίκησ.

Worthy of your humility and wisdom, and of your love toward me in my wretchedness, and of the esteem you accord me beyond my worth, are the things now written to me, which shine forth pure and unmixed, far-radiant from your light-formed soul, my thrice-blessed brother-and-father: namely, the truth. Having embraced it, I gave thanks to Christ, the fulfiller of my desire, the giver of all good things. And how should it not be so, since you are enriched with knowledge and with fitting zeal, and are besides a true child of our common father, that you should both think and dispose yourself in harmony with us, the least of all? But, while this is well, I, hard of hearing, would have found yet more to be prayed for the concord of both parties, through which the ray of truth gleams more brightly, and the crookedness of those who set themselves against it, or rather their night-shining, is both unstrung and darkened. But, finding in your letter the division of the necessary, pardon me, I was struck dumb. For this division is not of the necessary but of the contingent [endechomenon, the logically possible], which is divided in three ways: into the more-frequent, the equal, and the less-frequent. And the first of these is divided into the present and that which will be; then the present is subdivided into the eternal [aidion] and that which lasts "so long as it is". And of "so long as it is" there is a further subdivision into the subject and the predicate; the for-the-most-part contingent proceeds into the actually-existing [hyparchon], and the latter into the necessary, though it does not convert, even if they descend from there. For it is not the case that, if anything is necessary, it is also already contingent; but if anything is contingent for-the-most-part, it travels through the middle, the actually-existing, so long as it is necessary. And so, for instance: "every man is grammatical" and "a certain man is grammatical." But the former is contingent, for it is possible to come to be; the latter is necessary, when it exists in actuality - and when that man has died, the activity belonging to the necessary has ceased. This is what "so long as it is" means, that is, "as long as it may be." The other case is that which never alters from precisely what it is, such as the eternal things, the angel and the soul. And so we have what was sought. The result is that one who has been caught under the rule of the contingent will sometimes, on account of some other depravity of the man, suffer the consequences belonging to one who falls under the necessary, but not the reverse, that this man should suffer the consequences belonging to the contingent; for it is not contingent, since it is now equally balanced with the impossible. For everything that is impossible is, conversely, also necessary: for example, it is necessary that the sun shine, but it is also impossible that it not shine. But to say that Your Holiness should at some time not have shone - this can only be in reference to the Passion of Christ; for in [that] night I do not know how [it could be otherwise]. These things are portents, and not lawful, nor in accordance with the canons, but either above nature or contrary to nature. And the first the dispensation [oikonomia, God's providential ordering] of Christ makes plain; the second, the present lawlessness, especially as it has come about not in a hidden corner and as it were in passing, but openly, and has been confirmed into a law in its own right through synodical action and through the exiling of those who take their stand on behalf of the truth - as though it were a case of the transgression of certain divine canons to the contrary, but, to speak more truly, a robust and wicked heresy [hairesis]. Oh, the audacity of those who have done these things! For them, as great as is the condemnation for the outrage done to the divine laws, or rather to the Gospel and to nearly all the canons, so great is the danger for us, the lowly, if we let slip anything of what is fitting. For how could there be a [valid] dispensation among those who concelebrate with the adultery-yoker [moichozeuktes] and who took the lead in the adultery-ratifying synod, as the divine Basil said? For he says repeatedly that even those who have gone off together with the insubordinate, when they have repented, are to be received back into the same rank - but not by us, even if they should ever come to repentance, but by those of equal standing, as the divine Dionysius said. Most matters I leave to your understanding, which has the sacred strength to oversee the things that escape us. Glory to God for the release of the brethren, if it be true; glory to God also concerning your God-given endurance, my brother, amid the harsh goadings of the men there who are uncircumcised in spirit. Grant me your perpetual remembrance, sobering me who am drowsy; and then also your sacred prayer above all things, for I am in great need of it - and of our father's and of yours especially. I have learned that you have, by the grace of Christ, composed some labor [a written work]; and, if you bid me, let me read it aloud for benefit.

Ἄξια τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ σοφίας σου τῆς τε πρός με τὸν ταλαίπωρον ἀγάπης καὶ ὑπὲρ ἀξίαν μου ἀποτιμήσεώς σου τὰ νῦν μοι ἐπεσταλμένα, εἰλικρινῆ καὶ ἀσύμφυρτον τηλαυγοῦντα ἐκ τῆς φωτοειδοῦς σου ψυχῆς, τρισόλβιέ μου ἀδελφοπάτορ, τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ἣν ἀσπασάμενος ηὐχαρίστησα τῷ ἀποπληρωτῇ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας μου Χριστῷ, τῷ τῶν καλῶν ἁπάντων δοτῆρι. καὶ πῶς γε οὐχί, γνώσεώς σε πεπλουτισμένον ὄντα καὶ ζήλου τοῦ προσήκοντος, ἄλλως τε τέκνον ἀληθινὸν τοῦ κοινοῦ πατρός, συνῳδὰ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐλαχίστοις καὶ φρονεῖν καὶ συνδιατίθεσθαι; Ἀλλ' εὖ γε μὲν ταῦτα, εὐκταιότερον ἔχοντός μου τοῦ ἀνακούστου τῶν ἀμφοτέρων ὁμοφωνίαν, δι' ἣν ἥ τε τῆς ἀληθείας ἀκτὶς μαρμαίρει λαμπρότερον καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀντιδιατιθεμένων αὐτῇ σκολιότης, μᾶλλον δὲ νυκταυγία, ἀπονευροῦταί τε καὶ ἀποζοφοῦται. εὑρηκὼς δὲ ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι τὴν τοῦ ἀναγκαίου διαίρεσιν, σύγγνωθι, ἀπηνεώθην. οὐ γὰρ αὕτη τοῦ ἀναγκαίου, τοῦ δὲ ἐνδεχομένου, ὃ διῄρηται τριχῶς, εἴς τε τὸ ἐπὶ πλέον, ἐπ' ἴσης καὶ ἐπ' ἔλαττον· τοῦ δὲ προτέρου εἴς τε τὸ παρὸν καὶ ἐσόμενον, εἶτα τοῦ παρόντος ἐπιδιαίρεσις εἰς ἀΐδιον καὶ εἰς τὸ ἔστ' ἂν ᾖ. τοῦ δὲ ἔστ' ἂν ᾖ ὑποδιαίρεσις εἰς τὸ ὑποκείμενον καὶ κατηγορούμενον, τοῦ ὡς ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐνδεχομένου χωροῦντος εἰς τὸ ὑπάρχον, τοῦ δὲ εἰς τὸ ἀναγκαῖον, οὐ μὴν ἀντιστρέφοντος, εἰ καὶ ἐκεῖθεν κατιόντας· οὐ γὰρ εἴ τι ἀναγκαῖον ἤδη καὶ ἐνδεχόμενον, εἴ τι δὲ τὸ ὡς ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐνδεχόμενον, ὁδεῦον διὰ μέσου τοῦ ὑπάρχοντος ἔστ' ἂν ᾖ ἀναγκαῖον. καὶ γοῦν πᾶς ἄνθρωπος γραμματικός, καί τις ἄνθρωπος γραμματικός. ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐνδεχόμενον, δυνατὸν γὰρ γενέσθαι, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἀναγκαῖον, ἐπὰν ἔστιν ἐνεργείᾳ· οὗ θανέντος ἀπέστη ἡ κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἐνέργεια. τοῦτό φησιν ἔστ' ἂν ᾖ, τὸ ἕως ἂν ᾖ ἤτοι. τὸ δὲ ἕτερον, τὸ μήποτε τοῦθ' ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀλλοιούμενον· οἷα τὰ ἀΐδια, ἄγγελος καὶ ψυχή. καί γε ἔχομεν τὸ ζητούμενον. ὥστε τὸν ἁλόντα ἐνδεχομένῳ κανόνι πείσεσθαι ἔστιν ὅτε διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἄλλην μοχθηρίαν τὰ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον κειμένου, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τοῦδε τὰ τοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἐνδεχόμενον· οὐ γὰρ ἐνδέχεται, ἰσορροποῦντος ἤδη τῷ ἀδυνάτῳ. πᾶν γὰρ ὃ ἀδύνατον, ἀντεστραμμένως καὶ ἀναγκαῖον· οἷον, ἀναγκαῖον τὸν ἥλιον λάμπειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀδύνατον μὴ λάμπειν. τὸ δὲ φάναι τὴν ἁγιωσύνην σού ποτε μὴ λάμψαι, πάντως ἐπὶ τοῦ πάθους τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἐν νυκτὶ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως. ταῦτα δὲ τέρατα καὶ οὐκ ἔννομα, οὐδὲ ἐγκάνονα, ἀλλ' ἢ ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἢ παρὰ φύσιν. καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον δηλοῖ ἡ Χριστοῦ οἰκονομία, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἡ νῦν παρανομία, μάλιστα οὐκ ἐν ἀποβύστῳ καὶ ὡς ἐν παρεκδρομῇ γεναμένη, ἀλλ' ἐμφανῶς καὶ εἰς νόμον κρατυνθεῖσα τὸ καθ' αὑτὴν διὰ τῆς συνοδικῆς πράξεως καὶ τῆς τῶν ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας ἐνισταμένων ἐξορίσεως, ὡς ἐπί τινος τοὐναντίον θείων κανόνων παραβάσεως, τἀληθέστερον δὲ εἰπεῖν στιβαρᾶς καὶ πονηρᾶς αἱρέσεως. Ὢ τῆς τόλμης τῶν δρασάντων· οἷς ὅσον τὸ κατάκριμα τῆς τῶν θείων νόμων, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου καὶ πάντων σχεδὸν κανόνων καθυβρίσεως, τοσοῦτον ἡμῖν τοῖς ταπεινοῖς ἐπικίνδυνον, καθυφοῦσί τι τοῦ πρέποντος. πῶς δ' ἂν εἴη οἰκονομία ἐν τοῖς συλλειτουργοῦσι τῷ μοιχοζεύκτῃ καὶ προάρξασι τῆς μοιχοκυρώτου συνόδου, ὡς ὁ θεῖος ἔφη Βασίλειος; φησὶ γὰρ πολλάκις καὶ τοὺς τοῖς ἀνυποτάκτοις συναπελθόντας, ἐπὰν μεταμεληθῶσιν, εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν ἀποδέχεσθαι τάξιν, ἀλλ' οὐ παρ' ἡμῶν, εἴπερ ποτὲ καὶ μεταγνοῖεν, παρὰ δὲ τῶν ἰσοστασίων, ὡς ὁ θεῖος ἔφη Διονύσιος. Τὰ πλεῖστα ἀφίημι τῇ συνέσει σου, ἱερῶς ἰσχυούσῃ ἐποπτεύειν τὰ ἡμῖν λανθάνοντα. δόξα θεῷ ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀπολύσει, εἴπερ ἀληθές, δόξα θεῷ καὶ περὶ τῆς θεοσδότου σου, ἀδελφέ μου, καρτερίας ἐν τοῖς τῶν αὐτόθι σκληροῖς καὶ ἀπεριτμήτοις τῷ πνεύματι κεντήμασιν. χαρίζου μοι τὴν εἰσαεὶ ὑπόμνησιν, νηφαλεοῦσάν με τὸν νυστάζοντα, εἶτα καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν προσευχὴν πάνυ πάντων, τοῦ δὲ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ σοῦ διαφερόντως χρῄζοντι. μεμάθηκα πεποιηκέναι σε χάριτι Χριστοῦ πόνημά τι, καί, εἰ κελεύεις, ἀναγνώσαιμι αὐτὸ ἐπ' ὠφελείᾳ.