Letter 39: Theodore Studite, Letter 39; Greek heading: Θεοφίλῳ ἡγουμένῳ.

I had wished to write to your Holiness more speedily, but I was not able, being kept under close guard. But when the good God was pleased to grant both the means and the opportunity [literally "the manner and the face"], then I, the lowly one, fulfill my longing, and I greet and embrace my spiritual father, truly and exceedingly beloved. For it is not the case that, because the rulers of this age have separated us bodily from one another, they have therefore also dissolved our concord and communion with one another in God; rather, indeed, they have confirmed it. For I am persuaded that your Sanctity too longs for our unworthiness and remains unbending in the orthodox and God-pleasing resistance, as you have shown yourself both before and afterward to God and to men, so that you take up together with us, the lowly ones, the persecution for the sake of piety - even though those in power were unwilling, out of a sparing policy, to exile and imprison many, and so that they might thereby seem to persuade the world that the dispute with them rests upon us alone, and that there are no others who resist; whereas these others are so great in number within the authority that lies under them, even if out of fear, or even by way of dispensation [oikonomia: a prudential accommodation], they keep themselves hidden - as it is possible to hear the divine David crying out, "I will count them, and they shall be multiplied beyond the sand" [Psalm 138:18 LXX]. For the impiety that is being committed is not some small and hidden thing, but exceedingly great and manifest to those who have understanding. The dispensation [oikonomia] of Christ, O most holy one, they have overturned as far as it lay in their power, decreeing the transgression of the Gospel in the adulterous union [moichozeuxia: the unlawful joining in an adulterous marriage] and adultery to be a saving dispensation for the Church, under anathema against those who do not accept it thus. By the dissolution of a single commandment they have dissolved the Gospel, declaring the dissolution to be a dispensation of God. For if, as it is written, "Whoever shall fulfill the whole law, but stumble in one point, has become guilty of all" [James 2:10], and these men declare that the stumbling - rather, the stumblings - of both the adulterer and the one who joined him in adulterous union, and of those who run together in the adultery, and of all who have set their portion with the adulterer (for it is not possible to separate from one another those who committed the act and those who were led away with them), are not guilty parties but stewards [oikonomoi] of God, then He who declared them to be guilty has lied; and the saints too are estranged from these stewards of God - because no saint has transgressed the law of God, nor, having transgressed, can he be called a saint. But these men, having set forth a decree in their transgression as inviolable, as though it were the law of God, and anathematizing those who do not concur with them in this (and it is plain that the saints in heaven and on earth do not concur with the adultery) - it is therefore manifest that by the dissolution of the one commandment of the Gospel they have not only overturned the whole Gospel, defining it synodically as a saving dispensation for the Church, laying down as an inviolable law that, as far as it depends on them, when any commandment whatsoever is transgressed, the transgression of it should both become and be named a dispensation - but rather they have also anathematized the saints who do not accept it, since not even God, according to them, does. And, in short, what need to say much, since the letter does not allow it to be received? A grievous false doctrine has been decreed in our Church, this Moechian [adulterous] heresy, which, together with the overturning of the Gospel, has also dissolved the divine canons through the acquittal of the man joined in adultery who had been deposed by them; for if they set the Gospel at naught, they have leisure to be concerned about the sacred canons. These things, then, together with my greeting, I judged it necessary to call to the remembrance of your Fatherhood, so that, knowing that it is a heresy, you may flee the heresy - that is, the heretics - neither communing with them nor commemorating them in your most reverend monastery at the divine Liturgy; for the greatest threats lie laid down, pronounced by the saints, against those who go along with them even as far as sharing a meal. But if your Sanctity should say, "How is it that we did not say this to you before the plundering, but rather that we too commemorated those in Byzantium [Constantinople]?" - let this be known: that as yet there was no synod, nor had the wicked dogma and anathema been pronounced; and before these things it was not safe to withdraw completely from the lawbreakers, except only to flee their open communion, while by a fitting dispensation [oikonomia] continuing to commemorate them until the proper time. But since the heretical impiety has now come out into the open through a synod, into plain view, it is now necessary that your Reverence too, together with all the orthodox, speak with boldness [parrhesia] by not communing with the false-believers nor commemorating any of those found in the adulterous synod [moichosynodos] or who think in agreement with it. And indeed it is right, holy father - you who in all things are, in keeping with your name, truly God-loving [theophilos] - to love God in this matter too; for Chrysostom declared, with a great and frequent voice, that the enemies of God are not only the heretics, but also those who commune with such men. And if your Steadfastness does not secure itself, who then will be saved? And if the one who has spoken boldly by the power of God, like a saint - except for falling into complete heresy - should now, after the heresy, draw back, how will another dare even to mutter? And if the monastic order does not consider all things to be dung - I mean monasteries and all that pertains to them - how will a layman despise wife, children, and the rest? Therefore I, as a least brother and child, call this to remembrance: let us not be silent, lest we become a cry of Sodom; let us not spare the things below, lest we lose the things above; let us not set a stumbling-block before the Church of God, which is defined as existing even in three orthodox men, according to the saints, lest we be condemned by the sentence of the Lord. And I, wretched man, do not say these things for my own sake (for to me, even if it is bold to say it, even to die for the truth is gain and joy and life, if only I be strengthened by your holy prayers), but for the sake of the ancient and spiritual love among us and for the common benefit. For if the Son of God, the Lord and Master of all, offered Himself up for all as a sacrifice to God the Father, what do we owe, and how much do we not owe, to suffer and to endure for His sake - and indeed we who are monks and crucified through renunciation, we who have truly and not unprofitably renounced the world? Since matters are not to be judged from the outward habit alone (for many are they who put on masks and are not what they appear), but it is plain that the habits are judged from the works. If, then, there are any monks in the present times, let them show it by their works; and the work of a monk is not to tolerate, even in the least, that the Gospel be made an innovation - lest, by setting themselves before the laity as an example of heresy and of heretical communion, they should render an account for the perdition that comes upon them. The utmost humble-mindedness of your Holiness, as one who would accept it, has made me prattle on much about the matter. But you, O father, pray and pray earnestly for one who is decayed and a sinner, but is nonetheless most exceedingly your devoted friend. He who is kept in custody together with me likewise both greets you and asks for your supplications.

Ἐβουλόμην ταχύτερον ἐπιστεῖλαι τῇ ἁγιωσύνῃ σου, ἀλλ' οὐκ εὐωδούμην, φρουρούμενος ἀσφαλῶς. ὅτε δὲ εὐδόκησεν ὁ ἀγαθὸς θεὸς χαρίσασθαι καὶ τὸν τρόπον καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον, τηνικαῦτα τὸν ἐμὸν πόθον πληρῶ ὁ ταπεινὸς καὶ προσαγορεύω καὶ ἀσπάζομαι τὸν ἐμὸν πνευματικὸν πατέρα καὶ λίαν ὄντως φιλούμενον. οὐ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ διέστησαν ἡμᾶς σωματικῶς οἱ ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, ἤδη διέλυσαν καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ θεὸν ἡμῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὁμόνοιάν τε καὶ σχέσιν, μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐβεβαίωσαν. πείθομαι γὰρ καὶ τὴν σὴν ὁσιότητα ποθεῖν τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀναξιότητα καὶ ἀκλινῆ διαμένειν τῆς ὀρθοδόξου καὶ θεαρέστου ἐνστάσεως ἐξ ὧν τε πρότερον καὶ ὕστερον ὑπέδειξεν ἑαυτὴν θεῷ τε καὶ ἀνθρώποις, ὡς συναιρεῖσθαι ἡμῖν τοῖς ταπεινοῖς καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας διωγμόν, κἂν οὐκ ἠβουλήθησαν οἱ κρατοῦντες φειδοῖ τοῦ μὴ πολλοὺς ἐξορίζειν καὶ καθείργειν καὶ ὡς ἂν δόξωσιν ἐντεῦθεν πείθειν τὸν κόσμον εἰς ἡμᾶς μόνους περιίστασθαι τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς διαφορὰν καὶ μὴ εἶναι ἄλλους τοὺς ἐνισταμένους· οἳ τοσοῦτοι τῷ πλήθει ἐν τῇ ὑπ' αὐτοὺς ἐξουσίᾳ, κἂν φόβῳ εἴτε καὶ οἰκονομίᾳ ὑποκρύπτωσιν ἑαυτούς, ὡς ἔστιν ἀκούειν τοῦ θείου Δαυὶδ κράζοντος, ἐξαριθμήσομαι αὐτούς, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄμμον πληθυνθήσονται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μικρόν τι καὶ λανθάνον τὸ ἀσεβούμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα μέγα τε καὶ προφανὲς τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσι. τὴν οἰκονομίαν Χριστοῦ, ὦ ἁγιώτατε, τὸ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἀνέτρεψαν, τὴν παράβασιν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἐν τῇ μοιχοζευξίᾳ καὶ μοιχείᾳ οἰκονομίαν σωτήριον τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ δογματίσαντες ὑπ' ἀναθέματι τῶν μὴ οὕτω προσδεχομένων· τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διὰ λύσεως τῆς μιᾶς ἐντολῆς διέλυσαν, τὴν λύσιν οἰκονομίαν θεοῦ ἀποφηνάμενοι. εἰ γάρ, ὡς γέγραπται, ὅστις ὅλον τὸν νόμον πληρώσει, πταίσει δὲ ἐν ἑνί, γέγονε πάντων ἔνοχος, οὗτοι δὲ τὸ πταῖσμα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ πταίσματα τοῦ τε μοιχοῦ καὶ τοῦ μοιχοζεύκτου, μοιχοσυνδρόμων τε καὶ ὅλων τῶν μετὰ μοιχοῦ τὴν μερίδα θεμένων (οὐδὲ γὰρ οἷόν τε ἐξ ἀλλήλων χωρισθῆναι τοὺς πράξαντας καὶ τοὺς συναπαχθέντας) οὐκ ἐνόχους φασίν, ἀλλ' οἰκο νόμους θεοῦ, ἔψευσται ὁ ἀποφηνάμενος ἐνόχους εἶναι, ἀλλοτριοῦνται δὲ καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι τῶν οἰκονόμων θεοῦ, ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἅγιος τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ νόμον παραβέβηκεν οὐδὲ παραβὰς δύναται καλεῖσθαι ἅγιος. οἱ δὲ δόγμα ἐν τῇ παραβάσει ἐκθέμενοι ἀπαράβατον ὡς νόμον θεοῦ καὶ τοὺς μὴ συναιρομένου αὐτοῖς ἐν τούτῳ ἀναθεματίζοντες (οὐ συναίρονται δὲ δῆλον ὅτι οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ἅγιοι τῇ μοιχείᾳ) φανερὸν ἄρα ὅτι τῇ λύσει τῆς μιᾶς ἐντολῆς τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὐ μόνον ὅλον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἀνέτρεψαν, ὁρισάμενοι αὐτὴν συνοδικῶς οἰκονομίαν σωτήριον τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, θέντες νόμον ἀπαράβατον τὸ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐπὶ πάσης ἐντολῆς παραβαινομένης οἰκονομίαν γίνεσθαι τὴν ταύτης παράβασιν ὁμοῦ τε καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοὺς ἁγίους μὴ προσιεμένους, ὅτι μηδὲ θεός, κατ' αὐτοὺς ἀνεθεμάτισαν. καὶ ἁπλῶς τί πολλὰ λέγειν, μὴ ἐγχωρούσης τῆς ἐπιστολῆς δέχεσθαι; χαλεπὴ κακοδοξία ἐδογματίσθη ἐν τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐκκλησίᾳ αὕτη ἡ μοιχειανικὴ αἵρεσις, ἅμα τῇ ἀνατροπῇ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου καὶ τοὺς θείους κανόνας διὰ τῆς ἀθωώσεως τοῦ παρ' αὐτῶν καθῃρημένου μοιχοζεύκτου διαλύσασα· εἰ γὰρ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἠθέτησαν, σχολὴ αὐτοῖς περὶ τῶν ἱερῶν κανόνων φροντίζειν. Ταῦτα οὖν σὺν τῇ προσηγορίᾳ ἀναγκαῖον ἐνόμισα ὑπομνῆσαι τὴν πατρωσύνην σου, ὅπως, εἰδυῖα ὅτι αἵρεσις, φεύγῃ τὴν αἵρεσιν, ἤγουν τοὺς αἱρετικούς, τοῦ μήτε κοινωνεῖν αὐτοῖς μήτε ἀναφέρειν ἐν τῇ εὐαγεστάτῃ αὐτῆς μονῇ ἐπὶ τῆς θείας λειτουργίας· ὅτι μέγισται ἀπειλαὶ κεῖνται παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἐκφωνηθεῖσαι τοῖς συγκαταβαίνουσιν αὐτοῖς μέχρι καὶ ἑστιάσεως. εἰ δὲ λέγοι ἡ ὁσιότης σου, πῶς αὐτῆς πρὸς τῆς λεηλασίας τοῦτο οὐκ εἴπομεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐμνημονεύομεν τῶν ἐν τῇ Βυζαντίδι, ἐκεῖνο γινωσκέτω, ὅτι οὔπω σύνοδος ἦν οὐδὲ ἐκφωνηθὲν ὑπῆρχε τὸ πονηρὸν δόγμα καὶ ἀνάθεμα· καὶ πρὸ τούτων οὐκ ἦν ἀσφαλὲς ἀποστῆναι τῶν παρανομούντων τελείως ἢ τὸ φεύγειν μόνον τὴν προφανῆ κοινωνίαν αὐτῶν, οἰκονομίᾳ δὲ πρεπούσῃ ἀναφέρειν ἕως καιροῦ. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς προῦπτον ἡ αἱρετικὴ ἀσέβεια διὰ συνόδου εἰς τοὐμφανές, δεῖ ἄρτι καὶ τὴν σὴν εὐλάβειαν σὺν πᾶσιν ὀρθοδόξοις παρρησιάζεσθαι διὰ τοῦ μὴ κοινωνεῖν τοῖς κακοδόξοις μηδὲ ἀναφέρειν τινὰ τῶν ἐν τῇ μοιχοσυνόδῳ εὑρεθέντων ἢ ὁμοφρονούντων αὐτῇ. καί γε δίκαιον, ὅσιε πάτερ, κατὰ πάντα σε ὄντα φερωνύμως θεόφιλον, φιλεῖν καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τὸν θεόν· ἐχθροὺς γὰρ θεοῦ ὁ Χρυσόστομος οὐ μόνον τοὺς αἱρετικούς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς τοῖς τοιούτοις κοινωνοῦντας μεγάλῃ καὶ πολλῇ τῇ φωνῇ ἀπεφήνατο. καὶ ἐὰν ἡ σὴ στερρότης οὐκ ἀσφαλίσηται, τίς λοιπὸν σωθήσεται; καὶ ἐὰν ὁ παρρησιασάμενος δυνάμει θεοῦ ὡς ἅγιος πλὴν τελείας αἱρέσεως ἄρτι μετὰ τὴν αἵρεσιν ὑποστείληται, πῶς ἕτερος τολμήσει γρύξαι; καὶ ἐὰν τὸ μοναδικὸν τάγμα οὐχ ἡγήσηται πάντα σκύβαλα, μοναστήρια λέγω καὶ πάντα τὰ περὶ αὐτά, πῶς λαϊκὸς καταφρονήσει γυναικός, τέκνων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων; Διὸ ὑπομιμνήσκω ὡς ἐλάχιστος ἀδελφὸς καὶ τέκνον μὴ σιγήσωμεν, ἵνα μὴ κραυγὴ Σοδόμων γενώμεθα, μὴ φεισώμεθα τῶν κάτω, ἵνα μὴ ἀπολέσωμεν τὰ ἄνω, μὴ θῶμεν σκάνδαλον τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἥτις ἐστὶ καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ὀρθοδόξοις ὁριζομένη κατὰ τοὺς ἁγίους, ἵνα μὴ τῇ ἀποφάσει τοῦ Κυρίου καταδικασθῶμεν. καὶ οὐ δι' ἑαυτὸν ταῦτά φημι ὁ τάλας (ἐμοὶ γάρ, εἰ καὶ τολμηρὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας κέρδος καὶ χαρὰ καὶ ζωή, εἴ γε δυναμωθείην ταῖς ἱεραῖς προσευχαῖς ὑμῶν), ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀγάπην ἀρχαίαν καὶ πνευματικὴν καὶ τὸ κοινῆ συμφέρον· εἰ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ κύριος καὶ δεσπότης ἁπάντων, ἑαυτὸν ἀνήνεγκεν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ θυσίαν, τί ὀφείλομεν ἡμεῖς καὶ πόσον οὐ χρεωστοῦμεν δι' αὐτὸν παθεῖν καὶ ὑπομεῖναι, καί γε οἱ μονάζοντες καὶ τῇ ἀποταγῇ σταυρωθέντες, οἵ γε ἀληθῶς καὶ οὐκ ἀνονήτως ἀποταξάμενοι; ἐπεὶ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔξωθεν σχήματος μόνον ἔστι κρίνειν τὰ πράγματα (πολλοὶ γὰρ οἱ προσωπεῖα ὑποδυόμενοι καὶ οὐκ ὄντες ὅπερ φαίνονται), ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν ἔργων δῆλον ὅτι τὰ σχήματα. εἰ οὖν μοναχοί εἰσί τινες ἐν τοῖς νῦν καιροῖς, δειξάτωσαν ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων· ἔργον δὲ μοναχοῦ μηδὲ τὸ τυχὸν ἀνέχεσθαι καινοτομεῖσθαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ἵνα μὴ ὑπόδειγμα τοῖς λαϊκοῖς προτιθέμενοι αἱρέσεως καὶ αἱρετικῆς συγκοινωνίας τῆς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀπωλείας λόγον ὑφέξουσι. Πολύ με ληρολογῆσαι τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἡ ἄκρα ταπεινοφροσύνη τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου ὡς δεχομένη πεποίηκε. σὺ δέ, ὦ πάτερ, εὔχου καὶ ὑπερεύχου ὑπὲρ σαθροῦ καὶ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἀλλ' οὖν ἐραστοῦ σου ὅτι μάλιστα. ὁ συμφρουρούμενός μοι ὡσαύτως καὶ προσαγορεύει καὶ δέεταί σου τῶν ἱκεσιῶν.