Letter 48: Theodore Studite, Letter 48; Greek heading: Ἀθανασίῳ τέκνῳ.

I came upon your letter, beloved brother, with long-suffering patience, and I was utterly astounded at your sudden change of mind. I will let pass the earlier matter, that when you summed things up with me you agreed in one voice that the Moechian [adultery-condoning] false teaching is a heresy, while putting forward ignorance and your meeting with others as your excuse; but I cannot let pass that even after this, having read the Pentalogos [Theodore's five-part treatise], you declared it to be "five-rayed" [radiant with light]. Now, however, as it appears, you take the opposite view of it, having breathed out your whole discourse to be like your former ignorance, or rather even more hostile to the things spoken by my lowliness. And if these were my own words, since I am a man of darkness, it would be no wonder; but since it has been demonstrated through the voice of the Lord, and of the apostles and the prophets, and moreover by the God-bearing Fathers, that it is a most grievous heresy, let your understanding look to it -- and that of anyone else who shares your opinion -- to see where you are about to give offense. For the propositions put forward by you to the effect that it is not a heresy, forgive me, are not from the voice of the Lord nor from the mouth of a holy man, but, to speak prophetically, from those who "speak out of the ground" and from strange laws, and from a multitude that out of human fear is allowed to say anything whatever. For you say that all your friends, both the devout and the men of knowledge [gnostikoi -- the spiritually learned] and the simple, are driven mad when they hear that it is a heresy, putting forward this argument: that "since no one resists and teaches men to commit adultery and to absolve the unholy, how shall we call them heretics? For it is right to call them transgressors of the Lord's commandments and tramplers of the divine canons and unholy men." How then is one not to be astonished, first of all, at your sagacity, which often brings forward, supposedly, the very same arguments as those men and hears back the truth in reply -- arguments that could persuade even children -- and then again brings forward the same things, as though it had forgotten what was heard before, pressing them with sharper perplexity and reproach of us, as though we call it a heresy without reason? Such, to me, is the astonishing thing about you. But concerning our adversaries I say this: how can they say that they neither proclaim nor teach the thing which they proclaimed synodically and confirmed under anathema against those who oppose their doctrine -- that is, their "dispensation" [oikonomia -- a relaxation of strictness applied for a higher good] -- and which they still teach in practice every single day? For whose sake am I, the lowly one, here shut up as a prisoner? For whose sake has my father the recluse been afflicted, first kept in isolation, then cast away into the place where he has been confined? For whose sake has the archbishop, as one deposed according to them, been kept under great hardship, under strict charge and security, so that those who supply his food were ordered to give him food only by measure, and then he was transferred to confinement in the palace, and just now has been cast away in a hostel? For whose sake is your reverence, together with the brethren, kept under guard in Thessalonica, and Theosostos the abbot driven out together with his disciples from that same city, and another abbot of those in that place scourged beyond measure? For whose sake are the brothers Naukratios and Arsenios kept under close guard to this day, and Basil and Gregory likewise? For whose sake is Stephen, the virtuous abbot, an exile from his own monastery together with fifty disciples, and with a hundred and ten others along with a bishop -- he who had earlier anathematized the Moechian synod [moichosynodos -- the synod that condoned the emperor's adulterous remarriage] as having dissolved the Gospel, as the document sent by him sets forth? For whose sake is Antony, the most reverent abbot, in prison at Amorion, having likewise, together with the brotherhood under him, anathematized the Moechian synod as the former one did? For whose sake were those around brother Aimilianos in Thynia bound and led away by the man of Nicomedia, and made to undergo the trial of scourgings and mockeries, while those who fell upon them plundered the property of the monastery as spoils of war? For whose sake has Leo, the most God-fearing bishop surnamed Baleladas, been driven into exile at Cherson, and Antony, the honored abbot, kept under guard together with two others? For whose sake are our brethren kept in prison at Lipari beyond Sicily? For whose sake were those around Litoios kept under watch at Cherson and from there sent in custody to the emperor, then imprisoned at Byzantium and held in monasteries? Shall I tell once again the things that concern us three? For whose sake were the things sent to us at Agathou by the emperor through the spatharioi [imperial guardsmen], to the effect that "you are anathematized and deposed by the synod"? For whose sake was the imprisonment of the three of us in isolation at Saint Mamas? For whose sake was the coming there of those same spatharioi with three men sent by the man of contrary opinion, bringing a reading-aloud of our deposition and anathematization once again? And since we hedged our ears even against hearing it, for whose sake are we exiles, one in one place and another in another, and shut up -- both the steward and Arsenios the brothers -- while there is persecution of the others within twelve miles of Constantinople, so that some hid themselves in a cave on account of their secret service to us, having changed into laymen's clothing, while others crept under a flagstone for a whole day and, since it was not possible to show themselves by day, ran about to one another by night? For whose sake were those who were found seized by soldiers and imprisoned in the praetorium, then exiled from the city? And to tell the matters from the beginning: for whose sake was the monastery of Stoudios suddenly beset and guarded by a band of soldiers, so that we could not even breathe, and there came thither the bishops of Nicaea and Chrysopolis to receive us, the man who yoked the adulteress [moichozeuktes -- the priest who solemnized the emperor's adulterous union], as having been authorized by the preceding patriarch to perform the adulterous marriage? And "since," he says, "the one who authorized it is holy, as Chrysostom was, it is a holy man's dispensation, so receive it." For whose sake was the lifting-away of us four by night from that place, through a magistrate and soldiers, and our being led away to Symeon -- I know not how to speak of him -- and the things declared through him by the emperor, that we should receive [the union] as men who had repented and turned from that in which we have stood firm up to now, as though a dispensation had taken place? For whose sake were we again shut up in Saint Sergios, and again the coming of Symeon there from the emperor for this very purpose? For whose sake was our being set forth, through magistrates, in the crowded synod, with three of the highest dignitaries sitting in session as well? For whose sake was I, the lowly one, insulted there and surrounded on every side and hearing, "you do not know what nonsense you are babbling, what you are saying," while I cried out, "the Forerunner [John the Baptist] is falling, the Gospel is being dissolved, this is no dispensation," and they kept on repeating much, that "it is a dispensation" and "thus the saints exercised dispensation, and so did the one of holy memory who preceded; behold the witnesses, that he authorized the adulterous yoking" -- and although they did not put it that way, yet even at my saying "the one who yoked the adulteress" they gnashed their teeth as if to devour me? For whose sake was the anathema against those who do not accept the dispensations of the saints loudly proclaimed, and I, together with my father and Kalogeros, cut off from their midst by a magistrate's hand, while the archbishop was left behind and, merely because he had celebrated the liturgy at Stoudios at my request, was deposed by them as a common presbyter? For they acquitted the man who yokes the adulteress -- the man deposed by Christ himself and by the divine canons -- declaring him innocent in every respect and one who had been their fellow-celebrant even before, while they subjected to deposition the man not liable to deposition by the canons, confirming their word by their deed, namely that the hierarchs have authority to use the canons as it seems good to them. This they are doing forever, not even willing to perceive that, if this is so, then by deposing a hierarch they themselves can be deposed by the very one whom they depose, the saying of the apostles being fulfilled: "Let these things also concerning the canons be ordained for you by us, O bishops; and if you abide by them you will be saved and will have peace, but if you disobey you will be punished and will have everlasting war with one another, paying the fitting penalty for your disobedience." For whose sake were the things that came after the synod -- both the examination of all the brethren by the emperor, who said that we were deposed but that the synod was holy, sealed by him as being a dispensation of holy men, the adulterous yoking, and that the one who had accomplished these things was not to be condemned? And since they did not accept this, there was the shutting-up of each one singly, or two or three or even more together, both in the monasteries and in the fortresses, and for some even scourgings and shacklings, these things being noised abroad everywhere on land and sea. For whose sake, then, are all these things, that I may say it in sum? Is it not for the sake of not consenting to call -- or to agree to call -- the transgression of the Gospel a "dispensation," which the adversaries have proclaimed as saving and equal to holiness, both in deed and in word, throughout the world, and still do, and will continue to do so long as they persist in thus speaking and acting through the persecution? How then do they say that "since no one resists and teaches, we shall call them heretics"? Are the things mentioned before a fantasy and dreams, or true? But since they are true, how are they not constantly teaching and proclaiming, both in deed and in word? Or how are you not, in obeying them, all but standing with the very ones who say these things (but even if we ourselves were silent, the very ends of the earth cry out the truth), drawing upon yourselves the fearful judgment of silence? For this reason I, the lowly one, am compelled not to keep silent, both in writing and unwritten, according to the power that is in me, with fear and trembling, with readiness for death -- even if some one of you perhaps thinks I do these things unnecessarily, and I would say even superfluously. But let the discourse return to the matter at hand. You said, "since no one resists and teaches men to commit adultery and to absolve the unholy, how can we reasonably call them heretics?" Now, to teach men in so many words to commit adultery and to absolve the unholy -- true, they do not do this, since not even the Gentiles who have no law teach men to commit adultery. Nor did we set forth that they declare this nakedly; rather, that, having ratified the adulterous yoking and, together with it and through it, the other transgressions of the Gospel along with the dissolutions of the divine canons, declaring this to be a saving "dispensation" under anathema, and vindicating this every day through the aforementioned exiles and imprisonments, they have dissolved the Gospel according to the saying of the saints, and in effect they suppose that a dispensation comes into being upon every transgression, having altered the unalterable commandments of God and shown them to be changeable. And how could they not be alterers and changers, if commandments that are transgressed are dogmatized synodically, in deed and word, to be saving dispensations? For let them not advance to such a degree of falsehood as to say either that they did not hold a synod, or that they did not name the adulterous yoking a dispensation equal in weight to those of the saints, or that they did not anathematize those who do not accept it. But if they say they did not anathematize, for whose sake did they cry out, "let there be anathema upon those who do not accept the dispensations of the saints"? For it is clear that the proclamation was made because certain men were taking their stand not to accept it -- unless we are drunk. And concerning what other matter was the resistance, except that of the adulterous yoking? Surely, then, the anathematizing was on its account, as being in accordance with the dispensations of the saints. And if it is on a par with them, the dispensations of the saints are unlawful; but if the saints are not unlawful -- which is the truth -- then they themselves were anathematized for not accepting the adulterous yoking, even if by artifices they contrive to show the manifest as obscure. But it is impossible for what has happened to be hidden. That the commandments of the Gospel are unchangeable, hear Basil the Great crying out: "Perhaps the Lord wished to brace up my soul and to make it more vigilant for the future, so as not to attend to men, but to be furnished through the evangelical commandments, which neither with seasons nor with the circumstances of human affairs change along with them, but themselves remain, abiding for ever just as they were brought forth from the truthful and blessed mouth." But those who proclaimed the contrary, that the adulterous yoking is a saving dispensation, what else did they declare than that the commandments of God are changeable -- in part being altered, in part not altered but operating unchangeably, yet at certain seasons and human circumstances (just as they themselves said concerning those in power) being altered and not reckoned as lawlessness, but indeed having so much force that even those who do not accept them -- that is, the transgressions which (as they say) are dispensations of the saints -- are anathematized in the Church? It is therefore concluded from this nothing other than that God is changeable and alterable, the speaker being likened to his own argument, and that the Gospel is indeterminate with respect both to salvation and to perdition. For is there a dispensation upon all men and upon the transgression of every commandment, or upon some men and in some cases? And what is the arbitrary allotment that makes it apply to some and in some case, but to others and in some case not at all? And by whom, then, and from how many is the exercising of dispensation? By hierarchs alone, or also by priests? Synodically, or also privately by each one? And if upon emperors alone, upon adultery alone, or also upon every lawlessness? And how is it that in the case of emperors the commandments of God give way? Or is it altogether as though His kingship had an end, since not even an emperor's law gives way unless another emperor succeeds him? But indeed this too must be raised as a difficulty: since the divine apostle says, "Husbands, love your own wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the Church to himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she might be holy and without blemish" -- how then could she, now having admitted adultery and the adulterous yoking, and in the surrounding times other things on a par with these, remain unspotted and unwrinkled, and not rather befouled (which I shudder to say)? Let the present "evangelists" make this clear to us; for having admitted these things themselves, they call themselves the Church of God, distinguishing as opposed to her those who do not accept them. But truly, according to the prophet, "the fool will speak folly, and his heart will devise vain things, to accomplish lawless deeds and to speak error against God." This, then, is a most grievous heresy, and one may here say the word of the most blessed apostle: "I marvel that you are so quickly removing from him who called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another, except that there are some who trouble you and wish to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we ourselves, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel other than that which we preached to you, let him be anathema." Now, beyond what was preached not by the apostle but by Christ himself, the Moechian synod has preached the adulterous yoking, from which comes adultery, and the leading-away to the adulterers in manifold ways as a saving dispensation; and this it preaches every day in deed and word, even if it deceitfully pretends to subside, so that after the hunting-down of those who have been deceived it may once again raise on high its own corybant [its ringleader / orgiastic ringleader]. May I, wretched man, flee the trial of it, and I pray that you too may flee it, sinner as I am, even though you may not wish to attend to me. Behold then, brother, I have set it before you, evangelically and apostolically and at the same time as a father, if only you would consent to be persuaded by words of truth: that the Moechian synod has beyond all doubt fulfilled the measure of a heresy, having begun from adultery -- even if in the meantime it subsided -- by the mere fact of naming, or rather proclaiming, the adulterous yoking to be a dispensation taking place in the Church of God. And do not marvel that a single utterance gives birth to a heresy, hearing the Lord saying, "One iota or one tittle shall not pass from the law until all things come to pass." Nor let it seem good to you to say, "What need is there to be over-curious and, on account of a single word, to rein in the gnostic [spiritual] contemplations and to gather this and that?" -- lest you fall into the so-called heresy of the gnosimachoi ["fighters against knowledge"], concerning which the writer says: "The gnosimachoi are those who oppose all knowledge of Christianity, in saying that those who seek out certain kinds of knowledge in the divine Scriptures do something superfluous; for God seeks nothing else from a Christian except good deeds. It is therefore better that one walk more simply and not be over-curious about any doctrine of gnostic inquiry." Such, then, are the gnosimachoi. Give me yourself, if you can, proof from the divine utterances that it is not a heresy; and do not bring against me a multitude, nor boast to me of the nocturnal devout, and the men of knowledge whom you mention, and the simple, and the friends. For if they are devout, where is their boldness of speech? And if they are men of knowledge (and I do not say that they are not -- for I confess that many are even above me, the simple man), yet if they have the truth, let them show it after the manner of knowledge from the truth itself, and indeed from examples, but from fitting ones, and not from ones incongruous and contrary to the truth and to the apostolic and patristic canons. And if they are friends according to God, how is it that they have communion with the communion of the heterodox? For such men are not true and faithful friends. Attend then, brother, to what the divine Basil says to those who judge the truth by a multitude: "He who does not dare to give an account of the question at issue, nor has an abundance of demonstration, and on this account takes refuge in a multitude, confesses his defeat, as having no provision of boldness." And after other things: "Let even one man show me the beauty of truth, and forthwith persuasion is brief and direct; but a multitude that asserts authority without demonstration is sufficient to frighten, but nowhere to persuade. Or how many myriads will persuade me to consider the day to be night, or to regard the bronze coin as gold, and thus to receive or admit a manifest poison instead of suitable food?" Then, for the sake of earthly things shall we not be ashamed of a multitude of liars, but for the sake of heavenly doctrines shall I follow undemonstrated nods, withdrawing from the things handed down of old and from ancient times with much harmony and the testimony of the holy Scriptures? Have we not heard the Lord saying, "Many are called, but few chosen"? And again: "Narrow and strait is the way that leads to life, and few are they that find it." Who, then, of those who think rightly does not pray to be among the few who enter through the narrow way into salvation, rather than among the many who are thrust through the broad way into perdition? And who would not have desired, had he lived at the time of the contest of the blessed Stephen, to become of his portion -- of him who alone was pelted with stones, who lay exposed as a laughingstock to all -- rather than of the many who suppose that they hold credibility on the strength of a wicked authority? One man well-pleasing in the sight of God is preferable to myriads who pride themselves on self-will, as we find even in the Old Testament, in which thousands of the people were falling under a divinely-sent plague, but Phinehas alone stood up and made atonement, and the destruction was stayed. But if that man had said, "How shall I dare to act against the things done in concord by so many? How shall I cast a vote contrary to those who have so judged that they should live?" -- neither would he himself have proved valiant, nor would he have stayed the evil, nor would the rest have been saved, nor would God have granted his favor. It is a good thing, then, a good thing, both for one man to speak out boldly and justly, and for the unjust concord of the many to be dissolved. But do you, if it seems good, prefer the submerged multitude to Noah who was saved; and grant me to run to the ark with the few. And again, if you will, station yourself with the many in Sodom; but I will travel along with Lot, even though he alone is separated, to his profit, from the crowds. Yet to me too a multitude is venerable -- not the one that flees examination, but the one that furnishes demonstration; not the one that takes vengeance bitterly, but the one that corrects in a fatherly way; not the one that delights in innovation, but the one that guards the ancestral inheritance. But what kind of multitude do you mean to me? The one hired with flattery and gifts? The one stolen away by ignorance and lack of learning? The one fallen through cowardice and fear? The one that preferred the temporary enjoyment of sin to eternal life -- things which many have openly confessed? You strengthen falsehood by a multitude; you have shown the intensity of the evil; for the more there are in the evil, the greater the calamity. So much, then, for these matters. But to go on to your other propositions would be tedious, beloved, because it would go beyond the measure of a letter, and besides because, to those who receive the arguments with good perception, the things said would be easy to grasp.

Ἐνέτυχόν σου τοῖς γράμμασιν, ἀδελφὲ ἠγαπημένε, μακροθύμως, καὶ ἐξέστην ἐπὶ τῇ ἀθρόᾳ σου μεταβολῇ λίαν. ἀφήσω τὸ πρότερον, ὅτι συνοψισθείς μοι ὡμοφώνησας αἵρεσιν εἶναι τὴν μοιχειανικὴν ψευδοδοξίαν, ἄγνοιαν προβαλλόμενος καὶ τὴν ἀπ' ἄλλων συντυχίαν, ἀλλ' ὅτι γε καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀναγνοὺς τὴν Πεντάλογον ἀπέφηνας αὐτὴν πεντάφωτον εἶναι. νῦν δέ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀντιθέτως αὐτὴν ὑπολαμβάνεις, ὅλην σου τὴν ὁμιλίαν ὁμοίαν σοι τῆς πρὶν ἀγνοίας, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πλέον ἀπεχθανομένην τοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς ταπεινώσεώς μου ῥηθεῖσι πνεύσας. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐμοῦ λόγια, ἐπειδὴ σκοτεινός, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ διὰ φωνῆς Κυρίου, ἀποστόλων τε καὶ προφητῶν, πρὸς καὶ θεοφόροις πατράσιν ἐναποδέδεικται, ὅτι αἵρεσις χαλεπωτάτη, βλεπέτω σου ἡ σύνεσις καὶ εἰτινοσοῦν ἄλλου ὁμογνωμονοῦντός σοι ποῦ προσκρούειν μέλλετε. αἱ γὰρ παρ' ὑμῶν προτάσεις περὶ τοῦ μὴ εἶναι αἵρεσιν, σύγγνωτε, οὐκ ἐκ φωνῆς Κυρίου οὐδὲ ἐκ στόματος ἁγίου, προφητικῶς δὲ εἰπεῖν ἐκ γῆς φωνούντων καὶ ἐκ νόμων ἀλλοκότων, πληθύος τε τῆς φόβῳ ἀνθρωπίνῳ πάντα λέγειν ἐπιτρεπομένης. φαίης γὰρ ὅτι πάντες φίλοι καὶ εὐσεβεῖς, γνωστικοί τε καὶ ἰδιῶται ἐκμαίνονται ἀκούοντες ὅτι αἵρεσις, παράστασιν ταῦτα προβαλλόμενοι, ὅτι "4μηδενὸς ἀνθισταμένου καὶ διδάσκοντος τοῦ μοιχεύειν καὶ λύειν τοὺς ἀνιέρους, πῶς καλέσομεν αὐτοὺς αἱρετικούς; παραβάτας γὰρ τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ καταπατητὰς τῶν θείων κανόνων καὶ ἀνιέρους δίκαιον"5. Πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκπλαγῆναι πρῶτον εἰς τὴν ὑμῶν ἐμμέλειαν, τὰ αὐτὰ πολλάκις δῆθεν ἐκείνων προσάγουσαν καὶ ἀντακούουσαν τἀληθῆ, ἃ καὶ παῖδας πείθειν δύναιτ' ἄν, εἶτα αὖθις τὰ αὐτά, ὥσπερ ἐπιλαθομένην τὰ πρότερον ἀκουσθέντα, ἐπάγουσαν μετὰ σφοδροτέρας τῆς ἀπορίας καὶ καθάψεως ἡμῶν, ὡς ἀλόγως λεγόντων αἵρεσιν; οὕτω μέν μοι τὸ περὶ ὑμᾶς ἐκπληκτικόν. περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐκεῖνα εἰμὶ λέγων· πῶς, ὃ ἐκήρυξαν συνοδικῶς καὶ ἐβεβαίωσαν ὑπ' ἀναθέματι τῶν ἀντιπιπτόντων τῷ δόγματι, ἤτοι τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔτι καθ' ἑκάστην ἐμπράκτως διδασκόντων, μὴ κηρύσσειν μηδὲ διδάσκειν λέγουσιν; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἐγὼ ὁ ταπεινὸς ἐνταῦθα ἀπόκλειστος; ὑπὲρ τίνος ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐγκλειστὸς τεταλαιπώρηται, μεμονωμένος τὸ πρίν, ἔπειτα παραρρεριμμένος ἐν ᾧ περιώρισται τόπῳ; ὑπὲρ τίνος ὁ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος ὡς κατ' αὐτοὺς καθῃρημένος καὶ ἐν πολλῇ στενοχωρίᾳ παραγγελίᾳ τε καὶ ἀσφαλείᾳ, ὡς καὶ τροφὴν μέτρου λαμβάνειν αὐτὸν παρακελευσθέντων τῶν τροφοδοτῶν, εἶτα ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ μετεγκλεισθείς, ἄρτι τε ἐν ξενίᾳ παραρριφείς; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἡ τιμιότης σου σὺν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ φρουρουμένη, Θεόσωστός τε ὁ ἡγούμενος διωκόμενος σὺν τοῖς φοιτηταῖς ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως, ἕτερός τε ἡγούμενος ἀμέτρως μαστιγωθεὶς τῶν ἐκεῖσε; ὑπὲρ τίνος Ναυκράτιός τε καὶ Ἀρσένιος οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἕως δεῦρο ἀσφαλῶς καταφρουρούμενοι, Βασίλειός τε καὶ Γρηγόριος ὡσαύτως; ὑπὲρ τίνος Στέφανος ὁ ἐνάρετος ἡγούμενος σὺν πεντήκοντα μαθηταῖς μετανάστης ἐκ τοῦ οἰκείου φροντιστηρίου, σὺν ἑκατόν τε δέκα ἅμα ἐπισκόπῳ, πρότερον ἀναθεματικὼς τὴν μοιχοσύνοδον ὡς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον λύσασαν, καθὰ περιέχει τὸ ἀποσταλὲν παρ' αὐτοῦ γραμματεῖον; ὑπὲρ τίνος Ἀντώνιος ὁ εὐλαβέστατος ἡγούμενος ἐν φρουρᾷ εἰς τὸ Ἀμόριν, ὁμοίως τοῦ προτέρου σὺν τῇ κατ' αὐτὸν ἀδελφότητι ἀναθεματικὼς τὴν μοιχοσύνοδον; ὑπὲρ τίνος οἱ περὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Αἰμιλιανὸν ἐν Θυνίᾳ παρὰ τοῦ Νικομηδέως δεθέντες καὶ ἀχθέντες, πεῖράν τε μαστίγων καὶ ἐμπαιγμῶν λαβόντες, καταληϊσαμένων τῶν ἐπιπεσόντων αὐτοῖς τὰ τῆς μονῆς ὡς πολεμικὰ λάφυρα; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἐν Χερσῶνι δεδιωγμένος Λέων ὁ θεοσεβέστατος ἐπίσκοπος τὸ ἐπίκλην Βαλελάδης, Ἀντώνιός τε ὁ τετιμημένος ἡγούμενος σὺν δυσὶν ἄλλοις πεφρουρισμένος; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἐν Λιπάρει τῇ ὑπερέκεινα Σικελίας ἀδελφοὶ ἡμῶν ἐν φυλακῇ τηρούμενοι; ὑπὲρ τίνος οἱ περὶ Λιτόιον ἐν Χερσῶνι παραφυλαχθέντες κἀκεῖθεν ἐν φυλακῇ παραπεμφθέντες πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, εἶτα φυλακισθέντες ἐν τῷ Βυζαντίῳ καὶ συντηρούμενοι ἐν μοναστηρίοις; Εἴπω πάλιν τὰ εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς τρεῖς; ὑπὲρ τίνος εἰς τὰ Ἀγαθοῦ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως διὰ τῶν σπαθαρίων δηλωθέντα ἡμῖν, ὡς "4ὑμεῖς ἀναθεματισμένοι ἐστὲ καὶ καθῃρημένοι παρὰ τῆς συνόδου"5; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἡ εἰς τὸν Ἅγιον Μάμαντα φυλακὴ μεμονωμένων τῶν τριῶν; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἡ ἐκεῖσε παρουσία τῶν αὐτῶν σπαθαρίων σὺν τρισὶ τοῖς παρὰ τοῦ ἀντιδόξου ἐπιφερομένοις ὑπαναγνωστικὸν καθαιρέσεως καὶ ἀναθεματίσεως ἡμῶν πάλιν; καὶ ἐπεὶ περιεφράξαμεν τὰ ὦτα καὶ τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι, ὑπὲρ τίνος ἡμεῖς μὲν ἐξόριστοι ἄλλος ἀλλαχοῦ καὶ ἐναπόκλειστοι, ὅ τε οἰκονόμος καὶ ὁ Ἀρσένιος οἱ ἀδελφοί, διωγμὸς δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἀπὸ δυοκαίδεκα μιλίων τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, ὡς τοὺς μὲν ἐν σπηλαίῳ κατακρυβῆναι διὰ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς λανθανόντως διακονίαν, μεταμφιασαμένων ἐσθῆτα λαϊκῶν, τῶν δὲ ὅλην ἡμέραν ὑπὸ πλάκαν ὑποδύντων καί, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἦν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐμφανίσαι, νυκτὶ εἰς ἀλλήλους περιτρεχόντων; ὑπὲρ τίνος οἱ εὑρισκόμενοι κρατούμενοι ὑπὸ στρατιωτῶν καὶ ἐν τῷ πραιτωρίῳ φυλακισθέντες, εἶτα ἐξορισθέντες τῆς πόλεως; Καὶ ἵνα τὰ κατ' ἀρχὰς εἴπω, ὑπὲρ τίνος τὰ Στουδίου ὑπὸ στίφους στρατιωτῶν ἄφνω ἐπελθόντων φρουρούμενα, ὡς μηδὲ ἀναπνεῖν ἡμᾶς, τήν τε ἐκεῖσε ἄφιξιν τοῦ Νικαίας καὶ Χρυσοπόλεως εἰς τὸ δέξασθαι ἡμᾶς τὸν μοιχοζεύκτην, ὡς παρὰ τοῦ προηγησαμένου πατριάρχου ἐπιτραπέντα ποιῆσαι τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν; καὶ "4ἐπεί"5, φησίν, "4ἅγιος ὁ ἐπιτρέψας ὡς ὁ Χρυσόστομος, ἁγίου ἐστὶν οἰκονομία, καὶ δέξασθε ταύτην"5. ὑπὲρ τίνος ἡ ἐν νυκτὶ ἄρσις ἡμῶν τῶν τεσσάρων ἐκ τῶν ἐκεῖσε δι' ἄρχοντος καὶ στρατιωτῶν καὶ ἀπαγωγῆς πρὸς τὸν Συμεών, τὸν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως εἴπω, καὶ τὰ δι' αὐτοῦ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως δηλωθέντα εἰς τὸ δέξασθαι ἡμᾶς μετανενοηκότας καὶ εἰς ὅπερ ἕως δεῦρο ἐνέστημεν, ὡς οἰκονομίας γεναμένης; ὑπὲρ τίνος πάλιν κατάκλειστοι εἰς τὸν Ἅγιον Σέργιον καὶ πάλιν τοῦ Συμεὼν ἐκεῖσε παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἄφιξις εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἡ δι' ἀρχόντων παράστασις ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ πολυανθρώπῳ συνόδῳ, συγκαθεζομένων καὶ τριῶν τῶν μεγίστων ἀξιωμάτων; ὑπὲρ τίνος ἐγὼ ὁ ταπεινὸς ἐκεῖσε ὑβριζόμενος καὶ κυκλόθεν περιστοιχιζόμενος καὶ ἀκούων, "4οὐκ οἶδας τί φλυαρεῖς, τί λαλεῖς"5; βοῶντός μου, "4πίπτει ὁ Πρόδρομος, λύεται τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, οὐκ ἔστιν οἰκονομία"5, κἀκείνων τὸ ἐπιλέγειν πολύ, ὅτι "4οἰκονομία"5 καὶ "4οὕτως οἱ ἅγιοι ᾠκονόμησαν καὶ ὁ ἐν ἁγίοις προηγησάμενος· ἴδε μάρτυρες, ὅτι ἐπέτρεψεν τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν"5, κἂν οὐκ ἔλεγον αὐτὴν οὕτως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν μοιχοζεύκτην διεπρίοντο τοὺς ὀδόντας τοῦ οἱονεὶ ῥοφῆσαι. ὑπὲρ τίνος τὸ ἀνάθεμα τοῖς μὴ δεχομένοις τὰς οἰκονομίας τῶν ἁγίων διαβοήτως ἀνακραχθέν, καὶ ἐγὼ σὺν τῷ πατρί μου καὶ Καλογήρῳ ὑπ' ἀρχοντικῆς χειρὸς ἀφορισθεὶς ἐκ μέσου, ὁ δὲ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος ἐναπολειφθεὶς καί, διότι μόνον ἐλειτούργησεν ὑπ' ἐμοῦ παρακληθεὶς εἰς τὰ Στουδίου, ὡς κοινὸς πρεσβύτερος καθαιρεθεὶς κατ' αὐτούς; τὸν γὰρ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ καθαιρεθέντα καὶ τῶν θείων κανόνων μοιχοζεύκτην ἠθώωσαν, ἀνένοχον ἀποφηνάμενοι κατὰ πάντα καὶ συνιερουργὸν αὐτοῖς ὄντα καὶ πρότερον, τὸν δὲ ἀκαθαίρετον ἐκ κανόνων καθαιρέσει ὑπέβαλον, ἔργῳ τὸν λόγον αὐτῶν βεβαιούμενοι, ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν τοὺς ἱεράρχας κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῖς δοκοῦν κεχρῆσθαι τοῖς κανόσιν. ὅπερ ἐνεργοῦσιν εἰς τὸ ἀεί, οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνο συνιδεῖν βουλόμενοι, ὅτι, εἰ τοῦτο ἔστιν, ἱεράρχην καθαίροντες, ὑπ' αὐτοῦ οὗ καθαίρουσι δυνατὸν αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους καθαιρεθῆναι, πληρουμένου τοῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων λογίου· ταῦτα καὶ περὶ κανόνων διατετάχθω ὑμῖν παρ' ἡμῶν, ὦ ἐπίσκοποι· ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐμμένοντες αὐτοῖς σωθήσεσθε καὶ εἰρήνην ἕξετε, ἀπειθοῦντες δὲ κολασθήσεσθε καὶ πόλεμον μετ' ἀλλήλων ἀίδιον ἕξετε, δίκην τῆς ἀνηκοΐας τὴν προσήκουσαν τιννύντες. ὑπὲρ τίνος τὰ μετὰ τὴν σύνοδον, ἥ τε πάντων τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀνάκρισις ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, λέγοντος ἡμᾶς μὲν καθῃρημένους, τὴν δὲ σύνοδον ἁγίαν, ἐπισφραγισθεῖσαν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ὡς οἰκονομίας οὔσης ἁγίων τῆς μοιχοζευξίας καὶ ἀκαταγνώστου τοῦ ταῦτα τετελεκότος; καί, ἐπειδὴ οὐ προσεδέξαντο, ἡ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἢ καὶ ὁμοῦ δύο ἢ τριῶν ἢ καὶ πλειόνων ἔν τε τοῖς μοναστηρίοις καὶ τοῖς κάστροις κατάκλεισις, τινῶν δὲ καὶ μαστιγώσεις καὶ κουσπισμοί, πανταχοῦ γῆς τε καὶ θαλάττης διατεθρυλλημένων τούτων; Ὑπὲρ τίνος οὖν ταῦτα πάντα, ἵνα συνελὼν εἴπω; οὐχ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ καταδέχεσθαι εἰπεῖν ἢ συγκαταθέσθαι τὴν παράβασιν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οἰκονομίαν, ἣν ὡς σωτήριον καὶ ἰσάγιον οἱ ἐναντίοι ἐξεβόησαν ἐμπράκτως καὶ τῷ λόγῳ εἰς τὸν κόσμον καὶ εἰσέτι καὶ ἕως ἂν ἐπιμένωσιν οὕτως λέγοντες καὶ πράττοντες διὰ τὸν διωγμόν; πῶς οὖν φασιν ὅτι "4μηδενὸς ἀνθισταμένου καὶ διδάσκοντος καλέσομεν αὐτοὺς αἱρετικούς"5; φαντασία τὰ προλεχθέντα καὶ ὄνειροι ἢ ἀληθῆ; ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀληθῆ, πῶς οὐχὶ διδάσκουσιν ἑκάστοτε καὶ κηρύττουσιν ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ; ἢ πῶς οὐχ ὑμεῖς πειθόμενοι αὐτοῖς μικροῦ δεῖν μετ' αὐτῶν τῶν λεγόντων ἵστασθε (ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς σιωπῶμεν, τὰ πέρατα βοᾷ τὴν ἀλήθειαν), τὸ φοβερὸν τῆς σιωπῆς κρίμα ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς ἐπισπώμενοι; δι' ἣν αἰτίαν ἐγὼ ὁ ταπεινὸς τοῦ μὴ σιγᾶν ἀναγκάζομαι ἐγγράφως τε καὶ ἀγράφως κατὰ τὴν ἐνοῦσάν μοι δύναμιν, μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου, μετὰ παρασκευῆς θανάτου, κἄν τις ὑμῶν ἴσως οὐκ ἀναγκαίως, εἴπω δ' ὅτι καὶ περιττολόγως, οἴεται ταῦτα ἐνεργεῖν με. Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ὁ λόγος. ἔφης, "4μηδενὸς ἀνθισταμένου καὶ διδάσκοντος τοῦ μοιχεύειν καὶ λύειν τοὺς ἀνιέρους, πῶς εὐλόγως καλέσομεν αὐτοὺς αἱρετικούς;"5 μοιχεύειν οὖν καὶ λύειν τοὺς ἀνιέρους τῷ λόγῳ, ἀληθές, οὐ διδάσκουσιν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ νόμον ἔχοντα μοιχεύειν διδάσκει. καὶ οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς γυμνῶς τοῦτο ἐκφωνεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐξεθέμεθα ἢ ὅτι, τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν κυρώσαντες καὶ τὰ σὺν αὐτῇ καὶ δι' αὐτῆς ἑτέρας παραβάσεις τοῦ εὐαγγελίου σὺν ταῖς τῶν θείων κανόνων λύσεσιν οἰκονομίαν εἶναι σωτήριον ὑπ' ἀναθέματι καὶ τοῦτο καθ' ἑκάστην ἐκδικοῦντες διὰ τῶν προλεχθέντων ἐξοριῶν καὶ φυλακῶν, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον λελύκασιν κατὰ τὴν φωνὴν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ δυνάμει ἐπὶ πάσης παραβάσεως οἰκονομίαν γίνεσθαι ὑποτίθενται, τὰς ἀναλλοιώτους ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλοιώσαντες καὶ τρεπτὰς ἀποδεικνύοντες. καὶ πῶς δ' ἂν οὐκ εἶεν ἀλλοιωταὶ καὶ τρεπταί, εἴ γε παραβαινόμεναι οἰκονομίαι σωτήριοι ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ συνοδικῶς δογματίζονται; μὴ γὰρ εἰς τοσοῦτον ψεῦδος προκόψωσιν, ὥστε μὴ λέγειν αὐτοὺς πεποιηκέναι σύνοδον ἢ μὴ τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν ὀνομάσαι οἰκονομίαν ἰσόρροπον ἁγίων ἢ μὴ ἀναθεματίσαι τοὺς μὴ προσιεμένους αὐτήν. εἰ δὲ λέγουσιν μὴ ἀναθεματίσαι, ὑπὲρ τίνος ἀνεβόησαν "4τοῖς μὴ δεχομένοις τὰς οἰκονομίας τῶν ἁγίων ἀνάθεμα ἔστω"5; δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ἐνισταμένων τινῶν μὴ δέχεσθαι ἡ ἐκφώνησις, εἰ μὴ μεθύομεν. περὶ ποίας δὲ ὑποθέσεως ἄλλης ἡ ἔνστασις ἢ τῆς μοιχοζευξίας; οὐκοῦν ἀσφαλῶς αὐτῆς ἕνεκα ὁ ἀναθεματισμὸς ὡς οὔσης κατὰ τὰς τῶν ἁγίων οἰκονομίας. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐφάμιλλος αὐταῖς, αἱ τῶν ἁγίων οἰκονομίαι παράνομοι· εἰ δὲ οἱ ἅγιοι οὐ παράνομοι, ὅπερ ἀληθές, αὐτοὶ ἀνεθεματίσθησαν μὴ προσιέμενοι τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν, κἂν τέχναις σοφίζωνται τὰ ἐναργῆ ἀφανῆ δεικνύειν. ἀλλ' ἀμήχανον κρυβῆναι τὸ γεγονός. Ὅτι δὲ ἀμετάβλητοι αἱ ἐντολαὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἄκουε τοῦ Μεγάλου Βασιλείου βοῶντος· τάχα τονῶσαί μου τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ νηπτικωτέραν πρὸς τὸ ἐφεξῆς καταστῆσαι ὁ Κύριος ἠβουλήθη, ὡς μὴ προσέχειν ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν ἐντολῶν καταρτίζεσθαι· αἳ οὔτε καιροῖς οὔτε περιστάσεσιν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων συμμεταβάλλονται, ἀλλ' αὐταὶ διαμένουσιν, ὡς προήχθησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀψευδοῦς καὶ μακαρίου στόματος οὕτω διαιωνίζουσαι. οἱ δὲ δι' ἐναντίας κηρύξαντες τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν οἰκονομίαν σωτήριον τί ἄλλο ἢ τρεπτὰς τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεφήναντο, πῇ μὲν μεταβαλλομένας, πῇ δὲ οὐ μεταβαλλομένας ἀλλ' ἐνεργούσας ἀτρέπτως, καιροῖς δέ τισι καὶ περιστάσεσιν ἀνθρωπίναις, ὥσπερ ἔφασαν αὐτοὶ περὶ τῶν κρατούντων, μεταβαλλομένας καὶ μὴ εἰς ἀνομίαν λογιζομένας, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοσοῦτον ἰσχὺν ἐχούσας, ὡς καὶ τοὺς μὴ προσιεμένους αὐτάς, ἤγουν τὰς παραβάσεις τὰς (ὥς φασιν) οἰκονομίας ἁγίων, ἀναθεματισμένους παρὰ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ εἶναι; Συνῆκται οὖν ἐντεῦθεν οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὸ τὸν θεὸν τρεπτὸν εἶναι καὶ ἀλλοιωτόν, ὁμοιουμένου τοῦ λέγοντος τῷ οἰκείῳ λόγῳ, τό τε εὐαγγέλιον ἀόριστον πρός τε σωτηρίαν καὶ ἀπώλειαν. ἆρα γὰρ ἐπὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης ἐντολῆς παραβάσεως οἰκονομία ἢ ἔν τισι καί τινι; καὶ τίς ἡ ἀποκλήρωσις τοῦ ἐπί τισι μὲν καί τινι εἶναι, ἐπὶ δέ τισι καί τινι οὐδαμῶς; καὶ πρὸς τίνων ἆρα καὶ παρὰ πόσων τὸ οἰκονομεῖν; παρὰ ἱεραρχῶν μόνων ἢ καὶ ἱερέων; συνοδικῶς ἢ καὶ ἰδικῶς ἕκαστον; καὶ εἰ ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων μόνων, ἐπὶ τῆς μοιχείας μόνης ἢ καὶ ἐφ' ἑκάστης παρανομίας; καὶ πῶς ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων ὑποχωροῦσιν αἱ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντολαί; ἢ πάντως ὡς τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ τέλος ἐχούσης, ὅτι μηδὲ βασιλέως ὑποχωρεῖ νόμος, μὴ ἑτέρου βασιλέως αὐτὸν διαδεχομένου; ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο ἀπορητέον· ἐπειδή φησιν ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος, οἱ ἄνδρες ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ ἑαυτὸν παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, ἵνα αὐτὴν ἁγιάσῃ καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι, ἵνα παραστήσῃ αὐτὴν ἑαυτῷ ἔνδοξον τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, μὴ ἔχουσαν σπίλον ἢ ῥυτίδα ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων, ἀλλ' ἵνα ᾖ ἁγία καὶ ἄμωμος. πῶς ἆρα νῦν μὲν τὴν μοιχείαν καὶ μοιχοζευξίαν προσηκαμένη, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πέριξ χρόνοις ἑτέρας ἐφαμίλλους, διαμείνοιεν ἂν ἄσπιλός τε καὶ ἀρρύτιδος, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ βεβορβορωμένη (ὃ καὶ φρίττω λέγων), διακρινέτωσαν ἡμῖν οἱ νῦν εὐαγγελισταί· ἑαυτοὺς γὰρ ταύτας προσηκάμενοι ἐκκλησίαν θεοῦ ὀνομάζουσιν, ἀντιθέτους αὐτῇ τοὺς μὴ προσιεμένους αὐτὰς διακρίναντες. ἀλλ' ὄντως κατὰ τὸν προφήτην, ὁ μωρὸς μωρὰ λαλήσει καὶ ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ μάταια νοήσει, τοῦ συντελεῖν ἄνομα καὶ λαλεῖν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν πλάνησιν. Χαλεπωτάτη οὖν αἵρεσις αὕτη, καὶ τὸ τοῦ μακαριωτάτου ἀποστόλου ἔστιν ἐνταῦθα λέγειν· θαυμάζω ὅτι οὕτως ταχέως μετατίθεσθε ἀπὸ τοῦ καλέσαντος ὑμᾶς ἐν χάριτι Χριστοῦ εἰς ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον· ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο, εἰ μή τινές εἰσιν οἱ ταράσσοντες ὑμᾶς καὶ θέλοντες μεταστρέψαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ὑμῖν εὐαγγελίζηται παρ' ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. παρ' ὃ δὲ εὐηγγελίσατο οὐχ ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστός, εὐηγγελίσατο ἡ μοιχοσύνοδος τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν, ἐξ ἧς ἡ μοιχεία, καὶ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς μοιχωμένους πολυτρόπως ἀπαγωγὴν οἰκονομίαν σωτήριον· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν εὐαγγελιζομένη ἑκάστοτε ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ, κἂν προσποιῆται δολερῶς ὑπολωφεῖν, ἵνα μετὰ τὴν θήραν τῶν ἀπατηθέντων τὸν ἑαυτῆς κορύβαντα αὖθις ἐπανυψώσῃ. ἧς τὴν πεῖραν φύγοιμι μὲν ἐγὼ ὁ τάλας, φυγεῖν τε εὔχομαι ὑμᾶς ὡς ἁμαρτωλός, κἂν οὐ βούλοισθε προσέχειν μοι. Ἰδοὺ οὖν ἐγώ, ἀδελφέ, εὐαγγελικῶς τε καὶ ἀποστολικῶς ὁμοῦ τε καὶ πατρικῶς παρέστησά σοι, εἴπερ βούλοιο πείθεσθαι λόγοις ἀληθείας, ὅτι αἵρεσιν ἀναμφιβόλως πεπλήρωκεν ἡ μοιχοσύνοδος, ἀρχθεῖσα ἀπὸ τῆς μοιχείας, εἰ καὶ διὰ μέσου ὑπελώφησεν, ἐκ μόνου τοῦ ὀνομάσαι, μᾶλλον δὲ κηρύξαι τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν οἰκονομίαν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεσθαι. καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς, εἰ μία φωνὴ τίκτει αἵρεσιν, ἀκούων τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος· ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται. μηδὲ δόξῃ σοι λέγειν, "4τίς χρεία πολυπραγμονεῖν καὶ διὰ μιᾶς λέξεως ἀνασειράζειν τὰς γνωστικὰς θεωρίας καὶ συνάγειν τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο;"5, ἵνα μὴ ἐμπέσῃς εἰς τὴν λεγομένην τῶν γνωσιμάχων αἵρεσιν, περὶ ἧς φησιν ὁ συγγράφων· γνωσιμάχοι οἱ πάσῃ γνώσει τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ ἀντιπίπτοντες, ἐν τῷ λέγειν αὐτοὺς ὅτι περισσόν τι ποιοῦσιν οἱ γνώσεις τινὰς ἐκζητοῦντες ἐν ταῖς θείαις Γραφαῖς· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο ζητεῖ ὁ θεὸς παρὰ χριστιανοῦ, εἰ μὴ πράξεις καλάς. ἀγαθὸν οὖν ἐστι μᾶλλον ἁπλουστέρως τινὰ πορεύεσθαι καὶ μηδὲν δόγμα γνωστικῆς πραγματείας πολυπραγμονεῖν. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν οἱ γνωσιμάχοι. δὸς αὐτός, εἴπερ ἔχοις, ἐκ θείων φωνῶν ὅτι οὐχ αἵρεσις, καὶ μή μοι πλῆθος ἐποίσῃς μηδὲ τοὺς νυκτερινοὺς θεοσεβεῖς αὔχει, γνωστικούς τε οὓς λέγεις καὶ ἰδιώτας καὶ φίλους. εἰ γὰρ θεοσεβεῖς, ποῦ ἡ παρρησία; καὶ εἰ γνωστικοὶ (καὶ οὐχ ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶ λέγω· ὁμολογῶ γὰρ πολλοὺς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ τὸν ἰδιώτην), ἀλλ' εἴπερ ἔχουσιν ἀλήθειαν, δείξωσι γνωστικῶς ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἐκ παραδειγμάτων, ἐξ ἁρμοζόντων δέ, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἐξ ἀσυμβάτων καὶ ὑπεναντίων τῇ ἀληθείᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἀποστολικοῖς καὶ πατρικοῖς κανόσιν. καὶ εἰ φίλοι κατὰ θεόν, πῶς τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τῶν ἑτεροδόξων κοινωνοῦντες; οὐ γὰρ φίλοι οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἀληθινοὶ καὶ πιστοί. Πρόσεχε οὖν, ἀδελφέ, τί ὁ θεῖος Βασίλειος λέγει πρὸς τοὺς ἐν πλήθει κρίνοντας τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ὁ μὴ τολμῶν, φησί, δοῦναι λόγον τῆς προκειμένης ζητήσεως μηδὲ εὐπορῶν ἀποδείξεως καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καταφεύγων εἰς πλῆθος ὁμολογεῖ τὴν ἧτταν, ὡς οὐδὲν ἔχων παρρησίας ἐφόδιον. καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα· δειξάτω μοι κάλλος ἀληθείας κἂν εἷς καὶ σύντομος εὐθὺς ἡ πειθώ· πλῆθος δὲ χωρὶς ἀποδείξεως αὐθεντοῦν φοβῆσαι μὲν ἱκανόν, πεῖσαι δὲ οὐδαμοῦ. ἢ πόσαι μυριάδες πείσουσί με τὴν ἡμέραν νύκτα νομίσαι ἢ τὸ χαλκοῦν νόμισμα χρυσοῦν εἰδέναι, καὶ οὕτω δέχεσθαι ἢ προσίεσθαι δηλητήριον πρόδηλον ἀντὶ καταλλήλου τροφῆς; εἶτα γηίνων μὲν ἕνεκα πραγμάτων οὐκ αἰδεσθησόμεθα πλῆθος ψευδομένων, οὐρανίων δὲ χάριν δογμάτων νεύμασιν ἀναποδείκτοις ἀκολουθήσω, τῶν πάλαι καὶ πρόπαλαι μετὰ πολλῆς συμφωνίας καὶ τῆς τῶν ἁγίων Γραφῶν μαρτυρίας παραδοθέντων ἀναχωρήσας; οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος, πολλοὶ κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί; καὶ πάλιν· στενὴ καὶ τεθλιμμένη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τὴν ζωήν, καὶ ὀλίγοι εἰσὶν οἱ εὑρίσκοντες αὐτήν. τίς οὖν τῶν εὖ φρονούντων οὐκ εὔχεται τῶν ὀλίγων εἶναι τῶν διὰ τῆς στενῆς εἰσιόντων εἰς σωτηρίαν ἢ τῶν πολλῶν τῶν διὰ τῆς πλατείας εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὠθουμένων; τίς δ' οὐκ ἂν ἐπεθύμησεν, εἰ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἔτυχεν τῆς ἀθλήσεως τοῦ μακαρίου Στεφάνου, τῆς ἐκείνου μερίδος γενέσθαι, τοῦ μόνου τοῦ λίθοις βαλλομένου, τοῦ πᾶσιν εἰς γέλωτα προκειμένου, ἢ τῶν πολλῶν τῶν οἰομένων τὸ ἀξιόπιστον ἔχειν ἐκ τῆς κακῆς αὐθεντίας; εἷς εὐδοκιμῶν εἰς τὸ θεῖον προτιμότερος ὑπὲρ μυριάδας αὐθαδείᾳ σεμνυνομένας, ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης εὑρίσκομεν, ἐν ᾗ χιλιάδες ἔπιπτον τοῦ λαοῦ θεηλάτῳ πληγῇ, μόνος δὲ Φινεὲς ἔστη καὶ ἐξιλάσατο, καὶ ἐκόπασεν ἡ θραῦσις. εἰ δὲ εἶπεν ἐκεῖνος, "4πῶς τολμήσω πρὸς τὰ συμφώνως ὑπὸ τοσούτων γινόμενα; πῶς ἐναντίως ὑπόθωμαι ψῆφον τῶν οὕτως κρινάντων ζῆν;"5, οὔτ' ἂν αὐτὸς ἠρίστευσεν οὔτ' ἂν τὸ κακὸν ἔστησεν οὔτ' ἂν οἱ λοιποὶ διεσώθησαν οὔτ' ἂν θεὸς τὴν εὐμένειαν ἐχαρίσατο. καλὸν οὖν, καλόν, καὶ τὸ ἕνα καὶ δικαίως παρρησιάζεσθαι, καὶ τὴν τῶν πολλῶν συμφωνίαν ἄδικον λύεσθαι. Ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν προτίμησον, εἰ δοκεῖ, τοῦ σῳζομένου Νῶε τὸ ὑποβρύχιον πλῆθος, ἐμοὶ δὲ συγχώρησον τοῖς ὀλίγοις τῇ κιβωτῷ προσδραμεῖν· καὶ πάλιν, εἰ βούλει, τάξον σαυτὸν μετὰ τῶν πολλῶν ἐν Σοδόμοις, ἐγὼ δὲ συνοδεύσω τῷ Λώτ, κἂν μόνος τῶν ὄχλων συμφερόντως χωρίζεται. πλὴν ἐμοὶ καὶ πλῆθος αἰδέσιμον, οὐ τὸ φεῦγον ἐξέτασιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ παρέχον ἀπόδειξιν, οὐ τὸ πικρῶς ἀμυνόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸ πατρικῶς διορθούμενον, οὐ τὸ χαῖρον καινοτομίᾳ, ἀλλὰ τὸ φυλάσσον πατρῴαν κληρονομίαν. ποῖον δέ μοι καὶ πλῆθος λέγεις; τὸ μιστωθὲν κολακείᾳ καὶ δώροις; τὸ κλαπὲν ἀμαθίᾳ τε καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ; τὸ πεπτωκὸς δειλίᾳ καὶ φόβῳ; τὸ προτιμῆσαν πρόσκαιρον ἁμαρτίας ἀπόλαυσιν τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς; ἃ πολλοὶ φανερῶς ὡμολόγησαν; πλήθει τὸ ψεῦδος κρατύνεις, ἔδειξας τοῦ δεινοῦ τὴν ἐπίτασιν· ὅσῳ γὰρ πλείους ἐν τῷ κακῷ, τοσούτῳ μείζων ἡ συμφορά. Οὕτω μὲν δὴ ταῦτα. ἰέναι δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς ἑτέρας σου προτάσεις παρέλκον ἂν εἴη, ἀγαπητέ, διὰ τὸ ἐκβαίνειν τοῦ μέτρου τῆς ἐπιστολῆς, καὶ ἄλλως ὅτι τοῖς εὐαισθήτως δεχομένοις τοὺς λόγους εὐαπάντητα εἶεν τὰ λεγόμενα.