Letter 5: Theodore Studite, Letter 5; Greek heading: Στεφάνῳ ἀδσηκρῆτις.

Yesterday, since we were granted a share in your illustrious presence, after some other conversations—among them the manner of your arrival here—we came somehow to a discussion of questions concerning Scripture; and, held fast in much uncertainty, we parted from one another implausibly disposed toward these matters. And we, my lord, being unlearned, will by no means meet you on the level of your present wisdom; but lest, by keeping silent about what we are obliged to speak, we bring a judgment upon ourselves (for it is said, "With a rebuke you shall rebuke your neighbor, and you shall not incur sin on his account" [Leviticus 19:17]), and, what is more, since by reproving a wise man we shall rather be loved [cf. Proverbs 9:8], we thought it necessary to address to you what is fitting. My lord—that I may speak briefly, drawing in the many inquiries and counter-arguments—you said this: that the superior, that is to say the chief shepherd [the abbot or ecclesiastical head], ought not, apart from matters of faith, to be put in remembrance by anyone concerning the other commandments of the Lord when he does, whether through ignorance or willingly, something of the things forbidden; while we said that he certainly ought to be—yet by those who excel the others in knowledge and understanding. And on this point—from what source shall we set before you the absurdity of the argument? First, from the Old Testament. For what does the example of Daniel seem to you? Surely was not Daniel praised, although he was not yet of the lawful age for speaking and for speaking boldly, when the elders were acting lawlessly toward the condemnation of the divine Susanna [Daniel 13, the Story of Susanna]—praised not only for putting them in remembrance, but even for condemning them? Yes or no? Then, do you not accept Joab, in the numbering of the people, when the deed tended to the provoking of God, beseeching, imploring, attempting to persuade the divine David not to do this? For you know the history [2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21]. And Jethro too puts me to shame, when he puts the great Moses in remembrance and charges him not to govern the people in that way, as it were instructing him in first principles and reshaping him toward his own counsel. And who was he? A foreigner, even if a kinsman by marriage. And to whom did he speak? To the one who accomplished all things according to the revelation of God [Exodus 18]. And let these examples suffice for now, lest we speak at length. But we must pass on to the New. Let us reverence, if you please, all-praiseworthy one, the very dictum of the resounding herald of the whole world [the Apostle Paul], that "if anything is revealed to one who is seated by, let the first keep silence" [1 Corinthians 14:30]—not, as your friendship contends, that this concerns faith alone. And, as nearly escaped me, the great herald of the truth, John, reproves Herod [the Baptist rebuking Herod, Mark 6:18]. I ask; answer me. But the one near at hand to me—I know—laughs at the fact that I rank myself on a level with the prophet, in some measure. But it is not so, O excellent one: "these things," it says, "were written for our admonition" [1 Corinthians 10:11]. And again Paul says: "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ" [1 Corinthians 11:1]. And how is it even possible for one who acts crookedly to be orthodox, when the divine James insists that faith is shown from works [James 2:18], and that those who stumble in the one thing do not possess the other either? Since, then, there are testimonies so many and so weighty, I do not think your nobility will contradict them; but if you do, let it write back, in answer to our worthlessness, refutations—expressed in argument—of the points we have set forth, and clearer counter-demonstrations of the matters you will marshal against us. Would that they were even at hand! For our part, we shall be silent and shall ask pardon for our insistence, even though it is in zeal. For merely to find fault is the easiest thing, and within the power of anyone who wishes, as you are aware; but to introduce one's own opinion in its place by the testimony of God-inspired Scripture belongs to a man who is truly sound and possessed of understanding. And that we may not carry the letter into excess, we shall here bring our discourse to rest, having also appended passages of Basil the Great toward a more complete demonstration. May you therefore be preserved for us with all your household, our beloved lord, in good health on both sides; for we yearn to possess the good of your love, whether we write or do not write. [From the Ascetic Writings of Saint Basil, from the 20th discourse (of the longer rules, from the moral portion of the discourse):] That the superior ought to be put in remembrance by those who excel in the brotherhood, if ever he should fall into error. From the 34th: He who does not accept what has been determined by the superior ought, in public or in private, to contradict him, if he has any strong argument according to the will of the Scriptures; or, keeping silent, to do what has been commanded. But if he himself is ashamed, let him employ certain others as mediators toward this end. From the moral writings of the same author, discourse 72: That those of the hearers who are instructed in the Scriptures ought to test the things said by their teachers. That the one set over the word ought, with much circumspection and testing, to do and to say each thing according to the aim of being well-pleasing to God, as one bound to be tested even by those very persons who have been entrusted to him.

Ἐν τῇ χθὲς ἡμέρᾳ, ἐπειδὴ τῆς εὐκλεοῦς σου παρουσίας ἐν μεθέξει γεγόναμεν, μετά τινας ἄλλας ὁμιλίας, δι' ἃς καὶ ὁ τρόπος τῆς ἐνταῦθά σου ἀφίξεως, εἰς λόγους πως ἐληλύθαμεν γραφικῶν ζητημάτων καὶ ἐν ἀμφιβολίᾳ πολλῇ συσχεθέντες ἀπιθάνως πρὸς ταῦτα διέστημεν ἀπ' ἀλλήλων. καὶ ἡμεῖς μέν, ὦ δέσποτα, ἰδιωτίζοντες οὐ πάντως κατὰ τὴν παροῦσάν σου σοφίαν ὑπαντήσομεν· ἵνα δὲ μὴ τῇ ἐφησυχάσει τῶν ὀφειλομένων λαληθῆναι κρίμα ἑαυτοῖς ἀπενέγκοιμεν (ἐλεγμῷ γάρ, φησίν, ἐλέγξεις τὸν πλησίον σου καὶ οὐ λήψῃ δι' αὐτὸν ἁμαρτίαν), ἄλλως τε ὅτι καὶ σοφὸν ἐλέγχοντες μᾶλλον ἀγαπηθησόμεθα, ἀναγκαῖον ᾠήθημεν προσφωνῆσαί σοι τὰ ἐπιβάλλοντα. ὁ κύριός μου, ἵνα συντόμως ἐρῶ, τὰς πολλὰς πεύσεις καὶ ἀντιρρήσεις ἐπισυστέλλων, ἔφης τά, ὡς οὐ χρὴ τὸν προεστῶτα εἴτουν ποιμενάρχην ἄτερ πίστεως ἐπὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἐντολαῖς τοῦ Κυρίου κατὰ ἄγνοιαν ἢ ἐθελοντὶ πράττοντά τι τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων πρός τινος ὑπομνήσκεσθαι, ἡμῶν λεγόντων ὅτι καὶ μάλα, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῶν προεχόντων ἐν γνώσει καὶ συνέσει παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους. καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ὁπόθεν καὶ οὐ παραστησόμεθά σοι τὸ τοῦ λόγου ἄτοπον; πρῶτον μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης. τί γάρ σοι δοκεῖ τὸ τοῦ Δανιήλ; ἆρα τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους, καίπερ ὢν οὐ τοῦ ἐννόμου καιροῦ τῆς εἰς τὸ λέγειν καὶ παρρησιάζεσθαι ἡλικίας, παρανομοῦντας πρὸς τὴν τῆς θείας Σωσάννης καταδίκην, ἐπῃνέθη οὐ μόνον ὑπομνήσκων, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατακρίνων, ναὶ ἢ οὔ; εἶτα οὐ δέχῃ τὸν Ἰωὰβ ἐν τῇ ἀπαριθμήσει τοῦ λαοῦ, ὄντος τοῦ δράματος εἰς παροργισμὸν θεοῦ, ἀντιβολοῦντα, ἐκλιπαροῦντα, ἀναπείθειν πειρώμενον τὸν θεῖον Δαυὶδ μὴ τοῦτο δρᾶν; οἶσθα γὰρ τὴν ἱστορίαν. ἐμὲ δὲ δυσωπεῖ καὶ Ἰοθὸρ ὑπομνήσκων τὸν μέγαν Μωσῆν καὶ παρεγγυώμενος μὴ οὕτω διεξάγειν τὸν λαὸν καὶ οἱονεὶ στοιχειῶν καὶ πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν βουλὴν μεταρρυθμίζων. καὶ τίς ὤν; ἀλλογενής, εἰ καὶ κηδεστής. καὶ τίνι φῶν; τῷ πάντα κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν θεοῦ διαπραττομένῳ. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐπ' ὀλίγον, ἵνα μὴ μακρηγορήσωμεν. μετιτέον δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν νέαν. αἰδεσθῶμεν, εἰ βούλει, πανεύφημε, καὶ τὸ τοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης διαπρυσίου κήρυκος ὑπαγόρευμα, τὸ ἐὰν τῷ ἐσχάτῳ ἀποκαλυφθῇ, ὁ πρῶτος σιγάτω· οὐχ, ὡς ἀντιτείνει ἡ φιλότης σου, τοῦτο περὶ μόνης πίστεως. καὶ οἷον δή μοι παρέλαθεν μικροῦ δεῖν, ὁ μέγας κῆρυξ τῆς ἀληθείας Ἰωάννης ἐλέγχει τὸν Ἡρώδην. ἐρωτῶ, ἀπόκριναί μοι. ἀλλ' ἀγχίθυρος ὁ πρὸς ἐμὲ οἶδ' ὅτι γέλως τοῦ ὅτι ἐν μέτρῳ τοῦ προφήτου ἰσοστατεῖ ἑαυτόν. ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτως, ὦ βέλτιστε· ταῦτα δέ, φησίν, ἐγράφη πρὸς νουθεσίαν ἡμετέραν. καὶ αὖθις ὁ Παῦλος· μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, καθὼς κἀγὼ Χριστοῦ. πῶς δὲ καὶ οἷόν τε ὀρθοδοξεῖν τὸν λοξοεργοῦντα, τοῦ θείου Ἰακώβου ἐνισταμένου, ἐκ τῶν ἔργων δείκνυσθαι τὴν πίστιν καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὸ ἓν σφαλλομένους μηδὲ τὸ θάτερον ἔχειν; Τοσούτων οὖν καὶ τηλικούτων ὄντων μαρτυριῶν οὐκ οἴομαι ἀντιφάσκειν τὴν εὐγένειάν σου· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, ἀντεπεστελλέτω τῇ ἀσυφηλίᾳ ἡμῶν ἀναλύσεις μὲν ἐν λόγῳ τῶν προταθέντων, ἀντεξαγωγὰς δὲ διευκρινεστέρας τῶν συσκευασθησομένων σοι. εἴθε καὶ πάρεισιν· ἡμεῖς γε σιωπήσομεν καὶ συγγνώμην τῆς ἐνστάσεως, καίπερ ἐν ζήλῳ οὔσης, αἰτησόμεθα. τὸ γὰρ ἐπιτιμᾶν μόνον ῥᾷστον καὶ τοῦ βουλομένου παντός, ὡς ἀναγινώσκεις, τὸ δὲ ἀντεισάγειν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γνώμην διὰ μαρτυρίας τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς ἀνδρὸς ὄντως ὑγιοῦς καὶ νοῦν ἔχοντος. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ μὴ εἰς ἀμετρίαν ἐνεγκεῖν τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐνταῦθα καταπαυσόμεθα τὸν λόγον, παραθέντες καὶ χρήσεις τοῦ Μεγάλου Βασιλείου εἰς ἐντελεστέραν ἀπόδειξιν. φυλαχθείης οὖν ἡμῖν πανέστιος ὁ ἠγαπημένος ἡμῶν δεσπότης, εὐεκτῶν ἀμφοτέρωθεν· ἡμεῖς γὰρ τὸ τῆς ἀγάπης σου καλὸν καὶ γράφοντες καὶ μὴ γράφοντες γλιχόμεθα ἔχειν. Τῶν ἀσκητικῶν τοῦ Ἁγίου Βασιλείου ἐκ τοῦ κʹ λόγου [τῶν κατὰ πλάτος ἐκ τῶν ἠθικῶν τοῦ λόγου]. Ὅτι δεῖ τὸν προεστῶτα ὑπομνήσκεσθαι παρὰ τῶν προεχόντων ἐν τῇ ἀδελφότητι, ἆν ποτε ἀποσφαλῇ. Ἐκ τοῦ λδʹ. Τὸν μὴ καταδεχόμενον τὰ παρὰ τοῦ προεστῶτος ἐγκριθέντα χρὴ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἢ ἰδίᾳ αὐτῷ ἀντιλέγειν, εἴ τινα ἔχοι λόγον ἰσχυρὸν κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τῶν Γραφῶν, ἢ σιωπήσαντα τὸ προστεταγμένον ποιεῖν. εἰ δὲ αὐτὸς αἰσχύνεται, ἄλλοις τισὶ μεσίταις πρὸς τοῦτο χρησάσθω. Ἐκ τῶν ἠθικῶν τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου οβʹ. Ὅτι χρὴ τῶν ἀκροατῶν τοὺς πεπαιδευμένους τὰς Γραφὰς δοκιμάζειν τὰ παρὰ τῶν διδασκάλων λεγόμενα. Ὅτι δεῖ τὸν προεστῶτα τοῦ λόγου μετὰ περισκέψεως καὶ δοκιμασίας πολλῆς κατὰ σκοπὸν τῆς πρὸς θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως ἕκαστον ποιεῖν τε καὶ λέγειν, ὡς ὀφείλοντα καὶ ὑπ' αὐτῶν τῶν πεπιστευμένων αὐτῷ δοκιμάζεσθαι.