Letter 3: This kind of comparison is, I think, actually forbidden by the divine Apostle.

To Bishop Irenaeus. This kind of comparison is, I think, actually forbidden by the divine Apostle. Writing to the Romans, he says: "Therefore do not judge anything before the appointed time — until the Lord comes, who will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and lay bare the purposes of every heart. Then each person will receive their praise from God." And he is right to say so. We see only outward acts; the God of all knows the intentions behind them. When he passes judgment, he weighs not so much the deed as the will. This is why he will crown the divine Apostle who became a Jew to Jews, lived as one under the law to those under the law, and lived as one without the law to those outside it — because his purpose in all of this was to do good to humanity. His was no careerist's calculation. The loss he incurred was his own; the profit went to those he was teaching. As I said, the divine Paul bids us wait for God's judgment. But we press on with these high and difficult questions — we handle a theology that outstrips understanding and language — not, like the godless heretics, hunting for positions that amount to blasphemy, but striving to refute their impiety and, as best we can, to praise the Creator. So there is nothing unreasonable in my attempting to answer your question. You posed the case of an impious judge who gives two champions of the faith a stark choice: sacrifice to demons, or throw themselves into the sea. One of them leaps without hesitation into the deep. The other refuses both options with equal revulsion — he will not worship idols — but declines to throw himself into the waves, and waits for his fate to be forced on him. Your question is whether both deserve equal honor. I answer: the first should be admired for his readiness; the second should be admired for his endurance. The one acted from an eagerness for martyrdom; the other from a firm refusal to take his own life. Both loved Christ; both despised the world. The one flew to the prize; the other stood to receive it. We cannot put the crown on the one and take it from the other — they each finished their course by a different road.

Letter 3