Chrysostom on “Walking in the Midst of Snares,” Part II. The true source of temptations revealed enabling a life lived within the “heights of spiritual wisdom” (Homily 15 On the Statues)

[Reading Time: 15 minutes]

[For the background to Chrysostom, the city of Antioch and the political spark that led to these particular homilies, see the Introduction in Part I.]

Life lived within the “heights of spiritual wisdom”

[8.] On every side then let us search closely into these matters. Often has a wife, often have children, often have friends, often have neighbors, proved a snare to the unheeding!

And why, it is asked, are there so many snares?

That we may not fly low, but seek the things that are above.

For just as birds, as long as they cleave the upper air, are not easily caught; so also you, as long as you look to things above, will not be easily captured, whether by a snare, or by any other device. The devil is a fowler.

Soar, then, too high for his arrows. The man who has mounted aloft will no longer admire anything in the affairs of this life.

But as when we have ascended to the top of the mountains, the city and its walls seem to us to be but small, and the men appear to us to be going along upon the earth like ants; so when you have ascended to the heights of spiritual wisdom, nothing upon the earth will be able to fascinate you; but every thing, yea even riches, and glory, and honour, and whatever else there be of that kind, will appear insignificant when you regard heavenly things.

According to Paul all the glories of the present life appeared trifling, and more unprofitable than dead things. Hence his exclamation,

“The world is crucified unto me” (Gal 6:14).

Hence also his admonition,

“Set your affections on things above” (Col 3:2).

Above? What kinds of things do you speak of pray?

Where the sun is, where the moon is?

Nay, says he.

But where then?

Where angels are?

Where archangels?

Where the cherubim?

Where the seraphim are?

Nay, says he.

But where then?

Where “Christ sits at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1).

Temptation as being a bird “caught in a snare” whose “wings are of no service”

[9.] Let us obey then, and let us think of this continually, that even as to the bird caught in the snare, wings are of no service, but he beats them about vainly, and to no purpose; so also to you there is no utility in your reasonings, when once you are powerfully captivated by wicked lust, but struggle as much as you may, you are captured! For this reason wings are given to birds; that they may avoid snares.

For this reason men have the power of thinking; that they may avoid sin. What pardon then, or what excuse will be ours, when we become more senseless than the brutes? For the bird which has once been captured by the snare, yet afterwards escaped, and the deer which has fallen into the net, but has broken through it, are hard to be captured again with the like; since experience becomes a teacher of caution to every one.

But we, though often snared in the same nets, fall into the same again; and though honored with reason, we do not imitate the forethought and care of the irrational animals! Hence how often do we, from beholding a woman, suffer a thousand evils; returning home, and entertaining an inordinate desire, and experiencing anguish for many days; yet, nevertheless, we are not made discreet; but when we have scarcely cured one wound, we again fall into the same mischief, and are caught by the same means; and for the sake of the brief pleasure of a glance, we sustain a kind of lengthened and continual torment. But if we learn constantly to repeat to ourselves this saying, we shall be kept from all these grievous evils.

Moving beyond the externals to the inner source of our temptations

[10.] The beauty of woman is the greatest snare. Or rather, not the beauty of woman, but unchastened gazing! For we should not accuse the objects, but ourselves, and our own carelessness.

Nor should we say,

“Let there be no women,” but “Let there be no adulteries.”

We should not say,

“Let there be no beauty,” but “Let there be no fornication.”

We should not say,

“Let there be no belly,” but “Let there be no gluttony;”

For the belly makes not the gluttony, but our negligence.

We should not say, that it is because of eating and drinking that all these evils exist; for it is not because of this, but because of our carelessness and insatiableness.

Thus the devil neither ate nor drank, and yet he fell!

Paul ate and drank, and ascended up to heaven!

On wealth and poverty: Lessons from Job

How many do I hear say,

“Let there be no poverty!”

Therefore let us stop the mouths of those who murmur at such things. For it is blasphemy to utter such complaints.

To such then, let us say,

“Let there be no meanness of spirit.”

For poverty brings innumerable good things into our state of life and without poverty riches would be unprofitable.

Hence we should accuse neither the one nor the other of these;

for poverty and riches are both alike weapons which will tend to virtue, if we are willing.

As then the courageous soldier, whichever weapon he takes, displays his own virtue, so the unmanly and cowardly one is encumbered by either. And that you may learn that this is true, remember, I pray, the case of Job; who became both rich and likewise poor, and handled both these weapons alike, and conquered in both.

When he was rich, he said,

“My door was open to every comer” (Job 31:32).

But when he had become poor,

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21).

As it seemed good unto the Lord, so has it come to pass. When he was rich, he showed much hospitality; when he was poor, much patience.

And you, then—are you rich?

Display much bountifulness!

Have you become poor?

Show much endurance and patience!

For neither is wealth an evil nor poverty in itself; but these things, either of them, become so according to the free choice of those who make use of them.

Let us school ourselves then to entertain no such opinions on these subjects; nor let us accuse the works of God, but the wicked choice of men. Riches are not able to profit the little-minded: nor is poverty able ever to injure the magnanimous.

On living a life of luxury and how it leads into “great evils” and an “infinite host of miseries”

[11.] Again, to live in luxury does not seem to be a manifest and admitted crime; but then it brings forth in us great evils—drunkenness, violence, extortion, and rapine. For the prodigal and sumptuous liver, bestowing extravagant service upon the belly, is often compelled to steal, and to seize the property of others, and to use extortion and violence.

If, then, you avoid luxurious living, you remove the foundation of extortion, and rapine, and drunkenness, and a thousand other evils; cutting away the root of iniquity from its extremity.

Hence Paul says, that

“she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives” (I Tim 5:6).

Again, to go to the theatres, or to survey the horse-race, or to play at dice, does not seem, to most men, to be an admitted crime; but it introduces into our life an infinite host of miseries.

For spending time in the theatres produces fornication, intemperance, and every kind of impurity. The spectacle of the horse-race also brings about fightings, railings, blows, insults, and lasting enmities. And a passion for dice-playing has often caused blasphemies, injuries, anger, reproaches, and a thousand other things more fearful still.

A warning on walking “near” the “precipice”

[12.] Therefore, let us not only avoid sins, but those things too which seem to be indifferent, yet by degrees lead us into these misdeeds. He, indeed, who walks by the side of a precipice, even though he may not fall over, trembles; and very often he is overset by this same trembling, and falls to the bottom.

So also he who does not avoid sins from afar, but walks near them, will live in fear, and will often fall into them.

Besides, he who eagerly looks at strange beauties, although he may not commit adultery, has in so doing entertained lust; and has become already an adulterer according to the declaration of Christ (Mt 5:28); and often by this very lust he is carried on to the actual sin.

Let us then withdraw ourselves far from sins.

Do you wish to live soberly?

Avoid not only adultery, but also the licentious glance!

Do you wish to be far removed from foul words?

Avoid not only foul words, but also inordinate laughter, and every kind of lust.

Do you wish to keep far from committing murders?

Avoid railing too.

Do you wish to keep aloof from drunkenness?

Avoid luxury and sumptuous tables, and pluck up the vice by the roots.

The tongue itself as a “great snare”

[13.] The licentiousness of the tongue is a great snare, and needs a strong bridle. Therefore, one says that a man’s own lips are a powerful snare, and he is

“snared by the words of [his] own mouth” (Prov 6:2).

Above all the other members, then, let us control this; let us bridle it; and let us expel from the mouth railings, and contumelies, and foul and slanderous language, and the evil habit of oaths. For again our discourse has brought us to the same exhortation.

But I had arranged with your charity, yesterday, that I would say no more concerning this precept, forasmuch as enough has been said upon it on all the foregoing days.

But what is to become of me?

I cannot bear to desist from this counsel, until I see that you have put it in practice; since Paul also, when he says to the Galatians,

“Henceforth let no man trouble me” (6:17)

he appears again to have met and addressed them.

Such is the deep paternal compassion (ta patrika splánchna); although they say they will depart, yet they depart not, until they see that their sons are chastened.

On the “flying sickle” of judgment which will tear down the house of those who swear oaths (Zech 5:1-4)

Have you heard today what the prophet speaks to us concerning oaths:

“I lifted up my eyes, and I saw,” says he

“and, behold, a flying sickle, the length thereof twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits; and he said to me,

‘What do you see?’

And I said,

‘I see a flying sickle, twenty cubits in length, and ten cubits in breadth.’”

“It shall also enter into the house,” says he, “of every one that swears in my name, and shall remain in the midst, and shall pull down the stones and the wood” (Zech 5:1-2, 4).

What, in truth, is this which is here spoken?

And for what reason is it in the form of a “sickle” and that a “flying sickle,” that vengeance is seen to pursue the swearers?

In order that you may see that the judgment is inevitable, and the punishment not to be eluded. For from a flying sword someone might perchance be able to escape, but from a sickle, falling upon the neck, and acting in the place of a cord, no one can escape.

And when wings too are added, what further hope is there of safety?

But on what account does it pull down the stones and the wood of the swearer's house?

In order that the ruin may be a correction to all.

For since it is necessary that the earth must hide the swearer when dead; the very sight of his ruined house, now become a heap, will be an admonition to all who pass by and observe it, not to venture on the like, lest they suffer the like; and it will be a lasting witness against the sin of the departed.

On the fatal nature of oaths

The sword is not so piercing as the nature of an oath!

The sabre is not so destructive as the stroke of an oath!

The swearer, although he seems to live, is already dead, and has received the fatal blow. And as the man who has received the halter, before he has gone out of the city and come to the pit, and seen the executioner standing over him, is dead from the time he passed the doors of the hall of justice: so also the swearer.

On drawing others into an oath

[14.] All this let us consider and let us not put our brethren on oath.

What do you, O man?

At the sacred table you exact an oath and where Christ lies slain, there you slay your own brother.

Robbers, indeed, murder on the highways; but you slay the son in the presence of the mother: committing a murder more accursed than Cain himself; for he slew his brother in solitude and only with present death; but you slay your brother in the midst of the church, and that with the deathless death that is to come!

For think you that the church was made for this purpose, that we might swear?

Yea, for this it was made, that we might pray!

Is the Table placed there, that we may make adjurations?

It is placed there to this end, that we may loose sins, not that we may bind them.

But you, if you heed nothing else, reverence at least that book, which you reach forth in putting the oath; and open the Gospel, which you take in hand when you bid swear; and when you hear what Christ there declares concerning oaths, shudder and desist!

What then does He there say concerning oaths?

“But I say unto you, Swear not at all” (Mt 5:34).

And do you convert the Law which forbids swearing into an oath.

Oh, what contempt!

Oh, what outrage!

For you do just the same thing as if any one should bid the Lawgiver, Who prohibits murder, become himself a party to the murder.

On discernment in the Eucharist

Not so much do I lament and weep, when I hear that some persons are slain upon the highway, as I groan, and shed tears, and am horrified, when I see any one coming near this Table, placing his hands upon it, and touching the Gospels, and swearing!

Are you in doubt, I ask, concerning money, and would you slay a soul?

What do you gain to match the injury you do to your own soul and to your neighbor?

If you believe that the man is true, do not impose the obligation of the oath; but if you know him to be a liar, do not force him to commit perjury.

“But that I may have a full assurance,” says one.

Verily, when you have not sworn him, then you will receive a good and full assurance.

On discernment in refusing to call someone into an oath

[15]. For now, when you have returned home, you will be continually the prey of conscience, while reasoning thus with yourself,

“Was it to no purpose, then, that I put him upon his oath?

Was he not really perjured? Have I not become the cause of the sin?”

But if you do not put him upon his oath, you will receive much consolation on returning home, rendering thanks to God, and saying,

“Blessed be God, that I restrained myself, and did not compel him to swear vainly and to no purpose.”

Away with gold!

Perish the money!

For that which specially gives us assurance is, that we did not transgress the law, nor compel another to do it.

Consider, for Whose sake you did not put any one on his oath; and this will suffice you for refreshment and consolation.

On the eternal benefit of applying God’s Law rightly

Often, indeed, when a fight takes place, we bear being insulted with fortitude, and we say to the insulter,

“What shall I do with you?”

Such an one hinders me, who is your patron; he keeps back my hands.

And this is sufficient to console us. So when you are about to put any one on his oath, restrain yourself; and stop; and say to him who is about to swear,

“What shall I do with you?

God has forbidden me to put any one on oath.

He now holds me back.”

This suffices both for the honor of the Lawgiver, and for your safety, and for keeping him in fear who is ready to swear.

For when he sees that we are thus afraid to put others on oath, much more will he himself be afraid to swear rashly. Would you say thus, your return to your own home would be with much fullness of assurance.

Hear God, therefore, in His Commandments, that He may Himself hear you in your prayers! This word shall be written in heaven, and shall stand by you on the Day of Judgment, and shall discharge many sins.

Measuring a course of action by looking “not merely at the loss connected with the matter, but at the gain which we shall reap by doing it for God”

[16.] This also let us consider not only with respect to an oath, but to every thing.

And when we are about to do any good action for God's sake, and it is found to bring loss with it, let us look not merely at the loss connected with the matter, but at the gain which we shall reap by doing it for God.

That is to say,

Has any one insulted you?

Bear it nobly! And you will do so, if you think not of the insult merely, but of the dignity of Him who commands you to bear it, and you bear it meekly.

Have you given an alms?

Think not of the outlay, but of the produce which arises from the outlay.

Have you been swindled out of money?

Give thanks, and regard not only the pain which is the result of the loss, but the gain which comes of thanksgiving.

If we thus regulate ourselves, none of those heavy events which may befall us will give us pain; but from those things which may seem to be grievous, we shall be even gainers, and loss will be sweeter and more desired than wealth, pain than pleasure, and mirth and insult than honor.

Thus all things adverse will turn to our gain.

And here we shall enjoy much tranquility, and there we shall attain the kingdom of heaven; which God grant that we may all be deemed worthy to obtain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom, to the Father with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever, and world without end.

Amen.

[Source: Translated by W.R.W. Stephens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 9. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/190115.htm>.]

Note: Section [5.] is not numbered in the above translation, as it skips from section [4.] to section [6.]. And for some reason section [13.] was not included in the above translation, but it was added from an Kindle version of the Complete Works of John Chrysostom, location 91077-91084.]