Homilies on First Corinthians 25

Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question for conscience' sake.

Having said that it is impossible to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, and having once for all led them away from those tables, from Jewish examples, from human reasonings, from the awful mysteries, from what is performed in

the idols' rites, and having instilled much fear into them,

in order that he might not by this very fear again push them into another excess, and that they might not be compelled, employing more scrupulosity than is fitting, to be afraid, lest without their knowing it something of the kind should enter in, either from the market or from anywhere else—releasing them from this constraint, he says:

Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question.

For if, he says, you eat in ignorance and without knowing, you are not subject to the punishment;

for the matter then belongs to ignorance, not to gluttony.

And not from this anxiety only does he deliver them, but from another also, procuring for them much immunity and freedom.

For neither does he suffer them to inquire, that is, to examine and ask whether it be an idol-sacrifice or not such;

but simply to eat all that comes from the market, not even learning this—what in the world the thing set before them is.

So that it is possible even for one who has eaten in ignorance to be acquitted.

For such are the things that are not evil by nature, but produce their uncleanness from the intention.

For this cause he says, Asking no question.

For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, not the demons'.

But if the earth and the fruits and all the irrational creatures are His, nothing is unclean;

but it becomes unclean in another way, from the intention and from disobedience.

For this cause he not only permitted, but also, If any one, he says, of the unbelievers bid you, and you are minded to go, whatsoever is set before you eat, asking no question for conscience' sake.

Behold again the exact proportion;

for he neither enjoined nor made it a law to go, nor yet did he forbid it;

but when they have gone, he again releases them from all suspicion.

Why in the world? That such great officiousness might not seem to be the effect of some fear and cowardice.

For he that is over-curious does this as one that is afraid;

but he that after hearing abstains, abstains as one despising and hating and turning away.

Wherefore Paul, wishing to establish both, says:

Whatsoever is set before you, eat.

But if any one say to you, This is an idol-sacrifice, eat not, for his sake that showed it.

For it is not as though they had any power, but as of abominable things, that he bids them abstain.

Do not, therefore, flee them as though they could do you harm;

nor, since they have no power at all, partake of them indifferently;

for it is the table of enemies and of those who are dishonored.

Wherefore he said, 'Eat not,' on account of him that showed it, and on account of conscience;

for 'the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.'

Do you see how, both when he bids us eat and when we must abstain, he brings the same testimony into the midst? For I do not forbid it on this ground, he says, as though these things belonged to others;

but for the very reason I stated, on account of conscience, that is, lest anyone be harmed.

Must one then make inquiry? No, he says;

for I did not speak of your own conscience, but of his.

For anticipating this I said, 'On account of him that showed it;'

and again, 'But I say conscience, not your own, but that of the other.'

But perhaps someone might say: 'With good reason you spare the brethren, and do not allow us to taste for their sakes, lest their conscience, being weak, should be so managed as to eat things offered to idols;

but if he be a Greek, what is this to you? Did you not say, "For what have I to do to judge them that are without?" Wherefore then are you again concerned about them?' I am not concerned about him, he says, but here too about you.

'For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience?'—calling liberty that which is unobserved and unhindered;

for this is liberty, being set free from Jewish bondage.

God has made me free, and superior to all harm;

but the Greek does not know how to judge according to my philosophy, nor to perceive the munificence of my Master, but will condemn and say to himself:

'The religion of the Christians is a fable; they abstain from idols, they flee demons, and yet they cling to the things offered to them;

great is the gluttony among them.'

And what harm is it to us, if that man judge amiss? But how much better is it not to give him any occasion to judge at all? For if you abstain, he will not even say these things.

How, he says, will he not say it? For when he sees you not inquiring into these matters, neither in the meat-market nor at the banquet, how will he not speak and condemn you, as though you partook indifferently? By no means;

you do partake, but as of things that are clean;

and if you make no inquiry, it is in order to show that you do not dread the things set before you.

For this reason, whether you enter into a Greek's house, or go into the market-place, I do not permit you to ask questions, lest you become timorous and panic-stricken, or bring superfluous troubles upon yourself.

'If I by grace partake, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?' Of what do you partake by grace? Tell me.

For His grace is so great as to render my soul undefiled and above every stain.

For just as the sun, sending forth its rays upon many defilements, again draws them back pure;

so also we, and much more, though we turn about in the midst of the world, remain pure, if we will, inasmuch as we possess even greater power.

'Why then do you abstain?' he says. Not as one who is about to become unclean—God forbid!—but on account of the brother, and that I may not become a partaker with demons, and that I may not be judged by the unbeliever.

For here it is no longer nature, but disobedience and friendship with demons that make me unclean, and it is the will that works the defilement.

But what does it mean, 'Why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?' For I, he says, give thanks to God, that He has made me so exalted and superior to Jewish lowliness, as to be harmed from no quarter;

but the Greeks, not knowing my philosophy, will suspect the contrary and say that the Christians crave after our things, and are certain hypocrites, slandering demons and turning away from them, yet running to their tables;

than which what could be more senseless? Then it is not for the sake of truth, but out of ambition and love of power, that they have come to this doctrine.

How great a folly would it then be, that for those things wherein I have been so benefited as even to give thanks, for these very things I should become a cause of blasphemy? But will the Greek even now say these things, he says, when he sees you making no inquiry? By no means;

for neither are all things full of idol-sacrifices, that he should suspect this;

nor do you yourself taste of them as of things offered to idols.

Do not, then, make superfluous inquiry; nor again, when certain persons say, 'It is an idol-sacrifice,' partake of it.

For Christ also gave you grace, and made you exalted and greater than the harm from that quarter, not that you should be evil spoken of, nor that, from the very source whence you gained so much as even to give thanks, you should thence so harm others as even to cause blasphemy.

For why do I not say to the Greek, he says, 'I too eat, and am nothing harmed, and it is not as loving the demons that I do this'? Because you cannot persuade him, though you say it ten thousand times;

for he is weak, and an enemy.

For if you have not yet persuaded the brother, much more the enemy and the Greek.

If that one is held fast by the conscience concerning the idol-sacrifice, much more the unbeliever.

But what need have we of so many affairs? What then—since we have known Christ and give thanks, but those men blaspheme—shall we for this reason withdraw even from this? Away with the thought!

For in the former case there is much gain in bearing the blasphemy, but here there will be nothing more.

For neither, if we eat, are we the better; nor, if we eat not, are we the worse.

And apart from this, he has declared the thing to be something to be shunned, so that from this side too one must abstain from them, not on this account only, but also for the other reasons which he has stated.

'Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.'

Do you see how from the matter in hand he led up the exhortation to what is universal, giving us one most excellent rule, that God should be glorified through all things? 'Give no occasion of stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the Church of God.'

That is, give no handle to any one.

For both the brother is offended, and the Jew will hate you the more and condemn you, and the Greek likewise will laugh at you as a glutton and a hypocrite.

And not only ought we not to smite the brethren, but, so far as is possible, not even those who are without.

For if we are light and leaven and luminaries and salt, we ought to enlighten, not to darken;

to draw the unbelievers to ourselves, not to put them to flight.

Why then do you drive away those whom you ought to attract? For the Greeks also are smitten, when they see us running back again to such things;

for they know not, that the soul has become superior to every sensible defilement.

And the Jews too, and the weaker of the brethren, will suffer the same.

Do you see how many reasons he has laid down, on account of which one must abstain from things offered to idols? On account of its unprofitableness, on account of its superfluity, on account of the harm to the brother, on account of the blasphemy of the Jew, on account of the evil-speaking of the Greek, on account of the duty not to have fellowship with demons, on account of the thing being a kind of idolatry.

Then, since he had said, 'Give no occasion of stumbling,' and had made them responsible both for the harm of the Greeks and for that of the Jews, and what was said was burdensome, observe how he makes it acceptable and light, setting himself in the midst, and saying:

'Even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.'

'Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.'

This is the canon of the most perfect Christianity, this is the rule accurately defined, this is the highest summit, namely, to seek the things that are for the common good.

Which he himself also, making it plain, added:

For nothing can so make one an imitator of Christ as caring for one's neighbors.

Nay, though you should fast, though you should lie on the ground, though you should even strangle yourself, but take no forethought for your neighbor, you have wrought nothing great, but even so doing you still stand far off from this image.

And yet here the thing is even by nature profitable, namely, to abstain from things offered to idols;

but I, he says, have done many things even of those that were unprofitable, as, for instance, when I circumcised, when I offered sacrifice.

For these things, if one examine them in themselves, both destroy those who practice them and cause them to fall from salvation;

but nevertheless I endured even these for the sake of the gain arising from them.

But here there is nothing of the sort.

For there, unless the benefit be present, and its being done for others' sake, then the thing becomes a harm;

But here, even if there be no one who is caused to stumble, one ought even so to abstain from the things forbidden.

And it was not merely hurtful things, but also toilsome ones, that I endured.

'For I plundered other Churches,' he says, 'taking wages'; and though it was lawful to eat and not to labour, I did not seek this, but I chose rather to perish by famine than to cause another to stumble.

For this reason he says, 'I please all men in all things.'

Whether it be something unlawful, or toilsome and perilous, that I must do, I endure all things for the benefit of others.

Being therefore superior to all in strictness, he became inferior to all in condescension.

For no good deed can be exceedingly great, when the profit is not imparted also to others;

and this is shown by him who brought back the talent whole, and yet was cut asunder because he had not made it to increase.

You too, therefore, brother, though you remain without food, though you sleep upon the ground, though you eat ashes, though you lament continually, yet if you profit no one else, you will accomplish nothing great.

For to those great and noble men of old also this was the object of chief concern;

examine their life with exactness, and you will see plainly that none of them ever looked to his own things, but each to the things of his neighbour;

For by Moses too many great wonders and signs were wrought;

yet nothing made him so great as that blessed utterance which he sent up to God, saying:

'If you will forgive them their sin, forgive it';

wherefore also he said, 'I the shepherd have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these, the flock, what have they done? Let your hand be upon me, and upon the house of my father.'

Thus also Abraham sought not his own advantage, but that of the many.

Wherefore also he gave himself up to dangers, and entreated God on behalf of those who in no way belonged to him.

And these men indeed shone forth thus;

but observe how those who sought their own things were also harmed.

This man's nephew, at least, when he heard, 'If you go to the right, I will go to the left,' and, taking the choice, sought his own advantage, did not find even his own;

but this land was burned up with fire, while that other remained untouched.

Jonah again, not seeking the advantage of the many, but his own, was in danger even of perishing;

and while the city stood firm, he himself was tossed and storm-tossed and sunk into the deep.

But when he sought the advantage of the many, then he also found his own.

Thus also Jacob, over the flocks not seeking his own gain, enjoyed great abundance.

And Joseph too, seeking the advantage of his brethren, found his own.

For when he was sent by his father, he did not say, 'What is this? Have you not heard that, because of the vision and the dreams, they sought even to tear me in pieces, and that I was called to account for dreams, and that I am paying the penalty for being loved by you? What then will they not do to me, once they have me in their midst?' None of these things did he say, nor did he even think of them, but he preferred the service of his brethren before all things.

For this reason also he enjoyed all the good things that came afterward, which made him exceedingly illustrious and rendered him glorious.

For nothing hinders us from making mention of him a second time also, and seeing how he overlooked his own concerns and sought the things of others.

For this man, moving amid royal courts, when he counted the reproach greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, and cast all these from his hands,

shared in the sufferings of the Hebrews, and not only was he himself not enslaved, but he also delivered those others from slavery.

Great, then, are these things, and worthy of an angelic manner of life.

But that of Paul has much surpassing greatness.

For all those others, forsaking their own good things, chose to share in the evils of their neighbours;

but Paul did something much greater.

For he did not merely will to share in the calamities of others, but he chose himself to be among the lowest, that others might come to be among good things.

And it is not the same thing, being in luxury to cast away luxury and to suffer hardship, and, oneself alone suffering hardship, to make others to be in security and honour.

For in the former case, even if it be a great thing to exchange good things for evil for the sake of one's neighbour, yet it carries some consolation to have partners in the misfortune;

but to be willing to be oneself alone amid painful things, that others may enjoy good things—this belongs to a far more heroic soul and to Paul's high mind.

And not by this alone, but also by another and greater excess, he surpasses all those aforementioned.

For Abraham and all the rest cast themselves into dangers belonging to the present life, and all those men without exception asked for this present death;

but Paul prayed to fall away from the glory that is to come, for the sake of the salvation of others.

I have also a third excess to tell.

And what is this? That some of those men, even if they stood forth on behalf of those who plotted against them, were nevertheless men whose leadership had been entrusted to them;

and it came to the same thing as if one should stand forth on behalf of a son who is base indeed and lawless, yet a son nonetheless;

but Paul willed to be accursed on behalf of those over whom the guardianship had not been entrusted to him;

for he had been sent to the Gentiles.

Do you see the greatness of soul and the height of mind that overpasses heaven itself? This do you emulate;

and if you cannot, then at least those who shone forth in the Old Testament.

For thus you will find what is profitable to yourself, if you seek that of your neighbour.

So that whenever you shrink from caring for your brother, considering that you cannot otherwise be saved, then at least for your own sake stand forth on his behalf and on behalf of his affairs.

For the things already said are indeed sufficient to persuade that in no other way is it possible to find what is profitable to us.

But if you wish to learn this also from examples in common use, consider: if it should happen that a fire were kindled somewhere in a house, and then some of those dwelling nearby, looking to their own interest, should not array themselves against the dangers, but should shut themselves up and remain at home, fearing lest some one entering should steal away something of what is within—how great a punishment will they undergo? For the fire, coming on, will consume all their goods also;

and because they did not regard the advantage of their neighbour, they lose their own along with it.

For God, willing to bind all men to one another, laid upon affairs such a necessity, that in the advantage of one's neighbour the advantage of the other is bound up;

and the whole world has been framed together in this way.

For this very reason also, in a ship, if when a storm has arisen the pilot, abandoning the advantage of the many, should seek his own alone, he will quickly sink both himself and them.

And every art too, if it should look to its own advantage alone, would not—

life could ever stand, nor the art that seeks this.

For this reason the husbandman does not sow so much grain as would suffice for himself alone;

since long ago he would have destroyed both himself and others;

but he seeks the advantage of the many;

and the soldier, not that he may save himself, arrays himself against dangers, but that he may also establish the cities in safety;

and the merchant brings not so much as would suffice for himself alone, but as much as would suffice for many others also.

But if any one should say that it is not my interest, but his own, that each man regards in doing these things;

for in acquiring wealth for himself and glory and security, he transacts all these things;

so that in seeking my advantage, he seeks his own;

this too I affirm, and long since desired to hear it, and for this cause I made the whole discourse, namely to show that then does one's neighbour seek his own advantage, when he regards yours.

For since men would not otherwise endure to seek the things of their neighbour, unless they were placed under this necessity, for this reason God thus yoked these things together, and does not permit one first to come to his own advantage, unless he has journeyed by way of the advantages of others.

This, then, is a human thing—thus to go after the advantage of one's neighbour;

But we ought to be persuaded not from this, but from the things that seem good to God.

For it is not possible to be saved without having this.

But even if you practise the highest philosophy, yet neglect the rest who are perishing, you will gain no boldness before God.

Whence is this plain? From the things which the blessed Paul declared.

For 'if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and give my body to be burned, but have not love, I am nothing profited,' he says.

Do you see how much Paul requires of us? And yet the one who gave food to feed the poor sought not his own but his neighbour's good.

But this alone does not suffice, he says.

For he wishes it to be done with genuineness and with much fellow-feeling.

For this reason God also ordained it, that He might lead men into the bond of love.

When therefore he demands so great a measure, and we do not so much as offer the lesser part, of what pardon shall we be worthy? And how then, someone says, did God say to Lot through the angels, 'Save, save your own soul'? Tell me: when, and for what reason?

It was when the punishment was already being brought upon them, not when there was still opportunity for correction, but when they had already been condemned and were sick with an incurable disease, when both old and young had rushed into the same lusts, and it now remained only that they should be burned up, and on that very day when the thunderbolts were about to fall.

Besides, this was not spoken concerning vice and virtue, but concerning the God-sent plague.

For what ought he to have done? Tell me.

To sit still and receive the vengeance, and to be burned up while profiting those men nothing? But this would have been the utmost folly.

For neither do I say this, that one ought simply and at random to punish oneself contrary to what seems good to God;

but when a man persists in wickedness, then I bid one throw himself into the midst and set about correcting him;

if you will, for your neighbour's sake;

but if not, then at least for the sake of your own profit.

For that former motive is the better;

but if you do not attain unto that height, then do it at least for this reason.

And let no one seek his own, that he may find his own;

and considering that neither voluntary poverty, nor martyrdom, nor anything else will be able to stand in our defence unless we have the highest love, let us keep this before all else, that through it we may attain both the other things and the good things both present and promised;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, honour, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.