Homilies on First Corinthians 9

'If any man buildeth upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,

each man's work shall be made manifest.

For the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire;

and the fire itself shall prove each man's work, of what sort it is.'

'If any man's work abide which he built thereupon, he shall receive a reward;

if any man's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss;

but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.'

This question set before us is no small one, but concerns matters of the utmost necessity, which all men inquire about, namely, whether the fire of hell has an end.

For that it has none, Christ declared, saying:

'Their fire shall not be quenched, and their worm shall not die.'

And I know indeed that you grow numb at hearing these things;

but what am I to do? For God commands that these things be continually sounded in men's ears, saying;

and we are appointed to the ministry of the word, and it is of necessity that we be burdensome to our hearers, not willingly, but under compulsion.

Or rather, if you will, we shall not be burdensome;

'For if,' saith he, 'thou do that which is good, fear not.'

So that it is possible for you to hear us not only without aversion, but even with pleasure.

That, then, it has no end, Christ has also declared;

and Paul too says, showing that the chastisement is undying, that they who sin shall pay the penalty of eternal destruction;

'neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate shall inherit the kingdom of God;'

'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'

And Christ too, to those who said, 'In Thy name we did many mighty works,' saith:

'Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.'

And the virgins too, when shut out, entered in no more;

and concerning those who did not feed Him He saith, that 'They shall go away into eternal punishment.'

Where is the principle of justice preserved, if the punishment has no end? For when God does anything, be persuaded by His decrees, and do not subject His words to human reasonings.

But in another way, how would it not be just that one who has received from the beginning countless good things, and then has done deeds worthy of punishment, and has been made better neither by threat nor by benefit, should be punished? For if thou examinest what is just, we ought to have perished straightway from the beginning, according to the principle of justice;

or rather, not even then according to the principle of justice alone.

For it also involved lovingkindness, even if we had suffered this that took place.

For when one insults him who has done him no wrong, according to the principle of justice he pays the penalty;

but when one insults his benefactor—one who suffered no prior wrong, but did him countless good, who alone was the cause of his very being, being God, and breathed into him a soul, and bestowed on him ten thousand gifts, and willed to lead him up into heaven—if after so many benefits he not only insults Him, but even insults Him daily by the things he does, of what pardon shall he be worthy? Seest thou not how He punished Adam for one sin? 'Yea,' saith one, 'but He gave that man Paradise, and made him enjoy much favour.'

And yet it is not the same thing to sin while enjoying security, and to sin while set in much affliction.

For this too is the terrible thing, that thou sinnest not while in Paradise, but amid the ten thousand evils of the present life, and dost not become more temperate even by thy misery;

just as if one, though bound, should practise wickedness.

But to thee He has promised even things greater than Paradise;

And He neither granted it at once, lest He should make you slack in the season of the contests, nor kept silence, lest He should cast you down beneath your labors.

And that man, having committed a single sin, drew upon himself death entire; but we transgress ten thousand times each and every day.

But if he, having wrought but one sin, drew upon himself so great an evil and brought in death,

we who live continually in sins, what shall we not suffer, we who look for heaven instead of paradise? Burdensome is this discourse, and it grieves the hearer;

and from what I myself suffer, this I know;

for my heart also is troubled and throbs;

and the more I see the doctrine of hell being established, so much the more do I tremble and shrink back in dread.

But it is necessary to speak these things, that we may not fall into hell.

You have not received a paradise, nor trees and plants, but heaven and the good things that are in the heavens.

But if he who received the lesser was condemned, and no plea delivered him, much more shall we, who sin more and are called to greater things, endure things past remedy.

Consider, then, how long a time our race abides in death because of a single sin.

Five thousand years and more have passed away, and death has not yet

been abolished, because of a single sin.

Nor can we say that Adam heard prophets, or that he saw others being punished for their sins, and that from this it was likely he should have feared and been brought to soberness by the very example;

for he was then the first and the only one, yet nonetheless he was punished.

But you could put forward none of these excuses—you who, after so many examples, have become worse; you who were counted worthy of so great a Spirit, and who draw upon yourself not one nor two nor three, but ten thousand sins.

For do not look to this, that sins are committed in a brief moment, and on this account suppose that the punishment too is but of a moment.

Do you not see those men who often, for a single theft or a single act of adultery committed in a brief moment, have wasted their whole life in prisons and in the mines, wrestling with unceasing famine and ten thousand deaths? And no one delivered them, nor said that, since the sin was committed in a brief span of time, the punishment too ought to be counterbalanced to the sin and hold to that measure of time.

But it is men, one says, who do these things, whereas God is loving toward mankind.

First, then, not even men do these things out of cruelty, but out of love toward mankind;

and God likewise, even as He is loving toward mankind, so also does He bring punishment;

for according to His mercy, great also is His reproof.

When, therefore, you say that God is loving toward mankind, then you tell me of a greater occasion for punishment, in that we sin against such a One.

A fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God.

Bear with me, I beseech you, in the fire of these words;

for perhaps, perhaps there will be for you some consolation from this.

What man can punish as God punished, when He brought a flood and utter destruction upon so great a race, and after a little again rained down fire from above, and swept all away outright? What punishment of men can be such as this? Do you not see that the punishment here also is well-nigh immortal? Four thousand years have passed, and the vengeance upon the men of Sodom still abides in full force.

For just as His love toward mankind is great, so also is His punishment.

For indeed, if He had enjoined certain burdensome and impossible things, perhaps one might have had the difficulty of the laws to put forward as a plea;

but if they are exceedingly easy, what could we say, who make no account even of these? You cannot fast, nor practice virginity? And yet you can, if you will, and those who have been able condemn us;

yet nonetheless God did not deal with us according to this strictness, nor did He enjoin these things nor lay them down as law, but left the choice to lie in the judgment of the hearers;

but to live soberly in marriage you can, and not to be drunken you can.

You cannot empty out all your possessions? And yet you can, and those who have done so make it plain;

yet nonetheless neither did He enjoin this, but commanded that we should not plunder, and that out of what we have we should succor those in need.

But if anyone should say, I cannot be content with my wife alone, he deceives himself and reasons falsely;

and those who live chastely without a wife condemn him.

But what, tell me, can you not refrain from reviling? Can you not refrain from cursing? And indeed it is the doing of these things that is burdensome, not the not doing of them.

What defense, then, have we, who do not keep things so light and easy? There is none to plead.

That the punishment, then, is immortal, is plain from all that has been said;

but since to some the saying of Paul seems to contradict this, come, let us examine this too, bringing it forward into the midst.

For having said, If any man's work abide which he has built upon it, he shall receive a reward;

and, If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, he added;

But he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.

What, then, shall we say to this?

Let us first consider what is the foundation, and what is the gold, and what are the precious stones, and what is the grass, and what is the stubble.

Now the foundation he plainly declared to be Christ, when he said:

For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, he says, which is Christ Jesus.

But the building, it seems to me, is our deeds.

And yet some say that this very thing was spoken concerning teachers and disciples, and concerning corrupt heresies;

but the reasoning does not admit of it.

For if this be so, how is it that the work

perishes, yet he who built it shall be saved, though so as through fire? For it were rather fitting that the one responsible should perish; but as it is, the one who was built up will be found to pay the greater penalty.

For if the teacher has become the cause of the wickedness, he deserves to pay the greater penalty;

how, then, shall he be saved? But if he is not the cause, but the disciples have become such through their own perversity, then he who built well is not at all deserving to pay any penalty, nor even to suffer any loss.

How, then, does he say, He shall suffer loss? Whence it is plain that the discourse is concerning deeds.

For since he is about presently to direct his words against the fornicator, from the outset and long beforehand he lays down the preliminaries.

For he knows, while discoursing about one matter, in that very discourse about the one matter to prepare beforehand for another, to which he is about to proceed.

For indeed, while rebuking them for not waiting for one another at the love-feasts, he prepared the way for his discourse concerning the mysteries.

But that even now he is pressing toward the fornicator, after speaking of the foundation, he added:

Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.

And these things he said, already shaking with fear the soul of the fornicator.

If any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble.

For after faith there is need of building up;

Build one another up in these words.

For indeed both the craftsman and the learner contribute together in the building;

But let each man take heed how he builds thereon.

But if these things had been spoken concerning faith, the saying would have no reason in it.

For in faith all ought to be equal, since there is one faith;

but in the virtue of one's life it is not possible for all to be the same.

For faith is not one lesser and another better, but it is the same for all who truly believe;

But in the course of life it happens that some are more earnest and others more indolent;

some are more exact, and others more deficient;

some have accomplished the greater things, and others the lesser;

and some have committed the more grievous faults, and others the slighter.

For this reason he spoke of gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble.

'Each man's work shall be made manifest.'

'If any man's work abide, which he built thereupon, he shall receive a reward;'

'if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss.'

And yet, if what is said were about disciples and teachers, the teacher ought not to suffer loss if the disciples did not give heed. For on this account he says:

'Each man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour;'

not according to the outcome, but according to the labour.

For what if the hearers did not attend? Whence it is plain from this also, that what is said is about works.

If any man leads an evil life together with a right faith, his faith will not stand up for him so as to keep him from being punished, his work being burned up.

But the phrase 'shall be burned' means this: he will not endure the rushing force of the fire.

But just as if a man having golden armour should pass through a river of fire, he comes across the brighter;

whereas if he should pass through having hay, he not only gains nothing, but even destroys himself;

so also is it in the case of works.

For he does not say this as though discoursing of things that have real substance and are consumed in flame, but rather wishing to intensify the fear, and to show stripped of all safety the man who lives in wickedness.

'But he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.'

Shall not he too himself thus perish, like his works, passing into nothingness?

At any rate he calls the matter salvation, he says.

For indeed it is also our custom to say, 'It is preserved in the fire,' concerning those materials which are not burned up and immediately reduced to ashes.

Do not therefore, because you have heard of fire, suppose that those who are burned pass into non-existence.

And if he calls even such a punishment 'salvation,' do not marvel;

for it is his custom to use fair names even for things ill-sounding, and for good things the contrary names.

For example, the name 'captivity' seems to be the name of an evil thing;

yet Paul used it for a good thing, saying:

'Taking captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ.'

And again, for an evil thing he used a name of good omen, saying;

and yet the name of 'kingdom' is rather one of good omen.

So also here, when he said, 'He shall be saved,' he hinted at nothing else than the intensity of the punishment, as if he said:

'But he himself shall abide perpetually under punishment.'

'Know ye not that ye are a temple of God?' For since in what went before he discoursed about those who rend the Church asunder, he now lays hold also of the man who had committed fornication—not yet openly, but indefinitely—hinting at his corrupt life, and aggravating the sin from the gift already bestowed upon him.

Then he also puts the others to shame from these same things which already existed.

For he always does this—either from things to come, or from things already done, whether painful or good.

'For the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire;'

and from the things already done:

'Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy.'

Do you see the vehemence of the word? But so long as the person is undisclosed, what is said is not so grievous, since the fear of the rebuke is distributed among all.

And this belongs not to one who curses, but to one who prophesies.

'For the temple of God is holy.'

But he that has committed fornication is profane.

Then, that he might not seem to be directing his words against that man, having said, 'For the temple of God is holy,' he adds:

And this too is against that man, as one who supposed himself to be something, and prided himself on his wisdom.

And that he might not seem to be aiming his words at him at excessive length in passing, having cast him into anguish and delivered him over to fear, he again brings the discourse round to the common charge, saying:

'If any man among you thinketh himself to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.'

And he now does this with much boldness, seeing that he has sufficiently subdued them.

For though a man be rich, though he be well-born, he is baser than the basest whenever he is caught in the grip of sin.

For just as, even though a man be a king, if he become a slave of barbarians, he is the most wretched of all;

so also is it in the matter of sin.

For sin is a barbarian, and knows not how to spare the soul once it has been captured, but plays the tyrant to the ruin of those who admit it.

For nothing is so unreasoning as sin, nothing so senseless and foolish and headlong;

it overturns and confounds and destroys everything wherever it leaps in;

unpleasant to behold, burdensome and oppressive.

And if some painter were to portray her, he would not seem to me to err in portraying her thus—as a certain woman of bestial form, barbarous, breathing fire, joyless, black, such as the poets of the heathen depict the Scyllas.

For with ten thousand hands she lays hold of our reasonings, and unexpectedly comes upon us, and tears everything to pieces, like dogs that bite by stealth.

Or rather, what need have we of painting, when we ought to bring into the midst those who have been fashioned after her likeness? Whom then would you have us portray first? The covetous man and the plunderer? And what could be more shameless than those eyes of his? What more impudent and dog-like? For not even a dog stands so shamelessly as this man, when he snatches away what belongs to all.

What is more defiled than those hands? What more reckless than that mouth which swallows all things down and is never sated? For do not look at his face and eyes, that they are a man's;

for human eyes do not look upon such things.

He does not see men as men, he does not see the heaven as heaven, nor does he lift up his gaze towards the Master, but he thinks that all things are money.

The eyes of men are wont to look upon the poor who are worn down, and to be moved with compassion;

but these eyes of the plunderer look upon the poor, and are made savage;

the eyes of men look not upon what belongs to others as their own, but even upon their own as belonging to others, and they covet not the things given to others, but even pour out their own to others;

but these men cannot bear it, unless they seize what belongs to all;

for they have an eye that is not human, but beastly.

They cannot endure to see their own body naked;

for it is their own, even though in appearance it belongs to others;

but these men, unless they strip everyone bare, and store up all men's goods in their own house, never obtain satisfaction; or rather, are never filled.

Wherefore one might say that their hands are not merely the hands of wild beasts, but even far more savage and grievous than these.

For bears and wolves, when they have taken their fill, desist from such food;

But these men know no satiety.

And yet it was for this purpose that God gave us hands, that we might help others, not that we might plot against them.

But if we are going to use them for this end, it were better that they were cut off, and that we were without them.

Now if a wild beast tears a sheep, you are grieved;

yet when you do this very thing to one of your own kind, do you not think you are doing anything dreadful? And how could you still be a man? Do you not see that we call a thing 'humane' when it is full of mercy and lovingkindness? but when a man does anything cruel and savage, we name such a one 'inhuman.'

Therefore we delineate the character of the man from showing mercy, and that of the beast from the opposite, saying continually:

'Is he a man? He is a wild beast, or a dog.'

For men correct poverty, they do not increase it.

The very mouths of these men are the mouths of beasts, nay rather even more savage than those;

for indeed they utter words that, more than the teeth of beasts, discharge venom and work slaughter.

And if one were to review all these things, then would he see clearly how inhumanity makes beasts out of men who practise it.

And if one were also to examine the mind of such men, no longer will he call them merely beasts, but he will name them very demons.

For indeed they are full of much savagery and of enmity toward their fellow-servant;

and there is neither longing for the kingdom there, nor fear of hell, no reverence for men, no mercy, no compassion, but shamelessness and effrontery, and contempt of all things to come;

and the words of God concerning punishment seem to them a fable, and His threatening a matter for laughter.

For such is the mind of the covetous man.

When therefore within there are demons, and without wild beasts, and worse than wild beasts, where shall we place such men, tell me? For that they are indeed worse than wild beasts is plain from this:

Wild beasts are such by nature;

but these men, though by nature possessing gentleness, force themselves against nature to drive themselves out into brutishness.

The demons, moreover, have as fellow-workers with themselves the men who plot against others;

so that if these did not co-operate, the greater part of the plots against us would have been destroyed for them;

but these men undertake to prevail even over those they wrong, though these strive against them.

Again, the demon makes war upon man, not upon demons of his own kind;

but this man is eager to injure by every means his kindred and his own, and does not even reverence nature.

I know that many are offended with us on account of these words;

but I am not offended with them; rather I have pity and weep over those who are so disposed;

and even if they should wish to strike me, I would gladly bear it, if only they would refrain from this brutishness.

For not I alone, but the prophet also together with us casts such men out of the kinship of mankind, saying that, 'Man being in honour understood not, but was compared to the senseless beasts.'

Let us therefore become men at last, and let us look up to heaven, and recover the image after which we were made, and reclaim ourselves, that we may also attain the good things to come, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, honour, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.