Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 48

'I am a man which am a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city;

and I beseech you, permit me to speak unto the people.'

Paul, standing upon the stairs, beckoned with his hand unto the people.

And when there was made a great silence, he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, saying:

Observe him: whenever he discourses with those outside, he does not decline to make use of the aids that come from the laws.

Here he shames them by an appeal to his city.

So too before he had said:

'They have beaten us openly, uncondemned men, being Romans, and have cast us into prison.'

For since he had inquired, 'Are you the Egyptian?'—'I am,' he says, 'a man which am a Jew.'

Having spoken thus, he at once led him away from this suspicion.

Then, lest he should be thought a Jew merely by nation, he tells his religion;

for indeed elsewhere too he calls himself under the law of Christ.

What is this? Does Paul lie? Away with the thought!

What then? Did he not deny it? God forbid;

for he was both a Jew and a Christian, keeping whatever needed to be kept, since he above all men most obeyed the law, believing in Christ; and discoursing with Peter he says:

'And I beseech you, permit me to speak unto the people.'

And this too is a proof that he does not lie, in that he brought forward all as witnesses.

Consider him again discoursing with gentleness.

And this again is a very great proof that he was answerable for nothing—his being thus ready for a defense, and his willingness to render account to the assembly of the Jews.

Behold a man appointed to his post; behold the divine ordering.

Had the chief captain not come, had he not bound him, he would not have needed to make a speech in defense, nor would he have enjoyed so great a silence.

And when he had given him leave, Paul stood upon the stairs.

And from the place too there was much advantage—that being both raised on high he made his public speech, and that while bound.

What is equal to this spectacle, to see Paul making a public speech bound with two chains? How was he not confounded, how was he not overwhelmed, seeing so great a populace set in hostility, with the ruler standing over him? First he removed them from their wrath, then he discoursed;

for what he did in the Epistle to the Hebrews, this also here;

first he draws them to himself by the kinship of the tongue;

wherefore also, making this plain, he adds:

'And when there was made a great silence,' it says, 'he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, saying:'

'Men, brethren, and fathers, hear my defense which I now make unto you.'

Observe how his speech is free from flattery and yet possesses gentleness.

For he did not say, 'Masters,' nor 'Lords,' but 'Brethren.'

This is what they most longed for, as if he were saying:

I am not a stranger to you, nor am I against you.

'Men, brethren, and fathers,' he says.

The one title expresses honour, the other kinship.

'Hear the defence which I now make before you.'

He did not say 'my teaching,' nor 'my public address,' but 'my defence.'

He places himself in the position of a suppliant.

And when they heard that he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, they gave the more quiet attention.

Do you see how the common language won them over? For they had a certain reverence toward that tongue.

And observe too how he prepares the way for his discourse, beginning and speaking thus:

'I am indeed a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous toward God, even as ye all are this day.'

'I am indeed,' he says, 'a man which am a Jew.'

This is what above all things they longed to hear.

'Born in Tarsus of Cilicia.'

Lest they should again suppose him to be of another nation, he added his religion.

'Yet brought up in this city.'

He shows his great earnestness concerning the worship of God, seeing that, though he had left so great a native country lying so far away, he chose to be reared here for the law's sake.

See how from the very outset he was devoted to the law.

And he says this not merely to make his defence before them, but to show that it was not by any human purpose that he was led to the preaching, but by divine power.

For one so instructed would not have changed all at once.

For if he had been one of the common multitude, it would have been natural to suspect this.

But seeing that of all men they were most held fast by the law, it was not likely that he would have changed lightly and without some strong compulsion.

It counts for nothing that he was brought up here.

For what if you came here for trade or for some other cause? Therefore, that he might not be thought to be here for such a reason, he added, 'At the feet of Gamaliel.'

And he did not simply say 'under Gamaliel,' but 'at his feet,' thereby showing his perseverance, his constant attendance, his earnestness in listening, and his great reverence toward the man.

'Taught according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers.'

Not simply 'of the law,' but he adds 'of our fathers.'

showing that from of old he was such a man, and did not merely know the law in a common way.

Now these things seem indeed to be spoken in their favour, but in reality they were against them, seeing that they knew him for such a man and yet let him go.

Then, lest anyone should again bring forward the objection:

'What then, if you know the law accurately, yet do not vindicate it nor love it?' 'Being zealous,' he says.

that is, not merely knowing it, but exceedingly zealous on its behalf.

Then, having spoken great commendations of himself, he goes on to make his words common to all, adding, 'Even as ye all are this day.'

For he shows that they too acted not from human purpose, but from divine zeal.

And he says this to gratify them, and to win their minds beforehand, and to hold them fast in matters where there was no harm.

Then he also brings forward proofs, saying:

'I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders.'

And whence is this made clear? He brings forward as witnesses the high priest himself and the elders.

And while he says by way of softening it, 'Being zealous even as ye,' that is, 'equal to you,'

he shows by his deeds that he was above them.

For I did not wait to make arrests, but I even stirred up the priests, and undertook journeys abroad.

and I did not confine myself to men, as you did, but to women also.

binding them all, and casting them into prisons.

The testimony is beyond dispute; the case of the Jews is without defence.

See how many witnesses he brings forward: the estate of the elders, the high priest, those in the city.

And observe that his defence is not one of cowardice, but rather of teaching and instruction.

For if those who heard had not been stones, they would have given heed to what was said.

For up to this point he had them as witnesses; but the rest was without witness.

'From whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them also which were there bound unto Jerusalem, that they might be punished.'

'And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me, and I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me:'

'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered:'

'Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me:'

'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.'

Now indeed these things also ought to have been worthy of belief from what had gone before.

'What then, does he boast?' one may say. By no means.

For why, tell me, did he all at once cast off so great a zeal?

Was it in expectation of honour? Nay, he endured the very opposite.

But what else was it? Indeed, nothing can be found by mere reasoning.

So then, leaving them to gather these things for themselves, he simply relates the facts.

'As I drew nigh unto Damascus,' he says, 'about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me, and I fell unto the ground.'

See how great was the exceeding brightness of the light.

And that I am not boasting, they who were with me bear witness, they who led me by the hand, they who beheld the light.

'And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.'

Be not perplexed if here he speaks thus, but elsewhere says, 'They stood, hearing the voice indeed, but seeing no man.'

For there were two voices, that of Paul and that of the Lord.

There, then, he speaks of Paul's voice; but here he added, saying, 'They heard not the voice of him that spake to me.'

Therefore the phrase 'seeing no man' is significant not of seeing, but of not hearing.

For he did not say that they did not behold the light.

And this happened with good reason.

for it was he himself who had to be counted worthy of that voice.

For if those men also had heard, the miracle would not have been so great.

Since, then, the grosser sort of men are more readily persuaded by sight, for this reason those men too saw only the light, which was sufficient to persuade them.

Whence they also become afraid.

Moreover, the light did not work upon them so greatly as it did upon this man.

For it even blinded his eyes, granting to those men as well, through the things that befell this man, to receive their sight again, if indeed they were willing.

To me at least it seems that it was even by a wise dispensation that those men did not believe, so that they might be trustworthy witnesses.

'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you persecute.'

Well too is the city added, so that they might recognize them.

And thus also the apostles used to speak.

See, he too bears witness that he was persecuted.

'And those who were with me indeed beheld the light and became afraid, but the voice of him who spoke to me they did not hear.'

'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me:

'Rise up and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told you concerning all that you must do.'

'And as I could not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.'

'And a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the Law, well attested by all the Jews in Damascus, came to me, and standing by me, said to me:'

'And in that very hour I looked up upon him.'

'Enter,' he says, 'into the city, and there it shall be told you what you must do.'

And see how he makes him worthy of credit as well.

'A certain Ananias,' he says, 'a devout man according to the Law, well attested by all the Jews, came to me, and standing by me, said to me:'

So there is nothing foreign here.

'And in that very hour I looked up and saw again.'

Then follows the testimony given through the facts themselves.

And see how it is woven together through persons and through facts—persons both his own and foreign.

The persons are the priests, the elders, those who traveled with him; the facts are the things which he did and the things which he suffered.

And facts bear witness to facts, not persons only.

Then the deed itself, the recovery of sight.

'The God of our fathers has appointed you beforehand to know His will, and to see the Righteous One.'

Well did he say, 'Of our fathers,' in order to show that they were not truly Jews, but strangers to the Law, and that they acted out of envy, not out of zeal.

'To know,' he says, 'His will, and to see the Righteous One.'

Therefore this is His will.

See how under the guise of narrative there is teaching.

'And to hear a voice from His mouth, that you shall be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.'

'And to see,' he says, 'the Righteous One.'

But if He is righteous, then these men are guilty.

'And to hear a voice from His mouth.'

See how he exalts the matter.

'That you shall be,' he says, 'a witness for Him.'

Therefore, for this reason you shall not betray the sight and the hearing, both of the things you have seen and of the things you have heard.

By both of the senses He confirms his testimony.

'And now, why do you delay? Rise up, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling upon His name.'

For he did not say, 'Be baptized into His name,'

but, 'Calling upon the name of Christ.'

And this is proof of one who shows Him to be God.

For it is not possible to call upon any other, except God.

Then he shows also that he himself was not compelled, through the things which he says:

And the Lord said to me:

'Go into Damascus, and there it shall be told you what you must do.'

Nothing is left without a witness, but he brings forward the testimony of a whole city, which indeed saw him being led by the hand.

And see too the prophecy that went forth, which he heard, that he should be a witness of the Lord.

For he truly became His witness, and a witness as one ought to be, both by the things he did and by the things he said.

Such witnesses we too ought to be, and not to betray the things which have been entrusted to us;

and I speak not concerning doctrines only, but also concerning manner of life.

What he saw, what he heard, he testifies to all men, and nothing hindered him.

There is a resurrection and countless good things;

therefore we are bound to testify this to all men.

'And indeed we do testify,' one says, 'and we believe.'

How, when you do the very opposite? Tell me, pray.

If someone called himself a Christian, and then, falling away, held to Jewish notions, would this testimony suffice? By no means;

for they would seek the testimony from his works.

So then we too, if we say that there is a resurrection and countless good things, and then despise them, and prefer the things here, who will believe us? For all men give heed not to what we say, but to what we do.

'You shall be a witness,' he says, 'to all men';

not to your own people only, but also to the unbelievers;

for this is what witnesses are: they persuade not those who already know, but those who do not know.

Let us become trustworthy witnesses.

And how shall we be trustworthy? By our manner of life.

The Jews set upon that man;

sufferings set upon us, bidding us to abjure our testimony.

We are witnesses sent from God.

God is put on trial before certain men, on the charge that He is not God;

He sent us to bear witness for Him.

Let us bear witness, and let us persuade those who sit in judgment.

If we do not bear witness, we ourselves become responsible for their error.

Now if in a law court, where matters of this life are at stake, no one would accept as a witness a man laden with countless vices,

how much more here, where the inquiry concerns matters of such magnitude!

We say that we have heard Christ, and that we believe the things He promised.

Show this by your works!

For your life bears witness to the contrary, that you do not believe.

Do you wish us to look at the money-grubbers, the plunderers, the covetous? At those who mourn, who beat their breasts, who build, who busy themselves with everything as though they will never die? If, then, you do not believe that you will die—a thing so plain and evident—how shall we believe you when you bear witness? For there are indeed many people who are so disposed, as though they were never to die.

For when in ripe old age they begin to build and to till the ground, when will they ever take thought of death? No small is the punishment for us, who are called to give testimony yet are unable to testify to the things we have seen.

We too have seen the angels with our own eyes, and more clearly than those who have beheld them.

Let us therefore bear witness to Christ;

for surely not they alone are witnesses, but we also.

For this reason those men are called martyrs (witnesses): because, when commanded to abjure, they endure all things in order to speak the truth;

and we too, when we are commanded by the passions to abjure, let us not be overcome.

It says: Christ is not the Christ;

do not, then, listen to it as though to God, but despise its commands.

The wicked desires say the very same thing;

but do not be won over; rather, stand nobly, lest it be said even concerning us:

They profess to know God, but by their works they deny Him.

For this is not the mark of witnesses, but the very opposite.

And that others should deny Him is nothing to marvel at;

but that we, who have been called to give testimony, should become deniers—this is grievous and burdensome;

this above all does harm to our cause.

It shall turn out for them as a testimony, He says;

but only when we do not shrink back, when we hold our ground.

If we all were willing to bear witness to Christ, we would quickly win over the greater part of the Greeks.

And though a man be exceedingly brutish, though he may not openly own it because of his creed, yet he approves of it in secret, yet he will praise it, yet he will admire it.

And whence, one asks, could the best manner of life come? From nowhere else than from divine working.

What then, when even Greeks are such? If any of them anywhere be such, some are so by nature, others through vainglory.

Do you wish to learn how great is the splendor of a good life, how great its power of persuasion? Many of the heretics prevailed in this way; and though their doctrines were corrupt, yet many people, out of reverence for their manner of life, no longer scrutinized the doctrine;

and others, though condemning them on account of their doctrine, held them in respect because of their life;

not rightly, indeed, yet nevertheless this is what they experienced.

This is what has slandered the venerable things of our faith, this is what has overturned all things: that there should be no account taken of anyone's life by anyone—this is what ravages the faith.

We say that Christ is God, and we adduce countless other proofs; but among the rest we adduce also this: that He persuaded all men to live rightly;

but this is found in only a few.

The baseness of one's life ravages the doctrine of the resurrection, that of the immortality of the soul, that of the judgment;

it drags in many other things besides—fate, necessity, the denial of providence.

For a soul steeped in countless evils tries to devise for itself these notions as a kind of consolation, that it may not be grieved by reflecting that there is a judgment, and that both virtue and vice lie within our power.

An evil life works countless evils; it makes men into wild beasts, and more irrational than the beasts;

for the traits that reside severally in each species of beast, these it has often gathered together into a single man, and has overturned the whole.

For this reason the devil introduced fate; for this reason he declared the world to be without providence; for this reason he posited natures good and evil; for this reason he supposes evil to be uncreated and material; for this reason he does everything, that he may corrupt our life.

For it is neither possible for a man of such a life to rise up from corrupt doctrines, nor to abide in a sound faith;

but of sheer necessity he embraces these things.

For I, for my part, do not think that one readily finds any of those who live wrongly who does not devise countless satanic notions—that there is fate, that affairs are carried along at random, that all things are governed confusedly and in disorder.

Wherefore I exhort you: let us take care for a good life, that we may not embrace wicked doctrines.

Cain received as his punishment to groan and to tremble.

Such are the wicked: conscious to themselves of countless evils, they often start up out of their sleep; their thoughts are full of tumult, their eyes troubled, everything is laden with suspicion, everything strikes them with terror; their soul is filled with grievous expectation and with cowardice, and, convulsed with fear and trembling, it becomes powerless.

Nothing could be more feeble than such a soul, nothing more senseless.

Just as madmen are not in possession of themselves,

so neither does such a soul stand steady within itself.

When, then, will such a soul come to self-awareness, laden as it is with such dizzying darkness—a soul that, even were it enjoying calm and fair weather, could scarcely recognize its own nobility? But when everything terrifies and troubles it—dreams and words and shapes and mere suspicions—when will it be able to look into itself, being thus disturbed and thrown into confusion? Let us therefore loose its fear, let us burst its bonds.

For if there were no future punishment, what punishment could be worse than these very things—to live always under fear, never to be confident, never to have respite? Knowing all these things, then, with exactness, let us keep ourselves in tranquility and take care for virtue, that, having both sound doctrines and an upright life, we may pass through this present life without stumbling, and may be able to attain the good things promised to those who love Him, through the grace and lovingkindness of His Only-begotten Son, with whom, to the Father, together with His Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.