Homilies on Ephesians 13

This therefore I say, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, through the hardening of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness, unto the working of all uncleanness with greediness.

These things have been spoken not to the Ephesians only, but are now also said to you; and not by us, but also by Paul; or rather neither by us nor by Paul, but by the grace of the Spirit.

As therefore though it were she herself uttering these things, so ought we to be disposed.

And hear also what she utters.

This therefore I say, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, through the hardening of their heart.

If then it is ignorance, if it is a hardening, why do you bring a charge against them? For as regards the one who is ignorant, it is right that he should not suffer ill nor be accused, but rather learn the things of which he is ignorant.

But observe how he at once takes away from them their excuse.

Who, he says, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness, and to the working of all uncleanness with greediness.

But you did not so learn Christ.

He shows here that their manner of life became the cause of their hardening;

and that manner of life arose from their own laziness and insensibility.

Who, he says, being past feeling, have given themselves over.

Whenever, therefore, you hear that God gave them over to a reprobate mind, remember this saying: that they gave themselves over.

If then they gave themselves over, how did God give them over? And if God gave them over, how did they give themselves over? Do you see the seeming contradiction? The word 'He gave over,' then, means this: He permitted.

Do you see that where the life is not pure, there is also the ground for such doctrines? Everyone, he says, that does evil hates the light, and comes not to the light.

For how could a filthy man, one who wallows in the bodies of all sorts of women more than swine that roll in the mire, and who loves money, and does not in the least aspire to self-control—how could such a one take up this manner of life? They have made the thing, he says, a trade.

From this comes the hardening, from this the moonless darkness of the understanding.

It is possible, even when the light is shining, to be in darkness, whenever the eyes are weak;

and they become weak either by an influx of evil humors, or by a flood of discharge.

So indeed it is here also: whenever the great rush of the affairs of life overwhelms the discerning power of our understanding, it falls into darkness;

and just as those lying deep beneath the water would not be able to see the sun, since the great mass of water lying above serves as a kind of barrier,

so too there comes to be, in the eyes of the understanding, a hardening of the heart, whenever no fear shakes the soul.

'There is no fear of God,' it says, 'before his eyes.'

'The fool has said in his heart:' [there is no God].

But hardening comes about from no other source than from insensibility;

this is what blocks up the pores.

For whenever a congealed discharge gathers into a single place, the limb becomes dead and without sensation;

and though you burn it, though you cut it, though you do anything whatever, it does not feel.

So too are those men who have once given themselves over to wantonness: though you apply to them the word like fire, like iron, nothing takes hold, nothing reaches them;

for their limb has once for all been deadened.

And unless you take away the insensibility, so as to touch limbs that are sound, you do everything in vain.

Here above all he took away their defense.

For it was in their power, had they so wished, neither to be covetous, nor to be wanton, nor to be gluttonous, and yet to enjoy their desires;

it was in their power to partake of wealth, it was in their power to share in pleasure and luxury—but with moderation;

but since they made use of the matter without measure, they ruined everything.

'Unto the working of all uncleanness,' he says.

Do you see how he deprives them of pardon by saying 'the working of uncleanness'? They did not sin, he says, by stumbling into it, but they wrought these very dreadful deeds, and applied themselves to the matter with practiced study.

All uncleanness: adultery, fornication, pederasty, envy, every kind of licentiousness and wantonness.

'But you have not so learned Christ,' he says, 'if indeed you have heard Him, and have been taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus.'

The phrase 'if indeed you have heard Him' belongs not to one who doubts, but to one who strongly affirms, just as he says elsewhere:

'Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.'

That is: 'It was not on these terms that you learned Christ.'

'If indeed you have heard Him, and have been taught in Him, as the truth is in Christ Jesus, that you put off, concerning your former manner of life, the old man.'

So then, this too is part of learning Christ—to live rightly.

For he who lives wickedly is ignorant of God, and is himself unknown by Him.

For listen to him saying elsewhere:

'They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him.'

'As the truth is in Jesus, that you put off, concerning your former manner of life, the old man.'

That is: 'It was not to these things that you agreed.'

The things among us are not vanity, but truth;

just as the doctrines are true, so also is the life.

For sin is vanity and falsehood;

but the upright life is truth;

while licentiousness ends in nothing.

'That is being corrupted,' he says, 'according to the lusts of its deceit.'

Just as its lusts are corrupted, so also is it.

How then are its lusts corrupted? By death all things are dissolved;

for listen to the Prophet saying:

'In that day all his thoughts shall perish.'

And not by death alone, but by many other things as well;

for instance, beauty—when disease or old age has come upon it—withdrew and died and perished;

the strength of the body is likewise overtaken by the same things;

luxury too, even this does not retain the same pleasure in old age.

And this is plain to us from the case of Barzillai.

Or again, in another way, desire itself corrupts and destroys this very man.

For just as wool, from the very things

by which it is produced, by these same things is also destroyed;

so also is the old man.

For the love of glory destroys, and pleasures have often brought ruin, and desire has deceived.

For it is not truly pleasure, but the thing is bitterness and deceit, hypocrisy and stage-play;

and while the outward face of these things is bright, the things themselves are nothing other than full of misery and much poverty and unpleasantness and great destitution;

and if you take away the mask, and strip bare the countenance, you will see the deceit.

For this is deceit—whenever a thing does not appear as what it is, but is shown as what it is not.

It is thus too that false reckonings come about.

Here he sketches for us four men;

and, if you wish, I now provide the demonstration of these;

Here indeed there are two, when he speaks thus:

'Having put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man.'

But in the Epistle to the Romans there are two others, as when he says:

'But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.'

And these have kinship with those: the new man with the inward man, and the old man with the outward man;

but nevertheless the three were corrupted.

Or rather, there are three even now: the new and the old, and this essential and natural one.

'And be renewed,' he says, 'in the spirit of your mind.'

Lest anyone should suppose that he is introducing another man, by having spoken of an old and a new, see what he says:

To be renewed is when that very thing which has grown old is made new again, becoming one thing out of another.

So that the underlying subject remains the same, while the change concerns that which is incidental to it.

Just as the body itself remains the same while the change concerns what is incidental to it, so also is it here.

But how might this renewal come about? 'In the spirit of your mind,' he says.

Whoever, then, still has anything old about him will accomplish nothing;

for the Spirit will not endure old deeds.

'In the spirit,' he says, 'of your mind';

that is, in the spirit which is in the mind.

'And put on the new man.'

Do you see that the subject is one, but the garments are two, the one put off and the one put on? 'The new man,' he says, 'which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.'

But why does he call virtue a 'man,' and why does he call vice a 'man'? Because apart from activity a man cannot be shown for what he is.

So that these things, no less than nature itself, reveal the man, whether good or evil.

And just as putting off a garment is easy, so it is possible to observe the same in the case of virtue and vice.

Therefore let us too become strong for the practice of good works.

The new man is not carried about, nor is he easily prey to diseases;

Observe here how he calls the substantial establishment of virtue a 'creation,' as being brought from nonexistence into being.

What then? Is not that other creation also according to God? By no means, but according to the devil;

he himself is the craftsman of sin.

How so? For the man was no longer created out of water, nor out of earth, but in righteousness and true holiness.

What does this mean? 'He immediately created him a son,' he says;

for this comes to pass from baptism.

'In righteousness and true holiness.'

There was once righteousness, there was also holiness among the Jews, yet not of the truth; that righteousness was of the type, not of the truth.

For to be pure in body was a type of purity, not the truth of purity;

it was a type of righteousness, not the truth of righteousness.

'In holiness,' he says, 'and righteousness of the truth.'

Perhaps this is said also with reference to what is false, namely, that there are many among those outside who seem to be righteous but are false.

Now righteousness is called the universal virtue.

For hear Christ saying:

'Unless your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven';

and again, he is called righteous who affords no handle against himself.

Since even in the law courts we call that man righteous who has been wronged and has not wronged in return.

If therefore we too, at that dread tribunal, are able

to be seen as righteous toward one another, we shall be able to obtain some measure of mercy.

For with respect to God it is impossible, whatever we may display;

for everywhere He prevails over the righteous, as the Prophet also says:

'And You shall prevail when You are judged.'

But if we do not corrupt our righteous dealings toward one another, then we shall be righteous;

if we are able to show that we have been wronged, then we shall be righteous.

How is it that to those who have already put on the garment he again says, 'Put on'? He now speaks of one's manner of life and of works.

Then the garment came from baptism, but now it comes from one's conduct and works, no longer according to the lusts of deceit, but according to God.

And what is holiness? That which is pure, that which is owed as a due.

For this reason we also speak of paying the last rites to the departed;

that is, 'I owe them nothing further, I am no longer accountable.'

Thus it is our custom to say, 'I have discharged my duty,' and things of this sort, that is, 'I owe nothing.'

It is therefore ours not to put off the garment of righteousness, which the Prophet also calls the garment of salvation, that we may be made like to God;

for He too has clothed Himself with righteousness.

Let us put on this garment.

And the word 'put on' signifies nothing else than never to lay it aside.

For hear the Prophet saying:

'He clothed himself with cursing as with a garment, and it shall come upon him.'

And again, 'Who covers Himself with light as with a garment.'

And again it is our custom to say concerning men:

'So-and-so has put on such-and-such a one.'

So that He wills us to be in virtue not for one day, nor a second, nor a third, but continually, and never to be stripped of this garment.

For a man is not so disgraced when he is naked in body as when he is naked of virtue.

Here his fellow servants behold him in his disgrace, but there the Master and the angels.

If then you should see someone, tell me, going naked through the marketplace, do you not feel pain? When therefore you run about naked of this garment, what shall we say? Do you not see these beggars, whom we are wont to call vagrants, how they wander about, and how we pity even them? Yet for these there is no pardon;

for we do not excuse them when, through gambling, they lose their own garments.

How then will God pardon us who have lost this garment? For when the devil sees anyone naked of virtue, he immediately besmirches and darkens his face, and wounds him, and forces great evils upon him.

Let us become naked of riches, that we may not be stripped naked of righteousness;

the wrapping of riches ruins this garment;

such are the thorns, and the more of them we wrap about ourselves, the more we are stripped naked.

Licentiousness strips one of this garment;

for it is fire, and fire is consuming of this garment.

Just as the moth gnaws through everything and spares not even silken garments, so also does this.

Let us therefore lay aside all these things, that we may become righteous, that we may put on the new man.

Let us hold fast to nothing old, nothing that is merely apparent, nothing that is perishing.

Virtue is not laborious, it is not hard to accomplish.

Do you not see those in the mountains? They forsake both houses and wives and children and all worldly rule, and having set themselves outside the world, clothing themselves in sackcloth, strewing ashes beneath them, hanging iron collars about their necks, shutting themselves up in a little cell, do not even stop at these things, but stretch themselves with fastings and continual hunger.

If I were now enjoining such things, would you not all spring away? Would you not say the matter was burdensome? Yet I do not say that one must do such things;

for I wish it indeed, yet I do not make it a law.

But what then? Make use of baths as well, and tend the body, and go forth into the marketplace, and keep a house, and be served by attendants, and make use of food and drink;

only, in every place cast out covetousness.

For it is covetousness that works sin, and the very same thing, when carried to excess, becomes sin.

So that covetousness is nothing other than sin.

When anger is stirred beyond what is fitting, then it leaps out and reviles, then it does all things unjustly;

so too is the love of bodies, the love of money, of glory, and of all other things.

And do not say to me, 'Those persons . . .'

for many who are far weaker than you, and richer, and more delicately bred, have taken up that hard and rugged manner of life.

And why do I speak of men? Maidens not yet twenty years old, who have spent all their time in bridal chambers and in sheltered seclusion, in chambers filled with perfumes and incense, reclining upon soft couches, being themselves delicate by nature and made yet softer by much pampering, having through the whole day no other occupation than to adorn themselves and wear gold and enjoy abundant luxury, not even waiting upon themselves but having many handmaids standing by, wearing garments softer than their bodies, fine and delicate linens, continually busied with roses and such fragrances—

these very women, being suddenly seized by the fire of Christ, stripped off all that softness and vanity, and forgetting luxury and youth, like some noble athletes casting off those soft garments, entered into the midst of the contests.

And perhaps I shall seem to say things incredible, yet they are nevertheless true.

I have heard concerning these so delicate maidens, that they brought themselves to such severity of discipline as to wrap the roughest haircloth about their naked bodies, and to leave those tender heels unshod, and to lie upon a bed of straw;

and, what is more, to be awake for the greater part of the night, and to take no thought of perfume nor of any of their former things, but to leave even the head, once so tended, uncared for, having their hair simply and carelessly bound up only so as not to fall into unseemliness.

Their table is but a single evening meal, a table with neither herb nor bread, but fine flour and beans and chickpeas, and olives and figs;

and there is continual spinning of wool, and tasks far harder than those of the household handmaids.

For what? They have undertaken to tend those who are sick in body, carrying their beds, washing their feet;

and many of them even do the cooking.

So great is the power of the fire of Christ;

so far above nature is a willing spirit.

Yet I demand no such thing of you, since you are content to be outstripped by women.

At least, then, do those things which are not burdensome: keep control of your hand and of unchaste eyes.

What is difficult, tell me, what is hard? Act justly, wrong no one—neither the poor man, nor the rich, nor the tradesman, nor the hired laborer;

for it is possible for injustice to reach even to the poor.

Or do you not see how many quarrels these men stir up, and how they overturn everything? Make use of marriage, have children;

Paul too gave commands to such men, and wrote to such men.

Great is that contest, and lofty the crag, and near to heaven its summit, and you cannot attain to the great height? Then hold at least to the lesser things, and aim at the lower.

You cannot empty yourself of your money? At least do not seize what belongs to others, nor do wrong.

You cannot fast? At least do not give yourself over to luxury.

You cannot lie upon a bed of straw? Then do not fashion for me couches inlaid with silver, but use a bed and coverings made not for display but for rest, nor beds of ivory;

Why do you load your merchant ship with countless cargoes? If you are lightly equipped, you will fear nothing—neither envy, nor robbers, nor plotters.

For you are not so rich in your possessions as you are in your cares;

you do not abound so much in possessions as in anxieties and dangers.

'Those who wish to be rich,' he says, 'bring upon themselves temptations and hurtful desires.'

These things those who wish to possess much endure.

and, if need be, bid your servant do this.

Do you see how it is not burdensome? For how could it be, when tender maidens outstrip us by a great distance? Let us be ashamed, I beseech you, that in worldly matters we nowhere yield place to them—not in wars, not in athletic contests;

but in spiritual contests they are borne beyond us, and are the first to snatch the prize, and fly higher, like so many eagles;

while we, like jackdaws, are always turning about below concerning the fat of the sacrifice

and the smoke.

For it is indeed the mark of jackdaws to devise caterers and cooks, and of greedy dogs.

Hear of the women of old;

for they were great, great and admirable women, such as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Deborah, Hannah;

and in the time of Christ also there were such women, yet nowhere did they outstrip the men, but held the second rank.

But now, on the contrary, women outstrip us and eclipse us.

What a laughingstock is this! What a shame! We hold the rank of the head, and are we overcome by the body? We were appointed to rule over them, not merely to rule, but to rule also in virtue.

For the ruler ought to rule chiefly by this—by prevailing in virtue;

but if he is overcome, he is no longer a ruler.

Have you seen how great is the power of Christ's coming? How it loosed the curse? For indeed the virgins are more numerous among the women, chastity is greater among them, widowhoods are more numerous;

a woman would not readily let fall any shameful word.

For what reason, then, tell me, do you speak filthy words? Do not name to me the abandoned women; the sex is somewhat fond of adornment, and has this failing.

But even in this you men prevail, you who even preen yourselves over those women as over an ornament proper to yourselves.

For I do not think a woman so adorns herself with her own gold as a man does with his wife's;

he does not so pride himself on his golden belt as on his wife's wearing of gold.

So that of this too you are the cause, you who kindle the spark and fan the flame.

And besides, it is not so great a sin in a woman as in a man.

You were appointed to regulate her;

everywhere you claim to obtain the first place;

then in this also show, by your own example, that you make no account of that costliness of hers.

Adornment is more fitting for a woman than for a man.

When, therefore, you yourself do not escape it, how shall she escape? Those women have something vainglorious about them, but this is common to men also;

how prone they are to anger—this too is common.

But in the things wherein they excel, these are no longer common;

I mean their reverence, their fervor, their piety, their love toward Christ.

'Why, then,' someone says, 'did he debar them from the teacher's throne?' This too is a sign that the distance between them and the men was great, and that the women of that time were great.

For while Paul was teaching, tell me, and Peter and those holy men, ought a woman to have leaped into the matter? But now we have been driven to such a pitch of degeneracy that it has even become worthy of inquiry why women do not teach;

so far have we come into the same weakness as they.

These things I have said not wishing to exalt them, but to abash and instruct and admonish us ourselves, that we may take up the rule that belongs to us—not according to greater power, but according to forethought and protection and virtue.

For thus also will the body be in its fitting order, when it obtains the best of rulers.

And may it be granted that both women and men all live according to what seems good to God, that we all may be counted worthy in that fearful day to enjoy the loving-kindness of the Master, and to obtain the promised good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord.