5. Do you see the wickedness of the devil? When he saw that people were saying something impious, he arranged a general agreement in it, and when he saw that they were asserting something sound, he stirred up one against another, so that the absurd, being affirmed by common consent, would not be destroyed, and the good, being understood differently, would be destroyed. See how the soul is always powerless and insufficient on its own. And this is not in vain. If, being such, it thinks that it has no need of anyone, and deviates from God, then to what madness would it not have reached if it had not been such? If, having received a mortal body, it wanted to achieve too much, according to the false promise of the devil: "Ye shall be as gods" (Gen. 3:5), then what would it not have fallen to if in the beginning it had received an immortal body? Even after this, through the unclean lips of the Manichaeans, she called herself unborn and descended from the essence of God; By the same disease (pride) she invented gods, recognized as pagans. For this reason, it seems to me, God made virtue difficult for her, in order to restrain her and teach her humility. And that this is just, let us show from the example of the Israelites, concluding from the small to the great. When the Israelites led a comfortable life and enjoyed tranquility, they fell into wickedness, not knowing how to use their prosperity. What about God? He gave them many laws to curb their self-will. These laws did not lead to virtue, but only served as a bridle for them, which did not allow them to indulge in idleness: behold, listen to what the prophet says about them: "I have given them evil commandments." What does it mean: unkind? Not much contributing to virtue; wherefore he adds, "statutes whereby they could not live" (Ezekiel 20:25). "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit." It is true: just as no one can see with the eyes of the body what is in heaven, so the soul of itself (cannot comprehend) spiritual things. And what do I say, in heaven? Not even everything that is on earth. Thus, looking at a quadrangular tower from a distance, we think that it is round; and such a thought is a deception of the eye. In the same way, if anyone judges remote things by a single reasoning, great laughter will follow; not only will he not say what they really are, but he will consider them the opposite of what they really are. Wherefore the Apostle adds, "For he thinketh it foolishness." This does not arise from the quality of objects, but from the weakness of the one who cannot grasp their greatness with the eyes of the soul. Further, he adds a reason: "He cannot understand, because it [must] be judged spiritually," i.e. what he proclaims requires faith and cannot be comprehended by reason, because the greatness of it far surpasses our weak reason. Wherefore he goes on to say, "But the spiritual man judges all things, but no man can judge" (v. 15). The seer sees everything, even that which pertains to the unseer; and what relates to it, none of those who do not see see it. So it is here: we know both our own and everything that pertains to the infidels, but they do not know ours. We know what is the quality of present things and what is the dignity of future ones, what will happen to the world afterwards, what punishment sinners will suffer and what the righteous will enjoy; we know that present goods have no worth, and we denounce their insignificance – to judge and denounce together – but future goods are eternal and unchanging. The spiritual one knows all this, both what punishment the natural man will suffer in the life to come, and what the believer will enjoy when he moves from here; but the spiritual one knows nothing of the sort. Therefore, in order to explain what has been said, the Apostle adds: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may be able to judge it? But we have the mind of Christ" (v. 16), i.e. we know what is in the mind of Christ, what He wants and what He has revealed to us. Since the Apostle said above that the Spirit has revealed to us, so that anyone does not reject the Son, he adds that Christ also revealed, not expressing that we know all that Christ knows, but that all our knowledge is not human, and therefore subject to doubt, but is the knowledge of the mind of Christ and spiritual.

6. The mind that we have in this regard is Christ's, i.e. the knowledge that we have about the objects of faith is spiritual knowledge, and therefore no one can really judge us, since a natural person cannot know divine things. For this reason the Apostle said: "Who understands the mind of the Lord?" And the words, "Who shall explain, and also," he added, not in vain, but in accordance with the words aforesaid, "The spiritual is not taken up by one." If no one can know the mind of God, how much more can he teach and correct it; Do you see how variously he refutes outward wisdom and shows that the spiritual man knows more and better? For the above reasons are: "that no flesh should boast"; "God has chosen the foolishness of the world to shame the wise"; "In order not to abolish the cross of Christ" – for the unbelievers may not seem very convincing, strong, necessary and useful, he finally gives the main reason, i.e. that only in this way can we see and cognize things that are lofty, mysterious and higher than us: and reason turned out to be insufficient because by means of worldly wisdom we cannot comprehend that which is above us. Isn't it obvious how beneficial it is to receive teaching from the Spirit? Such teaching is both the easiest and the clearest. "But we have the mind of Christ," i.e., spiritual, divine, having nothing human in it; not Plato's, or Pythagoras', but Christ communicated His own to our reason. Let us be ashamed, beloved, and let us lead a virtuous life. Christ Himself, as a sign of great friendship, represents that He has revealed mysteries to us: "I already," He says, "I do not call you servants, but I have called you friends, because I have told you all that I have heard from My Father," i.e. I have entrusted you (John 15:14-15). And if trust alone is a sign of friendship, then consider what kind of love He expressed by entrusting us with mysteries, not only in words, but also by communicating them to us in reality. Let us be ashamed; and if hell does not frighten us too much, then let it be more terrible for us than hell – to turn out to be ungrateful and ungrateful to such a friend and benefactor. Let us do all things, not as wage slaves, but as sons, and as freemen, out of love for the father, and let us cease to cling to the world in order to shame the Gentiles. Wishing now to contend with them, I am afraid lest, by refuting them with words and the truth of doctrine, we should be subjected to great ridicule in the discourse of our lives, since they, being in error and believing nothing of ours, observe wisdom, while we are quite the opposite. However, I will say: perhaps, in trying to refute them, we will try to prove ourselves better than them in life itself. I said before that it would not have occurred to the apostles to preach what they preached if they had not had the grace of God, and that not only would they not have done, but would not have undertaken so great a work. Let us now speak of the same subject, and show that it would have been impossible for them to undertake or even to think about it if Christ had not been with them, not only because they were weak against the strong, the few against the many, the poor against the rich, the unlearned. – against the wise, but also because the power of prejudice was great. You know that there is nothing stronger among men than an old habit, and consequently if there were not twelve of them, if they were not so humiliated, but at least they had on their side another universe of the same kind, and a number of men equal to those who are opposed, and even much greater, then it would be difficult.

Those were helped by habit, and they were hampered by innovation. Nothing disturbs the soul so much as the introduction of something new and extraordinary, even if it serves to benefit, especially when it concerns worship and worship. How great this obstacle was, I will explain later; but I will say beforehand that there was another obstacle on the part of the Jews. Among the pagans, the apostles overthrew the gods and all their teaching; but they did not reason in this way with the Jews: they rejected many of their teachings, but they commanded them to worship God the Lawgiver; commanding to honor the Lawgiver, they said, "Do not obey the law given by Him in everything, such as the keeping of the Sabbath, circumcision, the offering of sacrifices, and the like." Thus it was not only the sacrifices that were an obstacle, but also the fact that, in commanding the worship of God, they commanded that many of His laws should be abandoned. The pagans had a great force of habit.

7. If the apostles had come out against men who had become stagnant in habit only for ten years, I do not speak for so long, against a few, I do not speak against the whole universe, it would have been difficult to make a change. And then philosophers and rhetoricians, fathers and grandfathers, great-grandfathers and further ancestors, the earth and the sea, the mountains and the valleys, all the tribes of barbarians and all the peoples of the pagans, wise and unlearned, rulers and subordinates, wives and men, young men and old men, masters and slaves, farmers and artisans, all the inhabitants of cities and villages, were given over to error.

And how great is the power of habit, you can see from the fact that it often acted more strongly than the commandments of God. What do I say, commandments? Even the blessings of God. Thus the Jews, when they received manna, desired garlic; enjoying their freedom, they remembered slavery and often regretted Egypt out of habit. So great is the power of habit! If you want to see this from external examples, then it is said of Plato, that although he recognized the teaching about the gods as an error, he nevertheless participated in festivals and in everything else, because he could not overcome his habits and learned this from the example of his teacher. And this (Socrates), being suspected of certain innovations, not only did not achieve what he wanted, but also lost his life, although he spoke in his own defense. How many people do we see even now who stagnate in impiety through prejudice and, being accused of paganism, cannot say anything well-founded, but only refer to their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers! That is why some of the external (pagan writers) called habit second nature. But habit in matters of faith is even stronger; People do not change anything with such difficulty as worship of God. Along with habit, no small obstacle was the shame of learning at a ripe old age, and moreover from people who were considered unreasonable. And is it surprising that this happens to the soul, when the habit has great force over the body? Under the apostles there was another and powerful obstacle: they had not only to change so ancient and ancient a habit, but also to change it with danger. They did not simply incline from one habit to another, but from the habit of safety – to that which was fraught with dangers. The believer was immediately to lose his property, to be banished, to withdraw from his homeland, to endure extreme misfortunes, to be hated by all, to become a common enemy both for his own and for others. If they had turned from the innovation to the old customs, then this too would have been difficult; but inclining from customs to innovation, and moreover with such disasters, imagine what obstacles they encountered. Meanwhile, in addition to what has been said, they still had another, no less obstacle to complicate the work of change. Besides habit and dangers, their very commandments were more difficult, and what they deviated from was easy and convenient. They called from adultery to chastity, from drunkenness to fasting, from laughter to tears and contrition, from covetousness to non-acquisitiveness, from addiction to life to death, from tranquility to danger, and in everything they demanded extreme abstinence. "Foul language," they said, "and idle talk and ridicule are not fitting for you" (Ephesians 5:4), and they said this to those who knew nothing else but to indulge in drunkenness and gluttony, whose feasts consisted of nothing else but foul language, ridicule, and all kinds of obscenities. Thus the teaching (of the apostles) was burdensome, not only because it required wisdom, but also because it was offered to people who had been brought up in self-will, shamelessness, idle talk, and vicious merriment. Who among those who are accustomed to such a life would not be amazed to hear: "He who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me," and "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword: for I have come to divide a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother" (Matt. 10:38,34)? Who would not doubt and depart when he heard, "Whoever does not renounce his house, and his fatherland, and his possessions, is not worthy of me" (Luke 14:26,33)? However, those who heard not only were not amazed and did not go away, but ran and rushed to difficult deeds and zealously accepted what was commanded. Who among those who did not depart from hearing that we will answer for every idle word (Matt. 12:36), "that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her" (5:28), that he who is angry in vain will be cast into hell (5:22)? However, everyone resorted, and many even exceeded what was commanded. What attracted them? Is not the power of Him whom the apostles preached manifest? If it were not so, but on the contrary, if they were in the place of them, and they in their place, would it be easy to attract those who resist? You can't say.

8. Thus everything proves that the divine power was at work here. Otherwise, tell me, how would they persuade people who are pampered and voluptuous to lead a harsh and strict life? Such were the commandments of the apostles. Let us see if their teaching was not attractive. And it was such that it could turn away the infidels. In preaching, what did they say? They said that one should worship the Crucified One and honor Him as God, who was born of a Judean woman. Who would believe them if the divine power did not contribute to this? Everyone knew that Christ was crucified and buried; and that He rose and ascended, no one saw except the apostles. But they, you say, inflamed people with promises and carried people away with seductive words? This very thing, even without all that has been said, especially proves that our teaching is not false. All the unpleasant things were to come here, and the pleasant things were promised after the resurrection. This, I repeat again, proves the divinity of our preaching. Why did none of the believers say: I do not accept this, and cannot bear it; Do you threaten me with unpleasant things here, and promise pleasant things after the resurrection? How else do we know that there will be a resurrection? Which of those who departed returned here? Which of the dead was resurrected? Which of them said what will happen after departing from here? The believers did not think anything of the sort, but laid down their lives for the Crucified One. Thus this very thing is especially a proof of the great power that the apostles, who had never heard anything of the kind, were suddenly persuaded by the apostles of such great truths, and made ready to experience the unpleasant in practice, and to have the pleasant only in hope. If they were to deceive, they would do the opposite: they would promise pleasant things here, and they would keep silent about unpleasant things, both present and future. This is exactly what deceivers and seducers do: they do not imagine anything severe, unpleasant and burdensome, but everything is the opposite; This is the deception. But many, you will say, foolishly believed what was said? What are you saying? As long as they were Gentiles, they were not foolish, but when they turned to us, they became foolish? But the apostles did not take and bring to faith other people and not from another universe. Moreover, these people adhered to paganism safely, and the acceptance of our teaching was fraught with dangers for them. Consequently, if they held to paganism with a reasonable conviction, then, having lived in it for so long, they would not have departed from it, especially since it was not safe to depart from it. No, they understood from the very essence of things that paganism was ridiculous and absurd, and therefore, in spite of the death that threatened them, they departed from their customs and resorted to a new teaching, seeing that the latter was in accordance with nature, and the former was contrary to nature. But those who believed, you say, were slaves, women, wet nurses, old women, and eunuchs? No, our Church was not composed of such people alone, as everyone knows; if they were of these, it is what makes it all the more wonderful to preach that fishermen, the most uneducated people, could suddenly persuade to accept a doctrine which Plato and his followers could not possibly invent. If they had persuaded only the wise, it would not have been surprising; and if they led servants, old women, and eunuchs to such wisdom that they made them like angels, this is the greatest proof of their divine inspiration. If they had taught anything of little importance, the persuasion of such men might have been adduced as a proof of the baseness of the doctrine; and if they were inquisitive about important and lofty things, even exceeding human nature and accessible to the lofty mind, then the less intelligent you imagine those who are convinced, the wiser and more full of the grace of God will be those who persuaded. But, you say, did they convince with the greatness of their promises? And this, tell me, does it not surprise you that they persuaded people to expect rewards and retributions after death? This amazes me. But even this, you say, was due to foolishness? From what foolishness, tell me? That the soul is immortal, that after this life an impartial judgment awaits us, and that we will give an account to God, Who knows the most innermost things, in words, deeds, and thoughts, and we will see the punishment of the evil and the reward of the good – such convictions do not mean foolishness, but great wisdom.

9. To despise present goods, to value virtue highly, to expect rewards not here, but to stretch one's hopes much farther, to have a soul so firm and full of faith that no present calamity weakens in hopes for the future, this, tell me, is not a sign of great wisdom? Do you want to see the power of the very promises and predictions and the truth of the past and the future? Look at the golden chain (of truths), woven in various ways from the beginning. (Christ) announced to His disciples about Himself, about the Church and future events, and in announcing He performed miracles. The fulfillment of what He said is a proof of the truth of His miracles and future promises. To make this clearer, I will present examples. Christ resurrected Lazarus, restoring him to life in one word. He also said: "The gates of hell shall not prevail" against the Church (Matt. 16:18); also: "Whosoever forsaketh his father or mother shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life" (Matt. 19:29). Here is one miracle – the resurrection of Lazarus, and two predictions, one of which is being fulfilled now, and the other will be fulfilled in the future. See how all this is mutually confirmed. Whoever would not believe that Lazarus was resurrected, must believe this miracle according to the prophecy concerning the Church: for what was said about her for so long came true and was fulfilled later: the gates of hell really did not prevail against the Church. Therefore, it is clear that he who spoke the truth in prediction also performed a miracle, and he who performed a miracle and fulfilled what was said also spoke the truth in predicting the future, i.e. that he who despises present goods "will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life." In that which has already been accomplished and has been said lies the great pledge of truth and of that which is to be fulfilled in the future. Thus, borrowing all this and the like from the Gospels, let us speak to them (the Gentiles) and stop their mouths. But if anyone says, "Why has not the (pagan) error yet been completely destroyed?" – to this we answer: you yourselves are guilty of this, acting against your salvation; and God arranged everything so that there would not even be a trace of wickedness. Let us now repeat briefly what has been said. Which is more natural: is it the weak to conquer the strong, or vice versa? Offering the easy, the difficult? Inclined to a dangerous or safe business? Introducing something new, or confirming old customs? Leading to an inconvenient or convenient path? To those who reject the traditions of the fathers, or to suggest that which is not alien? Promising all that is pleasant after departing from here, or seducing with hopes in the present life? A few (to overcome) the many, or many to the few? But, you say, you also promise something here. What do we promise here? The remission of sins and cleansing by the "bath of regeneration" (Titus 3:5). But baptism also brings more benefits in the future; and Paul says, "For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. But when your life shall be revealed, then ye also shall appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:3). If it brings good here, as it really does, then it is especially and wonderful that the apostles could convince people who had committed an innumerable multitude of sins that no one else had committed, that all their impurities would be washed away, and they would no longer give any account of their sins. Truly, it is especially surprising that coarse people were convinced to accept such faith, to cherish good hopes in the future, to throw off the former burden of sins with great zeal and immediately to embark on the feats of virtue, not to cling to anything sensual, to become above all that is carnal and to accept spiritual gifts – that the Persian and the Sarmatian, the Moor and the Indian, came to know the purity of the soul, the power and the ineffable love of God, the wisdom of faith, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the teaching about the resurrection of the body and eternal life. About all this and many other similar things, the fishermen taught the barbarian tribes to be inquisitive, enlightening them with the sacrament of baptism. Let us carefully preserve all this and speak to them (the Gentiles), and at the same time prove it to them with our own lives, so that we ourselves may be saved and turn them to the glorification of God, to Whom be glory forever. Amen.

[1] This phrase is marked as a quotation, but where it comes from is unclear

[2] Gr. "προσεθηκεν" = "attached"

[3] In Russian translation. "penetrates"

[4] Gr. "εγω εδωκα αυτοις προσταγματα". In the synod.transl. "He allowed them to establish ..." (i.e. mistakenly understanding pagan customs by this)

CONVERSATION 8

"And I could not speak to you, brethren, as to spiritual ones, but as to carnal ones, as to babes in Christ. I nourished you with milk, and not with food, for you were not yet able, and even now you are not able, because you are still carnal" (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).

1. Having denounced external (pagan) wisdom and having cast down all the pride that comes from it, the Apostle passes on to another subject. They (the Corinthians) could say: If we preached the doctrine of Plato, or Pythagoras, or any other philosopher, then you could justly speak so much against us; But if we preach on spiritual things, why do you refute outward wisdom? How he answers to this – listen: "And I could not speak to you, brethren, as to spiritual ones." Even if you, he says, were perfect in spiritual things, then even then you should not be exalted, since you do not preach your own, not what you yourself have reached; and now you do not know even this, as you ought to know; you are only still disciples, and the last of all. Therefore, if you are proud of external wisdom, then, as has already been proved, it not only means nothing, but also hinders us in the knowledge of spiritual things; but if you are proud of spiritual (knowledge), then in this also you are still very imperfect, and stand among the latter. Therefore, he says, "And I could not speak to you, brethren, as to spiritual ones." He did not say, "I did not speak," lest they should think that this was due to envy, but it destroys their arrogance in two ways: first, because they do not know spiritual things at all, and secondly, because they themselves are the cause of this ignorance; To this he adds, thirdly, that even now they cannot (know them). If they could not, at first, it may have depended on the essence of the objects themselves, although they cannot conceive of such a justification, as he has proved: not because, he says, they did not accept lofty truths, because they could not receive them, but because they are carnal. At first, however, this was not so reprehensible; and not to attain knowledge of objects perfected for so long a time is already a sign of extreme carelessness. The Apostle also rebukes the Jews for the same thing, but not with such force. These, he says, were so because of sorrowful circumstances, and these because of their wicked inclinations; but the two are not the same thing. To these he speaks the same truths for edification, and to these – to excite them; by this he says: "Ye are not able even now," and by this: "Wherefore, having forsaken the beginnings of the teaching of Christ, let us hasten to perfection"; and again: "We hope that you are in a better [condition] and hold on to salvation, although we say so" (Hebrews 6:1,9). But how does he call men carnal, who have received so many (gifts) of the Spirit, and whom he extolled with such praises at the beginning of the epistle? Just as those were carnal, to whom the Lord says: "Depart from me, I do not know you, you who do iniquity" (Matthew 7:23), although they cast out demons, raised the dead, and uttered prophecies. Therefore the one who performed the signs can also be carnal. Thus God acted through Balaam, revealing the future to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, and Caiaphas prophesied without knowing what he was saying, and some others cast out demons in His name, although they themselves were not with Him, because all this happens not for those who do, but for others. Often this was done through the unworthy. And is it surprising that this happens through people who are unworthy of others, if also through the saints (God acts for others)? Thus Paul says: "Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life or death, all is yours" (1 Corinthians 3:22); and again: "He hath appointed some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:11-12). If this were not the case, then everyone would fall into perdition without hindrance. It happens that the rulers are evil and incontinent, and the subordinates are good and temperate, the laity live piously, and the priests are vicious; and if grace were always looking for those who are worthy, there would be no baptism, no perfecting of the body of Christ, and no offerings. But now God acts also through the unworthy, and the grace of baptism does not suffer any harm from the life of a priest; otherwise the receiver would suffer harm. Although this happens rarely, it happens. I say this so that some of those who are present, observing the life of the priest, will not be offended by the sacraments he performs. Man does not bring anything of himself into them, but everything is the work of God's power; God acts on you in the sacraments. "And I could not speak to you, brethren, as to spiritual men, but as to carnal ones. I fed you with milk, and not with food, for you were not yet able." Lest it be thought that he out of ambition said the above words, "But the spiritual man judges all things," and again, "No man can judge of him," and again, "We have the mind of Christ," and to cast down their pride, Paul, see what he says, "I am not silent," he says, "that I may not say anything more to you, but because you are carnal." But you can still do it below.