HOMILY XI.] HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS. 107 themselves up indiscriminately to the men who are dividing the Church. For if on the one hand those men have doctrines also contrary to ours, then on that account further it is not right to mix with them : if, on the other hand, they hold the same opinions, the reason for not mix ing with them is greater still. And why so? Because then the disease is from lust of author ity. Know ye not what was the fate of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram ? (Num. xvi. 1-35.) Of them only did I say? Was it not also of them that were with them? What wilt thou say? Shall it be said, " Their faith is the same, they are orthodox as well as we " ? If so, why then are they not with us ? There is " one Lord, one faith, one baptism." If their cause is right, then is ours wrong ; if ours is right, then is theirs wrong. " Children," saith he, " tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind." Tell me, dost thou think this is enough, to say that they are orthodox ? Is then the ordination l of clergy 2 past and done away? And what is the advantage of other things, 3 if this be not strictly observed? For as we must needs contend for the faith, so must we for this also. For if it is lawful for any one, according to the phrase of them of old, " to fill his hands," 4 and to become a priest, let all approach to minister. In vain has this altar been raised, in vain the fullness of the Church, in vain the number of the priests. Let us take them away and destroy them. " God forbid ! " ye will say. You are doing these things, and do ye say, " God forbid"? How say ye, " God forbid," when the very things are taking place? I speak and testify, not looking to my own interest, but to your salvation. But if any one be indifferent, he must see to it "him self : if these things are a care to no one else, yet are they a care to me. " I planted," saith he, "Apollos watered, but God gave the in crease." (i Cor. iii. 6.) How shall we bear the ridicule of the Greeks? For if they re proach us on account of our heresies, what will they not say of these things ? " If they have the same doctrines, if the same mysteries, where fore does a ruler in one Church invade another ? See ye," say they, " how all things amongst the Christians are full of vainglory? And there is ambition among them, and hypocrisy. Strip 1 [See Bingham, Ant. Bk. iv. ch. vi. sec. n. G. A.] J xeiPOTovia.<;. At this time there were two orthodox successions in Antioch, that of Paulinus and Evagrius, who were successively representatives of the old line which the Arians had dispossessed, and which Western Christendom supported; and that of Meletius and Flavian, to which St. Chrysostom adhered, and the Eastern Church generally, being the Arian succession conformed to orthodoxy. The schism was terminated A.D. 392, on the death of Evagrius, though his party continued for twenty years longer.3 [ro>v aAAwc, wanting in the text of Field, is attested by four good authorities, and yields the only sense that suits the context. G. A.] * Exodus xxix. 9. Our translation has, " Thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons " ; the margin gives the literal rendering, " Thou shalt fill the hands of Aaron." them," say they, " of their numbers, and they are nothing. Cut out the disease, the corrupt multi tude." Would ye have me tell what they say ofour city, how they accuse us on the score of our easy compliances? Any one, say they, that chooses may find followers, and would never be at a loss for them. Oh, what a sneer is that, what a disgrace are these things ! And yet the sneer is one thing, the disgrace is another. If any amongst us are convicted of deeds the most disgraceful, and are about to meet with some penalty, great is* the alarm, great is the fear on all sides, lest he should start away, people say, and join the other side. Yea, let such an one start away ten thousand times, and let him join them. And I speak not only of those who have sinned, but if there be any one free from offense, and he has a mind to depart, let him depart. I am grieved indeed at it, and bewail and lament it, and am cut to the very heart, as though I were being deprived of one of my own limbs ; and yet I am not so grieved, as to be compelled to do anything wrong through such fear as this. We have " not lordship over your faith" (2 Cor. i. 24), beloved, nor com mand we these things as your lords and masters. We are appointed for the teaching of the word, not for power, nor for absolute authority. We hold the place of counselors to advise you. The counselor speaks his own sentiments, not forcing the hearer, but leaving him full master of his choice upon what is said ; in this case alone is he blameable, if he fail to utter the things which present themselves. For this cause do we also say these things, these things do we assert, that it may not be in your power in that day to say, " No one told us, no one gave us commandment, we were ignorant, we thought it was no sin at all." Therefore I assert and pro test, that to make a schism in the Church is no less an evil than to fall into heresy. Tell me, suppose a subject of some king, though he did not join himself to another king, nor give him self to any other, yet should take and keep hold of his king s royal purple, and should tear it all from its clasp, and rend it into many shreds ; would he suffer less punishment than those who join themselves to the service of another ? And what, if withal he were to seize the king himself by the throat and slay him, and tear his body limb from limb, what punishment could he undergo, that should be equal to his deserts? Now if in doing this toward a king, his fellow- servant, he would be committing an act too great for any punishment to reach ; of what hell shall not he be worthy who slays Christ, and plucks Him limb from limb ? of that one which is threatened ? No, I think not, but of another far more dreadful. Speak, ye women, that are present, for this