HOMILY XVIII.] HOMILIES ON EPHESIAXS. come a corpse, when the Holy Spirit leaves it destitute of His spiritual energy. Such for the most part are the slaughters made at the altar of covetousness. They are not satisfied, they do not stop at men s blood ; no, the altar of covetousness is not glutted, un less it sacrifice the very soul itself also, unless it receive the souls of both, the sacrificer and the sacrificed. For he who sacrifices must first be sacrificed, and then he sacrifices ; and the dead sacrifices him who is yet living. For when he utters blasphemies, when he reviles, when he is irritated, are not these so many incurable wounds of the soul ? Thou hast seen that the expression is no hy perbole. Wouldest thou hear again another argument, to teach you how covetousness is idolatry, and more shocking than idolatry? Idolaters worship the creatures of God (" for they worshiped," it is said, " and served the creature rather than the Creator") (Rom. i. 25) ; but thou art worshiping a creature of thine own. For God made not covetousness, but thine own insatiable appetite invented it. 1 And look at the madness and folly. They that worship idols, honor also the idols they worship ; and ifany one speak of them with disrespect or ridicule, they stand up in their defense ; whereas thou, as if in a sort of intoxication, art worship ing an object, which is so far from being free from accusation, that it is even full of impiety. So that thou, even more than they, excellest in wickedness. Thou canst never have it to say as an excuse, that it is no evil. If even they are in the highest degree without excuse, yet art thou in a far higher, who art forever censuring covetousness, and reviling those who devote themselves to it, and who yet doth serve and obey it. We will examine, if you please, whence idola try took its rise. A certain wise man (Wisd. xiv. 16) tells us, that a certain rich man afflicted with untimely mourning for his son, and having no consolation for his sorrow, consoled his pas sion in this way : having made a lifeless image of the dead, and constantly gazing at it, he seemed through the image to have his departed one still ; whilst certain flatterers, " whose God was their belly" (Phil. iii. 19), treating the image with reverence in order to do him honor, carried on the custom into idolatry.- So then it took its rise from weakness of soul, from a senseless custom, from extrava gance. But not so covetousness : from weakness of soul indeed it is, only that it is from a worse 1 [This seems strained; for it is not true that they worshiped covetousness, a creature of their own, as Chrysostom calls it, but they worshiped gold and silver, which are creatures of God. G. A.] 2 [This is a rather doubtful and inadequate account of the b ning of idolatry. G. A.] weakness. It is not that any one has lost a son, nor that he is seeking for consolation in sorrow, nor that he is drawn on by flatterers. But how is it? I will tell you. Cain in covetousness overreached 3 God; what ought to have been given to Him, he kept to himself; what he should have kept himself, this he offered to Him ; and thus the evil began even from God. For if we are God s, much more are the first- fruits of our possessions. Again, men s violent passion for women arose from covetousness.4 "They saw the daughters of men" (Gen. vi. 2), and they rushed headlong into lust. And from hence again it went on to money ; for the wish to have more than one s neighbor of this world s goods, arises from no other source, than from " love waxing cold." The wish to have more than one s share arises from no other source than recklessness, misanthropy, and arrogance toward others. Look at the earth, how wide is its extent? How far greater than we can use the expanse of the sky and the heaven? It is that He might put an end to thy covetousness, that God hath thus widely extended the bounds of the creation. And art thou then still grasp ing and even thus? And dost thou hear that covetousness is idolatry, and not shudder even at this? Dost thou wish to inherit the earth? Then hast thou no inheritance in heaven. Art thou eager to leave an inheritance to others, that thou mayest rob thyself of it? Tell me, if any one were to offer thee power to possess all things, wouldest thou be unwilling? It is in thy power now, if thou wilt. Some, however, say, that they are grieved when they transmit the in heritance to others, and would fain have con sumed it themselves, rather than see others become its masters. Nor do I acquit thee of this weakness ; for this too is characteristic of a weak soul. However, at least let as much as this be done. In thy will leave Christ thine heir. It were thy duty indeed to do so in thy lifetime, for this would show a right disposition. Still, at all events, be a little generous, though it be but by necessity. For Christ indeed charged us to give to the poor with this object, to make us wise in our lifetime, to induce us to despise money, to teach us to look down upon earthly things. It is no contempt of money, as you think, to bestow it upon this man and upon that man when one dies, and is no longer master of it. Thou art then no longer giving of thine own, but of absolute necessity : thanks to death, not to thee. This is no act of affection, it is thy loss. o KdiV TOV Ofbv fn\fovfKTr)<rtv (comp. TrAtovefia). 4 [This is what the text seems to mean (jrdAiv ei? yvvm*a<; OTTO TrAtoi efia? j) op^rj yeyovtv), and yet he is proposing to explain the origin of covetousness (which, by the way, most men need go no further than their own heart to find), and not of lust. Moreover, the following context makes lust a source of covetousness, which is true and not covetousness the source of lust, which is not true. G. A.J