In illud Domine non est in homine

On the saying of the prophet Jeremiah, "Lord, is not the way of man his own, and does not man go and accomplish his journey?" 1. Of this perceptible and public road, some parts are level and smooth, others steep and rougher. So also with the divine Scriptures: some things are immediately clear to all, while others require more elaboration and effort. But when we travel on a level and smooth road, we do not need much precision; when, however, the road is steep and narrow, stretching up to the very peak, and hemmed in by precipices on either side, we need a sober and alert soul, since the difficulty does not permit us to be careless. For if one looks away even a little, with only the foot slipping, the whole body is hurled down, and if one peers down into ravines, seized by vertigo, one is carried down. So too with the divine Scriptures: some thoughts are easy and simple, and can be traversed without effort, while others are rougher and steeper, not equally easy to cross. Therefore all must be sober and watchful when we pass through such places, so that the danger does not become extreme for us. For this reason we also sometimes train you in the easier passages, and sometimes lead you to the more difficult, so that we may both relieve your labor and drive out your carelessness.

Just as those who always enjoy ease become more frivolous, so those who are constantly dragged toward rougher things despair of the toil. Therefore the form of teaching must be mixed, and now this, now that must be employed, so that our mind is neither relaxed beyond measure nor, being stretched excessively, is again broken by despairing of the toil. For this reason, after we had recently discoursed to you about Paul and Peter and the dispute that occurred between them in Antioch, and had shown you that their apparent conflict was more useful than any peace, and had led you onto that rough and rugged road, when we saw that you were weary, on the following day we led you by the hand to another, easier subject, recounting the encomia of the blessed Eustathius, and after him the praises of the noble martyr Romanus, on which occasion the theater became brighter for us, and the applause greater, and the noise louder. For just as a man who has toiled and then enters a meadow rejoices and is delighted, seeing nothing rough or painful, but much relaxation, delight, and refreshment, so you were disposed toward me then; for from the toils and difficulties of that hearing, as if entering a meadow of the martyrs' encomia, you freely partook of that delight. For there were no grips and counter-grips then, no wrestling holds and escapes, but with no one opposing, the speech contended on its own, being unbound and free.

For this reason, indeed, it was both more brilliant and more festive, and it enjoyed more praise. For the mind of the hearers, when it follows what is said with ease, enjoying great relaxation, is more eagerly roused to praise the speaker. Since, then, we have sufficiently refreshed you in these days, having stirred nothing laborious or harsh toward your love, come now, let us lead you back today to the former exercise, guiding you by the hand to the more toilsome passages of the Scriptures, which require much understanding—not to crush you with toil, but to train you so that you may be able to traverse these places also with safety. Just as then, at the beginning, there seemed to be some battle and contention among the apostles, but when we climbed those crags, we saw above the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace—and our labor was not vain nor superfluous, but ended in gladness; so also today I expect, by your prayers, that if we complete the path set before us with endurance and great patience, and are able to ascend to its very summit, we will find everything there level, smooth, and gentle. What, then, is the subject now set before us? The passage read today from the prophet: "Lord, the way of man is not in man, nor will man go and accomplish his journey.

This is the question. But you, just as you then showed eagerness, now also apply yourselves; for this question is not less than that one, but even requires more attention. Why so? Because the apparent difference between Paul and Peter, which was not a real one, was not known to many, whence it was likely that no great harm would come from ignorance; but this saying is carried about everywhere—in houses, in marketplaces, in fields, in cities, on land and sea and islands; and wherever you go, you will hear many saying this: "It is written, 'Not in man is his way.'" And they have not only studied this saying, but they also string together other such ones with it, that "It is not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs"; and after that again, "Unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it have labored in vain." They do this, putting forward the divine Scriptures as screens for their own indolence, and attempting through these words to undermine our salvation and our hope. For they wish to establish nothing else by these than that we are masters of nothing. All that concerns us is gone; the promise of a kingdom is vain, the threat of Gehenna is vain, laws and punishments and penalties and counsels are vain.

For what could one advise someone who is master of nothing? And what could one promise to someone deprived of all authority? Neither is the one who succeeds worthy of praise, nor is the one who fails liable to punishment and retribution, if our actions are not in our power. If people were persuaded of this, no one would ever again pursue virtue or flee vice. For if now, when we daily speak of Gehenna, discourse about the Kingdom, and set before them both the unbearable punishments and the rewards that surpass human understanding, when we advise, exhort, and move every argument, only with difficulty do some endure the labors for virtue, only with difficulty do they abstain from the pleasure in sins—if you also cut away this sacred anchor, will not the whole ship be submerged, and will not everyone go under, becoming completely sunk, and will there not be many shipwrecks every day? For nothing, nothing has the devil so eagerly sought as to persuade the human soul that it is neither liable to punishment for its sins nor worthy of praise and crowns for its successes, so that he may loosen the hands of the zealous and quench their eagerness, and increase the negligence of the fallen and augment their sloth.

Therefore, one must attend with precision to what is said. There is a precipice on either side and a pit, if we do not read the saying with sobriety. For what shall we say? That the prophet lied? But that is dangerous; for a prophet does not lie, for he utters the words of God. But did the prophet not lie? Then are not actions within our power? But both actions are within our power, and the prophet did not lie; and we will demonstrate both these things, if you pay attention. For this reason I have shown the precipice on either side, so that we may complete the path before us with sobriety. For let us not examine only this, "The way is not in man," but also the entire context, and concerning whom it is said, and by whom, and to whom, and on account of what, and when, and how. For it is not sufficient to say that it is written in the Scriptures, nor to simply tear away and rend the members of the body of the divinely inspired Scriptures, taking them bereft and naked of their own connection, and to abuse them with authority and license. For in this way many corrupted doctrines have been introduced into our life, the devil persuading the more careless to report perversely what is set down in the Scriptures, either by adding or subtracting, obscuring the truth.

It is not sufficient, therefore, to say that it is written in Scripture, but one must also read the entire sequence. For if we were to cut off their mutual continuity and connection, many wicked doctrines would thus be born. For it is written in Scripture that "There is no God," and that "He turned away His face, so as not to see to the end," and that "God will not seek out." What then, tell me? Is there no God? Does He not oversee earthly affairs? And who would endure to say or hear this? Yet it is written in Scripture. But learn how it is written. "The fool," it says, "said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" This is not the opinion and judgment of Scripture, but of the fool's mind. Scripture did not speak its own words, but reported another's. And again: "How long did the impious one provoke God? For he said in his heart, 'He will not seek out.' He turned away His face, so as not to see to the end." And here again it sets forth the judgment and opinion of an impious and corrupt man. Thus it is also customary for physicians, when conversing with the healthy, to recount the errors of those who are delirious and out of their senses, in order to make them more secure. Since health of soul is piety, and the ultimate sickness and infirmity is not to know God, it speaks the words of the impious, not that we might hear them simply, but that we might be on guard. It says what the fool said, so that you may become wise and not accept the word; it says what the impious said, so that you may flee impiety. Not only must one not cut off the sequence, but one must also pronounce them soundly and add nothing.

Many, indeed, also carry around other things from the Scriptures, reporting them in a distorted manner. For it is written, they say, "If you burn, marry." But this is nowhere written in such a way. Rather, consider how it is said: "I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain as I do; but if they are not continent, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn." Is it not the same, then, they say, as "If you burn, marry"? Certainly, even if it were the same, "If you burn, marry," they ought not, abandoning the sound proclamation of Scripture, to distort it and present the meanings of Scripture in their own words. But as it is, we will find a great difference. For if you simply say, "If you burn, marry," you have given permission to all who have chosen virginity to dissolve their covenants with God whenever they are troubled by desire, to desert to marriage, and to forget their former promise. 3. But if you learn to whom Paul is speaking—that it is not to everyone without distinction, but to those who have not yet made promises—you will be able to remove this harmful and destructive permission. For he says, "I say to the unmarried and to widows," not to those who have promised widowhood, but to those who have not yet decided either this or that, but are in some intermediate state of opinion. For example: someone has lost a husband, he says; she has not yet decided within herself, nor has she confirmed whether she should choose widowhood or a second

introduce a bridegroom. To this woman I give counsel, he says, because it is good to be in this state; but if she cannot bear the burden, let her marry. However, those who have already undertaken and enrolled themselves in the endurance of widowhood, and have made covenants with God, he says are no longer masters of returning to a second marriage. For this reason, writing to Timothy about them, he speaks somewhat as follows: "Reject younger widows." For when they have become insolent toward Christ, they wish to marry, having a judgment because they have betrayed their first faith. Do you see how he here punishes and chastises them, and says they are liable to justice and judgment, because they have betrayed their covenants with God and falsified their promise? So from this it is clear that that saying was not spoken to those who have made a promise. For this reason, one must not simply cite it, but also know the persons to whom the Scriptures are speaking. Again, they carry around another saying, not distorting its meaning, but adding something else not written. For such is the malice of the devil, to introduce destructive doctrines either by addition, or subtraction, or distortion, or alteration of the texts. What is this saying? "My silver is mine," he says, "and my gold is mine; and to whomever I wish, I give them." Of this, part is said, part is not said, but has been thrown in from somewhere outside. For the prophet said, "My silver is mine, and my gold is mine"; but "to whomever I wish, I give them" is no longer attached, but is carried about due to the ignorance of the many. And what harm comes from this?

Many foul men, sorcerers, and debauchees, unworthy even to see this sun, to live, or to breathe, enjoy great wealth, overturning everything, plundering the houses of widows, abusing orphans, and exalting themselves over those of lower station. Therefore, the devil, wishing to persuade people that all wealth comes from above and from God's gift, so that he might thereby heap much blasphemy upon the Master, took a saying from Scripture that says, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," and added another not found in Scripture, saying: "And to whomever I wish, I will give them." But the prophet Haggai does not speak thus; rather, when the Jews returned from the barbarian land and were about to rebuild the temple and restore it to its former splendor, since they were at a loss—enemies surrounding them, great poverty existing, and no prosperity appearing from anywhere—wishing to lead them to good hopes and persuade them to have confidence concerning the outcome, he says in the person of God: "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, and the glory of this house will be the last greater than the first." And what is this to the matter at hand? That one must not simply cite the sayings of the Scriptures, nor tear them from their context, nor sever them from their connection, nor take the words bare and stripped of the support of what follows or precedes, to slander and abuse them simply.

How is it not absurd, then, that when men are litigating in court about worldly affairs, they set forth all their claims in the middle, bringing forward places, times, causes, persons, and countless other things, but when contests concerning eternal life lie before us, we simply and haphazardly adduce passages from the Scriptures? For no one will read a royal law simply and at random, but unless he states the time, points out the one who enacted it, and produces it sound and entire, he is punished and pays the ultimate penalty. But we, reading not a human law but one brought down from the heavens, shall we use such negligence as to tear away limbs and parts? And where are these things worthy of defense and pardon? Perhaps I have extended the discourse beyond measure, but not without reason—rather, to lead you away from this evil habit. Let us not, therefore, grow weary until we find the end. For we came into being not to eat and drink and clothe ourselves, but to flee vice and choose virtue, laying hold of divine philosophy. That we came into being not to eat and drink, but for other far greater and better things, listen to God stating the reason for which He made man. For when fashioning him, He speaks somewhat as follows: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness." And we become like God not by eating, drinking, and clothing ourselves—for God neither eats, nor drinks, nor is clothed—but by practicing righteousness, displaying philanthropy, being good and gentle, showing mercy to our neighbors, and pursuing every virtue.

For eating and drinking are common to us with the nature of irrational animals, and in this respect we are no better than they. But whence comes our superiority? From being made in the image and likeness of God. Let us not, then, grow weary in setting forth arguments on behalf of virtue, but let us bring this prophetic saying into the midst, examine it with precision, and learn who spoke it, and on behalf of whom, and when, and to whom, and how matters stood, and investigate everything that contributes to the discovery. Now the speaker is Jeremiah the prophet, and he is not making supplication on his own behalf, but on behalf of others—on behalf of the Jews who are senseless, unfeeling, incorrigible, and deserving of punishment and the most extreme penalty. Concerning them God says to him: Do not pray for this people, for I will not listen to you. And some say that this is spoken concerning Nebuchadnezzar; for since the barbarian was about to march against them, to destroy the city, and to take captives and depart, wishing to persuade all that it is not by his own strength or the power of the city that he prevails, but by their sins, with God directing the war and leading him against his own city, he says: I know, Lord, that man's way is not his own, nor does man walk and accomplish his journey. What he says is this:

This is the way, he says, which the barbarian now marches against us, not from himself, nor did he accomplish this war and victory, but unless you delivered us into his hands, he would not have prevailed, nor would he have overcome. Therefore, he says, I beg and implore, since this has been decided, that the punishment be measured. Discipline us, but with judgment, and not in wrath. But since some argue against this, and say it is not spoken concerning the barbarian, but concerning the common nature of men, it is necessary to contend also against these. What then is to be said to them? That he was pleading on behalf of men who had sinned, on behalf of whom he was often prevented from pleading; therefore he first prepares the city to mourn. For since he kept saying, Do not plead on their behalf, he first brings down the one in need of philanthropy, so that from there he might take some occasion and reasonable pretext for his supplication to God on their behalf, and he directs his speech to her, and says: Woe to your brokenness; your wound is painful. Then she says: Is this truly my wound? My tent is destroyed, my curtains are torn asunder, my sons and my sheep have gone from me, and are no more. My shepherds have become foolish, and did not seek the Lord. A sound of hearing comes, and a great earthquake from the north, to set the cities of Judah into desolation and a bed of sparrows.

Then, after she had lamented her own misfortune, she says, "Lord, the way of man is not his own." What then? Because she laments, does she introduce a destructive doctrine into the world, removing our authority and saying that what is to be done is not in our power? Not at all; but even while lamenting, she secures herself. For having said, "The way of man is not his own," she did not remain silent, but added, "Nor will a man go and accomplish his journey." What she means is this: the whole is not in our power, but part is in our power, and part is with God. For to choose the best things, to will, to strive, and to endure every labor belongs to our own intention; but to bring them to completion, not to allow them to fail, and to reach the very end of achievements belongs to grace from above. For God has divided virtue with us, and he neither left the whole to be in our power, lest we be lifted up to arrogance, nor did he take the whole himself, lest we incline to laziness; but leaving a little to our own efforts, he himself accomplishes the greater part. For if the whole were in our power, this would have lifted many to arrogance and thrown them headlong; let us hear what the Pharisee says, to what great boastfulness he was raised, how he magnified himself and thought himself greater than the whole world. For this reason, God did not make the whole ours, but left something to be in our power, so that he might have a plausible pretext for justly crowning us.

And he made this clear through that parable, in which he says that, finding men around the eleventh hour, he sent them to work in the vineyard. Yet what did they accomplish in the eleventh hour? But nevertheless, even the brief moment of time sufficed for God to give them their full reward. And so that you may learn that the prophet truly says this, and does not take away our authority, but here philosophizes about the outcome of affairs, listen to what follows. For after saying, "The way of man is not in his own power," he immediately adds, "Discipline us, Lord, but in judgment, and not in wrath." For if nothing at all were in our power, he would have said superfluously, "Discipline us, but in judgment." For what could be more unjust than that those who are not masters of their own actions should be punished, and that men should suffer retribution whose way and life are not subject to their own authority? So when he appears to entreat God that the punishment against them not be too severe, he indicates nothing other than this: that they are worthy of being chastised and of suffering retribution. And this is nothing other than establishing free will.

For if they were not masters of what was to be done, they ought to be required to undergo a milder punishment, or rather not be punished at all; indeed, there would be no need even of a plea, for God does not require someone to intercede with him so that he not punish those who are not responsible. And what am I saying, God, when not even a sensible man would? When, therefore, the prophet appears to intercede on behalf of the Jews, it is evident that he intercedes for them as having sinned; and sin appears then, when we, being masters of not transgressing the law, transgress. So from every side it is clear to us that our successes depend both on us and on God. Such also is the saying, "It is not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs, but of the merciful God." And why then do I run? he says; why then do I will, if the whole does not lie in me? In order that through willing and running you may draw down God's inclination and goodwill, so that he may cooperate and reach out a hand and bring it to completion. For if you remove this, and cease running and willing, God will not reach out a hand either, but will himself stand back. Whence is this clear? Hear what he says to Jerusalem. "How many times I wished to gather your children together, and you did not wish it. Behold, your house is left desolate." You see, because they did not wish it, how God also stood back? Therefore we have need both of willing and of running, so that we may draw God to us. This then the prophet also says, that success is not in us, but in God's assistance; but the choice is in us and in our own free will.

Therefore, if success depends on God's help, he says, then even if I do not succeed, I would not be justly subject to any blame. For when I have provided everything from myself—when I have willed, chosen, and undertaken the matter—but the one who is master of the outcome does not cooperate or extend a hand, I am free from all accusation. But this is not so, it is not so; for it is impossible, when we have willed, chosen, and desired, for God to abandon us. For if he exhorts and advises those who are unwilling, so that they may will and desire, much more does he not abandon those who choose. For look, he says, at ancient generations, and see. Who hoped in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who abided by his commandments and was overlooked by him? And again Paul says, "Hope does not put to shame, hope in God." For it is impossible for one who hopes in God with his whole mind and contributes everything from himself to fail of the end. And again, "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will provide together with the trial also the outcome, so that you can endure it." Therefore a certain wise man exhorts, saying, "Child, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for trial. Steady your heart, and endure, and do not hasten in a time of affliction. Cleave to him, and do not depart." And another saying exhorts, "He who endures to the end, this one will be saved." And all these are canons, definitions, and immovable doctrines.

And this must be fixed in our soul, that it is impossible for anyone who uses zeal and cares for his own salvation, and shows forth everything from himself, ever to be abandoned by God. Do you not hear what He says to Peter? "Simon, Simon, how many times has Satan asked to sift you like wheat, and I have prayed for you, that your faith might not fail." For when He sees the burden greater than our strength, He reaches out a hand and lightens the trial; but when He sees that from their own laziness and negligence they betray their own salvation and do not wish to be saved, He leaves them and abandons them. For He does not force or compel, and what He did in teaching also happens here. For just as there He did not drag or force those who did not wish to listen but ran away, but to those who paid attention He resolved the unclear things and made the riddles plain, so also in matters of action: He does not force or compel the insensible and unwilling, but He draws those who choose with great intensity. For this reason Peter also says, "In truth I perceive that in every nation, the one who fears God and practices righteousness is acceptable to Him." And the prophet exhorts the same thing, saying, "If you wish and listen to me, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you do not wish and do not listen to me, a sword will devour you.

Knowing these things, then—that both the will and the effort are in us, and that through willing and striving we draw God to our aid, and having drawn him, we shall reach the goal of our affairs—let us arise, beloved, and let us show forth all zeal in the salvation of our own soul, so that having labored here a short time, we may enjoy the ageless and deathless age of deathless goods. May it be that we all attain these, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom glory is to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.