In Joannem theologum

Of the same author, a discourse on Saint John the Theologian. 1. John in Ephesus of Asia, John the boast of Asia, rather the pillar of the inhabited world, John the beloved disciple of Christ, and the trumpet of the Word of God, the glory of the Ephesians, and the herald of the ends of the earth, the cithara of theology, Theologian worthily named; the Cherubic mouth, and the Seraphic initiation, or even beyond these I will not refrain from speaking. For whom the higher powers glorify with trembling of angels, John proclaimed with a great voice and boldness: In the beginning was the Word. Blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, that in you first such a God-spoken thunder sounded; blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, that in you such a writing was composed; blessed are you, that in you such a John was. For there are other Johns in the whole inhabited world and in you, but there is no such John, neither in you nor in the whole inhabited world. Whence the one who knew the mind of men, and knew the secrets of the heart, finding him such, holy and undefiled, lofty in life, pure in heart, adorned with chastity, perfected in love, entrusted to him as faithful in all things his own mother, the undefiled dove, the spotless ewe, the unblemished heifer, the incomparable among men, the one superior to all the creations of God; which no other of the saints has been entrusted. Blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, that the feet of such a man trod upon you, whose pure conduct and footsteps angels marveled at.

Blessed are you, city of the Ephesians, because you were shown forth as higher than every city, through John the beloved. Blessed are you, because all the Churches of the inhabited world are your disciples, having been taught by you to theologize: "In the beginning was the Word." For just as if there is a lamp burning in some place, and from all sides many run up, and each, having kindled from there, goes forth confidently, no longer stumbling or wandering, so also it happened in Ephesus. Having first kindled the lamp of theology, all the Churches of the ends ran to you, and each kindled its own torch of theology and returned rejoicing: "In the beginning was the Word." And Ephesus was not diminished of its own light of theology, and the inhabited world, holding equal lights, proclaims: "In the beginning was the Word." It is necessary also to bring his contests into the midst, as many as are possible for us, a few from the many; for all his achievements not all time would suffice to narrate. For we have heard most from the book of the Acts, how much he contended well while with the apostles. Later he was exiled by Domitian, the emperor of the Romans, to the island called Patmos, on account of the word of God and the proclamation of piety, and he writes the Church, which God showed him, and the Apocalypse of unspeakable and fearful mysteries, and then also his three holy Epistles. But observe the ineffable goodness of God, everywhere sojourning with those who love him.

even if they are held in prison, even if they happen to be in exile, whether in the depths of the sea or shut up in a pit, even if they are cast aside anywhere, he is not separated from them, fighting alongside them and strengthening them, and lightening their labors. Then, having returned from exile, he arrives at Ephesus, and while staying there he composes the Gospel at the age of one hundred, having lasted until a full one hundred and twenty. While living there he writes the Theology, or rather in the heavens, whence he brought it; for the polity of such men is in the heavens. While living in Ephesus, in the flesh, he spread the net of theology to the ends of the inhabited world, saying, "In the beginning was the Word." Truly great is our Lord, and great is his power, and there is no number for his understanding; he who said to them, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom." How many kings and rulers and wise men have often spoken with great power, but their voice did not reach even the walls of the city? And the poor fisherman in Ephesus uttered, "In the beginning was the Word," and the voice covered the whole earth. Have you seen a mouth higher than every voice? Have you seen a tongue swifter than lightning? Have you seen a voice clearer than any thunder? Have you seen such power? A teacher from Ephesus instructing all nations and teaching them to theologize: "In the beginning was the Word." This voice fished the inhabited world and stabilized it when it was shaken; this voice illuminated the world and strengthened it against the adversary; this voice is the resurrection of many and the provider of salvation for some, but for others a fall and a deposition because of the contradictory sign.

For those who believe that he was in the beginning, there is resurrection; for those who say that he came into being from non-being, there is fall and silence. For a great multitude of heretics then rose up and shook the Church, speaking injustice to the heights, and saying that there was once when he was not, and before he came to be he was not, and that he came into being from non-being. O foul mouths, and abominable tongues, and lips filled with the venom of asps! What is worse than this blasphemy? What is more dishonorable than this atheism? Hence the apostle John, no longer enduring to hear their foul voices, composes the Gospel, depositing in the Church a great treasure, the fourth river, the precious pearl. For having returned, as was said before, from exile to Ephesus, and having then perceived that the books of the other evangelists had been completed, and almost all inspired Scripture for the edification of the Church, but the fourth foundation of the world was lacking, and that without this the world could not stand, he reasoned within himself, saying: Why do I delay? Why, he says, do I still hold back? Why do I not bring forward the mystery hidden from the ages? Why do I hide from myself the wisdom from the ages, which I drew from the immortal spring? Why do I not make public what angels do not know? Why do I not reveal to the ends what no one knows except the Father? Why do I not write what Matthew and Mark and Luke, through praiseworthy timidity, passed over in silence and omitted, having completed what was commanded to them? Therefore I too will speak according to the gift given to me from above.

Matthew wrote as much as he could, according to his own ability, while Mark and Luke likewise, according to the provision of the Holy Spirit, set forth their books in a manner befitting God. I too shall write and add to the earlier works the fourth source of life. For the discourse on theology is lacking for a divinely established utterance, and the world is in danger in this respect. I shall write a book by which every mouth speaking injustice against God will be stopped; I shall write a book that covers all wisdom in the world; I shall write a book that does not narrate about a human being. For the Church does not lack what Moses wrote concerning heaven and earth and seas and fish and birds and quadrupeds, and reptiles and plants and seeds and luminaries and foods and the rest of creation; but I, leaving aside all things that come into being from time and in time, will speak about the timeless and uncreated, the one born ineffably from the Father before all ages, the Word of God, about whom Moses was unable to speak thus; but I am able in all things through Christ who empowers me. While the apostle John was pondering these things within himself, and holding the writing reed in his hand, and considering how to begin the theology, rejoicing in his soul but trembling in his hand, he is lifted up, and while being in Ephesus in body, with a pure heart in spirit

he was suspended in midair. So, leaving behind the entire earth, he crossed through the air spread in between, passed by the arrangements of the stars, went beyond the hosts of angels, the choral assemblies of archangels, and all the intellectual powers, the orders of Cherubim and Seraphim, and left behind everything that was brought forth from non-existence, and surpassed all the heavens, and passed by all that was not. He approached the boundaries of the inaccessible, and there was no one to hinder or obstruct his ascent. For everyone who is spotless in body, pure in heart, guileless in soul, and humble in spirit is neither hindered by the aerial spirits nor prevented by the heavenly powers from ascending to the upper Jerusalem, where all the blessed gather, just as this blessed apostle, the lesser John, and greater than the great Saint John. So he passed through all, and there was no one to oppose him. For angels, seeing a man from earth more glorious than angels, having nothing to say, were silent; and the choirs of angels dared not detain another angel from earth, brilliant in virginity, full of sanctity, pure in heart, filled with fragrance. The gates of heaven, again seeing a strange, glorified face, shining with divine rays beyond the sun, and suspecting this to be the one whom Jesus loved, the one who reclined on his breast in great purity, whence such glory also surrounds him, eagerly opened and granted him entry. Then he approached, lacking the untrodden; he reached the upper abyss. What then shall we say to these things?

The divine voice is true, speaking through the prophet: "But I will glorify those who glorify me." As also the God-father David prophesied concerning this, that "The mighty of the earth were greatly exalted by God," and again, "The Lord made all his purposes marvelous in the saints who are on his earth." For what is greater than this wonder, that a man of clay should reach such a height? With great boldness, he beheld as much as it is possible to see, and, as he wished to strive even into the things beyond, he saw what no man has ever seen nor can see, as the apostle Paul writes; and as John himself says similarly, that no one has ever seen God. What then shall we say to these things? That Paul wrote well, saying: "Whom no man has seen nor can see." For here it is not according to human matters, nor according to nature, but above nature; nor of servitude, but of adoption and friendship (for "You are my friends, I will no longer call you servants"); nor impure, but pure and spoken, as the divine voice says to them: "You are pure; and the pure in heart will see God.

Bearing these greatest and divine gifts, John, having taken courage and set foot upon the heights, arrived at the boundless sea, and with the immaculate eyes of his heart, in the bosom of the Father without beginning, he beheld the Word who is without beginning, who was ineffably born of the Father before all ages, and no longer able to contain that inexpressible joy within himself, he opened his holy and seraphic mouth and cried out with a loud voice, saying: "In the beginning was the Word." Behold the understanding of a fisherman, consider the wisdom of an unlettered man. Do you see the indescribable height of the teacher, seated in Ephesus, contemplating things beyond the heavens? In spirit he journeyed to the upper depths, and having fished theology from the paternal bosom, he wrote below with his body: "In the beginning was the Word." Hear, you faithful, and be confirmed: "In the beginning was the Word." Hear, you babbling opponents, and be ashamed: "In the beginning was the Word." No longer be bold, blasphemers; no longer war against the Church, antichrists; no longer transgress the law; no longer raise your horn. Do not lift your horn high, and do not speak injustice against God, saying that there was a time when he was not, and before

it was not possible to come into being, and that it came from non-being. Stop your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. For he himself was and pre-existed, and always was, neither having a beginning nor ceasing to be, nor in time, the timeless one, nor a creation or a product; for he himself is the maker and creator of all things, both visible and invisible. For all things came into being through him. Truly now is the time to speak that prophetic saying: This is our God; no other will be compared to him. He discovered every path of knowledge and gave it to John, his beloved. For see for me through one utterance how he set right the whole world, which will not be shaken; look for me at one man sitting in Ephesus, teaching theology to the whole world; consider how many cities in the east, how many regions, how many churches, how many again in the west, and great Rome likewise, and on the sides, and in the parts of the south, the land of the Cappadocians, and everything in between, islands, deserts, and the ends of the earth. Consider again the multitude of churches, the clergy, and the multitudes of the people, men and women, if you can count them.

But it is easier to number the sand of the sea than such multitudes. And all these are disciples of John, taught by him to theologize: "In the beginning was the Word." And in the marketplace they chant this: "In the beginning was the Word." And travelers, and seafarers, and sailors sing this: "In the beginning was the Word." And in the deserts, and on the mountains, both laymen and wise, both small and great, and everyone who thinks, theologizes these things: "In the beginning was the Word." And then, when those shouting ceaselessly the "He was" and "He was" multiplied everywhere, those saying "He was not" disappeared. Those who theologize multiplied, and those who speak vainly disappeared; the pious advanced, and the impious stumbled; the faithful rejoiced, and the unbelievers wasted away. The bow of the mighty was weakened, and the weak girded themselves with strength. The fools of the world were refuted, and the wise of the world were brought to naught. But how long shall I not stop my discourse concerning them? For if I persist in speaking, I shall not reach the height to narrate the glory of these. For the glory which the teacher received from the Father, he gave to them. And why then do I persist in pursuing the unattainable? For even what we have dared to say is not as much as is worthy of the present chorus of holy disciples, but as much as is possible for our power; for to praise these worthily every man is at a loss. Hence I too speak with fear what I speak concerning these, lest somehow, through my own incapacity and the smallness and poverty of my speech, I diminish their praises and prepare them to be indignant against me.

Nevertheless, since they are sympathetic to all, they will also now forgive our weakness. For if they bless when reviled, endure when persecuted, and exhort when slandered, much more, when praised according to our ability, they will not be indignant, knowing the weakness of nature, even though they have now received what is beyond nature from the God who loved them. And so those who were once poor have become rich, the obscure famous, the illiterate wise, the fishers of fish fishers of men; and having thus completed their course, they have departed to the life that has no end, to their own teacher and Lord, Jesus Christ. Glory to him. Amen. 2. They have handed over to their successors the nets and the snares, and the authority which they received from the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth. For behold, he says, I give you the authority to tread upon snakes and scorpions, and upon every power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you.

These, then, as was said before, succeed to the authority, the rule, and the zeal: the honored teachers, the hierarchs, and shepherds of Christ’s flock, walking in the footsteps of the apostles, the noble champions of the Trinity, those who passed over the letter of the law and received the life-giving Spirit, those who, like a plow, dig up, deepen, and search, and have made the mind in the divine Scriptures manifestly clear to all, those who made faith distinct and drove out false belief, those who strengthened the orthodox with divine doctrines and shattered the heterodox with divine shafts, those who found the hidden wine of compunction and gave drink to the thirsty flock, those who took up the shepherd’s pipe and sounded the divine things, the ministers, guardians, and workers of the vineyard, the orators of divine doctrines and swords against heretics, those placed as bishops by the Holy Spirit, as the holy Paul said: “Shepherd the Church of God,” those who did not decline the impending afflictions and received the promised crown of life, those who fled youthful desires and inherited the blessed hope, the generals of the great king, rich in the word of God and poor in spirit, the imitators of the apostles and models for the faithful, the leaders of cities and heralds of the inhabited world, those who set their souls for the flock and poured out their blood for the faith.

Those who imitated that ancient Abraham and reposed in his bosom—in like manner, these also, as avengers of the Lord, having received word concerning the ill-named and evil-believing, who, having twisted the divine Scriptures and confounded the truth, and having swerved from the straight path, take souls captive, dragging them into the eternal darkness of heresy—gathered together all with one mind, the faithful, taking up a Davidic zeal, like stones from the torrent, that is, from the Gospel, and the unbreakable faith of the holy Trinity, they arrayed for battle against the countless and godless heretics, being of one soul, agreeing in one and saying with the Apostle: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, one Holy Spirit, the illumination of all, one divinity, one God. To Him be the glory and the power always, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.