XI.

Ioasaph said unto him, "All thy words are fair and wonderful, and,

while thou spakest, I believed them and still believe them; and I hate

all idolatry with all my heart. And indeed, even before thy coming

hither, my soul was, in uncertain fashion, doubtful of it. But now I

hate it with a perfect hatred, since I have learned from thy lips the

vanity thereof, and the folly of those who worship idols; and I yearn

to become the servant of the true God, if haply he will not refuse me,

that am unworthy by reason of my sins, and I trust that he will forgive

me everything, because he is a lover of men, and compassionate, as thou

tellest me, and will count me worthy to become his servant. So I am

ready anon to receive baptism, and to observe all thy sayings. But

what must I do after baptism? And is this alone sufficient for

salvation, to believe and be baptized, or must one add other services

thereto?"

Barlaam answered him, "Hear what thou must do after baptism. Thou must

abstain from all sin, and every evil affection, and build upon the

foundation of the Catholick Faith the practice of the virtues; for

faith without works is dead, as also are works without faith. For,

saith the Apostle, 'Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the

lust of the flesh.' Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are

these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,

witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,

heresies, envyings, murders, love of money, railing, love of pleasure,

drunkenness, revelling, arrogance, and such like, of the which I tell

you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do

such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

meekness, temperance, sanctification of soul and body, lowliness of

heart and contrition, almsgiving, forgiveness of injuries,

loving-kindness, watchings, perfect repentance of all past offences,

tears of compunction, sorrow for our own sins and those of our

neighbours, and the like. These, even as steps and ladders that

support one another and are clinched together, conduct the soul to

heaven. Lo, to these we are commanded to cleave after baptism, and to

abstain from their contraries.

"But if, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, we again lay hold

on dead works, and, like a dog, return to our vomit, it shall happen

unto us according to the word of the Lord; 'for,' saith he, 'when the

unclean spirit is gone out of a man' (to wit, by the grace of baptism)

'he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none.' But

enduring not for long to wander homeless and hearthless, he saith, 'I

will return to my house whence I came out.' And, when he cometh, he

findeth it swept and garnished, but empty and unoccupied, not having

received the operation of grace, nor having filled itself with the

riches of the virtues. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other

spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell there:

and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.' For

baptism burieth in the water and completely blotteth out the

hand-writing of all former sins, and is to us for the future a sure

fortress and tower of defence, and a strong weapon against the

marshalled host of the enemy; but it taketh not away free will, nor

alloweth the forgiving of sins after baptism, or immersion in the font

a second time. For it is one baptism that we confess, and need is that

we keep ourselves with all watchfulness that so we fall not into

defilement a second time, but hold fast to the commandments of the

Lord. For when he said to the Apostles, 'Go make disciples of all

nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Ghost,' he did not stop there, but added, 'teaching them to

observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.'

"Now he commanded men to be poor in spirit, and such he calleth blessed

and worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Again he chargeth us to mourn in

the present life, that we may obtain comfort hereafter, and to be meek,

and to be ever hungering and thirsting after righteousness: to be

merciful, and ready to distribute, pitiful and compassionate, pure in

heart, abstaining from all defilement of flesh and spirit, peacemakers

with our neighbours and with our own souls, by bringing the worse into

subjection to the better, and thus by a just decision making peace in

that continual warfare betwixt the twain; also to endure all

persecution and tribulation and reviling, inflicted upon us for

righteousness' sake in defence of his name, that we may obtain

everlasting felicity in the glorious distribution of his rewards. Ay,

and in this world he exhorteth us to let our 'light so shine before

men, that they may see,' he saith, 'your good works, and glorify your

Father which is in heaven.'

"For the law of Moses, formerly given to the Israelites, saith, 'Thou

shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal;

thou shalt not bear false witness:' but Christ saith 'Whosoever is

angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the

judgement; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of

hell fire:' and, 'if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there

rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy

gift before the altar, and go thy way and first be reconciled to thy

brother.' And he also saith, 'Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust

after her, hath committed adultery with her in his heart.' And hereby

he calleth the defilement and consent of the affection adultery.

Furthermore, where the law forbade a man to forswear himself, Christ

commanded him to swear not at all beyond Yea and Nay. There we read,

'Eye for eye and tooth for tooth': here, 'Whosoever shall smite thee on

thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue

thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give

to him that asketh time, and from him that would borrow of thee turn

not thou away. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good

to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and

persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in

heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and

sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Judge not, that ye be not

judged. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Lay not up for yourselves

treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where

thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in

heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do

not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will

your heart be also. Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,

or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on:

for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these

things.' He therefore that gave life and body will assuredly give food

and raiment: he that feedeth the fowls of the air and arrayeth with

such beauty the lilies of the field. 'But, seek ye first,' saith

Christ, 'the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these

things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the

morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do

ye even so to them. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the

gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there

be which go in thereat. Strait and narrow is the way which leadeth

unto life and few there be that find it. Not every one that saith unto

me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that

doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. He that loveth father

or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son and

daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up

his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.' Lo these and

the like of these be the things which the Saviour commanded his

Apostles to teach the Faithful: and all these things we are bound to

observe, if we desire to attain to perfection and receive the

incorruptible crowns of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous

judge, shall give at that day unto all them that have loved his

appearing."

Ioasaph said unto the elder, "Well then, as the strictness of these

doctrines demandeth such chaste conversation, if, after baptism, I

chance to fail in one or two of these commandments, shall I therefore

utterly miss the goal, and shall all my hope be vain?"

Barlaam answered, "Deem not so. God, the Word, made man for the

salvation of our race, aware of the exceeding frailty and misery of our

nature, hath not even here suffered our sickness to be without remedy.

But, like a skilful leech, he hath mixed for our unsteady and

sin-loving heart the potion of repentance, prescribing this for the

remission of sins. For after that we have received the knowledge of

the truth, and have been sanctified by water and the Spirit, and

cleansed without effort from all sin and all defilement, if we should

fortune to fall into any transgression, there is, it is true, no second

regeneration made within us by the spirit through baptism in the water

of the font, and wholly re-creating us (that gift is given once for

all); but, by means of painful repentance, hot tears, toils and sweats,

there is a purifying and pardoning of our offences through the tender

mercy of our God. For the fount of tears is also called baptism,

according to the grace of the Master, but it needeth labour and time;

and many hath it saved after many a fall; because there is no sin too

great for the clemency of God, if we be quick to repent, and purge the

shame of our offences, and death overtake us not, and depart us not

from this life still defiled; for in the grave there is no confession

nor repentance. But as long as we are 'among the living, while the

foundation of our true faith continueth unshattered, even if somewhat

of the outer roof-work or inner building be disabled, it is allowed to

renew by repentance the part rotted by sins. It is impossible to count

the multitude of the mercies of God, or measure the greatness of his

compassion: whereas sins and offences, of whatever kind, are subject to

measure and may be numbered. So our offences, being subject to measure

and number, cannot overcome the immeasurable compassion, and

innumerable mercies of God.

"Wherefore we are commanded not to despair for our trespasses, but to

acknowledge the goodness of God, and condemn the sins whereof

forgiveness is offered us by reason of the loving-kindness of Christ,

who for our sins shed his precious blood. In many places of Scripture

we are taught the power of repentance, and especially by the precepts

and parables of our Lord Jesus Christ. For it saith, 'From that time

began Jesus to preach and to say, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand."' Moreover he setteth before us, in a parable, a certain

son that had received his father's substance, and taken his journey

into a far country, and there spent all in riotous living. Then, when

there arose a famine in that land, he went and joined himself to one of

the citizens of that land of iniquity, who sent him into his fields to

feed swine,--thus doth he designate the most coarse and loathsome sin.

When, after much labour, he had come to the utmost misery, and might

not even fill his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, at last

he came to perceive his shameful plight, and, bemoaning himself, said,

'How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare,

and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will

say unto him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee,

and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired

servants."' And he arose, and came to his father. But, when he was yet

a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and

embraced him, and kissed him tenderly, and, restoring him to his former

rank, made a feast of joyaunce because his son was found again, and

killed the fatted calf. Lo, this parable, that Jesus spake to us,

concerneth such as turn again from sin, and fall at his feet in

repentance. Again, he representeth a certain good shepherd that had an

hundred sheep, and, when one was lost, left the ninety and nine, and

went forth to seek that which was gone astray, until he found it: and

he laid it on his shoulders, and folded it with those that had not gone

astray, and called together his friends and neighbours to a banquet,

because that it was found. 'Likewise,' saith the Saviour, 'joy shall

be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and

nine just persons which need no repentance.'

"And, in sooth, even the chief of the disciples, Peter, the Rock of the

Faith, in the very season of the Saviour's Passion, failing for a

little while in his stewardship, that he might understand the

worthlessness and misery of human frailty, fell under the guilt of

denial. Then he straightway remembered the Lord's words, and went out

and wept bitterly, and with those hot tears made good his defeat, and

transferred the victory to his own side. Like a skilful man of war,

though fallen, he was not undone, nor did he despair, but, springing to

his feet, he brought up, as a reserve, bitter tears from the agony of

his soul; and straightway, when the enemy saw that sight, like a man

whose eyes are scorched with a fierce flame, he leaped off and fled

afar, howling horribly. So the chief became chief again, as he had

before been chosen teacher of the whole world, being now become its

pattern of penitence. And after his holy resurrection Christ made good

this three-fold denial with the three-fold question, 'Peter, lovest

thou me?', the Apostle answering, 'Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love

thee.'

"So from all these and many other examples beyond count we learn the

virtue of tears and repentance. Only the manner thereof must be noted

it must arise from a heart that abominateth sin and weepeth, as saith

the prophet David, 'I am weary of my groaning: every night will I wash

my bed and water my couch with my tears.' Again the cleansing of sins

will be wrought by the blood of Christ, in the greatness of his

compassion and the multitude of the mercies of that God who saith,

'Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow,' and

so forth.

"Thus therefore it is, and thus we believe. But after receiving the

knowledge of the truth and winning regeneration and adoption as sons,

and tasting of the divine mysteries, we must strive hard to keep our

feet lest we fall. For to fall becometh not the athlete, since many

have fallen and been unable to rise. Some, opening a door to sinful

lusts, and clinging obstinately to them, have no more had strength to

hasten back to repentance; and others, being untimely snatched by

death, and having not made speed enough to wash them from the pollution

of their sin, have been damned. And for this cause it is parlous to

fall into any kind of sinful affection whatsoever. But if any man

fall, he must at once leap up, and stand again to fight the good fight:

and, as often as there cometh a fall, so often must there at once ensue

this rising and standing, unto the end. For, 'Turn ye unto me, and I

will turn unto you,' saith the Lord God."