Testing the Teachers We Follow
Logos 3. “My people, your collectors glean you bare, and those who demand payment rule over you” (Isaiah 3:12).
Having declared beforehand, very plainly and quite clearly, that the land of the Jews would suffer the loss of every good thing, and having set out what will happen to those who behaved outrageously toward Christ, he again tries to persuade them in advance to keep away from their offences. With gentle words he all but charms them, to their profit, moving them toward what is better and teaching them to reject those who had become the cause of all their evils.
For I do not think one ought to be fond of submitting to those whose lot is to lead, if they attempt to teach nothing of what serves for profit; nor indeed … worthy of censure what may justly be believed to belong among wicked things. For the excellence of a teacher lies in being able to bring those in his charge to an exact knowledge of what is profitable, to expose as counterfeit whatever by nature does harm, and to bid them refuse what usually does wrong.
And those who are counted among disciples would deserve every praise if they looked not simply at the reputations of their teachers but at the nature of the matters themselves; if they admired their teachers, provided these are upright and knowledgeable and guides to what is best, and found fault with those whose aim is not of this kind.
Some men pasture flocks of sheep on mountains and in glens. But if a pit lies beside the flock, or a mountain precipice, the sheep walk around it and do not throw themselves down to their death; for they are taught, as by an inborn law, that they must spare their own life. Is it not absurd, then, that this should plainly prevail among irrational animals, while in us, though we are rational, there is no knowledge of what is useful and necessary for life?
So even if some of those appointed as our teachers and guides should choose to lead us toward what is not fitting, we must not simply be content to bear with it, nor follow without examination wherever they please; rather, we must test each thing that is to be done … to go toward whatever most often does good.
Now the leaders of the Jews, that is, the scribes and the Pharisees, were clever at collecting gains of money and gathering in the people’s offerings: first fruits, tithes, and all that the Law, as a portion for those whose lot was to serve as priests …
Greek
ΛΟΓΟΣ Γʹ}1 9Λαός μου, οἱ πράκτορες ὑμῶν καλαμῶνται ὑμᾶς, καὶ οἱ ἀπαιτοῦντες κυριεύουσιν ὑμῶν.9 Ὅτι παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ νοσήσει τὴν ἐρημίαν ἡ τῶν Ἰουδαίων χώρα, διαφανέστατα καὶ μάλα σαφῶς προεξηγησάμενος, καὶ τὸ τί συμβήσεται τοῖς εἰς Χριστὸν πεπαρῳνηκόσιν διειπὼν, προαναπείθει πάλιν ἀποσχέσθαι τῶν πλημμελημάτων, καὶ τοῖς ἐξ ἡμε- ρότητος λόγοις μονονουχὶ καταγοητεύει χρησίμως, μεθιστὰς ἐπὶ τὸ ἄμεινον, καὶ τοὺς ἁπάντων αὐτοῖς κακῶν γεγονότας αἰτίους παραιτεῖσθαι διδάσκων. Οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι δεῖν τοῖς καθηγεῖσθαι λαχοῦσιν ὑποκεῖσθαι φιλεῖν, κἂν εἰ μή τι τῶν ὅσα ἐστὶ τελούντων πρὸς ὄνησιν ἐπιχειρῶσι διδάσκειν, μήτε μὴν ...οιεν διαβολῆς ἀξιοῦν τὸ ἐν μοίρᾳ τετάχθαι φαυλότητος δικαίως ἂν εἶναι πεπιστευμένον. Ἀρετὴ γὰρ δι- δασκάλου τὸ ἀποκομίζειν δύνασθαι πρὸς ἀκριβῆ τοῦ συμφέροντος εἴδησιν τοὺς παιδαγωγουμένους, κατα- κιβδηλεύειν δὲ τὸ κατασίνεσθαι πεφυκὸς, καὶ παρ- αιτεῖσθαι κελεύειν τὸ ἀδικεῖν εἰωθός. Ἐπαίνου δ' ἂν εἶεν ἄξιοι παντὸς καὶ οἱ τελοῦντες ἐν μαθηταῖς, εἰ μὴ ταῖς δόξαις τῶν διδασκόντων ἐνορῷεν ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων φύσει, καὶ θαυμάζουσι μὲν τοὺς διδάσκοντας, εἴπερ τινὲς εἶεν ὀρθοὶ καὶ ἐπι- στήμονες, καὶ τῶν ἀρίστων εἰσηγηταὶ, καταψέγωσι δὲ τοὺς οἷσπερ ἂν εἴη μὴ τοιοῦτος ὁ σκοπός. Κατα- νέμουσι μὲν γάρ τινες ἐν ὄρεσι καὶ νάπαις τὰς ὀΐων ἀγέλας· ἀλλ' εἰ παρακέοιτο τοῖς θρέμμασι βόθρος, ἤγουν ὁρῶν ὁ κρημνὸς, περιφοιτᾷ τὰ πρόβατα, καὶ οὐ καθίησιν ἑαυτὰ πρὸς θάνατον· παιδαγωγεῖται γὰρ ὥσπερ δι' ἐμφύτου νόμου, πρὸς τὸ χρῆναι τῆς ἑαυ- τῶν φείδεσθαι ζωῆς. Εἶτα πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον, εἰ μὲν τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζώοις τοῦτο φαίνεσθαι κρατοῦν, ἐν δὲ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς, καίτοι λογικοῖς ὑπάρχουσι, τὴν τοῦ χρησίμου καὶ ἀναγκαίου πρὸς ζωὴν οὐκ εἶναι γνῶσιν. Χρὴ τοιγαροῦν κἂν εἴ τινες ἡμᾶς τῶν εἰς διδασκά- λους, καὶ καθηγητὰς τεταγμένων ἐφ' ἃ μὴ προσῆκεν ἀποκομίζειν ἕλοιντο, μὴ ἁπλῶς ἀνέχεσθαι φιλεῖν, μηδὲ μὴν ἀκατασκέπτως ἕπεσθαι πρὸς τὸ αὐτοῖς δοκοῦν, ἀλλὰ δοκιμάζειν ἕκαστα τῶν πρακτέων. Ο... χωρεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ ὅτι μάλιστα τῶν ὠφελεῖν εἰωθότων. Ἦσαν τοίνυν οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καθηγηταὶ, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, οἱ Γραμματεῖς τε καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, δεινοὶ πρὸς τὸ χρῆναι τοὺς τῶν χρημάτων ἐρανίζεσθαι πορισμοὺς, καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν λαῶν συγκομίζειν δωρο- φορίας, ἀπαρχὰς, δεκάτας, καὶ ὅσα τοῖς ἱερᾶσθαι λαχοῦσιν ὁ νόμος εἰς κλῆρ