THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
When he speaks of the foolishness and weakness of the Cross, he does not mean that it truly is such, but that it seems so. He speaks in accordance with the opinion of the opponents. What the philosophers could not do by arguments has been done by what seems foolishness.
Who, then, is wiser? The one who persuades many, or the one who persuades few, or rather no one? The one who persuades concerning the most important matters, or the one who persuades concerning trivial matters?
How much labor Plato and his followers spent on line, angle, point, commensurable and incommensurable numbers, equal and unequal numbers. They spoke to us of these cobwebs, for all this is more useless for life than even a cobweb. Having brought no great or small benefit, he then ended his life.
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How much he tried to prove that the soul is immortal. Yet, having said nothing clear and convinced none of his hearers, he then died. By contrast, the Cross, through unlearned men, persuaded and converted the whole universe. It persuaded not concerning trivial matters, but concerning God, true piety, the evangelical life, and the coming judgment. It made philosophers of all: farmers and the unlearned.
Do you see how “the foolishness of God is wiser, and the weakness of God stronger than men”? In what way stronger? In that it spread throughout the whole universe and subjected all to its authority. While countless multitudes strove to destroy the name of the Crucified One, it accomplished the opposite. This name was glorified and increased more and more, while they perished and vanished. The living, rising against the One delivered over to death, could do nothing.
Therefore, if a Gentile calls me foolish, he reveals his own extreme foolishness. For I, whom he considers foolish, prove wiser than the wise. If he calls me powerless, he reveals his own still greater powerlessness. What publicans and fishermen accomplished by the grace of God, philosophers, rhetoricians, rulers, and the whole universe, despite countless efforts, could not even imagine.
What has the Cross not done? It introduced the teaching on the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of bodies, contempt for present goods, and longing for future goods. It made men angels. Through it, everyone everywhere became lovers of wisdom and capable of every virtue.
But you will say that among them also many despised death. Tell me, who? The one who drank hemlock? If you wish, I will present thousands like him in our Church. If during the persecutions it had been permitted to die by taking poison, all the persecuted would have appeared more glorious than he.
Moreover, he drank the poison without having power either to drink or not to drink. Whether he wished it or not, he had to undergo this. Therefore it was not a matter of courage, but of necessity. Robbers and murderers, by sentence of judges, endured even greater sufferings.
With us everything is the opposite. The martyrs suffered not unwillingly, but by their own will. Though they had power not to undergo sufferings, they showed courage stronger than any adamant. It is no wonder that he drank poison when he could not avoid drinking it, and when he had reached deep old age.
He said that he was already seventy years old when he was ready to despise life, if this can even be called contempt for life. I will not say this, and certainly no one else will. But show me someone who suffered for piety, as I can show you countless multitudes everywhere in the universe.
Who endured bravely when his nails were torn out? Who, when his limbs were mangled? Who, when his body was torn to pieces? Who, when the bones were wrenched from his head? Who, when he was continually placed on a red-hot pan? Who, when he was thrown into boiling water? Show me this.
To die from hemlock is almost the same as falling peacefully asleep. They even say such a death is more pleasant than sleep. If some truly endured torments, they are not worthy of praise even for this, because the cause of their sufferings was shameful. Some suffered because they revealed some secret. Others suffered because they abused power. Others were caught in the most shameful crimes. Some, for no reason, vainly and irrationally deprived themselves of life.
With us it is entirely different. Therefore their deeds have been handed over to oblivion, while ours are glorified and increase every day. Considering all this, Paul said: “The weakness of God is stronger than all men” (1 Cor. 1:25).