The Chasm and the Separation of Good and Evil
The justice of the trespass has been imposed upon you through three afflictions; but to the one there, having been toiled and trodden down and being vexed by the bitterness of the fleshly life, a certain sweet and rejoicing state has been distributed here.
Moreover, he says there is a great chasm, which prevents them from intermingling with one another, and it separates those punishing from those being punished, so that both may clearly distinguish themselves from one another, having an unmixed enjoyment of the good and the evil. I think the sensory parable is an enigma of an intellectual theory. For let us not truly suppose a ditch actually dug there among the angels, like the trenches that happen in military camps, but Luke describes to us the separation of those who are divided from one another, both those according to virtue and those who lived otherwise, setting forth the image of the chasm (Luke 16:26).
And Isaiah, saying something like this, seals our mind: Is not the hand of the Lord too weak to save, or has his ear become heavy so as not to hear? (Isaiah 59:1). But your sins divide you from one another and from God.
Greek
τρίων συμφορῶν δίκη τοῦ πλημμελήματος ἐπετέθη ἃ πάσχεις· τῷ δ' ἐκεῖ μοχθήσαντι καὶ πατηθέντι καὶ πικρᾶς ἀνασχομένῳ τῆς ἐνσάρκου ζωῆς γλυκεῖα τις καὶ εὐφραίνουσα ἡ ἐνθάδε ἀπενεμήθη κατάστασις. 1.12.4 Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ χάσμα μέγα εἶναι φησιν, τὸ κωλύον αὐτοὺς τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐπιμιξίαν καὶ διεῖργον τοὺς τιμωρουμένους ἀπὸ τῶν τιμωμένων, ἵνα εὐκρινῶς διάγωσιν ἀπ' ἀλλήλων ἀμφότεροι ἀσύγχυτον ἔχοντες τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ τῶν κακῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. Οἶμαι δὲ τὴν αἰσθητὴν παραβολὴν νοητῆς εἶναι θεωρίας αἴνιγμα. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τάφρον ὄντως ἐννοήσωμεν ἐκεῖ πρὸς τῶν ἀγγέλων διορυχθεῖσαν, οἷάπερ ἐν τοῖς στρατοπέδοις γίνεται τὰ τῶν πολεμίων μεταίχμια, ἀλλὰ τὸν χωρισμὸν ἡμῖν ὁ Λουκᾶς ὑπογράφων ὃν ἀπ' ἀλλήλων εἰσὶ κεχωρισμένοι, οἵ τε κατ' ἀρετὴν καὶ οἱ ἑτέρως ζήσαντες, ὑπέθετο τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χάσματος. 1.12.5 Ἐπισφραγίζεται δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν ἡμῶν ταύτην καὶ Ἡσαΐας οὕτω πως λέγων· Μὴ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ Κυρίου τοῦ σῶσαι ἢ ἐβάρυνε τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ ἀκοῦσαι; Ἀλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ Θεοῦ.
About this text
Vivid sermons against greed and empty vanity, and for mercy to the poor and the enslaved.
Original English Translation of Asterius of Amasea’s Homiliae — new OET from PG 40 Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 40 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.