Nilus of Ancyra→Charicles|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted
To Charicles the Presbyter.
To one who goes forth severely against those who stumble, and who says that confession is not sufficient for repentance.
You seem to me to be entirely ignorant of the divine Scripture; for this reason, having inclined your reasoning toward that one part of it alone which manifests the wrath of God, you in no way understand the lovingkindness of God poured out through nearly the whole of Scripture, but under the guise of a shepherd you carry out the works of enemies, betraying to the most wicked demons, through despair, those who deny [the faith], unwilling to take into your mind that word from the prophet Ezekiel, that "the blood of the one who perishes I will require from the hand of the shepherd." How then do you dare to destroy a man, for whom Christ in no way refused to give His own soul? How are you eager to plunge Faustinus into excessive grief, when he has publicly confessed his faults with great humility, which Paul the great did not choose to do? For after the recognition of sin, he rather drew the one who had sinned close to himself, and exhorts the Corinthians to ratify a most strong and steadfast love toward him. Or rather, as it seems, with regard to planting the vines of Christ you happen to be someone idle and sluggish, but with regard to cutting down those already planted by Him, and casting them outside the vineyard of the Church, you have set yourself up as someone swift and watchful and zealous.
Do not, therefore, say, O man, that the Lord does not receive those who have sinned in deed and confess with words alone. For in saying these things, you depart not far from the ignorant Novatians [followers of Novatian, who denied that the lapsed could be readmitted to the Church], who are pure indeed in their words but unclean in their practice; if indeed those men, in their excess of folly and of unprofitable conceit -- not to say soul-destroying conceit -- deny every kind of repentance after baptism. But you do not even endure to accept the repentance that comes through words, and that especially when you have learned of that great Moses, whom you put forward, who also most carefully sought from the high priest Aaron the torrent of [offerings] concerning sins; for he made clear the confession of every soul, through which they also obtained forgiveness. It is indeed truly most excellent, and very fitting for the soul that has strength, to make confession through works -- such as fasting, and vigil, and the spreading out of sackcloth and ashes, and unsparing and cheerful almsgiving, and the other fruits owed to exact repentance. But if, through oversight, or some circumstance, or weakness, or great negligence, one is not well supplied with any of the aforementioned aids, He does not reject even the confession that comes through the lips, nor indeed does the Lord Jesus turn away -- He who died for human sins, and impieties, and defilements of every kind -- but He receives also the repentance that comes through words, as an offering earnestly brought to Him, just as "Moses [received] the goats' hair, the cheapest of all things, together with fine linen, precious, and gold," and the rest. For by what labors and toils was the tax collector saved? Was it not by bare words of humility? And by what sweats and pains was the thief transferred from the cross into paradise and life? Was it not by small words, and by the confession of the kingdom of Christ?
Consider, therefore, presbyter, not only the severity and wrath of God proclaimed in the sacred books, but also His lovingkindness, beyond number and unsearchable, just as the Scripture says to the Lord on our behalf, that "Your mercy is great toward me." For when we sin greatly, He pours out upon us, when we repent, the great sea of His own compassion, quenching the fire of our evils. You ought, then, to reckon not only upon the judgment, but also upon the lovingkindness of Christ, who disciplines the human race for its benefit, and who condescends and suffers together with us, that we may not perish. For behold, even Nebuchadnezzar, having perpetrated every form of wickedness, and inhumanity, and impiety, and having made the earth drunk with bloodshed, and having never put forth any sprout of fitting reasoning, but having even set himself forth as one opposed to God -- nevertheless, after he had been lamented and made beast-like by divine judgment, he confessed with words alone; and with few words this man who had transgressed lawlessly in countless deeds, afterward enjoyed the mercy of God, who had previously judged him, and he recovered the royal throne, and obtained still greater honor, just as the Lord said, that "If my wrath should drip upon some" who are being judged, I will again heal these. "For I will strike, and I will heal; I will be angry, and I will have compassion."
Do not, then, say ignorantly that God does not receive bare words of repentance, since it is evil for you to say that God receives rich offerings -- such as gold, and silver, and the rest -- as precious, but in no way receives the two mites of the widow. And how could you be persuaded that you have knowledge of the divine Scriptures, when you have forgotten the Savior crying out in the Gospels, "It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish"? But you, perhaps, wish to deprive many and great people of salvation, by saying: God does not receive words alone. You teach things contrary to the Savior, O man. And where will you place that which was spoken by the Lord in Isaiah the prophet to the one who had sinned: "Do you first declare your sins, that you may be justified"? For He who created us receives from those who wish to be saved not only purity, and righteousness, and the contest of martyrdom, and the most excellent way of life of ascetic discipline, but also the dejection that comes over things done amiss, and the striking of the forehead, and the beating of the breast, and the bending of the knee, and the spreading out of the hands, with pain of heart, and the kisses of the harlot who licked the Master's feet, and the lamenting voice over sins, and the groaning from the depths, and the fruit of lips confessing to the name of Jesus Christ, and the fragrant ointment of mourning, and the drop of tears, and weeping thoughts, and a mind crying out with anguish, and the lifting up of the eyes of those who genuinely look up to God, and weep aloud, both over the spite and the most violent harassment of the devil, and over their own weakness; if indeed some of men resist with great courage, while others have not the strength against temptations, being easily overcome, and swift toward the fall. And in all these things which I have mentioned, the Lord receives also the mouth, as David says, of those who have sinned -- things that seem to be small, but that procure great salvation for those who feel remorse over their own sins.
Look also at the great Moses, or rather at God legislating through him, [commanding] to offer to the Lord for the things sinned not only oxen, and goats, and sheep, and kids, and rams -- for these abound among those who are well supplied -- but, taking very great forethought for the salvation of those who have grown weak in the powers of the soul, and bearing with the weakness of those who have been afflicted, and condescending to the humbled, that they may not despair, [bringing] the law down even to a dove, and a turtledove, and a little fine flour. And you, therefore, O elder, do not despise; rather take up, and warm the heart that is crushed and humbled, and restore it, and save it -- not only demanding from those who have stumbled the costly fruits of right deeds, and seeking them through works of ascetic discipline, but also receiving the words of those who are pierced with compunction over their own sin, and who with the utmost humility declare to you the things they have done wickedly.
To one who goes forth severely against those who stumble, and who says that confession is not sufficient for repentance.
You seem to me to be entirely ignorant of the divine Scripture; for this reason, having inclined your reasoning toward that one part of it alone which manifests the wrath of God, you in no way understand the lovingkindness of God poured out through nearly the whole of Scripture, but under the guise of a shepherd you carry out the works of enemies, betraying to the most wicked demons, through despair, those who deny [the faith], unwilling to take into your mind that word from the prophet Ezekiel, that "the blood of the one who perishes I will require from the hand of the shepherd." How then do you dare to destroy a man, for whom Christ in no way refused to give His own soul? How are you eager to plunge Faustinus into excessive grief, when he has publicly confessed his faults with great humility, which Paul the great did not choose to do? For after the recognition of sin, he rather drew the one who had sinned close to himself, and exhorts the Corinthians to ratify a most strong and steadfast love toward him. Or rather, as it seems, with regard to planting the vines of Christ you happen to be someone idle and sluggish, but with regard to cutting down those already planted by Him, and casting them outside the vineyard of the Church, you have set yourself up as someone swift and watchful and zealous.
Do not, therefore, say, O man, that the Lord does not receive those who have sinned in deed and confess with words alone. For in saying these things, you depart not far from the ignorant Novatians [followers of Novatian, who denied that the lapsed could be readmitted to the Church], who are pure indeed in their words but unclean in their practice; if indeed those men, in their excess of folly and of unprofitable conceit -- not to say soul-destroying conceit -- deny every kind of repentance after baptism. But you do not even endure to accept the repentance that comes through words, and that especially when you have learned of that great Moses, whom you put forward, who also most carefully sought from the high priest Aaron the torrent of [offerings] concerning sins; for he made clear the confession of every soul, through which they also obtained forgiveness. It is indeed truly most excellent, and very fitting for the soul that has strength, to make confession through works -- such as fasting, and vigil, and the spreading out of sackcloth and ashes, and unsparing and cheerful almsgiving, and the other fruits owed to exact repentance. But if, through oversight, or some circumstance, or weakness, or great negligence, one is not well supplied with any of the aforementioned aids, He does not reject even the confession that comes through the lips, nor indeed does the Lord Jesus turn away -- He who died for human sins, and impieties, and defilements of every kind -- but He receives also the repentance that comes through words, as an offering earnestly brought to Him, just as "Moses [received] the goats' hair, the cheapest of all things, together with fine linen, precious, and gold," and the rest. For by what labors and toils was the tax collector saved? Was it not by bare words of humility? And by what sweats and pains was the thief transferred from the cross into paradise and life? Was it not by small words, and by the confession of the kingdom of Christ?
Consider, therefore, presbyter, not only the severity and wrath of God proclaimed in the sacred books, but also His lovingkindness, beyond number and unsearchable, just as the Scripture says to the Lord on our behalf, that "Your mercy is great toward me." For when we sin greatly, He pours out upon us, when we repent, the great sea of His own compassion, quenching the fire of our evils. You ought, then, to reckon not only upon the judgment, but also upon the lovingkindness of Christ, who disciplines the human race for its benefit, and who condescends and suffers together with us, that we may not perish. For behold, even Nebuchadnezzar, having perpetrated every form of wickedness, and inhumanity, and impiety, and having made the earth drunk with bloodshed, and having never put forth any sprout of fitting reasoning, but having even set himself forth as one opposed to God -- nevertheless, after he had been lamented and made beast-like by divine judgment, he confessed with words alone; and with few words this man who had transgressed lawlessly in countless deeds, afterward enjoyed the mercy of God, who had previously judged him, and he recovered the royal throne, and obtained still greater honor, just as the Lord said, that "If my wrath should drip upon some" who are being judged, I will again heal these. "For I will strike, and I will heal; I will be angry, and I will have compassion."
Do not, then, say ignorantly that God does not receive bare words of repentance, since it is evil for you to say that God receives rich offerings -- such as gold, and silver, and the rest -- as precious, but in no way receives the two mites of the widow. And how could you be persuaded that you have knowledge of the divine Scriptures, when you have forgotten the Savior crying out in the Gospels, "It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish"? But you, perhaps, wish to deprive many and great people of salvation, by saying: God does not receive words alone. You teach things contrary to the Savior, O man. And where will you place that which was spoken by the Lord in Isaiah the prophet to the one who had sinned: "Do you first declare your sins, that you may be justified"? For He who created us receives from those who wish to be saved not only purity, and righteousness, and the contest of martyrdom, and the most excellent way of life of ascetic discipline, but also the dejection that comes over things done amiss, and the striking of the forehead, and the beating of the breast, and the bending of the knee, and the spreading out of the hands, with pain of heart, and the kisses of the harlot who licked the Master's feet, and the lamenting voice over sins, and the groaning from the depths, and the fruit of lips confessing to the name of Jesus Christ, and the fragrant ointment of mourning, and the drop of tears, and weeping thoughts, and a mind crying out with anguish, and the lifting up of the eyes of those who genuinely look up to God, and weep aloud, both over the spite and the most violent harassment of the devil, and over their own weakness; if indeed some of men resist with great courage, while others have not the strength against temptations, being easily overcome, and swift toward the fall. And in all these things which I have mentioned, the Lord receives also the mouth, as David says, of those who have sinned -- things that seem to be small, but that procure great salvation for those who feel remorse over their own sins.
Look also at the great Moses, or rather at God legislating through him, [commanding] to offer to the Lord for the things sinned not only oxen, and goats, and sheep, and kids, and rams -- for these abound among those who are well supplied -- but, taking very great forethought for the salvation of those who have grown weak in the powers of the soul, and bearing with the weakness of those who have been afflicted, and condescending to the humbled, that they may not despair, [bringing] the law down even to a dove, and a turtledove, and a little fine flour. And you, therefore, O elder, do not despise; rather take up, and warm the heart that is crushed and humbled, and restore it, and save it -- not only demanding from those who have stumbled the costly fruits of right deeds, and seeking them through works of ascetic discipline, but also receiving the words of those who are pierced with compunction over their own sin, and who with the utmost humility declare to you the things they have done wickedly.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.