(Corpus Christianorum in Translation 7) Munitiz, Joseph A. - Anastasios of Sinai. Questions and Answers-Brepols (2011) PDF

Anastasios of Sinai
Questions and Answers

CORPVS CHRISTIANORVM
IN TRANSLATION
7
CORPVS CHRISTIANORVM
Series Graeca
59
Anastasii sinaitae
QVAESTIONES ET RESPONSIONES
EDIDERUNT
Marcel RICHARD (†)
et
Joseph A. MUNITIZ, s. j.
TURNHOUT
BREPOLS H PUBLISHERS
Anastasios of Sinai
Questions and answers
Introduction, translation and notes by
Joseph A. MUNITIZ
F
H
Academic Overview
Peter Van Deun

Institute for Early Christian and Byzantine Studies
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Novitiis Societatis Iesu

d.d.d.
©2011, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
D/2011/0095/3
ISBN 978-2-503-53512-8
Table of contents
Introduction 9
Life 10
Original Erotapokriseis 11
Table 1 List of Subjects treated 18
Pseudo-Anastasiana: Re-workings of the Anastasian
Erotapokriseis 19
Problems of borrowings 22
Pseudo-Athanasius, Quaestiones ad Antiochum 22
Timothy of Alexandria 23
Table 2 Anastasios and the Pseudo-Anastasiana 23
Titles 24
Conclusion 25
Full List of Questions with Appendices added 26
Abbreviations 39
Bibliography 42
Questions and answers 49
QQ 1-6 The True Christian 51
Qu. 1 The sign? 51
Qu. 2 Self-knowledge 52
Qu. 3 What eye has not seen (1 Cor 2: 9) 54
Qu. 4 What angels long to gaze on (1 Pet 1: 12) 55
Qu. 5 Ourselves and the angels 56
Qu. 6 True worshippers 57

Table of contents
QQ 7-14 Problems of Salvation 60

Qu. 7 For non-Christians 60
Qu. 8 For all races 61
Qu. 9 Unbaptized children 62
Qu. 10 One good work enough? 62
Qu. 11 Loss of good works? 73
Qu. 12 Minimum age for sin 74
Qu. 13 Blasphemy versus sexual sin 74
Qu. 14 No rebaptism for heretics 75
QQ 15-27 Universal Questions 77
Qu. 15 Night before day? 77
Qu. 16 A fixed day of death? 78
Qu. 17 Why not known? 87
Qu. 18 Depression? 87
QQ 19-21 Nature of the soul? 89
Qu. 20 Place after death? 93
Qu. 21 Recognition? 95
Qu. 22 Resurrection of the body? 98
Qu. 23 Paradise: in this world or elsewhere? 103
Qu. 24 Can one pray without ceasing? 105
Qu. 25 Why do sexual improprieties occur? 106
Qu. 26 Why is sickness so common among Christians? 106
Qu. 27 Causes of character differences? 108
QQ 28-30 Questions Connected With Death 111
Qu. 28 Death and providence? 111
Qu. 29-30 Violent deaths 128
QQ 31-36 Moral and pastoral questions 133
Qu. 31 Nature of arrogance 133
Qu. 32 Pardon without confession 133
Qu. 33 Repeated sins and death 135
Qu. 34 Role of devil 136
Qu. 35 Frequency factor 137
Qu. 36 True repentance 138
QQ 37-39 Questions Relating to Sexual Morality 141
Qu. 37 Polygamy? 141
Qu. 38 Marital sex and communion 142
Qu. 39 'Wet dreams' and communion 145

Table of contents
QQ 40-41 Questions Relating to Communion 146

Qu. 40 Accidental breaking of fast 146
Qu. 41 Frequency 147
QQ 42-43 Masses for the Dead 154
Qu. 42 To be encouraged? 154
Qu. 43 Multiple murder 155
QQ 44-45 Questions Involving Money 156
QQ 46-48 Moral Problems 158
Qu. 46 Moral failure and salvation 158
Qu. 47 Sinful habit and salvation 158
Qu. 48 Ways of salvation 160
QQ 49-51 Devotional Practices 162
Qu. 49 Lack of devotion 162
Qu. 50 Awareness of salvation 163
Qu. 51 Role of fasting 165
QQ 52-54 Confession 168
Qu. 55 Alms-Giving 169
QQ 56-67 Varied Devotional-Ecclesiastical Questions 170
Qu. 56 Finding God’s will 170
Qu. 57 Use of the lachmeterion 170
Qu. 58 Alms to poor or to a church? 171
Qu. 59 Difficult social relations 172
Qu. 60 Prayers for non-Christian rulers 173
Qu. 61 Prayers for pagans 173
Qu. 62 We cast out devils (Mt 7: 22-23) 174
Qu. 63 Samuel and the Ventriloquist
(1 Kings 28: 11-12) 175
Qu. 64 Communion when abroad 176
Qu. 65 Powers instituted by God (Rom 13: 1) 177
Qu. 66 Escape from the plague 179
Qu. 67 Marital sex and communion 180
QQ 68-74 Other faiths 182
QQ 68-69 Apologetics 182
Qu. 70 Heresy only among Christians? 186
Qu. 71 Role of Satan 188
Qu. 72 Dreams 188
Qu. 73 Sins of the flesh 189

Table of contents
Qu. 74 Marriage with unbelievers 190

QQ 75-76 The Arab invasions 190
QQ 77-103 Varied problems 192
Qu. 77 Categories of adultery 192
Qu. 78 Paul on sins that precede or follow (1 Tim 5: 24) 192
Qu. 79 Satan knowing moment of death (Gen 3: 15) 193
Qu. 80 Satan refusing homage to Adam? 195
Qu. 81 Female fertility and infertility 196
Qu. 82 Nature of "talents" (Mt 25: 14-30) 199
Qu. 83 Mammon of iniquity (Lk 16: 9): what is it? 200
Qu. 84 Are there "unconscious" sins? 201
Qu. 85 What is "chance"? 211
Qu. 86 Rescue of condemned to death (Prov 24: 11)? 211
Qu. 87 Practice of faith in slavery 212
Qu. 88 Practice of faith when living in the world 213
Qu. 89 Failed martyrs? 215
Qu. 90 Trials from God or from devil 216
Qu. 91 True humility 216
Qu. 92 Paul on true love (1 Cor 13: 2) 219
Qu. 93 Paul on "If someone's work is burned" (1 Cor 3:15) 219
Qu. 94 Time for consummation of the world? 221
Qu. 95 Paul on "Son subjected to the Father" (1 Cor 15: 28) 221
Qu. 96 Self-mutilation (Mt 5: 29)? 222
Qu. 97 "If two or three agree" (Mt 18: 19): answer to prayer 223
Qu. 98 Nature of "ephoud" 224
Qu. 99 Paul on "predestination" (Rom 8: 29) 225
Qu. 100 Christ and abolition of the Law (Mt 5: 17) 228
Qu. 101 Arabs as instruments of God? 230
Qu. 102 Use of forbidden meat (camel, ass) 232
Qu. 103 Absolution from self-imposed vows 233
List of Appendices incorporated into main Collection 236
Indices 241
index of scriptural references 243
index of non-biblical sources 248
general index 253

Introduction
Around the year 700, near the tip of the Sinai peninsula,
the Monastery now known as St Catherine’s was home to a
monk-priest, Anastasios, who clearly loved to write. A consid-
erable number of his works have survived (cf. Bibliography),
all marked by the same fluency and characteristic idiosyncrasy.
Thanks to them, it is possible to form some picture of this
polemical yet kindly figure, quick to take up arms in defence
of what he considered orthodox teaching against the power-
ful and authoritative bishops who had gained control of the
independent monophysite church in Alexandria – as can be
seen especially in his Hodegos. Yet he was also ready to travel
to Palestine to preach,1 while taking note with typical curiosity
of the stories, the Narrationes, concerning the doings of monks
and the relations between Christians and the incoming Arab
invaders. It is to this “Hagios” or “Abbas” Anastasios that the
Questions and Answers (known in Greek as erotapokriseis) are
attributed.2
1
Several of these sermons have been edited by Karl-Heinz Uthemann in
the CCSG.
2
Incidentally the title “abbas” simply means “Father”, and not “abbot”.
Different “titles” were added to the work by successive scribes.

Introduction
Life
Almost nothing can be gleaned from contemporary sources

about this author, and while arguments from silence are noto-
riously unreliable, it seems unlikely that he ever emerged as a
key player on the stage of history. Some manuscripts do iden-
tify him with the sixth-century Anastasios I, Patriarch of Anti-
och, but this confusion came about because both were known
as writers.3 Later hagiographic accounts describe Anastasios
of Sinai as hegoumenos or “abbot” of the monastery, but such
promotion may be an effect of his reputation as a writer.4
Fortunately he lets slip a number of personal autobiographi-
cal remarks, and these allow one to add some colour to his por-
trait.5 Thus he mentions Cyprus as his birthplace, in particular
the town of Amathos.6 His birth preceded the Arab raids on the
island in 649, by which time he had already left for Palestine
and eventually Mount Sinai, so a likely date for his birth would
be 630. Dr Binggeli suggests that he entered the monastery near
the year 660. Once a monk, he had responsibility for the sick-
bay (the νοσοκομεῖον).7 He may have completed some medical
studies prior to this as he frequently mentions his medical in-
terests.8 There is ample evidence in the Hodegos that he trav-
elled considerable distances (in Egypt and in Syria/Palestine);9
a visit to the Dead Sea is mentioned in the Quaestiones.10 In
3
Worth consulting on Anastasios I is the entry on him by Karl-Heinz
Uthemann in Berardino, Angelo di (ed.), Patrology: The Eastern Fathers from
the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (†750), Cambridge, 2006,
pp. 209-216.
4
The eleventh century Hieros. S. Sabbas 408, which contains the pseudo-
Anastasian question “On blasphemy” (given as an appendix to Qu. 84, Com-
ment [4]) has a scholion (see there p. 210 note c.) with this information.
5
The fullest account known to me is to be found in the (unpublished) Paris
thesis of André Binggeli on the Narrationes of Anastasios, vol. II, ch. 1 “Anastase
le Sinaïte: portrait d’un voyageur”, pp. 330-362.
6
Narrationes, Binggeli II 28, 2; many of the stories mention Cyprus, and cf.
Qu. 28, §16, note a.
7
Narrationes, Binggeli I 3, 19.
8
E.g., Qu. 19, §9, note a; Qu. 79, §2; Qu. 81, §1.
9
Hodegos VI, 1, 111-114; X. 1, 1, 23-24; X, 1, 2, 36-37; XIV, 1, 37-38; XIV, 2,
65-67 (CCSG 8, pp. 98, 143, 147, 257, 261).
10
Qu. 28, §16.

Introduction
his old age,11 he had, as was normal, a disciple, but there is no

good evidence that he ever became hegoumenos.12 An indication
that he may be linked to the year 700 A.D. comes in Qu. 69
(§4), where Anastasios mentions “seven hundred years” having
elapsed with the Holy Land in Christian possession.13 Although
there has been much dispute whether one or more authors with
the name Anastasios produced the Anastasiana,14 there is now
general agreement – largely due to the publication of several
critical editions – that the main works attributed to him were
written by the Sinaite.15
Original Erotapokriseis
1. The history of scholarly work on the Anastasian Quaes-

tiones can be precisely dated: in 1617 the German Jesuit scholar,
Jacob Gretser, published in Ingolstadt the editio princeps of the
Greek text known to him.16 He was aware that different versions
existed, but it was only in 1969 that the French manuscript spe-
cialist, Marcel Richard, first shed some light on the complex
interrelationship of these.17 Here the overall picture can be given
quite briefly, referring those interested in the details of manu-
scripts to the Greek edition (CCSG).
11
The tenth-century (?) Synaxarion of Constantinople records in its entry
on “our saintly father” Anastasios of Sinai (April 21, §1) that he died a very old
man (col. 617, lines 26 and following) and this seems very likely.
12
For the disciple, cf. Narrationes, Binggeli II 5, 10.
13
See p. 186 note a to the translation.
14
The most complete survey was published in Greek: S. N. Sakkos, Περὶ
Ἀναστασίων Σιναϊτῶν, Thessaloniki, 1964.
15
The CPG §§7745-7758 (1979, with Supplement 1998) gives the present
status quaestionis. The Hexaemeron should perhaps also be attributed to Anasta-
sios; see C. Kuehn and J. Baggarly, S.J., Anastasios of Sinai: Hexaemeron (OCA
278), Rome, 2007, pp. XIII-XXIII.
16
Sancti Anastasii Sinaitae, Patriarchae Antiocheni Quaestiones et Responsio-
nes de variis argumentis CLIV. Nunc primum graece et latine cum insigni auctario
publicatae. Cura Jacobi Gretseri Societatis Iesu theology … Ingolstadii … [1617].
17
“Les véritables ‘Questions et Réponses’ d’Anastase le Sinaïte” (see Bibli-
ography).

Introduction
2. But first, an indication of the nature of this work is need-

ed. It seems quite likely that the original collection was put
together shortly before, or even shortly after, the death of Anas-
tasios himself. At regular intervals he had been sent questions,
probably by interested church-goers who may have belonged
to pious groups (the ϕιλόπονοι who were active in Alexandria).18
The only clue is a remark made early in the answer to Qu. 81:
Anybody who wishes to explain these and similar problems in de-
tail is obliged to have recourse to physiological material concern-
ing medical matters and copulation, subjects which are not at all
suitable for public hearing in church.
The haphazard sequence of topics in the collection seems

to preclude the theory that these erotapokriseis should be envis-
aged as a sort of “catechism”, at least as that genre is understood
today: the systematic exposition of the main tenets of the faith.
They are rather testimony to another form of religious instruc-
tion that may have been common at this period. It is quite
likely that over the years Anastasios found himself with various
written answers sent out in reply to questions put to him, or
that his disciples considered it worthwhile to collect them and
make them more generally available.
3. The subjects treated by him19 quite often have nothing spe-
cifically clerical or monastic about them, as will become clear
from a brief survey of the type of questions that are to be found
in the collection. One may begin by emphasizing those aspects
that are most obviously ‘lay’, and move later to more subtle
examples of the same perspective.
A significant proportion of the questions deal with mar-
riage and the practice of the marital act. People have asked
if polygamy is legal (as it was in the Old Testament), and if
marriage with a non-believer is allowed (Qu. 100). But some
18
G.W.H. Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon, s.v. ϕιλόπονος §2.
19
For the paragraphs that follow I draw on my lecture given in Brisbane
at the Australian Catholic University at the kind invitation of Professor Pauline
Allen. Although the title given to the lecture was “Catechisms in the Making” I
would be more careful today in using the term “catechism” in relation to the work
of Anastasios, although of course “catechesis” has a very broad semantic field.

Introduction
questions are much more intimate. Should sexual abstinence be

practised before reception of the eucharist, and what is permit-
ted if a husband returns home after a long journey and wishes
to receive communion the following morning (Qu. 67)? Sup-
pose again that somebody, in a fit of fervour, has promised that
he will practise continence for a period and finds it too difficult
(Qu. 103). How serious is marital infidelity, and does it make a
difference if the sin is adultery (in which a married person is in-
volved) or fornication (in which unmarried people take part)?
Anastasios points out (Qu. 77) that in the case of adultery one
always has the added sin against a third person (viz. the wife or
husband), but it would be exaggerated to claim that he shows
much appreciation for the woman’s point of view.
Another problem area which frequently appears is that of
property, riches and wealth. How far should one consider these
as God-given (Qu. 45)? And what is to be done with ill-gained
wealth (Qu. 44)? Alms and alms-giving play a major role in his
teaching: he is asked what proportion of one’s wealth should
be given in alms (Qu. 55), whether they serve as a means of
forgiveness (Qu. 41), and if they can be treated as a panacea
for earlier faults (Qu. 92). To whom should alms go (Qu. 58)?
To the churches or to the poor (he is strongly in favour of the
latter and condemns the useless accumulation of wealth in rich
churches, which only serves as plunder for the Arabs).
In a similar vein he considers political problems: are gover-
nors and rulers to be considered divinely appointed, and what
happens if they are Jews or Arabs? Should one pray for all rulers,
irrespective of their beliefs and conduct (Qu. 60)? Anastasios is
no “liberation theologian” in these matters: his line is that of the
sardonic pacifist, who can report with relish one monk’s vision
in which God declared that a certain Emperor had been ap-
pointed because God could not find anybody worse for the job:
… when you see that some unworthy and wicked person is
emperor, or governor or bishop, do not be surprised, but learn
and believe with complete certainty that it is because of our
crimes that we are handed over to such tyrants, and not even then
do we desist from evil things … (Qu. 65)

Introduction
An important factor in the background is the presence of the

Arab invaders, who conquered Syria and Palestine during the last
two-thirds of the seventh century. André Binggeli points out that
one effect of the Moslem domination was to make life very dif-
ficult for the Christian Arabs who formerly had contact with the
Monastery of Sinai,20 and references to the Arabs surface regularly
in the quaestiones, and in particular references to persecutions
(QQ 75, 76, 87, 89, 101, 102).
4. So much for the subjects discussed by Anastasios that are
not exclusively clerical and may be considered lay-oriented.
There are other broader issues, where one is clearly aware of
a powerful pastoral preoccupation. Two of these may be men-
tioned, partly for their intrinsic interest, partly because they
introduce wider questions. Firstly, the preoccupation with per-
sonal salvation:
Suppose there is someone in a position of authority, who has many
blessings from God and is engaged in business affairs, someone
who is unable to retire from life, who enjoys a wealthy table, a
variety of foods, and bathing facilities: how is it possible for such
a person to maintain a life without reproach in the middle of such
things and to obtain the forgiveness of sins? (Qu. 88)
The answer points out that the vast majority of the saints
of the Old Testament were in that situation (with polygamy
thrown in as a bonus) and were loved by God as his friends. But
another question adds a more poignant note:
If somebody has built up a habit of carnal sin and has grown old
in it, and he realizes in himself that he is now incapable of fasting,
or of undertaking penance or sleeping on the floor, or of giving
up everything and entering a monastery, how can such a person
reach salvation when he is now old, and how can he win forgive-
ness for his sins?
Such is the question; the answer is:

From the Lord’s words, My yoke is gentle and my burden light
(Mt 11: 30), it is clear that even someone who is old and weak is capable
20
Narrationes II 8, 13-17, and pp. 456-457.

Introduction
of keeping the law of the Lord. And indeed He did not stipulate
virginity for us, nor withdrawal from all the things of the world, and
not even abstinence from meat and wine, but to love God, to love
one’s neighbour, not to be spiteful, not to judge others, to be humble
and as compassionate as possible, to pray within our hearts, to sup-
port misfortunes, to be mild and peace-loving. Now all these are
things that a sickly man and an old man, somebody confined to his
bed or married to a wife in the world is able to do. If he does these
things, he will certainly be saved, no matter if he has committed all
the sins of that famous Manasses, the king. (Qu. 47)
It would be wrong to think of Anastasios as lax or disinter-

ested in religious practices and discipline: he insists on the need
for confession made to a priest (he is asked if laymen can forgive
one another [Qu. 32]), and on the need for true repentance and
amendment. He has much to say on the reception of commun-
ion (QQ 38-41), on its frequency, on what to do if one is on a
journey in a country where no churches are available – can one
carry a consecrated host with one (Qu. 64)? How is one to put
into practice the Pauline exhortation to pray without ceasing? “It
is not possible”, someone objects, “for a person who is preoccu-
pied with his house and children and living in the world, to pray
without ceasing.” But Anastasios points out that it is not oral
prayer that Paul has in mind; all one’s actions, if undertaken for
God, become prayer (Qu. 24). There are grades in prayer: one’s
relationship with God evolves from that of a condemned slave
pleading for forgiveness to that of an intimate friend (Qu. 50).
He is prepared to recognize that all Christians can, and should
ideally, reach the state where “God has taken up His abode in
them”. And he is asked, “How can a person know if this is the
case?” His answer has an overwhelming simplicity and authen-
ticity: “Well, this question resembles that of somebody who asks
a pregnant woman, ‘How do you know if you have conceived
in the womb?’” She will reply, he points out, by referring to her
periods, her change of appetite, her feelings of the movements in
the womb. Anastasios applies all this to the spiritual life:
The soul sees at once that the impure blood of her customary
passions has been stilled, that her appetite for the many different

Introduction
foods of sin has ceased, and especially that she now hates above
all else the sweetness of pleasure – for the sweetness of honey has
turned hateful to every pregnant women. (Qu. 2, §1)
5. Throughout all the Questions and Answers, even when

dealing with matters that are in themselves abstruse and specu-
lative, the language and thought patterns, even the formulation
of the questions, remain firmly anchored in the ordinary lan-
guage of ordinary people. Certain inferences can be drawn from
this kind of teaching.
In the first place, all this teaching is being given in the form of
answers to questions that have been sent in by persons troubled
by the sort of problems that ever continue to arise. The presuppo
sition is that it is quite normal for such questions to be raised; they
are expected, even if one must beware of reading into this process
a critical turn of mind that was probably not there. In one answer
Anastasios points out that certain subjects are “deep and difficult
to grasp, and few people are able to tackle them … not all that
can be grasped by the intellect of a teacher can also be grasped by
the intellect of the public being taught” (Qu. 66, §1). It would be
misleading to pretend that his approach is not paternalistic and
clerical. Thus when counselling lay people who are caught up in
religious controversy and polemics, his advice is very simple: “Tell
them to go to the Church [he means the priests] and learn there”
(cf. Qu. 68). He himself, when arguing with somebody of differ-
ent opinion, is mainly concerned with the superficial gaining of
points and victory. There is no notion of a debate or dialogue, no
common search for truth. One cannot imagine Anastasios taking
part in inter-Church dialogue. It is hardly surprising that in later
times a professional theologian like the fifteenth-century George
Scholarios (Gennadios II) should have had a poor opinion of
Anastasios as a theologian.21 And yet the fact remains that he wel-
comed questions from the puzzled faithful, and he seems to have
done his honest best to answer them.
21
“We wouldn’t deny that Anastasios of Sinai was a saint, but would
never call him a theologian …”, he remarks; cf. J.A. Munitiz, “In the steps of
Anastasios...”, p. 453.

Introduction
6. There are two characteristics of his method: firstly, Anas-

tasios nearly always appeals to some written authority: usually
the traditional sources, either Scripture or one of the Fathers,
such as Basil of Caesarea (Qu. 16), Ps.-Dionysius the Areopag-
ite (Qu. 42). All too often this is done in a very imprecise way22
or without due acknowledgement for more recent writers.23 It
is puzzling that he does not mention his near contemporaries
John Climacus (who probably died shortly before Anastasios
arrived at Sinai), Maximos the Confessor, and John Moschos,
though he may have drawn on the latter for one of his stories
(Qu. 41, §4).24
Secondly, and more surprisingly, Anastasios shows remark-
able enthusiasm for the scientific theories of his day. The one
that most caught his fancy – so much so that it figures in his
theology rather like the theory of evolution in that of Teilhard
de Chardin – is that of the four elements (QQ 21, 22, 27, 28,
81).25 It is used to explain a wide gamut of difficult phenome-
na – personal character, disease, plague, even death. It is linked
with theories of diet and climate, and it may be classified as
forming part of a still wider field of scientific knowledge, viz.
medicine. Anastasios seems to be acquainted with the prac-
tice of autopsy (Qu. 22, §8) and with the findings of anatomy.
Admittedly he is somewhat apologetic for his interest in these
matters, and tends to present them as personal. At one point he
remarks, “My own opinion here, and I think it is God’s opinion
as well, …”26 He is careful to point out that some of his answers
are put forward not in a dogmatic and definitive manner, but
with affection and love, in the hope that others who know bet-
ter will correct and complete what he is saying.27
22
In Qu. 28, §12, there seems to be a reference to Clement of Rome, but see
p. 118 note a there.
23
Thus in Qu. 16 (see p. 78 note a) he may be indebted to Leontios of Con-
stantinople, who was writing in the previous century.
24
In his CCSG volumes Karl-Heinz Uthemann lists numerous parallels with
Maximos, but the name is not mentioned by Anastasios.
25
Qu. 22, p. 100 note a.
26
Qu. 99, §1.
27
Qu. 21, §8.

Introduction
7. If we turn to examine the values that Anastasios is stressing,

we may be struck by their personal character: there is a quirky
individuality about them. He stresses the primacy of the individ-
ual conscience, provided that a person has a mature relationship
with God. He clearly distrusts the clerical as such: one should
confess, he says, not to any priest, but to one who is spiritual
(πνευματικός) – and if you cannot find such a man, “Confess
yourself inwardly to God, condemning yourself and begging for
pardon”.28 He prizes discernment, the power to distinguish the
movements of the Spirit within the soul, the wisdom to separate
what is willed by God from what is plotted by the devil. It is
true that for Anastasios “orthodoxy”, in the sense of correct dog-
matic views, is essential, but this fits into his system as a founda-
tion upon which to build with great individuality and freedom.
These foundations can never be an obstacle to a life inspired by a
deep love for men and women, and a firm sense of justice.
8. There may be a reason for the number of the questions:
103. Byzantine authors were fond of “centuries” (and perhaps
the few extra were added on the principle of the “round doz-
en”). Thus among the predecessors and near contemporar-
ies of Anastasios, Diadochos, Thalassios, John of Karpathos,
and Maximos the Confessor, all wrote collections of κεϕάλαια
numbered 1 to 100. Although the manuscript evidence is poor
and inconclusive, several of the Pseudo-Anastasian collections
(including Collections a, c and d) preserve the final two QQ.
Table 1
List of Subjects treated

alms giving: QQ 44, 55, 58, 83, 92
apologetics: QQ 68, 69
Arab presence: QQ 26, 49, 75, 76, 80, 81, 87, 89, 99, 101, 102
communion: QQ 39-41, 64, 67
confession: QQ 52-54
devil/Satan: QQ 70-71, 79-80
28
Cf. Qu. 53, with Comment (1).

Introduction
List of Subjects treated

forgiveness of sins: QQ 10-14, 32-33, 43, 46-50, 59
hell: QQ 93, 94 (end of the world)
marriage and sexual QQ 25, 37, 38, 73, 77, 100
ethics:
persecution: QQ 75, 76, 87, 89, 101
politics: QQ 60, 85
prayer and virtues: QQ1-6 (true Christian), 18 (spiritual desolation),
24 (constant prayer), 42 (for the dead), 60 (for
pagan rulers), 51 (fasting), 56 + 90 (discernment),
82 (Gospel talents), 91 (humility), 96 (self-muti-
lations), 97 (prayer in common), 98 (ephoud)
property and wealth: QQ 41, 44, 45, 55
providence: QQ16-17, 28-30, 66 (deaths), 26 (sickness), 45
(wealth), 65 (rulers), 85 (chance)
salvation: QQ 7-9, 61, 74, 99, 88 (for lay people)
sins: QQ 31, 34-36, 78 (heresy), 84
soul, its nature: QQ 19-21
vows: QQ 102-103
wonders: QQ 57, 62-63
isolated problems: capital punishment Qu. 86; Christology Qu.
95; human character Qu. 27; dreams Qu. 72;
female infertility Qu. 81; night before day Qu.
15; Paradise Qu. 23; resurrection of the body
Qu. 22
Pseudo-Anastasiana: Re-workings of the Anastasian

Erotapokriseis
Quite soon after the initial diffusion of the Questions and Answers,
attempts were made to reformulate and perhaps to complement
the original text. The reasons are not hard to find: Anastasios has
strong personal views, and although claiming to follow traditional
views, rarely provides corroborative quotations. The first revised
version may have been intended to shorten the work, to eliminate
the personal asides, and to add support texts, but above all it was
to give it a new “slant”. This and the “collections” that followed it,
were to have a great popularity; they appear in literally hundreds

Introduction
of manuscripts, all attributed to “Anastasios”.29 When Gretser came

to publish the first printed edition of the Greek, he chose the most
bulky he could find, presuming that in this way he was more likely
to do justice to the original work. However by the early seven-
teenth century the tradition had become so contaminated that the
version chosen for the first edition was a conflation of at least three
different collections, and gave an overall picture far removed from
the original work. Their importance for the tradition is, however,
very considerable, and in the Comments included after each ques-
tion an attempt is made to trace its subsequent history.
1. It seems clear, thanks to the investigative work of Dr
Sieswerda, that the first step in the process was a sophisticated
selection of twenty-three topics, each drawing on one or more of
the original questions (thus extracting from at least 27 of the 103
contained in the Anastasian collection).30 The compiler, prob-
ably working in Constantinople and in the middle of the ninth
century, shows extraordinary skill in selecting from different
parts of the original work, while inserting his own additions,
connecting passages, and above all extensive florilegia (collec-
tions of Scripture and Patristic texts to back up each of the
answers). In fact the new “Collection of 23 Questions” was not
simply an abridgment. Emphasis is now laid on specific themes,
especially of an ethical nature, and the local colour found in the
original is omitted. By a curious twist of fortune, this version
is available, even if a critical edition is still lacking. The version
published by Jacobus Gretser includes it, as we shall see.
2. A further stage of development in the handing-on process
was reached, probably not long after the first (so still in the ninth
century), when a larger collection, this time known as the “Col-
lection of 88 Questions” was drawn up. The compiler took over
the 23 questions and added to them further questions, mainly
of an exegetical nature, drawn from various authors. With these
29
A survey of the manuscript evidence was published in Russian: M.V.
Bibikov, Vizantijskij prototip drevnejshej slavjanskoj knigi, Moscow, 1996.
30
The doctoral thesis of Dr Douwe Tjalling Sieswerda was published in
Dutch, Pseudo-Anastasios en Anastasios Sinaita een vergelijking; de Pseudo-
Anastasiaanse Quaestiones et Responsiones in de ΣΩΤΗΡΙOΣ, Academisch
Proefschrift, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 27 januari, 2004.

Introduction
and other works he formed an encyclopaedic work, probably

known as the Σωτήριος, which was to have crucial importance
when it was chosen in the early tenth century for translation
into Slavonic, one of the first religious texts in that language.
3. Perhaps inspired by the success of the two Pseudo-Anastasian
collections, others began to appear, though at uncertain dates. The
merit for the identification of these secondary collections belongs,
as was mentioned above, to Marcel Richard. He began examining
the Gretser collection, dubbed Collection a, and by sifting through
the manuscript evidence demonstrated that it was composed of dif-
ferent sections. The first was nothing other than the Collection of 23
Questions. This section was followed by the questions that had been
added to them to form the Collection of 88 Questions. Then to both
sections had been added the questions from the Original Anastasian
Collection that had not been incorporated into the 23 Questions. In
addition Gretser spliced in fifteen short questions that had circulat-
ed independently, Collection c. In this way Gretser had made availa-
ble, though unaware of his action, several of the Pseudo-Anastasian
collections and a good part of the Original Collection. Gretser’s
edition was reprinted by Jean-Paul Migne in his Series graeca, vol.
89, along with the other extant works of Anastasios.
4. The small collection, Collection c, just mentioned, is actually
made up of fifteen questions, all of them short and of an ethical
nature, selected from the Original Collection (QQ 31, 34, 38, 39,
40, 41, 42, 48, 49, 52, 59, 97, 102, 103). As some had already been
included in one of the earlier collections, some make a double ap-
pearance in Collection a. The dates of the manuscripts suggest that
this collection was put together not earlier than the twelfth century.
5. Another collection, Collection b, identified by Marcel Rich-
ard though not included in Collection a, was found by him in a
small number of manuscripts and may have been contemporary
with Collection c. Made up of 42 entries, it combines 21 questions
from the Original Collection with other questions and pious sto-
ries.31 The additional texts found in this collection are unlikely to be
31
Richard, Marcel, “Les véritables ‘Questions et Réponses’”, pp. 51-52; “Les
textes hagiographiques”, pp. 148-151.

Introduction
authentic, but as they had not been published previously they were

included in the CCSG edition as appendices and all have been
incorporated, where it seemed appropriate, in this translation.
6. Finally, another sample of such collections was discovered
by Richard, Collection d, probably from the same period as the
two previous collections. Like Collection a it combines the Col-
lection of 88 QQ with questions from the Original Collection. It
is the least useful from an editor’s point of view as the compiler
tended to rewrite or paraphrase the texts he selected, and the
manuscript evidence is poor.32
7. In the edition of the Greek text, samples of the re-workings,
taken mainly from Collection b (§5 above), were published as a
series of Appendices. However, for the translation it seems best to
incorporate these in the Comments on each question. In this way
one can follow how a particular subject is treated in the different
collections. The full list is added to this volume showing where
each of the Appendices can be found in the translation.
Problems of borrowings
Pseudo-Athanasius, Quaestiones ad Antiochum
Although it is clear that the collection of erotapokriseis wrong-
ly attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria, the Quaestiones ad
Antiochum ducem (CPG 2257), is somehow related to the Anas-
tasian quaestiones, their exact relationship remains to be clari-
fied.33 References are given to them in this translation in the
hope that further light will become available. One Anastasian
feature that seems to be missing in the other collection is the
Arab presence that looms so ominously in his text.34
32
Richard, Marcel, “Les véritables ‘Questions et Réponses’”, pp. 53-54.
33
For a discussion of the date of the QQ ad Antiochum, cf. Hans George
Thümmel (Bibliography).
34
See Qu. 80 with Comment (2). None of the QQ mentioned above as
referring to the Arabs has a correspondence in the QQ ad Antiochum.

Introduction
Timothy of Alexandria
Equally problematic are the relations between the Anastasian
Collection and the Responsiones Canonicae (CPG 2520) attrib-
uted to the fourth-century Timothy of Alexandria, as can be
seen in Qu. 12,35 and in QQ 40 and 46. In all three cases, the
correct attribution is doubtful, and the questions may have
originated with Anastasios. On the other hand in Collection b
three genuine erotapokriseis taken from Timothy are included;
they have been added as a Comment to Qu. 38 because they
show how the two authors deal with the same problem in simi-
lar but slightly different ways.
Table 2
Anastasios and the Pseudo-Anastasiana

c. 350 Timothy of
Alexandria
Responsiones
canonicae
c. 700 Anastasios of
Sinai
Original Collection
c. 750 Ps Athanasius
QQ ad Antiochum
c. 860 Collection 23 QQ [rewrite of 27 QQ from Original Coll.]
c. 890 Collection 88 QQ (Σωτήριος) [= Coll. 23 + 65 non-
Anastasian QQ]
c. 1050 Collection b [= 21 QQ from Original Coll. + 21 other texts]
Collection c [= 15 QQ from Original Coll.]
c. 1150 Collection a [= Coll. 88 + some QQ from Original Coll.]
Collection d [= Coll. 88 + rewrite of some QQ from Original
Coll.]
1617 Gretser publication of Collection a + Collection c
35
With Comment (2).

Introduction
Titles
In the manuscripts one finds a variety of titles36 given to this

work. Probably the oldest tradition is found in the Wolfenbüt-
tel manuscript (Herzog-August Bibliothek 4240, dating from the
eleventh century): By St Anastasios, Monk of Mount Sinai,
On different Subjects. However, the scribes of other manu-
scripts belonging to this tradition have added more compli-
cated titles: e.g. By our holy and famous father, Anastasasios of
the holy Mount Sinai, explanations [λύσεις] by interrogation and
answer of the divine and rich writings, working not by himself but
from the holy scriptures and teachings (a twelfth-century manu-
script from Patmos, Patmiacus 264); and Questions on different
subjects posed by different persons to the holy Abba Anastasios of
the holy Mount Sinai, the solution to which he has proposed very
clearly (a fifteenth-century manuscript now in the Escorial, Sco-
rialensis gr. 455 [Ψ-IV-18]).
The other main branch of the tradition, represented
especially by the important Muscovite manuscript (Mosquensis
Bibl. Synod. 265, tenth- or eleventh-century), gives (but with
several variations): Questions and Answers on different Sub-
jects posed by different persons to Abba Anastasios, the solu-
tions to which he composed not by himself but from great
experience. In the various Collections, Coll. a has something
very similar, but one also finds (as in the first edition), The
book called the “Hodegos” [= Guide] by our father, now among
the saints, Anastasios of Sinai, also bishop of Antioch; Questions
and Answers on different subjects posed by different persons, the
solutions to which he composed not by himself but from experience
and from reading the divine Scriptures (this title was adapted
for the Migne edition with some omissions). Coll. b follows
the second tradition but one manuscript (an eleventh-century
Oxford manuscript, Mariae Magdalenae 4) has By Anastasios,
a monk from Mount Sinai, Questions good for the soul with ex-
planation. Coll. c gives the brief, Questions on various subjects
36
All these titles were added to the work some time after its composition.

Introduction
(by Abba Anastasios OR put to our reverend father Anastasios of

Mount Sinai), while Coll. d has the longer: By our father now
among the saints, Anastasios, a monk on Sinai, questions and an-
swers, answers to questions brought to him by several right-minded
Christians.
Conclusion
The survival of so many different Pseudo-Anastasian collec-

tions, although it may have obscured the original character of
the first collection, has helped to illustrate the immense pop-
ularity of this type of religious literature. There were earlier
attempts to describe the genre,37 but in the absence of criti-
cal editions, even such an eminent scholar as Marcel Richard
could be led astray.38 Fortunately it has now begun to attract
the broad scholarly attention it deserves.39
37
The works of Bardy and of Heinrich Dörrie and Hermann Dörries, for
example.
38
His first attempt to tackle the problems of the Anastasian collection is
to be found in his important contribution to the Dictionnaire de Spiritualité
published in 1962, where there is no indication of the real contents of the col-
lections included in Migne. It was only some years later (1967) that he found
the key to understanding which were les véritables ‘Questions et Réponses’ of
Anastasios.
39
Good examples can be found in the article by John Haldon, and in the
Proceedings of the Utrecht Colloquium, 2003 edited by Annelie Volvers and
Claudio Zamagni.

Full List of Questions with
Appendices added
The true christian
Qu. 1 What is the sign of the true and perfect Christian?

[+ Appendix 1]
Qu. 2 And how does one know if Christ has taken up his
abode inside one?
Qu. 3 Is it possible to explain, What eye has not seen nor ear
heard, and what has not entered the human heart (1 Cor 2: 9)?
Qu. 4 What are those good things presented to us by Christ
as gifts, which the angels long to gaze upon (1 Pet 1: 12), as Peter,
the spokesman, says?
Qu. 5 Why indeed did Christ glorify our nature above that
of the angels, and why does he love it still?
Qu. 6 Who are those true worshippers, who will worship the
Father – and God – neither on the mountain, nor in Jerusalem (Jn
4: 23, 21)? For it is obvious that in so far as they do not worship in
Jerusalem, then neither in any other place on earth, because there
is nothing more worthy of respect here <below> than Jerusalem.
Problems of salvation
Qu. 7 If someone is an infidel, or a Jew, or a Samaritan, and

performs many good works, does that person enter into the
kingdom of heaven?

Full List of Questions with Appendices added
Qu. 8 Then how is it said, From all races, anyone fearing God
and acting justly is acceptable to Him (Acts 10: 35)?
Qu. 9 In the case of children, <who die> without sin at the age
of five or four, but are the offspring of Jews or unbaptized, where
do we want to say that they go, to condemnation or to Paradise?
Qu. 10 Is it possible to gain the remission of sins through
one good work? [+ Appendices 17, 18]
Qu. 11 And if someone has performed some sinful deed, and
then does some worthy acts in order to have this forgiven him,
then once again sins after these worthy deeds, does such a per-
son then wipe out the worthy deeds performed? [+ Appendix 5]
Qu. 12 From what age are a person’s sins judged by God?
Qu. 13 Why is it that, although the blasphemy of the heretics
has a greater condemnation than a sexual sin, when a sinner of
each sort converts to repentance, the Church immediately ac-
cepts the heretic to communion [κοινωνία], but bars from com-
munion for a period the one who has committed sexual sins?
Qu. 14 Why is it that we do not rebaptize heretics when
they convert and enter the catholic Church?
Universal questions
Night before day?

Qu. 15 There is a problem that is much discussed nearly all
over the world, whether the day precedes the night, or on the
contrary it is the night that has been placed before the day.
A fixed day of death?

Qu. 16 There is another problem after that one, which is
universal, viz. whether the life of anyone has a determined
limit [ὅρος] or not. Some say it has, others affirm it has not.
[+ Appendices 23a, 23b]

Qu. 17 Some say that if everybody were to know before-

hand the days of their deaths, then everybody would undergo
a conversion.
Depression?
Qu. 18 How many sorts [τρόποι] of desolation [ἐγκατάλειψις
lit. “abandonment”] are there? <Is it> as a trial, or as weakness,
or for sins? [+ Appendix 8]
Nature of the Soul?

Qu. 19 All men thirst, as if for a little water, to learn and
ascertain exactly what is the human soul, what sort of thing it
is, and from what it is made up, and when, and how it is active
within the body, and where it proceeds to after the separation
from the body.
Qu. 20 Where in general would we want to say the souls
now exist, and is it that they are all together?
Qu. 21 If the departed do not recognize one another in the
other world, how did the rich man (cf. Lk 16: 23-28) recognize
and implore Abraham and Lazarus, and not only that but he
also remembered his own five brothers who were in his house?
Resurrection of the body?

Qu. 22 The hearts of many of the faithful contain a lurking
difficulty and doubt about the resurrection [ἀνάστασις] of our
bodies: they think to themselves, “How can a body that has
been eaten up by lots of animals and birds, or that has been
drowned in the sea and destroyed by countless fishes, then
excreted into the deep and dissolved, how can such a body be
reunited and come to a resurrection?”
Paradise: in this world or elsewhere?

Qu. 23 What sort of Paradise should we consider to exist at
present? Is it perceptible by the senses (αἰσθητόν) or only by the
mind (νοητόν)? Is it corruptible or incorruptible?

Can one pray without ceasing?

Qu. 24 What is it to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5: 17)? For
it is not possible for a person who is preoccupied with house
and children, and living in the world, to pray without ceasing.
Why do sexual improprieties occur?

Qu. 25 What are the ways in which sexual impurity [πορνεία]
and nocturnal ejaculations [ἐνυπνιασμοί] come about?
Why is sickness so common among Christians?

Qu. 26 Why is it that among us Christians, rather than
among some other unbelieving nations, there are often far
more maimed people, and lepers, and those crippled with gout,
and epileptics, and those in the grip of other complaints?
Causes of character differences?

Qu. 27 A problem that is much discussed among everybody
is why some people from their very birth and infancy are found
to be by nature gentle, others choleric, others attached to good
living and lecherous, yet others misogynist and temperate,
whereas some again are by nature generous, and others savage
and niggardly; and not only that, but there are people who are
found to be naturally very bright and gifted with intelligence,
whereas others are dull and stupid, and so on.
Questions connected with death
Qu. 28 1. The whole human race is alarmed when it sees

the many dreadful and astounding things that happen in con-
nection with the deaths of human beings. So we entreat, if it
is possible, to have at least a partial explanation, as to why it is
that many persons, even rulers and emperors, who are wicked
and very often teachers of wicked doctrines and heresies and

unholy policies, who do harm to practically the whole in-

habited world, these regularly live to an advanced old age,
being granted a long life which is to the detriment of many
individuals and nations, whereas other persons who are pious
and proclaim to the world every virtue and devotion, peo-
ple responsible for leading many souls to salvation, these are
short-lived and pass away in their youth. And some among the
pagans [Ἑλλήνων], who intended to be baptized, come to their
end still in their sins and depart for hell, frequently only one or
two days before they were baptized and brought to salvation,
while yet others, who shone by their signs and wonders during
fifty or eighty years of holiness, then fell into some heresy or
another, or a sin of the flesh, and at once died, snatched away
in their evil deeds.
2. Similarly one powerful and impious man, who fell ill
or left for war, made a resolution with himself that if he were
to return victorious, or rise from his sick-bed, he would close
the churches and open the temples of the idols; then the one
who had adopted such a resolution recovered and he opened
the idols’ temples. But another absolute ruler [τύραννος] made
exactly the contrary resolution, saying that if he rose from his
sick bed and escaped his illness, he would open the churches,
and close the temples, and grant largess, and free those in pris-
on. He even set in writing a rescript [διατύποσις] of all these
good intentions and had it witnessed. Well, this second person
did not recover, but came to his end in his sins, and none of
these good things came to pass.
3. It is possible to see daily a thousand and one similar
occurrences, and that is why the pagans[ Ἕλληνες], bewildered,
thought that the world was not governed by providence, and
also why very often the faithful feel some doubts in their hearts
about God’s just judgement; they dare not express them to
anyone, but only know that in their heart of hearts they are
scandalized and consumed with doubt.
Qu. 29 What should we say also about those who die
violent deaths, either falling off cliffs, or overwhelmed, or
drowned at sea?

Qu. 30 Is it the case that all those who fall off cliffs, or are
drowned or overwhelmed, suffer in this way because of a divine
will and ordinance, or is it also because of the activity [ἐνέργεια]
of the Hater of the good?
Moral and pastoral questions
Qu. 31 What is arrogance?

Qu. 32 If someone commits a great sin against somebody
else, and then afterwards goes off and as a sinner comes to
repentance with the other and receives pardon from that per-
son, has such a sinner been forgiven also by God?
Qu. 33 If somebody falls into sin and then repents, and
once more falls into the same sin and repents, and so having
on many occasions stopped and then fallen again, such a per-
son is suddenly met by death, what is one to think of such a
person? [+ Appendix 9]
Qu. 34 Is it true that the devil is the cause of all sin and sex-
ual misconduct [πορνεία], and is it he whom one should blame?
Qu. 35 Is there a difference in favour of someone who sins each
month or each week over someone who sins more frequently?
Qu. 36 Some people want to say that repentance for sin is
this, to break off and to stop from it? [+ Appendix 6 ]
Questions relating to sexual morality
Qu. 37 As those under the Law often had two wives at the
same time and were not condemned for it, is the same also pos-
sible for Christians?
Qu. 38 Is it a good thing for somebody who has been in
bed with his own wife or who has had a nocturnal emission
of seed, to wash himself with water and then go straight to
church? [+ Appendices 11, 12, 13 ]

Qu. 39 Is it also proper for somebody who has had a noctur-

nal emission of seed to receive communion?
Questions relating to communion
Qu. 40 If somebody involuntarily drinks water when wash-

ing out one’s mouth or when in the bath, should such a person
go to communion or not?
Qu. 41 Is it a good thing to receive communion every day or at
certain intervals, or only every Sunday? [+ Appendices 10a, 10b]
Masses for the dead
Qu. 42 Some people raise doubts saying, “The dead are not
helped at all by the liturgies celebrated on their behalf.”
Qu. 43 If somebody has killed two or even more men, and is
then arrested and dies, is such a person forgiven or not?
Questions involving money
Qu. 44 Is money derived from thefts and injustice, and

offered to God, acceptable to Him?
Qu. 45 God says, “Gold and silver are mine, and I give them
to whom I wish” (cf. Hag 2: 8); so, is it true that anyone who is
rich has been enriched by God?
Moral problems
Qu. 46 Given that we often hear the word of God, but do

not put it into practice (cf. Mt 7: 26; Lk 6: 49), is it possible
that we shall not be condemned?
Qu. 47 If somebody has built up a habit of carnal sin
and has grown old in it, and he realizes in himself that he

is now incapable of fasting, or of undertaking penance or

sleeping on the floor, or of giving up everything and entering
a monastery, how can such a person reach salvation when
he is now old, and how can he win forgiveness for his sins?
[+ Appendix 4]
Qu. 48 How many ways are there of being saved and receiv-
ing pardon from Go for sins? [+ Appendices 2, 26 ]
Devotional practices
Qu. 49 What are we to do when frequently, while we are in

church, we want to shed tears for our sins and we are unable
to do so?
Qu. 50 How does someone know that God has forgiven
one’s sins, and that one will find complete mercy on the day of
judgement? [+ Appendix 14]
Qu. 51 Christ said, “It is not what enters through the mouth that
defiles a person” (Mt 15: 11), <so> why did the Fathers stipulate that
we should not eat meat on the holy fast days? [+ Appendix 27]
Qu. 52 Is it a good thing to confess one’s own sins or the evil
thoughts in the soul?
Qu. 53 If I do not find such a man, in whom I have confi-
dence, what am I to do?
Qu. 54 When someone is making one’s confession to God,
should one call to mind and count up each sin committed?
Qu. 55 What proportion of one’s personal financial resourc-
es should one offer in alms?
Varied devotional-ecclesiastical questions
Qu. 56 If I were to want to do something that I consider

good, how should I learn if it is to God’s liking or not?
Qu. 57 Is it right for a Christian to open <the Bible> for
lachmeterion [in search of an omen text]?

Qu. 58 Where is it expedient to offer money: to a church or

to the poor and needy?
Qu. 59 Supposing that a fellow Christia has caused me trou-
ble and I cannot talk with him or greet him whole-heartedly,
but only with my lips, what am I to do? Shall I continue rela-
tions with him at least for appearance’s sake, or shall I break off
relations with him? [+ Appendix 16]
Qu. 60 If our rulers are Jews or unbelievers or heretics,
should we pray for them in the church or not?
Qu. 61 Well, then, should one also pray for the pagans
[ Ἕλληνες], who finished their lives before Christ’s appearance,
and not anathematize them?
Qu. 62 What is meant by the Lord’s having said, Many
will say to me on that day (of judgement), ‘Lord, did we not cast
out devils in your name, and did we not prophesy in your name,
and did we not perform many works of power?’ And then I shall
confess to them, ‘Verily I say to you, I have never known you’
(Mt 7: 22-23)?
Qu. 63 Did the ventriloquist woman (cf. 1 Kings 28: 11-12)
really bring Samuel up <from the dead> on the occasion of
Saul?
Qu. 64 When one goes away to a foreign country, is it a
good thing to carry along holy communion in a skevophorion,
or should we receive communion in any church we may hap-
pen to find?
Qu. 65 The Apostle says that “the powers” that are in the
world “are instituted by God” (Rom 13: 1). Does it follow
that every governor [ἄρχων] and emperor is appointed by
God?
Qu. 66 Some people are of the opinion that it is impossible
for somebody who flees from the plague [θανατικόν] from one
place to another to be saved from death.
Qu. 67 Is it required of a Christian on the day that he pro-
poses to receive communion to take precautions with his own
wife, and keep apart from her?

Other faiths
Qu. 68 If I am questioned about the faith by heretics,

and I do not know how to explain dogma, what shall I do?
[+ Appendix 20]
Qu. 69 But is there not some method or other by which an
uneducated person [ἰδιώτης] may confute the heretic?
Qu. 70 Why is it that Satan has not created so many heresies
and schisms in any other faith, but only in that of the Christians?
[+ Appendix 22]
Qu. 71 Why did God permit Satan to wage any war at all
against humans, and did not annihilate him?
Qu. 72 From where do dreams come, and why do they of-
ten turn out true?
Qu. 73 How is it that we see some of the faithful who com-
mit sins of the flesh and yet are beloved of God and blessed and
saved from dangers?
Qu. 74 As the Apostle says, The unbelieving husband has
been made holy, if his wife is a believer, just like the unbelieving
wife (1 Cor 7: 14), if her husband is a believer; is it possible for a
Christian to take to wife an unbeliever or a pagan?
Qu. 75 Does someone who runs away at a time of persecu-
tion commit a sin or not?
Qu. 76 As we see some women who go astray while they are
also slaves in captivity, what is one to say about them?
Varied problems
Qu. 77 How many sorts of corporeal [σωματικαί = physical,

as distinct from spiritual] adultery [μοιχεῖαι] are there?
Qu. 78 What is the meaning of Paul’s statement, The sins of
some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgement, while
the sins of others follow them there (1 Tim 5: 24)?
Qu. 79 As God said to the snake, Somebody human
will observe [τηρήσει] your head (i.e. the origin of every evil

t emptation), but you (i.e. the wicked one) will observe the heel of
that person (Gen 3: 15) (meaning, in my opinion, the final mo-
ments of that person’s life), how does Satan know what are the
final moments of somebody? For we have seen many persons
who passed almost the whole of their lives in a befitting way,
but who fell away at the very end of their lives, one of whom
was indeed that famous Julian, the wretched apostate.
Qu. 80 Some people want to say that Satan fell away because
of his not paying homage to Adam.
Qu. 81 You said in previous <answers>, in your physiologi-
cal explanation of the elements, that frequently it is because of
some physical interconnection and due to the humours of the
body that some women come to be childless, others are fertile
with many children and yet others with few, but you did not
specify the manner of this causality.
Qu. 82 What is the talent which the Lord says He will
take from the wicked servant at the final day [ἐν τῆ. συντελεία. ]
and give to him who had worked well with the five (cf. Mt
25: 14-30) talents?
Qu. 83 What is the mammon of iniquity (Lk 16: 9) about
which the Lord speaks? [+ Appendix 15]
Qu. 84 Which are the sins committed consciously [ἐν γνώσει],
and which are those committed unconsciously [ἐν ἀγνοία. ],
and which, when one commits them, are the more grievous?
[+ Appendices 19, 25]
Qu. 85 What is “chance”, and should a Christian talk about
chance?
Qu. 86 As God says in Scripture, Rescue them who are led to
death (Prov 24: 11), what then? Is it good to save even thieves
and murderers?
Qu. 87 If I am subjected to slavery or prison, and I am not
able, as and when I would wish, to take time in church or to
fast and practise night-vigils, how can I be saved and gain the
remission of sins?
Qu. 88 Suppose there is someone in a position of authority,
who has many blessings from God and is engaged in business
affairs [πράγμασι], someone who is unable to retire from life,

who enjoys a wealthy table, a variety of foods, and bathing fa-

cilities: how is it possible for such a person to maintain a life
without reproach in the middle of such things and to obtain
the forgiveness of sins?
Qu. 89 How is that in our own day we see many who are
willing to gladly give themselves up to death for the sake of the
orthodox faith, but when they come to the moment of death,
the tyrannical rulers, either because of the intercession of cer-
tain persons or simply because they change their minds, decide
to set them free? What is one to think of the cause of such a
liberation? Is it due to God or to human intervention?
Qu. 90 How can we discern the correction [παιδείαν] or
the trial [πειρασμόν] that comes to us from God, and one that
occurs because of the devil?
Qu. 91 What is true humility, and how can we, with <the
help of> God, achieve it? [+ Appendix 7]
Qu. 92 What is meant by the phrase in Scripture, Even if I
bestow as food all my possessions, and give up my body for it to be
burnt, but have no love, I gain nothing (1 Cor 13: 3)? How can
someone bestow all one’s possessions for food without love?
Qu. 93 How are we to understand the apostolic [= Pauline]
dictum that affirms, If someone’s work is burned, that one will
suffer loss, but the person will be saved, even if only as through fire
(1 Cor 3: 15)? Some people have fantasized on the basis of this
statement that hell will have an end.
Qu. 94 Is there a time-limit for the consummation of the
world or not?
Qu. 95 Some people have difficulty on hearing the apostolic
[= Pauline] phrase which says with reference to the resurrection:
Then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the Father, who has
put all things in subjection under Him (1 Cor 15: 28).
Qu. 96 What is meant by Christ’s saying, If your right eye or
your hand causes you scandal, cut them off and throw them away
from you (Mt 5: 29)?
Qu. 97 In what way are we to understand that, If two or
three of you agree about any request that you ask, it will be done
for them (Mt 18: 19)?

Qu. 98 What sort of thing was the object called in the Law
the ephoud?
Qu. 99 Some people, turning away from God and the holy
Church along with this race <of the Arabs>, affirm, “Whom
God wishes to save, he is saved, and whom God destroys, is
destroyed,” and they quote to support them the saying of the
apostle Paul, I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whomever I have compassion (Rom 9: 15),
and He has mercy on whom He wishes, and he hardens the heart
of whom He wishes (Rom 9: 18), and Those whom he foreknew
he also predestined (Rom 8: 29), and Some vessels were made by
God for an honourable purpose, and some others to be dishonoured
(Rom 9: 21), by “vessels” meaning “human beings”.
Qu. 100 Very many people, not only among non-believers
but even among believers, because of their leaning towards the
polygamy <permitted> in the Law, quote at us the saying of
the Lord which states, I have not come to abolish the Law, but
to fulfil it (Mt 5: 17). What reply ought we to make about this?
Qu. 101 Is it true of all the evil things done by the Arabs
against the lands and nations of the Christians, that they have
done them against us completely at God’s command and with
his approval? [+ Appendix 21]
Qu. 102 If somebody is living in the desert or in captivity
and, because of the hardship and hunger, tastes the meat of
camel, or wild ass, or something of that sort, is it to be counted
as a fault on that person’s part or not?
Qu. 103 If somebody imposes on oneself the performance
of something judged to be good, e.g. to abstain from wine or
meat, or from his own wife for some time, or something else
of that sort, and then does not have the strength to fulfil this
self-imposed obligation but falls short of it, what should that
person do? [+ Appendices 3, 24]

Abbreviations
Biblical Books
Amos 1 Kings = 1 Samuel

1 Chr 1 Chronicles 2 Kings = 2 Samuel
2 Chr 2 Chronicles 3 Kings = 1 Kings
Dan Daniel 4 Kings = 2 Kings
Deut Deuteronomy Lam Lamentations
Eccl Ecclesiastes Lev Leviticus
Esth Esther Mal Malachi
Ex Exodus Mic Micah
Ezek Ezekiel Nah Nahum
Ezra Ezra Neh Nehemiah
Gen Genesis Num Numbers
Hab Habakkuk Ob Obadiah
Hag Haggai Prov Proverbs
Hos Hosea Ps Psalms
Isa Isaiah Sirach
Jer Jeremiah Song Song of Solomon
Job Job Susanna (Daniel)
Joel Joel Tobit
Jon Jonah Wisdom
Josh Joshua Zech Zechariah
Judg Judges Zeph Zephaniah
Judith
Mt Matthew Acts Acts of the Apostles

Mk Mark Rom Romans
Lk Luke 1 Cor 1 Corinthians
Jn John 2 Cor 2 Corinthians

Abbreviations
Gal Galatians Heb Hebrews

Eph Ephesians Jas James
Phil Philippians 1 Pet 1 Peter
Col Colossians 2 Pet 2 Peter
1 Thess 1 Thessalonians 1 Jn 1 John
2 Thess 2 Thessalonians 2 Jn 2 John
1 Tim 1 Timothy 3 Jn 3 John
2 Tim 2 Timothy Jude Jude
Titus Titus Rev Revelation/Apocalypse
Philem Philemon
General
< > = additions of the editor

Anal. Boll. = Analecta Bollandiana
BHG = Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca, cf. Halkin, F.
CCSG = Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca, Turnhout-
Leuven, 1977-
CCSL = Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, Turnhout, 1953-
CPG = Clavis Patrum Graecorum, cf. Geerard, M.
Coll. 23 = Collection of 23 Questions, expanded later into
Coll. 88
Coll. 88 = Collection of 88 Questions (“Soterios”)
Coll. a = Collection published in PG 89
Coll. b = reworking of the Authentic Questions
Coll. c = small collection; reworking of Authentic Questions
Coll. d = large collection; considerable rewriting of Authentic
Questions
DOP = Dumbarton Oaks Papers
GCS = Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller, Berlin,
1897-
Gretser = cf. Introduction: Original Erotoapokriseis
Hexaemeron = eds Kuehn and Baggarly
Hodegos = Anastasii Sinaitae Viae Dux [CCSG 8]
Homiliae = Anastasii Sinaitae Sermones [CCSG 12]
Liddell & Scott = H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, Greek-English Lexicon
with Supplement, Oxford, 1996
LXX = Septuagint
Migne = PG
Narrationes = eds Binggeli and Nau
NETS = Septuagint (English)
Nomocanon = ed. Rhalles

Abbreviations
OCA = Orientalia Christiana Analecta, Rome, 1935-

ODB = The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed.
A. P. Kazhdan and others, Oxford, 1991, 3 vols
(continuous pagination)
OLA = Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, Leuven, 1975-
Patrology = ed. Berardino, A. di
PG = Patrologiae cursus completus. Series Graeca, ed.
J.-P. Migne, 161 vols, Paris, 1857-1866
PTS = Patristische Texte und Studien, Berlin, 1964-
QQ = Questions (plural)
QQ ad Antiochum = Ps.-Athanasius
Qu. = Question
Qu. ed. = Questions edited in PG 89
RP = Rhalles and Potles, cf. Rhalles
RSV = Revised Standard Version (of the Bible)
SC = Sources Chrétiennes, Paris, 1941-
SH = Subsidia hagiographica, Brussels, 1886-
Sermo = cf. Anastasios of Sinai, Homiliae
Souda = Suidae Lexicon
Synagoge = cf. Evergetis, Paul
Synaxarion = ed. Delehaye, H.
TU = Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der
altchristlichen Literatur, Leipzig-Berlin, 1882-
Viae Dux = Hodegos

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Volgers, A. and Zamagni, Cl., eds, Erotapokriseis: Early Christian Ques-
tion-and-Answer Literature in Context: Proceedings of the Utrecht Col-
loquium, 13-14 October 2003, Leuven-Paris-Dudley, 2004.
Whitby, M., The Emperor Maurice and his Historian: Theophylact Simo-
catta on Persian and Balkan Warfare, Oxford, 1988.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Titles a
1. By St Anastasios, Monk of Mount Sinai On different Subjects.
2. Questions and Answers on different Subjects posed by different

persons to Abba Anastasios, the solutions to which he composed not by
himself but from great experience.
a
For Comments on the two titles, see Introduction. The headings to the
various QQ have been added by the translator. Marginal numbers indicate the
page numbers in the CCSG edition.
The True Christian
Question 1
Question What is the sign of the true and perfect Chris- 5
tian?
Answer 1. Some say that it is the correct faith and holy deeds
[ἔργα εὐσεβείας].a But Christ did not define the really true Chris-
tian by reference to these things, because somebody can have
faith and good deeds, and be haughty because of them, and not
be a perfect Christian. That is why the Lord said: The one who
loves me will keep my commandments, and I shall love such persons
and show them myself, and we shall come, I and my father, and we
shall make our dwelling in them (Jn 14: 21-23).
2. Therefore we learn from these words that by the faith and
fine deeds the house of the soul is built up by our intellectual
capacities (nous); however if the owner of the house, Christ,
does not come and live in us, it is clear that he is not pleased by
the structure that has been brought into being by us for him.
Comments
(1) The Answer was expanded and altered in the version pre-
pared for Coll. 23; this was incorporated into Coll. a as Qu. ed. 1
(PG 89, 329), and also into Coll. d (Qu. 1), and Coll. b, where it
appears as follows, but numbered as Qu. 5:
a
In the definitions included in his Hodegos Anastasios defines a “Christian”
as: “a true house of Christ, made of reason, constructed out of good works
and holy beliefs” (ἀληθινὸς οἶκος Χριστοῦ λογικὸς δι’ ἔργων ἀγαθῶν καὶ δογμάτων
εὐσεβῶν συνιστάμενος), Viae Dux II, 6, 20-21 (CCSG 8, p. 60).

Coll. b, Qu. 5 [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 1]

171 Question What is the sign of the perfect Christian?
Answer 1. The correct faith and holy deeds, because the true
Christian is this: a house of Christ constructed out of good deeds
and holy dogmas. Now the true faith is tested by deeds, because
Faith without deeds is dead (Jas 2: 26 [cf. Heb 11: 6]), just as deeds
without faith. Therefore it is necessary to do all in our power to
keep ourselves utterly pure of all defiling deeds, so that we may
prevent anyone saying of us also, They profess to recognize God,
but they deny him in their deeds (Titus 1: 16). That is why the Lord
says, If anyone loves me, he will put into practice my word, and my
father will love him, and we shall come to him and we shall make
our dwelling with him (Jn 14: 23). So the house of the soul is built
up through the correct faith and good deeds, and thus God dwells
in us: I shall dwell and stroll around insidea them (2 Cor 6: 16; Lev
26: 12).
2. Of course the devil does not know if Christ, the owner of
the house, is within your thinking or not, but if he sees you in-
dulging your anger, or bellowing out, or using foul language, or
casting insults, or passing judgement, or fomenting your hate, or
committing injustice against people, or being all puffed up, or
bragging, or laughing a lot and thinking greatly of yourself, or not
constantly praying and reflecting on death, then he realizes that
God, who guards you and cares for you, is not within your soul.
Then the Evil One slips in like a thief,b because the divine light is
not in your heart, and he plunders the house of the soul, and so
indeed does the final state become worse than the first (Mt 12: 45;
Lk 11: 26).
(2) Note the parallel with the Hodegos definition (note a).
Question 2
6 Question And how does one know if Christ has taken up
his abode inside one?
Answer 1. This question resembles that of someone asking a
pregnant woman, “How do you know if you have conceived in
the womb?” Just as that woman does not need to learn this from
somebody else, but knows by herself <by what happens> inside
a
The Greek preposition can mean ‘inside’ (the sense implied here), or
‘among’ (the sense usually accepted).
b
Cf. Jn 10: 1.

The True Christian, QQ 1-2
her – from the stanching of blood emissions, from the stirrings

of the babe within her, also indeed from her lack of appetite for
many types of food – that she has conceived,a so also the soul
does not need to learn from somebody else when Christ has
taken up his abode inside her through the Holy Spirit. The soul
sees at once that the impure blood of her customary passions
has been stilled, that her appetite for the many different foods
of sin has ceased, and especially that she now hates above all
else the sweetness of pleasure – for the sweetness of honey has
turned hateful to every pregnant woman.
2. When the soul of a Christian can witness in herself these
and similar signs and indications, then full of the Spirit, like the
prophet <Isaiah>, she says to God, Because of the fear of you, Lord, 7
we have conceived in the womb, we have borne in labour, and given
birth to the spirit of your salvation, which we have brought forth in
the land (Isa 26: 17-18 LXX). That such is the indication of the
true Christian, listen to Paul saying: Have you not learned that Jesus
Christ dwells in you, provided that you are not unequal to the test? (2
Cor 13: 5)
Comments
(1) This question was omitted in Coll. 23 probably because of
the hints at some personal esoteric knowledge, which is suspect
in more traditional circles; however it found its way into Coll. a
(Qu. ed. 75), and Coll. d (Qu. 2).
(2) There are links both with the Apophthegmata Patrum (see
Note a), and with the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 2: “How does
someone know at all that he/she has been baptized and received
the Holy Spirit, as a person is a child in holy baptism?” and refers
in the answer to Isa 26: 17-18 (LXX), then develops the parallel
with the pregnant woman emphasising the knowledge that one
has been truly baptized; this is an important element to bear in
mind when debating the relative priority of each collection.
(3) In the quotation from Isaiah, one branch of the Anastasian
textual tradition gives ἐποιήσαμεν (“which we have made”) as in
the accepted LXX text, but the earlier tradition has ἐκυήσαμεν
(“which we have brought forth”). In place of “spirit of your sal-
vation”, clearly the meaning intended by Anastasios, the NEBT
a
Cf. Apophthegmata Patrum, Longinus 5 (PG 65, 257B6-10).

translates “a wind of your salvation”, pneuma being ambiguous;

the Hebrew text seems to omit “of your salvation”.
Question 3
Question Is it possible to explain, What eye has not seen nor
ear heard, and what has not entered the human heart (1 Cor 2: 9)?
Answer 1. Not only is it possible to explain, but some per-
sons have been worthy to enter into possession of these things,
those about whom Christ said, We shall come, I and my Father,
and we shall make our dwelling in them (Jn 14: 23). Wherever
God dwells and walks about, there all knowledge is at home.
8 2. One should note that the remark, what eye has not seen, re-
fers to those of former times, i.e. to the Just Ones before Christ;
Scripture does not say, “Nor shall they see”. In the same way the
Lord also says, Many prophets and just persons desired to see what
you saw, and hear what you hear, and they did not hear (Mt 13:
17), and again he said, No one has seen God (Jn 1: 18); he did not
say, “Neither will anyone have sight”, for Blessed, he said, are the
pure of heart, for they will see God (Mt 5: 8).
3. Therefore pay careful attention, if you will, and you will see
that those, who are like Paul, saw and are now seeing what the
eye of those under the law has not seen, nor ear heard, and what had
not entered the human heart (1 Cor 2: 9) of those of the Old Tes-
tament, what God has prepared for those who love him. And Paul
added at once the phrase, But to me God has revealed these things
through the spirit; for the spirit searches even the depths of God (1
Cor 2: 10); thus those things are known to those who are worthy,
which the eye of the sinner has not seen.
4. However they are unspeakable and inexplicable because
some are not capable of them. So in the same discourse Paul
adds the remark: Someone who is <only> psychiá a does not accept
what is of the spirit (1 Cor 2: 14); it is folly for such a person.
9 For things of the spirit are learned and revealed in a spiritual way
a
The word ψυχικός is translated in the RSV as “unspiritual” [with the note
“or natural”]; Paul is contrasting the natural “psyche” with the God-given
“pneuma”.

to the spiritual (1 Cor 2: 13). Therefore make an effort to learn

these things in action and by experience, not by simple word
which is of no help.
Comments
(1) Like the preceding Qu., this one also found its way into
Coll. a (Qu. ed. 76) and Coll. d (Qu. 3).
Question 4
Question What are those good things presented to us by
Christ as gifts, which the angels long to gaze upon (1 Pet 1: 12), as
Peter, the spokesman, says?
Answer 1. Some say that these are what no eye has seen (1 Cor
2: 9), and others that they are the sacrament (mysterion) of our
communion. But what sense can this reply have? Our bloodless
sacrifice is officiated by holy angels, and accompanied by their
bodyguard, and accomplished by them. So in our opinion the
angels long that God the Word, who made them, might dwell in
them in reality [κατ’ οὐσίαν], just as He does in our flesh.
2. They also long that their nature may be adored and praised 10
by us, as it sits upon the cherubic thronea in the bosom of the
Father, just as our nature in Christ is adored by them and by all
the seen and unseen creation.b And again, they long to hold the
keysc of the Kingdom of the heavens, and to sit “upon twelve
thrones passing judgement”d like Christ on the day of judge-
ment, just as the fishermen are going to pass judgement.
3. For my part I say that the Cherubim and the Seraphim
long to have the same familiarity with Christ that he had who
rested his head “upon His breast”e, and that the sinful women
had who anointed and poured perfume upon Him.f Let me tell
you what is the most wonderful of all: Christ has said that when
he comes on the day of judgement, the powers of the heavens will
a
Cf. Rev 3: 21; Ps 79: 2.
b
See Comments (2).
c
Cf. Mt 16: 19.
d
Cf. Mt 19: 28.
e
Cf. Jn 21: 20.
f
Cf. Mt 26: 7; Mk 14: 3; Lk 7: 3.

shake (Mt 24: 29) for fear and terror of him, but as for the just,
he who made them will cause them to lie down at table, and
approaching them he will serve them (Lk 12: 37).a
4. These and similar things are what are presented to us by
Christ as gifts, which the angels long to gaze upon (1 Pet 1: 12),
that is, to enter.
Comments
(1) This Qu. is found in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 77), and in Coll. d
(Qu. 4).
(2) Qu. 80 below returns to this theme, and in the first of
the Narrationes about Sinai there is a reference to the proskynesis
offered by the angels to human nature, not vice versa (αὐτοὶ τὴν
ἡμετέραν φύσιν προσκυνοῦσιν ἐν οὐρανοῖς, οὐχ ἡμεῖς τὴν αὐτῶν).b
(3) In another set of Narrationes, the ψυχωφελεῖς (“helpful to
the soul”), Anastasios points out that angels lack the power given
to priests to forgive sins.c
(4) An important testimony to the later tradition of the
Anastasian QQ occurs in the Διόπτρα of Philip Monotropos (= the
Solitary, late-11th cent.), where this Qu. and the following (Qu. 5)
are quoted.d
Question 5
11 Question Why indeed did Christ glorify our nature above
that of the angels, and why does he love it still?
Answer 1. About this some wanted to say that it was, as
Scripture says, so that, where sin abounded, grace super-abounded
(Rom 5: 20). One might object to them saying, “Then it was
more necessary for the demons also to be saved, for in them sin
has abounded more than in us.”
2. Therefore listen to Paul who teaches the manner of
Christ’s becoming man, and his great goodness in our regard;
for Paul says that this mystery, <it was> something that God
a
See Comments (3).
b
Binggeli I 1, 11-12; Nau I.
c
Binggeli, II 27, 42-43.
d
Philippus Solitarius, Ἡ διόπτρα, ed. Spyridon Lauriotis, Ὁ Ἄθως 1, Athens,
1919, pp. 128-129; unfortunately this edition is now very difficult to find, but
cf. Munitiz, “In the steps…”, pp. 441-446.

foreordained from before the ages (1 Cor 2: 7), viz. the sojourn
among humans and his kindness.
3. Thus God is devoted to what is human rather than to
any other created thing in two ways: in the first place, as to
something both formed by his own hands and a blue-print
[προτύπωμα] of his plan of salvation [οἰκονομία],a a living be-
ing that is both invisible and visible, mortal and immortal, as 12
is also Christ; secondly, as he is of the same race as we are, and
of the same substance, and of the same stock, and of the same
form, having become man.
4. Thus Christ also is devoted to us for a physical reason
and in a physical way, because every nature and every race has
a natural inclination and affection for what is of similar stock
and of the same race and of the same substance to itself.
Comments
(1) This Qu. is also found in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 78), in Coll. d
(Qu. 5) and is mentioned by Philip Monotropos, as noted in the
comments on the previous Qu.
Question 6
Question Who are those true worshippers, who will worship
the Father – and God – neither on the mountain, nor in Jerusa-
lem (Jn 4: 23, 21)? For it is obvious that in so far as they do not
worship in Jerusalem, then neither in any other place on earth,
because there is nothing more worthy of respect here <below>
than Jerusalem.
Answer 1. This problem is really awe-inspiring and for-
eign to human hearing: this is why it fails to find an answer
and a clear solution, as not all are capable of listening to the
more divine mysteries. However by quoting from a certain holy
a
In explaining the unity in Christ of the two natures, divine and human,
Anastasios compares it to the unity of the human body and soul: “It seems to
me that our own conception – both body and soul concurring to attain exis-
tence together, since neither does the body exist on its own nor does the soul
exist before the body – is a blue-print of the unity of Christ” (ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, καὶ
ἡ ἡμετέρα σύλληψις – ἀμφυπάρκτως συντρέχει ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα· οὔτε γὰρ σῶμα
καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸ συνίσταται, οὔτε δὲ ψυχὴ προϋπάρχει τοῦ σώματος – προτύπωσις οὖσα τῆς
ἑνώσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ), Viae Dux II, 6, 20-21 (CCSG 8, p. 60).

c onversation that occurred among holy men, who are still sur-
viving in the flesh today, I shall make what is said clear, despite
a certain obscurity.
13 2. Somebody from herea came across a man, an anchorite,
leading the contemplativeb life. He said to him: “I am aston-
ished, father, that you can support in this way to be separated
from the holy church building, and far from communion and
the holy community services [συνάξεις].”
3. In answer the man of God said to him,
“Sir, all the services and liturgies and feasts and commun-
ions and sacrifices take place for this purpose, that one may
be purified from sins, and that God may dwell in that person,
in accordance with what Christ said, We, I and my father, shall
come and make our dwelling by him (Jn 14: 23), and I shall in-
habit and stroll among them (2 Cor 6: 16)c.
4. So when someone becomes the vivified, God-made tem-
ple of God, and the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
inhabit and stroll within that person, the soul, the God-bearer,
loses all desire for constructed churches, or for visible sacrifices,
or for material services, and human feasts, and she desires to
adore God neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem (Jn 4: 21).
The reason is that the soul possesses the Father within herself,
and the Son, the High Priest, is also within, and the Spirit – the
true fire; also within are the true sacrifice to God – a contrite
14 spirit (Ps 50: 19); and the altar – a pure conscience; and the pro-
pitiation for sins – spiritual tears; and the higher Jerusalem –
the exulting soul.d To sum up, being spiritual, with eyes of the
spirit, one offers up “spiritual sacrifices”e; for God is spirit, and
those who adore Him should make their adoration in spirit and in
truth (Jn 4: 24).
a
Probably an autobiographical reference to the Monastery of Mt Sinai (later
St Catherine’s).
b
Literally “heyschast”, but the word did not have the later connotations
associated with Mt Athos.
c
Using Lev 26: 12 as well as Jn 14: 23.
d
Cf. Ps 34: 9.
e
Cf. 1 Cor 2: 13; 1 Pet 2: 5.

The True Christian, QU. 6
5. For all that can be seen is ephemeral, as Paul teaches,

whether it be sacrifices or offerings, what is unseen is eternal
(2 Cor 4: 18), i.e. whatever is to be found in the heart, in spirit
and in truth (Jn 4: 24), what the eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
and what has not risen to the heart of man (1 Cor 2: 9), before the
parousia of Christ; things that God has prepared and revealed
to us through his Spirit that dwells in us. The person judged
worthy to possess these things, as one divinized through the
indwelling of God within him- or herself, this person can truly
adore them within the self, or rather can adore the self that is
within oneself, and hold in veneration the self as seeing one’s
flesh existing as the tent of God (Rev 21: 3), the house, the altar
and sanctuary of God. Such a person holds in veneration nei-
ther heaven, nor the angels, nor any visible sacrifice, nor any-
thing else that is in the world, as being superior to the personal
temple of the body, in which that person sees indwelling the
fullness of the Trinity.”
6. There you are: you have heard of the mysteries granted to
us by Christ through his sojourn among us.
Comments
(1) This Qu. was taken over in Coll. 23 (Qu. 2), with an ad-
ditional paragraph extolling the exceptional value of quiet con-
templation, and accepted as such in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 2) and also
in Coll. d.(Qu. 60. In the added Florilegia of texts appears a quo-
tation from Nikephoros I (Patriarch of Constantinople 806-815);
this helps to date the formation of the later Collections.
(2) This is one of the most characteristic Answers of Anas-
tasios, linking him firmly to the tradition of spiritual writers so
strong in Byzantine literature.

Problems of Salvation
Question 7
15 Question If someone is an infidel, or a Jew, or a Samaritan,
and performs many good works, does that person enter into
the kingdom of heaven?
Answer As the Lord said to Nicodemus, Truly I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the spirit, a person will not en-
ter into the kingdom of heaven (Jn 3: 5), it is clear that such a
one will not enter the kingdom. However that person does
not lose his or her reward, but either receives it here <in this
life>, with easy living and riches and comfort and all the other
deceits of this life (after the fashion of the one who heard, Re-
member that you in your life-time received your good things [Lk
16: 25]), or on the other hand in the future life has a big dif-
ference over someone who did no good works. For just as in
the case of the just there are many mansions (Jn 14: 2) close to
God, so in the case of sinners there are many different forms
of punishment.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 79) and Coll. d (Qu. 7); it is
given first place in Coll. b.
(2) Again, an interesting parallel in the QQ ad Antiochum,
Qu. 101, which repeats the Answer from Anastasios, then adds a
quotation from Paul, Glory and honour and peace for everyone who
does good, the Jew first and also the Greek (Rom 2: 10), with the
comment: “The Apostle said this about those who lived before

Problems of Salvation, QQ 7-8
the coming of Christ” (PG 28, 660B-C), thus conflating part of

the following Qu. 8 with this one.
Question 8
Question Then how is it said, From all races, anyone fearing 16
God and acting justly is acceptable to Him (Acts 10: 35)?
Answer 1. When this phrase was spoken by St Peter al-
most the whole world was infidel and all races were without
law. So at that time, anyone fearing God and acting justly, like
the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10: 1, 22), was acceptable to
God, whether a Jew or a pagan, as were the Ninevitesa and the
friends of Job.
2. But once Christ’s gospel had been proclaimed and the
Apostles had taught us to be baptised, listen to what Christ says
to the Apostles: In whatever city you enter and they do not receive
your word, going out shake even the dust from your feet against
them. Amen I say to you: it will be more bearable for the land of
the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than
for that city (Mt 10: 11, 14-15).
3. In that case how will someone be acceptable to God who 17
does not honour Him and does not believe in the proclama-
tion of his Son? Such a person neither fears God nor acts justly
(Acts 10: 35). Similarly consider as well the remark of Paul that
before the Gospel <there was> glory and honour and peace for
anyone performing a good action, for the Jew first and also for the
pagan (Rom 2: 10), but after the Gospel, Even if an angel, he
says, from heaven were to preach a gospel to you at variance with
the gospel which we have preached to you, may he be anathema
(Gal 1: 18).
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 80), Coll. b (Qu. 2), and
Coll. d (Qu. 8); it was added (in part) to Qu. 7 in the QQ ad
Antiochum (see Comment 2 on Qu. 7).
a
Cf. Jon 3: 10.

Question 9
Question In the case of children, <who die> without
sin at the age of five or four, but are the offspring of Jews or
unbaptized, where do we want to say that they go, to condem-
nation or to Paradise?
18 Answer As the Lord dissolved his own decision which laid
down that, The sins of the fathers come upon the children (Deut
5: 9)a, and said through the Prophets that the children will not
be destroyed because of the sins of their fathers,b my opinion
is that they will not enter hell. However it is not good to
cross-examine [ψηλαφάω] the judgements of God.
Comments
Coll. d (Qu. 9).
(2) In the QQ ad Antiochum Qu. 115 a similar question is given
a different answer: in the case of children of believers there are
quotations from Mt 19: 14 (“Allow little children to come to me…”)
and 1 Cor 7: 14 (“your children… they are holy”), but for children
of unbelievers the conclusion is purely negative (such children en-
ter neither heaven nor hell, as they are without sin); the personal
note found in the Anastasian reply is missing.
Question 10
19 Question Is it possible to gain the remission of sins through
one good work?
Answer Yes, because the prostitute, Rahab, was saved because
she sheltered the spies,c and the thief because of his faith,d and the
prostitute <in the New Testament> because of her lamentation.e
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 82), Coll. b (Qu. 11) and
Coll. d (Qu. 10).
a
Cf. Ex 20: 5.
b
Cf. Deut 24: 16; Ezek 18: 20 (and 4).
c
Cf. Josh 2 and 6: 25.
d
Cf. Lk 23: 40-43.
e
Cf. Lk 7: 37-50.

(2) In the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 77 (PG 28, 645B-C) the

theme appears very briefly under the question, “Which of the
commandments provides us with forgiveness of all sins?” and
gives the answer with Luke 6: 37, “Do not judge, and you will not
be judged.” In another question, Qu. 90 (PG 28, 656A), humility
is defined in terms of not judging others.
(3) In Coll. b the theme of “salvation despite the commis-
sion of a sin”, alternatively of “not passing judgement” (de non
iudicando), is treated at length in two additional QQ numbered
41 and 42 in the complete collection. They are the last of four
items that sometimes appear apart under the title, “Demonstra-
tion that the episcopal [priestly] dignity is something great and
angelical” (Ἀπόδειξις ὅτι μέγα καὶ ἀγγελικὸν τὸ ἀρχιερατικὸν ἀξίωμα);a
the first two are not QQ but simply stories: viz. Qu. 39 de arca
martyris (BHG 1322u, 1322v); Qu. 40 de baptismo pueri mortui
(BHG 1444x). The third (Qu. 41), on accepting communion from
unworthy priests, contains a couple of stories (§§3-7) also found
in the Narrationes, and most of the answer (omitting only the
first paragraph) is found in the thirteenth-century Thesaurus of
Theognostos.b The fourth (Qu. 42) also appears isolated in several
manuscripts, and was included by Paul of Evergetis in his Syna-
goge (III 2, 6 [ed. Athens, 19646, t. 3, pp. 36-38]); some parts of it
have been published separately.c The numerous stories included
in these Answers remind one that Anastasios was also known as
the author of collections of Narrationes.
Question How should we partake without scandal of com- 192
munion of the holy mysteries when we happen to hear and see
that the priest is falling into sins of the flesh?
Answer 1. It is only a bishop, and not a lay person, who can
judge and condemn a priest, even if some people nowadays have
imagined that they can try to do this. If we were to give leave to
condemn in our mind the life of priests, then Satan would set
about arranging things so that taking scandal from all of them, we
would inflict harm on our souls and remain without communion.
a
This “Demonstration” (ἀπόδειξις) is sometimes found as an annexe to the
Anastasian Homilia de sacra synaxi; G. Mercati (“Un preteso scritto di san Pietro
vescovo d’Alexandria”) has argued that it was probably added there (“è un’aggiunta
posteriore alla redazione prima dell’omilia”, p. 441) and his article will be found
mentioned again in connection with the Philo referred to in the isolated question
given below in connection with Qu. 84, Comment (4), p. 210 note a.
b
Theognostos, Thesaurus, XVII, C §§1-4 (CCSG 5, pp. 180-182).
c
Details available in the CCSG edition of the Anastasian QQ, p. 196.

However if a priest requires to be condemned and corrected, then

let us bring to the bishop what is against him, but for us, who
hold the rank of sheep, it is impossible to condemn the shepherd,
unless he is at fault in some matter of faith.
2. Indeed if we are worthy of the divine mysteries, the recep-
tion of communion becomes a source of light for us and the un-
worthy life of the priest cannot do us any harm. On the other
hand, if we are unworthy of the gift and communion of the holy
mysteries, even if an angel were to distribute them to us we would
not profit in any way.a For even Judas, who received communion
from the divine hands of Christ, found no help there. A sinful
priest resembles a man who has leprosy in his hands and is dis-
tributing coins; the leprosy stays with him, but the gold and those
who receive it remain spotless and unharmed from the leprosy.b
193 3. But listen once more to a story which is profitable for the
soul from the period of Arkadios,c who became bishop about fifty
years ago.
4. There is a place [chorion, village or small town] called
Trachiades about fifteen signposts from Constantia. There was
a priestd in that place and through the devil’s workings he was
led astray and became a sorcerer; he was so irreligious that in the
company of whores and harlots he would eat and drink from the
sacred church plate. Then after some years, word got about, he
was denounced, arrested and interrogated. The Governor’s adju-
tant [ὁ σύμπονος τοῦ ἄρχοντος] questioned him under torture, “Tell
us, most wicked man, unworthy of any human pity and worthy
of every punishment and retribution! Granted that you despised
the coming dreadful judgement and had no regard for any present
tribunal, but how did you not hold in awe the fearful sanctuary
with the altar when you offered up that awesome and bloodless
sacrifice, considering that perhaps fire would come down from
heaven and burn you up, or the earth would open its mouth and
swallow you?”
5. The sorcerer replied to this saying, “By the God who now
punishes me through your hands, and who will punish me in the
a
Cf. Anastasios of Sinai, Homilia de sacra synaxi (PG 89, 848B).
b
This sentence is found in the works of Anastasios of Antioch, Capita ad
Sergium Grammaticum (CPG 6957), ed. S.N. Sakkos, p. 139 (ed. I.-B. Pitra,
Iuris ecclesiastici graecorum historia et monumenta, II, Rome, 1868, p. 276).
c
Arkadios was bishop of Constantia in Cyprus, c. 625-642; cf. V. Déroche,
Études sur Léontios de Néapolis, Uppsala, 1995, pp. 26-36.
d
The story de presbytero mago (BHG 1444v, CPG 7758, B7) is found in Nau
XLIX (Oriens Christianus 3, 1903, pp. 69-70), and in Binggeli II, 15.

Problems of Salvation, QU. 10
other place by His own hands, <I swear> that I did not present
the holy offering, nor did I distribute communion to the people
ever since I abandoned God and became a sorcerer. Instead an
angel of the Lord would come and tie me to a pillar of the priestly
area [the sanctuary], and then offer and distribute to the people;
and when he said, “Let us go in the peace of Christ”, then he
would untie me and I would go out. However none of the people
saw this secret [τὸ μυστήριον], except for me alone, and the people
thought that I was the one making the offering and distributing
communion to them.
6. No less worthy of being written downa for future memory 194
is something that the blessed Isidore, the lawyer [lit. scholastikos],
who died three years ago, recounted to me. He said that he had a
certain brother-in-law, while he was still a layman in Alexandria,
who had on his forehead a tumour that had formed there, the size
of a large apple. He said that this man had the custom, each time
that he received the holy mysteries in communion, to anoint the
hard swelling of the tumour with the holy blood.b
7. Now one day he came for his daily midday communion to
the church of the holy Mother of God, the church in the Theo-
nasc district, and moved by some diabolical impulse he peeped
through the keyhole of the door and saw the chaplain inside in
the sacristy copulating with a woman. Drawing back a short way
away, when he saw that the woman had left he did not become
critical or shocked but thought to himself, “If the clergyman has
just sinned, still tomorrow he can make his repentance and be
saved, and it is not my business to judge him until Christ judges
him. In any case, my belief is this, that the holy mysteries are
given to us not from the hands of human beings but from the
hands of holy angels.” And so approaching for the communion,
no sooner had he opened his mouth and said the “Amen”, at once
the tumour on his forehead was cured and became invisible.
8. However if those who are really super-critical say that these
are mythical tales, let them be put to shame before the holy and
ecumenical synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers
a
The story de fide sincera, seu de sanatione tuberis (BHG 1444y) is found in
Nau LVI (Oriens Christianus 3, 1903, pp. 83-84) and in Binggeli (Appendix 3,
p. 277).
b
Cf. Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus, Catech. Myst. V, 22 (PG 33, 1125 B1-9),
from which it is clear that the custom of anointing eyes and forehead with the
remnants of consecrated wine on the lips was not uncommon.
c
Unfortunately not identified so far.

195 in Nicaea; in connection with this the following storya is recount-

ed concerning the blessed and saintly Emperor Constantine. After
the condemnation of the foul Arius and the definition of the true
faith, the devil, who could not bear to see the holy churches in
peace, set some bishops against others, and they handed in to the
Emperor accusations in writing, one accusing the other and vice
versa, about sins of the flesh and other foul and impure causes.
9. Then the Emperor Constantine, that divinely inspired imita-
tor of Christ’s kindness, having accepted and read such disgraceful
tracts, called together the bishops; then he had the papers brought
in and ordered wax to be brought to bind them together and that
they should be burned, uttering a dictum that is worthy of God:
“If I were to see with these eyes of mine some priest of Christ
committing a sin, I would spread out my purple cloak [χλαμύδα]
and cover him, so that Christ may also cover my own sins. Anyone
who publicly makes mockery of a priest of God makes mockery of
the faith of the Christians and of the Church, to the delight of the
pagans [ Ἕλληνας] and the enemiesb of the cross.”c
196 Question How can we not judge someone who is clearly
committing a sin?
a
This story, de episcopis se invicem accusantibus (BHG 369n), is found in
s everal sources, but this version seems to go back to Theodoret of Cyrrhus (5th c.),
cf. F. Halkin, “Constantin se voilant la face?”, Anal. Boll., 85, 1967, pp. 440.
b
The expression “the enemies of the cross” is also found in the Narrationes
(Nau XLVIII, Binggeli II, 14 line 21).
c
One of the manuscripts of Coll. b (Athos, Philotheou 52), which has added
other texts (notably Appendices 20, 21, 22, 23a) here gives the following addition:
Let that person be to you like a gentile; there are some people who are very
careless and who criticise in a pharisaic way not only priests but also those who
have opted for the monastic life; and when they spot some member of a monas-
tery who has an extra himation [garment], they fling out the Lord’s command,
“Do not own two chitonas [tunics]” (cf. Mt 10: 10; Mk 6: 9; Lk 9: 3), while they
themselves are grasping at everything and enriching themselves every day. Again,
if they observe some religious person eating too much, they become harsh crit-
ics though they themselves are getting drunk every day and stuffing themselves
and banqueting: if you have presented the monk with what he has, why do you
mock him in witless fashion; and if another person has provided the monk with
what he has acquired and you then mock him, you will receive a more severe
condemnation from the Lord for your envy and meddling. There is no objection
to a straight-forward criticism, but the Lord commands, First take the log out of
your own eye, and then draw the speck from your neighbour’s eye (Mt 7: 5; Lk 6: 42).
This text is found largely in a homily of John Chrysostom, Hom. in Matt.
23, 2 (PG 57, 309 [36-48]); the same text is included in Coll. 88 as an addition
to the series of Gospel texts that make up Qu. 80 (found as Qu. ed. 70, PG 89,
696C2-23).

Answer 1. By bearing in mind the Lord saying, “Do not judge,

and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be con-
demned” (Lk 6: 37), and also the Apostle teaching, “The one who
is standing should take care of a fall” (1 Cor 10: 12) … “Keep an eye
on yourself, lest you also be put to the test” (Gal 6: 1) … “No human
being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is
within” (1 Cor 2: 11). For frequently many who sinned in the sight
of others, afterwards secretly have confessed to God, pleased him
and won his pardon, and they received the Holy Spirit; then those
who are thought sinners by us are really just before God. We were
witnesses of their sin, but we were not aware of the good works
that they had performed secretly.a
2. Such a person was that flute-player in Egypt, Philemon.b In
his regard a divine voice revealed to Saint Makarios in the desert,
“You have not yet reached the level of Philemon the Flute-play-
er in such-and-such a city.” So setting off, holy father Makarios
found him playing the flute at a wedding and dancing around.
Taking him aside privately he questioned him, wanting to find
out about his achievements. But he kept on saying that he was a
profligate and a sinner, who only recently had passed over from a
robber’s life to the flute-players’ troupe. “However,” he said, “I am 197
aware that I did do one good work while I was a robber-chieftain.
I found a woman fleeing from her creditors after having sold her
own children for fifty nomismata; I took her into my cave and
gave her fifty nomismata, without touching her in any sort of car-
nal sin.” Thus it was in recompense for this action done on behalf
of the woman and her children that he was raised to the level and
place of holy father Makarios in God’s sight.
3. It is really necessary never to pass judgement, even when
we see a sin with our own eyes; after the sinner has moved just
ten steps away from our sight, we do not know what he may have
done in relation with God, and what God may have done in rela-
tion with him. When dawn broke on a certain Thursday Judas
the traitor was in the company of Christ and his disciples, while
the thief was in that of evil-doers and murderers; yet as Friday
succeeded, Judas had departed into the exterior darkness, while
the thief had found his home in Paradise with Christ. Because of
these sudden changes it is good not to judge anyone until God
a
Parallel passages are to be found in Qu. 73 below, and in the Anastasian
homily de sacra synaxi (PG 89, 845C).
b
The story of Philemon the Flute-player is found in the Apophthegmata
Patrum, Antonius 24 (PG 65, 84B), Eucharistus 1 (PG 65, 168-169).

has passed judgement on that person. For the father has given all
judgement to Christ (Jn 5: 22), so that someone who judges his
neighbour has snatched away Christ’s dignity as a judge, and such
a person is an Anti-Christ.
4. On other occasions there are many who receive pardon for
their sins through varied trials, in a way that we do not know.
Again others are purified through physical illness and chronic
sickness: for the Lord has chastised me with his chastisement, but
He has not handed me over to death (Ps 117: 18). Some of us being
judged by the Lord are chastised in this life, so that we may not be
condemned with the world in the next. This is what Paul turned
upon the incestuous fornicator in Corinth when he said, “Let such
198 a one be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that
the spirit may be saved in the day of judgement” (1 Cor 5: 5). Thus
even <for> those possessed by demons,a if they bear it with grati-
tude, this chastisement becomes for their good.
5. Again there are some who through others – either some
saintly persons or their own parents – gain the forgiveness of their
sins: the Lord carries out the wishes of those who fear him (Ps 144: 19).
Also some people find mercy even while in the midst of some
mortal illness, as did Hezekiah who pleaded tearfully with God
(4 Kings 20: 5). While others, having made some secret pact and
understanding between themselves and God, departed this life a
few days later and were saved. Wherever one has reached, whether
a good state or an evil one, from there that person departs. That
is why God said through Ezekiel the prophet: “Although someone
has committed all sorts of injustice, if such a one then converts
and does what is just, there will be no memory of his crimes; for
where I find someone, there will I judge that person”.b But divine
Scripture bears witness that in many cases some receive pardon
for their sins through the prayers of holy men: for even Aaron,
after making the calf for Israel at Horeb, was forgiven through the
prayers of Moses,c and similarly the sister of Moses, Miriam, was
purified of her leprosy because of the prayers of Moses;d and simi-
larly Nabouchodonosor [= Nebuchadnezzar] was judged worthy
of God’s kindness because of the prayers of the prophet Daniel.e
a
Grammatically, the nominative is left hanging here in the Greek, but the
sense is clear.
b
Cf. Ezek 3: 19-20; 18: 27-30; 24: 14; 33: 16-20.
c
Cf. Ex 32-34.
d
Cf. Num 12: 10-15.
e
Cf. Dan 4.

6. However if one should also call to mind one of the saint-

ly men of our own generation, there is no cause to be ashamed.
Leontios,a who became bishop of Neapolis, used to tell our fathers
that while living in one of the monasteries in the East, he had as 199
superior a saintly man, a genuine servant of God, who happened to
be an acquaintance of the Emperor Maurice. Now when that same
Emperor Maurice incurred through diabolical intervention that in-
famous defeat and betrayed his army to the barbarians,b he sent for
that holy man once he had realized what he had done and come to
contrition, and he implored him very earnestly to request from God
that for his sake the soul of Maurice should be saved, as a favour to
the holy man, and be pardoned for what he had done.
7. So when this same emperor came to die, the monk requested
God to disclose to him if indeed He had accepted his prayer and for-
given Emperor Maurice his sin. And indeed one night the servant
of God goes into ecstasy; he sees a place of extraordinary brightness
and glory, like some immensely great temple; within it, in the sanc-
tuary, was seated the God and Emperor, Jesus, and the seven veils
set in order, one inside the other, hid himc from being seen. Then
the monk [geron, lit. “the old man”], standing in front of the sev-
enth veil, heard the voice of Christ the Emperor, with a voice like
thunder ordering and summoning by name those who had been
Emperors of the Romans [= Byzantines]; the voice gave permis-
sion and said, “Let the Emperor Constantine enter”, and with that
utterance he saw the saintly and glorious Constantine enter, who
along with Saint Helena was carrying the revered and life-giving
cross. Then one after the other he heard the heavenly Ruler order-
ing each pious emperor by name to enter into his presence, just as
each made his entry. Now when the Emperor Tiberios entered in,
the monk heard Christ the Ruler saying in a reluctant tone, as if
under duress from a supplicant, “Well, then, let the Emperor Mau-
rice enter because of the request from the monk.” Maurice came
up to go in, along with his wife and children. And on seeing the
monk standing before the imperial doors he says to his wife and 200
a
Leontios of Neapolis, like Anastasios a native of Cyprus, was a well-known
hagiographer whose historical credentials are considered unreliable. The story of
the monk’s vision of the Emperor Maurice is also found in a late Paris manu-
script (BHG 1322yb).
b
Maurice reigned from 582 to 602; for an account of this defeat, cf.
Theophanes, Chronographia, anno 6092 [584 A.D.], vol. 1, pp. 278-280;
worth consulting is Michael Whitby, The Emperor Maurice and his Historian
(pp. 24-27: The overthrow of Maurice).
c
Probably the monk, but possibly Jesus.

children, “Fall at the feet of this revered father; it is because of him

that the sole good and kindly Ruler has opened up for us.” All these
things, with the Lord for our witness, we are setting forth without
any deception in order to instruct young judges not to condemn
anyone without investigation and haphazardly.
8. I have recounted these things not idly nor for verbosity’s
sake but because I am aware that the tongue of most people is
sharper than a two-edged sword (Heb 4: 12), quick to condemn the
faults of others. Even though we may see a thousand good things
in a person, but happen to see some petty failing (since nobody is
sinless, except for God alone [Mt 10: 18; Lk 18: 19]) we leave to one
side and neglect the person’s thousand good qualities and achieve-
ments, and make remarks only about that minor failing, denigrat-
ing the person.
9. It is also possible by means of an open declaration to gain
not only the remission of sins but also rewards: as the Lord said,
201 “Whoever declares himself on my behalf before others, I will declare
myself on his behalf before my father in heaven (Mt 10: 32). Every-
one should realize this: whoever confesses the Christ despite the
menace of fear and threats, to that person all sins that may have
been committed in life will be forgiven in that hour. I shall con-
firm this dictum with a surprising story.
10. In the years of the Emperor Mauricea there was in Con-
stantinople a most wicked and powerful magician called Mesites.b
This man began to employ under the guise of his notariosc a young
servant, who was not aware that this Mesites was a magician. As
the latter wanted to lead astray this lad,d who was a Christian, and
to attach him as well to the devil, he took him off one day in the
evening; and mounting their horses they went out of the City to a
deserted and uninhabited place, a meeting of three ways.
11. And eventually at a late hour they reached a certain place
and saw a castle with iron gates. When Mesites had knocked
they both entered, Mesites and the Christian lad. And they find
an enormous temple, and brilliant golden stands and lights and
lamps and couches, with a number of servants sitting to right and
left, all of them Ethiopians; there was also one person of enor-
a
See note 22.
b
This story (de mago Mesita) about the magician called “Mesites” (a word
that normally signifies a “mediator”) is numbered BHG 801b.
c
The term can mean “scribe” or “secretary” (the more obvious sense here),
even if it also covers more important officials.
d
The word παῖς is ambiguous, meaning both “boy” and “servant”, and here
both seem to be intended.

mous size, who was himself also an Ethiopian, seated on a high

throne with the appearance of a king. He welcomed and warmly
embraced Mesites, and commanded a throne to be placed for him
near himself, and had him seated, saying “Welcome, Sir Mesites,
our genuine friend and servant!”
12. After Mesites was seated, as the lad was standing behind
his throne, the one who was enthroned on high as king of the
demons, having looked at the lad, says to Mesites, “Why have you
brought this lad here?” Mesites in answer says, “Lord, this one is
your slave, along with me.” Then the king seated on high says to 202
the lad, “Tell me, youngster, are you my slave?” The lad replied
and said, “I am the slave of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.” And with that utterance, down fell at once the one
on the throne, down fell all the others who were seated, down fell
the lights; the place was swallowed up, the castle was swallowed
up, they all were swallowed up, and so too Mesites was swallowed
up with them; the lad found himself alone and there too were
the horses in their place. He hurriedly mounted on his horse and
returned to the City [= Constantinople]. When he was asked by
some people, “Where is Mesites?” he replied saying, “That man
has gone off into the outer darkness and the unquenchable fire” (Mt
8: 12; Mk 9: 43), giving an account of all that had happened.
13. Some time later this same lad was staying with a certain
patrician,a a servant of Christ and a virtuous man, generous with the
poor. One evening both of them, the patrician and the lad, come
at an appropriate time to pray before the honoured and most re-
vered ikon of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And while the lad was standing
to the left of the patrician the ikon of the Master turned away and
directed its gaze towards the lad. Then when the patrician noticed
what had happened, he moved the lad to a place on his right, and
once again the ikon turned away and directed its gaze to the lad.
Then the patrician threw himself prostrate on the ground, weep-
ing and supplicating and declaring his faith and saying, “My Lord,
Jesus Christ, why do you turn your face away from me, your ser-
vantb? You know, Master, that to the best of my ability I have not
turned my face away from anyone who asked for alms, and why do
you, Master, turn away from your unworthy servant?” After he had
supplicated like this and confessed his faith for a long time, a voice
comes forth from the ikon of the Master saying, “I am pleased with
you, because from what I have given you, you have made an offering
a
An ill-defined but high-ranking dignity, not uncommon by this time.
b
Literally, doulos, “slave”.

to me. But to this one I am under an obligation because, though

he found himself in a mighty panic, he did not deny me, but made
confession of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
203 14. However there is another method for salvation, which can
be brought to a successful conclusion much more easily than the
others: I mean that which has been mentioned above,a not to pass
judgement and not to guard rancour. There is nothing that God
hates as much as an embittered person. Even though we may have
thousands of achievements to our credit, if we harbour bitterness,
it is pointless and futile for us to give a detailed account of them.
And listen, if you like, to an extraordinary story of something that
happened in our own days – Christ is our witness and there are
still eye-witnesses of it alive – something most helpful and deserv-
ing to be remembered.
15. There was a manb who belonged to those who wear the
monastic habit; he lived his life with utter negligence and lazi-
ness, then fell ill with a sickness that was mortal. When he came
to his last breath, he showed no fear of death but prayed to God
with great thankfulness and eagerness and so departed from
his body. Now one of those who were in attendance on him,
one of the most God-favoured of the fathers, asked him saying,
“Brother So-and-so, believe me, as we watched you, we thought
that you had lived out your life with utter negligence and lazi-
ness; how is that you have such lack of worry and such thank-
fulness in the face of such a fearful and terrifying hour, that of
departure from life, one that even the saints hold in dread?”
16. In response then to these words the brother said, “Truly,
reverend fathers, it is a fact that I lived out my life in utter neg-
ligence and laziness. And the angels of God brought to me the
hand-written list of my sins in this hour, reading out to me all
the sins that I had done since I made my monastic renunciation,
and they said to me, “Do you acknowledge these?” “Yes, they are
truly mine and I acknowledge them, but nevertheless, my lords,
204 ever since my monastic renunciation I have never passed judge-
ment on anyone nor borne a grudge. Therefore I request that in
my case the words of Christ should be respected: for He said, “Do
not judge and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will
not be condemned” (Mt 7: 1; and Mt 6: 12, 14-15). And as he said
a
At the start of the Answer.
b
This story, “on the death of a monk” (de morte monachi), figures in the
BHG with the number 1440pb, where there is reference to a twelfth-century
Paris manuscript that records it.

this to the angels, they tore up at once the hand-written list of

my sins, and behold I am leaving to join Christ with complete
joy and no anxiety.” And once the brother had explained these
things to the fathers, he immediately gave up the spirit, giving
great assistance and edification to his listeners so that they would
not judge anyone nor bear grudges; he gained the fruit of such
a great grace by putting into practice these virtues. May we also
be worthy of such a grace and kindness from the Lord and God,
our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, now and
always and for ages upon ages, amen.
Question 11
Question And if someone has performed some sinful 19
deed, and then does some worthy acts in order to have this
forgiven him, then once again sins after these worthy deeds,
does such a person then wipe out the worthy deeds per-
formed?
Answer There are some sinful deeds that destroy the good,
and there are some that do not. Moreover, take into account
the gravity of the failing and the greatness of the worthy act.
However, if one does not abandon the sin, but dies in it, the
affair is not easily forgivable. Nevertheless God alone knows
how to judge such cases.
Comments
Coll. d (Qu. 11).
(2) In Coll. b in addition to Qu. 8 there is another Qu.
(Qu. 10) dealing with the same topic and partly indebted to the
original Anastasian question;a the text is as follows:
Coll. b. Qu. 10 [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 5]
Question Some persons quite frequently after having broken 175
away from their sin and repented, occasionally trip over once more
and suffer a fall; then they despair of themselves, thinking that
they have wasted all the effort they had put into their repentance.
Answer 1. The effort that someone has put into repentance is
not wasted with God, and for that reason one should not despair
a
Found in the later tradition: cf. Theognostos, Thesaurus, II, 43 (ed. Mu-
nitiz [CCSG 5], p. 224).

of oneself but rather stand up once more and make a stand against
the enemy with good works and repentance.
2. For just as in the imperial army, the emperor welcomes the
soldier who stands and fights against the enemy, at one moment
giving a blow, at another receiving one, rather than the one who
flees and throws away his arms, even so God has more affection for
the soul that stands and does not give in, but fights against the de-
mons, rather than for the one who puts up no fight, but instead falls
into despair for herself, and consequently commits sins recklessly.
3. Someone who sins daily has a different condemnation from
the one who sins from time to time, just as someone who gives
alms every day has a different reward from someone who does so
once a year. Therefore, though you have sinned a thousand times,
repent a thousand times, so that when death comes it may find
you engaged in repentance.a
(3) The problem recurs in two of the QQ ad Antiochum, 84
(PG 28, 649A-B) and 133 (PG 28, 681A-B), but here the replies are
more developed and the wording unrelated.
Question 12
20 Question From what age are a person’s sins judged by God?
Answer There are many variations in this also as far as God
is concerned. Each person is judged in accordance with their
degree of knowledge and wisdom, some from their twelfth year
of age, others when older.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 84), Coll. b (Qu. 4) and in
Coll. d (Qu. 11).
(2) Both Qu. and Answer reproduce the text found in Timo-
thy of Alexandria (d. 385), Responsio, No. 18 (Joannou, p. 252, PG
33, 1308B10-15); however, the true author of that particular Qu. is
doubtful (cf. CPG 2520) and may well have been Anastasios (cf.
Qu. 38 below, with Comment [4]).
Question 13
Question Why is it that, although the blasphemy of the
heretics has a greater condemnation than a sexual sin, when
a
Cf. Coll. b, Qu. 9, added to Qu. 47 Comment (3).

a sinner of each sort converts to repentance, the Church im-

mediately accepts the heretic to communion [κοινωνία], but
bars from communion for a period the one who has committed
sexual sins?
Answer Because one is a voluntary sin, whereas that of 21
the heretic is due to ignorance; in addition, in order that the
Church may make heretics more eager to convert, and sexual
sinners more loath to sin.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a,(Qu. ed. 85), and in Coll. d (Qu. 12),
but not in Coll. b.
(2) There may be an echo in the Qu. of a passage in John
Climacus:
“A certain learned man put a serious question to me, saying:
‘what is the gravest sin, apart from murder and denial of God?’
And when I said: ‘To fall into heresy,’ he asked: ‘Then why does
the catholic Church receive heretics who have sincerely anathe-
matized their heresy, and consider them worthy to partake in the
mysteries; while on the other hand when a man who has commit-
ted fornication is received, even though he confess and forsakes
his sin, the Apostolic Constitutions order him to be excluded from
the immaculate mysteries for a number of years?’ I was struck
with bewilderment, and what perplexed me then has remained
unresolved.” Scala Paradisi, gr. 15 (PG 88, 889B1-13; English trans-
lation, §48, pp. 152-153).
This would provide a rare link between Anastasios and some-
one thought to have been a contemporary or predecessor in the
Monastery of Sinai. In a Scholion to this passage (Scholion 26,
PG 88, 912) a different “answer” is given: heresy is a deviation of
the mind and a sin of the mouth, whereas fornication is a sin of
the whole body.
(3) Canonical regulations varied in the number of years of Eu-
charistic abstinence imposed on fornicators: cf. Nomocanon, tit.
13, ch. 5 (RP 1, 301-2); for the proper pastoral attitude towards
heretics, cf. Qu. 14.
Question 14
Question Why is it that we do not rebaptize heretics when
they convert and enter the catholic Church?

Answer If that were to happen, someone would not readily

turn away from heresy out of shame of being rebaptized; more-
over the Holy Spirit knows how to shed enlightenment among
persons by the imposition of the priest’s hands, and also by
prayer, as the Acts of the Apostles bear witness.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 86), Coll. b (Qu. 37), and in
Coll. d (Qu. 12, the same number given to the previous Qu.)
(2) Anastasios seems to bypass the controversy that bedevilled
the early Church in the West (first Cyprian, and then the Dona-
tist controversy); even if canonical regulations were more compli-
cated than suggested here, the overall policy was similar, as shown
by a title in the Nomocanon, “On those from among the heretics
who turn to orthodoxy, and whether it is possible to ordain them,
and which ones are to be baptized, and which only anointed, and
that it is necessary to employ gentleness with heretics so that they
convert”, tit. 12, ch. 14 (RP 1, 273).

Universal Questions
Night before day?

Question 15
Question There is a problem that is much discussed nearly 22
all over the world, whether the day precedes the night, or on
the contrary it is the night that has been placed before the day.
Answer According to the Mosaic account of creation in
the Law it is impossible to say that night precedes the day. For
the first utterance of God, the true light, made the illumina-
tion (Gen 1: 15) of light and later there came evening, when
the light set, and night came, and the dawn came, one full day
(Gen 1: 5). However since whoever is in Christ is a new creation
(2 Cor 5: 17), as the Apostle says, in this matter the Church of
Christ does not follow the Mosaic sequence. As Christ was go-
ing to be found rising from the dead on the Sabbath, i.e. on the
night following the Sabbath,a God therefore arranged things
[οἰκονομέω] and ordered even the Jews to begin the Sabbath in 23
the evening, i.e. from the sunset of Friday,b so that they would
not have a reasonable ground of complaint against us because
we begin the Lord’s day (= Sunday) on the evening of the Sab-
bath [= Saturday]. God has done this so that you may learn that
we have come from darkness into the light (Acts 26: 18, and cf.
a
Cf. Mk 16: 2; Jn 20: 1.
b
Cf. Mk 15: 42; Jn 19: 31.

1 Pet 2: 9). Therefore we begin from darkness, but we take our

definitive rest [καταπαύομεν] in the light of day.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 87) and in Coll. d (Qu. 13);
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) A version of this Qu. appears in QQ ad Antiochum, QQ. 53
and 54 (PG 28, 629D-632B), which appear to have been influenced
by the Anastasian original – though one could argue that Anasta-
sios has compressed two previous QQ.
A fixed day of death?

Question 16
Question There is another problem after that one, which is
universal, viz. whether the life of anyone has a determined limit
[ὅρος] or not. Some say it has, others affirm it has not.
Answer 1. Our replya to this will be that the limit which ex-
ists for the life of each person is not a foreordained number of
24 years, but the wish [βουλή] and ordinance [πρόσταξις] of God,
who transfers someone out of life when he commands and how
he commands.
2. In reply to those who argue by all possible means that
a predetermination [προορισμός] of God exists for the years
of each person, we shall say this: God would then be found
to be himself the one who makes wars, something which is
too absurd even to be thought of. Again, supposing that pre-
determinations for the years of everybody existed, fixed and
immutable, nobody who is sick would call on the saints for
their support, and indeed nobody would apply to doctors.b
a
For the first part of his answer Anastasios may have been drawing on the
6th century homilist, Leontios of Constantinople, Homilia X, In Mesopente-
costen (CPG 7888), 343-370 ed. Datema-Allen, CCSG 17, pp. 329-331, and cf.
p. 306; PG 86(2), 1988B-D) (who may be a different person from the theolo-
gian, known as Leontios of Byzantium, included in the ODB, p. 1213); see the
text given in Comment (4) §7.
b
See the previous note.

Universal Questions, QQ 15-16
For anything that God has predetermined will certainly come

about.a
3. However another evil and Manichean dogma is brought to
birth from that supposition. What is it? That as God has fore-
knowledge and foreknows everything before it come to be (Dan/
Sous 35a [LXX], 42 [Theodotion]), if he really wanted everybody
to be saved (1 Tim 2: 4),b and nobody to be destroyed, why, if
he foresaw the apostasy of Julian the Apostate and the denial of 25
Judas Iscariot, did he not rather predetermine and preordain for
them a more truncated life, allowing them to die and be saved
before their destruction? Similarly in the case of any monk or
upright person, who later falls away and is destroyed, the respon-
sibility falls on God. So then one is obliged to say one of two
things: either that God did not foreknow, or if He did foreknow,
clearly he did not wish to save them but to destroy them. For
had he wanted to save them, it was necessary for Him to have
predetermined the limits of their lives prior to their falling away.
4. Therefore as I said earlier, it is best to say that the limit
[ὅρος] for each person’s life is the incomprehensible command
[κέλευσις] of God. For if an immutable predetermination and
limit concerning a person’s years had been fixed and estab-
lished, how does the Apostle say to the Corinthiansc that it is
because of their unworthy reception of communion that they
fall ill and die? If a limit to life exists, then someone will not
die before that for any reason whatsoever. Again, how did God
say to Israel: “Guard my commandments so that you may be-
come long living on the earth (Ex 20: 12d)”? And again, Solomon 26
says, “Do not become hard, and do not practise impiety at length,
lest you die in a time that is not yours (Eccl 7: 17).” Similarly he
says that the curses of parents bring death upon the children.e
a
This paragraph was quoted in a thirteenth century treatise on this topic:
Nikephoros Blemmydes, De vitae termino, ed. W. Lackner (Leiden, 1985), p. 16
(19-24).
b
Cf. 2 Pet 3: 9.
c
Cf. 1 Cor 11: 30.
d
Cf. Deut 4: 40; 5: 16.
e
Cf. Sirach 3: 9.

5. However if God so pleases, we shall expound these

matters at greater length specifically [ἐν ἰδίᾳ],a explaining the
many causes on account of which just people live short lives,
whereas the wicked have long ones, and in what ways children
die, and what is death for natural reasons [ἐκ φύσεως], and what
is a death brought about by God, and indeed why some per-
sons die suddenly at table, or travelling, or while they happen
to be in the bath, without any last will and testament, while
others again who propose to build holy churches or perform
other spiritually good works, depart to the Lord before their
completion. For the time being we have given a short answer to
the question.
27 6. In reply to those who quote the great Basilb as speaking of
a predetermination of life, we shall say this: the predetermina-
tion of which this father spoke was the divine saying, You are
earth and to the earth you will return (Gen 3: 19).
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 88) and Coll. d. (Qu. 14);
omitted as such in Coll. b (but see Comments 3 and 4).
(2) This theme also surfaces in Qu. 28, which may be the
longer treatise mentioned (see §5). However the following two
comments should be borne in mind.c
(3) A more developed version of this answer has been added to
Coll. b (Qu. 42):
Coll. b, Qu. 42 [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 23a]
213 Question <Here is> a great <question>, much discussed and
raised by almost everyone: do we claim that each human life has a
fixed term [ὅρος] or not? If it has such a limit, why does David say
to God, Do not take me away in the middle of my days (Ps 101: 25),
and again, Those who commit deeds of blood and treachery will not
fill out half their days (Ps 54: 24)? But if there is no such limit, why
again does the same David say: Behold, you appoint my days mea-
sured out (Ps 38: 6)? And again if there is a limit, why did Solomon
say, Do not become hard and do not practise impiety at length, that
a
See Comment (2).
b
See p. 81 note a below.
c
For a fuller treatment, see Joseph A. Munitiz, “The Predetermination of
Death: The Contribution of Anastasios of Sinai and Nikephoros Blemmydes to
a Perennial Byzantine Problem”, DOP 55, 2002, pp. 9-20.

Universal Questions, QU. 16
you may not die in a time that is not yours (Eccl 7: 17)? Therefore if
it is possible to die in a time that is not yours, why did some people 214
think they could teach that, “Deaths are brought on when the
limits of life have been fulfilled?”a And why, when Hezekiahb and
the Ninevitesc asked for more life, did God add it for them?
Answer 1. The fount of wisdom, the great receptacle of knowl-
edge, Paul the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians says: For any one
who eats and drinks (the body and the blood of the Lord) unwor-
thily, eats and drinks judgement upon himself; that is why many of
you are weak and ill, and quite a number are dead (1 Cor 11: 27-30).d
Pay attention, with great care: because you partake of the sacred
mysteries unworthily, many of you are dead, so that had they par-
taken worthily, they would not have died then, and consequently
how can we require a fixed term of life as proposed to us by many?
Again, God said to Eliphaz the Themanite, “You have sinned, you
and your two friends (Job 42: 7-8), and if it were not for my servant
Job, I would have destroyed you”.e And the Psalmist says about the
Israelites: God said he would have destroyed them, except for Moses,
his chosen one (Ps 105: 23). Thus it was because of the virtue, in
relation to God, of Job and Moses that these did not die, and not
because the fixed term of their lives had <not>f been completed.
2. But if, as some people think, the days of one’s life were fixed
and defined,g then nobody, when about to die in misdeeds would
rush to saintly men so that they implore God for further life and
a conversion for oneself; nobody would request from God for the
lives of their children. The term (ὅρος) has been set and accord-
ing to them it is impossible for any addition to be made. Again, 215
divine Scripture says: Honour your father and your mother so that it
may go well with you and you may be long-lived upon the earth (Ex
20: 12). To my mind this is also what St Basil was thinking when
he uttered his remark, “Deaths are put in place when the terms of
lives are completed”.h
a
The author of this Qu. is referring here to Basil of Caesarea (who is named
later) in his treatise, Quod Deus non est auctor malorum (CPG 2853), 3 (PG 31,
333B5-9). Note that Anastasios names Basil at the end of Qu. 16.
b
Cf. 4 Kings 20: 6.
c
Cf. Jon 3: 9.
d
Mentioned in Qu. 16, §4.
e
The second part of the sentence is an addition to the text of Job.
f
Although missing in the manuscript this negative seems required by the
argument.
g
The following lines resemble those in Qu. 16, §2.
h
See note a above.

3. The term of a person’s life is surely the wish of God, and He

adds to whomsoever He orders and diminishes wheresoever He
thinks right, doing everything for the best: just as the master of
a flock removes and adds whatever sheep he wishes, so God acts
with respect to humankind, and at that moment death is applied
to a person. Therefore, as has been said before, the term of each
one’s life is the command and wish of God, who said to Man af-
ter the Fall, For you are earth and to earth you will go (Gen 3: 19).a
He did not say, “I will cause your death,” but “By death you will
die, if you disobey my commandment” (Gen 2: 17). And if they
had not disobeyed, they would not have been deprived of the tree
of life (Gen 2: 9): obedience gives birth to life, while disobedience
brings about death. God says to the human being formed by his
hand, “It is not I who have set the terms of life, not did I create
death,b but you have dragged in death for yourself by your own
evil will, just as Adam by separating himself from God, fabricated
death for himself. For those who distance themselves far from you (as
Scripture says) are destroyed (Ps 72: 27), because The one who loves
danger will be destroyed by it (Sirach 3: 26) as someone reckless.”
4. Thus very often in the case of the children of believers, God
snatches them away providentially [οἰκονομικῶς, literally, “by his
economy”] before time, so that they may be pure when they go to
the other life, perhaps because they were going to lead very wick-
ed lives. And quite simply, God disposes everything for each one’s
good: so He makes sinners grow old, giving them an opportunity
for conversion, while He often cuts short the lives of the just, so
that, as divine Scripture says, Evil may not affect their good sense
(Wisdom 4: 11). Indeed God quickly snatches away many people
216 who are in the early stages of their conversion, acting out of his
goodness for their profit, because He foresees that if they were to
live many more years, they would fall once more and be destroyed.
5. Let no one then among the faithful, after hearing so many
proofs from the divinely inspired Scriptures and the hints of the
godly Fathers, be misled by quarrelsome heretics who claim that
the days of a person’s life are fixed, and are neither diminished
nor increased by God. Rather let each one be convinced that
everything obeys His wish and command; and that most things
come about through His permission. This permission comes
from a benign judge because of our own carelessness: so that God
makes both just and unjust short-lived and long-lived. To many
a
Also quoted at the end of Qu. 16, §6.
b
Cf. Wisdom 1: 13.

good people God grants length of days, and to many of them

shortness of days. Similarly, in the case of sinners: to many He
adds years, while others he quickly snatches away. As has been
said before,a His goodness provides for all as will be best for each:
as for the fact that some out of madness give themselves to death,
with God’s permission many come to an end in an unreasonable
way, because of our own sins, since God has neither determined
nor predetermined this, nor is it His will that somebody should
commit suicide, nor that one should kill another unjustly; such
things come upon us because of our own choice and foolishness,
as God says: And I have sent them out according to the inclinations
of their own hearts (Ps 80: 13), and so on.
6. For example, one of the saints spoke out boldly to one of
the Emperorsb who was leaving for war, “Where are you journey-
ing, O Emperor, not having God as an ally? Call back those true- 217
believing bishops of the churches whom you sent into exile and
you will be victorious over the barbarians without any trouble,
but if you don’t, you will drag to destruction all your force with
yourself.” Then the Emperor said, “As for you, when I return I
shall punish you as a liar.” But the saint cried out in reply, “Do
execute me if ever you return from there!” And the Emperor, be-
cause he disobeyed the good advice, lost his life in a miserable
death.
7. Because of this, God says, If you willingly listen to me, my
written words, you will eat the good things of the earth; but if you
do not wish to obey me, the sword will eat you up (Isa 1: 19-20).
As for God having foreknowledge of evil happenings, we do not
doubt it; but as for his foreordaining them, we true Christians cer-
tainly do not believe it. And as far as I know, nobody reasonable
questions that He did not foreordain the Fall and death. That He
foreknew, certainly this is to be believed and truly happened. The
power to change and convert, this lies in the power of all human
beings; but the power to give life or end it, this is proper to God.
8. The devout student of the divine Scriptures will find many
other things about life and death; but these judgements are a great
abyss (Ps 35: 7) and they are known to God alone.
(4) A treatise attributed to Anastasios, De vitae termino
(BHG 7746 [1]), was published by Angelo Mai, Scriptorum Vet-
a
At the start of §3.
b
Probably a reference to Julian the Apostate; cf. a similar story in Theodo-
ret, Historia ecclesiastica, 3. 18, 23 (ed. L. Parmentier – F. Scheidweiler, Berlin,
19542, p. 202; PG 82, 1116-7).

erum Noua Collectio, I, 1 (Rome, 1825), pp. 369-361 from a single

Vatican manuscript (Vaticanus graecus 470 [XIV c.], ff. 182-183v;
its text has many similarities with the preceding Qu., but their
interrelation is not clear. It is added here to complete the evidence
of Anastasiana dealing with this topic.
Anastasios [?], De vitae termino [Greek text: CCSG 59,
Appendix 23b]
217 <TITLE > By our father, now among the saints, Anastasios of
Sinai: On <whether there is> a fixed term [ὅρος] for life and death.
1. It was not God who made death, nor does He take pleasure
in the destruction of the living (Wisdom 1: 13), but it was because
218 of the devil’s jealousy that death entered the world (Wisdom 2: 24)
through the infringement of God’s command. That is also why
St Basil said, “Deaths are put in place when the terms of life are
completed”.a The term of life for each person is the order and
wish of God; wheresoever He wishes, He adds years of life, and
again where He desires, He cuts them short, as it is He who holds
the power over both life and death.
2. Surely then the term (ὅρος) <of life> is not a previously writ-
ten number of years, but the wish and command of God, who
transfers someone out of life when and how He commands and
does what is best for each one, whether it be a diminution or an
addition of life.
3. For very often even in the case of the children of believ-
ers, God snatches them away providentially (“by his economy”)
so that being pure when they go to the other life, they may find
salvation, as He foresaw the future, that they were going to lead
wicked lives. Others He snatches away at once in the early stages of
their conversion for their profit, knowing beforehand that if they
had lived many year, they would have fallen into similar evil deeds
and would have come to a worse pass. He grants length of days to
many just persons, in order that they may save others along with
themselves; while on the other hand he often makes many short-
lived in order that, as Solomon says, Evil may not affect their good
sense (Wisdom 4: 11). Similarly also in the case of sinners, some
He makes long-lived, so that they may be converted, while others
He snatches quickly away, so that their deeds of wickedness may
stop, and they may find some alleviation <of their future punish-
ment>. But in every way, as we have said previously,b Goodness
disposes things to each one’s advantage.
a
See p. 81 note a above.
b
See §2 above.

4. Now the majority of unexpected and unlooked for evils

come about with the permission of God because of the sins we
commit without repenting. However a permission is no longer a
positive wish, but only the knowledge of God who knows the fu-
ture beforehand, and who neither agrees with nor impedes, <that
which happens> because we deserve to suffer for our sins.
5. Certainly God has not predetermined death, nor is it his 219
desire that we should slaughter and kill one another out of malice.
For it was the murderer from the beginning (Jn 8: 44) who made
this a law, and our own evil intention set it in place because of our
greed. Nor is it appropriate that we should fling ourselves reckless-
ly into danger, saying that we have hope in God’s help, even when
we are conscious of our guilt. Such action comes out of arrogance
and recklessness, and we are responsible for our own destruction,
in so far as we have courted danger without taking care.
6. But should it happen that we fall into sudden trial, then
even if we are sinners we should implore with contrite heart for
God’s mercy to support us, and we shall not fail in our hope. God
is kind and not vindictive. He does not repay us for our evil deeds.
7. Therefore let none of the faithful be misled by the heretics
into thinking that human days, or the days of one’s life, are fixed
and cannot be reduced or increased by God;
againa that in the case of each person the manner and the day
and the hour of death have been determined, and how each should
die. What nonsense! These are all old-wives tales. Because if the
manner of each person’s death has been determined and it is not
possible to escape that, why when we are ill do we seek out medical
help and call upon the patronage of God and the saints? Why when
sailing do we seek to reach port, and why do we keep clear of places
infested by brigands, and why do take precautions in wars against
the enemies? If it had been determined for Abelb to die in that par-
ticular way, why is Cain condemned and why do we hold him in ab-
horrence? Why do we also execute murderers if there was a necessity
for those they have murdered to die in that way? Why in our prayers
do we ask to live for many years, and not to fall into the time of trial
(Mt 6: 13; Lk 11: 4)? Is it not because the Lord is truthful when He
said, I will fill him with length of days and show him my salvation (Ps
90: 16), and again, You will call on me in the day of your distress and I
shall have mercy on you and you will glorify me (Ps 49: 15).
a
Here begins an unacknowledged quotation from Leontios of Constanti-
nople, Homilia X, In Mesopentecosten; see p. 78 note a above.
b
Cf. Gen 4: 8.

230 8. I know of three sorts of death:a the first is that brought about
individually in the way common to most persons. The second is
that sent following a threat by God, and not as the result of some
physical order and process but because of God’s anger and divine
wrath. Such were <the deaths caused by> the Flood,b and those
of the people of Sodom,c and those of the first-born in Egypt,d
and of the Israelites in the desert,e and the extermination of the
Canaanitesf and of the one hundred and eighty five thousand As-
syriansg in one night, and of many other peoples; similarly the
capture and slaughter and burning of Jerusalem, which happened
later under the Romans because of the killing of Christ, but also
the frequent divine wrath entailing death in many places. The
third sort is that of those who in accordance with some unimagi-
nable judgement of God meet death by falling or being swallowed
up, both just and unjust, as in the case of the sons of Job,h and
when earthquakes strike cities.
9. Similarly there are two sorts of <extensions of > life:i the
first is that granted by God, as in the case of the fifteen years of
Hezekiah,j and that of Lazarusk and other similar cases; so also the
divine kindness shown to the Ninevitesl because of their repen-
tance. The second sort is that which with God’s foreknowledge
comes about in a common fashion for natural reasons through
the orderly organization of the elements and the harmony of the
climate. St Paul the Apostle also writes to the Corinthians that
because some people partake unworthily of the mysteries, That is
why many of you are weak and ill, and quite a number have died (1
Cor 11: 27-30). It is obvious that it was because of this that they
died before the time, because they communicated unworthily,
something that happens to many nowadays: as is said, Anyone who
eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgement to oneself, not discerning
the body of the Lord (ditto); and if such a person does not take
care and put things right, that person either will fall, with a more
a
Cf. Qu. 28: §7.
b
Cf. Gen 7: 17.
c
Cf. Gen 19: 24-25.
d
Cf. Ex 12: 29.
e
Cf. Ex 32: 28; Num 21: 6.
f
Cf. Num 21: 3.
g
Cf. 4 Kings 19: 35.
h
Job 1: 18-19.
i
Cf. again Qu. 28, §7.
j
Cf. 4 Kings 20: 6.
k
Cf. Jn 11: 43-44.
l
Cf. Jon 4: 11.

moderate punishment, by sudden death, or be consigned to eter-

nal hell.
Question 17
Question Some say that if everybody were to know before- 27
hand the days of their deaths, then everybody would undergo
a conversion.
Answer If they were to know this beforehand, many strange
things would be done. For anyone who had an enemy, knowing
that the day of death had approached, would go out and kill that
personal enemy, thinking, “Whether from God or from men,
my own death has already come.” Again anyone who foresaw,
suppose, that life was going to last for a hundred years would no 28
longer bother about virtue and justice; rather this person hav-
ing lived a profligate life, wallowing in sin, would make a con-
version a few days before the time of death. And what reward
[χάρις] would be due to someone who lived as a slave of Satan all
through life, and served God for only a few days out of necessity?
Comments
(1) This Qu. was adapted and included in Coll. 23 (Qu. 21=
Qu. ed. 21), omitted in the other collections.
(2) A very similar text, though with verbal differences, in QQ
ad Antiochum (PG 28, 617C8-D6).
Depression?
Question 18
Question How many sorts [τρόποι] of desolation
[ἐγκατάλειψις lit. “abandonment”] are there? <Is it> as a trial, or
as weakness, or for sins?
Answer 1. There are many different sorts of desolation.
However all desolation comes about for two of God’s purposes:
either to provoke a conversion and self-control, as when He
acts like a father with a son, or to signify rejection, when He
acts like an emperor towards an enemy, as happened with the

nal desolation inflicted on Judasa by Christ. Lazarusb was left in

fi
desolation, and so was the paralytic,c to win them forgiveness of
sins; for the words spoken were, Look, you have become healthy,
29 don’t sin again (Jn 5: 14). Paul was chastised because of the mass
of his good deeds, lest I become proud (2 Cor 12: 7). Jobd was
chastised that he might become more just, as the Lord said to
him. Similarly, the Prophets were handed over to be imprisoned
to serve as a model and help for the people.e
2. Thus the person in desolation should investigate interiorly
the cause of the desolation, and reform that cause for which one
has been handed over to filthy degrading passions (Rom 1: 26) or
to evil temptations, according to the just judgement of God.
For very often because of pride, or for having passed judge-
ment on others, or for hating some people, or for not blaming
ourselves, we are handed over to sufferings [πάθη] of soul and
body; others however through their indulgence and profligacy
drag passions upon themselves, whereas yet others <do this>
through their old habits, and consequent indifference and lack
of fear of God, those who are constantly devoted to pleasure.
Comments
(1) Again, one of the QQ adapted and used in Coll. 23
(= Qu. ed. 9); it also appears in Coll. b (Qu. 9) and in Coll. d
(Qu. 16).
(2) Another related question is included in Coll. b (Qu. 15),
which may have influenced QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 74 (PG 28,
645A10-B3), although this is much shorter and only mentions
rancour (μνησικακία):
178 Question What sort of sin renders our prayers unacceptable
before God?
Answer 1. Pride and also rancour: for it is written, The Lord
resists the arrogant, but he gives grace to the humble (Prov 3: 34), and
again the Lord says: Amen I tell you, if you do not forgive others their
a
Cf. Mt 27: 5; Jn 13: 27.
b
Cf. Lk 16: 19-31; Jn 11: 1-44.
c
Cf. Jn 5: 2-16.
d
Cf. Job 40: 8.
e
Cf. Jer 44: 16; 45: 6; Dan 6: 14-23.

faults, neither will your heavenly father forgive you your faults (Mt
6: 15; cf. 18: 35).
2. Consider that in the case of the debtor owing a thousand
talents who made supplication, his master remitted the debt;
but on hearing “a thousand talents” you should understand
among them all sorts of sins, and murders, and poisonings, and
licentiousness, and fornication, and all other evil actions. But
when the debtora, who had gained remission of his debt of a
thousand talents, would not forgive the debt of “fifty pence”,
that is to say the minor faults that his neighbour had committed
against him, then the master was angry with him and handed
him over to the punishment, and it was his rancour alone, go-
ing beyond all the other sins of his past life, that prevailed to
destroy him.
Nature of the soul?

Question 19
Question All men thirst, as if for a little water, to learn and
ascertain exactly what is the human soul, what sort of thing it 30
is, and from what it is made up, and when, and how it is active
within the body, and where it proceeds to after the separation
from the body.
Answer 1. It is perfectly obvious that one should not pry
into things about which divine Scripture is silent.b What-
ever is convenient for us to know has been made clear by the
Holy Spirit,c and what is not convenient the same Spirit has hid-
den away. However as human beings are obstinate, inquisitive
animals, I shall try to make clear to you, even if not very distinct-
ly, anything that I have been able to learn from the holy Fathers.d
a
Cf. Mt 18: 23-25.
b
Among the preliminary remarks at the start of the Hodegos, Anastasios
warns in very similar terms against delving into what has been kept silent in
Sacred Scripture: cf. Viae Dux 1, 1, 15-16 (CCSG 8, p. 7).
c
Cf. Jn 16: 12-13.
d
Cf. Eusebius of Caesarea, Praep. Evang. III, 16 (ed. E. des Places [SC 228],
Paris, 1976, pp. 204-206; PG 21, 133); Basil of Caesarea, Hom. in illud, Attende
tibi ipsi (ed. S.Y. Rudberg, §6, Stockholm, 1962, pp. 32-34).

2. They say that the reason why humans are said to be in the
image and likeness (Gen 1: 26) of God is that much that exists
essentially [οὐσιωδῶς] in the divine nature is dimly brought to
light, as in an image and sketch, in our souls, not by nature but
by grace [χάρις].a
3. What I mean is this: we confess and believe that the nature
[φύσις] of God is, by nature [κατὰ φύσιν], incomprehensible, un-
nameable, invisible, immortal, untouchable and imperishable;b
31 thus our soul also, in so far as it is in the image of God, not by
nature but by grace [χάριτι], is incomprehensible in its essence
[κατ’ οὐσίαν] to us humans, and invisible, inexplicable, untouch-
able, imperishable and immortal; it is even creative, by grace, as
human beings can make and generate other human beings by the
grace of God, create houses, cities, agriculture, crafts, education
and learning, as they exist in the image of God (Gen 1: 26).c
4. Thus, just as nobody in this life can say what is the nature
of God, nor what sort of thing He is, so nobody can explain or
conceive what or what sort of thing is the essence/being [οὐσία]
of the soul that exists in the image of God. However just as
God shows forth his own powers and activities by means of
the material created things visible to us – I mean by the heav-
ens and stars, the sun and moon, the showers, the earthquakes,
the plants, winds and sea – although He himself is invisible,
so our soul, which is invisible in the image of God, displays
its own activities through the visible body which belongs to
it (as if it was a sort of “cosmos”/universed); the soul has the
mind [νοῦς] placed as a commander [ἡγεμῶν] in the brain above
what is called the ouraniskon [lit. “little heaven” = roof of the
32 mouth], after the pattern of God who is above the heaven, the
mind serving to dispose and control the body as if it were some
earthly cosmos. That is why, should someone be seen to receive
a
Similar remarks in other works of Anastasios: cf. Sermo I, 1, 33-34 (CCSG
12, pp. 7-8); Hodegos II, 5, 57-60 (CCSG 8, p. 54).
b
Cf. Hodegos II, 2, 4-6 (CCSG 8, pp. 26-27).
c
Again close similarity to passages mentioned in the previous note.
d
Similar parallel in the Hodegos, II, 7, 52-53 (l.c., p. 63) and the Sermo I, 2,
55- 61 (l.c., p. 16).

some violent blow on the head, the mind suffers at once and
the person can no longer decide nor remember as before.a
5. On the other hand the reasoning part [τὸ λογιστικόν]
is activated by the soul through the heart, the concupis-
cent part [τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν] through the liver, the humorous
part [τὸ μειδιαστικόν] through the spleen, the breathing [τὸ
ἀναπνευστικόν] through the lung, the generative [τὸ γόνιμον]
through the kidneys, the passionate [τὸ θυμικόν] through the
blood, the knowing [τὸ γνωριστικόν] through the eyes, the
speaking [τὸ λαλητόν] through the tongue, so that when the lat-
ter is cut out, one can no longer speak.
6. For the same reason when it (I mean the soul) is separated
from the whole body, it can no longer perform the acts it sets in
motion through the limbs of the body – neither speak, nor re-
member, nor decide, nor desire, nor reason, nor feel anger, nor
gaze. Instead the soul exists by itself deathless in a sort of self-
consciousness [συννοία] until it once more regains its own body,
made imperishable, and can then set in motion in imperishable
fashion the acts in that body.
7. But what has been said by us so far concerns those who 33
die in their sins, whereas those souls that have acquired the Holy
Spirit and have become like a body or organ of the Spirit seem to
me to enjoy bliss even after their death thanks to the illumination
of the Spirit, and they both praise God mentally in word and in-
tercede on behalf of others, as we learn from the Scriptures.b
8. One should realize that all the visions that take place
in church buildings or at the tombs of the saints are brought
about through the holy angelsc at God’s command [ἐπιτροπήv];
a
Similar remark, Sermo I, 4, 4-6 (l.c., p. 21).
b
Cf. 2 Mac. 15: 11-16. Anastasios may be drawing here on Eustratius of Con-
stantinople, a sixth century theologian-priest, whose works have only recently
begun to attract the attention they deserve; cf. Λόγος ἀνατρεπτικὸς (CPG 7522),
“On the activity of souls after death”, ed. P. Van Deun, De statu animarum post
mortem (CCSG 60), p. 8 (lines 129-135).
c
In one of the Narrationes attributed to Anastasios this same theory –
that the saints seen in visions are really angelic powers (δυνάμεις τινὲς ὑπῆρχον
ἀγγελικαί, ἐν σχήματι ὀφθεῖσαι τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων) – also appears: cf. Nau, XLI;
Binggeli, II 8, 83-88; and cf. Eustratius of Constantinople, loc. cit., p. 5 (lines
55-60).

for before the resurrection of bodies has taken place, and while
the bones and fleshy parts of the saints are scattered, how is it
possible for them to be recognized as fully formed men, often
seen armoured and on horseback? And if you intend to disagree
with me, then you tell me, please, how Paul, or Peter, or any
other Apostle or martyr, each being a single person, came to
be seen at the same moment very often in different places. Not
even an angel can find itself at the same moment in different
places or in different countries; the only one who can do that is
God, the uncircumscribed.
34 9. But to prevent some people thinking that I am concocting
the sort of legends made up by doctors,a pay attention to the
theological teaching of Scriptures concerning souls. To know
that the soul is deprived of the power of reasoning when separat-
ed from the body, listen to what the Psalm says about those who
die: On that day, it says, all their designs [διαλογισμοί, “reason-
ings”] come to an end (Ps 145: 4). And as for their not remember-
ing anyone, it also says: In death there is no one that makes men-
tion of you (Ps 6: 6) – God. But it is obvious that if they do not
have memory of God, they do not offer prayers. For it says, The
dead will not praise you, Lord, nor will all those who go down to
Hades (Ps 113: 25). Then concerning the fact that they do not see
this cosmos, listen to the Prophet saying about a human being:
A spirit [πνεῦμα, breath] has passed through this person, who will
not exist and will not know any more his or her place (Ps 102: 16).
10. How indeed can the souls recognize one another in that
other life, when they never saw one another in their naked state
while in this life? Clearly recognition comes through differ-
ence and characteristics that vary, but in that state no soul any
longer possesses a difference of shape or form; there is a com-
plete essential similarity and sameness among them.
11. However even after the resurrections we shall not recog-
nize each other by a process of physical recognition: for there
35 is not, there cannot be in that situation, any smallness or great-
a
The reference to doctors may be an autobiographical hint, as Anastasios here
and elsewhere shows an interest in medical lore, and perhaps was infirmarian.

ness of bodies, no whiteness or blackness, no infancy or old age.

All of us who have fallen asleep in this age, we shall arise in the
same form in which Adam came to be. Just as the tiny grains
that fall from the ear of corn and are buried in the earth do
not rise up small, but fill out and become ears of corn,a as they
were before their falling. Resurrection [ἀνάστασις] is defined by
the holy Fathers as an apokatastasis [restorationb] to the primi-
tive state of the first man. So no one will recognize another for
physical reasons, but many will recognize many through God’s
command [ἐπιτροπή]; for it has already been said about the
Jews, They shall gaze on the one they pierced (Jn 19: 37).
Comments
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) There are several related QQ in the QQ ad Antiochum:
16 (PG 28, 605D5-608B5), 22-26 (609D3-613C2), 32-35 (616C12-
617C7).c
Question 20
Question Where in general would we want to say the souls
now exist, and is it that they are all together?
Answer 1. There is nobody who can pronounce clearly
about this, however from the words of Christ we learn that the
souls of the just exist, as far as I can see, along with the soul of 36
the good thief in Paradise.d Moreover the godly Anthony im-
plored God about the place of the souls, and thus he has seen
that the saintly souls were in Paradise;e similarly the God-bear-
ing Pambof and certain others of the Fathers. [See Comment
(3); Additional Text 1]
a
Cf. 1 Cor 15: 36-38; 42-44.
b
A favourite term of Gregory of Nyssa, taken over from Origen: cf. G.W.H.
Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon, s.v. ἀποκατάστασις B 1-3.
c
Cf. G. Dagron, “Holy Images and Likeness”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 45,
1991, p. 32.
d
Cf. Lk 23: 43.
e
Cf. Athanasius, Vita Antonii, §§ 60, 66, ed. G. J. M. Bartelink (SC 400),
Paris, 1994, pp. 294-298, 318-320; PG 26, 929A-B, 936-937.
f
The reference should be to Makarios, not Pambo: cf. CPG 2400 and 2417.

2. Then for the souls of the wicked, all the Old and the New
Testaments bear witness that they are despatched to what is the
prison of Hades, as if in a gaol, as the Lord has also said about
that rich man connected with Lazarus.a Similarly David also
said, You will not abandon my soul to Hades (Ps 15: 10) and Lord,
you have fetched my soul out of Hades (Ps 29: 4). On another oc-
casion he said: Let the sinners return to Hades (Ps 9: 18); but to
say ‘Let them return’ means that their souls are now there, later
they come out and receive their own bodies, and then in this
way the sentence of the judge is passed on them saying, Let the
37 sinners return to Hades. It is quite obvious that if one returns,
he goes back to the place from which he came out; Hades is the
lowest of the low in the places of the underworld, a place that
by nature is painful; this is where Christ descended, by means
of His spotless and God-filled soul,b and visited those who sat in
darkness and the shadow of death (Ps 106: 10; Lk 1: 78-79).c [See
Comment (3); Additional Text 2]
Comments
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) A similar Qu., but with a different answer, in the QQ ad
Antiochum: 19 (PG 28, 609A1-B4).
(3) Another text attributed to Anastasios, but probably spu-
rious, bears the title: Fragmentum de iis qui vita excedunt (CPG
7746 [1]); it was edited by Angelo Mai, Scriptorum Veterum Noua
Collectio, I, 1, (Rome, 1825), p. 371-372. It consists of the Answer to
Qu. 20, with two Additional Texts inserted where indicated above:
Text 1 (… certain others of the Fathers;) just as some of the
God-bearing fathers; but the souls of those who are complete
saints are joined to the angels in the heavens and give praise to
God – For where the body is, there are the eagles (Lk 17: 37), which
means, “Where the Lord of glory is, there are the saints.” The dis-
tinction between Paradise and the Kingdom of Heaven is brought
about by the distinction in virtue. Those who are excluded from
the Kingdom but judged worthy of Paradise had a failing in their
a
Cf. Lk 16: 23.
b
In the Hodegos Anastasios tackles the problem of how Christ in his bodiless
descent into hell was still “seen”: cf. Hodegos, XIII, 6, 43-62 (CCSG 8, p. 233).
c
Cf. 1 Pet 3: 19.

virtue, and did not reach the perfect measure. This is what is
meant by the saying that “there are many dwellings” for the cho-
sen (cf. Jn 14: 2). To show that the souls of the saints are already
in the heavens, the most divine Paul cries out, We know that if our
earthly dwelling of this tent is dissolved we have our own residence
from God, not made by hands, eternal, in the heavens (2 Cor 5: 1).
And he also testifies that he has a longing to be dissolved and to be
with Christ (Phil 1: 23). Where Christ is, the same blessed one calls
out, raising us up in a certain way by his words from the earth to
the highest citizenship, keep your minds on the higher things, he
says, and not on the things of the earth; seek the higher where Christ
is seated at the right hand of the Father (Col 3: 1-2). He is not refer-
ring to a seat in space; the talk is indicative of bodily shapes, but
with the words “right hand” he is making clear the parity in glory.
Now just as we do not doubt that the souls of the saints and
just are in heaven and in Paradise, (so also with regard to the souls
of the sinners).
Text 2 And the souls of the saints and of the just find them-
selves in God’s grace and in good spirits and in good hope and
expectation, while the souls of the sinners on the other hand
are in suffering and in the most painful anguish because of the
expected miserable and most appalling judgement.
Question 21
Question If the departed do not recognize one another in 38
the other world, how did the rich mana recognize and implore
Abraham and Lazarus, and not only that but he also remem-
bered his own five brothers who were in his house?
Answer 1. From all <the details> about the rich man and
Lazarus we learn that Christ composed that story as a parable
and symbol, but not as a factual account (πραγματικῶς).
2. It is clear that it is a parable from the following. In the
first place, because nobody has ever entered either hell or the
kingdom before the time of the resurrection of the bodies. So
if the body is in the tomb, what tongue did the rich man have
that was burning, and what drop of waterb would have been
able to extinguish his fire?
a
Cf. Lk 16: 23-28.
b
Cf. Lk 16: 24.

3. In the second place, because those who are sent into Hades
do not see the just as they are snatched up into the clouds and
who are now in the kingdom of God above the heavens; how-
ever [πλὴν], as I said earlier, the full punishment or reward has
not yet come, neither for the sinners nor for the just. What
sort of justice would that be, if the soul were to be punished
39 or crowned without the body, the body and the soul having
sinned or done right together? Listen to Paul teaching you this:
talking of the just he says, Being commended for their faith, they
have not yet borne off the promised rewards, because God, he says,
has foreseen something better for us, so that apart from us they may
not reach perfection (Heb 11: 39-40). And on another occasion
he says, So that each of us may receive recompense for what has
been done through the body, good or bad (2 Cor 5: 10). When he
says “what has been done through the body” he indicates that
at present the soul without the body can do nothing, except
[πλὴν] that the souls of sinners are in a state of partial pain and
woeful expectation, and similarly the souls of the just are also
participating in some sort of joy and happiness.a
4. And so that I may call to mind a vision seen by a holy man
who is still alive, this person recounted the following:b “Once,
when I was earnestly and sedulously imploring God for infor-
mation about the situation and state of the soul when separated
from the body, I saw one night in a vision that I was in a sort of
vineyard, while my body was separated from me and lay dead
at a short distance. I realized that I had been separated from
the body, and I found that my mind and thought (φρένα) were
40 perfectly clear. However when I woke up from my dream, I was
incapable of sketching out or imagining what shape or form
I had had outside my body, except for the fact that my soul’s
existence was personally mine (ἐνυπόστατος) and not a figment
of the imagination (ἀφαντασίαστος).”
a
See Qu. 19, §7, with note b.
b
Unlikely to be a camouflaged autobiographical reminiscence; no source
has been found and Anastasios may be recording the teaching of his spiritual
father.

Universal Questions, QU 21
5. Let no one then think that the soul after death is dis-
solved and destroyed, as if it were a puff of smoke or a cloud, as
is the case with the soul and breath of irrational beings. Listen
to Christ teaching about the personal nature (τὸ ἐνυπόστατον)
and immortality of our souls when he says, Do not fear those
who kill the body but are incapable of killing the soul (Mt 10:
28). Thus the souls have substance (ἐνούσιοι μὲν εἰσιν) after the
death of the body, but they certainly do not exist before the
body as in the myths of Origen.a The person that a man sows
in the womb is not something soul-less or half-human; but a
human person with soul sows a perfect person with soul. Nei-
ther does the body exist before the soul, nor the soul before
the body.
6. But if it was the case, as the hereticsb maintain, that man 41
sows a soul-less body and he does not impart the soul, then ir-
rational beings would be found to be worthy of more respect
for they sow and produce complete living beings with souls.
Of course the soul of the irrational animalc is the life-giving
movement in the blood which comes about through the blow-
ing [πνεῦμα] of air; this movement draws its existence from the
elements and it dissolves into them once more when the living
being dies. But the soul of someone human is a substantial be-
ing (οὐσία ἐνούσιος), gifted with reason, immortal, capable of
thought, which draws its existence not from the elements, but
from God,d an existence such that God alone knows its how
and its wherefrom, and in a way that the One who put the
soul together knows, every soul that is united with a <human>
body is a being that does not exist without beginning but will
continue without end.
a
On Origen’s theory of the pre-existence of the soul (prior to the body),
cf. the letter attributed to Justinian, Epistula ad synodum de Origene (PG 86/1,
989A).
b
The main heretic in question is Apollinarius, though others are mentioned
in the “Anastasian”, Florilegium adversus monotheletas [cf. CPG 7771] (CCSG 12,
p. 89, 71-76; PG 89, 1184A); they held that in Christ the divinity replaced the
soul, so that strictly speaking his body was soul-less.
c
Similar ideas in the Hodegos, II, 5, 55-65 (CCSG 8, pp. 53-54).
d
Cf. Gen 2: 7.

7. Indeed even the souls of embryos and aborted foetuses

that have taken on a certain shape, these souls do not die and
are not destroyed, but they will be gathered together with us
near God at the resurrection thanks to the inexplicable and all
powerful energy of God.
8. These brief remarks on the soul have been proposed by us
not in a dogmatic and definitive manner, but rather out of affec-
tion (ἀγαπητικω ς).a We beg our brothers in Christ and the teachers
who will come after us, to correct and complete what is lacking.
Comments
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) Similar QQ in the QQ ad Antiochum: 16, 17, 20, 21 (PG
28, 608A9-B5, B6-14, 609B5-C4, C5-D2).
Resurrection of the body?

Question 22
42 Question The hearts of many of the faithful contain a lurk-
ing difficulty and doubt about the resurrection [ἀνάστασις] of
our bodies: they think to themselves, “How can a body that
has been eaten up by lots of animals and birds, or that has been
drowned in the sea and destroyed by countless fishes, then ex-
creted into the deep and dissolved, how can such a body be
reunited and come to a resurrection?”
Answer 1. All that makes up a Christian and the myster-
ies which a Christian holds, is faith. But true faith is a simple
(ἀπεριέργος) assent, since if we start to poke into the words and
deeds of Scripture and of God, we are lost and we are drawn
into the depths of incredulity.
a
At the start of the Hodegos Anastasios emphasises the importance of dis-
tinguishing different genres or modes of speech: the dogmatic (τὰ ὁριστικως
λεγόμενα), the provisional (τὰ μέσως πως), and the exaggerated but well-intentioned
(τὰ καταχρηστικῶς καὶ ἀκάκως), I, 1, 18-21 (CCSG 8, pp. 7-8), an example of the last
being the statement, “Every person is a liar” (Ps 115: 2).

2. And I am speaking to you now not only about resur-

rection, but also about the very start of our creation. If we
do not accept Scripture with a heart that is simple and with
unquestioning faith,a we are carried away over the precipice
of atheism. For example, it is said: And God took dust from the
earth and fashioned man, and He breathed into his face a breath
of life (Gen 2: 7). And Scripture also says: I heard your voice as 43
you walked in Paradise (Gen 3: 10). Now seeing that God has
no bodily hands, but is incorporeal, how did he take dust and
fashion Adam? If he has neither mouth nor cheeks, how did
He breathe into his face the breath of life? Having neither feet
nor tongue, how did Adam hear his voice as He walked in Par-
adise? You see that one must accept the divine Scriptures with
simple faith, because once you give space to Satan, allowing
him to sow thoughts of inquisitiveness and incredulity within
you, he will not refrain from placing there stumbling blocks
even about God Himself.b
3. Therefore my plea is, let us also accept with faith the as-
sertion about the resurrection [ἀνάστασις] of bodies, confessing
that The hour is coming, and is now present, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God and shall arise (Jn 5: 25). Indeed,
if we believe that He is the all-powerful, it is absolutely certain
that He who brought man into being out of nothingc will be
able more easily to reshape and renew the creature that was
created by Him and undone through death. If we believe, as
David said, that the ends of the earth are in the hand of God (Ps 44
94: 4), then no matter where the body goes, even if it is dis-
solved, or burnt, or eaten up, still the fire, the water, the beasts,
a
In his Hodegos Anastasios insists that one should accept Scripture, “with
simplicity of heart” (ἐν ἁπλότητι καρδίας), I, 1, 13-14 (CCSG 8, p. 7) and XXII, 3,
1-3 (CCSG 8, p. 297).
b
Despite this remark, it would be misleading to assume that Anastasios is in
favour of an interpretation of Scripture restricted to the literal meaning; to gain
a complete picture of his approach, his other writings should be taken into ac-
count, notably his sermons (Homiliae) and probably his Hexaemeron. Cf. Qu. 23.
c
Creation ex nihilo is taught in the Hodegos, II, 5, 76-77, and XIII, 8, 27-30
(CCSG 8, pp. 55 and 243), and by Eusebius of Caesarea, De ecclesiastica theolo-
gia, 1, 12 (GCS 4, p. 71, 5; PG 24, 845D).

and whatever else, are in the hand of God, and God brings out
of them the body that they have eaten and taken and drowned.
4. The reason is that a dead body does not undergo anni-
hilation. Even if it is destroyed by any number of animals or
other causes, it departs into the four elements from which it
came:a viz. the heat to the sun, the cold to the air, the damp
to the waters, and the dry to the earth. It is laid up among the
elements as if in a sort of warehouse (παραθήκη), and kept there
until the day of the resurrection, when the power of God will
join it together once more out of them, just as in the beginning
when He made it.
5. In order that I may convince you with a parallel from
nature that the dead body is dissolved and divided among the
elements, listen to this. The element which is alive and pro-
vides life, both to men and to irrational animals, and to all that
has some sort of soul and moves, is the blood, that is to say
45 the warm and energetic movement of the element of fire; in
the case of irrational animals this binds and combines and sets
in motion the other three elements; in the case of humans, it
binds and combines the soul and the remaining three elements.
So is it that when the blood, which serves as a bond, is emptied
out excessively, either from a human or from any other animal,
at once both the animal and the human die. And even if it is
not emptied out, but its warm and living movement and en-
ergy do leave, similarly the body dies at once.
6. To convince yourself that it is the warm element that en-
genders life and sets in motion, it is enough to consider the eggs
of a bird, which receive life and soul and movement and full-
ness, all through being warmed up; similarly a cauldron of water
which becomes alive and starts to move, when it is heated up
with fire, produces a noise as it boils. Sacred Scriptures and the
Lord talking to the Samaritan womanb call the water living when
a
Anastasios mentions his belief in the theory of the body being made up
of the four elements in the Hodegos II, 5, 86-91 (CCSG 8, p. 55); on the back-
ground to the theory of the elements, cf. M. Spanneut, Le stoïcisme des pères de
l’Église, Paris, 19572, pp. 350-351.
b
Cf. Gen 21: 19; 26: 19; Ioh 4: 10-14.

it is moving and leaping and making a noise. Perhaps that is why

David says to God, With you is the spring of life (Ps 35: 10), be-
cause every spring bears a resemblance to our life and death and
resurrection. The water of a spring is born, gushing from the
dark precinct of the abyss like a new-born infant, coming out
into the light, full of movement and emitting immediately some
sound. Then when drawn out in a cauldron, it becomes dead at
once without movement and making no sound, like some limb
that has been lopped off. But when you put fire under the caul- 46
dron, it is as if it receives its soul thanks to the warm element
and at once it returns to its original pattern in the spring, full of
life, and leaping around, and emitting a sound as it revives.
7. In the same way, the plants and trees and any seed, if
they are not warmed by the sun’s heat, cannot put down roots,
nor draw life, nor emerge into the light, nor produce fruit and
stock. For that reason winter produces fruitlessness in plants
and sterility and childlessness among animals because of the
cold element, and in these aspects winter resembles the dejec-
tion of death. With the cold the turtle-dove departs, the swal-
low hides,a the nightingale falls silent, and human beings take
refuge in their innermost quarters as if entombed, hurrying to
the warmth as if to life itself. So when life is separated from our
bodies, because of the chilling and withdrawal of the blood’s
heat, the separation of the soul takes place.
8. That is why if you quickly cut up a dead bodyb you will
find bile and humour and phlegm in it, but no blood anywhere.
The warm element is the first to leave the body, the second is
the damp, the third the cold. In consequence, nothing remains
in the tomb and in the earth except the dry element, viz. the 47
dust that God took from the earth (Gen 2: 7). The earth takes
hold only what is its own, but the other three elements go off to
their respective places, the warm to the fire, the cold to the air,
the damp to the waters. So when the resurrection takes place,
a
In the “Prologue” to the collection of stories “good for the soul” (ψυχοφελῆ)
attributed to Anastasios there is also mention of the turtle-dove and the swal-
low: cf. Narrationes, ed. Nau XLII; ed. Binggeli, II Prol. 7-10.
b
Perhaps an autobiographical hint to medical studies.

they run together again at God’s command, each element to its

own. Similarly the soul comes among them and it is the com-
plete human being who resurrects.
9. Therefore whenever a doubt about the resurrection
[ἀνάστασις] comes to you, as you see the soul-less dust in the
grave and you wonder, “How can this miserable and dead ash
become a complete, soul-filled man?”, you should cast a glance
immediately at yourself and you will see an example of the res-
urrection (ἀνάστασις) of bodies, which has already occurred.
Just try and explain to me from where you have risen (ἀνέστης)
to life and appeared as a complete, soul-filled man? Was it not
from a little miserable, dirty seed that you rose up (ἀναστάς)
out of the womb, as if from a tomb, thanks to the power of
God?
10. But if it is the lack of soul in the dust of bodies which in-
cites you to lack of faith, so that you ask, “How can what lacks
soul engender anew the soul-full?”, you have at your disposal in
this regard, right from the creation itself to our own day, many
soul-filled examples of generation of rising-up [ἀναστάσεως]
48 out of the soul-less. The sun lacks a soul, but from it, as I
have often said,a proceeds the soul-full movement of all bod-
ies. The waters lack soul, but out of them has come and still
comes even today the generation of soul-filled animals and the
upward flight [ἀνάπτησις] and rising-up [ἀνάστασις] of winged
animals. The earth lacks soul, but out of it has come the rising-
up [ἀνάστασις] of all soul-filled beasts and crawling animals.
The air lacks soul, but up to the present time it is the air that
brings to birth the upward flight [ἀνάπτησις] of soul-filled, liv-
ing winged creatures.b
11. In conclusion, bearing in mind all those cases of the
rising-up [ἀνάστασις] of soul-filled creatures from what lacks
soul, have trust that the soul-filled resurrection [ἀνάστασις]
a
A puzzling remark, as Anastasios has mentioned that the element of heat/
fire give life (see §6) but he does not seem to have referred explicitly to the sun,
except incidentally (see §7), either in this answer nor in his other writings.
b
Anastasios is clearly playing on the verbal similarity between the two terms
ἀνάστασις and ἀνάπτησις (“upward flight”).

of your own soulless dust and flesh is possible by the simple

power of God. The One who could establish in being out of
nothing by sheer will and word the incorporeal powers of the
angels, the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and all the vis-
ible and invisible creation,a will find it much more easy and
devoid of trouble to resurrect and re-form by simple word and
command even the bodies of the dead, in a way which He will
order and in a manner which He alone, as creator of them,
comprehends.
Comments
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) Similar QQ in the QQ ad Antiochum: 18 and 114 (PG 28,
608C1-D6, 668D7-669D7), and cf. QQ 134-135 (PG 28, 681B-D).
(3) In Greek the term for “resurrection” (ἀνάστασις) can also
mean simply “raising up” (from the verb ἀνίστημι) or “rising up”
(from ἀνίσταμαι), and to some extent (especially in §10) Anasta-
sios plays on the double meaning.
Paradise: in this world or elsewhere?

Question 23
Question What sort of Paradise should we consider to exist 49
at present? Is it perceptible by the senses (αἰσθητόν) or only by
the mind (νοητόν)? Is it corruptible or incorruptible?
Answer 1. We find many different opinions of the exegetes on
this subject: some said that it is completely corruptible, and some
that it is completely incorruptible, while still others that it has a
sort of midway position, neither completely corruptible like the
gardens and fruits among us, that perish and become worm-eaten
and foul-smelling, nor on the other hand is it now utterly imma-
terial and spiritual, after the model of future incorruptibility and
immortality, but “Similar”, as one exegete says, “to what was the
a
See §3 above.

state of human beings, midway between corruption and incor-

ruptibility, such was, and still is, Paradise”.a
2. Perhaps those who held this last view have spoken well;
for if Paradise is completely like other gardens, how could
Christ have granted to the thief as if it was something excep-
tional the sojourn in Paradise which was the beginning of his
rich reward? Again how could Paul, astonished at his rapt into
Paradise, have said that there he was initiated into words un-
speakable (2 Cor 12: 4)?b
50 3. However one should be aware that some have also pro-
posed the following theory: just as Scripture is accustomed to
speak of two Jerusalems,c an earthly and a heavenly, and of two
worlds,d a seen and an intellectually grasped, so of two Para-
dises, one spiritual (πνευματικόν), that befits the thief and Saint
Paul, where they say are also the souls of the just, and another
Paradise perceptible to the senses (αἰσθητόν),e from which the
perceptible waters of the Nile and the Euphrates come forth
upon the earth, and where the snake, the plants, and Eve and
Adam were. The reason is that if we talk of the snake and the
waters as spiritual things, we undo and turn topsy-turvy Holy
Scripture.
a
The exegete quoted seems to be the late-second century bishop and apolo-
gist, Theophilus of Antioch; this fragment of his Ad Autolycum II, 24 (ed. R.M.
Grant, Theophilus of Antioch, Oxford, 1970, p. 66; PG 6, 1089D4-1092A2) was
included in the catena on Genesis (Gen 2: 8-9), ed. Françoise Petit, La Chaîne
sur la Genèse, I, no. 227, Leuven, 1991, p. 158, and Anastasios may have found
it there.
b
The whole of this paragraph may be indebted to the fourth century bish-
op of Salamis, Epiphanius; cf. Ancoratus, 54, 2 – 55, 3; 58, 1-2; 58, 6 – 59, 1 (ed.
K. Holl, Epiphanius I [GCS 25], Leipzig, 1915, pp. 63, 67-69 PG 41, 1148-49,
and PG 43, 112-113); these fragments are also found in the catenae, cf. Françoise
Petit, loc. cit., nos. 233-235, pp. 162-166. When the compiler of Coll. 23 added
a florilegium, he chose a passage from Epiphanius containing these extracts
(PG 89, 540-541).
c
Cf. Rev 21: 2.
d
Cf. Rev 21: 1; 2 Cor 5: 17.
e
The fourth-century Arian theologian, Acacius of Caesarea, may be the
source for this opinion: cf. the fragment attributed to him, Ad Gen. 2: 14, (ed.
R. Devreesse, Les anciens commentateurs grecs de l’Octateuque et des Rois, [Studi
e Testi 201], Vatican, 1959, pp. 111-112; this text does not figure in the Catena in
Genesim).

Comments
(1) One section (§3) was included in Coll. 23 (Qu. 23 = Qu.
ed. 23; cf. PG 89, 540B9-C6).
(2) The Qu. appears in Coll. d. (Qu. 21), but was omitted in
Coll. b.
(3) In the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 48 (PG 28, 628D-629A) has
some resemblance with the first two paragraphs.
Can one pray without ceasing?

Question 24
Question What is it to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5: 17)?
For it is not possible for a person who is preoccupied with
house and children, and living in the world, to pray without
ceasing.
Answer It is certainly not with reference to oral prayer that
the Apostle made that remark, just as Christ said, Not everyone
who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of the heavens, 51
but the person who does the will of the one who sent me (Mt 7:
21).a Thus the person who continuously performs good deeds,
either dedicated to works of kindness or engaged in other serv-
ices, in accordance with God, this is the one who prays without
ceasing. Indeed it is possible to pray in one’s heart both in bed,
and out on the road, at table, in the marketplace, and in any
other place.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 93), but omitted (surprisingly)
in the other collections.
(2) This Qu. shows that Anastasios was dealing with questions
from a lay audience.
a
Cf. Jn 6: 38-40.

Why do sexual improprieties occur?

Question 25
Question What are the ways in which sexual impuritya
[πορνεία] and nocturnal ejaculations [ἐνυπνιασμοί] come about?
Answer According to the Fathersb there are four: in the first
place, physical inflammation increases because of much eating,
and much drinking, and because of much sleeping and idle-
ness. However if a man does not happen to be in any of these
states, he may with God’s permission be assailed to commit im-
purity because of his pride, or because he judges others to be
sinners, or out of the envy of the devils when they see that he
is making progress according to God; it is also possible to suf-
fer from a nocturnal ejaculation because of laxness or weakness
[ἀσθένεια],c and further it is possible to accustom oneself to im-
purity from bad habit of the flesh.
Comments
(1) Adapted as part of much longer Qu. in Coll. 23 (= Qu.
ed. 8).
(2) This Qu. appears in Coll. d. (Qu. 25), and also in Coll. b
(Qu. 17),
(3) In the QQ ad Antiochum, the first part of Qu. 107 (PG 28,
664A-C) has a strong resemblance with this Qu.
Why is sickness so common among Christians?

Question 26
52 Question Why is it that among us Christians, rather than
among some other unbelieving nations, there are often far more
maimed people, and lepers, and those crippled with gout, and
epileptics, and those in the grip of other complaints?
a
Usually translated “fornication”, the term refers to any sexual impurity.
b
One obvious source could be John Climacus, Scala Paradisi, gr. 15 (PG 88,
889A7-B1).
c
The word ἀσθένεια can mean “weakness” or “illness”.

Answer 1. On this topic some were of the opinion that it is

because God loves us that He has allowed such illnesses among
us, but this defence (ἀπολογία) is not acceptable for all. So, in
my opinion, such things are due to race and climate, and to a
very rich and liquid diet, and to excessive wine-drinking and
eating.
2. As proof for the existence of such climates there are the
inhabitants of Aïlas,a who never suffer from gout; and as proof
that there are diets of food and drink that cause illness, there is
the race (γένος) of the Jews. These latter, who enjoy a rich diet,
with much meat and wine and sauces, have just as many, if not
more, maimed and crippled and possessed people among them
as we do. But the Arabs, who keep to a much drier diet, and
are moreover a race (γένος) from a desert and dry climate, do 53
not have so many invalids, sufferers from gout, or lame people,
or lepers or possessed. And there are many other races (ἔθνη),
who are idolaters, who do not happen to have such maladies,
because of the dryness of their diet and the purity of their tem-
perate climates.
3. But perhaps you will say, “What then? Is it possible to be-
come epileptic or possessed by demons because of luxury and wan-
tonness and varied dishes?” On that subject listen to what Christ
had to say about some possessed people: That sort <of demon> does
not come out except by prayer and fasting (Mk 9: 29). Therefore, if it
comes out by fasting, very often it goes in, with God’s permission,
because of wantonness and luxury and other bodily causes.
4. Moreover a short time before the capture of Cyprusb a
learned and wise medical practitioner visited the martyr’s shrine
a
The adjective formed from the place-name, Aïlas, viz. “Aïlisios” (Ἀϊλήσιος),
is found in an inscription in the Monastery Church on Mount Sinai (cf.
I. Ševčenko, “The Early Period of the Sinai Monastery”, DOP 20, 1966, pp. 257
and 262) and also in a London manuscript (Londin. Burney 50/2, f. 144v) dated
1362; there is a mention in John Moschos (Pratum Spirituale, 62-66 [PG 87/3,
2913-2917]) of a monastery that belonged to the “Ailiotoi” (Αἰλιωτῶν) on Mount
Sinai, who seem to have come from the town of Aïlas; in the Narrationes this
town is mentioned (Nau XII, Binggeli I, 20) as in Procopius (Bell. Pers., I, 19), but
the spelling probably varied (Ἀϊλάς, Ἀϊλά, Ἀϊλώς).
b
This capture of Cyprus by the Turks took place in 649-650, cf. Theo-
phanes, Chronographia, anno 6140 [647/8 A.D.], ed. de Boor, Leipzig, 1883, vol.

of St Epiphanios; when he saw the crowd of sick people, he said

that with God’s help he would be able to cure some of them
by using a certain diet, and by cleaning their nostrilsa and by
bleedings. And indeed, under orders from the archbishop, he
made his trials and cured most of them.
Comments
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) Among the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 103 has a similar an-
swer ((PG 28, 661A-C).
(3) The particular problem of death through plague is dealt
with in Qu. 66.
Causes of character differences?
Question 27
54 Question A problem that is much discussed among every-
body is why some people from their very birth and infancy are
found to be by nature gentle, others choleric, others attached
to good living and lecherous, yet others misogynist and tem-
perate, whereas some again are by nature generous, and others
savage and niggardly; and not only that, but there are people
who are found to be naturally very bright and gifted with in-
telligence, whereas others are dull and stupid, and so on.
Answer 1. This subject has already been discussed by us in
a specific work [ἐν ἰδικῷ πονήματι]:b there, beginning from this
land of the sun’s rising, and then as far as the West, and again
round in a circle from here to the North, and subsequently as
1, pp. 343-344 (transl. C. Mango and R. Scott, Chronicle of Theophanes, Oxford,
1997, pp. 478-479 n. 1); one of the Narrationes also mentions this capture (Nau
XLIX; Binggeli, II, 15, 3). These references, along with the mention of Cyprus in
Qu. 28, §16, indicating familiarity with the island, justify the supposition that
Anastasios was a Cypriot.
a
Cf. Qu. 81, §9.
b
Unfortunately it is not clear if this separate treatise has survived: see S.N.
Sakkos, Thessaloniki, 1964, p. 155.

far as here in the East, we showed that it is not God who makes
one person restrained from birth, and another in contrast lech-
erous, nor one choleric and another patient, but that there are
certain races and regions, and there are combinations of places,
elements and climates, and turning points and alterations of sea-
sons, finally, that there are also physical causes consequent on the
body’s elements by all of which causes and situations and com- 55
binations and seasons, if there happens to be a preponderance of
the warm element at the moment of conception of the child, the
newly-born acquires the character of a warm combination and
is attached to generosity and good-living; on the other hand if
conception occurs with the surge of the cold element, the engen-
dered person is of a more temperate and cool character. So in the
same way for the other two elements: the dry produces a person
that is wrathful and harsh and sober and resourceful; whereas
the wet, one who is dull and material and gluttonous and sordid.
2. The reason is that were we to say that it is God’s com-
mand that such a person is conceived and becomes restrained,
whereas another a fornicator and sharp and wrathful, then God
would be found to be the cause of the passions, and at the same
time a respecter of persons,a in that He created this person good
and the other wicked. And further, not even the restrained per-
son would be found to be worthy of reward, seeing that it is
God who made him restrained by nature, nor would the for-
nicator and choleric person be worthy of punishment, having
become so because of God.
3. Therefore, these things that come by nature, I mean gen-
tleness, prudence, restraint, are not termed “virtues” by the
holy Fathers, but are physical advantages and gains, which the
stupidly-wise astrologers among the Hellenes [= “pagans”] ex-
plained as occurring among different persons because of the
mythical influence of the movement of the starsb.
4. But as I said at the beginning, we have spoken of these
things in greater detail in another place.
a
Something explicitly denied by St Peter, cf. Acts 10: 34.
b
Philippus Solitarius, Ἡδιόπτρα, ed. Spyridon Lauriotis, Ὁ Ἄθως 1, Athens,
1919, pp. 169-170.

Comments
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) In the QQ ad Antiochum, the question of personal charac-
ter appears in Qu. 119 (PG 28, 673B-D) but receives a very differ-
ent response.
(3) As with Qu. 4 above this Qu. is reported in the Διόπτρα of
Philip Monotropos.

Questions Connected
with Death
Question 28
Question 1. The whole human race is alarmed when it sees 56
the many dreadful and astounding things that happen in con-
nection with the deaths of human beings. So we entreat, if it
is possible, to have at least a partial explanation, as to why it is
that many persons, even rulers and emperors, who are wicked
and very often teachers of wicked doctrines and heresies and
unholy policies, who do harm to practically the whole inhab-
ited world, these regularly live to an advanced old age, being
granted a long life which is to the detriment of many individu-
als and nations, whereas other persons who are pious and pro-
claim to the world every virtue and devotion, people respon-
sible for leading many souls to salvation, these are short-lived
and pass away in their youth. And some among the pagans
[Ἑλλήνων], who intended to be baptized, come to their end still
in their sins and depart for hell, frequently only one or two 57
days before they were baptized and brought to salvation, while
yet others, who shone by their signs and wonders during fifty
or eighty years of holiness, then fell into some heresy or an-
other, or a sin of the flesh, and at once died, snatched away in
their evil deeds.
2. Similarly one powerful and impious man, who fell ill
or left for war, made a resolution with himself that if he were
to return victorious, or rise from his sick-bed, he would close

the churches and open the temples of the idols; then the one
who had adopted such a resolution recovered and he opened
the idols’ temples. But another absolute ruler [τύραννος] made
exactly the contrary resolution, saying that if he rose from his
sick-bed and escaped his illness, he would open the churches,
and close the temples, and grant largess, and free those in pris-
on. He even set in writing a rescript [διατύποσις] of all these
good intentions and had it witnessed. Well, this second person
did not recover, but came to his end in his sins, and none of
these good things came to pass.
3. It is possible to see daily a thousand and one similar oc-
currences, and that is why the pagans [ Ἕλληνες], bewildered,
thought that the world was not governed by providence, and
also why very often the faithful feel some doubts in their hearts
about God’s just judgement; they dare not express them to any-
one, but only know that in their heart of hearts they are scan-
dalized and consumed with doubt.
58 Answer 1. It is quite clear that a rule of Scripture [νόμος
γραφικός] lays down, Do not seek what is too difficult for you, and
do not examine what is too deep for you (Sirach 3: 21). However
we know, even if it is written that The judgements of the Lord
are a great abyss (Ps 35: 7), that another text affirms that God
makes known his judgements and decisions to Israel (Ps 147: 8). By
“Israel” I mean the spiritual one, that according to Christ; in-
deed “Israel” is interpreted to mean “the mind that sees God”.a
So anyone who sees God has the power, if illumined by God
through the Holy Spirit, to learn something of His judgements
and mysteries: The Spirit investigates even the depths of God (1
Cor 2: 10), Scripture says. Although it has been said, Who has
known the mind of the Lord? (Isa 40: 13),b still Paul and those like
Paul say, We possess the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2: 16), just as Jer-
a
S.N Sakkos has drawn attention to the liking for etymological explana-
tions drawn from the Hebrew that surfaces in some of the Anastasiana (S.N.
Sakkos, Περὶ Ἀναστασίων Σιναϊτῶν, Thessaloniki, 1964, p. 155 note 5, and p. 197);
on this particular example, cf. F. Wutz, Onomastica Sacra, [TU 41, 1, 2], Leipzig,
1914-1915, vol. I, p. XXII and see the Indices, s.v. Israel.
b
Cf. Rom 11: 34; 1 Cor 2: 16.

Questions Connected with Death, QU. 28
emiah says, God will not do a thing that he will not reveal to his
slaves the prophets.a
2. Now if, as David says, God revealed to those under the
Law the unclear and secret aspects of His wisdom (Ps 50: 8), how
much more <will He do so> to those in a state of grace, who
have learned what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and
what has not emerged in the human mind (1 Cor 2: 9), that is to
say, those who have entered and taken their rest amid the di-
vine and incomprehensible mysteries of God, which the angels 59
long to gaze upon (1 Pet 1: 12), as Scripture testifies, those who
have both the Father and the Son indwelling within them along
with the Spirit, in accordance with Christ’s promise which says,
We, the Father and I, will come and make our dwelling with them
(Jn 14: 23). And who said on another occasion, Nobody knows
the Father, except for the Son and the one to whom the Son wishes
to reveal Him (Mt 11: 27).
3. Therefore, if God Himself, the All-mighty, reveals Him-
self in a certain spiritual fashion without speech to those wor-
thy of Him, how much more are the reasons and mysteries
of His creation to be revealed? For if to the pagans [ Ἕλλησι],
whom one might say were not really worthy of conversion and
the knowledge of God, He partly disclosed and made known
the mysteries of heaven, and of earth and stars, those of the sun
and moon, and of the sea and the abyss, of the elements and
bodies and spirits, how much more <will He do this> to those
who possess Him dwelling within them?
4. Thus many such questions and queries about these and
similar problems and about God’s judgements have been raised
for ages past; and not only concerning the points raised, but
also, why did such and such a saintly man suddenly come to 60
his end in the road while taking a walk, and why did another
equally suddenly give up his soul in the bath, and why did a
third while at table receive the cup and along with it drink from
the cup of death? Why did one woman die in child-birth, and
another in her bridal chamber, while still intact and virginal,
a
This quotation seems to be taken from Amos 3: 7, and not from Jeremiah.

just when her hour of marriage and joy had come? Why did
one man die without any previous sickness, on the third day
of his being properly ordained as a priest and while capable of
saving many souls? Concerning all these questions, let anyone
who advances in faith go forward (Mt 19: 12) and listen without
hesitation to the solution that comes from the teaching of the
Fathers.
[cf. Additional §§ (given below) found only in Coll. d.]
5. In the beginning, when God madea heaven and earth and
the sea and all the visible creation, He put it all together in an
extraordinary fashion out of four elements, as I have already
mentioned earlier:b fire, water, air and earth; and the body, both
of ourselves and of the animals, is made up out of these. God
thus appointed these four elements, as if they were generals or
charioteers, to follow his wishes and take charge, driving and
directing the nature [φύσιν] of the bodies that were composed
out of them, as if that nature had been engendered and estab-
lished by them as if they were a sort of parents. So one can
observe that continuously all the bodies on the earth, and the
plants and animals, all that is animate and inanimate, is con-
ducted and set up and altered and worked upon, or is animated
61 and vivified, or dissolved in corruption, in accordance with the
mixture of the climates [ἀέρων] and of the elements.c
6. However if some doubts cross your mind about what has
been said, tell me why is it that very often plagues also strike
animals and birds and fish in the sea, all of which are not sinful
in God’s eyes? Therefore, our human body also, taken up from
the earth – and in so far as it is of the same nature [ὁμοούσιον]
as they – is liable to death and corruption and suffering, and
a
Cf. Gen 1: 1-31.
b
Probably a reference to Qu. 22, §§4, 8.
c
S.N. Sakkos (loc. cit., pp. 154-155) uses this passage as evidence that Anas-
tasios “does not follow exactly in the footsteps of orthodox tradition” (δὲν στοιχεῖ
ἀκριβῶς εἰς τὰ ἴχνη τῆς ὀρθοδόξου παραδόσεως, p. 154), and uses this as proof that
the Qu. is not authentic, but written by another “Anastasios”. He refers here
to the earlier opinion of Hans-Georg Beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur,
Munich, 1959, p. 444, also against the authenticity – an opinion formed while
only the Pseudo-Anastasian erotapokriseis (Collection a) had been published.

is made up of matter. This body of ours, having its constitu-

tion out of the same elements as those of which the animals
are composed, is also, so it seems to me, by God’s primeval
ordinance under the charge and direction, in accordance with
God’s plan, of the elements, which are like parents to it, and
it is thus that it grows and lives and falls ill and comes to an
end: when I speak about “life” and “ending” I mean that which
comes, with God’s power, by the physical union and separation
of the elements.
7. I know of three sorts of death that may be mentioned.
One is that brought about individually in the way common
to most persons. A second is, for example, the death that was
sent on one occasion upon the Corinthians who communi-
cated unworthily,a in accordance with a sentence on them by
God; this is similar to that of the first-born in Egypt,b instead
of being the physical result of the airs or of the elements it is
brought about by God’s anger. A third sort is that of people
who, through some unimaginable judgement of God, fall off
precipices or are drowned, or overwhelmed, all of whom may 62
be bad or good (like the children of Jobc). Similarly we know
that there are two sorts of life. One is that common to most
people, which as I have often said has a physical explanation,
as it results from the orderly and powerful arrangement of the
elements with God’s foreknowledge. Another is “God-given”,
by which I mean that it is a special concession of God, e.g. the
fifteen years of life given to Hezekiah after his illness,d the life
of Lazarus after his resurrection,e and that of other such people.
8. In addition we should take note that as God is the lord
of all living things and deaths, of all natures and elements, and
of all other things, He adds life when He wishes to do so. But
He brings death even upon good men, whenever He decides
to order this. Thus He said to Moses, Let Aaron be added to
a
Cf. 1 Cor 11: 27, 30.
b
Cf. Ex 12: 29.
c
Cf. Job 1: 18-19.
d
Cf. 4 Kings 20: 6.
e
Cf. Jn 11: 33-34; 12: 2, 9-10.

his ancestors (Num 20: 24),a and again to Moses himself, Go up

upon the mountain and end your days (Num 27: 12). It seems
to me that Nabouchodonosorb and David, and very often cer-
tain other persons among the peoples and certain great kings
[βασιλεῖς] of nations, receive from God either a prolongation or
a diminution of their years in accordance with the desserts of a
particular people. Quite often to some just men, who will ben-
efit by greater progress if they receive a prolongation of their
time, God grants an additional period to the normal physical
life of their bodies.
63 9. However our present discussion does not concern these
rare prolongations and diminutions of life and death by God in
certain cases, but rather about the bodily life and death which
is common to the whole race endowed with human nature.
Why is it that in certain countries bodies are healthy and long-
living, and in others sickly and short-lived? Again why is it that
some places frequently suffer plagues, while other regions be-
longing to unholy people never experience such plagues? Simi-
larly how does it happen that in one and the same race of pa-
gans [ἑλληνικῷ γένει] or barbarians or unbelievers, some persons,
though wicked, are prolific, while other persons, who are good,
are sterile, again some devout persons are short-lived and other
wicked persons die in ripe old age? What is the reason for being
snatched away suddenly speechless and dying without having
drawn up a testament, whereas others only finish their days af-
ter having been ill for a long time?
10. In order that by God’s grace the investigation and ex-
planation of the proposed problems may be clearer and more
credible, let us suppose a certain city or country which is un-
holy and not law-abiding, completely devoted to worship-
ping the devil, and utterly ignorant of what God is, but rather
worshipping and adoring stones and foul wooden things, flies
64 and monkeys. Now, you who say that God has programmed a
a
However, Anastasios gives πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας αὐτοῦ, “to his fathers/ances-
tors” instead of the LXX text, πρὸς τὸν λαὸν, “to his people”.
b
Cf. Dan 4: 24: the LXX spelling, “Nabouchodonosor”, differs from that
given in the Hebrew, “Nebuchadnezzar”.

foreordained limita to the life of each particular person as best

suits that person, explain to me why and for what reason some
persons of that unholy city finish their days aged one hundred,
and others when fifty, some childless and others with numerous
progeny, some breathe their last as they are taking a stroll and
others after protracted sickness? Why are some persons sepa-
rated from their bodies after five or even ten days of distraught
death agony, whereas others give up their souls peacefully and
gently? Would you please tell me then, if they are all unholy
and wicked, why do some of them live out all the time in good
health, whereas others in sickness and with much suffering?
Why do some die very prolific and others sterile? And why have
some died walking around, and others after chronic sickness?
Why have some departed this life aged one hundred or even
two hundred, and others as children or even as suckling babes?
11. Clearly anyone who proposes the theory that in these
cases there is a foreordained limit to the years of life is attack-
ing God. For if He has knowledge of the future, as He certainly
has, why did He foreordain, as you say, that such and such an
idolater should live for fifty years, and such and such another
for one hundred years, while He removed from life such and
such an infant, pure and quite free from the guilt of the father’s
idolatry? If these things happened with foreordination, God 65
will be found to be a respecter of persons,b because He removes
one from life while still pure, but foreordains fifty years of life
to another, foreknowing that that person will spend all these
years in idolatry.
12. But these things are not so (God forbid!) and God will
never be the cause of evil,c in accordance with the Manichean
myths. Those do indeed say that a good and just god foreor-
dained life for those who are good and just, while an evil god
provides birth and death for those who are unholy and evil.
However the sacred apostolic teacher, Clement, says something
a
See Qu. 16 above.
b
Cf. Acts 10: 34, and Qu. 27, §2 and Qu. 99, §7.
c
The impossibility of God creating ματαιότητα (“folly”) in a person is
affirmed in the Hodegos, II, 3, 34 (CCSG 8, p. 33).

like this in Book 1 of his On the Foreknowledge and Just Judge-

ment of God, namely, that while God has the power even now
to shape and form human beings as happened at the first for-
mation of Adam, He no longer works in that fashion because
He has, once and for all, given to humans the power to gener-
ate other humans, when He said to our nature, Increase and
multiply and fill the earth (Gen 1: 28).
In this way (says Clementa) in His all-powerful and foreknowing
power God arranged that the disintegration and end of bodies
should come about by a certain physical sequence and order,
by the mixture and change of the elements; God acting thus
according to His essential divine wisdom and understanding.
66 13. You have heard the voice of this father of the Fathers teach-
ing that God in His completely good and foreknowing power
has implanted in an essential way [οὐσιωδῶς] in our nature the
power to generate by the flesh, which consists of the elements
acting by divine power, and also the dissolution and departure
from life. In consequence of this, whenever you see some per-
sons living to advanced old age though they are impious, and
some others dying young though they are devout, do not let
thoughts disrespectful of God cross your mind, but realize that
God’s foreknowledge [πρόνοια] has arranged [οἰκονόμησεν] that
all the visible nature, the birth and dissolution and death of
bodies, of animals and birds and fish and humans, should be
ordered and ruled by the nature and mixture of elements and
climates, acting according to the decisive influence [ῥοπή] of
Him.b So it is that we may observe, when corruption comes to
the damp element, automatically many fish die, and when it af-
fects the dryness of the earth, the animals collapse. On the other
a
This passage is included among the fragments attributed to Clement of Al-
exandria (cf. Fragmenta, Nr. 42 [GCS 172, p. 220]), but it is known only through
this text of Anastasios; in the Hodegos Anastasios mentions a “Clement” (prob-
ably of Rome), cf. I, 3, 73-79, and II, 1, 3 (CCSG 8, pp. 21-22, 23); worth noting
is the mention by Nikephoros Blemmydes in his De vitae termino (ed. W. Lack-
ner, Leiden, 1985, p. 16, lines 14-18) of this same passage, which he attributes
explicitly to Clement of Rome.
b
The Greek phrase κατὰ τὴν ῥοπὴν αὐτοῦ here seems to refer to God, and the
same word ῥοπή is used later in §17 also referring to God.

hand, if the cold of the air increases, it is the birds that perish,
and if the element of fire becomes (with permission of its crea-
tor) over-hot, it is human beings who die of the plague.
14. It is because of these movements and increases and dimi-
nutions and mixtures and qualities of the elements that some
countries (with God’s foreknowledge) never experience plagues,
often because they enjoy climates and waters that are dryer and
pure and unpolluted and healthy. As proof there are the waters
of Jericho, that at the time of Elisha made people sterile and 67
brought death;a that is why the prophet to cure them said, Thus
says the Lord: I have healed these waters, and death will not be
in them, nor the childless woman (4 Kings 2: 21).b You can hear,
you who would have us believe in foreordained periods, this
prophetic and divine voice bearing witness that also out of the
waters come deaths and sterility upon people, just as the waters
of Egypt also bear witness to the same, as they are producers
of fertility and child-bearing. But if the deaths of bodies come
from the waters (with God’s permission) it is obvious that they
will also come from the other elements, in accordance with
their increases and diminutions.c
15. However, if this were not so, please tell me why it is that
God instructed human beings in the wisdom of the medical
profession,d and why He took care to provide plants and all
other sorts of remedies in such a way that, in my opinion, with
God’s foreknowledge, doctors often save people from death?
Indeed the experts among the established slave-traders inquired
among the wise and the professionals among the doctors, ask-
ing them to inform them precisely about the qualities of the
climates and elements in different lands, and in what land one
a
Cf. 4 Kings 22: 19-20.
b
There are some variants on the LXX text which reads, “I have healed these
waters; no longer shall there be death nor a lack of children from there” (NETS).
c
S.N. Sakkos refers to this passage as proof of departure from orthodox tra-
dition, with nature replacing the divine will: τὰ ὁποῖα προδίδουν ὑπολανθάνουσαν
ὑποκατάστασιν τοῦ θείου θελήματος διὰ τῆς φύσεως (loc. cit., p. 154); but presum-
ably Anastasios would defend himself by appealing to the notion of secondary
causality (that of natural causes).
d
A very similar passage occurs in Qu. 16, §2.

should buy slaves [σωμάτια] that were due to be re-sold in the

68 East if they are not to die too quickly, and from what land those
for the North. And so on, one after the other, they made inves-
tigations about all the lands, as they had learned by experience
that there were climates and regions and waters that would
more quickly destroy the slaves [σώματα] brought there from
other lands.
16. A few years ago I happened to visit the Dead Sea, the re-
gions near Zoar and Tetrapurgia, where the climate is particu-
larly difficult and pestilential and hot and destructive, similar
to that of Cyprus.a I found that all the convict labour belonging
to the state farms came from Cyprus, and when I expressed
astonishment at this and asked the reason, those in charge there
gave me the following answer: “The climate here will not toler-
ate slaves [σώματα] of other constitution except that of Cyprus;
and,” they added, “very often, after prisoners have been sent
here from other different lands, in a short time they have per-
ished and died.”
17. From this example, then, one can see clearly that God,
the creator and maker of all, who from the beginning has grant-
ed to each nature among created things the power to act ac-
cording to its own particular energy, He has also given to the
elements the task of arranging, in accordance with His fore-
knowledge and awareness and decisive influence [ῥοπή], the
birth and increase, the life and death of our bodies. Thus it is
through their movement and decrease and increase and separa-
69 tion, I mean those of the four elements, that the death of the
body comes about. At the hour and critical moment [ῥοπήν]
that the warm, life-giving energy of the blood happens, for
whatever reason, to abandon the body, the person dies at once,
in so far as the body is composed of the elements and is kept
alive and dissolved by a divine power acting through them.
18. So because of this some die as children, because of this
some perish while still at the foetal stage owing to some physical
a
Clearly an important autobiographical hint that Anastasios was a Cypriot
by birth (see also Qu. 26, §4), and that he had travelled in Palestine; from the
Hodegos it is clear that he had visited Alexandria (cf. X. 1, 12 [CCSG 8, p. 143]).

cause and antipathy of an element: when the vital warm energy

of the blood grows weak and fades, it is not able to maintain
the body for long in life. As I mentioned earlier, whenever the
warm, kinetic energy of the blood disappears, life departs at
once from the body. And so because of this some die instantly;
because of this some breathed their last suddenly while on the
road; because of this some end their days sitting at table; be-
cause of this some unholy men live to a ripe old age; because
of this some devout men die young; because of this some who
intended to do good deeds were not able to anticipate but were
themselves anticipated; because of this even some saintly per-
sons collapsed and died. In my view all the lands that can pre-
serve their food-stocks and seeds for a long time can certainly
do the same for the human bodies there, and vice versa.
19. Again because of this some devout persons bury their 70
children so prematurely, while the children of some unholy per-
sons live such long lives. Because of this when plaguea strikes
one city the infants die, but in another city, it is the adults, and
again in yet another the women and the old. So it is that some-
times because of a wasting sickness, at other times because of
fevers, sometimes because of a parching heat, and at yet oth-
er times because of a lung infection, people die when plagues
arrive, depending on the movement of the climate and of the
elements, and on the increase and decrease within specific places
and lands, all this not without the awareness of God – far from
it! – but due to the movement and disposition and energy of the
elements, which have been granted by Him from the beginning.
20. This is also the reason, so it seems to me, why very of-
ten some devout women are found to be sterile, like Sarah and
Rebekah and Hannah, whereas on the other hand some impious
ones are prolific. I dare to say that because of some such physical
connection and bodily causality, implanted by God, very often
one woman may have married successively [κατὰ πρόσβασιν]b
a
See Qu. 66 for another answer dealing with the problem of plagues.
b
The Greek expression recurs in Qu. 81, §6. Official legislation against suc-
cessive marriages appeared only in 920 with the rulings of the Tomos of Union
(see ODB [Alexander Kazhdan], p. 2093).

ten husbands and buried them all one after the other, because
she was of a certain very fierce and energetic humour and seed.
And similarly for the same reason it has often been possible for
a man to marry various women and progressively bury them all.
71 21. Some people suggest that it is in this same way, viz. be-
cause of the mixture and disposition and causality and incom-
patibility of the elements that some people, though saintly,
only after many hours or even days of death-agony tear away
the soul from the body, while others who are wicked are sepa-
rated from their bodies quite peacefully and harmlessly. A proof
of this is the case of death from lung infection: such invalids,
no matter if they are devout or the contrary, finish their days
without pain, eating and drinking and talking. The reason is
that lung diseases are due to the cold element, and they quickly
suppress the warm life-giving work of the blood, thus produc-
ing for such patients a separation of the soul with less suffering.
22. In order to show you that in general many cases of deadly
illness are due to an increase of the blood, let me give you three
or four instances. In the first place, children often end quickly
because they are too hot. Secondly, when spring starts at Easter-
time, the period when the blood increases and when bleedings
occur, then there is a special tendency for deadly pestilence to
break out. In the third place, many of those who end their days
die as the sun is sinking, because the coldness of the hour expels
the life-giving energy from the blood and makes a person grow
72 cold. That is why if you divide up someone who has just died,
you will find three of the elements in the body, viz. those of the
phlegm, the humour and bile, but you will not find any blood.
23. However the carping listenera should not seize on what
has been said, supposing that we are advocating belief in ran-
domness and fate by our remarks. There stands the word of
the Lord: Not one sparrow will fall upon the earth without the
knowledge of your father who is in heaven (Mt 10: 29). For, the
a
S.N. Sakkos (loc. cit., p. 153) points out that the “carping listener” recurs
in the Preface to the Hexaemeron, Praef. III, 2 (ed. Kuehn-Baggarly [OCA 278],
Rome, 2007, p. 10, lines 177-180; PG 89, 856C8-12 [Latin version]), thus provid-
ing additional proof of the identity of authorship.

life [ψυχή] of all living things are in his hand (Job 12: 10), as Job
said, and In his hand are the ends of the earth (Ps 94: 4). And
again there is the Scripture quotation: His judgements are in all
the earth (Ps 104: 7), and He bears (and alters) all things by the
word (and the will) of His power (Heb 1: 3).a
24. But this very same God, provident creator of all, He
who bears and governs all things by the will of His power, has
formed the human being from the beginning as a dual animal
[διττὸν ζῶον]. I mean one made up of an eternal, intellectual
soul and of a composite, material body. He has placed in this
being’s essential constitution two governing bodies [διοικήσεις,
lit. “dioceses”], granting to the soul control by means of an
autonomous free choice, so that she can incline the soul as she 73
wishes, either to virtue or to vice, without God being respon-
sible for this, and granting to the body, in what concerns life,
the power to rule and govern with the assent of God by means
of the elements. In the same way that from above and from
the beginning God has granted to the sun the energy to heat
and burn, and to the moon the power to illumine the night,
and to the earth the ability to increase through the produc-
tion of seeds, and to the plants the full bloom which brings
forth fruit, and to animals the support [σύστασις] produced
through copulation, and in a word the appropriate energy to
each nature, so He has granted to the elements what seems to
me to be the power to dispose and rule over bodies in what
concerns their life and death, acting in accordance with His
own knowledge.
25. It is absolutely necessary that we realize this, so that
when you observe how unholy people live to a ripe old age,
whereas devout ones die young, or again that one person comes
to an end suddenly, while all at once another is unable to speak,
one saintly person’s children all end their days young, while the
sons of another irreligious person all live to a great old age, one
devout person has to endure many days in the agony of dying,
while a pagan [ Ἕλλην] passes away peacefully and quietly, one
a
The additions of Anastasios are in brackets.

holy woman is sterile, while another, who is a pagan [ Ἑλληνίς]

bears many children, then that in such and such a God-fearing
74 country there are constant plagues, while in another pagan
[ἑλληνικῇ] region no pestilence ever shows itself. To sum up,
whenever you see these and similar dreadful and strange things
happening, do not be troubled, nor let unseemly and blasphe-
mous thoughts about God arise in your mind, learning from
what has been explained that all these and similar events are not
brought about without the all-seeing and fore-knowing aware-
ness of the creator. But they all happen by no other method
than the well-ordered control and sequence and natural govern-
ment granted from the first by God to the elements which He
created.
26. However, we have not said these things in an assertive
and polemical way, but in a scientific spirit and as seems rea-
sonable, requesting those wiser than we are to forgive us and to
make good our inadequacies.a
Additional paragraphs (see §4) found only in Coll. d

1. So one has to recognize that everything that happens, no
matter how it comes about, is due either to God having dis-
posed this, or to matter [ὕλη] showing its own true nature, or
to an autonomous choice selecting what is wanted, or to nature
[φύσις], which is a principle of movement and rest, arranging
things according to her own principles, or to a craftsman’s skill, as
he alters material things according to his own power, or to other
people’s powers, perhaps those of a general or an arms manufac-
turer or the overall constructed disposition [ἀρχιτεκτονία], all of
which may influence what is subject to them so that they adopt
one position or another.
75 2. However even if each of these is said to act of itself, never-
theless all the others have a reference [ἀναφοράv] to God: both
nature [φύσις] is linked to him, and also any natural skill [τέχνη
τῆς φύσεως]; choice itself depends on free-will, but to incline one
way or another is not isolated from what is peculiar to nature.
a
Similar sentiments are expressed at the end of Qu. 21, §8.

Indeed any construction [ἀρχιτεκτονία] is something of a mid-

point between choice [προαίρεσις] and nature [φύσις]. Matter
[ὕλη] also, which seems up to now to flow and to be capable of all
sorts of transformations of itself, has acquired this polymorphous
adaptability from God; if it had possessed that flow already in
potency, how could it ever have been altered? But what it pos-
sessed, it had received, and from whom did it receive this except
from God? Only God, when He acts, does not have a reference to
anything else.
3. Such then is the distinction among the things that come
about in this world, some are primarily due to an action of God,
who may act perhaps in accordance with what is natural [παρὰ
τὴν φύσιν], others are due to matter [ὕλη] which is in motion and
giving itself to the flow.
4. But it is necessary to clarify what we have said from an
example. King Hezekiah fell ill, not primarily, Scripture says,
due to matter, or due to nature, but because God was chastising
the king with this sickness: for when King Senachireim [Sen-
nacherib] was on the point of overwhelming him, Hezekiah had
God on his side and that King was destroyed with all his army;a
then Hezekiah’s heart swelled up with pride and he thought that
he had become someone else. To prevent his imagining himself
as a sort of superman [ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν] and becoming sick with
pretensions of divinity, God whipped him with a sickness.b It
was not that he was on the point of undergoing a change of
health because of some material cause; so his illness came not
from matter, but because of God, even if matter was involved
to some extent – in so far as it was the matter that underwent
the change, adapting itself with regard to some purely natural
things. However since at that moment it was not the matter that
held the explanation for the change, but this was imposed on the
matter from above by God, that is why we say that it was not
because of the matter, but because of God that Hezekiah had his
sickness.
5. Moses suffered the same thing and after the crossing of
the Red Sea his right hand developed leprosy marks,c lest he be
thought to be God, dividing that sea into divisions (Ps 135: 13),
a
Cf. 4 Kings 19: 35-36.
b
Cf. 4 Kings 20: 1; 2: 2 Chr 32: 24-25.
c
Cf. Ex 4: 6.

as the divine David says, then once again restoring and rejoin-
ing the ocean. On that occasion also it was not Moses himself
who held the movement of the currents in his hand, but quite
certainly of itself the sea would have stayed undivided; how-
ever God moved the sea for the salvation of the leader of the
people.
6. Jacob’s eye-pupils grew dim,a but this was due to matter
[had a material cause]. Since he had come to the end of this life,
and was spent with old age, his head was full of phlegm, and it
was this that brought on his eye-illness.
7. Similarly the prophet David, when he grew old, felt cold
in his body, and thus his flesh needed women to warm him.b
This again was due to matter: with the increase of the cold el-
ement, the implanted warm element grew weak, so the whole
76 body was shivering with the cold and therefore needed warm
contact. Matter underlies everyone in common and with the
same respect [= from the material point of view, all humans are
common and equal].
8. The fact that matter is what causes such changes is also clear
from the case of genetic influences: we notice that persons born
from defective parents who suffer from the liver or from gout,
soon display illness in the liver or in the foot, and on the other
hand those people are fit and strong whose parents are such. Ac-
cording to whether the seed has a defect, or again is pure and with-
out alloy, this appears in the off-shoots; similarly the off-spring
display in their bodies or in their souls the defects or advantages
of their forbears. As Scripture says: Adam begot Seth according to
his form and his likeness (Gen 5: 3). If there are frequent changes
in natures over the generations, this also is due to material causes:
matter is not by nature stable. So those affairs that have a more
divine causation are more stable and unchangeable, whereas those
that are further removed from the divine are both more subject to
matter and subject to all sorts of mutability. For example, spring,
summer, autumn and winter; they never turn around or alter; but
showers, hail, drizzle, thunder-storms and freezing cold, some-
times they come in abundance and sometimes at rare intervals,
because they are all subject to matter and this is malleable and
changeable.
a
Cf. Gen 48: 10.
b
Cf. 3 Kings 1: 1-4.

9. The reason is that God from the beginning has given cer-
tain tendencies [ῥοπάς], of one sort or another, to bodily things,
so that some of these things have precise sequences, others dis-
turbance and disorder. For example, to the heaven <God gave>
to be moved with an even motion and to be whirled around in
a circle; to fire, a movement upwards, as indeed to the air along
with it; to earth and to water, a movement downwards. To form-
less matter, a capacity to take all forms, a capacity for adapt-
ability and change; to the bodies that are sublunary, the ability
to change into all things. Thus whenever fire moves up, and any
lump moves down, they would appear to have the movement
appropriate to their nature, just as when the heaven is seen to
be unchangeable; but our bodies are swept along with the flow
proper to matter, such movement or rest of whatever sort it is,
is not due in the first place to God, but to themselves and to the
nature of each.
10. However we are not saying by talking in this way that mat-
ter does anything of itself against God’s will, but rather that it is
not in the first place because of His will, nor because He is inno-
vating matter, but that it is changing and altering because of its
own nature and so introducing changes in us, who are composite
animals.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 96); also in Coll. d. (Qu. 14),
but without the long question at the beginning.
(2) Omitted as such in Coll. b, but see the additional Qu. to
that collection, given above in Qu. 16. This Qu. has to be read
with Qu. 16 and its additional texts (Comments [3] and [4]).
(3) The authenticity of this exceptionally long Qu. has been
called in doubt (cf. S. N. Sakkos, Περὶ Ἀναστασίων Σιναϊτῶν, Thes-
saloniki, 1964, p. 155), and the suggestion made that it should be
attributed to the same author who wrote the Hexaemeron. How-
ever, at that time critical editions of the works of Anastasios were
lacking. At present, both internal evidence (style and vocabulary)
and external testimony (the manuscript tradition) are strongly in
favour of its authenticity.
(4) A number of QQ ad Antiochum have parallel passages: cf.
QQ 69, 103, 105 (PG 28, 636-637, 661-663).

Question 29
77 Question What should we say also about those who die
violent deaths, either falling off cliffs, or overwhelmed, or
drowned at sea?
Answer 1. It is clear that, in the words of Scripture, The
judgements of God are not to be searched out, and His paths
are not to be tracked down (Rom 11: 33).a However we should
realize that not all those who die violent deaths suffer thus
because of sins. As proof there are the sons of the just Job,
who were all just and yet were smothered together under their
house;b and Christ teaches us this when he says that the eight-
een men on whom fell the tower of Siloam (Lk 13: 4) were no
more wicked than all the other inhabitants of Jerusalem, nor
again were those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacri-
fices (Lk 13: 1).
2. So we learn from this that even just people often die vio-
lent deaths because of some unclear and hidden judgements of
God, which come about in three ways. Quite frequently God
allows some holy men to be killed by wild beasts, or earth-
78 quakes, or floods, or precipices, so that the rest of us, who are
so careless, may take fright and come to our senses, saying, “If
such a person as this has undergone that, what will we have to
suffer, who are sinners?” Again other holy men come to a pain-
ful end, perhaps because they have committed small faults and
when these are wiped out through such a sentence, they will be
found perfect in the presence of God. However, perhaps some
men of authority [δυνατοί] take upon themselves the sins of the
people; frequently they are condemned to trials and even to the
sword and to death because of what they have taken on them-
selves, and thus win greater salvation for themselves and the
people. Indeed Christ himself accepted death on our behalf.
Consequently, when we bear in mind all this, we should not be
a
The Hellenistic form ἀνεξεραύνητα, in place of the more usual ἀνεξερεύνητα
(both meaning “not to be searched out”), is used here by Anastasios.
b
Cf. Job 1: 18-19.

astounded on seeing John decapitated,a Peter crucified,b Isaiah

sawn in halfc and Stephen stoned to death,d and so many other
thousands of holy men undergoing painful sicknesses and dan-
gers and violent deaths.
3. In a similar way the blessed Fathers say that violent
deaths are brought about in the case of wicked men also in
three ways. Either it is so that when they undergo such a
threat, others may be brought to their senses; or it is so that
they themselves who die may gain some remittance in the
other life; or again, because of some divine displeasure and 79
threat, as happened in the case of Pharaohe and at the time of
the Flood.f The reason is that some persons are punished only
in this life, like Lazarus;g others both here in part, and there
also in part, like the Sodomitesh who were bunt up; but yet
others only in the other life, like the rich man in the case of
Lazarus.
4. However it is important to grasp clearly that those sepa-
rated from their bodies by painful deaths find a greater salva-
tion or partial remittance in the next life; it was to make that
plain that the Lord said about certain cities, which refused to
accept his preaching, It will be more bearable for the land of So-
dom and the land of Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for
that city (Mt 10: 15).
5. Therefore you must not assert nor question when you
see somebody who has died a painful death through falling or
drowning, “Why did he die in this way? Was it that his hour
had come, or did he die at the wrong time?” Just have faith that
God fashions everything for the best.
a
Cf. Mt 14: 10; Mk 6: 27.
b
On the death of Peter, cf. Eusebius of Caesarea, Hist. Eccl., 3, 1, 2.
c
On the death of Isaiah, cf. R.H. Charles The Apocrypha …, vol. 2, Oxford,
1913, pp. 115-116.
d
Cf. Act. 7: 59.
e
Cf. Ex 14-15.
f
Cf. Gen 7-8.
g
Lk 16: 19-31.
h
Cf. Gen 19: 24-25.

Comments
(1) The Qu. appears in Coll. b.(Qu. 33). This and the follow-
ing Qu. were joined, adapted and included as one in Coll. 23
(Qu. 18 = Qu. ed. 18), which then appears in Coll. d (Qu. 15).
(2) Various parallels appear in the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 69,
71, and 105 (PG 28, 636B-637A, 637D-640B, 661D-664).
Question 30
80 Question Is it the case that all those who fall off cliffs, or
are drowned or overwhelmed, suffer in this way because of a
divine will and ordinance, or is it also because of the activity
[ἐνέργεια]of the Hater of the good?
Answer 1. It is perfectly clear from Christ’s statement, In
your case, even the hairs of your heads have all been numbered (Mt
10: 30), that Satan has no power – not only over no humans, but
not even over the beasts and swine, as the Gospel bears witness.a
Therefore some of these deaths occur by sentence of God, as in
the case of the Flood,b others by His permission, as in the case of
the sons of Job crushed to death,c and yet others only with God’s
knowledge, without His either agreeing to nor preventing them.
2. However it is probably quite frequent that because of
God’s will, some come to a painful end for their own salvation.
Thus when the Emperor Maurice prayed to God that he might
81 pay the penalty in this life for the sins he had committed, he
saw in a dream an Emperor of exceeding splendour, who or-
dered him to be handed over to Phokas, the soldier, and that
was what happened.d
a
Cf. Mt 8: 31-32 and parallels.
b
Cf. Gen 7-8.
c
Cf. Job 1: 18-19.
d
One version of this story of Maurice has been given above (Qu. 10,
Comment 3, pp. 69–71); there are parallels in the Narrationes (Nau XXIX;
Binggeli I, 39, 12-19, and II, 24, with the additional “Note complémentaire
sur le traitement de la légende de Maurice dans l’oeuvre d’Anastase”, loc. cit.
pp. 524-525); the story may derive from a lost Chronicle of John of Antioch, used
by Theophanes, Chronographia, anno 6092 [584 A.D.], ed. de Boor, Leipzig,
1883, pp. 284-285 (cf. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes, Ox-
ford, 1997, p. 406 [n. 19] and p. 415 [n. 14]). Maurice (582-602) figures in a very
positive light in the works of Anastasios: cf. P. Schreiner, “Der brennende Kaiser.
Zur Schaffung eines positiven und eines negativen Kaiserbildes in den Legenden

Questions Connected with Death, QQ 29-30
3. There was also an anchorite, who was famous for his

miracles and wonders;a he had a disciple with him in the
desert. It happened that on a certain day this disciple visited
a city, which had a wicked and godless governor. The disciple
found that the governor had just passed away, and was be-
ing conducted in funeral procession with a great crowd, and
honour, and candles, and incense. But when the disciple re-
turned to the desert, he found that his own godly superior
had been mauled to death by a hyena. He began to feel great
dismay and was on the point of accusing God, saying, “How
is it that such a wicked and godless man as that governor has
come to an honourable end, while this holy and spiritual per-
son has undergone death savaged by beasts?” However as he
was turning over these and similar thoughts, an angel of the
Lord stood by him and said: “That governor, even if he was
utterly wicked, had performed one good deed, and because
um Maurikios”, ed. T. Olajos, Byzance et ses voisins. Mélanges à la mémoire de

Gyula Moravčsik, [Acta Universitatis, Opuscula Byzantina, 9], Szeged, 1994, pp.
25-31.
a
Cf. Apophthegmata Patrum, Collectio anonyma, Nau 368 (Revue de l’Orient
Chrétien, 18, 1913, pp. 139-140); a latin version can be found in PL 73, 995 A7-
B12. In a 13th century Vatican manuscript (Palatinus gr. 210, ff. 122v-123v) a
slightly shorter version of this story is given in a collection of accounts of death:
“One of the fathers gave an account saying, “There was a hermit in the 82
desert of Neiloupolis, and a faithful layman was in his service; there was also
in that city a rich and irreligious man. The latter happened to die, and the city
including the bishop processed with lights for his burial. The hermit’s helper
went off as usual to bring him some loaves, and he found the hermit eaten by a
hyena, and he fall on his face before the Lord saying, “I won’t get up until you
give me some explanation: how can it be that on the one hand that unholy man
should have had an honourable death with such ostentation, while on the other
hand someone who slaved for you night and day had to undergo such an end.”
And an angel came and said to him: “That unholy man had <to his credit> one
minor good work, and he was rewarded for it here on earth so that he may be
given no relief in the next world; and this hermit, while being a man adorned
with every virtue, also, as he was human, had some small fault; he has received
what was due here so that he may be found pure before God in the other place.”
And having been informed, he went off, praising God for His judgements, as
they are true.”
The mention of a place-name, and the assumption that the hermit’s helper
was not living with him, but bringing him food – a more likely situation – sug-
gest that this version is either the original, or reflects the original, which has
been worked up into the Anastasian text.

of the honour and glory he received in the funeral proces-

sion at his death he has been rewarded with the recompense
for that good deed, and has departed to the next life con-
demned to the maximum penalty. But your superior, despite
82 all the actions he performed pleasing to God, and despite the
countless virtues with which he was adorned, being human
he himself had committed some small fault, and because of
his painful death he has requited for it and departed this life
completely purified.”
4. So it is, brethren,a that we may learn from these exam-
ples that nothing happens in the world in a purposeless or im-
provident way. Rather the judgements of God and His provi-
dence are present all over earth and heaven, reaching to all His
works. Some persons are ignorant of His providence and are
afflicted with godlessness: they mythologize about the universe
being governed by the movements, the settings and rising of
the stars, claiming that astrology is responsible for births and
movements, for life and death, for famine and wealth, for the
success, the power and the failure of everyone.
Comments
(1) The Qu. appears in Coll. b.(Qu. 34).
(2) As mentioned above (Comment [1] on Qu. 29), this Qu.
and Qu. 29 were joined, adapted and included as one in Coll. 23
(Qu. 18 = Qu. ed. 18); this then appears in Coll. d (Qu. 15).
(3) Various parallels appear in the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 13 (two
lines), 69, and 105 (PG 28, 605 A12-13, 636B-637A, 661D-664A).
a
This address suggests that the Qu. was written for the benefit of a group;
however, cf. Qu. 65, §4, where a single individual is addressed.

Moral and pastoral questions
Question 31
Question What is arrogance? 83
Answer <It is> for somebody to be completely convinced
that he or she is doing something good, not paying attention to
the words <of Scripture>, All our righteousness is like the rag of a
menstruating woman (Isa 64: 6)a in the sight of God.
Comments
(1) Found in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 97), but omitted in Coll. b and
Coll. d.
(2) This is the first of the QQ to be included in the short Coll. c.
Question 32
Question If someone commits a great sin against some-
body else, and then afterwards goes off and as a sinner comes to
repentance with the other and receives pardon from that per-
son, has such a sinner been forgiven also by God?
Answer 1. If the one forgiving is a spiritual person
[πνευματικός] or a worthy priest [ἱερεὺς ἄξιος],b perhaps forgive-
ness is given to such a person also by God; but if not, the one
forgiving will have gained great merit, but the one forgiven
a
Isa 64: 6: Liddell & Scott point out that the word ἀποκαθημένης (“sitting
apart”) here has to be interpreted in the light of Lev 20: 18 (see NETS on Isa 64: 6).
b
Anastasios feels the need to distinguish a “spiritual person”, who is not
ordained, and a “worthy priest”, a cleric.

is under obligation to repent before God. For Moses himself

forgave his own sister, Maria, when she had mocked him, and
yet she was struck with leprosy by God and sent into quaran-
84 tine, and only then received forgiveness.a Similarly, when the
whole people sinned against him, Moses for his part forgave
them, but when they failed to repent, God destroyed them.b
However, as I mentioned earlier,c <account must be taken> of
the sin and of the repentance of the sinner, because unless there
is repentance, which is proper and made before God, pardon
will not be given to such a person. Suppose the case of some-
body who commits adultery with his neighbour’s wife and re-
ceives pardon from him, does it follow that he has also been
forgiven by God? Certainly not, unless he repents.
2. Indeed I know of somebodyd who helped a whole peo-
ple, and gave instructions to many persons, and because of this
received funds from many and used them for the poor and
for the ransom of prisoners. Then certain persons, moved by
some diabolical energy, began to spread calumnies about him,
preventing the people from receiving further aid, cutting off his
funds, and causing harm to the poor. Afterwards they came to
repentance with him, and received pardon from him, but some
time later they became possessed by devils because of the peo-
ple’s judgement, due to the scandal they had given.
3. It is necessary to know these things: in that way when
we forgive we shall do so willingly, convinced that those who
have offended against us continue to be subject to God, so they
should not be careless again, but after obtaining forgiveness
from us they should make their repentance before God.
Comments
(1) Not accepted for Coll. 23, but adapted and rewritten for
Coll. 88 as Qu. 73; this version passed into Coll. d, as Qu. 24,
and also appears in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 63.
a
Cf. Num 12: 1-15.
b
Cf. Num 14: 13-25.
c
Probably a reference to Qu. 11, but the following Qu. 33, also deals with
this subject.
d
Possibly an autobiographical hint.

Moral and pastoral questions, qq 32-33
Question 33
Question If somebody falls into sin and then repents, and 85
once more falls into the same sin and repents, and so having on
many occasions stopped and then fallen again, such a person is
suddenly met by death, what is one to think of such a person?
Answer 1. It all depends on the sin: if it is not very serious
and the person who commits it is someone who is generous
with alms and not spiteful, nor ready to judge others, we can
trust in God that forgiveness has been granted to such a person.
But if the fault of the wrong-doer is very serious and the person
does not repent, then where death finds that person, from there
will be the departure, either into sinfulness or into repentance.
2. However it is a bad business to build up a habit of fre-
quently washing the garment – that is the body – and then
defiling it again; anything that is frequently washed and re-
washed becomes rotten and weak, and then aged and anti-
quated, and cannot be washed any more. I myselfa have seen
men, one hundred years old, who were powerless and shaking
all over, but they could not desist from their carnal sin because
of long habit.
3. On that occasion when some experienced professional 86
doctors were asked about them, they have given the follow-
ing reply: “The conduits and arteries by which the semen is
excreted become relaxed and porous after many years of sexual
intercourse and habit; as a result the physique [φύσις] no long-
er has the strength to restrain and impede or to control itself,
but a seminal flux [γονορρύη] is brought on through the lax-
ness of old age and of habit, and thus it is dragged even invol-
untarily towards the sin to which it has grown accustomed.”
Comments
(1) In Coll. 23 the question of Qu. 3 (= Qu. ed. 3) is similar to
the question here, although the answer (consisting of a string of
Scripture quotations) is very different; but in the same Coll. 23
Qu. 8 (a very long text dealing with πορνεία) contains lines from
a
Note the personal reminiscence of Anastasios, suggesting medical knowledge.

the present Qu. (cf. Qu. ed. 8 [PG 89, 392B4-9]); this Qu. 8 also
appears in Coll. d (Qu. 25).
(2) Related to this Qu. is Coll. b (Qu. 16), even if the teaching
given differs from that of the authentic QQ 33 and 47;
Question Which of the passions stands out as the strongest
and most difficult to shake off in comparison with the others?
Answer 1. The evil habit of long date: when someone has
grown accustomed to self-abuse over a number of years, then as
a consequence even against one’s will and not wanting it, one is
dragged into sin, being pulled and forced by long habit.
2. It is because of this that the blessed holy men [μακάριοι ἄνδρες]
envisaged and selected withdrawal from the world, and a flight into
desert places far from foolish distractions; some of them had tried
very often while they were in the world and in the midst of distrac-
tions to cut short that evil habit, and had not had the strength, but
frequently, although they forced themselves for a short time and even
managed to gain self-control, once again like dogs they returned to
the vomita of their sin, undoing again what they had achieved.
3. It is only God who has the power to guard unscorched
someone who walks among fiery coals, and to preserve un-
scratched a person who enters among thorns and brambles, and
to save unbesmirched someone who comes near to muddy swine.
So in the same way, only the power of God’s right hand can keep
without any fall, or spot, or blemish someone who dwells within
and frequents the context of deceit and fame and the luxury of
life’s vanity, witnessing lewd shows and listening to unseemly talk,
touched with the fire of deadly customs that incite to impurity.
And <this is true> not only in the case of those who are weak, but
also of those who seem to be just, and self-controlled, and chaste.
(3) In the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 94 (PG2 28, 656A14-C4) has
a similar question but a different answer.
Question 34
Question Is it true that the devil is the cause of all sin and
sexual misconduct [πορνεία], and is it he whom one should blame?
Answer The devil does not force anyone, but only suggests;
but bad habit can force someone, so that this is something
more wicked and stronger than the devil himself. Consequently
it is we ourselves that we should blame.
a
Cf. Prov 26: 11.

Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 98), in Coll. b (Qu. 18), and
in Coll. c (Qu. 2).
(2) Omitted in Coll. d, and no obvious parallels in the QQ ad
Antiochum.
Question 35
Question Is there a difference in favour of someone who sins 87
each month or each week over someone who sins more frequently?
Answer 1. Yes, just as there is a different reward for some-
one who distributes alms frequently over someone who distrib-
utes them from time to time.
2. However one should know that for the Just Judge (2 Tim 4:
8) there are many different sorts of condemnations, as there are of
the retributions that He will require of those who commit carnal
sins. The reason is that there are lands which produce warmth in
the body because of the heat of the climate or of the waters or
of pestilence, like Egypt, Ethiopia and Jericho (the region round
Gomorrah); again there are races which are fouler and more li-
centious, either because of habit or because of some other make-
up [οὐσία] or cause, like the Persians and the Assyrians.
3. Therefore, just as the Fathersa say that the crime of some-
one who does not believe and is a pagan [ἐθνικός], someone
who does not have the Holy Ghost, nor the cross, nor baptism,
nor the body and blood of Christ to save him, is different from
that of someone like you, who believe and have all these things
that help for salvation (as Scripture says: He who knows the will
of the Lord and does not do it will receive more stripes (Lk 12: 47),
and so there is a different judgement for the believer and for 88
the unbeliever, thus also the crime of someone who commits
fornication in his youth is different from that of someone in his
old age, and that of the unmarried man is different from that of
the man who has a wife, and that of the man who has a respect-
able marriage partner is different from that of the man who
lives with a wicked woman. Moreover the man who sins with
a
Cf. for example, John Chrysostom, De virginitate, 44, 1 (ed. H. Musurillo,
[SC 125], Paris, 1966, p. 252; PG 48, 566).

only one woman is judged differently from him who becomes

defiled with many; the crime of the teacher is one thing, and
that of the unlearned another; that of the priest is one thing,
and that of someone entrusted to him another.
4. Yet again, the pardon of somebody who falls, but regrets
it and is sorry over it, is different from that of the person who
sins and remains indifferent. And the punishment of the one
who uses his nature [φύσις] in accordance with nature is one
thing, whereas quite different and much more painful than for
any other sin is the punishment of someone who abandons
what is in accordance with nature [κατὰ φύσιν] and turns to the
destruction against nature [παρὰ φύσιν] of the Sodomites, some-
thing that even the brute beasts never do. After all, a brigand
separates the soul from the body, but he who sins against nature
kills the soul along with the body.a Those should pay attention
who are married with wives, and because of their own wan-
tonness and debauchery forsake those wives and destroy them-
selves with impure acts against nature: these will have no pos-
sible defence on the day of judgement. What justification for
their deeds will they be able to present when they see that there
are others alongside them who have preserved their virginity?
Comments
(1) Accepted and expanded in Coll. 23, Qu. 8 (= Qu. ed. 8
[cf. PG 89, 393C11-D2]), which also appears in Coll. d (Qu. 25);
omitted in Coll. b.
(2) Similarities with QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 97 (PG 28,
656D-657B).
Question 36
89 Question Some people want to say that repentanceb for sin
is this, to break off and to stop from it?
Answer As Holy Scripture says, Turn away from evil and do
good (Ps 33: 15), it is quite clear that to stop doing evil is only
the beginning of repentance; however that is not enough for
salvation. For tell me: supposing that somebody stops murder-
a
Cf. Mt 10: 28.
b
See Comment (3).

ing or stealing or robbing graves, is such a person already saved?

Certainly not! Consequently, in the case of any sin, we must,
once we have stopped sinning, also offer to God the fruits of
our repentance in amendment for that sin.
Comments
(1) For Coll. 23 (Qu. 4, also Qu. ed. 4 [PG 89, 357D3-6]) the
opening lines of the answer were used, but extra Scripture quotations
added; both versions appear to some extent in Coll. d (Qu. 26).
(2) In Coll. b a different version (Qu. 11), which is worth
quoting:
Question Some people say that repentance is this, to give up 176
and stop from sin.
Answer 1. Those who say this do not think rightly. For neither
if someone commits ten murders and stops from murdering are
those sins of murder already forgiven to that person, nor if some-
body has fornicated for many years and then when grown old,
stops from fornication, has that person already been welcomed as
somebody who repents. The reason is that if forgiveness for sins
came in that way from stopping to sin there is no need for prayer,
no need for fasting, no need for alms, no need for tears, no need for
separation from the world and for undergoing pain and for vigils.
2. Therefore the repentance which is acceptable is that taught
by the Holy Spirit through the blessed David, who says: Turn
away from evil, and do good (Ps 33: 15). The phrase “turn away from
evil” means to stop from sin; but the phrase “do good” means that
if yesterday you were drunk, today you will become abstemious, if
yesterday you copulated with other wives, today you will be con-
tinent even with your own. Yesterday you plundered the property
of others, today give away what is yours.a
(3) The different versions may be indebted to a Scholion
added to John Climacus, Scala Paradisi, gr. 5: Μετάνοιά ἐστι τὸ
ἀποστρέψαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. οὐ γὰρ ἔστι μία ἁμαρτία· ἀλλ’ὅλος ὁ
παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτία καλεῖται (PG 88, 781B9-10): “Repentance
is the turning away from sin, because there is not one sin, but the
entire old self is called sin”.b This definition of “repentance” is not
one of John’s own (given at the start of gr. 5), but is the second
of the anonymous scholia grouped as Scholia 1 to this chapter.
Unfortunately, “en dépit de tout ce qui a été édité [cf. CPG III,
pp. 477-478], le monde des scholies de la Scala Paradisi est encore
a
Cf. Lk 18: 22.
b
Cf. Rom 6: 6; Eph 4: 22; Col 3: 9.

mal connu. Il reste à y découvrir à la fois d’authentiques notes

rédigées pour expliquer l’oeuvre de Jean Climaque et des sentences
plus ou moins éclairantes empruntées à d’autres auteurs”,
J. Noret, “Le dernier binion du manuscrit Pantéléimon 548: du
Jean Climaque avec des scholies, partiellement inédites”, eds
A. Schoors & P. Van Deun, Philohistôr. Miscellanea in honorem
Caroli Laga septuagenarii, OLA 60, 1994, p. 256. The author of
this sentence remains to be identified.

Questions Relating to Sexual
Morality
Question 37
Question As those under the Law often had two wives at 89
the same time and were not condemned for it, is the same also
possible for Christians?
Answer 1. The Apostle says, A wife does not have power to
dispose of her body, but her husband has; similarly, neither does the
man, he says, have power to dispose of his body, but his wife has
(1 Cor 7: 4). Thus it is quite clear that if the husband were able
to take another wife along with the first, similarly so would the 90
wife be able to take another husband along with him and then
no longer would they be two in the one flesh (Gen 2: 24),a but
rather three or four.
2. But those who want to live like those under the Law fall
from the grace of Christ. The reason is that they were impi-
ous in the extreme, sacrificing their own sons and daughters to
demons;b therefore God was asking nothing more of them than
piety and justice,c as one can see from all the books of the Law.
But we who have been bought by the blood of Christ (Rev 5: 9) are
obliged to demonstrate our self-control [σωφροσύνη] and respect
for wisdom [φιλοσοφία]. Indeed the pattern and the norm set
a
Cf. Mt 19: 5; 1 Cor 6: 16.
b
Cf. Ps 105: 37.
c
Cf. Jer 7: 22-23; Mic 6: 8.

up for all humankind were Adam and Eve; the lust for several
women comes to us because of our wantonness and lack of fear
of God.
Comments
(1) This Qu. is found in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 99), and also in
Coll. d (Qu. 27); missing in Coll. b.
(2) A similar Qu. in QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 37 (PG 28,
657B-660A).
Question 38
Question Is it a good thing for somebody who has been in
bed with his own wife or who has had a nocturnal emission of
seed, to wash himself with water and then go straight to church?
Answer 1. For a Christian the true way of washing is with
his own tears. For there are two personally owned [ἐνυπόστατοι]
liquids that flow from the body, one of which can sanctify and
the other frequently defiles, viz. the semen and tears. Now, eve-
ry sin that a man may commit remains outside his body (1 Cor 6:
18), but when he fornicates it is as if he were offering his seed
from his own flesh in sacrifice to the wicked one. In a similar
way, whatever good one does, remains outside one’s body, but
tears are something that one offers to God in sacrifice [θυσία]
from our very own substance [οὐσία],a just like the blood of the
martyrs. That is why, as I have just said, the spiritual way of
washing is with tears.
2. However waters have also come into being to help purify
bodies. So those who lack the spiritual bath, which purifies the
soul, should at least wash their flesh with water, lest they incur
any sort of contempt, and then certainly partake of the holy
mysteries.
Comments
(1) A very similar question is asked and answered below: Qu. 67.
(2) The text of this Qu. was used by the compiler of Coll. 23
for his long question on πορνεία, Qu. 8 (= Qu. ed. 8, cf. PG 89,
392A7-B1).
a
The similarity in Greek between the two words allows some word-play.

Questions Relating to Sexual Morality, qq 37-38
(3) Included in Coll. c as Qu. 3, which is also found in Coll. d

(Qu. 28).
(4) In Coll. b three questions (QQ 21, 22, 23) deal with
the same theme; all three have links with the canonical work
attributed to Timothy of Alexandria:
[= Timothy of Alexandria, Responsio canonica, 5 (CPG 2520;
PG 33, 1300B9-C7; ed. P.-P. Joannou, Fonti, II, Rome, 1963,
pp. 242-243)]
Question If a woman sleeps with her husband at night, or a 185
husband with his own wife, and copulation takes place, should
they partake of the undefiled mysteries or not?
Answer They should not do so at once, as the Apostle cries
out: Do not deprive one another, except to some extent perhaps by
mutual agreement for a short period, so that you can apply your-
selves to abstinence and prayer, and then come together again as
before, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-
control (1 Cor 7: 5).
[§1 = Timothy of Alexandria, Responsio canonica, 12 (CPG
2520; PG 33, 1304C7-D2; ed. P.-P. Joannou, Fonti, II, Rome, 1963,
pp. 247-248); §2 = Dionysius of Alexandria, Epistula ad Basilidem
(CPG 1569; PG 10, 1288B11-C3; ed. C. L. Feltoe, The Letters and
Other Remains of Dionysius of Alexandria [Cambridge Patristic
Texts], Cambridge, 1904, p. 104, lines 4-9)]
Question If a layman has a ‘wet dream’, should he partake of 186
the divine mysteries or not?
Answer 1. If he is obsessed with a passion for a woman
[OR for his wife], he should not, but if Satan is tempting him, so
that with this excuse he may be kept away from the divine myster-
ies, he should receive communion, because the one tempting him
does not stop from pestering him at the time when he ought to be
receiving communion.
2. As for those who happen to have an unexpected nocturnal
emission, these should examine their own consciences, and they
should consider their particular cases, to see if they are guilty in
this matter or not, as in the case of what is to be eaten: Those who
have doubts are condemned if they eat (Rom 14: 23). However, in
these matters anyone who is on the way to God should follow his
individual option [τὸ ἴδιον ἐνθύμιον], with a good conscience and
full confidence.


[§1 = Timothy of Alexandria, Responsio canonica, 13 (CPG
2520; PG 33, 1305A4-B2; ed. P.-P. Joannou, Fonti, II, Rome, 1963,
pp. 248-249)]
187 Question In the case of couples yoked for marital intercourse,
on which days in the week should they be required to refrain from
intercourse with one another, and on which days should they be
authorized?
Answer 1. I say again now what I have already said:a the Apos-
tle says, Do not deprive one another, except to some extent perhaps by
mutual agreement for a set period, and so on (1 Cor 7: 5); however
of necessity one should refrain on Saturday and for Sunday, be-
cause on those days the spiritual sacrifice is offered to God.
2. As far as those outside are concerned, they consider that
purity and being pure consists of a man keeping apart from a
woman not his partner, and a woman from a man not her hus-
band. But for ecclesiastical chastity, it means refraining even from
one’s own wife during the prayer period, so that one may ap-
proach God with purity, and so that the Scripture quotations may
be fulfilled in our case: Let even those who have a wife be as if they
did not have one… (1 Cor 7: 29), for this is the wish of God, your
sanctity… (1 Thess 4: 3). And do not deprive one another, except to
some extent perhaps by mutual agreement for a set period (1 Cor 7:
5), as it is written. By “for a set period” [πρὸς καιρόν] I think that
nothing else is more appropriate for prayer than the period of the
holy Lenten fast and the Paschal feast. But for those who desire
188 to receive communion every Sunday I consider that the set period
would be the preparatory sanctification from the previous Friday.
As the old and proper Law says, For three days do not go near your
wife (Ex 19: 15), and again, Yesterday and the third day we have kept
away from a wife (1 Kings 21: 5-6).b
3. However if somebody is seething with the desire for God,
and is capable by pummelling and subduing his body to take up his
cross (1 Cor 9: 27; Mt 16: 24; Mk 8: 34; Lk 9: 23) and to receive
communion every day, this is truly pleasing to Christ and worthy
of all approbation (1 Tim 1: 15; 4: 9). For as often you eat this bread
and drink from this chalice, Scripture says, you announce the death
of the Lord (1 Cor 11: 26). However if someone because of the body
of our lowliness is caught out with some corporal delectation or
psychic passion, or again if he is not able to practice continence by
a
Cf. Coll. b, Qu. 21, above.
b
In both quotations the word translated “wife” could signify simply
“woman”.

Questions Relating to Sexual Morality, qq 38-39
mutual agreement (1 Cor 7: 5), as the Apostle says, because the flesh
has desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, for they
are opposed to each other (Gal 5: 17), it is absolutely necessary that
such a person should not receive communion before he has cleaned
away to the best of his ability any stain that may have affected
him, by means of assiduous prayer and a three-day sexual absti-
nence, so that we may not fall into hypocrisy, neglecting the divine
commands: for Accursed are those Scripture says who deviate from
your commandments (Ps 118: 21) and the one who performs negligently
the works of the Lord (Jer 31: 10).
4. You can see, beloved, that it is not only the gluttonous and
the boastful and the envious, but also the person subject to quick
temper or importuned into compliance with dirty thoughts. If
it is not possible for a person to approach the divine mysteries,
when out of inquisitive looking he has entertained a wet dream,
how much more justly should a person who has taken part in
copulation be prevented on that day? For “The holy things” are
not for the unhallowed and unworthy, but “for the holy” and the
worthy [cf. Liturgy of John Chrysostom, Prayer before commu-
nion (ed. F. E. Brightman, Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1
[Eastern Liturgies], Oxford, 1896, p. 393)].
Question 39
Question Is it also proper for somebody who has had a 92
nocturnal emission of seed to receive communion?
Answer It is my supposition that those who live in the
world are not to be condemned for this, provided that in other
respects they are careful.
Comments
(1) This Qu. is Qu. 4 in Coll. c; it figures in Coll. d (part of
Qu. 28), but was omitted by the compiler of Coll. a, although it
was added to this collection by Jacob Gretser along with the other
QQ from Coll. c (cf. Qu. ed. 98 ter).
(2) In Coll. b a similar question, Qu. 22, appears; this is given
above, Qu. 38, Comment (4), and, as noted there, is linked to the
canons of Timothy of Alexandria.

Questions Relating to
Communion
Question 40
Question If somebody involuntarily drinks water when
washing out one’s mouth or when in the bath, should such a
person go to communion or not?
Answer Yes. Otherwise Satan would do the same frequent-
ly, once he had found the occasion for preventing such a person
from taking communion. In exactly the same way the Fathers
93 do not exclude even the man who has had a wet dream from
receiving communion. However on approaching the mysteries
we should approach with awe, just as the womana with the flux
of blood approached Christ.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 100), and also in Coll. d (part
of Qu. 28)
(2) Included in Coll. c as Qu. 5.
(3) The first part of the Answer reproduces the text found in
Timothy of Alexandria, Responsio, No. 16 (Joannou, p. 251, PG 33,
1308A11-B2); however, as with Qu. 12 (see there Comment [2]) the
true author of this Qu. is doubtful (cf. CPG 2520) and may well
have been Anastasios.
a
Cf. Mt 9: 20.

Questions Relating to Communion, qq 40-41
Question 41
Question Is it a good thing to receive communion every
day or at certain intervals, or only every Sunday?
Answer 1. This question does not have a single, overall re-
ply. There are some for whom daily reception is appropriate,
and others for whom this is not convenient, and yet others for
whom perhaps the most appropriate is not to receive commun-
ion at all. Again there are some who stay away from the myster-
ies and in consequence commit sin without scruple, like the
Armenian race, whereas others receive communion as a safe-
guard, and yet others who communicate with contempt allow- 94
ing more room in their souls to Satan, as happened with Judas,
for along with the bread, Satan entered into him (Jn 13: 27),
while others, because they are in expectation of receiving com-
munion, take precautions against sin. Further there are some
who out of compunction and sorrow withdraw themselves
from the mysteries for some time, and in my opinion these also
act rightly and do not allow so much room in themselves for
the devil.
2. Quite simply, to sum up what I mean, each person’s con-
science is the norm for reception of the holy mysteries, and
in this respecta I know of somebody (τινά μοι) who said to me
recently,
“I would have liked, if it were possible, to receive commun-
ion three times a day because of my great affection for Christ,
especially”, he said, “when the soul has been rubbed clean with
alms-giving.b
3. For somebody (τις) recounted to me:c
On a certain occasion a philochristos (devout Christian)
came to the monastery at Raïthou; he commissioned prayers
at one nomisma for each of the brethren, and similarly donated 95
a
See Comment (4): at this point a different version has been added.
b
On the cleansing effect of alms-giving, cf. Tobit 4: 10; Sirach 3: 30; Dan.
4: 24, and see Comment (3): here begins the version found in Coll. b (Qu. 20).
c
Cf. Apophthegmata Patrum, Collectio anonyma, [CPG 5561], Nau 571 (cf. J.-
C. Guy, Recherches, p. 69). The narrator of the story seems to have been speak-
ing to the “somebody” mentioned earlier.

a nomisma to a hermit [ἐγκλειστός] of the community. The

following night, the hermit saw a field full of thistles and the
monks weeding them; somebody said to him as well, “Out you
go! You also have to weed in the field the thistles belonging to
the one who gave you a nomisma, because you have accepted
your wage.” Next morning the hermit sent for the man, giving
him back his nomisma with the words, “Take back, brother,
what you have given me. It is not my business to weed the this-
tles of other men’s sins; I would that I could clear out my own!”
4. From another source we also learn that very often our
sins are forgiven because of alms-giving. The Emperor Zenoa
had deflowered some young maiden and then abandoned her.
The mother of the girl was praying in supplication against the
Emperor to the holy Theotokos; then the holy Virgin appeared
to her saying, “Believe me, woman, I have frequently desired to
pay back that Zeno, but his hand stops me by the alms it gives.”
Comments
(1) This Qu. (also found as an isolated Qu., e.g. Paris. Gr. 1335)
seems to have inspired Qu. 7 (= Qu. ed. 7) in the Coll. 23 as it
has taken over some lines (cf. PG 89, 385C-388B); this version was
included in Coll. d (Qu. 29).
(2) It is included in Coll. c (Qu. 6).
(3) Another version appears in Coll. b as Qu. 20, and this is
given here (Greek text, CCSG 59, Appendix 10a). The alternative
tradition for this text, though varied, is hardly proof of authen-
ticity; it is found e.g. in Vaticanus graecus 1600, ff.159-161, from
which it was published by G. Hofmann (cf. CCSG 59, p. 180),
and also in the tradition of the Narrationes (cf. Binggeli, pp. 284-
8); parts of it are to be found in the 13th century compilation,
the Thesaurus attributed to Theognostos, XVII, B8, B4, B7 (ed.
J. A. Munitiz, CCSG 5, pp. 176-180). However, the construction
of the authentic answer, a eulogy of communion that diverts into
considerations on almsgiving, is not very satisfactory.
Coll. b, Qu. 20 [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 10a]
180 Question Is it a good thing to receive communion every day
or at certain intervals, or only every Sunday?
a
Cf. John Moschos, Pratum Spirituale, 175 (PG 87/3, 3044B1-11).

Questions Relating to Communion, qU. 41
Answer (inc. Qu. 41, §§ 1-2

1. This question does not have a single, overall reply. There are
some for whom daily reception is appropriate, and others for whom
this is not convenient, and yet others for whom perhaps the most
appropriate is not to receive communion at all. Again there are some
who stay away from the mysteries and in consequence commit sin
without scruple, like the Armenian race, whereas others receive com-
munion as a safeguard, and yet others who communicate with con-
tempt allowing more room in their souls to Satan, as happened with
Judas, for along with the bread, Satan entered into him, while others,
because they are in expectation of receiving communion, take precau-
tions against sin. Further there are some who out of compunction and
sorrow withdraw themselves from the mysteries for some time, and in
my opinion these also act rightly and do not allow so much room in
themselves for the devil.
2. Quite simply, to sum up what I mean, each person’s conscience
is the norm for reception of the holy mysteries, and in this respect I
know of somebody who said to me recently, “I would have liked, if
it were possible, to receive communion three times a day because of
my great affection for Christ, especially”, he said, “when the soul has
been rubbed clean with alms-giving).
1. But we should not approach the sacred and undefiled
mysteries unprepared and unworthily; as the blessed Paul exhorts
saying, One should examine oneself, and then eat of the bread and
drink of the cup; anyone who eats and drinks unworthily eats and
drinks judgement for oneself, for failing to distinguish the body and
blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11: 28).a
2. However if we fail in minor human matters, that are easily
forgiven, such as being inveigled by the tongue, or the hearing, or
the eyes, or because of vanity, pique, annoyance, or something of
that sort, after having blamed ourselves and confessed before God
let us partake of the holy mysteries, having trust that the recep-
tion of the divine mysteries takes place for the absolution of such
faults.
3. But if we have committed some serious faults, matters con-
cerned with fornication, sins of the flesh and impurity, and if we
guard rancour against our neighbours, then by no means should 181
we approach the divine mysteries until we have made proper re-
pentance. This is something that even the Law in Scripture teach-
es us: when David along with his bodyguard ate of the loaves of
a
Cf. Qu. ed. 7 (PG 89, 385C-D).

offering in Bethlehem, Abiathar the High Priesta would not give

them a share until he had first asked them if they were pure of any
sin with a woman.b
4. Since, as weak carnal human beings, we are riddled with
many sins, not keeping ourselves clear of sins of the flesh, God has
given us different types of sacrifices for the forgiveness of our sins;
if we offer them up to Him, they purify us prior to approaching
the divine mysteries. For almsgiving is a sacrifice that cleans away
sin: By giving alms and credit, Scripture says, sins are cleaned away
(Prov 15: 27a). And another Scripture text says, A person’s almsgiv-
ing wins forgiveness for great sins (Tobit 4: 10; 12: 9; Sirach 3: 30;
Dan 4: 24).
5. There is another sacrifice of our salvation that serves to re-
move sins. David the Prophet says, Sacrifice to God is a broken
spirit; a broken and humbled heart God will not despise (Ps 50: 19).
So if we offer these sacrifices to God, even if we have some human
failings we will be able to approach the holy mysteries with fear
and trembling and contrition and confession, just as the woman
who suffered from haemorrhages approached Christ, weeping
and fearful because of her own impurity of blood.c
6. There is a sin which is mortal (1 Jn 5: 16), and there is a
sin which can be forgiven; there is a sin for which a remedy
can be found, and there is another which is incurable. But true
repentance can cure everything. There is a different sort of pardon
182 for the person who with fear and trembling and confession and
contrition approaches the divine mysteries; and another punish-
ment for the person who approaches without scruple and with
contempt. Therefore, brethren, let us approach the divine and
unblemished mysteries with full humility and confession and fear
and trembling. In the case of those who approach contemptu-
ously and unworthily, not only will pardon for their sins not be
given, but the devil will leap all the more into them.d On the
other hand those who approach the divine mysteries with fear
are not only made holy and gain forgiveness for their sins, but
they also expel the devil from within them. And now, listen to a
surprising story about this.
a
Abimelech or Aminelech is the name found in the LXX; there he is the
‘priest’, not the High Priest, and Abiathar is his son; cf. 1 Kings 22: 20.
b
Cf. 1 Kings 21: 4-5; Qu. ed. 7 (PG 89, 388A14-B5), and also Qu. 67 below.
c
Cf. Mt 9: 20.
d
Jn 13: 27; also Anastasios of Sinai, Homilia de sacra synaxi (PG 89, 832B12-C3).

7. In our generation there was a certain Jewish sorcerer,

aniel.a While he was undergoing examination prior to being
D
executed by burning he called out, “What terrible force! Behold
an angel of God is torturing me to make me say to Christians
what I would not want to say. I swear by the hour of this my ex-
treme necessity that my poisons never had any force against some-
one who had received communion of the holy mysteries every day
in a proper and whole-hearted fashion.”
8. But I shall confirm what has been said by another true
story.b I once knew another servant of Christ who had gained the
ability to speak face-to-face with devils; he would ask them about
many secret things, that tend to be advantageous for humans,
and among them there were the following two. This man of God
asked them if they were afraid of the Our Father (Mt 6: 9) prayer,
of the 90th Psalm, and of the prayer, God is with us! Know this,
you peoples, and be submissive.c The devils replied saying, “These
prayers do us no harm.” But when he wanted to ask them about
the beginning of Psalm 67 which says, Let God rise up, and let 183
his enemies be scattered (Ps 67: 1), he had hardly begun the Psalm
when the devils yelled out saying, “Do not say those words! Oth-
erwise we will not give you any more answers. You humans have
no other prayer so strong at dissolving our power like that one.”
9. Then afterwards this man of God asked them saying, “Of
all the things that have been entrusted to the Christians by God,
which are those which you fear?” They then said to him: “In re-
ality you Christians have three things which are very powerful
against us. The first of these you eat, the second you hang around
your necks, and with the third you bathe yourselves.” The wicked
devils indicated by these ‘three’: holy communion, the revered
cross, and holy baptism. Then the man of God asked them, “And
which of the these three do you fear by far the most?” They re-
plied saying, “If you were to take care of the power of that which
you eat, we would be completely unable to come near or harm
that person.”
(4) As an example of how texts were borrowed and re-used
by other authors, cf. the Qu. composed by Markianos [CPG
3885-3900] and added by Nikon of the Black Mountain to his
Pandektes, cf. J. Kirchmeyer, “Le moine Marcien (de Bethléhem ?)”,
a
Cf. Narrationes (Nau L; Binggeli, II, 16), i.e. BHG 1444vd; CPG 7758, B8.
b
Cf Narrationes (Nau LIII, Binggeli, II, 20 and Appendix 4, lines 82-90),
i.e. BHG 1444w, CPG 7758, C11.
c
Words found in the Mega Apodeipnon (compline), cf. Ὡρολόγιον τὸ Μέγα,
Athens, 19776, p. 164.

Studia Patristica, V (TU 80), Berlin, 1962, pp. 341-359 [especially

p. 353, note]:
Example of re-used text [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix
10b]
Question Is it a good thing to receive communion every day
or at certain intervals, or only every Sunday?
Answer (inc. Qu. 41, §§1-2)
1. This question does not have a single, overall reply. There are
some for whom daily reception is appropriate, and others for whom
this is not convenient, and yet others for whom perhaps the most
appropriate is not to receive communion at all. Again there are some
who stay away from the mysteries and in consequence commit sin
without scruple, like the Armenian race, whereas others receive com-
munion as a safeguard, and yet others who communicate with con-
tempt allowing more room in their souls to Satan, as happened with
Judas, for along with the bread, Satan entered into him, while others,
because they are in expectation of receiving communion, take pre-
cautions against sin. Further there are some who out of compunction
and sorrow withdraw themselves from the mysteries for some time,
and in my opinion these also act rightly and do not allow so much
room in themselves for the devil.
2. Quite simply, to sum up what I mean, each person’s conscience
is the norm for reception of the holy mysteries, and in this respect…)
184 1. … just as Judas, after he had taken the morsel from the Lord
was then seized and mastered by Satan (cf. Jn 13: 27), so those who
put the Lord to the test and approach unworthily communion
with Him, after they have taken the bread, then they are aban-
doned, not so that they can be mastered by Satan, like Judas,a but
so that being chastised with mercy they may not be judged and
condemned with Judas.
2. But for those who approach worthily, the Spirit of the Lord
rested upon them and encamps among them,b and they rejoice in
Him; as it is written, Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood
remain in me and I in them (Jn 6: 56).
3. So in my opinion it is advantageous for those who have
some sins that they look out for the sudden Judgement and
abstain from communion and profit from this bitter lesson in
order that they may not be brought to their senses more sharply
and taught not to disregard Holy Scripture, if they approach con-
temptuously, but rather learn to be patient. As the blessed Apostle
a
Cf. Mt 27: 5, and also Qu. 18, §1.
b
Cf. Num 11: 25; Ps 5: 12.

rightly teaches, One should examine oneself, and then eat of the
bread and drink of the cup; anyone who eats and drinks unworthily
eats and drinks judgement for oneself, for failing to distinguish the
body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11: 28-29).
4. But those whose conscience is clear of anything wrong
should receive communion more frequently without hindrance,
so that grace being multiplied in them may equip them as more
ready for the fruit of justification.
5. However supposing that they seek out communion with-
out being worthy but to gain help for themselves and not for any
other human motive, we would not criticise them given that they
are trying to get help; nor is it through dislike for them that we
would oppose their desire, but rather pretending their own good.
So let them give up their evil ways (Acts 3: 26), and let them no
longer walk in those paths; let them show fruit worthy of their
reform (Mt 3: 8), so that being shown worthy they may be worthy
of it [= communion].
6. On the other hand those who have become worthy of it 185
[= communion], let them not be careless; rather let them take
thought to lead ever more prudent lives, and let them devote
themselves to prayer with ever greater assiduity. So envy will not
darken their gaze, nor guile deceive their hearts, so that being
tripped up they fall short of its chastity. As Scripture says, “The
fascination of wickedness obscures the things that are good, and roving
desire undermines an innocent mind” (Wisdom 4: 12).

Masses for the Dead
Question 42
96 Question Some people raise doubts saying, “The dead are
not helped at all by the liturgies celebrated on their behalf.”
Answer On this subject my reply to you will be not of my
own invention but taken from the apostolic father, Dionysius
the Areopagite: in his work On the mystery of those who have
died this father says: “If the sins of the person who has died
are minor and unimportant, such a one receives some assist-
ance from the liturgies offered on behalf of that person; but if
they were serious and grave, God shut him in”.a However, we
should preoccupy ourselves about our own souls and not pin
our hopes on winning forgiveness through the offerings made
by others after death.
Comments
(1) Included almost without change in Coll. 23 (Qu. 22) and
hence in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 22; cf. PG 89, 536C-D); it figures in
Coll. d as Qu. 30.
(2) Included in Coll. c (Qu. 7), and then added by Gretser to
Coll. a as an extra, Qu. ed. 100 ter (PG 89, 753C-756A), so that a
similar text appears there twice.
(3) A similar question in QQ ad Antiochum (Qu. 34 [PG 28,
617A-B]), but a different answer.
a
Cf. Ps.-Dionysius Areopagita, Eccles. Hier., 7, 7 (ed. G. Heil & A.M. Ritter
[PTS 36], Berlin-New York, 1991, pp. 127-129; PG 3, 561C-564B); cf. Job 3: 23.

Masses for the Dead, qq 42-43
Question 43
Question If somebody has killed two or even more men, 97
and is then arrested and dies, is such a person forgiven or not?
Answer As God says in the Law, An eye for an eye, and a life
for a life (Ex 21: 23-24),a I cannot say one life <can repay> for
many lives. There are some persons who are different from ten
thousand others, either as teachers or as feeders of the poor; if
a murderer kills one of these, he kills not a single person, but a
people, and therefore is responsible for ten thousand deaths, as
happened with Herod when he killed the Forerunner,b and with
the other criminals who executed the Apostles. It would have
been better for Nero to have killed all the city of Rome, which
was unbelieving, than to have killed off the breath of the world,
the blessed Paul.c
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 101), and in Coll. b (Qu. 30).
(2) In Coll. d there is a paraphrastic version (Qu. 31).
(3) A similar question and answer in QQ ad Antiochum (Qu.
129 [PG 28, 677D-680A]), but with many differences from the
Anastasian text.
a
Cf. Lev 24: 20-21; Mt 5: 38; the last words are not explicit in the sources.
b
Cf. Mt 14: 1-12; Mk 6: 17-29.
c
Cf. Eusebius of Caesarea, Hist. Eccl., 2, 25, 5-6 (ed. E. Schwartz [GCS 9,
1], Leipzig, 1903, p. 176).

Questions Involving Money
Question 44
Question Is money derived from thefts and injustice, and
offered to God, acceptable to Him?
98 Answer 1. There are thefts and there is injustice. It is one
thing to misappropriate sacred funds, and another in the case
of revenue which comes from the land and the sea of unbeliev-
ers; it is one thing to treat unjustly peasants and poor folk, and
another to snatch from well-off wicked and avaricious people.
2. However, God does not inquire about the number (τὰ πολλὰ)
but only about the intention; and if it is completely impossible
for you not to practise some injustice, it is better that the profits
made from unjust dealings be expended for good purposes,a and
not that what derives from what is bad be used for what is bad.
Very clearly, the money derived from injustice to the peasants and
the poor is quite unacceptable to God and bears a curse.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 102) and also in Coll. d
(Qu. 32).
(2) Omitted in Coll. b, however cf. Qu. 83 below, Comment (2);
(3) A similar question in QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 87 [PG 28,
649D-652A], but a different answer.
(4) The problem raised in this question re-appears in Qu. 83
below.
a
Cf. Lk 16: 9.

questions involving money, QQ 44-45
Question 45
Question God says, “Gold and silver are mine, and I give
them to whom I wish”;a so, is it true that anyone who is rich has
been enriched by God?
Answer Nobody who has amassed riches from wars, and
bloodshed, and thefts, and perjuries, and robberies, and taking
bribes, and other unjust acts, can say “I have been enriched 99
by God”, but by the Evil One. Only those who amass wealth
from honest and sinless sources can say with Job, The Lord has
given, the Lord has taken away (Job 1: 21). So it is obvious that it
is useless for those to offer thanks to God who heap up wealth
unjustly.
Comments
(1) A similar version of this Qu. was included in Coll. 23
(Qu. 11) and hence appears in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 11) and is also
found as such in Coll. d (Qu. 33).
(2) The original Qu. figures in Coll. b (Qu. 25).
a
Cf. Hag 2: 8.

Moral Problems
Question 46
Question Given that we often hear the word of God, but
do not put it into practice,a is it possible that we shall not be
condemned?
Answer Even if we do not put it into practice, still it is not
possible not to blame ourselves, because we hear and fail to
listen. And self-blame is part of the business of saving ourselves.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 103), but omitted in Coll. d.
Numbered Qu. 19 in Coll. b.
(2) Found as Timothy of Alexandria, Responsio, No. 17 (Joan-
nou, p. 251; the version in PG 33, 1308B3-9 differs); see Qu. 18
(Comment [2]).
Question 47
100 Question If somebody has built up a habit of carnal sin
and has grown old in it, and he realizes in himself that he is
now incapable of fasting, or of undertaking penance or sleeping
on the floor, or of giving up everything and entering a monas-
tery, how can such a person reach salvation when he is now old,
and how can he win forgiveness for his sins?
Answer From the Lord’s words, My yoke is gentle, and my
burden is light (Mt 11: 30), it is clear that even someone who is
a
Cf. Mt 7: 26; Lk 6: 49.

Moral Problems, qq 46-47
old and weak is capable of keeping the law of the Lord. And
indeed He did not stipulate virginity for us, nor withdrawal
from all the things of the world, and not even abstinence from
meat and wine, but to love God, to love one’s neighbour,a not
to be spiteful, nor to judge others, to be humble and as com-
passionate as possible, to pray within our hearts, to support
misfortunes, to be mild and peace-loving. Now all these are
things that a sickly man and an old man, somebody confined
to his bed or married to a wife in the world, is able to do. If he
does these things, he will certainly be saved, no matter if he has
committed all the sins of that famous Manasses,b the king.
Comments
(1) Used in a longer version in Coll. 23 (Qu. ed. 5), and this is
also found in Coll. d (Qu. 34).
(2) Included in Coll. c (Qu. 8), and thus added by Gretser to
Coll. a (Qu. ed. 1004).
(3) In Coll. b there are two different, but related questions
(QQ 6, 9):
Question Supposing that an old man is weak and timid, and 172
that he is not able to enter a monastery or perform monastic du-
ties, how can such a man repent and be saved?
Answer 1. From the Lord’s words, My yoke is gentle and my
burden is light (Mt 11: 30), it is quite clear that even someone who
is old and weak is capable of keeping the Lord’s commandment.
For it is written, The ways of the Lord are straight, and the just make
progress along them, but the impious [ἀσεβεῖς] (or rather, the sickly
[ἀσθενεῖς]) will be weak along them (Hos 14: 10).
2. Indeed he did not stipulate celibacy for us, nor withdrawal
from all the things of the world, but that we should love God and
the neighbour, be humble and compassionate, pray, support mis-
fortunes, be mild and peace-loving, not to be spiteful nor to judge
others, not to lie. As the divine Apostle says, Let us put off the deeds
of darkness and let us put on the armour of light (Rom 13: 12). So no-
body should concoct pretexts for sins (Ps 140: 4); the kind God wishes
all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2: 4).
a
Cf. Mk 12: 30-31.
b
Cf. 2 Chr 33: 1-20; Anastasios of Sinai, Homilia in sextum Psalmum (rec. 1)
(CPG 7751 [1]; PG 89, 1104-1105), and see Qu. 88 below.

174 Question If someone has grown old in sins, but while at prayer
proposes a covenant between oneself and God saying, “Forgive me,
Lord, any sins I have committed up to now, and in future I shall not
continue my former sins, nor return in any way to them, but confess
to your name.” If someone makes this sort of covenant with God
and dies a few days later, what should one think of such a person?
Answer The proposal was accepted by God and for that per-
son “where one reaches, there one will be ranked”,a i.e. among
those saved by repentance. It depends indeed on the individual if
one repents and abandons one’s sin, but it depends on God if that
person lives for many years. In this case, one offered this undertak-
ing expecting to live a long life in repentance, but God, foreseeing
how corrupt and fallible and fickle we are with respect to sin, has
often acted in this way, and when He has seen someone turn to
repentance, God has quickly removed that person from life and
saved the person. As God He foresaw that with a longer life in the
world, the person would have returned perhaps once more to sin.
(4) Among the QQ ad Antiochum there is a similar question,
Qu. 92 (PG 28, 653C-D) but a very different answer.
Question 48
101 Question How many ways are there of being saved and
receiving pardon from God for sins?
Answer Three: the first is by never committing sin, the sec-
ond is by a proper repentance, and there is a third way of be-
ing saved for those who have sinned, by supporting trials and
tribulations and by patience, in accordance with the Scripture
saying, With a muzzle and bridle you squeeze the jaws of those
who do not come near to you (Ps 31: 9), as happened with King
Nabouchodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar].b Occasionally indeed
God engulfs in trials the sinner who will not repent, and such
a person reaches humility through these trials, and through
humility and confession is saved without having practised
asceticism, as did the tax-gatherer and the thief.c
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 104, and in all the other collec-
tions: Coll. b (Qu. 13); Coll. c (Qu. 9); Coll. d (Qu. 35); known al-
a
Cf. Eccl 11: 3.
b
Cf. Dan 4: 28.
c
Cf. Lk 18: 13; 23: 43.

Moral Problems, qQ 47-48
so to the compiler of Coll. 23 (Qu. 9 = Qu. ed. 89), who borrowed

a few lines and the quotation from Psalm 31 (cf. PG 89, 412A-B).a
(2) A related erotapokrisis, ascribed to Anastasios in an unusu-
al collection of QQ, has been found by a French scholar, Joseph
Paramelle, in a fourteenth-century Roman manuscript, Vallicel-
lanus C 72 (gr. 42), ff. 238-269;b there it is the first Qu. but the
answer seems unrelated to the first QQ in the Authentic collection
(the other QQ follow rather the order of Coll. a, although the sec-
ond seems to be the same as Qu. 18 above, also found in Coll. 23).
Quaestio isolata [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 26]
Question Tell us, father, how ought we to be saved? 229
Answer 1. The Lord our God teaches us saying, Search the
scriptures, and you will find in them eternal life (Jn 5: 39). And He
says truly, for all scripture is inspired by God and helpful (2 Tim
3: 16), and for that reason in everything that we say and do we
should have evidence from the holy scriptures, lest misled by hu-
man ways of thought we fall away from the straight path and fall
into the pit of destruction. Therefore we should always study the
sacred scriptures with fear and longing, and arouse ourselves and
others in remembrance of God’s commands: For the command-
ment of the Lord is radiant, enlightening the eyes (Ps 18: 9).
2. Let us do this everywhere, while in church, and on the road,
and on board ship, and at table, so that we may not recklessly sate
ourselves and be led astray from the Lord and talk nonsense, like
the people of old: for eating and drinking they rose up to play (1 Cor
10: 7; Ex 32: 6) and were destroyed. May God not say also of us,
“This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
me” (Mt 15: 8; Mk 7: 6; Isa 29: 13). The table that lacks the word
of God is like a manger of brute beasts, while the just man who
eats His word fills the soul with the words of God: For not by bread
alone does one live, but by every word of God (Mt 4: 4; Deut 8: 3).
3. Therefore, brethren, knowing what glory and unspeakable 230
joy will come to the just on the day of judgement, and (alas!) what
severe and painful affliction and unending punishment to sinners,
let us strive while we are still alive to please God with confession
and pure repentance, for after death there is no repentance. That
is why while there is time we ought to implore God with tears,
night and day, that He may have mercy and save us from our fail-
ings, because He is good and kind.
a
D.T. Sieswerda, Pseudo-Anastasios, p. 130.
b
Cf. E. Martini, Catalogo di manoscritti greci esistenti nelle biblioteche ital-
iane, t. II, Milan, 1902, pp. 72-76; two dates are mentioned in the manuscript,
1386 and 1397, cf. P. G. Nikolopoulos, Αἱ εἰς τὸν Ἰωάννην τὸν Χρυσόστομον
ἐσφαλμένως ἀποδιδόμεναι ἐπιστολαί, Athens, 1973, pp. 51-52, with Photo. 38.

Devotional Practices
Question 49
102 Question What are we to do when frequently, while we are
in church, we want to shed tears for our sins and we are unable
to do so?
Answer 1. Tears because of God are a gift of God given by
the Holy Spirit to a person, a second baptisma which I may dare
to describe as more necessary than the baptism at the font. The
reason is that we nearly all defile our first baptism as we grow
up, but through tears, as if by water and the spirit (Jn 3: 5) we
are purified once more. Indeed that is one more way in which
we disprove that the Jews and the Arabs have the Holy Spirit,
because none of them ever sheds tears in prayer because of sins.
2. However there are among us some hearts which by natu-
ral character [φυσικῶς] are more hard-hearted and dry; this is es-
pecially true of those who are choleric, bitter and spiteful. And
again there are other hearts more gentle by natural disposition,
103 and more easily moved to contrition. Therefore the person who
is by nature [ἐκ φύσεως] hard of heart and not easily contrite,
someone who cannot shed a tear even for the dead, not even
for his/her own children, nor for any other misfortune, and
cannot look gloomy before God, should beat the breast, cut out
a
Among the Fathers “second baptism” is a standard description of tears:
cf. G. W. H. Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon, s.v. δάκρυον.

Devotional Practices, qq 49-50
laughter, lower the eyes – and then God will concede to that
person also the ability to weep.
3. However please note that the prayer which takes place
in your own private rooma is much more beneficial than that
performed in church before everyone.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 105, and also in Coll. c
(Qu. 10) and in Coll. d (Qu. 36).
(2) In the QQ ad Antiochum Qu. 80 (PG 28, 648B-C) deals
with a similar topic incorporating some similar phrases.
Question 50
Question How does someone know that God has forgiven
one’s sins, and that one will find complete mercy on the day of
judgement?
Answer 1. From one’s own conscience, and from the confi-
dence that the soul feels in prayer to God.
2. When a person deserves punishment, that person is like
a condemned criminal standing before a governor and having
no confidence at all; that is how the soul presents herself before
God in prayer, with her conscience belabouring her, for she 104
knows that she is worthy of punishment.
3. But when someone begins to repent before God, then
there is a feeling of some slight relief, and that person can be
present before God in prayer no longer as a condemned crimi-
nal, but more like someone who is a debtor and asking to be let
off; then again leaving this level, if one takes thought for one-
self, one can present oneself as a master’s loving slave; and then
going even further from there one can converse with God as if
one were a paid servant who has no debts outstanding.
4. Gradually then as the soul advances, becoming lightened
of all her burdens, she can converse with God and stand in
His presence like one friend with another,b and like a bride
with her bridegroom, and like a true son with his own father.
a
Cf. Mt 6: 6.
b
Cf. Jn 15: 15.

Then there are no fears, no obligation, no sentiment of any

sort of punishment, but only full love and continuous joy and
unfailing confidence, a happiness for the soul, with transports
[σκιρτήματα] and an endless exultation – as those recount to us
who, by the grace of Christ, have reached such stages.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 106, and in Coll. d (Qu. 37),
but not in Coll. c.
(2) In Coll. b (Qu. 24) there is a longer answer, worth quoting;
it was published in a Russian journal by N. Suvorov (1903) from a
Viennese manuscript (Vindob. Theol. Gr. 33), and appears referred
to in a 12th century hagiographic text, the vita of Cyril Phileotes,
ed. E. Sargologos, La vie de Saint Cyrille le Philéote moine byzantin
(†1110), [SH 39], Brussels, 1964, pp. 73-74:
Coll. b, qu. 24 [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 14]
189 Question How does someone know that God has forgiven
his or her sins?
Answer 1. In our prayer, when on our own, with no one
watching or listening, we present ourselves to God, then the
soul knows what is God’s relationship with her and her relation-
ship with God. For there are seven kinds [τρόποι] and varieties
[διαφοραί] of prayer, and of these three exist under the influence
of fear and hell, while the other four are proper to those who are
saved and have a share in the kingdom of God.
2. When one is sunk deep in pleasures, one presents oneself in
prayer like a condemned person, with no confidence at all, as if
expecting the death penalty. Again the second kind occurs when
a person presents oneself and addresses God like a debtor. The
third kind is different from the other two; it is as when a slave
approaches the master, however slaves also are subject to fear and
lashes. The fourth kind occurs when one deals with God like a
paid servant, free from slavery and expecting to receive a salary
because of God’s human kindness. The fifth kind is higher than
the other four; it is when a person comes before God as a friend
and chats with Him. The sixth kind is higher than this, when one
has confidence with God like a son: For I said, ‘You are gods and
sons of the Most High’ (Ps 81: 6), all who so desire. The seventh
kind and progress [προκοπή], the highest of all, is adopting broth-
erhood with Christ, who became first-born among many brothers
(Rom 8: 29), believers, so that they were heirs of God and co-heirs
of Christ (Rom 8: 17), as Paul cries out.

Devotional Practices, qq 50-51
3. Therefore, when someone speaks with God in prayer like a 190

criminal, or like a debtor, or like a slave under the fear of the lash,
such a person has not become free from personal sins; but where
the Holy Spirit is a frequent visitor, there is freedom from sins.
Our Lord himself has commanded us in this way saying, Anyone
who loves me will keep my commandments, and I will love that per-
son and show myself to such a one (Jn 14: 15, 21). Thus the true sign
of a Christian’s forgiveness of sins is this: the revelation of Christ
that happens in the soul. Blessed, says Scripture, are the pure of
heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5: 8).
(3) In the QQ ad Antiochum, QQ 78 and 122 (PG 28, 645C-D,
676B1-6) give similar answers with different words.
Question 51
Question Christ said, It is not what enters through the mouth 104
that defiles a person (Mt 15: 11), <so> why did the Fathersa stipu-
late that we should not eat meat on the holy fast days?
Answer 1. In the case of all fasting, sleeping on the ground, 105
abstaining from wine and refraining from certain foods, piety
[εὐσεβεία] has two aims: the one is that by not enjoying the
pleasures of this world, we may eventually enjoy in place of
them the good things that are to come. That is why withdrawal
from the world and virginity have come into being, so that we
may gain eternal goods instead of passing advantages. However
a second aim of fasting and of abstaining from meat was in-
tended, viz. that the soul and logical thinking [λογισμός] should
be humbled along with the body being humbled; once the soul
is humbled, one implores God sincerely and with true repent-
ance, and thus one receives forgiveness.
2. However one should take note that if someone refrains
from meat, but pampers and fattens the body with other foods
and drinks, that person is not helped by fasting.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. b (Qu. 38).
a
A useful summary of the Patristic teaching on fasting in G. W. H. Lampe,
Patristic Greek Lexicon, s.v. νηστεία.

(2) This is one of the QQ taken over and incorporated in

Coll. 88, Qu. 74 (cf. Qu. ed. 64, PG 89, 660D1-4, 661B4-C1);
omitted in Coll. c, and in Coll. d.
(3) A question [CPG 7746 (2)] attributed to Anastasios, but
not found in the Collections, concerns fasting; it appears in sev-
eral manuscripts and was published by I.-B. Pitra, Iuris ecclesiastici
graecorum historia et monumenta, t. 2, Rome, 1868, pp. 274-275.
Quaestio isolata [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 27]
230 <Question> With the most honoured father presiding a
question was put by some: “Why, most honoured father, do we
observe any Wednesday, as well as any Friday, without fail?”
<Answer> 1. In reply to them he gave a spoken answer as
follows. “How would it have been possible for us not to observe
Wednesdays as well as Fridays? Because on one of these days our
Lord and master poured out his revered blood on the life-giving
wood of the revered cross (cf. Jn 19: 31-34), so that he might give
new life to our corrupted nature. And on the other the Jews held
their empty council concerning the cross,a and the four-part cross
of the Lord was made on the fourth of days so that the one fixed
to it might bring salvation through it to the four-part complex of
creation.
2. The wonders worked by Christ are wondrous, varied, divine
and grandiose, but the most wonderful of them all that exists is
the revered and life-giving cross of the Lord.
Through no other is death made of no account, except
through it;
231 through it the sin of our first ancestor is absolved;
through it Hades is harrowed;
through it resurrection is granted;
through it the gates of Paradise are opened;
through it the mystery of God’s plan [oikonomia] is established
and proclaimed; because it is
through it that we the believers are set apart from the unbe-
lievers and are recognized.b
3. This is our shield and weapon and trophy against the devil,
and it rightly deserves our prostrate homage because it was made
holy being touched by the revered body and blood. Moreover by
honouring this very day we are also kept unsullied, not because
we honour some matter (God forbid!), but as honouring the
a
Cf. Mk 14: 1-2.
b
For these lines, cf. John of Damascus, Expos. Fidei 84, 21-24 (ed. Kotter, IV
11: PG 94, 1128-1129).

Devotional Practices, qU. 51
image, as a symbol of Christ, of his tomb and glory and rising

from the dead.a
4. How can that day be other than honoured because of the
cross, given that on that day it <the cross> was made, on that day
the Lord displayed it in heaven by means of the stars to Emperor
Constantineb and said to him, “In this conquer your enemies!”?
And also on this day, as we shall discover, the discovery of the
honoured and life-giving cross by the most revered Helen took
place.c Again on this day the life-giving cross, just like the one
who was fixed to it, was borne by the divine angels into the heav-
ens, as the most insightful of men have recounted,d so that the
foundation for this day might be ratified. From these and similar
things, how can it be other than firmly established that we should
honour the most pure and wonderful day of the honoured and
life-giving cross? Indeed, anyone who has faith and has been bap-
tized in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and who does
not keep the most pure Wednesdays and Fridayse in every way –
except when another feast of Christ happens to coincide (for then
we wipe them [Wednesday and Friday observances] out com- 232
pletely, as the Fathers have said,f because all of them have come
into being on behalf of the cross), anyone such would be an alien
to the true faith of Christians.”
a
Cf. John of Damascus, Expos. Fidei 84, 41-42 (ed. Kotter, IV 11: PG 94,
1128-1129).
b
Cf. Eusebius of Caesarea, De vita Constantini, I 28-30 (ed. F. Winkelmann,
Eusebius Werke I, 1, Über das Leben des Kaisers Konstantin [GCS], Berlin, 1975,
pp. 29-30; PG 20, 944A-C).
c
On the finding of the True Cross, cf. A. Frolow, La relique de la vraie croix
Recherches sur le développement d’un culte [Archives de l’Orient Chrétien, 7],
Paris, 1961, pp. 55-56.
d
Cf. John Chrysostom, De cruce et latrone homilia 1 [CPG 4338], (PG 49,
403, 413).
e
Cf. Canones Apostolorum, Canones 64 (vel 66), 69 (ed. P.-P. Joannou, Can-
ons, FONTI, vol. I, 2, Rome, 1962, pp. 41, 43; ed. G.A. Rhalles – M. Potles,
Σύνταγμα …, vol. 2, Athens, 1852, pp. 84, 88).
f
Cf. e.g. Peter of Alex., Canon 15 [Sermo de Pascha] (ed. P.-P. Joannou, Can-
ons, FONTI, vol. II, Rome, 1963, pp. 57-58; Theophilus of Alex.), Canon 1 (ed.
P.-P. Joannou, Canons, FONTI, vol. II, Rome, 1963, pp. 262-263; Ps.-Athana-
sius, Syntagma ad monachos [CPG 2264] (ed. P. Batiffol, Paris, 1890, pp. 123-124;
PG 28, 837C8-840).

Question 52
105 Question Is it a good thing to confess one’s own sins or the
evil thoughts in the soul?
Answer It is good and very helpful, but not to be done to
106 anyone, since you yourself will get no help at all, and you will
defile and scandalize those who listen to you. So if you find a
spiritual man [ἄνδρα πνευματικόν],a who is able to cure you and
pray on your behalf, make your confession only to that person.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. c (Qu. 11), and then added by Gretser to
Coll. a, Qu. ed. 105bis).
(2) A fuller version was elaborated for Coll. 23 (Qu. 6), and
also included in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 6) and in Coll. d (Qu. 38).
Question 53
Question If I do not find such a man, in whom I have
confidence, what am I to do?
Answer Confess yourself inwardly [κατ’ ἰδίαν] to God, con-
demning yourself and saying, “Oh God, you alone know what a
sinner I am, and how unworthy of all forgiveness. Nevertheless
save me simply because of your mercy!”
Comments
(1) This and the following Qu. are brought together in Coll. d
(Qu. 39), but omitted from the version of Qu. 52 that was elabo-
rated for Coll. 23 (Qu. 6), and from Coll. b and Coll. c. Thus
they are not found in Coll. a and are among the rare QQ missing
from the edited QQ.
Question 54
Question When someone is making one’s confession to
God, should one call to mind and count up each sin committed?
107 Answer Certainly not, especially if the sins are carnal sins of
fornication [πορνεία], because as soon as one tries to recall one
a
Earlier (Qu. 32) Anastasios has distinguished between a “spiritual person”
and a priest [ἱερεύς], and it is not clear here if he considers that only priests can
forgive or also non-ordained monks.

DEVOTIONAL PRACTICES, QQ 52-55
and then another, the soul takes pleasure and is defiled. So it is

better, following the example of the tax-collector, to say, “Oh
God, have mercy on me a sinner (Lk 18: 13), as your goodness
commands.”
Comments
(1) See Comment (1) on the previous question.
Question 55
Question What proportion of one’s personal financial
resources should one offer in alms?
Answer The pagans [ Ἕλληνες] and those outside the Law
used to slaughter their own sons and daughters in offering to
their gods,a so what excuse can we have? Even if we were to
offer our own flesh to God, we would have done nothing com-
mensurate with the gifts He has given us.
Comments
(1)This Qu. is taken over almost literally in Coll. 23, Qu. 13,
and included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 13, and in Coll. d (Qu. 40). It is
missing in Coll. b and in Coll. c.
(2) In the QQ ad Antiochum one finds a similar question
(Qu. 90 [PG 28, 653A-B]), but the answer is quite different.
a
In the Gretser edition (also found in Migne) one finds a scribe’s addition at
this point: “or rather to their demons”, missing in most manuscripts.

Varied Devotional-
Ecclesiastical Questions
Question 56
108 Question If I were to want to do something that I consider
good, how should I learn if it is to God’s liking or not?
Answer It is proper to the perfect and spiritual, as the Apostle
says,a to discern all things without error; for solid food belongs to the
mature … those who by practice have trained their faculties to dis-
criminate between good and evil (Heb 5: 14). Consequently what-
ever one does for God’s sake in simplicity of heart and with good
intention, such a person will not be condemned because of that.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 107, and in Coll. d (Qu. 41);
but omitted in Coll. b and in Coll. c.
(2) In QQ ad Antiochum a similar question (Qu. 132 [PG 28,
680D-681A]) is given a different answer.
Question 57
Question Is it right for a Christian to open <the Bible> for
lachmeterionb [in search of an omen text]?
a
Cf. 1 Cor. 2: 15.
b
The spelling λαχμητήριον seems preferable to the alternative λαχνιστήριον
found in some manuscripts; the term refers to the practice of opening the Bible
at random and taking the first words one sees as an omen for future action; it is
also found in astrological texts, cf. Trapp, Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität,
s.v. λαχμητήριον.

VARIED DEVOTIONAL-ECCLESIASTICAL QUESTIONS, QQ 56-58
Answer 1. We find no encouragement anywhere to do this,

but the Fathers,a to prevent the faithful going to sorcerers and
soothsayers, thought up lachmeterion.
2. Therefore anyone who wishes to open <the Bible> 109
should first supplicate God with prayer and then, after the
prayer, open <the Bible>, asking God if He really orders one
to open <the Bible> about the subject in question. Then if
He persuades you, open, but if He dissuades you, do not
open.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 108, and also in Coll. d
(Qu. 42); but omitted in Coll. b and in Coll. c.
(2) See Qu. 97 for a recommended use of the lachmeterion.
Question 58
Question Where is it expedient to offer money: to a church
or to the poor and needy?
Answer 1. When the Lord praised those on the right-hand
side saying, Come you blessed of my father (Mt 25: 34), the only
thing he mentioned was the almsgiving, that given to the poor,
to strangers, to the naked and to those in prison.b
2. However, there are differences of place, and sometimes
we should also give to churches that are poor, whereas anyone
who gives to wealthy churches can never be sure what will hap-
pen to what is stored up there. The reason is that many of the
churches which insatiably collected funds, and failed to admin-
ister them well, were later plundered by the barbarians.
Comments
(1) This question was adopted with minor alterations in
Coll. 23, Qu. 14, and appears in Coll. a (Qu. ed. 14) and also in
Coll. d (Qu. 43); omitted in Coll. b and Coll. c.
(2) A very similar question and answer, though with
different words, are found in QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 86 (PG 28,
649C-D).
a
None are mentioned in G. W. H. Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon, s.v.
λαχνιστήριον.
b
Cf. Mt 25: 35-40.

Question 59
110 Question Supposing that a fellow Christian has caused me
trouble and I cannot talk with him or greet him whole-heart-
edly, but only with my lips,a what am I to do? Shall I continue
relations with him at least for appearance’s sake, or shall I break
off relations with him?
Answer Continue to have relations with him, at least ver-
bally; for very often from such beginnings a real affection pro-
gressively develops. It is better for you to be half, and not fully,
“barren”.b
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 109, and also in Coll. c
(Qu. 12) and Coll. d (Qu. 44).
(2) Omitted as such in Coll. b, but related perhaps to its
Qu. 27, which is related in turn to QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 83
(PG 28, 649A), and later found its way into the thirteenth-
century Thesaurus of Theognostos, XX §39 (CCPG 5, p. 221).
Coll. b, qu. 27 [Greek text: CCSG 59, Appendix 16]
Question If someone undertakes a good deed not willingly
but forcing oneself, does one have a reward or not?
Answer 1. The perfect sacrifice is one that somebody offers
without sorrow or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2
Cor 9: 7; Prov 22: 8a). However, since we hear the Lord saying,
“The violent are those to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens,
and the violent snatch it away” (Mt 11: 12), we trust in His good-
ness that even in those things where we force ourselves, we shall
receive a reward.
2. Indeed those who practise virginity bring force to bear on
their nature and on themselves; similarly those who undertake
ascetic practices for many years, abstaining from wine and meat
and other things, and those who shut themselves up and practise
solitude, and sleep on the ground, and renounce the world, these
force themselves. Surely all of them will receive a reward from
God for the force expended.
a
Literally, “with my tongue”.
b
Cf. Mt 5: 29-30; Mk 11: 13-14; Mt 21: 19; Sirach 6: 3.

Varied Devotional-Ecclesiastical Questions, QQ 59-61
Question 60
Question If our rulers are Jews or unbelievers or heretics,
should we pray for them in the church or not?
Answer Yes. The reason is that when the Apostle wrote to
pray for kings and all those in power (1 Tim 2: 2), all the kings
and rulers in the world were pagans [ Ἕλληνες]; in any case <it
is clear> that in the holy liturgical offering [προσκομιδή] the
priest implores God thus when he says, “Remember, Lord, 111
every living person, both those we remember and those we
do not remember. Have mercy on them all and grant them all
forgiveness”.a
Comments
omitted in Coll. c and Coll. b.
Question 61
Question Well, then, should one also pray for the pagans
[ Ἕλληνες], who finished their lives before Christ’s appearance,
and not anathematize them?
Answer 1. You should certainly not anathematize anyone
who died before Christ’s dwelling among us. The reason is that
even in Hades the announcement of Christ was made once,
though only once. It was John the Baptist who took the lead and
proclaimed Christ there as well. And listen to what Saint Peter
says about Christ: He went and made a proclamation even to the
spirits in Hades who in former times did not obey (1 Pet 3: 19).
2. Indeed there is an ancient traditionb that a certain law-
yer [σχολαστικός] had been cursing Plato the philosopher very
much; then Plato appears to him in a dream saying to him, 112
“Sir, stop your cursing of me, because you are only doing harm
a
This prayer is found in the litanies of various oriental liturgies, e.g. that of
St James, used by the Jacobites (Syrian Monophysites), and that of St Basil; cf.
F. E. Brightman, Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1, Eastern Liturgies, O xford,
1896, pp. 57 (13-14), 91 (36-37), 170 (5-6); B.-C. Mercier, La Liturgie de saint
Jacques [Patr. Orient., XXV(2), no. 126], Turnhout, 1974, p. 220 (9-10).
b
The legend of Plato’s “conversion” is found in several mediaeval manu-
scripts, cf. CCSG 59, p. 111 (note on this passage).

to yourself. I do not deny that I was indeed a sinful man; nev-

ertheless when Christ descended into Hades, truly there was no
one who believed in him sooner than I.”
3. Do not think, when you hear this, that conversion is al-
ways possible in Hades. This is something that happened on
one unique occasion, when Christ descended into the under-
world in order to visit those who had fallen asleep from ages
before.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed.111; and in Coll. d (Qu. 46),
but omitted in Coll. b and in Coll. c.
Question 62
Question What is meant by the Lord’s having said, Many
will say to me on that day (of judgement), ‘Lord, did we not cast
out devils in your name, and did we not prophesy in your name,
and did we not perform many works of power?’ And then I shall
confess to them, ‘Verily I say to you, I have never known you’ (Mt
7: 22-23)?
Answer 1. Signs [σημεῖα] and wonderful works and predic-
tions often come about by means of unworthy persons in ac-
cordance with some need or providence [κατὰ … οἰκονομίαν], for
example in the case of Barlaam,a and that of the ventriloquist
womanb who raised Samuel out of the earth; again the Apos-
tles discovered a non-believer casting out devils in the name of
113 Christ, they stopped him and told Christ, and he said, Do not
stop these; anyone who is not against us, he said, is for us (Mk 9:
38-40; Lk 9: 49-50); and on another occasion he said, Do not
rejoice because the demons obey you (Lk 10: 20).
2. It is necessary to realize this, so that when you see that
some sign has been performed, by some decision of God,
through heretics or unbelievers, you be not shaken in the right-
a
Cf. Num 22: 28.
b
Cf. 1 Kings 28; 11-12.

Varied Devotional-Ecclesiastical Questions, qq 61-63
thinking [ὀρθοδόξου] faith because of signs and wonders. It is

possible that God may have performed such a sign and wonder
to test you. Sometimes it is the faith of the one who approaches
that works the sign and not the worth of the one who performs
it. Indeed John, the greatest of all those born of women (Mt 11:
11; Lk 7: 28), was never seen working a sign, whereas Judas cer-
tainly did work some when he was with the Apostles.a
3. Therefore do not think that it is very important if you
happen to see some unworthy person or someone of erroneous
faith [κακόπιστον] working a sign.
Comments
(1) Adapted, but expanded greatly, for Coll. 23 (Qu. 20 = Qu.
ed. 20; cf. PG 89, 517C1-D11), the version used in Coll. d (Qu. 47);
omitted in Coll. b and in Coll. c.
(2) A similar theme appears in two of the QQ ad Antiochum,
QQ 89 and 111 (PG 28, 652-2, 665)
Question 63
Question Did the ventriloquist womanb really bring Samu-
el up <from the dead> on the occasion of Saul?
Answer Yes, because all the souls, both those of the holy 114
and those of the sinful, were under the Devil’s hand until Christ
descended into Hadesc and said to those who are in bonds, Come
out! (Isa 49: 9) and to those imprisoned, “Be free!” Listen more-
over to Paul saying, Death (that is to say the Devil) held sway
from Adam until the time of Moses (or until the fullness of the
Law) even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the dis-
obedience (Rom 5: 14), (that is, even over the souls of holy men).
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 112 and in Coll. d (Qu. 48).
(2) In Coll. 88 a question appears about the ventriloqust
woman (Qu. 39, PG 89, 581-584) but the answer is taken (like
several other QQ in this collection) from Theodoret, In 1 Reg., 63,
a
Cf. Mt 10: 1.
b
Cf. 1 Kings 28: 11-12; also Qu. 62, §1, above.
c
Cf. 1 Pet 3: 19.

eds N. Fernández Marcos and J. R. Busto Saiz, Madrid, 1984, pp.

56-61 (PG 80, 589-596).
Question 64
Question When one goes away to a foreign country, is it a
good thing to carry along holy communion in a skevophorion,a
or should we receive communion in any church we may hap-
pen to find?
Answer 1. The most holy body of Christ receives no affront
from being moved or carried about; it is the same Christ who
journeyed everywhere and, as I have said, he receives no affront
because of any place, except from an impure heart.b
2. But the Apostle teaches us that nobody has the right
[ἐξουσίαν] to receive communion anywhere outside the holy
catholic Church saying, There is one Lord, i.e. the true one,
115 there is one faith (Rom 5: 14) i.e. the right-minded one, for
all the others are not faiths, but fatalities.c So just as for those
who have a spell away from their wives, if we were to copu-
late with another woman, there is no marriage but fornication
[πορνεία], much more let us guard our continence also for our
holy Church, the spotless wife of Christ.d
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 113 and in Coll. d (Qu. 49),
but not in Coll. b nor in Coll. c.
(2) A slightly extended version of this question appears in the
QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 112 (PG 28, 665C4-668A).
(3) An example of a monk who keeps portions of the conse-
crated host in a skevophorion (so that he can distribute commu-
nion to prisoners) occurs in the Narrationes (Nau XXX: Binggeli
I, 33 [p. 208]).
a
The σκευοφόριον (“pyx”) is any receptacle destined to contain the reserved-
consecrated Host.
b
Cf. Mt 15: 17-20.
c
Anastasios plays on the two similar-ending words πίστεις and θνήσεις,
hence the attempt to reproduce a word-play in English.
d
The same title σύζυγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ (“yoke-mate”, i.e. “wife” of Christ) is
to be found used frequently of the Church in the Hexaemeron (cf. S.N. Sakkos,
Περὶ Ἀναστασίων Σιναϊτῶν, p. 154).

Question 65
Question The Apostle says that the powers that are in the
world are instituted by God (Rom 13: 1). Does it follow that
every governor [ἄρχων] and emperor is appointed by God?
Answer 1. God says in the Law [ἐν τῶ Νόμῳ], I will give you
rulers after your own hearts (Jer 3: 15),a and so we say that some
governors and emperors are appointed by God as worthy of such
an honour, while others who are unworthy are appointed by
God’s permission or will with a view to the people who are wor-
thy of such unworthiness. And listen to some stories about these.b
2. When the tyrant Phokas became emperorc and began to 116
perpetrate those bloody massacres through Bonososd the ex-
ecutioner [τοῦ δημίου], a certain anchorite in Constantinople,
a holy and very simple man who had great confidence with
God, as if God were like his father or an intimate friend, used
to complain to God in all simplicity, “Lord, why have you
made such a man emperor?” After several days had gone by
and he repeated the same thing to God, “Why have you made
such a man emperor?”, a voice came to him from God saying,
“Because I have not found anybody worse!”
3. There was another city, one in the Thebaid,e that was very
wicked and where all sorts of evil and irregular deeds were per-
formed. One of the most abominable of the faction members
[demotes, δημότης] in that city suddenly underwent a pseudo-
conversion and went off, received the tonsure, and donned the
a
Anastasios adapts the quotation which should read: “And I will give you
shepherds after my own heart” (see LXX, NETS).
b
Neither of the two stories that follow (about Bonosos and about the evil
bishop) have been found elsewhere.
c
Phokas ruled from 602 to 610; he had his predecessor, Maurice (582-602),
executed (see Qu. 30, §2) and was himself executed by his successor, Heraclius
(610-641).
d
Bonosos (spelt Βώνοσος, Βόνωσος, Βονῶσος) was “Comes Orientis” under
Phokas, cf. Theophanes, Chronographia, anno 6101 [608/9 A.D.], ed. de Boor,
Leipzig, 1883, vol. 1, p. 296 (21-25), transl. C. Mango & R. Scott, Chronicle of
Theophanes, Oxford, 1997, pp. 425-427: cf. Vita Theodori Syceotae, ed. A.-J. Fes-
tugière [SH 48], Brussels, 1970, vol. 1, cap. 142 (line 1 Βουνοῦσσος), vol. 2, p. 256.
e
The capital of the southern Egyptian province of Upper and Lower The-
baid was Antinoöpolis, but several other important civic centres are to be found
in this heartland of Egyptian monasticism.

monastic habit. However he did not cease to practise the same

117 wicked acts as before. The bishop of the city happened to meet
his end, and an angel of the Lord appeared to a certain holy
man saying, “Go and prepare that city so that so-and-so of the
faction members may be elected bishop.” So the man went and
did what he had been ordered. And when one of the faction
members, or rather that particular faction member, had been
elected, he began to conjure up images of himself and became
very conceited. Then an angel of the Lord came to stand by
him and said, “Why are you so proud and conceited? It is cer-
tain that you have not become bishop because you were worthy
of the priesthood, but because this particular city deserves to
have this sort of bishop!”
4. So, dear friend,a when you see that some unworthy and
wicked person is either emperor or governor or bishop, do not
be surprised, but learn and believe with complete certainty that
it is because of our crimes that we are handed over to such
tyrants, and not even then do we desist from evil things, but
although we are in the middle of such hardships, we continue
to practise wicked deeds.b Believe me when I tell you that if
the race of the Saracens were to depart from us today, at once
tomorrow the Green and Blue factionsc would rise up once
more and begin killing one another, and <the same withd> the
Eastern Administrative Area [ἡ Ἀνατολή], Arabia, Palestine and
many other countries.
a
Here an individual questioner seems to be addressed: but cf. Qu. 30, §4.
b
The idea that the Arab invasions were a punishment is found elsewhere in
the works of Anastasios, e.g. Homilia III de creatione hominis (CPG 7749), III, 1,
84-112, ed. K.-H. Uthemann [CCSG 12], pp. 59-61, and cf. J. L. van Dieten, Ge-
schichte der Patriarchen von Sergios I. bis Johannes VI. (610-715), [Enzyklopädie
der Byzantinistik 24], Amsterdam, 1972, p. 181.
c
The circus faction system (distinguished by colours) inherited from Rome,
was not limited in its activity to the hippodrome or theatre, nor to Constan-
tinople; the Green and Blue factions had immense political impact and were
particularly strong in Alexandria and Egypt (see M. McCormack, "Factions",
ODB, pp. 773-774, with relevant bibliography).
d
The following nominatives are not clearly linked with the preceding verbs;
the meaning seems to be that these countries are also examples of internecine
slaughter.

Comments
(1) A slighty adapted version of this question appears in
Coll. 23 (Qu. 16) and was incorporated into Coll. a (Qu. ed.
16), and also into Coll. d (Qu. 50). It is missing in Coll. b and
Coll. c.
(2) A very brief treatment of the problem occurs in the QQ ad
Antiochum, Qu. 121 (PG 28, 676A7-15), using the same quotation
from Jeremiah (see §1).
(3) This answer contains two Narrationes not found elsewhere
in the Anastasian writings.
Question 66
Question Some people are of the opinion that it is impos- 118
sible for somebody who flees from the plague [θανατικόν] from
one place to another to be saved from death.
Answer 1. The subject of plagues and the mystery that sur-
rounds them is deep and difficult to grasp, and few people are
able to grasp it. It is quite clear that not all that can be grasped
by the intellect of a teacher can also be grasped by the intellect
of the public being taught. However I have heard from persons
who had been taught by God about many of His mysteries that
there are two ways in which diseases occur. The first is related
to God’s warning and chastising [παιδεία] of a people, the sec-
ond to a badness in the climate and currents of air, or to exhala-
tions from the earth or from waters, or from carcasses, or due to
dust clouds, and stenches and dirt.
2. Now the plague that comes as a warning from God,
nobody can understand at what time it may come, whereas
the epidemic [θνῆσις] that is caused by the climate, with the
permission of God, usually comes at the beginning of spring
in many cases, and more especially in those lands that are
over-populated, damp and marshy. That is why it is a well
known fact that many lands, <though> inhabited by un-
believers and false believers, being more deserted and dry, 119
never experience the trial of a plague. Well now, is one to
suppose that this is due to their virtue? Certainly not, but

the reason is to be found in the combination of a dry and

healthy climate.
3. So in my opinion it is often possible, with God’s good pleas-
ure, to flee from the epidemic due to the badness of the climate
by going from one place to other regions and climates that are
healthy. But as for the epidemic brought about as a warning from
God, if the person fleeing has been counted among those who are
to die, it is impossible for that person not to die, no matter where
one may flee, and on the other hand if death has not been declared
for that person on this occasion, then that person will not die.
4. However no one who hears that we have said that an epi-
demic comes from the climate, should conclude that we have
said that it comes about without God. We too have listened to
the one who said, Two sparrows are sold for a small coin, and not
one of them will fall to earth without my father who is in heaven
(Mt 10: 29). Therefore everything that the climate and the cre-
ated world produce according to nature [φυσικῶς] also takes
place through the command [νεῦμα] of God.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 114, and in Coll. d (Qu. 51),
but not in Coll. b, nor in Coll. c.
(2) Among the QQ ad Antiochum (PG 28, 661 A-D), Qu. 104
has the same question, but a very brief and different answer, while
Qu. 103, with a different question, may be indebted to this text
for its answer.
(3) This question has been partly answered above, QQ 26 and 28.
(4) In the thirteenth century Nikephoros Blemmydes in his
treatise De vitae termino (p. 14, lines 13-23) quotes a long passage
from this question.
Question 67
Question Is it required of a Christian on the day that he
proposes to receive communion to take precautions with his
own wife, and keep apart from her?
120 Answer 1. When David and his companions were prepar-
ing to eat the loaves of offering, which were a prototype of the

body of Christ, the High Priest Abiathara asked David at once,

“Are they pure of a woman’s bed?” And when he learned the
reply, “Yes”, he then gave them the loaves.
2. However since our own affairs have reached such a terri-
bly low state, if somebody returns from some journey and from
a foreign land, perhaps he will be deemed worthy of some for-
giveness, provided he reproves himself for his copulation and
tries to improve himself on other occasions.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 115, and also in Coll. d (Qu.
52); omitted as such in Coll. b and in Coll. c, but see further
Comments.
(2) Partly used in Coll. 23, Qu. 7 (= Qu. ed. 7).
(3) Qu. 38 deals with this topic, as do the additional questions
found in Coll. b (see Qu. 38, Comment [4], especially Coll. b,
Qu. 23, §3, pp. 144-145).
a
Cf. 1 Kings 21: 2-7. As pointed out in connection with Qu. 41 (see Com-
ment [3] giving Coll. b, Qu. 20, §3, p. 150), Abimelech, or Amimelech is the
name found in the LXX, and Abiathar is his son.

OTHER FAITHS
Question 68
Question If I am questioned about the faith by heretics,
and I do not know how to explain dogma, what shall I do?
Answer Not only for you, who do not know, but also for
those who think they do know, it is a danger to talk about the
faith. So say to the person questioning you, “I am an unlearned
person [ἰδιώτης], but if you really and truly seek to know the
truth, go to the Church and there you will learn what is the
right-minded religion.”
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 116, and in Coll. d (Qu. 53,
which adds the following Qu. 69); omitted in Coll. c.
(2) In Coll. b one manuscript from Mt Athos (Philotheou 52,
ff. 33v-38) adds to the collection a similar question (numbered 39),
which unifies this and the following Qu. 69:
208 Question If an uneducated person [ἰδιώτης], who has no
experience of public speaking [λόγος] and of Sacred Scripture is
questioned by a heretic about the correct [ὀρθόδοξος] faith of the
catholic and holy Church, how should such a person answer?
Answer 1. The divine Apostle bears witness that to dialogue
about God is a dangerous affair, that few can undertake, when
209 he says, “I speak of things in a partial way, and I understand in
a partial way” (cf. 1 Cor 13: 9-12). Therefore if he who went up
to the third heaven and learned in Paradise utterances that are un-
utterable, which it is not possible for a human to speak (2 Cor 12:

OTHER FAITHS, qU. 68
2-4), if this person says that he speaks “in a partial way” and un-
derstands “in a partial way”, he who had Christ dwelling with-
in himself (cf. Gal 2: 20), who is there then capable of saying
that, “I speak in a perfect way and I know in a perfect way”? To
speak about God is not without danger, as the blessed Gregory
says, “Those who are not aware of what is within them,” he
says, “and do not even know what is the form [εἶδος] and being
[οὐσία] of their own souls – what sort of thing and how they
are, where they come from or how they come or where they go
– how much more so are they not capable of grasping anything
of the God who is not to be grasped, not to be uttered, not to
be investigated?” [cf. Greg. Nyssenus, Contra Eunomium, II, 1,
§§105-107 (ed. W. Jaeger, Leiden, 19602, vol. 1, pp. 257-258)] In-
deed all the perverted heresies went astray and met destruction
because they were too meddlesome and inquisitive about the
incomprehensible depth of the godhead.
2. In relation with the Jews, and pagans [ Ἕλληνες] and Ar-
abs, the Church has a different argument, and defense [ἀπολογία]
concerning Christ and the faith. But in relation to the two her-
esies [prob. Nestorianism and Monophysitism] that hold sway
at present in Syria and Mesopotamia and Egypt, viz. for those
led astray by Nestorius and by Severus and Jakobos, those who
are not skilled in the finer points of dogma and Scripture can
present the following speech: “Every emperor and sovereign and
lord entrusts his essential dwellings and treasuries to those who
are by all means the most trustworthy and wisest of his people
and of all his ministers. But the most honourable dwellings and
most holy treasuries of the mysteries of Christ are, among all the
holy places on earth, holy Nazareth, holy Bethlehem, the holy city
of God, Jerusalem, honoured Golgotha, the holy Mount Tabor,
Jordan, the holiest of rivers, holy Sion, sacred Gethsemane, the
holy Mount of Olives, and honourable Mount Sinai. Now we can
see that all these holy and famous places, God has entrusted and
graciously granted them to our catholic Church for His glorifica- 210
tion and adoration. If the faith of Nestorius or Severus or Jako-
bos or Gaïanos or Theodosios or anyone else among the heretics
was more to be revered than that of our holy catholic Church, it
was necessary that these Holy Places of God should have been
entrusted rather to that faith.”
3. But if, as is likely, the heretic says that the catholic Church
owns these Holy Places because of imperial force and tyranny, he
is telling a lie which rebounds on himself. At one time the Arians
seized those places by imperial force, while the Romans [Ῥωμαῖοι =

citizens of New Rome, i.e. Constantinople] were in control; but im-

mediately, after a few years, God returned them once more to his
holy, catholic and orthodox Church. At this moment while foreign
nations, viz. the Arabs, control all of the Eastern Administrative Area
[τῆς Ἀνατολῆς] and Palestine and the Holy Places, it is obvious that
it is not by imperial force, but by divine providence, as being ortho-
dox, that the catholic Church possesses the Holy Places. As evidence
for all to learn that it is by God’s providence that we possess them,
there is the fact that although the Arab leaders prefer you the heretics
rather than us, who side with the Romans, the Son of God has not
permitted the Holy Places to be snatched from us, clearly because
we are the true believers [ὀρθόδοξοι], rather then all the other faiths.
4. And daring to be courageous say to the heretic, “If there is
another faith on the face of the earth that is more orthodox than
that of our holy catholic Church, God did not act properly in
entrusting to us the holy and venerable places, behold for what is
now seven hundred years!”
5. Very often when we have said these thing to the heretics
they have been put to shame and no longer opened their mouths.
Question 69
121 Question But is there not some method or other by which
an uneducated person [ἰδιώτης] may confute the heretic?
Answer 1. On this subject listen to a short discussion that
took place not very long ago in Alexandria.a Representatives
had gathered from the followers of Severus and Gaïanos and
Barsanouphios against somebody who was uneducated as far as
public speaking [λόγος] was concerned, but wise in the Lord,b
a preacher of the faith of the catholic Church, and they were
fighting against him.
2. He then put the following question: “If the Emperor
owns certain treasuries and honoured dwellings where his es-
sential secret business [lit. “mysteries”] is despatched, to whom
a
In the Hodegos (cf. ch. X [CCSG 8, pp. 143-198]) Anastasios describes
isputations in Alexandria with the monophysites in which he accumulated
d
quotations from the Fathers to establish the Chalcedonian teaching; there is no
mention there of this particular argument (re. control of the Holy Places), but
he does expound another ‘knock-down’ argument (XII, 3) based on an image of
the Cross (l.c., pp. 204-208).
b
Cf. Mt 10: 16.

OTHER FAITHS, QQ 68-69
will he confide these places, to those who are faithful to him

or to those who are unfaithful?” The others said to him, “It is
quite obvious that the Emperor will confide such dwellings to
those who are the most faithful of all his subjects.”
3. Then in reply the right-thinking [ὀρθόδοξος] person said to
them, “Consequently learn that there is no faith on earth which
is right-thinking [ὀρθόδοξος] except for that of the catholic
Church, and for that reason God has confided to us all the holy
and most essential of his dwellings, in which when He dwelt
here He worked his mysteries, viz. Nazareth, Tabor, Bethlehem,
the Jordan, Sion, Golgotha and <the churcha of> the Resurrec-
tion. And not only these, but there is also Sinai and, to sum up,
for all the holy places of the New and the Old Testament it is 122
we of the catholic Church who are in possession.b
4. So that if we are in error in our beliefs, and you consti-
tute the right-thinkers [ὀρθόδοξοι], God has not acted properly
in confiding to us all his Holy Places. And if you say that we
hold these places because of imperial force and tyranny, you
can be convicted of lying. Behold how the barbarians now
control the land of the Holy Places and God has not taken
them away from us. But if, as is quite likely, you will want to
say that once upon a time the Ariansc gained control of the
Holy Places for a short while, consider that it is quite true that
they snatched the Holy Places away by imperial force and tyr-
anny, but they were not strong enough. At once God restored
them once more to us the orthodox, and behold now for seven
a
Although no word for “church” appears, this seems to be the meaning here.
b
The same argument, claiming that all the places they hold in honour,
are now in Christian hands, is used against the Jews in the Disputatio adver-
sus Iudaeos (cf. PG 89, 1221B-C); this work is attributed doubtfully to Anas-
tasios (CPG 7772), but André Binggeli (Récits, p. 337, n. 24) points out that
strong arguments exist in favour of its authenticity; he refers to W.E. Kaegi,
Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests, Cambridge, 1995, pp. 221-226, and
H.-G. Thümmel, Die Frühgeschichte der ostkirchlichen Bilderlehre. Texte und
Untersuchungen zur Zeit vor dem Bilderstreit [TU 139], Berlin, 1992, pp. 259-268.
c
Arianism, despite the Council of Nicaea in 325, was in control of several
Eastern sees until the Council of Constantinople, 381, under Theodosios
I. Anastasios seems to use the term in its religious sense, whereas Coll. b uses
it as a synonym for “Arab”: cf. Appendix 21, given in Comment (3) on Qu. 101.

hundreda years!” On hearing these things the heretics retired

put to shame.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 117 and also in Coll. d
(Qu. 53, which combines the previous Qu. and this one); omitted
in Coll. c.
(2) For Coll. b, cf. previous Qu. with Comment (2).
(3) In the QQ ad Antiochum, the text of Qu. 44 (PG 28,
625A-C) clearly bears some relationship to the Anastasian text.
Question 70
Question Why is it that Satan has not created so many
heresies and schisms in any other faith, but only in that of the
Christians?
123 Answer 1. The reason is that the faiths of the unfaithful are
all dear to the devil, and there is no reason for him to wage war
on them, but only on the faith of Christ, as it is opposed to
him, frequently makes war against him, and makes him inef-
fective.b
2. It is possible to learn that this is true as follows. Before
Christ’s dwelling here, there was no other nation on earth that
was truly God-worshipping except for that of Israel, and Satan
never divided any other nation except that one; so the tribes
were divided, and their kingdom, and they often made war
against one another, and they acquired many faiths and her-
esies. And would that they had quarrelled only about God in
a
According to the Alexandrian era (probably that used by Anastasios) Christ
was born in 5500, so the year 6200 is being referred to, viz. 708 A.D. To judge by
his other writings Anastasios was born about 630 A.D., and composed Homilia
III de creatione hominis around the year 700 A.D. (Binggeli, Récits, pp. 349, 362).
b
In the Narrationes one finds this same notion (that all other religions are
dear to Satan) in the story about the conversation with demons mentioned
above (Qu. 41, Comment [3], Coll. b, Qu. 20, §8, p. 151), cf. Nau LIII, Bing-
geli, II, 20 lines 35-39; there is also a strong affirmation along these lines in the
Hexaemeron XI, §11: “I say that only Christ’s Church, the Church of Christians,
is an enemy and is fighting against the serpent. All the rest in the world – the
other religions and faiths of Gentiles, Jews, and heathens – are friends, com-
rades, spouses, and family of the diabolical serpent” (quoted by S.N. Sakkos, p.
153; Latin version PG 89, 1033B-C).

OTHER FAITHS, QQ 69-70
their heresies and schisms! But they also did so about idols, as
one may read in the Books of the Kingsa and in the Prophets.
That is why Jeremiah said that, according to the number of their
cities were their gods (Jer 2: 28; 11: 13), and so also the heresies of
their foolish religion and their schisms.
3. So in the same way as now, then also while each irreligious
nation had one faith, as for the God-worshipping nation of Is-
rael, Satan split it into thousands of faiths.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 118, and in Coll. d (Qu. 54,
which includes the following question, Qu. 71), but not in
Coll. c.
(2) Although this question is not in Coll. b, another ques-
tion on church history does figure there and is worth including
here:
Question For what reason do many signs and wonders not 212
occur among us today, as used to occur among earlier generations?
Answer 1. It is very obvious that because wickedness is multiplied
(as the Lord says) the love of many has grown cold (Mt 24: 12), and
with it all good things. Nevertheless, as we learn from the divine
Scriptures, signs occur for the sake of the unbelievers, and not for
the sake of the believers; so when the Jews wanted to see signs from
Christ, listen to what he says to them: O evil and adulterous genera-
tion, unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe! (Mt 12: 39;
16: 4; Lk 11: 29; Jn 4: 48). Along with them, when Thomas sought
to see this, I mean the imprint of the nails and of the side (cf. Jn
20: 25), the Lord rebuked him saying, Is it because you have seen me
that you have believed? Blessed are those who have not seen and have
believed (Jn 20: 29), that is to say ourselves, who have not seen
Christ in the flesh, nor witness now signs and wonders.
2. Further, very often some are condemned more severely be-
cause of those very signs that have come about: seeing them, they
neither believed nor were baptized, but carried on in their evil.
Tell me, how was Pharaoh helped by so varied and so numerous 213
signs by Moses? What did Israel gain, though it saw the signs in
Egypt, and in the sea, and in the desert, and on Sinai, and in
the pillar of fire, and in the gloom and fire and storm-wind and
trumpet blasts? After all these, did Israel not construct at once the
a
3 Kings 12: 26-30.

calf and worship it? Similarly, what did that foolish people gain,
having seen Christ raising the dead to life, cleansing lepers, and
performing all kinds of healing? Did it not call him a sorcerer
[φαρμακόν], one who casts out demons through Beelzebul (Mt 9: 34;
12: 24; Mk 3: 22; Lk 11: 15)? Therefore they condemned him to
death, crucifying him with thieves as an evil-doer.
3. And to draw everything together in a final remark, let me
say, what good did it do and what conversion did it bring to this
Ariana nation to have been the witness of cures and signs and
wonders that have taken place in many different churches belong-
ing to us? They were not helped but rather they were condemned
more severely. And making this perfectly plain the Lord said
about the Jews, If I had not come and spoken to them, they would
not have sin (Jn 15: 22), so that signs come about for the greater
condemnation of many.
(3) Among the QQ ad Antiochum a similar question appears
(Qu. 43 [PG 28, 625A]), but with many textual differences.
Question 71
124 Question Why did God permit Satan to wage any war at
all against humans, and did not annihilate him?
Answer If there were no enemy to be seen, neither would
the tried soldiers and friends of the Emperor appear; and if
there were no battles and struggles, neither would there be vic-
tories, nor would crowns and rewards be granted.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a. Qu. ed. 119, and in Coll. d (Qu. 54,
which includes both this and the previous Qu.), but not in
Coll. b nor in Coll. c.
(2) Similar question and answer in the QQ ad Antiochum,
Qu. 11 (PG 28, 604C-D).
Question 72
Question From where do dreams come, and why do they
often turn out true?
Answer 1. Solomon has said, Dreams excite fools (Sirach 34
[31]: 1), and that is why we urge no one to believe or accept them
a
Clearly a reference to the Arabs: cf. Qu. 101, Comment (3).

other faiths, qq 70-73
lest demons take the opportunity from there to deceive and lead
us astray, as has happened to some. However dreams are often
due to the actions and preoccupations we have during the day.
Again they are brought on by the demons, or are made up of the
fantasies caused by one’s digestion, or may come from God – for
quite often the holy angels guide us or frighten us with dreams.
2. Again, as the soul is rational and gifted with intellect, it 125
often foresees and forewarns a person of certain things, especially
that soul that possesses the Holy Spirit. As God says, I pour out
my spirit upon all flesh (that is faithful), and your sons and daugh-
ters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old
men shall dream with dreams (Acts 2: 17 [Joel 2: 28]).
3. So any dreams you see that lead you to compunction, and
improvement, and conversion, and fear of God, these and only
these you should cherish.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a. Qu. ed. 120, and in Coll. d (Qu. 55),
(2) Shorter version in the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 99 (PG 28,
660A4-9).
Question 73
Question How is it that we see some of the faithful who
commit sins of the flesh and yet are beloved of God and blessed
and saved from dangers?
Answer God’s judgements are beyond our understanding
and impossible to unravel,a and because of this no one should
judge a person before the day of the resurrection. It may happen
that some people are thought to have committed some faults,
but in secret they have been making great achievements before
God: by us they are considered to be sinners, but they are just
before God; again there are others who are judged worthy of
kindness because of the prayers of their parents, as happened
with Solomon thanks to David.b And there are yet others who
a
Cf. Rom 11: 33.
b
Cf. 3 Kings 11: 13.

at present are wicked, but who are due to repent thoroughly at

a later date, so they are already dear to God as if they were just,
and they are foreknown by Him, as was Paul.
Comments
(1) Adapted to form Qu. 10 in Coll. 23 (= Qu. ed. 10, PG 89,
432A4-C3), and then included in Coll. d (Qu. 56); omitted in
Coll. c.
(2) In Coll. b an additional Qu. (Qu. 42) deals with the theme
of not passing judgement and has been given above: see Qu. 10,
Comment (3), pp. 66-73.
Question 74
126 Question As the Apostle says, The unbelieving husband has
been made holy, if his wife is a believer, just like the unbelieving
wife (1 Cor 7: 14) if her husband is a believer; is it possible for a
Christian to take to wife an unbeliever or a pagan?
Answer The divine Apostle was not talking of unmarried
persons, but of those who were already linked in wedlock, and
perhaps even of those who already had children, before one of
the two received the faith. The rule he lays down is that when
one of the pair is baptized, but the other wishes neither baptism
nor separation, that partner should not be obliged, nor should
the one who has received the faith expel the other. For after
baptism, just as he who sets up relations with a prostitute becomes
one body with her (1 Cor 6: 16), so also he who sets up relations
with a woman who does not have the faith.
Comments
Question 75
Question Does someone who runs away at a time of perse-
cution commit a sin or not?
127 Answer The Lord said, When they drive you from this city,
run away to another (Mt 10: 23). Thus if the persecution threat-

other faiths, qq 73-76
ens to destroy one’s life [lit. the destruction of the soul], each
has the right to do what one tests oneself capable of doing; but
if the persecution is just about bodily penalties, we ought to
support them for Christ’s sake.
Comments
Question 76
Question As we see some women who go astray while they
are also slaves in captivity, what is one to say about them?
Answer 1. The women who go astray for the sake of pleas-
ure and wantonness fall under a greater condemnation, whereas
those who do so because of want and necessity under a lesser,
just as in the case of thieves, where the one who steals food out
of hunger commits a more venial sin than does one who is not
in want and robs.
2. But in the case of each sin, many differences are to be
borne in mind; the women who adorn and paint themselves in
their own lands would deserve a different pardon from those
who deck themselves in gold and show no shame while living
in the middle of the slavery and in the presence of their own 128
sisters loaded with chains.
3. Similarly any other sin and profligacy and luxury that we
commit while living in the midst of captivity is more grievous
than the irregularities of those who fall into sin while living at
ease.
Comments
(2) On the subject of Christian women subjected to the Arabs,
cf. Narrationes, Binggeli II 21 [CPG 7758, C 12], and more in
general on the Arab domination Nau XLI, Binggeli II 8 (lines
8-12), II 9; moreover cf. QQ 87, 101, 102.
(3) The Arab presence is notably less important in the QQ ad
Antiochum.

VARIED PROBLEMS
Question 77
Question How many sorts of corporeal [σωματικαί =
physical, as distinct from spiritual] adultery [μοιχεῖαι] are
there?
Answer Two: on the one hand, if an unmarried person sins
with one who is married, there is an adultery, and again a mar-
ried man is an adulterer, no matter with whom he fornicates,
because he has adulterated the bed of his own wife; but if a
single man sins with a woman that has no husband, there is
fornication [πορνεία] but not adultery [μοιχεία]. On the other
hand, the man who bears the marriage yoke, if he sins with a
married woman, commits two adulteries.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a. Qu. ed. 124, but not in Coll. b nor in
Coll. c, nor (exceptionally) in Coll. d.
(2) A shorter version of this question in QQ ad Antiochum,
Qu. 95 (PG 28, 656C5-9).
Question 78
Question What is the meaning of Paul’s statement, The sins
of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgement,
while the sins of others follow them there (1 Tim 5: 24)?
129 Answer 1. This is to be understood in the first place of
the heresiarchs. The sins they committed while still in this life

Varied problems, qq 77-79
have overtaken them in the next life; and as they have sown
among others and taught a blasphemous faith, they have fol-
lowing in their train after death the sins and blasphemies of
the souls that have been harmed and destroyed by their wicked
teaching.
2. However not only in the case of heresiarchs, but in that
of all other sins the one who teaches them to others has the
guilt following behind him. As can also be said indeed of good
deeds; those who teach sound doctrines, those who establish
hospitals and churches and orphanages, those who bequeath
their possessions and incomes to such foundations, all these
possess after death good <liturgical> commemorations (mne-
mosyna) and their rewards following after them. Surely it would
not be just of God that evil deeds should follow behind an
evil person and good deeds not equally follow behind a good
one. However, glory to the One who alone can grasp His own
judgements.
Comments
(1) Although this Qu. appears in Coll. d (Qu. 60), it is the
only authentic Qu. missing, as such, in all the other collections,
and does not appear in the QQ ad Antiochum.
(2) However, as D. Sieswerda has pointed out,a the author of
Coll. 23 used the opening quotation from this question (cf. PG
89, 372C11-14) and some of the thoughts in the answer, along with
Qu. 52 to formulate his Qu. 6 (= Qu. ed. 6).
Question 79
Question As God said to the snake, Somebody human will
observe [τηρήσει] your head (i.e. the origin of every evil tempta-
tion), but you (i.e. the wicked one) will observe the heel of that
person (Gen 3: 15)b (meaning, in my opinion, the final moments
of that person’s life), how does Satan know what are the final 130
moments of somebody? For we have seen many persons who
passed almost the whole of their lives in a befitting way, but
a
b
In the Hexaemeron a very different interpretation is given of this passage:
cf. XI, §12 (Kuehn & Baggarly, pp. 420-421).

who fell away at the very end of their lives, one of whom was
indeed that famous Julian,a the wretched apostate.
Answer 1. Some people tell old wives’ tales and say that the
devil, because he dwells in the air, can overhear God’s decisions
about human beings. But that is impossible because God does
not use a voice that resounds, but does everything with His
voiceless and unspeakable will.
2. So my opinion is that Satan, being a light incorporeal
spirit, can understand and gauge much more accurately than
with any human medical science what are the powers and ener-
gies, the increases and diminutions of the life-giving force of
the body through the condition of the blood. From that he is
able by guess work [στοχαστικῶς], but not with full accuracy, to
estimate a person’s end.b
3. The same may be said about soothsayers and ventrilo-
quists. The devils are light spirits; they can see who has robbed
whom,c and where the thief has put the stolen goods; they can
announce all this, just as quite often, having seen heavy rainfall
in the area of the Upper Nile [τῆ Ἰνδικῆ χώρα, lit. the Indian
land], they tell some Egyptian people in advance that the Nile’s
rising will be high.d But if somebody questions these people
about the exact number of cubits and inches of the rise, they
have problems about giving an answer, and are convicted of be-
ing completely ignorant.
Comments
(2) Some lines (§§2-3) are used in Coll. 23 (Qu. 20 = Qu.
ed. 20, cf. PG 89B2-C5).e
a
Emperor Julian, 361-363 A.D., but the suggestion that it was only at the
end of his life that he fell away is unusual.
b
Cf. Athanasius, Vita Antonii, cc. 31-32 (ed. G. J. M. Bartelink [SC 400],
pp. 220-224).
c
Cf. Athanasius, loc. cit., c. 31. 4 (p. 222), with a different interpretation.
d
Cf. Athanasius, loc. cit., c. 32. 1 (p. 222).
e
D. T. Sieswerda, Pseudo-Anastasios, pp. 209, 214.

(3) The question of the devil’s foreknowledge of deaths ap-

pears in the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 100 (PG 28, 660A10-B12) but
in a different form.
(4) The debt to the vita Antonii (cf. notes) may only be slight
as such knowledge was commonplace.
Question 80
Question Some people want to say that Satan fell away be- 131
cause of his not paying homage to Adam.a
Answer 1. Such silly [μάταιοι] myths belong to the pagans
[Ἑλλήνων] and Arabs,b because from the prophets, and espe-
cially from the great Ezekiel,c one can learn that it was because
of pride that Satan was cast away from God, before Adam had
come into being.
2. When God was bringing into being this visible creation
the devil thought that God would place him to be its emperor.
So when he saw that God had made Adam and set him over the
works of His hands, and subjected all things under his feet (Ps 8: 7),
then indeed he took up arms against Adam and deceived him.
Comments
(2) Although a similar Qu. appears in QQ ad Antiochum,
Qu. 10 (PG 28, 604C1-9), in place of the mention of pagans and
Arabs one finds simply “the foolish” [ἀφρόνων].
(3) The answer is remarkable, partly because of its apparent
reference to the Koran, and partly because in the Hodegos Anas-
tasios seems to refer to himself (ὡς φησί τις τῶν διδασκάλων) and
quotes the words. “the devil thought that God would place him to
be its emperor”: cf. Viae Dux IV, 23-27, 37-38 (CCSG 8, p. 83); in
the first of the Narrationes (Nau I; Binggeli I 1 lines 11-12 [p. 171])
there is mention of the adoration by the angels offered to human
nature (in Christ), as also appears in Qu. 4 §2 above.
a
The same idea is found in the hymns of Romanos, cf. Hymnus XLIII 23
(ed. J. Grosdidier de Matons [SC 128], Paris, 1967, p. 528, note 1).
b
Cf. Koran Sourate (al-Baqarah) 2, 34; also Sidney H. Griffith, “Anastasios
of Sinai, the Hodegos and the Muslims”, The Greek Orthodox Theological Review,
32, 1987, pp. 346-347; Richard P. H. Greenfield, Traditions of Belief in Late Byz-
antine Demonology, Amsterdam, 1988, pp. 11-13.
c
Cf. Ezek 28: 2-10, 12-19; Isa 14: 12-14.

Question 81
132 Question You said in previous <answers>, in your physio-
logical explanation of the elements, that frequently it is because
of some physical interconnection and due to the humours of
the body that some women come to be childless, others are
fertile with many children and yet others with few, but you did
not specify the manner of this causality.
Answer 1. Anybody who wishes to explain these and similar
problems in detail is obliged to have recourse to physiologi-
cal material concerning medical matters and copulation, sub-
jects which are not at all suitable for public hearing in church.a
However I shall try to clarify the point in question if in a some-
what veiled fashion [ἀμυδρῶς].
2. In many places of Holy Scripture we find the human flesh
referred to with the word “earth”.b Now as earth which has been
moderately watered is fruitful, and earth which is <much> wa-
tered is barren, the same often happens with the female womb
and the male seed. Women who have been debauched by li-
centiousness and much copulation reject the seed, as tends to
happen among professional prostitutes; it is very difficult for
them to conceive.
3. On account of that in different areas some people, who
are rich and live in plenty, desire to have children, but do not,
whereas the poor people are often very fertile. The physical part
[ἡ φύσις], which because of want has grown thirsty and dry, like
133 parched earth, at once absorbs the moisture of the seed that
falls on it, as happens also to those destitute and impoverished
people among us, the desert-wandering Arabs, who barely have
enough bread, but who have a superabundance of children. In
addition, as those who are particularly well trained in medical
matters tell us,c when the mother’s milk is of a bad humoured
composition it can often destroy the child.
a
A significant indication that at least some of the erotapokriseis were read
out in church.
b
Cf. Gen 2: 7; Sirach 17: 1, 32.
c
The source for this opinion has not been identified.

Varied problems, qU. 81
4. However if you take the opponent’s role and say to me,a

“What is this? Can human fertility and sterility, or life or death,
occur outside God?”, I will say to you in my turn that all that
happens physically because of created things, and the elements,
and the climate, and the humours, and certain combinations,
and the waters, and the milk, are not being said to occur with-
out God. It is from Him and because of His wish and fore-
knowledge that from the beginning all His creatures have their
essential, physical powers [ἐνεργείας]. Indeed tell me, how is it
that the basilisk [= Egyptian cobra] has the power to destroy,
and the viper its deadly poison, or another little animal its pow-
er to cure what is deadly? How is it that some plants are deadly,
while others serve as cathartics, harmless and able to cure?
5. As a result some persons, who had researched these and
similar cases with care and guidance from God, when on one
occasion they saw that one of the women consulting them had
suckled one, two, and even three children, and had buried
them all young, counselled her not to nurture any more that 134
might be born to her. However, no matter what happens, it is
best to say, How magnified were your works, Lord! In wisdom you
made them all (Ps 103: 24).
6. Nevertheless I shall present another substantial and reli-
able account, in addition to what has been said so far, capable
of convincing the most critical listener that it is by means of the
elements (that are His very own) that God arranged to manage
and bring to life, and even to bring to perfection our body; in-
deed, not only the body, but all that we are with the movements
and activities of the incorporeal soul. Consider that at the start
of the day, as it is the bile that comes into action at once very
early, we humans are bad-humoured and more quick-tempered
in the mornings. Then after we have eaten and partaken of a
moderate quantity of wine, we find ourselves better disposed
and more kindly of soul. Or again, if we have done a lot of work
or made a long journey, we at once find ourselves spiritually
a
A very similar turn of phrase (“If my opponent [ὁ δι’ἐναντίας] says to me …”)
occurs in the Homiliae (Capita adversus monotheletas VI, 3 line 86, ed. K.-H.
Uthemann [CCSG 12], p. 112).

tired out and exhausted. Again, at times, during the night, quiet
[ἡσυχία] from noises restores the mind to peace and equilibrium;
but at other times, if there are noises or burning heat overtakes
the body, our incorporeal mind is also perturbed and agitated.
And surely, while the body is childish and immature, our minds
also are childish, immature and foolish, almost as incapable of
solid judgement as the brute beasts. But with the limbs making
progress and growing in successive stages [κατὰ πρόσβασιν],a the
mind gradually grows with them and is enlightened.
7. Clearly if this incorporeal and invisible power [δύναμις] of
our souls and minds is ruled and influenced by the combina-
tion between the elements and the body, and if at God’s bid-
ding it depends upon that, and is dominated by it, then believe
135 me without any further hesitation when you hear that both the
birth and growth of the material body, its formation and dis-
solution, are brought about, with God’s foreknowledge, under
the governing rule of the elements. Without any doubt the
plants which lack souls and sense organs regularly correspond
to the sequence of elements and climate. That is why one coun-
try never propagates palm trees, while another produces no
olive groves, yet a third is barren as far as vines are concerned,
and a fourth has no acorn crop.
8. That is why the most accurate of the world’s geographers
insist that paradise lies in the easternmost part of the world’s
surface, serving as its altar of sacrifice, for as Scripture says: God
planted a paradise [= an orchard] in Edem towards the east (Gen
2: 8). So it is that in the land of the Indians, which is the near-
est to it, nearly all the fruits have the most fragrant aromas,
because with the air current of the winds the sweet scent of the
most fragrant plants in paradise are carried and communicated
to them, after the fashion of palm trees which are close to one
another; they communicate between themselves by the winds
seed producing flowers from the male plants.
9. Now any sweet scent, and especially that which comes
from Indian perfumes, even when prepared without any liquid
a
This expression is also found in Qu. 28, §20.

base, like oil or something similar, is healthy and invigorat-

ing for the human body, just as a bad smell on the other hand
is noxious. That is why one of the learned expertsa was wont
to say that if he could reach a dying man before he had lost 136
consciousness, he would be able to keep him clear in mind for
at least half an hour, with a certain confection of scents, so that
he would be able to put his affairs in order.
Comments
(2) Αmong the QQ ad Antiochum a short question (Qu. 47)
deals with the position of Paradise (see §8) in similar terms
(PG 28, 628B-C).
(3) This Qu. takes up themes that have appeared in other
QQ: cf. 22 §§6-7; 27 §1; 28 §§8, 9, 13, 17, however there may
have been a separate treatise, now lost, dealing with anthropology
(cf. Qu. 27 §1).
Question 82
Question What is the talent which the Lord says He will
take from the wicked servant at the final day [ἐν τῇ συντελείᾳ]
and give to him who had worked well with the fiveb talents?
Answer 1. Some say that it is the Holy Spirit, which he had
received in baptism;c to whom I object that the one who re-
ceived five talents already had himself received the Holy Spirit,
and he had no need of a second Holy Spirit.
2. Therefore we learn from this that very often God pro-
vides charismata of healing, and even some of the teachings
from the divinely inspired Scriptures, to those unworthy of
them, or even to those of another faith, in order that they
may come to <a life of> virtue, out of respect for the one
who made the gift. However some persons, not realizing this
a
Not identified so far, but cf. Qu. 26, §4.
b
Cf. Mt 25: 14-30, especially v. 28, where account should be taken of the
variant reading (“five talents” instead of “ten talents”) given by the fifth-century
Codex Bezae (Cambridge University Library, Nn. II 41).
c
Cf. Cyril of Alexandria, In Ioannem X, 2 (ed. P.E. Pusey, vol. 2, p. 549, lines
7-12; PG 74, 349C-D).

because they were wicked, considered themselves to be saints

and to have received the charisma for that reason. So being
both bloated and blindeda they are deprived of it in the next
life and depart into hell.
Comments
(2) The same question appears in Coll. 88 as Qu. 81, but there
consists only of the two quotations that make up the florilegium
added to Qu. ed. 128 (cf. PG 89, 781A-C); in this case Coll. d
(Qu. 64) does not give the version found in Coll. 88 but instead
copies the authentic answer.
Question 83
137 Question What is the mammon of iniquity (Lk 16: 9) about
which the Lord speaks?
Answer It is not true, as some people think, that it is with
wealth gathered by unjust meansb that the Lord encourages
us to make friends (of the poor), so that they may receive us –
there – into the eternal dwellings (Lk 16: 9). Instead He used the
term mammon of iniquity to designate all the wealth we may
have over and above our strict needs. So if someone possesses
enough to be able to feed and save a person who is being de-
stroyed by hunger, or debt, or imprisonment, and chooses not
to save that person, it is quite certain that such a one will be
justly condemned as a swindler and a murderer.c
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a. Qu. ed. 129, but not in Coll. c.
(2) In Coll. b a different version appears:
190 Question How are we to understand the statement of the
Lord which says, Make friends for yourselves from the mammon of
iniquity, so that when you go missing, they will receive you into the
eternal tabernacles (Lk 16: 9)?
a
There is a word-play in the Greek: τυφωθέντες – τυφλωθέντες.
b
Cf. Qu. 44.
c
Cf. Mt 25: 31-46.

Answer 1. The Lord did not say these things giving permis-
sion nor giving orders for you to accumulate money from injus-
tice and to give alms out of it; but aware that the whole world is
involved in injustice and that almost all the wealth of those who
are rich and in positions of government comes from injustice –
usury, confiscations, enforced gifts, robberies. That is why he gave
utterance to such a saying, so that one might choose the lesser evil
by comparison.
2. It is a beautiful act and pleasing to God that one should 191
give alms from one’s just and sinless labours and pains; it was
from these that those around Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and
Job did so, viz. from tillage, vineyards, cattle, just commerce,
hired labour, skilled farming and similar devices. However if it
appears that a certain wealth has come to us through some injus-
tice, it is better that what has been accumulated from evil sources
be distributed for good purposes, and not that what has come
from evil sources should go once more into evil practices, and
luxury, and fornication, and drunkenness, and profligacy, and
houses with golden ceilings and silken hangings, and all the other
deceit of life.
(3) This question was taken over and expanded (with both
more text and a florilegia of fourteen quotations) in Coll. 23 (Qu.
12 = Qu. ed. 12); this passed into Coll. d (Qu. 65).
(4) Cf. Qu. 44 above, and also QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 87 (PG
28, 649D-652A).
Question 84
Question Which are the sins committed consciously 137
[ἐν γνώσει], and which are those committed unconsciously
[ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ], and which, when one commits them, are the more
grievous?
Answer 1. The sins committed consciously are those
where your very own conscience is condemning you for do-
ing something evil, whereas those committed unconsciously
are those where you think you are acting well, but your acts
are wicked.
2. It is advisable to be aware that many of the sins commit-
ted unconsciously deserve an immeasurably greater condem-
nation than others committed consciously. All the heresies are 138

convinced that they are the true faith, and the pagans [ Ἕλληνες]
in punishing the martyrs thought that they were acting well,
and those who now burn churches think that this is a sacrifice
to God, and those who crucified Christ did not know what they
were doing (Lk 23: 34) and Herod because of his oath thought
he was doing good in assassinating John, and the sister of Moses
who became a leper, she thought she was acting according to
the law, when she upbraided Moses.a
3. It is necessary to be informed of this so that we will not
think that we will not be called to account for the sins commit-
ted unconsciously.
Comments
but not in Coll. c.
(2) Although this question is not included in most copies
of Coll. b another, somewhat related, question has been added
there (Qu. 38) by the Athos manuscript, Philotheou 52, and the
same question is also found in at least one manuscript of Coll.
d (Parisinus Coislin 116) as an additional question.b A paraphrase
of this question comes in QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 72 (PG 28,
640C1-644C7), and there is a very similar text in Ps.-Athanasius,
De communi essentia 49 (PG 28, 73-77). However, note should
be taken of a further treatment of this question in Coll. 88
where Qu. 65 asks “How is it that every blasphemy is forgiven to
humans, but that of the Spirit is not forgiven?” and the question
is answered by a quotation from Chrysostom, Hom. in Matth. 41, 3
(PG 57, 449[13]-450[5]) and another quotation from Basil: this
question appears in Coll. a as Qu. ed. 147 (PG 89, 801 A10-C6).
204 Question How are we to understand the saying of the Lord,
Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men…and whoever says
205 anything against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but who-
ever says anything against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him,
neither in the present time nor in the future age (Mt 12: 31-32, but cf.
Mk 3: 28; Lk 12: 10) ?
a
Cf. Num 12: 1-4, 11.
b
In fact this manuscript of Coll. d gives two versions: that made for Coll.
88 (but with a longer quotation from Chrysostom and an acknowledgement
of him as the author) and, following it (but with Anastasios as the author), the
version made for Coll.b.

Varied problems, QU. 84
Answer 1. In these sayings the Lord is not expounding a

g eneral teaching but is responding to the two opinions that the
Jews expressed about him: for when he cured the blind and dumb
demoniac (cf. Mt 12: 22), the crowd was split into two. Some said,
This is the anointed one (the ‘christ’), the son of David (Mt 12: 23), i.e.
a prophet; but the Pharisees were saying, This man expels demons
only by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons (Mt 12: 24), honouring,
and attributing to, Satan the activity of the Spirit.
2. Therefore to those who thought of him as a prophet and
who held him to be truly the Son of Man, the Lord gave pardon
saying, Whoever says anything against the Son of Man, it will be
forgiven him (Mt 12: 31-32). Seeing him as a man they were not
yet able to think of him as true God. Do not be surprised at this:
for also in the case of the disciples around Cleophas (cf. Lk 24:
18-19), they said he was a prophet; similarly that blessed Samaritan
woman (cf. Jn 4: 19), and others who in the beginning believed
in him. But to those of the Pharisees who attributed the grace of
the Holy Spirit to Satan, to them he said, it will not be forgiven,
neither in the present time nor in the future age (Mt 12: 31-32). He
recognized that they had not repented, since many others who
uttered blasphemies under persecution and denied the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, and who offered sacrifices to idols,
and out of fear of torture trampled on the revered cross and holy
baptism and the undefiled body and blood of Christ, and anathe-
matized the faith, these reverted and lamented and made a worthy
repentance, and were judged worthy of the kingdom of heaven,
like Peter who having made his denial and wept over it (cf. Mt 26:
75; Lk 22: 62), was shown forth as the holder of the keys to heaven
(cf. Jn 21: 17; Mt 16: 19).
3. Those who do not interpret the above-mentioned sayings of 206
Christ in this way fall into many strange theories and contradic-
tions. Now listen intelligently: if every sin and blasphemy will be
forgiven to men, then the one who says to his brother, “You fool!”
is not liable to the hell of fire, as you, O Christ, have said (Mt 5:
22). If every sin is forgiven, then those who do not give any alms
will not depart into the fire prepared for the devil (Mt 25: 41); if
every sin will be forgiven to men, then consequently Paul is lying
when he says, Do not be led astray! Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor masturbators, nor sodomites, nor the covetous,
nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor mockers, nor robbers will inherit the
kingdom of God (1 Cor 6: 9-10).
4. Again, if anyone who says anything against you, the Son,
O Lord, it will be forgiven him, how did you say, The person who

denies me, I will deny him (Mt 10: 33)? How did you exhort say-
ing, The person who does not honour the son does not honour the
father (Jn 5: 23)? All the heresies from the beginning of time, those
from your arrival on earth, were insulting to you and they blas-
phemed against you the Son: and do you tell me, Whoever says
anything against the Son, it will be forgiven him? Will it be forgiven
to Simon Magus, who said, “The one who was born from Mary is
not the Christ [the anointed one], but I am the Christ” (cf. Acts 8:
9-24)? Will it be forgiven to Arius, who said, “The Son of God is
something created, like the rest of created things, and he was not
engendered from God”? Will it be forgiven to accursed Nestorius,
who blasphemed against the Son and said, “Do not boast, Mary,
for you did not give birth to God, but to a man”?
5. If all of these are to be forgiven, O Master, people who blas-
phemed against you, then why did the holy Councils of the fa-
thers condemn them with such terrifying excommunications and
anathemas? If we are to understand the words of the Lord in a cut
207 and dried way, without any examination, then all the heresies are
irreproachable, with the sole exception of that of Macedonius, the
Spirit-fighter, who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, using the
names “creature” and “artefact” for Him.
6. Indeed many silly people who did not understand the pur-
pose of the Lord with regard to the aforementioned sayings, fell
into godless heresies, in this fashion: Every sin and blasphemy will
be forgiven to men. When the demented Origen heard this, and
then Eusebius from Palestine, they began to spread the accursed
teaching that there would be a winding-up (apokatastasis) of hell
and that everyone, and Satan himself, after <the end of> hell
would be judged worthy of the kingdom of heaven.a
7. Next let us consider the consequences of the Lord’s say-
ing, Whoever says anything against the Son of Man, it will be for-
given him (Mt 12: 31-32). Again when the cursed Arius heard this,
he split the Son away from the Father, arguing that the Son was
lesser, and not only lesser than the Father, but also than the Holy
Spirit. Other fellow lunatics when they heard, Whoever says any-
thing against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, they went
astray saying, “All those who blaspheme against the flesh of the
Lord, will find forgiveness; only those who criticize his divini-
ty will be condemned.” Again when Navatos [Novatian] heard,
Whoever says anything against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven
him, neither in the present time not in the future, he went out of his
a
Cf. Qu. 94 below.

mind saying, “Those who denied the faith during a persecution

can as a consequence have no forgiveness or repentance, neither
in the present time nor in the future.”
8. Therefore, as was said at the beginning of this reply, the
Lord pronounced these sayings in answer to the two opinions
held by the Jews: every sin and blasphemy would be forgiven to the 208
Jews, if they had faith in him; but should they persist in their sin,
attributing to Beelzebul the working of the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 12:
24), it would not be forgiven them, neither in the present time nor in
the future (Mt 12: 31-32)
9. Because if it were in relation to the heretics who blaspheme
against the flesh of the Lord that it was said, Whoever says anything
against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, then the arch-her-
etics are irreproachable, I mean Apollinarius, and Eunomius, and
Sabellius, and Dioscorus, and Theodorus, and Eutyches and Ga-
ïanos; some of them said that the all-holy body of Christ was soul-
less, others that it was mind-less, others that it was will-less, and
others that it was power-less, and yet others that it had descended
from heaven, others that it existed only in appearance and imagi-
nation. To sum up, thousands of heresies blasphemed against the
flesh and the soul of the Lord, and it will not be forgiven them,
neither in the present time not in the future age, because they
were irreligious and accursed, and they never repented.
(4) For the sake of completeness, an isolated question, de
blasphemia, frequently attributed to Anastasios (CPG 7746 [5])
is worth including here, even if it does not appear in the Collec-
tions (although the QQ ad Antiochum does have in Qu. 15 [PG 28,
605B14-D2] a short answer on this subject); details about earlier
editions (complete or partial) and of the manuscript evidence is
given in the edition of the Greek text.
Isolated question [CCSG 59, Appendix 25]

Question Whence comes it that the soul of a person fre- 222
quently utters internally some evil thoughts and certain foul,
impure and filthy words, unwillingly and not deliberately, and
frequently even ungodly and blasphemous expressions against
God Himself and the saints and the life-giving and awesome mys-
teries at the time of the liturgical celebration [συνάξεων] and of
prayers and at the reception of the divine and life-giving sacra-
ment, with the result that frequently persons out of discourage-
ment and despair over such godless and ill-spoken expressions,
thought of themselves that they were no longer Christians, as they
were conceiving such things about God, while others frequently

absented themselves from the reception of the holy sacraments,

and yet others considered doing away with themselves or throw-
ing themselves from cliffs because they were blaspheming against
God and therefore had no hope of salvation, pondering on those
words of the Lord, To the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spir-
it, forgiveness will not be given, neither in the present age nor in the
future one (Mt 12: 32; cf. Mk 3: 29; Lk 12: 10)? Whence does such
a wicked thought frequently come, and in what way can one be
liberated from it?
223 Answer 1. Such an evil thought process occurs with many be-
cause of their pride, as God permits Satan to try them, so that
being humiliated they may come to repentance, casting off their
inflated self-esteem. But again to other pious and God-loving per-
sons such an evil line of thought occurs out of diabolical envy. So
it is that some holy and virtuous persons, and even experienced
ascetics living their lives in the desert, occasionally fall into this
evil thinking.
2. But the worst aspect of this warfare is that no one who is
being tempted by it dares to explain anything about it to hu-
man ears, because one thinks that no one else in the world has
ever had such foul and blasphemous thoughts, whereas even if
someone had committed a murder or any other evil act, that per-
son would have the courage to confess such an evil temptation
to a neighbour. But when someone begins to turn this over in
the mind, he or she at once believes that the earth will open its
mouth or that fire will descend from heaven and destroy them.
Indeed that is why some who are being tempted by such evil
thinking, waste away under the mass of unspeakable and unut-
terable sorrow and discouragement, and they are altered wilting
in flesh and appearance; and though they often imagine all pos-
sible ways and means, and every ascetic practice, like fasting and
sleeping on the ground, they are not capable of getting free from
such evil thinking, being all unaware that everyone who believes
and is a thorough Christian is guiltless and not culpable because
of such a temptation.
224 3. How could it be possible for us both to reverence and to blas-
pheme the same God? For it is obvious that we do reverence Him,
we praise Him, we call on Him, we speculate about Him theologi-
cally, we attend on Him, we recognize Him alone, we support suf-
fering for His sake, we accept chastisement from our enemiesa out of
a
A IXth-cent. manuscript from St Sabbas monastery (Hieros. S. Sabbas 408)
adds a marginal note here: “he calls ‘enemies’ the Ismaelites and Hagarenes [=
Muslim Arabs] who oppress the Christians even up to the present time in Syria

love for Him, and for our faith in Him we suffer persecution, for His
sake we deny ourselves homes, fathers and mothers, brothers and
sisters, wives and children (cf. Mt 19: 29; Mk 10: 29; Lk 18: 29), and
we gladly give even our own flesh in martyrdom and torture on His
behalf. How then is it possible for us to blaspheme and mock our
God for whom we die every day (cf. 1 Cor 15: 31)? But this evil think-
ing is nothing but jealousy and spite of the devil who wants to raise
obstacles and separate us from our God. Yet no one, as I said earlier,
can reverence and blaspheme the self-same God. Neither the pagans
[ Ἕλληνες] nor the devils who insinuate such blasphemy into the soul
dare to blaspheme against Him.a
4. If such a blasphemy were truly the product of a human be-
ing, surely we would have uttered the words with the mouth. But
at present we prefer to be burned with fire rather than to utter
any sort of blasphemy with our mouths. So understanding this 225
properly and bearing in mind the cunning of the devil, let us by
no means hold such an evil thinking as a definite choice [ψῆφον].b
5. Also from the following one should be certain that such a
temptation is an alien thing: with regard to our own evil passions
and our own evil thoughts, those that we breed within us, such
as adultery, fornication, gluttony, envy, hate, jealousy, avaricious-
ness, back-biting, quarrelling, anger, and other similar things, it
depends on us whether we practice these or not, and whether we
turn them over in our minds or not. But in the case of this evil
and Palestine and Phoenicia and Persia and Egypt and in the Holy Mountain
of Sinai.”
a
The Paris manuscript, Coislin. 116, which is one of the main witnesses for
Coll. d and which also happens to contain this question, adds at this point a
reference to the acknowledgement by the demons, mentioned in the Gospels
(Mk 1: 24; Lk 4: 34), of Christ’s divinity.
b
Here also Coislin. 116 makes an addition:
“But if the demon starts again to pronounce within us those hateful words,
let us say to him, ‘May affliction come down on your head, and your blasphemy
fall on your skull, wicked and unclean demon! For my part, I reverence the Lord
my God, and him alone I adore (cf. Mt 4: 10; Lk 4: 8), and I shall never blas-
pheme against him. How is it possible for me to blaspheme and also pronounce
the praise of the Lord my God? How can I insult him whom I praise and rev-
erence night and day with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my
strength and with all my mind? But that praise-giving is mine; while the blas-
phemy, you will see to be a shadow. You will be punished for your evil speaking.
You are the one who speaks as an apostate against God.’ In this way, and not
in any other, a person will be able to be freed from this trial, as one recognizes
the trickery of the Evil One and despises it and eliminates it as belonging to the
demon and not to the human person.”
there are similarities in this passage with Qu. 15 in the QQ ad Antiochum
mentioned above.

process of blasphemous thought which tries us, as it is something

alien and demonic, for that reason we are unable to prevent it.
However in whatever is beyond our power, we are not culpable
and guilty before God; we are asked to give account before God
only of those evil passions and thoughts over which we have pow-
er and control, but certainly not of those we do not control, and
which we have no power to prevent.
6. So for this evil and demonic thinking, no person who is
made of flesh and blood can control and prevent it. Because the
demon exists as a spiritual being without a body it communicates
such utterances without being seen into the ears of our bodiless
souls, though the latter do not want it. Then a person, not recog-
226 nizing such a thought process and its character, but thinking that
such ungodly utterances come from one’s own soul, is disturbed
and loses courage and is split asunder and feels alarm and be-
comes confused with the din and feverish, finding that personal
conscience is as if it were burned out, and one despairs of one’s
own life and salvation.a
7. And let no one think that we are writing and saying all
this in order to mislead, or in jest, or by rote, or to console those
under attack from this temptation; rather we have spoken as per-
sons who will have to answer to God Himself for the exhortation
given, and because we have been informed by holy men that this
is the truth of the matter. Among them a story is also recounted-
a
A further addition is found here in Coislin 116:
For this reason some people have also very often taken up arms against such
an evil thought with fasts, night vigils, sleeping on the floor, sack-cloth, and
tears, and by consigning themselves to the desert, yet received no help but even
come to a worse pass because this is not a thought process proper to themselves
but a product of the demon. Frequently in the middle of these <practices>,
while a person is fighting against such an evil thought and with bitter tears
turning to God in prayer and confessing Him and kneeling to Him and groan-
ing, the hateful demon is uttering within us those ungodly sayings against God
at the very moment when we were praying to God against him. If such a way
of thinking belonged to us, it would have been impossible for something so
violently hated by us to persist, and for it to last so long in our soul, since
everything that is thoroughly hated from the heart is certainly shortlived and
obliterated. For that which the soul hates, it surely does not wish to consider
and remember. Therefore, it is clear from all that has been said, whether anyone
who is a convinced believer is free and detached and innocent of such a wicked
line of thought. And it is necessary to establish to our full knowledge and sat-
isfaction, that such a thought process is not ours but belongs to the demon;
also that the devil suggests this, out of envy against us believers alone, because
no pagan [ Ἕλλην] is ever preoccupied with such a thought process. For Satan
is not preoccupied in waging war against those unbelievers whom he has once
overcome with ungodliness.

which comes from the early historians.a One of the fathers of the
Skete,b being gravely troubled by this thought-process [λογισμός], 227
gave an account of it to the most blessed Peter, the Archbishop of
Alexandria who was also a martyr.c The most blessed Peter replied
to him in the following words:
Go away, my child! Pay attention to your other sins, but
leave the responsibility for this thought-process and any guilt
upon me; it is obvious that all those who believe whole-heart-
edly and reverence God are not responsible for such a thought-
process; it is <due to> jealousy of the devil, his creation and his
suggestion, because he wants to impede and distract us from
the struggle against him and from the service to and attendance
on God. To convince you by means of a story from one of the
great fathers that such a mental figment [ἐπίνοια] is not due to
human agency but to the wicked demon, listen to this saying-
story [ἀπόφθεγμα] which does much good to the soul.
8. Once when such an evil thought process was also af-
flicting med I gave an account of it to the servant of God and
confessor of the faith, Paphnoutios. He encouraged me say-
ing, ‘When I was in the prison itself, and while with fire and
tortures my body was being burnt and cut away for Christ’s
sake, the demon within was uttering blasphemies against God.
Then rebuking him with anger I said,
“Oh most wicked one, creator of all evil, I have given my
blood and my soul on behalf of Christ even unto death so
that I may not deny and blaspheme Him, and are you uttering
a
This historian, identified in §9 as Philo, is unknown except for the refer-
ences that Anastasios makes to him here and in the “Demonstration” (ἀπόδειξις)
(on which see Qu. 10, Comment [3]) while introducing the story de arca mar-
tyris; G. Mercati has shown that this Philo is not the fourth-century Bishop of
Carpasia (Cyprus), probably known to Anastasios of Sinai, nor of course Philo,
the first-century Jewish philosopher and exegete (though Anastasios of Sinai
does refer to him elsewhere, e.g. Hodegos XIII, 10, 19 and 85 [CCSG 8, pp. 252,
255]); cf. G. Mercati, “Un preteso scritto di san Pietro vescovo d’Alexandria”,
p. 435; also Patrology, pp. 336-7.
b
The famous Egyptian monastic settlement in the Wadi Natrun (cf. ODB,
sv. Skete); in §9 the monk is identified as Pambo.
c
Peter I of Alexandria died in 311 as a martyr, and was venerated as a saint;
however, at his death Pambo was still a child and could not have asked him for
advice as recounted here; as Mercati remarks the whole story is “senza valore per
la biografia di lui” (loc. cit., p. 430).
d
The best manuscript, Hieros. S. Sabbas 408, adds the scholion: “The saint-
ly Peter also recounted these things to the monk from Skete to encourage him
to have confidence”, clearly to avoid the misapprehension that Anastasios might
be speaking of himself.

thoughts of blasphemy? If I am to blaspheme my God and Lord,

how am I giving a martyr’s witness and reverence to Him now
by the shedding of blood? It is quite obvious that the beautiful
228 confession and martyr’s witness is mine, but that the blasphemy
against God is yours, and will turn back against you!”
9. This is the story [διήγησις], which we have found recount-
ed in the compilation of Philoa the historian, told by the most
blessed Peter to that ascetic, teaching us that it is not possible to
be liberated from such an evil thought-process except by despis-
ing it and thinking nothing of it, as being something foreign and
alien to the soul of anyone who is truly a Christian.b
10. However the blessed Pambo also described to mec that
when he was being troubled once by such a demon and prayed
to God, he heard a voice from above saying to him, ‘Pambo,
Pambo, do not get discouraged by anyone else’s sin, but take
care about your own actions and leave the blasphemies of the
Evil One to him.’
229 11. These are the things that I have briefly noted in reply to
your requests, as for my children, so that you may know in what
a
Cf. note a (p. 209); however, both Hieros. S. Sabbas 408 and the eleventh-
century Vatican Angelicus gr. 52 add this marginal scholion: “This Philo, who was
mentioned above, was bishop of Carpathios [lege, Carpasia], the name of a cape
in love-filled [a wordplay on κυπρίζω] Cyprus towards the East, since that to the
West is called Paphos, as the Acts of the Apostles makes plain: Then Paul and his
companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia (Acts 13: 13); that
was an appointment by the most blessed Epiphanios, as he [Philo] was dearly be-
loved by him, and Epiphanios left him behind, when he went off to Rome to the
Emperor Honorius, to represent him and take charge of any ecclesiastical matters
that might occur.” Mercati (loc. cit., p. 433 n. 1) notes that this scholion is drawing
on chapter 49 of the legendary vita of St Epiphanios (PG 41, 85A-B).
b
Both the Coislin manuscript and a Vatican manuscript, Barberinianus gr.
522 (dated to the eleventh or twelfth century) add here: “the other passions and
human sins frequently need time and a set moment [and day adds C], and some
material things, and it is possible for someone to fight against them and prevent
them; but this sort of thought-process invades the soul as swiftly as a lightning-
flash or falling thunder-bolt or a blink of the eye before one can say a word,
and it is not in our power to prevent it or close the mouth of the bodiless de-
mon.” However, in view of the scholion mentioned in the next note, this whole
paragraph seems to have been misplaced, and should follow §10, or at least be
read in parentheses; Mercati suggested placing the words “which we have found
recounted in the compilation of Philo the historian” between brackets. Another
possibility is that the words, “And he also said” [Καὶ εἶπε] have been omitted.
c
Hieros. S. Sabbas 408, adds in the margin the scholion: “This story is also
due to the most holy Pope and Archbishop Peter, because Anastasios, who says
and writes these things, was much more recent than they, being the hegou-
menos of the Holy Mountain of Sinai.”

way you can free yourselves from the Evil One. I greet you in the
Lord, amen.
Question 85
Question What is “chance”, and should a Christian talk 138
about chance?
Answer Originally “chance” was an expression used by the
pagans [ Ἕλλησιν], and “chance” means the government of the
world without providence. However a Christian professes that it
is God who rules and foresees everything; if he were to talk about
chance, he would have fallen away from a Christian way of think-
ing, like the pagans [ Ἕλληνες] with their foolish ways of thought.
Comments
(1) Not included in most of the collections (Coll. a, Coll. b,
Coll. c), and no parallel in the QQ ad Antiocum.
(2) Coll. 23 (Qu. 19 = Qu. ed. 19) took over this text and ex-
panded it, adding two quotations from the Cappadocians (PG 89.
513-517), and this was included in Coll. d (Qu. 67).
(3) The definition given here is also found in the so-called
Souda, dated to around 1000 A.D. (cf. Suidae Lexicon nr. 1234 s.v.
τύχη [ed. A. Adler, Leipzig, 1935, vol. 4, p. 613]), but its source is
not known.
Question 86
Question As God says in Scripture, Rescue them who are led 139
to death (Prov 24: 11), what then? Is it good to save even thieves
and murderers?
Answer No, I would not say that. Nobody is more kindly
than God, and He says that blood should be shed in exchange
for blood.a However, if somebody is about to be led off to death
because of faith, or debts, or because of a despot’s fit of rage,
or some other such cause, it is good to save that person. Indeed
there are those who have liberated even those condemned to
death, and arranged for them to repent in some monasteries, and
they did well.
a
Cf. Gen 9: 6; Ex 21: 23-24; Num 35: 33.

Comments
Question 87
Question If I am subjected to slavery or prison, and I am
not able, as and when I would wish, to take time in church or
to fast and practise night-vigils, how can I be saved and gain the
remission of sins?
Answer 1. Any slavery, imprisonment and state of wretch-
edness clearly has been brought into the world for the re-
140 mission of your sins. Thus if you guard your faith, and give
thanks to God for your slavery, and if you repeat to yourself
in humility the reflection, “Righteous you are, O Lord (Ps 118:
137), in all that you have done to me, and I have suffered
nothing appropriate to my sins,” this humility and thank-
fulness will be counted for you as fasting and attending the
liturgy. However, if someone loves God, one is able in any
circumstances, wherever one may be, to remember God in
one’s heart.
2. Because it was revealed on one occasion by God to the ab-
bot Anthonya as he was in the desert, “There is a doctor in the
town who is up to your level; he gives all his surplus money to
the poor, and during the whole day he is chanting in his heart
along with the angels the Holy, holy, holy.”
Comments
(1) Although the question is included in Coll. a. Qu. ed. 132,
the answer given is in fact the answer to the following question,
Qu. 88, §§1-2; this error clearly distinguishes one branch of the
manuscript tradition.
(2) In Coll. d (Qu. 69), but not in Coll. b nor in Coll. c.
(3) One of several QQ dealing with life under Arab domina-
tion: cf. QQ 76, 101, 102.
a
Cf. Apophthegmata Patrum, Antonius 24 (PG 65, 84B).

Question 88
Question Suppose there is someone in a position of au-
thority, who has many blessings from God and is engaged in
business affairs [πράγμσι], someone who is unable to retire from
life, who enjoys a wealthy table, a variety of foods, and bathing
facilities: how is it possible for such a person to maintain a life
without reproach in the middle of such things and to obtain
the forgiveness of sins?
Answer 1. If it were the case that people such as this had not
found favour with God in each generation, I mean persons who
were in the world in the midst of wealth, marriage, power and 141
enjoyment, then perhaps those who concoct pretexts for sins (Ps
140: 4) might be said to have some cause. But as it is, we see in
Holy Scripture that nearly all those who gained God’s friend-
ship, I mean people like Abraham and those of his generation,
and Joseph, and Job, and Moses, and David, and innumerable
others, were all persons who pleased God while surrounded by
wealth, worldly things and children.
2. In fact this is yet another of the Devil’s ploys: he suggests to
someone, “It is impossible for you to be saved if you do not with-
draw from the world, practise solitude and retire to the desert.”
He has beguiled and misled many with similar considerations,
so that they lived in the hope of retiring from the world in the
distant future and with this thought took recklessly to sin, and
as they were not able to retire he packed them off to eternal fire.
3. Tell me, was there ever someone more wicked that Manasses,a
who during fifty-five years forced all Israel to worship idols? And
yet when he repented, he was welcomed by God on making his
confession, since being then a prisoner he was incapable of win-
ning God’s favour with donations and almsgiving. In the case
of that other notorious sinner, I mean Nabouchodonosor, as he
was in possession of great wealth Daniel counselled him to save 142
himself by almsgiving and said to him, O King, let my counsel be
a
Cf. 2 Chr 33: 1-20.

a cceptable to you; atone for your sins with alms and for your iniquities
with compassionate deeds to the needy (Dan 4: 24 [27]).
4. What excuse will we have on the day of judgement,
especially the present generation which has to see so many of
our own brothers and co-religionists and off-spring in such
necessity and straitened circumstances, living in deserted track-
less wastes, amid hardships and hunger and thirst and naked-
ness and exhaustion and toil? It is true that Israel was once
an enslaved population, but they were not condemned to the
desert, but in cities and among other people.
5. However supposing that you lack money for them,
I mean for these brothers of yours, and cannot share their
sufferings financially, I have a word of advice for you which
is valid for everyone and which can bring salvation to both
rich and poor. What advice is this? Simply that when you sit
down at your table and see the abundance of different dishes
laid out before you, you sigh to yourself and criticize yourself,
saying, “My God, make me, sinner that I am, blameless in
respect of these your numerous blessings! How many of our
brothers are longing even at this moment for a small morsel of
bread! How many are there at this very moment in the desert
who do not even have enough water to satisfy them! How
many do not even dispose of shade, but are being scorched by
the sun!” Similarly on the point of getting into bed, when you
are going to sleep, turn over in your mind similar thoughts,
and so also when you are in the bath-house, and in church,
and in the market-place, constantly bewailing and criticizing
yourself. I can assure you that anyone who uses these reflec-
tions to confess before God and to belittle oneself, will find a
measure of grace with God.
143 6. As for those who say to themselves, “The reason why
God has given me all this is so that I may eat and drink and
enjoy myself, and had God wanted He would surely have given
the same both to me and to the poor person, so that such a
one might eat and drink, and find enjoyment,” people who
say such things have closed the gate of the Kingdom on them-
selves.

Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a. partly (§§1-2) as the answer to the
previous question, Qu. ed. 132, and partly as a separate question-
and-answer, Qu. ed. 133 (§§3-6).
(2) Included in Coll. d (Qu. 70) as one question, but omitting
§1; not included in Coll. b nor in Coll. c.
(3) In Coll. 23 (Qu. 15 = Qu. ed. 15) the compiler took §1
and expanded it with more quotations from Paul, but omitted
the rest, adding instead a florilegium with long quotations from
St Basil, John Climacus and the Apostolic Constitutions (PG 89,
468-476).
(4) In the QQ ad Antiochum a passage similar to §3 occurs in a
question on alms-giving, Qu. 88 (PG 28, 65B-C).
(5) A similar theme in Qu. 47 above.
Question 89
Question How is that in our own day we see many who are
willing to gladly give themselves up to death for the sake of the
orthodox faith, but when they come to the moment of death,
the tyrannical rulers, either because of the intercession of cer-
tain persons or simply because they change their minds, decide
to set them free? What is one to think of the cause of such a
liberation? Is it due to God or to human intervention?
Answer The ways and judgements of God are multiple
and varied, thanks to which some persons are liberated from
such deaths. There are often some whom God redeems, per-
haps because they happen to be teachers or in charge of the
poor; in these cases He welcomed their good intention but set
them free for the salvation of others. Again, there are others He
redeems perhaps because the cause for which they offer their
lives no longer deserves what they think it does. But it is also
frequent for the devil to raise an obstacle, to prevent someone
from gaining the crown. And so on, there are numerous other
explanations, which it is not necessary to mention because
some cannot understand them.
Comments

Question 90
144 Question How can we discern the correction [παιδείαν] or
the trial [πειρασμόν] that comes to us from God, and one that
occurs because of the devil?
Answer 1. Very often it is not only because of God or the
devil that we fall into dangers, trials and infirmities, but be-
cause of our own lack of judgement and carelessness, as hap-
pens to those who can see a stormy change of weather coming
and nevertheless take their ship out of the harbour, or those
others who fling themselves into danger.
2. However the trial from God that comes upon someone
for that person’s good never eradicates good hope from the
soul, such for example as in the case of Job; so he could say to
God. I wait for you, until I come into being once more, and you set
me a time when you will remember me (Job 14: 14, 13).
3. On the other hand, the trials that (with God’s permission)
come on from the devil fill the soul with despondency, anger
and hopelessness.
Comments
(1) Omitted from Coll. a, Coll. b and Coll. c, but present in
Coll. d (Qu. 72).
(2) A few words are borrowed from the question for the ques-
tion of Coll. 23 (Qu. 9 = Qu. ed. 9: cf. PG 89, 409C4-5);a and a
sentence from the answer is in Coll. 23 (Qu. 18 = Qu. ed. 18: cf.
PG 89, 501B5-10).b
Question 91
Question What is true humility, and how can we, with
<the help of> God, achieve it?
Answer 1. Humility is not, as some people think, to com-
145 mit sins and consider oneself a sinner and worthy of hell; that
is a consideration that any sinful person has, and perhaps even
the demons – that is why they said to Christ, You have come
a
b
D.T. Sieswerda, Pseudo-Anastasios, pp. 195-196.

here before time to destroy us (Mt 8: 29). By using the phrase

“before time” they indicated that they are aware and are expect-
ing that they will be condemned there to Gehenna. That is why
Scripture says: Do you believe that there is only one God? You do
right, for even the demons believe and shudder (Jas 2: 19).
2. Therefore, true humility is to do what is good, but to think
of oneself as impure and unworthy of God, having as sole hope
of salvation His kindness. As for the good we may do, we cannot
justify ourselves before God, not even for this very air we breathe.
Were we to offer Him all that we have, He would not be indebt-
ed to us for any repayments. For all things are His, and nobody
who takes what is his own is obliged to repay those who have of-
fered it to him. In consequence, what shall we give in return to the
Lord (Ps 115: 3) for our birth itself, and then for all the other good
things that He has granted us, who are unworthy of it: for chil-
dren, for wealth, for frequent salvation from many dangers, for
the blood He poured out on the eartha on our behalf and also be-
cause of the sins we were later to commit once more, and for the
kingdom of heaven in the next life, which He has promised us?
3. Therefore we who are so indebted and who have repaid
nothing, how great is the humility and contrition of heartb in
which we should constantly live, feeling no haughtiness over
anything, allowing ourselves to pass no judgements on others,
reviling no one, being spiteful over nothing, loving all, hav- 146
ing compassion for all, longing for the Christ! Let us long for
our master even as some people long for the company of loose
women! Very often a man, out of desire for a woman, will
squander all his fortune just to get that foulness.
4. Our fear for God should be at least as great as the fear
we have for wild animals or for dogs. Very often when some
persons have been on their way to steal something, they heard
the barking of the dogs around the place and at once they re-
treated, not out of fear of God but of the dogs. Therefore our
fear should be of Him. Let us become inwardly like those who
have been condemned and are being kept in gaol, they are al-
a
Cf. Mt 23: 35.
b
Cf. Dan 3: 39.

ways anxious, in an agony of mind, lamenting and asking when

the interrogator will come, and repay to each according to each
one’s deeds (Rom 2: 6).a The person who lives with this sort of
preoccupation is on the way to true humility.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 135, but not in the other col-
lections, except that a comparable version is found in Coll. b.
177 Question What sort is true humility, the one by which a per-
son is forgiven for sins?
Answer 1. Some say that humility is this, to consider oneself
a sinner. But I think that anyone who commits a sin considers
himself a sinner, and one does not have pardon at once just from
thinking that one is a sinner, since even the demons and the devil
himself know that they are wicked and sinful; that is why, as they
knew that on the day of judgement they would be destroyed in
Gehenna, they called out to Christ, What is there between us and
you, Jesus, Son of God? You have come here before time to destroy us
(Mt 8: 29). By saying “before time” they indicated that at the time
of the judgement Christ will destroy them.
2. Therefore true humility, which forgives sin, is when some-
one, who lives in accordance with God and does good works,
considers oneself to be a sinner and earth and ashes (cf. Gen 18:
27) to quote Abraham, or a worm and not human (cf. Ps 21: 7),
to quote what the prophet David said about himself, David who
was after God’s heart and who performed the wishes of God (cf. 1
Kings 13: 14; Ps 142: 10); and true humility is for someone, in all
the good things that one does, never to think that one is doing
good but to make confession to God, saying how much one is in
His debt and that one has nothing to offer that will be in any way
equivalent for all the good things that God has done for oneself.
That is the true humility, the one that God loves above all human
do-goodism, the humility about which David spoke: a sacrifice
to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart God will not
bring to naught (Ps 50: 19).
(2) In the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 93, there is a similar ques-
tion, but the answer concentrates on not judging others (PG 28,
656A).
a
Cf. Ps 61: 13; Prov 24: 12.

Question 92
Question What is meant by the phrase in Scripture, 146
Even if I bestow as food all my possessions, and give up my body
for it to be burnt, but have no love, I gain nothing (1 Cor 13: 147
3)? How can someone bestow all one’s possessions for food
without love?
Answer 1. There are some persons who appear to give many
alms, but they are haters of their fellow men, calumniators,
proud, unjust, resentful and envious. Thus, because of all these
vices, their alms-giving becomes worthless.
2. Indeed in my opinion it was because of such vices that
the lamps of the five foolish virgins were extinguished, as they
lacked spiritual oil.a
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 136, in Coll. b,(Qu. 28), and
in Coll. d (Qu. 75), but not in Coll. c.
Question 93
Question How are we to understand the apostolic [=
Pauline] dictum that affirms, If someone’s work is burned, that
one will suffer loss, but the person will be saved, even if only as
through fire (1 Cor 3: 15)? Some people have fantasized on the
basis of this statement that hell will have an end.
Answer 1. If we were to say that hell has an end, we would
be saying that all the New and Old Testaments are mendacious,
and not only that, but also that the blessed Paul is tripping him- 148
self up and is at variance with himself. For if indeed he says that
hell will have an end, how could he say, Do not be misled! Neither
fornicators, nor adulterers, nor those guilty of sexual self-abuse, nor
slanderers, nor drunkards, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of
God (1 Cor 6: 9-10)? The Lord also says that sinners will proceed
into eternal hell (Mt 25: 46). Now if the eternal fire has an end,
it clearly follows that eternal life will also have an end. The force
a
Cf. Mt 25: 8.

of the “eternal” is the same for the just and for sinners, as the
former are for eternal life and the latter for eternal hell (Mt 25: 46).
2. Again in a similar way the Lord says about those condemned
to Gehenna, Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched
(Mk 9: 48). Moreover both the parable about the rich man and
Lazarus,a and that about the ten virgins,b make plain the never-
ending nature of hell. So also the words spoken about Judas: It
were good for him had he not been born (Mt 26: 24), suggest an
eternal hell, because if he were to be punished for several years in
hell and then later enter the kingdom of the heavens for all ages,
it would not be better for him had he not been born. Again, how
149 could Scripture say, In death there is no one who makes mention of
you (God), and in Hades who will acknowledge you (Ps 6: 6)? The
mention of God does not exist there, nor does his proclamation;
it is obvious then that there will also never be its abolition.
3. As for the Apostle’s saying, If someone’s work is burned,
that one will suffer loss, but the person will be saved, even if only as
through fire (1 Cor 3: 15), this means that sin is destroyed there
and will no longer exist, but the person who committed it will
not be wiped out like the sin, but being indestructible is saved
in the fire, i.e. persists and endures and is not destroyed in it.
4. However even if hell lasted a thousand years, as the her-
etics claim,c what need is there to make trial of such horror
when we cannot now stand our bodies being burnt even for a
moment [πρὸς ῥοπήν]?
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. d (Qu. 76).
(2) In Coll. a, Qu. ed. 137 (PG 89, 789 C1-7) includes a frag-
ment (§3) from this question, even if most of it draws on the fol-
lowing question (Qu. 94).
(3) In Coll. 88 one question (Qu. 56) raises the same problem,
but the answer is drawn from John Chrysostom.
(4) In the QQ ad Antiochum, Qu. 102 (PG 28, 666D-661A)
has points in common with this Qu.
a
Cf. Lk 16: 19-31.
b
Cf. Mt 25: 1-13.
c
Cf. John of Damascus, Expos. Fidei 17, 35-36 (ed. Kotter, p. 44).

Question 94
Question Is there a time-limit for the consummation of
the world or not?
Answer God foreknows all things before their beginning.a 150
However the holy Fathers do say that when the number of
the just fully equals the number of angels who fell, so that the
upper world is full, then will the consummation come about; as
Gregoryb cries out, “The upper world must be filled!”
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a. Qu. ed. 137, in Coll. b (Qu. 35) and in
Coll. d (Qu. 77), but not in Coll. c.
Question 95
Question Some people have difficulty on hearing the
apostolic [= Pauline] phrase which says with reference to the
resurrection: Then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the
Father, who has put all things in subjection under Him (1 Cor
15: 28).
Answer 1. A problem of this sort is typical of the Arians
and Nestorians, who want to prove that God the Word is sec-
ondary and a slave and a created thing. So one should put
them the question, “How will the Son be subjected to the Fa-
ther at the resurrection, will it be as one who at present is
not subjected, or as one already subjected?” And if they an- 151
swer, “As one not subjected”, the Apostle himself puts them to
shame when he says that the Christ is obedient, and subjected
to His own father, to the point of death, even death on a cross
(Phil 2: 8).
2. Now someone who is obedient to his own father unto
death, how can he be still further subjected to Him at the resur-
rection? Surely the body of Christ, which is the church of those
a
Cf. Dan, Susanna 35a (Theodotion 42).
b
Cf. Gregorius Nazianzenus, Orationes, 38, 2 (ed. Cl. Moreschini & P. Gal-
lay [SC 358], p. 106). However, the idea that saved humankind will fill up the
spaces in heaven left by the fallen angels is most clearly found in Augustine,
Enchiridion 9: 29 (CCSL 48, 805-7).

saved, as Paul also bears witness,a will be subjected to Him,

worshipping the Father through the Christ and with the Christ
at the resurrection. Then the Son will say to God his Father,
“Behold, here I am and the children that you have given me, my
God (Isa 8: 18).b You said to me, to your son, ‘Ask from me (like
a true son and one who shares my being [lit. is homoousios])
and I will give you nations as your heritage and as your possession
the ends of the earth, and you shall shepherd them (Ps 2: 8-9) – in
great power’.”
Comments
Question 96
Question What is meant by Christ’s saying, If your right
eye or your hand causes you scandal, cut them off and throw them
away from you (Mt 5: 29)?
152 Answer 1. Our master and Lord himself said that all evil
acts – murders, adulteries, fornication, and the other passionsc –
all come out from the soul. What then, should we destroy our-
selves and throw away from us our souls, as being the cause of
scandal for us? God forbid!
2. Thus some people say that Christ is talking of friends
and relatives: for we, the faithful, we are members of one another
(Eph 4: 25). So then He says that if you have a friend or relative
who is as close to you as your right eye or your hand, and if you
realize that you are being harmed in your soul by that person,
then cut such a one off from you.
3. However it seems to me that the Lord was saying that it
is the passions of our limbs that we should cut off and throw
away from us.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. b (Qu. 29), but not in Coll. c.
a
Cf. Eph 1: 22-23; Col. 1: 24.
b
Cf. Jn 17: 6, 9, 24 (and cf. 6: 39).
c
Cf. Mt 15: 18-19; Mk 7: 20-23.

Varied problems, qQ 95-97
(2) In Coll. 88 a question (Qu. 70) appears made up of a long

collection of Biblical texts (plus a florilegium of four texts) aimed
at showing that Christ is not referring here to members of the
body, but metaphorically to friends and relatives (as in §2 above);
this was included in Coll. a as Qu. 60 (PG 89, 637-645), and also
in Coll. d as Qu. 79.
Question 97
Question In what way are we to understand that, If two or
three of you agree about any request that you ask, it will be done for
them (Mt 18: 19)?
Answer 1. The Lord, who is well aware that people are very 153
prone to illusions and conceit, wishes to guard us from our-
selves, even if we have attained a virtuous life and holiness. So in
order that we consider ourselves unworthy when we make our
requests to Him, He wants us to associate other like-minded
persons with us, to join us in our prayers and strivings: some-
one who makes prayers in isolation, and gains what is asked for,
often falls into arrogance, but if several persons are making the
same prayer, all remain in a state of humility.
2. Now this is something that I have often experienced my-
self in the company of others, and I recommend it to you in
your requests to God, especially when we do not know if what
we want to do is God’s will or not. Very often, if two or three
pray whole-heartedly for something, and even fast about it,
then certainly after two or three days, either in a vision, or the
heart of the one wishing to act will be instructed; perhaps also
after their prayer and on opening for lachmeterion [opening the
Bible for an omen texta] they will merit a true answer.
3. So the Christian should possess a spiritual “ephoud”,b i.e.
the Holy Spirit which illumines the person and displays what
is advantageous. Those who have this tell us that when they ask
God about a particular subject, if their request is truly to God’s
liking, the grace of the Holy Spirit overshadows them at once.
a
See Qu. 57.
b
See the following question, Qu. 98.

Comments
(1) This question is included (though omitting §3) in Coll. c
(Qu. 13), and was then added to the Gretser edition of Coll. a as
Qu. 109bis (PG 89, 761C-764A.
(2) Although the question was taken over in Coll. 88 (as Qu.
71) the original answer was omitted and in place of it texts from
Basil and John Chrysostom added; it appears in Coll. a as Qu.
61 (PG 89, 645C-648A), the question thus appearing twice in the
Gretser edition, but with very different answers.
Question 98
154 Question What sort of thing was the object called in the
Law the ephoud?
Answer 1. The name itself on its own signifies “revela-
tion” or “ransoming”. As for its form, Scripture testifies that
it was a piece of cloth, about a hand-span across, shaped
as a square panel of silken material woven with gold-thread
and fashioned very skilfully. In the middle it had a sort of
solid gold plaque with two perfect emeralds set on either
155 side, each having engraved on it six of the twelve tribes of
Israel, while in the middle, between the emeralds was an
adamant stone.
2. The shoulder garment of the High Priest had the form
of a cape, which was short and came down only as far as the
thighs; the high priests wore this when they offered incense and
performed religious ceremonies.
3. Whenever the need arose to question God on some sub-
ject, the High Priest attached one edge of the ephoud to his
shoulder garment at the level of his heart and put both his
hands under it, so that it was positioned spread out on the
palms of his hand like a tablet; then he put the question to
God, while gazing at the ephoud.
4. If the affair was to God’s liking the adamant stone at once
began to shine and sparkle, emitting beams of light; however if
what was asked for was not to God’s liking, the stone stayed in
the same state. On the other hand, if God intended handing
over the people for slaughter, the diamond took on a bloodshot,

fiery colour; if a plague was about to attack, it became black,

like an aquamarine hyacinth stone.
5. We have put together these remarks relying not on our-
selves but on the holy Fathers.
Comments
(1) The compiler of Coll. 88 took over this question (Qu. 40;
PG 89, 585A6-B14) and added three texts to form a florilegium; this
version is included in Coll. a as Qu. 40, and is also found in Coll.
d (Qu. 81); Anastasios calls it “ephoud”, but “ephod” is more usual.
(2) The object discussed here is mentioned (though not named
as such) in Exodus 28: 6-13, 26 (30); the name appears in Judges 8:
27; 17: 5 and 1 Kings 14: 3, 18-20.
(3) In the Catenae on Exodusa one finds references to the
prophetic use made of changing colours of stones, and the text
given by Anastasios appears there attributed to him or to the
Souda.b However, there seems to be no other exact parallel to
the use of the adamant stone, even if changes of colour in other
stones is mentioned: cf. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, QQ in Exod. 60
(eds Fernández Marcos & Sáenz Badillos, QQ in Octateuchum,
pp. 139-144; PG 80, 285C); Epiphanius, De XII gemmis (CPG
3748; PG 43, 293-301, 301-304, 371-372); in general, cf. Frederick
H. Cryer, Divination in Ancient Israel and its Near Eastern En-
vironment. A socio-Historical Investigation [Journal for the Study
of the Old Testament Supplement Series 142], Sheffield, 1994,
pp. 277-282 (“The Ephod and the Ark”).
Question 99
Question Some people, turning away from God and 156
the holy Church along with this race <of the Arabs>, affirm,
“Whom God wishes to save, he is saved, and whom God
destroys, is destroyed,” and they quote to support them the
saying of the apostle Paul, I will have mercy on whomever I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion
(Rom 9: 15 [= Ex 33: 19]), and He has mercy on whom He wishes,
and he hardens the heart of whom He wishes (Rom 9: 18), and
a
Nikephoros, Σειρὰ … εἰς τὴν Ὀκτάτευχον, vol. 1, Leipzig, 1772, col. 875;
Fr. Petit, La Chaîne sur l’Exode [Traditio Exegetica Graeca 11], Num. 871 Ad Ex.
28, 26 (30), Louvain, 2000, p. 223.
b
On the Souda, cf. Qu. 85, Comment (3).

Those whom he foreknew he also predestined (Rom 8: 29), and

Some vessels were made by God for an honourable purpose, and
some others to be dishonoured (Rom 9: 21), by “vessels” meaning
“human beings”.
Answer 1. My opinion here, and I think it is God’s opinion
as well, is that not even Satan will dare to say that, “Whom God
wishes to save, He saves, and whom God wishes, He destroys,”
but just as in matters concerning Christ the demons are more
religious than the Arabs, confessing him to be the Son of God,a
so also with regard to this dogma.
2. If indeed whom God wishes, He saves, and again whom
God wishes, He destroys, neither the person saved would be
worthy of the reward, nor would the person destroyed be wor-
thy of hell. And if that were the case, it is obvious that not
157 even the demons enter Gehenna, and that if they do go in,
they enter unjustly. It would be God, as the Arabs say, who had
made them evil and wicked, whereas the demons themselves
have borne witness that they do go into destruction, crying out
to Christ, Come now, what is there between us and you, Jesus, Son
of God? You have come here before time to destroy us (Lk 4: 34; Mk
1: 24). By referring to “before time” they were pointing to the
hour of their coming destruction in Gehenna.b
3. It is necessary therefore for anyone who wishes to in-
terpret Scripture in a religious way to distinguish with great
care the circumstances of time, the persons, and the purpose
of the speaker; whoever does not distinguish these falls into
many silly errors. However when the divine Apostle spoke
the words, Those whom He – God – foreknew, (these) He also
predestined (Rom 8: 29), he solved all the preceding prob-
lems. For example, He foreknew that Pharaoh would not re-
pent, and He hardened his heart (Ex 14: 8), so that he might
persecute Israel and be drowned; He foreknew the rectitude
of Jeremiah and He predestined him, sanctifying him from
his mother’s womb to be a prophet (Jer 1: 5); He foreknew the
godlessness of the Sodomites and He made them into vessels
a
Cf. Lk 4: 34; 8: 28; Mk 1: 24; 5: 7; Mt 8: 29.
b
Cf. Qu. 91, §1.

to be dishonoureda and burned out; He foreknew the conver-

sion of Paul, and He predestined him to be a vessel of predilec-
tion (Acts 9: 15).
4. However if God has mercy on whomever he wishes, and
whomever He wishes, God destroys,b how can Scripture say, He
wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth (1 Tim
2: 4), just as Christ says, It is not the wish of my father that any 158
hair be destroyed (of anyone on the face of the earth)c? Other-
wise how could He be called the true light that illumines all those
who come into the world (Jn 1: 9), giving us power to become the
children of God (Jn 1: 12), just as He said by the Prophet: I said,
‘Gods you are, and all sons of the Most High’ (Ps 81: 6)? If indeed
“all”, how can He have mercy on whom He wishes, and harden the
heart of whom He wishes (Rom 9: 18)?
5. It is important to realize that among those in Rome,
to whom Paul has written these words, there were some who
had come to the faith after having been pagans [ἐξ Ἑλλήνων],
and others Hebrews [= Jews]. So as he was writing to both
groups, occasionally he refers especially to the former Gentiles
[ἐξ ἐθνῶν], who perhaps had to put up with insults from the
Jews [Ἰουδαίων] because of their earlier idolatry; that is the
reason why he wrote these words, wanting to silence the Ju-
daeans [Jews], “Who are you to raise objections to God? Does
the potter not have the right to make from the same mixture some
vessels for an honourable purpose and some others to be dishon-
oured (Rom 9: 21)?” And also, I will have mercy on whomever
I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have
compassion (Rom 9: 15). All these and similar phrases are in
support of those converted from among the Gentiles; and on
their behalf also there was the remark, Glory, honour and peace
to all who do good, to the Judaean [Jew] first, but also to the pa-
gan [ Ἕλληνι] (Rom 2: 10).
6. Again when Paul was taking the part of the those con- 159
verted from among the Judaeans [Jews] he says to the Gen-
a
Cf. Rom 9: 21.
b
Cf. Rom 9: 18 (slightly altered).
c
Cf. Mt 18: 14; Lk 21: 18.

tiles, It is not you who bear the root; it is the root that bears you
(Rom 11: 18), meaning by “root” the Law. Similarly when he
says, He who is weak eats vegetables (Rom 14: 2), he is talk-
ing of the former Jews; when they adopted the faith and
were baptized, to avoid all suspicion of eating any sort of
meat derived from pig, which they abhorred,a they abstained
completely from all meat, consuming only vegetarian food
in future. It is on their behalf that Paul said, He who is weak,
meaning in the faith, someone who is not yet completely
reformed, eats vegetables (Rom 14: 2).
7. Consequently let no one among you say, along with these
ungodly people, “Whom God wishes, He saves, and whom
God wishes, He destroys”, because he would be making God
unjust; if God Himself destroyed the sinner, why does He send
that person to hell? Moreover God will be presented as having
favourites,b in so far as He saves some and destroys others. But
that is not so, God forbid! God has given humans the power of
free-will, and He has set before them the way of life (Jer 21: 8),
just as the devil has set before them the way of sin, and each
will proceed along whichever each chooses. That is why God
gives to the just the kingdom of heaven as a reward for their
good intention, and similarly to the wicked He gives hell for
their wicked intention.
Comments
(1) Found in Coll. b (Qu. 32).
(2) In Coll. 88 (Qu. 55) this topic is brought up, but an answer
attributed to John Chrysostom replaces the Anastasian answer,
and this is the version, also included in Coll. d (Qu. 55), that can
be read in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 55 (PG 89, 617-620).
Question 100
160 Question Very many people, not only among non-believ-
ers but even among believers, because of their leaning towards
the polygamy <permitted> in the Law, quote at us the saying
a
Cf. Deut 14: 7-8.
b
Cf. Acts 10: 34.

of the Lord which states, I have not come to abolish the Law,
but to fulfil it (Mt 5: 17). What reply ought we to make about
this?
Answer 1. On many different occasions in the Gospel
the Lord can be seen to be teaching us the cancellation
of the Law; for example, when He says, The Law and the
prophets, up to the time of John (Lk 16: 16; Mt 11: 13), and
again to the Jews, The vineyard – meaning the cultivation
sanctioned by the Law and the worship – will be taken away
from you and will be given to a people that produces its fruit
(Mt 21: 43, 41). And also, “The Romans will come and they
will destroy the city and the kingdom”,a and, Behold, your
house is left to you desolate (Mt 23: 38; Lk 13: 35), and yet
again when He says to the disciples, This is my blood of the
new covenant (Mt 26: 28),b it is obvious that He rejected the
former sacrifice.
2. Therefore, when the Lord says to the Jews, I have not
come to abolish the Law (Mt 5: 17), He is speaking in an ex-
cellent way that respects religious decorum and yet suggest-
ing to them something like, “I for my part have not come to
abolish the Law, provided that you had accepted me and be-
lieved in me as the one proclaimed in advance by the Law
and the prophets; but when you condemned me the lawgiver 161
to death, it is you, therefore, who dissolved the Law and the
prophets.”
3. However, even before Christ’s sojourn one can see that
God was revealing the cancellation of the worship sanctioned
by the Law; He did this through all the prophets, but more es-
pecially He spoke under oath through Jeremiah, saying, Behold,
I swore by my great name, says the Lord almighty, if indeed my
name shall be in the future in the mouth of all Judah (Jer 51: 26
[44: 26]). But if God said that He would take away His name
a
Jn 11: 48, but replacing “the city and the kingdom” by “our holy place [OR
our temple] and our nation”.
b
Cf. Mk 14: 24; Lk 22: 20; the words are used in the liturgy at the moment
of the consecration.

from the Judaeans [Jews], it is obvious surely that <he would

take away> the Law as well.
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a. Qu. ed. 139, and in one manuscript of
Coll. d (Qu. 68?), but not in Coll. b nor in Coll. c.
Question 101
Question Is it true of all the evil things done by the Arabs
against the lands and nations of the Christians, that they have
done them against us completely at God’s command and with
his approval?
Answer 1. Certainly not! God forbid that we should say
that God urged them to throw down and trample upon his
holy body and blood, or on the relics of his holy apostles and
martyrs. There are thousands of other things that they are do-
ing to us which are not pleasing to God: they unjustly mal-
treat many, they persecute others for their faith, they shed the
just and innocent blood of others, they defile God’s altars and
162 venerated places, they force religious women [ἀσκητάς] with a
long practice of virginity to enter unwillingly into marriage.
For these deeds they will certainly pay with an eternal hell.
2. However since what has been happening must seem
strange to many and perhaps even difficult to accept with faith,
listen to an example taken from Scripture itself connected with
this subject.
3. On one occasion Israel was handed over to the Assyr-
ians that they might be chastised by them, but in a mild and
kindly way. However the Assyrians took this as carte-blanche,
and judged that God had handed the Jews [τοὺς Ἰουδαίους]
over to them to be destroyed, so they dealt with them sav-
agely and remorselessly. Now listen to what God said of the
Assyrians through his prophet Zechariah: I have been jealous
with great jealousy for Jerusalem, he said, and for Sion, and I
am angry with great anger against those who joined together
against you. Because for my part I was only slightly angry with
you, but they joined together against you for evil (Zech 1: 14-15,
and cf. 8: 2).

Varied problems, QQ 100-101
4. You have heard that God handed them over mildly, but
those lawless men treated them mercilessly. That is why He
wiped out the Assyrians, because they had treated Israel wicked-
ly, just as in the case of Pharaoh, because he also treated the Jews
[τοὺς Ἰουδαίους] cruelly and harshly, God drowned him in the sea,
which is what we hope will also happen to these in a short time.
5. It is necessary for us to be aware of these things, so that
when you see these lawless men closing the churches, shedding
blood, persecuting some people unjustly and mercilessly, and
committing other crimes, you will not be angry with God, but 163
realize clearly that they are acting thus because of their own
godlessness, and that they await the worst possible hell.
Comments
(1) Used in Coll. 23 (Qu. 17 = Qu. ed. 17) for the first
paragraph (cf. PG 89, 484A4-B14), but greatly expanded and
answering the question if all assaults by foreign foes occur at
God’s orders, without specific reference to the Arabs.
(2) Not included in Coll. c.
(3) There is a different, but related, version in Coll. b, the
Arabs referred to as “Arians” (probably not a scribal error; cf.
Appendix 22, §3, p. 188).
Coll. b, Qu. 40 [Greek text found only in one manuscript:
CCSG 59, Appendix 21]
Question When some people hear the Gospel words, All 210
things came into being through the word of God, and without him
came into being not one thing that came into being (Jn 1: 3), they say
that all the things that happen in the world and every hardship 211
that the race [τὸ γένος] of the Ariansa inflicts upon us believers, it
inflicts with the permission of God.
Answer 1. Those who say and think these things are far from
the word of truth, because the murders and adulteries and forni-
cations and thefts and other sins that happen in the world do not
come about through God, but from the Evil One [ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ].
Therefore it was about created things that the evangelist said, All
things came into being through the word of God, and without him
came into being not one thing that came into being (Jn 1: 3).
a
In this question the term “Arian” is clearly an opprobrious term for “Arab”
(as in Appendix 22 [given in Comment (2) on Qu. 70, §3]), whereas elsewhere
in Coll. b the term can also be used to indicate the heretical group (see Appen-
dix 20 [given in Comment (2, §3) on Qu. 68). Anastasios keeps to the latter use
(cf. QQ 69 and 95).

2. So one should clearly realize that all the dreadful things that
the Arians do against the people of Christ are certainly not done
with the permission of God. For God does not order them to
force or persecute the believer, so that he denies the worship of
Christ as God and Son of God, nor again so that he denies the
cross or baptism or the communion of God’s holy mysteries. Nor
again is it by God’s command that they slaughter just men who
have done nothing wrong, nor is God served when they trample
on His most holy body and blood, and commit fornication in the
Holy of Holies. But for all these wicked deeds they will receive an
eternal punishment on the day of judgement.
3. And lest some foolish person have the idea of saying that we
are speaking simply off the top of our heads and by guesswork, let
us listen to God speaking through a couple of the prophets. One
of them is Isaiah, who says about Israel and the Chaldaeans who
imprisoned Israel: “I handed over my people for something minor,
that is that you might chastise them sparinglya and kindly, but you
have inflicted on them something major; you have weighed down the
yoke of the elder and had no pity on the widow and the orphan”.b In
saying these things to the Chaldaeans through the prophets, God
was warning that he would bring His anger to bear upon them
because of the mercilessness that they had shown to Israel.
212 4. If some example should be given: just as a farmer setting fire
to his own field has burnt down with the thorns the vines as well,
so we are to think in the case of the Arians, that what they do to
the people of God is certainly not pleasing to God.
5. We had to compose the above lest those who are punished
unsparingly by these people curse God, judging that the senseless
punishment coming from them is at His command.
Question 102
163 Question If somebody is living in the desert or in captiv-
ity and, because of the hardship and hunger, tastes the meat of
camel, or wild ass, or something of that sort, is it to be counted
as a fault on that person’s part or not?
Answer For my part I think that if somebody guards prop-
erly the faith of Christ and observes His other commandments,
he will not be judged adversely for that sort of thing on the day
a
The manuscript gives “un-sparingly” [ἀφειδομένως], but the alpha privative
is probably added from the previous word by scribal error.
b
Cf. Isa 47: 6-8; Zech 1: 14-15.

of judgement. And if anybody objects to my view, such a one

is refuted by Him who said, Not the things that enter through
the mouth defile a person (Mt 15: 11), and especially someone
under necessity, living in the desert, in hunger and straightened
circumstances, someone whose anguish and weeping, whose
calamity and darkness only the unsleeping eye of God can see
and appreciate. It is God who formed, chastises, and handed
that person over; soon such a one (along with us) will be visited 164
by the dawn from on high, the dawn that shines on those who sit
in darkness and the shadow of death (Lk 1: 78-79), thanks to the
mercy and loving kindness of our Lord, Jesus Christ.a
Comments
(1) Included in Coll. a, Qu. ed. 140, and in one manuscript of
Coll. d (Qu. 86).
(2) This and the following question (Qu. 103) are included in
the small Coll. c (QQ 14 and 15).
(3) The theme of hardships under the Arabs is dealt with also
in QQ 76, 87 and 101.
Question 103
Question If somebody imposes on oneself the performance
of something judged to be good, e.g. to abstain from wine or
meat, or from his own wife for some time, or something else of
that sort, and then does not have the strength to fulfil this self-im-
posed obligation but falls short of it, what should that person do?
Answer 1. In the first place, recognize one’s own weakness
and wretchedness, as undertaking something and then not ful-
filling it. But in the next place, there is a prayer for such a case
in the Euchologion, which is said by the priest to set free anyone 165
who has bound oneself, for priests have received from God the
power both to bind and to loose in heaven and on earth.b
2. Similarly there is the other case: supposing someone has
sworn to do something evil which is against the law of God,
that person is set free by repentance and by the prayer of a
a
Here Coll. a adds an extra line from the quotation from Luke, and also,
“to whom be glory for ages upon ages, Amen”, or simply, “Amen”.
b
Cf. Mt 18: 18.

priest. Thus even Peter,a when he had sworn, as he thought

properly, that Christ should not wash his feet, released himself
at once from his oath, when he recognized that he had imposed
something wrong on himself. But when Herodb obliged himself
to do something evil, and swore to do it in the case of Herodias,
he advanced to perdition by maintaining his own oath.
3. For all these reasons it is better not to bind oneself to do
either good or bad, for where there is a bond, there also can
there be a transgression,c as happened in the case of Adam.
Comments
also one of the questions taken over in Coll. c (Qu. 15).
(2) In Coll. b appears the following:
Coll. b, Qu. 7 [CCSG 59, Appendix 3]
173 Question If somebody binds oneself by oath to perform a
good act, e.g. not to taste wine during a certain period, or to fast, or
to refrain from his own wife, and then because of lack of will is in-
capable of fulfilling the undertaking, what should that person do?
Answer 1. The blessed Fathers, who composed the priestly
prayers for us, also made a prayer for such a case, one that frees
someone through the priest [see reference to the Euchologion
below]. As has been said to God’s true priests in the Scriptures,
Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven Mt 18: 18].
2. However, the person should also reproach himself for weak-
ness and lack of will-power, and confess to God as a weak-kneed
wretch. If anybody had bound himself in relation to a mortal em-
peror, he would not dare to appear alive before him once he had
done wrong. How much less then before God? However repen-
tance has the power to heal all.
(3) The Euchologion, book of ritual prayers, mentioned by Anas-
tasios predates of course that now in use in the Orthodox Church,
where prayers for releasing those who have bound themselves with
vows are to be found (cf. J. Goar, Euchologion sive rituale graecorum,
Venice 1730, Graz 1960, pp. 223-224). The earliest of the surviving
exemplars, the Vaticanus Barberinus gr. 336 (c. 775 A.D.), dates from
shortly after Anastasios;d there is ample manuscript evidence for the
existence of similar prayers; e.g. Sinaiticus gr. 1795 [prob. 14th cent.],
ff. 312v-313, which gives the text of this question (as preserved in
a
Cf. Jn 13: 8.
b
Cf. Mt 14: 3-10; Mk 6: 17-28.
c
Cf. Rom 4: 15; 5: 13-14.
d
R.F.T. Taft, s.v. “Euchologion”, ODB, p. 738.

Coll. b) and adds two examples of a “Prayer for those who rashly
swears to do something” Εὐχὴ ἐπὶ τῶν προπετῶς ὀμνυόντων].a
(4) Paul of Evergetis in the 12th century includes this question,
but uses the version found in Coll. b: cf. Synagoge II 24, 4 (ed.
Athens, 19646, t. 2, p. 283).
(5) An isolated question dealing in general with religious scep-
ticism and iconoclasm has been added to the authentic questions
in one important late (xvth cent.) manuscript, Scorialensis gr. 470
(Ω.IV.18); it precedes the short Qu. 65 from the QQ ad Antio-
chum (PG 28, 633B14-C5), which is followed in turn by the rest of
the QQ ad Antiochum but they are given a different title.
Isolated question [CCSG 59, Appendix 24]
Question What ought one to say about those who hold 221
in contempt the divine in general [τὸ θεῖον], and also the re-
vered images [εἰκονίσματα] in churches and the sacred offerings
[ἀναθήματα]?
Answer 1. Concerning this subject I shall propose examples
enough to convince anyone: that well-known Baltasar (= Belshaz-
zar) (cf. Dan 5: 1-3), the Chaldaean, although he had committed
many and very serious other sins, does not appear to have had
to pay any penalty whatsoever before the God of all; but when
he brought forth for that accursed banquet the vessels that had
been consecrated from of old for the house of God and which
his father, Nabouchodonosor [= Nebuchadnezzar] had transferred
from Jerusalem, and when he and his invitees drank from them,
then he heard from the great prophet, Daniel, “God has measured
your kingdom and fulfilled it” (Dan 5: 26). And on that very night,
Baltasar was murdered (cf. Dan 5: 30).
2. Therefore, if disrespect shown to the vessels of the Jews and
under the Old Law, and insult against God brought about such
destruction to the perpetrator, an affront against the grace and
the Church of Christ, which He redeemed by his own blood, and
sacrilege against those sacred images [ἀπεικονίσματα], surely all the
more will these bring the greatest and worst of all punishments to
the one who dares to commit them? With such a clear demonstra-
tion, who will dare to say that the Baltasarb among us has under-
gone such a great destruction because of any other crime rather
than the insult to Christ?
a
Cf. V. Beneševič, Catalogus Codicum Manuscriptorum Graecorum qui in
Monasterio Sanctae Catharinae in Monte Sina asservantur, vol. III (1), St Peters-
burg, 1917, p. 203.
b
Perhaps a reference to Chosroes II, decisively defeated by Heraclius in 627
and murdered in the following year: cf. G. Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine
State, tr. Joan Hussey, Oxford, 1968, p. 103.

Appendices incorporated
into main Collection
[Appendix 1] What is the sign of the perfect Christian?

[Coll. b, Qu. 5] cf. Qu. 1, Comment (1).
[Appendix 2] Supposing that an old man is weak and timid,
and that he is not able to enter a monastery or perform monas-
tic duties, how can such a man repent and be saved?
[Appendix 3] If somebody binds oneself by oath to perform a good
act, e.g. not to taste wine during a certain period, or to fast, or to
refrain from his own wife, and then because of lack of will is inca-
pable of fulfilling the undertaking, what should that person do?
[Appendix 4] If someone has grown old in sins, but while at
prayer proposes a covenant between oneself and God saying,
“Forgive me, Lord, any sins I have committed up to now, and
in future I shall not continue my former sins, nor return in any
way to them, but confess to your name.” If someone makes
this sort of covenant with God and dies a few days later, what
should one think of such a person?
[Appendix 5] Some persons quite frequently after having bro-
ken away from their sin and repented, occasionally trip over
once more and suffer a fall; then they despair of themselves,
thinking that they have wasted all the effort they had put into
their repentance.

Appendices incorporated into main Collection
[Coll. b. Qu. 10] cf. Qu. 11, Comment (2).

[Appendix 6] Some people say that repentance is this, to give
up and stop from sin.
[Coll. b, Qu. 11] cf. Qu. 36, Comment (2)
[Appendix 7] What sort is true humility, the one by which a
person is forgiven for sins?
[Appendix 8] What sort of sin renders our prayers unacceptable
before God?
[Appendix 9] Which of the passions stands out as the strongest
and most difficult to shake off in comparison with the others?
[Coll. b, Qu. 16] cf. Qu. 33, Comment (2)
[Appendix 10a] Is it a good thing to receive communion every
[Appendix 10b] Is it a good thing to receive communion every
[Example of re-used text: Markianos] cf. Qu. 41, Comment (4).
[Appendix 11] If a woman sleeps with her husband at night, or a
husband with his own wife, and copulation takes place, should
they partake of the undefiled mysteries or not?
[Coll. b, Qu. 21 = Timothy of Alexandria] cf. Qu. 38,
Comment (4).
[Appendix 12] If a layman has a ‘wet dream’, should he partake
of the divine mysteries or not?
Comment (4).
[Appendix 13] In the case of couples yoked for marital inter-
course, on which days in the week should they be required to
refrain from intercourse with one another, and on which days
should they be authorized?
Comment (4).
[Appendix 14] How does someone know that God has forgiven
his or her sins?

[Coll. b, qu. 24] cf. Qu. 50, Comment (2).

[Appendix 15] How are we to understand the statement of the
Lord which says, Make friends for yourselves from the mammon of
iniquity, so that when you go missing, they will receive you into the
eternal tabernacles (Lk 16: 9)?
[Appendix 16] If someone undertakes a good deed not willingly
but forcing oneself, does one have a reward or not?
[Coll. b, qu. 27] cf. Qu. 59, comment (2).
[Appendix 17] How should we partake without scandal of com-
munion of the holy mysteries when we happen to hear and see
that the priest is falling into sins of the flesh?
[Appendix 18] How can we not judge someone who is clearly
committing a sin?
[Appendix 19] How are we to understand the saying of the
Lord, Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men… and
whoever says anything against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven
him; but whoever says anything against the Holy Spirit, it will not
be forgiven him, neither in the present time nor in the future age
(Mt 12: 31-32, but cf. Mk 3: 28; Lk 12: 10)?
[Isolated question added to Coll. b] cf. Qu. 84, Comment (2).
[Appendix 20] If an uneducated person [ἰδιώτης], who has no
experience of public speaking [λόγος] and of Sacred Scripture
is questioned by a heretic about the correct [ὀρθόδοξος] faith
of the catholic and holy Church, how should such a person
answer?
[Appendix 21] When some people hear the Gospel words, All
things came into being through the word of God, and without
him came into being not one thing that came into being
(Jn 1: 3), they say that all the things that happen in the
world and every hardship that the race [τὸ γένος] of the
Arians inflicts upon us believers, it inflicts with the permis-
sion of God.


[Appendix 22] For what reason do many signs and wonders
not occur among us today, as used to occur among earlier
generations?
[Appendix 23a] <Here is> a great <question>, much discussed
and raised by almost everyone: do we claim that each human
life has a fixed term [ὅρος] or not? If it has such a limit, why
does David say to God, Do not take me away in the middle of my
days (Ps 101: 25), and again, Those who commit deeds of blood and
treachery will not fill out half their days (Ps 54: 24)? But if there is
no such limit, why again does the same David say: Behold, you
appoint my days measured out (Ps 38: 6)? And again if there is a
limit, why did Solomon say, Do not become hard and do not prac-
tise impiety at length, that you may not die in a time that is not yours
(Eccl 7: 17]? Therefore if it is possible to die in a time that is not
yours, why did some people think they could teach that, “Deaths
are brought on when the limits of life have been fulfilled”? And
why, when Hezekiah (cf. 2 Kings 20: 6) and the Ninevites (cf. Jon
3: 9) asked for more life, did God add it for them?
[Appendix 23b] <TITLE > By our father, now among the
saints, Anastasios of Sinai: On <whether there is> a fixed term
[ὅρος] for life and death.
[Anastasios?, De vitae termino] cf. Qu. 16, Comment (4).
[Appendix 24] What ought one to say about those who hold in
contempt the divine in general [τὸ θεῖον], and also the revered
images [εἰκονίσματα] in churches and the sacred offerings
[ἀναθήματα]?
[Appendix 25] Whence comes it that the soul of a person fre-
quently utters internally some evil thoughts and certain foul,
impure and filthy words, unwillingly and not deliberately, and
frequently even ungodly and blasphemous expressions against
God Himself and the saints and the life-giving and awesome
mysteries at the time of the liturgical celebration [συνάξεων]

and of prayers and at the reception of the divine and life-

giving sacrament, with the result that frequently persons out
of discouragement and despair over such godless and ill-spoken
expressions, thought of themselves that they were no longer
Christians, as they were conceiving such things about God,
while others frequently absented themselves from the reception
of the holy sacraments, and yet others considered doing away
with themselves or throwing themselves from cliffs because
they were blaspheming against God and therefore had no hope
of salvation, pondering on those words of the Lord, To the one
who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, forgiveness will not be
given, neither in the present age nor in the future one (Mt 12: 32;
cf. Mk 3: 29; Lk 12: 10)? Whence does such a wicked thought
frequently come, and in what way can one be liberated from it?
[Isolated question, De blasphemia] cf. Qu. 84, Comment (4).
[Appendix 26] Tell us, father, how ought we to be saved?
[Isolated question (Vallicellanus C 72)] cf. Qu. 48,
Comment (2).
[Appendix 27] With the most honoured father presiding a
question was put by some: “Why, most honoured father, do
we observe any Wednesday, as well as any Friday, without fail?”
[Isolated question (Pitra)] cf. Qu. 51, Comment (3).

Indices *
* The editorial staff at Brepols, and in particular Loes Diercken, deserve

special thanks for their assistance with this translation, particularly in preparing
these indices. Many thanks also to Bram Roosen for checking and correcting the
indices, which are greatly improved by his efforts.
Index of
Scriptural References
Genesis Deuteronomy
1: 5 77 5: 9 62
1: 15 77 8: 3 161
1: 26 90
1: 28 118
1 Kings
2: 7 99, 101
2: 8 198 13: 14 218
2: 9 82 21: 5-6 144
2: 17 82
2: 24 141 4 Kings
3: 10 99 2: 21 119
3: 15 193 20: 5 68
3: 19 80, 82
5: 3 126
18: 27 218 Tobit
4: 10 150
Exodus 12: 9 150
14: 8 226
19: 15 144 Job
20: 12 79, 81 1: 21 157
21: 23-24 155 12: 10 123
32: 6 161 14: 13 216
33: 19 225 14: 14 216
42: 7-8 81
Leviticus
26: 12 52, 58 Wisdom
1: 13 84
Numbers 2: 24 84
20: 24 116 4: 11 82, 84
27: 12 116 4: 12 153

Index of Scriptural References
Psalms 22: 8a 172

2: 8-9 222 24: 11 211
6: 6 92, 220
8: 7 195 Ecclesiastes
9: 18 94 7: 17 79, 81, 239
15: 10 94
18: 9 161
21: 7 218 Sirach
29: 4 94 3: 21 112
31: 9 160 3: 26 82
33: 15 138, 139 3: 30 150
35: 7 83, 112 34 [31]: 1 188
35: 10 101
38: 6 80, 239 Isaiah
49: 15 85 1: 19-20 83
50: 8 113 8: 18 222
50: 19 58, 150, 218 26: 17-18 53
54: 24 80, 239 29: 13 161
67: 1 151 40: 13 112
72: 27 82 47: 6-8 232
80: 13 83 49: 9 175
81: 6 164, 227 64: 6 133
90: 16 85
94: 4 99, 123 Jeremiah
101: 25 80, 239 1: 5 226
102: 16 92 2: 28 187
103: 24 197 3: 15 177
104: 7 123 11: 13 187
105: 23 81 21: 8 228
106: 10 94 31: 10 145
113: 25 92 51: 26 [44: 26] 229
115: 3 217
117: 18 68
118: 21 145 Hosea
118: 137 212 14: 10 159
135: 13 125
140: 4 159, 213 Joel
142: 10 218 2: 28 189
144: 19 68
145: 4 92 Amos
147: 8 112
3: 7 113
Proverbs
3: 34 88 Haggai
15: 27a 150 2: 8 157

Zechariah 11: 13 229

1: 14-15 230, 232 11: 27 113
8: 2 230 11: 30 158, 159
12: 23 203
Daniel 12: 24 188, 203
4: 24 150 12: 31-32 202-205, 238
4: 24 [27] 214 12: 32 206, 240
5: 26 235 12: 39 187
12: 45 52
13: 17 54
Daniel/Susanna 15: 8 161
35a LXX 79, 221 15: 11 165, 233
16: 4 187
Matthew 16: 24 144
3: 8 153 18: 14 227
4: 4 161 18: 18 234
4: 10 207 18: 19 223
5: 8 54, 165 19: 12 114
5: 17 229 19: 14 62
5: 22 203 21: 41 229
5: 29 222 21: 43 229
6: 9 151 23: 38 229
6: 12 72 24: 12 187
6: 13 85 24: 29 56
6: 14-15 72 25: 34 171
6: 15 89 25: 41 203
7: 1 72 25: 46 219, 220
7: 5 66 26: 24 220
7: 21 105 26: 28 229
7: 22-23 174
8: 12 71 Mark
8: 29 217, 218 1: 24 226
9: 34 188 3: 22 188
10: 11 61 3: 28 202, 238
10: 14-15 61 3: 29 206, 240
10: 15 129 7: 6 161
10: 18 70 8: 34 144
10: 23 190 9: 29 107
10: 28 97 9: 38-40 174
10: 29 122, 180 9: 43 71
10: 30 130 9: 48 220
10: 32 70
10: 33 204 Luke
11: 11 175 1: 78-79 94, 233
11: 12 172 4: 8 207

4: 34 226 14: 15 165

6: 37 67 14: 21 165
6: 42 66 14: 21-23 51
7: 28 175 14: 23 52, 54, 58, 113
9: 23 144 15: 22 188
9: 49-50 174 19: 37 93
10: 20 174 20: 29 187
11: 4 85
11: 15 188 Acts of the Apostles
11: 26 52 2: 17 189
11: 29 187 3: 26 153
12: 10 202, 206, 238, 240 9: 15 227
12: 37 56 10: 1 61
12: 47 137 10: 22 61
13: 1 128 10: 35 61
13: 4 128 13: 13 210
13: 35 229 26: 18 77
16: 9 200, 238
16: 16 229 Romans
16: 25 60 1: 26 88
17: 37 94 2: 6 218
18: 13 169 2: 10 60, 61, 227
18: 19 70 5: 14 175, 176
21: 18 227 5: 20 56
23: 34 202 8: 17 164
8: 29 164, 226
John 9: 15 225, 227
1: 3 231, 238 9: 18 225, 227
1: 9 227 9: 21 226, 227
1: 12 227 11: 18 228
1: 18 54 11: 33 128
3: 5 60, 162 11: 34 112
4: 21 57, 58 13: 1 177
4: 23 57 13: 12 159
4: 24 58, 59 14: 2 228
4: 48 187 14: 23 143
5: 14 88
5: 22 68 1 Corinthians
5: 23 204 2: 7 57
5: 25 99 2: 9 54, 55, 59, 113
5: 39 161 2: 10 54, 112
6: 56 152 2: 11 67
8: 44 85 2: 13 55
11: 48 229 2: 14 54
13: 27 147 2: 16 112
14: 2 60 3: 15 219, 220

5: 5 68 Colossians
6: 9-10 203, 219 1: 24 222
6: 16 190 3: 1-2 95
6: 18 142
7: 4 141
1 Thessalonians
7: 5 143, 144, 145
7: 14 62, 190 4: 3 150
7: 29 144 5: 17 105
9: 27 144
10: 7 161 1 Timothy
10: 12 67 1: 15 144
11: 26 144 2: 2 173
11: 27-30 81, 86 2: 4 79, 159, 227
11: 28 149 4: 9 144
11: 28-29 153 5: 24 192
13: 3 219
13: 9-12 182 2 Timothy
15: 28 221 3: 16 161
15:31 207 4: 8 137
Titus
2 Corinthians
1: 16 52
4: 18 59
5: 1 95
Hebrews
5: 10 96
5: 17 77 1: 3 123
6: 16 52, 58 4: 12 70
9: 7 172 5: 14 170
12: 2-4 182-183 11: 6 52
12: 4 104 11: 39-40 96
12: 7 88
13: 5 53 James
2: 19 217
2: 26 52
Galatians
1: 18 61
1 Peter
5: 17 145
1: 12 55, 56, 113
6: 1 67
2: 9 78
3: 19 173
Ephesians
1: 22-23 222 1 John
4: 25 222 5: 16 150
Philippians Revelation
1: 23 95 5: 9 141
2: 8 221 21: 3 59

Index of
Non-Biblical Sources
Acacius of Caesarea
Fragment de Genesi 104
Anastasios of Antioch
Capita ad Sergium Grammaticum 64
Anastasios of Sinai
Capita adversus monotheletas 197
Disputatio adversus Iudaeos 185
Hexaemeron 99, 122, 127, 176, 186, 193
Hodegos (Viae Dux) 51, 57, 89, 90, 94, 97, 100, 117, 118,
120, 184, 195, 209
Homilia III de creatione hominis 178, 186
Homilia de sacra synaxi 63, 64, 67, 150
Narrationes (Nau and Binggeli) 56, 63, 64, 65, 66, 91, 101, 107, 108,
130, 148, 151, 176, 179, 186, 191, 195
Quaestiones passim
Homilia in sextum Psalmum 159
Sermones (Homiliae) 90, 91, 99, 197
Ps.-Anastasios of Sinai
De blasphemia 205-211, 240
Florilegium adversus monotheletas 97
Fragmentum de iis qui vita excedunt 94
Question on fasting 166
Tractate de vitae termino 83-87, 239
Apophthegmata Patrum
Antonius 24 67, 212
Eucharistus 1 67
Longinus 5 53
Anonymous collection 131, 147

Index of Non-Biblical Sources
Athanasius
Vita Antonii 93, 194, 195
Ps.-Athanasius
De communi essentia 202
QQ ad Antiochum passim
Syntagma ad monachos 167
Augustine
Enchiridion 221
Basil of Caesarea
Homily in illud, Attende tibi ipsi 89
Quod Deus non est auctor malorum 81, 84
Blemmydes, Nikephoros
De vitae termino 79, 118, 180
Canones Apostolorum 167

Catenae
In Exodum 225
In Genesim 104
Clement of Alexandria
Fragment 118
Cyril of Alexandria
Commentary in Ioannem 199
Cyril of Jerusalem
Mystical Catechetics 65
Dionysius of Alexandria
Epistula ad Basilidem 143
Ps.-Dionysius Areopagita
Ecclesiastical Hierarchy 154
Epiphanius
Ancoratus 104
Treatise de XII gemmis 225
Euchologion/Rituale 233, 234
Eusebius of Caesarea
Ecclesiastical History 129, 155
Ecclesiastical Theology 99
Life of Constantine 167
Praeparatio Evangelica 89

Eustratius of Constantinople
On the activity of souls 91
Gregory of Nazianzus
Sermon 38 221
Gregory of Nyssa
Contra Eunomium 183
John Chrysostom
Homily de cruce et latrone 167
Homily in Matt. 23: 2 66
Homily in Matt. 41: 3 202
Liturgy 145
Treatise de virginitate 137
John Climacus
Scala Paradisi 75, 106, 139
John of Damascus
Expositio Fidei 166, 167, 220
John Moschos
Spiritual Meadow 107, 148
Justinianus
Epistula ad synodum de Origene 97
Koran 195
Leontios of Constantinople
Homily X, In Mesopentecosten 78, 85
Lives
Cyril the Phileot 164
St Epiphanios 210
Theodore the Sykeot 177
Marcian the Monk (Markianos)

Catechesis 151, 237
Nikon of the Black Mountain

Pandektes 151-153
Narrationes
de arca martyris 63, 209
de baptismo pueri mortui 63

de episcopis se invicem accusantibus 66

de mago Mesita 70-72
de morte monachi 72-73
de Platone 173-174
de presbytero mago 64-65
de fide sincera, seu de sanatione tuberis 65
Nomocanon 75, 76
Oriental Liturgies 173
Paul of Evergetis
Synagoge 63, 235
Peter of Alexandria
Canon 15 [Sermo de Pascha] 167
Philip Monotropos (Philippus Solitarius)

Διόπτρα 56, 57, 109-110
Philo the Historian

(lost History) 63, 209-210
Procopius
de Bello Persico 107
Romanos the Melode

Hymns 195
Souda 211, 225
Theodoret of Cyrrhus
Ecclesiastical History 66, 83
Commentary in 1 Reg. 175
QQ in Exod. 225
Theognostos
Thesaurus 63, 73, 148, 172
Theophanes
Chronicle (Chronographia) 69, 107-108, 130, 177
Theophilus of Alexandria
Canon 1 167
Theophilus of Antioch
Fragment ad Autolycum 104

Timothy of Alexandria
Responsiones Canonicae
5 143, 237
12 143, 145, 237
13 144, 237
16 146
17 158
18 74
Ὡρολόγιον τὸ Μέγα 151

General INDEX
Aaron, 68, 115 Anastasiana, 11, 19, 23, 84, 112

abandonment, 87 Anastasios I, Patriarch of Antioch,
“abbas”, 9 10, 64
Abel, 85 Anastasios of Sinai, 9, 80, 146, 185;
Abiathar, 150, 181 life 10-11, 58, 69, 75, 92, 96,
Abimelech/Aminelech, 150, 181 101, 120, 134, 135, 184, 186, 195,
Abraham, 95, 201, 213, 218 209, 210, 223, 234; orthodoxy,
Acacius of Caesarea, 104 18, 112, 114; re-workings 19-22,
acorns, 198 60, 62, 202; teaching 13-19,
Adam, 82, 93, 99, 104, 118, 126, and passim; cf. Index of non-
142, 175, 195, 234 Biblical Sources
Adler, A., 211 ἀνάστασις, 93, 98, 99, 102, 103
adultery, 13, 134, 192, 207, 222, 231 Ἀνατολή, 178, 184
age, for culpability, 62, 74; old anchorites, 58, 131, 177
age, 11, 14-15, 82, 93, 111, 116, angels, 55, 56, 59, 61, 64, 65, 72,
118, 121, 123, 126, 135, 137, 139, 73, 91, 92, 94, 103, 113, 131,
158, 159, 160, 236; youth, 111, 151, 167, 178, 189, 195, 212, 221
118, 121, 123, 137 Anthony (hermit), 67, 93, 194-
Aïlas, 107 195, 212
Alexandria, 9, 12, 65, 120, 178, anthropology, 199
184; cf. Athanasius; Clement; Anti-Christ, 68
Cyril; Dionysius; Peter; Theo- Antioch, cf. John of Antioch;
philus; Timothy Anastasios I; Theophilos
Alexandrian era, 186 Antinoöpolis, 177
Allen, Pauline, 12, 78 apokatastasis, 93, 204
alms, 13, 18, 71, 74, 135, 137, 139, Apollinarius, 97, 205
147-148, 149, 150, 169, 171, apologetics, 18
201, 203, 213, 215, 219 Apostle (= Paul), 190; cf. Index of
Amathos, 10 Scriptural References
Amos (not Jeremiah), 113 Apostles, 61, 92, 155, 174, 175, 230
253
General INDEX
Apostolic Constitutions, 75, 215 Beck, Hans-Georg, 114

Appendices, 22, 26-38, 236-240 Beelzebul, 188, 203, 205
Arabia, 178 Beneševič, V., 235
Arabs, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18, 22, 107, Berardino, Angelo di, 10
162, 178, 183-185, 188, 191, 195, Bethlehem, 150, 183, 185; cf.
196, 206, 212, 225, 226, Markianos
230-232, 233 Bezae (codex), 199
Arkadios, 64 Bibikov, M. V., 20
Arianism, 185 Bible, 170-171
Arians, 104, 183, 185, 188, 221, bile, 101, 122, 197
231-232, 238 Binggeli, André, 10, 14, 185; cf.
Arius, 66, 204 Index of non-Biblical Sources
Armenians, 147, 149, 152 (Anastasios: narrationes)
aromas, 198 bishops, 9, 13, 24, 63, 64, 66, 69,
arrogance, 85, 133, 223 83, 104, 108, 131, 177, 178,
ass meat, 232 209, 210
Assyrians, 86, 137, 230, 231 blame, 136, 149, 158
ἀσθενεία, 106 blasphemy, 10, 74, 124, 193,
astrology, 132, 170; cf. stars 202-210, 238-240
Athanasius, 22, 93, 194 Blemmydes, cf. Nikephoros
Athanasius, Ps.-, 22-23, 202; cf. Blemmydes
QQ ad Antiochum blood, 15, 53, 65, 80, 81, 91, 97,
atheism, 99 100, 101, 120-122, 128, 137,
Athos (manuscript Philotheou 141, 142, 146, 149, 150, 152,
52), 66, 182, 202 153, 166, 194, 203, 208-211,
Athos, Mount, 58 217, 229-232, 235, 239; cf.
Augustine, St, 221 communion,
autopsy, cf. death body, 57, 59, 75, 81, 86, 88-103,
126, 127, 129, 135, 137, 138,
Baggarly, J., 11, 122, 193 141, 142, 144, 165, 166, 176,
Baltasar (= Belshazzar), 235 190, 194, 196-199, 203, 205,
baptism, 53, 63, 137, 151, 162, 190, 208, 209, 219-221, 223, 230;
199, 203, 232 cf. autopsy; communion;
barbarians, 69, 83, 116, 171, 185 resurrection
Bardy, G., 25 Bonosos, 177
Barlaam, 174 brethren, 132, 147, 150, 161
Barsanouphios, 184 Brightman, F. E., 145, 173
Bartelink, G. J. M., 93, 194 Busto Saiz, J. R., 176
Basil of Caesarea, 17, 80, 81, 84,
89, 173, 202, 215, 224 Cain, 85
basilisk [= Egyptian cobra], 197 Cambridge (manuscript; Codex
bath/bathing, 14, 80, 113, 142, Bezae), 199
146, 151, 213, 214 camel meat, 232
Batiffol, P., 167 Canaanites, 86
254
General INDEX
capital punishment, 19 Coll. d, 22, 23; passim

Cappadocian (Fathers), 211 communion (mysteries), 13, 15,
Carpasia (Cyprus), 209, 210 18, 55, 58, 63-65, 75, 79, 81,
Carpathios, 210 86, 142-153, 176, 180, 205, 232,
catechism, 12 237-239
catenae, cf. Index of non-Biblical condemned to death, 188, 211
Sources confession, 15, 18, 72, 150, 160,
celibacy, 159 161, 168, 210, 206, 213, 218
Chalcedonian teaching, 184 conscience, 18, 58, 143, 147, 149,
Chaldaeans, 232, 235 152, 153, 163, 201, 208
chance, 19, 211 Constantia, 64
character, 17-19, 108-110, 162, 208 Constantine (Emperor), 66, 69,
Charles, R. H., 129 167
chastity, 144, 153 Constantinople, 20, 59, 70, 71,
children, 15, 53, 62, 67, 69, 70, 177, 178, 184; cf. Eustratius;
79-82, 84, 101, 105, 109, 115, Leontios; Synaxarion
117, 119-124, 162, 190, 196, Constantinople, Council (381),
197, 207, 209, 210, 213, 217, 185
222, 227 consummation of the world, 221
Chosroes II, 235 continence, 13, 144, 176
Christ, cf. Jesus Christ conversion, 81, 82, 84, 87, 113,
Christians, 9, 11, 14, 15, 25, 51-53, 173, 174, 177, 188, 189, 227
66, 70, 83, 98, 106, 141, 142, Corinth, 68
147, 151, 165, 167, 170, 172, Corinthians, 79, 81, 86, 115
180, 185, 186, 190, 191, 205, Cornelius, 61
206, 210, 211, 223, 230 “cosmos”, 90, 92
Christology, 19 Councils, 204
Church, 16, 66, 75-77, 176, creation, 55, 77, 99, 101-105,
182-186, 225, 234, 235, 238 113-115, 166, 195
churches, 9, 12, 13, 15, 58, 65, 80, cross, 66, 69, 137, 144, 151, 166,
83, 91, 112, 142, 161-163, 171, 167, 184, 203, 221, 232
173, 176, 188, 193, 196, 202, Cross, image of, 184
212, 214, 231, 235 Cryer, Frederick H., 225
Clement of Alexandria, 117, 118 Cyprian, 76
Clement of Rome, 17, 118 Cyprus, 10, 64, 69, 107, 108, 120,
Cleophas, 203 209, 210
clerical, 12, 14, 16, 18 Cyril of Alexandria, 199
climate, 17, 86, 107, 109, 114, Cyril of Jerusalem, 65
118-121, 137, 179, 180, 197, 198 Cyril Phileotes, 164
Coll. 23, 20, 21, 23; passim
Coll. 88, 20-23; passim
Coll. a, 21-23; passim Dagron, G., 93
Coll. b, 21-23; passim Daniel (prophet), 68, 213, 235
Coll. c, 21-23; passim Daniel (sorcerer), 151
255
General INDEX
Datema, C., 78 dogma, 52, 79, 182,

David, 80, 94, 99, 101, 113, 183, 226
116, 126, 139, 149, 150, 180, Donatist controversy, 76
181, 189, 203, 213, 218, 239; Dörrie, Heinrich and Dörries,
cf. Index of Scriptural Hermann, 25
References (Psalms; Prophet) doubt, 98, 102, 112, 114, 143, 154
day of judgement, 55, 61, 68, 129, doulos, 71
138, 161, 163, 174, 214, 218, dreams, 19, 96, 130, 173, 188-189;
232, 233 wet dreams, 143, 145, 146
de Boor, C., 107, 130, 177
Dead Sea, 10, 120
death, 19, 111-132, 166, 179-180, “earth” (= human flesh), 196
193; autopsy, 17, 101, 122; Edem, 198
devil, 175; foreknowledge, by Egypt, 10, 67, 86, 115, 119, 137,
humans, 87, by God, 119, by 177, 178, 183, 187, 194, 207
devil, 195; penalty, 211; prede- elements, 17, 86, 97, 100-102,
termination, 78-86, 117, 226; 109, 113-115, 118-124, 126,
providence, 111-132; sorts, 115; 196-198
violent, 128-132; voluntary, 215 Eliphaz the Themanite, 81
demons, 56, 68, 71, 74, 107, 141, Elisha, 119
169, 174, 186, 188, 189, 203, embryos, 98
207-210, 216-218, 226; cf. de- Emperor, 13, 69, 74, 83, 87,
vil, Satan 111, 130, 177, 178, 183, 184,
depression, 87 185, 188, 195, 234; cf. Con-
Déroche, V., 64 stantine, Honorius, Julian,
desert, 67, 86, 107, 131, 136, 187, Justinian, Maurice, Phokas,
196, 206, 208, 212-214, 232-233 Theodosios I, Zeno
desolation, 19, 87, 88 ephoud (ephod), 19, 223-225
des Places, E., 89 epidemic, 179, 180
devil, 18, 52, 64, 66, 70, 84, 106, Epiphanius of Salamis, 104, 225
116, 134, 136, 147, 149, 150, Epiphanios, St, 108 (shrine), 210
151, 152, 166, 174, 175, 186, (vita)
194-195, 203, 207-209, 213, erotapokriseis, 9, 11, 12, 19, 22, 23,
215, 216, 218, 228; cf. demons, 114, 161, 196
Satan Escorial (manuscript), 24, 235
Devreesse, R., 104 Ethiopia, 137
Diadochos, 18 Ethiopian, 70, 71
diamond, 224 etymologies, 112
diet, 17, 107, 108 eucharist, 13; cf. communion,
Dionysius of Alexandria, 143 mysteries
Dionysius the Areopagite, 17, 154 Euchologion, 233, 234
Dioscorus, 205 Eunomius, 205
discernment, 18, 19 Euphrates, 104
256
General INDEX
Eusebius (of Palestine) [= Eusebius Gehenna, 217, 218, 220, 226

of Caesarea], 89, 99, 129, 155, Gennadios II, cf. George
167, 204 Scholarios
Eustratius of Constantinople, 91 Gentiles, 186, 227
Eutyches, 205 geographers, 198
Eve, 104, 142 George Scholarios, 16
Ezekiel, 68, 195 Gethsemane, 183
Goar, J., 234
God, passim
factions (Green and Blue), 177, godless governor, story, 131
178 Golgotha, 183, 185
faith, 12, 51, 52, 62, 64, 66, 71, Gomorrah, 61, 129, 137
96, 98, 99, 102, 114, 129, 167, grace, 56, 73, 88, 90, 95, 113, 116,
175, 176, 182-187, 190, 193, 141, 153, 164, 203, 214, 223,
199, 202, 203, 205, 207, 209, 235
211, 212, 215, 227, 228, 230, Grant, R. M., 104
232, 238 Greenfield, Richard P. H., 195
fasting, 14, 19, 107, 139, 144, 158, Gregory of Nazianzus, 221
165, 166, 206, 208, 212, 223, Gregory of Nyssa, 93, 183
233-234 Gretser, Jacob, 11, 20-21, 23, 145,
Fathers (of the Church), 17, 65-66 154, 159, 168, 169, 224
(Nicaea), 82, 89, 93, 94, 106, Griffith, Sidney H., 195
109, 114, 118, 129, 137, 146, Grosdidier de Matons, J., 195
162, 165, 167, 171, 184, 204, Guy, J.-C., 147
221, 225, 234
favourites (of God), 228
Feltoe, C. L., 143 Hades, 92, 94, 96, 166, 173-175,
Fernández Marcos, N., 176, 225 220
Festugière, A.-J., 177 Hagarenes, 206
Flood (Biblical), 86, 129, 130 Haldon, John, 25
florilegia, 59 Halkin, F., 66
foolish virgins, 219 Hannah, 121
fornication, 13, 75, 89, 106, 137, heaven, 55, 59-62, 64, 69, 70, 89,
139, 149, 168, 176, 192, 201, 90, 94-96, 103-105, 113, 114,
207, 222, 231, 232 122, 127, 132, 167, 172, 180,
free-will, 124, 228 182, 203-206, 217, 220, 221,
Friday, 67, 77, 144, 166, 167, 240 228, 233, 234
friends, 14, 15, 61, 71, 81, 163-164, Hebrews, cf. Jews
177-178, 186, 188, 200, 222-223 hegoumenos, 10, 11, 210
Frolow, A., 167 Heil, G., 154
Helen/Helena, 69, 167
hell, 19, 62, 87, 94, 95, 111, 164,
Gaïanos, 183, 184, 205 200, 203, 204, 216, 219-220,
Gallay, P., 221 226, 228, 230, 231
257
General INDEX
Hellenes, cf. pagans Isaiah, 53, 129, 232

Heraclius, 177, 235 Isidore, 65
heresiarchs, 192-193 Israel, 68, 79, 112 (= Christians),
heresies/heretics, 19, 74-76, 82, 85, 186, 187, 213, 214, 224-226,
97, 111, 173, 174, 182-184, 186, 230-232
187, 201, 204-205, 220, 231, Israelites, 81, 86
238; cf. Arians; iconoclasm;
Nestorians
hermit, 131, 148 Jacob, 126, 201
Herod, 155, 202, 234 Jacobites (Syrian Monophysites),
Herodias, 234 173
Hexaemeron, 11, 99, 122, 127, 176, Jaeger, W., 183
186, 193; cf. Index of non- Jakobos, 183
Biblical Sources James, Liturgy of St, 173
Hezekiah, 68, 81, 86, 115, 125, 239 Jeremiah, 113, 179, 187, 226, 229
High Priest, 58, 150, 181, 224 Jericho, 119, 137
Hodegos, 9, 10, 52; cf. Index of Jerusalem, 57, 58, 86, 128, 183,
non-Biblical Sources 230, 235
Hofmann, G., 148 Jerusalem (manuscripts), 10, 206,
Holl, K., 104 209-210
Holy Land, 11; cf. Holy Places Jerusalems, two, 104
Holy of Holies, 232 Jesus Christ, passim
Holy Places, 183-185 Jews, 13, 60-62, 77, 93, 107, 151,
Holy Spirit, cf. Spirit, Holy 162, 166, 173, 183, 185-188, 203,
honey, 16, 53 205, 209, 227-231, 235
Honorius (Emperor), 210 Joannou, P.-P., 167; cf. Timothy
Horeb, 68 of Alexandria
humility, 19, 63, 150, 160, 212, Job, 61, 81, 86, 88, 115, 123, 128,
216-218, 223, 237 130, 157, 201, 213, 216
humours, 101, 122, 196, 197 John of Antioch, 130
hyena, 131 John the Baptist, 129, 155, 173,
175, 202, 229
John Chrysostom, 66, 137, 145,
iconoclasm, 235 167, 220, 224, 228
idolatry, 117, 227 John Climacus, 17, 215; cf. Index
idols, 112, 187, 203, 213 of non-Biblical Sources
ikons, 71 John of Damascus, 166, 167, 220
immortality, 97, 103 John of Karpathos, 18
Indian land, 194, 198 John Moschos, 17, 107, 148
Ingolstadt, 11 Jordan, 183, 185
injustice, 52, 68, 156, 201 Joseph [LXX], 213
intention, 85, 112, 156, 170, 215, Judaeans, cf. Jews
228 Judas Iscariot, 64, 67, 79, 88, 147,
Isaac, 201 149, 152, 175, 220
258
General INDEX
judgement: of God, 62, 83, 112, Macedonius, 204

189, 192, 215, 218; judging magician, 70
others, 63-70, 72, 88, 134, Mai, Angelo, 83, 94
159, 175, 217, 218; cf. day of Makarios, 67, 93
judgement mammon of iniquity, 200, 238
Julian (the Apostate), Emperor, Manasses, 15, 159, 213
79, 83, 194 Mango, C., 108, 130, 177
justice, 18, 20, 87, 96, 141 Manichean, 79, 117
Justinian (Emperor), 97 Maria/Miriam (sister of Moses),
68, 134
Markianos/Marcian
Kaegi, W. E., 185
(of Bethlehem?), 151, 237
Kazhdan, Alexander, 121
marriage, 12, 19, 114, 121, 137,
κεϕάλαια, 18
176, 190, 192, 213, 230; cf.
Kirchmeyer, J., 151
polygamy
Koran, 195
Martini, E., 161
Kotter, B., 166, 167, 220
martyrs, 92, 107, 142, 202,
Kuehn, C., 11, 122, 193
209-210, 230
Mary, Mother of God, 204
lachmeterion, 170-171, 223 Maurice (Emperor), 69, 70, 130,
Lackner, W., 79, 118 177
Lampe, G. W. H., 12, 93, 162, Maximos the Confessor, 17, 18
165, 171 McCormack, M., 178
Law (Old Testament), 54, 77, 113, medicine, 17, 78, 92, 108, 119, 135,
141, 144, 149, 155, 169, 175, 196, 199
177, 202, 224, 228-231, 235 Mercati, G., 63, 209-210
lay, 12, 14-16, 19, 63, 65, 105, 131, Mercier, B.-C., 173
143, 237 Mesites, 70-71
Lazarus (brother of Martha and Mesopotamia, 183
Mary), 86, 88, 115 Migne, Jean-Paul, 21, 24, 25, 169
Lazarus (of the parable), 94, 95, Miriam, cf. Maria/Miriam
129, 220 monastery, 10, 14, 66, 147, 158-
Lent, 144 159, 206, 236; cf. Sinai
Leontios of Byzantium, 78 money, 156-157, 171, 201, 212, 214;
Leontios of Constantinople, 17, cf. wealth
78, 85 monk (death of ), 72
Leontios of Neapolis, 69 monophysites, 9, 173, 184
Liddell & Scott, 133 Monophysitism, 183
liturgies/masses, 58, 154, 173, Moreschini, Cl., 221
193, 205, 212, 229, 239; cf. Moscow (manuscript), 24
communion Moses, 68, 81, 115, 116, 125, 126,
λογισμός, 165 134, 175, 187, 202, 213
love, 14, 15, 17, 18, 51-52, 54, 56, Moslems, 14
107, 159, 164-165, 172, 187, Mother of God (church of ), 65
189, 207, 210, 212, 218, 219 Munitiz, J. A., 16, 56, 73, 80, 148
259
General INDEX
murder, 75, 89, 138-139, 206, 222, oath, 202, 229, 234, 236
231 obedience, 82, 221
Musurillo, H., 137 oikonomia, 166
mutilation of self, 19, 222 Olajos, T., 131
mysteries (in general), 57, 59, 98, old age, cf. age
112-113, 179, 182-184, 185; cf. olive groves, 198
communion Olives, Mount of, 183
oral prayer, 15, 105
Nabouchodonosor, 68, 116, 160, Origen, 93, 97, 204
213, 235 ὅρος, 78-87
Narrationes, 9, 10, 11, 14; cf. Orthodox Church, 234
Index of non-Biblical Sources Ostrogorsky, G., 235
Nau, F., cf. Index of non-Biblical Our Father, 151
Sources (Anastasius: Oxford (manuscript), 24
narrationes)
Navatos (Novatian), 204
Nazareth, 183, 185 pagans, 19, 61, 66, 109, 111-113,
Neapolis, cf. Leontios 116, 123, 124, 137, 169, 173,
Nebuchadnezzar, 183, 190, 195, 202, 207, 208,
cf. Nabouchodonosor 211, 227
Neiloupolis, 131 παῖς, 70
Nero, 155 Palestine, 9, 10, 14, 120, 178, 184,
Nestorianism, 183 204, 207; cf. Eusebius
Nestorians, 221 palm trees, 198
Nestorius, 183, 204 Pambo, 93, 209-210
New Rome, 184; cf. Pamphylia, 210
Constantinople Paphnoutios, 209
Nicaea, 66, 185 Paphos, 210
Nicodemus, 60 Paradise, 19, 62, 67, 93-95, 99,
night (and day), 19, 77-78 103-104, 166, 182, 198-199
Nikephoros I, 59 Paramelle, Joseph, 161
Nikephoros (catena), 225 pardon, 18, 67-69, 133-134, 138,
Nikephoros Blemmydes, 79, 80, 150, 160, 191, 203, 218
118, 180 parents, 68, 79, 114-115, 126, 189
Nikolopoulos, P. G., 161 Paris (manuscripts), 69, 72, 148,
Nikon of the Black Mountain, 202, 207, 210
151 Parmentier, L., 83
Nile, 104, 194 passions, 15, 53, 88, 109, 136, 143,
Ninevites, 61, 81, 86, 239 144, 207, 208, 210, 222, 237
nocturnal emission, 106, 142-143, patrician, 71
145 Paul, St, 15, 92, 155, 190, 215;
nomisma, 67, 147-148 cf. Index of Scriptural
Noret, J., 140 References
nous (intellectual capacities), 51 Paul of Evergetis, 63, 235
Novatian, cf. Navatos penance, 14, 158
260
General INDEX
Perga, 210 priest, 15, 16, 18, 56, 63-66, 76,

persecution, 14, 19, 190-191, 203, 114, 133, 138, 150, 168, 173, 178,
205, 207 233-234, 238; cf. High Priest
Persia, 207 Prophet (= David), 92
Persians, 137 Prophets, 62, 88, 187, 195, 229
Peter, St, 61, 92, 109, 129, 173, prostitutes, 62, 190, 196, 217
203, 234 providence, 19, 112-132, 174, 184,
Peter, the Archbishop of 211
Alexandria, 63, 167, 209-210 Psalm number 67, 151
Petit, Françoise, 104, 225 Psalm number 90, 151
petition (prayer), 223 punishment, 60, 64, 84, 87, 89,
Pharaoh, 129, 187, 226, 231 96, 109, 138, 150, 161, 163, 164,
Pharisees, 203 178, 179, 216, 232, 235
Philemon the Flute-player, 67
Philip Monotropos,
cf. Index of non-Biblical QQ ad Antiochum, 22, 23, 137,
Sources 191; cf. Index of non-Biblical
Philo, the Bishop of Carpasia Sources
(Cyprus), 209
Philo, the historian, 63, 209-210
Philo, the first-century Jewish Rahab, 62
philosopher and exegete, 209 Raïthou, 147
philochristos (devout Chritian), rancour, 72, 88-89, 149
147 Rebekah, 121
Phoenicia, 207 recognition (after death), 92,
Phokas (Emperor), 130, 177 95-98
Pilate, 128 Red Sea, 125
Pitra, I.-B., 64, 166, 240 relics, 230
plagues, 17, 108, 114, 116, 119, 121, religious women, 230
124, 179, 225 repentance, 15, 65, 73-75, 86,
Plato, 173 133-135, 138, 139, 149, 150, 160,
πνεῦμα, 54, 92, 97 161, 165, 203, 205, 206, 233,
political problems, 13, 19, 177-179 234, 236, 237
polygamy, 12, 14, 141-142, 228 resurrection (of the body), 19, 92,
poor, 13, 71, 134, 155, 156, 171, 196, 93, 95, 98-103, 166, 189; cf.
200, 212, 214, 215 Lazarus
Potles, G. A., 167 resurrection (of Christ), 221-222
prayer, 15, 19, 68, 69, 76, 85, 88, 92, Resurrection (church of ), 185
105, 107, 139, 143-145, 147, 151, Rhalles, G. A., 167
153, 160, 162, 163, 171, 173, 189, Richard, Marcel, 11, 21-22, 25
205, 208, 223, 233-237, 240; Ritter, A. M., 154
prayer for rulers, 173; types of Romanos, 195
prayer, 163-165; cf. Euchologion; Romans, 86, 229
petition Romans [= Byzantines], 69,
pride, 88, 106, 125, 195, 206, 219 183-184
261
General INDEX
Rome, 155, 178, 210, 227; Scripture, 17, 20, 24, 54, 56, 68,
manuscript, 161, 240; cf. 81-83, 89, 91, 92, 98-100, 104,
Clement; New Rome 112, 113, 123, 125, 126, 128, 133,
Rudberg, S. Y., 89 135, 137-139, 144, 145, 149, 150,
rulers, 13, 19, 111, 173, 177, 215 152, 153, 160, 161, 165, 182,
ῥοπή (influence), 118, 120 183, 187, 196, 198, 199, 211,
213, 217, 219, 220, 224, 226,
227, 230, 234; cf. Index of
Sabbath, 77 Scriptural References
Sabellius, 205 semen, 135, 142
sacraments, 55, 205, 206, 240 Senachireim [Sennacherib], 125
sacrifice, 55, 58-59, 64, 128, 141, Seth, 126
142, 144, 150, 172, 198, 202, Ševčenko, I., 107
203, 218, 229 seven hundred years, 11, 184
saints, 14, 72, 78, 81, 83, 85, 91, 93 Severus, 183, 184
Sakkos, S. N., 11, 64, 108, 112, sexual ethics, 13, 19, 74-75, 106,
114, 119, 122, 127, 176, 186 135, 142-145, 158-160, 189-190,
salvation, 14, 19, 53, 54, 57, 192, 196, 219; cf. adultery;
60-76, 84, 85, 111, 126, fornication
128-130, 137, 138, 150, 158, 166, sickness, 19, 68, 72, 106-108, 114,
206, 208, 214, 215, 217, 240 117, 121, 125, 129
Samaritans, 60 Sieswerda, D. T., 20, 161, 193,
Samaritan woman, 100, 203 194, 216
Samuel, 174-175 Siloam, 128
Saracens, 178
Simon Magus, 204
Sarah, 121
sin: doubtful, 190, 232-233;
Sargologos, E., 164
frequent sin, 135, 137-138;
Satan, 18, 63, 68, 87, 99, 130, 143,
forgiveness 13, 14, 15, 19, 148,
146, 147, 149, 152, 186-188,
158-160, 166, 181, 191, 204,
193-195, 203-204, 206, 208,
212, 213-215, 216, 218; sins
226; cf. demons, devil
committed unconsciously,
Saturday, 77, 144
201-210; sins of ignorance, 75;
Saul, 175
cf. sexual ethics
scandal, 63, 112, 134, 168, 222, 238
scent, 198, 199 Sinai, 9, 10, 14, 17, 24, 25, 49, 56,
scepticism, religious, 235 58, 75, 107, 183, 185, 187, 207,
Scheidweiler, F., 83 210; cf. Anastasios
schisms, 186, 187 Sinai (manuscript), 234
Scholarios, cf. George Scholarios Sion, 183, 185, 230
Schoors, A., 140 Skete, 209
Schreiner, P., 130 skevophorion, 176
Schwartz, E., 155 slavery/slaves, 15, 71, 87, 119, 120,
scientific knowledge, 17 163-165, 191, 212, 214, 221
Scott, R., 108, 130, 177 Sodom, 61, 86, 129
scribal error, 231, 232 Sodomites, 129, 138, 203, 226
262
General INDEX
Solomon, 79, 80, 84, 188, 189, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, cf. Index
239 of non-Biblical Sources
sorcerers, 64, 65, 151, 171, 188 Theodorus (heretic), 205
Souda, 211, 225 Theodosios (heretic), 183
soul, 15, 19, 51-53, 56-58, 63, 69, Theodosios I (Emperor), 185
74, 88, 104, 111, 113, 114, 117, Theognostos, cf. Index of
122, 126, 138, 142, 147, 149, non-Biblical Sources
152, 154, 161, 163-165, 168, 169, Theonas, 65
175, 183, 191, 193, 197-198, Theophanes, cf. Index of non-
205, 216; nature, 89-98; Biblical Sources
resurrection, 98-103; role, Theophilos of Antioch, cf. Index
123, 189, 198, 222; unwanted of non-Biblicaal Sources
thoughts, 205-211, 239 Theotokos, 148
Spanneut, M., 100 Thomas (apostle), 187
Spirit, Holy, 19, 53, 54, 58-59, 67, Thümmel, George, 22; 185
71, 72, 76, 89, 91, 112, 113, 139, Thursday, 67
152, 162, 165, 167, 189, 199, Tiberios, 69
202-206, 223, 238, 240 Timothy of Alexandria, 23; cf.
spiritual person, 131, 133, 168 Index of non-Biblical Sources
spring (season), 122, 126, 179 titles, 24, 49
Spyridon Lauriotis, 109 Tomos of Union, 121
St Catherine’s, 9, 58 Trachiades, 64
stars, 90, 109, 113, 132, 167; cf. Trapp, Erich, 170
astrology trial from God, 68, 216
Stephen, St, 129 Trinity, 59
sterility, 101, 116-124, 196-199 trouble with fellow Christian, 172
subjection of the Son, 221 tumour, 65
Sunday, 77, 144, 147, 148, 152, 237 Turks, 107
Suvorov, N., 164
Synaxarion of Constantinople, 11
Syria, 10, 14, 183, 206 Uthemann, Karl-Heinz, 9, 10, 17,
Σωτήριος, 20-21 178, 197
Utrecht Colloquium, 25
Tabor, Mount, 183, 185

Taft, R. F. T., 234 Van Deun, P., 91, 140
talents, 19, 89, 199 van Dieten, J. L., 178
tears, 58, 68, 139, 142, 161, 162, Vatican (manuscripts), 84, 131,
208 148, 210, 234
Teilhard de Chardin, 17 ventriloquists, 194
Tetrapurgia, 120 ventriloquist woman, 174, 175
Thalassios, 18 Vienna (manuscript), 164
Thebaid, 177 Virgin Mary, cf. Mary, Mother of
Theodore the Sykeot, 177 God; Theotokos
263
General INDEX
virginity, 15, 138, 159, 165, 172, woman/women, 13, 15-16, 18,
230 52-53, 55, 65, 67, 113, 126, 133,
virtues, 19, 73, 81, 87, 94, 95, 109, 137, 138, 141-145, 146, 148, 150,
111, 123, 131, 132, 179, 199 174-176, 181, 190-192, 217,
visions, 13, 69, 91, 96, 189, 223 230; cf. marriage; Samaritan;
Volvers, Annelie, 25 sterility; ventriloquist woman
vows, 19, 233-235 wonders, 19, 111, 131, 166, 174-175,
187, 188, 239
world’s end, 19, 221
Wadi Natrun, 209 worship, 57, 116, 186-188, 213,
war, 78, 83, 85, 111, 157, 186, 188, 222, 229, 232
206, 208 Wutz, F., 112
wealth, 13, 14, 19, 60, 132, 157,
171, 200-201, 213, 217
Wednesday, 166, 167, 240 Zamagni, Claudio, 25
Whitby, Michael, 69 Zechariah, 230
Winkelmann, F., 167 Zeno (Emperor), 148
Wolfenbüttel (manuscript), 24 Zoar, 120
264

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Anastasios of Sinai

Questions and Answers

Marcel RICHARD (†)

Introduction, translation and notes by

Peter Van Deun

Novitiis Societatis Iesu

©2011, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

QQ 7-14 Problems of Salvation 60

QQ 40-41 Questions Relating to Communion 146

Qu. 74 Marriage with unbelievers 190

Almost nothing can be gleaned from contemporary sources

his old age,11 he had, as was normal, a disciple, but there is no

1. The history of scholarly work on the Anastasian Quaes-

2. But first, an indication of the nature of this work is need-

The haphazard sequence of topics in the collection seems

questions are much more intimate. Should sexual abstinence be

An important factor in the background is the presence of the

Such is the question; the answer is:

It would be wrong to think of Anastasios as lax or disinter-

5. Throughout all the Questions and Answers, even when

6. There are two characteristics of his method: firstly, Anas-

7. If we turn to examine the values that Anastasios is stressing,

List of Subjects treated

List of Subjects treated

Pseudo-Anastasiana: Re-workings of the Anastasian

of manuscripts, all ­attributed to “Anastasios”.29 When Gretser came

and other works he formed an encyclopaedic work, probably

authentic, but as they had not been published previously they were

Anastasios and the Pseudo-Anastasiana

In the manuscripts one finds a variety of titles36 given to this

(by Abba Anastasios OR put to our reverend father Anastasios of

The survival of so many different Pseudo-Anastasian collec-

The true christian

Qu. 1 What is the sign of the true and perfect Christian?

Qu. 7 If someone is an infidel, or a Jew, or a Samaritan, and

Night before day?

A fixed day of death?

Qu. 17 Some say that if everybody were to know before-

Nature of the Soul?

Resurrection of the body?

Paradise: in this world or elsewhere?

Can one pray without ceasing?

Why do sexual improprieties occur?

Why is sickness so common among Christians?

Causes of character differences?

Questions connected with death

Qu. 28 1. The whole human race is alarmed when it sees

unholy policies, who do harm to practically the whole in-

Moral and pastoral questions

Qu. 31 What is arrogance?

Questions relating to sexual morality

Qu. 39 Is it also proper for somebody who has had a noctur-

Questions relating to communion

Qu. 40 If somebody involuntarily drinks water when wash-

Masses for the dead

Questions involving money

Qu. 44 Is money derived from thefts and injustice, and

Qu. 46 Given that we often hear the word of God, but do

of manuscripts, all attributed to “Anastasios”.29 When Gretser came

children, “Fall at the feet of this revered father; it is because of him

Answer If that were to happen, someone would not readily

nal desolation inflicted on Judasa by Christ. Lazarusb was left in