Letter 704

To the same person. The one who says, "For this reason I become an anchorite, that I may have no one to provoke me to anger," such a man is no different from an irrational beast. For we see even the beasts remaining quiet and not made savage at all, unless some person stirs them up to wrath. And why is it written, "Being subject to one another in the fear of God" [Ephesians 5:21], and, "Whatever gift you have received, ministering it to one another" [1 Peter 4:10], and, "Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake, esteeming one another as surpassing yourselves, each one looking not to his own interests, but each also to the interests of others" [1 Peter 2:13; Philippians 2:3]? "If anyone is wise and understanding among you, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom" [James 3:13].

Ὁ λέγων, ὅτι Διὰ τοῦτο ἀναχωρητὴς γίνομαι, ἵνα μηδένα ἔχω τὸν εἰς ὀργὴν παρακινίζοντα, οὐδὲν δια- φέρει ὁ τοιοῦτος θηρίου ἀλογίστου. Καὶ γὰρ τὰ θηρία βλέπομεν ἠρεμοῦντα, καὶ μηδὲν ὅλως ἀγραινούμενα, ἐὰν μή τις ἄνθρωπος ταῦτα εἰς θυμὸν διεγείρῃ. Καὶ διατί γέγραπται· « Ὑποτασσόμενοι ἀλλήλοις ἐν φόβῳ θεοῦ» καὶ· « Ὅπερ χάρισμα ἐλάβετε εἰς ἑαυτοὺς διακονοῦντες » καὶ· « Ὑποτάγητε πάσῃ κτίσει ἀνθρωπίνῃ διὰ τὸν Κύριον, ἀλλήλους ἡγού- μενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν, μὴ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἕκαστος σκοποῦντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἑτέρων ἕκαστοι. Εἴ τις σοφός, καὶ ἐπιστήμων ἐν ὑμῖν, δειξάτω τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ἐν πραΰτητι σοφίας;