Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2438
DRAFT Chromatius of Aquileia commenting on the Gospel of Matthew 5: 27-30 compares the church to the human body: bishop is an eye and presbyter is a hand; when they cause scandal, they shall be amputated from the body. Chromatius of Aquileia, Tractate 23 on Matthew, AD 388/407.
XXIII
 
III, 1 Sed quia corporis mentio facta est, rectius id magis de corpore ecclesiae potest intellegi; in quo oculus, uelut pretiosum membrum, episcopus significatus agnoscitur, qui lumine mandati diuini totum corpus illuminat. De hoc ergo dictum recte intellegitur: Si oculus tuus scandalizat te, erue eum, et proice abs te; expedit enim tibi ut pereat unum membrorum tuorum, quam totum corpus tuum eat in gehennam, ut si forte huiusmodi oculus, id est episcopus, per prauam fidem et turpem conuersationem ecclesiae scandalum fuerit, eruendum eum esse, id est abiciendum a corpore ecclesiae praecipit, ne peccato ipsius reus populus teneatur. 2. Scriptum est enim quia modicum fermentum totam massam corrumpit. Et iterum: Auferte malum de uobis ipsis. In manu uero presbyter significatus intellegitur, qui si et ipse prauam fidem tenens aut non recte uiuens, scandalum Dei populo fecerit, abscidi eum Dominus iubet, id est abici, ne peccato ipsius ecclesia maculetur, cum ecclesia iuxta apostolum sancta et immaculata esse debeat, per Christum Dominum nostrum, qui est benedictus in saecula. Amen.
 
(ed. Lemarie 1974: 306-37)

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
City
  • Aquileia

About the source:

Author: Chromatius of Aquileia
Title: Tractatus in Matthaeum, Tractates in Matthew, Sermons in Matthew
Origin: Aquileia (Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Edition:
R. Étaix and J. Lemarié eds., Chromatii Aquileiensis opera, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 9a, Turnhout 1974

Categories:

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2438, https://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2438