When we became many, the faithful became few
That such things will also be ours at the completion of this age is clear from what the Savior said in the Gospel, in which he says: 'Because lawlessness is multiplied, the love of the many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, this one will be saved.' And: 'he will do signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.'
Our affairs will be such that the Savior says about his own coming, as if a faithful one will not quickly be found from so many churches: 'But when the Son of man comes, will he find the faith on the earth?'
And truly, if we judge things by truth and not by crowds, and judge things by choice and not by seeing many gathered, we shall see now that we are not faithful. But they were faithful then, when the noble martyrdoms were taking place, when, having sent the martyrs on from the burial-places, we came to the gatherings, and the whole church arrived uncrushed, and the catechumens were catechized upon the martyrdoms and upon the deaths of those who confessed the truth unto death, not frightened or shaken from the living God. Then we know that we also saw strange signs and wonders. Then there were faithful — few, but truly faithful — traveling the narrow and crushed way that leads into life.
But now, when we have become many, since it is not possible for many to be elect (for Jesus does not lie, who said, 'Many are called, but few elect'), from the multitude of those remaining in godliness there are very few who arrive at the election of God and the blessedness.
Greek
ὅτι γὰρ τοιαῦτα καὶ τὰ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἔσται, δῆλον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένων, ἐν οἷς φησιν· «διὰ τὸ πληθυνθῆναι τὴν ἀνομίαν ψυγήσεται ἡ ἀγάπη τῶν πολλῶν.
ὁ δὲ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος, οὗτος σωθήσεται« καί· >ποιήσει σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα ὁ ὥστε ἀποπλανᾶσθαι, εἰ δυνατόν, καὶ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς ἔσται τὰ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ὥστε τὸν σωτῆρα λέγειν περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιδημίας, ὡς ἐκ τῶν τοσούτων ἐκκλησιῶν πιστοῦ ταχέως μὴ εὑρισκομένου· «πλὴν ἐλθὼν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἆρα εὑρήσει τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς«; καὶ ἀληθῶς ἐὰν κρίνωμεν τὰ πράγματα ἀλθείᾳ καὶ μὴ ὄχλοις, καὶ κρίνωμεν τὰ πράγματα προαιρέσει καὶ μὴ τῷ βλέπειν πολλοὺς συναγομένους, ὀψόμεθα νῦν ὡς οὐκ ἐσμὲν πιστοί. ἀλλὰ τότε ἠσαν πιστοί, ὅτε τὰ μαρτύρια τὰ γενναῖα ἐγίνοντο, ὅτε ἀπὸ τῶν κοιμητηρίων προπέμψαντες τοὺς μάρτυρας ἠρχόμεθα ἐπὶ τὰς συναγωγάς, καὶ ὅλη ἡ ἐκκλησία μὴ θλιβομένη παρεγίνετο, καὶ οἱ κατηχούμενοι ἐπὶ τοῖς μαρτυρίοις κατηχοῦντο καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς θανάτοις τῶν ὁμολογούντων τὴν ἀλήθειαν «μέχρι θανάτου«, «μὴ πτυρόμενοι« μηδὲ ταρασσόμενοι «ἐπὶ τὸν ζῶντα θεόν. τότε οἴδαμεν καὶ σημεῖα ἑωρακότας παράδοξα καὶ τεράστια. τότε ἦσαν πιστοὶ ὀλίγοι μὲν πιστοὶ δὲ ἀληθῶς, τὴν στενὴν καὶ τεθλιμμένην ὁδεύοντες ὁδὸν τὴν ἀπάγου- σαν «εἰς τὴν ζωήν. νῦν δὲ ὅτε γεγόναμεν πολλοί, ἐπεὶ οὐ δυνατὸν εἶναι πολλοὺς ἐκλεκτούς (οὐ γὰρ ψεύδεται ὁ εἰπὼν Ἰησοῦς· «πολλοὶ οἱ κλητοὶ, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί«), ἐκ [γὰρ] τοῦ πλήθους τῶν μένων θεοσέβειαν σφόδρα εἰσὶν ὀλίγοι οἱ καταντῶντες ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκλογὴν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μακαριότητα.
About this text
Origen on Jeremiah. Twenty Greek homilies survive. This page publishes the Pass B English for Homilies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Homily 8 remains a machine draft and is not shipped yet. The rest of the volume is still being translated.
English follows Erich Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901). A second transcription of that same edition (First1KGreek TEI) was checked; where the TEI drops or garbles a line, the page image wins. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek. Homilies that survive only in Jerome’s Latin are not on this page yet. When they are, they will be marked at those homilies.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901) (Greek · Homilies 1–20 Greek (this page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20))
- Checked print Archive.org page image and DjVu of GCS III (Greek · Same print as the copy-text)
- Checked print First1KGreek TEI of GCS III (Greek · Same print; encoding errors deferred to the page image)
Where the prints differ
- Homily 1.1 — The TEI omits Ἑβραῖον. English follows the GCS page image: Jonah is “a Hebrew prophet.”
- Homily 1.5 — The TEI dropped Ἰσαάκ. English follows the GCS page image: Isaac born of promise.
- Homily 1.11 — The TEI/OCR of this line is garbled. English follows the GCS page image and the quoted verse: “I have sanctified you.”
- Homily 3.2 — The TEI gaps Matthew 5:45 (sun on the evil and [gap]; rain on [gap] and the unjust). English follows the Gospel wording.
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.