[The Athens MS. does not begin till Chapter VII. The first set of objections in the Book is therefore lost Chapters VII-XI contain answers to five objections. This looks as if Chapter 1 was in the nature of an introduction, unless there were six objections, and Macarius has combined two of them in one answer, as he does more than once in the later part of his work.]
Chapter Seven
This is an answer to an objection based on the words of S. Matt. x. 34 ff.: "I came not to send peace on the earth, but a sword. I came to separate a man from his father,"
The first part of the answer is lacking, and the rest is lengthy and diffuse. The following is a summary of it:---
[To those who wish to receive the heavenly armour Christ speaks thus: "This warfare will mean putting away all earthly thoughts and giving up all human dear ones. After the victory a heavenly Father will take the place of the earthly one who has been renounced. This is the only way to conquer sin. The man who prefers earthly relationships will not survive the fray, and is not a soldier worthy of me."
Success in such a warfare may be plainly seen in the deaths of the martyrs. They were able to leave all those that were dear, and take up their cross and follow Christ. This is what is meant by the "sword," which cuts relations from each other, as it cut Thecla from Theocleia.1 Daughters have taken this sword and cut themselves off from their mothers either by martyrdom or virgins' vows. Sons of great men have left their family customs to practise abstinence. Nor are those angered who are left behind. Go through the cities of the East, and the province of Syria,2 and test my words. Look at the royal city of Antioch,3 and see what countless divisions there are. Some marry, others refuse; some are luxurious, others ascetic.4 In a single house the "sword" of salvation cuts them apart, doing so without wound or pain, for it cuts not bodies but dispositions asunder.5
If the words bear an allegorical meaning,6 the man divided from his father means the Apostles separated from the law. The daughter is the flesh, and the mother circumcision. The daughter-in-law is the Church, and the mother-in-law the synagogue. The sword that cuts is the grace of the Gospel.]
Footnotes:
1For the well-known story, see the Acts of Paul and Thecla.
2It is remarkable that a writer apparently connected with Asia Minor should thus refer to Syria. For the suggestion that it is a reference to his opponent's connexion with it, see Introd. p. xv.
3With the reference to Antioch, compare the mention of Edessa, another city of Syria, in Bk. I, ch. vi.
4The contrast is expressed thus: ἄλλοι ταῖς ἑταίραις συνεῖναι σπουδάαμπ;ζαυσιν, ἕτεροι ταῖς μονηρίαις θέλουσι συναυλίζεσθαι.
5This passage scarcely justifies the argument which has been drawn from it, that a development of monasticism is here implied, such as only took place in the latter part of the fourth century. For there is no actual mention of the developed coenobitic life.
6Macarius, as a faithful follower of Origen, frequently adds to his first explanation a mystical one of this kind. Indeed, when in difficulty for a plain answer, he resorts to it at once, e.g. in Bk. III, ch. xxv.