You Cannot Serve God and Riches

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

SUMMARY: If a man does not keep himself from wanting what others have, he will be made unclean by idolatry. He will be judged as one of the pagans. Do not love money. If we want to serve both God and Mammon, it will not help us. It will be unprofitable for us. Those who are rich in this world cannot be useful to the Lord unless their riches are cut down. We who once valued above all things getting wealth and possessions now put what we have into a common fund. We share with everyone who is in need. No man can serve two masters. That is because he must hate one and love the other. He will honor one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and possessions. Mammon is a greedy man. He is someone who wants more than he should have, or he is someone whose appetite is never satisfied. Mammon is not only money; it is also the resources that come from money and are spent on different pleasures. By Mammon, he meant money. Luxury and the short-lived joys of the world are ruining you. Because of these things, you will be tormented in hell forever. We would rather reject riches than own them. The two laws, the law of God and the law of Mammon, are completely opposed to each other. Wealth must be avoided like an enemy. Luxury does not keep the fear of God. They have shown themselves to be servants of God because they have hated money, trampled it underfoot, and despised it. Polycarp: But the love of money is the root of all evils. Knowing therefore that, as we brought nothing into the world so we can carry nothing out, let us arm ourselves with the armor of righteousness. Let us teach, first of all, ourselves to walk in the commandments of the Lord. Be far from all slandering, evil-speaking, false witnessing, love of money, and every kind of evil. Know that they are the altar of God, that He clearly sees all things and that nothing is hidden from Him. This includes reasonings, reflections, and any of the secret things of the heart.

POLYCARP: Therefore, I urge you to stay away from greed, be sexually pure and truthful, stay away from every form of evil. If a person cannot control himself in these matters, how can he require them of others? If a person does not keep himself from greed, he will be made unclean by idolatry; he will be judged as one of the pagans.

THE DIDACHE: My child, do not be a liar, because a lie leads the way to theft. Do not love money, and do not be vain or proud, because out of all these, thefts are produced.

2 CLEMENT: Now the Lord declares: No servant can serve two masters. If we want, then, to serve both God and Mammon, it will not benefit us. For what will it profit if a man gain the whole world and lose his own soul? This world and the next are two enemies. The one pushes people toward adultery and corruption, greed and deceit. The other tells us to say goodbye to these things. Therefore, we cannot be friends of both. We must give up the one so that we can be sure of the other. Let us count it better to hate the things of this present life, since they are small and temporary and can decay. And let us love the things that are coming, because they are good and cannot decay. For if we do the will of Christ, we will find rest. Otherwise, nothing will save us from eternal punishment if we disobey His commandments. For Scripture also says in Ezekiel, if Noah, Job, and Daniel should rise up, they should not deliver their children in captivity. Now, if people who are so clearly righteous are not able, by their righteousness, to save their children, how can we hope to enter the royal home of God unless we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who will be our advocate unless we are found to have works of holiness and righteousness?

HERMAS: but who are these, lady, who are white and round, and yet do not fit into the building of the tower? These are the ones who truly have faith, but they also have the riches of this world. Therefore, when trouble comes, because of their riches and their business, they deny the Lord. I answered her, "When then will they be useful for the building, lady?" She said, "When the riches that now tempt them have been limited, then they will be useful to God. For just as a round stone cannot become square unless parts are cut off and thrown away, so also those who are rich in this world cannot be useful to the Lord unless their riches are cut down."

HERMAS: Above all, there is the evil desire for another person's wife or husband. There is also the desire for extravagance, and for many useless rich foods and drinks, and for many other foolish luxuries. For all luxury is foolish and empty in the servants of God. These, then, are the evil desires that kill the servants of God.

HERMAS: stay away from being too busy, and you will never sin. People who are busy with many things also commit many sins. They get distracted by their affairs and do not serve their Lord at all.

HERMAS: Anyone who lives in luxury and is fooled for one day and does whatever they want is covered with a lot of foolishness. They do not understand what they are doing until the next day. They forget what they did the day before. Luxury and deceit have no memory because they are dressed in foolishness, but when punishment and torture stick to a person for one day, that person is punished and tortured for a year. Punishment and torture have strong memories, so while a person is tortured and punished for a whole year, they finally remember their luxury and deceit. They know that because of those things, they are suffering harm. So every person who lives in luxury and is deceived is tormented in this way. Even though they have life, they have handed themselves over to death. What kinds of luxury, sir, I asked, are harmful? Every action a person does for pleasure is an act of luxury. The quick-tempered person, when they satisfy their temper, lives in luxury. The adulterer, the drunkard, the backbiter, the liar, the greedy person, the thief, and anyone who does things like these, satisfies their own desire. By doing that, they live in luxury. All these acts of luxury are harmful to the servants of God. Because of these deceits, those who are punished and tortured suffer. But there are also acts of luxury that save people. Many who do good live in luxury because they are carried along by their own pleasure. But this kind of luxury is helpful to the servants of God, and it gains life for that person. However, the harmful acts of luxury listed earlier bring torture and punishment on them. If they keep doing them and do not repent, they bring death on themselves.

HERMAS: these are the ones who get mixed up in business and do not stay close to the saints. Therefore, half of them lives, but the other half is dead. Many then who heard my commands repented. At least those who repented had their home in the tower, but some of them later fell away. These then do not have repentance because of their business. They blasphemed the Lord and denied Him. Therefore, they lost their lives because of the wickedness they committed.

HERMAS: Some of them are wealthy, and others are tangled up in many business affairs. The briars are the wealthy, and the thorns are those who are mixed up in different business affairs. These people, who are mixed up in many and different business affairs, do not stay close to the servants of God. Instead, they go astray, because their affairs choke them. But the wealthy stay close to the servants of God only unwillingly. They are afraid they might be asked for something by them. Therefore, such people will hardly enter the kingdom of God. For just as it is hard to walk on briars with bare feet, so it is hard for such people to enter the kingdom of God.

HERMAS: Their riches had covered up and darkened the truth for them a little, even though they never left God. No evil word ever came out of their mouth. Instead, there was only justice, virtue, and truth. Therefore, when the Lord saw the minds of these people, that they were born good and could be good, He ordered their riches to be cut down. He did not order them to be taken away forever. He did this so they would be able to do some good with what was left to them. Now this age must be cut down in these things and in the empty vanities of their riches. Then they will meet in the kingdom of God, because they must of necessity enter into the kingdom of God.

JUSTIN MARTYR: We who used to value getting wealth and possessions more than anything else, now bring what we have into a common fund. We share with everyone who is in need.

TATIAN: wealth when it is not properly controlled is a fortress of evil. Many people stare at it, and they will never reach the kingdom of heaven. They get sick with love for the things of this world, and they live proudly in luxury. But those who truly care about salvation must decide this ahead of time in their mind. Everything we have is given to us to use, and we should use it only for what is enough, which a person can reach with just a few things. They are foolish who, because of greed, take pleasure in what they have stored up. He that gathers wages, it is said, gathers into a bag with holes. That is what a person is like who gathers grain and locks it away, and the one who gives to no one becomes poorer. Love of money is shown to be the fortress of evil. The apostle says it is the root of all evils, which, while some coveted, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. I do not want to be a king. I am not worried about being rich. I refuse military command. I hate sexual sin. I am not driven by an endless love of profit to go to sea. I do not compete for crowns. I am free from a wild thirst for fame. I despise death. I rise above every kind of disease. Grief does not eat up my soul. Am I a slave? I endure slavery. Am I free? I do not brag about my good birth. I see that the same sun shines on everyone, and the same death comes to everyone whether they live in pleasure or in poverty. The rich man plants, and the poor man shares in the same harvest. The very rich die, and beggars have the same limit to their life. The rich lack many things, and they are honored only because of what people think of them. But the poor man, and the one who wants only a little, looks only for what fits his place in life. He reaches his goal more easily. How is it that you are destined to lose sleep because of greed? Why are you destined to grab for things again and again, and again and again to die? Die to the world, rejecting the madness that is in it. Live to God. By knowing Him, put away your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our free will has ruined us. We who were free have become slaves. We have been sold through sin. God did not create anything evil. We ourselves have shown wickedness, but we who have shown it are able to reject it again.

TATIAN: No one can serve two masters. That is because he must hate one and love the other; he will honor one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and possessions.

IRENAEUS: "You cannot serve two masters." He explains himself by saying, "You cannot serve God and Mammon." He admits that God is truly God, but he also mentions Mammon, which is something that exists. He does not call Mammon "Lord" when he says, "You cannot serve two masters." Instead, he teaches his disciples, who serve God, not to be under Mammon and not to be ruled by it. For he says, "He that commits sin is the slave of sin." So, since he calls those who serve sin the slaves of sin, but does not call sin itself God, in the same way he calls those who serve Mammon the slaves of Mammon, without calling Mammon God. For Mammon is, in the Jewish language, which the Samaritans also use, a covetous man. It means someone who wants to have more than he ought to have. But in Hebrew, by adding a syllable, as an addition, it is called Mammul. It means gulosom, that is, someone whose throat is never satisfied. Therefore, because of both of these meanings that are shown, we cannot serve God and Mammon.

IRENAEUS: The Lord Himself points to Abraham as having said to the rich man, speaking about all those who were still alive, "If they do not obey Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were to rise from the dead and go to them, they will not believe him." Now, He has not only told us a story about a poor man and a rich man; He has taught us, first, that no one should live in luxury. No one should live in worldly pleasures and constant feasting, become a slave to their desires, and forget God. For there was, He says, a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and delighted himself with splendid feasts. The Spirit has also spoken about people like this through Isaiah. They drink wine with the accompaniment of harps and tablets and psalteries and flutes, but they do not regard the works of God, neither do they consider the work of His hands. Therefore, so that we do not receive the same punishment as these men, the Lord shows us how their story ends.

IRENAEUS: In some cases, a small amount of property follows us; in other cases, a large amount follows us. We got this property from the Mammon of unrighteousness. Where do we get the houses we live in? Where do we get the clothes we wear, the containers we use, and everything else that serves our everyday life? Is it not from things that, when we were Gentiles, we got through greed? Or we received them from our pagan parents, relatives, or friends who got them in an unrighteous way? Not to mention that even now we get such things when we are in the faith. Who sells something and does not want to make a profit from the buyer? Who buys something and does not want to get a good deal from the seller? Who runs a business and does not do it so he can make a living from it? And what about those believers who are in the royal palace? Do they not get the tools and items they use from property that belongs to Caesar? And for those who do not have, does not each one of these Christians give according to his ability? God lives in those who act rightly, as the Lord says, "Make to yourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that they, when you shall be put to flight, may receive you into eternal tabernacles." Because whatever we got from unrighteousness when we were pagans, we are shown to be righteous when we have become believers, by using it for the Lord's benefit.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The bastard, who is a son of perdition, is already doomed to be the slave of Mammon.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Wealth, when it is not properly controlled, is a fortress of evil. Many people stare at it, and they will never reach the kingdom of heaven. They are sick with love for the things of this world, and they live proudly because of luxury. But those who are serious about salvation must decide this ahead of time in their mind. Everything we possess is given to us to use, and we should use it only as much as is enough, which a person can reach with just a few things. People are foolish when, because of greed, they take pleasure in what they have stored up. He that gathers wages, it is said, gathers into a bag with holes. That is what a person is like who gathers grain and shuts it up, and the one who gives to no one becomes poorer. It is like a comedy and something that makes a person laugh out loud when men bring in silver urinals and crystal chamber pots as they bring in their counselors. It is also foolish when rich women have gold containers made for human waste. They are so rich that they cannot even relieve themselves except in a fancy way. I wish that in their whole life they would think gold is fit for dung, but now love of money is found to be the fortress of evil. The apostle says it is the root of all evils, which, while some coveted, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But the best riches is having few desires, and true generosity is not being proud of wealth but looking down on it. Bragging about one's dishes and tableware is completely shameful. It is clearly wrong to care so much about something that anyone who wants can buy at the market. But wisdom is not bought with earthly money. It is not sold in the marketplace but in heaven, and it is sold for true money, the immortal word, the royal gold.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: What does the parable of Lazarus mean when it shows the picture of the rich and the poor? And what about the saying, "No man can serve two masters, God and Mammon"? The Lord uses that word to mean the love of money. For example, the greedy people who were invited did not respond to the invitation to the supper. It was not because they owned property; it was because they loved what they owned in a wrong and excessive way. Then, the foxes have holes. He called those evil and earthly men "foxes." These are people who are busy with wealth that is mined and dug from the ground. In the same way, he spoke about Herod. Go, tell that fox, "Look, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected." He also used the name "birds of the air" for people who are different from other birds. He meant those who are truly pure. He meant those who have the power to fly up to the knowledge of the heavenly Word. Because it is not only riches that can trouble a person; honor can also do it. Marriage can also do it. Poverty can also do it. Each of these can bring ten thousand cares to someone who is not fit for them. He pointed to those cares in the parable of the fourfold seed. He said that "the seed of the Word which fell among the thorns and hedges was choked by them. It could not bring forth fruit." Therefore, it is necessary to learn how to make use of every event that happens. Then, by a good life, guided by knowledge, a person can be trained for the state of eternal life.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: "For no one can serve two masters, God and Mammon," it is said. This means not just money, but also the resources that come from money and are spent on different pleasures. In reality, it is not possible for someone who generously and truly knows God to serve pleasures that fight against God.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: For, as the Lord commanded, he did not want to serve two masters: pleasure and God. It is said that Matthias the Apostle also taught that a person should fight against the flesh and treat it harshly, never letting it give in to sinful pleasure, so that the soul might grow through faith and knowledge.

TERTULLIAN: how many other sure proofs we have had in the case of people who, by spending time with the devil in the shows, have fallen away from the Lord? For no one can serve two masters. What fellowship does light have with darkness? Life with death.

TERTULLIAN: While the gifts from our most excellent emperors were being handed out in the camp, the soldiers were coming forward wearing laurel crowns. One of them was more a soldier of God and more steady than the rest of his brothers and sisters. They had thought they could serve two masters, but his head alone was uncovered, and he held the useless crown in his hand. Because of this unusual thing, everyone already knew him as a Christian, so everyone began to single him out. They mocked him from a distance, and when they were close, they ground their teeth at him. The report reached the tribune just after the man had left the ranks. The tribune immediately asked him, "Why are you so different in your clothing?" The man said he was not free to wear the crown with the rest. When he was pressed to give his reasons, he answered, "I am a Christian." "Oh, soldier, you are boasting yourself in God." Then the case was examined and voted on. The matter was sent to a higher court, and the offender was taken to the prefects. Right away, he took off the heavy cloak, and his unloading began. He untied the military shoe from his foot, beginning to stand on holy ground. He gave up the sword, which was not needed even for the protection of our Lord. The laurel crown also fell from his hand, and now, dressed in purple, with the hope of his own blood, wearing the readiness of the gospel. Tied with the sharper word of God, fully equipped in the apostle's armor, and crowned more rightly with the white crown of martyrdom, he waits in prison for the generosity of Christ.

TERTULLIAN: But first, I will also say a word about the military crown itself. This laurel crown is sacred to Apollo, or Bacchus. It is sacred to Apollo as the god of archery, and to Bacchus as the god of triumphs. In the same way, Claudius teaches this when he tells us that soldiers are also used to being crowned with myrtle. Myrtle belongs to Venus, the mother of the Aeneidae. She is also the mistress of the god of war, who, through Ilia and the Romuli, is Roman. But I do not believe that Venus is Roman as well as Mars, because of the trouble the concubine gave her. When military service is crowned again with olive, the idolatry points to Minerva. She is also the goddess of arms. But she got a crown from that tree because of the peace she made with Neptune. In these ways, the superstition of the military garland will be defiled everywhere, and it will defile everything. And I think it is further defiled by the reasons given for it. Look at the yearly public speaking of vows. What does it clearly show itself to be? It happens first in the part of the camp where the general's tent is, and then in the temples. Besides the places, notice the words too. We vow that you, O Jupiter, will then have an ox with gold-decorated horns. What does that statement mean? Without a doubt, it means denying Christ. Even if the Christian says nothing with his mouth in these places, he still answers by having the crown on his head. The laurel is also commanded to be used when the gifts are handed out. So, you see, idolatry is not without its profit. It sells Christ for pieces of gold, just as Judas did for pieces of silver. Can it be true to say, "You cannot serve God and Mammon, if you give your strength to Mammon and turn away from God"? Can it be true to say, "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's"? If you not only do not give the human being to God, but even take the denarius from Caesar. Is the laurel of triumph made of leaves or of corpses? Is it decorated with ribbons or with tombs? Is it wet with ointments or with the tears of wives and mothers?

TERTULLIAN: Giving a man riches is not something that does not fit with God. With the help of riches, even rich men are comforted and helped. Also, by riches, many works of justice and charity are done. But there are serious faults that go along with riches. Because of these, woes are spoken against the rich, even in the Gospel. "You have received," he says, "your consolation." That is, of course, from their riches, in the showy pride and empty things of the world that these riches buy for them.

TERTULLIAN: he makes it clear who the two masters are that, he says, cannot be served. The reason is that if one is pleased, the other must be displeased. He makes this clear when he mentions God and Mammon. Then, if you have no interpreter with you, you can learn again from him what he meant by Mammon. When he was advising us to provide for ourselves the help of friends in worldly affairs, he gave the example of that steward. When the steward was removed from his office, he helped his lord's debtors by lowering their debts. He did this so that they would repay him by helping him. Then he said, "And I say to you, make for yourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that is, of money," just as the steward had done. Now we all know that money stirs up unrighteousness, and it rules the whole world. Therefore, when he saw the greed of the Pharisees and how they gave it slave-like worship, he threw this sentence against them: "You cannot serve God and Mammon." Then the Pharisees, who were greedy for riches, made fun of him. They did this when they understood that by Mammon he meant money. Learn from this that Christ pointed to one God. He named two masters: God and Mammon, the Creator and money. You truly cannot serve God, the one whom they seem to serve, and Mammon, the one they chose to devote themselves to instead.

TERTULLIAN: It is hard to find a rich man in the house of God.

TERTULLIAN: Therefore, blessed are the poor, because, he says, the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who have stored up only their soul as treasure. If we cannot serve God and Mammon, can we be redeemed by both God and Mammon? For who will serve Mammon more than the person whom Mammon has bought back? Finally, what example can you use to justify using money to keep yourself from being handed over? When did the apostles, when dealing with this issue, ever, in any time of persecution and trouble, get themselves out by paying money?

COMMODIANUS: luxury and the short-lived pleasures of the world are ruining you. Because of these things, you will be tormented in hell forever.

MINUCIUS FELIX: Many of us are called poor. This is not our shame but our glory. Just as luxury can make our minds weak, frugality makes them strong. But who can be poor if he does not want more, if he does not crave what others own, and if he is rich toward God? The truly poor person is the one who, even though he has a lot, still wants more. I will speak as I feel. No one can be as poor as he is when he is born. Birds live without any inheritance. Day by day, cattle are fed. Yet these creatures were made for us. If we do not lust after these things, we already possess them. Therefore, just as a person walking on a road is happier when he travels light, so a person is happier on this journey of life when he moves forward in poverty and does not struggle to breathe under the heavy load of riches. And even if we thought wealth was useful to us, we should ask God for it. Truly, He could give us some of it, since everything belongs to Him, but we would rather look down on riches than own them.

ORIGEN: No one can serve two masters, and we cannot serve God and Mammon, whether this name is used for one or for more than one. Also, if anyone by breaking the law dishonors the lawgiver, it seems clear to us that if the two laws, the law of God and the law of Mammon, are completely opposed to each other, it is better for us to break the law of Mammon and dishonor Mammon. Then we can honor God by keeping His law. This is better than breaking the law of God and dishonoring God, so that by obeying the law of Mammon we may honor Mammon.

ORIGEN: The Spirit came down so clearly on those who received baptism, after the water had prepared the way for him in those who properly approached the rite. Simon Magus was amazed at what he saw; he wanted to receive this gift from Peter, but even though what he wanted was a good thing, he thought he could get it by the mammon of unrighteousness.

ORIGEN: Anyone who truly—and not falsely—says with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes it in their heart would also say that they are under the lordship of wisdom, righteousness, truth, and everything that Christ is. This person says that Mammon is not their Lord anymore; that is, they are no longer under the lordship of greed, unrighteousness, sexual sin, or lying. Because they have confessed once and for all that Jesus Christ is Lord, they are publicly declaring that they are not a slave to any of these things.

ORIGEN: It does not seem possible for someone to serve both Christ and their belly at the same time. They also cannot love pleasure and love God equally. In the same way, no one can serve both God and Mammon at the same time.

CYPRIAN: Wealth must be avoided like an enemy; it must be run away from like a robber. People who have wealth must fear it like a sword and like poison. For this purpose, only what is left over should be used, so that by it the crime and the fault may be paid for. Do good works without delay, and do them generously. Use all your property to heal your wound. Let us lend our wealth and our resources to the Lord, who will judge about us. In this way, faith flourished in the time of the apostles. In this way, the first people of believers kept Christ's commands. They were quick to act. They were generous. They gave everything they had, so it could be handed out by the apostles.

CYPRIAN: You are afraid that your estate might run out if you start giving generously from it. You do not know, miserable man, that you are, that while you fear your family property might fail, life itself and salvation are failing. While you worry that any of your wealth might be reduced, you do not see that you yourself are being reduced. This happens because you love money more than your own soul. While you fear that, for your own sake, you might lose your inheritance, you yourself are dying for the sake of your inheritance. Therefore the apostle rightly cries out and says, "We brought nothing into this world, and we certainly can carry nothing out." Therefore, having food and clothing, let us be content with these. For those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires. These desires drown a person in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all evils. Some people, by desiring it, have made shipwreck of the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

CYPRIAN: you should not chase after the desire to own things or after money. In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver." Also in Proverbs, "He who holds back the corn is cursed among the people, but blessing is on the head of him that shares it." Also in Isaiah, "Woe to those who join house to house and lay field to field, so that they may take away something from their neighbor. Will you live alone on the earth?" Also in Zephaniah, "They will build houses and will not live in them, and they will plant vineyards and will not drink their wine, because the day of the Lord is near." Also in the Gospel according to Luke, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but that he should lose himself?" And again, "But the Lord said to him, 'You fool, this night your soul is required of you. Whose then will those things be which you have provided?'" And again, "Remember that you received your good things in this life, and likewise Lazarus received evil things, but now he is comforted, and you grieve." And in the Acts of the Apostles, "But Peter said to him, 'Silver and gold indeed I have none; but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.'" And taking hold of his right hand, he lifted him up. Also in the First to Timothy, "We brought nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything away. Therefore, having food and clothing, let us be content with these." But those who want to become rich fall into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires, which drown a person in ruin and destruction. For the root of all evils is covetousness. Some people, by craving it, have made shipwreck of the faith and have plunged themselves into many sorrows.

NOVATIAN: Moderation is always found to be close to religion. No, so to speak, it is even related and connected to it. For luxury is hostile to holiness. How can religion be protected by luxury when modesty is not protected? Luxury does not hold on to the fear of God. But because freedom about foods is granted to us, it does not necessarily follow that luxury is allowed to us. And because the Gospel has treated us very generously, it has not taken away self-control. But nothing has restrained lack of self-control as much as the Gospel has. And no one has given such strict laws against overeating as Christ has. He is said to have called even the poor blessed, and those who hunger and thirst happy, and the rich miserable. These rich people obey the rule of their belly and their taste. The material for their desires could never be lacking, so their slavery could not stop. They think it proves they are happy to desire as much as they can, yet they can reach less than what they desire. Also, by preferring Lazarus even in his hunger, and in his saws themselves, and with the rich man's dogs, he restrained the destroyers of salvation, the belly and the taste, by examples. The Apostle also, when he said, "Having food and raiment, we are to be content," laid down the law of living simply and with self-control. And thinking it would be of little benefit that he had only written it, he also gave himself as an example of what he had written. He added, not without reason, that greed for wealth is the root of all evils, for it follows in the footsteps of luxury.

PETER OF ALEXANDRIA: They have accepted the loss and sacrifice of their possessions so that they would not harm or destroy their soul. Others, for the sake of filthy money, have not done this. And yet the Lord says, "What has a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" And again, "You cannot serve God and Mammon." In these things, then, they have shown themselves to be servants of God. This is because they have hated money, trampled it under their feet, and despised it. In this way, they have fulfilled what is written. The ransom of a man's life are his riches.