Against Marcionists and Manichaeans
John Chrysostom (347–407)
On the passage "Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt:" and against Marcionists and ManicAeans: also, that we ought not to rush into danger, but to prefer the will of God before every other will.
1. I Lately inflicted a severe stroke upon those who are grasping and wish to overreach others; I did this not in order to wound them but in order to correct them; not because I hate the men, but because I detest their wickedness. For so the physician also lances the abscess, not as making an attack upon the suffering body, but as a means of contending with the disorder and the wound. Well to-day let us grant them a little respite, that they may recover from their distress, and not recoil from the remedy by being perpetually afflicted. Physicians also act thus; after the use of the knife they apply plasters and drugs, and let a few days pass whilst they devise things to allay the pain. Following their example let me today, devising means for them to derive benefit from my discourse, start a question concerning doctrine, directing my speech to the words which have been read. For I imagine that many feel perplexed as to the reason why…
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