Maximus of Turin

In his own words on 1 Kings

• 1 Kings 20:11

  For a hump is, as it were, to think or to do something base of soul, and it is a kind of twisted deformity of mind always to incline toward unclean things and to be withdrawn from the holy threshold of the church by worldly concerns. Hence it seems to me that the prophet, when he spoke spiritually of this bodily deformity, alluded instead to a moral hideousness when he said, "Let no one who is crooked boast as if he were upright." It is as if he were saying, "Let not the sinner boast who is distorted by the wickedness of his vices, as the righteous boasts who is made upright by the sincerity of a good conscience." For although, O sinner, you rejoice in your tall stature, although you are glad because of the straightness of your shoulders, nonetheless your soul is deformed by your evil way of life. Rightly, then, is a rich person compared with a camel, since bodily ungainliness prevents the one from passing through a needle, while concern for his property hinders the other from entering the church. And just as a small needle cannot receive the one that is burdened by the grossness of its body, so also the sacred portal cannot take in the other, who is encumbered by the weight of his offenses. Each has his own burden: the one is weighed down by his physiognomy, the other by his sins. And just as the one cannot pass through the needle's tiny eye, so the other is unfit for the most blessed kingdom of God, except that the camel's body is disordered by nature, while the rich person's will makes him evil. - "Sermon 32.1"

• 1 Kings 20:11

  The hump alludes to thinking or doing something that is ugly for the soul, and it is always a certain twisted deformity of mind that reaches for impure things and is distracted from the sacred threshold of the church by worldly concerns. It seems to me that the prophet spoke in a spiritual sense of this physical deformity to describe instead a deformity of character, when he says: "Let not the crooked boast in the same way as the upright," as if he were saying: "Let not the sinner who is deformed by the perversion of his own vices boast as the just person boasts when he is made upright by the sincerity of a good conscience." For though, O sinner, you rejoice in the stature of your body and you find pleasure in the straightness of your shoulders, your soul is still deformed because of the crookedness of your character. It is only right that the rich person is compared to the camel since the density of its body hinders it from the passing through the needle, while concern for inheritance holds the rich person back from entering the church. For as a small opening does not let the camel in, weighed down by the mass of its members, so also this holy entrance does not accept the rich, weighed down by the mass of transgressions. Each has its own burden: the camel is burdened by his own flesh and the rich by his sins. As the camel is not able to inhabit the extremely confined hole of the needle, so also the rich person is not suitable for the most blessed kingdom of God. The only difference between the two is that the camel is not well suited due to the nature of his body, while his own will renders the rich person crooked.

  SERMON 32.1