Black graphic with a Byzantine icon portrait of Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444) beside a quote from Sermon CXII: “Thou beheldest the man suffering incurable misery, and a prey to intolerable griefs: for two maladies at once possessed him, each worse than the other, the cruel pain of his ulcers, and the want of the necessaries of life. The very beasts soothed Lazarus, because he was in pain; ‘the dogs licked his sores’ but thou wast more hard-hearted than the beasts.“
Cyril to the rich man: you saw Lazarus—his ulcers, his hunger. The dogs showed more compassion than you did. Modern preachers love the doctrine of hell. Jesus’ two clearest teachings on it share one presenting sin: you walked past the suffering.
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