We Are Condemned for Our Silence¹

The Virtue of Silence:
Many spiritual books speak about the “virtue of silence” and call for it. Often silence is a virtue by which a person escapes the many sins of the tongue. All this is true, for Scripture says: “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking” (Prov. 10:19). It also says: “Let your words be few” (Eccl. 5:2). The Fathers of the Desert practiced the virtue of silence in their solitude. In this regard Saint Arsenius said: “Many times I have spoken and regretted it; but as for my silence, I have never regretted it.” Yet the Fathers, in their silence, did not have as their sole aim the avoidance of the sins of the tongue, so much as the aim of being devoted to prayer. For talking with people distracts them from talking with God.

Beneficial Speech:
But the question now is this: Is every silence a virtue? And is every speech a sin?
Certainly not every speech is a sin. For David the Prophet says: “My heart is overflowing with a good word” (Ps. 45:1).
And the Lord Christ used to speak, and the people “marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (Luke 4:22). And the martyr Stephen spoke and confounded the sinful councils, “and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (Acts 6:10).
David the Prophet said: “The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice” (Ps. 37:30). And Solomon said: “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life” (Prov. 10:11). Solomon himself overflowed with wisdom, so that the Lord blessed the Queen of Sheba for coming from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
People used to traverse land and sea to hear a beneficial word from the monks of Egypt. Even Pope Theophilus (23) used to come especially to listen and benefit. Once he went to Arsenius to ask him for a beneficial word. Another time he visited Scetis, and the monks went to Saint Abba Paphnutius and said to him: “Say a word so that the Pope may benefit.” And on a third occasion the Pope asked the same of a father from Mount Nitria, who answered him: “Believe me, my father, there is nothing better than for a person to return with self-blame in everything.” How great is this beneficial word, from which a holy man like Pope Theophilus benefited—he whose name we commemorate in the Synaxarium, and from whose mouth we receive absolution in the “Absolution of the Servants”! Therefore, not every speech is a sin, but there is speech for benefit.
This beneficial speech is speech from God, which He places in the mouths of His beloved ones to convey to others, whether gentle or severe. Thus the Lord said to His servant Isaiah: “My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants…” (Isa. 59:21).
Jeremiah also recounts this about himself, saying: “Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth’” (Jer. 1:9). And the Apostle Paul says: “Christ speaking in me” (2 Cor. 13:3). Thus the Lord says to us: “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matt. 10:20).
This beneficial speech the Apostle Paul places among the gifts of the Spirit, saying: “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:8).

Sinful Silence:
It is clear from all this that just as silence can be a virtue at certain times, so also speech can be a virtue at other times—when it is beneficial speech and when it is from God. After this remains a question:
Can silence sometimes be considered a sin, just as evil speech is considered a sin? And can we be condemned for our silence, just as we are condemned for our speech?
Yes, sometimes we are condemned for our silence…
For everything under heaven there is a time. The wise man said: “A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). If there is a time to speak, then undoubtedly we are condemned if we are silent in it. The righteous person does not speak when silence is appropriate, nor is he silent when speech is appropriate. Saint Ambrose said: “If we must give account for an idle word, then we must be careful lest we be compelled also to give account for idle silence.”
When God created the tongue, He did not create it in vain, but for a spiritual purpose. The purpose of the tongue’s existence is not merely negative—that it does not sin in speech—but it has a positive purpose: to speak good things and to say them when they ought to be said. Divine inspiration spoke through Solomon the wise, saying: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Prov. 25:11).
God sometimes commands us to speak. He says in the book of Jeremiah the Prophet: “He who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully” (Jer. 23:28). The Lord said to the Apostle Paul: “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent” (Acts 18:9). He sent His servant John the Baptist as a voice crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight” (Mark 1:3). John the Baptist spoke very stern words, but the speech was from God. God commanded Moses to speak the word of truth, and when Moses asked to be excused from this task, claiming that he was not eloquent, God insisted and said to Moses: “Go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say” (Exod. 4:12).
God does not speak to people directly, but through His children. He wants us to proclaim His commandments to people. God did not go Himself to Herod to say, “It is not lawful for you,” but the word of God reached Herod through John. And the Lord said this to His disciples: “You shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8). He did not mean the disciples only, but throughout the generations, as the Apostle Paul says about Him: “He did not leave Himself without witness” (Acts 14:17). And when some Pharisees objected to His disciples’ testimony about Him, He answered: “If these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out!” (Luke 19:40).
David the Prophet said: “I believed, therefore I spoke” (Ps. 116:10). This verse affected the Apostle Paul, and he quoted it to show that speech is a fruit of faith, saying: “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak” (2 Cor. 4:13).
If we remain silent about preaching and proclaiming the name of the Lord, we are undoubtedly condemned for our silence.
Likewise, if we do not confess the name of the Lord, we are condemned for our silence.
If we are silent about bearing witness to the truth, we are condemned for our silence.
Also, if we fall short in warning sinners, so that they continue in their sin and harm themselves and others, we are also condemned for our silence.
If you see a person about to fall into a pit without knowing it, would you say that silence is a virtue rather than warning him?! And if you do not warn him, are you not condemned for your silence, and does the Lord not require his blood from your hand?! What does the book of Ezekiel the Prophet explain to us? The Lord says: “If you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezek. 33:8). But if you warn him and he does not turn back, “he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul” (Ezek. 33:9). Therefore, shepherds must not neglect warning their flock, and we must all, in the spirit of love, support one another during the days of our sojourning.

¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – First Year – Issues Two and Three, January and February 1965.

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