Go not forth hastily to court, lest you know not what to do in the end, when your neighbor has put you to shame.
Read Chapter 25
Evagrius Ponticus
AD 399
Solomon frequently mentions “friend” and “friendship.” Therefore, it is fitting now to look into what he means by friendship. He says [in effect] that grace and friendship liberate. Also, the Savior in the gospels says to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Again, Paul writes, “Christ freed us from the curse of the law.” Hence, if “friendship sets free” and “truth sets free” and the Savior sets free, then Christ is both truth and friendship. Therefore, all who possess the knowledge of Christ are friends to each other. Therefore, the Savior calls his disciples “friends,” and John the Baptist is a friend of the bridegroom, and so are Moses and all the saints. And it is in virtue of that friendship alone, that his friends are also friends to each other. .
