Didascalia Apostolorum (Gibson translation) (chapters 21–26)

Didascalia Apostolorum (Gibson translation)

continued

Chapter 21

1 Exhorting every Christian to keep himself from all evil and frivolous conversation, and from all bad and heathenish conduct. About the Holy Fast. About the Passion and Crucifixion of our Lord. About the fourteenth [day] of the Passover of the Jews; about the Friday of the Passion, and the Sabbath of the Annunciation and the Sunday of the Resurrection of our Saviour. About the mourning of the Sabbath-day of the nation of the Jews, and about the rejoicing of the people of the Christians. 2 Therefore it is required of the Christian that he keep himself from vain work, and from lascivious and impure words, no one is allowed to say a word that belongs to sport or is foreign to the fear of God. But it is therefore required of us that we keep feasts, and that we make our rejoicing with fear and trembling, for a believing Christian ought not to recite the hymns of the heathen, nor to approach those foreign customs, 'nor to' remember the name of an idol, may this be far from believers! for the Lord rebuketh in Jeremiah and saith, "They have forsaken Me, and sworn by those that are not gods," It is not allowed to believers to swear, not by the sun nor by the moon, for the Lord God hath spoken thus by means of Moses, "My people, if ye see the sun and the moon, be not led astray by them, nor worship them; for the Lord hath given them to you for lights upon the earth. And by means of Ezekiel He hath said thus, "And He brought me into the court of the house of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, and I saw there men with their loins girt towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces opposite the East, and they were worshipping the sun. And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, is this a small thing to the house of Judah to commit these abominations here? and they have filled the land with iniquity.

3 It is therefore unlawful for the believer to swear either by the sun or by any of the signs of heaven ; either to mention the name of an idol with his mouth, or to let a curse go out of his mouth, but only blessings, especially in the day of the fast and the holy Passover, in which all believers fast, as our Lord and Teacher said, when they asked Him, Why do the disciples of John fast, and Thy disciples fast not? And He said unto them, "The children of the bridechamber cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them. Now then by means of His deeds He is with us. Therefore when ye fast, pray and implore for those who are lost, as we also did when our Lord was suffering; for while He was yet with us before He suffered, while we were eating the Passover with Him, He said to us, "This day, in this night, one of you betrayeth Me. And every one of us said to Him, "Surely it is not I, Lord? And He answered and said unto us, "He who stretcheth out his hand with Me in the dish. He signified Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve.

4 But it is required of you, my brethren, that ye keep your fast with all care, because when our Lord and Teacher ate the Passover with us, after that hour He was delivered up by Judas, and immediately we began to be grieved about what we had done to Him; and the number of the moon is as our number in the numbers of the believing Hebrews. In the tenth of the moon, on Monday, came the priests and the elders to the court of Kaipha, the high priest, and took counsel to kill Him, but they feared, saying, "Not on the feast-day, lest there be an uproar of the people," because every one was attaching himself to Him and they held Him to be a Prophet, on account of the wonders that He wrought amongst them. But Jesus was in that day in the house of Simeon the leper, and we were together with Him; He also related to us about what was to happen. But Judas had gone out from among us in secret, on that Monday, hoping to deceive our Lord; and he went to the house of Kaipha, where the High-priests and elders were assembled, and he said to them, "What will ye give me, and I will deliver my Lord unto you, when I have opportunity? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And he said to them, "Get ready young men armed because of His disciples". But Judas watched when he could find opportunity to betray Him.

5 And the priests and elders commanded that they should keep the feast with haste, that they might take Him without tumult; for the people of Jerusalem were occupied in the sacrifice and the eating of the Passover, and all the people from without had not yet come, because they deceived them [about] the days, that they might be reproved before God that they were greatly mistaken in everything. So they anticipated and kept the Passover three days earlier, in the eleventh of the moon on Tuesday; for they said, because that all the people go astray after Him, now that we have the opportunity to take Him; and then when all the people have come, we will kill Him before all men for His fault, and this will be known openly, and all the people will turn from after Him. Thus in the night Judas delivered up our Lord, but they had given the reward to Judas when he covenanted with them on Monday. Therefore it was considered by God, as if they had taken Him from Monday, and they accomplished their deed on Friday, as it was said in the Book of Exodus, "The Passover shall be kept by you from the tenth to the fourteenth, and then all Israel shall keep the Passover. Therefore from the tenth day, which is Monday, during the days of the Passover, ye shall fast, and be nourished by bread and salt and water, at the ninth hour, until Thursday. But on Friday and on Saturday ye shall fast completely, and eat nothing;

6 but assemble yourselves, and wake and pray the whole of the night, with prayers and supplications, and with the reading of the Prophets, with the Gospel and the Psalms, with reverence and fear, and intercession, until the third hour of the night after the Sabbath, and then ye shall cease your fast, for it was thus that we also fasted, while our Lord was suffering, in testimony to the three days, and we watched and prayed and implored about the perdition of the Nation, because they went astray and did not confess our Saviour. Thus also pray ye, that the Lord may not remember to them their guilt unto the end, on account of the perfidy which they showed unto our Lord, but may give them a place for repentance, and conversion for the pardon of their iniquity; because he that was a heathen, and a stranger from the Gentiles, Pilate the judge, had no pleasure in the work of their wickedness, but took water and washed his hands and said, "I am innocent of the blood of this man"; but the people answered and said, "His blood be upon us and on our children. Herod commanded that he should be crucified, and our Saviour suffered for us on Friday. Therefore the fast of Friday is especially required of you, also the watch and vigil of Friday, the reading of the Scriptures and the Psalms, and the prayers and supplications for sinners.

7 Let that be to you an eternal law until the end of the world., as the blessed Moses has thus commanded; and it was commanded him by God, who knew what the Nation was about to do to His Son and His beloved Jesus the Christ; as they denied Moses and said to him, "Who hath made thee a chief and a judge over us? therefore he bound them beforehand in mourning at all times in separating and appointing to them the Sabbath, because they deserved to mourn, who laid their hands upon Him who gave them life, and delivered Him over to death. Therefore He appointed to them beforehand the mourning of their perdition. Let us look and see, my brethren, that most men in their mourning imitate the Sabbath; thus also those who keep the Sabbath sit in mourning; for he who is in mourning does not kindle a light, nor do the people of the Jews on account of the commandment of Moses, but they prepare it in the evening and put in order for themselves something to eat, because they have a consciousness of mourning that they were ready to lay hands on the Christ. He who is in mourning does not work nor speak, but sits in sadness; thus also do the people on the Sabbath; "Thou shalt not lift thy foot to do any work, nor speak any word from thy mouth. Who is it therefore that testifieth that the Sabbath is a mourning to them?

8 The Scripture testifieth and saith, "Then the people shall lament, tribe by tribe; the tribe of the Levites apart, and their wives apart; the tribe of Judah apart, and their wives apart. As also after the mourning of the Christ even until now, on the ninth of the month of Ab, they read in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and assemble, and wail and lament. But the ninth is called Θ, for the Θ indicates God; therefore they lament about God, about the Christ who suffered; but nevertheless on account of the Christ our Saviour, and about themselves and their perdition. Why, my brethren, doth a man lament, unless he be in mourning? Wherefore mourn ye also for them, on the Sabbath day of the Passover, until the third hour of the following evening; and thereafter rejoice in His resurrection; be glad and rejoice on their account; cease your fast, and the remainder of your fast of six days offer to the Lord God. Let those who abound in worldly goods serve those who are poor and in want, and succour them diligently, that the reward of your fast may be received. Whenever the fourteenth day of the Passover may fall, thus observe it; for neither the month nor the day corresponds in time every year, but it varies. Therefore ye, when the people keep the Passover, fast and study to complete your vigil in the midst of their unleavened bread. On Sunday be always glad, for every one who afflicts his soul on Sunday is guilty of sin.

9 Therefore also, except at the Passover, no one is allowed to fast during these three hours of the night which is between Saturday and Sunday, because it belongs to that night of Sunday. But nevertheless in that night only fast those three hours of that night, being assembled together, ye Christians who are in the Lord.

Chapter 22

1 Commandment about children that they should be given to learn handicrafts, and that they should not learn bad habits of idleness, and at suitable times wives should be given to them that they fall not into sin, and their fathers be held guilty for their sins. 2 Teach your sons handicrafts which are suitable and helpful to the fear of God, lest by means of idleness they serve voluptuousness, for not being educated by their parents, they wickedly do works like the heathen. Therefore spare them not, but reprove and discipline and teach them, for by correcting them verily ye will not kill them, but rather ye will give them certain life, as also our Lord teacheth us in Wisdom and saith thus, "Chasten thy son because there is hope for him, for thou shalt beat with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol." And again He saith, "Every one who spareth his rod hateth his son." But our rod is our Lord Jesus the Christ, as also Jeremiah saw the rod of an almond-tree. Every one who spareth to speak a word of reproof to his son hateth his son. Therefore chasten them with blows, and do not spare on account of their youth, by the word of the fear of God, and do not give them the power of rising against you, and against their parents; and let them do nothing without your advice; that they go not with those of their age to assemble and amuse themselves; because thus they learn vanity, and are laid hold of by harlotry and fall. Should this happen without their parents, they and their parents will be themselves guilty in the judgment before God. If again by your permission they are without correction, and you, their parents, sin, ye shall be held guilty on their account before God. Therefore be zealous that in their time ye take wives for them; and marry them, lest in their youth, in the fire of their adolescence, they commit fornication like the heathen, and ye shall give answer to God in the day of judgment.

Chapter 23

1 About heresies and schisms; that those are condemned to the Gehenna of fire who split the Churches, like Korah and Dathan and Abiram, those who wished to split Israel. Teacheth that the Church of God is one, and that the Churches of heresies are not Churches of God. 2 Before everything beware of all odious heresies, and flee from them as from a burning fire, and from those who adhere to them; for if a man in making a schism, condemneth himself to the fire with those who err after him; what shall it be if a man go to steep himself in heresies? for know this, that if any of you love preeminence or venture to make a schism, he will inherit the place of Korah and Dathan and Abiram, he and those who are with him, and also with them he will be condemned in the fire. They also of the house of Korah were Levites, and they served in the Tabernacle of witness. They loved preeminence, and coveted the high-priesthood, and began to speak evil things against that great Moses, as that he had espoused a heathen woman, because he had an Ethiopian wife, and he was defiled by her. Many others of the house of Zambri were with him who committed fornication with Midianitish women, and that the people were defiled along with him. His brother Aaron was the leader in the worship of idols, who made images and sculptures for his people; and they spoke wicked things against Moses, him who did all these signs and wonders from God to the nation, him who had done these glorious and perfect works for their help;

3 him who had brought upon Egypt ten plagues, him who had divided the Red Sea, and raised the waters like a wall on either side, and made the people pass over as in the dry wilderness; and had drowned their enemies; him who had sweetened for them the fountain of waters; and from the flinty stone had brought them out streams, and they had drunk; him who had brought down to them manna from heaven, and with the manna had given them flesh; him who had given them a pillar of light by night, and a cloud for a shade by day; and in the desert had stretched out a hand to them for the dispensation of the Law, and had given them also the Ten Commandments of God. They spoke evil things against the friend and servant of the Lord, as if to be glorified in righteousness and to boast in holiness and to exhibit purity, and in hypocrisy they showed religion. They also said thus as sober and sedate in holiness, We will not be soiled with Moses and the people who are with him, for they are polluted. Two hundred and fifty men arose, and led [them] astray in leaving that great Moses, as if they hoped for themselves that they would the better glorify God, and zealously serve Him; for in that multitude of the people it was said, for one censer of perfumes was offered to the Lord God, but those who were in the schism were two hundred and fifty with their leaders;

4 every one of them offered a censer of perfumes to God, two hundred and fifty censers, as those who were more pure and zealous than Moses and Aaron, and than the people of the Lord; but the multitude of the service of their censers which was in schism was of no advantage to them; but a fire was kindled from before the Lord and devoured them; and these two hundred and fifty men were burnt while they were still holding the censers in their hands; and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed Dathan and Korah and Abiram, and their tents and their vessels and all that was with them, and they went down alive to Sheol. The chiefs of their error of schism were swallowed up by the earth. The Lord spared the rest of the multitude of the people, though there were many sinners amongst them; the Lord judged each one of them according to his works. The Lord spared the multitude of the people; but those who thought that they were purer and more holy and had done more service the fire devoured because they were in schism. And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take the censers of brass from out of the burning, and make them into thin plates, and strew them upon the altar, that the children of Israel may see, and not add to their sins by doing thus. Let us look then, beloved, at the latter end of schisms, what happened to them;

5 because if they appear to be pure and holy, their final consummation is in fire and everlasting burning. Let this therefore be a cause of fear to you, for the fire of schism is also judged by fire, that is to say, because the fire finished its work, for these people thought in their hearts that their censers were holy; for it was necessary that the fire which was taken for the service of transgression should not obey them, but should cease from its work or be quenched, and should not consume anything that was put upon it; for now it would not have done the will of the Lord, but would have obeyed schism. Therefore it was said, Pour out there also the strange fire, that is to say, that the Lord judged fire by fire; what will happen to these heresies which blaspheme against Him? but ye from the Scriptures and with the eyes of faith, seeing the plates of brass that are encrusted on the altar, be careful not to make a schism, and not to fall into judgment, but therefore, as believing and intelligent people, keep far away from schisms, and offences and divisions, as our Lord said, "Woe to that man by whose means the offence cometh; it were right for him and better for him that a millstone of an ass were hung about his neck and he were drowned in the sea.

6 But the heretics, because they oppose God, are guilty, but now we verily see, as also the Scripture hands down by means of Jeremiah, that "profanity and heresies have gone out into all the land" and to confirm our faith that the prophecies are sure; for behold they exist and have been accomplished; because of all the work of the Lord our God, the Lord has turned it from the Nation to the Church by means of us the Apostles, and He hath removed and forsaken the Nation, and Jerusalem is forsaken; and Judah is fallen, and their tongues are in iniquity, and they have obeyed not the Lord, and behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Chapter 24

1 That God hath left the Synagogue of the Nation, and hath come to the Church of the Gentiles; and that Satan also hath removed from the people of the Jews, and doth not tempt them any more; and he hath also come against the Church, that he may make in it sects and divisions; and first he raised up in it Simon Magus, afterwards the false Apostles, those from among the Jews who obliged the Christians to act as Jews. 2 God therefore hath left the Nation, and hath filled the Church, and hath considered her the mount of [His] habitation, and the throne of glory, and the house of exaltation; and as David said, "The mountain of God is a mountain of fat, a mountain of arches. What think ye, ye arched mountains; this is the mountain which God hath chosen to dwell in; the Lord will tabernacle in it for ever." for one only is the Church which is the mountain of the Sanctuary of God. Isaiah also hath said, "There shall be in the latter days the mountain of the House of the Lord God of Jacob, and all nations shall flow unto it, and many peoples shall go and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord; let us learn His way and walk in it";. Because therefore the Lord hath forsaken the nation of Israel, He hath also abandoned the temple, and taken away from it the Holy Spirit and the power of His Word, and He hath taken away all service from the Nation, and hath established it in the Church of the Gentiles. In like manner also, Satan the Tempter hath gone away from that Nation, and hath come upon the Church, and henceforth he will not tempt that Nation, because the Holy Spirit hath left it, for by their wicked works they have fallen into his hands, but he prepares to tempt the Church, and to do his works in her, and to raise against her afflictions and persecutions and heresies and schisms.

About Simon Magus.

3 The beginning of heresies was thus. Satan possessed a man, Simon, who was a magician, and who had formerly been his servant; and when we, by the gift of the Lord our God and the power of the Holy Ghost, were doing miracles of healing in Jerusalem, and by means of the laying on of hands the gift and fellowship of the Holy Spirit were being given to those who came near, then Simon offered us much silver, and wished that as he had deprived Adam of the knowledge of life by means of the eating of the tree, thus also by the gift of silver he should deprive us of God; and should get hold of our mind, so that we might exchange and give him for silver the power of the Holy Ghost; and we were all shaken about this. Then Peter looked at Satan, him who dwelt in Simon, and said to him, "Thy money go with thee to perdition; and thou shalt not have any part in this word."

4 About the false Apostles. But when we had divided all the world into twelve parts, and had gone out among the Gentiles to preach the Word, then Satan wrought and excited the Nation; and they sent after us false Apostles to destroy the Word; and they sent out from the Nation one whose name was Cle[o]bius, and he adhered to Simon, but also to Theuda, and to Judah the Galilean, as well as to others after them. But Simon's people adhered to me, Peter, and came to destroy the Word. When he was in Rome, he greatly troubled the Church, and perverted many, and showed himself as if he were ready 'to ascend to Heaven'; and captivated the Gentiles, exciting them by the power of the energy of his sorceries. One day I went and saw him in the market deceiving the people; we had a dispute with each other about the Resurrection and about the life of the dead; and when he was conquered, he pretended to fly in the air, and began to give a sign to his gang to raise him. And when he had risen to a great distance, then I stood and said to him, "By the power of the name of the Christ, I cut off thy powers that they depart from thee. Then the demons departed from him, and he fell, and was broken from the heel of his foot, and he died. And many turned from him; but others, who were worthy of him, remained with him;

5 thus first his heresies were fixed. But also by means of other false Apostles the Enemy wrought. They all had one Law on the earth; and they did not recite either the Torah or the Prophets, and they blasphemed against the Father, God Almighty, nor did they believe in the Resurrection; but also in other things they taught and excited with many opinions; for many of them taught that no man should take a wife, and said that when a man did not take a wife it was Holiness. By means of holiness, and for its name, they praised the weak opinions of their heresies. Again, others of them taught that a man should not eat flesh, and they said that it is not right for a man to eat anything that has life in it. Others said that he must keep himself from swine, and that he may eat the things that the law cleanses. Others again taught otherwise, and made strifes, and troubled the Church.

Chapter 25

1 Teaches that the Apostles assembled and settled the disputations and confusions that were in the Church, and cured the scandals that the false Apostles had wrought in it; and freed the people of the Christ from the burden of the observances of the law of Moses; and wrote writings to all the Churches of the Gentiles about what it was necessary for them to observe; and they wrote this Didascalia. We therefore have begun to preach the Holy Word of the Catholic Church. We returned again to visit the Churches, and found them of different opinions; some observed as holiness, thinking marriage profane, and some abstained from flesh and from wine, and some from swine's flesh; and they kept all the bonds that are in Deuteronomy. When therefore a danger arose that heresies should be in all the Church, we assembled together, the twelve Apostles, in Jerusalem, and considered about what was to be. It pleased us all with one mind, to write this Catholic Didascalia, for the assurance of you all;

2 and in it we confirmed and appointed that ye should worship God Almighty, and His Son Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and that ye should minister in the Holy Scriptures, and believe in the Resurrection of the dead, and make use of all His creatures with thankfulness, and take wives, for He said in Proverbs, that "from God the wife is betrothed to the man," and in the Gospel our Lord said, that "He that created in the beginning the male hath said that He created also the female. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh; what therefore God hath joined together let no man put asunder. But the spiritual circumcision of the heart is sufficient for believers, as it is said in Jeremiah, "Light a lamp for yourselves; sow not among thorns". About Baptism also, this one alone is sufficient, the one which has completely taken away your sins; for Isaiah did not say "Be ye washed," but "Wash yourselves once and be clean. But we had a long disputation, as men who wrestle for the sake of life; it was not among us the Apostles only, but also among the people, with James the Bishop and Saint of Jerusalem, him who according to the flesh was brother of our Lord, and the Deacons of the Church of Jerusalem.

3 Because also some days before men had come down from Judæa to Antioch, and had taught the brethren, "Except ye be circumcised, and conduct yourselves according to the Law of Moses, and be cleansed from meats, ye cannot be saved. And they had much vexation. The brethren of Antioch did not know that we were all assembled and come in order to examine about these things; they sent to us believing men who were acquainted with the Scriptures, that they might learn about this question, which they had in the Church at Antioch. But some men of the doctrine of the Pharisees who believed arose and said, "Ye ought to be circumcised, and to keep the Law of Moses,". Then I Peter rose and said unto them, "Men and our brethren, ye also know that from the first days when I was among you, God chose that by means of me the Gentiles should hear the Gospel and believe; and God, who searcheth the hearts, bare witness to them, to Cornelius the Centurion, when the Angel appeared to him, and spoke to him about me, and he sent for me. But while I was getting ready to go to him, it was revealed about the Gentiles who should believe, and about all meats; for I went up on a roof to pray;

4 and I saw the Heavens opened, and a garment bound at its four corners, and it was let down and descended to the earth, and in it were all four-footed beasts and creeping things of the earth and fowls of the heaven; and there came to me a voice saying, Simon, rise, slay and eat. And I said, Be it far from me, Lord, to eat anything that is impure. And another voice came to me the second time, saying, What God hath cleansed, call not thou common. But this was done three times, and it was lifted up from me into heaven. Then I considered and knew the word of the Lord, that as He said, Be glad, ye Gentiles, with the people. And I rose and went; and when I entered his house, I began to speak the Word of the Lord; the Holy Ghost rested upon him and upon all the Gentiles who were present there. God therefore gave them the Holy Spirit, even as unto us, and made no difference in faith between them and us, and purified their hearts. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon their necks, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But by the goodness of our Lord Jesus the Christ, we believe that we shall be saved even as they;

5 for the Lord hath come to us, and hath loosed us from these bonds, and hath said to us, Come unto Me, all ye who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am quiet and humble in My heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for My yoke is pleasant and My burden is light. If therefore our Lord loosed us and lightened from us, why do ye wish to put a halter on yourselves? Then all the people kept silence, and I James answered and said, "Men and our brethren, hearken unto me. Simon hath declared how God at first did say that He would choose from among the Gentiles a people for His name; and to this agree the words of the Prophets, as it is written, After this I will raise and build the tabernacle of David which is fallen; and its ruins I will build and raise; that the residue may seek the Lord, but let us send to them thus: Remove from idols and from sacrifices and from blood and from strangled things. Then it pleased us the Apostles with all the Church, to choose from among them men and to send them with those of Barnabas and Paul, who came from thence; and we chose Judah who was called Barnaba, and Shela, men distinguished among the brethren, and we wrote these with our hands:

6 Letter of the Apostles. "The Apostles, and Elders and Brethren, to the Brethren who are of the Gentiles that are in Antioch, and in Syria, and in Cilicia, much greeting. Because we have heard that men whom we have not sent trouble you with words which corrupt your souls; it seemed good to all of us, being assembled together, to choose and send men to you with our beloved ones those with Barnaba, whom we have sent. But we have sent Judah and Shela, who also by word will speak to you about these things: for it hath pleased the Holy Ghost, and us, that no greater burden should be put upon you than that ye remove yourselves from what is necessary, and from sacrifices, and from blood, and from strangled things; from these keep yourselves and ye shall do good things, and fare ye well in our Lord." But we sent this letter, and we remained in Jerusalem many days; and we examined and we decreed together the things that were said to all the people; but further we wrote also this Catholic Didascalia.

Chapter 26

1 Showeth that from the first the Apostles turned to the Churches of the Gentiles, as from the beginning of preaching, and in passing among them, they fixed and confirmed them, and appointed Canons among them. The opinion therefore which we have counselled and considered about those who were formerly in error, and we have sent and decreed, is thus, that we should return again anew, and also go to the Churches a second time, as from the beginning of preaching; we should also confirm believers, that they should avoid the before-named offences, that they receive not those who come among them falsely in the name of the Apostles, and that they distinguish them by the difference between their words, and the effects of their deeds, because these are those of whom our Lord said that there shall come to you men wearing sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves; and by their fruits ye shall know them. Beware of them therefore, for false Christs and lying prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many, and because of the greatness of iniquity, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end, he shall be saved. Those therefore that have not been deceived and those who repent of error, they shall be left in the Church;

2 but those who hold fast the error and repent not, we cut off and appoint that they go out of the Church, and be separated from the believers, because they have heresies, and they should have no communion with them either by word or by prayer; for these people are the enemies of the Church; for about these our Lord hath commanded us and said unto us, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees"; and "Into the cities of the Samaritans enter not," which walk in a crooked way, "and its end leadeth lower than Sheol. These are they against whom our Lord decreed severely and bitterly, and said, "They shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come," to those who believed of the Gentiles by means of baptism, and blasphemed, He hath not given the pardon of their wicked deeds, as the Lord the Christ hath said, "Wherefore I say unto you, that all sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in that which is to come; and every one who speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; for every one that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven.

3 Those who blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, those who against God Almighty hastily and hypocritically blaspheme, and say that the Holy Ghost does not dwell in baptism, nor in the flesh and blood of the Christ. Having decreed and established and confirmed with one mind, each one of us went out and departed to his first portion, confirming the Churches, because the things that had been predicted were fulfilled, and disguised wolves had come, and false Christs and lying prophets had appeared; for this was known and manifest that when should approach may they also repent of their godless error, and by much admonition and by the word of doctrine of prayer we have cured and healed and forgiven in the Church. Those who restrain the word by the perverted word of error, and there is no cure for them, we put out, that they may not lead the holy Church astray, the pure Church of God; lest like a hateful leprosy and like a cancerous ulcer it should get to every one; but that pure and unpolluted and passionless and spotless, the Church may be sealed to the Lord God, they who are in every place and in every city, and in all the habitable part of the world. We make and testify; and we leave this Didascalia, holy and Catholic, justly and righteously to the Catholic Church, and for the assurance of believers.