THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS WRITINGS - VOLUME 114
Leo the Great, John of Damascus, the Festal Epistles of Athanasius and Shorter Writings
c. AD 250 – 750

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INTRODUCTION TO THIS VOLUME
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HOW THIS BOOK IS ARRANGED

This is the hundred and fourteenth volume of a series that gathers the writings of the
early Church. It is an addendum: it gathers writings that were not printed in the volumes
before it. The first part holds the letters of Dionysius of Alexandria and the council
that met at Carthage on the baptism of heretics. The second part holds short anonymous
pieces, the Marcionite and anti-Marcionite prologues, the Passion of Saint Saturninus, and
the text of Acts as the fifth-century Codex Bezae gives it. The third part is the Festal
Epistles of Athanasius, his Easter letters, from the Syriac. The fourth part is the
sermons of Leo the Great, bishop of Rome. The fifth gathers shorter writings of the fourth
to the seventh century, and the last part is the Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith of
John of Damascus.

The introductions, the descriptions of the parts and the headings were prepared for
SermonIndex with the help of artificial intelligence. The texts themselves are the
translations, and were not rewritten.

TRANSLATIONS AND TEXTS

The English is that of older translators, nearly all of the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, and is printed as the website prints it. Most of these texts were read by
machine from scanned books and have not been proofread against the printed pages, so a
misreading may remain. Footnotes, and words in Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and Latin,
are left out of this book, as are the translators’ long introductions; the reader who
wants them should go to the printed edition.

DATES AND AUTHORSHIP

The Festal Epistles of Athanasius survive in Syriac, and Burgess’s English has the notes
of its editor mixed into the text in places, which are left in where they could not be
told apart from the letters. The prologues to the Gospels and to Paul’s letters are
anonymous and their dates are disputed. The dates given are those of the authors, and the
volume runs from the third century to the eighth.


CONTAINING EPISTLES, OR FRAGMENTS OF EPISTLES
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CONTAINING EPISTLES, OR FRAGMENTS OF EPISTLES Dionysius of Alexandria

d. AD 264

Pupil of Origen and bishop of Alexandria.

EPISTLE I.-TO DOMITIUS AND DIDYMUS.

1. But it would be a superfluous task for me to mention by name our (martyr) friends, who
are numerous and at the same time unknown to you. Only understand that they include men
and women, both young men and old, both maidens and aged matrons, both soldiers and
private citizens,-every class and every age, of whom some have suffered by stripes and
fire, and some by the sword, and have won the victory and received their crowns. In the
case of others. however, even a very long lifetime has not proved sufficient to secure
their appearance as men acceptable to the Lord; as indeed in my own case too, that
sufficient time has not shown itself up to the present. Wherefore He has preserved me for
another convenient season, of which He knows Himself, as He says: "In an acceptable time
have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee."

2. Since, however, you have been inquiring about what has befallen us, and wish to be
informed as to how we have fared, you have got a full report of our fortunes; how when we-
that is to say, Gains, and myself, and Faustus, and Peter. and Paul-were led off as
prisoners by the centurion and the magistrates, and the soldiers and other attendants
accompanying them, there came upon us certain parties from Mareotis, who dragged us with
them against our will, and though we were disinclined to follow them, and carried us away
by force; and how Gains and Peter and myself have been separated from our other brethren,
and shut up alone in a desert and sterile place in Libya, at a distance of three days'
journey from Paraetonium. 3. And a little further on, he proceeds thus:-And they concealed
themselves in the city, and secretly visited the brethren. I refer to the presbyters
Maximus, Dioscorus, Demetrius, and Lucius. For Faustinus and Aquila, who are persons of
greater prominence in the world, are wandering about in Egypt. I specify also the deacons
who survived those who died in the sickness, viz., Faustus, Eusebius, and Chaeremon. And
of Eusebius I speak as one whom the Lord strengthened from the beginning, and qualified
for the task of discharging energetically the services due to the confessors who are in
prison, and of executing the perilous office of dressing out and burying the bodies of
those perfected and blessed martyrs. For even up to the present day the governor does not
cease to put to death, in a cruel manner, as I have already said, some of those who are
brought before him; while he wears others out by torture, and wastes others away with
imprisonment and bonds, commanding also that no one shall approach them and making strict
scrutiny lest any one should be seen to do so. And nevertheless God imparts relief to the
oppressed by the tender kindness and earnestness of the brethren.

EPISTLE II.-TO NOVATUS.

Dionysius to Novatus his brother, greeting. If you were carried on against your will, as
you say, you will show that such has been the case by your voluntary retirement. For it
would have been but dutiful to have suffered any kind of ill, so as to avoid rending the
Church of God. And a martyrdom borne for the sake of preventing a division of the Church,
would not have been more inglorious than one endured for refusing to worship idols; nay,
in my opinion at least, the former would have been a nobler thing than the latter. For in
the one case a person gives such a testimony simply for his own individual soul, whereas
in the other case he is a witness for the whole Church. And now, if you can persuade or
constrain the brethren to come to be of one mind again, your uprightness will be superior
to your error; and the latter will not be charged against you, while the former will be
commended in you. But if you cannot prevail so far with your recusant brethren, see to it
that you save your own soul. My wish is, that in the Lord you may fare well as you study
peace.

EPISTLE III.-TO FABIUS BISHOP OF ANTIOCH.

I. The persecution with us did not commence with the imperial edict, but preceded it by a
whole year. And a certain prophet and poet, an enemy to this city, whatever else he was,
had previously roused and exasperated against us the masses of the heathen. inflaming them
anew with the fires of their native superstition. Excited by him, and finding full liberty
for the perpetration of wickedness, they reckoned this the only piety and service to their
demons, namely, our slaughter. 2. First, then, they seized an old man of the name of
Metras, and commanded him to utter words of impiety; and as he refused, they beat his body
with clubs, and lacerated his face and eyes with sharp reeds, and then dragged him off to
the suburbs and stoned him there. Next they carried off a woman named Quinta, who was a
believer, to an idol temple, and compelled her to worship the idol; and when she turned
away from it, and showed how she detested it, they bound her feet and dragged her through
the whole city along the rough stone-paved streets, knocking her at the same time against
the millstones, and scourging her, until they brought her to the same place, and stoned
her also there. Then with one impulse they all rushed upon the houses of the God-fearing,
and whatever pious persons any of them knew individually as neighbours, after these they
hurried and bore them with them, and robbed and plundered them, setting aside the more
valuable portions of their property for themselves, and scattering about the commoner
articles, and such as were made of wood, and burning them on the roads, so that they made
these parts present the spectacle of a city taken by the enemy. The brethren, however,
simply gave way and withdrew, and, like those to whom Paul bears witness, they took the
spoiling of their goods with joy. And I know l not that any of them-except possibly some
solitary individual who may have chanced to fall into their hands-thus far has denied the
Lord.

3. But they also seized that most admirable virgin Apollonia, then in advanced life, and
knocked out all her teeth, and cut her jaws; and then kindling a fire before the city,
they threatened to burn her alive unless she would! repeat along with them their
expressions of impiety. And although she seemed to deprecate her fate for a little, on
being let go, she leaped eagerly into the fire and was consumed. They also laid hold of a
certain Serapion in his own house; and after torturing him with severe cruelties, and
breaking all his limbs, they dashed him headlong from an upper storey to the ground. And
there was no road, no thoroughfare, no lane even, where we could walk, whether by night or
by day; for at all times and in every place they all kept crying out, that if any one
should refuse to repeat their blasphemous expressions, he must be at once dragged off and
burnt. These in fictions were carried rigorously on for a considerable time in this
manner. But when the insurrection and the civil war in due time overtook these wretched
people, that diverted their savage cruelty from us, and turned it against themselves. And
we enjoyed a little breathing time, as long as leisure failed them for exercising their
fury against us.

4. But speedily was the change from that more kindly reign announced to us; and great was
the terror of threatening that was now made to reach us. Already, indeed, the edict had
arrived; and it was of such a tenor as almost perfectly to correspond with what was
intimated to us beforetime by our Lord, setting before us the most dreadful horrors, so
as, if that were possible, to cause the very elect to stumble. All verily were greatly
alarmed, and of the more notable there were some, and these a large number, who speedily
accommodated themselves to the decree in fear; others, who were engaged in the public
service, were drawn into compliance by the very necessities of their official duties;
others were dragged on to it by their friends, and on being called by name approached the
impure and unholy sacrifices; others yielded pale and trembling, as if they were not to
offer sacrifice, but to be themselves the sacrifices and victims for the idols, so that
they were jeered by the large multitude surrounding the scene, and made it plain to all
that they were too cowardly either to face death or to offer the sacrifices. But there
were others who hurried up to, the altars with greater alacrity, stoutly asserting that
they had never been Christians at all before; of whom our Lord's prophetic declaration
holds most true, that it will be hard for such to be saved. Of the rest, some followed one
or other of these parties already mentioned; some fled, and some were seized. And of
these, some went as far in keeping their faith as bonds and imprisonment; and certain
persons among them endured imprisonment even for several days, and then after all abjured
the faith before coming into the court of justice; while others, after holding out against
the torture for a time, sank before the prospect of further sufferings.

5. But there were also others, stedfast and blessed pillars of the Lord, who, receiving
strength from Himself, and obtaining power and vigour worthy of and commensurate with the
force of the faith that was in themselves, have proved admirable witnesses for His
kingdom. And of these the first was Julianus, a man suffering from gout, and able neither
to stand nor to walk, who was arranged along with two other men who carried him. Of these
two persons, the one immediately denied Christ; but the other, a person named Cronion, and
surnamed Eunus, and together with him the aged Julianus himself, confessed the Lord, and
were carried on camels through the whole city, which is, as you know, a very large one,
and were scourged in that elevated position, and finally were consumed in a tremendous
fire, while the whole populace surrounded them. And a certain soldier who stood by them
when they I were led away to execution, and who opposed the wanton insolence of the
people, was pursued by the outcries they raised against him; and this most courageous
soldier of God, Besas by name, was arranged; and after bearing himself most nobly in that
mighty conflict on behalf of piety, he was beheaded. And another individual, who was by
birth a Libyan, and who at once in name ' and in real blessedness was also a true Macar
although much was tried by the judge to persuade him to make a denial, did not yield, and
was consequently burned alive. And these were succeeded by Epimachus and Alexander, who,
after a long time spent in chains, and after suffering countless agonies and inflictions
of the scraper and the scourge, were also burnt to ashes in an immense fire.

6. And along with these there were four women. Among them was Ammonarium, a pious virgin,
who was tortured for a very long time by the judge in a most relentless manner, because
she declared plainly from the first that she would utter none of the things which he
commanded her to repeat; and after she had made good her profession she was led off to
execution. The others were the most venerable and aged Mercuria, and Dionysia, who had
been the mother of many children, and yet did not love her offspring better than her Lord.
These, when the governor was ashamed to subject them any further to profitless torments,
and thus to see himself beaten by women, died by the sword, without more experience of
tortures. For truly their champion Ammonarium had received tortures for them all. 7. Heron
also, and Ater, and Isidorus who were Egyptians, and along with them Dioscorus, a boy of
about fifteen years of age, were delivered up. And though at first he, the judge, tried to
deceive the youth with fair speeches, thinking he could easily seduce him, and then
attempted also to compel him by force of tortures, fancying he might be made to yield
without much difficulty in that way, Dioscorus neither submitted to his persuasions nor
gave way to his terrors. And the rest, after their bodies had been lacerated in a most
savage manner, and their stedfastness had nevertheless been maintained, he consigned also
to the flames. But Dioscorus he dismissed, wondering at the distinguished appearance he
had made in public, and at the extreme wisdom of the answers he gave to his
interrogations, and declaring that, on account of his age, he granted him further time for
repentance. And this most godly Dioscorus is with us at present, tarrying for a greater
conflict and a more lengthened contest. A certain person of the name of Nemesion, too, who
was also an Egyptian, was falsely accused of being a companion of robbers; and after the
had cleared himself of this charge before the centurion, and proved it to be a most
unnatural calumny, he was informed against as a Christian, and had to come as a prisoner
before the governor. And that most unrighteous magistrate inflicted on him a punishment
twice as severe as that to which the robbers were subjected, making him suffer both
tortures and scourgings, and then consigning him to the fire between the robbers. Thus the
blessed martyr was honoured after the pattern of Christ.

8. There was also a body of soldiers, including Ammon, and Zeno, and Ptolemy, and
Ingenuus, and along with them an old man, Theophilus, who had taken up their position in a
mass in front of the tribunal; and when a certain person was standing his trial as a
Christian, and was already inclining to make a denial, these stood round about and ground
their teeth, and made signs with their faces, and stretched out their hands, and made all
manner of gestures with their bodies. And while the attention of all was directed to them,
before any could lay hold of them, they ran quickly up to the bench of judgment and
declared themselves to be Christians, and made such an impression that the governor and
his associates were filled with fear; and those who were trader trial seemed to be most
courageous in the prospect of what they were to suffer, while the judges themselves
trembled. These, then, went with a high spirit from the tribunals, and exulted in their
testimony, God Himself causing them to triumph gloriously.

9. Moreover, others in large numbers were torn asunder by the heathen throughout the
cities and villages. Of one of these I shall give some account, as an example. Ischyrion
served one of the rulers in the capacity of steward for stated wages. His employer ordered
this man to offer sacrifice; and on his refusal to do so, he abused him. When he persisted
in his non-compliance, his master treated him with contumely; and when he still held out,
he took a huge stick and thrust it through his bowels and heart, and slew him. Why should
I mention the multitudes of those who had to wander about in desert places and upon the
mountains, and who were cut off by hunger, and thirst, and cold, and sickness, and
robbers, and wild beasts? The survivors of such are the witnesses of their election and
their victory. One circumstance, however, I shall subjoin as an illustration of these
things. There was a certain very aged person of the name of Chaeremon, bishop of the place
called the city of the Nile. He fled along with his partner to the Arabian mountain, and
never returned. The brethren, too, were unable to discover anything of them, although they
made frequent search; and they never could find either the men themselves, or their
bodies. Many were also carried off as slaves by the barbarous Saracens to that same
Arabian mount. Some of these were ransomed with difficulty, and only by paying a great sum
of money; others of them have not been ransomed to this day. And these facts I have
related, brother, not without a purpose, but in order that you may know how many and how
terrible are the ills that have befallen us; which troubles also will be best understood
by those who have had most experience of them.

10. Those sainted martyrs, accordingly, who were once with us, and who now are seated with
Christ, and are sharers in His kingdom, and partakers with Him in His judgment, and who
act as His judicial assessors, received there certain of the brethren who had fallen away,
and who had become chargeable with sacrificing to the idols. And as they saw that the
conversion and repentance of such might be acceptable to Him who desires not at all the
death of the sinner, but rather his repentance, they proved their sincerity, and received
them, and brought them together again, and assembled with them, and had fellowship with
them in their prayers and at their festivals. What advice then, brethren, do you give us
as regards these? What should we do? Are we to stand forth and act with the decision and
judgment which those (martyrs) formed, and to observe the same graciousness with them, and
to deal so kindly with those toward whom they showed such compassion? or are we to treat
their decision as an unrighteous one, and to constitute ourselves judges of their opinion
on such subjects, and to throw clemency into tears, and to overturn the established order?

11. But I shall give a more particular account of one case here which occurred among us:
There was with us a certain Serapion, an aged believer. He had spent his long life
blamelessly, but had fallen in the time of trial (the persecution). Often did this man
pray (for absolution), and no one gave heed to him; for he had sacrificed to the idols.
Falling sick, he continued three successive days dumb and senseless. Recovering a little
on the fourth day, he called to him his grandchild, and said, "My son, how long do you
detain me? Hasten, I entreat you, and absolve me quickly. Summon one of the presbyters to
me. And when he had said this, he became speechless again. The boy ran for the presbyter;
but it was night, and the man was sick, and was consequently unable to come. But as an
injunction had been issued by me, that persons at the point of death, if they requested it
then, and especially if they had earnestly sought it before, should be absolved, in order
that they might depart this life in cheerful hope, he gave the boy a small portion of the
Eucharist, telling him to steep it in water and drop it into the old man's mouth. The boy
returned bearing the portion; and as he came near, and before he had yet entered, Serapion
again recovered, and said, "You have come, my child, and the presbyter was unable to come;

but do quickly what you were instructed to do, and so let me depart. The boy steeped the
morsel in water, and at once dropped it into the (old man's) mouth; and after he had
swallowed a little of it, he forthwith gave up the ghost. Was he not then manifestly
preserved? and did he not continue in life just until he could be absolved, and until
through the wiping away of his sins he could be acknowledged for the many good acts he had
done?

EPISTLE IV.-TO CORNELIUS THE ROMAN BISHOP.

In addition to all these, he writes likewise to Cornelius at Rome after receiving his
Epistle against Novatus. And in that letter he also shows that he had been invited by
Helenus, bishop in Tarsus of Cilicia, and by the others who were with him-namely,
Firmilian, bishop in Cappadocia, and Theoctistus in Palestine-to meet them at the Council
of Antioch, where certain persons were attempting to establish the schism of Novatus. In
addition to this, he writes that it was reported to him that Fabius was dead, and that
Demetrianus was appointed his successor in the bishopric of the church at Antioch. He
writes also respecting the bishop in Jerusalem, expressing himself in these very words:
"And the blessed Alexander, having been cast into prison, went to his rest in
blessedness."

EPISTLE V., WHICH IS THE FIRST ON THE SUBJECT OF BAPTISM ADDRESSED TO STEPHEN, BISHOP OF ROME.

1 Understand, however, my brother, that all the churches located in the east, and also in
remoter districts, that were formerly in a state of division, are now made one again; and
all those at the head of the churches everywhere are of one mind, and rejoice exceedingly
at the peace which has been restored beyond all expectation. I may mention Demetrianus in
Antioch; Theoctistus in Caesareia; Mazabanes in Aelia, the successor of the deceased
Alexander; Marinus in Tyre; Heliodorus in Laodicea, the successor of the deceased
Thelymidres; Helenus in Tarsus, and with him all the churches of Cilicia; and Firmilian
and all Cappadocia. For I have named only the more illustrious of the bishops, so as
neither to make my epistle too long, nor to render my discourse too heavy for you. All the
districts of Syria, however, and of Arabia, to the brethren in which you from time to time
have been forwarding supplies and at present have sent letters, and Mesopotamia too, and
Pontus, and Syria, and, to speak in brief, all parties, are everywhere rejoicing at the
unanimity and brotherly love now established, and are glorifying God for the same.

The Same, Otherwise Rendered.

2 But know, my brother, that all the churches throughout the East, and those that are
placed beyond, which formerly were separated, are now at length returned to unity; and all
the presidents of the churches everywhere think one and the same thing, and rejoice with
incredible joy on account of the unlooked-for return of peace: to wit, Demetrianus in
Antioch; Theoctistus in Caesarea; Mazabenes in Aelia, after the death of Alexander;
Marinus in Tyre; Heliodorus in Laodicea, after the death of Thelymidres; Helenus in
Tarsus, and all the churches of Cilicia; Firmilianus, with all Cappadocia. And I have
named only the more illustrious bishops, lest by chance my letter should be made too
prolix, and my address too wearisome. The whole of the Syrias, indeed, and Arabia, to
which you now and then send help, and to which you have now written letters; Mesopotamia
also, and Pontus, and Bithynia; and, to comprise all in one word, all the lands
everywhere, are rejoicing, praising God on account of this concord and brotherly charity.

EPISTLE VI.-TO SIXTUS, BISHOP.

1. Previously, indeed, (Stephen) had written letters about Helanus and Firmilianus, and
about all who were established throughout Cilicia and Cappadocia, and all the neighbouring
provinces, giving them to understand that for that same reason he would depart from their
communion, because they rebaptized heretics. And consider the seriousness of the matter.
For, indeed, in the most considerable councils of the bishops, as I hear, it has been
decreed that they who come from heresy should first be trained in Catholic doctrine, and
then should be cleansed by baptism from the filth of the old and impure leaven. Asking and
calling him to witness on all these matters, I sent letters. And a little after Dionysius
proceeds:- 2. And, moreover, to our beloved co-presbyters Dionysius and Philemon, who
before agreed with Stephen, and had written to me about the same matters, I wrote
previously in few words, but now I have written again more at length.

2 In the same letter, says Eusebius, he informs Xystus of the Sabellian heretics, that
they were gaining ground at that time, in these words:- 3. For since of the doctrine,
which lately has been set on foot at Ptolemais, a city of Pentapolis, implores and full of
blasphemy against Almighty God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; full of unbelief
and perfidy towards His only begotten Son and the first-born of every creature, the Word
made man, and which takes away the perception of the Holy Spirit,-on either side both
letters were brought to me, and brethren had come to discuss it, setting forth more
plainly as much as by God's gift I was able,-I wrote certain letters, copies of which I
have sent to thee.

EPISTLE VII.-TO PHILEMON, A PRESBYTER.

1 I indeed gave attention to reading the books and carefully studying the traditions of
heretics, to the extent indeed of corrupting my soul with their execrable opinions; yet
receiving from them this advantage, that I could refute them in my own mind, and detested
them more heartily than ever. And when a certain brother of the order of presbyters sought
to deter me, and feared lest I should be involved in the same wicked filthiness, because
he said that my mind would be contaminated, and indeed with truth, as I myself perceived,
I was strengthened by a vision that was sent me from God. And a word spoken to me,
expressly commanded me, saying, Read everything which shall come into thy hands, for thou
art fit to do so, who correctest and provest each one; and from them to thee first of all
has appeared the cause and the occasion of believing. I received this vision as being what
was in accordance with the apostolic word, which thus urges all who are endowed with
greater virtue, "Be ye skilful money-changers."

2 Then, says Eusebius, he subjoins some things parenthetically about all heresies:- This
rule and form I have received from our blessed Father Heraclus: For thou, who came from
heresies, even if they had fallen away from the Church, much rather if they had not fallen
away, but when they were seen to frequent the assemblies of the faithful, were charged
with going to hear the teachers of perverse doctrine, and ejected from the Church, he did
not admit after many prayers, before they had openly and publicly narrated whatever things
they had heard from their adversaries. Then he received them at length to the assemblies
of the faithful, by no means asking of them to receive baptism anew. Because they had
already previously received the Holy Spirit from that very baptism. Once more, this
question being thoroughly ventilated, he adds:- I learned this besides, that this custom
is not now first of all imported among the Africans alone; but moreover, long before, in
the times of former bishops, among most populous churches, and that when synods of the
brethren of Iconium and Synades were held, it also pleased as many as possible, I should
be unwilling, by overturning their judgments, to throw them into strifes and contentious.
For it is written, "Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which thy fathers have
placed."

EPISTLE VIII.-TO DIONYSIUS.

For we rightly repulse Novatian, who has rent the Church, and has drawn away some of the
brethren to impiety and blasphemies; who has brought into the world a most impious
doctrine concerning God, and calumniates our most merciful Lord Jesus Christ as if He were
unmerciful; and besides all these things, holds the sacred laver as of no effect, and
rejects it, and overturns faith and confession, which are put before baptism, and utterly
drives away the Holy Spirit from them, even if any hope subsists either that He would
abide in them, or that He should return to them.

EPISTLE IX.-TO SIXTUS II.

1 For truly, brother, I have need of advice, and I crave your judgment, lest perchance I
should be mistaken upon the matters which in such wise happen to me. One of the brethren
who come together to the church, who for some time has been esteemed as a believer, and
who before my ordination, and, if I am not deceived, before even the episcopate of
Heraclas himself, had been a partaker of the assembly of the faithful, when he had been
concerned in the baptism of those who were lately baptized, and had heard the
interrogatories and their answers, came to me in tears, and bewailing his lot. And
throwing himself at my feet, he began to confess and to protest that this baptism by which
he had been initiated among heretics was not of this kind, nor had it anything whatever in
common with this of ours, because that it was full of blasphemy and impiety. And he said
that his soul was pierced with a very bitter sense of sorrow, and that he did not dare
even to lift up his eyes to God, because he had been initiated by those wicked words and
things. Wherefore he besought that, by this purest laver, he might be endowed with
adoption and grace. And I, indeed, have not dared to do this; but I have said that the
long course of communion had been sufficient for this.

2 For I should not dare to renew afresh, after all, one who had heard the giving of
thanks, and who had answered with others Amen; who had stood at the holy table, and had
stretched forth his hands to receive the blessed food, and had received it, and for a very
long time had been a partaker of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Henceforth I
bade him be of good courage, and approach to the sacred elements with a firm faith and a
good conscience, and become a partaker of them. But he makes no end of his wailing, and
shrinks from approaching to the table; and scarcely, when entreated, can he bear to be
present at the prayers.

EPISTLE X.-AGAINST BISHOP GERMANUS.

1. Now I speak also before God, and He knoweth that I lie not: it was not by my own
choice, neither was it without divine instruction, that I took to flight. But at an
earlier period, indeed, when the edict for the persecution under Decius was determined
upon, Sabinus at that very hour sent a certain Frumentarius to make search for me. And I
remained in the house for four days, expecting the arrival of this Frumentarius. But he
went about examining all other places, the roads, the rivers, the fields, where he
suspected that I should either conceal myself or travel. And he was smitten with a kind of
blindness, and never lighted on the house; for he never supposed that I should tarry at
home when under pursuit. Then, barely after the lapse of four days, God giving me
instruction to remove, and opening the way for me in a manner beyond all expectation, my
domestics and I, and a considerable number of the brethren, effected an exit together. And
that this was brought about by the providence of God, was made plain by what followed: in
which also we have been perhaps of some service to certain parties.

2. Then, after a certain break, he narrates the events which befell him after his flight,
subjoining the following statement:-Now about sunset I was seized, along with those who
were with me, by the soldiers, and was carried off to Taposiris. But by the providence of
God, it happened that Timotheus was not present with me then, nor indeed had he been
apprehended at all. Reaching the place later, he found the house deserted, and officials
keeping guard over it, and ourselves borne into slavery. 3. And after some other matters,
he proceeds thus:-And what was the method of this marvellous disposition of Providence in
his case? For the real facts shall be related. When Timotheus was fleeing in great
perturbation, he was met by a man from the country. This person asked the reason for his
haste, and he told him the truth plainly. Then the man (he was on his way at the time to
take part in certain marriage festivities; for it is their custom to spend the whole night
in such gatherings), on hearing the fact, held on his course to the scene of the
rejoicings, and went in and narrated the circumstances to those who were seated at the
feast; and with a single impulse, as if it had been at a given watchword, they all started
up, and came on all in a rush, and with the utmost speed. Hurrying up to us, they raised a
shout; and as the soldiers who were guarding us took at once to flight, they came upon us,
stretched as we were upon the bare couches. For my part, as God knows, I took them at
first to be robbers who had come to plunder and pillage us; and remaining on the bedstead
on which I was lying naked, save only that I had on my linen underclothing, I offered them
the rest of my dress as it lay beside me. But they bade me get up and take my departure as
quickly as I could.

Then I understood the purpose of their coming, and cried, entreated, and implored them to
go away and leave us alone; and I begged that, if they wished to do us any good, they
might anticipate those who led me captive, and strike off my head. And while I was
uttering such vociferations, as those who were my comrades and partners in all these
things know, they began to lift me up by force. And I threw myself down on my back upon
the ground; but they seized me by the hands and feet, and dragged me away, and bore me
forth. And those who were witnesses of all these things followed me,-namely, Caius,
Faustus, Peter, and Paul. These men also took me up, and hurried me off out of the little
town, and set me on an ass without saddle, and in that fashion carried me away. 4. I fear
that I run the risk of being charged with great folly and senselessness, placed as I am
under the necessity of giving a narrative of the wonderful dispensation of God's
providence in our case. Since, however, as one says, it is good to keep close the secret
of a king, but it is honourable to reveal the works of God, I shall come to close quarters
with the violence of Germanus. I came to Aemilianus not alone; for there accompanied me
also my co-presbyter Maximus, and the deacons Faustus and Eusebius and Chaeremon; and one
of the brethren who had come from Rome went also with us. Aemilianus, then, did not lead
off by saying to me, "Hold no assemblies." That was indeed a thing superfluous for him to
do, and the last thing which d one would do who meant to go back to what was first and of
prime importance: for his concern was not about our gathering others together in assembly,
but about our not being Christians ourselves. From this, therefore, he commanded me to
desist, thinking, doubtless, that if I myself should recant, the others would also follow
me in that. But I answered him neither unreasonably nor in many words, "We must obey God
rather than men." Moreover, I testified openly that I worshipped the only true God and
none other, and that I could neither alter that position nor ever cease to be a Christian.
Thereupon he ordered us to go away to a village near the desert, called Cephro.

5. Hear also the words which were uttered by both of us as they have been put on record.
When Dionysius, and Faustus, and Maximus, and Marcellus, and Chaeremon had been placed at
the bar, Aemilianus, as prefect, said: "I have reasoned with you verily in free speech, on
the clemency of our sovereigns, as they have suffered you to experience it; for they have
given you power to save yourselves, if you are disposed to turn to what is accordant with
nature, and to worship the gods who also maintain them in their kingdom, and to forget
those things which are repugnant' to nature. What say ye then to these things? for I by no
means expect that you will be ungrateful to them for their clemency, since indeed what
they aim at is to bring you over to better courses. Dionysius made reply thus "All men do
not worship all the gods, but different men worship different objects that they suppose to
be true gods. Now we worship the one God, who is the Creator of all things, and the very
Deity who has committed the sovereignty to the hands of their most sacred majesties
Valerian and Gallienus. Him we both reverence and worship; and to Him we pray continually
on behalf of the sovereignty of these princes, that it may abide unshaken. Aemilianus, as
prefect, said to them: "But who hinders you from worshipping this god too, if indeed he is
a god, along with those who are gods by nature?

for you have been commanded to worship the gods, and those gods whom all know as such.
Dionysius replied: "We worship no other one. Aemilianus, as prefect, said to them: "I
perceive that you are at once ungrateful to and insensible of the clemency of our princes.
Wherefore you shall not remain in this city; but you shall be despatched to the parts of
Libya, and settled in! a place called Cephro: for of this place I have I, made choice in
accordance with the command of our princes. It shall not in any wise be lawful for you or
for any others, either to hold assemblies or to enter those places which are: called
cemeteries. And if any one is seen not to have betaken himself to this place whither I
have ordered him to repair, or if he be discovered in any assembly, he will prepare peril
for himself; for the requisite punishment will not fail. Be off, therefore, to the place
whither you have been commanded to go. So he forced me away, sick as I was; nor did he
grant me the delay even of a single day. What opportunity, then, had I to think either of
holding assemblies, or of not holding them?

6. Then after same other matters he says:-Moreover, we did not withdraw from the visible
assembling of ourselves together, with the Lord's presence. But those in the city I tried
to gather together with all the greater zeal, as if I were present with them; for I was
absent indeed in the body, as I said, but present in the spirit. And in Cephro indeed a
considerable church sojourned with us, composed partly of the brethren who followed us
from the city, and partly of those who joined us from Egypt. There, too, did God open to
us a door for the word. And at first we were persecute we were stoned but after a period
some few of the heathen forsook their idols, and turned to God. For byour means the word
was then sown among them for the first time, and before that they had never received it.
And as if to show that this had been the very purpose of God in conducting us to them,
when we had fulfilled this ministry, He led us away again. For Aemilianus was minded to
remove us to rougher parts, as it seemed, and to more Libyan-like districts; and he gave
orders to draw all in every direction into the Mareotic territory, and assigned villages
to each party throughout the country. Bat he issued instructions that we should be located
specially by the public way, so that we might also be the first to be apprehended; for he
evidently made his arrangements and plans with a view to an easy seizure of all of us
whenever he should make up his mind to lay hold of us.

7. Now when I received the command to depart to Cephro, I had no idea of the situation of
the place, and had scarcely even heard its name before; yet for all that, I went away
courageously and calmly. But when word was brought me that I had to remove to the parts of
Colluthion, those present know how I was affected; for here I shall be my own accuser. At
first, indeed, I was greatly vexed, and took very ill; for though these places happened to
be better known and more familiar to us, yet peaple declared that the region was one
destitute o brethren, and even of men of character, and one exposed to the annoyances of
travellers and to the raids of robbers. I found comfort, however when the brethren
reminded me that it was nearer the city; and while Cephro brought us large intercourse
with brethren of all sorts who came from Egypt, so that we were able to hold our sacred
assemblies on a more extensive scale yet there, on the other hand, as the city was in the
nearer vicinity, we could enjoy more frequently the sight of those who were the really
beloved, and in closest relationship with us, and dearest to us: for these would come and
take their rest among us, and, as in the more remote suburbs, there would be distinct and
special meetings. And thus it turned out.

8. Then, after same other matters, he gives again the following account of what befell
him: -Germanus, indeed, boasts himself of many professions of faith. He, forsooth, is able
to speak of many adverse things which have happened to him! Can he then reckon up in his
own case as many condemnatory sentences as we can number in ours, and confiscations too,
and proscriptions, and spoilings of goods, and losses of dignities, and despisings of
worldly honour, and contemnings of the laudations of governors and councillors, and
patient subjections to the threatenings of the adversaries, and to outcries, and perils,
and persecutions, and a wandering life, and the pressure of difficulties, and all kinds of
trouble, such as befell me in the time of Decius and Sabinus, and such also as I have been
suffering under the present severities be of Aemilianus? But where in the world did
Germanus make his appearance? And what mention is made of him? But I retire from this huge
act of folly into which I am suffering myself to fall on account of Germanus; and
accordingly I forbear giving to the brethren, who already have full knowledge of these
things, a particular and detailed narrative of all that happened.

EPISTLE XI.-TO HERMAMMON.

1. But Gallus did not understand the wickedness of Decius, nor did he note beforehand what
it was that wrought his ruin. But he stumbled at the very stone which was lying before his
eyes; for when his sovereignty was in a prosperous position, and when affairs were turning
out according to his wish, he oppressed those holy men who interceded with God on behalf
of his peace and his welfare. And consequently, persecuting them, he persecuted also the
prayers offered in his own behalf. 2. And to John a revelation is made in like manner:
"And there was given unto him," he says, "a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemy;
and power was given unto him, and forty and two months." And one finds both things to
wonder at in Valerian's case; and most especially has one to consider how different it was
with him before these events, -how mild and well-disposed he was towards the men of God.
For among the emperors who preceded him, there was not one who exhibited so kindly and
favourable a disposition toward them as he did; yea, even those who were said to have
become Christians openly did not receive them with that extreme friendliness and
graciousness with which he received them at the beginning of his reign; and his whole
house was filled then with the pious, and it was itself a very church of God. But the
master and president of the Magi of Egypt prevailed on him to abandon that course, urging
him to slay and persecute those pure and holy men as adversaries and obstacles to their
accursed and abominable incantations. For there are, indeed, and there were men who, by
their simple presence, and by merely showing themselves, and by simply breathing and
uttering some words, bare been able to dissipate the artifices of wicked demons. But he
put it into his mind to practise the impure rites of initiation, and detestable
juggleries, and execrable sacrifices, and to slay miserable children, and to make
oblations of the offspring of unhappy fathers, and to divide the bowels of the newly-born,
and to mutilate and cut up the creatures made by God, as if by such means they would
attain to blessedness.

3. Afterwards he subjoins the following:-Splendid surely were the thank-offerings, then,
which Macrianus brought them for that empire which was the object of his hopes; who, while
formerly reputed as the sovereign's faithful public treasurer, had yet no mind for
anything which was either reasonable in itself or conducive to the public good, but
subjected himself to that curse of prophecy which says, "Woe unto those who prophesy from
their own heart, and see not the public good!" For he did not discern that providence
which regulates all things; nor did he think of the judgment of Him who is before all, and
through all, and over all. Wherefore he also became an enemy to His Catholic Church; and
besides that, he alienated and estranged himself from the mercy of God, and fled to the
utmost possible distance from His salvation. And in this indeed he demonstrated the
reality of the peculiar significance of his name.

4. And again, after some other matters, he proceeds thus:-For Valerian was instigated to
these acts by this man, and was thereby exposed to contumely and reproach, according to
the word spoken by the Lord to Isaiah: "Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their
own abominations in which their souls delighted; I also will choose their mockeries, and
will recompense their sin." But this man (Macrianus), being maddened with his passion for
the empire, all unworthy of it as he was, and at the same time having no capacity for
assuming the insignia of imperial government, by reason of his crippled body, put forward
his two sons as the bearers, so to speak, of their father's offences. For unmistakeably
apparent in their case was the truth of that declaration made by God, when He said,
"Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me." For he heaped his own wicked passions, for which he had
failed in securing satisfaction, upon the heads of his sons, and thus wiped off upon them
his own wickedness, and transferred to them, too, the hatred he himself had shown toward
God.

5. That man, then, after he had betrayed the one and made war upon the other of the
emperors preceding him, speedily perished, with his whole family, root and branch. And
Gallienus was proclaimed, and acknowledged by all. And he was at once an old emperor and a
new; for he was prior to those, and he also survived them. To this effect indeed is the
word spoken by the Lord to Isaiah: "Behold, the things which were from the beginning have
come to pass; and there are new things which shall now arise." For as a cloud which
intercepts the sun's rays, and overshadows it for a little, obscures it, and appears
itself in its place, but again, when the cloud has passed by or melted away, the sun,
which had risen before, comes forth again and shows itself: so did this Macrianus put
himself forward, and achieve access for himself even to the very empire of Gallienus now
established; but now he is that no more, because indeed he never was it, while this other,
i.e., Gallienus, is just as he was. And his empire, as if it had cast off old age, and had
purged itself of the wickedness formerly attaching to it, is at present in a more vigorous
and flourishing condition, and is now seen and heard of at greater distances, and
stretches abroad in every direction.

6. Then he further indicates the exact time at which he wrote this account, as
follows:-And it occurs to me again to review the days of the imperial years. For I see
that those most impious men, whose names may have been once so famous, have in a short
space become nameless. But our more pious and godly prince has passed his septennium, and
is now in his ninth year, in which we are to celebrate the festival.

EPISTLE XII.-TO THE ALEXANDRIANS.

1. To other men, indeed, the present state of matters would not appear to offer a fit
season for a festival: and this certainly is no festal time to them; nor, in sooth, is any
other that to them. And I say this, not only of occasions manifestly sorrowful, but even
or all occasions whatsoever which people might consider to be most joyous. And now
certainly all things are turned to mourning, and all men are in grief, and lamentations
resound through the city, by reason of the multitude of the dead and of those who are
dying day by day. For as it is written in the case of the first-born of the Egyptians, so
now too a great cry has arisen. "For there is not a house in which there is not one dead."
And would that even this were all! 2. Many terrible calamities, it is true, have also
befallen us before this. For first they drove us away; and though we were quite alone, and
pursued by all, and in the way of being slain, we kept our festival, even at such a time.
And every place that had been the scene of some of the successive sufferings which befell
any of us, became a seat for our solemn assemblies,-the field, the desert, the ship, the
inn, the prison,-all alike. The most gladsome festival of all, however, has been
celebrated by those perfect martyrs who have sat down at the feast in heaven. And after
these things war and famine surprised us. These were calamities which we seared, indeed,
with the heathen. But we had also to bear by ourselves alone those ills with which they
outraged us, and we bad at the same time to sustain our part in those things which they
either did to each other or suffered at each other's hands; while again we rejoiced deeply
in that peace of Christ which He imparted to us alone.

3. And after we and they together had enjoyed a very brief season of rest, this pestilence
next assailed us,-a calamity truly more dreadful to them than all other objects of dread,
and more intolerable than any other kind of trouble whatsoever; and a misfortune which, as
a certain writer of their own declares, alone prevails over all hope. To us. however, it
was not so; but in no less measure than other ills it proved an instrument for our
training and probation. For it by no means kept aloof from us, although it spread with
greatest violence among the heathen. 4. To these statements he in due succession makes
this addition:-Certainly very many of our brethren, while, in their exceeding love and
brotherly-kindness, they did not spare themselves, but kept by each other, and visited the
sick without thought of their own peril, and ministered to them assiduously, and treated
them for their healing in Christ, died from time to time most joyfully along with them,
lading themselves with pains derived from others, and drawing upon themselves their
neighbours' diseases, and willingly taking over to their own persons the burden of the
sufferings of those around them. And many who had thus cured others of their sicknesses,
and restored them to strength, died themselves, having transferred to their own bodies the
death that lay upon these. And that common saying, which else seemed always to be only a
polite form of address, they expressed in actual fact then, as they departed this life,
like the "off-scourings of all. Yea, the very best of our brethren have departed this life
in this manner, including some presbyters and some deacons, and among the people those who
were in highest reputation: so that this very form of death, in virtue of the
distinguished piety and the steadfast faith which were exhibited in it, appeared to come
in nothing beneath martyrdom itself.

5. And they took the bodies of the saints on their upturned hands, and on their bosoms,
and closed their eyes, and shut their mouths. And carrying them in company, and laying
them out decently, they clung to them, and embraced them, and prepared them duly with
washing and with attire. And then in a little while after they had the same services done
for themselves, as those who survived were ever following those who departed before them.
But among the heathen all was the very reverse. For they thrust aside any who began to be
sick, and kept aloof even from their dearest friends, and cast the sufferers out upon the
public roads half dead, and left them unburied, and treated them with utter contempt when
they died, steadily avoiding any kind of communication and intercourse with death; which,
however, it was not easy for them altogether to escape, in spite of the many precautions
they employed.

EPISTLE XIII.-TO HIERAX, A BISHOP IN EGYPT.

1. But what wonder should there be if I find it difficult to communicate by letter with
those who are settled in remote districts, when it seems beyond my power even to reason
with myself, and to take counsel with my own soul? For surely epistolary communications
are very requisite for me with those who are, as it were, my own bowels, my closest
associates, and my brethren-one in soul with myself, and members, too, of the same Church.
And yet no way opens up by which I can transmit such addresses. Easier, indeed, would it
be for one, I do not say merely to pass beyond the limits of the province, but to cross
from east to west, than to travel from this same Alexandria to Alexandria. For the most
central pathway in this city is vaster and more impassable even than that extensive and
untrodden desert which Israel only traversed in two generations; and our smooth and
waveless harbours have become an image of that sea through which the people drove, at the
time when it divided itself and stood up like walls on either side, and in whose
thoroughfare the Egyptians were drowned. For often they have appeared like the Red Sea, in
consequence of the slaughter perpetrated in them. The river, too, which flows by the city,
has sometimes appeared drier than the waterless desert, and more parched than that
wilderness in which Israel was so overcome with thirst on their journey, that they kept
crying out against Moses, and the water was made to stream for them from the precipitous
rock by the power of Him who alone doeth wondrous things. And sometimes, again, it has
risen in such flood-tide, that it has overflowed all the country round about, and the
roads, and the fields, as if it threatened to bring upon us once more that deluge of
waters which occurred in the days of Noah.

2. But now it always flows onward, polluted with blood and slaughters and the drowning
struggles of men, just as it did of old, when on Pharaoh's account it was changed by Moses
into blood, and made putrid. And what other liquid could cleanse water, which itself
cleanses all things? How could that ocean, so vast and impassable for men, though poured
out on it, ever purge this bitter sea? Or how could even that great river which streams
forth from Eden, though it were to discharge the four hearts into which it is divided into
the one channel of the Gihon, wash away these pollutions? Or when will this air, befouled
as it is by noxious exhalations which rise in every direction, become pure again? For
there are such vapours sent forth from the earth, and such blasts from the sea, and
breezes from the rivers, and reeking mists from the harbours, that for dew we might
suppose ourselves to have the impure fluids of the corpses which are rotting in all the
underlying elements.

And yet, after all this, men are amazed, and are at a loss to understand whence come these
constant pestilences, whence these terrible diseases, whence these many kinds of fatal
inflictions, whence all that large and multiform destruction of human life, and what
reason there is why this mighty city no longer contains within it as great a number of
inhabitants, taking all parties into account, from tender children up to those far
advanced in old age, as once it maintained of those alone whom it called hale old men. But
those from forty years of age up to seventy were so much more numerous then, that their
number cannot be made up now even when those from fourteen to eighty years of age have
been added to the roll and register of persons who are recipients of the public allowances
of grain. And those who are youngest in appearance have now become, as it were, equals in
age with those who of old were the most aged. And yet, although they thus see the human
race constantly diminishing and wasting away upon the earth, they have no trepidation in
the midst of this increasing and advancing consumption and annihilation of their own
number.

EPISTLE XIV.-FROM HIS FOURTH FESTIVAL EPISTLE.

Love is altogether and for ever on the alert, and casts about to do some good even to one
who is unwilling to receive it. And many a time the man who shrinks from it under a
feeling of shame, and who declines to accept services of kindness on the ground of
unwillingness to become troublesome to others, and who chooses rather to bear the burden
of his own grievances than cause annoyance and anxiety to any one, is importuned by the
man who is full of love to bear with his aids, and to suffer himself to be helped by
another, though it might be as one sustaining a wrong, and thus to do a very great
service, not to himself, but to another, in permitting that other to be the agent in
putting an end to the ill in which he has been involved.


CONTAINING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE WORKS
========================================

CONTAINING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE WORKS Dionysius of Alexandria

d. AD 264

Pupil of Origen and bishop of Alexandria.

I.-FROM THE TWO BOOKS ON THE PROMISES.

1. But as they produce a certain composition by Nepos, on which they insist very strongly,
as if it demonstrated incontestably that there will be a (temporal) reign of Christ upon
the earth, I have to say, that in many other respects I accept the opinion of Nepos, and
love him at once for his faith, and his laboriousness, and his patient study in the
Scriptures, as also for his great efforts in psalmody, by which even now many of the
brethren are delighted. I hold the man, too, in deep respect still more, inasmuch as he
has gone to his rest before us. Nevertheless the truth is to be prized and reverenced
above all things else. And while it is indeed proper to praise and approve ungrudgingly
anything that is said aright, it is no less proper to examine and correct anything which
may appear to have been written unsoundly. If he had been present then himself, and had
been stating his opinions orally, it would have been sufficient to discuss the question
together without the use of writing, and to endeavour to convince the opponents, and carry
them along by interrogation and reply. But the work is published, and is, as it seems to
some, of a very persuasive character;

and there are unquestionably some teachers, who hold that the law and the prophets are of
no importance, and who decline to follow the Gospels, and who depreciate the epistles of
the apostles, and who have also made large promises regarding the doctrine of this
composition, as though it were some great and hidden mystery, and who, at the same time,
do not allow that our simpler brethren have any sublime and elevated conceptions either of
our Lord's appearing in His glory and His true divinity, or of our own resurrection from
the dead, and of our being gathered together to Him, and assimilated to Him, but, on the
contrary, endeavour to lead them to hope for things which are trivial and corruptible, and
only such as what we find at present in the kingdom of God. And since this is the case, it
becomes necessary for us to discuss this subject with our brother Nepos just as if he were
present.

2. After certain other mailers, he adds the following statement:-Being then in the
Arsinoitic prefecture-where, as you are aware, this doctrine was current long ago, and
caused such division, that schisms and apostasies took place I in whole churches-I called
together the presbyters and the teachers among the brethren in the villages, and those of
the brethren also who wished to attend were present. I exhorted them to make an
investigation into that dogma in public. Accordingly, when they had brought this book
before us, as though it were a kind of weapon or impregnable battlement, I sat with them
for three days in succession from morning till evening, and attempted to set them right on
the subjects propounded in the composition. Then, too, I was greatly gratified by
observing the constancy of the brethren, and their love of the truth, and their docility
and intelligence, as we proceeded, in an orderly method, and in a spirit of moderation, to
deal with questions, and difficulties, and concessions. For we took care not to press, in
every way and with jealous urgency, opinions which had once been adopted, even although
they might appear to be correct. Neither did we evade objections alleged by others; but we
endeavoured as far as possible to keep by the subject in hand, and to establish the
positions pertinent to it. Nor, again, were we ashamed to change our opinions, if reason
convinced us, and to acknowledge the fact;

but rather with a good conscience, and in all sincerity, and with open hearts before God,
we accepted all that could be established by the demonstrations and teachings of the Holy
Scriptures. And at last the author and introducer of this doctrine, whose name was
Coracion, in the hearing of all the brethren present, made acknowledgment of his position,
and engaged to us that he would no longer hold by his opinion, nor discuss it, nor mention
it, nor teach it, as he had been completely convinced by the arguments of those opposed to
it. The rest of the brethren, also, who were present, were delighted with the conference,
and with the conciliatory spirit and the harmony exhibited by all. 3. Then, a little
further on, he speaks of the Revelation of John as follows:-Now some before our time have
set aside this book, and repudiated it entirely, criticising it chapter by chapter, and
endeavouring to show it to be without either sense or reason. They have alleged also that
its title is false; for they deny that John is the author. Nay, further, they hold that it
can be no sort of revelation, because it is covered with so gross and dense a veil of
ignorance. They affirm, therefore, that none of the apostles, nor indeed any of the
saints, nor any person belonging to the Church, could be its author; but that Cerinthus,
and the heretical sect founded by him, and named after him the Cerinthian sect, being
desirous of attaching the authority of a great name to the fiction propounded by him,
prefixed that title to the book. For the doctrine inculcated by Cerinthus is this: that
there will be an earthly reign of Christ;

and as he was himself a man devoted to the pleasures of the body, and altogether carnal l
in his dispositions, he fancied that that kingdom would consist in those kinds of
gratifications on which his own heart was set,-to wit, in the delights of the belly, and
what comes beneath the belly, that is to say, in eating and drinking, and marrying, and in
other things under the guise of which he thought he could indulge his appetites with a
better grace, such as festivals, and sacrifices, and the slaying of victims. But I, for my
part, could not venture to set this book aside, for there are many brethren who value it
highly. Yet, having formed an idea of it as a composition exceeding my capacity of
understanding, I regard it as containing a kind of hidden and wonderful intelligence on
the several subjects which come under it. For though I cannot comprehend it, I still
suspect that there is some deeper sense underlying the words. And I do not measure and
judge its expressions by the standard of my own reason, but, making more allowance for
faith, I have simply regarded them as too lofty for my comprehension; and I do not
forthwith reject what I do not understand, but I am only the more filled with wonder at
it, in that I have not been able to discern its import.

4. After this, he examines the whole book of the Revelation; and having proved that it
cannot possible be understood according to the bald, literal sense, he proceeds thus:-When
the prophet now has completed, so to speak, the whole prophecy, he pronounces those
blessed who should observe it, and names himself, too, in the number of the same: "For
blessed," says he, "is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book; and I John
who saw and heard these things." That this person was called John, therefore, and that
this was the writing of a John, I do not deny. And I admit further, that it was also the
work of some holy and inspired man. But I could not so easily admit that this was the
apostle, the son of Zebedee, the brother of James, and the same person with him who wrote
the Gospel which bears the title according to John, and the catholic epistle. But from the
character of both, and the forms of expression, and the whole disposition and execution of
the book, I draw the conclusion that the authorship is not his. For the evangelist nowhere
else subjoins his name, and he never proclaims himself either in the Gospel or in the
epistle.

And a little further on he adds:-John, moreover, nowhere gives us the name, whether as of
himself directly (in the first person), or as of another (in the third person). But the
writer of the Revelation puts himself forward at once in the very beginning, for he says:
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which He gave to him to show to His servants quickly; and
He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bare record of the Word of
God, and of his testimony, and of all things that he saw. And then he writes also an
epistle, in which he says: "John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto
you, and peace. The evangelist, on the other hand, has not prefixed his name even to the
catholic epistle; but without any circumlocution, he has commenced at once with the
mystery of the divine revelation itself in these terms: "That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes. And on the ground of
such a revelation as that the Lord pronounced Peter blessed, when He said: "Blessed art
thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven. And again in the second epistle, which is ascribed to John, the
apostle, and in the third, though they are indeed brief, John is not set before us by
name; but we find simply the anonymous writing, "The elder.

This other author, on the contrary, did not even deem it sufficient to name himself once,
and then to proceed with his narrative; but he takes up his name again, and says: "I John,
who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of
Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the Word of God, and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ. And likewise toward the end he speaks thus: "Blessed is he that
keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book; and I John who saw these things and
heard them. That it is a John, then, that writes these things we must believe, for he
himself tells us. 5. What John this is, however, is uncertain. For he has not said, as he
often does in the Gospel, that he is the disciple beloved by the Lord, or the one that
leaned on His bosom, or the brother of James, or one that was privileged to see and hear
the Lord. And surely he would have given us some of these indications if it had been his
purpose to make himself clearly known. But of all this he offers us nothing; and he only
calls himself our brother and companion, and the witness of Jesus, and one blessed with
the seeing and hearing of these revelations. I am also of opinion that there were many
persons of the same name with John the apostle, who by their love for him, and their
admiration and emulation of him, and their desire to be loved by the Lord as he was loved,
were induced to embrace also the same designation, just as we find many of the children of
the faithful called by the names of Paul and Peter. There is, besides, another John
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, with the surname Mark, whom Barnabas and Paul
attached to themselves as companion, and of whom again it is said: "And they had also John
to their minister." But whether this is the one who wrote the Revelation, I could not say.
For it is not written that he came with them into Asia. But the writer says: "Now when
Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John,
departing from them, returned to Jerusalem." I think, therefore, that it was some other
one of those who were in Asia. For it is said that there were two monuments in Ephesus,
and that each of these bears the name of John.

6. And from the ideas, and the expressions, and the collocation of the same, it may be
very reasonably conjectured that this one is distinct from that. For the Gospel and the
Epistle agree with each other, and both commence in the same way. For the one opens thus,
"In the beginning was the Word; "while the other opens thus, "That which was from the
beginning. The one says: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father. The other says the same
things, with a slight alteration: "That which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life: and the
life was manifested. For these things are introduced by way of prelude, and in opposition,
as he has shown in the subsequent parts, to those who deny that the Lord is come in the
flesh. For which reason he has also been careful to add these words: "And that which we
have seen we testify, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and
was manifested unto us: that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. Thus he
keeps to himself, and does not diverge inconsistently from his subjects, but goes through
them all under the same heads and in the same phraseologies, some of which we shall
briefly mention.

Thus the attentive reader will find the phrases, "the life," "the light," occurring often
in both; and also such expressions as fleeing from darkness, holding the truth, grace,
joy, the flesh and the blood of the Lord, the judgment, the remission of sins, the love of
God toward us, the commandment of love an our side toward each other; as also, that we
ought to keep all the commandments, the conviction of the world, of the devil, of
Antichrist, the promise of the Holy Spirit, the adoption of God, the faith required of us
in all things, the Father and the Son, named as such everywhere. And altogether, through
their whole course, it will be evident that the Gospel and the Epistle are distinguished
by one and the same character of writing. But the Revelation is totally different, and
altogether distinct from this; and I might almost say that it does not even come near it,
or border upon it. Neither does it contain a syllable in common with these other books.
Nay more, the Epistle-for I say nothing of the Gospel-does not make any mention or evince
any notion of the Revelation and the Revelation, in like manner, gives no note of the
Epistle. Whereas Paul gives some indication of his revelations in his epistles; which
revelations, however, he has not recorded in writing by themselves.

7. And furthermore, on the ground of difference in diction, it is possible to prove a
distinction between the Gospel and the Epistle on the one hand, and the Revelation on the
other. For the former are written not only without actual error as regards the Greek
language, but also with the greatest elegance, both in their expressions and in their
reasonings, and in the whole structure of their style. They are very far indeed from
betraying any barbarism or solecism, or any sort of vulgarism, in their diction. For, as
might be presumed, the writer possessed the gift of both kinds of discourse, the Lord
having bestowed both these capacities upon him, viz., that of knowledge and that of
expression. That the author of the latter, however, saw a revelation, and received
knowledge and prophecy, I do not deny. Only I perceive that his dialect and language are
not of the exact Greek type, and that he employs barbarous idioms, and in some places also
solecisms. These, however, we are under no necessity of seeking out at present. And I
would not have any one suppose that I have said these things in the spirit of ridicule;
for I have done so only with the purpose of setting right this matter of the dissimilarity
subsisting between these writings.

I. IN OPPOSITION TO THOSE OF THE SCHOOL OF EPICURUS WHO DENY THE EXISTENCE OF A PROVIDENCE, AND REFER THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSE TO ATOMIC BODIES.

1 Is the universe one coherent whole, as it seems to be in our own judgment, as well as in
that of the wisest of the Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Pythagoras, and the Stoics
and Heraclitus? or is it a duality, as some may possibly have conjectured? or is it indeed
something manifold and infinite, as has been the opinion of certain others who, with a
variety of mad speculations and fanciful usages of terms, have sought to divide and
resolve the essential matter of the universe, and lay down the position that it is
infinite and unoriginated, and without the sway of Providence? For there are those who,
giving the name of atoms to certain imperishable and most minute bodies which are supposed
to be infinite in number, and positing also the existence of a certain vacant space of an
unlimited vastness, allege that these atoms, as they are borne along casually in the void,
and clash all fortuitously against each other in an unregulated whirl, and become
commingled one with another in a multitude of forms, enter into combination with each
other, and thus gradually form this world and all objects in it; yea, more, that they
construct infinite worlds. This was the opinion of Epicurus and Democritus; only they
differed in one point, in so far as the former supposed these atoms to be all most minute
and consequently imperceptible, while Democritus held that there were also some among them
of a very large size.

2 But they both hold that such atoms do exist, and that they are so called on account of
their indissoluble consistency. There are some, again, who give the name of atoms to
certain bodies which are indivisible into parts, while they are themselves parts of the
universe, out of which in their undivided state all things are made up, and into which
they are dissolved again. And the allegation is, that Diodorus was the person who gave
them their names as bodies indivisible into parts. But it is also said that Heraclides
attached another name to them, and called them "weights; " and from him the physician
Asclepiades also derived that name.

II. A REFUTATION OF THIS DOGMA ON THE GROUND OF FAMILIAR HUMAN ANALOGIES.

1 How, shall we bear with these men who assert that all those wise, and consequently also
noble, constructions (in the universe) are only the works of common chance? those objects,
I mean, of which each taken by itself as it is made, and the whole system collectively,
were seen to be good by Him by whose command they came into existence. For, as it is said,
"God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. But truly these men
do not reflect on the analogies even of small familiar things which might come under their
observation at any time, and from which they might learn that no object of any utility,
and fitted to be serviceable, is made without design or by mere chance, but is wrought by
skill of hand, and is contrived so as to meet its proper use. And when the object falls
out of service and becomes useless, then it also begins to break up indeterminately, and
to decompose and dissipate its materials in every casual and unregulated way, just as the
wisdom by which it was skilfully constructed at first no longer controls and maintains it.
For a cloak, for example, cannot be made without the weaver, as if the warp could be set
aright and the woof could be entwined with it by their own spontaneous action; while, on
the other hand, if it is once worn out, its tattered rags are flung aside.

2 Again, when a house or a city is built, it does not take on its stones, as if some of
them placed themselves spontaneously upon the foundations, and others lifted themselves up
on the several layers, but the builder carefully disposes the skilfully prepared stones in
their proper positions; while if the structure happens once to give way, the stones are
separated and cast down and scattered about. And so, too, when a ship is built, the keel
does not lay itself, neither does the mast erect itself in the centre, nor do all the
other timbers take up their positions casually and by their own motion. Nor, again, do the
so-called hundred beams in the wain fit themselves spontaneously to the vacant spaces they
severally light on. But the carpenter in both cases puts the materials together in the
right way and at the right time. And if the ship goes to sea and is wrecked, or if the
wain drives along on land and is shattered, their timbers are broken up and cast abroad
anywhere,-those of the former by the waves, and those of the latter by the violence of the
impetus. In like manner, then, we might with all propriety say also to these men, that
those atoms of theirs, which remain idle and unmanipulated and useless, are introduced
vainly. Let them, accordingly, seek for themselves to see into what is beyond the reach of
sight, and conceive what is beyond the range of conception;

3 unlike him who in these terms confesses to God that things like these had been shown him
only by God Himself: "Mine eyes did see Thy work, being till then imperfect. But when they
assert now that all those things of grace and beauty, which they declare to be textures
finely wrought out of atoms, are fabricated spontaneously by these bodies without either
wisdom or perception in them, who can endure to hear them talk in such terms of those
unregulated atoms, than which even the spider, that plies its proper craft of itself, is
gifted with more sagacity?

III. A REFUTATION ON THE GROUND OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSE.

1 Or who can bear to hear it maintained, that this mighty habitation, which is constituted
of heaven and earth, and which is called "Cosmos" on account of the magnitude and the
plenitude of the wisdom which has been brought to bear upon it, has been established in
all its order and beauty by those atoms which hold their course devoid of order and
beauty, and that that same state of disorder has grown into this true Cosmos, Order? Or
who can believe that those regular movements and courses are the products of a certain
unregulated impetus? Or who can allow that the perfect concord subsisting among the
celestial bodies derives its harmony from instruments destitute both of concord and
harmony? Or, again, if there is but one and the same substance in all things, and if there
is the same incorruptible nature in all,-the only elements of difference being, as they
aver, size and figure,-how comes it that there are some bodies divine and perfect, and
eternal, as they would phrase it, or lasting, as some one may prefer to express it; and
among these some that are visible and others that are invisible,-the visible including
such as sun, and moon, and stars, and earth, and water; and the invisible including gods,
and demons, and spirits? For the existence of such they cannot possibly deny however
desirous to do so. And again, there are other objects that are long-lived, both animals
and plants.

2 As to animals, there are, for example, among birds, as they say, the eagle, the raven,
and the phoenix; and among creatures living on land, there are the stag, and the elephant,
and the dragon; and among aquatic creatures there are the whales, and such like monsters
of the deep. And as to trees, there are the palm, and the oak, and the persea; and among
trees, too, there are some that are evergreens, of which kind fourteen have been reckoned
up by some one; and there are others that only bloom for a certain season, and then shed
their leaves. And there are other objects, again-which indeed constitute the vast mass of
all which either grow or are begotten-that have an early death and a brief life. And among
these is man himself, as a certain holy scripture says of him: "Man that is born of woman
is of few days. Well, but I suppose they will reply that the varying conjunctions of the
atoms account fully for differences so great in the matter of duration. For it is
maintained that there are some things that are compressed together by them, and firmly
interlaced, so that they become closely compacted bodies, and consequently exceedingly
hard to break up; while there are others in which more or less the conjunction of the
atoms is of a looser and weaker nature, so that either quickly or after some time they
separate themselves from their orderly constitution.

3 And, again, there are some bodies made up of atoms of a definite kind and a certain
common figure, while there are others made up of diverse atoms diversely disposed. But
who, then, is the sagacious discriminator, that brings certain atoms into collocation, and
separates others; and marshals some in such wise as to form the sun, and others in such a
way as to originate the moon, and adapts all in natural fitness, and in accordance with
the proper constitution of each star? For surely neither would those solar atoms, with
their peculiar size and kind, and with their special mode of collocation, ever have
reduced themselves so as to effect the production of a moon; nor, on the other hand, would
the conjunctions of these lunar atoms ever have developed into a sun. And as certainly
neither would Arcturus, resplendent as he is, ever boast his having the atoms possessed by
Lucifer, nor would the Pleiades glory in being constituted of those of Orion. For well has
Paul expressed the distinction when he says: "There is one glory of the sun, and another
glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another
star in glory. And if the coalition effected among them has been an unintelligent one, as
is the case with soulless objects, then they must needs have had some sagacious artificer;

4 and if their union has been one without the determination of will, and only of
necessity, as is the case with irrational objects, then some skilful leader must have
brought them together and taken them under his charge. And if they have linked themselves
together spontaneously, for a spontaneous work, then some admirable architect must have
apportioned their work for them, and assumed the superintendence among them; or there must
have been one to do with them as the general does who loves order and discipline, and who
does not leave his army in an irregular condition, or suffer all things to go on
confusedly, but marshals the cavalry in their proper succession, and disposes the heavy-
armed infantry in their due array, and the javelin-men by themselves, and the archers
separately, and the slingers in like manner, and sets each force in its appropriate
position, in order that all those equipped in the same way may engage together. But if
these teachers think that this illustration is but a joke, because I institute a
comparison between very large bodies and very small, we may pass to the very smallest.

5 Then we have what follows:-But if neither the word, nor the choice, nor the order of a
ruler is laid upon them, and if by their own act they keep themselves right in the vast
commotion of the stream in which they move, and convey themselves safely through the
mighty uproar of the collisions, and if like atoms meet and group themselves with like,
not as being brought together by God, according to the poet's fancy, but rather as
naturally recognising the affinities subsisting between each other, then truly we have
here a most marvellous democracy of atoms, wherein friends welcome and embrace friends,
and all are eager to sojourn together in one domicile; while some by their own
determination have rounded themselves off into that mighty luminary the sun, so as to make
day; and others have formed themselves into many pyramids of blazing stars, it may be, so
as to crown also the whole heavens; and others have reduced themselves into the circular
figure, so as to impart a certain solidity to the ether, and arch it over, and constitute
it a vast graduated ascent of luminaries, with this object also, that the various
conventions of the commoner atoms may select settlements for themselves, and portion out
the sky among them for their habitations and stations.

6 Then, after certain other matters, the discourse proceeds thus:-But inconsiderate men do
not see even things that are apparent, and certainly they are far from being cognisant of
things that are unapparent. For they do not seem even to have any notion of those
regulated risings and settings of the heavenly bodies,-those of the sun, with all their
wondrous glory, no less than those of the others; nor do they appear to make due
application of the aids furnished through these to men, such as the day that rises clear
for man's work, and the night that overshadows earth for man's rest. "For man," it is
said, "goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour, until the evening." Neither do they
consider that other revolution, by which the sun makes out for us determinate times, and
convenient seasons, and regular successions, directed by those atoms of which it consists.
But even though men like these-and miserable men they are, however they may believe
themselves to be righteous-may choose not to admit it, there is a mighty Lord that made
the sun, and gave it the impetus for its course by His words. O ye blind ones, do these
atoms of yours bring you the winter season and the rains, in order that the earth may
yield food for you, and for all creatures living on it? Do they introduce summertime, too,
in order that ye may gather their fruits from the trees for your enjoyment? And why, then,
do ye not worship these atoms, and offer sacrifices to them as the guardians of earth's
fruits? Thankless surely are ye, in not setting solemnly apart for them even the most
scanty first-fruits of that abundant bounty which ye receive from them.

7 After a short break he proceeds thus:-Moreover, those stars which form a community so
multitudinous and various, which these erratic and ever self-dispersing atoms have
constituted, have marked off by a kind of covenant the tracts for their several
possessions, portioning these out like colonies and governments, but without the
presidency of any founder or house-master; and with pledged fealty and in peace they
respect the laws of vicinity with their neighbours, and abstain from passing beyond the
boundaries which they received at the outset, just as if they enjoyed the legislative
administration of true princes in the atoms. Nevertheless these atoms exercise no rule.
For how could these, that are themselves nothing, do that? But listen to the divine
oracles: "The works of the Lord are in judgment; from the beginning, and from His making
of them, He disposed the parts thereof. He garnished His works for ever, and their
principles unto their generations."

8 Again, after a little, he proceeds thus:-Or what phalanx ever traversed the plain in
such perfect order, no trooper outmarching the others, or falling out of rank, or
obstructing the course, or suffering himself to be distanced by his comrades in the array,
as is the case with that steady advance in regular file, as it were, and with close-set
shields, which is presented by this serried and unbroken and undisturbed and unobstructed
progress of the hosts of the stars? Albeit by side inclinations and flank movements
certain of their revolutions become less clear. Yet, however that may be, they assuredly
always keep their appointed periods, and again bear onward determinately to the positions
from which they have severally risen, as if they made that their deliberate study.
Wherefore let these notable anatomizers of atoms, these dividers of the indivisible, these
compounders of the uncompoundable, these adepts in the apprehension of the infinite, tell
us whence comes this circular march and course of the heavenly bodies, in which it is not
any single combination of atoms that merely chances all unexpectedly to swing itself round
in this way; but it is one vast circular choir that moves thus, ever equally and
concordantly, and whirls in these orbits. And whence comes it that this mighty multitude
of fellow-travellers, all unmarshalled by any captain, all ungifted with any determination
of will, and all unendowed with any knowledge of each other, have nevertheless held their
course in perfect harmony? Surely, well has the prophet ranked this matter among things
which are impossible and undemonstrable,-namely, that two strangers should walk together.
For he says, "Shall two come to the same lodging unless they know each other? "

IV. A REFUTATION OF THE SAME ON THE GROUNDS OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION.

1 Further, those men understand neither themselves nor what is proper to themselves. For
if any of the leaders in this impious doctrine only considered what manner of person he is
himself, and whence he comes, he would surely be led to a wise decision, like one who has
obtained understanding of himself, and would say, not to these atoms, but to his Father
and Maker, "Thy hands have made me and fashioned me. And he would take up, too, this
wonderful account of his formation as it has been given by one of old: "Hast Thou not
poured me out as milk, and curdled me as choose? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh,
and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Thy
visitation hath preserved my spirit. For of what quantity and of what origin were the
atoms which the father of Epicurus gave forth from himself when he begat Epicurus? And
how, when they were received within his mother's womb, did they coalesce, and take form
and figure? and how were they put in motion and made to increase? And how did that little
seed of generation draw together the many atoms that were to constitute Epicurus, and
change some of them into skin and flesh for a covering, and make bone of others for
erectness and strength, and form sinews of others for compact contexture?

2 And how did it frame and adapt the many other members and parts-heart and bowels, and
organs of sense, some within and some without-by which the body is made a thing of life?
For of all these things there is not one either idle or useless: not even the meanest of
them-the hair, or the nails, or such like-is so; but all have their service to do, and all
their contribution to make, some of them to the soundness of bodily constitution, and
others of them to beauty of appearance. For Providence cares not only for the useful, but
also for the seasonable and beautiful. Thus the hair is a kind of protection and covering
for the whole head, and the beard is a seemly ornament for the philosopher. It was
Providence, then, that formed the constitution of the whole body of man, in all its
necessary parts, and imposed on all its members their due connection with each other, and
measured out for them their liberal supplies from the universal resources. And the most
prominent of these show clearly, even to the uninstructed, by the proof of personal
experience, the value and service attaching to them: the head, for example, in the
position of supremacy, and the senses set like a guard about the brain, as the ruler in
the citadel; and the advancing eyes, and the reporting ears; and the taste which, as it
were, is the tribute-gatherer; and the smell, which tracks and searches out its objects:
and the touch, which manipulates all put under it.

3 Hence we shall only run over in a summary way, at present, some few of the works of an
all-wise Providence; and after a little we shall, if God grant it, go over them more
minutely, when we direct our discourse toward one who has the repute of greater learning.
So, then, we have the ministry of the hands, by which all kinds of works are wrought, and
all skilful professions practised, and which have all their various faculties furnished
them, with a view to the discharge of one common function; and we have the shoulders, with
their capacity for bearing burdens; and the fingers, with their power of grasping; and the
elbows, with their faculty of bending, by which they can turn inwardly, upon the body, or
take an outward inclination, so as to be able either to draw objects toward the body, or
to thrust them away from it. We have also the service of the feet, by which the whole
terrestrial creation is made to come under our power, the earth itself is traversed
thereby, the sea is made navigable, the rivers are crossed, and intercourse is established
for all with all things. The belly, too, is the storehouse of meats, with all its parts
arranged in their proper collocations, so that it apportions for itself the right measure
of aliment, and ejects what is over and above that. And so is it with all the other things
by which manifestly the due administration of the constitution of man is wisely secured.

4 Of all these, the intelligent and the unintelligent alike enjoy the same use; but they
have not the same comprehension of them. For there are some who refer this whole economy
to a power which they conceive to be a true divinity, and which they apprehend as at once
the highest intelligence in all things, and the best benefactor to themselves, believing
that this economy is all the work of a wisdom and a might which are superior to every
other, and in themselves truly divine. And there are others who aimlessly attribute this
whole structure of most marvellous beauty to chance and fortuitous coincidence. And in
addition to these, there are also certain physicians, who, having made a more effective
examination into all these things, and having investigated with utmost accuracy the
disposition of the inward parts in especial, have been struck with astonishment at the
results of their inquiry, and have been led to deify nature itself. The notions of these
men we shall review afterwards, as far as we may be able, though we may only touch the
surface of the subject. Meantime, to deal with this matter generally and summarily, let me
ask who constructed this whole tabernacle of ours, so lofty, erect, graceful, sensitive,
mobile, active, and apt for all things? Was it, as they say, the irrational multitude of
atoms? Nay, these, by their conjunctions, could not mould even an image of clay, neither
could they hew and polish a statue of stone;

5 nor could they cast and finish an idol of silver or gold; but arts and handicrafts
calculated for such operations have been discovered by men who fabricate these objects.
And if, even in these, representations and models cannot be made without the aid of
wisdom, how can the genuine and original patterns of these copies have come into existence
spontaneously? And whence have come the soul, and the intelligence, and the reason, which
are born with the philosopher? Has he gathered these from those atoms which are destitute
alike of soul, and intelligence, and reason? and has each of these atoms inspired him with
some appropriate conception and notion? And are we to suppose that the wisdom of man was
made up by these atoms, as the myth of Hesiod tells us that Pandora was fashioned by the
gods? Then shall the Greeks have, to give up speaking of the various species of poetry,
and music, and astronomy, and geometry, and all the other arts and sciences, as the
inventions and instructions of the gods, and shall have to allow that these atoms are the
only muses with skill and wisdom for all subjects. For ibis theogony, constructed of atoms
by Epicurus, is indeed something extraneous to the infinite worlds of order, and finds its
refuge in the infinite disorder.

V. THAT TO WORK IS NOT A MATTER OF PAIN AND WEARINESS TO GOD.

1 Now to work, and administer, and do good, and exercise care, and such like actions, may
perhaps be hard tasks for the idle, and silly, and weak, and wicked; in whose number truly
Epicurus reckons himself, when he propounds such notions about the gods. But to the
earnest, and powerful, and intelligent, and prudent, such as philosophers ought to be-and
how much more so, therefore, the gods!-these things are not only not disagreeable and
irksome, but ever the most delightful, and by far the most welcome of all. To persons of
this character, negligence and procrastination in the doing of what is good are a
reproach, as the poet admonishes them in these words of counsel:- "Delay not aught till
the morrow" And then he adds this further sentence of threatening:- 2 "The lazy
procrastinator is ever wrestling with miseries. And the prophet teaches us the same lesson
in a more solemn fashion, and declares that deeds done according to the standard of virtue
are truly worthy of God, and that the man who gives no heed to these is accursed: "For
cursed be he that doeth the works of the Lord carelessly. Moreover, those who are unversed
in any art, and unable to prosecute it perfectly, feel it to be wearisome when they make
their first attempts in it, just by reason of the novelty of their experience, and their
want of practice in the works. But those, on the other hand, who have made some advance,
and much more those who are perfectly trained in the art, accomplish easily and
successfully the objects of their labours, and have great pleasure in the work, and would
choose rather thus, in the discharge of the pursuits to which they are accustomed, to
finish and carry perfectly out what their efforts aim at, than to be made masters of all
those things which are reckoned advantageous among men. Yea, Democritus himself, as it is
reported, averred that he would prefer the discovery of one true cause to being put in
possession of the kingdom of Persia.

3 And that was the declaration of a man who had only a vain and groundless conception of
the causes of things, inasmuch as he started with an unfounded principle, and an erroneous
hypothesis, and did not discern the real root and the common law of necessity in the
constitution of natural things, and held as the greatest wisdom the apprehension of things
that come about simply in an unintelligent and random way, and set up chance as the
mistress and queen of things universal, and even things divine, and endeavoured to
demonstrate that all things happen by the determination of the same, although at the same
time he kept it outside the sphere of the life of men, and convicted those of
senselessness who worshipped it. At any rate, at the very beginning of his Precepts he
speaks thus: "Men have made an image of chance, as a cover for their own lack of
knowledge. For intellect and chance are in their very nature antagonistic to each other.
And men have maintained that this greatest adversary to intelligence is its sovereign.
Yea, rather, they completely subvert and do away, with the one, while they establish the
other in its place. For they do not celebrate intelligence as the fortunate, but they laud
chance as the most intelligent.

4 Moreover, those who attend to things conducing to the good of life, take special
pleasure in what serves the interests of those of the same race with themselves, and seek
the recompense of praise and glory in return for labours undertaken in behalf of the
general good; while some exert themselves as purveyors of ways and means, others as
magistrates, others as physicians, others as statesmen; and even philosophers pride
themselves greatly in their efforts after the education of men. Will, then, Epicurus or
Democritus be bold enough to assert that in the exertion of philosophizing they only cause
distress to themselves? Nay, rather they will reckon this a pleasure of mind second to
none. For even though they maintain the opinion that the good is pleasure, they will be
ashamed to deny that philosophizing is the greater pleasure to them. But as to the gods,
of whom the poets among them sing that they are the "bestowers of good gifts," these
philosophers scoffingly celebrate them in strains like these: "The gods are neither the
bestowers nor the sharers in any good thing. And in what manner, forsooth, can they
demonstrate that there are gods at all, when they neither perceive their presence, nor
discern them as the doers of aught, wherein, indeed, they resemble those who, in their
admiration and wonder at the sun and the moon and the stars, have held these to have been
named gods, from their running such courses:

5 when, further, they do not attribute to them any function or power of operation, so as
to bold them gods from their constituting, that is, from their making objects, for thereby
in all truth the one maker and operator of all things must be God: and when, in fine, they
do not set forth any administration, or judgment, or beneficence of theirs in relation to
men, so that we might be bound either by fear or by reverence to worship them? Has
Epicurus then been able, forsooth, to see beyond this world, and to overpass the precincts
of heaven? or has he gone forth by some secret gates known to himself alone, and thus
obtained sight of the gods in the void? and, deeming them blessed in their full felicity,
and then becoming himself a passionate aspirant after such pleasure, and an ardent scholar
in that life which they pursue in the void, does he now call upon all to participate in
this felicity, and urge them thus to make themselves like the gods, preparing as their
true symposium of blessedness neither heaven nor Olympus, as the poets feign, but the
sheer void, and setting before them the ambrosia of atoms, and pledging them in nectar
made of the same?

6 However, in matters which have no relation to us, he introduces into his books a myriad
oaths and solemn asseverations, swearing constantly both negatively and affirmatively by
Jove, and making those whom he meets, and with whom he discusses his doctrines, swear also
by the gods, not certainly that he fears them himself, or has any dread of perjury, but
that he pronounces all this to be vain, and false, and idle, and unintelligible, and uses
it simply as a kind of accompaniment to his words, just as he might also clear his throat,
or spit, or twist his face, or move his hand. So completely senseless and empty a pretence
was this whole matter of the naming of the gods, in his estimation. But this is also a
very patent fact, that, being in fear of the Athenians after (the warning of) the death of
Socrates, and being desirous of preventing his being taken for what he really was-an
atheist-the subtle charlatan invented for them certain empty shadows of unsubstantial
gods. But never surely did he look up to heaven with eyes of true intelligence, so as to
hear the clear voice from above, which another attentive spectator did hear, and of which
he testified when he said, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth His handiwork.

7 And never surely did he look down upon the world's surface with due reflection l for
then would he have learned that "the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord" and that
"the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; " and that, as we also read, "After
this the Lord looked upon the earth, and filled it with His blessings. With all manner of
living things hath He covered the face thereof. And if these men are not hopelessly
blinded, let them but survey the vast wealth and variety of living creatures, land
animals, and winged creatures, and aquatic; and let them understand then that the
declaration made by the Lord on the occasion of His judgment of all things is true: "And
all things, in accordance with His command, appeared good."

III.-FROM THE BOOKS AGAINST SABELLIUS. ON THE NOTION THAT MATTER IS UNGENERATED.

1 These certainly are not to be deemed pious who hold that matter is ungenerated, while
they allow, indeed, that it is brought under the hand of God so far as its arrangement and
regulation are concerned; for they do admit that, being naturally passive and pliable, it
yields readily to the alterations impressed upon it by God. It is for them, however, to
show us plainly how it can possibly be that the like and the unlike should be predicated
as subsisting together in God and matter. For it becomes necessary thus to think of one as
a superior to either, and that is a thought which cannot legitimately be entertained with
regard to God. For if there is this defect of generation which is said to be the thing
like in both, and if there is this point of difference which is conceived of besides in
the two, whence has this arisen in them? If, indeed, God is the ungenerated, and if this
defect of generation is, as we may say, His very essence, then matter cannot be
ungenerated; for God and matter are not one and the same. But if each subsists properly
and independently-namely, God and matter-and if the defect of generation also belongs to
both, then it is evident that there is something different from each, and older and higher
than both. But the difference of their contrasted constitutions is completely subversive
of the idea that these can subsist on an equality together, and more, that this one of the
two-namely, matter-can subsist of itself.

2 For then they will have to furnish an explanation of the fact that, though both are
supposed to be ungenerated, God is nevertheless impassible, immutable, imperturbable,
energetic; while matter is the opposite, impressible, mutable, variable, alterable. And
now, how can these properties harmoniously co-exist and unite? Is it that God has adapted
Himself to the nature of the matter, and thus has skilfully wrought it? But it would be
absurd to suppose that God works in gold, as men are wont to do, or hews or polishes
stone, or puts His hand to any of the other arts by which different kinds of matter are
made capable of receiving form and figure. But if, on the other hand, He has fashioned
matter according to His own will, and after the dictates of His own wisdom, impressing
upon it the rich and manifold forms produced by His own operation, then is this account of
ours one both good and true, and still further one that establishes the position that the
ungenerated God is the hypostasis (the life and foundation) of all things in the universe.
For with this fact of the defect of generation it conjoins the proper mode of His being.
Much, indeed, might be said in confutation of these teachers, but that is not what is
before us at present. And if they are put alongside the most impious polytheists, these
will seem the more pious in their speech.

IV.-EPISTLE TO DIONYSIUS BISHOP OF ROME

From the First Book.

1. There certainly was not a time when God was not the Father. 2. Neither, indeed, as
though He had not brought forth these things, did God afterwards beget the Son, but
because the Son has existence not flora Himself, but from the Father. And after a few
words he says of the Son Himself:- 3. Being the brightness of the eternal Light, He
Himself also is absolutely eternal. For since light is always in existence, it is manifest
that its brightness also exists, because light is perceived to exist from the fact that it
shines, and it is impossible that light should not shine. And let us once more come to
illustrations. If the sun exists, there is also day; if nothing of this be manifest, it is
impossible that the sun should be there. If then the sun were eternal, the day would never
end; but now, for such is not really the state of the case, the day begins with the
beginning of the sun, and ends with its ending. But God is the eternal Light, which has
neither had a beginning, nor shall ever fail. Therefore the eternal brightness shines
forth before Him, and co-exists with Him, in that, existing without a beginning, and
always begotten, He always shines before Him; and He is that Wisdom which says, "I was
that wherein He delighted, and I was daily His delight before His face at all times."

And a little after he thus pursues his discourse from the same point:- 4. Since,
therefore, the Father is eternal, the Son also is eternal, Light of Light. For where there
is the begetter, there is also the offspring. And if there is no offspring, how and of
what can He be the begetter? But both are, and always are. Since, then, God is the Light,
Christ is the Brightness. And since He is a Spirit-for says He, "God is a Spirit"
-fittingly again is Christ called Breath; for "He," saith He, "is the breath of God's
power." And again he says:- 5. Moreover, the Son alone, always co-existing with the
Father, and filled with Him who is, Himself also is, since He is of the Father.

From the Same First Book.

6. But when I spoke of things created, and certain works to be considered, I hastily put
forward illustrations of such things, as it were little appropriate, when I said neither
is the plant the same as the husbandman, nor the boat the same as the boatbuilder. But
then I lingered rather upon things suitable and more adapted to the nature of the thing,
and I unfolded in many words, by various carefully considered arguments, what things were
more true; which things, moreover, I have set forth to you in another letter. And in these
things I have also proved the falsehood of the charge which they bring against me-to wit,
that I do not maintain that Christ is consubstantial with God. For although I say that I
have never either found or read this word in the sacred Scriptures, yet other reasonings,
which I immediately subjoined, are in no wise discrepant from this view, because I brought
forward as an illustration human offspring, which assuredly is of the same kind as the
begetter; and I said that parents are absolutely distinguished from their children by the
fact alone that they themselves are not their children, or that it would assuredly be a
matter of necessity that there would neither be parents nor children. But, as I said
before, I have not the letter in my possession, on account of the present condition of
affairs;

otherwise I would have sent you the very words that I then wrote, yea, and a copy of the
whole letter, and I will send it if at any time I shall have the opportunity. I remember,
further, that I added many similitudes from things kindred to one another. For I said that
the plant, whether it grows up from seed or from a root, is different from that whence it
sprouted, although it is absolutely of the same nature; and similarly, that a river
flowing from a spring takes another form and name: for that neither is the spring called
the river, nor the river the spring, but that these are two things, and that the spring
indeed is, as it were, the father, while the river is the water from the spring. But they
feign that they do not see these things and the like to them which are written, as if they
were blind; but they endeavour to assail me from a distance with expressions too
carelessly used, as if they were stones, not observing that on things of which they are
ignorant, and which require interpretation to be understood, illustrations that are not
only remote, but even contrary, will often throw light.

From the Same First Book.

7. It was said above that God is the spring of all good things, but the Son was called the
river flowing from Him; because the word is an emanation of the mind, and-to speak after
human fashion-is emitted from the heart by the mouth. But the mind which springs forth by
the tongue is different from the word which exists in the heart. For this latter, after it
has emitted the former, remains and is what it was before; but the mind sent forth flies
away, and is carried everywhere around, and thus each is in each although one is from the
other, and they are one although they are two. And it is thus that the Father and the Son
are said to be one, and to be in one another.

From the Second Book.

8. The individual haines uttered by me can neither be separated from one another, nor
parted. I spoke of the Father, and before I made mention of the Son I already signified
Him in the Father. I added the Son; and the Father, even although I had not previously
named Him, had already been absolutely comprehended in the Son. I added the Holy Spirit;
but, at the same time, I conveyed under the name whence and by whom He proceeded. But they
are ignorant that neither the Father, in that He is Father, can be separated from the Son,
for that name is the evident ground of coherence and conjunction; nor can the Son be
separated from the Father, for this word Father indicates association between them. And
there is, moreover, evident a Spirit who can neither be disjoined from Him who sends, nor
from Him who brings Him. How, then, should I who use such names think that these are
absolutely divided and separated the one from the other?

After a few words he adds:- 9. Thus, indeed, we expand the indivisible Unity into a
Trinity; and again we contract the Trinity, which cannot be diminished, into a Unity.

From the Same Second Book.

10. But if any quibbler, from the fact that I said that God is the Maker and Creator of
all things, thinks that I said that He is also Creator of Christ, let him observe that I
first called Him Father, in which word the Son also is at the same time expressed. For
after I called the Father the Creator, I added, Neither is He the Father of those things
whereof He is Creator, if He who begot is properly understood to be a Father (for we will
consider the latitude of this word Father in what follows). Nor is a maker a father, if it
is only a framer who is called a maker. For among the Greeks, they who are wise are said
to be makers of their books. The apostle also says, "a doer (scil. maker) of the law."
Moreover, of matters of the heart, of which kind are virtue and vice, men are called doers
(scil. makers); after which manner God said, "I expected that it should make judgment, but
it made iniquity."

11. That neither must this saying be thus blamed; for he says that he used the name of
Maker on account of the flesh which the Word had assumed, and which certainly was made.
But if any one should suspect that that had been said of the Word, even this also was to
be heard without contentiousness. For as I do not think that the Word was a thing made, so
I do not say that God was its Maker, but its Father. Yet still, if at any time,
discoursing of the Son, I may have casually said that God was His Maker, even this mode of
speaking would not be without defence. For the wise men among the Greeks call themselves
the makers of their books, although the same are fathers of their books. Moreover, divine
Scripture calls us makers of those motions which proceed from the heart, when it calls us
doers of the law of judgment and of justice.

From the Same Second Book.

12. In the beginning was the Word. But that was not the Word which produced the Word. For"
the Word was with God." The Lord is Wisdom; it was not therefore Wisdom that produced
Wisdom; for "I was that" says He, "wherein He delighted Christ is truth; but "blessed,"
says He, "is the God of truth."

From the Third Book.

13. Life is begotten of life in the same way as the river has flowed forth from the
spring, and the brilliant light is ignited from the inextinguishable light.

From the Fourth Book.

14. Even as our mind emits from itself a word, -as says the prophet, "My heart hath
uttered forth a good word," -and each of the two is distinct the one from the other, and
maintaining a peculiar place, and one that is distinguished from the other; since the
former indeed abides and is stirred in the heart, while the latter has its place in the
tongue and in the mouth. And yet they are not apart from one another, nor deprived of one
another; neither is the mind without the word, nor is the word without the mind; but the
mind makes the word and appears in the word, and the word exhibits the mind wherein it was
made. And the mind indeed is, as it were, the word immanent, while the word is the mind
breaking forth. The mind passes into the word, and the word transmits the mind to the
surrounding hearers; and thus the mind by means of the word takes its place in the souls
of the hearers, entering in at the same time as the word. And indeed the mind is, as it
were, the father of the word, existing in itself; but the word is as the son of the mind,
and cannot be made before it nor without it, but exists with it, whence it has taken its
seed and origin. In the same manner, also, the Almighty Father and Universal Mind has
before all things the Son, the Word, and the discourse, as the interpreter and messenger
of Himself.

About the Middle of the Treatise.

15. If, from the fact that there are three hypostases, they say that they are divided,
there are three whether they like it or no, or else let them get rid of the divine Trinity
altogether.

And Again:

For on this account after the Unity there is also the most divine Trinity.

The Conclusion of the Entire Treatise.

16. In accordance with all these things, the: form, moreover, and rule being received from
the elders who have lived before us, we also, with a voice in accordance with them, will
both acquit ourselves of thanks to you, and of the letter which we are now writing. And to
God the Father, and His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, be glory and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

CANON I.

1 Dionysius to Basilides, my beloved son, and my brother, a fellow-minister with me in
holy things, and an obedient servant of God, in the Lord greeting. 2 You have sent to me,
most faithful and accomplished son, in order to inquire what is the proper hour for
bringing the fast to a close on the day of Pentecost. For you say that there are some of
the brethren who hold that that should be done at cockcrow, and others who hold that it
should be at nightfall. For the brethren in Rome, as they say, wait for the cock; whereas,
regarding those here, you told us that they would have it earlier. And it is your anxious
desire, accordingly, to have the hour presented accurately, and determined with perfect
exactness, which indeed is a matter of difficulty and uncertainty. However, it will be
acknowledged cordially by all, that from the date of the resurrection of our Lord, those
who up to that time have been humbling their souls with fastings, ought at once to begin
their festal joy and gladness. But in what you have written to me you have made out very
clearly, and with an intelligent understanding of the Holy Scriptures, that no very exact
account seems to be offered in them of the hour at which He rose. For the evangelists have
given different descriptions of the parties who came to the sepulchre one after another,
and all have declared that they found the Lord risen already. It was "in the end of the
Sabbath," as Matthew has said; it was "early, when it was yet dark," as John writes; it
was "very early in the morning," as Luke puts it;

3 and it was "very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun," as Mark tells us. Thus
no one has shown us clearly the exact time when He rose. It is admitted, however, that
those who came to the sepulchre in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week, found Him no longer lying in it. And let us not suppose that the
evangelists disagree or contradict each other. But even although there may seem to be some
small difficulty as to the subject of our inquiry, if they all agree that the light of the
world, our Lord, rose on that one night, while they differ with respect to the hour, we
may well seek with wise and faithful mind to harmonize their statements. The narrative by
Matthew then, runs thus: "In the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And,
behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and
came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. And his countenance was like lightning,
and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as
dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye
seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.

4 Now this phrase "in the end" will be thought by some to signify, according to the common
use of the word, the evening: of the Sabbath; while others, with a better perception of
the fact, will say that it does not indicate that, but a late hour in the night, as the
phrase "in the end" denotes slowness and length of time. Also because he speaks of night,
and not of evening, he has added the words, "as it began to dawn toward the first day of
the week. And the parties here did not come yet, as the others say, "bearing spices," but
"to see the sepulchre; "and they discovered the occurrence of the earthquake, and the
angel sitting upon the stone, and heard from him the declaration, "He is not here, He is
risen. And to the same effect is the testimony of John. "The first day of the week," says
he, "came Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the
stone taken away from the sepulchre. Only, according to this "when it was yet dark," she
had come in advance. And Luke says: "They rested the Sabbath-day, according to the
commandment. Now, upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came
unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared; and they found the stone
rolled away from the sepulchre. This phrase "very early in the morning" probably indicates
the early dawn of the first day of the week;

5 and thus, when the Sabbath itself was wholly past, and also the whole night succeeding
it, and when another day had begun, they came, bringing spices and myrrh, and then it
became apparent that He had already risen long before. And Mark follows this, and says:
"They had bought sweet spices, in order that they might come and anoint Him. And very
early (in the morning), the first day of the week, they come unto the sepulchre at the
rising of the sun. For this evangelist also has used the term "very early," which is just
the same as the "very early in the morning" employed by the former; and he has added, "at
the rising of the sun. Thus they set out, and took their way first when it was "very early
in the morning," or (as Mark says) when it was "very early; "but on the road, and by their
stay at the sepulchre, they spent the time till it was sunrise. And then the young man
clad in white said to them, "He is risen, He is not here. As the case stands thus, we make
the following statement and explanation to those who seek an exact account of the specific
hour, or half-hour, or quarter of an hour, at which it is proper to begin their rejoicing
over our Lord's rising from the dead.

6 Those who are too hasty, and give up even before midnight, we reprehend as remiss and
intemperate, and as almost breaking off from their course in their precipitation, for it
is a wise man's word, "That is not little in life which is within a little. And those who
hold out and continue for a very long time, and persevere even on to the fourth watch,
which is also the time at which our Saviour manifested Himself walking upon the sea to
those who were then on the deep, we receive as noble and laborious disciples. On those,
again, who pause and refresh themselves in the course as they are moved or as they are
able, let us not press very hard: for all do not carry out the six days of fasting either
equally or alike; but some pass even all the days as a fast, remaining without food
through the whole; while others take but two, and others three, and others four, and
others not even one. And to those who have laboured painfully through these protracted
fasts. and have thereafter become exhausted and well-nigh undone, pardon ought to be
extended if they are somewhat precipitate in taking food.

7 But if there are any who not only decline such protracted fasting, but refuse at the
first to fast at all, and rather indulge themselves luxuriously during the first four
days, and then when they reach the last two days-viz., the preparation and the Sabbath-
fast with due rigour during these, and these alone, and think that they do something grand
and brilliant if they hold out till the morning, I cannot think that they have gone
through the time on equal terms with those who have been practising the same during
several days before. This is the counsel which, in accordance with my apprehension of the
question, I have offered you in writing on these matters.

CANON II.

The question touching women in the time of their separation, whether it is proper for them
when in such a condition to enter the house of God, I consider a superfluous inquiry. For
I do not think that, if they are believing and pious women, they will themselves be rash
enough in such a condition either to approach the holy table or to touch the body and
blood of the Lord. Certainly the woman who had the issue of blood of twelve years'
standing did not touch the Lord Himself, but only the hem of His garment, with a view to
her cure. For to pray, however a person may be situated, and to remember the Lord, in
whatever condition a person may be, and to offer up petitions for the obtaining of help,
are exercises altogether blameless. But the individual who is not perfectly pure both in
soul and in body, shall be interdicted from approaching the holy of holies.

CANON III.

Moreover, those who are competent, and who are advanced in years, ought to be judges of
themselves in these matters. For that it is proper to abstain from each other by consent,
in order that they may be free for a season to give themselves to prayer, and then come
together again, they have heard from Paul in his epistle.

CANON IV.

As to those who are overtaken by an involuntary flux in the night-time, let such follow
the testimony of their own conscience, and consider themselves as to whether they are
doubtfully minded in this matter or not. And he that doubteth in the matter of meats, the
apostle tells us, "is damned if he eat." In these things, therefore, let every one who
approaches God be of a good conscience, and of a proper confidence, so far as his own
judgment is concerned. And, indeed, it is in order to show your regard for us (for you are
not ignorant, beloved) that you have proposed these questions to us, making us of one
mind, as indeed we are, and of one spirit with yourself. And I, for my part, have thus set
forth my opinions in public, not as a teacher, but only as it becomes us with all
simplicity to confer with each other. And when you have examined this opinion of mine, my
most intelligent son, you will write back to me your notion of these matters, and let me
know whatever may seem to you to be just and preferable, and whether you approve of my
judgment in these things. That it may fare well with you, my beloved son, as you minister
to the Lord in peace, is my prayer.


EPISTLE 70
==========

EPISTLE 70 Council of Carthage (AD 257)

AD 257

A council of North African bishops under Cyprian.

EPISTLE 70

1 Cyprian, Liberalis, Caldonius, etc., to their brethren Januarius, etc. Greeting. 2 When
we were together in council, dear-est brethren, we read the letter which you addressed to
us respecting those who are thought to be baptized by heretics and schismatics, whether,
when they come to the one true Catholic Church, they ought to be baptized. Wherein,
although ye yourselves also hold the Catholic rule in its truth and fixedness, yet since,
out of our mutual affection, ye have thought good to consult us, we deliver not our
sentence as though new but, by a kindred harmony, we unite with you in that long since
settled by our predecessors, and observed by us; thinking, namely, and holding for
certain, that no one can be baptized without the Church, in that there is one Baptism
appointed in the holy Church, and it is written, the Lord himself speaking, "They have
forsaken me, the Fountain of living water, and hewed them out broken cisterns that can
hold no water." Again, holy Scripture admonishes us, and says, "Keep thee from the strange
water, and drink not from a fountain of strange water." The water then must first be
cleansed and sanctified by the priest, that it may be able, by Baptism therein, to wash
away the sins of the baptized, for the Lord says by the prophet Ezekiel, "Then will I
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and from
all your idols will I cleanse you; a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will
I put within you." But how can he cleanse and sanctify the water, who is himself unclean,
and with whom the Spirit is not? whereas the Lord says in Numbers, "And whatsoever the
unclean person toucheth shall be unclean." Or how can he that baptizeth give remission of
sins to another, who cannot himself free himself from his own sins, out of the Church?

3 Moreover, the very interrogatory which is put in Baptism, is a witness of the truth. For
when we say, "Dost thou believe ineternal life, and remission of sins through the holy
Church?" we mean, that remission of sins is not given, except in the Church; but that,
with heretics, where the Church is not, sins cannot be remitted. They, therefore, who
claim that heretics can baptize, let them either change the interrogatory, or maintain the
truth; unless indeed they ascribe a Church also to those who they contend have Baptism.
Anointed also must he of necessity be, who is baptized, that having received the chrism-
that is, unction, he may be the anointed of God, and have within him the grace of Christ.
Moreover, it is the Eucharist through which the baptized are anointed, the oil sanctified
on the altar. But he cannot sanctify the creature of oil, who has neither altar nor
church. Whence neither can the spiritual unction be with heretics, since it is
acknowledged that the oil cannot be sanctified nor the Eucharist celebrated among them.
But we ought to know and remember that it is written, "Let not the oil of a sinner anoint
my head;" which the Holy Ghost forewarned in the Psalms, lest any, quitting the track, and
wandering out of the path of truth, be anointed by heretics and adversaries of Christ.
Moreover, when baptized, what kind of prayer can a profane priest and a sinner offer? in
that it is written, "God heareth not a sinner; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and
doeth his will, him he heareth."

4 But who can give what himself hath not? or how can he perform spiritual acts, who hath
himself lost the Holy Spirit? Wherefore he is to be baptized and received, who comes
uninitiated to the Church, that within he may be hallowed through the holy; for it is
written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy, saith the Lord." So that he who has been seduced into
error and washed without should, in the true Baptism of the Church, put off this very
thing also; that he, a man coming to God, while seeking for a priest, fell, through the
deceit of error, upon one profane. But to acknowledge any case where they have baptized,
is to approve the baptism of heretics and schismatics. 5 For neither can part of what they
do be void and part avail. If he could baptize, he could also give the Holy Ghost. But if
he cannot give the Holy Ghost because, being set without, he is not with the Holy Ghost,
neither can he baptize any that cometh: for that there is both one Baptism, and one Holy
Ghost, and one Church, founded by Christ the Lord upon Peter, through an original and
principle of unity; so it results, that since all among them is void and false, nothing
that they have done ought to be approved by us. For what can be ratified and confirmed by
God, which they do whom the Lord calls his enemies and adversaries, propounding in his
Gospel, "He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not with me,
scattereth." And the blessed Apostle John also, keeping the commandments and precepts of
the Lord, has written in his Epistle, "Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come; even now
are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from
us, but were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued
with us." Whence we, too, ought to infer and consider, whether they who are the
adversaries of the Lord, and are called Antichrists, can give the grace of Christ.
Wherefore we who are with the Lord, and who hold the unity of the Lord, and according to
this vouchsafement administer his priesthood in the Church, ought to repudiate and reject
and account as profane, whatever his adversaries and Antichrists do; and to those who,
coming from error and wickedness, acknowledge the true faith of the one Church, we should
impart the reality of unity and faith by all the sacraments of Divine grace.

6 We bid you, dearest brethren, ever heartily farewell.


THE CANONS
==========

THE CANONS Council of Carthage (AD 257)

AD 257

A council of North African bishops under Cyprian.

THE CANONS

1 (Found in Beveridge, Synodicon, Tom. I., p. 365, and in Labbe and Cossart, Concilia,
Tom. I., col. 786.) When very many bishops were met together at Carthage on the Calends of
September from the province of Africa, Numidia and Mauritania, with the presbyters and
deacons (the greater part of the people being likewise present) and when the holy letters
of Jubaianus to Cyprian had been read, and Cyprian's answers to Jubaianus, concerning
heretical baptisms, as well as what the same Jubaianus afterwards wrote to Cyprian,
Cyprian said: Ye have heard, my dearly beloved colleagues, what our fellow bishop
Jubaianus has written to me, taking counsel of my littleness concerning the illicit and
profane baptisms of heretics, and the answer which I made him; being of the same opinion
as we have been on former occasions, that heretics coming to the Church should be baptized
and sanctified with the Church's baptism. Moreover there has been read to you also the
other letter of Jubaianus, in which answering for his sincere and pious devotion to our
letter, not only he agrees therewith but offered thanks that he has been so instructed by
it. It only remains therefore that we, each one of us, one by one, say what our mind is in
this matter, without condemning any one or removing any one from the right of communion
who does not agree with us.

2 For no one [of us ] has set himself up [to be] bishop [of bishops ], or attempted with
tyrannical dread to force his colleagues to obedience to him, since every bishop has, for
the license of liberty and power, his own will, and as he cannot be judged by another, so
neither can he judge another. But we await the judgment of our universal Lord, our Lord
Jesus Christ, who one and alone hath the power, both of advancing us in the governance of
his Church, and of judging of our actions [in that position]. [ The bishops then one by
one declared against heretical baptism. Last of all (col. 796)]: Cyprian, the Confessor
and Martyr of Carthage, said: The letter which was written to Jubaianus, my colleague,
most fully set forth my opinion, that heretics who, according to the evangelical and
apostolic witness, are called adversaries of Christ's and anti-Christs, when they come to
the Church, should be baptized with the one (unico) baptism of the Church, that they may
become instead of adversaries friends, and Christians instead of Antichrists.

Notes.

3 Zonaras. These are the opinions therefore of the fathers, which assembled in council
with the great Cyprian: but they do not apply to all heretics nor to all schismatics. For
the Second Ecumenical Council, as we have just said [i.e. in the Preface he has placed to
the acts of the synod. Vide L. and C., Conc., Tom. i., col. 801] makes an exception of
some heretics, and give its sanction to their reception without baptism, only requiring
their anointing with the holy chrism, and then anathematizing at the same time their own
and all heresies. Balsamon does not print the acts of the Council at all but only the
letter of St. Cyprian (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. I., col. 799.) I have not thought
it worth while to place here the remarks of the eighty-six bishops, wj mh anagkaiai, oia
mhde energousai, to quotequote Zonaras's words.Binius. The allusion here is to the decree
of Stephen, who was wont, according to the custom of his elders, to be styled "Bishop of
bishops," and because he had acrimoniously threatened excommunication to all not agreeing
with him.

4 On the disputed historical fact as to whether St. Cyprian died in or out of the
communion of the See of Rome the reader will do well to consult Puller, The Primitive
Saints and the See of Rome. I place here St. Cyprian's Seventieth Epistle in the Oxford
Translation (Epistle of St. Cyprian, pp. 232 et seqq.). This letter is ad. dressed to
Januarius, Satterninus, etc., and is headed in Beveridge's Synodicon "Canon I."


THE "MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO ST. PAUL'S LETTERS
================================================

THE "MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO ST. PAUL'S LETTERS Anonymous early writings

various dates

Short anonymous writings of the early Church, some from the East.

THE "MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO ST. PAUL'S LETTERS

1 [Translated by F.C. Burkitt] To the Galatians Galatians are Greeks. These accepted the
word of truth first from the apostle, but after his departure were tempted by false
apostles to turn to the law and circumcision. These the apostle recalls to the faith of
the truth, writing to them from Ephesus. To the Corinthians Corinthians are of Achaia. And
these similarly heard the word of truth from the apostle and were perverted variously by
false apostles, some by the wordy eloquence of philosophy, others brought in by the sect
of the Jewish law. These the apostle recalls to true evangelical wisdom, writing to them
from Ephesus by Timothy. To the Romans Romans are in the parts of Italy. These were
reached beforehand by false apostles, and under the name of our Lord Jesus Christ had been
brought in to the law and the prophets. These the apostle recalls to the true evangelical
faith, writing to them from Corinth.

2 To the Thessalonians Thessalonians are Macedonians, who having accepted the word of
truth persevered in the faith even in persecution from their fellow-citizens. Moreover,
also, they received not the things said by false apostles. These the apostle praises,
writing to them from Athens. To the Colossians Colossians ---- these also like the
Laodiceans are of Asia, and they had been reached beforehand by pseudo-apostles, nor did
the apostle himself come to them. But these also by a letter he corrects, for they had
heard the word from Archippus, who also accepted a ministry unto them. Therefore the
apostle already in custody writes to them from Ephesus. To the Philippians Philippians are
Macedonians. These having accepted the word of truth persevered in the faith, nor did they
receive false apostles. These the apostle praises, writing to them from Rome out of prison
by Epaphroditus. To Philemon To Philemon he sends a private letter for Onesimus his slave,
and writes to him from Rome out of prison.


THE "ANTI-MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO THE GOSPELS
==============================================

THE "ANTI-MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO THE GOSPELS Anonymous early writings

various dates

Short anonymous writings of the early Church, some from the East.

THE "ANTI-MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO THE GOSPELS

1 [Translated by Roger Pearse] Mark... Mark recorded, who was called Colobodactylus
because he had fingers that were too small for the height of the rest of his body. He
himself was the interpreter of Peter. After the death of Peter himself, the same man wrote
this gospel in the parts of Italy. Luke Indeed Luke was an Antiochene Syrian, a doctor by
profession, a disciple of the apostles: later however he followed Paul until his
martyrdom, serving the Lord blamelessly. He never had a wife, he never fathered children,
and died at the age of eighty-four, full of the Holy Spirit, in Boetia. Therefore ---
although gospels had already been written ---- indeed by Matthew in Judaea but by Mark in
Italy ---- moved by the Holy Spirit he wrote down this gospel in the parts of Achaia,
signifying in the preface that the others were written before his, but also that it was of
the greatest importance for him to expound with the greatest diligence the whole series of
events in his narration for the Greek believers, so that they would not be led astray by
the lure of Jewish fables, or, seduced by the fables of the heretics and stupid
solicitations, fall away from the truth. And so at once at the start he took up the
extremely necessary [story] from the birth of John, who is the beginning of the gospel,
the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, and was a companion in the perfecting of the
people, likewise in the introducing of baptism and a companion in martyrdom. Of this
disposition the prophet Malachi, one of the twelve, certainly makes mention. And indeed
afterwards the same Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Later the apostle John wrote the
Apocalypse on the island of Patmos, and then the Gospel in Asia.

2 John The Gospel of John was revealed and given to the churches by John while still in
the body, just as Papias of Hieropolis, the close disciple of John, related in the
exoterics, that is, in the last five books. Indeed he wrote down the gospel, while John
was dictating carefully. But the heretic Marcion, after being condemned by him because he
was teaching the opposite to him [John], was expelled by John. But he [Marcion] had
brought writings or letters to him [John] from the brothers which were in Pontus. The
translation was made from the text published by De Bruyne in Revue Bénédictine 40 (1928),
p.193ff. 1. The nickname means "stumpy finger." 2. Lit. sentiebat: he was thinking.


PASSION OF ST. SATURNINUS
=========================

PASSION OF ST. SATURNINUS Anonymous early writings

various dates

Short anonymous writings of the early Church, some from the East.

PASSION OF ST. SATURNINUS

On the Passion and Translation of Saint Saturninus, Bishop of the City of Toulouse and
Martyr

1 [By Andrew Eastbourne] [English translation of the critical text of P. Cabau, "OPVSCVLVM
DE PASSIONE AC TRANSLATIONE SANCTI SATVRNINI, EPISCOPI TOLOSANAE CIVITATIS ET MARTYRIS:
Édition et traduction provisoires," Mémoires de la Société archéologique du Midi de la
France 61 (2001) 59-77. Many of the notes are indebted to Cabau's.] We revere with due
admiration the most blessed sufferings of those who, as we have heard and believe (through
the good service of the fame that reports the information), have been sanctified by a
happy martyrdom. We honor with vigils, hymns and even solemn sacraments those days on
which they were crowned with [God's] gift after victory, striving as they bore witness to
the name of the Lord, and by their blessed death being reborn in the heavenly realms of
the same Lord, who helped them with his own power in their struggle—[and we do this] so
that we may ask for their protection and support before the Lord by praying, and deserve
it by honoring [them]. With what solemnity, then, shall we revere, with what joy shall we
observe that day, on which the most blessed Saturninus, bishop of the city of Toulouse and
martyr, earned in that same city a double crown (as God is my witness)—the rank of bishop
and the honor of martyrdom—so that his suffering sanctified one whose life had already
made him worthy of reverence!

2 At that time (after the bodily coming of the Savior) the true Sun of Righteousness had
risen in the darkness and had begun to illuminate the Western districts—for gradually,
little by little, the sound of the Gospels went out into the whole world, and the
preaching of the Apostles in its slow advance shone forth in our regions. A few churches
were being built in some cities, through the devotion of a small number of Christians,
while numerous temples in all places were sending up the disgusting smoke [of sacrifices],
through the lamentable error of the pagans. Then (truly quite a long time ago, that is,
during the consulship of Decius and Gratus, as the faithful report tells), the city of
Toulouse had received Saturninus as its first and supreme priest of Christ. By his faith
and virtue, the oracles of those demons who were worshipped in this same city began to
cease; their fabrications were laid bare; their machinations uncovered; all their power
among the pagans, all their deceit, began to decrease, as the faith of the Christians
increased. Since the aforementioned bishop, in his going to and from the church, which was
quite small at that time, often went past the Capitol, which was between his house and the
house of God, the deceitful crowd of demons was not able to stand the holy man's presence;
and the statues (mute as they were), overshadowed by no apparitions, remained in silence
[as their only response] to the impious worship and the customary prayers of those who
came to consult them.

3 All the priests of impious superstition, disturbed by the novelty of such a great thing,
began to ask themselves whence this muteness (not usual for such a long time) had suddenly
come upon their gods, and who had shut their ever-babbling mouths, so that they, not moved
by the prayers of those who called upon them, nor charmed by the shed blood of bulls and
so many sacrifices, refused to give any response to those who consulted them—[were they]
angry or absent? They heard from a certain enemy of our religion that some sect hostile to
pagan superstition had arisen, which was called Christian, and that it was striving to
destroy their gods; also, the bishop of this faith was Saturninus, who passed by the
Capitol frequently—it was at the sight of this man that the mouths of their gods were
terrified and fell silent; they could not easily be re-opened unless an accelerated death
took that bishop away.

4 Oh unhappy error and blind madness! They heard that the man was a terror to their own
gods, and that the demons went into exile from their temples and their habitations when he
passed by. Not only did they hear—they also understood! And they would prefer to kill this
man, who was terrifying to the idols they worshipped even without making any threats,
rather than to honor him. Miserable people—who did not consider that they ought to worship
no one more than him whose servant had given orders to their own divinities! For what is
more foolish than to fear those who are afraid, and not to fear that one who rules over
the rulers? In the midst of this eager questioning and astonishment, as little by little a
great multitude of people had gathered and they were all eagerly wanting to find out
something certain regarding all this talk, and (a bull having been prepared as a victim)
they were desiring either to bring their gods back or propitiate them, by the sacrifice of
such a tremendous victim—see! the holy Saturninus himself, coming to a solemn service, was
recognized by one of that malicious crowd, who said: "Look! the adversary of our worship
himself, the standard-bearer of the new religion, who preaches the destruction of temples,
who despises our gods by calling them demons, whose constant presence, finally, prevents
us from obtaining oracles! And so, since the end he deserves has presented the very man to
us at the opportune time, let us take vengeance for the injury to ourselves and to our
gods at the same time! And now, through our compulsion, may he either be pleasing to them,
by sacrificing, or make them joyful, by dying!"

5 With the urging of such an impious voice, the whole crowd of lunatics surrounded the
holy man and, once a priest and two deacons who had accompanied him had fallen away in
flight, he was brought alone to the Capitol. As they were trying to force him to sacrifice
to the demons, he bore witness in a clear voice: "I know only one God, the true God. I
will offer to him the sacrifice of praise. I know that your gods are demons; and you honor
them (in vain) not so much by the sacrifice of cattle as by the deaths of your own souls.
Now, how is it that you want me to fear those by whom, as I hear, you say I am feared?" At
these words of the holy bishop, the whole boisterous, impious multitude was inflamed, and
used that bull, which had been prepared as a sacrificial victim, in the service of their
savagery, tying a rope around its flanks and leaving it loose in back: they bound the holy
man's feet with the end of the rope that was hanging down behind the bull, and drove the
bull with rather sharp blows to rush down from the upper part of the Capitol onto the
plain. Without delay, during the first part of the descent of that slope, his head having
been dashed [against the rocks], his brain having been scattered, and his body having been
mangled in every part, his soul, worthy of God, was received by Christ—so that after the
victory he [i.e., Christ] might crown with his own laurels [the soul] that pagan fury had
wrenched out with torments while he was fighting faithfully for Christ's name.

6 The dead body, however, now exposed to no one's affronts, was led by the bull in its
frenzy to that place where, the rope having snapped in two, it received burial in a mound
at that time. For since at that time the Christians themselves were afraid to bury the
body of the holy man, on account of the pagans' agitation, only two women, overcoming the
weakness of their sex by the power of their faith, braver than all the men, and encouraged
by the example of their bishop, I believe, to endure martyrdom, put the body of the
blessed man into a wooden coffin and, after making deep trenches, placed it as far
underground as possible. And so, they seemed not so much to be burying the sacred remains
(so worthy of reverence in their eyes) as to be hiding them, for fear that people of
impious mind, perchance, if they saw any honors being paid to the buried body's grave,
might immediately dig up the body and tear it to pieces, and even take away the modest
tomb. But the Lord took up his martyr in peace—to him belong honor and glory, power and
might for ever and ever. Amen.

7 The body of the martyr remained for a certain amount of time under the common turf, not
honored by any [human being], but honored by God—until Saint Hilarius, ordained bishop in
the city of Toulouse much later, learned about the death and merit of his predecessor, had
the earth dug up as far as the wooden coffin itself. Since he was afraid to move the holy
remains, he carefully had a vault built above it with many bricks, and to a place of
prayer of the same size, he added a quite small basilica made of ordinary
timber[8]—keeping the body hidden, of course, so that faithless people would not dig it up
and rip it apart. As time wore on, the remains of many people who were departing from the
world were faithfully brought to this little basilica, for comfort, on account of the body
of the martyr resting there; and the whole place was filled with a great number of
interred bodies. Then the bishop, Saint Silvius, who had attained the episcopacy of the
aforementioned city, was preparing a beautiful and fine-looking basilica at great cost, in
order to transfer the remains of the venerable martyr there—but he departed from the world
before the completion of the work he had begun.

8 After his death, Saint Exuperius, who had been elected into the highest priesthood—a man
entirely free of [the desire to do] harm to any of his forebears, entirely free of envy
towards any of those who were seen to be ruling the churches at that time; not only second
to none, but even worthy of comparison with the blessed martyr himself, in the merits of
his virtues—most industriously completed the basilica that his predecessor had faithfully
begun, and auspiciously dedicated it. While he was hesitating to transfer the remains of
the holy martyr there—not for any disbelief of his own, but for the honor of that man
himself—he was admonished in a dream not to neglect faithlessly what he had believed
faithfully: no injury was done to spirits either by the diminution of their ashes or the
transportation of their bodies, since it was a manifest fact that what had fostered the
salvation of believers was [also] conducive to the honor of martyrs. Straightway,
bolstered by such a vision, he sent a request to the pious emperors[10]—and without any
delay, attained what he had asked so devoutly, so that the remains of the holy man, [now]
transferred to the basilica that had been prepared with all zeal, would not be violated by
reckless audacity, but rather honored by the deference of one who showed quite attentive
reverence.

9 Now as to what remains for this little work: Let all who read it, let all who hear it,
understand that the source of our salvation stands in faith; and that the Lord did not
without reason say in the words of the Gospel: "Do you believe this?"—and when the answer
was given, "I believe," he said: "Let it be done for you according to your faith"—not
because the Lord, who examines the heart and mind, was ignorant of that their state of
belief, but in order to remind us not to believe doubtfully what is said about the Lord's
virtues, or [believe doubtfully] in what we ask to be granted to us. For this reason the
Savior himself said about such men: "If you carry out my will, I shall no longer call you
servants, but friends"; and the same [Savior] bore witness through the voice of the
prophet: "To me, however, your friends are greatly honored, O God"; and again: "These are
the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, who have washed their robes in the
blood of the Lamb, who follow the Lamb"[15]—about their blessedness it was said: "Planted
in the house of the Lord, they flourished in the courts of our God"; and again: "Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints"; and again: "The saints will exult in
glory, they will rejoice in their beds"; and again: "This glory belongs to all his
saints." To them, it was granted not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for
Christ and be with Christ immediately after the dissolution of their bodies.

10 Let us not neglect the friends of God and the well-beloved of God as being dead;
rather, let us honor them as living—for it is certain, by indubitable faith, that if we
should faithfully request their favor, we shall happily feel their support, because even
if their enthusiasm ceased, he would supply our desires, [he] who not only examines
present thoughts, but also knows future thoughts. When requests are made to him in his own
[people], he understands that he [himself] is being honored. Under the reign of our Lord
Jesus Christ, to whom belong honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. [1]Translated by
Andrew Eastbourne, commissioned by Roger Pearse, September 2013. This translation is
public domain: copy freely for any purpose, personal, educational or commercial. Lat.
passiones—frequently implying (as here) specifically martyrdom; the English word "passion"
(cf. e.g. Christ's "passion) derives from the Latin term. The original meaning of the
Latin term (sollemnis)—"celebrated yearly at a set time"—is probably at least partly in
view here; i.e., not only are the celebrations of the martyrs full of religious feeling,
they are also annually recurring.

11 A.D. 250. I.e., bishop. Lat. reliquiae—the origin of the Eng. word "relics." Probably
in the late mid-4 cen. Or, "cheap materials" (Lat. vilibus tignis). Probably in the late 4
cen. Honorius and Arcadius; this event took place sometime in the first decade of the 5
cen, when Exuperius is attested as bishop of Toulouse. Mt. 9:28-29. Lit., "heart and
kidneys." Jn. 15:14-15. Ps. 139:17. Rev. 7:14; 14:4. Ps. 92:14. Ps. 116:15. Ps. 149:5. Ps.
149:9. Lat. dum rogatur in suis—i.e., when he is asked through his own [saints]. This
phrase (Lat. regnante...Christo), apious parody of secular dating formulas, and is found
in a number of martyrdom accounts.


THE WESTERN TEXT OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, TRANSLATED FROM CODEX BEZAE
============================================================

THE WESTERN TEXT OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, TRANSLATED FROM CODEX BEZAE Codex Bezae
(Western text of Acts)

5th-century manuscript

The longer “Western” form of the Acts of the Apostles, as read in Codex Bezae, translated
into English.

II. NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION THAT FOLLOWS

1 The sole object of publishing this translation of the Greek text of so much of the Acts
of the Apostles as has survived in the Codex Bezae is to enable the English reader to form
a judgment, based on internal and literary evidence alone, as to the relation between the
original source of this text, and that of the shorter text from which our A.V. and R.V.
are translated. It is my belief that a careful examination of it will do more than suggest
to the reader as possible, it will convince him of the fact, that we have before us traces
of the revision of a work by the author himself, the words in thick type being struck by
him out of his first draft, and the words in square brackets introduced. The other
argument, based on external and historical evidence, pointing to the same conclusion, is
also briefly alluded to in the Introduction.

2 This being the sole object of the translation, it will, I hope, be understood that this
is not a critical collation of texts, and deals with no other critical question. Many
obvious errors of transcription in the MS. are tacitly corrected. In some rewritten
passages the whole is in thick type though parts of them appear in the ordinary text. The
reader is assumed to have the R.V. open before him, or in his memory. The translation is
in general that of the R.V. or its margin. I have, in a word, endeavoured to put before
the English reader the purely literary question----revision by author or interpolation by
copyist----in a form at once fair and simple and readable. The translation was made partly
from Kipling's facsimile in folio, and completed and revised from Scrivener's very careful
transcription. I fear that some errors will have been made or escaped correction, and I
shall be truly grateful to anyone who will send me a note of them.

CHAPTER I.

1 The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and
to teach, until the day in which he was received up, after that he had given commandment
through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom he had chosen, and ordered to proclaim the
gospel: to whom he also shewed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing
unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of
God: and, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which ye heard, saith he, from my
mouth: for John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit,
and which ye are about to receive after these not many days until the Pentecost. They
therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time
restore the kingdom of Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or
seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority. But ye shall receive power,
when the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and
in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had said
these things, [as they were looking], a cloud received him, and he was taken away out of
their sight. And while they were looking stedfastly into heaven as he went, behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
looking into heaven? this Jesus, which was received up from you [into heaven], shall so
come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

2 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto
Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey off. And when they were come in, they went up into the
upper chamber, where they were abiding; both Peter and John, [and] James and Andrew,
Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alphaeus, [and] Simon the Zealot, and
Judas of James. These all with one accord continued stedfastly in prayer, with the women
and children, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and [with] his brethren. And in these days
Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said (for there was a multitude of
persons together about a hundred and twenty), Men and brethren, it was needful that this
scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spake before by the mouth of David
concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered among us, and
received his portion in this ministry. Now this man obtained a field with the reward of
his iniquity; and falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels
gushed out. And it became known to all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch that in their
language that field was called Akeldamach, that is, The field of blood.

3 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no
man dwell therein: And his overseership let another take. Of the men therefore which have
companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus Christ went in and went out among us,
beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up from us, of these
must one become a witness with us of his resurrection. And he put forward two, Joseph
called Barnabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou,
Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew of these two the one whom thou hast
chosen, to take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas fell away,
that he might go to his own place. And they gave lots for them; and the lot fell upon
Matthias; and he was numbered with the twelve apostles.

CHAPTER II.

1 And it came to pass in those days of the fulfilment of the day of the Pentecost, when
they were all [together] in one place, and, behold, suddenly there came from heaven a
sound as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire: and they sat upon
each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. [Now] there were dwelling in Jerusalem
Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound took place, the
multitude came together, and were confounded; and each one heard them speaking in their
own tongues. And they were [all] amazed and marvelled, saying to one another, Behold are
not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we each one our own language wherein we
were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judaea and
Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya
about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we
do hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God. And they were all amazed,
and were perplexed, one with another, about what had taken place, and saying What meaneth
this? but others mocking said, They are filled with new wine.

2 But then Peter, standing up with the ten apostles, lifted up his voice first, and said,
Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto us, [and] give
ear unto my words. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but the third
hour of the day: but this is that which hath been spoken by the prophet [Joel]: [And] it
shall be in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh;
And their sons and their daughters shall prophesy, And the young men shall see visions,
And the old men shall dream dreams; [yea] and on my servants and on my hand maidens [in
those days] I will pour out of my Spirit; [And they shall prophesy]. And I will shew
wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath,

3 [blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke]. the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood, before the day of the Lord come, that great [and notable day]. And it
shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of
Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto us by mighty works
and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves
know; him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God, ye
took, and by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay; whom God raised up, having
loosed the pains of Hades, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For
David saith concerning him, I beheld my Lord always before my face; For he is on my right
hand, that I should not be moved;

4 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; Moreover my flesh also shall dwell
in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One
to see corruption. Thou madest known unto me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of
gladness with thy countenance. Men and brethren, I may say unto you freely of the
patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day.
Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the
fruit of his heart according to the flesh he would raise up the Christ, and set him upon
his throne: [he foreseeing this spake] of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was
he left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus therefore did God raise up,
whereof we all are witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having
received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth upon you this,
which ye both see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens; for he said himself

5 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies The
footstool of thy feet. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made [him]
both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified. Then all who had come together, when
they heard this, were pricked in their heart, and some of them said to Peter and the [rest
of the] apostles, Men and brethren, what therefore shall we do? Shew us. And Peter saith
unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ unto the Remission of [your] sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. For to us is the promise, and to our children, and to all that are afar off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. And with many other words he testified,
and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. They then that
believed his word were baptized; and there were added [unto them] in that day about three
thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching in Jerusalem, and
the fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and the prayers. And fear came upon every
soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles. And all that believed were
together, and had all things common; and as many as had possessions or goods sold them,
and parted them day by day to all those who had need. And all continued stedfastly [with
one accord], in the temple, and in their homes together breaking bread they did take their
food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the
world. And the Lord added [to them] those that were being saved day by day together in the
Church.

CHAPTER III.

1 Now in those days Peter and John were going up into the temple in the evening at the
ninth hour, that of prayer. And, behold, a certain man, that was lame from his mother's
womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called
Beautiful, to ask alms of them that were entering into the temple. He fixing steadily his
eyes, and seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked alms from them. And
Peter, looking on him, with John, said, Look steadily on us. And he looked steadily on
them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, Silver and gold have I
none; but what I have, that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and raised him up. And immediately he stood; and his
feet and ankle-bones received strength. And leaping up, he stood, and walked rejoicing,
and entered with them into the temple [walking, and leaping, and] praising God: And all
the people saw him walking and praising God. And they took knowledge of him, that it was
he which sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with
wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

2 And as Peter and John went out, he went out with them, and held them: and [all the
people ran together unto them and] were standing astonished in the porch that is called
Solomon's, greatly wondering. But Peter answering said unto them: Ye men of Israel, why
marvel ye at this? or why fasten ye your eyes on us, as though by our own power or
godliness we had done this thing that he should walk? The God of Abraham and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified his servant Jesus
Christ, whom ye delivered up to judgment, and denied him before the face of Pilate, when
he had judged and wished to release him. But ye oppressed the Holy and Righteous One, and
asked for a murderer to be granted unto you. And ye killed the Prince of life; whom God
raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And by faith in his name ye behold this
man and know that his name made him strong, and the faith which is by him hath given him
this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, men and brethren, we know that
ye did a wicked thing in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But the things which God
foreshewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath thus
fulfilled.

3 Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there
may come seasons of refreshing from the face of the Lord; and that he may send the Christ
who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heaven must receive until the times
of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets [which
have been since the world began. Moses indeed said unto our fathers, A prophet shall the
Lord your God raise up unto you of our brethren; to him like unto myself shall ye hearken
in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you. And it shall be, that every soul, which
shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Yea,
and all the prophets, from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken,
they also told of these days. Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which
God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of
the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless
you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.

CHAPTER IV.

1 And as they spake these words unto the people, the priests and [the captain of the
temple] and the Sadducees came upon them, being sore troubled because they taught the
people, and proclaimed Jesus in the resurrection of the dead. And they laid hands on them,
and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was now eventide. But many of them that heard
the word believed; and the number also of the men came to be about five thousand. And it
came to pass on the day of the morrow, that the rulers and elders and Scribes were
gathered together in Jerusalem; and Annas the high-priest, and Caiaphas, and Jonathas and
Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high-priest. And when they had set
them in the midst, they inquired, By what power, or in what name, have ye done this? Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of
Israel, if we this day are examined by you concerning a good deed done to an impotent man,
by what means this man is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of
Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, in him doth this man stand here before you whole. He is the stone which was
set at nought of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner. And in none
other is there [salvation], for there is none other name under heaven given to men,
wherein we must be saved.

2 Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were
unlearned [and ignorant] men, they marvelled; but they took knowledge of them, that they
had been with Jesus. [And] seeing the man that was healed standing with them, they could
do or say nothing against it. [But] when they had commanded that they should be led out of
the Council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? for
that indeed a notable sign hath been wrought through them is more than manifest to all
that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. [But] that it spread no further among the
people, let us threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And when
they had agreed to this decision they called them, and charged them not to speak [at all]
nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it
be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we
cannot [but] speak the things which we saw and heard. And they, when they had further
threatened them, let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the
people; for all men glorified God for that which was done. For the man was more than forty
years old, on whom this sign of healing was wrought.

3 And being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief
priests and the elders had said unto them. And they, when they heard it, and recognised
the working of God, lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, O Lord, thou
the God that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is: who
by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of [our father] David thy servant didst say, Why did the
Gentiles rage, And the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves
in array, And the rulers were gathered together, Against the Lord, and against his
Anointed: For of a truth in this city, against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst
anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate were gathered together with the Gentiles and the
peoples of Israel, to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel foreordained to come to pass.
And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word
with all boldness, while thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal, and that signs and
wonders may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed,
the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together: and they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness, to every man who wished to
believe.

4 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul, and there was no
distinction at all among them: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the
apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; and great grace was
upon them all. For neither was there among them any that lacked; for as many as were
possessed of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were
sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto each one
according as any one had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas,
(which is, being interpreted, Son of Exhortation), a Cyprian Levite by race, having a
field sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

CHAPTER V.

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and kept back
part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid
it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said to Ananias, Why hath Satan filled thy heart to
lie to the Holy Spirit, to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained,
did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold was it not in thy power? How is it that
thou hast conceived in thy heart to do this wicked thing? thou hast not lied unto men but
unto God. And when he heard these words Ananias immediately fell down and gave up the
ghost, and great fear came upon all that heard it. And the young men arose and wrapped him
round, and they carried him out and buried him.

2 And it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was
done, came in. And Peter said to her I will further ask you if verily ye sold the land for
so much. She then said, Yea, for so much. But Peter (said) unto her, How is it that ye
have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have
buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out. And she fell down
immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost. And the young men came in, and found her
dead; and having wrapped her round they carried her out, and buried her by her husband.
And great fear fell upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things. And by
the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; and they
were all with one accord in the temple in Solomon's porch. But of the rest durst no one
join himself to them; howbeit the people magnified them. And were the more added to them,
believing on the Lord, multitudes both of men and women: insomuch that they [even] carried
out their sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that, as Peter came
by, at the least his shadow might overshadow some one of them. For they were set free from
every sickness which each one of them had. And there came [also] together into Jerusalem a
multitude from the cities round about, bringing sick folk, and them that were vexed with
unclean spirits: and all were cured.

3 But the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him which is the sect of the
Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy; and laid hands on the apostles, and put
them in public ward: and each one of them went to his own home. Then by night an angel of
the Lord opened the doors of the prison, and brought them out, and said, Go and stand and
speak in the temple to the people all the words of this Life. And when they heard this,
they entered into the temple about day break, and taught. But the high priest came, and
they that were with him, having been roused early, and called the council together, and
all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But
the officers having come and opened the prison found them not within; and they returned,
and told, saying, The prison-house we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing
at the doors; but when we had opened we found no man within. Now when the captain of the
temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were much perplexed concerning them
whereunto this would grow. And there came one and told them, Behold the men whom ye put in
the prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people. Then went the captain with
the officers, and brought them [not] with violence: for they feared the people, lest they
should be stoned.

4 And when they had brought them they set them before the Council. And the [high] priest
asked them, saying, Did we not straitly charge you not to teach in this name? And, behold,
ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and wish to bring that man's blood upon us.
But Peter [and the apostles answered and] said to them, We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree. Him did God
exalt for his glory [with his right hand], to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give
repentance to Israel, and remission of sins in him. And we are witnesses of all these
things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him. 5 But they,
when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and were minded to slay them. But there stood
up one of the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in honour of
all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little while. And he said to the
rulers and those of the council, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves as touching
these men, what ye are about to do. For before these days rose up Theudas, giving himself
out to be somebody great: to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves;
who was slain by himself, and all as many as obeyed him, and came to nought. After this
man rose up Judas of Galilee, in the days of the enrolment, and drew away much people
after him: he also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad. And
now, brethren; I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone, not defiling
your hands; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown; but if it
is of God, ye will not be able to hinder them: neither you nor kings nor tyrants: keep
away therefore from these men, lest haply ye be found fighting against God. And to him
they agreed: and when they had called the apostles unto them, they beat them, and charged
them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles therefore departed
from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
dishonour for the Name. And every day, in the temple and at home they ceased not to teach
and preach the Lord Jesus as the Christ.

CHAPTER VI.

1 Now in these days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a
murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in
the daily ministration, in the ministration of the Hebrews. [And] the twelve called the
multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not pleasing to us that we should
leave the word of God, and minister to tables. What is it then, brethren? Look ye out
[therefore] from among you seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom,
whom we will appoint over this business: but we will continue stedfastly in prayer, and in
the ministry of the word. And this saying pleased the whole multitude of the disciples;
and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and
Prochorus, and Nicor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch. These
were set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And
the word of the Lord increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem
exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen,
full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people, through the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there arose certain of them that were of the Synagogue
called the Synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and
of them of Cilicia [and Asia] disputing with Stephen.

2 And they were not able to withstand the wisdom that was in him, and the Holy Spirit with
which he spake, because they were confuted by him with all boldness. Being unable
therefore to face the truth then they suborned men which said, We have heard him speak
blasphemous words against Moses, and against God, And they stirred up the people, and the
elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and seized him, and brought him into the
Council; and set up false witnesses against him, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak
words against the holy place, and the law: for we have heard him say that this Jesus of
Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto
us. And all that sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had
been the face of an angel standing in the midst of them.

CHAPTER VII.

1 And the high priest said to Stephen, Is this thing so? And he said Men, brethren and
fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in
Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and
from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came Abraham out of
the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Haran; and there he was after the death of his
father. And (God) removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell, and our fathers who
were before us. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot
on: but he promised that he would give it him in possession, and his seed after him, when
as yet he had no child. And God spake on this wise to him, that his seed should sojourn in
a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil, four
hundred years. And the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God,
and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. And he gave him the
covenant of circumcision. And so he begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and
Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. And the patriarchs, moved with
jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt;

2 and God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour
and wisdom before Pharaoh, King of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his
house. Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction; and our
fathers found no sustenance. When therefore Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he
sent forth our fathers the first time. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his
brethren, and Joseph's race became manifest unto Pharaoh. And Joseph sent, and called to
him Jacob his father and all his kindred, three score and fifteen souls. And Jacob went
down into Egypt; and he died, himself, and our fathers. And they were carried over unto
Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of
Emmor of Shechem. But as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God promised unto
Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till there arose another king [over
Egypt] which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtilly with our race, and evil entreated
the fathers, that they should cast out their babes to the end they might not live.

3 At which season Moses was born, and was exceeding fair; and he was nourished three
months in his father's house. And when he was cast out by the riverside, Pharaoh's
daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was instructed in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and works. But when he was
full forty years old it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
And seeing one of his race suffering wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was
oppressed, smiting the Egyptian, and he hid him in the sand; and he supposed that his
brethren understood how that God by his hand was giving them deliverance; but they
understood not. And then on the day following he appeared unto them as they strove, and
saw them doing injustice, and would have set them at one again, saying, What are ye doing,
men and brethren? why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong
thrust him away saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wouldest thou kill me
as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday? Thus also Moses fled at this saying, and became a
sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.

4 And after these things, when forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared
to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. And when Moses saw
it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, the Lord spake to him saying,
I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold. And a voice came to him, Loose the shoes
from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. I have surely seen the
affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come
down to deliver them: and now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 5 This Moses whom they
refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us, him hath God sent to be both a
ruler and a redeemer with the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. This
man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in
the wilderness forty years. This is [that] Moses, which said unto the children of Israel,
A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, as he raised up me: hear
him. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him
in the mount Sinai, and of our fathers; who received living oracles to give unto us:
because our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in
their hearts unto Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods which shall go before us: for as
for this Moses, which led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of
him. And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and
rejoiced in the works of their hands. But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host
of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, Did ye offer unto me slain beasts
and sacrifices, forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

6 And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god Remphan, the figures
which ye made to worship them; and I will carry you away into the parts of Babylon. The
tabernacle of the testimony was with our fathers in the wilderness, even as he appointed
who spake unto Moses that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen.
Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered on the
possession of the nations, which God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the
days of David; who found favour in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for
the house of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in
houses made with hands, as saith the prophet, The heaven is my throne, and the earth the
footstool of my feet. What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or of what
sort is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things? Ye stiffnecked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did,
so do ye. Which of the prophets did not they persecute? and they killed them which shewed
before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and
murderers; ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.

7 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him
with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven,
and saw the glory of God, and Jesus the Lord, standing on the right hand of God: and said,
Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. But
they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one
accord; and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down
their garments at the feet of a certain young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen
calling upon [the Lord] and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down,
and cried with a loud voice, saying, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge; and when he
had said this, he fell asleep.

CHAPTER VIII.

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And there arose on that day a great persecution
and affliction against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered
abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles, who remained in
Jerusalem. And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him. But Saul
laid waste the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them
to prison. 2 They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word. And
Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ. And, when
they heard, all the multitudes gave heed unto the things which were spoken by Philip with
one accord when they heard and saw the signs which he did. For from many of those which
had unclean spirits they came out crying with a loud voice, and many that were palsied
[and that were] lame were healed. And there was much joy in that city. But there was a
certain man, Simon by name, which beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the
people of Samaria, giving out that he himself was some great one; to whom they all gave
heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the power of God which is called
Great. And they gave heed to him, because that of long time he had amazed them with his
sorceries. But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of
God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. And Simon also
himself believed, and was baptized, and he continued with Philip; and beholding signs and
great miracles wrought, he was amazed. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John; who when
they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit:

3 for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Then laid they their hands upon them, and they received the Holy
Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Spirit was given, he brought them money, exhorting them and saying, Give me also this
power, that on whomsoever I also lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter
said unto him, Thy silver perish with thee, because thou hast thought to obtain the gift
of God with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not
right before God. Repent therefore from this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord if perhaps
the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee: for I see that thou art in the gall of
bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And Simon answered and said to them I beseech you
pray ye for me to God that none of these evils of which ye have spoken come upon me. And
he ceased not to shed many tears.

4 They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to
Jerusalem, and preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. But an angel of the
Lord spake unto Philip saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down
from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of
Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, a certain queen of the Ethiopians,
who had the charge of all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem for to worship: and he
was returning and sitting in his chariot [and was] reading the prophet Isaiah. And the
Spirit said unto Philip... Here eight leaves of the Codex are wanting, including from
viii. 29 to x. 14 in Greek, and viii. 20 to x. 4 in Latin. The Latin text, d, follows a
from x. 4 to x. 14.

CHAPTER X.

1 ...anything that is common or unclean and called unto him again the second time, What
God hath cleansed, make not thou common. And this was done thrice: and [straight way] the
vessel was received up again into heaven. Now when he came to himself Peter doubted what
this vision which he had seen should mean: and, behold the men that were sent from
Cornelius, having made enquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate, and called and
asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter thought
on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold [three] men seek thee. But arise, and get
thee down, and go with them nothing doubting; for I have sent them. Then Peter went down
to the men and said, Behold I am he whom ye seek. What do you wish? or what is the cause
wherefore ye are come? And they said to him, A certain Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous
man, and one that feareth God, and well reported of by all the nation of the Jews, was
warned by a holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words from thee. Then
Peter led them in and lodged them.

2 And on the morrow he arose and went forth with them, and certain of the brethren from
Joppa accompanied him. And on the morrow he entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius was
expecting them, and having called together his kinsmen and his near friends he was waiting
for them. And as Peter was drawing near to Caesarea one of the servants ran forward and
announced that he was come. And Cornelius sprang up and met him, and fell down at his
feet, and worshipped him. But Peter raised him up saying What art thou doing? I myself
also am a man as thou also art. And [as he talked with him] he went in, and found many
come together. And he said unto them, Ye yourselves know very well how that it is an
unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to join himself or come unto one that is of another
nation: and unto me hath God shewed that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Wherefore also I came without gainsaying when I was sent for by you. I ask therefore with
what intent ye sent for me. And Cornelius said, From the third day until this hour I was
fasting, and keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house, and behold, a man stood before
me in bright apparel, and saith, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in
remembrance in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and call unto thee Simon, who is
surnamed Peter; he lodgeth in the house of Simon a tanner by the seaside. He when he
cometh shall speak unto thee. Forthwith therefore I sent to thee exhorting thee to come
unto us; and thou hast well done that thou hast come with speed. Now therefore we all in
thy sight are wishing to hear from thee that which has been commanded thee by God.

3 And Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of
persons; but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable
to him. For the word which he sent unto the children of Israel, preaching good tidings of
peace by Jesus Christ, (he is Lord of all), ye know that [saying] which took place
throughout all Judaea; for beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached,
even Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went
about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
And we are his witnesses of [all] the things which he did both in the country of the Jews,
and in Jerusalem; whom also they slew, hanging him on a tree. Him God raised up after the
third day, and gave him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but unto witnesses
that were chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him, and companied
with him, after he rose from the dead for forty days. And he charged us to preach unto the
people, and to testify that this is he which is ordained of God to be the Judge of quick
and dead. To him bear all the prophets witness, that through his name every one that
believeth on him shall receive remission of sins.

4 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they
heard them speak with uncertain tongues and magnify God. And Peter said, Can any man
forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Spirit
as well as we? Then he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then they besought him to remain with them certain days.

CHAPTER XI.

1 Now it was heard by the apostles and the brethren that were in Judaea that the Gentiles
also had received the word of God. Peter therefore for a considerable time wished to
journey to Jerusalem; and he called to him the brethren, and stablished them; making a
long speech, and teaching them throughout the villages: he also went to meet them, and he
reported to them the grace of God. But the brethren that were of the circumcision
contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
But Peter began, and expounded the matter unto them in order, saying, I was in the city of
Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending, as it were a
great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even unto me. Upon the which
when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw [the] fourfooted beasts of the earth,
and the wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the heaven. And I heard [also] a
voice saying unto me, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord; for nothing
common or unclean hath ever entered into my mouth. But there was a voice to me [the second
time] out of heaven, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common. And this was done
thrice; and all were drawn up again into heaven.

2 And behold, forthwith three men stood before the house in which we were, having been
sent from Caesarea unto me. And the Spirit bade me go with them [making no distinction].
And these six brethren also accompanied me; and we entered into the man's house; and he
told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, and saying to him, Send to Joppa
and fetch Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall speak unto thee words whereby thou
shalt be saved, thou and all thy house. And as I began to speak to them, the Holy Spirit
fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how
that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy
Spirit. If then [God] gave unto them the like gift as he did also unto us, when we
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? that I should not
give them the Holy Spirit when they believed on him. And when they heard these things,
they held their peace; and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God given
repentance unto life.

3 They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose from Stephen
travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none save only
to Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come
to Antioch spake unto the Greeks [also], preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. And the hand of
the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord. And the
report concerning them came to the ears of the Church which was in Jerusalem: and they
sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch; who also, when he had come, and
had seen the grace of God, was glad; and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart
they would cleave unto the Lord; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of
faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

4 And having heard that Saul was at Tarsus, he went out to seek him; and when he met him
he exhorted him to come to Antioch. And they, when they had come, for a whole year were
gathered together (in the church, and taught) much people, and the disciples were called
Christians then first in Antioch. Now in these days there came down prophets from
Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there was much rejoicing; and when we were gathered together
one of them named Agabus stood up and spake, signifying by the Spirit that there should be
a great famine over all the world; which came to pass in the days of Claudius. And the
disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send for ministry unto the
brethren who dwelt in Judaea; which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of
Barnabas and Saul.

CHAPTER XII.

1 Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the Church
in Judaea. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And when he saw that
his laying hands upon the faithful pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. And
those were the days of unleavened bread. And when he had taken him, he put him in prison,
and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the
Passover to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but
much prayer in earnestness about him was made by the church to God about him. And when
Herod was about to bring him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards before the door were keeping the prison. And
behold an angel of the Lord stood by Peter, and a light shined in the cell; and he nudged
Peter on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And he did
so. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee and follow me. And he went out and
followed; and he wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; for he thought he
saw a vision.

2 And when they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that
leadeth into the city, which opened to them of its own accord, and they went out, and went
down the seven steps, and passed on through one street; and straightway the angel departed
from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a truth, that the
Lord hath sent forth his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the
expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered the thing, he came to
the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark: where many were gathered
together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a maid came to
answer, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for joy, and
ran in and told that Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad.
But she confidently affirmed that it was even so. And they said Perchance it is his angel.
But Peter continued knocking. And when they had opened and saw him, they were astonished.
But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, came in and declared unto
them how that the Lord had brought him forth out of the prison. And he said, Tell these
things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed and went to another place.

3 Now as soon as it was day, there was a [no small] stir among the soldiers, what was
become of Peter. And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the
guards, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to
Caesarea, and tarried there. 4 For he was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon:
but they with one accord from both the cities came to the king, and having persuaded
Blastus the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country was fed from
the king's country. And upon a set day Herod arrayed himself in royal apparel, and sat on
the throne, and made an oration unto them, after being reconciled with the Tyrians. And
the people shouted, saying, The voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately an angel
of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory. And he came down from the
throne, and while he was still living he was eaten of worms, and thus gave up the ghost.
But the word of God grew and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem
when they had fulfilled their ministration, taking with them John, whose surname was Mark.

CHAPTER XIII.

1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, among
whom were Barnabas, and Symeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen,
the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. And as they ministered to the Lord,
and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
have called them. Then when they had all fasted and prayed, and had laid their hands on
them, [they sent them away.] 2 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to
Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they
proclaimed the word of the Lord in the Synagogues of the Jews; and they had also John as
their attendant. And when they had gone through the whole island unto Paphos, they found a
certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus, which was with the
proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. The same called unto him Barnabas and
Saul, and sought to hear the word of God. But Etimas the sorcerer (for so is his name by
interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith, since
he was hearing them with the greatest pleasure. But Saul who is also called Paul, filled
with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him, and said, O full of all guile and all
villany, thou son of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to
pervert the ways of the Lord which are right. And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is
upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there
fell on him a mist and a darkness: and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
And [then] the proconsul, when he saw what was done marvelled, and believed in God, being
astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

3 Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga of Pamphylia; but John
departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. But they, passing through from Perga, came
to Antioch of Pisidia; and they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.
And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto
them, saying, Men and brethren, if ye have any word of wisdom of exhortation for the
people, say on. And Paul stood up and beckoning with the hand said, Men of Israel, and ye
that fear God, hearken. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the
people when they sojourned in tne land of Egypt, and with a high arm led he them forth out
of it, and for [about] forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when
he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the land of the
Philistines for an inheritance; and for about four hundred and fifty years he gave them
judges until Samuel the prophet. And afterwards they asked for a king: and God gave unto
them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for the space of forty years.
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king: to whom also he bare
witness, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do
all my will.

4 Of this man's seed therefore hath God according to promise raised up unto Israel a
Saviour, Jesus; when John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel. And as John was fulfilling his course, he said, Whom suppose
ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, the shoes of whose feet
I am not worthy to unloose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and those
among us who fear God, to us is the word of this salvation sent forth. For they that dwell
at Jerusalem, and their rulers, [because they knew him not,] nor understanding the
writings of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
And though they found no cause of death in him, after judging him they delivered him to
Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all things that were written
of him they asked Pilate to crucify him. And when they had obtained this also, they took
him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb; whom God raised from the dead. He was seen
for many days of them that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who till now are
his witnesses unto the people. And we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the
fathers, that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up the Lord
Jesus Christ.

5 For thus it is written in the first Psalm, 6 Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten
thee Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the ends of the
earth for thy possession. And when he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return
to corruption, he hath spoken on this wise, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of
David. And elsewhere he saith, Thou wilt not give thy Holy One to see corruption. For
David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell on sleep, and
was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up saw no
corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is
proclaimed unto you remission of sins; and repentance from all things from which ye could
not be justified by the law of Moses. In him therefore every one that believeth is
justified before God. Beware therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken in the
prophets; Behold ye despisers and wonder and vanish away; for I work a work in your days.
[a work] which ye shall in no wise believe if a man declare it unto you. And they kept
silence.

7 And as they went out, they besought that these words might be spoken to them the next
Sabbath. Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas; who speaking to them urged them to continue in the grace of
God. And it came to pass that the word of God went throughout the whole city. And the next
Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear Paul telling about the Lord in
many words. And when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and
contradicted the words which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and railing. And Paul and
Barnabas spake out boldly unto them, and said, It was right that the word of God should
first be spoken to you: but seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of
eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded [us] saying, I
have set thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the
uttermost part of the earth.

8 And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and they received the word of God: and
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spread
abroad throughout all the region. But the Jews urged on the devout women of honourable
estate, and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a great affliction and persecution
against Paul and Barnabas, and cast them out of their borders. But they shook off the dust
of their feet against them, and went down to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with
joy and with the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER XIV.

1 And it came to pass in Iconium that in the same way he entered into the synagogue of the
Jews, and so spake to them that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed. But
the rulers of the synagogue of the Jews [that were disobedient] and the chief men of the
synagogue raised up among them a persecution against the just, and made the souls of the
Gentiles evil affected against the brethren. But the Lord speedily gave them peace. Long
time therefore they tarried there, speaking boldly in the Lord, which bare witness unto
the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the
multitude of the city was divided, and part held with the Jews, and part with the
apostles, cleaving to them on account of the word of God. And when there was made an onset
both of the Gentiles and of the Jews with their rulers to entreat them shamefully and to
stone them they became aware of it, and fled into the cities of Lycaonia, to Lystra and
Derbe, and the whole region round about. And there they preached the gospel. And the whole
multitude was moved at the teaching.

2 Now Paul and Barnabas spent some time at Lystra. And there sat a certain man impotent in
his feet, [a cripple] from his mother's womb, who never had walked. The same heard Paul
speaking, being in fear. And Paul, fastening his eyes upon him, and seeing that he had
faith to be saved, said with a loud voice, I say to thee in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Stand upright on thy feet, and walk. And straightway suddenly he leaped up and
walked. And when the multitudes saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying
in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they
called Barnabas, Zeus: and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priests
of Zeus, whose temple was before the city, brought for them oxen and garlands unto the
gates, and would have done sacrifice with the multitudes. But when [the apostles],
Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they rent their garments, and sprang forth among the
multitude, crying out and exclaiming, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of
like passions with you, and bring you good tidings of God, that ye should turn from these
vain things unto the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all
that in them is; who in the generations gone by suffered [all] the nations to walk in
their own ways.

3 And yet he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave you from
heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness. And with
those sayings scarce restrained they the multitudes from doing sacrifice unto them. [But]
while they were spending some time there and teaching there came certain Jews from Iconium
and Antioch: and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of
the city, supposing that he was dead. But as the disciples stood round about him, he rose
up, and entered into the city of Lystra, and on the morrow he went forth with Barnabas to
Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to those in the city, and had made many
disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, confirming the souls of
the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many
tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed for them
elders in every church, and had prayed with fastings, they commended them to the Lord on
whom they had believed. And they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. And when
they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, preaching to them the good
tidings. And thence they sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been committed to the
grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.

4 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all things
that God had done for them with their souls, and that he had opened a door of faith unto
the Gentiles. And they tarried no little time with the disciples.

CHAPTER XV.

1 And certain men came down from Judaea and were teaching the brethren, saying, Except ye
be circumcised and walk after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved. And Paul and
Barnabas had no small dissension and questioning with them, for Paul spake strongly
maintaining that they should remain so as when they believed; but those who had come from
Jerusalem, charged them, Paul and Barnabas and certain others [of them], to go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders that they might be judged before them about this
question. They therefore, being brought on their way by the Church, passed through both
Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy
to all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received in great
fashion by the Church and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed all things that
God had done with them. But those who had charged them to go up to the elders, being
certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, rose up saying, It is needful to
circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.

2 And the apostles and elders were gathered together to consider of this matter. And when
there had been much questioning, Peter rose up in the Spirit and said unto them, Men and
brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that by my mouth the
Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe. And God, which knoweth the heart,
bare them witness, giving upon them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us; and he made
no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why
tempt ye God, that ye shall put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, in like manner as they. And the elders agreed to what had been
spoken by Peter: and all the multitude kept silence; and they hearkened unto Barnabas and
Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. And
after they had held their peace, James rose up and said, Men and brethren, hearken unto
me: Symeon hath rehearsed how first God did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a
people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written,

3 After these things I will return, And I will build again the tabernacle of David which
is fallen; And I will build again the ruins thereof, And I will set it up; That the
residue of men may seek after the Lord, And all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called
Saith the Lord who doeth these things. Known unto the Lord from the beginning is his work.
Wherefore my judgment is that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles turn to
God: but that we enjoin on them to abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from
fornication, [and from what is strangled] and from blood: and that whatsoever they would
not should be done to them ye do not to others. For Moses from generations of old hath in
every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. 4 Then it
seemed good to the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their
company and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Judas called Barabbas, and Silas,
chief men among the brethren. And they wrote a letter by their hands containing as
follows. The apostles and the elder brethren unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles
in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting: Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which
went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no
commandment; it seemed good unto us, having come to one accord, to choose out men, and
send them to you with your beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives
for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every trial. We have sent therefore Judas and
Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed
good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary
things; that ye abstain from idol sacrifices, and from blood, [and from things strangled],
and from fornication and whatsoever ye would not should be done to yourselves, ye do not
to another. From which if ye keep yourselves ye do well, being sustained by the Holy
Spirit. Fare ye well.

5 So they, when they were dismissed, in a few days came down to Antioch; and having
gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. And when they had read it
they rejoiced for the consolation. And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets,
full of the Holy Spirit exhorted the brethren by [much] speech, and confirmed them. And
after they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace from the brethren unto
those that had sent them forth. But it seemed good to Silas to abide there, and Judas
journeyed alone. But Paul and Barnabas tarried in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word
of the Lord, with many others also. And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, Let us
return now and visit the brethren in every city wherein we proclaimed the word of the
Lord, and see how they fare. And Barnabas was minded to take with them John [also] who was
called Mark. But Paul was not willing: saying that one who withdrew from them from
Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work for which they were sent, should not be with
them. And there arose a sharp contention, so that they parted asunder one from the other.
Then Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas, and went forth, being
commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia
confirming the churches, giving to them the commands of the elders.

CHAPTER XVI.

1 And having passed through these nations he came down to Derbe and Lystra, and, behold, a
certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess which believed; but his
father was a Greek. The same was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and
Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and he took and circumcised him because
of the Jews that were in those parts: for they all knew that his father was a Greek. And
as they went through the cities they preached and delivered unto them, with all boldness,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and at the same time also delivered [them] the decrees [which had
been ordained] of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem. So the churches were
strengthened [in the faith], and increased in number daily. And they went through the
region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word
of God to any one in Asia. And when they were come over against Mysia, they wished to go
into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not. And passing through Mysia, they
came down to Troas. And in a vision by night there appeared to Paul, as it were a certain
man of Macedonia, standing before his face, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into
Macedonia, and help us. When therefore he had risen up, he related to us the vision, and
we perceived that the Lord had called us to preach the Gospel to those who were in
Macedonia.

2 And on the morrow [therefore] we set sail from Troas, and came with a straight course to
Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, which is the
capital of Macedonia, a city, a colony. And we were in this city tarrying certain days.
And on the Sabbath day we went forth without the gate by the riverside, where it seemed
likely that there would be a place of prayer: and we sat down, and spake unto the women
which were come together. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city
of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to give heed
unto the things which were spoken by Paul. And when she was baptized, and all her
household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to God, come into
my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

3 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid,
having a spirit of divination, met us, which brought her masters much gain through this,
by soothsaying. The same following after Paul and us cried out saying, These men are
servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the good news of the way of
salvation. And this she did for many days. But Paul, in the Spirit, turned, and being sore
troubled he said, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ, that thou come out of her.
And straightway it came out. 4 But when the masters of the maiden saw that they were
deprived of the gain which they had through her, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and
dragged them into the market place before the rulers; and when they had brought them unto
the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and
set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive or to observe, being Romans.
And a great multitude rose up together against them, crying out. Then the magistrates rent
their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods. And when they had laid many
stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
And he, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their
feet fast in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns
unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all
the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the jailer being roused out
of sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword, and was about to kill himself,
supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do
thyself no harm; for we are all here.

5 And he called for lights, and sprang in, and trembling for fear, fell down before the
feet of Paul and Silas, and led them out after securing the rest, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved, thou and thy house. And they spake to him the word of the Lord, with all that were
in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and
was baptized, he and all his, immediately. And he brought them into his house, and set
meat before them, and rejoiced [greatly] with [all] his house, having believed in God. 6
But when it was day the magistrates assembled together into the market place, and
recollecting the earthquake that had happened they were afraid; and they sent the
Serjeants, saying, Let those men go whom yesterday thou didst receive. And the jailer came
in, and reported the words to Paul, that, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now
therefore come forth, and go on your journey [in peace.] But Paul said unto them, Without
fault alleged they have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have
cast us into prison: and do they now cast us out privily? Nay, verily; but let them come
themselves and bring us out. And the Serjeants reported to the magistrates themselves
these words which were spoken for the magistrates; and when they heard that they were
Romans they feared; and they came with many friends into the prison, and besought them to
go forth, saying, We did not know about you that ye are just men. And when they had
brought them forth, they besought them, saying, Go forth out of this city, lest they again
assemble against us, crying against you. And they went out of the prison, and went to
Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they reported all the things which the Lord
had done for them, and comforted them and departed.

CHAPTER XVII.

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis they went down to Apollonis, and thence to
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto
them, [and] for three sabbath days discoursed with them from the Scriptures, opening and
alleging that it behoved [the] Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, and that
this is Christ, Jesus whom, said he, I proclaim unto you. And some of them were persuaded,
and consorted with Paul and Silas, in the teaching: and many of the devout, and of Greeks
a great multitude, and women, of the first rank, not a few. But the Jews who disbelieved
assembled certain vile men of the rabble, [gathering a crowd], and set the city on an
uproar, and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.
And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of
the city, crying out and saying, These are they that have turned the world upside down,
and have come hither [also]; whom Jason hath received; and these all act contrary to the
decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. And they troubled the rulers
of the city and the multitude. When they had heard these things, and when they had taken
security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

2 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea, who when
they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,
examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. Some therefore of them
believed, but some did not believe; and of the Greeks and of those of honourable estate,
both men and women, many believed. But when the Jews from Thessalonica had knowledge that
the word of God was proclaimed [of Paul] at Beroea [also], and that they believed, they
came also thither, and there did not cease to stir up and trouble the multitudes.
Therefore [immediately] the brethren sent forth Paul to go [as far as] to the sea: but
Silas and Timothy abode there still. But they that conducted Paul brought him as far as
Athens. But he passed by Thessaly for he was forbidden to proclaim the word to them, and
receiving a commandment from Paul to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with
all speed, they departed.

3 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, as he
beheld the city full of idols. So he discoursed in the synagogue with the Jews and the
devout persons, and with those in the market place every day with them that met with him.
And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said,
What would this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods,
[because he preached Jesus and the Resurrection]. And after some days they took hold of
him, and brought him unto the Areopagus, inquiring and saying May we know what this new
teaching is which is spoken by thee? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears.
We would know therefore what these things mean. Now all the Athenians and the strangers
sojourning among them, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear
some new thing. And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said,

4 Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are more than others god-fearing. For
as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with
the inscription, To an unknown god. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this set I
forth unto you. The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of
heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is he served by men's
hands, as though he needed [anything], seeing he himself gave to all life and breath and
all things. He made of one blood every nation of man for to dwell on all the face of the
earth; having determined their appointed seasons, according to the bound of their
habitation; that they should seek most of all that which is divine, if haply they might
feel after it, or find it; though it is not far from each one of us; for in him we live
and move, and have our being day by day. As certain even of your own [poets] have said,
For we are also his offspring. Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that
the Divine is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and device of man. The
times of this ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he declareth to men that they
should all everywhere repent, inasmuch as he hath appointed a day to judge the world in
righteousness by the man Jesus whom he hath ordained; giving assurance unto all men, in
that he hath raised him from the dead.

5 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We
will hear thee concerning this yet again. Thus Paul went out from among them. But certain
men clave unto him and believed; among whom also was a certain Dionysius an Areopagite,
[and a woman named Damaris ] of honourable estate, and others with them.

CHAPTER XVIII.

1 And [after these things] he departed from Athens and came to Corinth. And having found a
certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, and his wife
Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome: these had come to
dwell in Greece; Paul came unto him, and, because he was of the same trade, abode with
them and wrought; [for by their trade they were tentmakers]. And entering into the
synagogue he discoursed every sabbath, and introduced the name of the Lord Jesus, and
persuaded not only Jews but also Greeks. But then Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia,
Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that the Lord Jesus was the
Christ. And after there had been much discourse, and the scriptures had been interpreted,
when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, Paul shook out his raiment, and said unto
them, Your blood be upon your own head; I am clean from you, [from henceforth] now I go to
the Gentiles. And he left Aquila, and entered into the house of a certain man named
[Titus] Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And
Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of
the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized believing in God through the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord said unto Paul by night in a vision, Be not afraid,
but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to
harm thee, for I have much people in this city. And he dwelt in Corinth a year and six
months, teaching them the word of God.

2 And when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia. the Jews with one accord rose up, having talked
together amongst themselves against Paul; and they laid their hands upon him, and brought
him before the judgment seat, crying out, and saying, This man persuadeth men to worship
God contrary to the law. But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the
Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews, reason would that I
should bear with you: but if ye are having an enquiry about words and names and your own
law, look to it yourselves. I am not minded to be a judge of these matters. And he drove
them from the judgment seat. And all the Greeks took hold of Sosthenes, the ruler of the
synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Then Gallio pretended not to see him.
[And Gallio cared for none of these things.]

3 And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days took his leave of the brethren, and
sailed for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchreae:
for he had a vow. And he came to Ephesus, and on the next sabbath he left them there: but
he himself entered into the synagogue, and discoursed with the Jews. And when they asked
him to abide a longer time, he consented not; but taking his leave of them, and saying, I
must by all means keep the coming feast day at Jerusalem, and return unto you if God will,
he set sail from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and saluted the
Church, and went down to Antioch. And having spent some time there he departed, and went
through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, stablishing all the disciples. Now a
certain Jew named Apollonius, an Alexandrian by race, a learned man, came to Ephesus; and
he was mighty in the scriptures. He had been instructed in his own country in the word of
the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught carefully the things concerning
Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But
when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded the Way [of
God] unto him more carefully.

4 Now certain Corinthians were sojourning in Ephesus, and having heard him, they exhorted
him to cross with them into their own country; and when he consented the Ephesians wrote
to the disciples in Corinth that they should receive the man. And when he sojourned in
Achaia he helped them much in the churches, for he powerfully confuted the Jews, reasoning
publicly, and shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.


THE WESTERN TEXT OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, TRANSLATED FROM CODEX BEZAE
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THE WESTERN TEXT OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, TRANSLATED FROM CODEX BEZAE continued

CHAPTER XIX.

1 And when Paul, according to his private wish, desired to go to Jerusalem, the Spirit
told him to return into Asia. And [while Apollos was at Corinth] he passed through the
upper districts and comes to Ephesus, and found certain disciples; and he said unto them,
Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we have not
even heard (that) any receive the Holy Spirit. And he said, Into what then were ye
baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with the
baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should
come after him, that is, on Christ. And when they heard this they were baptized into the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, unto the remission of sins. And when Paul had laid his hand
on them straightway the Holy Spirit fell upon them: and they spake with tongues, and
prophesied. And they were in all about twelve men.

2 And Paul entered into the synagogue, and with great power spake boldly for the space of
three months, discoursing and persuading [as to the things] concerning the kingdom of God.
Some therefore of them were hardened and unbelieving, and spake evil of the Way before the
multitude of the Gentiles. Then Paul departed from them, and separated the disciples,
discoursing daily in the school of one Tyrannus from the fifth till the tenth hour. And
this continued for [the space of] two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the
words of the Lord, [both] Jews and Greeks. And God wrought special miracles by the hands
of Paul; insomuch even that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or
aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out. But certain
[also] of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them which had the
evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul
preacheth. Among whom also [were] the [seven] sons of one Sceva, [a Jew] a [chief] priest,
[who] wished to do the same thing, being accustomed to exorcise such people. And they came
in unto one who was possessed with a devil, and began to call upon the Name saying, We
command you, in Jesus whom Paul preacheth, to come out. Then the evil spirit answered and
said unto them, Jesus I recognise, and Paul I know: but who are ye?

3 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and
prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this
became known to all, [both] Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon
them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many also of them that were
believing, came confessing and declaring their deeds. And not a few of them that practised
curious arts brought also their books together, and burned them in the sight of all: and
they counted the prices of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily
did it prevail; and the faith of God increased and multiplied. 4 [Now after these things
were ended] then Paul purposed in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia, and go
to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there I must also see Rome. And having sent into
Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed for
a little while in Asia.

5 And about that time there arose no small stir about the Way. For there was a certain man
[named] Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines of Diana, who brought no
little business unto the craftsmen. He gathered together the craftsmen of such things, and
said unto them, Fellow craftsmen, ye know that out of this business we have our wealth.
And ye hear and see that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul,
a somebody, hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which
are made with hands: and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute;
but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, but is about to
be deposed [from her magnificence, whom] all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they
heard this, they were filled with wrath, and they ran into the street, and cried out
saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion, and
they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of
Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel. And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the
people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain also of the chief officers of Asia,
being his friends, sent unto him, and besought him not to adventure himself into the
theatre. Some therefore cried one thing and some another; for the assembly was in
confusion;

6 and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. And they brought Alexander
out of the crowd, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and
would have made a defence unto the people. But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all
with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
But the townclerk beckoned to the crowd and saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there
who knoweth not how that our city is temple-keeper of the great Diana, and of the image
which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought
to be quiet, and to do nothing rash. For ye have brought hither these men, which are
neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 7 If therefore this Demetrius,
and the craftsmen that are with him, have any matter against them, the courts are open,
and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another. But if ye seek anything about other
matters, it shall be settled according to the law of the assembly. For indeed we are in
danger this day to be accused of riot, there being no cause for which we shall be able to
give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken he dismissed the assembly.

CHAPTER XX.

1 And after the uproar was ceased, Paul having sent for the disciples, and given them much
exhortation, took leave of them and departed [for to go] into Macedonia. And when he had
gone through those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. And
when he had spent three months there, and a plot was laid against him by the Jews he
wished to sail for Syria. But the Spirit said to him to return through Macedonia,
therefore when he was about to go out as far as Asia, Sopater of Beroea, the son of
Pyrrhus; and of the Thessalonians Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and
Timothy: and of Ephesians Eutychus and Trophimus. These had gone before and were waiting
for him at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and
came unto them to Troas in five days; where we tarried seven days. And upon the first day
of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them
intending to depart on the morrow, and prolonged his speech until midnight. And there were
many lights in the upper chamber, where we were gathered together. And there sat in the
window a certain young man named Eutychus, borne down with deep sleep; and as Paul
discoursed yet longer, being borne down by his sleep, he fell down from the third storey
and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Make
ye no ado, for his life is in him. And when he was gone up, and had broken the bread, and
had eaten, and had talked with them a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
And as they were bidding him farewell they brought the young man alive, and were not a
little comforted.

2 But we went down to the ship, and set sail for Assos, there intending to take in Paul.
For so had he appointed, as intending himself to go on foot. And, when he met us at Assos,
we took him in, and came to Mitylene. And sailing from thence we came the following day
over against Chios; and the next day we touched at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium: and
the day after we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus: lest some
detention for him might occur in Asia, for he was hastening [if it were possible for him]
to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. 3 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and
sent for the elders of the Church. And when they were come to him, and were together, he
said unto them, Ye yourselves know, brethren, from the first day that I set foot in Asia,
for three years and even more, after what manner I was with you all the time, serving the
Lord, with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the
plots of the Jews: how that I shrank not from declaring unto you all that was profitable,
and from teaching from house to house and publicly, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks
repentance toward God, and faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go
bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things which shall befall me there,
save that the Holy Spirit testifieth unto me in every city saying that bonds and
afflictions abide me in Jerusalem. But I take account of none of these things, nor hold my
life as dear unto myself, that I may accomplish my course and the ministry of the word
which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to Jews and Greeks the gospel of the grace
of God. And now, behold, I know, that ye all among whom I went about preaching the kingdom
of Jesus shall see my face no more. Therefore [I testify unto you that] until this day I
am pure from the blood of all men.

4 For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God. Take heed unto
yourselves and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to
feed the Church of the Lord which he purchased for himself with his own blood. I know that
after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and
from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the
disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I
ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears. And now I commend you to God,
and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you inheritance
among [all] them that are sanctified. I coveted of you all no man's silver, or gold, or
apparel. Ye yourselves know that my hands ministered unto my necessities, and to [all]
them that were with me. In all things I gave you an example, that so labouring ye ought to
help the weak, [and] to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how that he himself said, It
is more blessed to give than to receive.

5 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all
wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him; sorrowing most of all for the word
which he spake, Ye shall see my face no more. And they brought him on his way unto the
ship.

CHAPTER XXI.

1 And when [it came to pass that] we had set sail and were parted from them, we came with
a straight course unto Cos, and the next day unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara and
Myra; and having found a ship crossing unto Phoenice. One leaf is missing here, containing
xx. 31 to xxi. 2 in Latin, and xxi. 2-10 in Greek....prophet named Agabus. And coming up
to us, and taking Paul's girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, Thus saith the
Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and
shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we
and they of that place besought Paul not himself to go up to Jerusalem. But Paul said to
us, What do ye, weeping and disturbing my heart; for I desire not to be bound only but am
ready also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he would
not be persuaded, we ceased, saying to one another, The will of God be done.

2 And after certain days we bade them farewell, and we go up to Jerusalem from Caesarea;
and with us those who led us to him with whom we should lodge. And when they came to a
certain village, we stayed with Nason a certain Cyprian, an old disciple; and going forth
thence we came to Jerusalem. And the brethren received us gladly. 3 And the day following
Paul went in with us unto James, and the elders were assembled with him. And when he had
saluted them he rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles
by his ministry. And when they heard it they glorified the Lord, saying, Thou seest,
brother, how many myriads there are in Judaea of them which have believed, and they are
all zealous for the law; and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest
[all] the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to
circumcise their children, neither to walk after their customs. What is it therefore? The
multitude must needs come together, for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore
this that we say to thee. We have four men which have a vow on them; these take, and
purify thyself with them, and be at charges for them, that they may shave their heads; and
all may know that there is no truth in the things whereof they have been informed
concerning thee; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, keeping the law. But as
touching the Gentiles which have believed, they have nothing to say against thee, for we
sent giving judgment, that they should observe nothing of that sort, except to guard
themselves from idol sacrifices, and from blood, [and from what is strangled], and from
fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them he went
into the temple, declaring the fulfilment of the days of purification until the offering
was made for every one of them.

4 And when the seven days were [almost] completed, the Jews who had come from Asia, when
they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitudes, and laid hands upon him, crying
out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the
people, and the law, and this place; and moreover he brought Greeks into the temple, and
hath denied this holy place. For they had before seen with him in the city Trophimus the
Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the city was
moved, and the people ran together: and they laid hold on Paul, and dragged him out of the
temple: and straightway, the doors were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him,
tidings came up to the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in confusion. And
forthwith he took soldiers and centurions and ran down upon them: and they, when they saw
the chief captain and the soldiers, left beating of Paul. Then the chief captain came
near, and laid hold on him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and enquired
who he was and what he had done. And some shouted one thing, and some another, among the
crowd; and when he could not know the certainty for the uproar, he commanded him to be
brought into the castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of
the soldiers for the violence of the people: for the multitude [of the people] followed
after, crying out, Away with him.

5 And as he was about to be brought into the castle, he answered and said to the chief
captain, May I speak unto thee? And he said, Dost thou know Greek? Art thou not [then] the
Egyptian, which before these days stirred up to sedition, and led out into the wilderness,
the four thousand men of the Assassins? But Paul said, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of
Cilicia, [a citizen of no mean city], and I beseech thce give me leave to speak unto the
people. And when the chief Captain had given him leave, Paul, standing on the stairs,
beckoned with the hand unto the people: and when there was made a great silence, he spake
unto them in the Hebrew language, saying:

CHAPTER XXII.

1 Men, Brethren and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. And when they
heard that he spake [unto them] in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet; and he
saith, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of
Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, zealous for
God, even as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this Way unto death, binding and
delivering into prison both men and women. As also the high priest will bear witness to
me, and all the estate of the elders, from whom I received letters from the brethren. I
was journeying to Damascus, to bring them also that were there unto Jerusalem in bonds,
that they might be punished. And [it came to pass that as I made my journey], as I drew
nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about
me, and I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus
of Nazareth whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and
were frightened; but they heard not the voice of him that spake with me. And I said, What
shall I do, Lord.

2 And he said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all
things which thou oughtest to do. But when I rose up I did not see for the glory of that
light, and being led by the hand of them that were with me I came into Damascus. And one
Ananias, a devout man according to the law, and by the witness of all the Jews, came unto
me and [standing by me] said unto me, Saul, Brother Saul, receive thy sight; and in that
very hour I received sight. And he said unto me, The God of our fathers hath appointed
thee to know his will, and to see the Righteous one, and to hear a voice from his mouth;
for thou shalt be a witness for him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And
now, why tarriest them? Arise, be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.
And it came to pass that when I had returned to Jerusalem and while I prayed in the
temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him saying unto me, Make haste and get thee quickly
out of Jerusalem because they will not receive my testimony [from thee. And I said, Lord,
they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on
thee: and when the blood of Stephen the witness was shed, I [also] was standing by, and
consenting and keeping the garments of them that slew him.

3 And he said unto me, Depart, for I send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles. 4 And
they gave him audience unto this word: and they lifted up their voice and said, Away with
such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried
out, and threw off their garments, and cast dust into the air, the chief captain commanded
him to be brought into the castle, bidding that he should be examined by scourging, that
he might know for what cause they so shouted against him. And when they had tied him up
with the thongs, he said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge
a man that is a Roman and uncondemned. And when the centurion heard this, that he called
himself a Roman he went to the chief captain and told him, See what thou art about to do.
This man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came and asked him, Tell me, art thou a Roman?
and he said, I am. And the chief captain answered, I know with how great a sum I obtained
this citizenship. And Paul said, But I am [a Roman] born. Then they departed from him...


THE FESTAL EPISTLES
===================

THE FESTAL EPISTLES Athanasius of Alexandria

c. AD 296–373

The yearly letters in which Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, announced the date of Easter
to his churches, with teaching on fasting, the Scriptures and the Arian troubles; they
survive in an ancient Syriac version. Letter 39 (AD 367) gives the earliest list of the
books of the New Testament exactly as we have it.

LETTER 1.

Of Fasting, and Trumpets, and Feasts.

2 COME, my beloved: the season calls us to keep the feast. Again, the Sun of
Righteousness, causing His divine beams to rise upon us, proclaims beforehand the time of
the feast, in which, obeying Him, we ought to celebrate it; so that when the time has
passed away, gladness likewise may not leave us. For discernment of the time is a duty
strictly enjoined upon us, and a matter of moral obligation; even as the blessed Paul,
when instructing his disciple, teaches him to observe the time, saying, Stand (ready) in
season, and out of season—that knowing both the one and the other, he might do things
seasonable, and avoid the blame for such as are unseasonable. For thus also the God of all
distributes every thing in time and season, after the manner of wise Solomon, to the end
that, in due time, the salvation of men should be every where spread abroad. Thus,
likewise, for instance, not out of season, but in season, the Wisdom of God, our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, passed upon holy souls, fashioning the friends of God and the
prophets; so that, although very many were praying for Him, and saying, O that the
salvation of God were come out of Sion! the Spouse also, as it is written in the
Canticles, praying and saying, O that Thou wert my sister's son, that sucked the breasts
of my mother? that Thou wert like to the children of men, and wouldest take upon Thee
human passions for our sake!

3 nevertheless, the God of all, the Framer of times and seasons, and who knows our affairs
better than we do, while, as a good physician, He exhorts to obedience in due season—the
only one in which we may be healed—so also does He send Him not unseasonably, but
seasonably, saying, In an acceptable time have I heard Thee, and in the day of salvation I
have helped Thee. And, on this account, the blessed Paul, urging us to note this season,
wrote, saying, Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 4 At
set seasons also He called the children of Israel to the Levitical feasts by Moses,
saying, Three times in a year ye shall keep a feast to Me, (one of which, my beloved, is
that now at hand) to the celebration of which priestly trumpets call and summon; as the
holy Psalmist commanded, saying, Blow with the trumpet in the new moon, on the [solemn]
day of your feast. Since this sentence enjoins upon us to blow both on the new moons, and
on the solemn days, He hath made a solemn day of that in which the light of the moon is
perfected in the full; which was then a type, as this of the trumpets. Sometimes then, as
was before said, they were The Syrine here differs from the commonly received text of the
Peshito, which is probably incorrect. It is a literal translation of the LXX, the words of
which are also quoted by S. Athan. in his Synopsis. Script. Saer. t. ii. p. 123. The
ancient Jewish writers also usually interpreted this passage of the Messiah. The Targum on
the verse begins thus: "And at

5 that time the King Messiah shall be revealed to the congregation of Israel." called to
feasts; sometimes also to fasting and to war. And this was not done without solemnity,
neither were these things like common occurrences; but this sound of the trumpets was
solemn, so that every man might come to that which was proclaimed. And this should be
learned not merely from me, but from the divine Scriptures, when God was revealed to
Moses, and said, as it is written in the book of Numbers: And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Make to thee two trumpets; of silver shalt thou make them, and they shall be for
thee to call the congregation—very properly for those who here love Him. So that we may
know that these things had reference to the time of Moses— yea, were to be observed so
long as the shadow lasted, the whole being appointed as conducive thereto, till the time
of reformation. For, (said He) if ye shall go out to battle in your land against your
enemies that rise up against you, (for such things as these refer to the land; beyond it,
in no wise) then ye shall proclaim with the trumpets, and shall be remembered before the
Lord, and be delivered from your enemies.

6 Not only in wars did they blow the trumpet, but under the law, there was also a festal
trumpet. Hear him again, saying in continuance, And in the day of your gladness, and in
your feasts, and your new moons, ye shall blow with the trumpets. And let no man think it
a light and contemptible matter, if he hear the law command respecting trumpets: it is a
wonderful and fearful thing. For because Exod. 19, 16. the trumpet, more than any other
voice or instrument, is exciting and very terrible, on this account, instruction was
conveyed to Israel by such means, for he was then but a child. But in order that the
proclamation should not be thought merely human, being beyond this, it was heard as those
voices which were uttered when they received a shock from them in the mount; and they were
reminded of the law that was then given them, and kept it. For the law was worthy of
admiration, and the shadow was excellent; otherwise, it would not have wrought fear, and
induced reverence in those who heard: and [if such were the case], much more must it have
been so with those who at that time saw such things as these.

7 Be it that these things were then typical, and done as in a shadow. Let us, having
recourse to our understanding, and henceforth leaving the figure at a distance, come to
the truth, and look upon the priestly trumpets of our Saviour, which cry out, and call us,
at one time to war, as the blessed Paul saith: We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but
with principalities, with powers, with the rulers of this dark world, with wicked spirits
in heaven. At another time the call is made to virginity, and lowliness, and conjugal
unanimity, saying, To virgins, the things of virgins; and to those bound by a course of
abstinence, the things of abstinence; and to those who are married, the things of an
honourable marriage; thus assigning to each domestic virtues and an honourable recompense.
Sometimes also, the call is made to fasting, and sometimes to a feast. Listen to the same
[Apostle] again blowing the trumpet, and proclaiming,

8. Christ our Passover is sacrificed; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old
leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness. If further, thou wouldest listen
to a trumpet much greater than all these, hear our Saviour saying; In that last and great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me
and drink. For it became the Saviour not simply to call us to a feast, but to the great
feast; only so that we should be prepared to hear, and should conform to the proclamation
of every trumpet. For since, as I before said, there are divers proclamations, listen, as
in a figure, to the prophet blowing the trumpet; and further, having turned to the truth,
be ready for the announcement of the trumpet, for he saith, Blow ye the trumpet in Sion:
sanctify a fast. This is a warning trumpet, and commands with great earnestness, that when
we fast, we should hallow the fast. For not all those who call upon God, hallow God, since
there are some who defile Him; yet not Him—that is impossible—but their own conscience
concerning Him; for He is holy, and has pleasure in the saints. And therefore the blessed
Paul assigns the reason for men's dishonouring God: Transgressors of the law dishonour
God. So then, to point out those who pollute the fast, he saith here, sanctify a fast. For
many, crowding to the fast, pollute themselves in the thoughts of their hearts, sometimes
by doing evil against their brethren, sometimes by daring to defraud. And, to mention
nothing else, there are many who exalt themselves above their neighbours, bringing about a
great offence by these means.

9 For also the boast of fasting did no good to the Pharisee, although he fasted twice in
the week, only because he exalted himself against the publican. In the same manner also
the Word found fault with the children of Israel on account of such a fast as this;
exhorting them by Isaiah the Prophet, and saying, This is not the fast and the day that I
have chosen, that a man should humble his soul; not even if thou shouldest bow down thy
neck like a hook, and shouldest strew sackcloth and ashes under thee; neither thus shall
ye call the fast acceptable. That we may be able to shew what kind of persons we should be
when we fast, and of what character the fast should be, listen again to God commanding
Moses, and saying, as it is written in Leviticus, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
In the tenth day of this seventh month, there shall be a day of atonement; a convocation,
and a holy day shall it be to you; and ye shall humble your souls, and offer whole burnt-
offerings unto the Lord. And afterwards, that the law might be determinate Levit. 23, on
this point, He further saith, Every soul that shall not humble itself, shall be cut off
from the people. Behold, my brethren, what a fast can do, and in what manner the law
commands us to fast. It is required that not only should we fast with the body, but also
with the soul.

10 Now the soul is humbled when it is not found [occupied] with wicked opinions, being
nourished with becoming virtues. For virtues and vices are the food of the soul, and it
can eat either of these two meats, and incline to either of the two, according to its own
will. If, on the one hand, it is bent toward virtue, it will be nourished by virtues; by
righteousness, by temperance, by meekness, by fortitude. Even as Paul saith, Being
nourished by the word of truth. Such was the case with our Lord, who said, My meat is to
do the will of My Father which is in heaven. But if it is not thus with the soul, and it
inclines to that which is beneath, it is then nourished by nothing but sin. For thus also
the Holy Ghost, describing sinners and their food, alluded to the devil when He said, I
have given him to be meat to the (LXX. people of Æthiopia. For this is the food of
sinners. And vers.)

11 S. Athan, here speaks of Leviathan as a type of Satan; of the Æthiopians as typical of
sinners; of sinners feeding on the devil, as the righteous feed upon Christ. For the
first, conf. S. Cyril. Alexandr. Comment. in Esaiam cap. xxvii. lato nomine, dixerat,
eundem nunc Leviathan appellet. (Again, tom. vii. p. 277.) 'Draco iste quem formasti ad
illudendum ei! Iste est Draco qui de Paradiso ejectus est; qui decepit Evam, et datus est
in hoc mundo ad illudendum nobis. Also, on Isaiah xxvii. 1. reference is made to Apoc.
xii. 7. and Luke x. 19. St. Augustine on the passage says; Tu confregisti caput draconis.
Cujus draconis? Intelligimus dracones omnia dæmonia sub diabolo militantia; quem ergo
singularem draconem cujus caput cenfractum est, nisi ipsum diabolum intelligere debemus?
as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, being heavenly bread, is the food of the saints,
according to this; Except ye eat My flesh, and drink My blood; so is the devil, the food
of the impure, and of those who do nothing which is of the light, but work the deeds of
darkness. Therefore, in order to withdraw and turn them from vices, He enjoins upon them,
as sustenance, the food of virtue. Now this is, humbleness of mind; lowliness to endure
humiliations; the acknowledgment of God.

12 For not only does such a fast as this obtain propitiation for souls, but it also, being
sanctified, prepares the saints, and raises them above the earth. And indeed that which I
am about to say is wonderful, yea it is of those things which are very miraculous; yet not
far from the truth, as ye may be able to learn from the sacred writings. That great man
Moses, when fasting, conversed with God, and received the law. The great and holy Elias,
when fasting, was also thought worthy of divine visions, and at last was taken up like Him
who ascended into heaven. And Daniel also, when fasting, and although a very young man,
was entrusted with the mystery, and he alone understood the secret things of the king, and
was thought worthy of divine visions. But because the length of the fast of these men was
wonderful, and the days prolonged, let no man lightly fall into unbelief on that account;
but rather let him believe and know, that the looking to God, and the word which [pro-

13 S. Aug. too, ut supra; Quomodo intelligo populos Æthiopes? Quomodo nisi per hos, omnes
gentes? et bene per nigros; Æthiopes enim nigri sunt. Ipsi vocantur ad fidem, qui nigri
fuerunt etc. Suiter, Thes. v. quotes from Orat, de evitu animae quæ Cyrillo Alex.
adscribitur, p. 405.—. Hesychius, Cent. I ad Theodulum, num. 23. duimones vocat,
spirituales Æthiopes. Larsow quotes S. Athan. tom. ix. p. 120. where is explained by. The
Heb. word which the LXX. translate by is =" The whole of the comment of S. Aug. on the
passage affords a remarkable amplification of the words of our Author, though reference is
not directly made to the words of St. John (vi. 53.) He alludes to the golden calf, which
Moses made the children of Israel to drink of, and adds; Quid est hoc, nisi quia
adoratores diaboli corpus ipsius facti erant? Quomodo agnoscentes Christum fiunt corpus
Christi, ut eis dicatur; Vos autem es is corpus Christi et membra.

14 "The word in the Syriac is 'priestly.' But in this and in other places, it appears to
be for the Greek. Conf. 2 Tim. in. 15. ceeds] from Him, suffice to nourish those who hear,
and stand to them in place of all food. For the angels are no otherwise sustained than by
beholding at all times the face of the Father, and of the Saviour Who is in heaven. And
thus Moses, as long as he talked with God, fasted indeed bodily, but was nourished by
divine words. When therefore he descended among men, and God was gone up from him, he
suffered hunger like unto men. For it is not said that he fasted longer than forty
days—those in which he was conversing with God. And, generally, each one of the saints has
been thought worthy of the food of virtues such as this. 15 11. 13. 14. Wherefore, my
beloved, having our souls nourished with divine food, with the word, and according to the
will of God, and fasting bodily in things external, let us keep this great and saving
feast as becomes us. For the foolish Jews, receiving indeed this divine food typically,
ate a lamb in the passover. But not understanding the type, even to this day they eat the
lamb, being in error; the more so in that they are without a city and the truth. As long
as Judæa and the city existed, there were a type, and a lamb, and a shadow, since the law
thus commanded: These things shall not be done in another city; but in the land of
Judæa—but without [the land of Judæa] in no place whatever. And besides this, the law
commanded them to offer whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices, when there was no other
altar than that in Jerusalem. For on this account, in that city alone, was there an altar
and temple built, and they were commanded to perform these rites in that city only, to the
end that when that city should come to an end, then also those things that were figurative
might receive their end. Now observe: that city, since the coming of our Saviour, has had
an end, and all the land of Judæa been laid waste; so that from the testimony of these
things, (and we need no external proof, being assured by our own eyes of the fact) there
must, of necessity, be an end of the shadow.

16 And it is meet that these things should not be learned from me: but the priestly voice
cried before, Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and
publisheth peace; and what is the message he published, but The Jewish ordinances only
till the time of Christ. 11 17 that which he goes on to say to them, Keep thy feasts, O
Judah; pay to the Lord thy vows. For they shall no more go to that which is old; it is
finished; it is taken away: he is gone up who breathed upon the face, and delivered thee
from affliction. Now who is he that went up? a man may say to the Jews, in order that even
the boast of the shadow may be done away; neither is it an idle thing to listen to the
expression, It is finished; He is gone up who breathed. For nothing also was finished
before he went up who breathed. But as soon as he went up, it was finished. Who was he
then, O Jews, as I before said? If Moses, the assertion would be false; for the people
were not yet come to the land in which alone they were commanded to perform these rites.
But if Samuel, or any other of the prophets, even in that case there would be a perversion
of the truth; for up to that time these things were done in Judæa, and the city was
standing. For it was necessary that while that stood, these things should be performed. So
that it was no one of these men, my beloved, who went up. But if thou wouldest hear the
true matter, and be kept from Jewish fables, look to our Saviour who went up, and breathed
upon the face, and said to His disciples, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. For as soon as these
things were done, every thing then came to an end; for the altar was broken, and the veil
of the temple was rent; and although the city was not yet laid waste, yet the abomination
was ready to sit in the midst of the temple, and the city, and those ancient ordinances,
to receive their final consummation.

18 Since then we have passed the time of the shadow, and no longer perform rites under it,
but have turned, as it were, unto the Lord: for the Lord is a Spirit, and where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty: as we hear from the priestly trumpet; no longer slaying
a material lamb, but that true Lamb that was slain, even our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was
led as a sheep to the slaughter, and was dumb, as a lamb before her shearers; being
purified by His precious blood, which speaketh better things than that of Abel; having our
feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel; holding in our hands the rod and staff of
the Lord, by which that saint was comforted, who said, Thy rod and Thy staff 4. Phil. 4,
5. 40. Ephes. 4, 22-24. they comfort me; and to speak collectively, being in all respects
prepared and careful for nothing, because, as the blessed Paul saith, The Lord is at hand;
and as our Saviour saith, In an hour when we think not, the Lord cometh;— Let us keep the
Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Putting off the old man and his deeds, let us put
on the new man, which is created in God, in humbleness of mind, and a pure conscience; in
meditation of the law by night and by day. And casting away all hypocrisy and fraud,
putting far from us all haughtiness and guile, let us take upon us love towards God and
towards our neighbour; that being new [creatures], and receiving the new wine, even the
Holy Spirit, we may properly keep the feast, even the month of these new [fruits]".

19 P We begin the holy fast on the fifth day of Pharmuthi, (March 31) and joining to it
according to the number of those six holy and great days, which are the symbol of the
creation of this world, let us rest and cease (from fasting) on the tenth day of the same
Pharmuthi, (April 5) on the holy sabbath of the week. And when the first day of the holy
week dawns and rises upon us, on the eleventh day of the same month, (April 6) numbering
from it all the seven weeks, one by one, let us keep feast on the holy day of
Pentecost—that which was at one time to the Jews, typically, the feast of weeks, in which
they granted forgiveness and settlement of debts; and indeed that day was one of
deliverance in every respect. Let us keep the feast on the first day of the great week, as
a symbol of the world to come, in which we here receive a pledge that we shall have ever-

20 ° Alluding to Deut. xvi. 1. (scil. ) LXX. Observa mensem novarum frugum. Vulg. i. e.
the month of Abib. Heb. In Chaldee, we have fructum protulit, imprimis de fructu primo et
præcoce, (Hos. ix. 10. Targ.) Syr. flores produxit. Gesen. Lex. Heb. P We should not have
much difficulty in fixing upon many of the phrases and expressions used by St. Athan.
towards the close of his Epistles, by referring to the concluding sentences in the Paschal
Letters of S. Cyril, who seems herein to have closely imitated his illustrious predecessor
in the Patriarchate. The Syriac translator must frequently have had before him the
following expressions: — — — — — —. lasting life hereafter. Then having passed from hence,
we shall keep a perfect feast with Christ, while we cry out and say, like the saints, I
will pass to the place of the wondrous tabernacle; to the house of God; with the voice of
gladness and thanksgiving; the shouting of those who rejoice; so that sorrow and
affliction and sighing shall flee away, and gladness and joy be upon our heads!

21 May we be adjudged worthy to accomplish these things when we remember the poor, and do
not forget kindness to strangers! But above all, when we love God with all our soul, and
might, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves: receiving those things which the eye
hath not seen, nor the ear heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man; which
God hath prepared for those that love Him, through His only Son, our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ; through Whom, to the Father alone, by the Holy Ghost, be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen. Salute one another with a kiss. All the brethren who are with me
salute you. Here endeth the first Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.

LETTER 2.

1 Easter-day XXIV. Pharmuthi; XIII. Kal. Mai.; Æra Easter-day Dioclet. 46; Coss.
Gallicianus, Valerius Symmachus; on April 19. Præfect. Magninianus; Indict. III. AGAIN, my
brethren, is Easter come, and gladness; for again the Lord hath brought us to this season;
so that when, according to custom, we have been nourished with His words, we may duly keep
the feast. Let us celebrate it then, even heavenly joy, together with those saints who
also formerly proclaimed such a feast as this, and were ensamples to us of conversation in
Christ. For not only were they entrusted with the charge of preaching the Gospel, but,
upon examination, we shall see, as it is written, that its power was also displayed in
them. Be ye therefore followers of me, he (St. Paul) wrote to the Corinthians. Now the
apostolic expression is instructive to all of us; for those precepts which he forwarded to
individuals, he, at the same time, enjoined upon every man in every place, inasmuch as he
was a teacher of all nations in faith and truth. And, generally, the precepts of all the
saints have an equally extended application by way of exhortation; as Solomon, too, makes
use of proverbs, saying, Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and attend to
know understanding; for I give you a good gift; forsake ye not my word; for I was an
obedient son to my father, and beloved in the sight of my mother. For a worthy father
employs the right method of instruction, when he exhibits zeal in teaching others those
things that had been properly imparted to himself; so that when he meets with opposition,
he may not be ashamed on hearing it said, Thou therefore that teachest others, teachest
thou not thyself? but rather, like the good servant, may both save himself and gain

2 Conf. Letter iii. others; and thus, when the grace committed to him has been doubled, he
may hear, Thou good and faithful servant, Mat. 25, 21. thou hast been faithful in a
little, I will set thee over much: enter into the joy of thy Lord. Be it then, on our
parts, a becoming duty, if at all times, so especially in the days of the feast, to be,
not hearers only, but also doers of the commandments of our Saviour; that also, having
imitated the conversation of the saints, we may enter together into the joy of our Lord
which is in heaven, which is not transitory, but truly abideth; of which evil doers having
deprived themselves, there remaineth to them as the fruit of their ways, sorrow and
anguish, and groaning, the result of torments. Let a man look on such as these, how thus
they bear not the imageᶜ of the conversation of the saints, nor of that right
understanding, by which man at the beginning was rational, and in the form of God. But
being barely on a level with the beast without understanding, and like it in unlicensed
pleasures, they are described by comparison with lustful horses; also, for their
craftiness, and errors, and sin laden with death, they are called a generation of vipers,
as Luke saith. Now having thus fallen, and grovelling in the dust like the serpent, they
thought of nothing but things which are seen, esteeming them to be good; and rejoicing in
these things, but not serving God, they ministered to their own desires. Yet even in this
state, the man-lovingᶠ Word, who came for this purpose, that He might seek that which was
lost and find it, sought to restrain them from folly like this, crying and saying, Be ye
not as the horse and the mule which have

3 We have here the first fragment extant of the original Greek text. It is to be found in
Cosmas Indico-pieustes, p. 316, with the title, translated) may serve to give us a correct
opinion of the fidelity and accuracy with which the Syriac translator performed his part.
The same may be said of the few other remaining lines extant in the Greek. The Ms. reads
John incorrectly—for Matthew (iii 7.) or Luke (iii. 7.) Is. 23, 2. (LXX. vers.) 4 28. no
understanding, whose checks ye hold in with bit and bridle. Because they were careless and
like the wicked, the prophet also prays in spirit and says, Ye are to me like merchant-men
of Phœnicia. And the avenging Spirit protests against them in these words, Lord, in Thy
city Thou wilt despise their image. Thus then, being changed into the likeness of fools,
they so far fell away in their understanding, that, by their excessive reasoningh, they
even likened the Divine Wisdom to themselves, thinking it to be like their own worksi.
Therefore, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of
the incorruptible God into the likeness of the corruptible image of man, and birds, and
four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God gave them ever to a reprobate mind,
to do those things which are not convenient. For they did not listen to the prophetic
voice that reproved them. (saying.) To what have ye likened the Lord, and with what have
ye compared Him? neither to David, who prayed concerning such as these, and sang. All
those that make them are like unto them, and all those who put their trust in them. For,
being blind to the truth, they looked upon a stone as God; and further, like senseless
creatures, they went on in darkness; and, as the prophet cried, They hear indeed, but they
do not understand; they see indeed, but they do not perceive; for their heart is waken
fat, and with their ears they hear hearily.

5 Now those who do not observe the feasts, continue such persons even to the present day:
pretending indeed and devising names of feasts, but rather introducing days of mourning
than of gladness: For there is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord. And as Wisdom
saith, Gladness and joy are taken from their mouth. Such then are the feasts of the
wicked. But the wise servants of the Lord, who have truly put on the man which is created
in God, have received gospel words, and account, as of general application, the
commandment given to Timothy, which saith, Be thou an example to the believers in word, in
conversation, in lore, in faith, in purity. They keep the Feast with such propriety, that
even the unbelievers, seeing their order, may say, God is with them of a truth. For as he
who receives an apostle receives Him who sent him, so he who is a follower of the saints,
makes the Lord in every respect his end and aim; even as Paul, being a follower of Him,
says, Is I also of Christ. For there is first the precedent of our Saviour, and herein is
the height of His divinity, in that when He conversed with His disciples, He said, Learn
of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls. For also
when He put

6 11. water into a basin, and girded himself with a towel, and washed His disciples' feet,
He said to them, Know what I have done. Ye call Me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for
so I am. If therefore I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to
wash one another's feet: for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, ye
also should do. Oh! my brethren, how shall we admire the loving-kindness of our Saviour?
With what power, and what kind of trumpet should a man cry out, when exalting such helps
as these which He gives? That not only should we bear His image, but should also receive
from Him an example as a pattern of heavenly conversation; that we should go on as He hath
begun; that suffering, we should not threaten; being reviled, we should not revile again:
but should bless them that curse; and in every thing commit ourselves to God who judgeth
righteously. For those who are thus disposed, and fashion themselves according to the
Gospel, will be partakers of Christ, and imitators of apostolic conversation; on account
of which they shall be deemed worthy of that praise from him, with which he praised the
Co-

7 rinthians, when he said, I praise you that in every thing ye are mindful of me.
Afterwards, because there were men using indeed his words, but wishing to obey them
according to their lusts, and daring to pervert them, as the followers of Hymeneus and
Alexander, and before them the Sadducees, who, as he said, haring made shipwreck of faith,
were entangled in the mystery of the resurrection; on this account he immediately
proceeded to say, And as I have delivered to you traditions, hold them fast. That is, in
truth, that we should think no otherwise than the teacher hath delivered. For not only in
outward form did those wicked men disguise themselves, who, as the Lord says, put on
sheep's clothing, and appeared like unto whited sepulchres; but they took those divine
words in their mouth, while having within an evil conscience. And the first, forsooth, who
appeared thus, was the serpent, the inventor of wickedness from the beginning,—the
devil,—who, under a disguised form, conversed with Eve, and forthwith deceived her. But
after him and with him are all inventors of unlawful heresies, who indeed refer to the
Scriptures, but do not hold such opinions as the saints have handed down, receiving them
as the traditions of men: erring, because they do not rightly know them, nor their power.
Therefore Paul deservedly praises the Corinthians, because their opinions were in
accordance with his traditions. And the Lord most righteously reproved the Jews, saying,
Wherefore do ye also transgress the commandments of God on account of your traditions. For
they changed the commandments they received from God to suit their own follies, and
adhered rather to the traditions of men. Respecting these, a little after, the blessed
Paul again gave directions to the Galatians who were in danger thereof, writing to them,
If any man preach to you aught else than that ye have received, let him

8 from them. Orat. ii. §. 18, conf. Epiph. Hier. 69, 15. Or rather they took some words of
Scripture, and made their own deductions from them, viz. 'Son,' 'made,' 'exalted,' &c.
'Making their private irreligiousness as if a rule, they misinterpret all the divine
oracles by it.' Vid. note to p. 178, of 'Select Treatises of S. Athanasius,' published in
this series. Vide also Athan. Epistola ad Episc. Egypti et Libyae, p. 214. Athan.
frequently speaks of heresies as having their origin in truth, of which, however, only a
partial and imperfect view is taken: one doctrine is often unduly dwelt upon to the
suppression of others, or enforced with such subtlety of reasoning as to unfit the mind
for the reception of others equally important. 1 (Syr.). The Syriac is apparently a
literal translation of these words. 9 be accursed. For there is no fellowship whatever
between the words of the saints, and the fancies of human invention; for the saints are
the ministers of the truth, preaching the kingdom of heaven; but those who are borne in an
opposite direction, have nothing better than to eat, and think their end is that they
shall cease to exist, while they say, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
Therefore also the blessed Luke reproves the inventions of men, and hands down the
relations of the saints, saying in the beginning of the Gospel, Since many have taken in
hand to write narrations of those events of which we are assured, as those who from the
beginning were witnesses and ministers of the Word have delivered to us; it hath seemed
good to me also, who have adhered to them all from the first, to write correctly in order
to thee, O excellent Theophilus, that thou mayest know the truth concerning the things in
which thou hast been instructed. For what the saints respectively received, they give
without alteration, for correctness of doctrine concerning mysteries. Of them the (divine)
word would have us disciples, and right is it that they should be our teachers, and
necessary is it that we should submit to them alone; for of them only is the word faithful
and worthy of all acceptation, inasmuch as they did not become disciples because they
heard from others; but being eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word, they handed down
what they had heard from Him.

10 Some, indeed, related the great miracles performed by our Saviour, and preached His
eternal Godhead. Others, again, wrote of His being born in the flesh of the Virgin, and
proclaimed the festival of the holy passover, saying, Christ our Passover is sacrificed;
so that each one of us, and all of us together in common, and all the churches in the
world may remember, as it is written, That Christ rose from the dead, of the seed of
David, according to the Gospel. And let not that escape our observation which Paul
delivered, declaring it to the Corinthians; that, I mean, concerning His resurrection,
whereby he destroyed him that had the power of death; that is, the devil, and raised us up
together with Him: having loosed the bands of death, and vouchsafed a blessing instead of
a curse: joy instead of grief; a feast in the place of mourning, in this holy joy of
Easter; which being continually in our hearts, we always rejoice, as Paul commanded;
Praying without ceasing; in very thing giving thanks. We therefore do not neglect to 17.
publish its seasons, as we have received from the Fathers.

11 Again we write. Again, holding the apostolic traditions, we put one another in
remembrance in our meetings for prayer; and keeping the feast in common, with one month we
truly give thanks to the Lord. For thus receiving the grace, and being followers of the
saints, we shall make our praise in the Lord all the day, as the Psalmist says. In this
way, when we properly keep the feast, we shall be counted worthy of that joy which is in
heaven. We begin the fast of forty days on the 13th of the month Phamenoth, (Mar. 9.)
After we have given ourselves to fasting in continued succession, let us begin the week of
the holy Easter on the 18th of the month Pharmuthi, (April 13.) Then ceasing on the 23d of
the same month Pharmuthi, (April 18.) and keeping the feast afterwards on the first of the
week, on the 24th, (April 19.) let us add to these the seven weeks of the great Pentecost,
altogether rejoicing and exulting in Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be
glory and dominion by the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.

12 The brethren which are with me salute you. Salute one another with a holy kiss. Here
endeth the second Festal Letter of the holy my Lord Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria.

LETTER 3.

Easter-day XVI Pharmuthi; III Id. April; Era Dioclet. Easter-day on April 11. 47; Coss.
Annius Bassus, Ablabius; Praefect. Florentius; Indict. IV. AGAIN, my beloved brethren, the
day of the feast draws near to us, which, above all others, should be devoted to prayer;
which the law commands to be observed, and which it would be inconsistent with our
episcopal duties to pass over in silence. For although we have been held under restraint
by those who afflict us, that, on account of them, we should not announce to you this
season; yet thanks be to God, who comforteth the afflicted, that we have not been put to
silence, as though overcome by the wickedness of our accusers; but obeying the voice of
truth, together with you shout in the day of the feast. For the God of all hath commanded,
saying, Speak, and the children of Israel shall keep the Passover. And the Spirit exhorts
in the Psalm; Blow the trumpet in the new moonsᶜ, in the solemn day of Nah. 1, 15. your
feast. And the prophet cries; Keep thy feasts, O Judah. I do not send this to you as
though you were not aware of it; but I publish it to those who know it, that ye may
perceive that although men have separated us, yet God

I think the translation here given of the Syriac is the correct one. I have taken in its
more restricted ecclesiastical sense 'episcopal.' Vid. Mich. note in Lex. Syr. in v. This
seems to suit better with the expression 'pass over in silence,' as well as the following
sentence, both The ' ' of the LXX. is found here, though it does not appear in the Peshito
version. having joined us again, we approach the same feast, and always worship the same
Lord. And we do not keep the festival as observers of days, knowing that the Apostle
reproves those who do so, in those words which he spake: Ye observe days, and months, and
times, and years. But rather do we look upon the day as a solemn one because of the feast;
so that all of us, who serve God in every place, may be well-pleasing to God by prayers.
For the blessed Paul, when announcing the nearness of gladness like this, did not announce
days, but the Lord, on whose account also we keep the feast, saying, Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed; so that all of us, contemplating the eternity of the Word, may have
nearness of access to Him. For what else is the feast, but the service of the soul? And
what is that service, but prolonged prayer to God, and unceasing thanksgiving? The
unthankful having put these far from them, consequently also rightly deprive themselves of
the joy springing therefrom: for joy and gladness are taken from their mouth. Therefore,
the divine word doth not allow them to have peace; For there is no peace to the wicked,
saith the Lord, working the work of anguish and sorrow. So, not even to him who owed ten
thousand talents did the Gospel grant forgiveness Mat. 18, 24. in the sight of the Lord.
For even he, having received forgiveness of great things, was forgetful of kindness in
little ones, so that he paid the penalty also of those former things. And very properly
so; for it was incumbent on

4 The time of the Jewish types and shadows having passed away, the observance of the
particular days relabrated among them is likewise abungated. They think principally of the
scasons; we are to direct our attention chiefly to the substance of the festival— Christ.
When directions for keeping the Jewish feasts were given in the O. T. especial stress was
laid on the particular day. In the N. T. on the contrary, our Saviour is the one great
subject introduced to our notice— Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed. 2 'unceasing
thanksgiving'—a similar expression to 'prolonged prayer' in the preceding line—not
'trewifteen,' 'voluntary,' as Larsow renders it. Vid. Cast. Lex. Syr. in v. V. 1/10. 1/10.
'abstinuit.' In this sense, the word is requate with V. (?) Conf. Clemens Alex. Strom. 7.
I. Also I Thess. v. 16, 17, both in the Greek and in the Syriac vers. and Letter xi. 6
This is apparently a quotation from Scripture, though I cannot find the event words.
Perhaps it is from Jer. vi, the phraseology of v. 28, being transferred to the sentiment
of v. 31. The expression has already occurred, p. 17. 7 As, in the parable, the servant
was held accountable for the debt, (which had otherwise been forgiven him, having himself
experienced kindness, to be merciful to his fellow servant. Also, he that received the one
talent, and bound it up in a napkin, and hid it in the earth, was consequently cast out as
an unthankful person, hearing the

Mat.25,26. words, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed
not, and gathered where I have not strawed; thou oughtest therefore to have put my money
into the bank, and on my return, I should have received mine own. Take therefore the
talent from him, and giveh it to him that hath ten talents. For, as a matter of course,
when he was required to deliver up to his lord that which belonged to him, he should have
acknowledged the kindness of him who gave it, and the value of that which was given. For
he who gave was not a hard man; had he been so, he would not have given even in the first
instance: neither was that which was given unprofitable and vain; for then he had not
found fault. But both he who gave was good, and that which was given was capable of
bearing fruit.

26. As therefore he who withholdeth corn in seed-time is cursed, according to the divine
proverb; so he who is careless about grace, and hides it without culture, is properly cast
out as a wicked and unthankful person. On this account, he praises those who increased
[their talents], say- Mat.25,23. ing, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been
faithful in a little, I will place thee over much; enter into the joy of thy Lord. This
was fit and reasonable; for, as the Scripture declares, they had gained as much as they
had received. Now it is right, my beloved, that our will should keep pace with the grace
of God, and not fall short; lest when our will remains idle, the grace given us1 should
begin to depart, and the enemy finding us empty and naked, should enter [into us], as was
the case with him spoken of

Mat.12,24. in the Gospel, from whom the devil went out; for having gone through dry
places, he took seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and returning and finding
the house empty, he dwelt there, and the last state of that man was him) on account of his
cruelty to his fellow-servant; so sinners, who ungratefully withhold praise and
thanksgiving from God, are deprived of the blessings they before enjoyed. 1 For 2000 leg.
2000 2 For 2001 leg. 2001 worse than the first. For the withdrawal from virtue gives place
for the entrance of the unclean spirit. There is, moreover, the apostolic injunction, that
the grace given us should not be unprofitable; for those things which he (Paul) wrote to
his disciple as of private application, he enforces on us through him, saying, Neglect not
the gift that is in thee. For he who tillet his land shall be satisfied with bread; but
the paths of the slothful are strewn with thorns; so that the Spirit forewarns a man not
to fall into them, saying, Break up your fallow ground, sow not among thorns. For when a
man despises the grace given him, and forthwith falls into the cares of the world, he
delivers himself over to his lusts; and thus in the time of persecution he is offended,
and becomes altogether unfruitful.

Now the prophet points out the end of negligence like this, saying, Cursed is he who doeth
the work of the Lord carelessly. For he who is enlisted in the service of the Lord should
be zealous and careful, yea, moreover, burning like a flame; so that when, by an ardent
spirit, he has destroyed all earthly sin, he may be able to draw near to God, Who,
according to the expression of the saints, is called a consuming fire. Therefore, the God
of all, Who maketh His angels [spirits], is a spirit, and His ministers a flame of fire.
Wherefore, in the departure from Egypt, He forbade the multitude to touch the mountain,
where God was appointing them the law, because they were not of this character. But He
called blessed Moses to it, as being fervent in spirit, and possessing unquenchable grace,
saying, Let Moses alone draw near. On this account he also entered into the cloud, and
when the mountain was smoking, he was not injured; but rather, through the words of the
Lord, which are choice silver tried in the earth, he descended more pure.

Therefore the blessed Paul, when desirous that the grace of the Spirit given to us should
not grow cold, exhorts. Vul. also S. Athan. Epist. i. ad Serap. t. i. p. 520. 3a. Syr.
'material,' 'earthly,' an adjective formed from the Gr. 1 19. saying, "Quench not the
Spirit. For thus shall we also remain partakers of Christ", that is, if we hold fast unto
the end the Spirit given at the beginning. For he said, Quench not; not because the Spirit
is placed in the power of men, and is able to suffer any thing from them; but because bad
and unthankful men are such as manifestly wish to quench it; since they, like the impure,
persecute the Spirit with unholy deeds. For the holy Spirit of admonition flees from
guile, and dwells not in a body under the influence of sin; but even removes for from
imaginations void of understanding. But they being void of understanding, and guileful,
and lovers of sin, walk still as in darkness, not having that Light which lighteth every
man that cometh into the world. Now a fire such as this laid hold of Jeremiah the prophet,
when the word was in him as a fire, and he said, "I pass away from every place, and am not
able to endure it. And our Lord Jesus Christ, in that He was good and man-loving, came
that He might cast this upon earth, and said, And what? would that it were already
kindled?" For He desired, as He testified in

23. 32. Ezekiel, the repentance of a man rather than his death; so that evil should be
consumed in all men, to the end that the soul, being purified, might be able to bring
forth fruit; For 1150 11 leg. 1150 11. The 11 after 1150 should probably be omitted, the
error having arisen from the word occurring just before. Conf. S. Athan. Epist. ad
Dracont. tom. i. p. 209. for the word which is sown by Him will be productive, some
thirty, some sixty, some an hundred. Thus, for instance, those who were with Cleopas,
although infirm at first from lack of knowledge, yet afterwards were inflamed with the
words of our Saviour, and brought forth the fruits of the knowledge of Him. The blessed
Paul also, when seized by this fire, revealed it not to flesh and blood; but having
experienced the grace, he became a preacher of the Word. But not such were those nine
lepers who were cleansed from their leprosy, and yet were unthankful to the Lord Who
healed them; nor Judas, who obtained the lot of an apostle, and was named a disciple of
the Lord, but at last, while eating bread with our Saviour, lifted up his heel against
Him, and became a traitor. But such men have the due reward of their folly, since their
hope will be vain through their ingratitude: for there is no hope whatever to the
ungrateful; the last fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, awaiting those who
disregard divine light. Such then is the end of the unthankful.

But the faithful and true servants of the Lord, knowing that the Lord loves the thankful,
never cease to praise Him, ever giving thanks unto the Lord. And whether the time is one
of ease or of affliction, they offer up praise to God with thanksgiving, regarding not
these things of time, but worshipping the Lord, the God of times. Thus of old time, Job,
who possessed fortitude above all men, thought of these things when in prosperity; and
when in adversity, he patiently endured, and when he suffered, gave thanks. As also the
humble David, in the very time of affliction sang praises and said, I will bless the Lord
at all times. And the blessed Paul, in all his Epistles, so to say, ceased not to thank
God. In times of ease, he failed not; but in affliction he gloried, knowing that
tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and that hope
maketh not ashamed. Let us, being followers of such men,

18. 111. pass no season without thanksgiving; but especially now, when the time is one of
tribulation, which the heretics excite against us, will we praise the Lord; uttering the
words of the saints; All these things have come upon us, yet have we not forgotten Thee.
For as the Jews at that time, although suffering an assault from the tabernacles of the
Edomites, and oppressed by the enemies of Jerusalem, did not give themselves up, but all
the more sang praises to God; so we, my beloved brethren, though hindered that we should
not speak the word of the Lord, will the more proclaim it; and being afflicted, we will
sing Psalmsᶜ, that we are accounted worthy to be despised, and to labour anxiously for the
truth. Yea, moreover, being grievously vexed, we will give thanks. For also the blessed
Apostle, who gave thanks at all times, urges us in the same manner to draw near to God,
saying Let your requests, with thanksgiving, be made known unto God. And being desirous
that we should never desist from such a purpose as this, he says, At all times give
thanks;

17. pray without ceasing. For he knew that believers are strong while employed in
thanksgiving; and that rejoicing they pass over the walls of the enemy, like those saints
who said, Through Thee will we pierce through our enemies, and by my God I will leap over
a wall. At all times let us stand firm, but especially now, although many afflictions
overtake us, and many heretics are furious against us. Let us then, my beloved brethren,
celebrate with thanksgiving the holy feast which now draws near to us, girding up the
loins of our minds, like our Saviour Jesus Christ, of Whom it is written, Righteousness
shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the girdles of His reins. Each one of us
having in his hand the staff which came out of the root of Jesse, and our feet shod with
the preparation of the Gospel, let us keep the feast as Paul saith, Not with the old
leaven, but with the unlearned bread of sincerity and truth; assured that we thus
reverently think of Christ, and depart not from faith

The Syr. must be an error of the copyist for. Compare Ps. lxxxiii. 6. ᶜ Conf. James v. 13.
in Him, nor defile ourselves together with heretics, and strangers to the truth, whose
conversation and whose will bring them down. But rejoicing in afflictions, we break
through the furnace of iron and darkness, and pass, unharmed, over that terrible Red Sea.
Thus also, when we look upon the confusion of heretics, we shall, with Moses, sing that
great song of praise, and say, We will sing unto the Lord, for He is to be gloriously
praised. Thus, singing praises, and looking upon sinners against us, who have been
submerged, we pass over to the wilderness. And being first purified by the fast of forty
days, by prayers, and fastings, and discipline, and good works, we shall be able also to
eat the holy Passover in Jerusalem. The beginning of the fast of forty days is on the
fifth of Phanenoth (Mar. 1.); and when, as I have said, we have first been purified and
prepared by those days, we also begin the holy week of the great Easter on the tenth of
Pharmuthi (Apr. 5.), in which, my beloved brethren, we should observe more prolonged
prayers, and fastings, and watchings, that we may be enabled to anoint our lintels with
precious blood, and to escape the destroyer. We cease (fasting) then, on the fifteenth of
the month Pharmuthi (Apr. 10.), when we hear from the angels in the evening of the seventh
day of the week, Why seek ye the living among the dead? for He hath risen. Immediately
afterwards the first day of the great week receives us, I mean on the sixteenth of the
same month Pharmuthi (April 11.), on which our Lord having risen, vouchsafed to us peace
towards our neighbours. When then we have thus kept the feast according to His will, let
us add from that first day in the holy week, also the seven weeks of Pentecost, in which
we, receiving the grace of the Spirit, shall be giving thanks to the Lord at all times;
through Whom to the Father be

7. 23. dead upon the sea-shore. Larson renders it 'and die Sunde in uns untergehen sehn'—a
translation the Syribe will hardly admit. * Syr. glory and dominion, by the Holy Ghost,
for ever and ever. Amen. Salute one another with a holy kiss. The brethren who are with me
salute you. I pray, brethren beloved and longed for, that ye may have health, and that ye
may be mindful of us in the Lord. Here endeth the third Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.

LETTER 4.

1 Easter-day VII Pharmuthia; IV Non. Apr.; Æra Dioclet. 48: Coss. Fabius Pavatianus,
Mavilius Hilarianus; Prae-Easter-day fect. Hyginus; Indict. V. on April 2. He sent this
Letter from the Comitatus by a soldier. I SEND unto you, my beloved, late and beyond the
accustomed time; yet I trust you will forgive the delay, on account of my far travelling,
and because I have been tried with protracted illness. Being then hindered by these two
causes, and unusually severe storms having occurred, I have deferred writing to you. But
notwithstanding my far travelling, and my grievous sickness, I have not forgotten to give
you the festal notification, and, in discharge of my duty, I now announce to you the
feast. For although the letter has been delayed beyond the accustomed period of the
proclamation, yet it should not be considered ill-timed, inasmuch as, since the enemies
have been put to shame and reproved by the Church, because they persecuted us without a
cause, we may now sing a festal song of praise, uttering

2 the triumphant hymn against Pharaoh; We will sing unto the Lord, for He is to be
gloriously praised; the horse and his rider He hath cast into the sea. For we proceed
duly, my beloved, from feast to feast; again festal meetings, again holy watchings stir up
our minds, and keep our consciences on the guard to spiritual contemplation of good
things. 3 Judith 13, 8. We do not celebrate these days in the character of mourners; but,
as refreshing ourselves with spiritual food, we impose silence on our fleshly lusts. For
by these means we shall have strength to overcome our adversaries, like blessed Judith,
when, first having occupied herself with fastings and prayers, she overcame the enemies,
and killed Olophernes. And blessed Esther, when destruction was about to come on all her
race, and the nation of Israel was ready to perish, defeated the fury of the tyrant by no
other means than by fasting and prayer to God, and changed the ruin of her people into
safety. Now as those days are considered feasts for Israel, so also in old time they were
called feasts when an enemy was slain, or a conspiracy against the people broken up, and
Israel delivered. On this account it was that blessed Moses of old time ordained the great
feast of the Passover, and our celebration of it, because, namely, Pharaoh was killed, and
the people were delivered from bondage. But then, when those who tyrannized over the
people were slain, feasts and holidays were observed partially—in Judaea—with reference to
time. Now, however, that the devil is slain, that tyrant against the whole world, we do
not approach the feast, my beloved, as a temporal one, but as being eternal and heavenly.
For we proclaim it not as it were in shadows, but we come to it in the truth.

4 They indeed, when filled with the flesh of an irrational lamb, accomplished the feast,
and having anointed their door-posts with the blood, deprecated the destroyer. But now we,
eating of the Word of the Father, and having the lintels of our hearts sealed with the
blood of the New Testament, acknowledge the grace given us from the Saviour, who said,
Behold, I have given unto you to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy. For no more does death reign; but instead of death henceforth there is life,
since our Lord said, I am the life; so that every thing is filled with gladness and
rejoicing; as it is written, The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice. For when death
reigned, sitting down by the rivers of Babylon, we wept, and mourned, because we had
experienced the bitterness of captivity; but now that death and the kingdom of the devil
is abolished, every thing is entirely filled with joy and gladness. And God is no longer
known in Judaea only, but in all the earth, their voice hath gone forth, and the knowledge
of Him hath filled all the earth. What remains, my beloved, is obvious; that, as the
result, we approach such a feast, not with filthy raiment, but with our consciences
covered with pure garments. For we need in this to put on our Lord Jesus, that we may be
able to celebrate the feast with Him. Now we are clothed with Him when we love virtue;

5 when we are enemies to wickedness; when we exercise ourselves with temperance; when we
mortify lasciviousness; when we love righteousness, in preference to iniquity; when we
esteem sufficiency; when we have fortitude of mind; when we forget not the poor, but open
our door to all men; when we assist humble-mindedness, but hate pride. By these things
Israel of old, after having first fought the battle, as in a figure, came to the feast.
Such things were then set forth, as in the shadow. But we, my beloved, the shadow having
received its fulfilment, and the types being accomplished, should no longer consider the
feast a figurative one; neither should we go up to Jerusalem which is beneath, to
sacrifice the Passover, according to the unseasonable observance of the Jews, lest, while
the season passes away, we should be regarded as acting unseasonably; but, in accordance
with the injunction of the Apostles, let us go beyond the types, and sing the new song of
praise. For this they also observed; and as being assembled together with the Truth,

6 17. they drew near, and said unto our Saviour, Where wilt Thou that we should make ready
for Thee the Passover? For no longer were these things done at Jerusalem which is beneath;
neither was it considered that the feast should be celebrated there alone; but wherever
God willed it to be. Now He willed it to be in every place, so that in every place incense
and a sacrifice might be offered to Him. For although, as in the historical account, they
were commanded not to introduce the feast of the Passover any where, but only in
Jerusalem; yet when the things pertaining to that time were fulfilled, and those which
belonged to shadows had passed away, and the preaching of the Gospel was to be extended
every where; when, indeed, the disciples were spreading the feast in all places, they
asked our Saviour, 17. Where wilt Thou that we shall make ready? Our Saviour also, since
He was changing the typical for the spiritual, promised them that they should no longer
eat the flesh of a lamb, but His own, saying, Take, eat and drink; this is My body, and My
blood. When we are then nourished

7 26-28. 1 Conf. Letter i. p. 3. 2 Tâsis Syr. 3 Such a song as is in accordance with the
superior blessings of the Christian dispensation. Ps. xviii. 1. Rev. xiv. 3. 4 1:10 505. I
understand this as referring to Christ. Vid. John xiv. 6. by these things, we shall also,
my beloved, properly keep the feast of the Passover. We commence on the first of Pharmuthi
(Mar. 27.); and having ceased on the sixth of the same month (Apr. 1.), on the evening of
the seventh day, and the holy first day of the week having risen upon us on the seventh of
the same Pharmuthi (Apr. 2.), celebrate we too the days of the holy Pentecost following
thereon, by them introducing a symbol of the world to come. But that henceforth we may be
with Christ for ever, let us give praise to God over all in Christ Jesus, and through Him,
with all saints, say unto the Lord, Amen.

8 Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the brethren who are with me salute you. We
have sent this letter from the Comitatus, by the hand of an attendant officer, to whom it
was given by Ablabius, the Praefect of the Praetorium, who fears God in truth. The whole
interval of fifty days between Easter-day and Whitsunday (all which time was sometimes
denominated Pentecost) was looked upon by the early Church as a time of rejoicing. During
the continuance of it, the ordinary fasts, as on Wednesdays and Fridays, were generally
suspended, though not alike by all the Churches of Christendom. Cassian Collat. xxi. c.
xi. (Lips. 1733. p. 461.) speaks of the monasteries of Syria paying little regard to the
rule which forhade kneeling at prayers, or fasting in Pentecost, while the Egyptians
carefully observed it. Crepinus diligentius perennetari, cur apud. Egyptius tanta
observantia caveretur, ne quis penitus totis Quinquagesima diebus vel gema in oratione
curvatet, vel asque ad horam nonam jejunare praesmerit; eoque ad diligentius scrut-bamur,
quod requaqnam hoc tanta cautione servari in Syriae monasteriis videramus. Bingham's
Christian Ant. book xx. ch. 6.

9 It was due to this custom of regarding the whole season of Pentecost as one of
rejoicing, during which fasts were suspended, that it is mentioned as a symbol of the
world to come. S. Cyril uses the same comparison towards the end of his 26th Paschal
discourse, Vide note to the title of this Letter. I am inclined to think that the person
here mentioned belonged to the classtermed palatini. These were employed about the palace
of the emperor, and though not actually of the number of the army, or accustomed to bear
arms, were nevertheless included in the term 'military,' whatever service might be
assigned them. This may account for the word used with reference to him in the title of
the Letter. Among the number of these palatini, was one who was specially engaged as the
bearer of the ordinary communications to and from the Emperor and the Patriarch. There was
an officer to whom the general superintendence of the palace and the command of the
palatini was committed. Ablabius probably now filled that post. Vid. Suicer. Thes. in v.

10 7 Ablavius (hic, Ablabius) Praefect of the city, the minister and favourite of
Constantine the Great, was murdered after the death of the latter. He was consul in the
preceding year. Zosimus ii. 40. (Smith's Diet. of Gr. and Rom. Biography.) D 2 For I am at
the Comitatus, having been summoned by the emperor Constantine to see him. But the
Meletians, who were present there, being envious, sought our ruin before the Emperor. But
they were put to shame and driven away thence as calumniators, being confuted by many
things. Those who were thus driven away were Callinicus, Ision, Eudaemon, and Gelous
Hieracammon, who, on account of the shame of his name, calls himself Eulogius. Here endeth
the fourth Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.

LETTER 5.

1 Easter-day, Coss. Dalmatius and Zenophilus; Prefect. Paterius; VI. Indict. XVII. Kal.
Maii; XX. Pharmuthi; Easter-day XI. Moon; VII. Gods; Era Dioclet. 19. on April 15. WE duly
proceed, my brethren, from feasts to feasts, duly from prayers to prayers; we advance from
fastsᶜ to fasts, and join holy-days to holy-days. Again the time has arrived which brings
to us a new beginning, even the announcement of the blessed Passover, in which our Lord
was sacrificed. We eat, as it were, the food of life; and, thirsting continually, are at
all times delighted, as it were, from a fountain, by His precious blood. For we, on the
one hand, are always eagerly desirous; He, on the other, stands ready for those who
thirst; and for those who thirst, there is the word of our Saviour, which, according to
His lovingkindness, He vouchsafed in the day of the feast; If any man thirst, let him come
to Me and drink. Nor was it then alone

2 The Syriac must be for 'Paterius' not 'Paterius,' as Larsow writes it. The Nun and the
Yod are often confounded in the Ms. Moreover, the letter Oisph would not be written in
Syriac as part of the final syllable 'tus,' though it does frequently appear in the Ms. in
the termination 'ius:' e. g. Patricius, Anicius, Septimius, Florentius. We know that the
pretect in the year 319 bore the name of Paterius. Vid. Baron. Ann. Eccles. tom. 4. p. 8.
§. xxi. ᶜ Read 1100, with the Rebu. The allusion here is to the time of the year at which
Easter is celebrated, viz. the Spring, and in particular to the passage in Deut. chap.
xxvi. 1, which is more than once quoted in these letters:. Vid. note o to Letter i. p.
12.; also note to Letter xix, sub init. In the expression 'new beginning' reference is
also made to our Saviour, (. Apocal. iii. 14.) to whom we are brought near in the feast,
according to what follows. Conf. Athan. contra Apollinarium, hb. i. §. 20. p. 748 9.

3 when any one drew near to Him, that He cured his thirst; but, moreover, whenever it is
sought, is there access freely for any man to the Saviour. For the grace of the feast is
not limited to one time, nor does its splendid brilliancy suffer an eclipse; but it is
always near, enlightening the conscience of those who earnestly desire itf. For there is
constant virtue in this, to those who are illuminated in their minds, and meditate on the
divine Scriptures day and night, like the man to whom a blessing is given, as it is
written in the sacred Psalms; Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of corrupters. But his
delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night. For it
is not the sung, or the moon, or the host of those other stars which illumines him; but he
glitters with the high effulgence of God over all. For it is God, my beloved, even the God
Who at first established the feast for us, Who vouchsafes the celebration of it year by
year. He also brought about the slaying of His Son for salvation, and gave us this reason
for the holy feast; to which every year is a witness, the feast being proclaimed annually
at a season corresponding with the present.

4 This also leads us on from the cross by means of this world to that which is before us,
and God produces even now from it the joy of glorioush salvation, bringing us to the same
assembly, and in every place uniting all of us in spirit; appointing us common prayers,
and a common grace proceeding from the feast. For this is the marvel of his
lovingkindness, that He should gather together in the same place those who are at a
distance; and make those who appear to be far off in the body, to be near together in
unity of spirit. Wherefore then, my beloved, do we not acknowledge the grace as becometh
the feast? Wherefore do we not make a return to our Benefactor? It is indeed impossible to
make an adequate return to God; still, it is a 5 f. Vide note c to Letter i. p. 3. g. In
the Ms. 1500 is written by mistake for 1500. h. Syr. 1500. This root is unknown in Syriac,
and I believe in all the Shemite languages. There is, I doubt not, an error in the text,
and that the word should be some form of the root 1501 which, in Heb. Chald. Syr. Æthiop.
and Arabic, conveys the idea of splendor. wicked thing for us who receive the gracious
gift, not to acknowledge it. Nature itself manifests our inability; but our own will
reproves our unthankfulness. Therefore the blessed Paul, when admiring the greatness of
the gift of God, said, And who is sufficient for these things? For He made the world free
by the blood of our Saviour; then, again, He caused the grave to be trodden down by the
death of our Saviour, and opened the gates of heaven, granting through our Saviour an
uninterrupted way to those who ascend (thereto). On this account, one of the saints, while
he acknowledged the grace, but was insufficient to repay it, said, What shall I render
unto the Lord for all He has done unto me? For instead of death he had received life;
freedom instead of bondage; and the kingdom of heaven instead of the grave. For of old
time, death reigned from Adam to Moses; but now the divine voice hath said, To-day shalt
thou be with Me in Paradise. And the saints, being sensible of this, said, Except the 43.
Lord had helped me, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. Besides all this, being compelled to
make a return, while he acknowledged the gift, he wrote finally, saying, I will take the
cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord; precious in His sight is the death of
His saints.

6 With regard to the cup, our Lord also said, Are ye able Mat. 20, 22. to drink of that
cup which I am about to drink of? And when the disciples assented, the Lord said, Ye shall
indeed drink of My cup; but that ye should sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not
Mine to give; but to those for whom it is prepared. Therefore, my beloved, let us be
sensible of the gift, though we are found incompetent to repay it. As we have ability, let
us meet the occasion. For although nature is not able, with things unworthy of the Word,
to return a recompense for such benefits, yet let us render Him thanks while we persevere
in piety. And how can we be more regardful of piety, than when we acknowledge God, Who, in
His love to mankind, has bestowed on us such things? (For thus we shall obediently keep
the law, and observe the commandments thereof. Further, we shall not, as unthankful
persons, be accounted transgressors of the law, or do those things which ought to be
hated; for the Lord loveth the thankful;) when too we offer ourselves to the Lord, like
the saints; when, finally, we subscribe ourselves, living not to ourselves, but to the
Lord, Who

7 died for us, as also the blessed Paul did, when he said, I am crucified with Christ, yet
I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Now our life, my brethren, truly consists in
our denying all bodily things, and continuing stedfast in those only of our Saviour.
Therefore the season now requires this of us, that we should not only utter such words,
but also imitate the deeds of the saints. But we imitate them, when we acknowledge Him Who
died; and no longer live unto ourselves, but Christ henceforth lives in us; when we render
a recompense to the Lord to the utmost of our power; when, I say, we make a return, not by
giving any thing of our own, but those things which we have before received from Him; this
being especially of His grace, that He should require, as from us, His own gifts. He bears
witness of this when He says, My offerings are My gifts. That is, those things which ye
give Me are yours, as having received them from Me; but they are the gifts of God. And let
us offer to the Lord every virtue, and the true holiness He requires; and in piety let us
keep the feast to Him with those things which He has hallowed for us.

8 Let us thus engage in the holy fasts, as having been Perhaps S. Athanasius had in mind
here the words of David, (1 Chron. xxix. 14.) All things come of Thee, and of Thine own
have we given Thee." prescribed by Him, and by means of which we attain the way to God.
But let us not be like the heathen, or the ignorant Jews, or as the heretics and
schismatics of the present time. For the heathen think the accomplishment of the feast is
in the abundance of food; the Jews, erring in the type and shadow, think it still such;
the schismatics keep it in separate places, and with vain imaginations. But let us, my
brethren, be superior to the heathen, in keeping the feast with sincerity of soul, and
purity of body; to the Jews, in no longer receiving the type and the shadow, but as having
been gloriously illumined with the light of truth, and as looking upon the Sun of
Righteousness; to the schismatics, in not rending the coat of Christ, but in one house,
even in the Catholic Church, eating the Passover of the Lord, Who, in giving us His holy
laws, instructed us to virtue, and for the exercise thereof, promised the feast. For the
Passover is in truth a turning from vice to virtue, and a conversion from death unto life.
This may be gathered even from the type of old time. For then they were solicitous to pass
from Egypt to Jerusalem; but now we remove from death to life. They also at that time
passed from Pharaoh to Moses, but now we go up from the devil to the Saviour. And as, at
that time, an emblem of their deliverance was every year established as a witness;

9 46. A S. Cyril, towards the end of his homilies de Festis Paschalibus, frequently speaks
of the quadragesimal fast, as of Apostolic or Evangelical origin: are the terms he employs
in his seventh, fifteenth, and twentieth homilies, when declaring the periods at which
Lent was to begin and end. The words — — are similar terms found in other of his paschal
discourses. A The figure of the - sutilis, (John xix. 23.) as applied to the indivisible
Church, owes its origin and frequent use to the Arian dispute. It is mischievously to tear
the body of the Church, to sever and to rend its whole garment Vide Germani I. Patriarchæ
Constantin. de hæresibus et synod. apud A. Mai Spicil. t. vii. p. 44. So also, §. 15.
"Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, who was against receiving Aries back again into communion
with the Church, relates that the Lord appeared to him clad in torn garments. On his
asking, O Lord! who has rent Thee? the answer was, Aries has rent Me; receive him not, for
he is condemned now and for ever. L.

10 so now, introducing the memorial of our salvation, we fast, meditating on death, that
we may be able to live. And we watch, not as mourning, but as waiting for the Lord, when
He shall have returned from the wedding; so that we may vie with each other in the
triumph, hastening to announce the result of victory over death. Would therefore, O my
beloved, (for the word requires this) that we here so governed ourselves at all times and
entirely, and so lived, as never to forget the noble acts of God, nor to depart from the
practice of virtue! As also the Apostolic voice exhorts; Remember Jesus Christ, that He
rose from the dead. Not that there was a limited season of remembrance appointed; but that
at all times He should be in our thoughts. Yet, on account of general supineness, we delay
from day to day. Let us then begin in these days. To this end a time of remembrance was
appointed, which should set before the saints the recompense of the reward of their
calling, while to the careless it should be a reproving monitor.

11 Therefore in all the remaining days, let us persevere in virtuous conversation,
repenting, as is our duty, of our neglect in various things, of whatever kind it may be;
for there is no one free from defilement, though his course may have been but one hour on
the earth, as that man of surpassing fortitude, Job, testifies. But, stretching forth to
those things that are to come, let us pray that we eat not the Passover unworthily, lest
we be exposed to dangers. For to those who keep the feast in purity, the Passover is
heavenly food; but to those who observe it profanely and contemptuously, it is harm and
loss. For it is written, Whosoever shall eat and drink unworthily, is guilty of the death
of our Lord. Wherefore, let us not proceed, as merely regarding the performance of the act
of the feast, but as being about to approach the divine Lamb, and to touch heavenly food.
Let us cleanse our hands; let us purify the body. Let us keep our whole spirit from guile;
not giving up ourselves to excess, and to lusts, but occupying ourselves entirely with our
Lord, and with divine doctrines; so that, being altogether pure, we may be able to partake
of the Word.

12 We begin the holy fast on the fourteenth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 9.), on the evening of the
Sabbath; and having ceased on the nineteenth of the same month Pharmuthi (Apr. 14.), the
first day of the holy week dawns upon us on the twentieth of the same month Pharmuthi
(Apr. 15.), to which we join the seven weeks of Pentecost; with prayers, and distribution
towards our neighbour, and love towards one another, and, which is above all, a
conciliatory disposition. For in this manner also shall we be heirs of the kingdom of
heaven, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom to the Father be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen. All the brethren who are with me salute you. Salute one another
with a holy kiss. Here endeth the fifth Festal Letter of holy Athanasius.


THE FESTAL EPISTLES
===================

THE FESTAL EPISTLES continued

LETTER 6.

1 Easter-day, XII. Pharmuthi; VII. Id. April: XVII. Moon; Easter-day Era Dioclet. 50;
Coss. Optatus Patricius, Anicius on April 7. Paulinus; Prefect; Philagrius, the
Cappadocian; VII. Indict. Now again, my beloved, has God also brought us to the season of
the feast, and through His loving-kindness we have reached the period of assembly for it.
For that God who brought Israel out of Egypt, even He also at this time calls us to the
feast, saying by Moses, Observe the mouth of new fruitsᶜ, and keep the Passover to the
Lord thy God: and by the prophet, Keep thy feasts, O Judah; pay to the Lord thy vows. If
then God Himself loves the feast, and calls us to it, it is not right, my brethren, that
it should be delayed, or observed carelessly; but that with alacrity and zeal we should
come to it; so that, having begun joyfully here, we may also receive an earnest of that
heavenly feast. For if we diligently keep the feast which is celebrated here, doubtless we
shall receive the perfect joy which is in heaven; as the Lord says; With desire I have
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, that I will not

2 There appears to be an error in the Syriac text: we must read in place of This
Philagrius was a violent persecutor of the Church, taking part with the Arians. He was an
apostate from the true faith. Conf. Hist. Arian. ad Monachos, p. 276. §. 9. and p. 277. §.
12. An elegant comparison between Athan. and Philagrius is however drawn out by Greg.
Nazianzen, tom. i. p. 401. ed. Par. 1778. Conf. note to title of Letter x. ᶜ Conf. note o,
to Letter i. p. 12. eat it, until it is fulfilled with you in the kingdom of God. Now we
eat it when, having entertained in our minds the occasion of the feast, and acknowledging
the Deliverer, we are properly attracted to His grace, as Paul saith; So that we may keep
the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of wickedness; but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. For the Lord died in those days, that we should
no longer do the deeds of death. He gave His life, that we might preserve our own from the
snares of the devil. And, what is most wonderful, the Word became incarnate, that we
should no longer live in the flesh, but in spirit should worship God, who is a Spirit?

3 He who is not so disposed, though employing the days, does not keep the feast, but, like
an unthankful person, finds fault with the grace; and though he may esteem the days before
others, he does not supplicate the Lord who in those days redeemed him. Let him by all
means hear, though fancying that he keeps the feast, the Apostolic voice reproving him: Ye
observe days, and months, and times, and years: I fear lest I have laboured among you in
vain. For 11. the feast is not on account of the days; but we observe it, because in them
the Lord suffered in our stead, for our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed. Even as Moses,
when teaching Israel not to consider the feast as pertaining to the days, but to the Lord,
said, It is the Lord's Passover. To the Jews forsooth when they thought they celebrated
the Passover, because they persecuted the Lord, the feast was useless; since it no longer
bore the name of the Lord, even according to their own testimony. It was not the Passover
of the Lord, but that of the Jews. The Passover was named after Is. 1, 14.

4 15. &c. 19. 20. 65. 28. the Jews, my brethren, because they denied the Lord of the
Passover. On this account, the Lord, turning away His face from such a doctrine of theirs,
saith, Your new moons and your sabbaths My soul hateth. So now, those who keep the
Passover in like manner, the Lord again reproves, as He did those lepers who were
cleansed, when He loved the one as thankful, but was angry with the others as ungrateful,
because they did not acknowledge their Deliverer, but preferred the cure of the leprosy to
Him Who had healed them. But one of them when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and
with a loud voice glorified God, and fell on his face at the feet of Jesus giving Him
thanks; and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but
those nine—whence are there none found who returned to give glory to God, but this
stranger? And there was more given to this one than to the rest; for being cleansed from
his leprosy, he heard from the Lord, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath saved thee. For he
who giveth thanks, and he who glorifies, have kindred feelings, in that they bless their
Helper for the benefits they have received. So the Apostle exhorts all men to this,
saying, Glorify God with your body; and the prophet commands, saying, Give glory to God.

5 Although testimony was borne by Caiaphas against our Redeemer, and He was set at nought
by the Jews, and was condemned by Pilate in those days, yet very exalted and most mighty
was the voice of the Father which came to Him; I have glorified, and will glorify again.
For those things which He suffered on our account have passed away; but those concerning
Him as our Saviour remain for ever. The Syriac would seem to remove the note of
interrogation from and to give the meaning 'how is it that those nine did not return to
give glory to God, while this stranger did?' is thus to be taken as in Luke iv. ᶜ Conf.
Athan. Expos. in Psalmos. (Ps. lxvii. 35.) —. The ideas of 'praising' or 'glorifying,' and
'giving thanks,' are closely connected, and are sometimes expressed by the same word, e.
g. Heb. Gr. '. Conf.

6 Ps. l. 23. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth V.e. Suicer in voe ' says, significat
laudare, celebrare, glorificare, gratias agere; idque—per synecdochen generis Hebraicam:
nam qui aliquem celebrant, illi confitentur, vel potius profitentur res praelare ab eo
gestas, vel beneficia ab eo accepta. Christ, while on earth, suffered as man, but was
glorified as God, the Father bearing testimony of Him. His sufferings for us have ceased,
but the glory of them shall endure eternally. Conf. Phil. ii. 7—11. 7 On this account, my
brethren, when we remember these things, let us not be occupied with meats, but let us
glorify the Lord; let us become fools for Him Who died for us, even as Paul said; For if
we are foolish, it is to God; or if we are sober-minded, it is to you; since because one
died for all men, therefore all were dead to Him; and He died for all, that we who live
should not henceforth live to ourselves, but to Him Who died for us, and rose again. No
longer then ought we to live to ourselves, but, as servants, to the Lord. And not in vain
should we receive the grace, as the time is especially an acceptable one, and the day of
salvation hath dawned, even the death of our Redeemer. For even for our sakes the Word
came down, and being incorruptible, put on a corruptible body for the salvation of all of
us. On this subject Paul speaks plainly, saying, This corruptible must put on
incorruption. The Lord too was sacrificed, that by His blood He might abolish death. Full
well did He once, in a certain place, blame those who participated vainly in the shedding
of His blood, while they did not delight themselves in the flesh of the Word, saying, What
profit is there in My blood, that I go down to corruption? This does not mean that the
descent of the Lord was of no advantage; for it gained the whole world;

8 but rather that after He had thus suffered, sinners would prefer to be without it, to
profiting by it. For He regarded our salvation as a delight and a peculiar gain; while, on
the contrary, He looked upon our destruction as loss. Also in the Gospel, He praises those
who increased the grace twofold, both him who made ten talents of five, and him who made
four talents of two, as those who had profited, and turned them to good account; but him
who hid the talent He cast out as wanting, saying to him, Thou wicked serrant! oughtest
thou not to have put my money into the bank? then on my return, I should have received
mine own with interest. Take, therefore, from him the talent, and give it to him that hath
ten talents. For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly;
but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the
unprofitable servant into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For it is not His will that the grace we have received should be unprofitable; but He
requires us, as a duty, to render Him of His fruits, as the blessed Paul saith; The fruit
of the Spirit is lore, joy, and peace.

9 Therefore, being right-minded, and owing no man any thing, but rather giving every thing
to every man, he was a teacher of the like propriety of purpose, saying, Render to all
their dues. He was like those sent by the householder to receive the fruits of the
vineyard from the husbandmen; for he also exhorted all men to render a return"; but Israel
despised, and rendered not. Their inclinations were not good; nay, moreover, they killed
those that were sent; so that there was no reverence shewn the Lord of the vineyard", but
He was even slain by them. Notwithstanding, when He came and found no fruit in them, He
cursed them through the fig-tree, saying, Let there be henceforth no fruit from thee; and
the fig-tree died fruitless, so that even the disciples wondered when it withered away.
Then was fulfilled that which was also spoken by the prophet; I will take away from them
the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of
the bride, the scent of myrrh, and the light of a lamp, and the whole land shall be
destroyed. For the whole service of the law has been removed from them, and henceforth and
for ever they remain without a feast. And they observe not the Passover; for how can they?
They have no abiding place, but they wander every where. And they eat unlea-

10 " The comparison here made, as well as the order of the words in the Syriac text,
requires the translation here given. Larsow renders the passage, 'he was studious to
render a return to all men.' But though I can might take this signification, it would not
suit here. Those who were sent to the husbandmen exhorted them to make a proper return of
the fruits; St. Paul, who was sent as a preacher of the Gospel to all the world, exhorted
all men to a perform- ance of their Christian duties. The same word is employed before in
this letter; 'The apostle exhorts all men to this,' p. 52. I can is the expression in p.
4, where we read 'urging us to note.' Conf. 'De Passione et Cruce Domini,' p. 62. After
quoting the verse of Scripture, 'Render to all their dues, &c.' there follows;… 11 vened
bread without fulfilling the law, since they are unable first to sacrifice the lamb, as
they were commanded to do when eating unleavened bread. But in every place they transgress
the law, and judgments are inflicted on them by God; so that they introduce days of grief
and not of gladness. Now the cause of this to them was their slaying of the Lord, and
their not reverencing the Only-Begotten. At this time also, the altogether wicked heretics
and ignorant schismatics are in the same case: the one, in that they slay the Word; the
other, in that they rend the coat. They also remain expelled from the feast, because they
live without godliness and knowledge, and emulate the conduct shewn in the matter of Bar
Abbas the robber, whom the Jews desired instead of the Saviour. Therefore the Lord cursed
them under the figure of the fig-tree. Yet also even thus He spared them in His loving-
kindness, not destroying them, root and all. For He did not curse the root, but [said],
that no man should eat fruit of it thenceforth. When He did this, He brought the shadow to
nought, causing it to wither; but preserving the root, so that we might [not] be grafted
upon it: they too, if they remain not in unbelief, may attain to be grafted into their own
olive tree. When therefore the Lord had cursed these because of their negligence, He
removed from them the new moons, the true lamb, and that which is truly the Passover. But
to us it came: there came too the solemn day, in which it is incumbent upon us to call to
the feast with a trumpet, and separate ourselves to the Lord with thanks Matt. 26, 58.

12 17. 13. giving, considering it as our own festival. For we are bound to celebrate it,
not to ourselves, but to the Lord; and to rejoice, not in ourselves, but in the Lord, Who
bore our afflictions, and said, My soul is sorrowful unto death. For the heathen, and all
those men who are destitute of our faith, keep feasts according to their own wills, and
have no peace, since they sin against God. But the saints, as those who live to the Lord,
also keep the feast to Him, saying, I will rejoice in Thy salvation, and, my soul shall be
joyful in the Lord. The commandment also is common to them, Rejoice, ye righteous, in the
Lord—so that they also may be gathered together, to sing that common and festal Psalm,
Come, let us rejoice, not in ourselves, but, in the Lord. For thus, the patriarch Abraham
rejoiced not to see his own day, but that of the Lord; and when he thus longed for it, he
saw it, and was glad. And when he was tried, by faith he sacrificed Isaac, and offered up
his only-begotten son—he who had received the promises. And, in offering his son, he
worshipped the Son of God. And, being restrained from sacrificing Isaac, he saw the
Messiah in the ram, which was offered up instead as a sacrifice to God. The patriarch was
tried then, through Isaac; not however that he was sacrificed, but He who was pointed out
in Isaiah; He shall be led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers
he shall be speechless; but He took away the sin of the world.

13 especially the first Letter of this series. In both, allusion is made to Eccles. chap.
iii. where it is stated that there is a time for every thing; the command given to Moses,
Numb. x. 1. is quoted in both; and the figure of the Christian trumpet is also contained
equally in both. The Passover is no longer to be a feast of the Jews: it is to be
celebrated by Christians as a festival of the Lord. Vid. page 45 and note g. See note to
Letter ii. p. 18. where add that Jeroboam is called by Athan.: Synopsis Sac. Script. p.
135. The latter part of the translation Whom (i. e. Isaac) he had received by a promise.
The Syriac here is more exact to the Greek, He (i. e. Abraham) who had received the
promises. The Syriac, here rendered by 'ram,' is though we might have expected. It is the
same word that is used directly after, in the quotation from Isaiah, and rendered 'lamb.'
Difference between the sacrifice of Christ, and that of Isaac. 51

14 And on this account [Abraham] was restrained from laying his hand on the lad, lest the
Jews, taking occasion from the sacrifice of Isaac, should reject the prophetic
declarations concerning our Saviour, even all of them; but more especially those uttered
by the Psalmist: Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not; a body Thou hast prepared Me;
and should refer all such things as these to the son of Abraham. For the sacrifice was not
properly the establishment of Isaac, but of Abraham who also offered, and by that he was
tried. Thus God accepted the will of the offerer, but prevented that which was offered
from being sacrificed. For the death of Isaac did not procure freedom to the world, but
that of our Saviour alone, by whose stripes we all are healed. For He raised up the
falling, healed the sick, satisfied those who were hungry, and filled the poor; and, what
is more wonderful, raised us all from the dead: having abolished death, He hath brought us
from affliction and sighing to the rest and gladness of this feast, a joy which reacheth
even to heaven.

15 For not we alone are affected by this, but because of it, even the heavens rejoice with
us, and the whole church together of the first-born, written in heaven, is made glad, as
the prophet proclaims, saying, Rejoice, ye heavens, for the Lord hath comforted Israel.
Shout, ye foundations of the earth. Cry out with joy, ye mountains, ye high places, and
all the trees which are in them, because the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and Israel hath
been glorified. And again; “ I use the word 'establishment' for want of one that would
better express the meaning. The Syriae is which is the rendering of the Greek in Heb. ix.
10,. The sacrifice of Isaac was not only to serve as a type of the death of Christ; but
the particular circumstances attending it, were designed for the instruction of Abraham,
and his establishment in the Christian faith. Cont. The phylact on the passage in Heb. —.
The original Greek was probably,

16 1 2 Is. 19, 13. I Rejoice, and be glad, ye heavens; let the hills melt into gladness,
for the Lord hath had mercy on His people, and comforted the oppressed of the people. The
whole creation keeps a feast, my brethren, and every thing that hath breath praises the
Lord, as the Psalmist [says], both on account of the destruction of the enemies, and our
salvation. And very right is it; for if there is joy in heaven over one sinner that
repenteth, what should there not be over the abolition of sin, and the resurrection of the
dead? Or what kind of a feast and gladness must there be in heaven: how must all its hosts
joy and exult, as they rejoice and watch in our assemblies, both those held from time to
time, and especially those at Easter? For they look on sinners while they repent; on those
who have turned away their faces, when they become converted; on those who formerly
persisted in lusts and excess, but who now humble themselves by fastings and temperance;
and, finally, on the enemy who lies weakened, no longer possessed of life, being bound
hand and foot, so that we may mock at him; Where is thy victory, O Death? where is thy
sting, O Grave? Let us then sing unto the Lord a victorious song of praise.

17 Who then will conduct us to such a company of angels as this? Who, coming with a desire
for the heavenly feast, and the angelic holiday, will say like the prophet, I will pass to
the place of the wondrous tabernacle, unto the house of God; with the voice of joy and
praise, with the shouting of those who keep festival? To such a state, the saints also
encourage us, saying, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of
the God of Jacob. But such a feast as this is not for an impure person, neither is the
approach to it for sinners; but it is for the virtuous and diligent; and such as have the
same end in view as the saints; for, Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? or who
shall stand in His holy place, but he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart: who hath
not devoted his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour. For he, as the
Psalmist adds, when he goes up, shall receive a blessing from the Lord. Now this clearly
also refers to what the Lord gives to them at the right hand, saying, Come, ye blessed,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you. But the deceitful, and he 31. that is not pure of
heart, and possesses nothing that is pure, (as the Proverb saith, To a deceitful man there
is nothing good, shall assuredly, being a stranger, and of a different 13.

18 race from the saints, be accounted unworthy to eat the Passover, for a foreigner shall
not eat of it. Thus Judas, Exol. 12, when he thought he kept the Passover, because he
plotted 43. deceit against the Saviour, was estranged from the city which is above, and
from the apostolic company. For the law commanded the Passover to be eaten with due
observance; but he, while eating it, was sifted of the devil, who had entered his soul. 19
Wherefore let us not be affected as those who keep the feast on earth, but as celebrating
it in heaven with the angels. Let us glorify the Lord, by temperance, by righteousness,
and those other virtues. And let us rejoice, not in ourselves, but in the Lord, that we
also may be inheritors with the saints. Let us keep the feast then, as Moses. Let us watch
like David, who rose seven times, and in the middle of the night gave thanks for the
righteous judgments of God. Let us be early, as he said, In the morning I will 3. stand
before Thos, and Thos will look upon me; in the morning Thos will hear my voice. Let us
fast like Daniel: let us pray without ceasing, as Paul commanded; all of us recognising
the season of prayer, but especially those who are honourably married, so that when a
testimony is borne to us by these things, and we keep the feast by them, we may be able to
enter into the joy of our Lord in the kingdom of heaven. But as Israel, when going up to
Jerusalem, was first purified in the wilderness, being trained to forget the customs of
Egypt: as the [divine] word has graciously prescribed to us the holy fast of forty days;
let us first be purified and purged, so that when we depart hence, having been careful of
fasting, we may be able to ascend to the upper chamber with the Lord, to sup with Him; and
may be partakers of the joy which is in heaven. In no other manner shall we be able to go
up to Jerusalem, and to eat the Passover, but as we apply ourselves to the fast of forty
days.

20 We begin the fast of forty days on the first day of the month Phamenoth (Feb. 25.); and
having prolonged it till the fifth of Pharmuthi (Mar. 31.), suspending it upon the
previous first days of the week, and the Saturdays, then we begin again on the holy days
of Easter, on the sixth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 1.), and cease on the eleventh of the same
month (Apr. 6.), late in the evening of the Saturday, immediately after which there rises
upon us the first day of the holy week, on the twelfth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 7.), which
extends its beams, with unobscured grace, to all the seven weeks of the holy Pentecost.
Resting on that day, we shall have fulfilled, through all the season, the feast of Easter,
by Jesus Christ our Lord, through Whom, to the Father, be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen. All the brethren who are with me salute you. Salute one another with a holy
kiss.

21 Here endeth the sixth Festal Letter of the holy and God-clad Athanasius.

LETTER 7.

1 Easter-day IV. Pharmathi; III. Kal. April; XX. Moon; Er. Dioclet. 51; Coss. Julius
Constantinus, the brother of Easter-day Augustus, Rufinus Albinus; Prafeet, the same
Philagrius; on March VIII. Indiet. THE blessed Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he
always bore in his body the death of Jesus; not as though he alone should make that boast,
but also they and we too; and in this let us be followers of him, my brethren. And let
this be the customary boast of all of us at all times. In this also David participated,
saying in the Psalms, For thy sake we 22. die all the day; we are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Now this is becoming in us, especially in the days of the feast, when a
commemoration of the death of our Saviour is held. For he who is made like Him in His
death, is also careful in the practice of virtue, having mortified his members which are
upon the earth, and crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts: but he lives in
the Spirit, and is conformed to the Spirit. He is always mindful of God, and forgets Him
not, and never does the deeds of death. On this account, in order that we may bear in our
body the death of Jesus, he immediately adds, when describing such fellowship, we having
the same spirit of faith, as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we
also believe, and therefore speak. He adds also, speaking of the grace that arises from
knowledge; For He that raised

2 The twentieth Letter, as far as it is extant, bears a great resemblance with this. In
both, the comparison between natural and spiritual food is enlarged upon, and several of
the same quotasup Jesus, will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us before Him
with you. When, by such faith and knowledge, the saints have attained to this true life,
they also receive, doubtless, the joy which is in heaven: for which the wicked not caring,
are deservedly deprived of the blessedness arising from it. (LXX. vers.) Mat. 25, 11. 25.
13. 3 For, let the wicked be taken away, so that he shall not see the glory of the Lord.
For although, when they shall hear the universal publication of the promise, Awake, thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, they shall rise and shall reach even to heaven,
knocking and saying, Open to us; nevertheless the Lord will reprove them, as those who put
the knowledge of Himself far from them, saying, I know you not. But the holy Spirit cries
against them, The wicked shall be turned into hell, even all the nations that forget God.
They indeed humble themselves, (we may say of the wicked) but not by a discipline opposed
to sin: for they do not, like the saints, bear death in their body. They rather bury the
soul in sins and follies, drawing near to the dead, and satifying it with dead
nourishment; like young eagles which, from high places, fly upon the carcasses of the
dead, and which the law prohibited, commanding figuratively. Thou shalt not eat the eagle,
nor any other bird that feedeth on a dead carcase; and it pronounced unclean whatsoever
eateth the dead. But these kill the soul with lusts, and say nothing but, let us eat and
drink, for to-morrow we die. And the kind of fruit those have who thus love pleasure, he
immediately describes, adding, And these things are revealed in the ears of the Lord of
Hosts, that this sin shall not be forgiven you until ye die. Yea, even while they live,
they shall be ashamed, because they consider their belly their Lord: and, when dead, they
shall be tormented, as those who have made a beast of such a death. To this effect also
Paul bears witness, saying, Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall
destroy both it and them. And the divine saying declared before respecting them: The death

4 The commonly received railing of the Greek in this place is which the Eeshua version
agrees: have (Vas. 6am. 10am.) which Athan, appears to have adopted, Genl. Eph. ii. 6.
Vas. 6am. 10am. Some Mos. however, 1 Cor. 12am. 10am. 10am. contrasted with the state of
the good here and hereafter. 57 of sinners is evil, and those who hate the righteous
commit sin. For bitter is the worm, and grievous the darkness, which wicked men inherit.
But the saints, and the real followers of virtue, mortify their members which are upon the
earth, fornication, uncleanness, wicked passions, evil concupiscence; and, as the result
of this, are pure and without spot, confiding in the promise of our Saviour, who said,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. These, having become dead to the
world, and renounced the merchandise of the world, meet with an honourable death such as
this: for, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. They are also
able, preserving the Apostolic likeness, to say, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live; yet not I, but Christ lireth in me. For that is the true life, which a man lives
in Christ: for although they are dead to the world, yet they dwell, as it were, in heaven,
meditating on those things which are above, as he who was a lever of such a habitation
said, While we walk on earth, our dwelling is in heaven.

5 Those, therefore, who thus live, and participate in such virtue, are alone able to give
glory to God, which may be set down as the peculiar duty of a feast and a holiday. For the
feast is not an indulgence in food, nor splendor of clothing, nor days of leisure, but it
is an understanding directed to God, and the offering of thanksgiving by a song Ps. 115,
17. 18. Ecclus. 16, 9. 28. Vs 118, 17. of praise to Him. Now this appertains to the saints
alone, who live in Christ: for it is written, The dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord,
neither all those who go down to hell; but we who live will bless the Lord, from
henceforth even for ever. As also it was with Hezekiah, who was delivered from death, and
therefore praised God, saying, Those who are in hell cannot praise Thee; the dead cannot
bless Thee; but the living shall bless Thee, as I also do. For to praise and bless God
belongs to those only who live in Christ, and by such means they go up to the feast; for
the Passover is not of the Gentiles, nor of those who are yet Jews in the flesh; but of
those who acknowledge the truth in Christ, according to the declaration of him who was
sent to proclaim such

6 a feast; Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed. Therefore, although wicked men press
forward to keep the feast, and, as at a feast, praise God, and intrude into the Church of
the saints, yet God expostulates, saying to the sinner, Wherefore dost thou talk of My
laws? And the gentle Spirit rebukes them, saying, Praise is not comely in the month of a
sinner. Neither hath sin any place in common with the praise of God; but the sinner has a
mouth speaking perverse things, as the Proverb saith, The month of the wicked answereth
evil things. For how is it possible for us to praise God with an impure mouth? since
things which are contrary to each other cannot exist in the same person. For what
communion is there of righteousness with iniquity? or, what fellowship is there between
light and darkness? So exclaims Paul, a minister of the Gospel.

7 Thus it is that sinners, and all those who are aliens from the Catholic Church,
heretics, and schismatics, since they are excluded from the praise of the saints, cannot
properly even continue observers of the feast. But the righteous man, although he appears
dying to the world, uses plainness of speech, saying, I shall not die, but live, and
narrate all Thy marvellous deeds. For even God is not ashamed to be called the God of
those who truly mortify their members Conf. Letter vi. p. 46, note i. 8 which are upon the
earth, but live in Christ; for He is the God of the living, not of the dead. And He, by
His living Word, quickeneth all men, and gives Him to be food and life to the saints; as
also the Lord exclaims, I am the bread of life. The Jews, being unsound in their
perception, and having the senses of the mind unexercised to virtue, and not alive to seek
after such bread, murmured against Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down
from heaven, and giveth life unto men. For sin has her own peculiar bread, [bread] of her
death; wherefore, calling to those who are lovers of pleasure and lack understanding, she
saith, Touch with delight secret bread, and sweet waters which are stolen; for he who
merely touches them knows not that the earth-born perish with her. For even when the
sinner looks for gratification, he finds not the result of its meat pleasant, as the
Wisdom of God saith again, Bread of deceit is pleasant to a man; but afterwards his mouth
shall be filled with gravel. And, Honey droppeth from the lips of a whorish woman, which,
for a time, is sweet to thy palate; but at the last thou shalt find it more bitter than
gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword. Thus, then, he eats and is delighted for a
little time; afterwards he spurneth it when he hath removed his soul afar. For the fool
knoweth not that those who are far from God shall perish.

9 Moreover, in accordance with this, the prophetic admonition says, by way of restraint,
What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Gilhon? And what hast
thou to do in the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the rivers? But the wisdom of God,
which loves mankind, forbids these things, crying, But depart quickly, tarry not in the
place, neither fix thine eye upon it; for thus thou shalt pass over strange waters, and
depart quickly from the strange river. She also calls them to herself, For wisdom hath
builded her house, and supported it on seven pillars; Conf. Col. in 5. Larson renders this
passage erroneously, as I conceive. ᶜ He quickens through His living word every one, gives
to him fear, and to the saints, life. The Sykes is literally translated, as given away,
and the context seems to require that Christ should be here set forth as food and life,
or, the food of life—the bread of life.

10 This quotation is from Prov. ix. 18. The words are found in the LXX. version, though
not in the original H. prov. she hath killed her sacrifices, and mingled her wine in the
goblets, and prepared her table: she hath sent forth her servants, inviting to the goblet
with a loud proclamation, and saying, Whoso is foolish, let him turn in to me; and to them
that lack understanding she saith, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine I have
mingled for you. And what expectation is there in return for these things? Forsake fully
that ye may live, and seek understanding that ye may abide. For the bread of Wisdom is
also living fruit, as the Lord said: I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if
any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. For when Israel ate of the manna, which
was truly pleasant and wonderful, he died: and it was not the case that he who ate of that
lived for ever, but all that multitude died in the wilderness. The Lord thus teaches,
saying, I am the bread of life: your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are
dead. This is the bread which came down from heaven, that a man should eat thereof, and
not die. Now wicked men hunger for bread like this, for sickly souls will hunger; but the
righteous alone, being prepared, shall be satisfied, saying, I shall behold Thy face in
righteousness; I shall be satisfied when Thy glory is seen by me.

11 15. For he who partakes of divine bread always hungers with desire; and he who thus
hungers has a never-failing gift, as Wisdom promises, saying, The Lord will not stay the
righteous soul with famine. It is also promised in the Psalms, I will abundantly bless her
provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread. We may also hear our Saviour saying,
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Well
then do the saints and those who love the life which is in Christ raise themselves to a
longing after such food as this. And one earnestly implores, while the want of the true
believer is supplied by Christ. 61 saying, Is the hart panteth after the fountains of
waters, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God? My soul thirsteth for the living God, when
shall I come and see the face of God? And another: My God, my God, I seek Thee early; my
soul 2. thirsteth for Thee; often does my flesh, in a dry and pathless land, and without
water. So did I appear before Thee in holiness to see Thy power and Thy glory.

12 Since these things are so, my brethren, let us mortify our Cel. 3. 5. members which are
on the earth, and be nourished with living bread—by faith and love to God—knowing that
without faith it is impossible to be partakers of such bread as this. For our Saviour,
when He called all men to Him, and said, If any man thirst, let him [come] to Me and
drink, immediately added the faith without which a man cannot receive such food: He that
believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. And further, He always nourished His believing disciples with His words, and gave
them life by the nearness of His divinity: but to the Canaanitish woman, because she was
not yet a believer, He deigned not even a reply, although she stood greatly in need of
food from Him. He did this not from scorn, far from it: (for the Lord is loving to men and
good, and on that account He went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon; but because of her
unbelief, and because she was a profane woman, destitute of the word. And He did it right
only, my brethren: for it was not of advantage that she should prefer her supplication
before faith, but that she should corroborate her prayer by her faith: For he 6. that
cometh to God, must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek
Him;

13 and that without faith it is impossible for a man to please Him. This Paul teaches, Now
that he was up to that time an unbeliever, one of the profane, He shows, saying, It is not
meet to take the children's Med. 15. 26. bread, and to cast it to dogs. She then, being
convinced by the power of the word, and having changed her profane state, also acquired
faith: for the Lord no longer treated her as a dog, but conversed with her as with a human
being, saying, O woman, great is thy faith? As therefore she believed, He forthwith
granted to her the fruit of faith, and said, Be it N. 15. 25. 14 The word 12b 201 probably
to be supposed in the M— to thee as thou desirest. And her daughter was healed in the
self-same hour. For the righteous man, when fed by faith and knowledge, and performance of
divine words, has his soul always in health. Wherefore it is commanded to receive to
ourselves him who is weak in the faith, and to nourish him, even if he is not yet able to
eat bread, but herbs, (for he that is weak eateth herbs.) For even the Corinthians were
not able to partake of such bread, being yet babes, and like babes they drank milk. For
every one that partaketh of milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness, according to
the words of that godlike man. The Apostle also enjoins his beloved son Timothy, in his
first Epistle, to be nourished with the word of faith, and the good doctrine whereto he
had attained. And in the second, Preserve thou the form of sound words which thou hast
heard of me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. And not only here, my brethren,
is this bread the food of the righteous; neither are the saints on the earth alone
nourished by such bread and such blood; but we also eat them in heaven, for the Lord is
the food even of the exalted spirits, and the angels, and He is the joy of all the
heavenly host. And to all He is every thing, and He spareth all according to His
lovingkindness. Already hath the Lord given us angels' food, and He promises to those who
continue with Him in His trials, saying, And I promise to you a kingdom, as My Father hath
promised to Me; that ye shall eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

15 What kind of a banquet is it, my brethren, and how great? For... leg.... Conf. Letter
i. p. 8. For the angels are no otherwise sustained than by be- holding at all times the
face of the Father, and of the Saviour Who is in heaven. Conf. Ps. lxxviii. 25. 26. And
gave them food from heaven. So man did eat angels' food. S. Athan. on the passage (Expos.
in Psalmos, p. 908.) says, that God not only fed the bodies of the Israelites with manna,
but also their souls with a certain reasonable and heavenly virtue,. Referring to 1 Cor.
x. 3. he says,. 16 is the harmony and gladness of those who eat at this heavenly table!
For they delight themselves not with that food which is cast out, but with that which
produces life everlasting. Who then shall be deemed worthy of that assembly? Who is so
blessed as to be called, and accounted worthy of that divine feast? For, blessed is he who
shall eat bread in Thy kingdom. For he who has been adjudged worthy of this heavenly
calling, and by this calling has been sanctified, if he grow negligent in it, although
washed, becomes defiled: counting the blood of the corenant by which he was sanctified a
profane thing, and despising the Spirit of grace, he hears the words, Friend, how camest
thou in hither, not having wedding garments? For the banquet of the saints is spotless and
pure; for many are called, but few chosen. Judas, to wit, though he came to the supper,
inasmuch as he thought lightly of it, went out from the presence of the Lord, and having
abandoned his Life, hanged himself. But the disciples who continued with the Redeemer,
partook also of the happiness of the feast. And that young man who went into a far
country, and there wasted his substance, living in dissipation, if he contract a desire
for this divine feast, and, coming to himself, shall say, How many hired servants of my
father have bread to spare, while I perish here with hunger!

17 and shall then arise and come to his father, and confess to him, saying, I have sinned
against heaven and before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of
thy hired servants;—when he shall thus confess, then he shall be counted worthy of more
than he prayed for. For the father does not receive him as a hired servant, neither does
he look upon him as a stranger; but he kisses him as a son; he receives him as a dead man
alive again; and deems him worthy of the divine feast, and gives him his former and
precious garmentᶜ. So that, on this account, there is singing and gladness in the paternal
home. For this is the work of the lovingkindness and grace of the father, that not only
should he make him alive from the dead, but that he should also render his grace
illustrious through the Spirit. Therefore, instead of cor-

18 15. Heb.10.29. Mat.22,12. Mat.22,14. 17. ruption, he clothes him with an incorruptible
garment; instead of hunger, he kills the fatted calf; that he should not henceforth travel
afar off, [the father] busies himself on his return, providing shoes for his feet; and,
what is most wonderful, putting a divine signet-ring upon his hand; whilst by all these
things He begets him afreshᶜ in the image of the glory of Christ. These are the gracious
gifts of the Father, by which the Lord honours and nourishes those who abide with Him, and
also those who return to Him and repent. For He promises, saying, I am the bread of life;
he that cometh unto Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.
We, too, shall be counted worthy of these things, if, at all times, we cleave to our
Saviour, and if we are pure, not only in these six days of Easter, but consider our whole
course as a feast, and continue near and not far off, saying to Him, Thou hast the words
of eternal life, and whither shall we go? Let those of us who are far off return,
confessing our iniquities and possessing nothing before men, but by the spirit mortifying
the deeds of the body. For thus, having beforehand nourished the soul here, we shall
partake, with angels, at that heavenly and spiritual table; not knocking, and being
repulsed, like those five foolish virgins, but

19 In the Syr. Ms. there is an error through the transposition of letters, being written
instead of. Syr. So we find quoted in Castell s. v. Ablutio que denuo fit. ᶜ The word
appears to be applied in this place to the Passion week, ( — ). So wread (Athan. op. tom.
i. p. 256.)... The Greeks usually designated the days of the week, not after the
preceding, but the following Sunday. Thus after the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, (Latinis
Dominica Septua gesimæ), those days that follow immediately, viz. the second third, fourth
ferier, &c. were by the Greeks termed &c. until the following Sunday, which was termed
(Latinis, Dominica Sexagesimæ), while the whole week was called. Vid. Suicer. Thes. in
voc. and the notes of Valesius on Euseb. Orat. in laud. Constant. ch. ix. With us, Easter-
week includes the six days following Easter-Sunday; with the Greeks, the was applied to
the preceding six days, as here.

20 Athan. frequently speaks in these Epistles of the Easter-festival as designed to bring
us nearer to Christ. Our whole life is to be a continual spiritual feast of praise and
thanksgiving to God, whereby we are to be prepared for Christ's presence in heaven. Vid.
supra, p. 57. and Letter v. sub init. entering with the Lord, like those who were wise and
loved the bridegroom; and, shewing the death of Jesus in our 10 bodies, we shall receive
life and the kingdom from Him. We begin the fast of forty days on the twenty-third of
Mecheir (Feb. 17.), and the holy fast of the blessed feast on the twenty-eighth of
Phamenoth (Mar. 21.); and having joined to these, six days after them, in fastings and
watchings, as each one is able, let us cease on the third of the month Pharmuthi (Mar.
19.), on the evening of the seventh day. Also that day which is holy and blessed in every
thing, which possesses the name of Christ, the Lord's day 1, having risen upon us, (on the
fourth of Pharmuthi, Mar. 30.), let us afterwards keep the holy feast of Pentecost. Let us
at all times worship the Father through Christ, by Whom to Him and with Him be glory and
dominion by the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

21 All the brethren who are with me salute you: salute one another with a holy kiss. Here
endeth the seventh Festal Letter of holy Athanasius the Patriarch. There is no eighth or
ninth, for he did not send them, for the reason I have before mentioned 2. 2 See the
Index. Athan, left Egypt in this year to attend the synod at Tyre; thence repaired to the
Emperor Constantine to plead his cause before him. Failing of success in this, he retired,
as an exile, to Treviri, in Gaul. I have changed the order of the last two sentences from
that in which they are written in the Syr. Ms. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LETTER 10.

1 Easter-day on Mar. 26. Coss. Ursus and Polemins; Præf. the same Theodorus, of
Heliopolis; and after him, of the Catholics, for the second year, Philagrius; Indict. XI.;
Easter-day, VII. Kal. Ap. XXX. Phamenoth; Moon 18½; Æra Dioclet. 54. 2 ALTHOUGH I have
been all this distance from you, my brethren, I have not forgotten the custom which
obtains among you, which has been delivered to us by the fathers, so as to be silent
without notifying to you the time of the annual holy feast, and the day for its
celebration. For although I have been kept in restraint by those afflictions of which you
have doubtless heard, and severe trials have been laid upon me, and a great distance has
separated us; while the enemies of the truth have also been on the watch against us,
laying snares to discover a letter from us, so that, by their accusations, they might add
to the pain of our wounds; yet the Lord, strengthening and comforting us in our
afflictions, we have not feared, even when kept in the midst of such machinations and
conspiracies, to indicate and make known to you our saving Easter-feast, even from the
ends of the earth. Also when I wrote to the presbyters of Alexandria, I urged that these
letters might be sent to you through their instrumentality, knowing the fear imposed on
them by the adversaries. Still, I exhorted them to be mindful of the apostolic boldness of
speechᶠ, and to say, Nothing separates us from the love of Christ; neither affliction, nor
distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword. Thus, keeping
the feast myself, I was desirous that you also, my beloved, should keep it; and being
conscious that an announcement like this is incumbent on me, I have not kept back from
discharging the duty, since I was jealous of incurring the imputation implied in the
Apostolic counsel; Render to every man his due.

3 While I then committed all my affairs to God, I considered it as a duty to celebrate the
feast with you, not taking into account the distance between us. For although place
divides us, yet the Lord, the Giver of the feast, and actions. The death of Constantine,
in the year 337, changed the aspect of the affairs of the Church. Athanasius was again
taken into favour, and permitted to return to Alexandria, Constantine the younger, who
succeeded to the government of Gaul, furnishing a letter to the people of Alexandria, and
declaring that it had been the intention of his father, had he lived, to act in the same
manner. According to the Index, S. Athan. returned from Gaul on the twenty-seventh of the
month Arbyr, answering to the twenty-fifth of November. The Egyptian year (be it
remembered) commenced on the twenty-ninth of August. Assembled at the Council of Nice.

4 We frequently meet with the expression towards the end of the Paschal discourses of S.
Cyril. Conf. Letter iii. p. 22, and note 5. V 2 Matt. 18, 20. Who is Himself our feast,
Who is also the Bestower of the Spirit, brings us together in mind, in harmony, and in the
bond of peace. For when we mind and think the same things, and offer up the same prayers
on behalf of each other, no place can divide us; but the Lord gathers and unites us
together. For if He has promised, that when two or three are gathered together in His
name, He is in the midst of them, it is plain that being in the midst of those who in
every place are gathered together, He unites them, and receives the prayers of all of
them, as if they were near, and listens to all of them, as they cry out the same Amen.

5 I have thus borne affliction like this, and all those trials which I mentioned, my
brethren, when I wrote to you. And that we may give you pain in nothing, I would now
𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 'and who is our feast' 𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 (or, 𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁) 𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 'Christ our Passover.' Larson has
missed the point of these words. also (only) briefly remind you of these things, because
it is not becoming in a man to forget, when more at ease, the pains he experienced in
tribulation; lest, like an unthankful and forgetful person, he should be excluded from the
divine assembly. For at no time should a man inwardly praise God, more than when he has
passed through afflictions; nor, again, should he at any time give thanks more than when
he finds rest from toil and temptations. As Hezekiah, when the Assyrians perished, praised
the Lord, and gave thanks, saying, The Lord is my salvation, and I will not cease to bless
Thee with harp all the days of my life, before the house of the Lord. And those three
blessed men who were tried in Babylon, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, when they were in
safety and the fire became to them as dew, praised and gave thanks, singing a song unto
God. I, too, like them, have written, my brethren, having these things in mind; for even
in our time, God hath made possible those things which are impossible to men. And those
things which could not be accomplished by man, God hath shewn to be easy of
accomplishment, by bringing us to you. For God does not give us as a prey to those who
seek

6 * Perhaps for we should read. to swallow up not so much us, as the Church, and by
wickedness to overwhelm faith and godliness. They indeed imagined such things; but God,
who is good, multiplied His loving-kindness towards us, not only when He vouchsafed to us
by His Word the common salvation of us all; but also now, when enemies have persecuted us,
and have sought to seize upon us. As the blessed Paul saith in a certain place, when
describing the incomprehensible riches 5. of Christ: But God, being rich in mercy, for the
great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in follies and sins, quickened us
through Christ. For the might of man and of all creatures, is weak and poor; but the Might
which is above man, and uncreated, is rich and incomprehensible, and hath no beginning,
but is eternal. It does not, then, possess one method only of healing; but, being rich, it
works in divers manners for our salvation by means of His Word, Who is not restricted or
hindered in His dealings towards us; but since He is rich and manifold, He varies Himself
according to the individual capacity of each soul. For He is the Word, and the Power, and
the Wisdom of

7 Wis. 7, 27. God, as Solomon testifies concerning Wisdom, that being one, it can do all
things, and remaining in itself, it maketh all things new; and passing upon holy souls,
fashioneth the friends of God and the prophets. To those then who have not yet attained to
the perfect way—as a lamb—there is I milk, and this was administered by Paul: I have fed
you with milk, not with meat. To those who have advanced from the full stature of
childhood, but still are weak as regards perfection, the food is according to their
capacity, being again administered by Paul; Let him that is weak eat herbs. But as soon as
ever a man begins to walk in the The conjunction O, seems wanting in the Syriac. The
Syriac seems to require this rendering. Or it may be, 'quickened us in Christ.' The
Peschito (Sos lumen) agrees better with the original;.

8 All the various attributes and perfections of the Deity, as exhibited in the person of
Christ, work together for the salvation of man. By His gospel, He instructs them; by His
power, He upholds and strengthens them; and by His wisdom, He guides them. Conf. Letter i.
p. 3. The sense in the last few lines, and in those that follow, is clear, though the
construction appears somewhat obscure. Milk, herbs, and meat, are severally mentioned in
connection with the different advances made in the Christian course. The translation of
Prof. Larson is unsatisfactory, and, as I think, erroneous. perfect way, he is no longer
fed with the things before mentioned; but he has the Word for bread, and flesh for food,
for it is written, Strong meat is for those who are of full age, for those who, by reason
of their capacity, have their senses exercised. Further also, when the word is sown, it
does not yield a uniform produce of fruit in this human life, but one various and rich;
for it bringeth forth, some an hundred, and some sixty, and some thirty, as the Saviour
teaches—that Sower of grace, and Bestower of the Spirit. And this is no doubtful matter,
nor one that receives no confirmation; but it is in our power to behold the field which is
sown by Him; for in the Church the word is manifold and the produce rich. Nor are virgins
alone signified by such a field; nor monks alone, but also honourable matrimony and the
abstinence of each one. For in sowing, He did not compel the will beyond the power. Nor is
the grace confined to the perfect alone; but it is sent down also among those who occupy
the middle and the third ranks, so that He might rescue all men generally to salvation.

9 Therefore also He hath prepared many mansions with the Father, so that although the
dwelling-place is various in proportion to the advance in moral attainment, yet all of us
are within the wall, and all of us enter within the same fence, the devil being cast out,
and all his host expelled thence. For apart from light there is darkness, and apart from
blessing there is a curse. The devil also is apart from the saints, and sin far from
virtue. Therefore also the Gospel rebukes Satan, saying, Get thee behind Me, Satan. But us
it calls to itself, saying, Enter ye in at the strait gate. And again, Come, blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom which is prepared for you. So also the Spirit 34. 1 In the
Syriac text, as published by Mr. Cureton, as well as in the German translation by Prof.
Larson, there is a hiatus here, the next two or three pages, as far as the words "He
wept," being wanting. Two more leaves were afterwards discovered among the fragments in
the British Museum by the learned Editor, and to his courtesy I am indebted for the
knowledge of their existence. One of them belongs to this part; the

10 other to the eleventh Letter. The Syriac text of both of them will be found in the
Appendix. 2 Vide note i to page 68. 3 In the Ms. 120:1000 (virtue) is written by mistake
for 120:1000 (produce). 4 L. 1000 Vid. Cast. Lex. Syr. p. 660. not. Mich. Ps. 100, 4. 20.
11 before cried in the Psalms, saying, Enter into His gates with psalms. For by means of
virtue a man enters in unto God, as Moses did into the thick cloud where God was. But
through vice a man goes out from the presence of the Lord; as Cain, when he had slain his
brother, went out, as far as his will was concerned, from the face of God; while the
Psalmist enters, saying, And I will go in to the altar of God, even to the God that
delighteth my youth. But of the Devil the Scripture beareth witness, that the Devil went
out from before God, and smote Job with sore boils. For this is the characteristic of
those who go out from before God—to smite and to enter among the men of God. And this is
the characteristic of those who fall away from the faith—to injure and persecute the
faithful. The saints, on the other hand, take such to themselves, and look upon them as
friends; as also the blessed David, using plainness of speech, says, Mine eyes are on the
faithful of the earth, that they may dwell with me. But those that are weak in the faith,
Paul urges that we should the rather take to ourselves. For virtue is philanthropic, just
as in men of an opposite character, sin is misanthropic. In this manner Saul, in that he
was a sinner, persecuted David; whereas David, though he altogether possessed the
opportunity, did not kill Saul. Esau too persecuted Jacob, while Jacob sought to overcome
his wickedness by meekness. And those eleven sold Joseph; but Joseph, in his loving-
kindness, had pity on them.

12 But what need we many words? Our Lord and Saviour, when He was persecuted by the
Pharisees, wept for their destruction. He was treated injuriously, but He threatened not;
not when He was afflicted, not even when He was killed. But He suffered anguish for the
sake of those who presumptuously did such things. They, however, contemptuously cast from
them life, and light, and grace. All these were theirs through that Saviour Who suffered
in our stead. It was in truth for such their darkness and blindness, He wept. For if they
had understood the things which are written in the Psalms, they would not have been so
vainly daring against the Saviour, the Spirit having said, Why do the heathen rage, and
the people imagine a vain thing? And if they had thought upon the prophecy of Moses, they
would not have hanged Him Who was their life. And if they had examined with their
understanding the things which were written, they would not studiously have fulfilled the
prophecies which were against themselves, so as for their city to be now desolate, grace
taken from them, and they also themselves without the law, being no longer called
children, but strangers. For thus in the Psalms was it before declared, saying, The
strange children have acted falsely by Me. Also by Isaiah the prophet; I have begotten and
brought up children, and they have rejected Me. And, further, they are no longer called
the people of God, and a holy nation, but rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah;

13 having exceeded in this even the iniquity of the Sodomites, as the prophet also saith,
Sodom is justified before thee. For the Sodomites acted injuriously against angels, but
these against the Lord, and God, and King of all, and dared to slay the Lord of angels;
not knowing that Christ, Who was slain by them, is living, while those Jews who had
conspired against the Lord died, having rejoiced a very little in these temporal things,
and falling away from those which are eternal. They were ignorant of this—that the
immortal promise has not respect to temporal enjoyment, but to the hope of those things
which are everlasting. For through many tribulations, and labours, and sorrows, the
righteous man enters into the kingdom of heaven; but when he arrives where sorrow, and
distress, and sighing, shall flee away, he shall thenceforward enjoy rest; as Job, who,
when tried here, was afterwards the familiar friend of the Lord. But the lover of
pleasures,

14 Syr. The sense 'fulfilled' not 'spoken' is required here, Larson gives the latter. The
two words and were anciently confounded together, and that not merely by the Syriac
copyists. Vid. Castell. Lex. Syriac. p. 500. not. Mich. rejoicing for a little while,
afterwards passes a sorrowful life; like Esau, who had temporal food, but afterwards was
there condemned. 15 One may say that a distinction like this may be compared to the
departure of the children of Israel and the Egyptians from Egypt. For the Egyptians,
rejoicing a little while in their injustice against Israel, when they went forth, were all
drowned in the deep; but the people of God, being for a time smitten and injured, by the
conduct of the taskmastersh, when they came out of Egypt, passed through the sea unharmed,
and walked in the wilderness as an inhabited place. For although, according to the mode of
living customary among men, the place was desert; yet, through the gracious gift of the
law, and also through their intercourse with angels, it was no longer desolate, but
inhabited, yea, and more than inhabited. As also Elishah, when he thought he was alone in
the wilderness, was with companies of angels; so, in this case, though the people were
first afflicted, and in the wilderness, yet those who remained faithfulk afterwards
entered the land of promise. In the same manner those also who suffer temporal afflictions
here, after having remained stedfast, go forth to a place of comfort; while those who here
persecute are trodden under foot, and have no good end. For even the rich man, according
to the accurate description of the Gospel, having lived in pleasure here for a little
while, suffered hunger there; and having drunk largely here, he was there parched with
thirst. But Lazarus, after being afflicted in worldly things, found rest in heaven; and
having hungered for bread ground from corn, he was there satisfied with that which is
better than manna, even the

16 19. 1 The reference is apparently to the history of Elisha as recorded in 2 Kings vi.
13—17, though the mention of the wilderness agrees better with the history of Elijah, as
found in 1 Kings xix. 4—8. I cannot, however, agree with Prof. Larsow, who states that for
Elisha we ought to read Elijah. Lord who came down and said, I am the bread which came
down from heaven, and giveth life to mankind. Johu 6, 51. 17 Oh! my dearly beloved, if we
shall gain comfort from afflictions; if rest from labours; if health after sickness; if
after death there is immortality; it does not become us to be much distressed by the
temporal ills that afflict mankind. It is not right to be greatly moved because of the
trials which befall us. It is not right to fear if the host that contended with Christ,
should conspire against godliness; but we should the more please God through these things,
and should consider such matters as the probation and exercise of a virtuous life. For how
shall patience be looked for, if there have not previously been labours and sorrows? Or
how can experience be afforded of fortitude, when there has not first been an assault from
enemies? Or how can a spectacle of fortitude be exhibited, when contumely and injustice
have not preceded? Or how can long-suffering be expected, when opposition on the part of
Antichrists has not first existed? And, finally, how can a man hope to witness virtue,
when the iniquity of the very wicked has not previously displayed itself? Thus even our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes before us [as an example], when He would shew men how
to suffer; Who, when He was smitten, bore it patiently; being reviled, He reviled not
again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but He gave His back to the smitters, and His
checks to buffetings, and turned not His face from spitting; and, at last, was willingly
led to death, that we might behold in Him the image of all that is virtuous and immortal;
and all of us, conducting ourselves after these examples, might truly tread on serpents
and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy.

18 Thus, too, Paul, while he conducted himself after the example of the Lord, also
exhorted us, saying, Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. In this way, he
prevailed against all the host of the devil, writing, I am persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God which is in Jesus Christ. For the enemy presents himself to us in
afflictions, and trials, and labours, doing every thing, and striving eagerly to cast us
down. But the man who is in Christ, setting himself against those that oppose, and
revisiting wrath by long-suffering, contumely by meekness, and vice by virtue, obtains the
victory, and exclaims, I can do all things through Christ, Who strengtheneth me; and, In
all these things we are conquerors through Christ Who loved us. This is the grace of the
Lord, and these are the Lord's corrective measures towards the children of men. For He
suffered to procure freedom from suffering for those who suffer in Him; and He descended
that He might raise us up; He took on Him the trial of being born, that we might love Him
Who is unbegotten; He went down to corruption, that corruption might put on immortality;
He became weak for us, that we might rise with power; He descended to death, that He might
bestow on us immortality, and give life to the dead. Lastly, He became man, that we who
die as men might live again, and that death should no more reign over us; for the
Apostolic word proclaims, Death shall not have the dominion over us.

19 P A passage very similar to the above, in which Christ is proposed as an example to us
in His sufferings, occurs in the treatise 'de Passione et Cruce Domini,' p. 73. §. 19. Q
The order of the words here is that found in some Mss. of the Greek Text. Now because they
did not thus consider these matters, the Ario-maniacs, being opposers of Christ, and
heretics, smite Him who is their Helper, with their tongue, and blaspheme Him who set
[them] free; and, referring all things to their wrong source, have become heterodox
concerning the Redeemer. *Because of His coming down, which was on behalf of man, they
have denied His essential It may be remarked here, 1st, The treatise from which this is
quoted is placed amongst the. Indeed, the learned editor of Athanasius hesitated whether
to include it among the spurious works. In his prelived remarks he says, 'animus fuerat
eam inter spuriu ab egare: quia tamen in antiquaribus colubibus, et in Athanasius
collectienibus reperitur, co nomin in er subla eam re ensemus.' We have had more than one
opportunity, beside the present, of abduing parallel passages from the same treatise in
illustration. These observations will lead us to the conclusion, (the authenticity of the
Festal Letters being placed beyond a doubt), either that one of the writers transferred,
not only the ideas, but the very words of the other into his writings; or else, that the
treatise 'de Passione, &c.' emanated from the same mind which in beted the Letters.
Perhaps an accurate consideration of the question will decide us in favour of the latter
opinion. 20th, We may remark, that the Syriac [scribble] 'unbegotten' lives, if need were,
the Benedictine reading in opposition

20 to that of some Mes. (For the distinction, between &c. see the remarks of the
Benedictine editors Athan. op. tom. i. p. 163.) 34th, The connexion of the sentence in the
Syriac, as well as the text of the Greek, would suggest a suspicion that a line has been
omitted after the words, 'He went down to corruption, that corruption,' and that we should
read, 'He went down to corruption, that corruption might put on incorruption; He clothed
Himself with mortality, that mortality might put on immortality.' Compare with the whole
passage, S. Cyril. Hum. P. ch. xx. p. 259. The same ideas are also expressed in S. Athan.
de Incarn. t. i. p. 695, without, however, the same correspondence of words and phrases.
The Syriac here is [scribble] 'Arius and Manetes.' The same words are found twice in the
next Letter. There seems little doubt that the translator mistook the Greek word a term
applied to the Arians in other places by Athan. used also by Epiphanius.

21 Godhead; and seeing that He came from the Virgin, they have questioned His being truly
the Son of God; and, considering Him as become incarnate in time, they have denied His
eternity; and, looking upon Him as having suffered for us, they have renounced their faith
in Him as the incorruptible Son from the incorruptible Father. And, finally, because He
was burdened for our sakes, they deny the things which concern His essential eternity;
partaking of the deed of the unthankful, who rejected the Saviour, and offering Him insult
instead of acknowledging His grace. To them may these words properly be addressed: Oh!
unthankful opponent of Christ, altogether wicked, and the slayer of his Lord, mentally
blind, and a Jew in his conscience, hadst thou understood the Scriptures, and listened to
the saints, who said, Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved; or again, Send out
Thy light and Thy truth;—then wouldst thou have known that the Lord did not descend on His
own account, but for us; and, for this reason, thou wouldst the more have admired His
loving-kindness. And hadst thou considered what the Father is, and what the Son, thou
wouldst not have blasphemed the Son, as [being come] of a mutable nature. And hadst thou
understood His work of loving-kindness towards us, thou wouldst not have alienated the Son
from the Father, nor have looked upon Him as a stranger, Who reconciled us to His Father.
I know these are hard sayings, not truly to those who oppose Christᶜ, but also to the
Schismatics; for they are united together, as men of kindred feelings. For they have
learned to rend the seamless coat of God: they think it not strange to divide the
indivisible Son from the Father.

22 I know, indeed, that when these things are spoken, they will gnash their teeth upon us,
with the devil who stirs them up, since they are troubled by the declaration of the true
glory concerning the Redeemer. But the Lord, who always has scoffed at the devil, does the
same even now, saying, I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. This is the Lord, Who is
manifested in the Father, and in Him also the Father is manifested; Who, being truly the
Son of the Father, at last became incarnate for our sakes, that He might offer Himself to
the Father in our stead, and redeem us through His offering and sacrifice. This is He Who
once, in old time, brought the people out of Egypt; but Who afterwards redeemed all of us,
or rather the whole race of men, from death, and brought them up from the grave. This is
He Who, in old time, was sacrificed as a lamb, having been typified in the lamb; but Who
afterwards was slain for us, for Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed. This is He Who
delivered us from the snare of the hunters;—I mean, that He cast out the opposers of
Christᶠ, and the Schismatics, —and again rescued us His Church. And because we were then
victims of deceit, He hath now delivered us by His own self.

23 What then is our duty, my brethren, on account of these Syr. One of the erroneous
assertions of the Arians, as given by S. Alexander in his Encyclic Epistle, (Athan. op.
tom. i. p. 385.) is the following:. ᶜ i. e. the Arians. Vid. note z. p. 78. Syr. The words
translated 'rend' and 'seamless' are cognate in the Syriac, and answer to and its
derivatives. The Arians are thence called. Vid. I. Damascen. de haressib. ᶠ i. e. the
Arians. The connexion seems to require that a passive sense should be given to as is here
done. things, but to praise and give thanks to God, the King of all? And let us first
exclaim in the words of the Psalms, Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not given us over as a
prey to their teeth. Let us keep the feast in that way which He hath consecratedh to us
for salvation—the holy day of Easter—so that we may celebrate the feast which is in heaven
with the angels. Thus, anciently, the people of the Jews, when they came out of affliction
into a state of ease, kept the feast, singing a song of praise for their victory.

24 Esther 3, 9. So also the people in the time of Esther, because they were delivered from
a deadly decree, kept a feast to the Lordi; reckoning it a feast, returning thanks to the
Lord, and praising Him for having changed their condition. Therefore let us also,
performing our vows to the Lord, and confessing our sins, keep the feast to the Lord, in
conversation, moral conduct, and manner of lifek; praising our Lord, Who hath chastened us
a little, but hath not utterly failed and forsaken us, nor altogether kept silence from
us. For if, having also brought us out of the crafty and famous Egypt of the opposers of
Christl, He hath caused us to pass through many trials and afflictions, as it were in the
wilderness, to His holy Church, so that from hence, according to custom, we can send to
you, as well as receive letters from you; on this account especially I both give thanks to
God myself, and exhort you to thank Him with me and on my behalf, this being the Apostolic
custom, which these opposers of Christ, and the Schismatics, wished to put an end to, and
to break off. The Lord did not permit it; but both renewed and preserved that which was
ordained by Him through the Apostle, so that we may keep the feast together, and together
keep holy-day, the one with the other, according to the tradition and commandment of the
fathers.

25 We begin the fast of forty days, on the nineteenth of the month Mecheir (Feb. 13.); and
the holy Easter-fast on the twenty-fourth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 20.) We cease from
the fast on the twenty-ninth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 25.) late in the evening of the
seventh day. And we thus keep the feast on the first day of the week which dawns on the
thirtieth of the month Phamenoth (Mar. 26.); from which, to Pentecost, we keep holy-day,
through seven weeks, one after the other. For when we have first meditated properly on
these things, we shall attain to be counted worthy of those which are eternal, through
Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen. Greet one another with a holy kiss, remembering us in your holy prayers. All the
brethren who are with me salute you, at all times being mindful of you. And I pray that ye
may have health in the Lord, my beloved brethren, whom we love above all.

26 Here endeth the tenth Letter of holy Athanasius. Conf. Epist. ii. ad Orsinium tom. i.
also Phil. iv. 1.—my brethren, dearly p. 694. beloved and longed for—stand fast in (1.)
the Lord, my dearly beloved. G


THE FESTAL EPISTLES
===================

THE FESTAL EPISTLES continued

LETTER 11.

1 Coss. Constantius Augustus II., Constans I.; Prefect. Easter-day Philagrius, the
Cappadocian, for the second time; Indict. on Apr. 15. XII.; Easter-day XVII. Kal. Mai.;
XX. Pharmuthi; Afra Dioclet. 55. THE blessed Paul, being girt about with every virtue, and
called faithful of the Lord—for he was conscious to himself of nothing but what was a
virtue and a praise, or what was in harmony with love and godliness—familiarized these
things to himself the more, and was carried up even to heavenly places, and was borne to
Paradise; to the end that, as he surpassed the conversation of men, he should be exalted
above men. And when he descended, he preached to every man; We know in part, and we
prophesy in part; 9. 12. here I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known. For, in truth, he was known to those saints who are in heaven, as their fellow-
citizen. And in relation to all that is future and perfect, the things known by him here
were in part; but with respect to those things which were committed and entrusted to him
by the Lord, he was perfect; as he said, We who are perfect, should be thus minded. For as
the Gospel of Christ is the fulfilment and accomplishment of the ministration which was
supplied by the law of Israel, so future things will be the accomplishment of such as now
exist, the Gospel being then fulfilled, and the faithful receiving those things which, not
seeing now, they yet hope for, as Paul saith; For what a man

2 24. 25. Conf. Eph. vi. 14. Conf. 1 Cor. iv. 4. ᶜ The reading of the Ms. 𐩀𐩁𐩁𐩁 𐩀𐩁𐩁 we
should read 𐩀𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 must be an error for 𐩀𐩁𐩁. Conf. Eph. ii. 19. I have no doubt that the
Syriac Ms. is again faulty here, and that for 𐩀𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 we should read 𐩀𐩁𐩁𐩁𐩁 𐩀𐩁𐩁𐩁 as here
rendered. seeth, why doth he also hope for? But if we hope for those things we see [not],
we then by patience wait for them. 3 Since then that blessed man was of such a character,
and an apostolic grace was committed to him, he wrote, wishing that all men should be as
he was. For virtue is philanthropic, and the company of the kingdom of heaven is a large
one: for thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads there serve the Lord. And though a
man enters it through a strait and narrow way, yet, having entered, he beholds an
immeasurable space, and a place greater than any other, as they declare, who were eye-
witnesses and heirs of these things. Thou didst place afflictions before us. But
afterwards, having related their afflictions, they say, Thou broughtest us forth into a
wide place: and again, In affliction Thou hast enlarged us. For truly, my brethren, the
course of the saints here is a troubled one; since they either endure painfulness through
longing for those things which are to come, as he who said, Woe is me that my pilgrimage
is prolonged; or they are afflicted and wearied for the salvation of other men, as Paul
wrote to the Corinthians, saying, Lest, when I come to you, God should humble me, and I
should bewail on account of many of those who have before sinned, and not repented for the
uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciriousness which they have committed. As Samuel
bewilled for the destruction of Saul, and Jeremiah wept for the captivity of the people.
But after this affliction, and sorrow, and sighing, when they depart from this world, a
certain divine gladness, and pleasure, and exultation receives them, from which pain, and
sorrow, and sighing, flee away.

4 Since we are thus circumstanced, my brethren, let us never depart from the way of
virtue; but also that we should be such persons, he (St. Paul) exhorted, saying, Be ye
followers of me, as I also am of Christ. For he not only gave this advice to the
Corinthians—since he was not their Apostle alone—but also, since he was a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and verity, us also, even all of us, he admonished by them; and, in
short, the things he wrote to each particular person are commandments common to all men.
On this account, when he wrote to others, some he exhorted, as, for instance, in the
Epistles to the Romans, and the Ephesians, and Philemon. Some he reproved, and was
indignant with them, as in the case of the Corinthians and Galatians. But to some he gave
advice, as to the Colossians and Thessalonians. The Philippians he approved of, and was
made glad by them. The Hebrews he taught that the law was a shadow to them. But to his
elect sons, Timothy and Titus, when they were near, he gave instruction; when far away, he
put them in remembrance. For he was all things to all men; and being himself a perfect
man, he adapted his teaching to the need of every one, so that by all means he might
rescue some of them. Therefore his word was not without fruit; but, in every place, it is
planted and productive even to this day. And wherefore, my beloved?

5 For it is necessary that we should search into the apostolic mind. Not only in the
beginning of the Epistles, but also at their close, and in the middle of them, he used
persuasions and admonitions. I hope, therefore, that by your prayers, I shall, in no
respect, give a false representation of the plan of that holy man. As he was well skilled
in these divine matters, and knew the power of the divine teaching, he deemed it
necessary, in the first place, to make known the word concerning Christ, and the mystery
regarding Him; and then afterwards to point to the correction of habits, so that when they
had learned to know the Lord, they might readily acquiesce in the observance of those
things which He commanded. For when the 6 Conf. Letter ii. p. 15, and Letter iii. p. 28.
Vid. note x to Letter vii. p. 62. Guide to the laws is unknown, one does not readily pass
on to the observance of them.

7 The faithful Moses, the minister of God, adopted this method; for when he promulgated
the words of the divine dispensation of laws, he first proclaimed the matters relating to
the knowledge of God: Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord. Afterwards, having
shadowed Him forth to the people, and taught of Him in Whom they ought to believe, and
informed their minds of Him Who is truly God; then he further lays down the law relating
to those things whereby a man may be well-pleasing to Him, saying, Thou shalt not commit
adultery; thou shalt not steal; together with the other commandments. For also, according
to the Apostolic teaching, He that draweth near to God must believe that He is, and that
He is a recorder of them that seek Him. Now He is sought by means of virtuous deeds, as
the prophet saith: Seek ye the Lord, and when ye have found Him, call upon Him; when He is
near to you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and the lawless man his thoughts. It will
also be well if a man is not offended at the testimony of the Shepherd, saying in the
beginning of his book, Before all things believe that there is one God, Who created and
established all these things, and from non-existence called them into being. And, further,
the blessed Evangelists— those who brought to remembrance the words of the Lord— in the
beginning of the Gospels, wrote the things concerning our Saviour;

8 so that, having first made known the Lord, the Creator, they might command belief, when
narrating the events that took place. For how could they have been credited, when writing
respecting him who [was blind] from his mother's womb, and those other blind men who
recovered their sight, and those persons who rose from the dead, and the changing of water
into wine, and those lepers who were cleansed; if they had not taught of Him as the
Creator, writing, In the beginning was the Word! Or, according to Matthew, that He Who was
born of the seed of David, was Emmanuel, and the Son of the living God? He from Whom the
Jews, with the Arians, turn away their faces, but Whom we acknowledge and worship. 9 The
Apostle, therefore, also, as was meet, sent to others; but his own son he plainly
reminded, that he should not despise the things in which he had been instructed by him. He
also enjoined him: Remember Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, of the seed of David,
according to my Gospel. But as he speaks of these things being delivered to him, to be
always had in remembrance, so he immediately writes to him, saying, Meditate on these
things: be engaged in them. For constant meditation, and the remembrance of divine words,
strengthens piety towards God, and produces a love to Him inseparable and not merely
formal; as he (S. Paul) entertaining such feelings, speaks in behalf of himself and others
like-minded, saying boldly, What shall separate us from the lore of God? For they who are
such, being confirmed in the Lord, and possessing an unshaken disposition towards Him, and
being one in spirit, (for he who is joined

10 well as by the Arians, who, however, perverted its meaning. In the fragment of the
thirty-ninth epistle, the 'Shepherd' is also excluded from the Canon. 11 to the Spirit is
one spirit, are sure as the mount Sion; and although ten thousand trials may rage against
them, they are founded upon a rock, which is Christ. In Him the careless take no delight;
and while they entertain no imaginations of good thoughts, they are sullied by temporal
attacks, and esteem nothing more than the unstable things here, being reproachable as
regards the faith. For either the care of this world, or the deceitfulness of riches,
chokes them; or, as Jesus said in that parable which had reference to them, since they
have not established the faith that has been preached to them, but are only for a time,
immediately, in time of persecution, or when affliction ariseth through the word, they are
offended. Now of men of evil imaginations we say, [they regard] not truth, but falsehood;
and not righteousness, but iniquity, for their tongue learneth to speak lies. They have
done evil and have not ceased, that they might repent. For, persevering with delight in
wicked actions, they hasten thereto without turning back, even treading underfoot the
commandment with regard to neighbours, and, instead of loving them, devise evil against
them, as the saint testifies, saying, And those who seek me evil have spoken vanity, and
imagined deceit all the day. But that the cause of such meditation is none other than the
want of instruction, the divine proverb has already declared; The son that forsaketh the
commandment of his father meditateth evil words.

12 But for such meditation as this, inasmuch as it is evil, the Holy Spirit chides in
these, and reproves too in other terms, saying, Your hands are polluted with blood, your
fingers with sins; your lips have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue imagineth iniquity:
no man speaketh right things, nor is there true judgment. But what the end is of such
perverse imagining, He immediately declares, saying, They trust in canities and speak
falsehood; for they conceive mischief, and bring forth lawlessness. They have 13 The
proper reading of the text is, He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit. The Peschito
version adds 'with Him'—is one spirit with Him. Conf. Pseudo-Chrys. As the Church built by
Christ cannot be thrown down, so any such Christian who has built himself upon Christ no
adversity can overthrow, according to that, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Catena Aurea, vol. i. p. 292, ed. Oxford, 1841. Vid. note k, Letter v. p. 39. The exact
words do not occur in Scripture. The quotation is probably made up of more than one
proverb. hatched the eggs of an asp, and woven a spider's web; and he who is prepared to
eat of their eggs, when he breaks them finds gall, and a basilisk therein. But, again,
what the hope Isaiah 59, of such is, He has already announced. Because righteous- 9-11.
ness does not overtake them, when they waited for light, they had darkness; when they
waited for brightness, they walked in a thick cloud. They shall grope for the wall like
the blind, and as those who have no eyes shall they grope; they shall fall at noon-day as
at midnight; when dead, they shall groan. They shall roar together as a bear, or [mourn]
as a dove.

14 This is the fruit of wickedness; these rewards are given to those that employ it; for
perverseness does not deliver those who regard it. But, in truth, against them it opposes
itself, and before them it tears, and rather prepares for them harm. Woe to them against
whom these are borne! for it is sharper than a two-edged sword, slaying beforehand those
who will lay hold of it. For their tongue, according to the testimony of the Psalmist, is
a sharp sword, and their teeth spears and arrows. But the wonderful part is that while
often he against whom men imagine [harm] suffers nothing, they are pierced by their own
spears: for they possess, even in themselves, before they reach others, anger, wrath,
malice, guile, hatred, bitterness. Although they may not be able to bring these upon
others, they forthwith return upon and against themselves, as the Psalmist prays, saying,
Let their sword enter into their own heart. There

15 22. is also such a proverb as this: The wicked is encircled by the chain of his sins.
The Jews in their imaginings, and in their agreeing to act unjustly against the Lord,
forgat that they were bringing wrath upon themselves. Therefore also does the [divine]
word lament for them, saying, Why do the people exalt themselves, and the nations imagine
vain things? For vain indeed was the imagination of the Jews, meditating death against the
Life, and devising unreasonable things 1 In his exposition on this passage in the Psalms,
S. Athan, directly refers these words to the conduct of the Jews against our Lord in
putting Him to death, as he also does here. 3 The parallel clause of this sentence would
seem to determine, that by 'Life' here we must understand Christ. 16 against the Word of
the Father. For who that looks A.D. 3:9. upon their dispersion, and the desolation of
their city, may not aptly say, Woe unto them, for they have imagined an 10. eril
imagination, saying against their own soul, let us bind the righteous man, because he is
not pleasing to us. And full well is it so, my brethren; for when they erred concerning
the Scriptures, they knew not that he who diggeth a pit for his neighbour falleth therein;
and he who destroyth a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. And if they had not turned their
faces from the Lord, they would have feared what was before written in the divine Psalms:
The heathen are caught in the pit which they made; in the snare which they hid is their
own foot taken. The Lord is known when executing judgments: by the works of his hands is
the sinner taken. Let them observe this, and how that the snare they know not shall come
upon them, and the net they hid take them. But they understood not these things, for had
they done so, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Therefore the righteous and
faithful servants of the Lord, who are made disciples for the kingdom of heaven, and bring
Mat. 13, 52. forth from it things new and old; and who meditate on the words of the Lord,
when sitting in the house, when lying down or rising up, and when walking by the
way;—since they are of good hope because of the promise of the Spirit which said, Blessed
is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of
sinners, nor sat in the seat of corrupters; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and
in His law doth he meditate day and night;—being grounded in faith, rejoicing in hope,
fervent in spirit, they Ps. 49, 3.

17 (LXX. vers.) have boldness to say, My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation
of my heart shall be of understanding. And again, I have meditated on all Thy works, and
on the work of Thy hands has been my meditation. And, If I have remembered Thee on my bed,
and in the morning have meditated on Thee. Afterwards, advancing in boldness, they say,
The meditation of my heart is before Thee at all times. And he immediately after
introduces us to the end of such an one, saying, The Lord is my Helper and my Redeemer.
For to those who thus examine themselves, and conform their hearts to the Lord, nothing
adverse shall happen; for, indeed, their heart is strengthened by confidence in the Lord,
as it is written, They who trust in the Lord [shall be] as the mount Sion: he who dwelleth
in Jerusalem shall not be moved for ever. For if, at any time, the crafty one shall be
presumptuously bold against them, chiefly that he may break the rank of the saints, and
cause a division among brethren; even in this they look to the Lord, not only as an
avenger on their behalf, but also, when they have already been beaten, as a deliverer for
them. For this is the divine promise; The Lord shall fight for you.

18 14. 12. 113. 14. And further, although afflictions and trials from without overtake
them, yet, being fashioned after the apostolic words, and being stedfast in tribulations,
and persevering in prayers; by meditation, moreover, on the law; they stand against those
things which befall them, are well-pleasing to God, and give utterance to the words which
are written, Afflictions and distresses are come upon us; but Thy commandments are my
meditation. And whereas, not only in action, but also in the thoughts of the mind, do men
attend to deeds of virtue, he afterwards adds, saying, Mine eyes prevent the dawn, that I
might meditate on Thy words. For it is meet that the spiritual meditations of those who
are whole should precede their bodily actions. And does not our Saviour, when intending to
convey similar instruction, begin with the thoughts of the mind? saying, Whosoever looketh
on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery: and, Whosoever shall be
angry with his brother, A.21. 339, is guilty of murder. For where there is no wrath,
murder is prevented; and where lust is first removed, there can be no crime connected with
adultery.

19 Necessary then is meditation on the law, and uninterrupted converse with virtue, that
the saint may lack nothing, but be perfect to every good work. For by these things is the
promise of eternal life, as Paul wrote to Timothy, calling constant meditation exercise,
and saying, Exercise thyself unto godliness; for bodily exercise profiteth little; but
godliness is profitable for all things, since it has the promise of the present life, and
of that which is eternal. Worthy, indeed, of admiration is the virtue of that man, my
brethren! for, through Timothy, he also enjoins upon all the necessity of devoting the
mind to nothing in preference to godliness: yet, above every thing, to determine upon
faith in God. For what favour has the perverse man to expect, though he may fancy he keeps
the commandments? Nay, rather, the perverse man is unable even to keep a portion of the
law; for, as is his conscience, such, of necessity, must be his actions; as also the
Spirit reproves such, saying, The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. After
this, the Word, shewing that actions correspond with the thoughts, says, They are corrupt;
they are profane in their machinations. The perverse man, then, is in every respect
corrupt in his body: stealing, committing adultery, cursing, being drunken, and doing such
like things. Even as Jeremiah, the prophet, convicted Israel of these things, crying out
and saying, Oh, that I had a lodge far off in the wilderness! then would I leave my people
and depart from them:

20 for they are all adulterers, an assembly of oppressors, who draw out their tongue as a
bow; lying and not truth has prevailed upon the earth, and they proceed from iniquities to
iniquities; but Me they have not known. Thus, on account of their wickedness and
falsehood, and their deeds, in that they proceed from iniquity to iniquity, he reproves
their machinations; but, because they knew not the Lord, and were faithless, he charges
them with perverseness. For faith and godliness are allied to each other, and sisters; and
he who believes in Him is godly, and he also who is godly, believes the more. He therefore
who is in a state of wickedness, undoubtedly also erreth from the faith; and he who
falleth from godliness, falleth from the true faith. Paul, for instance, bearing testimony
to the same point, 21 16. 17. advises his disciple, saying, Aroid profane conversations;
for they rather advance in ungodliness, and their word doth eat as doth a canker, of whom
are Hymenæus and Philetus. In what their perverseness consisted he declares, saying, 18.
Who have erred from the faith, saying that the resurrection is already past. But again,
desirous of shewing that faith 12. is yoked with godliness, the Apostle says, And all
those who will live godly in Jesus Christ shall suffer persecution. Afterwards, that no
man should renounce godliness through persecution, he counsels them to preserve the faith,
adding, 14. Thou, therefore, continue in the things thou hast learned, and hast been
assured of. And as when brother is helped by brother, they become as a wall to each other;
so faith and godliness, being of kindred growth, hang together; and he who is occupied in
the one, of necessity is strengthened by the other. Therefore, wishing the disciple to be
exercised in godliness unto the end, and to contend in faith, he

22 counsels them, saying, Fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life. For
if a man first put away the perverseness of idols, and properly confesses Him Who is truly
God, he also then fights by faith with those who war against him. For of these two things
we speak of—faith and godliness—the hope is the same, even everlasting life; 7. 8. for he
saith, Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life. And, exercise thyself unto
godliness, for it hath the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
23 For this cause, the Ario-maniacs, who now have gone out from the Church, being opposers
of Christ, have digged a pit of unbelief, into which they themselves have been thrust;
and, since they have advanced in ungodliness, they overthrow the faith of the simple;
blaspheming the Son of God, and saying that He is a creature, and has His being from
things which are not. But as then against the adherents of Philetus and Hymenæus, so now
the Apostle forewarns all men against ungodliness like to theirs, saying, The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His; and, Let every
one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. For it is well that a man
should depart from wickedness and deeds of iniquity, that he may be able properly to
celebrate the feast; for he who is defiled with the pollutions of the wicked is not able
to sacrifice the Passover to the Lord our God. Thence, also, the people who were then in
Egypt said, We cannot sacrifice the Passover in Egypt to the Lord our God. For God, Who is
over all, willed that they should go far away from the servants of Pharaoh, and from the
furnace of iron: so that being set free from wickedness, and having carefully put away
from them all strange notions, they might be recipients of the knowledge of God and
virtuous deeds. For He saith, Go far from them: depart from the midst of them, and touch
not the unclean things.

24 For a man will not otherwise depart from sin, and lay hold on virtuous deeds, than by
meditation on his acts: and when he has been practised by exercise in godliness, he will
lay hold on the reward of the confession of faith; which also Paul, after he had fought
the fight, possessed, namely, the crown of righteousness which was laid up; which the
righteous Judge will give, not to him alone, but to all who are like him. 25 For
meditation like this, and exercise in godliness, since it was always familiar to the
saints, should be familiar to us also, at such a time as the present, when the divine word
requires us to keep the feast with them. For what is the feast, but the constant worship
of God, and the recognition of godliness, and unceasingp prayers, with concord, from the
whole heart? In this manner, Paul, wishing us to be thus disposed, enjoins, saying,
Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in every thing gire thanks. Not, therefore, in a
divided manner, but unitedly and collectively, let us all keep the feast together, as the
prophet exhorts, saying, O come, let us rejoice in the Lord; let us make a joyful noise
unto God our Saviour. Who then is so negligent, or who so disobedient to the divine
command, as not to forsake every thing, and run to the general and common assembly of the
feast? which is not in one place only, for

26 not one place alone keeps the feast; but into all the earth their song has gone forth,
and to the ends of the world their words. And the sacrifice is not offered in one place,
but in every nation, incense and a pure sacrifice is offered unto God. When in this united
manner from all those who are in every place, praise and prayer shall ascend to the
gracious and good Father; when the Catholic Church, which is in every place, with gladness
and rejoicing, celebrates together the same worship to God; when all men in common send up
a song of praise and say, Amenq; how blessed will it not be, my brethren! who will not, at
that time, be engaged, praying devoutly? For even the walls of every adverse power, yea
even of Jericho especially, falling down, and the gift of the Holy Spirit being then
richly poured upon all men, every man perceiving the coming of the Spirit shall say, We
are all filled in the morning with Thy favour, and we rejoice and are made glad in our
days.

27 Since then these things are so, let us make a joyful noise with the saints, and let no
one of us fail of his duty in these things; thinking nothing of the affliction or the
trials which, especially at this time, have been enviously directed against us by the
party of Eusebius. They even now wish to injure us, and, by their accusations, to compass
our death, on account of godliness, whose defender is the Lord. But, as faithful servants
of the Lord, (since ye know that there is salvation for us in the time of trouble; for our
Lord also promised, saying, Blessed are ye when men revile you and persecute you, and say
all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for
your reward is great in heaven. Again, it is the word of the Redeemer, that affliction
shall not befall every man in this world, but only those who have a holy fear of Him,—on
this account, the more the enemies afflict us, the more should we be enlarged; although
they revile us, we should still contend; and in proportion as they would turn us aside
from godliness, we should boldly preach it, saying, All these things are come upon us, yet
have we not forgotten Thee. And we have not acted perversely with the Ariomaniacs, who say
that Thou hast existence from those things that exist not. The Word, which is eternally
with the Father, is also from Him.

28 Let us therefore keep the feast, my brethren, celebrating it not as worthy of grief and
mourning; neither let us be confounded with heretics through temporal troubles brought
upon us by godliness. But if any thing that would promote joy and gladness should offer,
let us attend to it; so that our heart may not be sad, like that of Cain; but that, like
faithful and good servants of the Lord, we may hear the words, Enter into the joy of thy
Lord. For we do not 96*The Arians and the Jews equally opposed to Christ.* 29 introduce
days of mourning and sorrow, as a man may consider those of the Passover to be; but we
keep the feast, being filled with joy and gladness. We keep it then, not regarding it
after the deceitful error of the Jews; nor according to the teaching of the Arians, which
takes away the Son from the Godhead, and numbers Him among creatures; but as viewing it
according to the correct doctrine we derive from the Lord. For the deceitful error of the
Jews, and the unbounded impiety of the Arians, involve nothing but sad reflections. The
former, indeed, commenced with killing the Lord; the latter remove the occasion of His
conquering that death which was brought upon Him by the Jews, in that they say He is not
the Creator, but a creature. For if He were a creature, He would have been holden by
death; but if He was not holden by death, as the Scriptures aver, He is not a creature,
but the Lord of the creatures, and the substance of this immortal feast. For the Lord of
death would abolish death; and being Lord, what He would was accomplished; for we have all
passed from death unto life. But the imagination of the Jews, and of those who are like
them, was vain in regard to Him, since the result was not such as they contemplated, but
turned out adverse to themselves; and at them He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision. Farther, when our Saviour was led to death, He
restrained the women who followed Him weeping, saying unto them, Weep not for Me; meaning
to shew that the Lord's death is an event, not of sorrow, but of joy, and that He Who dies
for us, is alive. For He does not derive His being from those things which are not, but
from the Father.

30 It truly is a subject of joy, that we can see the signs of victory against death, even
our own incorruptibility, through the body of the Lord. For since He rose gloriously, it
is clear that the resurrection of all of us will take place; and since His body remained
without corruption, there can be no doubt regarding our incorruption. For as by one man,
Rom. 5, as saith Paul, (and it is the truth) sin passed upon all men, so by the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall all rise. For, he says, this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But this took place in
the time of the Passion, in which also our Lord died for us, for our Passorer, Christ, is
sacrificed. Therefore, because He was sacrificed, let each of us feed upon Him, and with
alacrity and diligence partake of His sustenance; since He is given to all without
grudging, and is in every one a well of water flowing to everlasting life.

31 We begin the fast of forty days on the ninth of the month Phanenoth (Mar. 5.); and
having, in these days, served the Lord with abstinence, and first purified ourselves, we
also commence the holy Easter on the fourteenth of the month Pharmuthi (April 9.)
Afterwards, extending the fast to the seventh day, on the seventeenth of the month, let us
rest late in the evening. And the light of the Lord having before dawned upon us, the
first day of the week will illumine us, on which our Lord arose. It behoves us, then, to
rejoice and be glad with the joy which arises from good works, during the seven weeks
which remain—to Pentecost —giving glory to the Father, and saying, This is the day which
the Lord hath made: we will rejoice and be glad in it, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, through Whom 1724. The Syriac here rendered signs

32 of victory is. which is most likely the translation of. By faith, we look upon Christ
crucified, and see in His cross the trophy He has erected against the great enemy whom He
has subdued. We see farther in it, the glorious results of that victory, even our own
deliverance from death, and our resurrection to eternal life. Conf. Gal. iii. 1.
Theophilus, the predecessor of S. Cyril, employs the same figure in his first Paschal
Letter, as preserved in the Latin translation of S. Jerome. Lgitur dominicum Pascha
celebrantes, sanctis Scripturarum purificemur eloquii, et ad trophæa Salvatoris
respicientes, cancta effendicula, quibus vitæ nostræ curriculum retardatur, auferamus e
medio. Bibliotheca Vett. Patt. La Bigne, vol. iii. p. 93. ed. Paris, 1646. Vid. note k,
Letter vi. p. 52. to the same, and to His Father, be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen. Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the brethren who are with me salute you.
That ye may have health in the Lord, I pray, brethren beloved.

33 Here endeth the eleventh Letter of holy Athanasius.

LETTER 12. TO SERAPION

1 THANKS be to Divine Providence for those things which, at all times, it vouchsafes to
us; for it has vouchsafed to us now also to come to the season of the festival. Having,
therefore, according to custom, written the Letter respecting the festival, I have sent it
to thee, our beloved; that through thee all the brethren also may be able to know the day
of rejoicing. But because some Meletians, being come from Syria, have boasted that they
had received what does not belong to them; I mean, that even they were reckoned in the
Catholic Church; on this account, I have sent unto thee a copy of one letter of our
fellow-labourers in the ministry who are of Palestine, that when it reaches thee, thou
mayest know the fraud of the pretenders in this matter. For because they boasted, as I
have said before, it was necessary for me to write to the Bishops who are in Syria; and
immediately those of Palestine sent us a reply, having coincided in the judgment against
them in the manner you may learn from the copy. That thou mayest not have occasion to
peruse the letters of all the Bishops one after the other, I have sent thee [only] one,
which is of like character with the rest, in order that from it, thou mayest know the
purport of all of them. I know also that when they are convicted in this matter, they will
incur perfect odium at the hands of all men. And thus far concerning the pretenders.

2 But I have further deemed it highly necessary and very urgent, to make known to your
modesty—for I have written this to each one—that thou shouldest proclaim the fast of forty
days to the brethren, and persuade them to fast; to the end that, while all the world is
fasting, we who are in Egypt should not become a laughing-stock, as the only people who do
not fast, but take our pleasure in these days. For if we do not fast, because the Letter
is [only] then read, it is right that we should take away this pretext also, and that it
be read before the fast of forty days, so that they may not make this an excuse for
neglect of fasting. Also, when it is read, they may be able to learn respecting the fast.
But, O, our beloved, whether in this way or any other, exhort and teach them to fast forty
days. For it is even a disgrace that when all the world does this, those alone who are in
Egypt, instead of fasting, should find their pleasure. For even I also, being grieved
because men make a laughing-stock of us for this, have been constrained thus to write to
thee. When thou, therefore, receivest the letters, and hast read them and given the
exhortation, write to me in return, our beloved, that I also may rejoice upon learning it.

3 But I have also thought it necessary to inform you of There is a similar notification of
the appointment of fresh Bishops, appended to the nineteenth Letter. Theophilus, the
predecessor of S. Cyril in the see of Alexandria, at the close of his first Paschal
Letter, as translated by S. Jerome, imitates S. Athanasius in this respect, adopting
almost his very words. Salutate invicem in osculo sancto. Salutant vos omnes qui mecum
sunt fratres. Et hoc necessario scribimus, ut sciatis pro sanctis et beatis Episcopis qui
in Domino dormierunt ordinatos esse; in Lemnado pro Herone Nascam.... His ergo scribite,
et ab iis accipite pacificas juxta Ecclesiasticum mortem literas. Bibliotheca Vett. Patt.
La Bigue vol. iii. p. 94. ed. Paris. 1616. There is a similar ending to his third Paschal
Letter. Indeed, some such form appears to have become customary, whereby the ordaining
Bishops notified to the different districts the appointment of those whom they ordained to
any diocese. The Primate of Alexandria, as we know, had the sole privilege of ordaining
all the suffragan Bishops. Probably the Paschal Letters, being sent annually, became, by
degrees, the ordinary channel of such communication. Such was the case, as we have seen,
with two out of the three Letters of Theophilus, which are extant. Valerius says,
(Observat. in Socrat. H. E. lib. vii. §. 30.) Notanda est diligens cautela sanctorum
patrum, qui deposito haretico sacerdote, nomen catholici the fact, that Bishops have
succeeded those who have fallen asleep. In Tanis, in the stead of Elias, is Theodorus. In
Arsenoitis, Silvanus instead of Calosiris. In Paralus, Nemesion is instead of Nonnus. In
Bucolia is Heraclius. In Tentyra, Andronicus is instead of Saprion, his father.

4 episcopi qui in ejus locum substitutus fuerat, cunctis episcopis significunt, ut
scilicet sciant, a quo ecclesiasticas litteras accipere, et ad quem scribere debeant—Sed
et quoties mortuis episcopis ali in eorum locum fuerant ordinati, eorum nomina reliquis
episcopis indicare consueverat ordinator, ut scirent ad quos scribere, et a quibus
pacificas literas accipere deberent, ut discimus ex Theophii epistolis paschatibus. The
Greek of what is rendered in the text, 'so that to these you may write, and from these
receive the canonical Letters,' is, according to what we find in the passage of Socrates
referred to above; (which passage is an extract of a Letter of the Council of Antioch, on
the subject of the deposition of Paul of Samosata, and the appointment of Donnus in his
stead;) (or,. Can. viii. Concil. Antioch.) Such Letters were called by the Latins,
communicatoria litterae. The epithet was also applied to them. Vid. Zonar. Observat. apud
Bever. Synod. tom. i. p. 438. So in the quotation from Theophilus, given above, we find
pacificas—litteras. Tertullian makes mention of such Letters. De Præscript. adv. Haret.
cap. 20. Communicatio pacis et appellatio fraternitatis et contesserratio hospitalitatis,
quae jura non alia ratio regit, quam ejusdem sacramenti una tradition.

5 In the Apologia contra Ar. Athan. Op. tom. i. p. 133, we have a list of ninety-four
Egyptian Bishops, among others, who were present at the Council of Sardica. As this was
held we might naturally expect to find among them some of the names of those mentioned
above as recently appointed. A refer note to this list has enabled me to give, with a
degree of certainty, some names which otherwise would have been more obscure, and which
have been mistaken by Prof. Larsow. For a list of the Egyptian Bishopries, the reader is
referred to Neale's Hist. of the Holy Eastern Church. Gen. Introd. vol. i. p. 115, 116. To
the list there given must be added the names of Bucolia, Stathma, the Eastern Garyathis,
the Southern Garyathis. The mention of the last two would favour the supposition that
there were also Bishopries in the Western and the Northern Garyathis. The Syriac of the
word given in the text 'Elias' is

6 This name is doubtless to be taken thus. There were two Egyptian Bishops of that name
who subscribed their names at the Council of Sardica. Prof. Larsow writes it 'Ilius.'
Tanis is situate in Augustannica Prima. Vid. Quatremere Memoires geogr. et histor. sur
l'Egypte, tom. i. p. 281. &c. (L.) The word Távus is the LXX. rendering of in the various
places where it is found. Silvanus was succeeded by Andreas, as we learn from the
postscript to the nineteenth Letter. The Syriac is which Prof. Larsow writes Nanos. I
think it is meant for Nonnus, which was the name of an Egyptian Bishop who was present at
the Synod of Tyre. Apol. contra Ar. tom. i. p. 154. § 79. Bucolia. For a dissertation on
the situation of Bucolia, see the treatise by Quatremere, already referred to, (tom. i. p.
224—233.) In p. 233, he writes: La contree de l'Elearchae ou des Bucolies, telle qu'elle
nous a ete decrite par les auteurs anciens, est, si je ne me trompe, parfaitement
identique avec la province de Baschmour— peut etre le Baschmour s'etendoit a l'occident du
bras de Damiette, le long des cotes de la mer, jusqu'au lac de Bourlos. Fabricus, in his
Index Geographicus Episcopatuum orbis Christiani, mentions among the Egyptian Bishopries,
'Elearchae, in provincia Egypti secunda.'

7 An Egyptian Bishop of the name of Saprion was among those assembled at the Synod of
Tyre. Apol. contra Ar. tom. i. p. 154. §. 79. In Thebais, Philon instead of Philon. In
Maximianopolis, Herminus instead of Atras. In the lower Apollon is Sarap'on instead of
Plutionk. In Aphroditon, Serenus is in the place of Theodorus. In Rhinocoruronl, Salomon.
In Stathma, Arabion, and in Marmarica. In the eastern Garyathis, Andragathiusm in the
place of Hierax. In the southern Garyathis, Quintusn instead of Niconl. So that to these
you may write, and from these receive the canonical Letters. Salute one another with a
holy kiss. All the brethren who are with me salute you. He (Athan.) wrote this from Rome.
There is no twelfth Letter.

LETTER 13.

1 Coss. Marcellinus, Probius; Pref. Longinus; Indict. XIV.; Easter-day, XIII. Kal. Maii;
XXIV. Pharmuthi; Era Dioclet. 57. EVEN now, my beloved brethren, I do not shrink from
notifying to you the saving feast, which occurs according to annual custom. For although,
with afflictions and sorrows, the opposers of Christ have oppressed you also together with
us: yet, God having comforted us by our mutual faithᶜ, behold, I even write to you from
Rome. Keeping the feast here with the brethren, still I also keep it with you in will and
in spirit; for we send up prayers in common to God, Who hath granted us not only to
believe in Him, but also now to suffer for His sake. For, troubled as Vid. Letter x. p.
67. note e. The. Vid. Letter x. p. 75. note n. and p. 78. note z. ᶜ By that faith which we
hold in common. Conf. Rom. i. 12.

2 S. Athan. had been obliged to leave Alexandria some time before, having fled from the
violence of Gregory the Cappadocian, on which occasion he left the city (according to the
Index on the twenty-third of Phanæth (Mar. 19.). Gregory, immediately upon being
constituted Bishop of Alexandria, became conspicuous by his acts of violence. S. Athan.
after his withdrawal from Alexandria, remained for a short time at no great distance from
the city, though it is uncertain where. It was during this period that he wrote the
Encyclical Letter to the Bishops, against the illegal intrusion of Gregory into his see.
He afterwards took ship 3 to Italy, and came to Rome. In the life of Athanasius, prefixed
to the Benedictine edition, we read, (p. xxxix.) Eo anno (341.) incidit Paschatis
solennitas in diem decimam nonam Aprilis; arbitramarque profectum Athanasium postremis
hujus mensis dicbus, mense Maio ad Italiae oras appuisse. This Letter would, however,
favour the opinion that he reached Rome earlier than May. In the Index it is stated
expressly that Gregory sent no Paschal Letter either for this year, or for those
immediately preceding and following. In 340, his acts of tyranny and oppression left him
no leisure. In this, and the following year, his illness is there stated as the preventing
cause. 'Nor did this Pope write any Festal Letter even this year, (341.) the commencement
of his illness taking place in it.'—'Because Gregory was severely ill in the city, the
Pope was unable to send any Letter.' we are, because we are so far from you, He moves us
to write, that by a letter we might comfort ourselves, and provoke one another to good.
For, indeed, numerous afflictions and bitter persecutions directed against the Church have
been against us. For heretics, depraved in their mind, untried in the faith, rising
against the truth, violently persecute the Church; and of the brethren, some are scourged,
and others torn asunder by the rack; and, what is still more hard, the ill-treatment
reaches even to the Bishops. Nevertheless, it is not becoming, on this account, that we
should neglect the feast. So far from neglecting the commemoration of it, even for a time,
we should the rather bear it in remembrance.

4 Now such things as seasons for feasts are not thought of by the unbelievers, because
they spend all their lives in revelling and follies; and the feasts that obtain among them
are an occasion of grief rather than of joy. But to us in this present life they are
especially an uninterrupted passage [to heaven]—it is indeed our season. For such things
as these serve for exercise and trial, so that, having approved ourselves zealous and
chosen servants of Christ, we may be fellow-heirs with the saints. For thus Job: The whole
world is a trial to men upon the earth. Nevertheless, they are proved in this world by
afflictions, labours, and sorrows, to the end that each one also may receive of God such
reward as is meet for him; as He saith by the prophet, I am the Lord, Who trieth the
hearts, and searcheth the reins, to give to every one according to his ways. But he does
not first know the things of a man on his being tried; for He knows them all before they
come to pass: but because He is good and philanthropic, He distributes to each a due
reward according to his works, so that every man may exclaim, Righteous is the judgment of
God! As the prophet

5 saith again, The Lord trieth justice, and understandeth the reins. And further, for this
cause He trieth each one of us, Conf. Heb. x. 24. Provoke unto love and to good works.
Prof. Larson has translated this passage erroneously, through an oversight with respect to
the word is the rendering of in the verse quoted. Syr. 10: 10—the rendering of in Letter
v. Vid. note i, p. 39. either that to those who know it not, our virtue may be discovered
by means of the trials laid upon us: as was said respecting Job: Thinkest thou that I was
revealed to thee for any other cause, than that thou shouldest be seen righteous? Or that,
when men come to a sense of their deeds, they may know the temper of them, and may
therefore either repent of their wickedness, or remain stedfast in the faith. Now the
blessed Paul, when troubled by afflictions, and persecutions, and hunger and thirst, in
every thing was a conqueror, through Jesus Christ, Who loved us. Through suffering, he was
weak indeed in body; yet, believing and hoping, he was strong in spirit, and his strength
was made perfect in weakness.

6 But the other saints also, who had a like confidence in God, accepted a probation such
as this with gladness: as Job said, Blessed be the name of the Lord. But the Psalmist,
Search me, O Lord, and try me: prore my reins and my heart. For since, when the strength
is proved, it convinceth the foolish: therefore they, perceiving the purity and the
advantage resulting from the divine fire, did not draw back in trials like these. But they
rather received a character from them, suffering no injury at all from the things which
happened, but appearing more bright, like gold from the fire: as he said, who was tried by
such exercise as this; Thou hast tried my heart; Thou hast visited me in the night-season;
Thou hast prored me, and hast not found iniquity in me, so that my mouth shall not speak
of the works of men. But, on the other hand, those who are lawless in their actions, so
that they know nothing more than eating and drinking and dying, account trials as danger.
They soon

7 The words here, and in the following lines, rendered 'probation,' 'prove,' &c. are all
from the root 'tentavit,' 'probasvit,' and convey the idea of purification by fire, which
idea is enlarged upon a few lines farther. The Syriac word answers to the Hebrew: Gr. as
in Ps. lxvi, 10. Conf. S. Greg. Nazian. Præmi in laudem virginitatis v. 600 2. There
appears to be an error in the Syriac. It is rendered in the text as from 'signavit,' which
agrees with the context. Conf. Mal. iii. 3, and 1 Pet. i. 7. 2 10. stumble at them, so
that, being untried in the faith, they are given over to a reprobate mind, and do those
things which are not seemly. Therefore the blessed Paul, when urging us to such exercises
as these, and having before measured himself by them, says, Therefore I take pleasure in
afflictions, in infirmities. And again, Exercise thyself unto godliness. For since he knew
the persecutions that accompanied those who chose to live in godliness, he wished his
disciples to meditate beforehand on the difficulties connected with godliness; that when
trials should come, and affliction arise, they might be able to bear them easily, as
having been exercised in these things. For in those things wherewith a man has been
conversant in mind, there is a hidden joy which he ordinarily experiences. In this way,
the blessed martyrs, since they were first conversant with trials, were quickly perfected
in Christ, not at all regarding the injury of the body, while they contemplated the

8 expected rest. But all those who call their lands by their own names, and have wood, and
hay, and stubble in their thoughts; such as these, since they are strangers to troubles,
are aliens from the kingdom of heaven. Had they, however, known that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, they
would have exercised themselves, after the example of 27. Paul, who said, I keep under my
body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be
a castaway. But they would easily have borne the Lam. 3, 27. afflictions which were
brought upon them from time to time, if the prophetic admonition had been listened to by
them, It is good for a man to take up Thy yoke in his youth; he shall sit alone and shall
be silent, because he hath taken Thy yoke upon him. He will give his cheek to him who
smiteth him; he will be filled with reproaches. Because the Lord does not cast away for
ever; for when He afflicteth, He is gracious, according to the multitude of His tender
mercies.

9 For if all these things should proceed from the enemies, stripes, insults, reproaches,
yet they shall avail nothing against the tender mercies of God; since from them we shall
quickly recover, they being temporal things, but God being always gracious, pouring out
His tender mercies on those who please [Him]. Therefore, my beloved brethren, we should
not look at temporal things, but fix our attention on those which are eternal. Though
affliction may come, it will have an end; though insult and persecution, yet are they
nothing to the hope which is in reserve. For all present matters are trifling compared
with those which are future; the sufferings of this present time not being worthy to be
compared with the hope that is to come. For what can be compared with the kingdom? or what
is like to everlasting life? Or what is all we could give here, compared with what we
shall inherit yonder? For we are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Therefore it
is not right, my beloved, to consider afflictions and persecutions, but the hopes which
are laid up for us because of persecutions.

10 Now to this even the example of Issachar, the patriarch, may persuade, as the Scripture
saith, Issachar desires that which is good, resting between the heritages; and when he 1
Serapion quotes the first part of tom. iv. p. li. (L.) this passage of Scripture in his
Epastola 3 Conf. Rom. viii. 8. 2 Cor. iv. ad Monachos, in praise of the ascetic 17. life.
Vid. A. Mac. Spicileg. Rom. saw that the rest was good, and the land fertile, he bowed his
shoulder to labour, and became a husbandman. Being consumed by divine love, like the
spouse in the Canticles, he collected from the holy Scriptures that which is profitable;
for his mind was captivated not by the old alone, but by both the heritages. And further,
like one expanding his wings, he beheld the rest which is in heaven, while [he looked
upon] the earth as full of good deeds—rather, in truth, the heavenly—since that is always
new, and never grows old. For this earth passes away, as the Lord said; but that which is
ready to receive the saints is immortal. Now when Issachar, the patriarch, saw these
things, he joyfully made his boast of afflictions and toils, bowing his shoulders that he
might labour. And he did not contend with those who smote him, neither was he disturbed by
insults; but like a man triumphing the more by these things, and the more earnestly
tilling his land, he received profit from it. The Word, indeed, scattered the seed, but he
watchfully cultivated it, so that it brought forth fruit, even a hundred-fold.

11 Now what is this, my beloved, but that we also, when the enemies are set against us,
should glory in afflictions; and that when we are persecuted, we should not be
discouraged, but should the rather press after the crown of the high Larsow translates the
last of these words by 'heavenly,' stating in a note that the context requires it. But I
think it better to take the root as man, and to consider it an exact translation of the
wise of the LXX. vers. This will not be opposed to the context. The primary and literal
translation may be adhered to, without affecting the more hidden and spiritual
explanation. Jarchi translates the passage figuratively of Issachar being strong to bear
the yoke of the law. The Jerusalem Targum thus paraphrases the verse. 'And he saw the rest
of the world to come, that it was good, and the portion of the land of Israel, that it was
pleasant; therefore he inclined his shoulders to work in the law, and his brethren brought
gifts unto him.' This paraphrase appears to me in substance very similar

12 to the comment of S. Athan, on the passage. The patriarch looked upon this world as the
present portion assigned him by God; he duly estimated the blessings connected with it,
notwithstanding its trials and afflictions; and he therefore willingly and cheerfully
acquiesced in his lot. But he looked forward to another and better heritage to be enjoyed
hereafter, and it was the prospect of this especially, that was his stay and support. The
literal explanation of resting between the heritages must be sought in the particular
tract of land in which the tribe was situated. Conf. S. Aug. Enarratio in Psalmum ciii.
13. (tom. iv. p. 1139. c.l. Ben.) Pennae ergo animarum virtutes, bona opera, recte
facta.—Quisquis dilexerit Deum et proximum, animam habet pennatam, liberis alis, sancto
amore volantem ad Dominum. Sufferings for the truth should unite us more closely to God.
109 13 calling in Christ Jesus our Lord? and that being insulted, we should not be
disturbed, but should give our cheek to the smiter, and even bow the shoulder? For the
lovers of pleasure and the lovers of enmity are tried, as saith the blessed Apostle James,
when they are drawn away by their own lusts and enticed. But let us, knowing that we
suffer for the truth, and that those who deny the Lord smite and persecute us, count it
all joy, my brethren, according to the words of James, when we fall into trials of various
temptations, knowing that the trial of our faith worketh patience. Let us even keep the
feast with rejoicing, my brethren, knowing that our salvation is reserved in the time of
affliction. For our Saviour did not redeem us by ease; but He abolished death by suffering
for us. And respecting this, He intimated to us before, saying, In the world ye shall have
tribulation. But He did not say this to every man, but to those who diligently and
faithfully perform good service to Him, knowing beforehand, that they should be persecuted
who would live godly to Him. But evil-doers and deceivers will wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived. If therefore, like the expounders of dreams and false
prophets, who professed to give signs, these ignorant men, in the same manner, being
drunk, not with wine, but with their own wickedness, make a profession of priesthood, and
glory in their threats, believe them not;

14 but since we are tried, let us humble ourselves, not being drawn away by them. For so
God warned His people by Moses, saying, If there shall rise up among you a prophet, or a
dreamer of dreams, and shall give signs and tokens, and the sign or the token shall come
to pass which he spake to thee, saying, Let us go and serve strange gods, which ye have
not known; ye shall not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.
For the Lord your God trieth you, that He may know whether you will lore the Lord your God
with all your heart. So we, when we are tried by these things, will not separate ourselves
from the love of God. But let us also now keep the feast, my beloved, not as introducing a
day of suffering, but of joy in Christ, by Whom we are fed every day. Let us be mindful of
Him Who was sacrificed in the days of the Passover; for we celebrate this, because Christ
the Passover was sacrificed. He Who once brought His people out of Egypt, and hath now
abolished death, and him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, will also now
turn him to shame, and again grant aid to those who are troubled, and cry unto God day and
night.

15 We begin the fast of forty days on the thirteenth of Phamenoth (9 Mar.), and the holy
week of Easter on the eighteenth of Pharmuthi (Apr. 13.); and having ceased on the seventh
day, being the twenty-third (Apr. 18.), and the first of the great week having dawned on
the twenty-fourth of the same month Pharmuthi (Apr. 19.), let us reckon from it till
Pentecost. And at all times let us sing praises, calling on Christ, being delivered from
our enemies by Christ Jesus our Lord, through Whom to the Father be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All those who are here with me
salute you. I pray, my beloved brethren, that ye may have health in the Lord. He
(Athanasius) wrote this also from Rome. Here endeth the thirteenth Letter.

LETTER 14.

1 Coss. Augustus Constantius III., Constans II.; Praf. the same Longinus; Indict. XV.;
Easter-day III. Id. Apr.; XVI. Pharmuthi; Era Dioclet. 58. THE gladness of our feast, my
brethren, is always near at hand, and never fails those who wish to celebrate it^a. For
the Word is near, Who is all things on our behalf; even our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, having
promised that His habitation with us should be perpetual, in virtue thereof cried, saying,
Lo, I am with you all the days, [even to the end] of the world. For as He is the Shepherd,
and the High Priest, and the Way and the Door, and every thing at once to us, so further,
He has been revealed to us as the feast, and the holyday, according to the blessed
Apostle; Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed. He also was waited for; He, too, caused a
light to shine at the prayer of the Psalmist, who said, [Thou art] my joy; deliver me from
those who surround me; this being indeed true rejoicing, this being a true feast, even
deliverance from wickedness, where to a man attains by altogether adopting an upright
conversation, and by his mind being bent on pious obedience towards God^b. For thus also
the saints all their lives long, were like men rejoicing at a feast. One found rest in
praying to God, as blessed David, who rose in the night, not once but seven times. Another
was celebrated for songs of praise, as the great Moses, who sang a song of praise for the
victory over Pharaoh, and those task-masters. Others performed worship with unceasing
cheerfulness, like the great Samuel and the blessed Elijah; who have ceased from their
perfect conversation, and now keep the feast in heaven, and rejoice in their former
instruction, which was by emblems, and out of types understand the truth.

2 But what sprinklings shall we now employ, while we celebrate the feast? Who then will
thus be our guide, as we haste to this festival? None can do this, my beloved, but Him
Whom ye will name with me, even our Lord Jesus Christ, Who said, I am the Way. For it is
He Who, according to the blessed John, taketh away the sin of the world. He also purifies
our souls, as Jeremiah the prophet says in a certain place, Stand in the ways and see, and
enquire, and look which is the good path, and ye shall find in it cleansing for your
souls. Of old time, the blood of the he-goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled upon
those who were unclean, were adapted only to purify the flesh; but now, through the grace
of God the Word, every man is thoroughly cleansed. Following Him, we may, even here, as on
the threshold of the Jerusalem which is above, meditate beforehand on the feast which is
eternal; as also, the blessed Apostles, when they together followed the Saviour, Who was
their Leader, have now become teachers

3 of a like readiness of disposition, saying, Behold, we have 28. left all, and followed
Thee. For the following of the Lord, and the feast which is of the Lord, is not
accomplished by words only, but by deeds, every enactment of laws and commands involving a
distinct performance. For as the great Moses, when administering the holy laws, exacted a
promise from the people, respecting the practice of them; 8. so that having promised, they
might not neglect them, and be accused as liars: thus also, the celebration of the feast
of the Passover moves no question, and demands no reply; but when the word is given, the
obedience of it follows, for He saith, And the children of Israel shall keep the Passover;
47. intending that there should be a ready performance of the commandment, while the thing
itself, at the same time, A D 342 should be rendered more easy. But respecting these
matters, I have confidence in your wisdom, and your doctrinal care. Such points as these
have been touched upon by us often and in various Letters.

4 But now, which is above all things most necessary, I wish to remind you, and myself with
you, how that the command would have us not come to the Paschal feast profanely and
without preparation; but with sacramental and doctrinal rites, and prescribed observances;
as indeed we learn from the historical account, A man who is of another nation, or bought
with money, or uncircumcised, shall not eat the Passover. Neither should it be eaten in
any house; but He commands it to be done in haste; inasmuch as before we groaned and were
made sad by the bondage to Pharaoh, and the commands of the task-masters. For when, in
former time, the children of Israel acted in this way, they were counted worthy to receive
the type. For that (the type) had respect to this feast, nor was the feast now introduced
on account of the type. As also the Word of God, when desirous of this, said to His
disciples, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you. The account, given us
as it is, is a wonderful one; for a man might have seen them equipped as for a show or a
dance, and going out with staves, and sandals, and unleavened bread. These things took
place before, as it were, in shadows, and were typical. But now, the Truth is nigh unto
us, the Image of the invisible God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Light; Who,

5 The argument appears to be this. Moses, as we read in Exodus, ch. xiv. v. 3—7, heard
from God the terms of the covenant He would make with the children of Israel, obedience to
all that God should command being imposed on them. Moses repeated these words to the
Israelites, who promised obedience: 'All that the Lord hath spoken will we do.' (v. 8.)
After that, the promulgation of the law takes place. The command to keep the Passover is
renewed. (Levit. iv. 9.) The Israelites were therefore bound to keep it, as well in virtue
of their promise, as by their duty of obedience to God. The Syriac is here The cross which
would be more correctly trans- lated 'in any part of the house.' But what is given above
appears to be required by the reference. Conf. Letter v. p. 47. 'In one house, even in the
Catholic Church, eating the Passover of the Lord.'

6 ᶠ I have given this as the translation of The cross not The cross. The word is rather
indistinct in the Ms. but it may be meant for the former word. Prof. Larson translates
this passage, 'the invisible image of God.' But it is clearly the translation of (Col. i.
15.) God the Father cannot be seen, but Christ, His Only-begotten Son, hath manifested
Him. Conf. John i. 18. instead of a staff, is our sceptre; instead of unleavened bread, is
the bread which came down from heaven; Who, instead of sandals, hath furnished us with the
preparation of the Gospel; and Who, to speak briefly, by all these hath guided us to His
Father. And if enemies afflict us, through persecution, He again, in the place of Moses,
will encourage with more than the words of that man, saying, *Be of good cheer; I have
overcome the wicked one*h. And if also, after we have passed over the Red sea, heat should
again vex us, or some bitterness of the waters befall us, again even there the Lord will
appear to us, imparting to us of His sweetness, and His life-giving fountain, saying, If
any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink.

7 Why therefore do we tarry, and why do we delay, and come not with all eagerness and
diligence to the feast, trusting that it is Jesus who calleth us? Who is all things for
us, and was laden in ten thousand ways for our salvation; Who indeed hungered and thirsted
for us, though He nourishes and gives us to drink of His saving gifts! For this is His
glory, this the miracle of His divinity, that He changed our sufferings for His happiness.
For, being life, He died that He might make us alive; being the Word, He became flesh,
that He might, by the Word, instruct that which is flesh; and being the fountain of life,
He thirsted our thirst, that thereby He might urge us to the feast, saying, If any man
thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. At that time, Moses proclaimed the beginning of the
feast, saying, This month is the beginning of months to you. But the Lord, Who came down
in the end of the ages, proChrist the sum and substance of the Old Testament prophecies.
115

8 claimed a different day,—not as though He would abolish the law, far from it—but that He
should establish the law, and be the end of the law. For Christ is the end of the law to
every one that believeth in righteousness; as the blessed Paul saith, Do we make void the
law by faith? by no means: we rather establish the law. 9 Now these things astonished even
the officers who were sent by the Jews, so that wondering they said to the Pharisees, No
man ever thus spake. What was it then that Jolou 7, 46. astonished those officers, or what
was it which so affected the men as to make them marvel? It was nothing but the boldness
and authority of our Saviour. For on former occasions of their applying to the prophetical
writings, and those skilled in the law, they perceived that they referred those who
applied, not to themselves, but elsewhere. Moses, for instance, A prophet will the Lord
raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; to him hearken in all that he commands
you. Isaiah again, Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and ye shall call his
name Emmanuel. By others also, prophecies were uttered differently, and in various ways,
concerning the Lord. But by the Lord, of Himself, and of no other, were these things
prophesied; to Himself He limited them all, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to
Me—not to any other person, but to Me. A man may indeed hear of those concerning My
coming; but he must not henceforth drink from others, but from Me. Therefore let us also,
when we come to the feast, no longer come as to old shadows, for they are accomplished;
neither as to common feasts; but let us hasten as to the Lord, Who is Himself the feast,
not looking upon it as an indulgence and delight of the belly, but as a manifestation of
virtue. For the feasts of the heathen are full of greediness, and utter indolence, since
they consider they celebrate a feast when

10 pensation came to an end when Christ appeared. The Christian religion was the closing
of the Jewish economy, and therefore S. Paul speaks of Christians as those. 1 Cor. x. 11.
they are idle; and they then work the works of perdition when they feast. Our feasts, on
the contrary, are the scenes of virtuous exercises, and the practice of temperance; as
also the prophetic word testifies in a certain place, saying, 19. The fast of the fourth,
and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth [month],
shall be to the house of Judah for gladness, and rejoicing, and for pleasant feasts. Since
therefore this occasion for exercise is before appointed, and such a day as this is come,
and the prophetic voice gone forth to celebrate the feast, let us give all diligence to
this good proclamation, and like those who are opposed to each other in the race course,
vie with each other in observing the purity of the fast; by watchfulness in prayers; by
practice in the Scriptures; by distributing to the poor, and by reconciliation with our
enemies. Let us bind up those who are scattered abroad; banish pride; and instead thereof
put on lowliness of mind, being at peace with all men, and urging the brethren to love.
Thus also the blessed Paul was often engaged in fastings and watchings, and was willing to
be accursed for his brethren. Also, again, the blessed David, having humbled himself by
fastings,

11 Psalm 7, 3. used boldness, saying, O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is any
iniquity in my hands, if I have repaid those who dealt evil with me, then may I fall from
my enemies as a vain man. Acting thus, we shall conquer death; and receive an earnest of
the kingdom of heaven. Conf. Letter vii. p. 57. 'The feast is not an indulgence in food,
nor splendour of clothing, nor days of leisure.' Conf. 1 Corinth. ix. 24—27. Syr. The
exhortation is, to be as ready to celebrate the feast, when the divine command is given,
as were the runners in the races to start when the signal was made; and then to vie with
each other in properly keeping it, as the runners strove to surpass each other in speed.
Syr. Vid. note to Letter vi. p. 50. Conf. Eph. i. 13, 14.— 'that holy Spirit of promise,
which is the earnest of our inheritance. In both the other places in the We begin the holy
Easter feast on the tenth of Pharmuthi (April 5.), desisting from the holy fasts on the
fifteenth of the same month Pharmuthi (April 10.), on the evening of the seventh day. And
let us keep the holy feast on the sixteenth of the same month Pharmuthi (April 11.);
adding one by one [the days] till the holy Pentecost, passing on to which, as through a
succession of feasts, let us keep the festival to the Spirit, Who is always near us, in
Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom to the Father be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen.

12 The fifteenth and sixteenth are wanting.

LETTER 17.

1 Coss. Amantius, Albinus; Pref. Nestorius of Gaza; Indict. Easter-day III.; Easter-day,
VII. Id. Apr.; XII. Pharmuthi; Moon on April 7. 19; Era Dioclet. 61. ATHANASIUS, to the
Presbyters and Deacons of Alexandria, and the beloved brethren in Christ, greeting.
According to custom, I give you notice respecting Easter, my beloved; that you also may
notify the same to the districts of those who are at a distance, as is usual. Therefore,
after this present festival, I mean this which is on the twentieth of the month Pharmuthi,
the first of the Paschal week ensuing will be on the vii Id. April: or, according to the
Alexandrians, on the twelfth of Pharmuthi. Give, therefore, notice in all those districts,
that the first day of the Paschal week is on the vii Id. April, on the twelfth of
Pharmuthi according to the Alexandrian reckoning. That ye may be in health in Christ, I
pray, my beloved brethren.

2 It is observed here by Mr. Cureton, (who has also given the translation of this Letter),
that S. Athan, gave notice at Easter upon what day Easter was to be observed in and not
immediately after the succeeding Epiphany, as Cassian asserts to have been the custom of
the Patriarch of Alexandria. (Cassian. Collat. x. cap. i. Edit. Lugduni 1606, p. 364.) The
same period for forwarding the Paschal notice was observed with regard to the next Letter.
In previous Epistles, we not unfrequently find reference made to Easter, as in course of
celebration, at the time they were written. Thus the second com- mences: 'Again, my
beloved, is Easter come, and gladness.' The fourth: 'Now again, my beloved, has God also
brought us to the season of the feast.' Perhaps we should not be wrong in supposing that
some of the Epistles were, in the first instance, delivered as homilies, at the places
where they were written, and afterwards, with slight alterations, and the addition of the
concluding parts, sent as Paschal Letters to the various dioceses. However, we know that,
in consequence of the troubles of the Church, the usual period for forwarding the Letters
was not always adhered to. (Vid. Letter iv. p. 31.)

LETTER 18.

1 Coss. Constantius IV., Constans III.; Praf. Nestorius; Indict. IV.; Easter-day III. Kal.
Apr.; IV. Pharmuthi; Easter-day on Mar. 30. Moon 21; Era Dioclet. 62. ATHANASIUS, to the
Presbyters and Deacons of Alexandria, brethren beloved in the Lord, greeting. Ye have done
well, dearly beloved brethren, that ye have given the customary notice of the holy Easter
in those districts; for I have seen and acknowledged your exactness. By other letters I
have also given you notice, that, when this year is finished, ye may know concerning the
next. Yet now I have thought it necessary to write the same things that, since ye are
exact, ye may also write with care. Therefore, after the conclusion of this feast, which
is now at its termination, on the twelfth of the month Pharmuthi, which is on the vii Id.
Apr.a, Easter-day is on the iii Kal. April; the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the
Alexandrians. When therefore the feast is finished, give notice again in these districts,
according to the early custom, thus: The first of the Paschal week is on the iii Kal.
April, which is the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrian reckoning. And let
no man hesitate concerning the day; neither let any one contend, saying, It is requisite
that Easter should be held on the twenty-seventh of the month Phamenoth; for it was
discussed in the holy Synod, and all there settledᶜ it to be on the iii Kal. April. I say
then that it is on the fourth of the month Pharmuthi; for the week before this is much too
early. Therefore let there be no dispute, but let us act as becometh us. For I have thus
written to the Romans also. Give notice then as it has been notified to you, that it is on
the iii Kal. April; the fourth of Pharmuthi, according to the Alexandrian reckoning.

2 That ye may have health in the Lord, I pray, my dearly beloved brethren. This could not
have been the Synod of Sardica, as Larsow states in a note, misled by an error in the
index prefixed to the Letters. The Synod of Sardica was not held till the following year,
In the index (Letter xv.) it is said, that the Council of Sardica was held in that year,
and published directions with respect to the time of Easter. The translator of the Letters
appears to have confused between the Synod of Antioch and that of Sardica. At a Synod held
at Antioch in the Paschal question was discussed, (vid. Bever. Synod. tom. i. p. 430.),
and this I conclude to be the Synod to which S. Athan. refers. ᶜ I think the Syr. 'misit'
is an error for 'confirmavit.' In Letter xix. p. 126. we find 3 I am indebted to the
kindness of J. C. Adams, Esq. M.A. Fellow of Pembroke College, for the following
calculation. The 14th day of the Moon, reckoning from the time of mean New Moon, took
place on Sunday the 23d. According to the rule which obtained in later times, and
continued in use until the Gregorian reformation of the Calendar, the 14th day of the
Ecclesiastical Moon took place on Saturday the 22d, which would make Easter-day happen on
the 23d. It would seem, therefore, that the decision of the Synod referred to, brought the
Ecclesiastical Moon into closer accordance with that of the heavens, than the later
Calendar would have done.


THE FESTAL EPISTLES
===================

THE FESTAL EPISTLES continued

LETTER 19.

1 Coss. Rufinus, Eusebius; Pref. the same Nestorius; Indict. V.D. 347.; Easter-day, Prid.
Id. Apr.; Pharmuthi XVII; Æra Easter-day Dioclet. 63; Moon 15. on Apr. 12. BLESSED is God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for such an introduction is fitting for an Epistle;
and now more especially, when accompanied with thanksgiving to the Lord, in the Apostle's
words, because He hath brought us from a distance, and granted us again to send openlyᶜ to
you, as usual, the Festal Letters. For this is the season of the feast, my brethren, and
it is near; being not now proclaimed by trumpets, as the history records, but made known
and brought near to us by the Saviour. Who suffered on our behalf and rose again: even as
Paul preached, saying, Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed. The feast of the Passover then
is ours, not that of a stranger, nor of the Jews any longerᶠ. For the time of shadows is
abolished, and these old things have ceased; and now the month of new things is at hand,
in which every man should keep the feast, in obedience to Him who said, Observe the month
of new things, and keep the Passover to the Lord thy God.

2 This was the year in which the Council of Sardinia was held. Who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ.' S. Athan, is comparing the rest God
had given the Church from their enemies, and the opportunity of improvement by spiritual
privileges, (vid. p. 129) with the blessings for which the Apostle thanked God in the
passage quoted. He had been absent at Rome nearly thirty years. Conf. Letter i. p. 4-7.
Or, 'made known and offered up.' ᶠ Vid. note 2, to Letter vi. p. 45. Vid. note 3, to
Letter i. p. 12, and note d, to Letter v. p. 37. S. Cyril, in his 29th Paschal discourse,
beautifully enlarges on the season at which the Pasch (including therein the quadragesimal
fast) is kept, viz. in the spring, when all nature is joyful around us, and bursting, as
it were, into new life. S. Cyril. Op. tom. vi. p. 336. Lutet. 16 S. S. Chrysostom, in
allusion to the same, calls the quadragesimal fast, the spiritual spring of the soul. t.
tom. 4. '. p. 615. ed. 1718-

3 38. With ourselves, the season gives the name to the fast. In Sax. we have Lencæen, 'the
spring,' Lencæenperæen, 'the spring fast,' Lencæ. 122 The blindness of the Jews with
regard to their law. Even the heathen fancy they keep festival, and the Jews
hypocritically feign therein. But the feast of the heathen He reproves, as the bread of
mourners; and He turns His face from that of the Jews, inasmuch as they are outcasts,
saying, Your new moons and your sabbaths My soul hateth. For actions not done lawfully and
piously, are not of advantage, though they may be reputed to be so, but they rather argue
hypocrisy in those who venture upon them. Therefore, although such persons as these fancy
to themselves that they offer sacrifices, yet they hear from the Father, Your whole burnt-
offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices do not please Me; and although ye bring
fine flour, it is vanity; incense also is an abomination unto Me. For God does not need
any thing; and, since there is nothing which can defile Him, He is full in regard to them,
as He testifies, saying by Isaiah, I am full.

4 Now there was a law given respecting these things, for the instruction of the people,
and to prefigure things to come; for Paul saith to the Galatians, Before faith came, we
were kept guarded under the law, being shut up in the faith which should afterwards be
revealed unto us; wherefore the law was our instructor in Christ, that we might be
justified by faith. But the Jews knew not, neither did they understand; therefore they
walked in the day-time as in darkness; feeling for, but not touching, the truth we
possess, which [was contained] in the law; conforming to the letter, but not attending to
the spirit. And when Moses was veiled, they looked on him, but turned away their faces
from him when he was uncovered. For they knew not what they read, but erroneously
substituted one thing for another. The prophet, therefore, cried against them, saying,
Falsehood and faithlessness have prevailed among them. The Lord also therefore said
concerning them, The strange children have dealt falsely with me; the strange children
have waxen old. But how gently now does He reprove them, saying, Had ye believed Moses, ye
would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me. But being faithless, they further also dealt
falsely respecting the law, affirming things after their own pleasure, but not
understanding them according to the Scripture; and, further, having as with hypocrisies
distorted the plain text of Scripture, and this being their confidence, He is angry with
them, saying by Isaiah, Who hath required these of your hands?

5 And by Jeremiah, since they were very bold, he threatens, Gather together your whole
burntofferings with your sacrifices, and eat flesh; for I spake not unto your fathers, nor
commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning whole
burnt-offerings and sacrifices. For they did not act as was right, neither was their zeal
according to law; but they rather sought their own pleasure in such days, as the prophet
accuser them; thrusting their bondsmen, and gathering themselves together for strifes and
quarrels. They also smote the lowly with the fist, and did all things that tended to their
own gratification. 6 For this cause, they continue without a feast until the end, although
they make a display now of eating flesh, out of place and out of season. For, instead of
the legallyappointed lamb, they have learned to sacrifice to Baal; instead of the true
unleavened bread, they collect the wood, and their fathers kindle the fire, and their
wives prepare the dough, that they may make cakes to the host of heaven, and pour out
libations to strange gods, that they may provoke Me to anger, saith the Lord. They have
the just reward of such devices; since, although they pretend to keep the Passover, yet
joy and gladness is taken from their mouth, as saith Jeremiah, There hath been taken away
from the cities of Judah, and the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of those who are glad,
and the voice of those who rejoice; the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the
bride. Therefore now, he who among them sacrificeth an ox, is as he who smiteth a 124
Explanation of the time and circumstances under which

7 MAN: and he who sacrificeth a lamb is as he who killeth a dog; he that offereth fine
flour, is as [if he offered] swine's blood; he that giveth frankincense for a memorial, is
as a blasphemer". Now these things will never please God, neither hath the [divine] word
required them of them. But He saith, These have chosen their own ways; and their
abominations are what their soul delighteth in. And what is this, my brethren? For it is
right for us to investigate the saying of the prophet, and especially with regard to those
who heretically devise imaginations contrary to the law. By Moses then, God gave
commandment respecting sacrifices; and all the book called Leviticus, is entirely taken up
with the arrangement of these matters, so that He might accept the offerer. He therefore,
by the Prophets, finds fault with him who despised these things, as disobedient to the
commandment, saying, I have not required these at your hands. Neither did I speak to your
fathers respecting sacrifices, nor command them concerning whole burnt-offerings.

8 Now it has been ventured as an opinion, that the Scriptures do not agree together, or
that God, Who gave the commandment, is false. But there is no disagreement whatever; far
from it; neither can the Father, Who is truth, lie; for it is impossible that God should
lie, as Paul affirms. But these things are plain to those who rightly consider them, and
to those who receive with faith the writings of the law. Now it appears to me—may God
vouchsafe, by your prayers, that the remarks I presume to make may not be far from the
truth—that not at first were the commandment and the law concerning sacrifices, neither
did the mind of God, Who gave the law, regard whole burnt-offerings, but those things
which were pointed out and prefigured by them. For the law contained a shadow of good
things to come. And, Those things were appointed until the time of reformation. Therefore,
the whole law did not treat of sacrifices, though there was in the law a commandment
concerning sacrifices, by their means imparting instruction beforehand, withdrawing men
from idols, and bringing them near to God, teaching them to understand the true character
of the time then present. Therefore neither at the beginning, when God the law concerning
sacrifices was delivered to the Jews. 125

9 brought the people out of Egypt, did He command them concerning sacrifices or whole
burnt-offerings, nor even till they came to mount Sinai. For God is not as man, that He
should have a care of these things beforehand; but His commandment was given, that they
might know Him Who is truly God, and also His Word; and might disregard those which are
falsely called gods, which exist not, but only attain to the outward show. Thus He would
be known to them by those [signs] whereby He brought them out of the land of Egypt,
causing them to pass through the Red Sea. But when they would serve Baal, and dared to
offer sacrifices to those that have no existence, and forgat the miracles which were
wrought in their behalf in Egypt, and thought of returning thither again; then indeed,
after the law, a commandment also was given to serve as a law concerning sacrifices; so
that with their mind, which at one time had meditated on those [gods] which did not exist,
they might turn to Him Who is truly God; and learn not, in the first place, to sacrifice,
but to turn away their faces from idols, and give heed to what God commanded.

10 For when He saith, I have not spoken concerning sacrifices, neither given commandment
concerning whole burnt-offerings, He immediately adds, But this is the thing which I
commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be to you a God, and ye shall be to Me a
people, and ye shall walk in all the ways that I command you. Thus then, being before
instructed and taught, they learned not to give their service to any one but the Lord.
They attained to know what time the shadow should last, and not to forget the time that
was at hand, in which no longer should the bullock of the herd be a sacrifice to God, nor
the ram of the flock, nor the he-goat, but all these things fulfilled in a purely
spiritual manner, and by constant prayer, and upright conversation, with godly words; as
David sings, May my meditation be pleasing to Him. Let my prayer be set forth before Thee
as incense, and the lifting 34. up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. The Spirit also,
who is in him, commands, saying, Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay to the
Lord thy cows. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.

12 Mat. 12, 34. The great Samuel also not the less pointedly reproved Saul, saying, Is not
the word better than a gift? For by these things a man fulfils the law, and pleases God,
as He saith, The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me. Let a man learn what this is, I
will have mercy, and not sacrifice, and not condemn the adversaries. But this displeased
them. They were not anxious to understand, for had they known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. And what is the end of these, the prophet before pronounced,
saying, Woe unto their souls, for they have devised an evil thought, saying, let us bind
the just man, because he is not pleasing to us. The end of such abandonment as this is
nothing but error, as the Lord, when reproving them, saith, Ye do err, not knowing the
Scriptures. Afterwards when, through reproof, they should have come to their senses, they
rather waxed bold, saying, We are Moses' disciples; and we know that God spake to Moses;
dealing the more falsely by that very expression, and accusing themselves. For had they
believed him who heard, they would not have denied the Lord, Who spake by Moses, at a time
when He was near. But such was not the cunning in the Acts; for when he heard,
Understandest thou what thou readest? he was not ashamed to confess his ignorance, and
implored to be taught. Therefore, because he was like a learner, the grace of the Spirit
was given.

13 But as for them [the Jews], because they persisted in their ignorance, as the proverb
saith, Death came upon them. For the fool dies in his sins. Like these too, are the
heretics, who, having fallen from a true conscience, dare to imagine to themselves
atheism. For the fool saith in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, and become
abominable in their doings. Of such as are fools in their thoughts, the actions are
wicked. For, as He saith, can ye, being evil, speak good things? They were evil, because
they thought wickedness. Or how can those do just acts, whose minds are set upon fraud? Or
how shall he love, who is prepared beforehand to hate? How shall he be kind, who is bent
upon the love of money? How shall he be chaste, who looks upon a woman to lust after her?
For from the heart proceed evil thoughts, fornications, adulteries, murders. By them the
fool is wrecked, as by the waves of the sea, being led away and enticed by these fleshly
pleasures: for this also stands written, The whole body of fools is entirely shipwrecked.
Having then associated with folly, he is afterwards caught by a tempest, and perishes; as
Solomon says in the Proverbs. The fool and he who lacketh understanding shall perish
together, and shall leave their wealth to strangers. Now they suffer such things, because
there is not among them one sound of mind to guide them.

14 For where there is sagacity, there the Word, which is the pilot of souls, accompanies
the vessel; for he that hath understanding shall possess government; they who are without
government falling like the leaves. 15 Who then is it that altogether falls away, as
Hymenæus and Philetus, because they entertained evil conceits respecting the resurrection,
and suffered shipwreck in regard to the faith of it? Judas also, being a betrayer, fell
away from the Pilot, and perished with the Jews. But the [other] disciples since they were
wise, and therefore remained with the Lord, although the sea was agitated, and the ship
covered with the waves, there being a storm, and the wind contrary, yet fell not away. For
they awoke the Word, Who was sailing with them, and immediately the sea became smooth at
the command of its Lord, and they were saved. They then together became preachers and
teachers; relating the miracles of our Saviour, and also teaching us to imitate their
example. These things were written on our account and for our profit, in order that by
these tokens, we may acknowledge the Lord Who wrought

16 appears to be an as referred to. error for I know not what passage is intended here.
The word translated 'body' is literally 'flesh.' This passage is not to be found in the
Proverbs. It occurs in the Psalms, The word appears to be wrongly inserted in the Ms.
Conf. Letter ii. p. 18. Conf. Letter vii. p. 63 'Judas—having abandoned his Life, hanged
himself.' Ps. 104, 17 25. 26. them. Let us therefore, in the faith of the disciples, hold
converse with our Master. For the world is like the sea to us, my brethren, of which it is
written, This is the great and wide sea; there go the ships; the Leviathan, which Thou has
created to play in it. We are carried along then in this, as by the wind, through our own
free-will; for every one directs his course according to his will, and either, under the
pilotage of the Word, he enters into rest; or, laid hold on by pleasure, he suffers
shipwreck, and is in perilᶠ by storm. For, as in the ocean, there are tempests and waves,
so in the world there are many afflictions and trials. The unbelieving, therefore, when
affliction or persecution ariseth, is offended, as the Lord said. For being unconfirmed in
the faith, and regarding temporal things, he cannot resist the difficulties which arise
from afflictions. But as the house, built on the sand by the foolish man, so he, since he
is without understanding, falls before the assault of temptations, as it were by the
winds. But the saints, having their senses exercised by reason of practice, and being
strong in faith, and understanding the word, do not become faint in trials; but although,
from time to time, circumstances of greater trial arise against them, yet they continue
faithful; and, awaking the Lord, Who is with them, they are delivered.

18 So, passing through water and fire, to a place where they can breathe freely, they duly
keep the feast, offering up prayers, with thanksgiving, to God Who hath redeemed them. For
either, being tempted, they are known, as Abraham; or, suffering, they are approved, as
Job; or, being oppressed and guilcfully treated, as Joseph, they patiently endure it; or,
being persecuted, they are not overtaken; but, as it is written, through God they leap
over the wall of wickedness, which divideth and separateth between brethren, and turns
them from the truth. After this example, the blessed Paul, when he took pleasure in
infirmities, in reproach, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses for Christ,
rejoiced, and wished all of us to rejoice, saying, Rejoice always; in every thing give
thanks. 18. 19 faulty. But hold converse with [our] Master.' ᶜ Prof. Larsow translates
these words (?) differently, considering the text as ᶜ (Syr.). For what is there so
consonant with the feast, as turning from wickedness, and a pure conversation, and prayer
offered without ceasing to God, with thanksgiving? Therefore let us, my brethren, looking
forward to celebrate the eternal joy in heaven, keep the feast here also; rejoicing at all
times, praying incessantly, and in every thing giving thanks to the Lord. I also give
thanks to God, as well for those other wonders He has done, as for the various helps that
have now been afforded us, in that though He hath chastened us sore, He did not deliver us
over to death, but brought us from a distance, even as from the ends of the earth, and
hath united us again with you. I then, while I keep the fast myself, have been anxious to
give you also notice of the great feast of the Passover, so that we may go up together, as
it were, to Jerusalem, and eat the Passover, not in a divided manner, but as in one house;
not sodden as in water, let us divide the word of God; nor having, as it were, broken its
bones, let us make void the commands of the Gospel. But, as it were, roasted with fire,
with bitter herbs, being fervent in spirit, in fastings and watchings, with lying on the
ground, let us keep it with penitence and thanksgiving.

20 We begin the fast of forty days on the sixth day of Phamenoth (Mar. 2.); and having
passed through that properly, with fasting and prayers, we may be able to attain to the
holy day. For he who regards lightly the fast of forty days, as one who rashly and
impurely treadeth on holy things, cannot celebrate the Easter festival. Further, let us
put one another in remembrance, and stimulate one another not to be negligent, and
especially that we should fast those days; so that fasts may receive us in succession, and
we may duly bring the feast to a close. The fast of forty days begins then, as was before
said, on the sixth of Phamenoth (Mar. 2); and the great week of the Passion on the
eleventh of Pharmuthi (Apr. 6.). And let us rest from the fast on the sixteenth of it
(Apr. 11.), on the seventh day, late in the evening. Let us keep the feast when the first
of the week rises upon us, on the seventeenth of the month Pharmuthi (Apr. 12.). Let us
then add, one after the other, the seven holy weeks of Pentecost, rejoicing and praising
God, that He hath by these things made known to us beforehand, joy and rest everlasting,
prepared in heaven for those of us, who truly believe in Christ Jesus our Lord; through
Whom, and with Whom, be glory and dominion to the Father, with the Holy Ghost, for ever
and ever. Amen.

21 Salute one another with a holy kiss. The brethren who are with me salute you. Lycos,
Eudaemon p. in the stead of Plusianus a. In Antinous, Arion r, instead of Ammonius and
Tyrannus s. In Oxyrynchus, Theodorus, instead of Pelagius. In Nilopolis, instead of Theon,
Amatus t, and Isaac, having been reconciled to each other. In Arsenoitis, Andreas, instead
of Silvanus u. In Prosopontis x, Triadelphus, instead of Serapammon. In Diosphacus y, on
the river side, Theodorus, instead of Serapammon. In Saiton [Suis], Paphnutius, instead of
Nemesion. In Xois, Theodorus, instead of Anubion; and there is also with him Isidorus,
being reconciled to the Church. In Sethroitis z, Orion, instead of Potammon a. In Clysma,
Tithonas, instead of Jacob i; and there is with him Paulus, having been reconciled to the
Church.

LETTER 20.

1 Coss. Philippus, Salia; Praefect. the same Nestorius; Indict. VI.; Easter-day III. Non.
Apr.; VIII. Pharmuthi; Æra Dioelet. 64; Moon 18. 2 Lert us now keep the feast, my
brethren; for as our Lord then gave notice to His disciples, so does He now beforehand to
us; that after some days is the Passover. Therein the Jews indeed betrayed the Lord, but
we celebrate His death as a feast, while we rejoice that then we obtained rest from our
afflictions, and eagerly assemble ourselves together, whereas we formerly were dispersed.
And whereas we were lost, we have been found; from having been far off, we are brought
nigh; and from having been strangers, we have become His, Who suffered for us, and was
nailed on the cross; Who bore our sins, as the prophet saith, and was afflicted for us,
that He might remove from all of us grief, and sorrow, and sighing. When we thirst, He too
satisfies us with the feast, standing and crying, If any man thirst, let him come to Me,
and drink. For such is the love of the saints at all times, that they never once leave
off, but offer the uninterrupted, constant sacrifice to the Lord, and continually thirst,
and ask of Him to drink; as David sang, My God, my God, early will I seek Thee; my soul
thirsteth for Thee; many times my heart and flesh longeth for Thee in a barren land,
without a path, and without water. Thus was I seen by Thee in the sanctuary. Isaiah the
prophet also says, From the night my spirit seeketh Thee early, O God, because Thy
commandments are light.

3 And another says, My soul fainteth for the longing it hath for Thy judgments at all
times. And again he says, For Thy judgments I have hoped, and Thy law will I keep at all
times. Another boldly cries out, saying, 43, 44. Mine eye is ever towards the Lord. And
with him one says, The meditation of my heart is before Thee at all times. And Paul
further advises, At all times give thanks; pray without ceasing. Those then who are thus
continually 17. engaged, are altogether waiting for the Lord, while they say, Let us
follow on to know the Lord: we shall find Him ready as the morning, and He will come to us
as the early and the latter rain for the earth. For not only does He satisfy them in the
morning: neither alone does He give them to drink as often as they ask; but He gives them
abundantly according to His loving-kindness, vouchsafing to them, at all times, the grace
of the Spirit. And what it is they thirst for He immediately adds, saying, He that
believeth on Me. For, as cold waters are pleasant to those who are thirsty. according to
the proverb, so to those who believe in the 25. Lord, the coming of the Spirit is better
than all refreshment and delight.

4 It becomes us also then in these days of the Passover, to rise early with the saints,
and approach the Lord with all our soul: with purity of body, with confession and godly
faith in Him; so that when we have here first drunk, and been filled with these divine
waters which [flow] from Him, we may also be able to sit at table with the saints in
heaven, and may share in the one voice of gladness which is there. For this, sinners
having evinced no inclination, are properly cast out, with the words sounding in their
ears, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? It is true that
sinners also thirst, but not for 12. the grace of the Spirit; but, being inflamed with
wickedness, they are altogether set on fire by pleasures, as saith the Proverb, All day
long he desires evil desires. But the Prophet cries against them, saying, Wo unto those
who rise 26. up early, and follow strong drink; who continue until the evening, for wine
inflameth them. And since they run wild

5 For 1600s. I. g. 1500. in wantonness, they dare to thirst for the destruction of others.
Having first drunk deceitful waters, which cannot be trusted, those things come upon them,
which are stated by the Prophet; My wound, saith he, is grievous; how shall I be healed;
it hath surely been to me like deceitful waters, in which there is no trust. The second,
again, while they drink with those who are with them, lead astray and throw into confusion
the mind [which was desirous] of truth, and turn away the simple from it. And what does he
[the prophet] cry? Wo unto him who causeth his neighbour to drink turbid destruction, and
maketh him drunk, that he may look upon his caverns. But those who dissemble, and steal
away the truth, quiet their hearts. Having first drunk thereof, they go on to say those
things which the whorish woman saith in the Proverbs, Lay hold with delight on hidden
bread, and sweet stolen waters. They lay snares secretly, because they have not the
freedom of virtue, nor the boldness of Wisdom, who praiseth herself in the streets, and
employeth freedom of speech in the broad ways, preaching on high walls. For this reason,
they are bidden to lay hold with delight, because, having chosen carelessness and
pleasure, they steal the sweetness of truth, and with it disguise their own bitter waters
[to escape] from the blame of their wickedness, which would be speedy and public. On this
account, the wolf puts on the skin of the sheep, sepulchres deceive by their whitened
exteriors. Satan, that is,

6 e The Syriac translator appears to have had before him the words as some Mss. read, and
as the passage is quoted in the Tomus ad Antiochenses, Athan. op. tom. i. p. 619 not. The
last word in the verse 'caverns' arises from the similarity between the words (nakedness)
and (caves).


THE FESTAL EPISTLES: FRAGMENTS AND ADDITIONAL LETTERS
=====================================================

THE FESTAL EPISTLES: FRAGMENTS AND ADDITIONAL LETTERS Athanasius of Alexandria

c. AD 296–373

Fragments of the Festal Letters (27, 29, 39 and 44) and four letters found later (40, 42,
43 and 45), printed after the main series in Burgess’s book.

LETTER 27. FRAGMENT OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH LETTER

For who is our joy and boast, but our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who suffered for us,
and by Himself made known to us the Father? For He is no other than He Who of old time
spake by the Prophets; but now He saith to every man, I Who speak am near. Right well is
this word spoken; for He does not at one time speak, at another being silent; but
continually and at all times, from the beginning without cessation, He stirs up every man,
and speaks to every man in his heart.

LETTER 29. FRAGMENT OF THE TWENTY-NINTH LETTER

1 37-41. And the Lord proved the disciples, when He was asleep on the pillow, at which
time a miracle was wrought, which is especially calculated to put even the wicked to
shame. For when He arose, and rebuked the sea, and silenced the storm, He plainly shewed
two things; that the storm of the sea was not from the winds, but from fear of its Lord,
Who walked upon it; and that the Lord, Who rebuked it, was not a creature, but rather its
Creator, since a creature is not obedient to a creature. For although the Red Sea 21. was
divided before Moses, yet it was not Moses who did it; for it took place, not because he
spake, but because God commanded. And also if the sun stood still in Gibeon, and the moon
in the valley of Ajalon, yet this was the work, not of the son of Nun, but of the Lord,
Who heard his

2 Joshua 10, 12. prayer. He it was, Who both rebuked the sea, and on the cross caused the
sun to be darkened.

LETTER 39. OF THE BOOKS RECEIVED BY THE CHURCH (THE CANON)

1 Of the particular books and their number, which are received by the Church. From the
thirty-ninth Letter of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, which treats of the Paschal
festival; wherein he defines canonically which are the divine books which are received by
the Church. But since we have made mention of heretics as dead, but of ourselves as
possessing the Divine Scriptures for salvation; and since I fear lest, as Paul wrote to
the Corinthians, some few of the simple should be beguiled from their simplicity and
purity, by the subtilty of certain men, and should afterwards read other books—those
called apocryphal—led astray by the similarity of their names with the true books: I
beseech you to bear patiently, if I also write, by way of remembrance, of matters with
which you are acquainted, influenced by the need and advantage of the Church. In
proceeding to make mention of these things, I shall adopt, to commend my undertaking, the
pattern of Luke the Evangelist, saying, Forasmuch as some have taken in hand, to reduce
into order for themselves the books termed

2 The above fragment of the thirty-ninth Letter has long been before the world, having
been preserved in the original Greek, by Theodorus Balsamon. It may be found in the first
volume of the Benedictine edition of the works of S. Athan. tom. i. p. 767, ed. 1777. A
Syriac translation of it has been discovered by Mr. Cureton in an anonymous Commentary on
the Scriptures in the collection of the British Museum, (Col. 12, 168.) and appended to
his volume. This translation does not contain quite so much as the fragment of the
original, commencing only at the quotation from S. Luke. The heading above given is
translated from the Syriac. A careful consideration of the style, compared with that of
the other Letters, has led me to consider it as the work of a different translator. It
adheres less closely to the Greek, than is the case in the other Letters with the few
fragments that are extant; more than once introducing explanations of the word Apocryphal.
The quotation from St. Luke differs widely in the choice of words from the same quotation,
as found in Letter ii. p. 20. Lastly, the word 'heretics' is written very differently in
this fragment from the mode uniformly adopted in the other Letters.

3 In this we find it written, elsewhere,. The Greek has the words found in some Mss. of
the Scriptures. apocryphal, and to mix them up with the divinely inspired Scripture,
concerning which we have been fully persuaded, as they who from the beginning were
eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, delivered to the fathers; it hath seemed good to
me also, having been urged thereto by the brethren, and having learned from the beginning,
to bring before you the books included in the Canon, and handed down, and accredited as
Divine; to the end that any one who has fallen into error may correct those who have led
him astray; and that he who continues stedfast in purity, may again rejoice, having these
things brought to his remembrance. There are, then, of the Old Testament, in all twenty-
two books in number: for, as I have heard, they are handed down the same in number as the
letters among the Hebrews, their respective order and names being as follows. The first is
Genesis, then Exodus, next Leviticus, after that Numbers, and then Deuteronomy. Following
them, we have Joshua, the son of Nun, and Judges, then Ruth. And again next, four books of
Kings, and of them the first and second are reckoned one book, and so likewise the third
and fourth, one. And again, after these, the first and second of the Chronicles are
similarly reckoned as one book. Esdra again, the first and second as one. After these
there is the book of Psalms, then Proverbs, next Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Job
follows, then the Prophets, the twelve being reckoned as one book. Then Isaias, Jeremias,
and with him Baruch, Lamentations, and the epistle; afterwards, Ezekiel and Daniel. Thus
far constitutes the Old Testament.

4 But we must not look upon it as a task to speak of the books of the New Testament. These
then are, the four Gospels, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Afterwards, the
Acts of the Apostles, and the Catholic Epistles, called of the Apostles, seven in number,
viz. of James, one; of Peter, two; of John, three; and then, one of Jude. Besides these,
there are fourteen Epistles of the The Syriac has the conjunction, editors, which is
rejected by the Benedictine Syri. And the seven Epistles. Apostle Paul, written in this
order. The first, to the Romans; then two to the Corinthians; after these, to the
Galatians; next, to the Ephesians; then to the Philippians and to the Colossians; after
these, two to the Thessalonians, and that to the Hebrews; and again, two to Timothy; one
to Titus; and lastly, that to Philemon. To these, the Revelation of John.

5 These are the fountains of salvation, that he who thirsteth may be satisfied with the
words they contain. In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add
to them, neither let him take ought from them. For on this point the Lord put to shame the
Sadducees, saying, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures. And He reproved the Jews,
saying, Search the Scriptures, for they testify of Me. But for greater exactness, I add
this also, considering it necessary so to write: that there are other books besides these,
not indeed included in the Canon, but appointed by the Fathers to be read by those who are
come of late, wishing for admonition and instruction in godliness. The Wisdom of Solomon,
and the Wisdom of Sirach, and Esther, and Judith, and Tobit, and that which is called the
Doctrine of the Apostles, and the Shepherd. But the former, my brethren, are included in
the Canon, the latter being [merely] read: nor is there any mention of apocryphal
writings. But this is an invention of heretics, writing them to favour their own views,
bestowing upon them their approbation, and assigning to them a date, and producing them as
ancient writings, that thereby they might find occasion to lead astray the simple.

6 Syr. 'Of Paul.' Syr. 'living words.' The Syriac translator appears to have had before
him the Benedictine reading, sui Bonhagorans. Syr. 'The Son of Sirach.'

LETTER 44. FRAGMENT OF THE FORTY-FOURTH LETTER

1 WHEN, therefore, the servants of the Chief Priests and the Scribes saw these things, and
heard from Jesus, Whosoever is athirst, let him come to Me and drink; they perceived that
this was not a mere man like themselves, but that this was He Who also gave water to the
saints, and that it was He Who was acknowledged by the prophet Isaiah. For He was truly,
as it were, the splendour of the light, and the Word of God; thus too He was the river
from the fountain which gives drink. And then to Paradise, and now to all men, He gives
the same gift of the Spirit, and says, If any 38. man thirst, let him come to Me and
drink. Whosoever believeth on Me, as saith the Scripture, rivers of living water shall
flow out of his belly. This was not for man to say, but for the living God, Who truly
vouchsafes life, and gives the Holy Spirit.

2 a The hitherto unpublished Syriac text corresponding to p. 71—73. of the translation.
Vide note y, p. 71. 1 (virtue) is doubtless an error for (produce).

LETTER 40. ADDENDUM TO THE FORTIETH LETTER

Ye are they that have continued with Me in My temptations; and I appoint to you a kingdom,
as My Father hath appointed unto Me, that ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom.
Being called, then, to the great and heavenly Supper, in that upper room which has been
swept, let us cleanse ourselves, as the Apostle exhorted, from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God; that so, being spotless within and
without,—without, clothing ourselves with temperance and justice; within, by the Spirit,
rightly dividing the word of truth—we may hear, Enter into the joy of thy Lord.

LETTER 42. ADDENDUM TO THE FORTY-SECOND LETTER

For we have been called, brethren, and are now called together, by Wisdom, and according
to the Evangelical parable, to that great and heavenly Supper, and sufficient for every
creature; I mean, to the Passover,—to Christ, Who is sacrificed. Again, a little
afterwards: They, therefore, that are thus prepared shall hear, Enter into the joy of thy
Lord.

LETTER 43. ADDENDUM TO THE FORTY-THIRD LETTER

1 Of us, then, whose also is the Passover, the calling is from above, and our conversation
is in heaven, as Paul says; For we have here no abiding city, but we seek that which is to
come, whereto, also, looking forward, we properly keep the feast. And again, a little
afterwards: heaven truly is high, and its distance from us infinite; for the heaven of
heavens, says he, is the Lord's. But not, on that account, are we to be negligent or
fearful, as though the way thereto were impossible; but rather should we be zealous. Yet
not, as in the case of those who formerly, removing from the east and finding a plain in
Senaar, began [to build a tower], is there need for us to bake bricks with fire, and to
seek slime for mortar; for their tongues were confounded, and their work was brought to
nought. But for us the Lord has consecrated a way through His blood, and hath made it
easy. And again. For not only has He afforded us consolation respecting the distance, but
also in that He hath come and opened the door for us which was once shut. For, indeed, it
was shut from the time He cast out Adam from the delight of Paradise, and set the Cherubim
and the flaming sword, that turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life—now,
however, opened wide.

2 And He that sitteth upon the Cherubim having appeared with greater grace and loving-
kindness, led into Paradise with himself the confessing thief, and having entered heaven
as our forerunner, opened the gates to all. And again. Paul also, Phila. 3, 14. pressing
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling, by it was taken up to the third heaven,
and having seen those things which are above, and then descended, he teaches us,
announcing what is written to the Hebrews, and saying, For ye are not come unto the mount
that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and clouds, and darkness, and a tempest,
and to the voice of words. But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, and to the
general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven. Who would not
wish to enjoy the high companionship with these! Who not desire to be enrolled with these,
that he may hear with them, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you 31. from the foundation of the world.

LETTER 45. ADDENDUM TO THE FORTY-FIFTH LETTER

Let us all take up our sacrifices, observing distribution to the poor, and we enter into
the holy place, as it is written; whither also our forerunner Jesus is entered for us,
having obtained eternal redemption… From the same… And this is a great proof that, whereas
we were strangers, we are called friends; from being formerly aliens, we are become
fellow-citizens with the saints, and made children of the Jerusalem which is above,
whereof that which Solomon built was a type. For if Moses made all things according to the
pattern shewed him in the mount, it is clear that the service performed in the tabernacle
was a type of the heavenly mysteries, whereto the Lord, desirous that we should enter,
prepared for us the new and abiding way. And as all the old things were a type of the new,
so the festival that now is, is a type of the joy which is above, to which coming with
psalms and spiritual songs, let us begin the fasts.


SERMONS
=======

SERMONS Leo the Great

d. AD 461

Bishop of Rome whose Tome shaped the Council of Chalcedon.

SERMON 1: PREACHED ON HIS BIRTHDAY, OR DAY OF ORDINATION

1 Having been elected in absence he returns thanks for the kindness and earnestly demands
the prayers of his church. 2 "Let my mouth speak the praise or the Lord," and my breath
and spirit, my flesh and tongue bless His holy Name. For it is a sign, not of a modest,
but an ungrateful mind, to keep silence on the kindnesses of God: and it is very meet to
begin our duty as consecrated pontiff with the sacrifices of the Lord's praise. Because
"in our humility" the Lord "has been mindful of us " and has blessed us: because "He alone
has done great wonders for me," so that your holy affection for me reckoned me present,
though my long journey had forced me to be absent. Therefore I give and always shall give
thanks to our God for all the things with which He has recompensed me. Your favourable
opinion also I acknowledge publicly, paying you the thanks I owe, and thus showing that I
understand how much respect, love and fidelity your affectionate zeal could expend on me
who long with a shepherd's anxiety for the safety of your souls, who have passed so
conscientious a judgment on me, with absolutely no deserts of mine to guide you. I entreat
you, therefore, by the mercies of the Lord, aid with your prayers him whom you have sought
out by your solicitations that both the Spirit of grace may abide in me and that your
judgment may not change. May He who inspired you with such unanimity of purpose, vouchsafe
to us all in common the blessing of peace:

3 so that all the days of my life being ready for the service of Almighty Can, and for my
duties towards you, I may with confidence entreat the Lord: "Holy Father, keep in Thy name
those whom Thou hast given me: and while you ever go on unto salvation, may "my soul
magnify the Lord," and in the retribution of the judgment to come may the account of my
priesthood so be rendered to the just Judge that through your good deeds you may be my joy
and my crown, who by your good will have given an earnest testimony to me in this present
life.

SERMON 2: ON HIS BIRTHDAY, DELIVERED ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF HIS CONSECRATION)

I. The Lord Raises Up the Weak and Gives Him Grace According to His Need.

1 The Divine condescension has made this an honourable day for me, for it has shown by
raising my humbleness to the highest rank, that He despised not any of His own. And hence,
although one must be diffident of merit, yet it is one's bounden duty to rejoice over the
gift, since He who is the Imposer of the burden is Himself the Aider in its execution: and
lest the weak recipient should fall beneath the greatness of the grace, He who conferred
the dignity will also give the power. As the day therefore returns in due course on which
the Lord purposed that I should begin my episcopal office, there is true cause for me to
rejoice to the glory of God, Who that I might love Him much, has forgiven me much, and
that I might make His Grace wonderful, has conferred His gifts upon me in whom He found no
recommendations of merit. And by this His work what does the Lord suggest and commend to
our hearts but that no one should presume upon his own righteousness nor distrust God's
mercy which shines out more pre-eminently then, when the sinner is made holy and the
downcast lifted up. For the measure of heavenly gifts does not rest upon the quality of
our deeds, nor in this world, in which "all life is temptation," is each one rewarded
according to his deserving, for if the Lord were to take count of a man's iniquities, no
one could stand before His judgment.

II. The Mighty Assemblage of Prelates Testifies to Men's Loyal Acceptance of Peter in
Peter's Unworthy Successor.

2 Therefore, dearly-beloved, "magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name
together," that the whole reason of to-day's concourse may be referred to the praise of
Him Who brought it to pass. For so far as my own feelings are concerned, I confess that I
rejoice most over the devotion of you all; and when I look upon this splendid assemblage
of my venerable brother-priests I feel that, where so many saints are gathered, the very
angels are amongst us. Nor do I doubt that we are to-day visited by a more abundant
outpouring of the Divine Presence, when so many fair tabernacles of God, so many excellent
members of the Body of Christ are in one place and shine with one light. Nor yet I feel
sure, is the fostering condescension and true love of the most blessed Apostle Peter
absent from this congregation: he has not deserted your devotion, in whose honour you are
met together. And so he too rejoices over your good feeling and welcomes your respect for
the Lord's own institution as shown towards the partners of His honour, commending the
well ordered love of the whole Church, which ever finds Peter in Peter's See, and from
affection for so great a shepherd grows not lukewarm even over so inferior a successor as
myself.

3 In order therefore, dearly beloved, that this loyalty which you unanimously display
towards my humbleness may obtain the fruit of its zeal, on bended knee entreat the
merciful goodness of our God that in our days He will drive out those who assail us,
strengthen faith, increase love, increase peace and deign to render me His poor slave,
whom to show the riches of His grace He has willed to stand at the helm of the Church,
sufficient for so great a work and useful in building you up, and to this end to lengthen
our time for service that the years He may grant us may be used to His glory through
Christ our Lord. Amen.

SERMON 3

Chapter I. The Honour of Being Raised to the Episcopate Must Be Referred Solely to the
Divine Head of the Church.

1 As often as God's mercy deigns to bring round the day of His gifts to us, there is,
dearly-beloved, just and reasonable cause for rejoicing, if only our appointment to the
office be referred to the praise of Him who gave it. For though this recognition of God
may well be found in all His priests, yet I take it to be peculiarly binding on me, who,
regarding my own utter insignificance and the greatness of the office undertaken, ought
myself also to utter that exclamation of the Prophet," Lord, I heard Thy speech and was
afraid: I considered Thy works and was dismayed. For what is so unwonted and so dismaying
as labour to the frail, exaltation to the humble, dignity to the undeserving? And yet we
do not despair nor lose heart, because we put our trust not in ourselves but in Him who
works in us. And hence also we have sung with harmonious voice the psalm of David, dearly
beloved, not in our own praise, but to the glory of Christ the Lord. For it is He of whom
it is prophetically written, "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedeck,"
that is, not after the order of Aaron, whose priesthood descending along his own line of
offspring was a temporal ministry, and ceased with the law of the Old Testament, but after
the order of Melchizedeck, in whom was prefigured the eternal High Priest.

2 And no reference is made to his parentage because in him it is understood that He was
portrayed, whose generation cannot be declared. And finally, now that the mystery of this
Divine priesthood has descended to human agency, it runs not by the line of birth, nor is
that which flesh and blood created, chosen, but without regard to the privilege of
paternity and succession by inheritance, those men are received by the Church as its
rulers whom the Holy Ghost prepares: so that in the people of God's adoption, the whole
body of which is priestly and royal, it is not the prerogative of earthly origin which
obtains the unction but the condescension of Divine grace which creates the bishop.

Chapter II. From Christ and Through S. Peter the Priesthood is Handed on in Perpetuity.

1 Although, therefore, dearly beloved, we be found both weak and slothful in fulfilling
the duties of our office, because, whatever devoted and vigorous action we desire to do,
we are hindered by the frailty of our very condition; yet having the unceasing
propitiation of the Almighty and perpetual Priest, who being like us and yet equal with
the Father, brought down His Godhead even to things human, and raised His Manhood even to
things Divine, we worthily and piously rejoice over His dispensation, whereby, though He
has delegated the care of His sheep to many shepherds, yet He has not Himself abandoned
the guardianship of His beloved flock. And from His overruling and eternal protection we
have received the support of the Apostles' aid also, which assuredly does not cease from
its operation: and the strength of the foundation, on which the whole superstructure of
the Church is reared, is not weakened by the weight of the temple that rests upon it. For
the solidity of that faith which was praised in the chief of the Apostles is perpetual:
and as that remains which Peter believed in Christ, so that remains which Christ
instituted in Peter.

2 For when, as has been read in the Gospel lesson the Lord had asked the disciples whom
they believed Him to be amid the various opinions that were held, and the blessed Peter
bad replied, saying, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," the Lord says,
"Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and flood hath not revealed it to thee,
but My Father, which is in heaven. And I say to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this
rock will I build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I
will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shall bind on
earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth, shall be loosed
also in heaven."

Chapter III. S. Peter's Work is Still Carried Out by His Successors.

1 The dispensation of Truth therefore abides, and the blessed Peter persevering in the
strength of the Rock, which he has received, has not abandoned the helm of the Church,
which he undertook. For he was ordained before the rest in such a way that from his being
called the Rock, from his being pronounced the Foundation, from his being constituted the
Doorkeeper of the kingdom of heaven, from his being set as the Umpire to bind and to
loose, whose judgments shall retain their validity in heaven, from all these mystical
titles we might know the nature of his association with Christ. And still to-day he more
fully and effectually performs what is entrusted to him, and carries out every part of his
duty and charge in Him and with Him, through Whom he has been glorified. And so if
anything is rightly done and rightly decreed by us, if anything is won from the mercy of
God by our daily supplications, it is of his work and merits whose power lives and whose
authority prevails in his See. For this, dearly-beloved, was gained by that confession,
which, inspired in the Apostle's heart by God the Father, transcended all the uncertainty
of human opinions, and was endued with the firmness of a rock, which no assaults could
shake. For throughout the Church Peter daily says, "Thou an the Christ, the Son of the
living God," and every tongue which confesses the Lord, accepts the instruction his voice
conveys. This Faith conquers the devil, and breaks the bonds of his prisoners. It uproots
us from this earth and plants us in heaven, and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against
it. For with such solidity is it endued byGod that the depravity of heretics cannot mar it
nor the unbelief of the heathen overcome it.

Chapter IV. This Festival Then is in S. Peter's Honour, and the Progress of His Flock
Redounds to His Glory.

1 And so, dearly beloved, with reasonable obedience we celebrate to-day's festival by such
methods, that in my humble person he may be recognized and honoured, in whom abides the
care of all the shepherds, together with the charge of the sheep commended to him, and
whose dignity is not abated even in so unworthy an heir. And hence the presence of my
venerable brothers and fellow-priests, so much desired and valued by me, will be the more
sacred and precious, if they will transfer the chief honour of this service in which they
have deigned to take part to him whom they know to be not only the patron of this see, but
also the primate of all bishops. When therefore we utter our exhortations in your ears,
holy brethren, believe that he is speaking whose representative we are: because it is his
warning that we give, nothing else but his teaching that we preach, beseeching you to
"gird up the loins of your mind," and lead a chaste and sober life in the fear of God, and
not to let your mind forget his supremacy and consent to the lusts of the flesh. Short and
fleeting are the joys of this world's pleasures which endeavour to turn aside from the
path of life those who are called to eternity. The faithful and religious spirit,
therefore, must desire the things which are heavenly, and being eager for the Divine
promises, lift itself to the love of the incorruptible Good and the hope of the true
Light.

2 But be sure, dearly-beloved, that your labour, whereby you resist vices and fight
against carnal desires, is pleasing and precious in God's sight, and in God's mercy will
profit not only yourselves but me also, because the zealous pastor makes his boast of the
progress of the Lord's flock. "For ye are my crown and joy," as the Apostle says; if your
faith, which from the beginning of the Gospel has been preached in all the world has
continued in love and holiness. For though the whole Church, which is in all the world,
ought to abound in all virtues, yet you especially, above all people, it becomes to excel
in deeds of piety, because founded as you are on the very citadel of the Apostolic Rock,
not only has our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed you in common with all men, but the blessed
Apostle Peter has instructed you far beyond all men. Through the same Christ our Lord.

SERMON 4

Chapter I. The Devil's Wickedness in Leading Men Astray is Now Counteracted by the Work of
Redemption in Restoring Them to the Truth.

1 God's mercy and justice, dearly-beloved, has in loving-kindness disclosed to us through
our Lord Jesus Christ's teaching, the manner of His retributions, as they have been
ordained from the foundation of the world, that accepting the significance of facts we
might take what we believe will happen, to have, as it were, already come to pass. For our
Redeemer and Saviour knew what great errors the devil's deceit had dispersed throughout
the world and by how many superstitions he had subjected the chief part of mankind to
himself. But that the creature formed in God's image might not any longer through
ignorance of the Truth be driven on to the precipice of perpetual death, He inserted in
the Gospel-pages the nature of His judgment that it might recover every man from the
snares of the crafty foe; for now all would know what rewards the good might hope for and
what punishments the evil must fear. For the instigator and author of sin in order first
to fall through pride and then to injure us through envy, because "he stood not in the
Truth " put all his strength in lying and produced every kind of deceit from this poisoned
source of his cunning, that he might cut off man's devout hopes from that happiness which
he had lost by his own uplifting, and drag them into partnership with his condemnation, to
whose reconciliation he himself could not attain.

2 Whoever therefore among men has wronged God by his wickednesses, has been led astray by
his guile, and depraved by his villainy. For he easily drives into all evil doings those
whom he has deceived in the matter of religion. But knowing that God is denied not only by
words but also by deeds, many whom he could not rob of their faith, he has robbed of their
love, and by choking the ground of their heart with the weeds of avarice, has spoiled them
of the fruit of good works, when he could not spoil them of the confession of their lips.

Chapter II. God's Just Judgment Against Sin is Denounced that We May Avoid It by Deeds of
Mercy and Love.

1 On account therefore, dearly-beloved, of these crafty designs of our ancient foe, the
unspeakable goodness of Christ has wished us to know, what was to be decreed about all
mankind in the day of retribution, that, while in this life healing remedies are
legitimately offered, while restoration is not denied to the contrite, and those who have
been long barren can at length be fruitful, the verdict on which justice has determined
may be fore-stalled and the picture of God's coming to judge the world never depart from
the mind's eye. For the Lord will come in His glorious Majesty, as He Himself has
foretold, and there will be with Him an innumerable host of angel-legions radiant in their
splendour. Before the throne of His power will all the nations of the world be gathered;
and all the men that in all ages and on all the face of the earth have been born, shall
stand in the Judge's sight. Then shall be separated the just from the unjust, the
guiltless from the guilty; and when the sons of piety, their works of mercy reviewed, have
received the Kingdom prepared for them, the unjust shall be upbraided for their utter
barrenness, and those on the left having naught in common with those on the right, shall
by the condemnation of the Almighty Judge be cast into the fire prepared for the torture
of the devil and his angels, with him to share the punishment, whose will they choose to
do.

2 Who then would not tremble at this doom of eternal torment? Who would not dread evils
which are never to be ended? But since this severity is only denounced in order that we
may seek for mercy, we too in this present life must show such open-handed mercy that
after perilous neglect returning to works of piety it may be possible for us to be set
free from this doom. For this is the purpose of the Judge's might and of the Saviour's
graciousness, that the unrighteous may forsake his ways and the sinner give up his wicket
habits. Let those who wish Christ to spare them, have mercy on the poor; let them give
freely to feed the wretched, who desire to attain to the society of the blessed. Let no
man consider his fellow vile, nor despise in any one that nature which the Creator of the
world made His own. For who that labours can deny that Christ claims that labour as done
unto Himself? Your fellow-slave is helped thereby, but it is the Lord who will repay. The
feeding of the needy is the purchase money of the heavenly kingdom and the free dispenser
of things temporal is made the heir of things eternal. But how has such small expenditure
deserved to be valued so highly except because our works are weighed in the balance of
love, and when a man loves what God loves, he is deservedly raised into His kingdom, whose
attribute of love has in part become his?

Chapter III. We Minister to Christ Himself in the Person of His Poor.

1 To this pious duty of good works, therefore dearly beloved, the day of Apostolic
institution invites us, on which the first collection of our holy offerings has been
prudently and profitably ordained by the Fathers; in order that, because at this season
formerly the Gentiles used superstitiously to serve demons, we might celebrate the most
holy offering of our alms in protest against the unholy victims of the wicked. And because
this has been most profitable to the growth of the Church, it has been resolved to make it
perpetual. We exhort you, therefore, holy brethren throughout the churches of your several
regions on Wednesday next to contribute of your goods, according to your means and
willingness, to purposes of charity, that ye may be able to win that blessedness in which
he shall rejoice without end, who "considereth the needy and poor. And if we are to
"consider" him, dearly beloved, we must use loving care and watchfulness, in order that we
may find him whom modesty conceals and shamefastness keeps back. For there are those who
blush openly to ask for what they want and prefer to suffer privation without speaking
rather than to be put to shame by a public appeal. These are they whom we ought to
"consider" and relieve from their hidden straits in order that they may the more rejoice
from the very fact that their modesty as well as poverty has been consulted.

2 And rightly in the needy and poor do we recognize the person of Jesus Christ our Lord
Himself, "Who though He was rich," as says the blessed Apostle, "became poor, that He
might enrich us by His poverty. And that His presence might never seem to be wanting to
us, He so effected the mystic union of His humility and His glory that while we adore Him
as King and Lord in the Majesty of the Father, we might also feed Him in His poor, for
which we shall be set free in an evil day from perpetual damnation, and for our
considerate care of the poor shall be joined with the whole company of heaven.

Chapter IV. To Complete Their Acceptance by God, They Must Not Neglect to Lay All
Information Against the Manichees Who are in the City.

1 But in order that your devotion, dearly beloved, may in all things be pleasing to God,
we exhort you also to show due zeal in informing your presbyters of Manichees where- ever
they be hidden. For it is naught but piety to disclose the hiding-places of the wicked,
and in them to overthrow the devil whom they serve. For against them, dearly beloved, it
becomes indeed the whole world and the whole Church everywhere to put on the armour of
Faith: but your devotion ought to be foremost in this work, who in your progenitors learnt
the Gospel of the Cross of Christ from the very mouth of the most blessed Apostles Peter
and Paul. Men must not be allowed to lie hid who do not believe that the law given through
Moses, in which God is shown to be the Creator of the Universe, ought to be received: who
speak against the Prophets and the Holy Ghost, dare in their damnable profanity to reject
the Psalms of David which are sung through the universal Church with all reverence, deny
the birth of the Lord Christ, according to the flesh, say that His Passion and
Resurrection was fictitious, not true, and deprive the baptism of regeneration of all its
power as a means of grace. Nothing with them is holy, nothing entire, nothing true. They
are to be shunned, lest they harm any one: they are to be given up, lest they should
settle in any part of our city. Yours, dearly. beloved, will be the gain before the Lord's
judgment-seat of what we bid, of what we ask. For it is but right that the triumph of this
deed also should be joined to the oblation of our alms, the Lord Jesus Christ in all
things aiding us, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 5

Chapter I. Our Goods are Given Us Not as Our Own Possessions But for Use in God's Service.

1 Observing the institutions of the Apostles' tradition, dearly beloved, we exhort you, as
watchful shepherds, to celebrate with the devotion of religious practice that day which
they purged from wicked superstitions and consecrated to deeds of mercy, thus showing that
the authority of the Fathers still lives among us, and that we obediently abide by their
teaching. Inasmuch as the sacred usefulness of such a practice affects not only time past
but also our own age, so that what aided them in the destruction of vanities, might
contribute with us to the increase of virtues. And what so suitable to faith, what so much
in harmony with godliness as to assist the poverty of the needy, to undertake the care of
the weak, to succour the needs of the brethren, and to remember one's own condition in the
toils of others. In which work He only who knows what He has given to each, discerns
aright how much a man can and how much he cannot do. For not only are spiritual riches and
heavenly gifts received from God, but earthly and material possessions also proceed from
His bounty, that He may be justified in requiring an account of those things which He has
not so much put in our possession as committed to our stewardship. God's gifts, therefore,
we must use properly and wisely, lest the material for good work should become an occasion
of sin. For wealth, after its kind and regarded as a means, is good and is of the greatest
advantage to human society, when it is in the bands of the benevolent and open-handed, and
when the luxurious man does not squander nor the miser hoard it; for whether ill-stored or
unwisely spent it is equally lost.

Chapter II. The Liberal Use of Riches is Worse Than Vain, If It Be for Selfish Ends Alone.

1 And, however praiseworthy it be to flee from intemperance, and to avoid the waste of
base pleasures, and though many in their magnificence disdain to conceal their wealth, and
in the abundance of their goods think scorn of mean and sordid parsimony, yet such men's
liberality is not happy, nor their thriftiness to be commended, if their riches are of
benefit to themselves alone; if no poor folks are helped by their goods, no sick persons
nourished; if out of the abundance of their great possessions the captive gets not ransom,
nor the stranger comfort, nor the exile relief. Rich men of this kind are needier than all
the needy. For they lose those returns which they might have for ever, and while they
gloat over the brief and not always free enjoyment of what they possess, they are not fed
upon the bread of justice nor the sweets of mercy: outwardly splendid, they have no light
within: of things temporal they have abundance, but utter lack of things eternal: for they
inflict starvation on their own souls, and bring them to shame and nakedness by spending
upon heavenly treasures none of these things which they put into their earthly
storehouses.

Chapter III. The Duty of Mercy Outweighs All Other Virtues.

1 But, perhaps there are some rich people, who, although they are not wont to help the
Church's poor by bounteous gifts, yet keep other commands of God, and among their many
meritorious acts of faith and uprightness think they will be pardoned for the lack of this
one virtue. But this is so important that, though the rest exist without it, they can be
of no avail. For although a man be full of faith, and chaste, and sober, and adorned with
other still greater decorations, yet if he is not merciful, he cannot deserve mercy: for
the Lord says, "blessed are the merciful, for God shall have mercy upon them." And when
the Son of Man comes in His Majesty and is seated on His glorious throne, and all nations
being gathered together, division is made between the good and the bad, for what shall
they be praised who stand upon the fight except for works of benevolence and deeds of love
which Jesus Christ shall reckon as done to Himself? For He who has made man's nature His
own, has separated Himself in nothing from man's humility. And what objection shall be
made to those on the left except for their neglect of love, their inhuman harshness, their
refusal of mercy to the poor? as if those on the right had no other virtues those on the
left no other faults. But at the great and final day of judgment large-hearted liberality
and ungodly meanness will be counted of such importance as to outweigh all other virtues
and all other shortcomings, so that for the one men shall gain entrance into the Kingdom,
for the other they shall be sent into eternal fire.

Chapter IV. And Its Efficacy, as Scripture Proves, is Incalculable.

1 Let no one therefore, dearly beloved, flatter himself on any merits of a good life, if
works of charity be wanting in him, and let him not trust in the purity of his body, if he
be not cleansed by the purification of almsgiving. For "almsgiving wipes out sin," kills
death, and extinguishes the punishment of perpetual fire. But he who has not been fruitful
therein, shall have no indulgence from the great Re-compenser, as Solomon says, "He that
closeth his ears lest he should hear the weak, shall himself call upon the Lord, and there
shall be none to hear him. And hence Tobias also, while instructing his son in the
precepts of godliness, says, "Give alms of thy substance, and turn not thy face from any
poor man: so shall it come to pass that the face of God shall not be turned from thee.
This virtue makes all virtues profitable; for by its presence it gives life to that very
faith, by which "the just lives," and which is said to be "dead without works: because as
the reason for works consists in faith, so the strength of faith consists in works. "While
we have time therefore," as the Apostle says, "let us do that which is good to all men,
and especially to them that are of the household of faith. "But let us not be weary in
doing good;

2 for in His own time we shall reap."And so the present life is the time for sowing, and
the day of retribution is the time of harvest, when every one shall reap the fruit of his
seed according to the amount of his sowing. And no one shall be disappointed in the
produce of that harvesting, because it is the heart's intentions rather than the sums
expended that will be reckoned up. And little sums from little means shall produce as much
as great sums from great means. And therefore, dearly beloved, let us carry out this
Apostolic institution. And as the first collection will be next Sunday, let all prepare
themselves to give willingly, that every one according to his ability may join in this
most sacred offering. Your very alms and those who shall be aided by your gifts shall
intercede for you, that you may be always ready for every good work in Christ Jesus our
Lord, Who lives and reigns for ages without end. Amen.

SERMON 6

Chapter I. restoration to the Divine Image in Which We Were Made is Only Possible by Our
Imitation of God's Will.

1 If, dearly beloved, we comprehend faithfully and wisely the beginning of our creation,
we shall find that man was made in God's image, to the end that he might imitate his
Creator, and that our race attains its highest natural dignity, by the form of the Divine
goodness being reflected in us, as in a mirror. And assuredly to this form the Saviour's
grace is daily restoring us, so long as that which, in the first Adam fell, is raised up
again in the second. And the cause of our restoration is naught else but the mercy of God,
Whom we should not have loved, unless He had first loved us, and dispelled the darkness of
our ignorance by the light of His truth. And the Lord foretelling this by the holy Isaiah
says, "I will bring the blind into a way that they knew not, and will make them walk in
paths which they were ignorant of. I will turn darkness into light for them, and the
crooked into the straight. These words will I do for them, and not forsake them. And again
he says, "I was found by them that sought Me not, and openly appeared to them that asked
not for Me. And the Apostle John teaches us how this has been fulfilled, when he says.

2 "We know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may
know Him that is true, and may be in Him that is true, even His Son," and again, "let us
therefore love God, because He first loved us. Thus it is that God, by loving us, restores
us to His image, and, in order that He may find in us the form of His goodness, He gives
us that whereby we ourselves too may do the work that He does, kindling that is the lamps
of our minds, and inflaming us with the fire of His love, that we may love not only
Himself, but also whatever He loves. For if between men that is the lasting friendship
which is based upon similarity of character notwithstanding that such identity of wills is
often directed to wicked ends, how ought we to yearn and strive to differ in nothing from
what is pleasing to God. Of which the prophet speaks, "for wrath is in His indignation,
and life in His pleasure," because we shall not otherwise attain the dignity of the Divine
Majesty, unless we imitate His will.

Chapter II. We Must Love Both God And Our Neighbour, and "Our Neighbour" Must Be
Interpreted in Its Widest Sense.

1 And so, when the Lord says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, from all thy heart and
from all thy mind: and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," let the faithful soul
put on the unfading love of its Author and Ruler, and subject itself also entirely to His
will in Whose works and judgments true justice and tender-hearted compassion never fail.
For although a man be wearied out with labours and many misfortunes, there is good reason
for him to endure all in the knowledge that adversity will either prove him good or make
him better. But this godly love cannot be perfect unless a man love his neighbour also.
Under which name must be included not only those who are connected with us by friendship
or neighbourhood, but absolutely all men, with whom we have a common nature, whether they
be foes or allies, slaves or free. For the One Maker fashioned us, the One Creator
breathed life into us; we all enjoy the same sky and air, the same days and nights, and,
though some be good, others bad, some righteous, others unrighteous, yet God is bountiful
to all, kind to all, as Paul and Barnabas said to the Lycaonians concerning God's
Providence, "who in generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own
ways. And yet He left Himself not without witness, doing them good, giving rain from
heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling our hearts with food and gladness.

2 But the wide extent of Christian grace has given us yet greater reasons for loving our
neighbour, which, reaching to all parts of the whole world, looks down on no one, and
teaches that no one is to be neglected. And full rightly does He command us to love our
enemies, and to pray to Him for our persecutors, who, daily grafting shoots of the wild
olive from among all nations upon the holy branches of His own olive, makes men reconciled
instead of enemies, adopted sons instead of strangers, just instead of ungodly, "that
every knee may bow of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the earth,
and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father."

Chapter III. We Must Be Thankful, and Show, Our Thankfulness for What We Have Received,
Whethermuch or Little.

1 Accordingly, as God wishes us to be good, because He is good, none of His judgments
ought to displease us. For not to give Him thanks in all things, what else is it but to
blame Him in some degree. Man's folly too often dares to murmur against his Creator, not
only in time of want, but also in time of plenty, so that, when something is not supplied,
he complains, and when certain things are in abundance he is ungrateful. The Lord of rich
harvests thought scorn of his well-filled garners, and groaned over his abundant grape-
gathering: he did not give thanks for the size of the crop, but complained of its
poorness. And if the ground has been less prolific than its wont in the seed it has
reared, and the vines and the olives have failed in their supply of fruit, the year is
accused, the elements blamed, neither the air nor the sky is spared, whereas nothing
better befits and reassures the faithful and godly disciples of Truth than the persistent
and unwearied lifting of praise to God, as says the Apostle, "Rejoice alway, pray without
ceasing: in all things give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus in all
things for you. But how shall we be partakers of this devotion, unless vicissitudes of
fortune train our minds in constancy, so that the love directed towards God may not be
puffed up in prosperity nor faint in adversity. Let that which pleases God, please us too.

2 Let us rejoice in whatever measure of gifts He gives. Let him who has used great
possessions well, use small ones also well. Plenty and scarcity may be equally for our
good, and even in spiritual progress we shall not be east down at the smallness of the
results, if our minds become not dry and barren. Let that spring from the soil of our
heart, which the earth gave not. To him that fails not in good will, means to give are
ever supplied. Therefore, dearly beloved, in all works of godliness let us use what each
year gives us, and let not seasons of difficulty hinder our Christian benevolence. The
Lord knows how to replenish the widow's vessels, which her pious deed of hospitality has
emptied: He knows how to turn water into wine: He knows how to satisfy 5,000 hungry
persons with a few loaves. And He who is fed in His poor, can multiply when He takes what
He increased when He gave.

Chapter IV. Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are the Three Comprehensive Duties of a
Christian.

1 But there are three things which most belong to religious actions, namely prayer,
fasting, and almsgiving, in the exercising of which while every time is accepted, yet that
ought to be more zealously observed, which we have received as hallowed by tradition from
the apostles: even as this tenth month brings round again to us the opportunity when
according to the ancient practice we may give more diligent heed to those three things of
which I have spoken. For by prayer we seek to propitiate God, by fasting we extinguish the
lusts of the flesh, by alms we redeem our sins: and at the same time God's image is
throughout renewed in us, if we are always ready to praise Him, unfailingly intent on our
purification and unceasingly active in cherishing our neighhour. This threefold round of
duty, dearly beloved, brings all other virtues into action: it attains to God's image and
likenessand unites us inseparably with the Holy Spirit. Because in prayer faith remains
stedfast, in fastings life remains innocent, in almsgiving the mind remains kind. On
Wednesday and Friday therefore let us fast: and on Saturday let us keep vigil with the
most blessed Apostle Peter, who will deign to aid our supplications and fast and alms with
his own prayers through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost
lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 7

Chapter I. The Prosperous Must Show Forth Their Thankfulness to God, by Liberality to the
Floor and Needy.

1 The transcendant power of God's grace, dearly beloved, is indeed daily effecting in
Christian hearts the transference of our every n desire from earthly to heavenly things.
But this present life also is passed through the Creator's aid and sustained by His
providence, because He who promises things eternal is also the the Supplier of things
temporal. As therefore we ought to give God thanks for the hope of future happiness
towards which we run by faith, because He raises us up to a perception of the happiness in
store for us, so for those things also which we receive in the course of every year, God
should be honoured and praised, who having from the beginning given fertility to the earth
and laid down laws of bearing fruit for every germ and seed, will never forsake his own
decrees but will as Creator ever continue His kind administration of the things that He
has made. Whatever therefore the cornfields, the vineyards and the olive groves have
bornefor man's purposes, all this God in His bounteous goodness has produced: for under
the varying condition of the elements He has mercifully aided the uncertain toils of the
husbandmen so that wind, and rain, cold and heat, day and night might serve our needs. For
men's methods would not have sufficed to give effect to their works, had not God given the
increase to their wonted plantings and waterings.

2 And hence it is but godly and just that we too should help others with that which the
Heavenly Father has mercifully bestowed on us. For there are full many, who have no
fields, no vineyards, no olive-groves, whose wants we must provide out of the store which
God has given, that they too with us may bless God for the richness of the earth and
rejoice at its possessors having received things which they have shared also with the poor
and the stranger. That garner is blessed and most worthy that all fruits should increase
manifold in it, from which the hunger of the needy and the weak is satisfied from which
the wants of the stranger are relieved, from which the desire of the sick is gratified.
For these men God has in His justice permitted to be afflicted with divers troubles, that
He might both crown the wretched for their patience and the merciful for their loving-
kindness.

Chapter II. Almsgiving and Fasting are the Most Essential Aids to Prayer.

1 And while all seasons are opportune for this duty, beloved, yet this present season is
specially suitable and appropriate, at which our holy fathers, being Divinely inspired,
sanctioned the Fast of the tenth month, that when all the ingathering of the crops was
complete, we might dedicate to God our reasonable service of abstinence, and each might
remember so to use his abundance as to be more abstinent in himself and more open-handed
towards the poor. For forgiveness of sins is most efficaciously prayed for with almsgiving
and fasting, and supplications that are winged by such aids mount swiftly to God's ears:
since as it is written, "the merciful man doeth good to his own soul," and nothing is so
much a man's own as that which he spends on his neighbour. For that part of his material
possessions with which he ministers to the needy, is transformed into eternal riches, and
such wealth is begotten of this bountifulness as can never be diminished or in any way
destroyed, for "blessed are the merciful, for God shall have mercy on them," and He
Himself shall be their chief Reward, who is the Model of His own command.

Chapter III. Christians' Pious Activity Has So Enraged Satan that He Has Multiplied
Heresies to Wreak Them Harm.

1 But at all these acts of godliness, dearly-beloved, which commend us more and more to
God, there is no doubt that our enemy, who is so eager and so skilled in harming us, is
aroused with keener stings of hatred, that under a false profession of the Christian name
he may corrupt those whom he is not allowed to attack with open and bloody persecutions,
and for this work he has heretics in his service whom he has led astray from the catholic
Faith, subjected to himself, and forced under divers errors to serve in his camp. And as
for the deception of primitive man he used the services of a serpent, so to mislead the
minds of the upright he has armed these men's tongues with the poison of his falsehoods.
But these treacherous designs, dearly beloved, with a shepherd's care, and so far as the
Lord vouchsafes His aid, we will defeat. And taking heed lest any of the holy flock should
perish, we admonish you with fatherly warnings to keep aloof from the "lying lips" and the
"deceitful tongue" from which the prophet asks that his soul should be delivered; because
"their words," as says the blessed Apostle, "do creep as doth a gangrene. They creep in
humbly, they arrest softly, they bind gently, they slay secretly. For they "come," as the
Saviour foretold, "in sheeps' clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves; because
they could not deceive the true and simple sheep, unless they covered their bestial rage
with the name of Christ.

2 But in them all he is at work who, though he is really the enemy of enlightenment,
"transforms himself into an angel of light. His is the craft which inspires Basilides; his
the ingenuity which worked in Marcion; he is the leader under whom Sabellius acted; he the
author of Photinus' headlong fall, his the authority and his the spirit which Arius and
Eunomius served: in fine under his command and authority the whole herd of such wild
beasts has separated from the unity of the Church and severed connexion with the Truth.

Chapter IV. Of All Heresies Manicheism is the Worst and Foullest.

1 But while he retains this ever-varying supremacy over all the heresies, yet he has built
his citadel upon the madness of the Manichees, and found in them the most spacious court
in which to strut and boast himself: for there he possesses not one form of misbelief
only, but a general compound of all errors and ungodlinesses. For all that is idolatrous
in the heathen, all that is blind in carnal Jews, all that is unlawful in the secrets of
the magic art, all finally that is profane and blasphemous in all the heresies is gathered
together with all manner of filth in these men as if in a cesspool. And hence it is too
long a matter to describe all their ungodlinesses: for the number of the charges against
them exceeds my supply of words. It will be sufficient to indicate a few instances, that
you may, from what you hear, conjecture what from modesty we omit. In the matter of their
rites, however, which are as indecent morally as they are religiously, we cannot keep
silence about that which the Lord has been pleased to reveal to our inquiries, lest any
one should think we have trusted in this thing to vague rumours and uncertain opinions.
And so with bishops and presbyters sitting beside me, and Christian nobles assembled in
the same place, we ordered their elect men and women to be brought before us.

2 And when they had made many disclosures concerning their perverse tenets and their mode
of conducting festivals, they revealed this story of utter depravity also, which I blush
to describe but which has been so carefully investigated that no grounds for doubt are
left for the incredulous or for cavillers. For there were present all the persons by which
the unutterable crime had been perpetrated, to wit a girl at most ten years old, and two
women who had nursed her and prepared her for this outrage. There was also present the
stripling who had outraged her, and the bishop, who had arranged their horrible crime. All
these made one and the same confession, and a tale of such foul orgies was disclosed as
our ears could scarcely bear. And lest by plainer speaking we offend chaste ears, the
account Of the proceedings shall suffice, in which it is most fully shown that in that
sect no modesty, no sense of honour, no chastity whatever is found: for their law is
falsehood, their religion the devil, their sacrifice immorality.

Chapter V. Every One Should Abjure Such Men, and Give All the Information They Possess
About Them to the Authorities.

1 And so, dearly beloved, renounce all friendship with these men who are utterly
abominable and pestilential, and whom disturbances in other districts have brought in
great numbers to the city: and you women especially refrain from acquaintance and
intercourse with such men, lest while your ears are charmed unawares by their fabulous
stories, you fall into the devil's noose, who, knowing that he seduced the first man by
the woman's mouth, and drove all men from the bliss of paradise through feminine
credulity, still lies in watch for your sex with more confident craft that he may rob both
of their faith and of their modesty those whom he has been able to ensnare by the servants
of his falseness. This, too, dearly beloved, I entreat and admonish you loyally to inform
us if any of you know where they dwell, where they teach, whose houses they frequent, and
in whose company they take rest: because it is of little avail to any one that through the
Holy Ghost's protection he is not caught by them himself, if he takes no action when he
knows that others are being caught. Against common enemies for the common safety all alike
should exercise the same vigilance lest from one member's wound other members also be
injured, and they that think such men should not be given up, in Christ's judgment be
found guilty for their silence even though they are not contaminated by their approval.

Chapter VI. Zeal in Rooting Out Heresy Will Make Other Pious Duties More Acceptable.

1 Display then a holy zeal of religious vigilance, and let all the faithful rise in one
body against these savage enemies of their souls. For the merciful God has delivered a
certain portion of our noxious foes into our hands in order that by revelation of the
danger theutmost caution might be aroused. Let not what has been done suffice, but let us
persevere in searching them out: and by God's aid the result will be not only the
continuance in safety of those who still stand, but also the recovery from error of many
who have been deceived by the devil's seduction. And the prayers, and alms, and fasts that
you offer to the merciful God shall be the holier for this very devotion, when this deed
of faith also is added to all your other godly duties. OnWednesday and Friday, therefore,
let us fast, and on Saturday let us keep vigil in the presence of the most blessed Apostle
Peter; who, as we experience and know, watches unceasingly like a shepherd over the sheep
entrusted to him by the Lord, and who will prevail in his entreaties that the Church of
God, which was rounded by his preaching, may be free from all error, through Christ our
Lord. Amen.

SERMON 8

Chapter I. The Duty of Fasting is Based on Both the Old and New Testaments, and is Closely
Connected with the Duties of Prayer and Almsgiving.

1 The teaching of the Law, dearly beloved, imparts great authority to the precepts of the
Gospel, seeing that certain things are transferred from the old ordinances to the new, and
by the very devotions of the Church it is shown that the Lord Jesus Christ "came not to
destroy but to fulfil the Law. For since the cessation of the signs by which our Saviour's
coming was announced, and the abolition of the types in the presence of the Very Truth,
those things which our religion instituted, whether for the regulation of customs or for
the simple worship of God, continue with us in the same form in which they were at the
beginning, and what was in harmony with both Testaments has been modified by no change.
Among these is also the solemn fast of the tenth month, which is now to be kept by us
according to yearly custom, because it is altogether just and godly to give thanks to the
Divine bounty for the crops which the earth has produced for the use of men under the
guiding hand of supreme Providence. And to show that we do this with ready mind, we must
exercise not only the self-restraint of fasting, but also diligence in almsgiving, that
from the ground of our heart also may spring the germ of righteousness and the fruit of
love, and that we may deserve God's mercy by showing mercy to His poor.

2 For the supplication, which is supported by works of piety, is most efficacious in
prevailing with God, since he who turns not his heart away from the poor soon turns
himself to hear the Lord, as the Lord says: "be ye merciful as your Father also is
merciful.... release and ye shall be released. What is kinder than this justice? what more
merciful than this retribution, where the judge's sentence rests in the power of him that
is to be judged? "Give," he says, "and it shall be given to you. How soon do the
misgivings of distrust and the puttings off of avarice fall to the ground, when humanity
may fearlessly spend what the Truth pledges Himself to repay.

Chapter II. He that Lends to the Lord Makes a Better Bargain Than He that Lends to Man.

1 Be stedfast, Christian giver: give what you may receive, sow what you may reap, scatter
what you may gather. Fear not to spend, sigh not over the doubtfulness of the gain. Your
substance grows when it is wisely dispensed. Set your heart on the profits due to mercy,
and traffic in eternal gains. Your Recompenser wishes you to be munificent, and He who
gives that you may have, commands you to spend, saying, "Give, and it shall be given to
you. You must thankfully embrace the conditions of this promise. For although you have
nothing that you did not receive, yet you cannot fail to have what you give. He therefore
that loves money, and wishes to multiply his wealth by immoderate profits, should rather
practise this holy usury and grow rich by such money-lending, in order not to catch men
hampered with difficulties, and by treacherous assistance entangle them in debts which
they can never pay, but to be His creditor and His money-lender, who says, "Give, and it
shall be given to you," and "with what measure ye measure, it shall be measured again to
you. But he is unfaithful and unfair even to himself, who does not wish to have for ever
what he esteems desirable. Let him amass what he may, let him hoard and store what he may,
he will leave this world empty and needy, as David the prophet says, "for when he dieth he
shall take nothing away, nor shall his glory descend with him.

2 Whereas if he were considerate of his own soul, he would trust his good to Him, who is
both the proper Surety for the poor and the generous Repayer of loans. But unrighteous and
shameless avarice, which promises to do some kind act but eludes it, trusts not God, whose
promises never fail, and trusts man, who makes such hasty bargains; and while he reckons
the present more certain than the future, often deservedly finds that his greed for unjust
gain is the cause of by no means unjust loss.

Chapter III. Money-Lending at High Interest is in All Respects Iniquitous.

1 And hence, whatever result follow, the money-lender's trade is always bad, for it is sin
either to lessen or increase the sum, in that if he lose what he lent he is wretched, and
if he takes more than he lent he is more wretched still. The iniquity of money-lending
must absolutely be abjured, and the gain which lacks all humanity must be shunned. A man's
possessions are indeed multiplied by these unrighteous and sorry means, but the mind's
wealth decays because usury of money is the death of the soul. For what God thinks of such
men the most holy Prophet David makes clear, for when he asks, "Lord, who shall dwell in
thy tabernacle, or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?" he receives the Divine utterance in
reply, from which he learns that that man attains to eternal rest who among other rules of
holy living "hath not given his money upon usury:" and thus he who gets deceitful gain
from lending his money on usury is shown to be both an alien from God's tabernacle and an
exile from His holy hill, and in seeking to enrich himself by other's losses, he deserves
to be punished with eternal neediness.

Chapter IV. Let Us Avoid Avarice, and Share God's Benefits with Others.

1 And so, dearly beloved, do ye who with the whole heart have put your trust in the Lord's
promises, flee from this unclean leprosy of avarice, and use God's gift piously and
wisely. And since you rejoice in His bounty, take heed that you have those who may share
in your joys. For many lack what you have in plenty, and some men's needs afford you
opportunity for imitating the Divine goodness, so that through you the Divine benefits may
be transferred to others also, and that by being wise stewards of your temporal goods, you
may acquire eternal riches. On Wednesday and Friday next, therefore, let us fast, and on
Saturday keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, by whose prayers we may in all
things obtain the Divine protection through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SERMON 9

Chapter I. Self-Restraint Leads to Higher Enjoyments.

1 When the Saviour would instruct His disciples about the Advent of God's Kingdom and the
end of the world's times, and teach His whole Church, in the person of the Apostles, He
said, "Take heed lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness,
and care of this life." And assuredly, dearly beloved, we acknowledge that this precept
applies more especially to us, to whom undoubtedly the day denounced is near, even though
hidden. For the advent of which it behoves every man to prepare himself, lest it find him
given over to gluttony, or entangled in cares of this life. For by daily experience,
beloved, it is proved that the mind's edge is blunted by over-indulgence of the flesh, and
the heart's vigour is dulled by excess of food, so that the delights of eating are even
opposed to the health of the body, unless reasonable moderation withstand the temptation
and the consideration of future discomfort keep from the pleasure. For although the flesh
desires nothing without the soul, and receives its sensations from the same source as it
receives its motions also, yet it is the function of the same soul to deny certain things
to the body which is subject to it, and by its inner judgment to restrain the outer parts
from things unseasonable, in order that it may be the oftener free from bodily lusts, and
have leisure for Divine wisdom in the palace of the mind, where, away from all the noise
of earthly cares, it may in silence enjoy holy meditations and eternal delights. And,
although this is difficult to maintain in this life, yet the attempt can frequently be
renewed, in order that we may the oftener and longer be occupied with spiritual rather
than fleshly cares; and by our spending ever greater portions of our time on higher cares,
even our temporal actions may end in gaining the incorruptible riches.

Chapter II. The Teaching of the Four Yearly Fasts is that Spiritual Self-Restraint is as
Necessary as Corporeal.

1 This profitable observance, dearly beloved, is especially laid down for the fasts of the
Church, which, in accordance with the Holy Spirit's teaching, are so distributed over the
whole year that the law of abstinence may be kept before us at all times. Accordingly we
keep the spring fast in Lent, the summer fast at Whitsuntide, the autumn fast in the
seventh month, and the winter fast in this which is the tenth month, knowing that there is
nothing unconnected with the Divine commands, and that all the elements serve the Word of
God to our instruction, so that from the very hinges on which the world turns, as if by
four gospels we learn unceasingly what to preach and what to do. For, when the prophet
says, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork: day
unto day uttereth speech, and night showeth knowledge," what is there by which the Truth
does not speak to us? By day and by night His voices are heard, and the beauty of the
things made by the workmanship of the One God ceases not to instil the teachings of Reason
into our hearts' ears, so that "the invisible things of God may be perceived and seen
through the things which are made," and men may serve the Creator of all, not His
creatures.

2 Since therefore all vices are destroyed by self-restraint, and whatever avarice thirsts
for, pride strives for, luxury lusts after, is overcome by the solid force of this virtue,
who can fail to understand the aid which is given us by fastings? for therein we are
bidden to restrain ourselves, not only in food, but also in all carnal desires. Otherwise
it is lost labour to endure hunger and yet not put away wrong wishes; to afflict oneself
by curtailing food, and yet not to flee from sinful thoughts. That is a carnal, not a
spiritual fast, where the body only is stinted, and those things persisted in, which are
more harmful than all delights. What profit is it to the soul to act outwardly as mistress
and inwardly to be a captive and a slave, to issue orders to the limbs and to lose the
right to her own liberty? That soul for the most part (and deservedly) meets with
rebellion in her servant, which does not pay to God the service that is due. When the body
therefore fasts from food, let the mind fast from vices, and pass judgment upon all
earthly cares and desires according to the law of its King

Chapter III. Thus Fasting in Mind as Well as Body, and Giving Alms Freely, We Shall Win
God's Highest Favour.

1 Let us remember that we owe love first to God, secondly to our neighbour, and that all
our affections must be so regulated as not to draw us away from the worship of God, or the
benefiting our fellow slave. But how shall we worship God unless that which is pleasing to
Him is also pleasing to us? For, if our will is His will, our weakness will receive
strength from Him, from Whom the very will came; "for it is God," as the Apostle says,
"who worketh in us both to will and to do for (His) good pleasure. And so a man will not
be puffed up with pride, nor crushed with despair, if he uses the gifts which God gave to
His glory, and withholds his inclinations from those things, which he knows will harm him.
For in abstaining from malicious envy, from luxurious and dissolute living, from the
perturbations of anger, from the lust after vengeance, he will be made pure and holy by
true fasting, and will be fed upon the pleasures of incorruptible delights, and so he will
know how, by the spiritual use of his earthly riches, to transform them into heavenly
treasures, not by hoarding up for himself what he has received, but by gaining a hundred-
fold on what he gives.

2 And hence we warn you, beloved, in fatherly affection, to make this winter fast fruitful
to yourselves by bounteous alms, rejoicing that by you the Lord feeds and clothes His
poor, to whom assuredly He could have given the possessions which He has bestowed on you,
had He not in His unspeakable mercy wished to justify them for their patient labour, and
you for your works of love. Let us therefore fast on Wednesday and Friday, and on Saturday
keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, and he will deign to assist with his own
prayers our supplications and fastings and alms which our Lord Jesus Christ presents, Who
with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 10

Chapter I. All Share in the Joy of Christmas.

1 Our Saviour, dearly-beloved, was born today: let us be glad. For there is no proper
place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of
mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity. No one is kept from sharing in
this happiness. There is for all one common measure of joy, because as our Lord the
destroyer of sin and death finds none free from charge, so is He come to free us all. Let
the saint exult in that he draws near to victory. Let the sinner be glad in that he is
invited to pardon. Let the gentile take courage in that he is called to life. For the Son
of God in the fulness of time which the inscrutable depth of the Divine counsel has
determined, has taken on him the nature of man, thereby to reconcile it to its Author: in
order that the inventor of death, the devil, might be conquered through that (nature)
which he had conquered. And in this conflict undertaken for us, the fight was fought on
great and wondrous principles of fairness; for the Almighty Lord enters the lists with His
savage foe not in His own majesty but in our humility, opposing him with the same form and
the same nature, which shares indeed our mortality, though it is free from all sin.

2 Truly foreign to this nativity is that which we read of all others, "no one is clean
from stain, not even the infant who has lived but one day upon earth. Nothing therefore of
the lust of the flesh has passed into that peerless nativity, nothing of the law of sin
has entered. A royal Virgin of the stem of David is chosen, to be impregnated with the
sacred seed and to conceive the Divinely-human offspring in mind first and then in body.
And lest in ignorance of the heavenly counsel she should tremble at so strange a result
she learns from converse with the angel that what is to be wrought in her is of the Holy
Ghost. Nor does she believe it loss of honour that she is soon to be the Mother of God.
For why should she be in despair over the novelty of such conception, to whom the power of
the most High has promised to effect it. Her implicit faith is confirmed also by the
attestation of a precursory miracle, and Elizabeth receives unexpected fertility: in order
that there might be no doubt that He who had given conception to the barren, would give it
even to a virgin.

Chapter II. The Mystery of the Incarnation is a Fitting Theme for Joy Both to Angels and
to Men.

1 Therefore the Word of God, Himself God,the Son of God who "in the beginning was with
God," through whom "all things were made" and "without" whom "was nothing made," with the
purpose of delivering man from eternal death, became man: so bending Himself to take on
Him our humility without decrease in His own majesty, that remaining what He was and
assuming what He was not, He might unite the true form of a slave to that form in which He
is equal to God the Father, and join both natures together by such a compact that the
lower should not be swallowed up in its exaltation nor the higher impaired by its new
associate. Without detriment therefore to the properties of either substance which then
came together in one person, majesty took on humility, strength weakness, eternity
mortality: and for the paying off of the debt, belonging to our condition, inviolable
naturewas united with possible nature, and true God and true man were combined to form one
Lord, SO that, as suited the needs of our case, one and the same Mediator between God and
men, the Man Christ Jesus, could both die with the one and rise again with the other.

2 Rightly therefore did the birth of our Salvation impart no corruption to the Virgin's
purity, because the bearing of the Truth was the keeping of honour. Such then beloved was
the nativity which became the Power of God and the Wisdom of God even Christ, whereby He
might be one with us in manhood and surpass us in Godhead. For unless He were true God, He
would not bring us a remedy, unless He were true Man, He would not give us an example.
Therefore the exulting angel's song when the Lord was born is this, "Glory to God in the
Highest," and their message, "peace on earth to men of good will." For they see that the
heavenly Jerusalem is being built up out of all the nations of the world: and over that
indescribable work of the Divine love how ought the humbleness of men to rejoice, when the
joy of the lofty angels is so great?

Chapter III. Christians Then Must Live Worthily of Christ Their Head.

1 Let us then, dearly beloved, give thanks to God the Father, through His Son, in the Holy
Spirit Who "for His great mercy, wherewith He has loved us," has had pity on us: and "when
we were dead in sins, has quickened us together in Christ," that we might be inHim a new
creation and a new production. Let us put off then the old man with his deeds: and having
obtained a share in the birth of Christ let us renounce the works of the flesh. Christian,
acknowledge thy dignity, and becoming a partner in the Divine nature, refuse to return to
the old baseness by degenerate conduct. Remember the Head and the Body of which thou art a
member. Recollect that thou wert rescued from the power of darkness and brought out into
God's light and kingdom. By the mystery of Baptism thou weft made the temple of the Holy
Ghost: do not put such a denizen to flight from thee by base acts, and subject thyself
once more to the devil's thraldom: because thy purchase money is the blood of Christ,
because He shall judge thee in truth Who ransomed thee in mercy, who with the Father and
the Holy Spirit reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 11

Chapter I. The Mystery of the Incarnation Demands Our Joy.

1 Let us be glad in the Lord, dearly-beloved, and rejoice with spiritual joy that there
has dawned for us the day of ever-new redemption. of ancient preparation of eternal bliss.
For as the year rolls round, there recurs for us the commemoration of our salvation, which
promised from the beginning, accomplished in the fulness of time will endure for ever; on
which we are bound with hearts up-lifted to adore the divine mystery: so that what is the
effect of God's great gift may be celebrated by the Church's great rejoicings. For God the
almighty and merciful, Whose nature as goodness, Whose will is power, Whose work is mercy:
as soon as the devil's malignity killed us by the poison of his hatred, foretold at the
very beginning of the world the remedy His piety had prepared for the restoration of us
mortals: proclaiming to the serpent that the seed of the woman should come to crush the
lifting of his baneful head by its power, signifying no doubt that Christ would come in
the flesh, God and man, Who born of a Virgin should by His uncorrupt birth condemn the
despoiler of the human stock. Thus in the whole and perfect nature of true man was true
God born, complete in what was His own, complete in what was ours. And "ours" we call what
the Creator formed in us from the beginning and what He undertook to repair. For what, the
deceiver brought in and the deceived admitted had no trace in the Saviour Nor because He
partook of man's weaknesses, did He therefore share our faults. He took the form of a
slave without stain of sin, increasing the human and not diminishing the Divine: because
that "emptying of Himself" whereby the Invisible made Himself visible and Creator and Lord
Of all things as He was, wished to be mortal, was the condescension of Pity not the
failing of Power.

Chapter II. The New Character of the Birth of Christ Explained.

1 Therefore, when the time came, dearly beloved, which had been fore-ordained for men's
redemption there enters these lower parts of the world, the Son of God, descending from
His heavenly throne and yet not quitting His Father's glory, begotten in a new order, by a
new nativity. In a new order, because being invisible in His own nature He became visible
in ours, and He whom nothing could contain, was content to be contained: abiding before
all time He began to be in time: the Lord of all things, He obscured His immeasurable
majesty and took on Him the form of a servant: being God, that cannot suffer, He did not
disdain to be man that can, and immortal as He is, to subject Himself to the laws of
death. And by a new nativity He was begotten, conceived by a Virgin, born of a Virgin,
without paternal desire, without injury to the mother's chastity: because such a birth as
knew no taint of human flesh, became One who was to be the Saviour of men, while it
possessed in itself the nature of human substance. For when God was born in the flesh, God
Himself was the Father, as the archangel witnessed to the Blessed Virgin Mary: "because
the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow
thee: and therefore, that which shall be born of thee shall be called holy, the Son of
God. The origin is different but the nature like:

2 not by intercourse with man but by the power of God was it brought about: for a Virgin
conceived, a Virgin bare, and a Virgin she remained. Consider here not the condition of
her that bare but the will of Him that was born; for He was born Man as He willed and was
able. If you inquire into the truth of His nature, you must acknowledge the matter to be
human: if you search for the mode of His birth, you must confess the power to be of God.
For the Lord Jesus Christ came to do away with not to endure our pollutions: not to
succumb to our faults but to heal them. He came that He might cure every weakness of oar
corruptness and all the sores of our defiled souls: for which reason it behoved Him to be
born by a new order, who brought to men's bodies the new gift of unsullied purity. For the
uncorrupt nature of Him that was born had to guard the primal virginity of the Mother, and
the infused power of the Divine Spirit had to preserve in spotlessness and holiness that
sanctuary which He had chosen for Himself: that Spirit (I say) who had determined to raise
the fallen, to restore the broken, and by overcoming the allurements of the flesh to
bestow on us in abundant measure the power of chastity: in order that the virginity which
in others cannot be retained in child-bearing, might be attained by them at their second
birth.

Chapter III. Justice Required that Satan Should Be Vanquished by God Made Man.

1 And, dearly beloved, this very fact that Christ chose to be born of a Virgin does it not
appear to be part of the deepest design? I mean, that the devil should not be aware that
Salvation had been born for the human race, and through the obscurity of that spiritual
conception, when he saw Him no different to others, should believe Him born in no
different way to others. For when he observed that His nature was like that of all others,
he thought that He had the same origin as all had: and did not understand that He was free
from the bonds of transgression because he did not find Him a stranger to the weakness of
mortality. For though the true mercy of God had infinitely many schemes to hand for the
restoration of mankind, it chose that particular design which put in force for destroying
the devil's work, not the efficacy of might but the dictates of justice. For the pride of
the ancient foe not undeservedly made good its despotic rights over all men, and with no
unwarrantable supremacy tyrannized over those who had been of their own accord lured away
from God's commands to be the slaves of his will. And so there would be no justice in his
losing the immemorial slavery of the human race, were he not conquered by that which he
had subjugated. And to this end, without male seed Christ was conceived of a Virgin, who
was fecundated not by human intercourse but by the Holy Spirit.

2 And whereas in all mothers conception does not take place without stain of sin, this one
received purification from the Source of her conception. For no taint of sin penetrated,
where no intercourse occurred. Her unsullied virginity knew no lust when it ministered the
substance. The Lord took from His mother our nature, not our fault. The slave's form is,
created without the slave's estate, because the New Man is so commingled with the old, as
both to assume the reality of our race and to remove its ancient flaw.

Chapter IV. The Incarnation Deceived the Devil and Caused Him to Break the Bond Under
Which He Held Men.

1 When, therefore, the merciful and almighty Saviour so arranged the commencement of His
human course as to hide the power of His Godhead which was inseparable from His manhood
under the veil of our weakness, the crafty foe was taken off his guard and he thought that
the nativity of the Child, Who was born for the salvation of mankind, was as much subject
to himself as all others are at their birth. For he saw Him crying and weeping, he saw Him
wrapped in swaddling clothes, subjected to circumcision, offering the sacrifice which the
law required. And then he perceived in Him the usual growth of boyhood, and could have had
no doubt of His reaching man's estate by natural steps. Meanwhile, he inflicted insults,
multiplied injuries, made use of curses, affronts, blasphemies, abuse, in a word, poured
upon Him all the force of his fury and exhausted all the varieties of trial: and knowing
how he had poisoned man's nature, had no conception that He had no share in the first
transgression Whose mortality he had ascertained by so many proofs. The unscrupulous thief
and greedy robber persisted in assaulting Him Who had nothing of His own, and in carrying
out the general sentence on original sin, went beyond the bond on which he rested and
required the punishment of iniquity from Him in Whom he found no fault. And thus the
malevolent terms of the deadly compact are annulled, and through the injustice of an
overcharge the whole debt is cancelled.

2 The strong one is bound by his own chains, and every device of the evil one recoils on
his own head. When the prince of the world is bound, all that he held in captivity is
released. Our nature cleansed from its old contagion regains its honourable estate, death
is destroyed by death, nativity is restored by nativity: since at one and the same time
redemption does away with slavery, regeneration changes our origin, and faith justifies
the sinner.

Chapter V. The Christian is Exhorted to Share in the Blessings of the Incarnation.

1 Whoever then thou art that devoutly and faithfully boastest of the Christian name,
estimate this atonement at its right worth. For to thee who wast a castaway, banished from
the realms of paradise, dying of thy weary exile, reduced to dust and ashes, without
further hope of living, by the Incarnation of the Word was given the power to return from
afar to thy Maker, to recognize thy parentage, to become free after slavery, to be
promoted from being an outcast to sonship: so that, thou who wast born of corruptible
flesh, mayest be reborn by the Spirit of God, and obtain through grace what thou hadst not
by nature, and, if thou acknowledge thyself the son of God by the spirit of adoption, dare
to call God Father. Freed from the accusings of a bad conscience, aspire to the kingdom of
heaven, do God's will supported by the Divine help, imitate the angels upon earth, feed on
the strength of immortal sustenance, fight fearlessly on the side of piety against hostile
temptations, and if thou keep thy allegiance in the heavenly warfare, doubt not that thou
wilt be crowned for thy victory in the triumphant camp of the Eternal King, when the
resurrection that is prepared for the faithful has raised thee to participate in the
heavenly Kingdom.

Chapter VI. The Festival Has Nothing to Do with Sunworship, as Some Maintain.

1 Having therefore so confident a hope, dearly beloved, abide firm in the Faith in which
you are built: lest that same tempter whose tyranny over you Christ has already destroyed,
win you back again with any of his wiles, and mar even the joys of the present festival by
his deceitful art, misleading simpler souls with the pestilential notion of some to whom
this our solemn feast day seems to derive its honour, not so much from the nativity of
Christ as, according to them, from the rising of the new sun. Such men's hearts are
wrapped in total darkness, and have no growing perception of the true Light: for they are
still drawn away by the foolish errors of heathendom, and because they cannot lift the
eyes of their mind above that which their carnal sight beholds, they pay divine honourto
the luminaries that minister to the world.Let not Christian souls entertain any suchwicked
superstition and portentous lie. Beyond all measure are things temporal removed from the
Eternal, things corporeal from the Incorporeal, things governed from the Governor. For
though they possess a wondrous beauty, yet they have no Godhead to be worshipped. That
power then, that wisdom, that majesty is to be adored which created the universe out of
nothing, and framed by His almighty methods the substance of the earth and sky into what
forms and dimensions He willed. Sun, moon, and stars may be most useful to us, most fair
to look upon;

2 but only if we render thanks to their Maker for them and worship God who made them, not
the creation which does Him service. Then praise God, dearly beloved, in all His works and
judgments. Cherish an undoubting belief in the Virgin's pure conception. Honour the sacred
and Divine mystery of man's restoration with holy and sincere service. Embrace Christ born
in our flesh, that you may deserve to see Him also as the God of glory reigning in His
majesty, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit remains in the unity of the Godhead for
ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 12

Chapter I. The Truths of the Incarnation Never Suffer from Being Repeated.

1 The things which are connected with the mystery of to-day's solemn feast are well known
to you, dearly-beloved, and have frequently been heard: but as yonder visible light
affords pleasure to eyes that are unimpaired, so to sound hearts does the Saviour's
nativity give eternal joy; and we must not keep silent about it, though we cannot treat of
it as we ought. For we believe that what Isaiah says, "who shall declare his generation?
applies not only to that mystery, whereby the Son of God is co-eternal with the Father,
but also to this birth whereby "the Word became flesh. And SO God, the Son of God, equal
and of the same nature from the Father and with the Father, Creator and Lord of the
Universe, Who is completely present everywhere, and completely exceeds all things, in the
due course of time, which runs by His own disposal, chose for Himself this day on which to
be born of the blessed virgin Mary for the salvation of the world, without loss of the
mother's honour. For her virginity was violated neither at the conception nor at the
birth: "that it might be fulfilled," as the Evangelist says, "which was spoken by the Lord
through Isaiah the prophet, saying, behold the virgin shall conceive in the womb, and
shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with
us.

2 For this wondrous child-bearing of the holy Virgin produced in her offspring one person
which was truly human and truly Divine because neither substance so retained their
properties that there could be any division of persons in them; nor was the creature taken
into partnership with its Creator in such a way that the One was the in-dweller, and the
other the dwelling; but so that the one nature was blended with the other. And although
the nature which is taken is one, and that which takes is another, yet these two diverse
natures come together into such close union that it is one and the same Son who says both
that, as true Man, "He is less than the Father," and that, as true God, "He is equal with
the Father."

Chapter II. the Arians Could Not Comprehend the Union of God And Man.

1 This union, dearly beloved, whereby the Creator is joined to the creature, Arian
blindness could not see with the eyes of intelligence, but, not believing that the Only-
begotten of God was of the same glory and substance with the Father, spoke of the Son's
Godhead as inferior, drawing its arguments front those words which are to be referred to
the "form of a slave," in respect of which, in order to show that it belongs to no other
or different person in Himself, the same Son of God with the same form, says, "The Father
is greater than I," just as He says with the same form, "I and my Father are one. For in
"the form of a slave," which He took at the end of the ages for our restoration, He is
inferior to the Father: but in the form of God, in which He was before the ages, He is
equal to the Father. In His human humiliation He was "made of a woman, made under the Law:
in His Divine majesty He abides the Word of God, "through whom all things were made.
Accordingly, He Who in the form of God made man, in the form of a slave was made man. For
both natures retain their own proper character without loss: and as the form of God did
not do away with the form of a slave, so the form of a slave did not impair the form of
God.

2 And so the mystery of power united to weakness, in respect of the same human nature,
allows the Son to be called inferior to the Father: but the Godhead, which is One in the
Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, excludes all notion of inequality. For the
eternity of the Trinity has nothing temporal, nothing dissimilar in nature: Its will is
one, Its substance identical, Its power equal, and yet there are not three Gods, but one
God; because it is a true and inseparable unity, where there can be no diversity. Thus in
the whole and perfect nature of true man was true God born, complete in what was His own,
complete in what was ours. And by "ours" we mean what the Creator formed in us from the
beginning, and what He undertook to repair. For what the deceiver brought in, and man
deceived committed, had no trace in the Saviour; nor because He partook of man's
weaknesses, did He therefore share our faults. He took the form of a slave without stain
of sin, increasing the human and not diminishing the divine: for that "emptying of
Himself," whereby the Invisible made Himself visible, was the bending down of pity, not
the failing of power.

Chapter III. The Incarnation Was Necessary to the Taking Away of Sin.

1 In order therefore that we might be called to eternal bliss from our original bond and
from earthly errors, He came down Himself to us to Whom we could not ascend, because,
although there was in many the love of truth, yet the variety of our shifting opinions was
deceived by the craft of misleading demons, and man's ignorance was dragged into diverse
and conflicting notions by a falsely-called science. But to remove this mockery, whereby
men's minds were taken captive to serve the arrogant devil, the teaching of the Law was
not sufficient, nor could our nature be restored merely by the Prophets' exhortations; but
the reality of redemption had to be added to moral injunctions, and our fundamentally
corrupt origin had to be re-born afresh. A Victim had to be offered for our atonement Who
should be both a partner of our race and free from our contamination, so that this design
of God whereby it pleased Him to take away the sin of the world in the Nativity and
Passion of Jesus Christ, might reach to all generations: and that we should not be
disturbed but rather strengthened by these mysteries, which vary with the character of the
times, since the Faith, whereby we live, has at no time suffered variation.

Chapter IV. the Blessings of the Incarnation Stretch Backwards as Well as Reach Forward.

1 Accordingly let those men cease their complaints who with disloyal murmurs speak against
the dispensations of God, and babble about the lateness of the Lord's Nativity as if that,
which was fulfilled in the last age of the world, had no bearing upon the times that are
past. For the Incarnation of the Word did but contribute to the doing of that which was
done: and the mystery ofman's salvation was never in the remotest age at a standstill.
What the apostles foretold, that the prophets announced: nor was that fulfilled too late
which has always been believed. But the Wisdom and Goodness of God made us more receptive
of His call by thus delaying the work which brought salvation: so that what through so
many ages had been foretold by many signs, many utterances, and many mysteries, might not
be doubtful in these days of the Gospel: and that the Saviour's nativity, which was to
exceed all wonders and all the measure of human knowledge, might engender in us a Faith so
much the firmer, as the foretelling of it had been ancient and oft-repeated. And so it was
no new counsel, no tardy pity whereby God took thought for men: but from the constitution
of the world He ordained one and the same Cause of Salvation for all. For the grace of
God, by which the whole body of the saints is ever justified, was augmented, not begun,
when Christ was born: and this mystery of God's great love, wherewith the whole world is
now filled, was so effectively presignified that those who believed that promise obtained
no less than they, who were the actual recipients.

Chapter V. The Coming of Christ in Our Flesh Corresponds with Our Becoming Members of His
Body.

1 Wherefore since the loving-kindness is manifest, dearly beloved, wherewith all the
riches of Divine goodness are showered on us, whose call to eternal life has been assisted
not only by the profitable examples of those who went before, but also by the visible and
bodily appearing of the Truth Itself, we are bound to keep the day of the Lord's Nativity
with no slothful nor carnal joy. And we shall each keep it worthily and thoroughly, if we
remember of what Body we are members, and to what a Head we are joined, lest any one as an
ill-fitting joint cohere not with the rest of the sacred building. Consider, dearly
beloved and by the illumination of the Holy Spirit thoughtfully bear in mind Who it was
that received us into Himself, and that we have received in us: since, as the Lord Jesus
became our flesh by being born, so we also became His body by being re-born. Therefore are
we both members of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Ghost: and for this reason the
blessed Apostle says, "Glorify and carry God in your body: for while suggesting to us the
standard of His own gentleness and humility, He fills us with that power whereby He
redeemed us, as the Lord Himself promises: "come unto Me all ye who labour and are heavy-
laden, and I will refresh you.

2 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall
find rest to your souls " Let us then take the yoke, that is not heavy nor irksome, of the
Truth that rules us, and let us imitate His humility, to Whose glory we wish to be
conformed: He Himself helping us and leading us to His promises, Who, according to His
great mercy, is powerful to blot out our sins, and to perfect His gifts in us, Jesus
Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.


SERMONS
=======

SERMONS continued

SERMON 13

Chapter I. The Incarnation Fulfils All Its Types and Promises.

1 The Divine goodness, dearly beloved, has indeed always taken thought for mankind in
divers manners, and in many portions, and of His mercy has imparted many gifts of His
providence to the ages of old; but in these last times has exceeded all the abundance of
His usual kindness, when in Christ the very Mercy has descended to sinners, the very Truth
to those that are astray, the very Life to those that are dead: so that Word, which is co-
eternal and co-equal with the Father, might take our humble nature into union with His
Godhead, and, being born God of God, might also be bern Man of man. Tiffs was indeed
promised from the foundation of the world, and had always been prophesied by many
intimations of facts and words: but how small a portion of mankind would these types and
fore-shadowed mysteries have saved, had not the coming of Christ fulfilled those long and
secret promises: and had not that which then benefited but a few believers in the
prospect, now benefited myriads of the faithful in its accomplishment. Now no longer then
are we led to believe by signs and types, but being confirmed by the gospel story we
worship that which we believe to have been done; the prophetic lore assisting our
knowledge, so that we have no manner of doubt about that which we know to have been
predicted by such sure oracles. For hence it is that the Lord says to Abraham: "In thy
seed shall all nations be blessed:

2 hence David, in the spirit of prophecy, sings, saying: "The Lord swore truth to David,
and He shall not frustrate it: of the fruit of thy loins will I set upon thy seat; hence
the Lord again says through Isaiah: "behold a virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall
bear a Son, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us," and
again, "a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall arise from his
root. In which rod, no doubt the blessed Virgin Mary is predicted, who sprung from the
stock of Jesse and David and fecundated by the Holy Ghost, brought forth a new flower of
human flesh, becoming a virgin-mother.

Chapter II. The Incarnation Was the Only Effective Remedy to the Fall.

1 Let the righteous then rejoice in the Lord, and let the hearts of believers turn to
God's praise, and the sons of men confess His wondrous acts; since in this work of God
especially our humble estate realizes how highly its Maker values it: in that, after His
great gift to mankind in making us after His image, He contributed far more largely to our
restoration when the Land Himself took on Him "the form of a slave. For though all that
the Creator expends upon His creature is part of one and the same Fatherly love, yet it is
less wonderful than man should advance to divine things than that God should descend to
humanity. But unless the Almighty God did deign to do this, no kind of righteousness, no
form of wisdom could rescue any one from the devil's bondage and from the depths of
eternal death. For the condemnation that passes with sin from one upon all would remain,
and our nature, corroded by its deadly wound, would discover no remedy, because it could
not alter its state in its own strength. For the first man received the substance of flesh
from the earth, and was quickened with a rational spirit by the in-breathing of his
Creator so that living after the image and likeness of his Maker, he might preserve the
form of God's goodness and righteousness as in a bright mirror.

2 And, if he had perseveringly maintained this high dignity of his nature by observing the
Law that was given him, his uncorrupt mind would have raised the character even Of his
earthly body to heavenly glory. But because in unhappy rashness he trusted the envious
deceiver, and agreeing to his presumptuous counsels, preferred to forestall rather than to
win the increase of honour that was in storefor him, not only did that one man, but in him
all that came after him also hear the verdict: "earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou
go; "as in the earthy," therefore, "such are they also that are earthy," and no one is
immortal, because no one is heavenly.

Chapter III. We All Became Partakers in the Birth of Christ, by the Re-Birth of Baptism.

1 And so to undo this chain of sin and death, the Almighty Son of God, that fills all
things and contains,all things, altogether equal to the Father and co-eternal in one
essence from Him and with Him, took on Him man's nature, and the Creator and Land of all
things deigned to be a mortal: choosing for His mother one whom He had made, one who,
without loss of her maiden honour, supplied so much of bodily substance, that without the
pollution of human seed the New Man might be possessed of purity and truth. In Christ,
therefore, born of the Virgin's womb, the nature does not differ from ours, because His
nativity is wonderful. For He Who is true God, is also true man: and there is no lie in
either nature. "The Word became flesh" by exaltation of the flesh, not by failure of the
Godhead: which so tempered its power and goodness as to exalt our nature by taking it, and
not to lose His own by imparting it. In this nativity of Christ, according to the prophecy
of David, "truth sprang out of the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven." In
this nativity also, Isaiah's saying is fulfilled, "let the earth produce and bring forth
salvation, and let righteousness spring up together." For the earth of human flesh, which
in the first transgressor, was cursed, in this Offspring of the Blessed Virgin only
produced a seed that was blessed and free from the fault of its stock. And each one is a
partaker of this spiritual origin in regeneration; and to every one when he is re-born,
the water of baptism is like the Virgin's womb; for the same Holy Spirit fills the font,
Who filled the Virgin, that the sin, which that sacred conception overthrew, may be taken
away by this mystical washing.

Chapter IV. The Manichaeans, by Rejecting the Incarnation, Have Fallen into Terrible
Iniquities.

1 In this mystery, dear beloved, the mad error of the Manichaeans has no part, nor have
they any partnership in the regeneration of Christ, who say that He was corporeally born
of the Virgin Mary: so that, as they do not believe in His real nativity, they do not
accept His real passion either; and, not acknowledging Him really buried, they reject His
genuine resurrection. For, having entered on the perilous path of their abominable dogma,
where all is dark and slippery, they rush into the abyss of death over the precipice of
falsehood, and find no sure ground on which to rest; because, besides all their other
diabolical enormities, on the very chief feast of Christ's worship, as their latest
confession has made manifest they revel in bodily as well as mental pollution, losing
their own modesty as well as the purity of their Faith; so that they are found to be as
filthy in their rites as they are blasphemers in their doctrines.

Chapter V. Other Heresies Contain Some Portion of Truth, But the Manichoeans Contain None
Whatever.

1 Other heresies, dearly beloved, although they are all rightly to be condemned in their
variety, yet have each in some part of them that which is true. Arius, in laying down that
the Son of God is less than the Father and a creature, and in thinking that the Holy
Spirit was like all else made by the same (Father), has lost himself in great blasphemy;
but he has not denied the eternal and unchangeable Godhead in the essence of the Father,
though he could not see it in the Unity of the Trinity. Macedonius was devoid of the light
of the Truth when he did not receive the Godhead of the Holy Spirit, but he did
acknowledge one power and the same nature in the Father and the Son. Sabellius was plunged
into inextricable error by holding the unity of substance to be inseparable in the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, but granted to a singleness of nature what he should have attributed
to an equality of nature and because he could not understand a true Trinity, he believed
in one and the same person under a threefold appellation. Photinus, misled by his mental
blindness, acknowledged in Christ true man of our substance, but did not believe Him born
God of God before all ages, and so losing the entirety of the Faith, believed the Son of
God tO have taken on Him the true nature of human flesh in such a way as to assert that
there was no soul in it, because the Godhead Itself took its place. Thus, if all the
errors which the catholic Faith has anathematized are recanted, something is found in one
after another which can be separated from its damnable setting. But in the detestable
dogma of the Manicheans there is absolutely nothing which can be adjudged tolerable in any
degree.

Chapter VI. Christians Must Cling to the One Faith and Not Be Led Astray.

1 But you, dearly beloved, whom I address in no less earnest terms than those of the
blessed Apostle Peter, "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for
God's own possession," built upon the impregnable rock, Christ, and joined to the Lord our
Saviour by His true assumption of our flesh, remain firm in that Faith, which you have
professed before many witnesses, and in which you were reborn through water and the Holy
Ghost, and received the anointing of salvation, and the seal of eternal life. But "if any
one preach to you any thing beside that which you have learnt, let him be anathema: refuse
to put wicked fables before the clearest truth, and what you may happen to read or hear
contrary to the rule of the catholic and Apostolic creed, judge it altogether deadly and
diabolical. Be not carried away by their deceitful keepings of sham and pretended fasts
which tend not to the cleansing, but to the destroying of men's souls. They put on indeed
a cloke of piety and chastity, but under this deceit they conceal the filthiness of their
acts, and from the recesses of their ungodly heart hurl shafts to wound the simple; that,
as the prophet says, "they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. A mighty bulwark
is a sound faith, a true faith, to which nothing has to be added or taken away:

2 because unless it is one, it is no faith, as the Apostle says, "one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.
Cling to this unity, dearly beloved, with minds unshaken, and in it "follow after" all
"holiness," in it carry out the Lord's commands, because "without faith it is impossible
to please God," and without it nothing is holy, nothing is pure, nothing alive: "for the
just lives by faith," and he who by the devil's deception loses it, is dead though living,
because as righteousness is gained by faith, so too by a true faith is eternal life
gained, as says our Lord and Saviour. And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. May He make you to advance and
persevere to the end, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever
and ever. Amen.

SERMON 14

Chapter I. Christmas Morning is the Most Appropriate Time for Thoughts on the Nativity.

1 On all days and at all times, dearly beloved, does the birth of our Lord and Saviour
from the Virgin-mother occur to the thoughts of the faithful, who meditate on divine
things, that the mind may be aroused to the acknowledgment of its Maker, and whether it be
occupied in the groans of supplication, or in the shouting of praise, or in the offering
of sacrifice, may employ its spiritual insight on nothing more frequently and more
trustingly than on the fact that God the Son of God, begotten of the co-eternal Father,
was also born by a human birth. But this Nativity which is to be adored in heaven and on
earth is suggested to us by no day more than this when, with the early light still
shedding its rays on nature there is borne in upon our senses the brightness of this
wondrous mystery. For the angel Gabriel's converse with the astonished Mary and her
conception by the Holy Ghost as wondrously promised as believed, seem to recur not only to
the memory but to the very eyes. For to day the Maker of the world was born of a Virgin's
womb, and He, who made all natures, became Son of her, whom He created. To-day the Word of
God appeared clothed in flesh, and That which had never been visible to human eyes began
to be tangible to our hands as well. Today the shepherds learnt from angels' voices that
the Saviour was born in the substance of our flesh and soul; and to-day the form of the
Gospel message was pre-arranged by the leaders of the Lord's flocks so that we too may say
with the arm), of the heavenly host: "Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace to
men of good will."

Chapter II. Christians are Essentially Participators in the Nativity of Christ.

1 Although, therefore, that infancy, which the majesty of God's Son did not disdain,
reached mature manhood by the growth of years and, when the triumph of His passion and
resurrection was completed, all the actions of humility which were undertaken for us
ceased, yet to-day's festival renews for us the holy childhood of Jesus born of the Virgin
Mary: and in adoring the birth of our Saviour, we find we are celebrating the commencement
of our own life. For the birth of Christ is the source of life for Christian folk, and the
birthday of the Head is the birthday of the body. Although every individual that is called
has his own order, and all the sons of the Church are separated from one another by
intervals of time, yet as the entire body of the faithful being born in the font of
baptism is crucified with Christ in His passion, raised again in His resurrection, and
placed at the Father's right hand in His ascension, so with Him are they born in this
nativity. For any believer in whatever part of the world that is re-born in Christ, quits
the old paths of his original nature and passes into a new man by being re-born; and no
longer is he reckoned of his earthly father's stock but among the seed of the Saviour, Who
became the Son of man in order that we might have the power to be the sons of God.

2 For unless He came down to us in this humiliation, no one would reach His presence by
any merits of his own. Let not earthly wisdom shroud in darkness the hearts of the called
on this point, and let not the frailty of earthly thoughts raise itself against the
loftiness of God's grace, for it will soon return to the lowest dust. At the end of the
ages is fulfilled that which was ordained from all eternity: and in the presence of
realities, when signs and types have ceased, the Law and prophecy have become Truth: and
so Abraham is found the father of all nations, and the promised blessing is given to the
world in his seed: nor are they only Israelites whom blood and flesh begot, but the whole
body of the adopted eater into possession of the heritage prepared for the sons of Faith.
Be not disturbed by the cavils of silly questionings, and let not the effects of the
Divine word be dissipated by human calculation; we with Abraham believe in God and "waver
not through unbelief " but "know most assuredly that what the Lord promised, He is able to
perform."

Chapter III. Peace with God Is His Best Gift to Man.

1 The Saviour then, dearly beloved, is born not of fleshly seed but of the Holy Spirit, in
such wise that the condemnation of the first transgression did not touch Him. And hence
the very greatness of the boon conferred demands of us reverence worthy of its splendour.
For, as the blessed Apostle teaches, "we have received not the spirit of this world but
the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which are given us by God: and
that Spirit can in no other way be rightly worshipped, except by offering Him that which
we received from Him. But in the treasures of the Lord's bounty what can we find so
suitable to the honour of the present feast as the peace, which at the Lord's nativity was
first proclaimed by the angel-choir? For that it is which brings forth the sons of God,
the nurse of love and the mother of unity: the rest of the blessed and our eternal home;
whose proper work and special office it is to join to God those whom it removes from the
world. Whence the Apostle incites us to this good end, in saying, "being justified
therefore by faith let us have peace towards God. In which brief sentence are summed up
nearly all the commandments; for where true peace is, there can be no lack of virtue. But
what is it, dearly beloved, to have peace towards God, except to wish what He bids, and
not to wish what He forbids?

2 For if human friendships seek out equality of soul and similarity of desires, and
difference of habits can never attain to full harmony, how will he be partaker of divine
peace, who is pleased with what displeases God and desires to get delight from what he
knows to be offensive to God? That is not the spirit of the sons of God; such wisdom is
not acceptable to the noble family of the adopted. That chosen and royal race must live up
to the dignity of its regeneration, must love what the Father loves, and in nought
disagree with its Maker, lest the Lord should again say: "I have begotten and raised up
sons, but they have scorned Me: the ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib:
but Israel hath not known Me and My people hath not acknowledged Me."

Chapter IV. We Must Be Worthy of Our Calling as Sans and Friends of God.

1 The mystery of this boon is great, dearly beloved, and this gift exceeds all gifts that
God should call man son, and man should name God Father: for by these terms we perceive
and learn the love which reached so great a height. For if in natural progeny and earthly
families those who are born of noble parents are lowered by the faults of evil
intercourse, and unworthy offspring are put to shame by the very brilliance of their
ancestry; to what end will they come who through love of the world do not fear to be
outcast from the family of Christ? But if it gains the praise of men that the father's
glory should shine again in their descendants, how much more glorious is it for those who
are born of God to regain the brightness of their Maker's likeness and display in
themselves Him Who begat them, as saith the Lord: "Let your light so shine before men that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven?

2 We know indeed, as the Apostle John says that "the whole world lieth in the evil one,"
and that by the stratagems of the Devil and his angels numberless attempts are made either
to frighten man in his struggle upwards by adversity or to spoil him by prosperity, but
"greater is He that is in us, than he that is against us," and they who have peace with
God and are always saying to the Father with their whole hearts "thy will be done " can be
overcome in no battles, can be hurt by no assaults. For accusing ourselves in our
confessions and refusing the spirit's consent to our fleshly lusts, we stir up against us
the enmity of him who is the author of sin, but secure a peace with God that nothing can
destroy, by accepting His gracious service, in order that we may not only surrender
ourselves in obedience to our King but also be united to Him by our free-will. For if we
are like-minded, if we wish what He wishes, and disapprove what He disapproves, He will
finish all our wars for us, He Who gave the will, will also give the power: so that we may
be fellow-workers in His works, and with the exultation of Faith may utter that prophetic
song: "the Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? the Lord is the defender
of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?"

Chapter V. The Birth of Christ is the Birth of Peace to the Church.

1 They then who "are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man
but of God," must offer to. the Father the unanimity of peace-loving sons, and all the
members of adoption must meet in the First-begotten of the new creation, Who came to do
not His own Will but His that sent Him; inasmuch as the Father in His gracious favour has
adopted as His heirs not those that are discordant nor those that are unlike Him, but
those that are in feeling and affection one. They that are re-modelled after one pattern
must have a spirit like the model. The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace: for
thus says the Apostle, "He is our peace, who made both one; since whether we be Jew or
Gentile, "through Him we have access in one Spirit to the Father. And it was this in
particular that He taught His disciples before the day of His passion which He had of His
own free-will fore-ordained, saying, "My peace I give unto you, My peace I leave for you;
and lest under the general term the character of His peace should escape notice, He added.
"not as the world give I unto you. The world, He Says, has its friendships, and brings
many that are apart into loving harmony. There are also minds which are equal in vices.
and similarity of desires produces equality of affection.

2 And if any are perchance to be found who are not pleased with what is mean and
dishonourable, and who exclude from the terms of their connexion unlawful compacts, yet
even such if they be either Jews, heretics or heathens belong not to God's friendship but
to this world's peace. But the peace of the spiritual and of catholics coming down from
above and leading upwards refuses to hold communion with the lovers of the world resists
all obstacles and flies from pernicious pleasures to true joys, as the Lord says: "Where
thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also: that is, if what you love is below you will
descend to the lowest depth: if what you love is above, you will reach the topmost height:
thither may the Spirit of peace lead and bring us, whose wishes and feeling are at one,
and who are of one mind in faith and hope and in charity: since "as many as are led by the
Spirit of God these are sons of God " Who reigneth with the Son and Holy Spirit for ever
and ever. Amen.

SERMON 15

Chapter I. It is Equally Dangerous to Deny the Godhead or the Manhood in Christ.

1 He is a true and devout worshipper, dearly-beloved, of to-day's festival who thinks
nothing that is either false about the Lord's Incarnation or unworthy about His Godhead.
For it is an equally dangerous evil to deny in Him the reality of our nature and the
equality with the Father in glory. When, therefore, we attempt to understand the mystery
of Christ's nativity, wherein He was born of the Virgin-mother, let all the clouds of
earthly reasonings be driven far away and the smoke of worldly wisdom be purged from the
eyes of illuminated faith: for the authority on which we trust is divine, the teaching
which we follow is divine. Inasmuch as whether it be the testimony of the Law, or the
oracles of the prophets, or the trumpet of the gospel to which we apply our inward ear,
that is true which the blessed John full of the Holy Spirit uttered with his voice of
thunder: "in the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him
was nothing made. And similarly is it true what the same preacher added: "the Word became
flesh and dwelt in us: and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the
Father. Therefore in both natures it is the same Son of God taking what is ours and not
losing what is His own;

2 renewing man in His manhood, but enduring unchangeable in Himself. For the Godhead which
is His in common with the Father un lerwent no loss of omnipotence, nor did the "form of a
slave" do despite to the "form of God," because the supreme and eternal Essence, which
lowered Itself for the salvation of mankind, transferred us into Its glory, but did not
cease to be what It was. And hence when the Only-begotten of God confesses Himself less
than the Father and yet calls Himself equal with Him He demonstrates the reality of both
forms in Himself: so thai the inequality proves the human nature, and the equality the
Divine.

Chapter II. The Incarnation Has Changed All the Possibilities of Man's Existence.

1 The bodily Nativity therefore of the Son of God took nothing from and added nothing to
His Majesty because His unchangeable substance could be neither diminished nor increased.
For that "the Word became flesh" does not signify that the nature of God was changed into
flesh, but that the Word took the flesh into the unity of His Person: and therein
undoubtedly the whole man was received, with which within the Virgin's womb fecundated by
the Holy Spirit, whose virginity was destined never to be lost the Son of God was so
inseparably united that He who was born without time of the Father's essence was Himself
in time born of the Virgin's womb. For we could not otherwise be released from the chains
of eternal death but by Him becoming humble in our nature, Who remained Almighty in His
own. And so our Lord Jesus Christ, being at birth true man though He never ceased to be
true God, made in Himself the beginning of a new creation, and in the "form" of His birth
started the spiritual life of mankind afresh, that to abolish the taint of our birth
according to the flesh there might be a possibility of regeneration without our sinful
seed for those of whom it is said, "Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. What mind can grasp this mystery, what tongue
can express this gracious act? Sinfulness returns to guiltlessness and the old nature
becomes new;

2 strangers receive adoption and outsiders enter upon an inheritance. The ungodly begin to
be righteous, the miserly benevolent, the incontinent chaste, the earthly heavenly. And
whence comes this change, save by the right hand of the Most High? For the Son of God came
to "destroy the works of the devil,"and has so united Himself with us and us with Him that
the descent of God to man's estate became the exaltation of man to God's.

Chapter III. The Devil Knows Exactly What Temptations to Offer to Each Several Person.

1 But in this mercifulness of God, dearly beloved, the greatness of which towards us we
cannot explain, Christians must be extremely careful lest they be caught again in the
devil's wiles and once more entangled in the errors which they have renounced. For the old
enemy does not cease to "transform himself into an angel of light," and spread everywhere
the snares of his deceptions, and make every effort to corrupt the faith of believers. He
knows whom to ply with the zest of greed, whom to assail with the allurements of the
belly, before whom to set the attractions of self-indulgence, in whom to instil the poison
of jealousy: he knows whom to overwhelm with grief, whom to cheat with joy, whom to
surprise with fear, whom to bewilder with wonderment: there is no one whose habits he does
not sift, whose cares he does not winnow, whose affections he does not pry into: and
wherever he sees a man most absorbed in occupation, there he seeks opportunity to injure
him. Moreover he has many whom he has bound still more tightly because they are suited for
his designs, that he may use their abilities and tongues to deceive others. Through them
are guaranteed the healing of sicknesses, the prognosticating of future, events, the
appeasing of demons and the driving away of apparitions. They also are to be added who
falsely allege that the entire condition of human life depends on the influences of the
stars, and that that which is really either the divine will or ours rests with the
unchangeable fates. And yet, in order to do still greater harm, they promise that they can
be changed if supplication is made to those constellations which are adverse. And thus
their ungodly fabrications destroy themselves; for if their predictions are not reliable,
the fates are not to be feared: if they are, the stars are not to be venerated.

Chapter IV. The Foolish Practice of Some Who Turn to the Sun and Bow to It is
Reprehensible.

1 From such a system of teaching proceeds also the ungodly practice of certain foolish
folk who worship the sun as it rises at the beginning of daylight from elevated positions:
even some Christians think it is so proper to do this that, before entering the blessed
Apostle Peter's basilica, which is dedicated to the One Living and true God, when they
have mounted the steps which lead to the raised platform they turn round and bow
themselves towards the rising sun and with bent neck do homage to its brilliant orb. We
are full of grief and vexation that this should happen, which is partly due to the fault
of ignorance and partly to the spirit of heathenism: because although some of them do
perhaps worship the Creator of that fair light rather than the Light itself, which is His
creature, yet we must abstain even flora the appearance of this observance: for if one who
has abandoned the worship of gods, finds it in our own worship, will he not hark back
again to this fragment of his old superstition, as if it were allowable, when he sees it
to be common both to Christians and to infidels?

Chapter V. The Sun and Moon Were Created for Use, Not for Worship.

1 This objectionable practice must be given up therefore by the faithful, and the honour
due to God alone must not be mixed up with those men's rites who serve their fellow-
creatures. For the divine Scripture says: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him
only shalt thou serve." Anti the blessed Job, "a man without complaint," as the Lord says,
"and one that eschews every evil," said, "Have I seen the sun when it shone or the moon
walking brightly, and my heart hath rejoiced in secret, and I have kissed my hand: what is
my great iniquity and denial against the most High God?" But what is the sun or what is
the moon but elements of visible creation and material light: one of which is of greater
brightness and the other of lesser light? For as it is now day time and now night time, so
the Creator has constituted divers kinds of luminaries, although even before they were
made there had been days without the sun and nights without the moon. But these were
fashioned to serve in making man, that he who is an animal endowed with reason might be
sure of the distinction of the months, the recurrence of the year, and the variety of the
seasons, since through the unequal length of the various periods, and the clear
indications given by the changes in its risings, the sun doses the year and the moon
renews the months. For on the fourth day, as we read, God said: "Let there be lights in
the firmament of the heaven, and let them shine upon the earth, and let them divide
between day and night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,
and let them be in the firmament of heaven that they may shine upon earth."

Chapter VI. Let Us Awake to the Proper Use of All Our Parts and Facilities.

1 Awake, O man, and recognize the dignity of thy nature. Recollect thou wast made in the
image of God, which although it was corrupted in Adam, was yet re-fashioned in Christ. Use
visible creatures as they should be used, as thou usest earth, sea, sky, air, springs, and
rivers: and whatever in them is fair and wondrous, ascribe to the praise and glory of the
Maker. Be not subject to that light wherein birds and serpents, beasts and cattle, flies
and worms delight. Confine the material light to your bodily senses, and with all your
mental powers embrace that "true light which lighteth every man that cometh into this
world," and of which the prophet says, "Come unto Him and be enlightened, and your faces
shall not blush. For if we "are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in " us,
what every one of the faithful has in his own heart is more than what he wonders at in
heaven. And so, dearly beloved, we do not bid or advise you to despise God's works or to
think there is anything opposed to your Faith in what the good God has made good, but to
use every kind of creature and the whole furniture of this world reasonably and
moderately: for as the Apostle says, "the things which are seen are temporal: but the
things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Hence because we are born for the present and reborn for the future, let us not give
ourselves up to temporal goods, but to eternal: and in order that we may behold our hope
nearer, let us think on what the Divine Grace has bestowed on our nature on the very
occasion when we celebrate the mystery of the Lord's birthday. Let us hear the Apostle,
saying: "for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. But when Christ, who is
your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory: who lives and reigns
with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 16

Chapter I. The Incarnation an Unceasing Source a Joy.

1 Though all the divine utterances exhort us, dearly beloved, to "rejoice in the Lord
always," yet to-day we are no doubt incited to a full spiritual joy, when the mystery of
the Lord's nativity is shining brightly upon us so that we may have recourse to that
unutterable condescension of the Divine Mercy, whereby the Creator of men deigned to
become man, and be found ourselves in His nature whom we worship in ours. For God the Son
of God, the only-begotten of the eternal and not-begotten Father, remaining eternal "in
the form of God," and unchangeably and without time possessing the property of being no
way different to the Father He received "the form of a slave" without loss of His own
majesty, that He might advance us to His state and not lower Himself to ours. Hence both
natures abiding in possession of their own properties such unity is the result of the
union that whatever of Godhead is there is inseparable from the manhood: and whatever of
manhood, is indivisible from the Godhead.

Chapter II. The Virgin's Conception Explained.

1 In celebrating therefore the birthday of our Lord and Saviour, dearly beloved, let us
entertain pure thoughts of the blessed Virgin's child-bearing, so as to believe that at no
moment of time was the power of the Word wanting to the flesh and soul which she
conceived, and that the temple of Christ's body did not previously receive its form and
soul that its Inhabitant might come and take possession but through Himself and in Himself
was the beginning given to the New Man, so that in the one Son of God and Man there might
be Godhead without a mother, and Manhood without a Father. For her virginity fecundated by
the Holy Spirit at one and the same time brought forth without trace of corruption both
the offspring and the Maker of her race. Hence also the same Lord, as the Evangelist
relates, asked of the Jews whose son they had learnt Christ to be on the authority of the
Scriptures, and when they replied that the tradition was He would come of David's seed,
"How," saith He, "doth David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying, the Lord said to my
Lord: sit thou on My right hand till I place thy enemies as the footstool of thy feet?"
And the Jews could not solve the question put, because they did not understand that in the
one Christ both the stock of David and the Divine nature were there prophesied.

Chapter III. In Redeeming Man, Justice as Well as Mercy Ad to Be Considered.

1 But the majesty of the Son of God in which He is equal with the Father in its garb of a
slave's humility feared no diminution, required no augmentation: and the very effect of
His mercy which He expended on the restitution of man, He was able to bring about solely
by the power of His Godhead; so as to rescue the creature that was made in the image of
God from the yoke of his cruel oppressor. But because the devil had not shown himself so
violent in his attack on the first man as to bring him over to his side without the
consent of His free will, man's voluntary sin and hostile desires had to be destroyed in
such wise that the standard of justice should not stand in the way of the gift of Grace.
And therefore in the general ruin of the entire human race there was but one remedy in the
secret of the Divine plan which could succour the fallen, and that was that one of the
sons of Adam should be born free and innocent of original transgression, to prevail for
the rest both by His example and His merits. Still further, because this was not permitted
by natural generation, and because there could be no offspring from our faulty stock
without seed, of which the Scripture saith, "Who can make a clean thing conceived of an
unclean seed? is it not Thou who art alone?" David's Lord was made David's Son, and from
the fruit of the promised branch sprang. One without fault, the twofold nature coining
together into one Person, that by one and the same conception and birth might spring our
Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom was present both true Godhead for the performance of mighty
works and true Manhood for the endurance of sufferings.

Chapter IV. All Heresies Proceed from Failure to Believe the Twofold Nature of Christ.

1 The catholic Faith then, dearly beloved, may scorn the errors of the heretics that bark
against it, who, deceived by the vanity of worldly wisdom, have forsaken the Gospel of
Truth, and being unable to understand the Incarnation of the Word, have constructed for
themselves out of the source of enlighten-merit occasion of blindness. For after
investigating almost all false believers' opinions, even those which presume to deny the
Holy Spirit, we come to the conclusion that hardly any one has gone astray, unless he has
refused to believe the reality of the two natures in Christ under the confession of one
Person. For some have ascribed to the Lord only manhood others only Deity. Some have said
that, though there was in the true Godhead, His flesh was unreal. Others have acknowledged
that He took true flesh but say that He had not the nature of God the Father; and by
assigning to His Godhead what belonged to His human substance, have made for themselves a
greater and a lesser God, although there can be in true Godhead no grades: seeing that
whatever is less than God, is not God. Others recognizing that there is no difference
between Father and Son, because they could not understand unity of Godhead except in unity
of Person, have maintained that the Father is the same as the Son:

2 so that to be born and nursed, to suffer and die, to be buried and rise again, belonged
to the same Father who sustained throughout the Person of both Man and the Word. Certain
have thought that our Lord Jesus Christ had a body not of our substance but assumed from
higher and subtler elements: whereas certain others have considered that in the flesh of
Christ there was no human soul, but that the Godhead of the Word Itself fulfilled the part
of soul. But their unwise assertion passes into this form that, though they acknowledge
the existence of a soul in the Lord, yet they say it was devoid of mind, because the
Godhead of Itself was sufficient for all purposes of reason to the Man as well as to the
God in Christ. Lastly the same people have dared to assert that a certain portion of the
Word was turned into Flesh, so that in the manifold varieties of this one dogma, not only
the nature of the flesh and of the soul but also the essence of the Word Itself is
dissolved.

Chapter V. nestorianism and Eutychianism are Particularly to Be Avoided at the Present
Time.

1 There are many other astounding falsehoods also which we must not weary your ears,
beloved, with enumerating. But after all these various impieties, which are closely
connected by the relationship that exists between one form of blasphemy and another, we
call your devout attention to the avoiding of these two errors in particular: one of
which, with Nestorius for its author, some time ago attempted to gainground, but
ineffectually; the other, which is equally damnable, has more recently sprung up with
Eutyches as its propounder. The former dared to maintain that the blessed Virgin Mary was
the mother of Christ's manhood only, so that in her conception and childbearing no union
might be believed to have taken place of the Word and the Flesh: because the Son of God
did not Himself become Son of Man, but of His mere condescension linked Himself with
created man. This can in no wise be tolerated by catholic ears, which are so imbued with
the gospel of Truth that they know of a surety there is no hope of salvation for mankind
unless He were Himself the Son of the Virgin who was His mother's Creator. On the other
hand this blasphemous propounder of more recent profanity has confessed the union of the
two Natures in Christ, but has maintained that the effect of this very union is that of
the two one remained while the substance of the other no longer existed, which of course
could not have been brought to an end except by either destruction or separation.

2 But this is so opposed to sound faith that it cannot be entertained without loss of
one's Christian name. For if the Incarnation of the Word is the uniting of the Divine and
human natures, but by the very fact of their coming together that which was twofold became
single, it was only the Godhead that was born of the Virgin's womb, and went through the
deceptive appearance of receiving nourishment and bodily growth: and to pass over all the
changes of the human state, it was only the Godhead that was crucified, dead, and buried:
so that according to those who thus think, there is no reason to hope for the
resurrection, and Christ is not "the first-begotten from the dead; because He was not One
who ought to have been raised again, if He had not been One who could be slain.

Chapter VI. The Deity and the Manhood Were Present in Christ from the Very First.

1 Keep far from your hearts, dearly beloved, the poisonous lies of the devil's
inspirations, and knowing that the eternal Godhead of the Son underwent no growth while
with the Father, be wise and consider that to the same nature to which it was said in
Adam, "Thou art earth, and unto earth shall thou go," it is said in Christ, "sit Thou on
My right hand." According to that Nature, whereby Christ is equal to the Father, the Only-
begotten was never inferior to the sublimity of the Father; nor was the glory which He had
with the Father a temporal possession; for He is on the very right hand of the Father, of
which it is said in Exodus, "Thy right hand, O Lord, is glorified in power;" and in
Isaiah, "Lord, who hath believed our report? and the arm of the Lord, to whom is it
revealed?" The man, therefore, assumed into the Son of God, was in such wise received into
the unity of Christ's Person from His very commencement in the body, that without the
Godhead He was not conceived, without the Godhead He was not brought forth, without the
Godhead He was not nursed. It was the same Person in the wondrous acts, and in the
endurance of insults; through His human weakness crucified, dead and buried: through His
Divine power, being raised the third day, He ascended to the heavens, sat down at the
right hand of the Father, and in His nature as man received from the Father that which in
His nature as God He Himself also gave.

Chapter VII. The Fulness of the Godhead is Imparted to the Body (the Church) Through the
Head, (Christ).

1 Meditate, dearly beloved on these things with devout hearts, and be always mindful of
the apostle's injunction, who admonishes all men, saying, "See lest any one deceive you
through philosophy and vain deceit according to the tradition of men, and not according to
Christ; for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye have been filled
in Him." He said not "spiritually" but "bodily," that we may understand the substance of
flesh to be real, where there is the dwelling in the body of the fulness of the Godhead:
wherewith, of course, the whole Church is also filled, which, clinging to the Head, is the
body of Christ; who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, God for ever
and ever. Amen.

SERMON 17

Chapter I. The Epiphany a Necessary Sequel to the Nativity.

1 After celebrating but lately the day on which immaculate virginity brought forth the
Saviour of mankind, the venerable feast of the Epiphany, dearly beloved, gives us
continuance of joy, that the force of our exultation and the fervour of our faith may not
grow cool, in the midst of neighbouring and kindred mysteries. For it concerns all men's
salvation, that the infancy of the Mediator between God and men was already manifested to
the whole world, while He was still detained in the tiny town. For although He had chosen
the Israelitish nation, and one family out of that nation, from whom to assume the nature
of all mankind, yet He was unwilling that the early days of His birth should be concealed
within the narrow limits of His mother's home: but desired to be soon recognized by all,
seeing that He deigned to be born for all. To three wise men, therefore, appeared a star
of new splendour in the region of the East, which, being brighter and fairer than the
other stars, might easily attract the eyes and minds of those that looked on it, so that
at once that might be observed not to be meaningless, which had so unusual an appearance.
He therefore who gave the sign, gave to the beholders understanding of it, and caused
inquiry to be made about that, of which He had thus caused understanding, and after
inquiry made, offered Himself to be found.

Chapter II. Herod's Evil Designs Were Fruitless. The Wise Men's Gifts Were Consciously
Symbolical.

1 These three men follow the leading of the light above, and with stedfast gaze obeying
the indications of the guiding splendour, are led to the recognition of the Truth by the
brilliance of Grace, for they supposed that a king's birth was notified in a human sense
and that it must be sought in a royal city. Yet He who had taken a slave's form, and had
come not to judge, but to be judged, chose Bethlehem for His nativity, Jerusalem for His
passion. But Herod, hearing that a prince of the Jews was born, suspected a successor, and
was in great terror: and to compass the death of the Author of Salvation, pledged himself
to a false homage. How happy had he been, if he had imitated the wise men's faith, and
turned to a pious use what he designed for deceit. What blind wickedness of foolish
jealousy, to think thou canst overthrow the Divine plan by thy frenzy. The Lord of the
works, who offers an eternal Kingdom, seeks not a temporal. Why dost thou attempt to
change the unchangeable order of things ordained, and to forestall others in their crime?
The death of Christ belongs not to thy time. The Gospel must be first set on foot, the
Kingdom of God first preached, healings first given to the sick, wondrous acts first
performed.

2 Why dost thou wish thyself to have the blame of what will belong to another's work, and
why without being able to effect thy wicked design, dost thou bring on thyself alone the
charge of wishing the evil? Thou gainest nothing and cattiest out nothing by this
intriguing. He that was born voluntarily shall die of His own free will. The Wise men,
therefore, fulfil their desire, and come to the child, the Lord Jesus Christ, the same
star going before them. They adore the Word in flesh, the Wisdom in infancy, the Power in
weakness, the Lord of majesty in the reality of man: and by their gifts make open
acknowledgment of what they believe in their hearts, that they may show forth the mystery
of their faith and understanding. The incense they offer to God, the myrrh to Man, the
gold to the King, consciously paying honour to the Divine and human Nature in union:
because while each substance had its own properties, there was no difference in the power
of either.

Chapter III. The Massacre of the Innocents is in Harmony with the Virgin's Conception,
Which Again Teaches Us Purity of Life.

1 And when the wise men had returned to their own land, and Jesus had been carried into
Egypt at the Divine suggestion, Herod's madness blazes out into fruitless schemes. He
orders all the little ones in Bethlehem to be slain, and since he knows not which infant
to fear, extends a general sentence against the age he suspects. But that which the wicked
king removes from the world, Christ admits to heaven: and on those for whom He had not yet
spent His redeeming blood, He already bestows the dignity of martyrdom. Lift your faithful
hearts then, dearly-beloved, to the gracious blaze of eternal light, and in adoration of
the mysteries dispensed for man's salvation give your diligent heed to the things which
have been wrought on your behalf. Love the purity of a chaste life, because Christ is the
Son of a virgin. "Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul," as the blessed
Apostle, present in his words as we read, exhorts us, "In malice be ye children," because
the Lord of glory conformed Himself to the infancy of mortals. Follow after humility which
the Son of God deigned to teach His disciples. Put on the power of patience, in which ye
may be able to gain your souls; seeing that He who is the Redemption of all, is also the
Strength of all. "Set your minds on the things which are above, not on the things which
are on the earth." Walk firmly along the path of truth and life: let not earthly things
hinder you for whom are prepared heavenly things through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with
the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 18

Chapter I. When We Were Yet Sinners, Christ Came to Save.

1 Although I know, dearly-beloved, that you are fully aware of the purpose of to-day's
festival, and that the words of the Gospel have according to use unfolded it to you, yet
that nothing may be omitted on our part, I shall venture to say on the subject what the
Lord has put in my mouth: so that in our common joy the devotion of our hearts may be so
much the more sincere as the reason of our keeping the feast is better understood. The
providential Mercy of God, having determined to succour the perishing world in these
latter times, fore-ordained the salvation of all nations in the Person of Christ; in order
that, because all nations had long been turned aside from the worship of the true God by
wicked error, and even God's peculiar people Israel had well-nigh entirely fallen away
from the enactments of the Law, now that all were shut up under sin He might have mercy
upon all.

2 For as justice was everywhere failing and the whole world was given over to vanity and
wickedness, if the Divine Power had not deferred its judgment, the whole of mankind would
have received the sentence of damnation. But wrath was changed to forgiveness, and, that
the greatness of the Grace to be displayed might be the more conspicuous, it pleased God,
to apply the mystery of remission to the abolishing of men's sins at a time when. no one
could boast of his own merits.

Chapter II. The Wise Men from the East are Typical Fulfilments of God's Promise to
Abraham.

1 Now the manifestation of this unspeakable mercy, dearly-beloved, came to pass when Herod
held the royal power in Judea, where the legitimate succession of Kings having failed and
the power of the High-priests having been overthrown, an alien-born had gained the
sovereignty: that the rising of the true King might be attested by the voice of prophecy,
which had said: "a prince shall not fail from Juda, nor a leader from his loins, until He
come for whom it is reserved and He shall be the expectation of the nations." Concerning
which an innumerable succession was once promised to the most blessed patriarch Abraham to
be begotten not by fleshly seed but by fertile faith; and therefore it was compared to the
stars in multitude that as father of all the nations he might hope not for an earthly but
for a heavenly progeny. And therefore, for the creating of the promised posterity, the
heirs designated under the figure of the stars are awakened by the rising of a new star,
that the ministrations of the heaven might do service in that wherein the witness of the
heaven had been adduced. A star more brilliant than the other stars arouses wise men that
dwell in the far East, and from the brightness of the wondrous light these men, not
unskilled in observing such things, appreciate the importance of the sign: this doubtless
being brought about in their hearts by Divine inspiration, in order that the mystery of so
great a sight might not be hid from them, and, what was an unusual appearance to their
eyes, might not be obscure to their minds. In a word they scrupulously set about their
duty and provide themselves with such gifts that in worshipping the One they may at the
same time show their belief in His threefold function: with gold they honour the Person of
a King, with myrrh that of Man, with incense that of God.

Chapter III. The Chosen Race is No Longer the Jews, But Believers of Every Nation.

1 And so they enter the chief city of the Kingdom of Judaea, and in the royal city ask
that He should be shown them Whom they had learnt was begotten to be King. Herod is
perturbed: he fears for his safety, he trembles for his power, he asks of the priests and
teachers of the Law what the Scripture has predicted about the birth of Christ, he
ascertains what had been prophesied: truth enlightens the wise men, unbelief blinds the
experts: carnal Israel understands not what it reads, sees not what it points out; refers
to the pages, whose utterances it does not believe. Where is thy boasting, O Jew? where
thy noble birth drawn from the stem of Abraham? is not thy circumcision become
uncircumcision? Behold thou, the greater servest the less and by the reading of that
covenant which thou keepest in the letter only, thou becomest the slave of strangers born,
who enter into the lot of thy heritage. Let the fulness of the nations enter into the
family of the patriarchs, yea let it enter, and let the sons of promise receive in
Abraham's seed the blessing which his sons, according to the flesh, renounce their claim
to. In the three Magi let all people worship the Author of the universe: and let God be
known not in Judaea alone, but in all the world, so that everywhere "His name" may be
"great in Israel." For while the dignity of the chosen race is proved to be degenerate by
unbelief in its descend ants, it is made common to all alike by our belief.

Chapter IV. The Massacre of the Innocents Through the Consequent Flight of Christ, Brings
the Truth into Egypt.

1 Now when the wise men had worshipped the Lord and finished all their devotions,
according to the warning of a dream, they return not by the same route by which they had
come. For it behoved them now that they believed in Christ not to walk in the paths of
their old line of life, but having entered on a new way to keep away from the errors they
had left: and it was also to baffle Herod's design, who, under the cloke of homage, was
planning a wicked plot against the Infant Jesus. Hence when his crafty hopes were
overthrown, the king's wrath rose to a greater fury. For reckoning up the time which the
wise men had indicated, he poured out his cruel rage on all the men-children of Bethlehem,
and in a general massacre of the whole of that city slew the infants, who thus passed to
their eternal glory, thinking that, if every single babe was slain there, Christ too would
be slain. But He Who was postponing the shedding of His blood for the world's redemption
till another time, was carried and brought into Egypt by his parents' aid, and thus sought
the ancient cradle of the Hebrew race, and in the power of a greater providence dispensing
the princely office of the true Joseph, in that He, the Bread of Life and the Food of
reason that came down from heaven, removed that worse than all famines under which the
Egyptians' minds were labouring, the lack of truth nor without that sojourn would the
symbolism of that One Victim have been complete; for there first by the slaying of the
lamb was fore-shadowed the health-bringing sign of the Cross and the Lord's Passover.

Chapter V. We Must Keep This Festival as Thankful Sons of Light.

1 Taught then, dearly-beloved, by these mysteries of Divine grace, let us with reasonable
joy celebrate the day of our first-fruits and the commencement of the nations' calling:
"giving thanks to" the merciful God "who made us worthy," as the Apostle says, "to be
partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who delivered us from the power of darkness
and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love: since as Isaiah prophesied,
"the people of the nations that sat in darkness, have seen a great light, and they that
dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Of whom he also
said to the Lord, "nations which knew not thee, shall call on thee: and peoples which were
ignorant of thee, shall run together unto thee. This day "Abraham saw and was glad," when
he understood that the sons of his faith would be blessed in his seed that is in Christ,
and foresaw that by believing he should be the father of all nations, "giving glory to God
and being fully assured that What He had promised, He was able also to perform. This day
David sang of in the psalms saying: "all nations that thou hast made shall come and
worship before Thee, O Lord: and they shall glorify Thy name; and again: "The Lord hath
made known His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the
nations.

2 This in good truth we know to have taken place ever since the three wise men aroused in
their far-off land were led by a star to recognize and worship the King of heaven and
earth,[which to those who gaze aright ceases not daily to appear. And if it could make
Christ known when concealed in infancy, how much more able was it to reveal Him when
reigning in majesty]. And surely their worship of Him exhorts us to imitation; that, as
far as we can, we should serve our gracious God who invites us all to Christ. For
whosoever lives religiously and chastely in the Church and "sets his mind on the, things
which are above, not on the things that are upon the earth," is in some measure like the
heavenly light: and whilst he himself keeps the brightness of a holy life, he points out
to many the way to the Lord like a star. In which regard, dearly-beloved, ye ought all to
help one another in turn, that in the kingdom of God, which is reached by right faith and
good works, ye may shine as the sons of light: through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with God
the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 19

Chapter I. The Yearly Observance of the Epiphany is Profitable to Christians.

1 It is the right and reasonable duty of true piety, dearly-beloved, on the days which
bear witness to the works of Divine mercy, to rejoice with the whole heart and to
celebrate with all honour the things which have been wrought for our salvation: for the
very law of recurring seasons calls us to such devout observance, and has now brought
before us the feast of the Epiphany, consecrated by the Lord's appearance soon after the
clay on which the Son of God co-eternal with the Father was born of a Virgin. And herein
the providence. of God has established a great safeguard to our faith, so that, whilst the
worship of the Saviour's earliest infancy is repeated year by year, the production of true
man's nature in Him might be proved by the original verifications themselves. For this it
is that justifies the ungodly, this it is that makes sinners saints, to wit the belief in
the true Godhead and the true Manhood of the one Jesus Christ, our Lord: the Godhead,
whereby being before all ages "in the form of God" He is equal with the Father: the
Manhood whereby in the last days He is united to Man in the "form of a slave.

2 For the confirmation therefore of this Faith which was to be fore-armed against all
errors, it was a wondrous loving provision of the Divine plan that a nation which dwelt in
the far-off country of the East and was cunning in the art of reading the stars, should
receive the sign of the infant's birth who was to reign over all Israel. For the unwonted
splendour of a bright new star appeared to the wise men and filled their mind with such
wonder, as they gazed upon its brilliance, that they could not think they ought to neglect
what was announced to them with such distinctness. And, as the event showed, the grace of
God was the disposing cause of this wondrous thing: who when the whole of Bethlehem itself
was still unaware of Christ's birth, brought it to the knowledge of the nations who would
believe, and declared that which human words could not yet explain, through the preaching
of the heavens.

Chapter II. Both Herod and the Wise Men Originally Had an Earthly Conception of the
Kingdom Signified; But the Latter Learnt the Truth, the Former Did Not.

1 But although it was the office of the Divine condescension to make the Saviour's
Nativity recognizable to the nations, yet for the under standing of the wondrous sign the
wise men could have had intimation even from the ancient prophecies of Balaam, knowing
that it was predicted of old and by constant repetition spread abroad: "A star shall rise
out of Jacob, and a man shall rise out of Israel, and shall rule the nations. And so the
three men aroused by God through the shining of a strange star, follow the guidance of its
twinkling light, thinking they will find the babe designated at Jerusalem in the royal
city. But finding themselves mistaken in this opinion, through the scribes and teachers of
the Jews they learnt what the Holy Scripture had foretold of the birth of Christ; so that
confirmed by a twofold witness, they sought with still more eager faith Him whom both the
brightness of the star and the sure word of prophecy revealed. And when the Divine oracle
was proclaimed through the chief priests' answers and the Spirit's voice declared, which
says: "And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, art not least among the princes of Judah;
for out of thee shall come a leader to rule My people Israel," how easy and how natural it
was that the leading men among the Hebrews should believe what they taught! But it appears
that they held material notions with Herod, and reckoned Christ's kingdom as on the same
level as the powers of this world:

2 so that they hoped for a temporal leader while he dreaded an earthly rival. The fear
that racks thee, Herod, is wasted; in vain dost thou try to vent thy rage on the infant
thou suspectest. Thy realm cannot hold Christ; the Lord of the world is not satisfied with
the narrow limits of thy sway. He, whom thou dost not wish to reign in Judaea, reigns
everywhere: and thou wouldst rule more happily thyself, if thou wert to submit to His
command. Why dost thou not do with sincerity what in treacherous falseness thou dost
promise? Come with the wise men, and in suppliant adoration worship the true King. But
thou, from too great fondness for Jewish blindness, wilt not imitate the nations' faith,
and directest thy stubborn heart to cruel wiles, though thou art doomed neither to stay
Him whom thou fearest nor to harm them whom thou slayest.

Chapter III. The Perseverance of the Magi Has Led to the Most Important Results.

1 Led then, dearly beloved, into Bethlehem by obeying the guidance of the star, the wise
men "rejoiced with very great joy," as the evangelist has told us: "and entering the
house, found the child with Mary, His mother; and falling down they worshipped Him; and
opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. What
wondrous faith of perfect knowledge, which was taught them not by earthly wisdom, but by
the instruction of the Holy Spirit! Whence came it that these men, who had quitted their
country without having seen Jesus, and had not noticed anything in His looks to enforce
such systematic adoration, observed this method in offering their gifts? unless it were
that besides the appearance of the star, which attracted their bodily eyes, the more
refulgent rays of truth taught their hearts that before they started on their toilsome
road, they must understand that He was signified to Whom was owed in gold royal honour, in
incense Divine adoration, in myrrh the acknowledgment of mortality. Such a belief and
understanding no doubt, as far as the enlightenment of their faith went, might have been
sufficient in themselves and have prevented their using their bodily eyes in inquiring
into that which they had beheld with their mind's fullest gaze. But their sagacious
diligence, persevering till they found the child, did good service for future peoples and
for the men of our own time:

2 so that, as it profited us all that the apostle Thomas, after the Lord's resurrection,
handled the traces of the wounds in His flesh, so it was of advantage to us that His
infancy should be attested by the visit of the wise men. And so the wise men saw and
adored the Child of the tribe of Judah, "of the seed of David according to the flesh,"
"made from a woman, made under the law," which He had come "not to destroy but to fulfil.
They saw and adored the Child, small in size, powerless to help others incapable of
speech, and in nought different to the generality of human children. Because, as the
testimonies were trustworthy which asserted in Him the majesty of invisible Godhead, so it
ought to be impossible to doubt that "the Word became flesh," and the eter- nal essence of
the Son of God took man's true nature: lest either the inexpressible marvels of his acts
which were to follow or the infliction of sufferings which He had to bear should overthrow
the mystery of our Faith by their inconsistency: seeing that no one at all can be
justified save those who believe the Lord Jesus to be both true God and true Man.

Chapter IV. The Manichoean Heresy Corrupts the Scriptures in Order to Disprove the Truth.

1 This peerless Faith, dearly-beloved, this Truth proclaimed throughout all ages, is
opposed by the devilish blasphemies of the Manichaeans: who to murder the souls of the
deceived have woven a deadly tissue of wicked doctrine out of impious and forged lies, and
over the ruins of their mad opinions men have fallen headlong to such depths as to imagine
a Christ with a fictitious body, who presented nothing solid, nothing real to the eyes and
touch of men but displayed an empty shape of fancy-flesh. For they wish it to be thought
unworthy of belief that God the Son of God placed Himself within a woman's body and
subjected His majesty to such a degradation as to be joined to our fleshly nature and be
born in the true body of human substance although this is entirely the outcome of His
power, not of His ill-treatment, and it is His glorious condescension, not His being
polluted that should be believed in. For if yonder visible light is not marred by any of
the uncleannesses with which it is encompassed, and the brightness of the sun's rays,
which is doubtless a material creature, is not contaminated by any of the dirty or muddy
places to which it penetrates, is there anything whatever its quality which could pollute
the essence of that eternal and immaterial Light?

2 seeing that by allying Himself to that creature which He had made after His own image He
furnished it with purification and received no stain, and healed the wounds of its
weakness without suffering loss of power. And because this great and unspeakable mystery
of divine Godliness was announced by all the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, those
opponents of the Truth of which we speak have rejected the law that was given through
Moses and the divinely inspired utterances of the prophets, and have tampered with the
very pages of the gospels and apostles, by removing or inserting certain things: forging
for themselves under the Apostles' names and under the words of the Saviour Himself many
volumes of falsehood, whereby to fortify their lying errors and instil deadly poison into
the minds of those to be deceived. For they saw that everything contradicted and made
against them and that not only by the New but also by the Old Testament their blasphemous
and treacherous folly was confuted. And yet persisting in their mad lies they cease not to
disturb the Church of God with their deceits, persuading those miserable creatures whom
they can ensnare to deny that man's nature was truly taken by the Lord Jesus Christ; to
deny that He was truly crucified for the world's salvation: to deny that from His side
wounded by the spear flowed the blood of Redemption and the water of baptism: to deny that
He was buried and raised again the third day:

3 to deny that in sight of the disciples He was lifted above all the heights of the skies
to take His seat on the right hand of the Father; and in order that when all the truth of
the Apostles' Creed was destroyed, there may be nothing to frighten the wicked or inspire
the saints with hope, to deny that the living and the dead must be judged by Christ; so
that those whom they have robbed of the power of these great mysteries may learn to
worship Christ in the sun and moon, and under the name of the Holy Spirit to adore
Manichaeus himself, the inventor of all these blasphemies.

Chapter V. Avoid All Dealings with the Heretics, But Intercede with God For Them.

1 To confirm your hearts therefore, dearly-beloved, in the Faith and Truth, let to-day's
festival help you all, and let the catholic confession be fortified by the testimony of
the manifestation of the Saviour's infancy, while we anathematize the blasphemy of those
who deny the flesh of our nature in Christ: about which the blessed Apostle John has
forewarned us in no doubtful utterance, saying, "every spirit which confesses Christ Jesus
to have come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit which destroys Jesus is not of God,
and this is Antichrist. Consequently let no Christian have aught in common with men of
this kind, let him have no alliance or intercourse with such. Let it advantage the whole
Church that many of them in the mercy of God have been discovered, and that their own
confession has disclosed how sacrilegious their lives were. Let no one be deceived by
their discriminations between food and food, by their soiled raiment, by their pale faces.
Fasts are not holy which proceed not on the principle of abstinence but with deceitful de
sign. Let this be the end of their harming the unwary, and deluding the ignorant;
henceforth no one's fall shall be excusable: no longer must he be held simple but
extremely worthless and perverse who hereafter shall be found entangled in detestable
error. A practice countenanced by the Church and Divinely instituted, not only do we not
forbid, we even incite you to, that you should supplicate the Lord even for such:

2 since we also with tears and mourning feel pity for the ruins of cheated souls, carrying
out the Apostles' example of loving-kindness so as to be weak with those that are weak and
to "weep with those that weep. For we hope that God's mercy can be won by the many tears
and due amendment of the fallen: because so long as life remains in the body no man's
restoration must be despaired of, but the reform of all desired with the Lord's help, "who
raiseth up them that are crushed, looseth them that are chained, giveth light to the
blind: to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 20

Chapter I. The Story of the Magi Not Only a Byegone Fact in History, But of Everyday
Application to Ourselves.

1 The day, dearly-beloved, on which Christ the Saviour of the world first appeared to the
nations must be venerated by us with holy worship: and to-day those joys must be
entertained in our hearts which existed in the breasts of the three magi, when, aroused by
the sign and leading of a new star, which they believed to have been promised, they fell
down in presence of the King of heaven and earth. For that day has not so passed away that
the mighty work, which was then revealed, has passed away with it, and that nothing but
the report of the thing has come down to us for faith to receive and memory to celebrate;
seeing that, by the oft-repeated gift of God, our times daily enjoy the fruit of what the
first age possessed. And therefore, although the narrative which is read to us from the
Gospel properly records those days on which the three men, who had neither been taught by
the prophets' predictions nor instructed by the testimony of the law, came to acknowledge
God from the furthest parts of the East, yet we behold this same thing more clearly and
abundantly carried on now in the enlightenment of all those who are called, since the
prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled when he says, "the Lord has laid bare His holy arm in the
sight of all the nations, and all the nations upon earth have seen the salvation which is
from the Lord our God;

2 and again, "and those to whom it has not been announced about Him shall see, and they
who have not heard, shall understand. Hence when we see men devoted to worldly wisdom and
far from belief in Jesus Christ brought out of the depth of their error and called to an
acknowledgment of the true Light, it is undoubtedly the brightness of the Divine grace
that is at work: and whatever of new light illumines the darkness of their hearts, comes
from the rays of the same star: so that it should both move with wonder, and going before
lead to the adoration of God the minds which it visited with its splendour. But if with
careful thought we wish to see how their threefold kind of gift is also offered by all who
come to Christ with the foot of faith, is not the same offering repeated in the hearts of
true believers? For he that acknowledges Christ the King of the universe brings gold from
the treasure of his heart: he that believes the Only-begotten of God to have united man's
true nature to Himself, offers myrrh; and he that confesses Him in no wise inferior to the
Father's majesty, worships Him in a manner with incense.

Chapter II. Satan Still Carries on the Wiles of Herod, And, as It Were, Personates Him in
His Opposition to Christ.

1 These comparisons, dearly-beloved, being thoughtfully considered, we find Herod's
character also not to be wanting, of which the devil himself is now an unwearied imitator,
just as he was then a secret instigator. For he is tortured at the calling of all the
nations, and racked at the daily destruction of his power, grieving at his being
everywhere deserted, and the true King adored in all places. He prepares devices, he
hatches plots, he bursts out into murders, and that he may make use of the remnants of
those whom he still deceives, is consumed with envy in the persons of the Jews, lies
treacherously in wait in the persons of heretics, blazes out into cruelty in the persons
of the heathen. For he sees that the power of the eternal King is invincible Whose death
has extinguished the power of death itself; and therefore he has armed himself with all
his skill of injury against those who serve the true King; hardening some by the pride
that knowledge of the law engenders, debasing others by the lies of false belief, and
inciting others to the madness of persecution. Yet the madness of this "Herod" is
vanquished, and brought to nought by Him who has crowned even infants with the glory of
martyrdom, and has endued His faithful ones with so unconquerable a love that in the
Apostle's words they dare to say, "who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or want, or persecution, Or hunger, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? as
it is written, For thy sake are we killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for
the slaughter. But in all these things we overcome on account of Him who loved us."

Chapter III. The Cessation of Active Persecution Does Not Do Away with the Need of
Continued Vigilance: Satan Has Only Changed His Tactics.

1 Such courage as this, dearly-beloved, we do not believe to have been needful only at
those times in which the kings of the world and all the powers of the age were raging
against God's people in an outburst of wickedness, thinking it to redound to their
greatest glory if they removed the Christian name from the earth, but not knowing that
God's Church grows through the frenzy of their cruelty, since in the tortures and deaths
of the martyrs, those whose number was reckoned to be diminished were augmented through
the force of example. In fine, so much strength has our Faith gained by the attacks of
persecutors that royal princedoms have no greater ornament than that the lords of the
world are members of Christ; and their boast is not so much that they were born in the
purple as that they have been re-born in baptism. But because the stress of former blasts
has lulled, and with a cessation of fightings a measure of tranquillity has long seemed to
smile upon us, those divergences are carefully to be guarded against which arise from the
very reign of peace. For the adversary having been proved ineffective in open persecutions
now exercises a hidden skill in doing cruel hurt, in order to overthrow by the stumbling-
block of pleasure those whom he could not strike with the blow of affliction.

2 And so seeing the faith of princes opposed to him and the indivisible Trinity of the one
Godhead as devoutly worshipped in palaces as in churches, he grieves at the shedding of
Christian blood being forbidden, and attacks the mode of life of those whose death he
cannot compass. The terror of confiscations he changes into the fire of avarice, and
corrupts with covetousness those whose spirit he could not break by losses. For the
malicious haughtiness which long use has ingrained into his very nature has not laid aside
its hatred, but changed its character in order to subjugate the minds of the faithful by
blandishments. He inflames those with covetous desires whom he cannot distress with
tortures: he sows strifes, kindles passions, sets tongues a-wagging, and, lest more
cautious hearts should draw back from his lawless wiles, facilitates opportunities for
accomplishing crimes: because this is the only fruit of all his devices that he who is not
worshipped with the sacrifice of cattle and goats, and the burning of incense, should be
paid the homage of divers wicked deeds.

Chapter IV. Timely Repentance Gains God's Merciful Consideration.

1 Our state of peace therefore, dearly-beloved, has its dangers, and it is vain for those
who do not withstand vicious desires to feel secure of the liberty which is the privilege
of their Faith. Men's hearts are shown by the character of their works, and the fashion of
their minds is betrayed by the nature of their actions. For there are some, as the Apostle
says, "who profess that they know God, but deny Him by their deeds. For the charge of
denial is truly incurred when the good which is heard in the sound of the voice is not
present in the conscience. Indeed, the frailty of man's nature easily glides into faults:
and because no sin is without its attractiveness, deceptive pleasure is quickly acquiesced
in. But we should run for spiritual succour from the desires of the flesh: and the mind
that has knowledge of its God should turn away from the evil suggestion of the enemy.
Avail thyself of the long-suffering of God, and persist not in cherishing thy sin, because
its punishment is put off. The sinner must not feel secure of his impunity, because if he
loses the time for repentance he will find no place for mercy, as the prophet says, "in
death no one remembers thee; and in the realms below who will confess to thee?

2 But let him who experiences the difficulty of self-amendment and restoration betake
himself to the mercy of a befriending God, and ask that the chains of evil habit may be
broken off by Him "who lifts up those that fall and raises all the crushed. The prayer of
one that confesses will not be in vain since the merciful God "will grant the desire of
those that fear Him," and will give what is asked, as He gave the Source from Which to
ask. Through our Lend Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy
Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 21

Chapter I. The Benefits of Abstinence Shown by the Example of the Hebrews.

1 In former days, when the people of the Hebrews and all the tribes of Israel were
oppressed for their scandalous sins by the grievous tyranny of the Philistines, in order
that they might be able to overcome their enemies, as the sacred story declares, they
restored their powers of mind and body by the injunction of a fast. For they understood
that they had deserved that hard and wretched subjection for their neglect of God's
commands, and evil ways, and that it was in vain for them to strive with arms unless they
had first withstood their sin. Therefore abstaining from food and drink, they applied the
discipline of strict correction to themselves, and in order to conquer their foes, first
conquered the allurements of the palate in themselves. And thus it came about that their
fierce enemies and cruel taskmasters yielded to them when fasting, whom they had held in
subjection when full. And so we too, dearly beloved, who are set in the midst of many
oppositions and conflicts, may be cured by a little carefulness, if only we will use the
same means. For our case is almost the same as theirs, seeing that, as they were attacked
by foes in the flesh so are we chiefly by spiritual enemies. And if we can conquer them by
God's grace enabling us to correct our ways, the strength of our bodily enemies also will
give way before us, and by our self-amendment we shall weaken those who were rendered
formidable to us, not by their own merits but by our shortcomings.

Chapter II. Use Lent to Vanquish the Enemy, and Be Thus Preparing for Eastertide.

1 Accordingly, dearly-beloved, that we may be able to overcome all our enemies, let us
seek Divine aid by the observance of the heavenly bidding, knowing that we cannot
otherwise prevail against our adversaries, unless we prevail against our own selves. For
we have many encounters with our own selves: the flesh desires one thing against the
spirit, and the spirit another thing against the flesh. And in this disagreement, if the
desires of the body be stronger, the mind will disgracefully lose its proper dignity, and
it will be most disastrous for that to serve which ought to have ruled. But if the mind,
being subject to its Ruler, and delighting in gifts from above, shall have trampled under
foot the allurements of earthly pleasure, and shall not have allowed sin to reign in its
mortal body reason will maintain a well-ordered supremacy, and its strongholds no strategy
of spiritual wickednesses will cast down: because man has then only true peace and true
freedom when the flesh is ruled by the judgment of the mind, and the mind is directed by
the will of God. And although this state of preparedness, dearly-beloved, should always be
maintained that our ever-watchful foes may be overcome by unceasing diligence, yet now it
must be the more anxiously sought for and the more zealously cultivated when the designs
of our subtle foes themselves are conducted with keener craft than ever. For knowing that
the most hollowed days of Lent are now at hand, in the keeping of which all past
slothfulnesses are chastised, all negligences alerted for, they direct all the force of
their spite on this one thing, that they who intend to celebrate the Lord's holy Passover
may be found unclean in some matter, and that cause of offence may arise where
propitiation ought to have been obtained.

Chapter III. Fights are Necessary to Prove Our Faith.

1 As we approach then, dearly-beloved, the beginning of Lent, which is a time for the more
careful serving of the Lord, because we are, as it were, entering on a kind of contest in
good works, let us prepare our souls for fighting with temptations, and understand that
the more zealous we are for our salvation, the more determined must be the assaults of our
opponents. But "stronger is He that is in us than He that is against us," and through Him
are we powerful in whose strength we rely: because it was for this that the Lord allowed
Himself to be tempted by the tempter, that we might be taught by His example as well as
fortified by His aid. For He conquered the adversary, as ye have heard by quotations from
the law, not by actual strength, that by this very thing He might do greater honour to
man, and inflict a greater punishment on the adversary by conquering the enemy of the
human race not now as God but as Man. He fought then, therefore, that we too might fight
thereafter: He conquered that we too might likewise conquer. For there are no works of
power, dearly-beloved, without the trials of temptations, there is no faith without proof,
no contest without a foe, no victory without conflict. This life of ours is in the midst
of snares, in the midst of battles; if we do not wish to be deceived, we must watch: if we
want to overcome, we must fight. And therefore the most wise Solomon says, "My son in
approaching the service of God prepare thy soul for temptation." For He being a man full
of the wisdom of God, and knowing that the pursuit of religion involves laborious
struggles, foreseeing too the danger of the fight, forewarned the intending combatant;
lest haply, if the tempter came upon him in his ignorance, he might find him unready and
wound him unawares.

Chapter IV. The Christian's Armour is Both for Defence and for Attack.

1 So, dearly-beloved, let us who instructed in Divine learning come wittingly to the
present contest and strife, hear the Apostle when he says, "for our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this
dark world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly things," and let us not forget that
these our enemies feel it is against them all is done that we strive to do for our
salvation, and that by the very fact of our seeking after some good thing we are
challenging our foes. For this is an old-standing quarrel between us and them fostered by
the devil's ill-will, so that they are tortured by our being justified, because they have
fallen from those good things to which we, God helping us, are advancing. If, therefore,
we are raised, they are prostrated: if we are strengthened, they are weakened. Our cures
are their blows, because they are wounded by our wounds' cure. "Stand, therefore," dearly-
beloved, as the Apostle says, "having the loins of your mind girt in truth, and your feet
shod in the preparation of the gospel of peace, in all things taking the shield of faith
in which ye may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one, and put on the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

2 See, dearly-beloved, with what mighty weapons, with what impregnable defences we are
armed by our Leader, who is famous for His many triumphs, the unconquered Master of the
Christian warfare. He has girt our loins with the belt of chastity, He has shod our feet
with the bonds of peace: because the unbelted soldier is quickly vanquished by the
suggester of immodesty, and he that is unshod is easily bitten by the serpent. He has
given the shield of faith for the protection of our whole body; on our head has He set the
helmet of salvation; our right hand has He furnished with a sword, that is with the word
of Truth: that the spiritual warrior may not only be safe from wounds, but also may have
strength to wound his assailant.

Chapter V. Abstinence Not Only from Food But from Other Evil Desires, Especially from
Wrath, is Required in Lent.

1 Relying, therefore, dearly-beloved, on these arms, let us enter actively and fearlessly
on the contest set before us: so that in this fasting struggle we may not rest satisfied
with only this end, that we should think abstinence from food alone desirable. For it is
not enough that the substance of our flesh should be reduced, if the strength of the soul
be not also developed. When the outer man is somewhat subdued, let the inner man be
somewhat refreshed; and when bodily excess is denied to our flesh, let our mind be
invigorated by spiritual delights. Let every Christian scrutinise himself, and earth
severely into his inmost heart: let him see that no discord cling there, no wrong desire
be harboured. Let chasteness drive incontinence far away; let the light of truth dispel
the shades of deception; let the swellings of pride subside; let wrath yield to reason;
let the darts of ill-treatment be shattered, and the chidings of the tongue be bridled;
let thoughts of revenge fall through, and injuries be given over to oblivion. In fine, let
"every plant which the heavenly Father hath not planted be removed by the roots. For then
only are the seeds of virtue well nourished in us, when every foreign germ is uprooted
from the field of wheat.

2 If any one, therefore, has been fired by the desire for vengeance against another, so
that he has given him up to prison or bound him with chains, let him make haste to forgive
not only the innocent, but also one who seems worthy of punishment, that he may with
confidence make use of the clause in the Lord's prayer and say, "Forgive us our debts, as
we also forgive our debtors. Which petition the Lord marks with peculiar emphasis, as if
the efficacy of the whole rested on this condition, by saying, "For if ye forgive men
their sins, your Father which is in heaven also will forgive you: but if ye forgive not
men, neither will your Father forgive you your Sins."

Chapter VI. The Right Use of Lent Will Lead to a Happy Participation in Easter.

1 Accordingly, dearly-beloved, being mindful of our weakness, because we easily fall into
all kinds of faults, let us by no means neglect this special remedy and most effectual
healing of our wounds. Let us remit, that we may have remission: let us grant the pardon
which we crave: let us not be eager to be revenged when we pray to be forgiven. Let us not
pass over the groans of the poor with deaf ear, but with prompt kindness bestow our mercy
on the needy, that we may deserve to find mercy in the judgment. And he that, aided by
God's grace, shall strain every nerve after this perfection, will keep this holy fast
faithfully; free from the leaven of the old wickedness, in the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth he will reach the blessed Passover, and by newness of life will
worthily rejoice in the mystery of man's reformation through Christ our Lord Who with the
Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.


SERMONS
=======

SERMONS continued

SERMON 22

Chapter I. Progress and Improvement Always Possible.

1 Although, dearly-beloved, as the Easter festival approaches, the very recurrence of the
season points out to us the Lenten fast, yet our words also must add their exhortations
which, the Lord helping us, may be not useless to the active nor irksome to the devout.
For since the idea of these days demands the increase of all our religious performances,
there is no one, I am sure, that does not feel glad at being incited to good works. For
though our nature which, so long as we are mortal, will be changeable, is advancing to the
highest pursuits of virtue, yet always has the possibility of filling back, so has it
always the possibility of advancing. And this is the true justness of the perfect that
they should never assume themselves to be perfect, lest flagging in the purpose of their
yet unfinished journey,they should fall into the danger of failure, through giving up the
desire for progress.

2 And, therefore, because none of us, dearly beloved, is so perfect and holy as not to be
able to be more perfect and more holy, let us all together, without difference of rank,
without distinction of desert, with pious eagerness pursue our race from what we have
attained to what we yet aspire to, and make some needful additions to our regular
devotions. For he that is not more attentive than usual to religion in these days, is
shown at other times to be not attentive enough.

Chapter II. Satan Seeks to Subtly His Numerous Lasses by Fresh Gains.

1 Hence the reading of the Apostle's proclamation has sounded opportunely in our ears,
saying, "Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation." For what is
more accepted than this time, what more suitable to salvation than these days, in which
war is proclaimed against vices and progress is made in all virtues? Thou hadst indeed
always to keep watch, O Christian soul, against the enemy of thy salvation, lest any spot
should be exposed to the tempter's snares: but now greater wariness and keener prudence
must be employed by thee when that same foe of thine rages with fiercer hatred. For now in
all the world the power of his ancient sway is taken from him, and the countless vessels
of captivity are rescued from his grasp. The people of all nations and of all tongues are
breaking away from their cruel plunderer, and now no race of men is found that does not
struggle against the tyrant's laws, while through all the borders of the earth many
thousands of thousands are being prepared to be reborn in Christ: and as the birth of a
new creature draws near, spiritual wickedness is being driven out by those who were
possessed by it. The blasphemous fury of the despoiled foe frets, therefore, and seeks new
gains because it has lost its ancient right. Unwearied and ever wakeful, he snatches at
any sheep he finds straying carelessIy from the sacred folds, intent on leading them over
the steeps of treasure anti down the slopes of luxury into the abodes of death. And so he
inflames their wrath, feeds their hatreds, whets their desires, mocks at their continence,
arouses their gluttony.

Chapter III. The Twofold Nature of Christ Shown at the Temptation.

1 For whom would he not dare to try, who did not keep from his treacherous attempts even
on our Lord Jesus Christ? For, as the story of the Gospel has disclosed when our Saviour,
Who was true God, that He might show Himself true Man also, and banish all wicked and
erroneous opinions, after the fast of 40 days and nights, had experienced the hunger of
human weakness, the devil, rejoicing at having found in Him a sign of possible and mortal
nature, in order to test the power which he feared, said, "If Thou art the Son of God,
command that these stones become bread." Doubtless the Almighty could do this, and it was
easy that at the Creator's command a creature of any kind should change into the form that
it was commanded: just as whenHe willed it, in the marriage feast, Hechanged the water
into wine: but here it better agreed with His purposes of salvation that His haughty foe's
cunning should be vanquished by the Lord, not in the power of His Godhead, but by the
mystery of His humiliation. At length, when the devil had been put to flight and the
tempter baffled in all his arts, angels came to the Lord and ministered to Him, that He
being true Man and true God, His Manhood might be unsullied by those crafty questions, and
His Godhead displayed by those holy ministrations. And so let the sons and disciples of
the devil be confounded, who, being filled with the poison of vipers, deceive the simple,
denying in Christ the presence of both true natures, whilst they rob either His Godhead of
Manhood, or His Manhood of Godhead, although both falsehoods are destroyed by a twofold
and simultaneous proof: for by His bodily hunger His perfect Manhood was shown, and by the
attendant angels His perfect Godhead.

Chapter IV. The Fast Should Not End with Abstinence Front Food, But Lead to Good Deeds.

1 Therefore, dearly-beloved, seeing that, as we are taught by our Redeemer's precept, "man
lives not in bread alone, but in every word of God," and it is right that Christian
people, whatever the amount of their abstinence, should rather desire to satisfy
themselves with the "Word of God" than with bodily food, let us with ready devotion and
eager faith enter upon the celebration of the solemn fast, not with barren abstinence
flora food, which is often imposed on us by weakliness of body, or the disease of avarice,
but in bountiful benevolence: that in truth we may be of those of whom the very Truth
speaks, "blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be
filled." Let works of piety, therefore, be our delight, and let us be filled with those
kinds of food which feed us for eternity. Let us rejoice in the replenishment of the poor,
whom our bounty has satisfied. Let us delight in the clothing of those whose nakedness we
have covered with needful raiment. Let our humaneness be felt by the sick in their
illnesses, by the weakly in their infirmities, by the exiles in their hardships, by the
orphans in their destitution, and by solitary widows in their sadness: in the helping of
whom there is no one that cannot carry out some amount of benevolence. For no one's income
is small, whose heart is big: and the measure of one's mercy and goodness does not depend
on the size of one's means. Wealth of goodwill is never rightly lacking, even in a slender
purse. Doubtless the expenditure of the rich isgreater, and that of the poor smaller, but
there is no difference in the fruit of their works, where the purpose of the workers is
the same.

Chapter V. And Still Further It Should Lead to Personal Amendment and Domestic Harmony.

1 But, beloved, in this opportunity for the virtues' exercise there are also other
notablecrowns, to be won by no dispersing abroad of granaries, by no disbursement of
money, if wantonness is repelled, if drunkenness is abandoned, and the lusts of the flesh
tamed by the laws of chastity: if hatreds pass into affection, if enmities be turned into
peace, if meekness extinguishes wrath, if gentleness forgives wrongs, if in fine the
conduct of master and of slaves is so well ordered that the rule of the one is milder, and
the discipline of the other is more complete. It is by such observances then, dearly-
beloved, that God's mercy will be gained, the charge of sin wiped out, and the adorable
Easter festival devoutly kept. And this the pious Emperors of the Roman world have long
guarded with holy observance; for in honour of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection they
bend their lofty power, and relaxing the severity of their decrees set free many of their
prisoners: so that on the clays when the world is saved by the Divine mercy, their
clemency, which is modelled on the Heavenly goodness, may be zealously followed by us. Let
Christian peoples then imitate their princes, and be incited to forbearance in their homes
by these royal examples. For it is not right that private laws should be severer than
public. Let faults be forgiven, let bonds be loosed offences wiped out, designs of
vengeance fall through, that the holy festival through the Divine and human grace may find
all happy, all innocent: through our Lord Jesus Christ Who with the Father and the Holy
Spirit liveth and reigneth God for endless ages of ages. Amen.

SERMON 23

Chapter I. The Lenten Fast an Opportunity for Restoring Our Purely.

1 In proposing to preach this most holy and important fast to you, dearly beloved, how
shall I begin more fitly than by quoting the words of the Apostle, in whom Christ Himself
was speaking, and by reminding you of what we have read: "behold, now is the acceptable
time, behold now is the day of salvation." For though there are no seasons which are not
full of Divine blessings, and though access is ever open to us to God's mercy through His
grace, yet now all men's minds should be moved with greater zeal to spiritual progress,
and animated by larger confidence, when the return of the day, on which we were redeemed,
invites us to all the duties of godliness: that we may keep the super-excellent mystery of
the Lord's passion with bodies and hearts purified. These great mysteries do indeed
require from us such unflagging devotion and unwearied reverence that we should remain in
God's sight always the same, as we ought to be found on the Easter feast itself. But
because few have this constancy, and, because so long as the stricter observance is
relaxed in consideration of the frailty of the flesh, and so long as one's interests
extend over all the various actions of this life, even pious hearts must get some soils
from the dust of the world, the Divine Providence has with great beneficence taken care
that the discipline of the forty days should heal us and restore the purity of our minds,
during which the faults of other times might be redeemed by pious acts and removed by
chaste fasting.

Chapter II. Lent Must Be Used Far Removing All Our Defilements, and of Good Works There
Must Be No Stint.

1 As we are therefore, dearly-beloved, about to enter on those mystic days which are
dedicated to the benefits of fasting, let us take care to obey the Apostle's precepts,
cleansing "ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit: that by controlling the
struggles that go on between our two natures, the spirit which, if it is under the
guidance of God, should be the governor of the body, may uphold the dignity of its rule:
so that we may give no offence to any, nor be subject to the chidings of reprovers. For we
shall be rightly attacked with rebukes, and through our fault ungodly tongues will arm
themselves to do harm to religion, if the conduct of those that fast is at variance with
the standard of perfect purity. For our fast does not consist chiefly of mere abstinence
from food, nor are dainties withdrawn from our bodily appetites with profit, unless the
mind is recalled from wrong-doing and the tongue restrained from slandering. This is a
time of gentleness and long-suffering, of peace and tranquillity: when all the pollutions
of vice are to be eradicated and continuance of virtue is to be attained by us. Now let
godly minds boldly accustom themselves to forgive faults, to pass over insults, and to
forget wrongs.

2 Now let the faithful spirit train himself with the armour of righteousness on the fight
hand and on the left, that through honour and dishonour, through ill repute and good
repute, the conscience may be undisturbed in unwavering uprightness, not puffed up by
praise and not wearied out by revilings. The self-restraint of the religious should not be
gloomy, but sincere; no murmurs of complaint should be heard from those who are never
without the consolation of holy joys. The decrease of worldly means should not be feared
in the practice of works of mercy. Christian poverty is always rich, because what it has
is more than what it has not. Nor does the poor man fear to labour in this world, to whom
it is given to possess all things in the Lord of all things. Therefore those who do the
things which are good must have no manner of fear lest the power of doing should fail
them; since in the gospel the widow's devotion is extolled in the case of her two mites,
and voluntary bounty gets its reward for a cup of cold water. For the measure of our
charitableness is fixed by the sincerity of our feelings, and he that shows mercy on
others will never want for mercy himself.

3 The holy widow of Sarepta discovered this, who offered the blessed Elias in the time of
famine one day's food, which was all she had, and putting the prophet's hunger before her
own needs, ungrudgingly gave up a handful of corn and a little oil. But she did not lose
what she gave in all faith, and in the vessels emptied by her godly bounty a source of new
plenty arose, that the fulness of her substance might not be diminished by the holy
purpose to which she had put it, because she had never dreaded being brought to want.

Chapter III. As with the Saviour, So with Us, the Devil Tries to Make Our Very Piety Its
Own Snare.

1 But, dearly-beloved, doubt not that the devil, who is the opponent of all virtues, is
jealous of these good desires, to which we are confident you are prompted of your own
selves, and that to this end he is arming the force of his malice in order to make your
very piety its own snare, and endeavouring to overcome by boastfulness those whom he could
not defeat by distrustfulness. For the vice of pride is a near neighbour to good deeds,
and arrogance ever lies in wait hard by virtue: because it is hard for him that lives
praise-worthily not to be caught by man's praise unless, as it is written, "he that
glorieth, glorieth in the Lord. Whose intentions would that most naughty enemy not dare to
attack? whose fasting would he not seek to break down? seeing that, as has been shown in
the reading of the Gospel he did not restrain his wiles even against the Saviour of the
world Himself. For being exceedingly afraid of His fast, which lasted 40 days and nights,
he wished most cunningly to discover whether this power of abstinence was given Him or His
very own: for he need not fear the defeat of all his treacherous designs, if Christ were
throughout subject to the same conditions as He is in body. And so he first craftily
examined whether He were Himself the Creator of all things, such that He could change the
natures of material things as He pleased:

2 secondly, whether under the form of human flesh the Godhead lay concealed, to Whom it
was easy to make the air His chariot, and convey His earthly limbs through space. But when
the Lord preferred to resist him by the uprightness of His true Manhood, than to display
the power of His Godhead, to this he turns the craftiness of his third design, that he
might tempt by the lust of empire Him in Whom the signs of Divine power had failed, and
entice Him to the worship of himself by promising the kingdoms of the world. But the
devil's cleverness was rendered foolish by God's wisdom, so that the proud foe was bound
by that which he had formerly bound, and did not fear to assail Him Whom it behoved to be
slain for the world.

Chapter IV. The Perverse Turn Even Their Fasting into Sin.

1 This adversary's wiles then let us beware of, not only in the enticements of the palate,
but also in our purpose of abstinence. For he who knew how to bring death upon mankind by
means of food, knows also how to harm us through our very fasting, and using the
Manichaeans as his tools, as he once drove men to take what was forbidden, so in the
opposite direction he prompts them to avoid what is allowed. It is indeed a helpful
observance, which accustoms one to scanty diet, and checks the appetite for dainties: but
woe to the dogmatizing of those whose very fasting is turned to sin. For they condemn the
creature's nature to the Creator's injury, and maintain that they are defiled by eating
those things of which they contend the devil, not God, is the author: although absolutely
nothing that exists is evil, nor is anything in nature included in the actually bad. For
the good Creator made all things good and the Maker of the universe is one, "Who made the
heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them." Of which whatever is granted to
man for food and drink,' is holy and clean after its kind. But if it is taken with
immoderate greed, it is the excess that disgraces the eaters and drinkers, not the nature
of the food or drink that defiles them. "For all things," as the Apostle says, "are clean
to the clean. But to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean, but their mind and
conscience is defiled."

Chapter V. Be Reasonable and Seasonable in Your Fasting.

1 But ye, dearly-beloved, the holy offspring of the catholic Mother, who have been taught
in the school of Truth by God's Spirit, moderate your liberty with due reasonableness,
knowing that it is good to abstain even from things lawful, and at seasons of greater
strictness to distinguish one food from another with a view to giving up the use of some
kinds, not to condemning their nature. And so be not infected with the error of those who
are corrupted merely by their own ordinances, "serving the creature rather than the
Creator," and offering a foolish abstinence to the service of the lights of heaven: seeing
that they have chosen to fast on the first and second days of the week in honour of the
sun and moon, proving themselves in this one instance of their perverseness twice disloyal
to God, twice blasphemous, by setting up their fast not only in worship of the stars but
also in contempt of the Lord's Resurrection. For they reject the mystery of man's
salvation and refuse to believe that Christ our Lord in the true flesh of our nature was
truly born, truly suffered, was truly buried and was truly raised. And in consequence,
condemn the day of our rejoicing by the gloom of their fasting.

2 And since to conceal their infidelity they dare to be present at our meetings, at the
Communion of the Mysteries they bring themselves sometimes, in order to ensure their
concealment, to receive Christ's Body with unworthy lips, though they altogether refuse to
drink the Blood of our Redemption. And this we make known to you, holy brethren, that men
of this sort may be detected by you by these signs, and that they whose impious pretences
have been discovered may be driven from the society of the saints by priestly authority.
For of such the blessed Apostle Paul in his foresight warns God's Church, saying: "but we
beseech you, brethren, that ye observe those who make discussions and offences contrary to
the doctrine which ye learnt and turn away from them. For such persons serve not Christ
the Lord but their own belly, and by sweet words and fair speeches beguile the hearts of
the innocent."

Chapter VI. Make Your Fasting a Reality by Amendment in Your Lives.

1 Being therefore, dearly-beloved, fully instructed by these admonitions of ours, which we
have often repeated in your ears in protest against abominable error, enter upon the holy
days of Lent with Godly devoutness, and prepare yourselves to win God's mercy by your own
works of mercy. Quench your anger, wipe out enmities, cherish unity, and vie with one
another in the offices of true humility. Rule your slaves and those who are put under you
with fairness, let none of them be tortured by imprisonment or chains. Forego vengeance,
forgive offences: exchange severity for gentleness, indignation for meekness, discord for
peace. Let all men find us self-restrained, peaceable, kind: that our fastings may be
acceptable to God. For in a word to Him we offer the sacrifice of true abstinence and true
Godliness, when we keep ourselves from all evil: the Almighty God helping us through all,
to Whom with the Son and Holy Spirit belongs one Godhead and one Majesty, for ever and
ever. Amen:

SERMON 24

Chapter I. Lent Must Be Kept Not Only by Avoiding Bodily Impurity But Also by Avoiding
Errors of Thought and Faith.

1 We know indeed, dearly-beloved, your devotion to be so warm that in the fasting, which
is the forerunner of the Lord's Easter, many of you will have forestalled our
exhortations. But because the right practice of abstinence is needful not only to the
mortification of the flesh but also to the purification of the mind, we desire your
observance to be so complete that, as you cut down the pleasures that be long to the lusts
of the flesh, so you should banish the errors that proceed from the imaginations of the
heart. For he whose heart is polluted with no misbelief prepares himself with true and
reasonable purification for the Paschal Feast, in which all the mysteries of our religion
meet together. For, as the Apostle says, that "all that is not of faith is sin," the
fasting of those will be unprofitable and vain, whom the father of lying deceives with his
delusions, and who are not fed by Christ's true flesh. As then we must with the whole
heart obey the Divine commands and sound doctrine, so we must use all foresight in
abstaining from wicked imaginations. For the mind then only keeps holy and spiritual fast
when it rejects the food of error and the poison of falsehood, which our crafty and wily
foe plies us with more treacherously now, when by the very return of the venerable
Festival, the whole church generally is admonished to understand the mysteries of its
salvation.

2 For he is the true confessor and worshipper of Christ's resurrection, who is not
confused about His passion, nor deceived about His bodily nativity. For some are so
ashamed of the Gospel of the Cross of Christ, as to impudently nullify the punishment
which He underwent for the world's redemption, and have denied the very nature of true
flesh in the Lord, not understanding how the impossible and unchangeable Deity of God's
Word could have so far condescended for man's salvation, as by His power not to lose His
own properties, and in His mercy to take on Him ours. And so in Christ, there is a twofold
form but one person, and the Son of God, who is at the same time Son of Man, is one Lord,
accepting the condition of a slave by the design of loving-kindness, not by the law of
necessity, because by His power He became humble, by His power passible, by His power
mortal; that for the destruction of the tyranny of sin and death, the weak nature in Him
might be capable of punishment, and the strong nature not lose aught of its glory.

Chapter II. All the Actions of Christ Reveal the Presence of the Twofold Nature.

1 And so, dearly-beloved, when in reading or hearing the Gospel you find certain things in
our Lord Jesus Christ subjected to injuries and certain things illumined by miracles, in
such a way that in the same Person now the Humanity appears, and now the Divinity shines
out, do not put down any of these things to a delusion, as if in Christ there is either
Manhood alone or Godhead alone, but believe both faithfully, worship both right humbly; so
that in the union of the Word and the Flesh there may be no separation, and the bodily
proofs may not seem delusive, because the divine signs were evident in Jesus. The
attestations to both natures in Him are true and abundant, and by the depth of the Divine
purpose all concur to this end, that the inviolable Word not being separated from the
passible flesh, the Godhead may be understood as in all things partaker with the flesh and
flesh with the Godhead. And, therefore, must the Christian mind that would eschew lies and
be the disciple of truth, use the Gospel-story confidently, and, as if still in company
with the Apostles themselves, distinguish what is visibly done by the Lord, now by the
spiritual understanding and now by the bodily organs of sight. Assign to the man that He
is born a boy of a woman: assign to God that His mother's virginity is not harmed, either
by conception or by bearing.

2 Recognize "the form of a slave" enwrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, but
acknowledge that it was the Lord's form that was announced by angels, "proclaimed by the
elements," adored by the wise men. Understand it of His humanity that he did not avoid the
marriage feast confess it Divine that he turned water into wine. Let your own feelings
explain to you why He shed tears over a dead friend: let His Divine power be realized,
when that same friend, after mouldering in the grave four days, is brought to life and
raised only by the command of His voice. To make clay with spittle and earth was a work of
the body: but to anoint therewith and enlighten the eyes of the blind is an undoubted mark
of that power which had reserved for the revelation of its glory that which it had not
allowed to the early part ofHis natural life. It is truly human to relievebodily fatigue
with rest in sleep: but it is truly Divine to quell the violence of raging storms by a
rebuking command. To set food before the hungry denotes human kindness and a philanthropic
spirit: but with five loaves and two fishes to satisfy 5,000 men, besides women and
children, who would dare deny that to be the work of Deity? a Deity which, by the co-
operation of the functions of true flesh, showed not only itself in Manhood, but also
Manhood in itself;

3 for the old, original wounds in man's nature could not be healed, except by the Word of
God taking to Himself flesh from the Virgin's womb, whereby in one and the same Person
flesh and the Word co-existed.

Chapter III. Hold Fast to the Statements of the Creed.

1 This belief in the Lord's Incarnation, dearly-beloved, through which the whole Church is
Christ's body hold firm with heart unshaken and abstain from all the lies of heretics, and
remember that your works of mercy will only then profit you, and your strict continence
only then bear fruit, when your minds are unsoiled by any defilement from wrong opinions.
Cast away the arguments of this world's wisdom, for God hates them, and none can arrive by
them at the knowledge of the Truth, and keep fixed in your mind that which you say in the
Creed. Believe the Son of God to be co-eternal with the Father by Whom all things were
made and without Whom nothing was made, born also according to the flesh at the end of the
times. Believe Him to have been in the body crucified, dead, raised up, · and lifted above
the heights of heavenly powers, set on the Father's right hand, about to come in the same
flesh in which He ascended, to judge the living and the dead. For this is what the Apostle
proclaims to all the faithful, saying: "if ye be risen with Christ seek the things which
are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things
that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. For when Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with Him in glory."

Chapter IV. Use Lent for General Improvement in the Whole Round of Christian Duties.

1 Relying, therefore, dearly-beloved, on so great a promise, be heavenly not only in hope,
but also in conduct And though our minds must at all times be set on holiness of mind and
body, yet now during these 40 days of fasting bestir yourselves to yet more active works
of piety, not only in the distribution of alms, which are very effectual in attesting
reform, but also in forgiving offences, and in being merciful to those accused of
wrongdoing, that the condition which God has laid down between Himself and us may not be
against us when we pray. For when we say, in accordance with the Lord's teaching, "Forgive
us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors," we ought with the whole heart to carry out
what we say. For then only will what we ask in the next clause come to pass, that we be
not led into temptation and freed from all evils: through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with
the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 25

Chapter I. The Lenten Fast is Incumbent on All Alike.

1 On all days and seasons, indeed, dearly-beloved, some marks of the Divine goodness are
set, and no part of the year is destitute of sacred mysteries, in order that, so long as
proofs of our salvation meet us on all sides, we may the more eagerly accept the never-
ceasing calls of God's mercy. But all that is bestowed on the restoration of human souls
in the divers works and gifts of grace is put before us more clearly and abundantly now,
when no isolated portions of the Faith are to be celebrated, but the whole together. For
as the Easter festival approaches, the greatest and most binding of fasts is kept, and its
observance is imposed on all the faithful without exception; because no one is so holy
that he ought not to be holier, nor so devout that he might not be devouter. For who, that
is set in the uncertainty of this life, can be found either exempt from temptation, or
free from fault? Who is there who would not wish for additions to his virtue, or removal
of his vice? seeing that adversity does us harm, and prosperity spoils us, and it is
equally dangerous not to have what we want at all, and to have it in the fullest measure.
There is a trap in the fulness of riches, a trap in the straits of poverty. The one lifts
us up in pride, the other incites us to complaint. Health tries us, sickness tries us, so
long as the one fosters carelessness and the other sadness. There is a snare in security,
a snare in fear; and it matters not whether the mind which is given over to earthly
thoughts, is taken up with pleasures or with cares; for it is equally unhealthy to
languish under empty delights, or to labour under racking anxiety.

Chapter II. The Broad Road is Crowded the Narrow Way of Salvation Nearly Empty.

1 And thus is perfectly fulfilled that assurance of the Truth, by which we learn that
"narrow and steep is the way that leads to life; and whilst the breadth of the way that
leads to death is crowded with a large company, the steps are few of those that tread the
path of safety. And wherefore is the left road more thronged than the right, save that the
multitude is prone to wordly joys and carnal goods? And although that which it desires is
short-lived and uncertain, yet men endure toil more willingly for the lust of pleasure
than for love of virtue. Thus while those who crave things visible are unnumbered, those
who prefer the eternal to the temporal are hardly to be found. And, therefore, seeing that
the blessed Apostle Paul says, "the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal," the path of virtue lies hid and in concealment, to a
certain extent, since "by hope we were saved," and true faith loves that above all things,
which it attains to without any intervention of the flesh. A great work and toil it is
then to keep our wayward heart from all sin, and, with the numberless allurements of
pleasure to ensnare it on all sides, not to let the vigour of the mind give way to any
attack. Who "toucheth pitch, and is not defiled thereby? who is not weakened by the flesh?
who is not begrimed by the dust?

2 who, lastly, is of such purity as not to be polluted by those things without which one
cannot live? For the Divine teaching commands by the Apostle's mouth that "they who have
wives" should "be as though they had none: and those that weep as though they wept not;
and those that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and those that buy as though they
possessed not; and those that use this world as though they used it not; for the fashion
of this world passeth away. Blessed, therefore, is the mind that passes the time of its
pilgrimage in chaste sobriety, and loiters not in the things through which it has to walk,
so that, as a stranger rather than the possessor of its earthly abode, it may not be
wanting in human affections, and yet rest on the Divine promises.

Chapter III. Satan is Incited to Fresh Efforts at This Season of the Year.

1 And, dearly-beloved, no season requires and bestows this fortitude more than the
present, when by the observance of a special strictness a habit is acquired which must be
persevered in. For it is well known to you that this is the time when throughout the world
the devil waxes furious, and the Christian army has to combat him, and any that have grown
lukewarm and slothful, or that are absorbed in worldly cares, must now be furnished with
spiritual armour and their ardour kindled for the fray by the heavenly trumpet, inasmuch
as he, through whose envy death came into the world is now consumed with the strongest
jealousy and now tortured with the greatest vexation. For he sees whole tribes of the
human race brought in afresh to the adoption of God's sons and the offspring of the New
Birth multiplied through the virgin fertility of the Church. He sees himself robbed of all
his tyrannic power, and driven from the hearts of those he once possessed, while from
either sex thousands of the old, the young, the middle-aged are snatched away from him,
and no one is debarred by sin either of his own or original, where justification is not
paid for deserts, but simply given as a free gift. He sees, too, those that have lapsed,
and have been deceived by his treacherous snares, washed in the tears of penitence and, by
the Apostle's key unlocking the gates of mercy, admitted to the benefit of reconciliation.
He feels, moreover, that the day of the Lord's Passion is at hand, and that he is crushed
by the power of that cross which in Christ, Who was free from all debt of sin, was the
world's ransom and not the penalty of sin.

Chapter IV. self-Examination by the Standard of God's Commands the Right Occupation in
Lent.

1 And so, tha the malice of the fretting foe may effect nothing by its rage, a keener
devotion must be awaked to the performance of the Divine commands, in order that we may
enter on the season, when all the mysteries of the Divine mercy meet together, with
preparedness both of mind and body, invoking the guidance and help of God, that we may be
strong to fulfil all things through Him, without Whom we can do nothing. For the
injunction is laid on us, in order that we may seek the aid of Him Who lays it Nor must
any one excuse himself by reason of his weakness, since He Who has granted the will, also
gives the power, as the blessed Apostle James says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him
ask of God, Who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.
Which of the faithful does not know what virtues he ought to cultivate, and what vices to
fight against? Who is so partial or so unskilled a judge of his own conscience as not to
know what ought to be removed, and what ought to be developed? Surely no one is so devoid
of reason as not to understand the character of his mode of life, or not to know the
secrets of his heart.

2 Let him not then please himself in everything, nor judge himself according to the
delights of the flesh, but place his every habit in the scale of the Divine commands,
where, some things being ordered to be done and others forbidden, he can examine himself
in a true balance by weighing the actions of his life according to this standard. For the
designing mercy of God has set up the brightest mirror in His commandments, wherein a man
may see his mind's face and realize its conformity or dissimilarity to God's image: with
the specific purpose that, at least, during the days of our Redemption and Restoration, we
may throw off awhile our carnal cares and restless occupations, and betake ourselves from
earthly matters to heavenly.

Chapter V. Forgiveness of Our Own Sins Requires that We Should Forgive Others.

1 But because, as it is written, "in many things we all stumble," let the feeling of mercy
be first aroused and the faults of others against us be forgotten; that we may not violate
by any love of revenge that most holy compact, to which we bind ourselves in the Lord's
prayer, and when we say "forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors," let us not
be hard in forgiving, because we must be possessed either with the desire for revenge, or
with the leniency of gentleness, and for man, who is ever exposed to the dangers of
temptations, it is more to be desired that his own faults should not need punishment than
that he should get the faults of others punished. And what is more suitable to the
Christian faith than that not only in the Church, but also in all men's homes, there
should be forgiveness of sins? Let threats be laid aside; let bonds be loosed, for he who
will not loose them will bind himself with them much more disastrously. For whatsoever one
man resolves upon against another, he decrees against himself by his own terms. Whereas
"blessed are the merciful, for God shall have mercy on them:" and He is just and kind in
His judgments, allowing some to be in the power of others to this end, that under fair
government may be preserved both the profitableness of discipline and the kindliness of
clemency, and that no one should dare to refuse that pardon to another's shortcomings,
which he wishes to receive for his own.

Chapter VI. Reconciliation Between Enemies and Alms-Giving are Also Lenten Duties.

1 Furthermore, as the Lord says, that "the peacemakers are blessed, because they shall be
called sons of God," let all discords and enmities be laid aside, and let no one think to
have a share in the Paschal feast that has neglected to restore brotherly peace. For with
the Father on high, he that is not in charity with the brethren, will not be reckoned in
the number of His sons. Furthermore, in the distribution of alms and care of the poor, let
our Christian fast-times be fat and abound; and let each bestow on the weak and destitute
those dainties which he denies himself. Let pains be taken that all may bless God with one
mouth, and let him that gives some portion of substance understand that he is a minister
of the Divine mercy; for God has placed the cause of the poor in the hand of the liberal
man; that the sins which are washed away either by the waters of baptism, or the tears of
repentance, may be also blotted out by alms-giving; for the Scripture says, "As water
extinguisheth fire, so alms extinguisheth sin." Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.

SERMON 26

Chapter I. Peter's Confession Shown to Lead Up to the Transfiguration.

1 The Gospel lesson, dearly-beloved, which has reached the inner hearing of our minds
through our bodily ears, calls us to the understanding of a great mystery, to which we
shall by the help of God's grace the better attain, if we turn our attention to what is
narrated just before. 2 The Saviour of mankind, Jesus Christ, in founding that faith,
which recalls the wicked to righteousness and the dead to life, used to instruct His
disciples by admonitory teaching and by miraculous acts to the end that He, the Christ,
might be believed to be at once the Only-begotten of God and the Son of Man. For the one
without the other was of no avail to salvation, and it was equally dangerous to have
believed the Lord Jesus Christ to be either only God without manhood, or only man without
Godhead since both had equally to be confessed, because just as true manhood existed in
His Godhead, so true Godhead existed in His Manhood. To strengthen, therefore, their most
wholesome knowledge of this belief, the Lord had asked His disciples, among the various
opinions of others, what they themselves believed, or thought about Him: whereat the
Apostle Peter, by the revelation of the most High Father passing beyond things corporeal
and surmounting things human by the eyes of his mind, saw Him to be Son of the living God,
and acknowledged the glory of the Godhead, because he looked not at the substance of His
flesh and blood alone; and with this lofty faith Christ was so well pleased that he
received the fulness of blessing, and was endued with the holy firmness of the inviolable
Rock on which the Church should be built and conquer the gates of hell and the laws of
death, so that, in loosing or binding the petitions of any whatsoever, only that should be
ratified in heaven which had been settled by the judgment of Peter.

Chapter II. The Same Continued.

1 But this exalted and highly-praised understanding, dearly-beloved, had also to be
instructed on the mystery of Christ's lower substance, lest the Apostle's faith, being
raised to the glory of confessing the Deity in Christ, should deem the reception of our
weakness unworthy of the impassible God, and incongruous, and should believe the human
nature to be so glorified in Him as to be incapable of suffering punishment, or being
dissolved in death. And, therefore, when the Lord said that He must go to Jerusalem, and
suffer many things from the elders and scribes and chief of the priests, and the third day
rise again, the blessed Peter who, being illumined with light from above, was burning with
the heat of his confession, rejected their mocking insults and the disgrace of the most
cruel death, with, as he thought, a loyal and outspoken contempt, but was checked by a
kindly rebuke from Jesus and animated with the desire to share His suffering. For the
Saviour's exhortation that followed, instilled and taught this, that they who wished to
follow Him should deny themselves. and count the loss of temporal flyings as light in the
hope of things eternal; because he alone could save his soul that did not fear to lose it
for Christ.

2 In order, therefore, that the Apostles might entertain this happy, constant courage with
their whole heart, and have no tremblings about the harshness of taking up the cross, and
that they might not be ashamed of the punishment of Christ, nor think what He endured
disgraceful for themselves (for the bitterness of suffering was to be displayed without
despite to His; glorious power), Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and
ascending a very high mountain with them apart, showed them the brightness of His glory;
because, although they had recognised the majesty of God in Him, yet the power of His
body, wherein His Deity was contained, they did not know. And, therefore, rightly and
significantly, had He promised that certain of the disciples standing by should not taste
death till they saw "the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom," that is, in the kingly
brilliance which, as specially belonging to the nature of His assumed Manhood, He wished
to be conspicuous to these three men. For the unspeakable and unapproachable vision of the
Godhead Itself which is reserved tilt eternal life for the pure in heart, they could in no
wise look upon and see while still surrounded with mortal flesh. The Lord displays His
glory, therefore, before chosen witnesses, and invests that bodily shape which He shared
with others with such splendour, that His face was like the sun's brightness and His
garments equalled the whiteness of snow.

Chapter III. the Object and the Meaning of the Transfiguration.

1 And in this Transfiguration the foremost object was to remove the offence of the cross
from the disciple's heart, and to prevent their faith being disturbed by the humiliation
of His voluntary Passion by revealing to them the excellence of His hidden dignity. But
with no less foresight, the foundation was laid of the Holy Church's hope, that the whole
body of Christ might realize the character of the change which it would have to receive,
and that the members might promise themselves a share in that honour which had already
shone forth in their Head. About which the Lord bad Himself said, when He spoke of the
majesty of His coming, "Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in their Father's
Kingdom," whilst the blessed Apostle Paul bears witness to the self-same thing, and says:
"for I reckon that the sufferings of this thee are not worthy to be compared with the
future glory which shall be revealed in us:" and again, "for ye are dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God. For when Christ our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory." But to confirm the Apostles and assist them to all knowledge, still
further instruction was conveyed by that miracle.

Chapter IV. The Significance of the Appearance of Moses and Elias.

1 For Moses and Elias, that is the Law and the Prophets, appeared talking with the Lord;
that in the presence of those five men might most truly be fulfilled what was said: "In
two or three witnesses stands every word." What more stable, what more steadfast than this
word, in the proclamation of which the trumpet of the Old and of the New Testament joins,
and the documentary evidence of the ancient witnesses combine with the teaching of the
Gospel?For the pages of both covenants corroborate each other, and He Whom under the veil
of mysteries the types that went before had promised, is displayed clearly and
conspicously by the splendour of the present glory. Because, as says the blessed John,
"the law was given through Moses: but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ," in Whom
is fulfilled both the promise of prophetic figures and the purpose of the legal
ordinances: for He both teaches the truth of prophecy by His presence, and renders the
commands possible through grace.

Chapter V. S Peter's Suggestion Contrary to the Divine Order.

1 The Apostle Peter, therefore, being excited by the revelation of these mysteries,
despising things mundane and scorning things earthly, was seized with a sort of frenzied
craving for the things eternal, and being filled with rapture at the whole vision, desired
to make his abode with Jesus in the place where he had been blessed with the manifestation
of His glory. Whence also he says, "Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt let
us make three tabernacles one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias." But to this
proposal the Lord made no answer, signifying that what he wanted was not indeed; wicked,
but contrary to the Divine order: since the world could not be saved, except; by Christ's
death, and by the Lord's example the faithful were called upon to believe that, although
there ought not to be any doubt about the promises of happiness, yet we should understand
that amidst the trials of this life we must ask for the power of endurance rather than the
glory, because the joyousness of reigning cannot precede the times of suffering.

Chapter VI. The Import of the Father's Voice from the Cloud.

1 And so while He was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a
voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye Him. The Father was indeed present in the Son, and in the Lord's brightness, which He
had tempered to the disciples' sight, the Father's Essence was not separated from the
Only-begotten: but, in order to emphasize the two-fold personality, as the effulgence of
the Son's body displayed the Son to their sight, so the Father's voice from out the cloud
announced the Father to their hearing. And when this voice was heard, "the disciples fell
upon their faces, and were sore afraid," trembling at the majesty, not only of the Father,
but also of the Son: for they now had a deeper insight into the undivided Deity of Both:
and in their fear they did not separate the One from the Other, because they doubted not
in their faith. That was a wide and manifold testimony, therefore, and contained a fuller
meaning than struck the ear. For when the Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom,
&c.," was it not clearly meant, "This is My Son," Whose it is to be eternally from Me and
with Me? because the Begetter is not anterior to the Begotten, nor the Begotten posterior
to the Begetter. "This is My Son," Who is separated from Me, neither by Godhead, nor by
power, nor by eternity.

2 "This is My Son," not adopted, but true-born, not created from another source, but
begotten of Me: nor yet made like Me from another nature, but born equal to Me of My
nature. "This is My Son," "through Whom all things were made, and without Whom was nothing
made " because all things that I do He doth in like manner: and whatever I perform, He
performs with Me inseparably and without difference: for the Son is in the Father and the
Father in the Son and Our Unity is never divided: and though I am One Who begot, and He
the Other Whom I begot, yet is it wrong for you to think anything of Him which is not
possible of Me. "This is My Son," Who sought not by grasping, and seized not in greediness
that equality with Me which He has, but remaining in the form of My glory, that He might
carry out Our common plan for the restoration of mankind, He lowered the unchangeable
Godhead even to the form of a slave.

Chapter VII. Who It is We Have to Hear.

1 "Here ye Him," therefore, unhesitatingly, in Whom I am throughout well pleased, and by
Whose preaching I am manifested, by Whose humiliation I am glorified; because He is "the
Truth and the Life," He is My "Power and Wisdom." "Hear ye Him," Whom the mysteries of the
Law have foretold, Whom the mouths of prophets have sung. "Hear ye Him," Who redeems the
world by His blood, Who binds the devil, and carries off his chattels, Who destroys the
bond of sin, and the compact of the transgression. Hear ye Him, Who opens the way to
heaven, and by the punishment of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent to the
Kingdom? Why tremble ye at being redeemed? why fear ye to be healed of your wounds?Let
that happen which Christ wills and I will. Cast away all fleshly fear, and arm yourselves
with faithful constancy; for it is unworthy that ye should fear in the Saviour's Passion
what by His good gift ye shall not have to fear even at your own end.

Chapter VIII. The Father's Words Have a Universal Application to the Whole Church.

1 These things, dearly-beloved, were said not for their profit only, who heard them with
their own ears, but in these three Apostles the whole Church has learnt all that their
eyes saw and their ears heard. Let all men's faith then be established, according to the
preaching of the most holy Gospel, and let no one be ashamed of Christ's cross, through
which the world was redeemed. And let not any one fear to suffer for righteousness' sake,
or doubt of the fulfilment of the promises, for this reason, that through toil we pass to
rest and through death to life; since all the weakness of our humility was assumed by Him,
in Whom, if we abide in the acknowledgment and love of Him, we conquer as He conquered,
and receive what he promised, because, whether to the performance of His commands or to
the endurance of adversities, I the Father's fore-announcing voice should always be
sounding in our ears, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye
Him:" Who liveth and reigneth, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.
Amen.

SERMON 27

Chapter I. The Two-Fold Nature of Christ Set Forth.

1 Among all the works of God's mercy, dearly-beloved, which from the beginning have been
bestowed upon men's salvation, none is more wondrous, and none more sublime, than that
Christ was crucified for the world. For to this mystery all the mysteries of the ages
preceding led up, and every variation which the will of God ordained in sacrifices, in
prophetic signs, and in the observances of the Law, foretold that this was fixed, and
promised its fulfilment: so that now types and figures are at an end, and we find our
profit in believing that accomplished which before we found our profit in looking forward
to. In all things, therefore, dearly-beloved, which pertain to the Passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Catholic Faith maintains and demands that we acknowledge the two Natures
to have met in our Redeemer, and while their properties remained, such a union of both
Natures to have been effected that, from the thee when, as the cause of mankind required,
in the blessed Virgin's womb, "the Word became flesh," we may not think of Him asGod
without that which is man, nor as man without that which is God. Each Nature does indeed
express its real existence by actions that distinguish it, but neither separatesitself
from connexion with the other. Nothing is wanting there on either side; in the majesty the
humility is complete, in the humility themajesty is complete: and the unity does not
introduce confusion, nor does the distinctiveness destroy the unity. The one is
passible,the other inviolable; and yet the degradation belongs to the same Person, as does
the glory. He is present at once in weakness and in power; at once capable of death and
the vanquisher of it. Therefore, God took on Him whole Manhood, and so blended the two
Natures together by means of His mercy and power, that each Nature was present in the
other, and neither passed out of its own properties into the other.

Chapter II. The Two Natures Acted Conjointly, and the Human Sufferings Were Not
Compulsory, But in Accordance with the Divine Will.

1 But because the design of that mystery which was ordained for our restoration before the
eternal ages, was not to be carried out without human weakness and without Divine power
both "form" does that which is proper to it in common with the other, the Word, that is,
performing that which is the Word's and the flesh that which is of the flesh. One of them
gleams bright with miracles, the other i succumbs to injuries. The one departs not from
equality with the Father's glory, the other leaves not the nature of our race. But
nevertheless even His very endurance of sufferings does not so far expose Him to a
participation in our humility as to separate Him from the power of the Godhead. All the
mockery and insults, all the persecution and pain which the madness of the wicked
inflicted on the Lord, was not endured of necessity, but undertaken of free-will: "for the
Son of Man came to seek and to save that which had perished:" and He used the wickedness
of His persecutors for the redemption of all men in such a way that in the mystery of His
Death and Resurrection even His murderers could have been saved, if they had believed.

III Judas' Infamy Has Never Been Exceeded.

2 And hence, Judas, thou art proved more criminal and unhappier than all; for when
repentance should have called thee back to the Lord, despair dragged thee to the halter.
Thou shouldest have awaited the completion of thy crime, and have put off thy ghastly
death by hanging, until Christ's Blood was shed for all sinners. And among the many
miracles and gifts of the Lords which might have aroused thy conscience, those holy
mysteries, at least, might have rescued thee from thy headlong fall, which at the Paschal
supper thou hadst received, being even then detected in thy treachery by the sign of
Divine knowledge. Why dost thou distrust the goodness of Him, Who did not repel thee from
the communion of His body and blood, Who did not deny thee the kiss of peace when thou
camest with crowds and a band of armed men to seize Him. But O man that nothing could
convert, O "spirit going and not returning," thou didst follow thy heart's rage, and, the
devil standing at thy right hand, didst turn the wickedness, which thou hadst prepared
against the life of all the saints, to thine own destruction, so that, because thy crime
had exceeded all measure of punishment, thy wickedness might make thee thine own judge,
thy punishment allow thee to be thine own hangman.

Chapter IV. Christ Voluntarily Bartered His Glory for Our Weakness.

1 When, therefore, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself," and the Creator
Himself was wearing the creature which was to be restored to the image of its Creator; and
after the Divinely-miraculous works had been performed, the performance of which the
spirit of prophecy had once predicted, "then shall the eyes of the blind be opened and the
ears of the deaf shall hear; then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the
dumb shall be plain;" Jesus knowing that the thee was now come for the fulfilment of His
glorious Passion, said, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death;" and again, "Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from Me." And these words, expressing a certain fear, show
His desire to heal the affection of our weakness by sharing them, and to check our fear of
enduring pain by undergoing it. In our Nature, therefore, the Lord trembled with our fear,
that He might fully clothe our weakness and our frailty with the completeness of His own
strength. For He had come into this world a rich and merciful Merchant from the skies, and
by a wondrous exchange had entered into a bargain of salvation with us, receiving ours and
giving His, honour for insults, salvation for pain, life for death: and He Whom more than
12,000 of the angel-hosts might have served for the annihilation of His persecutors,
preferred to entertain our fears, rather than employ His own power.

Chapter V. S. Peter Was the First To' Benefit by His Master's Humiliation.

1 And how much this humiliation conferred upon all the faithful, the most blessed Apostle
Peter was the first to prove, who, after the fierce blast of threatening cruelty had
dismayed him, quickly changed, and was restored to vigour, finding remedy from the great
Pattern, so that the suddenly-shaken member returned to the firmness of the Head. For the
bond-servant could not be "greater than the Lord, nor the disciple greater than the
master," and he could not have vanquished the trembling of human frailty had not the
Vanquisher of Death first feared. The Lord, therefore, "looked back upon Peter," and amid
the calumnies of priests, the falsehoods of witnesses, the injuries of those that scourged
and spat upon Him, met His dismayed disciple with those eyes wherewith He had foreseen his
dismay: and the gaze of the Truth entered into him, on whose heart correction must be
wrought, as if the Lord's voice were making itself heard there, and saying, Whither goest
thou, Peter? why retirest thou upon thyself? turn thou to Me, put thy trust in Me, follow
Me: this is the thee of My Passion, the hour of thy suffering is not yet come. Why dost
thou fear what thou, too, shalt overcome?Let not the weakness, in which I share, confound
thee. I was fearful for thee; do thou be confident of Me.

Chapter VI. The Mad Counsel of the Jews Was Turned to Their Own Destruction.

1 "And when morning was come all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel
against Jesus to put him to death." This morning, O ye Jews, was for you not the rising,
but the setting of the sun, nor did the wonted daylight visit your eyes, but a night of
blackest darkness brooded on your naughty hearts. This morning overthrew for you the
temple and its altars, did away with the Law and the Prophets, destroyed the Kingdom and
the priesthood, turned all your feasts into eternal mourning. For ye resolved on a mad and
bloody counsel, ye "fat bulls," ye "many oxen," ye "roaring" wild beasts, ye rabid "dogs,"
to give up to death the Author of life and the Lord of glory; and, as if the enormity of
your fury could be palliated by employing the verdict of him, who ruled your province, you
lead Jesus bound to Pilate's judgment, that the terror-stricken judge being overcome by
your persistent shouts, you might choose a man that was a murderer for pardon, and demand
the crucifixion of the Saviour of the world. After this condemnation of Christ, brought
about more by the cowardice than the power of Pilate, who with washed hands but polluted
mouth sent Jesus to the cross with the very lips that had pronounced Him innocent, the
licence of the people, obedient to the looks of the priests, heaped many insults on the
Lord, and the frenzied mob wreaked its rage on Him, Who meekly and voluntarily endured it
all. But because, dearly-beloved, the whole story is too long to go through to-day, let us
put off the rest till Wednesday, when the reading of the Lord's Passion will be repeated.
For the Lord will grant to your prayers, that of His own free gift we may fulfil our
promise: through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 28

Chapter I. The Difference Between the Penitence and Blasphemy of the Two Robbers is a Type
of the Human Race.

1 That which we owe to your expectations, dearly-beloved, must be paid through the Lord's
bountiful answer to your prayers that He Who has made you eager in the demanding would
make us fit for the performing. In speaking but lately of the Lord's Passion we reached
the point in the Gospel story, where Pilate is said to have yielded to the Jews' wicked
shouts that Jesus should be crucified. And so when all things had been accomplished, which
the Godhead veiled in frail flesh permitted, Jesus Christ the Son of God was fixed to the
cross which He had also been carrying, two robbers being similarly crucified, one on His
right hand, and the other on the left: so that even in the incidentsof the cross might be
displayed that difference which in His judgment must be made in the case of all men; for
the believing robber's faith was a type of those who are to be saved, and the blasphemer's
wickedness prefigured those who are to be damned. Christ's Passion, therefore, contains
the mystery of our salvation, and of the instrument which the iniquity of the Jews
prepared for His punishment, the Redeemer's power has made for us the stepping-stone to
glory: and that Passion the Lord Jesus so underwent for the salvation of all men that,
while hanging there nailed to the wood, He entreated the Father's mercy for His murderers,
and said, "Father, forgive them, for they know' not what they do."

Chapter II. The Chief Priests Showed Utter Ignorance of Scripture in Their Taunts.

1 But the chief priests, for whom the Saviour sought forgiveness, rendered the torture of
the cross yet worse by the barbs of railery; and at Him, on Whom they could vent no more
fury with their hands, they hurled the weapons of their tongues, saying, "He saved others;
Himself he cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross,
and we believe Him." From what spring of error, from what pool of hatred, O ye Jews, do ye
drink such poisonous blasphemies? What master informed you, what teaching convinced you
that you ought to believe Him to be King of Israel and Son Of God, who should either not
allow Himself to be crucified, or should shake Himself free from the binding nails. The
mysteries of the Law, the sacred observances of the Passover, the mouths of the Prophets
never told you this: whereas you did find truly and oft-times written that which applies
to your abominable wicked-doing and to the Lord's voluntary suffering. For He Himself says
by Isaiah, "I gave My back to the scourges, My cheeks to the palms of the hand, I turned
not My face from the shame of spitting." He Himself says by David, "They gave Me gall for
My food, and in My thirst they supplied Me with vinegar." and again, "Many dogs came about
Me, the council of evil-doers beset Me. They pierced My hands and My feet, they counted
all My bones. But they themselves watched and gazed on Me, they parted My raiment among
them, and for My robe they cast lots." And lest the course of your own evil doings should
seem to have been foretold, and no power in the Crucified predicted, ye read not, indeed,
that the Lord descended from the cross, but ye did read, "The Lord reigned on the tree."

Chapter III. The Triumph of the Cross is Immediate and Effective.

1 The Cross of Christ, therefore, symbolizes the true altar of prophecy, on which the
oblation of man's nature should be celebrated by means of a salvation-bringing Victim.
There the blood of the spotless Lamb blotted out the consequences of the ancient trespass:
there the whole tyranny of the devil's hatred was crushed, and humiliation triumphed
gloriously over the lifting up of pride: for so swift was the effect of Faith that of the
robbers crucified with Christ, the one who believed in Christ as the Son of God entered
paradise justified. Who can unfold the mystery of so great a boon? who can state the power
of so wondrous a change? In a moment of thee the guilt of long evil-doing is done away;
clinging to the cross, amid the cruel tortures of his struggling soul, he passes over to
Christ; and to him, on whom his own wickedness had brought punishment, Christ's grace now
gives a crown.

Chapter IV. When the Last Act in the Tragedy Was Over How Must the Jews Have Felt?

1 And then, having now tasted the vinegar, the produce of that vineyard which had
degenerated in spite of its Divine Planter, and had turned to the sourness of a foreign
vine the Lord says, "it is finished;" that is, the Scriptures are fulfilled: there is no
more for Me to abide from the fury of the raging people: I have endured all that I
foretold I should suffer. The mysteries of weakness are completed, let the proofs of power
be produced. And so He bowed the head and yielded up His Spirit and gave that Body, Which
should be raised again on the third day, the rest of peaceful slumber. And when the Author
of Life was undergoing this mysterious phase, and at so great a condescension of God's
Majesty, the foundations of the whole world were shaken, when all creation condemned their
wicked crime by its upheaval, and the very elements of the world delivered a plain verdict
against the criminals, what thoughts, what heart-searchings had ye, O Jews, when the
judgment of the universe went against you, and your wickedness could not be recalled, the
crime having been done? what confusion covered you? what torment seized your hearts?

Chapter V. Chastity, and Charity are the Two Things Most Needful in Preparing for Easter
Communion.

1 Seeing therefore, dearly-beloved, that God's Mercy is so great, that He has deigned to
justify. by faith many even from among such a nation, and had adopted into the company of
the patriarchs and into the number of the chosen people us who were once perishing in the
deep darkness of our old ignorance, let us mount to the summit of our hopes not sluggishly
nor in sloth; but prudently and faithfully reflecting from what captivity and from how
miserable a bondage, with what ransom we were purchased, by how strong an arm led out, let
us glorify God in our body: that we may show Him dwelling in us, even by the uprightness
of our manner of life: And because no virtues are worthier or more excellent than merciful
loving-kindness and unblemished chastity, let us more especially equip ourselves with
these weapons, so that, raised from the earth, as it were on the two wings of active
charity and shining purity, we may win a place in heaven. And whosoever, aided by God's
grace, is filled with this desire and glories not in himself, but in the Lord, over his
progress, pays due honour to the Easter mystery. His threshold the angel of destruction
does not cross, for it is marked with the Lamb's blood and the sign of the cross. He fears
not the plagues of Egypt, and leaves his foes overwhelmed by the same waters by which he
himself was saved.

2 And so, dearly-beloved, with minds and bodies purified let us embrace the wondrous
mystery of our salvation, and, cleansed from all "the leaven of our old wickedness, let us
keep " the Lord's Passover with due observance: so that, the Holy Spirit guiding us, we
may be "separated" by no temptations "from the love of Christ," Who bringing peace by His
blood to all things, has returned to the loftiness of the Father's glory, and yet not
forsaken the lowliness of those who serve Him to Whom is the honour and the glory for ever
and ever. Amen.

SERMON 29

Chapter I. The Reason of Christ Suffering at the Paschal Feast.

1 I know indeed, dearly-beloved, that the Easter festival partakes of so sublime a mystery
as to surpass not only the slender perceptions of my humility, but even the powers of
great intellects. But I must not consider the greatness of the Divine work in such a way
as to distrust or to feel ashamed of the service which I owe; for we may not hold our
peace upon the mystery of man's salvation, even if it cannot be explained. But, your
prayers aiding us, we believe God's Grace will be granted, to sprinkle the barrenness of
our heart with the dew of His inspira- tion: that by the pastor's mouth things may be
proclaimed which are useful to the ears of his holy flock. For when the Lord, the Giver of
all good things, says: "open thy mouth, and I will fill it," we dare likewise to reply in
the prophet's words: "Lord, Thou shale open my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth Thy
praise. Therefore beginning, dearly-beloved, to handle once more the Gospel-story of the
Lord's Passion, we understand it was part of the Divine plan that the profane chiefs of
the Jews and the unholy priests, who had often sought occasion of venting their rage on
Christ, should receive the power of exercising their fury at no other time than the
Paschal festival. For the things which had long been promised under mysterious figures had
to be fulfilled in all clearness;

2 for instance, the True Sheep had to supersede the sheep which was its antitype, and the
One Sacrifice to bring to an end the multitude of different sacrifices. For all those
things which had been divinely ordained through Moses about the sacrifice of the lamb had
prophesied of Christ and truly announced the slaying of Christ. In order, therefore, that
the shadows should yield to the substance and types cease in the presence of the Reality,
the ancient observance is removed by a new Sacrament, victim passes into Victim, blood is
wiped away by Blood, and the law-ordained Feast is fulfilled by being changed.

Chapter II. The Leading Jews Broke Their Own Law, as Well as Failed to Apprehend the New
Dispensation in Destroying Christ.

1 And hence, when the chief priests gathered the scribes and elders of the people together
to their council, and the minds of all the priests were occupied with the purpose of doing
wrong to Jesus, the teachers of the law put themselves without the law, and by their own
voluntary failure in duty abolished their ancestral ceremonies. For when the Paschal feast
began, those who ought to have adorned the temple, cleansed the vessels, provided the
victims, and employed a holier zeal in the purifications that the law enjoined, seized
with the fury of traitorous hate, give themselves upto one work, and with uniform cruelty
conspire for one crime, though they were doomed togain nothing by the punishment of
innocence and the condemnation of righteousness, except the failure to apprehend the new
mysteries and the violation of the old. The chiefs, therefore, in providing against a
tumult arising on a holy day showed zeal not for the festival, but for a heinous crime;
and their anxiety served not the cause of religion, but their own incrimination. For these
careful pontiffs and anxious priests feared the occurrence of seditious riots on the
principal feast-day, not lest the people should do wrong, but lest Christ should escape.

Chapter III. Jesus Instituting the Blessed Sacrament Showed Mercy to Thetraitor Judas to
the Last.

1 But Jesus, sure of His purpose and undaunted in carrying out His Father's will,
fulfilled the New Testament and founded a new Passover. For while the disciples were lying
down with Him at the mystic Supper, and when discussion was proceeding in the hall of
Caiaphas how Christ might be put to death, He, ordaining the Sacrament of His Body and
Blood, was teaching them what kind of Victim must be offered up to God, and not even from
this mystery was the betrayer kept away, in order to show that he was exasperated by no
personal wrong, but had determined beforehand of his own free-will upon his treachery. For
he was his own source of ruin and cause of perfidy, following the guidance of the devil
and refusing to have Christ as director. And so when the Lord said, "Verily I say to you
that one of you is about to betray Me," He showed that His betrayer's conscience was well
known to Him, not confounding the traitor by harsh or open rebukes, but meeting him with
mild and silent warnings that he who had never been sent astray by rejection, might the
easier be set right by repentance. Why, unhappy Judas, dose thou not make use of so great
long-suffering? Behold, the Lord spares thy wicked attempts; Christ betrays thee to none
save thyself. Neither thy name nor thy person is discovered, but only the secrets of thy
heart are touched by the word of truth and mercy.

2 The honour of the apostolic rank is not denied thee, nor yet a share in the Sacraments.
Return to thy right mind; lay aside thy madness and be wise. Mercy invites thee, Salvation
knocks at the door, Life recalls thee to life. Lo, thy stainless and guiltless fellow-
disciples shudder at the hint of thy crime, and all tremble for themselves till the author
of the treachery is declared. For they are saddened not by the accusations of conscience,
but by the uncertainty of man's changeableness; fearing lest what each knew against
himself be less true than what the Truth Himself foresaw. But thou abusest the Lord's
patience in this panic of the saints, and believest that thy bold front hides thee. Thou
addest impudence to guilt, and art not frightened by so clear a test And when the others
refrain from the food in which the Lord had set His judgment, thou dost not withdraw thy
band from the dish, because thy mind is not turned aside from the crime.

Chapter IV. Various Incidents of the Passion.further Explained and the Reality of Christ's
Sufferings Asserted.

1 And thus it followed, dearly-beloved, that as John the Evangelist has narrated, when the
Lord offered the bread which He had dipped to His betrayer, more clearly to point him out,
the devil entirely seized Judas, and now, by his veritable act of wickedness, took
possession of one whom he had already bound down by his evil designs.For only in body was
he lying there with those at meat: in mind he was arming the hatred of the priests, the
falseness of the witnesses, and the fury of the ignorant mob, At last the Lord, seeing on
what a gross crime bent says, "What thou doest do Judas was quickly. This is the voice not
of command but of permission, and not of fear but of readiness: He, that has power over
all times, shows that He puts no hindrance in the way of the traitor, and carries out the
Father's will for the redemption of the world in such a way as neither to promote nor to
fear the crime which His persecutors were preparing. When Judas, therefore, at the devil's
persuasion, departed from Christ, and cut himself off from the unityof the Apostolic body,
the Lord, without bring disturbed by any fear, but anxious only for the salvation of those
He came to redeem, spent all the time that was free from His persecutors' attack on mystic
conversation and holy teaching, as is declared in St. John's gospel:

2 raising His eyes to heaven and beseeching the Father for the whole Church that all whom
the Father had and would give the Son might become one and remain undivided to the
Redeemer's glory, and adding lastly that prayer in which He says, "Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from Me. Wherein it is not to be thought that the Lord Jesus
wished to escape the Passion and the Death, the sacraments of which He had already
committed to His disciples' keeping, seeing that He Himself forbids Peter, when he was
burning with devoted faith and love, to use the sword, saying, "The cup which the Father
hath given Me, shall I not drink it? and seeing that that is certain which the Lord also
says, according to John's Gospel, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life; as
also what the Apostle Paul says, "Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, a victim to God
for a sweet-smelling savour. For the saving of all through the Cross of Christ was the
common will and the common plan of the Father and the Son; nor could that by any means be
disturbed which before eternal ages had been mercifully determined and unchangeably fore-
ordained. Therefore in assuming true and entire manhood He took the true sensations of the
body and the true feelings of the mind.

3 And it does not follow because everything in Him was full of sacraments, full of
miracles, that therefore He either shed false tears or took food from pretended hunger or
reigned slumber. It was in our humility that He was despised, with our grief that He was
saddened,with our pain that He was racked on thecross. For His compassion underwent the
sufferings of our mortality with the purpose of healing them, and His power encountered
them with the purpose of conquering them. And this Isaiah has most plainly prophesied,
saying, "He carries our sins and is pained for us, and we thought Him to be in pain and in
stripes and in vexation. But He was woundedfor our sins, and was stricken for our
offences, and with His braises we are healed."

Chapter V. The Resignation of Christ is an Undying Lesson to the Church

1 And so, dearly beloved, when the Son of God says, "Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from Me," He uses the outcry of our nature, and pleads the cause of human frailty
and trembling: that our patience may be strengthened and our fears driven away in the
things which we have to bear. At length, ceasing even to ask this now that He had in a
measure palliated our weak fears, though it is not expedient for us to retain them, He
passes into another mood, and says, "Nevertheless, not as I will but as Thou;" and again,
"If this cup can not pass from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done." These words of
the Head are the salvation of the whole Body: these words have instructed all the
faithful, kindled the zeal of all the confessors, crowned all the martyrs. For who could
overcome the world's hatred, the blasts of temptations, the terr onsf persecutors, had not
Christ, in the name of all and for all, said, to the Father, "Thy will be done?" Then let
the words be learnt by all the Church's sons who have been purchased at so great a price,
so freely justified: and when the shock of some violent temptation has fallen on them, let
them use the aid of this potent prayer, that they may conquer their fear and trembling,
and learn to suffer patiently. From this point, dearly-beloved, our sermon must pass to
the consideration of the details of the Lord's Passion, and lest we should burden you with
prolixity, we will divide our common task, and put off the rest till the fourth day of the
week. God's grace will be vouchsafed to you if you pray Him to give me the power of
carrying out my duty: through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.

SERMON 30

Chapter I. Christ's Arrest Fulfils His Own Eternal Purpose.

1 Having discoursed, dearly beloved, in our last sermon, on the events which preceded the
Lord's arrest, it now remains, by the help of God's grace, to discuss, as we promised, the
details of the Passion itself. When the Lord had made it clear by the words of His sacred
prayer that the Divine and the Human Nature was most truly and fully present in Him,
showing that the unwillingness to suffer proceeded from the one, and from the other the
determination to suffer by the expulsion of all frail fears and the strengthening of His
lofty power, then did He return to His eternal purpose, and "in the form of a" sinless
"slave" encounter the devil who was savagely attacking Him by the hands of the Jews: that
He in Whom alone was all men's nature without fault, might undertake the cause of all. The
sins of darkness, therefore, assailed the true Light, and, for all their torches and
lanterns could not escape the night of their own unbelief, because they did not recognize
the Fount of Light. They arrest Him, and He is ready to be seized; they lead Him away, and
He is willing to be led; for though, if He had willed to resist, their wicked hands could
have done Him no harm, yet thereby the world's redemption would have been impeded, and He,
who was to die for all men's salvation, would have saved none at all.

Chapter II. How Great Was Pilate's Crime in Allowing Himself to Be Led Astray & the Jews.

1 Accordingly, permitting the infliction on Himself of all that the people's fury inflamed
by the priests dared do, He is brought to Annas, father-in-law to Caiaphas, and thence
Annas passes Him on to Caiaphas: and after the calumniators' mad accusations, after the
lying falsehoods of suborned witnesses, He is transferred to Pilate's hearing by the
delegation of the two high-priests, who in neglecting the Divine law, and exclaiming that
they had "no king but Caesar," as if they were devoted to the Roman laws, and had left the
whole judgment in the hands of the governor, really sought for an accomplisher of their
cruelty rather than an umpire of the case. For they gave up Jesus, bound in hard bonds,
bruised by many buffets and blows, spat upon, already condemned by their shouts: so that
amidst so many signs of their own verdict Pilate might not dare to acquit One Whom all
desired to perish. In fact, the very inquiry shows both that he found in the Accused no
fault and that in his judgment he did not adhere to his purpose: for as judge he condemns
One Whom he pronounces guiltless, invoking on the unrighteous people the blood of the
Righteous Man with Whom he felt by his own conviction, and knew from his wife's dream he
must have nothing to do. That stained soul is not cleansed by the washing of hands, there
is no expiation in water-besprinkled fingers for the crime abetted by that wicked mind.
Pilate's fault is indeed, less than the Jews' crime; for it was they that terrified him
with Caesar's name, chode him with hateful words, and drove him to perpetrate his
wickedness. But he also did not escape incrimination for playing into the hands of those
that made the uproar, for abandoning his own judgment, and for acquiescing in the charges
of others.

Chapter III. Yet the Jews' Guilt Was Infinitely Greater.

1 In bowing, therefore, dearly-beloved, to the madness of the impacable people, in
permitting Jesus to be dishonoured by much mocking, and harassed with excessive insults,
and in displaying Him to the eyes of His persecutors lacerated with scourges, crowned with
thorns, and clothed in a robe of scorn, Pilate doubtless thought to appease the enemies'
minds, so that when they had glutted their cruel hate, they might cease further to
persecute One Whom they beheld subjected to such a variety of afflictions. But their wrath
was still in full blaze, and they cried out to him to release Barabbas and thus, Jesus
bear the penalty of the cross, and thus, when with consenting murmur the crowd said "His
blood be on us and on our sons," those wicked folk gained, to their own damnation what
they had persistently demanded, "whose teeth," as the prophet bore witness, "were arms and
arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword." For in vain did they keep their own hands from
crucifying the Lord of glory when they had hurled at Him the tongue's deadly darts and the
poisoned weapons of words. On you, on you, false Jews and unholy leaders of the people,
falls the full weight of that crime: and although the enormity of the guilt involves the
governor and the soldiers also, yet you are the primary and chief offenders. And in
Christ's condemnation, whatsoever wrong was done either by Pilate's judgment or by the
cohorts carrying out of his commands, makes you only the more deserving of the hatred of
mankind, because the impulse of your fury would not let even those be free from guilt who
were displeased at your unrighteous acts.

Chapter IV. Christ Bearing His Own Cross is an Eternal Lesson to the Church.

1 And so the Lord was handed over to their savage wishes, and in mockery of His kingly
state, ordered to be the bearer of His own instrument of death, that what Isaiah the
prophet foresaw might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold a Child is born, and a Son is given to
us whose government is upon His shoulders." When, therefore, the Lord carried the wood of
the cross which should turn for Him into the sceptre of power, it was indeed in the eyes
of the wicked a mighty mockery, but to the faithful a mighty mystery was set forth, seeing
that He, the glorious vanquisher of the Devil, and the strong defeater of the powers that
were against Him, was carrying in noble sort the trophy of His triumph, and on the
shoulders of His unconquered patience bore into all realms the adorable sign of salvation:
as if even then to confirm all His followers by this mere symbol of His work, and say, "He
that taketh not his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me."

Chapter V. The Transference of the Cross from the Lord To Simon of Cyrene Signifies the
Participation of the Gentiles in His Sufferings.

1 But as the multitudes went with Jesus to the place of punishment, a certain Simon of
Cyrene was found on whom to lay the wood of the cross instead of the Lord; that even by
this act might be pre-signified the Gentiles' faith, to whom the cross of Christ was to be
not shame but glory. It was not accidental, therefore, but symbolical and mystical, that
while the Jews were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share His sufferings,
as the Apostle says, "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him "; so that no
Hebrew nor Israelite, but a stranger, was substituted for the Saviour in His most holy
degradation. For by this transference the propitiation of the spotless Lamb and the
fulfilment of all mysteries passed from the circumcision to the uncircumcision, from the
sons according to the flesh to the sons according to the spirit: since as the Apostle
says, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," Who offering Himself to the Father a new
and true sacrifice of reconciliation, was crucified not in the temple, whose worship was
now at an end, and not within the confines of the city which for its sin was doomed to be
destroyed, but outside, "without the camp," that, on the cessation of the old symbolic
victims, a new Victim might be placed on a new altar, and the cross of Christ might be the
altar not of the temple but of the world.

Chapter VI. We are to See Not Only the Crass But the Meaning of It.

1 Accordingly, dearly-beloved, Christ being lifted up upon the cross, let the eyes of your
mind not dwell only on that sight which those wicked sinners saw, to whom it was said by
the mouth of Moses, "And thy life shall be hanging before thine eyes, and thou shalt fear
day and night, and shalt not be assured of thy life." For in the crucified Lord they could
think of nothing but their wicked deed, having not the fear, by which true faith is
justified, but that by which an evil conscience is racked. But let our understandings,
illumined by the Spirit of Truth, foster with pure and free heart the glory of the cross
which irradiates heaven and earth, and see with the inner sight what the Lord meant when
He spoke of His coming Passion: "The hour is come that the Son of man may be glorified:"
and below He says, "Now is My spirit troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save Me from
this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy Son." And when
the Father's voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it
again," Jesus in reply said to those that stood by, "This voice came not for Me but for
you. Now is the world's judgment, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things unto Me."

Chapter VII. The Power of the Crass is Universally Attractive.

1 O wondrous power of the Cross! O in effable glory of the Passion, in which is contained
the Lord's tribunal, the world's judgment, and the power of the Crucified! For thou didst
draw all things unto Thee, Lord and when Thou hadst stretched out Thy hands all the day,
long to an unbelieving people that gainsaid Thee the whole world at last was brought to
confess Thy majesty. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord, when all the elements
combined to pronounce judgment in execration of the Jews' crime, when the lights of heaven
were darkened, and the day turned into night, and the earth also was shaken with unwonted
shocks, and all creation refused to serve those wicked men. Thou didst draw all things
unto Thee, Lord. for the veil of the temple was rent, and the Holy of Holies existed no
more for those unworthy high-priests: so that type was turned into Truth, prophecy into
Revelation law into Gospel. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord, so that what
before was done in the one temple of the Jews in dark signs, was now to be celebrated
everywhere by the piety of all the nations in full and open rite. For now there is a
nobler rank of Levites, there are elders of greater dignity and priests of holier
anointing: because Thy cross is the fount of all blessings, the source of all graces, and
through it the believers receive strength for weakness, glory for shame, life for death.
Now, too, the variety of fleshly sacrifices has ceased, and the one offering of Thy Body
and Blood fulfils all those different victims: for Thou art the true "Lamb of God, that
takest away the sins of the world," and in Thyself so accomplishest all mysteries, that as
there is but one sacrifice instead of many victims, so there is but one kingdom instead of
many nations.

Chapter VIII. We Must Live Not for Ourselves But for Christ, Who Died for Us.

1 Let us, then, dearly-beloved, confess what the blessed teacher of the nations, the
Apostle Paul, confessed, saying, "Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. For God's mercy towards us is the
more wonderful that Christ died not for the righteous nor for the holy, but for the
unrighteous and wicked; and though the nature of the Godhead could not sustain the sting
of death, yet at His birth He took from us that which He might offer for us. For of old He
threatened our death with the power of His death, saying. by the mouth of Hosea the
prophet, "O death, I will be thy death, and I will be thy destruction, O hell. For by
dying He underwent the laws of hell, but by rising again He broke them, and so destroyed
the continuity of death as to make it temporal instead of eternal. "For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. And so, dearly-beloved, let that come to
pass of which S. Paul speaks, "that they that live, should henceforth not live to
themselves but to Him who died for all and rose again. And because the old things have
passed away and all things are become new, let none remain in his old carnal life, but let
us all be renewed by daily progress and growth in piety.

2 For however much a man be justified, yet so long as he remains in this life, he can
always be more approved and better. And he that is not advancing is going back, and he
that is gaining nothing is losing something. Let us run, then, with the steps of faith, by
the works of mercy, in the love of righteousness, that keeping the day of our redemption
spiritually, "not in the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth," we may deserve to be partakers of Christ's resurrection, Who with
the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.


SERMONS
=======

SERMONS continued

SERMON 31

Chapter I. The Mystery of the Passion Passes Man's Comprehension.

1 The Feast of the Lord's Passion that we have longed for and that the whole world may
well desire, has come, and suffers us not to keep silence in the tumult of our spiritual
joys: because though it is difficult to speak often on the same thing worthily and
appropriately, yet the priest is not free to withhold from the people's ears instruction
by sermon on this great mystery of God's mercy, inasmuch as the subject itself, being
unspeakable, gives him ease of utterance, and what is said cannot altogether fail where
what is said can never be enough. Let human frailty, then, succumb to God's glory, and
ever acknowledge itself unequal to the unfolding of His works of mercy. Let us toil in
thought, fail in insight, falter in utterance: it is good that even our right thoughts
about the Lord's Majesty should be insufficient. For, remembering what the prophet says,
"Seek ye the Lord and be strengthened: seek His face always," no one must assume that he
has found all he seeks, lest he fail of coming near, if he cease his endeavours. And
amidst all the works of God which weary out man's wondering contemplation, what so
delights and so baffles our mind's gaze as the Saviour's Passion? Ponder as we may upon
His omnipotence, which is of one and equal substance with the Father, the humility in God
is more stupendous than the power, and it is harder to grasp the complete emptying of the
Divine Majesty than the infinite uplifting of the "slave's form" in Him. But we are much
aided in our understanding of it by the remembrance that though the Creator and the
creature, the Inviolable God and the possible flesh, are absolutely different, yet the
properties of both substances meet together in Christ's one Person in such a way that
alike in His acts of weakness and of power the degradation belongs to the same Person as
the glory.

Chapter II. The Creed Takes Up S. Peter's Confession as the Fundamental Doctrine of the
Church.

1 In that rule of Faith, dearly-beloved, which we have received in the very beginning of
the Creed, on the authority of apostolic teaching, we acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ,
whom we call the only Son of God the Father Almighty, to be also born of the Virgin Mary
by the Holy Ghost. Nor do we reject His Majesty when we express our belief in His
crucifixion, death, and resurrection on the third day. For all that is God's and all that
is Man's are simultaneously fulfilled by His Manhood and His Godhead, so that in virtue of
the union of the Possible with the Impossible, His power cannot be affected by His
weakness, nor His weakness overcome by His power. And rightly was the blessed Apostle
Peter praised for confessing this union, who when the Lord was inquiring what the
disciples knew of Him, quickly anticipated the rest and said, "Thou art Christ, the Son of
the living God. And this assuredly he saw, not by the revelation of flesh or blood, which
might have hindered his inner sight, but by the very Spirit of the Father working in his
believing heart, that in preparation for ruling the whole Church he might first learn what
he would have to teach, and for the solidification of the Faith, which he was destined to
preach, might receive the assurance, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

2 The strength, therefore, of the Christian Faith, which, built upon an impregnable rock,
fears not the gates of death, acknowledges the one Lord Jesus Christ to be both true God
and true Man, believing Him likewise to be the Virgin's Son, Who is His Mother's Creator:
born also at the end of the ages, though He is the Creator of time: Lord of all power, and
yet one of mortal stock: ignorant of sin, and yet sacrificed for sinners after the
likeness of sinful flesh.

Chapter III. The Devil's Devices Were Turned Against Himself.

1 And in order that He might set the human race free from the bonds of deadly
transgression, He hid the power of His majesty from the raging devil, and opposed him with
our frail and humble nature. For if the cruel and proud foe could have known the counsel
of God's mercy, he would have aimed at soothing the Jews' minds into gentleness rather
than at firing them with unrighteous hatred, lest be should lose the thraldom of all his
captives in assailing the liberty of One Who owed him nought. Thus he was foiled by his
malice: he inflicted a punishment on the Son of God, which was turned to the healing of
all the sons of men. He shed righteous Blood, which became the ransom and the drink for
the world's atonement. The Lord undertook that which He chose according to the purpose of
His own will. He permitted madmen to lay their wicked hands upon Him: hands which, in
ministering to their own doom, were of service to the Redeemer's work. And yet so great
was His loving compassion for even His murderers, that He prayed to the Father on the
cross, and begged not for His own vengeance but for their forgiveness, saying, "Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do." And such was the power of that prayer, that
the hearts of many of those who had said, "His blood be on us and on our sons," were
turned to penitence by the Apostle Peter's preaching, and on one day there were baptized
about 3,000 Jews: and they all were "of one heart and of one soul," being ready now to die
for Him, Whose crucifixion they had demanded.

Chapter IV. Why Judas Could Not Obtain Forgiveness Through Christ.

1 To this forgiveness the traitor Judas could not attain: for he, the son of perdition, at
whose right the devil stood gave himself up to despair before Christ accomplished the
mystery of universal redemption. For in that the Lord died for sinners, perchance even he
might have found salvation if he had not hastened to hang himself. But that evil heart,
which was now given up to thievish frauds, and now busied with treacherous designs, had
never entertained aught of the proofs of the Saviour's mercy. Those wicked ears had heard
the Lord's words, when He said, "I same not to call the righteous but sinners," and "The
Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost," but they conveyed not to his
understanding the clemency of Christ, which not only healed bodily infirmities, but also
cured the wounds of sick souls, saying to the paralytic man, "Son, be of good cheer,thy
sins are forgiven thee;" saying also to the adulteress that was brought to Him, "neither
will I condemn thee; go and sin no more," to show in all His works that He had come as the
Saviour, not the Judge of the world. But the wicked traitor refused to understand this,
and took measures against himself, not in the self-condemnation of repentance, but in the
madness of perdition, and thus he who had sold the Author of life to His murderers, even
in dying increased the amount of sin which condemned him.

Chapter V. The Cruelty of Christ's Crucifixion is Lost in Its Wondrous Power.

1 Accordingly that which false witnesses, cruel leaders of the people, wicked priests did
against the Lord Jesus Christ, through the agency of a coward governor and an ignorant
band of soldiers, has been at once the abhorrence and the rejoicing of all ages. For
though the Lord's cross was part of the cruel purpose of the Jews, yet is it of wondrous
power through Him they crucified. The people's fury was directed against One, and the
mercy of Christ is for all mankind. That which their cruelty inflicts He voluntarily
undergoes. in order that the work of His eternal will may be carried out through their
unhindered crime. And hence the whole order of events which is most fully narrated in the
Gospels must be received by the faithful in such a way that by implicit belief in the
occurrences which happened at the time of the Lord's Passion, we should understand that
not only was the remission of sins accomplished by Christ, but also the standard of
justice satisfied. But that this may be more thoroughly discussed by the Lord's help, let
us reserve this portion of the subject till the fourth day of the week God's grace, we
hope, will be vouchsafed at your entreaties to help us to fulfil our promise: through
Jesus Christ our Lord, &c. Amen.

SERMON 32

Chapter I. God Those to Save Man by Strength Made Perfect in Weakness.

1 The glory, dearly-beloved, of the Lord's Passion, on which we promised to speak again
to-day, is chiefly wonderful for its mystery of humility, which has both ransomed and
instructed us all, that He, Who paid the price, might also impart His righteousness to us.
For the Omnipotence of the Son of God, whereby He is by the same Essence equal to the
Father, might have rescued mankind from the dominion of the devil by the mere exercise of
Its will, had it not better suited the Divine working to conquer the opposition of the
foe's wickedness by that which had been conquered, and to restore our nature's liberty by
that very nature by which bondage had come upon the whole race. But, when the evangelist
says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt in us," and the Apostle, "God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself," it was shown that the Only-begotten of the Most High
Father entered on such a union with human humility, that, when He took the substance of
oar flesh and soul, He remained one and the same Son of God by exalting our properties,
not His own: because it was the weakness, not the power that had to be reinforced, so that
upon the union of the creature with the Creator there should be nothing wanting of the
Divine to the assumed, nor of the human to the Assuming.

Chapter II. God's Plan Was Always Partially Understood, and is Now of Universal
Application.

1 This plan of God's mercy and justice, though in the ages past it was in a measure
enshrouded in darkness, was yet not so completely hidden that the saints, who have most
merited praise from the beginning till the coming of the Lord, were precluded from
understanding it: seeing that the salvation, which was to come through Christ, was
promised both by the words of prophecy and by the significance of events, and this
salvation not only they attained who foretold it, but all they also who believed their
predictions. For the one Faith justifies the saints of all ages, and to the self-same hope
of the faithful pertains all that by Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man, we
acknowledge done, or our fathers reverently accepted as to be done. And between Jew and
Gentile there is no distinction, since, as the Apostle says, "Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of God's commands," and if they be kept in
entirety of faith, they make Christians the true sons of Abraham, that is perfect, for the
same Apostle says, "For whosoever of you were baptized in Christ Jesus, have put on
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither slave nor free: there is neither
male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ. But if ye are Christ's, then are ye
Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise."

Chapter III. The Union of the Divine Head with Its Members Inseparable.

1 There is no doubt therefore, dearly-beloved, that man's nature has been received by the
Son of Go/3 into such a union that not only in that Man Who is the first-begotten of all
creatures, but also in all His saints there is one and the self-same Christ, and as the
Head cannot be separated from the members, so the members cannot be separated from the
Head. For although it is not in this life, but in eternity that God is to be "all in all,"
yet even now He is the inseparable Inhabitant of His temple, which is the Church,
according as He Himself promised, saying, "Lo! I am with you all the days till the en of
the age." And agreeably therewith the Apostle says, "He is the head of the body, the
Church, which is the beginning, the first-begotten from the dead, that in all things He
may have the pre-eminence, because in Him it was pleasing that all fulness (of the
Godhead) should dwell, and that through Him all things should be reconciled in Himself."

Chapter IV. Christ's Passion Provided a Saving Mystery and an Example for Us to Follow.

1 And what is suggested to our hearts by these and many other references, save that we
should in all things be renewed in His image Who, remaining "in the form of God," deigned
to "take the form" of sinful flesh? For all our weaknesses, which come from sin, He took
on Him without sharing in sin, so that He felt the sensation of hunger and thirst and
sleep and fatigue, and grief and weeping, and suffered the fiercest pangs up to the
extremity of death, because no one could be loosed from the snares of death, unless He in
Whom alone all men's nature was guileless allowed Himself to be slain by the hands of
wicked men. And hence our Saviour the Son of God provided for all that believe in Him both
a mystery and an example that they might apprehend the one by being born again, and follow
the other by imitation. For the blessed Apostle Peter teaches this, saying, "Christ
suffered for us, leaving you an example that ye should follow His steps. Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, reviled not: when He
suffered, threatened not, but gave Himself up to His unjust judge. Who Himself bare our
sins in His body on the tree, that being dead to sins, we may live to righteousness."

Chapter V. Christ Not Destroyed, But Fulfilled and Elevated the Law.

1 As therefore there is no believer, dearly-beloved, to whom the gifts of grace are
denied, so there is no one who is not a debtor in the matter of Christian discipline;
because, although the severity of the mystic Law is done away, yet the benefits of its
voluntary observance have increased, as the evangelist John says, "Because the Law was
given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." For all things that,
according to the Law, went before, whether in the circumcision of the flesh, or in the
multitude of victims, or in the keeping of the Sabbath, testified of Christ, and foretold
the grace of Christ. And He is "the end of the Law," not by annulling, but by fulfilling
its meanings. For although He is at once the Author of the old and of the new, yet He
changed the symbolic rites connected with the promises, because He accomplished the
promises and put an end to the announcement by the coming of the Announced. But in the
matter of moral precepts, no decrees of the earlier Testament are rejected, but many of
them are amplified by the Gospel teaching: so that the things which give salvation are
more perfect and clearer than those which promise a Saviour.

Chapter VI. The Present Effect of Christ's Passion is Daily Realized by Christians,
Especially in Hall, Baptism.

1 All therefore that the Son of God did and taught for the world's reconciliation, we not
only know as a matter of past history, but appreciate in the power of its present effect.
It is He Who, born of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, fertilizes His unpolluted
Church with the same blessed Spirit, that the birth of Baptism an innumerable multitude of
sons may be born to God, of Whom it is said, "who were born not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. It is He, in Whom the seed of Abraham is
blessed by the adoption of the whole world and the patriarch becomes the father of nations
by the birth. through faith not flesh, of the sons of promise. It is He Who, without
excluding any nation, makes one flock of holy sheep from every nation under heaven, and
daily fulfils what He promised, saying, "Other sheep also I have which are not of this
fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My: voice, and there shall be one flock
and one shepherd. For though to the blessed Peter first and foremost He says, "Feed My
sheep;

2 yet the one Lord directs the charge of all the shepherds, and feeds those that come to
the rock with such glad and well-watered pastures, that countless sheep are nourished by
the richness of His love, and hesitate not to perish for the Shepherd's sake, even as the
good Shepherd Himself was content to lay down His life for His sheep. It is He whose
sufferings are shared not only by the martyrs' glorious courage, but also in the very act
of regeneration by the faith of all the new-born. For the renunciation of the devil and
belief in God the passing from the old state into newness of life, the casting off of the
earthly image, and the putting on of the heavenly form-all this is a sort of dying and
rising again, whereby he that is received by Christ and receives Christ is not the same
after as he was before he came to the font, for the body of the regenerate becomes the
flesh of the Crucified.

Chapter VII. The Good Works of Christians are Only Part of Christ's Good Works.

1 This change, dearly-beloved, is the handiwork of the Most High Who "worketh all things
in all," so that by the good manner of life observed in each one of the faithful, we know
Him to be the Author of all just works, and give thanks to God's mercy, Who so adorns the
whole body of the Church with countless gracious gifts, that through the many rays of the
one Light the same brightness is everywhere diffused, and that which is well done by any
Christian whatsoever cannot but be part the glory of Christ. This is that true which
justifies and enlightens every man. This it is that rescues from the power of darkness and
transfers us into the Kingdom of the Son of God. This it is that by newness of life exalts
the desires of the mind and quenches the lusts of the flesh. This it is whereby the Lord's
Passover is duly kept "With the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" by the casting
away of "the old leaven of wickedness " and the inebriating and feeding of the new
creature with the very Lord. For naught else is brought about by the partaking of the and
Blood of Christ than that we pass into that which we then take and both in spirit and in
body carry everywhere Him, in and with Whom we were dead, buried, and rose again, as the
Apostle says, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. For when Christ,
your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Who with the
Father, &c.

SERMON 33

Chapter I. The Contemplation of the Prophecies of Christ's Suffering are a Great Source of
Pious Delight.

1 The minds of the faithful, beloved, ought indeed always to be occupied with wonder
atGod's works and their reasoning faculties devoted particularly to those reflexions by
which they may gain increase of faith. For so long as the pious heart's attention is
directed either to the benefits which all enjoy, or to special gifts of His grace, it
keeps aloof from many vanities and retires from bodily cares into a spiritual seclusion.
But this must be the more eagerly and thoroughly done at the season of the Lord Passion,
that what is then read in the sacred lections may surely be received with the ears of
understanding, and that the themes which are great in word may be seen to be yet greater
from the mysterious realities which underlie them. For the first reason for our lifting up
our hearts is that the voices of the prophets have sung of the things which the truth of
the Gospel has also narrated, not as destined to happen, but as having happened, and that
what man's ears had not yet learnt was to be accomplished, was already being proclaimed as
fulfilled by the (Holy ) Spirit. For King David, whose seed according to the flesh is
Christ, completed his lifetime more than 1,100 years before the day of the Lord's
Crucifixion, and endured none of those punishments which he relates as inflicted upon
himself. But because by his mouth One spoke Who was to take suffering flesh of his stock,
the story of the cross is tightly anticipated in the person of him who was the bodily
ancestor of the Saviour. For David truly suffered in Christ, because Jesus was truly
crucified in the flesh which He had from David.

Chapter II. The Divine Foreknowledge Does Not Account for the Jews'wickedness So as to
Excuse Them.

1 Since then all things which Jewish ungodliness committed against the Lord of Majesty
were foretold so long before and the language of the prophets is concerned not so much
with things to come as with things last, what else is thereby revealed to us but the
unchangeable order of God's eternal decrees, with Whom the things which are to be decided
are already determined, and what will be is already accomplished? For since both the
character of our actions and the fulfilment of all our wishes are fore-known to God,. how
much better known to Him are His own works? And He was rightly pleased that things should
be recorded as if done which nothing could hinder from being done. And hence when the
Apostles also, being full of the Holy Ghost, suffered the threats and cruelty of Christ's
enemies, they said to God with one consent, "For truly in this city against Thy holy
Servant Jesus, Whom Thou hast anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and
the peoples of Israel were gathered together to do what Thy hand and Thy counsel ordained
to come to pass." Did then the wickedness of Christ's persecutors spring from God's plan,
and was that unsurpassable crime prefaced and set in motion by the hand of God? Clearly we
must not think this of the highest Justice: that which was fore-known in respect of the
Jews' malice is far different, indeed quite contrary to what was ordained in respect of
Christ's Passion. Their desire to slay Him did not proceed from the same source as His to
die: nor were their atrocious crime and the Redeemer's endurance the offspring of One
Spirit. The Lord did not incite but permit those madmen's naughty hands: nor in His
foreknowledge of what must be accomplished did He compel its accomplishment, even though
it was in order to its accomplishment that He had taken flesh.

Chapter III. Christ Was in No Sense the Author of His Murderer's Guilt.

1 In fact, the case of the Crucified is so different from that of His crucifiers that what
Christ undertook could not be reversed, while what they did could be wiped out. For He Who
came to save sinners did not refuse mercy even to His murderers, but changed the evil of
the wicked into the goodness of the believing, that God's grace might be the more
wonderful, being mercifully put in force, not according to men's merits, but according to
the multitude of the riches of God's wisdom anti knowledge, seeing that they also who had
shed the Saviour's blood were received into the baptismal flood. For, as says the
Scripture, which contains the Apostles' acts when the preaching of the blessed Apostle
Peter pierced the hearts of the Jews, and they acknowledged the iniquity of their crime,
saying, "what shall we do, brethren? the same Apostle said, "Repent and be baptized, each
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For to you is the promise, and to your sons, and to
all that are afar off, whomsoever our Lord God has called," and soon after the Scripture
goes on to say: "they therefore that received his word were baptized, and there were added
on that day about 3,000 souls. And so, in being willing to suffer their furious rage, the
Lord Jesus Christ was in no way the Author of their crimes;

2 nor did He force them to desire this, but permitted them to be able, and used the
madness of the blinded people just as He did also the treachery of His betrayer, whom by
kindly acts and words He vouchsafed to recall from the awful crime he had conceived, by
taking him for a disciple, by promoting him to be an apostle, by warning him with signs,
by admitting him to the revelation of holy mysteries that one who had lacked no degree of
kindness to correct him, might have no pretext for his crime at all.

Chapter IV. The Enormity Ofjudas' Crime is Set Forth.

1 But O ungodliest of men, "thou seed of Chanaan and not of Juda," and no longer "a vessel
of election," but "a son of perdition" and death, thou didst think the devil's
instigations would profit thee better, so that, inflamed with the torch of greed, thou
wert ablaze to gain 30 pieces of silver and sawest not what riches thou wouldst lose. For
even if thou didst not think the Lord's promises were to be believed, what reason was
there for preferring so small a sum of money to what thou hadst already received? Thou
wast wont to command the evil spirits, to heal the sick, to receive honour with the rest
of the apostles, and that thou mightest satisfy thy thirst for gain, it was open to thee
to steal from the box that was in thy charge. But thy mind, which lusted after forbidden
things, was more strongly stimulated by that which was less allowed: and the amount of the
price pleased thee not so much as the enormity of the sin. Wherefore thy wicked bargain is
not so detestable merely because thou countedst the Lord sO cheap, but because thou didst
sell Him Who was the Redeemer, yea, even thieve, and badst no pity on thyself. And justly
was thy punishment put into thine own hands because none could be found more cruelly bent
on thy destruction than thyself.

Chapter V. Christ's Passion Was for Our Redemption by Mysteryand Example.

1 The fact, therefore, that at the time appointed, according to the purpose of His will,
jesus Christ was crucified, dead, and buried was not the doom necessary to His own
condition, but the method of redeeming us from captivity. For "the Word became flesh" in
order that from the Virgin's womb He might take our suffering nature, and that what could
not be inflicted on the Son of God might be inflicted on the Son of Man. For although at
His very birth the signs of Godhead shone forth in Him, and the whole course of His bodily
growth was full of wonders, yet had He truly assumed our weaknesses, and without share in
sin had spared Himself no human frailty, that He might impart what was His to us and heal
what was ours in Himself. For He, the Almighty Physician, had prepared a two-fold remedy
for us in our misery, of which the one part consists of mystery and the other of example
that by the one Divine powers may be bestowed, by the other human weaknesses driven out.
Because as God is the Author of our justification, so man is a debtor to pay Him devotion.

Chapter VI. we Can Only Attain to Christ's Perfection by Following in His Steps.

1 Therefore, dearly-beloved, by this unspeakable restoration of our health no place is
left us for pride or for idleness: because we have nothing which we did not receive and we
are expressly warned not to treat the gifts of God's grace with negligence. For He that
comes so timely to our aid justly urges us with precept, and He that leads us to glory
mercifully incites us to obedience. Wherefore the Lord Himself is rightly made our way,
because save through Christ there is no coming to Christ. But through Him and to Him does
he take his way who treads the path of His endurance and humiliation, and on that road you
may be sure there are not wanting the heats of toil, the clouds of sadness, the storms of
fear. The snares of the wicked, the persecutions of the unbelieving, the threats of the
powerful, the insults of the proud are I there; and all these things the Lord of hosts and
King of glory passed through in the form of our weakness and in the likeness of sinful
flesh, to the end that amid the danger of this present life we might desire not so much to
avoid and escape them as to endure and overcome them.

Chapter VII. Christ Cry of "Forsaken" On the Cross Was to Teach Us the Insufficiency of
the Human Nature Without the Divine.

1 Hence it is that the Lord Jesus Christ, our Head, representing all the members of His
body in Himself, and speaking for those whom He was redeeming in the punishment of the
cross, uttered that cry which He had once uttered in the psalm, "O God, My God, look upon
Me: why hast Thou forsaken Me? That cry, dearly-beloved, is a lesson, not a complaint. For
since in Christ there is oneperson of God and man, and He could not have been forsaken by
Him, from Whom He could not be separated, it is on behalf of us, trembling and weak ones,
that He asks why the flesh that is afraid to suffer has not been heard. For when the
Passion was beginning, to cure anti correct our weak fear He had said, "Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will but as Thou; and again,
"Father, if this cup cannot pass except I drink it, Thy will be done.

2 As therefore He had conquered the tremblings of the flesh, and had now accepted the
Father's will, and trampling all dread of death under foot, was then carrying out the work
of His design, wily at the very time of His triumph over such a victory does He seek the
cause and reason of His being forsaken, that is, not heard, save to show that the feeling
which He entertained in excuse of His human fears is quite different from the deliberate
choice which, in accordance with the Father's eternal decree, He had made for the
reconciliation of the world? And thus the very cry of "Unheard" is the exposition of a
mighty Mystery, because the Redeemer's power would have conferred nothing on mankind if
our weakness in Him had obtained what it sought. Let these words dearly-beloved, suffice
to-day, lest we burden you by the length of our discourse: let us put off the rest till
Wednesday. The Lord shall hear you if you pray that we may keep our promise through the
bounty of Him Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 34

Chapter I. Christ's Godhead Never Forsook Him in His Passion.

1 The last discourse, dearly-beloved, of which we desire now to give the promised portion,
had reached that point in the argument where we were speaking of that cry which the
crucified Lord uttered to the Father: we bade the simple and unthinking hearer not take
the words "My Con, &c.," in a sense as if, when Jesus was fixed upon the wood of the
cross, the Omnipotence of the Father's Deity had gone away from Him; seeing that God's and
Man's Nature were so completely joined in Him that the union could not be destroyed by
punishment nor by death. For while each substance retained its own properties, God neither
held aloof from the suffering of His body nor was made passible by the flesh, because the
Godhead which was in the Sufferer did not actually suffer. And hence, in accordance with
the Nature of the Word made Man, He Who was made in the midst of all is the same as He
through Whom all things were made. He Who is arrested by the hands of wicked men is the
same as He Who is bound by no limits. He Who is pierced with nails is the same as He Whom
no wound can affect. Finally, He Who underwent death is the same as He Who never ceased to
be eternal, so that both facts are established by indubitable signs, namely, the truth of
the humiliation in Christ and the truth of the majesty;

2 because Divine power joined itself to human frailty to this end, that God, while making
what was ours His, might at the same time make what was His ours. The Son, therefore, was
not separated from the Father, nor the Father from the Son; and the unchangeable Godhead
and the inseparable Trinity did not admit of any division. For although the task of
undergoing Incarnation belonged peculiarly to the Only-begotten Son of God, yet the Father
was not separated from the Son any more than the flesh was separated from the Word.

Chapter II. Christ's Death Was Voluntary an His Part, and Yet in Saving Others He Could
Not Save Himself.

1 Jesus, therefore, cried with a loud voice, saying, "Why hast Thou forsaken Me? in order
to notify to all how it behoved Him not to be rescued, not to be defended, but to be given
up into the hands of cruel men, that is to become the Saviour of the world and the
Redeemer of all men, not by misery but by mercy; and not by the failure of succour but by
the determination to die. But what must we feel to be the intercessory power of His life
Who died and rose again by His own inherent power For the blessed Apostle saysthe Father
"spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; and again, he says, "For Christ loved
the Church, and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify it. And hence the giving
up of the Lord to His Passion was as much of the Father's as of His own will, so that not
only did the Father "forsake" Him, but He also abandoned Himself in a certain sense, not
in hasty flight, but in voluntary withdrawal. For the might of the Crucified restrained
itself from those wicked men, and in order to avail Himself of a secret design, He refused
to avail Himself of His open power. For how would He who had come to destroy death and the
author of death by His Passion have saved sinners, if he had resisted His persecutors?

2 This, then, had been the Jews' belief, that Jesus had been forsaken by God, against Whom
they had been able to commit such unholy cruelty; for not understanding the mystery of His
wondrous endurance, they said in blasphemous mockery: "He saved others, Himself He cannot
save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we believe
Him. Not at your blind will, O foolish scribes and wicked priests, was the Saviour's power
to be displayed, nor in obedience to blasphemers' evil tongues was the Redemption of
mankind to be delayed; for if you had wished to recognize the Godhead of the Son of God,
you would have observed His numberless works, and they must have confirmed you in that
faith, which you so deceitfully promise. But if, as you yourselves acknowledge, it is true
that He saved others, why have those many, great miracles, which have been done under the
public gaze, done nothing to soften the hardness of your hearts, unless it be because you
have always so resisted the Holy Ghost as to turn all God's benefits towards you into your
destruction? For even though Christ should descend from the cross, youwould yet remain in
your crime.

Chapter III. A Transition Was Then Being Effect from the Old to the New Dispensation.

1 Therefore the insults of empty exultation were scorned, and the Lord's mercy in
restoring the lost and the fallen was not turned from the path of its purpose by contumely
or reviling. For a peerless victim was being offered to God for the world's salvation, and
the slaying of Christ the true Lamb, predicted through so many, ages, was transferring the
sons of promise into the liberty of the Faith. The New Testament also was being ratified,
and in the blood of Christ the heirs of the eternal Kingdom were being enrolled; the High
Pontiff was entering the Holy of Holies, and to intercede with God the spotless Priest was
passing in through the veil of His flesh. In fine, so evident a transition was being
effected fromthe Law to the Gospel, from the from the synagogue to Sc the Church, from
many sacrifices to the One Victim that, when the Lord gave up the ghost, that mystic veil
which hung before and shut out the inner part of the Temple and its holy recess was by
sudden force torn from top to bottom for the reason that Truth was displacing figures, and
forerunners were needless in the presence of Him they announced. Tothis was added a
terrible confusion of all the elements, and nature herself withdrew her support from
Christ's crucifiers. And although the centurion in charge of the crucifixion, in fright at
what he had seen, said "truly this man was the Son of God," yet the wicked hearts of the
Jews, which were harder than all tombs and rocks, is not reported to have been pierced by
any compunction: so that it seems the Roman soldiers were then readier to recognize the
Son of God than the priests of Israel.

Chapter IV. Let Us Profit by Fasting and Good Works at This Sacred Season of the Year.

1 Because, then, the Jews, deprived of all the sanctification imparted by these mysteries,
turned their light into darkness and their "feasts into mourning," let us, dearly-beloved,
prostrate our bodies and our souls and worship God's Grace, which has been poured out upon
all nations, beseeching the merciful Father and the rich Redeemer from day to day to give
us His aid and enable us to escape all the dangers of this life. For the crafty tempter is
present everywhere, and leaves nothing free from his snares. Whom, God's mercy helping us,
which is stretched out to us amid all dangers, we must ever with stedfast faith resist so
that, though he never ceases to asail, he may never succeed in carrying the assault. Let
all, dearly-beloved, religiously keep and profit by the fast, and let no excesses mar the
benefits of such self-restraint as we have proved convenient both for soul and body. For
the things which pertain to sobriety and temperance must be the more diligently observed
at this season, that a lasting habit may be contracted from a brief zeal; and whether in
works of mercy or in strict self-denial, no hours may be left idle by the faithful, seeing
that, as years increase and time glides by, we are bound to increase our store of works,
and not squander our opportunities. And to devout wills and religious souls God's Mercy
will be granted, that He may enable us to obtain that which He enabled us to desire, Who
liveth and reigneth with our Lord Jesus Christ His Son, and with the Holy Ghost, for ever
and ever. Amen.

SERMON 35

Chapter I. We Must All Be Partakers in Christ's Resurrection Life.

1 In my last sermon dearly-beloved, not in- appropriately, as I think, we explained to you
our participation in the cross of Christ, whereby the life of believers contains in itself
the mystery of Easter, and thus what is honoured at the feast is celebrated by our
practice. And how useful this is you yourselves have proved, and by your devotion have
learnt, how greatly benefited souls and bodies are by longer fasts, more frequent prayers,
and more liberal alms. For there can be hardly any one who has not profited by this
exercise, and who has not stored up in the recesses of his conscience something over which
he may rightly rejoice. But these advantages must be retained with persistent care, lest
our efforts fall away into idleness, and the devil's malice steal what God's grace gave.
Since, therefore, by our forty days' observance we have wished to bring about this effect,
that we should feel something of the Cross at the time of the Lord's Passion, we must
strive to be found partakers also of Christ's Resurrection, and "pass from death unto
life," while we are in this body. For when a man is changed by some process from one thing
into another, not to be what he was is to him an ending, and to be what he was not is a
beginning. But the question is, to what a man either dies or lives:

2 because there is a death, which is the cause of living, and there is a life, which is
the cause of dying. And nowhere else but in this transitory world are both sought after,
so that upon the character of our temporal actions depend the differences of the eternal
retributions. We must die, therefore, to the devil and live to God: we must perish to
iniquity that we may rise to righteousness.Let the old sink, that the new may rise; and
since, as says the Truth, "no one can serve two masters," let not him be Lord who has
caused the overthrow of those that stood, but Him Who has raised the fallen to victory.

Chapter II. God Did Not Leave His Soul in Hell, Nor Suffer His Flesh to See Corruption.

1 Accordingly, since the Apostle says, "the first man is of the earth earthy, the second
man is from heaven heavenly. As is the earthy, such also are they that are earthy; and as
is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of the
earthy, so let us also bear the image of Him Who is from heaven," we must greatly rejoice
over this change, whereby we are translated from earthly degradation to heavenly dignity
through His unspeakable mercy, Who descended into our estate that He might promote us to
His, by assuming not only the substance but also the conditions of sinful nature, and by
allowing the impossibility of Godhead to be affected by all the miseries which are the lot
of mortal manhood. And hence that the disturbed minds of the disciples might not be racked
by prolonged grief, He with such wondrous speed shortened the three days' delay which He
had announced, that by joining the last part of the first and the first part of the third
day to the whole of the second, He cut off a considerable portion of the period, and yet
did not lessen the number of days. The Saviour's Resurrection therefore did not long keep
His soul in Hades, nor His flesh in the tomb; and so speedy was the quickening of His
uncorrupted flesh that it bore a closer resemblance to slumber than to death, seeing that
the Godhead, Which quitted not either part of the Human Nature which He had assumed,
reunited by Its power that which Its power had separated.

Chapter III. Christ's Manifestation After the Resurrection Showed that His Person Was
Essentially the Same as Before.

1 And then there followed many proofs, whereon the authority of the Faith to be preached
through the whole world might be based. And although the rolling away of the stone, the
empty tomb, the arrangement of the linen cloths, and the angels who narrated the whole
deed by themselves fully built up the truth of the Lord's Resurrection, yet did He often
appear plainly to the eyes both of the women and of the Apostles not only talking with
them, but also remaining and eating with them, and allowing Himself to be handled by the
eager and curious hands of those whom doubt assailed. For to this end He entered when the
doors were closed upon the disciples, and gave them the Holy Spirit by breathing on them,
and after giving them the light of understanding opened the secrets of the Holy
Scriptures, and again Himself showed them the wound in the side, the prints of the nails,
and all the marks of His most recent Passion, whereby it might be acknowledged that in Him
the properties of the Divine and Human Nature remained undivided, and we might in such
sort know that the Word was not what the flesh is, as to confess God's only Son to be both
Word and Flesh.

Chapter IV. But Though It is the Same, It is Also Glorified.

1 The Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul, dearly. beloved, does not disagree with this belief,
when he says, "even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know Him so no
more." For the Lord's Resurrection was not the ending, but the changing of the flesh, and
His substance was not destroyed by His increase of power. The quality altered, but the
nature did not cease to exist: the body was made impassible, which it had been possible to
crucify: it was made incorruptible, though it had been possible to wound it. And properly
is Christ's flesh said not to be known in that state in which it had been known, because
nothing remained passible in it, nothing weak, so that it was both the same in essence and
not the same in glory. But what wonder if S. Paul maintains this about Christ's body, when
he says of all spiritual Christians "wherefore henceforth we know no one after the flesh."
Henceforth, he says, we begin to experience the resurrection in Christ, since the time
when in Him, Who died for all, all our hopes were guaranteed to us. We do not hesitate in
diffidence, we are not under the suspense of uncertainty, but having received an earnest
of the promise, we now with the eye of faith see the things which will be, and rejoicing
in the uplifting of our nature, we already possess what we believe.

Chapter V. Being Saved by Hope, We Must Not Fulfil the Lasts of the Flesh.

1 Let us not then be taken up with the appearances of temporal matters, neither let our
contemplations be diverted from heavenly to earthly things. Things which as yet have for
the most part not come to pass must be reckoned as accomplished: and the mind intent on
what is permanent must fix its desires there, where what is offered is eternal. For
although "by hope we were saved," and still bear about with us a flesh that is corruptible
and mortal, yet we are rightly said not to be in the flesh, if the fleshly affections do
not dominate us, and are justified in ceasing to be named after that, the will of which we
do not follow. And so, when the Apostle says, "make not provision for the flesh in the
lusts thereof," we understand that those things are not forbidden us, which conduce to
health and which human weakness demands, but because we may not satisfy all our desires
nor indulge in all that the flesh lusts after, we recognizethat we are warned to exercise
such self-restraint as not to permit what is excessive nor refuse what is necessary to the
flesh, which is placed under the mind's control. And hence the same Apostle says in
another place, "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it;" in
so far, of course, as it must be nourished and cherished not in vices and luxury, but with
a view to its proper functions, so that nature may recover herself and maintain due order,
the lower parts not prevailing wrongfully and debasingly over the higher, nor the higher
yielding to the lower, lest if vices overpower the mind, slavery ensues where there should
be supremacy.

Chapter VI. Our Godly Resolutions Must Continue All the Year Round, Not Be Confined to
Easier Only.

1 Let God's people then recognize that they are a new creation in Christ, and with all
vigilance understand by Whom they have been adopted and Whom they have adopted. let not
the things, which have been made new, return to their ancient instability; and let not him
who has "put his hand to the plough " forsake his work, but rather attend to that which he
sows than look back to that which he has left behind. Let no one fall back into that from
which he has risen, but, even though from bodily weakness he still languishes under
certain maladies, let him urgently desire to be healed and raised up. For this is the path
of health through imitation of the Resurrection begun in Christ, whereby, notwithstanding
the many accidents and falls to which in this slippery life the traveller is liable, his
feet may be guided from the quagmire on to solid ground, for, as it is written, "the steps
of a man are directed by the Lord,and He will delight in his way. When the just man falls
he shall not be overthrown, because the Lord will stretch out His hand." These thoughts,
dearly-beloved, must be kept in mind not only for the Easter festival, but also for the
sanctification of the whole life, and to this our present exercise ought to be directed,
that what has delighted the souls of the faithful by the experience of a short observance
may pass into a habit and remain unalterably, and if any fault creep in, it may be
destroyed by speedy repentance. And because the cure of old-standing diseases is slow and
difficult, remedies should be applied early, when the wounds are fresh, so that rising
ever anew from all downfalls, we may deserve to attain to the incorruptible Resurrection
of our glorified flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who lives and reigns with the Father and
the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 36

Chapter I. The Cross is Not Only the Mystery of Salvation, But an Example to Follow.

1 The whole of the Easter mystery, dearly-beloved, has been brought before us in the
Gospel narrative, and the ears of the mind have been so reached through the ear of flesh
that none of you can fail to have a picture of the events: for the text of the Divinely-
inspired story has clearly shown the treachery of the Lord Jesus Christ's betrayal, the
judgment by which He was condemned, the barbarity of His crucifixion, and glory of His
resurrection. But a sermon is still required of us, that the priests' exhortation may be
added to the solemn reading of Holy Writ, as I am sure you are with pious expectation
demanding of us as your accustomed due. Because therefore there is no place for ignorance
in faithful ears, the seed of the Word which consists of the preaching of the Gospel,
ought to grow in the soil of your heart, so that, when choking thorns and thistles have
been removed, the plants of holy thoughts and the buds of right desires may spring up
freely into fruit. For the cross of Christ, which was set up for the salvation of mortals,
is both a mystery and an example: a sacrament where by the Divine power takes effect, an
example whereby man's devotion is excited: for to those who are rescued from the
prisoner's yoke Redemption further procures the power of following the way of the cross by
imitation. For if the world's wisdom so prides itself in its error that every one follows
the opinions and habits and whole manner of life of him whom he has chosen as his leader,
how shall we share in the name of Christ save by being inseparably united to Him, Who is,
as He Himself asserted, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life?" the Way that is of holy
living, the Truth of Divine doctrine, and the Life of eternal happiness.

Chapter II. Christ Look Our Nature Upon Him for Our Salvation.

1 For when the whole body of mankind had fallen in our first parents, the merciful God
purposed so to succour, through His only-begotten Jesus Christ, His creatures made after
His image, that the restoration of our nature should not be effected apart from it, and
that our new estate should be an advance upon our original position. Happy, if we had not
fallen from that which God made us; but happier, if we remain that which He has re-made
us. It was much to have received form from Christ; it is more to have a substance in
Christ. For we were taken up into its own proper self by that Nature (which condescended
to those limitations which loving-kindness dictated and which yet incurred no sort of
change. We were taken up by that Nature which destroyed not what was His in what was ours,
nor what was ours in what was His; which made the person of the Godhead and of the Manhood
so one in Itself that by co-ordination of weakness and power, the flesh could not be
rendered inviolable through the Godhead, nor the Godhead passible through the flesh. We
were taken up by that Nature, which did not break off the Branch from the common stock of
our race, and yet excluded all taint of the sin which has passed upon all men.

2 That is to say, weakness and mortality, which were not sin, but the penalty of sin, were
undergone by the Redeemer of the World in the way of punishment, that they might be
reckoned as the price of redemption. What therefore in all of us is the heritage of
condemnation, is in Christ "the mystery of godliness. For being free from debt, He gave
Himself up to that most cruel creditor, and suffered the hands of Jews to be the devil's
agents in torturing His spotless flesh. Which flesh He willed to be subject to death, even
up to His(speedy) resurrection, to this end, that believers in Him might find neither
perse- cution intolerable, nor death terrible, by the remembrance that there was no more
doubt about their sharing His glory than there was about His sharing their nature.

Chapter III. The Presence of the Risen and Ascended Lord Is Still with Us.

1 And so, dearly-beloved, if we unhesitatingly believe with the heart what we profess with
the mouth, in Christ we are crucified, we are dead, we are buried; on the very third day,
too, we are raised. Hence the Apostle says, "If ye have risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ is, sitting on God's right hand: set your affections
on things above, not on things on the earth For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. For when Christ, your life, shall have appeared, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory." But that the hearts of the faithful may know that they have that
whereby to spurn the lusts of the world and be lifted to the wisdom that is above, the
Lord promises us His presence, saying, "Lo! I am with you all the days, even till the end
of the age." For not in vain had the Holy Ghost said by Isaiah: "Behold! a virgin shall
conceive and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is, being
interpreted, God wire us." Jesus, therefore, fulfils the proper meaning of His name, and
in ascending into the heavens does not forsake His adopted brethren, though "He sitteth at
the right hand of the Father," yet dwells in the whole body, and Himself from above
strengthens them for patient waiting while He summons them upwards to His glory.

Chapter IV. We Must Have the Same Mind as Was in Christ Jesus.

1 We must not, therefore, indulge in folly amid vain pursuits, nor give way to fear in the
midst of adversities. On the one side, no doubt, we are flattered by deceits, and on the
other weighed down by troubles; but because "the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord,"
Christ's victory is assuredly ours, that what He says may be fulfilled, "Fear not, for I
have overcome the world. Whether, then, we fight against the ambition of the world, or
against the lusts of the flesh, or against the darts of heresy, let us arm ourselves
always with the Lord's Cross. For our Paschal feast will never end, if we abstain from the
leaven of the old wickedness (in the sincerity of truth. For amid all the changes of this
life which is full of various afflictions, we ought to remember the Apostle's exhortation;
whereby he instructs us, saying, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who being in the form of God counted it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied
Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men and found in
fashion as a man.

2 Wherefore God also exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is above every name, that in
the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of
things below, and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the
glory of God the Father. If, he says, you understand "the mystery of great godliness," and
remember what the Only-begotten Son of God did for the salvation of mankind, "have that
mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus," Whose humility is not to be scorned by any of
the rich, not to be thought shame of by any of the high-born. For no human happiness
whatever can reach so great a height as to reckon it a source of shame to himself that
God, abiding in the form of Coy, thought it not unworthy of Himself to take the form of a
slave.

Chapter V. Only He Who Holds T/re Truth on the Incarnation Can Keep Easter Properly.

1 Imitate what He wrought: love what He loved, and finding in you the Grace of God, love
in Him your nature in return, since as He was not dispossessed of riches in poverty,
lessened not glory in humility, lost not eternity in death, so do ye, too, treading in His
footsteps, despise earthly things that ye may gain heavenly: for the taking up of the
cross means the slaying of lusts, the killing of vices, the turning away from vanity, and
the renunciation of all error. For, though the Lord's Passover can be kept by no immodest,
self-indulgent, proud, or miserly person, yet none are held so far aloof from this
festival as heretics, and especially those who have wrong views on the Incarnation of the
Word, either disparaging what belongs to the Godhead or treating what is of the flesh as
unreal. For the Son of God is true God, having from the Father all that the Father is,
with no beginning in time, subject to no sort of change, undivided from the One God, not
different from the Almighty, the eternal Only-begotten of the eternal Father; so that the
faithful intellect believing in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost in the same
essence of the one Godhead, neither divides the Unity by suggesting degrees of dignity,
nor confounds the Trinity by merging the Persons in one.

2 But it is not enough to know the Son of God in the Father's nature only, unless we
acknowledge Him in what is ours without withdrawal of what is His own. For that self-
emptying, which He underwent for man's restoration, was the dispensation of compassion,
not the loss of power. For, though by the eternal purpose of God there was "no other name
under heaven given to men whereby they must be saved," the Invisible made His substance
visible. the Intemporal temporal, the Impassible passible: not that power might sink into
weakness, but that weakness might pass into indestructible power.

Chapter VI. A Mystical Application of the Term "Passover" Is Given.

1 For which reason the very feast which by us is named Pascha, among the Hebrews is called
Phase, that is Pass-over as the evangelist attests, saying, "Before the feast of Pascha,
Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should pass out of this world unto the
Father." But what was the nature in which He thus passed out unless it was ours, since the
Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father inseparably? But because the Word and the
Flesh is one Person, the Assumed is not separated from the Assuming nature, and the honour
of being promoted is spoken of as accruing to Him that promotes, as the Apostle says in a
passage we have already quoted, "Wherefore also God exalted Him and gave Him a name which
is above every name." Where the exaltation of His assumed Manhood is no doubt spoken of,
so that He in Whose sufferings the Godheard remains indivisible is likewise coeternal in
the glory of the Godhead. And to share in this unspeakable gift the Lord Himself was
preparing a blessed "passing over" for His faithful ones, when on the very threshhold of
His Passion he interceded not only for His Apostles and disciples but also for the whole
Church, saying, "But not for these only I pray, but for those also who shall believe on Me
through their word, that they all may be one, as Thou also, Father, art in Me, and I in
Thee, that they also may be one in us."

Chapter VII. Only True Believers Can Keep the Easter Festival.

1 In this union they can have no share who deny that in the Son of God, Himself true God,
man's nature abides, assailing the health-giving mystery and shutting themselves out from
the Easter festival. For, as they dissent from the Gospel and gainsay the creed, they
cannot keep it with us, because although they dare to take to themselves the Christian
name, yet they are repelled by every creature who has Christ for his Head: for you rightly
exult and devoutly rejoice in this sacred season as those who, admitting no falsehood into
the Truth, have no doubt about Christ's Birth according to the flesh, His Passion and
Death, and the Resurrection of His body: inasmuch as without any separation of the Godhead
you acknowledge a Christ, Who was truly born of a Virgin's womb, truly hung on the wood of
the cross, truly laid in an earthly tomb, truly raised in glory, truly set on the right
hand of the Father's majesty; "whence also," as the Apostle says, "we look for a Saviour
our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall refashion the body of our humility to become conformed to
the body of His glory." Who liveth and reigneth, &c.

SERMON 37

Chapter I. the Events Recorded as Happening After the Resurrection Were Intended to
Convince Its Truth.

1 Since the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the Divine
power in three days raised the true Temple of God, which the wickedness of the Jews had
overthrown, the sacred forty days, dearly-beloved are to-day ended, which by most holy
appointment were devoted to our most profitable instruction, so that, during the period
that the Lord thus protracted the lingering of His bodily presence, our faith in the
Resurrection might be fortified by needful proofs. For Christ's Death had much disturbed
the disciples' hearts, and a kind of torpor of distrust had crept over their grief-laden
minds at His torture on the cross, at His giving up the ghost, at His lifeless body's
burial. For, when the holy women, as the Gospel-story has revealed,brought word of tile
stone rolled away from the tomb, the sepulchre emptied of the body, and the angels bearing
witness to the living Lord, their words seemed like ravings to the Apostles and other
disciples. Which doubtfulness, the result of human weakness, the Spirit of Truth would
most assuredly not have permitted to exist in His own preacher's breasts, had not their
trembling anxiety and careful hesitation laid the foundations of our faith. It was our
perplexities and our dangers that were provided for in the Apostles: it was ourselves who
in these men were taught how to meet the cavillings of the ungodly and the arguments of
earthly wisdom. We are instructed by their lookings, we are taught by their hearings, we
are convinced by their handlings. Let us give thanks to the Divine management and the holy
Fathers' necessary slowness of belief. Others doubted, that we might not doubt.

Chapter II. And Therefore They are in the Highest Degree Instructive.

1 Those days, therefore, dearly-beloved, which intervened between the Lord's Resurrection
and Ascension did not pass by in uneventful leisure, but great mysteries were ratified in
them, deep truths revealed. In them the fear of awful death was removed, and the
immortality not only of the soul but also of the flesh established. In them, through the
Lord's breathing upon them, the Holy Ghost is poured upon all the Apostles, and to the
blessed Apostle Peter beyond the rest the care of the Lord's flock is entrusted, in
addition to the keys of the kingdom. Then it was that the Lord joined the two disciples as
a companion on the way, and, to the sweeping away of all the clouds of our uncertainty,
upbraided them with the slowness of their timorous hearts. Their enlightened hearts catch
the flame of faith, and lukewarm as they have been, are made to burn while the Lord
unfolds the Scriptures. In the breaking of bread also their eyes are opened as they eat
with Him: how far more blessed is the opening of their eyes, to whom the glorification of
their nature is revealed than that of our first parents, on whom fell the disastrous
consequences of their transgression.

Chapter III. The Prove the Resurrection of the Flesh.

1 And in the course of these and other miracles, when the disciples were harassed by
bewildering thoughts, and the Lord had appeared in their midst and said, "Peace be unto
you," that what was passing through their hearts might not be their fixed opinion (for
they thought they saw a spirit not flesh), He refutes their thoughts so discordant with
the Truth, offers to the doubters' eyes the marks of the cross that remained in His hands
and feet, and invites them to handle Him with careful scrutiny, because the traces of the
nails and spear had been retained to heal the wounds of unbelieving hearts, so that not
with wavering faith, but with most stedfast knowledge they might comprehend that the
Nature which had been lain in the sepulchre was to sit on God the Father's throne.

Chapter IV. Christ's Ascension Has Given Us Greater Privileges and Joys Than the Devil Had
Taken from Us.

1 Accordingly, dearly-beloved, throughout this time which elapsed between the Lord's
Resurrection and Ascension, God's Providence had this in view, to teach and impress upon
both the eyes and hearts of His own people that the Lord Jesus Christ might be
acknowledged to have as truly risen, as He was truly born, suffered, and died. And hence
the most blessed Apostles and all the disciples, who had been both bewildered at His death
on the cross and backward in believing His Resurrection, were so strengthened by the
clearness of the truth that when the Lord entered the heights of heaven, not only were
they affected with no sadness, but were even filled with great joy. And truly great and
unspeakable was their cause for joy, when in the sight of the holy multitude, above the
dignity of all heavenly creatures, the Nature of mankind went up, to pass above the
angels' ranks and to rise beyond the archangels' heights, and to have Its uplifting
limited by no elevation until, received to sit with the Eternal Father, It should be
associated on the throne with His glory, to Whose Nature It was united in the Son. Since
then Christ's Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope of the Body is raised, whither the
glory of the Head has gone before, let us exult, dearly-beloved, with worthy joy and
delight in the loyal paying of thanks. For to-day not only are we confirmed as possessors
of paradise, but have also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven, and have gained
still greater things through Christ's unspeakable grace than we had lost through the
devil's malice. For us, whom our virulent enemy had driven out from the bliss of our first
abode, the Son of God has made members of Himself and placed at the right hand of the
Father, with Whom He lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and
ever. Amen.

SERMON 38

Chapter I. The Ascension Completes Our Faith in Him, Who Was God As Well as Man.

1 The mystery of our salvation, dearly-beloved, which the Creator of the universe valued
at the price of His blood, has now been carried out under conditions of humiliation from
the day of His bodily birth to the end of His Passion. And although even in "the form of a
slave" many signs of Divinity have beamed out, yet the events of all that period served
particularly to show the reality of His assumed Manhood. But after the Passion, when the
chains of death were broken, which had exposed its own strength by attacking Him, Who was
ignorant of sin, weakness was turned into power, mortality into eternity, contumely into
glory, which the Lord Jesus Christ showed by many clear proofs in the sight of many, until
He carried even into heaven the triumphant victory which He had won over the dead. As
therefore at the Easter commemoration, the Lord's Resurrection was the cause of our
rejoicing; so the subject of our present gladness is His Ascension, as we commemorate and
duly venerate that day on which the Nature of our humility in Christ was raised above all
the host of heaven, over all the ranks of angels, beyond the height of all powers, to sit
with God the Father. On which Providential order of events we are founded and built up,
that God's Grace might become more wondrous, when, notwithstanding the removal from men's
sight of what was rightly felt to command their awe, faith did not fail, hope did not
waver, love did not grow cold.

2 For it is the strength of great minds and the light of firmly-faithful souls,
unhesitatingly to believe what is not seen with the bodily sight, and there to fix one's
affections whither you cannot direct your gaze. And whence should this Godliness spring up
in our hearts, or how should a man be justified by faith, if our salvation rested on those
things only which lie beneath our eyes? Hence our Lord said to him who seemed to doubt of
Christ's Resurrection, until he had tested by sight and touch the traces of His Passion in
His very Flesh, "because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are, they who have
not seen and yet have believed."

Chapter II. The Ascension Renders Our Faith More Excellent and Stronger.

1 In order, therefore, dearly-beloved, that we may be capable of this blessedness, when
all things were fulfilled which concerned the Gospel preaching and the mysteries of the
New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ, on the fortieth day after the Resurrection in the
presence of the disciples, was raised into heaven, and terminated His presence with us in
the body, to abide on the Father's right hand until the times Divinely fore-ordained for
multiplying the sons of the Church are accomplished, and He comes to judge the living and
the dead in the same flesh in which He ascended. And so that which till then was visible
of our Redeemer was changed into a sacramental presence and that faith might be more
excellent and stronger, sight gave way to doctrine, the authority of which was to be
accepted by believing hearts enlightened with rays from above.

Chapter III. The Marvellous Effects of This Faith on All.

1 This Faith, increased by the Lord's Ascension and established by the gift of the Holy
Ghost, was not terrified by bonds, imprisonments, banishments, hunger, fire, attacks by
wild beasts, refined torments of cruel persecutors. For this Faith throughout the world
not only men, but even women, not only beardless boys, but even tender maids, fought to
the shedding of their blood. This Faith cast out spirits, drove off sicknesses, raised the
dead: and through it the blessed Apostles themselves also, who after being confirmed by so
many miracles and instructed by so many discourses, had yet been panic-stricken by the
horrors of the Lord's Passion and had not accepted the truth of His resurrection without
hesitation, made such progress after the Lord's Ascension that everything which had
previously filled them with fear was turned into joy. For they had lifted the whole
contemplation of their mind to the Godhead of Him that sat at the Father's right hand, and
were no longer hindered by the barrier of corporeal sight from directing their minds' gaze
to That Which had never quitted the Father's side in descending to earth, and had not
forsaken the disciples in ascending to heaven.

Chapter IV. His Ascension Refines Our Faith: the Ministering of Angels to Hint Shows the
Extent of His Authority.

1 The Son of Man and Son of God, therefore, dearly-beloved, then attained a more excellent
and holier fame, when He betook Himself back to the glory of the Father's Majesty, and in
an ineffable manner began to be nearer to the Father in respect of His Godhead, after
having become farther away in respect of His manhood. A better instructed faith then began
to draw closer to a conception of the Son's equality with the Father without the necessity
of handling the corporeal substance in Christ, whereby He is less than the Father, since,
while the Nature of the glorified Body still remained the faith of believers was called
upon to touch not with the hand of flesh, but with the spiritual understanding the Only-
begotten, Who was equal with the Father. Hence comes that which the Lord said after His
Resurrection, when Mary Magdalene, representing the Church, hastened to approach and touch
Him: "Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascended to My Father: that is, I would not have
you come to Me as to a human body, nor yet recognize Me by fleshly perceptions: I put thee
off for higher things, I prepare greater things for thee: when I have ascended to My
Father, then thou shall handle Me more perfectly and truly, for thou shall grasp what thou
canst not touch and believe what thou canst not see.

2 But when the disciples' eyes followed the ascending Lord tO heaven with upward gaze of
earnest wonder, two angels stood by them in raiment shining with wondrous brightness, who
also said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus Who was taken
up from you into heaven shall so come as ye saw Him going into heaven. By which words all
the sons of the Church were taught to believe that Jesus Christ will come visibly in the
same Flesh wherewith He ascended, and not to doubt that all things are subjected to Him on
Whom the ministry of angels had waited from the first beginning of His Birth. For, as an
angel announced to the blessed Virgin that Christ should be conceived by the Holy Ghost,
so the voice of heavenly beings sang of His being born of the Virgin also to the
shepherds. As messengers from above were the first to attest His having risen from the
dead, so the service of angels was employed to foretell His coming in very Flesh to judge
the world, that we might understand what great powers will come with Him as Judge, when
such great ones ministered to Him even in being judged.

Chapter V. We Must Despise Earthly Things and Rise to Things Above, Especially by Active
Works of Mercy and Love.

1 And so, dearly-beloved, let us rejoice with spiritual joy, and let us with gladness pay
God worthy thanks and raise our hearts' eyes unimpeded to those heights where Christ is.
Minds that have heard the call to be uplifted must not be pressed down by earthly
affections they that are fore-ordained to things eternal must not be taken up with the
things that perish; they that have entered on the way of Truth must not be entangled in
treacherous snares, and the faithful must so take their course through these temporal
things as to remember that they are sojourning in the vale of this world, in which, even
though they meet with some attractions, they must not sinfully embrace them, but bravely
pass through them. For to this devotion the blessed Apostle Peter arouses us, and
entreating us with that loving eagerness which he conceived for feeding Christ's sheep by
the threefold profession of love for the Lord, says, "dearly-beloved, I beseech you, as
strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. But for
whom do fleshly pleasures wage war, ifnot for the devil, whose delight it is to fetter
souls that strive after things above, with the enticements of corruptible good things, and
to draw them away from those abodes from which he himself has been banished? Against his
plots every believer must keep careful watch that he may crush his foe on the side whence
the attack is made.

2 And there is no more powerful weapon, dearly-beloved, against the devil's wiles than
kindly mercy and bounteous charity, by which every sin is either escaped or vanquished.
But this lofty power is not attained until that which is opposed to it be overthrown. And
what so hostile to mercy and works of charity as avarice from the root of which spring all
evils? And unless it be destroyed by lack of nourishment, there must needs grow in the
ground of that heart in which this evil weed has taken root, the thorns and briars of
vices rather than any seed of true goodness. Let us then, dearly-beloved, resist this
pestilential evil and "follow after charity," without which no virtue can flourish, that
by this path of love whereby Christ came down to us, we too may mount up to Him, to Whom
with God the Father and the Holy Spirit is honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 39

Chapter I. The Giving of the Law by Moses Prepared the Way for the Outpouring of the Holy
Ghost.

1 The hearts of all catholics, beloved, realize that to-day's solemnity is to be honoured
as one of the chief feasts, nor is there any doubt that great respect is due to this day,
which the Holy Spirit has hallowed by the miracle of His most excellent gift. For from the
day on which the Lord ascended up above all heavenly heights to sit down at God the
Father's right hand, this is the tenth which has shone, and the fiftieth from His
Resurrection, being the very day on which it began and containing in itself great
revelations of mysteries both new and old, by which it is most manifestly revealed that
Grace was fore-announced through the Law and the Law fulfilled through Grace. For as of
old, when the Hebrew nation were released from the Egyptians, on the fiftieth day after
the sacrificing of the lamb the Law was given on Mount Sinai, so after the suffering of
Christ, wherein the true Lamb of God was slain on the fiftieth day from His Resurrection,
the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles and the multitude of believers, so that the
earnest Christian may easily perceive that the beginnings of the Old Testament were
preparatory to the beginnings of the Gospel, and that the second covenant was rounded by
the same Spirit that had instituted the first.

Chapter II. How Marvellous Was the Gift of "Divers Tongues."

1 For as the Apostles' story testifies: "while the days of Pentecost were fulfilled and
all the disciples were together in the same place, there occurred suddenly from heaven a
sound as of a violent wind coming, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Holy
Spirit gave them utterance." Oh! how swift are the words of wisdom. and where God is the
Master, how quickly is what is taught, learnt. No interpretation is required for
understanding, no practice for using, no time for studying, but the Spirit of Truth
blowing where He wills the languages peculiar to each nation become common property in the
mouth of the Church. And therefore from that day the trumpet of the Gospel-preaching has
sounded loud: from that day the showers of gracious gifts, the rivers of blessings, have
watered every desert and all the dry land, since to renew the face of the earth the Spirit
of God "moved over the waters," and to drive away the old darkness flashes of new light
shone forth, when by the blaze of those busy tongues was kindled the Lord's bright Word
and fervent eloquence, in which to arouse the understanding, and to consume sin there lay
both a capacity of enlightenment and a power of burning.

Chapter III. The Three Persons in the Trinity are Perfectly Equal in All Things.

1 But although, dearly-beloved, the actual form of the thing done was exceeding wonderful,
and undoubtedly in that exultant chorus of all human languages the Majesty of the Holy
Spirit was present, yet no one must think that His Divine substance appeared in what was
seen with bodily eyes. For His Nature, which is invisible and shared in common with the
Father and the Son, showed the character of His gift and work by the outward sign that
pleased Him, but kept His essential property within His own Godhead: because human sight
can no more perceive the Holy Ghost than it can the Father or the Son. For in the Divine
Trinity nothing is unlike or unequal, and all that can be thought concerning Its substance
admits of no diversity either in power or glory or eternity. And while in the property of
each Person the Father is one, the Son is another, and the Holy Ghost is another, yet the
Godhead is not distinct and different; for whilst the Son is the Only begotten of the
Father, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, not in the way that every
creature is the creature of the Father and the Son, but as living and having power with
Both, and eternally subsisting of That Which is the Father and the Son.

2 And hence when the Lord before the day of His Passion promised the coming of the Holy
Spirit to His disciples, He said, "I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot
bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth shall have come, He shall guide you into
all the Truth. For He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall have heard, He
shall speak and shall announce things to come unto you. All things that the Father hath
are Mine: therefore said I that He shall take of Mine, and shall announce it to you.
Accordingly, there are not some things that are the Father's, and other the Son's, and
other the Holy Spirit's: but all things whatsoever the Father has, the Son also has, and
the Holy Spirit also has: nor was there ever a time when this communion did not exist,
because with Them to have all things is to always exist. In them let no times, no grades,
no differences be imagined and, if no one can explain that which is true concerning God,
let no one dare to assert what is not true. For it is more excusable not to make a full
statement concerning His ineffable Nature than to frame an actually wrong definition. And
so whatever loyal hearts can conceive of the Father's eternal and unchangeable Glory, let
them at the same time understand it of the Son and of the Holy Ghost without any
separation or difference.

3 For we confess this blessed Trinity to be One God for this reason, because in these
three Persons there is no diversity either of substance, or of power, or of will, or of
operation.

Chapter IV. The Macedonian Heresy is as Blasphemous as the Arian.

1 As therefore we abhor the Arians, who maintain a difference between the Father and the
Son, so also we abhor the Macedonians who, although they ascribe equality to the Father
and the Son, yet think the Holy Ghost to be of a lower nature, not considering that they
thus fall into that blasphemy, which is not to be forgiven either in the present age or in
the judgment to come, as the Lord says: "whosoever shall have spoken a word against the
Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that shall have spoken against the Holy
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come." And so to
persist in this impiety is unpardonable, because it cuts him off from Him, by Whom he
could confess: nor will he ever attain to healing pardon, who has no Advocate to plead for
him. For from Him comes the invocation of the Father, from Him come the tears of
penitents, from Him come the groans of suppliants, and "no one can call Jesus the Lord
save in the Holy Ghost," Whose Omnipotence as equal and Whose Godhead as one, with the
Father and the Son, the Apostle most clearly proclaims, saying, "there are divisions of
graces but the same Spirit; and the divisions of ministrations but the same Lord; and
there are divisions of operations but the same God, Who worketh all things in all."

Chapter V. The Spirit's Work is Still Continued in Thechurch.

1 By these and other numberless proofs, dearly-beloved, with which the authority of the
Divine utterances is ablaze, let us with one mind be incited to pay reverence to
Whitsuntide, exulting in honour of the Holy Ghost, through Whom the whole catholic Church
is sanctified, and every rational soul quickened; Who is the Inspirer of the Faith, the
Teacher of Knowledge, the Fount of Love, the Seal of Chastity, and the Cause of all Power.
Let the minds of the faithful rejoice, that throughout the world One God, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, is praised by the confession of all tongues, and that that sign of His
Presence, which appeared in the likeness of fire, is still perpetuated in His work and
gift. For the Spirit of Truth Himself makes the house of His glory shine with the
brightness of His light, and will have nothing dark nor lukewarm in His temple. And it is
through His aid and teaching also that the purification of fasts and alms has been
established among us. For this venerable day is followed by a most wholesome practice,
which all the saints have ever found most profitable to them, and to the diligent
observance of which we exhort you with a shepherd's care, to the end that if any blemish
has been contracted in the days just passed through heedless negligence, it may be atoned
for by the discipline of fasting and corrected by pious devotion. On Wednesday and Friday,
therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday for this very purpose keep vigil with accustomed
devotion, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and
reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 40

Chapter I. The Holy Ghost's Work Did Not Begin at Pentecost, But Was Continued Because the
Holy Trinity is One in Action and in Will.

1 To-day's festival, dearly-beloved, which is held in reverence by the whole world, has
been hallowed by that advent of the Holy Ghost, which on the fiftieth day after the Lord's
Resurrection, descended on the Apostles and the multitude of believers even as it was
hoped. And there was this hope, because the Lord Jesus had promised that He should come,
not then first to be the Indweller of the saints, but to kindle to a greater heat, and to
fill with larger abundance the hearts that were dedicated to Him, increasing, not
commencing His gifts, not fresh in operation because richer in bounty. For the Majesty of
the Holy Ghost is never separate from the Omnipotence of the Father and the Son, and
whatever the Divine government accomplishes in the ordering of all things, proceeds from
the Providence of the whole Trinity. Therein exists unity of mercy and loving-kindness,
unity of judgment and justice: nor is there any division in action where there is no
divergence of will. What, therefore, the Father enlightens, the Son enlightens, and the
Holy Ghost enlightens: and while there is one Person of the Sent, another of the Sender,
and another of the Promiser both the Unity and the Trinity are at the same time revealed
to us, so that the Essence which possesses equality and does not admit of solitariness is
understood to belong to the same Substance but not the same Person.

Chapter II. Each Person in the Trinity Look Part in Our Redemption.

1 The fact, therefore, that, with the co-operation of the inseparable Godhead still
perfect, certain things are performed by the Father, certain by the Son, and certain by
the Holy Spirit, in particular belongs to the ordering of our Redemption and the method of
our salvation. For if man, made after the image and likeness of God, had retained the
dignity of his own nature, and had not been deceived bythe devil's wiles into
transgressing through lust the law laid down for him, the Creator of the world would not
have become a Creature, the Eternal would not have entered the sphere of time, nor God the
Son, Who is equal with God the Father, have assumed the form of a slave and the likeness
of sinful flesh. But because "by the devil's malice death entered into the world," and
captive humanity could not otherwise be set free without His undertaking our cause, Who
without loss of His majesty should both become true Man, and alone have no taint of sin,
the mercy of the Trinity divided for Itself the work of our restoration in such a way that
the Father should be propitiated, the Son should propitiate and the Holy Ghost enkindle.
For it was necessary that those who are to be saved should also do something on their
part, and by the turning of their hearts to the Redeemer should quit the dominion of the
enemy, even as the Apostle says, "God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying
Abba, Father," "And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," and "no one can
call Jesus Lord except in the Holy Spirit."

Chapter III. But This Apportionment of Functions Does Not Mar the Unity of the Trinity.

1 If, therefore, under guiding grace, dearly-beloved, we faithfully and wisely understand
what is the particular work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and what is
common to the Three in our restoration, we shall without doubt so accept what has been
wrought for us by humiliation and in the body as to think nothing unworthy about the One
and Selfsame Glory of the Trinity. For although no mind is competent to think, no tongue
to speak about God, yet whatever that is which the human intellect apprehends about the
essence of the Father's Godhead, unless one and the selfsame truth is held concerning His
Only-begotten or the Holy Spirit, our meditations are disloyal, and beclouded by the
intrusions of the flesh, and even that is lost, which seemed a right conclusion concerning
the Father, because the whole Trinity is forsaken, if the Unity therein is not maintained;
and That Which is different by any inequality can in no true sense be One.

Chapter IV. In Thinking Upon God, We Must Put Aside All Material Notions.

1 When, therefore, we fix our minds on confessing the Father and the Son and the Holy
Ghost, let us keep far from our thoughts the forms of things visible, the ages of beings
born in time, and all material bodies and places. Let that which is extended in space,
that which is enclosed by limit, and whatever is not always everywhere and entire be
banished from the heart. The conception of the Triune Godhead must put aside the idea of
interval or of grade and if a man has attained any worthy thought of God, let him not dare
to withhold it from any Person therein, as if to ascribe with more honour to the Father
that which he does not ascribe to the Son and Spirit. It is not true Godliness to put the
Father before the Only-begotten: insult to the Son is insult to the Father: what is
detracted from the One is detracted from Both. For since Their Eternity and Godhead are
alike common, the Father is not accounted either Almighty and Unchangeable, if He begot
One less than Himself or gained by having One Whom before He had not.

Chapter V. Christ as Man is Less Than the Father, as God Co-Equal.

1 The Lord Jesus does, indeed, say to His disciples, as was read in the Gospel lection,
"if ye loved Me, ye would assuredly rejoice, because I go to the Father, because the
Father is greater than I; but those ears, which have often heard the words, "I and the
Father are One," and "He that sees Me, sees the Father also," accept the saying without
supposing a difference of Godhead or understanding it of that Essence which they know to
be co-eternal and of the same nature with the Father. Man's uplifting, therefore, in the
Incarnation of the Word, is commended to the holy Apostles also, and they, who were
distressed at the announcement of the Lord's departure from them, are incited to eternal
joy over the increase in their dignity; "If ye loved Me," He says, "ye would assuredly
rejoice, because I go to the Father: that is, if, with complete knowledge ye saw what
glory is bestowed on you by the fact that, being begotten of God the Father, I have been
born of a human mother also, that being invisible I have made Myself visible, that being
eternal "in the form of God" I accepted the "form of a slave," "ye would rejoice because I
go to the Father. For to you is offered this ascension, and your humility is in Me raised
to a place above all heavens at the Father's right hand.

2 But I, Who am with the Father that which the Father is, abide undivided with My Father,
and in coming from Him to you I do not leave Him, even as in returning to Him from you I
do not forsake you. Rejoice, therefore, "because I go to the Father, because the Father is
greater than I. For I have united you with Myself, and am become Son of Man that you might
have power to be sons of God. And hence, though I am One in both forms, yet in that
whereby I am conformed to you I am less than the Father, whereas in that whereby I am not
divided from the Father I am greater even than Myself. And so let the Nature, which is
less than the Father, go to the Father, that the Flesh may be where the Word always is,
and that the one Faith of the catholic Church may believe that He Whom as Man it does not
deny to be less, is equal as God with the Father.

Chapter VI. And This Equality Which the Son Has with the Father, the Holy Ghost Also Has.

1 Accordingly, dearly-beloved, let us despise the vain and blind cunning of ungodly
heretics, which flatters itself over its crooked interpretation of this sentence, and when
the Lord says, "All things that the Father hath are Mine," does not understand that it
takes away from the Father whatever it dares to deny to the Son, and is so foolish in
matters even which are human as to think, that what is His Father's has ceased to belong
to His Only-begotten, because He has taken on Him what is ours. Mercy in the case of God
does not lessen power, nor is the reconciliation of the creature whom He loves a falling
off of Eternal glory. What the Father has the Son also has, and what the Father and the
Son have, the Holy Ghost also has, because the whole Trinity together is One God. But this
Faith is not the discovery of earthly wisdom nor the conviction of man's opinion: the
Only-begotten Son has taught it Himself, and the Holy Ghost has established it Himself,
concerning Whom no other conception must be formed than is formed concerning the Father
and the Son. Because albeit He is not the Father nor the Son, yet He is not separable from
the Father and the Son: and as He has His own personality in the Trinity, so has He One
substance in Godhead with the Father and the Son, filling all things, containing all
things, and with the Father and the Son controlling all things, to Whom is the honour and
glory for ever and ever. Amen.


SERMONS
=======

SERMONS continued

SERMON 41

Chapter I. Since the Apostles' Day Till Now Self-Restraint is the Best Defence Against the
Devil's Assaults.

1 To-day's festival, dearly-beloved, hallowed by the descent of the Holy Ghost, is
followed, as you know by a solemn fast, which being a salutary institution for the healing
of soul and body, we must keep with devout observance. For when the Apostles had been
filled with the promised power, and the Spirit of Truth had entered their hearts, we doubt
not that among the other mysteries of heavenly doctrine this discipline of spiritual self-
restraint was first thought of at the prompting of the Paraclete in order that minds
sanctified by fasting might be fitter for the chrism to be bestowed on them. The disciples
of Christ had the protection of the Almighty aid, and the chiefs of the infant Church were
guarded by the whole Godhead of the Father and the Son through the presence of the Holy
Ghost. But against the threatened attacks of persecutors, against the terrifying shouts of
the ungodly, they could not fight with bodily strength or pampered flesh, since that which
delights the outer does most harm to the inner man, and the more one's fleshly substance
is kept in subjection, the more purified is the reasoning soul.

Chapter II. The Templer is Foiled in Attacks Upon Those Who Have Learnt These Tactics.

1 And so those teachers, who have instructed all the Church's sons by their examples and
their traditions, began the rudiments of the Christian warfare with holy fasts, that,
having to fight against spiritual wickednesses, they might take the armour of abstinence,
wherewith to slay the incentives to vice. For invisible foes and incorporeal enemies will
have no strength against us, if we be not entangled in any lusts of the flesh. The desire
to hurt us is indeed ever active in the tempter, but he will be disarmed and powerless, if
he find no vantage around within us from which to attack us. But who, encompassed with
this frail flesh, and placed in this body of death, even one who has made much decided
progress, can be so sure of his safety now, as to believe himself free from the peril of
all allurements? Although Divine Grace gives daily victory to His saints yet He does not
remove the occasion for fighting, because this very fact is part of our Protector's Mercy,
Who has always designed that something should remain for our ever-changing nature to win,
lest it should boast itself on the ending of the battle.

Chapter III. And So This Fast Comes Very Opportunely After the Feast of Whitsuntide.

1 Therefore, after the days of holy gladness, which we have devoted to the honour of the
Lord rising from the dead and then ascending into heaven, and after receiving the gift of
the Holy Ghost, a fast is ordained as a wholesome and needful practice, so that, if
perchance through neglect or disorder even amid the joys of the festival any undue licence
has broken out, it may be corrected by the remedy of strict abstinence, which must be the
more scrupulously carried out in order that what was on this day Divinely bestowed on the
Church may abide in us. For being made the Temple of the Holy Ghost, and watered with a
greater supply than ever of the Divine Stream, we ought not to be conquered by any lusts
nor held in possession by any vices in order that the habitation of Divine power may be
stained with no pollution.

Chapter IV. And by Proper Use of It We Shall Win God's Favour.

1 And this assuredly it is possible for all to obtain, God helping and guiding us, if by
the purification of fasting and by merciful liberality, we take pains to be set free from
the filth of sins, and to be rich in the fruits of love. For whatever is spent in feeling
the poor, in healing the sick, in ransoming prisoners, or in any other deeds of piety, is
not lessened but increased, nor will that ever be lost in the sight of God which the
loving-kindness of the faithful has expended, seeing that whatever a man gives in relief,
he lays up for his own reward. For "blessed are the merciful, since God shall have mercy
on them;" nor wilt shortcomings be remembered, where the presence of true religion has
been attested. On Wednesday and Friday, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday let us
keep vigil in the presence of the most blessed Apostle, Peter, by whose prayers we surely
trust to be set free both from spiritual foes and bodily enemies; through our Lord Jesus
Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 42

Chapter I. Rome Owes Its High Position to These Apostles.

1 The whole world, dearly-beloved, does indeed take part in all holy anniversaries, and
loyalty to the one Faith demands that whatever is recorded as done for all men's salvation
should be everywhere celebrated with common rejoicings. But, besides that reverence which
to-day's festival has gained from all the world, it is to be honoured with special and
peculiar exultation in our city, that there may be a predominance of gladness on the day
of their martyrdom in the place where the chief of the Apostles met their glorious end.
For these are the men, through whom the light of Christ's gospel shone on thee, O Rome,
and through whom thou, who wast the teacher of error, wast made the disciple of Truth.
These are thy holy Fathers and true shepherds, who gave thee claims to be numbered among
the heavenly kingdoms, and built thee under much better and happier auspices than they, by
whose zeal the first foundations of thy walls were laid: and of whom the one that gave
thee thy name defiled thee with his brother's blood. These are they who promoted thee to
such glory, that being made a holy nation, a chosen people, a priestly and royal state and
the head of the world through the blessed Peter's holy See thou didst attain a wider sway.
by the worship of God than by earthly government. For although thou weft increased by many
victories, and didst extend thy rule on land and sea, yet what thy toils in war subdued is
less than what the peace of Christ has conquered.

Chapter II. The Extension of the Roman Empire Was Part of the Divine Scheme.

1 For the good, just, and Almighty God, Who has never withheld His mercy from mankind, and
has ever instructed all men alike in the knowledge of Himself by the most abundant
benefits, has by a more secret counsel and a deeper love shown pity upon the wanderers'
voluntary blindness and proclivities to evil, by sending His co-equal and co-eternal Word.
Which becoming flesh so united the Divine Nature with the human that He by lowering His
Nature to the uttermost has raised our nature to the highest. But that the result of this
unspeakable Grace might be spread abroad throughout the world, God's Providence made ready
the Roman empire, whose growth has reached such limits that the whole multitude of nations
are brought into close connexion. For the Divinely-planned work particularly required that
many kingdoms should be leagued together under one empire, so that the preaching of the
world might quickly reach to all people, when they were held beneath the rule of one
state. And yet that state, in ignorance of the Author of its aggrandisement though it rule
almost all nations, was enthralled by the errors of them all, and seemed to itself to have
fostered religion greatly, because it rejected no falsehood. And hence its emancipation
through Christ was the more wondrous that it had been so fast bound by Satan.

Chapter III. On the Dispersing of the Twelve, St. Peter Was Sent to Rome.

1 For when the twelve Apostles, after receiving through the Holy Ghost the power of
speaking with all tongues, had distributed the world into parts among themselves, and
undertaken to instruct it in the Gospel, the most blessed Peter, chief of the Apostolic
band, was appointed to the citadel of the Roman empire, that the light of Truth which was
being displayed for the salvation of all the nations, might spread itself more effectively
throughout the body of the world from the head itself. What nation had not representatives
then living in this city; or what peoples did not know what Rome had learnt? Here it was
that the tenets of philosophy must be crushed, here that the follies of earthly wisdom
must be dispelled, here that the cult of demons must be refuted, here that theblasphemy of
all idolatries must be rooted out, here where the most persistent superstition had
gathered together all the various errors which had anywhere been devised.

Chapter IV. St. Peter's Love Conquered His Fears in Coming to Rome.

1 To this city then, most blessed Apostle Peter, thou dost not fear to come, and when the
Apostle Paul; the partner of thy glory, was still busied with regulating other churches,
didst enter this forest of roaring beasts, this deep, stormy ocean with greater boldness
than when thou didst walk upon the sea. And thou who hadst been frightened by the high
priest's maid in the house of Caiaphas, hadst no fear of Rome the mistress of the world.
Was there any less power in Claudius, any less cruelty in Nero than in the judgment of
Pilate or the Jews' savage rage? So then it was the force of love that conquered the
reasons for fear: and thou didst not think those to be feared whom thou hadst undertaken
to love. But this feeling of fearless affection thou hadst even then surely conceived when
the profession of thy love for the Lord was confirmed by the mystery of the thrice-
repeated question. And nothing else was demanded of this thy earnest purpose than that
thou shouldst bestow the food wherewith thou hadst thyself been enriched, on feeding His
sheep whom thou didst love.

Chapter V. S. Peter Was Providentially Prepared for His Great Mission.

1 Thy confidence also was increased by many miraculous signs, by many gifts of grace, by
many proofs of power. Thou hadst already taught the people, who from the number of the
circumcised had believed: thou hadst already founded the Church at Antioch, where first
the dignity of the Christian name arose: thou hadst already instructed Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, in the laws of the Gospel-message: and, without doubt as
to the success of the work, with full knowledge of the short span of thy life didst carry
the trophy of Christ's cross into the citadel of Rome, whither by the Divine fore-
ordaining there accompanied thee the honour of great power and the glory of much
suffering.

Chapter VI. Many Noble Martyrs Have Sprung from the Blood of Ss. Peter and Paul.

1 Thither came also thy blessed brother-Apostle Paul, "the vessel of election," and the
special teacher of the Gentiles, and was associated with thee at a time when all
innocence, all modesty, all freedom was into jeopardy under Nero's rule. Whose fury,
inflamed by excess of all vices, hurled him headlong into such a fiery furnace of madness
that he was the first to assail the Christian name with a general persecution, as if God's
Grace could be quenched by the death of saints, whose greatest gain it was to win eternal
happiness by contempt of this fleeting life. "Precious," therefore, "in the eyes of the
Lord is the death of His saints:" nor can any degree of cruelty destroy the religion which
is founded on the mystery of Christ's cross. Persecution does not diminish but increase
the church, and the Lord's field is clothed with an ever richer crop, while the grains,
which fall singly, spring up and are multiplied a hundred-fold. Hence how large a progeny
have sprung from these two Heaven-sown seeds is shown by the thousands of blessed martyrs,
who, rivalling the Apostles' triumphs, have traversed the city far and wide in purple-clad
and ruddy-gleaming throngs, and crowned it, as it were with a single diadem of countless
gems.

Chapter VII. No Distinction Must Be Drawn Between the Merits of the Two.

1 And over this band, dearly-beloved, whom God has set forth for our example in patience
and for our confirmation in the Faith, there must be rejoicing everywhere in the
commemoration of all the saints, but of these two Fathers' excellence we must rightly make
our boast in louder joy, for God's Grace has raised them to so high a place among the
members of the Church, that He has set them like the twin light of the eyes in the body,
whose Head is Christ. About their merits and virtues, which pass all power of speech, we
must not make distinctions, because they were equal in their election alike in their
toils, undivided in their death. But as we have proved for Ourselves, and our forefathers
maintained, we believe, and are sure that, amid all the toils of this life, we must always
be assisted in obtaining God's Mercy by the prayers of special interceders, that we may be
raised by the Apostles' merits in proportion as we are weighed down by our own sins.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.

SERMON 84: CONCERNING THE NEGLECT OF THE COMMEMORATION

I. The Churchmen of Rome are in Danger of Forgetting Past Judgments and Mercies, and
Becoming Ungrateful to God.

1 The fewness of those who were present has of itself shown, dearly-beloved, that the
religious devotion wherewith, in commemoration of the day of our chastisement and release,
the whole body of the faithful used to flock together in order to give God thanks, has on
this last occasion been almost entirely neglected: and this has caused me much sadness of
heart and great fear. For there is much danger of men becoming ungrateful to God, and
through forgetfulness of His benefits not feeling sorrow for the chastisement, nor joy for
the liberation. Accordingly I fear, dearly-beloved, lest that utterance of the Prophet be
addressed in rebuke to such men, which says, "thou hast scourged them and they have not
grieved: thou hast chastised them, and they have refused to receive correction " For what
amendment is shown by them in whom such aversion to God's service is found? One is ashamed
to say it, but one must not keep silence: more is spent upon demons than upon the
Apostles, and mad spectacles draw greater crowds than blessed martyrdoms. Who was it that
restored this city to safety? that rescued it from captivity? the games of the circus-
goers or the care of the saints? surely it was by the saints' prayers that the sentence of
Divine displeasure was diverted, so that we who deserved wrath, were reserved for pardon.

II. Let Them Avail Themselves Betimes of God's Long-Suffering and Return to Him.

2 I entreat you, beloved, let those words of the Saviour touch your hearts, Who, when by
the power of His mercy He had cleansed ten lepers, said that only one of them all had
returned to give thanks: meaning without doubt that, though the ungrateful ones had gained
soundness of body, yet their failure in this godly duty arose from ungodliness of heart.
And therefore, dearly-beloved, that this brand of ingratitude may not be applied to you,
return to the Lord, remembering the marvels which He has deigned to perform among us; and
ascribing. our release not, as the ungodly suppose, to the influences of the stars, but to
the unspeakable mercy of Almighty God, Who has deigned to soften the hearts of raging
barbarians, betake yourselves to the commemoration of so great a benefit with all the
vigour of faith. Grave neglect must be atoned for by yet greater tokens of repentance. Let
us use the Mercy of Him, Who has spared us, to our own amendment, that the blessed Peter
and all the saints, who have always been near us in many afflictions, may deign to aid our
entreaties for you to the merciful God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SERMON 85

Chapter I. The Example of the Martyrs is Most Valuable

1 Whilst the height of all virtues, dearly-beloved, and the fulness of all righteousness
is born of that love, wherewith God and one's neighbour is loved, surely in none is this
love found more conspicuous and brighter than in the blessed martyrs; who are as near to
our Lord Jesus, Who died for all men, in the imitation of His love, as in the likeness of
their suffering. For, although that Love, wherewith the Lord has redeemed us, cannot be
equalled by any man's kindness, because it is one thing that a man who is doomed to die
one day should die for a righteous man, and another that One Who is free from the debt of
sin should lay down His life for the wicked: yet the martyrs also have done great service
to all men, in that the Lord Who gave them boldness, has used it to show that the penalty
of death and the pain of the cross need not be terrible to any of His followers, but might
be imitated by many of them. If therefore no good man is good for himself alone, and no
wise man's wisdom befriends himself only, and the nature of true virtue is such that it
leads many away from the dark error on which its light is shed, no model is more useful in
teaching God's people than that of the martyrs. Eloquence may make intercession easy,
reasoning may effectually persuade; but yet examples are stronger than words, and there is
more teaching in practice than in precept.

Chapter II. The Saint's Martyrdom Described.

1 And how gloriously strong in this most excellent manner of doctrine the blessed martyr
Laurentius is, by whose sufferings to-day is marked, even his persecutors were able to
feel, when they found that his wondrous courage, born principally of love for Christ, not
only did not yield itself, but also strengthened others by the example of his endurance.
For when the fury of the gentile potentates was raging against Christ's most chosen
members, and attacked those especially who were of priestly rank, the wicked persecutor's
wrath was vented on Laurentius the deacon, who was pre-eminent not only in the performance
of the sacred rites, but also in the management of the church's property promising himself
double spoil from one man's capture: for if he forced him to surrender the sacred
treasures, he would also drive him out of the pale of true religion. And so this man, so
greedy of money and such a foe to the truth, arms himself with double weapon: with avarice
to plunder the gold; with impiety to carry off Christ. He demands of the guileless
guardian of the sanctuary that the church wealth on which his greedy mind was set should
be brought to him. But the holy deacon showed him where he had them stored, by pointing to
the many troops of poor saints, in the feeding and clothing of whom he had a store of
riches which he could hot lose, and which were the more entirely safe that the money had
been spent on so holy a cause.

Chapter III. the Description of His Sufferings Continued.

1 The baffled plunderer, therefore, frets, and blazing out into hatred of a religion,
which had put riches to such a use, determines to pillage a still greater treasure by
carrying off that sacred deposit wherewith he was enriched, as he could find no solid
hoard of money in his possession. He orders Laurentius to renounce Christ, and prepares to
ply the deacon's stout courage with frightful tortures: and, when the first elicit
nothing, fiercer follow. His limbs, torn and mangled by many cutting blows, are commanded
to be broiled upon the fire in an iron framework which was of itself already hot enough to
burn him, and on which his limbs were turned from time to time, to make the torment
fiercer, and the death more lingering.

Chapter IV. Laurentius Has Conquered His Persecutor.

1 Thou gainest nothing, thou prevailest nothing, O savage cruelty. His mortal frame is
released from thy devices, and, when Laurentius departs to heaven, thou art vanquished.
The flame of Christ's love could not be overcome by thy flames, and the fire which burnt
outside was less keen than that which blazed within. Thou didst but serve the martyr in
thy rage, O persecutor: thou didst but swell the reward in adding to the pain. For what
did thy cunning devise, which did not redound to the conqueror's glory, when even the
instruments of torture were counted as part of the triumph? Let us rejoice, then, dearly-
beloved, with spiritual joy, and make our boast over the happy end of this illustrious man
in the Lord, Who is "wonderful in His saints," in whom He has given us a support and an
example, and has so spread abroad his glory throughout the world, that, from the rising of
the sun to its going down, the brightness of his deacon's light doth shine, and Rome is
become as famous in Laurentius as Jerusalem was ennobled by Stephen. By his prayer and
intercession we trust at all times to be assisted; that, because all, as the Apostle says,
"who wish to live holily in Christ, suffer persecution," we may be strengthened with the
spirit of love, and be fortified to overcome all temptations by the perseverance of
steadfast faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.

SERMON 86

Chapter I. The Fasts, Which the Ancient Prophets Proclaimed, are Still Necessary.

1 Of what avail, dearly-beloved, are religious fasts in winning the mercy of God, and in
renewing the fortunes of human frailty, we know from the statements of the holy Prophets,
who proclaim that justice of God, Whose vengeance the people of Israel had again and again
incurred through their iniquities, cannot be appeased save by fasting. Thus it is that the
Prophet Joel warns them, saying, "thus saith the Lord your God, turn ye to Me with all
your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning, and rend your hearts and not your
garments, and turn ye to the Lord your God, for He is merciful and patient, and of great
kindness, and very merciful," and again, "sanctify a fast, proclaim a healing, assemble
the people, sanctify the church." And this exhortation must in our days also be obeyed,
because these healing remedies must of necessity be proclaimed by us too, in order that in
the observance of the ancient sanctification Christian devotion may gain what Jewish
transgression lost.

Chapter II. Public Services are of a Higher Character Than Private.

1 But the respect that is paid to the Divine decrees always brings a special blessing,
whatever may be the extent of our voluntary services, so that publicly proclaimed
celebrations are of a higher character than those which rest on private institution. For
the exercise of self-restraint, which each individual imposes on himself at his own
discretion, concerns thebenefit of a certain portion only of the Church, but the fast
which the whole Church undergoes leaves out no one from the general purification, and
God's people' then become strongest, when the hearts of all the faithful meet together in
one common act of holy obedience, when in the camp of the Christian army there is on all
sides the same making ready for the fight and for defence. Though the cruel enemy rage in
restless fury, and spread all round his hidden snares, yet he will be able to catch no one
and wound no one, if he find no one off his guard, no one given up to sloth, nO one
inactive in works of piety.

Chapter III. The September Fast Calls Us in This Public Way to Self-Amendment.

1 To this unconquerable strength of unity, therefore, dearly-beloved, we are even now
invited by the solemn Fast of the Seventh Month, that we may lift our souls to the Lord
free from worldly cares and earthly concerns. And because, always needful as this
endeavour is, we cannot all adhere to it perpetually, and often through human frailty we
fall back from higher things to the things of earth, let us at least on these days, which
are most healthfully ordained for our correction, withdraw ourselves from worldly
occupations, and steal a little time for promoting our eternal welfare. "For in many
things," as it is written, "we all stumble." And though by the daily gift of God we be
cleansed from divers pollutions, yet there cling to unwary souls for the most part darker
stains, which need a greater care to wash them out, a stronger effort to destroy them. And
the fullest abolition of sins is obtained when the whole Church offers up one prayer and
one confession. For if the Lord has promised fulfilment of all they shall ask, to the holy
and devout agreement of two or three, what shall be denied to many thousands of the people
who unite in one act of worship, and with one breath make their common supplications?

Chapter IV. Community of Goods and of Actions is Most Precious in God's Sight.

1 It is a great and very precious thing, beloved, in the Lord's sight, when Christ's whole
people engage together in the same duties, and all ranks and degrees of either sex co-
operate with the same intent: when one purpose animates all alike of declining from evil
and doing good; when God is glorified in the works of His slaves, and the Author of all
godliness is blessed in unstinted giving of thanks. The hungry are nourished, the naked
are clothed, thesick are visited, and men seek not their own but "that which is
another's," so long as in relieving the misery of others each one makes the most of his
own means; and it is easy to find "a cheerful giver," where a man's performances are only
limited by the extent of his power. By this grace of God, "which worketh all in all," the
benefit: and the deserts of the faithful are both enjoyed in common. For they, whose
income is not like, can yet think alike, and when one rejoices over another's bounty his
feelings put him on the same level with him whose powers of spending are on a different
level. In such a community there is no disorder nor diversity, for all the members of the
whole body agree in one strong purpose of godliness, and he who glories in the wealth of
others is not put to shame at his own poverty. For the excellence of each portion is the
glory of the whole body, and when we are all led by God's Spirit, not only are the things
we do ourselves our own but those of others also over the doing of which we rejoice.

Chapter V. Let Us Then Make the Best Use Possible of the Opportunity.

1 Let us then, dearly-beloved, lay hold upon this most sacred unity in all its blessed
integrity and engage in the solemn fast with the concordant purpose of a good will.
Nothing hard, nothing harsh is asked of anyone, nor is anything imposed beyond our
strength, whether in the discipline of abstinence or in the amount of alms. Each knows
what he can and what he cannot do: let every one pay his quota, assessing himself at a
just and reasonable rate, that the sacrifice of mercy be not offered sadly nor reckoned
among losses. Let so much be expended on pious work, as will justify the heart, wash the
conscience, and in a word profit both giver and receiver. Happy indeed is that soul and
truly to be admired which in its love of doing good fears not the failing of the means,
and has no distrust that He will give him money still to spend, from Whom he had what he
spent in the past. But because few possess this greatness of heart, and yet it is truly a
pious thing for each one not to forsake the care of his own, we, without prejudice to the
more perfect sort, lay down for you this general rule and exhort you to perform God's
bidding according to the measure of your ability. For cheerfulness becomes the benevolent
man, who should so manage his liberality that while the poor rejoice over the help
supplied, home needs may not suffer.

2 "And He that ministers seed to the sower, shall both provide bread to be eaten and
multiply your seed and increase the fruits of your righteousness. On Wednesday and Friday
therefore let us fast; and on Saturday keep vigil all together in the presence of the most
blessed Apostle Peter, by whose merits and prayers we are sure God's mercy will be
vouchsafed to us in all things through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns for
ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 87

Chapter I. we Must Always Be Seeking Pardon, Because We are Always Liable to Sin.

1 We proclaim the holy Fast of the Seventh Month, dearly-beloved, for the exercise of
common devotions, confidently inciting you with fatherly exhortations to make Christian by
your observance that which was formerly Jewish. For it is at all times suitable and in
agreement with both the New and Old Testament, that the Divine Mercy should be sought with
chastisement both of mind and body, because nothing is more effectual in prevailing with
God than that a man should judge himself and never cease from asking pardon, knowing that
he is never without fault For human nature has this flaw in itself, not planted there by
the Creator but contracted by the transgressor and transmitted to his posterity by the law
of generation so that from the corruptible body springs that which may corrupt the soul
also. Hence although the inner man be now reborn in Christ and rescued from the bonds of
captivity, it has unceasing conflicts with the flesh, and has to endure resistance in
seeking to restrain vain desires. And in this strife such perfect victory is not easily
obtained that even those habits which must be broken off do not still encumber us, and
those vices which must be slain do not wound. However wisely and prudently the mind
presides as judge over the outer senses, yet even amid the pains it takes to rule and the
limits it imposes on the appetites of the flesh, the temptation is always too close at
hand.

2 For who so abstracts himself from pleasure or pain of body that his mind is not affected
by that which delights or racks it from without? Joy and sorrow are inseparable from a
man: no part of him is free from the kindlings of wrath, the over-powerings of delight,
the castings down of affliction. And what turning away from sin can there be, where ruler
and ruled alike are liable to the same passions? Rightly does the Lord exclaim that "the
spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak."

Chapter II. Christ is Himself the Way, Which He Bids Us Tread.

1 And lest we should be led by despair into sheer inaction, He promises that the Divine
power shall make those things possible which are to man impossible from his own lack of
power: "for narrow and strait is the way which leadeth unto life," and no one couldset
foot on it, no one could advance one step, unless Christ by making Himself the Way
unbarred the difficulties of approach: and thus the Ordainer of the journey becomes the
Means whereby we are able to accomplish it, because not only does He impose the labour,
but also brings us to the haven of rest. In Him therefore we find our Model of patience,
in Whom we have our Hope of life eternal; for "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign
with Him," since, as the Apostle says, "he that saith he abideth in Christ ought himself
also to walk as He walked." Otherwise we make a vain presence and show, if we follow not
His steps, Whose name we glory in, and assuredly they would not be irksome to us, but
would free us from all dangers, if we loved nothing but what He commanded us to love.

Chapter III. The Love of God Contrasted with the Love of the World.

1 For there are two loves from which proceed all wishes, as different in quality as they
are different in their sources. For the reasonable soul, which cannot exist without love,
is the lover either of God or the world. In the love of God there is no excess, but in the
love of the world all is hurtful. And therefore we must cling inseparably to eternal
treasures, but things temporal we must use like passers-by, that as we are sojourners
hastening to return to our own land, all the good things of this world which meet us may
be as aids on the way, not snares to detain us. Therefore the blessed Apostle makes this
proclamation, "the time is short: it remains that those who have wives be as though they
had none; and those who weep, as though they wept not; and those who rejoice, as though
they rejoiced not; and those who buy, as though they possessed not; and those that use
this world, as though they used it not. For the fashion of this world passes away. But as
the world attracts us with its appearance, and abundance and variety, it is not easy to
turn away from it unless in the beauty of things visible the Creator rather than the
creature is loved; for, when He says, "thou shale love the Lord Shy God from all thy
heart, and from all thy mind, and from all shy strength," He wishes us in noticing to
loosen ourselves from the bonds of His love.

2 And when He links the love of our neighbour also to this command, He enjoins on us the
imitation of His own goodness, that we should love what He loves and do what He does. For
although we be "God's husbandry and God's building," and "neither is he that planteth
anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase," yet in all things He
requires our ministry and service, and wishes us to be the stewards of His gifts, that he
who bears God's image may do God's will. For this reason, in the Lord's prayer we say most
devoutly, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done as in heaven, so also on earth. For what
else do we ask for in these words but that God may subdue those whom He has not yet
subdued, and as in heaven He makes the angels ministers of His will, so also on earth He
may make men? And in seeking this we love God, we love also our neighbour: and the love
within us has but one Object, since we desire the bond-servant to serve and the Lord to
have rule.

Chapter IV. The Love of God Is Fostered by Good Works.

1 This state of mind, therefore, beloved, from which earthly love is excluded, is
strengthened by the habit of well-doing, because the conscience must needs be delighted at
good deeds, and do willingly what it rejoices to have done. Thus it is that fasts are
kept, alms freely given, justice maintained, frequent prayer resorted to, and the desires
of individuals become the common wish of all. Labour fosters patience, gentleness
extinguishes anger, loving-kindness treads down hatred, unclean desires are slain by holy,
aspirations, avarice is east out by liberality, and burdensome wealth becomes the means of
virtuous acts. But because the snares of the devil are not at rest even in such a state of
things, most rightly at certain seasons of the year the renewal of our vigour is provided
for: and now in particular, when one who is greedy of present good might boast himself
over the clemency of the weather and the fertility of the land, and having stored his
crops in great barns, might say to his soul, "thou hast much goods, eat and drink," let
him take heed to the rebuke of the Divine voice, and hear it saying, "Thou fool, this
night they require thy soul of thee, and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall
they be?" This should be the wise man's most anxious consideration, in order that, as the
days of this life are short and its span uncertain, death may never come upon him
unawares, and that knowing himself mortal he may meet his end fully prepared. And so, that
this may avail both for the sanctification of out bodies and the renewal of our souls, on
Wednesday and Friday let us fast, and on Saturday let us keep vigil with the most blessed
Apostle Peter, whose prayers will help us to obtain fulfilment of our holy desires through
Christ our Lord, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and
ever. Amen.

SERMON 88

Chapter I. Abstinence Must Include Discipline of the Soul as Well Asof the Body.

1 There is nothing, dearly-beloved, in which the Divine Providence does not assist the
devotions of the faithful. For the very elements of the world also minister to the
exercise of mind and body in holiness, seeing that the distinctly varied revolution of
days and months opens for us the different pages of the commands, and thus the seasons
also in some sense speak to us of that which the sacred institutions enjoin. And hence,
since the year's course has brought back the seventh month to us, I feel certain that your
minds are spiritually aroused to keep the solemn fast; since you have learnt by experience
how well this preparation purifies both the outer and the inner parts of men, so that by
abstaining from the lawful, resistance becomes easier to the unlawful. But do not limit
your plan of abstinence, dearly-beloved, to the mortifying of the body, or to the
lessening of food alone. For the greater advantages of this virtue belong to that chastity
of the soul, which not only crushes the lusts of the flesh, but also despises the vanities
of worldly wisdom, as the Apostle says, "take heed that no one deceive you through
philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men."

Chapter II. And in Particular We Must Abstain from Heresy, and that of Eutyches as Well as
that of Nestorius.

1 We must restrain ourselves, therefore, from food, but much more must we fast from errors
that the mind, given up to no carnal pleasure, may be taken captive by no falsehood:
because as in past days, so also in our own, there are not wanting enemies of the Truth,
who dare to stir up civil wars within the catholic Church in order that by leading the
ignorant into agreement with their ungodly doctrines they may boast of increase in numbers
through those whom they have been able to sever from the Body of Christ. For what is so
opposed to the Prophets, so repugnant to the Gospels, so at variance with the Apostles'
teaching as to preach one single Nature in the Lord Jesus Christ born of Mary, and without
respect to time co-eternal with the Eternal Father? If it is only man's nature which is to
be acknowledged, where is the Godhead Which saves? if only God's, where is the humanity
which is saved? But the catholic Faith, which withstands all errors, refutes these
blasphemies also at the same time, condemning Nestorius, who divides the Divine from the
human, and denouncing Eutyches, who nullifies the human in the Divine; seeing that the Son
of True God, Himself True God, possessing unity and equality with the Father and with the
Holy Ghost, has vouchsafed likewise to be true Man, and after the Virgin Mother's
conception was not separated from her flesh and child-bearing, so uniting humanity to
Himself as to remain immutably God;

2 so imparting Godhead to man as not to destroy but enhance him by glorification. For He,
Who became "the form of a slave," ceased not to be "the form of God," and He is not one
joined with the other, but One in Both, so that ever since "the Word became Flesh" our
faith is disturbed by no vicissitudes of circumstance, but whether in the miracles of
power, or in the degradation of suffering, we believe Him to be both God, Who is Man, and
Man, Who is God.

Chapter III. The Truth of the Incarnation is Proved Both by the Eucharistic Feast and by
the Divine Institution of Almsgiving.

1 Dearly-beloved, utter this confession with all your heart and reject the wicked lies of
heretics, that your fasting and almsgiving may not be polluted by any contagion with
error: for then is our offering of the sacrifice clean and oar gifts of mercy holy, when
those who perform them understand that which they do. For when the Lord says, "unless ye
have eaten the flesh of the Son of Man, and drunk His blood, ye will not have life in
you," you ought so to be partakers at the Holy Table, as to have no doubt whatever
concerning the reality of Christ's Body and Blood. For that is taken in the mouth which is
believed in Faith, and it is vain for them to respond Amen who dispute that which is
taken. But when the Prophet says, "Blessed is he, who considereth the poor and needy," he
is the praiseworthy distributor of clothes and food among the poor, who knows he is
clothing and feeding Christ in the poor: for He Himself says, "as long as ye have done it
to one of My brethren, ye have done it to Me." And so Christ is One, True God and True
Man, rich in what is His own, poor in what is ours, receiving gifts and distributing
gifts, Partner with mortals, and the Quickener of the dead, so that in the "name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of
God the Father," living and reigning with the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 89

Chapter I. Introduction of the Subject.

1 When our Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and was
healing divers sicknesses through the whole of Galilee, the fame of His mighty works had
spread into all Syria: large crowds too from all parts of Judaea were flocking to the
heavenly Physician. For as human ignorance is slow in believing what it does not see, and
in hoping for what it does not know, those who were to be instructed in the divine lore
needed to be aroused by bodily benefits and visible miracles: so that they might have no
doubt as to the wholesomeness of His teaching when they actually experienced His benignant
power. And therefore that the Lord might use outward healings as an introduction to inward
remedies, and after healing bodies might work cures in the soul, He separated Himself from
the surrounding crowd, ascended into the retirement of a neighbouring mountain, and called
His apostles to Him there, that from the height of that mystic seat He might instruct them
in the lottier doctrines, signifying from the very nature of the place and act that He it
was who had once honoured Moses by speaking to him: then indeed with a more terrifying
justice, but now with a holier mercifulness, that what had been promised might be
fulfilled when the Prophet Jeremiah says: "behold the days come when I will complete a new
covenant for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah.

2 After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws in their minds and in their heart
will I write them. He therefore who had spoken to Moses, spoke also to the apostles, and
the swift hand of the Word wrote and deposited the secrets of the new covenant in the
disciples' hearts: there were no thick clouds surrounding Him as of old, nor were the
people frightened off from approaching the mountain by frightful sounds and lightning but
quietly and freely His discourse reached the ears of those who stood by: that the
harshness of the law might give way before the gentleness of grace, and "the spirit of
adoption" might dispel the terrors of bondage.

Chapter II. The Blessedness of Humility Discussed

1 The nature then of Christ's teaching is attested by His own holy statements: that they
who wish to arrive at eternal blessedness may understand the steps of ascent to that high
happiness. "Blessed," He saith, "are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven." It would perhaps be doubtful what poor He was speaking of, if in saying "blessed
are the poor" He had added nothing which would explain the sort of poor: and then that
poverty by itself would appear sufficient to winthe kingdom of heaven which many suffer
from hard and heavy necessity. But when He says "blessed are the poor in spirit," He shows
that the kingdom of heaven must be assigned to those who are recommended by the humility
of their spirits rather than by the smallness of their means. Yet it cannot be doubted
that this possession of humility is more easily acquired by the poor than the rich: for
submissiveness is the companion of those that want, while loftiness of mind dwells with
riches. Notwithstanding, even in many of the rich is found that spirit which uses its
abundance not for the increasing of its pride but on works of kindness, and counts that
for the greatest gain which it expends in the relief of others' hardships. It is given to
every kind and rank of men to share in this virtue, because men may be equal in will,
though unequal in fortune: and it does not matter how different they are in earthly means,
who are found equal in spiritual possessions. Blessed. therefore, is poverty which is not
possessed with a love of temporal things, and does not seek to be increased with the
riches of the world, but is eager to amass heavenly possessions.

Chapter III. Scriptural Examples of Humility.

1 Of this high-souled humility the Apostles first after the Lord, have given us example,
who, leaving all that they had without difference at the voice of the heavenly Master,
were turned by a ready change from the catching of fish to be fishers of men, and made
many like themselves through the imitation of their faith, when with those first-begotten
sons of the Church, "the heart of all was one, and the spirit one, of those that
believed:"for they, putting away the whole of their things and possessions, enriched
themselves with eternal goods, through the most devoted poverty, and in accordance with
the Apostles' preaching rejoiced to have nothing of the world and possess all things with
Christ. Hence the blessed Apostle Peter, when he was going up into the temple, and was
asked for alms by the lame man, said, "Silver and gold is not mine, but what I have that I
give thee: in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk." What more sublime
than this humility? what richer than this poverty? He hath not stores of money but he hath
gifts of nature. He whom his mother had brought forth lame from the womb, is made whole by
Peter with a word; and he who gave not Caesar's image in a coin, restored Christ's image
on the man. And by the riches of this treasure not he only was aided whose lower of
walking was restored, but 5,000 men also, who then believed at the Apostle's exhortation
on account of the wonder of this cure. And that poor man who had not what to give to the
asker, bestowed so great a bounty of Divine Grace, that, as he had set one man straight on
his feet, so he healed these many thousands of believers in their hearts, and made them
"leap as an hart" in Christ whom he had found limping in Jewish unbelief.

Chapter IV. The Blessedness of Mourning Discussed.

1 After the assertion of this most happy humility, the Lord hath added, saying, "Blessed
are they which mourn, for they shall be comforted." This mourning, beloved, to which
eternal comforting is promised, is not the same as the affliction of this world: nor do
those laments which are poured out in the sorrowings of the whole human race make any one
blessed. The reason for holy groanings, the cause of blessed tears, is very different.
Religious grief mourns sin either that of others' or one's own: nor does it mourn for that
which is wrought by God's justice, but it laments over that which is committed by man's
iniquity, where he that does wrong is more to be deplored than he who suffers it, because
the unjust man's wrongdoing plunges him into punishment, but the just man's endurance
leads him on to glory.

Chapter V. The Blessedness of the Meek.

1 Next the Lord says: "blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth by
inheritance." To the meek and gentle, to the humble and modest, and to those who are
prepared to endure all injuries, the earth is promised for their possession. And this is
not to be reckoned a small or cheap inheritance, as if it were distinct from our heavenly
dwelling, since it is no other than these who are understood to enter the kingdom of
heaven. The earth, then, which is promised to the meek, and is to be given to the gentle
in possession, is the flesh of the saints, which in reward for their humility will be
changed in a happy resurrection, and clothed with the glory of immortality, in nothing now
to act contrary to the spirit, and to be in complete unity and agreement with the will of
the soul. For then the outer man will be the peaceful and unblemished possession of the
inner man: then the mind, engrossed in beholding God, will be hampered by no obstacles of
human weakness nor will it any more have to be said "The body which is corrupted, weigheth
upon the soul, and its earthly house presseth down the sense which thinketh many things:"
for the earth will not struggle against its tenant, and will not venture on any
insubordination against the rule of its governor. For the meek shall possess it in
perpetual peace, and nothing shall be taken from their rights, "when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality:" that their
danger may turn into reward, and what was a burden become an honour.

Chapter VI. The Blessedness of Desiring Righteousness.

1 After this the Lord goes on to say: "blessed are they who hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." It is nothing bodily, nothing earthly, that
this hunger, thisthirst seeks for: but it desires to be satiated with the good food of
righteousness, and wants to be admitted to all the deepest mysteries, and be filled with
the Lord Himself. Happy the mind that craves this food and is eager for such drink: which
it certainly would not seek for if it had never tasted of its sweetness. But hearing the
Prophet's spirit saying to him: "taste and see that the Lord is sweet;" it has received
some portion of sweetness from on high, and blazed out into love of the purest pleasure,
so that spurning all things temporal, it is seized with the utmost eagerness for eating
and drinking righteousness, and grasps the truth of that first commandment which says:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God out of all thy heart, and out of all thy mind, and out
of all thy strength:" since to love God is nothing else but to love righteousness. In
fine, as in that passage the care for one's neighbour is joined to the love of God, so,
too, here the virtue of mercy is linked to the desire for righteousness, and it is said:

Chapter VII. The Blessedness of the Merciful:

1 "Blessed are the merciful, for God shall have mercy on them." Recognize, Christian, the
worth of thy wisdom, and understand to what rewards thou art called, and by what methods
of discipline thou must attain thereto. Mercy wishes thee to be merciful, righteousness to
be righteous, that the Creator may be seen in His creature, and the image of God may be
reflected in the mirror of the human heart expressed by the lines of imitation. The faith
of those who do good is free from anxiety: thou shalt have all thy desires, and shalt
obtain without end what thou lovest. And since through thine alms-giving all things are
pure to thee, to that blessedness also thou shalt attain which is promised in consequence
where the Lord says:

Chapter VIII. The Blessedness of a Pure Heart.

1 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Great is the happiness,
beloved, of him for whom so great a reward is prepared. What, then, is it to have the
heart pure, but to strive after those virtues which are mentioned above? And how great the
blessedness of seeing God, what mind can conceive, what tongue declare? And yet this shall
ensue when man's nature is transformed, so that no longer "in a mirror," nor "in a
riddle," but "face to face " it sees the very Godhead "as He is," which no man could see;
and through the unspeakable joy of eternal contemplation obtains that "which eye has not
seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man." Rightly is this
blessedness promised to purity of heart. For the brightness of the true light will not be
able to be seen by the unclean sight: and that which will be happiness to minds that are
bright and clean, will be a punishment to those that are stained. Therefore, let the mists
of earth's vanities be shunned. and your inward eyes purged from all the filth of
wickedness, that the sight may be free to feed on this great manifestation of God. For to
the attainment of this we understand what follows to lead.

Chapter IX. The Blessedness of Peace-Making.

1 "Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the sons of God." This
blessedness, beloved, belongs not to any and every kind of agreement and harmony, but to
that of which the Apostle speaks: "have peace towards God;" and of which the Prophet David
speaks: "Much peace have they that love Thy law, and they have no cause of offences." This
peace even the closest ties of friendship and the exactest likeness of mind do not really
gain, if they do not agree with God's will. Similarity of bad desires, leagues in crimes,
associations of vice, cannot merit this peace. The love of the world does not consort with
the love of God, nor doth he enter the alliance of the sons of God who will not separate
himself from the children of this generation Whereas they who are in mind always with God,
"giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," never dissent
from the eternal law, uttering that prayer of faith, "Thy will be done as in heaven so on
earth." These are "the peacemakers," these are thoroughly of one mind, and fully
harmonious, and are to be called sons "of God and joint-heirs with Christ," because this
shall be the record of the love of God and the love of our neighbour, that we shall suffer
no calamities, be in fear of no offence, but all the strife of trial ended, rest in God's
most perfect peace, through our Lord, Who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, liveth and
reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.


PREFACE
=======

PREFACE Pacian of Barcelona

d. c. AD 391

Bishop of Barcelona.

PREFACE

1 The works of S. Pacian, which have been here subjoined, as they are kindred in subject,
so may they be in some sort regarded as further fruits of the mind of S. Cyprian, whose
writings S. Pacian quotes with reverence, and from whom he seems to have derived some of
the texts he employs, his citations agreeing verbally also sometimes with S. Cyprian. Of
his life all which is known is contained in the few words of S. Jerome, who dedicated his
book de viris illustribus to his son Dexter, a Prefect of the Praetorium and his own
friend at whose suggestion it was written; 2 "Pacian, Bp. of Barcelona in the Pyrenees, of
chastenedeloquence, eminent for his life as for his writings, wrote various works, of
which is the Cervus and against the Novatians. He died lately in the reign of Theodosius,
in extreme old age;" i. e. before A. 392. (in which, the 14th of Theod., S. Jerome wrote
this book, Praef.) He was born then probably about 30 years after the martyrdom of S.
Cyprian, was a younger contemporary of Hosius, and through him joined on to the Council of
Eliberis, and the restoration of discipline in the Spanish Church. His memory was kept
with great affection at Barcelona on May 9, on which he is commemorated in the
Martyrologium Romanum, in words taken from S. Jerome. It is of the good Providence of God,
that, of the same father, works should have come down, vindicating the doctrine of the
Church on penitence,----as a doctrine, against the heresy of Novatian,----practically,
against the neglect of careless sinners. The Epistles to Sympronian and the exhortation to
Penitence, combined, shew how compatible are tenderness to the sinner with a strict and,
as it would now seem, severe doctrine of penitence; that not earnest calls to a self-
avenging and self-chastening penitence, but the denial of its fruits and of the power of
the keys, is the essence of Novatianism. Well versed as S. Pacian was in the writings of
S. Cyprian, who also insists on the same acts of penitence, his language approaches more
both in style and vividness of expostulation to that of Tertullian, whose work on
penitence he claims, as having been written by him while a Catholic. It is hoped that from
this very combination, his works might be useful in these days, in which, for want of that
more frequent special application of the power of the keys, which our Church suggests, any
mention of more earnest penitence is thought to partake of the hard and uncompassionating
heresy of Novatian.

3 It remains to add, that for the Translation and the basis of the Index of S. Cyprian the
Editors are indebted to the Rev. H. Carey, M.A. of'Worcester College; and for S. Pacian
with the Index, to the Rev. C. H. Collyns, M.A. Student of Christ Church. For S. Cyprian
the Benedictine text has been adopted, except in some few cases, (which have been noticed)
in which that of Bp. Fell seemed preferable. For S. Pacian the very valuable readings,
noted in the margin of the Edition of Cardinal Aguirre, (Collect. Maxima Concil. Hisp. t.
ii.) from a Vatican MS. of the ninth century, formerly belonging to the Queen of Sweden,
have been employed. Almost all its readings are improvements of the text; many places they
clear up, in which before the meaning was altogether obscured. They are marked in the
margin as V. or Vat. Some collations on the margin of the Edit. Par. 1538. Guillard. in
the Bodleian, derived from a MS. in the Royal Library at Paris, (the source of which Dr.
Bandinel kindly pointed out to the Editor) have also been used. The MS. although a late
one, in several places agrees with the Vatican MS. They are marked R. The Editions were
also consulted for the Editor by Mr. Collyns. The collations of the Vat. MS. are wanting
on the De Baptismo, but neither had the text the same difficulty.

4 E. B. P. Ember Week after Whitsunday, 1844. S. PACIAN I. Ep. to Sympronian, of the
Catholic Name 319 II-------------------------on Novatian's Letter 327 III
------------------------- against the Treatise of the Novatians 336 Exhortation to
Penitence 364 On Baptism 378 Indices to S. Cyprian 385 Indices to S. Pacian 413 [Note that
in the original volume the works of S.Pacian were only an appendix to the Epistles of
S.Cyprian. Material relating to Cyprian only is omitted]


HYPOMNEMATA
===========

HYPOMNEMATA Ambrose the Syrian

6th century

Author of the Syriac Hypomnemata, an extract of which Cureton published.

HYPOMNEMATA

HYPOMNEMATA,

1 WHICH AMBROSE, A CHIEF MAN OF GREECE, WROTE; WHO BECAME A CHRISTIAN: AND ALL HIS FELLOW-
SENATORS RAISED A CLAMOUR AGAINST HIM; AND HE FLED FROM THEM, AND WROTE AND SHEWED THEM
ALL THEIR FOLLY; AND AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS DISCOURSE HE ANSWERED AND SAID: Do not
suppose, Men and Greeks, that my separation from your customs has taken place without a
befitting and just cause; for I have investigated the whole of your wisdom of poetry, and
rhetoric, and philosophy; and when I found not any thing right or worthy of the Deity, I
was desirous of investigating the wisdom of the Christians also, and of learning and
seeing who they are, and when, and what is this its recent and strange production, or on
what good things they rely who follow this wisdom, so as to speak the truth. 2 Men and
Greeks, when I had made the inquiry I found not any folly, as in the famous Homer, who
says respecting the wars of the two trials, "for the sake of Helen many of the Greeks
perished at Troy, far from their beloved home." For first they say respecting Agamemnon
their king, that through, the folly of Menelaus his brother, and the vehemence of his
madness, and the incontinence of his lust, he was desirous to go and rescue Helen from a
leprous shepherd: but when the Greeks had been victorious in the war, and had burnt some
cities, and taken some women and boys captive, and the land was filled with blood, and the
rivers were filled with dead bodies, Agamemnon himself too was found to be taken captive
by passion for Briseis: and Patroclus was slain, and Achilles, the son of the goddess
Thetis, lamented over him; and Hector was dragged; and Priam, together with Hecuba, wept
over the loss of their children; and Astyanax, the son of Hector, was thrown from the
walls of Ilium, and his mother, Andromache, Ajax the great took; and that which had been
captured in war after a little while was consumed in lust.

3 But respecting the perfidy of Ulysses, the son of Laertes, and his murders, who shall
tell? for in one day his house became the grave for a hundred and ten suitors, and was
filled with dead bodies and blood; who also by his vice has gained praises, because
through the excess of his cunning he concealed himself: who also, as ye say, sailed over
the sea, and heard not the voice of the Sirens, because he stopped his ears with wax. But
Achilles himself, the son of Peleus, who leaped over the river, and put to flight the
Trojans, and slew Hector, this your champion became the slave of Philoxena, and was
vanquished by an Amazon while she lay dead: and he stripped off his armour, and put on the
bridal dress, and at last was sacrificed to love. 4 So much, then, with respect to heroes;
and I should have been satisfied for Homer to be left to thee, if thy vain words had only
proceeded to speak of men, and not concerning the gods, because, touching the gods, I am
ashamed even to utter them; for the fabled accounts are very wicked and horrible, and
surpassing all belief, and necessarily ridiculous; for a man must laugh when he approaches
them, nor will he believe when he hears them: gods, indeed! who have not one of them
observed the laws of righteousness, and chastity, and modesty, but are adulterers, and
have lived in dissipation, and yet have not been condemned to death, as it was just. For
the Lord of the gods, that "Father of gods and men," according to what you say, was not
only an adulterer, for this would have been too little, but he also slew his own father,
and was a paederast. First, then, I will speak concerning his adultery, although I am
ashamed, for he appeared to Antiope like a Satyr; and he dropped down upon Danae like
gold; and to Europa he became a bull, and a swan to Leda. But the love of Semele, the
mother of Bacchus, proved both his own importunity, and also the jealousy of the chaste
Juno. And he caught up Ganymede the Phrygian like an eagle, in order that a beautiful and
becoming boy might be his cupbearer.

5 Moreover that Lord of the gods slew Saturn his own Father, in order that he might seize
upon his kingdom. Oh! of how many censures is the Lord of the gods guilty, and to how many
deaths is he obnoxious, as an adulterer, and as a sorcerer, and as a paederast? Read to
the Lord of the gods, oh men and Greeks, the law respecting parricide, and the sentence
against adultery, and the shame of the obscenity of paederastism. For how many adulterers
has the Lord of the gods instructed? For how many paederasts, and sorcerers, and
murderers? for if a man be found to be guilty of lust, he shall not be put to death,
because he does this to be like the Lord of the gods; and if he be detected as a murderer,
he has an apology in the Lord of the gods; and if a man be a sorcerer, he has learnt it
from the Lord of the gods; and if he be a paederast, the Lord of the gods is his advocate.

6 But if a man should speak about courage, Achilles was braver than the Lord of the gods,
because.he slew him who had slain his friend; but the Lord of the gods wept over
Sarpendon, his own son, while he was dying, being very sorry. And Pluto, who also is a
god, ravished Proserpine, but the mother of Proserpine was in great trepidation, and
searching for her daughter in every desert. And Alexander Paris, when he had carried off
Helen, received the judgment of vengeance, as being her lover by force; but Pluto, who was
a god, and ravished Proserpine, remained without any disgrace. And Menelaus, who was a
man, knew how to go in search of Helen his wife, but Ceres, who was a goddess, knew not
where to look for her daughter Proserpine. Let Vulcan pass over his jealousy, and be not
envious, for he is forgotten because he is old and lame; but Mars is loved because he is a
youth and beautiful in stature. But there was the reproach of adultery because Vulcan was
not aware of the love of his wife Venus and Mars; but when he did know, Vulcan said,
"Come, see a ridiculous and foolish deed, how me, who am her own, Venus, the daughter of
the Lord of the gods, is disgracing me, who am her own, and honouring Mars who is a
stranger to her. And is it not a shameful thing for the Lord of the gods, because he loved
those which were like these? And Penelope continued as a widow twenty years, because she
was expecting her husband Ulysses, and was employed with works, and diligent in
occupations during the time that all those suitors were urging her; but Venus, who is a
goddess, while her husband Vulcan was present with her, abandoned him because she was
overcome by love for Mars.

7 Hear, men and Greeks, which of you would dare to do this, or could even bear to behold
it. And if one should dare, what torment is reserved for him, or what stripes?
Nevertheless, Saturn, who is a god, who ate up all those children, is not even brought
before a tribunal. They say, however, that the Lord of the gods, his son, only escaped
from him, and the madness of his father Saturn was deceived, because Rhea his wife, the
mother of the Lord of the gods, gave him a stone instead of his son the Lord of the gods,
to prevent him from devouring him. Hear, men and Greeks, and reflect upon this madness;
for the brute beast, that feedeth in the field knoweth its own food, and will not touch
strange food; likewise the animals and the reptiles too, and the birds also, know their
own food; but respecting men it is not meet for me to say any thing: you know indeed their
food, and understand; but Saturn, who is a god, not knowing his proper food, swallowed a
stone. Wherefore, oh men and Greeks, if ye be willing to have such gods, do not blame one
another whenever ye do such things as these; and be not thou angry against thy son when he
purposeth to kill thee, because he is imitating the Lord of the gods.

8 And if a man be guilty of adultery with thy wife, why dost thou reckon him as an enemy,
and yet worshippest and servest the Lord of the gods, who resembles him? And why dost thou
blame thy wife, when she is guilty of adultery and is without punishment, but honourest
Venus and settest her in temples? Persuade Solon to break his own laws, Lycurgus also to
abstain from making laws, and let the judges of the Areopagus break theirs and not judge
again, nor let there be any more councils for the Athenians. Let the Athenians dismiss
Socrates, for no one resembling Saturn has ever been brought before him. Neither let them
put Orestes, who slew his own mother, to death; for, lo! the Lord of the gods has done
worse things than these to his father. Oedipus also too hastily inflicted injury upon
himself, who put out his eyes because he had slain his father unawares, because he did not
look to the Lord of the gods, who killed his father, and remained without any punishment.
The Corinthians also expelled Medaea, because she had slain her children, but they serve
and honour Saturn, who ate up his own children. And as for Alexander Paris, he did right
in ravishing Helen in order that he might imitate the god Pluto, who carried off
Proserpine.

9 Let men be freed from the laws, and let cities belong to lascivious women, and be the
abode of sorcerers; for this reason, oh men and Greeks, because your gods are debased like
yourselves, but your warriors are brave as your dramas relate, and your histories
proclaim; respecting the furies of Orestes, and the bed of Thyestes, and the pollution of
Pelops; and concerning Danaus, who through his jealousy slew and cut off some of his sons
in their banqueting; and also the feasting of Thyestes upon a corpse in vengeance, and
Procne up to this time crying as she flies, and also her sister piping with her tongue cut
out. But what is it fit to say respecting the murder of Oedipus, who married his own
mother, and whose brothers, who were also his own sons, slew one another? 10 And I hate
also your festivals, for there is no moderation there to the sweet pipes that drive away
care, which play with a tremulous motion, and the preparation of the unguents with which
ye anoint yourselves) and the garlands which ye put on. And in the abundance of your
wickedness ye have forgotten shame, your understandings also are blinded, ye have been
tempted too by importunity, and have loved the bed of lying. And if these things had been
said by another, perhaps they would have brought an accusation against him that they are
not true; but your own poets declare them, and your songs and dramas proclaim them. Come,
then, and be instructed by the Word of God, and by consoling wisdom: rejoice and partake
of it: know too the King incorruptible, and become acquainted with his servants, which
boast not in armour, neither make slaughter: because our Captain delighteth not in the
multitude of an army, neither in the horsemen and in their beauty, nor in the
illustriousness of family; but he delighteth in the pure soul, which a wall of justice
sur- rounds. But the Word of God is always instructing us, and the promises of our good
King and the works of God. Oh the soul that is purchased by the power of the Word! oh the
trumpet of peace without war! oh the doctrine quenching the natural fire of the soul,
which maketh not poets, nor produceth philosophers, nor the crowd-followed orator; but
goeth and maketh the dead pass over that he die not, and raiseth men from earth as Gods,
to the region which is above the firmament. Come, be instructed, and be like me, for I
also have been like you.

11 [Selected endnotes moved here and numbered] 1. P. 61. M. Renan has inserted a few lines
from this in the Journal Asiatique. The text is correctly printed, with the exception
of.... for..., but he has erred greatly in the translation.... 2. P. 61, L. 11. Wars of
the two trials. I suppose the author means, of the gods as well as the men engaged in it;
to which also reference is made in the Cohortatio ad Gentiles, c. ii. edit. Otto, p. 24;
and the passage of Homer, Il. xx. v. 66-72 cited,... Compare Tertullian, Ad Nationes i. c.
10, p. 329. 3. L. 12. For the sake of Helen, &c. Homer, Il. ii. v. 177. 4. L. 16. A
leprous shepherd. The Syriac proves the antiquity of the Greek reading leprou~, which has
been suspected by critics. See Otto's notes. 5. P. 63. Compare what is said here relative
to the Gods with Justin Martyr, Apol. i, c. 21. See also Augustin, De Civitate Dei ii, c.
7, 8; and Joh. Ludov. Vives' notes to these chapters: edit. Fancof. 1061.

12 6. L. 13. Father of Gods and men. The common expression "of Homer..., which Ennius
among the Latins translated "patrum divumque hominunque." See Cicero, De Nat. Deor. p.
104. 7. L. 15. Concerning his adultery. Compare the passage of Homer, Il.xiv.315-327, in
which Jupiter recounts his amours to Juno.: cited also in the Cohortatio ad Gent. c. 2. p.
22. 8. P. 64, L. 6. Of how many censures is the Lord of the gods guilty, &c. Compare
Tertullian, Apol. c. 11, vol. i. p. 159:... 9. P. 65, L. 3. Wept over Sarpedon. He alludes
to the following lines of Homer, Il. xvi. 433, which Athenagoras also quotes, Legat. c.
21... This is also quoted in the Cohort. ad Gent. c. 2. p. 20.


FRAGMENTS OF THE HISTORY
========================

FRAGMENTS OF THE HISTORY John of Epiphania

c. AD 600

Byzantine historian.

FRAGMENTS OF THE HISTORY

John of Epiphania, On the submission of Chosroës the Younger to Maurice the Roman Emperor
(date) JOHN OF EPIPHANIA: PREFACE TO HIS HISTORY Very few details have been preserved for
us of the writer of this history. Our only sources for information about him and his life
derive from a short reference to him in the Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Book V
Chapter 42 and what few details he provides about himself in his short preface. All that
we can say is that he was somehow related to Evagrius with whom he shared the similar
titles of scholastikou and apo uparchon/apo eparchon, and that he also served as a legal
advisor to Gregory, the Patriarch of Antioch, therefore being present at his meeting and
trips involving the Persians from which he learned what he wrote. Of John's history, only
a fragment remains containing the first five chapters in the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1056
of which it occupies folio 94 until the manuscript breaks off six folios later from there
being too badly mutilated. What happened to the rest of the work is a mystery.

John's history seems to have found a small audience in its time. Written perhaps a year or
two after the restoration of Chosroës in 591 A.D., it was made use of in certainty by
Evagrius Scholasticus before he finished in 593/4 A.D. and Theophylact Simocatta, whose
work the Whitby's date to the reign of Heraclius (1). After this century, subsequent
writers seem to have made little use or none of it. Theophanes the Confessor writing in
the early ninth century apparently makes use only of Theophylact Simocatta and Evagrius
for the information he reproduces concerning the submission of Chosroës. In addition,
Photius in his great Library makes no mention of John though he does of Evagrius with whom
(perhaps) he confused John because of their similar titles, but this seems quite unlikely
given that subsequently the great compiler of histories, John Zonaras, in the mid-twelfth
century makes no use of him, but of almost exclusively Simocatta in his account (2).
Furthermore, the fact that his history was apparently unknown to the extractors of the
emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (945-959 A.D.) who extracted many other works of the
sixth century now lost also shows the small breadth of his readership and almost suggests
that he may never have published the work, of which we possess this small fragment.

However, because his work was made use of by Evagrius and Theophylact, we can at least
construct and suggest what his history must of looked like. We have the beginning and that
allows us to see where to begin reconstructing. Evagrius V.6-14 obviously derive from John
with a few of Evagrius's own digressions into the ancient history and characteristics of
some of the places such as that of Nisibis V.9 and Apamea V.10 as well as some
ecclesiastical events and the madness of Justin II, which he considerably elaborates V.11.
From his text we can also see what was present in the lacunae of our text. However, after
this point where the manuscript breaks off, what came next is open to conjecture, but
probably Evagrius follows it in summary continuing to add his own comments in chapters
14-15 and 19-22. As Evagrius ends his fifth book with the accession of Maurice, we can
suppose that there too was where John ended his first part before proceeding on to what he
knew.

Of Book VI by Evagrius, Chapters 1-16 follow John's work more or less. The speech given by
Gregory to the soldiers in 12 is probably taken word for word from John's history and
therefore should be viewed as an example of John's style of writing speeches, which
becomes useful for dealing with Theophylact Simocatta's long and tiresome discourses.
Whatever the case, the letters provided in Simocatta as having passed between Varam and
Chosroës almost certainly derive from John who would have had a chance to get his hands on
the originals while in Persia. The subsequent information on the cross and the inscription
on it as it appears in both histories also derives from John. Finally, in all probability
we can say that John's history ended where his Evagrius's did with the death of Gregory
while returning from Persia, since this would seem the ideal place. The text below was
translated from K. Mäller, Fragmenta historicorum graecorum, vol. 4 (1851), p.272f.

1. Michael and Mary Whitby (trans.), The History of Theophylact Simocatta: An English
Translation with Introduction, Oxford University Press, (1986) pg. xiii 2. This is
evidenced by the language and the rewording of Theophylact v.15.5-8 in Zonaras p. 189
History of the submission of Chosroës the Younger to Maurice the Roman Emperor By John of
Epiphania the Scholastic and the Expraefectus [Translated by Scott Kennedy]

PART I

1. What the Romans and Medians felt and did making war on each other during the reign of
the Roman emperor Justinian has been described by Agathias of Myrina, a preeminent man
amongst the rhetors of Byzantium recording after Procopius of Caesarea the events
happening involving the barbarians. As it is of great importance that which we have heard:
the king of the Persians taking flight from his own land after having been deposed and
submitting to the Roman State in order to gain the aid of the emperor Maurice in restoring
himself to the throne, I have embarked upon this work not given confidence to do so by any
particular eloquence on my part, nor by any previous study, but so that such a thing as
this should not be left unspoken for posterity, since if the greatest deeds are not
preserved in words and committed to memory, they will be extinguished by the darkness of
silence. For words provide life as things wear away. Having been involved in some of these
events and spoken with Chosroës and other particularly mentionable Medians (I was
previously an advisor to Gregory, the archpriest of the city of Antioch, accompanying him
frequently to meetings with them, and after the end of the war, I went with Gregory to
Persia when he was promoting concord amongst them), I do not believe it is misplaced for
me to narrate these events, as I am able to, to those who do not know about them.

As it is necessary to know precisely about important previous events to learn about what
follows, I feel I must make mention of the events that took place prior to me in brief
including the revolt that took place against Hormisdas the father of Chosroës before
proceeding to the rest of the work reminding those who know about these things of the
actions taken and giving a starting point for those who have not heard anything at all of
them to learn clearly before proceeding to subsequent events. 2. When Justinian after
reigning for thirty nine years ended his life, he died in peace with other nations
including the Medians and was succeeded by his nephew Justin the younger under whom the
peace treaties Justinian had made with Chosroës, the Persian king, for a period of fifty
five years after having waged war on another, which were in their twentieth year during
the seventh year of Justin's reign and would reach their end in the ninth year of the
emperor Maurice, broke down. The causes of their strife with one another were as such: the
Romans were displeased that the Persians intending to Homerites (an Indic race allied and
subject to them), with them having no choice, had made an attack on them in the present
period of peace. Besides this, as the Turks had sent envoys to the Romans to which the
emperor Justin had responded sending Zemarchus, a member of the Senate, back with them
again, the Persians planned to bribe the Alans through whose lands they were about to make
their passage to become an obstruct Zemarchus and the Romans and Turks with him. The
Medians had a similar way about it finding causes for war with the Romans as the
Armenians, their vassals, had risen up in revolt, killed their ruler by the name of
Surenes, and gone over to the Roman Empire with the Romans welcoming them and offering
them an alliance. Their contentiousness increased even further (for whoever wishes to
learn the most disgraceful reason, though true) when Justin did not deem to pay the
Medians the five hundred pounds of gold each year previously agreed to under the peace
treaties and let the Roman State remain forever a tributary of the Persians.

3. As the time drew near for the previously agreed sums of money to be taken to Chosroës
(it had been agreed to pay the amount for ten years time), nothing was done as had been
agreed and instead Justin, the Roman emperor, sent in haste to the east his general
Marcian, who was amongst the patricians of the Senate and was related to him being not
unskilled in war and exceptionally brave. Crossing the Euphrates River, Marcian came to
Osroëne already when the summer was underway, and with the barbarians having no
forewarning of war he sent a contingent of three thousand men to Arzanene entrusting
Theodore and Sergius, who were descended from the family of Rabdios, with command of them
as well as sending Juventinus, the commander of the legions in Chalkis. They invaded
suddenly ravaging Persian land and returned carrying off a considerable amount of plunder
in all haste. After the winter season, Marcian gathered together his forces again and set
out from Dara meeting with the barbarians in front of the city of Nisibis led by Varaman,
who was in command of the companies stationed them. A fierce battle followed in which the
Romans turned to the barbarians to flight vigorously near the Persian place called
Sarmathon bringing down many of them then making an attempt at the fortress of Thebython
where they spent ten days. Unable to seize it, they returned to the city of Dara while it
was still spring and again invaded enemy land planning to besiege Nisibis with the
approval of the emperor Justin.

4. While they were encamped near the city, King Chosroës set out from Babylon with an army
of Medians crossing the Tigris River and passing over empty land, as the Roman had not
heard of the king's movements, and came upon the Persian fortress of Amvaron (it is five
days distant from the city of Circesion), where he dispatched Adaarman, as the general was
called, to cross the Euphrates River there and plunder Roman territory with thousands of
his own Medians and nomadic barbarians. At the same time, he urged Avorras on to the
Romans besieging Nisibis. When Adaarman reached the city of Circesion, he crossed the
Euphrates and began to forage Roman lands without any restraint. For due to the previous
peace and quiet that they had enjoyed during the reign of Justinian, their war time
preparation had receded and their virility completely vanished. As no one dared to come to
blows with the barbarians, Adaarman was able to come as far as the city of Antioch
ravaging the sites and fields near the city and then advancing on Coele Syria. He made
camp not far from the great city of Apamea, to whose citizens' embassies he promised to
enter the city and leave it unharmed, but then actually entering it where the Persians
seized their possessions, enslaved its inhabitants, and put the entire city to the flame
then returning in all haste to their own land. As a result of these actions, the emperor
Justin dispatched Acacius (the Romans are accustomed to add the name of Archelaus)
removing Marcian, who was still besieging Nisibis, from office because he had doubts about
his loyalty as the city had not yet been taken control of.

5. As the Romans were retreating, they came to a fortress on the border named Mardes by
its inhabitants where King Chosroës suddenly...laying siege himself...and the water of the
city...constructing great (the word is unclear -???? by the city wall and making use of
projectile launching machines against it, and because no external aid came for its
inhabitants, he captured the city with the Medians violently mounting onto the city walls.
He plundered the entire city and enslaved its inhabitants including even John the son of
Timostratus, a man of surpassing strength and honor who had been entrusted with the rule
and administration of the city, and then left behind a considerable garrison and returned
home while the Romans were still holed up at the fortress of Mardes with Magnus in
command, who also was in charge of imperial monies. Not many days later, Justin came down
suddenly with a physical ailment and fearing for it all made a truce in that year with the
Persians. As his ailment grew worse, he decided to announce his adoption of Tiberius, who
commanded his bodyguards (Romans call this person the comes excubitorum) and proclaimed
him Caesar handing over to him the cares of government. Of all of Justin's actions, this
one, besides providing a good and indeed salutary period of rule, proved responsible for a
great number of fair things for Roman affairs. When it happened that Tiberius took charge
in these present circumstances, lest some terrible harm befall...to save and the starting
points...

seemed...Theodore who was in charge of the affairs of Armenia holding many other not
ignoble offices being very learned and quite well able to see to what was necessary, so he
sent off the barbarians revealing the things being done about him according to his
arrangement and charging Chosroës to make a truce. A short while later, he sent off in
haste to the east likewise Justinian, the son of Germanus, who numbered amongst the
patricians of the Senate, entrusting him with charge of the war as he had been a man
raised in the ways of war coming to maturity in it being subject neither to the rashness
of youth, nor the frailty of age. Justinian came in all haste to the east taking care for
the good conduct and order of his soldiers. Tiberius the Caesar then sent an army not
small in number off in speed taking great care for its preparation for war by allocating a
boundless sum of money and raising a mighty and war-like number from the nations taking
great care for the coming war. As the duration of the truce was nearing its end, the
Persians gathered themselves near Dara and came upon the city of Constantina, which Dara
is four hundred and ninety stades to the west of (1).

1. Unfortunately, most of this passage must derive from the History of Theophanes of
Byzantium who covered the reigns of Justin and Tiberius, which is summarized by Photius in
Codex 64 and also the fragments preserved of Menander the Guardsmen 14-20 who covered the
same period of time. This text was translated by Scott Kennedy, 2008, and kindly released
by him into the public domain.


LETTER 3 : AGAINST THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THAT LETTERS FELL FROM HEAVEN ONTO THE ALTAR OF THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER
============================================================

LETTER 3 : AGAINST THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THAT LETTERS FELL FROM HEAVEN ONTO THE ALTAR OF THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER Licinian of Cartagena

d. c. AD 602

Bishop of Cartagena in Spain, correspondent of Gregory the Great.

LETTER 3 : AGAINST THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THAT LETTERS FELL FROM HEAVEN ONTO THE ALTAR OF THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER

The third letter of Licinianus, bishop of Cartagena, to Vincent, bishop of the island of
Ibiza. — Against those who maintain that letters fell from heaven on the shrine of Saint
Peter of Rome (now for the first time published from the manuscript of the church of
Toledo).

1 By the charity of Christ, we have not been prevented by the difficulties of various
tribulations, be they what they may, from sending some words to your Holiness, who has
urged us to accept your letter, and to rejoice in your health. But we are not a little
saddened by the fact that, as your writing indicates, you have accepted a certain letter,
which you forwarded to us, and that you had it read aloud from the tribunal of the people.
I, for one, when I had only just received what you sent me, read the beginning of that
letter in the presence of the messenger himself. I wasn't patient and didn't stand on my
dignity; I didn't read the repellent message throughout. I immediately tore it apart and
threw it on the floor, surprised that you could have believed this. After the prophecies
of the prophets, and the gospels of Christ, and the apostles and their letters, I don't
know who of all people, could believe a letter written under the name of Christ was really
from him, wherein no noble word, no sensible doctrine could be found.

2 In the first place we read in that letter that the day of the Lord is to be maintained.
Who is a Christian, then, who would not hold it most revered, not because of the day
itself, but because of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who on that day was
resurrected from the dead? But, as I see it, this new 'prophecy' says this in order to
compel us to live like the Jews, and that nobody may on that day prepare the necessary
food for himself, or walk on the road. But let your Holiness decide on what is worst. If
only the Christian people, if they do not visit the church on that day, would do other
works, instead of go dancing. It were better for men to tend their garden, to go on the
road, for women to hold the spinning staff, and not, as I said, to dance, to jump, and to
badly twist ones God-given limbs and to call for stories and songs to raise the passions.

3 Therefor it is not fitting of your Holiness to believe that letters are now sent to us
by Christ. What is said in the (books of the) prophets, by himself and by his Apostles is
sufficient. Because even to them he did not send a letter from heaven, but the Holy Spirit
filled their hearts. Except for the ten commandments, that were given miraculously in the
stone tablets, no letters were ever sent from heaven to prophets or apostles. Do not
believe things that were never made to be read: for even if they were made, after the
proclamation of the gospels they are no longer necessary. And if by chance this novelty
pleases you, because this letter, as the forger writes, came from heaven on to the altar
of Christ dedicated to the holy apostle Peter, know that it is a work of the Devil, and
every divine scripture, letter, or letters are heavenly, and are transmitted to us from
Heaven.

4 Repair then what your Holiness rashly believed, and destroy this letter, if you still
possess it, in the presence of the people. And this requires penitence from you, that you
had it read from the tribunals. For according to the learning of the blessed apostle, as
what he wrote among other things to the Galatians: If someone preaches to you something
other than that what you have accepted, let him be anathema. But as well as the gospel,
the entire law and the prophets up to John prophesy this. If in the future some new or
unusual things are spread, your Holiness will know they are to be completely cast aside
and detested. Pray for us, holy lord and dear brother in Christ.


ON EASTER
=========

ON EASTER Venantius Fortunatus

c. AD 530–609

Poet and bishop of Poitiers.

ON EASTER

A Poem of Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus

1 The seasons blush varied with the flowery, fair weather, and the gate of the pole lies
open with greater light. His path in the heaven raises the fire-breathing sun higher, who
goes forth on his course, and enters the waters of the ocean.Armed with rays traversing
the liquid elements, in this brief night he stretches out the day in a circle. The
brilliant firmament puts forth its clear countenance, and the bright stars show their joy.
The fruitful earth pours forth its gifts with varied increase, when the year has well
returned I its vernal riches. Soft beds of violets paint the purple plain; the meadows are
green with plants, and the plant shines with its leaves. By degrees gleaming brightness of
the flowers comes forth; all the herbs smile with their blossoms. The seed being
deposited, the corn springs up far and wide in the fields, promising to be able to
overcome the hunger of the husbandman. Having deserted its stem, the vine-shoot bewails
its joys; the vine gives water only from the source from which it is wont to give wine.
The swelling bud, rising with tender down from the back of its mother, prepares its bosom
for bringing forth. Its foliage having been torn off in the wintry season, the verdant
grove now renews its leafy shelter. Mingled together, the willow, the fir, the hazel, the
osier, the elm, the maple, the walnut, each tree applauds, delightful with its leaves.

2 Hence the bee, about to construct its comb, leaving the hive, humming over the flowers,
carries off honey with its leg. The bird which, having closed its song, was dumb, sluggish
with the wintry cold, returns to its strains. Hence Philomela attunes her notes with her
own instruments, and the air becomes sweeter with the re-echoed melody. Behold, the favour
of the reviving world bears witness that all gifts have returned together with its Lord.
For in honour of Christ rising triumphant after His descent to the gloomy Tartarus, the
grove on every side with its leaves expresses approval, the plants with their flowers
express approval. The light, the heaven, the fields, and the sea duly praise the God
ascending above the stars, having crushed the laws of hell. Behold, He who was crucified
reigns as God over all things, and all created objects offer prayer to their Creator.
Hail, festive day, to be reverenced throughout the world, on which God has conquered hell,
and gains the stars! The changes of the year and of the months, the bounteous light of the
days, the splendour of the hours, all things with voice applaud. Hence, in honour of you,
the wood with its foliage applauds; hence the vine, with its silent shoot, gives thanks.
Hence the thickets now resound with the whisper of birds; amidst these the sparrow sings
with exuberant love.

3 O Christ, Thou Saviour of the world, merciful Creator and Redeemer, the only offspring
from the Godhead of the Father, flowing in an indescribable manner from the heart of Thy
Parent, Thou self-existing Word, and powerful from the mouth of Thy Father, equal to Him,
of one mind with Him, His fellow, coeval with the Father, from whom at first the world
derived its origin! Thou dost suspend the firmament, Thou heapest together the soil, Thou
dost pour forth the seas, by whose government all things which are fixed in their places
flourish. Who seeing that the human race was plunged in the depth of misery, that Thou
mightest rescue man, didst Thyself also become man: nor wert Thou willing only to be born
with a body, but Thou becamest flesh, which endured to be born and to die. Thou dost
undergo funeral obsequies, Thyself the author of life and framer of the world, Thou dost
enter the path of death, in giving the aid of salvation. The gloomy chains of the infernal
law yielded, and chaos feared to be pressed by the presence of the light. Darkness
perishes, put to flight by the brightness of Christ; the think pall of eternal night
falls. But restore the promised pledge, I pray Thee, O power benign! The third day has
returned; arise, my buried One; it is not becoming that Thy limbs should lie in the lowly
sepulchre, nor that worthless stones should press that which is the ransom of the world.

4 It is unworthy that a stone should shut in with a confining rock, and cover Him in whose
fist all things are enclosed. Take away the linen clothes, I pray; leave the napkins in
the tomb: Thou art sufficient for us, and without Thee there is nothing. Release the
chained shades of the infernal prison, and recall to the upper regions whatever sinks to
the lowest depths. Give back Thy face, that the world may see the light; give back the day
which flees from us at Thy death. But returning, O holy conqueror! Thou didst altogether
fill the heaven! Tartarus lies depressed, nor retains its rights. The ruler of the lower
regions, insatiably opening his hollow jaws, who has always been a spoiler, becomes a prey
to Thee. Thou rescuest an innumerable people from the prison of death, and they follow in
freedom to the place whither their leader approaches. The fierce monster in alarm vomits
forth the multitude whom he had swallowed up, and the Lamb withdraws the sheep from the
jaw of the wolf. Hence re-seeking the tomb from the lower regions, having resumed Thy
flesh, as a warrior Thou carriest back ample trophies to the heavens. Those whom chaos
held in punishment he has now restored; and those whom death might seek, a new life holds,
Oh, sacred King, behold a great part of Thy triumph shines forth, when the sacred layer
blesses pure souls! A host, clad in white, come forth from the bright waves, and cleanse
their old fault in a new stream.

5 The white garment also designates bright souls, and the shepherd has enjoyments from the
snow-white flock. The priest Felix is added sharing in this reward, who wishes to give
double talents to his Lord. Drawing those who wander in Gentile error to better things,
that a beast of prey may not carry them away, He guards the fold of God. Those whom guilty
Eve had before infected, He now restores, fed with abundant milk at the bosom of the
Church. By cultivating rustic hearts with mild conversations, a crop is produced from a
briar by the bounty of Felix. The Saxon, a fierce nation, living as it were after the
manner of wild beasts, when you, 0 sacred One! apply a remedy, the beast of prey resembles
the sheep. About to remain with you through an age with the return of a hundred-fold, you
fill the barns with the produce of an abundant harvest. May this people, free from stain,
be strengthened in your arms, and may you bear to the stars a pure pledge to God. May one
crown be bestowed on you from on high gained from yourself, may another flourish gained
from your people.


AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH
=========================================

AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH John of Damascus

c. AD 675–749

Last great Greek father.

BOOK 1

1 Book I Chapter I. That the Deity is incomprehensible, and that we ought not to pry into
and meddle with tire things which have not been delivered to us by the holy Prophets, and
Apostles, and Evangelists. No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him1. The Deity, therefore, is ineffable
and incomprehensible. For no one knoweth the Father, save the Son, nor the Son, save the
Father2. And the Holy Spirit, too, so knows the things of God as the spirit of the man
knows the things that are in him3. Moreover, after the first and blessed nature no one,
not of men only, but even of supramundane powers, and the Cherubim, I say, and Seraphim
themselves, has ever known God, save he to whom He revealed Himself. 2 God, however, did
not leave us in absolute ignorance. For the knowledge of God’s existence has been
implanted by Him in all by nature. This creation, too, and its maintenance, and its
government, proclaim the majesty of the Divine nature4. Moreover, by the Law and the
Prophets5 in former times and afterwards by His Only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and
Saviour Jesus Christ, He disclosed to us the knowledge of Himself as that was possible for
us. All things, therefore, that have been delivered to us by Law and Prophets and Apostles
and Evangelists we receive, and know, and honour6 seeking for nothing beyond these. For
God, being good, is the cause of all good, subject neither to envy nor to any passion7.
For envy is far removed from the Divine nature, which is both passionless and only good.
As knowing all things, therefore, and providing for what is profitable for each, He
revealed that which it was to our profit to know; but what we were unable8 to bear He kept
secret. With these things let us be satisfied, and let us abide by them, not removing
everlasting boundaries, nor overpassing the divine tradition9.

3 Chapter II. Concerning things utterable and things unutterable, and things knowable and
thinks unknowable. It is necessary, therefore, that one who wishes to speak or to hear of
God should understand clearly that alike in the doctrine of Deity and in that of the
Incarnation neither are all things unutterable nor all utterable; neither all unknowable
nor all knowable. But the knowable belongs to one order, and the utterable to another;
just as it is one thing to speak and another thing to know. Many of the things relating to
God, therefore, that are dimly understood cannot be put into fitting terms, but on things
above us we cannot do else than express ourselves according to our limited capacity; as,
for instance, when we speak of God we use the terms sleep, and wrath, and regardlessness,
hands, too, and feet, land such like expressions. 4 We, therefore, both know and confess
that God is without beginning, without end, eternal and everlasting, uncreate,
unchangeable, invariable, simple, uncompound, incorporeal, invisible, impalpable,
uncircumscribed, infinite, incognisable, indefinable, incomprehensible, good, just, maker
of all things created, almighty, all-ruling, all-surveying, of all overseer, sovereign,
judge; and that God is One, that is to say, one essence; and that He is known and has His
being in three subsistences, in Father, I say, and Son and Holy Spirit; and that the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one in all respects, except in that of not
being begotten, that of being begotten, and that of procession; and that the Only-begotten
Son and Word of God and God, in His bowels of mercy, for our salvation, by the good
pleasure of God and the co-operation of the Holy Spirit, being conceived without seed, was
born uncorruptedly of the Holy Virgin and Mother of God, Mary, by the Holy Spirit, and
became of her perfect Man; and that the Same is at once perfect God and perfect Man, of
two natures, Godhead and Manhood, and in two natures possessing intelligence, will and
energy, and freedom, and, in a word, perfect according to the measure and proportion
proper to each, at once to the divinity, I say, and to the humanity, yet to one composite
persons; and that He suffered hunger and thirst and weariness, and was crucified, and for
three days submitted to the experience of death and burial, and ascended to heaven, from
which also He came to us, and shall come again. And the Holy Scripture is witness to this
and the whole choir of the Saints.

5 But neither do we know, nor can we tell, what the essence of God is, or how it is in
all, or how the Only-begotten Son and God, having emptied Himself, became Man of virgin
blood, made by another law contrary to nature, or how He walked with dry feet upon the
waters. It is not within our capacity, therefore, to say anything about God or even to
think of Him, beyond the things which have been divinely revealed to us, whether by word
or by manifestation, by the divine oracles at once of the Old Testament and of the New.
Chapter III. Proof that there is a God. 6 That there is a God, then, is no matter of doubt
to those who receive the Holy Scriptures, the Old Testament, I mean, and the New; nor
indeed to most of the Greeks. For, as we said the knowledge of the existence of God is
implanted in us by nature. But since the wickedness of the Evil One has prevailed so
mightily against man’s nature as even to drive some into denying the existence of God,
that most foolish and woe-fulest pit of destruction (whose folly David, revealer of the
Divine meaning, exposed when he said The fool said in his heart, There is no God), so the
disciples of the Lord and His Apostles, made wise by the Holy Spirit and working wonders
in His power and grace, took them captive in the net of miracles and drew them up out of
the depths of ignorance to the light of the knowledge of God. In like manner also their
successors in grace and worth, both pastors and teachers, having received the enlightening
grace of the Spirit, were wont, alike by the power of miracles and the word of grace, to
enlighten those walking in darkness and to bring back the wanderers into the way. But as
for us who are not recipients either of the gift of miracles or the gift of teaching (for
indeed we have rendered ourselves unworthy of these by our passion for pleasure), come,
let us in connection with this theme discuss a few of those things which have been
delivered to us on this subject by the expounders of grace, calling on the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit.

7 All things, that exist, are either created or uncreated. If, then, things are created,
it follows that they are also wholly mutable. For things, whose existence originated in
change, must also be subject to change, whether it be that they perish or that they become
other than they are by act of will. But if things are uncreated they must in all
consistency be also wholly immutable. For things which are opposed in the nature of their
existence must also be opposed in the mode of their existence, that is to say, must have
opposite properties: who, then, will refuse to grant that all existing things, not only
such as come within the province of the senses, but even the very angels, are subject to
change and transformation and movement of various kinds? For the things appertaining to
the rational world, I mean angels and spirits and demons, are subject to changes of will,
whether it is a progression or a retrogression in goodness, whether a struggle or a
surrender; while the others suffer changes of generation and destruction, of increase and
decrease, of quality and of movement in space. Things then that are mutable are also
wholly created. But things that are created must be the work of some maker, and the maker
cannot have been created. For if he had been created, he also must surely have been
created by some one, and so on till we arrive at something uncreated. The Creator, then,
being uncreated, is also wholly immutable. And what could this be other than Deity?

8 And even the very continuity of the creation, and its preservation and government, teach
us that there does exist a Deity, who supports and maintains and preserves and ever
provides for this universe. For how could opposite natures, such as fire and water, air
and earth, have combined with each other so as to form one complete world, and continue to
abide in indissoluble union, were there not some omnipotent power which bound them
together and always is preserving them from dissolution? What is it that gave order to
things of heaven and things of earth, and all those things that move in the air and in the
water, or rather to what was in existence before these, viz., to heaven and earth and air
and the elements of fire and water? What was it that mingled and distributed these? What
was it that set these in motion and keeps them in their unceasing and unhindered course?
Was it not the Artificer of these things, and He Who hath implanted in everything the law
whereby the universe is carried on and directed? Who then is the Artificer of these
things? Is it not He Who created them and brought them into existence. For we shall not
attribute such a power to the spontaneous. For, supposing their coming into existence was
due to the spontaneous; what of the power that put all in orders? And let us grant this,
if you please. What of that which has preserved and kept them in harmony with the original
laws of their existence? Clearly it is something quite distinct from the spontaneous.And
what could this be other than Deity?

9 Chapter IV. Concerning the nature of Deity: that it is incomprehensible. It is plain,
then, that there is a God. But what He is in His essence anti nature is absolutely
incomprehensible and unknowable. For it is evident that He is incorporeal. For how could
that possess body which is infinite, and boundless, and formless, and intangible and
invisible, in short, simple and not compound? How could that be immutable which is
circumscribed and subject to passion? And how could that be passionless which is composed
of elements and is resolved again into them? For combination is the beginning of conflict,
and conflict of separation, and separation of dissolution, and dissolution is altogether
foreign to God. Again, how will it also be maintained that God permeates and fills the
universe? as the Scriptures say, Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lords? For it
is an impossibility that one body should permeate other bodies without dividing and being
divided, and without being enveloped and contrasted, in the same way as all fluids mix and
commingle.

10 But if some say that the body is immaterial, in thee same way as the fifth body of
which the Greek philosophers speak (which body is an impossibility), it will be wholly
subject to motion like the heaven. For that is what they mean by the fifth body. Who then
is it that moves it? For everything that is moved is moved by another thing. And who again
is it that moves that? and so on to infinity till we at length arrive at something
motionless. For the first mover is motionless, and that is the Deity. And must not that
which is moved be circumscribed in space? The Deity, then, alone is motionless, moving the
universe by immobility. So then it must be assumed that the Deity is incorporeal. But even
this gives no true idea of His essence, to say that He is unbegotten, and without
beginning, changeless and imperishable, and possessed of such other qualities as we are
wont to ascribe to God and His environment. For these do not indicate what He is, but what
He is not. But when we would explain what the essence of anything is, we must not speak
only negatively. In the case of God, however, it is impossible to explain what He is in
His essence, and it befits us the rather to hold discourse about His absolute separation
from all things. For He does not belong to the class of existing things: not that He has
no existence but that He is above all existing things, nay even above existence itself.
For if all forms of knowledge have to do with what exists, assuredly that which is above
knowledge must certainly be also above essence: and, conversely, that which is above
essence will also be above knowledge.

11 God then is infinite and incomprehensible and all that is comprehensible about Him is
His infinity and incomprehensibility. But all that we can affirm concerning God does not
shew forth God’s nature, but only the qualities of His nature. For when you speak of Him
as good, and just, and wise, and so forth, you do not tell God’s nature but only the
qualities of His nature. Further there are some affirmations which we make concerning God
which have the force of absolute negation: for example, when we use the term darkness, in
reference to God, we do not mean darkness itself, but that He is not light but above
light: and when we speak of Him as light, we mean that He is not darkness. Chapter V.
Proof that God is one and not many. We have, then, adequately demonstrated that there is a
God, and that His essence is incomprehensible. But that God is one and not many is no
matter of doubt to those who believe in the Holy Scriptures. For the Lord says in the
beginning of the Law: I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt. Thou shall have no other Gods before Me. And again He says, Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God is one Lord. And in Isaiah the prophet we read For I am the first God and I
am the last and beside Me there is no God. Before Me there was not any God, nor after Me
will there be any God, and beside Me there is no God. And the Lord, too, in the holy
gospels speaketh these words to His Father, And this is life eternal, that they may know
Thee the only true God. But with those that do not believe in the Holy Scriptures we will
reason thus.

12 The Deity is perfect and without blemish in goodness, and wisdom, and power, without
beginning, without end, everlasting, uncircumscribed and in short, perfect in all things.
Should we say, then, that there are many Gods, we must recognise difference among the
many. For if there is no difference among them, they are one rather than many. But if
there is difference among them, what becomes of the perfectness? For that which comes
short of perfection, whether it be in goodness, or power, or wisdom, or time, or place,
could not be God. But it is this very identity in all respects that shews that the Deity
is one and not many. Again, if there are many Gods, how can one maintain that God is
uncircumscribed? For where the one would be, the other could not be. Further, how could
the world be governed by many and saved from dissolution and destruction, while strife is
seen to rage between the rulers? For difference introduces strife. And if any one should
say that each rules over a part, what of that which established this order and gave to
each his particular realm? For this would the rather be God. Therefore, God is one,
perfect, uncircumscribed, maker of the universe, and its preserver and governor, exceeding
and preceding all perfection.

13 Moreover, it is a natural necessity that duality should originate in unity. Chapter VI.
Concerning the Word and the San of God: a reasoned proof. So then this one and only God is
not Wordless. And possessing the Word, He will have it not as without a subsistence, nor
as having had a beginning, nor as destined to cease to be. For there never was a time when
God was not Word: but He ever possesses His own Word, begotten of Himself, not, as our
word is, without a subsistence and dissolving into air, but having a subsistence in Him
and life and perfection, not proceeding out of Himself but ever existing within Himself.
For where could it be, if it were to go outside Him? For inasmuch as our nature is
perishable and easily dissolved, our word is also without subsistence. But since God is
everlasting and perfect, He will have His Word subsistent in Him, and everlasting trod
living, and possessed of all the attributes of the Begetter. For just as our word,
proceeding as it floes out of the mind, is neither wholly identical with the mind nor
utterly diverse from it (for so far as it proceeds out of the mind it is different from
it, while so far as it reveals the mind, it is no longer absolutely diverse from the mind,
but being one in nature with the mind, it is yet to the subject diverse from it), so in
the same manner also the Word of God in its independent subsistence is differentiated from
Him from Whom it derives its subsistence: but inasmuch as it displays in itself the same
attributes as are seen in God, it is of the same nature as God. For just as absolute
perfection is contemplated in the Father, so also is it contemplated in the Word that is
begotten of Him.

14 Chapter VII. Concerning the Holy Spirit, a reasoned proof. 15 Moreover the Word must
also possess Spirit. For in fact even our word is not destitute of spirit; but in our case
the spirit is something different from our essence. For there is an attraction and
movement of the air which is drawn in and poured forth that the body may be sustained. And
it is this which in the moment of utterance becomes the articulate word, revealing in
itself the force of the word. But in the case of the divine nature, which is simple and
uncompound, we must confess in all piety that there exists a Spirit of God, for the Word
is not more imperfect than our own word. Now we cannot, in piety, consider the Spirit to
be something foreign that gains admission into God from without, as is the case with
compound natures like us. Nay, just as, when we heard of the Word of God, we considered it
to be not without subsistence, nor the product of learning, nor the mere utterance of
voice, nor as passing into the air and perishing, but as being essentially subsisting,
endowed with free volition, and energy, and omnipotence: so also, when we have learnt
about the Spirit of God, we contemplate it as the companion of the Word and the revealer
of His energy, and not as mere breath without subsistence.

16 For to conceive of the Spirit that dwells in God as after the likeness of our own
spirit, would be to drag down the greatness of the divine nature to the lowest depths of
degradation. But we must contemplate it as an essential power, existing in its own proper
and peculiar subsistence, proceeding from the Father anti resting in the Word and shewing
forth the Word, neither capable of disjunction from God in Whom it exists, and the Word
Whose companion it is, nor poured forth to vanish into nothingness but being in
subsistence in the likeness of the Word, endowed with life, free volition, independent
movement, energy, ever willing that which is good, and having power to keep pace with the
will in all its decrees having no beginning and no end. For never was the Father at any
time lacking in the Word, nor the Word in the Spirit.

17 Thus because of the unity in nature, the error of the Greeks in holding that God is
many, is utterly destroyed: and again by our acceptance of the Word and the Spirit, the
dogma of the Jews is overthrown: and there remains of each party only what is profitable.
On the one hand of the Jewish idea we have the unity of God’s nature, anti on the other,
of the Greek, we have the distinction in subsistences and that only. But should the Jew
refuse to accept the Word and the Spirit, let the divine Scripture confute him and curb
his tongue. For concerning the Word, the divine David says, For ever, O Lord, Thy Word is
settled in heaven. And again, He sent His Word and healed them. But the word that is
uttered is not sent, nor is it for ever settled. And concerning the Spirit, the same David
says, Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created. And again, By the word of the Lord
were the heavens made: and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. Job, too,
says, The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Now the Spirit which is sent and makes and stablishes and conserves, is not mere breath
that dissolves, any more than the mouth of God is a bodily member. For the conception of
both must be such as harmonizes with the Divine nature.

18 Chapter VIII. Concerning the Holy Trinity. 19 We believe, then, in One God, one
beginning having no beginning, uncreate, unbegotten, imperishable and immortal,
everlasting, infinite, uncircumscribed, boundless, of infinite power, simple, uncompound,
incorporeal, without flux, passionless, unchangeable, unalterable, unseen, the fountain of
goodness and justice, the light of the mind, inaccessible; a power known by no measure,
measurable only by His own will alone (for all things that He wills He can ), creator of
all created things, seen or unseen, of all the maintainer and preserver, for all the
provider, master and lord and king over all, with an endless and immortal kingdom: having
no contrary, filling all, by nothing encompassed, but rather Himself the encompasser and
maintainer and original possessor of the universe, occupying all essences intact and
extending beyond all things, and being separate from all essence as being super-essential
and above all things and absolute God, absolute goodness, and absolute fulness:
determining all sovereignties and ranks, being placed above all sovereignty and rank,
above essence and life and word and thought: being Himself very light and goodness and
life and essence, inasmuch as He does not derive His being from another, that is to say,
of those things that exist: but being Himself the fountain of being to all that is, of
life to the living, of reason to those that have reason; to all the cause of all good:
perceiving all things even before they have become: one essence, one divinity, one power,
one will, one energy, one beginning, one authority, one dominion, one sovereignty, made
known in three perfect subsistences anti adored with one adoration, believed in and
ministered to by all rational creation united without confusion and divided without
separation (which indeed transcends thought). (We believe) in Father and Son and Holy
Spirit whereinto also we have been baptized. For so our Lord commanded the Apostles to
baptize, saying, Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

20 (We believe) in one Father, the beginning and cause of all: begotten of no one: without
cause or generation, alone subsisting: creator of all: but Father of one only by nature,
His Only-begotten Son and our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and Producer of the
most Holy Spirit. And in one Son of God, the Only-begotten, our Lord, Jesus Christ:
begotten of the Father, before all the ages: Light of Light, true God of true God:
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through Whom all things are made: and
when we say He was before all the ages we shew that His birth is without time or
beginning: for the Son of God was not brought into being out of nothing He that is the
effulgence of the glory, the impress of the Father’s subsistence the living wisdom and
power the Word possessing interior subsistence the essential and perfect and living image
of the unseen God. But always He was with the Father and in Him everlastingly and without
beginning begotten of Him. For there never was a time when the Father was and the Son was
not, but always the Father and always the Son, Who was begotten of Him, existed together.
For He could not have received the name Father apart from the Son: for if He were without
the Son He could not be the Father: and if He thereafter had the Son, thereafter He became
the Father, not having been the Father prior to this, and He was changed from that which
was not the Father and became the Father. This is the worst form of blasphemy. For we may
not speak of God as destitute of natural generative power: and generative power means, the
power of producing from one’s self, that is to say, from one’s own proper essence, that
which is like in nature to one’s self.

21 In treating, then, of the generation of the Son, it is an act of impiety to say that
time comes into play and that the existence of the Son is of later origin than the Father.
For we hold that it is from Him, that is, from the Father’s nature, that the Son is
generated. And unless we grant that the Son co-existed from the beginning with the Father,
by Whom He was begotten, we introduce change into the Father’s subsistence, because, not
being the Father, He subsequently became the Father. For the creation, even though it
originated later, is nevertheless not derived from the essence of God, but is brought into
existence out of nothing by His will and power, and change does not touch God’s nature.
For generation means that the begetter produces out of his essence offspring similar in
essence. But creation and making mean that the creator and maker produces from that which
is external, and not out of his own essence, a creation of an absolutely dissimilar
nature.

22 Wherefore in God, Who alone is passionless and unalterable, and immutable, and ever so
continueth, both begetting and creating are passionless. For being by nature passionless
and not liable to flux, since He is simple and uncompound, He is not subject to passion or
flux either in begetting or in creating, nor has He need of any co-operation. But
generation in Him is without beginning and everlasting, being the work of nature and
producing out of His own essence, that the Begetter may not undergo change, and that He
may not be God first and God last, nor receive any accession: while creation in the case
of God being the work of will, is not co-eternal with God. For it is not natural that that
which is brought into existence out of nothing should be co-eternal with what is without
beginning and everlasting. There is this difference in fact between man’s making and
God’s. Man can bring nothing into existence out of nothing but all that he makes requires
pre-existing matter for its basis and he does not create it by will only, but thinks out
first what it is to be and pictures it in his mind, and only then fashions it with his
hands, undergoing labour and troubles and often missing the mark and failing to produce to
his satisfaction that after which he strives. But God, through the exercise of will alone,
has brought all things into existence out of nothing.

23 Now there is the same difference between God and man in begetting and generating. For
in God, Who is without time and beginning, passionless, not liable to flux, incorporeal,
alone and without end generation is without time and beginning, passionless and not liable
to flux, nor dependent on the union of two: nor has His own incomprehensible generation
beginning or end. And it is without beginning because He is immutable: without flux
because He is passionless and incorporeal: independent of the union of two again because
He is incorporeal but also because He is the one and only God, and stands in need of no
co-operation: and without end or cessation because He is without beginning, or time, or
end, and ever continues the same. For that which has no beginning has no end: but that
which through grace is endless is assuredly not without beginning, as, witness, the
angels.

24 Accordingly the everlasting God generates His own Word which is perfect, without
beginning and without end, that God, Whose nature and existence are above time, may not
engender in time. But with man clearly it is otherwise, for generation is with him a
matter of sex, and destruction and flux and increase and body clothe him round about and
he possesses a nature which is male or female. For the male requires the assistance of the
female. But may He Who surpasses all, and transcends all thought and comprehension, be
gracious to us. The holy catholic and apostolic Church, then, teaches the existence at
once of a Father: and of His Only-begotten Son, born of Him without time and flux and
passion, in a manner incomprehensible and perceived by the God of the universe alone: just
as we recognise the existence at once of fire and the light which proceeds from it: for
there is not first fire and thereafter light, but they exist together. And just as light
is ever the product of fire, and ever is in it and at no time is separate from it, so in
like manner also the Son is begotten of the Father and is never in any way separate from
Him, but ever is in Him. But whereas the light which is produced from fire without
separation, and abideth ever in it, has no proper subsistence of its own distinct from
that of fire (for it is a natural quality of fire), the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten
of the Father without separation and difference and ever abiding in Him, has a proper
subsistence of its own distinct from that of the Father.

25 The terms, ‘Word’ and ‘effulgence,’ then, are used because He is begotten of the Father
without the union of two, or passion, or time, or flux, or separation: and the terms ‘Son’
and ‘impress of the Father’s subsistence,’ because He is perfect and has subsistence and
is in all respects similar to the Father, save that the Father is not begotten: and the
term ‘Only-begotten’ because He alone was begotten alone of the Father alone. For no other
generation is like to the generation of the Son of God, since no other is Son of God. For
though the Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father, yet this is not generative in character
but processional. This is a different mode of existence, alike incomprehensible and
unknown, just as is the generation of the Son. Wherefore all the qualities the Father has
are the Son’s, save that the Father is unbegotten and this exception involves no
difference in essence nor dignity but only a different mode of coming into existence. We
have an analogy in Adam, who was not begotten (for God Himself moulded him), and Seth, who
was begotten (for he is Adam’s son), and Eve, who proceeded out of Adam’s rib (for she was
not begotten). These do not differ from each other in nature, for they are human beings:
but they differ in the mode of coming into existence.

26 For one must recognise that the word ajgevnnhton with only one ‘n’ signifies “uncreate”
or “not having been made,” while ajgevnnhton written with double ‘n’ means “unbegotten.”
According to the first significance essence differs from essence: for one essence is
uncreate, or ajgevnhton with one ‘n,’ and another is create or genhthv. But in the second
significance there is no difference between essence and essence. For the first subsistence
of all kinds of living creatures is ajgevnnhto" but not ajgevnhto". For they were created
by the Creator, being brought into being by His Word, but they were not begotten, for
there was no pre-existing form like themselves from which they might have been born. So
then in the first sense of the word the three absolutely divine subsistences of the Holy
Godhead agree: for they exist as one in essence and uncreate. But with the second
signification it is quite otherwise. For the Father alone is ingenerate no other
subsistence having given Him being. And the Son alone is generate, for He was begotten of
the Father’s essence without beginning and without time. And only the Holy Spirit
proceedeth from the Father’s essence, not having been generated but simply proceeding. For
this is the doctrine of Holy Scripture. But the nature of the generation and the
procession is quite beyond comprehension.

27 And this also it behoves us to know, that the names Fatherhood, Sonship and Procession,
were not applied to the Holy Godhead by us: on the contrary, they were communicated to us
by the Godhead, as the divine apostle says, Wherefore I bow the knee to the Father, from
Whom is every family in heaven and on earth. But if we say that the Father is the origin
of the Son and greater than the Son, we do not suggest any precedence in time or
superiority in nature of the Father over the Son (for through His agency He made the ages
), or superiority in any other respect save causation. And we mean by this, that the Son
is begotten of the Father and not the Father of the Son, and that the Father naturally is
the cause of the Son: just as we say in the same way not that fire proceedeth from light,
but rather light from fire. So then, whenever we hear it said that the Father is the
origin of the Son and greater than the Son, let us understand it to mean in respect of
causation. And just as we do not say that fire is of one essence and light of another, so
we cannot say that the Father is of one essence and the Son of another: but both are of
one and the same essence.

28 And just as we say that fire has brightness through the light proceeding from it, and
do not consider the light of the fire as an instrument ministering to the fire, but rather
as its natural force: so we say that the Father creates all that He creates through His
Only-begotten Son, not as though the Son were a mere instrument serving the Father’s ends,
but as His natural and subsistential force. And just as we say both that the fire shines
and again that the light of the fire shines, So all things whatsoever the Father doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise. But whereas light possesses no proper subsistence of
its own, distinct from that of the fire, the Son is a perfect subsistence inseparable from
the Father’s subsistence, as we have shewn above. For it is quite impossible to find in
creation an image that will illustrate in itself exactly in all details the nature of the
Holy Trinity. For how could that which is create and compound, subject to flux and change,
circumscribed, formed and corruptible, clearly shew forth the super-essential divine
essence, unaffected as it is in any of these ways? Now it is evident that all creation is
liable to most of these affections, and all from its very nature is subject to corruption.

29 Likewise we believe also in one Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life: Who proceedeth
from the Father and resteth in the Son: the object of equal adoration and glorification
with the Father and Son, since He is co-essential and co-eternal: the Spirit of God,
direct, authoritative the fountain of wisdom, and life, and holiness: God existing and
addressed along with Father and Son: uncreate, full, creative, all-ruling, all-effecting,
all-powerful, of infinite power, Lord of all creation and not under any lord: deifying,
not deified: filling, not filled: shared in, not sharing in: sanctifying, not sanctified:
the intercessor, receiving the supplications of all: in all things like to the Father and
Son: proceeding from the Father and communicated through the Son, and participated in by
all creation, through Himself creating, and investing with essence and sanctifying, and
maintaining the universe: having subsistence, existing in its own proper and peculiar
subsistence, inseparable and indivisible from Father and Son, and possessing all the
qualities that the Father and Son possess, save that of not being begotten or born. For
the Father is without canst and unborn: for He is derived from nothing, but derives from
Himself His being, nor does He derive a single quality from another. Rather He is Himself
the beginning and cause of the existence of all things in a definite and natural manner.
But the Son is derived from the Father after the manner of generation, and the Holy Spirit
likewise is derived from the Father, yet not after the manner of generation, but after
that of procession. And we have learned that there is a difference between generation and
procession, but the nature of that difference we in no wise understand. Further, the
generation of the Son from the Father and the procession of the Holy Spirit are
simultaneous.

30 All then that the Son and the Spirit have is from the Father, even their very being:
and unless the Father is, neither the Son nor the Spirit is. And unless the Father
possesses a certain attribute, neither the Son nor the Spirit possesses it: and through
the Father that is, because of the Father’s existence the Son and the Spirit exist and
through the Father, that is, because of the Father having the qualities, the Son and the
Spirit have all their qualities, those of being unbegotten, and of birth and of procession
being excepted. For in these hypo static or personal properties alone do the three holy
subsistences differ from each other, being indivisibly divided not by essence but by the
distinguishing mark of their proper and peculiar subsistence. Further we say that each of
the three has a perfect subsistence, that we may understand not one compound perfect
nature made up of three imperfect elements, but one simple essence, surpassing and
preceding perfection, existing in three perfect subsistences. For all that is composed of
imperfect elements must necessarily be compound. But from perfect subsistences no compound
can arise. Wherefore we do not speak of the form as from subsistences, but as in
subsistences. But we speak of those things as imperfect which do not preserve the form of
that which is completed out of them. For stone and wood and iron are each perfect in its
own nature, but with reference to the building that is completed out of them each is
imperfect: for none of them is in itself a house.

31 The subsistences then we say are perfect, that we may not conceive of the divine nature
as compound. For compoundness is the beginning of separation. And again we speak of the
three subsistences as being in each other that we may not introduce a crowd and multitude
of Gods. Owing to the three subsistences, there is no compoundness or confusion: while,
owing to their having the same essence and dwelling in one another, and being the same in
will, and energy, and power, and authority, and movement, so to speak, we recognise the
indivisibility and the unity of God. For verily there is one God, and His word and Spirit.
Marg. ms. Concerning the distinction of the three subsistences: and concerning the thing
itself and our reason and thought in relation to it. 32 One ought, moreover, to recognise
that it is one thing to look at a matter as it is, and another thing to look at it in the
light of reason and thought. In the case of all created things, the distinction of the
subsistences is observed in actual fact. For in actual fact Peter is seen to be separate
from Paul. But the community and connection and unity are apprehended by reason and
thought. For it is by the mind that we perceive that Peter and Paul are of the same nature
and have one common nature. For both are living creatures, rational and mortal: and both
are flesh, endowed with the spirit of reason and understanding. It is, then, by reason
that this community of nature is observed. For here indeed the subsistences do not exist
one within the other. But each privately and individually, that is to say, in itself,
stands quite separate, having very many points that divide it from the other. For they are
both separated in space and differ in time, and are divided in thought, and power, and
shape, or form, and habit, and temperament and dignity, and pursuits, and all
differentiating properties, but above all, in the fact that they do not dwell in one
another but are separated. Hence it comes that we can speak of two, three, or many men.

33 And this may be perceived throughout the whole of creation, but in the case of the holy
and superessential and incomprehensible Trinity, far removed from everything, it is quite
the reverse. For there the community and unity are observed in fact, through the co-
eternity of the subsistences, and through their having the same essence and energy and
will and concord of mind and then being identical in authority and power and goodness—I do
not say similar but identical—and then movement by one impulse. For there is one essence,
one goodness, one power, one will, one energy, one authority, one and the same, I repeat,
not three resembling each other. But the three subsistences have one and the same
movement. For each one of them is related as closely to the other as to itself: that is to
say that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one in all respects, save those of
not being begotten, of birth and of procession. But it is by thought that the difference
is perceived. For we recognise one God: but only in the attributes of Fatherhood, Sonship,
and Procession, both in respect of cause and effect and perfection of subsistence, that
is, manner of existence, do we perceive difference. For with reference to the
uncircumscribed Deity we cannot speak of separation in space, as we can in our own case.

34 For the subsistences dwell in one another, in no wise confused but cleaving together,
according to the word of the Lord, I am in the father, and the father in Me: nor can one
admit difference in will or judgment or energy or power or anything else whatsoever which
may produce actual and absolute separation in our case. Wherefore we do not speak of three
Gods, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but rather of one God, the holy Trinity,
the Son and Spirit being referred to one cause and not compounded or coalesced according
to the synaeresis of Sabellius. For, as we said, they are made one not so as to commingle,
but so as to cleave to each other, and they have their being in each other without any
coalescence or commingling. Nor do the Son and the Spirit stand apart, nor are they
sundered in essence according to the diaeresis of Arias. For the Deity is undivided
amongst things divided, to put it concisely: and it is just like three suns cleaving to
each other without separation and giving out light mingled and conjoined into one. When,
then, we turn our eyes to the Divinity, and the first cause and the sovereignty and the
oneness anti sameness, so to speak, of the movement and will of the Divinity, and the
identity in essence and power and energy and lordship, what is seen by us is unity.

35 But when we look to those things in which the Divinity is, or, to put it more
accurately, which are the Divinity, and those things which are in it through the first
cause without time or distinction in glory or separation, that is to say, the subsistences
of the Son and the Spirit, it seems to us a Trinity that we adore. The Father is one
Father, and without beginning, that is, without cause: for He is not derived from
anything. The Son is one Son, but not without beginning, that is, not without cause: for
He is derived from the Father. But if you eliminate the idea of a beginning from time, He
is also without beginning: for the creator of times cannot be subject to time. The Holy
Spirit is one Spirit, going forth from the Father, not in the manner of Sonship but of
procession; so that neither has the Father lost His property of being unbegotten because
He hath begotten, nor has the Son lost His property of being begotten because He was
begotten of that which was unbegotten (for how could that be so?), nor does the Spirit
change either into the Father or into the Son because He hath proceeded and is God. For a
property is quite constant. For how could a propertypersist if it were variable, moveable,
and could change into something else? For if the Father is the Son, He is not strictly the
Father: for there is strictly one Father.

36 And if the Son is the Father, He is not strictly the Son: for there is strictly one Son
and one Holy Spirit. 37 Further, it should be understood that we do not speak of the
Father as derived from any one, but we speak of Him as the Father of the Son. And we do
not speak of the Son as Cause or Father, but we speak of Him both as from the Father, and
as the Son of the Father. And we speak likewise of the Holy Spirit as from the Father, and
call Him the Spirit of the Father. And we do not speak of the Spirit as from the Son: but
yet we call Him the Spirit of the Son. For if any one hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of His saith the divine apostle. And we confess that He is manifested and imparted to
us through the Son. For He breathed upon His Disciples, says he, and said, Receive ye the
Holy Spirit. It is just the same as in the case of the sun from which come both the ray
and the radiance (for the sun itself is the source of both the ray and the radiance), and
it is through the ray that the radiance is imparted to us, and it is the radiance itself
by which we are lightened and in which we participate. Further we do not speak of the Son
of the Spirit, or of the Son as derived from the Spirit.

38 Chapter IX. Concerning what is affirmed about God. The Deity is simple and uncompound.
But that which is composed of many and different elements is compound. If, then, we should
speak of the qualities of being uncreate and without beginning and incorporeal and
immortal and everlasting and good and creative and so forth as essential differences in
the case of God, that which is composed of so many qualities will not be simple but must
be compound. But this is impious in the extreme. Each then of the affirmations about God
should be thought of as signifying not what He is in essence, but either something that it
is impossible to make plain, or some relation to some of those things which are contrasts
or some of those things that follow the nature, or an energy. It appears then that the
most proper of all the names given to God is “He that is,” as He Himself said in answer to
Moses on the mountain, Say to the sons of Israel, He that is hath sent Me. For He keeps
all being in His own embrace like a sea of essence infinite and unseen. Or as the holy
Dionysius says, “He that is good.” For one cannot say of God that He has being in the
first place and goodness in the second.

39 The second name of God is oJ Qeov", derived from Qevein to run, because He courses
through all things, or from ai[qein, to burn: For God is a fire consuming all evils: or
from Qea`sqai, because He is all-seeing: for nothing can escape Him, and over all He
keepeth watch. For He saw all things before they were, holding them timelessly in His
thoughts; and each one conformably to His voluntary anti timeless thought which
constitutes predetermination and image and pattern, comes into existence at the
predetermined time. The first name then conveys the notion of His existence and of the
nature of His existence: while the second contains the idea of energy. Further, the terms
‘without beginning,’ ‘incorruptible,’ ‘unbegotten,’ as also ‘uncreate,’ ‘incorporeal,’
‘unseen,’ and so forth, explain what He is not: that is to say, they tell us that His
being had no beginning, that He is not corruptible, nor created, nor corporeaI, nor
visible. Again, goodness and justice and piety and such like names belong to the nature
but do not explain His actual essence. Finally, Lord and King and names of that class
indicate a relationship with their contrasts: for the name Lord has reference to those
over whom the lord rules, and the name King to those under kingly authority, and the name
Creator to the creatures, and the name Shepherd to the sheep he tends.

40 Chapter X. Concerning divine union and separation. Therefore all these names must be
understood as common to deity as a whole, and as containing the notions of sameness and
simplicity and indivisibility and union: while the names Father, Son and Spirit, and
cause, less and caused, and unbegotten and begotten, and procession contain the idea of
separation: for these terms do not explain His essence, but the mutual relationship and
manner of existence. When, then, we have perceived these things and are conducted from
these to the divine essence, we do not apprehend the essence itself but only the
attributes of the essence: just as we have not apprehended the essence of the soul even
when we have learnt that it is incorporeal and without magnitude and form: nor again, the
essence of the body when we know that it is white or black, but only the attributes of the
essence. Further, the true doctrine teacheth that the Deity is simple and has one simple
energy, good and energising in all things, just as the sun’s ray, which warms all things
and energises in each in harmony with its natural aptitude and receptive power, having
obtained this form of energy from God, its Maker.

41 But quite distinct is all that pertains to the divine and benignant incarnation of the
divine Word. For in that neither the Father nor the Spirit have any part at all, unless so
far as regards approval and the working of inexplicable miracles which the God-Word,
having become man like us, worked, as unchangeable God and son of God. Chapter XI.
Concerning what is affirmed about God as though He had body. 42 Since we find many terms
used symbolically in the Scriptures concerning God which are more applicable to that which
has body, we should recognise that it is quite impossible for us men clothed about with
this dense covering of flesh to understand or speak of the divine and lofty and immaterial
energies of the Godhead, except by the use of images and types and symbols derived from
our own life. So then all the statements concerning God, that imply body, are symbols, but
have a higher meaning: for the Deity is simple and formless. Hence by God’s eyes and
eyelids and sight we are to understand His power of overseeing all things and His
knowledge, that nothing can escape: for in the case of us this sense makes our knowledge
more complete and more full of certainty. By God’s ears and hearing is meant His readiness
to be propitiated and to receive our petitions: for it is this sense that renders us also
kind to suppliants, inclining our ear to them more graciously. God’s mouth and speech are
His means of indicating His will; for it is by the mouth and speech that we make clear the
thoughts that are in the heart: God’s food and drink are our concurrence to His will, for
we, too, satisfy the necessities of our natural appetite through the sense of taste. And
God’s sense of smell is His appreciation of our thoughts of and good will towards Him, for
it is through this sense that we appreciate sweet fragrance.

43 And God’s countenance is the demonstration and manifestation of Himself through His
works, for our manifestation is through the countenance. And God’s hands mean the
effectual nature of His energy, for it is with our own hands that we accomplish our most
useful and valuable work. And His right hand is His aid in prosperity, for it is the right
hand that we also use when making anything of beautiful shape or of great value, or where
much strength is required. His handling is His power of accurate discrimination and
exaction, even in the minutest and most secret details, for those whom we have handled
cannot conceal from us aught within themselves. His feet and walk are His advent and
presence, either for the purpose of bringing succour to the needy, or vengeance against
enemies, or to perform any other action, for it is by using our feet that we come to
arrive at any place. His oath is the unchangeableness of His counsel, for it is by oath
that we confirm our compacts with one another. His anger and fury are His hatred of and
aversion to all wickedness, for we, too, hate that which is contrary to our mind and
become enraged thereat. His forgetfulness and sleep and slumbering are His delay in taking
vengeance on His enemies and the postponement of the accustomed help to His own.

44 And to put it shortly, all the statements made about God that imply body have some
hidden meaning and teach us what is above us by means of something familiar to ourselves,
with the exception of any statement concerning the bodily sojourn of the God-Word. For He
for our safety took upon Himself the whole nature of man the thinking spirit, the body,
and all the properties of human nature, even the natural and blameless passions. 45
Chapter XII. Concerning the Same. The following, then, are the mysteries which we have
learned from the holy oracles, as the divine Dionysius the Areopagite said: that God is
the cause and beginning of all: the essence of all that have essence: the life of the
living: the reason of all rational beings: the intellect of all intelligent beings: the
recalling and restoring of those who fall away from Him: the renovation and transformation
of those that corrupt that which is natural: the holy foundation of those who are tossed
in unholiness: the steadfastness of those who have stood firm: the way of those whose
course is directed to Him and the hand stretched forth to guide them upwards. And I shall
add He is also the Father of all His creatures (for God, Who brought us into being out of
nothing, is in a stricter sense our Father than are our parents who have derived both
being and begetting from Him ): the shepherd of those who follow and are tended by Him:
the radiance of those who are enlightened: the initiation of the initiated: the
deification of the deified: the peace of those at discord: the simplicity of those who
love simplicity: the unity of those who worship unity: of all beginning the beginning,
super-essential be cause above all beginning: and the good revelation of what is hidden,
that is, of the knowledge of Him so far as that is lawful for and attainable by each.

46 Further and more accurately concerning divine names. The Deity being incomprehensible
is also assuredly nameless. Therefore since we know not His essence, let us not seek for a
name for His essence. For names are explanations of actual things. But God, Who is good
and brought us out of nothing into being that we might share in His goodness, and Who gave
us the faculty of knowledge, not only did not impart to us His essence, but did not even
grant us the knowledge of His essence. For it is impossible for nature to understand fully
the supernatural. Moreover, if knowledge is of things that are how can there be knowledge
of the super-essential? Through His unspeakable goodness, then, it pleased Him to be
called by names that we could understand, that we might not be altogether cut off from the
knowlege of Him but should have some notion of Him, however vague. Inasmuch, then, as He
is incomprehensible, He is also unnameable. But inasmuch as He is the cause of all and
contains in Himself the reasons and causes of all that is, He receives names drawn from
all that is, even from opposites: for example, He is called light and darkness, water and
fire: in order that we may know that these are not of His essence but that He is super-
essential and unnameable: but inasmuch as He is the cause of all, He receives names from
all His effects.

47 Wherefore, of the divine names, some have a negative signification, and indicate that
He is super-essential: such are “non-essential,” “timeless,” “without beginning,”
“invisible”: not that God is inferior to anything or lacking in anything (for all things
are His and have become from Him and through Him and endure in Him ), but that He is pre-
eminently separated from all that is. For He is not one of the things that are, but over
all things. Some again have an affirmative signification, as indicating that He is the
cause of all things. For as the cause of all that is and of all essence, He is called both
Ens and Essence. And as the cause of all reason and wisdom, of the rational and the wise,
He is called both reason and rational, and wisdom and wise. Similarly He is spoken of as
Intellect and Intellectual, Life and Living, Power and Powerful, and so on with all the
rest. Or rather those names are most appropriate to Him which are derived from what is
most precious and most akin to Himself. That which is immaterial is more precious and more
akin to Himself than that which is material, and the pure than the impure, and the holy
than the unholy: for they have greater part in Him. So then, sun and light will be more
apt names for Him than darkness, and day than night, and life than death, and fire and
spirit and water, as having life, than earth, and above all, goodness than wickedness:

48 which is just to say, being more than not being. For goodness is existence and the
cause of existence, but wickedness is the negation of goodness, that is, of existence.
These, then, are the affirmations and the negations, but the sweetest names are a
combination of both: for example, the super-essential essence, the Godhead that is more
than God, the beginning that is above beginning and such like. Further there are some
affirmations about God which have in a pre-eminent degree the force of denial: for
example, darkness: for this does not imply that God is darkness but that He is not light,
but above light. 49 God then is called Mind and Reason and Spirit and Wisdom and Power, as
the cause of these, and as immaterial, and maker of all, and omnipotent. And these names
are common to the whole Godhead, whether affirmative or negative. And they are also used
of each of the subsistences of the Holy Trinity in the very same and identical way and
with their full significance. For when I think of one of the subsistences, I recognise it
to be perfect God and perfect essence: but when I combine and reckon the three together, I
know one perfect God. For the Godhead is not compound but in three perfect subsistences,
one perfect indivisible and uncompound God. And when I think of the relation of the three
subsistences to each other, I perceive that the Father is super-essential Sun, source of
goodness, fathomless sea of essence, reason, wisdom, power, light, divinity: the
generating and productive source of good hidden in it. He Himself then is mind, the depth
of reason, begetter of the Word, and through the Word the Producer of the revealing
Spirit. And to put it shortly, the Father has no reason wisdom, power, will save the Son
Who is the only power of the Father the immediate cause of the creation of the universe:
as perfect subsistence begotten of perfect subsistence in a manner known to Himself, Who
is and is named the Son.

50 And the Holy Spirit is the power of the Father revealing the hidden mysteries of His
Divinity, proceeding from the Father through the Son in a manner known to Himself, but
different from that of generation. Wherefore the Holy Spirit is the perfecter of the
creation of the universe. All the terms, then, that are appropriate to the Father, as
cause, source, begetter, are to be ascribed to the Father alone: while those that are
appropriate to the caused, begotten Son, Word, immediate power, will, wisdom, are to be
ascribed to the Son: and those that are appropriate to the caused, processional,
manifesting, perfecting power, are to be ascribed to the Holy Spirit. The Father is the
source and cause of the Son and the Holy Spirit: Father of the Son alone and producer of
the Holy Spirit. The Son is Son, Word, Wisdom, Power, Image, Effulgence, Impress of the
Father and derived from the Father. But the Holy Spirit is not the Son of the Father but
the Spirit of the Father as proceeding from the Father. For there is no impulse without
Spirit. And we speak also of the Spirit of the Son, not as through proceeding from Him,
but as proceeding through Him from the Father. For the Father alone is cause.

51 Chapter XIII. Concerning the place of God: and that the Deity alone is uncircumscribed.
Bodily place is the limit of that which contains, by which that which is contained is
contained: for example, the air contains but the body is contained. But it is not the
whole of the containing air which is the place of the contained body, but the limit of the
containing air, where it comes into contact with the contained body: and the reason is
clearly because that which contains is not within that which it contains. 52 But there is
also mental place where mind is active, and mental and incorporeal nature exists: where
mind dwells and energises and is contained not in a bodily but in a mental fashion. For it
is without form, and so cannot be contained as a body is. God, then, being immaterial and
uncircumscribed, has not place. For He is His own place, filling all things and being
above all things, and Himself maintaining all things. Yet we speak of God having place and
the place of God where His energy becomes manifest. For He penetrates everything without
mixing with it, and imparts to all His energy in proportion to the fitness and receptive
power of each: and by this I mean, a purity both natural and voluntary. For the immaterial
is purer than the material, and that which is virtuous than that which is linked with
vice. Wherefore by the place of God is meant that which has a greater share in His energy
and grace. For this reason the Heaven is His throne. For in it are the angels who do His
will and are always glorifying Him. For this is His rest and the earth is His footstool.
For in it He dwelt in the flesh among men. And His sacred flesh has been named the foot of
God. The Church, too, is spoken of as the place of God: for we have set this apart for the
glorifying of God as a sort of consecrated place wherein we also hold converse with Him.
Likewise also the places in which His energy becomes manifest to us, whether through the
flesh or apart from flesh, are spoken of as the places of God.

53 But it must be understood that the Deity is indivisible, being everywhere wholly in His
entirety and not divided up part by part like that which has body, but wholly in
everything and wholly above everything. Marg. ms. Concerning the place of angel and
spirit, and concerning the uncircumscribed. The angel, although not contained in place
with figured form as is body, yet is spoken of as being in place because he has a mental
presence and energises in accordance with his nature, and is not elsewhere but has his
mental limitations there where he energises. For it is impossible to energise at the same
time in different places. For to God alone belongs the power of energising everywhere at
the same time. The angel energises in different places by the quickness of his nature and
the promptness and speed by which he can change his place: but the Deity, Who is
everywhere and above all, energises at the same time in diverse ways with one simple
energy.

54 Further the soul is bound up with the body. whole with whole and not part with part:
and it is not contained by the body but contains it as fire does iron, and being in it
energises with its own proper energies. That which is comprehended in place or time or
apprehension is circumscribed: while that which is contained by none of these is
uncircumscribed. Wherefore the Deity alone is uncircumscribed, being without beginning and
without end, and containing all things, and in no wise apprehended. For He alone is
incomprehensible and unbounded, within no one’s knowledge and contemplated by Himself
alone. But the angel is circumscribed alike in time (for His being had commencement) and
in place (but mental space, as we said above) and in apprehension. For they know somehow
the nature of each other and have their bounds perfectly defined by the Creator. Bodies in
short are circumscribed both in beginning and end, and bodily place and apprehension.

55 Marg. ms. From various sources concerning God and the father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. And concerning the Word and the Spirit. The Deity, then, is quite unchangeable and
invariable. For all things which are not in our hands He hath predetermined by His
foreknowledge, each in its own proper and peculiar time and place. And accordingly the
Father judgeth no one, but hath given all judgment to the Son. For clearly the Father and
the Son and also the Holy Spirit judged as God. But the Son Himself will descend in the
body as man, and will sit on the throne of Glory (for descending and sitting require
circumscribed body), and will judge all the world in justice. All things are far apart
from God, not in place but in nature. In our case, thoughtfulness, and wisdom, and counsel
come to pass and go away as states of being. Not so in the case of God: for with Him there
is no happening or ceasing to be: for He is invariable and unchangeable: and it would not
be right to speak of contingency in connection with Him. For goodness is concomitant with
essence. He who longs alway after God, he seeth Him: for God is in all things. Existing
things are dependent on that which is, and nothing can be unless it is in that which is.
God then is mingled with everything, maintaining their nature: and in His holy flesh the
God-Word is made one in subsistence and is mixed with our nature, yet without confusion.No
one seeth the Father, save the Son and the Spirit.

56 The Son is the counsel and wisdom and power of the Father. For one may not speak of
quality in connection with God, from fear of implying that He was a compound of essence
and quality. The Son is from the Father, and derives from Him all His properties: hence He
cannot do ought of Himself. For He has not energy peculiar to Himself and distinct from
the Father. That God Who is invisible by nature is made visible by His energies, we
perceive from the organisation and government of the world. The Son is the Father’s image,
and the Spirit the Son’s, through which Christ dwelling in man makes him after his own
image. The Holy Spirit is God, being between the unbegotten and the begotten, and united
to the Father through the Son. We speak of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the
mind of Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, the very Lord the Spirit of adoption, of truth, of
liberty, of wisdom (for He is the creator of all these): filling all things with essence,
maintaining all things, filling the universe with essence, while yet the universe is not
the measure of His power.

57 God is everlasting and unchangeable essence, creator of all that is, adored with pious
consideration. God is also Father, being ever unbegotten, for He was born of no one, but
hath begotten His co-eternal Son: God is likewise Son, being always with the Father, born
of the Father timelessly, everlastingly, without flux or passion, or separation from Him.
God is also Holy Spirit, being sanctifying power, subsistential, proceeding from the
Father without separation, and resting in the Son, identical in essence with Father and
Son. Word is that which is ever essentially present with the Father. Again, word is also
the natural movement of the mind, according to which it is moved and thinks and considers,
being as it were its own light and radiance. Again, word is the thought that is spoken
only within the heart. And again, word is the utterance that is the messenger of thought.
God therefore is Word essential and enhypostatic: and the other three kinds of word are
faculties of the soul, and are not contemplated as having a proper subsistence of their
own. The first of these is the natural offspring of the mind, ever welling up naturally
out of it: the second is the thought: and the third is the utterance.

58 The Spirit has various meanings. There is the Holy Spirit: but the powers of the Holy
Spirit are also spoken of as spirits: the good messenger is also spirit: the demon also is
spirit: the soul too is spirit: and sometimes mind also is spoken of as spirit. Finally
the wind is spirit and the air is spirit. Chapter XIV. The properties of the divine
nature. Uncreate, without beginning, immortal, infinite, eternal, immaterial good,
creative, just, enlightening, immutable, passionless, uncircumscribed, immeasurable,
unlimited, undefined, unseen, unthinkable, wanting in nothing, being His own rule and
authority, all-ruling, life-giving, omnipotent, of infinite power, con-raining and
maintaining the universe and making provision for all: all these and such like attributes
the Deity possesses by nature, not having received them from elsewhere, but Himself
imparting all good to His own creations according to the capacity of each. The
subsistences dwell and are established firmly in one another. For they are inseparable and
cannot part from one another, but keep to their separate courses within one another,
without coalescing or mingling, but cleaving to each other. For the Son is in the Father
and the Spirit: and the Spirit in the Father and the Son: and the Father in the Son and
the Spirit, but there is no coalescence or commingling or confusion And there is one and
the same motion: for there is one impulse and one motion of the three subsistences, which
is not to be observed in any created nature.

59 Further the divine effulgence and energy, being one anti simple and indivisible,
assuming many varied forms in its goodness among what is divisible and allotting to each
the component parts of its own nature, still remains simple and is multiplied without
division among the divided, and gathers and converts the divided into its own simplicity.
For all things long after it and have their existence in it. It gives also to all things
being according to their several natures and it is itself the being of existing things,
the life of living things, the reason of rational beings, the thought of thinking beings.
But it is itself above mind and reason and life and essence. Further the divine nature has
the property of penetrating all things without mixing with them and of being itself
impenetrable by anything else. Moreover, there is the property of knowing all things with
a simple knowledge and of seeing all things, simply with His divine, all-surveying,
immaterial eye, both the things of the present, and the things of the past, and the things
of the future, before they come into being. It is also sinless, and can cast sin out, and
bring salvation: and all that it wills, it can accomplish, but does not will all it could
accomplish. For it could destroy the universe but it does not will so to do.

60 1St. John I. 18 (R.V.). 2St. Matt. xi. 27. 31 Cor.ii. 11 4Wisd. xiii. 5. 5Greg. Nas.,
Orat. 34 6Dionys., De div. nom., c.1. 7Greg, Nas., Orat. 34. 8Reading o}per de oujk
ejdunavmeqa for o}per de; oujn ejdunavmeqa. Cod. Reg. 3379 gives kai; o} orj dunavmeqa.
9Prov. xxii. 28. 1tav te th`" qeologiva", tav te th`" oijkonomiva". 1Dionys., De div. nom.
c. I; Greg. Naz., Orat. 34 and 37. 1ou;siva, substance, being. 1uJpostavsesi, hypostases,
persons. 1mia` de; sunqevtw nJpostavsei. 1ou;siva, substance, being. 1Dionys., De div.
nom., c. 2. 1Ibid. c. I. 1Supr. c. 1; cf. Greg. Naz., Orat. 34. 1Ps. xiv. I (E.V.). 2The
readings vary between ajgnwsiva" and ajgnoiva". 2Greg. Naz., Orat. 34. 2Reading
proaivresin; a variant is trophvn. 2Athan., Cont. Gent. 2Various reading, Who. 2Greg.
Naz., Orat. 34. 2The Greek is tw aujtomavtw to the automatic; prehaps=to the accidental,
or, to chance. 2Or, Whose was the disposing of them in order?

61 2Or, Whose are the preserving of them, and the keeping of them in accordance with the
principles under which they were first placed? 2para to; aujtovmaton; or, quite other than
the spontaneous, or, than chance. 3Athan., De Incarn. Verbi, near the beginning. Greg.
Naz., Orat. 34. 3Various reading, It is evident that the divine (to; Qei`on) is
incorporeal. 3Text a`trepton. Most mss. read septovn. So, too, Greg. Naz., Orat. 34, from
which these words are taken. An old interpretation is ‘venerabile ese._0’’ But in the
opinion of Combetis, Gregory’s text is corrupt, and a[trepton should be read, which
reading is also supported by various authorities, including three Cod. Reg.: cf. also De
Trinit. in Cyril. 3suvqesi". 3Greg. Naz., Orat. 32, 34. 3Text, swqhvsetai: various
reading, sunqhvsetai. 3Jer. xxiii. 24. 3Greg. Naz. ut supr. 3The reference is to the
Pythagorean and Aristolian ideas of the heavens as being like the body of Deity, something
uncorrupt, different from the four elements, and therefore called a fifth body, or element
(stoicei`on). In his Meteor. i. 3, De Caelo i. 3, &c., Aristotle speaks of the Ether as
extending from the heaven of the fixed stars down to the moon, as of a nature specially
adapted for circular motion, as the first element in rank, but as the fifth, “if we
enumerate beginning with the elements directly known by the senses....the subsequently so-
called tteutttov otolxelov, quinta essentia.” The other elements, he taught, had the
upward motion, or the downward: the earth having the attribute of heaviness, and its
natural place in the world being the lowest; fire being the light element, and “its place
the sphere next adjoining the sphere of the ether” See Ueberweg’s History of Philosophy,
Vol. I. p. 167, Morris’s translation. and the chapter on the De Coelo in Grote’s
Aristotle, Vol II. pp. 389, &c.

62 3Gref. Naz. ut supr. 4Or, such as are said to exist in the case of God, or in relation
to God. The Greek is, o}sa perij Qeou`, h` peri; Qeo`n ei\nai levgetai. 4Greg. Naz. ut
supr. 4Greg. Naz., Orat. 32, 34. The Greek is, oijkeiovteron de; ma`llon ejk th`"
aJpavntwn ajfairevsew" poiei`sqai to;n lovgon.It may be given thus:-It is more in
accordance with the nature of the cae rather to discourse of Him in the way of abstracting
from him all that belongs to us. 4Dionys., De Myst. Theolog. 4Or, above being; uJpe;r
oujsivan. 4Or, above being; uJpe;r oujsivan. 4Or, but only the things which relate to His
nature. The Greek is, o}sa de; levgomen ejpi; Qeou` katafantikw`", o[ th;n fuvsin, ajlla;
ta; peri; th;n fuvsin dhloi`. 4Or, the things that relate to his nature. 4Various reading,
but that He is one. 4Exod. xx. 2,3. 5Deut. vi. 4. 63 5Isai. xliii.10. 5St. John xvii. 3.
5See Thomas Aquin. I. quaest. II, Art. 4; also cf. Book iv., c. 21 beneath. The question
of the unity of the Deity is similarly dealt with by those of the Fathers who wrote
against the Marcionites and the Manichaeans, and by Athenagoras. 5Or, infinite;
ajperivgrapton. 5Infr. lib. iv. c.21. 5Greg. Nyss., Prol. Catech. 5Greg. Naz., Orat. 35.
5Cf. Dionys., De div. nom., c. 5, 13. 5a{logon; without Word, or, without Reason. 6Greg.
Nyss., Catech., c. I. 6In R. 2427 is added, ‘who is the Son._0’ 6dihvrhtai, i.e.
distinguished from the Father. Objection is taken to the use of such a verb as suggestive
f division. It is often employed, however, by Greg. Naz. (e.g. Orat. 34) to express the
distinction of persons. In many passages of Gregory and other Fathers the noun diaivresi"
is used to express the distinction of persons. In many passages of Gregory and other
Fathers the noun oiaipeois is used to express the distinction f one thing from another:
and in this sense it is opposed both to the Sabellian congusion and the Arian division.

64 6Reading uJpovstasin. Varios reading, u{parxin, existence. 6The Greek theologians,
founding on the primary sense of the Greek term Pneu`ma, and on certain passages of
Scripture in which the word seemed to retain that sense more or less (especially Psalm
xxxiii. 6. in the Vulgate rendering, verbo Dei coeli formati sunt: et spiritu oris ejus
omnis virtus eorum), spoke of the Holy Ghost as proceeding from the Father like the breath
of His mouth in the utterance or emission of His Word. See ch. 15 of this Book, where we
have the sentence, oujdemiva ga;r oJrmh; a[neu pneuvmato". Compare also such passages as
these—Greg. Naz., Orat. i. 3: Cyril. Alex., Thes., assert. 34, De Trin. dial. 2, p 425,
and 7, pp. 634, 640; Basil, Contra Eunom., B.V. and DeSpiritu Sancto, ch.18; Greg.
Scholar., Contra Latin., de process. Spiritus Sancti, i. 4. where we have the statement
ou{tw kai; to; a[gion Pneu`ma w}sper oJrmh; kai kivnhsi", ejndotevra th`" uJperfuou`"
ejkeinh" oujsiva", so the Holy Spirit is like an impulse and movement within that
supernatural essence.

65 6Or, substance; oujsiva. 6Text faneru`sa: various reading, fevrousa (cf. Cyril, De
Trinitate.) 6Greg. Nyss., Catech., c.2. 6Text, ajkouvsante": variant, ajkouvonte" (so in
Cyril) 6So Cyril speaks frequently of the Holy spirit is proceeding from the Father and
being (einai) and abiding (mevnein) in the Son; as also of the Spirit as being of the Son
and having His nature in Him (ejx aujtou` kai; ejmpefukw;"). The idea seems to have been
that as the Son is in the bosom of the Father so the Spirit is in the bosom of the Son.
The spirit was compared again to the energy, the natural, living energy, of the Son
(ejnevrgeia fusikh; kai; zwsa, to; ejnerge;" tou` ijo`), Cyril, Dial 7 ad Hermiam. such
terms as proboleu;" ejkfantorikou` pneuvmato", the Producer, or, Emitter of the revealing
Spirit, and the e{kfansi" or e[llamyi", the revealing, the forth-shewing, were also used
to express the procession ot the one eternal Person from the Other as like the emission or
forth-shewing, were also used to express the procession of the one eternal Person from the
Other as like the emission or forth-shewing or light from light.

66 7Greg. Naz., Orat. 37, 44. 7Text, pro;" pa`san provqesin: variant qevlhsin in almost
all the codices. 7ai[resi". 7Greg. Orat. 38, and elsewhere. 7Greg. Nyss., Catech., c.3.
7Ps. cxix. 89. 7Ib. cvii. 30. 7Text, diamevnei: variant, mevnei 7Ps. civ.30. 7Ib. xxxiii
6. 8Job xxxiii. 4. 8Basil, De Spir. Sancto, ad Amphil. c. 18. 8Or, principle, ajrchvn.
8Cf. Ps. cxxxv. 6. 8Or, penetrating, ejpibateuvousan. 8ajcravntw". 8ujperouvsion.
8uJperqeon, uJperavgaqov, uJperplhvrh. 8Greg. Naz., Orat. 13, n. 32. 8An argument much
used against the Arians, the Macedonians, and the Sabellians. See e.g. Athan, ad Serap.
Epist. I and 2; Basilm Conta Eunom., bk. iii., and De spiritu sancto, ch. 10, 12; Greg.
Naz., Orat. 34 9St. Matt. xviii. 19. 9Or, principle, ajrchvn. 9proboleva. The term
probolhv, rendered prolatio by Tertullian and Hilary, was rejected as unsuitable to the
idea of the Divine procession, e.g. by Athanasius, who in his Expos. Fidei denies that the
Word is aJpovrjrJoia, efflux, or tmh`si", segmen, or probolhv, emissio or prolatio, and by
Jerome, Adv. Ruf., Apol. 2, his reason being that the word had been used by Gnostics in
speaking of the emanations of Aeons, Greg. Naz., however, Orat. 13, 35, speaks of the
Father as gennhvtwr and proboleuv", and of the Spirit as provblhma.

67 9Greg. Naz., Orat. 36. 9Ibid. 9I Cor. i. 24. 9The Word enhypostatic, oJ Lovgo"
ejnupovstato". 9Heb. i. 3. 9the Arians admitted that the Son is in the Father, in the
sense in which all created things are in God. Basil (De Spiritu Sancto, ch. 25, Orat. in
Princip. evang. Joan.) takes the preposition suvn, in, to express the idea of the
suvnafeia, or conjuction of the two. The Scholiast on the present passages calls attention
to the two prepositions with and in as denoting the Son’s eternal existance and His union
with the Father, as the shining is with the light, and comes from it without separation.
Basil, De Spir. Sancto, ch. 26, holds it better to say that the Spirit is one with
(sunei`nai) the Father and the Son than that He is in (ejnei`nai) the Father and the Son.
9Greg. Naz., Orat. 35. 1Cyril, Thesaurus, assert. 4 and 5.

68 1Ibid., assert. 6. 1Ibid., assert. 4. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 29. 1Text, ajnovmoion
pantelw`", varint, ajnovmoion pantelw`" kat oujsivan, cf. also Cyrill. 1Greg. Naz., Orat.
29 and 35. 1On this distinction between generation and creation, compare Athan., Contra
Arianos, Or. 2, 3; Basil, Contra Eunom., bk. iv; Cyril, Thes., assert. 3. &c. 1Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 29. 1Cyril, Thes., assert. 7 and 18. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 29. 1Cyril, Thes., assert.
5, 6, and 16; Greg., Orat. 35. 1ajrreuvstw" genna` kai; ekto;" sunduasmou`. This argument
is repeatedly made in refutation both of Gnostic ideas of emanation and Arian
misrepresentation of the orthodox doctrine. Cf. Athan., De Synodis; Epiph., Haeres. 69.;
Hilary, De Trin. iii. iv.; Greg. Naz., Orat. 45. 1Infra, Book ii. c.3. 1Greg. Naz., Orat.
45. 1Text, mhd o{lw". Variant in many codices is mhdamw`", as in the previous sentence.
1Greg. Naz., Orat. bk. i., Cont. Eun., p. 66; Cyril, Thes., assert. 5.

69 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 36. 1ejnupovstaton; enhypostatic. See Suicer, Thesaurus, sub voce.
1Greg. Naz., Orat. 23, 37, and 39. 1Cf. ibid. 23, 36. 1Athan, Contra Arian., Orat. 2;
Basil, Contra Eunom. iv.; Greg. Naz., Orat. 35. 1ajxiwvmati. 1Basil, bk. ii. and iv.
1Greg. Naz., Orat. 36 and 37. 1Man. Dialog. contr. Arian. 1Cyril, Thes., assert. i, p. 12.
1Greg. Naz., Orat. 35. 1St. John xv. 26. 1Cf. Basil, Contra Eunom, v.; Athan., Contra
Arian., ii.; Cyril, Thes., assert. 32; Epiphan., Haeres. 73, &c. 1Ephes. iii. 14 and 15:
Cyril. Thes., assert. 32: Dionys., De divin. nom., c. I. 70 1In the first Book of his
Contra Arianos Athanasius refers to Christ’s word in St. John xiv. 28. He remarks that He
does not say “the Father is better (kreivsswn) than I,”" lest it should be inferred that
the Son is not eaual to the Father in Dieine nature, but of another nature; but “the
Father is greater (meivzwn) than I,” that is to say, not in dignity or age, but as being
begotten of the Father. And further, that by the word “greater” He indicates the peculiar
property of the substance (ph`" oujsiva" th;n ijdiovthta). This declaration of our Lord’s
was understood in the same way by Basil, Gregory Nazianzenus, Cyril and others of the
Greek Fathers, and by Hilary among the Larin Fathers. In the ixth and xth Books of his De
Trinitate Hilary refers to this, and says that the Father is called ‘greater_0’ propter
auctoritatem, meaning by auctoritas not power, but what the Greeks understand by
aijtiovth", causation, principle or authorship of being. So also Soebadius says that the
Father is rightly called ‘greater,_0’ because He alone is without an author cf His being.
But Latin theologians usually spoke of the Father as ‘greater,_0’ not because He is
Father, but because the Son was made Man. To this effect also Athanasius expresses himself
in his De Hum. carne suscepta, while Gregory Nazianzenus speaks otherwise in his Orat. 36.

71 1St. John xiv. 28. 1tou;" aijw`na"; Heb i. 3. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 37; Athan., Contr.
Arian., bk. i. 1faivnein, shines. 1See Cyril, Ad Herm., dial. 2; Irenaeus. iv. 14, v. 6,
and John of Damascus, himself in his Dial. Contr. Manich. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 13, 31 and
37. 1St. John v. 19. 1tevleia ujpovstasi"; a perfect hyposlasis. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 37.
1hJgehonikovn. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 49. 1qeou`n ouj qeouvmenon. 1Text ouj ga;r e[k tunos@@@
ejx eJautou` ga;r to` ei\nai e[cei, oujdev ti tw`n o{saper e[cei ejx eJtevrou e[cei@@@
Another reading is, ouj ga;r e[k tino" to; einai e[cei, oujde; ti tw`n osa e[cei, i.e. or
He does not derive His being nor any one of His qualities from any one. 1See Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 29, 35; Thomas Aquin., I. Quaest. 35, art I. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 25. 1See Athan.,
Contra Arian., Orat. 3; Greg. Naz., Orat. 35. So Augustine (Contr. max. iii. 14, De Trin.
xv.). Epiphanius (Anchor.), and Gregory of Nyssa (Epist. ad Ablab.) teach that the Spirit
proceeds, and is not begotten, because He is both of the Father and the Son, while the Son
is only of the Father.

72 1Reading, dia; to ei\nai to;n Patevra a variant is, dia; to; ei\nai aujto;v Pate;ra, as
also in Cyrilli, De Trinitate. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 23. 1Ibid., Orat., 25. 1uJpovstasei";
hypostases. 1See Athan., Contra Arian., Orat. 5. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 13 and 29: Athan.,
Orat. Contr. Arian. 1The Greek is o{qen oujde; levgomen to; ei\do" ejx uJpostavsewn,
ajll@@@ ejn uJpostavsesin. See Basil., Orat. Contr. Sabell., Ar. et Eunom. 1See Greg.
Naz., Orat. I and 37. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 29, 34 and 40. 1Greg. Naz., Otat. 37. 1Ibid. 32.
1ph;n th`" gnwvmh" suvhpnoian; co-operation of judgment, or, disposition. 1Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 40. The Greek is singular and difficult: to; e[n e[xalma th`" kinhvsew"; the one
forthleaping of the motion, or movement. Origen speaks of hJ ajp@@@ auJtou` kivnhsi" (I.
436 A.). In Athanasius (I. 253 C.) kivnhsi" has the metaphorical sense of indignation.
1Greg. Naz., Orat. 37: Greg. Nyss., Epist. ad Ablab. et Orat. 32.

73 1Basil., Epist. 43. 1St. John xiv. II. 1eij" e}n ai[tion. so elsewhere it is put,
w{sper miva ajrchv, kata; tou`to ei| " Qeov". The three Persons or Subsistences are yet
One God, because of the one Principle of Being whence Son and spirit derive. So the Father
is said to be the e{nwsi" ejx ou| kai; pro;" o}n a[nagetai ta; eJxh`". 74 1The Greek runs
thus: —kai; th;n ejn ajllhvlai" pericwvrhsin e[cousi divca pavsh" sunaloifh`" kai;
sumfuvrsew". The term pericwrhsi", circumincessio, immanentia, was meant to express the
peculiarity of the relations of the Three Divine Persons or Subsistences—their Indwelling
in each other, the fact that; while they are distinct they yet are in one another, the
Coinherence which implies their equal and identical Godhead. “In the Trinity,” says Bishop
Bull (Defence of the Nicene Creed, bk. iv. ch. iv., secs. 13, 14), “the circumincession is
most proper and perfect, forasmuch as the Persons mutually contain Each Other, and all the
three have an immeasureable whereabouts (immensum ubi, as the Schoolmen express it), so
that wherever one Person is there the other two exist; in otherwords They are all
everywhere...This outcome of the circumincession of the Persons in the Trinity is so far
from introducing Sabellianism, that it is of great use, as Petavius has also observed, for
confuting that heresy. For, in order to that mutual existence (in each other) which is
descerned in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, it is absolutely necessary that
there should be different in reality, and not in mode of conception only; for that which
is simply one is not said to exist in itself, or to interpenetrate itsef... Lastly, this
is to be especially considered—tht this circumincession of the Divine Persons is indeed a
very great mystery, which we ought rather religiously to adore than curiously to pry into.
No similitude can be devised which shall be in every respect apt to illustrate it; no
language avails worthily to set it forth, seeing that it is an union which far transcends
all ohter unions.”

75 1Greg., Orat. 29; Dionys., De div. nom., c. 2. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 37. 1Greg. Naz.,
Orat. 19 and 29. 1Text, ai[tiom: variant, ajnaivtion, causeless. 1Maxim. Epist. ad Marin.
1ejk tou` UiJou de; to; Pneu`ma ouj levgomen. See also ch. xii., kai; UiJou` Pneu`ma oujc
wJ" ejx aujtou`, and at the close of the Epist. ad Jordan, Pneu`ma UiJou` mh ejx UiJou`.
1Rom. viii. 9. 1St. John xx. 29. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 37. 1The Greek runs:—h] scevsin tina;
pro;" ti; twn ajntidiastellomevnwn, h{ ti; tw`n parepomenwn th/ fu;sei, h] ejnevrgeian.
1Rendered in the Septuagint Version, JEgwv eijmi oJ w[n.Some of the Fathers made much of
the fact that it is not the neuter form to; o[n. 1Exod. iii. 14. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 36.
1Dionys., De div. nom. c. 2, 3 and 4. this sentence and the next are absent in some mss.,
and are rather more obscurely stated than usual with John of Damascus.

76 1In his Cratylus Plato gives this etymology, and Eusebius quotes it in his Prep.
Evangel. i. Clement of Alexandria refers to it more than once in his Strom., bk. iv., and
in his Protrept., where he says—Sidera qevou" ejk tou’ qevein, deos a currendo nominarunt.
1Deut. iv. 24 12 Mach. x. 5. 1kata; th;n qelhtikh;n aujtou` a[cronon e[nnoian. See Thomas
Aquin., I., II. Quaest. 17, Art. I, where he says, est actus rationis, praesupposito tamen
actu voluntatis. 1This sentence is absent in some mss., being added at the end of the
chapter with the mark scovl. 1Dionys., De div. nom., c. 5. 1parevpontai th` fuvsei; follow
the nature, are consequenta of the nature, or accompany it. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 45; cf.
also Epist. ad. Evagr., and Greg. Nyss., Epist. ad Ablab.; Dionys., De div. nom., c.2;
Basil, Epist. 43 ad Greg. fratr. 1Dionys., De div. nom., c. 2; Greg. Naz., Orat. 37 and
45; Nyss. Epist. ad. Ablab.

77 1oj de; aJlhqh;" lovgo". 1Text, a[nqrwpo", which is absent in some codices and in
Dionys., De div. nom., from which these words are taken. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 24:Dionys., De
div. nom., c.2. 1Dionys., De div. nom., c. I.;De Cael. Hier., c. 15. 1Greg. Naz., Orat.
37. 1Text, pavnta to;n a[nqrwpon: variant, a[panta. 1Dionys., De div. nom., c. I. 1Athan.,
Orat. 2, Cont. Arian.; Cyril, Thes., assert. 13. 1Text reads, wJ" ujpavrcio": surely a
misprint for wJ" uJperavrci". 1This chapter is not found in the oldest copies, but only in
a few of the latest date. In Cod. Reg. 3109 it comes in after bk. iv. c. 9, and in Cod.
Reg. 3451, after bk. ii. c. 2. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 36. 1Dioyns., De div. nom., c. I 2Text,
eij de; kai; tw`n o[ntwn aij gnwsei", to; {perouvsion pw`" gnwqhvsetai; a variant, eij de;
aiJ fuvsei: a[gnwstoi, aujto; uJperouvsion pw`" gnwqhsetai. If the natures are unknown how
can the superessential itself be known?

78 2Or, super-substantial, uJperouvsio". 2aJnouvsio", non-substantial, without substance.
2Coloss. i. 17. 2Dionys., De div. nom., c. 5. 2Text, ajparaleivprw": variant,
ajparallavktw", unchangeably, an adverb used by the Greeks in connection with the equality
of the divine persons. 2proboleuv", Lat. productor, Emitter. 2Or, Word: lovgo". 2qevkhsi",
cf. Cyril, Th., assert. 7; Athan., Contr. Arian. 4; Greg. Nyss., Contr. Eunom., p. 345.
2hJ monh; duvnami" tou Patro;", h prokatartikh; th`" tw`n pavntwn poihvsew". The hJ
prokatartikhv is understood by some to mean the primordial or immediate Cause, by others
to be better rendered as the primordial Power or Energy. Basil in his De Spiritu Sancto
speaks of the Father as the primordial Cause (prokatartikh; aijtiva) in the creation of
the world. 2Arist., Physic, bk. iv. 4. 2Text, oi|on oJ ajh;r perievxei, to` de` sw`ma
perievcetai@@@ oujc o[lo" de oJ perievcwn aJhvr, &c. Variant, oi|on oJ ajh;r perievcei
tovde sw`ma, oujc o[lo", &c. 79 2a[?lo" w[n. Greg. Naz., Orat. 34, Greg. Nyss., De anim.
et resurr., &c. speak of God as nowhere and as everythere. 2Greg. Naz., Orat. 34. 2Isai.
vi. I, seq. 2Isai. lxvi. i. 2Baruch iii. 38 2Greg. Naz., Orat. 44. 2St. John v.22. 2St.
John vi. 46. 2Ibid. v. 30. 2Greg., Orat. 36. 2Wisd. xii. 5. 2Basil, Cont. Eun., bk. v.
2mevson tou` ajgennhv tou kai; tou` gennhtoy`, kai di@@@ Uijou` tw` Patri; sunptovhenon.
2aujtokuvrio". 2proforikov" is absent in mss. but added by a second hand in one codex.
2oujsiwvdh" tev ejsti kai;ejnupovstato". Against the Sabellian doctrine, the views of Paul
of Samosata., &c. 2phgazovmenon. 2Text, to; a[u>lon: in one codex there is added as
emendation or explanation, to; ajplou"v, to; ajsuvnqeton. 2Greg. Naz., Orat. I, 13 and 40.
2Dioyns., De div. nom., c. 5. 2Text, kaqw;" e[cei fuvsew": in the margin of the manuscript
is wJ" e[cousi. 2Dan. ii. 22.


AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH
=========================================

AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH continued

CHAPTER I.

1 Concerning aeon or age. He created the ages Who Himself was. before the ages, Whom the
divine David thus addresses, From age to age Thou art. The divine apostle also says,
Through Whom He created the ages. It must then be understood that the word age has various
meanings, for it denotes many things. The life of each man is called an age. Again, a
period of a thousand years is called an age. Again, the whole course of the present life
is called an age: also the future life, the immortal life after the resurrection is spoken
of as an age. Again, the word age is used to denote, not time nor yet a part of time as
measured by the movement and course of the sun, that is to say, composed of days and
nights, but the sort of temporal motion and interval that is co-extensive with eternity.
For age is to things eternal just what time is to things temporal.

2 Seven ages of this world are spoken of, that is, from the creation of the heaven and
earth till the general consummation and resurrection of men. For there is a partial
consummation, viz., the death of each man: but there is also a general and complete
consummation, when the general resurrection of men will come to pass. And the eighth age
is the age to come. Before the world was formed, when there was as yet no sun dividing day
from night, there was not an age such as could be measured but there was the sort of
temporal motion and interval that is co-extensive with eternity. And in this sense there
is but one age, and God is spoken of as ai0w/nioj and proaiw/nioj, for the age or aeon
itself is His creation. For God, Who alone is without beginning, is Himself the Creator of
all things, whether age or any other existing thing. And when I say God, it is evident
that I mean the Father and His Only. begotten Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, and His all-
holy Spirit, our one God.

3 But we speak also of ages of ages, inasmuch as the seven ages of the present world
include many ages in the sense of lives of men, and the one age embraces all the ages, and
the present and the future are spoken of as age of age. Further, everlasting (i.e.
ai0w/nioj) life and everlasting punishment prove that the age or neon to come is unending.
For time will not be counted by days and nights even after the resurrection, but there
will rather be one day with no evening, wherein the Sun of Justice will shine brightly on
the just, but for the sinful there will be night profound and limitless. In what way then
will the period of one thousand years be counted which, according to Origen is required
for the complete restoration? Of all the ages, therefore, the sole creator is God Who hath
also created the universe and Who was before the ages.

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the creation. Since, then, God, Who is good and more than good, did not find
satisfaction in self-contemplation, but in fits exceeding goodness wished certain things
to come into existence which would enjoy His benefits and share in His goodness, He
brought all things out of nothing into being and created them, both what is invisible and
what is visible. Yea, even man, who is a compound of the visible and the invisible. And it
is by thought that He creates, and thought is the basis of the work, the Word filling it
and the Spirit perfecting it.

CHAPTER III

1 Concerning angels. He is Himself the Maker and Creator of the angels: for He brought
them out of nothing into being and created them after His own image, an incorporeal race,
a sort of spirit or immaterial fire: in the words of the divine David, He maketh His
angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire: and He has described their lightness
and the ardour, and heat, and keenness and sharpness with which they hunger for God and
serve Him, and how they are borne to the regions above and are quite delivered from all
material thought. An angel, then, is an intelligent essence, in perpetual motion, with
free-will, incorporeal, ministering to God, having obtained by grace an immortal nature:
and the Creator alone knows the form and limitation of its essence. But all that we can
understand is, that it is incorporeal and immaterial. For all that is compared with God
Who alone is incomparable, we find to be dense and material. For in reality only the Deity
is immaterial and incorporeal.

2 The angel's nature then is rational, and intelligent, and endowed with free-will,
change. able in will, or fickle. For all that is created is changeable, and only that
which is un-created is unchangeable. Also all that is rational is endowed with free-will.
As it is, then, rational and intelligent, it is endowed with free-will: and as it is
created, it is changeable, having power either to abide or progress in goodness, or to
turn towards evil. It is not susceptible of repentance because it is incorporeal. For it
is owing to the weakness of his body that man comes to have repentance. It is immortal,
not by nature but by grace. For all that has had beginning comes also to its natural end.
But God alone is eternal, or rather, He is above the Eternal: for He, the Creator of
times, is not under the dominion of time, but above time.

3 They are secondary intelligent lights derived from that first light which is without
beginning, for they have the power of illumination; they have no need of tongue or
hearing, but without uttering words they communicate to each other their own thoughts and
counsels. Through the Word, therefore, all the angels were created, and through the
sanctification by the Holy Spirit were they brought to perfection, sharing each in
proportion to his worth and rank in brightness and grace. They are circumscribed: for when
they are in the Heaven they are not on the earth: and when they are sent by God down to
the earth they do not remain in the Heaven. They are not hemmed in by walls and doors, and
bars and seals, for they are quite unlimited. Unlimited, I repeat, for it is not as they
really are that they reveal themselves to the worthy men to whom God wishes them to
appear, but in a changed form which the beholders are capable of seeing. For that alone is
naturally and strictly unlimited which is un-created. For every created tiring is limited
by God Who created it.

4 Further, apart from their essence they receive the sanctification from the Spirit:
through the divine grace they prophesy: they have no need of marriage for they are
immortal. Seeing that they are minds they are in mental places and are not circumscribed
after the fashion of a body. For they have not a bodily form by nature, nor are they
tended in three dimensions. But to whatever post they may be assigned, there they are
present after the manner of a mind and energise, and cannot be present and energise in
various places at the same time. Whether they are equals in essence or differ from one
another we know not. God, their Creator, Who knoweth all things, alone knoweth. But they
differ from each other in brightness and position, whether it is that their position is
dependent on their brightness, or their brightness on their position: and they impart
brightness to one another, because they excel one another in rank and nature. And clearly
the higher share their brightness and knowledge with the lower.

5 They are mighty and prompt to fulfil the will of the Deity, and their nature is endowed
with such celerity that wherever the Divine glance bids them there they are straightway
found. They are the guardians of the divisions of the earth: they are set over nations and
regions, allotted to them by their Creator: they govern all our affairs and bring us
succour. And the reason surely is because they are set over us by the divine will and
command and are ever in the vicinity of God. With difficulty they are moved to evil, yet
they are not absolutely immoveable: but now they are altogether immoveable, not by nature
but by grace and by their nearness to the Only Good. They behold God according to their
capacity, and this is their food. They are above us for they are incorporeal, and are free
of all bodily passion, yet are not passionless: for the Deity alone is passionless.

6 They take different forms at the bidding of their Master, God, and thus reveal
themselves to men and unveil the divine mysteries to them. They have Heaven for their
dwelling-place, and have one duty, to sing God's praise and carry out His divine will.
Moreover, as that most holy, and sacred, and gifted theologian, Dionysius the Areopagite
says, All theology, that is to say, the holy Scripture, has nine different names for the
heavenly essences. These essences that divine master in sacred things divides into three
groups, each containing three. And the first group, he says, consists of those who are in
God's presence and are said to be directly and immediately one with Him, viz., the
Seraphim with their six wings, the many-eyed Cherubim and those that sit in the holiest
thrones. The second group is that of the Dominions, and the Powers, and the Authorities;
and the third, and last, is that of the Rulers and Archangels and Angels

7 Some, indeed like Gregory the Theologian, say that these were before the creation of
other things. He thinks that the angelic and heavenly powers were first and that thought
was their function. Others, again, hold that they were created after the first heaven was
made. But all are agreed that it was before the foundation of man. For myself, I am in
harmony with the theologian. For it was fitting that the mental essence should be the
first created, and then that which can be perceived, and finally man himself, in whose
being both parts are united. But those who say that the angels are creators of any kind of
essence whatever are the mouth of their father, the devil. For since they are created
things they are not creators. But He Who creates and provides for and maintains all things
is God, Who alone is uncreate and is praised and glorified in the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER IV.

1 Concerning the devil and demons. He who from among these angelic powers was set over the
earthly realm, and into whose hands God committed the guardianship of the earth, was not
made wicked in nature but was good, and made for good ends, and received from his Creator
no trace whatever of evil in himself. But he did not sustain the brightness and the honour
which the Creator had bestowed on him, and of his free choice was changed from what was in
harmony to what was at variance with his nature, and became roused against God Who created
him, and determined to rise in rebellion against Him: and he was the first to depart from
good and become evil. For evil is nothing else than absence of goodness, just as darkness
also is absence of light. For goodness is the light of the mind, and, similarly, evil is
the darkness of the mind. Light, therefore, being the work of the Creator and being made
good (for God saw all that He made, and behold they were exceeding good ) produced
darkness at His free-will. But along with him an innumerable host of angels subject to him
were torn away and followed him and shared in his fall. Wherefore, being of the same
nature as the angels, they became wicked, turning away at their own free choice from good
to evil

2 Hence they have no power or strength against any one except what God in His dispensation
hath conceded to them, as for instance, against Job and those swine that are mentioned in
the Gospels. But when God has made the concession they do prevail, and are changed and
transformed into any form whatever in which they wish to appear. Of the future both the
angels of God and the demons are alike ignorant: yet they make predictions. God reveals
the future to the angels and commands them to prophesy, and so what they say comes to
pass. But the demons also make predictions, sometimes because they see what is happening
at a distance, and sometimes merely making guesses: hence much that they say is false and
they should not be believed, even although they do often, in the way we have said, tell
what is true. Besides they know the Scriptures.

3 All wickedness, then, and all impure passions are the work of their mind. But while the
liberty to attack man has been granted to them, they have not the strength to over master
any one: for we have it in our power to receive or not to receive the attack. Wherefore
there has been prepared for the devil and his demons, and those who follow him, fire
unquenchable and everlasting punishment. Note, further, that what in the case of man is
death is a fall in the case of angels. For after the fall there is no possibility of
repentance for them, just as after death there is for men no repentance.

CHAPTER V.

Concerning the visible creation. Our God Himself, Whom we glorify as Three in One, created
the heaven and the earth and all that they contain and brought all things out of nothing
into being: some He made out of no pre-existing basis of matter, such as heaven, earth,
air, fire, water: and the rest out of these elements that He had created, such as living
creatures, plants, seeds. For these are made up of earth, and water, and air, and fire, at
the bidding of the Creator.

CHAPTER VI.

1 Concerning the Heaven. The heaven is the circumference of things created, both visible
and invisible. For within its boundary are included and marked off both the mental
faculties of the angels and all the world of sense. But the Deity alone is
uncircumscribed, filling all things, and surrounding all things, and hounding all things,
for He is above all things, and has created all things. Since therefore, the Scripture
speaks of heaven, and heaven of heaven and heavens of heavens and the blessed Paul says
that he was snatched away to the third heaven we say that in the cosmogony of the universe
we accept the creation of a heaven which the foreign philosophers, appropriating the views
of Moses, call a starless sphere. But further, God called the firmament also heaven which
He commanded to be in the midst of the waters, setting it to divide the waters that are
above the firmament from the waters that are below the firmament. And its nature,
according to the divine Basilius who is versed in the mysteries of divine Scripture, is
delicate as smoke. Others, however, hold that it is watery in nature, since it is set in
the midst of the waters: others say it is composed of the four elements: and lastly,
others speak of it as a filth body, distinct from the four elements.

2 Further, some have thought that the heaven encircles the universe and has the form of a
sphere, and that everywhere it is the highest point, and that the centre of the space
enclosed by it is the lowest part: and, further, that those bodies that are light and airy
are allotted by the Creator the upper region: while those that are heavy and tend to
descend occupy the lower region, which is the middle. The element, then, that is lightest
and most inclined to soar upwards is fire, and hence they hold that its position is
immediately after the heaven, and they call it ether, and after it comes the lower air.
But earth and water, which are heavier and have more of a downward tendency, are suspended
in the centre. Therefore, taking them in the reverse order, we have in the lowest
situation earth and water: but water is lighter than earth, and hence is more easily set
in motion: above these on all hands, like a covering; is the circle of air, and all round
the air is the circle of ether, and outside air is the circle of the heaven.

3 Further, they say that the heaven moves in a circle and so compresses all that is within
it, that they remain firm and not liable to fall asunder. They say also that there are
seven zones of the heaven one higher than the other. And its nature, they say, is of
extreme fineness, like that of smoke, and each zone contains one of the planets. For there
are said to be seven planets: Sol, Luna, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Venus and Saturn. But
sometimes Venus is called Lucifer and sometimes Vesper. These are called planets because
their movements are the reverse of those of the heaven. For while the heaven and all other
stars move from east to west, these alone move from west to east. And this can easily be
seen in the case of the moon, which moves each evening a little backwards. All, therefore,
who hold that the heaven is in the form of a sphere, say that it is equally removed and
distant from the earth at all points, whether above, or sideways, or below. And by `below'
and `sideways' I mean all that comes within the range of our senses. For it follows from
what has been said, that the heaven occupies the whole of the upper region and the earth
the whole of the lower. They say, besides, that the heaven encircles the earth in the
manner of a sphere, and bears along with it in its most rapid revolutions sun, moon and
stars, and that when the sun is over the earth it becomes day there, and when it is under
the earth it is night. And, again, when the sun goes under the earth it is night here, but
day yonder.

4 Others have pictured the heaven as a hemisphere. This idea is suggested by these words
of David, the singer of God, Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain by which word
he clearly means a tent: and by these from the blessed Isaiah, Who hath established the
heavens like a vault: and also because when the sun, moon, and stars set they make a
circuit round the earth from west to north, and so reach once more the east. Still,
whether it is this way or that, all things have been made and established by the divine
command, and have the divine will and counsel for a foundation that cannot be moved. For
He Himself spoke and they were made: He Himself commanded and they were created. He hath
also established them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which will not pass. 5 The
heaven of heaven, then, is the first heaven which is above the firmament. So here we have
two heavens, for God called the firmament also Heaven. And it is customary in the divine
Scripture to speak of the air also as heavens, because we see it above us. Bless Him, it
says, all ye birds of the heaven, meaning of the air. For it is the air and not the heaven
that is the region in which birds fly. So here we have three heavens, as the divine
Apostle said. But if you should wish to look upon the seven zones as seven heavens there
is no injury done to the word of truth. For it is usual in the Hebrew tongue to speak of
heaven in the plural, that is, as heavens, and when a Hebrew wishes to say heaven of
heaven, he usually says heavens of heavens, and this clearly means heaven of heaven which
is above the firmament, and the waters which are above the heavens, whether it is the air
and the firmament, or the seven zones of the firmament, or the firmament itself which are
spoken of in the plural as heavens according to the Hebrew custom.

6 All things, then, which are brought into existence are subject to corruption according
to the law of their nature and so even the heavens themselves are corruptible. But by the
grace of God they are maintained and preserved. Only the Deity, however, is by nature
without beginning and without end. Wherefore it has been said, They will perish, but Thou
dost endure: nevertheless, the heavens will not be utterly destroyed. For they will wax
old and be wound round as a covering, and will be changed, and there will be a new heaven
and a new earth. For the great part the heaven is greater than the earth, but we need not
investigate the essence of the heaven, for it is quite beyond our knowledge. 7 It must not
be supposed that the heavens or the luminaries are endowed with life. For they are
inanimate and insensible. So that when the divine Scripture saith, Let the heavens rejoice
and the earth be glad it is the angels in heaven and the men on earth that are invited to
rejoice. For the Scripture is familiar with the figure of personification, and is wont to
speak of inanimate things as though they were animate: for example The sea saw it and
fled: Jordan was driven back. And again, What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest?
thou, O Jordan, that thou was driven back? Mountains, too, and hills are asked the reason
of their leaping in the same way as we are wont to say, the city was gathered together,
when we do not mean the buildings, but the inhabitants of the city: again, the heavens
declare the glory of God does not mean that they send forth a voice that can be heard by
bodily ears, but that from their own greatness they bring before our minds the power of
the Creator: and when we contemplate their beauty we praise the Maker as the Master-
Craftsman.

CHAPTER VII.

1 Concerning light, fire, the luminaries, sun, moon and stars. Fire is one of the four
elements, light and with a greater tendency to ascend than the others. It has the power of
burning and also of giving light, and it was made by the Creator on the first day. For the
divine Scripture says, And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Fire is not
a different thing from what light is, as some maintain. Others again hold that this fire
of the universe is above the air and call it ether. In the beginning, then, that is to say
on the first day, God created light, the ornament and glory of the whole visible creation.
For take away light and all things remain in undistinguishable darkness, incapable of
displaying their native beauty. And God called the light day, but the darkness He called
night. Further, darkness is not any essence, but an accident: for it is simply absence of
light. The air, indeed, has not light in its essence. It was, then, this very absence of
light from the air that God called darkness: and it is not the essence of air that is
darkness, but the absence of light which clearly is rather an accident than an essence.
And, indeed, it was not night, but day, that was first named, so that day is first and
after that comes night. Night, therefore, follows day. And from the beginning of day till
the next day is one complete period of day and night. For the Scripture says, And the
evening and the morning were one day.

2 When, therefore, in the first three days the light was poured forth and reduced at the
divine command, both day and night came to pass. But on the fourth day God created the
great luminary, that is, the sun, to have rule and authority over the day: for it is by it
that day is made: for it is day when the sun is above the earth, and the duration of a day
is the course of the sun over the earth from its rising till its setting. And He also
created the lesser luminaries, that is, the moon and the stars, to have rule and authority
over the night, and to give light by night. For it is night when the sun is under the
earth, and the duration of night is the course of the sun under the earth from its rising
till its setting. The moon, then, and the stars were set to lighten the night: not that
they are in the daytime under the earth, for even by day stars are in the heaven over the
earth but the sun conceals both the stars and the moon by the greater brilliance of its
light and prevents them from being seen.

3 On these luminaries the Creator bestowed the first-created light: not because He was in
need of other light, but that that light might not remain idle. For a luminary is not
merely light, but a vessel for containing light. There are, we are told, seven planets
amongst these luminaries, and these move in a direction opposite to that of the heaven:
hence the name planets. For, while they say that the heaven moves from east to west, the
planets move from west to east; but the heaven bears the seven planets along with it by
its swifter motion. Now these are the names of the seven planets: Luna, Mercury, Venus,
Sol, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and in each zone of heaven is, we are told, one of these seven
planets: In the first and highest Saturn, In the second Jupiter, In the third Mars, In the
fourth Sol, In the fifth Venu, In the sixth Mercury, In the seventh and lowest Luna.

4 The course which the Creator appointed for them to run is unceasing and remaineth fixed
as He established them. For the divine David says, The moon and the stars which Thou
establishedst and by the word `establishedst,' he referred to the fixity and
unchangeableness of the order and series granted to them by God. For He appointed them for
seasons, and signs, and days and years. It is through the Sun that the four seasons are
brought about. And the first of these is spring: for in it God created all things and even
down to the present time its presence is evidenced by the bursting of the flowers into
bud, and this is the equinoctial period, since day and night each consist of twelve hours.
It is caused by the sun rising in the middle, and is mild and increases the blood, and is
warm and moist, and holds a position midway between winter and summer, being warmer and
drier than winter, but colder and moister than summer. This season lasts from March 21st
till June 24th. Next, when the rising of the sun moves towards more northerly parts, the
season of summer succeeds, which has a place midway between spring and autumn, combining
the warmth of spring with the dryness of autumn: for it is dry and warm, and increases the
yellow bile. In it falls the longest day, which has fifteen hours, and the shortest night
of all, having only nine hours. This season lasts from June 24th till September 25th.

5 Then when the sun again returns to the middle, autumn takes the place of summer. It has
a medium amount of cold and heat, dryness and moisture, and holds a place midway between
summer and winter, combining the dryness of summer with the cold of winter. For it is cold
and dry, and increases the black bile. This season, again, is equinoctial, both day and
night consisting of twelve hours, and it lasts from September 25th till December 25th. And
when the rising of the sun sinks to its smallest and lowest point, i.e. the south, winter
is reached, with its cold and moisture. It occupies a place midway between autumn and
spring, combining the cold of autumn and the moisture of spring. In it falls the shortest
day, which has only nine hours, and the longest night, which has fifteen: and it lasts
from December 25th till March 21st. For the Creator made this wise provision that we
should not pass from the extreme of cold, or heat, or dryness, or moisture, to the
opposite extreme, and thus incur grievous maladies. For reason itself teaches us the
danger of sudden changes.

6 So, then, it is the sun that makes the seasons, and through them the year: it likewise
makes the days and nights, the days when it rises and is above the earth, and the nights
when it sets below the earth: and it bestows on the other luminaries, both moon and stars,
their power of giving forth light. Further, they say that there are in the heaven twelve
signs made by the stars, and that these move in an opposite direction to the sun and moon,
and the other five planets, and that the seven planets pass across these twelve signs.
Further, the sun makes a complete month in each sign and traverses the twelve signs in the
same number of months. These, then, are the names of the twelve signs and their respective
months:- The Ram, which receives the sun on the 21st of March. The Bull, on the 23rd of
April.

7 The Twins, on the 24th of May. The Crab, on the 24th of June. The Virgin, on the 25th of
July. The Scales, on the 25th of September. The Scorpion, on the 25th of October. The
Archer, on the 25th of November. Capricorn, on the 25th of December. Aquarius, on the 25th
of January. The Fish, on the 24th of February. But the moon traverses the twelve signs
each month, since it occupies a lower position and travels through the signs at a quicker
rate. For if you draw one circle within another, the inner one will be found to be the
lesser: and so it is that owing to the moon occupying a lower position its course is
shorter and is sooner completed 8 Now the Greeks declare that all our affairs are
controlled by the rising and setting and collision of these stars, viz., the sun and moon:
for it is with these matters that astrology has to do. But we hold that we get from them
signs of rain and drought, cold and heat, moisture and dryness, and of the various winds,
and so forth but no sign whatever as to our actions. For we have been created with free
wills by our Creator and are masters over our own actions. Indeed, if all our actions
depend on the courses of the stars, all we do is done of necessity: and necessity
precludes either virtue or vice. But if we possess neither virtue nor vice, we do not
deserve praise or punishment, and God, too, will turn out to be unjust, since He gives
good things to some and afflicts others. Nay, He will no longer continue to guide or
provide for His own creatures, if all things are carried and swept along in the grip of
necessity. And the faculty of reason will be superfluous to us: for if we are not masters
of any of our actions, deliberation is quite superfluous. Reason, indeed, is granted to us
solely that we might take counsel, and hence all reason implies freedom of will.

9 And, therefore, we hold that the stars are not the causes of the things that occur, nor
of the origin of things that come to pass, nor of the destruction of those things that
perish. They are rather signs of showers and changes of air. But, perhaps, some one may
say that though they are not the causes of wars, yet they are signs of them. And, in
truth, the quality of the air which is produced by sun, and moon, and stars, produces in
various ways different temperaments, and habits, and dispositions. But the habits are
amongst the things that we have in our own hands, for it is reason that rules, and
directs, and changes them. It often happens, also, that comets arise. These are signs of
the death of kings and they are not any of the stars that were made in the beginning, but
are formed at the same tithe by divine command and again dissolved. And so not even that
star which the Magi saw at the birth of the Friend and Saviour of man, our Lord, Who
became flesh for our sake, is of the number of those that were made in the beginning. And
this is evidently the case because sometimes its course was from east to west, and
sometimes from north to south; at one moment it was hidden, and at the next it was
revealed: which is quite out of harmony with the order and nature of the stars.

10 It must be understood, then, that the moon derives its light from the sun; not that God
was unable to grant it light of its own, but in order that rhythm and order may be
unimpressed upon nature, one part ruling, the other being ruled, and that we might thus be
taught to live in community and to share our possessions with one another, and to be under
subjection, first to our Maker and Creator, our God and Master, and then also to the
rulers set in authority over us by Him: and not to question why this man is ruler and not
I myself, but to welcome all that comes from God in a gracious and reasonable spirit. The
sun and the moon, moreover, suffer eclipse, and this demonstrates the folly of those who
worship the creature in place of the Creator and teaches us how changeable and alterable
all things are For all things are changeable save God, and whatever is changeable is
liable to corruption in accordance with the laws of its own nature.

11 Now the cause of the eclipse of the sun is that the body of the moon is interposed like
a partition-wall and casts a shadow, and prevents the light from being shed down on us:
and the extent of the eclipse is proportional to the size of the moon's body that is found
to conceal the sun. But do not marvel that the moon's body is the smaller. For many
declare that the sun is many times larger even than the earth, and the holy Fathers say
that it is equal to the earth: yet often a small cloud, or even a small hill or a wall
quite conceals it. The eclipse of the moon, on the other hand, is due to the shadow the
earth casts on it when it is a fifteen days' moon and the sun and moon happen to be at the
opposite poles of the highest circle, the sun being under the earth and the moon above the
earth. For the earth casts a shadow and the sun's light is prevented from illuminating the
moon, and therefore it is then eclipsed.

12 It should be understood that the moon was made full by the Creator, that is, a fifteen
days' moon: for it was fitting that it should be made complete. But on the fourth day, as
we said, the sun was created. Therefore the moon was eleven days in advance of the sun,
because from the fourth to the fifteenth day there are eleven days. Hence it happens that
in each year the twelve months of the moon contain eleven days fewer than the twelve
months of the sun. For the twelve months of the sun contain three hundred and sixty-five
and a quarter days, and so because the quarter becomes a whole, in four years an extra day
is completed, which is called bis-sextile. And that year has three hundred and sixty-six
days. The years of the moon, on the other hand, have three hundred and fifty-four days.
For the moon wanes from the time of its origin, or renewal, till it is fourteen and three-
quarter days' old, and proceeds to wane till the twenty-ninth and a half day, when it is
completely void of light And then when it is once more connected with the sun it is
reproduced and renewed, a memorial of our resurrection. Thus in each year the moon gives
away eleven days to the sun, and so in three years the intercalary month of the Hebrews
arises, and that year comes to consist of thirteen months, owing to the addition of these
eleven days.

13 It is evident that both sun and moon and stars are compound and liable to corruption
according to the laws of their various natures. But of their nature we are ignorant. Some,
indeed, say that fire when deprived of matter is invisible, and thus, that when it is
quenched it vanishes altogether. Others, again, say that when it is quenched it is
transformed into air. The circle of the zodiac has an oblique motion and is divided into
twelve sections called zodia, or signs: each sign has three divisions of ten each, i.e.
thirty divisions, and each division has sixty very minute subdivisions. The heaven,
therefore, has three hundred and sixty-five degrees: the hemisphere above the earth and
that below the earth each having one hundred and eighty degrees. The abodes of the
planets. The Ram and the Scorpion are the abode of Mars: the Bull and the Scales, of
Venus: the Twins and the Virgin, of Mercury: the Crab, of the Moon: the Lion, of the Sun:
the Archer and the Fish, of Jupiter: Capricorn and Aquarius, of Saturn.

14 Their altitudes. The Ram has the altitude of the Sun: the Bull, of the Moon: the Crab,
of Jupiter: the Virgin, of Mars: the Scales, of Saturn: Capricorn, of Mercury: the Fish,
of Venus. The phases of the moon. It is in conjunction whenever it is in the same degree
as the sun: it is born when it is fifteen degrees distant from the sun: it rises when it
is crescent-shaped, and this occurs twice at which times it is sixty degrees distant from
the sun: it is half-full twice, when it is ninety degrees from the sun: twice it is
gibbous, when it is one hundred and twenty degrees from the sun: it is twice a full moon,
giving full light, when it is a hundred and fifty degrees from the sun: it is a complete
moon when it is a hundred and eighty degrees distant from the sun. We say twice, because
these phases occur both when the moon waxes and when it wanes. In two and a half days the
moon traverses each sign.

CHAPTER VIII.

1 Concerning air and winds. Air is the most subtle element, and is moist and warm:
heavier, indeed, than fire: but lighter than earth and water: it is the cause of
respiration and voice: it is colourless, that is, it has no colour by nature: it is clear
and transparent, for it is capable of receiving light: it ministers to three of our
senses, for it is by its aid that we see, hear and smell: it has the power likewise of
receiving heat and cold, dryness and moisture, and its movements in space are up, down,
within, without, to the right and to the left, and the cyclical movement. It does not
derive its light from itself, but is illuminated by sun, and moon, and stars, and fire.
And this is just what the Scripture means when it says, And darkeness was upon the deep;
for its object is to shew that the air has not derived its light from itself, but that it
is quite a different essence from light.

2 And wind is a movement of air: or wind is a rush of air which changes its name as it
changes the place whence it rushes. Its place is in the air. For place is the
circumference of a body. But what is it that surrounds bodies but air? There are,
moreover, different places in which the movement of air originates, and from these the
winds get their names. There are in all twelve winds. It is said that air is just fire
after it has been extinguished, or the vapour of heated water. At all events, in its own
special nature the air is warm, but it becomes cold owing to the proximity of water and
earth, so that the lower parts of it are cold, and the higher warm. These then are the
winds: Caecias, or Meses, arises in the region where the sun rises in summer. Subsolanus,
where the sun rises at the equinoxes. Eurus, where it rises in winter. Africus, where it
sets in winter. Favonius, where it sets at the equinoxes, and Corns, or Olympias, or
Iapyx, where it sets in summer. Then come Auster and Aquilo, whose blasts oppose one
another. Between Aquilo and Caecias comes Boreas: and tween Eurus and Auster, Phoenix or
Euronotus; between Auster and Africus, Libonotus or Leucouotus: and lastly, between Aquilo
and Corus, Thrascias, or Cercius, as it is called by the inhabitants of that region.

3 [These then, are the races which dwell at the ends of the world: beside Subsolanus are
the Bactriani: beside Eurus, the Indians: beside Phoenix, the Red Sea and Ethiopia: beside
Libonotus, the Garamantes, who are beyond Systis: beside Africus, the Ethiopians and the
Western Mauri: beside Favonius, the columns of Hercules and the beginnings of Libya and
Europe: beside Corus, Iberia, which is now called Spain: beside Thrascia, the Gauls and
the neighbouring nations: beside Aquilo, the Scythians who are beyond Thrace: beside
Boreas, Pontus, Maeotis and the Sarmatae: beside Caecias, the Caspian Sea and the Sacai.]

CHAPTER IX.

1 Concerning the waters. Water also is one of the four elements, the most beautiful of
God's creations. It is both wet and cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows
with great readiness. It is this the Holy Scripture has in view when it says, And darkness
was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
For the deep is nothing else than a huge quantity of water whose limit man cannot
comprehend. In the beginning, indeed, the water lay all over the surface of the earth. And
first God created the firmament to divide the water above the firmament from the water
below the firmament. For in the midst of the sea of waters the firmament was established
at the Master's decree. And out of it God bade the firmament arise, and it arose. Now for
what reason was it that God placed water above the firmament? It was because of the
intense burning heat of the sun and ether. For immediately under the firmament is spread
out the ether and the sun and moon and stars are in the firmament, and so if water had not
been put above it the firmament would have been consumed by the heat.

2 Next, God bade the waters be gathered together into one mass. But when the Scrip ture
speaks of one mass it evidently does not mean that they were gathered together into one
place: for immediately it goes on to say, And the gatherings of the waters He called seas:
but the words signify that the waters were separated off in a body from the earth into
distinct groups. Thus the waters were gathered together into their special collections and
the dry land was brought to view. And hence arose the two seas that surround Egypt, for it
lies between two seas. These collections contain various seas and mountains, and islands,
and promontories, and harbours, and surround various bays and beaches, and coastlands. For
the word beach is used when the nature of the tract is sandy, while coastland signifies
that it is rocky and deep close into shore, getting deep all on a sudden In like manner
arose also the sea that lies where the sun rises, the name of which is the Indian Sea:
also the northern sea called the Caspian. The lakes also were formed in the same manner.

3 The ocean, then, is like a river encircling the whole earth, and I think it is
concerning it that the divine Scripture says, A river went out of Paradise. The water of
the ocean is sweet and potable. It is it that furnishes the seas with water which, because
it stays a long time in the seas and stands unmoved, becomes bitter: for the sun and the
waterspouts draw up always the finer parts. Thus it is that clouds are formed and showers
take place, because the filtration makes the water sweet. This is parted into four first
divisions, that is to say, into four rivers. The name of the first is Pheison, which is
the Indian Ganges; the name of the second is Geon, which is the Nile flowing from Ethiopia
down to Egypt: the name of the third is Tigris, and the name of the fourth is Euphrates.
There are also very many other mighty rivers of which some empty themselves into the sea
and others are used up in the earth. Thus the whole earth is bored through and mined, and
has, so to speak, certain veins through which it sends up in springs the water it has
received from the sea. The water of the spring thus depends for its character on the
quality of the earth. For the sea water is filtered and strained through the earth and
thus becomes sweet. But if the place from which the spring arises is bitter or briny, so
also is the water that is sent up. Moreover, it often happens that water which has been
closely pent up bursts through with violence, and thus it becomes warm. And this is why
they send forth waters that are naturally warm.

4 By the divine decree hollow places are made in the earth, and so into these the waters
are gathered. And this is how mountains are formed. God, then, bade the first water
produce living breath, since it was to be by water and the Holy Spirit that moved upon the
waters in the beginning that man was to be renewed. For this is what the divine Basilius
said: Therefore it produced living creatures, small and big; whales and dragons, fish that
swim in the waters, and feathered fowl. The birds form a link between water and earth and
air: for they have their origin in the water, they live on the earth and they fly in the
air. Water, then, is the most beautiful element and rich in usefulness, and purifies from
all filth, and not only from the filth of the body but from that of the soul, if it should
have received the grace of the Spirit.

5 Concerning the seas. The Aegean Sea is received by the Hellespont, which ends at Abydos
and Sestus: next, the Propontis, which ends at Chalcedon and Byzantium: here are the
straits where the Pontus arises. Next, the lake of Maeotis. Again, from the beginning of
Europe and Libya it is the Iberian Sea, which extends from the pillars of Hercules to the
Pyrenees mountain. Then the Ligurian Sea as far as the borders of Etruria. Next, the
Sardinian Sea, which is above Sardinia and inclines downwards to Libya. Then the Etrurian
Sea, which begins at the extreme limits of Liguria and ends at Sicily. Then the Libyan
Sea. Then the Cretan, and Sicilian, and Ionian, and Adriatic Seas, the last of which is
poured out of the Sicilian Sea, which is called the Corinthian Gulf, or the Alcyonian Sea.
The Saronic Sea is surrounded by the Sunian and Scylaean Seas. Next is the Myrtoan Sea and
the Icarian Sea, in which are also the Cyclades. Then the Carpathian, and Pamphylian, and
Egyptian Seas: and, thereafter, above the Icarian Sea, the Aegean Sea pours itself out.
There is also the coast of Europe from the mouth of the Tanais River to the Pillars of
Hercules, 609,709 stadia: and that of Libya from the Tigris, as far as the mouth of the
Canobus, 209,252 stadia: and lastly, that of Asia from the Canobus to the Tanais, which,
including the Gulf, is 4,111 stadia. And so the full extent of the seaboard of the world
that we inhabit with the gulfs is 1,309,072 stadia.

CHAPTER X.

1 Concerning earth and its products. The earth is one of the four elements, dry, cold,
heavy, motionless, brought into being by God, out of nothing on the first day. For in the
beginning, he said, God created the heaven and the earths: but the seat and foundation of
the earth no man has been able to declare. Some, indeed, hold that its seat is the waters:
thus the divine David says, To Him Who established the earth on the waters. Others place
it in the air. Again some other says, He Who hangeth the earth on nothing. And, again,
David, the singer of God, says, as though the representative of God, I bear up the pillars
of it meaning by "pillars" the force that sustains it. Further, the expression, He hath
rounded it upon the seas shews clearly that the earth is on all hands surrounded with
water. But whether we grant that it is established on itself, or on air or on water, or on
nothing, we must not turn aside from reverent thought, but must admit that all things are
sustained and preserved by the power of the Creator.

2 In the beginning, then, as the Holy Scripture says it was hidden beneath the waters, and
was unwrought, that is to say, not beautified. But at God's bidding, places to hold the
waters appeared, and then the mountains came into existence, and at the divine command the
earth received its own proper adornment, and was dressed in all manner of herbs and
plants, and on these, by the divine decree, was bestowed the power of growth and
nourishment, and of producing seed to generate their like. Moreover, at the bidding of the
Creator it produced also all manner of kinds of living creatures, creeping things, and
wild beasts, and cattle. All, indeed, are for the seasonable use of man: but of them some
are for food, such as stags, sheep, deer, and such like: others for service such as
camels, oxen, horses, asses, and such like: and others for enjoyment, such as apes, and
among birds, jays and parrots, and such like. Again, amongst plants and herbs some are
fruit bearing, others edible, others fragrant and flowery, given to us for our enjoyment,
for example, the rose and such like, and others for the healing of disease. For there is
not a single animal or plant in which the Creator has not implanted some form of energy
capable of being used to satisfy man's needs. For He Who knew all things before they were,
saw that in the future man would go forward in the strength of his own will, and would be
subject to corruption, and, therefore, He created all things for his seasonable use, alike
those in the firmament, and those on the earth, and those in the waters.

3 Indeed, before the transgression all things were under his power. For God set him as
ruler over all things on the earth and in the waters. Even the serpent was accustomed to
man, and approached him more readily than it did other living creatures, and held
intercourse with him with delightful motions. And hence it was through it that the devil,
the prince of evil, made his most wicked suggestion to our first parents. Moreover, the
earth of its own accord used to yield fruits, for the benefit of the animals that were
obedient to man, and there was neither rain nor tempest on the earth. But after the
transgression, when he was compared with the unintelligent cattle and became like to them
after he had contrived that in him irrational desire should have rule over reasoning mind
and had become disobedient to the Master's command, the subject creation rose up against
him whom the Creator had appointed to be ruler: and it was appointed for him that he
should till with sweat the earth from which he had been taken.

4 But even now wild beasts are not without their uses, for, by the terror they cause, they
bring man to the knowledge of his Creator and lead him to call upon His name. And,
further, at the transgression the thorn sprung out of the earth in accordance with the
Lord's express declaration and was conjoined with the pleasures of the rose, that it might
lead us to remember the transgression on account of which the earth was condemned to bring
forth for us thorns and prickles. That this is the case is made worthy of belief from the
fact that their endurance is secured by the word of the Lord, saying, Be fruitful and
multiply, and replenish the earth. Further, some hold that the earth is in the form of a
sphere, others that it is in that of a cone. At all events it is much smaller than the
heaven, and suspended almost like a point in its midst. And it will pass away and be
changed. But blessed is the man who inherits the earth promised to the meek.

5 For the earth that is to be the possession of the holy is immortal. Who, then, can fitly
marvel at the boundless and incomprehensible wisdom of the Creator? Or who can render
sufficient thanks to the Giver of so many blessings? [There are also provinces, or
prefectures, of the earth which we recognise: Europe embraces thirty four, and the huge
continent of Asia has forty-eight of these provinces, and twelve canons as they are
called.]

CHAPTER XI.

1 Concerning Paradise. Now when God was about to fashion man oat of the visible and
invisible creation in His own image and likeness to reign as king and ruler over all the
earth and all that it contains, He first made for him, so to speak, a kingdom in which he
should live a life of happiness and prosperity. And this is the divine paradise planted in
Eden by the hands of God, a very storehouse of joy and gladness of heart (for "Eden" means
luxuriousness ). Its site is higher in the East than all the earth: it is temperate and
the air that surrounds it is the rarest and purest: evergreen plants are its pride, sweet
fragrances abound, it is flooded with light, and in sensuous freshness and beauty it
transcends imagination: in truth the place is divine, a meet home for him who was created
in God's image: no creature lacking reason made its dwelling there but man alone, the work
of God's own hands.

2 In its midst God planted the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. The tree of
knowledge was for trial, and proof, and exercise of man's obedience and disobedience: and
hence it was named the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or else it was because to
those who partook of it was given power to know their own nature. Now this is a good thing
for those who are mature, but an evil thing for the immature and those whose appetites are
too strong being like solid food to tender babes still in need of milk. For our Creator,
God, did not intend us to be burdened with care and troubled about many things, nor to
take thought about, or make provision for, our own life. But this at length was Adam's
fate: for he tasted and knew that he was naked and made a girdle round about him: for he
took fig-leaves and girded himself about. But before they took of the fruit, They were
both naked. Adam and Eve, and were not ashamed. For God meant that we should be thus free
from passion, and this is indeed the mark of a mind absolutely void of passion. Yea, He
meant us further to be free from care and to have but one work to perform, to sing as do
the angels, without ceasing or intermission, the praises of the Creator, and to delight in
contemplation of Him and to cast all our care on Him.

3 This is what the Prophet David proclaimed to us when He said, Cast thy burden on the
Lord, and He will sustain thee. And, again, in the Gospels, Christ taught His disciples
saying, Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat, nor for your body what ye shall
put on. And further, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these
things shall be added unto you. And to Martha He said, Martha, Martha, thou art careful
and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good
part, which shall not be taken away from her meaning, clearly, sitting at His feet and
listening to His words. 4 The tree of life, on the other hand, was a tree having the
energy that is the cause of life, or to be eaten only by those who deserve to live and are
not subject to death. Some, indeed, have pictured Paradise as a realm of sense and others
as a realm of mind. But it seems to me, that, just as man is a creature, in whom we find
both sense and mind blended together, in like manner also man's most holy temple combines
the properties of sense and mind, and has this twofold expression: for, as we said, the
life in the body is spent in the most divine and lovely region, while the life in the soul
is passed in a place far more sublime and of more surpassing beauty, where God makes His
home, and where He wraps man about as with a glorious garment, and robes him in His grace,
and delights and sustains him like an angel with the sweetest of all fruits, the
contemplation of Himself. Verily it has been filly named the tree of life. For since the
life is not cut short by death, the sweetness of the divine participation is imparted to
those who share it. And this is, in truth, what God meant by every tree, saying, Of every
tree in Paradise thou mayest freely eat. For the `every' is just Himself in Whom and
through Whom the universe is maintained.

5 But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was for the distinguishing between the
many divisions of contemplation, and this is just the knowledge of one's own nature,
which, indeed, is a good thing for those who are mature and advanced in divine
contemplation (being of itself a proclamation of the magnificence of God), and have no
fear of falling because they have through time come to have the habit of such
contemplation, but it is an evil tiring to those still young and with stronger appetites,
who by reason of their insecure bold on the better part, and because as yet they are not
firmly established in the seat of the one and only good, are apt to be torn and dragged
away from this to the care of their own body. 6 Thus, to my thinking, the divine Paradise
is twofold, and the God-inspired Fathers handed down a true message, whether they taught
this doctrine or that. Indeed, it is possible to understand by every tree the knowledge of
the divine power derived from created things. In the words of the divine Apostle, For the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made. But of all these thoughts and speculations the sublimest is
that dealing with ourselves, that is, with our own composition. As the divine David says,
The knowledge of Thee from me that is from my constitution, was made a wonder. But for the
reasons we have already mentioned, such knowledge was dangerous for Adam who had been so
lately created.

7 The tree of life too may be understood as that more divine thought that has its origin
in the world of sense, and the ascent through that to the originating and constructive
cause of all. And this was the name He gave to every tree, implying fulness and
indivisibility, and conveying only participation in what is good. But by the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, we are to understand that sensible and pleasurable food which,
sweet though it seems, in reality brings him who partakes of it into communion with evil.
For God says, Of every tree in Paradise thou mayest freely eat. It is, me-thinks, as if
God said, Through all My creations thou art to ascend to Me thy creator, and of all the
fruits titan mayest pluck one, that is, Myself who ant the true life: let every thing bear
for thee the fruit of life, and let participation in Me be the support of your own being.
For in this way than wilt be immortal. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die.
For sensible food is by nature for the replenishing of that which gradually wastes away
and it passes into the drought and perisheth: and he cannot remain incorruptible who
partakes of sensible food.

CHAPTER XII.

1 Concerning Man. In this way, then, God brought into existence mental essence by which I
mean, angels and all the heavenly orders. For these clearly have a mental and incorporeal
nature: "incorporeal" I mean in comparison with the denseness of matter. For the Deity
alone in reality is immaterial and incorporeal. But further He created in the same way
sensible essence that is heaven and earth and the intermediate region; and so He created
both the kind of being that is of His own nature (for the nature that has to do with
reason is related to God, and apprehensible by mind alone), and the kind which, inasmuch
as it clearly falls under the province of the senses, is separated from Him by the
greatest interval. And it was also fit that there should be a mixture of both kinds of
being, as a token of still greater wisdom and of the opulence of the Divine expenditure as
regards natures, as Gregorius, the expounder of God's being and ways, puts it, and to be a
sort of connecting link between the visible and invisible natures. And by the word "fit" I
mean, simply that it was an evidence of the Creator's will, for that will is the law and
ordinance most meet, and no one will say to his Maker, "Why hast Thou so fashioned me?"
For the potter is able at his will to make vessels of various patterns out of his clay as
a proof of his own wisdom.

2 Now this being the case, He creates with His own hands man of a visible nature and an
invisible, after His own image and likeness: on the one hand man's body He formed of
earth, and on the other his reasoning and thinking soul He bestowed upon him by His own
inbreathing, and this is what we mean by "after His image." For the phrase "after His
image" clearly refers to the side of his nature which consists of mind and free will,
whereas "after His likeness "means likeness in virtue so far as that is possible. Further,
body and soul were formed at one and the same time not first the one and then the other,
as Origen so senselessly supposes. God then made man without evil, upright, virtuous, free
from pain and care, glorified with every virtue, adorned with all that is good, like a
sort of second microcosm within the great world. another angel capable of worship,
compound, surveying the visible creation and initiated into the mysteries of the realm of
thought, king over the things of earth, but subject to a higher king, of the earth and of
the heaven, temporal and eternal, belonging to the realm of sight and to the realm of
thought, midway between greatness and lowliness, spirit and flesh: for he is spirit by
grace, but flesh by overweening pride: spirit that he may abide and glorify his
Benefactor, and flesh that he may suffer, and suffering may be admonished and disciplined
when he prides himself in his greatness: here, that is, in the present life, his life is
ordered as an animal's, but elsewhere, that is, in the age to come, he is changed and-to
complete the mystery-becomes deified by merely inclining himself towards God; becoming
deified, in the way of participating in the divine glory and not in that of a change into
the divine being.

3 But God made him by nature sinless, and endowed him with free will. By sinless, I mean
not that sin could find no place in him (for that is the case with Deity alone), bat that
sin is the result of the free volition he enjoys rather than an integral part of his
nature; that is to say, he has the power to continue and go forward in the path of
goodness, by co-operating with the divine grace, and likewise to turn from good and take
to wickedness, for God has conceded this by conferring freedom of will upon him. For there
is no virtue in what is the result of mere force. The soul, accordingly is a living
essence, simple, incorporeal, invisible in its proper nature to bodily eyes, immortal,
reasoning and intelligent, formless, making use of an organised body, and being the source
of its powers of life, and growth, and sensation, and generation mind being but its purest
part and not in any wise alien to it; (for as the eye to the body, so is the mind to the
soul); further it enjoys freedom and volition and energy, and is mutable, that is, it is
given to change, because it is created. All these qualities according to nature it has
received of the grace of the Creator, of which grace it has received both its being and
this particular kind of nature.

4 Marg. The different applications of "incorporeal." We understand two kinds of what is
incorporeal and invisible and formless: the one is such in essence, the other by free
gift: and likewise the one is such in nature, and the other only in comparison with the
denseness of matter. God then is incorporeal by nature, but the angels and demons and
souls are said to be so by free gift, and in comparison with the denseness of matter.
Further, body is that which has three dimensions, that is to say, it has length and
breadth and depth, or thickness. And every body is composed of the four elements; the
bodies of living creatures, moreover, are composed of the four humours. Now there are, it
should be known, four elements: earth which is dry and cold: water which is cold and wet:
air which is wet and warm: fire which is warm and dry. In like manner there are also four
humours, analogous to the four elements: black bile, which bears an analogy to earth, for
it is dry and cold: phlegm, analogous to water, for it is cold and wet: blood, analogous
to air for it is wet and warm: yellow bile, the analogue to fire, for it is warm and city.
Now, fruits are composed of the elements, and the humours are composed of the fruits, and
the bodies of living creatures consist of the humours and dissolve back into them. For
every thing that is compound dissolves back into its elements.

5 Marg. That man has community alike with inanimate things and animate creatures, whe ther
they are devoid of or possess the faculty of reason. Man, it is to be noted, has community
with things inanimate, and participates in the life of unreasoning creatures, and shares
in the mental processes of those endowed with reason. For the bond of union between man
and inanimate things is the body and its composition out of the font elements: and the
bond between man and plants consists, in addition to these things, of their powers of
nourishment and growth and seeding, that is, generation: and finally, over and above these
links man is connected with unreasoning animals by appetite, that is anger and desire, and
sense and impulsive movement. There are then five senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste,
touch. Further, impulsive movement consists in change from place to place, and in the
movements of the body as a whole and in the emission of voice and the drawing of breath.
For we have it in our power to perform or refrain from performing these actions.

6 Lastly, man's reason unites him to incorporeal and intelligent natures, for he applies
his reason and mind and judgment to everything, and pursues after virtues, and eagerly
follows after piety, which is the crown of the virtues. And so man is a microcosm.
Moreover, it should be known that division and flux and change are peculiar to the body
alone. By change, I mean change in quality, that is in heat and cold and so forth: by
flux, I mean change in the way of depletion for dry things and wet things and spirit
suffer depletion, and require repletion: so that hunger and thirst are natural affections.
Again, division is the separation of the humours, one from another, and the partition into
form and matter. But piety and thought are the peculiar properties of the soul. And the
virtues are common to soul and body, although they are referred to the soul as if the soul
were making use of the body.

7 The reasoning part, it should be understood, naturally bears rule over that which is
void of reason. For the faculties of the soul are divided into that which has reason, and
that which is without reason. Again, of that which is without reason there are two
divisions: that which does not listen to reason, that is to say, is disobedient to reason,
and that which listens and obeys reason. That which does not listen or obey reason is the
vital or pulsating faculty, and the spermatic or generative faculty, and the vegetative or
nutritive faculty: to this belong also the faculties of growth and bodily formation. For
these are not under the dominion of reason but under that of nature. That which listens to
and obeys reason, on the other hand is divided into anger anti desire. And the unreasoning
part of the soul is called in common the pathetic and the appetitive. Further, it is to be
understood, that impulsive movement likewise belongs to the part that is obedient to
reason.

8 The part which does not pay heed to reason includes the nutritive and generative and
pulsating faculties: and the name "vegetative " is applied to the faculties of increase
and nutriment and generation, and the name "vital" to the faculty of pulsation. Of the
faculty of nutrition, then, there are four forces: an attractive force which attracts
nourishment: a retentive force by which nourishment is retained and not suffered to be
immediately excreted: an alterative force by which the food is resolved into the humours:
and an excretive force, by which the excess of food is excreted into the draught and cast
forth. The forces again inherent in a living creature are, it should be noted, partly
psychical, partly vegetative, partly vital. The psychical forces are concerned with free
volition, that is to say, impulsive movement and sensation. Impulsive movement includes
change of place and movement of the body as a whole, and phonation and respiration. For it
is in our power to perform or refrain from performing these acts. The vegetative and vital
forces, however, are quite outside the province of will. The vegetative, moreover, include
the faculties of nourishment and growth, and generation, and the vital power is the
faculty of pulsation. For these go on energising whether we will it or not.

9 Lastly, we must observe that of actual things, some are good, and some are bad. A good
thing in anticipation constitutes desire: while a good thing in realisation constitutes
pleasure. Similarly an evil thing in anticipation begets fear, and in realisation it
begets pain. And when we speak of good in this connection we are to be understood to mean
both real and apparent good: and, similarly, we mean real and apparent evil.

CHAPTER XIII.

1 Concerning Pleasures. There are pleasures of the soul and pleasures of the body. The
pleasures of the soul are those which are the exclusive possession of the soul, such as
the pleasures of learning and contemplation. The pleasures of the body, however, are those
which are enjoyed by soul and body in fellowship, and hence are called bodily pleasures:
and such are the pleasures of food and intercourse and the like. But one could not find
any class of pleasures belonging solely to the body. Again, some pleasures are true,
others false. And the exclusively intellectual pleasures consist in knowledge and
contemplation, while the pleasures of the body depend upon sensation. Further, of bodily
pleasures some are both natural and necessary, in the absence of which life is impossible,
for example the pleasures of food which replenishes waste, and the pleasures of necessary
clothing. Others are natural but not necessary, as the pleasures of natural and lawful
intercourse. For though the function that these perform is to secure the permanence of the
race as a whole, it is still possible to live a virgin life apart from them. Others,
however, are neither natural nor necessary, such as drunkenness, lust, and surfeiting to
excess. For these contribute neither to the maintenance of our own lives nor to the
succession of the race, but on the contrary, are rather even a hindrance. He therefore
that would live a life acceptable to God must follow after those pleasures which are both
natural and necessary: and must give a secondary place to those which are natural but not
necessary, and enjoy them only in fitting season, and manner, and measure; while the
others must be altogether renounced.

2 Those then are to be considered moral pleasures which are not bound up with pain, and
bring no cause for repentance, and result in no other harm and keep within the bounds of
moderation, and do not draw us far away from serious occupations, nor make slaves of us.

CHAPTER XIV.

Concerning Pain. There are four varieties of pain, viz., anguish griefs envy, pity.
Anguish is pain without utterance: grief is pain that is heavy to bear like a burden: envy
is pain over the good fortune of others: pity is pain over the evil fortune of others.

CHAPTER XV.

Concerning Fear.Fear is divided into six varieties: viz., shrinking shame, disgrace,
consternation, panic, anxiety. Shrinking is fear of some act about to take place. Shame is
fear arising from the anticipation of blame: and this is the highest form of the
affection. Disgrace is fear springing from some base act already done, and even for this
form there is some hope of salvation. Consternation is fear originating in some huge
product of the imagination. Panic is fear caused by some unusual product of the
imagination. Anxiety is fear of failure, that is, of misfortune: for when we fear that our
efforts will not meet with success, we suffer anxiety.

CHAPTER XVI.

1 Concerning Anger. Anger is the ebullition of the heart's blood produced by bilious
exhalation or turbidity. Hence it is that the words xolh/ and xo/loj are both used in the
sense of anger. Anger is sometimes lust for vengeance. For when we are wronged or think
that we are wronged, we are distressed, and there arises this mixture of desire and anger.
There are three forms of anger: rage, which the Greeks also call xolh/ or xo/loj, mh=nij
and ko/toj. When anger arises and begins to be roused, it is called rage or xolh/ or
xo/loj. Wrath again implies that the bile endures, that is to say, that the memory of the
wrong abides: and indeed the Greek word for it, mh=nijis derived from me/nein, and means
what abides and is transferred to memory. Rancour, on the other hand, implies watching for
a suitable moment for revenge, and the Greek word for it is ko/toj from kei=sqai.

2 Anger further is the satellite of reason, the vindicator of desire. For when we long
after anything and are opposed in our desire by some one, we are angered at that person,
as though we had been wronged: and reason evidently deems that there are just grounds for
displeasure in what has happened, in the case of those who, like us, have in the natural
course of things to guard their own position.

CHAPTER XVII.

Concerning Imagination. Imagination is a faculty of the unreasoning part of the soul. It
is through the organs of sense that it is brought into action, and it is spoken of as
sensation. And further, what is imagined and perceived is that which comes within the
scope of the faculty of imagination and sensation. For example, the sense of sight is the
visual faculty itself, but the object of sight is that which comes within the scope of the
sense of sight, such as a stone or any other such object. Further, an imagination is an
affection of the unreasoning part of the soul which is occasioned by some object acting
upon the sensation. But an appearance is an empty affection of the unreasoning part of the
soul, not occasioned by any object acting upon the sensation. Moreover the organ of
imagination is the anterior ventricle of the brain.

CHAPTER XVIII.

1 Concerning Sensation. Sensation is that faculty of the soul whereby material objects can
be apprehended or discriminated. And the sensoria are the organs or members through which
sensations are conveyed. And the objects of sense are the things that come within the
province of sensation. And lastly, the subject of sense is the living animal which
possesses the faculty of sensation. Now there are five senses, and likewise five organs of
sense. The first sense is sight: and the sensoria or organs of sight are the nerves of the
brain and the eyes. Now sight is primarily perception of colour, but along with the colour
it discriminates the body that has colour, and its size and form, and locality, and the
intervening space and the number: also whether it is in motion or at rest, rough or
smooth, even or uneven, sharp or blunt, and finally whether its composition is watery or
earthy, that is, wet or dry.

2 The second sense is hearing, whereby voices and sounds are perceived. And it
distinguishes these as sharp or deep, or smooth or loud. Its organs are the soft nerves of
the brain, and the structure of the ears. Further, man and the ape are the only animals
that do not move their ears. The third sense is smell, which is caused by the nostrils
transmitting the vapours to the brain: and it is bounded by the extreme limits of the
anterior ventricle of the brain. It is the faculty by which vapours are perceived and
apprehended. Now, the most generic distinction between vapours is whether they have a good
or an evil odour, or form an intermediate class with neither a good nor an evil odour. A
good odour is produced by the thorough digestion in the body of the humours. When they are
only moderately digested the intermediate class is formed, and when the digestion is very
imperfect or utterly wanting, an evil odour results.

3 The fourth sense is taste: it is the faculty whereby the humours are apprehended or
perceived, and its organs of sense are the tongue, and more especially the lips, and the
palate (which the Greeks call su0rani/skoj), and in these are nerves that come from the
brain and are spread out, and convey to the dominant part of the soul the perception or
sensation they have encountered. The so-called gustatory qualities of the humours are
these:-sweetness, pungency, bitterness, astringency, acerbity, sourness, saltness,
fattiness, stickiness; for taste is capable of discriminating all these. But water has
none of these qualities, and is therefore devoid of taste. Moreover, astringency is only a
more intense and exaggerated form of acerbity. The fifth sense is touch, which is common
to all living things. Its organs are nerves which come from the brain and ramify all
through the body. Hence the body as a whole, including even the other organs of sense,
possesses the sense of touch. Within its scope come heat and cold, softness and hardness,
viscosity and brittleness heaviness and lightness: for it is by touch alone that these
qualities are discriminated. On the other hand, roughness and smoothness, dryness and
wetness, thickness and thinness, up and down, place and size, whenever that is such as to
be embraced in a single application of the sense of touch, are all common to touch and
sight, as well as denseness and rareness, that is porosity, and rotundity if it is small,
and some other shapes. In like manner also by the aid of memory and thought perception of
the nearness of a body is possible, and similarly perception of number up to two or three,
and such small and easily reckoned figures. But it is by sight rather than touch that
these things are perceived.

4 The Creator, it is to be noted, fashioned all the other organs of sense in pairs, so
that if one were destroyed, the other might fill its place. For there are two eyes, two
ears, two orifices of the nose, and two tongues, which in some animals, such as snakes,
are separate, but in others, like man, are united. But touch is spread over the whole body
with the exception of bones, nerves, nails, horns, hairs, ligaments, and other such
structures. Further, it is to be observed that sight is possible only in straight lines,
whereas smell and hearing are not limited to straight lines only, but act in all
directions. Touch, again, and taste act neither in straight lines, nor in every direction,
but only when each comes near to the sensible objects that are proper to it.

CHAPTER XIX.

Concerning Thought. The faculty of thought deals with judgments and assents, and impulse
to action and disinclinations, and escapes from action: and more especially with thoughts
connected with what is thinkable, and the virtues and the different branches of learning,
and the theories of the arts and matters of counsel and choice. Further, it is this
faculty which prophesies the future to us in dreams, and this is what the Pythagoreans,
adopting the Hebrew view, hold to be the one true form of prophecy. The organ of thought
then is the mid-ventricle of the brain, and the vital spirit it contains.

CHAPTER XX.

1 Concerning Memory. The faculty of memory is the cause and storehouse of remembrance and
recollection. For memory is a fantasy that is left behind of some sensation and thought
manifesting itself in action; or the preservation of a sensation and thought. For the soul
comprehends objects of sense through the organs of sense, that is to say, it perceives,
and thence arises a notion: and similarly it comprehends the objects of thought through
the mind, and thence arises a thought. It is then the preservation of the types of these
notions and thoughts that is spoken of as memory. Further, it is worthy of remark that the
apprehension of matters of thought depends on learning, or natural process of thought, and
not on sensation. For though objects of sense are retained in the memory by themselves,
only such objects of thought are remembered as we have learned, and we have no memory of
their essence.

2 Recollection is the name given to the recovery of some memory lost by forgetfulness. For
forgetfulness is just loss of memory. The faculty of imagination then, having apprehended
material objects through the senses, transmits this to the faculty of thought or reason
(for they are both the same), and this after it has received and passed judgment on it,
passes it on to the faculty of memory. Now the organ of memory is the posterior ventricle
of the brain, which the Greeks call the paregkefali/j, and the vital spirit it contains.

CHAPTER XXI.

Concerning Conception and Articulation. Again the reasoning part of the soul is divided
into conception and articulation. Conception is an activity of the soul originating in the
reason without resulting in utterance. Accordingly, often, even when we are silent we run
through a whole speech in our minds, and hold discussions in our dreams. And it is this
faculty chiefly which constitutes us all reasoning beings. For those who are dumb by birth
or have lost their voice through some disease or injury, are just as much reasoning
beings. But articulation by voice or in the different dialects requires energy: that is to
say, the word is articulated by thetongue and mouth, and this is why it is named
articulation. It is, indeed, the messenger of thought, and it is because of it that we are
called speaking beings.


AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH
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AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH continued

CHAPTER XXII.

1 Concerning Passion and Energy. Passion is a word with various meanings. It is used in
regard to the body, anti refers to diseases and wounds, and again, it is used in reference
to the soul, and means desire anti anger. But to speak broadly and generally, passion is
an animal affection which is succeeded by pleasure anti pain. For pain succeeds passion,
but is not the same thing as passion. For passion is an affection of things without sense,
but not so pain. Pain then is not passion, but the sensation of passion: and it must be
considerable, that is to say, it must be great enough to come within the scope of sense.
Again, the definition of passions of the soul is this: Passion is a sensible activity of
the appetitive faculty, depending on the presentation to the mind of something good or
bad. Or in other words, passion is an irrational activity of the soul, resulting from the
notion of something good or bad. For the notion of something good results in desire, and
the notion of something bad results in anger. But passion considered as a class, that is,
passion in general, is defined as a movement in one thing caused by another. Energy, on
the other hand, is a drastic movement, and by "drastic" is meant that which is moved of
itself. Thus, anger is the energy manifested by the part of the soul where anger resides,
whereas passion involves the two divisions of the soul, and in addition the whole body
when it is forcibly impelled to action by anger. For there has been caused movement in one
thing caused by another, and this is called passion.

2 But in another sense energy is spoken of as passion. For energy is a movement in harmony
with nature, whereas passion is a movement at variance with nature. According, then, to
this view, energy may be spoken of as passion when it does not act in accord with nature,
whether its movement is due to itself or to some other thing. Thus, in connection with the
heart, its natural pulsation is energy, whereas its palpitation, which is an excessive and
unnatural movement, is passion and not energy. But it is not every activity of the
passionate part of the soul that is called passion, but only the more violent ones, and
such as are capable of causing sensation: for the minor and unperceived movements are
certainly not passions. For to constitute passion there is necessary a considerable degree
of force, and thus it is on this account that we add to the definition of passion that it
is a sensible activity. For the lesser activities escape the notice of the senses, and do
not cause passion.

3 Observe also that our soul possesses twofold faculties, those of knowledge, and those of
life. The faculties of knowledge are mind, thought, notion, presentation, sensation: and
the vital or appetitive faculties are will and choice. Now, to make what has been said
clearer, let us consider these things more closely, and first let us take the faculties of
knowledge. Presentation and sensation then have already been sufficiently discussed above.
It is sensation that causes a passion, which is called presentation, to arise in the soul,
and from presentation comes notion. Thereafter thought, weighing the truth or falseness of
the notion, determines what is true: and this explains the Greek word for thought,
dia/noia, which is derived from dianoei=n, meaning to think and discriminate. That,
however, which is judged and determined to be true, is spoken of as mind. Or to put it
otherwise: The primary activity of the mind, observe, is intelligence, but intelligence
applied to any object is called a thought, and when this persists and makes on the mind an
impression of the object of thought, it is named reflection, and when reflection dwells on
the same object and puts itself to the test, and closely examines the relation of the
thought to the soul, it gets the name prudence. Further, prudence, when it extends its
area forms the power of reasoning, and is called conception, and this is defined as the
fullest activity of the soul, arising in that part where reason resides, and being devoid
of outward expression: and from it proceeds the uttered word spoken by the tongue. And now
that we have discussed the faculties of knowledge, let us turn to the vital or appetitive
faculties.

4 It should be understood that there is implanted in the soul by nature a faculty of
desiring that which is in harmony with its nature, and of maintaining in close union all
that belongs essentially to its nature: and this power is called will or qe/lhsij. For the
essence both of existence and of living yearns after activity both as regards mind and
sense, and in this it merely longs to realise its own natural and perfect being. And so
this definition also is given of this natural will: will is an appetite, both rational and
vital, depending only on what is natural. So that will is nothing else than the natural
and vital and rational appetite of all things that go to constitute nature, that is, just
the simple faculty. For the appetite of creatures without reason, since it is irrational,
is not called will. Again bou/lhsij or wish is a sort of natural will, that is to say, a
natural and rational appetite for some definite thing. For there is seated in the soul of
man a faculty of rational desire. When, then, this rational desire directs itself
naturally to some definite object it is called wish. For wish is rational desire and
longing for some definite thing.

5 Wish, however, is used both in connection with what is within our power, and in
connection with what is outside our power, that is, both with regard to the possible and
the impossible. For we wish often to indulge lust or to be temperate, or to sleep and the
like, and these are within our power to accomplish, and possible. But we wish also to be
kings, and this is not within our power, or we wish perchance never to die, and this is an
impossibility. 6 The wish then, has reference to the end alone, and not to the means by
which the end is attained. The end is the object of our wish, for instance, to be a king
or to enjoy good health: but the means by which the end is attained, that is to say, the
manner in which we ought to enjoy good health, or reach the rank of king, are the objects
of deliberation. Then after wish follow inquiry and speculation (zh/thsij and ske/yij),
and after these, if the object is anything within our power, comes counsel or deliberation
(boulh/ or bou/leusij): counsel is an appetite for investigating lines of action lying
within our own power. For one deliberates, whether one ought to prosecute any matter or
not, and next, one decides which is the better, and this is called judgment (kri/sij).
Thereafter, one becomes disposed to and forms a liking for that in favour of which
deliberation gave judgment, and this is called inclination (gnw/mh). For should one form a
judgment and not be disposed to or form a liking for the object of that judgment, it is
not called inclination. Then, again, after one has become so disposed, choice or selection
(proai/resij and e0piloge/) comes into play. For choice consists in the choosing and
selecting of one of two possibilities in preference to the other. Then one is impelled to
action, and this is called impulse (o9rmh/): and thereafter it is brought into employment,
and this is called use (xrh=sij). The last stage after we have enjoyed the use is
cessation from desire.

7 In the case, however, of creatures without reason, as soon as appetite is roused for
any-tiring, straightway arises impulse to action. For the appetite of creatures without
reason is irrational, and they are ruled by their natural appetite. Hence, neither the
names of will or wish are applicable to the appetite of creatures without reason. For will
is rational, free and natural desire, and in the case of man, endowed with reason as he
is, the natural appetite is ruled rather than rules For his actions are free, and depend
upon reason, since the faculties of knowledge and life are bound up together in man. He is
free in desire, free in wish, free in examination and investigation, free in deliberation,
free in judgment, free in inclination, free in choice, free in impulse, and free in action
where thai is in accordance with nature. But in the case of God it is to be remembered, we
speak of wish, but it is not correct to speak of choice. For God does not deliberate,
since that is a mark of ignorance, and no one deliberates about what he knows. But if
counsel is a mark of ignorance, surely choice must also be so. God, then, since He has
absolute knowledge of everything, does not deliberate.

8 Nor in the case of the soul of the Lord do we speak of counsel or choice, seeing that He
had no part in ignorance. For, although He was of a nature that is not cognisant of the
future, yet because of His oneness in subsistence with God the Word, He had knowledge of
all things, and that not by grace, but, as we have said, because He was one in
subsistence. For He Himself was both God and Man, and hence He did not possess the will
that acts by opinion or disposition. While He did possess the natural and simple will
which is to be observed equally in all the personalities of men, His holy soul had not
opinion (or, disposition) that is to say, no inclination opposed to His divine will, nor
aught else contrary to His divine will. For opinion (or, disposition) differs as persons
differ, except in the case of the holy and simple and uncompound and indivisible Godhead.
There, indeed, since the subsistences are in nowise divided or separated, neither is the
object of will divided. And there, since there is but one nature, there is also but one
natural will. And again, since the subsistences are unseparated, the three subsistences
have also one object of will, and one activity.

9 In the case of men, however, seeing that their nature is one, their natural will is also
one, but since their subsistences are separated and divided from each other, alike in
place and time, and disposition to things, and in many other respects, for this reason
their acts of will and their opinions are different. But in the case of our Lord Jesus
Christ, since He possesses different natures, His natural wills, that is, His volitional
faculties belonging to Him as God and as Man are also different. But since the subsistence
is one, and He Who exercises the will is one, the object of the will the gnomic will is
also one, His human will evidently following His divine will, and willing that which the
divine will willed it to will. 10 Further note, that will (qe/lhsij_) and wish (bou/lhsij)
are two different things: also the object of will (to\ qelhto/n) and the capacity for will
(qelhtiko/n), and the subject that exercises will (o9 qe/lwn), are all different. For will
is just the simple faculty of willing, whereas wish is will directed to some definite
object. Again, the object of will is the matter underlying the will, that is to say, the
thing that we will: for instance, when appetite is roused for food. The appetite pure and
simple, however, is a rational will. The capacity for will, moreover, means that which
possesses the volitional faculty, for example, man. Further, the subject that exercises
will is the actual person who makes use of will. The word to\ qelh/ma, it is well to note,
sometimes denotes the will, that is, the volitional faculty, and in this sense we speak of
natural will: and sometimes it denotes the object of will, and we speak of will (qe/lehma
gnwmiko/n) depending on inclination.

CHAPTER XXIII.

1 Concerning Energy. All the faculties we have already discussed, both those of knowledge
and those of life, both the natural and the artificial, are, it is to be noted, called
energies. For energy is the natural force and activity of each essence: or again, natural
energy is the activity innate in every essence: and so, clearly, things that have the same
essence have also the same energy, and things that have different natures have also
different energies. For no essence can be devoid of natural energy. Natural energy again
is the force in each essence by which its nature is made manifest. And again: natural
energy is the primal, eternally-moving force of the intelligent soul: that is, the
eternally-moving word of the soul, which ever springs naturally from it. And yet again:
natural energy is the force and activity of each essence which only that which is not
lacks. But actions are also called energies: for instance, speaking, eating, drinking, and
such like. The natural affections also are often called energies, for instance, hunger,
thirst, and so forth. And yet again, the result of the force is also often called energy.

2 Things are spoken of in a twofold way as being potential and actual. For we say that the
child at the breast is a potential scholar, for he is so equipped that, if taught, he will
become a scholar. Further, we speak of a potential and an actual scholar, meaning that the
latter is versed in letters, while the former has the power of interpreting letters, but
does not put it into actual use: again, when we speak of an actual scholar, we mean that
he puts his power into actual use, that is to say, that he really interprets writings. It
is, therefore, to be observed that in the second sense potentiality and actuality go
together; for the scholar is in the one case potential, and in the other actual. The
primal and only true energy of nature is the voluntary or rational and independent life
which constitutes our humanity. I know not how those who rob the Lord of this can say that
He became man.

3 Energy is drastic activity of nature: and by drastic is meant that which is moved of
itself.

CHAPTER XXIV.

1 Concerning what is Voluntary and what is Involuntary. The voluntary implies a certain
definite action, and so-called involuntariness also implies a certain definite action.
Further, many attribute true involuntariness not only to suffering, but even to action. We
must then understand action to be rational energy. Actions are followed by praise or
blame, and some of them are accompanied with pleasure and others with pain; some are to be
desired by the actor, others are to be shunned: further, of those that are desirable, some
are always so, others only at some particular time. And so it is also with those that are
to be shunned. Again, some actions enlist pity and are pardonable, others are hateful and
deserve punishment. Voluntariness, then, is assuredly followed by praise or blame, and
renders the action pleasurable and desirable to the actor, either for all time or for the
moment of its performance. Involuntariness, on the other hand, brings merited pity or
pardon in its train, and renders the act painful and unde sirable to the doer, and makes
him leave it in a state of incompleteness even though force is brought to bear upon him.

2 Further, what is involuntary, depends in part on force and in part on ignorance. It
depends on force when the creative beginning in cause is from without, that is to say,
when one is forced by another without being at all persuaded, or when one does not
contribute to the act on one's own impulse, or does not co-operate at all, or do on one's
own account that which is exacted by force. Thus we may give this definition: "An
involuntary act is one in which the beginning is from without, and where one does not
contribute at all on one's own impulse to that which one is force" And by beginning we
mean the creative cause. All involuntary act depends, on the other hand, on ignorance,
when one is not the cause of the ignorance one's self, but events just so happen. For, if
one commits murder while drunk, it is an act of ignorance, but yet not involuntary: for
one was one's self responsible for the cause of the ignorance, that is to say, the
drunkenness. But if while shooting at the customary range one slew one's father who
happened to be passing by, this would be termed an ignorant and involuntary act.

3 As, then, that which is involuntary is in two parts, one depending on force, the other
on ignorance, that which is voluntary is the opposite of both. For that which is voluntary
is the result neither of force nor of ignorance. A voluntary act, then, is one of which
the beginning or cause originates in an actor, who knows each individual circumstance
through which and in which the action takes place. By "individual" is meant what the
rhetoricians call circumstantial elements: for instance, the actor, the sufferer, the
action (perchance a murder), the instrument, the place, the time, the manner, the reason
of the action. Notice that there are certain things that occupy a place intermediate
between what is voluntary and what is involuntary. Although they are unpleasant and
painful we welcome them as the escape from a still greater trouble; for instance, to
escape shipwreck we cast the cargo overboard.

4 Notice also that children and irrational creatures perform voluntary actions, but these
do not involve the exercise of choice: further, all our actions that are done in anger and
without previous deliberation are voluntary actions, but do not in the least involve free
choice. Also, if a friend suddenly appears on the scene, or if one unexpectedly lights on
a treasure, so far as we are concerned it is quite voluntary, but there is no question of
choice in the matter. For all these things are voluntary, because we desire pleasure from
them, but they do not by any means imply choice, because they are not the result of
deliberation. And deliberation must assuredly precede choice, as we have said above.

CHAPTER XXV.

1 Concerning what is in our own power, that is, concerning Free-will. The first enquiry
involved in the consideration of free-will, that is, of what is in our own power, is
whether anything is in our power: for there are many who deny this. The second is, what
are the things that are in our power, and over what things do we have authority? The third
is, what is the reason for which God Who created us endued us with free-will? So then we
shall take up the first question, and firstly we shall prove that of those things which
even our opponents grant, some are within our power. And let us proceed thus. 2 Of all the
things that happen, the cause is said to be either God, or necessity, or fate, or nature,
or chance, or accident. But God's function has to do with essence and providence:
necessity deals with the movement of things that ever keep to the same course: fate with
the necessary accomplishment of the things it brings to pass (for fate itself implies
necessity): nature with birth, growth, destruction, plants and animals; chance with what
is rare and unexpected. For chance is defined as the meeting and concurrence of two
causes, originating in choice but bringing to pass something other than what is natural:
for example, if a man finds a treasure while digging a ditch: for the man who hid the
treasure did not do so that the other might find it, nor did the finder dig with the
purpose of finding the treasure: but the former hid it that he might take it away when he
wished, and the other's aim was to dig the ditch: whereas something happened quite
different from what both had in view. Accident again deals with casual occurrences that
take place among lifeless or irrational things, apart from nature and art. This then is
their doctrine. Under which, then, of these categories are we to bring what happens
through the agency of man, if indeed man is not the cause and beginning of action? for it
would not be right to ascribe to God actions that are sometimes base and unjust:

3 nor may we ascribe these to necessity, for they are not such as ever continue the same:
nor to fate, for fate implies not possibility only but necessity: nor to nature, for
nature's province is animals and plants: nor to chance, for the actions of men are not
rare and unexpected: nor to accident, for that is used in reference to the casual
occurrences that take place in the world of lifeless and irrational things. We are left
then with this fact, that the man who acts and makes is himself the author of his own
works, and is a creature endowed with free-will. 4 Further, if man is the author of no
action, the faculty of deliberation is quite superfluous for to what purpose could
deliberation be put if man is the master of none of his actions? for all deliberation is
for the sake of action. But to prove that the fairest and most precious of man's
endowments is quite superfluous would be the height of absurdity. If then man deliberates,
he deliberates with a view to action. For all deliberation is with a view to and on
account of action.

CHAPTER XXVI.

1 Concerning Events. Of events some are in our hands, others are not. Those then are in
our hands which we are free to do or not to do at our will, that is all actions that are
done voluntarily (for those actions are not called voluntary the doing of which is not in
our hands), and in a word, all that are followed by blame or praise and depend on motive
and law. Strictly all mental and deliberative acts are in our hands. Now deliberation is
concerned with equal possibilities: and an `equal possibility' is an action that is itself
within our power and its opposite, and our mind makes choice of the alternatives, and this
is the origin of action. The actions, therefore, that are in our hands are these equal
possibilities: e.g. to be moved or not to be moved, to hasten or not to hasten, to long
for unnecessaries or not to do so, to tell lies or not to tell lies, to give or not to
give, to rejoice or not to rejoice as fits the occasion, and all such actions as imply
virtue or vice in their performance, for we are free to do or not to do these at our
pleasure. Amongst equal possibilities also are included the arts, for we have it in our
power to cultivate these or not as we please.

2 Note, however, that while the choice of what is to be done is ever in our power, the
action itself often is prevented by some dispensation of the divine Providence.

CHAPTER XXVII.

1 Concerning the reason of our endowment with Free-will. 2 We hold, therefore, that free-
will comes on the scene at the same moment as reason, and that change and alteration are
congenital to all that is produced. For all that is produced is also subject to change.
For those things must be subject to change whose production has its origin in change. And
change consists in being brought into being out of nothing, and in transforming a
substratum of matter into something different. Inanimate things, then, and things without
reason undergo the aforementioned bodily changes, while the changes of things endowed with
reason depend on choice. For reason consists of a speculative and a practical part. The
speculative part is the contemplation of the nature of things, and the practical consists
in deliberation and defines the true reason for what is to be done. The speculative side
is called mind or wisdom, and the practical side is called reason or prudence. Every one,
then, who deliberates does so in the belief that the choice of what is to be done lies in
his hands, that he may choose what seems best as the result of his deliberation, and
having chosen may act upon it. And if this is so, free-will must necessarily be very
closely related to reason. For either man is an irrational being, or, if he is rational,
he is master of his acts and endowed with free-will. Hence also creatures without reason
do not enjoy free-will: for nature leads them rather than they nature, and so they do not
oppose the natural appetite, but as soon as their appetite longs after anything they rush
headlong after it. But man, being rational, leads nature rather than nature him, and so
when he desires aught he has the power to curb his appetite or to indulge it as he
pleases. Hence also creatures devoid of reason are the subjects neither of praise nor
blame, while man is the subject of both praise and blame.

3 Note also that the angels, being rational, are endowed with free-will, and, inasmuch as
they are created, are liable to change. This in fact is made plain by the devil who,
although made good by the Creator, became of his own free-will the inventor of evil, and
by the powers who revolted with him that is the demons, and by the other troops of angels
who abode in goodness.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Concerning what is not in our hands. Of things that are not in our hands some have their
beginning or cause in those that are in our power, that is to say, the recompenses of our
actions both in the present and in the age to come, but all the rest are dependent on the
divine will. For the origin of all things is from God, but their destruction has been
introduced by our wickedness for our punishment or benefit. For God did not create death,
neither does He take delight in the destruction of living things. But death is the work
rather of man, that is, its origin is in Adam's transgression, in like manner as all other
punishments. But all other things must be referred to God. For our birth is to be referred
to His creative power; and our continuance to His conservative power; and our government
and safety to His providential power; and the eternal enjoyment of good things by those
who preserve the laws of nature in which we are formed is to be ascribed to His goodness.
But since some deny the existence of Providence, let us further devote a few words to the
discussion of Providence.

CHAPTER XXIX.

1 Concerning Providence. Providence, then, is the care that God takes over existing
things. And again: Providence is the will of God through which all existing things receive
their fitting issue. But if Providence is God's will, according to true reasoning all
things that come into being through Providence must necessarily be both most fair and most
excellent, and such that they cannot be surpassed. For the same person must of necessity
be creator of and provider for what exists: for it is not meet nor fitting that the
creator of what exists and the provider should be separate persons. For in that case they
would both assuredly be deficient, the one in creating, the other in providing. God
therefore is both Creator and Provider, and His creative and preserving and providing
power is simply His good-will. For whatsoever the Lord pleased that did He in heaven and
in earth and no one resisted His will. He willed that all things should be and they were.
He wills the universe to be framed and it is framed, and all that He wills comes to pass.

2 That He provides, and that He provides excellently one can most readily perceive thus.
God alone is good and wise by nature. Since then He is good, He provides: for he who does
not provide is not good. For even men and creatures without reason provide for their own
offspring according to their nature, and he who does not provide is blamed. Again, since
He is wise, He takes the best care over what exists. When, therefore, we give heed to
these things we ought to be filled with wonder at all the works of Providence, and praise
them all and accept them all without enquiry, even though they are in the eyes of many
unjust, because the Providence of God is beyond our ken and comprehension, while our
reasonings and actions and the future are revealed to His eyes alone. And by "all" I mean
those that are not in our hands: for those that are in our power are outside the sphere of
Providence and within that of our Free-will.

3 Now the works of Providence are partly according to the good-will (of God) and partly
according to permission. Works of good-will include alL those that are undeniably good,
while works of permission are …. For Providence often permits the just man to encounter
misfortune in order that he may reveal to otHers the virtue that lies concealed within him
as was the case with Job. At other times it allows something strange to be done in order
that something great and marvellous might be accomplished through the seemingly-strange
act, as when the salvation of men was brought about through the Cross. In another way it
allows the pious man to suffer sore trials in order that he may not depart from a right
conscience nor lapse into pride on account of the power and grace granted to him, as was
the case with Paul. 4 One man is forsaken for a season with a view to another's
restoration, in order that others when they see his state may be taught a lesson as in the
case of Lazarus and the rich man. For it belongs to our nature to be east down when we see
persons in distress. Another is deserted by Providence in order that another may be
glorified, and not for his own sin or that of his parents, just as the man who was blind
from his birth ministered to the glory of the Son of Man. Again another is permitted to
suffer in order to stir up emulation in the breasts of others, so that others by
magnifying the glory of the sufferer may resolutely welcome suffering in the hope of
future glory and the desire for future blessings, as in the case of the martyrs. Another
is allowed to fall at times into some act of baseness in order that another worse fault
may be thus corrected, as for instance when God allows a man who takes pride in his virtue
and righteousness to fall away into fornication in order that he may be brought through
this fall into the perception of his own weakness and be humbled and approach and make
confession to the Lord.

5 Moreover, it is to be observed that the choice of what is to be done is in our own
hands: but the final issue depends, in the one case when our actions are good, on the
cooperation of God, Who in His justice brings help according to His foreknowledge to such
as choose the good with a right conscience, and, in the other case when our actions are to
evil, on the desertion by God, Who again in His justice stands aloof in accordance with
His foreknowledge. Now there are two forms of desertion: for there is desertion in the
matters of guidance and training, and there is complete and hopeless desertion. The former
has in view the restoration and safety and glory of the sufferer, or the rousing of
feelings of emulation and imitation in others, or the glory of God: but the latter is when
man, after God has done all that was possible to save him, remains of his own set purpose
blind and uncured, or rather incurable, and then he is handed over to utter destruction,
as was Judas. May God be gracious to us, and deliver us from such desertion.

6 Observe further that the ways of God's providence are many, and they cannot be explained
in words nor conceived by the mind. And remember that all the assaults of dark and evil
fortune contribute to the salvation of those who receive them with thankfulness, and are
assuredly ambassadors of help. Also one must bear in mind that God's original wish was
that all should be saved and come to His Kingdom. For it was not for punishment that He
formed us but to share in His goodness, inasmuch as He is a good God. But inasmuch as He
is a just God, His will is that sinners should suffer punishment. The first then is called
God's antecedent will and pleasure, and springs from Himself, while the second is called
God's consequent will and permission, and has its origin in us. And the latter is two-
fold; one part dealing with matters of guidance and training, and having in view our
salvation, and the other being hopeless and leading to our utter punishment, as we said
above. And this is the case with actions that are not left in our hands.

7 But of actions that are in our hands the good ones depend on His antecedent goodwill and
pleasure, while the wicked ones depend neither on His antecedent nor on His consequent
will, but are a concession to free-will For that which is the result of compulsion has
neither reason nor virtue in it. God makes provision for all creation and makes all
creation the instrument of His help and training, yea often even the demons themselves, as
for example in the cases of Job and the swine.

CHAPTER XXX.

1 Concerning Prescience and Predestination. We ought to understand that while God knows
all things beforehand, yet He does not predetermine all things. For He knows beforehand
those things that are in our power, but He does not predetermine them. For it is not His
will that there should be wickedness nor does He choose to compel virtue. So that
predetermination is the work of the divine command based on fore-knowledge. But on the
other hand God predetermines those things which are not within our power in accordance
with His prescience. For already God in His prescience has prejudged all things in
accordance with His goodness and justice. Bear in mind, too that virtue is a gift from God
implanted in our nature, and that He Himself is the source and cause of all good, and
without His co-operation and help we cannot will or do any good thing, But we have it in
our power either to abide in virtue and follow God, Who calls us into ways of virtue, or
to stray from paths of virtue, which is to dwell in wickedness, and to follow the devil
who summons but cannot compel us. For wickedness is nothing else than the withdrawal of
goodness, just as darkness is nothing else than the withdrawal of light While then we
abide in the natural state we abide in virtue, but when we deviate from the natural state,
that is from virtue, we come into an unnatural state and dwell in wickedness.

2 Repentance is the returning from the unnatural into the natural state, from the devil to
God, through discipline and effort. Man then the Creator made male, giving him to share in
His own divine grace, and bringing him thus into communion with Himself: and thus it was
that he gave in the manner of a prophet the names to living flyings, with authority as
though they were given to be his slaves. For having been endowed with reason and mind, and
free-will after the image of God, he was filly entrusted with dominion over earthly things
by the common Creator and Master of all. But since God in His prescience knew that man
would transgress and become liable to destruction, He made from him a female to be a help
to him like himself; a help, indeed, for the conservation of the race after the
transgression from age to age by generation. For the earliest formation is called `making'
and not `generation.' For `making' is the original formation at God's hands, while
`generation' is the succession from each Other made necessary by the sentence of death
imposed on us on account of the transgression.

3 This man He placed in Paradise, a home that was alike spiritual and sensible. For he
lived in the body on the earth in the realm of sense, while he dwelt in the spirit among
the angels, cultivating divine thoughts, and being supported by them: living in naked
simplicity a life free from artificiality, and being led up through His creations to the
one and only Creator, in Whose contemplation he found joy and gladness. When therefore He
had furnished his nature with free-will, He imposed a law on him, not to taste of the tree
of knowledge. Concerning this tree, we have said as much as is necessary in the chapter
about Paradise, at least as much as it was in our power to say. And with this command He
gave the promise that, if he should preserve the dignity of the soul by giving the victory
to reason, and acknowledging his Creator and observing His command, he should share
eternal blessedness and live to all eternity, proving mightier than death: but if forsooth
he should subject the soul to the body, and prefer the delights of the body, comparing
himself in ignorance of his true dignity to the senseless beasts and shaking off Iris
Creator's yoke, and neglecting His divine injunction, he will be liable to death and
corruption, and will be compelled to labour throughout a miserable life. For it was no
profit to man to obtain incorruption while still untried and unproved, lest he should fall
into pride and under the judgment of the devil. For through his incorruption the devil,
when he had fallen as the result of his own free choice, was firmly established in
wickedness, so that there was no room for repentance and no hope of change: just as,
moreover, the angels also, when they had made free choice of virtue became through grace
immoveably rooted in goodness.

4 It was necessary, therefore, that man should first be put to the test (for man untried
and unproved would be worth nothing ), and being made perfect by the trial through the
observance of the command should thus receive incorruption as the prize of his virtue. For
being intermediate between God and matter he was destined, if he kept the command, to be
delivered from his natural relation to existing things and to be made one with God's
estate, and to be immoveably established in goodness, but, if he transgressed and inclined
the rather to what was material, and tore his mind from the Author of his being, I mean
God, his fate was to be corruption, and he was to become subject to passion instead of
passionless, and mortal instead of immortal, and dependent on connection and unsettled
generation. And in his desire for life he would cling to pleasures as though they were
necessary to maintain it, and would fearlessly abhor those who sought to deprive him of
these, and transfer his desire from God to matter, and his anger from the real enemy of
his salvation to his own brethren. The envy of the devil then was the reason of man's
fall. For that same demon, so full of envy and with such a hatred of good, would not
suffer us to enjoy the pleasures of heaven, when he himself was kept below on account of
his arrogance, and hence the false one tempts miserable man with the hope of Godhead, and
leading him up to as great a height of arrogance as himself, he hurls him down into a pit
of destruction just as deep.


AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH
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AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH continued

BOOK 3

1 Book III. Chapter I. Concerning the Divine Oeconomy and God’s care over us, and
concerning our salvation. 2 Man, then, was thus snared by the assault of the arch-fiend,
and broke his Creator’s command, and was stripped of grace and put off his confidence with
God, and covered himself with the asperities of a toilsome life (for this is the meaning
of the fig-leaves1 ); and was clothed about with death, that is, mortality and the
grossness of flesh (for this is what the garment of skins signifies); and was banished
from Paradise by God’s just judgment, and condemned to death, and made subject to
corruption. Yet, notwithstanding all this, in His pity, God, Who gave him his being, and
Who in His graciousness bestowed on him a life of happiness, did not disregard man2. But
He first trained him in many ways and called him back, by groans and trembling, by the
deluge of water, and the utter destruction of almost the whole race3 by confusion and
diversity of tongues4 by the rule5 of angels6 by the burning of cities7 by figurative
manifestations of God, by wars and victories and defeats, by signs and wonders, by
manifold faculties, by the law and the prophets: for by all these means God earnestly
strove to emancipate man from the wide-spread and enslaving bonds of sin, which had made
life such a mass of iniquity, and to effect man’s return to a life of happiness. For it
was sin that brought death like a wild and savage beast into the world8 to the ruin of the
human life.

3 But it behoved the Redeemer to be without sin, and not made liable through sin to death,
and further, that His nature should be strengthened and renewed, and trained by labour and
taught the way of virtue which leads away from corruption to the life eternal and, in the
end, is revealed the mighty ocean of love to man that is about Him9. For the very Creator
and Lord Himself undertakes a struggle in behalf of the work of His own hands, and learns
by toil to become Master. And since the enemy snares man by the hope of Godhead, he
himself is snared in turn by the screen of flesh, and so are shown at once the goodness
and wisdom, the justice and might of God. God’s goodness is revealed in that He did not
disregard the frailty of His own handiwork, but was moved with compassion for him in his
fall, and stretched forth His hand to him: and His justice in that when man was overcome
He did not make another victorious over the tyrant, nor did He snatch man by might from
death, but in His goodness and justice He made him, who had become through his sins the
slave of death, himself once more conqueror and rescued like by like, most difficult
though it seemed: and His wisdom is seen in His devising the most fitting solution of the
difficulty.

4 For by the good pleasure of our God and Father, the Only-begotten Son and Word of God
and God, Who is in the bosom of the God and Father of like essence with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, Who was before the ages, Who is without beginning and was in the beginning,
Who is in the presence of the God and Father, and is God and made in the form of God bent
the heavens and descended to earth: that is to say, He humbled without humiliation His
lofty station which yet could not be humbled, and condescends to His servants with a
condescension ineffable and incomprehensible: (for that is what the descent signifies).
And God being perfect becomes perfect man, and brings to perfection the newest of all new
things the only new thing under the Sun, through which the boundless might of God is
manifested. For what greater thing is there, than that God should become Man? And the Word
became flesh without being changed, of the Holy Spirit, and Mary the holy and ever-virgin
one, the mother of God. And He acts as mediator between God and man, He theonly lover of
man conceived in the Virgin’s chaste womb without will or desire, or any connection with
man or pleasurable generation, but through the Holy Spirit and the first offspring of
Adam.

5 And He becomes obedient to the Father Who is like unto us, and finds a remedy for our
disobedience in what He had assumed from us, and became a pattern of obedience to us
without which it is not possible to obtain salvation. 6 Chapter II. Concerning the manner
in which the Word was conceived, and concerning His divine incarnation. The angel of the
Lord was sent to the holy Virgin, who was descended from David’s line. For it is evident
that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe no one turned his attention to the altar
as the divine apostle said: but about this we will speak more accurately later. And
bearing glad tidings to her, he said, Hail thou highly favoured one, the Lord is with
thee. And she was troubled at his word, and the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary, for
thou hast found favour with God, and shalt bring forth a Son and shalt call His name
Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins. Hence it comes that Jesus has the
interpretation Saviour. And when she asked in her perplexity, How can this be, seeing I
know not a man? the angel again answered her, The Holy Spirit shall came upon thee, and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And she said to him, Behold the handmaid
of the Lord: be it unto me according to Thy word.

7 So then, after the assent of the holy Virgin, the Holy Spirit descended on her,
according to the word of the Lord which the angel spoke, purifying her and granting her
power to receive the divinity of the Word, and likewise power to bring forth. And then was
she overshadowed by the enhypostatic Wisdom and Power of the most high God, the Son of God
Who is of like essence with the Father as of Divine seed, and from her holy and most pure
blood He formed flesh animated with the spirit of reason and thought, the first-fruits of
our compound nature: not by procreation but by creation through the Holy Spirit: not
developing the fashion of the body by gradual additions but perfecting it at once, He
Himself, the very Word of God, standing to the flesh in the relation of subsistence. For
the divine Word was not made one with flesh that had an independent pre-existence but
taking up His abode in the womb of the holy Virgin, He unreservedly in His own subsistence
took upon Himself through the pure blood of the eternal Virgin a body of flesh animated
with the spirit of reason and thought, thus assuming to Himself the first-fruits of man’s
compound nature, Himself, the Word, having become a subsistence in the flesh. So that He
is at once flesh, and at the same time flesh of God the Word, and likewise flesh animated,
possessing both reason and thought.

8 Wherefore we speak not of man as having become God, but of God as having become Man. For
being by nature perfect God, He naturally became likewise perfect Man: and did not change
His nature nor make the dispensation an empty show, but became, without confusion or
change or division, one in subsistence with the flesh, which was conceived of the holy
Virgin, and animated with reason and thought, and had found existence in Him, while He did
not change the nature of His divinity into the essence of flesh, nor the essence of flesh
into the nature of His divinity, and did not make one compound nature out of His divine
nature and the human nature He had assumed. 9 Chapter III. Concerning Christ’s two
natures, in apposition to those who hold that He has only one. For the two natures were
united with each other without change or alteration, neither the divine nature departing
from its native simplicity, nor yet the human being either changed into the nature of God
or reduced to non-existence, nor one compound nature being produced out of the two. For
the compound nature cannot be of the same essence as either of the natures out of which it
is compounded, as made one thing out of others: for example, the body is composed of the
four elements, but is not of the same essence as fire or air, or water or earth, nor does
it keep these names. If, therefore, after the union, Christ’s nature was, as the heretics
hold, a compound unity, He had changed from a simple into a compound nature and is not of
the same essence as the Father Whose nature is simple, nor as the mother, who is not a
compound of divinity and humanity. Nor will He then be in divinity and humanity: nor will
He be called either God or Man, but simply Christ: and the word Christ will be the name
not of the subsistence, but of what in their view is the one nature.

10 We, however, do not give it as our view that Christ’s nature is compound, nor yet that
He is one thing made of other things and differing from them as man is made of sold and
body, or as the body is made of the four elements, but hold that, though He is constituted
of these different parts He is yet the same. For we confess that He alike in His divinity
and in His humanity both is and is said to be perfect God, the same Being, and that He
consists of two natures, and exists in two natures. Further, by the word “Christ” we
understand the name of the subsistence, not in the sense of one kind, but as signifying
the existence of two natures. For in His own person He anointed Himself; as God anointing
His body with His own divinity, and as Man being anointed. For He is Himself both God and
Man. And the anointing is the divinity of His humanity. For if Christ, being of one
compound nature, is of like essence to the Father, then the Father also must be compound
and of like essence with the flesh, which is absurd and extremely blasphemous.

11 How, indeed, could one and the same nature come to embrace opposing and essential
differences? For how is it possible that the same nature should be at once created and
uncreated, mortal and immortal, circumscribed and uncircumscribed? But if those who
declare that Christ has only one nature should say also that that nature is a simple one,
they must admit either that He is God pure and simple, and thus reduce the incarnation to
a mere pretence, or that He is only man, according to Nestorius. And how then about His
being “perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity”? And when can Christ be said to be of
two natures, if they hold that He is of one composite nature after the union? For it is
surely clear to every one that before the union Christ’s nature was one. But this is what
leads the heretics astray, viz., that they look upon nature and subsistence as the same
thing. For when we speak of the nature of men as one observe that in saying this we are
not looking to the question of soul and body. For when we compare together the soul and
the body it cannot be said that they are of one nature. But since there are very many
subsistences of men, and yet all have the same kind of nature: for all are composed of
soul and body, and all have part in the nature of the soul, and possess the essence of the
body, and the common form: we speak of the one nature of these very many and different
subsistences; while each subsistence, to wit, has two natures, and fulfils itself in two
natures, namely, soul and body.

12 But a common form cannot be admitted in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ. For neither
was there ever, nor is there, nor will there ever be another Christ constituted of deity
and humanity, and existing in deity and humanity at once perfect God and perfect man. And
thus in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ we cannot speak of one nature made up of
divinity and humanity, as we do in the case of the individual made up of soul and body.
For in the latter case we have to do with an individual, but Christ is not an individual.
For there is no predicable form of Christlihood, so to speak, that He possesses. And
therefore we hold that there has been a union of two perfect natures, one divine and one
human; not with disorder or confusion, or intermixture or commingling, as is said by the
God-accursed Dioscorus and by Eutyches and Severus, and all that impious company: and not
in a personal or relative manner, or as a matter of dignity or agreement in will, or
equality in honour, or identity in name, or good pleasure, as Nestorius, hated of God,
said, and Diodorus and Theodorus of Mopsuestia, and their diabolical tribe: but by
synthesis; that is, in subsistence, without change or confusion or alteration or
difference or separation, and we confess that in two perfect natures there is but one
subsistence of the Son of God incarnate;

13 holding that there is one and the same subsistence belong ing to His divinity and His
humanity, and granting that the two natures are preserved in Him after the union, but we
do not hold that each is separate and by itself, but that they are united to each other in
one compound subsistence. For we look upon the union as essential, that is, as true and
not imaginary. We say that it is essential moreover, not in the sense of two natures
resulting in one compound nature, but in the sense of a true union of them in one compound
subsistence of the Son of God, and we hold that their essential difference is preserved.
For the created remaineth created, and the uncreated, uncreated: the mortal remaineth
mortal; the immortal, immortal: the circumscribed, circumscribed: the uncircumscribed,
uncircumscribed: the visible, visible: the invisible, invisible. “The one part is all
glorious with wonders: while the other is the victim of insults.”

14 Moreover, the Word appropriates to Himself the attributes of humanity: for all that
pertains to His holy flesh is His: and He imparts to the flesh His own attributes by way
of communication in virtue of the interpenetration of the parts one with another, and the
oneness according to subsistence, and inasmuch as He Who lived and acted both as God and
as man, taking to Himself either form and holding intercourse with the other form, was one
and the same. Hence it is that the Lord of Glory is said to have been crucified although
His divine nature never endured the Cross, and that the Son of Man is allowed to have been
in heaven before the Passion, as the Lord Himself said. For the Lord of Glory is one and
the same with Him Who is in nature and in truth the Son of Man, that is, Who became man,
and both His wonders and His sufferings are known to us, although His wonders were worked
in His divine capacity, and His sufferings endured as man. For we know that, just as is
His one subsistence, so is the essential difference of the nature preserved. For how could
difference be preserved if the very things that differ from one another are not preserved?
For difference is the difference between things that differ. In so far as Christ’s natures
differ from one another, that is, in the matter of essence, we hold that Christ unites in
Himself two extremes:

15 in respect of His divinity He is connected with the Father and the Spirit, while in
respect of His humanity He is connected with His mother and all mankind. And in so far as
His natures are united, we hold that He differs from the Father and the Spirit on the one
hand, and from the mother and the rest of mankind on the other. For the natures are united
in His subsistence, having one compound subsistence, in which He differs from the Father
and the Spirit, and also from the mother and us. 16 Chapter IV. Concerning the manner of
the Mutual Communication. Now we have often said already that essence is one thing and
subsistence another, and that essence signifies the common and general form of
subsistences of the same kind, such as God, man, while subsistence marks the individual,
that is to say, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, or Peter, Paul. Observe, then, that the names,
divinity and humanity, denote essences or natures: while the names, God and man, are
applied both in connection with natures, as when we say that God is incomprehensible
essence, and that God is one, and with reference to subsistences, that which is more
specific having the name of the more general applied to it, as when the Scripture says,
Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee or again, There was a certain man in the land
of Uz for it was only to Job that reference was made.

17 Therefore, in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, seeing that we recognise that He has
two natures but only one subsistence compounded of both, when we contemplate His natures
we speak of His divinity and His humanity, but when we contemplate the subsistence
compounded of the natures we sometimes use terms that have reference to His double nature,
as “Christ,” and “at once God and man,” and “God Incarnate;” and sometimes those that
imply only one of His natures, as “God” alone, or “Son of God,” and “man” alone, or “Son
of Man;” sometimes using names that imply His loftiness and sometimes those that imply His
lowliness. For He Who is alike God and man is one, being the former from the Father ever
without cause, but having become the latter afterwards for His love towards man. 18 When,
then, we speak of His divinity we do not ascribe to it the properties of humanity. For we
do not say that His divinity is subject to passion or created. Nor, again, do we predicate
of His flesh or of His humanity the properties of divinity: for we do not say that His
flesh or His humanity is uncreated. But when we speak of His subsistence, whether we give
it a name implying both natures, or one that refers to only one of them, we still
attribute to it the properties of both natures. For Christ, which name implies both
natures, is spoken of as at once God and man, created and uncreated, subject to suffering
anti incapable of suffering: and when He is named Son of God and God, in reference to only
one of His natures, He still keeps the properties of the co-existing nature, that is, the
flesh, being spoken of as God who suffers, and as the Lord of Glory crucified not in
respect of His being God but in respect of His being at the same time man. Likewise also
when He is called Man and Son of Man, He still keeps the properties and glories of the
divine nature, a child before the ages, and man who knew no beginning; it is not, however,
as child or man but as God that He is before the ages, and became a child in the end. And
Ibis is the manner of the mutual communication, either nature giving in exchange to the
other its own properties through the identity of the subsistence and the interpenetration
of the parts with one another. Accordingly we can say of Christ: This our God was seen
upon the earth and lived amongst men and This man is uncreated and impossible and
uncircumscribed.

19 Chapter V. Concerning the number of the Natures. 20 In the case, therefore, of the
Godhead we confess that there is but one nature, but hold that there are three
subsistences actually existing, anti hold that all things that are of nature and essence
are simple, and recognise the difference of the subsistences only in the three properties
of independence of cause and Fatherhood, of dependence on cause and Sonship, of dependence
on cause and procession. And we know further that these are indivisible and inseparable
from each other and united into one, and interpenetrating one another without confusion.
Yea, I repeat, united without confusion, for they are three although united, and they are
distinct, although inseparable. For although each has an independent existence, that is to
say, is a perfect subsistence and has an individuality of its own, that is, has a special
mode of existence, yet they are one in essence and in the natural properties. and in being
inseparable and indivisible from the Father’s subsistence, and they both are and are said
to be one God. In the very same way, then, in the case of the divine and ineffable
dispensation exceeding all thought and comprehension, I mean the Incarnation of the One
God the Word of the Holy Trinity, and our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that there are two
natures, one divine and one human, joined together with one another and united in
subsistence so that one compound subsistence is formed out of the two natures:

21 but we hold that the two natures are still preserved, even after the union, in the one
compound subsistence, that is, in the one Christ, and that these exist in reality and have
their natural properties; for they are united without confusion, and are distinguished and
enumerated without being separable. And just as the three subsistences of the Holy Trinity
are united without confusion, and are distinguished and enumerated without being separable
the enumeration not entailing division or separation or alienation or cleavage among them
(for we recognise one God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), so in the same way the
natures of Christ also, although they are united, yet are united without confusion; and
although they interpenetrate one another, yet they do not permit of change or
transmutation of one into the other. For each keeps its own natural individuality strictly
unchanged. And thus it is that they can be enumerated without the enumeration introducing
division. For Christ, indeed, is one, perfect both in divinity and in humanity. For it is
not the nature of number to cause separation or unity, but its nature is to indicate the
quantity of what is enumerated, whether these are united or separated: for we have unity,
for instance, when fifty stones compose a wall, but we have separation when the fifty
stones lie on the ground;

22 and again, we have unity when we speak of coal having two natures, namely, fire and
wood, but we have separation in that the nature of fire is one thing, and the nature of
wood another thing; for these things are united and separated not by number, but in
another way. So, then, just as even though the three subsistences of the Godhead are
united with each other, we cannot speak of them as one subsistence because we should
confuse and do away with the difference between the subsistences, so also we cannot speak
of the two natures of Christ as one nature, united though they are in subsistence, because
we should then confuse and do away with and reduce to nothing the difference between the
two natures. 23 Chapter. VI. That in one of its subsistences the divine nature is united
in its entirety to the human nature, in its entirety and not only part to part. What is
common and general is predicated of the included particulars. Essence, then, is common as
being a form while subsistence is particular. It is particular not as though it had part
of the nature and had not the rest, but particular in a numerical sense, as being
individual. For it is in number and not in nature that the difference between subsistences
is said to lie. Essence, therefore, is predicated of subsistence, because in each
subsistence of the same form the essence is perfect. Wherefore subsistences do not differ
from each other in essence but in the accidents which indeed are the characteristic
properties, but characteristic of subsistence and not of nature. For indeed they define
subsistence as essence along with accidents. So that the subsistence contains both the
general and the particular, and has an independent existence while essence has not an
independent existence but is contemplated in the subsistences. Accordingly when one of the
subsistences suffers, the whole essence, being capable of suffering is held to have
suffered in one of its subsistences as much as the subsistence suffered, but it does not
necessarily follow, however, that all the subsistences of the same class should suffer
along with the suffering subsistence.

24 Thus, therefore, we confess that the nature of the Godhead is wholly and perfectly in
each of its subsistences, wholly in the Father, wholly in the Son, and wholly in the Holy
Spirit. Wherefore also the Father is perfect God, the Son is perfect God, and the Holy
Spirit is perfect God. In like manner, too, in the Incarnation of the Trinity of the One
God the Word of the Holy Trinity, we hold that in one of its subsistences the nature of
the Godhead is wholly and perfectly united with the whole nature of humanity, and not part
united to part. The divine Apostle in truth says that in Him dwelleth all the fulness of
the Godhead bodily that is to say in His flesh. And His divinely-inspired disciple,
Dionysius, who had so deep a knowledge of things divine, said that the Godhead as a whole
had fellowship with us in one of its own subsistences. But we shall not be driven to hold
that all the subsistences of the Holy Godhead, to wit the three, are made one in
subsistence with all the subsistences of humanity. For in no other respect did the Father
and the Holy Spirit take part in the incarnation of God the Word than according to good
will and pleasure But we hold that to the whole of human nature the whole essence of the
Godhead was united. For God the Word omitted none of the things which He implanted in our
nature when He formed us in the beginning, but took them all upon Himself, body and soul
both intelligent and rational, and all their properties. For the creature that is devoid
of one of these is not man. But He in His fulness took upon Himself me in my fulness, and
was united whole to whole that He might in His grace bestow salvation on the whole man.
For what has not been taken cannot be healed.

25 The Word of God then, was united to flesh through the medium of mind which is
intermediate between the purity of God and the grossness of flesh. For the mind holds sway
over soul and body, but while the mind is the purest part of the soul God is that of the
mind. And when it is allowed by that which is more excellent, the mind of Christ gives
proof of its own authority but it is under the dominion of and obedient to that which is
more excellent, and does those things which the divine will purposes. Further the mind has
become the seat of the divinity united with it in subsistence, just as is evidently the
case with the body too, not as an inmate which is the impious error into which the
heretics fall when they say that one bushel cannot contain two bushels, for they are
judging what is immaterial by material standards. How indeed could Christ be called
perfect God and perfect man, and be said to be of like essence with the Father and with
us, if only part of the divine nature is joined in Him to part of the human nature?

26 We hold, moreover, that our nature has been raised from the dead and has ascended to
the heavens and taken its seat at the right hand of the Father: not that all the persons
of men have risen from the dead and taken their seat at the right hand of the Father, but
that this has happened to the whole of our nature in the subsistence of Christ. Verily the
divine Apostle says, God hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Christ.
And this further we hold, that the union took place through common essences. For every
essence is common to the subsistences contained in it, and there cannot be found a partial
and particular nature, that is to say, essence: for otherwise we would have to hold that
the same subsistences are at once the same and different in essence, and that the Holy
Trinity in respect of the divinity is at once the same and different in essence. So then
the same nature is to be observed in each of the subsistences, and when we said that the
nature of the word became flesh, as did the blessed Athanasius and Cyrillus, we mean that
the divinity was joined to the flesh. Hence we cannot say “The nature of the Word
suffered;” for the divinity in it did not suffer, but we say that the human nature, not by
any means, however, meaning all the subsistences of men, suffered in Christ, and we
confess further that Christ suffered in His human nature. So that when we speak of the
nature of the Word we mean the Word Himself. And the Word has both the general element of
essence and the particular element of subsistence.

27 Chapter VII. Concerning the one compound subsistence of God the Word. We hold then that
the divine subsistence of God the Word existed before all else and is without time and
eternal, simple and uncompound, uncreated, incorporeal, invisible, intangible,
uncircumscribed, possessing all the Father possesses, since He is of the same essence with
Him, differing from the Father’s subsistence in the manner of His generation and the
relation of the Father’s subsistence, being perfect also and at no time separated from the
Father’s subsistence: and in these last. days, without leaving the Father’s bosom, took up
His abode in an uncircumscribed manner in the womb of the holy Virgin, without the
instrumentality of seed, and in an incomprehensible manner known only to Himself, and
causing the flesh derived from the holy Virgin to subsist in the very subsistence that was
before all the ages. 28 So then He was both in all things and above all things and also
dwelt in the womb of the holy Mother of God, but in it by the energy of the incarnation.
He therefore became flesh and He took upon Himself thereby the first-fruits of our
compound nature viz., the flesh animated with the intelligent and national soul, so that
the very subsistence of God the Word was changed into the subsistence of the flesh, and
the subsistence of the Word, which was formerly simple, became compound yea compounded of
two perfect natures, divinity and humanity, and bearing the characteristic and distinctive
property of the divine Sonship of God the Word in virtue of which it is distinguished from
the Father and the Spirit, and also the characteristic and distinctive properties of the
flesh, in virtue of which it differs from the Mother and the rest of mankind, bearing
further the properties of the divine nature in virtue of which it is united to the Father
and the Spirit, and the marks of the human nature in virtue of which it is united to the
Mother and to us. And further it differs from the Father and the Spirit and the Mother and
us in being at once God and man. For this we know to be the most special property of the
subsistence of Christ.

29 Wherefore we confess Him, even after the incarnation, the one Son of God, and likewise
Son of Man, one Christ, one Lord, the only-begotten Son and Word of God, one Lord Jesus.
We reverence His two generations, one from the Father before time and beyond cause and
reason and time and nature, and one in the end for our sake, and like to us and above us;
for our sake because it was for our salvation, like to us in that He was man born of woman
at full tithe and above us because it was not by seed, but by the Holy Spirit and the Holy
Virgin Mary transcending the laws of parturition. We proclaim Him not as God only, devoid
of our humanity, nor yet as man only, stripping Him of His divinity, nor as two distinct
persons, but as one and the same, at once God and man, perfect God and perfect man, wholly
God anti wholly man, the same being wholly God, even though He was also flesh and wholly
man, even though He was also most high God. And by “perfect God” and “perfect man” we mean
to emphasize the fulness and unfailingness of the natures: while by “wholly God” and
“wholly man” we mean to lay stress on the singularity and individuality of the
subsistence.

30 And we confess also that there is one incarnate nature of God the Word, expressing by
the word “incarnate “ the essence of the flesh, according to the blessed Cyril. And so the
Word was made flesh and yet did not abandon His own proper immateriality: He became wholly
flesh and yet remained wholly uncircumscribed. So far as He is body He is diminished and
contracted into narrow limits, but inasmuch as He is God He is uncircumscribed, His flesh
not being coextensive with His uncircumscribed divinity. He is then wholly perfect God,
but yet is not simply God: for He is not only God but also man. And He is also wholly
perfect man but not simply man, for He is not only man but also God. For “simply “ here
has reference to His nature, and “wholly “ to His subsistence, just as “another thing”
would refer to nature, while “another “ would refer to subsistence.

31 But observe that although we hold that the natures of the Lord permeate one another,
yet we know that the permeation springs from the divine nature. For it is that that
penetrates and permeates all things, as it wills, while nothing penetrates it: and it is
it, too, that imparts to the flesh its own peculiar glories, while abiding itself
impossible and without participation in the affections of the flesh. For if the sun
imparts to us his energies and yet does not participate in ours, how much the rather must
this be true of the Creator anti Lord of the Sun. Chapter VIII. In reply to those who ask
whether the natures of the Lord are brought under a continuous or a discontinuous
quantity. If any one asks concerning the natures of the Lord if they are brought under a
continuous or discontinuous quantity we will say that the natures of the Lord are neither
one body nor one superficies nor one line, nor time, nor place, so as to be reduced to a
continuous quantity. For these are the things that are reckoned continuously.

32 Further note that number deals with things that differ, and it is quite impossible to
enumerate things that differ from one another in no respect: and just so far as they
differ are they enumerated: for instance, Peter and Paul are not counted separately in so
far as they are one. For since they are one in respect of their essence they cannot be
spoken of as two natures, but as they differ in respect of subsistence they are spoken of
as two subsistences. So that number deals with differences, and just as the differing
objects differ from one another so far they are enumerated. The natures of the Lord, then,
are united without confusion so far as regards subsistence, and they are divided without
separation according to the method and manner of difference. And it is not according to
the manner in which they are united that they are enumerated, for it is not in respect of
subsistence that we hold that there are two natures of Christ: but according to the manner
in which they are divided without separation they are enumerated, for it is in respect of
the method and manner of difference that there are two natures of Christ. For being united
in subsistence and permeating one another, they are united without confusion, each
preserving throughout its own peculiar and natural difference. Hence, since they are
enumerated according to the manner of difference, and that alone, they must be brought
under a discontinuous quantity.

33 Christ, therefore is one, perfect God and perfect man: and Him we worship along with
the Father and the Spirit, with one obeisance, adoring even His immaculate flesh and not
holding that the flesh is not meet for worship: for in fact it is worshipped in the one
subsistence of the Word, which indeed became subsistence for it. But in this we do not do
homage to that which is created. For we worship Him, not as mere flesh, but as flesh
united with divinity, and because His two natures are brought under the one person and one
subsistence of God the Word. I fear to touch coal because of the fire bound up with the
wood. I worship the twofold nature of Christ because of the divinity that is in Him bound
up with flesh. For I do not introduce a fourth person into the Trinity. God forbid! but I
confess one person of God the Word and of His flesh, and the Trinity remains Trinity, even
after the incarnation of the Word.

34 In reply to those who ask whether the two natures are brought under a continuous or a
discontinuous quantity. The natures of the Lord are neither one body nor one superficies,
nor one line, nor place, nor time, so as to be brought under a continuous quantity: for
these are the things that are reckoned continuously. But the natures of the Lord are
united without confusion in respect of subsistence, and are divided without separation
according to the method and manner of difference. And according to the manner in which
they are united they are not enumerated. For we do not say that the natures of Christ are
two subsistences or two in respect of subsistence. But according to the manner in which
they are divided without division, are they enumerated. For there are two natures
according to the method and manner of difference. For being united in subsistence and
permeating one another they are united without confusion, neither having been changed into
the other, but each preserving its own natural difference even after the union. For that
which is created remained created, and that which is uncreated, uncreated. By the manner
of difference, then, and in that alone, they are enumerated, and thus are brought under
discontinuous quantity. For things which differ from each other in no respect cannot be
enumerated, but just so far as they differ are they enumerated; for instance, Peter and
Paul are not enumerated in those respects in which they are one: for being one in respect
of their essence they are not two natures nor are they so spoken of. But inasmuch as they
differ in subsistence they are spoken of as two subsistences.So that difference is the
cause of number.

35 Chapter IX. In reply to the question whether there is Nature that has no Subsistence.
For although there is no nature without subsistence, nor essence apart from person (since
in truth it is in persons and subsistences that essence and nature are to be
contemplated), yet it does not necessarily follow that the natures that are united to one
another in subsistence should have each its own proper subsistence. For after they have
come together into one subsistence, it is possible that neither should they be without
subsistence, nor should each have its own peculiar subsistence, but that both should have
one and the same subsistence. For since one and the same subsistence of the Word has
become the subsistence of the natures, neither of them is permitted to be without
subsistence, nor are they allowed to have subsistences that differ from each other, or to
have sometimes the subsistence of this nature and sometimes of that, but always without
division or separation they both have the same subsistence—a subsistence which is not
broken up into parts or divided, so that one part should belong to this, and one to that,
but which belongs wholly to this and wholly to that in its absolute entirety. For the
flesh of God the Word did not subsist as an independent subsistence, nor did there arise
another subsistence besides that of God the Word, but as it existed in that it became
rather a subsistence which subsisted in another, than one which was an independent
subsistence. Wherefore, neither does it lack subsistence altogether, nor yet is there thus
introduced into the Trinity another subsistence.

36 Chapter X. Concerning the Trisagium (“the Thrice Holy”). 37 This being so we declare
that the addition which the vain-minded Peter the Fuller made to the Trisagium or “Thrice
Holy” Hymn is blasphemous; for it introduces a fourth person into the Trinity, giving a
separate place to the Son of God, Who is the truly subsisting power of the Father, and a
separate place to Him Who was crucified as though He were different from the “Mighty One,”
or as though the Holy Trinity was considered possible, and the Father and the Holy Spirit
suffered on the Cross along with the Son. Have done with this blasphemous and nonsensical
interpolation! For we hold the words “Holy God” to refer to the Father, without limiting
the title of divinity to Him alone, but acknowledging also as God the Son and the Holy
Spirit: and the words “Holy and Mighty” we ascribe to the Son, without stripping the
Father and the Holy Spirit of might: and the words “Holy and Immortal” we attribute to the
Holy Spirit, without depriving the Father and the Son of immortality. For, indeed, we
apply all the divine names simply and unconditionally to each of the subsistences in
imitation of the divine Apostle’s words. But to us there is but one God, the Father, of
Whom are all things, and we in Him:

38 and one Lord Jesus Christ by Whom are all things, and we by Him And, nevertheless, we
follow Gregory the Theologian when he says, “But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of Whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and one
Holy Spirit, in Whom are all things: for the words “of Whom” and “through Whom” and “in
Whom” do not divide the natures (for neither the prepositions nor the order of the names
could ever be changed), but they characterise the properties of one unconfused nature. And
this becomes clear from the fact that they are once more gathered into one, if only one
reads with care these words of the same Apostle, Of Him and through Him and in Him are all
things: to Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 39 For that the “Trisagium” refers
not to the Son alone but to the Holy Trinity, the divine and saintly Athanasius and Basil
and Gregory, and all the band of the divinely-inspired Fathers bear witness: because, as a
matter of fact, by the threefold holiness the Holy Seraphim suggest to us the three
subsistences of the superessential Godhead. But by the one Lordship they denote the one
essence and dominion of the supremely-divine Trinity. Gregory the Theologian of a truth
says “Thus, then, the Holy of Holies, which is completely veiled by the Seraphim, and is
glorified with three consecrations, meet together in one lordship and one divinity.” This
was the most beautiful and sublime philosophy of still another of our predecessors.

40 Ecclesiastical historians then, say that once when the people of Constantinople were
offering prayers to God to avert a threatened calamity during Proclus’ tenure of the
office of Archbishop, it happened that a boy was snatched up from among the people, and
was taught by angelic teachers the “Thrice Holy” Hymn, “Thou Holy God, Holy and Mighty
One, Holy and Immortal One, have mercy upon us:” and when once more he was restored to
earth, he told what he had learned, and all the people sang the Hymn, and so the
threatened calamity was averted. And in the fourth holy and great (Ecumenical Council, I
mean the one at Chalcedon, we are told that it was in this form that the Hymn was sung;
for the minutes of this holy assembly so record it. It is, therefore, a matter for
laughter and ridicule that this “Thrice Holy” Hymn, taught us by the angels, and confirmed
by the averting of calamity ratified and established by so great an assembly of the holy
Fathers, and sung first by the Seraphim as a declaration of the three subsistences of the
Godhead, should be mangled and forsooth emended to suit the view of the stupid Fuller as
though he were higher than the Seraphim. But oh! the arrogance! not to say folly! But we
say it thus, though demons should rend us in pieces, “Do Thou, Holy God, Holy and Mighty
One, Holy and Immortal One, have mercy upon us.”

41 Chapter XI. Concerning the Nature as viewed in Species and in Individual, and
concerning the difference between Union and Incarnation: and how this is to be understood,
“The one Nature of God the Word Incarnate.” 42 Nature is regarded either abstractly as a
matter of pure thought (for it has no independent existence): or commonly in all
subsistences of the same species as their bond of union, and is then spoken of as nature
viewed in species: or universally as the same, but with the addition of accidents, in one
subsistence, and is spoken of as nature viewed in the individual, this being identical
with nature viewed in species. God the Word Incarnate, therefore, did not assume the
nature that is regarded as an abstraction in pure thought (for this is not incarnation,
but only an imposture and a figment of incarnation), nor the nature viewed in species (for
He did not assume all the subsistences): but the nature viewed in the individual, which is
identical with that viewed in species. For He took on Himself the elements of our compound
nature, and these not as having an independent existence or as being originally an
individual, and in this way assumed by Him, but as existing in His own subsistence. For
the subsistence of God the Word in itself became the subsistence of the flesh, and
accordingly “the Word became flesh “ clearly without any change, and likewise the flesh
became Word without alteration, and God became man. For the Word is God, and man is God,
through having one and the same subsistence. And so it is possible to speak of tile same
thing as being the nature of the Word and the nature in the individual. For it signifies
strictly and exclusively neither the individual, that is, the subsistence, nor the common
nature of the subsistences, but the common nature as viewed and presented in one of the
subsistences.

43 Union, then, is one thing, and incarnation is something quite different. For union
signifies only the conjunction, but not at all that with which union is effected. But
incarnation (which is just the same as if one said “the putting on of man’s nature”)
signifies that tile conjunction is with flesh, that is to say, with man, just as the
heating of iron implies its union with fire. Indeed, the blessed Cyril himself, when he is
interpreting the phrase, “one nature of God the Word Incarnate,” says in the second
epistle to Sucensus, “For if we simply said ‘the one nature of the Word’ and then were
silent, and did not add the word ‘incarnate.’ but, so to speak, quite excluded the
dispensation there would be some plausibility in the question they feign to ask, ‘If one
nature is the whole, what becomes of the perfection in humanity, or how has the essence
like us come to exist?’ But inasmuch as the perfection in humanity and the disclosure of
the essence like us are conveyed in the word ‘incarnate,’ they must cease from relying on
a mere straw” Here, then, he placed the nature of the Word over nature itself. For if He
had received nature instead of subsistence, it would not have been absurd to have omitted
the “incarnate.” For when we say simply one subsistence of God the Word, we do not err. In
like manner, also, Leontius the Byzantine considered this phrase to refer to nature, and
not to subsistence. But in the Defence which he wrote in reply to the attacks that
Theodoret made on the second anathema, the blessed Cyril says this: “The nature of the
Word, that is, the subsistence, which is the Word itself.” So that “the nature of the
Word” means neither the subsistence alone, nor “the common nature of the subsistence,” but
“the common nature viewed as a whole in the subsistence of the Word.”

44 It has been said, then, that the nature of the Word became flesh, that is, was united
to flesh: but that the nature of the Word suffered in the flesh we have never heard up
till now, though we have been taught that Christ suffered in the flesh. So that “the
nature of the Word” does not mean “the subsistence.” It remains, therefore, to say that to
become flesh is to be united with the flesh, while the Word having become flesh means that
the very subsistence of the Word became without change the subsistence of the flesh. It
has also been said that God became man, and man God. For the Word which is God became
without alteration man. But that the Godhead became man, or became flesh, or put on the
nature of man, this we have never heard. This, indeed, we have learned, that the Godhead
was united to humanity in one of its subsistences, and it has been stated that God took on
a different form or essence to wit our own. For the name God is applicable to each of the
subsistences, but we cannot use the term Godhead in reference to subsistence. For we are
never told that the Godhead is the Father alone, or the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit
alone. For “Godhead” implies “nature,” while “Father” implies subsistence just as
“Humanity” implies nature, and “Peter” subsistence. But “God” indicates the common element
of the nature, and is applicable derivatively to each of the subsistences, just as “man”
is. For He Who has divine nature is God, and he who has human nature is man.

45 Besides all this, notice that the Father and the Holy Spirit take no part at all in the
incarnation of the Word except in connection with the miracles, and in respect of good
will and purpose. Chapter XII. That the holy Virgin is the Mother of God: an argument
directed against the Nestorians. 46 Moreover we proclaim the holy Virgin to be in strict
truth the Mother of God. For inasmuch as He who was born of her was true God, she who bare
the true God incarnate is the true mother of God. For we hold that God was born of her,
not implying that the divinity of the Word received from her the beginning of its being,
but meaning that God the Word Himself, Who was begotten of the Father timelessly before
the ages, and was with the Father and the Spirit without beginning anti through eternity,
took up His abode in these last days for the sake of our salvation in the Virgin’s womb,
and was without change made flesh and born of her. For the holy Virgin did not bare mere
man but true God: and not mere God but God incarnate, Who did not bring down His body from
Heaven, nor simply passed through the Virgin as channel, but received from her flesh of
like essence to our own and subsisting in Himself. For if the body had come down from
heaven and had not partaken of our nature, what would have been the use of His becoming
man? For the purpose of God the Word becoming man was that the very same nature, which had
sinned and fallen and become corrupted, should triumph over the deceiving tyrant and so be
freed from corruption, just as the divine apostle puts it, For since by man came death, by
man came also the resurrection of the dead. If the first is true the second must also be
true.

47 Although however, he says, The first Adam is of the earth earthy; the second Adam is
Lord from Heaven he does not say that His body is from heaven, but emphasises the fact
that He is not mere man. For, mark, he called Him both Adam and Lord, thus indicating His
double nature. For Adam is, being interpreted, earth-born: and it is clear that man’s
nature is earth-born since he is formed from earth, but the title Lord signifies His
divine essence. And again the Apostle says: God sent forth His only-begotten Son, made of
a woman. He did not say “made by a woman.” Wherefore the divine apostle meant that the
only-begotten Son of God and God is the same as He who was made man of the Virgin, and
that He who was born of the Virgin is the same as the Son of God and God. 48 But He was
born after the bodily fashion inasmuch as He became man, and did not take up His abode in
a man formed beforehand, as in a prophet, but became Himself in essence and truth man,
that is He caused flesh animated with the intelligent and reasonable to subsist in His own
subsistence, and Himself became subsistence for it. For this is the meaning of “made of a
woman.” For how could the very Word of God itself have been made under the law, if He did
not become man of like essence with ourselves? Hence it is with justice and truth that we
call the holy Mary the Mother of God. For this name embraces the whole mystery of the
dispensation. For if she who bore Him is the Mother of God, assuredly He Who was born of
her is God and likewise also man. For how could God, Who was before the ages, have been
born of a woman unless He had become man? For the son of man must clearly be man himself.
But if He Who was born of a woman is Himself God, manifestly He Who was born of God the
Father in accordance with the laws of an essence that is divine and knows no beginning,
and He Who was in the last days born of the Virgin in accordance with the laws of an
essence that has beginning and is subject to time, that is, an essence which is human,
must be one and the same. The name in truth signifies the one subsistence and the two
natures and the two generations Of our Lord Jesus Christ.

49 But we never say that the holy Virgin is the Mother of Christ because it was in order
to do away with the title Mother of God, and to bring dishonour on the Mother of God, who
alone is in truth worthy of honour above all creation, that the impure and abominable
Judaizing Nestorius that vessel of dishonour, invented this name for an insult. For David
the king, and Aaron, the high priest, are also called Christ for it is customary to make
kings and priests by anointing: and besides every God-inspired man may be called Christ.
but yet be is not by nature God: yea, the accursed Nestorius insulted Him Who was born of
the Virgin by calling Him God-bearer. May it be far from us to speak of or think of Him as
God-bearer only Who is in truth God incarnate. For the Word Himself became flesh, having
been in truth conceived of the Virgin, but coming forth as God with the assumed nature
which, as soon as He was brought forth into being, was deified by Him, so that these three
things took place simultaneously, the assumption of our nature, the coming into being, and
the deification of the assumed nature by the Word.

50 And thus it is that the holy Virgin is thought of and spoken of as the Mother of God,
not only because of the nature of the Word, but also because of the deification of man’s
nature, the miracles of conception and of existence being wrought together, to wit, the
conception the Word, and the existence of the flesh in the Word Himself. For the very
Mother of God in some marvellous manner was the means of fashioning the Framer of all
things and of bestowing manhood on the God and Creator of all, Who deified the nature that
He assumed, while the union preserved those things that were united just as they were
united, that is to say, not only the divine nature of Christ but also His human nature,
not only that which is above us but that which is of us. For He was not first made like us
and only later became higher than us, but ever from His first coating into being He
existed with the double nature, because He existed in the Word Himself from the beginning
of the conception. Wherefore He is human in His own nature, but also, in some marvellous
manner, of God and divine. Moreover He has the properties of the living flesh: for by
reason of the dispensation the Word received these which are, according to the order of
natural motion, truly natural.

51 Chapter XIII. Concerning the properties of the two Natures. Confessing, then, the same
Jesus Christ, our Lord, to be perfect God and perfect man, we hold that the same has all
the attributes of the Father save that of being ingenerate, and all the attributes of the
first Adam, save only his sin, these attributes being body and the intelligent and
rational soul; and further that He has, corresponding to the two natures, the two sets of
natural qualities belonging to the two natures: two natural volitions, one divine and one
human, two natural, energies, one divine and one human, two natural free-wills, one divine
and one human, and two kinds of wisdom and knowledge, one divine and one human. For being
of like essence with God and the Father, He wills and energises freely as God, and being
also of like essence with us He likewise wills and energises freely as man. For His are
the miracles and His also are the passive states.

52 Chapter XIV. Concerning the volitions and free-will of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since,
then, Christ has two natures, we hold that He has also two natural wills and two natural
energies. But since His two natures have one subsistence, we hold that it is one and the
same person who wills and energises naturally in both natures, of which, and in which, and
also which is Christ our Lord: and moreover that He wills and energises without separation
but as a united whole. For He wills and energises in either form in close communion with
the other. For things that have the same essence have also the same will and energy, while
things that are different in essence are different in will and energy; and vice versa,
things that have the same will anti energy have the same essence, while things that are
different in will and energy are different in essence.

53 Wherefore in the case of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit we recognise, from their
sameness in will and energy, their sameness in nature. But in the case of the divine
dispensation we recognise from their difference in will and energy the difference of the
two natures, and as we perceive the difference of the two natures we confess that the
wills and energies also are different. For just as the number of the natures of one and
the same Christ, when considered and spoken of with piety, do not cause a division of the
one Christ but merely bring out the fact that the difference between the natures is
maintained even in the union, so it is with the number of wills and energies that belong
essentially to His natures. (For He was endowed with the powers of willing and energising
in both natures, for the sake of our salvation) It does not introduce division: God
forbid! but merely brings out the fact that the differences between them are safeguarded
and preserved even in the union. For we hold that wills and energies are faculties
belonging to nature, not to subsistence; I mean those faculties of will and energy by
which He Who wills and energises does so. For if we allow that they belong to subsistence,
we will be forced to say that the three subsistences of the Holy Trinity have different
wills and different energies.

54 For it is to be noted that willing and the manner of willing are not the same thing.
For to will is a faculty of nature, just as seeing is, for all men possess it; but the
manner of willing does not depend on nature but on our judgment, just as does also the
manner of seeing, whether well or ill. For all men do not will in the same way, nor do
they all see in the same way. And this also we will grant in connection with energies. For
the manner of willing, or seeing, or energising, is the mode of using the faculties of
will and sight and energy, belonging only to him who uses them, and marking him off from
others by the generally accepted difference. Simple willing then is spoken of as volition
or the faculty of will being a rational propension and natural will; but in a particular
way willing, or that which underlies volition, is the object of will and will dependent on
judgment. Further that which has innate in it the faculty of volition is spoken of as
capable of willing: as for instance the divine is capable of willing, and the human in
like manner. But he who exercises volition, that is to say the subsistence, for instance
Peter, is spoken of as willing.

55 Since, then Christ is one and His subsistence is one, He also Who wills both as God and
as man is one and the same. And since He has two natures endowed with volition, inasmuch
as they are rational (for whatever is rational is endowed with volition and free-will), we
shall postulate two volitions or natural wills in Him. For He in His own person is capable
of volition in accordance with both His natures. For He assumed that faculty of volition
which belongs naturally to us. And since Christ, Who in His own person wills according to
either nature, is one, we shall postulate the same object of will in His case, not as
though He wills only those things which He willed naturally as God (for it is no part of
Godhead to will to eat or drink and so forth), but as willing also those things which
human nature requires for its support and this without involving any opposition in
judgment, but simply as the result of the individuality of the natures. For then it was
that He thus willed naturally, when His divine volition so willed and permitted the flesh
to suffer and do that which was proper to it.

56 But that volition is implanted in man by nature is manifest from this. Excluding the
divine life, there are three forms of life: the vegetative, the sentient, and the
intellectual. The properties of the vegetative life are the functions of nourishment, and
growth, and production: that of the sentient life is impulse: and that of the rational and
intellectual life is freedom of will. If, then, nourishment belongs by nature to the
vegetative life and impulse to the sentient, freedom of will by nature belongs to the
rational and intellectual life. But freedom of will is nothing else than volition. The
Word, therefore, having become flesh, endowed with life and mind and free-will, became
also endowed with volition. Further, that which is natural is not the result of training:
for no one learns how to think, or live, or hunger, or thirst, or sleep. Nor do we learn
how to will: so that willing is natural.

57 And again: if in the case of creatures devoid of reason nature rules, while nature is
ruled in man who is moved of his own free-will and volition, it follows, then, that man is
by nature endowed with volition. And again: if man has been made after the image of the
blessed and super-essential Godhead, and if the divine nature is by nature endowed with
free-will and volition, it follows that man, as its image, is free by nature and volitive.
For the fathers defined freedom as volition. And further: if to will is a part of the
nature of every man and not present in some and absent in others, and if that which is
seen to be common to all is a characteristic feature of the nature that belongs to the
individuals of the class, surely, then, man is by nature endowed with volition. And once
more: if the nature receives neither more nor less, but all are equally endowed with
volition and not some more than others, then by nature man is endowed with volition. So
that since man is by nature endowed with volition, the Lord also must be by nature endowed
with volition, not only because He is God, but also because He became man. For just as He
assumed our nature, so also He has assumed naturally our will. And in this way the Fathers
said that He formed our will in Himself.

58 If the will is not natural, it must be either hypostatic or unnatural. But if it is
hypostatic, the Son must thus, forsooth, have a different will from what the Father has:
for that which is hypostatic is characteristic of subsistence only. And if it is
unnatural, will must be a defection from nature: for what is unnatural is destructive of
what is natural. The God and Father of all things wills either as Father or as God. Now if
as Father, His will will be different from that of the Son, for the Son is not the Father.
But if as God, the Son is God and likewise the Holy Spirit is God, and so volition is part
of His nature, that is, it is natural. Besides if according to the view of the Fathers,
those who have one and the same will have also one and the same essence, and if the
divinity and humanity of Christ have one and the same will, then assuredly these have also
one and the same essence.

59 And again: if according to the view of the Fathers the distinction between the natures
is not seen in the single will, we mast either, when we speak of the one will, cease to
speak of the different natures in Christ or, when we speak of the different natures of
Christ, cease to speak of the one will. And further the divine Gospel says, The Lord came
into the borders of Tyre and Sidon and entered into a house, and would have no man know
it; but He could not be hid. If, then, His divine will is omnipotent, but yet, though He
would, He could not be hid, surely it was as man that He would and could not, and so as
man He must be endowed with volition. And once again the Gospel tells us that, He, having
come into the place, said ‘I thirst’: and they gave Him same vinegar mixed with gall, and
when He had tasted it fare would not drink. If, then, on the one hand it was as God that
tie suffered thirst and when He had tasted would not drink, surely He must be subject to
passion also as God, for thirst and taste are passions. But if it was not as God but
altogether as man that He was athirst, likewise as man He must be endowed with volition.

60 Moreover, the blessed Paul the Apostle says, He became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. But obedience is subjection of the real will, not of the unreal will.
For that which is irrational is not said to be obedient or disobedient. But the Lord
having become obedient to the Father, became so not as God but as man. For as God He is
not said to be obedient or disobedient. For these things are of the things that are trader
one’s band as the inspired Gregorius said. Wherefore, then, Christ is endowed with
volition as man. While, however, we assert that will is natural, we hold not that it is
dominated by necessity, but that it is free. For if it is rational, it must be absolutely
free. For it is not only the divine and uncreated nature that is free from the bonds of
necessity, but also the intellectual and created nature. And this is manifest: for God,
being by nature good and being by nature the Creator and by nature God, is not all this of
necessity. For who is there to introduce this necessity?

61 It is to be observed further that freedom of will is used in several senses, one in
connection with God, another in connection with angels, and a third in connection with
men. For used in reference to God it is to be understood in a superessential manner, and
in reference to angels it is to be taken in the sense that the election is concomitant
with the state and admits of the interposition of no interval of time at all: for while
the angel possesses free-will by nature, he uses it without let or hindrance, having
neither antipathy on the part of the body to overcome nor any assailant. Again, used in
reference to men, it is to be taken in the sense that the state is considered to be
anterior in time to the election. For than is free and has free-will by nature, but he has
also the assault of the devil to impede him and the motion of the body: and thus through
the assault and the weight of the batty, election comes to be later than the state.

62 If, then, Adam obeyed of his own will and ate of his own will, surely in us the will is
the first part to suffer. And if the will is the first to suffer, and the Word Incarnate
did not assume this with the rest of our nature, it follows that we have not been freed
from sin. Moreover, if the faculty of free-will which is in nature is His work and yet He
did not assume it, He either condemned His own workmanship as not good, or grudged us the
comfort it brought, and so deprived us of the full benefit, and shewed that He was Himself
subject to passion since He was not willing or not able to work out our perfect salvation.
63 Moreover, one cannot speak of one com pound thing made of two wills in the same way as
a subsistence is a composition of two natures. Firstly because the compositions are of
things in subsistence (hypotasis), not of things viewed in a different category, not in
one proper to them: and secondly, because if we speak of composition of wills and
energies, we will be obliged to speak of composition of the other natural properties, such
as the uncreated and the created, the invisible and the visible, and so on. And what will
be the name of the will that is compounded out of two wills? For the compound cannot be
called by the name of the elements that make it up. For otherwise we should call that
which is compounded of natures nature and not subsistence. And further, if we say that
there is one compound will in Christ, we separate Him in will from the Father, for the
Father’s will is not compound. It remains, therefore, to say that the subsistence of
Christ atone is compound and common, as in the case of the natures so also in that of the
natural properties.

64 And we cannot if we wish to be accurate, speak of Christ as having judgment (gnwvmh)
and preference. For judgment is a disposition with reference to the decision arrived at
after investigation and deliberation concerning something unknown, that is to say, after
counsel and decision. And after judgment comes preference which chooses out and selects
the one rather than the other. But the Lord being not mere man but also God, and knowing
all things, had no need of inquiry. and investigation, and counsel, and decision, and by
nature made whatever is good His own and whatever is bad foreign to Him. For thus says
Isaiah the prophet, Before the child shall know to prefer the evil, he shall choose the
good; because before the child knows good or evil, he refuses wickedness by choosing the
good. For the word “before” proves that it is not with investigation and deliberation, as
is the way with us, but as God and as subsisting in a divine manner in the flesh, that is
to say, being united in subsistence to the flesh, and because of His very existence and
all-embracing knowledge, that He is possessed of good in His own nature. For the virtues
are natural qualities and are implanted in all by nature and in equal measure, even if we
do not all in equal measure employ our natural energies. By the transgression we were
driven from the natural to the unnatural.

65 But the Lord led us back from the unnatural into the natural. For this is what is the
meaning of in our image, after our likeness. And the discipline and trouble of this life
were not designed as a means for our attaining virtue which was foreign to our nature, but
to enable us to cast aside the evil that was foreign and contrary to our nature: just as
on laboriously removing from steel the rust which is not natural to it but acquired
through neglect, we reveal the natural brightness of the steel. 66 Observe further that
the word judgment (gnwvmh) is used in many ways and in many senses. Sometimes it signifies
exhortation: as when the divine apostle says, Now concerning virgins I have no commandment
of the Lord; yet I give my judgment: sometimes it means counsel, as when the prophet David
says, They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people: sometimes it means a decree, as
when we read in Daniel, Concerning whom (or, what) went this shameless decree forth? At
other times it is used in the sense of belief, or opinion, or purpose, and, to put it
shortly, the word judgment has twenty-eight different meanings. Chapter XV. Concerning the
energies in our Lord Jesus Christ. We hold, further, that there are two energies in our
Lord Jesus Christ. For He possesses on the one hand, as God and being of like essence with
the Father, the divine energy, and, likewise, since He became man and of like essence to
us, the energy proper to human nature.

67 But observe that energy and capacity for energy, and the product of energy, and the
agent of energy, are all different. Energy is the efficient (drastikhv) and essential
activity of nature: the capacity for energy is the nature from which proceeds energy: the
product of energy is that which is effected by energy: and the agent of energy is the
person or subsistence which uses the energy. Further, sometimes energy is used in the
sense of the product of energy, and the product of energy in that of energy, just as the
terms creation and creature are sometimes transposed. For we say “all creation,” meaning
creatures. Note also that energy is an activity and is energised rather than energises; as
Gregory the Theologian says in his thesis concerning the Holy Spirit: “If energy exists,
it must manifestly be energised and will not energise: and as soon as it has been
energised, it will cease.”

68 Life itself, it should be observed, is energy, yea, the primal energy of the living
creature and so is the whole economy of the living creature, its functions of nutrition
and growth, that is, the vegetative side of its nature, and the movement stirred By
impulse, that is, the sentient side, and its activity of intellect and free-will. Energy,
moreover, is the perfect realisation of power. If, then, we contemplate all these in
Christ, surely we must also hold that He possesses human energy. 69 The first thought that
arises in us is called energy: and it is simple energy not involving any relationship, the
mind sending forth the thoughts peculiar to it in an independent and invisible way, for if
it did not do so it could not justly be called mind. Again, the revelation and unfolding
of thought by means of articulate speech is said to be energy. But this is no longer
simple energy that revolves no relationship, but it is considered in relation as being
composed of thought and speech. Further, the very relation which be who does anything
bears to that which is brought about is energy; and the very thing that is effected is
called energy. The first belongs to the soul alone, the second to the soul making use of
the body, the third to the body animated by mind, and the last is the effect. For the mind
sees beforehand what is to be and then performs it thus by means of the body. And so the
hegemony belongs to the soul, for it uses the body as an instrument, leading and
restraining it. But the energy of the body is quite different, for the booty is led and
moved by the soul. And with regard to the effect, the touching and handling and, so to
speak, the embrace of what is effected, belong to the body, while the figuration and
formation belong to the soul.

70 And so in connection with our Lord Jesus Christ, the power of miracles is the energy of
His divinity, while the work of His hands and the willing and the saying, I will, be thou
clean are the energy of His humanity. And as to the effect, the breaking of the loaves and
the fact that the leper heard the “I will,” belong to His humanity, while the
multiplication of the loaves and the purification of the leper belong to His divinity. For
through both, that is through the energy of the booty anti the energy of the soul. He
displayed one and the same, cognate and equal divine energy. For just as we saw that His
natures were united and permeate one another, and yet do not deny that they are different
but even enumerate them, although we know they are inseparable, so also in connection with
the wills and the energies we know their union, and we recognise their difference and
enumerate them without introducing separation. For just as the flesh was deified without
undergoing change in its own nature, in the same way also will and energy are deified
without transgressing their own proper limits. For whether He is the one or the other, He
is one and the same, and whether He wills and energises in one way or the other, that is
as God or as man, He is one and the same.

71 We must, then, maintain that Christ has two energies in virtue of His double nature.
For things that have diverse natures, have also different energies, and things that have
diverse energies, have also different natures. And so conversely, things that have the
same nature have also the same energy, and things that have one and the same energy have
also one and the same essence which is the view of the Fathers, who declare the divine
meaning. One of these alternatives, then, must be true: either, if we hold that Christ has
one energy. we must also hold that He has but one essence, or, if we are solicitous about
truth. and confess that He has according to the doctrine of the Gospels and the Fathers
two essences, we must also confess that He has two energies corresponding to and
accompanying them. For as He is of like essence with God and the Father in divinity, He
will be His equal also in energy. And as He likewise is of like essence with us in
humanity He will be our equal also in energy. For the blessed Gregory, bishop of Nyssa,
says “Things that have one and the same energy, have also absolutely the same power.” For
all energy is the effect of power. But it cannot be that uncreated and created nature have
one and the same nature or power or energy. But if we should hold that Christ has but one
energy, we should attribute to the divinity of the Word the passions of the
intelligentspirit, viz. tear and grief and anguish.

72 If they should say indeed, that the holy Fathers said in their disputation concerning
the Holy Trinity, “Things that have one and the same essence have also one and the same
energy, and things which have different essences have also different energies,” and that
it is not right to transfer to the dispensation what has reference to matters of theology,
we shall answer that if it has been said by the Fathers solely with reference to theology.
and if the Son has not even after the incarnation the same energy as the Father assuredly
He cannot have the same essence. But to whom shall we attribute this, My Father worketh
hitherto and I work: and this, What things soever He seeth the Father doing, these also
doeth the Son likewise: and this, If ye believe not Me, believe My works: and this, The
work which I do bear witness concerning Me: and this. As the Father raised up the dead and
quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. For all these shew not only that
He is of like essence to the Father even after the incarnation, but that He has also the
same energy.

73 And again: if the providence that embraces all creation is not only of the Father and
the Holy Spirit, but also of the Son even after the incarnation, assuredly since that is
energy, He must have even after the incarnation the same energy as the Father. But if we
have learnt from the miracles that Christ has the same essence as the Father, and since
the miracles happen to be the energy of God, assuredly He must have even after the
incarnation the same energy as the Father. But, if there is one energy belonging to both
His divinity and His humanity, it will be compound, and will be either a different energy
from that of the Father, or the Father, too, will have a compound energy. But if the
Father has a compound energy, manifestly He must also have a compound nature. But if they
should say that together with energy is also introduced personality we shall reply that if
personality is introduced along with energy, then the true converse must hold good that
energy is also introduced along with personality; and there will be also three energies of
the Holy Trinity just as there are three persons or subsistences, or there will be one
person and one subsistence just as there is only one energy. Indeed, the holy Fathers have
maintained with one voice that things that have the same essence have also the same
energy.

74 But further, if personality is introduced along with energy, those who divine that
neither one nor two energies of Christ are to be spoken of, do not maintain that either
one or two persons of Christ are to be spoken of. Take the case of the flaming sword; just
as in it the natures of the fire and the steel are preserved distinct so also are their
two energies and their effects. For the energy of the steel is its cutting power, and that
of the fire is its burning power, and the cut is the effect of the energy of the steel,
and the burn is the effect of the energy of the fire: and these are kept quite distinct in
the burnt cut, and in the cut burn, although neither does the burning take place apart
from the cut after the union of the two, nor the cut apart from the burning: and we do not
maintain on account of the twofold natural energy that there are two flaming swords, nor
do we confuse the essential difference of the energies on account of the unity of the
flaming sword. In like manner also, in the case of Christ, His divinity possesses an
energy that is divine and omnipotent while His humanity has an energy such as is our own.
And the effect of His human energy was His taking the child by the hand and drawing her to
Himself, while that of His divine energy was the restoring of her to life. For the one is
quite distinct from the other, although they are inseparable from one another in theandric
energy. But if, because Christ has one subsistence, He must also have one energy, then,
because He has one subsistence, He must also have one essence.

75 And again: if we should hold that Christ has but one energy, this must be either divine
or human, or neither. But if we hold that it is divine we must maintain that He is God
alone, stripped of our humanity. And if we hold that it is human, we shall be guilty of
the impiety of saying that He is mere man. And if we hold that it is neither divine nor
human, we must also hold that He is neither God nor man, of like essence neither to the
Father nor to us. For it is as a result of the union that the identity in hypostasis
arises, but yet the difference between the natures is not done away with. But since the
difference between the natures is preserved, manifestly also the energies of the natures
will be preserved. For no nature exists that is lacking in energy.

76 If Christ our Master has one energy, it must be either created or uncreated; for
between these there is no energy, just as there is no nature. If, then, it is created, it
will point to created nature alone, but if it is uncreated, it will betoken uncreated
essence alone. For that which is natural must completely correspond with its nature: for
there cannot exist a nature that is defective. But the energy that harmonises with nature
does not belong to that which is external: and this is manifest because, apart from the
energy that haromonises with nature, no nature can either exist or be known. For through
that in which each thing manifests its energy, the absence of change confirms its own
proper nature. If Christ has one energy, it must be one and the same energy that performs
both divine anti human actions. But there is no existing thing which abiding in its
natural state can act in opposite ways: for fire does not freeze and boil, nor does water
dry up and make wet. How then could He Who is by nature God, and Who became by nature man,
have both performed miracles, and endured passions with one and the same energy?

77 If, then, Christ assumed the human mind, that is to say, the intelligent and reasonable
soul, undoubtedly He has thought, and will think for ever. But thought is the energy of
the mind: and so Christ. as man, is endowed with energy, and will be so for ever. Indeed,
the most wise and great and holy John Chrysostom says in his interpretation of the Acts,
in the second discourse “One would not err if he should call even His passion action: for
in that He suffered all things, tie accomplished that great and marvellous work, the
overthrow of death, and all His other works.” 78 If all energy is defined as essential
movement of some nature, as those who are versed in these matters say, where does one
perceive any nature that has no movement, and is completely devoid of energy, or where
does one find energy that is not movement of natural power? But, as the blessed Cyril says
no one in his senses could admit that there was but one natural energy of God and His
creation. It is not His human nature that raises up Lazarus from the dead, nor is it His
divine power that sheds tears: for the shedding of tears is peculiar to human nature while
the life is peculiar to the enhypostatic life. But yet they are common the one to the
other, because of the identity in subsistence. For Christ is one, and one also is His
person or subsistence, but yet He has two natures, one belonging to His humanity, and
another belonging to His divinity. And the glory. indeed, which proceeded naturally from
His divinity became common to both through the identity in subsistence. and again on
account of His flesh that which was lowly became common to both. For He Who is the one or
the other, that is God or man, is one and the same, and both what is divine and what is
human belong to Himself. For while His divinity performed the miracles, they were not done
apart from the flesh, and while His flesh performed its lowly offices, they were not done
apart from the divinity. For His divinity was joined to the suffering flesh, yet remaining
without passion, and endured the saving passions, and the holy mind was joined to the
energising divinity of the Word, perceiving and knowing what was being accomplished.

79 And thus His divinity communicates its own glories to the body while it remains itself
without part in the sufferings of the flesh. For His flesh did not suffer through His
divinity in the same way that His divinity energised through the flesh. For the flesh
acted as the instrument of His divinity. Although, therefore, from the first conception
there was no division at all between the two forms but the actions of either form through
all the time became those of one person, nevertheless we do not in any way confuse those
things that took place without separation, but recognise from the quality of its works
what sort of form anything has. Christ, then, energises according to both His natures and
either nature energises in Him in communion with the other, the Word performing through
tile authority and power of its divinity all the actions proper to the Word, i.e. all acts
of supremacy and sovereignty, and the body performing all the actions proper to the body,
in obedience to the will of the Word that is united to it, and of whom it has become a
distinct part. For He was not moved of Himself to the natural passions nor again did He in
that way recoil from the things of pain, and pray for release from them, or suffer what
befel from without, but He was moved in conformity with His nature, the Word willing and
allowing Him oeconomically to suffer that, and to do the things proper to Him, that the
truth might be confirmed by the works of nature.

80 Moreover, just as He received in His birth of a virgin superessential essence, so also
He revealed His human energy in a superhuman way, walking with earthly feet on unstable
water, not by turning the water into earth, but by causing it in the superabundant power
of His divinity not to flow away nor yield beneath the weight of material feet. For not in
a merely human way did He do human things: for He was not only man, but also God, and so
even His sufferings brought life anti salvation: nor yet did He energise as God, strictly
after the manner of God, for He was not only God, but also man, and so it was by touch and
word and such like that He worked miracles. 81 But if any one should say, “We do not say
that Christ has but one nature, in order to do away with His human energy, but we do so
because human energy, in opposition to divine energy, is called passion pavtqo".” we shall
answer that, according to this reasoning, those also who hold that He has but one nature
do not maintain this with a view to doing away with His human nature, but because human
nature in opposition to divine nature is spoken of as passible paqhtikhv. But God forbid
that we should call the human activity passion, when we are distinguishing it from divine
energy. For, to speak generally, of nothing is the existence recognised or defined by
comparison or collation. If it were so, indeed, existing things would turn out to be
mutually the one the cause of the other. For if the human activity is passion because the
divine activity is energy, assuredly also the human nature must be wicked because the
divine nature is good, and, by conversion and opposition, if the divine activity is called
energy because the human activity is called passion, then also the divine nature must be
good because the human nature is bad. And so all created things must be bad, and he must
have spoken falsely who said, And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it
was very good.

82 We, therefore, maintain that the holy Fathers gave various names to the human activity
according to the underlying notion. For the called it power, and energy, and difference,
and activity, and property, and quality, and passion, not in distinction from the divine
activity, but power, because it is a conservative and invariable force; and energy,
because it is a distinguishing mark, and reveals the absolute similarity between all
things of the same class; and difference, because it distinguishes; and activity, because
it makes manifest; and property, because it is constituent and belongs to that alone, and
not to any other; and quality, because it gives form; and passion, because it is moved,
For all things that are of God and after God suffer in respect of being moved, forasmuch
as they have not in themselves motion or power. Therefore, as has been said, it is not in
order to distinguish the one from the other that it has been named, but it is in
accordance with the plan implanted in it in a creative manner by the Cause that framed the
universe. Wherefore, also, when they spoke of it along with the divine nature they called
it energy. For he who said, “For either form energises close communion with the other,”
did something quite different from him who said, And when He had fasted forty days, He was
afterwards an hungered:(for He allowed His nature to energise when it so willed, in the
way proper to itself) or from those who hold there is a different energy in Him or that He
has a twofold energy, or now one energy and now another. For these statements with the
change in terms signify the two energies. Indeed, often the number is indicated both by
change of terms and by speaking of them as divine and human. For the difference is
difference in differing things, but how do things that do not exist differ?

83 Chapter XVI. In reply to those who say “If man has two natures and two energies, Christ
must be held to have three natures and as many energies.” Each individual man, since he is
composed of two natures, soul and body, and since these natures are unchangeable in him,
could appropriately be spoken of as two natures: for he preserves even after their union
thee natural properties of either. For the body is not immortal, but corruptible; neither
is the soul mortal, but immortal: and the body is not invisible pot the soul visible to
bodily eyes: but the soul is rational and intellectual, and incorporeal, while the body is
dense and visible, and irrational. But things that are opposed to one another in essence
have not one nature, and, therefore, soul and body cannot have one essence. And again: if
man is a rational and mortal animal, and every definition is explanatory of the underlying
natures, and the rational is not the same as the mortal according to the plan of nature,
man then certainly cannot have one nature, according to the rule of his own definition.

84 But if man should at any time be said to have one nature, the word “nature” is here
used instead of “species,” as when we say that man does not differ from man in any
difference of nature. But since all men are fashioned in the same way, and are composed of
soul and body, and each has two distinct natures, they are all brought under one
definition. And this is not unreasonable, for the holy Athanasius spake of all created
things as having one nature forasmuch as they were all produced, expressing himself thus
in his Oration against those who blasphemed the Holy Spirit: “That the Holy Spirit is
above all creation, and different from the nature of things produced and peculiar to
divinity, we may again perceive. For whatever is seen to be common to many things, and not
more in one and less in another, is called essence. since, then, every man is composed of
soul and body, accordingly we speak of man as having one nature. But we cannot speak of
our Lord’s subsistence as one nature: for each nature preserves, even after the union, its
natural properties, nor can we find a class of Christs. For no other Christ was born both
of divinity and of humanity to be at once God and man.”

85 And again: man’s unity in species is not the same thing as the unity of soul and body
in essence. For man’s unity in species makes clear the absolute similarity between all
men, while the unity of soul and body in essence is an insult to their very existence, and
reduces them to nothingness: for either the one must change into the essence of the other,
or from different things something different must be produced, and so both would be
changed, or if they keep to their own proper limits there must be two natures. For, as
regards the nature of essence the corporeal is not the same as the incorporeal. Therefore,
although holding that man has one nature, not because the essential quality of his soul
and that of his body are the same, but because the individuals included under the species
are exactly the same, it is not necessary for us to maintain that Christ also has one
nature, for in this case there is no species embracing many subsistences.

86 Moreover, every compound is said to be composed of what immediately composes it. For we
do not say that a house is composed of earth and water, but of bricks and timber.
Otherwise, it would be necessary to speak of man as composed of at least five things,
viz., the four elements and soul. And so also, in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ we do
not look at the parts of the parts, but at those divisions of which He is immediately
composed, viz., divinity and humanity. And further, if by saying that man has two natures
we are obliged to hold that Christ has three, you, too, by saying that man is composed of
two natures must hold that Christ is composed of three natures: and it is just the same
with the energies. For energy must correspond with nature: and Gregory the Theologian
bears witness that man is said to have and has two natures, saying, “God and man are two
natures, since, indeed, soul and body also are two natures.” And in his discourse
“Concerning Baptism” he says, “Since we consist of two parts, soul and body. the visible
and the invisible nature, the purification is likewise twofold, that is, by water and
Spirit.”

87 Chapter XVII. Concerning the deification of the nature of our Lord’s flesh and of His
will. It is worthy of note that the flesh of the Lord is not said to have been deified and
made equal to God and God in respect of any change or alteration, or transformation, or
confusion of nature: as Gregory the Theologian says, “Whereof the one deified, and the
other was deified, and, to speak boldly, made equal to God: and that which anointed became
man, and that which was anointed became God.” For these words do not mean any change in
nature, but rather the oeconomical union(I mean the union in subsistence by virtue of
which it was united inseparably with God the Word), and the permeation of the natures
through one another, just as we saw that burning permeated the steel. For, just as we
confess that God became man without change or alteration, so we consider that the flesh
became God without change. For because the Word became flesh, He did not overstep the
limits of His own divinity nor abandon the divine glories that belong to Him: nor, on the
other hand, was the flesh, when deified, changed in its own nature or in its natural
properties. For even after the union, boil the natures abode unconfused and their
properties unimpaired. But the flesh of the Lord received the riches of the divine
energies through the purest union with the Word, that is to say, the union in subsistence,
without entailing the loss of any of its natural attributes. For it is not in virtue of
any energy of its own but through the Word united to it, that it manifests divine energy:
for the flaming steel burns, not because it has been endowed in a physical way with
burning energy, but because it has obtained this energy by its union with fire.

88 Wherefore the same flesh was mortal by reason of its own nature and life-giving through
its union with the Word in subsistence. And we hold that it is just the same with the
deification of the will; for its natural activity was not changed but united with His
divine and omnipotent will, and became the will of God, made man. And so it was that,
though He wished, He could not of Himself escape because it pleased God the Word that the
weakness of the human will, which was in truth in Him, should be made manifest. But He was
able to cause at His will the cleansing of the leper because of the union with the divine
will. Observe further, that the deification of the nature and the will points most
expressly and most directly both to two natures and two wills. For just as the burning
does not change into fire the nature of the thing that is burnt, but makes distinct both
what is burnt, and what burned it, and is indicative not of one but of two natures, so
also the deification does not bring about one compound nature but two, and their union in
subsistence. Gregory the Theologian, indeed, says, “Whereof the one deified, the other was
deified,” and by the words “whereof,” “the one,” “the other,” he assuredly indicates two
natures.

89 Chapter XVIII. Further concerning volitions and free-wills: minds, too, and knowledges
and wisdoms. When we say that Christ is perfect God and perfect man, we assuredly
attribute to Him all the properties natural to both the Father and mother. For He became
man in order that that which was overcome might overcome. For He Who was omnipotent did
not in His omnipotent authority and might lack the power to rescue man out of the hands of
the tyrant. But the tyrant would have had a ground of complaint if, after He had overcome
man, God should have used force against him. Wherefore God in His pity and love for man
wished to reveal fallen man himself as conqueror, and became man to restore like with
like. But that man is a rational and intelligent animal, no one will deny. How, then,
could He have become man if He took on Himself flesh without soul, or soul without mind?
For that is not man. Again, what benefit would His becoming man have been to us if He Who
suffered first was not saved, nor renewed and strengthened by the union with divinity? For
that which is not assumed is not remedied. He, therefore, assumed the whole man, even the
fairest part of him, which had become diseased, in order that He might bestow salvation on
the whole. And, indeed, there could never exist a mind that had not wisdom and was
destitute of knowledge. For if it has not energy or motion, it is utterly reduced to
nothingness.

90 Therefore, God the Word wishing to restore that which was in His own image, became man.
But what is that which was in His own image, unless mind? So He gave up the better and
assumed the worse. For mind is in the border-land between God and flesh, for it dwells
indeed in fellowship with the flesh, and is, moreover, the image of God. Mind, then,
mingles with mind, and mind holds a place midway between the pureness of God and the
denseness of flesh. For if the Lord assumed a soul without mind, He assumed the soul of an
irrational animal. But if the Evangelist said that the Word was made flesh note that in
the Holy Scripture sometimes a man is spoken of as a soul, as, for example, with seventy-
five souls came Jacob into Egypt: and sometimes a man is spoken of as flesh, as, for
example, All flesh shall see the salvation of God. And accordingly the Lord did not become
flesh without soul or mind, but man. He says, indeed, Himself, Why seek ye to kill Me, a
Man that hath told you the truth? He, therefore, assumed flesh animated with the spirit of
reason and mind, a spirit that holds sway over the flesh but is itself under the dominion
of the divinity of the Word.

91 So, then, He had by nature, both as God and as man, the power of will. But His human
will was obedient anti subordinate to His divine will, not being guided by its own
inclination, but willing those things which the divine will willed. For it was with the
permission of the divine will that He suffered by nature what was proper to Him. For when
He prayed that He might escape the death, it was with His divine will naturally willing
and permitting it that He did so pray and agonize and fear, and again when His divine will
willed that His human will should choose tire death, the passion became voluntary to Him.
For it was not as God only, but also as man, that He voluntarily surrendered Himself to
the death. And thus He bestowed on us also courage in the face of death. So, indeed, He
said before His saving passion, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me,”
manifestly as though He were to drink the cup as man and not as God. It was as man, then,
that He wished the cup to pass from Him: but these are the words of natural timidity.
Nevertheless, He said, not My will, that is to say, not in so far as I am of a different
essence from Thee, but Thy will be done the is to say, My will and Thy will, in so far as
I am of the same essence as Thou.

92 Now these are the words of a brave heart. For the Spirit of the Lord, since He truly
became man in His good pleasure, on first testing its natural weakness was sensible of the
natural fellow-suffering involved in its separation from the body, but being strengthened
by the divine will it again grew bold in the face of death. For since He was Himself
wholly God although also man, and wholly man although also God, He Himself as man
subjected in Himself and by Himself His human nature to God and the Father, and became
obedient to the Father, thus making Himself the most excellent type and example for us. 93
Of His own free-will, moreover, He exercised His divine and human will. For free-will is
assuredly implanted in every rational nature. For to what end would it possess reason, if
it could not reason at its own free-will? For the Creator hath implanted even in the
unreasoning brutes natural appetite to compel them to sustain their own nature. For devoid
of reason, as they are, they cannot guide their natural appetite but are guided by it. And
so, as soon as the appetite for anything has sprung up, straightway arises also the
impulse for action. And thus they do not win praise or happiness for pursuing virtue, nor
punishment for doing evil. But the rational nature, although it does possess a natural
appetite, can guide and train it by reason wherever the laws of nature are observed. For
the advantage of reason consists in this, tire free-will, by which we mean natural
activity in a rational subject. Wherefore in pursuing virtue it wins praise and happiness,
and in pursuing vice it wins punishment.

94 So that the soul of the Lord being moved of its own free-will willed, but willed of its
free-will those things which His divine will willed it to will. For the flesh was not
moved at a sign from the Word, as Moses and all the holy men were moved at a sign from
heaven. But He Himself, Who was one and yet both God and man, willed according to both His
divine and His human will. Wherefore it was not in inclination but rather in natural power
that the two wills of the Lord differed from one another. For His divine will was without
beginning and all-effecting, as having power that kept pace with it, and free from
passion; while His human will had a beginning in time, and itself endured the natural and
innocent passions, and was not naturally omnipotent. But yet it was omni-potent because it
truly and naturally had its origin in the God-Word.

95 Chapter XIX. Concerning the theandric energy. When the blessed Dionysius says that
Christ exhibited to us some sort of novel theandric energy he does not do away with the
natural energies by saying that one energy resulted from the union of the divine with the
human energy: for in the same way we could speak of one new nature resulting from the
union of the divine with the human nature. For, according to the holy Fathers, things that
have one energy have also one essence. But Ire wished to indicate the novel and ineffable
manner in which the natural energies of Christ manifest themselves, a manner befitting the
ineffable manner in which the natures of Christ mutually, permeate one another, and
further how strange and wonder-rid and, in the nature of things, unknown was His life as
man and lastly the manner of the mutual interchange arising from the ineffable union. For
we hold that the energies are not divided and that the natures do not energies separately,
but that each conjointly in complete community with the other energises with its own
proper energy. For the human part did not energise merely in a human manner, for He was
not mere man; nor did the divine part energise only after the manner of God, for He was
not simply God, but He was at once God and man. For just as in the case of natures we
recognise both their union and their natural difference, so is it also with the natural
wills and energies.

96 Note, therefore, that in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, we speak sometimes of His
two natures and sometimes of His one person: anti the one or the other is referred to one
conception. For the two natures are one Christ, and the one Christ is two natures.
Wherefore it is all the same whether we say “Christ energises according to either of His
natures,” or “either nature energises in Christ in communion with the other.” The divine
nature, then, has communion with the flesh in its energising, because it is by the good
pleasure of the divine will that the flesh is permitted to suffer and do the things proper
to itself, and because the energy of the flesh is altogether saving, and this is an
attribute not of human but of divine energy. On the other hand the flesh has communion
with the divinity of the Word in its energising, because the divine energies are
performed, so to speak, through the organ of the body, and because He Who energises at
once as God and man is one and the same.

97 Further observe that His holy mind also performs its natural energies, thinking and
knowing that it is God’s mind and that it is worshipped by all creation, and remembering
the times He spent on earth and all He suffered, but it has communion with the divinity of
the Word in its energising and orders and governs the universe, thinking and knowing and
ordering not as the mere mind of man, but as united in subsistence with God and acting as
the mind of God. This, then, the theandric energy makes plain that when God became man,
that is when He became incarnate, both His human energy was divine, that is deified, and
not without part in His divine energy, and His divine energy was not without part in His
human energy, but either was observed in conjunction with the other. Now this manner of
speaking is called a periphrasis, viz., when one embraces two things in one statement. For
just as in the case of the flaming sword we speak of the cut burn as one, and the burnt
cut as one, but still hold that the cut and the burn have different energies and different
natures, the burn having the nature of fire and the cut the nature of steel, in the same
way also when we speak of one theandric energy of Christ, we understand two distinct
energies of His two natures, a divine energy belonging to His divinity, and a human energy
belonging to His humanity.

98 Chapter XX. Concerning the natural and innocent passions. We confess then, that He
assumed all the natural and innocent passions of man. For He assumed the whole man and all
man’s attributes save sin. For that is not natural, nor is it implanted in us by the
Creator, but arises voluntarily in our mode of life as the result of a further
implantation by the devil, though it cannot prevail over us by force. For the natural and
innocent passions are those which are not in our power, but which have entered into the
life of man owing to the condemnation by reason of the transgression; such as hunger,
thirst, weariness, labour, the tears, the corruption, the shrinking from death, the fear,
the agony with the bloody sweat, the succour at the hands of angels because of the
weakness of the nature, and other such like passions which belong by nature to every man.

99 All, then, He assumed that He might sanctify all. He was tried and overcame in order
that He might prepare victory for us and give to nature power to overcome its antagonist,
in order that nature which was overcome of old might overcome its former conqueror by the
very weapons wherewith it had itself been overcome. The wicked one then, made his assault
from without, not by thoughts prompted inwardly, just as it was with Adam. For it was not
by inward thoughts, but by the serpent that Adam was assailed. But the Lord repulsed the
assault and dispelled it like vapour, in order that the passions which assailed him and
were overcome might be easily subdued by us, and that the new Adam should save the old. Of
a truth our natural passions were in harmony with nature and above nature in Christ. For
they were stirred in Him after a natural manner when He permitted the flesh to suffer what
was proper to it: but they were above nature because that which was natural did not in the
Lord assume command over the will. For no compulsion is contemplated in Him but all is
voluntary. For it was with His will that He hungered and thirsted and feared and died.

100 Chapter XXI. Concerning ignorance and servitude. He assumed, it is to be noted the
ignorant and servile nature. For it is man’s nature to be the servant of God, his Creator,
and he does not possess knowledge of the future. If, then, as Gregory the Theologian
holds, you are to separate the realm of sight from the realm of thought, the flesh is to
be spoken of as both servile and ignorant, but on account of the identity of subsistence
and the inseparable union the soul of the Lord was enriched with the knowledge of the
future as also with the other miraculous powers. For just as the flesh of men is not in
its own nature life-giving, while the flesh of our Lord which was united in subsistence
with God the Word Himself, although it was not exempt from the mortality of its nature,
yet became life-giving through its union in subsistence with the Word, and we may not say
that it was not and is not for ever life-giving: in like manner His human nature does not
in essence possess the knowledge of the future, but the soul of the Lord through its union
with God the Word Himself and its identity in subsistence was enriched, as I said, with
the knowledge of the future as well as with the other miraculous powers.

101 Observe further that we may not speak of Him as servant. For the words servitude and
mastership are not marks of nature but indicate relationship, to something, such as that
of fatherhood and sonship.For these do not signify essence but relation. It is just as we
said, then, in connection with ignorance, that if you separate with subtle thoughts, that
is, with fine imaginings, the created from the uncreated, the flesh is a servant, unless
it has been united with God the Word. But how can it be a servant when t is once united in
subsistence? For since Christ is one, He cannot be His own servant and Lord. For these are
not simple predications but relative. Whose servant, then could He be? His Father’s? The
Son, then, would not have all the Father’s attributes, if He is the Father’s servant and
yet in no respect His own. Besides, how could the apostle say concerning us who were
adopted by Him, So that you are no longer a servant but a son if indeed He is Himself a
servant? The word servant, then, is used merely as a title, though not in the strict
meaning: but for our sakes He assumed the form of a servant and is called a servant among
us. For although He is without passion, yet for our sake He was the servant of passion and
became the minister of our salvation. Those, then, who say that He is a servant divide the
one Christ into two, just as Nestorius did. But we declare Him to be Master and Lord of
all creation, the one Christ, at once God and man, and all-knowing. For in Him are all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge, the hidden treasures.

102 Chapter XXII. Concerning His growth. He is, moreover, said to grow in wisdom and age
and grace increasing in age indeed and through the increase in age manifesting the wisdom
that is in Him; yea, further, making men’s progress in wisdom and grace, and the
fulfilment of the Father’s goodwill, that is to say, men’s knowledge of God and men’s
salvation, His own increase, and everywhere taking as His own that which is ours. But
those who hold that He progressed in wisdom and grace in the sense of receiving some
addition to these attributes, do not say that the union took place at the first origin of
the flesh, nor yet do they give precedence to the union in subsistence, but giving heed to
the foolish Nestorius they imagine some strange relative union and mere indwelling,
understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. For if in truth the flesh was
united with God the Word from its first origin, or rather if it existed in Him and was
identical in subsistence with Him, how was it that it was not endowed completely with all
wisdom and grace? not that it might itself participate in the grace, nor share by grace in
what belonged to the Word, but rather by reason of the union in subsistence, since both
what is human and what is divine belong to the one Christ, and that He Who was Himself at
once God and man should pour forth like a fountain over the universe His grace and wisdom
and plenitude of every blessing.

103 Chapter XXIII. Concerning His Fear. The word fear has a double meaning. For fear is
natural when the soul is unwilling to be separated from the body, on account of the
natural sympathy and close relationship planted in it in the beginning by the Creator,
which makes it fear and struggle against death and pray for an escape from it. It may be
defined thus: natural fear is the force whereby we cling to being with shrinking. For if
all things were brought by the Creator out of nothing into being, they all have by nature
a longing after being and not after non-being. Moreover the inclination towards those
things that support existence is a natural property of them. Hence God the Word when He
became man had this longing, manifesting, on the one hand, in those things that support
existence, the inclination of His nature in desiring food and drink and sleep, and having
in a natural manner made proof of these things, while on the other hand displaying in
those things that bring corruption His natural disinclination in voluntarily shrinking in
the hour of His passion before the flee of death. For although what happened did so
according to the laws of nature, yet it was not, as in our case, a matter of necessity.
For He willingly and spontaneously accepted that which was natural. So that fear itself
and terror and agony belong to the natural and innocent passions and are not under the
dominion of sin.

104 Again, there is a fear which arises from treachery of reasoning and want of faith, and
ignorance of the hour of death, as when we are at night affected by fear at some chance
noise. This is unnatural fear, and may be thus defined: unnatural fear is an unexpected
shrinking. This our Lord did not assume. Hence He never felt fear except in the hour of
His passion, although He often experienced a feeling of shrinking in accordance with the
dispensation. For He was not ignorant of the appointed time. But the holy Athanasius in
his discourse against Apollinarius says that He did actually feel fear. “Wherefore the
Lord said: Now is My soul troubled. The ‘now’ indeed means just ‘when He willed,’ but yet
points to what actually was. For He did not speak of what was not, as though it were
present, as if the things that were said only apparently happened. For all things happened
naturally and actually.” And again, after some other matters, he says,” In nowise does His
divinity admit passion apart from a suffering body, nor yet does it manifest trouble and
pain apart from a pained and troubled soul, nor does it suffer anguish and offer up prayer
apart from a mind that suffered anguish and offered up prayer. For, although these
occurrences were not due to any overthrow of nature, yet they took place to shew forth His
real being.” The words “these occurrences were not due to any overthrow of His nature,”
prove that it was not involuntarily that He endured these things.

105 Chapter XXIV. Concerning our Lord’s Praying. Prayer is an uprising of the mind to God
or a petitioning of God for what is fitting. How then did it happen that our Lord offered
up prayer in the case of Lazarus, and at the hour of His passion? For His holy mind was in
no need either of any uprising towards God, since it had been once and for all united in
subsistence with the God Word, or of any petitioning of God. For Christ is one. But it was
because He appropriated to Himself our personality and took our impress on Himself, and
became an ensample for us, and taught us to ask of God and strain towards Him, and guided
us through His own holy mind in the way that leads up to God. For just as He endured the
passion, achieving for our sakes a triumph over it, so also He offered up prayer, guiding
us, as I said, in the way that leads up to God, and “fulfilling all righteousness “ on our
behalf, as He said to John, and reconciling His Father to us, and honouring Him as the
beginning and cause, and proving that He is no enemy of God. For when He said in
connection with Lazarus, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I know that
Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may
believe that Thou hast sent Me is it not most manifest to all that He said this in honour
of His Father as the cause even of Himself, and to shew that He was no enemy of God?

106 Again, when he said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: yet, not as
I will but as Thou wilt is it not clear to all that He said this as a lesson to us to ask
help in our trials only from God, and to prefer God’s will to oar own, and as a proof that
He did actually appropriate to Himself the attributes of our nature, and that He did in
truth possess two wills, natural, indeed, and corresponding with His natures but yet in no
wise opposed to one another? “Father” implies that He is of the same essence, but “if it
be possible” does not mean that He was in ignorance (for what is impossible to God?), but
serves to teach us to prefer God’s will to our own. For that alone is impossible which is
against God’s will and permission. “But not as I will but as Thou wilt,” for inasmuch as
He is God, He is identical with the Father, while inasmuch as He is man, He manifests the
natural will of mankind. For it is this that naturally seeks escape from death.

107 Further, these words, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He said as making our
personality His own. For neither would God be regarded with us as His Father, unless one
were to discriminate with subtle imaginings of the mind between that which is seen and
that which is thought, nor was He ever forsaken by His divinity: nay, it was we who were
forsaken and disregarded. So that it was as appropriating our personality that He offered
these prayers. Chapter XXV. Concerning the Appropriation. It is to be observed that there
are two appropriations: one that is natural and essential, and one that is personal and
relative. The natural and essential one is that by which our Lord in His love for man took
on Himself our nature and all our natural attributes, becoming in nature and truth man,
and making trial of that which is natural: but the personal and relative appropriation is
when any one assumes the person of another relatively, for instance, out of pity or love,
and in his place utters words concerning him that have no connection with himself. And it
was in this way that our Lord appropriated both our curse and our desertion, and such
other things as are not natural: not that He Himself was or became such, but that He took
upon Himself our personality and ranked Himself as one of us. Such is the meaning in which
this phrase is to be taken: Being made a curse for our sakes.

108 Chapter XXVI. Concerning the Passion of our Lord’s body, and the Impassibility of His
divinity. The Word of God then itself endured all in the flesh, while His divine nature
which alone was passionless remained void of passion. For since the one Christ, Who is a
compound of divinity and humanity, and exists in divinity and humanity, truly suffered,
that part which is capable of passion suffered as it was natural it should, but that part
which was void of passion did not share in the suffering. For the soul, indeed, since it
is capable of passion shares in the pain and suffering of a bodily cut, though it is not
cut itself but only the body: but the divine part which is void of passion does not share
in the suffering of the body. 109 Observe, further that we say that God suffered in the
flesh, bat never that His divinity suffered in the flesh, or that God suffered through the
flesh. For if, when the sun is shining upon a tree, the axe should cleave the tree, and,
nevertheless, the sun remains uncleft and void of passion, much more will the passionless
divinity of the Word, united in subsistence to the flesh, remain void of passion when the
body undergoes passion. And should any one pour water over flaming steel, it is that which
naturally suffers by the water, I mean, the fire, that is quenched, but the steel remains
untouched (for it is not the nature of steel to be destroyed by water): much more, then,
when the flesh suffered did His only passionless divinity escape all passion although
abiding inseparable from it. For one must not take the examples too absolutely and
strictly: indeed, in the examples, one must consider both what is like and what is unlike,
otherwise it would not be an example. For, if they were like in all respects they would be
identities, and not examples, and all the more so in dealing with divine matters. For one
cannot find an example that is like in all respects whether we are dealing with theology
or the dispensation.

110 Chapter XXVII. Concerning the fact that the divinity of the Word remained inseparable
from the soul and the body, even at our Lord’s death, and that His subsistence continued
one. Since our Lord Jesus Christ was without sin (for He committed no sin, He Who took
away the sin of the world, nor was there any deceit found in His mouth ) He was not
subject to death, since death came into the world through sin. He dies, therefore, because
He took on Himself death on our behalf, and He makes Himself an offering to the Father for
our sakes. For we had sinned against Him, and it was meet that He should receive the
ransom for us, and that we should thus he delivered from the condemnation. God forbid that
the blood of the Lord should have been offered to the tyrant. Wherefore death approaches,
and swallowing up the body as a bait is transfixed on the hook of divinity, and after
tasting of a sinless and life-giving body, perishes, and brings up again all whom of old
he swallowed up. For just as darkness disappears on the introduction of light, so is death
repulsed before the assault of life, and brings life to all, but death to the destroyer.

111 Wherefore, although He died as man and His Holy Spirit was severed from His immaculate
body, yet His divinity remained inseparable from both, I mean, from His soul and His body,
and so even thus His one hypostasis was not divided into two hypostases. For body and soul
received simultaneously in the beginning their being in the subsistence of the Word, and
although they were severed from one another by death, yet they continued, each of them,
having the one subsistence of the Word. So that the one subsistence of the Word is alike
the subsistence of the Word, and of soul and body. For at no time had either soul or body
a separate subsistence of their own, different from that of the Word, and the subsistence
of the Word is for ever one, and at no time two. So that the subsistence of Christ is
always one. For, although the soul was separated from the body topically, yet
hypostatically they were united through the Word.

112 Chapter XXVIII. Concerning Corruption and Destruction. The word corruption has two
meanings. For it signifies all the human sufferings, such as hunger, thirst, weariness,
the piercing with nails, death, that is, the separation of soul and body, and so forth. In
this sense we say that our Lord’s body was subject to corruption. For He voluntarily
accepted all these things. But corruption means also the complete resolution of the body
into its constituent elements, and its utter disappearance, which is spoken of by many
preferably as destruction. The body of our Lord did not experience this form of
corruption, as the prophet David says, For Thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt Thou suffer Thine holy one to see corruption. 113 Wherefore to say, with that foolish
Julianus and Gaianus, that our Lord’s body was incorruptible, in the first sense of the
word, before His resurrection is impious. For if it were incorruptible it was not really,
but only apparently, of the same essence as ours, and what the Gospel tells us happened,
viz. the hunger, the thirst, the nails, the wound in His side, the death, did not actually
occur. But if they only apparently happened, then the mystery of the dispensation is an
imposture and a sham, and He became man only in appearance, and not in actual fact, and we
are saved only in appearance, and not in actual fact. But God forbid, and may those who so
say have no part in the salvation. But we have obtained and shall obtain the true
salvation. But in the second meaning of the word “corruption,” we confess that our Lord’s
body is incorruptible, that is, indestructible, for such is the tradition of the inspired
Fathers. Indeed, after the resurrection of our Saviour from the dead, we say that our
Lord’s body is incorruptible even in the first sense of the word. For our Lord by His own
body bestowed the gifts both of resurrection and of subsequent incorruption even on our
own body, He Himself having become to us the firstfruits both of resurrection and
incorruption, and of passionlessness. For as the divine Apostle says, This corruptible
must put an incorruption.

114 Chapter XXIX. Concerning the Descent to Hades. The soul when it was deified descended
into Hades, in order that, just as the Sun of Righteousness rose for those upon the earth,
so likewise He might bring light to those who sit under the earth in darkness and shadow
of death: in order that just as He brought the message of peace to those upon the earth,
and of release to the prisoners, and of sight to the blind and became to those who
believed the Author of everlasting salvation and to those who did not believe a reproach
of their unbelief so He might become the same to those in Hades: That every knee should
bow to Him, of things in heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth. And thus
after He had freed those who had been bound for ages, straightway He rose again from the
dead, shewing us the way of resurrection.

115 1Gen. iii. 7; cf. Greg. Naz., Orat. 38 and 42; Greg. Nyss., Orat. Catech. c. 8. 2Text,
parei`den. Variant, periei`den. 3Gen. vi. 13. 4Ibid. xi. 7. 5ejpistasiva, care, or
dominion. 6Gen. xviii. I seqq. 7Ibid xix. I seqq. 8Wisd. ii. 24. 9Greg. Naz., Orat. 12 and
38. 1Text, pavlhn. Variant, plavsin, cf. “plasmationem” (Faber). 1Text, pareivde. Variant,
periei`den. 1Greg. Nyss., Orat. Cathec., ch. 20 et seqq. 1St. John i. 18. 1Phil. ii. 6.
1“Condescends to His servants” is absent in some mss. 1Eccles. i. 10. 1Greg. Nyss., Cat.
ch 16. 1Athan., De salut. adv. Christi. 1Text, tou` Lovlou. Variant, tou` Qeou` Lovlou: so
Dei Verbi (Faber). 2St. Luke i. 27. 2Hebr. vii. 14. 2St. Luke i. 28. 2Ibid. 30, 31. 2St.
Matt. i. 21. 2St. Luke i. 34 2“Of thee” is wanting in some mss. 2St. Luke i. 35. 2Ibid.
38. 2Ibid. 27, 28 3Greg. Naz., Orat. 38 and 42.

116 3Cf. Athan., Ep. ad Serap., De Spiritu Sancto; Greg. Nyss., Contr. Apoll. 6, 25;
Rufinus, Exp. Symb.; Tertullian, De Carne Christi and Contr. Prax.; Hilary, De Trin. II.
26. 3Basil, Christi Nativ. 3Cyril, Apolog. 5 and 8 anathem. 3Cf. Greg. Naz., I Ep. ad
Cledon; Cyril, I Ep. ad Nestor.; Theodor., ep. ad Joan. Antioch., &c. 3Cyril., Epist. ad
Monach. 3Procl., Epist. 2 ad Arm. 3rhn oijkonomivan, the oeconomy, the Incarnation. 3Cod.
R. 2428 adds here some statements taken from the Dissertation against the Nestorians.
3kata; Monofusitw`n: these words are absent in mss. 4Cf. Eulogius and also Polemon in the
Collect. Contr. Severianos. 4Max. Epist. ad Joan. cubic. p. 279. 4Ibid. p. 286. 4ejx
ejtevrwn ta; aujtav. 4Cf. Niceph. Call., Hist. xviii. 46. 4Eulog. apud Max., t. ii. p.
145. 4Cf. Sever., Ep. 2 ad Joannem. 4Anast. Siniata, in JOdhgw`, ch. 9; Leontius, contr.
Nest. et Entych. 4Greg. Naz., Ep. ad Cled., I.

117 4to;n aujto;n ejpidevcontai lo;gon th`" fuvsew"; perhaps—all admit the same account of
the nature,—all can be dealt with in the same way in respect of nature. 5Leontius, Contr.
Sev. et Eutych. Max. loc. cit., p. 277. 5Reading w[sper ejpi; ajtovmou, &c. These words
are omitted in Cod. S. Hil. Reg. 10, Colb. 3, and N. 5h[ suvgkrasin, h] ajnavkrasin. The
mss. omit the latter. 5The word Eujruchv". however, is omitted by the best copies.
5Procl., Epist. 2 ad Arm. 5Greg. Naz., Hom. 5. See also John’s Dialect., 65. 5Leo papa,
Epist. 10, ch. 4. 5kata; to;n ajntidovsew" trovpon, in the way of a communication of
properties. 5dia` th`n eij" a[llhla tw`n merw`h pericwvrhsin. See Leont., De Sect., 7,
Contr. Nest. et Eutych., I. 5Leo papa, epist. 10, ch. 4. 61 Cor. ii. 8. 6St. John iii. 13.
6Cf. Athan., De Salut. adv. Christi; Greg. Naz., Orat. 38; Greg. Nyss., Contr. Apoll.;
Leont., Contr. Nestor. et Eutych., bk. I; Thomas Aquinas, III., quaest. 16, art. 4, 5.

118 6ei]do", form, class, species. 6Ps. xlv. 7. 6Job i. I. 6ajei; ajnaitivw" ejk Patrov".
6Greg. Naz., Orat. 35. 6I Cor. ii. 8. 6Baruch iii. 38: these words are absent in many mss.
7Leont., Resp. ad argum. Sever. 7For kai; th` aijtiarh` kai; uji>kh`, kai; th` aijtiath`
kai; ejkporeuth` we get kai; th` aijtiatikh`, kai; poreuth’ in Cod. Colb. I, Cod. Reg. 3,
and so Faber also. 7oijkonomiva", incarnation. 7Leont., Resp. ad argum. Sever. 7See
Leont., Act. 7. De Sect., with reference to one of the arguments of the Nestorians; also
Greg. Naz., Orat. 36; Max., Ep. I ad Joan. Cubic. 7Infr. ch. vii.: Basil, Epist. 40 and
Bk. De Spir. Sanct ch. 17 7ei\do", form, class, species. 7These words are gound only in
Cod. Reg. 2927. 7The words ou`siva paqhthv and pevponqe are omitted in some editions.
7Against Arias, Apollinaris, and the Severians. 8Col. ii. 9. 8Dion., De div. nom., ch. 2.

119 8Athan., De salut. adv. Christ: Greg. Naz., Epist. I ad Cled. et Orat. I: Cyril, in
John viii. 8Cf. Greg. Naz., Orat. I, &c. 8Greg., Orat. I, 38–51. 8pericwrei`tai ujpo tou
kreivttono". 8Infr., ch. xviii. 8ou suvnoiko". It is proposed to read aujtou` suvnoiko",
or wj" suvnoiko". 8Greg., Epist. I ad Cled. 8Athan., De salut. adv. Christ. 9Ephes. ii. 6.
9Text, ujpemfaivnonte". Variant, ejmfaivnomen. 9ajparch;n tou` hjmerevrou furavmato".
9suvnqeton genesqai th;n proteron ajplh`n ou\san tou` Lovgou ujpovsttasin, suvnqeton de;
ejk duvo telei;wn fuvsewn. 9Text, kai; crovnw kuhvsew". Various readings, kai trovpw
kuhvsew": kai; crovnw kai; kuhvsew". 9Cf. Ruf., Expos. symb.; Epiph., in the epilogue to
his De Haer.; Joan. Scyth., Epist. Dionys. 4. 9Maria" is absent in most mss. 9Expositio
fidei a Patribus Nicaenis contra Paul. Samos. III. p. conc. Ephes. 9Commonit. ad Eulog. et
Epist. 2 ad Succes.; cf. supr. ch. vi. et infr. ch. xi. 9o[lo" me;n ou\u ejsti Qeo;"
te;leio", oujc o[lon de; Oeov"

120 1o[lo". 1o[lon. 1o[lon. 1o[lo". 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 51. 1the following is added in R.
2927: ejn pa`si me;n h\n, kai; ujpe;r ta; pavnta, kai ejn th gavstri th`" Qeomhvtoro",
ajllà ejn taujth te, ejnergeva th`" sarkwvsew". This is assuredly and interpolation. 1u.
supr. ch. iii. 1Leontius de sectis, Act. 3. 1Directed against the Severians. See Leont.,
De Sect., Act. 7; Greg. Naz., Orat. 37. 1upo; to; sunece;" po;son ajna`gontai aij tou`
Kurivou fuvdei", h] ijpo to; diwrismevnon. 1Text, ajnavgontai. Variants, ajnafevrointo and
diafevrointo. 1miva ejpifavneia. 1Cyril, De Anath. 8 cont. Theod. 1The Apollinarians
attacked the orthodox as ajnqrwpolavtrai, man-worshippers, and as making the Trinity a
Quaternity by their doctrine of two perfect natures in Christ. see greg. Naz., Ep. I ad
Cied.; Athanas., Ep. ad Epictet.; Anastas. Anitioch., De Operationibus; Cyril, Contr.
Nestor. et Eutych. I.; John of Dam., Dialect. 29. 1See Migne on the position of this
section. 1Another allegation of the Severian party is in view here. see Leont., De Sect.,
Act. 7, Contr. Nestor. et Eutych. I.; John of Dam., Dialect. 29.

121 1Leont., De sect., Act 7. 1Dam., Epist. ad Jord. Archim. 1Text, blavsfhmon. Variant,
blasfhmivan. 1Text, blavsfhmon. Variant, blasfhmivan. 11 Cor. viii. 5. 1These words which
refer to the Holy Spirit are absent in R. 2930 and in I Cor. viii., but are present in
other Codices and in Basil, De Spirit. Sancto, and in Greg. Nazianz., Orat. 39, and
further in the Damascene himself Parallel, and elsewhere, and could not be omitted here.
1Orat. 39. 1Rom. xi. 36. 1Vid. Epist. ad Jordan. 1Orat. 42. at the beginning. 1Epist. ad
Petrum Fullonem; Theoph., Ad Arn. 5930. 1See Niceph. Call., Hist. xviii. 51. 1Conc. Chal.,
Act. I, at the end. 1In Cod. S. Hil. is written above the line h[ qehlavtou ojrgh`"
pauvsei, which explains the author’s meaning. 1Niceph. Call., Hist. xviii. 51, speaks of
this Hymn and also the fw`" ijlarovn as coming from the Apostles themselves. The writer of
the Life of Basil supposed to be Amphilochius of Iconium, declares that the Trisagium was
recited by Basil at Nicaea.

122 1h] yilh` qewriva katanoei`tai. 1This division is absent in some copies and is not
restored in the old translation, but is not superfluous. 1St. John i. 14. 1tou` sidhvrou
is absent in some codices and also in the old translation. 1th;n oijkonomijan, the
incarnation. 1hj kaq1 hjmav" oujsiva. 1Supr. ch. 6 and 7 1Leont., De sect. Act. 8. 1Cyril,
Defens. II., Anath. cont. Thoed. 1oj Qeo;" morfou`rai, h[toi oujsioutai to; ajllovtrion.
Gregory of Nazianzum in his Carmen used the term oujsiou`sqai of the word after the
assumption of our nature. See also Dionys., De div. nom., ch. 2; Ep. ad Carmen, 4; &c.
1Dion., De div. nom., ch. 8. 1See especially Greg. Naz., Ep. I ad Cled.; Theod., Haer.
fab., v. 18. 1Greg. Naz., Epist. I. ad Cledon. 1Ibid. 1Infr. ch. 18. 11 Cor. xv. 21.
1Greg. Naz., ibid. 11 Cor. xv. 47. 1Gal. iv. 4. 1cristotovko", as opposed to qeotovko".

123 1Cyril, ad Monachos, Epist. I. 1wj" ejphreazomevnhn is absent in Vegelinus. 1i.e.
Anointed One. 1qeofovro", Deigerus. See Greg. Naz., Ep. 2, ad Cied. Basil, De Spir. Sanc.,
ch. 5, &c. 1Cyril, cont. Nest., bk. I. 1ajeiv is absent in Vegelinus. 1oijkonomiva" lovgw,
by reason of the incarnation. 1Reading ginovmena, for which Cod. R. 2930 gives uJph`rcon.
1Leo, Epist. 10, ad Flavian. 1Max., Disp. cum Pyrrho. 1Supr., bk. ii. ch. 22.
1oijkonomiva". incarnation. 1Max., Dial. cum Pyrrho; Anast. in JOdhgov", ch. 6, p. 40.
1to; mevn ajplw`" qe;leinm qevlhsi", h[toi hj qelhtikh; duvnami". 1o[rexi". 1qevlhton,
willed, the thing willed. 1qevlhma gnwmikovn. dispositional volition, will of judgment.
1qelhtikovn, volitive. volitivum. volitive, is the Scholastic translation qelhtikovn.
1Max., Dial. cum Pyrrh. 1Max., ibid. 1Max., ibid. 1qelhtikov", endowed with volition.
1qevlhsi", will. 1qelhtikov". 1qelhtikov". 1kai; kata; tou`to oij Patevre" to; hjmevteron
ejn ejautw` tupw`sai aujto`n e[fhsan qevlhma: and according to this the Fathers said that
He typified, moulded, had the form of our will in Himself.

124 1Greg. Nyss., Cont. Apollin and others, Act. 10, sext. syn. 1Max., Agatho pap. Epist.
Syn. in VI Syn., Act. 4. 1St. Mark vii. 24 1Max., ibid. 1St. Matt. xxvii. 33 and 34; St.
John xix. 28 and 29 1ejmpaqhv", passible, sensible, possessed of sensibility. 1pavqo",
sensibility. 1In N. is added: kai; ei; e;n th` hjmevra to` pavqou" levgei J Pavter, eij
dunato;n, parelqevtw to; pothvrion touto ajpj ejmou`. Plh;n oujc wj" ejgw; qevlw, ajll J
wj" suv. ÃIdou` duvo qelhvsei", qei>kh; a[ma kai; ajnqrwpivnh. 1Phil. ii. 8. 1Max., ut
supr. 1tw`n ujpo; cei`ra ga;r tau`ta. 1Orat. 36, some distance from the beginning. 1Max.,
Disp. cum Pyrrh. 1wj" suntrecouvsh" tq e[cei th`" proceirivsew", the choice, or decision,
being synchronous with the moral disposition. 1Max., Disp. cum Pyrrh. 1prw`ton me;n, o[ti
aij sunqevsei" tw`n ejn uJpostavsei o[ntwn, kai; ouj tw`n ejtevrw lovgw, kai; ouj iudivw
qewroumevnwn eijsiv. 1Max., Dial. cum Pyrrh. 1Max., Epist. ad marin.

125 1proaivresi". 1Basil, on Ps. xliv., or rather on Isiah vii. 1Is. vii. 16, sec. LXX.
1Fusikai; men gavr eijsin aiJ ajretaiv; cf. Cicero, De leg. I. 1Supr., bk. ii., ch. 30.
2Max., Dial. cum Pyrrh. 2Gen. i. 26. 21Cor. vii. 25. 2Ps. lxxiii. 3. 2Dan. ii. 15. peri;
tivno" djxh`lqen hj gnwvmh hJ ajnaidh;" au[th. In our A.V., Why is the decree so hasty
from the king? 2Text, kata; ei[kosi ojktw; Variants, kata; koinou`, kata; poluv, secunda
multa (old trans.), and secundum plurima (Faber). Maximus gave 28 meanings of gnwvmh. 2Cf.
Anast., De operationibus, I.; Joan. Scyth, Con. Sever. VIII., &c. 2Supr. bk. ii.: Max.,
Dial. cum Pyrrh. 2Orat. 37, near the beginning. 2Anast. Antioch., De operationibus. 2kai;
aujto; to; ajpotelouvmenon; cf. Max., ad Marin. II. 2Max. tom. ii., Dogmat. ad Marin., p.
124. 2St. Matt. viii. 3. 2St. John vi. 11. 2See Act. 10 sextae synodi. 2Text, qehgovrou".
Variant, qeofovrou".

126 2Orat. de natura et hyp. Also in Basil. 43. 2Max., Dial. cum Pyrrh. 2Max., Dial. cum
Pyrrh. 2St. John v. 17. 2Ibid. 19. 2Ibid. x. 38. 2Ibid. v. 36. 2Ibid. 21. 2Max., ibid.
2Maxim., lib. De duab. vol. et Dial. cum Pyrrh. 2St. Luke viii. 54; Max., Dial. cum Pyrrh.
2Max., ibid. 2Max., ibid. 2Text, hJ de; kata; fuvsin ejnevrgeia. Variant, eij dev. 2Hom.
1. 2Thes., xxxii., ch. 2; Act. 10, sextae Synodi. 2The Monotheletes made much of the case
of the raising of the daughter of Jairus. See Cyril, In Joan., p. 351; Max., Dial. cum
Pyrrh., Epist. ad Nicand., epist. ad Mon. Sicil.; Scholiast in Collect. cont. Severum, ch.
20. 2oi;kouomw`", in incarnate form. 2Leo, Epist. cit. 2ouj ga;r ajfV eJautou; pro;" ta;
fusika; pajqh th;n oJrmh;n ejpoiei`to oujdà aujth;n ejk tw`n luph w`n aJformh;n kai;
paraivthsin. 2The term is morfhv, as in Phil. ii. 6, 7. 2Dion., ch. 2, De div. nom. et
Epist. 4.

127 2Max., Dial. cum Pyrrh. 2See the reply of Maximus in the Dialogue cum Pyrrh. 2Gen. i.
31. 2Max., Opusc. Polem., pp. 31, 32. 2Leo, Epist. 10. 2St. Matt. iv. 2. 2Nyss., adv.
Apoll. 2Chrysost., Hom. in s. Thom. 2dià ajntwnumiva". 2Cyril, in Joan., bk. viii. 2This
is directed to another argument of the Severians. Cf. Leont., De Sect., 7, Contr. Nest. et
Eutych., I. 2Epist. 2 ad Serap., towards the end; Collect., as above, c. 19. 2Anast.,
Collect., ch. 19. 2Epist. 1, ad Cledon. 2Orat. 4, not far from the beginning. 2Cf. Greg.
Naz., Orat. 38, 39, 42, 51; Niceph., C.P. adv. Ep. Euseb., c. 50; Euthym., Panopl., II. 7.
2Greg., Orat. 42. 2Id., Orat. 39; Max. bk. De duabus voluntatibus. 2Max., Epist. ad
Nicandr. 2Greg. Naz., Orat. 36. 2Ibid. 35, p. 595. 2St. Mark vii. 24. 2St. Matt. viii. 3.
2Greg. Naz., Orat. 42. 2Against the Apollinarians and the Monotheletes. Cf. Max., ut
supra, II. p. 151.

128 2Greg. Naz., Carm. sen. adv. Apollin., Epist. ad Cled., and elsewhere. 2See also ch. 6
above, and Gregory’s lines against the Apollinarians. 2St. John i. 14. 2Gen. xlvi. 27, ap.
LXX.; Acts vii. 14. 2Is. xl. 5; St. Luke iii. 6. 2St. John viii. 40. 2Sophron., Epist.
Synod. 2See Cyril, In Joann., ch. x. 2St. Matt. xxvi. 39; St. Luke xxii. 22. 2Ibid. 2Max.,
Dial. cum Pyrrh.; Greg. Naz., Ep. 1, ad Cledon. 2Dionys., Epist. 4, ad Caium. 2See
Severus, Ep. 3, ad Joann. Hegum.; Anastas., Sinait. Hodegus, p. 240 2Max., Dial. cum
Pyrrh. 2Leo, Epist. 1 ad Flav. 2Perhaps from Joann. Scythop., bk. viii.; cf. Niceph., C.P.
Antirrh., III. 59. 2Max., Dogm. ad Marin., p. 43. 2Or, sensibilities. 2Cf. Greg. Nyss.,
Contr. Apoll.; Leont., De Sect., Act. 10; Anastas., Hodegus, 13. &c. 2Cf. Athanas., De
Salut., Adventu Christi. 2Greg. Naz., Orat. 36. 2Photius, Cod. 230; Eulog., bk. x., Ep.
35; Sophron., Ep. ad Serg.; Leont., De Sect., Act. 10.

129 2Cf. Sophron., Ep. ad. Serg., who refers to the Duliani (ÃDoulianoiv); the opinions of
Felix and Elipandas, condemned at the Synod of Frankfort; and Thomas Aquinas, III.,
Quoest. 20, Art. 1. 2Greg. Naz., Orat. 24. 2Gal. iv. 7. 2Col. ii. 3. 2St. Luke ii. 52.
2Athanas., Contr. Arian., bk. iv.; Greg. Naz., Ep. I. ad Cled., and Orat. 20; Cyril,
Contr. Nest., bk. iii.; Greg. Nyss., Contr. Apoll., II. 28, &c. 2Text has peiqomai: surely
it should be peiqovmenoi. 21 Tim. i. 1. 2Max., Dial. cum Pyrrh. 2St. John xii. 27. 2S.
Athanas., De salutari adventu Christi, contra Apollinarem towards the end. 2St. Matt.,
Greg. Naz, Orat. 36 2St. Matt. iii. 15 2St. John xi 42. 2Greg, Naz., Orat. 42; Chyrs.,
Hom. 63 in Joan. 3St. Matt. xxvi. 39 3Chyrs. In Cat. In St. Matt. xxvi 3Greg., Orat. 36
3St. Matt. xxvii. 46. 3Greg., Orat. 36; Cyril, De recta fide; Athanas., Contr. Arian., bk.
Iv.

130 3Greg. Nyss., Orat. 38 3Max. ad Marin. In solut. I dubit. Theod. 3Greg. Naz., Orat.
36; Athanas., De Salut. Adv. Christi 3Gal. iii. 15. 3Photius, Cod. 46 3Athan., De salut.
Adv. Christi 3Is. liii. 9; St. John i. 29. 3Rom. v. 12. 3Greg., Orat. 42 3Cf. Epiph.,
Hoeres. 69; Greg. Nyss., Contr. Eunom., II. p. 55. 3uJpovstasi", hypostasis. 3Leont. De
sect., Act. 10, and Dial.cont.Aphthartodoc. 3Anast Sinait., Hodegus, p. 295 3Ps. xvi. 10
3Anast. Sinait., Hodegus, p. 293. 31 Cor. xv. 20. 3Ibid. 53. 3Cf. Ruf., Expos. Symbol.
Apost.; Cassian, Contr. Nestor, bk. vi.; Cyril, Calech. 14. 3Mal. Iv. 2. 3Is. Ix. 2. 3Is.
Lxi. I; St. Luke iv. 19. 31 Pet. iii. 19. 3Iren., iv. 45; Greg. Naz., Orat. 42. 3Phil. ii.
10.BOOK IV


AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH
=========================================

AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH continued

BOOK 4

1 Book IV. Chapter I. Concerning what followed the Resurrection. After Christ was risen
from the dead He laid aside all His passions, I mean His corruption or hunger or thirst or
sleep or weariness or such like. For, although He did taste food after the resurrection1
yet He did not do so because it was a law of His nature (for He felt no hunger), but in
the way of economy, in order that He might convince us of the reality of the resurrection,
and that it was one and the same flesh which suffered and rose again2. But He laid aside
none of the divisions of His nature, neither body nor spirit, but possesses both the body
and the soul intelligent and reasonable, volitional and energetic, and in this wise He
sits at the right hand of the Father, using His will both as God and as man in behalf of
our salvation, energising in His divine capacity to provide for and maintain and govern
all things, and remembering in His human capacity the time He spent on earth, while all
the time He both sees and knows that He is adored by all rational creation. For His Holy
Spirit knows that He is one in substance with God the Word, and shares as Spirit of God
and not simply as Spirit the worship accorded to Him. Moreover, His ascent from earth to
heaven, and again, His descent from heaven to earth, are manifestations of the energies of
His circumscribed body. For He shall so come again to you, saith he, in like manner as ye
have seen Him go into Heaven3.

2 Chapter II. Concerning the sitting at the right hand of the Father. We hold, moreover,
that Christ sits in the body at the right hand of God the Father, but we do not hold that
the right hand of the Father is actual place. For how could He that is uncircumscribed
have a right hand limited by place? Right hands and left hands belong to what is
circumscribed. But we understand the right hand of the Father to be the glory and honour
of the Godhead in which the Son of God, who existed as God before the ages, and is of like
essence to the Father, and in the end became flesh, has a seat in the body, His flesh
sharing in the glory. For He along with His flesh is adored with one adoration by all
creation4. Chapter III. In reply to those who say5 “If Christ has two natures, either ye
do service to the creature in worshipping created nature, or ye say that there is one
nature to be worshipped, and another not to be worshipped.”

3 Along with the Father and the Holy Spirit we worship the Son of God, Who was incorporeal
before He took on humanity, and now in His own person is incarnate and has become man
though still being also God. His flesh, then, in its own nature6 if one were to make
subtle mental distinctions between what is seen and what is thought, is not deserving of
worship since it is created. But as it is united with God the Word, it is worshipped on
account of Him and in Him. For just as the king deserves homage alike when un-robed and
when robed, and just as the purple robe, considered simply as a purple robe, is trampled
upon and tossed about, but after becoming the royal dress receives all honour and glory,
and whoever dishonours it is generally condemned to death: and again, just as wood in
itself7 is not of such a nature that it cannot be touched, but becomes so when fire is
applied to it, and it becomes charcoal, and yet this is not because of its own nature, but
because of the fire united to it, and the nature of the wood is not such as cannot be
touched, but rather the charcoal or burning wood: so also the flesh, in its own nature, is
not to be worshipped, but is worshipped in the incarnate God Word, not because of itself,
but because of its union in subsistence with God the Word. And we do not say that we
worship mere flesh, but God’s flesh, that is, God incarnate.

4 Chapter IV. Why it was the Son of God, and not the Father or the Spirit, that became
man: and what having became man He achieved. The Father is Father8 and not Son9: the Son
is Son and not Father: the Holy Spirit is Spirit and not Father or Son. For the
individuality is unchangeable. How, indeed, could individuality continue to exist at all
if it were ever changing and altering? Wherefore the Son of God became Son of Man in order
that His individuality might endure. For since He was the Son of God, He became Son of
Man, being made flesh of the holy Virgin and not losing the individuality of Sonship. 5
Further, the Son of God became man, in order that He might again bestow on man that favour
for the sake of which He created him. For He created him after His own image, endowed with
intellect and free-will, and after His own likeness, that is to say, perfect in all virtue
so far as it is possible for man’s nature to attain perfection. For the following
properties are, so to speak, marks of the divine nature: viz. absence of care and
distraction and guile, goodness, wisdom, justice, freedom from all vice. So then, after He
had placed man in communion with Himself (for having made him for incorruption He led him
up through communion wills Himself to incorruption), and when moreover, through the
transgression of the command we had confused and obliterated the marks of the divine
image, and had become evil, we were stripped of our communion with God (for what communion
hath light with darkness?): and having been shut out from life we became subject to the
corruption of death: yea, since He gave us to share in the better part, and we did not
keep it secure, He shares in the inferior part, I mean our own nature, in order that
through Himself and in Himself He might renew that which was made after His image and
likeness, and might teach us, too, the conduct of a virtuous life, making through Himself
the way thither easy for us, and might by the communication of life deliver us from
corruption, becoming Himself the firstfruits of our resurrection, and might renovate the
useless and worn vessel calling us to the knowledge of God that He might redeem us from
the tyranny of the devil, and might strengthen and teach us how to overthrow the tyrant
through patience and humility.

6 The worship of demons then has ceased: creation has been sanctified by the divine blood:
altars and temples of idols have been overthrown, the knowledge of God has been implanted
in men’s minds, the co-essential Trinity, the uncreate divinity, one true God, Creator and
Lord of all receives men’s service: virtues are cultivated, the hope of resurrection has
been granted through the resurrection of Christ, the demons shudder at those men who of
old were under their subjection. And the marvel, indeed, is that all this has been
successfully brought about through His cross and passion and death. Throughout all the
earth the Gospel of the knowledge of God has been preached; no wars or weapons or armies
being used to rout the enemy, but only a few, naked, poor, illiterate, persecuted and
tormented men, who with their lives in their hands, preached Him Who was crucified in the
flesh and died, and who became victors over the wise and powerful. For the omnipotent
power of the Cross accompanied them. Death itself, which once was maws chiefest terror,
has been overthrown, and now that which was once the object of hate and loathing is
preferred to life. These are the achievements of Christ’s presence: these are the tokens
of His power. For it was not one people that He saved, as when through Moses He divided
the sea and delivered Israel out of Egypt and the bondage of Pharaoh; nay, rather He
rescued all mankind from the corruption of death and the bitter tyranny of sin:

7 not leading them by force to virtue, not overwhelming them with earth or burning them
with fire, or ordering the sinners to be stoned, but persuading men by gentleness and
long-suffering to choose virtue and vie with one another, and find pleasure in the
struggle to attain it. For, formerly, it was sinners who were persecuted, and yet they
clung all the closer to sin, and sin was looked upon by them as their God: but now for the
sake of piety and virtue men choose persecutions and crucifixions and death. 8 Hail! O
Christ, the Word and Wisdom and Power of God, and God omnipotent! What can we helpless
ones give Thee in return for all these good gifts? For all are Thine, and Thou askest
naught from us save our salvation, Thou Who Thyself art the Giver of this, and yet art
grateful to those who receive it, through Thy unspeakable goodness. Thanks be to Thee Who
gave us life, and granted us the grace of a happy life, and restored us to that, when we
had gone astray, through Thy unspeakable condescension. Chapter V. In reply to those who
ask if Christ’s subsistence is create or uncreate. The subsistence of God the Word before
the Incarnation was simple and uncompound, and incorporeal and uncreate: but after it
became flesh, it became also the subsistence of the flesh, and became compounded of
divinity which it always possessed, and of flesh which it had assumed: and it bears the
properties of the two natures, being made known in two natures: so that the one same
subsistence is both uncreate in divinity and create in humanity, visible and invisible.
For otherwise we are compelled either to divide the one Christ and speak of two
subsistences, or to deny the distinction between the natures and thus introduce change and
confusion.

9 Chapter VI. Concerning the question, when Christ was called. 10 The mind was not united
with God the Word, as some falsely assert before the Incarnation by the Virgin and from
that time called Christ. That is the absurd nonsense of Origen who lays down the doctrine
of the priority of the existence of souls. But we hold that the Son and Word of God became
Christ after He had dwelt in the womb of His holy ever-virgin Mother, and became flesh
without change, and that the flesh was anointed with divinity. For this is the anointing
of humanity, as Gregory the Theologian says. And here are the words of the most holy Cyril
of Alexandria which he wrote to the Emperor Theodosius: “For I indeed hold that one ought
to give the name Jesus Christ neither to the Word that is of God if He is without
humanity, nor yet to the temple born of woman if it is not united with the Word. For the
Word that is of God is understood to be Christ when united with humanity in ineffable
manner in the union of the oeconomy. And again, he writes to the Empresses thus: “Some
hold that the name ‘Christ’ is rightly given to the Word that is begotten of God the
Father, to Him alone, and regarded separately by Himself. But we have not been taught so
to think and speak. For when the Word became flesh, then it was, we say, that He was
called Christ Jesus.

11 For since He was anointed with the oil of gladness, that is the Spirit, by Him Who is
God and Father, He is for this reason called Christ. But that the anointing was an act
that concerned Him as man could be doubted by no one who is accustomed to think rightly.
Moreover, the celebrated Athanasius says this in his discourse “Concerning the Saving
Manifestation: “The God Who was before the sojourn in the flesh was not man, but God in
God, being invisible and without passion, but when He became man, He received in addition
the name of Christ because of the flesh, since, indeed, passion and death follow in the
train of this name.” 12 And although the holy Scripture says, Therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness it is to be observed that the holy Scripture often
uses the past tense instead of the future, as for example here: Thereafter He was seen
upon the earth and dwelt among men. For as yet God was not seen nor did He dwell among men
when this was said. And here again: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea wept.
For as yet these things had not come to pass. Chapter VII. In answer to those who enquire
whether the holy Mother of God bore two natures, and whether two natures hung upon the
Cross.

13 ajgevnhton and genhtovn, written with one ‘n</sqŸ\`80{\strike\i0\b0\cap"0\scap"0\super
28}{\v "3.v9.a4.w1.b4.f26} and meaning uncreated and created, refer to nature: but
ajgevnnhton and gevnhta, that is to say, unbegotten and begotten, as the double ‘n’
indicates, refer not to nature but to subsistence. The divine nature then is ajgevnhto",
that is to say, uncreate, but all things that come after the divine nature are gevnhta,
that is, created. In the divine and uncreated nature, therefore, the property of being
ajgevnnhton or unbegotten is contemplated in the Father (for He was not begotten), that of
being gevnnhton or begotten in the Son (for He has been eternally begotten of the Father),
and that of procession in the Holy Spirit. Moreover of each species of living creatures,
the first members were ajgevnnhta but not ajgevnhta: for they were brought into being by
their Maker, but were not the offspring of creatures like themselves. For gevnesi" is
creation, while gevnnesi" or begetting is in the case of God the origin of a co-essential
Son arising from the Father alone, and in the case of bodies, the origin of a co-essential
subsistence arising from the contact of male and female. And thus we perceive that
begetting refers not to nature but to subsistence. For if it did refer to nature, to`
gevnnhton and to ajgevnnhton, i.e. the properties of being begotten and unbegotten, could
not be contemplated in one and the same nature. Accordingly the holy Mother of God bore a
subsistence revealed in two natures; being begotten on the one hand, by reason of its
divinity, of the Father timelessly, and, at last, on the other hand, being incarnated of
her in time and born in the flesh.

14 But if our interrogators should hint that He Who is begotten of the holy Mother of God
is two natures, we reply, “Yea! He is two natures: for He is in His own person God and
man. And the same is to be said concerning the crucifixion and resurrection and ascension.
For these refer not to nature but to subsistence. Christ then, since He is in two natures,
suffered and was crucified in the nature that was subject to passion. For it was in the
flesh and not in His divinity that He hung upon the Cross. Otherwise, let them answer us,
when we ask if two natures died. No, we shall say. And so two natures Were not crucified
but Christ was begotten, that is to say, the divine Word having become man was begotten in
the flesh, was crucified in the flesh, suffered in the flesh, while His divinity continued
to be impossible.”

15 Chapter VIII. How the Only-begotten Son of God is called first-born. He who is first
begotten is called first-born whether he is only-begotten or the first of a number of
brothers. If then the Son of God was called first-born, but was not called Only-begotten,
we could imagine that He was the first-born of creatures, as being a creature. But since
He is called both first-born and Only-begotten, both senses must be preserved in His case.
We say that He is first-born of all creation since both He Himself is of God and creation
is of God, but as He Himself is born alone and timelessly of the essence of God the
Father, He may with reason be called Only-begotten Son, first-born and not first-created.
For the creation was not brought into being out of the essence of the Father, but by His
will out of nothing. And He is called First-born among many brethren for although being
Only-begotten, He was also born of a mother. Since, indeed, He participated just as we
ourselves do in blood and flesh and became man, while we too through Him became sons of
God, being adopted through the baptism, He Who is by nature Son of God became first-born
amongst us who were made by adoption and grace sons of God, and stand to Him in the
relation of brothers. Wherefore He said, I ascend unto My Father and your Father. He did
not say “our Father,” but “My Father,” clearly in the sense of Father by nature, and “your
Father,” in the sense of Father by grace. And “My God and your God.” He did not say “our
God,” but “My God:” and if you distinguish with subtle thought that which is seen from
that which is thought, also “your God,” as Maker and Lord.

16 Chapter IX. Concerning Faith and Baptism. 17 We confess one baptism for the remission
of sins and for life eternal. For baptism declares the Lord’s death. We are indeed “buried
with the Lord through baptism,” as saith the divine Apostle. So then, as our Lord died
once for all, we also must be baptized once for all, and baptized according to the Word of
the Lord, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit being taught
the confession in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those then, who, after having been
baptized into Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and having been taught that there is one
divine nature in three subsistences, are rebaptized, these, as the divine Apostle says,
crucify the Christ afresh. For it is impossible, he saith, for those who were once
enlightened, &c., to renew them again unto repentance: seeing they crucify to themselves
the Christ afresh, and put Him to an open shame. But those who were not bap tized into the
Holy Trinity, these must be baptized again. For although the divine Apostle says: Into
Christ and into His death were we baptized he does not mean that the invocation of baptism
must be in these words, but that baptism is an image of the death of Christ. For by the
three immersions baptism signifies the three days of our Lord’s entombment. The baptism
then into Christ means that believers are baptized into Him.

18 We could not believe in Christ if we were not taught confession in Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. For Christ is the Son of the Living God Whom the Father anointed with the
Holy Spirit: in the words of the divine David, Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And Isaiah also speaking in the person of the
Lord says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me. Christ, however,
taught His own disciples the invocation and said, Baptizing them in the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For since Christ made us for incorruption
and we transgressed His saving command. He condemned us to the corruption of death in
order that that which is evil should not be immortal, and when in His compassion He
stooped to His servants and became like us, He redeemed us from corruption through His own
passion. He caused the fountain of remission to well forth for us out of His holy and
immaculate side water for our regeneration, and the washing away of sin and corruption;
and blood to drink as the hostage of life eternal. And He laid on us the command to be
born again of water and of the Spirit through prayer and invocation, the Holy Spirit
drawing nigh unto the water.

19 For since man’s nature is twofold, consisting of soul and body, He bestowed on us a
twofold purification, of water and of the Spirit the Spirit renewing that part in us which
is after His image and likeness, and the water by the grace of the Spirit cleansing the
body from sin and delivering it from corruption, the water indeed expressing the image of
death, but the Spirit affording the earnest of life. 20 For from the beginning the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters and anew the Scripture witnesseth that water has
the power of purification. In the time of Noah God washed away the sin of the world by
water. By water every impure person is purified according to the law, even the very
garments being washed with water. Elias shewed forth the grace of the Spirit mingled with
the water when he burned the holocaust by pouring on water. And almost everything is
purified by water according to the law: for the things of sight are symbols of the things
of thought. The regeneration, however, takes place in the spirit: for faith has the power
of making us sons (of God ), creatures as we are, by the Spirit, and of leading us into
our original blessedness. The remission of sins, therefore, is granted alike to all
through baptism: but the grace of the Spirit is proportional to the faith and previous
purification. Now, indeed, we receive the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit through baptism,
and the second birth is for us the beginning and seal and security and illumination of
another life.

21 It behoves as, then, with all our strength to steadfastly keep ourselves pure from
filthy works, that we may not, like the dog returning to his vomit make ourselves again
the slaves of sin. For faith apart from works is dead, and so likewise are works apart
from faith. For the true faith is attested by works. Now we are baptized into the Holy
Trinity because those things which are baptized have need of the Holy Trinity for their
maintenance and continuance, and the three subsistences cannot be otherwise than present,
the one with the other. For the Holy Trinity is indivisible. 22 The first baptism was that
of the flood for the eradication of sin. The second was through the sea and the cloud: for
the cloud is the symbol of the Spirit and the sea of the water. The third baptism was that
of the Law: for every impure person washed himself with water, and even washed his
garments, and so entered into the camp. The fourth was that of John being preliminary and
leading those who were baptized to repentance, that they might believe in Christ: I,
indeed, he said, baptize you with water; but He that cometh after me, He will baptize you
in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Thus John’s purification with water was preliminary to
receiving the Spirit. The fifth was the baptism of our Lord, whereby He Himself was
baptized. Now He is baptized not as Himself requiring purification but as making my
purification His own, that He may break the heads of the dragons on the water, that He may
wash away sin and bury all the old Adam in water, that He may sanctify the Baptist, that
He may fulfil the Law, that He may reveal the mystery of the Trinity, that he may become
the type and ensample to us of baptism. But we, too, are baptized in the perfect baptism
of our Lord, the baptism by water and the Spirit. Moreover, Christ is said to baptize with
fire: because in the form of flaming tongues He poured forth on His holy disciples the
grace of the Spirit:

23 as the Lord Himself says, John truly baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Spirit and with fire, not many days hence: or else it is because of the baptism
of future fire wherewith we are to be chastized. The sixth is that by repentance and
tears, which baptism is truly grievous. The seventh is baptism by blood and martyrdom,
which baptism Christ Himself underwent in our behalf, He Who was too august and blessed to
be defiled with any later stains. The eighth is the last, which is not saving, but which
destroys evil: for evil and sin no longer have sway: yet it punishes without end. 24
Further, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form as a dove, indicating the firstfruits of
our baptism and honouring the body: isnce even this, that is the body, was God by the
deification; and besides the dove was wont formerly to announce the cessation of the
flood. But to the holy Apostles He came down in the form of fire: for He is God, and God
is a consuming fire. Olive oil is employed in baptism as a significant of our anointing,
and as making us anointed, and as announcing to us through the Holy Spirit God’s pity: for
it was the fruit of the olive that the dove brought to those who were saved from the
flood. John was baptized, putting his hand upon the divine head of his Master, and with
his own blood. It does not behove us to delay baptism when the faith of those coming
forward is testified to by their works. For he that cometh forward deceitfully to baptism
will receive condemnation rather than benefit.

25 Chapter X Concerning Faith Moreover, fiath is twofold. for faith cometh by hearing. For
by hearing the divine Scriptures we believe in the teaching of the Holy spirit. The same
is perfected by all the things enjoined by Christ, believing in work, cultivating piety,
and doing the commands of Him Who restored us. For he that believeth not according to the
tradition of the Catholic Church, or who hat intercourse with the devil through strange
works, is an unbeliever. But again, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen or undoubting and unambiguous hope alike of what God hat
promised us and of the good issue of our prayers. The first, therefore, belongs t our
will, while the second is of the gifts of the Spirit. Further, observe that by baptism we
cut off all the covering which we have worn since birth, that is to say, sin, and become
spiritual Israelites and God’s people.

26 Chapter XI Concernin the Cross and here further concerning Faith. The word ‘Cross’ is
foolishness to those that perish, but to us who are saved is the power of God. For he that
is spiritual judgeth all things, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit. For it is foolishness to those who do not recieve in faith and who do not consider
God’s goodness and omnipotence, but search out divine things with human and natural
reasonings. For all the things that are of God aare above nature and reason and
conception. For should any one consider how and for what purpose God brought all things
out of nothing and into being, and aim at arriving at that by natural reasonings, he fails
to comprehend it. For knowledge of this kind belongs to spirits and demons. But if any
one, under the guidance of faith, should consider the divine goodness and omnipotence and
truth and wisdom and justice, he will find all things smooth and even, and the way
straight. But without faith it is impossible to be saved. For it is by faith that all
things, both human and spiritual, are sustained. For without faith neither does the farmer
cut his furrow, nor does the merchant commit his life to the raging waves of the sea on a
small piece of wood, nor are marriages contracted nor any other step in life taken. By
faith we consider that all things were brought out of nothing into being by God’s power.
And we direct all things, both divine and human, by faith. Further, faith is assent free
from all meddlesome inquisitiveness.

27 Every action, therefore, and performance of miracles by Christ are most great and
divine and marvellous: but the most marvellous of all is His precious Cross. For no other
thing has subdued death, expiated the sin of the first parent despoiled Hades, bestowed
the resurrection, granted the power to us of contemning the present and even death itself,
prepared the return to our former blessedness, opened the gates of Paradise given our
nature a seat at the right hand of God, and made us the children and heirs of God save the
Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For by the Cross all things have been made right. So many
of us, the apostle says, as were baptized into Christ, were baptized into His death and as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Further Christ is the
power of God and the wisdom of God. Lo! the death of Christ, that is, the Cross, clothed
us with the enhypostatic wisdom and power of God. And the power of God is the Word of the
Cross, either because God’s might, that is, the victory over death, has been revealed to
us by it, or because, just as the four extremities of the Cross are held fast and bound
together by the bolt in the middle, so also by God’s power the height and the depth, the
length and the breadth, that is, every creature visible and invisible, is maintained.

28 This was given to us as a sign on our forehead, just as the circumcision was given to
Israel: for by it we believers are separated and distinguished from unbelievers. This is
the shield and weapon against, and trophy over, the devil. This is the seal that the
destroyer may not touch you as saith the Scripture. This is the resurrection of those
lying in death, the support of the standing, the staff of the weak, the rod of the flock,
the safe conduct of the earnest, the perfection of those that press forwards, the
salvation of soul and body, the aversion of all things evil, the patron of all things
good, the taking away of sin, the plant of resurrection, the tree of eternal life. So,
then, this same truly precious and august tree on which Christ hath offered Himself as a
sacrifice for our sakes, is to be worshipped as sanctified by contact with His holy body
and blood; likewise the nails, the spear, the clothes, His sacred tabernacles which are
the manger, the cave, Golgotha, which bringeth salvation the tomb which giveth life, Sion,
the chief stronghold of the churches and the like, are to be worshipped. In the words of
David, the father of God We shall go into His tabernacles, we shall worship at the place
where His feet stood. And that it is the Cross that is meant is made clear by what
follows, Arise, O Lord, into Thy Rest. For the resurrection comes after the Cross. For if
of those things which we love, house and couch and garment, are to be longed after, how
much the rather should we long after that which belonged to God, our Saviour by means of
which we are in truth saved.

29 Moreover we worship even the image of the precious and life-giving Cross, although made
of another tree, not honouring the tree (God forbid) but the image as a symbol of Christ.
For He said to His disciples, admonishing them, Then shall appear the sign of the Son of
Man in Heaven meaning the Cross. And so also the angel of the resurrection said to the
woman, Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. And the Apostle said, We preach
Christ crucified. For there are many Christs and many Jesuses, but one crucified. He does
not say speared but crucified. It behoves us, then, to worship the sign of Christ. For
wherever the sign may be, there also will He be. But it does not behove us to worship the
material of which the image of the Cross is composed, even though it be gold or precious
stones, after it is destroyed, if that should happen. Everything, therefore, that is
dedicated to God we worship, conferring the adoration on Him.

30 The tree of life which was planted by God in Paradise pre-figured this precious
Cross.<mindy> For since death was by a tree, it was fitting that life and resurrection
should be bestowed by a tree. Jacob, when He worshipped the top of Joseph’s staff, was the
first to image the Cross, and when he blessed his sons with crossed hands he made most
clearly the sign of the cross. Likewise also did Moses’ rod, when it smote the sea in the
figure of the cross and saved Israel, while it overwhelmed Pharaoh in the depths; likewise
also the hands stretched out crosswise and routing Amalek; and the bitter water made sweet
by a tree, and the rock rent and pouring forth streams of water and the rod that meant for
Aaron the dignity of the high priesthood: and the serpent lifted in triumph on a tree as
though it were dead the tree bringing salvation to those who in faith saw their enemy
dead, just as Christ was nailed to the tree in the flesh of sin which yet knew no sin. The
mighty Moses cried You will see your life hanging on the tree before your eyes, and Isaiah
likewise, I have spread out my hands all the day unto a faithless and rebellious people.
But may we who worship this obtain a part in Christ the crucified. Amen.

31 Chapter XII. Concerning Worship towards the East. It is not without reason or by chance
that we worship towards the East. But seeing that we are composed of a visible and an
invisible nature, that is to say, of a nature partly of spirit and partly of sense, we
render also a twofold worship to the Creator; just as we sing both with our spirit and our
bodily lips, and are baptized with both water and Spirit, and are united with the Lord in
a twofold manner, being sharers in the mysteries and in the grace of the Spirit. 32 Since,
therefore, God is spiritual light and Christ is called in the Scriptures Sun of
Righteousness and Dayspring the East is the direction that must be assigned to His
worship. For everything good must be assigned to Him from Whom every good thing arises.
Indeed the divine David also says, Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth: O sing praises
unto the Lord: to Him that rideth upon the Heavens of heavens towards the East. Moreover
the Scripture also says, And God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the
man whom He had formed: and when he had transgressed His command He expelled him and made
him to dwell over against the delights of Paradises which clearly is the West. So, then,
we worship God seeking and striving after our old fatherland. Moreover the tent of Moses
had its veil and mercy seat towards the East. Also the tribe of Judah as the most precious
pitched their camp on the East. Also in the celebrated temple of Solomon the Gate of the
Lord was placed eastward. Moreover Christ, when He hung on the Cross, had His face turned
towards the West, and so we worship, striving after Him. And when He was received again
into Heaven He was borne towards the East, and thus His apostles worship Him, and thus He
will come again in the way in which they beheld Him going towards Heaven; as the Lord
Himself said, As the lightning cometh out of the East and shineth even unto the West, so
also shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

33 So, then, in expectation of His coming we worship towards the East. But this tradition
of the apostles is unwritten. For much that has been handed down to us by tradition is
unwritten. Chapter XIII. Concerning the holy and immaculate Mysteries of the Lord. God Who
is good and altogether good and more than good, Who is goodness throughout, by reason of
the exceeding riches of His goodness did not suffer Himself, that is His nature, only to
be good, with no other to participate therein, but because of this He made first the
spiritual and heavenly powers: next the visible and sensible universe: next man with his
spiritual and sentient nature. All things, therefore, which he made, share in His goodness
in respect of their existence. For He Himself is existence to all, since all things that
are, are in Him not only because it was He that brought them out of nothing into being,
but because His energy preserves and maintains all that He made: and in especial the
living creatures. For both in that they exist and in that they enjoy life they share in
His goodness. But in truth those of them that have reason have a still greater share in
that, both because of what has been already said and also because of the very reason which
they possess. For they are somehow more dearly akin to Him, even though He is incomparably
higher than they.

34 Man, however, being endowed with reason and free will, received the power of continuous
union with God through his own choice, if indeed he should abide in goodness, that is in
obedience to his Maker. Since, however, he transgressed the command of his Creator and
became liable to death and corruption, the Creator and Maker of our race, because of His
bowels of compassion, took on our likeness, becoming man in all things but without sin,
and was united to our nature. For since He bestowed on us His own image and His own spirit
and we did not keep them safe, He took Himself a share in our poor and weak nature, in
order that He might cleanse us and make us incorruptible, and establish us once more as
partakers of His divinity. For it was fitting that not only the first-fruits of our nature
should partake in the higher good but every man who wished it, and that a second birth
should take place and that the nourishment should be new and suitable to the birth and
thus the measure of perfection be attained. Through His birth, that is, His incarnation,
and baptism and passion and resurrection, He delivered our nature from the sin of our
first parent and death and corruption, and became the first-fruits of the resurrection,
and made Himself the way and image and pattern, in order that we, too, following in His
footsteps, may become by adoption what He is Himself by nature sons and heirs of God and
joint heirs with Him. He gave us therefore, as I said, a second birth in order that, just
as we who are born of Adam are in his image and are the heirs of the curse and corruption,
so also being born of Him we may be in His likeness and heirs of His incorruption and
blessing and glory.

35 Now seeing that this Adam is spiritual, it was meet that both the birth and likewise
the food should be spiritual too, but since we are of a double and compound nature, it is
meet that both the birth should be double and likewise the food compound. We were
therefore given a birth by water and Spirit: I mean, by the holy baptism: and the food is
the very bread of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who came down from heaven. For when He was
about to take on Himself a voluntary death for our sakes, on the night on which He gave
Himself up, He laid a new covenant on His holy disciples and apostles, and through them on
all who believe on Him. In the upper chamber, then, of holy and illustrious Sion, after He
had eaten the ancient Passover with His disciples and had fulfilled the ancient covenant,
He washed His disciples’ feet in token of the holy baptism. Then having broken bread He
gave it to them saying, Take, eat, this is My body broken for you for the remission of
sins. Likewise also He took the cup of wine and water and gave it to them saying, Drink ye
all of it: for this is My blood, the blood of the New Testament which is shed for you for
the remission of sins. This do ye in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye do shew the death of the Son of man and confess His resurrection
until He come.

36 If then the Word of God is quick and energising and the Lord did all that He willed; if
He said, Let there be light and there was light, let there be a firmament and there was a
firmament; if the heavens were established by the Word of the Lord and all the host of
them by the breath of His mouth; if the heaven and the earth, water and fire and air and
the whole glory of these, and, in sooth, this most noble creature, man, were perfected by
the Word of the Lord; if God the Word of His own will became man and the pure and
undefiled blood of the holy and ever-virginal One made His flesh without the aid of seed
can He not then make the bread His body and the wine and water His blood? He said in the
beginning, Let the earth bring forth grass and even until this present day, when the rain
comes it brings forth its proper fruits, urged on and strengthened by the divine command.
God said, This is My body, and This is My blood, and this do ye in remembrance of Me. And
so it is at His omnipotent command until He come: for it was in this sense that He said
until He come: and the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit becomes through the
invocation the rain to this new tillage.

37 For just as God made all that He made by the energy of the Holy Spirit, so also now the
energy of the Spirit performs those things that are supernatural and which it is not
possible to comprehend unless by faith alone. How shall this be, said the holy Virgin,
seeing I know not a man? And the archangel Gabriel answered her: The Holy Spirit shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. And now you ask, how
the bread became Christ’s body and the wine and water Christ’s blood. And I say unto thee,
“The Holy Spirit is present and does those things which surpass reason and thought.” 38
Further, bread and wine are employed: for God knoweth man’s infirmity: for in general man
turns away discontentedly from what is not well-worn by custom: and so with His usual
indulgence H e performs His supernatural works through familiar objects: and just as, in
the case of baptism, since it is man’s custom to wash himself with water and anoint
himself with oil, He connected the grace of the Spirit with the oil and the water and made
it the water of regeneration, in like manner since it is man’s custom to eat and to drink
water and wine He connected His divinity with these and made them His body and blood in
order that we may rise to what is supernatural through what is familiar and natural.

39 The body which is born of the holy Virgin is in truth body united with divinity, not
that the body which was received up into the heavens descends, but that the bread itself
and the wine are changed into God’s body and blood. But if you enquire how this happens,
it is enough for you to learn that it was through the Holy Spirit, just as the Lord took
on Himself flesh that subsisted in Him and was born of the holy Mother of God through the
Spirit. And we know nothing further save that the Word of God is true and energises and is
omnipotent, but the manner of this cannot be searched out. But one can put it well thus,
that just as in nature the bread by the eating and the wine and the water by the drinking
are changed into the body and blood of the eater and drinker, and do not become a
different body from the former one, so the bread of the table and the wine and water are
supernaturally changed by the invocation and presence of the Holy Spirit into the body and
blood of Christ, and are not two but one and the same.

40 Wherefore to those who partake worthily with faith, it is for the remission of sins and
for life everlasting and for the safeguarding of soul and body; but to those who partake
unworthily without faith, it is for chastisement and punishment, just as also the death of
the Lord became to those who believe life and incorruption for the enjoyment of eternal
blessedness, while to those who do not believe and to the murderers of the Lord it is for
everlasting chastisement and punishment. The bread and the wine are not merely figures of
the body and blood of Christ (God forbid!) but the deified body of the Lord itself: for
the Lord has said, “This is My body,” not, this is a figure of My body: and “My blood,”
not, a figure of My blood. And on a previous occasion He had said to the Jews, Except ye
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. For My flesh
is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed. And again, He that eateth Me, shall live.

41 Wherefore with all fear and a pure conscience and certain faith let us draw near and it
will assuredly be to us as we believe, doubting nothing. Let us pay homage to it in all
purity both of soul and body: for it is twofold. Let us draw near to it with an ardent
desire, and with our hands held in the form of the cross let us receive the body of the
Crucified One: and let us apply our eyes and lips and brows and partake of the divine
coal, in order that the fire of the longing, that is in us, with the additional heat
derived from the coal may utterly consume our sins and illumine our hearts, and that we
may be inflamed and deified by the participation in the divine fire. Isaiah saw the coal.
But coal is not plain wood but wood united with fire: in like manner also the bread of the
communion is not plain bread but bread united with divinity. But a body which is united
with divinity is not one nature, but has one nature belonging to the body and another
belonging to the divinity that is united to it, so that the compound is not one nature but
two.

42 With bread and wine Melchisedek, the priest of the most high God, received Abraham on
his return from the slaughter of the Gentiles. That table pre-imaged this mystical table,
just as that priest was a type and image of Christ, the true high-priest. For thou art a
priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek. Of this bread the show-bread was an image.
This surely is that pure and bloodless sacrifice which the Lord through the prophet said
is offered to Him from the rising to the setting of the sun. The body and blood of Christ
are making for the support of our soul and body, without being consumed or suffering
corruption, not making for the draught (God forbid!) but for our being and preservation, a
protection against all kinds of injury, a purging from all uncleanness: should one receive
base gold, they purify it by the critical burning lest in the future we be condemned with
this world. They purify from diseases and all kinds of calamities; according to the words
of the divine Apostles For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when
we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the
world. This too is what he says, So that he that partaketh of the body and blood of Christ
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself. Being purified by this, we are
united to the body of Christ and to His Spirit and become the body of Christ.

43 This bread is the first-fruits of the future bread which is ejpiouvsio", i.e. necessary
for existence. For the word ejpiouvsion signifies either the future, that is Him Who is
for a future age, or else Him of Whom we partake for the preservation of our essence.
Whether then it is in this sense or that, it is fitting to speak so of the Lord’s body.
For the Lord’s flesh is life-giving spirit because it was conceived of the life-giving
Spirit. For what is born of the Spirit is spirit. But I do not say this to take away the
nature of the body, but I wish to make clear its life-giving and divine power. But if some
persons called the bread and the wine antitypes of the body and blood of the Lord, as did
the divinely inspired Basil, they said so not after the consecration but before the
consecration, so calling the offering itself.

44 Participation is spoken of; for through it we partake of the divinity of Jesus.
Communion, too, is spoken of, and it is an actual communion, because through it we have
communion with Christ and share in His flesh and His divinity: yea, we have communion and
are united with one another through it. For since we partake of one bread, we all become
one body of Christ and one blood, and members one of another, being of one body with
Christ. With all our strength, therefore, let us beware lest we receive communion from or
grant it to heretics; Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, saith the Lord, neither
cast ye your pearls before swine lest we become partakers in their dishonour and
condemnation. For if trojan is in truth with Christ and with one another, we are assuredly
voluntarily united also with all those who partake with us. For this union is effected
voluntarily and not against our inclination. For we are all one body because we partake of
the one bread, as the divine Apostle says.

45 Further, antitypes of future things are spoken of, not as though they were not in
reality Christ’s body and blood, but that now through them we partake of Christ’s
divinity, while then we shall partake mentally through the vision alone. Chapter XIV.
Concerning our Lord’s genealogy and concerning the holy Mother of God. Concerning the holy
and much-lauded ever-virgin one, Mary, the Mother of God, we have said something in the
preceding chapters, bringing forward what was most opportune, viz., that strictly and
truly she is and is called the Mother of God. Now let us fill up the blanks. For she being
pre-ordained by the eternal prescient counsel of God and imaged forth and proclaimed in
diverse images and discourses of the prophets through the Holy Spirit, sprang at the pre-
determined time from the root of David, according to the promises that were made to him.
For the lord hath sworn, He saith in truth to David, He will not turn from it: of the
fruit of Thy body will I set upon Thy throne. And again, Once have I sworn by My holiness,
that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and His throne as the sun
before Me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in
heaven. And Isaiah says: And there shall come out a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a
branch shall grow out of his roots.

46 But that Joseph is descended from the tribe of David is expressly demonstrated by
Matthew and Luke, the most holy evangelists. But Matthew derives Joseph from David through
Solomon, while Luke does so through Nathan; while over the holy Virgin’s origin both pass
in silence. One ought to remember that it was not the custom of the Hebrews nor of the
divine Scripture to give genealogies of women; and the law was to prevent one tribe
seeking wives from another. And so since Joseph was descended from the tribe of David and
was a just man (for this the divine Gospel testifies), he would not have espoused the holy
Virgin contrary to the law; he would not have taken her unless she had been of the same
tribe. It was sufficient, therefore, to demonstrate the descent of Joseph. One ought also
to observe this, that the law was that when a man died without seed, this maws brother
should take to wife the wife of the dead man and raise up seed to his brother. The
offspring, therefore, belonged by nature to the second, that is, to him that begat it, but
by law to the dead.

47 Born then of the line of Nathan, the son of David, Levi begat Melchi and Panther:
Panther begat Barpanther, so called. This Barpanther begat Joachim: Joachim begat the holy
Mother of God. And of the line of Solomon, the son of David, Mathan had a wife of whom he
begat Jacob. Now on the death of Mathan, Melchi, of the tribe of Nathan, the son of Levi
and brother of Panther, married the wife of Mathan, Jacob’s mother, of whom he begat Heli.
Therefore Jacob and Hell became brothers on tile mother’s side, Jacob being of the tribe
of Solomon and Heli of the tribe of Nathan. Then Heli of the tribe of Nathan died
childless, and Jacob his brother, of the tribe of Solomon, took his wife and raised up
seed to his brother and begat Joseph. Joseph, therefore, is by nature the son of Jacob, of
the line of Solomon, but by law he is the son of Heli of the line of Nathan.

48 Joachim then took to wife that revered and praiseworthy woman, Anna. But just as the
earlier Anna who was barren, bore Samuel by prayer and by promise, so also this Anna by
supplication and promise from God bare the Mother of God in order that she might not even
in this be behind the matrons of fame. Accordingly it was grace (for this is the
interpretation of Anna) that bore the lady: (for she became truly the Lady of all created
things in becoming the Mother of the Creator). Further, Joachim was born in the house of
the Probatica and was brought up to the temple. Then planted in the House of God and
increased by the Spirit, like a fruitful olive tree, she became the home of every virtue,
turning her mind away from every secular and carnal desire, and thus keeping her soul as
well as her body virginal, as was meet for her who was to receive God into her bosom: for
as He is holy, He finds rest among the holy. Thus, therefore, she strove after holiness,
and was declared a holy and wonderful temple fit for the most high God.

49 Moreover, since the enemy of our salvation was keeping a watchful eye on virgins,
according to the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bare a
Son and shall call His name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us,’ in order
that he who taketh the wise in their own craftiness may deceive him who always glorieth in
his wisdom, the maiden is given in marriage to Joseph by the priests, a new book to him
who is versed in letters: but the marriage was both the protection of the virgin and the
delusion of him who was keeping a watchful eye on virgins. But when the fulness of time
was come, the messenger of the Lord was sent to her, with the good news of our Lord’s
conception. And thus she conceived the Son of God, the hypostatic power of the Father, not
of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man that is to say, by connection and seed,
but by the good pleasure of the Father and co-operation of the Holy Spirit. She ministered
to the Creator in that He was created, to the Fashioner in that He was fashioned, and to
the Son of God and God in that He was made flesh and became man from her pure and
immaculate flesh and blood, satisfying the debt of the first mother. For just as the
latter was formed from Adam without connection, so also did the former bring forth the new
Adam, who was brought forth in accordance with the laws of parturition and above the
nature of generation.

50 For He who was of the Father, yet without mother, was born of woman without a father’s
co-operation. And so far as He was born of woman, His birth was in accordance with the
laws of parturition, while so far as He had no father, His birth was above the nature of
generation: and in that it was at the usual time (for He was born on the completion of the
ninth month when the tenth was just beginning), His birth was in accordance with the laws
of parturition, while in that it was painless it was above the laws of generation. For, as
pleasure did not precede it, pain did not follow it, according to the prophet who says,
Before she travailed, she brought forth, and again, before her pain came she was delivered
of a man-child. The Son of God incarnate, therefore, was born of her, not a divinely-
inspired man but God incarnate not a prophet anointed with energy but by the presence of
the anointing One in His completeness, so that the Anointer became man and the Anointed
God, not by a change of nature but by union in subsistence. For the Anointer and the
Anointed were one and the same, anointing in the capacity of God Himself as man. Must
there not therefore be a Mother of God who bore God incarnate? Assuredly she who played
the part of the Creator’s servant and mother is in all strictness and truth in reality
God’s Mother and Lady and Queen over all created things.

51 But just as He who was conceived kept her who conceived still virgin, in like manner
also He who was born preserved her virginity intact, only passing through her and keeping
her closed. The conception, indeed, was through the sense of hearing, but the birth
through the usual path by which children come, although some tell tales of His birth
through the side of the Mother of God. For it was not impossible for Him to have come by
this gate, without injuring her seal in anyway. 52 The ever-virgin One thus remains even
after the birth still virgin, having never at any time up till death consorted with a man.
For although it is written, And knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born Son
yet note that he who is first-begotten is first-born even if he is only-begotten. For the
word “first-born” means that he was born first but does not at all suggest the birth of
others. And the word “till” signifies the limit of the appointed time but does not exclude
the time thereafter. For the Lord says, And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of
the world not meaning thereby that He will be separated from us after the completion of
the age. The divine apostle, indeed, says, And so shall we ever be with the Lord meaning
after the general resurrection. For could it be possible that she, who had borne God and
from experience of the subsequent events had come to know the miracle, should receive the
embrace of a man. God forbid! It is not the part of a chaste mind to think such thoughts,
far less to commit such acts

53 But this blessed woman, who was deemed worthy of gifts that are supernatural, suffered
those pains, which she escaped at the birth, in the hour of the passion, enduring from
motherly sympathy the rending of the bowels, and when she beheld Him, Whom she knew to be
God by the manner of His generation, killed as a malefactor, her thoughts pierced her as a
sword, and this is the meaning of this verse: Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own
saul also. But the joy of the resurrection transforms the pain, proclaiming Him, Who died
in the flesh, to be God. Chapter XV. Concerning the honour due to the Saints and their
remains. 54 To the saints honour must be paid as friends of Christ, as sons and heirs of
God: in the words of John the theologian and evangelist, As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to became sons of God. So that they are no longer servants, but sons: and if
sons, also heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ: and the Lord in the holy
Gospels says to His apostles, Ye are My friends. Henceforth I call you not servants, for
the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth. And further, if the Creator and Lord of all
things is called also King of Kings and Lord of Lords and God of Gods, surely also the
saints are gods and lords and kings. For of these God is and is called God and Lord and
King. For I am the God of Abraham, He said to Moses, the God of Isaac and the God of
Jacob. And God made Moses a god to Pharaoh. Now I mean gods and kings and lords not in
nature, but as rulers and masters of their passions, and as preserving a truthful likeness
to the divine image according to which they were made (for the image of a king is also
called king), and as being united to God of their own free-will and receiving Him as an
indweller and becoming by grace through participation with Him what He is Himself by
nature. Surely, then, the worshippers and friends and sons of God are to be held in
honour? For the honour shewn to the most thoughtful of fellow-servants is a proof of good
feeling towards the common Master.

55 These are made treasuries and pure habitations of God: For I will dwell in them, said
God, and walk in them, and I will be their God. The divine Scripture likewise saith that
the souls of the just are in God’s hand and death cannot lay hold of them. For death is
rather the sleep of the saints than their death. For they travailed in this life and shall
to the end and Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. What then, is
more precious than to be in the hand of God? For God is Life and Light, and those who are
in God’s hand are in life and light. Further, that God dwelt even in their bodies in
spiritual wise the Apostle tells us, saying, Know ye not that your bodies are the temples
of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you? and The Lord is that Spirit and If any one destroy the
temple of God, him will God destroy. Surely, then, we must ascribe honour to the living
temples of God, the living tabernacles of God. These while they lived stood with
confidence before God.

56 The Master Christ made the remains of the saints to be fountains of salvation to us,
pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in oil of sweet fragrance: and let no one
disbelieve this. For if water burst in the desert from the steep and solid rock at God’s
will and from the jaw-bone of an ass to quench Samson’s thirst is it incredible that
fragrant oil should burst forth from the martyrs’ remains? By no means, at least to those
who know the power of God and the honour which He accords His saints. 57 In the law every
one who toucheth a dead body was considered impure but these are not dead. For from the
time when He that is Himself life and the Author of life was reckoned among the dead, we
do not call those dead who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and in faith
on Him. For how could a dead body work miracles? How, therefore, are demons driven off by
them, diseases dispelled, sick persons made well, the blind restored to sight, lepers
purified, temptations and troubles overcome, and how does every good gift from the Father
of lights come down through them to those who pray with sure faith? How much labour would
you not undergo to find a patron to introduce you to a mortal king and speak to him on
your behalf? Are not those, then, worthy of honour who are the patrons of the whole race,
and make intercession to God for us? Yea, verily, we ought to give honour to them by
raising temples to God in their name, bringing them fruit-offerings, honouring their
memories and taking spiritual delight in them, in order that the joy of those who call on
us may be ours, that in our attempts at worship we may not on the contrary cause them
offence. For those who worship God will take pleasure in those things whereby God is
worshipped, while His shield-bearers will be wrath at those things wherewith God is wroth.

58 In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs in contrition and in pity for the needy, let us
believers worship the saints, as God also is most worshipped in such wise. Let us raise
monuments to them and visible images, and let us ourselves become, through imitation of
their virtues, living monuments and images of them. Let us give honour to her who bore God
as being strictly and truly the Mother of God. Let us honour also the prophet John as
forerunner and baptist as apostle and martyr, For among them that are born of women there
hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist as saith the Lord, and he became the first
to proclaim the Kingdom. Let us honour the apostles as the Lord’s brothers, who saw Him
face to face and ministered to His passion, for whom God the Father did foreknow He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son first apostles, second prophets
third pastors end teachers. Let us also honour the martyrs of the Lord chosen out of every
class, as soldiers of Christ who have drunk His cup and were then baptized with the
baptism of His life-bringing death, to be partakers of His passion and glory: of whom the
leader is Stephen, the first deacon of Christ and apostle and first martyr. Also let us
honour our holy fathers, the God-possessed ascetics, whose struggle was the longer and
more toilsome one of the conscience:

59 who wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth, of whom the
world was not worthy. Let us honour those who were prophets before grace, the patriarchs
anti just men who foretold the Lord’s coming. Let us carefully review the life of these
men, and let us emulate their faith and love and hope and zeal and way of life, and
endurance of sufferings and patience even to blood, in order that we may be sharers with
them in their crowns of glory. 60 Chapter XVI. Concerning Images. But since some find
fault with us for worshipping and honouring the image of our Saviour and that of our Lady,
and those, too, of the rest of the saints and servants of Christ, let them remember that
in the beginning God created man after His own image. On what grounds, then, do we shew
reverence to each other unless because we are made after God’s image? For as Basil, that
much-versed expounder of divine things, says, the honour given to the image passes over to
the prototype. Now a prototype is that which is imaged, from which the derivative is
obtained. Why was it that the Mosaic people honoured on all hands the tabernacle which
bore an image and type of heavenly things, or rather of the whole creation? God indeed
said to Moses, Look that thou make them after their pattern which was shewed thee in the
mount. The Cherubim, too, which o’ershadow the mercy seat, are they not the work of men’s
hands? What, further, is the celebrated temple at Jerusalem? Is it not hand-made and
fashioned by the skill of men?

61 Moreover the divine Scripture blames those who worship graven images, but also those
who sacrifice to demons. The Greeks sacrificed and the Jews also sacrificed: but the
Greeks to demons and the Jews to God. And the sacrifice of the Greeks was rejected and
condemned, but the sacrifice of the just was very acceptable to God. For Noah sacrificed,
and God smelled a sweet savour receiving the fragrance of the right choice and good-will
towards Him. And so the graven images of the Greeks, since they were images of deities,
were rejected and forbidden. 62 But besides this who can make an imitation of the
invisible, incorporeal, uncircumscribed, formless God? Therefore to give form to the Deity
is the height of folly and impiety. And hence it is that in the Old Testament the use of
images was not common. But after God in His bowels of pity became in truth man for our
salvation, not as He was seen by Abraham in the semblance of a man, nor as He was seen by
the prophets, but in being truly man, and after He lived upon the earth and dwelt among
men worked miracles, suffered, was crucified, rose again and was taken back to Heaven,
since all these things actually took place and were seen by men, they were written for the
remembrance and instruction of us who were not alive at that time in order that though we
saw not, we may still, hearing and believing, obtain the blessing of the Lord. But seeing
that not every one has a knowledge of letters nor time for reading, the Fathers gave their
sanction to depicting these events on images as being acts of great heroism, in order that
they should form a concise memorial of them. Often, doubtless, when we have not the Lord’s
passion in mind and see the image of Christ’s crucifixion, His saving passion is brought
back to remembrance, and we fall down and worship not the material but that which is
imaged:

63 just as we do not worship the material of which the Gospels are made, nor the material
of the Cross, but that which these typify. For wherein does the cross, that typifies the
Lord, differ from a cross that does not do so? It is just the same also in the case of the
Mother of the Lord. For the honour which we give to her is referred to Him Who was made of
her incarnate. And similarly also the brave acts of holy men stir us up to be brave and to
emulate and imitate their valour and to glorify God. For as we said, the honour that is
given to the best of fellow-servants is a proof of good-will towards our common Lady, and
the honour rendered to the image passes over to the prototype. But this is an unwritten
tradition just as is also the worshipping towards the East and the worship of the Cross,
and very many other similar things.

64 A certain tale too, is told how that when Augarus was king over the city of the
Edessenes, he sent a portrait painter to paint a likeness of the Lord, and when the
painter could not paint because of the brightness that shone from His countenance, the
Lord Himself put a garment over His own divine and life-giving face and impressed on it an
image of Himself and sent this to Augarus, to satisfy thus his desire. Moreover that the
Apostles handed down much that was unwritten, Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, tells us
in these words: Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been
taught of us, whether by word or by epistle. And to the Corinthians he writes, Now I
praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the traditions as I have
delivered them to you.” 65 Chapter XVII. Concerning Scripture. It is one and the same God
Whom both the Old and the New Testament proclaim, Who is praised and glorified in the
Trinity: I am come, saith the Lord, not to destroy life law but to fulfil it. For He
Himself worked out our salvation for which all Scripture and all mystery exists. And
again, Search the Scriptures for they are they that testify of Me. And the Apostle says,
God, Who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. Through the Holy Spirit,
therefore, both the law and the prophets, the evangelists and apostles and pastors and
teachers, spake.

66 All Scripture, then, is given by inspiration of God and is also assuredly profitable.
Wherefore to search the Scriptures is a work most fair and most profitable for souls. For
just as the tree planted by the channels of waters, so also the soul watered by the divine
Scripture is enriched and gives fruit in its season viz. orthodox belief, and is adorned
with evergreen leafage, I mean, actions pleasing to God. For through the Holy Scriptures
we are trained to action that is pleasing to God, and untroubled contemplation. For in
these we find both exhortation to every virtue and dissuasion from every vice. If,
therefore, we are lovers of learning, we shall also be learned in many things. For by care
and toil and the grace of God the Giver, all things are accomplished. For every one that
asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to hint that knocketh it shall be
opened. Wherefore let us knock at that very fair garden of the Scriptures, so fragrant and
sweet and blooming, with its varied sounds of spiritual and divinely-inspired birds
ringing all round our ears, laying hold of our hearts, comforting the mourner, pacifying
the angry and filling him with joy everlasting: which sets our mind on the gold-gleaming,
brilliant back of the divine dove whose bright pinions bear up to the only-begotten Son
and Heir of the Husbandman of that spiritual Vineyard and bring us through Him to the
Father of Lights.

67 But let us not knock carelessly but rather zealously and constantly: lest knocking we
grow weary. For thus it will be opened to us. If we read once or twice and do not
understand what we read, let us not grow weary, but let us persist, let us talk much, let
us enquire. For ask thy Father, he saith, and He will shew thee: thy elders and they will
tell thee. For there is not in every man that knowledge. Let us draw of the fountain of
the garden perennial and purest waters springing into life eternal. Here let us luxuriate,
let us revel insatiate: for the Scriptures possess inexhaustible grace. But if we are able
to pluck anything profitable from outside sources, there is nothing to forbid that. Let us
become tried money-dealers, heaping up the true and pure gold and discarding the spurious.
Let us keep the fairest sayings but let us throw to the dogs absurd gods and strange
myths: for we might prevail most mightily against them through themselves.

68 Observe, further that there are two and twenty books of the Old Testament, one for each
letter of the Hebrew tongue. For there are twenty-two letters of which five are double,
and so they come to be twenty-seven. For the letters Caph, Mere, Nun, Pe Sade are double.
And thus the number of the books in this way is twenty-two, but is found to be twenty-
seven because of the double character of five. For Ruth is joined on to Judges, and the
Hebrews count them one book: the first and second books of Kings are counted one: and so
are the third and fourth books of Kings: and also the first and second of Paraleipomena:
and the first and second of Esdra. In this way, then, the books are collected together in
four Pentateuchs and two others remain over, to form thus the canonical books. Five of
them are of the Law, viz. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. This which is
the code of the Law, constitutes the first Pentateuch. Then comes another Pentateuch, the
so-called Grapheia or as they are called by some, the Hagiographa, which are the
following: Jesus the Son of Nave Judges along with Ruth, first and second Kings, which are
one book, third and fourth Kings, which are one book, and the two books of the
Paraleipomena which are one book. This is the second Pentateuch. The third Pentateuch is
the books in verse, viz. Job, Psalms, Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes of Solomon and the
Song of Songs of Solomon.

69 The fourth Pentateuch is the Prophetical books, viz the twelve prophets constituting
one book, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. Then come the two books of Esdra made into
one, and Esther. There are also the Panaretus, that is the Wisdom of Solomon, and the
Wisdom of Jesus, which was published in Hebrew by the father of Sirach, and afterwards
translated into Greek by his grandson, Jesus, the Son of Sirach. These are virtuous and
noble, but are not counted nor were they placed in the ark. 70 The New Testament contains
four gospels, that according to Matthew, that according to Mark, that according to Luke,
that according to John: the Acts of the Holy Apostles by Luke the Evangelist: seven
catholic epistles, viz. one of James, two of Peter, three of John, one of Jude: fourteen
letters of the Apostle Paul: the Revelation of John the Evangelist: the Canons of the holy
apostles by Clement. Chapter XVIII. Regarding the things said concerning Christ. The
things said concerning Christ fall into four generic modes. For some fit Him even before
the incarnation, others in the union, others after the union, and others after the
resurrection. Also of those that refer to the period before the incarnation there are six
modes: for some of them declare the union of nature and the identity in essence with the
Father, as this, I and My Father are one: also this, He that hath seen Me hath seen the
Father: and this, Who being in the form of God and so forth. Others declare the perfection
of subsistence, as these, Son of God, and the Express Image of His person and Messenger of
great counsel, Wonderful Counsellor and the like.

71 Again, others declare the indwelling of the subsistences in one another, as, I am in
the Father and the Father in Me; and the inseparable foundation as, for instance, the
Word, Wisdom, Power, Effulgence. For the word is inseparably established in the mind (and
it is the essential mind that I mean), and so also is wisdom, and power in him that is
powerful, and effulgence in the light, all springing forth from these. And others make
known the fact of His origin from the Father as cause, for instance My Father is greater
than I. For from Him He derives both His being and all that He has: His being was by
generative and not by creative means, as, I came forth from the Father and am come and I
live by the Father. But all that He hath is not His by free gift or by teaching, but in a
causal sense, as, The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He seeth the Father do. For
if the Father is not, neither is the Son. For the Son is of the Father and in the Father
and with the Father, and not after the Father. In like manner also what He doeth is of Him
and with Him. For there is one and the same, not similar but the same, will and energy and
power in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

72 Moreover, other things are said as though the Father’s good-will was fulfilled through
His energy, and not as through an instrument or a servant, but as through His essential
and hypostatic Word and Wisdom and Power, because but one action is observed in Father and
Son, as for example, All things were made by Him and He sent His Word and healed them and
That they may believe that Than hast sent Me. Some, again, have a prophetic sense, and of
these some are in the future tense: for instance, He shall come openly and this from
Zechariah, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee and this from Micah, Behold, the Lord cometh
out of His place and will came down and tread upon the high places of the earth. But
others, though future, are put in the past tense, as, for instance, This is our God:
Therefore He was seen upon the earth and dwell among men and The Lord created me in the
beginning of His ways for His works and Wherefore God, thy God, anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows and such like.

73 The things said, then, that refer to the period before the union will be applicable to
Him even after the union: but those that refer to the period after the union will not be
applicable at all before the union, unless indeed in a prophetic sense, as we said. Those
that refer to the time of the union have three modes. For when our discourse dears with
the higher aspect, we speak of the deification of the flesh, and His assumption of the
Word and exceeding exaltation, and so forth, making manifest the riches that are added to
the flesh tram the union and natural conjunction with the most high God the Word. And when
our discourse deals with the lower aspect, we speak of the incarnation of God the Word,
His becoming man, His emptying of Himself, His poverty, His humility. For these and such
like are imposed upon the Word and God through His admixture with humanity. When again we
keep both sides in view at the same time, we speak of union, community, anointing, natural
conjunction, conformation and the like. The former two modes, then, have their reason in
this third mode. For through the union it is made clear what either has obtained from the
intimate junction with and permeation through the other. For through the union in
subsistence the flesh is said to be deified and to become God and to be equally God with
the Word;

74 and God the Word is said to be made flesh, and to become man, and is called creature
and last: not in the sense that the two natures are converted into one compound nature
(for it is not possible for the opposite natural qualities to exist at the same time in
one nature) but in the sense that the two natures are united in subsistence and permeate
one another without confusion or transmutation The permeation moreover did not come of the
flesh but of the divinity: for it is impossible that the flesh should permeate through the
divinity: but the divine nature once permeating through the flesh gave also to the flesh
the same ineffable power of permeation; and this indeed is what we call union. 75 Note,
too, that in the case of the first and second modes of those that belong to the period of
the union, reciprocation is observed. For when we speak about the flesh, we use the terms
deification and assumption of the Word and exceeding exaltation and anointing. For these
are derived from divinity, but are observed in connection with the flesh. And when we
speak about the Word, we use the terms emptying, incarnation, becoming man, humility and
the like: and these, as we said, are imposed on the Word and God through the flesh. For He
endured these things in person of His own free-will. Of the things that refer to the
period after the union there are three modes. The first declares His divine nature, as, I
am in the Father and the Father in Me and I and the Father are one: and all those things
which are affirmed of Him before His assumption of humanity, these will be affirmed of Him
even after His assumption of humanity, with this exception, that He did not assume the
flesh and its natural properties.

76 The second declares His human nature, as, Now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told
you the truth and Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up and the like. Further, of the
statements made and written about Christ the Saviour after the manner of men, whether they
deal with sayings or actions, there are six modes. For some of them were done or said
naturally in accordance with the incarnation; for instance, His birth from a virgin, His
growth and progress with age, His hunger, thirst, weariness, fear, sleep, piercing with
nails, death and all such like natural and innocent passions. For in all these there is a
mixture of the divine and human, although they are held to belong in reality to the body,
the divine suffering none of these, but procuring through them our salvation. Others are
of the nature of ascription as Christ’s question, Where have ye laid Lazarus? His running
to the fig-tree, His shrinking, that is, His drawing back, His praying, and His making as
though He would have gone further. For neither as God nor as man was He in need of these
or similar things, but only because His form was that of a man as necessity and expediency
demanded. For example, the praying was to shew that He is not opposed to God, for He gives
honour to the Father as the cause of Himself: and the question was not put in ignorance
but to shew that He is in truth man as well as God; and the drawing back is to teach us
not to be impetuous nor to give ourselves up.

77 Others again are said in the manner of association and relation as, My God, My God, why
hast Thou forsaken Me? and He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin and being
made a curse for us; also, Then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put
all things under Him. For neither as God nor as man was He ever forsaken by the Father,
nor did He become sin or a curse, nor did He require to be made subject to the Father. For
as God He is equal to the Father and not opposed to Him nor subjected to Him; and as God,
He was never at any time disobedient to His Begetter to make it necessary for Him to make
Him subject. Appropriating, then, our person and ranking Himself with us, He used these
words. For we are bound in the fetters of sin and the curse as faithless and disobedient,
and therefore forsaken.

78 Others are said by reason of distinction in thought. For if you divide in thought
things that are inseparable in actual truth, to cut the flesh from the Word, the terms
‘servant’ and ‘ignorant’ are used of Him, for indeed He was of a subject and ignorant
nature, and except that it was united with God the Word, His flesh was servile and
ignorant. But because of the union in subsistence with God the Word it was neither servile
nor ignorant. In this way, too, He called the Father His God. Others again are for the
purpose of revealing Him to us and strengthening our faith, as, And now, O Father, glorify
Thou Me with the glory which I had with Thee, before the world was. For He Himself was
glorified and is glorified, but His glory was not manifested nor confirmed to us. Also
that which the apostle said, Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. For by the miracles and the
resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit it was manifested and confirmed to the
world that He is the Son of God. And this too The Child grew in wisdom and grace.

79 Others again have reference to His appropriation of the personal life of the Jews, in
numbering Himself among the Jews, as He saith to the Samaritan woman, Ye worship ye know
not what: we know what we worship, far salvation is of the Jews. The third mode is one
which declares the one subsistence and brings out the dual nature: for instance, And I
live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. And this: I go to My
Father and ye see Me no more. And this: They would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
And this: And no man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even
the Son of Man which is in heaven and such like. Again of the affirmations that refer to
the period after the resurrection some are suitable to God, as, Baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost for here ‘Son’ is clearly used as
God; also this, And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world and other
similar ones. For He is with us as God. Others are suitable to man, as, They held Him by
the feet and There they will see Me and so forth.

80 Further, of those referring to the period after the Resurrection that are suitable to
man there are different modes. For some did actually take place, yet not according to
nature but according to dispensation, in order to confirm the fact that the very body,
which suffered, rose again; such are the weals, the eating and the drinking after the
resurrection. Others took place actually and naturally, as changing from place to place
without trouble and passing in through closed gates. Others have the character of
simulation as, He made as though He would have gone further. Others are appropriate to the
double nature, as, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and My God and our God and The
King of Glory shall come in and He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on High.
Finally others are to be understood as though He were ranking Himself with us, in the
manner of separation in pure thought, as, My God and your God.

81 Those then that are sublime must be assigned to the divine nature, which is superior to
passion and body: and those that are humble must be ascribed to the human nature; and
those that are common must be attributed to the compound, that is, the one Christ, Who is
God and man. And it should be understood that both belong to one and the same Jesus
Christ, our Lord. For if we know what is proper to each, and perceive that both are
performed by one and the same, we shall have the true faith and shall not go astray. And
from all these the difference between the united natures is recognised, and the fact that,
as the most godly Cyril says, they are not identical in the natural quality of their
divinity and humanity. But yet there is but one Son and Christ and Lord: and as He is one,
He has also but one person, the unity in subsistence being in nowise broken up into parts
by the recognition of the difference of the natures.

82 Chapter XIX. That God is not the cause of evils. It is to be observed that it is the
custom in the Holy Scripture to speak of God’s permission as His energy, as when the
apostle says in the Epistle to the Romans, Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the
same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour? And for this reason,
that He Himself makes this or that. For He is Himself alone the Maker of all things; yet
it is not He Himself that fashions noble or ignoble things, but the personal choice of
each one. And this is manifest from what the same Apostle says in the Second Epistle to
Timothy, In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of
wood and of earth: and some to honour and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge
himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified, and meet for the master’s
use, and prepared unto every good work. And it is evident that the purification must be
voluntary: for if a man, he saith, purge himself. And the consequent antistrophe responds,
“If a man purge not himself he will be a vessel to dishonour, unmeet for the master’s use
and fit only to be broken in pieces.” Wherefore this passage that we have quoted and this,
God hath concluded them all in unbelief and this, God hath given them the spirit of
slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear all these must
be understood not as though God Himself were energising, but as though God were
permitting, both because of free-will and because goodness knows no compulsion.

83 His permission, therefore, is usually spoken of in the Holy Scripture as His energy and
work. Nay, even when He says that God creates evil things, and that there is no evil in a
city that the Lord hath not done, he does not mean by these words that the Lord is the
cause of evil, but the word ‘evil ’ is used in two ways, with two meanings. For sometimes
it means what is evil by nature, and this is the opposite of virtue and the will of God:
and sometimes it means that which is evil and oppressive to our sensation, that is to say,
afflictions and calamities. Now these are seemingly evil because they are painful, but in
reality are good. For to those who understand they became ambassadors of conversion and
salvation. The Scripture says that of these God is the Author. It is, moreover, to be
observed that of these, too, we are the cause: for involuntary evils are the offspring of
voluntary ones.

84 This also should be recognised, that it is usual in the Scriptures for some things that
ought to be considered as effects to be stated in a causal sense as, Against Thee, Thee
only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight, that Than mightest be justified when
Thou speakest, and prevail when Thou judgest. For the sinner did not sin in order that God
might prevail, nor again did God require our sin in order that He might by it be revealed
as victor. For above comparison He wins the victor’s prize against all, even against those
who are sinless, being Maker, incomprehensible, uncreated, and possessing natural and not
adventitious glory. But it is because when we sin God is not unjust in His anger against
us; and when He pardons the penitent He is shewn victor over our wickedness. But it is not
for this that we sin, but because the thing so turns out. It is just as if one were
sitting at work and a friend stood near by, and one said, My friend came in order that I
might do no work that day. The friend, however, was not present in order that the man
should do no work, but such was the result. For being occupied with receiving his friend
he did not work. These things, too, are spoken of as effects because affairs so turned
out. Moreover, God does not wish that He alone should be just, but that all should, so far
as possible, be made like unto Him.

85 Chapter XX. That there are not two Kingdoms. That there are not two kingdoms one good
and one bad, we shall see from this. For good and evil are opposed to one another and
mutually destructive, and cannot exist in one another or with one another. Each of them,
therefore, in its own division will belong to the whole, and first they will he
circumscribed, not by the whole alone but also each of them by part of the whole. Next I
ask who it is that assigns to each its place. For they will not affirm that they have come
to a friendly agreement with, or been reconciled to, one another. For evil is not evil
when it is at peace with, and reconciled to, goodness, nor is goodness good when it is on
amicable terms with evil. But if He Who has marked off to each of these its own sphere of
action is something different from them, He must the rather be God.

86 One of two things indeed is necessary, either that they come in contact with and
destroy one another, or that there exists some intermediate place where neither goodness
nor evil exists, separating both from one another, like a partition. And so there will be
no longer two but three kingdoms. Again, one of these alternatives is necessary, either
that they are at peace, which is quite incompatible with evil (for that which is at peace
is not evil), or they are at strife, which is incompatible with goodness (for that which
is at strife is not perfectly good), or the evil is at strife and the good does not
retaliate, but is destroyed by the evil, or they are ever in trouble and distress which is
not a mark of goodness. There is, therefore, but one kingdom, delivered from all evil. But
if this is so, they say, whence comes evil? For it is quite impossible that evil should
originate from goodness. We answer then, that evil is nothing else than absence of
goodness and a lapsing from what is natural into what is unnatural: for nothing evil is
natural. For all things, whatsoever God made, are very good so far as they were made: if,
therefore, they remain just as they were created, they are very good, but when they
voluntarily depart from what is natural and turn to what is unnatural, they slip into
evil.

87 By nature, therefore, all things are servants of the Creator and obey Him. Whenever,
then, any of His creatures voluntarily rebels and becomes disobedient to his Maker, he
introduces evil into himself. For evil is not any essence nor a property of essence, but
an accident, that is, a voluntary deviation from what is natural into what is unnatural,
which is sin. Whence, then, comes sin? It is an invention of the free-will of the devil.
Is the devil, then, evil? In so far as he was brought into existence he is not evil but
good. For he was created by his Maker a bright and very brilliant angel, endowed with
free-will as being rational. But he voluntarily departed from the virtue that is natural
and came into the darkness of evil, being far removed from God, Who alone is good and can
give life and light. For from Him every good thing derives its goodness, and so far as it
is separated from Him in will (for it is not in place), it falls into evil.

88 Chapter XXI. The purpose for which God in His foreknowledge created persons who would
sin and not repent. God in His goodness brought what exists into being out of nothing, and
has foreknowledge of what will exist in the future. If, therefore, they were not to exist
in the future, they would neither be evil in the future nor would they be foreknown. For
knowledge is of what exists and foreknowledge is of what will surely exist in the future.
For simple being comes first and then good or evil being. But if the very existence of
those, who through the goodness of God are in the future to exist, were to be prevented by
the fact that they were to become evil of their own choice, evil would have prevailed over
the goodness of God. Wherefore God makes all His works good, but each becomes of its own
choice good or evil. Although, then, the Lord said, Good were it for that man that he had
never been born He said it in condemnation not of His own creation but of the evil which
His own creation had acquired by his own choice and through his own heedlessness. For the
heedlessness that marks man’s judgment made His Creator’s beneficence of no profit to him.
It is just as if any one, when he had obtained riches and dominion from a king, were to
lord it over his benefactor, who, when he has worsted him, will punish him as he deserves,
if he should see him keeping hold of the sovereignty to the end.

89 Chapter XXII. Concerning the law of God and the law of sin. The Deity is good and more
than good, and so is His will. For that which God wishes is good. Moreover the precept,
which teaches this, is law, that we, holding by it, may walk in light: and the
transgression of this precept is sin, and this continues to exist on account of the
assault of the devil and our unconstrained and voluntary reception of it. And this, too,
is called law. And so the law of God, settling in our mind, draws it towards itself and
pricks our conscience. And our conscience, too, is called a law of our mind. Further, the
assault of the wicked one, that is the law of sin, settling in the members of our flesh,
makes its assault upon us through it. For by once voluntarily transgressing the law of God
and receiving the assault of the wicked one, we gave entrance to it, being sold by
ourselves to sin. Wherefore our body is readily impelled to it. And so the savour and
perception of sin that is stored up in our body, that is to say, lust and pleasure of the
body, is law in the members of our flesh.

90 Therefore the law of my mind, that is, the conscience, sympathises with the law of God,
that is, the precept, and makes that its will. But the law of sin that is to say, the
assault made through the law that is in our members, or through the lust and inclination
and movement of the body and of the irrational part of the soul, is in opposition to the
law of my mind, that is to conscience, and takes me captive (even though I make the law of
God my will and set my love on it, and make not sin my will), by reason of commixture: and
through the softness of pleasure and the lust of the body and of the irrational part of
the soul, as I said, it leads me astray and induces me to become the servant of sin. But
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh (for He assumed flesh but not sin) condemned sin in the
flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but in the Spirit. For the Spirit helpeth our infirmities and affordeth power to the
law of our mind, against the law that is in our members. For the verse, we know not what
we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession with groanings
that cannot be uttered itself teacheth us what to pray for. Hence it is impossible to
carry out the precepts of the Lord except by patience and prayer.

91 Chapter XXIII. Against the Jews on the question Sabbath. The seventh day is called the
Sabbath and signifies rest. For in it God rested from all His works as the divine
Scripture says: and so the number of the days goes up to seven and then circles back again
and begins at the first. This is the precious number with the Jews. God having ordained
that it should be held in honour, and that in no chance fashion but with the imposition of
most heavy penalties for the transgression. And it was not in a simple fashion that He
ordained this, but for certain reasons understood mystically by the spiritual and clear-
sighted. 92 So far, indeed, as I in my ignorance know, to begin with inferior and more
dense things, God, knowing the denseness of the Israelites and their carnal love and
propensity towards matter in everything, made this law: first, in order that the servant
and the cattle should rest as it is written, for the righteous man regardeth the life of
his beast: next, in order that when they take their ease from the distraction of material
things, they may gather together unto God, spending the whole of the seventh day in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs and the study of the divine Scriptures and resting in God.
For when the law did not exist and there was no divinely-inspired Scripture, the Sabbath
was not consecrated to God. But when the divinely-inspired Scripture was given by Moses,
the Sabbath was consecrated to God in order that on it they, who do not dedicate their
whole life to God, and who do not make their desire subservient to the as though to a
Father, but are like foolish servants, may on that day talk much concerning the exercise
of it, and may abstract a small, truly a most insignificant, portion of their life for the
service of God, and this from fear of the chastisements and punishments which threaten
transgressors. For the law is not made for a righteous man but for the unrighteous.

93 Moses, of a truth, was the first to abide fasting with God for forty days and again for
another forty and thus doubtless to afflict himself with hunger on the Sabbaths although
the law forbade self-affliction on the Sabbath. But if they should object that this took
place before the law, what will they say about Elias the Thesbite who accomplished a
journey of forty days on one meal? For he, by thus afflicting himself on the Sabbaths not
only with hunger but with the forty days’ journeying, broke the Sabbath: and yet God, Who
gave the law, was not wroth with him but shewed Himself to him on Choreb as a reward for
his virtue. And what will they say about Daniel? Did he not spend three weeks without
food? And again, did not all Israel circumcise the child on the Sabbath, if it happened to
be the eighth day after birth? And do they not hold the great fast which the law enjoins
if it falls on the Sabbath? And further, do not the priests and the Levites profane the
Sabbath in the works of the tabernacle and yet are held blameless? Yea, if an ox should
fall into a pit on the Sabbath, he who draws it forth is blameless, while he who neglects
to do so is condemned. And did not all the Israelites compass the walls of Jericho bearing
the Ark of God for seven days, in which assuredly the Sabbath was included.

94 As I said therefore, for the purpose of securing leisure to worship God in order that
they might, both servant and beast of burden, devote a very small share to Him and be at
rest, the observance of the Sabbath was devised for the carnal that were still childish
and in the bonds of the elements of the world and unable to conceive of anything beyond
the body and the letter. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Only-begotten Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law that we might receive the adoption of sons. For to as many of us as received Him, He
gave power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on Him. So that we are no
longer servants but sons: no longer under the law but under grace: no longer do we serve
God in part from fear, but we are bound to dedicate to Him the whole span of our life, and
cause that servant, I mean wrath and desire, to cease from sin and bid it devote itself to
the service of God, always directing our whole desire towards God and arming our wrath
against the enemies of God: and likewise we hinder that beast of burden, that is the body,
from the servitude of sin, and urge it forwards to assist to the uttermost the divine
precepts.

95 These are the things which the spiritual law of Christ enjoins on us and those who
observe that become superior to the law of Moses. For when that which is perfect is come,
then that which is in part shall be done away: and when the covering of the law, that is,
the veil, is rent asunder through the crucifixion of the Saviour, and the Spirit shines
forth with tongues of fire, the letter shall be done away with, bodily things shall come
to an end, the law of servitude shall be fulfilled, and the law of liberty be bestowed on
us. Yea we shall celebrate the perfect rest of bureau nature, I mean the day after the
resurrection, on which the Lord Jesus, the Author of Life and our Saviour, shall lead us
into the heritage promised to those who serve God in the spirit, a heritage into which He
entered Himself as our forerunner after He rose from the dead, and whereon, the gates of
Heaven being opened to Him, He took His seat in bodily form at the right hand of the
Father, where those who keep the spiritual law shall also come.

96 What belongs to us therefore, who walk by the spirit and not by the letter, is the
complete abandonment of carnal things, the spiritual service and communion with God. For
circumcision is the abandonment of carnal pleasure and of whatever is superfluous and
unnecessary. For the foreskin is nothing else than the skin which it superfluous to the
organ of lust. And, indeed, every pleasure which does not arise from God nor is in God is
superfluous to pleasure: and of that the foreskin is the type. The Sabbath, moreover, is
the cessation from sin; so that both things happen to be one, and so both together, when
observed by those who are spiritual, do not bring about any breach of the law at all.
Further, observe that the number seven denotes all the present time, as the most wise
Solomon says, to give a portion to seven and also to eight. And David the divine singer
when he composed the eighth psalm, sang of the future restoration after the resurrection
from the dead. Since the Law, therefore, enjoined that the seventh day should be spent in
rest from carnal things and devoted to spiritual things, it was a mystic indication to the
true Israelite who had a mind to see God, that he should through all time offer himself to
God and rise higher than carnal things.

97 Chapter XXIV. Concerning Virginity. Carnal men abuse virginity and the pleasure-loving
bring forward the following verse in proof, Cursed be every one that raiseth not up seed
in Israel. But we, made confident by God the Word that was made flesh of the Virgin,
answer that virginity was implanted in man’s nature from above and in the beginning. For
man was formed of virgin soil. From Adam alone was Eve created. In Paradise virginity held
sway. Indeed, Divine Scripture tells that both Adam and Eve were naked and were not
ashamed. But after their transgression they knew that they were naked, and in their shame
they sewed aprons for themselves. And when, after the transgression, Adam heard, dust thou
art and unto dust shalt thou return when death entered into the world by reason of the
transgression, then Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare seed. So that to
prevent the wearing out and destruction of the race by death, marriage was devised that
the race of men may be preserved through the procreation of children.

98 But they will perhaps ask, what then is the meaning of “male and female,” and “Be
fruitful and multiply?” In answer we shall say that “Be fruitful and multiply “ does not
altogether refer to the multiplying by the marriage connection. For God had power to
multiply the race also in different ways, if they kept the precept unbroken to the end.
But God, Who knoweth all things before they have existence, knowing in His foreknowledge
that they would fall into transgression in the future and be condemned to death,
anticipated this and made “male and female,” and bade them “be fruitful and multiply.” Let
us, then, proceed on our way and see the glories of virginity: and this also includes
chastity. 99 Noah when he was commanded to enter the ark and was entrusted with the
preservation of the seed of the world received this command, Go in, saith the Lord, thou
and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives. He separated them from their wives in
order that with purity they might escape the flood and that shipwreck of the whole world.
After the cessation of the flood, however, He said, Go forth of the ark, thou and thy
sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives. Lo, again, marriage is granted for the sake of
the multiplication of the race. Next, Elias, the fire-breathing charioteer and sojourner
in heaven did not embrace celibacy, and yet was not his virtue attested by his super-human
ascension? Who closed the heavens? Who raised the dead? Who divided Jordan? Was it not the
virginal Elias? And did not Elisha, his disciple, after he had given proof of equal
virtue, ask and obtain as an inheritance a double portion of the grace of the Spirit? What
of the three youths? Did they not by practising virginity become mightier than fire, their
bodies through virginity being made proof against the fire? And was it not Daniel’s body
that was so hardened by virginity that the wild beasts’ teeth could not fasten in it. Did
not God, when He wished the Israelites to see Him, bid them purify the body? Did not the
priests purify themselves and so approach the temple’s shrine and offer victims? And did
not the law call chastity the great vow?

100 The precept of the law, therefore, is to be taken in a more spiritual sense. For there
is spiritual seed which is conceived through the love and fear of God in the spiritual
womb, travailing and bringing forth the spirit of salvation. And in this sense must be
understood this verse: Blessed is he who hath seed in Zion and posterity in Jerusalem. For
does it mean that, although he be a whoremonger and a drunkard and an idolater, he is
still blessed if only he hath seed in Sion and posterity in Jerusalem? No one in his
senses will say this. 101 Virginity is the rule of life among the angels, the property of
all incorporeal nature. This we say without speaking ill of marriage: God forbid! (for we
know that the Lord blessed marriage by His presence and we know him who said, Marriage is
and the bed undefiled ), but knowing that virginity is better than marriage, however good.
For among the virtues, equally as among the vices, there are higher and lower grades. We
know that all mortals after the first parents of the race are the offspring of marriage.
For the first parents were the work of virginity and not of marriage. But celibacy is, as
we said, an imitation of the angels. Wherefore virginity is as much more honourable than
marriage, as the angel is higher than man. But why do I say angel? Christ Himself is the
glory of virginity, who was not only-begotten of the Father without beginning or emission
or connection, but also became man in our image, being made flesh for our sakes of the
Virgin without connection, and manifesting in Himself the true and perfect virginity.
Wherefore, although He did not enjoin that on us by law (for as He said, all men cannot
receive this saying ), yet in actual fact He taught us that and gave us strength for it.
For it is surely clear to every one that virginity now is flourishing among men.

102 Good indeed is the procreation of children enjoined by the law, and good is marriage
on account of fornications, for it does away with these and by lawful intercourse does not
permit the madness of desire to he caromed into unlawful acts. Good is marriage for those
who have no continence: but that virginity is better which increases the fruitfulness of
the soul and offers to God the seasonable fruit of prayer. Marriage is honourable and the
bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Chapter XXV. Concerning the
Circumcision. 103 The Circumcision was given to Abraham before the law, after the
blessings, after the promise, as a sign separating him and his offspring and his household
from the Gentiles with whom he lived. And this is evident for when the Israelites passed
forty years alone by themselves in the desert, having no intercourse with any other race,
all that were horn in the desert were uncircumcised: but when Joshua led them across
Jordan, they were circumcised, and a second law of circumcision was instituted. For in
Abraham’s time the law of circumcision was given, and for the forty years in the desert it
fell into abeyance. And again for the second time God gave the law of Circumcision to
Joshua, after the crossing of Jordan, according as it is written in the book of Joshua,
the son of Nun: At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee knives of stone from the
sharp rock, and assemble and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time; and a little
later: For the children of Israel walked forty and two years in the wilderness of Battaris
till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were uncircumcised,
because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: unto whom the Lord sware that He would not
shew them the goad land, which the Lord swore unto their fathers that He would give them,
a land that floweth with milk and honey. And their children, whom He raised up in their
stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not
circumcised them by the way. So that the circumcision was a sign, dividing Israel from the
Gentiles with whom they dwelt.

104 It was, moreover, a figure of baptism. For just as the circumcision does not cut off a
useful member of the body but only a useless superfluity, so by the holy baptism we are
circumcised from sin, and sin clearly is, so to speak, the superfluous part of desire and
not useful desire. For it is quite impossible that any one should have no desire at all
nor ever experience the taste of pleasure. But the useless part of pleasure, that is to
say, useless desire and pleasure, it is this that is sin from which holy baptism
circumcises us, giving us as a token the precious cross on the brow, not to divide us from
the Gentiles (for all the nations received baptism and were sealed with the sign of the
Cross), but to distinguish in each nation the faithful from the Faithless. Wherefore, when
the truth is revealed, circumcision is a senseless figure and shade. So circumcision is
now superfluous and contrary to holy baptism. For he who is circumcised is a debtor to do
the whole law. Further, the Lord was circumcised that He might fulfil the law: and He
fulfilled the whole law and observed the Sabbath that He might fulfil and establish the
law. Moreover after He was baptized and the Holy Spirit had appeared to men, descending on
Him in the form of a dove, from that time the spiritual service and conduct of life and
the Kingdom of Heaven was preached.

105 Chapter XXVI. Concerning the Antichrist. 106 It should be known that the Antichrist is
hound to come. Every one, therefore, who confesses not that the Son of God came in the
flesh and is perfect God and became perfect man, after being God, is Antichrist. But in a
peculiar and special sense he who comes at the consummation of the age is called
Antichrist. First, then, it is requisite that the Gospel should be preached among all
nations, as the Lord said and then he will come to refute the impious Jews. For the Lord
said to them: I am come in My Father’s name and ye receive Me not: if another shall come
in his own name, him ye will receive. And the apostle says, Because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be saved, for this cause Gad shall send them a strong
delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not
the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The Jews accordingly did not receive the
Lord Jesus Christ who was the Son of God and God, but receive the impostor who calls
himself God. For that he will assume the name of God, the angel teaches Daniel, saying
these words, Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers. And the apostle says: Let no
man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son, of perdition:

107 who opposeth and exalleth himself above all that is called Gad or that is worshipped,
so that he sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God; in the temple of
God he said; not our temple, but the old Jewish temple. For he will come not to us but to
the Jews: not for Christ or the things of Christ: wherefore he is called Antichrist. 108
First, therefore, it is necessary that the Gospel should be preached among all nations:
And then shall that wicked one be revealed, even him whose coming is after the working of
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, whom the Lord shall consume with the word of His
mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. The devil himself therefore
does not become man in the way that the Lord was made man. God forbid! but he becomes man
as the offspring of fornication and receiveth all the energy of Satan. For God,
foreknowing the strangeness of the choice that he would make, allows the devil to take up
his abode in him. He is, therefore, as we said, the offspring of fornication and is
nurtured in secret, and on a sudden he rises up and rebels and assumes rule. And in the
beginning of his rule, or rather tyranny, he assumes the role of sanctity. But when he
becomes master he persecutes the Church of God and displays all his wickedness. But he
will come with signs and lying wonders fictitious and not real, and he will deceive and
lead away from the living God those whose mind rests on an unsound and unstable
foundation, so that even the elect shall, if it be possible, be made to stumble.

109 But Enoch and Elias the Thesbite shall be sent and shall turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children that is, the synagogue to our Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching
of the apostles: and they will be destroyed by him. And the Lord shall come out of heaven,
just as the holy apostles beheld Him going into heaven perfect God and perfect man, with
glory and power, and will destroy the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the
breath of His mouth. Let no one, therefore, look for the Lord to come from earth, but out
of Heaven, as He himself has made sure. Chapter XXVII. Concerning the Resurrection. We
believe also in the resurrection of the dead. For there will be in truth, there will be, a
resurrection of the dead, and by resurrection we mean resurrection of bodies. For
resurrection is the second state of that which has fallen. For the souls are immortal, and
hence how can they rise again? For if they define death as the separation of soul and
body, resurrection surely is the re-union of soul and body, and the second state of the
living creature that has suffered dissolution and downfall. It is, then, this very body,
which is corruptible and liable to dissolution, that will rise again incorruptible. For
He, who made it in the beginning of the sand of the earth, does not lack the power to
raise it up again after it has been dissolved again and returned to the earth from which
it was taken, in accordance with the reversal of the Creator’s judgment.

110 For if there is no resurrection, let us eat and drink: let us pursue a life of
pleasure and enjoyment. If there is no resurrection, wherein do we differ from the
irrational brutes? If there is no resurrection, let us hold the wild beasts of the field
happy who have a life free from sorrow. If there is no resurrection, neither is there any
God nor Providence, but all things are driven and borne along of themselves. For observe
how we see most righteous men suffering hunger and injustice and receiving no help in the
present life, while sinners and unrighteous men abound in riches and every delight. And
who in his senses would take this for the work of a righteous judgment or a wise
providence? There must be, therefore, there must be, a resurrection. For God is just and
is the rewarder of those who submit patiently to Him. Wherefore if it is the soul alone
that engages in the contests of virtue, it is also the soul alone that will receive the
crown. And if it were the soul alone that revels in pleasures, it would also be the soul
alone that would be justly punished. But since the soul does not pursue either virtue or
vice separate from the body, both together will obtain that which is their just due.

111 Nay, the divine Scripture bears witness that there will be a resurrection of the body.
God in truth says to Moses after the flood, Even as the green herb have I given you all
things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And
surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require
it, and at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth
man’s blood, for his blood his own shall be shed, for in the image of God made I man. How
will He require the blood of man at the hand of every beast, unless because the bodies of
dead men will rise again? For not for man will the beasts die. And again to Moses, I am
the God of Abra ham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob: God is not the God of the dead
(that is, those who are dead and will be no more), but of the living whose souls indeed
live in His hand but whose bodies will again come to life through the resurrection. And
David, sire of the Divine, says to God, Thou takest away their breath, they die and return
to their dust. See how he speaks about bodies. Then he subjoins this, Thou sendest forth
Thy Spirit, they are created: and Thou renewest the face of the earth.

112 Further Isaiah says: The dead shall rise again, and they that are in the graves shall
awake. And it is clear that the souls do not lie in the graves, but the bodies. And again,
the blessed Ezekiel says: And it was as I prophesied, and behold a shaking and the bones
came together, bone to his bone, each to its own joint: and when I beheld, lo, the sinews
came up upon them and the flesh grew and rose up on them and the skin covered them above.
And later he teaches how the spirits came back when they were bidden. And divine Daniel
also says: And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for
the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such trouble as never
was since there was a nation on the earth even to that same time. And at that time thy
people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of
them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life and some to
shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament, and out of the multitude of the just shall shine like stars into the ages and
beyond. The words, many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, clearly
shew that there will be a resurrection of bodies. For no one surely would say that the
souls sleep in the dust of the earth.

113 Moreover, even the Lord in the holy Gospels clearly allows that there is a
resurrection of the bodies. For they that are in the graves, He says, shall hear His voice
and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they
that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Now no one in his senses would
ever say that the souls are in the graves. 114 But it was not only by word, but also by
deed, that the Lord revealed the resurrection of the bodies. First He raised up Lazarus,
even after he had been dead four days, and was stinking. For He did not raise the soul
without the body, but the body along with the soul: and not another body but the very one
that was corrupt. For how could the resurrection of the dead man have been known or
believed if it had not been established by his characteristic properties? But it was in
fact to make the divinity of His own nature manifest and to confirm the belief in His own
and our resurrection, that He raised up Lazarus who was destined once more to die. And the
Lord became Himself the first-fruits of the perfect resurrection that is no longer subject
to death Wherefore also the divine Apostle Paul said: If the dead rise not, then is not
Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, our faith is vain: we are jet in our sins.
And, Now, is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept and
the first-born from the dead; and again, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. Even so, he said, as
Christ rose again.

115 Moreover, that the resurrection of the Lord was the union of uncorrupted body and soul
(for it was these that had been divided) is manifest: for He said, Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up. And the holy Gospel is a trustworthy witness that He
spoke of His own body. Handle Me and see, the Lord said to His own disciples when they
were thinking that they saw a spirit, that it is I Myself, and that I am not changed: for
a spirit hath not flesh or bones, as ye see Me have. And when He had said this He shewed
them His handsand His side, and stretched them forward for Thomas to touch. Is not this
sufficient to establish belief in the resurrection of bodies? 116 Again the divine apostle
says, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality. And again: It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sawn
in weakness, it is raised in power: it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is
sown a natural body (that is to say, crass and mortal), it is raised a spiritual body such
as was our Lord’s body after the resurrection which passed through closed doors, was
unwearying, had no need of food, or sleep, or drink. For they will be, saith the Lord, as
the angels of God: there will no longer be marriage nor procreation of children. The
divine apostle, in truth, says, For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, Who shall change our vile body that it may be
fashioned like unto His glorious body: not meaning change into another form (God forbid!),
but rather the change from corruption into incorruption.

117 But some one will say, How are the dead raised up? Oh, what disbelief! Oh, what folly!
Will He, Who at His solitary will changed earth into body, Who commanded the little drop
of seed to grow in the mother’s womb and become in the end this varied and manifold organ
of the body, not the rather raise up again at His solitary will that which was and is
dissolved? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, if thy hardness will not permit you
to believe the words of God, at least believe His works. For that which thou sowest is not
quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall
be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain. But God giveth it a
body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed his own body. Behold, therefore, how the
seed is buried in the furrows as in tombs. Who is it that giveth them roots and stalk and
leaves and ears and the most delicate beards? Is it not the Maker of the universe? Is it
not at the bidding of Him Who hath contrived all things? Believe, therefore, in this wise,
even that the resurrection of the dead will come to pass at the divine will and sign. For
He has power that is able to keep pace with His will.

118 We shall therefore rise again, our souls being once more united with our bodies, now
made incorruptible and having put off corruption, and we shall stand beside the awful
judgment-seat of Christ: and the devil and his demons and the man that is his, that is the
Antichrist and the impious and the sinful, will be given over to everlasting fire: not
material fire like our fire, but such fire as God would know. But those who have done good
will shine forth as the sun with the angels into life eternal, with our Lord Jesus Christ,
ever seeing Him and being in His sight and deriving unceasing joy from Him, praising Him
with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout the limitless ages of ages. Amen.parparpar
1St. Luke xxiv. 43. 2Theodor., Dial. 2; Greg. Naz., Orat. 49, Ep. 1 ad Cled. 3Acts 1. 11.
4Athan. Jun., p. 45, ad Ant.; Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, ch. 6

119 5Against the Apollinarians, &c. Cf. Greg. Naz., Ep. Ad Cled., 11. 6Athan., bk. I.,
cont. Apoll. Epist. Ad Adelph. Epiphan. Ancor.?. 51. 7A simile much used by the Fathers:
cf. Supr., bk. iii., ch. 8. 8Greg. Naz., Orat. 37; Fulg., De fid.ad Petrum; Thomas
Aquinas, III., quaest. 3, Art. 6. 9Greg. Naz., Orat. 39. 1hJ ijdioth", Latin, proprietas,
the propriety, that which is distinctive of each. 1Text, kai; ou;k eksta;" th`" uJi>kh`"
ijdioVthto". R. I has, kai; oujk ejxevsth`" oijkeiva", and the old trans. is “et non
secessit a propria proprietate.” 1Wisd. Ii, 23 12 Cor. Vi. 14. 1Athan., De Incarn.; Cyril,
In Joan., bk. I. 1Ex. Xiv. 16. 1uJpovstasi", hypostasis. 1See Soophr., Ep.ad Serg.;
Origen, IIeri; ajrcw`n, II. 6; Ruf., Expos.Symb., &c. 1Origen, IIepi; ajpcw`v, bk. Ii.,
ch. 6. 1Orat. 36, near the end. 2Edit. Paris, p. 25. 2kaq&Aelig; {vEwsiv oijkovomikhvn, in
the union of the Incarnation. 2Edit. Paris, p. 54.

120 2Ps. xiv. 7. 2Ps. xiv. 7. 2Some copies omit the last five words. 2Bar. iii. 38. 2Ps.
cxxxvii. I. 2Euthym., p. 2, tit. 8. 3See the Scholiast on Gregory Nyssenus in Cod. Reg.
3451. 3Vid. Apud Greg, Nyss., bk. iii., contr. Eunom 3Col 1 15. 3Athan., Expos. Fidei.
3Rom. Viii. 29. 3St. John xx. 17. 3Ibid. 3Col. Ii. 12. 3St. Matt. Xxviii. 19. 3See Clem.
Alex., Strom., bk. I; Basil, Ep. Ad Amphiloch. 2; Irenaeus, i. 8; Theodor., Haer. fab. C.
12; Euseb., Hist. Eccles., vii. 9; Trullan Canon 95; Tertull., De Bapt., c 1, &c. 4Heb.
vi. 4. 4Rom. Vi. 3. 4See Basil, De Spir, Sanct., c. 28, and Ep. 39; Jerome, Contr. Lucif.;
Theodor., Haer. III. 4; Socrates, Hist. C. 23; Sozomen, Hist. VI. 26 4Auct., Quaest. Ad.
Antioch. 4Basil., De Bapt., bk. I. Ch. 12. 4St. Matt. Xvi. 16. 4Acts x. 38. 4Ps. xiv. 7.
4Is. Lxi. I.

121 4St. Matt. Xxviii. 19. 5Text, ejp1 ajfqarsivan. Variant, ejp1 ajfqarsiva; old
interpretation, ‘in incorruption._0’ 5Method., De Resurr. 5St. John xix. 34. 5Ibid. iii.
5. 5Greg., Orat. 48. 5Gen. i. 2. 5Lev. xv. 10. 5Gen. vi. 17. 5Text, kaqaivretai. Variant
in many Codices is ejkavqaivreto. On one margin is, hj ejkekavqarto. 5III. Reg. xviii. 32.
6pivsti" ga;r uijoqerei`n oi\de. 6Text, fwtismov", illumination. In R. 2626 is added, kai;
ajgiasmov", which Faber translates, “et illuminatio et sanctificatio.” In R. 2924,
ajgiasmov" is read instead of fwtismov". 62 Pet ii. 22. 6James ii. 26. 6Greg. Naz., Orat.
40; Athan. ad Serap. De Spir. Sancto. 6Greg. Theol., Orat. 39. 6Gen. vii. 17. 61 Cor. x.
1. 6Lev. xiv. 8. 6Greg., Orat. 40; Basil. Hom. de Bapt.; Chrys. in Matt. Hom. 10, and
others. 7Cf. Basil, De Bapt., I. 2. 7Gen. xviii. 10. 7Ib. 17. 7Ib. 20. 7Ib. 25, 26. 7Ib.
xix. 24. 7Ib. xxi. 1, 2.

122 7Ib. 17, 18. 7St. John viii. 56. 7Heb. xi. 6. 8Basil. in Ps. cxv. 8Basil, cit. loc.
8Text, propavtoro" ajmartiva. Variant, propar. m ajmart. 8Text, hjnoivcqhsan. Variant,
hjnoivghsan. 8Cyril, Hier. catech. i. 14. 8Text, dia; staurou`. Variant, div aujtou`.
8Rom. vi. 3. 8Gal. iii. 27. 82 Cor. i. 24. 8Basil. in Is. xi. 9Exod. xii. 23. 9Cf. Cyril,
Contr. Jul., bk. vi. 9Text, oJ Torgoqa`", oJ swthvrio". Variant, oJ staurov". 9oJ
qeopavtwr Dabivd. Cf. Dionysiaster, Ep. 8. 9Heb. xi. 6. 9Basil. in Ps. cxv. 9Basil, cit.
loc. 9Text, propavtoro" ajmartiva. Variant, propar. m ajmart. 9Text, hjnoivcqhsan.
Variant, hjnoivghsan. 9Cyril, Hier. catech. i. 14. 1Text, dia; staurou`. Variant, div
aujtou`. 1Rom. vi. 3. 1Gal. iii. 27. 12 Cor. i. 24. 1Basil. in Is. xi. 1Exod. xii. 23.
1Cf. Cyril, Contr. Jul., bk. vi. 1Text, oJ Torgoqa`", oJ swthvrio". Variant, oJ staurov".
1oJ qeopavtwr Dabivd. Cf. Dionysiaster, Ep. 8. 1Ps. cxxxii. 7.

123 1Ibid. 8. 1Text, Swth`ro". Variant, staurov". 1St. Matt. xxiv. 30. 1St. Mark xvi. 6.
11 Cor. i. 23. 1Text, Cristou`. Variant, staurou`. 1Gen. ii. and iii. 1Heb. xi. 21.
1Auct., Quaest. ad Antioch., 9, 63. 1Num. xx. 1Exod. iv. 1Ibid. 1Text, oujk eijduiva.
Variant, eijdwv". 1Iren., bk. v., c 18. 1Isai. lxv. 2. 1Text, tou`to. Variants, tou`ton
and touvtw. 1Basil, De Spir. Sanct., c. 27; Alcuin, De Trin. ii. 5; Wal. Strabo. De reb.
eccles, c. 4; Hon. August., Gemma Animae. c. 950. 11 St. John i. 5. 1Mal. iv. 2. 1Zach.
iii. 8, vi. 12; St. Luke i. 78. 1Ps. lxviii. 32, 33. 1Gen. ii. 8. 1Text, o]n parabavnra
ejxwvrisen, ajpevnantiv te tou` paradeivsou th`" trufh`" katwvkisen. Variants, o]n
parabavnta, th`" trfh`" ejxwrisen, and o]nn parabavnta, tou` paradeivsou th`" trufh`"
ejxwvrisen, ajpevnantiv te tou` paradeivsou katwkisen. 1Levit. xvi. 14. 1Ibid. 2. 1Num.
ii. 3. 1Acts i. 11. 1Text, faivnetai. Variant, fqavnei. The old translation gives occupat.

124 1St. Matt. xxiv. 27. 1Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, ch. 27. 1Greg. Naz., Orat. 42: Dion.
De div. nom., ch. 3. 1Rom. xi. 36. 1Heb. ii. 17. 1Rom. vii. 17. 1Variant, fuvsei kai;
klhronovmoi th`" aujtou` genwvmeqa cavrito", kai aujiou uioi, kai; sugklhronovmoi. 1Text,
klhronomnvswmen. Variant, klhronomhvsante". 1Chrys. in Matt., Hom. 83; St. John iii. 3.
1St. John vi. 48. 1Ibid. xiii. 1St. Matt. xxvi. 26; Liturg. S. Jacobi. 1St. Matt. xxvi.
27, 28; St. Mark xiv. 22–24; St. Luke xxii. 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi. 24–26 1Heb. iv. 12. 1Ps.
cxxxv. 6. 1Gen. i. 3 and 6. 1Ps. xxxiii. 6. 1Text, kai; ta; th`"...kaqara; kai; ajmwvmhta
ai{mata eJmata eJautw`. Variant, kai; ejk tw`n th`"...kaqarw`n kaiv ajmwmhvtwn aijmavtwn
eJautw. 1Gen. i. 11. 1Iren., bk. iv., ch. 35; Gulg., Ad Monim., bk. ii., ch. 6; Chrys., De
prod. Jedae; Greg. Nyss., Catech., &c. 1St. Luke i. 34, 35 1Nyss., Orat., Catech., ch. 37.

125 1Clem., Constit., bk. viii.; Justin Martyr., Apol. i.; Iren., v.2. 1Greg. Nyss., Orat.
Catech., c. 37. 1Simile Nyss. loc. cit. 1ouj is absent in some mss. 1The Greek is oJ th`"
proqevsew" oi\no", the bread of the prothesis. It is rendered panis propositionis in the
old translations. These phrases designate the Shewbread in the LXX. and the Vulgate. The
provqesi" is explained as a smaller table placed on the right side of the altar, on which
the priests make ready the bread and the cup for consecration. See the note in Migne. 1See
Niceph., C.P., Aniirr. ii. 3. 1St. John vi. 51–55. 1zwh;n aijwvnion is added in many mss.
1Cyril Hierosol., Cat. Mystag. 5; Chrys. Hom. 3 in Epist. ad Ephes.; Trull. can. 101 1Is.
vi. 6. 1See Cyril Alex. on Isiah vi. 1Vide Basil, ibid. 1Gen. xiv. 18. 1Lev. xiv. 1Ps. cx.
4. 1Text, eijkovnizon. Variant, eijkonivzousi. 1Mal. i. 11.

126 11 Cor. xi. 31, 32. 1Ibid. 29. 1Cyril, loc. cit. 1St. John vi. 63. 1Anastas., Hodegus,
ch. 23. 1St. Matt. vii. 6. 11 Cor. x. 17. 1Text, nohtw` dia; movnh" th`" Qeva"; nohtw" is
wanting in some Reg. 2928 having dia; movnh" th`" Qeiva" eJnwvsew:. 1In Reg. 2428 is added
kai; ÃIwsh;f tou` mnhvstoro". 1Ps. cxxxii. 11. 1Ibid. lxxxix. 35, 36, 37. 1Is. xi. 1.
1Num. xxxvi. 6 seqq. 1skhvptrou. 1Cf. Julius Afric., Ep. ad Aristidem, cited in Eusebius,
Hist. Eccles. i. 7. 1Deut. xxv. 5. 1See the note in Migne. 1Text, th;n a[gian Qeotovkon.
Vatiant, th;n apgian [Annan. 1St. Luke iii. 24 seqq. 1R. 2926 adds “Ethan”, the name being
taken from Julius Africanus. 1Epiph., Haeres. 79. 11Sam. i. 2. 1Greg. Nyss., Orat. in
nativ. Dom.: Eustath. in Hexaem. 2Epiph., Haeres. 79. 2thv" probatikh`", the Sheep-gate.
2Ps. xviii. 25, 26. 2Is. vii. 14; St. Matt. i. 23. 21 Cor. iii. 19; Job v. 13.

127 2Is. xxix. 11. 2St. John i. 13. 2Is. lxvi. 7. 2qeofovro". 2Ezek. xliv. 2. 2St. Matt.
i. 25. 2ibid. xxviii. 20. 21 Thess. iv. 17. 2St. Luke ii. 35. 2In R. 2926 is added, o[per
aujth` proeivrhken oJ Qeodovco" Sumew;n, to;n Kuvrion ejnagkalisavmeno". 2St. John i. 12.
2Gal. iv. 7: Rom. viii. 17. 2St. John xv. 14. 2Ibid. 15. 2Apoc. xix. 16. 2Ex. ii. 6.
2Ibid. vii. 1. 2Basil, Orat. in 40 Martyr. 2Levit. xxvi. 12: 2 Cor. vi. 16 2Wisd. iii. 1.
2Ps. xl. 9, 10. 2Ibid. cxvi. 15. 2dia; tou` nou` 21 Cor. ii. 16. 22 Cor. iii. 17. 22 Cor.
iii. 17. 2Aster., Hom. in SS. Mart. 2Ex. xvii. 6. 2Judg. xv. 17. 2Num. xix. 11. 2Jas. i.
17. 2Ephes. v. 19. 2Text, prstoiv. Variant, pivstei in Reg. 1. 2Almost all read to;n
provdromon ÃIwavnnhn, wj" profhvthn, &c. 2St. Matt. xi. 11. 2Rom. viii. 29. 21 Cor. xii.
24.

128 2Ephes. iv. 11. 2Hebr. xi. 37, 38. 2Ibid. xiii. 7. 2Some Mss. have the title
“Concerning the adoration of the august and holy images,” or “Concerning the holy and
sacred images,” or “Concerning holy images.” 2Cf. Petavius, Theol. Dogm. xv. ch. 12. 2Gen.
i. 26. 2Basil, De Spir. Sancto, ch. 18. 2Ex. xxxiii. 10. 2Ibid. xxv. 40: Heb. viii. 5.
2Ex. xxv. 18. 21 Kings viii. 2Gen. viii. 21. 2St. John i. 14; Tit. iii. 4. 2Bar. iii. 38.
2Basil, in 40 Mart: also De Spir. Sancto, ch. 27. 2Cf. August., contr. Donatist., bk. iv.
2Evagr., Hist. iv., ch. 27. 2Procop., De Bellis, ii. ch. 12. 2i.e. Abgarus. 22 Thess. ii.
15. 21 Cor. xi. 2. 2This chapter is wanting in Cod. R. 3547. 2St. Matt. v. 17. 2St. John
v. 39. 2Heb. i. 1, 2. 22 Tim. iii. 16. 2Ps. i. 3. 2Ps. lxviii. 13. 2St. Matt. xxi. 37.

129 2Jas. i. 17. 2Deut. xxxii. 7. 21 Cor. viii. 7. 2St. John iv. 14. 2Cyril Hieros., Cat.
4; Epiphan., De pond. et mens. 2Many copies read Phi. 2Writings. 2Joshua the Son of Nun.
2Chronicles. 2R. 2428 reads kai; hj ÃIoudi;q, kai; hj ÃEsqhvr: so also in Cod. S. Hil.,
but Epiphanius does not mention the book of Judith, nor does the text require it. 2R. 2428
reads kai; ejpistolai; duvo duvo dia; Klhvmento", probably an interpolation. 2Trull., Can.
2; Euseb., hist. Eccles. vi., ch., ch. 23, &c. 2St. John x. 30. 2Ibid. xiv. 9. 2Phil. ii.
6. 2Heb. i. 3. 2Is. ix. 6. 2pericwvrhsi". 2St. John xiv. 10 2th;n ajnekfoivthton i[drusin.
2Cyril, Thes., bk. xxxiv., p. 341. 2St. John xiv. 28. 2Greg. Naz., Orat. 36, and other
Greeks. 2St. John xvi. 28. 2Ibid. vi. 57 2Ibid. v. 19. 2Text, metav. Various reading,
katav. 2Text, plhrou;mena. Variant, plhroumevnh". 2kivnhsin, motion. 3kivnhsin, motion.

130 3St. John xi. 42. 3Ps. cvii. 20. 3St. John xvii. 2. 3Ps. i. 3. 3Zech. ix. 9. 3Mic. i.
3. 3Bar. ii. 38. 3Prov. viii. 22. 3Ps. xlv. 7. 3Greg. Naz., Orat. 39. 3Is. xlviii. 12.
3Supr. Bk. Iii., ch. 2 3Or, inhabitation, mutual indwelling. 3pericwrousa 3St. John 14. 1.
3Ibid. x. 30. 3Ibid. vii. 19; viii. 40. 3Ibid. iii. 14. 3Vide supr., bk. iii., ch. 21, 22,
23. 3prospoivhsi", feigning. 3St. John. xi. 34. 3St. Luke xxiv. 28. 3Greg, Naz., Orat. 36.
3Supr. Bk. Iii. 24. 3Text, meta; ton ei\nai Qeov". Variant, mei`nai. 3oikeiwsi" kai
anaqorav Variant, meivai 3St. Matt. xxvii. 46. 32 Cor. v. 21. 3Gal. Iii. 13. 31 Cor. Xv.
28. 3Greg, Naz., Orat. 36. 3Ibid. 3Supr., bk. Iii. Ch. 21. 3St. John. xvii. 5. 3Rom. i. 4.
3Chrysost., Hom. I in Epist., ad Rom., and others. 3St. Luke ii. 40. 3Text, xariti. Reg 1.
ouneqel. 3St. John. iv. 22.

131 3Ibid. xvi. 10. 3Ibid. 31 Cor ii. 8. 3St. John. iii. 13. 3St. Matt. xxviii. 19. 3Ibid.
20. 3Ibid. 9. 3Ibid. 10. 3kata; quvsin 3kata; prospoivhsin 3St. Luke. xxiv. 28. 3St. John
xx. 17. 3Ps. xxiv. 7. 3Heb. 1. 3. 3St. John xx. 17. 3Epist, apologetica ad Acacium
Melitinar Episcopum 3Against Platonists, Gnostics, and Manicheans. 3Damasc. Dial. Cont.
Manich. 3Rom. ix. 21. 3Basil, Homil. Quod Deus non sit auct. Malorum. 32 Tim. ii. 20,21.
3Rom. xi. 32. 3Is. xxix. 10; Rom. xi. 8 3Amos iii. 6. 3Text, oisemqaton. Variant
ousemqaton 3Text, twn yar ekousiwn kakwn ta; akouvsia, &c. R. 2930 has twv akousiwn ta
ekousia 3Basil,.loc. cit. 3Ps. li. 4. 3 nikhthv" is sometimes absent 3Athan., Cont.
Gentes. 3Athan., Cont. omnes haeret 3Damasc., Dial. Cont. Manich. 3Text, apotemnomeno".
Variants, apotemnomeno" and apotemnomeno". 3Text kakonsqai. Variant, kakonxeisqai. 3Basil,
Hom. Deum non esse cause. Mal. 3Text, parazromh. Variant, para. roph, cf. Infra.

132 3Gen. i. 31. 3Basil Hom. Deum non csse cause. Mal. 3Jer., Contr. Pelag. Bk. Iii.
3Demasc., Dialog contra Manich 3St. Mark xiv. 21. 31 St. John i 7. 3Rom. vii. 23. 3Rom.
vii. 27. 3Ibid. 23. 3Text, kata; anakrasin. The old translation is ‘secundum anacrasin,
_0’i.e. ‘contractionem, refusionem per laevitatem voluptatis:_0’ Faber has ‘secundum
contradictionem per suadelam voluptatis._0’ The author’s meaning is that owing to the
conjunction of mind with body, the law of sin is mixed with all the members. 3Rom. viii.
3, 4. 3Ibid. 26. 3Ibid. 3Gen. ii. 2. 3Ex. xiii. 6; Num. xv. 35 3Greg., Naz., Orat. 44.
3Deut. v. 14. 3Prov. xii. 10. 3Epiph., Exp. Fid., n. 22. 31 Tim. i. 9. 3 Ex. xxiv. 18: Ex.
xxxiv. 28. 31 Kings xix. 8. 3Dan. x. 2. 3Gen. xvii. 12. 4Lev. xvi. 31. 4St. Matt. xii. 5.
4Epiph, Hares. 30, n. 32, et Haer;. N. 82 seqq: Athan, Hom circum, et sabb

133 4Josh. iii. 4Ath iofe. 4Gal. iv. 3. 4Ibid. 4, 5. 4St. John. i. 12. 4Gal. iv. 7. 41
Cor. xiii. 10. 4Athan., loc. Cit. 4Ibid. 4Greg. Naz, Orat. 42 4Exxl. xi. 2. 4Ps. xvi.
4Vide bk. Ii. Ch. 30 4Deut. 4Gen. ii. 25 4Ibid. iv. 7. 4Ibid. 19. 4Gen. iv. I. 4Greg,
Naz., De opif., hom. 16 4Gen i. 27. 4Ibid. i. 28. 4Text, aparaxapakton old. Trans. “in
intrasmutationem.” 4Vid supr., bk. Ii. Ch. 30. 4Text auqquata == increases. We have read
auxhmata. 4Gen. vi. 18 4Cf. Chrys., Hom. 28 on Genesis. 4Gen. viii. 16 42 Ki ii. 11.
4Ibid. iv. 34 4Ibid. ii. 14. 4Ibid. ii. 9. 4Dan. iii. 20. 4Ibid vi. 16. 4Ex. xix. 15: Num.
vi. 2. 4St. John ii. I. 4Heb. xiii. 4. 4St. Matt. xix. 11. 4Simeou Thess., De initiat.,
ch. 33. 41 Cor. vii. 2. 4Heb. xiii. 4. 4Just. Martyr., Dial cum Tryph., p. 241.

134 4Gen. xvii.10. 4Chrys, Hom. 39 in Gen. 4Text, Ihsou". 4Josh. v. 2. 4Ibid. 6. 4Text
Battaritiqi as in mss.; The desert in which the Israelites dwelt is called “per
antonomasiam” Madbara, from the Hebrew 72712 4Josh. v. 6, 7. 4Greg., Naz., Orat. 40.
Athan., De Sab. Et circ. 4Gal. v. 2. 4St. Matt. v. 17. 4See the note in Migne. 41 St. John
ii. 22. 4Iren., bk. V. ch. 25; Greg. Naz., Orat. 47. 4St. Matt. xxiv. 14. 4St. John v. 43.
42 Thess. ii. 10, 11, 12. 4Chrys., Hom. 4 in Epist. 2 Thess. 4Dan. xi. 37. 42 Thess. ii.
3, 4. 4Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 15 4Iren., Cyril Hieros., Catech. 15: Greg. Naz loc.cit.
4St. Matt. xxv. 14. 4Text has perasi yeuqou", instead of the received text, terasi
yeuqou", cf. Infr. 42 Thess. ii. 8,9,10. 4Jerome on Daniel, ch. vii. 4Chrys., Hom. 3 in 2
Thess. 4Text, ariosunhn Old trans. “justitiam,” but Faber has “bonitatem.”

136 5In R. 2924 is read: ejn tw`/ Kurivw hJmw`n, w/\ prevpei pa`sa dovxa, timh; kai;
proskuvnhsi", nu`n kai; ajei; kai; eij" touv" aijw`na" tw`n aijwvnwn. jAmhvn., In 2928:
o{ti aujtw/` prevpei dovxa, timh; kai; proskuvnhsi", nu`n kai; ajei; &c. [1]Roberts,
Alexander and Donaldson, James, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series: Volume IX,
(Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1997.


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CONTAINING EPISTLES, OR FRAGMENTS OF EPISTLES English translation: an older public-domain
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CONTAINING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE WORKS English translation: an older public-domain
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THE "MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO ST. PAUL'S LETTERS English translation: an out-of-copyright
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THE "ANTI-MARCIONITE" PROLOGUES TO THE GOSPELS English translation: an out-of-copyright
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PASSION OF ST. SATURNINUS English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as
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THE WESTERN TEXT OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, TRANSLATED FROM CODEX BEZAE English
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THE FESTAL EPISTLES English translation by Henry Burgess, from The Festal Epistles of S.
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THE FESTAL EPISTLES: FRAGMENTS AND ADDITIONAL LETTERS English translation by Henry
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PREFACE English translation: an older public-domain translation as collected in the
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FRAGMENTS OF THE HISTORY English translation: an older public-domain translation as
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LETTER 3 : AGAINST THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THAT LETTERS FELL FROM HEAVEN ONTO THE ALTAR OF THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as transcribed,
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ON EASTER English translation: an older public-domain translation as collected in the
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AN EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH English translation: an older public-domain
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