Catechetical Lectures

Already the fragrance of blessedness is upon you, you who are being enlightened; already you are gathering spiritual flowers to weave heavenly crowns; already the sweet scent of the Holy Spirit has breathed upon you. Already you have come to the porch of the king’s palace; may you also be led in by the king! For now blossoms have appeared on the trees; may the fruit also come to perfection. So far your names have been enrolled and you have been called to service: you have the torches of the bridal procession, the longing for heavenly citizenship, a good purpose, and the hope that follows it. For he who said it does not lie: ‘For those who love God all things work together for good.’ God is generous in doing good; but he waits for each one’s sincere purpose. That is why the Apostle added: ‘to those who are called according to purpose.’ Sincerity of purpose makes you one of the called; for if you have your body here but not your mind, it profits you nothing.

Simon the magician too once came to the washing. He was baptized but not enlightened; he dipped his body in water but did not let the Spirit enlighten his heart; his body went down and came up, but his soul was not buried with Christ nor raised with him. I tell you of these falls so that you may not fall; for these things happened to them as types, and were written for the admonition of those who come forward to this day. Let none of you be found putting grace to the test; let no root of bitterness spring up and trouble you; let none of you come in saying, ‘Come, let us see what the faithful do; let me go in and see, so that I may learn what goes on.’ You expect to see, and do you not expect to be seen? Do you think that while you are prying into what goes on, God is not searching your heart? [3] Someone once pried into the wedding in the Gospels. He took an unworthy garment, came in, reclined, and ate; for the bridegroom permitted it. Seeing everyone dressed in white, he ought to have taken such a garment himself; but though he shared the same food, he was unlike them in dress and in purpose. The bridegroom, though generous, was not without discernment; going round to each of the guests and observing them (for his care was not that they should eat, but that they should be decently dressed), he saw a stranger without a wedding garment and said to him: ‘Friend, how did you come in here? In what color? With what conscience? Granted, the doorkeeper did not stop you, because of the host’s generosity; granted, you did not know in what dress one ought to come to the banquet: but you came in and saw the shining dress of the guests; should you not have been taught at least by what you saw? Should you not have gone out in good time, so as to come in again in good time? But as it is, you came in at the wrong time, to be thrown out at the wrong time.’ And he commands the servants: ‘Bind his feet, which dared to intrude; bind his hands, which did not know how to put on a bright garment; and cast him into the outer darkness; for he is unworthy of the bridal torches.’ You have seen what happened to that man; make your own position secure.

For we, the ministers of Christ, have received everyone, and, holding as it were the post of doorkeepers, we left the door unfastened. It is possible that you came in with your soul muddied by sins and your purpose stained. You came in; you were thought worthy; your name was enrolled. Do you see the solemn order of this church? Do you observe its order and discipline, the reading of the Scriptures, the presence of the clergy, the sequence of instruction? Let the place shame you, and let what you see teach you; go out in good time now, and come in tomorrow at the most fitting time. If avarice was the dress of your soul, put on another and come in. Take off the dress you had; do not cover it over. Take off sexual immorality and uncleanness, and put on the most brilliant robe of chastity. I give you this charge before Jesus, the bridegroom of souls, comes in and sees their dress. Your time is long: you have forty days for repentance; you have plenty of opportunity to take off and wash yourself, and to put on and come in. But if you persist in an evil purpose, the one who speaks to you is blameless, but you must not expect to receive the grace; for the water will receive you, but the Spirit will not accept you. If anyone is aware of a wound, let him take the plaster; if anyone has fallen, let him rise. Let there be no Simon among you, no hypocrisy, no idle curiosity about the matter. [5] … though you came with another purpose, as one to be saved by a good one. Perhaps you did not know where you were coming, nor what kind of net is catching you. You have come inside the nets of the church: be taken alive, do not flee; for Jesus is hooking you, not to kill you, but, having put you to death, to make you alive; for you must die and rise again. You have heard the Apostle saying: ‘dead to sin, but alive to righteousness.’ Die to your sins, and live to righteousness; live from this day on. [6] See, I pray you, how great a dignity Jesus bestows on you. You were called a catechumen, one around whom the word echoed from outside: you heard of hope and did not know it; you heard of mysteries and did not understand them; you heard the Scriptures and did not know their depth. No longer does it echo around you, but within you; for the Spirit who dwells within makes your mind a divine house from now on. When you hear what is written about the mysteries, then you will understand what you did not know. And do not think that what you receive is a small thing: though you are a wretched human being, you receive one of God’s titles. Hear Paul saying: ‘God is faithful.’ Hear another Scripture saying: ‘God faithful and just.’ Foreseeing this, the Psalmist said in the person of God, since human beings were going to receive a title of God: ‘I said, you are gods, and all sons of the Most High.’ But see that you do not have the title of a believer and the purpose of an unbeliever. You have entered a contest: toil at the race; you will not have another such time. If your wedding days were before you, would you not have disregarded everything else and busied yourself with preparing the feast? And now, when you are about to present your soul to the heavenly bridegroom, will you not lay aside bodily things, so as to gain spiritual ones?

It is not possible to receive the washing two or three times; otherwise one could say: ‘If I fail once, I shall succeed the second time.’ If you fail once, the thing cannot be put right; for there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Only heretics are rebaptized, since their former washing was not baptism. [8] For God seeks nothing else from us but a good purpose. Do not say, ‘How are my sins blotted out?’ I tell you: by willing, by believing. What is shorter than this? But if your lips say that you are willing and your heart does not, the one who judges knows the heart. Cease from this day from every evil deed. Let your tongue speak no unseemly words; let your eye not sin, nor your mind wander after useless things. [9] Let your feet hasten to the instructions. Receive the exorcisms with zeal: whether you are breathed upon or exorcized, the thing means salvation for you. Think of unworked gold, adulterated and mixed with various other materials, copper, tin, iron, and lead; we seek to have the gold alone; and gold cannot be cleansed of foreign matter without fire. So too the soul cannot be cleansed without exorcisms; and they are divine, gathered from the divine Scriptures. Your face has been veiled, so that your mind may henceforth be free …

… so that the eye, by wandering, may not make the heart wander too. When the eyes are veiled, the ears are not hindered from receiving what brings salvation. For as those skilled in the goldsmith’s craft direct their breath into the fire through fine instruments, and, blowing on the gold hidden in the crucible, stir up the flame beside it and find what they are looking for; so when the exorcists cast in fear through the divine Spirit, and, as in a crucible, rekindle the soul in the body, the enemy demon flees, salvation and the hope of eternal life remain, and the soul, cleansed of its sins, thereafter has salvation. Let us, then, remain in hope, brothers, and give ourselves up to it … so that the God of all, seeing our purpose, may cleanse us from our sins … [10] … with a good purpose, so that you may fight the Lord’s war, so that you may conquer the opposing powers, so that you may become unconquerable against every heresy.

Let this too be a charge to you: learn what is said, and keep it forever. Do not think these are the ordinary homilies; those too are good and trustworthy, but if we neglect them today, we can learn tomorrow. But if the teachings about the washing of regeneration, delivered in order, are neglected today, when will they be put right? Think of it as the season for planting trees: if we do not dig and go deep, how can what has once been badly planted ever be planted well again? Think of catechesis as a building: if we do not dig deep and lay a foundation, if we do not fit the house together in order with the bonds of the building, so that nothing is found loose and the building becomes rotten, there is no profit even in the earlier labor. Stone must follow stone in order, and corner follow corner, and as we trim away what is superfluous, the building must rise up smooth. So we bring you stones, as it were, of knowledge. You must hear about the living God; you must hear about the judgment; you must hear about Christ; you must hear about the resurrection. Many things are said in sequence, which are now spoken here and there, but will then be brought together in harmony. If you do not join them into one, and remember the first and the second, the builder builds, but you will have a rotten building.

When, then, the instruction is being given, if a catechumen asks you what the teachers have said, tell nothing to one outside. For we are handing on to you a mystery and the hope of the age to come. Keep the mystery for him who gives the reward. Let no one ever say to you, ‘What harm is there if I learn it too?’ The sick too ask for wine; but if it is given at the wrong time it produces delirium, and two evils follow: the sick man dies, and the physician is blamed. So too with the catechumen if he hears from one of the faithful: the catechumen becomes delirious (for he does not know what he has heard, and he finds fault with the matter and mocks what is said), and the believer is condemned as a traitor. You are now standing on the threshold: take care, I pray you, not to blurt it out; not because what is said is unworthy to be spoken, but because the ear is unworthy to receive it. You too were once a catechumen, and I did not explain to you what lay before you; when by experience you have learned the height of what is taught, then you will know that catechumens are unworthy to hear it.

… you have become sons and daughters of one mother … When you come in before the hour of the exorcisms, let each of you speak what … and if any of you does not keep this, seek him out.

… if you had been called to …, would you not have waited for …? If you had a brother, would you not have sought your brother’s good? From now on do not busy yourself with matters of no profit: not what the city has done, nor the village, nor the emperor, nor the bishop, nor the presbyter. Look up; this hour of yours needs that. ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ If you see the faithful serving and free from anxiety, they have security: they know what they have received; they hold the grace. But you are still in the balance, whether you will be received or not: do not imitate those who are free from care, but cultivate fear.

And when the exorcism has been done, until the others who are being exorcized have come, let men be with men …

… and women with women. For now I need Noah’s ark, in which were Noah and his sons, and his wife and his sons’ wives. For though the ark was one, and its door was shut, everything was arranged in order. So though the church is shut and you are all inside, let things be kept distinct, men with men and women with women, lest the occasion of salvation become a pretext for destruction. Even if there is a good reason for sitting near one another, let passions be kept far away. Then let the men, when they sit, have a useful book; let one read and another listen. And if there is no book, let one pray and another say something useful. And let the company of young women likewise be gathered in such a way that, whether singing psalms or reading, they do it quietly, so that their lips move but the ears of others do not hear; ‘for I do not permit a woman to speak in church.’ And let the married woman likewise imitate this: let her pray and her lips move, but let her voice not be heard, so that Samuel may come, so that your barren soul may give birth to the salvation of God who has heard you; for this is the meaning of the name Samuel.

I shall see the zeal of each man; I shall see the devotion of each woman. Let the mind be fired for devotion; let the soul be forged; let the hardness of unbelief be hammered; let the superfluous scales of the iron fall away and what is pure remain; let the rust of the iron fall away and what is genuine remain. May God one day show you that night, the darkness that shines like day, of which it is said: ‘Darkness shall not be darkness to you, and the night shall be bright as the day.’ Then may the door of paradise be opened to each of you, men and women; then may you enjoy the Christ-bearing waters that have their fragrance; then may you receive the name of Christ and the power of divine things. Already lift up the eye of your mind; already picture the choirs of angels, and God, the Master of all, seated, and the only-begotten Son sitting at his right hand, and the Spirit present with them; thrones and dominions doing their service; and each one of you, man and woman, being saved. Already let your ears ring, as it were; long for that beautiful sound when, at your salvation, the angels will cry out: ‘Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered’; when, like stars of the church, you will enter bright in body and shining in soul.

Great is the baptism that lies before you: a ransom for captives; forgiveness of offenses; the death of sin; the new birth of the soul; a garment of light; a holy seal that cannot be broken; a chariot to heaven; the delight of paradise; a passport to the kingdom; the gift of adoption. But a dragon watches by the roadside for those who pass; take care that he does not bite you with unbelief. He sees so many being saved, and seeks whom he may devour. You are going to the Father of spirits, but you must pass that dragon. How, then, will you get past him? Have your feet shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace, so that even if he bites, he may not harm you. Have faith dwelling within, strong hope, and a strong sandal, so that you may pass the enemy and come in to the Master. Prepare your own heart to receive teaching, for fellowship in the holy mysteries. Pray more often, that God may make you worthy of the heavenly and immortal mysteries. Do not be idle by day or by night; but when sleep falls from your eyes, then let your mind be free for prayer. If you see a shameful thought rising in your mind, take up the thought of judgment as a reminder of salvation. Give your mind to learning, so that it may forget evil things. If you find someone saying to you, ‘Are you really going to go down into the water? Has the city no baths these days?’, know that the dragon of the sea is contriving this against you. Do not attend to the lips of the speaker, but to God who is at work. Guard your own soul, so that you may not be caught, so that by remaining in hope you may become an heir of eternal salvation.

We, as men, give these charges and teach these things; but do not make our building hay and stubble and chaff, lest the work be burned up and we suffer loss; rather make the work gold and silver and precious stones. For it is mine to speak, yours to give heed, and God’s to bring to perfection. Let us brace our minds, stretch our souls, and prepare our hearts. We are running for our soul; we hope for eternal things. And may God, who knows your hearts and recognizes who is sincere and who is a hypocrite, be able to guard the sincere and to make the hypocrite faithful; for God is able to make even the unbeliever faithful, if only he gives his heart. May he blot out the bond that stands against you, and grant you forgetfulness of your former transgressions; may he plant you in the church and enlist you as his soldiers, clothing you with the armor of righteousness; may he fill you with the heavenly things of the New Covenant, and give you the seal of the Holy Spirit, indelible for ever, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

[Lecture 1. To those being enlightened, delivered extempore at Jerusalem as an introduction; reading from Isaiah: “Wash yourselves, become clean … from before my eyes,” and what follows.] Disciples of the New Covenant and partakers of the mysteries of Christ, now by your calling and in a little while also by grace, make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit, so that there may be gladness among those in heaven. For if there is joy over one sinner who repents, according to the Gospel, how much more will the salvation of so many souls move those in heaven to gladness? Having set out on a good and most beautiful road, run the race of godliness with reverence. For the only-begotten Son of God is present, most ready for your redemption, saying: ‘Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ You who are clothed with the harshness of your offenses and bound fast with the cords of your own sins, hear the voice of the prophet saying: ‘Wash yourselves, become clean; put away the evils from your souls before my eyes’; so that the choir of angels may cry out over you: ‘Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.’ You who have just lit the torches of faith, keep them unquenched in your hands, so that he who once, on this all-holy Golgotha, opened paradise to the thief because of his faith may grant you to sing the bridal song.

If anyone here is a slave of sin, let him make himself ready through faith for the free new birth of adoption; and, putting off the most evil slavery of sins and taking on the most blessed slavery of the Lord, let him be counted worthy to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Put off, by confession, the old man, which is corrupted according to the desires of deceit, so that you may put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. Acquire through faith the pledge of the Holy Spirit, so that you may be received into the eternal dwellings. Come to the mystical seal, so that you may be easily recognized by the Master; be numbered among the holy and spiritual flock of Christ, to be set apart at his right hand and to inherit the life prepared for you. For those who are still clothed with the roughness of their sins are on the left, because they have not come to the grace of God given through Christ in the new birth of the washing. I mean not a new birth of bodies, but the spiritual new birth of the soul. For bodies are born through visible parents, but souls are born again through faith; for ‘the Spirit blows where it wills.’ And then, if you are found worthy, you may hear: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ when you are found with nothing unclean of hypocrisy in your conscience. [3] For if anyone here thinks to put grace to the test, he deceives himself and does not know its power. Keep your soul free from hypocrisy, O man, because of him who searches hearts and minds. For as those who are about to raise a levy examine the ages and bodies of the recruits, so the Lord, enlisting souls, examines their purposes; and if anyone has a hidden hypocrisy, he rejects the man as unfit for the true service; but if he finds him worthy, he gives him the grace readily. He does not give holy things to dogs; but where he sees a good conscience, there he gives the saving seal, the wonderful seal at which demons tremble and which angels recognize, so that the demons are driven off and flee, and the angels attend it as their own. Those, then, who receive this spiritual and saving seal need also a purpose of their own; for as a writing pen or a dart needs someone to wield it, so grace too needs those who believe.

You are receiving a weapon that is not perishable but spiritual. From now on you are planted in the spiritual paradise; you receive a new name, which you did not have before. Before this you were a catechumen; now you will be called one of the faithful. From now on you are transplanted among the spiritual olive trees, grafted from the wild olive into the cultivated olive, from sins into righteousness, from defilements into purity. You become a partaker of the holy vine. If you remain in the vine, you grow as a fruitful branch; but if you do not remain, you will be consumed by the fire. Let us, then, bear fruit worthily; God forbid that what happened to that barren fig tree should happen in us, lest Jesus come even now and curse us for our barrenness. But may all be able to say: ‘But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God; I have hoped in the mercy of God forever’: an olive tree not perceived by the senses but by the mind, full of light. His, then, is the planting and the watering, but yours the bearing of fruit; God’s is the giving of grace, yours the receiving and keeping of it. Do not despise grace because it is given freely; but when you have received it, keep it with reverence.

Now is the season for confession. Confess what you have done, in word and in deed, by night and by day. Confess in the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation receive the heavenly treasure. Give your time to the exorcisms; attend the instructions diligently, and remember what will be said. For it is said not only so that you may hear it, but so that you may seal what is said by faith. Wipe away every human care from yourself; for you are running for your soul. You are leaving the things of the world altogether; small are the things you leave behind, great the gifts of the Lord. Leave present things, and believe in the things to come. You have passed so many cycles of years busied in vain about the world; and will you not give forty days [to prayer] for your own soul? ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ says the Scripture. Excuse yourself from much idle talk; neither slander nor listen gladly to one who slanders, but rather be ready for prayer. Show the vigor of your heart in discipline. Cleanse your vessel, so that you may receive grace more abundantly. For the forgiveness of sins is given equally to all, but the communion of the Holy Spirit is granted in proportion to each one’s faith. If you labor little, you receive little; but if you work much, the reward is great. You are running for yourself; look to your own advantage.

If you have anything against anyone, forgive. You are coming to receive forgiveness of sins; you too must forgive the one who has sinned against you. Otherwise, with what face will you say to the Lord, ‘Forgive me my many sins,’ when you have not forgiven even the few sins of your fellow servant? Be diligent at the assemblies, not only now, when the clergy demand diligence of you, but also after you have received the grace. For if it is good before you receive it, is it not good also after it has been given? If before you are planted it is safe to be watered and tended, is it not much better after the planting? Contend for your own soul, especially in days like these. Nourish your soul with the readings; for the Lord has prepared a spiritual table for you; and say, you too, with the Psalmist: ‘The Lord shepherds me, and I shall lack nothing; in a place of green pasture, there he has made me dwell; beside the water of rest he has nurtured me; he has restored my soul’; so that the angels too may rejoice with you, and Christ himself, the great high priest, accepting your purpose, may present you all and say to the Father: ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given me.’ May he keep you all well-pleasing to him; to whom be glory and power for endless ages of ages. Amen.

Sin is a terrible thing, and transgression the most grievous disease of the soul: it cuts its sinews and becomes the cause of eternal fire. It is an evil of one’s own choosing, the offspring of the will. That we sin by our own choice the prophet says plainly somewhere: ‘I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true; how have you turned to bitterness, a strange vine?’ The planting was good, the fruit bad; the evil comes from choice; the planter is blameless, but the vine will be burned with fire, since it was planted for good but bore fruit for evil by its own choice. For God made man upright, according to the Preacher, and they sought out many devices. ‘For we are his workmanship, created for good works,’ says the Apostle. The Creator, being good, created for good works; but the creature turned to wickedness by its own choice. Sin, then, is a terrible evil, as has been said; but it is not incurable: terrible to one who holds on to it, but easily cured for one who puts it away by repentance. Suppose someone is holding fire in his hand: as long as he holds the coal, he is certainly burned; but if he puts the coal down, he drives away the burning along with it. If anyone thinks that he is not burned when he sins, Scripture says to him: ‘Will a man bind fire in his bosom and not burn his garments?’ For sin burns the sinews of the soul …

But someone will say: What, then, is sin? Is it a living creature? An angel? A demon? What is this thing that is at work? It is not an enemy fighting against you from outside, O man, but an evil shoot that grows from you. Look straight ahead with your eyes, and there is no lust. Keep what is yours and do not take what belongs to others, and robbery is laid to sleep. Remember the judgment, and neither sexual immorality, nor adultery, nor murder, nor any other transgression will have any strength with you. But when you forget God, then you begin to think evil thoughts and to commit lawless deeds.

For you are not the only author of the deed; there is also another, a most wicked prompter, the devil. He makes his suggestions to all, but he does not prevail over those who do not obey him. That is why the Preacher says: ‘If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place.’ Shut your door and put him far from you, and he will not harm you. But if you carelessly receive the thought of lust, it puts down roots in you through your thoughts, binds your mind, and drags you down into a pit of evils. But perhaps you say: ‘I am one of the faithful, and lust does not get the better of me, even if I think about it quite often.’ Do you not know that a root, if it stays, often splits even a rock? Do not receive the seed, since it will split your faith. Root it out before it flowers, lest, having been careless at first, you later have to seek axes and fire. When you begin to have trouble with your eyes, get treatment in good time, lest you go blind and only then look for the physician.

The devil, then, is the originator of sin and the father of evils; and this is the Lord’s saying, not mine: ‘The devil has been sinning from the beginning’; before him no one sinned. He sinned not because he had received from nature a propensity to sin (for then the blame for sin would go back again to the one who made him so); but, having been made good, he became a devil by his own choice, taking his name from his deed. For being an archangel, he was afterwards called devil from his slandering; and being a good servant of God, he has fittingly become Satan; for “Satan” is interpreted “the adversary.” These teachings are not mine but those of Ezekiel, the Spirit-bearing prophet. For he takes up a lament over him and says: ‘You were a seal of likeness and a crown of beauty; you were born in the paradise of God’; and a little later: ‘You were born blameless in your days, from the day you were created, until your iniquities were found in you.’ Very well said, “were found in you”; for they were not brought in from outside, but you yourself gave birth to the evil. And he states the cause next: ‘Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; because of the multitude of your sins you were wounded, and I cast you down to the earth.’ In agreement with this the Lord says again in the Gospels: ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ You see the harmony of the Old Testament with the New. Having fallen, he drew many away with him. He casts desires into those who obey him; from him come adultery, sexual immorality, and every evil. Because of him our forefather Adam was cast out, and instead of a paradise that bore marvelous fruits of itself he received the ground that bears thorns. [5] What then? someone will say. We have been deceived and are lost: is there no salvation left? We have fallen: is it not possible to rise? We have been blinded: can we not see again? We have become lame: can we not walk upright? In short, we have died: is it not possible to rise again? Will not he who raised Lazarus, four days dead and already stinking, O man, much more easily raise you who are alive? He who shed his precious blood for us will himself deliver us from sin. Let us not despair of ourselves, brothers; let us not abandon ourselves to a hopeless state. For it is a terrible thing not to believe in the hope of repentance. One who does not expect salvation piles up evils unsparingly; but one who hopes for healing is sparing of himself from then on. The robber who expects no pardon grows desperate; but if he hopes for pardon, he often comes to repentance. The snake puts off its old skin; shall we not put off sin? Thorny ground, well tilled, is changed into fruitful ground; is salvation impossible for us? Our nature, then, admits salvation; what is now required is the will. [6] God is loving toward humankind, and not a little. Do not say: ‘I have committed sexual immorality and adultery; I have done terrible things, and not once but often; will he forgive? Will he grant forgetfulness?’ Hear what the Psalmist says: ‘How great is the abundance of your goodness, O Lord!’ Your accumulated sins do not surpass the abundance of God’s mercies; your wounds do not surpass the great Physician’s skill. Only give yourself up with faith; tell the Physician your ailment; say, you too, with David: ‘I said, I will declare my iniquity against myself to the Lord’; and what is said next will happen to you as well: ‘and you forgave the ungodliness of my heart.’

Do you wish to see God’s love for humankind, you who have only lately come to the instruction? Do you wish to see God’s love for humankind and the greatness of his long-suffering? Hear about Adam. Adam, God’s first-formed, disobeyed; could God not have brought death upon him at once? But see what the most loving Lord does. He casts him out of paradise (for because of his sin he was unworthy to live there), but settles him opposite paradise, so that, seeing whence he had fallen and from what to what he had been brought down, he might thereafter be saved by repentance. Cain, the first man born, became a fratricide, the inventor of evils, the originator of murders, and the first to be envious; but when he had killed his brother, what was his sentence? ‘Groaning and trembling you shall be on the earth.’ Great was the sin, small the sentence. [8] This too was truly God’s love for humankind, but still small compared with what follows. Consider what happened in Noah’s time. The giants sinned, and much lawlessness was then poured out over the earth, and because of it the flood was to come. In the five-hundredth year God uttered the threat, and in the six-hundredth he brought the flood upon the earth. Do you see the breadth of God’s love, extending over a hundred years? Could he not have done at once what he did then after a hundred years? But he deliberately prolonged the time, granting a respite for repentance. Do you see God’s goodness? If the people of that time had repented, they would not have failed to obtain God’s love. [9] Come now to the others who were saved by repentance. But perhaps someone, even among the women, will say: ‘I committed sexual immorality and adultery; I defiled my body with every kind of licentiousness; is there salvation?’ Look, woman, to Rahab, and you too expect salvation. For if she who had practiced prostitution openly and publicly was saved through repentance, will not she who once committed sexual sin before receiving grace be saved through repentance and fasting? Ask how Rahab was saved. She said only this: ‘For your God is God in heaven and on earth.’ “Your God”: she did not dare to say “my God,” because of her licentiousness. And if you wish to have written testimony that she was saved, you have it recorded in the Psalms: ‘I will remember Rahab and Babylon among those who know me.’ O the greatness of God’s love, which makes mention even of prostitutes in the Scriptures! Yet not simply “I will remember Rahab and Babylon,” but with the addition, “among those who know me.” So there is salvation for men, and likewise for women, obtained through repentance. [10] And even if a whole people sins, it does not overcome God’s love. The people made the calf, yet God did not desist from his love; men denied God, but God did not deny himself. ‘These are your gods, O Israel,’ they said; and yet again, as was his way, the God of Israel became their savior. And not only did the people sin, but Aaron the high priest as well. Moses says: ‘And against Aaron the anger of the Lord came; and I prayed for him,’ he says, ‘and God forgave him.’ If, then, Moses, praying for a high priest who sinned, prevailed upon the Lord, will not Jesus, the only-begotten, praying for us, prevail upon God? And if God did not, because of his fall, prevent Aaron from entering upon the high priesthood, will he prevent you, who come from the nations, from entering into salvation? Repent, then, O man, you too likewise, and grace is not withheld from you. Make your way of life blameless from now on; for God is truly loving to humankind, and the whole human race cannot tell his love worthily; not even if all human tongues came together could they so much as tell any part of God’s love. For we tell some part of what is written of his love for human beings; but we do not know how much he has forgiven the angels too; for he forgives them too, since only one is without sin, Jesus, who cleanses our sins. And about them, enough.

If you wish, I will set before you other examples for us. Come to the blessed David, and take him as a pattern of repentance. The great man fell. After his rest, in the afternoon, walking on the roof, he looked carelessly and suffered something human. The sin was committed, but his honesty in confessing the fall did not die with it. Nathan the prophet came, a swift accuser and a healer of the wound. ‘The Lord is angry,’ he says, ‘and you have sinned.’ A private man said this to the reigning king; and the king, clothed in purple, was not indignant; for he did not attend to the speaker but to the one who sent him. The band of soldiers standing around did not blind him; for he thought of the angelic army of the Lord, and was in anguish as one who sees him who is invisible; and he answered the one who had come, or rather through him the one who had sent him: ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Do you see the king’s humility? Do you see his confession? Had he been convicted by anyone? Did many know of the deed? It was done quickly, and the prophet was at once present as accuser, and the offender confesses the evil; and because he confessed honestly, he had a very swift cure. For the prophet Nathan, who had threatened, says at once: ‘And the Lord has put away your sin.’ Do you see how swiftly the loving God changed? Yet he says: ‘You have greatly provoked the enemies of the Lord.’ You had many enemies because of your righteousness, but your self-control guarded you; but having given up your greatest weapon, you have your enemies standing ready, risen up against you. So the prophet comforted him.

Blessed David, though he had heard above all that ‘the Lord has put away your sin,’ did not, king though he was, give up his repentance; but he put on sackcloth instead of purple, and instead of gold-studded thrones the king sat on ashes and earth. And he not only sat on ashes but also had ashes for his food, as he himself says: ‘For I have eaten ashes like bread.’ He wasted away with tears the eye that had lusted, saying: ‘Every night I will wash my bed; with my tears I will water my couch.’ When his nobles urged him to eat bread, he would not consent. He prolonged his fast to the seventh full day. If a king made confession in this way, ought not you, a private person, to confess? And after Absalom’s rebellion, though there were many roads by which he could flee, he chose to flee by the Mount of Olives, as though in his mind calling upon the Redeemer who would ascend from there into heaven. And when Shimei cursed him bitterly, he says: ‘Let him alone’; for he knew that the one who forgives will be forgiven.

You see that it is good to confess; you see that there is salvation for those who repent. Solomon too fell; but what does he say? ‘Afterwards I repented.’ And Ahab, the king of Samaria, became a most lawless idolater, an outrageous man, the murderer of prophets, a stranger to godliness, a coveter of other men’s fields and vineyards; yet when he had killed Naboth through Jezebel, and Elijah the prophet came and merely threatened him, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth. And what does the loving God say to Elijah? ‘Have you seen how Ahab is pierced to the heart before me?’, all but persuading the fiery prophet to condescend to the penitent. ‘For I will not bring the evil in his days,’ he says. And though Ahab was not going to depart from his wickedness after the pardon, the forgiving God forgives him, not as ignorant of the future, but granting a pardon suited to the present season of repentance. For it belongs to a just judge to answer appropriately to each thing that has happened. [14] Again, Jeroboam stood at the altar sacrificing to the idols; his hand withered, because he commanded that the prophet who rebuked him be seized; but learning by experience the power of the man before him, he says: ‘Entreat the face of the Lord your God’; and because of this word his hand was restored again. If the prophet healed Jeroboam, cannot Christ heal you and set you free from your sins? Manasseh too was most lawless: he sawed Isaiah asunder, was defiled with every kind of idolatry, and filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; but when he was led captive to Babylon, he used his experience of misfortune as a healing course of repentance; for the Scripture says that ‘Manasseh humbled himself before the Lord, and prayed, and the Lord heard him and brought him back to his kingdom.’ If the one who sawed the prophet asunder was saved through repentance, will not you, who have done nothing so great, be saved? [15] Take care not to distrust the power of repentance without reason. Do you wish to know how strong repentance is? Do you wish to know the mighty weapon of salvation, and to learn how strong confession is? Hezekiah through confession routed a hundred and eighty-five thousand enemies. This was truly great, but still small compared with what is still to be told: the same king through repentance had a divine sentence that had already gone forth recalled. For when he fell ill, Isaiah said to him: ‘Set your house in order; for you shall die and not live.’ What expectation remained, what hope of recovery, when the prophet said, ‘for you shall die’? But Hezekiah did not give up repentance; remembering what is written, ‘When you turn and groan, then you will be saved,’ he turned to the wall, and lifting his mind from his bed to heaven (for the thickness of walls does not hinder prayers sent up with devotion), he says: ‘Lord, remember me; for it is enough for my healing that you remember me. You are not subject to times, but are yourself the lawgiver of life. For we do not live by nativity and the conjunction of stars, as some idly say; but you yourself are lawgiver both of living and of how long one is to live, as you will.’ And he whose life was without hope because of the prophet’s sentence had fifteen years added to it, the sun running backward on its course as the sign. Then, for Hezekiah’s sake the sun turned back, but for Christ’s sake the sun failed, not retracing its course but failing, and so showing the difference between the two, I mean Hezekiah and Jesus. If Hezekiah was able to annul God’s sentence, will not Jesus grant forgiveness of sins? Turn and lament for yourself; shut your door and pray to be forgiven, that he may take away the burning flames from you. For confession has power to quench even fire, power to tame even lions.

But if you disbelieve, consider what happened to Hananiah and his companions. What streams did they pour out? How many measures of water could have quenched the flame that rose forty-nine cubits high? But where the flame was poured out a little too high, there faith was poured out like a river, and there they spoke the remedy against evils: ‘You are just, O Lord, in all that you have done to us; for we have sinned and transgressed.’ And their repentance dissolved the flames. If you disbelieve that repentance can quench the fire of Gehenna, learn it from what happened to Hananiah and his companions. But some keen listener will say: ‘God rescued those men justly then; because they would not commit idolatry, God gave them the power.’ Since this objection has come up, I turn now to another example of repentance.

What do you think of Nebuchadnezzar? Have you not heard from the Scriptures that he was bloodthirsty, savage, with the temper of a lion? Have you not heard that he brought the bones of the kings out of their tombs into the light? Have you not heard that he took the people captive? Have you not heard that he put out the eyes of the king, after the king had first seen his children slaughtered? Have you not heard that he broke the cherubim in pieces? I do not mean the spiritual beings (do not suppose this, O man), but the carved figures, and the mercy seat, from between which God used to speak. He trampled underfoot the veil of the sanctuary; he took the altar of incense and carried it off to an idol-temple; he took away all the offerings; he burned the temple from its foundations. How many punishments did he deserve, for killing kings, for setting fire to the holy things, for taking the people captive, for setting the sacred vessels in the house of idols? Did he not deserve ten thousand deaths?

You have seen the magnitude of his evils; come now to God’s love for humankind. He was turned into a beast; he lived in the desert; he was scourged so that he might be saved. He had claws like a lion, for he was a robber of the holy things. He had hair like a lion’s, for he was a lion, snatching and roaring. He ate grass like an ox, for he was a beast, not knowing the one who had given him the kingdom. His body was wet with the dew, because, though he had seen the fire quenched by the dew, he did not believe. And what happens? ‘After this,’ he says, ‘I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified him who lives forever.’ When, then, he recognized the Most High and sent up words of thanksgiving to God, and came to regret what he had done, and recognized his own weakness, then God gave him back the honor of the kingdom.

What then? To Nebuchadnezzar, after doing such things and confessing, God gave pardon and the kingdom; and when you repent, will he not give you forgiveness of sins and the kingdom of heaven, if you live worthily? The Lord loves humankind, is swift to pardon and slow to punish. Let no one, then, despair of his own salvation. Peter, the chief and foremost of the apostles, denied the Lord three times before a little servant girl; but he repented and wept bitterly. Weeping shows the repentance of the heart; and therefore he not only received forgiveness for his denial, but also kept his apostolic dignity unforfeited.

Having, then, brothers, many examples of those who sinned and repented and were saved, you too must confess eagerly to the Lord, so that you may receive pardon for your former sins and be counted worthy of the heavenly gift …

… and inherit the heavenly kingdom with all the saints, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Heed, then, O children of righteousness, John when he exhorts and says: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ Remove all obstacles and stumbling blocks, so that you may walk straight on to eternal life. Make ready the vessels of the soul, clean through unfeigned faith, to receive the Holy Spirit. Begin to wash your robes through repentance, so that when you are called to the bridal chamber you may be found clean. For the Bridegroom calls all without distinction, since his grace is generous, and the cry of loud-voiced heralds gathers everyone; but afterwards the same Bridegroom sorts out those who have come in to the figurative wedding. May none of those whose names have now been enrolled hear: ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ But may you all hear: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord.’ For now, meanwhile, you stand outside the door; but may you all say: ‘The King has brought me into his chamber. Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness; he has put a turban on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornaments as a bride.’ So may the soul of every one of you be found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. I do not mean before you receive the grace (for how could that be, when you were called for the forgiveness of sins?), but that when the grace is given, your conscience may be found blameless and may run together with the grace.

This is truly a great matter, brothers, and you must approach it with attention. Each of you is about to be presented to God before tens of thousands of hosts of angels; the Holy Spirit is about to seal your souls; you are about to be enlisted in the army of the great King. So make yourselves ready and prepare yourselves, putting on, not the brightest robes of clothing, but the devotion of a soul with a good conscience. Do not regard the washing as plain water, but rather regard the spiritual grace given with the water. For just as the things offered on the altars, plain in their nature, become defiled by the invocation of the idols, so conversely

the plain water, having received the invocation of the Holy Spirit, and of Christ, and of the Father, acquires a power of holiness.

For since a human being is twofold, composed of soul and body, the purification too is twofold: the incorporeal for the incorporeal, and the bodily for the body. The water cleanses the body, and the Spirit seals the soul, so that, having our hearts sprinkled by the Spirit and our bodies washed with pure water, we may draw near to God. When you are about to go down into the water, then, do not attend to the bare water, but look for salvation by the working of the Holy Spirit; for without both it is impossible for you to be made perfect. It is not I who say this, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who has authority over the matter; for he says: ‘Unless someone is born from above,’ and he adds, ‘of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ Neither does one who is baptized with water but not counted worthy of the Spirit have the grace in full; nor, even if someone is virtuous in his deeds but does not receive the seal through water, will he enter the kingdom of heaven. The saying is bold, but it is not mine; for it is Jesus who declared it. Take the proof of the words from divine Scripture. Cornelius was a just man, counted worthy of a vision of angels, who had set up his prayers and almsgiving as a good memorial in heaven before God. Peter came, and the Spirit was poured out on those who believed, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied; and after the grace of the Spirit the Scripture says that Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that, the soul having been born again through faith, the body too might share in the grace through the water.

If anyone wants to know why the grace is given through water and not through some other of the elements, he will find it by taking up the divine Scriptures. For water is a great thing, and the fairest of the four visible elements of the world. Heaven is the dwelling of angels, but the heavens are from the waters; the earth is the place of human beings, but the earth is from the waters; and before the whole construction of the things made in the six days, the Spirit of God was borne above the water. The beginning of the world was water, and the beginning of the Gospels was the Jordan. For Israel, freedom from Pharaoh came through the sea; and for the world, freedom from sins through the washing of water by the word of God. Where there is a covenant with anyone, there is water too. After the flood a covenant was made with Noah; a covenant was made with Israel from Mount Sinai, but with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop. Elijah is taken up, but not without water; for first he crosses the Jordan, then he drives through heaven in a chariot. First the high priest washes, then he offers incense; for Aaron first washed, then became high priest; for how could one who had not yet been cleansed through water pray for others? And as a symbol of baptism a laver was set within the tabernacle.

[…] the end, and the beginning of the New Testament, is baptism. For its leader was John, than whom none among those born of women is greater. He was the end of the prophets: ‘For all the prophets and the law were until John’; and the beginning of the gospel events: for ‘The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,’ it says, and what follows: ‘John came baptizing in the wilderness.’ You may name Elijah the Tishbite, who was taken up, but he is not greater than John; Enoch was translated, but he is not greater than John; Moses was the greatest lawgiver, and all the prophets are admirable, but they are not greater than John. It is not I who dare to compare prophets with prophets; it is their Master and ours, the Lord Jesus, who declared: ‘Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John’; not ‘among those born of virgins,’ but ‘of women.’ The comparison is between the great servant and his fellow servants; but the Son’s preeminence and grace are beyond comparison with household servants. Do you see what kind of man God chose as the leader of this grace? One who owned nothing and loved the desert, yet no hater of people; who ate locusts and gave his soul wings; who was filled with honey and spoke things both sweeter and more profitable than honey; who was clothed in a garment of camel’s hair and showed in himself the pattern of the ascetic life; who was sanctified by the Holy Spirit while still carried in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah was sanctified, but did not prophesy in the womb; John alone, while carried in the womb, leapt for joy, and though he did not see with eyes of flesh, recognized the Master by the Spirit. For since the grace of baptism was great, it also needed a great founder. [7] This man was baptizing in the Jordan, and all Jerusalem went out to him, enjoying the firstfruits of baptisms; for the prerogative of all good things is in Jerusalem. But learn, people of Jerusalem, how those who went out were baptized by him: ‘Confessing,’ it says, ‘their sins.’ First they showed their wounds; then he applied the remedies, and to those who believed he gave redemption from eternal fire. And if you want to be convinced of this very point, that John’s baptism is redemption from the threat of fire, hear him say: ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’ Do not then be a viper any longer; but since you were once a viper’s brood, strip off, he says, the slough of your former sinful life. For every snake creeps into a narrow place and lays aside its old age, and having stripped off its oldness by the squeezing, is young again in body. So you too, he says, enter through the narrow and constricted gate; squeeze yourself by fasting, force out what is destroying you. ‘Put off the old man with his deeds,’ and say that word in the Song: ‘I have taken off my tunic; how shall I put it on?’ But perhaps there is among you some hypocrite, a man-pleaser, who pretends to piety but does not believe from the heart, having the hypocrisy of Simon the magician, who has come not to share in the grace but to pry into what is given. Let him too hear from John: ‘Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’ The Judge is not to be swayed; put away your hypocrisy.

What then must one do? And what are the fruits of repentance? ‘Let him who has two tunics share with him who has none’ (the teacher was worthy of trust, since he was the first to carry out what he taught; he was not ashamed to speak, for his conscience did not hold back his tongue), ‘and let him who has food do likewise.’ Do you wish to enjoy the grace of the Holy Spirit, and do you not count the poor worthy of bodily food? Do you seek great things, and not share small ones? Even if you are a tax collector or sexually immoral, hope for salvation: ‘The tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.’ Paul too is witness, saying: ‘Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters,’ nor the rest, ‘will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified.’ He did not say, ‘Some of you are,’ but ‘Such were some of you.’ Sin committed in ignorance is pardoned, but persistent wickedness is condemned.

You have, as the glory of baptism, the only-begotten Son of God himself. For why should I go on speaking of a man? John was great, but what is he compared with the Lord? His voice was loud, but what is it compared with the Word? The herald was most excellent, but what is he compared with the King? Good is he who baptizes in water, but what is he compared with the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit and fire? The Savior baptized the apostles in the Holy Spirit and fire when ‘suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a violent wind rushing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, dividing; and it sat upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.’ [10] If anyone does not receive baptism, he does not have salvation, except only the martyrs, who receive the kingdom even without the water. For the Savior, redeeming the world through the cross, when his side was pierced, brought out blood and water, so that some, in times of peace, might be baptized in water, and others, in times of persecution, might be baptized in their own blood. For the Savior knows how to call martyrdom a baptism, saying:

‘Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?’ And the martyrs confess, having become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people; and you too will confess before long. But it is not yet the time for you to hear about these things.

Jesus sanctified baptism by being baptized himself. If the Son of God was baptized, what pious person despises baptism? He was baptized, not to receive forgiveness of sins (for he was sinless); but being sinless he was baptized, so as to give divine grace and dignity to those who are baptized. For just as, since the children share in blood and flesh, he too likewise shared in the same, so that, having become sharers in his presence in the flesh, we might also become sharers in his divine grace, so Jesus was baptized, so that through this again, by sharing, we might receive dignity along with salvation. According to Job, the dragon was in the waters, the one who takes the Jordan into his mouth. Since, then, the heads of the dragon had to be crushed, he went down into the waters and bound the strong one, so that we might receive authority to tread on snakes and scorpions. The beast was not small, but fearsome: ‘No fishing ship could carry one hide of his tail’; destruction ran before him, ravaging all who met him. Life ran to meet him, so that death might henceforth be muzzled, and all of us who are saved might say: ‘Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory?’ Through baptism the sting of death is undone.

For you go down into the water bearing your sins; but the invocation of grace, having sealed your soul, no longer allows you to be swallowed by the fearsome dragon. Having gone down dead in sins, you come up made alive in righteousness. For if you have been united with the likeness of the Savior’s death, you will also be counted worthy of the resurrection. For just as Jesus, taking on himself the sins of the world, died, so that by putting sin to death he might raise you up in righteousness, so you too, going down into the water and in a way buried in the waters, as he was in the rock, rise again walking in newness of life.

Then, when you have been counted worthy of the grace, he gives you power to wrestle against the opposing powers. For just as he was tempted for forty days after his baptism (not because he could not have conquered before this, but because he wished to do all things in order and sequence), so you too, who did not dare to wrestle with the adversaries before baptism, having received the grace and henceforth confident in the armor of righteousness, must then contend, and preach the gospel if you wish. [14] Jesus Christ was the Son of God; yet he did not preach the gospel before his baptism. If the Master himself kept to the proper time in order, should we servants venture out of order? ‘From that time Jesus began to preach,’ when the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove; not so that Jesus might see it first (for he knew him even before he came in bodily form), but so that John, who was baptizing, might behold it. For ‘I did not know him,’ he says, ‘but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me: He on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, he is the one.’ If you too have unfeigned piety, the Holy Spirit comes down on you as well, and a Father’s voice sounds over you from above, not ‘This is my Son,’ but ‘This one has now become my son.’ For the ‘is’ belongs to him alone, since ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’; to him belongs the ‘is,’ since he is always Son of God. But to you belongs the ‘has now become,’ since you do not have sonship by nature but receive it by adoption. He is eternally; you receive the grace by advancement.

So make ready the vessel of your soul, so that you may become a son of God, an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ; if, that is, you are preparing yourself in order to receive; if you are coming in faith in order to be made faithful; if by your own choice you are putting off the old man. For everything you have done will be forgiven, whether sexual immorality, or adultery, or any other such form of licentiousness. What is greater than crucifying Christ? Yet even of this baptism is a cleansing. For so Peter spoke to the three thousand who came to him, those who had crucified the Lord, when they asked and said: ‘What shall we do, brothers?’ For the wound is great. ‘You have confronted us with our fall, O Peter, by saying, You killed the Author of life. What plaster is there for so great a wound? What cleansing for so great a stain? What salvation for such ruin?’ ‘Repent,’ he says, ‘and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ O the indescribable love of God for humankind! … they do not hope to be saved, and yet they are counted worthy of the Holy Spirit. You see the power of baptism. If any of you has crucified Christ by blasphemous words; if any of you has denied him before people through ignorance; if anyone through wicked deeds has caused the teaching to be blasphemed, let him repent and be of good hope; for the same grace is present now too.

Take courage, Jerusalem; the Lord will take away all your iniquities. The Lord will wash away the filth of his sons and daughters by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. He will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be cleansed … angels … and they will say: ‘Who is this who comes up made white, leaning on her beloved?’ For the soul that was formerly a slave has now taken the Master himself as her kinsman; and he, accepting her unfeigned purpose, will exclaim: ‘Behold, you are fair, my love; behold, you are fair; your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep,’ because of the confession of a good conscience; and what follows: ‘all of them bearing twins,’ because of the twofold grace: I mean the grace perfected by water and Spirit, or that proclaimed by the Old and New Testaments. And may all of you, having finished the course of the fast, remembering what has been said, bearing fruit in good works, and standing blameless before the spiritual Bridegroom, obtain the forgiveness of sins from God; to whom be glory with the Son and the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen.

… those who live a … life, with the darkness of blindness, and to wrap them in a pestilent state of unbelief. Many wolves go about in sheep’s clothing, having the clothing of sheep, but not their claws and teeth; rather, wrapped in the gentle skin and deceiving the innocent by their appearance, they pour from their teeth the destructive venom of ungodliness. We need, therefore, divine grace, a sober mind, and seeing eyes, so that we may not eat tares as wheat and be harmed by ignorance, nor take the wolf for a sheep and be hunted down, nor suppose the destroying devil to be a beneficent angel and be swallowed up. For ‘he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,’ as the Scripture says. This is why the Church admonishes, why these present instructions are given, and why the readings take place.

For the way of godliness consists of these two things: pious doctrines and good deeds. Neither are doctrines without good works acceptable to God, nor does God accept works that are not done with pious doctrines. For what profit is it to know the doctrines about God well and to commit sexual immorality shamefully? Or again, what profit is it to be nobly self-controlled and to blaspheme impiously? A most precious possession, then, is the learning of doctrines; and a sober soul is needed, since there are many who make prey of you through philosophy and empty deceit. The Greeks drag people away by their eloquence, ‘for honey drips from the lips of a prostitute’; those of the circumcision deceive those who come to them by means of the divine Scriptures, which they badly misinterpret, studying them from childhood to old age and growing old in ignorance; and the children of heretics deceive the hearts of the innocent by fair words and eloquence, covering with the name of Christ, as with honey, the poisoned darts of their impious doctrines. About all of them together the Lord says: ‘Take care that no one leads you astray.’ This is why the teaching of the faith is given, and expositions of it. [3] Before handing over the Creed, it seems good to me to make now a brief summary of the necessary doctrines, so that the great amount of what is to be said, and the long interval of the days of the whole holy Forty Days, may not cause forgetfulness in the simpler minds among you; but that, having now sown them in summary, we may not forget them when they are cultivated more broadly later. Let those present who are more mature in habit, and whose senses are already trained to distinguish good and evil, bear patiently with things suited rather to children, and with this milk-like introduction; so that at the same time those who need instruction may be helped, and those who have knowledge may rekindle the memory of what they already know. [4] … For how can a person be the slave of two masters, when the Lord says in the Gospels, ‘No one can serve two masters’? There is, then, one only God, the maker of both souls and bodies; one is the creator of heaven and earth, the maker of angels and archangels; creator of many, but Father before the ages of one alone, of one only, his only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom he made all things, visible and invisible.

This Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not circumscribed in any place, nor is he smaller than heaven; but the heavens are the works of his fingers, and the whole earth is held in his hand. He is in all things and outside all things. Do not think that the sun is brighter than he, or equal to him; for he who first made the sun must be incomparably greater and brighter. He foreknows what is to come and is mightier than all; he knows all things and does as he wills; he is not subject to sequences of events, nor to birth, nor to chance, nor to fate; perfect in all things, and possessing every form of virtue equally; neither diminishing nor increasing, but always the same and in the same way; he has prepared punishment for sinners and a crown for the righteous.

Since, then, many have wandered from the one God in various ways (some deified the sun, so that when the sun sets they remain without God during the night; others the moon, so that they may have no God by day; others the other parts of the world; others the arts; others foods; others pleasures; and some, mad for women, set up on a high place the image of a naked woman and called it Aphrodite, worshiping their passion in visible form; others, struck by the brightness of gold, deified it and the other materials), if anyone first lays down in his heart the doctrine of the sole rule of God and is persuaded of it, he cuts off at once the whole flood of the evils of idolatry and of the error of the heretics. So lay this down first in your soul as the first doctrine of godliness, through faith. [Of Christ] [7] Believe also in the Son of God, the one and only, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was begotten God, begotten Life from Life, begotten Light from Light, like in all things to him who begot him; who did not acquire his being in time, but was begotten from the Father before all ages, eternally and incomprehensibly; the Wisdom of God and the Power, and the Righteousness subsisting in its own right; who sits at the right hand of the Father before all ages. For it was not, as some have supposed, that after his passion he was crowned, as it were, by God and received the throne at the right hand because of his endurance; but from the time he is (and he is, being begotten forever), he has the royal dignity, sitting together with the Father, being God and Wisdom and Power, as has been said; reigning together with the Father, and creator of all things for the Father, yet lacking nothing in the dignity of the Godhead, and knowing him who begot him as he is known by him who begot him. And to put it briefly, remember what is written in the Gospels, that ‘No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son.’

And neither estrange the Son from the Father, nor, by making a confusion, believe in a Son-Fatherhood; but believe that of the one God there is one only-begotten Son, God the Word before all ages; a Word not spoken and poured out into the air, nor likened to words without substance, but the Word, the Son, maker of rational beings, the Word who hears the Father and himself speaks. About these things, if God grants, we will speak more broadly in due time; for we do not forget our purpose, that we are now making a summary introduction to the faith. [Of the birth from the Virgin]

Believe that this only-begotten Son of God came down from heaven to earth because of our sins, taking up this humanity of like passions with us, and being born of the holy Virgin and the Holy Spirit; his becoming human took place not in seeming and appearance, but in truth; nor did he pass through the Virgin as through a channel, but truly took flesh from her, [and was truly nursed with milk by her,] and truly ate as we do, and truly drank as we do. For if the incarnation was a phantom, salvation too is a phantom. Christ was twofold: man in what was seen, God in what was not seen; eating truly as a man, as we do (for he had flesh of like passions with ours), but feeding the five thousand from five loaves as God; dying truly as a man, but raising the man four days dead as God; sleeping in the boat truly as a man, and walking on the waters as God. [Of the cross]

He was truly crucified for our sins. For if you wish to deny it, this visible place refutes you, this blessed Golgotha, in which we are now gathered because of him who was crucified here; and the whole world has since been filled, piece by piece, with the wood of the cross. He was crucified, not for sins of his own, but so that we might be freed from our sins. And though he was despised by men at that time and struck as a man, he was recognized by creation as God; for the sun, seeing its Master dishonored, failed and trembled, not bearing the sight. [Of the burial]

He was truly laid in a tomb of rock as a man; but rocks were split for fear because of him. He went down into the regions beneath the earth, so that from there too he might redeem the righteous. For tell me, would you wish the living to enjoy the grace, and that though most of them are not holy, but those who had been shut in for so long, since Adam, not to obtain freedom? Isaiah the prophet proclaimed so many things about him with a loud voice; would you not wish the King to go down and redeem his herald? David was there, and Samuel, and all the prophets, and John himself, who said through those he sent, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’ Would you not wish him to go down and redeem such men? [Of the resurrection]

But he who went down into the regions below came up again, and Jesus, who was buried, truly rose again on the third day. And if ever the Jews mock you, meet them at once by asking this: Jonah came out of the whale on the third day; has Christ not then risen from the earth on the third day? A dead man who touched the bones of Elisha was raised; will not the maker of humankind much more easily be raised by the power of the Father? He truly rose, then, and having risen was seen again by the disciples; and twelve disciples were witnesses of his resurrection, who bore witness not in pleasing words, but contended for the truth of the resurrection even to torture and death.

‘At the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established,’ according to the Scripture; twelve bear witness to the resurrection of Christ, and do you still disbelieve the resurrection? [Of the ascension]

Having finished the course of his endurance and redeemed humankind from their sins, Jesus went up again into the heavens, a cloud taking him up; angels stood beside him as he went up, and apostles were watching. But if anyone disbelieves what is said, let him believe the very power of the things now seen. All kings, when they die, have their power extinguished together with their life; but Christ crucified is worshiped by the whole world. We proclaim the Crucified, and the demons tremble. Many have been crucified at various times; but the invocation of what other crucified man ever drove the demons away? [14] Let us not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; but even if another hides it, you, seal yourself openly on the forehead, so that the demons, seeing the royal sign, may flee far away trembling. Make this sign when you eat and drink, when you sit, when you lie down, when you get up, when you speak, when you walk; in a word, in every action. For he who was crucified here is in heaven above. If after being crucified and buried he had remained in the tomb, we might have been ashamed; but as it is, he who was crucified on this Golgotha has gone up into heaven from the Mount of Olives on the east. For having gone down into Hades and come up again to us, he went up again from us into heaven, the Father addressing him and saying: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.’ [Of the judgment to come]

This Jesus Christ who went up is coming again from heaven, not from the earth. I said ‘not from the earth’ because many antichrists are going to come from the earth. For already, as many have begun to say, ‘I am the Christ’; and the abomination of desolation is still to come, taking to himself the false name of Christ. But look for the true Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, coming no longer from the earth but from heaven, appearing to all more brightly than any lightning and brilliance of light, escorted by angels, to judge the living and the dead, and to reign with a heavenly, eternal, and endless kingdom. For make yourself secure on this point too, since there are many who say that Christ’s kingdom has an end. … [16] Believe also in the Holy Spirit, and hold the same view about him that you have received to hold about the Father and the Son, and not as those who teach blasphemous things about him. But learn that this Holy Spirit is one, indivisible, of many powers; working many things, but himself not divided; who knows the mysteries, who searches all things, even the depths of God; who came down on the Lord Jesus Christ in the form of a dove; who worked in the law and the prophets; who now too, at the time of baptism, seals your soul; of whose holiness every intellectual nature has need; against whom, if anyone dares to blaspheme, he has no forgiveness, either in this age or in the age to come; who is honored with the Father and the Son with the glory of the Godhead; of whom thrones and dominions, principalities and powers also have need. For there is one God, the Father of Christ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the only God; and one Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and deifies all, who spoke in the law and the prophets, in the Old and the New Testament.

Keep this seal always in your mind. For now it has been spoken to you in summary, touching lightly on the main points; but if the Lord grants, it will be set out as far as I am able with the proof from the Scriptures. For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the faith, not even the smallest thing should be handed on without the divine Scriptures, nor should one be carried away simply by plausibility and constructions of arguments. Do not simply believe even me, who tell you these things, unless you receive the proof of what is proclaimed from the divine Scriptures. For this salvation of our faith comes not from ingenious argument but from proof from the divine Scriptures. [Of the soul]

After the knowledge of this venerable, glorious, and all-holy faith, know yourself next, what you are: that a human being is twofold, composed of soul and body; and that, as was said a little earlier, the same God is creator both of the soul and of the body. Know also that you have a soul with free will, a … work of God, made after the image of its maker; immortal, because of God who makes it immortal; a rational living being, imperishable, because of him who granted these gifts; having power to do what it wills. For you do not sin because of your birth, nor commit sexual immorality by chance; nor, as some talk nonsense, do the conjunctions of the stars compel you to give yourself to licentiousness. Why do you avoid confessing your own evil deeds, and ascribe the blame to the guiltless stars? Pay no more attention to astrologers; for of them the divine Scripture says: ‘Let the astrologers of heaven stand up and save you,’ and what follows: ‘Behold, they shall all be burned up like stubble in the fire, and they shall not deliver their soul from the flame.’

Learn this too: that before it came into this world, the soul had committed no sin; but having come sinless, we now sin by choice. Do not listen to anyone who wrongly interprets the words, ‘But if I do what I do not want’; but remember him who says: ‘If you are willing and listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land; but if you are not willing and do not listen to me, the sword shall devour you,’ and so on; and again: ‘Just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.’ And remember the Scripture that says: ‘Since they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge’; and ‘What can be known of God is plain among them’; and ‘They have closed their eyes.’ And remember how God accuses again, saying: ‘I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true; how have you turned to bitterness, you foreign vine?’

The soul is immortal, and the souls of men and of women are alike; only the members of the body are distinct. There is not a class of souls that sin by nature and a class of souls that do right by nature; both act by choice, since the substance of souls is of one kind and alike in all. I know that I am saying much, and that the time is already long; but what is more precious than salvation? Will you not take the trouble to get provisions for the road against the heretics? Do you not want to know the turnings off the road, so that you are not carried over a cliff through ignorance? If your teachers count it no small gain that you learn these things, ought not you, the learner, gladly to receive the great amount of what is said? [21] The soul has free will; the devil can suggest, but he does not have the power to compel against the will. He sketches for you a thought of sexual immorality: if you wish, you have accepted it; if you do not wish, you have not accepted it. For if you committed sexual immorality by necessity, why did God prepare Gehenna? If you did right by nature and not by choice, why did God prepare indescribable crowns? The sheep is gentle, but it has never been crowned for its gentleness, since its gentleness belongs to it not by choice but by nature. [22] … the things about the soul, as far as is possible for now; receive also, as best you can, the teaching about the body. Do not put up with any of those who say that this body is foreign to God. For those who believe that the body is foreign to God, and that the soul dwells in it as in a foreign vessel, … of its construction? Ought they not to have observed the most brilliant structure of the eyes? and how the ears, set at the sides, receive hearing unhindered? and how the sense of smell distinguishes vapors and perceives exhalations? and how the tongue serves two things, the sense of taste and the activity of speech? how the lungs, lying in a hidden place, keep up an unceasing breathing of the air? Who put the unceasing beat in the heart? Who divided it into so many veins and arteries? Who bound the bones together with the sinews? Who assigned part of the food to our substance and set part apart for seemly excretion, and hid the uncomely members in more seemly places? Who, when human nature was going to die out, made it lasting through a simple union? [23] Do not tell me that the body is the cause of sin. For if the body is the cause of sin, why does a dead body not sin? Put a sword in the right hand of someone who has just died, and no murder is done. Let every kind of beauty pass before a young man who has just died, and no desire for sexual immorality arises. Why? Because the body does not sin of itself; the soul sins through the body. The body is an instrument, and, as it were, a garment and robe of the soul; if the soul hands it over to sexual immorality, it becomes unclean; but if it dwells with a holy soul, it becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is not I who say this; the apostle Paul has said it: ‘Do you not know that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?’ Spare the body, then, since it is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not defile your flesh with sexual immorality; do not stain this most beautiful robe of yours; and if you have stained it, wash it clean now through repentance; be washed while there is time.

Let the order of solitaries and virgins, who achieve the angelic life in the world, hear the teaching on chastity first [and after them the rest of the Church’s people]. Great is … laid up for you, brothers; do not exchange a great dignity for a small pleasure. Hear the apostle saying: ‘Let no one be sexually immoral or profane like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright.’ Having now been enrolled in the angelic books because of your purpose of chastity, see that you are not erased again because of the practice of sexual immorality. [25] Nor again, while you achieve chastity, be puffed up against those who have come down into marriage. For ‘marriage is honorable, and the marriage bed undefiled,’ as the apostle says. And you who keep purity, were you not born of those who married? Do not reject silver because you possess gold. But let those also be of good hope who, being married, use marriage lawfully; who make their marriage lawful, and not licentious through unbounded license;

who know the times of release, so that they may give themselves to prayer; who bring their bodies clean, together with their garments, into the Church at the assemblies; who have entered marriage for the sake of having children, and not for the sake of indulging in pleasure.

And let those who have married once not reject those who have been drawn into a second marriage. For continence is a noble and admirable thing; but it is also pardonable to enter a second marriage, so that the weak may not commit sexual immorality. ‘It is good for them if they remain as I am,’ says the apostle; ‘but if they do not exercise self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.’ But let everything else be banished far away: sexual immorality, adultery, and every form of licentiousness. Let the body be kept pure for the Lord, so that the Lord may also look upon the body. And let the body be nourished with food, so that it may live and serve without hindrance, not so that it may be given over to luxuries. [Of foods]

And concerning foods, let these be your doctrines, since many stumble over foods as well. Some treat things sacrificed to idols as indifferent;

others practice asceticism, but condemn those who eat;

and in different ways the souls of some are defiled in the matter of foods, through ignorance of the useful reasons both for eating and for not eating. For we fast, abstaining from wine and meat, not hating them as abominations, but looking for the reward; so that, having disregarded the things of sense, we may enjoy a spiritual and intellectual table; and so that, having now sown in tears, we may reap in joy in the age to come. Do not, then, despise those who eat, and who partake because of the weakness of their bodies; nor find fault with those who use a little wine for the stomach and their frequent illnesses; and neither condemn them as sinners, nor hate the meats as foreign. For the apostle knows some such people, saying: ‘forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful.’

… you would have no reward; but disregard them as being good, for the sake of the better spiritual things set before you.

Make your soul secure, so that you never eat any of the things offered to idols. For concerning these foods, not only I now, but already the apostles too, and James, the bishop of this Church, have taken pains; and the apostles and the elders write a catholic letter to all the Gentiles, to abstain first from things sacrificed to idols, and then also from blood and from what is strangled. For many people, being beastly and living like dogs, lap up blood, imitating the manner of the fiercest beasts, and devour strangled things without restraint. But you, the servant of Christ, when you eat, take care to eat with reverence. Enough about foods. [Of clothing]

Let your clothing be plain, not for adornment but for necessary covering; not so that you may be vain, but so that you may be warm in winter and may cover the unseemliness of the body; lest, under pretext of covering unseemliness, you fall into another unseemliness through extravagant robes. [Of the resurrection]

Spare this body, I beg you, and know that you will be raised from the dead, to be judged with this body. If some thought of unbelief creeps into you, as though the thing were impossible, judge the things not seen from what concerns yourself. For tell me yourself: consider where you were a hundred or more years ago, and from what a tiny and very mean substance you have come to such a size and such dignity of beauty. What then? Could not he who brought what was not into being raise up again what already exists and has fallen? He who raises year by year the wheat sown for our sake when it has died, will he have difficulty raising us ourselves, for whose sake the wheat was raised? You see how the trees now stand for so many months fruitless and leafless; but when winter has passed, they rise whole again as if from the dead. Shall we not much rather and more easily live again? The rod of Moses was changed by the will of God into the alien nature of a snake; and is a human being, who has fallen into death, not restored again to himself?

Pay no attention to those who say that this body is not raised; for it is raised. And Isaiah is witness, saying: ‘The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised’; and, according to Daniel, ‘Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall rise, some to eternal life, and some to eternal shame.’ To rise belongs to all people, but the resurrection is not alike for all; for we receive eternal bodies, but not all alike: the righteous, so that through the ages they may join the choirs of angels; but the sinners, so that they may endure for ages the torment of their sins. [Of the washing] [32] For this reason the Lord, anticipating us with his love for humankind, has given the repentance of the washing, so that we may cast off the greater part, or rather the whole burden, of our sins, and, receiving the seal by the Holy Spirit, may become heirs of eternal life. But since we spoke sufficiently about the washing the day before yesterday, let us now come to the remaining parts of the introductory teaching. [Of the divine Scriptures]

These things the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament teach us. For the God of the two Testaments is one, who in the Old foretold the Christ who appeared in the New, who through the law and the prophets led us as a tutor to Christ. For ‘before faith came, we were guarded under the law,’ and ‘the law has become our tutor to Christ.’ And if ever you hear one of the heretics blaspheming the law or the prophets, answer back with the saving voice, saying: ‘Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.’ And learn diligently, from the Church as well, which are the books of the Old Testament and which those of the New. And read none of the apocryphal writings; for if you do not know the books acknowledged by all, why do you wear yourself out in vain over the disputed ones? Read the divine Scriptures, these twenty-two books of the Old Testament, which were translated by the seventy-two translators. [34] For when Alexander, king of the Macedonians, had died, and his kingdom had been divided into four principalities, Babylonia and Macedonia, Asia and Egypt, one of those who reigned over Egypt, Ptolemy Philadelphus, a king most fond of learning, while gathering books from everywhere, heard from Demetrius of Phalerum, the keeper of his library, about the divine Scriptures of the law and the prophets. He judged it much better not to acquire the books by compulsion from unwilling owners, but rather to win over those who had them by gifts and friendship; and knowing that what is compelled is often falsified, being given against one’s will, while what is supplied by choice is given with all sincerity, he sent very many gifts to Eleazar, then high priest, for the temple here in Jerusalem, and had six men from each of the twelve tribes of Israel sent to him for the translation. Then, testing whether the books were divine or not, and taking care that those who had been sent should not agree among themselves, he assigned to each of the translators who had come a separate house on the island called Pharos, which lies off Alexandria, and committed to each the whole of the Scriptures to translate. When they had completed the task in seventy-two days, he brought together the translations of all of them, which they had made in different houses without communicating with one another, and found them in agreement not only in sense but even in wording. For what happened was not ingenious argument and a contrivance of human sophistries; but the translation of the divine Scriptures, spoken by the Holy Spirit, was accomplished by the Holy Spirit. [35] Read their twenty-two books, and have nothing in common with the apocrypha. Study earnestly these alone, which we also read … in church. Far wiser and more pious than you were the apostles and the ancient bishops, the leaders of the Church, who handed these down. You, then, being a child of the Church, do not falsify its statutes. Of the Old Testament, as has been said, study the twenty-two books; and if you are eager to learn, strive to remember them by name as I say them. Of the law, the first five books are those of Moses: Genesis,

Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Next, Joshua son of Nun; and the book of Judges, together with Ruth, counted as the seventh. Of the remaining historical books, the first and second of Kingdoms are one book among the Hebrews, and the third and fourth are also one. Likewise among them the first and second of Chronicles are one book; and the first and second of Ezra are counted as one; Esther is the twelfth book. These are the historical books. The books written in verse are five: Job, the book of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, the seventeenth book. After these come the five prophetic books: one book of the Twelve Prophets, one of Isaiah, one of Jeremiah together with Baruch, Lamentations, and the Letter; then Ezekiel; and Daniel, the twenty-second book of the Old Testament.

Of the New Testament, the four Gospels only; the rest are falsely titled and harmful. The Manichaeans too wrote a Gospel according to Thomas, which, colored with the fragrance of the gospel name, corrupts the souls of the simpler. Receive also the Acts of the Twelve Apostles; and besides these the seven catholic letters, of James, Peter, John, and Jude; and as the seal of them all, and the last work of disciples, the fourteen letters of Paul. All the rest are to be set outside, in the second rank. And whatever is not read in the churches, do not read even by yourself, as you have heard. So much about these things.

Flee every work of the devil, and do not obey the apostate dragon, whose change from a good substance was his own free choice; he can persuade the willing, but can compel no one. Pay no attention to astrology, or augury from birds, or omens, nor to the fabulous divinations of the Greeks. Sorcery, incantation, and the most lawless practices of necromancy, do not admit even as far as your hearing. Stand away from every form of licentiousness, neither gluttonous nor a lover of pleasure, and rise above all love of money and lending at interest. Do not expose yourself to pagan gatherings for spectacles, and never use amulets in sicknesses; turn away also from all the vulgarity of haunting taverns. And do not fall away into Samaritanism or Judaism; for Jesus Christ has redeemed you henceforth. Stand away from every observance of Sabbaths, and from calling any of the indifferent foods common or unclean. Above all, hate all the assemblies of the lawless heretics; and in every way make your soul secure with fasts, prayers, almsgiving, and readings of the divine oracles; so that, having lived the rest of your time in the flesh with self-control and pious doctrines, you may enjoy the one salvation of the washing; and, thus enlisted in the heavenly armies by God the Father, you may be counted worthy of the heavenly crowns, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Here, then, it is required henceforth that each of you be found faithful in conscience. ‘For a faithful man is hard to find,’ it says; not so that you may show your conscience to me (for you are not to be examined by man’s day), but so that you may show the sincerity of your faith to God, who tests the kidneys and hearts and knows the thoughts of people. A faithful man is a great thing, richer than any rich man. For the whole world of riches belongs to the faithful man, in that he disdains and tramples on it. Those who are rich in appearance and possess much are poor in soul; for the more they gather, the more they waste away with desire for what is lacking. But the faithful man, most paradoxically, is rich in poverty; for knowing that one need only have covering and food, and being content with these, he has trampled on wealth.

And not only among us, who bear the name of Christ, is the dignity of faith great; but all that is accomplished in the world, even by those who are strangers to the Church, is accomplished by faith. By faith the laws of marriage join together those who were strangers; and because of the faith in marriage contracts, one who was a stranger becomes partner in a stranger’s body and possessions. By faith farming too is sustained; for one who does not believe that he will receive a harvest does not endure the labors. By faith seafarers, trusting a very thin plank, exchange the most solid element, the earth, for the unstable motion of the waves, committing themselves to uncertain hopes and carrying with them a faith more secure than any anchor. By faith, then, most human affairs hold together; and this is believed not only among us but also among those outside, as has been said. For even if they do not accept the Scriptures but put forward certain teachings of their own, they too receive those by faith. [4] Today’s reading also calls you to the true faith, setting before you the way in which you too must please God; for it says that ‘without faith it is impossible to please him.’ For when will a person resolve to serve God unless he believes that he is a rewarder? When will a girl remain a virgin, or a young man live chastely, unless they believe that there is an unfading crown of purity? Faith is an eye that enlightens every conscience and produces understanding; for the prophet says: ‘And if you do not believe, you will not understand.’ Faith stops the mouths of lions, as with Daniel; for the Scripture says of him: ‘Daniel was brought up out of the den, and no harm was found on him, because he believed in his God.’ Is there anything more terrible than the devil? Yet against him we have no other weapon than faith, an incorporeal shield against an unseen enemy. For he sends various arrows and shoots down, in the moonless dark, those who are not sober; but since the enemy is not seen, we have faith as strong armor, according to the apostle, who says: ‘In all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.’ Often a flaming arrow of desire for shameful pleasure is sent by the devil; but faith, sketching the judgment before the mind, cools the mind and quenches the arrow.

Much could be said about faith, and the whole time of the day would not be enough for us to tell it; but for now let Abraham alone, of the examples from the Old Testament, be enough for us, since we have become his sons through faith. He was justified not by works only, but also by faith. For he did many good deeds; but he was never called the friend of God except when he believed; and every work of his was accomplished by faith. Through faith he left his parents; through faith he left his homeland, his country, and his house. As he was justified, then, be justified too. He was by now dead in body as regards begetting children, for he was old, and he had Sarah his wife now old as well, and no hope of children remained. God promises children to the old man; and Abraham, not weakening in faith, though he considered his own body already as good as dead, looking not to the weakness of his body but to the power of the one who promised, and counting faithful him who had promised, wonderfully obtained the child, as if from bodies as good as dead. And afterwards, when commanded to offer his son (though he had heard, ‘In Isaac shall your seed be called’), he offered his son, the only-begotten, to God, believing that God is able to raise even from the dead; and having bound his son and laid him on the wood, he offered him in purpose, but by the goodness of God received him back alive, God giving him a lamb in place of the child. Being faithful in these things, he was sealed for righteousness, and received circumcision as a seal of the faith he had while uncircumcised, receiving the promise that he would be the father of many nations.

Let us see, then, how Abraham is the father of many nations. Of the Jews he is admittedly the father, by descent according to the flesh. But if we attend to descent according to the flesh, we shall be compelled to call the oracle false. For according to the flesh he is not the father of all of us; but the pattern of his faith makes all of us sons of Abraham. How, and in what way? It is incredible to people that anyone should rise from the dead, just as it is equally incredible that children should be born of old people as good as dead. But when Christ is proclaimed, crucified on the wood, having died and risen, we believe. By the likeness of faith, then, we come to adoption as sons of Abraham. And then, after faith, like him we receive the spiritual seal, being circumcised by the Holy Spirit through the washing, not in the foreskin of the body but in the heart, according to Jeremiah, who says: ‘And circumcise yourselves to God, the foreskin of your heart’; and according to the apostle: ‘in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism,’ and what follows.

If we keep this faith, we shall be blameless and shall be adorned with every form of virtue. For faith is so strong that it even keeps people light as they walk on the sea. Peter was a man like us, composed of blood and flesh, and living on the same food. But when Jesus said, ‘Come,’ he believed and walked on the waters, having on the waters a faith more secure than any foundation; and his heavy body was lifted up by the lightness of faith. As long as he believed, he had safe footing on the water; but when he doubted, then he began to sink; for as his faith slackened little by little, his body too was dragged down with it. And seeing his distress, Jesus, who corrects the distresses of souls, said: ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And strengthened again by him who grasped his right hand, as soon as he believed again, led by the hand by the Master, he resumed the same walk on the waters. For the Gospel mentions this indirectly, saying, ‘And when they had gone up into the boat.’ It does not say that Peter swam across and went up, but gives us to understand that, having returned the same distance he had come to Jesus, he went up again into the boat.

Faith has so much power that not only is the believer saved, but some have been saved through others’ believing. The paralytic in Capernaum was not a believer; but those who carried him and let him down through the tiles believed; for the sick man’s soul was sick together with his body. And do not think that I accuse him without cause; the Gospel itself has said: ‘Jesus, seeing,’ not his faith, but ‘their faith, says to the paralytic: Rise.’ Those who carried him believed, and the paralytic enjoyed the healing.

Do you want to see more surely that some are saved through the faith of others? Lazarus died; one day had passed, and a second, and a third; his sinews were dissolved, and corruption was already feeding on his body. How could a man four days dead believe and call on the Redeemer on his own behalf? But what was lacking to the dead man was supplied through his true sisters. When the Lord came, the sister fell at his feet; and when he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ and she answered, ‘Lord, he already stinks, for he has been dead four days,’ the Lord says: ‘If you believe, you will see the glory of God,’ all but saying, ‘You fill up what is lacking of the dead man’s faith.’ And the sisters’ faith was so strong that it called the dead man back from the gates of Hades. If, then, some, believing on behalf of others, were able to raise the dead, will you not benefit much more if you believe sincerely on your own behalf? But even if you are without faith, or of little faith, the Lord loves humankind and bears with you when you repent; only say on your part, with a right mind: ‘I believe, Lord; help my unbelief.’ And if you think that you are faithful, but do not yet have the perfection of faith, you too need to say with the apostles: ‘Lord, increase our faith.’ For some part you have from yourself, but much you receive from him.

For the word ‘faith’ is one in name, but it is divided in two. There is one kind of faith, the doctrinal, which involves the soul’s assent concerning some matter; and it benefits the soul, as the Lord says: ‘He who hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment’; and again: ‘He who believes in the Son is not judged, but has passed from death to life.’ O the great love of God for humankind! The righteous pleased God over many years; but what they achieved and gained by pleasing him over many years, Jesus now grants you in a single hour. For if you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, and will be transferred into paradise by him who brought the robber into paradise. And do not doubt whether this is possible; for he who saved the robber on this holy Golgotha after a single hour of faith will save you too when you believe.

The second kind of faith is that given by Christ as a gift of grace. ‘For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing.’ This faith, then, given as a grace by the Spirit, is not only doctrinal, but also works things beyond human power. For whoever has this faith will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. For when someone says this in faith, believing that it happens, and does not doubt in his heart, then he receives the grace. And it is of this faith that it is said: ‘If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed.’ For just as the grain of mustard seed is small in size but fiery in its working, and, though sown in a small compass, puts out great branches, and when it has grown can shelter the birds, so also faith in the soul accomplishes the greatest things in the swiftest moment. For it forms images of God, and beholds God as far as is possible, enlightened by faith; it travels round the ends of the world, and before the consummation of this age already sees the judgment and the payment of the promised rewards. Have, then, the faith in him that comes from yourself, so that you may also receive from him the faith that works things beyond human power.

In learning and professing the faith, acquire and keep only that which is now handed on to you by the Church, fortified from all of Scripture. For since not all can read the Scriptures, but some are hindered from knowing them by lack of learning and others by lack of leisure, we comprise the whole teaching of the faith in a few lines, so that the soul may not perish from ignorance. I want you to remember it in its very words, and to rehearse it among yourselves with all diligence, not writing it on paper, but engraving it on your heart by memory, taking care while you rehearse it that no catechumen overhears what has been handed down; and to have it as provision for the journey through the whole time of your life, and to receive no other besides it: neither if we ourselves should change and contradict what we now teach, nor if an opposing angel, transformed into an angel of light, should wish to lead you astray. ‘For even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach to you a gospel contrary to what you have now received, let him be accursed to you.’ For now, hearing it in its very words, remember the Creed; and at the proper time expect the proof from the divine Scriptures of each of its contents. For the articles of the faith were not composed as seemed good to men; but the most important points, collected from all of Scripture, make up the one teaching of the faith. And just as the mustard seed contains many branches in a small grain, so also this faith has enfolded in a few words all the knowledge of godliness in the Old and the New Testament. See, then, brothers, and hold fast the traditions which you now receive, and write them on the breadth of your heart.

Keep them with reverence, lest the enemy despoil any of you who have grown slack, lest some heretic pervert any of what has been handed down to you. For … is like putting the money in the bank, which we have now done; and God requires of you the accounts of the deposit. ‘I charge you,’ as the apostle says, ‘before God, who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus, who bore witness before Pontius Pilate to the good confession,’ to keep this faith handed down to you without stain until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. A treasure of life has now been entrusted to you, and at his appearing the Master requires the deposit, ‘which in his own times the blessed and only Sovereign will show, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no human has seen or can see.’ To him be glory, honor, and might for ever and ever. Amen. [The edition then prints: The holy and apostolic faith, handed down for profession to those being enlightened. 1. We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. 2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father, true God, before all ages, through whom all things came to be; who came in the flesh and became human [of the Virgin and the Holy Spirit]; … crucified and buried …]

… Father, so that the glorifying of the Father and the Son [with the Holy Spirit] may be rendered undivided. For the Father does not have one glory and the Son another, but one and the same [with the Holy Spirit], since the Son is the only-begotten of the Father; and when the Father is glorified, the Son too shares in the glory, since the glory of the Son comes from the honor of his Father; and again, when the Son is glorified, the Father of so great a good is greatly honored.

The mind understands very swiftly, but the tongue needs words and a long narration of intervening speech. For the eye takes in at once a great choir of stars; but when someone wishes to describe each one, which is the morning star and which the evening star, and what each one is, he needs many words. Likewise again, the mind grasps earth and sea and all the bounds of the world in the swiftest moment; but what it understands in an instant, it describes in many words. Great, then, is the example given; but it is still weak and inadequate. For we say not as much as ought to be said about God (for that is known to him alone), but as much as human nature has taken in and as much as our weakness can bear. For we do not explain what God is; but we confess with candor that we do not know the exact truth about him. For in matters concerning God, it is great knowledge to confess one’s lack of knowledge. ‘Magnify the Lord with me, then, and let us exalt his name together,’ all in common, for one alone is powerless; rather, even if all of us are gathered together, we shall not yet do what is fitting. I do not mean only you who are present; but even if all the nurslings of the whole Church throughout the world, both the present and the future Church, came together, they would not be able to praise their Shepherd worthily.

Abraham was great and honored, but great in comparison with men; when he came before God, then, speaking the truth with candor, he says: ‘I am earth and ashes.’ He did not say ‘earth’ and then fall silent, so as not to call himself by the name of the great element; but he added ‘and ashes,’ to show how easily he is dissolved and how frail he is. Is there anything, he says, smaller or lighter than ashes? Compare ashes with a house, a house with a city, a city with a province, a province with the Roman territory, the Roman territory with the whole earth and all its bounds, and the whole earth with the heaven that enfolds it; the earth bears the same proportion to heaven as the center to the whole circumference of a wheel (for such is the proportion of earth to heaven). And consider that this first heaven which is seen is smaller than the second, and the second than the third (for so far Scripture has named them; not that there are only so many, but because it was useful for us to know only so many). And when in your mind you have seen all the heavens, not even the heavens will be able to praise God as he is, not even if they resound more loudly than thunder. If the vast vaults of the heavens cannot praise God worthily, when will earth and ashes, the smallest and least of things that are, be able to send up a worthy hymn to God, or to speak worthily about God, who holds the circle of the earth and has its inhabitants as grasshoppers?

If anyone undertakes to speak about God, let him first describe the bounds of the earth. You dwell on the earth, and you do not know the limit of the earth, your own dwelling; how then will you be able to form a worthy idea of its maker? You see the stars, but you do not see their maker; count the visible ones, and then explain the invisible one, ‘who counts the multitude of the stars and calls them all by names.’ The drops of the heavy rains that came recently nearly destroyed us; count the drops on this city alone; and I do not say on the city, but count the drops on your own house for one hour, if you can. But it is impossible. Know your own weakness; learn from this the power of God. For the drops of rain are numbered by him, those poured out over the whole world, not only now but at all times. The sun is God’s work, great, yet very small in comparison with the whole heaven; first gaze steadily at the sun, and then pry into its Master. ‘Do not seek what is too deep for you, and do not search out what is too strong for you; what has been commanded you, think about that.’

But someone will say: ‘If the divine substance is incomprehensible, why do you discourse about these things?’ Well, because I cannot drink the whole river, shall I not take in moderation what is useful for me? Because with the structure of my eyes I cannot take in the whole sun, shall I not look at it enough for my own need? Or, because I have entered a great orchard and cannot eat all the fruit there is, would you have me go out completely hungry? I praise and glorify him who made us; for it is a divine command that says: ‘Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.’ I am trying now to glorify the Master, not to explain him; knowing, however, that I shall fall short of glorifying him worthily, yet thinking it a work of piety even to attempt it at all. For the Lord Jesus comforts my weakness, saying: ‘No one has ever seen God.’

What then? someone will say. Is it not written: ‘Their angels, the angels of the little ones, always see the face of my Father who is in heaven’? Yes, the angels see, not as God is, but as far as they themselves can take in. For it is Jesus himself who says: ‘Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.’ The angels, then, see as far as they can take in, and the archangels as far as they are able; thrones and dominions more than the former, but less than his worth; only the Holy Spirit, together with the Son, can see as is fitting. For he searches all things, and knows even the depths of God; just as the only-begotten Son too, together with the Holy Spirit, knows the Father as is fitting (‘For no one knows the Father,’ he says, ‘except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son reveals him’). He sees as is fitting, and reveals God with the Spirit and through the Spirit, as each can take in; since the only-begotten Son, together with the Holy Spirit, shares in the Father’s Godhead. He who was begotten impassibly before eternal times knows him who begot him, and he who begot knows him who was begotten. Since, then, angels do not know (for to each according to his own capacity the Only-begotten reveals, with the Spirit and through the Holy Spirit, as we have said), let no human be ashamed to confess his lack of knowledge. I am speaking now, and everyone speaks at times; but how we speak, we cannot say. How then can I describe him who gave the power of speech? I, who have a soul and cannot say what its properties are, how shall I be able to describe the giver of the soul? [7] For our piety it is enough for us only

to know that we have a God: a God who is one, who always is, always like himself; who has no father; than whom none is mightier; whom no successor drives out of his kingdom; many in name, almighty, and uniform in substance. For it is not because he is called good, and just, and almighty, and Sabaoth, that he is different and of varied sort; but being one and the same, he sends forth countless workings of the Godhead; not having more in one part and less in another, but being in all things like himself. He is not great in love for humankind only and small in wisdom, but has wisdom and love for humankind of equal power; not seeing in part and in part deprived of sight, but being wholly eye, wholly hearing, and wholly mind; not, as we do, understanding in part and in part not knowing; for such a saying is blasphemous and unworthy of the divine substance. He foreknows what is, and is holy, and almighty, and better than all, and greater than all, and wiser than all; whose beginning, form, or appearance we shall never be able to describe. ‘For you have never heard his voice, nor seen his form,’ says the divine Scripture. Therefore Moses says to the Israelites: ‘And guard your souls well, for you did not see any likeness.’ For if it is altogether impossible to imagine his likeness, will the mind come near his substance? [8] Many have imagined many things, and all have failed. Some thought that God is fire; others that he is winged like a man, because of the saying, rightly written but wrongly understood, ‘In the shelter of your wings you will shelter me.’ They forgot that our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten, says the same about himself to Jerusalem: ‘How often I wanted to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing!’ For when his protecting power was expressed as wings, these men did not understand, but sank down to human things and supposed the unsearchable one to be like a man. Others dared to say that he has seven eyes, because it is written: ‘The seven eyes of the Lord, looking upon all the earth.’ For if he has only seven eyes set round him in part, then his seeing is partial and not complete, which is blasphemous to say of God; for we must believe that God is perfect in all things, according to the Savior’s word that says: ‘Your heavenly Father is perfect’; perfect in seeing, perfect in power, perfect in greatness, perfect in foreknowledge, perfect in goodness, perfect in justice, perfect in love for humankind; not confined in a place, but the maker of places; being in all things and circumscribed by nothing. Heaven is his throne, but he who sits on it rises above it; and the earth is his footstool, but his power reaches down to the regions beneath the earth. [9] He is one, present everywhere, seeing all things, understanding all things, making all things through Christ. ‘For all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.’ He is the very great and unfailing fountain of every good, a river of benefits, an eternal light flashing unfailingly, an invincible power that bears with our weaknesses; whose very name we cannot bear to hear. ‘Will you find the footprint of the Lord,’ says Job, ‘or have you come to the last things that the Almighty has made?’ If the last of his works are not comprehended, will he who made all things be comprehended? ‘Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and it has not entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him.’ If what God has prepared is beyond the grasp of our minds, can we grasp with our bare mind the very one who prepared it? ‘O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!’ says the apostle. If his judgments and ways are incomprehensible, will he himself be comprehended?

God, then, being so great, and greater still (for even if I should turn my whole being into a tongue, I could not speak worthily of him; rather, even if all the angels came together, they would not yet speak worthily), God, then, being so good and so great, man dared to carve a stone and say to the stone: ‘You are my god.’ O great blindness, that has come down from such greatness to such baseness! The wood that God planted and the rain made grow, and that afterwards is burned and becomes ashes through fire, this is proclaimed god, while the true God is despised. The wickedness of idolatry went to further excess: the cat, and the dog, and the wolf were worshiped instead of God; the man-eating lion was worshiped instead of God, the greatest lover of humankind; the snake and the dragon, the image of the one who drove us out of paradise, were worshiped, and he who planted paradise was despised. I am ashamed to say it, yet I say it: even onions have been worshiped among some. Wine was given to gladden the heart of man, and Dionysus was worshiped instead of God. God made wheat by saying, ‘Let the earth bring forth green herbage, sowing seed according to kind and according to likeness,’ so that bread might strengthen man’s heart; why then was Demeter worshiped? Fire comes out from the striking of stones even to this day; how then is Hephaestus the maker of fire?

Where does the many-gods error of the Greeks come from? God is incorporeal; how then are adulteries charged against those whom they call gods? I say nothing of the changes of Zeus into a swan; I am ashamed to speak of his transformations into a bull; for bellowings are unworthy of God. The god of the Greeks has been found an adulterer, and they are not ashamed; for if he is an adulterer, let him not be called God. They also speak of deaths, and falls, and thunderbolt-strikings of their gods. Do you see from what greatness to what depth they have come down? Was it for nothing, then, that the Son of God came down from heaven to heal so great a wound? Was it for nothing that the Son came, so that the Father might be acknowledged? You have learned what moved the Only-begotten to come down from the throne at the right hand. The Father was despised; the Son had to correct the error; for he through whom all things came into being had to offer all things to the Master of all. The wound had to be healed. For what was worse than this disease, that a stone should be worshiped instead of God?

And not only among the pagans did the devil contend in this way; already many of those falsely called Christians, wrongly named after the most fragrant name of Christ, have impiously dared to estrange God from his own works. I mean the children of the heretics, men of ill name and most godless, who pretend to love Christ but hate Christ utterly; for he who blasphemes the Father of Christ is an enemy of the Son. These have dared to speak of two godheads, one good and one evil. O great blindness! If it is a godhead, it is certainly good; if it is not good, why is it called a godhead? For goodness belongs to God. Since love for humankind, beneficence, and almighty power befit God, then one of two things: either let them call him God together with the name and the working; or, if they mean to strip him of his workings, let them not call him by the bare name.

Heretics have dared to speak of two gods, and two sources of good and evil, and to say that these are unbegotten. If both are unbegotten, they are certainly also equal, and both mighty; how then does the light destroy the darkness? And are they ever together, or are they separated? They cannot be together; ‘For what fellowship has light with darkness?’ says the apostle. If they are far from each other, they certainly also have their own places; and if they have their own places, we are certainly in the region of one God, and certainly worship one. For this must follow, even if we go along with their folly: that one must worship one. Let us examine also what they say about the good God. Is he powerful or powerless? If he is powerful, how did evil come about against his will? And how does the evil substance come in, if he does not will it? For if he knows but cannot prevent it, they accuse him of powerlessness; if he can but does not prevent it, they accuse him of betrayal. And see their folly: at one time they say that the evil one has nothing in common with the good God in the making of the world; at another, that he has only the fourth part. And they say that the good one is the father of Christ; and Christ they call this sun. If, then, according to them, the world came into being from the evil one,

and the sun is in the world, how is the Son of the good one an unwilling slave in the realm of the evil one? We befoul ourselves in saying these things, but we do it so that none of those present may fall from ignorance into the filth of the heretics. I know that I have defiled my own mouth and the ears of my hearers; but it is useful. For it is much better to hear absurdities in the charges against others than to fall into them from ignorance; much better for you to know the filth and hate it than to fall into it unknowing. The godless teaching of the heresies has many branches; for when anyone falls away from the one straight road, then he falls again and again over cliffs.

The inventor of every heresy was Simon the magician: that Simon who in the Acts of the Apostles expected to buy with money the grace of the Spirit, which cannot be bought, and heard: ‘You have neither part nor lot in this matter,’ and what follows; of whom it is written: ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us.’ This man, after being cast out by the apostles, came to Rome, and, taking about with him a certain prostitute, Helena, was the first to dare to say with blasphemous mouth that he himself was the one who appeared on Mount Sinai as the Father; and who appeared afterwards among the Jews, not in flesh but in seeming, as Christ Jesus; and after that as the Holy Spirit, whom Christ promised to send as Paraclete. And he so deceived the city of Rome that Claudius set up a statue of him, inscribing it in the language of the Romans SIMONI DEO SANCTO, which translated means ‘To Simon the holy god.’ [15] As the error spread, a good pair, Peter and Paul, … the leaders of the Church, corrected the fault; and when the supposed god Simon showed himself off, they at once showed him to be a corpse. For when Simon promised to be lifted up into the heavens, and was being carried through the air on a chariot of demons, the servants of God knelt down and, showing the agreement of which Jesus spoke, ‘If two of you agree about anything that they ask, it will be done for them,’ sent the arrow of concord through prayer against the magician and cast him down to the earth. And this is no wonder, though it is wonderful; for it was Peter, who carries the keys of heaven. Nor is it worthy of amazement; for it was Paul, who was caught up to the third heaven and into paradise, and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. These brought down from the air to the earth the supposed god, who was to be brought down to the regions below. This was the first dragon of wickedness; but when one head was cut off, the root of wickedness was found many-headed again. [16] For Cerinthus ravaged the Church, and Menander, and Carpocrates, and the Ebionites, and Marcion, the mouth of godlessness. For he who proclaimed different gods, one the good and another the just, contradicts the Son, who says: ‘Righteous Father.’ And he who says again that the Father is one and the maker of the world another, opposes the Son, who says: ‘If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,’ and ‘who makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.’ This Marcion, again, was the inventor of another wickedness. For being refuted by the testimonies from the Old Testament quoted in the New, he was the first to dare to cut out those testimonies, and to leave the proclaimed word of the faith without witness, leaving God out; and, as if there had been no heralds, he wanted to make the Church’s faith unsound.

He in turn was succeeded by another, Basilides, a man of ill name, most dangerous in his ways, a preacher of licentiousness. Valentinus too joined the contest of wickedness, the preacher of thirty gods. The Greeks speak of few; and the one who is called, or rather is not, a Christian extended the error to a full thirty. And he says that Bythos, the Deep (it was fitting that he, being a deep of wickedness, should begin his teaching from the Deep), begot Sige, Silence, and from Silence begot Logos, the Word. This is worse than the Zeus of the Greeks, who united with his sister; for Silence was said to be the child of the Deep. Do you see absurdity clothed in the outward form of Christianity? Wait a little, and you will hate the impiety; for he says that from this were born eight Aeons, and from those ten, and from those another twelve, male and female. And where is the basis of these? See the nonsense from the constructions themselves. Where do you get the proof of the thirty Aeons? Because, he says, it is written that Jesus was baptized when he was thirty years old. And what kind of proof is this from the thirty years, even if he was baptized at thirty? Since he broke five loaves for five thousand, must there then be five gods? Or since he had twelve disciples, must there also be twelve gods?

And this is still small compared with the rest of the impiety. For he says that the last of the gods, being male and female, as he dares to say, is Wisdom. O the godlessness! For Christ is the Wisdom of God, the only-begotten Son; and that man, in his teaching, brought the Wisdom of God down to a female, a thirtieth element, the last construction. And he says that Wisdom tried to see the first God, and, not bearing his brilliance, fell from the heavens and was cast out of the number thirty; then, groaning, she begot the devil from her groans, and, weeping over her fall, she produced the sea. Do you see the impiety? For how is the devil begotten from wisdom, and wickedness from understanding, or darkness from light? And he says that the devil begot others, some of whom made the world; and that Christ came down to make people revolt from the world-maker. [19] Hear what they say Christ Jesus is, so that you may hate them still more. … [20] … having composed one heresy full of blasphemies and every lawlessness, he ravages the Church (or rather those outside the Church), walking about like a lion and devouring. Do not pay attention to their fair speech, nor to their supposed humility; for they are snakes, a brood of vipers. Judas too said, ‘Hail, Rabbi,’ and was betraying. Do not heed the kisses, but beware of the venom. [21] And so that we may not seem to accuse him without cause, let us say by way of digression who this Manes is, and in part what he teaches; for not even the whole age could describe all his filth worthily. Store up in your memory, for help in time of need, these things which were said also to those before you and will be said to those now, so that those who do not know may learn and those who know may be reminded. Manes is not from the Christians, God forbid! Nor was he cast out of the Church as Simon was, neither he nor those who taught before him; for he is a thief of other men’s evils, making the evils his own. How and in what way, we must hear.

There was in Egypt one Scythianus, a Saracen by race, who had nothing in common either with Judaism or with Christianity. He lived in Alexandria and, imitating the life of Aristotle, composed four books: one called the Gospel, containing not the acts of Christ but only the bare name; another called the book of Chapters; a third, of Mysteries; and a fourth, which they now circulate, the Treasure. He had a disciple named Terebinthus. But when the aforesaid Scythianus came into Judea and was ravaging the country, the Lord put him to death by disease and stopped the pestilence.

But his disciple in wickedness, Terebinthus, heir to his gold, his books, and his heresy, came to Palestine; and being recognized and condemned in Judea, he decided to move to Persia; and so as not to be recognized there also by his name, he renamed himself Buddas. But there too he had opponents, … the priests of Mithras; and many arguments and disputes having been set in motion, he was refuted; and at last, hard pressed, he took refuge with a certain widow. Then, going up onto the housetop and calling on the demons of the air, whom the Manichaeans invoke to this day over their abominable fig, he was struck by God and thrown down from the housetop, and breathed his last; and so the second beast was cut off.

But the books recording his impiety remained, and the widow was heir both of the books and of the money. Having neither kinsman nor anyone else, she decided to buy with the money a boy called Cubricus; and adopting him as a son, she educated him as a son in the learning of the Persians, and sharpened an evil arrow against humankind. Cubricus, the wicked slave, grew to maturity among philosophers; and when the widow died, he inherited both the books and the money. Then, so that the name of slavery might not be a reproach, instead of Cubricus he called himself Manes, which in the language of the Persians means ‘conversation.’ For since he thought himself something of a debater, he named himself Manes, as if an excellent conversationalist. But he contrived a good name for himself in the Persian tongue; God’s providence, however, made him his own accuser even against his will, so that, thinking to honor himself among the Persians, he proclaims himself among the Greeks by the name of madness.

He dared to say that he himself was the Paraclete. And it is written: ‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness.’ He blasphemed, then, by calling himself the Holy Spirit. Let anyone who has fellowship with them see with whom he ranks himself. The slave shook the world, since ‘through three things the earth is shaken, and the fourth it cannot bear: if a slave becomes king.’ And coming into public view, he then promised things beyond human power. The son of the king of the Persians was sick, and there was a great abundance of physicians; but Manes promised, as if he were pious, to set it right through prayer. The physicians withdrew, and the child’s life withdrew with them; the man’s impiety was exposed. And the would-be philosopher was in chains, thrown into prison, not for rebuking the king on behalf of the truth, nor for destroying the idols, but for promising to save and lying; or rather, if the truth must be told, for murder. For the one who could have been saved by medical care, this man killed by sending away the physicians, putting him to death by neglect.

When I tell the very many evils about him, remember first the blasphemy; second, the slavery (not that slavery is a disgrace, but that, being a slave, to pretend to be free is evil); third, the falsehood of the promise; fourth, the murder of the child; and fifth, the disgrace of the prison. And there was not only the disgrace of the prison, but also the flight from the prison. For he who called himself the Paraclete and the champion of the truth ran away; he was no successor of Jesus, who went readily to the cross, but was the opposite, a fugitive. Then the king of the Persians ordered the jailers to be led away to execution; so Manes was the cause of death to the child through his arrogance, and the cause of death to the jailers through his flight. Should one who shares the guilt of death, then, be worshiped? Ought he not to have imitated Jesus and said, ‘If you are looking for me, let these men go’? Ought he not to have said, like Jonah, ‘Take me up and throw me into the sea; for because of me this storm has come’?

He flees from the prison and comes into Mesopotamia; but Archelaus the bishop, a weapon of righteousness, meets him there. And he refuted him before philosophers as judges, having assembled a pagan audience, so that the judges might not seem to show favor, as they would if Christians were judging. ‘Tell us what you preach,’ says Archelaus to Manes. And he, having his mouth like an open grave, began first with blasphemy against the maker of all things, saying: ‘The God of the Old Testament is the author of evils, for he says of himself, I am a consuming fire.’ But the wise Archelaus undid the blasphemy, saying: ‘If the God of the Old Testament, as you say, calls himself fire, whose son is he who says, I came to cast fire on the earth? If you blame him who says, The Lord kills and makes alive, why do you honor Peter, who raised Tabitha but put Sapphira to death? And if you blame him because he prepared fire, why do you not blame him who says, Depart from me into the eternal fire? If you blame him who says, I am God who makes peace and creates evil, explain how Jesus says, I did not come to bring peace but a sword. Since both say the same things, one of two things: either both are good, because they speak alike; or, if Jesus is blameless in saying this, why do you find fault with him who says the like in the Old Testament?’ [28] Then Manes says to him: ‘And what kind of God blinds? For it is Paul who says: In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the gospel should not shine on them.’ But Archelaus refuted him well: ‘Read a little before,’ he says: ‘But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing. Do you see that it is veiled to those who are perishing? For holy things must not be given to dogs. Then, does only the God of the Old Testament blind the minds of unbelievers? Did not Jesus himself say, This is why I speak to them in parables, so that seeing they may not see? Was it because he hated them that he wished them not to see? Or because of their unworthiness, since they had closed their eyes? For where there is self-chosen wickedness, there is also a withholding of grace; for to him who has, more will be given, and from him who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away. [29] (And if one must also say it as some interpret it, for it is not a bad saying: even if he blinded the minds of the unbelievers, he blinded them for good, so that they might recover their sight for good things. For he did not say, He blinded their soul, but the minds of the unbelievers. What is said is of this kind: Blind the sexually immoral man’s immoral thoughts, and the man is saved; blind the robber’s grasping and thieving thoughts, and the man is saved. But you do not want to understand it so? There is also another interpretation. The sun too blinds those with weak sight, and those with diseased eyes are blinded, harmed by the light; not because the sun blinds, but because the constitution of their eyes does not see. So also unbelievers, sick in their hearts, cannot look into the rays of the Godhead. And he did not say, He blinded their minds so that they should not hear the gospel, but so that the light of the glory of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ should not shine on them. For to hear the gospel is granted to all; but the glory of the gospel is reserved for Christ’s true disciples alone. So the Lord spoke in parables to those unable to hear, but to the disciples he explained the parables privately: the brightness of the glory for those enlightened, the blinding for the unbelievers.)’ These mysteries, which the Church now explains to you who are passing from the catechumens, it is not the custom to explain to pagans. For we do not explain the mysteries about Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to a pagan, nor do we speak plainly about the mysteries before catechumens; but we often say many things in a veiled way, so that the faithful who know may understand, and those who do not know may not be harmed. [30] … having fled from the prison, and having run away from his adversary as well, he comes to a very mean village, like the serpent in paradise, who left Adam and approached Eve. But the good shepherd Archelaus, taking thought for the sheep, when he heard of the flight, at once hurried at a run in search of the wolf. And Manes, seeing his adversary suddenly, leapt up and fled; but he fled his last flight. For the shield-bearers of the king of the Persians, searching everywhere, caught the fugitive; and the sentence he ought to have received before Archelaus, the king’s shield-bearers carried out upon him. Manes, whom his disciples worship, is seized and brought to the king. The king reproached him for his lie and his flight, mocked his slavery, avenged the murder of the child, condemned him also for the murder of the jailers, and ordered Manes to be flayed according to Persian law. The rest of his body was given to wild beasts for food; but his skin, the receptacle of a most evil mind, was hung up before the gates like a sack. He who called himself the Paraclete and professed to know the future did not know his own flight and capture. [31] He had three disciples, Thomas, Baddas, and Hermas. Let no one read the Gospel according to Thomas; for it is not by one of the twelve apostles, but by one of the three wicked disciples of Manes. Let no one associate with the soul-destroying Manichaeans, who counterfeit the gloom of fasting with chaff-water; who slander the maker of foods, yet gobble down the finest of foods; who teach that one who cuts this or that herb is changed into it. For if one who cuts herbs or some vegetable is changed into it, into how many things will farmers and gardeners’ boys be changed? The gardener has put the sickle to so many, as we see; into which, then, is he changed? Truly their teachings are laughable, and full of condemnation and shame. The same man, being a shepherd of sheep, both sacrificed a sheep and killed a wolf; into which, then, is he changed? Many people have netted fish and limed birds; into which, then, are they changed? [32] Let the Manichaeans answer, the offspring of idleness, who do not work and devour the goods of those who work; who receive with smiling faces those who bring them food, and return curses instead of blessings. For when some simple person brings them something, ‘Stand outside a little,’ he says, ‘and I will bless you.’ Then taking the bread into his hands (as those of them who have repented have confessed), ‘I did not make you,’ says the Manichaean to the bread; and he sends curses against the Most High and curses him who made it, and so eats what was made. If you hate the food, why did you look with a smiling face at him who brought it? If you are grateful to him who brought it, why do you send blasphemy to the God who prepared and created it? And again: ‘I did not sow you,’ he says; ‘may he who sowed you be sown. I did not reap you with a sickle; may he who reaped you be reaped. I did not bake you with fire; may he who baked you be baked.’ Fine returns for kindness! [33] These are great evils, but still small compared with the others. I dare not describe before men and women their washing; I dare not say in what they dip the fig they give to the wretched. Let it be indicated only by hints: let men think of what happens in their dreams, and women of what happens in their monthly periods. We truly defile our mouth in saying these things. Are the pagans more abominable than these? the Samaritans more wretched? the Jews more ungodly? the sexually immoral more unclean? For the one who commits sexual immorality does the act for one hour through desire; but condemning the act as defiled, he knows that he needs washing and recognizes the abomination of the act. But the Manichaean sets these things in the middle of the altar, as he supposes it, and defiles both his mouth and his tongue. Do you receive teaching, man, from such a mouth? Do you greet such a man with kisses when you meet him at all? Even apart from the rest of the impiety, do you not flee the defilement, and those who are worse than the licentious and more abominable than any woman of the brothel? [34] The Church announces and teaches these things, and touches filth, so that you may not be befouled; it speaks of the wounds, so that you may not be wounded. It is enough for you only to know; keep away from learning by experience. God thunders, and we all tremble; and they blaspheme. God sends lightning, and we all bow to the ground; and they have slanderous tongues about the heavens. Jesus says of his Father, ‘Who makes his sun rise on the just and the unjust, and sends rain on the evil and the good’; and they say that rains come from erotic madness; and they dare to say

that there is a beautiful virgin in heaven together with a beautiful young man; and that at the season of camels and wolves they have the frenzies of shameful desire; and that in the winter season he runs madly after the virgin; she, they say, flees, and he pursues; then, as he pursues, he sweats, and from his sweat comes the rain. These things are written in the books of the Manichaeans. These things we have read ourselves, not believing those who told us; for the sake of your safety we have inquired closely into their destruction. [35] But may the Lord deliver us from such error; and may enmity be given you against the dragon, so that, as they watch for the heel, you may trample on their head. Remember what has been said. What agreement is there between our teaching and theirs? What has light to do with darkness? What has the dignity of the Church to do with the abomination of the Manichaeans? Here is order, here knowledge, here dignity, here purity; here even to look at a woman with desire is condemned; here is marriage with dignity, here the endurance of self-control, here the angel-like dignity of virginity; here food is partaken of with thanksgiving; here is gratitude toward the maker of all things. Here the Father of Christ is worshiped; here fear and trembling are taught toward him who sends rain; here we send up glory to him who thunders and lightens. [36] Herd together with the sheep; flee the wolves; do not depart from the Church. Hate also those who have at any time been suspected of such things; and unless in time you perceive their repentance, do not rashly trust yourself to them. The truth of the sole rule of God has been handed down to you; learn to distinguish the herbs of …; be an approved money-changer, holding fast what is good, keeping away from every form of evil. And if you were ever such as they, recognize and hate the error; for there is a way of salvation, if you vomit it out, if you hate it from the heart, if you depart from them not with the lips only but also with the soul; if you worship the Father of Christ, the God of the law and the prophets; if you acknowledge that the good and the just are one and the same God. And may he keep you all, guarding you from falling and stumbling, firm in the faith, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory … with the Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever …

About the sole rule of God, enough has been said to you by us yesterday; I say ‘enough,’ not as is worthy of the subject (for that is altogether impossible for mortal nature to attain), but as far as reached our weakness. I also went through the byways of the many-branched error of the godless heretics. Having shaken off their filth and their soul-poisoning venom, and having remembered their teachings not to be harmed but to hate them the more, let us now come back to ourselves and receive the saving doctrines of the true faith, joining the dignity of Fatherhood to that of the sole rule, and believing in one God the Father. For we must not only believe in one God, but must also receive with piety that he is Father, the Father of the Only-begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For in this way we shall think more highly than the Jews, who accept in their doctrines that there is one God (and what of it, even if they often denied even this through idolatry?), but do not accept that he is also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; thinking contrary to their own prophets, who say in the divine Scriptures, ‘The Lord said to me: You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’ And to this day they rage and gather together against the Lord and against his Christ, thinking that it is possible to be made friends with the Father apart from piety toward the Son, not knowing that no one comes to the Father except through the Son, who says, ‘I am the door,’ and ‘I am the way.’ He, then, who refuses the way that leads to the Father, and denies the door, how will he be counted worthy of entry to God? They also contradict what is written in the eighty-eighth psalm: ‘He will call upon me: You are my Father, my God, and the helper of my salvation; and I will make him firstborn, high among the kings of the earth.’ For if they insist that these words were said of David, or Solomon, or one of their successors, let them show how the throne of the one prophesied, as they understand it, is ‘as the days of heaven,’ and ‘as the sun before God,’ and ‘as the moon established forever.’ And how are they not abashed at what is written, ‘From the womb, before the morning star, I begot you,’ and ‘He shall continue with the sun and before the moon, for generations of generations’? To refer these to a man is full of every senselessness. [3] But let the Jews, since they wish it, be sick with their usual unbelief in these sayings and the like. Let us take up the godliness of the faith, worshiping one God, the Father of Christ (for to deprive him who grants to all the power of begetting of such a dignity is impious), and let us believe in one God the Father, so that, before the teaching about Christ that we shall take up, faith in the Only-begotten may be laid in the souls of the hearers, not separated in any respect by the words about the Father that come between.

For the name of Father, together with the very utterance of the name, makes one think also of the Son; just as, likewise, one who names a Son at once thinks also of the Father. For if a Father, certainly Father of a Son; and if a Son, certainly Son of a Father. So that, then, from our saying thus, ‘In one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible,’ and then our adding, ‘And in one Lord Jesus Christ,’ no one may impiously suppose that the Only-begotten is second in rank to heaven and earth, for this reason, before naming those, we named God Father, so that in thinking of the Father we may also think of the Son; for between Son and Father there is nothing among the things that are.

God, then, is Father of many by an extended use of the word, but of one only, by nature and in truth: Father of the only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; not having acquired fatherhood in time, but being always Father of the Only-begotten. For he did not become Father later by a change of purpose, having been childless before; but before every substance and before all perception, before times and before all ages, God has the dignity of Father, being honored by this more than by his other dignities. And he became Father not by passion, not by union, not in ignorance, not by emanation, not by diminution, not by alteration (for ‘every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,’

‘with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning’). A perfect Father begot a perfect Son, handing over all things to the one begotten (‘All things have been handed over to me by my Father,’ he says), and he is honored by the Only-begotten: ‘For I honor the Father,’ says the Son; and again, ‘Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.’ We too, then, say like the apostle: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort’; and ‘we bow our knees to the Father, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named,’ glorifying him with the Only-begotten (for ‘whoever denies the Father … the Son, and … has the Father also’), knowing that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’

We worship, then, as the Father of Christ the maker of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in whose honor the former temple too, right opposite us here, was built. For we will not tolerate the heretics who sever the Old Testament from the New, but will obey Christ, who says of the temple: ‘Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ and again: ‘Take these things away from here, and do not make my Father’s house a house of trade’; by which he most clearly acknowledged that the former temple in Jerusalem was his own Father’s house. And if anyone, from unbelief, wants to receive still more proofs that the Father of Christ is the same as the maker of the world, let him hear him say again: ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without my Father who is in heaven’; and ‘Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them’; and ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’

But so that no one, from simplicity or malice, may suppose that Christ is of equal honor with righteous men, because he says, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father,’ it is good to make this distinction clear beforehand: that the name of Father is one, but the force of its working is varied. Knowing this, he himself spoke safely: ‘I am going to my Father and your Father.’ He did not say ‘to our Father,’ but distinguished, saying first what was his own, ‘to my Father,’ which was by nature; then adding ‘and your Father,’ which was by adoption. For even if we have been counted worthy to say in prayers, ‘Our Father who art in heaven,’ yet the gift is of his love for humankind. For we call him Father not as having been begotten by nature from the Father in heaven; but having been transferred from slavery to sonship by the Father’s grace, through the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are counted worthy to say this by ineffable love for humankind.

And if anyone wants to learn how we call God Father, let him hear the good tutor Moses saying: ‘Is not he himself your Father who acquired you, and made you, and created you?’; and Isaiah the prophet: ‘And now, Lord, you are our Father; and we are clay, all the work of your hands.’ For the prophetic grace most clearly showed that we call him Father not by nature, but by God’s grace and by adoption.

And so that you may know more exactly that in the divine Scriptures it is not only the father by nature who is called father, hear Paul saying: ‘Though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begot you through the gospel.’ For Paul was the father of the Corinthians not by begetting them according to the flesh, but by teaching them and begetting them again according to the Spirit. Hear also Job saying: ‘I was a father of the powerless’; for he called himself a father not by begetting them all, but by caring for them. And the only-begotten Son of God himself, when his flesh was nailed to the wood at the time of the cross, seeing Mary, his mother according to the flesh, and John, the most beloved of the disciples, says to him, ‘Behold your mother,’ and to Mary, ‘Behold your son,’ teaching the affection due, and indirectly explaining what is said in Luke, ‘And his father and his mother were marveling,’ which the children of the heretics seize upon, saying that he was born of a man and a woman. For just as Mary was the mother of John because of her affection, not because she bore him, so Joseph too was called father of Christ, not because he begot him (for ‘he did not know her,’ according to the Gospel, ‘until she had given birth to her firstborn son’), but because of the care he gave in bringing him up. [10] Let this be said to you now as a digression, by way of reminder. Let us add another testimony proving that God is called father of men by an extended use of the word. For when it is said to God in Isaiah, ‘For you are our father, for Abraham did not know us, and Sarah did not bear us in travail,’ need one still inquire about this? And when the psalmist says, ‘Let them be troubled at his presence, the father of orphans and judge of widows,’ is it not plain to all that God, called father of orphans who have recently lost their own fathers, has been so named not because they are begotten of him, but because he cares for and protects them? But of men, as has been said, God is father by an extended use of the word; but of Christ alone he is Father by nature, not by adoption;

of men in time, but of Christ before time, as he himself says: ‘And now, Father, glorify me with yourself with the glory that I had with you before the world was.’

We believe, then, in one God the Father, the unsearchable and indescribable, whom no human has seen, but the Only-begotten alone has made him known. For he who is from God, he has seen God; whose face the angels in heaven always behold; but they behold, each according to the measure of his own rank. The undimmed vision of the Father, in its purity, is reserved for the Son with the Holy Spirit.

Having come to this point of the discourse, and remembering what was said a little before, in which God was declared father of men, I am greatly amazed at men’s ingratitude. For God, with ineffable love for humankind, has deigned to be called father of men: he who is in heaven, of those on earth; the maker of the ages, of those who live in time; he who holds the earth in his hand, of those on the earth like grasshoppers. But man, leaving his heavenly Father, said to the wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to the stone, ‘You begot me.’ And for this reason, it seems to me, the psalmist says to humankind: ‘Forget your people and your father’s house,’ whom you chose as father, whom you drew upon yourself to your destruction. [13] And not only wood and stones; some have already chosen even Satan himself as father, the destroyer of souls, to whom the Lord said in rebuke, ‘You do the works of your father,’ the devil being father of men not by nature but by deceit. For just as Paul was called father of the Corinthians through his godly teaching, so the devil is called father of those who run along with him by choice. For we will not tolerate those who wrongly take the saying, ‘By this we know the children of God and the children of the devil,’ as though some people were by nature saved and others lost. For we come to such holy sonship not by necessity but by choice; nor was the traitor Judas by nature a son of the devil and of perdition; for then he would certainly never have cast out demons in the name of Christ at the beginning, since Satan does not cast out Satan; nor again would Paul have turned from persecuting to preaching. But sonship is a matter of free will, as John says: ‘But to all who received him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.’ For not before faith, but from faith, they were counted worthy to become children of God. [14] Knowing this, then, let us live spiritually, so that we may be counted worthy of sonship to God. ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.’ For it profits us nothing to have gained the name of Christians, unless works too follow, lest it be said to us too, ‘If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham.’ For if we call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, let us conduct ourselves in fear during the time of our sojourning, not loving the world nor the things in the world; for if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So, dear children, let us bring glory to the Father in heaven through our works;

… that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. Let us cast all our care on him; for our Father knows what we need.

And while honoring the heavenly Father, let us honor also the fathers of our flesh; since the Lord himself has plainly ordained it in the law and the prophets, saying: ‘Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.’

And let those present who have fathers and mothers especially hear this precept: ‘Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is pleasing to the Lord.’ For the Lord did not say, ‘He who loves father or mother is not worthy of me’ (do not yourself, from ignorance, take wrongly what is rightly written); but he added, ‘more than me.’ For when the fathers on earth think contrary to the Father in heaven, then we must follow his word. But when they put no obstacle in the way of our godliness, and we, carried away by ingratitude and forgetful of their benefits to us, despise them, then the saying has its place: ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die the death.’

The first virtue of Christians’ piety is to honor those who gave them birth, to repay the labors of those who brought them into being, and with all their power to supply what serves their comfort (for even if we repay them very much, we shall never be able to give them birth in return); so that they too, enjoying the comfort we give them, may confirm us with blessings, which Jacob the supplanter wisely seized; and that the Father in heaven, accepting our good purpose, may count us worthy to shine with the righteous like the sun in the kingdom of our Father; to whom be glory, with the Only-begotten, our Savior Jesus Christ, with the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

By believing “in one God” we cut away all the error of many gods, using this as our weapon against the Greeks and against every opposing power of the heretics; and by adding “in one God the Father” we fight against those of the circumcision, who deny the only-begotten Son of God. For, as was said yesterday, even before setting out plainly what concerns our Lord Jesus Christ, by saying “Father” we already showed that he is Father of a Son, so that, as we understand that he is God, we may also understand that he has a Son. And to these we add that he is also “Almighty”; and this we say because of Greeks and Jews alike, and all heretics. [2] … Some, having gone astray along with them and misusing the text that says, “And your truth reaches to the clouds,” have dared to confine God's providence to the clouds and the heaven, and to estrange from God the things on earth, forgetting the psalm that says, “If I go up into heaven, you are there; if I go down into Hades, you are present.” For if nothing is higher than heaven, and Hades is deeper than the earth, he who rules the lower regions lays hold of the earth as well.

Heretics, again, as was said before, do not know one Almighty God. For the Almighty is he who rules all things, who has authority over all things.

But those who say that one is master of the soul and another of the body make neither of them perfect, since each falls short of what the other has. For how is he almighty who has authority over the soul but no authority over the body? And how is he almighty who is master over bodies but has no authority over spirits? But the Lord refutes them, saying the opposite: “Rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” For if the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ does not have authority over both, how does he subject both to punishment? For how will he be able to take a body that belongs to another and cast it into Gehenna, unless he first binds the strong man and plunders his goods?

But the divine Scripture and the doctrines of the truth know one God, who rules all things by his power, but bears with many things by his will. For he rules even the idolaters, but bears with them in his forbearance; he rules the heretics who reject him, but bears with them in his long-suffering; he rules the devil too, but bears with him in his long-suffering, not from lack of power, as though he were defeated. For he is “the beginning of the Lord's creation, made to be mocked,” not by him (…), but by the angels made by him. And he allowed him to go on living, so that two things might come about: that he himself might be the more disgraced in being defeated, and that men might be crowned. O all-wise divine providence, which takes a wicked will as an occasion for the salvation of the faithful! For as it took the brother-hating will of Joseph's brothers as an occasion for its own dispensation, and, by allowing them to sell their brother out of hatred, took occasion to make king the one whom it wished, so it allowed the devil to wrestle, so that the victors might be crowned; and so that, when the victory is won, he might be the more disgraced, being conquered by … and men might be honoured, having conquered him who was once an archangel.

Nothing, then, is exempt from the power of God; for Scripture says of him, “For all things are your servants.” All things together are his servants, but his one only Son and his one Holy Spirit are excepted from all; and all things that are servants serve the Master through the one Son in the Holy Spirit. God, then, rules all things, and in his long-suffering he bears even with murderers, robbers and fornicators, having fixed a time of appointed respite, after which he repays each; so that those who received a long respite but kept an unrepentant heart may be the more severely condemned. There are kings of men who reign on earth, but not without the authority from above; and Nebuchadnezzar once learned this by experience, saying, “For his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his authority is from generation to generation.” [6] Wealth, gold and silver do not belong to the devil, as some think. For to the believer belongs the whole world of riches, but to the unbeliever not even an obol; and nothing is more unbelieving than the devil. And God says plainly through the prophet, “Mine is the gold and mine the silver, and I give it to whom I will.” Only use it well, and money is not to be blamed. But whenever you use what is good badly, then, unwilling to blame your own management, you impiously throw the blame back on the Creator. A man may even be justified through money: “I was hungry and you gave me food”—certainly that came from money. “I was naked and you clothed me”—certainly that was through money. And would you know that money can become a door to the kingdom of heaven? “Sell your possessions,” he says, “and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

I have said these things because of the heretics who anathematize possessions, money and bodies. For I do not want you to be a slave of money, nor to treat as enemies the things God has given you for service. Never say, then, that money belongs to the devil; for even if he says, “All these I will give you, because they have been handed over to me,” one may indeed reject his word, since one must not believe a liar. Yet perhaps, compelled by the power of the one who was present, he spoke the truth. For he did not say, “All these I will give you, because they are mine,” but “because they have been handed over to me.” For he did not seize the lordship, but admitted that he had been entrusted with it and was for the time its steward. Let the interpreters inquire at the proper time whether he lies or tells the truth.

There is one God, then, the Father, the Almighty, whom the brood of heretics have dared to slander. For they have dared to slander the Lord Sabaoth, who sits above the cherubim; they have dared to blaspheme the Lord Adonai; they have dared to blaspheme him who in the prophets is the Almighty God. But you, worship the Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Flee the error of many gods, flee every heresy, and say as Job did: “But I will call upon the Lord, the Almighty, who does great and unsearchable things, glorious and marvellous things without number”; and, “For all these things is honour from the Almighty” …

To see God with eyes of flesh is impossible, for what is incorporeal cannot come under the eyes of flesh; and the only-begotten Son of God himself has testified, saying, “No one has ever seen God.” For if someone should take what is written in Ezekiel to mean that Ezekiel saw him—yet what does the Scripture say? “He saw the likeness of the glory of the Lord”: not the Lord himself, but the likeness of the glory, and not the glory itself as it truly is. And having seen only the likeness of the glory, and not the glory itself, he fell to the ground from fear. Now if the sight of the likeness of the glory brought fear and anguish upon the prophets, anyone who tried to see God himself would surely lose his very life, according to the saying, “No one shall see my face and live.” For this reason God, in his very great love for mankind, stretched out the heaven as a veil before his own Godhead, so that we should not perish. The word is not mine; the prophet said it: “If you open the heavens, trembling will take hold of the mountains at you, and they will melt.” And why do you wonder that Ezekiel fell when he saw the likeness of the glory? When Gabriel, a servant of the Lord, appeared to Daniel, he at once cowered and fell on his face, and the prophet did not dare to answer until the angel transformed himself into the likeness of a son of man. If Gabriel, when he appeared, made the prophets tremble, would not all perish if God himself were seen as he is?

It is impossible, then, to see the divine nature with eyes of flesh; but from the works, which are divine, it is possible to come to some idea of his power, according to Solomon, who says, “For from the greatness and beauty of created things their Maker is correspondingly seen.” He did not say that from the created things the Maker is seen, but added “correspondingly.” For God appears so much the greater to each person as the greater the contemplation of created things he grasps; and when through the greater contemplation he is lifted up in heart, he also receives a greater idea of God. [3] Would you know that it is impossible to comprehend the nature of God? The three children in the furnace of fire, singing hymns to God, say: “Blessed are you who look upon the depths, who sit upon the cherubim.” Tell me what the nature of the cherubim is, and then gaze upon him who sits upon them. And yet Ezekiel the prophet described them as far as he could, saying that there were four faces to each:

one of a man, one of a lion, one of an eagle, one of a calf; and that each had six wings, and that they had eyes all around; and that under each lay a wheel of four parts. Yet though the prophet gives the description, we who read it cannot yet comprehend it. But if we cannot comprehend the throne he described, how shall we be able to comprehend the one who sits on it, the invisible and indescribable God? To inquire curiously into the nature of God is impossible; but to send up praise to him for his works that are seen is possible.

These things are said to you because of the sequence of the Creed, and because we say, “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible”: so that we may remember that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is himself the one who made the heaven and the earth; and so that we may guard ourselves against the perversions of the godless heretics, who have dared to speak evil of the all-wise Artificer of this whole world: men who see with the eyes of the flesh, but have the eyes of the understanding blinded.

For what fault have they to find with God's greatest work? They ought to have been struck with amazement at seeing the vaults of the heavens; they ought to have worshipped him who set up the heaven as a vault, who made out of the fluid nature of the waters the unfalling substance of the heaven. For God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water.” God spoke once, and it stands and does not fall. The heaven is water, and the bodies in it, sun, moon and stars, are fiery; how then do fiery things run their course in the water? If anyone doubts because of the opposite natures of fire and water, let him remember the fire that blazed in the hail in Egypt in the time of Moses, and let him see God's all-wise workmanship. For since there was need of water, as the earth was to be tilled, he made the heaven above of water, so that when the region of the earth needs watering by rains, the heaven might be ready for this by its nature.

But what? Is there not cause for wonder when one looks at the structure of the sun? Though it looks like a small object, it contains great power, shining forth from the east and sending its light as far as the west. Describing its rising at dawn the Psalmist said, “And he, like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber”; for he was describing the brightness and the moderation of its first appearance to men. For when it rides through mid-heaven at noon we often flee from it because of its blaze; but at its rising it is pleasant to all, seen like a bridegroom. And see its ordering (or rather not its own, but his who fixed its course by command): how in summer, rising higher, it makes the days longer, giving men time for their work; but in winter it shortens its course, not so that the time of cold may be longer, but so that the nights, becoming longer, may help men toward rest, and help the earth toward the bearing of its crops. See too how the days give way to one another in good order, lengthening in summer and shortening in winter, while in spring and autumn they grant one another equal spans; and the nights again do the like. So the Psalmist says of them: “Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.” For to the heretics, who have no ears, they all but cry aloud, and by their good order they say that there is no other God than the Creator, who set their bounds and ordered the universe.

Let no one put up with those who say that the maker of light is one and the maker of darkness another; let him remember Isaiah, who says, “I am the God who made light and created darkness.” Why are you vexed at it, O man? Why do you resent the time given you for rest? A servant would get no rest from his masters, if the darkness did not of necessity bring a set limit. And how often, after being wearied in the day, we are refreshed in the night; and he who was in toil yesterday is vigorous at dawn because of the night's rest! And what is more useful than the night for wisdom? For in it we often turn our thoughts to God; in it we do our reading and contemplation of the divine oracles. And when is our mind more given to psalmody and prayer? Is it not at night? When have we come to the remembrance of our own sins? Was it not at night? Let us not, then, wrongly accept that another is the maker of darkness; for experience shows that this too is good and most useful. [8] They ought to have been astonished and filled with wonder not only at the construction of sun and moon, but also at the well-ordered dances of the stars, their unhindered courses, and the timely risings of each: how some are signs of summer and others of winter; how some show the time for sowing and others signal the beginning of sailing; and a man sitting in a ship and sailing over boundless waves steers the ship by looking at the stars. For of these things Scripture says well, “And let them be for signs and for seasons and for years”: not for the fables of astrology and of nativities. See too how kindly he has granted us the light of day by degrees: for we do not see the sun rise all at once, but a little light runs ahead, so that the eye, exercised beforehand, may be able to look at the greater rays; and how he has relieved the darkness of the night with the gleams of the moon. [9] “Who is the father of the rain? And who has begotten the drops of dew?” Who thickened the air into clouds and commanded them to carry the waters of the rains, now … and now bringing them into one form, and again changing them into varied circles and other shapes? Who is able “to number the clouds in wisdom”? Of him it is said in Job, “He knows the divisions of the clouds, and he bowed the heaven to the earth”; and, “He who numbers the clouds in wisdom”; and, “The cloud was not rent beneath him.” For so many measures of water lie upon the clouds, and they are not rent, but come down upon the earth in all good order. Who brings the winds out of their treasuries? And who, as we said before, has begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose womb comes the ice? For its substance is watery, but its effect stony. And at one time the water becomes snow like wool, at another it serves him who scatters the hoarfrost like ashes, and at another it is changed into a stony substance; for he steers the water as he wills. Its nature is of one kind, but its working of many powers. Water becomes wine in vines, gladdening the heart of man; oil in olives, making man's face shine; and it is changed into bread, which strengthens man's heart, and into every kind of fruit. [10] What, then, ought to follow upon these things? That the Creator be blasphemed, or rather worshipped? And I am not yet speaking of the hidden works of his wisdom. Look, I pray, at the spring, and the flowers of every kind, alike and yet distinct: the deep red of the rose, the pure white of the lily. For these come from one rain and one

earth: who distinguishes them? Who fashions them? Look, I pray, at the exactness: from the one substance of the tree, part is for shelter and part for various fruits, and the craftsman is one. Of one vine, part is for burning, part for shoots, part for leaves, part for tendrils, part for the cluster. Be amazed too at the close-set rings of knots that the craftsman put around the reed. From the one earth come forth creeping things, wild beasts, cattle, trees, foods, gold, silver, bronze, iron and stone. The nature of the waters is one, and from it comes the being of swimming creatures and of birds; so that as the one swim in the waters, so the birds fly in the air. [11] … this great and wide sea … [creeping things] without number. Who can describe the beauty of the fishes in it? Who can describe the size of the sea monsters and the nature of the amphibious animals, how they live both on dry land and in the waters? Who can describe the depth and breadth of the sea, or the onset of its immense waves? Yet it stands at its bounds because of him who said, “Thus far you shall come, and you shall not pass beyond; but within you your waves shall be broken.” And showing the word of command laid upon it, when it has run up the shore it leaves a visible line of the waves on the beaches, as if showing those who see it that it has not transgressed the bounds appointed for it. [12] Who can examine the nature of the birds of the air? How some carry music in their tongue, others are decked with every kind of painting on their wings, and others fly up into mid-air and hang there motionless, like the hawk; for by the divine command “the hawk spreads its wings and stands motionless, looking toward the south.” Who among men can see the eagle when it has soared aloft? If you cannot perceive the most irrational of the birds when it has soared aloft, how would you perceive the Maker of all? [13] Who among men knows even the names of all the wild beasts? Or who can examine the nature of each? If we do not even know the mere names of the wild beasts, how shall we comprehend their Maker? One was the command of God, which said, “Let the earth bring forth wild beasts and cattle and creeping things after their kind”; and from one source, by one command, different natures came into being: the gentle sheep and the flesh-eating lion; and the different motions of irrational animals, which imitate the different dispositions of men: the fox, to show the craftiness among men; the snake, friends who shoot venom; the neighing horse, the licentious among the young; the most industrious ant, to rouse the sluggish and slothful. For when someone spends his youth in idleness, he is then taught by irrational animals, being rebuked by the divine Scripture, which says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard, and when you have seen its ways, be zealous, and become wiser than it.” For when you see it storing up its food for itself in good season, imitate it, and store up for yourself the fruits of good works for the ages to come. And again: “Go to the bee, and learn how industrious it is”: how, running over every kind of flower, it makes up honey for your benefit; so that you too, going about the divine Scriptures, may lay hold of your own salvation, and, being filled with them, may say, “How sweet are your words to my throat, more than honey and the comb to my mouth!”

Is not the Craftsman, then, the more worthy to be glorified? For what? If you do not know the nature of all things, are the things that were made therefore useless? Can you know the virtue of all herbs? Or can you learn all the benefit that comes from every animal? Even from venomous vipers antidotes have come for the preservation of men. But you will say to me, “The snake is terrible.” Fear the Lord, and it will not be able to harm you. “The scorpion stings.” Fear the Lord, and it will not sting you. “The lion is bloodthirsty.” Fear the Lord, and it will lie down beside you, as with Daniel. Truly one may also wonder at the working of animals: how some, like the scorpion, have their sharpness in a sting; for others the power is in their teeth; others fight with their claws; and the basilisk's power is its gaze. From the varied workmanship, then, perceive the power of the Creator. [15] But perhaps you do not know these things; you have nothing to do with the animals outside you. Enter, then, into yourself, and from your own nature perceive the Craftsman. What is there to blame in the structure of your body? Be master of yourself, and nothing evil will come from any of your members. In the beginning Adam was naked in paradise with Eve, but he was not cast out because of his members. The members, then, are not the cause of sin, but those who use the members badly; and the Maker of the members is wise. Who prepared the hollows of the womb for the bearing of children? Who gave life to the lifeless thing within it? Who knit us together with sinews and bones, and clothed us with skin and flesh,

and as soon as the infant is born brings forth fountains of milk from the breasts? How does the infant grow into a child, and the child into a youth, then into a man, and the same man in turn change into an old man, while no one perceives exactly the change from day to day? How is part of the food turned into blood, part separated off for excretion, and part changed into flesh? Who moves the heart in ceaseless motion? Who wisely protected the tenderness of the eyes with the covering of the eyelids? For the many-volumed books of the physicians scarcely explain the varied and wonderful structure of the eyes. Who distributes the one breath to the whole body? You see, O man, the Craftsman; you see the wise Creator. [16] These things my discourse has now set out at length, while many others, tens of thousands, have been left aside, especially the incorporeal and invisible things: so that you may hate those who blaspheme the wise and good Craftsman; and so that, from what has been said and read, and from whatever you yourself may be able to find or understand, having seen the Maker correspondingly from the greatness and beauty of created things, you may reverently bend the knee to the Maker of all things (of things sensible and intelligible, I mean, visible and invisible), and with a grateful and reverent tongue, with unceasing lips and heart, may sing hymns to God, saying, “How marvellous are your works, O Lord; in wisdom you have made them all.” For to you belong honour, glory and majesty, now and to the ages of ages. Amen.

… “… except through me.” For if you deny the Door, the knowledge of the Father is shut off from you. “No one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son reveals him”; for if you deny the one who reveals, you remain in ignorance. There is a sentence in the Gospels which says, “He who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” For the Father is indignant when his only-begotten Son is set at nought. It is grievous to a king when even a common soldier is dishonoured; but when one of his distinguished bodyguards or friends is dishonoured, then his anger becomes greater; and if anyone insults the king's only-begotten son himself, who will appease the father in his indignation for his only-begotten son?

If, then, anyone wishes to be devout toward God, let him worship the Son, since otherwise the Father does not accept the worship. The Father cried aloud from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Father was well pleased in the Son; unless you too are well pleased in him, you do not have life. Do not be carried away along with the Jews, who say craftily, “There is one God alone”; but along with knowing that there is one God, know also that there is an only-begotten Son of God. I was not the first to say this; the Psalmist says in the person of the Son, “The Lord said to me, You are my Son.” Do not attend, then, to what the Jews say, but to what the prophets say. Do you wonder that those who stoned and killed the prophets reject the prophets' words?

Believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. … We say “Lord Jesus Christ” that his sonship may be only-begotten; we say “one” so that you may not suppose another; we say “one” so that you may not impiously scatter the many names of his working among many sons. For he is called a door; but do not think the name means a door of wood, but a rational, living door, which discerns those who enter. He is called a way, not one trodden by feet, but one that leads to the Father in heaven. He is called a sheep, not an irrational one, but the one that by its precious blood cleanses the world of its sins, that is led before the shearer and knows when to be silent. This sheep again is called a shepherd, who says, “I am the good shepherd”: a sheep because of his humanity, a shepherd because of the love for mankind of his Godhead. And would you know that there are rational sheep? The Saviour says to the apostles, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Again, he is called a lion, not a man-eater, but as if showing by the name the kingly, steadfast and confident character of his nature; and he is called a lion in opposition to the lion our adversary, who roars and devours those who have been deceived. For the Saviour came, not changing the gentleness of his own nature, but as the mighty lion of the tribe of Judah, saving those who believe and trampling down the adversary. He is called a stone, not a lifeless one quarried by men's hands, but a chief cornerstone, in which whoever believes shall not be put to shame.

He is called Christ, not as anointed by human hands, but as anointed eternally by the Father to a high priesthood above that of men. He is called dead, not as having remained among the dead, as all do in Hades, but as alone “free among the dead.” He is called Son of Man, not as having his birth from the earth like each of us, but as coming on the clouds to judge the living and the dead. He is called Lord, not loosely as those among men are, but as having a natural and eternal lordship. He is called Jesus fittingly, having the name from his saving healing. He is called Son, not as advanced by adoption, but as begotten by nature. And many are the titles of our Saviour. So, lest the many titles make you think there are many sons, and because of the errors of the heretics who say that Christ is one, Jesus another, the Door another, and so on, the Creed guards you beforehand, saying well, “in one Lord Jesus Christ”: for though the titles are many, the one who bears them is one.

But the Saviour becomes manifold to each person for his profit. To those who need gladness he becomes a vine; for those who need to enter he stands as a door; for those who need to offer up their prayers he stands as a mediating high priest. Again, to those who have sins he becomes a sheep, to be sacrificed for them. He becomes all things to all, remaining himself by nature what he is. For remaining so, and keeping the truly unchangeable dignity of his sonship, like a most excellent physician and a sympathetic teacher he adapts himself to our weaknesses. He is Lord in truth, not having received the lordship by advancement, but having the dignity of lordship by nature; and he is not called Lord loosely, as we are, but is Lord in truth, since by the Father's assent he rules over his own works. For our lordship is over men equal in honour and of like passions, often even over our elders; and often a young master rules over older servants. But with our Lord Jesus Christ the lordship is not so: he is first Maker, then Lord. First he made all things by the Father's will, then … [6] Christ the Lord is he who was born in the city of David. And would you know that Christ is Lord with the Father even before his becoming man, so that you may not only accept the statement by faith but also receive proof from the Old Scripture? Come to the first book, Genesis. God says, “Let us make man,” not “in my image” but “in our image.” And after Adam was made, it says, “And God made man; in the image of God he made him.” For it did not confine the dignity of the Godhead to the Father alone, but included the Son as well, to show that man is the work not only of God but also of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself also true God. This Lord, who works together with the Father, worked with him also in the case of Sodom, according to the Scripture that says, “And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven.”

This Lord was seen again by Moses, as far as Moses was able to see. For the Lord loves mankind, always adapting himself to our weaknesses.

And that you may know that this is the one who appeared to Moses, receive the testimony of Paul, who says, “For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ”; and again, “By faith Moses left Egypt,” and a little later he says, “considering the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures in Egypt.” This Moses says to him, “Show yourself to me.” You see that the prophets also saw Christ in those days, but each as far as he could receive him. “Show yourself to me, that I may see you clearly.” But he says, “No one shall see my face and live.” For this reason, then, since no one could see the face of the Godhead and live, he took on the face of humanity, so that seeing this we might live. And yet when he wished to show even this with a little majesty, when his face shone like the sun, the disciples fell down in fear. Now if the face of his body, shining not as much as he who worked it was able, but as much as the disciples could receive, frightened them, so that even so they could not bear it, how could anyone gaze upon the majesty of the Godhead? “It is a great thing you desire, Moses,” says the Lord, “and I accept your insatiable desire, and I will do this thing for you, but as far as you can receive it. Behold, I put you in the cleft of the rock; for being small, you shall stay within a small space.” [8] Now here, I pray, make sure of what is going to be said, because of the Jews; for our aim is to prove that the Lord Jesus Christ was with the Father. The Lord, then, says to Moses, “I will pass by before you in my glory, and I will call on the name of the Lord before you.” Being Lord, on what Lord does he call? You see how he was teaching in a veiled way the godly doctrine of the Father and the Son. And again in what follows it is written word for word: “And the Lord came down in a cloud and stood beside him there, and called on the name of the Lord; and the Lord passed by before his face, and called: The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and abounding in mercy and true, keeping righteousness and showing mercy to thousands, taking away iniquities and wrongdoings and sins.” Then, next, Moses, bowing down and worshipping before the Lord who called upon the Father, says, “Go along with us, O Lord.”

You have this as the first proof; receive also a second, plain one. “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand.” The Lord says this to the Lord, not to a servant, but to the Lord of all things and his own Son, to whom

he subjected all things. “But when he says that all things are subjected to him, it is plain that he is excepted who subjected all things to him,” and what follows, “that God may be all in all.” The only-begotten Son is Lord of all things, but the obedient Son of the Father; he did not seize the lordship, but received it, by nature, from the Father's own free choice. For neither did the Son seize it, nor did the Father begrudge the giving. He it is who says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father”: handed over to me, not as though I did not have them before; and I keep them well, not depriving the giver.

The Son of God, then, is Lord: he is Lord who was born in Bethlehem of Judea, according to the angel who said to the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy, that there is born to you today in the city of David Christ the Lord”; of whom one of the apostles says elsewhere, “The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ: he is Lord of all.” And when he says “of all,” exempt nothing from his lordship. For whether angels or archangels or principalities … or powers, or anything created that the apostles name, all are under the lordship of the Son. He is Lord of angels, as you have it in the Gospels: “Then the devil left him, and the angels came and ministered to him.” For it does not say that they helped him, but that they ministered to him, that is, as servants. When he was about to be born of the Virgin, Gabriel then served him, receiving his service as his own dignity. When he was about to go into Egypt, to overthrow the handmade gods of Egypt, again an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. When he had been crucified and had risen, the angel brought the good news, and says to the women, like a good servant, “Go, tell his disciples that he is risen, and he goes before you into Galilee; behold, I have told you”: all but saying, “I have not transgressed the command; I testify that I have told you, so that if you neglect it the blame may not fall on me, but on those who neglected it.” This, then, is the one Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the reading just now also speaks: “For even if there are so-called gods many, whether in heaven or on earth,” and so on, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.”

He is called by a double name, Jesus Christ: Jesus because he saves, Christ because he is priest. And knowing this, Moses, the most inspired of the prophets, bestowed these two names on two men chosen above all: Auses, the successor to his rule, he renamed Jesus; and his own brother Aaron he surnamed Christ; so that through two chosen men he might represent at once the high-priestly and the kingly office of the one Jesus Christ who was to come. For Christ is high priest like Aaron, since he did not glorify himself to become high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” And Jesus the son of Nave was a type of him in many things. For when he began to rule the people he began from the Jordan; whence Christ also, after being baptized, began to preach the gospel. The son of Nave appoints twelve to divide the inheritance; and Jesus sends out the twelve apostles as heralds of the truth into all the world. The Jesus of the type saved Rahab the harlot when she believed; but the true one says, “Behold, the tax collectors and the harlots go before you into the kingdom of God.” In the time of the type the walls of Jericho fell at a shout alone; and because Jesus said, “There shall not be left here one stone upon another,” the temple of the Jews opposite us has fallen: not that the sentence was the cause of its fall, but the sin of the transgressors became the cause of its falling.

There is one Lord Jesus Christ, a wondrous name announced beforehand by the prophets indirectly. For Isaiah the prophet says, “Behold, your Saviour comes, having his own reward.” Now among the Hebrews “Jesus” means “Saviour.” For the prophetic grace, foreseeing the Jews' killing of the Lord, veiled the name, lest, knowing it plainly beforehand, they should readily plot against him. But he was called Jesus openly, not by men, but by an angel, who came not by his own authority but was sent by the power of God, and who said to Joseph, “Do not fear to take Mary your wife; for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” And at once he gives the reason for the name: “For he will save his people from their sins.” Consider how one who was not yet born has a people, unless he existed even before he was born. And the prophet says this in his person: “From my mother's womb he called my name,” because the angel foretold that he would be called Jesus. And again, of Herod's plot, he says, “And under the shelter of his hand he hid me.”

Jesus, then, means “Saviour” according to the Hebrews, but in the Greek tongue “the Healer”; since he is physician of souls and bodies, and curer of spirits: curer of the bodily blind and giver of light to minds; physician of the visibly lame and guide of sinners' steps to repentance; saying to the paralytic, “Sin no more,”

and, “Take up your bed and walk.” For since the body was paralysed because of the sin of the soul, he cured the soul first, so as to bring healing to the body too. If, then, anyone suffers in soul from sins, he has the physician; and if anyone here is of little faith, let him say to him, “Help my unbelief.” If anyone is beset with bodily ailments too, let him not disbelieve, but let him draw near (for he heals these too), and let him know that Jesus is the Christ. [14] For the Jews accept that he is Jesus, but not further that he is Christ. Therefore the Apostle says, “Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” And Christ is high priest, having a priesthood that does not pass to another, neither having begun his priesthood in time, nor having any successor in his high priesthood, as you heard on the Lord's day when we discoursed at the assembly on “after the order of Melchizedek.” He did not receive the high priesthood by bodily succession, nor was he anointed with prepared oil, but before the ages by the Father; and he surpasses the others as much as he is priest with an oath. For they are priests without an oath, but he with an oath, through him who says, “The Lord has sworn and will not repent.” The Father's will alone would have been enough for certainty; but the manner of the certainty is doubled when an oath follows along with the will, “so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong encouragement” of faith, we who accept Christ Jesus as the Son of God.

This Christ, when he came, the Jews denied, but the demons confessed. But his forefather David was not ignorant of him, saying, “I have prepared a lamp for my Christ.” Some have interpreted the lamp as the brightness of prophecy, others as the flesh taken from the Virgin, according to the saying in the Apostle, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” The prophet was not ignorant of him, saying, “And declaring to men his Christ.” Moses knew him, Isaiah knew him, Jeremiah knew him; none of the prophets was ignorant of him. Even demons recognized him; for he rebuked them, and it says, “because they knew him to be the Christ.” Chief priests did not know him, and demons confessed him; chief priests did not know him, and a Samaritan woman proclaimed him, saying, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did; can this be the Christ?”

This is Jesus Christ, who came as high priest of the good things to come; who, because of the bounty of his Godhead, has given us all a share in his own name. For human kings keep the title of their kingship unshared with other men; but Jesus Christ, being the Son of God, has counted us worthy to be called Christians. But someone will say, “The name of Christians is new, and was not in use before this”; and new things are often opposed because they are strange. The prophet guarded against this beforehand, saying, “But on those who serve me a new name shall be called, which shall be blessed on the earth.” Let us question the Jews: Do you serve the Lord, or not? Show us, then, your new name. For you were called Jews and Israelites in the time of Moses and the other prophets, and after the return from Babylon, and up to the present: where, then, is the new name? But we, since we serve the Lord, have the new name: new indeed, but the new name “which shall be blessed on the earth.” This name has taken hold of the whole world. For the Jews reach only to a certain country, but Christians to the ends of the world; for it is the name of the only-begotten Son of God that is proclaimed.

Would you know that the apostles knew and proclaimed the name of Christ, or rather had Christ himself within them? Paul says to his hearers, “Or do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me?” Paul proclaims Christ, saying, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.” Who, then, is this? The former persecutor. O great wonder! The former persecutor himself proclaims Christ. But why? Was he won over by money? But there was no one to persuade him that way. Was it, then, that he saw him present and was put to shame? He had already been taken up into heaven. He went out to persecute, and after three days the persecutor is a preacher in Damascus. By what power? Others call their own friends as witnesses for their own side; but I have set before you as witness the former enemy. Do you still doubt? The testimony of Peter and John is great, but it might be suspected, for they were his intimates. But when the former enemy afterwards dies for him, who would still doubt the truth?

Having come to this point of my discourse, I truly marvel at the dispensation of the Holy Spirit: how he confined the letters of the others to a small number, but granted to Paul, the former persecutor, to write fourteen letters. Not because Peter or John was inferior did he restrain the gift (God forbid!), but so that the teaching might be beyond doubt he granted to the one who was formerly an enemy and persecutor to write more, so that we might all be brought to believe in this way. For all were amazed at Paul, and said, “Is not this he who formerly persecuted? Did he not come here to bring us bound to Jerusalem?” “Do not be amazed,” says Paul; “I know that it is hard for me to kick against the goads; I know that I am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God; but I did it in ignorance. For I thought that the preaching about Christ was the destruction of the law, and I did not know that he came to fulfil the law and not to destroy it. But the grace of God abounded exceedingly in me.” [19] Many, beloved, are the true testimonies concerning Christ. The Father bears witness from heaven concerning the Son; the Holy Spirit bears witness, descending bodily in the form of a dove; Gabriel the archangel bears witness, bringing the good news to Mary; the Virgin, the Theotokos, bears witness; the blessed place of the manger bears witness. Egypt bears witness, which received the Master while he was still young in body; Symeon bears witness, who received him in his arms and said, “Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples.” Anna the prophetess, a most devout woman, continent and ascetic, bears witness concerning him. John the Baptist bears witness, the greatest among the prophets and the leader of the New Covenant, who in a way joined both covenants, the Old and the New, in himself. The Jordan bears witness among rivers, the sea of Tiberias among seas; the blind bear witness, the lame bear witness, the dead who were raised bear witness; demons bear witness, saying, “What have we to do with you, Jesus? We know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Winds bear witness, rebuked and silenced; five loaves bear witness, multiplied for five thousand. The holy wood of the cross bears witness, seen among us to this day, and from here already filling almost the whole world through those who in faith take pieces of it. The palm tree in the valley bears witness, which supplied the branches to the children who then hailed him. Gethsemane bears witness, all but showing Judas still to those who reflect. This holy Golgotha, rising above us, bears witness to the sight. The tomb of holiness bears witness, and the stone that lies there to this day. The sun now shining bears witness, which was eclipsed then at the time of the saving passion; the darkness bears witness, which came then from the sixth hour to the ninth; the light bears witness, which shone forth from the ninth hour until evening. The holy Mount of Olives bears witness, from which he went up to the Father; the rain clouds bear witness, which received the Master; and the gates of heaven bear witness, which received the Master, of which the Psalmist said, “Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory shall come in.” Those who were once enemies bear witness, one of whom is the blessed Paul, an enemy for a short time but a servant for a long time. The twelve apostles bear witness, who proclaimed the truth not only in words, but also by their own tortures and deaths. The shadow of Peter bears witness, which healed the sick in the name of Christ. The handkerchiefs and aprons bear witness, which healed in like manner … by the power of Christ through Paul at that time. Persians and Goths and all those from the Gentiles bear witness, dying for him whom they have not seen with eyes of flesh; … who to this day through the faithful … bear witness; demons being driven out bear witness. … [20] So many and so varied witnesses there are, and more: is Christ, so witnessed, still disbelieved? If anyone, then, did not believe before, let him believe now; and if he was a believer before, let him receive a greater increase of faith, believing in our Lord Jesus Christ, and let him know whose name he bears. You have been called a Christian: spare the name; let not our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be blasphemed because of you; but rather let your good works shine before men, so that the men who see them may glorify in Christ Jesus our Lord the Father who is in heaven; to whom be glory, now and to the ages of ages. Amen.

That we hope in Jesus Christ has been said to you sufficiently, as far as we were able, in what was handed on to you yesterday. But we must not simply believe in Christ Jesus, nor receive him as one of the many who are loosely called christs. For they were christs in figure, but he is the true Christ, who did not rise from among men to the priesthood by advancement, but always has the dignity of the priesthood from the Father. And for this reason the Creed, guarding us beforehand lest we suspect him to be one of the mere christs, adds to the profession of faith that we believe “in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of …”

And again, when you hear “Son,” do not think of an adopted son, but a Son by nature, an only-begotten Son, having no other brother. For this is why he is called Only-begotten: because in the dignity of the Godhead and in his begetting from the Father he has no brother. And we call him Son of God not on our own account, but because the Father himself named Christ his Son; and a true name is the one that fathers give their children.

Our Lord Jesus Christ had then become man, but by the many he was not known. Wishing to teach what was not known, he gathered his disciples and asked, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”: not from vainglory, but wishing to show them the truth, so that while living with God, the only-begotten of God, they might not despise him as though he were a mere man. And when they said, “Some say Elijah, others Jeremiah,” he said to them, “They may be pardoned, since they do not know; but you, the apostles, who in my name cleanse lepers and cast out demons and raise the dead, ought not to be ignorant of him through whom you work these wonders.” And when all fell silent (for the lesson was beyond man), Peter, the foremost of the apostles and chief herald of the Church, using no clever invention and not persuaded by human reasoning, but with his mind enlightened by the Father, says to him, “You are the Christ,” and not only that, but “the Son of the living God.” And a blessing follows the word (for it truly was beyond man), and a seal on what was said, that it was the Father who had revealed it. For the Saviour says, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” He, then, who acknowledges our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God shares in the blessedness; but he who denies the Son of God is wretched and miserable. [4] Again, when you hear “Son,” do not take it only in a loose sense, but as Son in truth, a Son by nature, without beginning: not one who passed from servitude to the advancement of adoption, but a Son eternally begotten by an inscrutable and incomprehensible begetting. And likewise, when you hear “firstborn,” do not think it is as among men. For the firstborn among men also have other brothers. And it is written somewhere, “Israel is my firstborn son”; but Israel, like Reuben, was a firstborn who fell from his place. For Reuben went up to his father's bed; and Israel cast the Son of the Father out of the vineyard and crucified him. And to others too the Scripture says, “You are sons of the Lord your God”; and elsewhere, “I said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.”

… not “I begot.” They, when God spoke, received a sonship which they did not have; but he was not begotten something other than what he was: he was begotten Son of the Father from the beginning, being above every beginning and all ages, Son of the Father, like in all things to him who begot him; eternal from an eternal Father, life begotten from life, and light from light, and truth from truth, and wisdom from wisdom, and king from king, and God from God, and power from power.

If, then, you hear the Gospel saying, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham,” understand it according to the flesh. For he is Son of David at the end of the ages, but Son of God before all ages, without beginning. The one he took on, which he did not have; the other, which he has, he has eternally, being begotten of the Father. He has two fathers: one, David, according to the flesh, and one, God the Father, in a divine way. What is according to David is subject to time, can be touched, and is traced by genealogy; but what is according to the Godhead is subject neither to time nor to place, nor is it traced by genealogy: “for who shall declare his generation?” God is spirit; he who is spirit begot spiritually, as incorporeal, by an inscrutable and incomprehensible begetting. The Son himself says of the Father, “The Lord said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” And this “today” is not recent but eternal: a timeless today, before all ages. “From the womb, before the morning star, I begot you.”

Believe, then, in Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, and only-begotten Son, according to the Gospel which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”; and again, “He who believes in the Son is not judged, but has passed from death to life; but he who disobeys the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him, because he has not believed in the only-begotten Son of God.” John bears witness concerning him, saying, “And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth”; and trembling before him the demons said, “Ah, what have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of the living God?” [7] He is, then, the Son of God by nature, and not by adoption, begotten of the Father. And he who loves the begetter loves also the one begotten of him; but he who rejects the begotten sends the insult back to the begetter. And when you hear of God begetting, do not sink down to bodies, and do not suppose a corruptible begetting, lest you fall into impiety. God is spirit; the begetting is spiritual. For bodies beget bodies, and in the begetting of bodies time must intervene; but no time intervenes in the begetting of the Son from the Father. And here below what is begotten is begotten imperfect; but the Son of God was begotten perfect, for what he is now, that he is from the beginning, begotten without beginning. We are begotten and pass from childish ignorance to reason; your begetting, O man, is imperfect, for your growth comes by advancement. But do not think it is so there, and do not accuse the begetter of weakness. For if what he begot was imperfect, and acquired its perfection in time, you accuse the begetter of weakness; since, by your account, the begetter did not grant from the beginning what time granted afterwards.

Do not think, then, that the begetting is human, nor as Abraham begot Isaac. For Abraham begot Isaac, but he begot not whom he wished, but whom another granted. But when God the Father begets, there is neither ignorance nor deliberation in between. For to say that he did not know what was being begotten is the greatest impiety; and to say that after deliberating over a time he afterwards became Father belongs to the same impiety. For God was not first childless and afterwards in time became Father; he always has the Son, having begotten him not as men beget men, but as he alone knows, who begot him before all ages, true God.

For the Father, being true God, begot the Son like himself, true God; not as teachers beget disciples, not as Paul says to some, “For in Christ Jesus I begot you through the gospel.” For there one who was not a son by nature became a son through discipleship; but here he is a natural son, a true son. Not as you who are being enlightened now become sons of God; for you too become sons, but by adoption, by grace, as it is written, “But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” And we are born of water and Spirit; but Christ was not so begotten of the Father. For at the time of the baptism, when he spoke to him and said, “This is my Son,” he did not say, “This has now become my Son,” but “This is my Son,” to show that he was Son even before the working of baptism.

The Father begot the Son, not as among men the mind begets a word. For the mind in us has real subsistence, but the word, once spoken and scattered into the air, perishes. But we know Christ to have been begotten as a Word, not uttered, but a Word subsisting and living; not spoken by lips and scattered, but begotten of the Father eternally and ineffably, and in subsistence. For “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”: seated at the right hand; the Word who understands the Father's will and creates all things at his assent; the Word who came down and went up (for the uttered word, when spoken, neither comes down nor goes up); the Word who speaks and says, “What I have seen with my Father, these things I speak”; the Word who has authority and reigns over all things; for the Father has handed all things over to the Son.

The Father, then, begot him, not in such a way as any man might conceive, but as he alone knows. For we do not undertake to say how he begot him; we affirm only that it was not in this way. And not only are we ignorant of the begetting of the Son from the Father, but so is every created nature. “Speak to the earth, if it will tell you”; and even if you inquire of all the things that are on the earth, they will not be able to tell. For the earth cannot tell the substance of its own potter and fashioner. And not only does the earth not know, but neither does the sun; for the sun was created on the fourth day, without knowing what was made in the three days before it; and he who does not know what was made in the three days before him will not be able to declare the Maker himself. The heaven will not declare this; for at the Father's assent the heaven too was established like smoke by Christ. Nor will the heavens of heavens declare it, nor will the waters above the heavens declare this. Why, then, are you downcast, O man, at being ignorant of what even the heavens do not know? And not only are the heavens ignorant of the begetting, but the whole angelic nature as well. For if someone, were it possible, went up to the first heaven and, observing the order of the angels there, approached and asked how God begot his own Son, they would perhaps say, “We have above us greater and higher ones; ask them.” Go up to the second heaven and reach the third; attain, if you can, to thrones and dominions, principalities and powers; even if someone should reach them, which is impossible, they too will decline to explain, for they do not know.

And I have always wondered at the curiosity of the rash, who through what they take for reverence fall into impiety. For while they are ignorant of thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, the works of Christ, they undertake to pry into the Maker himself. Tell me first, most rash man, how a throne differs from a dominion, and then pry into what concerns Christ. Tell me what a principality is, what a power, what a virtue, what an angel; and then pry into their Maker, for all things were made through him. … or you cannot. What else knows the depths of God but the Holy Spirit alone, who spoke the divine Scriptures? But not even the Holy Spirit himself has spoken in the Scriptures about the begetting of the Son from the Father. Why, then, do you pry into what not even the Holy Spirit has written in the Scriptures? You who do not know what is written, do you pry into what is not written? There are many questions in the divine Scriptures; we do not comprehend what is written; why do we pry into what is not written? It is enough for us to know that God begot one only Son. [13] … gives life. Neither did the begetter suffer any loss, nor is anything lacking to the begotten (I know that I have often said this, but it is said often for your safety); neither has the begetter a father, nor the begotten a brother; neither was the begetter changed into a son, nor did the begotten become a father. From one only Father, one only-begotten Son. There are neither two unbegotten nor two only-begotten; but there is one Father, unbegotten (for he is unbegotten who has no father), and there is one Son, eternally begotten of the Father: not begotten in time, but begotten before the ages; not grown by advancement, but begotten what he now is. [14] We believe, then, in the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father, true God. For the true God does not beget a false one, as has been said. Nor did he deliberate and afterwards beget, but he begot eternally, and far more swiftly than our words or thoughts. For we, speaking in time, spend time; but with the divine power the begetting is timeless. And, as has often been said, he did not bring the Son from non-being into being, nor bring one who did not exist into sonship; but the Father, being eternal, eternally and ineffably begot one only Son, who has no brother. Nor are there two first principles; but the head of the Son is the Father: the principle is one. For the Father begot the Son, true God, called Emmanuel; and Emmanuel is interpreted “God with us.”

And would you know that he who was begotten of the Father and afterwards became man is God? Hear the prophet saying, “This is our God; no other shall be reckoned beside him. He found out every way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob his servant and to Israel who is loved by him. After this he appeared on earth and lived among men.” Do you see God become man after the lawgiving of Moses? Receive also a second testimony to the Godhead of Christ, the one just read: “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” For lest, because of his coming here in the flesh, he should be thought to have come afterwards to Godhead by advancement, it says plainly, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” Do you see Christ, God, anointed by God the Father?

Would you also receive a third testimony to the Godhead of Christ? Hear Isaiah saying, “Egypt has laboured, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians,” and a little later, “And in you they shall pray, because God is in you, and there is no God besides you. For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Saviour.” You see the Son as God, having God the Father in himself, saying almost the same as he said in the Gospels: “The Father is in me, and I in the Father.” He did not say, “I am the Father,” but “The Father is in me, and I in the Father.” And again he did not say, “I and the Father am one,” but “I and the Father are one”: so that we may neither estrange them nor bring about a fusion of Son and Father. One, because of the dignity of the Godhead, since God begot God. One, because of the kingdom: for the Father does not reign over some and the Son over others, as Absalom rose up against his father; but over whom the Father reigns, over them the Son reigns too. One, because there is no disagreement or division at all: for the Father's wills are not one thing and the Son's another. One, because Christ's works are not one thing and the Father's another: for the creation of all things is one, the Father having made them through the Son. “For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created,” says the Psalmist. For he who speaks speaks to one who hears, and he who commands gives his command to one who is present with him.

The Son, then, is true God, having the Father in himself, not changed into the Father. For it was not the Father who became man, but the Son; let the truth be spoken freely. The Father did not suffer for us; the Father sent the one who suffered for us. Let us never say, “There was a time when the Son was not”; nor let us accept a fusion of Son and Father; but let us walk on the royal road, turning aside neither to the left nor to the right. Let us not, thinking to honour the Son, proclaim him the Father;

nor, thinking to honour the Father, suspect the Son to be one of the creatures. But let the one Father be worshipped through the one Son, and let not the worship be divided …

… before the ages, seated at the right hand of the Father, having obtained his sitting with him not in time after the passion, by advancement, but possessing it eternally.

He who has seen the Son has seen the Father. For the Son is like in all things to the one who begot him: life begotten from life, and light from light, power from power, God from God. And the features of the Godhead are unchanged in the Son; and he who is counted worthy to see the Godhead of the Son comes to the enjoyment of the begetter. The word is not mine, but the only-begotten Son's: “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father.” And to put it more briefly, let us neither separate them nor bring about a fusion; and never say that the Son is foreign to the Father, nor accept those who say that the Father is sometimes Father and sometimes Son. These things are foreign and impious, and not the teachings of the Church. But the Father, having begotten the Son, remained Father and is not changed. He begot Wisdom, but did not himself become unwise; and having begotten Power, he did not become weak; having begotten God, he was not himself deprived of the Godhead. Neither did he lose anything himself, being diminished or changed, nor does the begotten lack anything. Perfect is he who begot, perfect what was begotten; God is he who begot, God he who was begotten: God of all things, yet entitling the Father his own God. For he is not ashamed to say, “I go up to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.”

But lest you think that he is Father of the Son and of the creatures in the same way, he made a distinction in what follows. For he did not say, “I go up to our Father,” lest the creatures should have fellowship with the Only-begotten, but he said, “my Father and your Father”: in one way mine, by nature, and in another way yours, by adoption. And again, “to my God and your God”: in one way mine, as of the true and only-begotten Son, and in another way yours, as of creatures. The Son of God, then, is true God, begotten ineffably before all ages; for I say the same thing to you often, so that it may be stamped on your mind. That God has a Son, believe; but how, do not pry, for seeking you will not find. “Do not exalt yourself, lest you fall.” “What has been commanded you, think on these things only.” Tell me first who the begetter is, and then learn what he begot; but if you cannot conceive the nature of the begetter, do not pry into the manner of the begotten.

It is enough for your piety to know, as we said, that God has one only Son, one naturally begotten, who did not begin to be when he was born in Bethlehem, but before all ages. For hear the prophet Micah saying, “And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are you too few to be among the thousands of Judah? For from you shall come forth for me a ruler who shall shepherd my people Israel; and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” Do not look, then, only to him who is now from Bethlehem, but worship him who was eternally begotten of the Father. Do not accept anyone who speaks of a beginning of the Son in time, but know the Father as his timeless beginning. For the beginning of the Son is timeless, incomprehensible, without beginning: the Father, the fount of the river of righteousness, of the Only-begotten, who begot him as he alone knows. And would you know that our Lord Jesus Christ is also an eternal king? Hear him again saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad.” Then, when the Jews took this hard, he says what was harder still for them: “Before Abraham came to be, I am.” And again he says to the Father, “And now, Father, glorify me with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was”; for he said plainly, “Before the world came to be I had the glory with you.” And again, by saying, “For you loved me before the foundation of the world,” he says plainly, “I have the glory with you eternally.”

Let us believe, then, in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father, true God, before all ages, through whom all things were made. For whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were made through him, and none of the things that came to be is exempt from his authority. Let every heresy be silenced that brings in different makers and world-creators; let the tongue be silenced that blasphemes Christ the Son of God; let those be silenced who say that the sun is the Christ, for he is the Maker of the sun, not the sun that appears. Let those be silenced who say that the world is the work of angels, wishing to snatch away the dignity of the Only-begotten. For whether things visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions or anything that is named, all things were made through Christ. He reigns over what was made by him, not having seized another's spoil, but reigning over his own works, as John the evangelist has said: “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made.” All things were made through him, the Father working through the Son.

I wish to give some illustration of what has been said, but I know that it is weak; for what visible thing will be an exact illustration of the divine and invisible power? Yet let it be said, weak as it is, by the weak to the weak. Just as a king who has a son who is a king, wishing to build a city, might propose the building of the city to his son who reigns with him, and he, taking the plan, brings the design to completion; so, when the Father willed all things to be made, the Son created all things at the Father's assent: so that the assent may keep for the Father his sovereign authority, and the Son in turn may have authority over his own works; and so that neither the Father may be estranged from the lordship of his own works, nor the Son reign over what was made by another, but over what was made by himself. For, as has been said, angels did not create the world, but the only-begotten Son, begotten before all ages, as has been said, through whom all things were made, nothing being exempted from his making. And let these things be said by us for the present, by the grace of Christ.

Returning to the profession of faith, let us bring our discourse to a close for the present. Christ made all things, whether you speak of angels or archangels, of dominions or of thrones; not that the Father lacked strength for the making of his works, but because he willed that the Son should reign over what he himself had made, himself giving him the plan of what was being made. For, honouring his own Father, the Only-begotten says, “The Son can do …” … “… seeing you they cowered”: showing that he who went down into Hades out of love for mankind is the same who in the beginning fashioned man out of clay.

Christ, then, the only-begotten Son of God, is also the Maker of the world. For “he was in the world, and the world was made through him,” and “he came to his own,” as the Gospel teaches us. And Christ is Maker, at the Father's assent, not only of the things that appear but also of those that do not appear. For “in him all things were created,” according to the Apostle, “things in the heavens and things on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him; and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Even if you speak of the ages themselves, of these too Jesus Christ is the Maker at the Father's assent. For “in the last days he has spoken to us in … whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages.” … Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

… let us sing the praises of God born of the Virgin with lips full of … Counted worthy to partake of the flesh of the spiritual Lamb, let us take the head together with the feet: the head being understood as the Godhead, and the feet taken as the humanity. Hearers of the holy Gospels, let us heed John the Theologian. For he who said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” went on to say, “And the Word became flesh.” For it is neither holy to worship a mere man, nor godly to call him God only, apart from the humanity. For if Christ is God, as indeed he is, but did not take on humanity, we are strangers to salvation. Let him be worshipped as God, but let it be believed that he also became man. For neither is it profitable to call him man without Godhead, nor is it saving not to confess the humanity together with the Godhead. Let us confess the coming of the King and Physician. For Jesus the King, about to heal, girded himself with the linen cloth of humanity and cured what was sick; the perfect teacher of infants became an infant with the infants, to make the foolish wise; the bread of heaven came down upon the earth, to feed the hungry.

But the sons of the Jews, rejecting him who came and expecting him who comes in wickedness, refused the true Christ and, being deceived, await the deceiver; the Saviour being found true in this too, who said, “I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” It is good also to put a question to the Jews: Is the prophet Isaiah, who says that Emmanuel will be born of a virgin, true or false? If they accuse him of falsehood, it is no wonder; for it is their custom not only to accuse the prophets of falsehood but even to stone them. But if the prophet is true, show us the Emmanuel. And is the one you expect to come born of a virgin, or not? If he is not born of a virgin, you accuse the prophet of falsehood; but if you expect this of the one to come, why do you reject what has already happened?

Let the Jews, then, go astray, since they so wish; but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word truly made man: not of the will of man and woman, as heretics say, but of the Virgin and the Holy Spirit according to the Gospel, made man not in appearance but in truth. And that he truly became man from the Virgin, wait for the proper time of the teaching, and you will receive the proofs; for the error of the heretics is manifold. Some have said that he was not born of the Virgin at all; others that he was born, but not of a virgin, but of a woman living with a husband. Others say that Christ is not God made man, but a man made God. For they dared to say that it was not the pre-existent Word who became man, but a certain man who by advancement was crowned.

But you, remember what was said yesterday about his Godhead. Believe that he, the only-begotten Son of God, was himself born again, of the Virgin. Believe John the evangelist, who says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” For the Word is eternal, begotten of the Father before all ages; but the flesh he took on recently, for our sake. But many contradict, and say, “What cause was so great that God should come down into humanity? And is it God's nature at all to associate with men? And is it possible for a virgin to bear without a man?” Since there is much contradiction, and the battle takes many forms, come, by the grace of Christ and the prayers of those present, let us resolve each question.

And first let us inquire for what reason Jesus came down. And do not attend to my ingenious arguments, for perhaps you might be misled by sophistry; but unless you receive the testimony of the prophets on each matter, do not believe what is said; unless you learn from the divine Scriptures about the Virgin, the place, the time and the manner, do not accept testimony from a man. For one who is present and teaching may well be suspected; but who that has sense will suspect one who prophesied a thousand and more years beforehand? If, then, you seek the cause of Christ's coming, go back to the first book of the Scriptures. In six days God made the world; but the world was for man. For the sun, though it shines with the brightest rays, was made to give light to man; and all the animals were appointed to serve us; plants and trees were created for our enjoyment. All the works of creation are good, but none of them is the image of God, only man. The sun was formed by a command alone, but man by divine hands: “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” A wooden image of an earthly king is honoured: how much more the rational image of God? But this greatest of the works of creation, while it rejoiced in paradise, the devil's envy cast out. The enemy rejoiced over the fall of the one he envied: would you have wished the enemy to go on rejoicing? Not daring to approach the man because of his strength, he approached the woman as the weaker, while she was still a virgin; for it was after the fall from paradise that “Adam knew Eve his wife.”

Cain and Abel came next as the second generation of mankind; and Cain was the first murderer. Afterwards a flood was poured out because of the great wickedness of men; fire came down from heaven upon the people of Sodom because of their lawlessness. After some time God chose Israel; but this people too was corrupted, and the chosen race was wounded. For while Moses stood before God on the mountain, a calf was worshipped by the people instead of God. In the time of the lawgiver Moses, who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” a man dared to go into a brothel to commit lewdness. After Moses, prophets were sent to heal Israel; but in their healing they lamented that they could not overcome the

disease, so that one of them says, “Woe is me, for the godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none among men who does right”; and again, “All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is none who does good, there is not even one”; and again, “Cursing and stealing and adultery and murder have been poured out upon the land.” “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.” “They practised augury and sorcery and divination.” And again, “Binding their garments with cords, they made hangings next to the altar.”

Very great was the wound of humanity: from the feet to the head there was no soundness in it; one could not apply ointment, nor oil, nor bandages. Then the prophets, lamenting and wearied, said, “Who will give salvation out of Zion?” and again, “Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, and upon the son of man whom you made strong for yourself; and we will not turn away from you.” And another of the prophets entreated, saying, “Lord, bow the heavens and come down.” The wounds of humanity are beyond our healing. “They have killed your prophets and torn down your altars.” The evil cannot be set right by us; it needs you to set it right.

The Lord heard the prayer of the prophets. The Father did not overlook our race as it perished; he sent forth his Son, the Lord, from heaven as physician. And one of the prophets says, “The Lord whom you seek is coming, and he will come suddenly.” Where? To his own temple, the Lord, where you stoned him. Then another of the prophets, hearing this, says to him: “Speaking of God's salvation, do you speak quietly? Announcing the good news of God's coming for salvation, do you speak in secret? Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; speak to the cities of Judah.” What shall I say? “Behold our God! Behold, the Lord comes with strength!” Again the Lord himself has said, “Behold, I come and will dwell in your midst, says the Lord; and many nations shall flee to the Lord.” The Israelites refused the salvation that comes through me: “I come to gather all the nations and the tongues”; for “he came to his own, and his own did not receive him.”

And what do you grant to the nations? “I come to gather all the nations, and I will leave a sign upon them.” For from my struggle on the cross I give to each of my soldiers a royal seal to bear on his forehead. And another of the prophets said, “And he bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet”; for his coming down from heaven was not known to men.

Then Solomon, hearing his father David say these things, and having built a wonderful house, and foreseeing the one who would come into it, says in wonder, “Will God indeed dwell with men on the earth?” Yes, says David, anticipating him in the psalm entitled “For Solomon,” in which it is said, “He shall come down like rain upon a fleece”: rain, because of what is heavenly; upon a fleece, because of the humanity. For rain coming down on a fleece comes down without a sound; so that, since the mystery of the birth was unknown, the Magi said, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?”, and Herod, troubled, inquired about the one who had been born and said, “Where is the Christ to be born?” [10] But who is this that comes down? He says next: “And he shall endure with the sun, and before the moon, for generations of generations.” And again another of the prophets says, “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim it, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes to you, righteous and saving.” Kings are many: of which do you speak, O prophet? Give us a sign that other kings do not have. If you say a king clothed in purple, the dignity of the robe has been anticipated; if you say one escorted by spearmen and riding in gold-inlaid chariots, this too has been anticipated by others. Give us a sign peculiar to the King whose coming you proclaim. And the prophet answers and says, “Behold, your King comes to you, righteous and saving; he is meek, and mounted on a beast of burden and a young colt,” not on chariots. You have a unique sign of the King who came. Of kings, Jesus alone sat upon an unbroken colt, entering Jerusalem amid acclamations as king. And what does this King do when he comes? “You also, by the blood of the covenant, have sent forth your prisoners from a pit that has no water.” [11] But he might perhaps even sit on a colt; give us rather a sign of where the King who enters will stand. And give the sign not far from the city, so that we may not be ignorant of it; give us the sign near us, plain to see, so that even while in the city we may see the place. And the prophet again answers, saying, “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.” Does not anyone standing within the city see the place?

We have two signs, and we desire to learn a third. Tell us, what does the Lord do when he has come? Another prophet says, “Behold our God,” and next, “He himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear.” Let yet another testimony be given us. You say, O prophet, that the Lord is coming and doing signs such as have never been done; what other clear sign do you give? “The Lord himself comes to judgment with the elders of the people and with its rulers.” A remarkable sign: the Master judged by his servants the elders, and bearing it.

These things the Jews read, but do not hear; for they have stopped the ears of their heart, so that they may not hear. But we believe in Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh and became man, since otherwise we could not receive him. For since we could not look upon him or enjoy him as he was, he became what we are, so that in this way we might be counted worthy to enjoy him. For if we cannot look fully at the sun, which was made on the fourth day, can we see God, its Maker? The Lord came down in fire on Mount Sinai, and the people could not bear it, but said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself, and we will hear; and let not God speak to us, lest we die”; and again, “For who of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire shall live?” If hearing the voice of God speaking is a cause of death, how would the sight of God himself not bring death? And why do you wonder? Moses himself says, “I am terrified and trembling.”

What, then, would you have? That he who came for salvation should become a cause of destruction because men could not bear him? Or that he should suit his grace to our measure? Daniel could not bear the vision of an angel; and could you have borne the sight of the Master of the angels? Gabriel appeared, and Daniel fell down. And of what kind, and in what form, was the one who appeared? “His face was like lightning,” not like the sun; “and his eyes like lamps of fire,” not like a furnace of fire; “and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude,” not like that of twelve legions of angels; and yet the prophet fell down. And the angel comes to him, saying, “Do not fear, Daniel; stand up; take courage; your words have been heard.” And Daniel says, “I stood up trembling”; and not even so did he answer, until “the likeness of a man's hand touched him.” And when the one who appeared had changed into the appearance of a man, Daniel speaks; and what does he say? “O lord, at your appearing my inward parts were turned within me, and no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.” If an angel, appearing, took away the prophet's voice and strength, would God's appearing have left him breath? And until, as Scripture says, “one like the appearance of a man touched me,” Daniel did not take courage. Since, then, our weakness had been shown by trial, the Lord took on what man was seeking; for since man sought to hear from one of like appearance, the Saviour took on a nature with like feelings, so that men might be taught more easily.

Receive also another cause. Christ came to be baptized and to sanctify baptism; he came to work wonders, walking on the waters of the sea. Since before his coming in the flesh “the sea saw and fled, and the Jordan turned back,” the Lord took the body so that the sea, seeing him, might endure it, and the Jordan receive him without fear. This is one cause; but there is also a second. Through Eve, a virgin, came death; it was fitting that through a virgin, or rather from a virgin, life should appear; so that as the serpent deceived the one, so Gabriel might bring good news to the other. Men, abandoning God, made carved images in human form. Since, then, an image in human form was falsely worshipped as God, God truly became man, so that the falsehood might be undone. The devil had used the flesh as an instrument against us; and knowing this Paul says, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and taking me captive,” and so on. By the very weapons with which the devil used to defeat us, by these we were saved. The Lord took from us our likeness, to save humanity; he took our likeness, to give greater grace to what was lacking, so that sinful humanity might become a partaker of God. “For where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.” The Lord had to suffer for us; but the devil would not have dared to approach him if he had known him: “For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” The body, then, became a bait for death, so that the dragon, hoping to swallow it, might vomit up also those already swallowed. For “death prevailed and swallowed,” and again, “God has taken away every tear from every face.” [16] Was it to no purpose that Christ became man? Are our teachings ingenious phrases and human sophistries? Are not the divine Scriptures our salvation? Are not the predictions of the prophets? Keep this deposit for me, then, unshaken, and let no one move you: believe that God became man.

That it was possible for him to become man has been shown; but if the Jews still disbelieve, let us put this before them: What strange thing do we proclaim in saying that God became man, when you yourselves say that Abraham received the Lord as a guest? What strange thing do we proclaim, when Jacob says, “For I have seen God face to face, and my soul was preserved”? The Lord who ate with Abraham ate also with us. What strange thing, then, do we proclaim? But we also present two witnesses, those who stood before the Lord on Mount Sinai: Moses was in a cleft of the rock, and Elijah was then in a cleft of the rock. They, being present with him when he was transfigured on Mount Tabor, spoke to the disciples of the departure which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. But, as I said before, it has been shown that it was possible for him to become man; and the rest of the proofs is left for the diligent to gather.

Our discourse promised to find both the time of the Saviour's coming and the place; and we must not go away convicted of falsehood, but rather send away the newcomers of the Church well assured. Let us seek, then, the time when the Lord came, since his coming is recent and disputed, and since Christ Jesus is “the same yesterday and today and for ever.” Moses the prophet, then, says, “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers, like me”; but let the “like me” be kept for the present, to be examined in its proper place. But when does this expected prophet come? “Go back,” he says, “to what has been written by me; examine closely the prophecy spoken by Jacob to Judah”: “Judah, may your brothers praise you,” and what follows (not to quote it all), “A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes for whom it is laid up; and he is the expectation”—not of the Jews, but “of the nations.” He gave, then, as a sign of Christ's coming the ceasing of the rule of the Jews. If they are not now under the Romans, the Christ has not yet come; if they have a ruler of the race of Judah and of David, the one expected has not yet come. For I am ashamed to speak of their recent doings concerning those whom they now call patriarchs, what their descent is and who their mother; I leave that to those who know. But this one who comes as the expectation of the nations, what further sign does he have? It says next, “Binding his colt to the vine.” You see that colt clearly announced by Zechariah.

But again you seek yet another testimony of the time: “The Lord said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you”; and a little later, “You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron.” I have said before that the kingdom of the Romans is plainly called a rod of iron; and concerning it let us recall what remains from Daniel. For relating and interpreting to Nebuchadnezzar the image of the statue, he tells also the whole vision concerning it: and that a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, not formed by human contrivance, would prevail over the whole world. And he says most clearly: “And in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be left to another people.”

But we still seek a clearer proof of the times of his coming. For man, being hard to persuade, does not believe what is said unless he receives the very years clearly reckoned. What, then, is the season, and what is the time? It is when, the kings from Judah having failed, Herod, a foreigner, then reigns. The angel who speaks with Daniel says (and mark now what is said), “And you shall know and understand: from the going forth of the word for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem, until Christ the prince, are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” Sixty-nine weeks of years make 483 years. He said, then, that after Jerusalem was built, when 483 years had passed and the rulers had failed, then a king of another race comes, in whose time the Christ is born. Now Darius the Mede built the city in the sixth year of his own reign, the first year of the sixty-sixth Olympiad of the Greeks. Among the Greeks an Olympiad is the name for the games held every four years, because of the day made up every four years of the sun's courses from the three hours of each year. And Herod reigns in the 186th Olympiad, in its fourth year. From the sixty-sixth to the 186th Olympiad there are, then, 120 Olympiads between, and a little over. The 120 Olympiads make 480 years; the other three remaining years are perhaps taken up in the interval between the first year and the fourth. And you have the proof according to the Scripture which says, “From the going forth of the word for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem, until Christ the prince, are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” Of the times, then, you have this proof for the present, though there are also other, different interpretations of the weeks of years foretold in Daniel. [20] … “For from you shall come forth for me a ruler, to be prince in Israel; and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” … concerning the places, being an inhabitant of Jerusalem, you know beforehand also what is written in the 131st psalm: “Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of the wood”; for a few years ago the place was wooded. You have heard again Habakkuk saying to the Lord, “When the years draw near, you shall be known; when the time is come, you shall be shown.” And what is the sign, O prophet, of the Lord who comes? And he says next, “In the midst of two lives you shall be known”: plainly saying this to the Lord, “Having come in the flesh you live and die, and having risen from the dead you live again.” And from what part of the region around Jerusalem does he come: from east or west, north or south? Tell us exactly. And he answers most clearly and says, “God shall come from Teman” (Teman means “south”), “and the Holy One from Mount Paran, shaded, thickly wooded”; which the Psalmist said in agreement: “We found it in the fields of the wood.”

Next we ask from whom he comes, and how. Isaiah tells us this: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.” And the Jews contradict this, for it has long been their custom to oppose the truth wickedly; and they say that it is not written “the virgin” but “the young woman.” But I, granting what they say, even so find the truth. For we must ask them:

When a virgin is being violated, when does she cry out and call for helpers, after the violation or before it? If, then, Scripture says elsewhere, “The young woman cried out, and there was none to help her,” does it not speak of a virgin? And that you may learn more clearly that in the divine Scripture a virgin is also called a young woman, hear what is said of the Shunammite: “And the young woman was very beautiful”; for it is acknowledged that she was chosen as a virgin and brought to David.

But the Jews say again, “This was said to Ahaz, concerning Hezekiah.” Let us, then, read the Scripture: “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height.” The sign must certainly be something extraordinary: the water from the rock, the parting of the sea, the turning back of the sun, and the like. But what is about to be said holds a plainer refutation of the Jews. (I know that I am saying much, and that the hearers are weary; but bear with the multitude of words, since these things are stirred up for Christ's sake, and the words are not about ordinary matters.) Now when Isaiah said this, Ahaz was reigning, and Ahaz reigned only sixteen years, and the prophecy was spoken to him within these; the objection of the Jews is refuted by the king who succeeded him, Hezekiah son of Ahaz, who was twenty-five years old when he began to reign. For since the prophecy falls within the sixteen years, he had been born to Ahaz nine years before the prophecy. What need, then, was there to speak the prophecy about one already born, even before the reign of his father Ahaz? For it did not say “has conceived,” but “the virgin shall conceive,” speaking with foreknowledge.

That the Lord is born of a virgin, then, we have clearly learned; but we must show of what family the virgin was. “The Lord swore truth to David, and will not annul it: Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne”; and again, “I will establish his seed for ever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven”; and next, “Once I have sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie to David: his seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon established for ever.” You see that the word is about Christ, not about Solomon; for his throne did not remain like the sun. But if anyone objects because Christ did not sit on the wooden throne of David, let us bring forward that saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses”; for it means not the wooden seat but the authority of teaching. So seek for me the throne of David also, not the wooden throne, but the kingdom itself. And take as my witnesses the children who cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the King of Israel!” And the blind men also say, “Son of David, have mercy.” And Gabriel bears witness plainly to Mary, saying, “And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David”; and Paul says, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel”; and at the beginning of Romans he says, “who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” …

But the Jews are troubled at these things. Isaiah foresaw this too, saying, “And they will wish that they had been burned with fire; for a child has been born to us” (not to them), “a son also has been given to us.” Note that he was first Son of God, then given to us. And a little later he says, “And of his peace there is no bound.” The Romans have bounds; of the kingdom of the Son of God there are no bounds. The Persians and Medes have bounds, but of the Son there are no bounds. Then next: “Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to set it right.” The holy Virgin, then, was of David's line.

For it was fitting that he who is most pure, and a teacher of purity, should come forth from a pure bridal chamber. For if he who serves well as priest to Jesus abstains from a woman, how was Jesus himself to come from a man and a woman? “For you are he,” he says in the Psalms, “who drew me out of the womb.” Mark carefully the words “who drew me out of the womb,” which signify that he was born without a man, drawn out of a virgin's womb and flesh; for the manner is different for those born in the course of marriage.

And he who fashioned these very members is not ashamed to take flesh from such members. And who tells us this? The Lord says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you.” He, then, who in fashioning men touches them and is not ashamed, was he ashamed, in fashioning for his own sake the holy flesh, the veil of the Godhead? It is God who even now fashions infants in the womb, as is written in Job: “Did you not milk me like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.” There is nothing defiled in the human structure, unless one pollutes it with adulteries and licentiousness. He who formed Adam formed Eve too, and male and female were formed by divine hands. None of the members of the body, as formed from the beginning, is defiled. Let all the heretics be silenced who accuse bodies, or rather the one who formed them. But let us remember Paul, who says, “Do you not know that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?” And again the prophet foretold in the person of Jesus, “My flesh is from them”; and elsewhere it is written, “Therefore he will give them up until the time of her who bears.” And what is the sign? It says next, “She shall bear, and the rest of their brothers shall return.” And what are the betrothal gifts of the Virgin, the holy bride? “And I will betroth you to myself in faithfulness.” And Elizabeth, speaking to her, says likewise, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

But Greeks and Jews alike mock us, and say that it was impossible for the Christ to be born of a virgin. The Greeks let us silence from their own myths. You who say that stones thrown down were changed into men, how do you say that it is impossible for a virgin to bear? You who tell the myth that a daughter was born from a brain, how do you say that it is impossible for a son to be born from a virgin's womb? You who falsely say that Dionysus was carried in the thigh of your Zeus, how do you reject what is true among us? I know that I am speaking of things unworthy of the present hearing; but we have brought these forward so that you may reproach the Greeks at the right time, answering them from their own myths.

But meet those of the circumcision with this question: Which is harder, for an old and barren woman whose customary courses have ceased to bear, or for a young virgin to give birth? Sarah was barren, and when the ways of women had ceased with her, she bore against nature. If, then, it is against nature for a barren woman to give birth, so too for a virgin. Either reject both, then, or accept both. For it is the same God who did the one and brought about the other. For you will not dare to say that it was possible for God there and impossible here. And again: what is the nature of a man's hand, to be changed in a single hour into another form and restored again? How, then, was the hand of Moses made white as snow and at once restored again? But you say that God willed it and changed it. There God willed it and was able; and here is he not able? And that sign was for the Egyptians only, but this was a sign given to the whole world. O Jews, which is harder: for a virgin to give birth, or for a rod to be quickened into a living creature? You confess that in the time of Moses a perfectly straight rod became snake-like and was terrible to the one who threw it down, and that he who held the rod before fled from it as from a serpent. For it truly was a serpent; and he fled, not afraid of what he had held, but in dread of the one who had changed it. The rod had teeth and a serpent's eyes. Do seeing eyes, then, grow out of a rod, and is a child not born of a virgin's womb, if God wills? I say nothing of the fact that Aaron's rod did in a single night what other trees do over several years. For who does not know that a rod that has lost its bark will never sprout, not even if it is set among rivers? But since God does not follow the natures of trees, but is the maker of natures, the fruitless, dry and barkless rod blossomed, budded and bore nuts. Did he who for the sake of the high priest in figure gave the rod fruit beyond nature not grant the Virgin to bear for the sake of the true High Priest?

These are fine reminders from the accounts. But the Jews still object, and will not be persuaded by the accounts of the rod unless they are persuaded by births equally marvellous and against nature. Question them, then, in this way: Of whom was Eve born in the beginning? What mother conceived her who had no mother? But Scripture says that she came from Adam's side. Is Eve, then, born from a man's side without a mother, and is a child not born from a virgin's womb without a man? The female sex owed men a debt of gratitude: for Eve was born of Adam, not conceived of a mother, but as it were brought forth of a man alone. Mary, then, repaid the debt of gratitude, by giving birth not of a man, but of herself alone, undefiled, of the Holy Spirit, by the power of God.

But let us take what is greater still. That bodies should be born from bodies, though wonderful, is nevertheless possible; but that the dust of the earth should become a man, this is more wonderful. That shapeless clay should receive the coats and the brightness of eyes, this is more wonderful. That from dust of one kind should come the hardness of bones and the softness of the lungs and the other different kinds of members, this is wonderful. That clay, given life, should go about the world moving of itself, and build houses, this is wonderful. That clay should teach and speak, work as a craftsman and reign as a king, this is wonderful. Whence, then, most ignorant Jews, did Adam come? Did not God take dust from the earth and form this wonderful creature? Is clay, then, changed into an eye, and does a virgin not give birth to a son? Does what is more impossible among men happen, and what is possible not happen? [31] Let us remember these things, brothers; let us use these weapons of defence. Let us not tolerate the heretics who teach that his coming was in appearance only. Let us spit also upon those who say that the Saviour's birth was from a man and a woman, who dared to say that he was from Joseph and Mary, because it is written, “And he took his wife.” For let us remember Jacob, who before he took Rachel said to Laban, “Give me my wife.” For as she, before the marriage was made, was called Jacob's wife only because of the promise, so Mary too was called the wife of Joseph because she was betrothed. And see the exactness of the Gospel, which says, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph,” and so on. And again, when the census was taken and Joseph went up to be enrolled, what does the Scripture say? “And Joseph also went up from Galilee to be enrolled with Mary, who was betrothed to him as his wife, being with child.” For she was with child; yet it did not say “with his wife,” but “who was betrothed to him.” “God sent forth his Son,” says Paul, not “born of a man and a woman,” but “born of a woman” alone, that is, of a virgin. For we have shown before that a virgin too is called a woman. For he who makes souls virgins was born of a Virgin.

But you wonder at what happened; she herself who bore him wondered at it too. For she says to Gabriel, “How shall this be to me, since I do not know a man?” And he says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one that is born will be called Son of God.” The birth was undefiled and unstained. For where the Holy Spirit breathes, there all defilement is taken away: unstained was the birth in the flesh of the Only-begotten from the Virgin. And if the heretics speak against the truth, the Holy Spirit will convict them; the power of the Most High that overshadowed her will be indignant; Gabriel will stand face to face against them on the day of judgment; the place of the manger, which received the Master, will put them to shame. The shepherds will bear witness, who then received the good news, and the host of angels praising and singing hymns and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will”; the temple into which he was then brought up on the fortieth day; the pairs of turtledoves offered for him; and Symeon, who then took him in his arms, and Anna the prophetess, who was present.

Since, then, God bears witness, and the Holy Spirit bears witness with him, and Christ says, “Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth?”, let the heretics be silenced who speak against his humanity; for they speak against him who says, “Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” Let the Lord born of the Virgin be worshipped, and let the virgins recognize the crown of their own way of life; let the order of the monks also recognize the glory of chastity; for we are not deprived of the dignity of chastity. The Saviour's time of nine months was spent in the Virgin's womb, but the Lord was a man for thirty-three years; so that if a virgin glories because of the nine months, much more do we because of the many years.

Let us all, by God's grace, run the race of chastity, young men and maidens, old men with the younger; not going after licentiousness, but praising the name of Christ. Let us not be ignorant of the glory of chastity: for its crown is angelic, and its achievement is beyond man. Let us spare our bodies, which are to shine like the sun; let us not for a little pleasure defile so great and so noble a body; for the sin is small and for an hour, but the shame lasts many years, for ever. Those who practise chastity are angels walking on the earth; the virgins have their portion with Mary the Virgin. Let all adornment be banished, every harmful glance, every mincing walk, every robe and perfume that entices to pleasure. But let the perfume in all be the prayer of sweet fragrance, and the doing of good deeds, and the sanctification of bodies; so that the Lord born of the Virgin may say also of us, both of the men who live chastely

and of the women who are crowned, “I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” To him be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.

Every deed of Christ is a boast of the Catholic Church; but the boast of boasts is the cross. And knowing this Paul says, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of Christ.” For it was wonderful that the man blind from birth received his sight at Siloam; but what is that compared with the blind of the whole world? It was great and beyond nature that Lazarus rose on the fourth day; but the grace reached him alone: what is that compared with those throughout the world who are dead in sins? It was wonderful that five loaves poured forth food for the five thousand; but what is that compared with those starving in ignorance throughout the world? It was wonderful that she who had been bound by Satan for eighteen years was set free; but what is that compared with all of us who are bound fast by the chains of our sins? But the crown of the cross enlightened those blind in ignorance, set free all who were held by sin, and redeemed the whole world of men.

And do not wonder that the whole world was redeemed; for it was not a mere man, but the only-begotten Son of God, who died for it. Yet the sin of one man, Adam, had power to bring death to the world. But if by the trespass of the one death reigned over the world, how much more shall life reign by the righteousness of the one? And if then they were cast out of paradise because of the tree of eating, shall not believers now, because of the tree of Jesus, more easily enter paradise? If the first-formed man brought death on the whole world from the earth, does not he who formed him from the earth bring eternal life, being himself the life? If Phinehas, in his zeal, by slaying the evildoer stopped the wrath of God, does not Jesus, who slew no other but gave himself up as a ransom, take away the wrath against men? [3] Let us not, then, be ashamed of the cross of the Saviour, but rather glory in it. For the word of the cross is to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to us salvation; to those who are perishing it is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it was not a mere man, as has been said, who died for us, but the Son of God, God made man. Again: the lamb in the time of Moses drove the destroyer far away; did not the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, much rather set us free from our sins? The blood of an irrational sheep gave salvation; does not the blood of the Only-begotten much rather save? If anyone disbelieves the power of the Crucified, let him question the demons; if anyone does not believe words, let him believe what is seen. Many have been crucified throughout the world, but the demons cower before none of them; but at the mere sight of the sign of the cross of Christ, who was crucified for us, the demons cower; because the others died for their own sins, but he for the sins of others; for “he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” It is not Peter who says this, who might be suspected of favouring his teacher, but Isaiah who says it, who was not present with him in the flesh, but foresaw in the Spirit his coming in the flesh. But why do I bring only a prophet as witness? Take as witness Pilate himself, who condemned him, saying, “I find no guilt in this man”; and when he had given him up, he washed his hands and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man.”

And there is another witness to the sinlessness of Jesus, the robber, the first to enter paradise, who rebuked his neighbour and said, “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong; for you and I were present at his trial.”

Jesus, then, truly suffered for all men; for the cross was not a semblance, otherwise the redemption too would be a semblance; the death was not imaginary, otherwise salvation too would be a myth. If the death was imaginary, those were telling the truth who said, “We remember that that deceiver said while he was still alive, After three days I rise.” The passion, then, was real: for he was truly crucified, and we are not ashamed of it; he was crucified, and we do not deny it; rather, I glory in saying it. For even if I should deny it now, … refutes me …; the wood of the cross refutes me, which from here has since been distributed piece by piece to the whole world. I confess the cross, because I know the resurrection. For if after being crucified he had remained so, perhaps I would not have confessed it, for I might have hidden it along with my teacher; but since the resurrection followed the cross, I am not ashamed to declare it.

He was crucified, then, being in the flesh like all; but not for like sins. For he was not led to death for love of money, for he was a teacher of poverty; nor was he condemned for lust, for he himself says plainly, “Whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her”; not for striking or beating rashly, for he turned the other cheek also to the one who struck him; not for despising the law, for he was the fulfiller of the law; not for reviling a prophet, for he himself was the one proclaimed by the prophets; not for defrauding anyone of wages, for he healed without pay and freely; not for sinning in words, in deeds, or in thoughts: he “who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth; who when reviled did not revile in return, when he suffered did not threaten”; who came to the passion not unwillingly, but willingly; and if anyone dissuading him should say even now, “God forbid, Lord,” he will say again, “Get behind me, Satan.” [6] And would you be persuaded that he came to the passion willingly? Others, who do not know beforehand, die unwillingly; but he foretold his passion: “Behold, the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified.” And do you know why the lover of mankind did not shun death? So that the whole world might not perish in its sins. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over and will be crucified”; and again, “He set his face to go to Jerusalem.” And would you know clearly that the cross is a glory to Jesus? Hear him saying it, not me. Judas betrayed him, having become ungrateful to the master of the house: having just gone out from the table and drunk the cup of blessing, in return for the drink of salvation he wished to shed righteous blood. “He who ate my bread lifted up his heel against me.” His hands had just received the blessings, and just afterwards, for the money of betrayal, he was preparing death. And when he had been exposed and had heard, “You have said so,” he went out again. Then Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” You see how he knew the cross as his own glory? Then, was Isaiah not ashamed when he was sawn asunder, and will Christ be ashamed when he dies for the world? “Now is the Son of Man glorified”: not that he did not have the glory before, for he was glorified with the glory before the foundation of the world; but he was always glorified as God, while now he was glorified as wearing the crown of his endurance. He did not give up his life by compulsion, nor was he violently slain, but willingly. Hear what he says: “I have authority to lay down my life, and I have authority to take it again.”

“Willingly I yield to my enemies; for if I did not will it, it would not happen.” He came, then, to the passion by his own choice, rejoicing in the achievement, smiling at the crown, glad at the salvation of men; not ashamed of the cross, for it was saving the world. For the one who suffered was not a common man, but God made man, contending for the prize of endurance.

But the Jews contradict this, always ready to contradict and slow to believe; so that for this reason the prophet just read says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” Persians believe, and Hebrews do not believe; “those to whom it was not proclaimed concerning him shall see, and those who have not heard shall understand,” while those who study will reject what they study. They speak against us and say, “Does the Lord, then, suffer? Did human hands then prevail over his lordship?” Read the Lamentations; for in lamenting you Jeremiah wrote in the Lamentations what is worthy of lament. He saw your destruction, he looked upon your fall; he lamented the Jerusalem of that time; for the one that now is will not be lamented. For that one crucified the Christ, but this one worships the Christ. Lamenting, then, he says, “The breath of our face, Christ the Lord, was taken in our corruptions.” Am I, then, inventing? See, he testifies that Christ the Lord was taken by men. And what is to follow from this? Tell me, O prophet. And he says, “Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.” For he hints that the grace of life is no longer to dwell in Israel, but among the nations. [8] But since there has been much contradiction from them, come, at your prayers, as far as the shortness of the hour allows, let us by the grace of the Lord set out a few testimonies about the passion. For all the things concerning Christ are written, and nothing is doubtful, for nothing is without witness; all are inscribed on the pillars of the prophets, written plainly, not on tablets of stone, but by the Holy Spirit. Since, then, you have heard the Gospel speaking about Judas, ought you not to receive the testimony to it? You have heard that his side was pierced with a spear; ought you not to see whether this too is written? You have heard that he was crucified in a garden; ought you not to see whether this too is written? You have heard that he was sold for thirty pieces of silver; ought you not to learn the prophet who said this? You have heard that he was given vinegar to drink; learn where this too is written. You have heard that the body was laid in a rock and a stone placed upon it; ought you not to receive this testimony too from the prophet? You have heard that he was crucified with robbers; ought you not to see whether this too is written? You have heard that he was buried; ought you not to see whether what concerns the burial is accurately written somewhere? You have heard that he rose; ought you not to see whether we are deceiving you in teaching these things? “For our speech and our preaching are not in persuasive words of human wisdom.” We are not now setting sophistical contrivances in motion, for they are exposed; we do not conquer words with words, for they come to nothing; but “we preach Christ crucified,” who was proclaimed beforehand by the prophets. But you, receiving the testimonies, seal them in your heart. And since they are many, and the rest of the time is narrowed to a little, hear now a few of the most important, as far as is possible. Take these starting points, be diligent, and search out the rest. Let your hand not be stretched out only to receive, but be ready also to work. God grants all things: “For if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives, and he will receive.” May he, at your prayers, grant to us who speak the power to speak, and to you who hear the power to believe. [9] Let us seek, then, the testimonies concerning the passion of Christ; for we have come together now not to make a speculative exposition of the Scriptures, but rather to be assured of what we have believed. You received first the testimonies of the coming of Jesus; and that he walked on the sea, it is written (“For your way is in the sea”), [“Walking on the sea as on solid ground”]; and concerning the various healings you received testimony on another occasion. I begin, then, where the passion began. Judas was the traitor, and he came against him and stood, speaking words of peace and plotting war. The Psalmist, then, says of him, “My friends and my neighbours drew near against me and stood”; and again, “Their words were softer than oil, yet they are darts.” “Hail, Rabbi”—and he was handing over his teacher to death. He was not put to shame by the warning of him who said, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” For he was all but saying to him, “Remember your own name.” Judas means “confession”: you have made the agreement, you have taken the money; confess quickly. “O God, do not keep silent at my praise; for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful have been opened against me; they have spoken against me with a deceitful tongue, and surrounded me with words of hatred.” And that some of the chief priests also were present, and that the binding took place before the gates of the city, you heard recently, if you remember the exposition of the psalm that told the time and the place: how “they returned at evening

and hungered like dogs, and went round about the city.”

Hear also concerning the thirty pieces of silver. “And I will say to them, If it is good in your sight, give me my wages, or refuse,” and so on. One wage is owed me by you, for healing the blind and the lame, and I receive another: instead of thanksgiving, dishonour; instead of worship, insult. You see how the Scripture foresaw the events? “And they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.” O the prophetic exactness! O the great and unerring wisdom of the Holy Spirit! For he did not say ten, nor twenty, but thirty, exactly as many as there were. Tell us also where this price goes, O prophet. Does he who receives it keep it, or give it back? And after he gives it back, where does it go? The prophet, then, says, “And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them into the house of the Lord, into the foundry.” Compare the Gospel with the prophecy: “Judas,” it says, “repented, and threw down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed.”

But now I must seek the exact solution of what seems a discrepancy. For those who reject the prophets say that the prophet says, “And I cast them into the house of the Lord, into the foundry,” but the Gospel, “And they gave them for the potter's field.” Hear, then, how both are true. For the Jews who were supposedly devout, the chief priests of that time, seeing Judas repent and say, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood,” say, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” Is it, then, nothing to you who crucify him? Shall he who took and returned the price of murder see to it, and shall you, the murderers, not see to it? Then they say among themselves, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.” Out of your own mouth comes the condemnation: if the price is defiled, the deed is defiled too; but if you are fulfilling righteousness in crucifying Christ, why do you not accept the price? But the question is this: how do they not disagree, the Gospel saying “the potter's field” and the prophet “the foundry”? But not only goldsmiths have a foundry, nor only coppersmiths; potters also have foundries for clay. For sifting the fine, rich and useful earth from the gravel, and separating out the bulk of the mixed matter, they first temper the clay with water, so that what is to be made may be worked without hindrance. Why, then, do you wonder if the Gospel spoke plainly of the potter's field, and the prophet gave his prophecy as a riddle, since prophecy is often in riddles?

They bound Jesus and brought him into the court of the high priest. Would you also know that this too is written? Isaiah says, “Woe to their soul, for they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous man, for he is troublesome to us.” And truly, “Woe to their soul”; let us see. Isaiah was sawn asunder, and after that the people was healed. Jeremiah was cast into the mire of the cistern, but the wound of the Jews was healed; for it was smaller, since the sin was against a man. But since the Jews sinned not against a man but against God made man, “Woe to their soul.” “Let us bind the righteous man.” Could he not, someone will say, free himself, he who freed Lazarus, four days dead, from the bonds of death, and freed Peter from the iron bonds of prison? Angels stood ready, saying, “Let us burst their bonds asunder”; but they hold back, because the Master wills to endure this. Again he was brought to judgment before the elders. You have the testimony already: “The Lord himself will enter into judgment with the elders of the people and with its rulers.”

But the high priest, having questioned him and heard the truth, is indignant; and the wicked servant of wicked men gives him a blow; and the face that had shone like the sun endured being struck by lawless hands. And others come and spit on the face of him who had healed the man born blind with spittle. “Do you thus repay the Lord? This people is foolish and not wise.” And the prophet, greatly wondering, says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” For the thing is incredible, that God, the Son of God and the arm of the Lord, should endure these things. But so that those who are being saved may not disbelieve, the Holy Spirit writes beforehand in the person of Christ, who says (for he who then spoke these things was afterwards present), “I gave my back to the scourges” (for Pilate, having scourged him, handed him over to be crucified), “and my cheeks to blows; and I did not turn away my face from the shame of spitting”: all but saying, “Knowing beforehand that they would strike me, I did not even turn my cheek aside. For how should I have strengthened the disciples for death on behalf of the truth, if I myself had shrunk from it? I said, He who loves his life will lose it; if I had loved my life, how could I teach without doing what I taught?” First, then, he himself, being God, endured suffering these things at the hands of men, so that we men, suffering such things at the hands of men for his sake afterwards, might not be ashamed. …

… that the prophets plainly wrote these things too beforehand. But we pass over many of the testimonies of the Scriptures because of the shortness of time, as I said before. For if one should search out everything exactly, none of the things concerning Christ will be left without witness.

Bound, he came from Caiaphas to Pilate. Is this too written? “And having bound him they led him away as a present to King Jarim.” But one of the sharper listeners objects, “Pilate was not a king” (to pass over for now most of the question): “how, then, did they bind him and lead him away as a present to the king?” But read the Gospel: “When Pilate heard that he was from Galilee, he sent him to Herod.” And Herod was then king, and was present in Jerusalem. And see the exactness of the prophet: for he says that he was sent as a present; “for Pilate and Herod became friends with each other that very day, for before they had been at enmity.” For it was fitting that he who was about to make peace between earth and heaven should first make peace between the very men who condemned him; for the Lord himself was present, who reconciles the hearts of the rulers of the earth. Mark the exactness of the prophets and their true testimony.

Wonder at the Lord being judged. He endured being led and carried about by soldiers; Pilate sat in judgment, and he who sits at the right hand of the Father stood and was judged. The people that had been redeemed by him from the land of Egypt, and often elsewhere, cried out against him, “Away, away with him, crucify him!” Why, O Jews? Because he healed your blind? Because he made your lame walk, and the rest of his benefits? So that the prophet, astonished, speaks of this too: “Against whom have you opened your mouth, and against whom have you let loose your tongue?” And the Lord himself says in the prophets, “My inheritance became to me like a lion in the forest; it gave forth its voice against me; therefore I have hated it.” I did not reject them, but they rejected me; therefore I say accordingly, “I have forsaken my house.”

When he was being judged he kept silent, so that Pilate was moved for him and said, “Do you not hear what these testify against you?” Not that he knew the one being judged, but he was afraid because of his wife's dream that had been reported to him. And Jesus kept silent. The Psalmist says, “And I became like a man who does not hear, and who has no reproofs in his mouth”; and again, “But I, like a deaf man, did not hear, and like a mute who does not open his mouth.” You have heard about this before also, if you remember.

But the soldiers crowd around and mock him; and the Lord becomes their plaything, and the Master is mocked. “They saw me, and shook their heads.” Yet a figure of the kingship appears; for though they mock, they bend the knee. And before crucifying him the soldiers put a purple robe on him and place a crown on his head; what does it matter that it is of thorns? Every king is proclaimed by soldiers; so Jesus too had to be crowned by soldiers in figure; so that for this reason the Scripture says in the Song, “Go forth and see, O daughters of Jerusalem, King Solomon in the crown with which his mother crowned him.” And the crown too was a mystery; for it was the remission of sins, the release from the sentence.

Adam received the sentence, “Cursed is the ground in your labours; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” For this reason Jesus takes the thorns, to undo the sentence; and for this reason he was buried in the earth, so that the cursed earth might receive the blessing instead of the curse. At the time of the sin they clothed themselves with fig leaves; for this reason Jesus too made the fig tree the last of his signs. For when he was about to go to his passion, he curses the fig tree (not every fig tree, but that one alone, for the sake of the figure), saying, “Let no one eat fruit from you any more”: let the sentence be undone. And since they then clothed themselves with fig leaves, he came at a season when food is not found. Who does not know that in the winter season the fig tree bears no fruit, but is covered only with leaves? What all knew, did Jesus not know? But knowing it, he came as if to seek; not ignorant that he would not find, but making the figure of the curse reach only to the leaves.

And since we have touched on the things of paradise, I truly marvel at the truth of the figures. In paradise was the fall, and in a garden salvation; from a tree came sin, and sin lasted until a tree; in the evening, when the Lord walked, they hid themselves, and in the evening the robber is brought into paradise by the Lord. But someone will say to me, “You are inventing; show me the wood of the cross from a prophet; unless you produce a testimony from a prophet, I am not persuaded.” Hear, then, from Jeremiah, and be assured: “I was like an innocent lamb led to be slaughtered; did I not know it?” (For read it so, as a question, as I said; for he who said, “You know that after two days the Passover comes, and the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified,” did he not know?) “I was like an innocent lamb led to be slaughtered; did I not know it?” (What lamb? Let John the Baptist interpret, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”) “They devised an evil device against me, saying” (he who knows their devices, did he not know what would come of them?)—and what did they say? “Come, and let us put wood into his bread.” (And if the Lord counts you worthy, you will learn hereafter that his body, according to the Gospel, bore the figure of bread.) “Come, then, let us put wood into his bread, and let us wipe him out from the land of the living” (life is not wiped out; why do you labour in vain?), “and let his name be remembered no more.” Vain is your counsel; for before the sun his name remains in the Church. And that it was life that hung on the tree, Moses says, lamenting, “And your life shall hang before your eyes, and you shall fear day and night, and you shall not trust in your life”; and so too what was read just now, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

This figure Moses completed when he crucified the serpent, so that whoever was bitten by the living serpent and looked at the bronze serpent might be saved by believing. Then: does a crucified bronze serpent save, and does the Son of God made flesh and crucified not save? Life always comes through wood. For in the time of Noah the preserving of life was through an ark of wood; and in the time of Moses the sea, seeing the figure of the rod, was awed at the one who struck it; … the cross of the Saviour …? But I pass over most of the figures, for the sake of measure. The wood in the time of Moses sweetened the water; and from the side of Jesus the water flowed upon the wood.

The beginning of the signs in the time of Moses was blood and water, and the last of all the signs of Jesus was the same. First Moses changed the river into blood; and Jesus at the end brought forth from his side water with blood: perhaps because of the two voices, that of the judge and that of those who cried out; or because of the believers and the unbelievers. For Pilate said, “I am innocent,” and washed his hands with water; but those who cried out said, “His blood be on us.” So there were the two from the side: the water, perhaps, for the judge, and the blood for those who cried out. And again it may be understood another way: the blood for the Jews, and the water for the Christians; for upon them, as plotters, comes the condemnation from the blood, but to you who now believe the salvation that comes through water. For nothing happened without purpose. Our Fathers who interpreted the Scriptures have given yet another reason for the matter. For since the power of saving baptism in the Gospels is twofold, one granted to the enlightened through water, the second to the holy martyrs in persecutions through their own blood, there came out of the saving side blood and water, confirming the grace of the confession made for Christ, both in enlightenment and in times of martyrdom. There is also another reason for the side. Woman, who was formed from a side, became the leader in sin; but Jesus, who came to grant forgiveness to men and women alike, was pierced in the side for women's sake, to undo the sin.

And if anyone searches, he will find other reasons too. But these are enough to say, because of the shortness of time, and so that the hearing may not become wearisome to the listeners. And yet one can never grow weary of hearing about the crowning of the Master, especially on this most holy Golgotha. For others only hear, but we both see and touch. Let no one grow weary. Take up your arms against the adversaries on behalf of the cross itself; set up the faith of the cross as a trophy against those who contradict. For when you are about to dispute with unbelievers about the cross of Christ, first make the sign of the cross of Christ with your hand, and the gainsayer is silenced. Do not be ashamed to confess the cross; for angels glory in it, saying, “We know whom you seek, Jesus the crucified.” Could you not have said, O angel, “I know whom you seek, my Master”? But “I,” he says boldly, “know the crucified.” For the cross is a crown, not a dishonour.

But let us now return to the proof from the prophets of which I spoke. The Lord was crucified; you have received the testimonies. You see the place of Golgotha! You cry out in praise, as if assenting. See that you do not deny it in time of persecution. Do not rejoice in the cross only in time of peace, but keep the same faith in time of persecution too; do not be a friend of Jesus in time of peace and an enemy in time of war. You are now receiving the forgiveness of your sins and the gifts of the King's spiritual bounty; when war comes, contend nobly for your King. Jesus, the sinless one, was crucified for you; and will you not be crucified for him who was crucified for you? You do not confer a favour, for you received first; but you return the favour, paying your debt to him who was crucified for you on Golgotha. Golgotha is interpreted “Place of a Skull.” Who, then, were they who prophetically named this place Golgotha, in which Christ, the true head, endured the cross? As the Apostle says, “who is the image of the invisible God,” and a little later, “and he is the head of the body, the Church”; and again, “The head of every man is Christ”; and again, “who is the head of all principality and power.” The head suffered in the place of the skull. O great prophetic naming! The very name all but reminds you, saying, “Do not regard the Crucified as a mere man; he is the head of all principality and power. The head of all power is the one who was crucified, but he has the Father as head; for the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God.”

Christ, then, was crucified for us, who was judged at night, when it was cold, and a fire of coals was therefore laid. He was crucified at the third hour; and from the sixth hour there was darkness until the ninth; and from the ninth, light again. Are these things too written? Let us seek. Zechariah, then, says, “And it shall be in that day that there shall be no light, and there shall be cold and frost for one day” (the cold because of which Peter warmed himself); “and that day shall be known to the Lord” (what then? does he not know the others? There are many days, but this is the day of the Lord's endurance, which the Lord has made); “and that day shall be known to the Lord, and it shall be neither day nor night.” What is the riddle that the prophet speaks? That day is neither day nor night: what, then, shall we call it? The Gospel interprets it by telling the event. It was not day; for the sun did not shine evenly from east to west, but from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness in the middle of the day. The darkness was, then, interposed; and God called the darkness night. Therefore it was neither day nor night. For it was not all light, to be called day, nor all darkness, to be called night; but after the ninth hour the sun shone. The prophet foretells this too; for having said, “And it shall be neither day nor night,” he added, “And toward evening there shall be light.” Do you see the exactness of the prophets?

But do you ask exactly at what hour the sun failed? Was it the fifth hour, or the eighth, or the tenth? Tell the exact time, O prophet, to the Jews who will not hear: when does the sun go down? The prophet Amos, then, says, “And it shall be in that day, says the Lord God, the sun shall go down at noon” (for from the sixth hour there was darkness), “and the light shall grow dark over the earth in the day.” What kind of season is this, O prophet, and what kind of day? “And I will turn your feasts into mourning”; for what was done happened in the days of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of the Passover. Then next he says, “And I will make him as the mourning for a beloved one, and those with him as a day of grief.” For on the day of Unleavened Bread, at the feast, their women were beating their breasts and weeping, and … were in anguish … what was prophesied. [26] “But give me yet another sign,” someone will say; “what other exact sign is there of what took place?” Jesus was crucified; he had a single tunic, and wore a cloak. The soldiers divided the cloak among themselves, tearing it into four; but the tunic was not torn, for once torn it would no longer have been of any use; and the soldiers cast lots for it. The one they divide; for the other they cast lots. Is this too written? The diligent psalm-singers of the Church know it, who imitate the angelic hosts and sing hymns to God continually, who are counted worthy to sing psalms on this Golgotha and to say, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” And the lot was the soldiers' casting of lots.

Again, when he had been judged before Pilate, he wore red; for there they put a scarlet cloak around him. Is this too written? Isaiah says, “Who is this who comes from Edom, with red garments from Bosor?” (Who is this who wears scarlet in dishonour? For Bosor has some such meaning among the Hebrews.) “Why are your garments red, and your clothes as from a trodden winepress?” And he answers and says, “All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

He stretched out his hands on the cross to embrace the ends of the world; for this Golgotha is the very centre of the earth. The word is not mine; it is a prophet who said, “You have worked salvation in the midst of the earth.” He who established the heaven with his spiritual hands stretched out human hands; and they were fastened with nails, so that, when the humanity that bore the sins of men had been nailed to the wood and had died, sin might die with it, and we might rise in righteousness. For since death came by one man, life also came by one man: by one man, the Saviour, dying of his own free will. For remember what was said: “I have authority to lay down my life, and I have authority to take it again.”

But while he endured these things, having come for the salvation of all, the people gave him an evil recompense. Jesus says, “I thirst”: he who had brought them water out of the flinty rock; and he asked fruit of the vine which he had planted. But what does the vine do? The vine, by nature from holy fathers but by choice from Sodom (“for their vine is from Sodom, and their tendril from Gomorrah”), offers vinegar to the thirsting Lord on a sponge filled and put on a reed. “And they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” You see how clear the prophets' foretelling is. But what kind of gall did they give into my mouth? “They gave him,” it says, “wine mixed with myrrh”; and myrrh is like gall and very bitter. Do you thus repay the Lord? Is this what you offer the Master, O vine? Rightly did Isaiah lament you beforehand, saying, “My beloved had a vineyard on a hill, in a fertile place”; and (not to quote it all), “I waited,” he says, “for it to produce grapes; I thirsted for it to give wine; but it produced thorns.” For you see the crown that I wear. What, then, do I decree from now on? “I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it.” For the clouds, the prophets, were taken away from them; and from now on the prophets are in the Church, as Paul says, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge”; and again, “God gave in the Church some apostles and some prophets.” Agabus, who bound his own feet and hands, was a prophet.

Concerning the robbers crucified with him it is said, “And he was numbered with the lawless.” Both of them were lawless before this, but one was so no longer. For the one was lawless to the end, unyielding toward salvation; his hands were nailed fast, yet he struck with his tongue through blasphemy. The Jews passing by wagged their heads, mocking the Crucified and fulfilling what was written, “They saw me, they shook their heads”; and he joined them in reviling. But the other rebuked the reviler; and for him it was the end of life and the beginning of restoration, the surrender of his soul and the first taste of salvation. And after rebuking the other he says, “Remember me, Lord”; for it is to you that I speak; leave this man, the eyes of his understanding are blinded; but remember me. I do not say, Remember my works, for I fear them. Every man is well disposed toward his fellow traveller; I am travelling with you toward death; remember me, your fellow wayfarer. I do not say, Remember me now, but “when you come in your kingdom.”

What power enlightened you, O robber? Who taught you to worship the despised one who was crucified with you? O eternal light, which gives light to those in darkness! Therefore he rightly heard, “Take courage”: not that your deeds deserve courage, but because the King is present, granting grace. The request reached far ahead, but the grace was very swift: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”; because today you have heard my voice and have not hardened your heart. Very swiftly I pronounced sentence on Adam; very swiftly I pardon you. To him it was said, “In the day that you eat, you shall surely die”; but you today have obeyed by faith; today salvation is yours. He fell away through the tree, and you are brought into paradise through the tree. Do not fear the serpent; he will not cast you out, for he has fallen from heaven. And I do not say to you, “Today you depart,” but “Today you will be with me.” Take courage; you will not be cast out. Do not fear the flaming sword; it reverences its Master. O great and indescribable grace! Faithful Abraham had not yet entered, and the robber enters; Moses and the prophets had not yet entered, and the lawless robber enters. Paul too wondered at this before you, saying, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.” Those who bore the heat have not yet entered, and the one of about the eleventh hour has entered. Let no one murmur against the master of the house, since he says, “Friend, I do you no wrong; am I not allowed to do what I will with what is mine?” The robber wishes to do righteousness, but death forestalls him; I do not wait only for the work, but I have accepted the faith as well. I have come, who shepherd among the lilies; I have come to shepherd in the gardens. I have found a sheep that was lost, and I take it upon my shoulders. For he believes, since he himself has said, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.” “Remember me, Lord, when you come in your kingdom.” [32] I sang of this garden beforehand in the Song to my bride, and said these things to her: “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride” (and where he was crucified there was a garden). And what do you take from there? “I have gathered my myrrh”: having drunk the wine mixed with myrrh and the vinegar, and having received these, he said, “It is finished.” For the mystery has been fulfilled; the things written have been fulfilled; sins have been loosed. “For Christ, having come as high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more the blood of Christ?” And again, “Having, then, brothers, boldness to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the veil, that is, his flesh.” And since his flesh, the veil, was dishonoured, therefore the veil of the temple, the figure, was torn, as it is written, “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom”; for not even a little of it was left. For since the Master said, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate,” the house was torn apart. [33] The Saviour endured these things, having made peace by the blood of his cross for things in the heavens and things on earth. For we were enemies of God through sin, and God had decreed that the sinner should die. One of two things, then, had to happen: either that God, being true, should destroy all, or that, being loving to mankind, he should cancel the sentence. But see the wisdom of God: he kept both the truth of his sentence and the working of his love for mankind. Christ took up our sins in his body on the tree, so that we, having died to sins through his death, might live to righteousness. Not small was he who died for us: he was not a sheep of the senses; he was not a mere man; he was not an angel only, but God made man. The lawlessness of the sinners was not as great as the righteousness of him who died for them; we did not sin as much as he did righteousness who laid down his life for us, who laid it down when he willed and took it again when he willed. And would you know that he did not lay down his life by force, nor give up his spirit unwillingly? He cried to the Father, saying, “Father, into your hands …” … “that I may take it again.” And having said this he gave up his spirit; but not for long, for he quickly rose again from the dead.

The sun was eclipsed because of the Sun of righteousness; the rocks were split because of the spiritual Rock; tombs were opened and the dead arose because of him who was free among the dead; “he sent forth his prisoners from the pit that has no water.” Do not, then, be ashamed of the Crucified, but be bold and say, “He bears our sins and suffers for us, and by his stripes we were healed.” Let us not be ungrateful to our benefactor. And again, “For the lawlessness of my people he was led to death; and I will give the wicked in return for his burial …” Therefore Paul says plainly, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

But we seek to know clearly where he was buried. Is the tomb made with hands? Does it rise above the ground, like the tombs of kings? Is the sepulchre made of stones joined together? And what is laid upon it? Tell us, O prophets, the exact truth about the tomb also: where is he laid, and where shall we seek him? And they say, “Look to the solid rock which you have hewn; look in and see.” You have in the Gospels, “in a tomb hewn in stone, which had been cut out of the rock.” And what happens next? What kind of door does the tomb have? Again another prophet says, “They put my life to death in a pit, and laid a stone upon me.” I, the chief cornerstone, the chosen, the precious, lie for a short time within a stone: a stone of stumbling to the Jews, and of salvation to those who believe. The tree of life, then, was planted in the earth, so that the cursed earth might enjoy the blessing, and so that the dead might be set free.

Let us not, then, be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Let the cross, our seal, be made boldly with the fingers on the forehead and on everything: over the bread we eat and the cups we drink; in comings in and goings out; before sleep, when we lie down and when we rise; when we travel and when we rest. Great is the safeguard: free, for the sake of the poor; without labour, for the sake of the weak; since the grace too is from God. It is the sign of the faithful and the terror of demons; for “he triumphed over them in it, making a public example of them.” For when they see the cross they are reminded of the Crucified; they fear him who crushed the heads of the dragon. Do not despise the seal because it is a free gift, but for this reason honour your benefactor all the more. [37] And if you ever fall into a dispute and do not have the arguments of proof, let faith remain firm with you; or rather, become well learned, and silence the Jews from the prophets and the Greeks from their own myths. They themselves worship men struck by lightning; but the thunderbolt that comes from heaven does not come at random. If they are not ashamed to worship men struck by lightning and hated by God, are you ashamed to worship the beloved of God, the Son of God, who was crucified for you? I am ashamed to tell the stories about their so-called gods, and I leave them aside because of the time; let those who know speak. Let all heretics be silenced too. If anyone says that the cross is a semblance, turn away from him; hate those who say that he was crucified only in appearance. For if he was crucified in appearance, and salvation is from the cross, salvation too is an appearance. If the cross is an appearance, the resurrection too is an appearance; “but if Christ has not been raised, we are still in our sins.” If the cross is an appearance, the ascension too is an appearance; and if the ascension is an appearance, then the second coming too is an appearance, and everything henceforth is without substance. [38] Take, then, first, as an unbreakable foundation, the cross, and build the rest of the faith upon it. Do not deny the Crucified; for if you deny him, you have many to refute you. Judas the traitor will refute you first; for he who betrayed him knows that he was condemned to death by the chief priests and elders. The thirty pieces of silver bear witness; the Mount of Olives bears witness, where they were praying, present with him at night. The moon in the night bears witness; the day bears witness, and the sun that was eclipsed; for it could not bear to look on the lawlessness of the plotters. The fire will refute you, at which Peter stood and warmed himself; if you deny the cross, the eternal fire awaits you. I speak hard words, so that you may not experience hard things. Remember the swords that came against him in Gethsemane, so that you may not experience the eternal sword. The house of Caiaphas will refute you, showing by its present desolation the power of him who was judged there then. Caiaphas himself will stand against you on the day of judgment; the servant too will stand against you, who struck Jesus, and those who bound him and led him away … all but saying, “Why do you deny him who in our presence was falsely accused by the Jews, whom we knew to have done no sin? For I, Pilate, then washed my hands.” The false witnesses will stand against you, and the soldiers who put the purple robe around him and placed the crown of thorns on him, and crucified him on Golgotha, and cast lots for his tunic. Simon of Cyrene will refute you, who carried the cross behind Jesus.

From among the stars, the eclipsed sun will refute you; from the things on earth, the wine mixed with myrrh; from reeds, the reed; from herbs, the hyssop; from the things of the sea, the sponge; from trees, the wood of the cross; the soldiers, as has been said, who nailed him and cast lots for his garments; the soldier who opened his side with the spear; the women who were present then; the veil of the temple that was then torn; Pilate's praetorium, now laid waste by the power of him who was then crucified; this holy Golgotha, rising high above us and visible to this day, and showing even now how the rocks were then split because of Christ; the tomb nearby where he was laid; and the stone laid on the door, which lies to this day beside the tomb; the angels who were present then; the women who worshipped him after the resurrection; Peter and John, who ran to the tomb; and Thomas, who put his hand into his side and his fingers into the marks of the nails. For he too touched him carefully for our sake; and what you, not being present then, would have sought, he, being present, sought by God's dispensation.

You have twelve apostles, witnesses of the cross; and the world, the whole earth of men who believe in the Crucified. Let this very fact, that you are present now, persuade you of the power of the Crucified. For who has now gathered you? What soldiers? With what bonds were you compelled? What sentence urged you on now? But the saving trophy of Jesus, the cross, gathered all. This enslaved the Persians and tamed the Scythians; this gave the Egyptians the knowledge of God instead of cats and dogs and their manifold error; this to this day heals diseases; this to this day drives out demons and overthrows the sorceries of drugs and charms. [41] This shall appear again with Jesus from heaven; for the trophy shall go before the King: so that, seeing him whom they pierced and recognizing from the cross the one who was dishonoured, the Jews may repent and mourn (but they shall mourn tribe by tribe; for then they will repent …); and we may glory, exulting in the cross, worshipping the Lord who was sent and crucified for us, and worshipping also God the Father who sent him, with the Holy Spirit; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Rejoice, all you who mourned before when you heard of the outrages and lawless deeds of the Jews; for he who was insulted by them here has risen again. And as the hearing about the cross was grievous, so let the good news of the resurrection gladden those present. Let mourning be turned into gladness, and lamentation into joy; and let our mouth be filled with joy and gladness, because of him who after the resurrection said, “Rejoice.” For I know the grief of the lovers of Christ in the past days: since what was said ended at the death and the burial and did not announce the resurrection, your mind was in suspense to hear what it longed for. The dead one, then, has risen, he who was free among the dead and the liberator of the dead; he who in dishonour, by his endurance, had the crown of thorns bound around him has risen and put on the diadem of victory over death.

But as we set out the testimonies concerning his cross, come, let us now also make sure of the proofs of the resurrection; since the Apostle before us says, “He was buried, and has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Since, then, the Apostle has sent us back to the testimonies of the Scriptures, it is good for us to come to know the hope of our salvation, and to learn first whether the divine Scriptures tell us the season of his resurrection, whether it comes in summer or in autumn or after winter; and from what kind of place the Saviour rose; and what name of the place of the resurrection has been proclaimed in the wonderful prophets; and whether the women who sought him and did not find him rejoice afterwards when they find him; so that when the Gospels are read, the narratives of the holy Gospels may not be thought fables or rhapsodies.

That the Saviour was buried you have heard plainly in the previous discourse, from Isaiah, who says, “His burial shall be in peace”; for in his burial he made peace between heaven and earth, bringing sinners to God; and, “The righteous man is taken away from the face of unrighteousness”; and, “His burial shall be in peace”; and, “I will give the wicked in return for his burial”; and the prophecy of Jacob in the Scriptures, which says, “He lay down and slept like a lion and like a lion's whelp; who shall rouse him?”; and the similar saying in Numbers, “He couched and lay down like a lion and like a lion's whelp.” And you have often heard the psalm that says, “And you brought me down into the dust of death.” And we noted the place too, when we said, “Look to the rock …” … [4] First, then, he says in the eleventh psalm, “Because of the misery of the poor and the groaning of the needy, now I will arise, says the Lord.” But this is still doubtful to some; for he often rises up in anger too, to take vengeance on his enemies. Come, then, to the fifteenth psalm, which says plainly, “Preserve me, Lord, for in you I have hoped”; and after this, “I will not gather their assemblies of blood, nor will I remember their names upon my lips,” since they rejected me and enrolled Caesar as their king; and what follows, “I foresaw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken”; and a little later, “Moreover even until night my reins instructed me”; and after this he says most plainly, “For you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you give your Holy One to see corruption.” He did not say, “Nor will you give your Holy One to see death,” since then he would not have died; but, “Corruption,” he says, “I do not see, and in death I shall not remain.” “You have made known to me the ways of life.” Behold, life after death is plainly proclaimed. Come also to the twenty-ninth psalm: “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up, and have not made my enemies rejoice over me.” What happened? Were you rescued from enemies, or set free when about to be struck? He himself says most plainly, “O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Hades.” There he says, “You will not leave,” prophetically; here he speaks of what was to happen as having happened: “You have brought up.” “You have saved me from those who go down into the pit.” At what time does what follows happen? “Weeping shall lodge in the evening, and gladness in the morning.” For in the evening was the grief of the disciples, and in the morning the gladness of the resurrection.

And would you know the place too? He says again in the Song, “I went down into the garden of nuts”; for there was a garden where he was crucified. For though it has now been adorned most splendidly with royal gifts, it was formerly a garden, and its signs and remains are still there. “A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed”: by the Jews who said, “We remember that that deceiver said while he was still alive, After three days I rise; command, then, that the tomb be made secure,” and so on; “and they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone, with the guard.” Against whom someone aptly says, “And you will judge them at rest.” And who is the sealed fountain, who is interpreted as “a well of living water”? It is the Saviour himself, of whom it is written, “For with you is the fountain of life.”

But what does Zephaniah say to the disciples in the person of Christ? “Prepare yourself, rise at dawn; all their gleaning is destroyed”: of the Jews, that is, among whom there is left no cluster of salvation, not even a gleaning; for their vine is cut down. See how he says to the disciples, “Prepare yourself, rise at dawn”: expect the resurrection at dawn. And next, in the same sequence of Scripture, he says, “Therefore wait for me, says the Lord, until the day of my resurrection, for a testimony.” You see that the prophet foresaw also the place of the resurrection, which was to be called the Martyrium (“Testimony”). For for what reason is this place of Golgotha and of the resurrection not called a church, like the other churches, but a Martyrium? Perhaps because of the prophet, who said, “until the day of my resurrection, for a testimony.”

And who, then, is this, and what is the sign of the one who rises? In what follows, in the same sequence of the prophet, he says plainly, “For then I will turn to the peoples a tongue”; since after the resurrection, when the Holy Spirit was sent, the gift of tongues was given, “that they may serve the Lord under one yoke.” And what other sign is set out in the same prophet that they would serve the Lord under one yoke? “From the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring me sacrifices.” You know what is written in the Acts, when an Ethiopian eunuch came from the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia. When, then, the Scriptures tell both the time and the particular feature of the place, and also the signs after the resurrection, be assured henceforth of the resurrection, and let no one shake you from confessing Christ risen from the dead.

Take also another testimony, in the eighty-seventh psalm, where Christ speaks in the prophets (for he who then spoke came afterwards among us): “O Lord, God of my salvation, by day I cried, and by night before you”; and a little later, “I became as a man without help, free among the dead.” He did not say, “I became a man without help,” but “as a man without help.” For he was crucified not from weakness but willingly, and his death did not come from weakness against his will. “I was counted with those who go down into the pit.” And what is the sign? “You have put my acquaintances far from me” (for the disciples had fled). “Will you work wonders for the dead?” Then a little later, “And I cried to you, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer shall come before you.” You see how they show the time of the hour, both of the passion and of the resurrection? [9] And from where did the Saviour rise? He says in the Song of Songs, “Arise, come, my neighbour,” and in what follows, “in the shelter of the rock.” He called “shelter of the rock” the shelter that stood then before the door of the Saviour's tomb, hewn out of the rock itself, as it is customary here to make before tombs. For now it is not seen, since the outer shelter was cut away at that time for the present adornment. For before the building of the tomb by royal munificence, there was a shelter in front of the rock. But where is the rock that has the shelter? Does it lie near the middle of the city, or near the walls and the outskirts? And is it within the ancient walls, or within the outer walls built later? He says, then, in the Song, “in the shelter of the rock, close to the outer wall.”

At what season does the Saviour rise? Is it the season of summer, or another? In the same Song, just before the words quoted, he says, “The winter has passed, the rain has passed and gone; the flowers have appeared on the earth; the time of pruning has come.” Is not the earth now full of flowers, and are they not pruning the vines? You see how he said that the winter is already past. For when this month Xanthicus has come, it is already spring. And this is the season, the first month among the Hebrews, in which falls the feast of the Passover, formerly figurative but now true. This is the season of the creation of the world; for then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the herb of grass, yielding seed after its kind and after its likeness.” And now, as you see, every herb is already seeding. And as God then, having made the sun and moon, gave them courses of equal length, so a few days ago it was the season of the equinox. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” And the image he received, but the likeness he obscured through disobedience. In the season, then, in which he lost it, in that season the restoration also took place. When the man who had been fashioned disobeyed and was cast out of paradise, then he who believed obeyed and was brought in. Salvation, then, took place at the season when the fall took place: when the flowers appeared and the pruning had come.

A garden was the place of the burial, and a vine was what was planted there: “And I am the vine,” he said. He was planted, then, in the earth, so that the curse that came because of Adam might be rooted out. The earth had been condemned to thorns and thistles; the true vine sprang up out of the earth, so that the saying might be fulfilled, “Truth sprang up out of the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven.” And what will he who is buried in the garden say? “I have gathered my myrrh with my spices”; and again, “Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.” These are the tokens of the burial; and in the Gospels it is said, “The women came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared,” and “Nicodemus, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes.” And next it is written, “I ate my bread with my honey”: the bitter before the passion, and the sweet after the resurrection. Then, having risen, he entered through closed doors; but they disbelieved, for they thought they were seeing a spirit. But he said, “Touch me and see.” “Put your fingers into the mark of the nails,” as Thomas demanded. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” And they gave him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. You see how “I ate my bread with my honey” has been fulfilled.

But before he entered through the closed doors, the Bridegroom and Healer of souls was sought by those noble and courageous women. The blessed women came to the tomb and sought the one who had been raised, and the tears were still dropping from their eyes, when they ought rather to have been glad and to dance for him who had risen. Mary came seeking him, according to the Gospel, and did not find him; and afterwards she heard from the angels, and later saw the Christ. Are these things too written? He says, then, in the Song of Songs, “On my bed I sought him whom my soul loved.” At what season? “On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loved” (Mary, it says, came while it was still dark). “On my bed by night I sought him; I sought him, and did not find him.” And in the Gospels Mary says, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” But the angels who were present then heal their ignorance; for they said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Not only did he rise, but he rose having the dead with him. But she did not know, and in her person the Song of Songs says to the angels, “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” “It was but a little while after I passed from them” (that is, from the two angels) “until I found him whom my soul loves; I held him and would not let him go.”

For after the vision of the angels Jesus came as his own messenger, and the Gospel says, “And behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice. And they came and took hold of his feet.” They took hold of him, so that the saying might be fulfilled, “I will hold him and will not let him go.” The woman's body was weak, but her spirit was manly. “Much water did not quench love, nor did rivers overwhelm it”: the one sought was dead, but the hope of the resurrection was not quenched. And the angel says to them again, “Do not you be afraid.” It is not to the soldiers that I say, “Do not be afraid,” but to you. Let them be afraid, so that, learning by experience, they may bear witness and say, “Truly he was the Son of God”; but you need not be afraid, for “perfect love casts out fear.” “Go, tell his disciples that he is risen,” and so on. And they depart with joy, though afraid. Is this too written? The second psalm, which tells of the passion of Christ, says, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in him with trembling”: rejoice because of the risen Lord, but with trembling because of the earthquake and the angel who appeared like lightning.

The chief priests and Pharisees, then, sealed the tomb through Pilate; but the women saw the risen one. And Isaiah, knowing the worthlessness of the chief priests and the firmness of the women's faith, says, “Women, coming from the sight, come; for it is not a people that has understanding”: the chief priests are without understanding, and the women are eyewitnesses. And when the soldiers came to them in the city and reported all that had happened, they said to them, “Say that his disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.” Well, then, did Isaiah foretell this too, as from their lips: “But speak to us, and tell us another deceit.” The risen one has risen; and by a gift of money they persuade the soldiers; but they do not persuade the kings of today. … gave up the truth; but the kings of today, in their piety, have made this holy church of the Resurrection of God the Saviour, in which we are present, overlaid with silver and inlaid with gold, and have adorned it with treasures of silver and gold and precious stones. “And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him.” Even if you persuade them, you do not persuade the world. For why, as the guards were condemned when Peter came out of prison, were not those who guarded Jesus Christ condemned too? Upon those the condemnation came from Herod, for out of ignorance they could find no defence; but these, having seen the truth and hiding it for the money, were protected by the chief priests. But though few of the Jews were persuaded then, the world obeyed. Those who hid the truth were themselves hidden; but those who received it were made manifest by the power of the Saviour, who not only rose from the dead, but also raised the dead with himself; in whose person the prophet Hosea says, “He will heal us after two days; on the third day we shall rise up and live before him.”

But since the divine Scriptures do not persuade the disobedient Jews, but, forgetting all that is written, they speak against the resurrection of Jesus, it would be good to answer them thus: For what reason, while you say that Elisha and Elijah raised the dead, do you speak against the resurrection of our Saviour? Is it because we have no living witnesses now, from that time, of what is said? Then you too, produce witnesses of what happened then. But that is written? This too is written. Why, then, do you accept the one and reject the other? Hebrews wrote those things; and the apostles were all Hebrews. Why, then, do you disbelieve the Jews? Matthew, who wrote the Gospel, wrote it in the Hebrew tongue; and Paul the herald was “a Hebrew of Hebrews”; and the twelve apostles were all of the Hebrews. Then fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were appointed in succession from among the Hebrews. For what reason, then, do you accept your own writings but reject ours, though these too were written by Hebrews from among you?

“But it is impossible,” someone says, “for the dead to rise.” Yet Elisha raised the dead twice, both while he lived and after he had died. Do we, then, believe that when Elisha was dead, a dead man thrown upon him touched him and rose, and has Christ not been raised from the dead? But there, when the dead man touched Elisha, he rose, and the one who raised him remained dead as before; but here both our dead one rose, and many dead who had not even touched him rose. For “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city” (plainly this one, in which we now are) “and appeared to many.” Elisha, then, raised a dead man, but he did not conquer the world; Elijah raised a dead man, but demons are not driven out in the name of Elijah. We do not speak ill of the prophets, but we praise their Master the more highly. For we do not exalt our own things by disparaging theirs; for those too are ours. But we confirm ours from what they acknowledge.

But again they say, “A dead man who had then just died was raised by one who was living; but show us that it is possible for one three days dead to rise, and possible for a man who has been buried to rise after three days.” When we seek testimony about such things, the Lord Jesus himself gives it to us in the Gospels, saying, “For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” And when we examine the account of Jonah, the force of the likeness is great. Jesus was sent to preach repentance; Jonah too was sent. But the one fled, not knowing what would happen; the other came willingly, for repentance unto salvation. Jonah slept in the ship and snored while the sea was storm-tossed; and while Jesus slept the sea was roused by God's dispensation, so that afterwards the power of the sleeper might be known. To the one they said, “Why do you snore? Arise, call upon your God, that God may save us”; here they say to the Master, “Lord, save us.” There they said, “Call upon your God”; here, “Save.” But the one says, “Take me up and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be calm for you”; here he himself rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the one was cast into the belly of the sea monster; but this one went down willingly to where the spiritual sea monster of death is. … [18] Having come to this point of our discourse, let us consider which is harder: for a man who has been buried to rise from the earth, or for a man in the belly of a sea monster, having gone down into such great heat of the animal, not to rot? What man does not know that bellies have such great heat that even bones that are swallowed rot? How, then, did Jonah, being in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, not rot? And how, since it is the nature of all men that we cannot live without breathing this air, did he live three days without breathing this air? But the Jews answer and say, “The power of God went down with Jonah as he was tossed about in Hades.” Then does the Lord give life to his own servant by sending his power with him, and can he not give it to himself? If that is credible, this is credible too; if this is incredible, that too is incredible. For to me both are equally credible. For I believe that Jonah too was preserved, “for all things are possible with God.” I believe that Christ too was raised from the dead; for I have many testimonies about this, both from the divine Scriptures and from the working of the risen one to this day; who went down into Hades alone, but came up with many. For he went down into death, and “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” through him.

Death was struck with dismay at seeing a new kind of visitor come down into Hades, one not held by the bonds there. Why, O gatekeepers of Hades, did you cower at the sight of him? What unaccustomed fear took hold of you? Death fled, and its flight convicted it of cowardice. The holy prophets ran to him, and Moses the lawgiver, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David and Samuel, and Isaiah, and John the Baptist, who said and bore witness, “Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another?” All the righteous whom death had swallowed were being redeemed; for it was fitting that the King who had been proclaimed should become the redeemer of his good heralds. Then each of the righteous said, “O death, where is your victory? O Hades, where is your sting?” For the conqueror has redeemed us.

The prophet Jonah fulfilled the figure of this our Saviour, when he prayed out of the belly of the sea monster and said, “I cried in my affliction,” and so on, “out of the belly of Hades.” And yet he was in the sea monster; but though in the sea monster, he says he is in Hades, for he was a figure of Christ, who was to go down into Hades. And a little later he speaks in the person of Christ, prophesying most plainly, “My head went down into the clefts of the mountains.” And yet he was in the belly of the sea monster; what mountains, then, hold you? But I know, he says, that I bear the figure of him who is to be laid in the hewn tomb of the rock. And though he was in the sea, Jonah says, “I went down into the earth,” since he bore the figure of Christ, who went down into the heart of the earth. And foreseeing the Jews persuading the soldiers to lie and saying, “Say that they stole him,” he says, “Those who keep vain and false things have forsaken their own mercy.” For he who had mercy on them came, and was crucified, and rose, giving his own precious blood for Jews and Gentiles; and they say, “Say that they stole him,” keeping vain and false things. Concerning his resurrection Isaiah too says, “He who brought up from the earth the great shepherd of the sheep.” He added “great,” so that he might not be thought equal in honour to the shepherds who went before.

Since, then, we have the prophecies, let faith remain with us. Let those fall who fall through unbelief, since they so wish; but you have taken your stand on the rock of faith concerning the resurrection. Let no heretic ever persuade you to speak evil of the resurrection. For to this day the Manichaeans say that the Saviour's resurrection was an appearance and not real, not heeding Paul, who writes, “who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,” and next again, “by the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord”; and again he aims at them and says, “Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? or, Who will descend into the abyss?—that is, to bring Christ up from the dead”; and guarding us likewise he wrote again elsewhere, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead”; and again, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and our faith is in vain; and we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise.” But next he says, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”; “and he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” If you do not believe one witness, you have twelve witnesses. “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once.” If they disbelieve the twelve, let them accept the five hundred. “Then he appeared to James,” his own brother, and the first bishop of this diocese. Since, then, such a bishop first saw Christ Jesus risen, do not you, his disciple, disbelieve. But you say that his brother James bore witness out of favour. “Then he appeared also to me,” Paul, the enemy. What testimony is doubted when an enemy proclaims it? “I, the former persecutor, now bring the good news of the resurrection.”

Many are the witnesses of the Saviour's resurrection: the night, and the light of the full moon (for it was the night of the sixteenth); the rock of the tomb which received him; and the stone will stand up against the faces of the Jews, for it saw the Lord; and the stone that was then rolled away itself bears witness to the resurrection, lying there to this day. Angels of God who were present bore witness to the resurrection of the Only-begotten; Peter and John and Thomas and all the rest of the apostles: some ran to the tomb and saw the linen cloths of the burial, in which he had been wrapped before, lying there after the resurrection; others touched his hands and feet and saw the marks of the nails; and all together enjoyed the saving breath and were counted worthy to forgive sins in the power of the Holy Spirit. The women who took hold of his feet and saw the greatness of the earthquake and the brightness of the angel who stood by; and the linen cloths which he had worn and left behind when he rose; the soldiers, and the money that was given them; the place itself, still to be seen; and this house of the holy Church, built by the Christ-loving resolve of the emperor Constantine of blessed memory and, as you see, so splendidly adorned.

Tabitha too, raised from the dead in his name, bears witness to the resurrection of Jesus. For how shall Christ's resurrection be disbelieved, when even his name raised the dead? The sea too bears witness to the resurrection of Jesus, as you heard before; the catch of fish bears witness, and the fire of coals lying there, and the fish laid on it; Peter bears witness, who before denied him three times, but three times confessed him, and was commanded to shepherd the spiritual sheep. The Mount of Olives stands to this day, all but showing to this day to the eyes of the faithful him who went up on a cloud, and the heavenly gate of the ascent. For he came down from heaven into Bethlehem, but from the Mount of Olives he went up into heaven; there beginning his contests among men, and here crowned for his contests. You have, then, many witnesses: you have this place of the resurrection; you have also, to the east of us, the place of the ascension; you have as witnesses also the angels who bore witness there, and the cloud on which he went up, and the disciples who came down from there.

The sequence of the teaching of the Creed urged me to speak also about the ascension; but the grace of God arranged that you should hear about it most fully, as far as our weakness allowed, yesterday, on the Lord's day, when by the dispensation of divine grace the sequence of the readings at the assembly contained the account of our Saviour's going up into heaven. And what was said was said chiefly for all, for the whole multitude of the faithful together, but especially for you; the question is whether you attended to what was said. For you know that the sequence of the Creed teaches you to believe in him “who rose on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, and sat at the right hand of the Father.” I think you remember the exposition well; but I remind you of what was said, now also, in passing. Remember what is plainly written in the Psalms: “God went up with a shout.” Remember that the divine powers too said to one another, “Lift up your gates, O rulers,” and so on. Remember also the psalm that says, “He went up on high; he led captivity captive.” Remember the prophet who said, “He who builds his ascent into heaven,” and the rest that was said yesterday because of the objections of the Jews.

For when they object to the Saviour's ascension as impossible, remember what was said about the carrying away of Habakkuk. For if Habakkuk was carried away by an angel, borne by the hair of his head, much more was the Master of prophets and angels, going up on a cloud from the Mount of Olives, able to make his ascent into heaven by his own power. Remember the wonders that are similar, but keep the pre-eminence for the Master, the worker of wonders: for they were carried, but he carries all things. Remember that Enoch was taken away, but Jesus went up. Remember what was said yesterday about Elijah: that Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire, but Christ's chariot was “ten thousandfold, thousands of rejoicing ones”; and that Elijah was taken up to the east of the Jordan, but Christ went up to the east of the brook Kidron; and that Elijah went “as into heaven,” but Jesus into heaven; and that Elijah said that a double share in the Holy Spirit would be given to his disciple, but Christ granted his own disciples such enjoyment of the grace of the Holy Spirit that they not only had it in themselves, but also imparted the fellowship of it to believers by the laying on of their hands.

And when you have wrestled thus with the Jews, when you have conquered by the argument from likeness, then go on to the pre-eminence of the Saviour's glory: that they were servants, but he is the Son of God. And you will be reminded of his pre-eminence in this way too, by considering that a servant of Christ was caught up to the third heaven. For if Elijah reached the first heaven, but Paul the third, then he obtained the more honoured dignity. Do not be ashamed of your apostles. They are not inferior to Moses, nor second to the prophets; but noble among the noble, and nobler than the noble. Elijah indeed was taken up into heaven; but Peter has the keys of the kingdom of heaven, having heard, “Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Elijah went up into heaven only; but Paul both into heaven and into paradise (for it was fitting that the disciples of Jesus should receive manifold grace), and “heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” But Paul came down again from above, not because he was unworthy to remain in the third heaven, but so that, having enjoyed things beyond man and come down in honour, and having preached Christ and died for him, he might receive also the crown of martyrdom. I have passed over the rest of the argument, which was spoken yesterday at the assembly of the Lord's day; for with intelligent hearers a reminder alone is enough for learning.

Remember also what I have often said about the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father, because of the sequence of the Creed, which says, “And ascended into the heavens, and sat at the right hand of the Father.” Let us not inquire curiously into what the throne properly is, for it is incomprehensible. But neither let us tolerate those who wrongly say that it was after the cross and the resurrection and the ascension into heaven that the Son began to sit at the right hand of the Father. For he did not obtain the throne by advancement; but from the time that he is (and he is eternally begotten), he also sits with the Father. And the prophet Isaiah, having seen this throne before the Saviour's coming in the flesh, says, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up,” and so on. For no one has ever seen the Father, and the one who then appeared to the prophet was the Son. And the Psalmist says, “Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.” Though there are many testimonies about this, because of the lateness of the hour we are content with these.

But now I must remind you of a few things, out of many, that have been said about the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father. The hundred and ninth psalm says plainly, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.” And the Saviour, confirming the saying in the Gospels, says that David spoke these things not of himself but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saying, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,” and so on? And in the Acts of the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, Peter, standing with the eleven and speaking to the Israelites, recalled this very testimony of the hundred and ninth psalm word for word.

We must remind you also of a few other testimonies, likewise about the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father. In the Gospel according to Matthew it is written, “But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power,” and so on; in agreement with which the apostle Peter also writes, “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven.” And the apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, says, “Christ who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God”; and writing to the Ephesians he says, “according to the working of the might of his strength, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand,” and so on; and he taught those at Colossae thus: “If, then, you were raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of the Father”; and in the Epistle to the Hebrews he says, “Having made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”; and again, “But to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?”; and again, “But he, having offered one sacrifice for all for ever, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from then on until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet”; and again, “looking to the founder and perfecter …”

And though there are other testimonies about the Only-begotten's sitting at the right hand of God, these are enough for us for the present; and we repeat the same reminder, that he did not obtain this dignity of the seat after his coming in the flesh; but even before all ages the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, always holds the throne at the right hand of the Father. May the God of all himself, the Father of Christ, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down and went up and sits with the Father, guard your souls; may he keep your hope in him who rose unshaken and unchanging; may he raise you together with him from your dead sins to his heavenly gift; may he count you worthy to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, in due time; and until that time of his glorious second coming comes, may he write all your names in the book of the living, and having written them, never blot them out (for the names of many who fall away are blotted out); and may he grant to all of you to believe in him who rose, and to await him who ascended and is coming again (coming, not from the earth: guard yourself, O man, because of the deceivers who are to come); him who sits above and is present here with us, seeing the order of each and the firmness of his faith. For do not think that because he is now absent in the flesh, he is therefore absent in the Spirit too. He is present here in the midst, hearing what is said about him, seeing your inward thoughts, and searching the reins and hearts; and he is ready even now to present those who are coming to baptism, and all of you, in the Holy Spirit to the Father, and to say, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me”; to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

We proclaim the coming of Christ, not one only, but also a second, far more glorious than the first. For the first gave a display of his endurance, but the second brings the diadem of the divine kingdom. For as a rule all things are twofold with our Lord Jesus Christ: a twofold birth, one from God before the ages, and one from the Virgin at the end of the ages; twofold descents, one unseen, as upon a fleece, and a second, manifest, which is to come. In the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger; in the second he “covers himself with light as with a garment.” In the first he endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second he comes escorted and glorified by a host of angels. We do not rest, then, on the first coming only, but we look also for the second. And as at the first we said, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” so at the second we shall say the same again; so that, meeting the Master with angels, we may say in worship, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Saviour comes, not to be judged again, but to judge those who judged him. He who before kept silent when he was judged will remind the lawless, who did their outrages at the cross, and say, “These things you did, and I kept silent.” Then he came by dispensation, teaching men with persuasion; but then they will be subject to his rule by necessity, even if they do not wish it.

And concerning these two comings Malachi the prophet says, “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple”: behold one coming. And again, of the second coming, he says, “And the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire. Behold, the Lord Almighty comes; and who shall endure the day of his coming? Or who shall stand when he appears? For he comes in like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; and he shall sit refining and purifying.” And immediately next the Saviour himself says, “And I will draw near to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulteresses and against those who swear falsely by my name,” and so on. Therefore Paul, guarding us beforehand, says, “If anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest; for the day will disclose it, because it is revealed by fire.” Paul too signifies these two comings, writing to Titus and saying, “The grace of God the Saviour has appeared to all men, training us that, renouncing ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly and godly and righteously in this present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” You see how he spoke of a first, for which he gives thanks, and a second, which we await. Therefore the words of the faith which … [3] Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, comes from heaven; and he comes with glory at the end of this world, on the last day. For there is to be an end of this world, and this created world is to be made new again. For since corruption and theft and adultery and every kind of sin have been poured out over the earth, and blood has been mixed with blood in the world, so that this wonderful dwelling-place may not remain filled with lawlessness, this world passes away, so that the better one may be shown forth. And would you receive the proof from the words of Scripture? Hear Isaiah saying, “And the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all the stars shall fall like leaves from a vine, and as leaves fall from a fig tree.” And the Gospel says, “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” Let us not grieve as though we alone die; the stars too die, but perhaps rise again. And the Lord rolls up the heavens, not to destroy them, but to raise them up again more beautiful. Hear David the prophet saying, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain.” But someone will say, “See, he says plainly that they will perish.” Hear in what sense he says “they will perish”: it is clear from what follows: “And they will all grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed.” For as a man is said to perish, according to the saying, “See how the righteous man has perished, and no one lays it to heart,” and this although the resurrection is expected, so we expect a kind of resurrection of the heavens too. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.” Let those who have turned from the Manichaeans be instructed, and no longer make gods of the luminaries, nor impiously think that this sun, which is to be darkened, is the Christ. And hear again the Lord saying, “Heaven and earth …” [4] The things that are seen, then, pass away, and the things that are expected come, better than these. But let no one pry into the time: “For it is not for you,” he says, “to know times or seasons, which the Father has fixed by his own authority.” And do not dare to declare when these things happen; nor again sleep carelessly; for “Watch,” he says, “for the Son of Man comes at an hour you do not expect.” But since it was necessary for us to know the signs of the end, and since we look for Christ, so that we might not die deceived and be led astray by the false Antichrist, the apostles, moved by the divine will, come by God's dispensation to the true Teacher and say, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” We look for you to come again, but Satan disguises himself as an angel of light; secure us, then, so that we may not worship another instead of you. And he, opening his divine and blessed mouth, says, “See that no one leads you astray.” And you, the hearers, seeing him now with the eyes of the mind, hear him saying the same to you too: “See that no one leads you astray.” And the word exhorts you all to attend to what is said; for it is not a history of things past, but a prophecy of things to come, which will surely come; not that we prophesy (for we are unworthy), but the things written are set before you, and the signs are told. See which have already happened, and which still remain, and …

“See that no one leads you astray; for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray.” This has happened in part; for Simon Magus has already said this, and Menander, and some others of the godless leaders of heresy; and others will say it in our day or after us.

A second sign: “And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars.” Is there now a war of the Persians against the Romans over Mesopotamia, or not? Does nation rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, or not? “And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places.” These things have already happened. And again, “And terrors from heaven, and great storms.” “Watch, then,” he says, “for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

But we seek our own sign of the coming; we who belong to the Church seek a sign of the Church. And the Saviour says, “And then many will fall away, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.” If you hear that bishops are going against bishops, and clergy against clergy, and laity against laity, even to bloodshed, do not be troubled; for it has been written beforehand. Do not attend to what is happening now, but to what is written. And even if I who teach you should perish, you need not perish with me; it is possible even for a hearer to become better than his teacher, and for one who came last to become first, since the Master receives even those of about the eleventh hour. If betrayal was found among the apostles, do you wonder if hatred of brothers is found among bishops too? But the sign concerns not only the rulers but also the peoples; for he says, “And because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.” Will anyone of those present boast that he has unfeigned friendship toward his neighbour? Do not the lips often kiss, and the face smile, and the eyes look cheerful, while the heart devises deceit, and plots evil while speaking peace?

You have this sign also: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.” And, as we see, almost the whole world has been filled with the teaching of Christ.

And what happens after this? He says next, “So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)”; and again, “Then if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ, or there, do not believe it.” Hatred of brothers, then, makes room next for the Antichrist; for the devil prepares the divisions among the peoples beforehand, so that he who is to come may be readily received. God forbid that any of Christ's servants here or elsewhere should run over to the enemy! Writing about this, the apostle Paul gave a plain sign, saying, “For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this? And you know what restrains him now, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the appearing of his coming; whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness for those who are perishing.” So Paul. And now there is the apostasy. For men have fallen away from the right faith; and some proclaim a fusion of Son and Father, while others dare to say that Christ was brought from non-being into being. And formerly the heretics were open, but now the Church is full of hidden heretics. For men have fallen away from the truth and have itching ears. Is it a plausible word? All hear it gladly. Is it a word of correction? All turn away. Most have fallen away from right words, and choose evil rather than prefer good. This, then, is the apostasy, and the enemy is to be expected; and meanwhile he has begun to send his forerunners in part, so that he may then come ready for the prey. Look to yourself, then, O man, and make your soul secure. The Church now charges you solemnly before the living God, and tells you beforehand the things concerning the Antichrist before he comes. Whether it happens in your time we do not know, or whether it happens after you we do not know; but it is good that, knowing these things, you should make yourself secure beforehand.

The true Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, no longer comes from the earth. If anyone comes making false shows in the desert, do not go out. If they say, “Look, here is the Christ; look, there,” do not believe it. Look no longer downwards and to the earth; for the Master comes down from heaven; not alone, as before, but with many, escorted by tens of thousands of angels; nor secretly, as rain upon a fleece, but shining forth openly like lightning. For he himself has said, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”; and again, “And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a great trumpet,” and so on.

But as, when he was formerly to become man and God was expected to be born of a virgin, the devil forestalled the event by wickedly inventing beforehand, among the idolaters, fables of false gods begetting and begotten of women, so that, the falsehood having come first, the truth (as he supposed) might be disbelieved; so now, since the true Christ is to come a second time, the adversary takes the expectation of the simple, and especially of those of the circumcision, as his opportunity, and brings in a certain man, a sorcerer, most expert in the deceitful arts of sorceries and incantations, who will seize for himself the power of the Roman empire and falsely call himself Christ; by the name of Christ deceiving the Jews, who look for the Anointed, and leading those from the Gentiles astray by magical illusions.

This Antichrist spoken of comes when the times of the Roman empire have been fulfilled and the end of the world is drawing near. Ten kings of the Romans arise together, perhaps in different places, but reigning at the same time; and after them, as the eleventh, the Antichrist, who has seized the Roman power by his evil art of magic. Of the kings who reigned before him he will humble three, and the remaining seven he will keep under himself. At first he will feign mildness, as if he were a learned and understanding man, and self-control and love for mankind; and having deceived the Jews by the false signs and wonders of his magical deceit, as if he were the expected Christ, he will afterwards be marked by every kind of inhumanity and lawlessness, so as to surpass all the unrighteous and ungodly men who were before him, having a murderous, most harsh, merciless and crafty mind against all, but especially against us Christians. And having dared such things for three years and six months only, he will be destroyed by the glorious second coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus, the true Christ; who, having slain the Antichrist with the breath of his mouth, will deliver him to the fire of Gehenna.

These things we teach, not inventing them, but having learned them from the divine Scriptures read in the Church, and especially from the prophecy of Daniel just read, as Gabriel the archangel too interpreted it, saying thus: “The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall surpass all the kingdoms.” And the Church's interpreters have handed down that this is the kingdom of the Romans. For the first famous kingdom was that of the Assyrians; the second, that of the Medes and Persians together; and after these, that of the Macedonians, the third; the fourth kingdom is now that of the Romans. Then next Gabriel, interpreting, says, “Its ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and after them another king shall arise, who shall surpass in evils all who were before him”: not only the ten, he says, but all who were before. “And he shall humble three kings”: plainly of the ten former ones; and by humbling three of these ten, he will certainly reign as the eighth. “And he shall speak words against the Most High”: a blasphemous and lawless man, not receiving the kingdom from his fathers, but seizing rule by magic.

And who is this, and from what working does he come? Interpret, O Paul. “His coming,” he says, “is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders”: hinting that Satan uses him as an instrument, working through him in person. For knowing that his judgment will no longer allow any respite, he no longer wars through his servants as usual, but henceforth more openly through himself. “With all signs and lying wonders”: for the father of lies makes a show of the works of falsehood, so that the multitudes may think they see a dead man raised who is not raised, and lame men walking and blind men seeing, when no healing has taken place.

And again he says, “who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship”: above every god (for the Antichrist will supposedly hate the idols), “so that he takes his seat in the temple of God.” What temple, then? He means the ruined temple of the Jews; for God forbid that it should be this one in which we are. Why do we say this? So that we may not seem to favour ourselves. For if he comes to the Jews as Christ and wishes to be worshipped by the Jews, he will make the temple a matter of great concern, in order to deceive them the more, giving the impression that he is the one of David's line who is to build the temple that was built by Solomon. And the Antichrist comes at the time when not one stone will remain upon another in the temple of the Jews, according to the Saviour's sentence. For when either collapse through age, or demolition on the pretext of rebuilding, or something else that follows, has brought down all the stones (I mean not of the outer enclosure, but of the inner shrine, where the cherubim were), then he comes with all signs and lying wonders, exalting himself above all idols, at first feigning love for mankind, but afterwards showing his harshness, especially toward the saints of God. For it says, “I looked, and that horn made war with the saints”; and again elsewhere, “There shall be a time of affliction such as has not been since there was a nation on the earth until that time.” Terrible is the beast, a great dragon invincible to men, ready to devour; though we have more to say about him from the divine Scriptures, we are content with these for the present, for the sake of measure.

For this reason the Lord, knowing the greatness of the adversary and granting indulgence to the devout, says, “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” But if anyone is conscious that he is very strong, so as to wrestle against Satan, let him stand (for I do not despair of the Church's sinews), and let him say, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” and what follows. But let those of us who are timid secure ourselves, and let those of good courage stand firm. “For then there will be great affliction, such as has not been from the beginning of creation until now, nor ever shall be.” But thanks be to God, who has confined the greatness of the affliction to a few days; for he says, “But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” And the Antichrist will reign three and a half years only. We do not say this from apocryphal books, but from Daniel; for he says, “And it shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.” A time is the one year in which his coming increases for a while; the times are the remaining two years of lawlessness, making three in all; and the half of a time is the six months. And again Daniel says the same elsewhere: “And he swore by him who lives for ever, that it shall be for a time and times and half a time.” And perhaps some have taken what follows in this sense too: “a thousand two hundred and ninety days,” and, “Blessed is he who endures and comes to a thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.” For this reason we must hide and flee; for perhaps “we shall not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

Who, then, is blessed, but he who at that time bears witness for Christ with piety? For I say that the martyrs of that time surpass all martyrs. For those before wrestled with men only; but those under the Antichrist will wage war on Satan himself in person. And the persecuting kings before only killed; they did not pretend to raise the dead, nor did they show illusions of signs and wonders. But here there is the evil incitement both of fear and of deceit, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Let it never enter the heart of anyone then living: “What more did Christ do? By what power does this man work these things? If God did not will it, he would not have permitted it.” The Apostle secures you and foretells it: “And for this reason God sends them a working of error” (“sends” in the sense of “permits it to happen”), not that they may make excuse, but that they may be condemned. Why? “They did not believe the truth,” that is, the true Christ, “but took pleasure in unrighteousness,” that is, the Antichrist. And God permits these things, both in the persecutions from time to time and then, not because he is unable to prevent them, but because, as is his custom, he crowns his own athletes through endurance, as he did his prophets and apostles; so that, having toiled for a short time, they may inherit the eternal kingdom of heaven; as Daniel says, “And at that time your people shall be saved, everyone who is found written in the book” (plainly, of life). “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame. And those who understand shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and of the many righteous, like the stars for ever and ever.”

Make yourself secure, then, O man: you have the signs of the Antichrist; and do not only remember them yourself, but share them generously with all. If you have a child according to the flesh, admonish him already; and if you have begotten anyone through catechesis, secure him too beforehand, so that he may not receive the false one as the true. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” I fear the wars of the nations; I fear the divisions of the churches; I fear the hatred of brothers among brothers. Let these things be said; but God forbid that they should be fulfilled in our time; nevertheless let us secure ourselves. And so much concerning the Antichrist.

But let us wait for and look for the Lord coming from heaven on the clouds. Then angelic trumpets will sound; the dead in Christ will rise first; the devout who are living will be caught up in the clouds, receiving as the prize of their labours an honour beyond man, since they also contended beyond man; as Paul the apostle writes, saying, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

The Preacher knew of this coming of the Lord and the end of the world, saying, “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,” and next, “And remove anger from your heart, and put away wickedness from your flesh; and remember your Creator before the days of evil come, before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and those who look out through the windows are darkened” (hinting at the power of sight); “before the silver cord is snapped” (showing the clustering of the stars, for their look is silvery), “and the golden flower is broken” (hinting thus at the golden sun; for the camomile is a well-known plant with many ray-like leaves growing out all around it). “And they shall rise at the voice of the sparrow, and they shall look from the height, and terrors are in the way.” What will they see? Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, and they will mourn tribe by tribe. And what happens when the Lord has come? “The almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall grow fat, and the caper shall be scattered.” And as the interpreters say, the blossoming almond shows that winter is past; and our bodies then, after the winter, are to blossom with a heavenly flower. “And the grasshopper grows fat” (the winged soul, …

You see how all foretell the coming of the Lord; you see how they know the voice of the sparrow. Let us see what kind of voice it is: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God.” The archangel calls out and says to all, “Arise to meet the Lord.” And the Master's coming down is fearful. David says, “God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silent; fire shall burn before him, and around him a mighty tempest,” and so on. The Son of Man comes to the Father, according to the Scripture just read, on the clouds of heaven, drawing on a river of fire to test men. If anyone has works of gold, he becomes brighter; if anyone's conduct is like stubble and without substance, it is burned up by the fire. And the Father sits, having his garment white as snow and the hair of his head like pure wool. This is said in human terms; why? Because he is king of those who have not been defiled by sins; for “I will make your sins white,” he says, “as snow, and as wool”: which is a sign of the forgiveness of sins, or even of sinlessness. And the Lord comes from heaven on clouds, he who went up on clouds; for he himself has said, “And they will see the Son of Man coming …” [22] But what is the sign of his coming, lest an opposing power should dare to imitate it? “And then will appear,” he says, “the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.” And the true sign proper to Christ is the cross. A sign of a luminous cross goes before the King, showing him who was crucified before; so that the Jews who before pierced him and plotted against him may see it and mourn tribe by tribe, saying, “This is he who was struck; this is he whose face they spat upon; this is he whom they put in bonds; this is he whom, crucified before, they set at nought. Where shall we flee from the face of your wrath?” they will say; but with the angelic hosts surrounding them, they will be able to flee nowhere. The sign of the cross is a terror to the enemies, and a joy to the friends who believed in him, or preached him, or suffered for him. Who, then, is blessed at that time, who will be found a friend of Christ? So great and glorious a King, escorted by angels, sharing the Father's throne, does not despise his own servants. For so that the elect may not be mingled with the enemies, “he will send out his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds.” He did not despise Lot, who was but one; how then will he despise many righteous? “Come …” to those gathered …

But someone present will say, “I am poor,” or, “At that time I shall perhaps be found sick in bed,” or, “I am a woman, and I shall be caught at the mill: shall we then be despised?” Take courage, O man: the Judge is no respecter of persons. “He will not judge by appearance, nor reprove by speech”; he does not prefer the learned to the unlettered, nor the rich to the poor. Even if you are in the field, the angels take you; do not think that he takes the landowners and leaves you, the farmer. Even if you are a slave, even if you are poor, do not be anxious at all: he who took the form of a slave does not despise slaves. Even if you lie sick in bed, it is written, “Then two will be in one bed; one is taken, and one is left.” Even if by force you are put to the mill, man or woman; even if you are in fetters and sit at the mill, he who leads out the prisoners with power does not overlook you. He who brought Joseph out of slavery and prison into a kingdom will redeem you too from your afflictions into the kingdom of heaven. Only take courage; only work; only contend eagerly; for nothing is lost. Every prayer and psalm of yours is written down; every almsgiving is written down; every fast is written down; every marriage kept honourably is written down; self-control practised for God's sake is written down. But virginity and chastity hold the first places among the crowns in the records, and you shall shine like an angel. But as you have heard the good things gladly, so hear in turn, unflinchingly, the contrary things. Every act of greed of yours is written down; every act of sexual immorality of yours is written down; every perjury of yours is written down, and blasphemy, and sorcery, and theft, and murder. All these things are henceforth written down, if after being baptized you now do the same things; for the former things are blotted out.

“But when the Son of Man comes,” he says, “in his glory, and all the angels with him.” See, O man, before how many you are coming into judgment: the whole race of men will be present then. Reckon, then, how great the Roman nation is; reckon how many the barbarian peoples now living are, and how many have died in the last hundred years; reckon how many were buried in the last thousand years; reckon those from Adam until today. Great indeed is the multitude, but still small; for the angels are more. They are the ninety-nine sheep, and humanity is the one only. For according to the greatness of all places, so must the multitude of their inhabitants be reckoned. The inhabited earth is like a point in the midst of the one heaven; and the heaven that surrounds it has a multitude as great as its breadth; and the heavens of heavens have a number beyond conceiving. And it is written, “Thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him”: not that the multitude is only so great, but that the prophet could not express more than this. There will be present at the judgment, then, God the Father of all, Jesus Christ sitting with him, and the Holy Spirit present with them. An angelic trumpet summons all of us, bearing what we have done. Ought we not to be in anguish from this moment? Do not think it a small condemnation, O man, even apart from punishment, to be condemned before so many. Do we not often choose to die rather than be condemned by friends? [25] Let us be in anguish, then, brothers, lest God condemn us, who has no need of examination or proofs in order to condemn. Do not say, “I committed sexual immorality at night, or practised sorcery, or did something else, and no man was there.” You will be judged out of your own conscience, “your thoughts meanwhile accusing or else excusing, on the day when God judges the secrets of men.” The fearful face of the Judge will compel you to tell the truth; or rather, even if you do not tell it, it will convict you. For you will rise clothed with your own sins or righteous deeds; and the Judge himself has shown this, saying (for it is Christ who judges: “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,”

not estranging himself from his authority, but judging through the Son. The Son, then, judges at the Father's assent; for the wills of the Father and of the Son are not different, but one and the same.) What, then, does the Judge say about whether you will bear your works or not? “And before him will be gathered all the nations” (for every knee must bow before Christ, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth); “and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” How does the shepherd separate them? Does he examine from a book which is a sheep and which a goat, or does he distinguish them by what is seen? Does not the wool show the sheep, and the hairy and rough coat the goat? So, if you are now cleansed from your sins, you will have your deeds from now on like pure wool; and your robe remains undefiled, and you will always say, “I have put off my tunic; how shall I put it on?” By your clothing you will be known as a sheep. But if you are found hairy, like Esau, who was hairy in body and wicked in mind, who lost his birthright for food and sold his privilege, you will be among those on the left. God forbid that any of those present should be cast out from grace, or because of evil deeds be found in the ranks of the sinners on the left.

Fearful in truth is the judgment, and fearful the things proclaimed: the kingdom of heaven is set before us, and the eternal fire has been prepared. How, then, someone will say, shall we escape the fire, and how shall we enter the kingdom? “I was hungry,” he says, “and you gave me food.” Learn the way; there is no need of allegory now, but of doing what is said. “I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me.” If you do these things, you will reign with him; but if you do not do them, you will be condemned. Begin, then, to do these things already, and persevere in the faith; lest, like the foolish virgins, you be shut out while you are going to buy oil. Do not be confident merely because you hold the lamp, but keep it burning. Let the light of your good works shine before men, and let not Christ be blasphemed because of you. Put on the garment of incorruption, distinguished in good works; and whatever you receive from God to manage as a steward, manage it profitably. Have you been entrusted with money? Manage it well. Have you been entrusted with the word of teaching? Dispense it well. Can you win the souls of your hearers? Do it zealously. Many are the doors of good stewardship. Only let none of us be condemned and cast out, so that we may meet with confidence the eternal King Christ, who reigns for ever. For he reigns for ever, who judges the living and the dead, having died for the living and the dead; and as Paul says, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”

And if you ever hear anyone say that the kingdom of Christ has an end, hate the heresy; it is another head of the dragon, lately sprung up in Galatia. A certain man has dared to say that after the end of the world Christ no longer reigns; and he has dared to say that the Word, having come forth from the Father, will be resolved again into the Father and will no longer be, uttering such blasphemies to his own ruin. For he did not hear the Lord saying, “The Son remains for ever.” He did not hear Gabriel saying, “And he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Consider what is said: heretic men now teach against Christ, while Gabriel the archangel taught the eternal continuance of the Saviour. Whom, then, do you believe rather? Is it not Gabriel? Hear the present testimony of Daniel: “I saw in the vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man coming, and he came to the Ancient of Days. And to him was given the honour and the rule and the kingdom; and all the peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him. His authority is an everlasting authority, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.” Hold to these things rather, believe these; but turn away from the words of the heresy …

You have the same also in the interpretation of the stone cut from a mountain without hands, which is Christ according to the flesh: “And his kingdom shall not be left to another people.” And David says at one time, “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever,” and at another, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth,” and so on; “they will perish, but you remain,” and so on; “but you are the same, and your years will not fail”: words which Paul interpreted of the Son. [29] And would you know how those who teach the contrary came to such madness? They read the good saying of the Apostle badly: “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet”; and they say, “When the enemies have been put under his feet, he no longer reigns,” saying this wrongly and foolishly. For if he reigns before he has overcome his enemies, how will he not reign the more after he has prevailed over them?

They have dared to say this too: that the saying, “When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who subjected all things to him,” shows that the Son too is resolved into the Father. Then, most unholy of all men, do you, the creatures of Christ, remain, and does Christ, through whom both you and all things came to be, perish? The word is blasphemous. And how will all things be subjected to him? By perishing, or by remaining?

Do the other things, subjected to the Son, remain, and does the Son, subjected to the Father, not remain? He will be subjected, not because he then begins to obey the Father (for he always does what pleases him), but because then too he obeys, with no forced obedience but a freely chosen compliance. For he is not a slave, to be subjected by necessity, but he is a Son, to obey by choice and love.

But let us examine them: what is the meaning of “until” or “as far as”? For I will try to overturn the error by grappling with the very word. Since they have dared to say that the words “until he has put his enemies under his feet” show his end, and have dared to set bounds to the eternal kingdom of Christ and to bring his unceasing authority to an end in word, come, then, let us read similar words in the Apostle: “But death reigned from Adam until Moses.” Did men, then, die only until that time, and did no one die after Moses, and was there no more death among men after the law? But you see that the word “until” does not limit time; rather Paul showed this: that although Moses was a righteous and wonderful man, still the sentence pronounced against Adam reached him too, and those after him, even though they had not sinned like Adam in the disobedience of eating from the tree.

Take again another similar saying: “For until this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart.” Does “until this day” mean only until Paul? Is it not until today, and until the end? And if Paul says to the Corinthians, “For we came even as far as you in the gospel of Christ, having hope that as your faith increases we may preach the gospel in the regions beyond you,” you see plainly that “as far as” does not mean an end, but has something following. How, then, should you understand “until he has put the enemies”? As the same Paul says elsewhere, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today”: that is, always. For as one must not speak of a beginning of the days of Christ, so do not tolerate anyone who ever speaks of an end of his kingdom. For his kingdom

is “an everlasting kingdom,” it is written. [33] And though I have more testimonies besides from the divine Scriptures about the kingdom of Christ, which has no end for ever, I will be content with those already given for the present, because the day is far spent. But you, the hearer, worship him alone as King, fleeing every heretical error. And if the grace of God grants it, the remaining articles of the Creed will be spoken to you in due time. And may the God of all keep all of you, remembering the signs of the end and remaining unconquered by the Antichrist. You have received the signs of the deceiver who is to come; you have received the proofs of the true Christ, who comes down openly from heaven. Flee the one, the false; await the other, the true. You have learned the way, how, when you are judged, you may be found among those on the right. Guard the deposit concerning Christ, distinguished in good works; so that, standing before the Judge with confidence, you may inherit the kingdom of heaven; through whom and with whom be glory to God, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

We truly need spiritual grace to discourse about the Holy Spirit; not in order to speak worthily of him, for that is impossible, but in order to go through what is in the divine Scriptures without danger. For a truly great fear is written in the Gospels, since Christ has plainly said, “Whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” And there is often fear lest someone, through ignorance or through what he takes to be reverence, should say something about him that he ought not, and so receive condemnation. Jesus Christ, the Judge of the living and the dead, has declared that it has no forgiveness; if anyone, then, stumbles, what hope has he?

It must be, then, the work of the grace of Jesus Christ himself to grant both to us to speak without deficiency, and to you to hear with understanding. For understanding is needed not only by those who speak but also by those who hear, so that they may not hear one thing and take in another in their minds. Let only what is written, then, be said by us about the Holy Spirit; and if anything is not written, let us not pry into it. The Holy Spirit himself spoke the Scriptures; he himself has also said about himself as much as he willed, or as much as we could receive. Let what he has said, then, be spoken; for what he has not said, we do not dare.

The Holy Spirit is one only, the Paraclete. And as there is one God the Father, and there is no second Father; and as there is one only-begotten Son and Word of God, and he has no brother; so the Holy Spirit is one only, and there is no second Spirit equal in honour to him. The Holy Spirit, then, is a very great power, something divine and unsearchable. For he lives and is rational, the sanctifier of all things made by God through Christ. He enlightens the souls of the righteous; he was in the prophets, and he was in the apostles in the New Covenant. Let those be hated who dare to divide the working of the Holy Spirit. There is one God, the Father, Lord of the Old and the New Covenant; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, prophesied in the Old and come in the New; and one Holy Spirit, who through the prophets proclaimed the Christ, and when Christ came, descended and showed him forth. [4] Let no one, then, separate the Old from the New Covenant; let no one say that the Spirit there is one and here another; since he offends against the Holy Spirit himself, who is honoured together with the Father and the Son, and at the time of holy baptism is included in the holy Trinity. For the only-begotten Son of God said plainly to the apostles, “Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Our hope is in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We do not proclaim three gods; let the Marcionites be silenced …

… but with the Holy Spirit, through one Son, we proclaim one God. The faith is indivisible; the worship is inseparable. We neither divide the holy Trinity, as some do, nor make a fusion, as Sabellius does. But we know with piety one Father, who sent his Son as our Saviour; we know one Son, who promised to send the Paraclete from the Father; we know the Holy Spirit, who spoke in the prophets and on the day of Pentecost came down on the apostles in the form of fiery tongues, here in Jerusalem, in the upper church of the apostles. For all privileges are with us. Here Christ came down from heaven; here the Holy Spirit came down from heaven. And it would truly be most fitting that, as we speak of Christ and of Golgotha here on this Golgotha, so we should also speak of the Holy Spirit in the upper church. But since he who came down there shares in the glory of him who was crucified here, we speak here also of him who came down there; for the worship is undivided.

We wish next to say something about the Holy Spirit: not to describe his subsistence exactly, for that is impossible, but to tell of the various errors of some concerning him, so that we may never be carried away into them through ignorance; and to cut off the paths of error, so that we may walk the one royal road. And if for safety's sake we now relate any statement of the heresies, let it fall on their own heads, and may we be innocent, both we who speak and you who hear.

For the heretics, most unholy in all things, have sharpened their tongue against the Holy Spirit too, and dared to say unlawful things, as Irenaeus the interpreter has written in his treatises against the heresies. Some dared to say that they themselves were the Holy Spirit, of whom the first was Simon, the sorcerer in the Acts of the Apostles; for after he had been cast out he dared to teach such things. And those called Gnostics, ungodly men, have uttered other things against the Spirit, and the lawless Valentinians others again. And the impious Mani dared to say that he himself was the Paraclete sent by Christ. And others say that the Spirit in the prophets is one, and in the New Covenant another. And great is their error, or rather their blasphemy. Hate such men, then, and flee those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit and have no forgiveness. What fellowship have you with the hopeless, you who are now to be baptized into the Holy Spirit too? If he who joins with a thief and runs along with him is liable to punishment, what hope will he have who offends against the Holy Spirit?

Let the Marcionites also be hated, who cut away the words of the Old Covenant from the New. For Marcion first, most godless of men, who first spoke of three gods, knowing that testimonies of the prophets about Christ are set in the New, cut out the testimonies from the Old Covenant, so that the King might be left without witness. Let the aforementioned Gnostics be hated, Gnostics in name but full of ignorance, who dared to say such things about the Holy Spirit as I do not dare to say.

Let the Cataphrygians be hated, and Montanus, the leader of their evils, and his two so-called prophetesses, Maximilla and Priscilla. For this Montanus, who was out of his mind and truly mad (for he would not have said such things had he not been mad), dared to say that he himself was the Holy Spirit: the most wretched man, filled with all uncleanness and licentiousness (it is enough to say this by hints, for modesty's sake, because of the women present). And having taken possession of Pepuza, a tiny village in Phrygia, he falsely named it Jerusalem; and, most wretchedly, cutting the throats of little children and chopping them up for unlawful food, on the pretext of what they call their mysteries (which is why, until lately, in the persecution, we were suspected of doing this, because these Montanists are called Christians, falsely though by the same name), he dared to call himself the Holy Spirit: a man filled with all impiety and inhumanity, whose condemnation admits no defence.

There contended alongside him, as was said before, the most impious Mani too, who gathered up the evils of all the heresies; and being the last pit of destruction, he collected the doctrines of all the heretics together and devised and taught a newer error. He dared to say that he was the Paraclete whom Christ promised to send. But the Saviour, when he made the promise, said to the apostles, “But stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.” What then? Did the apostles, who had died two hundred years before, wait for Mani until they should be clothed with the power? And will anyone dare to say that they were not filled with the Holy Spirit from that time? Yet it is written, “Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” Did this not happen before Mani, and many years before, when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost?

Why was Simon the sorcerer condemned? Was it not because he came to the apostles and said, “Give me also this power, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit”? For he did not say, “Give me also fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” but “power,” so that he might sell to others what cannot be sold and what he himself did not possess. And he offered money to men who owned nothing, though he saw those who brought the prices of what was sold and laid them at the apostles' feet; and he did not consider that those who trampled underfoot the wealth brought for the food of the poor would not give the power of the Holy Spirit for a fee. And what do they say to Simon? “May your money perish with you, because you thought to obtain the gift of God with money.” For you are a second Judas, expecting to sell the grace of the Spirit for money. If, then, Simon, for wishing to obtain the power for a fee, goes to perdition, how great is the impiety of Mani, who said that he himself was the Holy Spirit? Let us hate those worthy of hatred; let us turn away from those from whom God turns away. Let us too say to God with all boldness about all heretics, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and pine away over your enemies?” For there is also a good enmity, as it is written, “And I will put enmity between you and her seed.” For friendship with the serpent brings about enmity with God, and death.

Let so much be said by us about those who have been cast out. Now let me return to the divine Scriptures; let us drink waters from our own vessels [from the holy Fathers], and drink from the spring of our own wells: from the living water springing up to eternal life. This the Saviour said of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For see what he says: “He who believes in me”—not simply, but “as the Scripture has said” (he has sent you back to the Old Covenant)—“rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly”: not rivers perceived by the senses, merely watering the earth that bears thorns and trees, but bringing light to souls. And elsewhere he says, “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water springing up to eternal life”: a new kind of water, living and springing up, springing up upon those who are worthy.

And why did he call the grace of the Spirit water? Because all things subsist by water; because water brings forth grass and gives life; because the water of the rains comes down from heaven; because it comes down in one form but works in many forms. For one spring waters the whole of paradise; and one and the same rain comes down on all the world, and becomes white in the lily, red in the rose, purple in violets and hyacinths, and different and varied in every kind of thing; it is one thing in the palm and another in the vine, and all things in all, though it is of one form and not different from itself. For the rain does not change itself and come down now as one thing, now as another, but adapting itself to the constitution of the things that receive it, it becomes what suits each. So too the Holy Spirit, being one and of one form and indivisible, distributes grace to each as he wills. And as a dry tree, sharing in water, puts forth shoots, so too the soul in sins, when it has been counted worthy of the Holy Spirit through repentance, bears clusters of righteousness. And though he is of one form, at the assent of God and in the name of Christ he works many virtues. For he uses the tongue of one for wisdom; he enlightens the soul of another in prophecy; to another he gives power to drive out demons; to another he gives to interpret the divine Scriptures. He strengthens the self-control of one; he teaches another about almsgiving; he teaches another to fast and to live as an ascetic; he teaches another to despise the things of the body; he prepares another for martyrdom: different in different men, but himself not different from himself, as it is written: “But to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing in the same Spirit, to another workings of powers, to another prophecy, to another discernment of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues. But all these are worked by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to each individually as he wills.” [13] But since many different things are written in the divine Scriptures about “spirit” in general, and there is fear lest someone through ignorance fall into confusion, not knowing what kind of spirit is meant, it is good now to make sure which the Scripture says is the Holy Spirit. For as Aaron is called christ, and David and Saul and others are called christs, but the true Christ is one only, so too, since the name “spirit” is used of different things, it is good to see what it is that is called in a special sense the Holy Spirit. For many things are called spirits. An angel is called a spirit; our soul is called a spirit; this wind that blows is called a spirit; great virtue is called a spirit; an unclean deed is called a spirit; a hostile demon is called a spirit. Take care, then, when you hear these things, that you never take one for another because of the sameness of name. For of our soul Scripture says, “His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth.” And of the same soul it says, “… the spirit of man within him.”

“… who forms …” Of the angels he says in the Psalms, “Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.” And of the wind he says, “With a violent wind you will shatter the ships of Tarshish”; and, “As a tree in the forest is shaken by the wind”; and, “Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy wind.” And of good teaching the Lord himself says, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life,” that is, are spiritual. But the Holy Spirit is not uttered by the tongue; he is living, enabling us to speak wisely, himself speaking and conversing.

And would you know that he converses and speaks? Philip, at the revelation of an angel, went down to the road leading to Gaza, when the eunuch was coming; and the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” You see the Spirit speaking to one who hears? And Ezekiel says thus: “The Spirit of the Lord came upon me and said to me, Thus says the Lord”; and again, “The Holy Spirit said to the apostles in Antioch, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” You see the Spirit living, setting apart, calling, and sending with authority. And Paul said, “Except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.” For this good Sanctifier, Helper and Teacher of the Church is the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, of whom the Saviour said, “He will teach you all things”; and he did not say only “will teach,” but also “will remind you of all that I said to you”; for the teachings of Christ and of the Holy Spirit are not different, but the same. He testified beforehand to Paul what would happen, so that he might be the more courageous from knowing beforehand. These things have been said to you because of the saying, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit,” so that you may not think this means speech of the lips, but good teaching.

Here sin too is called spirit, as we have said, but in another and opposite sense, as when it says, “They were led astray by a spirit of sexual immorality.” The unclean spirit too, the demon, is called spirit; but with an addition … the name is attached to each, to show what is proper to it. If it speaks of the soul of man, it says “the spirit,” with the addition “of man”; if it means the wind, it says “spirit of storm”; if it means sin, it says “spirit of sexual immorality”; if it means the demon, it says “unclean spirit”: so that we may know of what each saying speaks, and you may not think that it is about the Holy Spirit; God forbid! For this name “spirit” is common, and everything that does not have a solid body is called spirit in a general way. Since, then, the demons too do not have such bodies, they are called spirits; but the difference is great. For the unclean demon, when he comes upon a man's soul (may the Lord deliver from him the soul of every one of those who hear, and of those who are not present), comes like a bloodthirsty wolf upon a sheep, ready to devour: his coming is most savage, the sensation of him most oppressive, the mind is darkened, and his attack is unjust, a seizure of another's possession; for he forces himself to use another's body and another's instruments as his own. He throws down the one who stands (for he is akin to him who fell from heaven); he twists the tongue and distorts the lips; foam comes instead of words; the man is filled with darkness; his eye is open, yet the soul does not see through it; and the wretched man quivers convulsively before death. Truly the demons are enemies of men, treating them shamefully and without mercy.

The Holy Spirit is not like this; God forbid! On the contrary, his doings tend toward what is good and saving. First, his coming is gentle; the perception of him is fragrant; his burden is very light; rays of light and knowledge flash out before his coming. He comes with the heart of a true guardian; for he comes to save and to heal, to teach, to admonish, to strengthen, to encourage, to enlighten the mind: first of the one who receives him, then through him of others too. And as one who was formerly in darkness and then suddenly sees the sun has the sight of his body enlightened, and sees plainly what he did not see, so too he who is counted worthy of the Holy Spirit is enlightened in his soul, and sees beyond man what he did not know. His body is on earth, yet his soul mirrors the heavens. He sees, like Isaiah, the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up; he sees, like Ezekiel, him who is above the cherubim; he sees, like Daniel, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands; and the little man sees the beginning of the world and the end of the world, and the times between, and knows the successions of kings, which he never learned; for the true Enlightener is present. The man is within walls, yet the power of his knowledge reaches far, and he sees even what others are doing.

Peter was not present with Ananias and Sapphira when they sold their possessions, but he was present through the Spirit. “Why,” he says, “has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” There was no accuser, no witness; how did he know what had happened? “While it remained, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, was it not in your power? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?” Peter, the unlettered, learned through the grace of the Spirit what the wise men of the Greeks did not know. You have the like in the case of Elisha too. For when he had freely healed Naaman's leprosy, Gehazi received the reward, taking the reward for another's achievement; he takes the money from Naaman and puts it away in a dark place. But darkness is not dark to the saints. And when he came, Elisha asked him; and like Peter, who said, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much,” he too inquires, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”—not ignorant of the “where,” but grieving over it. You came from darkness, and into darkness you go. You have sold the leper's healing, and you inherit the leprosy. “I,” he says, “have fulfilled the command of him who said to me, Freely you have received, freely give; but you have sold the grace: receive the outcome of the sale.” But what does Elisha say to him? “Did not my heart go with you?” I was shut in here by the body, but the spirit given me by God saw even what was far off, and plainly showed me what was happening elsewhere. You see how the Holy Spirit not only removes ignorance but also implants knowledge? You see how the Holy Spirit enlightens souls?

Isaiah lived nearly a thousand years ago, and he saw Zion as a booth. The city was then standing, adorned with public squares and clothed in dignity; and yet he says, “Zion shall be ploughed like a field,” foretelling what is now fulfilled in our day. And see the exactness of the prophecy; for he said, “And the daughter of Zion shall be left like a booth in a vineyard and like a lodge in a cucumber field”; and now the place is full of cucumber fields. You see how the Holy Spirit enlightens the saints? Do not, then, because of the sameness of name, be carried away to other things,

but keep to what is exact.

And if ever, while you were sitting here, a thought of chastity and virginity has come into your mind, the teaching is his. Has not a maiden often, already at the bridal chamber, fled, when he taught her about virginity? Has not a man often, distinguished at court, spurned wealth and rank, taught by the Holy Spirit? Has not a young man often, seeing beauty, closed his eyes and fled the sight and escaped defilement? Do you ask where this came from? The Holy Spirit taught the young man's soul. There is so much greed in the world, and Christians live without possessions. Why? Because of the promise of the Holy Spirit. Truly precious is the Holy Spirit, the good; rightly are we baptized into the Father and into the Son and into the Holy Spirit. A man still wearing a body wrestles with many most savage demons; and often the demon whom many could not hold with iron chains has been held by him with words of prayer, through the power of the Holy Spirit within him; and the simple breath of the exorcist becomes fire to the unseen one. We have, then, from God a great ally and protector, a great teacher of the Church, a great champion on our behalf. Let us not fear the demons nor the devil; for greater is he who fights for us. Only let us open our doors to him; for he goes about seeking those who are worthy, and seeking on whom to bestow his gifts. [20] And he is called the Paraclete because he encourages and comforts and helps us in our weakness. “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered”: plainly, to God. Often someone has been insulted for Christ's sake and dishonoured unjustly; martyrdom is at hand; tortures on every side, and fire and swords and wild beasts and the depths. But the Holy Spirit whispers to him, saying, “Wait for the Lord, O man; what is happening is small, what is given is great; after toiling a short time you will be with angels for ever. The sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” He portrays the kingdom of heaven to the man, and shows him also the paradise of delight; and the martyrs, whose bodily faces are perforce turned toward the judges, but who by his power are already in paradise, despise the hardships that are seen.

And would you know that the martyrs bear witness by the power of the Holy Spirit? The Saviour says to the disciples, “But when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how you will defend yourselves, or what you will say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” For it is impossible to bear witness for Christ unless one bears witness through the Holy Spirit. For if “no one can say Lord Jesus except in the Holy Spirit,” who will give his own life for Jesus except in the Holy Spirit?

Great indeed, all-powerful in gifts, and wonderful is the Holy Spirit. Consider how many of you are sitting here now, how many souls of us are present. He works suitably for each; and, present in the midst, he sees the disposition of each, sees his reasoning and conscience, and what we say and what we think. Great indeed is what has been said, and yet it is small. For consider, I pray, with your mind enlightened by him, how many Christians there are in this whole diocese, and how many in the whole province of Palestine. And extend your mind from the province to the whole Roman empire; and from this, consider, I pray, the whole world: races of Persians and nations of Indians, Goths and Sarmatians, Gauls and Spaniards and Moors, Libyans and Ethiopians, and the rest who have no names among us; for of many of the nations not even the names have reached us. Consider, I pray, of each nation the bishops, presbyters, deacons, monks, virgins and the rest of the laity; and see the great Protector and Giver of the gifts, how throughout the world he gives to one chastity, to another perpetual virginity, to another almsgiving, to another voluntary poverty, to another the power to drive out hostile spirits. And as light with one touch of its ray illuminates all things, so too the Holy Spirit enlightens those who have eyes; for if anyone, being blind, is not counted worthy of the grace, let him not blame the Spirit, but his own unbelief.

You have seen his power in the whole world. Do not stay on earth any longer, but go up on high: go up, I pray, in your mind even to the first heaven, and see there so many countless myriads of angels. Go up higher in your thoughts, if you can: see, I pray, the archangels; see the spirits; see the virtues; see the principalities; see the powers; see the thrones; see the dominions. Of all these the Paraclete is the ruler from God, and teacher and sanctifier. Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah need him among men; Michael and Gabriel need him among angels. None of the things that came to be is equal in honour to him; for the races of angels and all their hosts gathered together have no equality with the Holy Spirit. The all-good power of the Paraclete overshadows all these. And they are sent forth for service, but he searches even the depths of God, as the Apostle says: “For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? So too no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”

He proclaimed Christ in the prophets; he worked in the apostles; he to this day seals souls in baptism. And the Father gives to the Son, and the Son shares with the Holy Spirit. For it is Jesus himself, not I, who says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father” …

… of the Holy Spirit he says, “When he comes, the Spirit of truth,” and so on, “he will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Father, through the Son, with the Holy Spirit, bestows all things. The gifts of the Father are not one thing, and those of the Son another, and those of the Holy Spirit another; for there is one salvation, one power, one faith: one God, the Father; one Lord, his only-begotten Son; one Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. And it is enough for us to know these things; do not pry into his nature or substance. For if it had been written, we would have spoken of it; what is not written, let us not dare. It is enough for our salvation to know that there is Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. [25] This Spirit came down upon the seventy elders in the time of Moses (and let not the length of the discourse, beloved, weary you; but may he of whom we speak give strength to each, both to us who speak and to you who hear). This Spirit came down, as I said, upon the seventy elders in the time of Moses. I say these things to you to show now that he knows all things and works as he wills. The seventy elders were chosen; “and the Lord came down in a cloud, and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and put it upon the seventy men, the elders”: not that the Spirit was divided, but the grace was distributed in proportion to the vessels and the capacity of those who received it. Sixty-eight were present and prophesied, but Eldad and Medad were not present. So that it might be shown, then, that it was not Moses who bestowed the gift, but the Spirit who was at work, Eldad and Medad, who had been called but had not yet …

Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' successor, was amazed, and came and said to Moses, “Have you heard that Eldad and Medad are prophesying? They were called and did not come. My lord Moses, stop them.” “I cannot stop them, for the grace is heavenly; and I am so far from stopping them that I am thankful for it. But I do not think you said this out of envy. Are you jealous for my sake, because they prophesied and you do not yet prophesy? Wait for the time. And would that all the Lord's people were prophets, whenever the Lord gives his Spirit upon them!”—saying this too prophetically, “whenever the Lord gives”: “for he has not yet given it; so you do not yet have it.” Did not Abraham, then, and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph have it? Did those before them not have it? But “whenever the Lord gives” plainly means “gives it upon all.” Now the grace is partial; then the gift will be abundant. He was hinting at what was to happen among us at Pentecost; for he came down among us. But he had come down before upon many; for it is written, “And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him.” You see the same figure everywhere, in the Old and the New: in the time of Moses the Spirit was given by the laying on of hands, and Peter gives the Spirit by the laying on of hands. And the grace is to come upon you too who are about to be baptized; but how, I do not say;

He came also upon all the righteous and the prophets: Enos, I mean, Enoch, Noah and the rest; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. As for Joseph having the Spirit of God in him, even Pharaoh perceived it. Of Moses, and the wonders worked by the Spirit in his time, you have often heard. The most courageous Job had him too, and all the saints, even if we do not go through all their names. He was sent forth also at the making of the tabernacle, and filled with wisdom the wise men with Bezalel.

In the power of this Spirit, as we have in Judges, Othniel judged, Gideon was strengthened, Jephthah conquered, Deborah, a woman, waged war; and Samson, while he still acted righteously and did not grieve him, did works beyond man. Of Samuel and David we have it plainly in the books of the Kingdoms, how they themselves prophesied in the Holy Spirit and were leaders of the prophets. And Samuel was called the Seer; and David says plainly, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me”; and in the Psalms, “And do not take your Holy Spirit from me”; and again, “Your good Spirit shall lead me in an even land.” And as … Azariah in the time of King Asa, and … in the time of Jehoshaphat, and again another, who was stoned. And Ezra says, “And you gave your good Spirit to instruct them.” Of Elijah, who was taken up, and Elisha, men who bore the Spirit and worked wonders, it is plain, even if we do not say it, that they were full of the Holy Spirit. [29] And if anyone goes through all the books of the Twelve and of the other prophets, he will find many testimonies about the Holy Spirit: Micah saying in the person of God, “Truly I will fill myself with strength in the Spirit of the Lord”; and Joel crying, “And it shall be after this, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh,” and so on; and Haggai,

“… I am with you, says the Lord Almighty, and my Spirit stands in your midst”; and Zechariah likewise, “But receive my words and my statutes, which I command by my Spirit to my servants the prophets,” and other things.

And Isaiah, with his majestic voice, says, “And the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and godliness; and a spirit of the fear of God shall fill him”: showing that the Spirit is one and indivisible, but his workings various. And again, “Jacob my servant,” and so on, “I have put my Spirit upon him”; and again, “I will pour my Spirit upon your seed”; and again, “And now the Lord Almighty has sent me, and his Spirit”; and again, “This is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my Spirit which is upon you”; and again, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me,” and so on; and again, in his charge against the Jews, “But they disobeyed and provoked his Holy Spirit”; and, “Where is he who put the Holy Spirit in them?” You have also in Ezekiel (if you are not yet weary of listening) what was already said: “And the Spirit fell upon me and said to me, Say, Thus says the Lord.” And “fell upon me” must be well understood, as meaning lovingly: as Jacob, when he found Joseph, fell upon his neck; and as in the Gospels the loving father, seeing his son returned from his journey, had compassion, and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him. And again in Ezekiel, “And he brought me into the land of the Chaldeans, to the captivity, in a vision, in the Spirit of God.” And you have heard other things before, in what was said about baptism: “And I will sprinkle clean water upon you,” and so on; “and I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you”; and immediately, “And I will put my Spirit within you.” And again, “And the hand of the Lord came upon me, and brought me out in …” [31] This Spirit made wise the soul of Daniel, so that the young man became judge of elders. The chaste Susanna was condemned as unchaste. There was no one to take her part; for who would rescue her from the rulers? She was being led away to death; she was already in the executioners' hands. But the Helper was present, the Paraclete, the Spirit who sanctifies every rational nature. “Come here,” he says to Daniel, “you, the young man, convict the elders who are sick with the sins of youth.” For it is written, “God roused up the Holy Spirit upon a young lad.” And yet, to pass over it briefly, by Daniel's sentence the chaste woman was saved. We bring these things forward as testimony; it is not the time for exposition. Nebuchadnezzar too knew that the Holy Spirit was in Daniel; for he says to him, “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the holy Spirit of God is in you.” He said one thing true and one false. That he had the Holy Spirit was true; but he was not chief of the magicians, for he was no magician, but wise by the Spirit. And before this he interpreted to him the vision of the image, which the man who saw it did not know; for he says, “Tell me the vision

which I who saw it do not know.” You see the power of the Holy Spirit? What those who saw do not know, those who did not see know and interpret.

And truly it would be possible to gather very many things from the Old Covenant and to speak at greater length of the Holy Spirit; but the time is short, and we must also spare the due measure of the hearing. Being content, then, for the present with what is from the Old, we shall come, if God wills, in the next catechesis to what remains from the New Covenant. And may the God of peace, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, count all of you worthy of the spiritual and heavenly gifts; to whom be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen.

In the lecture before this one we set before the ears of your love, as far as we were able, some small part of the testimonies about the Holy Spirit. In the present one, God willing, we will again treat, as far as possible, those that remain from the New Testament. … Then we held back our eagerness … (for there is no having one's fill of discourse about the Holy Spirit); now again we will say a little about what remains. For we candidly confess now too that our weakness is overwhelmed by the multitude of what is written. Today too we will not use human subtleties (for that is unprofitable), but will only call to mind what comes from the divine Scriptures (for this is safest, according to the blessed apostle Paul, who says: "Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual"); and we act like those who travel by land or sea, who, having the one goal of a very long journey, hasten on eagerly, but because of human weakness are accustomed to put in at various cities or harbors.

The discourses about the Holy Spirit, then, are divided, but he himself is undivided, being one and the same. For as in our discourses about the Father we were teaching at one time about the sole sovereignty, at another how he is called Father, or Almighty, and at another how he is the Maker of all things, and the division of the lectures was no division of the faith, for the object of our devotion both was and is one; and as in speaking of the only-begotten Son of God we taught at one time what concerns his Godhead and at another what concerns his manhood, dividing into many discourses the teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ, while proclaiming that faith in him is undivided: so now too, though the lectures about the Holy Spirit are divided, we proclaim that faith in him is undivided. For it is one and the same Spirit who divides the gifts to each one individually as he wills, while he himself remains undivided. For the Paraclete is not another besides the Holy Spirit, but is one and the same, named by various titles,

living and subsisting, speaking and working; and of all the rational beings made by God through Christ, both angels and men, he is the sanctifier.

But so that no one, through lack of learning, should think on account of the different names of the Holy Spirit that these are different spirits, and not one and the same, which alone exists, for this reason, guarding you beforehand, the … is not his. He is also called the Spirit of the Son of God, as it is said: "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son." He is also called the Spirit of Christ, as it is written: "Searching what or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating"; and again: … of Christ.

Besides these you will find many other names of the Holy Spirit. He is called the Spirit of holiness, as it is written: "According to the Spirit of holiness." He is also called the Spirit of adoption, as Paul says: "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery leading to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, Abba, Father." He is also called the Spirit of revelation, as it is written: "May he give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." He is also called the Spirit of promise, as the same apostle says: "In whom you also, having believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." He is also called the Spirit of grace, as when he says again: "And has insulted the Spirit of grace." And he is named by many other such titles. You heard plainly in the lecture before this one that in the Psalms he is named at one time good and at another princely; and in Isaiah he was called the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and godliness, and of the fear of God. From all these passages, those cited before and those now, it is established that the titles are different, but the Holy Spirit is one and the same: living and subsisting, and always present with the Father and the Son; not spoken or breathed out from the mouth and lips of the Father or the Son, nor poured out into the air, but subsistent, himself speaking, working, dispensing, and sanctifying; since the saving dispensation toward us, from Father and Son and Holy Spirit, is clearly undivided, harmonious, and one, as we have said before. For I want you to remember what was said just now, and to know clearly that there is not one Spirit in the law and the prophets and another in the Gospels and the apostles, but that it is one and the same Holy Spirit who spoke the divine Scriptures in the Old and the New Testament. [6] This is the Holy Spirit who came upon the holy Virgin Mary. For since the one being born was Christ, the Only-begotten, the power of the Most High overshadowed her, and the Holy Spirit, coming upon her, sanctified her, so that she might be able to receive him through whom all things came into being. I have no need of many words …

… so that you may learn that the birth was undefiled and spotless; for you have learned it. It is Gabriel who says to her: "I am the herald of what is to happen, but not a fellow worker in it; for though I am an archangel, I know my rank. I bring you the good news to rejoice; but how you will give birth is no longer a matter of my grace. 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy one to be born will be called Son of God.'"

This Holy Spirit worked in Elizabeth. For he knows not only virgins but also recognizes the married, if the marriage is according to the law. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied; and the noble handmaid says of her own Lord: "And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" For Elizabeth counted herself blessed. Filled with this Holy Spirit, Zechariah too, the father of John, prophesied, telling how many good things the Only-begotten brings about, and that John would be his forerunner through baptism. Instructed by this Holy Spirit, Simeon the righteous too, that he would not see death before he saw the Lord's Christ, received him into his arms and in the temple bore clear witness about him.

And John too, filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, was sanctified for this, that he might baptize the Lord: not giving the Spirit, but proclaiming the good news of the one who gives the Spirit. For he says: "I baptize you with water for repentance; but he who comes after me," and so on, "he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." And why with fire? Because the descent of the Holy Spirit took place in fiery tongues; about which the Lord says rejoicing: "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what do I wish, if it is already kindled?" [9] This Holy Spirit came down when the Lord was baptized, so that the dignity of the one baptized might not go unnoticed, as John says: "But he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." But see what the Gospel says: "The heavens were opened"; they were opened because of the dignity of the one who came down. "For behold," it says, "the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him": by a self-moved descent, clearly. For it was fitting, as some have explained, that the firstfruits and first rights of the Holy Spirit given to the baptized should be bestowed on the humanity of the Savior, who gives such grace. And perhaps he came down in the form of a dove, as some say, to show in a figure the dove who is pure, guileless, and innocent, and who helps by her prayers for the children she has borne and for the forgiveness of sins; just as it was foretold in a riddle that Christ would thus be shown to the eyes. For in the Songs she cries out concerning the Bridegroom and says: "Your eyes are like doves by the fullness of waters."

Of this dove, according to some, the dove in Noah's time was in part a figure. For as in his time salvation came to them through wood and water, and the beginning of a new generation, and the dove returned to him toward evening with an olive leaf, so, they say, the Holy Spirit too came down upon the true Noah, the author of the second birth, who draws together into one the wills of all kinds of peoples, of whom the various dispositions of the animals in the ark were a figure; at whose coming the spiritual wolves feed with the lambs; whose church has the calf, the bull, and the lion feeding together, as we see to this day rulers of the world led and taught by churchmen. So the spiritual dove, as some interpret, came down at the time of the baptism, to show that it is he who saves believers through the wood of the cross, he who was to grant salvation toward evening through his death.

And perhaps these things should be explained otherwise; but now we must hear the words of the Savior himself about the Holy Spirit. For he says: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"; and that the grace is from the Father, he says: "How much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him"; and that God must be worshiped in spirit, he says: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth"; and again: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God," and immediately after: "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come"; and again he says: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; but you know him, because he remains with you and will be in you"; and again he says: "These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you; but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and remind you of all that I said to you"; and again he says: "But when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me"; and again the Savior: "For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment"; and further again: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will declare to you all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things to come."

The fellowship of this Holy Spirit he bestowed on the apostles; for it is written: "And having said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain those of any, they are retained." This is a second breathing, since the first had been dimmed through willful sins; so that what is written might be fulfilled: "He went up, breathing into your face and delivering you from affliction." And from where did he go up? From Hades; for so the Gospel has related, that it was after the resurrection that he breathed on them. But though he gives the grace now, he will lavish it more abundantly later; and he says to them: "I am ready to give it even now, but the vessel does not yet hold it. For the present, then, receive as much grace as you can hold, and look for still more. But sit in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high." Receive it in part now; then you will wear it in its fullness. For the one who receives often has what is given only in part; but the one who is clothed is surrounded by the garment on every side. "Do not fear," he says, "the weapons and arrows of the devil; for you will wear the power of the Holy Spirit." (But remember what was said just now, that the Spirit is not divided, but only the grace given through him.)

Jesus, then, went up into heaven and fulfilled the promise; for he had said to them: "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete." They were sitting, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, here, in this city of Jerusalem (for this honor too is ours, and we speak not of good things that happened among others but of those granted among ourselves): when it was Pentecost, then, they were sitting, and the Paraclete came down from heaven, the guardian and sanctifier of the church, the governor of souls, the pilot of the storm-tossed, the guide to light of those who have gone astray, the judge of the contests for those who strive, and the crowner of those who have conquered.

He came down to clothe the apostles with power and to baptize them. For the Lord says: "You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." The grace was not partial, but the power was complete. For as one who plunges into the waters and is baptized is surrounded by the waters on every side, so they too were baptized wholly by the Spirit. But the water is poured around from outside, while the Spirit baptizes the soul within too, leaving nothing out. And why do you wonder? Take an example from bodies, small and cheap but useful for the simpler. If fire, passing through the thickness of iron within, makes the whole of it fire, so that what was cold becomes hot and what was black becomes bright; if fire, being a body, entering into the body of iron, works so unhindered, why do you wonder that the Holy Spirit enters into the innermost parts of the soul?

And so that the greatness of so great a grace coming down might not be unrecognized, there sounded as it were a heavenly trumpet. For "suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rush of a violent wind," signifying the presence of him who grants men to seize the kingdom of God by force; so that the eyes might see the fiery tongues and the ears hear the sound. "And it filled the whole house where they were sitting." The house became the vessel of the spiritual water; the disciples sat within, and the whole house was filled. So they were baptized without anything lacking, according to the promise; and they were clothed in soul and body with a divine and saving garment. "And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." They received fire, not burning fire but saving fire, fire that consumes the thorns of sins but brightens the soul. This is now about to come upon you too: to take away and consume your thorny sins, to make the precious possession of your soul still brighter, and to give you grace; for he gave it then to the apostles too. He sat upon them in the form of fiery tongues, so that they might put new, spiritual diadems on their heads by means of fiery tongues. A flaming sword formerly barred the gates of paradise; a fiery tongue bringing salvation restored the grace.

"And they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Peter, a Galilean, and Andrew spoke Persian or Median; John and the rest of the apostles spoke every tongue to those from the nations. For it is not only now that crowds of strangers have begun to gather here from every side, but they have done so from that time. What teacher is so great as to teach all at once what people have not learned? So many years do they spend through grammar and the arts learning to speak Greek well; and not all speak it equally well, but the rhetorician perhaps speaks well, while the grammarian sometimes does not, and the grammarian who knows grammar does not know the matters of philosophy. But the Holy Spirit taught them many tongues at once, which in all their life they had not known. This is truly great wisdom, this is divine power. What a contrast between their long ignorance and the sudden, varied, and strange working of the tongues!

"The crowd of hearers was confounded": a second confusion, in place of the first, evil one at Babylon. For in that confusion of tongues there was a division of purpose, since their mind was hostile to God; but here there was a restoration and union of minds, since what they sought was pious. The means of the fall became the means of the return. So they marveled, saying: "How do we hear them speaking?" It is no wonder if you do not know; for Nicodemus too did not know the coming of the Spirit, and to him it was said: "The Spirit breathes where it wills, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes." But if, even when I hear his voice, I do not know where he comes from, how can I explain what he is in his subsistence?

"But others, mocking, said, They are filled with new wine": speaking truly, but in mockery. For the wine was truly new, the grace of the New Testament; but this new wine came from a spiritual vine, which had often borne fruit already in the prophets and had budded in the New Testament. For as in the things of sense the vine always remains the same, but in its seasons brings forth new fruits, so too the same Spirit, remaining what he is, who had often worked in the prophets, now displayed something new and wonderful. For the grace had reached the fathers too, but here it came in overflowing measure: there they shared in the Holy Spirit, but here they were baptized in him completely.

But Peter, who had the Holy Spirit and knew what he had, says: "Men of Israel," you who proclaim Joel but do not know what is written, "these men are not drunk, as you suppose." They are drunk, not as you suppose, but as it is written: "They will be drunk with the fatness of your house, and you will give them drink from the torrents of your delight." They are drunk with a sober drunkenness, deadly to sin and life-giving to the heart, a drunkenness opposite to that of the body. For that one produces forgetfulness even of what was known, while this one grants knowledge even of what was not known. They are drunk, having drunk the wine of the spiritual vine, which says: "I am the vine, and you are the branches." And if you do not believe me, understand what is said from the time of day: "For it is the third hour of the day." For he who, as Mark says, was crucified at the third hour, now at the third hour sent down the grace. For his grace is not one thing and the Spirit's grace another; but he who was then crucified and made the promise fulfilled what he promised. And if you want to receive a testimony too, listen, he says: "But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it shall be after these things, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit." And "I will pour out" hinted at a rich gift; for "God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand"; and he has given him the authority also to bestow the grace of the all-holy Spirit on whom he wills. "I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy," and so on; "and on my menservants and on my maidservants in those days I will pour out of my Spirit, and they will prophesy." The Holy Spirit shows no partiality; for he does not seek ranks, but piety of soul. Let neither the rich be puffed up …

We have said much today, and perhaps your listening has grown weary; but more remains. And there was truly need, for the teachings about the Holy Spirit, of a third lecture and of more. But bear with us on both counts. For since the holy feast of Easter is now at hand, our discourse today has been lengthened, and there was no room to bring forward all the testimonies from the New Testament that we should have. For many things remain to us from the Acts of the Apostles, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit worked in Peter and in all the apostles together; and many also from the Catholic Epistles and from the fourteen Epistles of Paul; from which we will now try to pick a few, as from a great meadow, merely for the sake of remembrance.

For in the power of the Holy Spirit, by the will of the Father and the Son, Peter stood with the eleven and lifted up his voice (as it is said: "Lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem"), and with the spiritual net of his words caught about three thousand souls; so great was the grace working in all the apostles together, that from the Jews, those very men who had crucified Christ, so many believed, were baptized in the name of Christ, and continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and in the prayers. And again in the same power of the Holy Spirit, Peter and John, going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth, and healing in the name of Jesus the man at the Beautiful Gate, lame from his mother's womb, who was over forty years old (so that what was said might be fulfilled, "Then the lame man will leap like a deer"), caught with the spiritual dragnet of their teaching five thousand believers at once, and refuted the misguided rulers of the people and the high priests, and not by their own wisdom (for they were unlettered and common men), but by the working of the Spirit; for it is written: "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them." And so great was the grace of the Holy Spirit working through the twelve apostles in those who believed, that they were of one heart and one soul and shared in common the enjoyment of their goods, the owners devoutly bringing the prices of their possessions and no one among them being in need; while Ananias and Sapphira, who tried to lie to the Holy Spirit, underwent the punishment they deserved.

And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people; and so much spiritual grace was poured around the apostles that they were feared, gentle as they were (for of the rest no one dared to join them, but the people magnified them); and multitudes of those who believed in the Lord, both men and women, were added; and the streets were filled with the sick on beds and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them; and the multitude from the surrounding cities came together into this holy Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, and they were all healed in this power of the Holy Spirit.

Again, the twelve apostles, cast into prison by the high priests for preaching Christ, and miraculously released from it by an angel at night, and brought from the temple to the court before them, used their rebukes without shame in what they said to them about Christ, adding this, that "God has also given the Holy Spirit to those who obey him." And when they had been beaten, they went away rejoicing, and did not cease teaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Christ. [24] Not only in the twelve apostles did the grace of the Holy Spirit work, but also in the firstborn children of this once barren church, I mean the seven deacons. For these too were chosen, as it is written, "full of the Spirit and of wisdom"; among whom Stephen, rightly named the crown, the firstfruits of the martyrs, "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit," did great wonders and signs among the people and overcame those who disputed with him; for "they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke." Falsely accused and brought into court, he shone with angelic rays; for all who sat in the council, gazing at him, "saw his face like the face of an angel." And having by his wise defense refuted the stiff-necked Jews, uncircumcised in heart and ears, who always resist the Holy Spirit, he beheld the heavens opened and saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of …

… and he saw, not by his own power, but, as the divine Scripture says: "But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."

In this power of the Holy Spirit Philip too, in the name of Christ, at one time in the city of Samaria drove out the unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, and healed paralytics and the lame, and brought great multitudes of believers to Christ. To them Peter and John came down, and with prayer and the laying on of hands they imparted the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; from which Simon the magician alone was shown, justly, to be excluded. At another time, called by the angel of the Lord onto the road for the sake of the most devout Ethiopian eunuch, he heard plainly from the Spirit himself: "Go up and join this chariot." He taught the Ethiopian, baptized him, and sent him into Ethiopia as a herald of Christ, according to what is written: "Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand first to the Lord"; and caught away by the angel, he preached the gospel in the cities one after another.

With this Holy Spirit Paul too was filled, after his calling by our Lord Jesus Christ. Let the devout Ananias of Damascus come as witness to our words, saying to him: "The Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And the Spirit, working at once, changed the blindness of Paul's eyes into sight, and, granting the seal to his soul, made him a chosen vessel to bear the name of the Lord who had appeared to him before kings and the sons of Israel; and he made the former persecutor a herald and a good servant, who fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum, who was to instruct even imperial Rome, and who extended the eagerness of his preaching as far as Spain; who endured countless contests and worked signs and wonders. Of him, enough for now.

In the power, then, of the same Holy Spirit, Peter too, the chief of the apostles and keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, healed the paralytic Aeneas in the name of Christ at Lydda, which is now Diospolis, and at Joppa raised Tabitha, rich in good works, from the dead. And on the housetop, in a trance, seeing heaven opened, by means of the vessel let down like a sheet, full of living creatures of many shapes and kinds, he learned clearly to call no human being common or unclean, even if he happens to be a Greek. And when sent for by Cornelius, he heard plainly from the Holy Spirit himself: "Behold, men are seeking you; but rise, go down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them." And so that this might be shown plainly, that believers from the nations too become sharers in the grace of the Holy Spirit, when Peter had come to Caesarea and was teaching the things about Christ, the Scripture says about Cornelius and those present with him: "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word"; so that those of the circumcision who had come with Peter were amazed and said that on the nations too the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out.

And at Antioch too, the most notable city of Syria, when the preaching about Christ was at work, Barnabas was sent from here as far as Antioch as a fellow worker in the good, "a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith"; who, seeing a great harvest of those believing in Christ, brought Paul from Tarsus to Antioch as his fellow combatant. And when crowds had been taught and gathered by them in the church, it came about that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch: the Holy Spirit, I think, conferring on the believers the new name foretold by the Lord. And as more spiritual grace was poured out by God at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers there, among them Agabus too. And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: "Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them." And when hands had been laid on them, they were sent out by the Holy Spirit. It is clear, then, that the Spirit who speaks and sends is living and subsisting and active, as we have said.

This Holy Spirit, who in harmony with the Father and the Son established the New Testament in the catholic church, set us free from the burdens of the law that are hard to bear: those, I mean, concerning the common and the unclean, and foods, sabbaths and new moons, and circumcision, sprinklings and sacrifices; which, given for a season, had a shadow of the good things to come, but when the truth came were rightly withdrawn. For when Paul and Barnabas were sent because of the dispute at Antioch, raised by those who said that one must be circumcised and keep the customs of Moses, the apostles who were here in Jerusalem set the whole world free, by a written letter, from all the legal and typical observances. Yet they did not give themselves authority in such a matter, but confess in writing, in their letter: "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality." By this they showed clearly in writing that, even if what was written came through men, the apostles, the decree is from the Holy Spirit and for the whole world; and Barnabas and Paul and their companions received it and made it firm throughout the whole world.

Having come to this point of the discourse, I ask pardon of your love, or rather of the Spirit who dwelt in Paul, if I cannot go through everything, because of my own weakness and the weariness of you who listen. For when shall I worthily recount his wonderful deeds, done by the working of the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ: those in Cyprus against Elymas the magician, and those at Lystra in the healing of the lame man; and in Cilicia, Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, and Macedonia; or the events at Philippi, I mean the preaching, and the driving out of the spirit of divination in the name of Christ, and the salvation of the jailer with his whole household through baptism, by night, after the earthquake; then at Thessalonica, and the public address in the midst of the Athenians on the Areopagus; or the teachings at Corinth and in all Achaia? How shall I worthily recount the workings of the Holy Spirit done through Paul at Ephesus? Those there were at first ignorant of him, but came to know him through Paul's [teaching]; and when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they spoke in tongues and prophesied. And so great was the spiritual grace upon him that not only did he heal by his touch, but even the handkerchiefs and aprons brought from his body healed diseases and drove out the spirits of the evil one; and those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them before all …

I pass over also the events at Troas concerning Eutychus, who was overcome by sleep, fell from the third story, and was taken up dead, but was saved by Paul. I pass over also the prophecies to the presbyters of Ephesus who were called to Miletus, to whom he said plainly: "The Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city," and so on. For by saying "in every city" Paul showed that what happened in each was the working of the [Holy] Spirit, by the will of God, and in the name of Christ who spoke in him. By the power of this Holy Spirit the same Paul hastened to this holy city of Jerusalem, and that though Agabus prophesied by the Spirit what would happen to him; and he addressed the people, recounting the things about Christ with confidence. And when he was brought down to Caesarea, in the midst of the courts' tribunals, now before Felix, now before Festus the governor and Agrippa the king, Paul had so victorious a grace in wisdom from the Holy Spirit that Agrippa himself, king of the Jews, said: "In a little you persuade me to become a Christian." This Holy Spirit granted Paul on the island of Melita, when he was bitten by the viper, to remain unharmed, and to accomplish various healings of the sick. This Holy Spirit guided him, the former persecutor, as a herald of Christ even to imperial Rome; where he persuaded many of the Jews to believe in Christ, and to those who contradicted said plainly: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah the prophet, saying to your fathers," and so on.

That Paul was full of the Holy Spirit, and so were all the apostles like him, and those after them who believe in Father and Son and Holy Spirit [of one being], hear him clearly writing in his epistles: "And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power"; and again: "But God, who sealed us for this very thing, who gave us the pledge of the Spirit"; and again: "He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you"; and again, writing to Timothy: "Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

That the Holy Spirit subsists, and lives, and speaks, and foretells, has often been said by us in what went before; and Paul writes clearly to Timothy: "But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will depart from the faith"; which we see not only in the schisms before our time but also in those of our own day, since the error of the heretics is varied and manifold. And again the same apostle says: "which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit," and so on; and again: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says"; and again: "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us"; and again he calls to the soldiers of righteousness, saying: "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, with all prayer and supplication"; and again: "Do not get drunk with wine, in which is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs"; and again: "The grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." [34] By all these, and by the many more that have been passed over, the subsisting, sanctifying, and active power of the Holy Spirit is established for those who understand. For time would fail me in telling, if I wished to say what remains about the Holy Spirit from the fourteen Epistles of Paul, in which he taught in varied ways, completely, and reverently. It would be the work of the power of the Holy Spirit himself to grant us pardon for what we have left out because of the fewness of the days, and to put into you, the hearers, a more perfect knowledge of what remains: the diligent among you learning these things by more frequent reading of the divine Scriptures, and holding now more firmly, from these present lectures and from those spoken by us before, the faith: "In one God the Father Almighty; and in our Lord Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son; and in the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete." For though the word and name "Spirit" is used in common in the divine Scriptures (for it is said of the Father, "God is Spirit," as is written in the Gospel according to John; and of the Son, "The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord," as Jeremiah the prophet says; and of the Holy Spirit, "But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit," as has been said), yet the order of the words in the creed, piously understood, also drives away the error of Sabellius. Let us return in our discourse to what is pressing and profitable to you.

See that you do not, like Simon, come to those who baptize in hypocrisy, while your heart does not seek the truth. Ours is to testify; yours, to make yourself safe. If you stand in faith, you are blessed; if you have fallen in unbelief, cast away your unbelief from today, and be fully assured. For at the time of baptism, when you come before the bishops, or presbyters, or deacons (for the grace is everywhere, in villages and in cities, on the unlearned and the learned, on slaves and free; since the grace is not from men, but the gift is from God through men), come to the one who baptizes; but as you come, do not pay attention to the face of the one who is seen, but remember this Holy Spirit of whom we are now speaking. For he is present, ready to seal your soul; and he gives a seal at which demons tremble, a heavenly and divine seal, as it is written: "In whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." [36] But he tests the soul; he does not cast pearls before swine. If you play the hypocrite, men baptize you, but the Spirit does not baptize you. But if you come with faith, men minister in what is seen, but the Holy Spirit gives what is not seen. You are coming to a great examination, to a great enlistment, in this one hour; if you lose it, the harm cannot be put right; but if you are counted worthy of the grace, your soul is enlightened, you receive a power you did not have. You receive weapons that the demons dread; and if you do not throw away the weapons, but keep the seal upon your soul, no demon approaches, for he cowers; and indeed by the Spirit of God [demons] are cast out …

If you believe, you not only receive forgiveness of sins, but also do things beyond human power; and may you be worthy also of the gift of prophecy. For you receive as much of the grace as you can hold, and not as much as I say. For I may say little, and you receive greater things; since faith is a wide business. The guardian, the Paraclete, stays with you throughout; he cares for you as for his own soldier, for your goings in and your goings out, and about those who plot against you; and he gives you all kinds of gifts of grace, if you do not grieve him by sin; for it is written: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." What, then, beloved, is it to preserve the grace? Be ready to receive the grace, and when you have received it, do not cast it away … [38] May the God of all himself, who spoke by the Holy Spirit through the prophets, who sent him forth upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost in this place, himself send him forth now upon you too; and through him keep us too, granting his kindness in common to us all; so that we may always render the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control; in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom, with the Holy Spirit, be glory to the Father, both now and always, and for …

The root of all good works is the hope of the resurrection; for the expectation of the reward braces the soul for good work. Every worker is ready to endure the toils if he foresees the reward of the toils; but for those who toil without reward, the soul gives out together with the body. A soldier who expects prizes is ready for wars; but no one who serves under an undiscerning king, who grants no rewards for toil, is ready to die for him. So too every soul that believes in the resurrection naturally takes care of itself, but one that disbelieves the resurrection gives itself over to destruction. He who believes that the body remains for the resurrection spares his robe and does not defile it with acts of sexual immorality; but he who disbelieves the resurrection gives himself up to sexual immorality, abusing his own body as though it were another's. Great, then, is the precept and teaching of the holy catholic church, faith in the resurrection of the dead; great and most necessary, contradicted by many but confirmed by the truth. Greeks contradict it, Samaritans disbelieve it, heretics tear it to pieces. The contradiction takes many forms, but the truth has one.

And Greeks and Samaritans together say this to us: "The man who died has fallen and rotted and been wholly dissolved into worms, and the worms have died. Such rot and destruction has overtaken the body; how then is it raised? Fishes have devoured the shipwrecked, and have themselves been devoured. Of those who fought with wild beasts, bears and lions have ground even the bones to powder and consumed them. Vultures and ravens have eaten the flesh of the dead cast on the ground and flown off into all the world; from where is the body gathered? For of the birds that ate it, one may die in India, another in Persia, another in the land of the Goths. Of others burned with fire, rain or wind has scattered even the ashes; from where is the body gathered?"

To you, a man very small and weak, India is far from the land of the Goths, and Spain from Persia; but to God, who holds the whole earth in his hand, all things are near. Do not, then, accuse God of inability by the measure of your own weakness, but attend rather to his power. Further: the sun, a small work of God, warms the whole world with one stroke of its rays; and the air, which God made, encompasses all things in the world; and is God, the creator of sun and air, far removed from the world? Suppose that various seeds of crops are mixed together (for since you are weak in faith, I give weak examples too), and that these various crops are held in one hand: is it hard or easy for you, a man, to sort what is in your hand and gather each crop according to its own nature and restore it to its kind? So you can sort what is in your own hand; and can God not sort and restore what is held in his hand? Consider what is said, and whether the denial is not impious.

Attend also, I pray, to the very principle of justice, and come to yourself. You have various servants; some are good, others bad; you honor the good and beat the bad. And if you are a judge, you praise the good and punish the lawless. So then, with you, a mortal man, justice is kept; and with God, the king of all who has no successor, is there no just recompense? The denial is impious. Consider what is said. Many murderers have died in their beds unpunished; where then is God's justice? Often, too, a murderer guilty of fifty murders has been beheaded once; for the forty-nine, then, where will he pay the penalty? Unless there is a judgment and a recompense after this world, you accuse God of injustice. But do not wonder at the postponement of the judgment. Every contestant is crowned or disgraced after the contest is over; and the president of the games never crowns those still contending, but waits for the end of all the contestants, so that, having judged them afterwards, he may award the prizes and the crowns. So God too, while the contest in this world still continues, helps the righteous in part for now, but afterwards pays them their wages in full.

But if, by your account, there is no resurrection of the dead, why do you condemn grave-robbers? For if the body has perished and the resurrection is beyond hope, why does the grave-robber undergo punishment? You see that, though you deny it with your lips, the awareness of the resurrection remains unbroken within you. [6] Further: a tree that is cut down blossoms again; …

… and does a man, once cut down, not blossom? What is sown and reaped remains for the threshing floor; and does a man, reaped from this world, not remain for the threshing floor? Shoots of the vine and of other trees, cut off completely and transplanted, come to life and bear fruit; and does a man, for whose sake those things exist, not rise when he has fallen into the earth? Comparing the labor: which is greater, to mold from the beginning a statue that did not exist, or to recast a fallen one into the same shape again? Is God, who made us out of nothing, unable to raise again those who exist and have fallen? But you do not believe what is written about the resurrection, being a Greek: then look at the matter from the nature of things, and consider it from what is seen to this day. Wheat, it may be, is sown, or some other kind of seed; and the seed, falling, dies and rots, and is henceforth useless for food. But what has rotted rises green; and what fell small rises most beautiful. Now wheat came into being for our sake; for wheat and seeds came to be for our use, not for their own. So then, the things made for our sake come to life after dying; and shall we, for whose sake they came to be, not be raised after dying?

It is winter, as you see; the trees now stand as though dead. For where are the leaves of the fig tree? Where are the clusters of the vine? But in winter these are dead, and in spring green; and when the season arrives, then life is given back to them as though from death. For God, knowing your unbelief, works a resurrection year by year in these visible things, so that, seeing what happens in lifeless things, you may believe also about living and rational beings. Again, flies and bees, often drowned in water, come back to life after a while; and kinds of dormice, remaining motionless through the winter, rise again in summer (for to you who think lowly thoughts, examples of the same kind are given); and will he who grants life beyond nature to irrational and despised creatures not grant it to us, for whose sake he made them too?

But the Greeks ask for a still plainer resurrection of the dead, and say that even if these things rise, they had not wholly rotted; and they seek to see clearly a living creature that has wholly rotted and risen. God knew men's unbelief, and for this purpose fashioned a bird called the phoenix. This bird, as Clement writes and many more relate, being the only one of its kind, comes to the land of the Egyptians at periods of five hundred years and displays the resurrection; not in desert places, lest the mystery as it happens be unknown, but appearing in a well-known city, so that what is disbelieved may be handled. For it makes itself a coffin of frankincense and myrrh and other spices, and when its years are complete, it enters it, dies openly, and rots. Then from the rotted flesh of the dead bird a worm is born; and this worm, growing, is formed into a bird (do not disbelieve this; for you see the young of bees, too, formed in this way out of worms, and you have watched birds' wings and bones and sinews come out of eggs that were wholly liquid). Then the phoenix just described, growing its feathers and becoming a phoenix such as the former one was, flies up into the air such as it was before it died, showing men a most clear resurrection of the dead. The phoenix is a wonderful bird; but it is an irrational bird, and it never sang psalms to God. It flies about the air, but does not know who the only-begotten Son of God is. So then, resurrection of the dead has been given to an irrational creature that does not know its maker; and to us, who glorify God and [keep] his commandments, …

But since the sign of the phoenix is far off and rare, and they still disbelieve, take the proof once more from what you see every day. A hundred or two hundred years ago, where were all of us, speakers and hearers? Do we not know the origin of the substance of our bodies? Do you not know how we are born from weak, shapeless, and uniform matter? And from what is uniform and weak a living man is formed; and that weak thing, made flesh, is changed into the strength of sinews, and the brightness of eyes, and the smell of the nose, and the hearing of ears, and a speaking tongue, and a beating heart, and the work of hands, and the running of feet, and every kind of limb. And that weak thing becomes a shipbuilder and a builder, an architect and a worker of every craft, a soldier and a ruler and a lawgiver and a king. Has God, who made us from imperfect matter, no power to raise the fallen? He who thus forms a body from what is most worthless, can he not raise the fallen body again? And he who formed what did not exist, [can he not raise] what exists …

Take also a clear proof of the resurrection of the dead, witnessed every month in the heaven and its lights. For the body of the moon wanes completely, so that nothing of it is any longer seen; then it is filled again and restored to what it was. And for a complete proof of the matter, the moon, eclipsed at intervals of years and visibly changed into blood, receives again its luminous body; God having contrived this so that you too, man, who are made of blood, may not disbelieve the resurrection of the dead, but may believe about yourself what you see in the moon. Use these arguments, then, with the Greeks; for with those who do not accept what is written, fight with unwritten weapons, from reasoning and demonstrations alone; for to them it is not known who Moses is, nor who Isaiah is, nor the Gospels, nor Paul.

Pass over with me now to the Samaritans, who accept only the Law and do not receive the prophets. To them today's reading from Ezekiel seems useless; for, as I said, they do not receive the prophets. How then shall we persuade the Samaritans too? Let us go to the writings of the Law. God says to Moses: "I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob"; surely, of those who are and who subsist. For if Abraham has died, and Isaac and Jacob, then he is God of those who are not. When did a king ever say that he is king of soldiers he does not have? When did anyone display wealth he did not possess? Abraham and Isaac and Jacob must therefore subsist, so that God may be God of those who are. For he did not say, "I was their God," but "I am." And that there is a judgment, Abraham says to the Lord: "Shall not the judge of all the earth execute judgment?"

But the foolish Samaritans object to this again and say: "The souls of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob may remain, but the bodies cannot rise." So then: the rod of righteous Moses could become a serpent, and the bodies of the righteous cannot live and rise? What is contrary to nature happened, and what is according to nature is not restored? And the rod of Aaron, cut off and dead, budded without the scent of water; and that while it was under a roof, budding as plants do in the fields; and, lying in a dry place, it produced in a single night, with fruit, what watered plants produce over many years. Aaron's rod rose, as it were, from the dead, and shall Aaron himself not be raised? To preserve the high priesthood for him God worked a wonder in wood, and will he not grant the resurrection to Aaron himself? A woman becomes salt contrary to nature, and flesh is changed into salt; and is flesh not restored to flesh? Lot's wife became a pillar of salt; and shall Abraham's wife not rise? By what power was Moses' hand changed, which within one hour became as snow and was restored again? Surely by the divine command. Was the command strong then, and is it no longer strong now?

And from where, indeed, was man born at all in the beginning, you most foolish of all men, Samaritans? Come to the first book of Scripture, which you too accept: "And God formed man, dust from the earth." Dust is changed into flesh; and is flesh not restored again into flesh? We must ask you: from where did the heavens come into being, and earth and sea? From where the sun, the moon, and the stars? How did the birds and the swimming creatures come from the waters, and all the animals from the earth? So many myriads were brought from nothing into being; and shall we men, who bear the image, not rise? Truly the matter is full of unbelief, and great is the condemnation of the unbelievers, when Abraham says to the Lord, "the judge of all the earth," and those who learn the Law disbelieve; when it is written that man is from earth, and those who read it disbelieve.

These arguments, then, are for those unbelievers; but the arguments from the prophets are for us who believe. But since some who use the prophets too disbelieve what is written, and bring against us that saying, "The ungodly shall not rise in judgment," and "For if a man goes down to Hades, he shall not come up again," and "The dead shall not praise you, O Lord" (for they make bad use of what is well written), it is good to meet them in passing, as far as is now possible. For if it says, "The ungodly shall not rise in judgment," this shows that they will rise not to judgment but to condemnation. God has no need of a long examination; but together with the rising of the ungodly, their punishment follows. And if it says, "The dead shall not praise you, O Lord," this shows that, since repentance and forgiveness have their appointed time in this life only (and for it those who enjoy them will praise you), after death it is no longer possible for those who have died in sins to praise as people who have received kindness, but only to lament. For praise belongs to those who give thanks, and lamentation to those under the lash. The righteous, then, will praise at that time; but those who have died in sins no longer have a time for confession.

As for "If a man goes down to Hades, he shall not come up again," look at what follows; for it is written: "He shall not come up again, nor shall he return to his own house." But since the whole world passes away and every house is destroyed, how shall he return to his own house, when a new and different earth comes into being? They ought rather to have heard Job saying: "For there is hope for a tree; if it is cut down, it will blossom again, and its shoot will not fail. For if its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies on the rock, from the scent of water it will flower, and make a crop like a new plant. But a man who has died is gone; and a mortal who has fallen, is he no more?" He all but puts them to shame and rebukes them (for "is he no more?" must be read in this way, as a question): for, he says, if a tree falls and rises again, shall not man himself, for whose sake the trees exist, be raised? And so that you may not think that I am forcing the text, read what follows. For after asking, as a question, "And a mortal who has fallen, is he no more?" he says: "For if a man dies, he shall live"; and immediately: "I will wait until I come to be again"; and again elsewhere: "who will raise up on the earth my skin, which endures these things." And Isaiah the prophet says: "The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised." And most clearly the present prophet, Ezekiel, says: "Behold, I open your graves, and will bring you up out of your graves." And Daniel says: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame."

And many Scriptures testify to the resurrection of the dead; for there are many more texts about it. By way of reminder only, we now pass over the raising of Lazarus after four days; and we pass over too, because the time is short, the widow's son who was raised. For the sake of reminder only let the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue be brought forward now as well; let it be said too that the rocks were split and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, when the tombs were opened. But above all let it be remembered that Christ has been raised from the dead. I pass over Elijah, and the widow's son raised by him; and Elisha, who raised the dead twice, once in his lifetime and once after his death. For while living he worked the raising through his own soul; but so that not only the souls of the righteous might be honored, but it might be believed that a power lies also in the bodies of the righteous, the dead man thrown into the tomb of Elisha, touching the dead body of the prophet, was brought to life.

And the dead body of the prophet did the work of a soul; what had died and lay there gave life to the dead man, and, having given life, itself remained among the dead as before. Why? So that, had Elisha risen, the deed might not be ascribed to the soul alone; but it might be shown that even when the soul is not present a certain power lies in the body of the saints, because of the righteous soul that dwelt in it for so many years and whose instrument it was. And let us not, like children, disbelieve, as though this had not happened. For if handkerchiefs and aprons, which are outside the body, touching the bodies of the sick, raised up the weak, how much more did the very body of the prophet raise the dead?

Much might be said on these matters, if we explained the wonder of each of the things that happened. But because of the weariness already brought on you by the prolonged fast of the Preparation and by the vigil, let these things be said in passing for now, sown in few words, so that you, receiving the seed like the best soil, may bear fruit and increase it. And let it be remembered that the apostles too raised the dead: Peter raised Tabitha at Joppa, Paul raised Eutychus at Troas; and so did all the other apostles, even if not all the wonders worked by them have been written. And remember all that is said in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, which Paul wrote to those who said, "How are the dead raised? With what body do they come?"; and that "if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised"; and that he called those who do not believe fools; and the whole of the teaching there on the resurrection of the dead; and that he wrote to the Thessalonians: "But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve as the rest do who have no hope," and all that follows; and above all this: "And the dead in Christ will rise first." [18] But mark this especially, how Paul says, all but pointing with his finger: "For this perishable must put on imperishability, and this mortal must put on immortality." For this body is raised; not remaining weak as it is, but this very body is raised; and, putting on incorruption, it is transformed, as iron in contact with fire becomes fire, or rather as the Lord who raises it knows. This body, then, is raised, but does not remain as it is; it remains eternal. It no longer needs such foods for life, nor ladders for going up; for it becomes spiritual, something wonderful, such as we cannot worthily describe. "Then the righteous," it says, "will shine like the sun, and the moon, and the brightness of the firmament." And God, foreseeing men's unbelief, has given the smallest worms in summer bright rays to shine from their bodies, so that from what is seen what is hoped for may be believed. For he who granted the part can grant the whole too; and he who made a worm shine with light will much more make a righteous man shine.

We shall be raised, then, all of us with eternal bodies, but not all alike. If someone is righteous, he receives a heavenly body, so that he may be able to live worthily with angels; but if someone is a sinner, he receives an eternal body able to endure the punishment of sins, so that, burning in eternal fire, he may never be consumed. And God rightly grants this to both companies; for we have done nothing without the body. We blaspheme with the mouth, and we pray with the mouth; we commit sexual immorality through the body, and we keep chaste through the body; we rob with the hand, and we give alms with the hand; and so in the rest. Since, then, the body has served in everything, in the life to come it will also share in the fruits of what was done.

Let us therefore spare our bodies, brothers, and not misuse them as if they belonged to another. Let us not say, as the heretics do, that the garment of the body is alien to us; but let us spare it as our own. For we must give account to the Lord for everything done through the body. Do not say, "No one sees me"; and do not think that there is no witness of what is done. Often there is no human witness; but the maker, an unerring witness, abides faithful in heaven and sees what is done. And the stains of sins remain in the body. For as, when a wound has gone deep into the body, even if some cure is effected, the scar remains, so too sin wounds soul and body, and the marks of the scars remain in all; they are removed only from those who receive the washing. The past wounds of soul and body God heals through baptism; but against those to come let us all together guard ourselves from now on, so that, keeping this garment of the body pure, we may not, for a little sexual immorality and self-indulgence, or the doing of some other sin, lose heavenly salvation, but may inherit the eternal kingdom of God; which may God by his own grace count you all worthy to receive.

Let this suffice in proof of the resurrection of the dead. And the profession of the faith, which has been recited to you again by us, let it be recited by you with all care, word for word, and remembered.

The faith we profess goes on to contain: "And in one baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; and in one holy catholic church; and in the resurrection of the flesh; and in eternal life." Of baptism and repentance we spoke in the first lectures; and what has now been said about the resurrection of the dead has been said for the article "And in the resurrection of the flesh." Let what remains be said now, for the article "And in one holy catholic church"; about which much might be said, but we will speak briefly.

It is called catholic, then, because it extends over the whole world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because it teaches universally and without omission all the doctrines that ought to come to people's knowledge, about things visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly; and because it brings every kind of people into godliness, rulers and ruled, learned and unlearned; and because it universally treats and heals every kind of sin committed through soul and body, and possesses in itself every form of what is called virtue, in deeds and in words, and spiritual gifts of every kind.

It is called Church (ekklēsia), fittingly, because it calls out all people and gathers them together, as the Lord says in Leviticus: "And assemble all the congregation at the door of the tent of witness." It should be noted that the word "assemble" (ekklēsiason) is used in the Scriptures for the first time here, when the Lord was installing Aaron in the high priesthood. And in Deuteronomy God says to Moses: "Assemble the people to me, and let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me." And he mentions the name of the Church again when speaking of the tablets: "And on them were written all the words which the Lord spoke to you on the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, on the day of the assembly (ekklēsia)"; as if he said more plainly, "on the day on which you were called and gathered by God." And the Psalmist says: "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, in the great assembly; among a mighty people I will praise you."

Formerly, then, the Psalmist sang: "In the assemblies bless God, the Lord, from the fountains of Israel." But after the Jews, because of the plots they made against the Savior, were cast away from his grace, the Savior built from the Gentiles a second, the holy Church of us Christians, about which he said to Peter: "And on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." And prophesying of both, David said plainly, of the first, which was cast off: "I have hated the assembly of evildoers"; but of the second, which was built, he says in the same psalm: "Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house"; and immediately after: "In the assemblies I will bless you, O Lord." For since the one in Judea was cast off, the churches of Christ now multiply throughout the whole world; of which it is said in the Psalms: "Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints." In agreement with this the prophet also said to the Jews: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty"; and immediately after: "For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is glorified among the nations." Of this holy catholic Church Paul writes to Timothy: "That you may know how one ought to behave in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

But since the word "Church" is used of different things (as of the crowd in the theater of the Ephesians it is written, "And having said this, he dismissed the assembly"), and since one might properly and truly call the gatherings of the heretics, I mean the Marcionites and Manichees and the rest, "an assembly of evildoers," for this reason the Faith has now handed down to you securely the article "And in one holy catholic Church," so that you may flee their abominable gatherings and remain always in the holy catholic Church, in which you were also born again. And if you ever stay in a city, do not simply ask where the Lord's house is (for the other heresies of the ungodly too try to call their own dens "houses of the Lord"), nor simply where the church is, but where the catholic Church is. For this is the proper name of this holy Church, the mother of us all; she is the bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God (for it is written: "As Christ also loved the Church and gave himself up for her," and all that follows), and she bears the figure and likeness of the Jerusalem above, which is free and is the mother of us all; she who was formerly barren but now has many children.

For when the first was cast off, in the second, the catholic Church, as Paul says, "God has appointed first apostles, second prophets, …

… third teachers, then miracles, then administrations, gifts of healing, helps, kinds of tongues"; and every form of every virtue, I mean wisdom and understanding, self-control and justice, mercy and love of mankind, and endurance unconquerable in persecutions. She, "by the weapons of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, through glory and dishonor," formerly, in persecutions and afflictions, crowned the holy martyrs with the varied and many-flowered crowns of endurance; but now, in times of peace, by God's grace, she receives the honor due to her from kings and those in high places, and from every kind and race of men. And while the kings of the various nations have bounds to their authority, the holy catholic Church alone has a power without bounds throughout the whole world. For God, as it is written, "has made her borders peace." If I wished to say everything about her, I should need many hours for the account. [28] Being taught and living rightly in this holy catholic Church we shall have the kingdom of heaven and inherit eternal life; for its sake we endure every toil, so that we may enjoy it from the Lord. For our aim is not about small things; our striving is for eternal life. Therefore in the profession of the faith we are taught, after "And in the resurrection of the flesh," that is, of the dead, of which we have spoken, to believe "And in eternal life," for which we Christians contend.

The real and true life, then, is the Father, who through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, pours forth the heavenly gifts on all as from a fountain; and through his love for mankind the blessings of eternal life have been promised without falsehood to us men too. We must not disbelieve that this is possible; for we must believe, looking not to our own weakness but to his power; for "all things are possible with God." And that this is possible, and that we look for eternal life, Daniel says: "And of the many righteous, as the stars for ever and ever." And Paul says: "And so we shall always …" … opened the doors, so that all, as far as depends on him, may enjoy it without hindrance. This much has been said by us for now, in due measure, about eternal life too, which is the last teaching of the articles professed in the Faith, and their end; which may we all, teachers and hearers, enjoy by the grace of God. [32] Now, beloved brothers, the word of instruction exhorts you all to prepare your souls for the reception of the heavenly gifts. About the holy and apostolic faith handed to you to profess, we have given as many lectures as were possible, by the Lord's grace, in these past days of Lent; not that this is all we ought to have said, for much has been passed over, which perhaps better teachers understand more fully. But now that the holy day of Easter is at hand, and your love is about to be enlightened in Christ through the washing of regeneration, you will be taught again, God willing, what is fitting: with what piety and order you must enter when you are called; for what purpose each of the holy mysteries of baptism is performed; and with what reverence and order you must go from baptism to the holy altar of God and enjoy its spiritual and heavenly mysteries; so that, your soul being enlightened beforehand by the word of teaching, you may know in each case the greatness of the gifts bestowed on you by God. [33] And after the holy and saving day of Easter, beginning on the Monday, on each day of the following week, after the assembly, you will enter the holy place of the Resurrection and hear, God willing, other lectures; in them you will be taught again the reasons for each of the things that were done, and will receive the proofs from the Old and New Testaments: first, of the things done just before baptism; then how you were cleansed from your sins by the Lord "with the washing of water by the word"; and how, in a priestly manner, you have become sharers in the name of Christ, and how the seal of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit was given to you; and about the mysteries at the altar of the New Testament, which took their beginning here: what the divine Scriptures have handed down about them, what their power is, how one must approach them, and when and how one must receive them; and, at the end of all, how you must live henceforth, in deeds and words, worthily of the grace, so that you may all be able to enjoy eternal life. These things will be said, God willing.

Finally, brothers, rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice; for your redemption has drawn near, and the heavenly host of the angels awaits your salvation. And already there is "the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way …

… of the Lord." And the prophet cries: "You who thirst, go to the water"; and immediately after: "Hear me, and you shall eat what is good, and your soul shall delight in good things." And before long you will hear the beautiful reading that says: "Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem, for your light has come." Of this Jerusalem the prophet has said: "And after this you shall be called the city of righteousness, Zion, the faithful mother-city"; because of the law that went out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, which from here has rained down on the whole world. To her the prophet says about you: "Lift up your eyes round about, and see your children gathered together." And she answers, saying: "Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves with their young, to me?" Clouds, because they are spiritual; doves, because they are innocent. And again: "Who has known such things, or who has seen it so? Has the earth been in travail in one day, and was a nation born at once? For Zion was in travail and bore her children." And all things will be filled with joy unspeakable, because of the Lord who said: "Behold, I make Jerusalem a rejoicing, and my people a gladness."

And may it be said over you too, even now: "Rejoice, O heavens, and let the earth be glad," and what follows, "for God has had mercy on his people, and comforted the lowly of his people." And this will come about through the love of God for mankind, who says to you: "Behold, I will blot out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like darkness." And you, who have been counted worthy of the name of the faithful (of whom it is written: "To those who serve me a new name shall be given, which shall be blessed on the earth"), will say with gladness: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us," and what follows; and again: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ," and what follows. And again … the Lord of good things …: "But when the kindness and love for mankind of God our Savior appeared, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Lord; so that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." And may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Father of glory, give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; and may he keep you always in good works and words and thoughts …

I have long wished, true-born and dearly beloved children of the Church, to speak to you about these spiritual and heavenly mysteries. But since I knew well that seeing is far more trustworthy than hearing, I waited for the present time, so that, finding you more open to what is said because of this experience, I might lead you by the hand into the brighter and more fragrant meadow of this paradise. Besides, you have now become able to receive the more divine mysteries, having been counted worthy of divine and life-giving baptism. Since, then, it remains to set before you a table of more perfect instruction, come, let us teach you these things exactly, so that you may know the meaning of what was done for you on that evening of your baptism.

First you entered the vestibule of the baptistery, and, standing facing the west, you heard yourselves commanded to stretch out your hand; and you renounced Satan as though he were present. You should know that a type of this lies in the ancient history. For when Pharaoh, that most bitter and cruel tyrant, was oppressing the free and noble people of the Hebrews, God sent Moses to bring them out of the evil slavery of the Egyptians. The doorposts were anointed with the blood of a lamb, so that the destroyer might pass by the houses that had the sign of the blood; and the people of the Hebrews was wondrously set free. But when the enemy pursued them after they had been set free, and saw the sea wondrously parted for them, he nonetheless went on, following in their very footsteps, and was at once overwhelmed and drowned in the Red Sea.

Pass over with me now from the old to the new, from the type to the reality. There, Moses sent by God into Egypt; here, Christ sent by the Father into the world; … here, Christ, to rescue those in the world who are oppressed by sin. There, the blood of a lamb averted the destroyer; here, the blood of the spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ, has been made the banisher of demons. That tyrant pursued that ancient people as far as the sea; and this shameless and bold demon, the author of evil, followed you as far as the very streams of salvation. The one was overwhelmed in the sea; and this one vanishes in the saving water.

But you are told to say, with hand outstretched, as to one present: "I renounce you, Satan." I want to tell you also why you stand facing the west; for it is necessary. Since the west is the region of visible darkness, and he, being darkness, has his dominion in darkness, for this reason you look symbolically toward the west and renounce that dark and gloomy ruler. What, then, did each of you say as he stood? "I renounce you, Satan, you wicked and most cruel tyrant"; saying, "I no longer fear your might; for Christ has destroyed it, sharing with me in blood and flesh, so that through these he might destroy death by death, so that I might not be subject to slavery for ever. I renounce you, the crafty and most villainous serpent. I renounce you, the plotter, who under pretense of friendship worked all lawlessness and caused our first parents' apostasy. I renounce you, Satan, the maker and abettor of all evil."

Then in a second phrase you are taught to say: "And all your works." The works of Satan are all sin, which it is necessary … [to renounce]; just as one who has escaped a tyrant has surely escaped his weapons too. Every kind of sin, then, is included in the works of the devil. Only know this: everything you say, especially in that most awesome hour, is written in the books of God. Whenever, then, you do anything contrary to it, you will be judged a transgressor. You renounce, then, the works of Satan, I mean all deeds and thoughts contrary to reason. [6] Then you say: "And all his pomp." The pomp of the devil is the craze for the theater, and horse races, and hunting shows, and all such vanity; from which the saint, praying to be set free, says to God: "Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity." Do not be eager for the craze of the theater, where you will see the lewdness of mimes, performed with insults and every indecency, and the frenzied dances of effeminate men; nor for the madness of those who in the hunting shows give themselves up to wild beasts in order to pamper their wretched bellies: to serve the belly with food, they themselves truly become food for the bellies of untamed beasts; and, to speak justly, for the sake of their own god, the belly, they throw their lives away headlong in single combat. Flee also the horse races, a frenzied spectacle that overturns souls. These …

Moreover, the things hung up at idol festivals, whether meat, or bread, or other such things, defiled by the invocation of the most abominable demons, are also counted in the pomp of the devil. For as the bread and wine of the Eucharist, before the holy invocation of the adorable Trinity, were plain bread and wine, but when the invocation has been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ, in the same way such foods of the pomp of Satan, though plain by nature, by the invocation …

After this you say: "And all your worship." The worship of the devil is prayer in idol temples, the things done in honor of lifeless idols: lighting lamps, or burning incense by springs or rivers, as some, deceived by dreams or by demons, have resorted to these, thinking to find a cure even for bodily ailments, and suchlike. Do not, then, go after them. Watching of birds, divination, omens, amulets, writings on leaves, sorceries, or other evil arts, and all such things, are worship of the devil. Flee these, then. For if you fall into them after renouncing Satan and enlisting with Christ, you will find the tyrant more bitter: perhaps formerly he treated you as his own and relieved you of his bitter slavery, but now he has been greatly embittered by you; and you will be deprived of Christ and will have experience of the other. Have you not heard the ancient history that tells us about Lot and his daughters? Was not he himself saved with his daughters, because he reached the mountain, while his wife became a pillar of salt, set up as a monument for ever, bearing the memory of her evil choice and turning back? Take heed, then, to yourself, and do not turn back again to what is behind, having put your hand to the plough, and turn again to the salty doings of this life; but flee to the mountain, to Jesus Christ, the stone cut without hands that has filled the world.

When, then, you renounce Satan, utterly breaking every covenant with him, the old agreements with Hades, the paradise of God is opened to you, which he planted toward the east, and from which our first father was banished for his transgression. And a symbol of this is your turning from the west to the east, the region of light. Then you were told to say: "I believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, and in one baptism of repentance." Of these things you were told at length in the former lectures, as the grace of God allowed.

Guarded, then, by these words, be sober. For our adversary the devil, as was just now read, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. In former times death, having prevailed, devoured; but at the holy washing of regeneration God has wiped away every tear from every face. For you will mourn no longer, now that you have put off the old man; but you will keep festival, clothed in the garment of salvation, Jesus Christ.

These things were done in the outer house. But, God willing, when in the following lectures on the mysteries we enter into the Holy of Holies, there we shall learn the symbols of what is performed there. To God the Father be glory, power, and majesty, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

These daily initiations into the mysteries, and these new instructions, which announce new things, are useful to us, and most of all to you, who have been renewed from oldness to newness. Therefore I must set before you the continuation of yesterday's lecture on the mysteries, so that you may learn what the things done by you in the inner house symbolized. [2] As soon, then, as you entered, you took off your tunic; and this was an image of putting off the old man with his deeds. Having taken it off, you were naked, imitating in this too Christ, who was stripped naked on the cross, and by his nakedness stripped off the principalities and the powers and boldly triumphed over them on the tree. For since the hostile powers had made their lair in your members, you may no longer wear that old tunic; I do not at all mean this visible one, but the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of deceit. May the soul that has once put him off never put him on again, but say, with the bride of Christ in the Song of Songs: "I have put off my tunic; how shall I put it on?" O wonderful thing! You were naked in the sight of all, and were not ashamed; for truly you bore the likeness of the first-formed Adam,

who was naked in paradise and was not ashamed.

Then, when you had been stripped, you were anointed with exorcised oil from the very hairs of the top of your head to the parts below; and you became sharers in the good olive tree, Jesus Christ. For you were cut off from the wild olive tree and grafted into the good olive tree, and became sharers in the richness of the true olive tree. The exorcised oil, then, was a symbol of sharing in the richness of Christ, being a charm to drive away every trace of hostile power. For as the breathing of the saints and the invocation of the name of God, like the fiercest flame, burn and drive out demons, so this exorcised oil too, by the invocation of God and by prayer, receives such power that it not only burns and cleanses away the traces of sins but also drives away all the invisible powers of the evil one.

After these things you were led by the hand to the holy pool of divine baptism, as Christ was carried from the cross to the tomb close at hand. And each was asked whether he believed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And you made the saving confession, and went down three times into the water, and came up again; and here too you hinted by a symbol at the three-day burial of Christ. For as our Savior spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, so you too, in your first coming up, imitated the first day of Christ in the earth, and in your going down, the night. For as one who is in the night no longer sees, while one who is in the day lives in the light, so in the going down, as in night, you saw nothing, but in coming up again you were as in day. And at the same moment you were dying and being born; and that saving water became both your grave and your mother. And what Solomon said of others would suit you; for there he said, "A time to give birth, and a time to die"; but for you it is the reverse, a time to die and a time to be born; and one time brought about both, and your birth coincided with your death.

O strange and paradoxical thing! We did not truly die, nor were we truly buried, nor were we truly crucified and raised; but the imitation is in an image, while the salvation is in reality. Christ was really crucified, and really buried, and truly rose; and all these things he has freely given to us, so that, sharing his sufferings by imitation, we may gain salvation in reality. O surpassing love for mankind! Christ received the nails in his undefiled hands and feet, and suffered pain; and to me, without pain or toil, he freely gives salvation through fellowship in his pain.

Let no one, then, suppose that baptism is the grace of forgiveness of sins only, and of adoption too, as the baptism of John conferred forgiveness of sins only. We know well that, as it cleanses from sins and procures the gift of the Holy Spirit, so it is also the antitype of the sufferings of Christ. For this reason Paul cried out just now and said: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death." He said these things to those disposed to think that baptism … procures forgiveness of sins and adoption …, but no longer has fellowship, by imitation, in the true sufferings of Christ. [7] So that we may learn, then, that whatever Christ endured for us and for our salvation, he suffered in reality and not in appearance, and that we become sharers in his sufferings, Paul cried with all exactness: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in that of his resurrection." And "planted together" is well said; for since the true vine was planted here, we too, by sharing in the baptism of death, have been planted together with him. Fix your mind with great attention on the words of the apostle. … he said, "For if we have been planted together in [his] death," but "in the likeness of his death." For in Christ's case … death, for his soul was truly separated from his body; and his burial was true, for his holy body was wrapped in clean linen; and everything happened truly in him. But in your case … a likeness of death and of sufferings; but of salvation not a likeness, …

Having been sufficiently taught these things, hold them fast in your memory, I beg you, so that I too, unworthy as I am, may say of you: "Now I love you, because you always remember me and hold fast the traditions which I delivered to you." And God, who has presented you as alive from the dead, is able to grant you to walk in newness of life; for to him be the glory and the power, now and for ever. Amen.

Having been baptized into Christ and having put on Christ, you have become conformed to the Son of God. For God, having predestined us to adoption, made us conformed to the body of Christ's glory. Having become partakers of Christ, then, you are fittingly called christs; and of you God said: "Touch not my christs." You have become christs by receiving the antitype of the Holy Spirit; and all things have been done to you in an image, since you are images of Christ. He, having washed in the river Jordan and imparted the touch of his Godhead to the waters, came up from them; and the Holy Spirit in his very being came upon him, like resting upon like. And to you likewise, when you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, a chrism was given, the antitype of that with which Christ was anointed. This is the Holy Spirit; of whom the blessed Isaiah too, in his prophecy, said in the person of the Lord: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor."

For Christ was not anointed by men with oil or bodily ointment; but the Father, having appointed him Savior of the whole world, anointed him with the Holy Spirit, as Peter says: "Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit"; and David the prophet cried, saying: "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." And as Christ was truly crucified, and buried, and raised, while you in baptism are counted worthy to be crucified, buried, and raised together with him in likeness, so it is with the chrism too. He was anointed with the spiritual oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Spirit, who is called the oil of gladness because he is the cause of spiritual gladness; but you were anointed with ointment, having become sharers and fellows of Christ.

But beware of supposing that this ointment is mere ointment. For as the bread of the Eucharist after the invocation of the Holy Spirit is no longer plain bread but the body of Christ, so too this holy ointment is no longer mere ointment, nor, as one might say, common, after the invocation, but Christ's gift of grace, and by the presence of the Holy Spirit it becomes effective of his Godhead. It is applied symbolically to your forehead and your other organs of sense; and while the body is anointed with the visible ointment, the soul is sanctified by the holy and life-giving Spirit.

And first you were anointed on the forehead, so that you might be freed from the shame which the first man, the transgressor, carried about everywhere, and so that with unveiled face you might reflect as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. Then on the ears, so that you might receive ears quick to hear the divine mysteries, of which Isaiah said, "And the Lord gave me an ear to hear," and the Lord Jesus in the Gospels, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Then on the nostrils, so that, perceiving the divine ointment, you may say: "We are the fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved." After this on the breast, so that, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, you may stand against the wiles of the devil. For as Christ after his baptism and the coming of the Holy Spirit went out and overcame the adversary, so you too, after holy baptism and the mystical chrism, clothed in the full armor of the Holy Spirit, stand against the hostile power and overcome it, saying: "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me."

Having been counted worthy of this holy chrism, you are called Christians, making the name true by your new birth. For before you were counted worthy of this grace, you were not properly worthy of this title, but were advancing on the way toward being Christians. [6] You must know that the symbol of this chrism lies in the Old Testament. For when Moses imparted God's command to his brother and appointed him high priest, after bathing him in water he anointed him; and he was called "christ" (anointed), evidently from the chrism that was a figure. So too the high priest, bringing Solomon forward as king, anointed him after he had bathed in the Gihon. But these things happened to them in a figure, while to you they happened not in a figure but in truth; since you were truly anointed by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the beginning of your salvation; for he is truly the firstfruits, and you the lump; and if the firstfruits are holy, plainly the holiness will pass on to the lump.

Keep this unspotted; for it will teach you all things, if it abides in you, as you heard just now from the blessed John, who says much in his wisdom about this chrism. For this holy thing is a spiritual safeguard of the body and salvation of the soul. Of this the blessed Isaiah prophesied long ago, saying: "And the Lord will make for all nations on this mountain" (and elsewhere too he calls the Church a mountain, as when he says, "And in the last days the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest"), "they shall drink wine, they shall drink gladness, they shall be anointed with ointment." And to make you sure, hear what he says about this ointment as mystical: "Deliver all these things to the nations; for the counsel of the Lord is upon all the nations." Having been anointed, then, with this holy ointment, keep it unspotted and blameless in you, advancing by good works and becoming well-pleasing to the author of your salvation, Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This teaching of the blessed Paul is itself sufficient to give you full assurance about the divine mysteries; having been counted worthy of them, you have become of one body and one blood with Christ. For he cried just now: "that on the night in which he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and having given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat; this is my body. And taking the cup and having given thanks, he said, Take, drink; this is my blood." Since, then, he himself declared and said of the bread, "This is my body," who will dare to doubt any longer? And since he himself affirmed and said, "This is my blood," who will ever hesitate, saying that it is not his blood?

He once changed water into wine, which is akin to blood, at Cana of Galilee; and is he not to be believed when he changes wine into blood? Invited to a bodily marriage, he worked this wonderful miracle; and shall he not much more be acknowledged to have given the sons of the bridechamber the enjoyment of his body and blood?

So let us partake with all assurance, as of the body and blood of Christ. For in the figure of bread his body is given to you, and in the figure of wine his blood, so that by partaking of the body and blood of Christ you may become of one body and one blood with him. For in this way we also become Christ-bearers, his body and blood being distributed through our members. In this way, according to the blessed Peter, we become partakers of the divine nature.

Christ once, conversing with the Jews, said: "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in yourselves." They, not having heard what was said in a spiritual sense, were offended and went back, thinking that he was urging them to eat flesh.

In the Old Testament too there were loaves of the presence; but those, belonging to the Old Testament, have come to an end. In the New Testament there is the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation, sanctifying soul and body. For as bread corresponds to the body, so the Word is suited to the soul. [6] … [bread and] wine; for they are the body and blood of Christ according to the Lord's declaration. For even if sense suggests this to you, let faith make you firm. Do not judge the matter by the taste, but be fully assured by faith, without doubting, that you have been counted worthy of the body and blood of Christ.

And the blessed David will tell you the meaning of this, saying: "You have prepared a table before me, in the presence of those who afflict me." What he says is this: Before your coming the demons prepared for men a table, polluted and defiled and full of devilish power; but since your coming, O Master, you have prepared a table before me. When a man says to God, "You have prepared a table before me," what else does he mean but the mystical and spiritual table which God has prepared for us "in the presence of", that is, opposite and in opposition to, the demons? And very fittingly; for that table had fellowship with demons, but this one has fellowship with God. "You have anointed my head with oil." He anointed your head with oil, on your forehead, for the seal of God which you have, so that you may become the engraving of the seal, "holiness to God." "And your cup that inebriates me, how excellent it is." You see here the cup spoken of, which Jesus took in his hands, and having given thanks said: "This is my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

For this reason Solomon too, hinting at this grace, says in Ecclesiastes: "Come, eat your bread with gladness" (the spiritual bread; "Come" is the call he gives, the saving and blessed call), "and drink your wine with a good heart" (the spiritual wine), "and let oil be poured on your head" (do you see him hinting at the mystical chrism too?), "and let your garments be always white, for the Lord has been pleased with your works." For before you came to the grace, your works were vanity of vanities. But having put off your old garments and put on those that are spiritually white, you must be clothed in white always. We do not at all mean that you must always wear white clothes; but you must be clothed in garments truly white and shining [and spiritual], so that you may say with the blessed Isaiah: "Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation, and put on me the robe of gladness."

Having learned these things, and being fully assured that what seems bread is not bread, even though it is perceived by the taste, but the body of Christ; and that what seems wine is not wine, even though the taste would have it so, but the blood of Christ; and that of this David sang long ago, saying, "And bread strengthens man's heart, to make his face shine with oil": strengthen your heart by partaking of it as spiritual, and make the face of your soul shine. And having it unveiled with a pure conscience, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, …

By the love of God for mankind you have heard sufficiently at our former assemblies about baptism, chrism, and the partaking of the body and blood of Christ; and now we must pass on to what follows, today setting the crown on the spiritual building up of your benefit.

You saw, then, the deacon who gives the priest and the presbyters standing round God's altar water to wash their hands. He did not give it at all because of bodily dirt; that is not the reason; for we did not come into the church in the first place with dirt on our bodies. But the washing is a symbol that you ought to be pure from all sins and transgressions. For since the hands are a symbol of action, by washing them we signify the purity and blamelessness of our actions. Did you not hear the blessed David initiating us into this very mystery and saying, "I will wash my hands among the innocent, and will go around your altar, O Lord"? The washing of the hands, then, is a symbol of being free from sins.

Then the deacon cries aloud: "Receive one another, and let us kiss one another." Do not suppose that this kiss is of the kind usual in the marketplace among ordinary friends. This kiss is not of that kind. It blends souls with one another and woos for them complete forgetfulness of wrongs. The kiss, then, is a sign that souls are mingled and banish all remembrance of wrongs. For this reason Christ said: "If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar, and go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." The kiss, then, is reconciliation, and for this reason it is holy; as the blessed Paul somewhere cried, saying, "Greet one another with a holy kiss," and Peter, "with a kiss of love."

After this the priest cries aloud: "Lift up your hearts." For truly at that most awesome hour we must have the heart on high with God, and not below on the earth and earthly things. In effect, then, the priest bids all at that hour to put away the cares of this life and household anxieties, and to have the heart in heaven with God who loves mankind. Then you answer: "We have them with the Lord," assenting to this by what you confess. But let no one be present in such a way that he says with the mouth, "We have them with the Lord," while in his thinking his mind is on the cares of this life. We must remember God always; but if this is impossible because of human weakness, we must strive for it above all at that hour.

Then the priest says: "Let us give thanks to the Lord." For truly we ought to give thanks, that he called us, unworthy as we were, to so great a grace; that when we were enemies he reconciled us; that he counted us worthy of the Spirit of adoption. Then you say: "It is fitting and right." For in giving thanks we do a fitting and right thing; but he, doing not what was right but what was beyond right, did us good and counted us worthy of such great blessings.

After this we make mention of heaven, and earth, and sea; of sun and moon and stars, and all creation, rational and irrational, visible and invisible; of angels, archangels, virtues, dominions, principalities, powers, thrones, and the cherubim with many faces; in effect saying the words of David: "Magnify the Lord with me." We make mention also of the seraphim, whom Isaiah by the Holy Spirit saw standing around the throne of God, covering their faces with two wings and their feet with two, and flying with two, and saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts." For this reason we recite this ascription of praise, handed down to us from the seraphim, so that we may become sharers in hymnody with the hosts above the world.

Then, having sanctified ourselves by these spiritual hymns, we beseech God who loves mankind to send forth the Holy Spirit upon the gifts set before him, so that he may make the bread the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ. For whatever the Holy Spirit touches is sanctified and changed.

Then, after the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless worship, has been completed, over that sacrifice of propitiation we entreat God for the common peace of the churches; for the stability of the world; for kings; for soldiers and allies; for those in sickness; for the afflicted; and, in a word, for all who need help we all pray and offer this sacrifice.

Then we make mention also of those who have fallen asleep before us: first of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, so that at their prayers and intercessions God may receive our petition. Then also on behalf of the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in a word of all among us who have fallen asleep before us; believing that it will be a very great benefit to the souls for whom the petition is offered while the holy and most awesome sacrifice lies before us.

And I want to persuade you by an illustration. For I know that many say: "What does it profit a soul that departs this world with sins, or without sins, to be remembered at the prayer?" Well then: if a king were to banish some who had offended him, and then those close to them were to weave a crown and offer it to him on behalf of those under punishment, would he not grant them a remission of their penalties? In the same way we too, offering to him our prayers for those who have fallen asleep, even if they are sinners, do not weave a crown, but offer Christ sacrificed for our sins, propitiating God who loves mankind both for them and for ourselves.

Then, after these things, we say that prayer which the Savior handed down to his own disciples, with a pure conscience calling God Father and saying: "Our Father, who are in heaven." O the very great love of God for mankind! To those who had run away from him and fallen into the worst evils he has given such forgetfulness of evils and such a share of grace that they may even call him Father. "Our Father, who are in heaven." And those too might be "heavens" who bear the image of the heavenly, in whom God is, dwelling and walking.

"Hallowed be your name." The name of God is holy by nature, whether we say so or not; but since it is sometimes profaned among sinners, according to the words, "Because of you my name is continually blasphemed among the nations," we pray that the name of God may be hallowed in us; not that it comes from not being holy to being holy, but that it becomes holy in us as we are sanctified and do things worthy of holiness.

"Your kingdom come." It belongs to a pure soul to say with boldness, "Your kingdom come." For one who has heard Paul saying, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body," and has cleansed himself in deed and thought and word, will say to God, "Your kingdom come."

"Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." The divine and blessed angels of God do the will of God, as David said in the psalm: "Bless the Lord, all you his angels, mighty in strength, who do his will." In effect, then, when you pray this you say: "As your will is done among the angels, so may it be done on earth in me, O Master."

"Give us this day our epiousios bread." This common bread is not epiousios; but this holy bread is epiousios, that is, ordained for the substance of the soul. This bread does not go into the belly and is not cast out into the drain, but is distributed through your whole constitution, for the benefit of body and soul. And "this day" he uses in the sense of "every day," as Paul also said: "While it is called today."

"And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." For we have many sins; for we stumble both in word and in thought, and do very many things worthy of condemnation; and if we say that we have no sin, we lie, as John says. And we make a compact with God, entreating him to forgive us our sins as we too forgive our neighbors their debts. Considering, then, what we receive in return for what, let us not delay or put off … [The offenses] against us are slight and trivial and easily settled; but those committed by us against God are great, and need his love for mankind alone. Take heed, then, lest for the slight and trivial sins against you, you shut yourself out from God's forgiveness of your most grievous sins.

"And lead us not into temptation, O Lord." Is the Lord teaching us to pray that we may not be tempted at all? Then how is it said elsewhere, "A man untempted is unproved," and again, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations"? But perhaps entering into temptation means being overwhelmed by the temptation. For temptation is like a winter torrent hard to cross. Those, then, who are not overwhelmed in temptations pass through, proving to be excellent swimmers and not swept away by them at all; but those who are not such go in and are overwhelmed. For example, Judas, entering into the temptation of avarice, did not swim through, but was overwhelmed and choked both bodily and spiritually. Peter entered into the temptation of the denial; but having entered, he was not overwhelmed, but swam nobly through and was delivered from the temptation. Hear again, elsewhere, a choir of saints who came through unharmed giving thanks for their rescue from temptation: "You have tested us, O God; you have tried us with fire as silver is tried; you brought us into the snare; you laid afflictions on our back; you caused men … fire and water, and you brought us out into refreshment." You see them speaking boldly about …

"But deliver us from the evil one." If "Lead us not into temptation" meant not being tempted at all, he would not have said, "But deliver us from the evil one." The evil one is the adversary, the demon, from whom we pray to be delivered. Then, after completing the prayer, you say "Amen"; by the "Amen," which means "So be it," you set your seal on what is in the prayer taught by God.

After this the priest says: "Holy things for the holy." Holy are the gifts set forth, having received the visitation of the Holy Spirit; holy are you too, having been counted worthy of the Holy Spirit. The holy things, then, correspond to the holy. Then you say: "One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ." For truly one is holy, holy by nature; we too are holy, but not by nature, but by participation, discipline, and prayer.

After this you hear the cantor inviting you with a divine melody to the communion of the holy mysteries and saying: "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Do not leave the judgment to the bodily throat; no, but to unwavering faith. For those who taste are bidden to taste not bread and wine but the antitype of the body and blood of Christ.

Coming forward, then, do not come with your wrists stretched out or your fingers spread apart; but make your left hand a throne for the right, since it is about to receive a King; and, hollowing your palm, receive the body of Christ, saying after it, "Amen." Then, after carefully sanctifying your eyes by the touch of the holy body, partake of it, taking care that you lose no part of it. For whatever you lose, you have plainly been deprived of as though it were one of your own members. Tell me: if someone gave you gold dust, would you not hold it with all care, guarding against losing any of it and suffering loss? Will you not then be much more careful that not a crumb falls from you of what is more precious than gold and precious stones?

Then, after you have partaken of the body of Christ, come also to the cup of the blood; not stretching out your hands, but bowing, and saying "Amen" in the manner of worship and reverence, be sanctified by partaking also of the blood of Christ. And while the moisture is still on your lips, touch it with your hands and sanctify your eyes and forehead and your other organs of sense. Then wait for the prayer and give thanks to God, who has counted you worthy of such great mysteries. [23] Hold fast these traditions unspotted, and keep yourselves free from offense. Do not cut yourselves off from the communion; do not, through the pollution of sins, deprive yourselves of these holy and spiritual mysteries. And may the God of peace sanctify you wholly; and may your whole body and soul and spirit be preserved at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom be …