do you not know that he who insults the royal image transfers the insult to the dignity of the prototype? Or do you ignore that he who overturns a wooden or brass statue is punished, not as though he had harmed the wooden material, but as though he had laid hands upon the King himself? Inanimate material which bears the likeness of the King transfers the insult to the King; but if a living form, which God the Word has clothed himself with, is insulted, will it not transfer the insult to Him who is clothed with it? Appreciate the dignity, and do not insult the economy. But let these things suffice for now; reserving what remains to be treated concerning God the Word for another discourse, let us honor his moderation in some order, and render glory to God, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
MONITUM ON THE HOMILY "IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD"
Who the author of this discourse may be, is not easily perceived, nor at what time or in what city it was delivered. It is plain that it was spoken against the Pneumatomachi and the Anomoeans and the followers of Eunomius, who not long ago had held primacy in that city and oppressed the Catholics. This matter is described by the orator here near the middle of the discourse: "For when impiety flourished, when heresy devastated this city, the children of the Church were consumed..." But today, beloved, that pestilential doctrine has been cast out, and saving grace has entered in. It seems altogether that this concerns the Anomoeans and Arians expelled by Theodosius the Great, who occupied many churches in Constantinople. That event happened in the year of Christ 380; and thus this homily was delivered in the year about 381, which was also the opinion of Tillemont in his *Life of Chrysostom*, pages 392 and 587. To this opinion everything corresponds. For at Constantinople, where the homily is thought to have been delivered, there were many Pneumatomachi and many Anomoeans, whom this writer—whoever he is—harasses here: these were expelled from the Churches; yet they struggled against the Catholics, which lasted even until the times of Chrysostom, as can be seen in his homily against the Anomoeans delivered at Constantinople (Vol. 1, col. 701 et seq.). At the end of the homily, however, the speaker commends the whole assembly to the prayers of their common father and doctor. Truly, that was perhaps still St. Gregory Nazianzen, who in the same year resigned the episcopate of Constantinople for the sake of preserving peace. The style is altogether complex and iron-like, whence some have ascribed it to Severianus, bishop of Gabala, on account of the similarity of speech. But these things precede the age of Severianus as a speaker; nor did he labor alone under this defect of style, as we have often seen. We have rejected the Latin interpretation of Joannes Jacobus Beurerus, because it was composed in a paraphrastic manner, and we have prepared a new one.
ON "IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD" AND THE FOLLOWING, AND THAT THE SPIRIT SEARCHES THE DEPTHS OF GOD (1 Cor. 2.10), AND CONCERNING THE NEWLY ILLUMINATED AND AGAINST HERETICS.
Our discourse yesterday ended at the contemplation of the great eagle, of that truly great one, I say, who flies beyond the heaven and the heavenly powers in spirit, and begins from the summit of all things. For John first preached to us, *In the beginning was the Word*, and philosophized concerning the uncreated nature; he who surpassed all created things more than any eagle, and rose above the sound of thunder, as he who alone preached the eternal and heavenly philosophy. For thunder, brothers, both terrifies and irrigates: it irrigates with the shower of clouds, it terrifies and strikes with its sound. Therefore, the voice of John adopts diverse parts: it irrigates the Church, and strikes terror into the host of the heretics. For when they speak vain things, when they deny things which they know to exist, when they contend with human language against divine Scripture: then John cries out, *Was*, before *Was not*. *In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God*, [544] by his voice terrifying his adversaries: as David testifies and says, *At your rebuke they shall flee, at the voice of your thunder they shall be afraid* (Ps. 103:7). *In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God*. For because the generation of the Word is free from passion, he calls Him "Word," so that through the things which are in you, he may teach you the things which are above you. For just as the mind, generating a word, generates without passion, without being cut, without flowing, without suffering any corporeality: so the divine and passionless generation is ineffable and incomprehensible, not cut, not divided; but while it is evilly cut by impious and incredulous heretics, it is rightly preserved by the pious without division. Why did the evangelist not wish to say, "In the beginning was the Son"? Lest the name of "Son" might introduce a generation liable to passion: but he calls Him "Word," so that he may declare a generation without passion. And lest you should think the Word to be prolatitious, he subjoined: *And the Word was God*: so that by the name of "Word" you might understand impassibility, and by the name of "God," dignity. Then, his generation having been set forth, he introduces the dignity and power of the Creator: *All things were made by him*.
And if anything has been made in him, it is not the uncreated nature of the Spirit. But, he says, it is stated, "all things." But the word "all things" does not include the uncreated nature together with the created. If, however, paying heed to the word "all things," you have dared against the holy nature, what would you say if you hear the Lord saying: *All who came before me were thieves and robbers* (John 10.8)? Do you call Moses a robber and call the prophets thieves? For, he says, *all who came before me were thieves and robbers*. But the sense distinguishes both concerning whom the discourse is and toward whom it is directed. And now the discourse is concerning creation, and he says that creation has been brought to be through him, not the essence of the Spirit, which so knows the things of God as the spirit of man knows the things in him, just as Paul says: *No one knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which dwells in him* (1 Cor 2.11). If, therefore, my spirit is alien to my nature, the Spirit of God is also alien to the nature of God. For, he says, *the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God* (1 Cor 2.10). 417 But the heretic hears "searches," yet wrongly interprets the sense. For if the Spirit knew the things in God, he says, he would not search; for searching testifies to his ignorance. If, therefore, the Spirit’s searching the depths of God brings an accusation of ignorance against him, whenever you see God searching the hearts of men, will you pass a sentence of ignorance upon him? Hear then Paul saying, just as he spoke concerning the Spirit, *The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God*, so also Paul, philosophizing about God, says: *But he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is* (Rom 8.27). If, therefore, God searches while ignorant, the Spirit also searches while ignorant. But so that you may learn that searching is not of one ignorant, but of one who knows, he added: *So also no one has known the things of God, except the Spirit of God* (1 Cor 2.11). And he attributes knowledge to the Spirit, not apprehension from nature, but acknowledgment from nature.
2. Therefore, do not divide the undivided nature, nor cut asunder the indivisible essence; but rather acknowledge the power accurately. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are called one. For concerning the Father, the Son says: *When you see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power* (Matt 26.64). And having mentioned power, he established the glory, so that you might marvel at the sense. Whence, calling the Father himself God "power," conversing with Caiaphas, he said: *When you see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power*. The Father is therefore power; and the Son is also power, as Paul says: *Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God* (1 Cor 1.24). And the Holy Spirit is power; for the Savior says to the disciples: *Stay in Jerusalem until you be clothed with power from on high* (Luke 24.49). Knowing then, beloved, this same power in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, hold your faith unshaken; do not divide the incomprehensible glory, but acknowledge the conditions of the illumination; look at the sons of grace blooming through the great high priest, look at the children of light having run toward the heralds of the light; for it is necessary for those who have been regenerated from illumination to run toward those who have regenerated the world. Let us also say with the prophet and the apostles: *Look up with your eyes, and see your children gathered together* (Isai 60.4); and again, *As I live, says the Lord, because you will clothe them all as an ornament of a bride* (Isai 49.18). Isaiah, therefore, stands today saying to the multitudes of those who have been illuminated, those who have been generated from the Holy Spirit, those who have been suddenly renewed, those who have been transformed in a moment, those who have been transformed from a terrestrial state into a heavenly image; for Isaiah is struck with awe, saying: *Who has seen, who has heard such things, that the earth should bring forth her children in one day, and a nation be born all at once?* (Isai 66.8). For swift is the regeneration of the Spirit; it does not wait for time, it does not serve seasons and generations, but at the same time it wills, at the same time that which is being regenerated is born. It was meet for the sons of light to process through the whole marketplace and to glorify and acclaim him who came down for their sake, that he might lead the whole world up to himself 418 on high. Christ came down from the heavens; he came down not having departed from the heavens; he ascended not having departed from the earth; for neither having come down did he leave the heavens empty, nor having ascended did he leave the earth destitute of his own superintendence. It was meet for the sons of light to carry around the lamp of the Word in the marketplaces; the mystery was not insulted, the character of the truth of the newly illuminated was not dishonored. It was meet for them also to hymn in the squares; *For wisdom is hymned in the exits, and in the squares she acts with boldness, and is preached on the top of the walls* (Prov 1.20). Let us purify the air, which lascivious songs polluted, and which cries of the impious once defiled, and the ululations of those performing the mysteries of the demons. The air, and the earth, and the heaven were purified by the word of light. For just as heaven and earth groan at the malice of the impious, so do they rejoice again at the justice of those who are upright; for whenever man sins, heaven is indignant, and the earth is also indignant, as Jeremiah says: *Heaven was astonished at this, and the earth shuddered, because the people have done two evil things* (Jer 2.12, 13). Do you see how heaven and earth shudder, when men sin? But when they transform themselves into piety, hear the prophet saying: *Let the heavens be glad and the earth exult; let the mountains break forth into gladness, and the hills into exultation, because God has had mercy on his people* (Isai 49.15). Let the Church also, which abounds with such a crowd and people, say: *I was once left alone; where did these come to me? I was childless and a widow; and who has generated these for me?* Let the children of the Church, who are contained by the multitude, also say to God the voice of the prophets: *The place is narrow for me; make room for me, that I may dwell* (Ibid. v. 20).
For when the things of error were flourishing, when the pasture of heresy was feeding upon this city, the children of the Church were consumed; and as a locust having fallen upon the earth under the sky consumes its fruits, so the corrupting teaching was consuming the fruits of truly true teaching and of piety. But today, beloved, the corrupting teaching has been cast out, and saving grace has entered, regenerating the people, and saying to him: *Now I will recompense in place of the progeny, which the locust and the caterpillar and the rust have consumed* (Joel 2.25). What
A are you contending, O heretic, with the Jews, in trying to hide the glory of the Only-Begotten? They hid the resurrection as far as lay in them: you hide the divinity as far as you are able. But neither can they vindicate the truth for themselves, nor do you have a clear understanding of piety. Hear, then, the prophet saying: *His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise* (Hab. 3.3). Of his praise, not of his comprehension; of faith, not of investigation; of charity, not of curiosity. We have been instructed not to investigate, but to believe: believing, we are illuminated; not by curiously investigating are we baptized. Do not let the gatherings of heretics deceive you: they indeed have baptism, but they do not have illumination; and they are baptized in body, but they are not illuminated in soul. For just as Simon was baptized but not illuminated, in the same way are these found to be. Let the spirits of the apostles therefore exult, who by a spiritual net caught such a multitude of this people through the Holy Spirit. Now the prophetic voice is fulfilled in our eyes: *In the last days*, God says, *they shall say no more, Behold, the ark of the covenant of the holy Israel*; that is, the ancient cult; *neither shall the ark’s covenant ascend into their heart* (Jer. 3.16). Why? Because *behold, I will send many hunters and fishers* (Jer. 16.16). He circumscribed that ancient ark, and brought in the ark of the Church, which never perishes. *I will send many hunters and fishers.* O new fishing! He who yesterday was caught, today is fishing: for the earth has been filled with the glory of Christ, and the ends of the world have been filled with faith. Do not, therefore, on account of the economy of the flesh, affect his dignity with insults. From the Jews a rumor went out that the resurrection had been sold, and the report spread that his disciples had stolen him. They pronounced the sentence of death against his body, but these proclaim his theology with all their might. Truly, because of their works error is spread abroad today; but by the Church, eternal life is preached. And, if you wish, you have an ancient image: for when the brothers of Joseph plotted against him, Jacob and his family mourned him greatly; yet Egypt held him alive and reigning: here he was mourned among Jacob’s kin as one dead; but in Egypt he was living and ruling. So too, now, among the Jews and the raging heretics, he is thought dead; for those who take away faith and stir up questions destroy the theology; but with us he reigns living, and as fitting, is worshiped. But truly, the word of God is firm and strong, the invincible doctrine of the apostles. Therefore, not in vain does the voice of Paul labor, pleading the cause of truth. Come, blessed Paul, incited for the truth, be indignant for the faith, and being angered, say to the heretics: From where have you been taught Aristotelianism? Who preferred Plato to the Gospels? Who cast out the proclamation of faith, and introduced an incredulous question? Where did you learn that [term], "unbegotten and begotten"? You have abandoned the Father, rejected the name of the Son, deemed the dignity B of the Spirit unworthy, and turn yourself to human words. Rightly did Jeremiah say: *Faith has perished from their mouth* (Jer. 7.28). What did Peter say, for which he was proclaimed blessed? *You are the Christ, the Son of God* (Matt. 16.16). He did not say: "You are the offspring of the unbegotten"; but, *You are the Christ, the Son of God.* When the Father revealed wisdom to him, could he not grasp it? Could Christ not have told the apostles, when he commanded them to baptize, "Go, baptize the nations in the name of the begotten and the unbegotten"? But he found a wiser name from mystical traditions. You circumscribe divine things, you take away faith, and you induce questioning. But fear, O enemy: Peter holds the keys; for because he said, *You are the Christ, the Son of God*, he received the keys. Whomsoever Peter sees saying the Son [is such], to them he opens the gate of the kingdom: but whosoever he sees saying that he is a created thing and blaspheming, to them he shuts the gate of the Church. For he did not receive the keys before he said, *You are the Son of God*: then he also hears from him: *Blessed are you, Simon Barjona; to you I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven* (Matt. 16.17). After confession is power; after faith, the Church and the kingdom are handed down.
III. But these are warring against the Son, while others are arrayed against the Holy Spirit—and they profit nothing who confess Christ, while they deny the Holy Spirit; just as it profits nothing to those who confess the Father and deny the Son. For even the Jews confess the Father, who deny the Son, and they do not have eternal life. Whoever despises the glory of Christ is not acceptable before the Father. Attend carefully. For even the friends of Job were gathering with God, but they condemned Job: yet God, although they were defending his own cause, did not approve them, but said: *Why have you spoken against my servant Job?* (Job 42.7). If God did not approve the friends who had spoken against Job and had glorified themselves, will he approve those who deny the Son, even if they confess themselves? By no means: for, *He who hates me*, he says, *hates my Father also* (John 15.23). As the eye does not receive light if the Son is not honored, so neither is the Father nor the Son [received] if the Holy Spirit is despised. Paul certainly found the heretical weeds sprouting, but they had never openly broken out. For at Ephesus in Asia, when he had found some who had been baptized, he said to them: *Have you received the Holy Spirit believing?* They answered him: *We have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit* (Acts 19.2). Hence that famous voice: *In what then were you baptized?* Let Peter and likewise Paul teach the Church that those heretical questions are not to be woven. From where that nefarious appellation of Eunomius? From where the heretical seeds? Truly, truth has perished among the impious and Aristotelian doctrine has prevailed. You usurp the terms of human nature regarding the divine and unbegotten nature, and call it begotten? "But you," he says, "what do you say the Father is?" I say he is unbegotten, but not as you assert: I say the Father is unbegotten, because he was not begotten. Yet I also say Adam is unbegotten, because he was not begotten, but was formed. Do not strike the hearers with foreign sayings; these are figments. The Father is unbegotten; and many other things are unbegotten. For *unbegotten* is whatever has not been begotten; moreover, that is called *unbegotten* which is indeed being made, but is not yet made. The resurrection of the dead is now unbegotten; for it will happen, but it has not yet happened, and it is unbegotten because it has not yet been begotten. That is also called unbegotten which C is neither made, nor is it ever to be made, and for that