Explanation of the First Epistle to the Corinthians

^A Paul says that he was a minister of the circumcision, so that he might ratify the promises to the fathers, and for that reason he was delivered by God the Father, and so that the Gentiles might also obtain mercy, in order that they might also glorify him as the creator and artificer of all things, the Savior and Redeemer. For it was necessary, it was necessary, because the circumcised people, through their great unbelief, had impiously insulted him and would not accept his redemption, that the ineffable grace of God should not seem useless, while only a few, barely saved from Israel, believed. Therefore, the supernal clemency being expanded as if towards all, the Gentiles were assumed, and the mystery of the wisdom in Christ did not wander from the goal of its kindness: for the whole world, through the mercy of God, was saved in place of those who had fallen. That this mystery was foretold by the voice of the saints, who in the Spirit foreknew things to come, he shows by the most evident presentation of the prophecies. ^B

OF ST. CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, EXPLANATION OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS

1, 1. *Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, etc.* The divine Paul says that he was sent by Christ, by the will of God and the Father. For this, I think, is that which is meant by "through the will of God." For since the will and the operation of the Father are accomplished through the Son, we say that through him also the saints were chosen for the apostleship.

*And Sosthenes our brother, etc.* That the power of this preaching would be of benefit not only to the Corinthians, but also to all those called in Christ to sanctification through faith, he makes clear by saying: "To them that are sanctified in Christ, in every place of theirs and ours." For the law did not

^A command that this be done in every place, but that they should arrive at the divine temple itself in Jerusalem. For it feared, as is credible, the volubility of their minds, lest if they were commanded to worship or sacrifice in every place, they might have the law as a pretext for their transition to shameful practices, and might worship idols, erecting temples and altars for themselves. But since we who are from the Gentiles have been called henceforth through faith in Christ into an intimacy toward God, and have been enriched with the safety that comes through the Holy Spirit, we are commanded to worship, not all in Jerusalem, but in every place. And this, indeed, was what was spoken through the prophets: "And every one from his place shall worship the Lord." He writes, therefore, together with Sosthenes to the Church of God, which Christ Himself prepared for Himself. And who are they that have appeared as this Church? All who have been sanctified and called through Christ ^B unto justification, and who call upon His name in every place of theirs and ours, that is, whether in the land of the Jews, or in the cities and provinces of the Gentiles. He proclaims Christ to be God by nature, and with Him and through Him he procures glory for God and the Father; for he calls those who are sanctified the Church of God. And again, he assigns them to Christ, saying: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."

"Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." ^C Grace crowns those who have believed in Him who is from God and the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. For through Him and in Him all things are given by God and the Father; and He is a co-giver and co-dispenser with Him who begat Him of good things from above, and the distributor of gifts from heaven; and He Himself is the peace of all, illuminating with His own grace the Principalities, and the Thrones, and the Powers, and, to use a word, every rational creature.

"That you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." I, 10. That it is necessary to be glorified by the name of the Lord, He taught necessarily and wisely, Himself saying through one of the holy prophets: "But for my servants ^D a new name shall be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth." For we have been named Christians, and have been enriched with the new name, of which some have been deservedly deprived, who have departed from the correct doctrine of the Church; and, cleaving to deluding spirits and the prodigies of certain unholy false teachers, they have acquired their name, and very deservedly so. For they are not of Christ, having shared in the blasphemy against Him, and having been split into various opinions and judgments, although Christ has called His own in peace. And because He is one, and is not divided, we are all one in Christ, and toward this we have been perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment,

^A binding us together into unanimity according to the spiritual union of Him who says to God and the Father: "I will that as I and Thou are one, so they also may be one in us."

1, 13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? If another bore the cross for us, let us also be called his. And if we have perchance been baptized into the invocation of another, let him possess us, and let us call him Savior and Redeemer. But if Christ died for our sins, and we have been buried together with Him alone through baptism into death, then, he says, let Him possess the souls redeemed by Him. For we have been saved through Him and by Him, who laid down His own soul for us.

1, 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Paul was sent expressly to preach Jesus to the Gentiles. Nevertheless, we say that it pertains to the apostolic office to perform whatever is appropriate to the time and to the utility, and indeed even if he should wish to baptize some. But lest he might appear to spend time appropriate for preaching on other cares, rightly leaving it for others dispersed through the regions, and all those specifically who are bishops, to do this at leisure, he himself applied himself rather to the preaching of the Gospel; ^B as one to whom the ministry of the word had been primarily entrusted, and by whom the mystery of Christ had been most widely explored. But just as the divine Stephen, although he performed the ministry of tables, did not think the office of initiating alien to himself; so also the divine Paul, although destined for evangelizing the mystery of Christ, nevertheless, as occasion offered, also fulfilled the ministry of baptizing, having evidently the power of both, and with no one prohibiting him, if at any time he thought this also should be done by him.

1, 20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? To those who are puffed up with worldly wisdom, and not receiving the faith, that is, in Christ, the Gospel seems folly. But to us the sentiment is far otherwise: for we profess that it is the power ^C of God and a way of salvation that leads to sanctification, and ^D that it wisely instructs toward the knowledge of the truth through copious preaching. I think, however, that he calls the orators "wise" here, who by the cleverness of their words, weaving plausible arguments into falsehood, strove to fashion a semblance of truth for it. By "scribes" I understand the schoolmasters or grammarians, whose custom it was to examine the writings of the poets and interpret them for the young. And finally, he calls them "disputers" who are accustomed to quibble over words and examine things subtly, and who, with the inventions of their own minds—just as it may seem to each one that a thing stands more probably in each of the matters proposed—feign to be seeking the truth. But nothing

is rightly done, but rather entirely carelessly: for they are ignorant of the God of all, who fashioned this whole universe by mysterious energies without any labor, and brought out things that were not into existence by a single nod. Truly, therefore, the wisdom of the world has been made foolish. ^A For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

1, 21. For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

By the name "wisdom of God" he denotes also human intelligence and eloquence, or the very adornment of words, so that he may teach that God is the author of the mind, and the giver of prudence and eloquence, even if some have not used them as was fitting. And he calls the "foolishness of preaching" the simplicity of words: for the divine disciples were uneducated in speech, but rich in understanding.

1, 22. For the Jews also seek a sign, and the Greeks seek wisdom.

Paul says what is true in both respects. For when Christ was once casting out of the sacred enclosures those who were selling sheep and oxen, turtledoves and pigeons, and saying, "Do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise" (John 2, 16), the Jews opposed him, saying, "What sign do you show us, because you do these things? Or who gave you this authority?" Moreover, there approached him also some of the scribes, after so many miracles had been performed by Christ, maliciously saying, "Master, we wish to see a sign from you" (Matth. 12, 38). ^B Therefore, holding in utter contempt the voices of the saints, from which it was fitting that it be recognized by them that he himself was the Christ, they were seeking divine portents. Hence the Savior said to those sent by John: "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk" (Matth. 11, 4), and the rest. The Greeks, however, seeking splendor in speech and words, also consider the manner of the incarnation to be foolishness, and say: "For what was the need at all for him who is God by nature, the Word born of God, who is able to accomplish whatever he pleases by mere will and nod, to become man and undergo death? And how, they say, could a virgin give birth? And how shall that which has been corrupted by death arise?" But it is no wonder that such things are said by them: for the animal man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit; for it is foolishness to them, but to us it is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God the Father saved the world through him, as through a power naturally inherent in himself, that is to say, his ineffable wisdom. ^C For the Wisdom and Power of God and the Father is the Son (1 Cor. 1, 24), through whom all things have derived their origin and are preserved once created. And if anyone, he says, should choose to compare with human powers the strength of God, he will clearly see that even those works of God which seem to be weaker

having been brought to pass perhaps as if not by the whole power of the Maker, are entirely beyond and superior to human strength. ^A And in this same way you shall also conceive concerning wisdom, that what seems to be the foolishness of God is wiser than men. For if one were to wish to compare the small and least of creatures with the size and beauty of the elements—I mean of the heaven, and the sun, and the rest of the stars, and of fire, and of water, and of others of this kind—the power and wisdom within them will be found to be altogether slight, and one might seem so by reason of having been surpassed; yet there would not be any worker of those that are among us [capable of producing] such things. Truly, therefore, the weakness of ^B God is stronger than [the strength of] men, and the foolishness of God is wiser than men. The all-wise economy possesses this, then. For Christ has reigned wisely over all that is under heaven in wisdom.

II, 1. *Announcing to you the testimony of God.* He calls Christ the testimony of God: for God and the Father has testified concerning Him, saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

II, 3. *And I was with you in weakness and in fear, etc.* (Cod. f. 229). Yet, he says, although I used so modest a method of instruction, I feared greatly lest perhaps those who were found to have a mind superior to that which we possess might gain nothing, but rather be harmed. For to those who are babes in understanding, a tender and easily grasped discourse is appropriate; but for the mature is the solid nourishment of those who, through practice, have their senses exercised to the discernment of good and evil. He says, therefore, that the discourse of the Apostle as he initiated you was as if in great weakness, and not with the whole power of the mystery-leader; nor yet with the persuasiveness of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ^C that your faith might not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. For the Apostles added to their preaching clear demonstration of divine wonders also, placing the hinge of the matter here: namely, that it is necessary to believe that God has testified in these things both by the Spirit and by the deeds themselves; so that, using a certain secret and ineffable power and strength, they also easily performed miracles. For the myths of the Greeks might indeed properly require the defense of eloquence, which would somehow veil their deformity; but the divine preaching suffices with a simple and plain discourse, ^D trusting in the testimony of God.

II, 8. *For if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.* The discourse is very fitting. For Christ [alt-version omitted]

^A triumphed by his own cross over the wicked and opposing powers, affixing to the wood the bond that was against us; he drove away Satan from his tyranny over us, abolished the sin of the world, unlocked the gates of Hades for the spirits below, and destroyed the power of death. Why, then, would the suffering upon the cross not be hateful to the impure demons? Surely they would not have crucified him if they had accurately known him to be the Redeemer and Lord of glory. For that it was a work of diabolical savagery that Christ should be crucified through the madness of the Jews, the divine John clearly showed when speaking of Judas, saying: *And after the morsel, he says, Satan entered into him,* ^B who did not know that Jesus was God. For if he had known and had been convinced, how would he have tempted him in the desert by saying: *If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread?* It was admittedly a concern for the Savior himself to remain hidden from the rulers of this age, that he might suffer while unknown, and by his own blood acquire the world for himself and for his own Father.

*And the deep things of God.* The deep things of God in the Holy Scriptures are the hidden and sequestered knowledge which the Spirit, being all-knowing, reveals to the souls of the saints, making their mind, in a way, divine.

*But the natural [psychical] man.* The natural man is he who lives according to the flesh and whose mind has not yet been illuminated by the Spirit, but who has only the innate and human understanding ^C which the Creator implants in the souls of all.

*But the spiritual man judges all things.* The spiritual man does indeed judge all things and, as it were, breaks them down with precision, but he himself is judged by no one. That those who are called spiritual are, for the sake of their own progress and instruction, entirely in need of spiritual teachers, he makes clear by adding and saying: *For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he might instruct him?* It is as if he were to say: No one could instruct the natural man, unless he had the mind of Christ. And by "instruct," he says this in place of "cause to understand." And who those are who have the mind of the Lord, he again shows by saying: *But we have the mind of Christ,* that is, the Spirit speaking in the saints and revealing mysteries to them, ^D and making their mind, in a way, divine.

*As a wise architect I have laid a foundation.* Because he called those who believe the house of God, he fittingly calls Christ the foundation. Paul boasts of being the first among the others, and as it were a first-fruit of those who preached to them the mystery of Christ, who is an unshakable foundation.

^A supporting those who are built up upon him, and revealing them as temples, joined together with one another through faith and through the grace of the Holy Spirit, which results in the unity of mind. Concerning this foundation, God the Father said through the prophet: "Behold, I lay in the foundations of Zion a precious stone, a cornerstone, worthy to be in the place of a foundation; and whoever trusts in him shall not be put to shame." Paul, therefore, very rightly says that he himself laid the foundation, and that others can indeed build upon it and labor, but not lay another foundation besides the one already laid; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, in which we must be saved. "For there is one God and Father, from whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him," who is also the head of the body ^B of the Church. If anyone, therefore, denies the foundation and rejects the rock, he does not build upon it, but upon the sand: whereby it will happen that he is very easily overturned. For what Christ does not support, that will undoubtedly be destroyed, because it does not have a firm base.

IV, 19. And I will know not the speech of those who are puffed up, but the power.

What utility is there in a resplendent manner of speaking, which has nothing fruitful in it, such as that of the heathens? But the diction of the inspired Scripture, although simple and common, yet benefits abundantly and brings us splendidly to a true knowledge of God who is by nature. Furthermore, it renders those who are studious of it fit for every good work; which being done, one shall also attain the desirable grace of the gifts of the Spirit. For the kingdom of heaven is not in words, but in power. Furthermore, you will understand the phrase "in power"—if it be referred to the holy apostles ^C — as in the fortitude and force provided by the Spirit, by whose help they also performed miracles. But if it is pronounced concerning us ourselves, you shall consider it spoken as in the virtue of a holy and pure life.

IV, 21. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or rather with love?

"Do you wish," he says, "that I, armed as it were with a rod, should bring a wise correction upon you who have sinned, or rather that I should come with a spirit of gentleness and love, and pass by in silence?" And yet, a correction would have been more useful for them, which would prune away both the crime and the apathy and the intent for such a sin—concerning which the inspired Scripture also said about those of Israel through the voice of Joel: "And the son and his father went unto the same servant girl, so that they might profane the name of their God." This ^D fornication, he says, is not even to be heard of among the Gentiles. For perhaps he had heard of Theseus, rightfully offended in his own

^A son, and invoking curses upon him, and indeed having brought about his death because of the false charge of his stepmother; and of others who were similarly defamed by the eloquence of the poets on account of such accusations.

“To be judged before the unrighteous, and not before the holy?” ^B He calls those who are sanctified in the Spirit “holy,” but those who have not yet believed “unrighteous,” as they very readily rush into any kind of wickedness whatsoever. For there is nothing so absurd that those who know not God by nature and in truth cannot commit.

“Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” If, however, some should still contend that he calls priests “angels,” ^C we ask: what sort of priests? Could it be those who have walked in a worldly manner? How then, he says, “shall we judge angels, how much more things that pertain to this life?” Surely, to make a contrast with worldly things, he fitly places “angels,” as they are entirely removed from the use of worldly matters on account of the excellence of their nature.

“If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life.” ^D Truly, for those who are highly virtuous in the Church, to judge things pertaining to this life is a very small matter and of no worth. For we have been taught this also by the Lord. For someone approached Him, saying, “Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He answered him, “Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” For it would be more becoming to those who are more prudent in the Church to judge spiritual matters, to examine with skill the word of the faith. And this office is numbered among the gifts bestowed from above and through the Spirit. “For to one is given the word of wisdom,” and “the word of knowledge,” and to others “the discerning of spirits.”

“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” How, indeed, could our bodies be members of Christ? We possess Him within ourselves both sensibly and intellectually. For He dwells in our hearts through the Spirit, and we have partaken of His holy flesh, and we are sanctified in a twofold manner; and He has taken up residence within us as living and life-giving, so that He might destroy by Himself the death that has crept upon our members. If, therefore, He Himself is the head of the body of the Church, then we are the individual members. When, therefore, we fall into absurd pleasures, then indeed, then we shall sin against Him, of whom we have become members. For we bestow upon harlots that which is dedicated to Him.

^A Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? If the members of our body, through purity, remain the members of Christ, they shall altogether partake of the life and glory that is from Him; for He shall transform the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory. But if it should happen that they become members of a harlot, how shall it receive that transformation and the intelligible splendor of conformity to Him? ^B Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? For the Spirit of adoption, that is, the Holy Spirit, has taken up His abode in us, in whom we cry, "Abba, Father." And we were bought with a price, the Savior of us all, Christ, having laid down His own soul for us. We are, therefore, temples of the living God; for Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, possessing in His own nature also the Father and God from whom He has substantially proceeded. For He Himself says: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him." Let therefore base pleasure be far from our minds, as from a temple of God; but rather let the good fragrance of temperance be present, like incense, and let us present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, our rational service. For we were bought not with corruptible silver or gold, but with precious blood, as it is written. Therefore, let us serve our Buyer, let us present ourselves to Him unto obedience, and our members as instruments of justice to God. For it is written: "The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body." ^C When, therefore, we have kept the members of our body immune from the defilement of carnal desire, then in turn the Lord shall be for the body. For the Holy One dwells in the saints by nature, as God.

VII, 8. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they so continue, even as I.

The Israelites were exceedingly prompt and inclined toward any pleasure whatsoever, and for this reason, all power of giving counsel was taken away from them by the Law. For to them it says: "Thou shalt not add to the commandments, nor take away from them." ^D However, those who are interpreters of the evangelical commandments, who had their minds confirmed in honesty, and carried Christ speaking within themselves, were deservedly bold, and not without great authority, to exercise the magisterium of interpretation, even if perchance something of those things which ought to be done was missing in the holy Scriptures. Such a one was blessed Paul, when he said: "I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they so continue, even as I," and what follows. For here, the divine law does not provide us with the word "I say": for that law which Christ Himself pronounces, that Paul calls by the word "I command," straightway appending

"Not I, but the Lord." ^A

What, then, did the Lawgiver Christ omit of the necessary things? Did the initiating masters discover something better? Yet how is it not entirely ignorant and foolish to suppose that what is from Christ is not sufficient? What, therefore, shall we say? The divine and heavenly proclamation did not forbid marriage, because God, I think, accommodated His precepts to the measure of human nature. For the Lord said to the Pharisees who were tempting Him, and were asking Him if it was lawful for a man to put away his wife except for adultery, that he who puts away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, makes her to commit adultery. And when His disciples said to these things, "If the case of a man with his woman is so, it is not expedient to marry," He answered them: "There are eunuchs who were so born from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it." ^B For He proposed it to those who wish to do rightly, but did not subject them to a law, because He knew that not everyone is able to master the movements of the flesh.

And the shadow under the Law also has something of this sort in everything. For it commanded the ways of making sacrifices to the glory of God; some of these were for sin and ignorances, others for purification and the casting away of filth, and indeed also the sacrifices for the Sabbath, for the new moons, and for the feasts. ^C Yet, besides these, He permitted some a willingness, that is, to offer to God. These willing offerings were those beyond the law, as fruits of a good and God-loving ambition. But it was not right to be negligent of the sacrifices ordained in the law; yet God considered those worthy of praise who added to those things what was from their own choice and mind. We say this is also regulated now. For Christ did not forbid, if anyone should wish, to draw near to the communion according to the law; but He would prevent us from nothing greater, if we strive to be changed to the attainment of glory. Therefore, Paul rightly says to the unmarried and to the widows: "It is good for them if they remain even as I: but to those who are married I command, not I, but the Lord," and the rest. He brings forward himself as an example of a single and undisturbed life, preferring celibacy far above the conjugal life. ^D Therefore, if anyone is freed from the yoke of the nuptial law, let him remain, he says, in continence; for thus he shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. And He who distributes the crowns will confirm this, saying: "Thus says the Lord to the eunuchs: Whoever will keep my Sabbaths, and choose what I will, and hold to my covenant, I will give them in my house and in my wall a place famous, better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name I will give to them, and it shall not fail."

^A A worthy reward awaits ^A continence. However, to those already bound by marriage, the saving doctrine does not allow them to depart from one once wedded, lest it fill the world with disturbances; nor did our common Savior Christ wish to commend divorce, even if in some respect the Law permitted the ancients to do this, on account of their hardness of heart, as the Savior Himself says. That those in Christ are more secure and more valiant than the ancients is easy to see for those who wish to perceive it; for the Law forbade those of Israel both to associate with foreigners and to be joined to them in marriage; but to us Paul says (v. 12-14): "If any brother has an unbelieving wife," and so forth.

^B For them, the mind was flaccid and wavering, but not so for us. For we have been anointed for adoption by the Holy Spirit, and Christ has established His dwelling within us. Being thus strengthened in every kind of virtue, we are not in the least afraid of the marriage of any unbeliever (1); and we are confident that we will rather compel them into the net of religion than that we shall be prey to the ignorance inherent in them; and that we shall rather bring grace to those not yet believing than ^C be defiled by them. "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified," he says, "by the wife; otherwise your children would be [unclean], but now they are holy," with the holiness of those who believe surely overcoming the impurity of those not yet believing. "But if the unbeliever departs," he says, "let him depart; the brother or sister is not bound in such cases." Let him depart, if it so pleases him, stained from the one who sanctifies, reaping the fruit of his own judgment in this loss. But he who follows the divine commandments is entirely free of blame; for he will be praised as obedient by our common Savior Christ.

VII, 21. "Were you called while a slave? Do not let it concern you."

Verisimile it is that some of those from the circumcision reasoned among themselves: How shall we be acceptable and pursue the life in Christ, ^D who still hold to circumcision? Perhaps it will be necessary to draw forward the foreskin, that is, to return to that state and do violence to the nature of the flesh. They who came from the error of Hellenism, having perhaps heard from those who still revered the Law that circumcision was an honorable thing, and observed by all the saints—although some of these had indeed accepted the faith—nevertheless were being perfected in the flesh, as notably happened to the Galatians, whom the divine Paul chastised, saying: "Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh?" It was therefore necessary, by the manifest and evident preaching of the truth, to open the way for them, and to teach that circumcision is nothing when separated from the other commandments of God; and likewise that uncircumcision is nothing, if not accompanied by an evangelical life. It becomes, therefore, the one called to remain in his calling, whatever his bodily habit may have been. He then passes necessarily to the need again for diffi-

- ^A dent anxiety, lest they turn away from the divine preaching. For there was a spirit of bondage in those who were under the Law. But what is the evangelical decree? He says that the Spirit of adoption is implanted in those who are willing to believe, calling them no longer to servitude, but to a free dignity. Therefore, some who were called through faith to spiritual freedom attempted to depart from the servitude according to the flesh; to whom he also writes in another place, saying: "Only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh." He comforts them also by these very words, saying: "Were you called while a slave? Do not let it concern you; but even if you can become free, use it rather." That is to say: even if you were called into the adoption of a free son while wearing the imposed yoke of carnal servitude, even if you have become partaker of the divine nature, do not be distressed in soul; for your servile labor ^B will not lack its reward. For it is undoubtedly going to be that those who have endured servitude through some overbearing power will be relieved of their trouble, when the Lord, in the age to come, shall recall them to their primal condition. For the Creator made nature free, and such it shall be, as I said, in the age to come; and the people shall be as the priest, and the servant as the master, and the maidservant as the mistress, according to the prophecy of Isaiah. Therefore, he says, even if you can become free, use it rather. For indeed, as I said, the yoke is not fruitless to those who are of good will and live rightly under it. Otherwise, he says, it is impossible for us who are born human beings to avoid the name of servitude; for everything that has been created is a slave. So that even the slave is a freedman in Christ, and he who is called to freedom is also entirely a slave, as it is said in the Psalm: "For all things ^C serve Thee."

The holy teacher also shows that those who have been saved through Christ are debtors to Him for another reason as well. Therefore he says: "You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men." For we have indeed been bought at a price, as is acknowledged, our common Savior Christ having shed His own blood for us; we have been snatched from the tyranny of the devil and the cruelty of the demons, and have been called to freedom through Christ. Therefore, as those who are bought, and who owe their own lives to the Buyer, he says: "Do not become slaves of men." And we do not say that he is persuading them to flee from servitude according to the flesh, but rather-and very rightly-he is teaching them not to be enslaved to those who try to bring believers down to the observance of the Law, and who pour the poison of ancient deceit into the souls of the simpler-hearted, ^D persuading them to observe days and months, and practicing what is called "will-worship," and advising others to perform these things as well. Since, therefore, he says, you were bought at a price, and were not ransomed with corruptible silver or gold, but rather with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, let us be subject rather to His laws.

[VIII], 5. *For even if there are those who are called gods.* He says that the angels are called gods by grace. For just as they are named Principalities, and Powers, Dominions, Thrones, so too are they called gods.

[X], 1. *Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,* etc. We say that these things were prefigurations of the events that followed. For we too, before our faith in Christ, having been subjected to the greed of demons, served an intellectual Pharaoh, that is to say, Satan, the father of evils; we labored for him in vain, as if in clay and brick-making, being immersed in the works of the flesh. But the mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, set us free, ^B and brought us across the storm of this present life as if through a sea, and brought us to perfection through holy baptism. For He Himself is the heavenly and intellectual cloud, providing an abundance of living water to those who love Him; and living water is the Spirit. And so Christ said: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water." And the divine evangelist, clarifying what was said, immediately added to the words concerning this: "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him were to receive." We too have eaten the truly life-giving bread, and have drunk the spiritual cup, just as they did from the rock; and the rock was Christ, who even to us, out of His own side, brought forth His own blood mixed with water, when the soldiers of Pilate pierced Him ^C with a lance. He is called a rock because He was invulnerable as God, even though He willingly endured the assault of death. But what happened to those ancient people after that miracle? They stumbled in some way, they behaved irreligiously in Shittim, they worshipped idols, they were initiated into Beel-peor. For since they became entangled with the idolaters, and were in communion with them, and tasted of the idolatrous table, they fell into apostasy, and they joined in dances with women, and the assembly of the people was joined to a harlot, according to the voice of the prophet; for this is what the words signify: "And they rose up to play." It is therefore dangerous to live with the wicked and the unbelieving. Whence also Solomon says in a certain place: "He who walks with the wise shall be wise, but he who walks with the foolish shall be known."

[XI], 3. *The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.* By "head" here he means the original beauty, the image of which one may rightly consider each of those named to possess, having obtained the reason for their nobility, or otherwise their innate nature, in a substantial way. For the first man was created, that is ^D

^A Adam, to the image and likeness of God. For thus says the Creator of all somewhere: "I have made man to the image of God." Therefore, Christ is the head of man, as archetype in that He is God, but in the law of the nature that belongs to us, He appeared as similar in form when He became man, although He is God the Word, and has His birth from God the Father in an unspeakable manner. Yet the woman was made to the image and likeness of man, that is, of Adam—not at all alien, but rather of the same nature and similar in form to him; and this the forefather Adam himself openly confessed, saying: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh," and the rest. But if they say that the Word born of God the Father is a creature, and that He ought to be numbered among the creatures, since He is the head of every man, why would the Father not also be thought of as created and made in the same manner, if He is the head of the Son, who possesses a substantial relation to us, that is, to the creatures? For as they themselves say, the head is necessarily joined to the rest of the body in all respects and entirely by common laws. Therefore, would not the kinship toward every man reach also to God and the Father as if through the Son? But we shall never follow the foolish aberrations of these men; rather, we believe that the Word is uncreated, born of the uncreated Father, and we say that He is the head of every man as an archetype, as I have said; and because He appeared as a man in the last times of the age, and as being of the same race as men according to the human nature, He is the head of the Church, which is His body. ^B For He Himself holds the primacy in all things, according to the word of Paul.

*Every man praying or prophesying, having anything on his head, dishonoreth his head,* etc. (1 Cor. 11:4).

Do you see how the law of nature becomes the sponsor and definer of what is fitting for each? For to men, boldness of countenance is most becoming, while for a woman, it is an adornment to be veiled. Therefore, it would be an insult to the archetype, and with good reason, if the image were unseemly. For if man is the image and glory of God—for he was indeed made thus, according to the Scriptures—let him keep before God the fitting boldness, having his head uncovered, and let not nature rebuke him for needing to be uncovered. For the divine is free and beyond all blame, ^C wealthy in its own glory and worthy of admiration. And if woman is after the likeness of man, and the image of the image, and the glory of glory, and nature even commands her to grow hair, why does the first envy the second of this grace? For she too bears upon herself the image and likeness of God, yet as if through the man, so that in a certain respect the nature of the woman differs but little. I will not blame her who, for the sake of modesty, as far as it is permitted for a living creature, covers herself and crowns herself with her hair; for to show a free face, ^D [women would be]...

because of the angels. He means, without doubt, the angels appointed by God to each church, who are exceedingly grieved if the law of decency is violated by anyone, for they know well the will of the Creator concerning us.

The divine Paul also uses another fine artifice; for he said that man was made to the image and likeness of God, but further, that woman had been, as it were, cast aside from this honor and glory, he clearly affirms in what follows, saying: "For the woman," he says, "is the glory of the man. For the man was not created because of the woman, but the woman because of the man." Then, tempering very aptly whatever seemed likely to sadden the woman, he adds, saying: "Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman." For the woman has truly come into existence from the man, and this is true. Furthermore, [the woman] is not useless for the generation of man; for nature, bringing both into one, has prudently directed them to mutual use, connecting them with love. That God is the Creator of all things, he confirms, saying: "All things are from God," for all things were brought into being through Christ.

XII, 3, 4. No one speaking in the Spirit of God says anathema to Jesus, etc.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, upon departing, promised that He would send us the Paraclete, and added: "He shall glorify me." We, ^B however, very correctly understand that Christ is glorified by His Spirit insofar as he renders wise those to whom He is present, and makes Christ dwell in the saints by His works; for Christ is in us in reality through the Spirit. But He also glorifies in another way: for He works His glory through the hands of the saints.

Now, if His Spirit glorifies the Son, how can anyone who speaks in the Spirit say anything perverse against Him? You will say, rather, that Jesus is Lord. Therefore, those who number Him among created things—He through whom all things were created—are entirely lacking in the Holy Spirit. But those who piously confess Him to be God and Lord, from this very fact bear witness that they have been taught the knowledge of divine science by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things ^C of God. Moreover, the Spirit, conscious of the mysteries of God, communicates them to the souls of the saints, and instills in them a sincere and indubitable knowledge.

To this, the divine Paul is a witness, who adds: "There are indeed divisions of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all." For just as those who hold public office in the world and occupy the thrones of kingdoms adorn the better among their own attendants with various honors, so the hol

holy and consubstantial Trinity distributes the possession of the goods from above with great abundance to those who love It from a sound heart and an entire mind, through one Spirit, as through Christ from the Father. For all things are from the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit.

XII, 7. "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one, through the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom," etc.

For He knows, He knows, I say, the times appropriate to each of the things done by Him, "in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden," according to what is written. But what are the graces, and what are the distributions, and furthermore the operations of powers, He clarifies by saying: "To one indeed, through the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom." And the word of wisdom, as it appears to me, is that which pertains to readiness and copiousness in the fluency of one's speech. "To another, the word of knowledge." For there are some among us who possess no readiness in speech, and have not acquired the boldness to speak easily, yet they are very deep in understanding, and apply themselves most intelligently to the holy words. This word, then, and that one, are granted to those worthy to receive them by ^B the Father, through the Son, who is said to distribute the ministries. For some of the holy apostles He commanded to proclaim the word of faith to those of the blood of Israel, while others He assigned to the regions of the Gentiles; and He has effected this through the Holy Spirit. And consequently, we shall find it written in the Acts of the holy apostles that, as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: "Separate for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." And the divine Paul was set for the apostleship to the Gentiles, and he obtained this ministry; and he attests to it himself, writing: "Inasmuch as I am an apostle of the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry."

Does not the Son, then, distribute the ministries, and the Holy Spirit, as the power, operate them with authority? For He is the Spirit of the Son. But also the operations of powers, that is, the signs performed through the saints, the same God accomplishes for us. For all things, as I said, are from the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit; and in all things that are accomplished well, the holy and consubstantial Trinity is sanctified and glorified. ^C For observe how he begins from the Spirit, as being in us and performing the distribution of divine graces; but having raised the discourse to the Son, who is Son by nature, he then ascends to the Father, attributing to Him the operation of things, which is through the Spirit, through the mediation of the Son. ^D

«iscourse to the Son, who is Son by nature, he then ascends to the Father, attributing to Him the operation of things, which is through the Spirit, through the mediation of the Son. ^A XII, 9. *But to another faith in the same Spirit.* Faith in this place, as I judge, is a constancy in every right action, according to the will of God. For thus we say that the hierophant Moses existed as a faithful man in all his house. For faith is not only to be understood and named as that by which it is necessary to believe that there is one God of all things, truly and by nature; but also that which keeps the soul upon the straight path and renders it ready to walk with God, according to the word of the prophet. Indeed, the divine disciples once approached Christ, saying openly: "Increase our faith." Moreover, gifts of healings are given in the same Spirit. But, again, consider this acutely with me. For while it is said that the Spirit distributes the gifts of healing, Christ is the giver of them; for He Himself gave the holy apostles power against unclean spirits, and said: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you have received, freely give"; yet, this is in one Spirit. Just as Moses cast his rod upon the ground and it became a serpent, ^B turned the rivers into blood, and brought forth water from the rock. The blessed prophets performed very many things which we can neither sufficiently enumerate nor marvel at enough. We call these operations of miracles in one Spirit. But another also prophesies, yet not without the Spirit. Another has discernings of spirits, but even this is in one Spirit: of what spirits these are the discernings, has been said before. He also affirms that the skill of various tongues, and of interpretation, is given to others. And this grace, we say, was indeed granted to some at an opportune time and usage, according to a prudent dispensation. And these men spoke in tongues previously unknown to them, and those who interpreted them understood, although they had no use for those vocabularies. Furthermore, divine Paul attributes the faculty of tongues to the men of that time, not in the place of a gift, but for the sake of ^C showing a miracle to the faithful. And indeed, he also cites a prophetic oracle, which is as follows: "In foreign tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, and not even so will they believe." But the Spirit distributes gifts variously in each individual: so that, as he says, just as this thick and earthly body consists of particles, so also Christ, or His body, that is the Church, may have an intelligible unity and a most perfect structure from such a great multitude of saints. Therefore, the divine David also says it is wrapped in an "aurated and varied garment": thus, as I judge, denoting the variety and the value of the graces.

XII, 12. *For as the body is one, and has many members, etc.* For we are joined one to another, and with Christ.

having been gathered together ^A by Him, and in a certain manner bound together by the one Spirit in all, whom we have also drunk in the manner of a life-giving cup. Wherefore Christ said, when He was speaking at Jacob’s well with the woman: *He who drinks of this water shall thirst again: but he who drinks of the water that I shall give him, it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life eternal.* Elsewhere, indeed, He said to the Jews: *He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly.* But this He said, says the Scripture, concerning the Spirit which they who believe in Him were to receive. For if He Himself is the river of God, according to the saying of the Psalmist, full of waters, and the torrent of delights, by which God the Father is said to give drink to those who love Him, why should not His Spirit be understood as the cup and the life-giving water? Therefore, called to unity by the Spirit, and having become fellow-members with Christ, let us preserve the bond of charity indissoluble, ^B having become the bond of love in Christ.

XIV, 2. *For he who speaks in a tongue, does not speak to men, but to God.*

He dissuades them from thinking that the use of tongues is something greater and more illustrious than the interpretation of the prophets. For after we have proposed to ourselves faith, hope, and furthermore love toward God and our brothers—which is the fulfillment of the entire law—then at last may the other things be added. For then, then indeed, at a most opportune time, we shall be cumulatively filled with the very spiritual charisms of God, and we shall be enriched with the gifts which are given through the Spirit, namely the faculty of prophesying, that is, of interpreting the prophets. For since the Only-Begotten has once been incarnate, has suffered and risen again, and the entire dispensation among us has been consummated, what occasion for prophecy ^C anymore remained, or what prediction of things to come? Therefore, prophecy here will be nothing other than the faculty of interpreting prophecies; and, explaining these to the hearers, and then confirming our discourse according to the truth of the matter from the prophecies themselves, we shall be upright and truthful interpreters of the best things. He who therefore, he says, speaks in a tongue, speaks not so much to men as to God. How so? I ask. For no one, he says, hears. For if to one of the disciples there were perhaps granted the ability to speak in the tongue of the Medes, and to another in that of the Elamites; and then these, who were assigned to speak, should address Jews or the crowds of the Greeks, who would hear them? Or what utility would the speech have? For no one, except God alone from whom nothing is hidden, will understand anything; for by the Spirit, he says, he speaks mysteries. Observe, however, that he who speaks to God, speaks to the Spirit; therefore, the Spirit is God. He who therefore speaks in a tongue, speaks to God, he says, rather than to men. But he who prophesies, among ^D

^A men, speaks for edification, exhortation, and comfort. Having therefore ascertained that to prophesy in this passage signifies to interpret the prophets—by whom the word of exhortation is confirmed and the mind of the initiates is led toward the truth that is in Christ—he demonstrates from another angle that the interpretation of the prophets is without doubt superior to speaking in a tongue. For he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; since he alone understands, while no one else does at all. But he who uses the voices and prophecies of the holy prophets by way of testimony edifies the Church. Therefore, the science of prophesying is greater, positioned in a higher rank, and relies upon a more splendid hope, since it is admittedly better to edify the Church than to converse only with oneself in a tongue.

XIV, 5. *I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you might prophesy, etc.*

Because it was an unexpected and truly God-given gift for men who were Hebrews to be able to speak in the tongues of others, lest anyone imagine that the Apostle was rashly defining as vain that which was otherwise bestowed by the operation of the Spirit, admitting the matter, he says: "I wish that you all spoke in tongues." But he immediately moderates the pursuit of this matter, as is evident, and passes on to better things, straightaway adding: "But rather that you might prophesy," by which words he very clearly states that the one who prophesies is superior to the one speaking in tongues. ^B Although he shows that not even the latter is entirely useless to the listeners, saying: "unless he interprets," that is, unless he has some assistant with him who can interpret for those who are being initiated.

XIV, 10. *And none of them is without voice.*

He says that there is absolutely nothing lacking a voice among rational things, that is, among men. Yet, if someone happens not to know the force of the language of individuals, and in turn others do not understand his language, they will be barbarians to one another, even though each one is speaking correctly according to his own proper tongue. Therefore, it is necessary that those who wish to teach others should be able to pour forth speech that is familiar to the listeners.

XIV, 12. *Since you are zealous for spirits.* ^C

In this place, he calls the grace given through the Spirit "spirit," that is, the ability to speak in various tongues. If, therefore—he says—I should offer prayers in the churches by the Spirit, that is, misusing the tongue communicated by the Spirit, I shall be of a barren mind. For it is necessary to pay attention with the mind in prayers, and to seek from God those things which contribute to salvation, and not to boast of oneself by means of the tongue, and to be content in the glory of speaking; otherwise, the mind will be empty, perceiving no utility from such zeal. ^D

^A (Cod. f. 313.) He says that if I should choose to excel, and if I should even make use of the tongue given through the Spirit, I must not attempt to have my mind remain unfruitful, but rather to gather my mind, as it were, within myself; so that if I should happen to sing with the tongue, I should none the less sing with the mind—that is, to understand precisely the power of the psalmody, and not to leave the words of prophecy unexamined. Therefore, it is better to prophesy, that is, to interpret the divine writings in the Church, than to delight simply in the use of tongues.

*XIV, 16. Otherwise if you bless with the spirit, how will the one who fills the place of the unlearned say the amen?* ^B (Cod. f. 313 b.) He says: When you speak in a tongue, how shall he who is placed in the rank of the laity, if he does not know your language, answer the amen in his thanksgiving or prayers? It is so that what seems lacking to the liturgical prayer of the priests may be filled up by the measures of the laity, and that God might receive the small together with the great as in the unity of the Spirit.

*XV, 1. Now I make known to you, brothers, the Gospel which I preached to you.* ^C (Cod. f. 317.) Most opportunely and wisely he calls the proclamation concerning the resurrection of the dead, and indeed concerning Christ Himself, the Gospel; for it is truly a message of every good thing to those who have received the faith. In this same Gospel he says they stand and are saved. Standing signifies the firmness of hope and that the believers are situated in a good state of glory; but being saved denotes that they have appeared superior even to sin itself, and have run beyond the snares of death.

*XV, 3. For I delivered to you in the first place, that which I also received.* ^D (Cod. f. 318.) He says he delivered to them not what came into his mind simply and without examination, but the Gospel he had received, with Him who became man for our sake imparting the knowledge to him. For the same Apostle says again concerning the Gospel: "For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galat. 1, 12). If, therefore, he who delivers it is taught by God, how is what is proclaimed by him not true—namely, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that is to say, those of the Old and New Testaments? For there were very many witnesses of the death and resurrection of Christ. Furthermore, it is beyond any doubt that Christ Jesus died in the flesh for us, that He might take away the sin of the world; and that He rose again, having conquered death, so that we also might...

^A gain the reward. But it is necessary for the present that he says he not only died, but was also buried. For in proof that He who is Emmanuel truly died, He was placed in a sepulcher; yet He rose again, as I have just said. By dying in the flesh, He gives assurance that He became flesh, although He was God and the Word; but by trampling upon death, He clearly demonstrates that He is God by nature. Nevertheless, the Word from God the Father does not vivify a temple alien to Him, nor one belonging simply to someone else, but rather His own body, through which He is also said to have died for our sake, so that the benefit of the resurrection might truly be found to have occurred for our sake. For the whole nature of man was in Him, trampling upon death; for thus we are said to have been buried together with Him and raised together with Him, and even to sit together in the heavenly places. Therefore, He says that Christ rose again, as it was written, and appeared to the holy apostles, both to a few chosen ones and to the whole company. "He was seen also by me, as by one abnormally born among the apostles." By these words He greatly humbles himself, affirming that he persecuted the Church, yet having obtained the mercy of Christ, he was called to the apostolic office; and he declares that he has made known the great mystery of the resurrection, which was by no means unknown to the ancient saints—for it had been predicted—nor indeed to those chosen for the apostolate, who became eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word.

XV, 12. *If, however, Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?* ^C He rebukes some who, I know not how, wished to contradict the sacred and divine Scriptures, and dared to follow an opinion different from them. For if Christ died, it was not that He might remain as one extinguished, but that, having been found superior to death and corruption, He might become a kind of road and gate for human nature, so that it might be able to conquer corruption and return to life. Why, then, when He who had been dead for our sake has already been raised, so that we also might return to life with Him—though those who were shackled by the bonds of death, for whose sake He is said to have died and risen, still remain bound—does He who is Emmanuel, God by nature, why, I say, do they attempt to despoil the human race of the goods flowing from the resurrection, and slander the goal of the Incarnation? For if Christ became "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" and "the firstborn from the dead," there ^D will surely follow the firstfruits that which is lacking to men, and these will accompany, by right and merit, Him who is called the firstborn. The divine Paul will confirm this, saying: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." Therefore, if some agree that Christ has risen, yet do not accept the mystery of the resurrection from the dead, they are entirely ignorant of the

purpose of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten. For the Word of God became man, not for His own sake, but, with the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame. For what reason? The most wise Paul himself will teach us, saying: "Since the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." ^A If, therefore, death is not destroyed, His counsel was in vain; the mystery of His incarnation in the flesh is also useless to us ourselves, and we have missed the hope for life. For we have been called somehow to adoption, and we are children of God, as the wise John says. Now if it is true that we await as an adoption the redemption of our bodies, what kind of redemption is this at all, unless Christ has shown us to be mightier than death? Or how will He transform our lowly body, to be conformed to His glorious body? For what then is the time of this, if death has not been rendered powerless? Or what kind of transformation will there be for those who will remain in the same state, or rather, even in a worse one?

^B See also how cleverly he steers them toward the necessary confession that one must say that our earthly bodies will rise again at the appointed times. For if, he says, Christ is preached throughout all divinely inspired Scripture as having risen from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? For He died, as we have already said, not so much for Himself, but for us; so that, since He is life by nature, as God, He might by the death of His own flesh destroy death, as the nature of man was destined to follow Him. For He came to life again and became, as it were, a firstfruit of humanity passing over into life, and being refounded unto immortality, and conquering death. For all things in Christ are a new creation. The matter having taken its beginning, how shall we remain in the earth? Or how do some among you dare to say that the dead will not come back to life? These are the Sadducees, as is likely; for they used to say ^C that there was no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit. And Hymenæus and Alexander also slandered the mystery of the resurrection, saying that the resurrection had already happened. However, they made shipwreck concerning the faith, and so did all those who wish to follow their obsolete trifles.

"But if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty." ^D For the second follows the first, and with the second, the first is also destroyed; which having happened—that is to say, having been accepted by us into faith—the preaching of the holy apostles will be empty, and their faith will be empty: for thus it stands

^A the preaching of that faith which, through the holy ones, has instructed those who have been initiated throughout the whole world. Why then, I ask, should we believe, if He has not revived, as some would have it? For we are found—he says—to be false witnesses against God, in that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if truly the dead do not rise. Then, how could so great a multitude of saints escape the charge of calumny? ^B Therefore, they would not be holy at all, if they were guilty of the crime of calumny against God. But it is not thus: for our teachers are truthful, saying that Christ is risen.

XV, 17. But if Christ is not risen, your faith is vain.

XV, 18. Then also they who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

XV, 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, etc.

^A Abraham's seed he takes hold of, so that in all things he might be made like to his brothers. For it was necessary, as I said, that what was sick should be healed, and what had fallen should be raised up. It was necessary that death should be crushed through obedience and righteousness by him who had fallen under its power on account of transgression and sin. For this reason the only-begotten Word of God, though he knew no sin, became man, so that just as we have all been condemned in Adam, human nature having suffered death, so too, having been justified in Christ, we might strip off together with sin the death that sprang from it. And the divine Paul himself will bear witness, saying: "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners." Accordingly, just as in Adam all die, nature having been condemned in him, as I said, because of the transgression, so in Christ shall they be brought to life, nature being blessed again in him in the same manner through justification. Therefore, the latter things are a resolution ^B of the former; for he was delivered up because of our trespasses, and was raised because of our justification. Being raised, therefore, we too have been raised with him; for the Word who is from God is life by nature, not of course bestowing the good of his own nature—I mean life—on his own flesh alone, but extending this good to the whole of human nature. For Christ has risen, admittedly as the firstfruits, that he might have the preeminence in all things, according to what is written. Yet in his own time the resurrection of the others will follow, not however, as might be expected, in a disorderly way, but in order and distinctly, and as it were by command; for after the firstfruits, that is Christ, he says that those who belong to him will rise, clearly meaning those who were in the time of his sojourn, that is, those who have come to be after the incarnation, and who have fallen asleep in faith. For there were indeed undoubtedly holy men at various times in Israel, when life under the Law was still praised and had its place; but those in Christ are better, for they have been justified through ^C faith, and have become partakers of the divine nature, and have become rich in the Spirit of adoption; and they have been called into brotherhood according to grace with him who is Son by nature and truly so. And there was indeed a spirit of slavery in those under the Law, but we cry out: "Abba, Father." Therefore, as I said, those in Christ are better than the ancients; and for this reason he says they will rise first, as those following in the footsteps of the leader of all, because they are closer to him, and for this reason are honored above the others. Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ himself indicates something of this sort in the evangelical parables. For he says that the householder who hired laborers for the vineyard, when evening came, said to his steward: "Call the laborers, and give them their wages, beginning from the last even unto the first." But someone will say: "How are the dead raised? And with what manner of body do they come?" etc. The prophet ^D Isaiah, after the resurrection from the dead...

^A which shall be at the times ordained by God, and by His ineffable power transforming into life that which is held by death, prophesied long ago, crying out: "The dead shall rise, and those who lie in the tombs shall be awakened, and those who are in the earth shall rejoice; for thy dew is a healing unto them." By "dew," I suppose, he metaphorically calls the life-giving operation of God, by which He grants subsistence to those who are not, and grants well-being to those who have already been brought into existence. For all things consist in Him, just as, indeed, through Him they were brought forth into generation. And the divine David also sings somewhere, concerning those who live upon the earth, to the Saviour of all, God: "When Thou openest Thy hand, all things shall be filled with goodness; but when Thou turnest away Thy face, they shall be troubled; Thou shalt take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and return to their dust. Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth." ^B For human nature, indeed, suffered the turning away of the divine countenance in Adam because of transgression; and therefore it was almost destroyed and troubled, and returned to its own dust, and was cast down unto death and corruption. But since the only-begotten Word of God has come to us, and we have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, we are reformed into our ancient condition, and in a certain manner created anew; for we have been called into newness of life, escaping the dominion of death. And the most wise Paul will bear witness, saying: "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus dwell in you, He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Since, therefore, Christ has revived, having trampled down the power of death, and has become the first-fruits of them that sleep, who will surely follow in His footsteps, how is it not utterly foolish to even doubt at all, even for a short time, ^C about the mystery of the resurrection?

But perhaps you will say: "You speak rightly, and I shall now cease to ask how the dead arise. Yet this is necessary to be known: With what manner of body shall they come? Shall this earthly body, subject to corruption, revive, or some other body, albeit existing from this same substance?" I, for my part, answer immediately that the true teaching of the faith instructs us that we shall rise in this same flesh; for thus did Christ rise, the first-born from the dead, the first-fruits of them that sleep. But because this dogma is not very pleasing to some, come, let us set forth what we hold to be the right doctrine, and then subjoin what is truer. Here, indeed, Cyril, having inserted the fabulous stories of those who say that souls pre-exist bodies, ^D continues thus: Then...

^A regarding the blessed Job: "Did you take mud of the earth and fashion an animal, and place it to speak upon the earth?" For it would pass all, I believe, any miracle to fashion a rational animal from the earth. But how, when man was made and fashioned from the earth, did the Creator immediately bless him, saying, "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth?" And having said many other things to those people, he adds: The divine Paul uses an excellent example, saying that the body falls into the earth like a seed, not rising such as it was sown, naked, but with the clothing and covering of things that usually grow upon it, I mean the stalk and leaf. For God, he says, gives to each of the seeds its own body. For since he does not say that all who have fallen asleep will rise again in glory, even if all will be in incorruption—for it is surely not fitting for the unrighteous and the workers of evil deeds to be crowned with the splendor from God—therefore he usefully mentions different seeds, to which God also distributes, as he himself might choose, the quality of differing in this or that form. ^B "But one is the glory of the heavenly, and another is the glory of the earthly" (XV, 40).

It is to be known that, two examples having just now been brought forward to us, the one of the grain, I say, and the other of that which reveals the difference in glory of heavenly bodies, he presently refers back to the nature of the first example the likeness of the resurrection from the dead, and says what follows:

"It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption" (XV, 42).

For in just the same way as the grain of wheat, cast into the clod naked and dead, is admired having sprung up with the clothing of a body and with the addition of beauty; in this same way the human body is sown in corruption and in weakness and in dishonor, but it will live again clothed with honor and ^C incorruption and, indeed, with power. It is worth marveling at the sobriety of the divine orator. For having a secure faith, and being confident that it will rise again, both entirely and in every way, he compares the corruption of the body to a sowing, most skillfully and wisely likening the nature of the thing to the example in every respect. Therefore, the body ^D will not rise again naked, like the grain, he says, but very well clothed in incorruption and glory; and in addition to these, it will be robust, and indeed it will be enriched by becoming spiritual in its mind, the grace from above transforming it in a certain way, and the unparalleled power of the Creator of all things changing everything within it. For there is in the frail body, and

^A as if sown into the ground, corruption and infirmity, and the lack of beauty, and the "animal" disposition, which we also call identical to the carnal and earthbound one. Yet, after it was produced for generation in the beginning, it did not possess this nature by design; rather, these things crept in through the transgression and the sentence of death, as our nature even then was testifying to us regarding the state in the beginning. Nevertheless, the removal of the evils that have subsequently entered is necessarily accomplished by the power and operation of God, and the participation in those former goods, which existed in the beginning, enters in their place. For we are renewed in Christ, according to the Scriptures; since the holy ^B prophet said: "Take courage, O Sion, let not your hands be slack; the Lord your God is with you, he who is able to save you, and he will renew you in his love." For when God the Father loves us, then indeed, then he also renews us in Christ; and indeed it is true that "all things in him are a new creation; and the old things have passed away, and new things have come to be." And what does he say are the old things? Those that have passed by. And what are the new? Those that have been brought in. The old is corruption, and indeed weakness, and furthermore dishonor, and the guilt of the animal disposition; but the new things through Christ are glory and incorruptibility and power and the spiritual disposition; for our body shall be spiritual. I say it is spiritual, not in the sense of a shadow, or as an incorporeal spirit, but rather that which is entirely free and released from the carnal and earthbound disposition.

XV, 44, 45. It is sown an animal body, it is raised ^C a spiritual body, etc. Just as, if someone wished to name our earthly body "animal," he would not rightly attribute to it the idea of the soul, but rather would look to the animal—that is, the carnal—disposition thereof; just as we understand "animal" wisdom to be that which is earthly and common among men; so too, if one should say "animal body," without, however, associating with it the idea of the soul, he could not justly be accused of error: because, according to a certain way of speaking, those living as yet and dwelling in these bodies from the earth are some of them called animal and others spiritual. For it is written: "The animal man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; but the spiritual man judges all things, and he himself is judged by no one." And because it was consistent to confirm a discourse of this kind by means of facts as well, he continues and says: "The first man Adam became a living soul, the last Adam ^D a life-giving spirit." Therefore, I think he calls Adam "animal," insofar as a living soul was attributed to him, yet not in such a way that he was entirely devoid of carnal desires. For those desires which look toward the passions of the flesh, even if they perchance have license from the law, are nonetheless in reality convictions of carnal infirmity, if one considers the nature of things. I shall use one example: marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled; for it was implanted [index: entries preserved]

^A in the nature of the body by the Creator of all things, an appetitive motion, which stirs the living creature toward the desire for procreation. For it was said to man: "Increase and multiply and fill the earth." And the Creator, the Scripture says, "from the beginning made them male and female." Therefore, the desire which looks only toward procreation is blameless; yet, insofar as it reaches toward the nature of the thing that occurs, it is a carnal passion, or rather, an animal one. So it is with the other blameless passions. Therefore, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul; but the second, from heaven, that is Christ, became not so much a soul as a life-giving spirit. For the Word of God, who sprang from God the Father ^B by nature, having united human nature to Himself, did not live the human life as we do, but a certain divine, God-befitting, and altogether blameless life. For He committed no sin, having a mind impervious to base pleasures, and superior to the desires of food. For even if He is seen to have partaken of food and drink, so that He might be believed to be truly man like us, He exercised this participation freely; for He was in the flesh for our sake by way of dispensation, yet He was above the flesh; for He was a life-giving spirit, being God. But the forefather Adam did not entirely possess an innocent desire for food; for he was made a living soul, and, being overcome by the pleasure of eating, he ate from the tree of life, although the divine law forbade him ^C to do so. That, therefore, "the animal" man signifies to us not a difference of nature, but rather a quality of life and character, according to which one man is held down by earthly and carnal sentiment, while another is manifest in the freedom of the Spirit, is clearly demonstrated by the first and the second Adam; for both were in earthly bodies, but the quality, so to speak, of their sentiment, and indeed their different choice of life, demonstrated one to be animal, and the other, incomparably better, to be spiritual.

1 Cor. XV, 46. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the animal; then the spiritual.

He notes in a certain way the times in which both lived, and says: "But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the animal; then the spiritual"; by which words he clearly shows that it is not impossible for the nature of man ^D to pass from an animal sentiment to a spiritual one, and that the animal exists prior to the spiritual. And what would be the evidence for such things?

1 Cor. XV, 47. The first man is from the earth, earthly, etc.

The first man, he says—that is, Adam—was made into a living soul, that is, earthly and carnal; but the second is from heaven. For even if the Word of God became flesh, according to the Scriptures, yet He was from heaven and above all things, according to the voice of John.

^A And so, while both existed in earthly bodies, as I said, they were no longer equal in their judgment, that is, in their manner of life; for the first was in a carnal mindset, but the second was a life-giving spirit and from heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, that is, the likeness to Adam, both in being overcome by passions and in being weak unto sins, though subject to the yokes of corruption, so let us bear the image of the heavenly, that is, of Christ; having now become superior to love of the flesh and the will to transgress, and having already conquered death itself, which was once terrible and scarcely surpassable, and which cruelly tyrannized over us.

XV, 50. For flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

By these words, he also establishes the mystery of the resurrection. For as long as the human body is flesh and blood, that is, mortal and corruptible, it could not inherit the kingdom of God, that is, existence without end. It is therefore absolutely necessary that corruption be absorbed, and that whatever is frail be removed; and that the same be turned into incorruptibility, and be illuminated by a certain divine and ineffable glory. Only then will it possess the kingdom of God.

XV, 51. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. ^B Great and truly heavenly is this mystery, and it was undoubtedly revealed to him by Christ Himself speaking in him, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For He is also the distributor of the good things that are to be hoped for; He Himself shall transform creation, and shall renew the whole, and shall deliver it from servitude into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. And since these things are true, was it not entirely necessary that he for whose sake creation was fashioned—I mean, man—should also be renewed in every way and altogether along with the rest of creation? It was necessary that he, too, should appear new, not subject to the former corruption, not violently driven to sins by carnal pleasures, but rather resurrected into immortality and perfect health and honor, and encompassed by a certain divine glory. For the inspired Isaiah also says somewhere: “And your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall clothe you.” ^C Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself also clearly affirmed that at the consummation of this age the dead shall rise again, and they that are wise shall shine as the splendor of the firmament: yet this grace of such honor and glory shall not befall all indiscriminately; but rather to those ^D

^A who have been selected before others, and who have also been conformed to the image of His Son. For while it is acknowledged that the bodies of all shall revive, clothed in the grace of incorruptibility, yet not all shall be changed. Rather, the wicked shall remain in the state of ignominy, only so far that they may be punished; but the righteous alone shall be changed, enriched with the gift of incorruptibility and the raiment of divine glory.

Therefore, He Himself, by His own power and by a God-befitting operation, shall transform the body of our lowliness, making it conformable to the body of His glory. And what is this body of our lowliness? It is this earthly one, held fast by death because of that ancient curse which Christ has abolished, having become a curse for us. But the transformation shall not be such as to shift us into some other nature; for we shall be what we are, namely, men, though incomparably better—for we shall be incorruptible, ^B immortal, and, furthermore, glorified.

But what the "last trumpet" that awakens the dead signifies, the divine Paul will himself clarify for us, saying: "For the Lord Himself, with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, shall descend from heaven, and the dead shall rise" incorruptible. He therefore likens the voice of the archangel to a trumpet, as well as that divine and most awesome cry. And if it is the archangel who cries out and gives the signal of the resurrection to those lying in the earth, it is nevertheless the voice of Christ; for it is He who, by His own power, raises the dead, and not at all the voice of the archangel. For every rational creature is subject to the Lord's commands.

What, then, will be ^C the true resurrection, if we do not say that that which was held by death is what shall rise again? Or by what right shall we, as if insulting corruption, say: "Death is swallowed up in victory," and the rest? 1 Cor. XV, 55-57: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

It ought to be known that the blessed Paul made the quotation of the passage before us according to the Hebrew edition; for the text of the Seventy Interpreters does not read thus. For it is written in the prophets: "Where is thy contention, O death? Where is thy sting, O grave?" But the Apostle says that the sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law. For he who has the power of death, that is, Satan, strikes like a scorpion; and he strikes in no other way than by sin. But—almost as if exulting over corruption—"It is swallowed up ^D

brought to us by the Savior the ability to trample upon serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy. ^A For the sting of death has been caused to vanish once sin has been removed, since it no longer receives its power from the Law; for it is the Law that condemns those who sin. Therefore, the inspired Paul says that the Law gives power to sin. But even this has been done away with in Christ; for sin shall not have dominion over us for we are not under the Law, but under grace; and without the Law, sin is dead. Who, then, is the provider for us of all these good things, the author of righteousness, the giver of liberty, and the source and cause of every blessing? We shall know, as the blessed Paul says: "Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

OF SAINT CYRIL

ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA

EXPLANATION OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS

(From the *Nova Patrum Bibliotheca* of Cardinal Angelo Mai, vol. III, p. 83.)

From a Syriac codex 101, in which is a Monophysite work entitled: *The Faith of the Fathers*.

Saint Cyril, in his explanation of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, says: "It is necessary that it be said of Him (Christ) not only that He died, but also that He was wrapped in a winding-sheet; a fact which fully affirms the death of Emmanuel. Moreover, He was left in the sepulcher, from which He rose again, as I have just said. Therefore, since He died in the body, He has fully persuaded us that He possessed a body. But then, when the Word of God trampled upon death, He rightly showed Himself to be God by nature, because, just as He endured death while acting according to His humanity, so He conquered death while acting divinely."

1, 1. *Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.*

The most wise Apostle Paul, chosen for the ministry of Christ, says that he was brought forth by the will of God, rejecting as impious the glory of the ^C false prophets and false apostles, and speaking in the Spirit, having Jesus Himself implanted in his own soul: so that at one time he says, "And I think that I also have the Spirit of God"; and at another time, "If you seek proof of Christ speaking in me."

^A He calls himself his [God's] servant, although God alone exercises power over all things and holds dominion. For it has been said to Him, "All things are your servants." Why then should he not clearly attribute to Him the glory of dominion that is natural and truly most worthy of God? But he makes Timothy, who is most approved among those sent, his coadjutor and almost his partner, so that he may persuade more strongly, for the law says: "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."

To the Church of God which is in Corinth.

^B They write to the Church of God which is in Corinth, although the Church is wont to be called Christ’s; for He Himself prepared it for Himself as a chaste virgin. If, therefore, the Church is God’s, and Christ is the One who prepared it for Himself, then surely the One who came forth from the holy Theotokos Mary is God by nature.

^C

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

If he did not know that the Son was God by nature, why would he not have rather said: Grace to you and peace from God and the Father alone? But now, by associating Christ with Him and setting Him forth as a grantor of the gifts which the divine nature bestows, it is clearly apparent that he was not unaware that He is God by nature. Rightly, therefore, do we associate the Son with God and the Father according to the account of identity and consubstantiality, so that one God may be understood to be the grantor of spiritual goods. By naming Christ Jesus, he signifies the Word of God who appeared in the flesh. But if He also is the grantor of those gifts which the Father Himself bestows, why should Christ not be understood as God by nature, by reason of the economic union with His own flesh? Thus also the most wise Paul says in a certain place concerning the Israelites: "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all God blessed for ever. Amen."

^D

But God is faithful, that our word to you was not yes and no.

"No one says Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit;" and the Spirit is truth, as it is written. Having their minds full of truth, that is, of the Holy Spirit, the heralds of the evangelical decrees could not be considered lying in what they say concerning Christ. For these things are surely right and firmly established; and Christ Himself, speaking, will confirm it: "For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." God, therefore, is faithful, that is, free from all falsehood and truthful; and necessarily also the Son, who is from Him by nature, who was preached among you through us—through me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not "yes and no." For every word concerning Him by the voice of the inspired heralds is truthful.

^A And as many, he says, as are the promises of God, in Him is the "yes," that is to say, we have received from God the Father every bounty and promise in Him; and this [is contained] in the word "yes," that is to say, in truth: for these things come to an end through Christ. "For death is swallowed up in victory," and the power of corruption is overthrown. Fear and ignominy will cease, as the most wise Paul also said in his former Epistle. And we have been proven to be heirs and partakers of the Kingdom of the saints themselves. For He Himself will say to us before the divine tribunal, He in whom is the "yes": "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Every promise of God, therefore, through Christ alone has the "yes"; but it does not at all admit the "no," which is negation; for He Himself is the truth. Moreover, he demonstrates uniquely that He is God by nature. For if He does not deceive concerning the promises, but rather fulfills them for the saints, although God the Father is the giver of good things, how would He not be naturally and truly the Son, and God from God, in whom is every good gift and every perfect donation without falsehood?

That the Word is free from falsehood, Paul confirms, saying: "Therefore also through Him to God [be] the amen, to the glory through us." For because He is the mediator, through whom alone there is access to the Father, ^B and in whom is every spiritual gift, through Him certainly the outcome of all prayers whatsoever is attained; and this is what "amen" signifies. And the Son Himself has instructed us regarding this, saying to the holy apostles: "And in that day you will ask Me nothing; amen, amen I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name. Hitherto you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." ^C Through Him, therefore, be the amen to God the Father for glory, through us. For it is our custom to conclude at the end of every prayer in the name of Christ. And that it is not without justice and without dispute that public praise is due to Him, we acknowledge through the blessed Jacob prophesying: "Judah, your brothers shall praise you"; for Christ has sprung from the tribe of Judah according to the flesh. Indeed, the prophet Isaiah also says: "I saw the Lord Sabaoth sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the Seraphim standing around, calling Him holy, and naming Him Lord Sabaoth, and saying that heaven and earth are full of His glory." And that it was the Son whom he saw, the wise John will prove, saying: "These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke about Him." ^D Therefore, even if the Father is glorified through Him, and He Himself is placed through faith as a propitiator, and has in fact become, for the sake of the saints,

^A a minister on account of His humanity, as if offering the prayer of each of the saints as a spiritual sacrifice; for through Him we say "Amen," and He should not be thought to be outside of the necessity of being worshipped and glorified together with Him who begat Him, by us ourselves and by the host of holy spirits above. The divine Paul says somewhere: "But when He again brings the Firstborn into the world, He says: And let all the angels of God worship Him." ^B Who among existing things, however, is unaware that He is the Only-Begotten insofar as He is understood as God? For He is begotten alone from the only Father. But since, by humbling Himself among those of our condition, He has become in many brothers, then He is established as the first, and besides being the Only-Begotten as God, He has also been designated as the Firstborn on account of His humanity.

*But He who confirms us with you in Christ, etc.* (2 Cor 1:21)

God the Father confirms us in Christ, establishing a right and unshakable faith in the souls of all, so that we believe Him to be God by nature and in truth, even if He is seen in a form like ours, having been born according to the flesh from a woman, He ^C who is above every creature. And indeed our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to Peter confessing his faith and saying clearly: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," answers, saying: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." For because the mystery is most great, it would rightfully require divine instruction from the Father. He Himself, therefore, confirms us in Christ, He who also, as God, has sealed and anointed us, and has given the earnest of the Spirit. ^D It would not be unclear to us even through these things that the Son has not become "yes" and "no," but is rather the true God, and that in Him the "yes" is held in all good things. For since God is said to have sealed and anointed us, and to have given the earnest of the Spirit, Christ would in turn be the one fulfilling these things in us, not ministerially, nor indeed anointing and sealing us with a foreign spirit, but with His own and that of the Father. For the Holy Spirit is in both because of the unity of the substance, not divided, but as proceeding from the Father through the Son to created things. For Christ breathed upon the holy apostles, and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit." [(1)]

^A Through Him and in Him we have been sealed unto the divine and intelligible image. For the divine apostle himself says, writing to the Galatians: "My little children, of whom I labor again until Christ be formed in you." If, being formed into Christ, we are enriched with the divine image within ourselves, then He Himself is the image of God and the Father, and the exact likeness; not as we are, called to likeness through participation in holiness, but rather by nature and substantially. For He who is God by nature, born of Him who is by nature and truly God, and from His very substance, could surely have nothing unlike Him. And that He ^B Himself was also sealed by God the Father, the most wise John says: "For he that hath received His testimony, hath set his seal that God is true." Yet He was not sealed in the same way we are, but the Father in a manner described Himself entire in the nature of the Son, and impressed Himself substantially. Hence Jesus said: "He that seeth me, seeth the Father."

14. "Now thanks be to God, who always makes us to triumph in Christ, and manifests the savor of his knowledge by us in every place."

As Christ was led in triumph for our sake in a manner when He endured death upon the wood and was perfected through sufferings, so also they ^C say that they are triumphed over for Christ's sake, while they become known everywhere, and are made glorious through temptations, and overcome the world, in that they are ready to endure all things, and indeed most willingly, for the name of Christ. For they are, they are indeed, partakers of His sufferings, and fellow-partakers of the glory that is to be revealed. And they say that it is God who makes them to triumph, not because He casts them into tortures or overwhelms them with calamities, but because they, according to His will, preaching Jesus throughout the whole world, fall into temptations for His sake. But what, then, is the savor of the knowledge of God and the Father, which is manifested to the world through the holy apostles and in every place, as they themselves say? The ^D divine Paul himself will teach us again elsewhere, saying: "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants through Jesus Christ." And again: "For I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Christ Jesus, and Him crucified." In what way, then, shall He who was born of a woman, who endured the cross and underwent death, even if He lived again, be a savor of the knowledge of God and the Father, if, as some suppose, Christ is understood as a mere man like us, or one inspired by God, and not truly God by nature, even if the Word of God be believed to have assumed humanity by dispensation? For neither, if He exceeds not the bounds of our condition, will He add a good savor to the nature of God the Father; nor will He who has endured death be a savor of Him who knows no death. In what way, therefore, shall Christ be a savor of the knowledge of the Father, unless...

it be evident that He is understood to be and truly is God, even if He has appeared in the flesh for our sake? For in what manner do those who proclaim Christ announce to the world Him who is by nature and truly God? Or how could they have known Jesus? And in what way is God the Father said by the holy mystagogues to be reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, unless one also admits, along with the Word who is begotten of God, the human element unto union, as the wise dispensation of providence requires this? For the divinely inspired disciples, speaking in the Spirit, proclaim not that the Word of God dwelt in a man, but that He became flesh, that is, was united to flesh possessing a rational soul. For thus the One who was crucified would also be the Lord of glory. Therefore, even if He be conceived as with the flesh, or if not this, yet even so as having become in His own proper nature the Word of God who dwells among us, He is the savor of the knowledge of God and the Father, inasmuch as in His own nature He pours forth upon us the savor of Him from whom He proceeds. And if what I say is true, how could He be a created being, or numbered with those who draw their origin from non-existence? For there could not be a savor of the Uncreated that is itself created or existing by generation. For we shall not see the ^B generated in the Unbegotten, nor the Unbegotten in the generated. But in truth, the Son has shown the Father in Himself; therefore He is God by nature, on account of the identity of essence. Let the Son, then, hear from us: "Thy name is ointment poured forth." For we have known through Him and in Him the Father and God from whom He has been begotten.

15. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.

They show forth unto God the Father our Lord Jesus Christ, ^C first, because they possess Him dwelling and embedded within themselves through the Spirit; then, because they everywhere proclaim and carry about the message concerning Him, as if it were one of the most fragrant incenses, offering up to God their zeal therein; thirdly, because, having been made conformable to Him, they have been perfected through like sufferings. That they themselves, moreover, are the savor of Christ in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing—in some a savor of death unto death, and in others a savor of life unto life—it follows that we should examine. Therefore, those who are saved and those who are perishing may rightly be understood by us, according to the purpose appropriate to these contemplations, as those who believe and those who reject the faith; and the latter are those who have not yet recognized God who is by nature and truly such, but have rather worshipped the creature ^D instead of the Creator. These, not receiving the word of the divine proclamation, but rather mocking it and thinking the mystery of Christ to be foolishness, receive the savor of the knowledge of the Father in such a way that they pass from death unto death. For since they are already dwelling in death, due to the ignorance and blindness inherent in them, they seem all but to fall into a second death as well; for even if they were formerly led by the instruction of the law to the knowledge of God, they were in a certain manner in life, but—

if they believe, they will receive the fragrance of the knowledge of the Father from life unto life. For Christ says somewhere to the Father and God who is in the heavens: "And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." But who, he says, is sufficient for these things? And with good reason; for it is truly hard to find one who possesses the ability to speak rightly and without error concerning the mystery of Christ, such as the divine disciples were, ^A even when they corrected the stubbornness of those who thought otherwise, whose chief and greatest eagerness, as it were, is to adulterate the word of God, and who are accustomed to always making the delivery of the faith spoiled by deceit and falsehood. But the divine mystagogues, speaking in the Spirit, see and say everything as if with sincerity in the sight of God.

III, 3. Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart.

He confirms his statement with a prophetic testimony: "Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart." For he says that God speaks somewhere through the voice of the prophet: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; ^B because they did not remain in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. I will therefore set my laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will write them; for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord." ^C For in olden times, the divine Moses received the law—a teacher for those in a puerile state—on tablets of stone, as the Scripture says. And we say that by this was signified the hardness of the Jews' hearts. For it is evident that the law was received into their minds with difficulty, and as if on stone, it was not to last for long; it was entirely unstable and most easily cast aside. Wherefore the Lord says: "This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." But our Lord Jesus Christ inscribes the sacred and divine laws for us on the tablets of the heart, that is, on those that are sensitive and responsive. Whence he said also by the voice of the prophet Ezekiel: "And I will take away their stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my commands." If, therefore, anyone does not rely upon the shadows brought by Moses, nor possesses the law written with ink as if on tablets of stone, but rather one impressed upon the mind by the Spirit, he may be seen as...

a certain epistle of Christ, recognized by all men.

^B III, 4-6. *Such trust we have through Christ towards God, etc.*

All good things are for the worthy in Christ; for every perfect gift is from above and from the Father of lights. But yet Christ, through whom are all things and in whom are all things, while mediating between us and God because of the economy, nevertheless works all things from God and the Father, being himself his wisdom and power. And what is this trust towards God through Christ? Hear Paul, as he continues and says: "Not that ^C we are sufficient to think anything from ourselves as of ourselves"—for all wisdom is from the Lord, according to what is written—"but our sufficiency is from God, who also has made us sufficient to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." And what is the letter? Truly the legal type, that is, things performed in a shadowy manner. But the Spirit is the virtue of the Christian religion, which renders those who approach it by faith spiritual. And by as much as the type is inferior to the truth, by so much, I think, are the ministers of the law inferior to those who perform the worship of the truth. For Christ sprinkles us with his own blood, and he does not effect only the purity of the flesh, as it was done in the law, but rather he cleanses our conscience from dead works and recalls us from sin; he grants, moreover, the hope of life. For it is true, as it was said: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life." For the resurrection of the very bodies themselves and the return to incorruption and long-lived existence are promised.

III, 18. *We are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.*

The mind of believers is in a way transformed from legal rudiments to the evangelical school, and it is transformed, so to speak, into a spiritual form, impatient now of shadows and types, but it strives to migrate from the legal glory to another glory in Christ through the Spirit. Therefore, "we are transformed into the same image," for by converting types into truth, and by fashioning the mystery of Christ from the shadow of the law through the subtle reasoning of our minds, we shall discover the same glory as in a form. For if glory was given to the ministers of the law, the glory of the holy priests—who have been made by God sufficient ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit—is surely greater and incomparably surpasses the former. It is manifest and obscure to no one that those who pass from legal discipline to evangelical perfection must be believed to have passed from the former glory into another, and to have progressed toward better things. But he who transfers them in this way is the Spirit himself, who delivers from the servitude of the law: in

him we cry out ^A “Abba, Father,” as sons and free. Nor is it possible to understand the depth of his legal doctrine in any other way than through the Holy Spirit; for he himself searches even the deep things of God. By the deep things of God, we say, is meant the knowledge hidden in the sacred Scriptures. Therefore, the divine David also prayed thus to God: “Reveal my eyes, that I may see the wonders of your law.” Nor did the Savior himself judge him unworthy of praise who ascended from legal knowledge to spiritual—that is, evangelical—knowledge. For he says: ^B “Therefore I say to you, every scribe instructed in the kingdom of God is like a rich man who brings out of his treasury things new and old.” By old, indeed, he understands things legal; by new, however, those which are in Christ. But if anyone should perhaps wish to understand the transformation of our image from glory to glory in another sense, he will also consider this with himself: namely, that we, as many as have known Christ and have been related among the sons of God, are altogether living in glory; yet, at the time of the resurrection, this same image of ours will be transformed from glory to glory, as from the Lord the Spirit. For Christ himself, [who] has bestowed on us the earnest of the Spirit, will add what is ^C lacking at that time, and will change the body of our humility into conformity with the body of his glory. But because the teacher says, “As from the Lord the Spirit,” and “Where the Spirit is, there is liberty,” we shall not endure the calumny of the heretics who number the Spirit among created things. For if where the Spirit is, there is liberty, why is he not in his own nature free? But if this is so, he is outside the measure of servitude: for the Spirit is of the Father, and from him he has come to the creature in Christ.

IV, 4. Lest the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

God of all ^D has indeed offered to all who wish to believe in the Son the opportunity to see his glory with a naked and revealed face; but those who have been obscured by the impure darkness of the devil have fallen from this grace, and have not approached the light of the evangelical laws because of their own foolishness. For certainly the illumination of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, would have shone upon them. And he calls Satan the god of this world, not because he is God by nature, but because he is thought to be such by those who are ignorant of the true and natural God. Again, that which follows is worthy of admiration: for Paul speaks theologically, and clarifies the mystery of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten: for behold, he clarifies the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

^A Although he is called Christ, being the Son of God by nature, at the time of the anointing—in respect of which, even though he is himself the giver of the Holy Spirit, he is said to have been anointed by God and Father with the oil of gladness—the Only-Begotten Word of God, in being made man in our likeness and appearing on earth, then truly, then most rightly, is understood and called Christ. Therefore, the faith is not proclaimed to the world as being in one of us, as if they were announcing a mere man, but rather they announce the Word who is from God, having appeared in human form, and the Only-Begotten who became the firstborn among many brethren. For what illumination of the gospel of his glory could be understood by us, if he himself were not understood as God and the image of the Father, and not in the same manner as we are, but rather substantially and naturally? And we do not say that the Father must also be thought to have become incarnate; for the beauty of the image does not reside in such things, but it is rather worth observing that the Word was God, and even before the flesh, the character and natural likeness of the Begetter. And again, having become in our likeness, the economy of humanity being united to him, he is understood to be in the form of the Father. He is therefore accounted as one with his own flesh. And in this way too, he is the image of the Father, in that he is God and has been begotten of him by nature.

“Who hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ.” ^C That faith is in God, even if it is practiced in the face of Christ, the mystagogue clarifies through the passage before us. For Jews and Greeks alike have been called to the knowledge of Christ; the latter, as coming from error and false worship to the true knowledge of God, and the former, as being instructed in a discipline better than that which was in the Law. For this reason, the divine Paul also appears to have thought little of the lessons in the Law, because of the surpassing knowledge of Christ. When, therefore, the mystagogues preach Christ, and those who believe in God believe in the one and true God, why is Christ not God—not bastard, not pseudonymously so, that is, of a different nature from the Father, but rather true, as being from him by nature? ^D For the mind of those who are led astray is filled with mental mist and diabolical deception, but God promised that light would shine for us out of darkness. For he says somewhere through the voice of Isaiah: “The people that sat in darkness, behold a great light: you who dwell in the region and shadow of death, light shall shine upon you.” And the divine David also says, as if from the mouth of those who dwell in mist and darkness: “For you shall light my candle, O Lord my God, you shall light my darkness.” Since, then, the promise of the Father has been fulfilled for us, and the divine and intelligible light has beamed upon us, we have come to know...

his glory in the face of Christ. ^A Since, then, Christ is not by nature and truly God, how could it be that we behold the glory of the Father in him? Yet I hear the God and Father clearly saying: “I will not give my glory to another.” But behold, he has given it to the Son; therefore he is no other than he, except in regard to person and his own proper subsistence, lest the Father seem to have spoken falsely in having placed his own glory in the face of the Son, and that he is known as God by nature in him and through him; for he is the countenance and image and brightness of his subsistence. And the Son is revealed by the Father, and the Son, in turn, reveals the Father to us in himself.

IV, 7. In earthen vessels.

We call "earthen vessels" the bodies with which we are clothed while we dwell among sensible things, with this meaning: since we are still clothed in flesh, which hinders the contemplation of the truth, we have knowledge concerning the Trinity, yet in such a way that this sublime knowledge does not rest upon our own powers, but becomes known to us by the power of God.

IV, 8-10. In all things troubled, but not distressed, etc.

It is established that holy men, because of their piety toward God, have endured death itself; yet, even if it happened that they suffered, they live nevertheless, because they are destined to live with God. And, as it is said in the book of Wisdom: ^B “They seemed to the eyes of the foolish to have died, and their departure was accounted ruin, and their journey away from us, destruction; but they are in peace, and their hope is full of immortality.” But what is to be thought of these toils, Paul declares again with these words: “Always carrying about in the body the mortification of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.” We say that there is a double mode of the mortification ^C which is hinted at here: the former is mental and spiritual, the other is understood in the sense of the body. For being God, and the only-begotten Word born of God by nature, he made for himself flesh that was from the earth, and donned this mortal and human body, endowed with a rational soul. And what was the purpose of this matter? It was that he might mortify sin in the flesh, and blunt the sting of the innate movements in it that drive one toward shameful pleasures. Nor indeed did the Word, being God and superior to passions, offer himself ^D for his own sake—for he himself knew no sin—but he wished to transmute the whole nature of man in himself to a holy and blameless life, at the time when he became man and presented himself to be beheld in our image. For he became the first in all things, so that we also, following in his footsteps, might have in ourselves his mortification, that is, the power of sin at rest in the flesh; thus

we may be able to recover a life free from any accusation. But it is possible to understand what is here called the mortification or life of Jesus in another sense as well. For ^A he was made obedient to God the Father, as it is written, even to death itself, and he laid down his own soul for the sheep. Nevertheless, he died once for sin, that is, for the sin of the world; for he was set forth as a propitiation through faith. But as for the fact that he lives, he lives unto God. Therefore, the mystical teachers carry about this mortification in their own bodies—that which reaches through sufferings even to death itself—so that the life of Jesus, as he himself says, may be manifested in our bodies. For they themselves also shall live unto God a holy, blameless, and blessed life. That he is making specific mention of this mortification and, indeed, of this life, the sense of what has gone before will confirm for the present, containing as it does an account of the temptations and labors which it is necessary for one to endure who wishes to complete the glorious course of the apostolate. Nor will it any less persuade us to think in this same way, as he almost interprets for them what he has said; for he adds immediately what follows: ^B

"For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake," etc.

By these words he also shows that they are willing to endure the death of the flesh gladly for the sake of piety toward Christ. For their purpose is not to look at present things, but rather to contemplate things to come. And what is the life of Jesus? It is incorruption and sanctification, and glory great and superior to this world. For such it will appear to us in its own time, when the Judge shall descend to us from above and from heaven, and shall transform the body of our humiliation, making it conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working of his power to be able even to subject all things to himself. So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. For the teachers of the world have imitated their own Master, and they have laid down their own souls so that we, who were once wandering, might gain the life ^C that is from faith in Christ. Wherefore they say, using the voice of the Psalmist as if to our Lord Jesus Christ: "For your sake we are killed all the day long; we were accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."

It is possible to approach the sense of the words placed before us in no unrefined way, if we propose the matter as being common to all who have chosen to be pious: for "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to the other," according as it is written. We say, therefore, that it is absolutely necessary that, when the flesh has been in a way brought to ruin, and the impulses within it have been weakened, ^D then most especially—

^A is the other part strengthened, that is to say, the mindset of the spirit. When, therefore, our outward man is corrupted by the toils of asceticism, then in consequence our inward man is necessarily renewed day by day. You may also understand what has been said in another sense. Since the apostles proclaimed Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles, they endured grievous and intolerable persecutions, and their body was worn away by the labors involved in this. But the greater the labor, the more abundant, I think, it was fitting that the recompense of grace should follow.

^A V, 1. *For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, etc.*

By "our earthly house of this tabernacle," he refers by periphrasis to the tabernacle itself, that is, the body. For it is written in Job: ^B "And those who dwell in houses of clay," from which we ourselves also consist, that is, from the same clay. We know, therefore, he says, that when death dissolves this earthly habitation of the tabernacle, that is, the body, it will receive us—and indeed not long after, namely at the time of the resurrection—into a heavenly dwelling, that is, incorruption. He calls it "from above," first, because it is a bestowed thing; then, in addition to this, because all the inhabitants of the city above, I mean the ranks of the holy angels, are in bodies that are incorrupt and not subject to decay; for the nature of angels is ^C exempt from this earthly coarseness. Therefore, he calls the building from God and house not made with hands, and indeed also eternal, "incorruption."

V, 3. *If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked.*

He has set the word "if so be" in place of "when," so that the meaning is as follows: When we are clothed, we shall not experience the putting off of our former state, nor shall we be found naked of the underlying body. But the mortal is swallowed up by life, not that it is annihilated, ^D but rather transformed into incorruption. For it was made thus even in the beginning. For it is written that God took dust from the earth and fashioned man. But in order that the corruptible might be swallowed up by life (for flesh is corruptible by nature), He breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul. But death has entered in between through sin. Afterwards, as the divine Paul says, it pleased God and the Father to gather together again all things in Christ, who came that through the Spirit

^A he might renew our condition. For He himself is the one who prepares us for this, inasmuch as He is God, and gives us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore, as a secure pledge of the incorruptibility to be given to us in the last times of the age, the life-giving Spirit has been implanted by Christ: now, indeed, as a first-fruit, but after the resurrection from the dead, as in full measure. Then, with corruption entirely deleted, we shall go forth, as the prophet 66 says, and like calves freed from the snares we shall leap forth, and insulting corruption we shall say: "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" 67

V, 5—VI, 2. *Who also gave us the earnest of the Spirit, etc.*

(Cod. f. 574.) Those who have the earnest of the Spirit and are enriched with the hope of the resurrection, ^B holding the things expected as though they were already present, say that we henceforth know no man according to the flesh: for we are all spiritual and alien to carnal corruption. For in these expressions, as I suppose, he calls the corruption of the flesh "flesh." When the Only Begotten shone upon us, we were transformed into the Word who makes all things alive. For just as we were held by the bonds of death while sin reigned, so, with the righteousness in Christ entering in, we have cast off corruption. Therefore, there is no one now in the flesh—that is, in carnal weakness, which naturally should be understood among other things as corruption. But since he said he knew no one according to the flesh, fearing the absurd thoughts of some, he adds: "For even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer." ^C It is as if he wished to say: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us 68 and for the life of all suffered death according to the flesh—and thus we knew him; but from now on we know him so no longer." For even if He exists in the flesh—for He rose again on the third day and is with the Father in the heavens—yet He is understood as being beyond the flesh: "For having died once, He dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives to God 68." If, therefore, the Author of our life has become such in these things, there is every necessity that we ourselves also, following in His footsteps, should be reckoned not so much in the flesh as above the flesh.

^D Rightly, therefore, the divine Paul says: "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." For the "old" is that: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return 69"; and indeed that which is in the book of Moses: "For the mind of man is studiously bent upon evil from his youth 70." And besides these, the things in the Law are "old"; truly—

66 Malach. IV, 2. 67 Osee XIII, 14. 68 John 1, 14. 68 Rom. VI, 9, 10. 69 Gen. III, 19. 70 Gen. VIII, 21.

^A ...those statutes, which he says have all passed away. For we have been justified through faith in Christ, and the power of the curse has ceased; for He who conquered death has risen again for our sake, and we have acknowledged God who is truly and by nature God, offering Him worship in spirit and in truth, with the Son serving as mediator and bestowing upon the world the blessings from above and from the Father. Wherefore the divine Paul most wisely says: "And all things are from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ." For in truth, the mystery of the incarnation and the renewal consequent upon it are not contrary to the Father's will. The mystical teacher further adds to these that the Father Himself has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, since we were before enemies—the Gentiles indeed because of the error of polytheism, and the Jews because of their stubborn adherence to the legal shadows and their rejection of the doctrine of true worship. For through Christ we have obtained access, since "no one comes to the Father," as He Himself says, "except through Me." Therefore, "all things are from God, who has reconciled us through Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation."

^B Further, observe with me that although Christ entrusted to the apostolic men the ministry of reconciliation, for Paul was elected by Him to the apostolate, yet he calls God the giver of this office. Therefore, the apostles proclaim Him to be God and equal to the Father, while recognizing one lordship and power for both. But what kind of doctrine of this ministry is there, or what is the manner of this reconciliation? He proceeds to say: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself," that is, it was God who in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself; because through faith in Christ, as I have said, we have made peace with God, that is, we have been reconciled; and a clear proof of this is the remission of sins, which God the Father grants. ^C The Son also stretches forth His hand as God, with authority, to the paralytic, saying: "Your sins are forgiven you." Therefore, in Christ, that is, in the person of Christ, God reconciles the world to Himself, no longer reckoning their trespasses to those who have sinned. But since he says that we have been ordered to the sacred ministry of the evangelical decrees, and the word of reconciliation has been placed in us—for we are ministers of God—it is necessary that for those who have thus believed, we should pour out those prayers on their behalf, and, as it were, taking on the person of Christ ourselves, we say to those who wish to repent: ^D "We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God, believing in Him," that is, clearly in Him on whose behalf we carry out our ambassadorship; for Christ is the door and He is the way.

But because it was likely that some would disregard the evangelical preaching, and would neglect the time of salvation, which is truly the acceptable time, and would subsequently reject the faith, the mystical teacher again devises something to instill in them a suitable sense of shame

^A and to persuade them easily not to fall into sloth, but rather to lay hold of the life that is in Christ. And he says concerning God and the Father: "Him who knew no sin, he made to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him." It is as if he were to say: He prepared Him who had never committed any sin to suffer the lot of the greatest of sinners, that He might show us to be righteous, who have received the faith in Him; for He endured the cross, despising shame, for one died for all, he who was equal in value to all. When, therefore, it is said that He became sin, do not assume that He committed sin; for He, being the Word, knew not how to transgress. Rather, know this, that He was given by God and the Father ^B for our sins; just as, indeed, the sacrifices for sin were also called sin under the law of Moses. It is written, therefore, in the prophets concerning those ordained to minister as priests: "They shall eat the sins of the people, and shall take their souls in their iniquities." For the caretakers and ministers of the divine altars ate the sacrifices offered for sins according to the law. Great, therefore, is the sense of shame he instills in those who wish to be slothful, by wise reflection on the fact that He who knew no sin was condemned and hung with sinners for our sake, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. For we have been justified before God and the Father, not from the works of righteousness that we have performed, but according to His abundant mercy through faith in Christ.

"But I, Paul, myself, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, etc."

There were many wise men of Athens ^C dwelling among those in Corinth, who considered the cross of the Savior to be foolishness, and called him who announced the doctrine of the divinely inspired Scripture—along with the other saints—a babbler and a seed-picker, and the blessed Paul himself the same. And some others, coming from the circumcision, had believed, yet they still commended circumcision and the legal sacrifices, and said that the blessed Paul was insane, as one having chosen impiously to fight against the ancient decrees. Against such men, the zealots among the Corinthians were agitated, and quite naturally so, and wished to lay hands upon them as enemies of the divine preaching. But because that was highly indecorous, and far removed from the gentleness that befits the ^D saints—for "the servant of the Lord must not fight," as it is written, "but be gentle toward all, instructing those who oppose him in meekness"—therefore he gives a command, saying: "But I, Paul, myself, the minister of the divine mysteries, the steward and apostle, who am excellent in zeal, inciting you yourselves to say with me: 'For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,'" I, I say, "entreat you by the meekness."

steward and apostle, who am excellent in zeal, inciting you yourselves to say with me: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,'" I, I say, "entreat you by the meekness ^A and gentleness of Christ," who, "when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges justly." [(1)] Therefore, he opportunely recalls to their memory the life of Christ, so as to make them exceedingly meek and modest. "I myself," he says, "Paul, who appear to be humble among you, not puffed up nor sharpened for contentions and quarrels, I who am bold while absent, beseech you that I may not be forced to be bold when present"; for, as I am inclined to think, you will in no way dare against those who imagine that we walk according to the flesh, that is, that we spend our lives carnal-mindedly in quarrels and zeal. "For," he says, "since there is zeal and contention among you, are you not carnal, and are you not walking according to man?" ^B Therefore, it behooves those who wish to follow the meekness of Christ and not to live carnally, to be beyond every suspicion of this kind. For even if some are unbelieving, there is no need to compel them with clubs, but rather to await their spontaneous conversion to God.

X, 3, 4. *In carne enim ambulantes*, etc. Truly, those who are seen to perform their task well in battles, and who oppose their enemies carnally, will deservedly wear carnal armor, namely helmets, cuirasses, arms, and swords, by which they may be able to achieve victory; but our struggle and our method of warfare require spiritual weapons. Wherefore, the divine Paul says very well that he who is reckoned a soldier of Christ ought to be adorned with this splendid kind of armor. ^C For he puts around him the cuirass of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and in addition the shield of faith, by which all the fiery darts of the most wicked one are extinguished. The weapons of the saints, therefore, are not carnal, but rather powerful through God and fit for pulling down fortifications, I mean the dogmas of the pagans and heretics, and for showing their syllogisms to be rotten, inept, and unskillfully composed. Therefore, we shall defeat these adversaries, and every pride rising up against the true knowledge of God. And let us bring every thought into captivity under the obedience of Christ, before whom we shall blow away any pride of impious minds extolling itself ^D against God, and glorify him with worthy titles, thinking nothing lowly of him. Let us also assist the others, on the straight and unerring way

^A of thoughts, so that we may avenge all disobedience, once our own has been filled first. For he shall be great in the kingdom of heaven, not merely he who has taught, but he who might wish to add to his word the fruits of good works.

XIII, 3, 4. *Forasmuch as ye seek a proof*, etc. *For though we also are weak in him, yet we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.* ^B He threatens those in Corinth who had sinned before, that if they do not wish to return to their duty and live holily, he will not spare them again. Moreover, the word "again" refreshes the memory of his former indignation. But that he will altogether rebuke those who sin, and that his word will be effective, he strives to persuade them, demonstrating future things from those that have already passed. Therefore he says: *If ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me.* For ye seem, he says, to be waiting to know, even from what follows, whether Christ at any time speaks in me, and he closes the reasoning of his rebuke: Do not think, he says, as certain unbelieving and contumelious men say, that Christ is infirm; for he is powerful in you, that is, in those who believe and are subject to his command, to whom he bestows necessary care, and converts those who sin. For he prevails in power toward you; for he works as God and demonstrates the sayings of the saints to be true. And you will find my word also to be firm in every way; for it is not I myself who speak, but rather Christ who is in me.

Since, however, he makes mention of men who, through the greatest stupidity, thought Christ to be truly weak because he had endured the cross and had suffered the perversity, or rather, the impiety of the Jews, he makes a useful apology, bringing the power of the mystery into the midst at the proper time, and explaining the voluntary emptying of the Only-Begotten, ^C and the incomparable height of glory that followed from it. Indeed, he says, as those who are far from the faith think, he was crucified because of his own weakness, he suffered as a man, and accepted a voluntary death in the flesh; but besides these things, it is necessary to know this too, namely, that he despoiled hell, trampled upon the power of death, and rose again on the third day, not using human power, but divine and ineffable. For it belongs to God alone to be able to do all things; just as it is his to dissolve the power of death, and to crown the body subject to corruption with the benefit of immortality. Therefore, he voluntarily endured to be weak for a little while according to the nature of the flesh; just as he is said to have hungered, and thirsted, and to have been wearied by labor, and finally to have died according to the dispensation. But he lives by the power of God, and has not received omnipotence from another, ^D but has it as his own, and is substantially with God.