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
B(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.
B For he is God by nature, having suffered in the flesh for our sake. Therefore, if they are scandalized because of the cross, let them marvel because of the resurrection. And if he be said to live by the power of God, you will nonetheless understand the power of God to be the Son himself.
Excerpts from the anathematisms of Julian of Halicarnassus and the responses of Severus of Antioch in the Vatican Syriac codex CXLI, f. 108 b.
SAINT CYRIL, BOOK SEVEN ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS
Just as when someone intends to gild a bronze statue, he does not thereby destroy the bronze, but rather adds to it the honor of shining gold; so our body, when it puts on the garment of incorruptibility, immortality, and impassibility, will not depart from its own nature.
So far extended the excerpts of Saint Cyril's explanation of Paul in the most excellent Vatican codex. To these we have appended three Greek fragments of Cyril on other Pauline Epistles: the first from the Catena of Oecumenius, p. 750; the second from the Vatican codices; the third from a Venetian codex or catena on the Epistles of Paul.
TO THE GALATIANS
IV, 3. *So we too, when we were children, were enslaved under the elements of the world.* B
*Cyril:* The elements of the world are parts of the universe; he calls them weak and poor, not because of their vileness—for what is more magnificent than heaven and earth? What is more precious than the sun, the moon, and the stars?—but because they are devoid of mind, life, and the faculty of sensation.
IV, 19. *My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you.*
*Cyril:* My little children, with whom I am again in travail, until the great and supernatural characters of the Godhead of Christ are imprinted upon your mind.
TO THE COLOSSIANS
IV, 6. *Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.* C
*Cyril:* But I think that such speech can never be found in you unless your disposition is first properly ordered. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore, let the mind of the pious be seasoned with salt; let sin be cast aside like some waste matter; let it not grow soft, lest it turn toward absurd pleasures. D
OF SAINT CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, EXPLANATION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
A I, 3. *Who being the brightness of his glory.*
We have said that God formerly gave oracles to ancient men through Moses and the prophets; but we have become, according to the word of the prophet, "taught of God." For we have had as our teacher the Word of God Himself, who became man for our sake, the Creator of the ages, the brightness of the Father’s glory, the impress of His substance. Having considered these things briefly, we shall add what follows, which is of this sort.
*Being made so much better than the angels.*
For the name "angel" is indicative of ministry, and indicates to us a station of servitude. But "Son" denotes an existence from the Father that is substantial and natural. Therefore He did not say "greater" or "more honorable" in a comparative sense, so that no one might think of Him in relation to the angels as if they were of the same kind. Instead, He said "better," in order to make known the difference in nature between the Son and created things. And we have the proof of this from the divine Scriptures, with David singing: "For a day in thy courts is better than thousands"; and Solomon exclaiming: "Wisdom is better than precious stones." For are not wisdom and stones from the earth heterogeneous and different in nature? And what kinship is there between the courts in heaven and houses on earth? Thus, therefore, there is no kinship of the Son with the angels. And since there is no kinship, it follows that the word "better" was not spoken comparatively, but discriminatively, because of the difference of His nature from theirs. And so the Apostle himself, explaining the term "better," locates the difference in nothing else than the distinction of the Son from created things, saying that the one...