...here, where there is immortality, there is no need for marriage, nor for children. I will set before myself a very troublesome question, one not easily solved, on behalf of those who are most studious of the Scriptures, and who meditate day and night in the law of the Lord. Where, they ask, is it written that they neither marry nor are given in marriage? Searching through the Old and New Testaments with memory and mind, I recall no such thing being reported. But if I am perchance mistaken, let one who knows more teach me. I gladly learn what I do not know. But as I estimate, neither in the Old nor in the New Testament will one find anything of the kind. All their error, therefore, has arisen from a prophetic reading which they do not understand; from which comes that in Isaiah: "My chosen shall not have children for a curse." And in Deuteronomy, in the blessings: "Blessed be the children of thy womb." And they think these things are to be in the resurrection, not understanding that these are spiritual blessings being foretold. For Paul, the vessel of election, interpreting all these blessings which are placed in the Law spiritually, and knowing them not to be carnal, speaks to the Ephesians: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing," when, rising from the dead, we shall attain eternal beatitude. But even in the Psalms, finding something similar, they fall into the same error. "Thy wife," he says, "as a fruitful vine on the sides of thy house, thy children as olive plants round about thy table," up to the place where he says: "May the Lord bless thee out of Sion, and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem." Therefore, when Jerusalem shall have been built up, and restored to its ancient state, then one shall see the good things which the Scripture commemorates. They who understand Jerusalem spiritually, and know that it is spoken of as that which is celestial, which is above, which is our mother; they shall see the good things of that city, of which we have often spoken, and that which we have just now set forth from the psalm: "Thy wife as a fruitful vine on the sides of thy house, thy children as olive plants round about thy table." Because the Sadducees, who were a portion of the Jews, understood all these things corporally, the Savior says to them: "You know not the Scriptures, nor the power of God." These things may suffice, briefly stated, regarding the question which the Sadducees proposed to the Lord.
Furthermore, regarding what was added concerning the image of Caesar, we ought to touch briefly upon this as well. Some think it was said simply by the Savior: "Render the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar," that is, render the tribute which you owe. For who among us contradicts the rendering of tributes to Caesar? Therefore, the passage has something mystical and secret about it. There are two images of man: one which he received from God, having been made in the beginning, as it is written in Genesis: "According to the image and likeness of God"; the other of the earthly one, that is, of the one of dust, after he had been cast out of paradise because of disobedience and sin, having assumed it, persuaded by the allurements of the prince of this world. For just as the coinage and the denarius have the image of the emperors of the world; so he who does the works of the ruler of this darkness bears the image of him whose works he has; which Jesus commanded to be rendered and cast away from our face, and that we should assume the image according to which we were created from the beginning in the likeness of God. And thus it happens that we render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. "Show me," he says, "a coin." For which it is written in Matthew: a denarius. And when he had received it, he said: "Whose inscription hath it?" And they, answering, said: "Caesar’s." To whom again: "Render therefore," he says, "the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar, and the things that are God’s to God." And Paul has spoken of their consequence, saying: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly." What he says, therefore: "Render the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar," he says this: Put off the person of the earthly one, cast away the earthly image, so that you may be able, by putting on the person of the heavenly one, to render to God the things that are God’s. God recovers us. What does He recover? Read Moses: "And now, what doth the Lord require of thee?" and the rest that follows. God, therefore, seeks from us and entreats, not because He has any need that we should tribute something to Him; He seeks, and after we have given to Him, He grants that very thing back unto our salvation. That this may be made manifest, I shall set forth the parable of the minas. He who had received one mina, and had made ten, and offered it to the lord from whom the mina had been entrusted to him, received also another which he did not have before. For the lord commands the mina of him who had not multiplied what he had received to be taken away, and given to him who has others. "Take away," he says, "the mina, and give it to him that hath ten minas." And in this manner, the things which we have given to God, He will restore them to us, along with those things which we had not had before. God exacts and seeks from us, that He may have an occasion of giving, so that He may grant to him who bestowed. For by His grace the mina is doubled, and even the body is taken away, but the greatness of glory is shown. For it is not written, "They shall be angels," but, "As the angels": where likeness is promised, truth is denied. "They shall be," he says, "as the angels," that is, like the angels: therefore they shall not cease to be men. Moreover, in many places often, the holy doctor refutes this comment of Origen.
FROM THE ORATIONS OF MACARIUS CHRYSOCEPHALUS ON LUKE. Orat. 1, that is, On the birth of St. John, he praises these things of Origen.
The same Oration. He said *of things*, for since Jesus did not enact his presence in the flesh phantastically, as the children of the heretics say, but, being Truth, he performed his dispensation in accordance with the truth. For since Zacharias is interpreted as "memory of God," and John as "the one who shows," and one reminds of someone absent, but shows someone present, for this reason the parents of this child did not suffer him to be called Zacharias, but wished him to be named John, because he was not to remember God as one absent, but to show that very One as present, almost with his finger, and to say: *Behold the Lamb of God* [John 1:29]. And he is great, not as John in the manner of a servant, but as the Lord of the universe, and as the Lord who is everywhere, so that he shows that he is great not only by words, but by his work.
Orat. 11, that is, On the morning times of the Theotokos, a little from the beginning he praises these things of Origen: For what no prophet was, John was, because he was near to the advent of Christ and his precursor: for he was not filled with the Holy Spirit before she who was pregnant with Christ arrived. But then he was both filled with the Holy Spirit and leaped, and made his mother a participant, and Elisabeth cried out prophetically on account of the infant whom she bore in her womb, and said to the Virgin: *Blessed art thou among women* [Luke 1:42]; for no participant of such grace has existed, nor can exist: for unique is the divine conception, unique the divine birth, and unique is she who gave birth to God and man. Why, therefore, do you salute me first? Am I she who gives birth to the Savior? I ought to have come to you; for you are blessed above all women: you are the Mother of my Lord: you are my Lady, bearing the loosening of the curse. She speaks in harmony with her son; for John said he was unworthy to stand before Christ; and she said she was unworthy of the presence of the Virgin. "What great good," she says, "has been done by me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" And the one who was still A a virgin, she calls mother, prophetically anticipating the event by the Word, and calls the fruit of the womb the Savior, because he is not from man, but is from Mary alone: for those who originate from the seed of parents, they are their fruits.
B Ibidem, a little after: The divine dispensation therefore led Mary to Elisabeth, so that the testimony of John might also be fulfilled from the womb concerning the Lord. And the infant leaped, and as it were, the Lord began from that moment to show John as a prophet. But he also had the Virgin's care for her own journey. For she came to see Elisabeth, and the work in her was miraculous; and to see and be confirmed according to the voice of the Gospel, so that through this he might also deserve the faith of the birth, I mean, that from her, the Virgin. And faith concerning this concurred with the words of Elisabeth, who said: *Blessed is she who believed, for those things shall be fulfilled which were spoken to thee from the Lord* [Luke 1:45]. The confirmation therefore was made if she believed those things that were said to her; for the angel had predicted, and Elisabeth, who was also pregnant at the same time, preached what was true.
C The same Oration, 16, On the parable of the one who falls in with thieves, that is, In parabolam illius qui incidit in latrones, a little from the beginning he cites these things of Origen:
Manifestly, in these things, the God who is the Creator of the world is commended, and through the Scriptures which are from Him, eternal life is preached, which also the Savior announces. Therefore, answering the legi-peritus (expert in the law): *What shall I do to inherit eternal life?* [Luke 10:25] he sends him to the Law so that he may gather from there the commandments which lead their Maker and him to eternal life. Therefore, he accepts the witness from Deuteronomy and adds: *Thou shalt love the Lord thy God* [Deut. 6:5]; and from Leviticus that: *Thy neighbor as thyself* [Lev. 19:18], testifying, saying: *Thou hast answered rightly: this do, and thou shalt live* [Luke 10:28], namely, eternal life, concerning which he had asked, and which the Savior teaches. But these things are said against the followers of Valentinus, Basilides, and Marcion. For they themselves also have the words in their own Gospel, and we say to them: Who is "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," and the law cited, praised, and by no one other than the Maker given, and therefore he says: *Thou hast answered rightly*, what else does he want us to do in order to live eternal life, than to love God with all our heart, who declared his judgment through the two commandments in the Law, saying: *And on these hang all the law and the prophets* [Matt. 22:40].
D The same Oration, 10, On the parable of those called at the supper, that is, In parabolam vocati ad prandium, he praises the following of Origen:
In three simple ways some fall away from the calling: namely, the phantasy of better dogmas, the pursuit of things sensible, and the love of pleasure. For those who have bought a field are those who refuse the supper, those...
who have bought oxen are those who despise the intelligible nature; but he who has not seen nor tested the word which he has acquired, because he is occupied by necessity and not freely, goes out to the supper, and perhaps also himself. But he, "I pray thee," he says, "as if only out of respect for him who invited me." The oxen bought are five; this is he who despises the intelligible nature; but he who is willingly occupied with sensible things has not even tested them to buy them. If indeed the number two is affirmed of matter and form, he makes many material things, and therefore he also refuses the intelligible supper. Whence also in some is it written, "I pray thee," and in some copies A for these words "I pray thee" is set: "And therefore I cannot come." For they who are occupied with sensible things say they cannot grasp the immaterial. But the other, who said: "I have married a wife," is he who seems to have found wisdom, and having partaken of her, refuses the truth; he is the one who is joined to the flesh, a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God. Now the whole of this parable is interpreted in this way. Having received it generally, and absolutely according to the place: As long as we are men, and the riches of God's goodness are not useful for us to know, God truly assimilates Himself to man, so that as a man He may speak to men, may be governed by those who can be governed by God, and yet in every way remain God. And then He will cease from being assimilated to man, when having ceased from contention, jealousy, and the remaining evils, and having ceased from walking according to man, we have been deemed worthy to hear from God: "I said: Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Ps. LXXXI, 6). B And He will also cease from being called many other things, of which the sinful man is in need, as man, panther, lion, and bear, as it is written in the prophets. For He will cease to be these things, because after those who have done such things, He no longer needs to be as the panther, and as the lion, and as the bear. He Himself no longer having those who need His such things, appearing as He is, God standing in the midst of the gods. So I hear also that "Our God is a consuming fire" (Hebr. XII, 29); for to him who is not worthy to be consumed, the light is, according to John saying: "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 Joan. I, 5); and again: "It hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like to Him, because we shall see Him as He is" (1 Joan. III, 2). For even if we be deemed worthy to see God now by the mind and in the heart, we do not see Him as He is, but as He is made C for us according to our dispensation; but in the restoration of all things, as He spoke through the mouth of His holy ones, we shall see Him not as now, that which is not, but as it is proper then, that which He is. For among us men He was assimilated to man; but among those who deliver themselves up, to God: "For God," He says, "stodeth in the synagogue of the gods" (Ps. LXXXI, 1).
On the passage: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven (Gen. I, 14)
But before this, having examined that "Let there be lights in the firmament," let us apply ourselves to these things. Those who are learning about certain true things, having themselves become spectators of the things, appear to themselves to be holding certain things correctly, beholding the passion and the action of those who have suffered or acted, or having heard from those who are in no way the cause to those who have come to pass, they know certain things. Let it be understood now of the word, the power to lead those who have acted or suffered, recounting what they have done or suffered, into the knowledge of the things done to those who were not present. If therefore the one being taught by the one who is in no way the cause of the things coming to pass, that such and such things have happened to these, or will happen, does not distinguish that the one teaching about some thing as having happened or about to happen, is the cause of the thing being such and such, he will imagine that the one who has set forth about such and such things having happened, or such and such things being about to be, has done or will do the things about which he teaches; he will imagine, clearly, mistakenly; as if someone, having fallen upon a prophetic book predicting the things about Judas the betrayer, thinking to have learned the future, seeing it being accomplished, were to think the book to be the cause of such a thing having happened later, since he learned from the book the things to be done later by Judas; or again, not suppose the book to be the cause, but the one who first wrote it, or the one who acted, say, God. Just as in the things prophesied about Judas, the words themselves being examined show that God was not the creator of the betrayal of Judas, but only indicated beforehand the things to be done from the wickedness of this one, against His own D cause; later if someone were to immerse himself in the word of the foreknowledge of all things by God, and in those things in which he has impressed his own...
and for having accepted other dogmas foreign to divinity, having much plausibility and variety of speech; and these, moreover, despise the field that holds in itself treasure and virtues. He, therefore, who has not seen nor tested the word he acquired—because he was preoccupied by necessity, and not willingly—departs from the banquet, and from Him who called him, and perhaps even from himself. Another says, "I pray thee," as if by word alone he revered Him who had called. But he who bought five yoke of oxen, this is he who despises the intelligible nature; being one who delights in sensible things, neither did this man test from the beginning what he bought. If, therefore, the number two is attributed to matter and to form, this man prized material things; for which reason he too has refused the intelligible banquet: whence also in some copies, instead of "I pray thee," the text reads, "And for this reason I cannot come." For those who see sensible things say they cannot comprehend that which is incorporeal. But the other, who said, "I have married a wife," is he who seems to have found wisdom, and to have become a partaker of it, yet refuses the true wisdom; or he who is united to the flesh, and is a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God. This, therefore, is the sum of the parable. You may also interpret it otherwise in accordance with the context. Insofar as we are men, and it is not expedient for us to know the riches of the goodness of God, God is truly assimilated to man, so that as man He may speak to men who can be governed by God, while God remains in all respects God. And then He shall cease being assimilated to man, when we, having ceased from strife, zeal, and the remaining evils, and from walking according to man, shall have been deemed worthy to hear from God: "I said: Ye are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High." He shall also cease to be called many other things, which the sinful man requires, such as a panther, a lion, and a bear, as it is written in the prophets. For God shall cease to be these things, when, on account of those who have acted in such a way, He no longer requires that which—like a panther, or like a lion, or like a bear—is reduced to need. Having no longer any who require Him as such, He shall manifest Himself as He is, and God shall stand in the midst of gods. Thus do I also understand: "Our God is a consuming fire"; for to him who is not worthy to be consumed, He is light, according to John who says: "Our God is light, and darkness is not in Him." And again: "It hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is." For even if we were deemed worthy to see God now with the mind and heart, we do not see Him as He is, but as He becomes to us according to our own dispensation; but in the restitution of all things, as He spoke through the mouth of His holy ones, we shall see Him not as now—which is not what He is—but, as it befits then, what He is. Among us men, He was assimilated to man; but among those who have made themselves divine, to God: "For God," He says, "stood in the synagogue of gods."