terrible and gloomy, to a land of eternal darkness, where there is no light nor can the life of mortals be seen, because I have voluntarily bound the active virtues of the soul with passions, and have hindered its steps from the divine course of the angelic life. Be propitious, O Christ, and save us from this pain. For those things which in this age we have chosen by our own will to associate with through our evil practices, we shall deservedly be compelled, even against our will, to exist with in the age to come through the condemnation of God. For there will be truly, there will be, a time when a terrible trumpet shall sound with a fearful noise, and all this universe, having lost its visible adornment, shall be dissolved. This visible world shall all pass away, brought to its own end; but the world that is now expected shall then appear, bringing to eyes, ears, and minds entirely new mysteries. And God will render to each according to what they have done through the body, whether good or evil, according to their merit; giving to all a great and fearful and final conclusion at the end. But may God grant that we all may take up both the saving fear of Gehenna and the precious desire for the kingdom of heaven!—the fear, indeed, which persuades us to abstain altogether from evils, and the desire which encourages us cheerfully to perform good deeds, so that we may attain the enjoyment of the promised goods in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion with the Father who is without beginning, together with His most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS,
Archbishop of Alexandria,
To Antiochus the prince, concerning many and necessary questions in the divine Scriptures that are causes of doubt, and which ought to be known by all Christians.
A Question I. Since we believe in and are baptized into the consubstantial Trinity, and say that the Father is God, and likewise that the Son is God, and likewise that the Holy Spirit is God, why do we not say there are three gods, but one and only God? And if we worship one God, it is clear that, believing in monarchy, we are imitating the Jews; but if, on the other hand, we worship three gods, it is evident that we are Hellenizing, introducing polytheism and not piously worshipping one only God.
Answer. The argument and manner of piety is not to be scrutinized with curiosity, B but is to be recognized and honored by faith alone, not by investigation. For if God were comprehensible, C He would not be God. For if we are not able to comprehend the angels or our own souls, which are created things, D
A how much more is it fitting that their Maker should be incomprehensible? For a mystery that is grasped is no longer a thing to be wondered at. Therefore, the faith of Christians and their God, who is three-hypostasized, is not one in hypostasis, bearing the form of a man, as the fables of the Greeks suggest 91; nor, on the other hand, are there three gods, as if they were separated from one another. Away with the myths of the Greeks! For the Godhead of the one essence is indivisible in the three hypostases. However, one must know that the human mind can neither grasp nor relate anything of the Godhead through words or thoughts. All who have hastened to comprehend God have chased after their own shadow; and all who have wished to say anything about the essence of God have struggled to measure the abyss with their own fist. And all who thought they could penetrate into the deep fell into wicked heresies 92. For the Father and God is not Father as I am, who am a creature, having begotten a created son as I have; nor is the Son begotten as every fleshly son is; nor is the Holy Spirit circumscribed as the spirit of a man is. But the mystery of the holy Trinity is ineffable and inexplicable. And do not say, "How?" for this is above the "how"; nor say, "In what manner?" for the divine manner is above manner; nor say, "By what word?" for the divine Word is above word. But believe in the Father; yet do not investigate the matter. Adore the Son, but do not curiously inquire into His generation. Praise the Holy Spirit, and do not wish to investigate the mystery of the holy Trinity. Come to the Jordan, and see clearly C in the events the power of the holy and consubstantial Trinity: the Father testifying from above, the Son being baptized below, and the all-holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove. To Him be glory, and power, and adoration, with the almighty Father and His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen 94.
QUEST. II. Whence does a man know that he was truly baptized and received the Holy Spirit, when he was an infant in holy baptism 95?
RESP. The prophet Isaiah says to God: "For fear of thee, O Lord, we have conceived, and been in pain, and have brought forth the Spirit of salvation" 78. Just as—
A a pregnant woman, from the movement of the fetus she carries in her womb, knows with certainty that she has conceived fruit, so too the soul of a true Christian, not through the words of parents but through the deeds and movements of his own heart, and especially at the time of illumination or baptism and the participation in the holy body and blood of Christ, learns from the joy of his own soul that he has received the Holy Spirit through baptism.
QUEST. III. When, whence, and how were the angels made? RESP. Human nature cannot say whence or how the angels were made; it knows only this, that they were made from nothing by the Word of God. As for when they were made, some say on the first day, others before the first day. B Our holy and wonder-working Father Epiphanius, Archbishop of Cyprus, in his discourse against Paul of Samosata, in his *Panarion*, explains more fully that they were created together with the heaven and the earth, and not before them, refuting those who claim otherwise by means of syllogisms. He asserts the same in another of his books.
QUEST. IV. Whence is it manifest that the angels are created? For nothing of the sort is recorded in the book of Genesis. RESP. God, knowing the idol-worshiping and polytheistic C nature of men, and especially of the Jews, for this reason kept silent in Genesis about the matter of the angels, lest those who had turned the calf and other things into gods should also worship the angels as gods. But that the angels are created, learn from the Holy Spirit speaking through the Prophet: "Praise the Lord, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts, for he spoke and they were created, he commanded and they were made" (Ps. CXLVIII, 2, 5).
QUEST. V. Are they of the substance of this light, or of some other nature? RESP. As much as the sun differs from a star, just so much does the nature of the angels differ from every visible creature.
QUEST. VI. How much then does the number of the angels exceed the human multitude? RESP. Some say that the angels are ninety-nine parts compared to the number D of humanity, because of the Lord’s parable of the hundred sheep; others say nine, because of the parable of the ten drachmas. Others, however, believe that the number of humans and angels is equal, bringing as evidence
the testimony of the words: "He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." A
Quest. VII. In what does the nature of demons differ from the nature of the angels? Resp. There is no difference in their nature, but in their will, just as the disposition of a just person differs from that of a sinner.
Quest. VIII. How many orders and how many natures of angels are there? Resp. There is one nature, even as there is with humans. But there are nine orders, as the most learned in theology, Dionysius, teaches, which are these: angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues, dominions, the six-winged seraphim, the many-eyed cherubim, and the thrones. B Saint Gregory of Nyssa also speaks about the one substance of the angels in the seventeenth chapter of his book *On Man*.
Quest. IX. How many heavens are there? Resp. Many dispute this question. For the book of Genesis mentions two heavens. But divine Paul knew of a third heaven. And the prophet David even mentions a fourth, as he says: "Praise Him, O heavens of heavens." However, it must be known that those who say that Paul was caught up into the third heaven, and not into three heavens, hold this opinion because, just as the nature of humans is spoken of as one man and also as many men, so the nature of the heavens is spoken of in divine Scripture as one heaven and also as many heavens.
Quest. X. When and why did the devil fall? For some invent the story that he fell because he refused to worship Adam. C Resp. Such words belong to foolish men. For the devil fell before Adam existed. It is indeed established, as the prophet Isaiah relates, that he fell because of his own pride, for he pondered these things within himself: "I will set my throne above the clouds, and I shall be like the Most High."
Quest. XI. Why did God permit him to wage war against the human race? Resp. Indeed, so that those who love God might be made manifest, and those who are given over to pleasures might be exposed. For when no adversary stands against them, the true soldiers of the Emperor are not revealed. Thus, the devil becomes the cause of victory, of crowns, and of honors for those who love God. D
Quest. XII. Since the devil fell from the heavens, how is it written in the book of Job that the angels of God came to stand before the Lord, and the devil was in their midst?
A Resp. Scripture does not say that the devil met in the heavens in the midst of the angels; therefore, it is clear that he met on the earth. For wherever the holy angels are, they stand before God. Nevertheless, it must be known that God spoke to the devil through a certain holy angel, just as a king is accustomed to speak with a condemned person through an intermediary.
Quest. XIII. Can sorcery kill a man? B Resp. The righteous, by no means; it cannot even draw near to him. But it can kill a sinner, if God permits it. For, as we heard in the Gospels, it does not even have power over swine.
Quest. XIV. What prayer and word do demons and the devil fear more than any other prayer and word? B Resp. Certain men, full of the Spirit and worthy of belief, told us that when the devil once appeared to them in his own form and was asked this question by them, he replied: There is no word in the whole of the Old and New Testament that so disperses all our power as the beginning of the sixty-seventh Psalm. Therefore, when the devil said this, they began that psalm, and when they had uttered only the first word, "Exsurgat Deus" ("Let God arise"), the devil immediately vanished, howling, demonstrating by the reality itself the power of this prayer.
Quest. XV. Whence are stirred up in the heart of man thoughts and blasphemous and nefarious words, often insulting to God Himself, which neither the soul would wish to utter nor the tongue of man to name? C Resp. These are the works of the devil, which he himself, that wicked one, suggests to the soul of man, speaking words against God, wishing to lead man to despair. But for this, man is by no means condemned; God forbid! Often, indeed, such a thought arises in a man from arrogance: from which, however, he is freed when he considers himself to be earth and ashes, and does not retain that thought at all, but says to the devil: "Your blasphemy be upon your own head, devil. For I will worship the Lord my God, and I will never utter blasphemies against Him." One must, therefore, be cautiously attentive to what has been said. D For many men, overcome by such a thought, have either cast themselves down, or, having been led into despair, have perished.
Quest. XVI. We think it a logical consequence that, after discussing God and the angels, we should thirdly bring forward for consideration the question concerning souls. For truly, there is much dispute among men regarding this matter.
I mean, what is the soul of man itself? And whence is it constituted in the body? And when and how is it separated from the body? And what does it do until the resurrection? For no one coming among us from the dead has reported or confirmed these things to us. Therefore, as for most people the account of the soul is incomprehensible, we have asked your holiness to teach us. A RESP. The soul of man is indeed an intelligent, incorporeal, invisible, impassible, and immortal substance, and nearly similar to the subtlety of the angels. Yet the soul was never an angel, as the Origenists mythologize; nor do souls exist before their bodies, as the Manichaeans imagine. But just as when a stone and iron are struck together fire is born from both, so too, from the union of man and woman, body and soul are constituted by God’s command. And may the holy Apostle persuade you, for he says: "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body," that is to say, in the resurrection.
QUEST. XVII. Whence have we certainty that at the time of death the soul does not die together with the body? For some people think so.
RESP. The Son of God and Word, Jesus Christ, clearly teaches us that the body is mortal and the soul immortal, saying: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul." It is manifest from this that it is immortal and has its existence from God.
QUEST. XVIII. "The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance." But in what way, I ask, is the soul separated from the body?
RESP. We believe that the body of man consists of four elements, namely, blood, phlegm, humor, and bile; that is, from the hot, the cold, the dry, and the wet; which is to say, from fire, water, air, and earth. For blood, C as a hot and vital element, is clearly from fire; humor, being wet, is clearly from air; bile, being dry, is clearly from earth; and phlegm, as being cold, is clearly from water. By these four, as if by four walls, the soul is enclosed within the house of the body like a dove. Therefore, at the time of death, by the command of God, the four elements departing from one another, the four walls of the house, so to speak, are dissolved, and the dove—that is, the soul—enclosed within departs; and first the blood, that is, the hot and vital element, withdraws. Hence, dead bodies retain bile, phlegm, and humor after death, D but they have no blood.
A Quest. xix. Where then are we to say that the souls of men who have departed go?
Resp. It is a strange and fearful question, and one hidden from men. For God has not permitted anyone to return to us from thence and to recount where or in what manner the souls that have departed from us exist. Nevertheless, we learn from the Divine Scriptures that the souls of sinners are in Hades, beneath all the earth and the sea, as the Psalm says: "In dark places and in the shadow of death and in the lowest pit," and as it is written in Job: "Into a land dark and gloomy, into a land of eternal darkness, where there is no splendor, nor is life visible to mortals." But the souls of the just, as we learn from the thief on the cross, are in Paradise. For Christ our God did not open Paradise for the soul of the holy thief alone, but for all the souls of the saints as well.
B Quest. xx. What then, have the just received their good things, and the sinners their punishment?
Resp. By no means. However, the souls of the saints do enjoy this joy, and this is a partial enjoyment, just as the sadness which the sinners have is a partial punishment. And just as a king summons his friends to dine with him, and likewise summons the condemned to be punished, those who are invited to the dinner are in joy before the king's house until the hour of the dinner arrives; but the condemned, shut away in prison, remain in sorrow until the judge comes. Thus one must think also regarding the souls of the just and sinners that have departed from us to that place before us.
C Quest. xxi. If, then, no one, according to what you have said, has entered into the kingdom or into Gehenna; what then is this that we hear about the rich man in the story of Lazarus, that, being in fire and torments, he was speaking to Abraham?
Resp. The Lord spoke everything concerning Lazarus and the rich man parabolically, just as He did concerning the ten virgins and the rest of the parables. For the parable of Lazarus did not occur as a literal fact. For sinners in Gehenna do not see the just who are with Abraham in the kingdom. `Moreover, no one who exists there in the darkness recognizes his neighbor.
D Quest. xxii. How is this? For the saying is fearful and strange: that we do not recognize one another there, but we remain unknown—brothers to brothers, fathers to sons, and friends to friends.
Resp. Recognition usually occurs through bodily signs. A But incorporeal souls are completely similar to one another in every way, just like a multitude of spotless and similar doves or bees, none of which differs from another either in weight or magnitude, but they are all equal to one another in every respect. But I am speaking of the condemned souls of sinners in Hades, in that they do not recognize even themselves. For God has granted this good thing, I mean recognition, to the souls of the just, so that they may recognize one another.
Quest. XXIII. Let us grant, then, according to what you say, that souls do not now recognize one another: but will sinners, who have come from the same region, house, and lineage, not recognize one another even in the resurrection?
Resp. Not even in the resurrection. B
Quest. XXIV. Why?
Resp. Because the figures, signs, and affections which come to our bodies through corruption and sowing, by which we recognize one another here, are destroyed in the resurrection of the dead along with that sowing and corruption. And just as God made one human being from the beginning, so in the regeneration we shall all rise again as one human being: that is, every image of a human being will be similar to the image, form, magnitude, and figure of Adam. Hence, in the resurrection, there is neither male nor female, nor small and C great, nor black and white, nor fair and red, nor snub-nosed or hooked-nosed, nor various figures, forms, and colors. For all these things, which arise from sowing and corruption, will be destroyed along with corruption. For how could a father recognize his own son who died an infant, when he rises again as a perfect thirty-year-old man, just as Christ was baptized at thirty years of age? Or how could an Ethiopian be recognized who rises again white, or one who died wounded but rises again whole? But if these things seem barely credible to you, hear the Lord saying to the Sadducees: "In the resurrection of the dead they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but shall be as the angels" (Matth. XXII, 30). Therefore, just as the angels are of one appearance and figure, so we believe that our nature will be the same in the resurrection through immortality. And just as God made the grain stalk from the beginning, and the seed came forth from the stalk, which then being sown sprouts again into a stalk: so also man was made incorrupt by God on account of the commandment; D then he was crushed by transgression and rendered corrupt:
but being sown through death and buried in the earth, it sprouts again just as it was incorrupt from the beginning.
A QUES. XXV. Do the souls of men who depart before us visit this life again, or not? RESP. By no means. For hear the prophet David speaking concerning dying men: "Man, his days are as grass, as the flower of the field, so shall he flourish. For a spirit has passed through him, and it shall not exist, and it shall no longer know its place" (Ps. CII, 15, 16). But concerning the souls of the just, there is nothing to be doubted.
B QUES. XXVI. If these things are so, how do the saints often appear in their own churches and tombs? RESP. A singular and paradoxical question, indeed, requiring a most faithful soul to answer. Yet if you can grasp it, listen and do not falter in your reason. The overshadowings and visions that take place in the churches and tombs of the saints do not happen through the souls of the saints, but through the holy angels who take on the form of the saints. For tell me, how could the one soul of blessed Peter or Paul, at that very moment, appear in his memorial in a thousand of his churches throughout the whole world? For not even one angel could ever perform this. For it belongs to God alone to be found in two places and in the whole world at the same moment; since even the intellectual powers themselves altogether cease from the doxology which is in the heavens when they are sent forth into service on the earth.
C QUES. XXVII. What does the substance of an angel differ from the substance of the soul of a man? RESP. We find three substances that man cannot comprehend, which no one has ever seen, nor can anyone see on earth as they are—I mean, of course, God, and angels, and souls; yet we conjecture that as much as the sun differs from the moon, by so much the substance of the angels excels and reflects more brilliance than the substance of the souls of men.
D QUES. XXVIII. And how do the prophets often appear to have seen the Lord? RESP. After all the prophets and after the very advent of Christ, the holy apostle and evangelist and theologian John said that "no man has seen God at any time" (Joann. I, 18). And that he might render credible what is a fearsome and strange saying, he added that "The Only-begotten who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Whence also the holy apostle Paul says: "Whom no man of men hath seen, nor can see" (I Tim. VI, 16). Thus, no man of men can see the naked essence of God anywhere; but, according to the infirmity of men
A God appearing by process of accommodation, was seen by the prophets. Surely, being even then without flesh, He appeared to them often as a man become incarnate. Whence it is evident that they did not see the essence of God, but His glory. This same thing must be understood regarding angels and naked souls. But the holy Theotokos alone beheld the naked essence of the archangel Gabriel, as it was.
QUEST. XXIX. What then? Do not the angels themselves appear to men on earth according to their substance?
RESP. By no means; for a corruptible eye cannot contemplate an incorruptible substance. From this it is possible clearly to understand that angels do not appear to us according to their substance, since they do not appear on earth in one single figure. For some assume the form of youths, others of soldiers. In a word, they put on many forms, but their substance is one. B
QUEST. XXX. What is the definition of the substance of angels?
RESP. An angel is a rational, immaterial, hymn-singing, immortal creature.
QUEST. XXXI. What is the work of the heavenly virtues in the heavens?
RESP. A hymn never intermitted, and a perpetual praise of the magnificence of God; and perhaps also an assiduous prayer for our salvation. When, however, orders and hosts are mentioned, we must understand an order of teaching, an order of protection, an order of providence, an order of ministry, an order of punishing, an order that separates souls, and an order remaining in others. Furthermore, just as we know there are various orders of supernal virtues, so also are there diverse stations and cognitions. For the Thrones, and the Cherubim, and the Seraphim are taught without an intermediary by God, as being superior to all others C and closest to God. These, however, teach the lower orders, and in that same manner the inferiors are taught by the superiors. The lowest order of all are the holy angels, who are also the teachers of men.
QUEST. XXXII. Are the souls who have departed mindful of us, just as the angels are mindful of us?
RESP. The souls of the saints are indeed altogether mindful of us, but the souls of sinners which lie in Hades are by no means so. D For since they await the punishment due to them, they are reasonably concerned only with that, caring for nothing else.
A QUEST. XXIII. What then do souls that have already departed do there? RESP. A soul liberated from the body can do neither good nor evil. For the visions of them which some see, God provides for our benefit. Just as a lyre, unless it finds someone to play it, appears idle and useless, so also the soul and the body, once separated from one another, can perform nothing. Thus, the souls of the saints, moved by the Holy Spirit, praise God with angels in the land of the living and rejoice.
QUEST. XXXIV. What then? Do the souls of sinners perceive no benefit when gatherings, acts of kindness, and offerings are made on their behalf? RESP. If they did not participate in any benefit from this, they would not be mentioned in the oblation. But just as when a vine blossoms outside in the field, the wine sealed within perceives its scent and blossoms along with it, so understand that the souls of sinners participate in a measure of benefit from the unbloody sacrifice and acts of kindness performed for them, in a way that the Lord of the living and the dead, our God, alone knows and commands.
QUEST. XXXV. Can it therefore be known for what reason God did not permit the soul of any of those who have departed thither to return to us and relate how things fare in Hades, and what the necessity is that exists there? RESP. Much error would arise in life from this. For many C demons could assume the forms of the departed dead and claim to have been raised from the dead, and sow among us many false things and doctrines concerning what happens there, which would be for us a cause of erring and perishing.
QUEST. XXXVI. Many say it is useful for a man to foreknow the day of his death. RESP. If God did all things in wisdom for our benefit, surely He did not hide this from us without reason. For if a man were to foreknow the day of his own death, he would sin securely through his whole life, and only two or three days before his death would he embrace repentance, on account of these words of God saying through the prophet: "In whatever state I find you, in that will I judge you." And truly, I ask you, what grace would remain for a man if, having despised God, he committed a hundred murders, and ceased from evils for only two days?
QUEST. XXXVII. For what reason do we Christians worship towards the east, and why do the Jews [worship] towards the south? RESP. The account and the answer to be given regarding this are not one and the same. For one must answer the Jews differently, and
explain the matter otherwise to the Greeks, and yet again explain it differently to the Christians. To the Jews, therefore, we say that the faithful worship towards the east for this reason: because the Holy Spirit has commanded it to us through the prophet David, who spoke these things: "Let us worship in the place where the feet of the Lord have stood." But if the Jew says, "Where have the feet of the Lord stood?" the prophet Zacharias teaches them, saying: "And the feet of the Lord shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, towards the east, opposite Jerusalem." Hence, even the Jews themselves, when praying at Jerusalem towards the east, are praying towards the Mount of Olives. And this is the brief defense for the Jews. To the Greeks, C however, we must say this: that we do not worship towards the east as though God were circumscribed by the eastern region, but because God is and is called the true Light. Therefore, looking towards the created light, we do not worship it, but its Creator, honoring the God who is more radiant than all elements and ages, from this most splendid element. Finally, let the faithful hear and learn that for this reason the most blessed apostles commanded that the churches of the Christians should face the east, so that we might look towards Paradise, from which we fell—looking back toward our ancient fatherland and region—and pray to God and the Lord that He might restore us to the place from which we were cast out as exiles. Furthermore, the prophets commanded the Jews to attend to the south because the Lord was to be born from the south of Jerusalem, that is, from Bethlehem; hence the prophet said, "God will come from Theman," that is, "from the south."
QUUEST. XXXVIII. Why, since Christ was circumcised, are we not likewise circumcised?
RESP. Christ, the Son of God, came to fulfill the Law, so that He might not be thought to be opposed to God and an adversary of the God who gave the Law. For the Jews were reproaching Him with this up and down. But since He has fulfilled for our sake what the Law contains, we are no longer under the Law, but under grace. Hence Christ says to us through Paul: "For if you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing." From this we clearly know that all who are circumcised are strangers to Christ, whether they be faithful or infidels, Jews or Greeks, inasmuch as they boast in the Mosaic Law and do not follow Christ. For just as all who by blood
A calculate that they offer an irrational animal as a sacrifice to God, they overturn and abominate the bloodless sacrifice of Christ; so too do all who circumcise themselves in the flesh offer insult to and turn away from the spiritual circumcision, that is, holy baptism. And again, another similar thing: Christ did not overthrow the devil and the demons in the Law, nor did He work salvation in it; but on the cross. Whence the demons, seeing the Law, do not tremble nor fear; but often seeing the cross, they tremble and flee and are rendered powerless and are chased away.
Question XXXIX. Since God through the prophets commands us not to worship things made by hands, why do we worship images and the cross, which are the works of craftsmen, just as idols are?
Answer. We faithful do not worship images as gods, God forbid!—as the Gentiles do; but we only show the affection and love B of our soul directed toward the likeness of the image; wherefore, when the features have often been worn away, we burn the wood that was once an image as useless timber. And just as Jacob, when about to die, worshipped at the top of the staff of Joseph, not honoring the staff, but him who held it; so too do we faithful honor images for no other reason than out of our longing for those whom we represent—doing this in the same way that we greet our children, parents, and friends. Just as the Jews of old worshipped the two tablets of the Law, and the two golden and carved cherubim, not honoring the nature of the stone and gold, but the Lord who commanded them to be made. C
But let those who out of pride refuse to worship the cross and the images of the saints, let those fools tell me: how is it that holy images have often exuded myrrh by the power of the Lord? How is it that an inanimate statue, when pierced by a weapon, has miraculously poured forth blood as if it were a corporeal nature? How is it that demons are often driven away crying out from tombs, relics, and images? But that we may confound the senseless even more, hear a story told by our fathers regarding an image. D For in Jerusalem, an evil demon was laying snares for and troubling a certain ascetic. One day, therefore, the spirit appears to him with his own eyes, saying, "If you wish me not to war against you, do not worship this image, and I shall depart from you." Now the image was that of the holy Theotokos. Therefore, what do those who forbid the worship of the icons of the saints have to say to these things, which we fashion only for the sake of remembrance and for no other reason? And thus, the discourse on images is given in brief. That we faithful worship and salute the cross, it is manifest that we do this because of Christ who was affixed to it.
Question XL. Since Christ also
rode upon an ass,A must we then also salute and worship asses? For this is what the children of the Jews and Greeks say to us.
Resp. Christ did not defeat the devil and the demons in an ass, nor did He perform salvation in it, but on the cross. Therefore, when the demons see asses, they do not tremble nor are they afraid; but when they often see the cross, they tremble and shudder, and are rendered powerless and are put to flight.
Question XLI. For what reason do we faithful all make images of the cross of Christ, but do not make images of His holy lance, or of the reed, or of the sponge? For these are also just as holy as the cross itself.
Resp. We fashion the figure of the cross from two pieces of wood, which we worship. When, however, one of the unbelievers wishes to reproach us, claiming that we worship wood, we can separate the two pieces of wood, dissolve the figure of the cross, and consider them as mere wood, so as to persuade the unbeliever B that we do not worship the wood, but the figure of the cross. But in the case of the lance, the reed, or the sponge, we cannot do this or demonstrate it.
Question XLII. From where is it certain that the faith of Christians surpasses all others that are under heaven? Since every faith considers itself to be more pious than the rest.
Resp. Much could be said on this matter, and the proof of the Christian faith is long. Yet there are two signs seen among us, which declare our religion and God’s love and protection toward us. The first is that we know of no nation from the beginning of the age that has been attacked by all other nations for so long C and not destroyed, except only the faith of Christ, which surely could not have failed to be destroyed, having been so attacked by all nations, if the hand of the Lord had not saved it and were not saving it from being destroyed. The second is that no emperor of the Christians has ever been delivered over to death to the barbarians, although so many nations attacked the empire. Moreover, they were able neither to overthrow the emperor, nor to destroy his image with the cross upon the coins, although some tyrants attempted this. Do not think that this matter is trivial and worthless. For if God had not chosen and loved our faith above all others, He would by no means have kept it D safe and unwounded in the midst of nations like wolves. Furthermore, God could not have permitted a false faith to dominate throughout all the ends of the earth after the incarnation of His Son and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Whence this very thing, that the Gospel of Christ has been believed among all nations, is an argument beyond falsehood that there is no other pious faith under heaven.
A QUEST. XLIII. If this is the case, why did Satan not divide any other faith on earth into so many heresies, except only the faith of the Christians? RESP. Because, clearly, it opposes him and renders his power entirely void. For what care, pray, would Satan have to attack Jews, Samaritans, or Gentiles, or to divide them into heresies and different faiths? For all these belong to him, and Satan by no means makes war on his own, but on the things that are of God. So that to one who wishes, it is possible to learn from this also, that there is no other pious faith on earth, save only that which is in Christ.
QUEST. XLIV. In what way shall we persuade the illiterate and barbarian man that the Catholic B Church possesses the right faith above all heresies, and that it does not err? RESP. Those who are not able to hear the precise and profound explanation of the Scriptures and dogmas ought to be persuaded from this piece of evidence alone, and that a pious one, of the Catholic Church of Christ: namely, from the fact that the saving and venerable places of Christ's sufferings were granted by God and entrusted to our Catholic and orthodox faith and Church. I mean Nazareth, where Christ "dwelt among us"; Bethlehem, where He was born according to the flesh; Sion, where He wrought salvation for the world; the Jordan, where He renewed Adam; Thabor, where He prefigured the kingdom of heaven; the Mount of Olives, from whence He ascended from us to the Father in the heavens. All of which holy and venerable C places the Catholic Church has not been entrusted with rashly or in vain, but as being more pious, clearly, and more honorable than all the faiths and churches named among Christians. And just as a king entrusts and commits the precious chambers and treasures of his palace to the most faithful of all his ministers, so also Christ, from the beginning of His advent, entrusted His venerable places to the Catholic Church. But if the adversary replies that we possess these by tyrannical power, let that person learn that, even if barbarians have often seized Palestine, Christ did not permit His own places to be surrendered to heretics. But even if they attempted this for a short time, the Catholic Church quickly drove them out again, as swine from the holy courts and places of Christ our God.
QUEST. XLV. Where did God command the apostles to call those who believe in Christ, Christians? RESP. We read in the Acts of the Apostles D that it was first uttered at Antioch, or rather, the divine revelation came to the apostles...
A, that is, the revelation of God, permitting us to be called Christians. Wherefore, let whoever desires to come to Christ know accurately that every faith on earth named after the name of a man—I mean the Simonians from Simon, and the Marcionites from Marcion, and the Arians from Arius, and the Eunomians from Eunomius—all these and the rest, which bear the names of men and are thus named because of them, are not of God, nor is God in them. For if they were of God, why are they named and adorned with the names of men? Therefore, the boast of boasts for us is the catholic Church, and the fact that we are preached and named Christians, as those not named by man, but illuminated by God.
QUEST. XLVI. Who before all others named God B as God on earth? RESP. It is manifest that it was the devil, when he said to Eve: "Why did God say to you, 'Eat of every tree that is in paradise'?" And do not marvel at this, for the devil, having once been an angel, possessed at that time knowledge superior to man.
QUEST. XLVII. Where do we say paradise is C? For some say it is in Jerusalem, others that it is in the heavens. RESP. Neither of these is correct. That paradise is not in Jerusalem is testified by Adam, who lies at Calvary. It is certain, moreover, that he was not buried in paradise, but was cast out of it. That paradise is not in the heavens is testified by the Scripture which says: "And God planted a garden in Eden to the east" (Gen. II, 8). It teaches us, therefore, that paradise is to the east of the whole earth. Hence certain accurate historians write that for this reason all sweet-smelling aromatics exist in the more eastern parts, that is, the Indian regions, as being neighboring to paradise. And just as male palms induce fruitfulness in the nearby female palms by the breathing of the winds, so too D the fragrance issuing from paradise by the breath of the winds causes the trees of the places nearer to it to be aromatic.
QUEST. XLVIII. Do we say that paradise is corruptible or incorruptible? RESP. We do not say it is corruptible, in the manner that our trees and fruits are corrupted by rot and worms. Nor, again, is it absolutely incorruptible according to the incorruption of the future age, which no longer experiences aging. But if it is compared with our fruits and gardens, it is superior to all corruption; yet if it be compared with the glory of the future blessings...
QUESTIONS TO DUKE ANTIOCHUS
of good things, which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, is far inferior and is so believed.
QUEST. XLIX. How much time did Adam spend in paradise?
RESP. You propose a problem on which the Fathers do not agree. For some think he remained six months, others longer, others only as many hours B as the Lord remained on the wood of the cross, which I consider to be more true. But others think only nine hours.
QUEST. L. What kind of tree was it, from which Adam ate the fruit?
RESP. Neither on this matter do the Fathers agree; and rightly so. For what the divine Scripture has voluntarily concealed, no one has been able to state with precision. Hence some say that the fruit was a fig, others the contemplation of Eve. It even seems to some that Adam ate nothing in paradise. Perhaps, however, the first opinion, which argues that it was a fig, is truer, because, naturally, the first parents used its leaves to cover themselves, and because the fig tree was later cursed by Christ. (Now Saint Isidore of Pelusium, in his fifty-first epistle, says that it was a fig whose fruit the first parents ate, and that he learned this from ancient elders.)
QUEST. LI. Furthermore, if Adam had not transgressed, what must the life and multitude of men have been like?
RESP. God, who had created the multitude of angels by his word, could have created the multitude of the human race in a venerable and pure way. Some, however, say that since God made man male and female, it is clear that God wished for the human race to be procreated by generation. Yet he did not wish for this to happen through disobedience, but with honor.
QUEST. LII. Why did God complete the creation on the seventh day?
RESP. Among numbers, we find the number ten to be the fulfillment of every number. For if you arrive at the number ten, you immediately return again to unity. Therefore, seven and three is the most perfect number. And for this reason, the seven [days] belong to the creation; but the holy Trinity is uncreated.
QUEST. LIII. A question is indeed much agitated among many, which one ought to place in the first position: the day before the night, or the night before the day? For if we say that the day takes precedence, it will be found that Christ rose on the Sabbath. For that night is [the night] of the Sabbath, according to the words of Moses, the writer of the creation of the world.
RESP. According to the aim and the words which describe God as having said before all things, "Let there be light," it is clear that the day precedes D the night. For those darknesses which su-
- A pertained to the abyss were not yet called night, nor were they measured by the moon and stars and the twelve hours. Undoubtedly, therefore, light precedes darkness. Nevertheless, so that the children of the Jews might not find an opportunity to say to us that Christ arose on the Sabbath, for this reason God stopped their mouths in advance, by ordaining in the law for them that they should begin the day of the Sabbath from the evening.
QUEST. LIV. Why, then, for this same reason did God command us to begin the Lord's day from the evening of the Sabbath?
RESP. Not for that reason; but because God called the nations from the darkness of ignorance and the shadow of the law into the light of the knowledge of God and of the Gospel. Therefore, it was fitting that He commanded the day of His resurrection to begin from the evening and to be completed at the light. For it was unseemly and by no means appropriate that the days of Christ, the true light, should begin from the light and end in night and darkness. B
QUEST. LV. For what reason did Christ dwell on earth in the womb of the Virgin on the twenty-fifth day of the month of March, as the Romans call it?
RESP. Because on this very day from the beginning God fashioned Adam. Hence, in that month all trees, plants, and animals are moved toward the procreation of fruits and offspring, as things that were created by God at that time.
QUEST. XVI. Of what kind were the leather garments which God made for Adam and Eve?
RESP. Some say they were woven from the leaves of trees; others, again, have said that these garments are our flesh; but it seemed to others, who also hold a truer opinion, that they were in reality leather garments, the garments of the first parents. C
QUEST. LVII. Since no man had yet died, from where did Cain learn how to kill Abel?
RESP. The devil showed him in a dream the way in which he might put his brother to death.
QUEST. LVIII. Who were the sons of God who saw and took the daughters of men?
RESP. The sons of Seth. For the incorporeal nature neither desires bodies nor unites with women.
QUEST. LIX. Why did God appear to Moses in a bush and not in some other plant?
RESP. Some answer that the reason is so that the Hebrews might not be able to make an idol out of its wood. But it seems to others that by this act God was signifying beforehand that He was to be incarnated in our thorny flesh, and that for this reason He appeared to Moses in such a plant. D
QUESTIONS TO DUKE ANTIOCHUS
A Quest. LX. Why did God give the Law in darkness? Resp. Because the mystery of the economy of Christ our God was hidden in it obscurely and covered over.
Quest. LXI. For what reason were the first two tablets broken? Resp. By that event, God was indicating the obsolescence and transgression of the former Law.
Quest. LXII. Since God is without body and without form, what, I ask, were the "back parts" that Moses saw? Resp. We believe that the God of all is uncreated, existing before the ages and before all created things. Therefore it is clear that the "back parts" of God are created things, and the reasons for them, which seeing, he set forth: B "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1, 1).
Quest. LXIII. Who first prefigured in the Old Testament the two peoples, I mean those from the Jews and those from the nations? Resp. It is evident that it was Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, who gave birth to twins, Jacob and Esau. However, the two tablets of the Law were also a symbol of the two peoples.
Quest. LXIV. Who first in the Old Testament prefigured the sign of the life-giving Cross? Resp. Jacob, when he blessed the two sons of Joseph, by crossing his hands.
Quest. LXV. Whom do they say was reckoned among the dead three times in the Old Testament? Resp. It is clear that it was Jonah. For as an ancient story is told, he was the son of the widow whom the prophet Elias raised from the dead; a second time, when he was in the whale he was dead according to men; and C a third time, his final passing.
Quest. LXVI. Where is Tharsis, to which Jonah fled? Resp. Tharsis is a city in the Indian region, as we learn in the Third Book of Kings.
Quest. LXVII. Are the sins of parents still visited upon their children until the third and fourth generation? Resp. God did indeed declare this through Moses. But D [regarding] the non-material essence of God, that it should be seen and lived—understand by the "back parts" of God the flesh which He took from the Virgin, and [by which] He was seen. For the Godhead of God is precious and exalted, being invisible, and this is what is called the "face." The "back parts" of God [are] the flesh, which is named "back parts" as being despised. And He, signifying this to Moses, says: "I will show my back parts," that is, being clothed in the weak flesh, I shall be seen through it.
A Again, He says through the prophet Jeremiah that it will not be so hereafter: but whoever eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. We hear Christ saying again to the Jews: "Amen I say to you, all the iniquities of your fathers shall come upon you, from the blood of Abel the just, unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar." Hence it must be inferred that among infidels, the sins of impious parents are brought upon perverse children, but not upon the good; whereas among the faithful, holy baptism cleanses us from every iniquity of our parents.
QUEST. LXVIII. Some say that infants often die because of the sins of their parents: is that true? RESP. Far be it that this should be so!
QUEST. LXIX. Why then do infants die, while others live to old age? And why do some who act justly live a short time, while others who act wickedly die at a great age? And why again are some good men childless and poor, while impious men have many children and live happily? RESP. B Many things could be argued about these judgments of God, the reason for which can in no way be comprehended. Nevertheless, as we understand it from the holy Scriptures, we answer that the infants of the faithful do not die because of the sins of their parents, but often for their correction; in which matter God brings about two goods: the one, that by departing pure, they may gain salvation there—for perhaps, because they were going to lead a completely wicked life, God in His dispensation snatched them away beforehand; the other good is that the parents themselves may become wiser; or perhaps so that the money, C which they were going to leave to their children by will, may instead be spent on the poor. And finally, for another reason altogether hidden from us. And this is what concerns the infants of the faithful. But wicked men are perhaps fortunate and live happily and have children because they have done some small good deeds, the reward for which they receive here, like that rich man to whom it was said: "Remember that you received your good things in your life." This means: you have received the full reward of the good works that you did. But pious and holy men are in misery here so that, D purged through affliction from their sins, like Lazarus, they may finally enjoy consolation there with Him. For if "the Lord corrects whom He loves," why then are you troubled to see the holy living in misery, and the wicked living happily, and being fattened and prepared like pigs for the slaughter for eternal fire? Let nothing, therefore, trouble you further. For that which concerns us does not stop here, but it is altogether necessary that those who are saved should enter the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations. For this is the goal of God, that all
A men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Hence, He often grants to sinners a long time, giving them an opportunity for repentance, so that, at least like those who came at the eleventh hour, they might be converted in extreme old age. But the righteous He often snatches away after a short time of life, lest, as Solomon says, malice change their understanding, or guile deceive their soul. Consummated in a short time, they fulfilled long times, for their soul was pleasing to the Lord.
Quest. LXX. What then? Does no one of those who have lived a calamitous life in this world enter there into hell, nor, again, does anyone of those who live fortunately here enter there into the kingdom of heaven?
Resp. It is precisely so. For some of men have sinned greatly and have been chastised here but little, and are altogether bound to be punished there, as we see in the case of those in Sodom. Others, again, offered many labors to God and were partakers of little prosperity here, and for them the kingdom of heaven is reserved, as for Abraham, Noah, and Melchizedek. Others have sinned much and suffered no harm here, like the rich man mentioned in the history of Lazarus, B and they are bound there to the most severe punishment of all. Others, however, throughout their whole life, for the sake of God, went about in sheepskins and goatskins, having rejected all earthly pleasure, whom God will deem worthy of greater gifts there than all others. Others, indeed, have sinned against God in part, and have been chastised as they deserved for the sins they committed, and have been redeemed there from eternal punishment, as was the poor man Lazarus. Thus, through what has been said, we have learned that some of men are punished both there and here; others here only; others, however, in no way here, but painfully there. As also the opposite is true: that some enjoy good things both here and there; others here in no way, but there. Perhaps there are even some who are deprived of all pleasure both here and there, who, indeed, endured hardships here to please men, and for this reason fell C away from the good things there also. Therefore, it is necessary for all the pious to know exactly that they must show sympathy to those in need, not only regarding what they have done themselves, but also regarding all the goods that God has bestowed upon them. For one must not measure what is given to the poor, but consider that these things are given to us by God, lest we fall under a terrible judgment for the gifts of God themselves. For often God bestows riches even upon the unworthy and sinners, so that by their means they might wash away their own sins through almsgivings, and blot them out. For by almsgivings, says Holy Scripture, sins are purged.
Quest. LXXI. What are we to say concerning those who die suddenly, or are dashed to pieces, or meet the end of their life by other such deaths?
Resp. That such things are uncertain and known only to God, there is no room to doubt. Nevertheless, since the Lord says: A "Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, were they sinners more than all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no" (Luke xiii, 4), we learn that not all who are impious and iniquitous die a bitter death. For the children of Job, who were righteous, suffered a piteous death. Therefore, we ought to conclude two things concerning these: that the godly who have died a bitter death possessed some minor fault, and by means of such an evil end were delivered from it, in order that they might be truly deemed worthy of greater honors. Furthermore, it results that we, seeing this, are made better, according to the words: "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Pet. iv, 18). Likewise, when sinners B suffer such deaths, they surely obtain some mercy thereby. And those who witness these things also draw some profit from them, seeing a man snatched away suddenly and unexpectedly. If infants also die in such a manner, do not be amazed; for they suffer no harm from this, nor does it happen to them on account of any sin of their own, but so that their parents may become better and more religious, understanding that their infants have died in such a way on account of their own iniquities. However, in all these things we must remember the voice of the Lord which says: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. x, 29), and that for us who are faithful, even the hairs of our head are all numbered.
Quest. LXXII. To many living on earth, these words of the Lord appear C formidable: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: and whosoever speaketh a word against the Son, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matt. xii, 31, 32).
Resp. For this reason the divine Apostle admonishes all, saying: "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. iii, 6). For if we understand many parts of the divine Scriptures according to the letter, we fall into impious blasphemies; such is the saying of the Lord now set before us, which, if we take it according to the bare wording, we fall not only into impious thoughts, but we find the Lord Himself D contradicting Himself. For if "whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him," how did the Son Himself say: "He that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God" (Luke xii, 9)? And again, if one speaks a word against the Spirit,
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come (Matt. xii, 32)? A If every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, how shall we also have to give an account for any idle word? How shall he who says to his brother, "You fool," be liable to the hell of fire? How does the Apostle Paul say: "Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor drunkards, nor revilers, will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. vi, 9-10)? If these things are so, tell me, how then shall all sin and blasphemy be forgiven to men? And if this is true, why then is the wretched Origen blamed for preaching that there will one day be an end to punishment and that God will grant the forgiveness of all sin to both demons and men? Again, if blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not receive forgiveness through repentance, why does the Church reproach Novatus (18) for rejecting repentance? That which is still more obscure and difficult to understand is this: that "whoever says a word against the Son, it shall be forgiven him," so that the Son appears to be inferior to the Holy Spirit and to the Father (19). B Why, then, do we reject the impious Arians, who wish to make the Son lesser and inferior to the Spirit? How, then, does the Son Himself say: "I and the Father are one" (John x, 30), and, "He who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father" (John v, 23)? How then does this same One now say: "Whoever says a word against the Son, it shall be forgiven him"? Has blasphemy against the Son been forgiven, I ask, to the Arians, Simonians, Photinians, Sabellians, and all the rest who have uttered blasphemies against the incarnation of Christ? Away with such absurdity! For if he who says to his brother, "You fool," is liable to the hell of fire, to what kind of hell—tell me—shall he be cast into, who says to his God: "Creature," and not "Son of God," but "slave, minister, and small one"? And if, whoever says a word against the Son, it shall be forgiven him, how did the Son Himself say: "He who does not eat my flesh and drink my blood, does not have eternal life" (John vi, 53)? How can anyone, while dishonoring the Son, honor the Holy Spirit? For whoever dishonors (21) the Son clearly denies baptism; and he who denies baptism clearly casts off the Holy Spirit. And just as with the visible sun, if you should insult its heat or its ray, the insult reverts to the whole nature of the sun; so also with the triple-sun light and luminary of the holy Trinity, the dishonor of one hypostasis is blasphemy against the whole fullness of the Godhead. What then is that which the Lord says to the Jews, that all sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, and whoever says a word against the Son, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever says it against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven, neither in this present age nor in the one to come? Let us listen with an attentive mind, and let us not err. Christ, after inexpressible
union, I mean, composed of divinity and humanity: for "the Word was made flesh." Thus, Christ himself calls the divinity of the Word the Holy Spirit, just as he said to the Samaritan woman, that "God is a Spirit"; and he calls his humanity the Son of man again, just as he says elsewhere regarding his own flesh: "Now is the Son of man glorified." The Jews, therefore, who were always offending God and attacking him with blasphemies, committed a twofold blasphemy against Christ; for some, offending his flesh, that is, the Son of man, A thinking him a prophet and not God, to these he granted pardon. For it was the beginning of his preaching, and the world was not yet able to believe that the visible human was God. Hence Christ says, that "whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man," that is, against his body, "it shall be forgiven him." For I dare to say that not even his own blessed disciples had a perfect understanding of his divinity until the Holy Spirit descended upon them on the day of Pentecost. For even after the resurrection, some saw him and worshipped, but some doubted, yet they were not condemned for this. But those who uttered blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, that is, against the divinity of Christ, when they said, "By Beelzebul the prince of the demons he casts out demons," B to these he says, "It shall not be forgiven, neither in this present age nor in the one to come." Nevertheless, it must be noted that Christ did not say that he who has uttered blasphemies and has done penance shall not be forgiven, but to him who blasphemes, that is, to him who persists in blasphemy. For there is no sin that God does not pardon for those who perform sincere and worthy penance.
Question LXXIII. What then? Does he who denies Christ and utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit obtain forgiveness through repentance?
ANSWER. The God of nature has granted to humans three baptisms capable of expiating any sin whatsoever: I mean that of water, and again that through the martyrdom of one's own blood, and thirdly that through tears, by which the harlot was also cleansed. C Likewise, the coryphaeus of the holy apostles himself, Peter, after his denial, having shed tears, was accepted and saved. But if the denial of Christ has forgiveness, while the denial of the Holy Spirit does not have it, it follows that the Son is inferior to the Holy Spirit. Hear, furthermore, the testimony of Scripture, and do not doubt that no sin at all exists that overcomes the benevolence of God. Thus, therefore, God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel: "As I live, saith the Lord, if any man shall have committed all sins, and he" D
I find him in righteousness, I will not remember all his iniquities." A And the words "I find him" clearly refer to the hour of his death. For one must know that the fountain of tears purifies a man just as baptism does; hence many who had defiled holy baptism through transgressions have been cleansed by tears and shown to be righteous.
Ques. LXXIV. What kind of sin makes a man's prayer unacceptable before God? Resp. The keeping of grudges, according to the word of the Lord who says: "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Because, clearly, the keeping of grudges B causes the gift of prayer to be unacceptable to God.
Ques. LXXV. For what sin does God admit no repentance? Resp. It is manifest that it is despair, seized by which Judas hanged himself.
Ques. LXXVI. What sin is graver than all other transgressions? Resp. If, as the Apostle says, love is the greatest of all good things, it is clear that hatred of the brethren, lack of compassion, and unmercifulness are the gravest of all evils.
Ques. LXXVII. Which commandment forgives all sins for a man? Resp. Since the Lord says: C "Judge not, that ye be not judged," and again: "Forgive us, as we also forgive our debtors," it is clear that not judging one's neighbor secures the forgiveness of sins; likewise, not holding a grudge against a person. For, he says, "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you."
Ques. LXXVIII. If someone commits a very grievous sin and repents, whence ought he to learn whether it has been forgiven him by God, or not? Resp. This is made manifest to only a few people on earth. Nevertheless, the conscience of a man and God are related as a master and a servant. For just as a servant who has offended his master perceives D from the gestures and words of his master that he is not as benevolent toward him as he was before the offense, so also a man who sins loses the confidence which his conscience once enjoyed toward God in his prayer. But when the man properly performs worthy repentance, God restores to him the confidence he enjoyed toward Him before the transgression; and from this the man knows that God has forgiven him his sin.
A QUEST. LXXIX. If anyone, after a grave sin, condemns himself, and begins to practice repentance, and dies after three days, what is to be thought concerning him? RESP. If, having begun repentance, he restrained his soul from evil thoughts and made a covenant with God that he will no longer commit the same sins he had done before, and then dies on the following day, God has accepted his repentance, just as He did that of the thief. For to begin repentance is within the power of man; but to live or to die lies with God. For God, as He is good and provides for their benefit, often snatches away many who have begun to repent, foreknowing that if they were to live longer, they would fall again and perish.
B QUEST. LXXX. Why do some, from only a light cause, pour out almost rivers of tears; while others, even if they fall into a thousand calamities and miseries, or see others who have fallen, are never able to weep? RESP. Such are the temperaments of souls and bodies, which by nature are either prone or resistant to weeping. For those who are of a warm and tender disposition weep immediately out of compassion, which we observe happening in almost all women. Others, however, on account of a rough mind, a very dry nature, and an arrogant heart, are unable to weep. Now, we say these things regarding those who live in the midst of the world. For those who lead a monastic life often receive the gift of tears from divine grace. Yet there is a great difference in tears. For some often weep from drunkenness with wine; others, indeed, with an eye to the glory of men. Therefore, that weeping is good which is offered secretly to God, just as we are instructed also concerning almsgiving.
QUEST. LXXXI. If anyone is asked by beggars along the road when many people are present, what is to be done? Or is it not possible to give alms? RESP. God judges the thought and mind of man. If, therefore, someone does good before six hundred men for the sake of God, and not to please men, he will not be condemned.
QUEST. LXXXII. Whence does it happen that the soul is sometimes prone to compassion, and sometimes, on the contrary, hard and unmerciful? C RESP. We know that only the divine nature is immutable and always remains the same. For some even of the angels have changed. Therefore, we must judge in this way concerning the mutable nature of men: that it is sometimes yielding and mild, inasmuch as it was made in the image of God, and sometimes hard and unmerciful, because it is attacked by the enemy and clings to the passions of this life. Nevertheless, if a man uses force upon himself to D
A be moved by mercy and to do what is entirely good, he will then progress so much through good habit that he will always be prone to giving.
QUESTION LXXXIII. Since the Apostle says, "Not out of sadness or out of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver," must a man by no means use force upon himself to give alms? Answer. It is the character of the perfect to always do good cheerfully; however, those who force themselves so as to obey the commandment and help the poor are also acceptable to God, who says: "The violent take the kingdom of heaven by force."
QUESTION LXXXIV. If someone does penance for his own sins, it is clear that he blots out his sins; does it follow, then, that if someone repents of having done a good deed, he blots out the reward he had earned through that repentance? Answer. God forbid! For just as in the repentance of sins God is the author of this, so in the repentance where someone regrets having given alms, the devil is the author, not the human soul. Therefore, the reward earned is not lost. Nevertheless, it is not good to repent of a good deed done. For whoever frequently repents becomes more negligent in doing B good.
QUESTION LXXXV. Some say that one ought not to provide alms without examination, but rather to ask with diligence whether the one who approaches us is truly in need. For they say that Solomon says: "If you do good, see to whom you do it." Answer. Thus do those who think wrongly subvert the other Scriptures as well; for Solomon did not say this concerning the poor man; but rather, "See to whom you do it," that is to say, that you are doing it unto God. For if he says this before judging those who ask, how is it that the Lord says: "Give to everyone who asks of you"?
QUESTION LXXXVI. Is it more pleasing to God to offer in the churches or to distribute to those in need? Answer. By the Lord’s saying to those on his right hand, "I was hungry and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty and you gave me to drink," it is shown that compassion which is exhibited towards C the temples built in his image and likeness is more pleasing to God. Nevertheless, often in a time of persecution, when a temple of God is about to be destroyed, such compassion towards it is necessary. And again, when some are being tormented for the faith of Christ, their deliverance is more precious than all else.
QUESTION LXXXVII. If an unbeliever entrusts money to a believer, and he defrauds him, is this done without blame before God? Answer. Since the Lord says, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s," it is clear that, since the Caesar at that time was a pagan, we learn that such fraud is not praiseworthy. Nevertheless, if those monies are for the poor D
the prayers of the poor can A appease God, who says, "Make for yourselves friends by means of the mammon of iniquity" (Luc. xvi, 9). But if they are spent on certain worldly pleasures (29), it is clear that those who do this are liable to two judgments—I mean, theft and pleasure.
QUESTION LXXXVIII. Can almsgiving erase every sin of man, or not? ANSWER. There is sin and sin; and there is almsgiving and almsgiving. To give an example: if we hold a grudge against our neighbor, it is clear that a thousand alms-deeds cannot obtain forgiveness for us unless we also forgive our brother his debts, according to the word of the Lord. Furthermore, it is one thing for someone to desist from fornication and then perform almsgiving; it is quite another for someone to persist in sin while being liberal to the poor. Similarly, the reward B is different for the laborer who exercises mercy from his own sweat, and for the ruler who provides alms from gifts and revenues. Furthermore, there is a different rationale for one who gives out of his own penury, and for one who gives out of his abundance; and another for one to whom the goods of others have been entrusted to distribute to the poor. Nor is this the only thing, but also he who lives in the midst of the world and can offer nothing else to God for his sins, is purified by almsgiving. But he who adopts the monastic life is required to demonstrate a more perfect way of living. Nevertheless, if almsgiving was able to justify Nebuchadnezzar, who was so impious, then almsgiving truly erases great and grievous sins. For let us hear holy Daniel saying to him: "O king, let my counsel be acceptable to thee: redeem thy sins with alms, and thy iniquities with works of mercy to the poor" (Dan. iv, 24). And again the divine Scripture: "Almsgiving covers great sins." And again: "Blessed is he who understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day" (Psal. xl, 2)—that is, in the day of judgment (for it is indeed evil for sinners), I mean the day of eternal punishment.
QUESTION LXXXIX. Some have dared to declare those who are perfectly merciful C more blessed than those who perform miracles. ANSWER. They have not brought forth such a verdict from themselves, but they have certainly heard the Lord saying: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples" (Joan. xiii, 35)—not if you perform signs, but if you love one another. It is clear that the mark of true love is almsgiving. For when Christ set the righteous on his right hand, he did not say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, because you performed signs and wonders, or because you did some other good thing; but because I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat" (Matth. xxv, 34), and so forth. Likewise with those who stand on the left, he casts them into D eternal darkness for their lack of mercy and their hardheartedness.
A For the performance of signs belongs to the power of God alone; but to show love and compassion toward one’s neighbor is clearly a matter of human choice. Hear, then, a clearer testimony regarding those who perform signs and give alms, as delivered by the vote of the Apostle: "If," says Paul, "I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and if I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains; and if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (I Cor. xiii, 1-3). And again, the Lord says: "Be ye, not miracle-workers, but merciful and good, as your Father who is in heaven" (Luc. vi, 36).
Quæst. XC. What portion of his goods does God command a man to give for charity? B Resp. God does not look upon what is given, but upon what men have kept in reserve. Since, therefore, the Apostle says that your abundance should be given for the want of the poor (II Cor. viii, 14), it is clear that whatever we store up here beyond our own food, drink, and clothing, we shall have to render an account for those things on the day of judgment—an account such as murderers must render; for we, when we could have saved many from death by means of our wealth, did not save them, but looked past them.
Quæst. XCI. What is to be said of the alms that are left to the poor by those who have died? Resp. They are dead sacrifices. Yet, if such a person was dedicated to almsgiving while he lived, this bounty of his in death is acceptable to God.
Quæst. XCII. If someone has grown old in sins, C and is unable to fast, or to sleep on the ground, or to keep vigil, or to perform any other labor of this kind, nor does he possess money to distribute, nor can he renounce the world, by what means, I ask, can such a person be saved? Resp. In the way that the publican was saved, according to the prophet who says: "I was humbled, and the Lord saved me" (Ps. cxv, 6). For just as the unbloody sacrifice and almsgiving are offered to God for the remission of our sins, so too is the humility of the heart. "For a sacrifice," he says, "to God is a broken spirit; a broken and humbled heart God will not despise" (Ps. 1, 19). And again: "The Lord is near to those of a broken heart, and will save the humble in spirit" (Ps. xxxiii, 19). And again, D just as the merciful and the pure in heart are pronounced blessed, so, before all others, the poor in spirit are pronounced blessed, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matth. v, 3). This way of salvation, therefore, the poor, the infirm, the aged, and the simple person are able to walk and to succeed in.
A QUEST. XCIII. What is humility? RESP. Humility is a soul that neither observes nor judges the faults of other men, but considers only its own and deems itself liable to eternal punishment, saying this to God: "Save me for the sake of thy mercy, and not for the sake of my good works." He who considers himself so liable will never hold a grudge against a man, nor will he condemn a man who is sinning, and he gains the remission of sins in three ways: for because he does not judge others, he is not judged himself; because he is humble, he is justified; and because he forgives others, God also forgives him his sins.
QUEST. XCIV. If anyone has sinned frequently, and then frequently set out to do penance, and yet has fallen again into sin: as far as how many sins will God accept a penitent person? RESP. Even if man should fall ten thousand times, and even if he should do penance ten thousand times, the Lord will by no means cast him off, since the mutability of human nature is most especially known to Him. For He who commanded Peter to forgive his brother seventy times seven, will much more forgive man ten thousand times seven, provided only that he does penance. However, this must be accurately known: that a soul which has contracted the habit of frequently sinning and frequently doing penance, while it despises God and returns to sin, such a soul truly departs with difficulty from sin, just like a butcher’s dog accustomed to stench. Finally, since the end of our life is uncertain, we must protect ourselves, lest we be overtaken in sin and found unrepentant, and be delivered to eternal punishment.
QUEST. XCV. How many kinds of adultery are there? RESP. Two. For if a woman who is married to a man commits fornication, it is adultery. Again, if a man who has a wife commits fornication, it is adultery against his own wife.
QUEST. XCVI. Some say that bodily sin is more easily forgiven than all other sins, seeing that the impulse is natural in man. RESP. The Apostle teaches the contrary, and calls this sin more serious than all other sins, with these words: "Every sin whatsoever a man shall do, is without the body; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body" (I Cor. vi, 18). For he offers his own seed from his very own flesh to Satan, as if it were a kind of sacrifice. Furthermore, it is also natural to eat, and yet God condemned Adam for transgressing.
QUEST. XCVII. How many are the judgments and sins of fornication? RESP. Many and various. For he who has a wife and commits fornication is liable to a more serious judgment than he who does not have a wife. D Likewise, he is liable to a more serious one who has a good wife than the
man who has a wicked one; and a more serious one is he who commits fornication in old age than he who does so in youth; and a more serious one is he who does so incessantly than he who does so from time to time; and a more serious one is he who, not being of a hot temperament but of a cold one, warms himself by means of food and urges himself toward pleasure. And many other diverse judgments of God concerning fornication can be brought forward. For the judgment of him who sins with one woman is one thing, and that of him who rushes into many and diverse ones, and destroys many souls along with his own, is another. And again, the judgment of him who sins with some circumspection is one thing, B and that of him who shamelessly abandons himself to sin is another; and another is that of him who has a wife and transgresses with a married woman, which sort of sin is reckoned unto the perpetrator as double adultery. Furthermore, the judgment of him who approaches a woman [dedicated] to the canon is fearful; and again, [the judgment of] him who, under the pretext of helping an afflicted woman, sins with her for the sake of that protection. Indeed, by reason of the place, the manner of the sin is also varied. For many commit sin even in the church, and they undergo a double judgment. For often others corrupt the wives of friends while feigning Judaic charity. All these things the just eye of God examines and sees, according to His ineffable judgment, He who does not accept persons, and according to His accurate and most serious scale.
QUEST. XCVIII. Since many just men in the Old Testament had two or even three wives, why is it not permitted to us to have two wives, nor even to possess concubines?
RESP. It is not only that Christ forbade the pious to have two wives, but He even exhorted them to abstain from the one itself, saying: "Amen, I say to you, whoever does not hate father and mother and wife, and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me." But if you desire something greater, hear this: "It was said," He says, "to those of old, You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." If, therefore, Christ reckons the lust of the eye as adultery for the faithful, what sort of philosophy and manner of life is required of us, the faithful, beyond those in the Old Testament? For if it were permissible for a man to have two wives, it is evident that it would be so for a wife to have two husbands. Hear, then, what God says concerning the husband and the wife, that "The two shall be into one flesh." And He did not say, "The three shall be into one flesh." However, one woman, given to the man, laid snares for him and for the world: what then was the world prepared to suffer if God had given man two wives from the beginning? But if you ask for what reason the ancients had two or three wives, learn accurately that the cause was that the tyranny of the devil was great at that time, which Christ, by His advent, destroyed, He who both removed many demons from the midst, and exterminated some into the abyss, others into
desert places, or into uninhabitable and inaccessible lands. A
QUÆST. XCIX. How does it happen that dreams are often true? RESP. This often comes from God; but often also it happens by chance. There are times, too, when the soul, being endowed with intellect, foresees the future; and some things, even, demons predict by means of dreams.
QUÆST. C. What then? Are the devil and the demons foreknowers of things, and knowers of hearts, and can they predict what is to come? B RESP. Only God is the foreknower and knower of hearts. For not even the angels themselves know what is in the heart, nor do they know what is to happen. But the demons, insofar as they think they are predicting, say these things by conjecturing out of craftiness. For example, since they are spirits, they often see the heavy rains occurring in India, and they arrive beforehand in Egypt, and through incantations or dreams, they prophesy a great rise of the river Nile; and they perform other things similar to these. But often they also lie. Hence, if anyone wishes to convict them, let him determine with himself, and suppose how many coins he intends to distribute on the morrow; and having summoned the magician or the seer, let him ask him concerning that which he determined, and he will find that they know absolutely nothing to say. C
QUÆST. CI. Since some Jews and Gentiles often perform good deeds, do they for this reason enter into the kingdom of heaven? Or what ought we to judge concerning them? RESP. Since the Lord said to Nicodemus, "Amen, I say to you, unless one is born through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," it is manifest that no unbaptized person shall enter into it. But concerning the good works of the unbelievers, one must think either that they receive their proper reward through their prosperity in this life, or that in the world to come they are punished more lightly than other unbelievers who have done nothing good. But if it is written, "Glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and to the Greek," do not be amazed. For the Apostle said these things concerning those who existed before the advent of Christ. D
QUÆST. CII. Does the punishment of sinners have an end or not? RESP. Since the Lord says of those who are in Gehenna: "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished"; and again: "But the sinners shall go into eternal punishment"; and when the Apostle likewise says: "Do not be deceived; neither adulterers, nor fornicators, nor the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God"; it is manifest that the blessedness of the righteous is eternal, and that the punishment of sinners
punishment. And again the Lord says concerning Judas: "It would have been good for him if that man had not been born." A If punishment has an end, it surely profits Judas that he was born, if he is eventually to enter the kingdom of heaven after his punishment, just as the erring heretics maintain in their fables.
QUEST. CIII. Whence do deadly plagues arise, and why is it that in certain desert regions of the nations they often do not occur, but for the most part in populous and great cities, filled with filth?
RESP. The solution to this question is truly difficult, and few there are upon the earth who can grasp it; nevertheless, as the Lord says, "He who is able to receive it, let him receive it." For if we say that often diseases of the body, and corruption, and death arise from corrupt air, and dust, and the stench of corpses, and summer rains, and vapors, and exhalations of the earth and sea, immediately some uninitiated men set upon us, as if we were denying that matters concerning us are governed by providence. B Yet those very men I would wish to question: Tell us, I pray you, in what way a deadly plague arises in a certain city? And from that same city two or three thousand businessmen are living in other regions, and not one of them dies? For if the divine wrath had overtaken that city, it was surely necessary that those who are far away also taste of the wrath; or if not all, then at least some of them. But so that we might not give an occasion to those who ask these things, we say that often deadly plagues arise as a threat from God; but sometimes they have their cause in the air and other factors which we have previously mentioned, which for the most part destroy infants, as they are weaker. Yet the author even of the air and of these exhalations is God, who says: "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin, and not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father who is in heaven? C But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
QUEST. CIV. Is a man who flees from one city to another region removed from a deadly plague?
RESP. Since the Prophet says to God: "Where shall I go from your Spirit, and where shall I flee from your presence?" it is clear that no one can escape God. But if the air or some other created thing is the cause of the plague, perhaps one escapes it by moving to a different region. D
QUEST. CV. Whence do we see some just men struggling for days in the final breath of life and being judged; while, on the other hand, sinners sometimes die peacefully and quickly?
RESP. All the judgments of God certainly cannot be known, and for that reason it is good not to inquire curiously into these things […].
A; nevertheless, we conjecture and say that often even pious men are tormented before death or in death, so that we who see it might fear and be brought to our senses. Perhaps, too, even as men, the saints, being stained by some slight defect, are by such torment as they suffer at the time of death perfectly purged, and thus depart pure at last.
QUEST. CVI. Why is it that most men are born at night and die at night? RESP. It seems to me that it is so that we might learn from such an example that the birth and falling asleep of the present life—that is, the entrance into it and the exit from it—are dark.
QUEST. CVII. Why do some struggle with difficulty against the vice of fornication, while others abstain from such pleasure almost naturally, even though they are often possessed of a robust body? B RESP. The lust of human bodies arises either from a hot temperament of the body, or from a superabundance of food, sleep, and ease, and perhaps even from Satanic instigation. The fourth cause is often that we condemn others. The fifth arises from pride, when one is haughty regarding his own chastity. For such a person is allowed to fall, so that through fornication he may lay aside pride, and being led to humility, obtain salvation; for when you compare those two vices, the natural lust of the body is a lighter fall than pride. Some, however, are chaste either because they are protected by God, or because they are of a cold temperament, or because by much exercise they have done violence to themselves and have condemned no one. But if some who are proud are chaste, it is to be known that they are being neglected by the devil, because pride alone, above all other vices, is sufficient to render them guilty of eternal punishment C.
QUEST. CVIII. What sign must a man hold to, so that he may not be deceived and receive the Antichrist, thinking that he is Christ himself? RESP. This very thing which the Lord gave to us in these words, namely, that "as the lightning comes forth from the east and appears even to the west, so shall the second coming of the Son of God be." From thence we learn that every Christ who comes, and is not immediately, in the same hour, found in the whole world, is without doubt such an Antichrist D. For at the second coming of Christ the whole human race will be gathered together, in the midst of which Christ will be seen by all.
QUEST. CIX. Is it true that the Antichrist will come forth from Egypt, and that he will have some sign in one hand, or in one eye? RESP. All these things are old wives' tales. For the
Antichrist will possess no such sign; but he will come forth from Galilee, whence Christ went out, as the Scripture says: "A lion's whelp is Dan, and he shall leap out of Basan" A (Deut. xxxiii, 22), which is Scythopolis.
QUEST. CX. Some say that Antichrist is unable to raise a dead man to life, even though he produces all other signs. RESP. The words of the Apostle, in which he says that the Antichrist will be a deceiver in all signs and miracles, clearly show that he will also bring the dead back to life, though not in reality, but only in appearance.
QUEST. CXI. How do certain heretics often perform signs? RESP. This should not surprise us. For we heard the Lord saying that many on that day will say: "Lord, have we not cast out demons in thy name, and done many mighty works?" (Matt. vii, 22), and He will reply to them: "Amen I say to you, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity." For often it is not the life of the person working the miracle B that brings about the healing, but the faith of the person who approaches him. For it is written: "Thy faith hath made thee whole" (Marc. x, 52). This is also to be understood in this way: that often some of perverse faith have offered many labors of asceticism to God, and have received their reward from God in the present age, namely the gift of healings and of prophesying, so that in the age to come they may hear: "You have received your good things and your labors, but now henceforth nothing more is owed to you."
QUEST. CXII. If it happens that a man is in a region on a feast day, in which the communion of the Catholic Church is not found, what should he do because of the feast? Should he communicate with heretics, or remain without communion? RESP. If it is a great and grave danger for one’s own wife to commit adultery and have relations with another while the husband is away in a foreign land, how much greater is the danger of betraying the true faith by communicating with heretics? C Just as those who desire to sell their own merchandise, as long as they delay in a foreign land, do not consent to receive an external coin in exchange for the royal coin, so too must one think regarding the communion of Christ. For the Apostle, in saying: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephes. iv, 5), clearly signified that there is one and only one true faith in the world, which the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church holds; and that there is one baptism, which is cleansing and redeeming from sins; and one Lord, the Father, and D the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And whoever does not think thus is deceived.
Question CXIII
. A great and celebrated question, and one almost universally discussed, is whether one should say that the life of man has a limit or not (52). For if there is a limit, how does David say to God, "Bring me not forth in the midst of my days" (Ps. ci, 25)? But if there is no limit, how does the same person say again, "Behold, thou hast made my days measurable" (Ps. xxxviii, 6)? And if, again, there is a limit, what does Solomon mean by these words, "Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?" (Eccl. vii, 17). If, therefore, it is possible for one to die before his time, how does it please some to say that death is brought upon men when the limits of life have been fulfilled? And how did God likewise prolong life for Hezekiah and the Ninevites when they asked for it?B Answer. That fountain of wisdom and great vessel of knowledge, the Apostle Paul, writes these things to the Corinthians: "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep" (I Cor. xi, 29, 30). Attend diligently. Because you, he says, approach the communion unworthily, for this reason many die; and indeed, had they communicated worthily, they would not have died at that time. What more, then, do we seek concerning the limit of life, which many urge against us? Again, God said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "You have sinned, and your two friends, and if it were not for my servant Job, I would have destroyed you" (Job xlii, 7). Therefore, because of Job’s virtue, which was acceptable to God, they did not die, and not because the limit of their life had not been attained. But if, as it seems to some, the days of man are fixed and defined, no one about to die in his sins would come to holy men to ask for life and his conversion from God; no one would beg God for the life of his children. For a limit is a limit, and according to them, nothing can be added to it. Why therefore does Scripture command, "Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long" (Exod. xx, 12)? Therefore, the limit of man's life is the will of God, who adds days to whom He wills, and takes away from whom He wills to be taken, doing all things for the benefit of each man. And as the master of a flock, when he wills, sends and brings whichever sheep he wishes; so also does God act toward men, and death comes to a man when the limit of his life has been completed. For, as was said before, the limit of each person's life is the command and will of God.
Question CXIV
. Some think that the resurrection of corrupted bodies is altogether impossible. For how, they say, or from where will the flesh rise again, which has often perished in shipwreck, been consumed by wild beasts, or—had the thousand fish swallowed them, and again, the thousand fish been swallowed by a thousand men, and the thousand men been devoured by a thousand lions?
A Resp. Do you confess, O senseless ones, that the essence of God the Maker is omnipotent? Surely you will say yes. Learn then precisely, O foolish ones, that God, who brought man from non-existence into existence, is Himself able by some ineffable Word to refashion him. For tell me, what is easier for the potter: to bring a vessel from non-existence into existence, or to restore it again when it has been shattered? It is manifest that it is to refashion what has already been made, even if it has been scattered into many parts.
And that I may use a certain natural sequence and example: just as the sun is the source and root of all the fire and heat that is on earth, and when a furnace is extinguished, it is manifest that its heat has invisibly fled back to the sun; and again, when it is relit, it is clear that the fire comes from the sun and returns from whence it departed: so also, regarding the human bodies that are corrupted and dissolved, understand that even if a human has been distributed into the bellies of whatever wild beasts, fish, or birds, he is nonetheless, according to the example of the sun, dissolved and departs into the four elements from which he B also consists. The moist part departs into the waters; the cold into the air; the hot, it is manifest, into the fire; and the dry, finally, into the earth. At the time of the resurrection, then, at God’s command, each of the elements will invisibly return whatever it received when the human died, and the soul will hasten to it, and the human will rise again, as He alone knows who fashioned the human, sown indeed in the earth in corruption, but rising in incorruption.
Wherefore we are also able from this to refute the Samaritans, that this body rises again, from the fact that they themselves also bury bodies in the earth like a seed. For the sake of this, God commanded through our fathers from the beginning that we should dig and bury the dead bodies, so that even if a man is unwilling, he may confess the resurrection. For everything that is buried by us in the earth is clearly hidden in the hope of the resurrection. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, as the heretics say, then God will be found to be unjust, in that He has allowed many just C people to suffer hardships here and be destroyed miserably, while granting to many impious and sinful people a good life, many children, and prosperity. But let the children of the Samaritans not be deceived; for there will surely be a time of resurrection and judgment, so that those pious ones who suffered hardships here may be crowned, and those impious ones who prospered may be condemned to the eternal fire for ages of ages, according to the just judgment of God.
Quest. CXV. Where do the faithful who die go [—]
A into punishment, or into the kingdom? And where do the infants of the infidels go? And where are the infants of the faithful who die unbaptized placed, with the faithful or with the infidels? Resp. Since the Lord says: "Suffer the little children to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven," and since the Apostle says: "Now are your children holy," it is evident that as spotless and faithful, the baptized infants of the faithful enter into the kingdom of heaven; but the unbaptized and those of the gentiles neither enter into the kingdom, nor again into punishment, for they have committed no sin. Quest. CXVI. Do all heretics go to perdition, or not? Resp. There is heresy and heresy; there is judgment and judgment. For one is the perdition of the Manichaeans, and the Montanists, and the Simonians, and the Arians, B and the Pneumatomachi, and of such detestable heretics; and there is another judgment again for those who say that our Lord and God Jesus Christ took an incorruptible body from the holy Theotokos. Yet he who is unfaithful in little is also unfaithful in much. And not only this, but even within one and the same heresy there are many and various judgments. For one is the sin of the bishop who leads the people into error; another is the judgment of the cleric who is able to learn the orthodox faith, and another again of him who is not able; and another of him who anathematizes the truth and opposes us, and another again of him who errs knowingly, and another of him who errs through ignorance; and another again, the lightest of all, is that of a woman. All of which things He alone knows accurately who is to judge the world C in righteousness. Quest. CXVII. Is it permitted for magistrates to accept gifts, and to spend them upon the poor? Resp. If some, after having received benefits, are in prosperity and willingly offer these gifts to the magistrates—I mean to those from whom they received the benefit—perhaps those who accept the gifts will not undergo a grave judgment, provided they distribute them to the poor. But those who accept gifts from farmers and craftsmen who are oppressed and seeking aid store up for themselves fire and punishment, even if they spend them on a thousand good works, as the Scripture says: "Fire shall devour the houses of those who accept gifts." Quest. CXVIII. If a holy man sends some chastisement, or punishment, or a demon, or death, or any other affliction upon the home or property D of a man, or upon his children, can that man take refuge with another holy man and thus avoid the sentence which the servant of God had sent upon him
A Ans. If it is a holy man who has sent the punishment upon a person, it is manifest that he has done so by the will of God. Who, then, could be able to render the will of God void? Furthermore, the saints themselves never war against one another, knowing the bond of the love of the Spirit, and that the Lord will not hear a holy man who, through his own prayer, should wish to render void the prayer of another holy man. For it is not fitting for God that one of His servants should be afflicted while another is refreshed. Hence, the fornicator in Corinth was released by Paul himself, who had also bound him; and Elijah in the Old Testament bound the heaven so that it would not rain, and Elijah again released it, even though at that time God had seven thousand holy men who had not bowed the knee to Baal. And again, when Job had been treated with injury by his own friends, God caused him to forgive them their sin, saying to them: "Go to my servant Job, and he shall pray for you." And just as among the holy angels one does not oppose another, so let us understand it to be with the saints.
QUEST. CXIX. Whence is it that some people are by nature unwillingly and reluctantly merciful, while others are by nature cruel and unfeeling in giving to others?
Ans. No man was made by God by nature unsympathetic and unfeeling; rather, God implanted mutual love into the nature of men—and not only the nature of men, but also that of irrational creatures and birds. B Hence, often when they are separated from one another, they mourn, cry out, and fast; and some even shed tears. The genus of crows, once they have found food, immediately call to one another with their voice so that all may be partakers of it. Shall not, then, many irrational creatures condemn us, who were created in the image of God, not only because we are unmerciful, but also because of the ignorance and lack of self-restraint which we possess? For those creatures not only do not have males copulating with males, but they desire the female for only a few days; and some even maintain widowhood. They do not know greed; they do not engage in slander. But what is more grievous is that we, who were made in the image and likeness of God and were appointed to rule over irrational creatures, have been compared to and have become like the unreasoning beasts.
QUEST. CXX. Which of all virtues are most fitting and suitable for rulers?
Ans. C Primarily, compassion and humanity, which also exist in God. Then, to be forgetful of injuries, not to be moved by anger, not to show partiality, and not to be corrupted by gifts; and above all, not easily, nor D without examination, to be persuaded by slanders and taunts. For from gullibility, many have...
committed unjust slaughters; and likewise, one must refrain from hardheartedness, from holding a grudge, and from bribery. That person, therefore, is a ruler pleasing to God, who possesses none of these passions. A
QUEST. CXXI. Why do we see some wicked and unworthy men promoted to the high priesthood, and obtaining power over the people, and committing many absurdities? RESP. It is not because they themselves are worthy of such power that God commits the governance of the people to them; but because the people are perverse, God gives them such high priests and rulers. "For I will give you," says God, "rulers according to your hearts."
QUEST. CXXII. How is one who asks something from God to know that his prayer has been received? B RESP. To a few and pious men this becomes manifest, as their heart is intellectually persuaded of this matter.
QUEST. CXXIII. We say that the world consists of four quadrants; and again, that man is composed of four elements. It is evident, therefore, that the four quadrants—that is, the east, the west, the north, and the south—generate the four elements: namely, the hot, the cold, the moist, and the dry. It remains, therefore, to ask which element arises from which part of the world? C RESP. As the nature of things testifies and teaches, we observe that the hot element arises from the east; and this is testified to by the Indian bodies, which, of all on earth, are nearest to the east, and which are turned black by the extreme heat. For God, from the beginning, did not make man black. Hence even dead bodies, when exposed to the sun, turn black and are scorched. Whence, owing to the great and extreme heat, the Ethiopians cannot bear to drink much wine; but the vehement fervor renders them very irascible and acerbic, and also more prone to fornication. But just as we have spoken these things concerning the east, so likewise shall we speak the opposites concerning the west. For this part is cold, and is the mother and producer of the cold element and of night. Hence, its inhabitants have bodies much fairer than all others, and they easily drink much wine. It remains, therefore, for us to say that the desert south is the parent of the dry element, as is evidenced by its inhabitants, the Arabs, whose bodies are indeed dryer and hotter, inasmuch as they exist in a land with very little moisture. The north, finally, is undoubtedly of a colder temperament. For the seas and rivers and the multitudes of waters are productive of that moist element. However, in these things which we have said, we do not separate the elements from one another; for they are linked together in every creature. But in these four places which we have mentioned, one is more D
abundant, according to the previously proposed rationale of nature. A
QUEST. CXXIV. How do certain incantators cast demons out of men?
RESP. Since Christ says in the holy Gospels, "If Satan casts out Satan, his kingdom shall not stand," it is clear that the demon is not cast out by the incantator, but that the demon dwelling in the possessed man withdraws of its own will to deceive men, so that, instead of fleeing to God, it persuades them to go to incantators.
QUEST. CXXV. How is there such force and power in an incantator that he can change a man into the nature of beasts? B
RESP. If he were able to turn a man into a beast, he would certainly also have the power to make an irrational animal into a rational man. But this is not so: far be it! But just as those who are called Psephades, and likewise the Antichrist himself, is to come in a false appearance by which he deludes the eyes of men, often showing them gold or silver: so also those who claim to make a beast out of a man deceive only those who see them, since they cannot transform a man, who was made in the image and likeness of God, into a brute animal.
QUEST. CXXVI. Do those who have suffered theft and betake themselves to the aforementioned soothsayers incur judgment upon themselves?
RESP. They certainly bring a grave judgment upon themselves. For Scripture has taught us to say in every calamity that befalls us, "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it came to pass; blessed be the name of the Lord." C
QUEST. CXXVII. How do some die during pestilential times, and behold visions, and after two or three hours rise again and recount them?
RESP. In such cases, the soul has not at that time completely departed from the body; but they are caught up into an ecstasy, even if they appear to us to have expired. But the fearful things which they see and recount, God shows them for our benefit, that we, being seized by fear, might amend ourselves and abstain from evil deeds.
QUEST. CXXVIII. How does the soul without error recognize its own body in the resurrection, and not enter into another's? D
RESP. By natural succession. For just as lambs separated from their mothers in the evening, and then released in the morning, each one by the power of nature runs surely to its own mother: so also must it be understood to happen to souls in the resurrection.
QUEST. CXXIX. If some robber, having committed a hundred murders, is captured and beheaded, what are we to think about him? Is he absolved of all the murders which he committed?
A RESP. He pays the penalty for one single murder; for the other ninety-nine he will render an account in the world to come (70). Yet one must know that often a man who has committed one murder, even if he is captured and beheaded, is not necessarily freed from the whole judgment of that murder. We say this, for example, regarding St. John the Baptist and Herod. For when Herod was beheaded—on account of whom he slew the Baptist—John and Herod are not equal in regard to the salvation of the world. For the one was an agent of salvation, the other a conspirator. The same is to be understood and judged regarding other murderers and the just men who are slain, just as we have said before.
QUEST. CXXX. If some ruler, moved by anger, has decreed some matter with an oath (71), and then after the oath has returned to his senses and repented, realizing that he swore wickedly, what should he do? B RESP. He must confess to God, condemn his own impetuosity, and dissolve the oath. For even Peter the apostle, who had said, "You shall never wash my feet" (Jo. XIII, 8), rescinded what he had said, and for that reason he is praised. Herod, on the contrary, by maintaining his oath, pays eternal penalties for the head of the precursor being cut off.
QUEST. CXXXI. If someone considers some thing to be useful to himself, how ought he to ask for it from God in prayer? C RESP. Just as Christ taught us to pray, and to say to God, "Thy will be done" (Matt. VI, 10). For the Lord himself, who thus instructed us, also prayed to the Father in this way, saying, "Not my will be done, but thine" (Luc. XXII, 42). But we humans often ask for certain things from God, which we believe will be beneficial to us, and once our petition is obtained, we find that the outcome causes us great harm. Hence the Lord, as one who foreknows all things, knowing the ends of matters, often does not heed our prayers, and as a good being, turns this to our advantage. Hence it is not right to use force against God when we ask something from Him, but as we have been taught, we ought to pray, not seeking that our own will, but that God's will be done. For He surely wishes all to be saved, and provides for us those things which conduce to our salvation.
QUEST. CXXXII. If someone wishes to perform some task, from where can he know whether what he has decided to do will be pleasing to God? D RESP. It is given to very few men to know with certainty, in everything they deliberate to perform, whether the thing being done is pleasing to God. Nevertheless, from those things which are contained in the divine Scriptures, and those which the saints have performed, we can conjecture regarding most of the things that concern us whether to
they are acceptable to God. A And some have observed just this, that for whatever is acceptable to God, not only does God work together with us, but the whole of nature also runs to meet and conspires toward these things; just as it does not serve, but rather opposes, those things which are displeasing to God. This, therefore, is absolutely required of man: that in everything he does, he should plan for them to be done in a way that is pleasing to God.
A Q. CXXXIII. We have said previously that in whatever state a man is apprehended in his death, in such a state he departs, whether it be good or evil. If, therefore, someone dies having done both evil and good deeds, what ought to be thought regarding him? B
Ans. This is known to God alone; for it is known neither to man nor to angel. For there are some evil deeds that cover over small good deeds; and there are some good deeds that cover over and wipe away great evil deeds. And these judgments are "a great abyss." [Ps. XXXV, 7]
B Q. CXXXIV. It has seemed to some foolish-minded men that there is no difference between a man and a beast, but that even as the death of the beast is, in such a way is the death of the man, since he possesses no immortal substance of soul. C For, they say, man and beast die in the same way, when their blood has flowed out and been emptied.
Ans. The nature of blood in irrational animals is a certain vital substance and the constitutive element of the other three elements; deprived of which, the animal dies, no longer receiving any help from the other three elements. But in us, whose nature is rational, the nature of blood is the bond of soul and body, and when this bond is removed, it is absolutely necessary that the things which were joined together be separated.
C Q. CXXXV. Well said, for the demonstration is physical. However, since animals and humans often die even without the shedding of blood, what is it that departs from them and is the cause of death?
Ans. In beasts, the vital, nutritive, warming, motive, and augmentative faculty, which is in the blood and has its power of acting from fire, which also provides them with the ability to breathe. For just as a cauldron heated by fire moves the water it contains so that it boils—but when the fire is extinguished, the water becomes henceforth dead, D motionless, and cold—so too must one think regarding the nature of irrational animals and the heat of the blood, and that this is the cause of their life and motion. When the blood weakens, therefore, the beast, bird, or fish becomes dead and motionless. But concerning human nature, not only do the heat and warmth of the blood depart at the time of death, but together with them also a soul that is rational and constitutive, immortal and intelligent.
D Q. CXXXVI. How ought we to persuade the Greeks who do not believe the Gospel and who hold all the divine Scriptures in contempt, that God is uncreated, the maker of heaven and earth, one and alone, and not many gods, as they themselves in their error think?
Ans. Those who do not accept the divine Scriptures...
we must convince by the very nature of things concerning theology. For we see certain essences in creation existing together not A according to nature, but above nature. For example: the essence of water is by nature fluid and downward-flowing; how then do we see what are called siphons drawing water from the sea up to the clouds? And what is more wonderful, that what ascends as salt, later descends to earth through rain as sweet? And again, how is the nature of bodies [water]—which is by nature sinking—seen to be impenetrable and un-sinkable in the waters of the Marmarica Pentapolis? And not only that, but also, though the nature of water and fire are contrary, they were nonetheless together at the same time in the mountain in Lycia called B Olympus, just as myriads of men have seen! And there are ten thousand other things similar to these and marvelous, seen and admired in creation, all of which would not be happening in this way above nature, were there not a certain divine nature governing these things and commanding them not to oppose one another. And again, tell us, you Greeks, how is it that when a loud thunder occurs, the whole human race trembles, shudders, and is amazed, indicating by this symptom that it is under the Master who creates the thunder? And these are examples by which the simpler among the Gentiles can be taught the knowledge of God. For even before these wise men of theirs, certain Gentiles who were wise among the ancient and preeminent philosophers brought forth many testimonies concerning the worship of God; nay, they even obscurely prefigured the economy of Christ. Thus, one of their wise men, many years before the coming of Christ, says: C "A maiden shall come who is about to bring forth to us a heavenly offspring." Another one likewise speaks thus: "Finally, at some time, God shall descend upon this divided earth, and will become flesh without sin; as one condemned, He will hang upon the wood, and will heal incurable passions."
QUEST. CXXXVII. (76) Since both Christians and Jews confess Christ, but the Jews doubt about His advent and claim that He has not yet come but is about to come, by what reasoning ought we to persuade them that Christ is God, and that He is true, and not an impostor, as they themselves think?
RESP. 1. That Christ is God and Lord, the prophets bear witness; David, indeed, saying: "The Lord God, and He hath appeared unto us" [Ps. cxvii, 27]; and again: "He bowed the heavens and came down" [Ps. xvii, 10]; and again: "Thou that sittest upon the cherubim, manifest thyself" [Ps. lxxix, 2]. D Habakkuk also says: "God shall come from Teman" [Hab. iii, 3]. And Baruch: "This is our God, and none other shall be accounted against him; he hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward he was seen upon earth and conversed with men" [Baruch iii, 36–38]. You see how clearly the prophets call Christ God.
A
2. Christ, however, having indeed come, we possess from the prophet Daniel, who marked the time of his advent, saying thus, or rather the archangel Gabriel to him: "Seventy weeks have been cut short upon thy people, and upon the holy city, to finish sins, and to seal sins." And a little later: "And to seal the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies." Who then else is the anointed Holy of Holies, if not Christ alone, as of the living God? For the seventy weeks signify four hundred and ninety years. But from Daniel until now there are more than eight hundred years. Let the Jews, therefore, show us who among them was anointed Holy of Holies after the four hundred and ninety years of Daniel, and who brought to an end the sacrifice and the legal libation? But they B are unable to show who has done this, if not Jesus Christ the Son of God.
3. That he is true, and not an impostor, Christ, as you Jews think, we shall prove to you not by words, but by deeds, which, I say, cry out and testify throughout the whole world even until now; and that everything that was said by him has come to pass. For he said that "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." But what words, let us attentively hear. He said concerning your temple, that "Amen, I say to you, there shall not remain a stone upon a stone in it that shall not be destroyed." Has his word come to pass, or has it not? He said that the Romans would come, and remove your nation and the city and the kingdom. Has this come to pass under Vespasian and Titus, or has it not? He said that the Law and the prophets were until John the Baptist, and then they cease. Has this not come to pass? What prophet C has appeared among you after John the Baptist? Clearly, none. The same Lord Jesus Christ, our true God, said again that the Gospel would be preached in the whole world; has this come to pass, or has it not? Again he said that the gates of Hades would not prevail against the Church; did he lie? God forbid! He said to us who believe in him, that "You shall be hated by all for my name's sake." Tell us, then, are we not hated and detested by all nations for the sake of the name of Christ? Even if you should be silent, the stones themselves would cry out, and the truth of the facts itself is sufficiently able to shame and overwhelm you, and to persuade even the unwilling that Christ as God has manifestly come and was seen upon the earth, and bowed the heavens and descended, and again mounted upon the cherubim, and flew, and ascended into the heavens with shouting as God. D
4. But in order that we may completely condemn Jewish blindness, and that we, who are believers, may become more steadfast in the faith of Christ, come, let us briefly set forth, for the defense of the Gospel, from the Old Testament, the testimonies concerning the entire economy of Christ.
A Let us set forth the proofs. For there will be benefit to all who examine these in depth. That the Son and Word of God is before the ages and was incarnate in the last times, is manifest from the one hundred and ninth Psalm: “From the womb before the morning star I begat thee.” It is clear that no man was begotten before the morning star; for the morning star was made on the fourth day, but Adam was fashioned on the sixth day. Likewise, also Solomon speaks as if from the very person of the Son, concerning the generation of the Only-begotten Son and Word of our Lord Jesus Christ, which occurred before the ages from God and the Father: “Before the mountains were established, before all the hills he begets me.” We must therefore ask the Jew: Whom did God beget before every created thing? In like manner, also, the saying of God concerning Adam, that “Behold, Adam is become as one of us,” B indicates the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And again, the saying that “The Lord rained upon Sodom fire from the Lord,” manifestly signifies the Father and the Son.
5. But that the Word of God was to be made man and incarnate in the last times, let us hear the voices of the prophets. For thus says the prophet David: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; God is the Lord, and he hath appeared unto us.” And again: “God shall come manifestly.” And the prophet Isaiah thus speaks: “Not an angel nor an envoy, but the Lord himself shall come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be plain; then the lame shall leap as a hart.” That Christ was to be born of a virgin woman, let us again hear the prophet Isaiah saying: “Behold, the virgin shall have in her womb, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.” And the same prophet again: “A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and his name is called Messenger of Great Counsel, Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come.” C Then the same prophet designates the place where Christ was to be incarnate on earth, namely, Nazareth: “Land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations; the people sitting in darkness saw a great light.” It is evident that the people of the nations sat in the darkness of ignorance, error, and idolatry. Hence David also, showing that God was to be incarnate for the sake of the nations, said: “God has reigned over the nations.” Furthermore, the same prophet, as if from the person of the Father to the Son, says: “Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance.” Hence also: “All ye nations, clap your hands.” And again: “All the nations thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name for ever.”
6. That he was to be born in Bethlehem (which, if you interpret it, means House of Bread) was to be the bread of life, and D
that his generation from the Father is before the ages, let us hear the prophet Micah saying: “And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, art not the least among the thousands of Judah; for out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” That Christ was to appear in Zion, and that he is the Most High, the prophet David in the A eighty-sixth Psalm prophesies thus, saying: “Mother Zion shall say, A man and a man was born in her, and he himself, the Most High, founded her.” Therefore, Christ the Son of God is the Most High. And that Christ, having been born, was to come into Egypt with his own mother as a spiritual cloud, let us hear the prophet Isaiah saying: “Behold, the Lord sitteth upon a light cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be shaken.” And that when Christ was baptized, the Father was to bear witness to him from above, it is written in the twenty-eighth Psalm thus: “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundereth, the Lord is upon many waters.” Then, concerning the miracles and healings B which Christ our God performed, Isaiah teaches us, saying: “He himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses, and is in pain for our sake.” And that Christ came to bring peace to the world, let us hear from the seventy-first Psalm: “He shall come down like rain upon fleece, and as a drop that droppeth upon the earth. In his days shall righteousness spring up, and abundance of peace, until the moon be taken away, and he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the world.” But if the Jew says that the Psalm speaks about Solomon, he is deceived. For these are his words: “His name remaineth C before the sun; and all the nations shall call him blessed, and all the kings of the earth shall worship him.” Now it is impossible for these things to be said of Solomon, for he did not exist before the sun.
7. That Christ our God was to crush the devil through baptism, the seventy-third Psalm bears witness, saying to God thus: “Thou didst crush the heads of the dragons upon the water; thou didst break in pieces the head of the dragon.” And that Christ is the creator of heaven, who walked on the sea, let us hear the words of Job thus: “Who alone spread out the heaven, and walketh upon the sea as upon dry land.” And concerning the colt and the ass upon which Christ sat, let us hear the prophet Zechariah saying: “Rejoice greatly, D O daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee, just and a savior; he is meek, and riding upon a beast of burden and a young colt.” What, then, is more clearly shining than these prophetic voices? Yet nevertheless, although they prophesied so clearly about Christ, Satan blinded the eyes of the Jews and dimmed the pupils of their minds, so that they wrongly interpreted these testimonies. But let us hear, moreover, concerning the children who shouted Hosanna to Christ.
and openly called Christ the Lord, in the words of the eighth Psalm: "O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is thy name in all the earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and of nursing ones thou hast perfected praise." And the fortieth Psalm signifies the betrayal of Judas in this way: "He who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me." And the second Psalm recounts the traps set for Christ by the Gentiles and the Jews in these words: "Why did the Gentiles rage, and the people meditate on vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together," B meaning Annas and Caiaphas, and the chief priests and the scribes, "against the Lord and against his Christ." For he who fights against the Son injures also the Father.
8. Furthermore, concerning the bonds with which they bound Christ, Isaiah the prophet speaks, lamenting the miseries of the Jews: "Woe to their soul, because they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just one." But come now, question the Jew and say to him: "What man on earth is without sin?" Certainly it is clear that no one is pure from stain, not even if there be but one day of his life on earth. And again the prophet prays to God: "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for no one living shall be justified in thy sight." From which we are clearly taught that no one is without sin save God alone. Let us see then what the prophet Isaiah discusses for us concerning the passion C of the sinless Christ our God, the Son of God: "As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." It is clear that Christ kept silent when he was presented to Pilate at the time of his passion. "In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; who shall recount his generation?" Namely, no one can recount the generation of his divinity. For the generation of Christ our God is described according to the flesh, since "he was led to death for the iniquities of the people." For it is manifest that Christ died for the sins of the world. "And I will give the wicked for his burial." Clearly, he delivered the Jews to the Romans. "And the rich for his death." Why, I ask, O prophet? Tell us openly, for whose sake? "Because he did not commit iniquity, neither was deceit found in his mouth." What will the Jews answer to these things? D What man was led to the slaughter like a sheep, who did not commit sin? But they are unable to point to any sinless man except the One who is God made man.
9. Let us also hear what the thirty-fourth Psalm has concerning those things which the false witnesses testified against Christ: "Unjust witnesses rose up against me; they asked me things I knew not:
retribuebant mihi mala pro bonis A. It is manifest what benefits Christ bestowed upon that people: first, their exodus from Egypt, and the countless other good things He performed for them; then, He healed their sick. Regarding those who scourged and struck Christ, the prophet Isaiah speaks, as it were, in the person of Christ: "I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to blows, and I turned not away my face from the shame of spitting." B Likewise, the prophet David also speaks in the person of Christ in the thirty-sixth Psalm: "For I am ready for scourges, and my sorrow is continually before me." Regarding the sale of Christ, the prophet Jeremiah says: "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they valued of the children of Israel, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me." Can you deny this, O Jews, which has been set before the eyes of the whole world from that time until now? I speak, of course, of the potter's field bought for the burial of strangers. In the same way, the prophet Zechariah also makes mention of the thirty pieces of silver, as if in the person of Christ: "And they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver." That Christ Himself bore on His own shoulders the beginning of our salvation, namely the precious Cross, and was lifted up upon it, the prophet Isaiah, prophesying by the Holy Spirit, said: "A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder," that is to say, the life-giving Cross. Concerning the crown of thorns, it is written in the Song of Songs: "Daughters of Jerusalem, go forth and see the crown wherewith his mother crowned him;" that is to say, the synagogue of the Jews (for she is understood as the mother of Christ according to the flesh), "in the day of his espousal, and in the day of the joy of his heart." It is evident that the day of Christ's passion was the day of His joy, because of our salvation. For just as the sins of the world were like thorns, those which Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, came and wiped away. And just as through the fruit of the tree came sin, so through the wood of the Cross came salvation. And for this reason Christ's passion took place in a garden, since Adam transgressed in Paradise. For this reason also, Paradise is opened to the thief from the Cross; for this reason also, Christ is crucified at the sixth hour, since Adam was cast out in the afternoon. He tastes gall, that He may heal the sweetness of the bitter pleasure of Adam; He is struck with blows, that He may grant me freedom; He is spat upon, that He may grant us the breath of the Holy Spirit; He is scourged, that He may scatter the burden of sins upon our back; C He is stripped upon the wood, that He may cover my shame; He is put to death, that He may make me live; He is condemned, that He may release me from the curse; His head is struck with a reed, that He may crush the head of the serpent; His side is pierced with a lance, that He may heal the woman created from Adam's side, and the flaming sword which D
A turns against us may be stayed, and the way to paradise be opened to us.
10. Now, that Christ was to be crucified in the midst of the earth is written in the seventy-third psalm: "God, our King before the ages, has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth." And that Christ was to be crucified with robbers, Isaiah says: "And he was numbered with the transgressors." Concerning the nails also and the dividing of His vestments, the twenty-first psalm speaks thus: "They dug my hands and my feet; they numbered all my bones; they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." Similarly, the prophet Zechariah also speaks thus concerning the nails: "And they shall say to him, 'What are these wounds in the midst of your hands?' And He shall say, 'Those with which I was struck in the house of my beloved.'" Concerning the darkness, the same prophet Zechariah says thus: "And it shall be in that day, there shall be no light; and there shall be cold and frost for one day, and that day shall be known to the Lord; and it shall not be day nor night, and at evening there shall be light." Likewise the prophet Amos also said: "And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that the sun shall set at midday, and the light shall darken upon the earth in the day." Joel the prophet also says: "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining; but the Lord shall roar out of Zion, and from Jerusalem He shall give His voice, and the heaven and the earth shall be shaken." And that Christ was to be given vinegar and gall to drink, let us hear from the sixty-eighth psalm: "They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Therefore, He curses them, saying: "Let their table before them become a snare, and for recompense and for a stumbling block. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back always. Pour out upon them thy wrath, and let the fury of thy anger reach them. Let their habitation be desolate, and in their tents let there be no one to inhabit" — namely, their temple in Jerusalem, which indeed came to pass. The rest of the things which follow in the psalm, spoken as curses, befit the Jews, whom Moses also rebuked, saying: "And thy life shall be hanging before thine eyes, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not believe in thy life." D
11. Concerning the lance, however, the prophet Zechariah speaks as if in the person of Christ: "And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced." And concerning the water that flowed from His holy side, the same prophet said: "In that day, living water shall go out from Jerusalem." Let us also hear the prophet Isaiah saying these things regarding the burial of the Lord and mocking the Jews: "See..."
how the righteous has perished, and no one takes it to heart." He spoke therefore of his resurrection also; and again: "From the face of iniquity the righteous is taken, and his burial shall be in peace." He says "in peace," because Pilate gave the body of Jesus to Joseph with peaceful intent. Likewise, David also speaks concerning his burial in the 87th Psalm, as if from the person of Christ: A "They set me in a lower pit, in dark places and in the shadow of death," and before these words: "And I became as a man without help, free among the dead," that is, without sin. It is also written in the book of Job as follows: "The gates of death are opened to you for fear; the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, trembled." It is clear that these are the opposing powers of the demons. Likewise, also in the 67th Psalm: "Leading out those who are bound with strength, likewise those who provoke, who dwell in the tombs." That Christ was not going to remain in Hades, but was to rise on the third day, let us hear from the 15th Psalm: "For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you give your Holy One to see corruption." B And again in the 56th Psalm: "I will arise at dawn." And the prophet Hosea spoke thus: "Let us go and return to the Lord our God, for he has made us, and he shall heal us; he will heal us after two days, and on the third day we shall rise and shall live." And concerning the myrrh-bearing women, the prophet Isaiah said: "Women coming from the vision, come; for it is not a people having understanding."
12. And concerning the assumption of Christ, it is written in the 17th Psalm: "And he mounted upon the cherubim, and flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds." And again in the 46th Psalm: "God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet"; and in the prophet Zechariah: C "In that day the feet of the Lord shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem to the east." And concerning the glorious second coming of the Son of God, the prophet Daniel says: "I watched in the vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came as it were a Son of man, and he reached as far as the Ancient of Days. And he was brought to him. And to him was given authority and honor and the kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him. His authority is an eternal authority, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed." Behold, we have learned clearly through what has been said that he is the Son of God, who was incarnate and suffered for us and rose from the dead, and was taken up in glory to his own Father, D and is to come again with the clouds of heaven, with eternal glory, to judge the living and the dead. For the same prophet Daniel predicted this in these words: "I watched until..."
the dead. For the same prophet Daniel foretold concerning this: A “I watched until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat; and his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire; its wheels were burning fire. A river of fire flowed forth before him; thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat, and the books were opened. I watched then because of the voice of the great words which that horn was speaking, until the beast was slain and perished, and its body was given to be burned with fire.” It is clear, however, that the beast is the Antichrist. For the Son of God, when He comes, will slay him with the breath of His mouth, for to Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
13. We have presented these few things from many out of the Holy Scriptures, both for the greater faith of us who are Christians, and for the refutation of the stubbornness and madness of the Jews. Namely, that one of the holy and life-giving Trinity, God the Word, and Son of God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, He himself for our salvation in the last days became man from our most holy, immaculate Lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary. And having accomplished all things in a manner worthy of God, and having suffered, as the holy prophets foretold, He saved our race from the delusion B and slavery of the enemy. Therefore, for so many and such great benefits as we have been deemed worthy to receive from His goodness, let us be eager to show ourselves pleasing to Him through the observance of His holy commandments, so that we may also attain the eternal and unending goods in Him, Christ our God, to whom be glory and power with His almighty Father, and with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.
Questions on the Gospels
The following Questions on the Gospels, from codex Reg. 2431, now come to light for the first time. They are added, furthermore, in the same codex at the end of Question 136, to Antiochus.
QUESTION I. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way. For when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph.” Why did He not say: When the virgin had been betrothed, but “his mother”? C
ANSWER. In order that the account might be believable, and that He might strike the listener—who was prepared to hear something of the usual sort—with the introduction of a paradoxical matter, by saying: “Before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.”
Q. 2. “But an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying.” Why does the angel not appear openly to Joseph, just as to the shepherds and to Zacharias?
R. Because that man was exceedingly faithful, and had no need of such a vision.
Q. 3. “Do not fear to take Mary your wife.” Why did He say: “Do not fear”? D