On the Saying of the Gospel: When Jesus Had Finished These Sayings (Oration 37)

a more ample exposition of the Gospel of Matthew. It is deeply to be lamented that such precious monuments of the piety and doctrine of our Theologian have been lost; or rather, it is most highly to be desired that the fruits of so excellent a genius, either lost or lurking in the dust, may be recovered for the glory and edification of the Church, and be brought to light. In this oration, therefore, Gregory sets out to interpret whatever is contained in the Gospel text according to Matthew, from the first verse of the nineteenth chapter, up to the twelfth inclusive. He first refers to the words of the Gospel, and presently, treating each part, he expands upon them in a marvelous and learned manner. He dwells at greater length, however, upon these words of the Pharisees: “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause?” ^A He shows how iniquitous is the law of the Caesars, which binds the woman under the guilt of adultery, while the man, who has violated his pledged faith to his wife through adultery, is subject to no punishment. “This law,” he says [n. 6], “I by no means approve; this custom I do not praise. There were men who enacted this law, and therefore it was passed against women.” And turning his discourse a little later to the husband, he adds [n. 7]: “With what face, then, do you demand chastity, which you yourself do not in turn offer? How do you establish an unequal law for a body endowed with equal honor?” Hence he exhibits the divine law as more excellent than human laws, and recalls man and woman to an equal condition. He teaches many other good things, from which those who are married can derive much fruit. Then he passes to that remark made by Christ: “Not all men receive this saying, but to whom it is given” [n. 18]; which, having been treated copiously and clearly, he briefly expounds the doctrine of the Trinity, and offers salutary advice to all.

II. It seemed to Tillemont [22], and not without merit indeed, that this oration was delivered at Constantinople, after the churches were returned to the Catholics, before the prefects and a great multitude of people. To prove this, he cites these words of Gregory, who, having spoken of the divinity of Christ, adds [n. 4]: “Again I incite and provoke tongues: again some are insane against Christ, or rather against me, who have been deemed worthy to become a herald of the Word. As John is made, a voice of one crying in the desert—in a desert place indeed before, but now in one very populous and frequented.” But, unless our opinion deceives us, the learned man could have added that Theodosius ^B was present at this oration. For this can be gathered from these words of the Theologian [n. 23]: “These things I prescribe to those to whom the empire is entrusted;” which seem to designate both the emperor and the prefects. But the following words are of greatest value for our purpose: “My discourse will not have such power, warring for the holy Trinity, as your edict will have, if you suppress those imbued with perverse dogmas, if you bring aid to those oppressed by persecution, if,” etc., by which, as they are uttered in the singular number, we conjecture the present emperor is signified. For since, because of certain warnings given to the emperors and prefects toward the end of the thirty-sixth oration, it seems to Tillemont [23] that that oration was delivered before the prefects, and indeed with the emperor himself present—although it is generally directed to the Constantinopolitan populace—how much more must this be conjectured of this oration from the cited words? Furthermore, it is established from what has been said that the oration was delivered before the edict regarding the restoration of the churches was proposed by the emperor. For Demophilus, the leader of the Arians, since he would not recognize the Nicene faith, was forced to leave the churches on the sixth day before the Kalends of December, 380, as Socrates says [24]. But the Theodosian Code [25] states that the edict was not sanctioned until the tenth of January, 381. It seems probable, therefore, that Gregory provided the occasion by this oration for such an edict to be promulgated against the heretics. Whence we judge it more likely that this oration was pronounced at Constantinople in the presence of the emperor, toward the end of the year 380.

ORATION XXXVII

In dictum Evangelii: Cum consummasset Jesus hos sermones 14, etc.

A’. Jesus, who chose the fishermen, himself also fishes, and changes places one after another: and that not only for this cause, that he might win a greater multitude of pious men by exhibiting his presence to them: but also, as it seems to me, that he might sanctify more places. It happens to the ^C Jews as a Jew, that he might win the Jews; to those under the law, as under the law (28),…

^A that he might redeem those under the law; to the weak, as weak, that he might save the weak. He becomes all things to all men, that he might win all. But why do I say, all things to all? Nay, I find that what even Paul (29) did not dare to say of himself (30), this (31) happened to the Savior. For he not only becomes a Jew, nor does he only take upon himself all the absurd and shameful names, but—what is more absurd than all these—he becomes even sin itself, and curse itself; not that he is sin, but that he is so called. For how could he be sin, who delivers us from the servitude of sin? Or how a curse, who redeems us from the curse of the law? But it is that he might demonstrate humility even to this point, modeling us toward the humility that generates exaltation. ^B He becomes, therefore, as I said, a fisherman; he humbles himself to all, he uses a dragnet, he endures all things, that he might draw the fish up from the deep and bring it into the height—the man, that is, swimming in the unstable and salt waves of this life.

II. Wherefore now also, after he had finished these discourses, he migrated from Galilee, and came to the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan. He dwells in Galilee rightly, that the people who sat in darkness might see a great light (58). He moves into Judea, that he might persuade us to rise up from the letter and follow the Spirit. Now he teaches on a mountain, now he discoursed ^C in the plains, now he crosses into a boat, now he rebukes the storms. Perhaps he also accepts sleep, that he might bless sleep; perhaps he is even fatigued, that he might sanctify fatigue; perhaps he even sheds tears, that he might make tears commendable. He passes from place to place, he who is contained by no space, who is, I say, beyond time, body, and circumscription. The same person both was and becomes; and he was above time, and comes under time; and he was invisible, and is seen. In the beginning he was, and with God he was, and God he was. The word "was" is repeated a third time, ^D that it might be confirmed by the number itself. That which he was, he emptied; and that which he was not, he assumed—not becoming two, but consenting to be one out of the two.

For he is God in both respects, both that which assumed and that which was assumed. Two natures have run together into one, yet they are not two sons; let not their union be falsely termed a mingling. ^A Such is he, and so great: but what have I suffered? I have fallen again into human expressions. For how can that which is simple be so great? And how can that which has no magnitude be so tall? But grant pardon to my language: I speak of the greatest things with a meager instrument. And this, that generous and long-suffering One—that nature devoid of form and bodiless—will surely bear with, namely, that I use weaker words to speak of him as if he were a body, as the truth itself requires. For since he has accepted flesh, he will surely bear with a discourse of this kind.

^B III. *And great crowds followed him, and he healed them there, where there was an even vaster wilderness.* If he had remained on his own watchtower, if he had not descended to human infirmity, if he had remained what he was, keeping himself inaccessible and incomprehensible, perhaps few would have followed—and I do not know if even few, perhaps Moses alone; and even he only to the extent of barely seeing the hind parts of God. For he did indeed pierce the cloud, having become external to the weight of the body, or having been gathered and drawn back from the senses. But the tenuity of God, or his bodilessness, or by whatever name one might call it—how could one have seen it, being himself a body and casting his gaze upon it with sensory eyes? But since he is emptied for our sake, since he descends—by "emptying" I mean a kind of lowering and diminution of his glory—for this reason he becomes perceptible and comprehensible.

^C IV. And I ask you to pardon me, as I once again experience a certain human emotion. I am filled with anger and grief for my Christ, and I wish that you too would grieve with me, when I see him despised and held as nothing for the very reason for which he most of all deserved to be honored. Tell me, is he therefore humble and abject because he is humble on your account? Is he therefore a creature because he is concerned for the creature? Is he therefore subject to time because he visits those who are subject to time? Nevertheless, he bears all, he receives all. And what is wonderful about that? He endured blows, he submitted to spitting, he tasted gall for the sake of my taste. He bears it even now while he is being stoned, not only by those who rail against him, but also by us ourselves who profess piety. For it is perhaps the act of a rail-layer and a stoner to use bodily names when discussing the incorporeal; but let there be pardon, I say again, for our infirmity. For we stone him not willingly, but because we are unable to speak otherwise, and must use the language we have. You hear of the Word, and you are above the word; you are above the union.

^A You are light, and you are named "light"; you hear of "fire," not that you fall into sense-perception, but because you purge away the light and base material; of "sword," because you cut the worse from the better; of "winnowing-fan," because you purge the threshing-floor, and by casting away whatever is light and airy, you store up whatever is heavy and full in the barns above; of "axe," because you cut down the fruitless fig tree after having been long-suffering, and because you cut away the roots of wickedness; of "door," for the sake of the entrance; of "way," because we walk in a straight path; of "sheep," because you are a victim; of "high priest," because you offer your body; of "Son," because you are of the Father. Once again I stir up tongues; once again some rave against Christ, or rather against me, who have been deemed worthy to become a herald of the Word. I become as John: *The voice of one crying in the wilderness*—a wilderness formerly deserted and suffering from drought, but now most habitable and frequent. ^B

V. But to return to the matter and resume my discourse: for this reason great crowds followed Him, because He descends to the capacity of our infirmity. What then? *And there came to Him*, he says, *the Pharisees, tempting Him and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?* Again the Pharisees tempt; again they who read the law do not understand the law; again those who profess themselves to be interpreters of the law have need of other teachers. Was it not enough for the Sadducees to tempt concerning the resurrection, and the lawyers to ask questions concerning perfection, and the Herodians concerning the census, ^C and others concerning authority? But now someone even questions about marriage Him who cannot be tempted, who created marriage, who from the first cause established this whole race of men. But He, answering, said to them: *Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female?* Christ is accustomed to solve and explain some questions, and to silence others, as if by stopping the mouths of those who ask. When He is asked, *By what authority do you do these things?* because of the great ignorance of those who asked, He Himself asks in turn: *The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men?* And on both sides He presses and constrains those who question Him. Hence, even we, imitating Christ, are sometimes able to silence those who ^D ask us curious questions.

and by even more absurd counter-questions to dissolve the absurdity of the questions themselves. For we too are sometimes wise in vain matters, if I may boast of my folly. But when He sees a question in need of reasoning and judgment, then He does not deem those who ask him unworthy of prudent answers.

VI. This question, which you have proposed, seems to me to concern the practice and honor of chastity, and to demand a humane and appropriate response. For I see many poorly disposed regarding this, and their law uneven and inconsistent. For why, pray, have they punished the female, but allowed the male ^A? And while a woman who has taken evil counsel regarding her husband's bed is branded an adulteress—and bitter are the penalties of the laws in this regard—is a man dissolute toward his wife held unaccountable? I do not accept this legislation, nor do I approve of the custom. Men were the ones who made the laws; that is why the legislation is against women. Since, moreover, they have committed the children to the power of the fathers, they have left the weaker sex neglected and unhealed.

But God is not so; rather, *Honor your father and your mother*, which is the first commandment, *that it may be well with you*, lying in promises (Exod. xx, 12; Eph. vi, 2). And, *He who curses father or mother, let him die the death* (Exod. xxi, 17). He likewise honored the good, and punished the evil. And, *The blessing of a father strengthens the houses of children, but the curse of a mother roots up the foundations* (Eccli. iii, 11). You see the equality of the legislation. One Creator of man and woman, one dust, both are one, the image is one, the law is one, death is one, resurrection is one. In the same way, we are born of man and woman; one debt is owed by children to their parents.

VII. How then do you require chastity, yet not offer it in return? How do you ask for what you do not give? How, being of equal-honored body, do you legislate unequally ^B? And if you consider the worse things: the woman sinned, but so did Adam; the serpent deceived both and drove them into fraud (Gen. iii, 6). Not one was found weaker, and the other stronger. But do you consider the better things? Christ saves both by His sufferings. Did He become flesh for the sake of the man? He did so also for the woman. Did He die for the man? And the woman is saved by His death. He is named from the seed of David; do you perhaps think that this honors the man? But He is also born of a Virgin, and this is for the sake of women as well.

^A Since the two, he says, are into one flesh, let the one flesh also possess equal honor. And Paul prescribes sobriety ^B for the pattern as well. How, and in what manner? This mystery is great; but I speak of Christ and the Church. It is beautiful for a woman to reverence Christ through her husband; it is beautiful also for a husband not to dishonor the Church through his wife. The wife, he says, should fear her husband, for she fears Christ as well. But the husband, too, should cherish his wife, for Christ also cherishes the Church. Let us look at these words even more ^C carefully and studiously.

VIII. “Milk the milk,” he says, “and it will be butter,” and search closely, and perhaps you might find something within it more nourishing. For it seems to me that the discourse here discourages second marriages. For if there are two Christs, let there be two husbands, and two wives; but if there is one Christ, one head of the Church, and one flesh, then the second should be rejected. But if it forbids the second, what is to be said of the third? The first is law, the second is concession and indulgence, the third is lawlessness. But he who exceeds this number is clearly swinish, ^D as one not even having many examples of the vice. For the law gave a bill of divorce for every cause; but Christ does not do so for every cause, but only permits one to be separated from a wife who is unchaste and an adulteress; as for everything else, he commands one to use equanimity and patience. Therefore, let us expel the unchaste woman, since she corrupts and adulterates the line, but let us bear all other things patiently, moderately, and wisely; or, to speak more correctly, bear them wisely and moderately, whoever of you have accepted the yoke of marriage. If you perceive colors smeared with rouge and white lead, and pigments, strip her of this finery: if she has a forward and petulant tongue, coerce it: if she has a harlot’s laugh, replace it with modesty and gravity: if there is immoderate expenditure or drink, curtail it: if there are untimely departures from home, restrain them: if an eye that is lifted up and wandering, punish it. But do not tear her away from you and cast her off rashly. It is uncertain which party is in danger, the one that cuts or the one that is cut. “Let the fountain of your water,” he says, “be for you alone, and let no stranger be a participant with you.” And: “Let your doe of graces and fawn of your friendship converse with you.” Therefore, do not become a stranger’s river, and do not be eager to please others rather than your own wife. But if you are carried elsewhere, you are legislating licentiousness for your own member. Thus spoke the Savior.

IX. What then of the Pharisees?

X. Marriage is good;

^A Let her who is under the yoke in some measure belong to Christ; but as for her who has embraced virginity, let her be wholly Christ’s. Let the former not be utterly bound to the world; but let the latter not belong to the world at all. For what is but a part for one under the yoke, is the whole for the virgin. Have you chosen the life of the angels? Have you enrolled yourself in the order of those who know not the yoke? Do not fall back into the flesh, do not fall back into matter, do not be wedded to matter, even if you otherwise remain unmarried. An unchaste eye does not preserve virginity; an unchaste tongue is united with the devil. Feet that walk in disorder betray a sickness or a danger ^B. Let the mind also be a virgin; let it not wander, let it not stray, let it not bear within itself images of evil things—for even the image is a part of impurity; let it not fashion like idols in the soul the things that are to be hated.

XI. But He said to them: "Not all can receive this word, but those to whom it is given." Do you see the sublimity of the matter? It is found to be such that it can almost not even be conceived or grasped. For is it not more excellent, given the frailty of the flesh, for that which is born of flesh not to give birth into the flesh? Is it not truly angelic for one who is bound in the chains of the flesh not to live according to the flesh, but to be higher than nature itself? ^C The flesh bound us to the world, but reason has led us up to God; the flesh weighed us down, but reason gave us wings; the flesh chained us, but love set us free. Let your whole soul, O virgin, be stretched toward God (for I prescribe this same thing to men and women alike), and let nothing else appear beautiful to you among the other things which are wont to be viewed by the multitude—not the splendor of lineage, not wealth, not high seats, not rank and power, not beauty that is fashioned in the mind by elegance of color and the fitting composition of limbs—the plaything of time and disease. If you have poured out the whole force of your love toward God, if you do not burn with love for a double object—for that which is fleeting and that which is motionless, for that which is visible and that which escapes the gaze of the eyes—you have surely recognized beauty so well ^D that you may also say, from that bridal drama and song: "Thou art sweetness, and all desirable."

XII. Do you see how the streams that are enclosed in leaden pipes, because they are so greatly compressed and directed to a single flow, come forth with such—

^A force that they exceed the nature of water, so that what is pushed from behind always tends upward? In like manner, if you constrain your love, and you are wholly joined to God, you will tend upward, you will never fall to the ground, you will not be poured out, you will remain wholly Christ’s, until you too see Christ your bridegroom. Keep yourself inaccessible, by word, and act, and manner of life, and thought, and impulse. The Evil One searches you out from every side, he observes everything, where he may strike, where he may wound, lest he find something exposed and ready for a blow. The purer he sees you, the more zealously he strives to stain and defile you; for on a bright garment stains are more manifest. Let not eye draw eye, nor laughter laughter, let not intimacy draw on night, nor night draw on destruction and ruin. For the thing that is drawn out and stolen away part by part, has indeed a damage that is not felt at the present, but it arrives at the sum total of wickedness. ^B

XIII. "Not all," he says, "receive this word, but those to whom it is given." When you hear this, "it is given," do not be seized by any heretical affection, and do not introduce multiple natures, neither the earthly, nor the spiritual, nor those in between. For there are some so poorly disposed as to think that some are of a nature utterly lost, others of one that will receive salvation, and others still, that they are as their own choice leads them, whether to the worse or to the better. That one person has more or less aptitude than another, I also concede; but I contend that aptitude alone is not sufficient for attaining perfection; for there is a reason that excites this, so that nature may proceed into action, just as the flint, when struck by steel, is thus made into fire. When you hear, "to whom it is given," add: ^C It is given to those who are called and to those who are so inclined. For when you hear, "It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy," I advise you to come to the same conclusion. For since there are some who are so lifted up in their own minds regarding their good deeds, that they ascribe the whole thing to themselves, and attribute nothing to the One who made them, and gave them wisdom, and is the dispenser of all good things, the word of Paul teaches them that even to will rightly requires help from God; or rather, to speak more correctly, even the ^D will itself and the choice of things that are right and conjoined with duty, is a certain divine benefit and comes from the grace of God; for it is necessary that both the part that is within our own power should exist, and the part that comes from God should save us. For this reason he says: "Not of him who wills"—this [word]

is, not of him who wills alone, nor of him who runs alone, but also of God who shows mercy. Thus, since willing is also from God, he quite rightly attributed the entirety to God. However much you run, however much you strive, you have need of Him who gives the crown. "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, they watch in vain that keep it." I know, he says, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor the victory to those fighting, nor the harbors to those sailing prosperously; but it belongs to God both to produce the victory and to bring the vessel safely into port.

XIV. Now it is perhaps necessary to add to the preceding remarks that other point which is stated and understood in another place, so that I may share my riches with you. The mother of the sons of Zebedee made a request, impelled by a certain motherly instinct and ignorant of the measure of what she was asking, yet worthy of being forgiven because of the immoderate force of her love and the benevolence due to her children. For there is nothing softer than a mother's affection; and I mention this in order to ordain, as if by law, that mothers be honored. Therefore, their mother requested of Jesus that He place one at His right hand, and one at His left. And what did the Savior do? First, He asks whether they are able to drink the cup which He Himself was to drink. And when they confessed and affirmed this as well, and the Savior Himself assented (for He knew ^C that they too would drain the same cup and would undergo martyrdom), what did He add? "The cup indeed you shall drink, but to place them on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but belongs to those for whom it has been given." Is, then, the guiding and governing mind nothing? Is labor nothing? Is reason nothing? Is philosophy nothing? Is fasting nothing? Is passing sleepless nights nothing? Is sleeping on the ground nothing? Is shedding fountains of tears nothing? Shall none of these things avail, but rather, shall it be by a kind of fatal law that Jeremiah is sanctified, and others are cast off from the womb?

XV. I fear lest some absurd and preposterous thought might creep into anyone, as if the soul had lived elsewhere and had subsequently been bound to this body; and that, according to how it behaved there, some receive prophecy, while others, who have lived wickedly, are condemned. But since to think this is too foolish and absurd, and alien to ecclesiastical faith and doctrine (for let others, if they wish, play with these kinds of dogmas, but for us, to amuse our minds with such diversions is by no means safe), ^D there too, to that "and to those for whom it is given," add this: "to those who are worthy," who, being such, are not only by

^A the Father, but also by themselves, given this.

XVI.

XVI.

XVII.

XVII.

XVIII.

XVIII.

by the parties with which they have associated. ^A You know the names yourselves, even if I do not speak them. If you are called a Christian in this same way, the name is very small and light, even if you pride yourself on it; but if you have taken up the name because you believe in God, show by your deeds that you have indeed taken it up. If the Son is a creature, even now you are worshipping a creature instead of the Creator. If the Holy Spirit is a creature, you have been baptized in vain, and you are healthy in two parts—or rather, not even in those—but in the one, you are in total danger. ^B Suppose the Trinity is a single pearl, similar on all sides and shining with equal luster. Whenever any part of the pearl happens to be damaged, the beauty of the whole stone is destroyed. In the same way, when you dishonor the Son in order to honor the Father, He does not accept your honor. The Father is not glorified by the dishonoring of the Son. If a wise son gladdens his father (Prov. x, 1), how much more so will the honor of the Son become the honor of the Father? For if you also accept this: "Son, do not glory in the dishonor of the father" (cf. Eccli. iii, 12), then neither is the Father glorified by the dishonoring of the Son. If you dishonor the Holy Spirit, the Son does not accept your honor. For even if He is not from the Father as the Son is, yet He is from the same Father. ^C Either honor the whole, or dishonor the whole, so that you may be consistent in your own mind. I do not accept your piety of half-measures. I want you to be entirely pious, but in the way I desire. Forgive my feeling. I also grieve for the lot of those who hate me. You were my member, even if now you are severed; you may perhaps become a member again, and for this reason I speak humanely and kindly. Let these things be said for the sake of the eunuchs, that they may conduct themselves modestly and chastely regarding the divinity.

XIX. For sin is not only that which is committed in the body, which is called fornication and adultery, but also any other wickedness, and especially that crime which is committed against the divine Majesty. From where shall we provide proof, you ask? "They played the harlot in their own inventions" (Ps. cv, 39). ^D Do you see also the shameless deed of fornication? And in another place: "They committed adultery in the wood" (Jerem. iii, 6). Do you see also a kind of adulterous worship? Therefore, do not commit adultery in your mind while cultivating chastity in your body. Otherwise, you will make it clear that you are modest against your will as far as the flesh is concerned, since in those matters where it is permitted to you to be a profligate, you do not maintain modesty.

^A Have you made your impiety manifest? Why are you all rushing headlong into vice, so that to be called a eunuch and to be called an impious man are henceforth the same thing? At long last, join yourselves to men, have some masculine sentiment, flee from the women’s quarters, lest the foulness of your preaching be added to the foulness of the name. Do you wish us to dwell a little longer on this discourse? Or is what has been said sufficient? Nevertheless, let the eunuchs also be honored by what follows; for the discourse is praiseworthy.

XX. "There are eunuchs," He says, "who were so born from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were castrated by men; and there are eunuchs who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it." It seems to me that Scripture, drawing us away from bodies, signifies more sublime things through the figure of bodies. ^B For to stop the discourse at bodily eunuchs would perhaps be a small matter, and very weak, and unworthy of the majesty of Scripture. But it befits us to conceive something worthy of Scripture. Some, indeed, seem to tend toward the good by the character of their nature. But when I speak of nature, I by no means reject free will, but I establish both: namely, the facility and aptitude of nature for the good, and the intent of the soul, leading that natural aptitude toward the good. Others there are, whom doctrine purges, cutting away the vicious affections of the mind. These I consider to be those who are castrated by men, when the authoritative discourse, distinguishing the better from the worse, and rejecting the one while ordaining the other (according to the text, "Depart from evil, and do good" [Ps. xxxvi, 27]), creates spiritual chastity. I praise this kind of exsection as well, and I highly praise both the teachers and those being taught, because the former cut away nobly, and the latter were more nobly cut.

XXI. "And there are those who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." ^C Others, when they had found no teachers, proved to be upright teachers to themselves. Your mother did not teach you what your duty was; your father did not teach you; no presbyter, no bishop, nor anyone else of those to whom the care of teaching has been entrusted. But you, stirring up the reason implanted in you, and kindling the spark of the good through the freedom of the will, have exsected yourself; you have cut away the root; you have banished the instruments of vice; ^D you have acquired such an aptitude for virtue that it is now almost impossible for you to be carried toward what is worse. For this reason I praise this exsection also, and perhaps even more than the two preceding ones. "He who is able to receive it, let him receive it." Take whichever part you wish: either follow the teacher, or become your own teacher. This is the only shameful thing: not to have had one's passions exsected. But concerning the need to have these passions exsected, do not differ. Both he who teaches is a creature of God, and you have become...

the same origin. Whether the teacher snatches this grace, or this good becomes yours, it is good in the same way.

^B XXII. Let this alone be our concern, that we cut ourselves off from the perturbations of the soul, lest any root of bitterness springing up disturb us (Heb. xii, 15). Let us only follow the image; let us only reverence the archetype. Exsect the bodily passions, exsect also the spiritual ones. For by as much as the soul is more precious than the body, by so much is it more precious to purify the soul than the body. But if the purification of the body is something praiseworthy, consider, I pray you, by how much the purification of the soul is greater and more elevated. Exsect the Arian impiety; exsect the wicked opinion of Sabellius. Do not conjoin them more than is right, and do not divide them wickedly; do not compress the three into one person, nor create three alienations of natures. And the one is praiseworthy when rightly understood, and the three are praiseworthy when rightly divided, that is to say, when the distinction of persons has been made, not of the divinity.

^C XXIII. These things I lay down for the laity, these things I command the presbyters, these things I also command those to whom authority has been entrusted. Bring aid to the doctrine, all you who by the grace of God have the ability to bring aid. It is a great thing to restrain murder, to punish adultery, and to discipline theft; but it is a much greater thing to establish piety and to bestow sound doctrine. My discourse will not have such great power while warring on behalf of the holy Trinity as your edict will, if you repress those who are imbued with perverse dogmas, if you bring help to those oppressed by persecution, if you restrain the murderers, if you prevent the act of murder. And by murder, I do not mean only the bodily kind, but also the spiritual. For every sin is the death of the soul. Let the discourse end here.

^D XXIV. It remains that we offer a prayer for those who have gathered here. Men together with women, those ruled and those who rule, old men and young men with virgins, every age and generation, bear all loss—whether it be in money and property, or in the body—with an equal mind. But this one thing never suffer: that you should incur the loss of the divinity. I adore the Father, I adore the Son, I adore the Holy Spirit; or rather, we adore—I who speak these things, and before all, and after all, and with all—in that very Lord of ours, Christ, to whom be glory and majesty for the ages. Amen.