Book on the Knowledge of God (Fragments)

which uses the plural for the singular, lest, by misapplying such a feature where it is not appropriate, we fill those who contradict us with much confusion. ^A

From the same book. And God said: "Behold, Adam is become as one of us," that is, as each one of us who are the persons in one divinity. For even if it is said with irony, it nonetheless cannot signify only one person.

From the same book. And God said: "Come, let us go down and confound their language." For "Come" signifies at least two, and he who is speaking is one. From this the perfect Trinity is declared. That He speaks to those who are of the same power and essence, saying "Come, let us do this," is easily apparent. And if you reply that He addressed the ministering angels—either all of them, which is absurd, or a few of them, as you might say—we shall refute it as false, since it is supported by no testimony of Scripture. ^B

How does God converse? Is it in our manner? It would be impious to think so. For the divine counsel, and that primary impulse of the intelligent mind, is the Word of God, which Scripture thus expounds and expresses, so that it might signify that God did not merely wish the creation to come into being, but wished to bring it into existence through the cooperation of some one. For He could have proceeded with everything as He did from the beginning. "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." Then He created light, then He created the firmament. But now, by introducing God as if commanding and conversing, He silently points out the one with whom He is conversing, not because He begrudges us the knowledge, but because He inflames us with the desire for it, by means of those traces and certain seeds of the ineffable that He puts forward. For what is acquired with labor is received joyfully and guarded diligently; whereas what we acquire easily, we are accustomed to despise and neglect. ^C Therefore, by a certain way and order, He leads and attracts us to the understanding of the Only-Begotten. Moreover, the use of speech which is brought forth by voice was not necessary for that nature which is devoid of a body, since He could communicate His thoughts to His co-worker without these words. For voice is for the sake of hearing, and hearing is for the sake of voice. But where there is no air, nor tongue, nor ears, nor those winding paths of the ears that lead sounds to the sense that is in the head, there are no words necessary, but thoughts are revealed, so to speak, from the very notions of the heart or the mind. Wherefore Scripture, wisely and skillfully, as I have said, employs this figure to impel our mind to investigate the person with whom the conversation is established. ^D

From the same book. And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the heat of the day. And lifting up his eyes, he saw, and behold, three men

^A stood above him. And seeing them, he ran to meet them, and bowed down to the earth, and said: Lord, if indeed I have found favor before you, do not pass by your servant. And a little later it is said to him: Where is Sara your wife? And he, answering, said: Behold, in the tabernacle. And he said: Returning I will come to you, and what follows. Behold, it is written that God appeared to Abraham, and yet there were three who appeared. And although there are three, the conversation is carried on with one only, so that it may be firmly established that the divinity of the three persons is one. But if you say that one is God and the other two are angels, how could they have sat down with the Lord?

From the same book. The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord from heaven. These words indicate two persons, and declare the same counsel and equal power. And a third person follows these two, since they are so joined together by a mutual bond that they cannot be separated.

From Exodus. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. The phrase "Lord, and God, and Lord" shows three persons, but the word "one" shows the one divinity and nature.

Of David [and Zechariah, and Isaiah]. In God I will praise the word; in the Lord I will praise the speech. In God I have hoped, I will not fear what man can do to me. And again: Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of your tribulation. And again: The Lord lives, and blessed be God, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. ^B And furthermore: In your light we shall see light, that is, in your Son we shall know the Holy Spirit. For through him, just as we have been initiated more clearly into the mysteries concerning the Father, so too into those concerning the Holy Spirit; and we find many such things that proclaim the holy Trinity. Even that angelic hymn: Holy, holy, holy Lord, by the triple "holy" demonstrates the three persons, but by naming "Lord" once, it declares the one divinity. But David speaks much more significantly of the Father and the Son, from the person of the Father to the Son: Out of the womb, he says, have I begotten you. By "womb," he teaches that the essence and nature of the Father is to be understood. For whom else could you find who was begotten without time? And from the person of the Son: The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you. For "today I have begotten you" signifies his birth in time from the Virgin. For "I have begotten" stands for "it was pleasing to me that you be begotten," or "I have brought forth." And to this person of the Son belongs also that saying of Solomon: The Lord created me, and what follows. Then he adds: Before all the hills he begets me. For "created me" signifies his human origin in time. But that "before all the hills he begets me" signifies his origin from above, outside of time, and before all ages. And again David: by the word of the Lord the heavens w

^Aere established, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their power. By "the Lord" he means the Father, and by "the Word" his Son, because he relates to the Father as a word does to the mind, not only on account of a birth that occurs without any passion, but also because of the conjunction with the Father, and because he declares the Father's will. By "Spirit" he means the Holy Spirit. And again, regarding the Word and Son: "He sent his word, and healed them," clearly meaning the Father sent the Son to those suffering from the sickness of error. And regarding the Holy Spirit: "You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created," with a new creation, obviously, "and you shall renew the face of the earth," which had grown old in sins. ^B Neither is the prophetic Word sent forth to be poured into the air through vocal instruments, nor is it dissolved. For he says in another place: "Your word, O Lord, abides in heaven for ever." Nor is that Spirit expelled through respiratory instruments, nor is he dispersed or dissipated; for these things happen to bodies. It is clear, therefore, that both the Word and the Spirit exist as persons, and are eternal, and are creators. And Job also says: "As the Lord lives, who has thus judged me, and the Almighty, who has embittered my soul, and the divine Spirit that remains in my nostrils." And Zacharias, speaking from the person of God and Father: "I am with you, says the Lord, and my Word, and my Spirit." And Isaiah: "Now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit."

From Genesis [and Isaiah]

Jacob says to his two wives: "And the angel of God said to me in a dream: I have seen all that Laban does to you," and what follows. Then: "I am the God who appeared to you in the place of God." If he was simply an angel from the number of the ministering powers, how does he call himself God? Or was it surely the Son, who is the angel, that is to say, the messenger of God and the Father, just as the word is the index of the mind, and the discourse indicates the sense of the mind and soul? For after assuming human flesh, he announced to us the name of the Father: "I have manifested your name to men," he says. And as the "Angel of great counsel"—for thus Isaiah addressed him—furthermore naming him "wonderful Counselor, and God mighty, ^D Potentate." For who is God's counselor, if not the Son, who is of the same essence, and of equal power and dignity? The counsel and will of the Father is the salvation of men through the evangelical commandments. By the counsel of the Father and the Son, the same will is signified. That this Son and God put on human flesh, the same Isaiah shows: "A child," he says, "is born to us, and a son is given to us." For our sake the Son was born a child and lived among us. For the prophet predicted these things about the Son in the strict sense, and not about a son in a general sense, and as a miraculous work. For what involves wonder in a son being born a child in a general sense? Therefore he fittingly added what follows to emphasize the

^A His divinity, and the distinction between Him and those who are simply sons.

Jeremiah [nay, Baruch and Isaiah]

Isaiah

Of the Same

Micah

Daniel

^A and there was given to Him honor, and empire, and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him. His power is an everlasting power, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. Who then is this son of man who has received absolute and everlasting power over all? Certainly no mere man, but Christ, who is God and man, concerning whom David also addresses God and the Father thus: "O God, give Thy judgment to the king, and Thy justice to the king's son." For Christ is king and son of a king as God, and as man He became king and son of a king, namely of David. Because of this, He later said: "All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth." To Him the Father, after He had received the kingdom as man, said: "Sit at my right hand." For He says, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." Or who are these two lords of David, of whom the discourse treats, unless you admit these? And when David had said, "O God, give Thy judgment to the king," and what follows, he added that "His name remains before the sun," that is to say, the name of His divinity or of His sonship. For it was necessary for both to be present. Who then is this king, if it is not He? To whom have all nations served, and been blessed, and called blessed, if not to Christ alone? But if you are still waiting for Him, until Elias runs before Him, you are awaiting the second coming of the Savior, when the end of the world will be at hand. For since there are two comings of Christ—one when He came to assume human nature, and the other when He will come to judge the entire world—the former has already occurred, of which John, the second Elias, was the forerunner; the latter will occur, having as its forerunner Elias, the second John. For both are of the same Spirit, and of the same grace and power, insofar as they run before Christ.

Is that Anointed One and Messiah, for whom you wait, a mere man, or God and man? For if He is a mere man, He is not the one whom the prophets announced, who attached to Him signs of divinity, so as to separate Him from mere and simple men—but from whom else have you learned the marks and signs of Him whom you expect? But if He is God and man, do you not perceive that you are confessing another person of the divinity? For you will certainly not say that this is the Father. For "a child," He says, "is born to us, a Son," but not the Father. Furthermore, Messiah, Christ, and Anointed One are the same. "Understand, therefore, you who are foolish among the people, and you dull ones, be wise at last." And Isaiah also addresses you: "You blind, look; and you deaf, hear." Are you therefore willingly blind? Or are you entirely devoid of sense? When then will you distinguish the ambiguities of names, or the meanings of words, or the properties of expressions, by which the truth is comprehended? ^B

Concerning the sufferings and death of Christ.

^Alignant ones have beset me. They have pierced my hands and my feet. They have numbered all my bones. They have divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they have cast lots." To whom else, tell me, will you apply these things, which are clearly shown in the Gospels to be in agreement with Christ? And through Isaiah, Christ also foretold beforehand concerning such things: "I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to the smiters, and I turned not away my face from the shame of spitting." And again David says: "They gave gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." And if you should understand these things regarding the people in captivity, your opinion will be easily refuted by the fact that it is nowhere written that they suffered these very things in such a manner, but rather other many and grievous things. ^B Regarding his execution, Isaiah foretold: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter." And in order that you may know that this was saving for us, the same prophet says again: "By his stripes we were all healed." And in order that you may learn that for the sake of his slaughter the race of the Jews was delivered to destruction, he added: "And I will give the wicked in place of his burial." For what is more wicked than the Jews, who killed him who had granted them so many benefits?

Concerning the resurrection of Christ.

Concerning the Church from the Gentiles, according to Isaiah.

^A For the Church from among the nations was indeed a wilderness, before it bore fruit, and was a dwelling-place for the beasts of the mind; one which, burning with the fire of passions, thirsted for the knowledge of God and for salvation. And having obtained the preaching, it rejoices and exults and blooms, decorated with the beauty and fragrance of the virtues. There was given to it also the glory of Lebanon, that is, of the ancient people, whom ^B He also called Carmel, the glory and honor of which is piety, religion, friendship with God, the sublimity of the glory of the Law, the abundance of divine gifts, and the richness of graces. And again: "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate are many more than of her who has a husband." For the Church which we have pointed out was barren, and void of the fruits of virtue at first, but later, having received the seeds of piety, it became a mother of many children, overcoming in its multitude the Jewish synagogue, whose husband was God in the beginning, who loved, provided for, and guarded it, or even the Law. ^C Again, in the person of God and the Father, Isaiah, addressing the Son and God, says: "Behold, I have given you for a covenant of nations, to establish the earth, and to inherit the inheritance of the wilderness," and the rest. For through David also He promised to the Son, saying: "And I will give you the nations as your inheritance." And the same David entreated the Father concerning these things, saying: "Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them." And Isaiah likewise has spoken in the person of such a lawgiver: "A law shall go forth from me into the light of the nations, and in my arm the nations shall hope." ^D What other law is this, besides the evangelical one, which illuminated the nations wandering in the darkness of ignorance? For the Mosaic law had already gone forth many years prior.

Of the same.

Regarding the new covenant of the Gospel, Isaiah again prophesied, saying: "From Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." For our Lord Jesus Christ, now sitting on Mount Sion and teaching, and now remaining in the city of Jerusalem, ^B gave the law and the word of the Gospel. For the prophet does not speak now concerning the Mosaic law. For how could he, which was enacted at Sinai, but not in Sion, nor in Jerusalem, and that long ago, before Isaiah, just as the evangelical one was long after Isaiah? Wherefore he aptly said that it "shall go forth," for the old had already gone forth. Concerning this new one, Jeremiah also has prophesied, saying: "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make with you a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers in the day I took hold of their hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not remain in my covenant, and I neglected them." These and such things were overshadowed so that the books might not be utterly destroyed. For where those who saw Him present, and performing miracles, ^C and providing perfect proof of His own divinity,

did not accept Him, but urged Him onto the cross, would they have spared the prophecies concerning Him, had they received them unveiled and naked? ^A Yet regarding the fact that we were to be called by the name of Christ, Isaiah foretold it saying: "You, the Lord shall destroy, but to those who serve me a new name shall be called, and it shall be blessed upon all the earth." And again: "The nations shall see your glory, and all kings your righteousness, and the new name shall be called, which the Lord himself shall name." Hosea also foretold: "And it shall be," he says, "in the last days, His name shall be manifest in all the earth, and in His name shall many peoples be called, and they shall walk in His ways and live in them."

Of the same.

"And in thee they shall pray, because God is in thee, and there is no God besides thee. For Thou art God, and we knew not." Now, the phrase, "And in thee they shall pray," is a prophecy regarding those who have believed in Christ. But the phrase, "Because God is in thee," declares the divinity in the flesh that was assumed. But the phrase, "For Thou art God, and we knew not," indicates a certain excuse for the Jews in the coming judgment, though it be foolish and unacceptable. ^B If Christ were a deceiver, how did everything that He foretold come to pass in the end? As for instance, the things concerning the desolation of the temple of Jerusalem, and the capture and destruction of the city, and the total slaughter of the Jews, and all things concerning His disciples, and the miracles in His name, and simply everything.

Item: Against the Hebrews, the most seasonable chapters selected from the great John Chrysostom, from the volume which contains his discourses against the Jews.

If you were to see some venerable and illustrious man led into a tavern or a den of thieves, and subsequently were to observe him treated there with contumely and blows, enduring the most grave insolence of those brawling there, would you for that reason admire the tavern or the den, because that famous man had been led into it? Or would you rather detest the things you were seeing, and shrink back from them, because such a man was treated there in such unworthy fashion? ^C You must consider the synagogue of the Jews to be a place of similar sort, for they bring Moses and the prophets into it to treat them with ignominy rather than with honor. For when they say that they have said nothing concerning Christ and His incarnation, and what is more, even corrupt the very passages of theirs which teach this, do they not plainly visit them with ignominy? For even the temple of Serapis held these books, having been transcribed by Ptolemy Philadelphus, yet for that reason would no one deem that temple holy. ^D Those books indeed possessed their own holiness, but they did not impart it to the temple on account of the defilement of those gathering therein. But even the Azotians, having once taken the ark, brought it into their temple, and nothing

of what was there remained pure. It is just, therefore, for ^A the Jews and their synagogue to be execrated, especially because they are insane and rage against Moses and the prophets. For the reading of the books, if faith is absent, can make neither the place nor the readers holy. Therefore, it has been justly said to them: "Your house is become unto me a den of hyena,"—a hyena, that is, a cruel and execrable wild beast.

*Of the same.* If they did not have the prophets, if they did not read the sacred books, they would not be so detestable and profane. But now they deserve no pardon, because, having the heralds of truth, they contend against them and against the truth itself.

*Of the same.* For the Jewish feasts, God commanded to observe not only a time, but also a place. For just as the time for the Passover is the fourteenth day of the first month, and the place is Jerusalem, so indeed it is with the others. But the time of the feasts is different, whereas the place is one. And it was not ^B permitted to transgress either the time or the place. Or rather, in the case of the Passover, it was permitted by necessity to transgress the time, but the place, by no means. For "You cannot," He says, "perform the Passover in any one of the cities which the Lord your God gives to you, except in the only place which the Lord your God shall choose." What then? Does He contradict Himself, having legislated to sacrifice in one place, yet having destroyed that very place and made it inaccessible to the Jews? By no means. But because He did not even wish to give them sacrifices at the beginning, yet observing them to be crazed, anxious, and desirous of sacrifices, and prepared, if they did not receive them, to desert to idolatry, He allowed them by way of concession, transferring these sacrifices from the idols to Himself. And He permitted the lesser evil, so that they might not fall into the greater. Then, by a most wise method, He removed these as well, having limited the sacrifices to one city, and later destroying this city, so that, not being able to sacrifice outside it due to the Law, they might be ingeniously rid of these. And what is truly ^C wonderful, the whole world is open to the Jews where it is not permitted to sacrifice, but Jerusalem alone is closed to them, where alone it was permitted to sacrifice. For just as a builder, having laid foundations, raised walls, and vaulted a roof, binds that vault to a single stone placed in the middle, and then, having removed that stone, dissolves the whole connection of the building, so also God, having defined Jerusalem as a kind of connection of the worship through sacrifices, then having destroyed it, at the same time dissolved the worship of sacrifices.

*Of the same.* That God did not impose the laws of sacrificing because He was pleased with the sacrifices, but because of the infirmities of the Jews, who were still as infants ^D

^A He showed this also through Isaiah, saying: "There is no will in me for you. I am full; burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and of goats, I do not desire. For who has required these from your hands? And if you offer me fine flour, it is a vain incense; it is an abomination to me." And again: "You have not honored me in sacrifices, nor have you served me in gifts." And through Jeremiah: "Why do you bring me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a faraway land? Your burnt offerings have not pleased me." And again: "My soul has hated your burnt offerings with your sacrifices." And in addition to these: "I did not speak to your fathers concerning sacrifices, nor did I command them concerning burnt offerings." For if He had required these, He would have brought the ancients who were before them to these things first. But now, having conceded them for a time, He again casts them away. For He says also through David: "I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your flocks. And shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" and many such things. ^B Thereafter, He introduces the rational worship, saying: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." And: "A sacrifice of praise will glorify me." And: "I will praise the name of my God with a canticle, I will magnify Him in praise." And: "It shall please God more than a young calf." And: "Sacrifice and oblation you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me," that is, the Lord's body, which is slaughtered by the priests each day and distributed to the worthy for their partaking.

*Of the same.*

Let the Jews be asked how they celebrate feast days when they have no place of celebration. Is it not manifest that they are acting lawlessly? For if the prophets who were long ago carried away into captivity did not dare to sacrifice, having lost Jerusalem—for they said: "There is not, in this time, any burnt offering, nor sacrifice, nor oblation, nor incense, nor place to offer before you, and to find mercy." ^C But even when they were compelled by those by whom they were held in servitude to sing one of the songs of Sion, they refused, saying: "How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?" And indeed, through Zechariah, God said to others: "Did you fast for me for seventy years?"—evidently those of the captivity. Where there was no sacrifice, nor song, nor, indeed, fasting, there was no feast; for every legal celebration was performed through sacrifice. How, then, do these dare to fast, or keep a feast, or in any way perform any worship prescribed by the law? That the prophets did not even sacrifice the Passover, nor perform any other festival in a strange land, is clear also from the fast of Daniel. For having begun from the third day of the first month, he fasted three weeks until the twenty-fourth day of the same; and in this month even the feast ^D

of the Pasch was, and that of the Unleavened Bread, ^A the one on the fourteenth, the other from the fifteenth to the twenty-first, during which it was not lawful to fast.

*From the same.*

If they say that they expect to recover the city, say to them: “Therefore keep quiet until you recover it.” For even the holy men who were led into captivity before you performed no legal sacrifice until they recovered it. But you, by spurning them, openly depart from the Law itself.

*From the same.*

Since there is no anointing, you have no priest; when the priest is absent, you have neither sacrifice nor any worship.

*From the same.*

God, signaling that the sacrifices established by the Law were to be abolished, said through David: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” ^B (Ps. cix, 4), who did not offer legal sacrifices, but prayers, and bread and wine, as history teaches. It is clear, therefore, that with the priesthood of Aaron, the legal polity was also taken away, and in its place a polity in keeping with the administration of Melchizedek was introduced.

*From the same.*

Nothing is more miserable than the Jews. For when they had to keep the Law, they transgressed it; but now, when they are not to keep it, they attempt to observe it, and they provoke God, not only by violating the Law, but also by observing ^C it.

*From the same.*

The Jews endured three grievous servitudes: the one in Egypt, the one in Babylon, and the [one] under Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes. God brought none of these upon them without having predicted it; rather, for each one He indicated the number of years: four hundred for the first, seventy for the second, and three and a half years and a little more for the third; and He proclaimed their freedom. And regarding the one in Egypt, God previously spoke to Abraham: “Knowing, you shall know that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own. And they shall enslave it, and they shall afflict it for four hundred years. ^D But the nation to which they shall be enslaved, I will judge; and in the fourth generation they shall return hither with much baggage” (Gen. xv, 13, 14). You have now learned the number of the years, that it is four hundred; and the most bitter servitude, in that “they shall afflict it”; and the punishment of those who enslaved them, [who were] condemned to be drowned in the waters; and the manner of the deliverance, in that “with much baggage,” that is, wealth. And regarding the one in Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah prophesied, saying: “Thus says the Lord: When seventy years are about to be fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will establish over you my good words, to return to this place. And I will turn back the captivity”

of yours, and I will gather you from all the nations whither I have scattered you there, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from whence I removed you. You see all things foretold with truth? Therefore, Daniel did not supplicate for them before the seventy years were completed, as he himself says, so that he, too, might not hear what Jeremiah heard: “Do not pray for this people, nor make request for them, because I will not hear you.” ^A And the just man, in praying, condemned himself, saying, “We have sinned, we have acted unjustly, we have committed iniquity.” But they, full of ten thousand evils, did the opposite, saying, “We have kept thy commandments, and now we call the foreigners blessed, and they who do iniquities are built up.” For just as it is the custom for the good to be modest after their virtuous deeds, so it is the custom for the wicked to boast after their sins. ^B Daniel spoke clearly regarding the Antiochus who was called Illustrious, for he called the ram the king of the Persians, Darius, and the goat the king of the Macedonians, Alexander; and its four horns, the kings who divided his empire after Alexander had died; and later, the horn, which we have mentioned, Antiochus. Then, manifesting the overthrow of the Jewish polity that he brought about, he says: “By him, the sacrifice was disturbed, and the sanctuary will be wasted, and sin was given over the sacrifice.” For having set up an idol in the temple, he performed foul sacrifices to it. ^C “And justice was cast to the ground,” meaning the decrees of the law. And again, describing these things in another place of his prophecy more broadly from above, and coming down to Antiochus, he adds: “Arms will arise, and they will profane the sanctuary, and they will remove the *endelechismos*,” that is, the perpetual and daily sacrifices; “and they will give the abomination into it,” namely, an idol; “and they will grow weak by the sword, and by flame,” alluding to the burning of the city, “and by captivity, and by plunder; and while they are growing weak, they will be helped with a small help,” signifying a truce; then he adds the cause of the calamities: “In order to fire them,” he says, ^D “until the time of the end,” that is, so that the elect might be tested and those who have sinned might be purified. After this, having taught about the blasphemy of Antiochus against God, he adds that “he will prosper until the end of the wrath,” that is, until the wrath of God against the Jews is fulfilled. And having announced everything else, and coming to their deliverance, he says: “And Michael, the great prince who stands over the sons of thy people, will arise; and there will be a time of tribulation, such as has not been since a nation existed upon the earth until that time.” Then all the people that are found written, that is, in the book of the living—this means those who are worthy of salvation—will be saved. But from the time, he says, of the changing of the *Endelechismos*, that is, of the dissolution of the sacrifice, there will be one thousand two hundred ninety days. This period is three and a half years, and a little...

more. Behold also the length of the time. ^B Again He says: "Blessed is he who waits, and arrives at one thousand three hundred thirty-five days." This is the gospel of the deliverance. He added forty-five days, because in these days the conflict, the victory, and the complete deliverance from evils took place. He did not call blessed him who simply arrived, but him who arrived with patience, and who had not betrayed his piety. Do you see? Not until years and months, but even down to a single day, both the captivity and the deliverance were precisely calculated and announced beforehand! Josephus the Hebrew also wrote these things most clearly. For with respect to those notable captivities, both they and the lengths of their times, and the deliverances were predicted; but concerning these more notable ones, that Jerusalem would be devastated by the Romans was predicted; but that it would ever be restored was not announced at all.

Of the same author.

^C Daniel says that Gabriel came to him, and says: "Seventy weeks have been completed upon thy people," that is, they have been defined. For instead of the seventy years of the distress in Babylon, God defined for them seventy weeks of years to remain in the legal worship, and then to fall from it on account of the undertaking against Christ. For this reason He said "upon thy people," who were no longer God’s. Now, seventy weeks comprise four hundred ninety years, which, beginning from the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem through Nehemiah, are completed until Christ was baptized. ^D For, proceeding, He declared their beginning and their end, saying: "From the building of Jerusalem until Christ the prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks," that is, sixty-nine weeks, with one wanting to complete the seventy. For the seventy start from the rebuilding of the temple, and the sixty-nine from the time when the city of Jerusalem is also rebuilt. For He says, "The plaza and the wall shall be built." For when Christ was baptized and gained disciples, then the Jews, beginning to rage against Him, were stripped of divine care. And see how all things were clarified to Daniel by the angel. For he said, "To bring the transgression to an end," that is, when sin should be exalted—and what is more crowning than the deicide?—"and to seal up sins," so that nothing greater should remain. Therefore, Christ also said to them: "Fill up the measure of your fathers." For they indeed slew the prophets, but you [are about to slay]

the Lord of the prophets; and "let the vision and prophecy be sealed," [Note: Dan. 9:24] that is, when prophecy shall cease. For similarly Christ said: "The Law and the prophets were until John." And "the anointing shall be destroyed," he says—that is, the royal and the priestly [anointing]; "and there shall be no judgment," that is, no judge; "and he shall destroy both the city and the sanctuary,"—the Roman army shall destroy the city and the temple—"with the Leader coming," that is, with Christ aiding him, who is the Leader of those who believe in Him, who is to come again at His second advent; "and they shall be cut off," he says, "as in a flood." And again, speaking concerning the captivity, he has said: "Sacrifice and drink offering shall be taken away, and upon the temple shall be the abomination of desolation," calling the statue of Titus the abomination of desolation. Therefore Christ also said again: "When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, let him who reads understand." ^B And then, "even until the consummation of the time, the consummation shall be given upon the desolation," calling the consummation of the time that which is fixed for the world; or let them show another time. For behold, for a thousand years now they have remained in servitude, and henceforth the consummation of the world is near. Whence also the aforementioned Josephus, writing about the capture of Jerusalem, says these things.

Furthermore, Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman rule, that Jerusalem would be taken by them, and the temple would be laid waste. And he did not dare to add anything more, knowing nowhere that anything had been written concerning deliverance from these miseries. Moreover, at different times afterwards, the dispersed Jews attempted to restore both the temple and the city; under the Emperor Hadrian, ^C they suffered myriad evils, with the foundations even being razed, and the city called Aelia after the surname of the emperor. And under Constantine the Great, when they attempted the same things, they suffered the same, and their ears were cut off, so that by that mark they might be recognized as having departed from the interdict of Christ. But under the Emperor Julian, when he was helping them to complete the work, in order to show that Christ had uttered a falsehood, fire leaped forth from the foundations being dug up, and it burned some and scattered others. And what of the fact that in other captivities prophets were with them, but in this one, no one?

Of the same

Why did you slay Christ, O Jew? "Because," he says, "He was an impostor and an enemy of God." And yet, it was ^D reasonable that you, as one who had slain the adversary of God, should receive grace from God Himself, and accept gifts. For if, often overlooking your sins, He recalled you from captivities, saying: "I do not do it for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My name's sake," [Note: Ezek 36:22] that is, lest I seem to abandon you for lack of help; much more was it equitable that He should preserve you, since you had acted nobly in having removed His adversary from the midst. But now, your nation, after the

as for your nation, after the killing of Him, it has suffered such great and grievous calamities, such as no other nation since the memory of man has suffered. For having passed through every calamity, of which every ear is full, it was finally scattered among all nations, and serves among them all in the most abject and disgraceful slavery, which has continued through all the ages. ^A But to these things, you say, "They have happened to us because of our sins." What sins? For there are no such sins as those which you committed in the past. For long ago you worshipped the calf, and were initiated into Beelphegor, and sacrificed your sons and daughters to demons, and killed the prophets, and trampled upon the laws of God, yet you did not suffer anything comparable. For although you were taken captive in various ways, you were again shown mercy, and restored to your former status. Now, however, when you are even keeping the laws and living more temperately, you are being punished more inexcusably. Why is this? Because you have committed inexcusable sins. For you nailed the Son of God to the cross. And you could not find a greater sin than this. Either, therefore, you must say that God is unjust, punishing those who brought help to Him and killed His enemy, or even against your will you must confess that you have committed the most grievous crime of all that you have ever committed. And what is that crime, if not that you inflicted death upon the Life? By this nefarious crime, indeed, after the sins which we have enumerated, I will not say even more grievous, but not even equal to it have you committed.

^B The same.

Concerning the Seraphim, Isaiah says: "And the lintel was lifted up at the voice, from which they cried, and the house was filled with smoke."

The same. When the Jew says to you, "How did the Virgin give birth?" do you say to him in turn, "How did the barren and aged Sarah give birth?" In that case there is only one impediment, which is that she did not know marriage; in this case, however, there are two, for she was not only barren, but also old. ^D

^A neither is this [the same as] that. What argument will gainsay this? Choose, therefore, which of the two impieties you wish, O new theologian, if indeed you are altogether eager to be impious. Furthermore, how do you say that the unbegotten and the begotten are not the same? If by this you mean that which is not created and that which is created, I also accept it; for that which is without beginning and that which is created are not the same by nature. But if you say that that which has begotten and that which has been begotten are not the same, it is not rightly said. For there is every necessity that they be the same; for this is the nature of the begetter and the begotten, for the begotten to be the same in nature with him who has begotten. Or again in this way: how do you say the unbegotten and the begotten are [not the same]? If you mean by this the very lack of generation and the generation itself, they are not the same. But if you mean the subjects in whom these exist, how are they not the same? Since even "unwise" and "wise" are not the same as each other, yet they are considered around the same man; and they do not cut the substance, but are cut around the same substance. ^B Or are immortality, and innocence, and immutability also the essence of God? But if this is so, there will be many essences of God, and not one; or else the divine is composed of these. For these cannot exist without composition, if indeed they are essences. These things, however, they do not say; for they are common to others also. But that which is proper and peculiar only to God, this is essence. The [heretics] would not grant that being unbegotten is of God alone, those who introduce also matter and form as unbegotten. For let us cast far away the darkness of the Manichaeans. But let it be that the unbegotten is of God alone. What of Adam? Was he not alone formed by God? Absolutely, you will say. Is he then also the only man? By no means. Why so? Because the formation is not humanity; for that which is begotten is also a man. In the same way, the unbegotten is not God alone, even if it is of the Father alone. But admit also that the begotten is God; for he is from God, even if you are exceedingly fond of the unbegotten. Furthermore, how do you call the essence of God not the position of what is, but the removal of what is not? For the word "unbegotten" signifies that it is devoid of generation, but it does not declare what that which is devoid of generation is by nature, nor what it is that possesses [this] generation. What then is the essence of God? It is for your recklessness to say this, you who thoroughly investigate even the generation itself; for us, it is a great thing, if even hereafter we might learn this, when this darkness and thickness are dissolved, as is the promise of Him who does not lie. Let this therefore be both considered and hoped for by those who are being purified for this end. We, however, will dare to say this much, that if it is a great thing for the Father to have originated from nowhere, it is no less for the Son to have proceeded from such a Father. For he might be partaker of the glory of Him who is without cause, because he is from the Cause-less, and there also attaches the honor of generation, a matter so great and so venerable to those who are not altogether grovelling on the ground ^C and material in their understanding.

^A For when the Gospel was promulgated, all became one body and have one head, Christ, and they escaped those to be feared by demons. But what He said Himself, that He came not to bring peace upon the earth but a sword, is not understood as referring to a bellicose sword. For the sword which He brought is nothing other than the dissemination of His religion, and the faith in Him, which separates the faithful from the infidel, and severs their union and consensus in sinning. And these things indeed may be said concerning the prophecy of Micah. Let us look at what is said by Jeremiah. Since Christ performed many great signs, those who concurred and waited—all from the small even to the great—had their own eyes as teachers of the knowledge of God, and contemplating His divine-worthy powers, they quickly learned for themselves that He is God, as it is possible to perceive not only from the writing of the Gospels, but also from the chronicles of the Jews ^B and the historians of the Greeks. It remains, therefore, to speak regarding the sign of the advent of Christ according to Isaiah. He indicated the diverse characters of men by the differences of the tame and wild animals, and through their common dwelling showed the one fold of these, and the Churches to be constituted from them; calling him who is swift to plunder a wolf, but him who is exposed to prey and pillage a lamb; him who is crafty and varied in mind a leopard, but him who is simple a kid. And a calf is the gentle one, a bull the bold one, a lion the proud one, whom a man shall lead and pasture, aged in prudence, but a little child in guilelessness and humility, and great in virtue, but small in apparent lowliness and simplicity. Such also are the leaders of the Churches, by whom those who are led with different characters are regulated and fitted together. And again, by ox he means the laborious, by bear the gluttonous. And again, by lion the ^C governing and masterful, by ox those who are under the yoke of servitude and are submissive. And straw is the humble food of the one under the yoke. For he who submits will feed together with him who is submitted to him for the sake of the unity of the faith. And the little child is each of the leaders, as has been said, behaving as a child in malice, whose hand—that is, the teaching, because of how effective it is—is cast upon the faithless, who are the dens and hiding places and dwellings and resting places of the intelligible asps, that is, of the venomous and death-bringing demons, of whom the passions are offspring. And in another way, those who live according to Christ, laying their hand upon the demons and applying the sign of the cross, do not allow the indwelling demons to harm those who are suffering. That the Scripture frequently calls the nations beasts is clear. For God says through Hosea: "I will make a covenant in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heaven, and with the creeping things of the earth" ^D; by a more general expression, naming the wild and cruel the beasts of the field, the more exalted ones the birds, and the lower ones the creeping things; or the birds as those devoted to astrology, and the creeping things as those who are defiled in their passions. And again through Isaiah: "The beasts of the field shall bless me"; and through Jeremiah again: "I will make a covenant in that day"

^A with the wild beasts of the field and with the birds of the sky and with the serpents of the earth. In a freer and broader sense, he calls the wild beasts of the field the fierce and cruel ones. By the birds, however, he means those who are endowed with a more sublime mind. By the serpents, indeed, those who are more abject. Or, by the birds, he means those who are devoted to the studies of astrology. And through Isaiah: "The beasts of the field," he says, "shall bless me." And through Jeremiah: "I have given," he says, "all the land to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to serve him, and the beasts of the field to labor for him." And through Ezekiel: "I will destroy," he says, "the evil beasts from the earth." To pass over for the time being those things recorded by Daniel, and with good reason. For it is said: "The man who has intelligence has been compared to the senseless beasts, and has been made like to them."

Item against the same. Of other Fathers.

If man, the most beautiful work of God, was created to His image and likeness, how is it unworthy of God to take flesh from that which He Himself fashioned to His image and likeness? Furthermore, if it was not shameful for God to fashion and create man, how will it be shameful for Him to refashion and reform him?

If the sun, which is a corruptible body, casting its rays far and wide into all parts, moves amidst muddy and filthy places, and yet does not defile its own purity, but draws in its bright rays and sends them forth again in such a way that it itself is not defiled at all, but brings much benefit to the bodies ^C that receive them: how much more did the Sun of Justice, who is the Creator of all things, whether corporeal or incorporeal, by entering into the pure flesh which He Himself had fashioned, not only contract no stain Himself, but even rendered that same flesh purer and holier?

Of the Damascene on the Sabbath. Chap. 32.

The Sabbath is called the seventh day, and it signifies rest. For God rested on that day from all His works, as the Divine Scripture says; wherefore the number of days, having advanced as far as the seventh, returns again in a circle and takes its beginning from the first. Furthermore, this number is held in honor among the Jews; for God commanded that it be honored, and that not perfunctorily, but with even the most severe penalties established for those who transgressed it. Nor did He command this without reason, but moved by certain causes which those endowed with spiritual truth and sharpness of mind understand.

As for me, however, being otherwise unskilled, insofar as I can grasp it (to begin from the lower and crasser things), since God knew that the Israelite people were gross and addicted to the flesh, and immensely prone to earthly things, and lacking any discernment, He sanctioned this law: first, so that the servant and the beast of burden might rest, as it is written: "For a righteous man pities the lives of his beasts"; ^D and second, so that they themselves, being free from earthly occupations, might gather together unto God, in psalms,

and hymns, and spiritual songs, and spending the whole of the seventh day in the study of the divine Scriptures, rest in God. For when the Law did not exist, and Scripture was not divinely inspired, the Sabbath was not consecrated to God. But after the divine Scripture was given through Moses, the Sabbath was consecrated to God, as a means for us to meditate upon this, for in it we shall exercise study, not as servants paying court to their Master as to a Father, but as ungrateful slaves, even if we truncate a small and very tiny portion of our life to offer to God; and this because we fear the correction and punishment of those in authority. For the law is not laid down for a righteous man, but for the unrighteous. Since Moses first fasted for forty days, and again spent another forty in fasting, after which he ^A served God, certainly he who subjected himself to the Sabbath through fasting, as the law commanded, was not harming himself on the day of the Sabbath. But if they say that before this law, what will they say regarding the heaven-driven Elias, who endured a journey of forty days on one meal? For he not only fasted, but also by walking, he afflicted himself during the forty days of the Sabbath, he broke the Sabbath; and God was not angry with him, but having given the law, He gave him virtue as a reward. What do they say regarding Daniel? Did he not spend three weeks without food? And what of all of Israel, who would circumcise the child on the Sabbath, if it happened to be the eighth day? Did they not keep the great fast, which was legislated for them, if they happened to fall upon the Sabbath, and will they not fast? Or do not even the priests and the Levites profane the Sabbath in the works of the tabernacle, and are they blameless? But if a beast ^B falls into a pit on the Sabbath, the one is innocent, the other, if he were to look past it, is condemned. But as for all of Israel, did they not walk around the walls of Jericho while carrying the ark of God for seven days, during which the Sabbath was certainly included?

It is clear that they were not sinning when they did this. As I said, then, in order to grant leisure for God, so that they might render to Him at least a very small portion of their life, and that both the servant and the beast might rest, the observance of the Sabbath was devised for them, for those who were still children, and enslaved under the elements of the world, and carnal, and unable to understand the Spirit. But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. For as many as received Him, He gave them power to become children of God ^C to those who believe in His name; so that we are no longer slaves, but sons; no longer under the law, but under ^D [the grace of the Spirit—*the text breaks at the end of the page, continuing in the next section*].

time of our lives, and to cause that servant of ours—I mean anger and desire—to rest from sin, and to permit ourselves to have leisure for God. We must always direct all our desire toward God, and arm our anger against the enemies of God. Likewise, we must treat our beast of burden—that is, the body—by granting it relief from the servitude of sin, and compelling it to serve the divine commandments.

These are the things the spiritual law of Christ commands us, and those who keep them become superior to the Mosaic law. For when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part is done away; and through the tearing of the covering or veil of the law by the Savior’s cross, and the shining forth of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire, the letter has grown obsolete, bodily things have ceased, the law of servitude has been fulfilled, and the law of liberty has been bestowed upon us. We also celebrate the perfect rest of human nature—I mean the day of the resurrection, in which the Lord Jesus, the Author of life and Savior, brought us into the promised inheritance for those who serve God with spiritual worship. Into this, He Himself, our forerunner, has entered after returning from death to life; and with the gates of heaven opened and made manifest to Him, He has sat down in the body at the right hand of the Father, where those who observe the law of the Spirit are subsequently to enter.

^C To us, therefore, who walk by the Spirit and not by the letter, pertains the entire rejection of carnal things, spiritual worship, and union with God. For circumcision is the rejection of bodily pleasure and of superfluous and unnecessary things. For the foreskin is nothing other than skin, the refuse of the member in which lust is stirred. Furthermore, all pleasure that is not taken from God and in God is a superfluous portion of pleasure, the figure of which is the foreskin; while the Sabbath is rest from sin. Wherefore these two things are absolutely one, and thus both together, if observed by those who act according to the Spirit, do not create even the slightest mark of moral failing.

^D Furthermore, it should be noted that the number seven signifies all the present time, just as the most wise Solomon said: "Give a portion to seven, and also to eight." And the God-inspired David, while singing a psalm about the eighth, sang of the future state of things after the resurrection from the dead. Since, therefore, the Law commanded [the people] to cease from bodily things on the seventh day and to occupy themselves with spiritual things, it mystically indicated to the true Israelite, and to him who is gifted with a mind that can see God, that this is something to be done always: to offer oneself to God and to rise above bodily things.

On the Jewish Circumcision, from the interpretation of Great John Chrysostom on the Book of Genesis.

^A Why, I ask you, are you circumcised now? For of old your ancestors were ordered to be circumcised, so that they would not be mixed up with those nations that were outside the Law. But now, since all nations have been guided by the grace of God to the light of truth, what is the profit of circumcision? For does the laying aside of the flesh contribute anything toward the freedom of the soul? Did you not clearly hear God saying: "And it shall be for a sign of a covenant" (Gen. XVII, 11)? By these words, he shows nothing other than that, on account of their great lack of judgment, they had need of such a sign and mark. For so it happens often even in human affairs: whenever we do not have trust in someone, we are eager to take some sign as a pledge from them. So too, the Lord of all, knowing the fickleness of their mind, deigned to demand this sign from them, not that this sign should remain forever, but that, once the things of that time had reached their end, the need for the sign also should be removed. For just as when some people demand a sign, they want to receive a ^B pledge, but when the matter at hand reaches its conclusion, the sign is thereafter removed; so too here, since this sign was required of you because the people of the patriarch had to be made manifest, it was necessary, once those nations for whose sake you had received the sign had either been utterly destroyed or had run to the light of the truth, that you should no longer carry about the token of your own lack of judgment, but rather be released from it and return to your former nobility. Consider for me, moreover, that that wonderful patriarch, before he received the commandment of circumcision—for he was ninety-nine years old when this was commanded—had already been pleasing to God and had been proclaimed by the Lord thousands of times. And when, at last, the things of the promise were about to proceed into action, and Isaac was to be born, and the race to be multiplied, and the patriarch was to depart ^C from this life, only then does he receive the command of circumcision, and is circumcised at such an age, so that what the patriarch had done might become a law and rule for all those to follow. And that you might learn accurately that this contributes nothing to the virtue of the soul, one can understand this from the very things that are happening now. For what does it say? "A child of eight days shall be circumcised." I believe this time was fixed by the benevolent God for two reasons: one, that in that tender age he might more easily endure the pain of the circumcision; and second, that through these very deeds we might be taught that what is done contributes nothing to the soul, but is done only for the sake of a sign. For what profit can that premature infant, who does not know what is happening and possesses no sensation, receive into his soul from this? For those are the deeds of the soul properly so-called, which come from the power of choice. For it is the work of the soul ^D to choose virtue and to flee vice. For what utility can that very tender little boy, who is almost entirely without sense and is completely ignorant of what is happening, perceive from it? For those are properly the right offices of the soul, which proceed from the will. It is a perfect work and office of the soul to embrace virtue, to flee vice, not to covet more, but to distribute kindly to the needy what one has; that

it should not be attached to present things but, while despising and scorning these, should constantly think of future things and imagine them day by day. ^A But what kind of perfect work would circumcision be? Yet the senseless and ungrateful Jews, although the truth has appeared—since they abide in the shadow and while the sun of justice has shone forth, casting the rays of its light everywhere, they still cling to the light of a lamp—and since the time demands that they be nourished by solid food, they cannot be moved away from milk, nor are they willing to hear the blessed Paul calling out and saying concerning the patriarch: *And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the justice of the faith which is in uncircumcision* (Rom. IV, 11). See how he has taught us both things here: that he received circumcision for the sake of a sign, and that while he was still in uncircumcision, he manifested the justice which is of faith. For lest the Jew shamelessly assert that circumcision brought justice to him, for this reason this blessed man, who was educated at the feet of Gamaliel and instructed in the strictness of the law, says: Do not think, O shameless Jews, that circumcision contributed anything to his justice. ^B For indeed, having demonstrated his faith in the time of uncircumcision, he heard: *Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice* (Gen. XV, 6; Rom. IV, 3). Being, therefore, in justice through faith, he then receives circumcision for the sake of a sign, and at the same time God adds an element to his name, and afterwards He commands that he be circumcised, to show that, on account of his great virtue, He had made the righteous man His friend, and for his sake [had made friends of] his descendants as well. And just as one who has acquired a servant often changes his name and his attire, and does everything to make him recognized and to declare himself his master, so also the God of all things, when He wished to distinguish the patriarch from other men, ^C by adding one letter to his name indicated that he would be the father of many nations, and by circumcision He showed that he would have a people of his own, and that the seed to be born of him would be separated from the rest of the nations; even if they, blinded by their own hardness of heart, still wish to observe the circumcision of the flesh, not listening to Paul again saying: *If you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing* (Gal. V, 2); for the Lord was born for this very reason, that He might take away all these things. And for this reason He Himself fulfilled the whole law, that He might not permit the observance of the law to proceed any further. ^D Therefore also the blessed Paul cried out: *You who are justified in the law, you are fallen from grace* (Gal. V, 4).

Item concerning circumcision. From Damascene, chapter 54.

Circumcision was given to Abraham before the law, after the blessings, after the promise, as a sign to distinguish him and those from him, and his household servants from the nations with whom he lived. This, however,

of which he lived. It is evident, for when Israel dwelt alone in the desert for forty years, not mingled with any other nation, those who were born in the desert were not circumcised, and a second law of circumcision was made. For in the time of Abraham the law of circumcision was given. Afterward it ceased for forty years in the desert, and God gave again a second time to Joshua the law of circumcision after they had crossed the Jordan, as it is written in the book of Joshua. ^B Circumcision, therefore, was a sign by which Israel was distinguished from the rest of the nations, a mark of baptism. For as circumcision cuts away not a useful member of the body, but something useless and superfluous, so through baptism sin is circumcised and cut away from us. Now that sin is a superfluous desire, and not a useful or necessary desire, is manifest. For that one should not desire anything at all, or be completely devoid of the taste of pleasure, is not possible. Wherefore, useless pleasure—that is, useless desire and pleasure—is sin, which is cut away by holy baptism, providing for us as a sign the honorable cross upon the forehead, not separating us from other nations, for all nations have attained to baptism and have been sealed with the sign of the cross, but in every nation distinguishing the faithful from the infidel. The truth therefore having been revealed, the sign, the mark, and the shadow are useless. Hence, it is now superfluous to be circumcised, and it is contrary ^C to holy baptism. For he who is circumcised is obliged to fulfill the whole law. But the Lord, that he might fulfill the law, was circumcised, and he observed the whole law and the Sabbath, that he might fulfill it and impose a limit upon it. For from the time he was baptized, and the Holy Spirit appeared to men descending upon him in the form of a dove, from that time the spiritual worship, and the way of life, and the kingdom of the heavens have been proclaimed.

Titulus IX. Against Simon the Samaritan, and Marcion the Pontic, and Manes the Persian, and the Manichaeans, of the Great Athanasius.

Certain ones, having fallen away from ecclesiastical teaching and having suffered shipwreck concerning the faith, imagine that the nature of evil is self-subsisting. And besides the true Father of Christ, they fashion for themselves another God, and him also unbegotten, ^D and the creator of evil, and the author of malice, and the creator of the world. These men one might easily refute, both from the divine Scriptures and from that very faculty of reason in men, through which they rave as they fashion these things. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, therefore, in the Gospels says, confirming the words of Moses: "The Lord thy God, the Lord is one." And, "I confess to thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth." But if there is one God...

and this is the Lord of heaven and earth, how could there be another God besides him? And where ^A would the god of these people be, when the one and true God fills all things within the compass of heaven and earth? Or how could there be another creator, of whom the God and Father of Christ himself is Lord, according to the voice of the Savior? Unless, perchance, they would say they are of equal station, and that the evil one could also be lord of the good God. But if they say this, mark into what great impiety they fall. For among those who have equal power, one cannot be found who is superior or better. And indeed, if one exists against the will of the other, equal is the power of both, and their weakness is also equal; equal is the power, because they overcome one another's will in existing; equal too is the weakness, because things happen contrary to their will, since ^B both matters proceed contrary to the will of the others. For the good one exists contrary to the will of the evil one, and the evil one exists contrary to the will of the good one. Furthermore, this also might one say to them: if the visible works are the works of the evil one, what is the work of the good one? For nothing is seen except the creation of the creator. And what, moreover, is the sign of the good one being, when there are no works of his by which he might be known? For the creator is known from his works. Or how, in general, could two things be contrary to one another? Or what is it that divides them, so that they might be apart from one another? For it is impossible for them to be together, because they are destructive of one another. Nor could one be in the other, because their nature is dissimilar and does not allow for conjunction. ^C Therefore, a third thing will exist that separates them, and this too must be God. But what nature would this third thing have? Is it similar to the good, or to the evil? For it is impossible for it to be of both. Since, therefore, their fabrication is convicted of being rotten, it is necessary that the truth of ecclesiastical doctrine shine forth, which teaches that evil did not proceed from God, nor is it in God, nor was it made from the beginning, nor does any nature or essence of it exist, but that men, by thinking of the privation of the good, began to invent and conjure up for themselves things that are not, and just as they desire. For just as if someone, while the sun is shining and illuminating the whole earth with its rays, were to close his eyes, he creates for himself darkness, which does not exist; from which it happens that he walks in the darkness, erring and often stumbling, and falling, ^D and rushing headlong from steep places, thinking that the light is not present, but darkness; and while he thinks he sees, he sees nothing at all; so also the soul of men, by closing its eye, through which it is able to see God, has thought up for itself evils, in which, while moving, it knows not that even while it seems to itself to be doing something, it does nothing. For it imagines things that are not, and remains not such as it was made, but appears such as it has commingled itself to be. For it was made to see God and to be illuminated by God, but it, instead of God, sought out corruptible things and darkness, as the Scripture somewhere signifies: "God made man upright," it says, "but they themselves have sought out many schemes."

^A Of the same, against Valentinus, who in many things agreed with the aforementioned heretics.

How do you assert that Christ was clothed in heavenly flesh, and not human, when the Apostle declares: "He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one"? For which reason, he says, he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying: "I will declare your name to my brothers." Clearly, from one, namely Adam, according to the genealogy of Luke. And again: "Since the children have shared in flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same." And removing the suspicion of heavenly flesh, he added: "For he does not take hold of angels, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham." Whence he had to be like his brothers in all things. And many such things. But the Lord, they say, has said in the Gospels: "No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven." And the Apostle again: "The first man is from the earth, earthly; the second man ^B is the Lord from heaven." Behold, they say, he is called a heavenly man on both accounts. To whom we shall answer that, since Christ is double in his natures, he is singular in his person, and appropriates the things of each nature. And just as the Apostle, when speaking of those who killed Christ, that "if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory," does not mean that the divinity, which is the Lord of glory, suffered, but the assumed nature; so also in these passages, the Son and God himself is said to have suffered because of the one person of the divinity, which has also become the person for the human nature; but he suffered according to his human nature. And he is said to have both descended from heaven and to be in heaven according to the person of the divinity; but to be the Son of Man according to the nature ^C assumed later after his descent from heaven. And again, the same Lord, because of the one person, is the second man because of the joined humanity, but from heaven because of his divinity. For if we do not understand each appropriately, we will suspect a contradiction in the Apostles. For how is he like us earthly beings in all things, or how is he our brother if he is clothed in heavenly flesh? And ten thousand other absurdities will follow.

Item against the same, from the second discourse of Basil the Great on the Hexaemeron.

"And darkness was upon the abyss." They do not interpret darkness as it is by nature—namely, a certain air non-illuminated, or a place obscured by the interposition of a body—but as an evil power, or rather as evil itself, which has its beginning from itself, but which opposes ^D and is contrary to the goodness of God. For if God is light, they say, it is logically consistent that the power which opposes him should be darkness, having its beginning from no other source, but self-begotten as an evil. Which indeed is nothing else but evil itself, which fights against souls, produces death, and pursues virtue as an enemy.

^A They are deceived by the words of the prophet. But from this, are not the wicked and godless doctrines interwoven? What grievous wolves, tearing asunder the flock of God, have not taken their beginning from this little phrase and spread over souls? Are there not Marcionites? Are there not Valentinians? Is there not the abominable heresy of the Manichaeans? If one were to call it the putrid pus of the Churches, he would not be mistaken. That the earth was invisible is confirmed by that which follows: because the abyss, which was attached to it, was itself also wrapped in darkness. Wherefore the abyss is not a multitude of opposing powers, as some have opined. Nor is darkness some primal and wicked power which opposes the good itself. For two things that set themselves against each other with equal strength will entirely destroy one another, and will be perpetually distracted by such a war that they have no respite, and constantly exhaust each other. And if one should surpass the other in power, it will entirely consume that which has been overcome. Therefore, if they say the opposition of evil to good is balanced, they introduce an unceasing war and perpetual destruction, as both are in turn conquering and being conquered; but if the good exceeds in power, what is the reason that the nature of evil has not been utterly destroyed? But if—which it is not lawful to say, I wonder—why do they not flee and ^B abhor themselves, who invent such impious and detestable curses? Yet it is not pious to say that evil originates from God himself, since no contrary is produced by its contrary. For neither does life beget death, nor is darkness the source of light, nor is disease the creator of health. If then, he says, it is neither unbegotten nor created by God, whence does it have its nature? For no one who enjoys the gift of life will deny that evils exist. What then shall we say? That evil is not a living and animate nature, but a disposition in the soul which is opposed to virtue, occurring in the sluggish because of their falling away from the good. Do not therefore search for evil outside of yourself, nor imagine some primordial nature of wickedness, but let each man acknowledge himself the author of the evil within him. Of that, then, of which you are master, do not seek the beginnings from elsewhere, but acknowledge that evil, strictly and truly so called, takes its beginning from voluntary falls. For if it happened against our will, then there would not be such fear of the laws hanging over those who transgress, nor would the punishments of the courts so measuredly requite the crimes of wrongdoers according to their deserts. ^C Item in eundem. Ex libro, qui Gregorio Nyssæ pontifici ascribitur, De cognitione Dei.

And darkness, says Moses, was upon the abyss. From which these men maliciously reasoning say that there were shadows, of which the creative cause is the evil principle. Then also: And God divided between the light and between the darkness. If light is, and darkness is, therefore that which is separated from the light [is something]. These things the dark-minded ones say, who are blind in the light. But we say that darkness is not ^D

^A a substance, but an accident, and nothing other than the absence of light. For when the heavens were covered at the beginning by the object obstructing the things around them, darkness came into being, as is accustomed to happen even now in things that are obstructed. The separation of these is that measurable interval of the absence of light. And in a certain way, the absence and privation of light becomes a state and a subsisting existence for darkness. But an evil principle—that is to say, an evil God—does not exist. For if He is God, He is not evil, but the fountain of goodness; and if He is evil, He is not God. For how can God be malice or sin? But if these things were God, all things would vanish and be overturned.

*From the same.* How can there be two principles, one good and one evil? For the good and the evil—that is, the bad—are contrary to one another, and they are destructive of one another and incompatible. Therefore, each one will be in a part of the whole, and it will be circumscribed by this part; and they will touch one another and be destroyed by one another, or there will be something in between separating them, and behold, three principles. And again, they either dwell in peace, which the evil one cannot do, or they will fight, which the good one does not wish, nor can he. For the evil one, being at peace, is not evil; and the good one, fighting, is not good. Therefore, there are not two principles, especially when they are so contrary and at such great enmity. There is only one, which is wholly good. But the evil one is not a principle, but a privation and a failure of the good.

*From the same.* ^B If both the good and the evil are by nature gods, they have another principle. And the dyad is not a principle; on the contrary, the monad is the principle of the dyad. But if they are not principles, they will not be gods at all. Since, therefore, the monad is the principle of all things, then God is one, the cause and creator of all things.

*From the same.* If the good is a being, the evil is not a being. If the evil is a being, the good is not, according to the principle of immediate contraries, such as health and sickness, life and death. Therefore, God is not evil. ^C

*From the same.* The good God has goodness essentially and naturally, but the evil one would necessarily have the privation of goodness as his state. And how can he be God, who comes from a falling away and a deficiency? ^D

*From the same.* If there were two gods, or three, or simply many, the world would have perished long ago, being acted upon and moved in different ways at different times. But that it is always moved and managed in the same way and in the same manner, and the harmony, symphony, order, permanence, and preservation through all things, proclaims one and the same cause, creator, provider, and sustainer.

From the same.** ^A If this lower world is evil and wicked, then you too are evil and wicked, since you are a part of it. But if you are wicked by nature, truth is not in you. For truth is clearly a good; but good is alien to evil. Now, for those who lack the truth, their teachings are false and rest on no solid foundation.

**From the same.** ^B If you confess that this world is good, yet that the God and Father is evil and not the creator of this world, then there must surely be another evil world created by that evil God. But such a world does not exist; therefore, God is not evil. For God is the principle and the creative cause; but since things that are created and founded do not exist [as a principle], there is therefore no principle [of evil], nor is God evil.

**From the same.** ^C The God of the Old Testament, they say, does not have the divine foreknowledge that encompasses all things. For He asks Adam, "Where are you?" and Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" and Abraham, "Where is Sarah your wife?" and many things of this sort. To these we say: the questions indicated arise not from ignorance, but rather from knowledge. For if He had not known that both Adam and Cain had sinned, He would not have asked them immediately; and this is clear from what follows. For He spoke to Adam, even though he had not yet confessed anything about the eating: "Who told you that you were naked, unless you ate from the tree from which I commanded you alone not to eat?" And to Cain, even though he too was trying to hide: "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me." ^D These are not the words of one who is ignorant, but of one who knows clearly and distinctly, who by this form of questioning wishes to persuade those who have sinned to repent, when they perceive that they have been caught. Likewise, the words, "Where is Sarah your wife?" declare that He is not ignorant that Abraham has a wife and that she is called Sarah. And He who knows these things surely knew where she was. For otherwise, when Sarah was standing behind the door and laughing secretly, hearing that she would be a mother, He would not have said, "Why did Sarah laugh?" He even provided the cause of the laughter, saying that she reasoned within herself, "Shall I truly bring forth a child?" For these are the words of Him who knows even the heart and the mind. Moreover, He asked, "Where is Sarah your wife?" with the intention that Abraham, learning from this that He is a foreknower and knows all things, might pay attention to His superiority and for the future might believe all things which He might say. And the statement also regarding Sodom and Gomorrah, that "I will go down and see whether, according to their clamor, they have fully realized [their wickedness], or if not, that I may know," is spoken in the way of divine dispensation, teaching us not to punish on the basis of foreknowledge, but to await the actual investigation. For if He did not know, how

could He have said, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has come to me"? The earth, he says, cries out even before the events, or rather the events themselves cry out. There are many such interrogations not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New, which however all contain a mystery, and effect something else. For it is the property of God to know all things, and he who does not have knowledge of all things is not the God of all. ^A

From the same.

How is it that you say the lawgiver of the Old Testament is just, but the one of the New is good, and on these grounds contend that they are one different from the other? For if that which is just is good, the just one will be altogether good. For the just and the good are not antithetical to each other; and the good one is altogether just. Since there are countless uses declaring that the lawgiver of the Old Testament is good, I will bring forward one: "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good," ^B let the house of Israel say that He is good, and the two verses that follow. And the lawgiver of the New also: "And My judgment is just," and to John: "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." That there is one lawgiver for both the Old and the New, Jeremiah has foretold, saying: "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will establish a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant which I established with your fathers, when I took hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not remain in My covenant, and I disregarded them." And again, Christ himself, who is the lawgiver of both this and that, said: "I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it"; ^C that is to say, to perfect by a greater philosophy, one fitting for men, that which was incomplete because of the incompleteness of the Hebrews. For that was a pedagogue training us for the Gospel, and this is the mystagogue teaching more perfect things. And the one was schoolmastering our bodies, while this one perfects our souls. Therefore, the Old is a coworker to the New, and a preparation, and a path-making. ^D

Item against the same, from the great John Chrysostom, from the discourse on the words: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me."

For if, when these things took place, the wicked and villainous mouth of the devil, through Marcion of Pontus, and Valentinus, and Manichaeus the Persian, and many other heretics, attempted to overturn the account of the dispensation, and uttered a certain satanic sound, saying that He was not even made flesh, nor did He put on a body, but that this was a semblance, and a phantasy, and a shadow, and a pretense—even though the passions, the death, and the tomb cry out—if none of these things had happened,