A And those, too, who litigate concerning first principles, that they may be able to proceed by way and order unto the end. And this you may learn even from the external disciplines themselves. For if you do not grant the first principles to the geometer, he cannot conclude the things that follow. And he who opposes himself to the principles and elements of arithmetic cuts off the way to things further on. Similarly, neither can the principles of medicine be demonstrated by physicians. And in sum, in any profession whatsoever that proceeds by way and order toward an end, it is impossible to demand demonstrations for the first propositions; but it is necessary that he who has accepted without proof the principles of arts rooted in reason should look into what is consequent from things already posited [to see] what follows thereafter. Thus, indeed, the mystery of theology also requires assent from faith, which is devoid of proof. For one must believe, he says, that God exists; one must not inquire, nor contend [about] what He is. And, in sum, if faith is the substance of things hoped for and the proof of things not seen, do not contend now to see things that are far off and stored away; nor make things that are hoped for ambiguous, because you have not yet been able to attain knowledge B of them.
2. These things, then, are [spoken] in general about faith for the sake of those who argue about words and whose hope rests on empty expressions. It seems to me that the psalm in front of us has a coherence with the thought going before in the preceding psalm. For he said there: "I will please the Lord in the land of the living." Since, therefore, he is discoursing about a land that is not seen, as one who clearly knows [it], he renders the reason for his definition about things that are not manifest, saying: "I believed that there is a certain land of the living; therefore I spoke, that I will please the Lord in it." In general, the soul that approaches to speak without faith will prattle in vain, advancing its discourse C upon no underlying foundation. Therefore, the beginning of a prudent discourse is faith firmly fixed in the heart of the speaker. Then, [to show] how it is possible for us to achieve the perfection of faith, he adds immediately, saying: "But I was humbled exceedingly." For he who has not humbled his own mind, and does not say in imitation of the Apostle that, "Brothers, I do not consider myself to have yet apprehended [it]," but who thinks of grasping the essence of God and measures the unattainable with his own reasoning, and reckons God to be only as great as he himself has enclosed by his own reasoning—and, in sum, he who makes his own mind the measure of things that exist, not considering that D it is easier for the entire sea to be measured by a small cup than for the ineffable majesty of God to be grasped by the human mind—being puffed up in vain and exalted by the vanity of his own mind, cannot say that: "I believed, therefore I spoke"; since he cannot even say that which follows it: "But I was humbled exceedingly"; for he lives with pride and arrogance, and...
meanwhile possesses no strength of faith whatever. A Then he does not merely humble himself, but also the whole of the human race, which is akin to him and his companion in nature. VERSE 2. "I said," he says, "in my trance/excess: Every man is a liar." Therefore, he who is not helped by faith, but approaches the word from his own resources, trusting in human preparations to attain the truth, is a liar, falling far short of the truth; he rejoices in empty steps, being unable to possess the strength that comes from faith. Next, he does not merely humble himself, but also the entire human race at once, which is akin to him and his companion in nature.
3. But he says he spoke this word in his trance. And what is this trance? Either that, having looked around at human nature and having scrutinized whether there is anywhere among men any truth, and being unable to find this anywhere without the help of God, he became astonished at the strangeness of the matter and cried out: "Every man is a liar," B or else [he refers to] that trance in which I cloaked myself before Achish, feigning falling-sickness and madness; since I saw that I had come into the necessity of lying against myself and feigning things that were not, in order to escape the danger from my enemies, I then said: "Every man is a liar"—even if not by intent, nor for the harm of my neighbors, but altogether through certain unavoidable causes, I took refuge in lying. C But the Prophet does not speak things that are contradictory, as some of the sophists attempt to convict him, saying that the Prophet has fallen into a circular argument. For if every man is a liar, and David is also a man, then he himself was also a liar, clearly; and if he is a liar, then faith is not to be placed in the things he affirms. But if this statement is not true, and not every man is a liar, we shall also absolve David of the charge of lying. But if he is not lying, let us believe him in the things that he declares; yet, by believing, we shall again be led into the necessity of not believing. So, if David is telling the truth, he destroys his own statement, by being both a man and not lying; but if he is lying, he has from that very fact no ground to be believed; for who will pay attention to one who tells lies? Therefore, since he once pronounced that every man is a liar, David must lie so that he may confirm his statement; [yet] if he himself tells the truth, he has invalidated his declaration. But these things are the stuff of jesters, and of those who delight in the twists and turns of words before the unlearned: but the truth itself is by no means like this. D For those who are still held by human affections are called men; but he who has already become higher than carnal affections, and through the perfection of the mind has passed over to the state of the angels, when he speaks of human things, he certainly separates himself from the rest.
For he who said, "I said: Ye are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High; but you die as men," is devoid of lying. You are gods. A And altogether, if to any other, such an appellation is fitting for David himself. For he also is a son of the Most High, who through virtue is joined to God, and does not die as a man, but has God living within himself.
"Every man is a liar." Let them hear, who indeed are mired in the flesh through passions and vices, but yet raise their own mind to heavenly things: whose thoughts, and the height of the heart that exalts itself against God, it should be the common goal of all who embrace virtue to demolish and subvert.
"What shall I render to the Lord for all that He has rendered to me? I will take the cup of salvation." Having come to a realization of the myriad gifts from God; that from nothing he was brought into being; that being fashioned from the earth, he has been honored with reason, by which he is even able to bear the image of the heavenly one; then, looking also to the dispensation on behalf of the race of mankind, that the Lord gave Himself as a ransom for all B of us, he is at a loss, and seeks in all things available to him, what gift he might find worthy of the Master. What then, he says, shall I render to the Lord? Not sacrifices, nor whole burnt offerings, nor the observance of the legal worship, but my very life itself in its entirety. And for this reason, he says, "I will take the cup of salvation," calling the suffering in the struggles for piety, which is the standing against sin even unto death, a "cup." And this would be what the Savior Himself taught in the Gospels: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me"; and again to the disciples: "Are you able to drink the cup that I am about (to/to be) to drink?" He signified the death which He was undergoing for the salvation of the world. Therefore he says, "I will take the cup of salvation"; that is to say, C thirsting, I come to the completion through martyrdom, regarding the punishments brought upon me in the struggles for piety not as pains, but as rest for soul and body. Therefore, he says, I will offer myself as a sacrifice and offering to the Lord, since I consider all things to be inferior to the worth of Him who has done good. And these vows I am ready to pay under the witness of all His people. "I will pay my vows in the presence of all His people."
Then there is an exhortation to the hearers not to be terrified of death. "Precious," he says, "in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Do not be sluggish, he says, towards the noble struggle, you men, nor fear death, D not
for it is destruction, but the beginning of life; it is not a complete disappearance, but a transition to honor. Indeed, among men who love riches, certain little stones that shine with blooming colors are accustomed to be called precious; but "Precious" A in truth is the death of His saints. When a soul, living a pure life, free from the stains of the flesh, lacking spot or wrinkle, having been glorified by its struggles for piety and having crowned itself with the crown of righteousness, shining forth from all these things with the beauty of virtue, stands before the Lord and Judge of all, possessing a radiance from grace more brilliant than any precious stone, how could the death of such a man not be precious before the Lord? Let us not, therefore, lament the departures of holy men from here, but rather their births and entries into this life. For the entry into this world is B joined with the ignominy of filth and stench, things which even those who are the authors of our life could not easily bear to look upon. For through such things as these, the entry of human birth is by necessity of nature ordained. But the departure and the setting free from here is precious and glorious; not for all men, but for those who have lived life here in holiness and justice. Precious, therefore, is death, not precious is the birth of men. "It is sown," he says, "in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption" (I Cor. xv, 42, 43). Compare, therefore, death with birth, and cease lamenting him who has been delivered from ignominy. When they died according to the Jewish manner, corpses were loathsome; when death occurs for Christ, the relics C of His saints are precious. Before this, it was said to the priests and the Nazarites (Levit. xi, 39, 40): "You shall not be contaminated by any dead person"; and, "If anyone touches a corpse, he shall be unclean until evening"; and, "He shall wash his garments." But now, he who has touched the bones of a martyr receives a certain participation in sanctification from the grace residing in the body. Precious, therefore, in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Do not prefer the most worthless to the most precious, nor become bad traders, preferring a decaying life to an incorrupt and blessed state. For beyond the affections D of ignominy to which most voluptuaries are subject, there are also the necessities of life that break the high-spiritedness of the soul, reducing it, as it were, into slavery, while they drag it down to the service of the flesh. Where there is slavery, there it is clear that there is also ignominy. Therefore, life, to which ignominy is joined, is to be avoided.
5. "I perform nothing," he says, "great, when I give back to You, O Master, myself. For since I am Your servant, I offer to You your own possession. For everything that is created is entirely the servant of its Creator." So, is not our...
only by choice, but also by nature? For I am the son of Your handmaid, whom the enemy led away when she was still a little one, an infant, and having estranged her from your service, made her a slave to sin. But I turn back and run again to the Master from the beginning, and I acknowledge my ancient servitude. You have broken my bonds. Since You have freed me from the bonds of sin, by descending into Hades and loosening humanity, which was fettered by death and held in the inescapable prisons of Hades, for this reason I will sacrifice to You—not quadrupeds with cloven hoofs that chew the cud, nor clean birds, nor fine flour mixed with oil, nor clear frankincense, nor that incense of composition (for these things are offered to You, the Master, from the earth)—but that which is my own proper possession, B and the offspring of my own heart, the glorification of You, I will bring forth from it, as if from an altar of my own mind. And I will perform for You the sacrifice of praise, more precious than ten thousand holocausts, to You, the self-sufficient and perfect God, who do not require physical sacrifices in which the more prosperous have the advantage, but rather the confession C coming from the heart and from a true disposition, of which all who wish to participate have an equal share. “I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.” Offering to You, then, this praise, I will not do it as one ashamed, in secret and in a hidden place, fleeing the reproaches of the ungodly, but I will perform a public sacrifice, having taken the whole people as a partner in the worship. And the place for our sacrifice will be identified as the middle and most conspicuous part D of Jerusalem. Hearken, you who abandon the Church and gather in common houses, you wretched fragments of the precious body, that it is necessary to render prayers and vows in the midst of Jerusalem; that is to say, of the Church of God. For neither, according to the ancient worship, was it permitted to each person to build his own altar, but a single one was pointed out for those who were purposed to sacrifice. You, however, are erecting an altar against the altar of the fathers and are kindling alien fire upon it; neither becoming wise by the ancient example, you are drawing away men who are corrupted in their mind, and you are defiling yourself together with them. Whom you should flee in imitation, you who are the people of the Lord.
perseverance in faith, perfect in the precepts of the Lord, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
ON PSALM CXXXII
A Hear the blessed David, who says through the psalm (ver. 1): *Behold now, what is good or what is pleasant, except that brothers should dwell together in unity?* For he rejoiced not only in his own righteous deeds, but also took pleasure in the uprightness of others. For which reason, in a certain place, observing the eagerness of those hastening to render worship, he said through the Psalmist: *I was glad at those who said to me, We will go into the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem.* B Since, therefore, he altogether beheld that presence which is in unity, and was delighted with brotherly affection, he cried out, saying: *Behold now, what is good, or what is pleasant, except that brothers should dwell together in unity?* The cause which, by divine command, leads brothers to consensus and concord, possesses an incredible goodness: and from this goodness, pleasantness itself is not divided. For each of us who are present, enjoying the love of our neighbor, have been established in great delight. For which reason he also fittingly said: *What is good, or what is pleasant, except that brothers should dwell together in unity?*
Ver. 2. *As the ointment upon the head that descendeth upon the beard, the beard of Aaron.* For when grace is poured out from heaven above by the Savior upon the Church, the souls of the saints rightfully obtain the service of that incorporeal and spiritual C bounty.
Ver. 3. *As the dew of Hermon which descendeth upon the mountains of Zion.* For just as the dew which descends upon Mount Hermon produces much splendor, so too the spiritual dew, descending in an invisible manner upon the mountains of Zion, performs the same thing. Here, from everywhere, the meeting of brothers was taking place, and it brought to their souls a benefit adapted to them. Concerning this divine dew, I believe, which is compared to the operations of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah discoursing says: *For thy dew is a healing unto them.* Therefore, the dew of Hermon, which descendeth upon the mountains of Zion: *for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life.* God has promised this in many places, as Moses has said: D *And the Lord will keep for thee the covenant and the mercy which he swore to thy fathers, and he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply the offspring of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land.* And he added, saying: *Life unto the age.* Behold now, what is good, or what is pleasant, unless that brothers should dwell together in unity? As also you have been called. One Lord, one faith.