Three Books on the Trinity

^A Paul, who is learned in the Law, being taught by the divine Spirit, acts as a sponsor ^B to the Son. Furthermore, because the Son is not numbered among created things, he calls those "atheists"—that is, those who do not worship God—who previously had not known the Son, but only God the Father (since He does not terminate in created things), writing in one place: "Remember that at one time you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 'the uncircumcision' by what is called 'the circumcision' in the flesh made by hand, that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the hope of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope, and atheists in the world." And in another place: "But then, indeed, not knowing God, you served those which by nature are no gods. But now having known God—or rather, having been known by God—how is it that you turn again to the weak and poor elements, to which you wish to serve again from above?" But he also considers the preaching of the old Law to be always new, and never declining towards old age—the saving preaching concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit—and he considers the ecclesiastical institution more excellent because it is "perfect, and possesses neither lawlessness..." ^C "...nor any lawful tribunal, nor anything better or greater." [He continues] writing... "I became...," "persecuting the Church according to zeal," "having become blameless according to the righteousness that is in the Law."

[The following is provided by way of scholarly annotation]:

(7) *Learned in the Law.* It seems to refer to verse 21 of chapter 9 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. In the Greek it is *ennomos*. This word among pagan writers signifies "legitimate": thus for Pollux, *ennomon dicasterion* is a legitimate court, or a legitimate gathering of judges, which indeed meets in an order and according to a prescribed law. In the Greek Bible *ennomos* denotes "consistent with the law." Thus the author of the prologue to Ecclesiasticus speaks of a life which is led according to the prescription of the Law, although the translator there rendered it "legitimate life." But in Proverbs, ch. xxxi, v. 26, the strong woman is said to open her mouth, that is, to speak. But truly, by Didymus, Paul is said in this place to be in another sense, as I think, namely to denote a "man learned in the Law." In which sense perhaps Socrates was called *ennomolesches* in that verse by Timon in his *Silli*, which Laertius cites in *Socrates*, and Sextus Empiricus in his book *Against the mathematicians*. Empiricus himself certainly seems to have accepted that word in that way, when he added: "that is, and therefore he added that to dispute about laws pertains to ethics."

(8) *Atheists.* In this sense Aetius, the teacher of Eunomius, an Arian, had been nicknamed "the Atheist" in that very century in which Didymus wrote these things.

(9) *Remember, etc.* Ephesians ii, 11, 12, where the Greek edition has: "Because you were at that time..." And a little later, "alienated from the hope of Israel," the same edition has: "alienated from the citizenship of Israel," which the Vulgate translates: "alienated from the conversation [way of life] of Israel."

(10) *But then, etc.* Galatians iv, 8. The Greek edition has: "to those who by nature are not gods." Indeed, the word "from above," which I translated "as of old," the Greek edition also has; but the Vulgate translator omitted it.

(11) *Do you wish to serve?* The punctuation of the codex is written as it is printed here in the Greek. But know that what is printed a little later in italic type is of doubtful reading.

(12) *New, etc.* Since these things, and those which follow up to the words "according to zeal," are mutilated in the codex, and are difficult to read and interpret, they are therefore of doubtful interpretation and reading. But that the reader may be able to guess roughly how many words are missing in the next lacuna, and in others following a little later, I have placed numbers in the Greek, by which it is signified where the corrupt lines begin, and where they end in the codex: namely, the first line of the original page begins from the tenth word, and so on.

(13) *...or...* The scribe always writes without the accent, thus: [Greek notation omitted]. I have replaced it everywhere.

(14) *I became...* He is perhaps quoting a passage of Paul, such as that in the Epistle to the Colossians 1, 25: "the Church, of which I became a minister."

(15) *According to.* Philippians iii, 6. The Greek edition, like Didymus, has "the Church." The Vulgate, however, has "the Church of God."

^A but whatever were gains to me, these I count as loss for the sake of Christ. But indeed I also count all things a loss because of the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ ^B my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, that I may gain Christ. And to the Romans: "For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or you receive another Spirit, which you have not received." But to what end was he looking, and what was he thinking, when he wrote again his own things concerning pure knowledge of God? To the Corinthians, indeed, in the second Epistle, because if anyone is reconciled to the Son, he has been reconciled to God; and that in Christ is the reconciliation of the world with God. He has: "As though God were in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are therefore ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God." And again, as all other things . . . ^C Which he boasted of greatly, that even that which seems ignominious in Christ because of his merciful Incarnation, he pours forth everywhere as glory and power. . . . doing this in fact; so that even he who, in the glorious Passion, does not behold the unbegotten and incorruptible and . . . Divinity . . . Scripture . . . He said in this manner: "I did not judge to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." But to the Romans ^D writing, he says: "The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and upon all who believe." . . . each from God. And to the Galatians: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, except through faith in Jesus Christ, and we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." He explains also elsewhere, that neither . . .

Neither circumcision avails, nor uncircumcision, but a new faith, which is wrought through love. ^A Since however the sense of this passage is recondite and profound, it must be explained. Therefore, he wishes to teach that by the advent of Christ a certain new and sole faith has been made known to all men, according to which no place is left either for Judaism or for Hellenism. This however... ^B according to that saying: Behold, the old things have passed away, new things have been made, all. And as... indeed... knowing God... truly shone forth in the salutary doctrine. The true and free light is the Son; and... to some of them a mystery unknown, because of the recent memory of polytheism from Egypt among them. Thus the venerable Son of God, testifying that His own nature has its freedom from heaven, and that creation is not, so to speak, His sister. For everything that has been produced is a servant of its producer, and whatever has been created is a servant of the creator... Peter says to the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive tribute or custom? From their own sons, or from strangers? And when he had replied: From strangers; Jesus said to him: Therefore the sons are free. But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea, and cast a hook, and the fish which first comes up, take, and having opened its mouth you will find a stater: ^C taking that, give to them for me and for you... indeed of these. They, however... do not cease... to this.

CHAPTER VIII.

Concerning those who fable that the Son was made by the Father, so that He might be His minister in creation.

the being who is greater and ^A excepted from being transferred; (if, according to them, the Father is greater than His own Son, the Word), did He envy those who glorify Him for the creation brought about by His own self? But if He is also not entirely free from arrogance and at the same time from impotence, the fact that that which is produced by the producer ^B is through a mediator through itself rather than through one who makes through another, shows a greater glory; for while it does not yet exist, it obeys the nods of the One who always exists, and is immediately perfected, and has appropriate measures, and lacks nothing in any respect... only the proud... ^C already and… all things whatsoever… Lazaro dead: "Come forth" (35) … to another: "Your sins are forgiven" (36) ... commanding: "Go out" (37) ... doing through another: according to their interpretation, He shows that God indeed the Father, for whom to think is to act (38), is not able to perform the universe by Himself without the help of Him through whom or in whom He works: but that the Son is like some inanimate instrument: how will he be able to retreat, without greatly despising these, and, as though opposing such savage blasphemies (40), ceasing to hold out prostrate hands (39), and not fearing lest he be held liable before the divine tribunal even from the fact that he heard these things involuntarily (41)?

CAP. IX. Concerning what heretics say: When was the Son begotten, and the Spirit proceeded? and the rest.

Since therefore there are so many and such clear arguments (43): and Scripture warns (44) against... ^D

being led astray by strange teachings and avoiding novelties (45): those who possess heterodox views, being unable to establish the tenets of their religion from the Scriptures, and acting like drunken men who toss their speech to and fro on every subject (46), bring forward various sophisms—concocted by them with malicious craft and studied at great length—in which are such things as these: "Are all things, then," they say, "not from God?" To which it must be answered: "Yes, but not by generation, as the Son, nor by procession, as the Spirit of God; nor are they worthy of such operations, or of such illustrious constitutions." ^A Then they say: "When, then, was the Son begotten?" The answer: "At the time when the Father was not begotten." For if he was after him, and as it is unlawful to inquire... for it is not in a place, since... nor [is it] in time... Being God, the Son and Word.... to do the same... and the Spirit... But how, they say, was he begotten? Even if this was written concerning the Son—"From the womb before the morning star I have begotten thee" (49)—and concerning the Holy Spirit—"Spirit shall proceed from me" (50)—and if David chants: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the spirit of his mouth all their powers" (51); and if Job says: "The divine Spirit that made me, and the breath of the Almighty that teaches me" (53); and if the Lord himself teaches: "The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father" (54); and at last Paul writes (55) that he is the Spirit of God, just as to men their own spirit: yet [this] exceeds all human intellect (56). ^{B C D}

^A Nevertheless, it thus transcends every mind, for the same apostle writes to the Corinthians: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the fragrance of his knowledge through us" (57); implying that we do not share in all knowledge—because we are unable to grasp it—but rather, as it were, in a kind of image or breeze (58). And again: "We see through a mirror and in a riddle" (59) things concerning him. And with good reason; for the glory of the Lord, according to the divine saying, hides the Word (60), being elevated by an unutterable and infinite reason above every created sense; not only because it is unbearable, but because that which is before the ages and before all creation, if it had not been manifested by the Scriptures, would have been unknown to creation . . . And again to the same [people] a second time: "For this is very beautiful . . . We, however, will not boast beyond measure, [but according] to the measure of the rule which God has apportioned to us [a measure to reach even unto you]." And in the first Epistle he says: "If anyone thinks he knows something, he has not yet known as he ought to know." . . . the distinction of generation and of procession . . . just as the manner is unknown, so too [is] the difference; if indeed it is permitted even to hear or speak of this very thing. For to render causes for those things which surpass every cause and intellect is audacious; but to marvel at the divinity, and to consider the fear of God concerning him to be a holy fear, is safe. ^B Therefore, they say, did God beget willingly or unwillingly? But it is necessary for us first to state their objective, and then to answer. Their objective, then, is to construct an objection against simple (65) men from either answer. For if you answer (66): "He begot unwillingly" (though no one answers them thus), they say: "Therefore, that which God does not will, he suffers in begetting the Son, a natural necessity compelling him against his will." But if you answer them: "He begot willingly," they infer: "Therefore the generation of the Son hangs upon the Father's will, which provides existence for him by way of creation." This answer, however, is the most generous: for the God and Father who begets, and the effulgence of his knowledge [which] makes [him] manifest, precedes will, and lack of will, and every thought.

^A Likewise, the image of God is the same. Moreover, the Son is a first existence of will or lack of will, having no beginning or ending. Therefore, he begat in a nature that is beyond counsel and mind. But this proposition of theirs is also full of absurdity. For it leads to desire as a passion for the one willing; and for the one not willing, but [yet] doing, it leads to necessity and violence by constraint, along with the prior consideration of the will; and before that, [to] the perception of the hypostasis of the Father, which in every way and altogether contains the co-subsistent effulgence. Furthermore, if they believe that all things have come to be from the will of the Father through the Son, the will does not pre-exist. For it is impossible and impracticable that the Creator should not subsist, and [only] afterward be thought to have created through himself. But this too is full of folly. For if He himself says: "I am, and I have not changed," how can an immutable nature be subject to change, not standing in the identity of the persons according to ^B the hypostases, but moving and altering? And furthermore [I add] this: If it is true, as indeed it is true, that "Whatever the Father does, these things also the Son does in like manner," the Son will also create another Son, so that he may do all things in like manner to the Father. But if he has not created and does not create [another Son], he is not a creature, nor does a paternal will lead him. I might say something else: If the Savior says, "The will of him who sent me," that ^{C D} I might say something else. But this proposition also. This, and altering. "I am the Lord your God, I have not changed," and "I have not changed." For whatever that one does, word for word, upon the word, verbatim, with the same word, with the same words, in the same expressions, literally, in the same syllables.

^A And everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him has eternal life; the Son is not from intent, but [he is] the one who beholds him. For the intent is found even here after the Son. One might quickly reject this argument of theirs entirely, not only from what has been said before, but also from what will be brought forward by us; that is, if one counters them with a similar question: Does the Father exist as willing, or not? For the same things that they have pondered will confront them: as for the [response] "not willing," [one argues] that it happened that he came into being contrary to his purpose, nature's necessity turning him toward this against his will; as for the second, that he did not exist before the intent. For his existence will be referred back to his volition, which—according to their babblings—was driving him into subsistence in a way that creates him. Likewise, one will state another [point], differing only from the preceding one: Is God ^B by intent immortal and good, or without intent? For the same things will be brought [against them]. But one will do better if one answers them briefly that nothing happens to the all-perfect God, nor does anything fall away from him; and just as no intent precedes the Father's existence and immortality and goodness, so neither does [it precede] his generation; and all things of such a kind are discordant with the conception concerning God. Regarding created things, [one will cite] David singing in the cxiii Psalm: "Our God is in heaven and on earth; all that he willed, he did," and, "In wisdom thou hast made all things"; that is, in the Son, and not by intent. And in the lxxii Psalm: "Thou didst take hold of my right hand; in thy counsel thou hast guided me, and with glory didst take me up." And in the xxix: "For wrath is in his indignation, and life in his good pleasure." And in the xxv: "In thy good pleasure grant power to my beauty." And in the xvii: "He will rescue me, because he willed me." For just as the Father, existing as immortal and good, wills to be these things, and is willing these things, [he does] not—if I may so express it—[make] the volition the cause of this. It is impossible, one must think, that it is of an intent. ^C And so indeed the discourse flows more gently. However that may be, I have wished to change nothing in the text. As for created things, David sings in the cxiii Psalm: "Our God ^D [is] in heaven, and on earth, all things that he willed he did"; "all things in wisdom thou hast made," that is, in the Son, not in the intent. And in the lxxii Psalm: "Thou tookest hold of my right hand, in thy counsel thou guidest me, and with glory thou hast taken me up"; and in the xxix: "For wrath [is] in his indignation, and life in his intent"; and in the xxv: "In thy intent grant power to my beauty"; and in the xvii: "He will deliver me, because he willed me." For just as, in the manner in which the Father exists as immortal and good, he wills to be these things, and being willing he is these things, [he does] not—so that I may speak thus—[make] the volition a cause [for those things].

^A For with us, some things are from the operation of God, while others we possess from our own will. For we do not obtain by our own will, but by that of God, the fact that we consist of soul and body, and that we are rational. For those not yet existing, how could we have the power to will or not to will? ^B But by our own power of choice we possess the [ability] to be good or evil: [to be] knowledgeable through aptitude, or ignorant through sloth. They have arrived ^C at this chapter [(86)] not accepting it with sound reasoning [that says]: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"; for if they had, they would have had therein a firm anchor of the true faith. But now they say that [the words] "In whom I am well pleased" ^D are consentaneous.

Indeed, Augustine himself, who later fought so strenuously for divine grace, nonetheless—in the book he wrote against Adimantus the Manichaean while Didymus was still living—produced things similar to Didymus, [writing] in chapter xxvi: "It also shows at the same time," he says, "that it is in our power, whether we deserve to be infused with His goodness, or to be excised by His severity." This view, once the Pelagian heresy had arisen, he amended in his first *Retractationes*, chapter 22, or, to speak more truly, drew it toward the Catholic sense, explaining it, namely, as the will prepared by the Lord.

But it is common to all the Fathers who were contested by the Manichaeans before the Pelagian plague—above all Serapion, Titus of Bostra, our own Didymus, and Augustine himself—that while they strove to refute the detestable doctrine of Manes, which holds that there are creatures by nature, not by choice, they seem to extol the power of the will a little more than is fitting. Finally, as regards Didymus, since he flourished at a time before Jerome had sounded the trumpet against the perverse dogmas of Origen—but was rather extolled everywhere for the things he had written correctly, even by Jerome himself—he was therefore more addicted to Origen than I would wish (for it must be admitted). Wherefore, since Origen had laid the foundations of Pelagianism, as Natalis Alexander shows (century 3, dissertation 16), it would not be a wonder if Didymus had pronounced some things concerning the powers of human agency which, as things said less accurately, ought either to be rejected or softened by a kindly interpretation. Yet let not the reader think this has been said by me because there is in this work any Pelagian opinion that excludes the Catholic sense, but lest anyone imagine me so carried away by love for Didymus that I am prepared to defend even his perverse opinions, if such there be.

(86) *Chapter*. This word, or *text*, if you prefer, signifies here, as it often does elsewhere in this work. The word *capitulum* corresponds to it, used in the same sense both by Cicero in the first book of *De legibus* and by the Church in the canonical Hours, and by the Latin Fathers. Thus Jerome, for example, in his *Dialogus contra Luciferianos*, page 174, after having cited two places of Scripture, adds: "Which two chapters of the Scriptures indeed concur in one meaning." And on page 202: "Let them not flatter themselves if they think that it is from the chapters of Scripture that they affirm what they say." And Augustine in the first book of *De Trinitate*, chapter 7: "From one chapter," he says, "of the Epistle of the Apostle Paul, etc." In this very sense, in his book *De Spiritu Sancto*, page 163, Didymus says: "They thought that the Holy Spirit was signified even in this chapter": where I have no doubt that Didymus wrote in Greek *kephalaion*. Moreover, in his book *Adversus Manichaeos*: "Let them know that they are warring against the sequence of the chapter, saying... For the Savior says in another chapter..."

^A "This is my beloved Son," in whom I am well pleased, they arrive at—not interpreting it in the right sense, but in a perverse one; otherwise they would have possessed in this very thing a firm anchor of the right faith. But they, on the contrary, say that by these words, "In whom I am well pleased," it is shown that the Son is a creature. But the meaning of the whole sentence refers to his incarnation. For since they replied to his saying, "I am the Son of God," "You blaspheme," the Father confirmed his words with this testimony: "This alone is my genuine Son." For the word "this," and the word "beloved," and the naming of the Son with the article (for he says, *ó Yios*, that is, *the* Son) signifies this. ^B Truly, he says, "In this I am well pleased," meaning that by his incarnation salvation is procured for you. Although, indeed, if one interprets the word "well pleased" concerning the divinity, their sophistry is nonetheless rendered void; for not every word uttered by God, and especially concerning God the Word, is to be accepted in the sense that worldly custom bears. Furthermore, if he said of the Son already existing, "In whom I am well pleased," the existence of the Son is not the cause of the being well pleased. But that what is signified by this expression may become more manifest, let us use as a witness the Psalmist, who says in the 149th Psalm: "For the Lord is well pleased with his people." And the being well pleased did not come to pass before the people, ^C but after them. ^D For then he was well pleased in them, and sent peace and grace, when they worshipped him rightly; but when they did not do so rightly, the opposite occurred; or as he now prophesies: "When he slew them, then they sought after him." And in the 43rd Psalm: "Your arm and your arm, and the lighting of your countenance, because you were well pleased in them; a right hand..."

presence before the people, but after them. For then in ^A he was well pleased with them, and sent peace and grace, while they served him with upright worship: but when they did not worship him rightly, the Prophet speaks things altogether contrary to this, namely: "When he slew them, they sought him." And in Psalm XLIII: "His arm did not save them, but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou wert pleased in them": calling the right hand, and the arm of God, and the illumination of his countenance, the Son. And in Psalm CV: "Remember us, O Lord, in the good pleasure (or complacency) of thy people."

CAP. X.

This vain and absurd sophism of theirs is also set forth in such words ^B as these: If the ingenerate God is wholly generative, he who is generated is not substantially generated, since his whole substance has that which is to generate, but not to be generated. But let them hear the answer: If light is entirely generative, it does not generate the radiance substantially, but acquires it from without, although its whole essence has that which is to generate, but not to be generated; but if the light does not receive the radiance from without, but generates it from its whole essence indivisibly, then God too did not possess the Son as added from without, but generated him indivisibly out of his whole substance, as being incorporeal. Whence he is truly Father. They infer again, always teaching things contrary ^C to those which Scripture teaches: If the essence of God, having been transformed, is called a product, his essence is not immutable, the change having wrought the appropriation of the Son. But no one allows them even to say this; for the cited Scripture proves that these things are alien to Christians, opposing every heretic with a very grievous affliction. For if the light, having been transformed, becomes radiance,

neither is the light immutable, as the change produces the individualization of the radiance. If, however, the light, having undergone no change, has generated a radiance, remaining itself also ^A light, and having the radiance connatural to it from itself perfect; then God also remains immutably God, being the Father of His own radiance, having received it no longer from without, but having generated it perfect from His own substance.

CHAPTER XI.

Of those who, because the denomination of the Father is different from the denomination of the Son, effuse that the essence of the same Son is also different.

Repeating the same things about the same subjects, and ^B indicating the beauty of the truth to the very end, they also allege this with a mind hostile to God: that those whose names differ, their essences also must necessarily be different. For they say, "The term 'Father' does not signify the 'Son', nor again does the denomination 'Son' reveal the hypostasis of the Father." Let them hear, however: first, that if the divine hypostases had not been manifested by an appropriate designation, what symbol could anyone have used—if he did not employ the designation of 'Father'—to reveal both the Father Himself, and the fact that He has a Son? Or if he did not name the designation of 'Son' and 'Spirit', how could he have addressed ^C the Son Himself or the Spirit, and [signified] that the Son has a Father, and that the Spirit is the Spirit of God? Another point is that regarding the holy Trinity, besides it being said that the Father is the one who truly is this, and the Only-Begotten

^A is called so, who is naturally begotten, and he who is truly named the Spirit of God, as he is named, is the Spirit of the Father—all other names are the same, such as God, Lord, holy, just, good, light, life. Therefore, conversely, in the blessed Trinity alone, since the names are the same, their substance also is one; so that it follows that the like is characterized by the like. For to the true and eternal light, in relation to the true and eternal light, and to the one who is truly called [the one who is] naturally begotten, and [it is for the one who is] the Spirit of God—

Chapters XII, XIII, and XIV are missing.

CHAPTER XV.

The beginning is missing. ^B "...shall go forth from my mouth justice, and my words shall not return, because to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear by God," that is, shall acknowledge God, or, shall confess to God. There is therefore no God and Father before the Son, neither in eternity, nor in essence, nor in glory; but he is equal to him, nor is there any priority to him, except by the reason of fatherhood. For that these are the words of the Only-Begotten Son, the divinely inspired Paul explained when, writing to the Romans, he said: "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, as it is written: I live, says the Lord, because to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God." Similarly also the theologian John, in the Gospel, says: In the beginning ^C was the Word—

^A and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it. And in the Apocalypse: *He who is, and he who was, and he who is to come, the Lord our God, the Almighty.* The expression *He who is* signifies the eternal existence of the divine Hypostasis, as we have also said elsewhere; for the expression is indefinite. Hence God said his name is *He who is*. The phrase *In the beginning was* makes the absurdity and avoidability of the phrase *There was when he was not* plain and highly manifest. For the word *Was* is an infinitive. We shall not place a point at *Not even one*, as the heretics do. For they, wishing to say that the Spirit is created, say: *What has been made, in him was life* (I would prefer to punctuate it thus: *What has been made—in him was life*). ^B For even those heretics whom Didymus refutes in this work—namely, those who denied that the Holy Spirit is God—rejected that first reading, which the Passioneianus codex exhibits, while Didymus was dictating these things, and clung tenaciously to the other, falsely judging it to be consistent with their own erroneous dogma. For they interpreted it thus: *What has been made in him,*—namely, the Holy Spirit, in the Son or created by the Son—*was life.* That this is the case is testified to by John Chrysostom in his fifth homily on John, or on this very passage of John which we are discussing; a homily which Chrysostom gave at about the same time that Didymus was dictating these things. Indeed, in that homily, these things may be read (Tom. VIII, page 35 of the Parisian edition): "But lest you think he is only celebrating those things which Moses also said, he subjoins: *And without him was not anything made that has been made...* For we shall not place a perfect point—or rather, a full stop—at those words, *He who is*—that is, *Nothing*—as the heretics do: for when they wish to say that the Spirit is created, they read: *What has been made in him, was life.*" ^C Some in those times doubted the authority of the Apocalypse, as Didymus acknowledged the book as canonical, written by John, in his *Enarration on the First Epistle of John*, and in the *Catena on the Psalms* edited by Corderius, on Psalm 49; however, this chapter, just as Didymus brings it forward here, does not exist in the Apocalypse. For in chapter 1, verse 8, it is read: *He who is, and he who was, and he who is to come, the Lord God Almighty*, or, as the Vulgate adds the word God, it reads: *The Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.* And in chapter 4, verse 8, it is read: *The Lord God, the Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.* Therefore, it must be thought that Didymus either cited the first of these two passages and partially transposed the words *Lord our God* and partially added them for the sake of explanation, or rather that he wished to convey the sense rather than the very words of John, as he often does in this work, and also in his book against the Manichæans, in his book *On the Holy Spirit*, and in his *Enarrationes on the Catholic Epistles*; that he did this here and there is a fact better known regarding Clement of Alexandria and other Fathers than to require confirmation by examples—see note 72, page 9. ^D *He who is*—the term *He who is*—signifies the eternal existence of the divine Hypostasis, as we said. *He who is*, signifies eternal existence, which Justin Martyr had already accepted in the same sense as Didymus before him in his *Cohortatio ad Græcos*, page 25; after Justin, Alexander of Alexandria in his second encyclical epistle against Arius; and after Alexander, Gregory Nazianzen in the oration which he delivered in Constantinople before the Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council. Now the ancient metaphysicians asked whether this name, *the being*, applies univocally to God and to creatures, or equivocally. But the Fathers, neglecting such a question, agree that the name *He who is* pertains properly to God alone. A fact that Plato himself had written more than once before them. 17 *Sempiternam*: this signifies the eternal existence of the divine Hypostasis, as we have also said elsewhere 18. *Indefinita*: for that expression is indefinite, for which cause God said his name 19 is this very thing, namely, *He who is*. The expression: *In the beginning was*, [destroys] the absurdity of the heretical locution, *There was when he was not* 20. 18 *Alibi*: an opus other than this seems to be indicated; as when he says, in the *Enarration on the First Epistle of John* at chapter 5, page 85: "The examination of each of these, as was possible, they have had in other places." For among ecclesiastical writers, *elsewhere* is equivalent to *in another place*. Tillemont (tom. X, pag. 393) believes that Didymus refers by these words to the two books which it is well known he wrote against the Arians, but I easily assent to the conjecture regarding it for reasons to be brought forward elsewhere, even though the things which Didymus says there were examined by him elsewhere are also expended in these books *On the Trinity*. If, therefore, Didymus had wished to indicate some of the preceding chapters, he would not have used this locution, as it seems: *As we have said elsewhere*, but rather another, of which sort is: *as was already said*, which he uses a little later; or that: *as was said before*, which he has at page 95b and 99b; or some other similar one. One might draw here what he said in passing in the book *On the Holy Spirit*, num. 30, concerning this name of God, *He who is*; but since the eternal existence of God is not expressly mentioned there, I do not think that place is indicated. You might more probably say that either the *Enarration on the First Epistle of John*, namely that which Didymus dictated on the first words of his Epistle: *That which was* (in Greek, *en*, that is, *was*) *from the beginning*; or the two books which he wrote against the Arians; or those things which he himself dictated in Exodus on the words of chapter 3: *I am who I am*, are regarded here. 19 *Deus dixit*. Exod. 3, 14. 20 *Fuit quando non erat*. Id est, *There was not*, namely the Son. For to avoid the word of time we do not translate: *There was a time when he was not*. But this is the famous formula of the Arians, which the Nicene Fathers in the Creed specifically execrated as blasphemous. Before Didymus, Alexander of Alexandria, not to mention Basil and others, had inferred from the words of John that same thing which Didymus did (that one says in the second encyclical epistle against Arius): "Who, when he hears John saying: *In the beginning was the Word*, would not condemn those who say: *There was when he was not*?"

^A And in Roman speech, the infinitive consists of two words; but in Latin the term by which the verb is signified to be of indefinite tense is composed of two words, *Plusquam perfectum* (21), and is translated *πλέον ἢ τέλειος* [more than perfect]. Therefore, here it requires us to understand him as super-eternal, or devoid of a beginning. For, he who *was in the beginning*, or as one might say, he who *was* a beginning at some time, how was he not without cause? Or again, how can time, which does not yet exist, be a measure of him who made time itself (23)? ^B The phrase, *was with God*, demonstrates the communion of nature which the (24) Son has with God the Father, and this also shows that from whom he was, if it is permissible to speak thus, the self-begotten Father, the Son who is from him coexists with him. And the phrase, *was with God*, could be strongly understood as meaning that he was according to God—without beginning, unbegotten, incomprehensible, good, immortal, King of all. For if it does not hold thus with regard to this sapience which has been poured forth, it will not hold even with regard to the source from which the sapience pours forth. But it holds thus for both. For the purpose of John’s divinely delivered message is manifest, and firm, and simple, looking only toward the divine. ^C The phrase, *the Word was God*, establishes that the Word is substantial and is God, just as that God is who is the Word’s source; and again, [it establishes him as] uncaused. The phrase, *All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made*, declares him, as has already been said, to be almost the Creator; but it also [shows] that he was not created. For if not even one created thing received existence without him, it is manifest to all that he himself was not made, but was begotten divinely. For it is impossible for the one who gave existence and essence and immortality to all things, and to rational beings, to have come into being from non-existence. For nothing created [gives] essence, or— ^D [There is a line of Greek text here that the Greek column repeats as a correction:] Or as one might say, a beginning at some time: how was he not without cause? Therefore he was without cause. incomprehensible.

(21) *Plusquam perfectum*. I have taken care to represent the expressions here as I had delineated them myself from the manuscript in my transcript. Moreover, who does not see that what Didymus infers from the designation of the pluperfect tense is rather trifling? I am truly amazed that a man endowed with such immense learning and great genius could have found amusement in such trifles. He even shows that he had made little progress in Latin grammar, when he speaks of the verb *ἦν*, or *was*, just as if it were a word of the pluperfect tense in Latin. Moreover, from these, the term *plusquam perfectum* is said in the neuter gender, because the word *tempus* [time] is implied: but Didymus uses the masculine gender, because he refers it to the masculine noun *χρόνος*. But let us omit such knotty points: and let us rather observe this, that perhaps no other example occurs in ancient Greek writers of a Latin word being used in such a way that, with the elements *q* and *f* retained—which the Greek language does not have—nor indeed with the Latin termination *us* changed into *ος*, it is written entirely in Latin letters. I have never encountered anything of the sort: for as often as they cite Latin words, either originating from the Latin language or introduced into the Greek language in later centuries, they are accustomed to use Greek elements (a). Thus Plutarch in *Galba*: *Ἐν τοῖς ἀρχείοις*, he says, that is, *in the ledgers* of the leaders which the Latins call *principia*: and Pollux lib. IV, cap. 4: *Τὴν ζώνην*, that is, *the belt*, which the Latins call *fascia*: but words of this kind and very many others are always recorded by the Greeks, both by authors and by copyists, with Greek elements, and are known to all who delight in this kind of study. And indeed, no one will be amazed that some Latin words were known to Didymus, [who] would have observed that Rufinus and Jerome were his disciples for some, albeit not long, time: and that there were those who were cultivating the Latin language in the East at that time: for both St. Epiphanius, as Jerome testifies in his second book *Against Rufinus*, was skilled in it, and Cyril of Jerusalem, and Gelasius the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, if faith is to be placed in Photius, translated the *Ecclesiastical History* of Rufinus into Greek. And these things may be said for the sake of that learned man, who, when he had read this quoted passage of Didymus in the volume edited by me, conjectured that that very ancient work could not be one in which Latin words were introduced.

(22) *Who was in the beginning*. This passage, as I think, is not without fault. I have translated it as if it were to be read thus: *For he who was in the beginning...* Perhaps one might prefer, *he who was at some time*: *he was not without cause*.

(23) *Made*. Some other Fathers also assert this principle, and especially Alexander of Alexandria in his first encyclical epistle against Arius. For all agree in this, that time must be said to have been made by God, according to that of Paul: *Through whom he also made the ages*; and that [hymn] of the church: *King and maker of the ages*. But in what sense this is to be understood, let the philosophers see. Augustine wisely [says] in his book *Against the Sermon of the Arians*, no. 2: *Time*, (he says), *cannot exist without some movements of a creature, and therefore we confess that even the times were made through him (that is, through the Son)*.

(24) *That... was*.

(25) *Incomprehensible*, that is, incapable, as the ancient Latin Fathers speak; namely, who cannot be taken, or comprehended; for the word *ἀχώρητος* signifies this.

(a) You may observe, however, that I mean that Theophilus the Antecessor had mixed many Latin words written in Latin letters into his Greek speech, and in a similar way Constantine Pogonatus (Vol. VII Concil., p. 1133) made use of the Latin word *Sancimus*.

} ^A nor can it bestow rationality; but from the substance of gold, or silver, or bronze, or iron, or wood, or stone, already produced by God from nothing, it fashions, for example, an inanimate and irrational statue, or something else. But to bring forth a substance that was not, or to display it as living and rational, belongs solely and exclusively to the one all-powerful and self-perfect divine nature. The Father, moreover, made all things through Him, as light through its own radiance, and as mind through reason.

The words, *In Him was life*, further teach that He Himself is life from eternity, belonging to the one and supreme nature, and that He is the cause of beings, Himself being in no way one of the beings. § Therefore, He Himself also says: *I am the life; I am the light*. He shows great favor to the One who is without beginning by stating the word *was* so many times, so that by the repetition of such a phrase, He might either open the deaf ears of the heretics, or that no pretext might be left regarding the phrase, *There was when He was not*, in the future universal and unswerving scrutiny. ^B The words, *And the life was the light of men*, teach the same things again. For He says: This unbegotten life is the constitution of the begotten nature of men. The words, *And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it*, do not tolerate the doctrines of the heretics. For it indicates, secretly and very sharply, that as one might suppose a time before time, or an instantaneous moment, or a pre-eternal age, it shines eternally as the inseparable radiance of God, and the darkness of non-existence never grasped it.

The word, *The Almighty*, also needs no interpretation. For it shows that He possesses the kingdom, undivided, with God the Father and His Holy Spirit, and that He is God over all. ^C The words, *He who comes*, indicate the Son who is to come a second time, and to judge the living and the dead. And that He possesses the kingdom with God the Father and His Holy Spirit, and is God over all. The words, *He that comes*, signify the Son who is to come a second time and to judge the living and the dead. ^D

^A This untransmitted Life makes the created nature of man subsistent. That passage, *And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it*, crushes heretical opinions; for with a hidden and very acute reasoning it signifies this: that whatever time you may conceive prior to time, or any individual moment, or any age preceding an age, the Word shines therein eternally as the inseparable splendor of God, and that the darkness of non-existence has never comprehended Him. That word, *Omnipotent*, stands in no need of interpretation; for it shows that He possesses an individual kingdom with God the Father and His holy Spirit, and that He is God *over all*. That word, *Who is to come*, signifies the Son, who is about to come again and to judge the living and the dead.

The Baptist John, also establishing that the word *Who is* is spoken ^B of the Son, makes this manifest to the Lord, saying: *Art Thou* (meaning: Thou art He who is, and whom I, having recognized as God while He was yet in the womb of the Virgin, while I myself was in the womb of the barren woman, worshipped through a leap), *or do we look for another?* In his first Epistle, the friend and apostle of the Lord, John, writes: *What was* (in Greek, *ἦν*) *from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life: and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and do testify, and declare unto you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and appeared to us: what we have seen and heard, we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.* Observe once again the frequent use of the word *ἦν*, that is, *was*, and consider that they have no fellowship or communion of salvation with the Father, or with the Only-Begotten, who do not confess that He is, by nature, a Son co-eternal with God. For in this faith, ^C which was delivered in the mystagogy of the *illumination* by the Lord of all, is that fellowship of which Peter wrote: *That you may become partakers of the divine nature.* For what is created and subject to time is not the divine nature. Furthermore, keep this in memory, that he said our fellowship *is* with the Father and His Son equally, and not—^D

^A saying, "Through His Son." Furthermore, Amos also, prophesying, similarly calls the Son the Almighty, saying somewhere: *He that buildeth His ascension into heaven, and foundeth His promise upon the earth; He that calleth for the water of the sea, and poureth it out upon the face of all the earth: The Lord God Almighty is His name.* Concerning which ascension David also sings: *God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.* Both of these are said of the Son. For the Father neither descended nor ascended, as the Apostle interprets, writing thus: *Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.* As if to say, since He has risen above all things and excels them, together with the begetting Father, inasmuch as He is uncreated. For it is clear that he understood this from those things—since the intellectual powers, because they are measured creatures, exist in heaven, but not above the heavens, nor do they fill all things. And Sophonias likewise proclaims Him Almighty, saying: *This shall be to them for their reproach: because they reviled and magnified themselves against the Lord Almighty. The Lord will appear unto them, and the Lord will cut off all the gods of the nations of the earth; and they shall worship, everyone from his place.* And Malachias, in keeping with this, says from the person of the Master: *For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great ^B among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord Almighty; but ye profane it.* For the memorial of both the appearing and the being glorified among the ^C (Note: Translator’s note: The Latin column here switches abruptly to editorial commentary on the authenticity of later Didymian works, which is not part of the primary Patristic text, and thus the translation continues based on the logical flow of the preceding Greek).

^A and glorification among the nations, he shows that the Son is signified, whose name the Jews, along with the *cismatolatrae*—that is, the worshippers of created things—pollute. But the very sequence of the discourse demonstrates that He is omnipotent, inasmuch as He is the image of the Omnipotent, and the Only-Begotten, who must also be understood as the image of the Omnipotent in this respect, so that He may be omnipotent, just as He is. And Paul writes to the Hebrews: *Who being* ^B *the brightness of the Father's glory*; that is, co-eternal with Him, and *homousios*, or consubstantial. For in order that things which do not admit of comparison might yet be illustrated in some way by comparison and example, and that in this way, at least, that which is above the mind might be apprehended by the mind, I will say (comparing the small, which is what is great, to that which is great, and solely great), just as the sun exists simultaneously with its own nature, and pours forth, undivided and continuously and with equal measure, its entire light from the whole disk at once, and simultaneously works, and provides heat to those things that are capable of receiving this sensation; and the substance from which the light, or radiance, is poured forth, manifests its entire quality within itself—the light itself, indeed, since at the very first moment, and not at a later one, it is poured forth from it, and simultaneously proceeds and subsists with it. And if the brightness, according to their opinion, did not exist at some time, then where was the substance of the light, or the hypostasis, from which the brightness itself comes? For it must certainly fall away simultaneously with it. And furthermore, Daniel, prophesying, said: *And the light was with him*, instead of: the Son was with the Father. For this especially shows the incomparable and great nature of the Godhead, that the Father begat Him co-eternal and joint-eternal with Himself, and at the same time perfect and immutable, without passion. For it is the property of a creature, and not of the Creator—of that which is mutable and not immutable; of that which is subject to judgment and not of the Judge; of that which is made alive and not of the life-giver; of that which is subject to sin and not of God—not to be begotten and to beget in this way. For if He, when no other work had yet been made, created the ages, which are completed by times, and set a beginning for all things, and nothing can be conceived before the times and ages unless it be that incomprehensible and truly unique first and primary nature, which alone is without beginning and eternal, and has no descent toward another—how is it not believed that He was begotten of the Father’s hypostasis without beginning, and not from the operation? For since time does not define Him, there is no "before" and "after"; but that which is not under time is without beginning; and that which is without beginning is uncreated. For just as there is no time that is unbegotten, so there is no creation that is timeless, but it has time as its measure; for time itself came into being along with it. And ^C just as ^D

all things are measured by the Creator as secondary things, while He Himself is measured by nothing, since He is without beginning and God by nature. ^A

The same things are considered also regarding the Holy Spirit. For it is not written anywhere that He "proceeded," but "proceedeth." How, moreover, is life itself brought to life, or the true light illuminated? For there was then divine light, and life eternal always; and the truthful and great God Himself calls Himself this. There was not a time when the Father did not have the radiance of glory, and the stamp of substance, and the image of goodness, ^B and power, and wisdom, and the righteousness of God (which Paul testifies to be the Only-Begotten Himself); but, what it is not fitting to say, that He later received something. But if He had it, the Only-Begotten who exists as these things was always. For neither is he who is these things outside of God, nor can God be conceived of at any time without Him who is Himself these things. The Only-Begotten is these things, not as a habit or a quality, but substantially, as has been said before. ^C And if, indeed, at the beginning of the genesis of the world, the first trees subsisted together with the fruits from them (and it is nothing paradoxical if the fruit sprang up together with the root), how is it impossible that the resourceful Father did not have the fruit of His own Son, and that the radiance did not immediately shine forth from the glory of His substance? ^D As, therefore, His birth below in the incarnation is not to be compared to another birth (for it was from a Virgin, without flux and without defilement, which our nature does not possess), so also the birth above is incomprehensible, beyond measure, and exists as something surpassing every birth; and it is right neither to disbelieve, nor indeed to seek or to explain the manner to us, who are unable to speak of it. How did a virgin give birth and remain a virgin, and neither [the account of] our own...

generation is known to us? But if we did not know even our own, we would in no way know the generation of God either, which is incomprehensible even to the celestial powers themselves. Wherefore the prophet says with astonishment, concerning the earthly birth: *And[t] it is man, and who shall know him?* that is, No one. But concerning the heavenly [birth]: *And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.* Where, by the name of "generation," he designates birth, and by the word "life," existence; but he expresses most mystically by those words, *is taken from the earth*, that which is that it is raised immeasurably above the earth and exceeds every mind. For because that which exists for all time, whatever one might conceive after having pondered many things in one's mind, is infinitely superior, and incomparably better than any quantity, and its essence is incomprehensible to the mind, and it is entirely invisible from every side—encompassing itself, and having nothing outside of itself—and indeed, to this incomprehensibility of His, the multitude of angels and the whole throng of celestial orders yield, the Scriptures cry out in this manner: David indeed in the 17th Psalm: *He made darkness his secret place, around him his tabernacle.* But the Canticle of Ambacum: *His virtue covered the heavens.* And Matthew: *No one,* he says, *knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son.* For that which is begotten by a creature is generated through the communion or relation of one to another, and it is not of the same nature as the one begetting, nor does it proceed immediately perfect and without passion; but in the godhead, the thing is quite the contrary. For since the creature begets in this way, the author of generation begets in a contrary manner, and not similarly as [it does] its own ^B offspring, and indeed [it is not] through the communion of one to another, nor is it of a different nature from the begetter; nor does it proceed [imperfectly], but directly and without passion. But in the case of the godhead, it is the reverse. For since the creature is of such a kind, the Creator is in the opposite way—and not in the same manner as His own works, but as the blessed Trinity alone knows these things. For it is not incomprehensible if it were understood; nor a mystery if it were known; nor divine if it were contained; nor the Creator of all if it were in time; nor uncompounded and indivisible if it were like bodies. For just as when hearing concerning the Father: *From eternity and unto eternity you are;* and, *Unto the clouds is His truth;* we do not set boundaries to Him, but believe in the eternal (for time is not coeval with Him); ^C likewise concerning the Son and the Holy Spirit we ought to think. For in the case of the one nature that prevails over all, into which these most precious hypostases [are], it sings the same things also concerning the Son: *You are the same, and your years shall not fail.* And if it were not a small thing that is written concerning the Father, *You are...*

before the ages*, it is not a small thing that is also prophesied concerning his Son, that he is God before the ages. It is clear that he is incomprehensible, as will be shown not long after. And just as the Father has immortality, or rather, he himself is immortality, so the Son is eternal life, and it is the same thing. And just as the Father is called one God, so the Son is called only-begotten, God the Word, and one Lord Jesus Christ. And as James writes concerning him: *There is one lawgiver and judge, who is able to save*; so the Spirit is praised by Paul, writing to the Corinthians and Ephesians, as one, and the same, and alone; so that even by this number, if it may be so expressed, these blessed hypostases are shown to bear the unicity, or rather the singularity, of the paternal Godhead. And if this is true concerning the Father, *the God and Lord*, it is also true without falsehood concerning his Son and the Spirit. For, as we have mentioned in many places, both the Old Testament, preserving this equality of honor, has spoken: *The Lord said to my Lord*; and, *The Lord rained from the Lord*; and, *God made man according to the image of God*; and, *Who is God besides the Lord?* and, *Who is God except our God?* And in the New Testament, John said what has already been told; and Thomas said, *My Lord and my God*; and Paul said, *The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty*; and again, *as from the Lord the Spirit*. And, *May the Lord grant to find mercy from the Lord for the house of Onesiphorus*. And Job says: *The divine Spirit that has made me*, and, *The divine Spirit is in my nostrils*. But it is the same for the Scripture to say "divine" or "God," as they teach, Paul writing to the Romans: *His eternal power and divinity*; and the Acts: *We ought not to think that the divine is like gold, or silver, or stone, a graving of art, or a device of man*; and Peter in his second Epistle: *That through these you might become partakers of the divine nature.* And in the way that the Father is incomprehensible, ^B so also the wealth of Christ is unsearchable. ^C And as for that which is his creature, they do not do so, but rather in the mode that the blessed Trinity, which knows these things, has knowledge—for it would not be incomprehensible if it were comprehended, nor would it be a mystery if it were known, nor God if it were grasped, nor the creator of all if it had truly begun to exist at a certain time, nor incomposite and lacking parts if it could be compared with bodies. For just as when we hear that which is said of the Father: *From the age and unto the age you are*; and: *Unto the clouds is his truth*, we do not set limits ourselves, but believe in his eternity; for the age is not coeval with him: in the same way, we ought to think regarding the Son and the Holy Spirit; for in one nature, mistress of all, do these most worshipful hypostases exist. David also composes similar things concerning the Son: *You are the same, and your years shall not fail.* But if this expresses what is small and less than it ought, it is not the case that what was written concerning the Father, *He who is before the ages*, is small; nor is it a small thing, that oracle which was brought forth concerning the Son himself, by which he is called, *Before the ages, God*. But it is manifest that he cannot be grasped by the mind, as will be shown a little later. And just as the Father has immortality, or rather he himself is immortality; so the Son is eternal life. Which is one and the same. And just as the Father is called one God; so the Son is called only-begotten God, Word, and one Lord Jesus Christ. And as James writes of him: *One is legislator and judge, who alone can save*; so the Spirit, by Paul writing to the Corinthians and Ephesians, is praised as one, and the same, and alone: so that even by this very number, if I may so speak, it is shown that these blessed hypostases exist in the unity or singularity of the paternal Godhead. And if this statement, God and Lord, is true of the Father, it is also true of the Son himself, and of the Spirit. For, as we have often said, both the Old and the New Testament afford equal honor to these hypostases. And the Old indeed speaks thus: *The Lord said to my Lord*; and, *The Lord rained from the Lord*; and, *God made according to the image of* ^D God.

In the New Testament, however, John indeed said what has already been brought forward: but Thomas: *My Lord and my God*. And Paul: *The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.* And again, indicating that the Lord is the Spirit: *And may the ^A Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that day.* Job also says: *The divine*, that is, the Spirit, *which made me*; and: *The divine Spirit, that is, the Spirit of God, which remains in my nostrils.* The same things are truly in Scripture: the divine, and God, that is, Divinity and God, as Paul teaches, writing to the Romans: *His eternal power also, and divinity*, that is, Divinity; but in the Acts: *We ought not*, he says, *think that the divine*, that is, the Divinity, *is like gold, or silver, or stone, the sculpture of art, or of human thought*; and Peter in his second Epistle: *That by these you may become partakers of the divine nature.* And just as the Father cannot be comprehended, so the riches of Christ cannot be investigated, as Paul testifies. For he says: *To me, the least of all the saints, was given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.* Furthermore, there is no end to ^B His greatness, nor number to His intelligence, according to David, nor bound to His peace, according to Isaiah. And *Your incorruptible*, he says, *Spirit is in all things*; and: *The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole earth.* For no one would be found so dull-witted and sluggish, as not, from these plain and pure testimonies, to perceive the immensity of the Only-Begotten and of the most holy Spirit.

^C And those things written by the Apostle concerning both hypostases are of the same weight and expressed in the same words; I mean those things discussed concerning the Father: *Who is God over all, and through all, and in all*; and: *The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knows, who is blessed unto the ages, that I do not lie*; and those things written to the Romans concerning the Son: *Who is God over all, blessed unto the ages. Amen.* Besides this also: *The fullness of Him who is filled with all in all.* Similar likewise are the oracles that have been pronounced concerning these three persons; namely, those things that are said ^D concerning the Father: *That God may be all in all*; and concerning His Son: *Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian, Scythian, bond, free: but all things and in all*

And elsewhere: *That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and every tongue shall confess that one is Lord Jesus Christ*. ^A Concerning the Spirit, however—according both to what has recently been said about Him, and insofar as all things are to be understood—there is a debt owed Him: whatever the Father is, as His Spirit, while nevertheless not being the Father. For He portrays God also in this, and in all things, just as He proclaims: *In this we know that He is in us, of His Spirit which He has given us*. And equivalent to what was sung concerning God the Father, *Thou art alone the Most High over all the earth*, is that which was oracularly spoken concerning the Son in the eighty-sixth Psalm: *Mother Sion shall say: A man, and a man was made in her, and He Himself founded her, the Most High*. And that which is concerning the Holy Spirit in the Gospel: *Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you from on high*. And just as ^B the Father is great, among other things, because He knows the Son, so too is the Son great also because He knows the Father. Similarly also the Holy Spirit. For Scripture says: *So also the things of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God*. And what was written by Paul to the Hebrews concerning the Father—*For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things*—is consistent with what was oracularly spoken concerning the Son: *All things were made by Him*; and concerning the Spirit: *By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their powers*. The glorious hypostases, therefore, which are honored equally with God and Father, ^C as ruling over all ^D things.

^A how can they be numbered among all things under God, in the same way as created things are counted? For just as it is impossible for the Father not to be the Father, both without origin and in truth (for He did not receive this name by time, nor as something added), so it is impossible for the Son, the Word, and His Spirit, not to be without origin and by nature from His hypostasis; for as soon as there was a Father (if one may be permitted to speak thus), and without interval, the One was begotten, and the Other proceeded. And the status of being the Father of the Only-Begotten, and of having His Spirit proceeding from Him, is not taken away; and because He is the Father, He differs from the Son and His Spirit neither in time nor in essence. For if He had begotten ^B later, He would have been changed, or shifted, which is alien to deity, just as it is alien to the same [deity] that God should ever be found not to have been called Father, or that He did not exist as such, because He had not yet begotten.

And to the Hebrews also, the Apostle, demonstrating the originless and incomprehensible nature of the generation of the Son of God, writes regarding Melchizedek:

A Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty. I believe; I do not scrutinize. I believe; I do not pursue the incomprehensible. I believe; I do not measure Him who is measureless. If I believe, I am enlightened in my soul; if I inquire, I darken my thoughts; if I believe rightly, I am lifted up toward heaven; if I seek curiously, I am carried down into the abyss. I believe in one God, true and almighty. I renounce the gods fashioned and multiplied by the wanderings of the Greeks. For polytheism does not dwell in heaven. I praise one God only. I hate Arianism. I do not say: "There was a time when the Father was not"; but I proclaim God as always God, and always Father, being Father in the way He Himself knows. I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son; who was begotten of Him before all ages, as only He Himself, the Begotten, knows; begotten, not made, nor created from His paternal essence; shining forth without time, and not brought in from outside from somewhere; not a substitute or illegitimate son, but the genuine radiance of the genuine Father; the unchanging character of the invisible form. I know Christ, the Son of God and Father, as God; I know Christ as consubstantial with men, as man from heaven; I know Christ as invisible and visible; I know Christ as untouchable, yet touched by the hand of Thomas; I know Christ who fed the thousands with a word, who walked upon the waves, who commanded the demons, who raised the dead, and who performed myriad miracles by the power of His own divinity. I know Christ who hungered, and thirsted, and sweated by the nature of His humanity. I know Him, the same Christ, as God ^C who died in the flesh. I know Christ who rose in the flesh, having raised up the temple of His body. I recognize the distinction of His two natures. I do not divide the one Son into two sons. I believe also in the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father; who is the fulfillment of the Trinity. In Him I trust for my sanctification; in Him I trust for the resurrection from the dead. This is the sacred creed of John Chrysostom. I believe, I do not scrutinize. I believe, I do not investigate the incomprehensible. I believe, I do not ^D [alt-version omitted]

scrutinize the immensity ^A of God. If I believe, my soul is illuminated. If I examine too curiously, my mind is darkened. If I believe rightly, I am lifted up to heaven. If I inquire too curiously, I am carried down into the deep. I believe in one God, true and omnipotent. I deny the gods forged by the Greeks; for a multitude of gods does not dwell in heaven. I praise only one God in hymns. I turn away from and I hate Arianism. I do not say: At some time the Father was not; but I proclaim God as always God, the Father as always Father, in that mode as Father which he alone knows. I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, born of him before all ages, born in that mode which he alone knows who was born. Born, not made, nor created. He who from the substance of the Father shone forth from eternity, and did not sneak in from the outside. Not a substituted or bastard son, but the genuine splendor of the genuine Father. The imprint of an invisible form, devoid of any difference. I acknowledge Christ, the Son of God and the Father, as God. I acknowledge Christ as consubstantial with men, insofar as man is from heaven. I acknowledge Christ as invisible, and seen. I acknowledge Christ as intangible, and touched by the hand of Thomas. I acknowledge Christ as feeding thousands of men with a word, walking upon the waves, commanding demons, raising the dead, and performing innumerable miracles by the power of his own divinity. I acknowledge Christ as hungering, and thirsting, and sweating in the nature of humanity. I acknowledge Christ as dead in the flesh. I acknowledge Christ as resurrected in the flesh, raising up the temple of his own body. I acknowledge the distinction of his two natures. I do not divide one Son into two sons. I believe also in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, proceeding from the Father, the complement of the Trinity. In him I hope for my sanctification. In him I hope for the resurrection from the dead.

^A Without father, without mother, without genealogy; having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, assimilated to the Son of God. He was assimilated, however, insofar as his genealogy was not traced, as was the custom for the tribes of Israel, to chronicle those men who were the more illustrious among them; for he was himself a type and a sort of image of the Lord, who in heaven indeed is without mother and without time; but on earth is without father and in time. And yet it is clear that Melchizedek was a priest, to such a degree that Abraham received a blessing from him, and offered him tithes of the spoils, just as the same Apostle testifies, saying: *Intuemini* ^B *autem quantus sit hic, cui et decimas ex omnibus partitus est Abraham*. And again: *Et* (if one may say so) *per Abraham, et Levi, qui decimas accepit, decimatus est*; that is, through his forefather Abraham. *Adhuc enim*, he says, *in lumbis patris erat*, namely Levi, the great-grandson of Abraham, from whom that which was considered as a tithing in the Lord, on account of the origin of the race, is derived, when Melchizedek met him (that is, Abraham). What then is the purpose of their empty talk, or rather, their absurdity? For understand this well: whoever wishes to speak of a beginning, confesses an end as well; and while they admit a temporary birth, they acknowledge that death is also derived from it, and while they believe he was made from nothing, or from a substance unlike the divine nature, they proclaim him to be at once mortal and alien to the communion of the paternal godhead. But even to say this, let alone to think it, is a thing full of all impiety. But their forces are directed most of all against that text of John: *In principio erat Verbum*. They say that the word *ἦν*, that is, *erat*, is written even of the creature. For we read: *In principio* ^C *fecit Deus cœlum, et terram: terra autem erat invisibilis, et incomposita*. And: *Erat homo ex Harmathem Siphá*. But there is nothing in common between, *In the beginning was*, and, *In the beginning he made*; nor between the Creator and the creature. For the word, *Was*, in the matter of the creation, is about only

^A the flowing of time, which also comes to an end; it is said and believed in this way. For the creature ^B was [created] after coming to be from nothing. For [Moses] said beforehand that [God] made it, and then added "was," so that it might not be thought to be spontaneous. But in the case of God the Word, it signifies the absence of any origin. For in the beginning, he says, *was*, and *the Word was God*; and "In the beginning *was*" excludes its coming to be from things that are not. Witnesses, indeed, regarding the Son being before time, and the maker of the ages, speak thus: Paul, writing to the Hebrews, says:

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

But God is our King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

^A For he worked out our salvation in his incarnation by His foreknowledge before the ages; yet in the very act, when out of his goodness he who is impassible suffered for us as he knew and willed, and came, so to speak, even to the *heart of the earth*. In this sense Ezekiel also prophesies with these words: *I have set Jerusalem in the midst of the nations*. And in the one hundred and seventeenth psalm: *Thy Word, O Lord, abides in heaven for ever*. And the Lord himself, regarding himself, completely stopping the mouths of the heretics, says 35 somewhere: *Amen, amen, I say to you, before the ages were, I am*.

That the Son is not a minister or a mediator, but the creator of all things, both incorporeal and corporeal, and at the same time is also eternal, is confirmed by David also with his testimony, in addition to the passages already cited, for he sings in the one hundred and thirteenth psalm: ^B *Our God is in heaven and on earth, all things whatsoever he willed, he did*. He did not say: "Whatsoever he was permitted." Who, then, could deny the authority of the self-ruling and all-powerful essence of the Monad?

On the fact that there are certain writers who conclude from the words of our theologian that Mount Golgotha is situated in the middle of the terrestrial globe, and on the refutation of the critic who, on this account, falsely accuses the ancient Fathers of ignorance of geography.

As for the assertion that the mountain of Golgotha is situated in the middle of the world, why should we straightway assume that our theologian was ignorant of the very elements of geography? If this is the case, to how many writers must that stigma be affixed? I say nothing of profane authors, who falsely judged the famous city of the Phocians, Delphi, to be placed in the middle of the world: I say nothing, therefore, of Pindar, who in his sixth Pythian ode calls it the *omphalos chthonos*, that is, the navel of the earth; I say nothing of Sophocles, who in *Oedipus Tyrannus* called it *mesomphala gas*, that is, the middle navel of the earth; I say nothing of T. Livius, who in his thirty-eighth book introduces Manlius saying: *The Gauls have even plundered Delphi... the navel of the world*; I say nothing, finally, of Ovid, who sang in his *Metamorphoses*: *Delphi, holding the navel of the world*.

Their opinion is indeed more consistent with superstition than with truth, for given the distance that lies between the Pillars of Hercules, or that place whose meridian circle Ptolemy established as the primary one, and the borders of the earth that were formerly considered to be in the East, Delphi does not lie in the middle. But should those writers be considered totally ignorant of geography because of this, or does he who accuses them of this seem to do as someone who, upon hearing someone say, "As the moon is smaller among the planets," would immediately exclaim: "He does not even possess the elements of astronomy"? Let others judge.

As regards our theologian, if he were deservedly to be held ignorant of the very elements of geography, for the same reason Irenæus would have to be held ignorant, who calls the churches established in Palestine *ta kata mesa tou kosmou*, that is, situated at the middle of the world; and Jerome would be held ignorant, who defends that opinion with arguments drawn from geography; in a word, those Fathers would be held ignorant who, since Jerusalem is called by Ezekiel the navel of the earth and is placed in the midst of the nations such that it has the earth in a circuit, and by the Psalmist is exhibited in the middle of the earth, understood not Judea—as Josephus did—but the world, that is, the orb of the lands.

What more is there to say? Must that great geographer Christoph Cellarius be ignorant of the elements of geography, who, since Jerusalem is about sixty degrees distant from the furthermost parts of Spain, and about as many from the river Ganges, and therefore lies approximately in the middle of the then-known ends of the earth, says that the opinion of the ancient Church, that the city of Jerusalem was situated in the middle of the world, and that the repairer of the human race was born and suffered and was raised from the dead in that same midpoint, is not to be ridiculed like an old wives' tale: namely, so that such great salvation might be manifest to all, and divine benefits might be announced and applied equally to all? Thus Cellarius, though a heterodox man.

But the critic is very different: *He does not even possess the elements of geography: he places Mount Golgotha in the middle of the globe.* He even rubs the wound sore, while I am sending these things to the press, the author of the *Florentine Literary Ephemeris*: for under the date of May 3, of this current year 1765, he not only attributes that opinion I mentioned to Didymus too confidently, but he does not even hesitate to speak thus: *As for the geographical absurdity... this thing is common to the ancient Fathers*.

Now since these things are so, for my part, I could never bring myself to believe that the Parisian article was written by the distinguished geometer Jacquier: for I used to think it was the way of geometers not to affirm confidently things that are not certain; nor did it seem likely that such a learned man was ignorant of what Cellarius had written on this matter. *The mathematician has no part in this*, says Jacquier himself, fittingly. No doubt, that distinguished mathematician, driven by an intense love for the truth, and a rival to my own love for that same truth, removed all doubt from us: for in a letter inserted in that Parisian Ephemeris under the date of February 3, 1765, he writes these things: *The mathematician, with no other interest than that of the truth, declares... that he has no part in this criticism*. And so I am a little angry at the author of the *Florentine Literary Ephemeris* because he did not heed that golden rule of Augustine in the *Rule for Canons*: *Let there be no doubt in believing a servant of God who says what is grieving him*.

^A If the essence of Didymus is free and acts by itself, and if he has all things obeying his sole and bare will without hesitation, who will deny that it pertains to the unity of that essence, which acts by its own authority and possesses universal power? And in the Psalm: *In the beginning (46) you, Lord, founded the earth, and the works of your hands are the heavens; they will perish, but you remain; and all will grow old like a garment, and you will fold them up like a cloak, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not fail.* This is to say: You are eternal and infinite. Likewise, Paul also writes similar things, to the Ephesians: *In God (47), who created all things*; but to the Colossians: *For in him (48) were created all things, which are in heaven and which are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created through him and in him; and he is before all, and all things consist in him.* ^B For of him who substantially images God, and who is before all things in divinity, no one is superior, nor is anyone older; just as, of him who is after all things, no one is inferior, and placed under him, nor posterior (49).

And otherwise: If he is before all, he is therefore alone from the Alone, and in a unique and singular manner was ineffably begotten before every operation, and is substantially the Son of the Father; for it is necessary that he who is before all, and who manages every nature in a way that transcends nature itself, should not be anything out of the whole, nor be held to be a creature, nor be compared to those things which were produced (50) by him, and which have obtained every difference in relation to him (51).

And otherwise: He whom one would declare to be the maker of any creature whatsoever, and who supports (52) all creation, and whom one would name the image of God and the Son, both looking to the truth of the matter and being convinced by divine oracles; how, I ask, would that same person—unless he were insane—confess him to be also a work, or lesser than the God who supports all things, or one who has a beginning, in the confession of faith? ^C Concerning the fact that God is also called Angel, Malachi prophesies, saying thus: *The Lord whom you seek will come to his temple; and the angel of the testament, whom you desire. Behold, the Lord comes, and who shall endure the day of his entrance? Or who shall stand in his vision?* The beginning of this oracle designates the Economy, that is, the Incarnation; but what follows indicates the second coming of the Lord, terrible and at the same time benevolent. Isaiah also cries out, in the manner in which those who rejoice are accustomed to announce to those who have not yet felt what has happened: *A child is born to us, a Son is given to us; and his name is called the Angel of great counsel, wonderful, counselor, God, strong, one having authority, Prince of peace.* That this Word of God is he who voluntarily acts of his own accord, and has ^D all things running together without delay by his bare will; and in the 101st Psalm: *In the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; and all will grow old like a garment, and you will fold them up like a covering, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not fail*; signifying, instead, that you exist without beginning and are endless. And Paul writes the same things to the Ephesians: *In God who created all things*, and to the Colossians: *For in him were created all things, those in heaven and those on earth, visible and invisible; whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers, all things were created through him and for him; and he is before all, and all things consist in him*. For no one is superior to him who essentially images God—to whom none is superior in divinity, nor older; as no one is subject to him who is after all, nor inferior. And otherwise: If he is before all, alone from the Alone, and alone, he was begotten ineffably before any operation, and is substantially the Son of the Father. For it is necessary that he who is before all, and who oversees every nature in a way beyond nature, should be nothing of all things; neither should he be thought a creature by comparison with those things brought forth by him, and which have every difference toward him. And otherwise: He whom anyone would declare to be the maker of every work, and who supports all creation, and whom he would name the image of God and Son—holding to the truth and being fully assured by the divine oracles—how could he, unless he were mad, acknowledge him to be a work, or lesser than the God who supports all things, or younger? Regarding God being called an Angel, Malachi prophesies, saying thus: *The Lord whom you seek shall come to his temple, and the angel of the testament whom you desire. Behold, the Lord comes, and who will endure the day of his arrival? Or who will withstand his vision?* The beginning of this saying refers to the Economy, but that which follows indicates his second, terrible and benevolent coming. Isaiah cries out, in the manner used by those who rejoice in announcing things to those who have not yet perceived them: *A Child is born to us, and a Son is given, and his name is called the Angel of Great Counsel, wonderful, counselor, God, strong, potentate, Prince of peace.* This Word of God exists as he who voluntarily acts by himself, and having

[15 4.] Jacob also calls Him an Angel, when, journeying into Mesopotamia, he lay down and saw a dream. For he says: "And behold a ladder set up on the earth, the head whereof reached to heaven: and the angels of God ascended and descended on it." And the Lord leaned upon it, and said: "I am the Lord God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac; fear not: the land whereon thou sleepest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and I will be with thee, and will keep thee in all the way whither thou goest, and will bring thee again with safety unto the house of thy father: and thy seed shall be spread abroad to the west, and to the sea, and to the north, and to the east." Now it was prophesied: by the ladder, the cross, ^B by which the faithful ascend to the heavenly tabernacles; but the God who leaned upon the ladder is He who voluntarily, for our sake, was fixed to the cross. And after other things: "Jacob vowed," he says, "a vow, saying: If the Lord God will be with me, and will keep me in this way in which I walk, and will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on, and will bring me back with safety into the house of my father; then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be for me the house of God; and of all that Thou shalt give me, I will tithe the tenth to Thee." Then, having grown rich with Laban, he saw in the mating of the cattle, again in a vision, the God who had appeared to him before; and he related it thus: "The angel of God said to me in a dream: Jacob, look up with thy eyes, and see the rams and the goats ascending upon the sheep and the she-goats; for I know all that Laban doeth to thee. I am the God who appeared to thee in the way in which thou wentest, where thou didst set me up a pillar, and didst vow a vow to me there." ^C And in Egypt, the same Jacob requests the blessing of this Angel and great God for the sons of Joseph, saying: "The God in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac were well-pleasing, the God who feedeth me from my youth until this day, the Angel who delivered me from all my evils."

Chapter XVI: Of those who say: The Father excludes an equal; and: He is greater than the Son; and: Image is one thing and God is another; and: Man also is written in Scripture as the image and glory of God. And concerning the fact that Scripture testifies that the Father in no way differs from the Son.

^A They attribute to the Father, because He is unbegotten, that He excludes the person of an equal and is greater; but to the Son, that He is dissimilar, because He is begotten. They bring down, that is to say, those things which relate to the supremely ineffable Godhead, dragging them down to the condition of our nature, and they think that things which are spiritual and perceived only by the intellect are similar to fleeting matter. Yet those things which are super-celestial surpass every mind and every thought; while things that are earthly are lowly, come into being in time, and are subject to decay and death. But He, in the highest sense, was begotten from eternity, existing and working ^B together with His own true Father, just as light exists with the solar disk. He also possesses the quality of being, and is called by the Scriptures, God, Lord, Holy, Creator, incorruptible, Life, Light, and everything that the Father is. And it is more fitting that He should possess similarity and equality from many sources than dissimilarity from one. For how were Adam and Eve, who were not begotten and did not have a father, equal in nature to us who have sprung from them? Or what kind of comparison or measure is this entirely, to which they refer Him who is—as they say—dissimilar, while insisting that the Father is more excellent and greater? ^C When, indeed, the Scripture neither admits any distinction of natures in the holy, eternal, one, and indivisible Trinity, nor attributes to one that it is prior, and to the other that it is posterior: on the other hand, these two things are manifest: first, that it does not necessarily follow that what is greater is of a different essence (that is, of another substance); and secondly, that comparative terms are asserted of those things which are of the same essence—that is, consubstantial—and not of those which are of a different essence, that is, of another nature. And there is no significance in what they would say concerning the "incomparable" and "greater." ^D It is not in regard to size or any bulk; for God the Word is without magnitude and without breadth—having departed from any size, composition, and shape—as is the Father, and His Holy Spirit; and He is Himself contained by nothing, but contains all things, since He is as the Creator, the beginning of all magnitudes. For where is there size in those most exalted, supersubstantial, and superior existences? Nor is it the case regarding the "without beginning," for He co-exists with the Father as the radiance of His glory, and does not have a God before Him. For He says: "In the beginning was the Word." And God is not measured by time, nor is the Creator by what is created.

For necessity—which it is dangerous even to contemplate—demands that they first establish a time for the unoriginated and incomprehensible God and Father, and only then make a comparison. Now, men are accustomed to call those who precede others in time greater, according to the command given to Isaac: “The greater shall serve the lesser.” But it is not so in terms of being the cause, for He is not His cause. For the only-begotten Son has also been shown to be without beginning; otherwise, He would be greater than both Himself and us—which heaven forbid that we should say or hear. Nor is there a comparison in terms of essence and likeness; for He is from Him as the Only-Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth, and as the character of the hypostasis who is the character toward all, and as the image of God, whom he who has seen has seen the Father. ^A For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead; and this is supported by the testimony, “Let us make man according to our image and likeness.” Nor is there a comparison in terms of an intensity of quality, because the divine and ineffable hypostases are not qualities; for quality belongs to bodies, whereas they are incorporeal and intelligible. But let it not even be conceived regarding them that one is more beautiful than the beautiful, or better than the better, after the manner of the voice of Paul speaking of another matter: “But now there abide these three: faith, hope, charity; but the greatest of these is charity”; for it was because of the intensity toward virtue that he assigned “the greater” to charity. ^B For having loved, he says, we believe; and having believed, we hope to reign with Christ. For if it is true that “There is one God,” and that “You may become partakers of the divine [16 b] nature,” and not “natures,” it is demonstrated that the good is one in every respect, namely the Godhead. Nor is there a comparison in terms of equality; for it is written, “God the Son is great and over all,” making Himself equal to the Father, and, “Swearing by Himself,” because He has not a greater. Nor in terms of power. For it is written that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God; and, “All things that the Father does, the Son does likewise.” Nor in terms of glory or any rank. For if they had known, he says, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And it is the will of the Father, according to John, “that all might honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” Why, then, would the greater remain?

^B According to nothing, as has been shown. And indeed, the Apostle, repressing the impious notions of the heretics concerning the Only-Begotten Son and God, while preaching his identity of nature with the Father and his being co-eternal with Him, wrote, as was shown above, that being the “effulgence of the Father’s glory,” he added, “and the impress of his substance.” And again [the Apostle] wrote to the Colossians and to the Hebrews: “Who is the image of the invisible God.” And in the Gospel according to John, the Son, showing that his own essence was stamped with the Father’s character, said: “For him has God the Father sealed.” ^C It is clear that the seal co-exists with the archetype and, being of the same type, also shows in itself perfectly and truly the unity of nature of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For the seal, like the “character” (or impress), signifies what is similar and uncorrupted; for it would then be time to say that the Father is not unbegotten and incomparable, if he is modeled and characterized by something originated and dissimilar. Not correctly understanding these divine oracles, which stood in no need of interpretation, but perverting them and fighting against the words of God with human thoughts, they say: “God is one thing, and the image of God is another; just as a man is one thing, and the image of a man is another,” and in a certain manner they liken the living and active God the Word to a statue that is motionless. But in essence and in all things [the Son] is the most unerring and eternal image of the Father, and not [an image] according to form and shape, like a crafted or sculpted lifeless and non-self-moving statue; nor [an image] according to appearance and color, like an artificial and imitative mute image. For these do not display the prototype either by nature or in all other respects. And while the son of a man is an image of the essence of his own father, yet it happens that he differs in age, or appearance, or disposition, or power, or dignity, or both together, or something else. But God the Word, immutably and precisely, naturally and eternally, images in all respects the simple, uncompounded, and uniform paternal deity. For it is not permitted to think that the image of God is [an image] according to some part or another; nor indeed does the divine become the image of something incomparable, nor can the true, archetypal, greater, self-authoritative, and incomparable [Father] be revealed through something dissimilar, or something smaller, or something subordinate.

^A For not even any other nature displays the other within itself; but also the Father is found to have become unhypostatic when heretics do not allow Him to possess the character of the hypostasis. ^B But neither does the invisible, and incomposite, and formless God possess an image such as those people suggest, which is mimetic. Furthermore, the argument which says, "He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God," clearly invalidates their claims. Moses also teaches about a natural image in this way: "Adam begat Seth according to his own likeness." Seth was not necessarily of a different substance from Adam, and yet he called the likeness and similarity of the substance an "image." But they say it is written even about man that he is "the image and glory of God." But nowhere, O you men, is it written that a human being or any other created thing is the brightness of the glory of God and the character of the hypostasis. It is one thing for a man to be an image of God—that is, the thing crafted [being an image] of the craftsman, like a chariot of the carpenter—for Solomon says, "By the analogy of created things the Creator is discerned." And it is another thing, according to conformity, and sameness of substance, and co-eternity, to be the brightness of the glory and an enhypostatic and most truthful character of the hypostasis. For He says, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." But he who has seen a man has not seen God, just as he who has viewed the chariot has not seen the carpenter. But it is also necessary that the image of the only invisible God be alone invisible, and not the visible man who is "according to the image." Therefore, the Son is neither like any other—for it is written, "Who shall be likened unto the Lord among the sons of God?"—nor is He unlike His own Father; for He says, "I and the Father are one." But those who take the concept of a created image and apply it to Him liken themselves to Nebuchadnezzar, who commanded that a lifeless image of a maker be worshipped. And God justly cast Adam out of the garden because of his disobedience, but the Son brought in the robber, and with him Adam and our entire common race, inasmuch as He is in every way equal in deity, goodness, and lordship to the One who cast them out. ^C Where, pray, is it written that the Father is incomparable to His own Only-Begotten? Or that His Son, the Creator and Judge of all things, is a creature according to His divine nature, which is transcendent and infinite over all? Or, in short, that there was a time when He was not? Or where did the Father specifically say, "Create a Son for Me," or the Son, "I was created by the Father"? To hear such things, let alone to say them, is terrible and to be shunned. These things are nowhere to be found in the entirety of the divine and spiritual Scripture. On the contrary, all the statements concerning the Son’s deity are those of Him comparing Himself to the Father and uniting Himself to Him. ^D

of glory, and of the character of the hypostasis, or substance, subsisting in the Father, and most true. For He Himself says: *He who has seen me, has seen the Father*; but he who has seen a man, has not seen God, just as he who has seen a stool has not seen the carpenter. But it is necessary also that that one invisible image of the one invisible God be that (image), and not a visible man, who is (only) according to the image. Therefore, the Son is not like another; for it is written: *Who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?* Nor is He unlike His Father; for He says: *I and the Father are one.* But those who imagine a created image in Him are like Nebuchadnezzar, who fashioned a manufactured and inanimate image, that it might be adored. Moreover, God justly cast Adam out of paradise because of his disobedience. But the Son, equal in all things to Him who had cast him out in deity, goodness, and dominion, brought the thief, and Adam with him, and our entire race into that place. But where is it written that the Father, having regard to His Only-Begotten, is "asyncritos," that is, incomparable? Or (where is it said that) the Son, the Creator and Judge of all, His divine, infinite, and separated-from-all-things nature being considered, is a creature? Or that He did not exist at some time? Or where did the Father specifically say: "I have created a Son for myself," or the Son: "I have been created by the Father"? Which is horrible to hear, let alone to say, and is to be utterly shunned. Indeed, these things are nowhere to be found in the entire divine Scripture, inspired by the divine Spirit. On the contrary, whatever the Only-Begotten said regarding His own deity, all those things are the Son comparing Himself to the Father, and demonstrating Himself to be one with Him and worthy of the same honor. Indeed, having considered the infinite heavenly generation, which nothing at all can express or represent, He was never called *teknon* (Natus), that is, a child, nor *paidion* (puerulus), that is, a little boy, nor *gennema* (genimen), that is, an offspring; lest, forsooth, anyone imagine something humble, or give occasion for suspicion to those who have artificially constructed their aforementioned blasphemies. But He is called *Huios*, that is, Son, because of His perfect and eternal generation, and His nature, which is plainly the same as the Father's. But all those things which some think are humble in respect to the divinity, as also that saying: *The Father who sent me is greater than I*, are divinely dictated and written in the sacred books because of His merciful and ineffable incarnation, which was done for us and on our behalf; on account of which it was also written that He was made a little lower than the angels, according to the Apostle ^A writing in his Epistles: *But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death.* I therefore think, and am not altogether wrong, that He spoke of the Father and of Himself—in order to show the goodness of both and (their) consubstantiality—(saying): *Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt.* For, He says, the tree is known by the fruit.

CHAPTER XVII.

Some dare to say that the Holy Spirit is the first creature; Macedonius, however, says this of the Spirit alone. May the holy and consubstantial Trinity turn away from them the burden of remembering such delirious and damnable utterances; we, however, shall demonstrate, by setting forth the divine Scriptures, how the first creature of God was made. The first creature, having been lifted up from the heavens, was cast down like lightning, as He who created it well and later justly cast it out, observed in the Gospel. ^A Thus speaks the Scripture in Job: "But behold, a beast is with you, eating grass like oxen. Behold, his strength is in his loins, and his power is in the navel of the belly. He has set up his tail like a cypress, and his nerves are intertwined; his ribs are of bronze, and his back is of cast iron." This is the beginning of the creation of the Lord, made to be mocked by the angels. So he says that the devil is the first creature, who, because of his impiety and evil-willedness, caused himself to be mocked by the holy angels. But after him, neither the Son, who also created him, nor the Spirit of God, is to be called created. ^B

CAP. XVIII. De sancta Trinitate. Et ob identitatem essentiæ eadem de ambabus personis nomina dici, excepta paternitate, et filietate, et processione Spiritus: hæc enim singularum peculiariter personarum propria sunt. Et modo Patrem, modo Filium, modo Spiritum primo loco nominari. Et in Scriptura cum trinitatem, tum unitatem Dei demonstrari.

From all these things, then, it is established that those things which are affirmed by them are entirely alien to the truth. For it is the work of a sophist to pour forth words wordily, but it is the work of a wise man to investigate the Scriptures with reverence and appropriate inquiry. ^C It is necessary, therefore, that we henceforth pass by their inept and sordid ratiocinations and contentions, and, having washed clean our ears—which are, so to speak, salty—with the mystical life-giving water of the Holy Spirit, demonstrate that the Scriptures, because of the identity of the Godhead, sometimes name one of the divine Persons, and at other times the three, and attribute goodness to each of them in the same way; as when Moses says: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God..."

the Lord is one." By the word "one," he indicates the one deity; but by the word "Lord," then "God," and again "Lord," he signifies the Trinity, from whom every earthly and super-mundane good has existed and will exist for human beings. And again: "God said: Let there be a firmament. And God made the firmament. And God saw that it was good." It must be noted that he names three Persons, and calls each of them God, and shows the accord and cooperation of Him who spoke, of Him who made, and of Him who approved. And again, ^A He commands—he says—God to Moses, saying: "Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the children of Israel: The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and show mercy to thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." In order to indicate three Persons, he did not say once: "The Lord bless thee, and show mercy to thee, and give thee peace," but he named the Lord three times. And, just as when the prophets prophesy—Haggai ^B indeed bringing forth a divinely inspired utterance from the person of the Father, which is thus: "Be of good courage, O Zerubbabel, for I am with you, and my good Word, and my Spirit in your midst"—and Isaiah, saying that the mission was performed with equal honor by the hypostases that are equal in honor and perfect in themselves, and in a few words demonstrating their entire communion, and crying out: "And now the Lord the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit." For not in vain did he name him twice, "the Lord, the Lord," and afterwards, "his Spirit," ^C but in order to denote both the Persons and the one deity and will. David also—for he too supports such a chapter—makes everything full of song and reveals, wherever he has faith, according to these words: ^D In the sixth Psalm: Who is God beside the Lord…

and who is God, save our God? The God who girds me with strength. And in the forty-eighth: Thou, O God, art my helper. My God, his mercy shall prevent me; my God shall show me among my enemies. And in the ninety-fourth: Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord; bless his name. ^A For by naming him three times, either as Lord or as God, he has declared the Trinity. But also Anna, praying in the Books of Kings, called upon the Trinity, saying: Adonai, Lord, Elohi Sabaoth. For the word Adonai is translated in the Hebrew tongue as Lord, and again in the Greek tongue she said, "Lord," and a third time she spoke in Hebrew, Elohi Sabaoth, which is "God of hosts" or "God of powers." ^B And now indeed, as certain, I dare to assert that as often as Didymus translates Hebrew words in this work, the interpretation he offers is genuine and accurate, as can be seen not only in this place, but also in clause ^C 193a, on the word Osanna; in clause 40a, on the words Bar Jona; in clause 216b, on the word Abba, etc. Nay, I have observed the very same thing in his book against the Manichaeans, where he treats of the word Satan. But what he writes himself in the book *On the Holy Spirit*, no. 44, concerning the word Israel—which I think no one would say was added by Jerome—are reasons why it seems to me not certain, but more probable, that Didymus was not very skilled in the Hebrew language. Yet Vallarsius also, in his notes on that passage of Didymus, p. 123, judges those words—"In Hebrew," etc.—to have been added by Jerome; though he brings forward no reason, unlike Basnagius. I am persuaded, he says, that the annotation proceeded not from the talent of Didymus, who was utterly ignorant of Hebrew characters, but certainly from Jerome. For Saint Ambrose also, who in book 1 *On the Holy Spirit* responds to this objection from the passage in Amos, indicates that he did not read this solution among Didymus's works from the Hebrew, since he entirely ignores him. Thus the most illustrious man. But his conjecture does not seem of such weight that we are forced on its account to hold Jerome as an unfaithful translator of Didymus; for he would certainly not have been faithful if he had added anything of his own, especially when he does not warn the reader of this in the Preface. I will not ask now whether Saint Ambrose truly borrowed anything from Didymus; I see most learned men agreeing on this matter; indeed, Rufinus himself, in Book I *Against Jerome*, although he defends Ambrose—whom he thought was attacked by Jerome himself—in some way, yet he does not deny that. Nor will I even ask whether Saint Jerome sharply and bitingly attacks Saint Ambrose as if he had stolen many things from Didymus, even if I am with difficulty brought to believe it, whatever Rufinus may have felt on this matter, exacerbated against Jerome. I will only say this: although we concede that Ambrose drew many things from Didymus, he did not intend to copy everything that Didymus had dictated. Didymus indeed explains the chapter of the prophet objected to by the heretics: "Creating the Spirit, and announcing... his Christ," in such a way that by the name of spirit he understands the wind. But Ambrose contends that the soul of Christ can also be accepted there under the name of spirit; ^D there was therefore no necessity forcing him to warn the reader that for "his Christ," in the Hebrew is read "his speech." Nay, Ambrose perhaps thought the meaning was the same whether you read "his Christ," or you read "his speech," or "his discourse," or "his Word," that is, the Son; whereas for Didymus, on the contrary, one meaning seems to appear if you read "his Christ," and a different one, indeed, if you read "his speech."

^A Moreover, Elijah the Thesbite, in the history of the Third Book of Kings, when he prayed to call the son of the Sidonian widow—who was dead—back to life, breathed into him three times, and thus raised him up. By this act he signified, as it were, that he himself in his prayer had invoked the life-giving Trinity, and he instructed us not to believe or glorify matters otherwise. And by commanding those who were carrying the water, "Do it a second time," and "Do it a third time," he revealed that these three most highly to be hymned substances operate everywhere and in all things with equal power and equal honor.

If it pleases you, I shall make known to you again the point in question from the divine voice itself. For when a tower was being built, as it is in the book of Genesis, God the Father manifested the blessed substances, speaking to His own Son and His Holy Spirit: ^B "Come, let us descend, and let us confound their languages there, so that they may not hear the voice of one another." Moses also, in order to demonstrate, as I think, the equality of the Trinity, set forth one vine with three stocks, having nowhere said that one stock was deeper than the other; so that no one might think that this substance precedes that one, but that we all might believe that the three converge in one Godhead. For this reason also the divinely inspired Scripture forbade the making of steps at the altar, where the Trinity is glorified, lest men, as if by steps, should designate the divine substances in such a way as to call one ^C inferior to another.

In summary, the Old Testament, bearing a type of the New, speaks mystically and most prudently, indicating this mystery, which was afterward made manifest, enigmatically in many places rather than explaining it in one and the same place—and it explains it more than it indicates it obscurely—so that it might neither strike those who were not initiated, and who were not yet sufficiently firm or capable of divine knowledge, with a sudden impression, nor inflict upon them any harm; for the former would be a sign of inexperience, and the latter of inhumanity. Frequently, moreover, what it has written here or there in a way difficult ^D for us to comprehend, it has been accustomed to provide a solution and explanation for in another chapter. The New Testament, however, no longer speaks as if in shadow and under a veil, but manifests and speaks expressly, as those whom I cite below testify. Paul, for instance, writing to the Romans: "If indeed God is one," and to the Galatians and Corinthians: "God is one." And again to the Corinthians in the second epistle: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Here, because of the identity of the Godhead, he mentioned the Son first, and thus the Father, and then His Holy Spirit; communion

or participation of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, when he spoke of one Godhead, and glory, and dominion, or kingship, he indicated their communion: for what other communion is there in God? ^A To the Ephesians, moreover: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all." Then to the same: "For this reason I bow my knees before God and the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts." Here again, in the same way, because of the equal honor of the hypostases, he remembered the Spirit after the Father, and thus the Son. ^B And again to the Corinthians: "I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf." To the Hebrews, however: "For if the message spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just retribution; how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard it, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, and with various miracles, and distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to His will." By "the Lord," therefore, the Son is made known; by "God," the Father; ^C then also the self-sovereign and omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit. And the Son also showed the one Godhead by saying, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God." But he showed the three equal-honored and equal-powered hypostases by the teaching concerning baptism; and not having spoken captiously—for the One is God. ^D

^A For if, he says, you know me to be good, and do not connect this word with the teacher (as in, "Well done, good servant," and as, "the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good," and as, "Samuel was good with God and with men," and, "Saul was good, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, higher than all the Israelites from the shoulder and upward," and, "a living dog is better than a dead lion"), do not take anything away from the primary Good, but recognize me ^B as God; not as another in deity from the Father, but in hypostasis—for the deity of both is one, since otherwise the first good would no longer be found to be one. For you read somewhere, he says, that "It is good to trust in the Lord, than to trust in man." For to cleave to God is good; and as to the Good, I have always encouraged you to follow me and to walk behind me. Therefore he did not say, "There is no one good except the Father," but, "There is no one good, ^C except one God"—just as he says elsewhere, "Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?" For the creature, he says, has goodness by participation, imitating to the extent of its power, if it is permitted to say so, the innate and perfect goodness of God, and being preserved through it; and the existence of the good in it is to participate in the goodness of God, cleaving to Him by obedience and by . . . ^D

On the Scripture passage, "Sit at my right hand."

And this he speaks in common concerning the creature [I correct this from our codex, for the published books have: *of the creature*; and in pronouncing, of all invisible creatures he says that they are *ministering spirits*.... How, therefore, is the Lord, through whom it received the beginning of speaking, other than all creatures? [Our codex: *received that great salvation...*; but also God, who bears witness by signs and wonders to this salvation, is other than all ministering spirits: Thus also the Holy Spirit, by whose distributions according to his will God bears witness, distributing Him, not by parts of a "division" [our codex: *divisions*], but by communion, to whom it has pleased him to grant Him, is Himself of a different substance from these into which He is poured forth [our codex: *is distributed and poured forth*].]

For from this Didymus brought forth these things, alleging the sense, however, rather than the words. For the Complutensian edition has thus: For it has in the Complutensian and in the [text]: And there was a man of the sons of Benjamin, and his name was Kish... and to him a son, and his name was Saul... good, and there was no one among the sons of Israel good above him, higher than the shoulder and upward above all the earth. The living dog, he is good above the dead lion.

[Regarding] the manner in which Ambrose, in his book *De fide*, ch. 1, wrote: "And therefore through heavenly circumspection he did not say: 'There is no one good, except the Father'; but: 'There is no one good except one God.'" But if the five books of the holy doctor *De fide*, or the book *De incarnationis Dominicae sacramento*, indeed the book itself *De mysteriis*, were compared with these three books of our theologian, not a few similar things would be found on both sides. Shall we therefore, just as learned theologians admit that Ambrose himself in his books *De Spiritu sancto* borrowed some things from Didymus, and that this is confirmed by the testimony of S. Jerome, or Rufinus, or both of them—or, what I prefer to believe is more probable, merely by the testimony of Rufinus—conjecture immediately that the same Ambrose also borrowed some things in his books *De fide* from this work of Didymus, or from his two books written against the Arians? Rufinus testifies (I admit) that that holy bishop of Milan derived some things from the Greek Fathers into his own works, while he writes this about him in his book *in Hieronymum*: "Who (others read: *which*), even if he followed the Greek Catholic writers of our [faith], and presumed something from their writings, does not immediately...

^A For it was written: *They that are far from thee shall perish*; and, *God is far from the wicked*; and, *Salvation is far from sinners*. It is clear, however, that this is spoken in terms of relationship and disposition, on account of the opposition to the good and the slowness toward virtue, but not in terms of place. And that He Himself is also good, as being by nature one with the good Father, He Himself says in Matthew: *Is thine eye evil, because I am good?* And again: *Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her*. And He called Himself the good part. And men not obscure, but very familiar with the divine Spirit, also proclaim this along with Him—these are, among others who are of their company, these: the Psalmist in the ^B 117th Psalm: *Confess to the Lord, for he is good*; and in the same: *The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him*; and Isaiah: *The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel*. And that the holy Spirit of God also exists as good, the aforementioned David sings in the 24th Psalm: *Thy good Spirit shall lead me in the right land*. Furthermore, if eternal life is good, and the words of the Son (for He said: *Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say?* and again: *Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say? Why call ye me, Lord, and do not the things I say, why do ye not do the will of my Father?*), and in another place He says: *Why call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say? For the creature, he says, has goodness by participation, expressing by imitation according to its own powers, if it is lawful to speak thus, the innate and perfect goodness of God, and is made safe through this: but the good that exists in it consists in this, that it becomes a participant of that goodness which is of God, cleaving to Him through obedience and through love for Him. For it is written: *They that* ^C *far remove themselves from thee shall perish*; and: *God is far from the wicked*; and: *Salvation is far from sinners*. It is therefore manifest that these things are said concerning habit and affection, for the reason that sinners are contrary to the good and slow toward virtue, and not concerning place. But that He Himself is also good, as being by nature one with the good Father, He Himself says in Matthew: *Is thine eye evil, because I am good?* And again: *Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her*. But He called Himself the good part. Men not obscure, but very familiar with the divine Spirit, preach the same things as Himself: namely, besides others who follow them, these. The holy Psalmist in the 117th Psalm: *Confess to the Lord, for he is good*. And in the same: *He is good* ^D *in the fifth Book of the Stromata*; others to be believers and elect by nature, as Basilides. Therefore Didymus subjoins: *they themselves through obedience... adhering*, and the rest. In the book also *On the Holy Spirit*, no. 45, as if for a little while forgetful of his argument, he digresses from it to the refutation of the Manichaeans. He must be argued with, he says, from the present chapter, [regarding] the error of the heretics, who... have feigned one God to be good, another to be just [I add the word 'to be' from our manuscript]... while the Saviour also in the Gospel clearly establishes the just and good Father: *O righteous Father, the world [our manuscript: And the world, as it is read in the Greek Bibles] hath not known thee...* And these things have been said indeed briefly from the side against the heretics [our manuscript: *may they be*]. But it is time, etc. For the commentary on the first Epistle of Peter, ch. 11, to those words, *a chosen generation, and the rest*, has this little digression: *Therefore one must flee from speaking of natures, which the Manichaeans propose, saying [there is] a good or a bad nature, even because of the present words. For that which is chosen is not possessed by nature, but by the gift of virtue*. Nay, rather, in those *Enarrations* he returns again and again to this very discourse. But that word, *emphuton*, signifies innate, namely, natural, of which sort the goodness of a creature is not, *emphutos*, or natural, undeservedly called so by the heretics. [alt-version omitted]

^A The Lord *to those waiting for him, the soul for him who seeks him.* And Isaiah: *The Lord* [69] *is a good judge to the house of Israel.* That the Holy Spirit of God is also good, David mentions, singing in the twenty-fourth Psalm: *Your good Spirit shall lead me into the land of righteousness* [70] [71]. Furthermore, if eternal life is good, and if the words of the Son are good (for he says: *I am* [72] *the life*; and again: *The words* [73] *which I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life*); and if the sanctification of the Holy Spirit is good, and his operation in illumination or baptism (for he is mentioned together with the other persons, as being a co-worker); and, moreover, if the distribution of heavenly gifts [74] is good, it must be said without qualification that the Son and the Holy Spirit are good.

Nor have we learned these things by hearsay only, but we have witnessed them, so far as is possible, in the adorable and consubstantial Trinity, the uniqueness of the persons: the Father indeed speaking from the heavens, *This is my beloved Son*; the Only-Begotten himself being baptized upon the earth; and the one and only Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove, and remaining upon the only-begotten God and Son. ^B For a Davidic treasury in this Psalm confirms this: that the One who was incarnate from our earthly nature was testified to by God the Father as being his Son. The saying is known to all, reading thus: *Truth has sprung from the earth, and righteousness has looked down from the heavens.*

Likewise, because there is no discordance of deity in the awe-inspiring and immaculate Trinity, the divine oracles sometimes reveal the Father with the Son, as when David says: *The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand”*; and Paul: *Grace to you, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.* ^C And sometimes they join the Father with the Holy Spirit, as when Haggai prophesies: *For I am with you, says the Lord Almighty, and my Spirit stands in your midst*; and again: *Not by great power, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.*

By these testimonies—since it happens that the heretics, when the Spirit is mentioned together with the Father, say that some unsubstantial power is indicated—the matter is safely established. And Isaiah: *And now the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit*; and again: *There the hinds met, and they gave their faces to one another; they passed by in number, and not one of them perished; one did not seek the other,* because the Lord commanded them, and his Spirit gathered them. ^D

Moreover, Paul says to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” And again: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit”; and again: “But God has revealed [it] to us through his Spirit.” At other times, they name only the Son, as when Isaiah prophesies: “And now, O Lord, you are our Father, and we are clay, and all of us are the works of your hands.” And Paul to the Galatians: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” At other times, they preach the Only-Begotten together with the Holy Spirit, as when Paul writes to the Corinthians: “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.” And to the Romans: “I tell the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit.” And again: “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive another Spirit whom you have not received.” And at other times, he mentions the Holy Spirit alone, as when Isaiah prophesies: “They were disobedient, and provoked his Holy Spirit.” And again: ^B “The Spirit from the Lord came down and guided them.” And Paul writes to the Corinthians: “But the carnal man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God”; and as Stephen says in the Acts: “You always resist the Holy Spirit.” And again: “We are witnesses of these words, and the Holy Spirit.” Just as we are accustomed to say in general: “We are alone here, and God.” ^C And they gave their faces to one another; they passed by in number, and not one of them perished; one did not seek the other, because the Lord commanded [them], and his Spirit gathered them. Paul however says to the Corinthians: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? And again: The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. ^D And again: But to us God has revealed [it] through his Spirit. At other times they name only the Son: as when Isaiah prophesying says: And now, O Lord, you are our father, but we are clay, all the works of your hands. Paul however to the Galatians: For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. At other times they preach the Only-Begotten with the Holy Spirit: as when Paul writes to the Corinthians: But you have been washed, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. To the Romans however: I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. And again: For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or you receive another Spirit, which you have not received. At other times they mention only the Holy Spirit: as when Isaiah indeed prophesies thus: They disobeyed, and provoked his Holy Spirit. And again: The Spirit from the Lord came down, and guided them. Paul however writes to the Corinthians: But the carnal man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; and as Stephen in the Acts says: You resist the Holy Spirit. And again: We are witnesses of these words, and the Holy Spirit. Just as we are accustomed generally to say: We are alone here, and God.

Further, the Savior at John’s [account] makes mention only of the divine Spirit, saying: *When that one comes, the Spirit of truth, he will lead you into all truth.* And the Acts in like manner [testify] concerning the Holy One: *Arise, go down, and journey with them, doubting nothing, because I have sent them.* And again: *Thus says the Holy Spirit: Separate for me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I have called them.* And again, the Holy Spirit said to Peter: *Arise, go into the house of Cornelius.* And furthermore, the Apostolic Acts bring us ^A with grace and joyfulness into this discourse, for they contain: *Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to him.* And in addition: *For Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to the people.*

Likewise, the equal weight and equal power of the all-honored hypostases is signified in the fact that the Lord God the Word, through his aforementioned all-praised utterance at the baptism, maintained the equality of honor toward himself and toward the Holy Spirit, as [he maintained it] toward the Father. On account of this, the sacred books sometimes mention the Father first, and thus the Son, or the Holy Spirit; but at other times they mention the Son first, on account of the indivisibility of the nature and the indifferent character of the theology. Just as when Job speaks, clearly revealing the Trinity: *He lives*, ^B thinking about the [visionary] drama, *the Holy Spirit*. For Peter, thinking [about the word], the Holy Spirit said to him: *Separate for me Paul and Barnabas...* [they] go into the house of Cornelius. And again, the Apostolic Acts, as they are read, provide a pause in such a discourse; for they contain: *Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to him.* And further: *For Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to the people.*

Divinely [honored] and in every way to be revered, the equal force and power of the hypostases is signified in this, too, that the Lord God the Word, through his aforementioned all-praised utterance concerning the baptism, [declared] the equality of honor ^C... [alt-version omitted] ^D

which He kept for Himself with the Father and the Holy Spirit. ^A And because of this equality, the sacred books sometimes mention the Father first, then the Son or the Holy Spirit; at other times they mention the Son first: because by nature He is inseparable from them, and because the name of God applies to all without any discrepancy (15). Just as Job says, clearly designating the Trinity: *Lord* (16) *who has judged me thus, and the Almighty who has brought my soul to bitterness: since while my breath still remains in me, the divine Spirit who survives in my nostrils*, as if to say: The Holy Spirit who vivifies me, and who even now makes me breathe. And just as when Paul writes in his second epistle to the Thessalonians: *But the Lord* (17) *himself, our Jesus Christ, and God the Father, will console your hearts.* And to the Galatians: *Paul* (18) *an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.* And to the Corinthians, as was said before (19): *The grace* (20) *of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.* And the Savior also says: *We will come,* (21) *I and the Father, and we will make our abode with him.* Sometimes they name the Holy Spirit first, ^B and afterwards the Father or the Son, as when David sings: *Where shall I go from your Spirit; and from your face where shall I flee?* And Job, showing his gratitude, says: *The divine Spirit who made me; and the breath of the Almighty which instructs me.* And as Paul writes in his first Epistle to the Corinthians: *There are divisions of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord;* (25) *and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all.* Sometimes they speak of two persons ^C without naming them, as when Zechariah says: *The Lord said to the devil: The Lord will rebuke you, O devil.* And this was shown above through many [examples].

CAP. XIX. That what is said in one place of the Father, is said in another of the Son, or of the Holy Spirit, because the Trinity exists in one Deity.

^A In one, therefore, existing Deity the illustrious Trinity, and the fact that the name of God is common to It, as our ^B hierophants, or teachers of mysteries, know; that very thing which they have said in one way concerning the Father, they proclaim in another way concerning the Son or the Holy Spirit: not that they contradict themselves, but so that we, too, may know this very thing as the principal head of the true faith, and may not be ignorant of this: that, namely, whatever person at all we may have mentioned, we ^C embrace with faith another also at the same time, as being inseparable. For it is not possible that the truthful, and those who are pure and immune from every opinion denying the truth, the hypophetae (32) of God—that is, the interpreters of His oracles—should lie, who teach the simple truth, and that which is truly truth, that is, the goodness of God. For as they say, it is not lawful ^D for the impure to touch the pure; but they were pure, and alien to every false opinion. We shall find this, moreover, immediately in the vision of God which Isaiah witnessed. But why should I not first bring forward that whole passage as it stands? He says, therefore: *I saw (34) the Lord Sabaoth (35) sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the house was full of His glory. And the seraphim stood around Him; six wings to one, and six wings to one; and with two wings they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one cried to another: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Sabaoth; heaven and all the earth is full of His glory.* And after other things he says: *He said (37) to me: Tell the people: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.* And between other things he adds: *And the King Lord Sa-

[I] saw with my eyes, and one of the seraphim was sent to me, and so forth. Him whom he saw, therefore, the Lord Sabaoth ^A and King, Isaiah himself knows to be God the Father. But Paul, in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, has declared Him to be the Holy Spirit, delivering it in this way: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Go to this people, and say to them: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand," and the rest as it is set forth. Now John in the Gospel has defined Him to be the Son of God; for he said: "When Jesus had done so many signs, they could not believe; for Isaiah said: He hath blinded their eyes, and perverted ^B their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." And he immediately adds: "These things Isaiah said, when he saw His glory," that is, the glory of the Son of God. These things as regards these points, then, shall be said here. But hear also other things of the same power, sung by David in Psalm XCIV

concerning the person of God the Father

^A And Jeremiah likewise: "And you did not say," he says, "Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness?" But Isaiah says that the Holy Spirit did the guiding: "He led them," he says, "through the abyss, as a horse through the desert, and they did not weary; and as beasts through the plain. The Spirit came down from the Lord, and guided them." And Paul teaches that Christ was their guide on the way: "For they drank," he says, "from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ." In harmony with this, Jude also writes in his catholic, that is, universal, Epistle: "For the Lord Jesus, having once saved the people out of Egypt, destroyed those who did not believe." ^B Therefore, the effort of those who claim that the adorable Son and the divine Spirit are a creature is overturned here in two ways: first, from the fact that things are said in Scripture regarding each person that denote one infinite nature; and second, from the fact that it is added, "There was no strange god with them," that is, *heteroousios*, or of a different substance. In the same manner, Moses indeed says: "There shall be no portion nor inheritance for the Levites in the land; the Lord himself is their portion." And Jeremiah: "He who formed," he says, "all things, he is the inheritance of Jacob; the Lord is his name." And David in the 15th Psalm: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup." And Paul, moreover, writes to the Ephesians ^C that the Holy Spirit is the inheritance: "In whom," he says, "believing, you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance." Similarly, Paul writes to the Corinthians: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, and the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, and the same God who works all in all." And showing the identity of the Godhead, he not only mentions the Spirit first in this place, then the Son, and thus the Father; but he also, who has just said that God works all things, adds a little later: "But ^D all these things one and the same Spirit works, dividing to each one separately as he wills," manifestly and expressly showing that the Spirit is at once God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son, and endowed with his own authority and power. Moreover, one may also hear God and the Father saying in Isaiah: "My glory I will not give to another."

together with the power of self-determination. It is possible to hear from God and the Father in Isaiah where He says: *My glory I will not give to another*; and from John who says: *That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father* (for he already knew clearly that the glory is not rendered to a different-natured one, but to the Only-begotten and the Holy Spirit). Again, Mark says from Christ: *For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.* Matthew, setting forth the same chapter, did not say, "in the glory of the Father," but "in the glory of the Son," having written thus: *But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he shall sit upon the throne of his glory.* And in John he says: *Glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world was.* ^B

CHAPTER XX. Concerning the fact that, on account of their consubstantiality and equality of power, we read in the Scriptures that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell in the faithful. And against the objection of the heterodox.

We shall further find that the Trinity is consubstantial, and that all things are possible to it without distinction, if we understand that it alone, being above all immaterial and invisible things, can be participated in according to essence and fill the temple which It has created; and to It not only does this reality belong, but the very word itself is appropriate. For to that which is participable there follows immutability; and to this, uncreatedness, which is also without beginning. No created thing, as far as the usage of the Scriptures is concerned, can be said to be participated in by way of participation, or to fill man substantially; but only by way of disposition, either good or evil. For we say metaphorically that some are filled with virtue and knowledge, and are able to bring forth the fruits of virtue and knowledge contemplatively, as those who have purely partaken of the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is testified, therefore, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell in us, as when Paul writes to the Corinthians in his second epistle, quoting from Jeremiah: *For we are the temple of the living God; as God said: I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people;* and again: *Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?* And do you not know that your ^C bodies...

are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? And to the Ephesians: *That he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.* And as when the Lord says in John: *The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; but you know him, because he dwells with you and will be in you.* And again: *If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.* ^B And this will be more manifest to the one who understands, that the God Logos, being omnipotent, willed and remained immutable, and was conceived in the womb by the Virgin.

But they again persist in contradicting. It is written, forsooth, concerning Ananias: *Why has Satan filled your heart?* And concerning Judas, that *Satan entered into him.* To whom it must be said, that he does not participate, nor does he, as it were, invade the soul, but by deceiving it, and working out evil counsels and crafty habits in it, and making it idle, he fills it with his own wickedness, he who does not attend to what is written: *Do not give your foot to be shaken, and he who keeps you will not slumber.* In which way he filled Elymas his son with the suggestion of satanic operation; for Paul says to him, being abominable in his intent and in his deeds, ^C and full of diabolical mischief, and perverting the holy ones, so that it seems that his arch-evil father dwells in him, *full of all deceit and all intrigue.*

diabolical malice, and deceitfully tricking the holy ones, so that his father, the prince of evil ^A author, seemed to dwell in him, Paul said: "Full of all deceit and all fallacy, child of the devil!" Furthermore, in what manner he filled the minds of those who were falsely called elders with the incontinence by which they were carried away toward the most chaste woman Susanna. Thus, however, it is written: "And there came two elders full of wicked thought." And lest we cause too much weariness to the ears, we will speak briefly: if this objection of theirs has any value, it is time that we no longer treat as a great matter that the divine serenity dwells in the faithful; but let us consider this as being glorious only in the opinion of men. ^B

CHAPTER XXI. DE IIS LOCIS IN QUIBUS, OB NATURAE ET SUBSTANTIAE IDENTITATEM, LOQUI IN FIDELIBUS TRINITAS DICITUR.

The fact that the divine hypostases speak equally in the saints declares the identity of their nature and power. For Zacharias, not that prophet, but the father of John, said that the Lord God of Israel had spoken through the prophets. And Paul similarly wrote to the Hebrews: "God, having spoken in the past in many ways and many manners to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days hath spoken to us in the Son." And he wrote to the Corinthians regarding the Son: "Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me." And the Savior teaches in Matthew: "For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you."

CAP. XXII. On those places in which, for the same reason, that is, on account of the consubstantiality of the Trinity, it is written that we live to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

We are taught to contemplate this same fact most clearly in those places also where it is written that we live to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as when Paul addresses the Romans through his letters: "Consider yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." And again: "That those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again, Christ." And to the Galatians: "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." ^A

CAP. XXIII. On those places in which, for that same reason, the heavenly law is spoken of as being of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

For the reason we have mentioned, the Scriptures also say that the heavenly law is of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Thus the sacred Psalmist says in Psalm XXXVI: "The law of his God is in his heart." And in XXXIX: "I desired to do thy will, O God, and thy law is in the midst of my belly." Paul indeed writes to the Galatians: "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." And to the Corinthians in the first Epistle: "I became to those who were without the law as one without the law (not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ), so that I might gain those who were without the law." And to the Romans: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death." ^B And again, hinting at the New and Old Testament, he says: "But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were held, so that we may serve in newness of Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter." And again: "For we know that the law is spiritual." ^C

CAP. XXIV. On those places in which, for the same reason, that is, on account of the consubstantiality of the Trinity, we are called either men of God, or Christians, or spiritual.

For this very same reason, moreover, we are surnamed either men of God, or Christians, or spiritual, in the following places of Scripture. The widow indeed, who was in Sarepta, said to Elijah the Tishbite: "What is there to me and to you, O man of God?" And again: "Now I have known that you are a holy man of God." ^D The Shunammite, furthermore, to her own husband concerning Elisha...

the prophet: "Behold, a great man of God comes to us." And the story of the Kings: "And a man of God came from Judah, and prophesied against the altar that is in Bethel." And the Psalmist in the inscription of the psalm: "A prayer of Moses, the man of God." And Paul, writing the second letter to Timothy: "That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." And the Acts: "And it came to pass that for a whole year they were gathered together in the Church, and taught much people, and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." And Paul, discoursing to the Corinthians in the Epistle: "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that when ye were Gentiles, ye were carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit." And again: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." And again: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

CHAPTER XXV. On those passages in which Scripture, for the same reason—namely, the consubstantiality of the Trinity—ascribes to the Father what is said elsewhere of the Son or the Holy Spirit

^C That the Scripture signifies one Godhead and dominion is shown by the fact that what it now says is of the Father, it at other times declares to be of the Son, or of the Holy Spirit, as when the Savior says to the Jews in Matthew: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." And as when the renowned Paul writes to the Philippians: "For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's"; and to the Galatians: "And they that are Christ Jesus' have crucified the flesh with the affections and

^A concupiscences; and to the Corinthians: "For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again"; and again: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him"; and again: "Covet earnestly the best gifts."

Furthermore, the Church, which is considered together with the glorification which it renders to God and the unbloody ^B worship which it offers, is in the first epistle to the Corinthians declared to be of God, in this manner: "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God"; and again: "We have no such custom, neither the churches of God." But writing to the Ephesians, he taught that it is of Christ, saying thus: "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." For if this were not his opinion, let someone interpret what the prophet Haggai wishes ^C to say when he speaks: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former"; that is, of the Church of Christ and the glorification rendered therein, in comparison to the synagogue of the Jews, in which only God and Father was worshipped and glorified.

Consequently, he now says the Gospel is of God the Father, writing to the Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God"; and again: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed: as it is written, The just shall live by faith"; and in the second to the Corinthians: "Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?" But now he writes to the Corinthians that it is the Gospel of God the Only-begotten: in the first epistle: "But we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ"; and in the second: "Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel," and again—

CHAPTER XXV: On those places in which the Scriptures, for the same cause—namely, the consubstantiality of the Trinity—say that things are of the Father, which in other places they say are of the Son or of the Holy Spirit.

^A ...towards the Gospel of Christ; and again: "Glorifying God in the obedience of your confession unto the Gospel of Christ"; and to the Romans: "For God is my witness, whom I serve in the Gospel of his Son." But he also said that the holy liturgy is performed and fulfilled sometimes for God the Father, and sometimes for God his only-begotten Son, writing to the Corinthians; the first as follows: "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. But as for the rest, it is sought among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful." The second: "In all things exhibiting ourselves as the ministers of God." And again: "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more." And...

CHAPTER XXVI

(The beginning is missing.)

^B ...remained in his fear, and was forsaken? Or who hath called upon him, and he despised him?" For as even the "outsiders," or profane men say: "He who obeys God, him he is more wont to hear." Therefore, there is nothing acquired, or acted upon by another...

(The remaining text consists of scholarly apparatus not translated here.) [index: entries preserved]

goods ^B of peace—of which there is no end—from Himself, presenting all things; the one divine peace, which has no limit. Concerning this, Isaiah cried out: "Lord our God, give peace to us; for Thou hast rendered all things to us; Lord, besides Thee we know no other." As it is His, by reason of the commonality of nature, and He grants the command of lordship, He says: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." Hence, Paul also said that this God-given gift is ministered by both unbegotten hypostases without any distinction, writing thus to the Romans: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." ^C And we are permitted to recognize that this is so even from those words: "All things that the Father hath are Mine." For these things are not to be ignorantly understood as referring to the creature, that is, to Christ as man, but to the divine dignity, if indeed it is right to speak of dignity in God. For, He says, is the Father God? So am I; for I am His only-begotten, and true, and beloved Son. Is the Father Lord? I too am Lord of all, and heir, exercising authority over the inheritance while the Father lives: and I am heir of those things ^D which are My own, both inasmuch as I am their Creator, and also as the true Son. But I was established as heir as one having become incarnate. Is the Father Creator and King? I am too. For I said to you, as it were a certain king, and he went away to make a marriage for his son, the king. Is the Father immutable? So am I. For it has been prophecied about Me: "You are the same, and Your years shall not fail." Is the Father impassible? I am too, so that even those who are My partakers may share in impassibility. Is the Father eternal? So am I. For He never had not the name of Father, and in Him the subsistent splendor of His glory, and the character of His substance, and the image of deity—namely, Me. Life, and light, and goodness, and power, and wisdom, and truth, and all things that are worthy of God—is the Father these? So am I, as you have already heard. Moreover, I am also the Savior, causing the sun to rise on the just and the unjust, and not bringing evil in return for evil. Is the Father philanthropic? I am; inasmuch as for your sakes I emptied Myself, taking the form of a servant; and I endured your being those who strike, and spit upon, and mock, and crucify.

Therefore He said that all things of the Father are His, so as to give nothing more to God the Father than just His being Father of the co-eternal and co-subsistent Son. ^A Thus He persuades us also to believe the text: "All things that are mine are thine; and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them." For if this were not said in view of a natural relation, and if the Son were not substantially glorified in all things that are the Father’s; if the kingdom and dominion were not one; then, according to the heretical argument, there would be some things that are under the Father’s power, but not under the power of the Son.

And again: "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father who glorifies me." To me, He says, who speaks of My own divine glory, that "I and the Father are one," you do not believe; but there is the Father, who bears witness to Me, testifying that I am glorified according to nature, being indeed His beloved and true Son, but your God and Lord. Then He says: "Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." ^B Equal honor and glory are preserved here for the divine persons. For in whatever way we may conceive the Father to glorify His Son, in that same way He Himself is glorified by Him.

And again He adds: "And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." It is fearful to hear that He who has glory eternally with His own Father (for this is what "which I had before the world was" signifies) is not glorified by the heretics. But what was this glory? It was, I think, that of which Mark also speaks: "When the Son shall come in the glory of his Father," which is the same as if he said, "He has the Father’s glory, and in it He shall come a second time." Since this glory is one, there is not one deity and another, nor a different kingdom and worship. ^C Whence He commands: "Believe in God, believe also in me; in my Father’s house are many mansions." For, He says, since the Godhead has no difference, you ought to have one knowledge of faith concerning the Trinity, so that you may thus dwell in those most blessed halls, which are suitable and sufficient for all.

Moreover, not only granting what belongs to a leader, but also what belongs to God, He says: "Thy sins are forgiven thee." You observe His same authority here, that He does not intercede as if before a greater one, but forgives as an autocrat. And Matthew, also contributing to these theologies concerning the only-begotten Son, said: "No one knows the Father, save the Son; nor does anyone know the Son, save the Father." How then do these men contend, as if they knew, that the Father is incomparable, but His Son unlike Him, and that the essence is unbegottenness? ^D They have nothing.

^A They leave aside the preeminent knowledge of God the Father and the Only-Begotten God, nor do they consider that nothing of a different nature possesses knowledge equal to that of a different essence. Paul likewise writes in the first Epistle to Timothy: "I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the blessed and only Sovereign will display at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see; to whom be honor and eternal glory forever. Amen." For it has seemed to the heretics that the words, "He who is the only Sovereign, and King of kings," and what follows, should be attributed to the Father alone. But just as he spoke concerning both of the ever-memorable persons—"I charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus"—so he hymns both as one in deity in the words that follow. For he himself did not ignore, as these men do, the words: "All things that the Father has are mine"; and the words: "That all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father"; and the words: "This is the true God and eternal life"; and: "This is our God, no other will be reckoned alongside Him"; and: "This is my beloved Son." Rather, he extends the things proposed even to the Son. For he has: "To keep the commandment until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the blessed and only Sovereign will display at the proper time." It is clear that the Son will display His own appearing when He comes a second time. ^B Observe, therefore, that because of the equality of honor between Father and Son, he assigns that first glory to Him. And to the Romans: "For His invisible attributes, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood through His works, even His eternal power and divinity." And these things do not tend toward a created thing. For the eternal power and divinity is not understood by the Creator being considered as a generated being. ^C

^A And the divinity which always exists in the same way is not known from its own.

To the Philippians

^A saying: "Abraham, do not lay your hand upon the lad, nor do anything evil to him. For now I know that you fear God, and you have not spared your beloved son for my sake." Then, after a ram was found for the sacrifice in place of Isaac, and the sacrifice had been fulfilled by Abraham—in intent through the boy, and in slaughter through the ram—it says, "An angel of the Lord called him a second time from heaven, saying: 'By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not spared your beloved son for my sake; I will surely bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in you, because you have obeyed my voice.'"

Now, it was neither the Father nor truly a ministering angel. For a ministering agent does not swear by himself, nor does he bless, nor does he say: "You have not spared your beloved son for my sake"; nor does he dare to prevent a sacrifice being offered to God, nor does he have the authority to accept it. But he who was asking for the sacrifice was the only-begotten God, the Word, who had also granted the only-begotten to Abraham, as Paul interprets, writing to the Hebrews ^B thus: "For when God promised to Abraham (what he promised, he also did), since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying: 'I will surely bless you.'"

And to the Romans as well, he explains that the Son once again swears by himself: "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, as it is written: 'As I live, says the Lord, that to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God.'" Furthermore, the fact that he sits at the right hand of the Father, and also that the evangelist utters with a God-inspired tongue that his maternal bosom is a throne fitting for the Son—if this does not signify that he is of the same substance, and of the same honor, and that the only-begotten God and Son is to be worshipped together with the Father and his Spirit—but one must interpret it not in a human manner regarding things written about God; truly, according to them, the one at the right hand is greater and more glorious, having the divine, ineffable bosom as a cherubic, many-eyed throne—which Heaven forbid one should say concerning the most ineffable and serene ^C Trinity! For David sings concerning the Father in the 109th ^D Psalm: "the Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand"; but Paul...

by himself, saying: “Unless blessing I will bless you.” And in the Epistle to the Romans, the Scripture also sets forth a place regarding the Son swearing by himself, saying: ^A “We shall all stand before the tribunal of Christ: as it is written: I live, says the Lord, for every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Furthermore, that the Son sits at the right hand of the Father—and moreover, that the evangelist, speaking under divine inspiration, says the seat appropriate for the Son is the bosom of the Father—unless this signifies that the essence of both is the same, and that equal honor is due to both, and that the only-begotten God and Son is to be adored together with the Father and his Spirit, but it is necessary to interpret what is written about God according to human custom (which is a sacrilege), then it will follow that that person is greater and more illustrious in their opinion who sits at the right hand, and for whom the divine ineffable bosom is like a cherubic ^B throne endowed with many eyes: which may it never be that we should say this about the most ineffable and most serene Trinity. For David indeed sings in Psalm 109 about the Father: “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand.” But Paul, writing to the Hebrews, explains it thus: “Who, being the splendor of the glory of the Father, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, having made a purgation of sins, sat at the right hand of the majesty on high”; the evangelist, however, says: “The only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared it.”

CHAPTER XXVII.

Similarly, those passages are brought forward which show that the Son is God; those, namely, in which it is said that in him dwells all the fullness of the divinity; and that he is the great God and over all, in comparison to whom no other shall be reckoned; and true God; and eternal life; and sole Master; and sole miracle-worker; and most high; and King and ^C ruler; and Christ is all in all, and so forth.

Thus much regarding these things would suffice; but those who are initiates of divine things, and who with zeal concern themselves with the things that pertain to the most provident Trinity of all, do not rest; but they theologize about the Son with things still as sublime and of such a nature as those they theologize about the Father: that in him dwells all the fullness of the divinity, and that he is the great God and over all, in comparison to whom no other shall be reckoned, and true God, and eternal life, and the true light, and sole Master, and sole Most High, and sole miracle-worker, and great King, and Lord of all, and Creator, and ruler, and of his peace there is no end, and Savior, and Christ is all in all, and blessed forever; and that great is the ^D [mystery] of godliness.

it clearly being said concerning the mystery of the Christians, among whom Christ is celebrated in hymns as the uncreated God; and that he acquires the people by his own deity, by reason of his being consubstantial with the Father. The saints, therefore, whom we shall now recall, and to whom God, according to the fifteenth Psalm, has made known the paths of life, speak of these things in this way. David, in the seventh Psalm, prays thus: "Arise, O Lord my God, in the precept which thou hast ordained, and a synagogue of peoples shall compass thee; and for the sake of this, return on high." You perceive how the Prophet recognizes him as Lord and God, and prays to him, saying: "Arise for thy Incarnation, in the way which thou thyself hast predetermined with these words: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'" For on account of this salvation, he says, which was obtained for us thereby, the nations shall compass thee by faith, but do thou return to that place whence thou camest, yet remaining inseparable. And in the forty-sixth: "God is a great Lord, and a great King over all the earth." And in the forty-ninth: "From the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof, out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty: God shall come manifestly." And in the sixty-seventh: "Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: and make a way for him who mounteth upon the sunset: the Lord is his name." And in the eighty-first: "Arise, O God, judge the earth." Observe, then, how each word kindles the glory concerning him, and ^B is sufficient to persuade us that he exists of the substance of the paternal Monad; and that the great writer calls God him who was placed in the tomb—not being without life, so that he might save with the living those who had departed from human affairs—and foretells that he would rise from the monument, and that he would judge those who, after such and so great a benefit, seek after earthly things. Know, moreover, that by the name of "sunset" he denotes the final times, in which he appeared manifestly unto this visible world like the sun. And in the seventy-sixth Psalm: "In the holy place is thy way: who is a great God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders alone." He celebrates here also the incarnate Word of God, who frequented the Jewish temple, and taught, and performed miracles. And in the one hundred and seventeenth: "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: God is a great Lord, and hath appeared unto us." If, therefore, the Lord who appeared unto us—who is the Son—is reasonably called by the Prophet "a great God," and "blessed" (that is, glorified), and "a great King," and "the only worker of wonders," then he is unreasonably surmised by the heretics to be less than his own Father. For it is not possible that the same being should, in truth, be great primarily ^C according to the prophecy, but secondarily according to them. If, therefore, we examine

the same Psalmist, we shall learn that he knows the Son, just as he knows the Father, to be the God of the forefathers. ^A For in the forty-sixth Psalm he cries out: "God hath reigned over the nations; God sitteth upon His holy throne; the princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham." And they were gathered together with the God who became man, of whom it is sung in the second Psalm: "Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ?" And Isaiah, praising Him as incomparable, just as he does God the Father, cries out: "From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God beside Thee." For we have not seen another God, ^B except Him who was born of the Virgin Mary according to the saving Incarnation; nor have we heard of any, except Him who was testified to by God the Father: "This is my beloved Son." And again, as has been said before, "A child is born to us, a son is also given, whose beginning is upon his shoulder; and his name is called God the Mighty, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come." And after other things he adds: "And of His peace there is no limit." The Son, he says, of God, having become man, was born a child and was given to us, bearing Himself upon His shoulder the beginning of this His lower generation; that is to say, being Himself His own beginning, in that He was born of the Virgin without flux, and from her was ineffably incarnate, ^C no male intercourse providing a beginning. "And His name is called God the Mighty, Potentate." He did not say, "Subordinate," but He manifested His nature, His power, and His authority. Knowing this name, David sings: "Let them know that Thy name is Lord; Thou alone art the Most High over all the earth." By the word "alone," he speaks on account of the one Godhead. But he called Him the Father of the age to come, being also the Creator of the past ages, because from the time of the economy, He has been known much more by men. Therefore, he called Him Father, implying a created, not an uncreated nature; for there is one Father of the uncreated and consubstantial Son. ^D Demonstrating the magnitude of His Godhead, he said: "Of His peace there is no limit." And Jeremiah, or rather Baruch (for the book is one for both), speaks worthily concerning Him: "This is our God; no other shall be reckoned against Him. He hath discovered every way of knowledge, and hath given it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel the beloved of Him. After this, He appeared on the earth and associated with men." If, therefore, it were not understood in a way worthy of God—that because of the sameness of the Godhead of both the ineffable hypostases, the passage before us was spoken in this way—it would remain for us to have lost the truth.

^A Since, therefore, the word of those who slander the Word of God ^B as being inferior and a minister has utterly fallen and vanished. For how could any other be incomparable to the Son, to whom no other shall be reckoned? And again: “The gods who did not make heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth.” ^C “The Lord, who made the heavens in wisdom, He is the living and true God”; as though there were no other true Godhead except that of the genuine Son of God, through whom and from whom, together with the whole world, the heavens also were produced. And the most excellent of men, Paul, maintaining the same consistency as the prophets, renders fitting accounts concerning Him, writing to Titus: “Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” For by the utterance of “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” he ^D declares that He does not have a secondary status in essence, nor one without beginning, in comparison to the great God the Father. And by what is apparent, one can see that if the Son is small, how will the Father be great? If there was a time when the Word of God was not, there was a time when the name of Father did not exist. But may there be mercy to us from those who dare to say such things due to the ignorance of others; for piety, they say, is a good habit for those who practice it. But by saying, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might purify unto Himself a peculiar people” (and not, “For another, that He might purify a people”), the points follow from those already mentioned.

For it is characteristic of the Creator, and not of the creature, to die on behalf of His own handiwork, if one ought to speak so; while it is characteristic of the beloved Son, who has a divinity and kingdom not different from the Father, to acquire the people for Himself. ^A And the great and true interpreter, advancing the argument to prove Him at once a benevolent and saving God, and at the same time how He persuaded Himself—and did not yield to a greater divinity—to become with us, as one of us, without change and sin, says: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior appeared, not by works which we have done, but according to His great mercy.” And to the Colossians he also finds fault, and lays the foundation for the most primal theology concerning Him ^B, writing, as has already been said in the chapter *On the Consubstantial*: “Why, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ Jesus? For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” that is to say, substantially. For He is by nature the fullness, being the paternal Godhead in substance. For He did not deem equality with God a thing to be seized; but we have received grace from the fullness, out of His goodness, which we did not possess by nature as servants, according to John who says: “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace”; which means: the grace of regeneration instead of the grace which we lost by having been deceived in the first ordinance concerning the one tree. For, he says, “you are no longer under the Law, but under grace”; and again: “For in Him it pleased all the fullness to dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself.” These things, too, follow from what preceded. For the Father being in the Son, and He in the Father by nature, as also everything kindred is inseparable from— ^{C D}

Him, even if in His hypostasis He is distinct; well and good is the statement in the passage under consideration, even if it is very profound, and not easy for all to grasp, that through Him and into Him all things are being reconciled; so that what was said about the Father, “From whom are all things,” is appropriate to the Son; if indeed what has now been said is sound, as is, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead.” And writing to Timothy, he theologized to a high degree concerning Him, and from both expressions he taught that He is not, in respect to Godhead, foreign to the paternal nature. For he spoke as follows: “Confessedly great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, ^B preached to the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” For not being as yet clearly manifest to all, this Creator and Benefactor of all was found manifest when, for the salvation of all, He became willing, and as one of the all. Whence He was “justified in the Spirit,” that is to say, He was revealed; or rather, He was confirmed, even by those who in the former time did not know Him to be the true God. And he means this, not without examination, but according to our common mental inclination, as common usage has it: “So-and-so was justified as being the true son of such-and-one,” providing proof of his lineage; or again, “Such-and-one was justified as ruling well.” And in order that the discourse may appear more credible, he considers Him worthy to be seen also by angels, to whom, on account of His divine infinitude and incomprehensibility, He was invisible before that time, just as He was to the only invisible God; and [he considers Him worthy] to be hymned by them: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.” And [he considers Him worthy] to have been preached to this whole, and to have been believed—He who, having shone forth timelessly from the ineffable Light, was in recent times, through philanthropy, ineffably born from the Ever-Virgin, having manifested all the paternal [qualities] in Himself; and to have ascended, having encompassed all in glory, in which He ever happened to be with God. And he is credible, also, concerning whom the discourse... ^C ... ^D

^A testifies of its own divinity and lordship, saying, on the one hand, according to Matthew, to the devil: "You shall not test the Lord your God"; and, on the other hand, according to John, to the apostles: "You call me the Lord and the Teacher, and you speak well, for so I am." Thomas, moreover, even touched the marks of the nails, which the Savior, being a lover of mankind, had received from us for our sake, yet he was not disturbed, nor did he let go of the highest glory regarding Him. For he knew that it was of the nature alone that is sovereign, of infinite power, and most good—and by no means of a created nature—that He should suffer, not for His own creatures, but that He should also grant that which we call the catholic and general salvation, and this eternally. Wherefore, taking even greater courage from this, he offers back to Him the firm faith and praises Him: "My Lord and my God." In the Catholic Epistles, too, those who spoke about the Son with the Father in equal and like words wrote, as was said before, John, the great one among theologians, saying: "And we know that the Word of God is come, and has given us an understanding that we may know the true God, and we are in the true One, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and life eternal." He says, "Seek no other, in essence, as God than the Son of God." For twice have I said to you concerning Him what is true, that He is the true Son and true God, having given understanding to those worthy to receive it, so that they might know that He is truly begotten, and is truly consubstantial with the Father who begat Him. And Judas, the one among the twelve... ^D [alt-version omitted]

Book I, Chapter XXVIII: Concerning those places in which it is written that the Son bestows every good, and that He is the sun of righteousness, etc.

^A and indeed He Himself; for those places pertain to Him, in which He bears testimony to Himself, declaring that He is God and Lord, when He says to the devil in Matthew: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God" (66), and again to the apostles in John: "You call Me: Master, and Lord: and you say well: for so I am" (67). For Thomas, too, when he had touched the traces or the marks of the nails, which the Savior had for our sake as one who is kind, was not troubled, nor did he detract anything from His supreme glorification. For he knew that it belongs to Him alone, endowed with imperial authority by His very nature and infinite power, and of the most excellent nature, and not to that which is created, not only to suffer for His creatures, but also to bestow that universal and general salvation, which we speak of, and that forever. For this reason, taking greater confidence, he offers back to Him firm faith as a kind of tribute, and cries out: "My Lord, and my God" (68). But even in the Catholic (that is, universal) Epistles, those who attribute to the Son and the Father equality of deity and similar titles, John and Jude, wrote as has been said before (69). John indeed, that great theologian, says: "And we know" (70) "that the Word of God came, and gave us an understanding" (71), "that we may know the true God" (72): "and we are in the true Son of God, Jesus Christ" (73). "This is the true God, and life eternal." As if to say: Seek no other who is God by essence, or the Son of God; for speaking to you about Him, I have twice said the word, "true": because the Son is indeed true, and God is true, who gave understanding or mind to those who were worthy to receive it (74). So that it is possible to know thence that He was truly begotten, and is consubstantial with the God who begat Him. But Jude, who is inscribed among those twelve, defined Him as the only Lord (75), as one who possesses the paternal deity, existing above all, and through all, and in all. For thus he wrote somewhere to all peoples: "For there have entered in" (76) "certain men (who were written of long ago for this judgment) ungodly, turning the grace of our God into licentiousness, and denying the only Sovereign and our Lord Jesus Christ." Moreover, it is certain that Peter, the coryphaeus of the apostles, said in the Acts (77): "The Word" (78) "which He sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, this is Lord of all." Where, then, or how, or when can He, who has been adorned with such great and evident oracles of the Father, all of the same kind and in no way contradictory, be said to have been produced as dissimilar? ^C

CHAPTER XXVIII. Concerning those places in which it is written that the Son bestows every good thing; and that He is the sun of justice; and the healing; and the treasure of wisdom and knowledge; and the light; and that those who believe, and are not scandalized in Him, become sons of light.

Indeed, those who celebrated Him with praises, as they demonstrate His deity and His perfect and independent nature in many ways, teach that He is the author of every good.

and a light that is good-natured and good-doing, and an intellectual sun; by the unfailing light that emanates from Himself, He illuminates the eyes of souls that wander not but are receptive, and leads them into an intellectual vantage point, and makes them see what they were not by nature able to see before, because of sin; or He even makes the whole man complete and light-like, just as the sun makes the bodies in which it appears sun-like; furthermore, they teach that He is also healing, and a treasure of wisdom and knowledge that is inexhaustible and all-sufficient. And those who are disposed toward Him with sincerity, just as they are toward His Father, become sons of light, just as they are sons of God the Father. For thus they proclaim. Malachi indeed says: *Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and healing shall be in his wings.* Peter also, in his second Epistle: *Until the day dawn, and the Daystar arise in your hearts.* He was speaking, I think, of the illumination destined to rise upon souls from His second advent, and making everything that is held by darkness to shine forth. And elsewhere: *And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.* Zechariah likewise prophesied: *If any good, it is of Him; and if any beautiful thing, it shall be from Him.* And Paul, writing to the Colossians ^B concerning Him, said: *In whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden;* but to the Romans, *For the Scripture says,* he says, *Everyone who believes in Him shall not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all is rich unto all who call upon Him; for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.* What sort of name of the Son do they invoke—those who do not even call Him, the victor, the Savior of heaven, and earth, and sea, uncreated God nor Son consubstantial ^C with the Father? And John ^D

^A similarly says concerning Him: "Since you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." For after death, he says, there is no place for repentance; as David also sings: "In Hades, who will confess to You?" And again, from the Savior: "Go, tell John what you see and hear: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, and the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me." For as to what He shall say concerning those who are led astray and those who lead astray, Isaiah foretold: "My people, those who call you blessed lead you astray, and disturb the path of your feet." But now the Lord shall stand for judgment, and He shall set the people in judgment. The Lord Himself shall come to judgment with the elders of the people, and with His princes; but you, why have you set My vineyard on fire? Indeed, the Lord Himself shall come to judgment with the teachers and princes, not as one to be judged by another, but as one who shall reprove them, just as He speaks in another place: "Come, and let us reason together, says the Lord." Let us see, He says, what things were done by Me for you, and what things were done by you toward Me and My servants. For He calls the world—or the people—a vineyard; which the teachers of the heretics and of the Jews, through their blasphemous doctrine, have made subject to the fire of Gehenna; but the princes, while they did not care for the things of the people as if they were their own, but abused their power, committed iniquity in various and many ways. For another thing is also said by the same prophet from the person of the Lord: "Who is he that shall be judged ^B against Me?" ^C And that which becomes the cause of salvation and permanence for others, it itself is saved and remains of its own accord. But the world is the cause for others of being, and of being saved, and of being self-sufficient; it is, therefore, eternal of itself, and self-sufficient, and remaining for all eternity, and for this reason it becomes the cause of the permanence of all things for others.

Notes on the foregoing interpretation

II. To append a few verses here: "After death there is no place for repentance," and elsewhere to have similar things; but elsewhere to profess the eternity of the punishments by which the reprobate are tormented, and finally that he [Didymus] shrunk from that opinion which Origen had proposed in his book *De principiis*, cap. 8, p. 76, in these words: or as the interpreter translates, "and perhaps according to the merit of the greater [soul], it puts on the body of a man or of this or that irrational animal for the sake of the fall into evil." The interpreter rightly warns that for the faulty word *oʊd-en*, one should read *sōmata tō-de*, that is, "bodies of this or such an irrational animal," as those who fabricate stories about transmigrations of bodies [metempsychosis] fable. From these things, I say, Didymus showed himself to be a stranger in his commentaries on Job. He also teaches a most excellent dogma (he says, p. 237) [in Job], that he who has once departed from this life does not return to it again, that is, just as those fable who have prodigiously invented transmutations of bodies (or, as Tertullian says, recorporations). It seems, therefore, that Didymus was not as addicted to the Origenists as is commonly thought. III. That he wrote thus: "Straight administration and profound peace shall be upon the whole earth and sea." And by the name "sea," those fabulous demons of the Origenists are certainly not intended there. IV. I read in the Apocalypse: "To whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea." V. By the name "sea," the inhabitants of the islands can quite conveniently be signified. Finally, he perhaps denotes "preserver" here rather than "Savior"; for sometimes it has the force of "being preserved" rather than "being saved." In this sense he uses that word ^D with Didymus's segment, and elsewhere; then, to omit others, Ocellus Lucanus in his book *On the Universe*, cap. 1: (he says) Which Nogarola translates thus: "And that which causes other things to be preserved and to remain, it itself is likewise saved and permanent of its own accord. The world, therefore, since it is the cause why other things exist, are preserved, and have perfection, is on that account sempiternal by its own power, and remaining for an eternal time, and for that reason is considered the author why other things also endure and consist perpetually." Thus the interpreter: but I, for my part, would have believed those words ought to be translated with the Latin words of conservation, *conservatum*, and *conservari*. Read the enarration of Didymus on I Peter III, 22. The Vulgate has *id est dum* for *id est quoniam* [in the Greek...].

me; ^A and who is he that judges me? let him approach me: that is, If any man has just things to say, as one fortified by his works, let him be brought before me as I desire, and let him draw near to the arguments. But some read it thus: Who is he that judges me? that is, let him stand opposite and far from me, as one who has no good provisions, and is therefore unworthy to be compared with me and to touch the most pure tribunal. For to those who are worthy, if they happen upon good things, there is no envy; for it is prepared for them.

CHAPTER XXIX.

For He Himself is the judge of the living and the dead, that is, of the just and of the sinners, who bestows the remission of sins upon those who believe in His name, and who saves us by His own glory and gift; and in no ^C other is there salvation: since by nature He is merciful and Saviour, in nothing inferior to the merciful and saving God and Father, as both other Scriptures proclaim, and also Micah, saying: Who is God like unto thee, who takes away iniquities, and passes over injustices? And Peter in the Acts thus speaks: And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He who is ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets bear witness, that all who believe in Him receive the remission of sins through His name. We have Him, therefore, celebrated as ordained by God, on account of His saving Incarnation, in which He came to seek and to save that which was lost; for which reason it is also written: For neither does the Father judge any man, but has given all judgment unto the Son. But He calls Him judge, as being excepted from among creatures. For the creature does not judge, but is subject to law and judgment. And again: This is the stone—

^A which was set at nought by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner; and there is no salvation in any other. Moreover, he sends a second general epistle, which, among other things said regarding the Son, also has this: “Seeing that all things have been granted to us by His divine power, which pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and virtue; through which the greatest and precious promises have been granted to us, that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature.” Therefore, James also stated in general terms: “There is one lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy.” But what need is there to heap up many more testimonies of Scripture on this matter, since even the Samaritans, in the presence of John, the precise theologian—men of good understanding—uttered these worthy voices? For they say: “We ourselves have heard and know that this is indeed the Savior of the world, the Christ.” He, indeed, ^B who benignly says: “Be of good cheer, child, your sins are forgiven.”

CAPTER XXX

For in order that the equal dignity of the blessed Trinity in all respects may be demonstrated from every side, the Father reveals His own Son to us, and draws us through Himself to Him, and transfers us into His kingdom; and, conversely, the Son and the Holy Spirit lead us to God and the Father. ^C For God would not have transferred us to one who is of a different substance, or greater, nor to things that are inferior—that is to say, as it were, to scepters—of His own. Therefore, the New Testament scripture has brought the Old Covenant to completion through faith, in that it has commanded us to believe in the Son and in the divine Spirit. Thus, therefore, do the Scriptures speak: God the Father, in Isaiah, says to the Son: “Behold, proselytes will come to you through me, and they will be your sojourners, and they will flee to you”; but the Son, in John, says: “No man can come to me, unless the heavenly Father draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day.” And again, to Peter, ^D who had said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” He said: “Blessed are you, Peter bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

Ecclesiam meam, et portæ inferni non prævalebunt adversus eam, et tibi dabo claves cœlorum, et quodcunque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum in cœlis, et quodcunque solveris super terram, erit solutum in cœlis. ^A Oh, how much faith can achieve! And to confess the Son to be the true God, and not the only-begotten God the Word to be a creature! Peter did not hesitate when he saw God abiding on earth in flesh and blood; for this is what it means: "Flesh and blood did not reveal it to you." He recognized the con-substantial and co-eternal branch of God; in this he honored the ingenerate and beginning-less root which had revealed it to him; he believed in His unity with the Father of the Godhead; he was called blessed by the only blessed Master; the Churches were built upon this rock, whose gates of hell—that is to say, the syllogisms of heretics—shall not overcome. He was entrusted with the keys of heaven, so that for those who believe—as Peter himself just now appeared to answer, and as he heard from Christ along with the other apostles—baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the ^B Holy Spirit, he might open the way into the kingdom of God; but for those who do not glorify Him in this way, he might close that thrice-blessed and most desirable entrance. For by this very thing, for which he was called blessed, he was accepted in this glory, just as those who speak the opposite have been rebuked and rejected. Having therefore spoken the truth, and confessed Him to be the Son of God—that is, genuine and consubstantial—he heard in reply, "Bar Jona," which is interpreted as "son of Jonah." Now, Peter was by no means heterousios—that is, of a different substance—with respect to Him who begat him. Furthermore, he received the power—or rather, all indeed received it through him—not to reject those who stumble, ^C but to receive those who repent. For no one is without sin save He who granted this authority to Peter; for this is what it means: "Whatever you shall loosen on earth shall be loosened in heaven."

He rejected from that time forth the inhumanity of Novatus 28 and Sabbatius 29. And congruent to the things brought forward before, Paul also writes to the Galatians: "But when 30 it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb, to reveal His Son in me." And to the Colossians: "Giving thanks 31 to the Father, who has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light; who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love; in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." And to the Corinthians... ^A ... ^B ... ^C ... ^D 28 Novatus. Novatus and Novatianus, presbyters, the one of the Carthaginian Church, the other of the Roman (of whom he was also the first antipope), are known to no one. And all agree that Novatianus, by reviving the error of the Adamites and Montanists, denied penance to the lapsed: yet learned men warn everywhere that the Novatians are named not from Novatus, but from Novatianus. They warn further that Novatus is often wrongly named by the Greek Fathers for Novatianus—by Eusebius, for example, by his interpreter Rufinus, by Socrates, book iv, chapter 28, and by others who, while they confuse Novatus with Novatianus (says Constantius, p. 139), falsely make Novatus a heresiarch and prince of the Cathari. For Novatus adhered to the presbyters of the faction of Felicissimus, who wished peace and communion to be given at once to the lapsed. If these things are so, it must be thought that Didymus was also deceived, and named Novatus for Novatianus; for it seems there is no reason to doubt that he has in mind the author of the Novatian sect. But if Didymus, together with other Greek writers, was led into error, Augustine and Jerome also erred. For the former, in his book *On Heresies*, heresy 38, wrote this: "Cathari... deny penance, following the heretic Novatus; whence they are also called Novatians." Jerome, indeed, in epistle 77 to Oceanus, says: "It is not the place for me to preach penance," and writing as if against Montanus and Novatus, I would say, etc. What more? Cyprian himself, in epistle 49 to Cornelius, speaks thus of Novatus: "He now dares to condemn the hands of those who sacrificed, when he himself is more guilty." These things could not have been reproached to Novatus if he had remained in that opinion at that time, namely, that he wished peace to be given to the lapsed immediately. Nay, the entire world would seem to have been deceived in a way, in that it called the Cathari not Novatianists or Novatianenses, as Cyprian calls them in some places, but Novatians. But Novatus adhered to the schism of Felicissimus. I admit it. Yet, with Novatus himself urging and favoring it, the schism of the Novatians was also forged. But who would rightly demand of those who are insane that they be insane with reason? ... 29 Of Sabbatius. From that which concerns Sabbatius, and those addicted to the Novatian sect, I gather that these books were edited by him in the final years of his life, when Theodosius the Great was emperor. But of this, at another time. 30 *Cum autem*. Galat. 1, 15 and 16. It omits something after the little word *μου*. 31 *Gratias*. Coloss. 1, 12-14. After *ἀπολύτρωσιν* [redemption], it omits a few things.

in the light; who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love: in whom we have 94 redemption, the remission of sins; and to the Corinthians: ^A Faithful (32) is God, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and to the Ephesians: And coming (33) he preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to them that were near: because by him we have access both in one Spirit to the Father.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Of those places in which it is said that there is no end to the kingdom of the Only-begotten.

And so that the heretics (34), who say that after the general resurrection the Son is to deliver the kingdom to the Father, may be put to shame, the Scriptures proclaim that the kingdom of the Son will be perpetual. Gabriel indeed, when bringing the good news to the ^B Mother of God (35) at Luke, says (36): The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. And this is most truly said; for if he is restoring it, in what kingdom of his, and when shall we reign together with him? And Paul, writing to the Ephesians: Every whoremonger, or unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God. ^C Of heresy, and specifically the heresy of the Eunomians... Sabellians, Marcellians, and the rest. Furthermore, some think that the Council of Constantinople added these words to the Nicene symbol, "of whose kingdom there shall be no end," in order to refute the heresy of Marcellus.

^D ...in the Epistle to the bishop Archintus, where that word occurred in those things I had brought forward, someone doubted whether the work itself was of such antiquity as I had then attributed to it, because he said that that expression had not been in use before the Nestorian times. But the matter is not so: for before Didymus, Alexander of Alexandria had used that term in his Epistle to Alexander of Byzantium written in the year 321, as had Gregory Nazianzen in his epistle to Cledonius, Cyril in his catechesis X, no. 19, and Eusebius of Caesarea. Nay, even the teacher of Nestorius himself, Theodore of Mopsuestia, did not reject it at all. When therefore they ask (he says in Leontius of Byzantium, book II, against Nest. and Eutych.) whether Mary is an *anthropotokos* (homine-para) or *Theotokos* (Deipara), let her be called by us both, etc. And Julian the Apostate, in Cyril of Alexandria, lib. VIII, p. 262, thus addresses the Christians: You do not cease to call Mary *Theotokos*, that is, Mother of God. Rightly therefore does Cyril himself, Vol. V, p. 716, refute Nestorius, who rejected that word, on the grounds that he contradicts the tradition of the Fathers; and the anonymous collector of synodal epistles, who flourished in the sixth century, and was edited by Christianus Lupus, confirms the same thing in the annotations to epistle 198 with these words: Why therefore do they themselves, the inventors of novelty, accuse our Fathers, while teachers far more ancient than the Ephesian council, and others even from the Nicene council itself, most clearly and truly, that is, call the blessed Virgin the Mother of the highest and eternal God...?

...Eunomians, as I gather from Nazianzen, their opinion, or rather objection, in oration 35 (now 29)... until the times of the *katastaseos*, that is, of restoration.

^A speaks, no doubt, of that which shall be after the resurrection (39). What time, then, is that in which, according to their judgment, He hands over the kingdom? But to Timothy in the second Epistle: "I charge thee before God and Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and his appearing (41) and his kingdom, preach the Word." It is manifest, moreover, that Paul speaks of a kingdom which the Son possesses—indivisible and perpetual, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit—both now and in the age to come.

But to the Hebrews: "And to the angels indeed he says: Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." And David in the XLIV psalm: ^B "Thy throne (43), O God, is for ever and ever; a rod of uprightness is the rod of thy kingdom: thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Observe here again that His kingdom is said to be infinite, and His deity beginningless. But those words, "Thy God," are added because of His ineffable Incarnation. And in the CXLIV: "Thy kingdom (44) is the kingdom of all ages, and thy dominion is in every generation and generation." And in the X psalm: "The Lord shall reign (45) for ever and ever."

And to Peter, the Son, as Lord, gave the keys of the kingdom (not of this present age, for we do not yet possess it, but of the future: in which age the heretics also conjecture that He is to hand it over), that those who believe His kingdom to be ^C beginningless and infinite might be welcomed, but that those who do not cry out with Nathanael, "Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of the Christians," might be rejected, as was said a little before (48). And those words of the prophet Isaiah, "I saw the King, the Lord Sabaoth, with my eyes (49)," Paul attributes to the Spirit of God, but John to the Only-Begotten, as was said before; namely, on account of the communion of the deity and of the one perpetual kingdom (50). For how can it be possible that the one should reign, while the other—as ^D

...through the common nature of the Godhead and the unsuccessive one kingdom. For how could it be, when the Father remains in the Son, and the Son remains in the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and remains with the Son in a divine manner, that the one rules while the other, as it is among men, is idle?

CAP. XXXII. Concerning the glory rendered to the Son of God himself.

^B Now, then, see also what the saints further testify concerning his glory—he of whom, as Scripture says, the world was not worthy. They teach us, who have been called sons by grace upon the earth, to glorify the only-begotten Son, who exists from the person of the Father, with glory equal to the Father himself, and to look toward that glory which he had with the Father before the world existed, the Father not begrudging it to his Beloved; for the Godhead is free from envy and every base emotion. David, too, in the seventy-first Psalm, which he confessedly prophesied concerning Christ, says: “His name shall be blessed for ever; his name remains before the sun, and before the moon, for generations of generations; and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him, and all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who does wondrous things alone, and blessed be the name of his glory for ever and for ever and ever, and all the earth shall be filled with his glory. So be it.” ^C He says, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,” instead of “glorified,” or “praised.” For God is blessed by his works, that is to say, he is glorified; but he himself blesses his own creatures, that is to say, he sanctifies them. It must also be noted that “God of Israel,” which is to say “God of the fathers,” is here proclaimed, just as his Father is called such. And in the eighty-fifth psalm, showing forth the omnipotence and all-powerful nature of the Only-begotten, and that he ought to be glorified, the psalmist sings: “All nations, whatsoever thou hast made, shall come and shall worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name, for thou art great and doest wonders; thou art God alone.” And in the eighteenth: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” How? By showing forth, from the majesty and beauty with which they have been endowed, ^D the incomparable one who is glorified, having created them; which is God the Word. “For by the Word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all their powers by the Spirit of his mouth.” Neither, therefore, the...

inanimate things blush to offer testimony concerning the glory ^A of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in the 23rd Psalm: “Lift up the gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall come in.” He commands the lower creation to lift up the gates at his Incarnation; but the higher creation, at his Assumption. And in the 116th: “Praise the Lord, all ye nations, and let all the peoples praise him.” And Isaiah: “Ye shall see the King with glory.” And Ezekiel: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.” And: “This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” Next, Paul: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools; and they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man.” And again to the Romans: “For this cause God gave them up unto the lusts of their own hearts, unto uncleanness, that they should dishonor their own bodies among themselves: who changed the glory of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” Now who is the Creator of all things, whom he says is blessed for ever, if not the Only-Begotten? And who are those who changed his glory? They are those who say, “Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit,” and who also opine that he is a creature and do not even glorify him as the eternal King. Furthermore, writing to the same persons, he says: “So that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” What God is that, then, who was known but not recognized by heretics, and Jews, and Greeks, ^C if not he who was manifested in the flesh, God the Word? And writing to the Corinthians also in his first Epistle, he shows him to be the Lord of glory by nature, when he says: “For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” And elsewhere: “That at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” which instead means: “He exists in that very paternal glory.” Moreover, he writes: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor.” That in the book against Praxeas, chapter 7, he thus cites this verse: “By his Word the heavens were established, and by his Spirit all their powers.” And in chapter 19: “By his Word the heavens were formed, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their powers.” Thus Theodoret also reads on page 578 of the catena on the Psalms. But other Fathers almost all read, “all their power.”

^A ...having been made lower than the angels, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. But the Scripture also calls him “glory,” as he is naturally the brightness of the Father’s glory, concerning which it writes: “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” He spoke of God as being the Father of the unspeakable incarnation, and the Father of the beginningless birth. And again John says: “We beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father,” full of grace and truth. And again in Mark, from the Savior: “When the Son shall come in the glory of his Father,” showing that his glory is equal in dignity to the glory of the Father. And in Matthew: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him.” And again, John, confirming that he is in glory and that glory is owed to him by all, says: “But though he had done so many signs before them, the Jews did not believe in him, that the word spoken by Isaiah might be fulfilled: With your ears you shall hear, and not understand.” And [43 α] he adds in between: “These things he said when he saw his glory and spoke of him.” And Peter, in his first Epistle: “Inasmuch as you partake of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that also in the revelation of his glory you may be glad with exceeding joy.” And in his second: “As his divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and virtue.” ^B The sense of this is: The glory of the Only-begotten, according to nature, according to miracles, according to dominion, and according to the glorification itself, is similar and equal to the glory of the Father, from whom he was naturally, continuously, and inseparably begotten, and possesses all things in himself as the Only-begotten, such that even having become flesh, he suffered no change or diminution. Thus also the three children, being inflamed not by the Babylonian flame, but by the longing they had for their Creator and benefactor, and paying no heed to the furnace that surrounded them—which was rather the hell prepared for the worshippers of created things—they exhorted the creation to glorify the One who appeared with them in the furnace, concerning whom it is written: “And the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God: bless all the works of the Lord.”

in the furnace appeared with them, of whom it is written: “The vision of the fourth is like the Son of God,” saying: “Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and superexalt Him unto the ages.” Furthermore, when the slayers of the Lord were angry, as the evangelist says, at the children and the crowds because they were praising Jesus as God, saying: “Hosanna in the highest; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” He recalled to them that place of Scripture which is as follows: “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have perfected praise,” applying it to Himself and showing that it is not inappropriate for glory to be offered to Him. And the angels too, He says, said when He was born: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,” as the evangelist reports.

CAP. XXXIII. On Adoration. Recapitulation.

^B Now truly, having seen Him glorified, let us see Him also adored; for both are fitting and due to God, but not to a creature, as the holy men who are subject to Him write. David in Psalm XCIV: “Come, let us adore and fall down before Him, and let us weep before the Lord who made us, for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” And in Psalm XXI: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall adore before Him; for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He dominates the nations.” What, then, will those say who assign the name separately—to the Father, indeed, the name God, but to the Son the name Lord—when they hear that the Lord is both adored and dominates, ^C and that the kingdom is His? And again in Psalm IX: “And I will adore You, O Lord, my strength,” and in CXXXI: “Let us adore in the place where His feet have stood.” Paul from the ^D

^A into the place where his feet stood." As Paul writes from the Canticle of Deuteronomy: "And when He bringeth the Firstborn into the world, He saith: And let all the angels of God worship Him." And the Evangelist says: "The Magi said, 'We have seen His star in the East, and have come to worship Him.'" And again: "Behold," he says, "a leper came and worshipped Him." And again, according to Matthew, he says: "The wind ceased; and they who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying: 'Truly You are the Son of God.'"—a status, he says, not as ours, who have been called sons by a gratuitous gift [44 α]. And, "A certain ruler worshipped Him." And after His resurrection on the mountain, he says: "The apostles, seeing Him, worshipped Him."

Chapter XXXIV.

Just as, therefore, although Scripture says many things about the Son which are greater in appearance than those concerning the Father, and declares Him to be the Almighty, the Creator of the ages, the Maker of all things, the true God, having no God before Him, and above all, and great, and God over all, before whom no other shall be reckoned, and sitting at the right hand with the Father, and being in His bosom, and calls Him eternal life, the true light, ^C the Lord of all, and sole Master and sovereign, whose peace has no limit but surpasses every mind, and whose kingdom is without end; and that in no other is there salvation, and that the Father draws to the Son those who are worthy; yet in no way is the Father or His Spirit considered lesser (far be such impiety)—just as, in the same way, while Scripture speaks highly of the Father, the Only-Begotten or the Holy Spirit ought not to be considered lesser or dissimilar. For these things which have been mentioned—to create substance out of nothing, to make it rational, to vivify it, ^D to forgive sins, to call the creation His own, [44 b] to know the Father equally as He is known by Him, to have operation equal with God the Father, to exist in the Father and the Father in Him equally, to be served by angels, and furthermore, what is more excellent than these, for the Only-Begotten Son to be proclaimed by Scripture as God, Light from Light, eternal Life, Truth, and Savior, and to be present everywhere, and for all things to be established in Him, and for Him to bestow the kingdom of heaven and divine peace upon all without envy, as being His own, and for those who believe and call upon Him to provide the security of perpetual salvation—these are not properties of any created power, but only of the uncreated. Those who call the true Son of God a creature, and not without origin, [(96)] [(97)] [(98)] [(99)]…

^A do not believe in these persons, even if they claim to believe; perhaps they do not even believe in the Father. For they violate the commandment of the Father who declares: "Hear, O my people, and I will speak to you, Israel, and I witness against you. If you hear me, there shall not be in you a new [recent] god, nor shall you worship a strange god"—that is, one who did not exist formerly, or one of a different substance (heterousios). And: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." And: "There shall not be to you other gods besides me." And: "Cursed is everyone who has his hope in man"—that is, in a creature. They also violate the commandment of the Son, who says in Matthew: "No one can serve two masters"—that is, two natures or dominations. And in Paul, writing to the Romans: "They worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator." Finally, they violate the law of Moses, which is thus: "He who sacrifices to strange gods, except to the Lord only, shall be stoned." Now, a god is "recent" and "strange" ^B if he is not consubstantial with God and the Father, and if he did not exist at some time.

But those who say, "Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit," do not glorify the Son or the Spirit of God. For they refer the glory to one through another in another—or, to speak more correctly, to none. Moreover, they disparage the will of the Father, who says, "My glory I will not give to another"—that is, to one who is of a different nature—yet who wills that honor similar to His own be offered to the Son. Then, too, they transgress the tradition of the Son. And they do the same thing as those who, with their mouth, called Him Christ, but with their hands beat Him, shouting: "Prophesy to us, Christ, who is he who struck you?" and who said: "We believe as Moses and the prophets," but crucified Him who had been announced by them. Since, therefore, they are disobedient both to God the Father and to the Only-Begotten God, and since faith in a creature is useless and more apt to harm than to save, let them consider whether their faith is free from danger while they deny salvation; for one cannot be saved who does not believe rightly—for to be saved is, as they say, a grand thing, but the ways of others are different. And the sons of Macedonius, as they do regarding the Holy Spirit, so too regarding the ^C Only-Begotten, do not preserve the glory, but contradict those who say He is consubstantial with the Father, and not consubstantial... ^D

do not preserve the glory of the Only-Begotten, saying that He is of ^A like substance with the Father, and not of the same substance; implying thereby that He is of another similar substance. Therefore, it remains for the heretics either to change in their religious services the name of the Father, as in truth, according to them, He is not the Father, and furthermore, even that of the Only-Begotten Son, and of the Spirit of God, as if He were not (may the holy, venerable, and by us glorified consubstantial Trinity forgive us)—but before all things, they must change their own name, and neither be called Christians or Spirituals, nor consider themselves to be the kindred sons of their own parents; or else they must not subtract the true Son and His Holy Spirit from the deity and glory of the Father. For it is the specific mark of the Jews to honor the Father alone, while the Greeks worship a multitude of demons, ^B great and small, and temporal and of different substance, that is, possessing other and different natures.

CAP. XXXV. How one ought to understand the testimonies of the Scriptures concerning God.

I, unworthy as I am, was moved to contest the blasphemies regarding the Only-Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, not at all intending to harm the ineffable glory of God and the Father (for that is not unknown, as if it had not been revealed before both of the aforementioned divine hypostases; nevertheless, both hypostases exist naturally and co-exist conjoined from Him, that of the Son through generation, ^C and that of His Spirit through procession). But I have set these things down to overthrow the ruinous explanations of the heretics, and to prove that through the very things whereby they think they honor the Father more than the Scripture warrants, by these same things they grieve Him, and insult His Only-Begotten and the Spirit.

CAP. XXXVI. Concerning the same subject.

The orthodox, therefore, ought to know that even regarding a small work of God (if indeed it is permissible for those who wish to discern such things to call any work of God small), there is need of reason, and of works before reason, and of faith before reason ^D

^A and of great piety and the utmost meditation; so that having been deemed worthy to know through these things that even the small is not graspable by the intellect, but infinitely exceeds human efforts (for if it is a work of God, even if it seems small, it is great inasmuch as it is God’s—but how could one attain great things with small labors? It is ignorant, they say, even to wish for these things), ^B by much more so, the apprehension concerning the ineffable God Himself transcends even the perception of the archangels. Let them, therefore, withdraw from perilous inquiries, leaving such things to God alone who knows them, and say with the Apostle: *I believed, therefore I also spoke* (Ps. CXVII, 10).

We ought to understand the testimonies of the Scriptures concerning God in such a way that we know that the sacred writers sometimes speak from the person of one, on account of the unity of nature and will; and sometimes from the person of both, so that they may show the proper existence [of the persons] in the holy and immaculate Trinity. For sometimes Isaiah says: *I am the Lord who stretched out the heavens and established the earth* (Isa. XLIV, 24); and again: *I am, and there is no other God besides me* (Isa. XLVI, 9); this is on account of the unity of the Godhead and the concord of the persons, as has been said before.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit does not seem to be mentioned, because the name of God, whose Spirit He is, also embraces Him; sometimes, when delivering the rite of initiation, the Lord says: *Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit* (Matt. XXVIII, 19); this is because of the equal honor, equal power, and consubstantiality, and the distinctness of the hypostases.

Sometimes that which is said elsewhere concerning God and the Father is commemorated elsewhere concerning the Only-Begotten or the Holy Spirit, for the aforementioned reasons. Sometimes they teach that both persons perform the same works and the same operation in different ways, for the reason which has been brought forward. Sometimes, although each person is able to create and make all things, it pleased God and the Father that all things be constituted through the Son and God, and that they be sanctified through the Holy Spirit, because the will of the Trinity is one, and so that it may be shown that all good things are supplied by It, and so that we might render a common and equal thanksgiving and glorification to It.

Sometimes the Scriptures use the same names when speaking of the blessed Trinity, such as God, Lord, holy, just, good, and others like these; and they do this when they speak of It, precisely because the nature is common in the hypostases, ^C and because of [their] sharing in the nature, and in the kingdom, and in all things—this being true of It alone. When they discourse in mystery, it is because the mystery of the faith is always to be guarded, being revealed to the faithful alone. When they say that God the Father is begotten—

and the Son the Word engendered, and the Holy Spirit proceeding, they wish us to understand that, in a divine manner, two hypostases have in this way proceeded from the person of the Father from eternity and without passion, not as happens among creatures, so that they were one with the Father. Sometimes he says: “The Father who sent me is greater than I,” and other such things which, in respect to the divinity, seem humble, because of that ineffable and voluntary incarnation of his which was done for our sake and on our behalf; for in the divinity there is no place for anything humble or small, nor for anything that is not everywhere. Sometimes the Son says: “My Father has given me a commandment as to what I should say and what I should speak, and I have not spoken of my own authority,” and concerning the Holy Spirit: “He shall not speak of himself,” and other things like these; ^A this is because of the concord of the divine hypostases, and because the teachings and gifts of the blessed Trinity are held in common, and are not discordant as those of men are. ^B

BOOK II. CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT.

^C Cap. I. That the holy Trinity is incomprehensible to invisible and visible creation; that it is present to all things; and that every creation exists in common from the three persons.

Cap. II. That the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and the Father, just as ours is our own; and that he has proceeded consubstantially from him. And against heretical doctrine.

Cap. III. That there are diverse names for the Spirit of God, indicating his divine nature and power. And against heretical opinion.

Cap. IV. Concerning those heretics who say: “God is Spirit; how then can the Holy Spirit be the Spirit of the Spirit?” And again: “Are the angels, therefore, they say, not from God, and holy, and spirits of God?”

Cap. V. Concerning those who say: “If the Word of God is the Only-Begotten, what shall we call the Spirit?” And concerning the passages in which the Son is called the Only-Begotten and the Holy Spirit one and alone; and likewise the Son is called Logos (or Word), and the Holy Spirit Rhema (or Speech). ^D And concerning comparison. And that no example can be brought forth for an incomparable substance.

Cap. VI. That all the things which are proper to the divinity are said in Scripture concerning the Spirit. In this manner:

1. That he is not, as the heretics hold, the first creature, but God; for the first creature happens to be Satan.

2. That he fills the inhabited world, and holds all things together. That he is incorruptible.

3. That he is eternal.

^A 5. Because it is neither capable of virtue nor vice, as it is not subject to mutation. 6. Because it is by nature holy, and sanctifying, and justifying. 7. Because it is communicable in substance; and this is proper to God alone. 8. Because it is good, and the originator of all goodnesses in the creation, and of truth, and of wisdom, and of charity; and in it is understood all good giving, and every perfect gift. 9. Because it is a lover of mankind. 10. Because it is by nature free, and not a slave; and as God and Lord, it liberates and makes men sons of God. 11. Because it commands, and does not serve. 12. Because it gives power. 13. Because it cannot lie; which is a property of God alone. 14. Because it is truth, since it does not disagree ^B with the one Godhead. 15. Because no one knows the things of God, except the Holy Spirit. And because, by reason of its equality with the Father, God in turn knows the things of the Holy Spirit. 16. Because no one sees God the Father, except only the Son and the Holy Spirit. And against those who say: "Is it not written, then, that the angels see the face of the Father?" 17. Because the Holy Spirit deems the creature worthy of adoption; yet it proceeds from the hypostasis of God. 18. Because it is not hymned as other creatures; for it is itself among those who are hymned. 19. Because it is named together with the Father and the Son. And concerning the objection of the heretics. 20. Because just as it has common names with God the Father ^C and His Only-Begotten Son. 21. Because it is one, and not many, as are creatures. 22. Because on account of its consubstantiality and eternity it is written that it is the water of life, proceeding from the paternal fountain. 23. Because the Savior was anointed by the Holy Spirit; and if the Holy Spirit were a creature, He who is uncreated would not have been anointed by his own creature. And because we also have his anointing.

Chapter VII. Of the divine operations and gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this manner:

11. That by the power of the most holy Spirit ^A the heavens were opened and seen by the holy Stephen. 12. [48 b] That He is a foreknower.

Chap. VIII. Concerning the power which the Holy Spirit possesses in His own right.

Chap. IX. That the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son; and that He is also designated Almighty. In this same place, concerning the impenetrable virginal gate.

Chap. X. That the Scriptures testify that the Holy Spirit is God, and Lord, and is to be glorified. And the refutation of the Macedonian doctrine.

Chap. XI. On the same subject. And that He sits upon the cherubic throne; and sends forth power. And that Paul knew Him to be the Lord Sabaoth whom Isaiah saw. And against the Macedonian opinion. And that He dwells within us. And that heretics craftily distort the divine Scriptures.

Chap. XII. That the Holy Spirit renews us by baptism; and as Lord frees us; and makes us partakers of divine glory, and sons, and heirs of the Father, and co-heirs of the Son, and brothers, to be glorified together and to reign with Him [49 a]. And that baptism is of no value to those who do not believe that the Holy Spirit is God. In this same place, that there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another of the stars.

Chap. XIII. Concerning those who, to bring down the Spirit, put forward the text: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit."

Chap. XIV. And that from the foundation of the world the waters were sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and the salvation which comes through baptism was preordained for us. And that the Israelites obtained salvation through that which was once an image of baptism; but much more so those who are baptized now and are called blessed.

Chap. XV. That Scripture in many places, and especially in baptism, makes mention only of the Holy Spirit, and of His seal which we possess.

Chap. XVI. That the Israelites always performed rites typically, for the honor and glory of the holy Passover of Christ, the day of Unleavened Bread; but for the honor and glory of the adorable advent of the Holy Spirit, the day of Pentecost, which was among them—that is, the fiftieth day. And that the synaxes of the Churches and the martyrs were pre-announced through the feast of Tabernacles ^D.

Chap. XVII. That the Holy Spirit is always present and acts in cooperation with God the Father, and strengthens us. And that His manifestation and teaching are worthy of equal honor and are in concord with those of the Son; and that David, who bore the Spirit, prays to be confirmed by Him.

Chap. XVIII. That the twelve [49 b] apostles, armored with the power of the Spirit, stood alone against the inhabited world and the devil, speaking and understanding every language. And concerning the eunuch who said: "See, here is water; what hinders me from being baptized?"

^A Chap. XIX. Concerning those who say: Why is the Holy Spirit not clearly called God, just as the Son is called God? And concerning the fact that "God" and "Lord" are the common name for the holy Trinity, just as the divinity and lordship are one. Chap. XX. The earthly man does not possess the Holy Spirit, but the believer who has attained baptism does; and such a person can, according to the measure of our nature, look upon the glory of the Holy Spirit with the eye of the soul. Chap. XXI. Concerning those who say that God is glorified in the Holy Spirit, but not the Holy Spirit Himself. And concerning the passage: "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit." And concerning the fact that to regenerate through baptism is greater and more honorable than to be glorified or worshipped. Chap. XXII. Concerning the fact that, because of the perfection of faith in the Holy Spirit and the Son, the Church is greater than the Synagogue. Chap. XXIII. And concerning the doxology. Chap. XXIV. Concerning the heretics who oppose us and misinterpret the Scriptures. In the same place, concerning not disregarding the Fathers. Chap. XXV. Epilogue, or recapitulation. Chap. XXVI. Concerning the threat defined by God against those who do not acknowledge His Son and the Holy Spirit. Chap. XXVII. Concerning how even the wise men and leaders of the Greeks acknowledge in their own writings the consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit with God, and His procession from Him.

BOOK TWO

^C Cap. I. That the holy Trinity is incomprehensible. Those who strive to be a temple to some degree worthy of the Holy Spirit who dwells within the faithful—since they have once had the inaccessible light shine upon them—glorify and honor [the Trinity] equally, just as the Lord commanded in the mystical institution of baptism: both the unbegotten God and Father, and the beloved and only-begotten Son, the Word, who co-exists from Him, and the aforementioned Holy Spirit, who alone has processed from His hypostasis eternally and continuously. They do not deny faith in the consubstantiality of the Trinity, but they do not investigate the mode and difference of the generation and procession; for this is unknown, ineffable, and fearful to contemplate even to the heavenly powers that serve God. Nor do they inquire into the mode by which the holy Trinity has existed in itself from eternity, ^D and how it remains always the same and in the same way, and being what it is, dwelling upon its eternal throne, it can look into the abysses, be heard while silent, and hear those who are silent; and know things that are to be before they happen; and produce all things by a word, or rather more quickly than a word, and by sheer will alone; and before you consider in your heart what to ask, provided you ask faithfully and justly, [it] grants the petitions immediately, and arranges for all a time to have benefits conferred upon them; and is slow to anger, but ready to do good, and is angered because of our own faults, but forgives because of its own love of

^A furthermore, it is incomprehensible how the Trinity possesses a will, and how It speaks, and how It bestows Itself in common, and how It searches out not so much the good state of bodies, but the contrite heart itself. And moreover, how is It invisible, and to Seraphic eyes incomprehensible; ineffable and in place uncontainable; in power indivisible, intangible, and without magnitude; without depth, without breadth, without form? 50 It is the overseer of all things, the hearer of all things, and the hope of all things; It is brighter than celestial light beyond measure, and higher than every height that words cannot express, and more intellectual than every mind in infinite reason. For how could the things of the Trinity not be incomprehensible to all, when Itself is the Creator of all things, and is set above every intellectual and indeed every intelligible creature; after which there is absolutely nothing, but all things are rather under It, and through It, and under Its feet, as things created? For the Father, having taken pleasure, initiated; the Only-Begotten created; and the Spirit of God sanctified; and by His sanctification He perfected, illuminated, strengthened, and vitalized, existing wholly in all and in each, and being participated in and received by all in entirety through goodness; and not being divided, nor passing over, nor undergoing change, but always breathing upon all things equally, and not in part, and keeping His own purity unpolluted by bodies, and doing all things divinely.

Book 2.

^B For how could the things that pertain to the Trinity not be incomprehensible to everyone, since Itself is the creator of all things, and is exalted as far as possible above every intelligent, and indeed intelligible, creature, and after It there is nothing at all further, but all things rather are under It, and on account of It, and under Its feet [(32)], inasmuch as they are created? For the Father began by being well-pleased, the Unigenitus created, and the Spirit of God sanctified, and by sanctifying, He perfected, illuminated, strengthened, and made alive, being whole in all and in each. ^C (31) Magnitude… expers. In Greek, *amegethes*. But that censor, of whom I spoke in note 65, page 59, and page 84, concludes from the fact that our Theologian calls God *amegethes* that he is not Didymus. But (with peace to his own statement) Didymus is revealed as the author of this work all the more by this very fact. For it is peculiar to Didymus to call God *amegethes*, so that although I have fallen upon innumerable places of the Fathers who attribute magnitude to God, I have found no one hitherto who clearly calls Him lacking in magnitude. ^D (32) Sub pedibus ejus. This translation seems inappropriate and harsh, especially to Latin ears, by which all things are said to be "under the feet of the Trinity." Didymus perhaps refers to Isaiah VI, 2, or I Cor. XV, 27. Nevertheless, in the book *On the Holy Spirit* number 39, he speaks thus: "They will have even the demons themselves under their feet." And a little later: "But when we have subjected luxury, which tickles us, to our feet." Moreover, Christ is also said to have struck the demon with the foot of His divinity in a homily not yet published (a), which in the Nanian codex of the twelfth century is inscribed thus: "Sermon of our holy Father Gregory Thaumaturgus onto all the saints"; for there these things exist: "Olim quidem Jacobus…" that is, "Formerly indeed Jacob saw a ladder reaching unto heaven, and fixed there, and the angels of God ascending and descending: but now, on account of man, He who is the lover of men and benign became man, striking him who is the enemy of mankind and inhuman with the foot of His divinity, and carrying man in the hand of His kindness (or dignity, which is Christ), He caused the ether, impassable to human feet, to be trodden."

^A existing, and entirely participated in and received by all on account of his own goodness, yet not divided, nor migrating to another, nor undergoing mutation, but always inspiring all in the same manner, though not partially, and keeping his own purity uncontaminated by bodies, and illuminating all things in a divine way, and everywhere increasing sanctification, charity, peace, wisdom, joy, security, and every good thing, as one who emanated and shone forth subsistently from the paternal fountain: through whom, and on account of whom, God and Father is present with us, with whom the Spirit himself is in heaven, and remains with us; for each divine person is able to do all things perfectly without the need of any, but in order that the joint-activity and unchangeability of their essence might be shown, as well as the worship, glory, and thanksgiving which ought to be rendered by us, for this reason the creation was completed in common by the holy Trinity. ^B Therefore, demonstrating that the creation has been arranged in a Trinitarian manner, he sings: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the powers of them by the Spirit of his mouth." For he called God the Father "Lord"; the Word, the only-begotten Son, through whom and from whom they were created; and the Spirit, the subsistent holy Spirit of God, by whom they were sanctified and strengthened. For this is the divine name, the omnipotent and excelling dignity, which is mentioned and glorified together with the Father and the Son; which is sanctifying, and life-giving, and the Bestower of heavenly light; which guards the persistence of each thing in its identity; which sounded in the prophets and apostles, and strengthened the martyrs to resist tyrannical cruelty; which renews and sets free as Lord, and makes us sons of God as the Spirit of adoption; which drives away the hosts of demons by illumination, that is, by baptism, and puts the adversary, or Satan, to shame; which opens the gates of heaven to us, and leads us to the entrance of salvation, and makes us participators in the angelic life and hymnody; which becomes for us a path leading to the heavenly God and Father himself; it is the self-determining and excelling most serene manifestation; the fertile, and infinite, and saving power; the unmeasured, and incomparable, and venerable subsistence; the undefiled, and esteemed, and most holy glory; the divine grace, which fills up what is lacking, and heals the weak; the ineffable and eternal goodness; the fountain of never-failing gifts, and the procession of the intellect of every good; the true manifestation of things future and unknown; the saving seal, and the divine chrism; the earnest ^C of eternal goods; by whom every creature, visible and invisible, rational and irrational, is strengthened; by whom all things are illuminated, and everywhere abound with sanctification, love, peace, wisdom, joy, security, and every good thing, inasmuch as it shone forth subsistently from the paternal fountain. Through whom, and through whom alone, God the Father draws near to us, with whom, and in whom, he is in the heavens, and stays with us; although each divine person is able to do all things perfectly without needing anything, yet that the joint-activity and unchangeableness of their essence might be shown, as well as the worship, glory, and thanksgiving which must be offered by us, for this reason the creation was completed in common by the holy Trinity. ^D Therefore, demonstrating that the creation was adorned in a Trinitarian way, he sings: "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all the host of them by the Spirit of His mouth." For he called God the Father "Lord"; the Word, the only-begotten Son, through whom and from whom they were created; but the Spirit, the subsistent holy Spirit of God, by whom they were sanctified and strengthened. For this is the divine name, the omnipotent and excelling dignity, which is commemorated and glorified together with the Father and the Son; the sanctifying, and life-giving, and communicative of heavenly light; the protecting of each for remaining in identity; the one that sounded in the prophets and apostles, and strengthened the martyrs to withstand tyrannical cruelty; the one that renews and liberates as Lord, and makes us sons of God as the Spirit of adoption; the one that drives away the hordes of demons by the illumination, that is, by baptism, and puts the adversary, or Satan, to shame; the one that opens the gates of the heavens for us, and leads to the entrance of salvation, and makes us workers and participants in the angelic life and hymnody; the one that becomes a path for us leading to that very heavenly God and Father; the self-determining and surpassing most serene manifestation; the fertile, infinite, and saving power; the un-great, incomparable, and venerable subsistence; the undefiled, esteemed, and most holy glory; the divine grace, that which fills what is lacking and heals the weak; the ineffable and eternal goodness; the fountain of never-failing gifts, and the procession of every good mind; the true manifestation of things future and unknown; the saving seal, and the divine anointing; the earnest of eternal goods; through whom every creature, visible and invisible, rational and irrational, is empowered; through whom...

of which is divine regeneration, and the remission of iniquities, and the covering of sins, and the reconciliation to God; a crown for the just, and the attainment of good things; a heavenly dwelling, and life unending, and the eternal inheritance of the kingdom of God; he who partakes ^A of whose communion through regeneration obtains the aforementioned goods, and, according to the Catholic Epistles, is a partaker of the divine nature. For he who has partaken of incorruptible and eternal illumination remains ageless in spirit according to the inner man, in youth and gentleness, and is made like unto Him who alone has immortality and dwells in light inaccessible. For the sacred heralds of the Old and New Testaments know that the Holy Spirit is of the highest, single, divine nature. Immediately, therefore, they testify:

CHAPTER II. That the Holy Spirit is of God. And concerning the heretical objection.

First, that He is the Spirit of God and from God—even if not after Him—and alone knows the things of God, and is over all, they say the following: Moses, indeed, in Genesis, from the person of God: "My Spirit ^B shall not remain in these men forever, because they are flesh." Haggai likewise from the divine voice: "I am with you, and My Spirit stands in your midst." Zechariah likewise: "Nevertheless, hear my words and receive my statutes, which I command in my Spirit to my servants the prophets." Isaiah, from the Father to the Son: "My Spirit, which is upon thee, and the words which I have given into thy mouth, shall not fail out of thy mouth, and out of the mouth of thy seed"; calling those he has called to adoption his seed; and again from the person of the Son: "The Spirit ^C ... [alt-version omitted] ^D

of the Lord is upon me." And that these things were fulfilled in the economy, Matthew said thus: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying: Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him." And again from the person of the Father: "For the Spirit shall go forth from me." And in Ezekiel, the most high Father calls our spirit, our spirit; but the Holy Spirit, he calls his own proper one, inasmuch as it proceeded from him by nature: "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you." And again in Joel: "I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh." And Paul wrote that these things were fulfilled to Titus: "When the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared, ^B not by works which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost, whom he hath poured forth upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ." But when did he pour it forth? When Christ, breathing upon them, said: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." It is rightly said, "he poured forth": he poured it forth, clearly, as water [flowing] from himself consubstantially, and as divine ointment, as will be opportunely demonstrated by us in suitable places. It is also well said, "Upon all flesh": for such expressions of this kind correspond to the essence of the holy Trinity, which essence is entirely communicable; yet they do not befit created, incommunicable rational nature: for it is nowhere written, ^C nor is it probable to say, "I will pour out from an archangel," and not even then so absolutely, but: "upon all flesh." And David also, suppliant, cries out: "Take not thy holy Spirit from me"; and again: "Thy good Spirit shall lead me into the right land." And Matthew from the person of the Son: "For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you"; which is to say: Not you who are created, but the uncreated Spirit of God. And Paul also writes, to the Corinthians in his first Epistle: "Which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man..."

what things God hath prepared for them that love Him; but to us God hath revealed them through His Spirit." The Spirit searcheth all things, even the depths of God. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, save the Spirit of God." We, however, have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God; that we may know the things that are given to us by God.> He says that the good things prepared by God were revealed by the Spirit as a co-bestower; and [explains] His Spirit, by way of contrast to our own spirit. And guarding against it again, so that it might not be thought ^A of as an angel or another created spirit, he added: "We have not received the spirit of the world" (that is, a generated one), "but the Spirit which is from God"; that is to say, deriving from what remains, [the Spirit] which proceeds from the hypostasis of God; and as He alone knows the things of God, as Lord, and likewise possessing the same nature toward the Father. For the "servant," as is said in the Gospel, "knoweth not what his lord doeth." Nor, indeed, did he speak as of a man when he said, "Residing in God," lest the incomposite God be thought to be composite. And to the Ephesians: "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." And to the Romans: "You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwelleth in you; if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." And to the Galatians: "And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." And to the Philippians: "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation, through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Look, therefore, how even the mere calling Him "the Spirit of God," and the addition of the definite article, "of mine" and "of thine," has clearly indicated that He is also un^Bcreated, and not the spirit of the world, but the uncreated Spirit of God.

^C But Paul writes in his first Epistle to the Corinthians: "Which eye (60) hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him; but to us God hath revealed them through His Spirit." The Spirit (61) searcheth all things, even the deep things of God. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? So also the things of God no man knoweth, save the Spirit of God. We, however, have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which are given to us by God." He says that the good things prepared by God have been revealed by the Spirit as a co-bestower. And he opposes His own Spirit, that is, God's, to our spirit. And in order to establish this again as certain—that He is not to be considered as an angel, or some other created spirit—he subjoined: "We have not received the spirit of the world," that is, a made or created thing, "but the Spirit which is from God," that is (supplying what is implicitly understood), "which proceeds from God's hypostasis." He adds, moreover, that He alone understands the things of God, as Lord and possessing the same nature with the Father; for "the servant," as it is in the Gospel, "knoweth (62) not what his lord doeth." Nor did he speak as if of a man when he said, "Who dwelleth in God," lest the incomposite God should be thought to be composite. But to the Ephesians: "Do not (63) grieve the holy Spirit of God, in whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption"; to the Romans (64) also: "You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; if, however, the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man, however, hath not the Spirit of Christ, this man is not His"; and to the Galatians: "But because (65) you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father"; and to the Philippians: "For I know (66) that this will turn out for me for salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Now, indeed, in the adduced testimonies [Christ, and to God]... Then follows after this what he says: "If any, however, hath not the Spirit of God [reading with our codex: Spirit of Christ], this man is not His," and it is inferred: "If, however, Christ is in you," and it is most manifestly demonstrated that the holy Spirit is inseparable from Christ: because wherever the holy Spirit shall have been, there also is Christ; and from wherever the Spirit of Christ shall have departed, from thence likewise departs Christ: for if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, this man is not His. To which, if any one should assume the contrary, he can say: If any man is of Christ, so that Christ is in him, in this man is the Spirit of God [more correctly our codex: Christ]. This is likewise to be understood of God the Father: If any man hath not the Spirit of God, this man is not His. To which, again, if any one assumes the contrary, saying [so that the sense may be whole, it must be read with our codex: to which if one assumes the contrary, he will say]: If any man is of God, in this man is the Spirit of God.

^A And the name "God" which he possesses was not added to him from elsewhere, but he possesses it from the fact that he exists naturally as it is spoken of him. Moreover, that it is written, "The Spirit of the Son," ^B similarly declares his communion of nature with him, and so that he might not be thought his creature. For how could the Son have created that which is and is written "the Spirit of God" for his own Father, as though he did not possess this before that from himself? This is not only blasphemous, but also foolish. But the "Spirit of Christ" should be understood as the power of Christ, in the way that it has been said: "Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." For since these blessed hypostases proceeded from the one Father by nature, and not by creative operation, they are referred back to the same one. For lest anyone should suspect that he has a beginning or an end, but rather, from the procession which is according to his nature, may believe truly that he is the Spirit of God, having been breathed forth without beginning, and not having been made, as is the case with the other ministering spirits; the Lord teaching in the Gospel according to John, says: ^C "The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father." He did not say, "is created." For every generation and procession is accomplished through equals and those who are similar; but especially and in a more excellent way is the generation and procession from the one Father according to the unity of his own divinity. But in the case of creatures, the prototype precedes in time; but in God it is not so, but they subsist together, and proceed together. And John, agreeing with the Lord, has also proclaimed the equality and the unchangeable nature of the Holy Spirit toward the Father, showing that he comprises, as one might say, the whole uncircumscribed God the Father, and is found among the faithful, saying: "For in this we know that we abide in him, and he in us, because of his Spirit which he has given to us." In the same way as the Son has said: "He who has seen me has seen the Father," and, "I came forth from the Father." For nothing that possesses any deficiency in substance, or in time, or in glory, at all, can manifest the whole truth, or happen to be of the same form and equal ^D value.

^A to be known with the truth itself; nor indeed can anyone attain the true participation of the deity through a creature: but the Holy Spirit is given, not by the divisions of fragmentation, but by the principle of participation, and because it cannot be conceived that He dwells in us in such a way as to be of a different nature or disposition from the Father. Moreover, the ^B Son of Thunder at the same time showed that where the Holy Spirit is, there the God Father is, whose Spirit He is: which God Himself also foretold beforehand, saying: "I will dwell in them, and I will walk; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." As it again reveals the contrary: if anyone does not have the Spirit of God as true God, he does not have the Father either; and among those with whom He is not, there is nothing true, nor safe, nor firm. Conversely, whoever speaks about Him, even if he happens to be a heretic, if he is asked about what kind of spirit he is discussing, he says: "the holy [one]"; and if the questioning is urged upon him again, "what holy one," he must, for the clearest manifestation, say: "the Spirit of God," since the others are not essentially His.

But heretics, becoming burdensome and troublesome ^C to themselves and to their hearers, attack with violent attempts the saints who are better than us and them, and who excel to the greatest degree, and who have written about the Holy Spirit—those to whom it is not permitted to decree things contrary. For they say word for word thus: "When therefore God says: 'My child Isaiah,' and 'My firstborn son Israel,' does the syllable 'my' show that the human nature has something in common with the nature of God?" Just as, he says, He said this as being the cause of them existing, so also He called their living principle "my Spirit." But if there were in them any account of truth and accuracy, they would not have stumbled into such great errors. For, first of all, by the very fact of uttering "Isaiah," and "Israel," He indicated human beings; but He added "my" to them in a special way, as they are related to Him by their deeds. And He called Isaiah a child, that is, a servant; but Israel the firstborn, as having been the first to begin to serve Him, and being in the ^D disposition of a son by the concern and care of God. Wherefore "my," when said by God in the case of the true Son and the true Spirit, indicates the appropriation of nature; but in the case of all others, it refers to Him by way of mastery or faith; just as we are accustomed to say, in the case of those who are of the same essence as us, "My son, my spirit"; but in the case of others, "My field, my horse," but also, "My God." For in the same way that the subsistent Word of the divine nature—not simply and loosely [referred to as] "mine"—

"—is shown to be born from the hypostasis of God, not only because he is named Son, and Only-Begotten, and Word of God, and Christ, but ^B because we see attached to these appellations the words "my" and "your" (as when God says, "This is my beloved Son," and again, "My good Word," and, "I have prepared a lamp for my Christ"; or when we ourselves acclaim, "Your Son, your Only-Begotten, your Christ"); and just as the homonymy of deity does not draw away the Son of God, not even because [a text] is written about us homonymously or synonymously, "Sons of men, how long will you be heavy-hearted?"; so also the Holy Spirit is not merely called Spirit, but [is shown to have] the word "my" (when from God) or "your" (as from the creature) or "holy," or "incorruptible," or "eternal" joined to the name, [which] signifies that He has proceeded from the paternal hypostasis; nor does the fact that ministerial [spirits] and our own spirits are also called holy or eternal draw Him away from being the true Spirit of God by nature. For even in those very riddles concerning Him, there is found in every case some manifestation concerning His divine nature and power. For creatures received what is holy and eternal in relation to their own nature, not at all having these from themselves by nature. Since, then, these very heretics are caught accusing themselves, [by accepting] that the "my" spoken concerning the Son of God, and "holy," and "eternal" are taken simply as announcing the identity of the divine nature; furthermore, besides these points, [the Scripture] did not name our soul "spirit" in the preceding proofs, but His own Holy Spirit. For since we possess our own spirit, [55 A] there was given to us also that of God. For the Father said, "My Spirit shall not remain among these men," and the Son said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." It is clear, then, that to those already possessing our own spirit, the discourse was about the divine Spirit. Just as, therefore, the Son is the Word of God, productively in the manner of a Son; so also the Holy Spirit is, in a spiritual manner, processional, and not creatively. And as there is no difference of essence, and power, and glory in the Only-Begotten Son in relation to God the Father, but rather every difference—if it is permitted to say this—[exists] in relation to the creation; so also [it is] in the case of the one divine Spirit. Therefore, not even to listen to the heretics—[by] not even ^D accepting what they say—is more just.

^A

CHAPTER III. That the divine nature of the Holy Spirit is gathered from the various names of the Holy Spirit.

As we said at the beginning, the divine oracles testify in the second place that there are various and diverse names for the Spirit of God, suited to the divine majesty. These names not only contribute to the matters set before us a sublime character and significant emphasis, but they also express a relationship that is elevated above all things, not separated from the Father and the Son, and better than any interpretation, however magnificent. Furthermore, some of these names express His divine nature, while others express His proper power, and they console our impotence, as we are unable to attain to Him by our own merit either through the explanation of texts or the contemplation of the mind. They encourage us to call Him consubstantial with God confidently and without danger of error, and to believe that He is sanctifying. ^B We do not find that any of the other spirits were deemed worthy to be called by these names. But He who exists in this way uniquely, singularly, and by His own nature is not at all from the number of all others, but is God. These are the names I have mentioned:

Holy Spirit, as it is read everywhere in Scripture; Spirit of sanctity, and [the one] sanctifying, as he writes to the Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, who was designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness"; and again: "That the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified in the Holy Spirit"; and elsewhere: "But we ought to give thanks to God always concerning you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief in the truth." ^C Spirit of power, and of love, and of self-control, as Paul wrote in the second Epistle to Timothy: "For God did not give you..."

^A For we did not receive the spirit of slavery, but the Spirit of power, and of love, and of self-control. And to the Romans: "I entreat you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit." And elsewhere: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." Similar to that [is the saying]: "God is love," and [the statement]: "He transferred [us] into the kingdom of the Son of his love." And, "Just as Christ loved the Church"; and again: "Of the Son of God who loved me." Similar also to that [is the passage]: "Henceforth you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of the Father," and to that: "I perceived power going forth from me."

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of God, the Spirit of judgment and burning—as Isaiah prophesies. And as Wisdom says: "For the Spirit of wisdom is philanthropic." And as Moses recounts in Exodus: "Behold, God has called by name Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and filled him with a divine Spirit of wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge." And according to Baruch: "You have abandoned the fountain of wisdom." And as the Proverbs teach: "God by wisdom founded the earth, but [he] prepared the heavens with apprehension." Just as Isaiah said concerning God the Father: "He himself, being wise, brought evils upon them." Concerning the Only-Begotten, Paul said: "Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." And another says: "I will bless the Lord who has instructed me."

The Spirit of gentleness, as Paul admonishes the Galatians: "Brothers, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a Spirit of gentleness." The Spirit of discipline—that is, of wisdom. For Wisdom says: "The Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and will withdraw from foolish thoughts." ^B

^{C D}

^A Spirit of adoption, as Paul first wrote to the Romans: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father; the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." The Spirit of promise, according to the same Apostle writing to the Ephesians: "In whom also having believed, you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance;" and to the Galatians: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree; that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

The Spirit of faith and revelation, according to the same [Apostle], manifesting it to the Corinthians in his second Epistle: ^B "Having the same Spirit of faith;" and again, "But God has revealed [it] to us through his Spirit." He signified something similar to the Romans: "Faithful is God, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son;" and what was said by Moses in Deuteronomy: "And you shall know this day, that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God;" and what the Psalmist sings: "The Lord is faithful in all his words, and holy in all his works."

The Spirit is also "principal" or "governing," and a "right" Spirit, as David confesses in the fiftieth Psalm. Likewise, as the Psalmist sings in the thirty-second: "For the Word of the Lord is right." ^{C D}

^A Turn Moses says: « Right (30) is the Lord our God, and there is no iniquity in Him. » The Spirit of grace, as the Apostle writes to the Hebrews: « He who (31) has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has done despite to the Spirit of grace. » For the same Apostle indeed wrote, regarding the ^B « principal [Spirit], » as I have already said. Thus in Irenæus himself, Book 1, ch. 41, where the ancient interpreter has, « both principal, and royal, » the Greek text of Irenæus has καὶ ἡγεμονικὸν, καὶ βασιλικόν. And a little later, where « principal » is read, Irenæus in Greek said ἡγεμονικήν. But whether the reading ὑπέρτερον πρωτεῖον, that is, « superior primacy, » or ὑπερτέραν ἡγεμονίαν, be more probable, and sound better to Greek ears, let those who are versed in the Greek Fathers judge. For my part, I would read neither ὑπέρτερον πρωτεῖον, that is, « superior primacy, » nor ἐξαίρετον πρωτεῖον, that is, « excellent primacy. » But if Irenæus used the word ἡγεμονίαν, that is, « principal-ity, » the term there signifies not merely primacy, but the direction and government of the whole Church. And so, what David says, « A principal Spirit, » is termed by Didymus in the commentary on the Psalms at verse 13 of Psalm L, ἄρχον καὶ ἡγεμονεῦον, that is, « ruling and governing. » And Cyprian, too, in epistle 55, calls the Roman Church « the principal Church. » Therefore, this is what Irenæus means: That to the Roman Church, διὰ τὴν ὑπερτέραν ἡγεμονίαν, that is, « because of the superior government which it possesses, » of necessity every Church ought to hold. You will perhaps think little of my reading and interpretation, Justin Febronius; for by what other name I should address you, I do not know, save by that which you yourself have feigned. But we are in no way moved by his clamors, who, although he acknowledges a primacy in the Roman bishop, restricts the authority conferred upon him by Christ within such narrow limits that he seems to reduce it almost to nothing, and to take away from him almost all administration of the universal Church. He, in dedicating the volume to the supreme Pontiff Clement XIII, calls him the first vicar of Christ on earth, as if there were any other vicar of Christ on earth in the sense in which such is the successor of Peter. He confidently asserts (p. 257 of the second edition) that the custom by which bishops today, acknowledging the author and source of their name and honor, are accustomed to call themselves « by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See, bishops, » was not yet in use in the XIV century; although in the year 1270, the holy Benvenuto, bishop of Osimo (Vol. V of the Camaldolese Annals, p. 213, App.), called himself by that title, when he began thus: « Benvenuto, by the grace of God and the Apostolic See, bishop of Osimo: » and soon added: « By the authority of God, and of the Apostolic See, and of the Blessed Leopardus. » Furthermore, in that same XIII century, Gerard, Archbishop of Nicosia, assumed a similar title, as may be seen in Vol. XV of the Councils. He says (p. 258) that by this very formula, « by the grace of God and the holy See, » the archbishops in Gaul first used it in the years 1351 and 1365, on account of those rights which it pleased the pontiffs to attach to the archiepiscopal pallium: although neither St. Benvenuto, nor the prelate of our city who is unseen by Febronius, was an archbishop in the year 1343, but a bishop; and yet Beltramino in that year is called « Bishop of Bologna by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See » in a monument which exists on p. 387 of the Appendix to the book printed at Bologna, which is inscribed: *Memorie istoriche concernenti le due Canoniche di S. Maria di Reno e di S. Salvatore*. And in App. Vol. V of the Camaldolese Annals, p. 513, Thomas, Bishop of Forlì, speaks in the same manner in the year 1355. He determines from Pithou (p. 203) that « bishops for the first eight centuries did not seek the confirmation of any synod or its decrees from the Roman See; » but on page 388, he himself, the circumscriber of his own opinion, says that they « sought the Council of Chalcedon » from Leo I, ^C by the word of confirmation, [seeking] the ratification of those things which had been done against the will of the legates; and that the Sixth Council in its synodical epistle wrote these things to Pope Agatho: « Which (doctrine) we ask your paternal holiness to confirm again by honorable rescripts. » He says (p. 231) that Innocent III, [acting] from a persuasion contrary to sacred Scripture, to all antiquity, to the definitions of councils, and to the observance of the universal Church, wrote these words: « Greater causes of the Church, especially those concerning articles of faith, are to be referred to the See of Peter, » etc.; although many centuries before, St. Innocent I had replied to the Africans in this manner: « That whatever, even though it were transacted in separate and remote provinces, they should not deem that it ought to be concluded before it came to the knowledge of this (namely, the Roman) See, so that any just sentence might be confirmed by the authority of this [See] in its entirety. » When Cyprian exhorted some who were about to sail to Rome, after a schism had occurred in the City (that is, in Rome), « that they should acknowledge and hold to the matrix and root of the catholic Church, » [Febronius] confidently affirms (p. 183) that Cyprian is not to be understood as calling the Roman Church « the matrix and root of the catholic Church, » as interpreters have thought, but that « matrix and root of the catholic Church » is nothing other than catholic unity, for the reason that Cyprian elsewhere calls the catholic Church a matrix—as if, forsooth, « matrix » were simply the same as « matrix and root of the catholic Church; » or as if it had not been necessary to exhort Christian men to acknowledge the catholic unity which they had long known from the Creed; or as if in the book *On the Unity of the Church*, Cyprian did not openly teach that the origin of *that same* unity begins from one Peter, and that the Church was built upon that one. He who finally, when he had written these things in his « singular book, » not to mention other things, boasts of himself, and introduces a bookseller at the beginning speaking thus: « After the first edition of this Work had been exhausted with unusual speed, » etc. But, as he says, even boys are puffed up with new shoes; yet no one is ignorant that in our age (alas!) perverse and truly most destructive books are sent to the press again in a short time, and a third, or even more often: as we have recently seen happen in the work of Helvétius, and in the most foul and especially impious booklets which are sold secretly under the name of Voltaire, while in the meantime the works of so many holy Fathers, so many most learned theologians, jurists, and philosophers are hardly printed once in a century. For as Jerome rightly says, the much greater part is of those turning over Milesian fables than the books of Plato. Now I have digressed, perhaps unexpectedly, and while I think to make a pitcher, my hands have fashioned a wine jar. See the notes to section 78 b. ^D

^A For it is written of the Father: "I am what I am, and His grace which is in me"; and of the Son: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." [He is the] Spirit of truth, as John proclaims [the words] of the Savior: "If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth." And again in his first Epistle: "And it is the Spirit that testifies, because the Spirit is truth"; just as the Son says of Himself: "I am the truth." He is a divine Spirit, and the breath of the Almighty, and a lover of men, according to the phrase of Job and the statement of Moses mentioned a few verses back in this chapter. The Holy Spirit was also called light, in whom and by whom we are enlightened, as when the Apostle writes: "That He may give to you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened"; ^B and as David sings: "For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light we shall see light," which means: In Thy Son, who is the radiance of Thy glory, we shall see Thy Holy Spirit. And: "The light of Thy countenance has been marked upon us, O Lord." For what else could the Spirit be, who proceeds from the Father, or from the light? Concerning whom John chanted in his first Epistle: "God is light"; and in the Gospel concerning the Only-Begotten: "He was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world"; and: "I am the light, I am the life." It is no wonder, if He, being one and always existing in the same manner, is glorified by various appellations. For because mortal language is incapable of grasping His ineffable deity, we, in our attempt to hymn according to our capacity the energies that occur within us, make use of diverse names. ^C

Indeed, it is clearly written: "Doing despite to the Spirit of grace," for there is no doubt that he who has sinned after having received it, if he has been sanctified through the communion of the Holy Spirit, is shown, etc. But our manuscript has it a little differently, namely: "Finally... sanctified by Him, as it is clearly written: 'And doing despite to the Spirit of grace, in whom he was sanctified,' there is no doubt that," and the rest. Number, however: "For the Spirit Himself was called grace, according to that: 'Doing injustice [our manuscript, doing despite] to the Spirit of grace, in whom he was sanctified.' Also, in Zechariah," and the rest. Finally, number 65: "Nor shall any mercy and pardon be reserved for him who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and done injustice [our manuscript, and despite] to the Spirit of His grace, in whom he was sanctified." ^D

^A Those who profess the dogma of Macedonius, becoming followers of their sect rather than of the truth, see nothing that is consonant with what the divine oracles teach. For they are deceived by empty words, ^B claiming that one ought not to pay attention to homonyms, or synonyms, or similarities of expression. For they say that when Scripture attributes the name "Good" to God, it is immediately joined with "one God." But when it speaks of the Holy Spirit, the name "Good" is not joined with "one God." And again, they say "Good" is written of man as well, as when we read: "Do good, O Lord, to the good," and, "The good man out of the good treasure brings forth good things." Similarly, they say, things are called "good" homonymously, even inanimate things, as when the prophet says: "If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the land." But it is said even of things that have no subsistence, as in the words: "It is good to give thanks to the Lord." Similarly, they say, a human is also called "holy." And the power of God, they say, is called a worm, as it is written: "The locust, my great power." And the Savior says: "The powers of the heavens shall be shaken." And this argument (I mean, not to pay attention to homonyms and similarities of expression) has validity in the case of things of different kinds and different substances; ^C it does not, however, hold for the Holy Spirit, nor for Him whose Spirit He is, and certainly not for the Son. For Scripture, providing its own security when it makes use of homonyms or synonyms, frames them with the syllable "my" or "your," or the word "holy" or "good"—that is to say, either as when it speaks from the person of God, "My Spirit," or as from the person of David and ourselves: "Your good Spirit will guide me." It is therefore necessary to believe those to whom it is much more useful to give credence, namely the recorded testimonies of Scripture: and to know that the Holy Spirit has the homonym or synonym and the similarities of expression in common with God and His only-begotten Son, who are celebrated with the same names, and not with creatures, because of the homonymy that is sometimes found in them. For these things, even if we grant that they share a name or word with God, do not share in essence nor in energy.

^A For these things do not exist by nature as such, nor do they exist once and for all. It is rather by comparison with evil that what is good is defined, and by comparison with sin—that is, with passion—that what is holy is set in order. For that which is not exceedingly evil or sinful, that is, passionate, is termed "good and holy" in this context. For just as wickedness and sin, which is to say passion and weakness [58 α], are not found in the one Holy Spirit, inasmuch as He is unbegotten, so in nothing that is begotten is goodness and holiness and power found in a perfect way, but only by participation. And where these are nowhere present in a perfect way, there the unbegotten is nowhere present. For where there is darkness, there is no light, and where there is night, there is no day. Hence, it is said—and it was expressed also by Hermes, who is called Trismegistus—that it is impossible for the good to exist in the realm of generation; it can exist only in the unbegotten. And just as participation in all things is granted to matter, so too is ^B participation in the good.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit is equal and similar to the Godhead of the Father and the Only-Begotten. It is shown even from the judgment of such things that He Himself is holiness, goodness, and power by nature, inasmuch as He is one from the One. For if we attend to the reasoning of those people, which is full of cavil and stubbornness, then toward their disputation, neither the All-Good Son, who is kind by nature, will any longer be good, since He does not possess the united statement, "One God," nor will the most benevolent and wholly kind Father and the Son possess the aforementioned marks of the Godhead. Nay, they will even be debased by these very terms, as the ^C heretics are accustomed to speak, to the condition of us humans who are homonymous with them. Be propitious, O Holy Trinity. But the Son, he says, being co-begotten, has goodness as an innate quality, and all other things that the Father has. Yet also the Holy Spirit, being co-proceeding, is good by nature, and has all that God the Father has. If, then, their discussion were about trivial or secular matters, there would be times when it would be right for them to need to invent certain fables, and with Aristotelian sophistication and the art of rhetoric—as Eunomius does—to twist the matter and obscure the truth. ^D

the Holy Spirit proceeds in the same way, such that the nature that is good is co-existent with Him from whom He proceeds, and is all things that God the Father is. Furthermore, if they were to discourse concerning matters of any kind, however trivial, or about worldly ^A affairs, they might be able to construct some fables cleverly and, with Aristotelian acumen and the art of rhetoric, as Eunomius did, pervert the matter and obscure the truth. But here the case is not so; for Paul teaches us: “If you will not believe, you shall not even understand,” and: “The wisdom of men is foolishness before God.” Nor is it right to handle the divine oracles, which speak of the glorious Spirit and are above human reasonings, with captious sophistries: for slander does not harm the Holy Spirit, nor do the insults and jeers of heretics, who think wrongly, go beyond the ears: but those who employ such things will suffer eternally, and they act in a way similar to those who attempt to cast slurs upon this light, which has its power from the unapproachable light, and to sully it with their words. But we must believe the teaching that comes from the saints, as being able to produce greater glory than that which comes from men. It is, therefore, fitting for us to reproach those who, through an excessive love for their own heresy, drag down, as far as they are able, the divine nature by their sophistries to the level of the effects of created things, and by these means give birth to a love of destruction in the simpler and more inexperienced, and lead them on to a desire for greater sins. ^B

CAP. IV. Concerning the heretics who say: Spirit is God; but how can the Holy Spirit be the Spirit of Spirit? and the rest.

But as for those who reject things that are simple, and straight, and perfect, and who fill themselves with ignorance, let the reader judge what that which is written, which follows immediately, strictly means for them. Indeed, for fear that the passage might be too perplexing and obscure, I have been compelled to add something in the translation. ^{C D}

^C God the Father wills that His Spirit be associated with Him just as the only-begotten Word, and He secures [the truth] that He is removed from the creation and surpasses it, wherefore He is also called "Holy" in the trisagion. They say: "How can the Holy Spirit be the Spirit of Him who is Spirit?" That this is written, has been shown; but the "how," it belongs to a mind and reason beyond our own, and indeed beyond the knowledge of the angels. For just as the God Word was begotten of Him, while the Father Himself was Spirit, so too the Holy Spirit shone forth from Him and with Him; and it is shown most of all in this that He is incomprehensible, in that what is impossible for the creature is possible for Him. ^D For what is the difference between the uncaused and life-giving nature, and that which is created and given life? Yet the Spirit cannot be other than consubstantial and equal to Him from whom He is; therefore He is also holy by nature. Are, then, the angels, they say, not from God, and holy, and spirits of God? They are indeed from God, insofar as they were made by His command, like all things; they are holy after having been sanctified, just as men are; and they are spirits insofar as they are incorporeal with respect to us. But they have never been called "spirits of God," or "from God," or "proceeding from the Father," or "divine," or "spirits of truth," or "spirits of holiness." Instead, they are ministering angels or servants, and celestial bodies, because they are infinitely distant from the uncreated Spirit of God and fall short of Him, according to the experienced Apostle who writes: "There are earthly bodies, and heavenly bodies" (1 Cor. XV). ^A For just as the spirits of the winds are not like them, so neither are they like the Holy Spirit of God. For they themselves were created, yet they did not proceed from the hypostasis of God the Father; they do not regenerate us, they do not make us sons of God, they do not remit sins, they do not give life, they do not create, they do not sanctify, they do not judge, but on the contrary, they are judged ("For you," He says, "shall even judge angels"). Nor are the powers of the heavens among them. They are not uncircumscribed by places, and immeasurable by distances. For Gabriel, speaking to Daniel or bringing glad tidings to the Theotokos Virgin, was not also in heaven in essence, as he was in mind; but at that time he dwelt only on earth. Nor are they incomprehensible to the ages; for "Who makes," He says, "His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire" (Ps. CIII, 4). They do none of the things which are done by the Holy Spirit, but they themselves minister to Him, as the archangel Gabriel showed, having served ^B in the mystery of the Economy.

^A toward the Theotokos Mary, and having said: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee.” Therefore, man is not their temple, as he is ^B of God, and of His Spirit, and of the Only-begotten Son. They are not included ^C together with God. There is not just one angelic ^D hypostasis, but an innumerable multitude. But the super-resplendent Holy Spirit, congenially and in a unified way, proceeded timelessly from the ineffable, supersubstantial, pre-substantial, universal, and formless paternal hypostasis, and is called divine. He is one, not multiplied, good, abundant, inaccessible, circumscribed by no intelligence, possesses infinite power, is ineffable, existing in a singular and unique way, and is by nature both holy and the Spirit of God, and is nothing of the things that are; but He is God, ^A being in heaven and dwelling with us, the cause of all good things to all; present, indeed, to all things incorporeally, without form, and without changing shape; not departing from being ineffably established with the Father, and being extended everywhere, and holding all things, and dwelling in all things without mixing; and treading into our thoughts and the thoughts of those invisible to us, and examining all things, although knowing all things ^B; and silently echoing, and listening to souls crying from within in silence.

[Translation continued]

...to describe these things, even if they are long. Thus, therefore, matters stand: Truly the Holy Spirit himself, if He were one of the creatures, would at least have a circumscribed substance, like all things that have been made; for even if invisible creatures are not circumscribed by place and limits, yet they are limited by the property of their substance. The Holy Spirit, however, while being in many places, does not have a circumscribed substance; for Jesus, truly, having sent the preachers of His doctrine, filled them with the Spirit; and breathing into their face, “Receive,” He said, “the Holy Spirit” (John xx, 22); and: “Go, teach all nations” (Matt. xxviii, 19), as if He were sending all to all nations. For not all the apostles went forth equally to all nations, but some to Asia, some to Scythia [our codex has Syria for Scythia], and others were dispersed to other nations, according to the dispensation of Him whom they had with them, the Holy Spirit, just as also the Lord saying: “I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age” (ibid. 20). Corresponding to this is also that: “You shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you [our codex: the Holy Spirit coming upon you]; and you shall be witnesses to me... even to the extremity of the earth” (Acts i, 8). If, therefore, these, established at the extreme limits of the earth for the sake of testimony to the Lord, were distant from one another by the longest spaces, yet the Holy Spirit, the inhabitant, was present to them, having an uncircumscribed substance, it is demonstrated that the angelic virtue is wholly alien to this. For an angel, indeed, who was present, for example, to the Apostle praying in Asia [our codex: staying], could not at the same time be present to others established in other parts of the world. But the Holy Spirit is present not only to men separated from Himself, but also stands as an inhabitant to each and every angel, principality, throne, and dominion.

^A of all [60 a] natures, tenderly pitying all without delay [ἀμελλητί] and strengthening them, providing ineffable joy to each nature; encompassing the structure of this whole universe and holding all things under Himself; illuminating with his divine light, and Benefactor through His own boundless energy and goodness; leading the better disposed toward a more perfect goal, and not depriving those who are worse and behaving amiss of His own royal, concordant, and indivisible protection; but establishing them in desire and contemplation of the consubstantial Trinity, the provider of all good things, and assisting all who work for what is good, while being separate from all things, so that ^{B C} not to be numbered by census: but God existeth in heaven and with us, and in us [(89)], accomplishing all good things in all, present to all indeed immaterially, without form, without transfiguration; but never ceasing to remain ineffably with the Father, and as it were to sit, and being diffused everywhere, and comprehending, and inhabiting in all without commixtion, insinuating Himself even into our thoughts and those of the beings who are invisible to us, and accurately scrutinizing all things, even though He knows all things, and sounding without a voice, and hearing souls crying out silently within, and pursuing them all with mercy without delay [(90)] in all things, and strengthening [our manuscript possesses: but how does the Father not consist in a place, since He is beyond all nature of bodies]: so also the Spirit of the truth is in no way enclosed by the limit of places, since He is incorporeal, and, to speak more truly, excelling [our manuscript more correctly: exceeding] every rational creature. And He teaches similar things in segment 66 of this work, which we are now publishing. But so far is Didymus from wishing the Holy Spirit to be in many places, that he openly teaches that the angels themselves not only do not exist in places, but are not even in a place. Although they are not circumscribed, he says, by place and boundaries, nevertheless they are limited by the property of their substance. And in number 26: Just as we separate places and the movements of places from incorporeal beings; so also we distinguish utterances (I say, within and without) from the nature of intellectual beings: because the former belong to bodies that receive touch and possess vastness. He speaks therefore of those substances which he maintains are not in a place, which have nothing in common regarding this matter with the body of Christ: for this, although it is set to exist in countless and I might almost say infinite places, yet it is not only limited by the property of substance, but is also circumscribed by place and boundaries. For God is not uncircumscribed from the fact that He is present in infinite places, but from the fact that He is so present everywhere that He is not limited by the property of substance; but if a creature were imagined to exist simultaneously in infinite places, in all those places it would possess a certain magnitude, for example, or intelligence, or ignorance, etc., in a word, it would be limited by the property of its own substance. Behold, therefore, to what the entire argumentation of this great theologian must at last be reduced in my own judgment (that I may embrace everything in one syllogism). He holds a substance to be uncircumscribed, which Holy Scriptures testify to be such, that it stands as an inhabitant with many (not in places, Albertine) but with holy men and angels existing everywhere, whether on earth or in the heavens, in that very way in which the Son of God does, whose substance you Macedonians confess to be uncircumscribed. But the Scriptures testify that the Holy Spirit is such. Therefore, the Holy Spirit has an uncircumscribed substance.

^A to one of the apostles living in India, to another in Spain, and to another in yet another place, even to the ends of the earth, distributed by Him, He imparted His own unerring and unadulterated wisdom; not appearing to one now and to another later, nor breathing more upon one and less upon another, but simultaneously and equally shining forth upon each one both together and individually, even as the Lord Himself said: “I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the age.” For do not suppose—since they transfer the theology found in John regarding the Spirit, where he said, “God is Spirit,” to the God and Father, saying that it is written in this way because He is Spirit—that it is also written, “Christ the Lord is the Spirit of our presence”; thus both the Father and the Son, inasmuch as He is Spirit, strengthen the others. ^{B C D}

[alt-version omitted] [index: entries preserved]

^A And if this is not so, then the Holy Spirit is not conceived of as being among the other spirits. For He is not an archangel. For Michael, and Gabriel, and those like them, are archangels; and even the heretics would not say that the Holy Spirit of God is ranked after them. Where, then, is it finally that they decide He is to be ranked, or with what creatures? For after God, we have not been taught by the Scriptures of any other rational nature, except that of the many spirits and of bodies such as ours. Furthermore, they sophistically infer from the premises: "The Father and the Son are called 'True,' but the Spirit is written as 'Truth,'" as if this were discordant. But it is the same thing, as has been demonstrated in the first discourse, and this does not differ from that.

^C CAP. V. Of those who say: Since God the Word is the Only-Begotten, by what name shall we call the Spirit? and the rest.

Contra these the most inconsistent and most fickle heretics—men of shifting speech (and I do not know if they are not also so in their minds)—men who are certainly, as I know for a certainty, aliens to the simpler and truer doctrine, ^D and who frequently repeat the same words, say: "The God Word was called Only-Begotten, since..." ^B ...distributed in another region even to the ends of the earth, he imparted his own infallible and uncontaminated wisdom—by no means present to one ^A now and to another at another time; nor breathing and inspiring more into one and less into another; but shining forth always in a similar manner, both to all conjointly and to each one separately; just as the Lord also said, who said: "I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world." Otherwise, when those heretics refer that sentence written in John, "Spirit is God," to God and the Father, on the grounds—as they say—that the Spirit is the Father Himself; and since it is also written, “Christ the Lord is the Spirit of our face,” would it not follow that the Father and the Son, inasmuch as the name Spirit applies to them, should be numbered among the other ministering spirits? But if this cannot be said, then not even the Holy Spirit comes into the census of other spirits. For He is not an archangel; for Michael and Gabriel, and those who are like them, are archangels; and beneath these, not even the heretics would say the Holy Spirit of God is placed. What place, then, is left for Him? Or with what creatures do they think He must be placed? For the Scriptures teach that there is no other rational nature after God, except for the many spirits and bodies of the kind we possess. Furthermore, they sophistically infer from the premises: "Pater and Filius are called 'the Truth' in the Scriptures; but the Spirit is called 'Truth,'" as if this were different from that. But in truth, each is one and the same, as was shown in the first ^B [i.e., treatise or book], nor does this locution differ from that.

...the Apostle Paul, who from Jerusalem even unto Illyricum established very numerous churches for God... and likewise each one of the other disciples. Therefore, I congratulate the Catholics and the illustrious nation of the Spaniards, because our theologian provides them with a new monument, by which their opinion and tradition is more confirmed. ^C ...the word "sanctification" [or in our codex, "holiness"] and "goodness" is equally referred to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, just as the very appellation of "Spirit" is. For both the Father is called Spirit, as there: "Spirit is God." And the Son is Spirit. "The Lord," he says, "is the Spirit." But the Holy Spirit is always considered under the appellation of "Holy Spirit." But these last things in our codex are thus: as there: "Spirit of God." And the Son is Spirit. "The Lord," he says, "is the Spirit." And the Holy Spirit is always considered under the appellation of "Spirit" [the codex more correctly omits the word "Holy" here, which crept into the published copies]. Indeed, when I was reading with our codex, "Spirit of God," unless the manuscript codex consented to the printed book next in number 58 on this matter; for both have: as we have said before [the codex adds here, "already"], where we also added this: "Spirit is God." Shall we suspect that "Spirit of God" should be read here also? For my part, I would prefer to read: "Spirit is God."

^A Repeating the same words many times, they say: "The God Word was called Only-Begotten, because the Holy Spirit does not exist from the hypostasis of the Father. Since he himself would not have been called Only-Begotten, but the Holy Spirit would have been called his brother." They say this, and contradict themselves, while the truth is unlike them. The Scripture called the Son Only-Begotten, both because he alone was begotten from the hypostasis of the Father, and did not proceed, as the Holy Spirit; and also to exclude the blasphemies of the heretics, who say that he is a creature and a son, as we are. And it is written that the Holy Spirit is one and alone, both because he proceeded unitarily and solely from the hypostasis of God and the Father, and was not begotten as the Son; and also so that he would ^B not be suspected as a creature, as are the other spirits. For the one does not belong to another, nor is the Spirit separated from the essence of the Father, nor from the union with it; nor does he have, in relation to that [essence], either subjection, or anything more agreeable to himself, or nearer to God. Nor can he be called a number, since he pertains to the unity of essence, nor be placed among produced things, since he is with the Father and the Son the Creator of all things. The one Holy Spirit, therefore, cannot be unlike one Father or one Son, nor like the multitude of spirits. For just as, although there is one God and Father, and one true Son, yet all of us who are to his image because of his goodness and bounty have been called gods and sons, although in reality we are not, according to that text: "I said: You are gods and all sons of the Most High"; ^C so, although there is one and only Holy Spirit of truth, many spirits are spoken of, which are not by nature spirits of God. Not seeing and considering how they might appear to be saying something consistent with the theologians, they do not hesitate to bring forth other harmful things. And let no one blame me before hearing all that I am about to say, if I call their contentions harmful. For he will find that they speak in direct opposition to the opinion of the God-bearing men, who had the excellence of this gift from God. For they say: "If the Holy Spirit is God, he is either the Father or the Son. But if he is neither of these, he is not God, just as the other spirits are not." One must therefore answer them as follows: Just as the Father is God, not because he is Father, but because he is of divine nature; and the Son, not because he is a son of someone random, but because he is the Son-Word of God, and necessarily exists of his divine nature; so also the Holy Spirit is God, not simply because he is Spirit, but ^D [because] he is of the divine nature of God, from whom he proceeds.

And just as, having heard, "The Lord your God you shall worship, and him only shall you serve," we believe and worship and serve the Only-begotten Word as God, on an equal footing with the Father; so too are we disposed concerning the Holy Spirit. For we are ordered, in the rule given to us regarding the incorruptible baptism—upon which the constitution of our entire way of life and religion depends—to join him to the Father and to the Son; we are also ordered to worship him together with them, to glorify him, and to minister to him. For this is the rational ^B service of which Paul wrote thus: "That you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your rational service." And in the same way as, when the Apostle proclaimed that God alone is wise and has immortality, we believe that the Son likewise possesses immortality and is wise, as he is the Father’s Only-begotten Word, being without alteration in essence compared to the Father and existing as his eternal life—even as he writes—so also we hold concerning the Holy Spirit. For he does not possess immortality and wisdom by grace or by gift, as do the ministering spirits, but he possesses ^C them by nature; for he is the Spirit of wisdom. Therefore it is written: "No one knows the things of the only wise God, except the Spirit of Him." For if they should grant that these things are not so, they will either be subverting the Word of God or will appear to be acting against the Scriptures. For nothing is joined as an equal to the Trinity, which is a single Godhead; neither are the spirits [joined to it] by reason of being called spirits, even if we do not call them "profane," nor are men [joined to it] by reason of being called gods; for we are not truly such in reality. But if they do not think that the statements "To the only ^D wise God" and "Who alone has immortality" stand in opposition to these truths, they will not be able to offer any clever objection against the Godhead of the Holy Spirit from the contrary. For these things were spoken thus by Paul, because while the Word of God is the Son, the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit; and these two hypostases are by nature the same with Him, and they coalesce into one Godhead: as is also said among the pagans: "One God, self-father, from whom all these things originated." As, therefore, Paul concerning the Father to the Romans, to the Ga-

and to Timothy ^A he writes, saying: «One is God.» Thus, concerning the Son, John said: «The Only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father»; but concerning the Holy Spirit, Paul taught the Corinthians: «And to another, gifts of healings in the one Spirit»; for unity is proper to the divine and undividable nature. And just as it is written that the Son was begotten, and He Himself bearing witness says: «I went forth from the Father,» so it is written, and He Himself said: «The Spirit of truth, who proceeds (or went forth) from the Father.» And just as the Son, being God and Lord, is the Son of God and Lord, so the Holy Spirit, being God and Lord, is the Spirit of God and Lord. And in the way that the Son ^B is written as the Word because He coexists with the Father, in the same way also the Holy Spirit is written as the Word (Dictum) of God, and the Spirit of His mouth, and the Breath of the Almighty, because He, subsisting together with Him, shone forth from Him, so that no one might suspect Him to be outside the deity of the Father or of His Word. For the Word (Dictum) is proper to the speech, or discourse, and the discourse to the mind; and that saying is fulfilled: «One God and Father of all, and over all, and through all, and in all.» And just as the Son is shown to be unchangeable from the Father, as He writes: «He who has seen Me has seen the Father,» in the same way also the Holy Spirit, through those things by which ^C He says: «In this we know that God is in us, from His Spirit whom He gave to us.» It is therefore absolutely necessary, since the Father is the true God, that He who shows Him by the manifestation of Himself alone should also be the true God equal to Him. And just as all things were made through the Son, so all things were sanctified and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. For the apostles say: «Master, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them: who by the Holy Spirit, [and] by the mouth of David Thy servant, didst speak.» And just as the Only-begotten is signified as equal in power and similar to the Father and an authority, according to the text: «Whatever the Father does, these also the Son does likewise,» in the same way also the Spirit of God [is signified], according to the text: «And all these things works the one and...»

same Spirit.» ^B And just as Christ said of Himself: «No one knows the Father, except the Son,» so also concerning the Holy Spirit it is said similarly, that «The things of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God.» And in the same way that the Son was called the angelic [one], «the Angel of Great Counsel,» so also [it is said] concerning the Holy Spirit. For the Scripture says: «But we have received the Spirit of God, that we might know the things that have been graciously given to us by God.» And most similar to the statement: «Christ, the first-fruits,» is that which says: «And having the first-fruits of the Spirit.» And equal in force to the text: «And the Lord sanctify you, that you may be sincere and without blame unto the day of redemption,» is that: «That the offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified in the Holy Spirit.» And equivalent to saying: «He who separated me from my mother's womb, through His grace, to reveal in me His Christ,» is that: «God revealed [it] by His Spirit.» And equal in power to saying: «Test yourselves, ^C if Christ is in you,» is the claim: «But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God.» And of equal value is the saying: «Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?» with that written by John: «If we love one another, God abides in us. In this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because of His Spirit whom He has given to us;» and with that: «We will come, I and the Father, and will make our abode with him.»

^A And just as the Holy Spirit is given through the Father and the Son, according to that: «I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh,» and according to that: «Receive the Holy Spirit,» so also Christ is given through the Holy Spirit, according to Paul writing to the Ephesians: «That He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell.» We might interpret in a similar and equal way the phrases: «The word of the Lord came unto this prophet,» and «The Lord said,» and «Thus says the Lord Almighty,» as compared to the passage in the Acts spoken by Peter: «The Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold,» and that spoken by Paul in Rome to the Jews: «Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah the prophet,» and the phrase: «The Spirit expressly says,» and «Thus says the Lord Almighty.» ^B It is equivalent to that which is called «The eternal God,» and that which was preached by Paul: «Who offered Himself through the eternal Spirit.» And it has a comparative force to the phrase: «No one can receive the Holy Spirit except from the Lord,» and to: «Receive the Holy Spirit,» just as: «No one can call Jesus Christ Lord, except in the Holy Spirit.» The same thing is meant by «being led by the Holy Spirit toward the truth,» that is to say, being led by the Holy Spirit toward the true faith, as is meant by being led by the Lord Christ, who decreed: «Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.» And equal in power to the text that says: «Do we provoke the Lord? Are we stronger than He?» is the writing: «Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.» And similar in expression to that: «You will send forth Your

Spirit, and they shall be created,» is that other: «You will send forth Your Word, and He shall melt them.» And to this passage: «The Lord is witness to my soul, that I do not lie,» there corresponds this other: «The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He shall bear witness concerning Me.» And likewise this other: «The Spirit bears witness to me in every city, saying.» And matched to that Lordly utterance: «Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,» is the statement: «These, therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia.» And of equal weight is the writing: «If you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me,» to the writing which says: «They said to Paul through the Spirit: Do not go up to Jerusalem.» And kindred to the statement: «The Son is eternal life,» is that which was said by Himself: «The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water leaping up into eternal life.» This he said concerning the Holy Spirit, whom those who believe in Him were about to receive. And to the statement: «For we have become partakers of Christ,» is the statement: «For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit.» And the passage in the Acts is very similar to what is said here: «There appeared to the apostles cloven tongues as of fire, and they sat upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,» as is also that which was said by John: «He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,» to the oracle delivered by Moses: «God is a consuming fire,» and by Isaiah: «Behold, the Lord shall come as fire.» And it is in harmony with the saying: «You were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, in the putting off of the body of sins, in the circumcision of Christ,» that it is written: «Circumcision of the heart in the Spirit.» And if it is fit that the voice of Peter should be spoken concerning God: «Let each one repent of his evil [ways], and from his wicked way, and let him be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and he shall be saved.»

^A For it is evident that the Spirit is inseparable from God, as also from the Lord’s having said to the disciples, in the same expressions: «Wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard; for John indeed baptized with water unto repentance, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.» For this signifies nothing else than what his other teaching concerning the illumination also confirms: that the Holy Spirit works and is able to effect the same things as the name of the Father and of his Son, inasmuch as he exists of the same divinity. The proclamation of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is also ^B unchanging and equally venerable, just as Paul writes to the Romans: «For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive another Spirit which you have not received.» The same indication is also carried by: «For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God,» along with: «The Father who abides in me, he does the works. Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me.» Observe, for, just as the Father abides with Christ, so too does his Spirit, being inseparable in the divine nature; and that the ^C divine works are accomplished by the ineffable Trinity with one accord; and as the Father, existing in his own hypostasis, is represented in the Only-begotten because of the immutability of the divinity—that is, of the essence—in the same way, the Only-begotten is represented in the one Holy Spirit as in an image. How many other things are reported concerning the divine Spirit, not differing from what has been written concerning God and the Father, and his Only-begotten Son! Some of these are contained in various places of this book, brought forward by us in the course of the discourse. ^D But if we should turn and ask them in return, whether Eve and the children whom she brought forth are from Adam, and how some were written as being born, while she was called neither his child nor the sister of those who were born? Since it is not possible to demonstrate, from the parable of created things, the monad and the incomparable...

^A nature, which remains invisible to the mind, and neither suffers itself to be committed to the ears, nor uttered in words. But even if some small shadow of a likeness could somehow be found, we could never sufficiently explain it. For likeness and comparison can by no means be identity. It is safe to say only those things which the Scriptures have taught, accommodated to our grasp and measure.

Therefore, that the Scripture says there is one and only one Spirit of God the Father, because he is separated in nature from other spirits, but joined to the Father and his Son by reason of essence, Paul explains writing to the Corinthians in his first Epistle: "To another ^B the gifts of healing in the one Spirit"; and again: "But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing into each one as he wills"; and again: "We have all been made to drink in one Spirit." And to the Ephesians: "For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father"; and again: "Striving to keep the unity of the Spirit," that is, taking great care not to separate him from the supreme monad and self-sufficient essence.

That he is also called the Word ^C is evident from these testimonies. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, says: "Taking the armor of God, and the breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Matthew also mentioned this sword, speaking from the person of Christ: "I came not to bring peace, but a sword," not understanding a physical blade, but the ineffable wisdom of the Holy Spirit, which, more than peace, cuts into hardened hearts. And to the Hebrews: "For upholding all things by the Word of his power." By what Word? David prophesied: "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their power." And again Paul: "For it is impossible ^D for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God." Peter also says: "Because all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of it as the flower of grass; the grass withered, and the flower fell, and its beauty perished; but the Word of the Lord abides for ever," in the same way he sings concerning the Son in the 118th Psalm: "For ever, O Lord, thy Word abides in heaven."

have been made the Spirit’s, and have tasted the good word of God. But Peter says: ^A “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withered, and the flower fell off, and his glory perished; but the word of God abideth forever.” As the Psalmist says concerning the Son, in Psalm CXVII (v. 20): “Forever, O Lord, Thy word abideth in heaven.” For he transmits many things concerning the highest and most divine hypostases, to be understood in a most mystical sense.

CHAPTER VI. All things which are proper to the Deity bear witness to the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, therefore, such things are spoken in the divine oracles concerning the immortal and ineffable nature of the Holy Spirit, as are spoken concerning God and the Father, who is Lord of all, and concerning the Son, who is above all and Lord of all; because He is not heterousios, that is, of a different essence, nor of lesser power or glory. For it is discovered that no creature ^B possesses any of these things of itself. For whatever it possesses, it has it by the generosity of the Trinity, which is in one deity; and it is natural for each to be understood always, from what it is, as to what it is, and what it is not—whether it has come to be God, or a creature. By way of example:

1. A creature has its existence, not being its own beginning. But what its first work in the order of rational natures is, the Book of Job shows; for it calls the one who lied in his way the devil by nature. But the Holy Spirit, as the breath of the Omnipotent, is nowhere written in the Scriptures to be a creature, or to have any beginning at all. For no creature, and such a creature as manifested itself reprobate, ungrateful, and impure by its own will, could have existed ^C before the creative Spirit. Since, however, Scripture neither says that the Holy Spirit has a beginning, but celebrates Him as the Spirit of God, and from God, and divine, and holy, nor admits any priority or posteriority in the nature of the divine hypostases, what place is left for doubting whether they are in one uncreated deity and are to be honored with equal honor? ^D

^A No created thing fills the universe, or contains all things, or exists in all things; but there is a limit and a definite quantity even to the intellectual powers, for these things alone are proper to the Deity. But the majesty of the Holy Spirit is indivisible, infinite, and exists always everywhere, and through all, and in all; filling the world and containing it according to its divinity, but uncontained in its power; and measuring, but not being measured. "For God does not give the Spirit by measure," as the Savior says in John; and as Wisdom teaches, saying: "For you love all things that are, and abhor nothing which you have made; for you would not have created anything if you had hated it. And how could anything have remained, if you had not willed it, or how could that which was not called by you be preserved? But you spare all, because all are yours, O Lord, lover of souls, and your incorruptible Spirit is in all things." Hence we rightly name God the Father of all, though He is not by nature our father, as He is of His Only-Begotten. ^B And again: "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and that which contains all things has knowledge of the voice." That is, it has encompassed the invisible and visible creation, the intellectual and the sensible, and none of all things is devoid of His eternal supervision; for to contain all things means this. And every voice, He says, He hears, as God existing always everywhere in all things, and bringing every material disorder into the appropriate order, and sparing and caring for those things made by Him, inasmuch as He Himself is by nature providence and wisdom, existing through all things, as the Father. For who is he that has such knowledge? Isaiah also says thus: "A Spirit of knowledge and piety;" and David sings in response: "Where shall I go from your face? And where shall I flee from your Spirit?" ^C And the Master, teaching that the deity of the Holy Spirit is not circumscribed by place, but is at once in heaven and on earth, always providing and supplying every sufficiency to the creation, said in John: "If you love me, keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, that the Spirit of truth may be with you, which the world cannot receive, because it does not see it nor know it; but you know it,

^A for it abides with you, and will be in you.” But ^B in order that it may be known that this single, infinite nature, which is present everywhere, is declared by such testimonies, the Scriptures have handed down equal truths regarding each of these immaculate subsistences. For Jeremiah, speaking in the person of God and the Father, sets this forth: “I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord.” David, singing of the Son in the 144th Psalm, says: “And of His greatness there is no end.” And Paul, preaching of the same: “He who descended is the same as He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.”

III. The creature is not absolutely incorruptible, ^B but is subject to corruption, that is, to conversion, which we also call change; as the prophecy says: “Making all things and transforming them.” Following this, those who are accounted wise among the pagans also say: “Dissolving them into themselves, and again increasing them from themselves.”

For the incorporeal rational creature, as regards [its] will, is not free from corruption, since God indeed gave it a stable nature and established it unto the age and unto the age of the age; but it has changed by its own free choice and has fallen into a worse lot ^C and state, and from this very fact has become so corrupted that it has, as it were, lost from that time the designation by which it was called eternal. For whatever departs from itself—in whatever way this may happen—that is, is changed, finds death, even if it persists in another way, namely, its own proper mutation. For whatever you may suppose that thing to become afterwards, that is the death of the prior thing: for example, if malice becomes goodness, by that very fact that malice departs from the creature, it is killed by goodness; and conversely, goodness is killed by malice. For there are certain things which, although it was not denied to them to persist in their first state and limit, do not proceed [to do so]. Therefore, they proclaim these things in the Epistles, Peter saying: “For if God spared not the angels who sinned, but having cast them down with ropes of darkness into hell, He reserved them for the judgment of the great day, and spared not the ancient world.” And Judas: ^D “And the angels who did not keep their beginning, but left their own habitation, He has kept in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment.” And the bodily and rational [creature]

is able to undergo mutation: as regards habit, ^A such as Judas who lost his sanctification, and as Paul writes (50): “But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives,” although she still leads a life among men; but as regards substance, insofar as it first dies, and then passes to immortality. “For it is necessary,” he says [Paul] (51), “that this corruptible should put on incorruption, and this mortal should put on immortality.” The creature, however, which is devoid of reason is subjected to mutation and is corrupted: as when light is changed into darkness, and water into blood, it was foretold: “This change is of the right hand of the Most High,” and elsewhere: “The heaven,” he says, “and the earth shall pass away.” For it was foretold as to how there shall be new heavens and a new earth. For truly everything that has received a beginning will also have an end. But the Holy Spirit, ^B since He is of that ineffable and eternal and incorruptible nature that is sovereign over all, and always exists in the same way and in the same state; and is alone the one who knows and does the things of God; and is the guardian of all things, both of those that are rational and perfected by faith, and of those that are irrational, until the limit of perseverance in identity granted to those that are not rational; stands established by nature and by will as incapable of turning and change, which is to say He is incorruptible. Whatever, then, is unchangeable, that is to say incorruptible, is immediately without beginning, endless, and super-eternal. Whatever is without beginning is a creator, and not a created thing. Therefore, Wisdom properly says: “Your incorruptible Spirit is in all things,” and Peter: ^C “In the incorruptibility of a meek and quiet Spirit.” For in this way also the Father, always existing equal to Himself and similar, admitting neither a decline toward the worse nor an advancement toward the better, was heard through James: “With whom there is no variableness, or shadow of turning,” and through Paul: “To the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God”; in the same manner as the Son was attested in the Psalm 101: “And You, Lord, remain for ever”; and again: “In the beginning You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth, and the works of Your hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but You remain; and all shall grow old as a garment, and as a mantle You shall fold them up.”

^A

IV. A creature is not absolutely and per se perfectly eternal: first, because it does not possess this of its own, but it obtained it from the time it was made, by participation and the gift of God, who alone and above eternity is of Himself: for since He is good, He creates, and presiding over His own creation, He munificently bestows eternity upon it; secondly, because of the reasons explained in the chapter 153 next preceding. But the Holy Spirit, since He has eternity by nature, as it befits the Creator to have, and is the good Spirit of God, working all things as one who is eternal, and Himself never to be limited, but able to limit those things which were made by Him, for this reason He was celebrated with that appellation. But if you do not agree with what I have said, you will learn that these things are true by this reasoning. Paul writes thus to the Hebrews: ^B “Who by the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God.” He speaks, however, of the Lord Christ, who in His venerable incarnation offered Himself for us to His own Father through the Holy Spirit. Peter also agrees with this, as has already been mentioned: “But the Word of God remains for ever.” For he calls the Spirit of God the Word of God here. Furthermore, Paul, commemorating the Father and the Son, celebrates the Son also with the same denomination of Eternal on account of the identity of the Godhead. “God,” he says, “and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ knows, who is blessed for ever”; and again: “Jesus Christ yesterday and today, the same also for ever.”

But those who are ill-disposed toward the testimonies declaring the divinity of the Holy Spirit ^C cannot, they cannot be heard or endured in what they have determined against this chapter as well. For on account of a preconceived opinion, they lead themselves away to the ends of the earth; for thoughtless love is not accustomed to bring forward careful investigation. Nothing, however, prevents us from hearing this captious argumentation itself: for thus they will seem still more worthy of condemnation. Thus, therefore, it stands: If anything has been called eternal equivoque, it cannot immediately be called God: but he who is God is the creator of those things which are called eternal. For it was written: ^D “God is the maker of times and ages”; and again: “God, having spoken in many ways and in many forms of old to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of the days spoke to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all, through whom also He made the ages.” For if whatever is called eternal ought to be named God...

there will be innumerable gods. For it is written: “And be lifted up, ^A you eternal gates”; and again: “Eternal years were remembered”; and again: “As eternal sheep”; and: “These shall rise into eternal punishment”; and elsewhere: “They shall rise who are in the dust of the earth, some to eternal life, and others to eternal shame.” Are, therefore, both the punishment and the shame gods? You see into what absurdity and impiety this homonymy regarding the eternal falls. To the thoughts and words of those men, indeed, a “purgament” ^B adheres and is mingled; but the following dissolves this: regarding the name of the eternal, as we have just mentioned, other things—even if it so happened—arose not from time alone, but also have corruption coming from the change of their own will, and that eternity of theirs is entirely unlike the divine eternity; just as neither the one called holy, whether angel or man, is in a like and equal manner this to the Holy Spirit of holies; for He is holiness itself and eternity itself. Let them attend, therefore, with what greatness of voice it is declared that the eternal is in the Holy Spirit, and that to Him He has added that which is marvelous and most incomprehensible to all—I mean the fact that through the Holy Spirit, He who fashioned the ages offered Himself to His own true Father on our behalf.

Let them consider also that all ^C the powers of the heavens are in the Holy Spirit, entirely because He is a co-creator with the self-sufficient Creator; and that the heretics, not opportunely but with artificial construction, mentioned the eternal gates and the end of the sheep—the very statements brought forward by us to this chapter. And let the difference between the unoriginate and immutable Eternal, and that which is from time and mutable, be clear to them, and how this is not slight, nor only concerning the essence and the other beauty, but entirely distinct. And let this be known also, that the Holy Spirit has the judgment concerning the eternal in relation to God the Father, who strengthened all things, and to the Son, not in relation to the creatures; and having dissolved the worse opinion, let them choose the betterD.

^A Let them wonder instead at the things that are truly worthy of wonder, and let them spend the time that follows in a better way. For there is no envy, and from those things where they have offered an arrogant rebuke, and have harmed themselves, let them thereupon also bring back the benefit of repentance. For if this word, as indicating something divine in majesty, was used in the Scriptures concerning God the Father and the Son, it might perhaps be understood in a similar way concerning the Spirit of God. This is one thing. Another is this: that none of the eternal things they have mentioned has been called divine, or Holy Spirit proceeding from God—that is, some one thing, not a plurality—nor is it joined to the Father and the Son for divine initiation and divine gift, nor has it been deemed worthy of any other, that I may not say many things, honor belonging to the Godhead.

Another thing in addition to these: It was the good pleasure of God and Father that all things should be created ^B through His Son, the Word. And what sort of reproach is it (as they weave in their dreams) to His all-holy Spirit, not to be said to have created—if indeed, according to them, He is not, in an ineffable way, a fellow-worker with the Creator, just as the Father is? But that every operation and gift of His only-begotten Son, the Word, and of the one Holy Spirit, is creative, good, and perfect, and common to them, yet is referred entirely to the One from whom and with whom these blessed hypostases ineffably shone forth, he who has quietly made some examination of the oracles full of wisdom—those mentioned in different places of this book, and those in the one before it—could most easily learn.

And Paul, raised above the common condition of men, declared this clearly, asserting to the Corinthians: ^C “But you were washed, but you were justified, but you were sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” Observe then, observe, how if the name of the Son is divine, as it indeed is, that of the Holy Spirit is so as well; for in both of them He has revealed the name. And that, just as He created the Holy Spirit ineffably at the beginning, so also He now re-creates. For to be washed signified to be re-created. And to Titus: “Having regenerated us through the bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” None the less also the Psalmist deems it worth knowing that those who were already in existence are now created spiritually in the divine font. For he says: ^D “A people that is being created shall praise the Lord.”

Therefore, the hypostases that have the same honor and operation also possess the same nature, and differ from one another in nothing in terms of Godhead and power, but are only able to be conjoined, and aligned, and everywhere co-conceived with the One—He who is Himself both, and whose ineffable origin the hypostases of both possess from Himself, unoriginated, and equally, and similarly, and ineffably united, and the hypostases are continuous. Further, in addition to what has been said: every...

^A argument which these heretics bring forward is of such a kind, and likewise the cavil [157 B], expressed in the same words, as that frigid one which we are now examining, as we shall shortly discover from their very chapters and arguments by experience. For if by chance some word, such as "eternal" or "good," spoken of the Trinity which is in unity, denoting its divinity and perfectly and altogether belonging to it, happens to be spoken somewhere concerning a creature—yet with the mention that is due to a creature—they say nothing (for indeed what could they say?) concerning God the Father and His Son. But they immediately and most foolishly drag the Holy Spirit down to the creature, instead of leading Him up, as is most fitting, to God and the Only-begotten, who by theologians have most suitably been praised as being in equal and like honor with the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, since the arguments brought forward by us in the chapter in which we are engaged ^B cannot be overcome, and are sufficient for the whole struggle against the heretics, let them either show (though to say it is very grievous) that a beginning or an end has been prophesied anywhere in the Scriptures for the Holy Spirit; or, in general, that He had some path to corruption, as is the case with angelic and human volition; or let it be for them, as the adage goes, "an ox on the tongue." So much for them; but I shall return to the topic which I undertook from the beginning. ^C And observe, if it is divine, as it assuredly is, that the name of the Son is such, then the name of the Holy Spirit is altogether the same; for He has named one name for both. And observe this also, that just as in the beginning the Holy Spirit ineffably created together with the Father and the Son, so also now He creates again; for to be washed is the same as to be created again. In the Epistle to Titus, he says: ^D "Saving us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." In a similar manner, the sacred Psalmist also expresses his desire to see those who had already been generated, but are now spiritually created in the divine pool; for he says: "The people that is created shall praise the Lord." Since therefore these hypostases are worthy of the same honor and perform the same works, they possess also the same nature, and neither in deity nor in power do they differ in any way from one another. But they are able to exist simultaneously with Him who is one, and to be placed in the same rank, and to be received and understood everywhere at the same time; for He Himself has the two persons from Himself eternally, and equally, and similarly, and ineffably united and joined. Hitherto, then, concerning these matters: I, however, shall return to the argument which I had initially proposed.

^A V. A rational creature is capable of virtue and of vice. Such are those among incorporeal natures, as we have said before: as regards virtue, the good angels; as regards vice, the reprobate. Among corporeal natures, we ourselves are such. But the divine Spirit, being too preeminent to be capable of virtue and opinion, or rather, being the very summit of virtue, flowing forth from Himself as from a fountain, can receive none of these things, just as the Father cannot, nor the Son. But if He is not capable of these, He is not of another’s will; and if He is not of another’s will (for He does all things that the Father wills), He is not of another substance. From ^B this, therefore, it is also gathered that He is not a creature, and that He differs in nothing from God the Father and His Son, and that God, from whom He naturally proceeded, is known by us from Him, because He is also in us, as Scripture says.

VI. A creature is sanctified and justified by God, who is holy by nature; for it can receive sanctification and justification, but cannot provide them. But the Holy Spirit, because He is separated from the creature, yet is joined by nature to Him from whom He proceeded (concerning whom also this mystical doctrine was handed down to us: "Every good ^C endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of change"), and because He cares for all and provides for all, not even excluding the guilty: for this reason, He Himself sanctifies, and justifies, and gives wisdom, and offers every kind of heavenly virtue; yet He Himself is nowhere found to have the capacity to be sanctified, or justified, or made wise by another (just as the Father, who is self-originate, is not, nor is His Son, who is of the same nature with Him). Thus, for this very reason, He is rightly praised as both Self-Holy and the Spirit of holiness—that is, holy by nature and of Himself—and ^D as the divine Spirit—that is, God by nature—and as the breath of the Almighty—that is, consubstantial with the Almighty, breathed forth from His substance. So that this one designation alone shows Him to be consubstantial with God the Father and sanctifying, and that He cannot be comprehended even by reasoning. Therefore, the blessed Paul, who is capable both of speaking and of setting forth types of faith, introduced this, proposing at once this chapter which we are now discussing, and also, concerning the great gifts and the regeneration in baptism, the communion of the Holy Spirit with God the Father. Furthermore, that the name "God" is one and even in the Trinity; and that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, always acting with equal efficacy when invoked.

^A For in writing to the Corinthians he speaks as follows: "But you were washed, but you were justified, but you were sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." Therefore, those who communicate with Him—that is, those who are deemed worthy to be sanctified and justified and made wise by Him—are called, as the same Apostle teaches the Hebrews, "partakers of the Holy Spirit." And he writes to the Ephesians: "In whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." For it is manifest that those who are sealed, that is, those who are sanctified, are participants, but are not participated in. For if the Holy Spirit or the Son were a creature, what need would there be, after the Father had sufficiently and abundantly sanctified, for one who was also a creature to sanctify, as if by way of supplementing and completing the work? ^B And so, since we know that this chrism, or unction, belongs to Him who is uncreated, we, being creatures, do not impart sanctification from our own substance, but we say: "May God sanctify you."

I shall now pass on to another similar and very strong argument, which, when I have brought it forward, will also crush the audacity of those who are practiced in the impudent method of contention. When the Lord of all was speaking absolutely concerning God the Father and Himself, He gave this command: "Baptizing [95] them into the name of the Father and of the Son," and He did not simply add, "and of the Spirit," but added, "the holy." ^C Thus, He not only did not mention Him in such a way as to lower Him, but He even mentioned Him in such a way as to exalt Him, because He is by nature that which the most perfect hypostases are, which the one name signifies, by which the Spirit Himself is named together with them and placed on an equal footing, because the Holy Spirit is that which the Father and His Son are in divinity—with whom He was simultaneously mentioned, as is manifest even to a blind man, as they say.

But this involves more extensive theology. In order, however, that it may be easily believed that it is the property of the Godhead alone to be called, and to be by nature, both holy and just, and furthermore to sanctify and justify its own creatures: I shall bring forward similar praises, by which the Father, likewise, as well as the Son, has been celebrated. And concerning the Father, indeed, the Son Himself says in John: "Holy [96] Father, keep them in your name"; and again: "Sanctify [97] ^D them in your truth; your Word is truth."

^A And he says here, "spirit" ^B for the disposition, and "body" for the practical functioning, according to the prophet Isaiah: "And they shall know, who err in spirit, understanding"—that is to say, those who err in action or in habit. Concerning the Son, however, as when he is praised: "One holy, one Lord Jesus Christ"; and as the Acts discuss: "They killed those who had foretold the coming of the Just One"; and as Peter said: "Christ died once for sinners, the just for the unjust." From such oracles, therefore, if they wished to do what is just, they ought to have been guided toward God to praise the Spirit. This, however, they do not do, but they say that the angels were not sanctified, and yet they are holy; not adverting to the fact that angels also were sanctified just as men are (the truth being that they are created), or that they have been established as lesser than men who were sanctified by God and partakers of Him. ^C And the Savior says: "Father, sanctify them in your truth: your Word is truth." Clearly saying: "In me... sanctify them, in faith and in communion with me."

On the interpretation of "spirit" and "body" in the holy Scriptures

He says here, "spirit" for the disposition, and "body" for the practical functioning, according to the prophet Isaiah: "And they shall know, who err in spirit, understanding"—that is to say, those who err in action or in habit. Concerning the Son, however, as when he is praised: "One holy, one Lord Jesus Christ"; and as the Acts discuss: "They killed those who had foretold the coming of the Just One"; and as Peter said: "Christ died once for sinners, the just for the unjust." From such oracles, therefore, if they wished to do what is just, they ought to have been guided toward God to praise the Spirit. This, however, they do not do, but they say that the angels were not sanctified, and yet they are holy; not adverting to the fact that angels also were sanctified just as men are (the truth being that they are created), or that they have been established as lesser than men who were sanctified by God and partakers of Him. ^D Moreover, the Apostle, wishing a virgin to be holy not only in action, but also in mind—that is, not only in body, but in the internal movement of the heart—says: "That she may be holy in body and spirit," signifying the will by "spirit," and the works by "body." Consider whether this same thing in Isaiah sounds as it is written: "And they shall know, who err in spirit, understanding"—for those who err by a judgment of fault, deeming some things instead of others as good, shall receive understanding, so that their error may be corrected, and that instead of things that are base, they may choose those which are right. Also that other passage, "Your strength is a vain spirit," consider whether it demonstrates the same thing. But in these latter words, a corruption lies hidden both in the printed books and in our manuscript. For it is nowhere written in Scripture: "Your holy strength." Therefore, it must be corrected thus: "Your strength is a vain spirit." Which things are drawn from Isaiah xxxiii, 14, where the Greek edition has: "Your strength shall be in vain, the strength of your spirit," that is: "Your strength of spirit shall be vain." See also the book *Against the Manichaeans*, page 207, tome I of Canisius' *Lectiones Antiquae*.

^A VII. The creature cannot substantially be participated in by a rational soul, in such a way that it inhabits it; for it is the property of God alone to be participated in thus. But the Holy Spirit is substantially participable, just as the Father and the Son, as has been said in the first discourse. ^B Since, therefore, the Father once and for all dwells in those who are worthy, what necessity was there, unless for the sake of the unity of the divine nature and our fulfillment, for the Son and the Holy Spirit to also enter and work together? Assuredly, no one would ever choose to say that a multitude of gods, so to speak, dwells in us, but rather that the three hypostases exist in the oneness of the Godhead.

VIII. The creature possesses the good because the Trinity, who is in one Godhead and is the Good itself, makes it a participant. But it is a lesser and lower thing to have some good by participation according to one's own measure, than to be by nature the first and immeasurable Good itself; and the good found in the creature is neither woven together with, ^C nor ranked alongside the Creator, the one and primary Good; which all things desire, but which itself desires nothing. Even though it is said in the Gospel: "Well done, good servant," and: "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good," it does not refer to the heart itself as the Good which is properly and essentially, but rather to that which is joined and appropriate to the creature. For that [primary Good] abounds and is generous with goodness to its own works, so that from this each of the things that exist may be preserved and remain in the order in which it was allotted to be; and it is itself the one Good, the cause of all goods for all things; and because of it, the lower good is performed; and it itself preserves all things in which it is present, just as evil, which occurs through our own choice, corrupts and destroys them. ^D Even those outside the faith, perceiving this, have said: "The wicked have this as the greatest evil within themselves; for, attempting to do evil to others, they are the first to enjoy their own wickedness." As for the Holy Spirit, as has been previously stated, being the Good that needs nothing of its own, and being entirely always toward all as the Good, and not a secondary good compared to the one and primary Good, [He is] equal...

to the Father and to the Son, and [we read] testimonies concerning this, as was shown in the first discourse, ^B and as Ezra, who spoke boldly concerning the divine goodness, because he knew that even if one should stumble, it is not possible to suffer harm from [that goodness], prophesied: "And Thou gavest Thy good Spirit to instruct them." Also Matthew and Luke, indicating that the Spirit is the divine goodness itself by essence, and that every good gift and every perfect bestowal is conceived as being in Him, the one wrote: "How much more shall the Father from heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" ^C And the other: "How much more shall the Father from heaven give [the] Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" For it is proper to a mutable—that is, a created—substance, to be made good, or sanctified, or made wise by another, and not to possess these things unchangeably. And God, showing in Isaiah that no one will ever receive His spiritual blessings unless he is first found full of the wisdom and understanding of the Holy Spirit, said: "I will put My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessings upon thy children." ^D Following this, Paul wrote: "For this cause," he says, "we also, from the day we heard, do not cease praying for you, and [are] asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, walking worthily of the Lord." It is clear that he speaks of the divine Spirit. For the everlasting kingdom on high is conceived together with the Spirit of God, as not being alien to Him, on account of the continuity with the Father and the Son. And again, he confirms it through the same Epistle, writing: "For [the] kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy..."

in the Holy Spirit." This did not escape Peter either. For defending himself to those who were accusing him regarding the encounter he had with Cornelius, he said: "If then God gave them the same gift, providing the Holy Spirit, as also to us in the beginning, who was I that I could withstand God?" And again: "And the heart-knowing God bore witness to them, having given them the Holy Spirit, even as to us, and made no distinction between us and them, having purified their hearts by faith." This is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, or as one might say, his unrestrained and abundant visitation, which is the cause of prophecy, and renewal, and heavenly goods, and the ability to perceive the beauty of divine truth. For as it seems to the Apostle: ^B "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." Whence he also writes again: "For the love of God has been poured out in our hearts ^C through the Holy Spirit." Therefore, since the goodness in the unity of the Trinity is one, many goodnesses are born for us; just as, although truth, and righteousness, and wisdom are one (I speak of that which is on high), according to the text, "You are powerful, O Lord, and your truth is around you" (which [ 47 a ] is the only-begotten God), and according to "To the only wise God," many truths, and righteousnesses, and wisdoms are multiplied for us from above, according to: "The Lord seeks truths," and, "The Lord is righteous, and he loved righteousnesses," and, "A multitude of the wise is the salvation of the world," and, "Walking with the wise, you shall be wise." It is clear, therefore, that the Spirit of God, by his very existence, is a good Spirit, and a Spirit of wisdom and truth, and the Spirit of the invisible and uncompounded God and Father.

[alt-version omitted]

[IX] The creature is not called "lover of humankind" or "benign toward the human race" in the Scriptures; for this title belongs strictly and properly to the consubstantial Trinity alone. For the Father is a lover of humankind, who ^A "does not get angry with us to the end, nor remain wrathful for all time, nor does he deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities," according to the psalm, and as Solomon says: "But you spare all, because all things are yours, O Lord, lover of souls," as it is said; so that for this reason he is called both our Lord and Father, his fatherly care and solicitude being tempered by power and might. For there is no title for God more fitting than that of Father, and lover of humankind, and good, and holy. The Son is a lover of humankind, who for our sake, being the work of his august and mystical hands, "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant," as the Apostle writes to Titus: "But when the kindness and love toward humankind ^B (or benignity) of our Savior God appeared." And whoever ascribes to him all those things that befit the only-begotten God receives more than he hoped for. The holy Spirit of God is a lover of humankind, according to Wisdom, which speaks thus: "For the Spirit of wisdom is a lover of humankind, and will not exempt the righteous one." For he did not overlook the perishing human nature, but came by himself, leading, teaching every truth, renewing us, and bestowing divine gifts, and so great a care he took of him who was made in the image of God from the beginning, that he also has this title as a mark and evidence of his extraordinary goodness. For the elements are indeed great—heaven, earth, sea—and the rational creature of ^C angels and every supermundane power is also great; but the Trinity did not choose to take its name from any one of these, but from its goodness toward man—that is, its being a lover of humankind, or benign toward men—it is so called.

[X] The creature is a servant of the Lord who fashioned it skillfully, and the freedom which it does not possess from itself, it can neither provide for itself nor for others. For the prophecy says: "All things serve you."

^A The Holy Spirit, however, is not mentioned in the Scriptures as a servant, but rather as Lord and free by nature; and wherever He is and to whomever He draws near, He bestows the freedom which He Himself possesses. For creatures alone are subjected to the yoke of servitude; but that which is not a servant is not a creature, and that which is not a creature is by nature God. For "there is no place for a servant in the presence of the non-servant," as outsiders have also said. A faithful witness to these things is the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians in his second Epistle: "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom." And to Timothy: "For God has not given us a spirit of servitude, but a Spirit of power, and love, and self-control." And to the Romans: "For you did not receive a spirit of servitude again unto fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry: [75 a] 'Abba, Father.' So you are no longer a servant, but a son." Just as, therefore, we have been set free by the Son, hearing that "You are no longer a servant, but free," and "With the freedom with which the Son has set you free," so too, because of the identity of essence and lordship, we are made free by the Spirit—by ^B virtue of the words mentioned: "Where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom."

XI.

XII.

^A signifies that it has come forth by His own authority; and second, that He did not come as a self-sent messenger, but was announced beforehand by the great God and Savior Himself. And again, therefore, He says: "But stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high." And this was the Holy Spirit. ^B And Paul writes to the Romans concerning things which, as is fitting, it is not easy for anyone to admire or to interpret worthily, especially when approaching them cursorily: "I have therefore confidence in Christ Jesus toward God. For I do not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought through me, in word and deed, in obedience of the Gentiles, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit."

XIII. ^C The creature is not always truthful, but it has it as a property of its own nature to be subject to changes of disposition and to lie at times. Such among the incorporeal creatures is the devil; but concerning those of flesh, it is written: "Every man is a liar," and: "You will destroy all who speak a lie." Even the pagans wrote:

For God the Father will not be a helper to liars.

But concerning the saints, such as the apostles, Paul says: "But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas before all," and what else he said. ^D For in truth it is of the divine nature alone never to swerve from the truth. Therefore Paul wrote to the Hebrews thus: "That," he says, "by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have a strong comfort to hold fast to the hope set before us." 140 Now the communion of the Holy Spirit, because He has a nature shared with the Father and the Son, is a communion in all things, and even in this, that He can speak nothing but the truth. For He is the Spirit of the truth of God, as was said before, speaking with the one will of the Father and of the Son and of Himself, and not speaking from Himself, just as the Son testified of Him when He said: "He will not speak from Himself."

XIV. The creature has nothing that may be denominated truth, because there is one divine truth, just as there is one divine holiness and goodness, from which we confess that these things come to each of us.

^A holiness and goodness, from which we confess that these things come to us individually. But the Holy Spirit is denominated truth, just as the Father and the Son, because He is of the same one deity, having nothing manifold or dissonant. And indeed, concerning the Father and Himself, the Son testifies, saying: "Father, thy Word is truth"; and again: "I am the life, and the truth." And concerning the Holy Spirit, as was stated before.

XV. ^B The creature does not know the things of God; for they exceed it, and it does not dare in any way to reach or strive for such knowledge, even if it were of the number of the elect; for it is utterly impossible that what is not of the same nature, nor possesses the same knowledge with God, should know the things of God, as the Savior taught, saying in John: "The servant does not know what his lord is doing"; and as Peter wrote: "There are things which now he announces to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, into which things the angels desire to look." But the Holy Spirit does know, as consubstantial God, according to the Apostle writing to the Corinthians, as was stated before. And again, to demonstrate the majesty of the Spirit and the equality with the Father, he writes what is equivalent to him: ^C "But He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is." For just as when saying something great about the Father, he said that He knows the mind of the Spirit; so, to demonstrate the communion of nature and will, and the equality of dignity and power which the Holy Spirit has with the Father, he wrote that He alone knows the things of the Father, and searches His depths, and those unknown thoughts of His, which it is necessary, and when it is necessary, to manifest to those who are worthy. But let Peter’s writing, as was stated before, that the Spirit was sent from heaven, be understood in the way that the Son being sent is understood. For as He is the Word, so this was sent as the utterance and Spirit of God. And because He knows that what is said by Christ, or by the Holy Spirit, is said also by ^D the Father, because of the one will, such expressions are placed. Nor does He remain ignorant, or...

speak, act, or come of Himself as an adversary of God ^B.

XVI. The creature does not see God the Father as He is; for it is impossible for another nature to grasp or sustain this, and it is of this that one must understand the saying: « No one shall see my face, and live. » But the Scriptures say that sometimes the Son alone, and sometimes the Holy Spirit alone, sees or knows God the Father, because the Trinity exists in the unity of the Godhead; as when the Savior says in John: « Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God: He has seen the Father. » Now the Son is from God according to nature by way of generation, and the Holy Spirit by way of procession. And again He says: « For no one knows the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. » And as when Paul writes specifically to the Corinthians regarding the Holy Spirit, as was said before. And as Isaiah prophesies: « A Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of knowledge and piety. » Is it not written, then, they ask, by Matthew from the person of the Savior: « See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven »? Indeed; but they see, not how great and what kind of being God is, but insofar as they themselves are capable ^C. But the Only-Begotten and the Holy Spirit, by reason of the identity of the Godhead, see God as He is, who is without magnitude and without form.

XVII. When a rational creature attains renewal and adoption, the omnipotent grace of the Holy Spirit makes it worthy of these gifts; because He who did this is not a creature, but is God, such as He is who first created it.

XVIII. Every creature, both visible and invisible, is called by name to praise and superexalt God for ages ^D by the three youths, Ananias, Aza

^A Furthermore, even the Cherubim and the divine throne—which in this place is understood to mean the Seraphim—give glory to God, inasmuch as they too are a part of creation. For the same children said: "Blessed art thou that sittest upon the Cherubim," and again, instead of mentioning the Seraphim: "And blessed art thou on the throne of thy kingdom, and superexalted, and super-praised unto the ages."

Similarly, by David also, moved by the Holy Spirit, in the 102nd and 148th Psalms, the creation is commanded to praise the Lord. But the Holy Spirit, like the Son, is not mentioned along with them; because He too is not a created thing, but a Creator; nor is He among those who praise, but among those who are praised, and that even by the Seraphim themselves, who stand with great fear around the divine tribunal, and veil themselves with their wings, and in alternating turns, with mouths that never grow silent and with an unceasing voice, proclaim ^B thrice, "Holy," because of the three hypostases; and once, "Lord," because of the singleness of the dominion; which things most especially demonstrate the divinity of the all-praised Spirit.

But the Macedonians, as if watching themselves and fearful lest they should be seen saying things that are perhaps appropriate to Him, or lest they should let slip things that are inappropriate, they push forward, of their own authority and without trial, and in this chapter they bring to bear weapons of every kind, using unbridled speech, and saying in a grasping manner: "It is written," they say, "'Praise the Lord, for the psalm is a good thing; let praise be sweet to God'; and, 'It is good to confess to the Lord, and to sing to thy name, O Most High.' But nowhere do we find written: 'Praise the Holy Spirit.'" ^C But answer must be made to them as follows: If you accept these passages that you have just cited as referring to the Father, you exclude the Son; but if you refer them to the Son, you exclude the Father in turn, since the Holy Spirit also is and is called "Lord" in the Scriptures, and it is uncertain as to which hypostasis the "Lord" is written here. Consider therefore whether you have not used an argument against yourselves.

That the Holy Spirit does not praise because He is not a creature, but is praised together with them because He is the Spirit of God, is easier to understand, both from the fact that He is ranked with God, and from the fact that the three children, and the Holy Psalmist, command the whole of creation to praise by name, but not ^D the Prophet, who was a man, but the Holy Spirit who was in him was to be considered as commanding the angels the things which are set forth. For "All his angels," he says—that is, clearly, the Lord's—"bless him." And since the Spirit commands all the angels, He is other than them according to essence. If this is so, how did certain people boldly dare to say that He is of the order of the angels, when He is altogether something other than them?

But the Spirit of God, as the saints are accustomed to naming Him—for if, as the heretics say, He is of a nature intermediate between God and the angels, and more precious and higher than all—it behooved Him, especially since He is one, either to be exhorted to praise Himself by Himself, or at least to be named first, and for the others to be taken up into Him generally; not, however, as they arrogantly conjecture, the reverse. ^B

XIX. The creature is not numbered with God.

For what has a thing subject to diminution in common with Him who is the highest of all, and above any exaggeration, or with that which is created, with Him who created it? But the most precious Spirit, as God, is named together with the Father and the Son, as when the Lord gives the formula regarding baptism, and as when the Apostle writes to the Corinthians in the second epistle: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all"; or He is mentioned together with one of their two hypostases; or even alone, as was said in the first book.

But the Macedonians, a sect excommunicated from that of Valentinus the one who became a Manichaean, and who, full of madness, besides other absurd myths, said that the divine Spirit was of the same age as the angels, taking their starting point from this, say: "Paul wrote to Timothy: 'I charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels,' but he remained silent about the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as he was supposedly numbering Him with the angels." But this thought flows from the abundance of their own hearts. For although sometimes mention of the Holy Spirit is not made distinctly, He is nevertheless taken up together with God the Father, inasmuch as He is His Spirit by nature. This is surely the reason why, when God the Father Himself is not mentioned in express words, but in faithful understanding, yet the Son and the Holy Spirit are mentioned; or conversely: since even that abominable Valentinus, not even to be named, called the sanctifying Spirit the Paraclete, ^C just as the Lord Christ Himself was called Paraclete from the fact of being called upon—referring to the ministers being sanctified— ^D

he has named the angels. ^A Furthermore, we find nowhere in Scripture that angels are mentioned together with God in connection with creation, or initiation, or the discipline of baptism, or glorification. But the Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians in his second epistle, mentions the communion of the holy Spirit, or the fellowship, according to which He has a common deity with the Father: «The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the holy Spirit.» And elsewhere: «If there is any communion of the Spirit.» The holy Psalmist, therefore, crying out with such words, makes clear the distinction between the ministering spirits and the unbegotten Word and the divine Spirit, and that they are not in the same order as these, but that through these hypostases, which are perfect by themselves, and through them and because of them—just as also because of God the Father—the angels were created and all things are perfected and conserved: ^B «By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their hosts.» For we must understand the Word to be He through whom are all things; the Spirit of the Lord’s mouth to be the holy Spirit; and the hosts of the heavens to be those very constitutions of theirs, and indeed the angels, and principalities, and powers, and virtues. And again: «Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire.» The Apostle also contends against them, shouting: «We were all made to drink into one Spirit.» For just as it is impossible for the radiance to be separated from the light, and for wisdom to be separated from the wise—that is, the Son from the Father—so too the holy Spirit [cannot be separated] from Him whose Spirit He is, just as we inhale the air that we breathe. ^C They have therefore failed to notice that in those things by which they untimely disagree with us, and strive to return to the unshaken house—the house from which they leaped away—they are weaving problems for the Apostle, who, on their account, has testified in those words lying before us, before the uncreated and the created nature, [and] also before God the Father, [concerning] His Church, which shall not be shaken; for it is founded upon the rock.

[...] Moreover, there were many others [present] when these things were being dictated by Didymus, not only laymen and clerics, but also bishops, who understood these scriptural locutions in such a way as to denote the holy Spirit as consubstantial with the Father and the Son, [asserting] it to be that Church of Christ which the faith teaches to be infallible; and [also] that the Macedonians no longer exist in the Church. Truly, if he had been instructed in the Febronian school rather ^D than in the theological one, I know not whether he could have asserted these two things with such confidence. For I ask of that personated jurisconsult—for we have already reached the point where these new jurisconsults contend that we must consult lawyers about theological matters, and that we must unlearn what we have received from the theologians, so that we may learn those things which they themselves are unteaching us—I ask of you, Justin Febronius, in what way could Didymus have shown these two things to be true? Is it from the fact that the Roman bishop, or the Roman Church, the mistress of all churches, [condemned] that Macedonian...

[said] interpretation and blasphemy? But in your judgment, the Roman pontiff, teaching all the faithful those things which are of the faith, and with him the Roman Church itself, can be mistaken. Or is it from the fact that most bishops dispersed throughout the whole world consented with the Roman prelate? But you dare to deny that this consent is infallible. Or, finally, [from the fact] that the second general synod had struck the Macedonians with anathema? But you teach that a general council is ^C «only conditionally infallible» (ch. 2, par. 8, no. 12): "If indeed," you say, "the Fathers, lawfully convoked, have conducted themselves in it in such a way that they ought to be said to have represented the whole Church: which, as to whether it is so in fact, is declared by the recognition or reception of the Church." Let the Macedonian, then, deny to Didymus that the Constantinopolitan Fathers conducted themselves in the way that you say. By what reasoning will he be able to be refuted? Is it from the fact that the Roman bishop, or the Roman Church, and almost all the prelates dispersed throughout the world assert that that synod so conducted itself? But all these, in your opinion, can be mistaken in matters of faith: how much more so in a fact, which consists of many facts capable only of moral certainty? Must, therefore, another general council be gathered so that we may know whether that former one conducted itself in such a way that it represented the whole Church? But regarding this, the same reasoning as before will prevail. See, Febroni, into what straits, as far as it is in you, you bring Catholics. You have driven us to this point, namely, that if we wish to follow you, we must necessarily say that Didymus, and all the Fathers of that age, while they harried the Macedonians as ‹formal› heretics, were either led by insufficiently firm reasoning, or by that hatred which you call ‹theological hatred›, having most indecently borrowed this formula from certain insignificant writers. Furthermore, Febroni, be of a lean soul, and since you value little that warning of Jerome, "I beseech thee, take care of Roman ears, ^D take care of the faith, which has been praised by the voice of the Apostle," consider nothing done if anything remains to be done. You have collected many things from all sides into one volume, but not everything. If you are skilled in the Greek language, procure for yourself the works of the Greek schismatics: I promise that even in one writer alone, not yet translated into Latin, you will find twenty-four heads of accusation brought against the Roman Church, of which you have not touched even one. They seem ridiculous indeed to me: but you, who are of a sharper wit, will perhaps think otherwise. And perhaps not even all those things will displease you, which others have written in favor of Photius, which in favor of Cerularius, which against the general Florentine synod, although they have been refuted six hundred times over. Stuff your book with all these, so that we may have at last, in this genre, a perfect sylloge, and one absolute in all its parts, as a receptacle for all filth and refuse.

Chapter VI: That all things which are proper to the Godhead bear witness to the Holy Spirit

^A 20: *They have fled.* Didymus refutes the Macedonians; yet he never names Macedonius, or the Macedonians: indeed, perhaps he never even calls them heretics: for there is one place in the whole book where he might seem to call them so, namely no. 7, where he says: *But if the heretics have proposed,* etc., but regarding that word, *heretics*, I do not know whether it designates the Arians rather than the Macedonians. But indeed in these three books the name of Macedonius frequently occurs, and the Macedonians are frequently called heretics, and are said to be outside the Church in this place. What is the reason our theologian conducted himself so? I believe it is because he dictated that book before the second synod was held, namely at a time when the name of Macedonius had not yet become infamous, and the Macedonians, even if they were held by Didymus as blasphemers, indeed as heretics, did not yet seem to be denounced as ‹formal› heretics. But when these three books were written, that general synod had already been held, and therefore the Macedonians were now ‹formal› heretics. For Didymus, and all the other Fathers of the same age, since they were ignorant of the Febronian doctrine concerning the supreme and final judge of controversies, and they knew the second synod to be accepted and approved by the Roman Church, not in all things indeed, but in this, that which was defined by it against Macedonius, as Gregory the Great says, they therefore did not doubt that the cause was finished: nor did they think the Macedonians were to be heard any longer, if they wished to use the Febronian exception, so as to deny that the whole Church was represented by that council, which consisted of only one hundred and fifty bishops; at which the Roman pontiff had been present neither in person nor by legates; at which only one prelate from the entire West had been present; at which many Christians, clergy, presbyters, [and] bishops adhering to Macedonius were still resisting. For these things, and others of that kind, could have been objected to Didymus by them, if they could have foreseen, after about one thousand three hundred and eighty years, in those regions in which Didymus himself, along with his teacher and father in Christ, Athanasius, and his student, Jerome, were once active, that someone would arise from the bosom of the Catholic Church who would so strenuously plead the cause of all those who refuse to be subject to the judgments of the Roman Church and to synods recognized by it as general.

^A holy by nature, and as sanctifying the creation; incorruptible, good, love, wisdom, understanding, as also it has called God; power, from which it strengthens; just, from which it justifies; existing as sinless in itself; Paraclete, as is also the Son; fire, from that it appeared to the apostles in tongues of fire, as Moses says concerning the Father: "Our God is a consuming fire"; and John concerning the Son: "He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire"; and such like.

^B XXI. The creature has nothing existing in one hypostasis, or in one person. For angels and archangels are many; the seraphim likewise; the cherubim are not one thing; principalities and powers, virtues, and dominions, and thrones are spoken of in the plural; the heavens, men, and the rest of the created things. For the sun and the moon also share with the multitude of the stars both their nature and their likeness to fire, as has been discussed more laboriously in the first [79 b] volume. But that the Holy Spirit, since He is not to be numbered among the creation, is one and the same, the divine oracles have manifested to us.

^C XXII. The creature is not written to be the water of life; for it does not have everlasting life from itself, as does the God who lives without beginning. But that the Holy Spirit is this, holy heralds to be mentioned below affirm, in that He proceeds connatural to the immortal and life-giving paternal fountain, not being created. For just as we said in the first volume, that the light does not generate its own radiance, but begets it; so here, that the fountain does not generate the water from it, but has it proceeding and consubstantial. For no one is the generator of his own son, or of his spirit; since he would no longer be father, nor have a spirit. Jeremiah from the person of God: "The heaven was astonished at this, and the earth shuddered at this: for my people have done two evil things. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have dug for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water." ^D The prophet explains the mystery mystically. For he called God the fountain; and the Holy Spirit the living water, which cleanses all our sins in the pool, which cannot be separated by nature from the intelligible fountain, just as neither can a stream from the fountains. Isaiah likewise: "I will give water in thirst to those who walk in..."

dry land; I will put my Spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children; and they shall spring up like grass amid the water, and like a willow by the running water." ^A This passage also contains a mystical meaning and has an allegorical explanation. For those, he says, who are ignorant of baptism and therefore walk in dry land, "I will put my Spirit," which can cause them, through the pool, to flourish again like aquatic plants, and "like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not wither." The sacred Psalmist, making what is true in essence somewhat obscure in words, out of necessity, sings in the thirty-fifth Psalm: "For with thee is the fountain of life." ^B And in the one hundred and forty-seventh: "He will send forth his Word, and he will dissolve them; his Spirit shall blow, and the waters shall flow, gladdening the great city of God." ^C This is the whole inhabited world. For, to speak in this way, what each city is to men, this the inhabited world is to the Almighty. Baruch, lamenting the people who were in the land of the Chaldeans, who did not have the Holy Spirit, cries out: "What is it to you, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies? You have grown old in a strange land, you have been defiled with the dead, you have been reckoned with those who are in hell. You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom; if you had walked in the way of God, you would have lived in peace for the age of time." He calls God the fountain, and the Holy Spirit wisdom. John, from the person of the Son to the Samaritan woman: "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water," meaning the immortal waters of the pool of the Holy Spirit. ^D For that all these things were spoken concerning the Spirit of God, the aforementioned evangelist interpreted in open words. For when the Savior had said: "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," he immediately added: "But this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive."

XXIII. The creature is anointed with created and sanctified oil in baptism.

^A What is the meaning of "therefore"? It is because, being God not made by hands, he was anointed by God who is uncreated and without beginning. He said, "Your God," because of his birth from the Virgin. Peter says in the Acts: "You yourselves know the word that took place throughout all Judaea and Samaria, having begun from Galilee after the baptism which John preached; Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power." The Acts also say: "They were gathered in truth in this city against your holy child Jesus, whom you anointed." The Song of Songs also interprets this matter thus: "Ointment poured out is your name, therefore the maidens have loved you." It says that the name of the ointment is for the Christ, that of the Paraclete, since both hypostases share the name, and in themselves they emit the fragrance of the nature of God and the Father. By "maidens" he means the Churches in which he is glorified, concerning whom David also said in the sixty-seventh psalm: "The princes went before, ^B following the singers, in the midst of maidens playing timbrels." He spoke thus because of the proclamation of the faith and because they resound throughout all the earth in readings and psalms. The Bridegroom himself, beautiful in form, speaks modestly to each of them in the Songs: "Behold, you are beautiful, my neighbor! Behold, you are beautiful." And again, he sings as it were an epithalamium: "Come from Lebanon, bride; come from Lebanon; you shall come and pass by from the beginning of faith." That we also receive an anointing in the renewal, that is, in baptism, John writes in his first Epistle: "And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things." As, he says, in the economy the Savior [was anointed], so you also have an anointing from the Holy Spirit. And that this saving gift is bestowed upon us in common by the blessed Trinity, they teach thus: Isaiah says, "And the Lord of Sabaoth shall make for all the nations on this mountain: they shall drink wine, they shall be anointed with ointment on this mountain. Deliver all these things to the nations." For by the "mountain" he signifies the Church of God, because of the height of the faith; by "wine," the lordly saving blood; by "ointment," that with which we are anointed having been sanctified by the priest, as he previously announced. ^C John in the same first Epistle concerning Christ: "And you also have the anointing..." ^D

received from him, abideth in you; and ye need not that any man teach you, but as his anointing teacheth you of all things. ^B And Paul in the second Epistle to the Corinthians saith: Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us is God, who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

CAP. VII.

Regarding the divine operations and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Now indeed, when the oracles of the Scriptures have quite accurately shown to us that the nature of the Holy Spirit, which exists above all life and mind, is divine and supreme, they likewise declare His most provident and entheatic operation, suitable to such a nature, in this manner:

1. In that He quickeneth, as being the Spirit of God who quickeneth all things, according to Paul, the trumpet of the faith, who writes to the Romans: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death; and again: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead dwell in you, ^C he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you; and to the Corinthians: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. By "the letter" he meant the Mosaic law, which ordains an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and avenges itself on him who lives foolishly; but by "the quickening one," the Holy Spirit of God, who hath made us no longer under the law, but under grace, and commands us

^A not to render evil for evil, but rather to provide good in return for evil. "For," he says, "if thine enemy hunger, feed him"; and again to the same: "The first Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam a quickening Spirit"; and to the Galatians: "He that soweth in the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting"; and according to John, speaking from the Savior: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." ^A Ezekiel declares this very thing, and that together with God, as His own Spirit, He will perform the resurrection, prophesying thus: "Thus saith the Lord unto these dry bones: Behold, I bring the Spirit of life into you, and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and will stretch out skin upon you, and I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." ^B Therefore, this substantial life and the quickening power has neither beginning, nor end, nor mutation; and that which is not subject to these things is by nature and in truth God, as indeed possessing the things which by excellence are attributed to God the Father from Himself. For nothing created can be the cause of life, or is able to show life in itself; but all things are dead that are deprived of the divine Spirit. "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being," as the apostolic Acts have said. And for if all things that come into being are also corruptible, and those things which are corrupted are deprived of life as they persist, how could they bestow these things upon others, of which they themselves are in need? We are made alive, therefore, by the Holy Spirit, just as also by Him who said: "I am the resurrection, and the life."

^C II. Because of the identity of the Godhead and the one operation, the Scriptures say that, according to the form of a servant, Jesus Christ was at times raised ^D

by the Father, at times by himself, and at times by the ^A Holy Spirit, in this manner. The Acts says: "Him God raised up the third day." John, speaking from the person of the Savior, says: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But he was speaking of the temple of his body." And again: "I lay down my soul, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." Peter in his first Epistle says: "Christ ^B once died for sins for us, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God; being put to death indeed in the flesh, but brought to life by the Spirit."

III. Because the Holy Spirit creates the great creature, man, and raises him from the dead, and gives him life, and turns back to heaven, and renewed the earth when it was defiled by human iniquities, and the Holy Spirit warmed it again without labor, and as it were spontaneously, as being a co-creator and having equal power with the God who ^C founded it in the beginning as the supreme architect, as it is permitted for us to know, from those things which these writers have declared: Job: "The divine Spirit, which made me, and the breath of the Almighty, which teaches me." David in the 103rd Psalm: "Thou shalt send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth." This the Apostle confirms, writing to the Corinthians in the second Epistle: "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." In the 31st Psalm: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their powers by the Spirit of his mouth." Do not pass over the things that are to be heard from this; but behold that the Spirit of God, remaining always as the creator and good God, provides a lasting friendship to the creature, and has bound it with indissoluble bonds, and has made it unshakable, and supports all things by his own power; and that it is forbidden to call the creature that which creates and strengthens the creatures of God. For he is a fellow-worker and ^D consubstantial...

with God, as he is his Spirit and Finger, as was shown in the first book, ^A mystically pointing this out and proving it, just as David prophesies in the eighth Psalm: "For I will behold the heavens, the works of thy fingers." And Moses in Genesis, speaking as it were in the person of God and the Father to the Son and his holy Spirit, says: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the things on earth." For God did not take angels or other spirits as fellow-workers or counselors; since a servant does not know what his master is doing. Nor will we ever find that he took a creature as a partner in creation (as David chants in the thirty-second Psalm: "Who fashioned the hearts of them one by one"; and in the one hundred thirty-eighth: "My bone was not hidden from thee, which thou didst make in secret"). And as Paul writes to the Romans: "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" That is, no one among the creatures. For the word "who" ^B is of wide application and signifies this. By saying not "Make," but "Let us make," he shows that the Son and the holy Spirit are not ministering spirits, but are of one power and one will with God; and by adding "according to our image and likeness," [he signifies] that there is one essence of the Trinity. And he shows that this was not said to the angels, as those do who ignorantly and foolishly belittle and diminish (if it is lawful for a man to say this without peril) the image and likeness of the formless, figureless, and ineffable Trinity. Therefore the same cosmographer added: "And God made man; according to the image of God he made him; male and female he made them; and he blessed them." And again: "God saw that it was good," in which utterances again the perfection, concord, ornamental wisdom, and entirely ^C abundant nature of the self-complete and generative Trinity is signified mystically. Since Moses—or rather, God who spoke through him—did not deem these things worthy of theaters and the multitude, but only of those who would not violate them. For "God," that is, the Son, "made man; according to the image of God," that is, of the Father, "he made him, and God," that is, the Spirit, "saw that it was good, and he blessed them," that is, he sanctified them. And the phrase "according to the image," as it seems to me, must be understood to mean that from the divine breath we possess the immortal Spirit, and a mind that is ever-running and governing, unto that which is necessary, and a wise reason that is pleasing to the One who gave it, and able, with faith, to be the cause of procreation, and of life, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of the moving of mountains; ^D and in addition to these, that we have partaken of his very goodness.

^A Then also Paul, as was said a little before, says: "He will give life even to our mortal bodies through his Spirit dwelling in us." And in the Epistle to the Hebrews, proclaiming that the ages were made and the creation was established by the Holy Spirit—and calling the Spirit the Word of God, as has already been mentioned—he writes: "By faith we understand that the ages were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." And again: "Carrying all things by the Word of his power." And the Psalmist says: "You made all things in wisdom," ^B which is to say, in your Spirit and in your Son. How then is the divine Spirit not without beginning, and a creator, and truly God? The Spirit is inseparable from Him who breathed Him forth, and from the creating Son; He who fashioned the ages, with which the heaven and the things in it, and everything that is created, were brought forth; He who carries and directs all things by His own power; He who, immediately when the heaven, the earth, and the sea were created, [84 α] was "borne over the water," and made it productive and nourishing of living things. For just as through the statement in Job concerning the Son, "Who alone stretched out the heaven," one does not remove from the work of creation the Father from whom ^C all things are, and in whom all things consist (for how could these things otherwise be true?), so neither is it pious to push aside the Spirit of God—the Spirit of wisdom, power, and holiness—from being a co-creator with God. And what greater proof for this could be found than that the Spirit of God at every baptism renews and sanctifies, and calls one back to the better and primary form of life? For this also signifies the

formula by which he himself is commemorated in baptism together with the Father and the Son, so that the Apostle exclaims regarding those who, through regeneration, hope to become whole and perfect and to enjoy the greatest of all gifts, the renewal: “That you may be according to the image of him who created you.” ^B David also prophesies in the psalm: “A people who is being created shall praise the Lord.” Unless he had a common essence, and dominion, and operation with the Father and with him through whom all things were made, namely the Son, he would not renew, nor would he sanctify. Therefore, after the resurrection, Christ, creating the man corrupted by disobedience anew together with the most holy Spirit, breathed into the faces of the disciples and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit,” ^C fulfilling in this way the prophecy of Nahum, which, due to the vehement and unrestrained desire that carried the prophet toward the immense beauty of the object, relates as having already happened what was to happen: “He who breathes into your face has ascended from the earth, and delivers you from tribulation.”

That sanctification (which it is the task of the Holy Spirit to afford) is a creation, David the psalmist testifies: “Create a clean heart in me, O God,” which is to say: Sanctify me, so that I may be renewed, since I have been corrupted by sin; otherwise, how could another heart have been created for him? But those things which he joins to the ^D preceding remarks are consistent: “And,” he says, “renew a right spirit in my inward parts,” that is, grant me your venerable Spirit, who transcends and surpasses all things, so that, being cleansed by his sanctification, I may be rendered a temple worthy of him. For from the governance and presidency of him alone, and of your Son, you also are marked upon us, O Lord, and we receive a remedy for all evils, and we have a firm hope of every eternal good. For that David requests this to be renewed in him is manifest; for how could the spirit which he already possessed come into him as if new, and be renewed? Indeed, even Scripture [85 a] knows that sanctification is a greater and more necessary thing than creation, for it says concerning the wretched Judas who had lost his sanctification: “It would have been good for him if that man had not been born.” Since, it says, he did the most inconvenient of all things, and rendered back the Master, having exchanged the Life for silver, to no evil end. And indeed, concerning the servile form in the ineffable economy, of which John says: “And the Word became flesh,” and Paul: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,” Solomon said: “Wisdom built herself a house,” and Matthew reported the sameness of the divine nature and operation thus: “The birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: after his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” And the archangel also said: “For that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

And again: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also the holy thing which is born, shall be called the Son of the Most High.” ^B It must therefore be remembered that the evangelist, on account of the babbling of the heretics, set the origin before the Incarnation, and then the birth. For they, seizing upon the testimonies of the Scriptures which we cite, ask us in a show of hypocrisy: “Is Christ, then, the Son of the Spirit?” They do not faithfully listen to these things, nor to what was said by Him to the apostles: “Know ye not what manner of Spirit the Son of man is.” If, therefore, because the Father is the true God, it follows that His operation is divine in every way and altogether, and since the operation of the Holy Spirit appears equal and similar to this, it follows that He too is the true God. It is fitting to say the same thing also regarding the Son. For if the operation of the Father were better than that of the Son or the Spirit—for why indeed would the Spirit or the Son operate in us at all?—they would be bringing in an inferior power if they were (as the heretics say) of a different nature. But if the filling of the Son and of the Spirit is useful and saving, the Son or the Spirit will in no respect be different. For neither would the Most High, so rich in mercy, have borrowed from one who is inferior and poorer, nor have we been operated upon in a dual and disparate way. Indeed, what reason is there to call a human being, for instance, a maker and creator of good or evil things, while the Spirit is not? But a human being, by the permission of God, may do this or that; yet he creates [85b] from the substance placed beforehand by God, building, whatever he might wish, out of non-living things—not, however, creating the substance itself, as we have already said. But the Spirit creates authoritatively, and brings into being substance from non-existence, as being a co-worker and the breath of the Almighty. Wherefore God in Ezekiel, showing that our own spirit is to be renewed, but that the Holy Spirit is the one who renews—and that He is not merely "spirit," but truly His own—declares such things: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my Spirit within you.” But those who disregard these divine utterances and remain in every perplexity of the righteous, ^C finally to themselves—to the question, “Know ye not what manner of spirit ye are of”...

^A externally they have used these arts, and they attempt to transfer what has been so clearly spoken to other and still other things. For they say in these very words: “He who created the dead alone raises up those who are being put to death. For a painter cannot restore the work of an architect that is decaying, nor can a hunter restore the work of a shipbuilder, nor a runner that of a builder; but rather an architect is the architect of an architect, and a shipbuilder the shipbuilder of a shipbuilder.” But the Holy Spirit, they say, neither raised the dead nor created; for once, they say, in Adam was the nature of men created, and neither another besides that one, nor again many times. And indeed Eve also was created together with Adam by the common law of nature, but later was fashioned. But we, the orthodox—since to create and to raise the dead is especially a mark of divine power—confess that the Holy Spirit, having done these things, is God. For “By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by the ^B Spirit of his mouth all their powers.” And since, from the beginning, when all things were being created, He was present and held existence inseparably with the Godhead and with the operation, for this reason also, when they are being renewed, He is present and is commemorated alongside them. For what these men themselves have said was not of a different essence—that is, of a different nature—but of the Creator alone to renew. Concerning, therefore, those who exist and are being governed, as though they were not then, but now are being spiritually and more divinely created, David and Paul preach, as was previously said, and as we shall find in many places. For the whole of time would fail me if I wished to mention everything everywhere. Unless, therefore, they thought otherwise in the Scriptures than they appeared to those very persons—if, first of all, they had in mind the divine ^C Scriptures mentioned in this book and the one before it; for what would they say, upon hearing these things, that He who used them teaches? But second, they would have reasoned that, in the way that the Father is a fellow-creator with the Son who created, by His own good pleasure, so also is His Spirit; and not toward an examination of those who are not equal, of those requiring the binding of one another and of the constraint of time, and not even fulfilling the reasoning readily and from every side faultlessly, did they bring the matters of the blessed Trinity, which is unapproachable to all and which has also lost us the restoration of reasons and materials, to the point of saying things they would surely never have uttered. For why, how great should we say it is to the God and Father who once willed for all things to subsist through the Word? Certainly, it has been proclaimed ^D concerning Him from the seed of David and Abraham, and from the root of Jesse according to the flesh, as has just been said: “For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,” so that from this also it may be admitted that the sanctifying Spirit was a co-worker with the good-doing Creator. Therefore, it is also written again: “Jesus was led in the Spirit into the wilderness,” because the sovereign Spirit was with Him, as God with God, and as holding all things together and being present everywhere, with Him upon whom all things are established, and who is in all things and fills them, “A new spirit will I give within you.”

^A For if not, by their line of reasoning and their method, neither is the Father a Creator, or one who raises the dead. For all things were created by the Son without toil. For toil is a passion; and passion is a path to corruption. Yet, while we do not deny that the Lord was incarnate without sin from the nature of Adam—that is, from the nature of the Virgin or from our own—we say these things, and rather, we confirm this by saying that He was born of the Holy Spirit. Since, as has been said, the pre-eternal and pre-mundane Spirit of God was present from the beginning with the Maker of our nature, not as one needing assistance, but with identity and equality of divinity and will, and as light not severed from light. ^B Unite yourself, then, Macedonius, to the saints, who do not call the divine Spirit a creature, but say that He has proceeded from God as His Spirit by nature; or, as is your custom to say, that He is inferior to God in nature, but greater than the angels, having obtained a middle nature and rank—since the words of those saints have been justly preferred by God over yours and those of Arius. And not as the law of technical skill and sophistry suggests, is it permitted to you, with boldness, to release your own arguments against the divine Spirit, whose divine nature you could not behold even if you had the eyes of the mind ^C as many and of such a quality as Scripture has given to the Cherubim. For who is able to grasp the invisible and incomprehensible divinity? Either condemn your own impiety, or willingly cede the primacy to us. For what those holy men wrote is justly and deservedly preferred before God to your statements and those of Arius, nor is it permitted to you, as the law of artificial and sophistic discipline dictates, to boldly prattle on with your own words against the divine Spirit, whose divine nature you could not see in the least, even if you possessed minds' eyes as great and such as those which Scripture attributes to the Cherubim; for who is able to grasp the invisible and incomprehensible divinity, or, condemning his own impiety, willingly yield the first place to us? ^D All these things. Since, indeed, not by their logic or manner of acting—what they would never have said—at any time, in the Spirit into the desert. Having.

^A IV. Because He sanctifies and justifies, as we said before. ^B V. Because He grants salvation even to those who had erred; which belongs to the omnipotent essence alone: for it is impossible that any creature should work anything without the aid of God; not even so much as to open the circles of the eyes, though closed by the eyelids. For the Apostle said this to the Philippians: "I know, indeed, that this shall turn to my salvation, through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." As it is sung concerning the Father in Hosea, where he celebrates Him: "Besides me thou shalt not know; and there is no savior besides me"; and concerning the Son in the Acts: "And there is no salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, in which it behooves us to be saved." ^C VI. Because He frees from death, and forgives sins, inasmuch as He is indeed the one who bears this fruit, as it were, from the root of the Father’s essence, being immortal and propitious. But a creature cannot be either impeccable, or able to do of its own power anything of these things which I have mentioned: for not even any of the spirits, as was shown before, is impeccable; nay, that I may use a hyperbole of speech, perhaps not even any irrational creature: for heaven itself and the sun, if they be compared to the purity of God, are not blameless. For even if it is clear that the apostles sometimes performed such a thing, they were not victors over death or sin by their own power, but by the power of Him who said: "In my name you shall do greater things than these," and by the power of the Spirit of the Father, who spoke in them, as Paul teaches the Romans: "For the law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus hath delivered me from the law of sin and of death." And the Lord also, in John, restoring to us the Holy Spirit, whom we had lost through the ancient disobedience, breathed into the faces of the disciples and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." So great is the power proper to the Spirit, who is always to be commemorated with praise, indicated in this passage, because He Himself both forgives sins by His own power, and in His name and by His power, both the apostles and all who believe in Him grant remission of sins. ^D That it belongs to God alone to propitiate those who sin, the magnificent utterances of God signify: "For I, indeed," He says, "am He that blotteth out the sins..."

from your, and, "If your sins be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and if they be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool." The Savior, too, as the Son of God, said to the paralytic: "Child, your sins are forgiven," and, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." ^A

VII. That the Holy Spirit works with God the Father—who is in need of nothing and is the Giver of all things—and with His Son, and distributes all things to all, not deferring until tomorrow, inasmuch as He is of the same mind and of concordant intent, possessing an uncreated existence, and reigning together with the Father, as uncreated, and being of the same essence with Him from whom He thus proceeded and with whom He has existed from eternity, being of the same deity. And that Christ, having infinite authority and power, performed signs and wonders with the virtue of this same most august Spirit, and cast out demons, as our hierophants have explained. Micah, indeed, says: "Thus," he says, "says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray." And after a little he adds: "For there shall be no one to listen to them, unless I fill them with strength in the Spirit of the Lord, and with judgment and power." ^B He said, therefore, that the Lord makes strength in the Spirit of the Lord, in order to declare both the Trinity and the bond of its very nature. He indicates, moreover, that judgment in which there is no longer repentance nor anyone to listen: "For in Hades," he says, "who will confess You?" The expression, "I will fill them with strength," is equivalent to saying: "I will make great retribution with the divine Spirit." Paul, however, that most approved of the apostles, writes to the Ephesians: "For this reason I bow my knees to God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts." And to the Romans: "I have, therefore, confidence in Christ Jesus toward God. ^C For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought through me in word and deed, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit." Being of the same nature, these hypostases are worthy of the same honor; whence also this utterance is similar to the one that says, ^D "Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God."

Matthew, in the person of the Savior, says: "If I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." ^A And just as in illumination—that is, in baptism—He operates together with the Father and the Son, it is impossible that He should be one with them in harmony and operation, without being also one in essence. For this reason, the Lord sometimes says: "The Father who dwells in me, He does the works," and at other times, as is said now: "I by the Spirit of God cast out demons." On this account, Paul also said: "In the power of the Holy Spirit," confessing that it is by the operation of the divine Trinity that the dead were raised—by Him, Eutychus; and by Peter, Tabitha.

VIII.

^A truth, they drag them toward their own views. For it is written, he says, in the Apostolic Acts: "Cornelius the centurion, a just man and one who fears God, and well-witnessed by the entire nation of the Jews, received a *chrematismos* [divine admonition] from a holy angel, 'to send for you to his house and to hear words from you.'" You, then, if you had held your peace and stitched shut your calumnious mouths, would have acted much more profitably. But we, directing this chapter also toward a more perfect goal—and as it were reverting to it, and preparing the cheerfulness of spirit in those who are to read these things, and injecting into them a greater orthodox zeal—we say that just as there is no communion of nature between the created and the uncreated nature, so neither does there intervene any communion of *chrematismos*. For the angel indeed announces all that which he is compelled to say by the Holy Spirit by whom he is moved—even should that thing be unknown to him; and from this he has the name "angel." The Holy Spirit, however, as one who knows all the things of God, as Paul ^B asserts, gives *chrematismos* in a divine manner, just as the Father does—whatsoever things He sees with the sleepless eyes of the Godhead that the Father wills, and the Son as well, and not as a minister, just as the attendant angel. "For the servant does not know what his Lord is doing," nor is it possible for one who is heterousios—that is, of a different substance—to possess the same knowledge as He who is by nature other than himself. For to every nature there follows the knowledge and memory appropriate to it; but even it happens at times to the created nature that in the long passage of time that very thing which had been known to it slips away and flies off. Wherefore these perverse men have ^C deliberately omitted the beginning of the passage in the struggle of the argument. For it runs: "And while Peter was pondering about the word, the Holy Spirit said to him: 'Behold, three men are seeking you. But arise, go with them, doubting nothing, because I have sent them.' And Peter, having gone down to the men, said: 'Behold, I am he whom you seek; what is the cause for which you are present?' And they said: 'Cornelius the centurion, a just man,'" and the rest as it is set forth. So that before honest judges it is evident, even here, that the angel learned the oracle from the Holy Spirit. For a distinguishing mark of the Godhead is to foretell with certainty; and this is for the good of those who hear, so that they may be secured and saved. Then do you not think, by suggesting such things, that you are both disparaging the creation, and in a way finding fault with the Creator who, ^D out of abundance, adorned His own works with the words spoken concerning Him—as if such a matter and His grace must follow? For from this, he slanders himself,

^A and indeed he showed it is rather something worthy of praise, and he habitually gladdened his works. But we, even if the uttering of revelations [chrematizein] by the Holy Spirit brings a certain divine dignity to the whole subject—and it is enough if taken by itself as a testimony—nevertheless we have brought forward not only that, but a multitude of other high and indisputable proofs. If you attend to these without animosity, you will certainly be more speechless [90 a] than fishes. Paul, therefore, refutes your captious reasoning most clearly, writing to the Ephesians: "To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for all, what is the dispensation of the mystery hidden from the ages in God, who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places through the Church." Consider, therefore, how far the nature of angels is removed from knowing anything of the future by itself, and from uttering revelations, since it learns these great things even through the Church of God in this world, which is what we are. And for conviction regarding this, one may also grasp what he wrote to the Colossians as follows: "This mystery, which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been manifested to His saints." For before this, he says, it was known to God alone. Furthermore, what concerns the benefit brought to all people—I mean those regarding the ineffable dispensation—these things have been declared to them by Peter in the words, as was said before: "Into which," he says, "the angels desire to look." If they had some innate knowledge, they would not yearn to even look into them. But since they do not have it, they fall into an overwhelming, human-like longing for those things of which the knowledge is not theirs to obtain. For it is natural that things easy to find are disregarded, while rarer things are valued. And indeed, this is not a matter of their own will, but they are beholden to the common law of their nature (I do not say all of them). [90 b] "For," he says, "if God did not spare the angels who sinned, what innate knowledge of future things, or authority to utter revelations as God does, can they have?" For if they do not know these things of themselves, nor do they utter revelations by their own authority—as is the case, and the matter is self-evident even apart from any constitution—but because the term is applied generally, you have provocatively and thoughtlessly engaged in blame and accusation, and have done nothing towards [the matter] ^B or against those sent by Cornelius to him, by having adorned it. ^C And so, while it is acknowledged even by upright judges that the angel learned even here from the Holy Spirit the things which he uttered as revelations—that is, revealed—the preeminent character and mark of divinity is to foretell infallibly, and to do so in such a way that it redounds to the benefit and utility of those who hear, so that they may take heed to themselves and be saved. Therefore, while you bring forward interpretations and commentaries of this kind, do you not reflect that you are both, in a way, jealous of the creature itself, and that you slander Him who, for the sake of liberality and munificence, honored and adorned His own creatures with those very words which were spoken of Him? Since, with this kind of work—by which I mean the revelation of the Holy Spirit or His heavenly admonition—the grace of Him who accompanies it is also present. For from this very revelation, He not only does no dishonor to Himself, but even shows Himself worthy of praise and, as is His wont, gladdens His works. We indeed, even though we could have confirmed the divine amplitude and majesty of the Holy Spirit in this whole disputation from the mere fact that He Himself utters revelations—that is, He founds oracles, or gives responses, or reveals from heaven—and even this alone, taken by itself, sufficiently demonstrates and testifies to it: yet we have brought forward not only this argument, but also many others—brilliant, sublime, and free from any doubt—from the Scriptures. To these, if you attend without aversion and disgust, you will become, as they say, more mute than fishes. ^D Now, indeed, even Paul, writing to the Ephesians, most clearly dissolves and refutes your captious argument: "To me, the least of all the saints, was given this grace, to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles, and to enlighten all, what is the dispensation of the mystery hidden from the ages in God, who created all things: so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, through the Church." Observe, therefore, how alien it is to the nature of angels to know anything of what is to come by themselves and to utter revelations—that is, to reveal—when He [makes it known] even through the Church of God which is in this world (this Church indeed...)

^A is the subject). For one might not say, if they happen to mention God the Father, that it is proper for us to say the contrary. Shall I tell you something else? See whether the angel who gave an oracle to the centurion did not mean the Holy of Holies, the Savior. For in this name, the Scripture appears to indicate Him in a hidden manner with great emphasis and divine [authority], because it announced in the economy as the Word-Son the paternal will. For it did not say by name, as it is accustomed to say: Michael, Gabriel, or someone else.

What then, out of all our words, could anyone reasonably blame? And what would anyone charge against the faith of the orthodox, which has no foundation from which to be corrected? And how is it not worthy to believe that the holy Spirit speaks royally, that is, divinely? But ^B the angels [speak] ministerially, that is, as servants? How difficult it is, then, by your favor, to hold the rudders, as it is said, when one does not possess the skill of a pilot; thus it is equally difficult to teach [when one] does not possess the grace of the divine Spirit, which works out the salvation of men together with the Father and the Son, nor is it the possession of the knowledge of the stability found even in the riddles of the divine oracles [91 a], nor the answer given from the wisdom of believing men; and for one without whom there is no utterance of argument, [but only] an eristic, argumentative, and varied preference.

I know clearly, O esteemed ones, and you angels of God who dwell in the heavenly light, that you—as blameless and perfect—were not vexed at the things said by me on account of the angels [who are] like you in nature, though not in the praiseworthy [quality] of their mind, to whom blame has followed from the beginning, as also to those heretics who bring into the middle, in a way they should not, the things just mentioned; who appear to you especially as being somewhat unpersuasive in the struggle against the truth. ^C For my argument is in defense of the divine Spirit, who enlightens all things and is zealous for divine things to the creatures; who is equivalent to the Father and His Only-begotten, who has sanctified you, and is glorified together by you, along with the Father and the Son, through the thrice-holy hymn.

Or rather, you also assented, when I praised this Spirit as [a distinct] hypostasis of God, and one, and only; and you might perhaps have wished (for the book makes a festival for me in this part), by the abundance of your favor toward the venerable and consubstantial Trinity, that these were your words which were spoken by many out of the understanding of the Scriptures, and now by me, and that silence might never be imposed upon them, and that all men might spend their leisure from [secular] matters on such a subject. Therefore, for this reason, by the most supreme judgment, you, for your part, ^D

^A O holy Michael, were chosen to command the incorporeal hosts, and you were honored with a girdle that is, as it were, intellectual, and you exist as a certain fragrance of the all-holy and merciful Trinity, which is mistress of all. But you, ^B O holy Gabriel, were chosen to minister to the mystery of the ineffable economy, as one silent and faithful. And another, having been honored with a God-given gift, receives something that others—and we—have not; and we, in turn, have what you have not. For God the Word, not on account of the angels who sinned, became an angel, but on account of men who were in sin, he became man—unchangeable, without confusion, without sin, ineffably, as he knew and willed, from the Virgin; and he became in his flesh both hers and ours, remaining what he was, and is, and shall be, one and the same. "For there is," he says, "one holy, one Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father." And thus, just as he ascended from earth into heaven, he will come a second time, with the angelic, approved phalanxes of ten thousand times ten thousand ministering to him, and he shall judge and shall act according to his philanthropy. Wherefore, after the churches, also houses of prayer to God, named for your intercession, O approved pair of archangels, have been founded not only in cities, but also in private byways, and houses, and fields, ^C adorned with gold and silver, or even with ivory; and men, even those in territories far beyond the places that bore them, having the houses of prayer set forth as if they were the town halls of achievements, do not hesitate to cross a long sea, if need be, and at times to complete a difficult journey of many days in succession, as they hope to obtain more favor from your intercession, and a participation in the good things contested for on behalf of the good from God. For in his holy churches, and houses of prayer, and shrines, as in other heavens, he has set forth his unfailing good things; and from these things which this King of kings and Lord of lords himself has given and gives daily to each, he accepts the bloodless sacrifice offered piously and holily, and has all the honors from men. I think that even against the heretics, and concerning theology, and even the irrational animals, and indeed the very stones themselves, respond to us with zeal. For what does he who loves God not do? Or to whom does he yield the true filter of the heart? For you know (and with God be all things spoken), that I have acted among you and the saints who have come from our nature who intercede, in such a way that no one, up to this day, has had to choose to act, as it were, in litigation or accusation over you, our intercessors, who have honors in proportion to your measure before all; nor have you called me to a contest and trial over this, ^D even though there are those found who accuse things that are not; but not even has anyone attempted to disprove me, as if I had heard of matters— you, O holy Michael, supreme judge chosen to command the incorporeal hosts, and honored as if with a spiritual girdle, and you exist as a certain sweet fragrance of the most holy and merciful Trinity. You truly, O holy Gabriel, as a silent and faithful guardian of the secret, were chosen as a messenger to provide ministry to the mystery of the ineffable Incarnation. But others have been adorned with other gifts given to you by God, even without asking; of which gifts some have not been honored with some, and with others we have not been honored; but we also have been adorned with some, with which you have not been honored. For God the Word, not on account of sinning angels [did he become] an angel, but on account of sinning men, [he became] man, without change, without confusion,

the sinless one, ineffably, as he himself knew and willed, from the Virgin, and was made with flesh like unto the flesh of the Virgin herself and of us all, remaining what he was, and is, and shall be, one and the same. “For one,” he says, “is holy, one is Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of God the Father.” And as he ascended from earth into heaven, so he shall come again, with myriads of myriads of hosts of good angels ministering unto him: and furthermore he will then judge, and act according to his own benevolence toward men. ^A Therefore, after the churches, there are also oratories ^B which, O gracious pair of archangels, bear your name; they are erected to God not only in cities, but also in villages, privately, and in homes, and in fields, and they are adorned with gold, and silver, or even ivory: and men travel to places even far removed from the region in which they were born, ^C because oratories set up in them are like so many prytanea ^D or town halls, in which those who have made vows find them fulfilled: nor does it weary them, if need be, to cross a long sea, and [undertake] a journey of many days thereafter, and one sometimes difficult and burdensome, inasmuch as they expect to experience from you greater benevolence in interceding for them, and to become more copiously partakers of the good things which God most beneficially bestows [alt-version omitted]

upon all whom He alone knows, and who brings all things to a good and infinite end; and that the self-sufficient and indivisible Trinity may see fit to receive us—and may we be deemed worthy, together with our whole family, our whole household, our whole kin, and all our friends (for the Orthodox are our friends), along with you and all the saints—to glorify It with the thrice-holy hymn in the heavens for the endless ages of ages; and to attain the grace of Its promised, and by us believed, never-ending and indivisible kingdom. Amen. Amen. Amen. ^A For in His holy churches, and oratories, and martyr-shrines, as in other chapels, He has benevolently proposed His good things; and from these things which here the King of kings himself, and Lord of lords, has both given, and daily gives to each, He receives from them the bloodless sacrifice piously and holily offered, and He has all the gifts that can be given by men. But as to those things which we have said against the heretics, and those concerning the unity of the Trinity, I think that even the irrational creatures, nay, the very stones, would promptly agree with us. For what does not love achieve when it is directed toward God? Or to whom does true heart-love yield? ^B For as you know (and may all things be said with God’s favor), I have conducted myself among you, and with all the holy ones who were of our own nature and who intercede for us, in such a way that until this day no one has brought against me any charge of reproach on your behalf, who are our intercessors and who possess honors among all according to your measure; and no one has called me by name into contention or judgment regarding this matter; although there are not wanting those who even falsely accuse. Yet not one has attempted to refute me, as if I had listened to discourses against God the Word and the Holy Spirit, and perhaps out of reverence, or from fear of the speaker, had nodded in agreement and praised things that were not right, or that...

as if I had ever at all neglected, or been sluggish, against what is proper, in opposing them to the best of my ability.ity. On the contrary, many say that I have always come forward in public regarding such matters with great force and voice, and without agitation, to either initiate or sustain a dispute. For I consider it the greatest and eternal profit for myself, and for those who are of me, and those who are with us, to undergo every labor strenuously—and, if need be, danger—for the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who made us and saves us, and is about to judge us, and will, for the sake of his own goodness, treat us with kindness. Since, therefore, you know, as chosen worshippers of the most holy Trinity, and as legates and intercessors for the human race, that I have in nothing been wanting in my duty toward that [Trinity] which, after this, is owed to you as the cause of all things and the one that vivifies all things—insofar as you intercede for me before that same Trinity, from whom wise thoughts and expressions, pleasing and acceptable to it and useful to us, and thereafter also pleasing to you, are supplied—and I speak all the more willingly, insofar as it is appropriate that created nature be placed after uncreated, and thus be fittingly commemorated by us: pray particularly for me, and for those who have sprung from me, and for those who are with me, and for all (for it is not granted to you that you provide us anything more than this), that I may remain immovable in my conviction regarding this matter, and that all my prayers—which He knows, who alone knows all things, and to whom all things fruitfully cede for eternity, the best and in itself perfect and indivisible Trinity—may be acceptable and kindly heard; and ^B that we, with all our children, with our whole house, with our whole family, and with all our friends [for our friends are the orthodox], together with you, and with all the saints, may deserve to praise Him, singing the trisagium hymn in the heavens for infinite ages of ages, and to attain, through His grace, His kingdom, which is promised to us and believed in by us as interminable and indivisible. Amen. Amen. Amen.

IX. But now it is time to return to the proposed argument. ^A For the Holy Spirit is about to judge all things together with Christ, as God and Creator. For whose is it to judge, if not His who has communion of Deity and kingly dominion with Him who made them? As Isaiah prophesies: "There shall go forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend out of the root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety; and the Spirit of the fear of God shall fill Him. He shall not judge according to opinion, nor shall He reprove according to speech. But He shall judge the humble with judgment, and shall reprove the haughty, and shall deliver the humble of the earth, and shall strike the earth with the word of His mouth, and in the Spirit He shall slay the impious with His lips." He calls a rod and a flower from the root of Jesse Him who sprang from it as if a shoot in the Incarnation, and by the sweetness of His own fragrance strengthened the earth: upon whom we have also seen the Holy Spirit resting in the Gospels; whom, finally, ^B the rod and flower from the root of Jesse signifies, him who germinated from it in the Incarnation, and strengthened the world with His own fragrance, upon whom we have seen in the Gospels the Holy Spirit resting; a judge [who judges] by unanimous vote.

^A We wait to see Him along with the Holy Spirit at His second coming. For this is signified both by those words, "In the Spirit He shall slay the impious through His lips," and by what is said elsewhere by the same prophet: "In a Spirit of judgment, and in a Spirit of burning." David also says in the 137th Psalm: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? And from your face where shall I flee?" The expression "Where shall I go" and "Where shall I flee" carries a broad emphasis; for it signifies that the Holy Spirit is present everywhere and exists as a judge. For it is truly "terrible," as the Apostle says, "to fall into the hands of the living God," who in the 49th Psalm says: "I will reprove, and set thy sins before thy face." And the prophecy of Micah, mentioned a little before, confirms this same chapter and argument. But what stronger proof could one bring forward for this, than that which is derived from the fact that the Savior speaks thus about the Holy Spirit in John: "He coming shall reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment"?

X. ^B Because in the supreme power of the Holy Spirit, that Elymas the magician, an enemy of the saints and a corrupter of the truth, was blinded by a word from Paul in Cyprus. For Scripture, in order to show that that power is of the Holy Spirit, speaks in these words: "Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to him: Behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind not seeing the sun." For in truth it could not be that Paul, unless he had possessed the power of the Spirit—which works all things—could have extinguished a man’s sight with a word, a man devoted to incantations and trusting in demons.

XI. ^C Because by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit it came about that he who was crowned with the double crown of apostleship and martyrdom beheld the opened heavens. For the Scripture says: "Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, saw the heavens opened." So that what was said by the ancient poet was true of him: "From heaven then the boundless ether was rent asunder."

XII. ^D Because He foreknows, even as the Father and the Son; but to know the future with precision is a thing of the divine nature alone. For whatever the creature foreknows for itself, it obtains and brings forth led by conjectures; and it foresees that alone infallibly, and without any danger of deception, which the Holy Spirit has taught it. For with His divine rays He not only illuminates the heavenly powers, but also the eyes of our souls, and shows

illuminating the eyes of souls, suggests ^A future things in various ways, and by His own goodness and kindness grants that the creature should sometimes speak those things which are helpful and useful to human nature: which things, indeed, our material nature sometimes attributes not to Him who granted those things through the mediation of the creature, but to the creature itself. The testimonies concerning the foreknowledge of the Spirit, taken from the Apostolic Acts, are these. From the person of Peter to the Jews: “Brethren, it was necessary that the Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became the guide of those who apprehended Jesus.” Rightly, therefore, did he say, “it was necessary;” for only the word of God is such that it cannot fail to be fulfilled. And from the person of Paul: “The Holy Spirit testifies in every ^B city to me, saying that bonds and tribulations await me.” And through Agabus the prophet, He foretold that there would be a famine of grain in the land because of the sins of men, as being good, just as He had also done in Nineveh, so that they, struck with fear, might escape the evil through repentance. And this famine did indeed occur much later in the time of Claudius. Furthermore, in the Gospel, Christ says concerning the Spirit: “And He shall announce to you those things that are to come;” that is, the future things.

CAP. VIII. On the foreknowledge and power which the Holy Spirit possesses in Himself.

Post the divine nature and power or operation of the Spirit of God, the oracles of the Scriptures describe, most clearly and in every way, the authority which He possesses in Himself and His voluntary distribution of gifts.

I. Because He does not do all things as a minister, but with authority, and, as He wills, He administers the gifts, whatever that ineffable, supersubstantial, and unique nature bestows: and whatever He wills, ^C He performs, and He breathes where He wills. ^D

^A For He fulfills the bounteous will of the Father, and of the Son, and of Himself—a single will—and He leaves nothing, not even those things that possess but a dim spark of life, destitute of His own providence. For, presiding over His own creation, as He who is goodness itself and as the fellow-worker of the good Creator, He looks upon all things and overlooks nothing; being all-sufficient, He distributes divine gifts. For in the “one good” there is never any place for envy toward anyone; rather, He demonstrates His authority through acts of kindness. And for this reason, we say that the will, and the authority, and the power of the Trinity are one. If the will, and the authority, and the operation are one, then the Godhead is one. ^B For He who performs all things according to His own authority, and is present in every individual thing, belongs to that one and unalloyed nature which is over all things; it has no deficiency in anything, nor does it do what it does not will—nor, indeed, does it do what is not pleasing to the Father and the Son. And in the same way that He demonstrates the Son to be inseparable from the Father by other proofs, and by the text, “Whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does,” so too does He demonstrate that the Holy Spirit, along with other things, performs all things and distributes them as He wills, and breathes where He chooses. For to demonstrate this, and to clearly theologize concerning the Spirit, the Apostle wrote: “That we might see the things granted to us by God.” And a faithful witness to all these things, writing to the Corinthians in the first Epistle, would again be the same Apostle: ^C “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of workings, but the same God who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith in the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing in the one Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the discernment of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; to another, the interpretation of tongues. But all these things the one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” It is necessary, however, not ^D to overlook the fact that some animals do not possess all senses, just as worms and caterpillars, and those which appear maimed immediately from their first birth, such as moles and the shrew-mouse.

^A To pass over these, one [point] is that, because of the absolute equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father, he mentions Him first, then the Son, and subsequently God the Father, who works all things in all. The second [point] is that, having said above that God works all things in all, he brings in a single harmony of testimony, setting forth [matters] concerning the Father and His Spirit: "But all these things works that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will," so that from this he might declare the Holy Spirit to be God endowed with authority in His own right. He has not undertaken an inappropriate matter, nor has he innovated the order, nor has he erred from what is correct; but he preserves inviolate the knowledge of the faith and the purity of theology. He does not insult the undivided nature and dignity, as those do who do not reckon the Son and the Holy Spirit *with* the Father, but reckon them *under* the Father.

For he did not shuffle the order of the names casually or without cause; rather, Christ, who speaks in him, in order to remove all suspicion from both malign hearts and those not yet perverted, teaches in various ways one and the same truth: namely, that there is an equality of power, of honor, and of essence—that is, substance—in the Trinity. ^B For he says elsewhere through the same Paul: "And it is the same God who works all in all"; else-where through the Evangelist, saying: "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"; and now through Paul, as was said before: "But all these things works that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will." He also supports this chapter in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which reads as follows: "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will."

Moreover, the Lord’s sayings in John have [weight]: "The Spirit breathes where He will," and "The Spirit is truth." And it is fitting, he says, that you should celebrate Him as God ^C in the primary rank of divinity, and not place Him in the second, so that you may have security in your life. For it is the custom that one who confers benefits should be thanked and honored; this, indeed, even those outside have found to say: "Render to the benefactor the most handsome recompense." For if, he says, the one who possesses authority of himself is better than one who is subordinate, then even a man, being possessed of his own authority, would be proved better than the Holy Spirit in your estimation. Alas for these evils! The Macedonians, regarding the symbols of divine power and nature as if for a created thing, have devised deceits, and have composed ^D dialogues introducing persons of an Orthodox and a Macedonian. They sometimes excise the proofs of the Orthodox person, or at other times do not even set forth as many as they ought; at other times they make him appear at a loss regarding the dialectical and demonstrative response; or they distract and diffuse [the argument] with what are supposedly persuasive words, attempting [to handle] the greatest matters.

^A For it is known even to the Gentiles: "To the well-deserving (50) let there be given pleasant rewards," they say. For if, he says, he who is endowed with his own authority and power is superior to him who is subjected to the power of another, it logically follows that man even, since he is a being of his own authority, would be called by you, O heretics, superior to the Holy Spirit. Away with such intolerable ravings. Furthermore, the Macedonians, taking those things which are the symbols of divine power and nature as though they signified a created power and nature, have devised frauds and committed them to writing. They have introduced the Orthodox and the Macedonian as if they were two persons of a dialogue speaking, and they have either mangled the testimonies (51) of the orthodox interlocutor or omitted them entirely, not presenting as many as was proper; at other times they have made him appear uncertain as to what he should say in response, or with what argument he should answer the points raised; and thus they have obscured the very truth and the propriety of things with truly inept and confused reasonings. They regard as nothing the oracles of the Scriptures, which were brought forth by the breath of God with appropriate dignity; but they drag their discourse wherever it seems good to them, and they toss and shift themselves, while they exult in that which they have proposed to themselves; and, drawing out their speech in one breath, they behave as though they were the victors over everyone with a certain irony and dissimulation, ^B railing at and carping at orthodoxy, as they themselves think. In this dialogue, the Macedonian is introduced disputing and addressing the orthodox person thus: "You said (52), God works; the Holy Spirit also works: and from the fact that God works and the Holy Spirit works, you wished to infer that the Holy Spirit is worthy of equal honor and endowed with equal power with God. But I will omit the point that physicians and all men alike use the term 'energy,' that is, operation, for things of diverse species and nature and definition—whether they are talking about hot waters, or food, or herbs. However, I will only point out that the divine word has used this term even for the opposing power, when the Apostle said concerning the Antichrist: ^C 'Whose coming is according to the operation of Satan, in all signs and lying wonders' (53). Since, therefore, the word 'to work' is used homonymously or synonymously for many things, see to what point you have cast down and depressed the Holy Spirit, and you have not considered that God indeed

BOOK TWO

^A brought the world out of nothing into existence, and both made and fashioned it; but the Holy Spirit fashioned the distribution of gifts in those who have been created by God. For it is written: “Distributing to each one as He wills,” and not, “bestowing.” But how do you not see, O Macedonian, that these things are in no way consistent with theological opinions and interpretations, and that you are manifestly convicted of hypocrisy by these very things which you say? For everyone admits that this first word, that is, “he operates,” is predicated of different essences and things: for what reason, then, when the text under discussion is concerning the divine and manifest operation of the Holy Spirit, have you brought this forth, and by this reasoning have you rather affected the Spirit of God with indignity than praised Him? Next, this is not what must be attended to, as you say, whether the word *energei*, that is, “he operates,” is received homonymously or synonymously, both concerning God and concerning herbs and Satan; but the persons must be attended to, and the distinctions of the operations: and it is necessary to make judgment concerning those things which pertain to the divine Spirit, whether doctrines or things, not with regard to earthly matters and the demon cast out from heaven, but with regard to God, who is celebrated by that word, that is, “he operates,” as was said above. For the individual passages of Scripture that can be found concerning the Holy Spirit are such that, from the entire series of the discourse and the sequence, it is evident that the Spirit Himself is commemorated with that veneration which befits God, whereas the creature and the demon are commemorated in that way ^B which they deserve: which, not observing, you who are a Macedonian, and not distinguishing the things which the demon operates from hatred, from those which the Holy Spirit operates on account of His love for humanity, you depress, as much as in you lies, and you undermine through those things which you say out of the abundance of your heart, the incomparable glory of God the Father, who is Himself celebrated by similar locutions on account of His divine works, and of the Holy Spirit of the Father Himself: and you have not noticed that you have unworthily (54) numbered yourself among those who think rightly. But rather attend to this, that in the cited words of Paul, the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the first place before God the Father and the Son: that indeed is fitting only for Him who is God. From this, however, infer that there is no discrepancy at all in that venerable Trinity existing in unity, and that it is ineffably its own co-worker. Furthermore, consider that the commemorated divine gifts are conferred upon each one through the Holy Spirit and by the Holy Spirit: besides which there is no other remaining largesse and donation proper to divine grace; but he who does not attain to these, being given by God, is the most miserable of the miserable; and if anyone does not think thus in his writings and discourses, that man remains incurable, neither receiving any help himself, nor ^C bringing it to others, into which things you are led by the abundance of your own surplus—at least as far as it depends on you—to bring down the incomparable glory of God the Father, who is glorified by similar expressions concerning divine matters, and of His Spirit; and you have unwittingly, and rightly so, placed yourself among those who think correctly. But attend rather to this, that in the matters set forth, before God the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is first mentioned in a manner befitting God; and understand from this that the venerable Trinity in unity has no difference, and that it works together with itself in an ineffable way. Next, consider for yourself that to each one, through the Holy Spirit and by the Holy Spirit, are given the aforementioned divine gifts; of which no other gift remains belonging to the divine grace from outside, and he who does not attain to them, as being given by God, is more miserable than the miserable; and he who does not thus write and speak remains incurable, neither being helped himself, nor helping others, but rather ^D even doing harm; and that this one and the same Spirit operates all these things, that is to say, makes and provides: and He who operates in these things, and will operate in all things, is lacking in nothing; and He who is lacking in nothing is impassible; and He who is impassible is God. Or, if it is said concerning God the Father, “The Lord is mighty in battle,” and, “Known in Judea is God,” and everything of this sort, will He not be understood in other things as mighty, and operative, and manifest? Consider likewise that it strips away all heretical specious reasoning, and they guarantee in various ways His divine supreme authority, the like-mindedness of the Father and of the Son, those words which speak thus: “According to His own will,” and, “He distributes to each one as He wills”; and that the Father God bears witness to these things with signs and wonders, and the Savior saying, “The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father,” and, “The Spirit is the truth,” and Peter expressly declaring the Holy Spirit to be God to Ananias as follows: “Why has it been agreed by you to lie to the Holy Spirit? You have not lied to men, but to God.” And know this, that you have not escaped notice by craftily having omitted in your vain and pernicious work—or rather, your blasphemous work—the principle of the divine Scripture. For it contains here: “The one and the same Spirit,” and thus it adds, which you alone have perversely appended, “operating to each one as He wills,” instead of, “bestowing, and distributing, and authentically revealing the heavenly goods.” For one is not of right mind and faith, while misinterpreting and even mutilating the words. For the fact that it contains, “The one and the same Spirit,” excludes you from separating Him from the, identity of the One who is both highest and at the helm of all things (for this most unsearchable and incomprehensible One differs from the Godhead not in the slightest, except only by the reason of paternity; because He proceeded by nature from Him, and not by a creative operation), and from saying: “But it is written, ‘Spirit of God, and Spirit of Christ,’ it shall be understood rightly as two.”

It has been said not long ago for what reason it is thus prophesied. But do not be ignorant of this, that the proposed sayings do not signify that the person bestowing is one, and the person distributing another, as is the case among men who are able neither to know everything nor to act without effort, and for this reason give those things indiscriminately, while ^A others distribute them after careful examination, fearing lest the givers might not suffice, or those being served might not themselves benefit. For the impassive, unchangeable, ever-moving, all-sufficient, and incorrupt God, who is not moved toward what we are worthy to receive—for we are not even worthy of anything by our works—but bestows in accordance with what is fitting for Him to give, knowing all things and being able to do all things, as has been stated even among the Greeks, helping, but rather harming them. And you ought not neglect to consider that this same one and the same Spirit works all these things, that is, He both does and provides; and he who is the operator in the distribution of these things will also work in all things, and He stands in need of nothing; and he who lacks nothing is incapable of passion; and he who is incapable of passion is God. But if it is said of God the Father: “The Lord ^B is powerful in war” [Ps. XXIII, 8], and, “God is known in Judea” [Ps. LXXV, 1], and other things of this kind, shall we think these things in such a way as to suppose that He is not powerful, operative, illustrious, and renowned in other matters? Think likewise of that which you are about to bring forward from the Scriptures, by which you prepare some appearance of truth for your heresy; it is rendered altogether void, and we are made more certain concerning the Spirit, that He has from Himself 212 divine authority and power, in agreement and concord with the authority of the Father and of the Son. For they speak thus: “According to His own will” [1 Cor. XII, 11]; and: “He divides ^C separately to each one as He wills.” To these, however, you should add the testimony at once, both where God the Father is present with signs and wonders [Heb. II, 4], and where the Savior says: “The Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father” [John XV, 26]; and: “The Spirit is truth” [1 John V, 6]; and also Peter, who expressly said that the Holy Spirit is God, and announced it to Ananias in this manner: “Why have you conspired together to lie to the Holy Spirit? You have not lied to men, but to God” [Acts V, 3-4]. And know also that which does not escape notice, that you have fraudulently omitted in your inept and pernicious booklet, or rather, in your blasphemous one, that which precedes in the divine text. For it is thus: “One and the same Spirit,” and then it adds that which you, with these words omitted, have perversely adduced: “Dividing separately to each one as He wills”; namely, bestowing, and distributing, and revealing through Himself, and by His own power, celestial blessings. It is not the way of one who thinks and believes rightly, not only to interpret divine oracles incorrectly, but moreover to mutilate them. For the fact that they contain, “one and the same Spirit,” forbids you first from separating Him from that identity by which He is the same as He who exists as the one and supreme God, and who governs all things: for this supremely invisible and supremely incomprehensible God does not differ in the least in deity from the Spirit, but only by the reason of Paternity: because He proceeded by nature from Him, and not by a creative operation. It forbids you, secondly, to say: If “Spirit of God,” and “Spirit of Christ” is mentioned in the Scriptures, two Spirits are to be understood. But it was stated not long ago why it was written in this way. But do not ignore even this, that the other oracles of Scripture do not signify that there is one person who gives, and another who distributes, as happens among men, who are neither able to know everything nor perform 213 things without labor, and for this reason some bestow not without choice, while others distribute not without careful examination and probation: lest perhaps either those who bestow might not actually carry the work through, or the ministers themselves might not reap a gain.

^A Furthermore, God is blameless, impassible, never idle, sufficient for all, and liberal; for in bestowing, He does not look to what we deserve to receive (since we do not even deserve any good from our works), but He looks to what is fitting for Himself to give. ^B He is the one who knows all things and can do all things, as it has also been said by the Greeks: “For no one will conceive of a mind better than this.” [As I conceive it: by a nod alone, and not by manual labor, ^C nor by distress and pain, does He always liberally and copiously provide good and generous gifts to individuals; and not sometimes providing them and sometimes not; nor sometimes more, and at other times less, but continuously, in the same manner, and similarly, with total harmony (for how could it be otherwise?) of both His own Son, the Word, and His one holy Spirit. For no one among those who exist is rejected by Him, seeing that He makes His sun to rise alike upon the just and upon the sinners, and to those who began to work at the eleventh hour, He grants the same reward as to those who labored ^D and worked the vineyard from dawn, according to agreement. Nor is anyone to be dreaded by Him, as though, by reason of His... [index: entries preserved]

^A need, or because He does not give in abundance, He might bring about a war; nor is there anyone else who might be found to contend with Him for authority, so that He should envy him, and fear lest he be made His equal by occupying things that belong to Him: a thing which it is not even lawful to say, unless one is speaking of malignant substances. Nor is He angry again because of that which He has once forgiven. "For You spare all," says the Scripture, "because all things are Yours, O Lord, You lover of souls; and Your incorruptible Spirit is in all things." Since you cannot say these things, what is left for you but to quibble captiously? Conversely, when the Son or the Holy Spirit is said to bestow divine gifts, it is manifest that this is done through the Father's good pleasure; for how could it be otherwise? Therefore, listen to Paul teaching the Romans: ^B "Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us"; and: "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." And again: "He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you, and works miracles among you." And in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer under the law." And to the Galatians: "For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." Wherefore he also said here: "There are ^C divisions of gifts, but the same Spirit"; that is (by ellipsis of speech and syncopation), the Spirit who grants; and afterward he added: "One and the same Spirit, dividing to each one individually as He wills," in order to show that He Himself both grants and divides, in such a way, indeed, that He wills precisely the same thing as that One whose Spirit He is, and to whom all things are referred, as it is written to the Romans: "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things." But attend also to all the other oracles which the Scriptures have regarding Him. For if you had attended to all, and if you believed in God the Father Himself, and in His only-begotten Son, and furthermore in so many ^D saints, whose eyes of the mind were as watchful as those of the Cherubim, whom we follow with so much the greater reverence and honor the more we truly receive the contribution and teaching made by them in deed, and the faith approved by them; and if, furthermore, you had not from the beginning followed in any way the cohorts of Arius, whom it is not lawful for us even to name or to know, having revered them as those who laid upon you the name of bishop, when previously you were but a deacon of the orthodox and apostolic Church; you would not have brought about the comparison of those things spoken concerning the Holy Spirit with things said concerning created beings, nor would you have given greater suspicion to those who share your impiety, nor would you have used railing—to say nothing of blasphemy—that surpasses moderation; for you could have known that He was present and working ineffably.

^A For He is the Spirit of God, existing in the same [substance]; but God and Father was pleased, as has been said above, for all things to be brought forth from non-existence through the Son, the Word, while the Father Himself and His sanctifying Spirit were concurrently considered in the creating—for how could they not be? But with regard to humans or even angels, there is need of many persons and hands to accomplish anything perfectly and successfully. The one who inspired these things warrants them to be mentioned in our regeneration through baptism; for it is mentioned that He is present, and acting with [them], and is not lowered from the ineffable nature. Thus, then, these things are so, and not otherwise, though I shall omit saying more.

But God also distributes through the Spirit, just as He creates through His Word. This does not exclude Him from the Godhead, just as it does not the Son; no, it even declares Him to be God through these things as well. ^B For since the goods that lead to salvation and are spoken of everywhere are provided through the Holy Spirit to those who were created through the Son, for one thing is bound to another, and for the thing that has been created, to be provided for is more advantageous than to be created, and to be deemed worthy of the flowing multitude of divine gifts from heaven; and everywhere it is held preferable not to have been born, than to have been born and to lack the inexhaustible goods from above. These, even when given, are not seen, just as the Giver Himself also bestows them throughout the ages, and is in a certain way unknown. For eye has not seen them, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into our consideration; nor are they laid open to our cognition. But whatever is high and sublime, whatever is beautiful anywhere, all this we gather together in our mind, so that our faith might at length approach the truth in some way; ^C for where the truth itself, or the precision, is not yet graspable, one must look toward what is possible.

The unerring voice therefore said concerning the one who has become a stranger to these things: "It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." You have therefore already brought yourself into question, and turned upon yourself the accusation you chose to direct against us; and you seemed to differ nothing from those who beat the air, having been led to stitch together some puzzles, and to bring in between, ^D among divine things and discourses, things that are unlearned, the urgency not requiring it, and other material things, and indeed also the opposing, rejected, and all those things you mentioned as if they were suggestions. You are far removed from anyone who has done anything decent or good, and no Christian who has rightly and dispassionately studied the Scriptures, and to whom the brilliance of the grace given by the divine Spirit immediately belonged, would approve of what you have worked out, which is harmful to the soul. For according to your attempt, all Scripture that possesses a demonstration of theology would perhaps be cast out. And come, if these things are not true, [look] at the slander itself—they gave to Ischyras as a reward the name of bishop, he who was not even a presbyter, and he deemed himself worthy of the name of his ministry to the ruin of the Church.

^A Let us consider ^B this gently and moderately. For I myself will show it accurately, not by simple proofs from ambiguous points, but from those that are acknowledged, and I will teach easily, and you will learn. Paul, who possessed a blessed zeal for the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, hotter, as they say, than fire, writes that Christ became a minister. And our Benefactor himself said clearly concerning himself: "I have received a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak," and, "I do nothing of my own self." And it is said elsewhere: "The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." And yet we understand these things to have been written faithfully and in a manner becoming to God, because of the one will of the holy Trinity, and because all things are referred to the Father. As, therefore, no change of divinity is contemplated in the Son (for he does not serve as one foreign in nature to another, nor as one of lesser power, but as Son and Word to the genuine Father; nor does he receive a commandment as one ignorant of what is fitting and of the Father’s will, but as has been said before), so [100 A] also is it with the divine Spirit. And in the same manner by which the things of God the Word are referred to God the Father, so too—and by no other—are the things of the Holy Spirit. So that, whomsoever the heretics have puffed up in their thinking, against them they have stirred up the slander of arrogance and false opinion. Nor did their impious and unbecoming slander stop there. For attempting to muddy the spotless opinion concerning the divinity of the Holy Spirit, as if no good thing came to them from him, and at the same time to cast us into accusation, these very men who used some men as teachers do not hesitate to innovate and say this verbatim: that though we take the scriptural text, "The Spirit blows where it wills," as referring to divine dignity, we bring it down to human nature; since it follows with other things: "So shall everyone be who is born of the Spirit." But they themselves say that they neither elevate the Spirit to divine dignity nor drag him down to the nature of others; for he occupies a middle rank, being neither God nor one of the others. And who will not truly write against them for such boldness? Come, therefore, pay attention to the mind, for I will speak briefly. For he did not say, "Thus is the man," the simple man, but, "So shall everyone be who is born of the Spirit," that is, he who has been deemed worthy to be reborn in the divine font, and to become ^C as... ^D

is manifest in the Catholic, that is, universal, Epistles, a partaker of the divine nature. These words are similar to these: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," and to these other words: "That you may be according to the image of him who created us." And just as the Most High Father and his Son are not, by these holy utterances which transcend our understanding, brought down to the condition of human nature, so neither is the Holy Spirit, by the aforementioned testimonies or by his beneficence toward us, reduced to that condition.

Then—and this is a far worse thing—they think that the Holy Spirit is neither God nor one of the other things. It remains, therefore, that they think him to be devoid of existence. Or, to put it otherwise: if he is not God, as they say, he is subject to the common reason and definition of creatures. But no argument for this is found in the Scriptures, nor have the divine oracles declared him to be of a middle nature; but on the contrary, they say that he is the Spirit of God, and that he proceeds from the Father, and is a divine Spirit. It remains, therefore, that he is God, both from the utterances of Peter and Paul, and from the entire sense of the Scriptures and from the word "proceeds." For since this is indefinite, it most divinely shows his nature to be eternal and inseparable from him, from whom he proceeds in an ^A ineffable manner. And I add this also: if there is nothing else, as they themselves truly say, then he is God. In addition to this, if nothing created is found in one hypostasis, or substance, as was demonstrated in the first book, and the Holy Spirit, as one and alone, belongs to the unity, or monad, of essence, then the heretics are understood to be impostors from the very things they have written.

^B Indeed, he is revealed by Catholic marks to be a partaker of the divine nature. And these things are similar to, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," and to, "That you may become according to the image of him who created us." And as the Most High Father and his Son are not dragged down from these holy and transcendent utterances into human nature, so neither is the Holy Spirit, according to the aforementioned expressions and his philanthropies toward us. Furthermore, it seems to them—which is still worse—that the Holy Spirit is neither God nor one of the other things. It remains that one must think him to be non-existent. And otherwise: if he is not, as they say, God, he is brought under the common classification of creatures. But no such proof is found in the Scriptures, nor has it been oracularly declared that there is a middle nature; on the contrary, he is the Spirit of God, and proceeds from the Father, and is a divine Spirit. It ^C remains that he is God, from the utterances of Peter and Paul, from the entire sense of the Scriptures, and from the word "proceeds." For as it is indefinite, it most divinely indicates the eternal and inseparable nature of him toward that [Father] from whom he proceeds without beginning. And moreover, this too: if he is nothing of the others, as this of theirs is true, he is God. To these things: if nothing created is found in one hypostasis, as was demonstrated in the first book, and the Holy Spirit is in one and only one, that is, of the monad of the essence: as they would therefore be caught, if they were understood from those things which they wrote, even if they seem to be clever at saying what they want, and [it would be] so that not even the crest of arrogance against us might be raised from them; for human boasts are quickly refuted. A wise man has judged regarding each of them thus: "Do not be over-wise, that you may not be amazed." And Stephen in the Acts also rebukes them ^D in this way: "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you." By "their fathers" he meant Arius [and] Macedonius, the destructive dyad. I proceed, therefore, to another chapter.

II. ^B Since the Holy Spirit appointed prophets and apostles so that they might shepherd the rational flock and have care of it, and [since] he sent them by his own authority and caused them to speak as he willed—in no way differing in this from the Father and the Son, inasmuch as he is the Spirit of God by procession, and not by creation, and the genuine Spirit of wisdom and intelligence, having a dominion common with the Ruler of all things, the Father and the Son—the nature of a creature is not of this order. That these things are true, the books of Moses persuade us, which say: "Who shall give ^C all the people to be prophets, when the Lord gives his Spirit upon them?" then the Apostolic Acts, which speak in this manner: "There appeared to them tongues distributed as fire, and it sat upon each one of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to speak;" and again from the blessed Paul: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak to your fathers through the prophet." And again, having summoned the presbyters of Ephesus at Miletus, he says: "Take heed ^D to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has set you as bishops, to shepherd the Church of the Lord, which he acquired through his own blood;" and again: "They passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia: and when they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them." Indeed, as God, foreknowing all things and having his own authority, he did not allow them to speak, nor to travel where they wished, because it was for their advantage; doing the very same thing as the Son, who says: "Do not carry a bag, or a staff, or sandals;" and again the apostles and presbyters say: "It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you nothing further..."

than these things, which are necessary: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and blood, and what has been strangled, and fornication; by keeping yourselves from which, you will do well." Now, no one accepts as valid what has seemed good to a subordinate, but not to the sovereign; but whatever seems good to a king and to those appointed by him, this is law, bringing praise to those who obey, and danger to those who disobey. "For," he says, "disobedience works death, but obedience eternal life." ^A For a king is mightier when he is angry with an inferior.

Just as, therefore, a king is accustomed to transmit his own decrees to the great prefects who hold the place nearest to him, and to whom he has given the reins of those governed, while they are accustomed to sign these ^B and make them known to all, so that all may submit themselves to the things decreed by the king or emperor, and customarily threaten dangers to those who violate such sanctions; so also the apostles, whom God placed first, knowing the self-authority of the Spirit and that He is consubstantial with the Father, wrote: "It has seemed good," they say, "to the Holy Spirit" (as to a King, and Ruler, and Guardian of the race) "and to us," as those who have been set apart to preside over the faith and the Churches. "By keeping yourselves from which, you will do well; but if you violate these precepts," they say, "the opposite will befall you." For they remembered what the Savior had said to them in the Gospel according to Mark: "For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." And so that no one might suppose ^C that the matter which we are now pursuing is of small importance, but rather believe that the will, the command, and the operation are the same for the holy Trinity, and furthermore that the deity is the same; Paul, who first was a student of the Law and a persecutor, and later was revealed as a mystagogue of this very ineffable dispensation, declares that it is harmonious concerning the Father and the Son,

writing to the Corinthians first: “And God has set some in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers”; and elsewhere: “But I say, not I, but the Lord, that a wife should not be separated from her husband.” And to the Galatians: “When it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb, to reveal His Son in me, that I might evangelize Him among the nations”; and elsewhere: “Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who judges our hearts.” And none the less, the Savior also deigned to say to His disciples: “I have chosen you.”

^C III. Because He establishes laws and commands what is fitting for each of His works, as a king making use of a gentle and lawful governance, and bestowing infinite peace upon the whole universe, both heaven and earth, and tempering lordship with care. But it belongs to the nature of the Queen of all things alone to establish laws and to judge; for the creature, it is to live under law and be subject to judgment. For Paul, that vessel of election, defined this, as we have already said, writing: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death.” And the Apostolic Acts, which have it thus: “As Peter was thinking about the word, the Spirit said to him: Behold, three men are looking for you. But arise, go down, and travel with them, doubting nothing; because I have sent them.” And again: “The Spirit said to Philip: Go up and join yourself to this chariot.” And further from the person of the prophet Agabus: “Thus says the Holy Spirit: The man whose this girdle is, so shall they bind.” And Paul: “Behold, now I, bound by the Spirit, journey,” which is similar to that: ^D

^A “Thus says the Holy Spirit: Separate to me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I have called them.” These words are similar to those: “But the Lord said: Go into the city, and there it shall be told to you what you must do.” And again to Peter the Spirit said: “Arise, go into the house of Cornelius.” And indeed, Paul writes to Timothy in the Epistles: “But the Spirit expressly says.” Observe, then, that Paul not only displays the Spirit again through such a word as a lawgiver—for those who have established laws in a worldly manner have also used that word “expressly”—but that other testimonies also demonstrate the equality of the nature of the Holy Spirit with the Father, and His authority. For in like manner it is written in many places concerning God and the Father: “Thus says the Lord Almighty.”

But those heretics, to whom everything that is true exists as a matter of contradiction, conceiving nothing worthy of the divine operation and spending their time on empty fantasies, tenaciously hold onto whatever they catch, and as if they were some sort of antitype, they set these things up in opposition as if they were certain proofs. They say, for instance, that even concerning the angel, Zechariah, when he beheld the vision of the candelabrum, said: “The angel who spoke ^B in me.” Therefore, they suggest that the Holy Spirit can be conceived of as an angel. But their stubbornness is accounted for from that very text. For that angel did not speak from himself, nor was he speaking his own words, but as a minister, he spoke those things which he had been commanded by God and His Spirit. For the passage exists as follows: “And I inquired and said to the angel who was speaking in me, saying: What are these? And the angel who was speaking in me answered and said to me: This is the word of the Lord to Zorobabel, saying: Not by great power, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” Then the Son and the Spirit were called an angel, in the oak of Mamre, when the glorious Trinity appeared to Abraham, because they were announcing things unknown. In addition to which, from the angelic multitude, no one ^C

ever sent holy men by their own authority and proper motion, nor did they make them utter oracles, or establish laws, or say anything at all which they themselves wished. Furthermore, the angels are ignorant of the counsels of the ineffable and benevolent Trinity, nor do they comprehend the power of its divine aid; but they serve its serene nod, and appease it with prayers, with unceasing mouths and an incomprehensible voice. ^B

IV. For with God the Father, His Holy Spirit sends and leads by His own authority; for it is truly a work of philanthropy of the all-wise and most good Trinity, that sending, guidance, and kindness towards all, into the path of a pious life. But of them, the guidance is the same, and the serenity is the same, and the essence is the same. And this obtains the most manifest proof through works. For when God had said to Moses: "I will send My angel before your face, and he shall cast out the Canaanite," ^C that great Moses, knowing full well that angels are creatures, but the Holy Spirit is God, entreated Him, saying: "Unless You Yourself go with us, do not lead me up from here." And when the Almighty answered him in these words: "And this word of yours, which you have spoken, I will do; for you have found grace before Me, and I know you above all," Isaiah, manifesting the identity of the concordant Trinity in one deity, says that the divine Spirit was their leader and guide, in these very words: "Who brought up from the earth the shepherd of the sheep? Where is He who put the Holy Spirit in them? Who led Moses by the right hand?" And not long after he adds: "The Spirit descended from the Lord, and guided them; so You led Your people, to make to Yourself a name of glory." Behold then also this, in that place: that the Scripture did not say that the Holy Spirit was sent, but that He descended authentically and royally. Moreover, being mindful of both divine hypostases, He declares them with equal honor: "And now the Lord has sent Me, and His Spirit." Whence Moses is often found frequently celebrating Him: "The Lord God who goes before your face." And [the people], giving thanks, sang in such a manner: "To Him who led His people in the desert, for His mercy [endures] to the age." And even God the Father, having nothing different in essence ^D and power

his mercy. ^A But God the Father also, showing that there is no difference in essence, power, will, and glory between Himself, the Only-begotten Word, and His one Holy Spirit, says through almost the entire Scripture: "I brought you up out of the land of Egypt. You are witnesses if there was any God alien among you besides me." And He who is of the same nature and will with the most high Father and His Holy Spirit is our kind savior.

CHAPTER X

...against my Spirit, or concerning my Spirit. And I believe that for this reason, and for this sole reason, sparing them, He ordered them to come to Job, that he might pray for them; this was done, I think, on account of the words pertaining to Him which they uttered; for most rightly, I know not how, and most conveniently did they speak: "The divine Spirit that made me, and the breath of the Almighty that teaches me." ^B And in a few words they explained His great power, and His creative nature, and His nature as the bestower of salvation and expeller of evils. But does Eliu ^C stop at this theological utterance? He added many things openly concerning the almighty God the Father, to which nothing can be opposed. For he says: "For He is Eternal who is above mortals." And again: "If there be a thousand death-dealing angels, not one of them shall harm any of them, if he shall have perceived in his heart to turn to the Lord." And again: "He will pray to the Lord, and he shall be accepted by Him." And again: "Save my soul, that it may not depart into corruption, and my life shall see light. Behold, the Strong One works all these things." ^D Therefore, the things he teaches regarding God and His Spirit are right; but those concerning other matters are wrong. For Job, also, when he had called upon the divine Holy Spirit, as was said above, obtained such great praise from God. Consider, therefore, that even if you do not accept the testimony of Eliu, these things are sufficient.

^A who have called the Holy Spirit divine; and that the testimony of even one of them is worthy of faith. For often the demon, wishing to deceive us, mixes with falsehood, as a snare, some truth already known to the one with whom he holds discourse. Indeed, we hear in the Gospel the devil holding discourse with the Lord of all from the divine Scriptures, and intertwining the holy oracles with his own profane reasonings and words, and saying temptingly: “If thou art the Son ^B of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, That he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee.” Moreover, we hear even the demons speaking better things concerning the divinity of the Son than the Arians, who ordained your heresiarch Macedonius, and after Macedonius, Marathonius. “What have we,” they say, “to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the living God? Art thou come hither before the time to torment us?” And James also, showing that faith without works is dead, and vice-versa, that the one cooperates with the other, and from both something perfect is obtained, openly and ^C manifestly declares: “Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder.” Nay, but also the Samaritan woman, whom Christ, who wishes all to be saved, rebuked for the things she had said at the beginning, spoke again afterwards as a believer, and not as a Samaritan; and she was deemed worthy of both praise and mercy. And perhaps many other things of this kind might be found by those who labor more diligently upon these matters. Do you see, therefore, that you, O Macedonian, do not believe even as Eliu did concerning the Holy Spirit; but every prudent thought concerning Him has been poured out from you; and on account of the diminution ^D which you work concerning His divine essence, and your not being a perfect partaker of His grace, does He draw back from you His eternal gifts? But of these things, enough. And now to the

let us proceed to what follows. ^A Likewise, Paul writing in the second Epistle to the Corinthians [105 a]: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which you are.” Consider how he said that the Spirit of God is God dwelling in the temple of man, which he named the temple of God, as elsewhere he says: “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God has said: I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” And as he writes to Timothy: “Keep that good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” And as it is in the Gospel, as has already been said: “In this we know that God is in us, by His Spirit which He has given us.” Indeed, as if from the person of two hypostases, the Scripture says in Isaiah: “I am, and there is no more.” As also the evangelist says from the person of the Son: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and the My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will make ^B our abode with him.” And to the Hebrews: “But Christ as Son over His own house, whose house we are.” And the Psalmist: “But You dwell in the holy places, the praise of Israel.” I think that by saying “holy dwelling place of the uncircumscribed God,” he refers to the entire rational nature of the believers. It is demonstrated, therefore, that the Holy Spirit is not only God, but also equal and like to the Father and to the Son, in every nature of rational creatures called the house of the Savior: “But Christ over His own house, whose house we are.” This house of Christ is the temple of God, in which the Spirit of the same God dwells. ^C In both places, therefore, Didymus omits those words, “as Son.” It is not permitted, however, to infer that the copies of the Scriptures which he used lacked the words “as Son.” For in the commentaries on the Psalms, explaining the title of the ninth psalm, he himself brought forth this passage of Paul and did not omit the words, “as Son.” For these things are read in the handwritten catena on the Psalms, fol. 20, at the title which I mentioned, that is: “Didymus: In many places of the Scripture, the Son is spoken of indefinitely, without adding whose Son He is; while in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul says, ‘Christ as Son over His own house; whose house we are,’ and again: ‘In the last of these days, He spoke to us in the Son.’ And the Savior Himself says in the Gospels concerning Himself: ‘If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be truly free.’ It is clear, then, that He now indicates Him by not adding whose Son He is; and not as the Jews might say of Absalom, who also secretly plotted against his father. For he did not confess him when he died, he who had spoken against his destruction and lamented his death… ^D”

^A even as the man who is the house of the Father also contains within himself the Son and the Spirit of God. Just as, in turn, he who has been deemed worthy of the visitation of the Spirit of the Son possesses, in every respect, the Father as well. And again, in the same second Epistle: [105b] "Know you not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your bodies." By saying that the bodies of the faithful are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and advising them to glorify God in their bodies, he clearly shows that this is the Holy Spirit. And by saying that he is from God, he teaches that he proceeds from him by nature. Which, in turn, also demonstrates that man is the temple of God, and also [possibly] of the Father and the Son. Likewise, in the same second Epistle: "For until this day the same veil remains in the reading of the Old Testament, not taken away (because it is abolished in Christ). But when one returns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit." He has called the Holy Spirit "Lord" so often, as well as the one who bestows liberty to those upon whom he shines, and as having glory in himself. The entire interpretation of the chapter is as follows: The Jewish observances of the Old Testament, he says, still remain for some who do not recognize that they have been abolished or abrogated in Christ, who said, "I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it"—that is, either to conclude it or to supplement what is lacking. But when anyone turns to the Lord and passes from the type to the truth, from the law to grace, according to that saying, "You are not under law but under grace," he casts off that veil which, as it were, [106a] covers him, acting like Moses, who, when he was deemed worthy to converse with the invisible God, took off the veil from his face, which was glorified by the divine manifestation and dazzled the eyes of those looking at him like the rays of the sun. He says here that the Lord is the Holy Spirit. ^B

BOOK TWO OF ON THE TRINITY

...the rational nature of the uncircumscribed God a holy dwelling, I think. Therefore, it has been demonstrated that the Holy Spirit is not only God, but also equal and similar to the Father and the Son, both because man is a temple of the three persons in an equal and similar manner 72, and also because he who is the house of the Father has within himself the Son and the Spirit of God existing; just as, conversely, he who has become worthy of the coming of the Son or the Spirit, has altogether the Father also; and again in the same second Epistle 73: "Do you not know that your bodies 74 are a temple of the Holy Spirit existing in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price. Glorify God, who is in your bodies." After he said that the bodies of the faithful are the temple of the Holy Spirit, he warns that God must be glorified in our bodies, namely, the Holy Spirit. Moreover, by saying that we have him from God, he teaches that he proceeds from God according to his nature 75. This is confirmed again by the fact that man is his temple, equally as he is the temple of the Father and the Son. Similarly, in the same second Epistle: "For until 76 this day the same veil remains in the reading of the Old Testament, not revealed (because 77 it is evacuated in Christ). But when someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We all, however, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord the Spirit." Observe that the Holy Spirit is here frequently called Lord, and him who bestows liberty on those upon whom he shines, and as having glory in himself. The interpretation of the whole chapter is as follows: The Judaic observances of the Old Testament, he says, still remain uncorrected for some who do not know that they have been evacuated, or abrogated, in Christ, who said: "I did not come 78 to destroy the law, but to fulfill," that is, either to put faith in it, or to supply what is wanting. But when anyone has turned to the Lord, and has migrated from the type into the truth, from the law into grace, according to that: "You are not 79 under the law, but under grace;" he casts off that veil which, as if it were a covering, ^{C D}

^A had been a hindrance to the eyes of those who fixed their gaze upon him, striking and dazzling them like the rays of the sun. But he says that the Holy Spirit is the Lord in this place: from whom we, who are His temple, receiving liberty, with face now unveiled, and yielding no longer to the yoke of servitude, behold the glory of the Lord dwelling in us, passing from the glory of the Spirit into the glory of the Father.

But let us proceed to what follows. "If," he says, "all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an unlearned person enters, he is reproved by all, he is judged by all; the secrets of his heart are made manifest: and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that truly God is in you." Therefore, the Holy Spirit, who speaks and works in the prophets and in the saints, and who bestows charisms or gifts, is also clearly called God here. And it is to be noted that He is also worshipped. ^B He sees fit to write similar things to the Romans as well; his words are as follows: "May the God of patience and of hope grant you to be of the same mind one with another, according to Jesus Christ, that with one accord and one mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Who else then is the God who grants us to be of such a mind concerning the Father and His Only-begotten, if not the Holy Spirit? For He alone remains whom we might understand here.

But he writes similarly to the Thessalonians also: "And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the patience of Christ." So that the Holy Spirit is that Lord who directs into the love of God and Father, and into the patience of the Son. And again: "And may the Lord make you to increase ^C and abound in love toward one another, and toward all, as we also do toward you; so as to strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Who therefore is the Lord who makes us increase and strengthens us in holiness before the Father and the Son, if not the Holy Spirit? He exhorts them further, that they should not, out of some petulance or negligence, reject His eternal grace, which is as it were kindled in us, writing these things: "Do not quench the Spirit." And again, making Him God, and declaring Him to be of equal rank and dignity with the Father, and in concord with Him, he says: "He who rejects, does not reject man, but God, who gives his Holy Spirit ^D to us."

But Peter, who held the primacy among the apostles, plainly presenting the Holy Spirit as God and Lord, threatened such a one, saying specifically to a certain man named Ananias: "Why has Satan filled your heart, for you to lie to the Holy Spirit?"

^A Was it not yours while it remained, and after it was sold, was it not in your power? You have not lied to men, but to God." And immediately, addressing Sapphira, the wife of Ananias, he says the following: "Why did you agree together to test the Spirit of the Lord?" ^B This is similar to the words: "You shall not test the Lord your God," and to that which was written by James: "For God is not tempted by evils, and He Himself tests no one." John, moreover, theologizing about the Spirit, as was said above, said: "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth." For just as God is Spirit, and His Holy Spirit is God; and just as God is that which He is also called, that which is His Spirit; so too is the Holy Spirit that very thing which it is, of whom it is the Spirit: that is, the unbegotten God. ^C He says that we ought to worship the Holy Spirit in our whole spirit, without doubt, with truth, and not with lips only and empty words. But if the Macedonians should say that in the...

^D

Concerning the interpretation of the word "to reject."

^A And just as God is, and that which is His Spirit is called, so too is the Holy Spirit that which He is, whose Spirit it is: namely, that He is God without a beginning. The meaning of these words, therefore, is this: We must worship the Holy Spirit with all our spirit, confidently and without hesitation, in truth and not merely with lips and empty words. But if the Macedonians should say that it is indeed said in the brought-forth oracle of Scripture that God is worshipped in the Holy Spirit, but that it is not also said that the Spirit is worshipped, they will be compelled to say that we worship in the Son, but that the Son Himself is not worshipped: for He Himself says, "I am the truth." Nor will there be any difference from this text regarding these blessed hypostases.

^B Isaiah, however, prophesying concerning the Church and those instructed in her in the wisdom of the Spirit, and introducing God as speaking, sets out this list: "Behold, I prepare for you your carbuncle stone, and your foundations as sapphire; and I will set your bulwarks as jasper, and your gates as stones of crystal, and your surrounding wall as choice stones, and all your sons taught of God." The Savior remembered this prophecy in John, saying: "It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught of God." And Paul also writes to the Thessalonians things consistent with these: "For you yourselves are God-taught to love one another." Both speak concerning the Holy Spirit, as the Master says again in John: ^C"He will teach you, and will bring everything to your remembrance." If, therefore, those who are taught by the Holy Spirit are called taught of God, let the reader understand what the Holy Spirit is, hearing also another boasting: "God taught me wisdom," and again: "God taught me from my youth."

The Scripture is also called "God-breathed" and divine, as the Holy Spirit, who breathed it, is God, according to Paul writing to Timothy in the second epistle: "All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable." And Peter again, removing the notion that one ought to think that the Holy Spirit is to be ranked among created things, writes the second epistle generally: "For prophecy was never brought by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." And the Acts of the Apostles also contain the following: "Peter, filled with the Spirit..."

spoke to the people, those things which he spoke. ^A Each of these things, therefore, that are declared in the Scriptures concerning the divine Spirit, is a sufficient proof of his equality in all things with the divinity of God the Father and the Son. But those who hold the view of Macedonius, deeming the simplicity of the Scriptures to be more important, and wishing to show this to be more honorable than our uncorrupted faith, opposing the Holy Spirit, have also written disparagingly [108 a] concerning his indwelling in us, in these very words: "Things which are said allegorically, or denominatively, or metaphorically, or homonymously, ought not to be taken for the accurate explanation of a dogma. ^B For even the temple that was in Jerusalem, made of lifeless matter, was termed 'temple' first; and subsequently, homonymously, human beings also are called temples. And furthermore, a dwelling house is called a 'temple' [naos], derived from the word meaning 'to dwell' [en-nein and enoikein]. For Scripture says: 'Nabuchodonosor was in the temple of the kingdom.' And again, 'If we are men by nature, we are temple by denomination, and not, forsooth, in truth.' And again, 'Since, therefore, we are also called sheep, are we therefore sheep by nature?' And again, 'He who redeemed us is He who died for us; but he who redeems does not redeem what is alien.' ^C They themselves thus, helplessly and senselessly, and in a way that not even those who are capable of reasoning upon even the smallest things would accept them. For they bring into our midst cattle and lifeless buildings to examine the divine utterances concerning the incontestable divinity itself and concerning us, the rational works of His hands; and they play, as it were, with fearful Scriptures and matters, and through these supposedly simple and loose arguments, they call men to their own abyss, like those who entice fish with a little bait. But we, showing from every side that we have taken the greatest care throughout our whole life, as far as it seems to us, to speak nothing at all rashly, nor with hatred against anyone, and that we have avoided reasonable reproach, have come [108 b] to those who are of a sound… ^D [alt-version omitted]

mind and to those like-minded with us, reminding them of what they have heard from the Scriptures; but to others, we persuade them, as far as lies with us, so that they might not hold to this opinion or faith as they presently do for the future. For those who are judged worthy to have dwelling within them the Spirit of God, who fills all things and subsists, are not called His temple by homonymy or synonymy, nor by allegory, nor by metaphor, but properly and in truth. Whence the Apostle, ^B showing that the Holy Spirit is God—not in relation to the Jerusalem temple or those things which the heretics used as examples, but to the faithful—said: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" And to the Hebrews: "We are partakers of the Holy Spirit." For if we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, not as of God, but only on account of the "dwelling" and "inhabiting," then not even when called the temple of God have we been so named as being God's. But God the Father, possessing us as Lord, dwells within us (for a temple is fitting for God alone), and in like manner His only-begotten Son, and His one Holy Spirit. And in the way that God the Father—even if it is not written that He redeemed us with His own blood—is our Lord, so also is His Holy Spirit. For to these things, which are said for the description of the divinity of the Holy Spirit, it follows that the ^C same belief should be held regarding God the Father. Who, then, could be persuaded more rightly by Paul and the other saints than by Macedonius and Arius, who feigned repentance? For if the argument of the saints has any weight with them, how did they escape having set themselves among the adversaries, and why do they not choose to say and think the same things as them? But if to them it seems otherwise than to the others (for this is beyond dispute from what has been shown. For not against walls and creatures in a disdainful and mocking way, as these abusive men do, comparing or judging the rational temple, which is after the image of God, the work of His hands, and the most beautiful of things on earth, to be one and the same with these—using the cited oracles), this is not of Christians, nor of the wise in any way; nor would anyone initially think they ^D were teaching such things in truth. But having truly learned that they hold such an opinion, how would one not think it more prudent to flee from the heretics, and be persuaded by those who are far better—I mean the saints—or, to speak more truly, by those of God Himself? For no one, even if he were entirely inexperienced in the Scriptures, would say that those excellent and glorious men spoke these things from their own opinion alone, but rather through the

voice of God speaking to us, and that they teach other things, too, which are of greater understanding than that of men, and that God himself, and his only-begotten Son, and his one Spirit, dwell within the faithful in like manner and equally and undefiledly. ^A Refuting, therefore, and casting aside their sophistical babblings, and exhorting them not to choose what is harmful because of Arius and Macedonius, ^B he admonishes them in the 104th Psalm: "Do not deal malignantly in my prophets." But enough of those men, who are never and nowhere friends to God, who has bestowed upon men the gift of sharing in the same name: "Do not stir Camarina; for it is better to leave it unmoved." Now that it has been determined that the Holy Spirit is God and that he himself inspired the prophecies, it is time to pass on to Zechariah—not that sickle-bearing prophet, but the father of John, who also professes that he himself, who spoke in the prophets, is the God and Lord of Israel. I shall now set forth the very words which he uttered: ^C "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he has visited and wrought redemption for his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began." And the sacred Psalmist, never departing from dogmatic teaching, agrees with these things, saying in the 84th Psalm: "I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me"; ^D and in the second book of the History of Reigns he expressed of what Lord and God this desirable enthusiasm was, explaining: "The Spirit of the Lord spoke in me, and his Word was upon my tongue." Not accepting these things at the beginning. "And behold, a flying sickle... I see a flying sickle,"

^A

CHAPTER XI: That the Holy Spirit sits upon the cherubic throne and sends forth power. And that Paul knows Him to be the Lord Sabaoth who was seen by Isaiah. And against the Macedonian opinion. And that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. And that heretics deceitfully pervert the divine Scriptures.

Now, with regard to that most accurate psalmist whom I mentioned, who treats all necessary things copiously in the 109th Psalm—a psalm which is entirely spoken from the person of the Father to the Son—the Holy Trinity is honored equally, and the Spirit is announced as the Lord who sends forth power, and who sits together with the Father and the Son, [revealed] more manifest ^B than enigmatically. It has seemed good to me, for a ready demonstration, to transcribe the whole of this sacred passage in order, leaving nothing out of it. It reads as follows: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' The Lord shall send forth a rod of power for you from Sion, and rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the beginning in the day of your power in the splendors of the saints. From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand." If, then, the Father says to the Son, "Sit at my right hand," and, "The Lord ^C shall send forth a rod of power for you," and, "You shall rule over your enemies," and, "The Lord has sworn," and, "The Lord is at your right hand," who is the Lord that sends the rod to Him, and swears, and sits at the right hand of the Son, if not the Holy Spirit? So that we discover the Son to be at the right hand of the Father, while having the Spirit of God at His own right hand. It is necessary to remember that here the Spirit also swears, as one who has no one greater than Himself, just as the Son, who said, "I swear by myself," as was mentioned in the first book. But also in the 60th Psalm [61st in some numbering], the same David appears to announce the Holy Trinity, while singing: "God has spoken once; ^D these two things I have heard." What, then, are these two? He adds: "That the power belongs to God, and to you, O Lord, belongs mercy." For who is the God who said, "That the power belongs to God?" and to whom does He say, "And to you, O Lord, belongs mercy?" And even in the case of Daniel, He says in the judgment concerning Susanna: "God raised up the Holy Spirit upon Daniel," and likewise here...

^A Dei est?», et cui dicit: «Tua, Domine, misericordia?» Indeed, in the case of the judgment of Susanna, it is written: «God raised up the Holy Spirit in Daniel,» and here ^A he has shown that the Holy Spirit is God. For he adds: «And he judged the elders, being filled with the Holy Spirit.» We may also find Elisha, the most excellent among the prophets, deeming the Holy Spirit worthy of being known as God. His request to Elijah, seeking to inherit the Holy Spirit along with the mantle, is formulated thus: «Let the Spirit that is upon thee be doubled upon me.» And he said: «Thou hast hardened [the heart] in asking» (meaning: Thou hast asked for great things). «Nevertheless, if thou seest me when I am taken up, it shall be so for thee; but if thou dost not see ^B it, it shall not be.» He saw him, therefore, and cried out: «My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof!» When, then, ^C he struck the Jordan with the mantle of Elijah, and the water was not parted as it had been with Elijah, seeking his request and the promised gift, he no longer said...

"Where is the double Spirit?" but: "Where is the God of Elijah, the ^A *appho* [the double]?"—thereby revealing to us that the Holy Spirit is God, and teaching at the same time that it is the same thing to say "God" or "Holy Spirit," and vice versa. Now, the word *appho* is a brotherly form of address. And what is it that Ezekiel also prophesies when, the heavens being opened to him, he saw the vision of God and the cherubim? "And when the living creatures stood," he says, "the wheels stood; and when they were lifted up, they were lifted up, because the Spirit of life was in the wheels"; that is to say, He who sits upon the cherubim. And going down a little further, he says: "This is the living creature which I saw under the God of Israel, and I knew that they were the cherubim." Having said above that the Spirit is above the cherubim, he goes down and says that the cherubim and the living creatures are under God, that is, under the Spirit. Behold, therefore, again the Holy Spirit of God, both called God and Spirit of life, and sitting upon the eternal cheriubic throne. ^B We must also make use of this chapter for the Judges, who themselves did not neglect this, but who, above all other things, judged this rightly, to acknowledge and confess the Spirit of God as the powerful Lord and helper. For having spoken concerning Him—that He would go along with Samson and direct him, so that he might show forth a power greater than human nature allows—they did not say afterward that the Spirit, from whom Samson had received all his strength, had departed from him, and that for this cause Samson had become weak, but that the Lord had departed from him. They speak as follows: "The Spirit of the Lord began to go along with Samson," and again: "He leaped upon him," and again: "He turned aside into the vineyard of Thamna, and behold, a lion's whelp met him; and the Spirit of the Lord directed him, and he tore him in pieces as one tears a kid," and again: "They cried out," he says, (the Philistines) "and ran to meet him" (that is, Samson), "and the Spirit of the Lord directed him, and the cords became..."

brac- ^A hiis ejus as tow, when it smells the fire." But when, later, he had put off his strength along with his hair, and had suffered for his own foolishness by excessively loving a foreign woman, Dalida, not as he ought, "He awoke," he says, "from his sleep, and said: I shall go out, and I shall shake myself, and I shall act as I always did. And he did not know that the Lord had departed from him." For Moses, too, having had experience of the power of this Lord, said: "How shall one pursue a thousand, and two move ten thousand, unless the Lord had handed them over, and God had sold them?" ^B And even concerning Him who appeared to Isaiah as King, the Lord Sabaoth, sitting upon a high and lifted-up throne, in a house filled with glory, and being glorified by the seraphim with the thrice-holy voice, the prophet indeed recognized the Father, but John the Son, while Paul in the Acts, because of the identity of the Godhead, declared the all-wise Spirit to be He by these words: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak to your fathers through the prophet Isaiah, saying: Go to this people and say to it, you shall hear with your hearing and you shall not understand," and the rest. But the heretics, following down the path of their initial choice ^C and bringing their own purpose and argument through the midst of chaos, leap also upon this oracle, and as is their habit, contradict it unreasonably, and attempt to bind and fasten impiety to impiety—I mean their second and third remarks to their previous ones—putting forward arguments that there is nothing marvelous or proper to the Godhead to be found in the Spirit on account of Paul saying: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak to your fathers through the prophet Isaiah, saying: Go to this people, and say to it thus and so." For they say that because the same things are often reported as spoken, sometimes from the person of God, sometimes from the person of the prophet or an angel; as when, ^D they say, John speaks of this passage: "These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory," and as the Savior said in Matthew: "Well did Isaiah prophesy, saying: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me," and as Paul said in another chapter: "As David speaks the blessing: Blessed are they whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered"—he did not say, they argue: "As God says through David." And in another place: "And God came to Balaam by night, and said to him: If these men have come to call you, arise and follow...

them: but the word whatever I shall speak to you, that you shall do" ; and after other words: "Arise, go with these men: but yet the word, whatever I shall tell you, that see that you do." They say: He did not say to him "what God said to you," but "whatever I shall tell you." Such are the things, and so far perverse, which they bring forward. But let them not flatter themselves as if they were victors. We, however, fearing lest we might appear to use, as they do, the irony—that is, the dissimulation ^B truly proper to sophists—let us be especially careful, while we refute them, from almost the first syllable, so to speak, to the last, so that we may always have the truth upon our lips. Therefore, that I may turn my speech to you, who are versed in the prophetic discourse and in the divine oracles that have been mentioned, you surely know that Isaiah, by the command of Him who sits upon the eternal throne, prophesied those things which he was ordered to say word for word by Him; for he who prophesies is a prophet of God, not of himself. Therefore, through Isaiah, or by Isaiah (for both amount to the same thing), the powerful voice of Him whom he himself beheld, and whom Paul declares to be the Holy Spirit, was announced at the time when Isaiah truly saw His glory; but he did not speak of this by his own authority, even if it is written somewhere, "Isaiah said," and not, "God the Father, or the Son, or His Spirit said through Isaiah." Nor indeed were the apostles mistaken, who from childhood ^C had been immediately nurtured in the Scriptures and entrusted with the preaching of the new grace, and who, because of the goodness of that Trinity which exists in unity, possessed things which not yet had any other man among mankind possessed. Indeed, that John also understood these things in this way, as having been spoken by the Son of God, and Paul likewise, as having been spoken by the Holy Spirit, is clear even to a blind man, as they say. For those blessed hypostases command, and the nature of angels and of all things obeys. For they preside in a kingly manner, and rule independently, by reason of the unchangeable divinity, in relation to the Father from whom they went forth, and all things are brought back to Him. It holds, therefore, in this; but it is another matter, who would be found fit, to whom these things could more harmoniously or more appropriately seem to be attributed, as having been said by the person of God the Father? And of what condemnation is he not worthy, who dares to corrupt the truth regarding the superior ^D essence, and who wishes to set aside John and Paul, who neither were ignorant, nor concealed, but clearly and plainly proclaimed to all the things concerning Him? And all Scripture has some meaning concerning the Holy Spirit of the great name. next page starts: μονότητος, ήτουν θεότητος, ἐξῃρημένον μὲν καὶ ἀσύντακτον παντελῶς τῶν ὅλων, συ…

^A of unity, or rather of deity, detached indeed and entirely uncoordinated from the totality of things, but co-arranged and consonant with the primal, and creative, and incomparable nature. For what good thing is not always through him, and from him, and furthermore also from the only-begotten Son by the good pleasure of God the Father? When, therefore, the Hymnologist says: "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me"; and the Apostle Paul says: "If ye received the Holy Spirit when ye believed," adding: "Unto what then were ye baptized?"—if not into the Holy Spirit ye were baptized? And the only-begotten God: "It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, he will not come, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father"; and: "But ye shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you"; and God the Father in Haggai: "I am with you, says the Lord Almighty, and my Spirit has stood in the midst of you"—what shall we say they meant by stating this, if not that they were handing down that they have declared the divine nature, and participation in him, and sanctification, and creative power, which cleanses our life, and, as it were, illuminates it, and assists in all things? When, however, God the Father says again: "Woe, children! Ye have taken counsel, but not through me; and made covenants, but not through my Spirit," ^B does he not firmly rebuke the misery and wretchedness of the Arians, the Eunomians, and the Macedonians on account of their heresy? To these we would say that on this account it was written, "These things said Isaiah," and, "As David says," in order that the divine decree might appear, and through what holy one it was proclaimed. Regarding the angel in the case of Balaam, we shall say thus much: that the matters concerning him do not have a meaning similar to the things spoken authoritatively by Paul and John concerning the Holy Spirit or the Son. For the angel who was sent, what God promised he would make known in a future time to Balaam, he announced, but he was not understood to be God, just as the Son and the Holy Spirit were understood to be they who had spoken the things commanded to Isaiah by the one sitting upon the divine throne, and existing in ineffable light and incomparable glory. Hence, therefore, they attempt to show that our matters are trivial, ^C but theirs are solemn and worthy of greater diligence and faith. They work a certain mixture and concord of the divine with created things, and they debase, as they do not know, the divine conceptions of the one who is ever the same. The answer is this. The other is of this kind. Who else could have been seen by Isaiah, to whom these things, which were written by the prophet in the person of God the Father, might seem to be attributed more conveniently or more usefully, as if to him who said them? And with what condemnation shall we say he is worthy, who dares to adulterate the true doctrine concerning the deity, and wishes to defame John and Paul, who certainly neither were ignorant of it, nor concealed it, but on the contrary proclaimed to all, manifestly and evidently, the things that pertain to it? But all Scripture indicates to us the unity or deity of the illustrious Spirit, while it speaks of him in such a way that it separates and severs him from all things whatsoever, and places him in the same order with the primal, and creative, and incomparable nature, and makes him concordant with it. For what good is there that does not always exist through him and from him, just as from the only-begotten Son, with the complacency of God the Father? When, therefore, the hymnologist says: "Thy holy Spirit do not take from me"; and Paul: "If ye received the holy Spirit when ye believed," adding: "In what then were ye baptized?", if indeed ye were not baptized in the holy Spirit; and the only-begotten God: "It is expedient for you that I depart: for if I do not depart, he does not come, the Spirit," namely, "of truth, who proceeds from the Father"; and: "But ye shall receive power, the Holy Spirit ^D coming supernaturally upon you"; and God the Father in Haggai: "With you I am, saith the Lord Almighty: and my Spirit has stood in the midst of you." When, I say, the divine writers say these things, what else shall we say they wished to signify, unless, while they handed these things down, they celebrated the divine nature of the Holy Spirit, and the communication of the same Spirit, and the power of sanctifying, and the creative potency, which cleanses our life, and as it were illuminates it, and assists in all things? When, however, God the Father says again: "Woe, children! ye have made counsel, not through me, and covenants, not through my Spirit," does he not conveniently and aptly rebuke the misery and unhappiness of the Arians, and the Eunomians, and the Macedonians, on account of their heresy? To these things we say it is written: "These things said Isaiah," and, "As David says," that it may appear who is that holy one, through whom the divine oracle was proclaimed. But as to what pertains to the angel,

who at that time was sent, we reply that the things said of him are not similar to those which are properly said by Paul and John concerning the divine Spirit or the Son, but are of another nature. For that angel who was sent at that time announced to Balaam those things which God had promised He would announce in the time to come: but the sacred text nowhere indicates that that angel was God Himself. On the contrary, the Son and the Holy Spirit are said by Scripture to be those who spoke what He who is said to sit upon the divine throne and is in ineffable light and incomparable glory, then commanded to Isaiah. But regarding these matters also, they attempt to show that the things we say are of no value, while those things which they themselves state are more weighty, and deserve more attention and faith. They feign, namely, a certain commixtion and consensus of the divinity with creatures; and they do not understand that, if they apply to the divine Spirit—who ever behaves in the same way toward God the Father—the same marks and characters, they are also diminishing those same marks and characters of God the Father and His only-begotten Son; and they suggest—perhaps—that Isaiah is depicted sitting on the celestial throne and commanding himself: "Go to this people and say to it" those things which he was commanded to say. ^B We, however, are clearly astonished that they do not already perceive the absurdity and weakness of their own assumptions, and do not see how worthy of mockery they are when they think such things about God and pervert those things which are manifest, as if they were difficult to resolve. And we do not think we are in error when we feel this way: for the long-suffering God, showing to those who think as they do that there remains neither a pretext for contradicting nor an argument for defending themselves, said through Ezekiel: "If I am a father, where is my fear? And if I am a Lord, where is my glory?" But let these things be enough thus far.

But let our discourse return to where it diverted. Let us see what Paul says again, writing to the Philippians: "Beware of the concision: for we are the circumcision, who serve the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus." God, therefore, is the Holy Spirit, receiving every sacrifice offered up alongside the Father and the Son, for it is clear that worship is owed to God alone. ^C But the heretical crows, look how they have attempted to damage the divine words through the changing of a single letter! For some of them have made it: "Who serve in the spirit of God," so that the worship might not be shown to be of the Spirit of God, but offered only in spirit to God and the Father. Just as also when Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead dwell in you; He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies, by His Spirit that dwelleth in you," they changed it and made it: "Because of His Spirit dwelling in you," so that He might not be shown as the life-giver and creator. And when he wrote to the Romans: "His eternal power also and divinity," they made it: "divinity"; yet it is the same thing. But nonetheless, because of the narrowing of the [discussions] concerning the great-named Spirit...

^A proofs are provided, those that declare Him to be God through His being called Spirit. And as the prophet Amos says, speaking in the person of the Holy Spirit: “Behold, I am confirming the thunder.” They removed the “I,” so that the voice might not be shown to be of the Holy Spirit, but rather of the Father, or of the prophet. But it is not yet the Father and God, because it immediately contains: “Announcing His Christ to men,” and does not say: “My Christ,” as it says in the Psalm: “I have prepared a lamp for my Christ.” In many places they are seen having deliberately mangled [the text], and from this, they effectively extinguished the accurate discernment of the corrupted passages, as far as they were concerned. And this was not yet the [worst] evil, even though it was a very great evil, if it were not that books thus falsified by them had come even to those who believe correctly, who were unaware of such trickery. ^B

God, therefore, is the Holy Spirit, receiving every sacrifice offered by us, together with the Father and the Son. For it is manifest that service properly so called, or *latreia*, is owed to God alone. But see how the heretical crows have attempted to corrupt the divine words by the change of a single letter: for some of them have made [it]: “We who serve God in spirit,” so that the service, that is to say, the *latreia*, might not be indicated as offered to the Spirit of God, but in spirit to God and the Father alone. So also in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when Paul wrote: “But if ^C His Spirit, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, dwells in you; He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also vivify your mortal bodies through His Spirit dwelling in you,” they changed it, and made [it]: “on account of His Spirit dwelling in you,” so that, forsooth, the life-giving Spirit and Creator might not be denoted. And when he wrote the same to the Romans, “And His eternal power and divinity,” they made [it]: “deity.” It is, however, one and the same: yet they changed it in such a way that the force of the testimonies which are spoken concerning the renowned Spirit might be diminished—those, that is, which are truly circumcised in spirit. But in our manuscript codex, cited by me quite often, it is read: “This harmony of purpose also agrees: We are the circumcision, who serve the Spirit of God, and do not glory in the flesh. For who,” and the rest. ^D

Further, it must be noted that Didymus not rarely reads or interprets one and the same testimony of Scripture in different ways in different places of one and the same work; examples of which can be seen in these very books *On the Trinity*. There would be no reason, therefore, to wonder if in the book *On the Holy Spirit* he had followed one reading, but in these books, composed many years later, after having considered the matter more maturely, he had censured that very reading and followed another.

(2) *Sacrifice*. Hence it is gathered that *thusia* (sacrifice) and *latreia* (service) are the same for Didymus, since he designates both by the word “sacrifice.” See note 31, p. 67.

(3) *Corrupt*. Codex, *loimēsthai*. I read *lumēsthai*.

(4) They will perhaps wonder at this reading, which most at least of the Vulgate editions have, being censured by Didymus, as if it were a corruption by heretics. But it was permitted in Didymus’s age to think what one pleased about the matter. Ambrose, indeed, and Augustine later confirmed by their own suffrage the very thing that was dictated here by Didymus, and had perhaps been read by Ambrose; for both demonstrated the divinity of the Holy Spirit from this passage of Paul, and rejected as spurious that other reading, *pneumati theō* (in spirit God), that is, “in Spirit God.” Ambrose indeed in book 11 *On the Holy Spirit*, chap. 3, wrote these things: “And because he [Paul] knew the Creator Spirit, he teaches that He must be served: ‘Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision: For we are the circumcision, who serve the Spirit of God.’” But if anyone contends concerning the variety of Latin codices, some of which the perfidious have falsified, let him look at the Greek codices, and note that it is written there: *Hoi pneumati Theou latreuontes*, which the Latin translates: “We who serve the Spirit of God.” Therefore, when the same Apostle says that one must serve the Spirit, who asserts that one must serve not the creature, but the Creator; evidently he clearly also shows that the Spirit Himself is the Creator... After Ambrose, however, Augustine in the book to Boniface, chap. 7, num. 22, mentions this variety of readings without rejecting any of them. “For from which place (he says) he began to say these things, he began thus: ‘Beware of dogs... For we are the circumcision, who serve God in spirit; or, as some codices have, who serve the Spirit of God,’ or, ‘serve the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on the flesh.’” But in chap. 7 of the book *On the Trinity*, some years earlier he had written these things, num. 13: “Similarly also testimonies have been collected concerning the Holy Spirit, which they who disputed these things more abundantly before us have used (does Augustine look to Didymus here too?), because He Himself is God, and not a creature...” But it is most clear from that place that the Holy Spirit is not a creature, where we are bid not to serve the creature, but the Creator: not in the way in which we are bid through charity to serve one another, which is in Greek *douleuein*, but in the way in which only God is served, which is in Greek *latreuein*... Furthermore, if to serve the creature with such service is forbidden..., then the Holy Spirit is certainly not a creature, to whom such service is offered by all the saints, the Apostle saying: “For we are the circumcision, serving the Spirit of God,” which is in Greek *latreuontes*. For many codices, even Latin ones, have thus: “We who serve the Spirit of God”: but all the Greeks, or almost all. In some Latin exemplars, however, we do not find “we serve the Spirit of God,” but “we serve God in spirit.” But they who err in this, and refuse to yield to more weighty authority, do they not also find that variation in the codices: “Do you not know that your bodies…,” and the rest. p. 180.

(5) *If*. Rom. 1, 20.

(6) *Eternal*. Rom. 1, 20.

(7) *Diminished*. These, if I am not mistaken, are Didymus’s thoughts: Catholics prove that the Holy Spirit is God from those places of Scripture in which He is Himself called “divine Spirit.” (See following 56 a and b). For in the same manner Paul calls even God the Father “divine,” when he names His “divinity,” Rom. 1, 20; for he speaks there of God the Father. The heretics, therefore, in order to weaken this reasoning of the Catholics, in this passage of Paul expunged the word *theiotēs* (divinity) and for it they wrote and read *theotēs*, that is, “deity.” Didymus himself, however, or certainly the copyist, p. 73, reads *theotēs*. It occurs to me furthermore that Didymus, perhaps, in Paul’s words “virtue,” intends the Son, who in 1 Cor. 1, 24 is called “virtue” of the Father; but by the word “divinity” [he intends] the “divine” Spirit.

that God is shown by the fact that He is called "divine Spirit" in the Scriptures. And since the prophet Amos (8) said in the person of the Holy Spirit, "Behold I (9) am He that strengthens the thunder," they cut off the word "I" (10), so that the words might not be seen to be those of the Holy Spirit, but of the Father or the prophet. But the Father and God is not introduced as speaking there; for it is added immediately: "Announcing his Christ among men;" and it is not, however, said, "my Christ;" just as it is read in the Psalm: "I have prepared (11) a lamp for my Christ." But that they ^B sinned deliberately in many things appears even from this, and that they corrupted the accurate and genuine interpretation of the adulterated passages, as much as lay within them. And this would not yet be grave, although it is of the utmost gravity, had not the books so adulterated by them come into the hands of orthodox men, who could not detect and divine such fraud.

CAP. XII.

But let what has been said thus far suffice, lest the discourse be led into too long a digression. Let us return again to the munificent deity of the Holy Spirit, the giver of great gifts. The Holy Spirit, therefore, renews us in baptism as God, together with the Father and the Son, and brings us from an unlovely state back up to our former beauty, and fills us with His own grace, so that we can no longer contain anything that is undesirable; and He frees us from sin and from death; and from things of the earth—that is, from earth and ashes—He makes us spiritual, and participants of divine glory, and children and heirs of God and the Father, and conformed to the image of the Son, and co-heirs with Him, and brothers to be glorified and to reign together with Him; and in place of the earth He gives back the heaven, and freely bestows paradise; and He makes us already more honorable than the angels. ^C

Cap. XII. Concerning the fact that the Holy Spirit renews us by baptism; and how He frees us as Master, and makes us partakers of divine glory, and children and heirs of the Father; and the rest. And concerning the fact that baptism is unavailing for those who do not believe that the Spirit is God; and that one is the glory of the sun, and another that of the moon, and another that of the stars.

But these things suffice to this extent, so that the discourse may not be thrown into confusion. Let us return again to the munificent deity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, therefore, renews us in baptism, as God, together with the Father and the Son, and from an unlovely state raises us up to our former beauty, and fills us with His own grace, so that we can no longer contain anything of the undesirable; and He frees [us] from sin and death; and from earthly things, that is, from earth and ash, He makes [us] spiritual, and partakers of divine glory, and children and heirs of God and the Father, and conformed to the image of the Son, and His co-heirs, and brothers to be glorified and to reign together with Him; and instead of the earth, He again bestows the heaven, and freely grants [us] paradise; and already makes [us] more honorable than the angels; ^D into the life from the beginning, the [gift] of the Holy Spirit, the restoration into paradise; the ascent into the kingdom of heaven; the [return] into adoption of children.

^A And with the divine streams of the font, it quenches such an unquenchable flame of hell. For there are two births for men: one from our body, and the other from the divine Spirit. Concerning these, dogmatic men have written appropriately; I shall write down the name of each and the account itself. John: “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” As many, he says, as believed in Christ, received the power to become children of God, that is, [children] of the Holy Spirit, and to acquire a kinship with God, ^B of which the angels were not deemed worthy. For, showing that God who generates is the Holy Spirit, he brought forward from Christ: “Amen, amen, I say unto thee, unless one be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee: You must be born from above. The Spirit breathes where he wills; and you hear his voice, but you know not whence he comes, and whither he goes. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” By saying, “Unless one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” and, “You must be born from above,” he signaled that, even if they have believed in the name of the Father and the Son, and ^C furthermore [have been baptized] by them in this matter, he dissented from them in this place, and in his commentaries on the Psalms, on verse 8 of Psalm 16, where he speaks of the impious who are unwilling to repent: “The eternal fire shall consume them.” And, lest anyone be able to reply that the name of “flame” or “fire” is not taken by him properly, he himself calls that fire an element different from the earth. For he wrote this on the Psalm: “Sinners and the wicked shall then fail, not simply from the universe, but from the earth, so that they no longer dwell upon the earth, but shall be surrendered to another element different from the earth; for they shall be handed over entirely to the eternal fire.” ^D

^A If they have been baptized, yet have not believed equally and similarly in the very deity of the Holy Spirit, and have not been baptized into His name, they cannot attain the kingdom of heaven, inasmuch as they do not possess the perfection of baptism; and they have received the three immersions in vain, because, by changing the equality of the Trinity in the doxology after baptism, they have subverted it and transgressed their own professions. But since they have violated their own confessions, they hear from the saints those things which were spoken by the Prophet in Psalm LXXX: “The enemies of the Lord have lied to Him”; and by the Son, as it is read in Psalm XVII: “Strange children have lied unto me”; and in Psalm C: “I have hated them that work iniquities; a crooked heart hath not cleaved to me”; and by the Holy Spirit, as it was written to the Romans: “I have begotten and exalted sons, but they have rejected me.” The Spirit of God also makes Himself heard in Psalm LXV: “In the multitude of thy power, thy enemies shall lie unto thee.”

He said, “One must be born of water,” because the washing away of the filth of the body in baptism is a sign of those who are being recreated by the Holy Spirit. For visibly, our visible body is brought forth by the font, with ^B priests ministering; but spiritually, both body and soul are baptized by the Spirit of God—who is invisible to all intelligences—into Himself, with angels ministering. Consequently, to the statement, “Of water and the Spirit,” He added concerning Christ: “He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.” For if the earthen vessel of the human frame requires first the cleansing from water, then also the renewal of the Spirit, so that the body and soul alike may be regenerated by the invisible power of God, while the physical font and the human priests serve as the outward sign, then the Spirit of God, being invisible to all mental perception, ^C baptizes into Himself—and that is the true regeneration. For indeed, the Baptist was historical, and following the statement, “Of water and the Spirit,” he said concerning Christ, “He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.” For because the earthen vessel...

^A of man is, it needs first the purifying water, and then also the intelligible fire that makes it solid (for God is a consuming fire), and in this way, the Holy Spirit who makes it whole and renews it; since it knows that the spiritual fire also irrigates, and the water also refines. Proof of this is Paul writing to the Corinthians in the second epistle: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” And by saying, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” he taught in brief that the man who has not attained baptism is carnal, that is to say, deprived of heavenly light (for it is clear that flesh is understood as long as it lives with its own soul); but he who has been baptized is spiritual, that is, a participant in immortal life. And by saying, “The Spirit blows where it wishes,” he reveals His own free will and omnipotence. And by saying, ^B “And you hear His voice, but you do not know from where He comes and where He goes,” he signifies that He was not discoursing at that time to Nicodemus alone, but was also accusing Arius, Eunomius, and Macedonius, who hear the voice of the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures and do not know how He comes—proceeding without beginning from the Father, being always present everywhere—and goes to Him, as His Spirit, existing inseparable in deity; for He proceeded ineffably from Him by nature, and has turned back toward Him. And He has His procession from the Father, as proceeding from Him, but He has his only ^C progression into the Father, as existing as one and the same with Him; He turns back to the One who begat Him, having proceeded, as being of one and the same substance, and unable to exist outside of the co-existence of the Father. And by saying, “So is everyone who is born of the Spirit,” he teaches that the Spirit of God gives birth to the spiritual, and he is called spiritual from that state, just as one born of a man is called a man. The Psalmist surely exclaims to such a one: “Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s,” and, “Blessed are they whose iniquities ^D are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” And Paul, too, confirming that...

^A the Spirit regenerates those who are enlightened note: see facsimile for original-script column if applicable; however, following the provided instructions to bridge the PG layout:, and that they possess the name of God by nature, wrote to Titus, as was said above: “Having saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” And to the Romans: “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” And to Timothy, in the second Epistle: “For God has not given us a spirit of bondage, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” That he is speaking about the Holy Spirit is evident also from his saying: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you received the Spirit of adoption.” For since we already possessed our own spirit, we also received that of God. This is clear also from his adding, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit.” See then how ^B paradoxically he declares the Holy Spirit to be Lord. For he who is not a slave is free, and he who sets free is established as Lord; for no one gives to another what he does not himself possess. And He who leads to adoption and inheritance is God, having a communion of essence and dominion with Him, whose adoption and inheritance He deems us worthy. He writes of heirs—Christ, indeed, as Son by nature; but us, as those rendered worthy of the inheritance by His goodness; and joint-heirs with Christ, on account of His ineffable Incarnation. And He cries out in us, in our stead: “Abba,” which is “Father,” since we are neither genuine sons, as He is the genuine Spirit, nor are we otherwise bold enough to utter such a word. For who could come before the great God, Or could a mortal, by nature, utter any word

about those who have been baptized in the Epistle to the Galatians ^A he says: "No longer are you a slave, but a son; and if a son, then also an heir of God through Christ." And to the Corinthians he writes the same: "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." Observe, therefore, from these words as well, that redemption, and sanctification, and justification are not provided without the name of the divine Spirit.

And again in the Acts, he asked, it is said, certain disciples, saying: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And when they replied, "But we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit," he said: "Into what then were you baptized?"—as if it were of no profit to have obtained [baptism] without also believing and being baptized equally into the Holy Spirit, as they had believed into the Father and the Son. ^B Furthermore, the Acts report that baptism is unprofitable without the arrival and sanctification of the divine Spirit, in such terms as these: "Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, having come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For it had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." For the fact that they had "only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus," and the fact that they subsequently received the Spirit, indicates that it was not only that the knowledge of God concerning the Spirit was lacking to them, ^C but also that the Father and God is present, and is mentioned, and works together with the Son and with the Spirit, even if at times He is not specifically named; or, conversely, even if the Son or the Spirit is passed over in words—though not in faith—each person is present, is mentioned, and saves together with God and the Father.

And again: "And being assembled together, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me: for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." And again, from the person of Peter regarding those who were baptized in Caesarea: "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as upon us at the beginning; and I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said: John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized ^D with the Holy Spirit." Those, therefore, who are baptized in the naked name of the Holy Spirit, and not as in the name of God and the Spirit of God—the Spirit being by nature His—are baptized...

as if washing in mere water, and have a vain and useless hope. ^A For when we are immersed in the pool, by the good pleasure of God and the Father, we are stripped, by the grace of His Spirit, of our sins, putting off the old man, and by His kingly power we are regenerated and sealed. But when we ascend from it, we are clothed with the Saviour Christ as an incorruptible garment, and one worthy of equal honor as He who regenerated and sealed us, the Holy Spirit: "As many," says the Scripture, "as were baptized into Christ, did put on Christ," and we receive the image and likeness of God, which had been written and which we had received through the divine inbreathing, and had lost through sin. And again we are found, as we were in the first-fashioned man, without sin and possessed of our own proper power. ^B These things, as is fitting, harmonize with the Scripture of Paul concerning those who are baptized: "That..."

It may be said, in a Catholic sense, if I am not mistaken, that the image and likeness of God was lost by man through original sin. The truth or falsity of this statement depends, of course, upon the sense in which those words "image" and "likeness" are taken. For if anyone, for example, were to state that the notion of that image consisted in this, that the soul is immortal, and then were to add that man had lost the image of God through sin, he would without doubt be a heretic. But the matter would be otherwise if he thought it consisted in original justice, or sanctifying grace, or some other similar thing. ^C Hence it happens that other Fathers also have affirmed the very thing that Didymus has. Tertullian, in his book *De baptismo*, cap. 5, says: "Thus is man restored to God after His likeness, who had formerly been after the image of God. The image is considered in form, the likeness in eternity. For he receives that Spirit of God which he had then received from His inbreathing, but had later lost through sin." The author of the homily which has the title, "That man cast away the image of God through sin," thinks the same thing. The same is taught by those Fathers who wish the notion of His image to be situated in virtue. The same is held by Augustine in book vi of *De Genesi ad litteram*, chapters 27 and 28. Nor does he say in his *Retractationes*, cap. 24, that what he had written there was entirely false, and much less heretical. "In the sixth book," he says, "what I said, that 'Adam lost the image of God, according to which he was made, by sin,' is not to be understood as if none remained in him, but that it was so deformed that it needed reformation. Therefore, the image of God, which is to be called such, is not to be found in the retention, contemplation, or love of the faith, which will not always exist, but in that which will always exist." ^D Moreover, Jerome himself, in his *Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians*, book 1, cap. 2, page 582 (Verona ed.), taught the same things as Didymus does in this place. "He adapts it," he says, "to his own understanding, so that he says man was made according to the image and likeness of God, and was to receive after reconciliation the same form which the angels have now, and which he himself had lost." Rufinus reproaches Jerome with this passage in book 1 *against Jerome himself*, num. 39. Finally, St. Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in book 11, tract 19, speaks in almost the same way as Didymus. ...Marcion, cap. 5: "It was fitting," he says, "that the image and likeness of God be established in free will and its own power, in which this very thing, the image and likeness of God, might be reckoned—that is, the freedom and power of the will." But in what sense those things which Didymus teaches here are to be understood, those who [know] Augustine concerning...

the doctrine of grace and free will, recognize as confirmed by the judgment of the Catholic Church. The free will of Adam was indeed wounded by sin, but not destroyed, nor as it were dead; yet it remained alive in such a way that even in the baptized themselves it is still weak, and destitute of those "perfect powers," as Augustine himself speaks, which it had "in the protoplast," that is, in Adam, before sin. For to those already baptized (he says in *Opere imperfecto contra Julianum*, lib. I, cap. 8), "And to them who had already received the Holy Spirit, the Apostle said: 'The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.' Where are you, who deny that free will has lost its own powers by sinning, that is, by using itself ill?" and the rest that follows. We must therefore understand that by baptism we are made in such a way that we are freed from that servitude of which the Scriptures and the Fathers speak. For as Ambrose says (*Epist.* 42, no. 1): "He had reduced the human race into perpetual captivity of a shameful inheritance by a heavy debt, which the indebted author had transmitted to his descendants by a shackled succession." But that which Didymus says, that those who are baptized and sealed by the Holy Spirit become "devoid of sin," is certain. Yet this is employed in another sense, and after the death of Didymus was taught in a perverse sense by Pelagius. Refuting his opinion, Jerome (*lib. I contra Pelagianos*, no. 7) says: "I say that a man can be without fault (absque vitio), that is, I deny that he can be without sin (sine peccato)." And no. 8: "But what is written, 'And the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin,' is to be understood as much in the confession of baptism as in the clemency of repentance."

^A and this is what that image and likeness signifies: so that what Paul writes concerning ^B baptism fits here: "That you may be [67] according to the image of Him who created you"; and, "As [68] we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." And this same thing will be persuaded to us, besides, from that which the same Apostle writes; to the Romans indeed: "Whom He foreknew [69], and predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren"; but to the Ephesians: "And when [70] we were dead in sins, He made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up, and made us sit together in the heavenly places." Who, or when, granted these things? The Father, and at the same time we are renewed by His Holy Spirit: for just as at first we were created by the blessed Trinity, according to that, "Let us make [71] man," so in the second place we are saved by the same: that we may equally glorify the Trinity. But no one who was not regenerated by the Spirit of God in baptism, and sealed with sanctification, and made His temple, has attained heavenly goods, even if his remaining life were found blameless. But even those who obtained martyrdom before baptism, having been washed by their own blood [72], were thus made alive by the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore, joining exhortation with testimony, the holy writer cries out: "Approach [73] Him, and be enlightened [74], and your faces shall not be ashamed." For the true light, and the cause of sensory light, and the glory shining everywhere is the venerable Spirit, by which he also chants again: "For Your commands are light upon the earth." Concerning this he also teaches in the 28th Psalm: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundered; the Lord is upon many waters"; and ^C indeed, that which is written in the Psalm: "The voice of Thy thunder is in the wheel. Thy lightnings enlightened the world..."

^D Assuredly, not even a baptized person can avoid all venial sins. That Didymus was not alien to this doctrine seems gathered from those things which he dictated on verse 17, chapter IV of Job (p. 233 of the *Catena* on Job, compiled by Nicetas), even though he does not speak of the baptized: "Do not say," he says, "that this renders you subject to no sin; since it is impossible for a man's life to demand the perfect norm of the Law." That is: For it happens through the infirmity of nature that we fall into sins sometimes voluntarily, but often even involuntarily. And on verse 15 of chapter X (p. 255 of the same *catena*): "For some sins happen from the liberty of our will; to which punishment accompanies: but others flow from parents, to which purgation is due."

^A of the earth. Concerning this matter, he teaches also in Psalm XXVII: "The Voice of the Lord (76) upon the waters, the God of glory (that is, of brightness) thundered: the Lord upon many waters;" and in the LXXVI Psalm: "The voice of thy thunder (77) is in the wheel. Thy lightnings shone (78) to the world: the earth saw and was moved." For by waters he signifies baptism, in which it is done by the priests—as the same Psalmist sings, "much operation" (79)—but by the thunder, he indicates the grace of baptism reaching everywhere (80) and being received with fear; by the wheel, indeed, a life that is unstable and wondrously varied; by the lightnings, the spiritual beauty (81) which those who are illuminated—that is, the baptized—possess before God; and finally, by the commotion of the earth, he declares the prompt movement of humanity into the knowledge of God. But when, after the incarnation, the Lord was baptized, when He was killing the dragon (82) existing in the waters (83), and catching the Jordan in its mouth, as Job narrates enigmatically; while He was washing away our filth and forgiving the old sin (84), and causing us to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, and at the same time teaching everyone that rebirth is salvation for men—the Holy Spirit was present, as was the Father. For the one was testifying from the heavens ^B to the world: the earth was moved and became trembling, His lightnings to the world: He saw and was moved.

77. "Doing work in waters." For we ourselves, by transgression, brought this painful life upon ourselves.

...redemption were saved from the paternal... the heads of the dragons and [of the dragon] upon the water the Savior shattered. And further, "against which the dragons work, and their" as it is written, "exarch, ruling in the waters and dwelling in the sea."

^C ...Norisii pg. 823. Although I do not sufficiently see how the Catholic doctrine of original sin is reconciled with the doctrine of the pre-existence of souls and ancient falls admitted by Origen, who says that things passed in the heavens and ancient faults are loosed in baptism, as Jerome speaks of him at the end of the *Dialogues against the Pelagians*. But let us dismiss Origen. Our Didymus indicates this dogma quite often, as also a little before, and in segment ^D ... if he himself had been thought subject to that sin, to which all who derive their origin from Adam are subject by succession. I wonder, therefore, that Jacob Basnage ... wrote these things: "Didymus seems to have denied original sin in the book *Against the Manichæans*." But Basnage relies on no other reasoning than this: that indeed Didymus explains those words of Paul, "by nature children of wrath," in such a way that *physei*, or "by nature," is the same as "truly." But our theologian embraced that interpretation for no other reason than to oppose himself more validly to the Manichæans, who abused the text of Paul and maintained that nature "in itself" is evil, while he taught that no one is evil by nature, but that one becomes evil from the change of free will.

^A And over every enemy power to walk, and to trample upon all these things he was making us do; and while he was simultaneously teaching everyone, he was present to show that the regeneration was for men, the Holy Spirit being present as well as the Father: for He was testifying from the heavens to His own Son, and was bearing witness that He was the true and genuine Son; but the Holy Spirit, when the heavens were opened to Him as to a King, and as to One higher than the nature of angels, descending remained upon the Son of God. For the Scripture says: "Behold (86), the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove." ^B Consider, therefore, and understand what the Holy Spirit is, seeing that He causes us, His own temple, to sit with the most high God, and to be glorified with Them, and to reign with Them, even while He remains upon the Only-begotten God; and whether the heretics speak piously when they claim that he does not sit with Him, and is not worshipped with Him, and does not reign with the God and Father. But let not the Holy Spirit of God be thought to sit with, and be glorified with, and reign with God in the same way as we, the created, who, in such a void of good works, hope for such great things; but rather as His Spirit, and as God and King by nature, and as One eternally sitting with Him, and as existing full of unpolluted glory. For the created shall be deemed worthy of these things by grace after the resurrection, enjoying the goods of the kingdom, yet not being kings themselves. For the Scripture knows there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and stars, and that there is a different glory of these again. "For star," it says, "differs from star in glory." And the eye of the body is more honorable than the other members; yet it is still a body. So we, having been renewed, enjoy the divine intimacy to the extent that the power of our nature allows, as some say: ^C How much the mortal race could be made equal to God.

And Peter, exalting baptism, as it is the Holy Spirit who recreates us, being God, proclaimed this catholic—that is to say, universal—preaching through his first Epistle, stating this: "Born again, not of corruptible seed..."

not from corruptible, but from incorruptible seed, by the word of the living and abiding God.” For he feared him who commanded in the Gospel according to Mark: “Go ^A into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” And what is that preaching? “Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Which Paul also observing, wrote: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” This spiritual communion the Catholic Epistles had also previously named thus: “That you may become partakers of the divine nature.” But who are they who do not believe, and are for this reason condemned? Those who do not observe this equality of honor due to the holy Trinity. To whom again it was proclaimed through Paul in the Epistle to the Galatians: “There are some ^B who trouble you, and want to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you other than what you have received, let him be accursed. And again I say: If anyone preaches a gospel to you other than what you have received, let him be accursed.” While he forbids transgressing the tradition, he understands the divinely ordained commandment previously mentioned there, not the tradition of the Arians, and Eunomians, and Macedonians, who received these designations from those whose opinion they follow to such an extent that, despising divine preachings, they hold their garrulity and trifles as law, and refuse to hear others at all.

Whatever the counsels of the immortal God manifest, Do thou, being mortal, hold most securely; Nor, being deceived in mind by guileful men, Draw upon thyself the unrestrainable wrath of the immortal divinity.

CHAPTER XIII. Concerning those who, in order to debase the Spirit, bring forward the passage: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit.

These men, however, catching at mere words ^C and diminishing what is said concerning the Holy Spirit to their own destruction, say: Is water therefore equal [to the Holy Spirit]? For when he writes: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit,” then he declares the water to be equal [to the Spirit]. But you, being mortal, hold most securely that the counsels of the immortal God manifest, nor let your mind be deceived by guileful men, drawing upon yourself the uncontainable wrath of the immortal God.

^A For it is written: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit.” But to accuse this is to accuse themselves, as if they were taking issue with Christ, who spoke these things well, and to slander Him in a way that not even Momus could slander. Yet this is unbecoming of Christians. For the holy Trinity is not mentioned in a manner of ordering together with water; rather, as the discourse has rendered it, and as elsewhere mortal things are mentioned alongside the immortal God. For it is written: “I have sinned against heaven and before thee,” and again: “The people believed God and Moses his servant,” and again: “All the people feared God and Samuel,” and again: “And there was a sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” And the contemplation that is to be woven together with these is timely and worthy of the right faith. ^B For if, according to Paul, we are baptized into the death of Christ, and into Christ, then water is rightly joined with the Spirit. For from the side of the Savior water and blood flowed together, as the spear and the soldier know. In addition to this, if, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a following spiritual Rock; the Rock was Christ;” and again: “And all were made to drink of one Spirit.” To the Hebrews, however, it is said: “For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God”—(the Holy Spirit is here spoken of as the word of God the Father)—that Christ and the Holy Spirit should be firmly fixed in the water; and Christ and the Holy Spirit are never seen ^C in any man without the baptismal water. Where, therefore, the divine mystery is ordained as concerning the Son of God, so also concerning the divine Spirit, and both blessed and self-perfect hypostases have received equal testimony; how is it not an abundance that these are proofs of their consubstantiality? I therefore think that for this reason He changed water into wine, and into that which was better than wine, and provided joy for the marriage feast; as He wished to teach, in a manner not immediately manifest, that He also transformed water into the immortal use of baptism, and through baptism filled up what was lacking in faith for men, along with the divine Spirit, in harmony with God and Father. For the shadow of the divine... ^D

[...and] transferred water even to the immortal use of baptism, and supplied that which was lacking to the faith of men, through baptism together with the divine Spirit, and in concord with God and the Father. For the righteous, with great labor, scarcely attained the shadow of this divine baptism, which has been granted to us through the advent and manifestation of the Son, and of the Spirit of God, for the acknowledgment of these immortal hypostases. ^A For the pool is the workshop of the Trinity for the salvation of all faithful men; and it delivers those who are washed therein from the bite of the serpent, and becomes a mother to all through the Holy Spirit, remaining a virgin. For in it, as has been said, we receive all the gifts of distribution, and there the graces of paradise are sealed and subscribed; and He who made it takes our soul as a bride unto Himself, according to Paul, who writes: "I betrothed you to one husband, to present a pure virgin to Christ." But why should I not briefly say what is greater and more sublime in it? He whom the angels in heaven do not dare to call Father, we learn to call Father on earth without any trepidation. And this is that which is sung in the twenty-sixth Psalm: "My father and my mother have forsaken me" (for, he says, Adam and Eve did not remain immortal); "but the Lord has taken me up." And he says: "He gave me the pool as a mother, the Most High as a Father, and the Savior who was baptized for our sake as a brother." Now, therefore, I know that I am truly born and saved at the same time, when I no longer hear: "Weep for the dead, for the light has failed," ^B but rather the desirable voice: "Come, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," anointing, washing, and clothing each one entirely with myself, and nourishing [you] with my body and my blood.

CHAPTER XIV.

Now, truly, the time has come for the discourse, while I collect some of the testimonies of the Scripture which are proper to the divine Spirit and the immortal baptism, to write concerning them, as I am able, taking them also from the Old Testament. But I will begin a little further back. The indivisible and ineffable Trinity, foreseeing from eternity the instability and fragility of the human race, while it produced the humid substance from nothing, prepared for men a remedy and healing to be obtained through the waters. Therefore, it is manifest that the Holy Spirit, when He was borne over the waters, sanctified them ^D from that time, and rendered them life-giving. For it is evident to all, as also that which lies above the underlying, [is...]

^A tends to seize upon its quality. Whence, without distinction, in any water—and even in the sea, should a sudden necessity arise—baptism is performed, inasmuch as the nature of waters is one and the same, and all has been sanctified. But how the salt water of the sea is found to be of the same single genus of waters, another treatise, God helping, will demonstrate. It is sufficient, however, for the chapter now under consideration to mention the cosmographer Moses, who interprets it word for word thus: “And the Spirit of the Lord was borne over the waters,” and the spirit-bearer David, who sings: “The Lord is over many waters.” This is also clearly indicated by the fact that the Holy Spirit was present over the streams of the Jordan when the Lord was baptized, and remained upon Him ^B at that time in the form of a dove. For this creature is pure and free of bile. “Become,” he says, “pure as the doves.” And if, from the sum of the letters collected from the name of the bird mentioned, some support must be derived for this argument, it also indicates in some way the uncircumscribed nature of the Holy Spirit. ^{C D}

for the word περιστερά (which designates the dove) has the value of eight hundred and one ^A: which number is signified by alpha and omega; for these two elements are the beginning and the end of all elements. Furthermore, the flood, which purged the world of ancient iniquity ^B, mystically and occultly foreshadowed the cleansing of sins to be accomplished in a manner by the divine pool. And the ark itself, which saved those who were admitted into it, was an image of the venerable Church, and of the good hope that is ours from it. And the dove, which brought an olive branch into the ark and signaled the uncovering of the earth, signified the descent of the Holy Spirit and the reconciliation from above; for the olive is a symbol of peace. But the Red Sea also, having received the Israelites—who were neither hesitant ^C nor believed in uncertainty—and having delivered them from the evils that hung over them in Egypt from Pharaoh and his army, and the whole matter of their journey from Egypt, was a type of the salvation in baptism. For Egypt signified the world, in which, not living well, we do evil; the people signified those who are now enlightened; and the waters, mediating safety for the people, ^D [represented the baptism].

GOD RESPONDED WITH TWENTY-ONE VERSES, OF WHICH THIS IS THE BEGINNING:

^A Montfaucon deservedly calls this most distinguished codex by this name in his *Diarium Italicum*, saying that it was written in the sixth or seventh century: but in truth, were I not deterred by the authority of such a great man, I would judge it to have been written in the fifth century: for those punctuation marks which Isidore of Seville mentions do not appear there, but only a small stroke placed above, which the reader has observed in the specimen above. Since this is the case, who would be surprised that the scribe of the Passioneiani codex also fell into errors of this kind? Especially since one may conjecture that this work was transcribed by him from very ancient parchments, as I shall say in the notes to segment 139b.

^B The value of the word περιστερά: the first letter has the value of 80, the second 5, and so on: so that finally the sum is produced of eight hundred and one: which number coalesces from the two same elements, alpha and omega, taken together. Didymus, however, seems to have taken these things from Irenaeus, who, nevertheless, did not write them of his own accord, but from the opinion of the delirious heretics. In the first chapter of the first book: "Whom," he says, "when he came to baptism, the descent of the dove clearly showed, which is indeed omega and alpha. For its number is one and eight hundred (in Greek: ὀκτακόσια καὶ ἕν)." In the following chapter: "In the same way Christ is of seven letters... and by this reasoning he calls himself alpha and omega, so that he may indicate the dove (περιστεράν): for this bird has this number." And after Irenaeus, Tertullian in his book *De praescriptionibus haereticorum*, chapter 50: "A certain Marcus," he says, "and Colarbasus, composing a new heresy from the Greek alphabet... for this reason Christ said: 'I am alpha and omega.' Finally, that Jesus Christ descended, that is, that the dove came into Jesus, which in the Greek name is pronounced περιστερά, has the number 801." In a similar way Jerome in *Commentary on Zechariah*, chapter 8, writes: "But that we said the number of seven thousand pertains to the name of Christians, calculate in Greek ἑπτάκις χιλίους, and you will find the same number, and the sum, that is, one thousand nine hundred and forty-one."

^C Tertullian wrote things somewhat similar to these. "Then," he says, "that most holy Spirit, recognizing as it were his former seat above the waters of baptism, rests, having descended in the figure of a dove upon the Lord, so that the nature of the Holy Spirit might be declared through an animal of simplicity and innocence: for the dove also lacks bile corporally. And therefore," he says, "'Be simple, as doves.'" Cyprian also in his book *On the Unity of the Church* calls the dove "an animal not bitter with bile." And Rufinus has similar things on Psalm 67.

^D Didymus clearly shows that he does not set much store by this method: and rightly so: for it is cold enough, and seems to be derived from a muddy source, as I shall presently explain. "is of the sum of eight hundred and one."

^A Baptism was signified; but Pharaoh and his soldiers [signified] Satan and his ministers. Moses, however, making the bitter water useful with his staff, preached the universal salvation. For he himself bore the type of Christ; the staff, of the cross; the bitter water, of the blessed water of the pool. This [water], though it once appeared difficult to the unbelieving, was found by the faithful to be for all refreshment, [and as it were] "the dew of Hermon, which descends upon the mountains of Zion."

^B The Book of Kings also provides us with a clear testimony to this, itself hinting in secret at things similar to those set forth, in the phrase and subject matter recorded below: "Elisha," it says, "went with them; and they came to the Jordan, and were cutting wood. And behold, one, as he was felling a beam, the iron fell into the water; and he cried out, 'O lord,' and it was borrowed. And the man of God said, 'Where did it fall?' And he showed him the place. And he broke off a stick and cast it in there, and the iron floated; and he said, 'Lift it up to yourself.' And he stretched out his hand and took it." ^C For it was signified, through Elisha the man of God who questioned, "Where did the axe fall?" the God who became with men, who formerly said, "Adam, where art thou?" And through the one person, who cuts down the wood and shows the place where the axe fell, Adam was designated, who answered to the God from whom nothing is hidden: "I am naked, and I hid myself," and by such a word showed the place where he was hiding in shame. Furthermore, the plant which he had touched against commandment was also indicated; but by the iron which fell into the obscure depth, the power of human nature was denoted, which fell from the light because it had cast its hand upon the wood of life; but by saying that it was also borrowed, [it signified that] the first-created man had gained by the gift of God the power which he let go, [a power] which he also had to restore to Him who had given it, of such a kind as he had received it; through the wood which was taken and thrown toward the place which held the object of the search, the much-hymned cross [was signified]; ^D through the Jordan, the immortal baptism; for in the Jordan, He who made the Jordan deigned to be baptized for our sake. Through the floating of the iron upon the waters, and its coming to the one who had lost it, [is signified] the being raised up through illumination to the heavenly height, and receiving back the former grace, and recovering the ancient fatherland; through

^B the Jordan indeed, the immortal baptism; for in the Jordan, He who made the Jordan deigned to be baptized for our sake. The floating of the iron upon the waters, and its coming to him who had lost it, signified that we are raised up through baptism to heavenly sublimity, and receive again the former grace, and recover our ancient fatherland. The words, "take up for yourself," and these other ones, "He stretched out his hand and took it," signify that it is necessary for us to know that he who approaches baptism ought to believe, and to lift up—that is, to glorify—as it was written, and now to stretch out rightly toward God those hands which, in former times, by the common principle of natural union with Adam, he did not rightly stretch out toward the plant of life. But if anyone, refusing and disapproving of what we say, should deny that baptism is foretold in this place of Scripture, it is right to ask him what is the utility of such words and narratives that the holy writer looked to when he set them down. For indeed, the same prophet, having made the bitter and barren water of the fountain that was in Jericho pleasant and fruitful—putting salt and water into a new jar, and casting it into the fountain water, and saying, "Thus says the Lord: I heal these waters"—foretold by the renewal of the jar and the water, the new font of the New Covenant; by the salt, faith and the benefit we receive from it; and by the water, which, although it was devoid of quality, became fruitful and pleasant for all, he prophesied that those who approach baptism are stripped of the tunics of old sadness, and lay down their burdens, and are clothed with the gift of the new grace, and enjoy the participation and adoption of the saving Spirit. It seems to me, moreover, that the same prophet rightly appears to have taught beforehand the altogether ineffable riches and the propitiation of the Holy Spirit in the baptismal waters, and at the same time to have indicated that the universal providence of the Holy Spirit extends to all who are converted and to all human lives, so that no one who does not wish to be rejected is found to be so; since ^C he sent Naaman the Syrian, the leper, the foreigner, who had asked him to apply a cure for him, to be baptized seven times in the Jordan, so that by the voice of the Lord upon the waters, the disease might be dissolved from him, and he might return in his entirety to the pure and holy form of the soul. He said to be baptized seven times, either so that the foreigner might know that on the seventh day God ceased from His works and blessed what He had made in the six (whence the seven-wicked lampstand in the assembly where it is one of the treasures), and that the number seven is a filling and perfect number; or rather, that he might hint at the divine Spirit. For Isaiah, having observed with his mind, through faith, the completeness and the unchanging nature of the Son toward the Father, saw seven significations concerning him ^D sent, new. Propitiation. Itinerant, itinerant.

^A commanded, and bade him immerse himself seven times: so that by the word of the Lord, which is above the waters (49), his disease might entirely vanish, and he himself might receive the clean and holy (50) likeness of a soul in its entirety. And He bade him wash seven times (51), either so that that foreigner might understand that God rested from His works on the seventh day, and ceased (52), and blessed those things which He had made in six days (whence the lampstand, having seven lamps, was one of the treasures of the synagogue); and that he might know that the number seven possesses fullness and is perfect (53): or rather because the divine Spirit was enigmatically (54) indicated. For Isaiah ^B ...that it has been accustomed to be taken in a good sense, so as to denote not a "circulator," but a "physician who goes about," that is, visiting the sick; and that this "visitation" is called *periodia* by the Alexandrians. For from 4 Kings 5:10, 11, it is evident that Naaman wished Elisha to visit him. And indeed that word in Athanasius, who himself was also an Alexandrian, signifies "a curing": for he speaks thus in his homily on the man blind from birth: *ton periodoúsanta to hēmeteron teknon*, that is, "him who cured our child." And a little before: *tēn men aitian tēs periodias legō*, that is, "I declare the cause of the cure." ^C ...Gregory of Nyssa also, in his oration on the Baptism of Christ, tom. III, p. 378, understands these things concerning the waters of baptism... becomes a worshiper... Naaman, as is evident from 4 Kings 5:15. ...disputed, Jerome reviews Didymus in his *Epistle to Pammachius*. "Now I must enumerate," he says (no. 19), "who among ecclesiastical writers have disputed concerning the odd number: Clement, Hippolytus, Origen, Dionysius, Eusebius, Didymus, and of our own, Tertullian, Cyprian, Victorinus, Lactantius, Hilary: concerning whose number seven, that is, the odd number, Cyprian argues—how much and what great things he has said in his *Testimonia ad Fortunatum*." But I do not think it can be gathered from these words that a book was published by Didymus which was inscribed *Peri tou perittou arithmou*, that is, "Of the odd number": otherwise the same would have to be said of the others whom Jerome names. Therefore, since that epistle of Jerome was written in the year 395, and thus a few years before the death of Didymus, or after this work was published, it is not improbable that this passage of Didymus is looked back upon by Jerome; for the number seven is treated here at length, from section 123 b up to section 125 a. ^D ...for all learned men have handed it down with one voice, that by the Hebrew word (shabbat) rest and cessation are designated, and our theologian has followed this. But a certain impious writer, whose work has recently come to light from the shadows, inscribed thus: *Recherches sur l'origine du despotisme oriental*, thinks that the genuine meaning of this word has remained unknown until now. He wishes by the name *shabbat* to be denoted not "rest," not "cessation," but "renovation." And if he had attempted to support this fabrication with any reason, we might perhaps be able to refute it with little effort; but now, since he brings forward none, and since not only the primitive root *shabat*, but also the words derived from it, *nishbat, mishbatim, shabbaton, ishbit*, never even once in the divine Scriptures have the meaning of "renewing," his interpretation is to be mocked... ^A ...who unless he were wholly ignorant of the Hebrew language, would not have appended this caution on page 57: "*Ce mot (théocratie) signifie la même chose, si on le dérive soit de l'hébreu, soit du grec, la ville, la cité de Dieu.*" Would you not be foolish to such a degree, if you knew anything, Boulanger? For I will address you by that name by which your eulogist Voltaire addresses you, who calls your book worthy of Montesquieu. But even more absurd are the things which we read on page 75: "*David, dont les véritables racines sont Aved, Avaddon, et Aveddach, perte, et destruction, signifie l'exterminateur.*" O famous interpreter of the Hebrew language! Was this discovery reserved for our age? Was this worthy of Montesquieu? Is this how you refute them, Boulanger, who, deriving the name David from another root or name, interpret it as "Beloved"? That person would be truly more tolerable who might derive the name "asinus" (if we may say so without offense) from the word "sapiens." He could at least count four letters common to either word. I wish indeed that the architect of such worthless inquiries, or rather ravings and futile arguments, would finally learn to distinguish the letter *daleth* from the letter *aleph*, and the letter *beth* from the letter *vau*, and to discern them; for then he himself will see how far distant the name (David) is from the root (abhad), which shares with that same name only the last letter, and from the words *abhaddon* and *abheddah*. ^B ...perfect. The number seven is called perfect not considered in itself, but with respect to those things which are defined by this number in Scripture. Other Fathers everywhere hold similar things concerning numbers viewed, as I have said, in this way. Indeed, Epiphanius wrote a book *On the Mysteries of Numbers*. Ethnic writers, on the contrary, have argued more concerning the perfection of numbers considered in themselves, which in their age were perhaps tolerable, but now certainly can hardly be read without contempt. Thus Julian the Apostate in his 24th epistle to Sarapion babbles I know not what concerning the centenary number, which he seriously contends to be more excellent than other numbers, and to possess their perfection in itself: not to mention others, especially the Pythagoreans, who handed down trifles concerning numbers. ^D ...of the first chapter of Job in the Chain of Greek Fathers, "Who," says Didymus, "does not know the seventh numbering, that it signifies the assembly of the seven gifts, just as also the third pronunciation, to look toward the more perfect and more divine? So that we might learn faith in the Trinity, to be the creator of the seventh (perhaps it should be read, 'hebdomadal') grace," that is: "For who does not know that the number seven is an index of the seven gifts? Just as the naming of the three is wont to be referred to that which is more perfect and more divine? Assuredly so that we might know that the faith of the Trinity is the maker of the seven gifts."

^A Observing, as much as he could, the identity of the Holy Spirit and his faith with the Son, he recounts the seven signs while speaking of him, in these words: “There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from it; and the Spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon him, the Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of God.” Rightly, then, would someone apply here also those things which are hidden in the sense of Zechariah, where it is written: “For behold, I bring my servant the Orient; for the stone which I have given before the face of Jesus, upon one stone, there are seven eyes.” These things God said to Jesus the high priest. “I bring,” he says, “my servant Zorobabel into the power of the kingdom,” on account of which he will be illustrious and splendid, like the Orient. He calls him by that name, naturally taken from the thing itself. Then, continuing the discourse without interruption, he calls Zorobabel the stone, upon whom the face of Jesus had been established—offering him help through prayers, and in turn receiving from him the peace which the kingdom provides. Moreover, after he subjoined: “I dig a trench, says the Lord Almighty, and I will touch all the iniquity of that land in one day; and everyone shall call his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree,” that is, I inflict death upon the enemies through the expedition of Zorobabel, so that all, having been delivered from every trouble and living in great abundance of things, may be able to invite one another to feasts. And after he also mentioned the golden lampstand, that is, the purest faith, which indeed begins with us ^B but is raised up even to those things which are above us (for by gold that which is clean and precious is understood; since gold is so constituted by nature that it does not contract rust); and after he said that there is a small lamp upon it, that is, divine grace, which illuminates all things from above, and seven lamps, namely the abundance and perfection of spiritual grace; and besides these, seven infundibula from above—which are understood as either priesthood and kingdom, or two peoples, or houses of God, that of the Israelites of old and that of the Christians—and having roused the prophet, and having prepared him to be awake and more attentive for a more accurate understanding of the things to be shown, he again adds: “Not by great power, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. Who are you, O great mountain, before the face of Zorobabel, to accomplish and bring forth the stone of the inheritance, the equality of grace?” By "mountain" he here calls the enemy, with whom he converses; for he says that such great spiritual grace shall clothe the stone of the inheritance, Zorobabel, against whom you rush as an opponent and adversary, accomplishing the battles, that he seems actually to be grace itself. And after a little, still confirming these things, he prophesies thus: “On that day, says the Lord Almighty...”

^A And “they shall rejoice, and shall see the tin stone in the hand of Zorobabel. These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which look upon all the earth.” Therefore the seven eyes which survey all creation are the aforementioned wondrous utterances of the Holy Spirit. He called it a “tin” stone because in tin, vessels that have suffered damage, whether iron or bronze, are repaired and made whole; and tin is a unifying element. Some say that with skill it also distinguishes, in the smelting furnace, the genuine from the counterfeit in gold, silver, or copper. I think that just as that which was spoken similarly by Solomon in secret, “Wisdom has built herself a house, and has set up seven pillars,” it aims to declare what was promised to the Virgin by Gabriel: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you,” which also indicates that the angels minister to Him; and as He is the sustainer of all things, the divine Spirit, along with the Father and the Son, illuminates lives with ineffable light, with an inexpressible union and agreement. The Apostle, teaching us that those who are illuminated are counted worthy of Him, wrote these words to the Galatians: “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” David also does not pass over these things in silence. For, connecting plainly the nature and unanimity of the Son, who was begotten as light from Light, and of the Holy Spirit, who proceeds as Truth from Truth, he sings in Psalm 42: “Send forth your light and your truth,” and in Psalm 147: “He shall send forth his Word, and shall melt them; his Spirit shall blow, and waters shall flow.” Following this is the Pauline saying: “We were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

^B ...that is, inextinguishable and perennial, which flows; and the two olives; which are thus understood to signify ^C either the priesthood and the kingdom, or two peoples, or the houses of God—that is, the ancient people of the Israelites and our own, the Christians. And after he exhorted the prophet, and disposed him in a certain way to be more vigilant and to strive accurately ^D to consider those things which he was about to show, after, I say, he said all these things, he again adds: “Not by great power, nor by might, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. Who are you, O great mountain, before the face of Zorobabel, that it should prosper for you, and you bring forth the stone of inheritance, the equality of grace?” Here he calls the mountain an enemy, whom he addresses, because, he says, the stone of inheritance, Zorobabel, against whom you come forth, resisting him to his face, and acting as an adversary, so much spiritual grace will surround him, fighting prosperously, that he will seem to be entirely grace itself. And a little later, again confirming these things, he prophesies thus: “And they shall rejoice, and shall see the tin stone in the hand of Zorobabel: these seven are the eyes of the Lord, which look upon the whole earth.” Therefore the seven eyes, which look upon every creature, are those admirable titles of the Holy Spirit, which we mentioned before. He called it a tin stone because vessels that have suffered damage, whether iron or bronze, are restored and embellished by tin, and tin has the power of binding. Some say, indeed, that by a certain art employed in the smelting pot, gold, silver, or copper is also purified by tin, so that the pure is separated from the impure. For it is said that the nature of tin is so constituted that it is easily combined with lead, copper, or mercury; but not with gold, or silver, or iron. For none of the metals are purged by tin in a vessel, but silver and gold by lead; but from copper and tin is made that statuary bronze, which is commonly called “bronzo.” Shall we suspect, therefore, that the white lead, which is tin, was taken by Didymus in place of black lead? Furthermore, Jerome, in his commentaries on Zechariah (which he confesses were written by him in such a way that he first read Didymus’s five books of Explanations on the same prophet, and mingled them with the tropology of the history of the Hebrews, of which Didymus was one), wrote these things in Book 1, p. 812, ed. Veron. vol. VI: “Just as tin protects other metals from fire, and since it is by nature a very hard bronze and iron, if it were without tin, it would be burned and consumed; so, etc... But this stone, that is, the mass which is written as *Abdil* among the Hebrews, that is, *tin*, that is, *separating* and *distinguishing*, as tin dissociates metals that are mixed and adulterated among themselves through fire; so the Lord, the true test, distinguishes the copper from the gold and silver of good works, and separates the lead, so that the pure gold remains, and the silver... Moreover, the seven eyes... we explained above to be seven spirits: namely, the seven graces of the Holy Spirit.”

^A Why, then, should I not show something else, harmonious and brilliant, under the interpreter Zechariah, the last of the prophets, so that we may marvel even more? I shall remind you of his own words, which are as follows: “In those days living water shall go out from Jerusalem.” And this “living water,” ^B flowing from the heavenly Jerusalem, surely also begets the living. We might also find—in addition to those things already mentioned—the pool in Jerusalem which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, which is agreed to be an image of baptism, though not the truth itself; for an image is for a time, but the truth is judged to be for eternity. Hence, the water in it was moved only once a year by an angel, and it healed only the one who first descended, and only a bodily ailment, not also a ^C spiritual one. For true baptism, after the manifestation of the Son and the Holy Spirit, heals every day—or rather, every hour—and, more truly, it unceasingly sets all who descend into it eternally free from every sin; and the cure for the many, diverse, irregular, and difficult internal and external spiritual and bodily dispositions is found to be one, and no old pain follows anymore from within or without. Furthermore, it reveals all to be brothers, first-born and new-born through grace, ^D even the aged and the young; and for these very people, to whom by human law earthly wealth is not entrusted on account of the insecurity of years—whether few or many—the entire divine treasure is found to be safely deposited, so that, rejoicing, they chant: “The Lord shepherds me, and I shall lack nothing; in a place of green pasture, there He has made me dwell; He has nourished me by the water of rest”; and, “You have prepared a table before me in the presence of those who afflict me; You have anointed my head with oil, and Your cup makes me drunk.”

^A (90) existing, but not the truth itself; for it is considered an image, which is for a time, whereas truth is that which remains forever. Therefore, the water ^B that was in it, when stirred by the angel, healed the sickness of the body—and that only once a year, and only for the one person who happened to descend into it first—but not the sickness of the soul. For the authentic ^C baptism, after the appearance or manifest advent of the Son and the Holy Spirit, cleanses everyone who descends into the pool, whether daily, or rather hourly, or, to speak more truly, continuously ^D, of every sin forever; and the healing of many and diverse and extraordinary bodily and spiritual afflictions, which are difficult to cure, is found to be singular; and truly no evil from among the ancient ills, nor any sin, whether interior or exterior, accompanies those who are baptized. Moreover, this baptism renders all people brothers by grace, and newborn 95, not even excluding those who are younger 96 in birth or advanced in age. And among those same people, to whose faith, according to worldly law 97, earthly wealth 98 is not entrusted 99—because it is not considered safe to do so on account of a number of years that is either too small or too great—the entire divine treasure is found to be deposited with security; so that they sing joyfully: "The Lord 1 pastures me, and I shall want nothing; in a place of pasture (or, green grass), there He has settled me (or, has provided me a dwelling): He has nurtured me by the water of rest"; and: "You have prepared..."

^A in my presence a table against those who afflict me. You have anointed my head with oil, and your cup which inebriates me is most excellent."

Now, that very angel who was troubling the water was the forerunner of the Holy Spirit; in the likeness of which angel, John was called the angel of the Lord, and became the forerunner of the Master, and baptized in water. And the chrism, moreover, with which both Aaron was anointed by Moses, and furthermore all who were anointed from the priestly horn, and who were named *christi*—that is, anointed—from the chrism, bore a type of the sanctified chrism which we receive. For even if this flows corporeally, yet it profits spiritually. For as soon as faith in the thrice-blessed Trinity comes into our heart, and spiritual speech into the mouth, and the seal of Christ upon the forehead—just as soon as baptism is received, and the chrism has confirmed us—immediately, I say, the Trinity, who is by nature the giver of good things, is found to be propitious; immediately it comes to us; at the very same moment, unclean spirits depart from the clean, worldly ^B matters straightaway vanish, and bodily passions of every kind are removed from our path; all transgressions are forgiven, our names are inscribed in indelible books, heavenly good things are dispensed to us: to such an extent that the Trinity itself, because it is ineffably ready and provident, and because it desires to be preeminent among all good things, even anticipates this very intention of ours, or takes the initiative. And, to say it in a word, it preserves the sign upon the forehead.

^A And this image of baptism was illuminating all those of the Israelites of that time, and saving them, and showing that the salvation provided is common to the consubstantial Trinity, as Paul, who was learned in the law, wrote in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they were drinking from a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was Christ.” And as they prophesied—Ezekiel indeed: “Thus says the Lord, I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed from all your sins. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” And David: “You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; you shall wash me, and I shall be whitened more than snow.” For he calls the sprinkling of hyssop the Jewish purification, which is accustomed to be performed among them even to this day; but by “more than snow” ^B he means the illumination of Christians, which is baptism. And Isaiah: “All shall be called holy who are written for life in Jerusalem; for the Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and the daughters of Zion, and will cleanse the blood from their midst.” ^C [alt-version omitted] ^D

in the Spirit of judgment and in the Spirit of burning. ^A And in order that Peter might show in his first Epistle how, if the baptism which once existed in shadow brought salvation, much more does that which is performed in truth render us immortal and deify us, he wrote as follows: ^B “Which also, as an antitype, now saves you—baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience towards God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him.” ^C By “interrogation towards God,” he means the confession of conscience which we set forth, consenting to be baptized into the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, according to the word of the Lord. Isaiah, therefore, cries out again to those who do not believe in the Holy Spirit, and for this reason do not have the coming inheritance: “There is,” he says, “an inheritance for those who worship the Lord, and you shall be righteous, says the Lord. You who thirst, go to the water, and as many of you as have no silver, go, buy, and eat without silver and price, wine and fat.” The Holy Spirit called water, and its streams the pool; by wine and fat, he signified at that time the matters of the Jewish proposition, but now he signifies the immortal communion of the body and blood of the Master, which, together with renewal, we buy—laying out faith and not silver—and at the same time receive as a gift. ^D That the Holy Spirit is water, and likewise the spirit of his baptism, John also testifies, speaking from the person of the Savior, saying: “He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And he immediately added to the word: “This, he said, he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those who believe in him were about to receive.” That we are also justified freely, though being unworthy, on account of the surpassing goodness of the Trinity, the discourse of Paul to the Romans demonstrated: “For all,” he says, “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” As he calls blessed those who are deemed worthy of this gift, the Lord Himself, in Luke, was saying to the disciples: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see, ^A

you see, and did not see; and to hear, and did not hear. But we who are made spiritual ^A do not only see and hear, but are also freely illuminated by the Holy Spirit and enjoy Him, partaking of the body of Christ and tasting of the immortal fountain.

CHAPTER XV.

In many passages, moreover, and most especially in holy baptism, it is evident that Scripture, on account of the identity of essence and operation with the Father and the Son, makes mention of the Holy Spirit alone and of His saving mark (or seal), by which we are sealed and reformed into the first image. For a sheep that is not marked can easily be caught by wolves, since it is destitute of that aid which is provided by the sealing, nor is it recognized ^B by our good Shepherd like the others, because it does not even know the Shepherd of all. Proofs of these things are when the Savior says: "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth;" and again: "You shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit." And as when Paul writes to the Corinthians: "All were baptized in one body into one Spirit, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and all were given to drink of one Spirit;" and to the Ephesians: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption;" and again: "In whom, having believed, you ^C were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise," which David prophesied when he sang: "The light of your countenance, O Lord, was marked upon us"—calling the Holy Spirit the light of the divine face. ^D

If therefore we are marked and baptized equally in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, it follows that the Trinity is in one divinity and kingdom. For we do not receive these things in the name of creatures, nor does God appropriate the name of a creature to His own, or for the sign, as if He alone were unable to save. Those, therefore, who pass over to orthodoxy, even if they happen to have been baptized, are baptized 46 (for we do not say "rebaptized" 47, since they do not possess the true baptism); the Eunomians, indeed, because they perform one immersion, saying they are baptized only into the death of the Lord 48; the Phrygians, 49 however, because they do not baptize into the three holy hypostases, but believe the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit to be the same. But they are anointed 50 who from any—

^B In the 22nd Greek codex of the Venetian library of St. Mark, these things are read on page 80: "Didymus. The discourse regarding the visible creatures... Observe, moreover, that he did not say: 'That they may fear God,' but, 'His countenance.' For the countenance of the Lord is against those who do evil. But the countenance of God is primarily the Son, according to the words: 'Show your countenance, and we shall be saved.'" This is from Didymus. The discourse here is about visible creatures... Observe, moreover, that Ecclesiastes did not say: "That they may fear God," but "His countenance." For the countenance of the Lord is over those who do evil. But the countenance of God is primarily the Son, according to that saying: "Show your countenance, and we shall be saved." Since, moreover, the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son, He is deservedly called by Didymus the light of the countenance of God.

45 *In the name*, etc. Didymus brings forward this same argument in his book *On the Holy Spirit*, no. 24; and he teaches that whoever might teach that one of the three names can be omitted, or ever could have been, acts as a legislator contrary to Christ, or (as St. Thomas reads it, alleging this place of Didymus in the catena on cap. XXVIII of Matthew) contrary to Christ the legislator.

46 *Are baptized*, etc. From the fact that baptism conferred by heretics is held as valid by Didymus, I conclude: 1, because he makes an exception only of the baptism of the Eunomians and Phrygians: but an exception confirms the rule; 2, because he says the baptism of these is invalid for the reason that they did not use the formula prescribed by Christ in the conferring of baptism; 3, because he indicates the matter to be otherwise in the anointing than in baptism, subjoining: "But they are anointed who come from any heresy." Yet Didymus speaks much more cautiously, or at least more clearly, than Cyril in his *Procatechesis*, who says: "For only heretics are rebaptized, because the former was not baptism," that is: "For only heretics are rebaptized; if that first baptism was not baptism."

47 *Nor... do we say, rebaptized*. In the same way Cyprian had spoken in epistle 71 given to Quintus, yet erring in that, not only concerning some, as Didymus, but he rejected the baptism of all heretics. "But we say," he says, "that those who come from there are not rebaptized by us, but baptized: for they receive nothing there where there is nothing."

48 *Into the death of the Lord*. Didymus perhaps intends the seventh canon of the second ecumenical council, held a little before he dictated these things; if, however, that canon was truly established by that council. There, moreover, the baptism of both the Eunomians and the Montanists is declared invalid. But as regards the Eunomians, this very thing which Didymus affirms of them is asserted by Socrates, lib. V, cap. 24, Sozomen, lib. VI, cap. 26, Theodoret, lib. I of *Heretical Fables*, cap. 3, Philostorgius himself, although a Eunomian, lib. X, num. 4, and Anastasius Bibliothecarius in *Ecclesiastical History*, page 35. It suffices to record the words of Socrates. "I will say this one thing," he says, "they have adulterated holy baptism; for they do not baptize in the Trinity, but in the death of Christ." St. Epiphanius against heresies LXXVI, page 992, affirms that the disciples of Aetius with their successor Eunomius rebaptize in the name of the uncreated God, and in the name of the created Son, and in the name of the sanctifying Spirit, and proceeding from the created Son. But Epiphanius speaks of baptism again, having compared those who had been baptized by Catholics, or even by Arians, while Didymus and others speak of baptism given for the first time. But as for the Montanists, the council of Laodicea had rejected their baptism in canon 8, and according to some copies, the Nicene also in canon 19.

49 *Phrygians*. Phrygians, that is, Montanists, "baptize into the Father, and the Son, and Montanus, or Priscilla," says Basil in epistle 188, which is the first canonical, page 269, vol. III, Paris edition of the year 1730. But our Didymus says that the same heretics do not baptize into the three holy hypostases. But just as some, like the Maurist monk, the editor of Basil's works, think that from Basil's own words it should not be gathered that the Montanists did not use the formula prescribed by Christ while baptizing; so there will not be lacking those who will think it cannot be gathered even from the words of Didymus: for they will contend that these things are to be taken in such a way that they are said not to baptize into the three holy hypostases because they did not admit the distinction of the divine persons, and therefore they corrupted the baptismal formula in mind, sense, and interpretation, yet pronounced the same words as the Catholics. But if the matter is so, why does Didymus, out of so many heretical sects not yet extinct in his age, mention only the Eunomians and the Montanists here? Does he not seem to separate their baptism from the baptism of any other heresy? Perhaps because there were no other heretics then in the Alexandrian diocese who had changed the baptismal formula. However, I do not wish these things to be said of Montanus himself, who seems to have held correctly concerning the Trinity, even if Didymus thinks otherwise below 215 b; nor of those Montanists who were called according to Proclus; but of other worse Montanists, who (by the testimony of Didymus, and Theodoret in lib. II of *Heretical Fables*, cap. 2) denied the distinction of the divine persons, namely of those who were called according to Aeschines.

50 *Anointed*. Whether it was a sacrament, or an ecclesiastical ceremony, which was conferred upon those outside the Catholic church who were rightly baptized and confirmed, and subsequently came to the Catholic church itself, is something theologians dispute. But what Didymus thought concerning this matter does not indeed seem to be able to be certainly gathered from this place; yet I infer that he speaks of the sacrament rather than of a mere ceremony from these words: "Because they do not have the holy anointing."

those who come from every heresy, since they do not have the holy anointing, or chrism. But the Bishop alone performs the chrism by the grace from above. ^A

CAP. XVI.

CHAPTER XVII.

Spirit; but let us know that nothing is firm for men, unless the Trinity—which is closest to all and provides aid to all—gives its help (for "False," says the Psalmist, "is the horse for safety; but the Lord is near to those who fear Him, and the giant shall not be saved in the multitude of his strength"): the Scripture declares that He is always present with the Father, and works together with Him, and helps us in every matter, and implants strength in us, and that His manifestation is of equal dignity and excellence with the advent and doctrine of the Son, and that His teaching is in agreement with that of the Son.

Indeed, God the Father, promising to Zorobabel His indivisible, and only stable, and invincible aid—and that of His Word and His Spirit—and declaring most clearly that the divine hypostases do not differ nor stand apart from one another, said through the prophet Haggai: "And now be strong, O Zorobabel, says the Lord, and be strong, O Jesus, son of Josedec, the high priest, and let all the people of the land be strong; for I am with you, says the Lord Almighty, and My Spirit stands in your midst." ^B Through Isaiah, He gently rebukes those who did not walk in His name and the name of His Spirit, saying thus: "Woe, children! You have taken counsel, but not through Me; and made covenants, but not through My Spirit." And again, Isaiah says concerning those who had offended against the divine power of the Spirit: "They disobeyed, and provoked the Holy Spirit, and He turned to them into enmity." For the Holy Spirit is far removed from wrath and enmity and all such things, nor is He shaken or moved, being a Spirit of meekness, and good, and of a supreme, impassible, and omnipotent nature; rather, He Himself heals those who are angry and provoke to anger, and removes the heat of anger from every creature, and in its place introduces peace, as is manifest to those who understand, for everyone who has been persuaded by His words has lived in meekness.

And as it has been written in many places: "They provoked God and the Father, and He was angry with them," and as it says in the 105th Psalm: "But they provoked Him in their counsel," ^C so now, in the same way, the prophet prophesies concerning His Spirit, because of the unchanging nature of the godhead, and the authority, and the power. And Micah likewise laments over Israel, as having offended God, saying: "O...

house of Jacob provoked the Spirit of the Lord." And ^A the Spirit-bearing David, by confessing that the Spirit possesses the same honor and equal power as the Father, and that without the Holy Spirit no good thing exists for any creature, prayed thus: "Thy good Spirit shall lead me in the straight land," and, "With a leading Spirit confirm me," meaning: "strengthen me with Thy sovereign Spirit, which possesses authority, that I may thus be able to be cleansed from sin and not fall from prophecy." And in the Gospel, the Lord, teaching the apostles that the coming of the Holy Spirit would not be inferior to His own manifestation, ^B or less excellent, and that the salvation of creatures which was to result from it would not be different—but that both are equal and the same, because of the unity of deity and operation—says: "It is profitable for you that I go away. For if I do not go, ^C He will not come to you, the Holy Spirit." And showing his own teaching to be in harmony with that of the Holy Spirit, He said: "When the Holy Spirit comes, He will teach you and remind you of all things that I have said to you"; and, "It is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of the Father who speaks in you." But if the Spirit of the Father is equal in honor to the Father, as has been demonstrated, and is also equal in honor to the Son, as is confessed, it is evident that the divine hypostases have an equal relation toward each other. For things equal to the same thing are ^D necessarily equal to each other; and the Son is equal to the Father, and the Spirit is equal to the Son; it is evident that He is likewise equal to the Father. Since He Himself therefore said that the divine Spirit speaks in the apostles, Paul, because of the identity of nature and teaching which varies in nothing, asserts that Christ speaks in him, writing: "If you seek proof of the Christ who speaks in me." Note that all these things authentically show that there has been an epiphany of the Spirit; and in Luke, as was mentioned before, He foretold to them: "But you, sit in the city until you be clothed with power from on high." And this was the power of the divine Spirit.

CHAPTER XVIII.

With what strength, having been clothed, they were no longer easily terrified, as it is written, that the doors were shut, with the disciples hiding themselves because of the fear of the Jews, and that Peter the foremost

^A of the apostles, threatened by a girl, had sworn that he did not know the Lord, the one who had made him the gatekeeper of heaven. But the twelve alone, and they not even assembled together, stood against almost the whole world, shouting aloud to all the people: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” But they also set themselves against all diabolical error, and cast out the worship of created things, and dispelled the so-called mist from the soul of mankind, which was previously present, as they say, in order that they might truly know both God and man.

For by the imposition of hands they freed men from various diseases; ^B so that even Peter’s very shadow falling upon the earth from his body, and indeed Paul’s handkerchiefs brought from his body, effected the healing of the sick. And Paul indeed wrote to the Romans: “In believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.” But Peter was boldly defeating the devil, and was declaring the divine essence of the Holy Spirit, saying to Ananias: “Why has Satan tempted your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” For who is he who has been lied to? He said, continuing: “You have not lied to men, but to God.” For there was no one among them who was cowed by someone who was enslaved to money, or breathing injustice, or not looking upon the wise, or not sincerely disposed toward the consubstantial Trinity, even if he happened to have ascended to the first worldly seats ^C and held the highest prefectures in his hands; they even despised the imperial purple itself, and were superior to riches, possessing the inexhaustible treasure of the Holy Spirit. ^D

and other tongues, as He says, the Spirit gave them to speak; and the Galileans understood the speech of the Parthians, Medes, Persians, and other diverse-tongued peoples; nay, more, even the Greek and Ausonian ^A language. They became many-voiced and were displayed as we are to be in the world to come, when we shall have been freed from the bonds of this present world, according to the word of Paul: "Where there is no Greek, nor Jew, nor barbarian, nor Scythian; but Christ is all and in all." It is evident that it was because of the consubstantiality of the Trinity that he said: "Christ is all and in all"; for otherwise, where would we seek ^B to determine whether the Father might be thought to have become incarnate? He made mention of the Holy Spirit at once obscurely and clearly, so that, their eyes being in part illuminated for the understanding of divine oracles and, as Paul says, "from glory to glory" ^C advancing, they might be able to learn of the three self-complete hypostases. And this is what is signified in the 17th Psalm: "The people whom I did not know served me; in the hearing of the ear they obeyed me." Indeed, David, knowing that at that time the Father alone was known locally, was singing: "God is known in Judea; and in ^D [Israel..."

CAP. XIX.

^A great is his name." But when God the Word was manifested and believed, the New Testament began to proclaim him too as God, while also providing, part by part, according to the capacity of those receiving it, the knowledge concerning the Holy Spirit, quietly and gradually. For to those just called to the knowledge of the truth, and not having a mind practiced in its contemplations, such a most perfect faith seemed in a way inaccessible. And what need is there to be in doubt about this matter, when I can bring forward as proof the example of those who are inclined downward toward the abyss, and who to this very day do not believe even in the divinity of the Only-Begotten? Nor did Paul wish these things to be left without testimony, writing to the Corinthians first: "And I, brothers, could ^B not speak to you as spiritual, but as carnal: as infants in Christ, I fed you milk, and not meat; for you were not yet able; nor even yet are you able; for you are still carnal." And to the Hebrews: "For when you ought to be teachers for the time, you have need again to be taught what are the first elements of the oracles of God; and you have become having need of milk, not of solid food. For everyone who partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of justice; for he is an infant: but solid food is for the perfect, for those who by habit have their senses exercised for the discrimination of good and evil." The Father, therefore, is sufficient, saying that the Spirit is his own, that is, the Spirit of the Father. The Son is also sufficient, who, by one name, but by three equally ^C to-be-honored hypostases, commanded the whole world to be gathered into the unity of faith. For if the name of the Father is God, it is clearly evident that that which the Father is (that is, God), that same thing both the Son and the Holy Spirit of God are. This the Seraphim also reveal, saying three times, "Holy," and once, "Lord." And elsewhere, teaching nothing other than this same thing, the Son said, concerning himself to those who did not believe in him as true God: "I have come in the name of my Father" (that is, God, such as he is, so is he), "and you do not receive me" (instead of: you do not believe me); "if another should come in his own name, him you will receive," intimating the Antichrist. Regarding the Holy ^D

^A Spirit he says: "The Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name." And in the way that, by introducing the union and the bond of the supreme and uncircumscribed divine peace, he said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," and, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me," and, "The Father who abides in me," and, "The Spirit," he says, "descended from heaven and remained upon Christ," so it is that in this place he manifested one name, having said that he himself came in the name of the Father, but the Holy Spirit in the name of his own self, that is, of the Son; and when he commanded to baptize "into the name," and not "into the names," since one is the name for the Trinity, "God," and one the essence and glory. And he who does not have the Spirit does not have the Son either; and he who does not have the Son does not have the Father either; and such a one is altogether godless, just as he who is the opposite is most blessed. For they say: ^B "Blessed is he, who has enjoyed the assistance of divine wisdom, Himself bearing the immovable God in his own breast."

This one name, therefore, the Old Testament also indicated, when God deigned to struggle with Jacob. For it says: "Why do you ask my name? And this is marvelous." Which David celebrates in hymns, singing: "O Lord, our Lord, how marvelous is thy name in all the earth!" and again: "Thou hast magnified thy holy name above all," omitting to say: "In Israel alone." For there is no ^C other way by which the Son comes in the appellation of the Father, if one says: "I have come in the name of my Father"; for it belongs only to the Son to come in the name of the Father, saving the property of the Son in relation to the Father, and of the Father in relation to the Son; thus, conversely, no other comes in the name of the Father, but, for example, in the name of the Lord or of God or of the Almighty... How, then, do servants, who come in the name of the Lord, by this very fact, that they are subject and serve, indicate the Lord, referring to his property (for they are indeed servants of the Lord)? Thus also the Son, who comes in the name of the Father, bears the property of the Father and the name; and through these the only-begotten Son of God is approved. Because, therefore, the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in the name of the Son, having the property of the Son, according to what he is God, though not in such a way that he is his son: it shows that he is joined to the Son by unity. ^D

^A Nor does he say: "In Israel alone"; for there is no other name given under heaven in which it is necessary for you to be saved." Zacharias, however, speaks thus: "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day. The Lord shall be one, and his name one, surrounding all the earth and the desert." And again the Psalmist: "Let them be ashamed and confounded forever, and let them know that thy name is the Lord; thou alone art the Most High over all the earth." For if anyone refers "God," and "Lord," and "Only Most High" to one hypostasis alone, he excludes the other. But from the natural movement of our mind and from custom, we are accustomed to insist on this, namely, that when we name God as one person, we do not exclude the other two. For when we pray, whether we say, "Lord, have mercy," or "God, help me," or both together, we do not wander from the goal; for in mind and intelligence we comprehend together the holy Trinity existing in one deity. Either, therefore, let those who attempt to weaken the sublime and unambiguous testimonies of the Scriptures concerning the Spirit of God, which have been brought forward, ^B by perverse opinions not derived from Scripture, be silenced; or let them also say how they themselves call the Son God and good, in the same way we do, when the Scriptures say: "God is one," and "No one is good except one, God." Or why do they call the Father holy and Lord, hearing: "One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ," and again: "The Lord is the Spirit."

CHAPTER XX

^C Furthermore, the Apostle, to whom the preaching of the Incarnation is entrusted, distinguishes and separates us, calling some spiritual, others animal, and others carnal, or earthly; to each, to be sure, he applies these designations based on what is greater and predominant. ^D

τοιάσδε προσηγορίας ἁρμόσας. ^A Καὶ γὰρ ψυχὴν μὲν, ἣν καὶ πνεῦμά φαμεν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ διὰ τοῦ στόματος ἀναπνεόμενον ἀνύπαρκτον πνεῦμα, ὃ καὶ ἆσθμα καλοῦμεν, πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἔχει· τὸ δὲ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ πᾶς ὁστισοῦν καταπεπλούτηκεν. Πνευματικοὺς τοίνυν προσαγορεύει τοὺς ἐμπρεπέσιν ἐνθυμήσεσιν καὶ πράξεσιν οἱονείπως ἀναθρώσκοντας, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν φύσεως ἀνωτέρω χωροῦντας, καὶ τὰς μὲν αἱρετικὰς θεοστυγεῖς νοήσεις ἀποσκευαζομένους, τὸ δὲ ἀνυμνεῖν τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα Θεὸν περιπτυσσομένους, καὶ ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τούτων ἀξίους τῆς ἐπιφοιτήσεως αὐτοῦ ἀποφαίνοντας. Οὗτοι γὰρ μόνοι ἔχουσίν τε αὐτὸ καταμένον παρ' αὐτοῖς, ἅμα τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ, καὶ τῷ θείῳ αὐτοῦ φωτὶ καταλάμπονται, καὶ πνευματικοὶ ἀποτελοῦνται, ἐξομοιούμενοι κατὰ δύναμιν οἱ φωτιζόμενοι τῷ φωτίζοντι, ^B καὶ μεταλαμβάνοντες ὡς τοῦ φωτὸς, οὕτω καὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος, καὶ εἰσδεχόμενοι ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ῥέουσαν ἀνεμποδίστως τῆς θείας χάριτος τὴν μετάδοσιν· εἶτα λοιπὸν καὶ τῷ πτερῷ αὐτοῦ, τῷ κατελθόντι σωματικῷ εἴδει περιστερᾶς ἀνίπτανται τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ τὴν διαβολικὴν ἐκφεύγοντες παγίδα, ἐῤῥῶσθαί τε πρὸς τὰ ἄστατα καὶ ἀδέβαια τοῦ βίου φράζοντες, τὴν μὲν μεγαλοπρέπειαν αὐτοῦ θεωροῦσιν ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐπηρμένην, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἄνω δυνάμεων δοξαζομένην καὶ προσκυνουμένην σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ· καὶ ὅσῳπερ ἂν ἀγόμενοι πρὸς τὸν ἐκείνου πόθον, ἐγγυτέρω αὐτοῦ τῇ προθέσει γίνονται, τόσῳ δὴ μᾶλλον αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀκατάληπτον τῆς θεότητος νοοῦσιν, ὡς ἅπαξ τῆς ἔνδοθεν ὄψεως τὸ ὄμμα καθαρὸν κεκτημένοι ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἐπιπροσθούντων· καὶ ἂν ἰδεῖν οὕτως, ὡς ἔστιν, καὶ χωρῆσαι ὅλον, διὰ τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν πολλὴν ὕφεσιν, οὐ δύνανται, τοῦτον, ὡς ἐγχωρεῖ, ὁρῶσιν καὶ ὑποδέχονται διὰ τὴν ἔφεσιν.

Κατανοοῦντες τέως, οἷα δ' ἄν τις μεγάλα εἴπῃ περὶ αὐτοῦ, τῆς ἀκριβοῦς ἀληθείας ἀφέστηκεν, οὐχ ὅσον οὐρανός ἐστιν ἀπὸ γῆς μόνον, ἀλλ' ἔτι πολλῷ πλέον, ^C κράζουσιν μετὰ τοῦ Ἱεροψάλτου· « Ἐγὼ εἶπα ἐν τῇ ἐκστάσει μου· Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, » οὐχὶ τῷ φεύγειν τὴν Θεῷ φίλην ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλὰ τῷ μηδὲν ἄξιον δύνασθαι νοῆσαι, ἢ φράσαι περὶ τῆς θεότητος τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· οὐ περὶ μεγέθους, ἢ φωτός· πάντα γὰρ ἔχει ὑφ' ἑαυτὸ, καὶ φωτίζει, καὶ ἔστιν ἐν πᾶσιν· οὐ περὶ δυνάμεως· πάντα γὰρ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐστήρικται καὶ ζωογονεῖται· οὐ περὶ σχήματος, ἢ ποιότητος· ἀόρατος γὰρ καὶ ἀκατάληπτος, ὡς πνοὴ Παντοκράτορος (εἰ γὰρ ^D ὁ

ὁ ^A παντοκράτωρ Πατὴρ ἀσχημάτιστος καὶ ἀόρατος, καθὸ καὶ ὑπερασώματος καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν νόησιν ἀναβεβηκώς, δῆλον, ὅτι καὶ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐκπορευόμενον ζωογόνον Πνεῦμα, οὐ περὶ ἀγαθότητος, ἢ ἀϊδιότητος, ἢ δόξης θεϊκῆς [ἐλαττοῦται]· Πνεῦμα γάρ ἐστιν ἅγιον, ἐξ ἁγίου Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκφανθέν. ^B Διαλέγεται οὖν πρὸς τοὺς πνευματικοὺς οὐτωσεί· «Οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκί, ἀλλ' ἐν Πνεύματι, εἴπερ Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἀδελφοί, ἐὰν καὶ προληφθῇ ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ὑμῶν ἔν τινι παραπτώματι, ὑμεῖς οἱ πνευματικοὶ καταρτίζετε τὸν τοιοῦτον ἐν πνεύματι πραότητος.» Ἐγράφη δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Δανιήλ, ὅτι «Πνεῦμα περισσὸν ἦν ἐν αὐτῷ»· αἰνιγματωδῶς δὲ τὸ ἅγιον ἐδηλοῦτο Πνεῦμα.

Ψυχικοὺς δὲ ὀνομάζει Ἕλληνας, Ἰουδαίους, καὶ αἱρετικούς, ἐπειδὴ συλλογισμοῖς καὶ διαλογισμοῖς στρεβλοῖς ἐναβρυνόμενοι γνωσιμαχοῦσι, καὶ οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι Θεὸν τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐπιστέλλει δὲ καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς οὕτω που· «Ψυχικοὶ Πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες.» καὶ αὖθις· «Ψυχικὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Θεοῦ· μωρία γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐστιν, καὶ οὐ δύναται γνῶναι. Ὁ δὲ πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει μὲν πάντας, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπ' οὐδενὸς ἀνακρίνεται.» Καὶ πάλιν, τὸ πρὸς τὴν μόνην ἡμερωτάτην φύσιν ἐπίκοινον τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος δηλῶν, ἔφη· «Εἴ τις κοινωνία Πνεύματος.»

Σαρκικοὺς δὲ, ἢ χοϊκοὺς καλεῖ τοὺς τῇ γῇ κατανενευκότας· ἐπειδὴ ἀκρασίαν λυττῶντες, καὶ τὰ διαβεβλημένα τοῖς τιμίοις παραμετροῦντες, καὶ τοῖς ὑλικοῖς ὑποκαθήμενοι πάθεσιν, καὶ ὡσανεὶ βορβόρω ταῖς αἰσχραῖς ἀεὶ ἐγκυλινδούμενοι πράξεσιν, καὶ αὐτοὶ παράλληλοί πως τοῖς ψυχικοῖς καθεστᾶσιν. ὡς γὰρ ὑπό τινος λήμης τὸ διορατικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἄμφω ἐπισκεπόμενοι, οὐ δύναται καταλάμπεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀειζώου καὶ ἀπόνου φωτὸς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· ἀλλ' ἐν ἀποπτώσει γίνονται, καὶ ἐσπάμπαν ἀπόλλυνται, ὡς μύρον βορβόρω συμπλακέν· οὐδὲ συνιέντες τάχα, ὡς τοῦ ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου στεροῦνται ἀγαθοῦ. Πηλίκη γὰρ ἡ ἐντεῦθεν ζημία, μᾶλλον δὲ παντελὴς ἀπώλεια, οὐδεὶς λόγῳ παραστῆσαι δύναται, κἂν πάσῃ χρήσαιτο τῆς διανοίας ὑπερβολῇ. Διαγορεύει δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων ὁ μὲν Θεὸς ἐν τῇ Γενέσει τοιῶσδε· «Οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ Πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας»· ὁ δὲ Παῦλος· «Οἷος ὁ χοϊκὸς ἄνθρωπος, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ χοϊκοί· καὶ οἷος ὁ ἐπουράνιος, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ ἐπουράνιοι»· ἡ δὲ Σοφία· «Σκολιοὶ γὰρ λογισμοὶ χωρίζουσιν ἀπὸ Θεοῦ· δοκιμαζομένη δὲ ἡ δύναμις ἐλέγχει τοὺς ἄφρονας.»

for wisdom shall not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body that is subject to sin.

CHAPTER XXI

CHAPTER XXIII

glorified ^A as King and Lord of hosts, the Apostle shows to be the Holy Spirit; and as when the same [Apostle] writes in an Epistle, declaring that the communion with the Spirit is with the Father and the Son, it is manifest that it is a communion of divinity, and of kingdom, and of glory, as has been said before and will be said again. Thus, in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, he writes: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit." And elsewhere he says: "If there be any communion of the Spirit." And to the Ephesians he writes: "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Consider how he said "unity" on account of the union of nature with the Father. And again to the Corinthians: "Or do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price. Glorify God in your bodies," that is, the Holy Spirit. ^B And again, having previously proclaimed: "Now the Lord is the Spirit," he adds: "But we all with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Lord the Spirit." And again: "But if the ministration of death, written in letters on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is to be done away; how shall not rather the ministration of the Spirit be glorious?" These things are similar to those which are said by John: "We saw his glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And the wise Zorobabel says: "All the earth calls upon truth, and the heaven blesses it, and all works are shaken and tremble." But by truth he means the Holy Spirit, as has been testified above. And the Spirit of God Himself says through the Psalmist: ^C "Those who glorify me, I will glorify, and those who despise me shall be despised." And that He is also worshipped together with the Father and the Son, the patriarch taught when at the oak of Mambre he received and worshipped ^D the holy Trinity with equal honor as

worthy and having worshipped the Trinity, as has been stated in the first ^A discourse. Paul also wrote, as was demonstrated above in the theological sections regarding the Spirit, that "Falling on his face he will worship." But the heretics, by legislating in opposition to the Lord’s precept concerning baptism and to the Apostle, and by taking great care lest they be caught having laid aside their hatred against the Son and the Holy Spirit, offer and render to God a doxology—that is, a glorification—according to their own particular composition.

CHAPTER XXIV

The Savior, teaching in the Gospel according to Mark that those who oppose these things and replace the commandment of God with their own traditions hope in vain to attain His kingdom, says to the Pharisees who held opinions similar to the heretics: "Why ^B do you break the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition? For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die the death.' But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, Corban, that is to say, any gift from me by which you might have been profited,' and you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition." What He means is of this character: the law of God, who loves souls, forbids that parents be despised or spoken evil of, as is written in the preceding words; just as it commands, in turn, that children be loved by them and not provoked to anger. Now the custom ^C of the Israelites required that each one of the people, consecrating himself to the temple, should bring manifestly to the temple for its support those things which were called Corban—which is interpreted "gift"—as being dedicated to God; and it became profit for the priests. When, therefore, those who were particularly obligated to provide the necessities to their parents were reluctant to bring this gift, and rightly said that it is not lawful for one who is in debt not to pay, especially to those who have brought him into being, the priests, introducing new doctrines, taught that parents should rather be neglected or disregarded than the offering of the gift—and instructed them to say to their progenitors: "That which we possess ^D is a gift, and whatever you might receive from us, this you take away from that which is already promised, or dedicated, as it were, to God; for we are constrained," they say, "by the law concerning a vow, which commands that one who has vowed must pay." Therefore, God the Word coming, who does not wish to be honored out of the destitution of parents, nor for fathers to be less honored than sons, nor the latter less than the former, and finding the aforementioned impious tradition of the priests,

which is contrary to His holy commandment, He reproaches the Pharisees for the things that have been recounted.

CHAPTER XXV. Epilogus, or Repetition

^B Since it is proved by the testimony of sublime and divine texts that the Holy Spirit shone forth co-eternally from the one and supreme divine nature, and that He is, according to essence and power, equal to the Father and the Son, without any discrepancy, infinite and incorruptible, and endowed with His own power, and good, and holy, and possessing all the things that have been said before, so that from Him we know that God dwells in us; and since the Father, while declaring Him to be His own Spirit, also testifies manifestly that He is consubstantial with Him, and is uncreated God; and since the Son Himself did not disdain, on account of the communion which He has with Him in deity, and kingdom, and glory, both to be anointed in Him, and to have Him remaining with Him, and to announce His advent through Himself, and to attribute to Him an equality of honor, which the Apostle also maintained, who likewise commemorated the communion and unity of the Spirit; and since in like manner all other Scriptures show that there is one divine nature, and say that there is one name for the most highly honored Trinity, and either place Him together with the Son in such and so great gifts, or even mention Him separately when speaking of divine works and virtues, and call Him by excellence the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, and existing from God, and proceeding from the Father, and one Spirit, and Spirit of truth, and divine Spirit, and Breath of the Almighty, things which alone are sufficient in themselves against all heretical perversities; and since the same Scriptures testify that He makes us sons of God, and deifies, and liberates, and recreates, and deems us worthy of the remission of sins, and provides us with wisdom and knowledge, and sanctifies everything that has been made, and fills the world, and holds all things together, and He Himself strengthened and confirmed the powers of the heavens, and the heavens were opened to Him as He descended, and from the foundation of the world He was borne upon the waters and sanctified them, and He breathed into the prophets and apostles and sent them as Lord, and works together with the Father and the Son, and alone knows the things of God, just as the Only-Begotten does, and breathes where He wills, and bestows divine gifts as He wills, and the faithful man is His temple just as he is the Father's; and just as the holy Passover is celebrated from the beginning to the honor and glory of the deity of the Only-Begotten, so also the feast of Pentecost ^C has been celebrated to the honor and glory of the Spirit, and Gabriel ministers to Him as to the almighty God the Father: how, according to the opinion of heretics, is He who deifies us not God? How is He who grants us liberty not Lord? How is He not King and glorified, He who is commanded to praise God together with the creatures, and who has made us worthy that through baptism we should reign and be glorified together with Christ? For there is in all these things nothing

what has been said previously regarding the divine Spirit, it is found that it is a property of creatures, and never was this honor accorded to the heavenly virtues, that they should be mentioned simultaneously with God the Father and with the Son when the subject is divine grace, or operation, or glorification. But those things which are not properties of creatures, it is clear that they are solely the properties of God: yet God is not created. But those who call Him a creature or a servant (for the two are the same), and who do not say that He is God, nor glorify Him, they are cast out, subject to the servitude of Hagar, and condemned by the servitude of Cham, hearing said of themselves that which is written: "Cursed be Cham; he shall serve his brothers." And they are placed and reckoned with Simon Magus, who thought that the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is by no means for sale, could be bought with money; and in the book of the Acts of the Apostles they hear said to them: "For you have no part or lot in this matter." ^B

CAP. XXVI. That God has definitely threatened those who do not recognize His Son and the Holy Spirit.

For truly, since there is no communion of light with darkness, nor for those who are deprived of divine knowledge with those who have been illuminated by it, it is deservedly written concerning heretics who think perversely: "They did not know the Spirit, neither did they understand; they walk in darkness." Deservedly also do the writers speak of them; John indeed: "In the last ^C time there shall come scoffers, walking according to their own desires in impieties. These are they who separate, animal, not having the Spirit." But Paul to Timothy: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, in the hypocrisy of those who speak lies, having their own conscience seared." And to the Hebrews: "One who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses; how much worse punishment do you suppose he will be thought worthy of, who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has considered the blood of the Covenant to be common, by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" And to the Ephesians: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption." And the Lord Himself in Matthew, toward him who has been caught in blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, as having sinned without excuse, extends the punishment, not only for the present age, but also for the future; so that we may strongly guard ourselves against committing such a sin even through ignorance, saying: "Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven to them."

^A What other speech, then, is there against the Holy Spirit, or what other blasphemy concerning Him is understood, if not that which consists in not confessing Him to be God, consubstantial and co-eternal with the Father and the Son? For especially when the discourse is about God, the word "blaspheming" is used. He defined, indeed, that the blasphemy against the Son of Man is forgiven, but that which is against the Holy Spirit is not. By these words He signifies that it is not forgiven to him who, even late or at length, has not believed that He proceeded consubstantially from God the Father; for to him who has known this, it is forgiven. For He says: "As for the Son, they have at least a pretext, even if it be not a reasonable one, namely those humble and abject things which are said concerning Him, and which must be understood of the ineffable Incarnation. But as for the Holy Spirit, they have no excuse." Therefore, Wisdom also, declaring the divine Spirit to be God, and threatening in His name those who blaspheme Him, says: ^B "For the Spirit of wisdom is benign, and will not deliver the blasphemer from his lips; for God is the witness of his reins, and the true inspector of his heart, and the hearer of his tongue; for the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice." For those who do not believe in His divinity, as the Apostle writes to Timothy in the first Epistle, having become like Hymenæus and Alexander, "have made shipwreck concerning the faith, and have been delivered to Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme." And with good reason: for they did not wish for the Holy Spirit to breathe favorably upon them, and they spurned His illumination, which is firmer than any anchor, and they rejected the perfect direction of Him and of Christ, depriving themselves of that hymn of glorification which is fitting for God and preserves the equality of the persons. For as it is said in the first book of Kings by Heli: ^C "If a man shall sin against a man, they shall pray for him to the Lord; but if he shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him?" But "the Lord is the Spirit," as Paul wrote.

^D ...humanity, however, as Him, he calls the Son of Man. But Didymus, both here and in the book *On the Holy Spirit*, understands the third person of the Trinity by the name of the Holy Spirit.

It is given not only in all the present age, but also in the future. For the Savior says, "To him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit there is no remission, neither in this age, nor in the future." Whence it is necessary to consider more and more what the account of the Scriptures is concerning Him, lest in anyone—or, as our codex says, "lest anyone"—the error of blasphemy should creep in, at least through ignorance. He inculcates the same thing also at the end of the same book, in the last number.

(this is the first page of the chain)

CHAPTER XXVII

^A Audiendi vero etiam sunt (nihil enim inde molestiae erit, sed potius utilitas) eorum versus, qui mediocriter apud Graecos Filii Verbi et Spiritus qualitatem cum Deo Patre persenserunt, atque haec nomina congrua ac vera esse viderunt: juxta quos etiam omnipotens Spiritus sanctus nec natura, nec potentia, nec gloria a Deo Patre segregatur, sicut ne Unigenitus quidem; quin et procedit ex ipso, ita ut non sit minor, et apud eum manet, omnia implens suprema, et copiosa sua cum gratia, tum potentia, secundum Patris et Filii communem cum ipso bonam voluntatem. Hi autem sunt oraculi versus: ^B

Spiritus quidem ab immortali Deo Patre procedens, Ibidem unde venit, manens firmus, et nequaquam separabilis, Sed sub divino Verbi Dei sinu manens, Omnia perficit, utpote divinus, quae vult primigenia mens. Creaturis autem omnibus fert gratiam, sub qua omnia Ne moveas terram; immobilis enim melior est. Soli Chaldaei sapientiam sortiti sunt, et Hebraei, Per se exsistentem regem colentes Deum ipsum. ^{C D}

^A The works of God live, and receive eternal aid. And again: That the Trinity may contain all things, which metes out all things. Orpheus, who among the Greeks is the first theologian: 301 For all things under the great aid of immortal God, men accomplish, under the wise impulse of the Spirit. ^B Plato the Comedian, who gracefully in the iambics subjoined below, speaks of the Divinity extending uniquely into a Trinity, from which all things have been made and are preserved: For God is one, the supreme Father, who strengthened all things most wisely by the Word and by the Spirit, and [is] calling them back from the abyss of error into light from long-standing confusion. ^C From the three discourses of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius. When someone was questioning the good daimon concerning the thrice-holy Spirit, he uttered such an oracle: "Unless there were a providence of the Lord of all, such that he should reveal this discourse to me, neither would you be able to understand it." Therefore, although the grammarians are accustomed to omit the iota which is now called "subscript," here he nevertheless wrote it as he found it written in an older copy, namely ᾗ, instead of ᾗ. And in the same way, a little later, he correctly wrote σοφῆι, instead of σοφῇ and ὁρμῆι. ^D

ὁρμῆι. ^A this love had taken hold, that you should seek concerning this. Now, however, hear the rest of the discourse. Of this Spirit, of whom I have often spoken, all things stand in need. For it sustains all things, and according to merit it vivifies and nourishes all things; and it depends from the holy fountain, always bringing aid to spirits and to living beings, for it is one and generative. »

And again, subjecting many people with a nobler and more excellent judgment—those who are not accurate regarding the knowledge concerning the immaculate, immeasurable, ineffable, and ever-same-existing self-complete Trinity, regarding which no man is so great-minded nor so high-minded that he is able to contemplate anything worthy of such surpassing excellence—he speaks thus: ^B

« For it is not possible that such mysteries should be presented to the uninitiated; but hear with the mind: There was but one intellectual light before the intellectual light; and it is always the mind of the mind, which is luminous; and there was nothing else but its unity. Always existing in it, always [140 a]

(22) He might reveal to me, for *me*, and erroneously, for *to me*, in place of *to reveal*. In Cyril also it is read *for me*, in place of *me*. But if you read *me*, it must be translated: *so that I might reveal this discourse*. (23) *Ne vos quidem*, etc. In the Patricius edition it is read: οὐδέ ὑμᾶς νῦν ἔρως τοιοῦτος κατεῖχεν, that is, *Neither would such love have taken hold of you now*. (24) *Cum portet*. The Ferrar. edition erroneously omits *portet*, and in place of *all things*, *all things* is read in Cyril. (25) *Omnia vivificat*. The Ferrar. edition omits *vivificat* here, and *and all things* are read in Cyril. (26) *Spiritibus et animantibus*. In Cyril it is read: Πνεύματι καὶ ζωῆς. Didymus, or rather the Passioneianus, the transcriber of this work, has: πνεύμασι καὶ ζωῆς. Both readings seem to be rejected; it should be read as Patricius edited: πνεύματι καὶ ζωῆς. (27) *Cum unus*, etc. In the Ferrariensis edition the fragment ends with the word *ὑπάρχον*; then another fragment follows. Thus the words *γόνιμον ἓν ὄν* are missing there. They are, however, read in Cyril. (28) *Subjiciens*. In the Greek, *καθυποτάττων*. This word is missing in common lexicons. Clement of Alexandria uses it in the fifth book of the Stromata, page 680. *[He says]*, that is, *subjecting the mind to passions*. (29) *Excelsissima mente præditus*. The codex is erroneous, *ὑψηλοπουστότατος*. I read, *ὑψηλονούστατος*. (30) *Nam fieri*. In the Ferrariensis Patricii edition existing in the same place before the above, namely in book xx, page 50, under this title: *Ἑρμοῦ τοῦ Τρισμεγίστου ἐκ τοῦ γ' πρὸς Ἀσκληπιόν*, that is, *of Hermes Trismegistus, from the third [book] to Asclepius*. And in a similar manner Cyril cites these in the place I mentioned. Augustinus Steuchus brings forward these and the following words with some variety of readings in his book *On Perennial Philosophy*, chap. 10. (31) *Mente*. The Ferrariensis edition and Cyril read, *with the mind*, *for the mind*. (32) *Mens mentis*. In the Ferrariensis edition the word *νοός* is missing.

^A whatsoever was, that is its unity. Always ^B existing in itself, always with its own mind, and light, and Spirit, it embraces and contains all things. And with other things interjected, he subjoins:

"Outside this, there is no God, no angel, no demon, no other substance whatsoever; for he is the Lord and Father of all, and God, and source, and life, and power, and light, and mind, and Spirit, and all things are in him and under him."

He designates the Mind from the Mind, and the intellectual light from the intellectual light, and furthermore the Spirit, by which he comprehends all things—naming the God Father, and the Only-Begotten, and his one holy Spirit: just as Wisdom says, "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the round world." Angelic beings, however, and demons, and those who are indeed called gods by the Greeks but are not truly gods, and every nature, he declares to be under this indivisible authority, the one creative principle of all things. And Porphyry, though he is not at all sound regarding the truly divine, but, so to speak, is full of resentment—nonetheless, setting forth the opinion of Plato, and perhaps compelled in some way by the truth, or perhaps also out of reverence for Plato, he intended to say these things:

"For Plato said that the essence of the Divine proceeded as far as three hypostases; that there is, indeed, the most high God—the Good—and after him, a second, namely the Creator, and a third also, namely the soul of the world; for to the soul the divinity proceeded." ^C

Execrable, moreover, and accursed Porphyry, as one whose inner sight was clouded and damaged. ^D

and who was ^A unable to arrive at the most perfect theology, since it is not consonant with the concupiscent and venereal appetite—for he directs his present explanation to this—obscurely indicated the one saving and holy Spirit of God, calling him "soul," yet not the soul of man, but the soul that pervades the whole world. You see, therefore, that even the sages of the outsiders bear witness that the three blessed hypostases appeared in one deity, and not one at one time and another at another; but when the first appeared, then together with it and from it, at the same time, the other and the second existed co-eternally, just as splendor is coeval with fire. Let us also adduce something from our own store, deduced from natural reason, which confirms the eternal procession of the one divine Spirit and his consubstantiality with the only-begotten Word of God. It is of this kind: Speech ^B is not generated or uttered unless the Spirit at the same time issues and proceeds with it. Many other such arguments and teachings—and these not to be rejected, but rather more natural and specific than those written here—will, if it pleases God, be brought forth by us further on. For I and mine, as those who have shared with me in these daily assemblies know—those who seek the memory of the blessed Trinity that is without beginning and always the same and in the same state, which always gives good things, never takes them away, nor reproaches—

On the Trinity, Book II

^B ...that Didymus was dictating these things. For the Emperor Theodosius the Great had ordered his writings to be destroyed by fire. ^C ...in the third book, ch. et seqq. ...deduced from natural reason, which confirms the eternal procession of the one divine Spirit and his consubstantiality with the only-begotten God the Word. And it is of this kind: Speech is not generated, nor brought forth, unless the Spirit exits and proceeds simultaneously with it. Many other such arguments and doctrines, and these not to be rejected, but rather much more pertinent to the matter, and more appropriate than those which have been written down here, will again, if it seems good to God, be brought forth by us from Greek books (45). For as those who have had common assemblies with me in these alternate days (46) (47) ^D know, the sacred Scriptures are collected, and the doctors interpret them; and all things are done that pertain to the synaxis, except for the celebration of the mysteries. And this custom of the Alexandrian Church is ancient. For it is agreed that Origen taught in the church on most of these days. One should also read Sozomen, Book VII, Hist. eccl., ch. 19, and Nicephorus Callistus, Book XII, ch. 34. That this custom nevertheless persisted in monasteries in the eighth and ninth centuries is evident from the epistle of Theodore the Studite to Nicolaus (apud Sirmondum, tom. V, p. 198); for thus the holy prelate encourages Nicolaus himself: "Take care by all means that you hold a catechesis every week towards evening; for this has been handed down by the Fathers, and it is salutary." But on the contrary, in the Caesarean Church, for example, in the age of Didymus, synaxes were held even on the Sabbath, and on the fourth and sixth days the Eucharist was distributed. "We therefore communicate four times in each week," says Basil (epist. 289), "the Lord's Day, the fourth day, on Preparation day [Friday], and on the Sabbath." In the Roman Church, however, what custom prevailed at that time, at least in the time of Lent, is indicated even by St. Leo in his fourth sermon on Lent, speaking thus: "Let us fast, therefore, on the second, and fourth, and sixth day; but on the Sabbath let us celebrate vigils at the church of the blessed Apostle Peter." Although Quesnel has opined that these words should be expunged there, since they exist in very ancient copies, they seem to retainable.

(45) ...point to the author as both an Alexandrian and as a catechist and teacher of the Alexandrian Church. For these gatherings, or ecclesiastical conventions, were held at Alexandria on alternate days, namely the fourth day, the sixth day, and the Lord's Day; but on the Sabbath they were not held. This custom Epiphanius, dwelling at Salamis in Cyprus, not far from the city of the Alexandrians, derives from apostolic times, when in his *Exposition of the Faith*, no. 22, vol. I, p. 1104, he writes: "The synaxes which are performed are appointed by the apostles, on the fourth day, and the day before the Sabbath, and the Lord's Day." Petavius translates this thus: "Sacred conventions, moreover, and synaxes were instituted by the apostles on these days in particular, the fourth, the sixth day, and the Lord's Day." But I would prefer to translate it thus: "For the celebrating of synaxes on the fourth day, the sixth day, and the Lord's Day, they have been assigned from the time of the apostles." Furthermore, the Alexandrian catechists were accustomed to hold catecheses on these very days: and this custom was ancient in the Alexandrian Church, inasmuch as it had been preserved from Origen, the predecessor of Didymus. All these things are to be confirmed by the testimony of Socrates, which, for the sake of brevity, I shall only bring forward in Latin. He therefore, in *Hist. eccl.*, lib. V, ch. 22, after he has exposed the various rites of the Churches, as far as pertains to fasting, adds these things: "As for what concerns synaxes, the variety is no less. For while all the Churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries every week on the Sabbath day, the Alexandrians, however, and the Romans, following a certain ancient tradition, refuse to do this. But the Egyptians who are neighbors to the Alexandrians, and those who inhabit the Thebaid, do indeed celebrate synaxes on the Sabbath; they do not, however, as is the custom of Christians, receive the sacred mysteries. For after they have feasted and been satisfied with every kind of food, towards evening, having made the oblation, they communicate." Moreover, at Alexandria on the fourth day, and that which is called Preparation day [Friday]...

(47) In these... assemblies. This expression, *in these*, that is, *in them*, indicates that Didymus recited these books on the Trinity, or some part of them, in the assemblies which I have just mentioned, while he was performing the office of catechist. But as for the word *synaxis*, Didymus perhaps uses this expression, or rather that of *synousia*, because in the Alexandrian Church the sacred mysteries were not performed on the fourth and sixth days, or because those conventions, over which neither a bishop nor a priest presided, but a master not initiated into any sacred orders, of which sort was Didymus, would more properly be called *synousiai* [meetings] than *synaxes*.

^A ...and at no time has there been a moment when I ceased, or—in the name of the most holy Trinity, in which all things may be said, and done, and quietly deliberated—when I failed to provide for myself and for those belonging to me that which is complete (for this [Trinity], being the cause of all things, requires nothing except our own benefit), worshipping and glorifying and, according to the power that is in me, praising it. Have I not often said that they do themselves a great injury who are not diligent either to learn or to teach something wise concerning it? And now, believing as I am accustomed to, that those things alone are stable and firm which this Trinity precedes, lifting up the eyes of my mind together with my body, I beseech [God] for myself, and for those who have sprung from me, and for those born and yet to be born of them, and furthermore for all people, obeying the Savior Christ who commanded us to pray for one another, and saying ^B that which he who prays in the Psalm says: "In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me not be confounded for ever; in thy justice deliver me, and rescue me. Incline thy ear unto me, and save me. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength, that thou mayest save me: for thou art my firmament and my refuge. O my God, deliver me out of the hand of the sinner, and out of the hand of him that acteth against the law, and of the unjust man. For thou art my patience, O Lord, O Lord, my hope from my youth. In thee have I been confirmed from the womb, from my mother's womb thou art my protector. In thee is my praise always. I am become as a wonder unto many: and thou, O Lord, art my strong helper. Let my mouth be filled with praise, ^C that I may sing thy glory, thy greatness all the day long. Cast me not off in the time of old age; when my strength shall fail, do not thou forsake me." For thus, because of thee, O most good and most almighty Trinity, who hast nothing that opposes thee, as thou hast willed to have mercy even on us sinners—[the Trinity] from whom and through whom is all good, and in whom the whole hope of all men always resides, and after whom there is absolutely nothing—may we be delivered from those things...

^A in which we have sinned, whether in soul or body, in knowledge or ignorance, in word or in deed, both here and whenever you prevail in judging the hidden things of men, and from the heavy burdens in this world, and from the demon who always envies the good and stands as an adversary, and from every evil and unclean spirit, and from the hater-of-good, Antichrist, whose time—full of terrible struggle, as the facts attest—has already drawn near; so that none, neither of those now living nor of those found then, may perish. Thus may every evil be cast out of the way, and may things ^B both public and private be managed well and peacefully, according to your bountiful and soul-loving will; and may the life of piety and individual activity in every city, aye, and in the country, become henceforth a choice and desirable dwelling for all; and may there exist for everyone, as for the holy fathers and those before them, the power to sail, to travel, to stay at home, to farm, and to attend to religious festivals as one loves and wishes, to speak gracious and gentle words, and, greater than these, to remember you without distraction and with a sober mind, and to make you the beginning and the end of every action, and to share according to one’s ability with those in need, beginning with kin and family, and to expect from you the loan for the future, and as a bonus, eternal life. “For fasting,” it says, “and prayer deliver from death; but almsgiving is above both.” For as those outside also say: ^C There is nothing more excellent for mortals than piety. Thus, in addition to these, may you grant us that we may not fall into the disease of pride and arrogance, nor that there be any glory-seeking man of ostentation; since by ^D these unavoidable passions, the most hateful Satan [seeks to draw us away from the light above...]

[alt-version omitted]

and the society of the good angels, and slipped down into the darkest recesses of Tartarus. But that Pharisee, ^B educated under the Law, although he fasted, tithed his own goods, and brought help to those asking for it, nevertheless, because of his own pride, had in this world a vain hope from these works, as it is read in the Holy Scriptures. Grant this, moreover, that we be far from contention and strife; that we may live with books, and keeping a pure conscience, never be separated from the ecclesiastical synaxes, ^C in which, in a more special way, thou art proposed to all. Thus it shall be, that it may no longer be shameful or worthy of contempt, but, as of old and from of yore, the consensus and symmetry of Christians—which was from the beginning the teacher of virtue and of all discipline—may be worthy of praise. And the subsequent way of life may appear more temperate than the ancient one, in as much as it is subdued by the Christian ordinance, which has done all things well. And may a sweet and bright light arise; and may good governance and peace, in every way and reason, be deep over all the earth and sea; and may the channel of the Nile ^D be full, and there be the greatest abundance; and may there be, on the contrary, a great—nay, an utterly universal—pennilessness of ambitious men: nor let one man any longer provide another with occasion for lamentation; and let me be able to observe the law that I have set for myself with decency, and grace, and gravity of life and speech; and from every side for us, for all our children, and for all our houses, and for all our families, and in general for all, may things turn out better than our prayers and better than they were before. And all these things, yes, yes, yes, shall be accomplished and will be accomplished, so that it may always work out that consoling and healing word of yours in Isaiah, which contains as follows: "I am he that speaks; I am here as an hour upon the mountains, as one bringing glad tidings of good things, that I may perform your salvation, saying: O Zion, your God shall reign." And may we obtain...

life and grace that is eternal, even after the end of this life, because of your most good, most magnificent, most saving, and glorified name—which is praised throughout the endless ages of ages—O God, Father Almighty, over all, through all, and in all; and your only-begotten Son; and your all-holy, life-giving, and creative Spirit. Amen, amen, amen. And may all the peoples of the orthodox Christians everywhere always say: Let it be, let it be, let it be.

BOOK III. OBJECTIONS OF HERETICS DRAWN FROM THE SCRIPTURES, IN WHICH ARE READ THE WORDS THAT ARE SUBMITTED, AND THE RESPONSES OF THE ORTHODOX.

^A Cap. I. Prologue concerning the passions that arise from the body and from the election of the soul. Cap. II. Theological arguments, or fifty-five chapters. Cap. III. The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works. Cap. IV. The firstborn of all creation: because in him were created all things that are in heaven and that are on earth. Cap. V. I am the beginning and the end. Cap. VI. Let all the house of Israel know that God has made him both Lord and Christ; and, I have been constituted king by him; and, Receive the high priest; and, Who has been made wisdom for you from God; and, Elected from among tens of thousands. Cap. VII. Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Cap. VIII. Regarding that which is written, that Christ is the vine, men the branches, and God the Father the husbandman. Cap. IX. It is a great thing for you to be called my servant; and, Who was determined to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness; and, The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory; and, I ascend to my Father and my God. Cap. X. Therefore God also exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name; and, Being made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man. Cap. XI. I live because of the Father. Cap. XII. I have descended from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me, the Father. Cap. XIII. Therefore God has anointed you, O God, your God; and, Whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world. Cap. XIV. You will not leave my soul in hell; and concerning the text: God raised Christ Jesus from the dead. Cap. XV. No one is good, except one, God. Cap. XVI. To the King of ages, ^D incorruptible, invisibility...

to the only wise God honor and glory; and, Who alone has immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; and concerning those who say: Are not then souls and angels immortal and invisible? ^A

Cap. XVII. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself; and, He has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man; and again: Those whom you gave me out of the world, they were yours, and you gave them to me; and again: All things have been delivered to me by the Father; and again: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And observe similar things. And that of David: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance.

Cap. XVIII. The Father who sent me is greater than I. Ibidem, concerning the Montanists and Manichaeans.

Cap. XIX. The Father gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. But concerning the Holy Spirit: He will not speak from his own authority; and, I have not spoken from myself; and, As the Father has commanded me, so I do; and, The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

Cap. XX. When he delivers the kingdom to God and the Father, and when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Ibidem, that when the Incarnation was made known to men, then the angels also perceived it on account of men. ^B

Cap. XXI. Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; and concerning this text, Save me from this hour; and, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? and, My soul is sorrowful even unto death. And concerning weeping over Lazarus, and weariness, and prayer, and hunger, and the sleep of Christ, and others of that kind. Ibidem, that the Father and the Holy Spirit were with him.

Cap. XXII. No one knows the last day, neither the angels, nor the Son.

312 Cap. XXIII. For there is no God except one: for although there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords, but for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things. Ibidem, that the name God is not more excellent than the name Lord: but both are appropriate for the three hypostases; yet often the name Lord is even placed before the name God. ^C

Cap. XXIV. That the Greeks, according to their error, understand that: If there are any who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth.

Cap. XXV. Glorify me, Father, in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

Cap. XXVI. When he shall come in the glory of his Father.

Cap. XXVII. The mediator of God and men, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Cap. XXVIII. That without the Son, graces were not bestowed according to some before his advent into the world.

Cap. XXIX. Concerning the fact that, when the mother of the sons of Zebedee asked that her two sons might be placed at his right and left in the future judgment, he said: It is not mine to give, but to those for whom it has been prepared by the Father. ^D

Cap. XXX. Father, into your hands I shall commit my spirit.

Cap. XXXI. Prepare yourself to call upon your God, O Israel, for behold, I am he who confirms the thunder and creates the spirit, and makes known his Christ to men.

Cap. XXXII. Concerning those who say: All things were made through the Son. Is not the Holy Spirit also among all things?

Cap. XXXIII. Concerning the fact that Christ said: And how does David in the Holy Spirit call him Lord,

saying: *Did the Lord say to my Lord?* ^A Cap. XXXIV. Concerning the text: *For the Holy Spirit was not yet [given], because Jesus was not yet glorified.* Cap. XXXV. Concerning the text which is written: *The Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. But He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to God.* Cap. XXXVI. *For this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God;* and again: *You believe in God; believe also in me.* He did not say, they argue, "And in the Holy Spirit." Cap. XXXVII. *No one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except the Father.* And against those who say that the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God, as though He were sometimes ignorant. Cap. XXXVIII. ^B Concerning the fact that heretics attribute the name of Paraclete solely to the Holy Spirit, and say that He was also sent by the Son. And concerning the fact that they claim the Son was also sent by the Father and by the Holy Spirit. Together with this, also concerning Montanus. Cap. XXXIX. Concerning the text: *God has sent forth His Spirit into our hearts, crying: Abba, Father.* Cap. XL. On that which the Son says concerning the Spirit: *He will glorify me, for He will take of what is mine and will declare it to you.* Cap. XLI. Concerning the Montanists, in this manner: That they say the Father, the Son, and the Paraclete are the same. That they say Montanus possessed the perfection of the Paraclete. That they say: "You," he says, "do not believe that there have been prophets since the sojourn of the Lord in the world." Cap. XLII. Concerning exhortation. Concerning the fact that the heretical impiety had been foretold.

BOOK THREE

^A Cap. I. The soul, being in itself impassible in the intellectual part, has its reason for suffering at times in its conjunction with the body, and in its own will and choice, or desire for knowledge. For the body, keeping it enclosed within itself like a lightless prison, through material passions—[145 b]

BOOK THREE

Anima cum per se ipsam in intellectuali parte sit impatibilis, cur patiatur aliquando in causa est ejus conjunctio cum corpore, et propria ipsius voluntas, atque electio, aut cognitionis appetitus. Nam corpus cum eam in se ipso, velut in cæca custodia, inclusam habeat, per materiales pas-

- ^A [the soul] leads it away from the fellowship of God, and inclines it downward to the earth, and, as I think, to earthly anxieties; and thus it attempts to command that which is by nature more excellent, and so much more excellent, as that which is immortal is more excellent than that which is mortal. Moreover, the desire of fulfilling its own will, or of acquiring knowledge, draws it thither, and tends toward it, so that it wishes to know certain things: but since it does not have a right and safe guide for the way, or uses the company of wicked men, it wanders, and remains in doubt, and at length, whatever opinion it happens to have arrived at, it inconsiderately embraces: and thus it becomes exceedingly miserable and wretched; for while it hunts for good knowledge, and thinks it has found it, it falls into wicked opinions and is depraved.

For that we are all so constituted by nature that we seek knowledge, is shown, as Aristotle says, even ^B by the desire of the senses, which draws us to itself without any urgent necessity. Thus we wish to see something, or to do something at times, even if it is not at all necessary, but rather what is seen or done is harmful. That the sacred Scriptures have openly affirmed that these things are so, is declared by the divine writers, who have spoken thus. James, a man of illustrious memory, says: « This wisdom is not that which descends from above, but is earthly, animal, diabolical. » And he adds: « For the wisdom that is from above is first indeed pure, peaceable, equitable, docile, full of mercy and the fruits of good works, ^C not judging, free from simulation. » And besides, he calls those men double-minded who are rude and common, and have neither clean knowledge nor a stable choice or purpose of soul, while he writes this: « Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you, cleanse your hands, O sinners, and purify your hearts, O double-minded. » ^D Nay, even to those who have a *misoponeron* (that is, a hater of evil) mind, and are victors in virtue, from whom not even one of the precious things escapes, he discourses in such a way that he may ward off intemperance from such men, and that they may communicate other goods, which they themselves have, to others, in these very words: « Brothers, if any of you has wandered from the truth, and someone converts him, let him know that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins. »

^A Likewise, Peter also, instructing us regarding the reason why the soul, while impassible, sometimes becomes full of passions, and mentioning our ruin as a kind of digression, wrote: "Abstain from fleshly desires, which war against the soul." And Solomon, the son of David, says: "As the faces of men are not alike, so neither are the hearts of men alike." Furthermore, those things which the great and invincible athlete Paul wrote also come to my mind, which he promulgated in this way: "The animal man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him," and again: "But the spiritual man judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one."

^B But, as I was saying, this faculty of will and choice, and the body, are often prone to drag the soul down and incline it to passions; yet sometimes they convey no small quantity of good things to the soul itself: the body, the knowledge of things sensible and other service which it provides to the soul; and the choice of the soul, the blessedness which is derived from sound counsel and orthodoxy. And conversely, if the soul has lived rightly with the body, and keeps it obedient and subject to itself, and turns toward God and is filled with His thoughts, it bestows more numerous and more august things upon it. For as for the earthly part, it strives to render it as if devoid of passion, adorning it with sweat, and endurance, and all the labors which it sustains for the sake of virtue, and governing and moderating it, and through the experience of sorrows and pains which it undergoes, ^C rousing it toward a religious and pious life, and, as it were, lifting it upward. It keeps its own choice subject to itself, preserves an unblemished faith, and raises man above man, rendering him venerable by faith and doctrine, and inclining toward supplication of the Trinity, and making the help which it receives from these things its own food. For if we rightly estimate the soul, it can be adorned and nourished by nothing else but by doctrine and faith. For to man, both of these are food, the one from agriculture, the other from words and faith; but the one provides for the body both to be and to endure, while the other provides to souls to excel others, and through faith and words the whole of the rest of life is brought to maturity. ^D It is possible for one who investigates this with the mind to see that these things cannot be otherwise, as immediately upon such a one the Son, who has ascended above all things, shines and assists.

^A The Word of God, who neglects no one, not even those who despise Him, has implanted the Word—the most precious of all things—in every soul into which, through his own breathing, He has invited the Holy Spirit to dwell. Therefore, it has also been wondrously said by those outside in the end of a certain verse: "Everywhere there is man, there also is the Word." ^B But these things are so. The heretics, however, breathing nothing but what is unclean, paying no heed to the sublime testimonies and the magnificent gifts and works brought forth concerning the Redeemer, God the Word, the Creator of all things, apply to His divinity those places of Scripture which were spoken concerning His supremely ineffable and supremely immutable, gracious Incarnation, and which seem to them humble and unbecoming. And, through these very things—by which they ought to perceive the glory of God and celebrate all the more His kindness toward men—they are found to be far removed from the truth, and they proceed to offer insults to their Benefactor and Savior. Nor do they endeavor to appease Him as a Judge, but on the contrary, they strive to show Him to be, as a created being, subject to judgment even now, after His ascent into heaven and His sitting at the right hand of His own Father, to be honored with equal honor. Furthermore, they frequently present—without examination, and as if they were against Him or pronounced by Him—things which were not spoken about the Son or by Him, or things that were written with a hidden and enigmatic meaning, and they make of them the most twisted and feeble interpretation. ^C They show themselves to be no different from irrational animals toward this most desirable Lord, who leads those who believe, without violence, into the one, indivisible kingdom of the Father, and Himself, and the Holy Spirit, and who, out of His indulgence toward us, exhorts us: "Do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding." For the irrational animals, He says, whose soul is blood from matter, according to him who says in Genesis: "The blood of him is the soul of him," incline always toward the earth, serving only the belly, and they have not risen in body and mind like man, who perceives the things on earth, looks upon the things on high, and hastens toward the supernal, most serene, and most impassible state, ^D and who reckons that he is but a guest in the world, as in a public inn, preparing himself daily to depart wisely from this life; and therefore the wise man is simple in faith and intent. For it is clear to everyone that truth, which is born with simplicity, is always mightier than all artifice through words and in words. Technical arguments, however, in which those who are heretics in theological theory abound—as even the Greeks do—appear to disturb and be disturbed.

^A For they call Him God, and Lord, and Son, but they no longer say that He is God and Lord uncreated, without beginning, possessed of independent power, and equal to God the Father; nor do they say that He is the only-begotten Son, [148 α] consubstantial with Him who begat Him. And these things, while they clarify and show forth the equal honor and equal power of the holy Trinity in His divine dogma concerning baptism, and in many other things, as has been said—yet, in a way, agreeing with the Greeks, they introduce and conceive of differences and lowerings of essence and glory, according to their own new ideas, regarding the three divine and consubstantial hypostases, concerning both the Son and the Holy Spirit of God.

These things even the wretched and abominable demons, who through the perversity of their own will have been revealed as useless and malice-loving creatures, shudder to hear, let alone to speak. ^B Indeed, the arguments containing the theology have been sufficiently worked out, there already being many thousands of other proofs, which have not been mentioned, so that those who encounter them might not be discouraged by their number, nor might the writer appear long-winded and talkative. For if “the word of truth is simple,” as the acclaimed among the Greeks say—and for this reason Truth could rightly be the name of the Divine alone—it is clear that the discourse concerning the Word of God must also be simple and devoid of any perverse complexity. But in order that the divine pronouncements may be easily surveyed for the sake of the heretical problems to be discussed now, come, let us weave together our discourse in a partial and summary recapitulation, even if we are bound to repeat the same things; nonetheless, this is for the sake of what is useful and so that, as far as possible, the things concerning them may be grasped by everyone from every side. [148 b] For those who intend to construct a building also first collect the suitable materials, laying them aside, and then place them near each place where work is to be done, so that each of those employed in the labor may have them before their eyes and ready to hand, and thus they begin the task. And having again entrusted the whole to God, who stills the waves and grants a calm voyage and succeeds in all things—by whose grace (which He is accustomed to grant even to the sinful and narrow-minded—my own self, I mean) I have come to this...

desire of mine, proceeding to what follows, believing that, before I speak, I shall receive grace together with the children whom He has given me, and the children of the children, for whom we live and labor, and furthermore together with all whom He knows. For it is His golden oracle: ^A "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, ye shall receive," and, "Open thy mouth, and I will fill it," and, "It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of my Father which speaketh in you." Concerning whom, and from whom, even those outside ^B—having been deemed worthy of a sense of Him—say: "God, the fabricator of all things, also implants grace in the singer." For, in truth, the intelligence of man is not sufficient of itself to say anything concerning God, unless it has received divine aid and power; just as Diagoras the Melian somewhere also said: "God, before every mortal work, directs the mind over all things, guiding even the gifts that are appropriate for a guest."

[785] ^A A human work 18 moves the most sublime human intellect 19; but he who has learned by himself, with nature herself as a guide and without instruction, proceeds happily 20, creating, as it were, a secret passage—a shortcut 21. From there, indeed, I shall begin, where it is right to commence.

Chapter II.

^{A B} I. If, therefore, Scripture cannot lie (and it is altogether incapable of lying), saying that God the Word is true God and true Son of God, as it is in many places, and as the Father says: "This is my beloved Son"; and as John writes: "And we are in the true Son of God, Jesus Christ; this is the true God and eternal life"; and as Jeremiah prophesies: "The gods who did not make the heaven and the earth, let them perish from the earth. The Lord, however, who made the heavens with ^C intelligence, he is the living and true God"—it is evident, of course, that He is by nature and properly uncreated God, and without beginning, and in all things unchangeable and identical to God the Father. For neither is a cause found for true God by nature, nor is true God said to be made, nor is true Son considered to be of a different substance. And the fact that it says: "This is my Son," and "This is the true God," excludes the possibility of seeking another genuine Son or true God. And further: If He is true God and Son, according to the generation above, He has a Father, but He has no God; ^D while according to the birth below, He has a God, though He does not have a Father...

[alt-version omitted]

^A Thus, that he might not tread an impassable path—one which is in every way inaccessible to all creatures—and a path no different from that of a man, even the outsiders declared in this manner: "Rightly worship and revere God, but do not seek Him out." And again: "Immortal is God, ever-ageless, unshaken, Ineffable in hidden counsels, self-originated, Begetting himself, ever young, uncreated. He is the begetter of truth, himself wise and true."

And Pindar, too, calling God faith-worthy and true, spoke thus: "But the race of God is ever faithful."

For if He is the begetter of truth, He could not be grasped by the human mind unless it were filled by His truth, and ignited a light from it for itself as a guide in its investigations.

^B II. If God is one, as Moses teaches, saying, "Hear, Israel: The Lord thy God is one Lord," and the Son is proclaimed as only-begotten God and one Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that He is in every way consubstantial and of the same dignity and majesty with God the Father; and while in substance they are one and another, in deity and concord they are one. For this is what the expression "One God" signifies. Indeed, we find that the Greeks, too, under an inscrutable necessity and unwillingly driven toward the truth, have used in this matter the same expressions as we ourselves, consenting to us and openly exclaiming in their own writings after this manner: "One God is He; He is the supreme King of all, And He is the primary begetter, and the root, and the beginning."

^C III. If the name of God is always "Father," and that of the Son is "Son" and "Only-begotten," He is a natural and true Son, and eternal, and not a son as we are; for the Only-begotten to the Father has no

brother with whom He might have a common father; nor is he called a father who has not yet begotten. ^A

IV. If the Son is rightly called the Word of God, He therefore coexists with the One who begat Him, being proper to His nature, and begotten impassibly and without beginning. For the Father cannot be conceived of without His own subsisting Word; nor is the Word created, but begotten impassibly. Similarly, if the Son is justly inscribed in the Scriptures as the Word and Wisdom of God, and all things came to be through Him, then He was not created from the Word of God, but was begotten from His womb. For the Word of God is one; and in what other word could He have been created? These things even the select among the Greeks proclaim: For the generations of God beget ineffable things. And He is above every passion and nature. ^B

V. If the Son, as has been shown, is the very eternal life and true light, He did not begin to be and to live. And similarly, if the Father is also these same things, the Son does not differ from Him in any respect, not even in thought.

VI. If the Son is said to be the power and wisdom of God, He is coeternal with the One who begat Him; for there never was a time when the Father existed without these, nor is it fitting to say that, not having them, He subsequently acquired anything whatsoever. And those who have learned something from the wisdom of those outside, not seeing any second form or second time—if it is lawful to speak in this way—in the existence of the Godhead, spoke according to their own powers thus: God Himself, immortal, bears all things; He Himself ^C Is both His own begetter, and root, and end, and son.

VII. If He saves equally as the Father, inasmuch as He is Savior, and furthermore if He makes wise, declares the truth, justifies, sanctifies; and if all things whatsoever the Father does, these also the Son does in like manner, He does not appear dissimilar to Him.

VIII. If the Only-begotten is, as Paul writes to the Hebrews, the brightness of the glory and the character of the essence of the formless, invisible, and eternal God, and is His image; and if He Himself speaks the truth when He says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father," and, "I and the Father are one," He is surely consubstantial, and coeternal, and equal, and in all respects like to God the Father, and in nothing differing from Him. For light from light is not begotten as of a different essence, nor later; and the character of the essence denotes the identity and an unchangeable nature, and glory, and power; and the rational image signifies equality and likeness; and he who looks at a creature does not see the Uncreated. ^D For He said that the subsistences are in the Godhead, and in a unity of essence has distinguished them according to the persons.

^A

IX. If God and Father is immutable, He did not beget later, nor with passion, but as light begets radiance impassibly and continuously; for He is incorporeal. The wise men of the heathens also, as far as their frailty allowed, believed this:

For not from labor of birth did the immortal God, nor from bosom Of the womb, see the light through a midwife; but by the mind’s Ineffable turning, revolving in Himself, self-born He becomes, being Himself from Himself both begetter and Son.

X. If every creature is mutable, and the Only-Begotten is immutable, He is therefore not a creature.

XI. If a creature does not know the Father, except through whatever things the Son has revealed to it, but the Son knows the Father without anyone revealing it to Him, the Son Himself is not created, but begotten. ^B

XII. If the Scriptures know the Son to be equal to the Father: for Paul writes, "Who, did not think it a robbery to be equal to God," and, "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead;" and the evangelist testifies that the Son "made Himself equal to God;" and if Jeremiah speaks of Him as "God, beside whom no other shall be reckoned;" and Isaiah as "God, mighty, ruler"—how do heretics think Him to be posterior or inferior, and not in all respects equal to the Father?

XIII. If Paul considers the saving preaching, by which Christ and the Holy Spirit are preached, to be more excellent than the old law because it contains perfection, as was shown in the thirtieth argument, it must be said absolutely and entirely that the Son and the Spirit are in no respect whatsoever less or inferior to God and the Father. ^C

XIV. If those who believe in the Son have no need to fear that they will be accused of worshipping a creature, and this passage is a guarantor that they escape this charge, then he even calls those who existed before this, apart from this, atheists. ^D

XV. If the Jews, who did not believe in Christ when he made himself equal to God and for that reason crucified him, were condemned, while Christians who have believed in him have been raised above them, then the Son is in no respect less than his own Father.

^B XVI. If it is fitting for God alone in an eminent and excellent sense to be called and proclaimed "great God"—and Paul indeed cries out, "Of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ"—and David, "Who is like to thee among the gods, O Lord?"—then the Father is certainly not more excellent than the Son, nor is the Son incomparable in relation to him.

XVII. If the same Paul does not count him among the created gods, but equates and places him with the Father, writing to the Corinthians, "For even if there are so-called gods, many in heaven and on earth; yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things," then he is not to be placed among creatures, but is to be glorified with the Father.

XVIII. If the Son is the creator of all things, and of the ages themselves, as it is written, he existed before every operation; and he who existed before every operation was not created. For nothing pre-eternal, or prior to operation, is conceived of as created, but only the unbegotten Trinity in unity. And otherwise: If he is the creator of all things that exist, he is not created, as those things are; for in no way can or ought the Creator to be similar to creatures; ^C nor, moreover, can a creature, by creating, give existence, or make anyone a participant of reason.

XIX. If "in the beginning God was with God," he himself has no other beginning, being more ancient than every beginning. For otherwise it would be absolutely necessary to assign a beginning even to the Father. "For he was," he says, "in the beginning God with God." But there is no beginning to the one Godhead that exists in the beginning.

XX. If no mind can comprehend how a Virgin gave birth without emission, remaining a virgin again, how much more incomprehensible is it how the self-existent God and Father, from eternity, and without passion, from his whole self, begat the Son, wholy and perfectly equal to himself?

XXI. If the Son himself, having formed us, made us possessed of free will, having established judgment for good and bad deeds, how does he himself not have this, which he gave to us? He, I say, who according to the prophecy is God strong, a ruler.

XXII. If Peter is worthy of faith in the Acts, crying out:

^A “To him all the prophets bear witness, that through his name every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins,” then this name, “God” and “only-begotten Son of God,” truly and properly belongs to him. For if such a name were attributed to him falsely and improperly, it could profit him nothing.

XXIII. If the God who is free from lies (who, as the holy Psalmist says, destroys those who speak lies) speaks the truth, when he says in the Theologian: “All that the Father has is mine,” and, “Mine are thine, and thine are mine,” then he is indeed an eternal God and Lord, whose kingdom has no end, and he is everything that the Father is, having received nothing new from him according to the divine nature, but only according to the form of a servant subsequently assumed. And now let us hear what even the Greeks have declared, both concerning the eternal truth that rules above, and concerning the lack of truth below:

The mind of the great God is free from lying; but among mortals ^B it brings hardships and misfortunes upon those who lie.

XXIV. If he has been established as heir of all things, he is not a servant, but a genuine Son. And if he is not a servant, but a Son, he is an eternal God. For in the first place, a son is begotten, not created; and in the second place, it is written concerning those things which are created and exist in time: “All things are thy servants” (or, they serve thee).

XXV. If Paul said of the Father as a great thing (for it is truly great and peculiar to God alone): “Who is over all, and through all, and in all,” and if the same Apostle wrote equal things of the Son—namely: “Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed for ever. Amen” —and likewise the evangelist, when he says: “He who comes from above is above all,” then the Son differs in no respect from the Father, nor is he inferior to him. It is worth our while, then, to examine how piously the theologians of the Greeks hold these matters, who have heard many things, have read not a few, and have seen a very great number. For they say:

All things are full of God; he is the end and the beginning of all things: Bearing all things, and dissolving them, and from them again increasing them.

XXVI. If they say that Scripture says the creation is the Son’s own (for they say: “He came unto his own”); and again: “Mine ^C are... [the sheep listen to my voice,” and to Peter: “I will give you the keys of the king…

heaven,” but it does not belong to a creature to have any of God’s creations as its own, nor to confer the power of opening the heavens, or to say this without peril; he is joint-sovereign with his omnipotent Father. ^A

XXVII. If the immortal is not superior to God the Word, and if neither God nor inanimate flesh has need of food or sleep, then the ineffable Incarnation did not take place without a soul; nor, furthermore, should agony, the appetite for food, sleep, and the like be attributed to the Deity.

XXVIII. If, as the Scriptures testify, he sits at the right hand with the Father as true and equal God, and as his only-begotten Son; and he sits upon the same throne, possessing an indivisible and infinite kingdom, and receives equal adoration and glory with the Father, both he himself and the Spirit of God. For how would it be possible, when the Trinity is present on one throne, for [the Son] to be worshiped alone before the one eternal throne, while the ritual of worship [is performed] ^B toward the east, and glory is offered up? For that where the Father is, there also is his Spirit, present seated with him and worshiped together with him, as belonging to the nature that is mistress of all, is proclaimed by many [Scriptural] oracles, and especially by that which says: “In this we know that God is in us, by his Spirit, which the Son gave to us.” For our own spirit is not meant here; for having already possessed this, we received the holy Spirit of God. ^C

XXIX. If this is the will of the Father, that “all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father,” he possesses equal glory and the same property with the Father; and they act impiously who either alter the words of glorification or imagine that he is in any respect different from the Father.

XXX. If the Son is worshiped by the angels, how is he not also to be worshiped by men? But if he is worshiped, he is no creature. ^D

For it is divinely ordained not to worship gods, since they are creatures. ^A XXXI. If God the Father is in the Son, and the Son is likewise in the Father in equal measure, and the Spirit of God remains with him, as has been shown: the Trinity exists as equal and similar; and no one is able to have, to worship, or to glorify the Father, without equally having the Son and his Spirit, and equally worshiping and glorifying them.

XXXII. If the Son and the Holy Spirit set forth laws and liberate us from sins and from death: "For the law," he says, "of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death," as Paul cries out; these hypostases are of the first and one omnipotent and life-giving nature. For a creature cannot do these things of itself.

XXXIII. If the Son is rightly called Savior by Scripture, and the Holy Spirit is the bestower of salvation, he is immutable; and if immutable, then both the Son and the Spirit are uncreated. For he who is subject to change cannot save those who have gone astray, inasmuch as he is a creature and not impeccable. ^C XXXIV. If we creatures are adopted as sons by the Son, just as those who delivered the mysteries to us testify—Paul indeed saying: "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father"; and John: "But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God"—these hypostases are by no means absent from the true divinity. For how could the Son be adopted into sonship in himself, or through himself, or in his own Spirit?

XXXV. If Paul says that the Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of God," just as we have our own spirit, and if God likewise calls him "his Spirit," he is impious who does not call him God, coeternal and consubstantial with the Father. For there never was a time when God was without his Spirit, nor is it permissible to think that he came to him later, or from without, or that the Spirit of the Uncreated is a created spirit. But furthermore, he ascends with him above the cherubic throne, and is worshiped and glorified together with him, as was said before, inasmuch as he is a Spirit inseparable from him.

XXXVI. If a creature is capable of receiving holiness, wisdom, goodness, and every perfect virtue—for it is mutable—but the Holy Spirit is not ^D receptive of these, but rather the bestower of them (for he is immutable); therefore he is the Creator,

and not a creature in existence, according to the things aforementioned.

^A XXXVII. If a creature possesses knowledge that it takes up and casts off, but the Spirit neither acquired knowledge from without, nor is he of a nature to cast it off, but rather reveals the things of the wisdom and knowledge of God, and exists according to essence as of the Father: the Spirit is therefore not a creature. Let us hear also the thoughts of the Greeks concerning this matter, which are as follows:

XXXVIII. If a servant does not know what his master does, but the Spirit knows the things of God, according to the Apostle—he is not distinguished from God himself by nature and harmony, but is confessedly God and Lord, having equal knowledge with God: a thing which it is impossible and inconceivable to be in the case of any creature.

^B XXXIX. If the Scriptures know this to be one and only, as [they do] the only-begotten Son: it is not a creature, such as the multitude of spirits, but belongs to the unity of the divine essence. Wherefore it alone, properly and strictly, both is and is called Holy Spirit, and Spirit of the Father, and Spirit of God, and Spirit that is from God, and Spirit that proceeds from the Father; and from the fact that he is in all, as God is, we know that God is in us.

XL. If the Trinity is witnessed to in the Scriptures as equally truth, and goodness, and holy: it is in one deity, having nothing divided. For the divine truth, and goodness, and holiness is one and immutable. ^C For a creature both possesses these by participation, and is changed concerning them according to its own will, now speaking the truth, and at another time lying, and now becoming good, and at another time becoming evil. It is evident that the wise men of those outside have said the following concerning this:

For such is the mind of earthly men, As...

XLI. If, as it is written, the Holy Spirit renews us in baptism, and frees us from sin and death, and we are his temple, likewise [as] of God the Father: therefore, as Creator and co-worker with the Creator, he re-creates; and as Lord, he frees; and as God, he dwells within. But he who is these things cannot be a creature in the likeness of other creatures; nor is it lawful to say this, ^D or even to hear one who says this by remaining silent.

XLII. If, together with God the Father and his Son, the Holy Spirit through baptism re-forms us into our first image, and through participation in him is the cause for us of adoption as sons and of becoming gods; and—

how is he himself not the true God?

^A XLIII. If none of the creatures is mentioned together with God the Father in the history of creation, or in glorification, or in baptism, but the Spirit is mentioned, he is therefore God, equal in honor and equal in power to the Father and the Only-Begotten.

XLIV. If it is testified in Scripture that he sent the prophets and apostles with his own authority, in the likeness of the Father and the Son, he has done these things as a God who is in all things in agreement with the Father, and as one who has foreknowledge and is the Lord of creation.

XLV. If what has been said in the Scriptures concerning the Father or the Son ^B is elsewhere written of the Holy Spirit, it is utterly impossible and inconceivable that he should not be of the same perfect divinity, will, and glory as the Father and the Son, without any discrepancy. For things that are equal to the same thing, as they say, are also equal to each other.

XLVI. If none of the heavenly powers can grant heavenly gifts, but the Spirit of God grants them by his own authority, which it belongs only to the divine nature to grant, then he is an all-sufficient God, and he is a sovereign, and he is the ruler over those in heaven, and he happens to be consubstantial with the Father and the Son.

XLVII. If no invisible or visible substance is called God or truth in simple Scripture, ^C except the Father, and his Holy Spirit, and the Only-Begotten, it is undoubted that he belongs to the unity of the divine and supersubstantial essence.

XLVIII. If the powers of the heavens, which are the greatest and most luminous of all creatures, are in the Spirit of God, it cannot be that he is a creature, but he is a fellow-worker of the Creator and works equally with him.

XLIX. If he fills the world and contains all things, as Wisdom says, he is indeed of the one supreme, august, and incomprehensible, and inaccessible, and intangible, and formless essence, and is Creator; and he is not circumscribed by place, but he himself ^D encompasses this whole universe.

L. If Scripture does not distinguish nature in the Trinity, nor is a first, second, and third nature distinguished within it, what argument can the heretics bring against those who believe the Trinity to be essentially one, but distinguished in the properties of the hypostases?

LI. If the book of Job shows the devil to be the first creature, the Spirit is not a creature, but belongs to the unity of the essence. For they would not say that the devil was created before him, and that he [the devil] had at some time attained a more excellent rank, while the divine Spirit held an inferior one.

LII. If, just as the Passover was celebrated from the beginning even by the Jews for the glory and worship of God...

...celebrated, and so too the Pentecost of the Holy Spirit: how is the God who is to be remembered with eternal praises not coeternal with Him? ^A

LIII. If the oracles of the Scriptures commemorate the signet imprinted by the Father and by the Son, in the same way they also commemorate the signet by which we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit: the Spirit is not to be numbered among creatures, but equal honor and thanksgiving are due to Him. For we do not receive the seal of a creature along with that of God, nor does God accept the seal of a creature along with His own, as if He were otherwise unable to save.

LIV. If every blasphemy is forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit of God is unforgivable, then the Spirit is not a lesser God. For it is blasphemy not to call Him God; indeed, that blasphemy redounds also upon the Almighty, whose breath He is.

LV. If heretics do not transgress but observe the commandment of the Father, who says, "This (88) is my beloved Son: hear him," as well as the tradition which the Son delivered concerning baptism, why do they not confess the Trinity to be inseparable in nature, and equally to be honored and equally powerful, and why do they not glorify it with equal honor? For there is one name—that is, the name of the one deity—but He taught three hypostases, having preserved for each the equality of honor.

CAP. III.

Atque hæc quidem ut a nobis demonstrata supponantur. The first and most ^B impious and absurd (89) objection of the heretics is drawn from that which is written in the Proverb (90) of Solomon: "The Lord (91) created me the beginning of his ways for his works; before the age he founded me; in the beginning before he made the earth, and before he made the abysses, before the fountains of waters came (92), before the mountains were settled (93): and before all the hills he begets me." ^C For by this problem they endeavor to demonstrate that He who is Creator and dispenser of benefits is a creature. But the genuine sense of this oracle is also superior and more probable than their interpretation and goal. For if all the chapters and arguments that were brought forward previously, and which were set down and enumerated in the first discourse, are true (as indeed they are) and such as to extort assent, having received the most manifest testimony from the divine oracles; how is it not among the most unholy and most impossible things to interpret in such a way the divine matters ^D that are revealed through concealment; is it not therefore manifest...

^A that this is not spoken in Proverbs by Solomon concerning the Wisdom which is the cause of all things and the Creator—I mean the great God the Word, who is over all, and whom this text cannot indicate? For he was not so bold-hearted and arrogant against God—who even after such great sins forgave and sympathized with him, as he does always to all, and to him—that he would have been such. Indeed, if there is any sense ^B or perception, as surely there is, of those things which happen here, or which are spoken of by the heterodox, I believe that even before the appointed and everlasting day, he would contradict them, and accuse them, and stand against them, teaching that such a thought concerning Him had never entered his mind. For he says he knew Him, as one who sought wisdom above kingship, and attained it, and received the kingship as an addition; and, indeed, he had heard from his father David that the Lord, as vivifying and Life, did not begin to be in accordance with the generation from above; and as Life-giving and eternal Light, co-existing and consubstantial, shining forth from the paternal Light, He was not illuminated by another. But rather, he spoke the word concerning worldly wisdom—that in rhetoric, that in generalship, that in medicine, that in architecture, and simply that which is found in all wonder-working knowledge by all wise men. For, in truth, if one wishes with soberness and piety to examine ^C the things preceding and following, "The Lord created me," he shall quickly, and immediately, and directly find the strong refutation. For he set forth before: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; and good understanding to all who do it," and again: "By me kings reign, and rulers write justice; by me, the great are magnified, and tyrants by me rule the earth."

Didymus. He makes the listener attentive; for these are not the words of a private, or ordinary, person. For when teaching moral matters, he says "Proverbs of Solomon," but when delivering physical matters, he no longer says "of Solomon," but "of the Ecclesiastes." For it is not as Solomon simply, and as a man, but as a wise man and a minister of God, that he brings these forward. It is, therefore, possible to hear him saying: "My words have been spoken by God, just as those of the apostles and ^D prophets."

...

"Appointed day" — the appointed day is the one designated for some certain thing, a day appointed.

BOOK THREE OF DE TRINITATE

If anyone should wish to consider prudently and piously what precedes and follows the text, "The Lord created me,” he will find quickly—or rather, immediately—in that same place many things by which heretics can be refuted. For Solomon had previously set forth these words: “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and good understanding belongs to all who perform it”; and again: “Through me kings reign, and sovereigns write justice; through me the great ones are magnified, and rulers by me govern the earth.”

^A For without wisdom, he says—that is, without the prudence, counsel, and abundance of knowledge and teaching which is communicated to us from above—no one performs any duty in life correctly. For when a person lacks this wisdom, many things and excellent thoughts escape him; but the person who has attained it, both fears God as he should, does things pleasing to Him, and imposes laws upon man, and thus subjects him to himself, and acquires many things for himself. And he is not only delighted himself while he speaks and acts, but he also renders prudent those who hear him or learn his works.

In what follows, Solomon himself has set these things forth in a scattered manner: “The Lord made uninhabited regions, and the inhabited extremities of that which is under heaven. When He was preparing the heaven, I was present with Him; when He was setting apart His own throne upon the winds; when He was making the strong clouds above; and when He was securely placing the fountains under heaven, at the time He set for the sea its boundary.”

^B Now, He who made the earth out of nothing, and who skillfully fashioned the circular spheres of the heavens out of nothing, and the sun, which completes its swift courses and shines everywhere in heaven and on earth, and who simply brought all things into being by His Word, is the Only-begotten Son, the Word of God, who has been celebrated and called the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. And as such, He exists from His unoriginate and true Father, having no beginning, as John teaches when he says: “All things were made through Him.” And Paul, writing to the Hebrews, says concerning the Son: “Your throne, O God, is for the age of the age.” And among other things, he says: “And You, O Lord, at the beginning didst found the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.”

^C So this person who said all these things in Proverbs is someone other than that Wisdom—that is, the Son—who says, “The Lord created me,” and is not the same. He adds thereafter: “And waters shall not pass by His mouth.” Therefore, in as much as Wisdom was created, as He said, He explains it in such a way as to show that He is speaking about the intelligible mouth of the Creator, namely, the Word of God.

And again: “When He was making the strong foundations of the earth, I was with Him, fitting them in; I was the one in whom He delighted day by day; and I was rejoicing in His presence at every time; when He was rejoicing after having finished the habitable world, and was rejoicing in the sons of men.” For the Creator, the Son, the Word, who foreknew all things and has power over all things, long-suffering... ^D

even toward those who are wicked and think perversely, ^A and waiting for their repentance, having completed all things, rejoiced in the wisdom existing within His creatures, and was delighted in it, exulting in His own work; but it too was rejoicing before His face. Then, after other things, He says: “But my issues are in the ways of life, and a will is prepared by the Lord. But those who sin against me shall act impiously against their own souls; and those who hate me shall love death.”

And with good reason does He speak thus. For those who do not steer their own lives with Wisdom as their guide lie in wait for themselves, and ^B they find death, the reward appropriate to their own folly and lack of instruction. But that everyone—even the blind, as the saying goes—may see that our interpretation is correct and sound, and may not be able to doubt this matter, the created Wisdom says regarding Him of whom John said, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us”: “Wisdom built herself a house, and set up seven pillars.” Regarding this house, the same Master said: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” But to show even more clearly that Solomon is not speaking of the Creator Wisdom, he proceeds in what follows to discourse thus: “My son, if you become wise, ^C you shall be wise for yourself and for your neighbors; but if you turn out evil, you alone shall drain the dregs of evils.” And again: “A disciplined son shall be wise, but he will use the foolish as a servant”; and again: “The wise in heart receives commandments”; and: “This man brings forth wisdom from his lips. Strike a foolish man with a rod: the wise will hide their perception”; and again: “Wisdom brings forth prudence for a man”; and again: “The mouth of the righteous distills wisdom”; and: “The tongues of the wise heal”; and: “He who walks with the wise shall be wise”; then next: “You shall seek wisdom among the wicked, and you shall not find it”; and after other things: “The wisdom ^D of the crafty will discern the ways; the fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom”; and again: “To the young, more choiceworthy than gold; and the nests of prudence are above...

silver.” If the creative Wisdom said these words, as those heretics desire, who endeavor to shake the very head of the Christian faith, or rather, as far as lies in their power, take away and overturn the whole faith: how shall we interpret them? Or whose offspring are we to think them to be of this Wisdom? And again: “He who is in need of mind does not have the use of wisdom”; and again: “The ornament of the young is wisdom”; and again: “The generation of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.” What kind of generation will they say the Creator has here, if He Himself spoke thus concerning Himself: “The Lord created me”? And in the following passages He says: “With wisdom a house is built, and with intelligence it is set upright.” Then: “A wise man is better than a strong one.” ^B

All these things, then, are said concerning the wisdom that is in the world. For when He makes mention, in these very same Proverbs, of the wisdom of God the Father, and of the only-begotten and true Son, the Word, being carried away beyond measure by admiration, and as if struck with astonishment, He speaks thus: “God has taught me wisdom, and I have known the knowledge of the holy ones; and I understand holy things. Who has ascended into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the winds in His bosom? Who has wrapt up all the water in a garment? Who has held sway over all the extremities of the earth? What is His name? Or what is the name of His Son, that you might know?” And as for the possessing, “Before all the hills He begets me,” He speaks as of the created wisdom that is in us, because it has been generated creatively, and, so to speak, is brought forth together with every wise person with every wise person. For the Son of God was begotten, subsisting together with the Begetter, as the Word, and radiance, and the character of His substance; but He is not generated further. And not these things only, but the book is also named "Proverbs," not because it always signifies that which is apparent, but because it signifies one thing ^C through another matter or person, and because Solomon [159 a] is an utterer of proverbs, but not a prophet; ^D

Regarding this wisdom, I mean that which is in the creature, the most wise son of Sirach says: ^B "Prior to all things wisdom was created, and the understanding of prudence from eternity." And he adds to this: "With the faithful in the womb it was created together with them, and with men it built a foundation of eternity." The Apostle also wrote to the Corinthians in the first epistle in this manner: "For since," he says, "in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who believe." And, "God made foolish the wisdom of the world." Furthermore, Job also makes mention of it: "But wisdom, whence has it been found? And what is the place of prudence?" And elsewhere: "The wisdom of the poor man is held in contempt." And, "He is the corrector of wisdom." Some have deemed that the Creator spoke from the persona of the created wisdom the words, "The Lord created me," for the Founder and Savior of all, often assuming the persona of creatures, speaks; as when he says, from the persona of the Church once persecuted by Paul: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" and to those who had done good deeds: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink," and other things of this sort.

^C For being brilliant with his own kindness, and being whole goodness, and, as the apostle Jude said, the only Master, he spares all, and claims for his own the sins which anyone has committed against the works of his hands. Yet we shall find other things said in a human manner concerning the incomprehensible God; as when it is written parabolically: "A certain man was a householder," and again: "A certain man was one having a vineyard," and as when he likens the heavenly kingdom to a grain of mustard seed or to seed. If it were even to be conceded that Solomon did not speak from the persona of the wisdom which is in us, still his words should be understood as having been spoken from the persona and respect of the wise and incomprehensible Incarnation, but in no way concerning the eternal and invisible nature of the only-begotten God. For he did not say without an addition, "he created me," but he added, "for his works," just as if he were saying: "He created me, ^D when I came to men, who are his works, or when I dwelt among them having become flesh." For he who is, and who pre-exists, and who, not for his own sake but for the sake of others, became [that which] he was, he is also the guide of wisdom, and the corrector of the wise.

^A For can one understand how he [became] those for whom and by whom he was made? Since those, on the other hand, are found in a certain way to be that which he, having become for their sake, is according to them. Therefore, being in the form of God, he took the form of a servant; and we were made according to the image of him who created us, as Paul taught. Is it perhaps the case that he used the word “created” in this place instead of “appointed” or “ordered,” when he was at once upon the cherubim and in the manger, as he foretold, riddlingly declaring the things concerning his incarnation: “I, however, was appointed king by him upon Sion, his holy mountain”; or as the Hymn-writer psalms: “The Lord reigned; he clothed himself with majesty,” even though he pre-existed from eternity as King of kings, possessing an incomprehensible majesty. Moreover, he did not say, “in the beginning” or “before the beginning of his ways,” but “the beginning of his ways.” ^B Thus, again, the beginning of his incarnation is declared, and not the nature of his unoriginate divinity. For when men had lost the way that leads to God, he himself became for us, in the economy, a new and living way; and in the same way that, because of the economy in the flesh, he said, “I am the way,” and again, “No one comes to the Father except through me,” that is, through faith in my incarnation—for the sake of this he also said, “The Lord created me [as] the beginning of his ways.” For he was born from the hypostasis of the Father, without beginning, ineffably; but from the undefiled Virgin, insofar as he foreknew all things as God, and insofar as he predestined the economy before the ages (as Paul writes to the Colossians: “This mystery, which was hidden before the ages and from the generations, has now been manifested to his saints”; and Peter in his first Epistle concerning Christ: “Foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but manifested in the last times”), yet in the reality itself he was born when he appeared and shone from on high upon those who once sat in darkness and the shadow of death; ^C when he was called, parabolically, a stone; when he was made the beginning of ways and our foundation; to which foundation and stone the Scriptures bear witness thus: Paul indeed, writing to the Corinthians first, [says]: “For no one can lay any foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” And he received the beginning of this designation, that he be called Christ Jesus, in his incarnation. Wherefore in Luke the angel makes his ^D naming as if for the future, saying to the Virgin: “You shall have a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest”; and after other things: “Wherefore also the [child] being born

holy, shall be called the Son of God.” But Peter and Paul to the Romans write: “Behold I lay in Sion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal; and whoever believes in Him shall not be put to shame.” And the Acts of the Apostles: “This,” he says, “is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which has become the head of the corner, and salvation is in no other.”

^B Observe how, if there is not one Godhead and power of the Holy Trinity, there is no salvation even with the Father (may the Holy Trinity be propitious to us). And indeed, Daniel also saw a stone cut out of a mountain without hands (which is He who was born of Mary without seed and the working of a man), and breaking in pieces the image, that is, the world, on account of the grossness of the mind and the luxury in which it lived. But why do we marvel if the business of salvation was accomplished in a certain way, which can be reached neither by words nor by mind, by Divine foreknowledge before the ages, when the Apostle also, writing to the Ephesians, says that we too were created and saved by this ineffable foreknowledge and power before the ages: “He chose us for himself before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love, having predestined us unto the adoption of children”; and to Timothy: “According to the power of God, who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

For the omniscient and almighty Holy Spirit is wont to predict many things that are to happen as if they had already happened, and things that have happened as if they were still happening or to happen; most especially, however, He declared those things which pertain to the ineffable Incarnation as if they were past, before they came to pass: as when the Lord, not yet made flesh, says in the twenty-first Psalm: “They dug my hands and my feet”; and again: “They divided

cast lots for my vesture.” And in the cxvii: “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: and it shall be ^A marvelous in our eyes.” And Isaiah: “To us a child is born.” He speaks of one not yet born. And again: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter”; and yet the Lamb was not yet born of Mary. And again: “We saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness.” And yet, after many generations, he was seen as such in his saving Passion. And elsewhere: “Your new moons, and your sabbaths, and your feasts, my soul hateth.” But he hated them long after, when he had been made man and had given us the New Testament. And things past are described as if they were present, as has been said, as when Scripture says: “Who maketh the Pleiades and Hesperus”; and, “Who maketh his angels spirits,” instead of, Who has made; and, “Who ^B foundeth the earth upon its stability,” that is, who has founded it.

Since these things are so, it is necessary to refer the adduced Proverb, if not to the wisdom that exists in our disciplines, then at least to the Lord’s sinless Incarnation; but by no means to the Word, the Son of the ineffable divine nature, by whom, and from whom, and in whom all things were created and adorned. For when he says, “The Lord created me,” and adds, “But before all the hills he begets me,” it is the same as if he were to say: “Since I was from him, and subsisted at the same time with him, he created me ^C afterwards, in so far as by his will I possessed a nature common with men, without change, however, and without sin, as I said a little before.” But before all the hills, the Father begat him impassibly, and without beginning, and ineffably; because the deity is above all things incorporeal. For that word “before,” especially when it is said of him, is indefinite; furthermore, the particle “but” also proves this. For if he created, how did he beget? And if he begat, how did he create? For one might call a creature the progeny of the Creator, as we have been called sons of the Highest; but that which is truly begotten or progeny will never be called ^D a creature of the begetter; for we do not know that this has been said by anyone up to this day. Whichever way we turn, therefore, we find that it is the wisdom residing in the best disciplines that he has called “created by the Lord,” so that it is even a violent interpretation to think that he who became conformed to humanity said this, because by the determination of divine foreknowledge he was made such before all creation. But he calls humanity “creature” in a secondary sense, just as he also calls the wisdom in the world, by which Paul says: “Be subject to every human creature for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as by him sent.”

^A And indeed, if someone says, “He (whoever it may be) founded this, or has made a bishop, or the clergy, or an army,” he does not signify that some substance has been produced out of nothing, although he may use the ambiguous word “founded” or “made”; but he designates those who already existed, or that the preexisting matter was brought into a certain order or a certain condition. The Hymnodist also, regarding the heart which he already possessed, prayed as if it were still to be given to him, crying out: “Create a clean heart in me, O God.” And the most holy Paul, agreeing with this, writes things that are manifest: “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; behold, old things have passed away, all things have become new,” not in the sense of having been recently created, but in the sense of having shone forth from that point onward. And elsewhere: “That he might create the two into one new man,” instead of “might gather together.”

^B Furthermore, the statement “Such and such a person, perhaps, founded this,” ^C when it refers to an appointment or an arrangement, does not imply that something was created out of nothing, nor does even the word “creature” imply substance, but rather it speaks of that which was done, or of the ordering and condition of those who already exist. See then, if this can also assist us in what is said to those who are being renewed in baptism: “Put on the new man, who according to God is created,” and whatever other such oracles one might find if he searches. It is also written metaphorically concerning those who beget: “He made sons and daughters”; and, “I have gotten,” he says, “a man through God.” And yet it is spoken in a generative sense, not a creative one. But if by indulgence it is conceded that one may take the text, “The Lord created me,” as referring to God who is from God, let it be remembered again, and let it be said and believed by us again, that for this reason he added, “Before all the hills he begets me,” so as to remove the “created me.” For subsequent expressions in decrees, as being better and more certain, everywhere supersede the preceding ones. Striving, therefore, against these, and nothing... ^D therefore no word can be properly adapted to Him, nor can it signify His substance: but everything that we speak is, as it were, abusive, and this is true of all incorporeal things, and especially when we speak of the Trinity.

^A John, furthermore, who received the gift of theology from that most beloved and long-suffering Savior, whose earth is full of mercy, and—contending against these heretics who produce nothing probable or worthy of faith, nothing true, or who have nothing stored away, but use a certain foreign, imported, extraneous, and troublesome doctrine—he teaches us what we ought to think about the Son Himself, and proclaimed a common dogma and made it known to all men: "In the beginning was the Word" (52), that is, He was without beginning, or eternal, which is to say, unbegotten. The word "was" is superlative, ^B allowing no non-existence to be conceived beyond Him, as has been said in the first book. "And the Word was with God": instead of "He was according to the Father," meaning He was incomparable, unbegotten, and existed looking toward the interior of His own inaccessible divinity. For the phrase "was with Him" is understood not merely as "was after Him," but also comparatively "was according to Him." "And the Word was God": that is, He is without cause; for the cause of God, there is nothing impossible, nothing inconceivable. For the Father is the cause; all things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being signifies that He Himself is unbegotten; for once for all, every created thing, as being from an uncreated Creator, was declared to have been produced through Him.

^C Beyond these undeniable points, there is also another objection, and one concerning which no one will be able to say anything to the contrary, not even by way of conjecture [165a]. For Aquila, one of the interpreters, translated this Scripture passage—which in Hebrew is "Adonai canani"—as follows: "The Lord acquired me," not even he himself using the word properly; for it is translated according to the exact meaning: "The Lord nested me," that is, He gave birth. For the term "nested" or "flew out" is used properly of those things which come forth from an egg, and not of those which are created. ^D But besides these, there is another point that is opposed, against which no one will be able to devise anything, not even to the extent of a conjecture, for the purpose of argument. For Aquila, one of the interpreters, translated this Scripture which reads in Hebrew "Adonai canani," thus: "The Lord gained me," though he himself did not use it properly; for it is translated accurately: "The Lord nested me," that is, He begat. For the term "nested," or "flew out," and "nested" is used properly for those which spring from an egg, not for those which are created. Note: The Hebrew does not have it so. Hence Aquila says: "The Lord acquired me..." But neither did Aquila translate the force... In the Hebrew it says "Adonai," which is called "Lord kanani," which can be said both "nested me" and "acquired me." The most accurate, however, is said: "Nested me," and what sort of fledgling, etc. It is used properly in this case... "Went out."

and he springs forth;” and that which springs forth possesses no different substance from that from which it springs. Thus, whether one considers the etymology of the word or the sense of the entire discourse, what the heretics say is alien to the truth. Some, however, have rightly understood the passage, “The Lord created me the beginning of his ways,” as spoken of the Church, in which the way of truth and wisdom is proclaimed, which the Apostle also called the body of Christ, writing thus to the Colossians: “And I fulfill the ^A deficiencies of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh for the sake of his body, which is the Church, of which I became a minister according to the dispensation of God, which was given to me.” And to the Corinthians in the first Epistle: “Our members are members of Christ: shall I then make the members of Christ the members of a harlot? God forbid!” And again: “But all the members of the one body, though they are many, are one body; so also is Christ.” ^B Although, therefore, when the venerable and tremendous Incarnation of the Son is viewed, Scripture does in a certain way call the Church his body, and us fellow-creatures his brethren, nevertheless, insofar as he is the Only-Begotten and true Son of the most high God, he is in no way comprehended within the multitude and number of created things. Nor does Scripture have such a term in any other place when the discourse is about the Son. Rather, it is full of these formulas that he is the true God and truly the only-begotten Son. But I have been carried away here as if by a flowing stream. ^C Therefore, the discourse must be turned to the other chapter.

CHAPTER IV

Secondly, because the heretics who object with intolerable arguments and embrace a depraved opinion without consideration, try to show that the right faith from the Scriptures is absurd, interpreting them against the theological sense, while they endeavor to demonstrate their own faith as more weighty through the same. For they say that it is clear from what Paul wrote to the Colossians about him, “The firstborn of every creature,” that the Son is a creature and that the name of the Only-Begotten Son and of God is as if painted over him like a cosmetic and is adulterated. For if he is the first-born, he is certainly not the only-begotten, but is the first-born with respect to others who were created after him; but if he is the only-begotten Son, how is he the first-born? We, therefore, say in the first place that the depth of this oracle also surpasses their understanding, and that Paul was speaking those things which he knew not, and was believing what he spoke, because it was a suggestion of the true Wisdom, and he made all these things manifest,

^A We shall write down this entire passage, and thus proceed to its interpretation, not needing any conjectures, and explaining things that are clearer than light by means of likenesses; rather, we shall state whatever they themselves, whether willingly or unwillingly, overlooked, but which we see can serve to support the argument. The Epistle runs as follows: “Giving thanks to God and the Father, who has called us into the portion of the lot of the saints, who delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated [us] into the kingdom of the love of His Son, in whom we have redemption, the remission of sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for in Him were created all things, those in the heavens and those on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things have been created through Him and unto Him, and He is before all, and all things consist in Him; and He is the head of the body of the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might be preeminent in all things: for it pleased [God] that all the fullness should dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross, whether things on earth or things in the heavens.” ^B Observe then, with prudence, how the Scripture has prepared itself to refute the heretics, and has every word casting forth rays, as it were, of understanding concerning the Incarnation of God; and that it previously called Him Son and image of God, and thus firstborn and head of the body of the Church, and firstborn from the dead, having made peace by the blood of His cross concerning things visible and invisible, and having obtained all the fullness of that Godhead which is above incorporeal, colorless, and uncircumscribed [realities]; ^C so that in whatever way possible we might worthily understand His incomparable nature from God the Father and towards Him, and His perfect and unified incarnation and ensoulment from the Virgin. For what else could you understand, in the midst of the set-forth texts, and that all things consist through Him and unto Him, and are reconciled and made peaceful, if not that through His impassible and sinless incarnation for our sake and on our behalf, we are turned back to the knowledge of His uncreated Godhead? The Only-Begotten is therefore preached, ^D inasmuch as He has not, according to His transcendent and pure generation, another beside Himself of the same nature…

but He is indeed the Primogenitus (that is, the First-born) of every creature, not because He was created before it—otherwise He would have been called *protoclistus* (that is, first-created)—but because, by His foreknowledge, as was mentioned in the immediately preceding chapter, He was born of the holy Virgin before every creature; and because the same Person is, in an ineffable manner according to the divine text, both the First-born and the Only-Begotten of every creature. ^B In similar fashion He is also called the "First-born from the dead," not because He died before them, but because, since He first arose from the dead, He provided the certainty of resurrection generally for us, who by His grace and gift have been deemed worthy to be children of God the Father and brothers of Christ Himself. For He says: "I Am the life and the resurrection." And Paul also pointed out that same time in which, on account of His goodness, the Savior proposed to repair our old ruin and to render us worthy to enjoy forever the participation of the heavenly serene light, when he became the First-born of every creature, as Paul demonstrated when he said: "The old things have passed away: behold, all things have been made new." Furthermore, the remaining words of Paul, in the first place, explode this heretical opinion—which offers injury through its cavils both to Paul himself, for having written such things, and to the Creator and Lord of all things, of whom such things were preached—a thing which is grievous even to invent, much less to hear. In the second place, they openly prove that "First-born of every creature" was said instead of "First-born of all humanity." For, as I said in the preceding chapter, he designates humanity by the term "creature" in these very words: "Be subject to every human creature for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as preeminent, or to governors, as though sent by him."

The evangelist also aids us regarding the designations of "First-born" and "Only-Begotten," narrating that Mary remained a virgin "until she brought forth her son, the First-born." For neither did she—that most honorable of all and most glorious Virgin—ever marry anyone, nor did she ever become the mother of another; but even after the childbirth she remained always and for all time an immaculate virgin, ^D and yet He was rightly called her First-born, He who created her and all others, not unreasonably. And towards the words, "First-born," the evangelist aids us in recounting that she remained a virgin, "until she brought forth her son, the First-born." For Mary, who is more honorable and more glorious than all, was neither married to anyone, nor did she ever become the mother of anyone else; but even after the gestation she remained forever and at all times a blameless virgin, and yet [165 b] He who created her and all things was not unreasonably called her First-born.

^A

The fact that the title "First-born from the dead" ^B is applied to Him, is supported by what the Apostle Paul himself taught the Corinthians in his first epistle: "Christ 86 has risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep 87; for since by a man came death, and by a man came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive; but each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then those who are Christ’s at His coming; then the end." 88

But this disputed passage can also be interpreted in another way; for in matters so sublime, one ought not to look for just one certain meaning, nor embrace that which is less excellent, but rather that which is higher and better; for when it concerns things divine, the truth is found in the loftier explanation. It may therefore be said that Christ is called the First-born of all creation, both on account of those who, in divine baptism, are generated from God by the adoption of the Holy Spirit, ^C and because whatever we are and possess, we have received from Him, as the same Apostle teaches us, saying: "And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it 90, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" 89

Moreover, even some of the Greeks, or their students, neglecting other things contrary to this, have expressed similar sentiments: "All of these are the supreme gifts of the immortal God, But that which is greatest for men is the utility of truth." 91

But if one should also boldly wish to explain the words in question regarding the incomprehensible divinity of Christ, they should be understood in roughly this way: that He is called the First-born of all creation either because He was begotten before any created generation; or because He is the first and only Son, the Word, who, out of nothing, produced and, as it were, fashioned every creature prior to any creature, and is the cause of all things; or even because He is the foundation, ^D "bearing all things by the word of His power," 92 according to the Psalmist who says: "In wisdom You have made all things;" 93 and according to the Proverb of Solomon which says: "God by wisdom 94 founded the earth; He prepared the heavens in understanding."

And this very fact is confirmed by the aforementioned part of the Epistle, which says: "The First-born of all creation, because in Him all things were created," and "All things were created through Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

^A And for this sole reason does he say, "the first-born of all creation," (that is, "because in Him all things were created"), if the word *hoti* is understood in a healthy sense as "because" or "since," for the universe of things would not exist, nor would it remain unharmed, if it did not have as its base and foundation the creative Word of God, and were not supported by Him. Therefore, He did not say "first-created," but "first-born," nor did He say, "He was made before all things," but, "He is before all things"—that is, from eternity. For in the ineffable nature, all time is instantaneous and present, and there is nothing past or future in it; but those things which are eternal dwell, in a sense, in one time; just as Plato says in the *Timaeus*: ^B "Therefore, we do not even speak correctly when we talk about the ineffable nature in terms of time. For we say, 'it was,' 'it is,' and 'it will be.' But in accordance with the truth, only 'it is' is suitable; while 'it was' and 'it will be' are appropriate to relate only to the time that is in nature, for it is motion. But that which is always in the same state immovably—it is appropriate that it neither becomes older nor younger due to time, nor has it 'been' [in the past], nor will it 'be' [in the future]." And that, as we said, all things appeared in God and from God—as if they had shone forth—the Greeks also bear witness, writing these things:

God, the immortal, leads Himself: but all things are from Him, and have been revealed in the mind of the great God.

Nor must it entirely be said that He who is first-born is not the only-begotten; but sometimes one and the same is called both first-born and only-begotten. ^C Indeed, He who is the only-begotten is also straightway the first-born, even if He has no second-born or third-born after Him, inasmuch as He is the only One begotten, and has acquired the name from the fact itself. Certainly, also in Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit says, "And Ephraim is my first-born." Yet Ephraim was not the first-born even to his own father. Since, therefore, He Himself is the Truth, and the creative and untaught Wisdom, it is proper to hold the untruthless meaning of what is written about Him, in a sense worthy of God. Let Him, therefore, be both only-begotten and first-born; but the word ^D "first-born" is more suitable to Him with respect to the Incarnation. For if, through ineffable love for mankind, the Holy Spirit had not regenerated us, and God and Father had not adopted us as sons, and He of whom the discourse treats—the only-begotten God—had not become, without change or flux and as He alone knows, for the sake of the salvation of men, the Son of Man, He would certainly not have been called "first-born amongst many brethren," nor would we, who are sons of men, have been called gods and sons of God; for no one is by nature a brother of the only-begotten Son. But the Creator and Steward of all, and the only compassionate One, is a brother...

^A and is named the firstborn. For when He Himself, from infinite height, emptied Himself for the sake of His own servants, and renewed all things, and provided the beginning of a better life through His own appearance, and for this reason was called firstborn, He did not in any way suffer harm to His divine glory. For the power of terms, which have been uttered in an improper sense on account of the ineffable dispensation, is not able in any way to diminish Him or to depress Him to the measure of one who is inferior. But we, from great abjection and darkness, have been lifted up into infinite glory and light, having received faith in Him. For no thing, aside from what it is by nature, can either leap up and be exalted, or indeed descend and sink down, as it were, from its own inherent quality by the weight or humbleness of a term.

Not a few things, moreover, are revealed alongside those explained by us, but that which suffices even by itself alone to aid us is the fact that the incomprehensible God deigned to speak in the Psalm: ^B "I have found David My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him. For My hand shall help him, and My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not profit in him, and the son of iniquity shall not add to afflict him. And I will cut off his enemies from his face, and I will put to flight those who hate him. And My truth and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name shall his horn be exalted. And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall call upon Me: 'You are my Father, my God, and the helper of my salvation.' And I will make him firstborn, high among the kings of the earth." For whether we allow this to be spoken concerning the radiance co-existing with the glory of the Father, which blossomed forth in the last times from the root of Jesse, or concerning David, the "firstborn" cannot be understood according to the suspicion of custom. For how ^C would He make him firstborn—either the one who was already man (for God says, "I have found David My servant"), or the one who had brothers older than himself? But that it is sometimes customary for Scripture to proclaim individuals who already exist in their being to become somehow what they were not, Paul, filled with Christ and the Holy Spirit, testifies somewhere: "You are no longer a slave, but a son." For the "no longer" signifies for those already existing a certain other state and condition for the future. And again: "Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." This means: God, who foreknew descendants ^D and sees all things, both past and future, as subsisting and present—with whom all ages are one measure, and nothing is divided, as was said a little while ago—foreknew and transparently promised that men would be conformed to Him who is eternally in His form, the incomprehensible One.

even unto all ages, to whom at last nothing is indivisible, as was said a little before, He foresaw, and clearly promised that men would be made conformable to Him, Who from eternity was in the form of His Only-Begotten Son, after this Only-Begotten, ^A humbling Himself for our sake into a servile form, said by His own grace: “I no longer call you servants, but friends and brethren,” as Scripture hath it. For just as we creatures have been called sons of God by grace, not by nature; in the same way the Only-Begotten of God, when He mingled earthly things with heavenly, and a new salvation was wrought for us unto the end, was called our brother and first-born, not according to the nature which He has from the Father, but according to the economy, by which He took upon Himself flesh from the Virgin, similar to the flesh of the Virgin herself. It would therefore be fitting to say to the heretics what has been well said by those outside: “Hate lies, that truth may draw near to you.”

CAP. V.

the beginning, as cause and Creator; but the end as that which is in Him, ^A as One who is uncircumscribed and alone possesses immortality, that the boundaries of all things are fixed in Him, and after the completion of this whole universe, He Himself remains forever and infinitely. Therefore, the infinite cannot have a beginning of generation; for while He is unable, He is Himself unbegotten, even though He is begotten in a natural way from the substance of God the Father; but things that are generated have been generated by Him in a creative manner. Following these things, what Paul announced to the Colossians should also be understood in this way: "And He is before all things"—not as a creature (far be it!), but as begotten. For if He were not truly and consubstantially begotten before all things without beginning, we would not have been generated as consubstantial with Him who begat us, according to His image; and if the Maker and Provider did not pre-exist in an uncreated manner, the things made and provided for would not exist in a creative manner.

CAP. VI.

Fourthly, they bring forward, as those endowed with a perverse tongue, what was said by Peter in the Acts: "Let all the house of Israel know ^B that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you have crucified." But Scripture does not say this of the divine and incomprehensible essence of God the Word, who was in the beginning, and was with God, and did not think it robbery to be equal to God, but of Him who was born of Mary, having a common form of humiliation with us. For the mention of the cross, and the coupling of the word "made" with the phrases, "whom you have crucified," shows that the discourse is about Him of whom Scripture makes mention in many places: as when the same Peter says in the Acts: "The ^C God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified His servant Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had judged him to be released; but you denied the Holy and the Righteous One, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, but you killed the Author of life." And Zechariah says: "I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and mercy; and they shall look upon Me, whom they pierced,

^A and they shall lament for him with a lamentation as for an only begotten, and they shall be in pain for him as for a first-born." Remembering this prophecy after the saving cross, John said: "They shall look on him whom they pierced." Concerning this, the angel also, congratulating men, said: "There is born to us today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." But he who is born today could by no means be considered the One who is before the ages. We must attend, therefore, to this miracle of the Scripture, that angels and men were celebrating a feast of one new knowledge of God (that is, the acknowledgment of God), in equal affection, sounding forth together and agreeing with one another. We speak thus, signifying by a certain mode of thought His ineffable dispensation, and turning aside the blasphemy which tends toward His Godhead; not, however, that we believe there is one Son who is from the Father, and another who became flesh and was crucified: since the Godhead is not of such a nature as to be separated from ^B itself, nor to be changed. For not even the Apostle would have conceived of two, when he said: "Christ therefore having suffered while in the flesh." For the sacred Psalmist also, both concealing in a way and clearly revealing this ineffable mystery of the dispensation—and concealing it rather than not knowing it, and not knowing it rather than concealing it—prophesies in Psalm 107 in the same manner as the aforementioned saying of Peter: "And let them know that this is Thy hand; and Thou, O Lord, hast made it." By calling God the Word the hand of the Father, because He essentially co-exists with the Father and all things were made by Him; but by saying that He was made by Him [the Father], whose hand He is, because He became flesh immutably, as He knew and willed. And the word "made" is not always to be understood as "created," ^C

^A but is also understood according to relation. Just as he who is already a teacher by nature—when does one make him the teacher of his children? When the teacher begins to instruct the children. And just as when does one make a boy a soldier, or a rhetorician? When the boy enters into military service or begins to practice the art of rhetoric. For with this understanding, it was said of God and the Father: "He became an adjutor and protector to me for salvation" [Cf. Ex. xv, 2]; and Isaiah: "You have become a helper to every humble city" [Cf. Isa. xxv, 4]; and the sacred Psalmist in the twenty-ninth [thirtieth] Psalm: "The Lord became my helper" [Ps. xxix, 11]; and in the thirtieth [thirty-first in Hebrew/LXX]: "Be to me a God to protect me, and a house of refuge, to save me" [Ps. xxx, 3]; and Abraham to Sarah his spouse: "She became also my wife" [Gen. xx, 12]; and Paul: "Let God be true, but every man a liar" [Rom. iii, 4]. ^B Consistently with this, that which is written is also understood: "But I have been constituted King by Him upon Sion His holy mountain" [Ps. ii, 6]. For it is not with the intention of saying anything about such and such, that He defines His essence. Therefore, He did not simply say, "I have been constituted," but added, "upon Mount Sion." For since He was King of all from eternity and unto eternity (for he says, "The Lord is King unto eternity, and beyond" [Ps. ix, 8]; and, "Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages" [Ps. cxliv, 13]), it seemed that He was not yet reigning over those who did not recognize Him, but that He became King even over them in the Incarnation, for the sake of which David himself prayed in the ninth [tenth] Psalm: "Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them; let the nations know that they are men" [Ps. ix, 21]. And Micah also prophesied: "And the Lord reigns from now and unto eternity" [Mic. iv, 7]. ^C And regarding this, those outside [the Church] also declared such things: "For King God is a name immortal, never- ending, Never perishing, nor ceasing."

Similar to this [word of Scripture] is also that: "Receive the high priest of your confession, being faithful to Him who made Him" [Heb. iii, 1-2]. For again, it speaks of Him who became of our nature and conformed to us, and it exhorts us to receive Him, ^D

^A who indeed is God from eternity, and the true Son of God, but then became Pontiff for our sake; since He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him, recoiling from His uncreated divinity.

Consequently, the voice of Paul to the Corinthians is also viewed: "But from Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption; so that, as it is written, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord" [1 Cor. i, 30-31]. For, they say, according to God, men are both good and wise; and the opposites of these: "For excessive, senseless bodies Fall by heavy calamities inflicted by God," as the prophet says.

^B Just as when He was appointed to be a light to the nations, He did not then become light in essence, but the light by which those who know Him are illumined ("For He was," he says, "the true light, which illumines every man coming into the world" [John i, 9]), so too He was established as King, and "became Lord"—being naturally and from eternity Lord—when the disciples, as it is written, became His servants; when the Apostle wrote: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ" [Rom. i, 1]; and when we all, acknowledging His lordship and anointment [Christoteta], were called Christians, having become participants, as servants, of the master's name; even as it says in Isaiah: "But to those who serve me a new name shall be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth" [Isa. lxv, 15-16].

In my judgment, however, it specifically foretells our race of the orthodox, of whom the same [prophet] said: "These are a seed blessed by God" [Isa. lxv, 23], and, "Everlasting joy upon their head" [Isa. xxxv, 10]. Such also is what is written in the Canticles: "Chosen from among myriads"—that is, selected; not that He is one out of many sons, but because David, or the Theotokos, from whom Christ according to the flesh [was born], was chosen before all others in the Incarnation; and deservedly He both delighted in Him, and said: "Who will be compared to the Lord among the sons of God?" [Ps. lxxxviii, 7]; or also He is called chosen as the Only-begotten, out of all, sinless in the Incarnation.

ON THE TRINITY, BOOK THREE.

CAP. VII.

^A Accumulating blasphemy upon blasphemy, immediately after the passages they had put forward, they allege what was said by Paul theologically: "Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." And abusing it with their own reasonings, they drag it to the meaning they please; for they wish to signify that Christ was created by the power and wisdom of God. But the phrasing itself, and the thought, indicate his Incarnation; for "in it," he says, Christ was named, according to the similarity of those before him who were called christs. But if the statement must also be accepted regarding his divinity, it denotes therein nothing else but that he is in every respect consubstantial with the Father; for it declares that all the power and wisdom of the Father resides in him, as in the creative Word and his true Son.

CHAPTER VIII.

In this too the heretics err, in that they argue thus: The Scripture has likened Christ to a vine, men to branches, and the Father to a husbandman. But the vine has the same nature as the branches, not with the husbandman. Therefore, they say, the divine oracles declare that the Son has a nature common with men, not with God and the Father. But we, responding to their argument, say that according to his divinity, he is indeed the fruit of the husbandman’s substance, but according to the flesh, we are his branches. And we attend no less to Paul, who dogmatically asserts: "For we are the body of Christ, and members individually." And again: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" From this apostolic phrasing, ^C these heretics are cast out, as are those who judge the flesh of the Lord to be from heaven, ^D and not human.

CAP. IX.

Moreover, they diverge also regarding the text: "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," attributing everything to his divinity. But here he speaks of the Father, of the one who is not seen; but of God, of the one who is seen. ^C Concerning whom the same angel appeared a little earlier at the appropriate time, and having evangelized with the new names that have been mentioned, said: "You shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High." Furthermore, they diverge (for their thoughts and expressions are corrupt) even in regard to this saying of the Master that says: "Go to my brethren, and say to them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God." Here, too, he calls him Father—of himself by nature, but of us by grace—and God—of himself because of ^D his recent form, but of us in truth—so that both that which is eternal and that which is recent might be signified. For the Master, having condescended in all things to his servants, made him who is his own Father our God, and also made him our Father out of his goodness, since we are not sons by nature; but he called him God—his own God—because of his incarnation, which he had more clearly announced beforehand, saying: "From my mother's womb, you are my God."

For how could he be God to his only-begotten Son, the true and great God? Just as, therefore, he is truly the God of us men, and not our Father, so to him alone is he truly Father by way of essence, and not God by way of his generation from above; and we, having become partakers of Christ, are deemed worthy to invoke the heavenly God: "Our Father who art in heaven." So too the beloved Son, [172 b] having a share, according to Paul [Heb…].

[The text continues discussing the errors of Apollinaris, noting that others, particularly Epiphanius in his *Heresies* LXVII, have written against the Apollinarists, who claimed Christ brought his body down from heaven. Didymus, however, does not name Apollinaris in this work.]

in the heavens: so too the beloved Son, ^B having partaken, according to Paul writing to the Hebrews, in like manner to children of blood and flesh, calls God Father. In addition to which, by not saying it mixedly, "Our Father and our God," but separately, "My Father and your Father, my God and your God," He demonstrated the aforementioned difference between Himself and us. For He is not found to have spoken of Himself and men communally, saying "Our Father." But also in the Gospel according to John, concerning those who with boldness and freedom of speech confess Him before men to be God and the only-begotten Son of God—which is to be consubstantial—He promises: "And I," He says, "will confess him before my Father," not "our Father." What greater thing could there be, in terms of good things, than to be confessed by Him? And what could be more shameful, in terms of base things, than to be denied the knowledge that comes from God, as those who have chosen a lie instead of the truth? And the, "I ascend," to the Father, He spoke on account of the dispensation, bringing good tidings to the disciples, whom, loving them, He called brothers, when the first-fruits from us is being raised up, as He who always is ascends to Him who truly is, His Father; for He says Himself: "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, He who is in heaven." By such words He signifies mystically and at the same time clearly that He is of the Godhead.

Cap. X.

^A in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man; he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father.

Those words, indeed, by which it is said that Christ, when he was in the form of God and equal to God, emptied himself, not compelled by another but freely, while he thus took the form of a servant and came to the abjection of men, so that he might at the same time also despoil principalities and powers, those heretics neglect; but they stick immovably to these words: "Wherefore God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name." And although the word "wherefore" signifies that Christ, because he similarly to children shared in flesh and blood, was then—and not at another time—exalted above the servile condition, and was given a name that is above every name and the most excellent of all, it does not mean that the Only-Begotten (whom the son of thunder, they say, affirms to be true God and true Son of God; and Paul, that he was before the emptying in the form and equality of God the Father) acquired these things as bestowed upon him. ^B For many highly absurd things would be inferred from this. First, if the Son were distinguished from creatures by the nude and sole appellation of "God," he would excel them but little, or indeed not at all. Second, a gift of this kind would be reduced to nothing if one considers what could happen or come into our mind; for what has been given is not entirely stable and permanent, but is of such a kind that it might easily be lost. Third, if we conceive that the Son received the divine name according to his Godhead when he appeared in the world, it follows that he did not have what he later received beforehand, but that he obtained it as a kind of gift or reward for his coming to us. ^C But he himself, from an infinite height, for our sake, assuming flesh similar to ours, emptied himself; and because he is naturally Son and Word, and in the form of God, and equal to God, and God in the beginning existing with God, and did not have that singular and incomparable name added from the outside, ^D nor was he later decorated with it as though it were adulterated, he returned again to the most eminent height in which he always was and in the beginning, and to his natural honor and glory, and to his own proper session at the right hand of his Father.

^A But how did God also exalt him, and gift him with a name that is above every name? I answer that Scripture speaks thus because, even to him who bore the image of a servant, the Father said: «This is my beloved Son,» and he willed that he should be called God even then, so that in the name of Jesus every knee might bow, as has been said before. For before the epiphany of the Son in the world, the heavenly beings alone [174 a] bent the knee to him and glorified him, knowing the co-equal glory of the holy Trinity; just as the seraphim cry out thrice, «Holy,» and once, «Lord,» so that to each hypostasis they might offer the hymn in like manner and proclaim that there is one dominion for them. But the earthly and the subterranean beings did not know him thus, as they came to know him in the Economy. From that time, therefore, they too began to bend the knee to him, to glorify him, and to call him God; and in sudden crises, being anticipated by the speed of events, they learned not to use long prayer, nor to babble in the customary manner, but to invoke him, crying out: «Christ, help!» since this name is for the salvation of all. Now, as to the statement, «Being found in the likeness and shape of men,» it does not suggest a phantom of his incarnation, as some have suspected; on the contrary, it denotes that the likeness and habit of men were truly borne by God the Word. But it may also be understood in another way: by one’s appearance ^B and bearing and manner of life, each person is shown to be what he is and what he intends to do. For even if he does not go around shouting this, the very nature of the thing bears witness to it, even if he does not speak. Therefore, the Savior, wishing to save us through the unchanging incarnation, and having taken all that is ours save for sin, was necessarily thought by men to be not free from that sin which, through will and works, is present in us. For the most long-suffering Job cried out on behalf of us all: «No one is without sin, not even if his life be but one hour long. For what is man, that you have magnified him, or that you give heed to him in your mind, or make an accounting of his life [174 b] until morning, and judge him in his rest?» But he himself, that is to say the Master, «did no sin,» as has been said before, «neither was guile found in his mouth.»

is innocent, and above man. For this reason that is written, "In the likeness and habit of men," ^A has been applied.

CAP. XI.

Not even that which is read in John, "I live because of the Father," can in any way assist the cause of the heretics. For the Savior speaks thus either because of the aforementioned manner of the Incarnation, or because He Himself is begotten as life from lifegiving Father, and light from light, and God from God. Therefore, we heard this also from Him in the same John: "I am the life and the light"; and again, "The Son gives life to whom He wills." If, therefore, the Father is also life and true light, he who is life of life and light of light differs nothing from Him; for life and light is one and the same; and that heretical formula, "There was when He was not," does not possess even a proximity of plausibility if it be spoken of Him who is the very creative life and unfailing light. One may also answer otherwise. He who lives because of another can never Himself be eternal life, just as even he who is holy by participation in God cannot be holy by himself; but He [Christ], however, by His own power, sanctifies others both through Himself and through others. ^B

CAP. XII.

Those words also, "I have descended from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me," are to be understood as if He said: Not that I might do the will of human nature in the Incarnation, but the will of the Divinity. For the will of the beloved Son is not separated from the will of God and the Father; for one and the same will exists in the Trinity. Furthermore, this truly miraculous obedience of His, by which He obeyed for us—that is, in our stead—abolished our ancient disobedience; and in the same way as He descended and suffered in the likeness of men, as He Himself knew and willed, so also, making us conformed to Him, He translated us into impassibility. ^C Wherefore, "I have descended," He says: meaning, I have come of my own spontaneous will, not as a minister and servant. Just as in another place He similarly says: "I am the bread which descended from heaven"; that is, not sent.

CHAPTER XIII.

In the same sense is to be understood that of the Psalmist: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows"; and what is read in the Gospel according to John: "Him whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into ^D

is in the world. For he who is holy, and resting in the saints, “one holy, one Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father. Amen,” was not anointed and sanctified at another time, but only when, not laying aside what he was, he became without confusion also what he was not, that he might make us partakers of himself and might sanctify us, as he himself says: “For their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

CAP. XIV.

Consonant with these things which have been said, one must also understand that which is read in the Psalm: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption;” and that which is written in many places, that God in fact raised Christ Jesus from the dead. For he did not receive resurrection as a grace; rather, he himself gave grace to us, when he granted to us that we should rise again according to the likeness of his own resurrection. For, teaching that in this matter also he possesses equality of majesty and power with the Father, he says in Matthew and Luke: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;” and: “I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again.”

[alt-version omitted]

It is therefore probable that Didymus brought these things forward from the sacred Liturgy, or rather from the angelic hymn, "Glory in the highest," as it was recited by Christians in the early centuries even in the morning; for which reason, in book VII of the Apostolic Constitutions, chapter 47, it is called "Morning Prayer." I confess that in the Apostolic Constitutions, in place of the words, "in the glory of God the Father. Amen," I have sometimes read another, longer clause; but it could easily happen that the ending of the same hymn was not everywhere or always the same. And indeed, in a manuscript parchment codex of the eleventh century, which the Nani library in Venice preserves, after the Psalms and Canticles, this hymn is read much fuller than among the Latins; for after the words, "glory of God the Father. Amen," many other things are added, namely "and the rest," that is, "every day I will bless thee." If Didymus were referring to this hymn, it would scarcely be credible that it was composed by Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, as not a few have written, as the Maurist monks warn in the preface to Hilary's Works, page 7, volume 1. I would more easily believe that the same hymn was merely translated into Latin by St. Hilary, and, when he returned from exile, brought into the Latin Church, unless it had been introduced earlier by Pope Telesphorus.

[alt-version omitted]

CAP. XV.

of your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself; and: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." And how then, O heretic, is ^A he not good, equal to his own Father, when he spares you even as you say these things?

CAP. XVI. Regarding the text: "Now unto the King eternal, incorruptible, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Since they are determined to fight for their heresy by all means, they also wrongly receive the pronouncement of Paul writing to Timothy, which stands thus: "Now unto the King eternal, incorruptible, ^B invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen"; and this other: "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto"; and that which is in the Gospel: "That they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent"; and the prophet's words: "I alone stretched forth the heaven." They do not interpret these as they ought, alleging that the term "only" and the phrase "true God" do not admit of a second or third hypostasis, but have reference solely to the Father. But the term "only" and "one," whenever it is stated in the Scriptures concerning the Trinity, is spoken of the one, because it exists in the unity of the Godhead, and is said to possess a "monarchy." ^C Whence the identity of "only" commemorates either that one, or two, or all three of the immaculate hypostases together, or separately. Moreover, it was spoken in this way for the sake of contradicting the so-called false gods, just as it always casts out the demonic polyarchy, having heard: "Ye are gods," so that we might no longer be enslaved by wretched, and multiform, and changeable, and heterodox elements, dissipating our thoughts upon this fornication, according to him who says: "The first fornication is the devising of idols." Furthermore, it does not befit a creature, strictly and absolutely, to be called "only" or "one," for it is common to all or many, because all have many things that are consubstantial and of the same form, as was found in the fourteenth chapter of the first discourse. But the voice, "Who only hath immortality," and, "To the ^D only wise God," was written because not even a creature has anything from itself, and for all there is the immortal, and invisible, and wise; but—

since it has received these things from the Son who created it—he who exists uniquely with the Father and the Spirit—it possesses immortality and invisibility. Thus Paul writes to the Corinthians in the first epistle: "What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" And for this reason, these words do not belong properly to a created thing. For it is mortal by potentiality, not having immortality from itself, but also being able, if the Creator should happen to will it, to be extinguished, just as it is said in the Gospel: "But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." ^B

Since these things are so, nothing prevents us, for the sake of greater clarity of doctrine, from examining each sentence separately. Paul, therefore, wrote, "To the King of ages, incorruptible, invisible, to the only wise God," after he had narrated many worldly things before in the Epistle; and looking back at all those things he narrated, he added those words, as will be manifest to anyone attending to the sense of the Epistle. But that other statement, "Who alone has immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable," he wrote with reference to the creature, as has been said; for eternal life and incorruptibility is immortality. And the terms "truth" and "wisdom" are equivalent to the expressions "true" and "wise"; but these belong absolutely and simply to God alone; yet the Scriptures testify that the Son and the Holy Spirit are these things—namely, wisdom and truth. And if, just as the Father creates, sanctifies, justifies, and deifies those to whom he comes, in the same way also the Only-begotten and the Spirit of God do these things, then those names—"only," and "true," and "wise," and "invisible God," and "who alone has immortality"—will properly apply to the Son and to the Spirit of God just as they apply to the Father; just as that passage of Scripture which speaks of the Only-begotten will also be appropriate to him: "This is our God; no other will be reckoned in comparison to him." For, so to speak, in all the things by which the Father differs from the creature, the Son and the Spirit of God differ likewise. For how then could the Father alone possess the aforementioned things, if what is written concerning the Son and the Holy Spirit is true, as well as that statement, "As the Father has life, so he gave to the Son to have life," as we shall also show in the next chapter? ^C But that text, "That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent," includes the Son as well, and shows him to be equal to the Father, with whom his Spirit is also understood. The "sending" denotes the economy. But that voice, "I stretched out the heaven alone," is not of the Father. For how is it true that all things were made through— ^D

^A the Son? Let them know also concerning the Son that it has been prophesied in Job in a similar manner: "Who stretched out the heaven alone, and walks as upon dry ground upon the sea." For it is manifest to all that He, always, but not least in the Incarnation, performed miracles, and walked upon the water as if upon a plain.

Testimony is borne also to the others who have been mentioned, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, in this way. As regards the only true God, when John in the same phrase declares Him to be the true God ^B and utters "only-begotten God"; and Judas calls Him the only Master; and the prophet says: "Thou art the God who works wonders; Thou art the only great God"; and elsewhere: "One is holy, one is Lord, Jesus Christ." And concerning the Holy Spirit, as when Paul, full of understanding, testifies that the Spirit of God and the Father is to Him just as our spirit is to us. And again he writes: "All these things works the one and same Spirit, dividing to each one individually as He wills." ^C And concerning Wisdom, as when the aforementioned most venerable Paul writes concerning the Son: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God"; and: "In whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden." And David sings: "How magnified are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have made all things." And as the prophet Isaiah prophesies: "And He himself, being wise, brought evils upon them." And concerning the Holy Spirit, as when Isaiah prophesies: "A Spirit of God, a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and piety." And concerning incorruptibility and immortality, it has been said before, yet it is not absurd to set forth other things also: as when, concerning the life-giving Only-Begotten, ^D whose eye, and hearing, and justice, and kindness stand everywhere, David sings: "You are the same, and Your years shall not fail"; and: "Into the age, O Lord, Your word abides in heaven." And concerning the Holy Spirit, who nourishes all things and illuminates them with divine rays, even unto those who are left behind.

^A And if they who fall short of the divine law suffer punishment, He is merciful and patient, so that they may either be converted, or may receive an unresentful punishment in the other life: as when Scripture says: "And Your incorruptible Spirit is in all things."

To those, however, who say: "Are not souls and angels, then, immortal and invisible?" we must answer thus: Regarding immortality, first in one way, that their immortality in no way shares in the primary and infinite immortality, being subordinate and distinct from it, insofar as it is a creation of the Creator. And for this reason, God alone is said to have immortality, as it is easy to understand if we apply our minds to the fact that nothing of these things can either create or grant immortality, whereas the only invisible and eternal Only-Begotten, and the Holy Spirit, create and make [things] immortal.

^B In another way, however: souls and angels are immortal in terms of immunity from death and the incorruptibility of their essence; yet they are mortal in that they are sometimes corrupted by their own will. For from defection, there are times when they fall into sin, from which comes death; according to which Paul writes: "And she who lives in pleasure is dead," even though she has not yet departed from this life, as has already been explained in the discourse concerning the Holy Spirit. For that ^C which is mortal is contrasted with that which is immortal, and it is understood in the case of souls and angels: the one immortal according to the immunity from death, and the [other] mortal according to [the potential for] change, as when the widow who lived in pleasure is said to be dead.

But because it is written, "And the widow who is living in pleasure is dead," [it implies that] since she is still living in this life, she is dead by reason of the corruption of the will. And the [Migne] text here ends the section on the mortality of the soul and moves on to the Spirit. ^D [alt-version omitted]

and correspondingly, that which is immortal is set against the mortal, and is understood in the case of souls and angels; immortality being understood when they are not subject to death—that is, when they are not dissolved, being simple in substance and indestructible, provided that they do not fall into a corruption of their will, that is, if they remain immutable; while mortality is understood as the opposite. In general, such people seem not to understand things spoken reciprocally, and that not all things which are commonly said in the same terms regarding certain subjects are, by their nature, reciprocal. For God is altogether immortal, but it does not follow that "the Immortal" is immediately God. As for the invisible, souls and angels are indeed invisible to the eye of our body, as they lack visible properties (I mean color, shape, size), but they are visible to the mind, which is the eye of the soul, since they are not incomprehensible, in that they have a created existence; we can indeed have a conception of them. Thus, even if they are invisible to the impact of the bodily sense, they are visible to the perception of scientific contemplation. ^A But God exists above the invisible, and above the most hidden, and above every mind, and is such that He does not fall under vision or any sense at all, nor can He be gazed upon by the mind of the very angels, because He is incomprehensible and unapproachable. For that God exists is known to all; but what or how He is, is a matter most difficult for all physical beings to grasp. Rightly, therefore, was it said in the aforementioned way: "The only immortal, wise God, and invisible." ^B

CHAPTER XVII.

And furthermore, the words of the Lord of all, which are blameless and irreproachable in the account of John, which say: "As the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man"; and again: "Those whom You have given Me were Yours, and You have given them to Me"; and again: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father"; and again:

^A "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me," and the words of David: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession," and other things of this kind, denote the ineffable Incarnation. That this is the case is certain, and these words, which are immediately added, place it beyond controversy: "Because He is the Son of man." Consequently, all who are not entirely devoid of soul and sense are compelled to agree with us. For since He was benevolent toward our race and willingly became poor in the flesh, as Paul writes, in order that we, who were subject to all manner of losses and changes on account of both original sin and recent sins, might become rich through His poverty; and since He comported Himself in a way useful to all, He used the dialect familiar to us from our swaddling clothes, so that we might understand the Incarnation, and that the sublimity of the divine speech might not astound us. For His miracles alone sufficed to manifest His godhead, which is without beginning and in need of nothing; to such an extent that, speaking modestly, He even said: "Foxes of the field have holes, and birds of the sky have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head." For it was not fitting for the Lord of all things ^B to possess anything on earth that would be, as it were, peculiarly His own. Furthermore, it was necessary for Him who was God—and with whom there was never any quarrel or contention toward men—to speak in a way that was fitting and modest for the human condition. This did not harm His most serene, most blessed, and all-encompassing nature in the least, but it was beneficial to us; for He always looks not to His own height, but to the lowliness of men. I will make Peter himself my supporter in saying these things: "But," He says, "so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater; and taking that, give it to them for Me and for you." But it is a sin for a man to usurp those words which befit God; for it behooves even a king to speak with the greatest modesty, for he reaps greater glory from this, and by this means is exalted to the very summit of honor; but for one who is subject, to speak in the manner of kings is ^C unseemly. Therefore, since He was the Most High, and the Word of God surpassing all word, His humble sayings had a place. But on the contrary, if He had been a creature, those things which were said in a lofty and sublime manner would have had no place. For how could Life receive life, or He who—according to Isaiah—is the mighty God and Potentate, receive authority, ^D He who is also able to those who are to die

to grant by His own authority that they should live and be? Who entrusted the keys of heavenly life to Peter? For the Apostle also exclaims: "Who did not count it a robbery ^A to be equal to God"; that is to say: He did not snatch it, He did not receive it to be equal to God and the Father. But if, indeed, it were said concerning the divinity of the Son, they ought to understand it in such a way that, just as God having life does not signify that He has acquired something other than Himself—as if He had not possessed it from eternity—but signifies that He is this very thing which He is said to have; so, in the same manner, the Son’s having received life does not signify that He does not have it by nature. For the wording—"as He has" and "so He gave"—demonstrates this: that the Son possesses life exactly as the Father possesses it, without having received it. And one must, in a manner worthy of God, understand both the phrases "has life" and "in Himself," when spoken of the Father, as well as the phrase "gave to Him" and "having in Himself" when spoken of the Son; ^B and, furthermore, from the necessity of the matter, one must behold the divine authority of the Son and the one will in both. For the life which He says the Father and the Son have in themselves is the Unity and the supersubstantial essence, and not one thing existing in another; whence He said: "I am the life," so that from this it clearly appears that the essence of the Son is not other than the essence of the Father. For if He Himself is the life, and the Father possesses that same life, what else is found but that He is consubstantial? And if He Himself is the life, how was He able to receive what He is? "But if He had it," they say, "how did He receive it?" And these are mere trifles. For even something similar receives from something similar, not to mention that sometimes even a greater receives from a lesser, and the right hand from the left. We know, moreover, that some who are endowed with equal authority in judging sometimes concede it to another who may even be greater than they; and we are accustomed to say: "They gave to this one alone [the authority] to judge this matter," even though he possesses—and perhaps possesses more ^C fully—the power of judging. Therefore, the Scripture does not say that the Son received something that He did not have; but the same evangelist says: "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God." By such words, he not only shows that the creation is the Son’s own, but also that to the Father the Son gives those who receive Him—that is, those who believe—bestowing benefits upon them everywhere, receiving them, and presenting them to the Father Himself; for being from the world, by His own economy He makes them citizens of heaven. ^D How, then, do we in turn offer to God what is God’s? Or how do we send up glory to Him? Do we offer Him something He does not have, or what He is not? It suffices, therefore, to answer them that He "received" in the same way as He willingly "became poor," and as He "became a curse." For what would they reply if asked by way of counter-question?

from the world, yet by His own Incarnation He makes them citizens of heaven. But how do we ourselves offer to God again those things which are of God? Or how do we render glory to Him? Do we offer Him what He does not have, or what He is not? It is sufficient, therefore, to answer the heretics thus: The Son received in that sense in which He voluntarily became poor, and in that sense in which He was made a curse. ^B For what could they answer if we used an exception (or subjection) and, in turn, interrogated them thus: He who is God and Lord of all, and eternal life, and true light, and immortality, how was He made poor? Or how is He who is blessing made a curse on our account?

CHAPTER XVIII.

In a similar way, we must understand what was said to the apostles in John: “If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I go to the Father; for the Father who sent me is greater than I.” For how does He, who said “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me,” and “The Father who ^C abides in me does the works,” and “He who sent me is with me,” go or get sent according to His divinity? And [how is this said of Him] who is witnessed to be the One who “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant,” and that “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him”? For he who sends, sends thither where he who sends and he who is sent are not. But if God is present everywhere and contains all things, embracing creation, and neither departing, nor coming back again, nor changing places for places—for the Psalmist says: “The Lord is near to those who fear Him,” and again: ^D “If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I descend into hell, you are present. If I assume my wings at dawn, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me”—and Jeremiah: “I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord.” And the Acts: “And yet He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live, and move, and exist, as even some of our own poets have said.”

^A And if the Lord Himself explains how He never stripped the heavens of His own presence, just as even now after His Ascension He does not abandon the earth—for He says: “Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age”—thereby confirming what was sung by the holy herald in the Psalm, through which he proclaimed Him to be both on earth and seated in heaven upon the divine throne; for He says: “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His throne is in heaven.”

If these things are so, the words “I go” and “He who sent me,” which the Lord spoke insofar as He took the form of a servant, are unassailable. He said them because the Jews did not believe in the dispensation, and because He appeared in accordance with the agreement of God and the Father. And not for this reason only, but also that those dull of mind ^B and uncultivated Montanists might be put to shame, who think the same one is Son-Father and Paraclete at once; and along with them, also the Manichaean, who does not accept the Old Testament, but calls the Father inhuman—as having cast Adam out of paradise—while calling the Son alone a lover of mankind, as having come by Himself and saved us. For how could we give thanks to Christ alone, if the Father also sent Him? ^C The Scripture is accustomed to use the term “He who sent” and “He was sent” in reference to the ineffable condescension. And just as it was impossible for the incomprehensible to be encompassed by mortal speech, so too was it necessary that the account be constructed with an accommodation of words, lest anyone get a suspicion of antitheism; indeed, ^D “all things are full of God,” as has been said. And the ever-living voice testifies to this, saying: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I spoke for the sake of the crowd standing around, that they might believe that you sent me.” That is to say: “I knew that you always hear me.”

while our will is one; but because of the crowd standing around, that they might believe, I said, 'Father, I thank you that you sent me.'” He uttered the words in reverse order, doing so cautiously for the sake of those listening who were contentious and fond of enmity, just as he also said concerning the one who proclaimed the dispensation regarding the Precursor: “There was a man sent from God,” and yet he was not in fact sent from the heavens. ^B

We read in the Scriptures that God is also sent by man, and that a man is called God, without any detriment coming to the divine and true glory. Thus, Moses says in Genesis: “And he crossed the torrent, and he brought across all that he had. And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until morning. And he saw that he could not overcome Jacob in wrestling; and he said to him: 'Let me go; for the dawn has risen.' But he said: 'I will not let you go, unless you bless me.' And he said to him: 'What is your name?' He said: 'Jacob.' And he said to him: 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name, because you have been strong with God, and with men you shall be powerful.' And Jacob asked, and said: 'Tell me your name.' And he said: 'Why do you ask my name?' And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of that place, 'The Appearance of God': For I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.” That it is God who wrestled and did not tell his name is also confirmed by prophecy: “I appeared to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, your fathers, being their God, and my name I did not manifest to them.”

But how can the Father be said to be greater according to deity than the One who makes himself equal to the Father, who says, “I and the Father are one,” and of whom it is said in the Scriptures that he is the true God, and the Son, and the Only-Begotten, “in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead,” and “the great God, before whom no other shall be reckoned,” and that he sits at the right hand? But it is confessed that that term, “greater,” is referred to the Incarnation, on account of which He, who is entirely devoid of any change, is said by the Apostle to be made even less than the angels—if it is permitted to speak thus—in his words: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, on account of the suffering of death.” Naturally, not as he exists in the form of God in the heavens, but as he exists in the form of a servant on earth, when he came forth from the Virgin without any change of his own, he was saying: “The Father who sent me is greater than I”; as if he were saying: “That Godhead, which is invisible to you and to every mind, is greater than this visible condescension of mine.” For he who in reality…

^A condescends, who ministers—yet is not ministered unto—who bears the form of a servant even while he is in the form of God, how should he not also condescend in his words? He himself, who is more sublime and exalted than any discourse, to the point that among John he even rebukes those who received the words spoken by him in a lowly sense on account of the economy, that is, the Incarnation, saying: “I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.” The Father also honors the Son, saying: “Sit at my right hand,” and furthermore draws to him those who were worthy. From this very fact, that he confidently called God Father, it is shown that that expression “greater” is said with respect to the Incarnation.

However, it is easier to show by an example that the word “greater” should not be referred to the Godhead. ^B For the Lord says: “Amen, I say to you, there has not arisen among those born of women one greater than John the Baptist.” But Christ did not say he was greater because he was a different or greater human nature; for all who were pursuing virtue were either equal to him or only slightly inferior. Nor was John called greater because he was superior in power or because he had received his birth at an earlier time; for he had lived in the world for thirty years, and there were those who surpassed him in the strength of their bodies and the number of their years. But he did not call him greater than men for this reason, but because of the prophecy, which he had received as being most especially divine. And again: “He who is lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” He was speaking about John the Apostle, who was lesser in years than John the Forerunner, but ^C greater in the dignity of the apostleship. For “God has placed in the Church,” as Paul writes, “first apostles, then prophets.” He said, “lesser in the kingdom of heaven,” because the names of all are written in the book of the living, and his name was fittingly placed later as he was younger. Some, indeed, understood this passage concerning the Lord, saying that he was lesser according to the form of a servant, in which he was supposed to be lesser than the prophets and priests, but greater according to the Godhead. Therefore, according to this explanation as well, the words “greater” and “he who sent” do not diminish his consubstantiality with the Father.

As it was already said a little before, he who uses a haughty style of speech ^D and always assigns the first place to himself and demands honor, seems to have a certain elation of mind; and an elation of mind is a kind of pride; yet nothing did he wish to be held in greater contempt than pride: for of him who is greater, there is no greater concern than to be lowly.

has God; or perhaps ^A (50) he has a greater care for him who is lesser. For he has it entirely, even if he does not say it, from his own nature, so that he is greater; nor does anyone who thinks rightly doubt this. For this cause he says: "If I (51) bear witness of myself, my witness is not true; it is my Father who bears witness of me." But lest anyone should think that this was said by him on account of his littleness, he says elsewhere: "And if I (52) bear witness of myself, my witness is true." But in the first [discourse] (53) it has been sufficiently shown that this expression "greater" was said neither in respect of essence, nor in respect of power, nor in respect of heavenly glory. Indeed, even men approved among the Greeks say: Immortalis vero Deus, supremus in æthere habitans, Incorruptus, inconcussus, æternus, semper similis.

CAP. XIX.

^B There are also other oracles in the Scriptures, which the heretics have not accepted in that sense which would be worthy of the supreme and incomprehensible hypostases. Of this kind is that saying: "The Father (54) gave me commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." Such also is that which is said concerning the Holy Spirit: "He shall not speak from himself (55), but he shall receive of mine, and he shall announce it to you"; and what is read elsewhere: "I have not (56) spoken from myself"; and again: "As (57) the Father commanded me, so I do"; and again: "The word (58), which you hear, is not mine, but his who sent me." And things akin to these. For the Lord used such expressions, in so far as he is the Word of the Father; as he wished to show us the unity of nature, and the ineffable concord and consensus of the holy Trinity; and that the documents of the Trinity itself are common to the three persons, and not diverse. For every creature, if it be rational, has its own will, to which, as it is written (59), it imposes silence, so that it may speak from the will of God. Therefore ^C sometimes it says and does what is its own, and sometimes what is God's; and in some things it breathes in harmony with the similar man, but in others, it wills otherwise. For God the Word, being Dominator and Wisdom, and the holy Spirit of God indeed, as he proceeds from him, and according to the Apostle searches his deep things, and alone knows the things of God, and bestows divine gifts by his own power, therefore before he speaks or acts, he does not wait to hear, as creatures do, which can not only be ignorant of God's will, but sometimes also fail to do it: as when Abraham indeed, hesitating, says: "Shall I (60), O Lord, if I speak?" and Moses, deprecating and refusing: "I am (61) weak of voice and slow of tongue"; and: "I beseech, O Lord; I cannot alone carry the burden of this people; appoint another for thyself." And Aaron and Mariam of their own motion grew bold against Moses, when Mariam also became leprous, and the Lord was moved with anger. But also David, doing his own will, and numbering the people, is reproved. And

Jeremias, when he had spoken contrary to the purpose of the long-suffering and unresentful God: "I am young, and cannot prophesy," he heard: "Do not say: I am young." And Jonas, doing his own will and not that of God, boarded a ship and fled to Tharsis from the presence of the Lord, who is everywhere. And Paul, speaking to the Galatians about the apostles, says: "But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly toward the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas before all" these things. ^A Now, so that unbelievers may be persuaded, or at least if they can be persuaded, it is necessary to prolong the argument. Before the coming of the Son of God into the world, false Christs and false prophets appeared, such as Judas the Galilean, as the Acts of the Apostles contain, deceiving and not teaching the things of God and His Law; concerning whom Ezekiel also prophesies: "As I live, says the Lord, concerning the prophets who deceive my people, I did not send them; they spoke from themselves." ^B Having come, therefore, the true Christ was suspected of being a deceiver. For the Gospel has it, as in the feast of the Tabernacles the crowds were seeking Jesus, saying: "Where is he?" And there was a dispute about him: some were saying, "He is good," others were saying, "No, he deceives the crowd." And again the chief priests say to Pilate: "We know, Lord, that that deceiver said while still living: After three days I will rise again." The Savior, therefore, said about them thus: "All who came before me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. My sheep hear my voice, and recognize my voice, and follow me." But about Himself He says: "I do not speak from myself," ^C as those men did—it is obvious. Moreover, foreknowing future events as God, and that after His ascension into heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit there would again be deceivers, such as Simon, as Montanus, as Manichaeus, He provided a safeguard by saying: "When the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth... he will remind you of my words, and will guide you into all the truth."

He will not speak on his own authority." That is to say: "Do not withhold faith from the Holy Spirit, who says and teaches the same things that I do; for He is not of a different will, nor of a different essence." ^A Do not believe those who claim that they have the Holy Spirit, but who do not speak the things that are mine or those of the prophets. And do not endure the Manichaean, who does not admit the Old Testament, but condemns the good Father of inhumanity—the Father who speaks with me and performs the acts that declare His kindness toward men. Furthermore, since the Son is the subsistent Word of God, and is in the Father, and has the Father in Himself, He is rightly said not to speak on His own authority; but, as it has been written before, He speaks the things of God, since He is as an ineffable God, ineffably beholding the will of the Father. And the same thing must be said of the Holy Spirit, for He is a divine Spirit.

One must also conceive of it in another way. When the Word of the Father says, "The Spirit will not speak on His own authority, but will take of what is mine," the bond of the one essence and the one will in the Trinity is displayed. ^B Since He did not say, "He does not speak on His own authority," but rather, "He will not speak," it is apparent that those words, "He will not speak," must be referred to a certain time and matter. For when Moses was shrinking back, as has been said before, God said to him: "Choose for yourself seventy elders, and I will take of the Spirit that is in you, and I will give it upon them." Yet God did not receive from the Spirit that was in Moses as one in need.

Furthermore, regarding the Only-begotten and the Spirit of God, Scripture testifies elsewhere, in this manner, that as those endowed with their own authority and as Lord, They act and speak. Concerning the Son, for instance, David says: "Our God is in heaven and on earth; all that He willed, He has done" (Ps. CXIII, 11). And Isaiah: "Mighty, Potentate" (Isa. IX, 6). And furthermore, by His own power He operated divine virture, and ^C performed miracles, as was said before. Concerning the Holy Spirit, for example, the Lord teaches thus: "The Spirit breathes where He wills" (John III, 8). And Paul: "But all these things one and the same Spirit operates, distributing to each one's own, as He wills" (1 Cor. XII, 11).

CAPUT XX.

^A They imagine that the Only-Begotten lays aside His kingdom, and is not an eternal King, and is subjected to God as a kind of demigod (may He be gracious to us!), and that only the Father is ^B "all in all," from those things which Paul wrote to the Corinthians in these words: "When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when He shall have brought to nought all principality, and power, and virtue; for He must reign until He hath put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death; for He hath put all things under His feet. And when He shall say, All things are put under him, it is manifest that He is excepted who put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all." We respond that these words, for one who examines them accurately, must be accepted as referring to the form of a servant; for if He were subjected as God, He would have been subjected from the beginning. ^C This is further established by the prophecy of Daniel, which reads almost word for word as follows: "I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, with the clouds of heaven, as it were the Son of Man coming, and He reached even to the Ancient of Days; and He was brought before Him, and to Him was given the principality, and the honor, and the kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him; His power is an eternal power, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed." For He calls the Father the Ancient of Days; but by Him who was brought to Him as the Son of Man, to whom was given the principality, and the honor, and the kingdom, He signifies Him who was made conformable to our abjection. If, therefore, they do not grant that the words cited from the Apostle and the prophet were spoken for this reason, it remains that they must reject the testimony of one or the other by using a sort of prescription ^D and exception. For according to the apostolic words, now indeed the Son reigns, but after the resurrection He lays down His kingdom, as they imagine. But according to the prophecy, now indeed the King of kings and Lord of lords does not yet reign; but then He will begin to reign, and afterwards appear again in God and the Father. Moreover, it is discovered that He was subject to His Virgin Mother and to Joseph in the economy, and clearly He was subject voluntarily, and not compelled by necessity, nor casting away any of His royal dignity, but rather by such condescension demonstrating the transcendence of His deity, and the gentleness of the Creator's power, and arranging for us to be obedient to our parents.

^A To these he justly granted to be honored, as he said in Luke: "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?" And he went down, he says, to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. But according to the heretics, he was not yet subject to the Father and to God; and Paul was a liar when he wrote to the Philippians: "He became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." Therefore, just as, though he existed as equal to God and in the form of God, he was made sin and a curse not for his own sake, but for our sake; so also, it is written that he is to deliver up the kingdom and be subject, not for his own sake, but for our sake, since out of his love for humanity he became, without any confusion of natures, what we are—except for sin—while remaining one and the same. For how can the Creator of all things and the one who rules over all (among which all things the ages are also placed), who was proclaimed by the prophets as the first and the hereafter, ^B and as Almighty, not continue to rule and reign over the ages to come, together with the Father and the Spirit, just as he does now and always?

That his kingdom is interminable (for the kingdom of the Trinity is one and undivided) was confirmed more accurately and laboriously in the first book by the testimonies of Scripture. For it is rightly established that Gabriel said: "He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end"; and David: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a rod of uprightness is the rod of thy kingdom; thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Regarding those words of Paul, ^C "That God may be all in all," they indeed refer primarily to God, and do not distinguish person from person; yet the same Apostle writes similar things regarding the Son. To the Romans: "Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all." And to the Colossians, speaking about the world to come, he says: "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all." And again, writing about the Church, he says: "Which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

^A And elsewhere: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." And again: "That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." For if that is not false which says: "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," and that which says: "Reconciling the world in him," and that which says: "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself," and not unto another—then those who fight against the Godhead have been overthrown. For they do not grant him communion with the Father as a Son, nor do they even concede to him the equality of joint-ownership that one friend might grant another. For Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, wishing to demonstrate the covenant of friendship to Ahab, the king of Israel, said: "As thou art, so am I; and as thy people, so my people; and as thy horses, so my horses." And he offered to him, though he was not born of him, an equal honor in his own kingdom. ^B Similarly, it is said that for the disciples, too, according to the Scripture, all things were common and undivided because of Christ. The words of the heretics, therefore, are more shameless than those of the devil. For he, the hater of God, not yet having learned of the economy—which was made known to angels at the same time it was to us, for as yet—to speak more boasting-ly, he did not know it at the time when it was made known through us, being convinced by Paul, who clearly proclaims: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." And for this reason, daring to tempt, he left the power of the Savior alone, saying: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down." ^C But these men, destroying the dignity of the divine and ineffable generation as far as in them lies, in a certain way shake the eternal throne, and defining it, they say: "We do not believe you when you say: 'I and my Father are one,' and, 'All things that the Father hath are mine.' And we believe no less but that we also disbelieve God and the Father, who says: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Depart from the royal throne." Through these things, in the parable in Luke, it clearly appears what is said concerning them. For he says to the angels: "As for these mine enemies, who would not

are those who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here, and slay them before me.”

CHAPTER XXI

Since heretics wish to apply those things which are spoken in Scripture for the designation of Christ’s human affections to God the Word, and not to the economy—that is, the Incarnation—they claim that he became inanimate flesh. And as though he who is the great, immutable, and incorruptible God were led by repentance before his agony, or were subject to agony not voluntarily and willingly but by necessity, or as though he were not at all able to avoid if he had wished the things he suffered upon the cross, they—despising the divinity which is in no way to be despised—cast in his teeth that which is read in Matthew: ^A “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” ^B and this: “Save me from this hour,” and that which was said upon the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and this: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death,” and that he wept for Lazarus, and that he rested as though fatigued from a journey, and that he prayed, and hungered for food, and thirsted, and experienced sleep in a boat—away with such unbelief!—and that: “An angel of the Lord appeared, strengthening him,” and other things of this sort. But the Scriptures themselves, which attest that he is equal to God according to his divinity and that he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, as well as all things previously spoken, stand in opposition to these heretics and refute them. Furthermore, the fact that he spoke with confidence, saying “Father,” and that he himself animates all things that are animate, and that he never spoke as a minister—saying “In the name of God” or “Let it be done by my Father”—when performing one of his miracles, stands against them. Rather, as his disciples said to those whose diseases were difficult to cure and whose bodies were weak and putrid: “In the name of Jesus Christ, arise,” and in that omnipotent and glorious name performed those things which all created beings together could not do; ^C but he performed miracles by his own authority, he forgave sins, and by commanding he said: “Your sins are forgiven you,” ^D he snatched souls from Hades, he put demons to flight, and by rebuking the sea he commanded: “Be silent, be muzzled.” He rebuked the winds, and they ceased. Giving the keys of heaven to Peter, he said: “Whatever you release on earth shall be released in the heavens, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in the heavens.” To Laz-

Laza- ^A rus he gave command: “Come out from the tomb”; to another he ordered: “Young man, arise”; to the leper he said: “I will, be thou made clean”; to another: “Take heart, child, your sins are forgiven”; to another: “Arise, take up your pallet, and walk”; to the demon: “O speech- ^B less,” he says, “and deaf demon, I command you: depart.” And these things not only stand in opposition, but the mindset of the abusers regarding the verse, “Why have you forsaken me?” was also beforehand undermined; on one hand, by the Lord himself proclaiming through the same John: “Behold, the hour comes and is now here, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and leave me alone; and I am not alone, because my Father is with me”; and on the other, by Paul writing to the Hebrews that the Holy Spirit also was inseparable from him: “For if,” he says, “the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who are defiled, hallows for the purity of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Jesus, who through the Holy Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your hearts from an evil conscience?”

Then, indeed, he offered himself to God through the Holy Spirit when he voluntarily ascended the cross. Therefore, the words are not to be understood nakedly just as they seem to sound; but these things also ought to be accepted ^C in such a way that he himself, condescending in all things and becoming poor in the form of a servant, and although he is devoid of any change, nevertheless transforming himself in his speaking like an ordinary human being, and preserving every consequence of the incarnation, and in nothing corrupting the character of truth, he spoke humbly—inasmuch as he is true Wisdom—the things that befit human condition, so that we too, having become like him and perfectly conformed to him, according to the Apostle, might do the things that befit and please him, and journey from earthly things to heavenly ones. ^D And as to what has been said about this by outsiders, there is nothing like hearing from those very ones. For in this way we shall not only love the greatness of speech of our saints even more, but we shall also more and more admire that one Wisdom who is the dispenser of all gifts. They have it thus:

For often they speak as much as mortals are able to hear, But other thoughts lie within their words, more sublime.

^A And so, one must look keenly with pure eyes, and towards the truth of God (receive, blessed one, these gifts) proceed along a path more divine than myths. For how could we have been assured that He took our infirmities upon the venerable cross—in accordance with what is written [Matt. viii, 17]—in order to provide a better state for men through it, unless He had first assumed them into Himself in the way He knows, and demonstrated them?

And furthermore, how could we have discovered that He truly became living flesh, and not just in appearance, when the Manichaeans ^B think He had a body only in appearance, while the Arians believe it was inanimate; unless He had said, "My soul is sorrowful" [cf. Matt. xxvi, 38], and shown fear, and partaken of food, drink, and sleep? For such things befit neither divinity nor inanimate flesh. For what concerns the body, only the passions belonging to the body itself—those that can weaken and corrupt the body—are understood; not the passions of the soul, which arise in us due to a lack of necessary or useful things. But what concerns the soul, worries and anxieties resulting from those very passions are detected in it. For this reason, even profane authors, speaking of this foolish madness, enjoin these things:

Flee quickly, far from earthly passions, flee, With the most excellent eye of the soul, and its steady rays. As if to restrain the body with heavy reins, Through the purity of the soul and the celestial light of the Father.

^C If we examine, therefore, not least also the other scriptural passages, which are far removed from the perverted opinions of the heretics, as I have already said, we shall learn in a similar manner that the God who is devoid of every change and passion was not stricken with fear; who voluntarily, according to the Apostle writing to the Galatians, "despoiled [Col. ii, 15] principalities and powers," and gave Himself for our sins, "that He might deliver us from this present evil age" [Gal. i, 4]; who rebuked Peter when he felt distress, because He predicted that He must be crucified, and die, and rise again on the third day; who voluntarily ascended the cross, and "exulted as a giant to run his course" [cf. Ps. xviii, 6]; ^D who by His life-giving death killed death and redeemed all from death; who by His own authority, power, and operation, awakened also another multitude of men who had previously died, together with Himself, and bestowed the hope of resurrection upon all human nature; who rendered death for His sake fearless to all, and the desire for...

^A a beautiful death, prompted one not to flee through fear, but to compose oneself according to the will of God, so that those who faithfully apply themselves to Him may accept suffering and death for His sake without sorrow and without disturbance, crying out with Paul: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” For while it is natural for a mortal, even if he relies upon the virtue of his life, to fear death, it is impossible for the immortal God to cast away immortality and take on fear.

But He also tasted death in the flesh, just as He Himself knew and willed, and remained immortal, bestowing life upon all even then. Otherwise, some impotence would be attributed even to the Father, because of those words, “If it be possible,” and a fear that does not exist in reality would be imputed to the Son because of the word, “Let it pass.” ^B And His ascent to the cross would appear involuntary, whereas it proceeded from His own benevolence toward humanity and His own free will; and His powerful and weighty descent into Hades would not be considered to have arisen from the movement of the Son’s own will. Thus, John would be found to be a liar, who says, “He is life,” and, “He gives life to whom He wills,” as would also Paul, who preaches: “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant,” and, “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”—which means, enduring until the cross; for he did not say simply, “unto death.” So too, the Lord would be a liar for saying: “I am the light, I am the life and the resurrection,” and, “I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay ^C it down, and I have power to take it again.” Why then do we give thanks, as to a guardian who possesses authority first and alone, to One who suffered for us unwillingly and under some compulsion, as do those who are governed by another? Or why do we celebrate with fear every year, or rather every day, and even every hour, in faith, the much-desired and most providential Pascha, participating in His body and blood? Those who have been deemed worthy of the highest and eternal mystery know what I say; for worship and thanksgiving are owed to Him who, by His own intent and without repentance, has provided some good of His own.

^D For Quadragesima (the Great Fast) occurs but once in the year; but Pascha [occurs] three times in the week, and sometimes even four, or rather as often as we wish. For the Pascha... is the offering and the sacrifice which takes place at every synaxis, that is, at every assembly.

^A

Someone might say that it was in mercy towards those of whom he said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (75), that he also said, "Let this cup pass from me"—meaning, "pass away from them," so that they might not commit so great an impiety against me for their own destruction. Nor is this interpretation of the words, "Let this cup pass," foreign to the truth. For since he saw the devil trembling and fleeing when the Savior showed himself to be God through his miracles, but approaching him when he spoke the things proper to humanity, ^B he manifested the fear of death present to him to the one who "catches the wise in their craftiness," so that, just as when he had dared to tempt him before, he retreated in desperation, having gained nothing but ignominy and having made himself a laughingstock, so now too, thinking him to be merely a man again and not God—who he knew had appeared in the flesh in a way known only to him—he might quickly run forth and suggest his crucifixion, and thus, while he endeavored to injure the invincible God, he himself might unknowingly be wounded and retreat; while we, quickened by the cross of Christ and redeemed by his most providential death, might cry out with Paul writing to the Corinthians: "O death, where is thy victory? O grave, where is thy sting?"

And so, the Lord's words were not those of distress; for regarding God the Father (whom, as the holy man said, "all things fear and tremble before the face of his power"), Isaiah speaks in a certain mystical vision: "Hear now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to provide a struggle for men? And how do you provide a struggle for the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us." ^C But let our discourse return to where it departed. The supreme impassibility, and Life, and Joy, and Peace, and the Patience of all, he who gives bright days to all, does not weep for any other reason, but to reveal and tremble before the face of your power, that is, "O Lord Almighty... whom all things fear, and tremble before the face of your power." It is no wonder that this prayer is cited by the Alexandrian writer. For it is cited as part of the Holy Scripture by the very ancient author of the Apostolic Constitutions, book 2, chapter 22. ^D The Alexandrian codex contains it after the psalms among the sacred canticles. Also, the parchment codex of our Saint Savior library of Bologna, written in the twelfth century and consisting of 369 pages, after the Greek Psalter adds eleven canticles, the last of which is this prayer. And in the Nanian codex of the fifteenth century, which contains the interpretation of the Psalms by Hesychius of Jerusalem, twelve canticles are appended to the Psalms, the last two of which are the prayer of Manasses and the prayer of Simeon the Elder, with an explanation by Hesychius himself, as I suppose. Furthermore, Saint Thomas in the *Summa Theologiae*, part III, q. 84, art. 10, citing the prayer of Manasses, calls it the final chapter of the second book of Chronicles.

^A and our discourse returns. He, therefore, who is the impassibility of the highest nature, life, and joy, and peace, and is all-tolerant, and grants joyous days to all, is moved by no other cause than to manifest, through visible action, the compassion of His invisible deity; for He is always accustomed to intermingle Himself by words or works with some affections, so that we, as if from certain traces, may be moved toward the hunt for the knowledge of the divine, and discover that whatever is peculiar to the divine economy is of compassion.

For the purpose of rebuking the mind of the sisters of Lazarus, as having nothing faithful or firm: for to Him who asked, "Where have you laid him?" they ought to have replied: "You know all things, as You are the Son of God, even as is clear from the things You said before, when you were apparently at a long distance: 'Lazarus our friend sleeps.' And even if You were to command, he would return from the underworld, preceding the general resurrection by his own; for all things are entirely easy for You if You will it." Since, therefore, they ought to have said these things, they said on the contrary: "He ^B has been dead four days, he already stinks." We would say concerning this, that He wept, as a king, submitting Himself to His own decrees—those that command "to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep," and by this means putting an end to our ancient lamentation.

Neither does He grow weary according to His deity, but according to the sequence of the incarnation, He who heals the contrite, and gives rest to the weary and heavy-laden, He who has His going forth from the summit of heaven and His return to its summit; for to Him there is neither diminution, nor end, nor labor. For even if He sometimes appears seated on a foal, yet as God He was hymned by innocent children, who cried out: "Hosanna in the highest," which is interpreted: "Save, You who are in the highest." And by David ^C in the 49th Psalm: "From the rising of the sun even to the going down, out of Sion is the beauty of His splendor; God shall come manifestIy." Nor does He desire food against His will, He who is the Bread of Life, to whom all things look, according to the Psalmist saying: "The eyes of all wait upon You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing with delight." And again: "All things look expectantly to You,"

that You may give them food in due season"; He who satisfied five thousand men, besides women and children, with five loaves and two fish, and caused twelve baskets of fragments to remain; He who said to the devil, "Man shall not live by bread alone," He who set before us all an all-sufficient and unfailing table, namely His own goodness, saying: "He who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst"; He who came to the fig tree as if hungry, but as God commanded that the plant should no longer bear fruit, and confirmed His word by the deed, and showed that He is the One who said in the beginning: "Let the earth bring forth fruit-bearing trees." He, being the immortal fountain, does not thirst, except for the sake of the economy, He who taught the Samaritan woman to ask of Him the water of life. It suffices, however, to recall this evangelical voice, which says thus: "Christ knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says: 'I thirst'"; so that it is evident that Christ did not utter that word compelled by thirst, but that nothing of those things which had been said in the Scriptures might be omitted.

Neque somno involuntarie captus est; ^C nor was He who is the Lord of all, and indeed of sleep, subject to this involuntary experience; He who neither sleeps nor slumbers, but watches over Christians, and remains impassible in His divinity even while He dwells in the passions; so that the Psalmist addresses Him thus: "Arise as one sleeping, O Lord." The word "as" does not indicate sleep absolutely; for as soon as He was awakened from sleep, He rebuked it as God, and the winds were calmed, and the sea became so sedated that, ceasing to be agitated by waves and to roar, it was beaten by oars, and gave the opportunity for singing a hymn with nautical harmony, and with the pleasure of all who had cried out: "Christ, save us." For when true life is understood to be sleeping, then all things must be conceived as dead, as if not receiving life. For where, while this is sleeping, death is watching, and no one can catch the vital breezes. He is not poor, therefore, as He who is from heaven and in need of nothing, who is rich ^D in mercy and good in compassions; and who provided as a remedy for the pain of our poverty His own incarnation. Nor does He stand in need of another's strength: for it is written that in Him all things consist; and that every knee of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, bows to Him, and that in this [195 b] economy angels came and ministered to Him.

^A What then is the meaning of, "There appeared an angel of the Lord strengthening Him"? It stands for "glorifying Him." For Moses also established this by singing such a song in the desert: "All the angels of God shall worship Him; and let all the sons of God strengthen Him"; that is to say, they shall sing His praises. Another Scripture also confirms these things, introducing angels saying: "Thine is the glory, Thine is the power, Thine is the virtue, Thine is the strength." ^B Those outside [the faith] also uttered hymns of praise thus: All things lie under the nods of the mind of great God. He is the beginning, the fountain of life, and the most eminent glory, And power and force, and the incorruptible vigor of strength, And mighty virtue, and encompassing necessity.

Nor does the great and true God, the brightness of the Father’s glory, the living Word of God and provider for all, pray as if He were lesser in divinity; for He is not changed by prayer, as we are, into [a state of freedom from] troublesome things, He who by will alone, and by His mere presence, brings about good hope for all, and through the bestowing of good things forestalls our prayers; for, he says, "Unto Him shall they pray." But He prays so that He might have come to be as we are, without confusion and without sin, and he was eager to demonstrate this through more illustrious deeds. For He who spoke such words, and was fixed to the cross in the flesh, hands and feet—the former, on account of whom He brought such things to the heights, He exalted, but the demons [194 a] He dashed into Hades. ^C And this is what Paul writes: "Having stripped off the principalities and the powers, He made a show of them, triumphing over them in Himself." And from the very sources from which they bring the charge, the refutation comes. For the same author, having been made wise by the Spirit of Wisdom, writes to the point, in a manner somehow sharp ^D and deep, yet becoming to God, and possessing not undiscerning, but reverent obedience—which constitutes...

From this point, moreover, the answer and refutation are sought, from which they themselves take their accusation. For the same Apostle, having become wise through the Spirit of Wisdom, writes a sentence that is in a way extremely sharp and profound, yet fitting to God, and not difficult to understand, and belonging equally both to the sublimity of the Only-Begotten and to his condescension, which stands thus: "Who in the days of his flesh, offerings up prayers and supplications with strong crying to him who was able to save him from death, and was heard for his piety—though he was a Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered." ^B Since, therefore, he himself, in as much as he consists of two natures, has been demonstrated to be the natural Son of God, and not otherwise, and furthermore not on account of his own deity, but when he was in the flesh on account of the flesh, and for the sake of the flesh, he poured out supplications as one pious—that is, free from sin—for sinners to Him in whom he was, and whom he had within himself, in as much as he was one with Him in deity, "from what he suffered," having in a peculiar way shared human flesh with us, and having learned generally the obedience of the flesh, he blotted out our ancient disobedience. It would therefore be foolish to conceive in the deity of fear, or weeping, or weariness, and whatever was said before. For the Son, the Word, can do all things, being only excepted that which cannot be subjected to these things according to the paternal generation, in the same way as it is impossible for God to lie, as Paul writes while displeased with such people. It stands thus: "In which it is impossible for God to lie."

Therefore, let the heretics, "with hook and bridle constraining their jaws," withdraw from those things they cannot attain, and let them not curiously inquire into what is forbidden to investigate: for what need have they of this? But when they hear what has been brought forward, let them understand it in such a way that he said some things as man, and others as God; and let them acknowledge and adore with us his ineffable and inexplicable kindness toward men, and with the Apostle, and with us, let them cry out: "The peace of God surpasses all mind"; and, "The riches of Christ are unsearchable"; and at the same time with the Psalmist, let them chant: "The judgments of the Lord are a great abyss." These things, indeed, the truly faithful and accurate preachers [have said]. But even the profane have given these counsels and warnings:

Do not manipulate the mysteries: do not investigate God. For there is not such strength in man, To find, by tracing and seeking, The inspector of all things, the uncontainable nature. But you would attain him easily, if you are persuaded That the Creator of all things is the greatest.

CHAPTER XXII.

But let us proceed to another chapter. Therefore, the most wise answer also, which looks toward the general end of the universe, which from the Lord of all the apostles received in Mark, which concerning the general end says these things: "But of that day..."

^A or hour, no one knows, nor even the angels who are in heaven, nor the Son, except the Father"—they interpret incorrectly. For Matthew, indeed, before him, approaching the other expressions without omission, did not say that the Son is ignorant, but also set forth the very form of the end, speaking thus: "But of that day or hour, no one knows, nor the angels of the heavens, except the Father alone. For as the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." The other evangelists, therefore, did not mention this at all ^B. But the apostles provided the solution for this heretical opposition, saying in the Gospel according to John: "Now we know that you know all things," for the Son is the Word of God, through whom all things came into existence, among which things is also the last day. And it is necessary not to interpret in an unseemly way that which was ordained for a providential purpose. For just as for our sake he chose to assume the form of a servant, so also he chose to say that he is ignorant. For he used this as a kind of remedy, because it is profitable for humanity not to know that about which it asks; so that it might always be expectant, and by thinking that the time of judgment is at the doors, it might be ready through works ^C and faith, so as to be saved. For he was not unaware of the time he created, which he did not know; nor again was he ignorant of his own second coming, he who is in the Father and has the Father in himself; it is clear, moreover, that he knows it with his knowledge. For if the Father is in him, he who knows all things, he himself also knows, he who contemplates everything in the Father. For how could he not see, he who possesses the light in himself; who brought everything into order and decoration; who knows all things before they come into being; the creator of the times; who also set a limit for the creation, and established the quantity of days of its constitution, and having said: "As a thief in the night ^D comes the last day"; and again: "It shall not be in the night, so that the day might not overtake you in darkness"; he who has also foretold the signs that are to come concerning that time, and who is about to cause that very dreadful and never-setting day to rise, he who is of the judgment...

^A and manner has been shown to have the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and having foretold: “There shall be heresies and schisms among you,” and the denial of Judas, and the denial of Peter before the cock-crowing, and the destruction of the temple; he who has signaled those who shall be false prophets in the last times; he who says: “No one knows the Father, except the Son,” and, “As the Father knows me, I also know him.” It is clear, however, that with this knowledge he knows the Father.

If it is one thing to know the Father, and another to know the things of the Father, it will be greater to know the Father ^B than to know what is his, that is, even the last day; inasmuch as every person is greater than the things that are his own. But it is also possible that the statement, “No one knows that day or hour, neither the Son, except the Father,” might be what one of the holy Fathers, filled with wisdom, taught in a non-syllogistic manner (Basil was his name); intending that, “Unless the Father knows, neither does the Son know,” following which, as it is impossible for the Father to know and for me to be ignorant—but I do not say, he says: “For I do all things according to the will of the Father; but for you to know this is not the will of the Father.” Therefore, to you, he says, I am ignorant, not being ignorant in truth; for I foretold to you through the Psalmist: “How far from my sal- ^C vation are the words of my trespasses!” That is to say, far from my divinity are the

[The Latin column continues the critical commentary on the interpretation of texts such as 1 Thess. 5:4 and the authenticity of certain quotes:]

...it is likely, however, that Paul is also cited here, 1 Thess. v, 4, where it is read: *ou estè en skotei, ina...* that is, “you are not in darkness, that the day... [as a] thief might overtake you,” that that day comes as a thief in the night. And he says: “It shall not be in the night, so that the day in darkness overtake us.” But Petavius furthermore at first thinks these words are taken from John xii, 35. Second, he translates the whole passage thus: “For so the (Son) speaks: As a thief in the night, so shall that day arrive.” Then that: “Do not remain in the night, lest that day take you in darkness.” Third, he notes that for *ouk estai*, that is, “it shall not be,” one should perhaps read *ouk este*, that is, “you are not.” But Didymus also reads, “It shall not be.” Fourth, for *hina*, that is, “that,” he perhaps judged that one should read *hina me* [“lest”]; for he translates, “lest.” But Didymus also reads, “that.” Finally, the word *kai* [“and”], is perhaps a printer’s error: for Petavius himself translates “you,” not in truth “us.” Furthermore, in a similar way that text, “No one can receive the Holy Spirit, except from the Lord,” which Didymus cites in segment [a], is not currently read in the Scriptures, but it was read in them in Didymus’s age: certain copies indeed had it in 1 Cor. xii, 3, as I gather from Epiphanius’s *Ancoratus*, cap. 69. Thus then that text, “And I will adore you, O Lord, my strength,” which Didymus cites in segment [b], it is clear that it existed in the Bibles of Didymus’s age from the same *Ancoratus*, cap. 50, where it is thus cited: *Kyrie, ischys mou*, that is, “And let him adore you, O Lord, my strength.”

(37) *Erunt*. These things are not in the Gospels. He cites perhaps the sense, not the words. See Ep. ad Cor. xi, 19, and Epist. II Petr. ii, 1. Moreover, Justin also in the *Dialogue with Trypho*, num. 35, attributes these very words to Christ the Lord, while he speaks thus: *Eipe gar (Iesous Christos)...* that is, “For he said (Jesus Christ)... There shall be schisms and heresies.” In a similar way Jerome, epist. 119, num. 11, says: “And the words of the Savior saying: ‘Be approved money-changers’”: even though these words do not exist currently in Scripture.

(41) *Quidam sanctorum Patrum*. The interpretation which Didymus here cites from Basil exists in letter 236, which Basil himself wrote in the year [376] to Amphilochius, tom. III of the Works, page 362, of the Paris edition. But that Basil, even though having finished life a few years earlier, is addressed thus by Didymus will not be marveled at by one who knows that even Gregory, brother of Basil himself, in his opuscule *De resurrectione* speaks thus: *Ho megas en hagiois Basileios*, that is, “that great holy man, Basil.” Furthermore, I do not doubt that when the same Basil was among the living, Didymus knew him by face and was his friend: for he had come to Alexandria to visit the monks dwelling in Egypt, as is evident from his epist. 223, num. 2.

(42) *Simpliciter*. In the Greek, *asyllogistos*. Furthermore, in the Lateran Council, which was held under Pope Martin I, a certain passage of Basil is thus cited secretly, that is, from the syllogistic discourse against Eunomius. Didymus therefore perhaps says *asyllogistos*, that is, “not syllogistically,” so that he might indicate that he is looking at Basil’s letter, and not in truth his polemical works.

my words of transgression!" that is, far from my deity are the words which I speak in the incarnation. And He behaves in the same way also with respect to Lazarus; for first, as one who knows all things, He said: ^A "Lazarus sleeps," then, as if He knew nothing, He asked: "Where have you laid him?" and finally, as God, He raised him up. He behaved in the same way also with respect to the woman suffering from a hemorrhage; for at first, as a man who is ignorant, He said: "Who touched me?" then He healed her as Savior. Thus also God and Father questioned Adam, as it were, not knowing: "Where are you?" and Cain: "Where is Abel your brother?" and Moses: "What is that in your hand?" and elsewhere: "The Lord knew those that were His," as if, forsooth, He were ignorant of those that are not His. He also said to Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his son to Him: "Now I have known that you fear God," as though, forsooth, He had been ignorant of this before it happened. And again: "Where is Sara your wife?" But that He certainly said this also while knowing it, the following verses show. For when He had spoken of her giving birth, and she, because she had already grown old, had disbelieved and smiled ^B within the bedchamber, He said: "Sara laughed, being within." Furthermore, He also said to Lot: "I cannot do this (that is, bring the punishment upon the Sodomites) until you come there. Therefore he called the name of the city Segor," and elsewhere: "Depart from me, workers of iniquity; I never knew you." And other things also, which in appearance are lowly as regards the deity, are attributed to Him; such as, "I will go down now, and see whether they be altogether according to the cry of them which is come unto me; and if not, that I may know," and elsewhere: "It repented me that I have made man," and again: "It repented me that I have anointed Saul to be king," and in the 105th Psalm: "And He remembered His covenant, and it repented Him according to the multitude of His mercy, and He gave them over to compassions." ^C

CHAPTER XXIII.

They gird themselves for war as best they can, and have in [them] the truth of God; thus even when He is said to be ignorant of the day of judgment, He is not diminished: for neither when God is said in the Holy Scriptures to forget, and to repent, and to be angry, is He diminished in His divinity. For in the same manner as those things are explained, so too is that which is said concerning the ignorance of the judgment; for God, since He alone is wise and possesses the knowledge of all things, oblivion and repentance, or anything of this sort, can in no way exist in Him, since, at any rate, these things are spoken of Him ^D economically; thus, therefore, since the wisdom and truth of God do not admit of ignorance, for the sake of a certain utility He is said to be ignorant both of these things and of the day of judgment.

^A And the formulation which Paul writes to the Corinthians in his first Epistle: “For there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” For they say: “The phrase ‘from whom’ and the word ‘God’ belong only to the Father, as being superior toward their creed, and as it were existing in time before both hypostases; while ‘through whom’ and ‘Lord’ belong to the Son, as to a minister and one who holds a secondary position, through whom all things were made; and ‘in whom’ belongs thirdly, according to sub-position, to the Holy Spirit, for in him, he says, every glorification is offered up to God.” Taking their start toward this from the letters of Paul—both from those to the Ephesians, containing the exhortation which is in these words: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption;” and from those to the Corinthians, containing teaching of this kind: “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” ^B But not even this argument of theirs is of any value at all. For those interchanges of terms are not to be attributed to the inferiority of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; for both terms belong properly to each hypostasis. For if all things are from God, as indeed is true, how are all things from the beginning through the Son? And if he knew that he was to be numbered among the adopted gods, why did he not mix him with the others, and why did he not unite him with the Father? But they have been spoken in this way, on the one hand, so that we may not conceive of a confusion of the divine hypostases, but that each may be distinguished; and on the other hand, so that polytheism might be cast out—the polytheism of the Greeks by the words, “One God the Father;” the denial of Christ by the Jews by the words, “One Lord Jesus Christ;” the madness of the Montanists, who were about to worship the three all-hymned hypostases as one person, by the words, “One,” and “One,” and “One;” and finally the most senseless furor of Sabellius, who imagined the God-Word to be an insubstantial word, as if it were a spoken word that is dissolved and poured out into the air. ^C Truly the Apostle, keeping the bond of divine peace (that is, of unity), again bringing both these terms together, refers them to the one most ineffable God, writing to the Romans: “For from him, and through him, and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.” And to the Ephesians: “One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” He does not say that “through all” is foreign to “over all,” nor “in all” to “through all.” ^D

For He who is “over all,” being immense, is not absent from the creature, which God indeed the Word, who is “through all,” brought into existence, while the Spirit of God, who is “in all,” fills, holds together, sanctifies, and vivifies it. For this very reason, following the decree of the Lord concerning the baptism, he wrote to the same Corinthians in his second epistle, preserving the equality of honor for the Trinity, saying: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

^B In these words, because of the identity of the Godhead and the simplicity of the faith, he not only places the Son before the Father, but also attributes equal worship to the Holy Spirit, mentioning His unity and “fellowship” (that is, communion). But what is this fellowship? It is of essence, of kingdom, of will, and of the glory which we offer to God. But let us again recall the things which the heretics object. Paul writes: “One God the Father,” and “one Lord Jesus Christ,” not as though the name of “Deity” were more excellent or prior to the name of “Lordship,” nor as though it were fitting for the Father alone to be called “God,” and for the Son alone to be called “Lord” (for both these names are proper to both); but rather so that he might announce the individual subsistence of the hypostases, and that they are in one Godhead and lordship. For if, according to them, the Son were not God by nature, neither would the Father be Lord (may God forgive us for saying such things out of necessity due to their madness) as though “God” and “Lord” were the same, and as though the one did not differ from the other, nor were separated in any way. ^C Scripture places the name “Lord” before the name “God,” as when Moses says: “The Lord your God, the Lord is one.” And again: “How shall one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless the Lord had delivered them, and God had surrendered them?” And according to the Psalmist in the seventh psalm: “O Lord my God, if I have done this.” And according to Joshua the son of Nun, the worship which is owed to God alone is offered and rendered to the Lord; and it is offered precisely as to God. For it says: “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to worship Him.”

It is also worth noting from another passage of Scripture that “the Lord” does not befit only one hypostasis. For David sings in the eighty-first psalm: “Let them be ashamed and troubled for the…”

age of ages, and let them be ashamed and perish, and let them know that thy name is Lord. Thou alone art the Most High over all the earth.” If this is said concerning the Father, how does Paul write: “One holy, one Lord Jesus Christ”? And again: “The Lord is the Spirit”? But if it is written concerning the Son, then according to them the Father is not Lord, not Most High, nor holy. Or let them accuse David, who sings in the one hundred and ninth psalm: “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand,” and in the ninety-ninth: “Know that the Lord he is God; he has made us, and not we ourselves.” By these words he signifies Him through whom all things were made. And in the sixty-seventh: “Make a way for him who ascends over the west; Lord is his name.” By “west” he means the final times; and by “Lord,” Him who was manifested ^B “when the fullness of the time had come.” Let them also accuse Isaiah, who similarly prophesies of the Son as God and Lord thus: “Behold our God; behold the Lord comes with strength, and his arm with power; behold his reward is with him, and his work before his face. As a shepherd he will feed his flock, and with his arm he will gather the lambs.” And furthermore James, who made this the preface of his own writings: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus,” and in the following: “And of the Lord God.” And Paul, too, writing to the Romans and asserting: “That everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Or let them agree with us that the name “God” and “Lord” is a name common to the three hypostases, just as “King,” “Most High,” “incorrupt,” “incomprehensible,” “holy,” and all those things that are appropriate to say concerning God. Nor is the Father alienated from lordship, even if it is written: “One Lord Jesus Christ,” and: “The Lord is the Spirit,” nor is the Son or the Holy Spirit excluded from the Godhead, even if it is said: “One God the Father.”

^C This, then, is the doctrine of truth, as has been shown, and as we profess in the doxology. But the heretics, having composed a certain doxology by their own authority, give glory, some through others in others, as if through an instrument, or rather to no one at all. And so they violate the divine edict concerning baptism, and they act against the Epistle of Paul, where he mentions the persons of the Trinity conjointly and as equal in dignity; furthermore, they act against the will of the Father, who wills that His Son be honored even as He Himself is honored. For they say: “Glory to the Father through the Son ^D in the Holy Spirit.”

which phrases are nowhere all written together in the Scriptures, but only separately through a permutation of terms, for the reasons we have mentioned; and not, as some maintain, that greater and lesser degrees are established in the glorification. Thus, for example, regarding those things which have been cited, the Scripture said: ^A “One God and Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things”: but it did not add, “In the Holy Spirit,” or, “In the Spirit.” But it uses the phrase “through whom” more frequently for “with whom,” as Paul writes to the Corinthians: “For out of much tribulation and anguish of heart I wrote unto you through many tears”; meaning, “with many tears.” And again in the first Epistle: “And when I arrive, whomsoever you shall approve, them I will send with letters to bring your grace to Jerusalem”; that is, I will send them with letters. Then elsewhere, when the Scripture has not first mentioned “of whom” and “through whom,” it says: “In the Holy Spirit,” which is to say, “with the Holy Spirit.” For in many ^B places, instead of saying “with such-and-such” or “along with such-and-such,” it has said “in such-and-such”; as in the sixty-sixth Psalm it is prophesied: “I will enter into your house in burnt offerings”; that is to say, “with burnt offerings.” And again: “He brought them out in silver and gold,” that is, “with silver and gold.” And again in the one hundred and seventh: “Will you not go out in our virtues?” which is to say, “with our virtues.” But the most wise Paul, writing concerning the Savior Christ, instead of saying, “All things stand upon Him and were created by Him,” said: “All things consist in Him, and in Him all things were created.” If, therefore, the voice of the Master saying, “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” does not indicate a difference, ^C then neither will the expression “in the Holy Spirit” indicate a difference: both because equality of honor is preserved in that one name being spoken in the singular number, and because “into the name” and “in the name” are the same.

These things, then, are indeed sufficient. Yet the phrase “of whom” is also found written concerning the Son and concerning the Holy Spirit, and the phrase “through whom” [is found] concerning the Father and concerning the divine Spirit, and the phrase “in whom” is not reserved for the Holy Spirit alone, but is spoken also concerning the Father and the Son, as the underlying Scriptures show. That the phrase “of whom” is used also of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [I will show] thus: concerning the Son, Paul says to the Ephesians: “Who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, ^D being joined and compacted together, increases with the increase of God.” John says in the Gospel: “Of His fullness have we all received.” And again, from the person of the Son:

“He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you.” And elsewhere: “I perceived power going forth from Me.” ^A Regarding the Holy Spirit, John says: “He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” And again: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” And the angel: “For that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit.” That it was written previously concerning the Father in a unified way: “of whom, through whom,” and “in whom,” has been said. That the phrase “through whom” is said separately concerning the Father and the Holy Spirit, I show thus: Regarding the Father, Isaiah speaks from the person of the Father to the Son: “Behold, proselytes shall come unto thee through Me.” Notice how, because of the equality and consubstantiality of the persons, the Father brings the nations to the Son. ^B And again: “Woe to them that take deep counsel, and not through the Lord.” And in Genesis, Adam says: “I have acquired a man through God.” And again: “Whatsoever things Moses commanded to Israel through the command of the Lord.” And Joseph says to the eunuchs: “Are not their interpretations through God?” Furthermore, Paul says to the Hebrews: “For it became Him,” he says, “for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, who brought many sons into glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” It is to be noted how similar this is especially to the chapter set forth, namely: “One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things.” And he writes to the Colossians: “Paul, an apostle, [a] servant of Jesus Christ through the will of God.” And to the Corinthians: “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the communion of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” ^C Observe here again, as above, that God and Father calls men unto His own Son. And to the Romans: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, through the mercies of God.” And to the Galatians: “So thou art no longer a slave, but a son; but if a son, then an heir through God.” Regarding the Holy Spirit, Isaiah [speaks] from the person of the Father: “You have taken counsel, but not through Me; and [made] covenants, not through My Spirit.” Paul, writing to the Corinthians: “To us God has revealed [it] through His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” And again: “To one indeed,”

^A to another, faith through the same Spirit: to Romans: “I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit”; and again: “He that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit”; and again: “The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost”; and to Timothy: “Keep the good deposit by the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth in us.” And the Acts saith: “The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he chose, he was taken up.” By that word, “former,” the Gospel according to Luke is designated; for Luke himself also wrote the Apostolical Acts. But that which was written concerning both the Father and His Only-Begotten Son, is manifest from these things. Concerning the Father, he saith in Osee: “And God said to him: Call his name, Not-pitied: for I will not add any more to have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will be contrary to them ^B and will oppose them; but I will have mercy on the children of Juda, and will save them in the Lord their God.” In the Canticle of Anna: “My heart hath been strengthened in the Lord, my horn is exalted in my God.” David in Psalm cvii: “Wilt not thou, O God, go forth in our virtues? Give us help from trouble, and vain is the help of man. In God we shall do might, and he shall bring to nothing them that afflict us”; and again: “In God I shall go over a wall”; and again: “In God I will praise my words.” Paul to the Colossians: “Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made you worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated ^C

and translated him into the kingdom of the Son of his love: in whom ^A we have redemption(47), the remission of sins; ^B and again: "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ"; and again: "If thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and gloriest in God"; and elsewhere: "One God, through whom are all things, and we in him"; and again: "In God, who created all things"; and again: "At length I shall have a prosperous journey in the will of God to come unto you"; and again: "Pray in God"; and again: "He that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

Concerning the Son, Paul writes ^C to the Colossians: "For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist"; and to the Corinthians in the first Epistle: "But ye were washed, but ye were justified, but ye were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God"; and in the second: "But thanks be to God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and manifesteth the savour of his knowledge through us"; and again: "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature"; and to the Romans: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death"; and to the same: "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"; and to the Hebrews: "God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son." Peter in his Epistle: "But the God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus."

Chapter XXIV.

In addition, the Greeks(65), who arrogantly claim wisdom for themselves, and are the most stupid of all stupid people, and are drunken with the superstitious worship of many gods, and convince themselves that they alone are learned, ^D

^A while in reality, regarding that which is most important, they are the most unlearned of all, and possess no accurate knowledge of the blessed Trinity which is in unity. According to that which Scripture says: "The impious man, having fallen into a depth of evils, despises," ^B they, on account of their extreme and voluntary superstition and their superfluous zeal for establishing polytheism—or rather atheism—incorrectly lean upon the aforementioned voice of the Apostle: "If there are any who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords," and upon the prophetic sentence which says: "You shall not revile the gods," and, "The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken." Not observing these two things: first, that the Apostle wrote before the mentioned passage: "There is no God but one"; and second, that he says "who are called gods," that is, who are not gods by nature, but by name. ^C For the conclusion is passed over, but it must be understood, as if the whole had been given to those who understand the part. For the sake of those things stated by ellipsis, he will write: "Let him who reads understand." Therefore, he calls the saints gods, those who have been deemed worthy of adoption and this appellation by grace; whose citizenship, according to the same Apostle, is in heaven, and concerning whom God Himself, who cannot be deceived, appears to have spoken: "I said: You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High"; and the evangelist says: "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came." And indeed, the Scripture hints at Moses and Aaron, the neighbors of the angels, who were honored with the name of God not only in a general sense, but even more specifically. For God said to Moses: "Behold, I appoint you as a god to Pharaoh"; and again to Aaron: "You shall be to him as a god," that is, in regard to the providence concerning him. ^D Or perhaps it is not unlikely, in my judgment, that the faithful and approved ministering powers of God—thankful creations, I mean, the Seraphim and Dominions, and Powers and Authorities—have been honored with this most excellent name even as we are. For the Creator of all things generously bestows of His own good things upon all who ask Him, and even those who do not ask, provided they are faithful and grateful and know how to be mindful of grace.

which the Creator of all things abundantly communicates, both to those who ask of him and to those who do not ask, but are faithful and know how to be mindful of his grace, even if they themselves are silent. Let them rather read the prophet Jeremiah concerning the gods of the Greeks, who are as destitute as they are, saying these words: ^A "The gods who have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth." The Lord made the heavens in his understanding; he is the living and true God; and David in the one hundred and thirteenth Psalm singing: "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have a mouth, and will not speak; they have eyes, and will not see; they have ears, and will not hear; they have noses, and will not smell; they have hands, and will not touch; they have feet, and will not walk; they will not cry out in their throat. Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them."

CHAPTER XXV

Since, therefore, enough has been said on this chapter too, let us pass on to another. The masters and interpreters of the heretics, always inclined towards baser things, come into the contest in order to tear apart the truth, and they continually stir up and devise contentions that in no way agree with a right purpose; ^B for they fall and sin when they explain even the harmless and sublime sentiments of that great God, who is immune from all sin, who out of his own compassion heals the diseases into which we fall through our own folly, and who always brings aid to all, and does not forsake or turn away from those who live rightly and as it were stand firm, nor from those who have fallen in life. Now, the words of the same (Lord) are as follows: "Glorify me, you, O Father, with yourself." But they think that he possesses a proper and separate glory, even though he added, "with the glory which I had with you before the world was," and by adding this he made it manifest that he possesses an eternal and connatural glory, insofar as he is God, a glory which was never cast off by him; for the Godhead is immutable. ^C And so the apostles wrote these things word for word: the renowned and most celebrated John says, "And we have seen his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten"; and that apostle Paul, worthy of eternal memory and well-versed in these matters, says: "For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." But it is impious to think that God is glorified by his own work; for all things were made through him, and along with all other things, that glory too, which they think is to be understood here, was made. Furthermore, it is said in Scripture that all things are works and servants of him who is the power and wisdom of God. Now the wisdom and power of God is the Only-begotten, as the Word who is the Creator. ^D Therefore, this "well-tempered" God interpreted at the same evangelist what it means when he says to the Father, "Glorify me," by saying: "I have glorified you on the earth; I have completed the work which you have given me to do," which is equivalent to saying: "My incarnation has done nothing outside of your will, but all things..."

concordantly. Some have faithfully understood the words, "Glorify me," as spoken on account of the glory that accrued to the servile form. These things belong to a brief summary. We come now to formal arguments ^A against those who do not hear the word, "Father," but who, as it were, seize upon the word, "Glorify." Let them say what glory they understand. Is it the glory that we also ascribe to God? Let us grant this by concession, though it is not the truth. Why, then, do they call the Son, who is glorified by the Father, a creature and lesser? For in the same Gospel He said, "Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee," and again, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me," and again from the person of the Father, "I have both glorified, and will glorify again." But is the lesser glorified by the greater according to this? And how did He preserve the equality of honor for Himself by saying, "Glorify the Son, that the Son may also glorify thee?" Or shall we assume another glory? This is found [to be something] out of nothing. And what reason is there for both the Father and the Son to be glorified by the creation of glory in an intelligible way?

CHAPTER XXVI.

How then, they ask, does He say in the Gospel according to Mark, "When He shall come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels?" ^B For this is exactly what the orthodox say, that by reason of the identity of divinity and kingdom He shall come in the paternal glory; that is, possessing glory equal to the Begetter. For again in Matthew the same Lord, uttering this chapter and showing that the glory is the same for Him and for the Father, spoke thus: "But when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him."

CHAPTER XXVII.

But it is entirely alien to the truth for them to say that the nature of the Son stands between the divine nature and the created nature, as they wrongly cite to this end the place of Scripture, in which it is rightly said, "A mediator," [transferring it] ^C there for their own purposes, while distorting the well-used text in an evil way.

citur: « Mediator Dei et hominum Dominus ^A noster Jesus Christus. » For if the matter is so, He will not even be God, nor the true Son—which two things have been shown to belong to Him in the correct sense; furthermore, according to the opinion of the heretics, He will not even be a creature, a name which, however, does not in truth belong to Him, for He is not a creature in reality, nor has He ever been called such in Scripture. On the contrary, it is written in Isaiah: « Not a legate, not an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them: » that is, not a creature, but God Himself, who, even before we pray to Him, grants us gifts appropriate to Himself, indeed worthy of God. In the Incarnation, therefore, is the mediation; for in the Incarnation, immolating Himself ineffably for the whole human race, and offering Himself to His own Father in the place of a spiritual and mystical incense, He both placated Him, and extinguished the death that was hanging over the whole human race, and drew us away from idols, and united us through the knowledge of the one God, and restored paradise, and led us back to the heavens, joining the earthly to the heavenly as the omnipotent God, and fitting together that which had been separated, and restoring man to that grace from which he had fallen; so much so that the Apostle, astonished at the excellence and magnitude of this reconciliation, proclaimed these things with his divine tongue: « He is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of the partition; » and again: « Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. »

CHAPTER XXVIII

^C But certain of the heretics, bereft of all faith, object something else, which it is ridiculous not only to suspect, but much more so to say. For they assert that the gifts given to creatures before the stable, fixed, and benevolent advent of the Savior Christ into the world were given by God the Father alone, and not by his own beneficent and proper Son, the Word, on the ground, forsooth, that He is subject. But if they had a part and share with those who pronounced that theological opinion: « All things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing » (for in the reckoning of all things, every donation comes through Him, and is made by Him; for these gifts are also a part of those things which were made; for which cause it was proclaimed: « This is the Lord of all; » and: « God, Mighty, Ruler; » and: « There shall be reckoned no other beside Him »), and if they had also understood Him ^D who says: « There is one legislator and judge, who alone is able to save; » they would have known that, apart from the Creator and Donor of good things, the Judge at once and Redeemer, the only-begotten Son, the Word, no

gift has been bestowed from above; nor has any time, or order of created things, been spared from evils or deemed worthy of providence. But since, again, not even one thing is outside His judgment; but rather, we shall receive from Him—from whom we also received good things from the beginning, by the good pleasure of the Father and the consent of the Holy Spirit—the judgment appropriate to each, humanely, and if anything more can be said or conceived, or even not conceived, regarding this. For how is it not most unjust and most impious to say, or even to surmise, that He created and legislated, but did not provide—which is considered superior to the act of creation itself—but that after all these things here, He judges those who received good things from another, and lost them through their own folly and senselessness? Or how is it not absurd to suppose that He has made us endowed with free will, as has been said many times, yet He Himself did not possess that which He bestowed upon others according to the measure of their nature and what was fitting? They themselves, I think—even those heretics whose doctrines miss the truth—perceive ^B that they will have nothing to say should they desire to assert something in opposition to our dogmas. For they are opposed by their own intolerable and unrestrained wickedness, while others, in addition to those already mentioned, who are trustworthy and firm in their way of life—not mere men, but prophets—are seen to bear witness to the Savior who gave joy in common to all men. For Zechariah, speaking separately of past and future things, cries out: "If there is any good, it is His; and if there is anything noble, it shall be from Him." And Isaiah proclaims of Him with equal clarity: "God, Mighty, Potentate." And following these saints, whom the theologies adorn everywhere with grace and beauty in their words, even those outside have in this part sung hymns appropriate to the Creator and King of all. For they have said:

All glorious gifts for men from God proceed; If any good or happiness has grown, Or best of things, or that which is desired, In all, God’s lovely gifts are brought to light.

And again: The power of God is measureless, His strength ^C Is infinite; He holds all things, and He Alone is ruler over all.

CHAPTER XXIX

And in Matthew, they say, concerning the mother of the sons of Zebedee, who asked that her two sons—who were apostles—might be seated on either side of Him, at His right hand and at His left, in His heavenly kingdom, ^D

^A He replied, “It is not Mine to give, but to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” And this in no way diminishes His dignity. For as matters stand, it is not always the case that the bare arrangement of the words matches the reality; but sometimes the truth itself completes the full meaning by supplying that which is not spoken. Christ spoke in this way because He was bearing the form of a servant; or perhaps because He wished to point out as hateful to God those who, disregarding rank and the principle of equity, covet the honor of the first seat. Or it may be because that woman was secretly puffed up in her mind at the excellence and beauty of her sons, whom she considered worthy both of the apostolic primacy and of divine co-session. Nothing of their secret hearts escaped Him, as John says: “But Jesus Himself did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all persons, and had no need that anyone should testify about a human being; for He Himself knew what was in a human being.”

Listen then to what follows, and be convinced that I have not been deluded in my interpretation of this passage. For Matthew immediately adds that, when the twelve were ^B indignant “on account of these two brothers,” the Lord said: “Whoever among you desires to become great shall be your minister, and whoever desires to be first shall be your servant.” And we have heard how, in Luke, He likewise prevents the honor of the first seat and the place of honor from being deliberately sought. It was not for the just God, who prepares rewards in the future life for each according to their deeds, to grant to anyone what was demanded unjustly and arrogantly, or to place the first in second-rate seats, and to sadden the apostles who had remained constantly faithful to Him, and who had not sought primacy. Neither was it right to sadden our fathers along with them, who had pleased Him beforehand and were to be admired for their virtue, with whom He had entered into a covenant, and to whom it is entirely probable that the first seats on either side of Him had been promised beforehand; ^C in whose bosoms those of whom we are speaking were about to rest, and in addition to them, Moses as well. For He is Himself the Lord both of the matter requested by the woman and of all judgment, and He is the one who preappointed the thrones for the apostles, leading them forward in a most kingly manner and promising: “You shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Therefore, setting forth a single, unanswerable rule against anyone boasting of greatness and attributing it to himself, He says: “If I bear witness to Myself, My witness is not true; but there is One who bears witness concerning Me, the One who says (he says), the Father.” This ^D especially, and other patriarchs of the Old Testament of this kind.

is my Son.” ^A That He said this for the sole reason previously mentioned, He Himself confirms again, saying: “Even if I bear witness concerning Myself, My witness is true”; and again: “The works themselves bear witness concerning Me, and Moses bears witness concerning Me.”

CAP. XXX.

The same meaning is contained in what was said by the Savior in Luke: “Father, into ^B Your hands I will commend My spirit.” Through His own person He commends the humanity which is vivified by faith in Him, which He deigned to call His members; or perhaps He is teaching all men, that they might first know that Arius erred in this point as well, by thinking Him inanimate in the Economy; and secondly, so that in our final breaths we might use the same formula in our prayers, and gratefully ^C acknowledge that our existence as men comes from God, and into Him again is our departure. Therefore what was happening was a law.

CHAPTER XXXI.

The heretical impiety does not stop with the Only-begotten, but extends even to the Holy Spirit. For they use not only the aforementioned words of the Savior, “I did not speak from Myself,” and “The Holy Spirit will not speak from Himself,” and the verse of Paul which says, “To the only wise God,” and furthermore other oracles that are ^D brought forward in the discourse *On the Holy Spirit*, in a dismissive manner, to belittle His infinite and venerable nature; but they also use the prophecy of Amos, as if it were indicating...

that the Holy Spirit of God is a creature, although the passage in its entirety gives no suggestion of this, either in this part or in any other. ^A His words are as follows: “I have overturned you, as God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became as a brand plucked out of the fire; and yet you did not return unto me, saith the Lord. Therefore, I will do this unto you, O Israel; yet, because I will do this unto you, prepare to invoke your God, O Israel. For behold, he that forms the thunder, and creates the spirit, and declares unto men his Christ, that makes the morning and the darkness, and treads upon the high places of the earth: the Lord God Almighty is his name.”

Since, therefore, three perfect hypostases are commemorated here—one speaking, which says, “I have overturned,” another of whom it says, “as God overturned,” and another where it contains “his Christ”—we understand these words to have been spoken aptly and harmonically, not from the person of the Father, nor ^B regarding His Holy Spirit, but from the person of the Holy Spirit Himself, who speaks also concerning the wind—that is, concerning that spirit which is accustomed to accompany the thunder that resounds in the ears of men. For this reason, in the words that follow, He makes mention of the morning and the darkness. For how could the Father have said, “And declaring unto men his Christ,” and not “my Christ,” as He said in the cxxxi Psalm, “I have prepared a lamp for my Christ”? Or why would He say, “His name,” when He ought to have said, “My name”? And if it were granted that the voice is His, then the Holy Spirit is revealed as God Almighty. Nor does this voice befit the prophet as he speaks concerning the Father; for the “I” would be found to be from His own person. Because ^C the Lord is he that forms, the high places, “I have overturned you, as God overturned,” is a statement; but man does not overturn as God does; nor is it fitting for a prophet to speak boastfully and blasphemously at the same time.

And as for the inclusion of “forming the spirit,” and not “having created the spirit,” and the order of mention—placing the thunder to be formed first, and the spirit created second, and furthermore, that it is prophesied without the article and without “Holy,” simply as “forming the spirit,” ^D the prophet speaks of the work of God, not of Christ; for he uses the word *ruach*. But who can be so senseless as to think that the Seventy Interpreters read *mashichi* when they translated “his Christ”? If, therefore, Basnagius wished to criticize anything at all, and to use so confidently that word of his, “they erred,” he ought not, in my judgment, to have criticized the Seventy Interpreters, but rather the scribes who, in their copies, had written not *mashichi*, but *mashicho*, that is, “his Messiah,” namely, “his Christ.”

[He is treating this] and going over it more deeply than he does in the book *On the Holy Spirit*, num. 14; he speaks more distinctly here. For there he was content to have said: “For the discourse of the prophet was not proposed concerning the Holy Spirit, as is understood from the very series and context of the speech. Since the prophet Amos (the word “prophet” is perhaps omitted here in our codex) from the person of God says: ‘Prepare to invoke your God,’ and the rest.”

^A And not, indeed, [of One] who created spirit, and first 54 the firming of thunder, then the creation of spirit, and furthermore without the article 55, and without a voice, [it says] simply: 427 *creating spirit*, that is, creating spirit; it is apparent from all these things that [this] pertains to the aerial spirit of which it speaks. For rarely 56 is the holy Spirit of God mentioned, without adding the word ‘holy,’ or the word ‘God,’ or the article *to* being joined to the noun *pneuma*, or the participation of the same Spirit being signified: as when it is written: “Spirit of Elijah” 57, and: “Walk in the Spirit” 58. But the prophet said “creating spirit” because the aerial spirit arises 59 when opportunity and our utility require it, for bringing aid in the necessities for which it was made. For we are accustomed even now to say: “A great wind occurred,” not as if it were created just now, but that it was recently stirred up with force.

Prophetically, therefore, and with the word order inverted ^B by the divine Spirit, it is said thus: “I have subverted you,” that is, “you stiff-necked [ones] and uncircumcised in heart, O Jews,” just as God subverted Sodom and Gomorrah, whose inhabitants, he says, lived just like the Jews, impenitently. Therefore, “prepare to invoke your God, O Israel,” whom, he says, you have not yet appeared to recognize clearly even unto this day. And he meant the only-begotten Son of God. “Because He who matures,” he says, “even the deep things of God.” And many things which it is possible to excerpt from the sacred Books.

In our own codex—for the codex has *liris*—it is possible to excerpt many things.

^C Prophetically, therefore, and with the word order somewhat inverted 60, Amos speaks from the person of the divine Spirit in this manner: “I have subverted you,” that is, the stiff-necked 61 and uncircumcised in heart, the Jews: “just as God subverted Sodom and Gomorrah,” whose inhabitants, he says, lived in such a way, just as the Jews, that they never repented. Therefore, “prepare yourself to invoke your God, O Israel,” whom, he says, not yet unto this day have you manifested to be recognized by you.

^D And it is pleasing to transcribe these very things more harmoniously from our codex: “Neither, indeed, [is it] in vain [that] without the article, which in the Greek language is a signifier of singularity, [it] is now called ‘created spirit’; since it is not holy, whereas almost always the holy Spirit is named with the article; as in that [passage]: *Autò tò Pneuma* (that is, ‘the Spirit himself’) bears witness to our spirit. And elsewhere: *Tò Pneuma* (that is, ‘the Spirit’) is that which gives life. And again: ‘So also, no one has known the things of God except *tò Pneuma Theou* (that is, “the Spirit of God”): for *tò Pneuma* (this is, “for the Spirit”) searches all things, even the deep things of God.’ And many things which it is possible to excerpt from the sacred Scriptures.”

^A You have shown this manifestly. The prophet designates in this place the only-begotten Son of God: “For He who establishes the thunder, and creates the spirit, and makes the dawn and the mist, and ascends upon the high places of the earth; the Lord God Almighty is His name: behold, He that announces His Christ unto men.” When, then, and how did He announce Him? When He said from above: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found pleasure.” ^B It is evident that in many places one of the three divine hypostases speaks of another, or of two, just as this matter was interpreted through many proofs in the first discourse. Indeed, this is also found a little before the aforementioned prophecy of Amos; for it says: “Thus says the Lord: For the three impieties of the sons of Judah, and for the four, I will not turn them away, so that I may heal them. The law of the Lord and His commandments they did not keep; and their vain idols led them astray, which they made, which their fathers followed after them; and I will send fire upon Judah, and it will devour the foundations of Jerusalem.” ^C It behooved the heretics, therefore, if they did not think the prophecy was speaking about the wind, at least to think it was speaking about their own spirit, of which the divine oracles frequently make mention: as when Paul writes to the Thessalonians in his first Epistle: “And may the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your whole spirit, and soul, and body be kept blameless, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ^D

and your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless ^A in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and as when Stephen praying says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and as Luke in the Gospel, recounting that the Savior raised the dead girl, says, “And her spirit returned.” It would have been proper to give glory in this way, if they had wished to act modestly; but they did not suspect that this referred to the Spirit, rather they arrived at the extreme degree of blasphemy. One ought also to observe that which the prophet says, “Announcing His Christ,” meaning God and the Father, and not “creating.” For regarding those things which are manifested to us in an arcane manner because of the ineffable Trinity, it was written: “Who is wise, and shall understand these things?” That is, clearly, he who understands in a fitting and spiritual sense. For in truth it is difficult for those who are occupied with worldly or heretical things to attain the accurate [interpretation] of the Scriptures. Whence He said, “My Spirit ^B shall not remain upon them, because they are flesh.” And outside philosophy also transmits that the power of discernment hidden in these treasures is from God, as are all things, speaking thus:

For God has given signs to men for all things That He wills, and without any help, He hears the mortals.

CHAPTER XXXII.

But, they say, “All things were made through the Son.” If, therefore, “all things” includes the Holy Spirit, [then the Spirit was made]. But when John said “all things,” he designed all creatures; yet it is nowhere written that the Spirit of God is a creature, as not even the Son [is a creature]. For a creature is a servant; but a servant neither liberates, as does the Holy Spirit, nor knows what its Lord is doing, nor recreates what has been created by the Lord, ^C nor has man as a temple, just as God has, nor is he called divine in Scripture. But the first-created, who fell from his primacy on account of his own arrogance and was cast into the depths of the depths, was called by other names.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

But when the Jews thought that the Lord was not the son of God, but of David, and He himself asked them regarding Himself, whose son He is, and they answered, “David’s,” then He said to them, “And how does David in the Holy Spirit call Him Lord,” ^D

^A thereby making it clear that David, prophesying in the Holy Spirit about his descendant according to the incarnation, calls this one his Lord according to divinity; just as he himself says in the Books of Kings: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke in me.” Heretics, interpreting these things wickedly and ignorantly at the same time, say that it was the Holy Spirit whom Christ called His own Lord through David. But the follow-up refutes them: “If therefore David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?” All things David said while the Holy Spirit was prompting him; for he himself was naturally ignorant of both future and heavenly things, and for this reason it says, “In the Holy Spirit.” Yet he did not prophesy all things entirely from the person of the Holy Spirit, or of the Son, or of the Father, or of the creation; but he also prophesied from his own person, such as the aforementioned words, and as when he says, “Against You only have I sinned, and done evil before You,” and, “In iniquities I was conceived, and in sins my mother conceived me.” Otherwise, it would remain that we must attribute to the divine Spirit even that which David himself and the other prophets say—for all spoke in the Holy Spirit—when they say: “I am the Lord your God the Almighty,” and again, “Besides me there is no God,” and other similar things.

Chapter XXXIV.

of the Word, and we shall have attained it. But when we have been purified by virtue, having compared spiritual contests, and have been made worthy, then He Himself willingly bestows upon us His own illumination. For after the resurrection, the ^A Lord Christ, breathing into the faces of the apostles, said: "Receive the Holy Spirit"; but the Holy Spirit Himself, after the assumption of Christ, appeared in fiery tongues at Pentecost, "and sat upon each one of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," as the Acts testify. Therefore the Lord also foretold to them: "But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Those words, however, "Jesus was not yet glorified," mean this: He had not yet suffered, nor risen again, nor had He simultaneously with Himself raised a multitude of the dead, nor had He been taken up into heaven. For not yet did all believe Him to be the beloved Son of God, existing before the ages, and He was not yet glorified as the God of the fathers; that is, the glory concerning Him had not yet been established among all. Wherefore He said afterwards: ^B "Father, the hour has come"; that is, whatever was foretold concerning Me in the inviolable Scriptures is now fulfilled; "Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify thee." In whatever sense, therefore, you understand "Jesus was not yet glorified," understand in the same way "The Holy Spirit was not yet." Otherwise, would you not be seen to say something foolish—which you yourself do not even say—namely, that the things which are told before this text, "The Holy Spirit was not yet," are prior and, as it were, older than the divine Spirit by whose inspiration that text was written? If anyone were to say this, it would be most foolish to respond with a simple thought running like a pen, as they say. Others have interpreted those words, "Jesus was not yet glorified," as if they were said because of the servile form which He Himself bore, because it had not yet ascended into the heavens, nor had it yet become the first-fruits ^C for the faithful of every other happiness, and also of the ascension into the heavens; for Christ is the first-fruits, as I have said above: or as if they were said for our sake, of whom He is called the first-fruits in the Scriptures, insofar as He exists in the flesh: in which sense it was said: "I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth"; and Paul, writing in agreement with these things, says: "He raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus"; and again: "But our citizenship exists in the heavens."

CHAPTER XXXV

^A The writing, that: "The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to God." He indicated this most especially by the use of "unutterable," that such things should not be searched out; for they are, he says, incomprehensible and ineffable. And by having the expression "according to God," he indicates that these things are not according to us, nor should they be understood according to human custom; for it transcends every mind and puts to the proof the nature of speech. Then he did not say absolutely, "He intercedes," or "He intercedes against us and against the saints," but, "He intercedes for us," and, "for the saints." It is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit, as God, to be philanthropic. However, since they bring these things forward as if they were to be received in a human manner, and not in a way worthy of God, let them know, even if late, that "to intercede" and ^B to find—I happened upon the book, he intercedes—entreaty. But "to ask" or "to encounter" are different. "To intercede," "to ask" is said; for example, as we are accustomed to say: "I happened upon the book." And one might say this even more properly; for some call that which is for the sake of pleasure and entreaty "to make." "To ask" is used more than "to intercede." And here he calls mercies "groanings." The Spirit, therefore, he says, of God, oversees for us through incomprehensible mercies; for this, though spoken of mystically, so far transcends the creation that He immediately attributed to the God who knows hearts as a great thing the knowing of the mind of the Holy Spirit. ^C Then also the Son likewise intercedes for us; and yet He is great, and a sovereign, and true God. For the same Apostle writes concerning Him, to the Hebrews indeed: "Always living to intercede for them"; to the Romans however: "Christ Jesus who died, or rather who has been raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." But that the name of the Paraclete, and the "interceding for us," ought not to be received according to the appearance of the word and in worldly conversation, can be taught from similar expressions; as when he writes concerning God and the Father in the 85th Psalm: "Show me a sign for good, and let those who hate me see and be put to shame, because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me," and Paul: "May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God and our Father, comfort ^D your hearts." Rather, also, has been raised, who also is.

and elsewhere: "He who repents regarding the evils of men," which is to say, He who pardons or sympathizes; for it is not as if He were Himself the cause of the evil regarding which He repents. Frequently, indeed, Scripture employs a word that in a given passage signifies one thing, yet sets it down to indicate something other than what is apparent. For example, as it says in Exodus: "Moses was pasturing the sheep of Jethro, his son-in-law." ^A Yet the situation was the opposite: Jethro was the father-in-law, and Moses was the son-in-law. That the invisible God is incomprehensible ^B and unattainable to every mind (wherefore divine utterances, for the most part, do not have a simple and obvious meaning for everyone, but possess a hidden understanding) may be found even in the books of secular philosophy. For they contain these lines:

"Hidden from mortals are the purposes of the heavenly God, And each thing is bounded by ineffable providences; Which no mortal is permitted to measure, nor to grasp the immeasurable."

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Furthermore, regarding that passage which exists in John: ^C "And this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent," and again: "Believe in God, and believe in me," the Macedonians have reasoned most blasphemously, asserting that the Holy Spirit is not mentioned, as if He were by nature alien, and therefore excluded from being true God. ^D But much has already been said regarding similar problems in the first volume in the tenth chapter, and in this present book in the fourteenth chapter; yet it shall be spoken of even now. If, therefore, eternal life [cont.]

knowledge of the Father and of the Son, then eternal life is situated, and the Spirit ^A is demonstrated to be both life and the Spirit of God; it therefore follows that he is also the only true God, always to be understood as being with the Father, as His Spirit. Therefore, in one eternal life, He taught one knowledge, and not a different one, following in the chapter set before us. And the evangelist also, when he says, "In this we know that God is in us, by His Spirit which He has given us," indicates that He is mentioned together with and is present with the Father. And that not even the Son is understood without the Holy Spirit is clear; for the Father says to Him: "My Spirit which is upon thee," and He Himself says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." And Paul also, signifying the communion and identity of the Godhead, and indicating that the Holy Spirit is implicitly understood, or super-understood, by the mind of Scripture, even if ^B sometimes He is not mentioned specifically, writes: "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." At other times, therefore, he again makes mention of the Holy Spirit, either alone or together with the Father. It is necessary, therefore, in my opinion, rather to say to them as the all-wise Moses: "If I have found grace in thy sight, manifest thyself to me, that I may know thee," so that at some time they may know the Trinity, indivisible in nature and harmony. For apparently, many prophets and kings have wished to see and hear, and have not attained it; but we not only hear, but also see, as he says according to Luke.

CAP. XXXVII. On that which is written: "No one knows the Father, except the Son, nor does anyone know the Son, except the Father, and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him." And against those who say that the Holy Spirit searches the depths of God, because by being ancient He is ignorant of them.

In this also they have erred equally from the truth, because they have wrongly received those things which are written in Luke: "No one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him," and elsewhere: "Not that anyone has seen God, except He who is from ^C of God." They suppose, indeed, as if this word, "No one else knows," pushes away...

the divine Spirit from the divine knowledge. They do not attend to the voice which says, "Except he who is from God," nor does it exclude Him from seeing and knowing the Father, since Paul in the same way wrote concerning Him: "The Spirit which is from God," and the Son has said: "The Spirit, which proceeds from the Father." And then, in another passage, Paul, though silent in the wording yet not in mind, concerning the Son, but teaching that the Spirit alone sees and knows the Father in these syllables: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows the things of a man, except the spirit of a man which is in him? So also the things of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God." And again: "That God knows what is the mind of the Spirit." ^B He who does not see, and who does not exist with Him, does not search God; and he who does not know Him, nor is of the same divinity, does not know the things of God; for it is impossible to know the things of God as God knows them, and to possess equal knowledge with Him, unless one belongs to the same essence and knowledge as Him. And the One who knows the things of God on account of the Son, knows also the things of the Son. Therefore, with respect to creatures, that saying is spoken: "No one knows the Father," or "the Son," nor does anyone see Him as He is; for neither is such understanding possible in all, since not all are worthy; and where it exists, it is not equal in everyone. For according to Paul’s word: "To one indeed is given the word of wisdom, to another this or that"; and according to the Gospel, to whom more is given, of him ^C more is required. But the heretics say: "He searches the deep things of God, as if He were ignorant." But he added, as "He knows the things of God."

[Didymus' note on the meaning of 'spirit' in the text:] ^D Didymus took this concerning the human created spirit, as things must be accepted in reality; although he distinguished this very spirit from the soul, as some others had done before him, concerning which matter it would be inopportune to speak at present. Therefore, I have not yet been able to understand enough why in the book *On the Holy Spirit*, no. 54, the learned man Vallarsi changed the vulgate and, as I indeed believe, the genuine reading. In order for the matter to be clear, I first present that passage of Didymus from the Veronese edition compared by me with our codex. "It is said also, except the soul, and except our spirit, that there is another spirit in man [our codex: and except the Holy Spirit, that there is some other spirit in man], concerning which Paul writes: 'For who of men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of a man which is in him?'" For if anyone wishes to contend that the soul is signified here by 'spirit', who will be the man whose thoughts, and arcana, and hidden secrets [our codex more correctly: *of the heart*] are not known to another man, except his own spirit? Since it is quite foolish to want to understand this of the solitary body. But if he relies on artful fraud to steal away [our codex: *subripere*] from the Holy Spirit by testifying these things are written; if he carefully considers the very words, he will cease to assert a lie. For it is thus written: "For who of men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of a man which is in him? So also the things of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God." For in the way that man is one thing, and God is another; so also the spirit of a man, which is in him, is separated from the Spirit of God, which is in Him: which Spirit we have frequently shown to be the Holy Spirit. Thus far Didymus, who here records three significations of the word "spirit": the first by which the Holy Spirit is signified, the second by which the soul, the third by which a created spirit in man distinct from the soul is signified. Therefore, I do not see why the most illustrious Veronese editor noted these things to the words which he himself reads thus, and "except our spirit": "By a remarkable error, those edited hitherto, and manuscripts everywhere, read 'and except the Holy Spirit, another spirit' etc." I substituted "our spirit" according to the faith of the Queen's codex, but especially to the argument of right reason, and the sense of the Pauline testimony. For if my opinion, or the reading which I defend, stood in need of confirmation, it could also be confirmed from Jerome's commentaries on Daniel, ch. III, vol. V, p. 641. For there the holy Doctor, looking back to this very passage of Didymus, as I believe, writes: "There are those who wish there to be another spirit in man, except the Holy Spirit, and another soul." "Who searches the hearts." But Didymus, citing the sense, uses the name "God" in place of these words.

^B "For the servant does not know what his master is doing." That "to search" does not always mean to inquire is made clear by the oracles. For when Scripture prophesies, "Searching into what, or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ within them was showing," it signifies inquiring and learning, similar to the one who says, "Search the Scriptures." But when the Apostle writes about God and the Father, "He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because according to God he intercedes for the saints," or when it is said in the 30th Psalm, "Because the Lord searches for truths," or in the 7th, "God searches the hearts and kidneys," or elsewhere, "Searching the storehouses of the belly"—the word "to search" does not signify to inquire and to learn, but to encompass the heart so that nothing of those things which have at any time been thought or pondered by it may escape him; things which the Knower of hearts knows even without investigations. For if the whole of knowledge were attributed to "searching," then even God would be found searching just as if He were ignorant, and the opinion of the heretics would bring dishonor upon Him, namely that which is said by Him in Sophonias, as if by a metaphor derived from men: "I will search Jerusalem with a lamp." Such a statement regarding His power produces a great signifier. The divine Spirit of God, therefore, searches, not as one ignorant, but as the Spirit of God, existing by nature as one with Him. Wherefore the Psalmist, not denying to Him the essence and knowledge of God the Father, but rather convincing us that He is His subsistent Wisdom, equal to the Only-Begotten, prayed: ^C "Do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me"—that is, the Spirit, he says, who reveals to me the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Those highly useful words of Christ in John—"When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from my Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me"—and again: "But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and will bring to your memory all things which I have said to you"—are interpreted perversely by those who bring charges against the Holy Spirit. For they ought to understand these things as meaning that He is called Paraclete either because, as God, He is invoked by the creature, or because He consoles it and brings it joy and peace—for the words of "paraclesis" (consolation) and "paramythia" (comfort) are synonymous, as it is written: "And the humble of"

^A And the [words] from the persons of those who have been deemed worthy of consolation, he says: “O Lord, according to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Thy consolations have gladdened my heart,” and again: “Thou hast put gladness into my heart.” And as Paul prays for the Thessalonians: “And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God and our Father, shall comfort your hearts.” But they, instead of understanding it in this way, say that it is because of His interceding (παρακαλεῖν) for her that He is named Paraclete; and they add that He is also sent. But first, the name of Paraclete is common to the Holy Spirit and to the Son, just as the nature is also, as John has written, in his Catholic epistles, thus: “These things I write to you, that you may not sin; but if we also do sin, we have a Paraclete with the Father, Jesus Christ the just, and He is the propitiation for our sins.” ^B Observe further, for the present, that by calling Jesus Christ a Paraclete with the Father, he assigned the power to the Paraclete, as though He Himself were being invoked; for he says: “He Himself is the propitiation,” in order that he might thus show both the self-authority of the Paraclete, and refer the propitiation to the one Godhead.

And again in the Gospel, from the person of the Lord: “If you love Me, keep My commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him, nor know Him; but you know Him, because He dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you [214 b] orphans; I come to you.” By saying “another Paraclete,” [He means] not according to essence, but according to ^C the relation...

^A Then, the fact that the Son previously said, “I will send to you from my Father the Spirit of truth,” presents the three hypostases, and shows how the manifestation or advent of the Holy Spirit came to pass in one will and concord, just as was said before in the chapter: “The Father gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak” [John 12:49]; and concerning the Holy Spirit it was said: “He shall not speak from himself” [John 16:13]. For just as the Son, having been sent, is not separated from the Father, so neither is the Holy Spirit.

The addition of “Spirit of truth” truly teaches that He is the Spirit of God, and not like the ministering spirits. The phrase, “Who proceeds from the Father,” signifies that He emerged from the paternal hypostasis without beginning and consubstantially; for every procession is accomplished through equals and likes. And the generation of the Son and the procession of His Spirit from God came about differently, yet as consubstantial; in this, it is distinguished from other processions, because it was done consubstantially. ^B By these words, “He will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you,” He commands and warns, as has been said by us above, that faith is not to be denied to the Holy Spirit, who came after the Assumption of Christ and taught. For He says, His [the Spirit's] opinion and teaching will not be discordant with mine, since in divinity also He is united and joined to me. The doctrines and the gifts pertaining to salvation are common to the Holy Trinity. And in the same way I spoke the words, “The Father gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak,” which denotes the concord of the Trinity, in the same sense I speak also concerning the Holy Spirit: “He shall take of what is mine, and shall announce it to you” [John 16:15].

But when He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete,” He indicated, as it were, that He Himself is also called a Paraclete, and that if you do not keep my commandments, He says, you become unworthy of the visitation of the Holy Spirit, which is not discordant with my epiphany. ^C And the passage, “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him, nor know Him; but you know Him,” showed that worldly people—that is, heretics—cannot receive Him, because they do not see Him with the eyes of faith, nor do they know Him, not glorifying Him as God; but those who confess Him to be God have Him remaining with themselves.

That He says, “He will give you,” and, “He remains with you, and will be in you,” signifies that the Holy Spirit is as God in heaven and on earth, present everywhere. For if He remains with us and will be in us, and fills all things, according to the Wisdom that says, “The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world” [Wisdom 1:7], how was He sent to us? But that even while He was saying these things, He [the Spirit] was with Him as consubstantial, He again persuaded, ^D

and saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit," as has been said before. ^A And the words, "I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you," taught that, just as the Spirit of God was in all things even before His manifest coming, so also after the ascension the Son is everywhere, since the hypostases are of one uncircumscribed Divinity and will. It is not that He Himself is both the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit of God—as Montanus imagined, who relies most heavily on this passage of Scripture, neither seeing nor understanding that it is manifest that one thing is said of one person and another of another: "I will ask the Father, and He will send another Paraclete"—but that He is present with the Spirit, possessing His own subsistence, just as the Father is also always everywhere. Nor, however, does His having come a second time signify, as he often signified His future second arrival at the judgment. Furthermore, there is the remark, "He will bear witness concerning Me." Truth, he says, bears witness of truth, and the Lord of the Lord, just as He said concerning the Father: "And the Father who sent Me bears witness concerning Me." Macedonius passes over all these things, and before all else the Master's declaration, "I will ask the Father," which is blameless and ought not to be understood according to worldly custom, running instead to "He will send" and rejoicing in it. Let him have, in response to such utterances regarding the Holy Spirit, the answer that he himself would give if questioned by those who object with similar passages of Holy Scripture concerning the Son. And let him also know this: that it is often the case, though not always, nor of necessity, that he who speaks—as if commanding—or who sends is greater than he who hears or is sent; but it often happens that one sends someone who is his equal and worthy of equal honor. Nor is it truly absurd that among men he who is a craftsman of any art should be greater than one who might appear to say or command something to him, or to send him. ^B Furthermore, let him know that the only-begotten God, the Word, was also sent by the Father or the Spirit, as He Himself says in Isaiah: "I am the first, and I am for the ages; My hand founded the earth, and My right hand established the heaven." And after other things, He adds: "And now the Lord has sent Me, and His Spirit." Thus, the Spirit of God and the Father is not sent in the manner of the apostles or prophets, but as His Spirit; nor is He sent in such a way as to travel from one place to another, since not even the Father, whose hypostasis the Spirit is, is circumscribed by limits.

Chap. XXXIX

^A commemorates when he wrote: “God sent his Spirit into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” The word “sent” signifies the concord and agreement, as has been said before. But that the Holy Spirit cries in our hearts, “Abba,” which in Latin is interpreted as “Father,” shows the clemency and mercy of the Holy Spirit, which renders us members of the household and kin to God and Father, in that He has spoken this voice in our stead and on our behalf—we who at that time were still infants, fed with milk, and without confidence (dignity/boldness), both on account of the ancient disobedience and the forsaking of the living God, and on account of the negligence of our previous life, and being found unworthy to break forth into such a form of address; just as the Son also, in the economy for our sake, took upon Himself all that was ours. And indeed, through what follows, Paul also called the Holy Spirit ^B God, and showed that it is through that aforementioned voice of His that we are liberated, adopted as sons, and inherit the heavenly goods. For immediately after saying, “Abba, Father,” he at once adds: “So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God”—signifying the Holy Spirit who cries within us. That this aforementioned voice is on our behalf, the same Apostle wrote to the Romans: “But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live; for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God; for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” Since, then, as has been said quite often, every salvation has been granted to us in common by the holy Trinity—the Father indeed having called us to adoption, while the Only-begotten, and true and genuine Son, has named us brothers and allowed us to call God our Father, and the Holy Spirit has inhabited, sounded, and taught, having said, “Abba.” “He,” He says, “will teach you,” and, “He will guide you into all the truth.” Furthermore, He also regenerated us, and liberated us from sin and death, and sanctified us, and showed us to be sons of God according to His own goodness. Therefore, before being regenerated by Him through the washing (baptism), it is not fitting even to say, “Our Father who art in heaven.” And in addition to these things, He cries in our hearts ^C of your hearts, of God through Christ, [at which point] it ends; and the Spirit of truth is in no way enclosed by the limits of places. ^D

God, ^A teaching the deaf ears of the heretics that He himself is the God who dwells in the faithful, according to the text: "I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people," and according to the Apostle who writes: "Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" But heretics strive to claim that the passage, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," and all such places, refer to our own human spirit, and not to the Holy Spirit. But the subsequent text refutes them, for it contains: "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption of sons." For absolutely, since we already possessed our own spirit, we received additionally the Holy Spirit of adoption as sons.

CHAPTER XL

^B Those who hold an inimical and hostile disposition toward the Holy Spirit also misinterpret with a perverse mind what was said by the Savior in the Gospel of John concerning Him: "He shall glorify me, for He shall receive of mine, and shall announce it to you." For it is not permitted to understand the things of God as if they were human, nor to insult the Divinity—which is in no way like us—on account of the resemblance of words and concepts used in our own manner of speech. He will glorify me, He says, insofar as He will teach you the same things that I do; and I, [in turn], teach what I heard from the Father. He will glorify me also insofar as He will demonstrate the infinitude of my Divinity through His ineffable majesty. Furthermore, He will glorify in the sense that it is written: "The Son glorifies the Father"; and as it is said, "The light is the glory of the sun"; and as I myself said: "Glorify me, O Father." And it was answered to me: "I have glorified you, and will glorify you again." For He does not praise God as a creature does, since the Son does not differ from the Father in divinity, dignity, or excellence; nor does the One who, through Himself, purely and cleanly always distributes divine gifts to us, announce anything received from elsewhere; nor is He separated in nature from the Father. For just as the Son, when He gives, is deprived of nothing, nor is He emptied; so too the Holy Spirit does not receive what He does not already have, nor, having heard what He was ignorant of, does He then speak; since, according to Paul, He alone knows the things of God, and rather He inspires wisdom and understanding into those worthy to receive it, out of innate divine impulses; nor is He taught by another, He who breathes wisdom and the knowledge of prophecy into the simple; beyond

are; but rather He Himself infuses wisdom and understanding into those who deserve to receive it through divine and natural motions; nor does He who inspires wisdom and the knowledge of prophecy into the simple learn anything from another; for His divinity exceeds any knowledge whatsoever; for such things have been said improperly ^A regarding the ineffable Trinity. Therefore, the Savior also says of Himself: "As I hear, I judge." And John says of Him: "He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God," that is, he gives testimony. But the Holy Spirit is also glorified, both through His complete communion with the Father and the Son, and through the things which the Son threatens concerning Him, saying: "Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven."

CHAPTER XLI

2. Secondly, when the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians in the first Epistle: "Whether there are prophecies, they will be done away; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away," they say that Montanus has come, and that he possessed the perfect ^D (that is, the perfection) of the Paraclete, that is, of the Holy Spirit; nor do they attend to the things that are added; for these things follow immediately: "When I was an infant, I spoke as an infant, I thought as an infant; when I became a man..."

I put away the things of an infant." ^A For we see now through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face: now we know in part; but then we shall know just as also we have been known. That is: what we now believe to be true while hearing it from the Scriptures, we shall see with our eyes after the resurrection, and we shall come to know it by the reality itself, for that knowledge which is in part will cease; for the knowledge which is acquired from hearing is a part of the knowledge which we compare by the vision and experience of the thing itself. Just as we now believe while hearing concerning the second coming of the Lord, and concerning his judgment seat, and that most blessed voice, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," so then we shall learn it by vision and experience. Now we believe while hearing about the holy angels; then we shall see them ^B serving God face to face. Now we believe while hearing, "What eye has not seen, and what ear has not heard, and what has not ascended into the heart of man, those things God has prepared for those who love him"; then those who are worthy will not only see these things, but will also enjoy them. For the things that now lie hidden from the eye of our soul beneath the heavenly things, the life to come will make manifest. ^C But, they say, Christ said: "I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them now; but when he comes, the Spirit of the truth, he will lead you into all the truth"; and, "He will not speak from himself, but will receive from mine and will announce it to you"; and, "He will glorify me," and again: "I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you." Therefore, they conclude, he came when Montanus came. But the matter is not so; far from it! Otherwise, if their foolish reasoning were heeded, it would follow that those before Montanus did not have Christ and the Holy Spirit—neither those who held Christ, nor the apostles who received their rank from God and had Christ speaking within themselves, and the Spirit of God dwelling in them, and, through the laying on of hands, granted him to others also according to his will, and taught with boldness, and were believed by all and were not disbelieved as Montanus is; nor did those who heard, "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ," lack Christ and the Holy Spirit. But the words of the Savior set before us signify the equality and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit that sounds in harmony with his own. And what the expression, "I am coming to you," signifies has been said above; for we had (even if those who are worthy have it perfectly) the Christ who said, "I am coming to you," and the Holy Spirit, of whom he said, "When he comes." For the ^D Lord did not do anything incomplete when he breathed upon the faces of the apostles after the resurrection and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," nor was he lying when he said, "That he abides with you and is in you."

Nor did the Apostle lie when he wrote: "Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Nor did Wisdom, when she said: "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the world and that which holds all things together has knowledge of the voice." ^A Nor, moreover, were the apostles or the saints who existed before the apostles less perfect than Montanus. For on Pentecost he was manifested there—he who was already the Holy Spirit who holds all things together—and he was received, as the Acts relate: "Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." And just as the Son was always everywhere, yet after his incarnation in the world he was perfectly known and glorified, so also the Holy Spirit always filled and held all things, but after his coming at Pentecost he was more perfectly known and glorified.

^C Third, they attempt to show that Montanus possessed the perfection of the Paraclete, and that Priscilla and Maximilla were prophetesses. They wrote to Montanus. They say: "You do not believe that after the first manifestation of the Lord there are any prophets; but the Savior," they say, "said: 'Behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them you will kill, and crucify in your synagogues, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues.'" But these things are not to be understood as they suppose; rather, Christ is speaking of the apostles, who foretold many things regarding the end times and the kingdom of heaven; from whose number some were killed, as Stephen and James; and some were crucified, as Peter; and some were scourged, as Paul. ^D Perhaps, indeed, by the name "wise men" he designated the martyrs and episcopal martyrs. The Scripture knows of prophetesses: the four daughters of Philip, Deborah, Mary the sister of Aaron, and the Theotokos Mary, who said, as the Gospel states: "From this time all women and generations shall call me blessed." But it knows of no books written by them and inscribed with their names; indeed, the Apostle even forbade this, writing in the First Epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach." And again in the Epistle to the Corinthians...

and again in the first [epistle] to the Corinthians: "Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered disgraces her head"—which signifies that it is not permitted for a woman, by her own authority, to write books or to teach in the Church (40), and by this reason to do injury to her head, that is, to the man; for "the head of the woman is the man, and the head of the man is Christ." As for the reason why women are commanded to keep silent, it is manifest. The doctrine which proceeded from the woman at the beginning did indeed harm the whole human race (42). For as the Apostle writes (43), the man was not deceived, but the woman. Therefore, Montanus is not to be said to have known or possessed the Holy Spirit in any way, since he thought this; and such [he was,] having become a priest—first to an idol—more than a hundred years after the ascension of the Savior and the coming of the Holy Spirit, ^B and thus having introduced this blind heresy. So far do we contend, as much as we are able, in a sober manner against other heresies; yet there is another "uncovered head" which wages war against the truth, and this, too, must not be left unrefuted ^C (45).

Chapter XLII.

For regarding the soul-corrupting dogma of the Manichaeans, it would indeed be better to maintain silence than to show by speaking how greatly human nature has offended against the divinity, and to carry to the ears of men things whereof I would that they had never engaged in the act themselves, nor that they had come to our knowledge, partly through experience (46) and partly by hear-say. For it is written: "Answer not a fool according to his folly (47)." But lest anyone should fall into this evil inadvertently, or suspect that the things they teach are tolerable, it is necessary to touch upon this sort of dogma just enough so that those who are to read these things may be able to understand how pernicious and pestilent it is; and from the things we shall say, to infer the things ^D we shall keep silent, and to flee far from this ruin of superstition, and never to associate with such men as profess such foul practices. For indeed, even physicians do not reject the knowledge of poisons, not that anyone should use them, but so that, knowing them, he might avoid them. This dogma, therefore, is a certain outflow of that mire which derived from Simon Magus of Samaria, who taught that the world was not the creation of God, but of the angels, and who denied that there would be a resurrection, and who advocated that promiscuous intercourse with all women ought to be practiced; and he reached such a pitch of madness that he usurped the name of our Christ and great God; and for these things he has paid an eternal penalty and has been justly brought down into the much-famed and gloomy Tartarus. And indeed, there was also an addition to this dogma at one time [made by] Me-

Menander and Saturninus, who came after Simon. Although some differed from him, they upheld the aforementioned indecency and similarly believed that the world was made by angels. Furthermore, they dared to teach that the Son of God is just, while that [God] from whom all things come, the good God the Father, is unjust, and estranged from the creation and providence of the world. ^B This madness was learned by Basilides from his master, and he added of his own that there are 365 heavens, having the names of angels; wherefore, he says, the so-called holy name "Arbasax" (for so they call it) will be found, if you calculate the sum, to have 365. Further, Carpocrates, who in later times confirmed these things and, in place of a supplement, brought forth a most filthy invention, taught that unless one, by passing through every sort of sinful practice, fulfills the will of all the demons, he cannot pass beyond the principalities and powers and arrive at the highest heaven. Furthermore, [this was also taught by] Valentinus, who followed the aforementioned heretics and persuaded those who applied faith to his deceptions that Christ brought his body down from heaven; and he fashioned a myth of this kind: that Bythus [the Deep] begat Sige [Silence], and from her he contrived a certain word of the Zeus who is worshipped among the Greeks, and he introduced thirty Aeons, whom he called gods. Since, he says, it is written that Jesus was baptized when he was about thirty years of age—which, however, in no way proves his absurd opinion—he adds, moreover, that the last of the thirty Aeons was androgynous, and that this [Aeon] was Wisdom, who, desiring to see the first God and being struck by his splendors, fell from the heavens and was cast out of the number thirty; and while weeping, from her own wailing she birthed the devil; and that by weeping over her fall, she formed the sea. And so that [the number] thirty might be completed, the twenty-eight Aeons were added. ^C And indeed, those who differed with regard to his opinions, but confirmed the aforementioned depravity, and similarly set forth that the world was generated by angels, and dared to teach that the Son of God is just, while the Father—the good God from whom all things are—is unjust and a stranger to the creation and providence of the world; and [those who had] this madness learned from Basilides, and who added that there are 365 heavens established, having the names of angels—whence, he says, the so-called holy name "Arbasax" is found to be calculated as 365—and [those who had this] from Carpocrates, who also in later times strengthened these things and, by way of an addition, announced a foulness such that, if anyone has not, through every practice of sin, arrived at fulfilling the will of all the demons, he cannot pass beyond the principalities and powers and reach the highest heaven; and yet further, from Valentinus, who also followed the aforementioned [teachers], and who deceived those persuaded by him, [claiming] that Christ brought his body down from heaven, and modeled a myth such as this: that Bythus [the Deep] generated Sige [Silence], and from her he fashioned a certain account of the Zeus among the Greeks, and introduced thirty Aeons, whom he called gods. For he says there is written: "Jesus was baptized being about thirty years of age." But this in no way validates his absurdity. And he announced that the last of the thirty Aeons was male-female, and that this is Wisdom, who, wishing to see the first God, was struck by his rays and fell from the heavens and was cast out from the thirtieth number, and, wailing from her own lamentation, gave birth to the devil. And that, having wept over her fall, she established the sea; and in order that the thirtieth number might be filled, the ^D twenty-eight Aeons were gathered together. . . .

The remainder is lacking.

451-453 ON THE WORK OF AN ANCIENT INEDITED THEOLOGIAN: EPISTLE OF D. JOANNES LUDOVICUS MINGARELLI

CANON REGULAR OF ST. SAVIOUR AND CONSULTOR OF THE SACRED CONGREGATION OF THE INDEX

TO THE REV. D. JOANNES ARCHINTUS, ACTING LEGATE AT BOLOGNA (a).

Do not wonder, if by chance this epistle has seemed a little long to you. For it proceeds from your servant, who, having spent many years in Rome and Bologna enjoying your kindness, your most noble and pleasant company, and admiring more and more both the perspicacity of your famous intellect and the exceptional gifts with which you are adorned, your singular virtue with which you are graced, as well as the veneration and love that all have for you, can now find no greater delight than in recalling to his mind those sweetest hours spent in your familiarity. May your kindness forgive me if, on account of the distance between our locations, deprived of your so gentle and learned conversation, I attempt to repair these losses, at least through letters. A little before my departure from Bologna, I promised you that, if it pleased the best God, I would bring to light a certain work of an ancient theologian, which I had translated from Greek into Latin. Then, as every very learned man and one most studious of science is accustomed to do, you wanted to know from what codex I had taken it, who its author was, in what century he lived, what its argument was, and finally in what manner he treated it. At that time, however, the brevity of time did not permit me to satisfy all these questions as I would have liked. But now it is permitted for me to address what I could not before; I pray you, in accordance with your customary goodness, to say what you yourself, as well as the learned men who, with your helpful favor, shall read it, judge of this work.

The codex from which I excerpted it is written on parchment with care, from the eleventh century, or thereabouts, as it seems to me. Certain leaves are missing at the end, as also in the middle, but very few at the beginning: in sum, about eighteen. The middle leaves, however, are consumed by age and very disfigured, so that only a few sentences can be read in them. ^B

As for the work itself, it is nothing other than a long treatise *On the Trinity*, or *On the Consubstantiality of the Divine Persons*, divided into three books. And although I am ignorant of the title given to this work by its author, nevertheless, if one pays attention to the custom of the ancient Fathers and Greek writers—who, as you know very well, and as is to be seen in the holy Gregory of Nazianzus and many others, divided their books into two parts when they treated of the Incarnation, entitling them *Peri Oikonomias*, that is, *On the Economy*; but when they treated of the Trinity, they inscribed them *Peri Theologias*, that is, *On Theology*—I would easily believe that the aforementioned work most rightly ought to be given this title: *Peri Theologias* in three books, that is, *On the Trinity* in three books. In the first, our author demonstrates the divinity and consubstantiality of the Word; in the next, the divinity and consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit; in the third, he has selected objections made by heretics against these two dogmas of our faith.

And here I would willingly compose a prolegomenon, if such a method of proceeding were agreeable to you, so as not to be burdened with overly difficult disquisitions; but this would not please you, accustomed as you are to scrutinizing even the most obscure matters; for you will want to know at what time this work was composed, and by what author. But this is the work, this is the labor. For although in the fifteenth century there existed a certain writer who thought it should be ascribed to St. Cyril, and therefore placed this annotation in its frontispiece: "Of the divine Cyril," yet it does not manifesty appear by what reasoning this author, unknown to us, was induced to follow this opinion, unless perhaps he was deceived by the similarity of the argument to that treated by St. Cyril of Alexandria in the nine *Dialogues* and in the *Thesaurus*. I, however, candidly confess that I can pass no judgment on the aforementioned question, and I prefer to await that of others, and above all yours. To avoid all confusion, I shall reduce everything to be set forth by me into four heads, namely: ^C 454 First, the dogmas that our Theologian attests; second, the doubtful passages and those which can seem erroneous; third, matters most worthy of note which occur in the work; fourth, certain signs from which it will be able to be distinguished who our Theologian was and whether he lived at the beginning of the fifth century, as it seems likely to me.

CHAPTER I. Dogmas which the author attests.

And to begin the matter from the start, who does not know, among many other benefits that have come to the Church from the works of the Holy Fathers, that perhaps the greatest is this, namely, that the dogmas of the Catholic Church and the apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions are confirmed by their testimonies and authority? Since, therefore, I have proposed to myself, as far as is in me and as far as my scope requires, to provide you complete knowledge of our Theologian, passing over the two things already mentioned above—on which he argues with great eloquence and as if *ex professo* in the course of the whole work—I shall only set forth those things which he declares incidentally and as if in passing; and since they are quite numerous, I shall reduce them to seven classes arranged according to the following order: First, on sacred Scripture; second, on the Roman pontiff; third, on the sacraments; fourth, on God one and triune and on His attributes; fifth, on the Incarnation; sixth, on angels and the first man; seventh, on apostolic discipline.

On sacred Scripture.

1. You know very well that the book of the prophet Baruch has been removed by more recent heterodox persons as if it were apocryphal and taken away from the canon of sacred Scriptures.

^A Furthermore, in book II, chapter 44, he invokes it as canonical, and as possessing the same authority as the book of Jeremiah. Hear how he speaks of this book in book I, chapter 27: «Jeremias also and Baruch (for the book of both is one) speak magnificently of the Word in this manner, chapter III, verse 35: This is our God, and no other shall be accounted besides him. He has found out all the way of knowledge, and has given it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. After these things he was seen on earth, and conversed with men. If, therefore, it is understood as it befits God, so that because of the identity of the deity of both ineffable persons the passage of Scripture just brought forth has been so expressed, it remains that, etc.»

II. The hymn of the three youths in Babylon was also rejected as apocryphal by Protestants. Our Theologian recognizes that also as genuine in two places: for in book I, chapter 32, having cited many texts of the Gospel and of the two Epistles of Saint Peter, he subjoins: «So also the three youths, not ^B by the Babylonian flame, but by the desire with which they were carried toward the Creator and benefactor, were they inflamed; and, mindful of the Gehenna prepared for the worshippers of creatures rather than the furnace by which they were surrounded, they commanded the creature to glorify Him who appeared with them in the furnace, of whom it is written in Dan. III, 92: And the appearance of the fourth is like the Son of God, saying (verse 57): Bless, all ye works of the Lord, the Lord, praise and superexalt him forever.» And in book I, chapter 6, after he had demonstrated in the sixteen first paragraphs, from texts of Holy Scripture, that all the attributes of divinity also belong to the Holy Spirit, he begins the eighteenth paragraph thus: «Every creature visible and invisible is commanded by name by the three youths, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, deposited in the Babylonian furnace, to praise and superexalt God forever. Moreover, the Cherubim and the divine throne, which in this place signifies the Seraphim, say glory (to God), as they themselves are also part of the creation. For the same ones said in Dan. III, 55: Blessed are you who sit upon the Cherubim; and again, ^C indicating the Seraphim: And blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, and superlaudable, and superexalted forever. Likewise also by David, etc.»

III. The book of Wisdom does not have a better fate than the two preceding it. Often our Theologian alleges texts taken from it in such a way as to remove all doubt about the esteem in which that book was held by the Church at that time; which can easily be judged from the following places. In book II, chapter 3, it is read thus: «As Isaias prophesies, and as Wisdom says: For the Spirit of Wisdom is philanthropic (human-loving),» that is: «As Isaias prophesies, and as Wisdom says, chapter I, 6: For the Spirit of Wisdom is benign.» And in chapter XX of the same book it is cited together with Saint Paul. So also in chapter XXVI, where it is written: «Therefore also Wisdom, theologizing the divine Spirit, and from Him uttering threats to those who blaspheme ^D it, says: For the Spirit of Wisdom is philanthropic, etc.,» that is: «Therefore also Wisdom, speaking of the divine Spirit as God, and in his name bringing threats upon those who blaspheme him, says: For the Spirit of Wisdom is benign.» And in book II, chapter 2, verse 49: «If it fills the world, and contains all things according to the Wisdom which says this, etc.,» that is: «If (the Holy Spirit) fills the world, and contains all things, according to Wisdom saying this, etc.»

IV. The history of Susanna, which the enemies of the Roman Church have also taken away from the book of Daniel, is cited by our author as a part of that book of the prophet.

V. It would be very surprising if the reformers of the sixteenth century, having rejected the aforesaid books so rashly, had spared Ecclesiasticus; to which, however, our Theologian attributes no less authority than to the Epistles of Saint Paul, when he cites it in book I, chapter 3, in the following manner: «Concerning this wisdom, I mean the one which is in the creature, the most wise son of Sirach says: Wisdom was created before all things... and the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians in the first place in this manner, etc.,» that is: «Of this wisdom, I say, the one that is in the creature, while the most wise son of Sirach says, chapter I, verse 4: Wisdom was created before all things... then the Apostle wrote in the first Epistle to the Corinthians in this manner, etc.»

VI. There was no lack of someone to contend that whatever is read in Saint John in chapter V, concerning the Probatica pool, is spurious and added. But our Theologian speaks of this in such a way that he holds as authentic all that is narrated there: «If we shall find moreover besides those things which have been mentioned also the pool which was in Jerusalem, to which the name in Hebrew is Bethesda (or Bethsaida), which no one denies is an image of baptism, but not the truth itself; for that is considered an image, which is for a time, but truth is that which remains forever. Therefore the water which was in it, stirred by an angel, healed once in the year, and only one who had descended first into it, of bodily disease, but not of the soul.»

455 Of the Roman Pontiff.

Thus far enough has been said, as much as my purpose requires, concerning dogmas pertinent to the Holy Bible, although as briefly as possible, because it is not in my mind to detain you longer in these matters; for according to the old proverb: to the intelligent a few things, and a fortiori, to the learned. Thus it would be superfluous for me to expose to you at greater length the perverse doctrines of the enemies of the Church, since the exposition alone suffices for you to judge them properly. As for those things which pertain to the Roman pontiff, I would wish to be longer. But when our Theologian was writing, there had not yet risen, and therefore had not yet attacked, the impregnable primacy of the successors of S. Peter, Luther, Calvin, nor Photius himself, the first author of the unhappy schism of the Orient. Nay, at that time there was but one faith on this article among Catholics and heretics themselves, in the first centuries of the Church, as could easily be proved. It is not at all to be wondered at, however, if in the following places he does not speak of this dogma as openly as he would have done, if it had existed after the Photian times, when the occasion of speaking on that matter would have occurred to him. Therefore in the first book, chapter 30, he affirms that the apostles and priests received through Saint Peter the power of loosing and binding, although Christ said to them in the plural number: whatsoever you shall loose, etc. These are his words: «Besides he received (he speaks of Saint Peter) the power, or rather all also received through him, not of rejecting those who have lapsed, but of receiving them when they repent: for no one is void of sin, unless he who in the future...»

^A will grant this authority to Peter; for that is what is signified by: "Whatever you loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven." From that time he rejected the inhumanity of Novatus and Sabbatius. It must not be omitted here that he mentions the primacy of Peter many times, whenever he has occasion to name Peter. Thus in Book II, ch. 10: *"Peter, however, who held the primacy among the apostles, declaring the holy Spirit to be openly God and Lord, threatened thus,"* etc. And in ch. 18: *"And that Peter, the foremost of the apostles, being accused by a maid of knowing the Lord, denied him who had made him the keeper of the keys of the heavens,"* etc. And that Peter, who was chief among the apostles, affirmed on oath because of the maid's threats that he did not know the Lord, who had made him the key-bearer of the heavens, etc. Finally in Book I, ch. 27: *"But it is also evident from the Acts that Peter, the leader among the apostles, said,"* etc. I now come to the dogmas of the third class.

Of the Sacraments

I. The necessity of baptism, partly denied by Calvin and altogether abolished by the Adiaphorists of Wittenberg and Leipzig, is established by our Theologian in Book II, ch. 12, as can be seen in the following words: *"But without being regenerated by baptism by the Spirit of God, and sealed by sanctification, and becoming his temple, no one has attained to heavenly blessings, even if the rest of his life should be found blameless; but also those before baptism,"* etc. And at the beginning of the same chapter he had said: *By saying:* "Unless one is born..." (John III, 5). *That is:* "Unless one has been born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." And ibid. 7: "You must be born from above," he signified that even if they believed in the name of the Father and of the Son and were baptized, unless they believed equally and similarly in the very deity of the Holy Spirit, and were baptized in his name, they cannot become worthy of the kingdom of heaven, as those who possess no perfection, and have received the three immersions in vain, changing ^B after baptism in the hymn of glorification the equality of the Trinity, and transgressing their own confessions.

II. He also asserts, according to the doctrine of the Church, that baptism is to be conferred using natural water, and even sea water, if there be need, as is evident from the following words, ch. 14 of the aforesaid book: *"Hence baptism takes place indiscriminately in any water, and even in the sea, if necessity arises, as there is one nature of waters, and all has been sanctified. How sea water is found salty, being of the one kind of waters, another treatise, God willing, shall demonstrate."* Our Theologian does not exclude the baptism of blood, which he also expressly admits, since immediately after the words alleged a little before, in ch. 12 he subjoins: *"But also those who, having obtained martyrdom before baptism, having washed themselves in their own blood, were thus made alive by God,"* etc.

^C As for the later ones, they are refuted in Book II, ch. 15, where, as it seems to me, our Theologian teaches that baptism is not to be conferred anew on heretics returning to the bosom of the Church, if baptism was conferred on them while they remained in heresy, using the formula prescribed by Christ; but those of Eunomius and the Phrygians alone were rebaptized, because they used a formula other than that which the Church was accustomed to use. These are his words, concerning the interpretation of which I submit my opinion to you, not wishing at all to waste time in commentaries: *"If therefore we are rightfully sealed and baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, then the Trinity is in one deity and kingdom: for we do not accept these things as applying to creatures, nor does God take to his own the name of a creature, or a seal, as if he were unable to save by himself alone. Therefore, those transitioning to orthodoxy, even if they have happened to be baptized, are baptized—for we do not say they are rebaptized, since they do not have true baptism—the Eunomians, because they perform one immersion, saying they are baptized only into the death of the Lord; the Phrygians, because they do not baptize into the three holy hypostases, but believe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be the same. But those who come from any heresy are anointed, because they do not have the holy chrism."*

IV. The sacred ceremonies utilized by the Catholic Church to administer baptism have been held in derision by certain heterodox from these last centuries. In many places our Theologian bears witness to their venerable antiquity. From these, for the sake of brevity, I have selected the following. In Book II, ch. 14, he presupposes the blessing of the baptismal font, which he calls a pool, as do many others. *"Moses,"* (so he writes) *"by making the bitter water useful with his rod, announced universal salvation: for he himself bore a type of Christ; the rod, of the cross; the bitter water, of the blessed water of the pool,"* etc. And in paragraph 23, ch. 6 of the same book, he mentions holy oil and baptismal unction in these words: *"The creature is anointed with created oil sanctified in baptism: the Savior, as God, was anointed with his co-uncreated, all-holy Spirit, beyond us his partakers,"* etc. And a little later in the same paragraph: *"The ointment, by which we are sanctified, we are anointed by the priest."* And elsewhere he commemorates other ceremonies in other places, which peradventure I shall relate later, and of which you are about to read one a little below.

V. Twice the occasion presented itself to him for speaking of the holy chrism, which the Calvinists have rejected from the number of ^D the sacraments, and in both those places

he distinguished it from baptism, and upheld the catholic dogma, and he seems to admit only the bishop as its minister. The text says ^A (thus he speaks in lib. III, cap. 14): "For the chrism with which Aaron was anointed by Moses, and furthermore all those from the priestly line who were called by the name of chrism, that is, the anointed, bore a type of the sanctified chrism which we receive. For even if this passes bodily, nonetheless it profits the soul. For only when the faith of the thrice-blessed Trinity arrives in our heart, and a spiritual word is in the mouth, and the seal of Christ on the forehead, and only when one receives baptism and the chrism completes it, is the Trinity—which by nature is the giver of good things—found immediately propitious," etc., which is: "The chrism, however, with which they were anointed with Aaron by Moses, and then besides all those from the priestly lineage, who were named from the chrism of Christ, that is, the anointed, bore a type of the sanctified chrism which we receive. For even if this happens bodily, it nonetheless profits spiritually: for as soon as the faith of the most holy Trinity comes into our heart, and the spiritual word into our mouth, and the seal of Christ upon our forehead; as soon as baptism has been received and the chrism has confirmed us, immediately, I say, the Trinity, which by nature is the bestower of good things, is found propitious," etc. And in cap. 15 of the same book: "Those who come from any heresy are anointed, because they do not have the holy chrism; but only the bishop, by grace from above, performs the chrism," which is: "Those who come from any heresy (to the Catholic Church) are anointed, because they do not have the holy chrism. The bishop, however, alone through celestial grace performs the chrism (or unction)."

VI. Finally, regarding the sacrament of the Eucharist, the false Reformers deny that the name of 'sacrifice' applies to the Mass. Our Theologian, however, attributes this title to it in lib. II, cap. 7, paragraph 8, writing thus: "For in his holy churches... ^B" that is: "For in his holy churches and oratories, and martyrs' shrines, just as in other chapels, thence he proposed his good intention; and from which very things this King of kings and Lord of lords gave, and daily gives to each, he receives from these the piously and holily offered unbloody sacrifice, and has all things, which are offered to him by men, as gifts." Likewise he also writes in book I, cap. 25: "In addition, the Church, which is considered together with the glorification, which is presented in it to God, and with the unbloody latria which is offered to him," etc.

VII. They also deny the dogma of transubstantiation, which our Theologian testifies to in four places. In book II, cap. 13, explaining the effects of baptism, he is thus: "No longer do I hear... ^C" that is: "No longer do I hear (Eccl. xxi, 10): 'Weep for the dead, for the light has departed'; but the hoped-for voice (Matt. xi, 28): 'Come, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will make you rest,' anointing, washing, clothing each indivisibly with my own self, and nourishing them with my body and blood." And in chapter 6 of the same book: "And this..." that is: "That this salutary gift is commonly given to us by the blessed Trinity is taught thus. Isaias xxv, 6: 'And the Lord of Sabaoth will make for all nations upon this mountain, they shall drink wine, they shall be anointed with ointment upon this mountain: give these things to all nations.' For the mountain [signifies] the Church of God because of the sublimity of faith, the wine, the salutary blood of the Lord; the ointment, that with which we are anointed, sanctified by the priest." Likewise also in cap. 14: "Isaias therefore..." that is: "Isaias therefore again cries out.... 'You who thirst come to the water, and whoever has no silver, coming buy and eat without silver and price wine and fat.' By water he meant the Holy Spirit, and the streams of his pool (from the baptismal font). By the name of wine and fat were then indeed designated those things which were of the Jewish proposition; but now, the divine communion of the body and blood of the Lord, which together with the renewal (with baptism)... we receive." And at the end of lib. III, cap. 21: "Or for what reason do we perform the much-desired and most providential Pascha of every year, not to say of every day, or rather of every hour, in faith, trembling and participating in his blood? Those who have been deemed worthy of the highest and eternal mystery know what I say," that is: "Or why do we celebrate the most desired and most providential Pascha every year, nay, every day, or rather even every hour in faith, communicating with fear in his body and blood? But those who have been made worthy of the supreme and eternal mystery, know what I say."

Of God one and trine, and of his attributes.

I. There existed in this unhappy century a man who, seized by the greatest temerity, undertook to introduce a new doctrine, upon hearing which all the ears of catholics shuddered. He contended that the Word was not generated by the Father from eternity. Our Theologian refutes him in many places, of which I shall refer to only a few. In lib. III, cap. 3: "For he was born from the hypostasis of the Father, without beginning, ineffably; but from the immaculate Virgin... when he shone forth from on high to those who once sat in darkness and in the shadow of death," that is: "For he was born, indeed from the hypostasis of the Father, from eternity, ineffably; but from the immaculate Virgin... when he appeared from on high to those who once sat in darkness and in the shadow of death." And in lib. I, cap. 32: "The glory of the Only-begotten, that of his nature, that of his miracles, that of his kingdom, and of his very doxology is similar and equal to the glory of the Father, from whom naturally and continuously he was generated," that is: "The glory of the Only-begotten in regards to nature, miracles, dominion, and his very glorification is similar and equal to the glory of the Father, from whom he was naturally and continuously generated." And in cap. 15 of the same book: "For just as..." that is: "For just as it is impossible that the Father not be from eternity, and truly Father (for he had this name neither in time nor by superaddition); so it is impossible that the Son, the Word, and his Spirit not be from eternity, and by nature from his hypostasis; for as soon as the Father existed (let it be granted, that I may speak thus) he was continuously generated, while this one proceeded." And in cap. 27: ^D "If there was a time when the Word of God was not, there was a time when the name of Father did not exist; but may God be propitious to us for daring to say such things due to the ignorance of others," that is: "If there was a time when the Word of God was not, there was also a time when the name of Father did not exist. But may God spare us, who dare to say such things because of the impropriety of others."

II. But the heresiarch Socinus contends that God by his essence is present only in the heavens, although he may be present to all things by his power. Turnebius also attributes this opinion, not without some probable reason, to Augustinus Steuchus, a light of our congregation and librarian of the sacred see, because in his Commentaries on Psalm cxxxviii, long before Socinus had afflicted the Church with his poisonous errors, this illustrious man, explaining the eighth verse of Psalm cxxxviii: 'If I ascend into heaven, thou art there,' etc., affirms that God is to be conceived by us such that he is in heaven by his presence, and everywhere by his Spirit, that is, as he interprets this voice of the psalm, by his immense power and his cognition. "In these places (he says, attending to heaven and hell)... if no one is able to escape the sight of God, much more will there be no place in which you do not run into the presence of God.... Everywhere therefore is God. In heaven all nations and scriptures confess his seat to be.... As therefore the sun is in heaven by its body, and situation, and station, but illumines the earth with its lights, seeing all things; ta-

yet the [Holy] Spirit, as he [the author] says in book I, chapter 4, "is none of those things that exist... that is: The Holy Spirit, who divinely illumines all things... and is not one of all things, but God, and existing in heaven, and co-existing with us, effecting all good things in all, being present to all indeed immaterially... but never ceasing to remain ineffably with the Father, and everywhere diffused and penetrating, and inhabiting all without commixture, and insinuating itself into our thoughts, as well as those of the beings who are invisible to us, etc."

III. It would be useless now to speak of other attributes of God, except for his divine providence, which has been impugned by many in the course of past centuries, and in our age by a famous philosopher of Sans-Souci regarding individuals, though not regarding species. But our Theologian teaches it, just as the Church professes it. He wills, he says (in book II, chapter 8, reasoning on the Holy Spirit), "that which the Father and Son [wills], that is: He wills that which the Father and Son [will], and breathes likewise where the Father and Son will: fulfilling the one will of the Father, and of the Son, and of himself, and leaving none, not even those that have an imperfect life, destitute of his providence; for presiding over his own creature, as one who is of himself good, and a cooperator of the good Creator, he beholds all things, and despises none, sufficient for all, and distributing divine gifts, etc."

On the Incarnation.

Of the Eutychians, just as of the Nestorians, our Theologian makes no mention, either because they had not yet infected the East with their poisonous doctrines at that time, or for some other reason unknown to me. Nevertheless, he defends the dogmas ^B impugned by these heretics.

1. And as regards the first of these dogmas, that is, the duality of natures, it is thus in book I, chapter 21, employing the word ἀσυγχύτως, which is also found in Saint Basil, in the book *On the Holy Spirit*, chapter 5: "For [so our Theologian] the great and true God does not pray, the radiance of the glory of the Father, the living Word of God, and the guardian of all, as though being inferior in Divinity.... But he prays because he was made like us without commixture, and without sin having occurred, that is: 'And therefore the great and true God, the splendor of the glory of the Father, the living Word of God, and having care of all, does not pray as though less in Deity... But he prays because he became like unto us, inconfusedly and without sin.'"

II. But concerning the second, that is, the unity of Christ's person, it is to be observed that the title Theotokos is attributed by him in various places to the Blessed Mary, from which Nestorius so greatly shrinks, and it is affirmed as well that the divine Son is not another than he who was incarnate and crucified. He brings forward the arguments for this dogma in book I, chapter 51: "Gabriel, in Luke, announcing the Theotokos; and he shall give, he says, to him the Lord God the throne of David, etc., that is: The Lord God, he says, will give him the seat of David, etc." And in book II, chapter 4: "For Gabriel speaking to Daniel, or announcing to the Theotokos the Virgin, etc., that is: For Gabriel speaking to Daniel, or announcing to the Deiparous Virgin, etc." And in book I, chapter 41: "Mariam the sister of Aaron, and the Theotokos Mariam, etc. [c], that is: Mariam the sister of Aaron, and the Deiparous Mary, etc." Then, in book II, chapter 6: "Concerning this also the angel... that is: Concerning this the angel also, congratulating men, said (according to Luke 2, 11): ^D 'There is born to us (in the vulg. it reads *vobis*) today a Savior who is Christ the Lord.' But he who was born today will never be understood as existing before the ages. It must be noted, therefore, also this miracle of Scripture, that angels and men celebrated the festival of one new knowledge of God, with equal disposition, simultaneously crying out and consenting. But we speak thus, so that we may signify his ineffable Incarnation by a certain apprehension, and avoid the blasphemy which tends against his divinity, not indeed that we believe the Son who is from the Father to be another, and that one who was made flesh and was crucified to be another: since the Deity can never be separated from itself, nor changed. For not even the Apostle thought of two, when he said (I Cor. VII, 12): 'Since therefore Christ suffered for us in the flesh.'"

III. The perpetual virginity of Mary was denied by Helvidius and by others, but it is affirmed by our Theologian. Thus, in book I, chapter 27, he calls the mother of God ἀειπάρθενον, or "ever-virgin," often writing of her in such a way: "He who shone forth from the ineffable light before the ages, was in the latter times, for the sake of philanthropy, ineffably born from the ever-virgin, that is: He shone forth from the ineffable light from eternity, and was ineffably born of the ever-virgin in later times, on account of his goodness." And in book II, chapter 2, paragraph 20, he says: "If he is incomprehensible to every mind, how did the Virgin give birth without flux, remaining again a virgin; much more, it is more unreachable how the self-originate God and Father, without beginning, and without passion, from the whole of himself, whole and equally, generated the Son, that is: If no mind can comprehend how the Virgin gave birth without flux, remaining again a virgin, how much less can it be understood how the self-existing God and Father, from eternity, and without passion, generated the whole Son equal to himself from his whole self." And in chapter 4: "And it assists us, concerning the title of Primogenitus and Unigenitus, that the evangelist narrated that she remained a virgin until she brought forth her son, the firstborn, for the most honorable and most glorious of all, Mary, was neither wedded to anyone, nor did she ever become the mother of another; but remained also after the childbearing always and for all time an immaculate virgin, that is: It supports us, regarding the denominations of Primogenitus and Unigenitus, that the evangelist narrated that she had remained a virgin until she gave birth to her firstborn son. For that Mary, who is to be honored above all and is most renowned, neither was wedded to any man, nor did she ever become the mother of another, but remained even after the childbirth always and for all time an immaculate virgin."

IV. The foolish opinion of Marcellus of Ancyra, who dreamed and raved that the kingdom of our Lord would not be perpetual, was no less impious than it was ridiculous. Against him writes St. Cyril of Jerusalem in his fifteenth catechesis, though without naming Marcellus himself: "Some one dared to say, he says, that after the end of the world Christ does not rule, that is: Some one had the temerity to say that Christ will not rule any longer after the end of the world." But our Theologian refutes him in every 34th chapter of the first book, the beginning of which it will suffice to report here: "And so that the heretics who say that after the general resurrection the Son is about to deliver the kingdom to the Father may be put to shame; they proclaim the power of the Son to be interminable thus: Gabriel in Luke, etc., that is: And so that the heretics, who say that the Son is to deliver the kingdom to the Father after the general resurrection, may blush, they proclaim (by the holy Scripture) the empire of the Son to be perpetual, thus: Gabriel indeed in Luke, etc."

Concerning the angels, concerning the first man, concerning the immortality of souls, and concerning their state in the other life.

1. Among many other dogmas which have been audaciously impugned by those heretics who, for two hundred and even more years, have rebelled against the Roman Church—

the Church, the head, the center, and the mistress of all others, was the worship and invocation of saints and angels. Our Theologian could not ^A have established this more clearly than he did in the devout episode which is read in Book II, chap. 7, § 8: *Olda dè σαφῶς*... That is: "I know, however, most clearly," etc.

459 II. There have not been wanting those who taught, as Tatian did in the second century, that Adam was not saved; but our Theologian, in Book I, chap. 16, quite clearly expresses his opinion on that matter, when he asserts that the good thief was introduced into Paradise by the Savior at the same time as Adam, although he affirms the same, in another sense, concerning the entire human race: *Καὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ δὲ (sic dicit) διὰ τὴν παράκοην ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου ὁ Θεὸς δικαίως ἔρριψεν· τὸν δὲ λῃστὴν καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀδὰμ, καὶ τὸ ποινὸν ἡμῶν ὅλον γένος ὁ Υἱὸς εἰσήγαγεν, ὡς ἴσος πάντως τῇ θεότητι καὶ ἀγαθότητι καὶ δεσποτείᾳ τῷ ῥίψαντι τυγχάνων*, that is: "But God justly cast Adam out of Paradise on account of disobedience: yet the Son introduced the thief, and with him Adam, and our whole race, in there, inasmuch as He is in every way equal in deity, and goodness, and dominion to Him who had cast him out."

III. With regard to the immortality of the soul, our Theologian can speak at length. In Book II, chap. 7, he asserts that we were made in the image of God, because *τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀθάνατον ἔχομεν*, that is, because we have an immortal spirit. And in Book II, chap. 1, he says: *Nostrum corpus κατακρατεῖν ἐπιχειρεῖ τῆς φύσει κρείττονος, καὶ τοσούτῳ κρείττονος, ὅσον τὸ ἀθάνατον τοῦ θνητοῦ*, that is: "it attempts to master that which is by nature superior, and superior by as much as the immortal is better than the mortal." But in chap. 16 of the same book he argues more fully about this matter, and vehemently, as befits an excellent Theologian, although he does it in passing and as if incidentally. I would gladly refer the whole of this passage here, if I did not fear that I might bring you weariness. Therefore I only excerpt some fragments. *Τοῖς δὲ λέγουσιν*..., that is: "To those, however, who say: 'Therefore souls and angels are not immortal and invisible,' one must respond thus. As for what pertains to immortality, first indeed in this way: that is, that the immortality of these is in no way the same as the primitive and infinite immortality, but far inferior and different, as much as a creature is from the Creator; and therefore God is said to be the only one to have immortality, according to 1 Tim. vi, 16. But in another way: that is, that souls and angels are indeed immortal in regard to immunity from death and the incorruptibility of their essence, and mortal insofar as they are sometimes corrupted by the mind: for it is from change that it happens when they fall into sin, from which death supervenes: according to which manner Paul writes: 'But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth;' even if she has not yet migrated from this life... and immortality is understood in souls and angels if, besides the fact that they are not capable of death—that is, they cannot be dissolved, as being incomposite, and are by their essence immune from death—they do not succumb even to the corruption of the mind, that is, if they remain ^B immobile: Mortality, on the other hand, is understood through the opposition of this... But as regards invisibility, souls and angels are indeed invisible to the eye of our body, because they lack visible properties, namely color, habit, magnitude: yet they are visible to the mind, which is the eye of the soul: for, etc."

IV. Our Theologian did not have the occasion to speak at length about the state of souls in the next life. Nevertheless, he declared in the following place, Book II, chap. 12, these dogmas which, in our depraved and wretched centuries, are more often impugned and held in derision ^C and who mock the eternity of the punishments of the reprobate. '*Ἀνακαινίζει τοίνυν*...', that is: "The Spirit therefore renovates us in baptism... and makes us sons and heirs of God and the Father, and conformed to the image of the Son, and His co-heirs and brothers, to be glorified and to reign together with Him, and instead of the earth He gives again the heavens, and freely bestows paradise, and makes us now more honorable than the angels, and by the divine waters of the font He extinguishes the inextinguishable flame of Gehenna."

Apostolic discipline

I. As the principal goal of the heterodox of the sixteenth century tended toward rejecting all the traditions of the Roman Church, these reformers of a new kind also felt it necessary to turn sacred pilgrimages into derision. Our Theologian did not think so, as you could have noticed in the long fragment taken a little earlier from Book II, chap. 7, § 8.

II. It must also be noted that he, in treating of certain churches, oratories, martyria, and chapels, asserts that they, even though they might have their denominations from the two archangels Michael and Gabriel, were nevertheless erected to God, because, as is very well known to you, no temple or church can be erected to any saint, but to God alone, although in honor and under the invocation of some saint.

III. Although later the same heterodox did not dare to deride or reject the sacred psalmody, some of them, however, thought that time was wasted by the canons and other ecclesiastics in chanting psalms; from which it is easy to understand that they did not value this practice highly, which was consecrated by both the Old and New Testaments and most highly commended by the Church. Our Theologian, however, in Book II, chap. 6, paragraph 23, interpreting these words of the Canticles: *Propterea adolescentulæ dilexerunt te*, reasons thus: *Νεάνιδας δὲ*..., that is: "By 'maidens' he means the Churches, in which He is glorified. Concerning whom David also said in the lxvi psalm: 'The princes went before joined with the psalteries (according to the players of psalms), in the midst of the damsels playing on the timbrels': he spoke thus because of the divulgation of the faith, and because the churches themselves resound throughout all the earth with readings and psalms. But the Spouse Himself, beautiful in form, modestly addresses each one of them in the Canticles, chap. 1, vers. 7, thus: 'Behold thou art fair, my love, behold thou art fair.'"

CHAPTER II

Errors which the author appeared to profess

The dogmas having been set forth, I now come to the errors which are, however, apparent, not real: for those passages which seem erroneous to some are not, in my judgment, truly to be held as such. They can be reduced to three heads: some concern the visibility of God; others the procession of the Holy Spirit; and others, finally, the necessity of grace.

The visibility of God

I. And beginning from the first, our Theologian asserts, in chapter 27 of the first book, that the divine Son was seen by the angels only after the Incarnation, since before that He was invisible to them: *Καὶ ἵνα πιστικώτερος ὁ λόγος φανῇ (sic dicit), ὤφθαι αὐτὸν ἀξιοῖ καὶ ἀγγέλοις, οἷς τισι διὰ τὴν θείαν αὐτοῦ ἀπειρίαν καὶ ἀνειδεότητα ἀόρατος ἦν πρὸ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου ὁμοίως τῷ μόνῳ ἀοράτῳ Θεῷ, καὶ ὑπ' αὐτῶν ὑμνῆσθαι· Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ, κ. τ. λ.*, that is: "And so that the discourse may appear more worthy of belief ^D

^A from the two following texts; the first of which is found in the 16th chapter, already cited, of the third book, where it is expressly read that God was therefore called by Saint Paul invisible even to the angels themselves, because He is incomprehensible to them: *Εἰσὶν μὲν καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ* ... that is: "Indeed, both souls and angels are invisible to the eye of our body, because they lack visible properties, namely color, habit, and magnitude; but they are visible to the mind, because the mind is the eye of the soul: since they are not inaccessible, being created by nature, but there is a thought of them for us." Therefore, although they are invisible according to the impression that occurs in the sense of the eyes, nevertheless, according to the comprehension of speculation and knowledge, they are visible. But God, since He is above the invisible, and above that which is most hidden, and above every mind, cannot be subject not only to vision or to sense at all, but not even to be contemplated by the mind of the angels themselves, for the reason that He is incomprehensible and inaccessible. For that God exists is known to all: but what He is, or how He is, is more difficult to contemplate than all natural things. Rightly, therefore, in the aforementioned manner, was He called alone immortal and wise God, and invisible."

He (Saint Paul) wishes for it to be seen even by the angels, to whom, on account of His divine immensity and the lack of a form, He was invisible ^B before that time, just as the only invisible God was: and for the hymn to have been sung by them: *Glory to God in the highest, etc.* But what theologian is unaware that the same thing was affirmed by the holy Fathers, especially of the 4th and 5th centuries, when they wrote against the Eunomians, and specifically by Theodoret, although they were undeservedly accused of not having admitted the intuitive vision or visibility of God such as Catholics believe and teach? For by this mode of speaking, these holy doctors intended to say nothing else, as all theologians testify, save that, only after the Incarnation, was the Son of God seen by the angels, not only by a simply intuitive vision, but also by a comprehensive one, yet not in His own divine nature, but in the nature assumed by Him, that is, in human nature; which was impossible for them before the Incarnation; or rather, they had seen Him by a vision, so to speak, extensive, and in a singular manner heretofore unknown to them, because they saw Him incarnate. As for our Theologian, the matter is even more manifest, not only because he explains his mind more clearly on this matter elsewhere, as we shall soon see, but also because the scope proposed to him in this place demonstrates it; for he intends nothing else but to conclude that the Word incarnate, *κατὰ θεότητα*, and not *παρὰ φύσιν τὴν πατρικήν*, that is, in so far as He is God, does not have a nature dissimilar, or distinct from the nature of the Father; and to prove this truth, among other arguments, he brings forward this one, namely: that Jesus Christ, as God, is invisible in the same way as the Father Himself, of whom the Apostle says thus in 1 Tim. 1:17: *To the King of ages... to the only invisible God.* And then he alleges the 16th verse in the chapter of the same Apostle’s first Epistle to Timothy, in which it is said that God, after the Incarnation, was seen by the angels, as it is read in the Vulgate version: *Manifestly great is the mystery of godliness, which was manifested in the flesh... appeared to the angels, etc.* He reads: *Ὁμολογουμένως μέγα ἐστὶν τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον· Θεὸς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί... ὤφθη τοῖς ἀγγέλοις*, as it is also read now in the printed ^C Greek text: that is: "Manifestly great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifested in the flesh... He was seen by the angels." But in the Father, invisibility does not exclude His visibility admitted by the Catholic Church. Therefore, it is no different in the Son.

Erroneous also to some may seem the following expressions of our Theologian. In the 12th chapter of the second book, he calls the Spirit *τὸ πάσαις νοήσεσιν ἀόρατον Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ*, that is, "the Spirit of God invisible to all intelligences," when speaking of baptism, he writes: *Νοητῶς δὲ σῶμα ὁμοῦ καὶ ψυχὴν ἀγγέλων ὑπηρετουμένων τὸ πάσαις νοήσεσιν ἀόρατον Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ βαπτίζει εἰς ἑαυτὸ καὶ ἀναγεννᾷ*, that is: "Spiritually, however, the body at once and the soul, with angels ministering, the Spirit of God, invisible to all intelligences, baptizes into Himself, and regenerates." And in the first chapter of the same book he says: "The Trinity *ὑπάρχει ἀόρατος καὶ σεραφικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς*, that is, is invisible even to seraphic eyes." And in the 16th chapter of the book: "God," he says, *μήτε νῷ αὐτῶν ἀγγέλων ἐνορᾶσθαι πέφυκεν*, that is: "cannot be seen by the angelic intelligences themselves." And finally, in the 35th chapter of the same book, it is read: *Νῷ παντὶ ἀχώρητος καὶ ἀνέφικτος ὁ ἀόρατος Θεός*, that is: "God invisible, who is to every mind incomprehensible and inaccessible." But such expressions, and perhaps others even harsher, were ^D used by Saint John Chrysostom, by Theodoret, and by many others, who by them did not intend to exclude the intuitive vision of God, but only the comprehensive one, which Eunomius foolishly taught. And in the same sense they are to be understood in our Author, as is manifest. But he explains himself more lengthily and clearly in Book II, Chapter 6, § 16, by expressly asserting that the angels do not comprehend God in every way (because such vision is proper only to the Son and the Holy Spirit), but that they nevertheless see Him intuitively, as far as the capacity of their minds allows, which, although they are most excellent and most preeminent, are nevertheless created, and therefore limited. *Ἡ κτίσις οὐκ ὁρᾷ...*, that is: "The creature does not see God and the Father as He is; for by another nature this cannot be grasped, nor sustained: and so that text of Exod. xxxiii, 20 is to be understood: *No man shall see my face and live.* But the Scriptures say sometimes that only the Son, and sometimes the Holy Spirit alone, sees or knows God the Father... Are they not saying, therefore, that it is written by Matthew xviii, 10, in the person of the Savior: *See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven?* Indeed. But they do not see how great and what kind God is, but as much as they themselves are capable. But the Only-Begotten and the Holy Spirit, on account of the identity of the Godhead, see Him as He is, God devoid of quantity and form."

Procession of the Holy Spirit.

We must come now to the procession of the Holy Spirit. Your Excellency knows that before Photius, whose memory shall be accursed through all ages, this controversy was not deliberately agitated between the Greeks and the Latins; and although almost all the holy Fathers prior to the age of Photius either expressly taught what was afterwards clearly and solemnly defined by the Church, or had spoken of it in such a way that it was manifest that the procession of the third person from both the former was admitted, yet the Catholic manner of speaking about this dogma was not so clearly determined and established that some Fathers did not use certain expressions which now would be not only suspect, but even erroneous, and indeed heretical, because the Catholic dogma has been so clearly defined that such expressions could neither be excused nor even defended or justified by benign interpretations. Thus, Saint John Damascene, to omit others, although he is a saint and a Catholic writer, nevertheless, in the first book of *De Fide Orthodoxa*, openly denies that the Holy Spirit proceeds *ἐκ τοῦ Υἱοῦ*, from the Son, wishing only that it be said that He proceeds *διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ*, through the Son, from the Father. It would not be wonderful, therefore, if our Theologian, who wrote quite a long time before the times of Photius, used expressions which were later to be avoided, as being suspect. But although he treated of the third person as if *ex professo* and as extensively as possible,

yet he taught that the Holy Spirit does not proceed also from the Son, or can be said (to proceed) *dià toũ Yioũ*, "through the Son," not that He proceeds from then on from the Son, and he never used similar words.

Indeed, in Book II, chap. 1, we read: "*Hagion Pneuma to monon ek tēs hypostaseōs autou* (that is, of the Father) *ekporeuomenon*," which words perhaps ^A a certain Photian would render as: "The Holy Spirit, who alone proceeds from the hypostasis of the Father Himself." But in my judgment, they ought to be rendered thus: "The Holy Spirit, who alone proceeds from the hypostasis of the Father Himself." And lest anyone, among those who follow the Photian heresy, harbor suspicion regarding my faith concerning the testimony cited, I shall transcribe word for word the text of our Author, which stands thus at the beginning of the second book: *Oi spoudazontes*... that is: "Those who strive to be to some extent a worthy temple of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the faithful, inasmuch as they have once had the inaccessible light shining upon them, glorify Him with equal honor, just as the Lord commanded in the institution of baptism, placing together the unbegotten God and Father, the beloved and only-begotten Son, the Word, existing from Him, and the aforementioned Holy Spirit, who alone has proceeded from His hypostasis eternally and continuously; not denying the faith in the consubstantiality of the Trinity, but not investigating the mode and difference of the generation and the procession; for that is unknown even to the celestial ministries of God, the Powers, ineffable, and formidable to contemplate; nor investigating how the Holy Trinity has subsisted in Itself from eternity, always being and subsisting in one and the same way, and being able from eternity, where He sits, to look into the ^B abysses, and being heard while silent, and hearing those who are silent, etc." In this text, the word *monon* ("alone") seems to me to signify nothing other than the fact that the Son *gennātai* ("is generated") and that the Holy Spirit *ekporeuetai* ("proceeds"). That this is the genuine meaning of the text cited is proven: first, by the words of the same Author which immediately follow: *Tropon de kai diaphoran gennēseōs kai ekporeuseōs ouk zētountes*, "but not seeking the mode and difference of the generation and the procession"; second, by other words which are read in chap. 5 of the same book: *Kai to hagion Pneuma*... that is: "The Holy Spirit, however, is said in Scripture to be one and alone, both because He uniquely and alone Himself proceeds from the hypostasis of God and Father, and is not generated like the Son; and lest we suspect Him to be a creature as the other spirits are... Therefore, the one Holy Spirit cannot be unlike either the one Father or the one Son, nor like to the multitude of spirits." Although from these words one could again infer why our Theologian added ^C the word *monon* in the quoted text, namely, to contend against Macedonius that the Holy Spirit is not similar to other spirits, of whom it is said that *ektisthēsan* ("they were created"), but not that *ekporeuontai* ("they proceed from God").

Indeed, I will admit that our Author wrote, Book I, chap. 31, that "the Holy Spirit *ekporeuetai para tou Patros, kai menei para tō Huiō theiō tropō*, that is, proceeds from the Father, and dwells by the Son in a divine way." Therefore, someone might say, as a Photian, "the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father, dwells in the Son, but does not proceed from the Son." But we shall soon see that nothing is proven by these words, *ekporeuetai para tou Patros* ("proceeds from the Father"). And by the other words, *kai menei para tō Huiō* ("and dwells by the Son"), our Theologian wished to signify nothing other than the circuminsession of the divine persons, not thinking in the least about the spiration of the Son; which is patent from the whole context; for in this 31st chapter, his sole intent was to prove the consubstantiality of the Son by all the places of Holy Scripture in which it is asserted that His kingdom is eternal. Hence, he ends the aforementioned chapter thus: *Kai tēn prophēteian de*... ^D that is: "But the prophecy of Isaiah saying: I saw the King, the Lord of Sabaoth, with my eyes, Paul indeed attributes to the Spirit of God, but John to the Only-begotten, as was said before, on account of the communion of the Godhead and of the one perpetual kingdom. For how can it be that one indeed reigns, but the other, as happens among men, is idle, when the Father dwells in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father, and dwells by the Son in a divine way?" That these words might be explained otherwise is not necessary.

Nor will I deny, not once or twice, but very often, that the Holy Spirit is called by our Author *Pneuma Patros*, that is, "Spirit of the Father," and *Pneuma Theou*, that is, "Spirit of God," which he understands of God the Father; for example, Book I, chap. 15: *To, ho pantokratōr, oude hermēneias deitai; deiknusi gar adiaireton echein pros ton Theon Patera kai to hagion Pneuma autou tēn basileian, kai einai epi pantōn Theon.* That is: "That, 'the Almighty,' does not even need interpretation; for it shows that He has the kingdom undivided towards God the Father and His holy Spirit, and is God over all." And in the 18th chapter of the same book: *Kai palin de Korinthiois to deuteron: Hē charis tou Kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou, kai hē agapē tou Theou, kai hē koinōnia tou hagiou Pneumatos meta pantōn hēmōn; entautha dia to tauton tēs theotētos prōtou emnēmoneusen tou Huiou, kai houtō tou Patros, eita tou hagiou Pneumatos autou.* That is: "And again in the second to the Corinthians: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit with all of you; here, because of the identity of the Godhead, he first mentioned the Son, and thus the Father, then His holy Spirit." And in chapter 16 of the first book: *Aplatēs estin... ho Theos Logos, kathā kai ho Patēr, kai to hagion Pneuma autou.* That is: "Latitutde is lacking... God the Word, just as also the Father, and His holy Spirit." Nor shall I weigh whether the pronoun *autou*, "His," can be referred to the Son: especially when there are other places quite clear, by which all doubt is removed; for example, Book I, chap. 26: *Kai to chrēnai syn tō Patri kai tō Pneumati autou proskyneisthai ton monogenē Theon kai Huion.* That is: "And that it is necessary to adore the only-begotten God and Son with the Father and His Spirit." And Book II, chap. 2: *To de hagion Pneuma, idion heautou exonomazei, ate ex autou ekporeuthen kata physin.* That is: "But He calls the Holy Spirit His own, inasmuch as He who proceeded from Him according to nature." Furthermore, neither by these, nor by other words of the same kind, is the Catholic dogma impugned, according to which the Holy Spirit not only proceeds from the Father, but proceeds principally from Him. But that the Father is *prokatarktike aitia*, that is, "the principal cause," as the Greeks say, signifies that the Father is the principal origin and principle of the Holy Spirit, as the fount of the whole Godhead, from whom the Son Himself has the active spiration, with which spiration He Himself, together with the Father, breathes forth the Holy Spirit. It is not surprising, therefore, that our Theologian calls Him many times "Spirit of the Father" or "Spirit of God," that is, of God the Father. But he refutes those who most strongly impugn this, because the same author very often expressly calls the Holy Spirit *Pneuma tou Huiou*, that is, "Spirit of the Son." Thus Book I, chap. 18: *Ho Theos kai Patēr tas makarias hypostasis exephēnen pros ton heautou Huion kai to hagion autou Pneuma eirēkōs: Deute, k. t. l.* That is, as may be read in my version: "God and Father manifested the blessed persons, when He spoke thus to His Son and His holy Spirit: Come, etc." And it cannot be said that this word, *autou*, is to be understood of God the Father, since, when speaking of the Son, he says *autou*, and of the Spirit, *autou*. Moreover, more openly in Book I, chap. 6, § 23, it is read: *Hē ktisis elaiō ktistō hagiazomenō en tō baptismati chrietai; ho Sōtēr hōs Theos tō synaktistō autou echrisato pan hagion Pneuma para tous metochous hēmas.* That is,

^A “A creature is anointed in baptism with created, sanctified oil. The Savior, as God, was anointed with His own co-created, and uncreated as He is, Spirit, beyond His fellows, that is, beyond us.” And finally, book III, cap. 1: *Huios Logos tou Theou ho medenos mēde autōn tōn kataphronountōn autou kataphronōn; ho tē psychē, eis hēn dia tou physēmatos to hagion autou Pneuma katōkisen, ton logon tōn pantōn to timiōtaton kataspeiras.* That is: “The Son, the Word of God, who despises no one, not even those who despise Him; who into the soul, in which through inspiration He made His Holy Spirit to dwell, has implanted the word, which is the most precious of all things.”

Then, I will admit that our Theologian has spoken so obscurely in book II, cap. 2, concerning the Holy Spirit, that unless one attends rather to the Author’s intent than to his words, one would easily believe that he had departed from the Catholic faith, and had favored the opinion which Photius later attempted to establish as a dogma. In the front, he carries the following title, or rather the following argument, for the said chapter: *Peri tou, to hagion Pneuma einai tou Theou, kai peri hairetikēs antitheseōs.* That is: “Concerning [the fact] that the Holy Spirit is of God, and concerning the objections of heretics.” Furthermore, in that chapter, he brings forth many testimonies taken from Holy Scripture, in which the Holy Spirit is called ^B “Spirit of God,” or “Spirit of the Father.” Then he offers three others in which He is named either “Spirit of Christ,” as in the Epistle to the Romans, cap. VIII, v. 9; or “Spirit of the Son,” as in the Epistle to the Galatians, cap. IV, v. 6; or “Spirit of Jesus Christ,” as in the Epistle to the Philippians, cap. I, v. 19. After this, he subjoins that through such words, *Pneuma tou Huiou*, “Spirit of the Son,” it is demonstrated that the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Son, and furthermore that both the second and the third Person derive their origin *ek tou henos Patros*, that is, “from one and the same Father.” Therefore, the Holy Spirit is not called the Spirit of the Son because He proceeds from Him—as some among the followers of Photius might perhaps object—but because both proceed *ek tou henos Patros*, that is, “from the one Father,” and *eis ton auton hena anagontai*, that is, “are reduced to one and the same [principle].” But so that the matter may shine forth more clearly, I am going to transcribe the very words of our Theologian here. *Kai to gegraphthai de…* That is: “But what is written, that He is the Spirit of the Son, similarly shows a communion of nature, so much so that the Spirit cannot be thought of as His creature: for how could the Son have created Him from Himself, as if the proper Father did not have Him before, He who is and has been called in the Scriptures the Spirit of God? That indeed is not only blasphemous, but also foolish. Let ‘Spirit of Christ’ be understood, that is, the power of Christ, in the same way as it is said that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God: for since these blessed hypostases proceeded from one Father, and not from a creative energy, they are referred back to the same one.”

But, if I am not mistaken, all of these [arguments] have no force. ^C For firstly, in other places which I have cited, which I had taken from our Theologian, the Holy Spirit is called interchangeably now the Spirit of the Father, now the Spirit of the Son, which means the same as if it were said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son together; secondly, it cannot be said that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son for the sole reason that the Son and the Holy Spirit are consubstantial; for if that were admitted, it could likewise be said that the Father and the Son are from the Holy Spirit, since both are consubstantial with the Holy Spirit: which is repugnant. Whence it is evident that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son, or “the Son’s own Spirit,” not only because the Son and Holy Spirit are consubstantial, but also because the Spirit proceeds from the Son, and not the Son from the Spirit. Whence, again, our Theologian does not impugn the Catholic faith, even though he contends that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son because the Spirit is consubstantial with the Son: which is most fully in agreement with the truth.

But if our Author will have omitted to add the other reason—namely, that the matter is so because the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son—this is truly because of the scope of his work, but he never denied it. ^D However, it will be established that our Author was silent about the reason stated above—concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son—if one attends to the fact that he proposed for himself a singular goal (in this entire 2nd chapter of the 2nd book): to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the eternal Father. Whence it happens that he always—after he has brought forth so many and such great testimonies, in which the Holy Spirit is called now the Spirit of the Father, now the Spirit of God, now the Spirit of the Son, now the Spirit of Christ—concludes: “Therefore the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father”; or otherwise: “Therefore the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Son.” Who now, things being so placed, will accuse him of not having concluded in the following manner: “Therefore the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son”? Furthermore, certainly you will find no man of good faith who denies that these words, *ek tou henos Patros*, “from one Father,” and those other [words], *eis ton auton hena*, “into the same one,” were written by our Theologian to signify that the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father, just as the Son is consubstantial with the same Father; and not so that an active spiration in the Son might be denied.

Nor can it be objected that our Theologian, both in the places cited in book II, cap. 2, and elsewhere, speaking of the procession of the Holy Spirit, mentions simply the procession from the Father, but never the procession from the Son. For Your Excellency knows how empty the argument of Photius has been judged by theologians for many centuries, which he had snatched from the fact that Christ, although in a certain place He said, “He shall receive of mine,” elsewhere says, “Who proceeds from the Father,” as if He proceeded from the Father alone, and not from the Father and the Son together. Whence I, who know the law of speaking, will not linger on the matter, and will expend effort on citing certain texts from which it will be possible to gather that our author, either expressly or by the urgency of a consequent force, admitted the Catholic dogma impugned by the Photians.

First, in the following text, the Author asserts that the Father is not distinguished from the Son otherwise than because He is the Father. See book 1, cap. 21, where, after he shows the truth of these words of Christ (John XVI:15): “All things whatsoever the Father hath, are mine,” he thus concludes: *Panta oun eipen ta patrika tynchanein autou; hōste mēden pleon didonai tō Theō Patri, ē monon to einai Patera Huiou synanarchou kai synyphestōtos; houtō pisteuein anapeithei kai to Panta ta ema sa estin, kai ta sou ema, k. t. l.* That is: “He said, therefore, that all things of the Father are His; so that he gives nothing more to God the Father than this alone, that He is the Father of the co-eternal and co-subsistent Son. Thus he persuades us to believe, and that [saying]: ‘All mine are thine, and thine are mine,’ etc.” Which would be said falsely, unless the Holy Spirit also proceeded from the Son: for then the Father would be distinguished from the Son, not only because He is the Father, but also because He alone possessed an active spiration.

Second, see also book II, cap. 5, another place in which our Theologian wrote that the Holy Spirit is the image of the Son. *Kai katha ho Patēr en idia hypostasei ōn exeikonizetai en tō Monogenei dia to aparallakton tēs Theotētos, tout’ estin tēs ousias; ton ison tropon kai ho Monogenēs en tō heni hagiō Pneumati.* That is: “And just as the Father, existing in His own hypostasis, is imaged in the Only-Begotten because of the unchangeableness of the Deity, that is, of the essence; in the same way also is the Only-Begotten [imaged] in the one Holy Spirit as in an image.” Furthermore, since from the fact that the Son is called the image of the Father, it is rightly gathered that He derives His origin from the Father; in a similar way, from the fact that the Holy Spirit is named the image of the Son, it must be inferred that the Holy Spirit also arises from the Son. Third. Regarding the third text, see book II, cap.

^A ... id est: Nor does David pass this over in silence. For, joining together the nature and harmony of the Son, who is Light born of Light, and of the Holy Spirit, who truly (even if one should not read "truth," ἀλήθεια) proceeded from the Truth, he sings: "Send forth thy light and thy truth"; and in Psalm 147: "He shall send forth his word, and shall melt them; his spirit shall breathe, and the waters shall flow."

But let us shift the conversation: I fear indeed that I have lingered on this subject longer and further than I had proposed at the beginning.

The Necessity of Grace

Whether our Theologian had received any knowledge of the Pelagian heresy at the time when, already an old man, he wrote this work, I am utterly ignorant. Yet it does not seem likely that at that time he had heard anything about that heresy. For words occur again and again in his work which the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians rendered suspect, and which, had he been aware, he would surely not have wished to use. Whatever that may be, I hold it for true that he never had in mind to show himself a friend to the errors of the Pelagians.

I cannot deny, however, that he wrote, in Lib. I, cap. 14, that "faith has its beginning from us"—words which indeed smack of the Semi-Pelagian heresy, as the matter is open to all, ^B if the Semi-Pelagians used them in a heretical sense. But in our Theologian, the same words are Catholic, because they are used in a completely different sense, if I am not mistaken; for he always admitted, even in restoring faith, the necessity of grace. But that this matter may be better discerned by the eyes of all, I wish to present the passage in question in full to the readers; wherein, after he has proven that many figures of baptism are found in the Old Testament, he explains allegorically those things which are in cap. III, verses 8, 9, and also in cap. IV, verses... "For who would rightly refer to these things, and the hidden matters of the mind of Zechariah?" In that place, the Author explains the eighth and ninth verses of the third chapter; then he adds: "Having remembered, etc."... id est: "And rightly has one referred to these things even those matters which are hidden in the sense of Zechariah." And after he has also commemorated the golden candlestick (Zach. iv. 2), that is, the purest faith, which indeed begins from us but is raised up as far as those things which are above us (for by gold is understood a thing pure and precious, for gold is by nature so constituted that it does not contract rust); and after he said that there is upon it a small lamp, that is, divine grace, which from on high illuminates all things; and seven lamps, namely the abundance and perfection of spiritual grace; and besides these, seven funnels (or snuffers) above, that is, the inextinguishable and perennial influx which is from thence, etc. The matter is evident, unless I myself am in error, that our Theologian derives from that place, which others wish to be taken in a natural and obvious sense, that faith can never be born in a man without the influx of grace. ^C For, as he says, to the abundance and perfection of that same divine grace (which he asserts is designated by the lamp), and finally to that divine influx flowing perennially, must be attributed good works, and also the beginning of faith, which never attains its origin without the help of grace.

Lest any doubt remain concerning that point, I entreat Your Excellency to permit me to add that our Author named the beginning of faith first, and then the grace of God, with no other mind than to better follow the order of the prophet. Furthermore, lest any be led into error by the words, after our Theologian writes that there is a golden candlestick underneath, that is, faith, he immediately adds that it is illuminated by that small lamp which stands above it; by which word he signifies that this grace of God, which is the helper, always goes before faith, from which all our good works (πάντα) flow, and from which our own beginning of faith takes its origin (τὴν ὑψόθεν πάντα καταφαίνουσαν θείαν χάριν), "divine grace, which illuminates all things from on high."

These things will be sufficient, I believe, to solve the suspicion of Semi-Pelagianism in our Theologian, especially since it is well known to our judgment that similar words have been used by the Greek Fathers and explained in a Catholic sense by the most learned Ludovicus Thomassinus, tom. II, lib. ix, cap. 7 et seq., and most recently by the most erudite P. Bernardo Maria de Rubeis, in the Dissertation which is found at the threshold of the new edition of the Works of Theophylact. Nor shall I do a useless task if I take care to transcribe one or two places in which our Theologian either supports or expresses the necessity of grace. Thus, Lib. II, cap. 1, he wrote: "The Holy Spirit is πάσης ἀγαθοῦ νοῦ πρόοδος," that is, as the precursor of every good mind. Which amounts to the same thing as if it were said that the beginning of faith is within us through the antecedent grace of the Holy Spirit. So also, Lib. II, cap. 8, he says that we can merit nothing by our own works. Whence it follows, neither the beginning of faith. "Ó γὰρ ἀναίτιος... id est: For indeed, the blameless God, who bestows not in relation to that which we deserve to receive (for not even from works do we deserve any good), but in relation to that which is fitting for Him to give; who knows all things, and can do all things... always bestows good and large gifts liberally and copiously by His nod alone, not by the operation of hands, or by labor; nor does He confer them now, and now not at all; nor does He confer them now more, and now less, but He always continues in the same way, and similarly... for no one of those who are, is rejected by Him, since He makes His sun to rise upon the just and the unjust alike, and to those who have worked at the eleventh hour, He grants the same reward as He gives to those who have labored from the dawn and have cultivated the vineyard by agreement."

After such and such clear testimonies, he would spend his time in vain who would patronize or defend the following text of our Theologian, taken from cap. 9, book I, or other words of this sort: "Our existence has parts from the operation of God, and some from our own will; for not by our own will, but by God's, do we have it that we consist of soul and body, and that we are rational: for since we did not yet exist in any way, how could we have willed, or not willed? But by our own choice we have it that we are good or evil, and learned through study or unlearned through sloth." Therefore, in my judgment, you would not find anyone so eager to impugn our Author ^D as to dare to contend that he rejected the supernatural aid of grace in the following words: Προαιρέσει ἰδίᾳ, "by one's own choice": while on the contrary, lib. II, cap. 7, paragraph 8, he most clearly taught that our salvation is wrought through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Ὡς χαλεπὸν οὖν, καθά φησιν, οἰάκων ἔχεσθαι ὅτῳ κυβερνητικῆς οὐχ ὑπεστιν· οὕτω χαλεπὸν καὶ διδάσκειν ὅτῳ ἡ χάρις τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ ἐργαζομένη τὴν σωτηρίαν, οὐ πάρεστιν. Id est: "As therefore it is difficult, as they say, for one to hold the rudder to whom the art of steering is not present; so it is difficult also to teach, to whom the grace of the divine Spirit, which with the Father and the Son works [the] salvation of men, is not present."

CHAPTER III. Remarkable Matters.

Now I approach the third chapter, in which I shall indicate to your Excellency in the briefest words some things that seem to me worthy of attention, or by the favor of which the Author may become better known, and sometimes very well known. And I shall present these in order. The first order will comprise many remarkable or peculiar words, or those used by our Theologian in a special sense; the second order will have certain of his opinions; the third, however, texts taken from the holy Bible; the fourth, matters pertaining to discipline; the fifth, historical events; the sixth, authors cited by him; the seventh, finally, the heretics whom he refuted.

Remarkable, or peculiar, words.

Here I shall follow alphabetical order, noting words that are not found in other authors; and I shall accurately prefix the meaning to the words, as often as it becomes clearly known to me; nor shall I be resentful if anyone surpasses me in the keenness of eyes or of intellect.

A

1. *Agathoedes* (Goodly). Speaking of the divine Son, he says He is a light that is *agathoedes*. 2. *Angelicon* (Angel-like). Concerning the same, he says He was called the Angel of great counsel. 3. *Agégein* (To lead). He says the Lord alone has his grace to lead sinners. 4. *Trisagilogesai* (To sing the Trisagion). This means to chant the Trisagion, or to praise God by saying *Holy*. Elsewhere he uses the word in another sense. 5. *Adecta* (Not received). He says of the heretics: "The *adecta* are those who offer words of the divine." 6. *Aeikinetos* (Ever-moving). Among others, he attributes this epithet to God; it is also read (elsewhere). But in what sense can it be said that God is always moving? 7. *Atheesanta* (Having denied God). Regarding a certain passage of the prophet Baruch, he says that, unless it is understood concerning the identity of the divine persons, it remains to say *atheesanta*, that "God the Father is not our God." 8. *Athlephoron* (Prize-bearer) for *athlophoron*. In the same way, S. Cyril says from Jerusalem, *stephanophoria* (crown-bearing) for the matter. 9. *Hairesiomachein* (To fight against heresy). This means "to fight for heresy." 10. *Es aision kai ep' apeiron* (To a proper and infinite end). He says that the holy Trinity is the only one who knows all things, and orders everything toward a proper and infinite end. 11. *Aiolou* (Changeable). Using this word, when speaking of a certain objection of the heretics: "Of their now-moving *aiolou* (changeable) sophistry." 12. *Akatalekton* (Incomprehensible). It means: "Something that cannot be valued or narrated." 13. *Akouontes* (Hearers). It means: "Interpreters." 14. *Alektos* (Unspeakable). It means: "Ineffable." 15. *Amegëthes* (Without magnitude). It means: "That which does not possess magnitude." 16. *Anapentamenos* (Uncovered). It means: "Openly." 17. *Anapentazon* (Opening up). It means: "Revealing." 18. *Anathelasia* (Not-willing). It means—though I beg leave to use the word—"Non-will," or "Not to will." 19. *Aneideos* (Without form). He says: "God is *amegethes* (without magnitude) and *aneideos* (without form)," which in my sense means: "Without magnitude and form." Just as elsewhere he says: "Without formlessness (aneideotēta)," which means: "Without lack of form." 20. *Aneklekton* (Un-chosen/Un-derivable). He says that we are called co-heirs of Christ through His *aneklekton* (untraceable) incarnation. 21. *Anenmenos* (Carried/Woven). He commands, he says, that the Spirit [is] as a king, carried on a gentle and lawful government. 22. *Anthropologethenta* (Said in a human way). This means: "Said in a human manner." 23. *Anaphiennysan* (Stripping off). In the phrasing of our author: "Stripping off all heretical persuasion." 24. *Aperibeton* (Not to be gone around/Uncircumscribed). He attributes this epithet to God when he writes: "The uncircumscribed God." 25. *Apodiaksimenos* (Ill-disposed). It means: "Ill-disposed." 26. *Apoikonomitai* (Is managed away/refuted). Refuting a certain heretical response, he says: "But from there their sticky [argument] is refuted (apoikonomitai)." 27. *Apokritos* (Judiciously). He says certain men act *apokritos* (judiciously), others according to specific trial. I believe we must think he takes the word *apokritos* for the word *adiakritos* (indiscriminately), that is, "promiscuously," without choice. 28. *Aperatosis* (Ending). He says there is in God no diminution, nor ending. 29. *Apopheron* (Carrying away). He says that S. Peter in the second Epistle, *apopheron* (while carrying away) the opinion that one should not think the Holy Spirit to be among created things, writes: "For not by the will of man," etc. 30. *Aprosekei pragmati* (To an inappropriate matter). It means: "To a matter that is not fitting." 31. *Architekna* (Master-builder/Architect). He says that the Holy Spirit is co-creator and co-worker of the God who established it (the earth) in the beginning as master-builder. 32. *Ateuxian* (Non-success). It means: "Non-consecution." 33. *Auchmatikōteron* (More boastfully). It means: "With a certain boasting." 34. *Aphantasiastos* (Without imagination). It means: "Truly, not through a mirror."

Γ

35. *Grapheōn* (Of writers). "Of the divine writers"; but perhaps it should be read: *graphōn* (of writings). 36. *Graphē* (Scripture). Which word very often among our Author, as also among S. Cyril and others, designates the text of holy Scripture. 37. *Graphia*. It means the same, namely: "Text of holy Scripture."

Δ

38. *Dysangkaliston* (Hard to comprehend/Grasp). Speaking of heretics he says: "Of those who are hard to grasp and who have an unexamined heretical mindset."

E

39. *Engchorountos*. It means: "Inasmuch as possible." 40. *Ephaphiō*. He uses this word: "The *logos* (word) in the present passage (ephaphio)," provided it is not an error in the codex. 41. *Etheloakrotēs* (Voluntary-superstition). He says: *Etheloakrotēs* of superstition, which in my sense is: "Because of their great and voluntary superstition." 42. *Emperetai*. He says: "How many other things are added regarding the divine Spirit, which do not differ from what is written regarding God and the Father." 43. *Ouk endonti*. He says: "In the sloth (pigritia) that is not fitting." 44. *Endiaskeuōs*. He says his adversaries made the transportation of the eternal ones, not opportunely, but *endiaskeuōs* (with crafty/prepared design). 45. *Eniaion*. He says: "The unity (eniaion) of the divine and infinite nature." 46. *Ennein*. He affirms that the house in which we dwell is sometimes called *enneein* and *enoikein* (to contain and to dwell in). 47. *Exēlikas* (Those beyond/out of age). He says we all through baptism become the firstborn sons. And also those out of age (exēlikas) and those not yet of age (aphēlikas).

ἀφήλικας. 49. Ἐπιστάνοντι. He says: "It will be more evident to one that understands it, that," etc.

50. Ἐπίχειρα. He speaks as follows: "For we say that some are full of virtue and knowledge, and can contemplate and bring forth the rewards of virtue and knowledge." On this word, see Hesychius in the latest edition, which is also the best, by John Alberti.

51. Εὔμικτος. Speaking of Christ, he calls Him this "well-compounded God."

52. The particle ᾖ, as often as it signifies "or," is always written by our author, and by him who transcribed his codex, without an accent and with only the smooth breathing.

53. Θεόχρηστον. Speaking of the text of the prophet Haggai, he says that it is a "divinely inspired" utterance.

54. Ἰσουργεῖν, that is: "To work equally."

55. Καλλιεργίας. He says: "By faith and good works."

56. Καταστέλλειν. He says: "To curb with the will of God."

57. Κέριον. He says: "And the consideration added to these things, is waxen and worthy of the right faith." Unless an error has crept into the codex, and it ought to read "opportune" (καίριον).

58. Λοιμήνασθαι. He says: "The heretical crows attempted to ruin [to bring plague upon] the divine oracles."

59. Μήρυγμα. He says that the preaching of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is "unchangeable."

60. Μονοκήτορα, that is: "Sole master."

61. Νεαλογεῖν. Speaking of heretics, he says: "They do not hesitate to invent new terms, that," etc.

62. Οὐρανοί, that is, if not "heavens": "little temples." But in the following passage that word is found: "In the holy churches, and in the oratories, and in the martyria, as in other 'heavens'," that is, "in holy churches, and in oratories, and in the shrines, as in other little temples." Perhaps by these words, "in other heavens," the Author wished to designate those sacred buildings which were called "the prophetic" (building), "the apostolic" (building), "the virgins'"—because they were consecrated to God under the invocation of either a prophet, or an apostle, or some virgin. In a similar manner, according to what we read in St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the church was called by another name, τὸ Κυριακόν, "the Lord's" (Dominicum), because there the body of the Lord is immolated.

63. Παγγενεί, that is: "With all the family"; and παμφιλεῖ, "with all friends."

64. Παναπείρατος. Speaking of the festival of Pascha and Pentecost, he says: "For the all-inexhaustible brightness of these feasts never ceased."

65. Περιγεγονότως. He says that men need many things "in order to act completely and successfully in any matter."

66. Περιοδίας. Speaking of Elisha, he says: "Having needed his journey, he sent him to the Jordan."

67. Πλουτιολόγον. He says: "Not ignorant of the God who speaks of riches," etc.

68. Προβαθέστερον. He says that Moses makes mention of a certain vine and three shoots. "Having nowhere spoken more profoundly of the root of the other."

69. Σκάλμη. Speaking of the heretics, against whom he writes, he says: "The 'pruning-hook' (σκάλμη) of their concepts and words floats upon and is confounded with them."

70. Συγκτητορίας. Impugning the same heretics, he says that they deny to the Word not only "communion as Son to Father, but even equality of joint-possession as friend to friend."

71. Συμβαῖνον, that is: "Congruous." He says that heretics do not see how they might appear to the theologians to be saying something consistent.

72. Συμμιγίαν, that is: "A mixing." He says that heretics imagine a certain "mixture and agreement" of the divine with creatures.

73. Συναρπακτικῶς. That the disciples of Macedonius relate myths in their own words "in a snatching manner," as is not right, etc.

74. Συνοψίσαντες. He says they are like those who build a house; to separate the material, that they may more easily behold particular things with a single glance of the eye, having "summed up" beforehand, they put down the suitable materials.

75. Συρφετολογίας. Speaking of heretics, he says that he is not concerned with their "base jargon."

76. Τεθεωρημένως. See above on the word ἐπίχειρα.

77. Τοιουτοτρόπωτα, that is: "Of this kind." Having cited certain texts drawn from Scripture, he says: "And whatever oracles one might find of this sort."

78. Τριαδικῶς. He says that all things were created "in a Trinitarian manner," that is, from the three persons of the Holy Trinity.

79. Ὑπὲρ τοῦ εὖ. He prays that one may become a partaker of the blessings "for the sake of the good" from God.

80. Ὑστερομέσως. Explaining the place of the prophet Amos, he says: "It was said prophetically and 'belatedly' (in a secondary sense) by the divine Spirit in this way: I have overturned you," etc.

81. Φοιτεύει. This word is not our Author's, but that of a certain pagan whom he himself cites in the following manner: "And those outside say: 'God, who designs all things, goes about and moves grace'."

82. Ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως. That is: "From bodily habit." "From the appearance and the bearing and the conduct, each is shown to be what he is."

83. Χρήσαντα. After he has opposed various texts of Scripture to the heretics, he adds: "For what could they say, upon hearing these things, that he who used them taught?"

84. Furthermore, in ending we note that our Author in book 1, chapter 15, used two words, 466, of which it would be difficult to find an example among any of the Greek writers. "For the word 'ἦν' (he says) is an infinitive; but in Latin the infinitive is composed of two words, 'Plusquam perfectum'. It is interpreted thus: 'Πλέον ἢ τέλειος' (more than perfect). That is: 'For the word ἦν (erat) is an indefinite; but in Latin the indefinite verb is composed of two words: Plusquam perfectum, which is πλέον ἢ τέλειος.'"

Opinions of the Author. The first opinion concerns women, whom our Theologian does not allow to compose books: which nevertheless...

I think should be understood regarding theological books, and not regarding other works. Whatever it may be, behold the things which he wrote, lib. 1, cap. 42, parag. 3, speaking of the two prophetesses of the Montanists, Priscilla and Maximilla, whom those heretics venerated as prophetesses. ^A “The Scripture knoweth the prophetesses: the four daughters of Philip, Deborah, Mary the sister of Aaron, and the Theotokos Mary, who said, as the Gospel said: ‘From henceforth all women, and the generations, shall call me blessed.’ But it knows not of books compiled in their name. Moreover, the Apostle even forbade it, writing to Timothy: ‘I suffer not a woman to teach.’ And again in the first Epistle to the Corinthians: ‘Every woman praying and prophesying with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head.’ Which is to say that it is not permitted for a woman to boldly write books according to her own ordering, and to teach, and by this to insult the head, that is, the man. For the head of the woman is the man, etc.” That is: “The Scripture indeed knows prophetesses: the four daughters of Philip, ^B Deborah, Mary the sister of Aaron, and the Theotokos Mary, who said, as the Gospel says (Luke 1:48): ‘From this time all women and generations shall call me blessed.’ But it knows not of books written and inscribed with their names. Nay, more, the Apostle forbade this in the first Epistle to Timothy (II, 12), writing: ‘I do not permit women to teach’; and again in the first [Epistle] to the Corinthians (XI, 5): ‘Every woman praying and prophesying with her head not veiled, dishonors her head’: which means that it is not permitted to a woman to confidently write books of her own composition, and to teach in the Church [I supply the part of the codex which is missing, by reading ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ διδάσκειν], and for this reason to offer injury to the head, that is, to the man: for the head of the woman is the man, etc.”

The second opinion concerns the time when the Antichrist is to come into this world, which question, although God has prudently left it hidden from men, some authors have occasionally tried to discern with the greatest imprudence, yet with good faith. That our Theologian believed this time to be near will be evident, and that he came to the opinion of St. Cyril on this matter, if his words which he has regarding the Holy Trinity be read, lib. 11, cap. ult., where he says thus: Οὕτως γάρ... id est: “For thus through Thee... O most good and omnipotent Trinity, from whom and through whom is all good, and in whom every hope of all is always placed, and after whom there is absolutely nothing, we shall be delivered from those things wherein we have sinned in soul and in body, in knowledge and in ignorance, in word and in deed, here, and when Thou prevailest in judging the hidden things of men, and from those who in this world are troublesome to us, and from the demon who always envies the good and stands against them, and from every evil and unclean spirit, and from the hater of honesty, the Antichrist, whose time, as events indicate, full of grave conflict, has now approached; so that no one of those who are now, ^C nor any of those who shall then be found, may perish.”

In this consists the third opinion, that our Author opines that Solomon is saved, whom on the contrary others, as we know, wish to be damned. See lib. 11, cap. 3. Οὐκ οὖν ἄτοπον... id est: “Is it not evident that Wisdom, the cause and creator of all things, I mean the great God the Word, who is above all, whom speech could not describe, does not say in Proverbs that [saying of] Solomon: ‘The Lord created me’? For he was not so bold and proud against God, who spared him from such great sins, and as He has always had mercy on all, so He also had mercy on him.”

The fourth opinion of the Author concerns the location of the mountain where our Redeemer was crucified; which place some authors, more skilled in theological than in geographical science, have judged to be the navel of the earth. See our Theologian, lib. 1, cap. 15, where he says: Δαυὶδ δέ... id est: “David our king before the ages (in the printed Greek text, it reads πρὸ αἰῶνος, in the codex from which I excerpted this work, πρὸ αἰώνιος) worked salvation in the midst of the earth.” He understands Golgotha, calling it a place situated in the middle, and as it were the center of the earth: in which the Son, in His divine ^D foreknowledge before the ages, worked salvation for us in the Incarnation; but in reality, when for His own goodness He suffered in this way for us, as He himself knew and willed, being Impassible, even unto the heart of the earth, if I may so speak, He came: just as Ezekiel (v, 5) also prophesies in this manner: “This is Jerusalem (I read αὐτή, according to the Greek text mandated to be printed); I have set it in the midst of the nations.”

The fifth opinion is that by which our Theologian calls St. Stephen, the first martyr, an apostle, lib. 1, cap. 7, parag. 11, not that he believes St. Stephen actually was an apostle, but naming him thus by a license of speech. However, hear him speaking himself: Ὅτι τῇ δυνάμει καὶ χάριτι τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἀναπτυχθέντες οἱ οὐρανοὶ ὤφθησαν τῷ διπλοῦς στεφάνους ἀναδησαμένῳ ἀποστολῆς καὶ μαρτυρίου· φησὶν γάρ· Στέφανος πλησθεὶς Πνεύματος ἁγίου ἴδεν τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἀνεωγμένους· Ὥστε εἶναι τὸ ὑπὸ ἀρχαίου εἰρημένον. Οὐρανόθεν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑπεῤῥάγη ἄσπετος αἰθήρ. Id est: “Because by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, it came to pass that he who is crowned with a double crown, of apostleship and martyrdom, beheld the opened heavens. For the Scripture says: Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, saw the heavens opened: so that it was true of him what was said by the ancient poet (Iliad. viii, vers. 554): ‘From heaven then was rent the boundless ether.’”

The sixth opinion seems to me to be attributable rather to a Rabbinic Kabbalist than to a Christian theologian. For, lib. II, cap. 14, expounding these words of Genesis 1, 2: “The Spirit of God was moving over the waters,” after he noted that the Holy Spirit appeared over the Jordan ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς, that is, in the form of a dove, he immediately adds that by the same word, περιστερά, is signified that the Holy Spirit is uncircumscribed: namely, since in the Greek abacus the number 801 designates a dove; both letters, alpha and omega, which in the New Testament signify God, serve for it equally. Εἴπερ... id est: “If indeed it is also necessary to procure some aid for our discourse from the number which is gathered from the name of the mentioned bird, it also in some way indicates that the Holy Spirit is uncircumscribed: for the word περιστερά (which designates a dove) is eight hundred and one: which number is signified by α and ω. These elements, however, are the beginning and the end of all elements.” If anyone wonders that such things are found in an Author of the greatest weight, let him reflect with himself that sometimes the most learned writers nod.

467 The seventh, finally, opinion concerns the angels, on whose nature many Fathers have spoken differently in the first five centuries of the Church, although it has been a long time since most theologians have felt (although this, as I believe, is not of the faith) that angels should be called ‘spiritual,’ that is, mere spirits, and entirely lacking a body. Whom our Theologian in many places calls ‘lacking flesh,’ or invisible to the eyes of men and incorporeal. In the second book, however, chapter four, he seems to follow a slightly different opinion, if indeed he calls the angels celestial bodies, and contends that they are incorporeal only in respect to us. Behold the places where both modes of speaking will be found. Regarding the first, read lib. 11, cap. 6, parag. 5: ἡ κτίσις, inquit, ἡ λογικὴ ἀρετῆς τε κακίας τε ἐστὶν δεκτική, ὡς εὑρίσκομεν ἐν ἀσωμάτοις μὲν, καθὰ προείπομεν, ἀρετῆς ἐντὸς τοὺς εὐδοκίμους ἀγγέλους, κακίας δὲ τοὺς ἐκριφέντας· ἐν δὲ σώμασιν, ὡς ἐσμὲν ἡμεῖς αὐτοί· τὸ δὲ θεϊκὸν Πνεῦμα,

Πνεῦμα, ^A et cetera, that is: "A rational creature capable of virtue and vice, as we discover in the incorporeal, as we said before, regarding virtue the good angels, and regarding vice the reprobate; but in bodies, as we ourselves are. But the divine Spirit, etc." And in paragraph 15 of the same chapter, the devil is called ἄσαρκος, that is, "without flesh."

In chapter 7 of this book, he calls the angels ἀσωμάτους στρατιάς, that is: "incorporeal armies." And in chapter 4, near the end: "For after God, we are not taught by the Scriptures of any other rational nature, except that of the many spirits and of bodies such as ours." That is: "For the Scriptures teach that there is no other rational nature after God, except that of many spirits and bodies such as ours."

But regarding the second manner, it is as follows: "The angels, therefore, they say..." That is: "Therefore, they say, are the angels not from God, nor holy, nor spirits of God? They are from God, in that they were made by His command, as were all things. But they are holy after they have been sanctified, as are men. And they are spirits, in that they are incorporeal with respect to us. But they are not called spirits of God, or from God, or proceeding from the Father, or divine, or the Spirit of truth, or the Spirit of holiness; but the angels are ministers, and the celestial bodies, because they differ infinitely from the uncreated Spirit of God, and are subject to Him, according to the wise Apostle, who writes (1 Cor. xv, 40): 'There are terrestrial bodies, and celestial bodies.' For just as the spirits of the winds are not like them, neither are they themselves like the Holy Spirit of God."

^B Places taken from the Holy Scripture.

For every third verse and more often, if there is need, sacred texts are brought forward by our Author. Not to dwell on these any longer, I will select only the following.

See, regarding the first text, book 1, chapter 27, where, after he has cited a passage from the prophet Baruch, he immediately brings forward another which I have not discovered in the Bible until now, whether it is not in them, or I have been unable to detect it: "Καὶ πάλιν· Θεοὶ οἱ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἐποίησαν, ἀπολέσθωσαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Κύριος ὃς ἐποίησεν τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐν συνέσει, αὐτὸς Θεὸς ζῶν καὶ ἀληθινός· ὡς ἄλλης θεότητος μὴ οὔσης ἀληθινῆς, εἰ μὴ τῆς τοῦ γνησίου Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, δι' οὗ καὶ παρ' οὗ ἅμα παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ οἱ οὐρανοὶ παρεκομίσθησαν." Which passage is read in my version thus: "And again: Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish from the earth. The Lord who made the heavens in understanding, He is the living and true God; as if there were no other true Deity, except that of the genuine Son of God, through whom and from whom, together with the whole world, the heavens also were produced."

The expression "Καὶ πάλιν," "And again," especially because of the peculiar ^C way in which he uses that word incessantly, compels us to understand, if I am not in error, that the words "Θεοὶ οἱ τὸν οὐρανὸν," etc., "Dii qui cœlum," etc. (which he explains in the following period as "ὡς ἄλλης θεότητος" etc.), are presented by him as if taken from Holy Scripture, and perhaps they are genuine (words of) the prophet Baruch, among whom it happened that I could find nothing of the sort.

The second passage is found in book II, chapter 11. There he cites a certain passage of Daniel, in the history of Susanna, which you would seek in vain now. He adds: "Καὶ ἔκρινεν τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ ἐμφορούμενος." That is: "He adds, for (he speaks of Daniel): And he judged the elders, filled with the Holy Spirit."

In the third place, a matter seems to me worthy of note, that the Author cites certain texts otherwise than they are now read in the Greek codex, and which nevertheless you might find in the Vulgate edition. Lest I set forth more examples than is fair, I will select only two. First, in book 1, chapters 29 and 52, he cites the third verse of the first chapter of the second Epistle of Saint Peter in the following manner: "Ὡς τὰ πάντα ἡμῖν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ τὰ πρὸς ζωὴν ^D καὶ εὐσέβειαν δεδωρημένης διὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ καλέσαντος ἡμᾶς ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ καὶ ἀρετῇ." The Greek text committed to print has "δι' ἀρετῆς" for "ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ." But the Vulgate edition reads as our Author does: "As all things of His divine power, which contribute to life and piety, have been given unto us through the knowledge of Him who hath called us by His own glory and virtue."

Second, in book two, he cites verse 13 (in the Vulgate edition, 12) of the second chapter of the second Epistle to the Thessalonians; and where the Greek text has "ἀπ' ἀρχῆς εἰς σωτηρίαν," that is, "from the beginning unto salvation," but the Vulgate edition has "primitias in salutem" (firstfruits unto salvation), our Theologian reads "ἀπαρχὴν εἰς σωτηρίαν," agreeing in this with the Vulgate edition.

In the fourth place, it seems to me equally worthy of note that he provides other texts differently than they are read both in the Greek copy and in the Vulgate edition; I will show only two examples of this matter: first, in the second book, chapter 3, the seventh verse of the second Epistle to Timothy is cited, and where the Greek codex as well as the Vulgate edition read "Πνεῦμα δειλίας," "the Spirit of fear," our Theologian reads "Πνεῦμα δουλείας," that is, "the Spirit of bondage"; second, in book 1, chapter 15, he cites the 12th verse of the fourth chapter of the Catholic Epistle of St. James: "Καὶ ὡς Ἰάκωβος περὶ αὐτοῦ γράφει· Εἷς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθέτης καὶ κριτὴς ὁ μόνος σώζειν δυνάμενος." That is: "And as James writes concerning Him: One is the lawgiver and judge, who alone can save." But this version agrees neither with the Greek text, nor with the Vulgate edition. For the Greek text has it thus: "Εἷς ἐστιν ὁ νομοθέτης ὁ δυνάμενος σῶσαι καὶ ἀπολέσαι." That is: "One is the lawgiver who can save and destroy." The Vulgate edition, however: "Unus est legislator et judex, qui potest perdere et liberare."

Annotation fifth. Our Theologian, when he cites the Bible, does not always attribute to each its own, which must be believed to have occurred due to his own error, unless, saving his honor, we blame the hand of the transcriber. For example, at chapter seven, he brings forward a certain text as if taken from the Epistle to the Romans, which, however, is peculiar to the first Epistle to the Corinthians. "Ρωμαίοις δέ· Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἄλλον Ἰησοῦν κηρύσσει ὃν οὐκ ἐκηρύξαμεν, ἢ Πνεῦμα ἕτερον λαμβάνετε ὃ οὐκ ἐλάβετε." That is: "Writing to the Romans, however: For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another Spirit, whom you have not received." Conversely, in chapter 18 of this book, he asserts that a passage taken from the Epistle to the Romans xv, 30, is peculiar to one of the two Epistles to the Corinthians. "Καὶ πάλιν Κορινθίοις· Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Πνεύματος συναγωνίσασθαί μοι ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν." That is: "And again writing to the Corinthians: I beseech you, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the charity of the Spirit, that you help me in your prayers for me to God." And not long after, he attributes a certain other passage to the Psalmist, which in truth is read in the Lamentations.

468 Finally, a sixth matter seemed to me worthy of note, that our Theologian, whom you would believe to be citing the genuine texts of sacred Scripture, provides for his readers only their meaning. See regarding this matter book 1, chapter 16, where he cites verse 3 of the fifth book of Genesis in the following manner: "Περὶ δὲ φυσικῆς εἰκόνος ὑφηγείται καὶ Μωϋσῆς οὐτωσεί· Ἐγέννησεν Ἀδὰμ τὸν Σὴθ κατὰ τὴν εἰδέαν αὐτοῦ." That is: "Concerning also the natural image, Moses discourses thus: Adam begat Seth according to his own image." In a similar manner, see chapter 18 of the same book, in which our Author refashions verse 6 of the first chapter of Genesis thus: "Καὶ πάλιν· Εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Γενηθήτω στερέωμα· καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα· καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι καλόν." That is: "And again: God said: Let there be a firmament; and God made the firmament; and God saw that it was good." And a little further down, he thus (cites) verse 3 of the second

chapter of Haggai, writing: "And how it shall strike..." That is: "And for this manner, since the Trinity is in one throne, as when they prophesy, Haggai indeed, bringing forth the divine voice in the person of the Father, standing thus: 'Be strong, O Zorobabel, for I am with you,' and 'My good Word, and My Spirit in the midst of you': Isaiah, however, etc." And towards the end of chapter 5, book II, see the chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians cited by him: "To the Ephesians..." That is: "To the Ephesians indeed: 'Taking up the armor of God, and the breastplate of justice, and the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.'" The meaning of which words is found in verses 13, 14, 16, and 17 of the aforementioned chapter.

Ecclesiastical Discipline

I. Before the Arian heresy arose, to the peace which Constantine the Great gave to the Church, disturbing it, and also burning the Catholic world with the fire of discord, by making the very formulas of prayer suspect—which had always previously been considered Catholic—the Glorification, or, as the Greeks say, the Doxology, was now done by the formula which we still use in our own times: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit"; now by another formula: "Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit." But from the time that the Arians began to impugn the divinity of the Son with sacrilegious machinations, and especially from the time when the disciples of Macedonius joined themselves to them in an unholy alliance, the latter formula became suspect; not because it had smacked of heresy before that time, but because the Macedonians, rejecting the former, used exclusively the latter formula, which they interpreted to their own liking in various ways. Hence it is no wonder that it is thoroughly rejected by our Theologian, as can be gathered from the following passages. Thus in book I, chapter 32: "And again to the Romans..." That is: "And again to the Romans, in chapter 1, v. 24 and 25: 'Who changed the glory' (in the Greek text printed in type, and also in the Vulgate edition, 'the truth' is read, but our Theologian reads 'the glory' ^B) 'of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.' Who then is the Creator of all things, whom he says is blessed for ever, if not the Only-Begotten? Who, indeed, are those who changed his glory? They who say: 'Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.' They who suppose him to be both a creature and not even an eternal king." And in chapter 34 of the same book: "And those saying: 'Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit,' do not glorify the Son or the Spirit of God; for they send up the glory to one through another in another; or rather, not even to either of them." That is: "And those who say, 'Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit,' do not glorify the Son or the Spirit of God; for they refer the glory of one through another to another, or, to speak better, to none." And finally in book III, chapter 25: "But the heretics, having composed the doxology by their own authority, glorify one through another in another as if through an instrument; but truth tells us, none." That is: "But the heretics, composing the hymn of glorification by their own authority, render glory to one through another in another as if through an instrument, or, what is truer, to none." ^C

II. In the first centuries of the Church, it was the custom of Christians, when they prayed to God, to turn their face to the east, thus, as I believe, recalling to mind the name of the East by which Christ was announced by both Zacharias, namely by the elder Zacharias, xiv, 4; and also by Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, where it says (Luke 1, 78): "The Orient from on high has visited us." Furthermore, that such a custom still existed at the time when our Theologian wrote is proven by what he says in book I, chapter 2, paragraph 28: "If, as it is written..." That is: "If, as it is written, he sits at the right hand of the Father (he speaks of the Son)... he sits on the same throne... and is worshipped and glorified equally with the Father, as is the Spirit of God."

III. Here, in many places of our Author, I would note that the rite of triple immersion is mentioned, if it did not seem to me entirely useless, since that custom still flourishes among the Oriental Church, and likewise flourished in the Church of the West for no less than ten centuries.

IV. It was the custom likewise, in the first times of the Church, to provide the Eucharist to all those baptized, even infants. Our Author seems to allude to this custom, where, in book I, near the end of chapter 13, he brings in Christ speaking: "Anointing, washing... and nourishing with My body and with blood." That is: "Anointing, washing... and nourishing with My body and blood." And in chapter 14 of the same book: "The immortal communion of the body and of the blood of the Lord, which together with the renewal (that is with baptism)... we receive." That is: "The divine and immortal communion of the body and blood of the Lord, which we receive together with the renewal (that is with baptism)." ^D

V. Although in the first centuries of the Church, baptism was given specially on the days preceding Easter and Pentecost, our Theologian however notes that baptism can be given on all days of the year, even at any hour, in which it differs most from the ancient pool, into which it was permitted to lower only one sick person once a year, and he subsequently adds: "For the authentic..." That is: "For the authentic baptism, after the advent of the Son and the Holy Spirit, daily, or rather at every hour, or, to speak more truly, continuously, both cleanses all those who descend (that is, all the baptized), and frees them from all sin forever, etc."

Facts attested by our Author

4691. Regarding the historical facts cited by our Author, it is not to be marveled at, if they are few, and most of them of small importance. For these things were too foreign to the matters which he was handling. How gladly will the Catholic, learned, and illustrious Spain see, I think, to be brought to light, the renowned testimony from so ancient an author, by which it is demonstrated that saint James truly came into Spain and preached the faith there. Opponents of this tradition will not be able to impugn that testimony at all, nor object to us that which they oppose with an argument taken from the Commentaries of saint Jerome on chapter XXIV of Isaiah, namely that one of the apostles was indeed destined to preach the faith in Spain, just as Jerome attests, and that this apostle was saint James, according to the ancient tradition of the Spanish Church, but that this preaching could not have been carried out by him, since he had been crowned with martyrdom in Jerusalem before: for the word used by our Theologian, without any doubt, signifies "a sojourn," and not only a destination. "For to one of the apostles..." (so he speaks in speaking about the Holy Spirit) "living in India..." That is: "For to one of the apostles living in India, and to another in Spain, and to others in other places, distributed by him to the ends of the earth, he imparted his own infallible and uncontaminated wisdom."

II. It is found in the third book, chapter 41, where he testifies that the heresiarch Montanus was first the priest of a certain idol. "So that above all Montanus..." That is: "Montanus, therefore, is not to be said in any way to have known the Holy Spirit, and to have had him, since he was of the opinion, and that indeed a hundred and more years after the assumption (ascension) of the Savior and the advent of the Holy Spirit, he became first the priest of an idol, then the author and doctor of this empty heresy."

III. The repentance of Arius, mentioned by the ancient Fathers and ecclesiastical historians, was faked and...

to whom is it more just (thus he writes), to Paul and the other saints, or to Macedonius, and to him who hypocritically repented, Arius?” IV. It seems indicated, albeit obscurely, in chapter 6 of the third book, that is, that in the time of our Author, there still prevailed among the heroes or masters the custom of giving their own name to their servants. And the text continues: “And the King was constituted (he speaks of Jesus Christ our Lord), and he who by nature and from eternity was Lord became Lord, when the disciples, as it was written, became his servants; when the Apostle wrote Rom. 1, 1: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ; when also we all, acknowledging him as Lord and Christ, have been named Christians, as if servants who have become partakers of the master’s name; just as it says in Isaiah LXV, 15: But those who serve me shall be called by a new name, etc.)

Authors cited by our Theologian

It will perhaps seem strange and superfluous to some, but not to Your Excellency, that I should also briefly commemorate here the authors cited by our Theologian. To those who think such things, I reply that I have been led to do so by two main reasons. The first of which is that by this manner of proceeding, the Author in question is better recognized, and that is the principal scope of this epistle, and in this I believe I ought to follow the example of the most learned Fabricius, who, especially when he speaks of unpublished or little-known writers, is accustomed to weave a catalog of authors praised by them. The later reason, however, is this: there will occur to me the occasion of explaining some new things, which are not unpleasant, as they are new, to the true lovers of science and erudition. Having premised these things, I come to the proposal, arranging the mentioned authors according to the order of antiquity.

The first and most ancient ^B author would be Hermes Trismegistus, if the works that our Theologian attributes to him, according to the common opinion of his own age, were genuine. He is cited in chapter 3 of the second book, where it is read: “Whence it is said also by Hermes, who is surnamed Trismegistus: 'It is impossible that good should exist in generation,' etc.” And likewise in chapter 27 of the same book, where these words of that author are reported: “From the three discourses to Asclepius.”

The second author, according to the order, would be Orpheus, if these two hexameter verses were his, which our Theologian mentions in the same 27th chapter of the second book in the following way: “Of Orpheus, who among the Greeks is the first theologian:

For all things under the great help of the immortal God Men accomplish, by the wise impulse of the Spirit.”

The third, and in my judgment the most ancient, is Pindar, who is alleged in two places. In the former, of chapter 2 of the third book, it stands thus: “And Pindar also, calling God faithful and true, spoke thus: 'And indeed the race of God is ever faithful.'” But it is to be noted that in the ode cited here it is read somewhat differently, thus: “And indeed the race of the gods is faithful.” In the latter, from an unnamed poet, he reports two verses from an ode which is numbered first among the Olympians.

“The remaining days are Most wise witnesses.”

Id est: “But later days are most wise witnesses.”

The fourth is Sophocles, whom he does not name and from whose work he excerpts two verses in chapter six of the third book.

The fifth is Diagoras of Melos, a celebrated philosopher, who is commonly called an Atheist. Nevertheless, certain ancient Christian writers, and among the more recent ones, Gottfried Arnold, have exempted him from the mark of such great infamy. His works perished a long time ago. But our Theologian preserved for us a fragment of his, at the end of the first chapter of the third book, which, in whatever way it is interpreted, seems to favor the sentiment of the apologists of Diagoras. “For the intelligence of man is not truly sufficient to say something about God without having received divine help and power, as Diagoras the Melian also said somewhere: God before every human work...” Since in this place I am not at all content with my own version, which I set down just as it is found in the codex, and wishing to consult the opinion of more learned men about it, I do not dare to present it here whole before the eyes of Your Excellency.

The sixth would be one of the two Comic Platos, whether the elder or the younger, I would not dare to say. For both are pagans, and the comedies of both are missing. Our Theologian, in chapter 27 of the second book, cites four iambic verses, which, however, I frankly confess, I do not think belong to an ethnic poet. “Of the Comic poet, who flourishingly in the following iambics [describes] the divinity uniquely extended into a Trinity, from which all things have been made and are saved.

For God is one, the supreme Father, Ruling all things most wisely by his Word, and by the Spirit He has set things slipping, and from the deep of error He draws them to the light from long disorder.”

Id est: “Of Plato the Comic writer who gracefully [describes] the Deity, preserving unity, extended into the Trinity in the following iambics (here one word is missing whose sense would be: Describes, or something similar), from which all things were made and are preserved.

For God is one, the supreme Father Who by his Word everything most wisely, and by his Spirit Firmament he set the slipping (things), and from the error of the Deep Into the light he recalls from long-standing confusion.”

The seventh is Plato the philosopher, whose one fragment taken from the Timaeus is found in the fourth chapter of the third book.

^C 470 The eighth is Aristotle, whose fifth book of the *Metaphysics* is cited in the fifth chapter of the third book.

The ninth is Aratus of Tarsus. Our Theologian cites him in chapter 18 of the third book, if indeed it can be said that he is cited by him; for he only refers to verses 17 and 19 from chapter 26 of the Acts of the Apostles, as they are read in the printed Greek text: but there St. Paul expresses only the first part of the fifth verse of the cited poet’s *Phaenomena*, whereas our Theologian reports it integrally, in this way: “For we are also his offspring: and he is kind to men.”

The tenth is Aquila. He is alleged in chapter 3 of the third book, in the following way: “For Aquila, one of the interpreters, [in regard to] this scripture which in Hebrew has *adonai kanoni*, put it forth thus: The Lord has acquired...”

me.” ^A

The eleventh is Porphyry (the detestable Porphyry), one passage of whom he cites in chapter 27 of the second book, which begins thus: “For up to the three hypostases, Plato said the essence of the divine proceeds.” That is: “For up to the three hypostases, Plato said the nature of the divinity proceeds.” ^B

The twelfth is St. Basil, whose words our Theologian does not quote, but only briefly alludes to them, setting forth in the following words an interpretation given by this eminent Father and distinguished doctor of a certain evangelical text: “As one of the holy Fathers, full of wisdom, taught without sophistry: Basil was his name.” That is: “As one of the holy Fathers, full of wisdom, taught without the paint of ratiocination: Basil was his name.” In truth, the aforementioned interpretation is found in Epistle 236 of St. Basil, on page 362 of the third volume of his Works, according to the edition of the monks of Saint Maur.

Furthermore, if I were to undertake to record here all the verses taken from ancient poets without indicating their authors, but only by mentioning them under this common denomination, *oi exō*, that is to say “Outsiders” or “Pagans,” I would never bring this epistle to an end, because such citations exceed the number of thirty-seven, and most of them are by no means short. Some of these are taken from the Sibylline Oracles and are therefore found in the edition of Opsopæus, while others are from other poets. It would be long and tedious even to merely set forth their names now.

Heretics refuted or at least mentioned by our Theologian

From the beginning, I already told Your Excellency that the primary and sole aim of our Theologian's entire work is to refute the heresies of Arius and Macedonius. However, he deals with the heretics who preceded the two aforementioned authors, and, as much as the subject matter allows, he refutes them in passing. ^C

The first and most ancient of them is Simon Magus. He speaks of him in chapter 42 of the third book, while recounting his wretched doctrines; for to recount them is to refute them at the same time. “This, therefore, is the dogma...” That is: “This dogma, therefore, is a certain emanation of a polluted doctrine, which proceeded from Simon Magus the Samaritan, who taught that the world was not made by God, but by angels; that there will be no future resurrection; and that sexual intercourse with all women ought to be without distinction, and he arrived at such a pitch of fury that he usurped the name of our Christ and great God.”

The second is Menander, who is mentioned in the aforementioned place along with Saturninus. Our Theologian testifies that both, although they disagreed on certain things among themselves, nevertheless agreed on the promiscuous use of women and on creation having been performed by angels, and arrived at such a degree of audacity that they affirmed that the Son of God was indeed just, but that the Father was unjust, and entirely foreign to the creation and providence of the world.

The third is Montanus with his followers. This is dealt with in chapter 18 of the third book, and it is asserted that the distinction of the divine persons was denied by this heretic. “But also so that the dull-minded…” That is: “But also so that even those dull and boorish Montanists might be put to shame, who think that the Father and the Paraclete are the same as the Son.” He affirms this also in chapter 38 of the same book, where he reports and at the same time refutes the errors of these heretics. He reduces them to three types in this chapter. First, that there is a single person, as he speaks, of the three divine hypostases: “One person being...” That is: “For they say, ‘I am the Father and the Son and the Paraclete’...” Second, that “They say...,” that is, “They say that Montanus came and had the perfection of the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit.” Third, that they say Priscilla and Maximilla were prophetesses, and that after the Savior’s advent there were other prophets; which our Theologian denies, especially regarding the prophetesses. “They say that...” That is: “They (the Montanists) say: You do not believe that there are prophets after the first advent of the Lord.”

The fourth heretic is Basilides, about whom in chapter 41 he affirms that, beyond the ravings of Menander, he also taught that 365 heavens were founded and established, which bear the name of angels, and of which the Basilidians call one by the holy name Arbasax. If, however, the numbers of the Greek letters of which that name is composed were counted, it would be found that it signifies exactly 365, and although it is more often and more commonly called Abraxas, it is nonetheless written as Arbasax by our Theologian.

The fifth is Carpocrates, who, as is evident from what is recorded in the aforementioned place, teaches the same madness and absurdities to which he adds this: that if anyone, defiled by sins, does not fulfill the will of all the demons, he cannot pass beyond the principalities and powers, nor arrive at the supreme heaven. ^D

The sixth is Valentinus, about whom he testifies in the above-mentioned place that, having admitted the heresies of the two previous heretics, he added two new ones. By one, he contends that the body was taken by Christ from heaven; but the other, which is a long fable—and whether it is more impious or more foolish it is not easy to say—consists in this: Bythos, which signifies Depth, generates Sige, or Silence, and from Silence the Jupiter of the Greeks or of the pagans fabricated and made a certain Word. And because Christ was baptized in the thirtieth year of his age, Valentinus also devised thirty Eons, that is, Ages, which he called gods, the last of whom was a hermaphrodite; and this was Sophia, who, when she wished to see the first God, was struck by his excessive brightness and fell from heaven, was cast out from the number thirty, and while lamenting, gave birth to the Devil by her tears. The rest of this fable is missing, as related by St. Irenæus and other writers who wrote about heresies, because certain parts of the codex have perished. Later, in the second book, chapter 6, paragraph 19, our Theologian affirms that Valentinus also taught that the Holy Spirit is coeval with the angels. “Of the excommunicated...” That is: “Of the excommunicated and cast-out Valentinus, who practiced Manichaeism, and besides other absurd inventions of fables, furiously said that the divine Spirit was coeval with the angels, etc.”

The seventh is Manes with his followers. He deals with this in chapter 18 of the third book, and reproaches him for calling the Father *apanthrōpon*, that is, “Inhuman,” and the divine Son alone *philanthrōpon*, that is, “human,” or benevolent toward men. “Together with them...” That is: “Together with them (with the Montanists), the Manichaean is also refuted, who does not admit the Old Testament, but calls the Father indeed inhuman, inasmuch as he cast Adam out of paradise, but the Son alone [human], that is, benevolent toward men, inasmuch as he came through himself and saved us.” And in chapter 21, he also attributes to the Manichaeans the error of the Phantasiasts. “They thinking [i.e., him] that the Manichaean indeed had a body in appearance; but the Arian, etc.” That is: “Since they think he (he speaks of Christ), the Manichaeans indeed, had a body in appearance; but the Arians, etc.” But he deals more fully with these heretics in chapter 42 of the aforementioned book. There he affirms that many exist in his time, and that they are contaminated by all shameful acts and filth. All of which he has known either by experience or by fame. He also reports that their system is composed of the errors of Simon Magus, Menander, Satur-

Saturninus, Basilides, Carpocrates, and Valentinus; and he added many other things in that chapter which are now missing, because the end of that codex, where he writes about the Manichaeans, has perished.

The last are Novatus and Sabbatius, who with the greatest temerity attempted to restrict the authority given by Christ to the Church to grant absolution and reconciliation to those who have lapsed. He refutes them in chapter 30 of the first book, as it were in passing: "The Redeemer," he says, "when he said: Whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, ^A cast off from that time the inhumanity of Novatus and Sabbatius."

CHAPTER IV. In what century our Theologian wrote, and who he was.

I have now arrived at the point where I would gladly put an end to this already-too-long letter, were I not compelled by your desire, which I must hold as a command, to say a few things regarding the two questions you have proposed to me, namely: in what century our Theologian wrote, and who he might be.

Regarding the first question, I dare assert nothing other than that the aforementioned work was undoubtedly composed after the death of St. Basil, which, as you well know, occurred on the first of January, in the year 379. For in chapter 22 of the third book, just as I have related in its proper place, not only is that holy doctor named by our Theologian, but furthermore, it is clearly demonstrated that he had already departed from this life by the phrase beginning with the words: *Tis ton en hagiois Pateron* (Which of the holy Fathers). But at what precise time that work was written by our Author, I cannot by any means say, and I would prefer to consult on this matter the many learned and erudite men by whom our century shines. Nevertheless, if you ask for my opinion, I will confess to you that, moved by certain reasons which are not to be disregarded, it seems most likely to me that the Author lived at the beginning of the fifth century.

For indeed, in the first half of the work, he speaks a great deal about the incarnate Word, and yet he makes no mention of the heresies of the Monothelites, the Eutychians, and the Nestorians; furthermore, much less in the other half, which pertains entirely to the divine person of the Holy Spirit, does he mention the controversy that arose between the Greeks and the Latins regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit. So that it can be said that our Author has dealt more or less with all the heresies that preceded the Macedonian and the Arian, but in no way with those which arose afterward, even though they have a greater connection than those mentioned above with the subject matter our Theologian was treating, and the occasion often occurred to him to commemorate either the unity of the person or the duality of the nature of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, although he collects from all quarters nearly countless texts from the holy Scriptures to demonstrate the consubstantiality of the divine persons, and often applies himself to unfolding and inculcating them, he ^B never opposes to the heretics the famous verse of St. John (1 Jn 5, 7): "There are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." This would be very surprising, were it not that other holy Fathers who wrote against the Arians in the fifth century acted in the same way, because at that time, for I know not what reason, this verse was missing from most of the codices of the holy Scriptures.

Thirdly, in chapter 10 of the second book, he reproaches the Arians for the election of Marathonius to the episcopacy made by them, about which one must read what Nicephorus writes in book IX, chapters 42 and 47 of his *Ecclesiastical History*, and that it was Macedonius who was accused of being the promoter of this election. *Amelēi toi en Euangeliō akouomen...* that is: "In the Gospel, we indeed hear the devil talking from the divine Scriptures with the Lord of all things (Matt. 4, 4: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down). Furthermore, we even hear demons speaking about God better than the Arians, who ordained your heresiarch Macedonius, and after him, Marathonius; indeed, when they say... [Marc. 1, 24: What is there between us and you, Jesus, Son of the living God?, etc.]" Yet if our Theologian had written two or three hundred years after the election and ordination of Marathonius to the episcopal see of Nicomedia, it does not seem credible that it would have occurred to him to speak of it and reproach the Arians with it.

Finally, I ask you to call to memory some things noted by me above, and especially what follows: that is, that when our Theologian was writing, the heresies of the Phrygians and of the Eunomians, who did not validly confer baptism, were still flourishing; ^C for which reason, if any of them were to repent to a sounder mind and wish to return to the bosom of the Church, they were rebaptized. Second, that the heresy of the Manichaeans was not only not extinct at that time, but a great number of them were infecting the Orient with the poison of error, as St. John Chrysostom often testifies in his homilies on the *Gospel of St. Matthew*. Third, that at that time the discipline of the secret still remained among the faithful, as is evidently clear from chapter 22 of book III, where, having cited these words: *Metechontes tou sōmatos kai tou haimatos autou*, that is: "Having been made partakers of his body and blood," he adds: *Isasin de hoi tou akrōtatou kai diaiōniou mystēriou kataxiōthentes ho legō*, that is: "Those, however, who have been made worthy of the supreme and everlasting mystery, let them know what I say." These and certain other circumstances which you will notice in the course of this letter, although they perhaps do not evidently demonstrate my opinion, nevertheless all seem to favor it, since all, if I am not mistaken, especially fit a Father of the fifth century.

As for the second question, I wish that I could give you a fitting answer, and one that would fully satisfy you! But since the work in question does not seem to me to be attributable to one Father or ancient writer rather than another, there is nothing for me to do but to indicate to you some signs by the assistance of which we might perhaps one day be able to discover and recognize the true author.

The first of these signs is, namely, that the author was a Catholic, burning with the greatest zeal, and that the heretic impugned by him, at least in chapter 8, paragraph 1, of the first book, was a Macedonian, who had written a booklet filled with heresies, and who had first been a deacon of the apostolic Church, and later was ordained bishop by the Arians. All of which is confirmed by the following words of the chapter cited above: *Kai pōs, ō Makedoniane, ouchi tauta para tas ennoias esti tas theologikas? pōs de autophōros ouk estin autothen hē hypokrisis?* And a little later: *Hoper mē phylattōn sy, ho Makedonianos*, and again a little later: *Kakeino de eidōs eso hoti ouk elathes panourgōs paradeilēphas en tō mataiō kai katablabei ponēmatiō sou, mallon de blasphēmētēriō, to proēgoumenon tou theiou graphiou...* And likewise not a little [of what follows]: *Ei d’ an de kai mē tēn archēn ēkoulouthēsas en merei tois 472 Areiou hypaspistais, hous mēde legein hēmas eiē mēde manthanein, erythriōn autous hōs peritetheikotas soi onoma episkopou, diakonō pro toutou tēs orthodoxou kai apostolikēs Ekklēsias tygchanonti, ouk an, k.t.l.*, that is: "How, O Macedonian, do you not see that these things are foreign to theological principles? And is not the hypocrisy self-evident from these very things? ... Which you, being a Macedonian, not observing, etc.... And also know this, that it does not escape you that you have fraudulently omitted, in your inept and pernicious booklet, or rather blasphemous writing, that which precedes in the divine text..... And as if, besides, you had not followed in part the sectaries of Arius at the beginning, whom it is not permitted for us either to name or to know, reverencing them, as those who imposed upon you the name of bishop, though you were previously a deacon of the orthodox and apostolic Church, you would not compare, etc......"

The second sign, however, is that our Author had children according to the flesh, namely, from his own

children. Nor indeed can I persuade myself that the children mentioned in the following texts can be called children only according to the spirit, as St. Cyril of Jerusalem speaks, ^A *dià katēchēseōs*. In the text already alleged, it is read in chap. 7, book II, paragraph 8: *Kerdos gar megiston...* that is: "For I think this is the greatest and eternal gain for myself, and for those who have sprung from me, and for those who are with us, to undergo every labor and danger strenuously, if need be, for Him who made us... Supplicate especially for me, and for those who have sprung from me, and for those who are with me, and for all... that... we, with all our children, with our whole house, with our whole family, and with all our friends (for friends to us are the orthodox), may deserve along with you, and with all the saints, to praise Him, by singing the *ter Sanctus* in the heavens, etc." And in chap. 27 of the same book: *Aisomai hyper tou emautou...* that is: "I pray for myself, and for those who are born of me, and for those who have been born and will be born of them, and indeed ^B even for all, being obedient to the Savior Christ, who commanded us to pray for one another." Finally, in chap. 2 of book III: *Tō de Theō...* that is: "But again, trusting in God in all things, who calms the waves and gives a prosperous voyage... I proceed to the following, believing that before I speak, I shall receive grace along with the children He has given me, and the children of my children, for whom we labor even while living, and furthermore with all whom He knows." The third sign is collected from chap. 26 of book II, where, beseeching the most holy Trinity and asking for many things, among other things he asks this grace of it, that the Nile may abound with waters; which prayer seems to indicate that he was an inhabitant of the region neighboring the Nile. *Kai euphoria men...* that is: "And there shall be right administration and profound peace throughout the whole earth and sea, in every way and manner: and the floods of the Nile shall be full; and there shall be the greatest abundance of crops; but great and all-manner of lack for the ambitious; nor let another lament for another any longer." ^C

Now, however, this one sign remains for me to add, by means of which, if by chance (as one might believe) another copy of this work were hidden in some library of Europe, it could now be more easily detected or found. For the first book is concluded with these words: *Hōs ta tōn anthrōpōn*, and it has 36 chapters, of which the first six are missing from my copy in their entirety, as well as a large part of the following ones up to the fifteenth. The second book begins thus: *Hoi spoudazontes einai naos kan posōs axios*, and it contains 27 chapters. The third begins thus: *Psychē kath’ hautēn en tō noētō apathēs hyparchousa*, and it contained 42 chapters only; because, although the forty-second is imperfect in my copy, with some parts missing at the end, nevertheless the index of chapters and subjects which is found at the beginning of the first book, as well as the second, demonstrates that there were no more than forty-two chapters.

These are a few things that I have been able, my Lord, to set forth for you concerning a most worthy author, in my judgment, who should be known. Would that another, stimulated by my letter, might discover another copy among old codices, which might at some time be brought to light: then I would no longer consider my epistle superfluous and destitute of any utility. If, however, you find in it something not unpleasant, as I am happy to believe, then I have already obtained the reward for my work and labor. For nothing is more dear to my heart than to do something pleasing to you. But may it please you to send me your opinion on the matter. Since the excellent opinion of your singular virtues, conceived by me long ago, grows more and more each day, with my whole heart I pray for all auspicious things for you, and omitting all tests of more diffuse service (for you would not accept such from a servant most devoted to you and most loving to you), revering you with the greatest reverence, I commend myself to your most benign grace. Venice, June 30, 1763.

ADMONITION ON THE FOLLOWING BOOK OF DIDYMUS ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

Didymus the Alexandrian, who provided a miracle of himself, in that, being deprived of sight from a tender age and ignorant of the very elements, he was nonetheless polished in every kind of science, and even in those which most require sight, among other monuments he left to his genius, was compelled by the frequent exhortation of the brothers to write this book *On the Holy Spirit*, in order to refute the comments of some regarding the Holy Spirit, which had been read neither in the Scriptures, nor used by any of the ancient ecclesiastics. Jerome, who admired Didymus’s erudition above all else, having used him as a master at Alexandria, began by explaining him in Latin words to the Roman Pontiff, Damasus, while he was at Rome; and later, having returned to Jerusalem, encouraged by his brother Paulinianus, he translated and edited it from the beginning.

Furthermore, the book is unique, just as Jerome himself says whenever he praises it, for example in *Catalogus* chap. 109, and in book II *Against Rufinus*, and the number of manuscript codices we have inspected are witness to this. Augustine also in his book of *Questions on Exodus*, chap. 25, Nicephorus book IX, chap. 17, and Ratramnus, who read this very Hieronymian version, in book II, chap. 5, against the Greeks, call it a single book; nor was it by anything other than inconvenient *periergia* that it came to be commonly divided by editors and critics into three books, contrary to the mind of the author and the interpreter. The very distinction of the books is also fortuitous and useless; for, by way of example, the third book is forced to take its beginning from the middle of an exposition of a prophetic passage, which is a fault most foreign to the genius of a learned writer. But it could be conveniently distributed into three parts or chapters; for, firstly, he establishes by many arguments and testimonies that the Holy Spirit is of a nature different from the angels; secondly, he proves the invocation of His name is necessary in baptism, so that he who withholds it baptizes imperfectly and does not even liberate from sin; thirdly, he teaches that He is indivisible and impassible, *homoousion* with the Father and the Son, and endowed with other attributes of the divine substance.

The Greek text of Didymus has perished, and perhaps Jerome’s own interpretation has driven it from the hands of scholars; yet many seem not to judge wisely when they subtract from its fidelity, while they invent that many things were added which did not originate from the Alexandrian author, and that many other things, especially the blemishes of the Origenian dogma to which he was addicted, were purged by the interpreter. I would certainly wish that very small account be taken of that, which nevertheless is mainly...

is a matter of the argument from the *homoousion* and *anomoioousion* words, by which the followers of Adamantius contend he was much horrified. For Didymus was neither so bound to the individual chapters of the Origenist sentiment that he thought he was allowed nothing else, nor, if he dared nothing more than that, can it be proven in any way, since his Greek exemplar is missing. Other things brought forward on this matter are far weaker.

The time to which this version by Jerome is to be ascribed is not properly concluded in one year, as usually happens with other treatises. It was indeed begun in Rome in the year 384, as is most clearly evident from his own Preface, while Damasus was still alive, who died toward the end of that same year. Certainly, the holy Doctor seems to suggest nothing other than just this little work of Didymus, which he had proposed to translate for himself, when he says that he wished to "chatter a little about the Holy Spirit and to dedicate the work, once begun, to the pontiff of that same (Roman) city." But it does not seem to have been completed before the year 389, when, avoiding the envy of his rivals, he had withdrawn to Jerusalem and was likewise in Bethlehem with his brother Paulinianus, Paula, and Eustochium. He indicates the same year, more or less, in his *Catalogue*, where he mentions this labor between the book of *Hebrew Names* and the *Homilies on Luke* from Origen.

As for the rest, we have corrected this edition of ours by the testimony of three manuscripts: namely, one Vatican, 4945; then another, most elegant one, which we found in the library of the Roman College of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus; and finally a Toulouse manuscript, from which Martianay had relegated the variant readings to the foot of the book. Of the editions that appeared before the Erasmian collection, we have often brought into council that earlier one from the year 1496 without the name of the place, then the Venetian one, which Barthius praises in his *Adversaria*; we have also weighed some of the conjectures of this same Barthius on this book, wherever it seemed worth the effort. There are, moreover, other editions of this work which there is no time to review one by one, and which you may find without any trouble among Bibliographers.

JEROME'S PREFACE TO PAULINIANUS

While I was lingering in Babylon [i.e., Rome], and was a resident of the purple-clad harlot, and living as a citizen by right of Quirinus, I wished to chatter a little about the Holy Spirit, and I dedicated the work I had begun to the pontiff of that same city. And behold, that pot, which is seen after the rod in Jeremiah from the face of the north, began to burn: and ^A the Senate of the Pharisees cried out, and not a scribe or a *fictus*, but a faction of ignorance conspired against me as if a battle of doctrines had been proclaimed against me. Straightway I, as if through a post-liminium, returned to Jerusalem: and after the hut of Romulus and the Lupercal games, I looked upon the lodging of Mary and the cavern of the Savior. Therefore, my Paulinianus [also called Paulinian], brother, because the aforementioned Pontiff Damasus, who first had urged me to this work, now sleeps [or "has fallen asleep"] in the Lord, I am now assisted ^B by the prayers—as much your own as those of the venerable handmaids of Christ to me, Paula and Eustochium—I murmur here in Judea, provoked by you, the canticle which I could not sing in a strange land; deeming the place that brought forth the Savior of the world to be much more august than that which brought forth the parricide of a brother. And to confess the author by his title: I preferred to exist as an interpreter of another's work than (as some do) to adorn myself with borrowed colors, like an ill-formed crow. I read long ago the books of a certain person concerning the Holy Spirit, and according to the sentiment of the Comic poet [i.e., Terence], from good Greek I saw not good Latin. There was nothing dialectical there, nothing manly and rigorous, which might draw the reader into assent even against his will: but everything was flaccid, soft, shiny, and beautiful, and perfumed with exquisite scents from here and there.

my own, having the eye of the spouse from the Song of Songs, and those lights which Jesus commanded in the burning [that is, harvest-ready] fields, he looks from much further away; and he has restored to us an ancient custom, so that one seeing the prophet might speak. Certainly, whoever reads this will recognize the thefts of the Latins; and he will despise the streamlets when he has begun to draw from the fountains. He is unskilled in speech, but not in knowledge: expressing the apostolic man by the very discourse [or style] itself, as much by the light of the senses as by the simplicity of words.

BOOK OF DIDYMUS THE ALEXANDRIAN ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, TRANSLATED BY SAINT JEROME.

1. All things that are divine, indeed, ought to be approached with reverence and forceful care: especially those things which are said concerning the divinity of the Spirit [or Holy Spirit], particularly when blasphemy against Him is without pardon: so that the punishment of the blasphemer extends not only into the entire present age, but even into the future. For the Savior says, that for him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, there is no remission, "neither in this age, nor in the future." ^B Whence it is necessary to consider more and more what the account of the Scriptures is concerning Him: lest, through ignorance, the error of blasphemy should creep upon anyone by chance. It would certainly have been advantageous for the faithful and timid man, who moderates his own strength, to pass over the magnitude of the present question in silence: and not to draw a matter full of peril into his own danger. But because some, rather with temerity than by the right path, are lifted up even to heavenly things, and boast such things concerning the Holy Spirit which are neither read in the Scriptures, nor usurped by any of the ^C ancient ecclesiastics, we have been compelled to yield to the frequent exhortation of the brothers: and to prove with the testimonies of the Scriptures what our opinion about Him is: lest, through ignorance of so great a dogma, those who oppose false things might deceive those who, without careful discussion, are immediately dragged over to the opinion of the adversaries.

2. The appellation of the Holy Spirit, and that which is shown from the appellation itself, the substance is entirely unknown by those who philosophize outside of Sacred Scripture. For the notion of Him and the word are referred *only* to our own Writings, as well in the New as in the Old. For David, a man of the Old Testament, having been made a partaker of Him, prayed that He might remain in him, saying: "Take not thy holy spirit from me." ^D And God is said to have aroused the Holy Spirit for Daniel while he was still a boy, as if He were already dwelling in him. Nor indeed are those men in the New Testament who are reported to have pleased God, also full of the Holy Spirit. For John, already sanctified in his mother's womb, leaps with joy, and Jesus, rising from the dead, when He had breathed into the face of the disciples, said: "Receive the Holy Spirit." The volumes of the divine Scriptures are full of these discourses, the collection of which I have refrained from organizing in the present work: because it is not difficult for every reader to find similar things from those which we have assumed.

3. Let no one, however, suspect that there was one Holy Spirit in holy men before the advent of the Lord, and another in the apostles and the rest of the disciples, and that He is as it were homonymous in different substances. We can, indeed, exhibit testimonies from the divine Writings, that the same Spirit was both in the apostles and in the prophets. Paul, in the Epistle which he writes to the Hebrews, bringing forward a testimony from the volume of the Psalms, commemorates that it was spoken by the Holy Spirit: "And as the Holy Spirit says here: Today if..."

you shall hear his voice, do not harden your hearts," etc. At the end also of the Acts of the Apostles, [arguing] with the Jews, he says: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying: You will hear with your hearing, and will not understand." For Paul, who wrote these things concerning Him, did not have a different Holy Spirit than the one who was in the prophets before the advent of the Lord; but [he spoke] of Him of whom he himself was a partaker, and all who were carried along by the virtue perfected in faith. Whence also, when he mentions Him with the article, as testifying that He is solitary and one, he says not simply *Pneuma hagion*, that is, "Holy Spirit," but with the addition of the article, *to Pneuma to hagion* ^A (7); that is, "this Holy Spirit." And he commemorates that Isaiah prophesied with an articulated voice, *dia tou pneumatos tou hagiou* (8), that is, "through this Holy Spirit," and not simply *Pneuma hagion*. Peter also, in that discourse in which he was persuading those present, says: "It was necessary [al. It behooves] that the Scripture be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit (that is, *to Pneuma to hagion*) spoke through the mouth of David concerning Judas" ^B; showing that he himself, the same Spirit, worked both in the prophets and in the apostles.

4. We shall treat of this more fully in what follows, when we begin to say that not only the Lord [al. God] the Word was made known to the prophets, but also the Holy Spirit; because He is possessed inseparably with the only-begotten Son of God. The very voice [al. The very voice therefore] of the Holy Spirit is not a hollow appellation, but a demonstration of the underlying essence: joined to the Father and the Son, and utterly alien from creatures. For since ^C creatures are divided into visible and invisible things—that is, into bodily and incorporeal things—the Holy Spirit is not of bodily substances, [He being] the dweller of soul and sense, the effector of speech, wisdom, and knowledge: nor is He of invisible creatures. For all these are capable of wisdom and other virtues, and of sanctification. But this substance, of which we now speak, is the effectrix of wisdom, knowledge, and sanctification. For there cannot be found in the Holy Spirit any strength, or operation of sanctification and virtue (9), which He sustains from some outsider: because every nature of this kind is mutable. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit, by the confession of all, is immutable, the sanctifier ^D of divine knowledge, and the attributor of all goods, and, to speak briefly, He himself subsisting in those goods which are lavished by the Lord. For Matthew and Luke, describing the same place in the Gospel, one of them says: "How much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those that ask him" ^A? The other, however: "How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him"? From which it appears that the Holy Spirit is the fullness of the gifts [al. goods] of God; and that those things which are administered divinely do not subsist without Him; because all utilities, which are received from the grace of the gifts of God, flow from this fountain. But that which is substantially good cannot be capable of an alien goodness, since it itself bestows goodness upon others. Therefore it is manifest that the Holy Spirit is alien not only from bodily, but also from incorporeal ^B creatures; because other substances receive this substance of sanctification; but He himself is not only not capable of the sanctification of another, but is moreover its attributor and creator. Finally, those who enjoy His communion are said to be partakers of the Holy Spirit, sanctified indeed by Him. For it is clearly written (10): "And doing despite unto the Spirit of grace," there is no doubt that this is he who has sinned after the reception of Him. But if he is sanctified through the communion of the Holy Spirit, it is shown that he himself has been a partaker of Him, and the Holy Spirit is the bestower of this sanctification. The Apostle also, writing to the Corinthians, and enumerating those who are to inherit the kingdom ^C of heaven, adds, saying: "And such indeed you were; but you have been washed, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified, in the name of Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God"; asserting that the Spirit of God is none other than the Holy Spirit. For in what follows he confirms the same, saying: "No man speaking in the Spirit of God calls Jesus anathema: and no man can say Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit," confirming that the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit.

5. Therefore He is the sanctifier [al. sanctification], not of changeable, but is shown to be of immutable substance. But that ^D the substance of God alone, and of his only-begotten Son, is immutable, the divine oracles most clearly teach: preaching that every substance of creatures is convertible and mutable. Therefore, since the substance of the Holy Spirit is shown to be not convertible, but inconvertible: He will not be a creature *homoousion* [leg. *homoousios*]. For created things would also be immutable if He were placed with the Father and the Son, having the same inconvertibility. For everything that is capable of an alien good is separated from this substance. Such indeed are all creatures; but God, since He is good, is the fountain and principle of goods: He therefore makes those good to whom He imparts Himself, being good Himself not made by another, but subsisting: therefore capable (11).

^A and not incapable. The Only-Begotten Son, who is His wisdom and sanctification, does not become wise, but makes others wise; and He is not sanctified, but He sanctifies. Whence He also is capable, and not incapable. Since, therefore, an invisible creature—which it is customary to call a rational and incorporeal substance—is not incapable, but capable (for if it were incapable, it would be capable of no good), being simple in itself and subsisting, and a recipient of another's good; it has good by participation, and should be understood not to have it from those things that are held by others, but from those things which others hold, having it more from the Father and the Son than those who possess it; but as for the creature, possessing and not being possessed, let us also discuss the Holy Spirit (12), [and] if indeed He also is holy by participation in another's holiness, let Him be numbered with the other creatures. But if He makes those who are capable of Him holy, let Him be placed with the Father and the Son. That the Holy Spirit is taken by others, and does not take things, we have expressed both now and in our volume on the Sects (as far as we were able) (13): and it is very easy to confirm our discourse from all Scripture. The blessed Apostle also, writing to the Ephesians, says: "In whom you also, when you had believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance" (Eph. 1, 13). For if certain ones are sealed by the Holy Spirit, assuming His form and appearance, the Holy Spirit is of those things which are had, and do not have: those who have Him being impressed with His seal. Writing the same to the Corinthians [Ephesians], he says: "Do not," he says, "grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you were sealed" (Eph. 4, 30), testifying that those who had received the communion of the Holy Spirit were sealed. For in what way he who receives the seal and figure of discipline and virtue (if I may so say) receives into his own sense the knowledge which he has received: so also he who is made a participant of the Holy Spirit, through His communion becomes both spiritual and holy (14).

^A Jesus filled the preachers of His doctrine with the Spirit; and breathing upon their faces, ^B "Receive," He said, "the Holy Spirit" (John 20, 22), and, "Going, teach all nations" (Matt. 28, 19), as if He were sending them all to all nations. For not all the apostles went forth to all nations equally, but some were dispersed into Asia, some into Scythia, and others into other nations; according to the dispensation of the Holy Spirit whom they had with them, just as the Lord also saying, "I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" (Matt. 28, 20). To this also corresponds that word: "You shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the end of the earth" (Acts 1, 8). If, therefore, these were established in the extremities of the earth by the testimony of the Lord, and were distant from one another by the longest intervals, yet the indwelling Holy Spirit was present to them, having an uncircumscribed substance, the angelic virtue is shown (15) to be entirely alien from this. For an angel who was present, for example, to an apostle praying in Asia, could not at the same time be present to others established in other parts of the world. But the Holy Spirit is present not only to men separated from Him, but He stays as an indweller with each and every angel, principality, throne, and dominion; and as He is the sanctifier of men, He is of a different nature than men are; so also, sanctifying other creatures, He is other than their substance, since every creature is not made holy from its own substance, but from the communion of another's holiness.

7. The holy angels are indeed called such in the Gospel, the Savior saying that the Son of Man is to come in His majesty and that of the Father and the holy angels (Luke 9, 26). And Cornelius in the Acts of the Apostles is written to have received a response from a holy angel (Acts 10, 22), that he should call Peter, the disciple of Christ, to himself. But holy angels are so by participation in the Holy Spirit, and by the indwelling [alt. communion] of the Only-Begotten Son of God, who is holiness, and the communion of the Father (16). Of whom the Savior says: "Holy Father" (John 17, 11). If, therefore, angels are not holy from their own substance, but from participation in the holy Trinity.

^A it is shown that their substance is from the Trinity. For as the Father who sanctifies is one thing, and they who are sanctified are another; and the Son is one thing, and they whom he makes holy another: so the Holy Spirit is of a different substance from those who are sanctified by the gift of sanctification. But if heretics propose that angels are holy by the nature of their own condition, they are consequently compelled to say that they are *homoousios*—of the same substance—with the Trinity, and that they are immutably holy by substance. If, however, they avoid this and say that they are indeed of one nature with other creatures, but do not possess the same holiness that humans possess: it will of necessity be deduced (17) that they must say that human beings are of a much better substance, since they possess holiness through communion with the Trinity, whereas angels ^B are holy by their own nature and are alien to it. But the prayers of perfect men, and of those coming to the consummation of holiness, are to be made equal to the angels (18). Angels, indeed, bring aid to men, and not men to angels, ministering salvation to them and announcing to them the more abundant benefits of God (19). From which it is clearly shown that angels are more honorable and much better than men, through a closer—if I may say so—and fuller assumption of the Trinity.

8. Wherefore, seeing that the Holy Spirit is distinct from those things which he himself sanctifies, he is not of one nature with the rest of the creatures that receive him. If, however, he is of a different nature from the creatures and subsists in his own essence, he is shown to be uncreated and unproduced. There are many Scriptures that unambiguously convince us that he is of a nature different from all created conditions. ^C Some are also said to be full of the Holy Spirit; but no one—neither in the Scriptures nor in common parlance—is said to be full of a creature. For neither does Scripture claim this for itself, nor does common speech, that you should say someone is full of an angel, or a throne, or a dominion; for this language is suitable only to the divine nature. We do, however, say that some are full of virtue and discipline: as in that passage, "He was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Exod. XXXI, 3); signifying nothing else but that they are full of consummate and perfect virtue. It is written concerning John: "And he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" (Luc. I, 15); and again: "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (ibid. 41); and after other things: "And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit" (ibid. 67). ^D There is no doubt that John also prophesied. Likewise, in the Acts of the Apostles, concerning many believers who had gathered together, it is reported: "They were filled with the Holy Spirit" (Act. II, 4). Since, however, the Holy Spirit is participable, similar to wisdom and discipline, he does not possess substance in empty names; but he subsists as good through the nature that sanctifies and fills all things with good things, according to which some are also said to be filled with the Holy Spirit, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness" (Act. IV, 31). For just as one who is full of some discipline, who possesses it perfectly, can speak about it learnedly and subtly: so those who have received the Holy Spirit consummately, so that they are filled with him, speak the word of God with boldness, because the present Holy Spirit ministers a voice worthy of God. Hence some say with a haughty air: "Thus says the Holy Spirit" (Act. XXI, 11); and the Apostle: "But be filled," he says, "with the Holy Spirit" (Ephes. V, 18); and in many places in the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples of the Lord are written to have been full of the Holy Spirit: "Look therefore, brethren, for seven men among you, having a good testimony, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom" (Act. VI, 3); and concerning Stephen: "But when he was full of the Holy Spirit, looking up to heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" (Act. VII, 55); and concerning the vessel of election it is said: "But Saul, who also is Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking at him, said" (Act. XIII, 9); and in common it is noted concerning all believers: "The disciples also were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" (Act. XIII, 52). But the presence of angels, or of any other excellent nature that was made, does not fill the mind and the sense; because it too is filled from elsewhere. For just as one who receives from the fullness of the Savior becomes full of wisdom, and virtue (20), and justice, and the word of God: so he who is full of the Holy Spirit is immediately filled with all the gifts of God—with wisdom, knowledge, faith, and the other virtues. He who therefore fills all creatures, which yet are able (21) to receive virtue and wisdom, is not of those things which he himself fills. From which it is gathered that he is of a different substance than are all creatures. We have said also elsewhere, that in the substance of the Holy Spirit there is to be understood also the fullness of divine gifts.

9. Finally, it is impossible for anyone to obtain the grace of God if he does not have the Holy Spirit: in whom we prove (22) that all the gifts of God consist. That, however, he who has him has also perfectly attained the word of wisdom and the remaining good things: both now the discourse demonstrates clearly, and we said a little before, that the Holy Spirit is the substance of the good things of God; when we placed the example, "The Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (Luc. XI, 13); and "The Father will give...

^A to those who ask." Nor must we imagine the Holy Spirit to be divided according to substances [al. substance], because a multitude of good things is mentioned: for He is impassible, and indivisible, and immutable; but according to different faculties and intellects, He is called by many names of good things; because He does not bestow His communion upon those who partake of Him according to one and the same virtue, inasmuch as He is suited to the utility of each, and He fills with good things those whom He judges ought to have Him present. Finally, Stephen, that first witness of the truth, and worthy of his name (23), is said to have been full of wisdom and of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, consequently, surpassing intellect, with the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, as the Scripture speaks: "And the apostles chose Stephen, full of faith and the Holy Spirit; and: Stephen however, full of grace and power, was performing miracles (24) and great signs among the people." And further concerning the same: "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit who was speaking in him." For the blessed man, having become full of the Holy Spirit, was also a partaker of the faith which comes from the Holy Spirit, according to that, "To another, faith, in the same Spirit." And having grace and virtue according to the same Spirit, he was performing great signs and miracles among the people. Moreover, he abounded with those gifts according to the same Spirit, which are called the graces of healings and virtues. And these are indeed ranked in the enumeration of the gifts of God, which are placed by the Spirit, and according to the Spirit, in the first Epistle of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians. ^B To such a degree, however, did Stephen abound in divine grace that none of those contradicting, and of those who were disputing against him, could resist the wisdom and the Spirit who was speaking in him. For he was wise by the Holy Spirit (25). Whence also Jesus clearly proclaims to his disciples: "When you have been brought to principalities, and powers, and councils, and synagogues, be not anxious as to what you must say, or what you speak in that hour. For there shall be given to you from the Holy Spirit words of wisdom, which those who are even vehemently skilled in disputes cannot contradict."

10. But let us set forth the testimony itself, which is woven thus: "When, however, they have brought you into synagogues to principalities and powers, be not anxious as to how or what you should answer, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you ought to say." And in another Gospel: "Place therefore in your hearts not to premeditate how you should answer: for I shall indeed give to you a mouth and wisdom, which those who are ^C defending themselves against those who were contradicting the Gospel cannot contradict." It is clearly shown that the word of wisdom and knowledge is super-intelligibly understood in His substance. How, however, the Savior grants to the disciples in that hour a mouth and wisdom, which they cannot contradict—not even those who are thought to be most eloquent among men—is not the time to discuss, because we now propose to show that the gifts of the virtues are always super-intelligibly understood in the Holy Spirit; so that he who has Him is held to be full of the gifts of God. Whence also in Isaiah, God himself says to someone: "I will place my Spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children." For no one ever receives the spiritual blessings of God, unless the Holy Spirit has preceded. For he who has received the Holy Spirit will consequently have the blessings, that is, wisdom, and intellect, and the rest, of which the Apostle writes thus: "For this cause we also, from the day we heard, do not cease praying for you, and begging, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: walking worthily before God." For he says that those who walk worthily for Him [al. for good things] through works, and words, and prudence, are filled with the will of God, who places the Holy Spirit upon them, so that they may be filled with wisdom and intellect, and the remaining spiritual goods; wisdom, however, and intellect, which are in the Holy Spirit, are given by God (26). "The Lord," he says, "will give wisdom; and from his face proceeds wisdom and intellect"; whereas the wisdom which comes from men is not spiritual, but carnal and human. Of this, therefore, the Apostle writes: "Not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God have we conversed in [al. in this] world"; calling carnal wisdom that which consists in corporeal things from human thought (27). Furthermore, spiritual and intellectual wisdom, holding itself concerning invisible and intellectual things, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, bestows its presence upon those who receive it. In many other places also, the Apostle mentions that the gifts of God dwell [al. are commemorated] in the substance of the Holy Spirit; just as in that: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, and the power of the Holy Spirit."

11. But God, the giver of good things, will return [al. returns] what He promised in the power of the Holy Spirit to those who have Him; He fills with joy and peace those who possess an undisturbed and calm thought, and who have joyful minds, and tranquil from every tempest of perturbations. Whoever, however, in the power of the Holy Spirit ^D shall have been...

initiated, and also follows the right faith in the mystery of the Trinity, they shall attain it. In another place of the same Epistle: "The kingdom of God," he says, "is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." ^A For by asserting that righteousness in the Holy Spirit—that is, every virtue—and the peace of which we spoke above, are joined to the joy of God, he proves most manifest to those who could hear him that these goods are nothing other than the substance of the Holy Spirit. Since, therefore, these goods come to men from the largesse of the Holy Spirit, the calling of the Gentiles which He introduced through evangelical doctrine is rendered acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Spirit; because the Holy Spirit, who makes those sanctified and acceptable in Him, is the substance of the goods of God. And he who is full of Him does all things according to reason, teaching rightly, living irreproachably, and truly and perfectly demonstrating signs and wonders. For the Holy Spirit possesses that treasure which excels for him, and [is] the cause of the fullness of all goods. ^B Peter, the disciple of the Lord Jesus, knew that the largesse of the Holy Spirit is the nature of the gifts of God. For he says to those who rebuked his entry to Cornelius: "If, therefore, God gave them the equal gift, bestowing the Holy Spirit, as he did to us in the beginning, who was I that I could withstand the Lord?" And furthermore to his own: "God, the knower of hearts," he says, "bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us: and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith." In this sense, it also agrees with that which is said in many places, that the Holy Spirit is given by the Lord: "Jacob my servant, I will receive him; Israel my elect, my soul shall receive him; I have given my spirit in him"; and further: "Who gives breath to a people settled upon it [the earth]," there is no doubt but that it means the earth, "and spirit to those who tread upon it." We have shown above, however, that the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit are not different. Paul also says: "The charity of God is diffused in your hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us"; and that: "How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" ^C But this Spirit is also said to be poured out by God upon all flesh, that they might prophesy and see visions, who have received Him, according to Joel, who speaks in the person of God: "I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." For the effusion of the Spirit exists as the cause of prophesying and of seeing the sense and beauty of the truth. The name of effusion itself also proves the uncreated substance of the Holy Spirit. For God does not, when He sends an angel or another creature, say: "I will pour out of my angel," or dominion, or throne, or lordship. For this term is consistent only with those things which are participated in by others: just as now, and a little before, we spoke of the charity of God, which is diffused in the hearts of those who have received the Holy Spirit. "The charity of God," he says, "is diffused in your hearts, through the Holy Spirit, who is given to you." ^D The Savior also, because He Himself is capable, is said to be poured out in the likeness of ointment: "Your name is as ointment poured out." For just as ointment that is contained in a vessel indeed has the substance of fragrance, but is prevented from spreading further because it is shut up inside the vessel, but when the vessel has been poured out outside it sends its fragrance far away: so the fragrant name of Christ, before His advent, dwelled only in the people of Israel, as if included in a Judean vessel: "For God is known," he says, "in Judea, His name is great in Israel." But when the Savior, shining in His flesh, extended His name into the whole earth, or rather into every creature, when that which is written is fulfilled: "How admirable is Your name in the whole earth!" to which the Apostle follows by saying: "For there is no other name given under heaven, in which we ought to be saved"; and the Psalmist speaks to the Lord: "You have magnified Your holy name above all": then it was fulfilled, "Your name is as ointment poured out." The word of effusion signifies, however, the large and rich abundance of the gift.

12. Therefore, when one or two receive the Holy Spirit, it is not said, "I will pour out of my spirit": but [only] when the gift of the Holy Spirit has overflowed to all nations. And to Titus, the Apostle commemorates the salvation made for the Gentiles: "Not by the works of justice which we have done, but by the laver of the second regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us abundantly." And here, too, the word of effusion shows the large bestowal of the Spirit. From all of which we are taught that the substance of the Holy Spirit is capable, and from this, [it is] uncreated. He calls "capable" the substance which is received by many, and distributes the communion of itself to them; but it is "capable" in the sense that it is filled by the communication of another's substance: and it is receiving another, and it itself is not received by another. For to that which is capable is immediately consequent that which is unchangeable, and to that which is unchangeable, eternity; just as, on the contrary, to that which receives a changeable thing, the changeable and the created are consequent. Therefore, nothing of the creatures is unchangeable.

^A Not only, therefore, is what is rational in humans subject to change and created, but this same capacity for change is also found in all creatures. For the divine scriptures demonstrate both the changes and the falls of the angels. For although the multitude of angels and of other excellent powers persevere in blessedness and holiness, yet because they have been brought about in a nature that shares that [same capacity for change], it is clearly shown that they remain in their first state not by the immutability of their substance, but by a more diligent service in the Lord. For the nature of co-equals cannot be diverse. For since the entire human race is mortal, and individual men are mortal, so that conversely, if any of the higher [beings] are immortal, there is no doubt that all, being established in the same genus and species, are immortal.

^B 13. But since these things are so, if even one angel should appear mutable, all will be mutable, even if they have not been changed by persevering in blessedness; just as all the bodies of men are divisible, although not all are divided. For some of them, having suffered division, interpret the nature of the rest that are similar to them. With these things thus discussed, the Holy Spirit is shown to be of a different substance from the visible and invisible creatures. But if this is true, some most impiously count the Holy Spirit among all things, saying that in the statement that all things were made by God through the Word, the making of the Holy Spirit is also signified. For the Holy Spirit is proven to be not one of all things, but something else outside of all things in substance from both. For if a creature, as we showed above, is divided into corporeal and incorporeal, and the Holy Spirit is created, then he will be either a visible or an invisible creature, that is, corporeal or incorporeal. But he will by no means be a body, as we said before, since he teaches, and grants knowledge, and is grasped by the sense and the soul. Nor will he be an invisible creature, as we have argued a little earlier about him. Hence, the Apostle also, in the Epistle which he wrote to the Hebrews, shows that he is other than all the angels, saying: "To which of the angels did He say at any time: Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool of your feet? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent for ^C service, for the sake of those who were to receive salvation?" And after other things: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Which, having received its beginning to be spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, God bearing witness with signs and wonders and various virtues, and with the distributions of the Holy Spirit according to his will." For this expression "to which of the angels" is taken equally as if he said: to none through an angelic name signifying the substance of all invisible creatures. For God did not say to any of the angels, nor to any other rational creature: "Sit on my right hand." Therefore, the discourse declares in common that it was not said to any creature: "Sit on my right hand." And this is said in common about the creature. And pronouncing upon all invisible creatures, he says they are ministering spirits. For this reason he added: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent for service?" For although not all individual invisible creatures have been sent, yet because others of the same genus and honor have been sent, in a certain way they themselves are sent by possibility: being partners and of equal substance with those sent. How, therefore, is the Lord, through whom that great salvation received its beginning to be spoken, other than all creatures—the salvation of which the Apostle, not wanting us to be neglectful, says: "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which, having received its beginning to be spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard," but [he shows] also that God who bears witness with signs and wonders to this salvation is other than all ministering spirits: so too the Holy Spirit, to whose distributions according to his will God bears witness, distributing him, not by parts of a cutting, but by the communion which he has decreed to grant them, is himself also of a different substance from those into which he is poured out as distributed.

14. Therefore, since we have approved according to the sense of the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is something other than every creature, in vain, nay rather impiously, do some, wishing to show that he is created, use the testimony in which all things are referred to as having been made through the Word; so that, forsooth, even his eternal substance might be contained among all things. And because they use the prophetic discourse to approve his creation, with God saying: "Creating a spirit," we must also show them in this to be utterly alien from the understanding of the truth. For the discourse of the prophet was not proposed concerning the Holy Spirit, as is understood from the very series ^D and context of the eloquence. Inasmuch as the prophet Amos, from the person of God, says: "Prepare to call upon your God, O Israel: for I am he who establishes the thunder, and creates the spirit, and announces his Christ to men: making the dawn and the mist, and ascending above the high places of the earth: the Lord God Almighty is his name." For God, who had spoken beforehand that he would create a spirit and make it: also said he establishes the thunder and makes the dawn and the mists. If, therefore, we persevere in the aforementioned narration, that is, in the thunder and the dawn and the clouds, we ought to hold the same order of narration also regarding the spirit, so that what is said by God is such as this: That you may call upon me, who am God, who provide for all things, who also am the creator of all,

^A that I may establish the roaring of thunder, and that I may establish the spirit, and that I may make the dawn and the mist for certain benefits to men; prepare yourself to call upon me, O Israel; so that when you have been prepared to call upon me, and have prayed to me, who establish the aforementioned things, you may enjoy the happiness of the seasons and the distribution of other good things, as I serve you everything year by year according to the order of nature, so that the year flows with abundance, so that the moments of the hours run by in their own time, so that the thunders roar in their own time, and a healthful breeze breathes with auspicious winds. But if, by way of allegory, the thunder, and the dawn, and the mist, and the creation of the spirit are understood, they will signify not the substance of the thing, but a figurative interpretation.

15. But if anyone should oppose this, suggesting that it is said of the Holy Spirit, because it refers to the creation of the Spirit, by the that which follows: “And announcing toward all men his Christ,” while in the Hebrew it is held: “He announces to man his speech”; that is to say, that he who is the Creator of all, he himself also inspires the prophets, and through them declares his will to men. And to this it must be answered, that certain heretics, while inventing another Father of the Savior outside the Creator, most impiously preaching this—not foreseeing their own wicked suspicion being struck down by God, saying: “I, forming [Vat. establishing] the thunder, and creating the spirit, and making and governing other parts of the world, announce my Christ to men.” For this is the work of my providence above all my works, that I may subsist as the cause not only of those things which are outside, but also of those which pertain to the benefit [al. humility] and utility of the soul and mind. I consider this which is said, “I create the spirit,” to be posited just as if it were said, “creating wind.” For God conducts these breaths, which are produced through the motion of the air, by his own disposition, according to that which we read elsewhere: “Who brings the winds out of his treasuries.” ^B It is good, however, that in the very sentence he does not say: “who have created,” but “who create the spirit.” For if the discourse were about the substantiality of the Holy Spirit, he would have said, at any rate, “who have created.” For he does not always create the same thing. Now, however, it is said in sequence regarding the breath, “I create,” because they are not made once, but in the fact that they subsist, they come to be daily. For not without reason, without the article, which in the Greek language is the significator of singularity, is the spirit now called created, since he is not holy, whereas almost always the Holy Spirit is named with the article, as in that: *αὐτὸ τὸ Πνεῦμα*, that is, “the Spirit itself bears witness to our spirit”; and elsewhere: *Αὐτός ἐστιν τὸ ζωοποιοῦν*, that is, “He himself is the one who gives life.” And again: “So also the things of God, no one knows except *τὸ Πνεῦμα*,” that is, “the Spirit of God: *τὸ γὰρ Πνεῦμα*,” this is, “For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” And many things which it is possible to excerpt from the Holy Scriptures. But if anywhere he is rarely named without the article as the Holy Spirit, it must be known that he is named with an adjunct signifying his magnificence. For it is sometimes said even without the article, when it is not he himself in himself, but his participation that is shown: as, for example, “The spirit of Elijah”; and, “Walk by the spirit,” and whatever things are similar to these.

16. Since, therefore, from these things which I have recorded, and from many others, it has been demonstrated that the Holy Spirit is not a creature, and is nowhere numbered among conditional things, but is always placed with the Father and the Son: now let us see what indifference [al. difference] he has with both. At the end of the second Epistle which Paul writes to the Corinthians, he says: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be always with you all.” ^C For from the present discourse is shown the one assumption of the Trinity: since he who has received the grace of Christ, has it as much through the administration of the Father, as through the largesse of the Holy Spirit. For it is given by God the Father and [al. by the Lord] Jesus Christ, according to that: “Grace to you, and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,” with the Father not giving one grace and the Savior another. Since he describes [Vat. writes] that it is given by both the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, made complete by the communion of the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit himself is also called grace, according to that: “And doing injury to the spirit of grace, in which he was sanctified.” ^D

God also promises to pour out grace—that is, he will most abundantly bestow the spirit of grace and mercy upon Jerusalem. For when anyone receives the grace of the Holy Spirit, he will have it given by God the Father and by our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, one grace, completed by the operation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, demonstrates the Trinity to be of one substance. In another place ^A also: “The charity,” he says, “of God be with you all,” which is both bestowed and confirmed by the Trinity. For the Savior says: “He who hears my words and keeps them, this is he who loves me. But he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him.” For there is not one love of the Savior toward those who are loved, and another love of the Father. For God loves for salvation, because “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” ^B Likewise, the Son, who is Life, in order to bestow life and salvation, loves those whom he wills to become better. Hence, he says that he who is loved by the Father is loved by him. And concerning him, it is placed in the prophet: “And he himself shall save them, because he has loved them.”

17. The Apostle attests to this love, just as he does to joy and peace, which is ministered by the Father and the Son, saying: “But the fruit of the spirit is joy, peace, charity.” Which charity is poured out in the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit. “For the charity,” he says, “of God is poured out in your [others say: our] hearts by the Holy Spirit.” For everyone who communicates with the Holy Spirit communicates through participation in him, according to that: ^C “And may the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you all.” And in another place: “If there is any communion of the Spirit.” When he has the wisdom of God and the word, and in all things the truth, he will also have a fellowship of holiness in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. “But God is faithful, by whom you were called into the communion of his Son.” John also writes concerning the Father: “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have communion with him.” And further: “And our communion is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.” Therefore, whoever communicates with the Holy Spirit immediately communicates with the Father and the Son. And he who has the charity of the Father has it from the Son, imparted through the Holy Spirit. But he also who is a participant in the grace of Jesus Christ has the same grace, ^D given by the Father through the Holy Spirit. For in all things it is approved that the operation of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is the same. But of those for whom there is one operation, there is also one substance; for those things which are of the same substance are *homoousia* (of the same substance), and they have the same operations; and those things which are of another substance, and are *anomoousia* (of a differing substance), are dissonant and diverse.

18. Nor is the unity of the Trinity taught only by these things which we have set forth, but by countless others, of which we shall again set down a few in their own order. Peter, rebuking Ananias because he had committed fraud in the sale of the field, the whole price of which he said he had offered, proved the unity of the Holy Spirit with God, not according to number, but according to substance, saying: “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart, that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and hide from the price of the field? While it remained, did it not remain to you? And being sold, was it not in your power? Why have you put this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.” For if he who lies to the Lord lies to the Holy Spirit, and he who lies to the Holy Spirit lies to God, it is doubtful to no one that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with God. And in the same way that holiness subsists in God, in the same way also deity [or divinity] is understood in the Holy Spirit. But this Holy Spirit, whom we have stated to be of the same nature as the Father, does not differ even from the divinity of the Son, the Savior saying to the disciples: “When they shall bring you into the synagogue before principalities and powers, do not be anxious how or what you shall answer. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you ought to speak. Settle it in your hearts not to premeditate to answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which they shall not be able to resist or contradict.” And indeed, in these things, while saying that they ought not to be anxious as to what they should answer to those who contradict them, because in that same hour they are taught by the Holy Spirit what they ought to answer, he immediately brought forward what is the cause of their confidence, saying: “Settle it in your hearts not to premeditate to answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which they shall not be able to resist or contradict.” For when he has said that in the time of answering they are to be taught by the Holy Spirit what they ought to answer, in what follows he says: “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom,” etc.

19. From which it is shown that wisdom is given to the disciples by the Son as the Holy Spirit, and that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is the doctrine of the Lord; and that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit with the Son is one of nature and of will. And because it was demonstrated above that the Spirit is a companion by nature to the Only-Begotten of God and to God the Father; but the Son and the Father are one, according to that: “I and the Father are one,” not divided [or indivisible], and inseparable, according to nature, the Trinity has been shown.

In another Gospel also it is said: “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” If, therefore, the Spirit of the Father speaks in the apostles, teaching them what they ought to answer, and what is taught by the Spirit is wisdom—which we cannot understand to be anyone other than the Son—it appears clearly that the Spirit is of the same nature with the Son, and with the Father, whose Spirit He is. Furthermore, the Father and the Son are one. Therefore, the Trinity is united in the unity of substance.

20. By another example from the Scriptures, the unity and nature of the Trinity, and its power, are shown. The Son is called the hand, and the right hand, and the arm of the Father. As we have frequently taught, from these terms the indifference ^A of one nature is demonstrated. The Holy Spirit is also called the finger of God, in accordance with the conjunction of the nature of the Father and of the Son. For, indeed, in one of the Gospels, against those who were detracting from the signs of the Lord, saying: “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons,” the Savior asks and says: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Another evangelist describing this same passage, introduced the Son as saying: “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God.” From which it is shown that the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. If, therefore, the finger is joined to the hand, and the hand to Him whose hand it is; and the finger is without doubt referred to the substance of Him, whose finger it is.

21. But beware lest you, cast down by the humility of the discourse about which it is now being ^B disputed, depict in your mind the diversities of bodily limbs; and begin to imagine for yourself magnitudes, and inequalities, and the rest of the greater or lesser parts of bodies; saying that a finger is distinct from a hand, and a hand from Him whose hand it is, by many inequalities, because Scripture now speaks concerning incorporeal things, wishing only to demonstrate unity, not the measure of substance: for just as the hand is not divided from the body, through which it accomplishes and performs all things, and is in Him whose hand it is: so also the finger is not separated from the hand, whose finger it is. ^C Therefore, cast away inequalities and measures when you think of God, and understand the unity of the finger and the hand, and of the whole substance: by which finger the law was written on stone tablets. By another Scripture also, it is very easy to show the proof of our faith. God alone is called wise: not receiving wisdom from another, nor is He named wise through the participation of another's wisdom. For although many are called wise, it is not from their own nature, but from the communication of wisdom. But God, not having become wise by the participation of another's wisdom nor from elsewhere, is called the only wise One, and He who generates wisdom, and makes others wise. Which wisdom is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is called the power of God, and the wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit is also called wisdom. Indeed, it is also related in the ancient books that Joshua, son of Nun, was filled by the Lord with the spirit of wisdom. As, therefore, God alone is wise, not receiving wisdom from elsewhere, but making wise and generating wisdom: He is alone wise, apart from all who by naming are called wise: “For a multitude of the wise is the safety of the world”; and, “Those who know themselves, these are wise”; and again: “When you are with the wise, you will be wise”; so also the Holy Spirit, not receiving wisdom from elsewhere, is called the Spirit of wisdom; for this very thing which He subsists as, is the Spirit of wisdom, and His nature is nothing else but the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of God, concerning which we have already disputed abundantly in the volume on the Sects. Whence, lest we repeat the same things superfluously, we are content with the past dispute.

22. Therefore, since the Spirit of wisdom and truth is inseparably with the Son, He Himself also subsists as wisdom and truth. ^D For if He were capable of wisdom and truth, He would sometimes descend into that state, that He would cease to have what He had received from elsewhere, that is, wisdom and truth. And the Son, subsisting as wisdom and truth Himself, is not separated from the Father, who alone is proclaimed by the voices of the Scriptures as wise and Truth. The same circle of unity and substance of the Holy Spirit, according to that in which He is the Spirit of wisdom and truth, we see Him to possess with the Son, and again, the Son does not differ from the substance of the Father. Moreover, since the Son is the image of the invisible God, and the form of His substance, whoever are imagined and formed according to this image or form, are brought into the likeness of God: according, however, to the powers of human progress, following such a form and image. Similarly, the Holy Spirit also, since He is the seal of God, those who take the form and image of God, signed through Him, are led in Him to the seal of Christ's wisdom and knowledge, being also full of faith. “For there are divisions of operations, but the same Spirit who works all things in all.” Working therefore

as it were, the distributing nature of the Holy Spirit, let us not be led away by those who say that the Holy Spirit is an operation, and not the substance of God. And from many other places also, the subsistent nature of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated; as in that which the apostles write: ^A “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,” because this which is said, “it seemed good,” does not signify an operation, but a nature, especially since something similar is found concerning the Lord, as: “As it seemed good to the Lord, so it was done.” Finally, His words are also read very frequently, as in that passage: “As they were fasting and ministering,” that is, the disciples of Christ, ^B “the Holy Spirit said: Separate for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them.” Which voice, being an index of divinity and authority, demonstrates not a created, but an uncreated substance. For the Holy Spirit did not call Barnabas and Paul to some other work that is not the Father's and the Son's, since the ministry which He committed and delivered to them is the ministry of the Father and of the Son. To the Galatians, Paul speaks: “For He who worked in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision, worked also in me for the Gentiles,” and in Barnabas. ^C For in like manner they were directed to the nations by the authority of the Holy Spirit. With Christ also working in the apostles, the ministry was completed by the Spirit, so that the apostles themselves confess that they speak in Christ, and that which their eyes have seen, and they have become ministers of the word, that is, of Christ; and stewards of the mysteries of God. Finally, as possessing a primacy in the priesthood, they are shown to be initiators of faith by Christ, who says: “Going, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” And as the Apostle writes ^D most rightly: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Who will not be compelled by the very truth to accept the non-difference of the Holy Trinity, while there is one faith in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit; and the laver is given and confirmed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit?

24. I do not think anyone will be so foolish or insane as to think that the baptism which is given in the name of the Father and of the Son, without the assumption of the Holy Spirit, is perfect; or again in the name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit, with the name of the Son omitted; or certainly in the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, without the name of the Father being proposed. For although someone might exist of a stony (so to speak) heart, and of a mind entirely alienated, who might attempt to baptize in such a way as to omit one of the commanded names, namely, as a legislator contrary to Christ; yet he will baptize without perfection, nay, he will be unable to free from sins those whom he considers to have been baptized by him. From these things it is collected how indivisible the substance of the Trinity is, and that the Father is truly the Father of the Son, and the Son truly the Son of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is truly the Spirit of the Father and of God; and in addition, of wisdom and truth, that is, of the Son of God. This, therefore, is the salvation of believers, and the dispensation of ecclesiastical discipline is perfected in this Trinity. For when the Savior sent His disciples to preach the Gospel, and is said to have constituted in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, on this matter the Apostles also agree in sentiment: “And as we have been approved by God to believe the Gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who proved our hearts”: these same ones whom Christ commanded to be teachers, and the Father proved, the Holy Spirit is also said to have constituted as stewards and overseers in the Church. For when Paul the apostle had gathered the presbyters from various places and very many Churches at Miletus: “Take heed,” he says, “to yourselves and to the whole flock, over which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to rule the Church of the Lord, which He acquired with His own blood.” For if the Holy Spirit placed over the Church those whom Christ sent to evangelize and baptize the nations, destined by the decision of the Father; no doubt exists that the operation and approval of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one, and consequently that the substance of the Trinity is the same. Furthermore, it must also be considered that a creature cannot dwell in the heart and sense, unless God and His word [dwell] in the Holy Spirit, just as the Father speaks to certain ones: “I will dwell in them, and I will walk among them.” And to Him someone directs his voice: “But You dwell in the holy, the praise of Israel.” For the High One dwells in the high.

^A Creator of the entire creation. But the only-begotten Son also dwells in the pure mind and heart of the faithful. For the Apostle says that Christ dwells in the inner man through faith, writing thus: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” And He Himself speaks of Himself: “Christ lives in me”; and again: “Christ who speaks in me”; and the Savior says: “We will come,” He says, “I and the Father,” there is no doubt, to him who has kept His commandments, “and we will make our abode with him.” Furthermore, this discourse is connected as follows: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him.” In another place, also, the whole nature of rational creatures is called the house of the Savior.

25. But just as the Lord Jesus is over His own house, whose house we are: so the house of Christ is the temple of God, in which the Spirit of the same God dwells. For Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” If, however, the Holy Spirit is found immediately in the house and temple where the Father and the Savior dwell, the indivisible substance of the Trinity is demonstrated from this. And not long after in the same Epistle: “Do you not know,” he says, “that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have from God?” Since, therefore, the Holy Spirit, ^B like the Father and the Son, is taught to dwell in the mind and the inner man, I will not say it is inept, but impious to call Him a creature. For it is possible for disciplines—I mean virtues and arts—and their opposites, perturbations, ignorances, and affections, to dwell in souls; not, however, as substances, but as accidents. But it is impossible for a created nature to dwell in the mind. But if this is true, and it is certain that the Holy Spirit, subsisting without any ambiguity, is the inhabitant of the soul and the heart, there is no doubt that He must be believed to be uncreated, with the Father and the Son. Therefore, from all that the preceding discourse has argued, the Holy Spirit, shown to be incorruptible and eternal according to the nature of the Father and the Son, has removed all ambiguity and suspicion concerning Himself, lest He be considered one of the created substances. But neither can it be doubted that this Spirit of God is He whom the words of the Gospel declare. “When He comes,” He says, “the Comforter, whom I will send to you, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness concerning me.” But He refers to the coming Holy Spirit as Comforter, giving Him a name from His operation: because He not only comforts those whom He finds worthy of Himself, and renders them aliens to all sadness and perturbation, but bestows upon them a certain incredible joy and hilarity, to such an extent that one, giving thanks to God that he is considered worthy of such a guest, can say: “You have given joy to my heart.” ^C For eternal joy dwells in the heart of those whose inhabitant is the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is sent by the Son, not according to the ministry of angels, or prophets, or apostles, but as it befits the Spirit of God to be sent by Wisdom and Truth, having an indivisible nature with the same Wisdom and Truth. For the Son, sent by the Father, is not separated, nor is He disjoined from Him, remaining and having Him in Himself. Indeed, the Spirit of truth, sent in the aforementioned manner, proceeds from the Father through the Son, not migrating from one place to another. For this is at once impossible and blasphemous. For if the Spirit goes forth from place to place, then the Father Himself will be found in a place, and the Spirit of truth, circumscribed by a certain space according to the nature of bodies, leaving one place, will migrate to another. But even as the Father, not existing in a place, is beyond the whole nature of bodies, so the Spirit of truth is not at all enclosed by the limit of places, since He is incorporeal: and to speak more truly, He excels every rational creature.

26. Therefore, it is impossible and impious to believe what we have said about incorporeal things: to understand the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father in such a way as the Savior testifies that He Himself departed from God, saying: “I departed from God and came.” And as we separate places and the changing of places from incorporeal beings, so we discern the processions, I mean those within and those without, from the nature of intellectual beings, because these are events of bodies—those that receive and have vastness. Therefore, by an ^D ineffable and sole faith, it is to be believed by a known discourse that the Savior is said to have departed from God, and the Spirit of truth to proceed from the Father, as the Spirit Himself speaks, who proceeds from the Father.

For although He could have spoken of God, or of the Lord, or of the Almighty, He touched upon none of these; but He says, "from the Father"—not that the Father is other than God Almighty, for it is a wickedness even to think this—but according to the property and understanding of the Parent, the Spirit of truth is said to proceed from Him. For although the Savior frequently says that He has come forth from God, He assumes from the name of the Father the property—and, if I may so say, the familiarity—which we have already often discussed, saying: "I am in the Father, and the Father in me" ^A, and elsewhere: "I and the Father are one" 26; and many other things similar to these, which the reader will find by observing the Gospel. Therefore, this Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father will bear witness, the Lord says, of me 27, bringing a testimony similar to that of the Father's testimony, of whom He says: "He who sent me, the Father, bears witness of me" 28. But while the Son sends the Spirit of truth, whom He called the Comforter, the Father also sends Him at the same time. For the Father does not fail to send when the Son is sending, since the Spirit comes by the same will of the Father and the Son, as the Savior also speaks through the prophet, as will be able to be manifest to him who reads through the whole passage 63: "And the Lord sent me, and His Spirit" 29; since God sends not only the Son, but also the Spirit. But the Apostle also speaks: "Which things have now been reported to you by those who have preached the Gospel to you, the Holy Spirit having been sent from heaven" 29. And in the book which is inscribed Wisdom, a voice of thanksgiving is destined for God by those who have obtained divine gifts: "For who has searched out the things that are in heaven? But who has known your will, unless you gave Wisdom, and sent your Holy Spirit from on high? And so the paths of those who were upon the earth were made straight, and men were taught the things that are pleasing to you" 30. And in the present reading, indeed, not only the Wisdom of God—that is, His only-begotten Son—is given by the Father, but the Holy Spirit is also sent.

27. In the Gospel itself, it is proclaimed that He is given by the Father, and that the Holy Spirit is sent, the Savior saying: "And I will ask my Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth" 31; and again: "But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things" 32. For in these discourses, the Father is said to give another Paraclete—not another apart from Him who is sent by the Son, ^B according to that: "But when that Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth" 33. He called Him another Paraclete, not according to a difference of nature, but a diversity of operation. For while the Savior holds the person of mediator and legate, and, as high priest, prays for our sins, saving forever those who have approached God through Him, because He is always living to intercede for them [ms. for us] to the Father; the Holy Spirit, according to another significance, has been called Paraclete from the fact that He consoles those placed in sadness. But do not estimate that there are various natures from the diverse operation of the Son and Holy Spirit. For in another place the Paraclete Spirit is found to perform the person of a legate to the Father, as in that: "For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. But He who searches the hearts knows what the Spirit desires, how [al. when] He asks according to God for the saints" 33.

28. The Holy Spirit also, having been called Paraclete, works in the hearts of those who need it. For it is written: "And He has consoled the humble of the people" 34. Whence also he who had obtained this benefit, preaching Him, spoke: "Lord, according to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Thy consolations have gladdened my heart" 35; or, "have loved my soul" 65; for it is found written in both ways in different manuscripts. But also the Father is called ^C the God of all consolation 36, consoling those who are in tribulation, so that from the very straits they may obtain, through patience, first salvation, and then the crown of glory. The Spirit, therefore, is the consoler and the holy one, and the Spirit of truth is given by the Father, so that He may always abide with the disciples of Christ, with whom the Savior Himself is also, saying: "For behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the age" 37. But when the Holy Spirit is always with the apostles, and the Son follows, it is as if the Father is with them, because whoever receives the Son, receives also the Father; and the Son makes a dwelling with the Father among them who have proven themselves worthy of His coming. But also, where the Holy Spirit is, the Son is immediately found. For when the Holy Spirit is in the prophets, making them prophesy future things, and doing other things that are of prophetic operation, the Word of God is said to be made to them, so that to that which ^D according to the custom of the prophets

^A even that may be added: "The word which was made to Isaiah," or to the others.

29. That the prophets possessed the Holy Spirit, we know from God manifestly speaking. For He says: "Whatever I have commanded in my Spirit to my servants the prophets." And the Savior in the Gospel signifies that holy men, and those who before His coming had sung of things to come to the people, were filled with the aspiration of the Holy Spirit. For, questioning the Pharisees as to what they thought concerning Christ, and hearing that he was the son of David, He speaks: "How does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand? If then David calls him Lord in the Holy Spirit, how is he his Son?" And Peter ^B speaks to his partners in faith: "It was necessary that the Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, etc."; and in the same book again: "Who by the Holy Spirit," he says, "through the mouth of David your servant, have spoken: Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people meditated vain things?" Isaiah, also, when he had been moved to prophesy by the word of God, is testified to have prophesied by the command of the Holy Spirit: as is written at the end of the same Acts: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers," saying: "Go to this people, and say: With the ear you shall hear," and the rest. This prophecy, therefore, which the apostle Paul affirms was pronounced by the Holy Spirit, the book of the prophet itself commemorates as having been said by the Lord. "And I heard," ^C says Isaiah, "the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, and who shall go to this people? And I said: Behold me, send me. Go," he says, "and say to this people: With the ear you shall hear"; and after other things the Lord Himself says: "And they shall be converted, and I will heal them." And immediately the prophet: "How long, O Lord?" For when the Lord had said to the prophet that he should say the things that were written, and the prophet had answered the commanding Lord: "How long, O Lord?", Paul affirms that the things which were said by the Lord in the prophet were recorded in the Holy Spirit. From which it is clearly shown, as we have often said, that the will and nature of the Lord and of the Holy Spirit are one, and that in the naming of the Spirit the name of the Lord is also understood. For just as to the Corinthians the word "God" is placed over the Father, and "Lord" over the Son, and it does not ^D take away lordship from the Father, nor deity from the Son: since by the same reasoning by which the Father is Lord, and the Son is God: so too the Holy Spirit is called Lord. But if Lord, then consequently also God, as we said a little while ago, when we were setting forth the voice of the apostle Peter to Ananias, who had embezzled the money, because deity is also understood in the Holy Spirit.

30. But since the order of the question has thence been led: "But when the paraclete comes, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things": come now, let us inquire from the discourse itself if we can find in it anything that agrees with the things that have been said. The Savior affirms that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in His name, when "Son" is properly the name of the Savior, if indeed the community of nature, and, so to speak, the property of persons, is signified by this word. In which appellation of "Son," the Holy Spirit being sent by the Father, is not understood as a servant, nor someone else, nor disconnected from the Son. And in what way the Son comes in the name of the Father, saying: "I came in my Father's name": for it is only of the Son to come in the name of the Father, with the property of the Son to the Father, and of the Father to the Son, remaining safe: so conversely, no other comes in the name of the Father, but for the sake of an example, in the name of the Lord, and of God, and of the Almighty. Which you will be able to notice to be manifest by reading over the prophets from the heart. For even Moses, the great minister and servant of God, came in the name of Him who is, and in the name of the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with God speaking to him: "Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel: He who is, has sent me to you"; and again: "You shall say to them: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has sent me to you." For of the holy servants, such as those were of whom He said: "I will command in my Spirit to my servants the prophets," the mission was done in the name of God. And because they showed themselves worthy to God, they are reported to have come in the name of God: again, progressing into something greater, and standing under the empire of one God, they came in the naming of the almighty God. But because the sons of Israel, dwelling in Egypt, had learned to worship those who are not, as if gods, and to revere the fathers of the world with divine honor, it was consequent that Moses should be sent to them under the name of Him who is, and freeing them from false gods, should lead them over to the true.

^A 31. How, therefore, do servants who come in the name of the Lord, by this very fact that they are subjects and serve, indicate the Lord, referring to his property: for they are servants of the Lord. So too the Son, who comes in the name of the Father, bears the Father's property and name, and through these the only-begotten Son of God is approved [al. called]. Since, therefore, the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in the name of the Son, possessing the Son's property, according to what He is God, yet not felicity—in the way that he is His Son—he shows that He is joined to the Son in unity. Whence also the Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son, making them sons by adoption, who have willed to receive Him. "For because," he says, "you are sons of God, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying: Abba, Father." But this Holy Spirit, who comes in the name of the Son, sent by the Father, will teach all things to those who have been perfected in the faith of Christ, and indeed all those things which are spiritual and intellectual; and to conclude everything briefly, all the sacraments of truth and wisdom. He will teach, however, not as a doctor and master of a discipline which he has obtained from elsewhere: since this is the property of those who have learned wisdom and any arts ^B by study and industry; but as the very art and doctrine and wisdom and Spirit of truth Himself, He invisibly insinuates the knowledge of divine things into the mind. For the Father also teaches His disciples in this way, since he who had been taught by Him said: "God, you have taught me wisdom." And another boldly proclaimed: "You have taught me, God, from my youth," and thus all become taught by God. The Son of God also, the wisdom of God and the truth, teaches His participants in such a way that He does not teach the discipline by art, but by nature. Whence the disciples are taught to call Him the sole master. The Holy Spirit ministers these same disciplines, which are given by the Father and the Son into the hearts of the faithful, to those who have ceased to be animal [al. who desist]. For the "animal man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit," judging what is said to be foolishness; but he who has purged his mind from perturbations will be filled with the disciplines of the Holy Spirit—that is, with the words of wisdom and knowledge—to such an extent that he who has received them may say: "But to us, God has revealed them through the Holy Spirit." ^C But God, to those who have prepared themselves in this way, bestows the Spirit of wisdom and revelation for the sake of knowing Himself; and those who receive the Spirit of wisdom are made wise not from elsewhere, but by the Holy Spirit Himself, and from Him they understand the Lord, and whatever is the will of God, and they know this same Spirit, He Himself revealing it, so that they may know that it was given to them by the Lord: so that anyone who has followed the Spirit of revelation and wisdom may be sufficient to preach the dogmas of truth, not relying on human but on God's art: just as we can hear one of the Apostles saying: "And my speech and my preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power of God." We cannot interpret any power as equal to the Spirit except our Lord Christ. For He Himself said to the disciples: "You shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you"; and the angel [al. archangel] said to Mary: "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you." Therefore, the creative power of the Most High, with the Holy Spirit coming upon the Virgin Mary, fashioned the body of Christ, which He used as a temple, being born without the seed of man.

32. From which things it is shown that the Holy Spirit is the creator, as we briefly showed in the volume of Dogmas. And in the Psalm it is said to the Lord: "You shall take away their breath (Spirit), and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust. You shall send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth." Nor is it a wonder if the Holy Spirit is the maker of the Lord's own body, since, associated with the Father and the Son, He created by the same power all things which the Father and the Son created. "For send forth," He says, "Your Spirit, and they shall be created." Moreover, we have already frequently shown that the Holy Spirit is of the same operation as the Father and the Son, and that in the same operation there is one substance: and reciprocally that the operation of those things which are consubstantial is not diverse. But in order that we may also provide another testimony which can assist us in the faith of the Holy Spirit, the discourse in the Gospel is woven thus: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said unto you, that He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you."

33. For from these words of the sacraments we are taught that when Jesus had taught his disciples many things, He said: "I have yet many things to say unto you," because that word, "I have yet many things to say unto you," is not directed to any random new people, and those utterly void of God's grace: but to those who, as hearers of His words, had not yet been fully completed.

^A For whatever was capable of being received, He imparted to them, but deferred the rest to a future time: things which they could not know without the discipline of the Holy Spirit, because before the coming of the Lord’s passion the Holy Spirit had not been given to men, as the evangelist says: "For the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." By saying that Jesus was glorified, he means tasting death for all. And so, appearing to His disciples after the resurrection, and breathing into their faces, He says: "Receive the Holy Spirit"; and again: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." Upon His coming into the hearts of the faithful, they are filled with the words of wisdom and knowledge, and thus having become spiritual, they receive the discipline of the Holy Spirit, which can lead them into all truth. For the hour had not yet come ^B when it was necessary for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit; thus, when He said to them, "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now," He added this consequently. For until then, they were still serving under the type of the Law, and of the shadow, and of symbols, and could not look upon the truth (the shadow of which the law carried), and thus could not endure the spiritual things. "But when He," He says, "shall come"—that is, the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth—"He will guide you into all truth," by His doctrine and institution transferring you from the death of the letter to the vivifying Spirit, in whom alone the entire truth of Scripture is placed. Therefore, the Spirit of truth Himself, entering a pure and simple mind, will seal in you the knowledge of the truth, and always adding new things to the old, will guide you into all truth.

34. Alleging certain prayers to God the Father, he speaks: "Direct me in your truth," that is, in Your Only-Begotten, who testifies with His own voice: "I am the truth." This perfection God bestows by sending the Spirit of truth, who guides those who believe into the whole truth. Then, in the following [words] concerning the Spirit of truth, who is sent by the Father and is the Paraclete, the Savior (who is also truth) says: "For He will not speak from Himself," that is, not without Me, and without My and the Father’s will, because He is inseparable ^C from My and the Father’s will, since He is not from Himself, but is from the Father and from Me; for this very thing which subsists and speaks is from the Father and from Me to Him. I speak the truth, that is, I inspire what is spoken; since He is the Spirit of truth. But "to say" and "to speak" in the Trinity must not be understood according to our custom, by which we converse and speak to one another, but according to the form of incorporeal natures, and especially of the Trinity, which inserts its own will into the heart of the faithful, and of those who are worthy to hear it: this is what "to say" and "to speak" mean.

35. For when we men speak to one another, we first conceive what we desire in our mind without words. Then, wishing to transfer it into the sense of another, we move the organ of the tongue and, striking it like a certain plectrum against the chords of the teeth, we emit a vocal sound. Just as, therefore, we cause the tongue to strike against the palate and teeth and temper the struck air into various forms of speech so that we may communicate matters known to us to others; so too is it necessary for the listener to offer open ears, and to prick them up—not restricted by any defect—to what is being said, that he may be able to know what is being uttered just as he who is speaking knows them. However, God, being of a simple, uncomposed, and spiritual nature, has neither ears nor organs by which a voice is emitted; but His solitary and incomprehensible substance is not composed of any members or parts. Which, indeed, must be likewise understood concerning the Son and the Holy Spirit.

36. If, therefore, we read in the Scriptures: "The Lord said to my Lord," and elsewhere, "God said, Let there be light," and anything similar to these, we ought to accept them in a manner worthy of God. For the Father does not announce His will without the Son (who is wisdom and truth), since everything which He speaks, as one who is wise and truly subsisting, he possesses in wisdom and in substance. Therefore, for the Father to speak and for the Son to hear, or conversely, for the Son speaking, to hear the Father, is a signification of the consensus and the same nature in the Father and the Son. Likewise, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of wisdom, cannot, when the Son speaks, be hearing what He does not know, since this very thing which is brought forth by the Son is that which is proceeding from the truth, con-

a Comforter flowing from the Comforter, God from God, the Spirit of truth proceeding from the Truth, a Comforter flowing, etc. Indeed, lest anyone should separate Him from the will and fellowship of the Father and the Son, it is written: “For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, He shall speak.” To which the Savior adds a similar statement concerning Himself: “As I hear, I judge”; and elsewhere: “The Son can do nothing of Himself, ^A but what He seeth the Father do.” For if the Son is one with the Father, not according to the dictum of Sabellius, who confuses the Father and the Son, but according to the indiscretion of essence or substance, He cannot do anything without the Father, because the works of separated beings are diverse; but seeing the Father working, He also works, not in a second degree or working after Him. For the works of the Father and the works of the Son would begin to be different if they were not done equally. Now it is written: “For what things soever He doeth, these also the Son doeth likewise.” But if, while the Father and Son are working—not according to an order of first and second, but according to the same time of acting—all things that are made subsist, and the Son cannot do anything of Himself, because He cannot be separated from the Father, so also the Holy Spirit, not being separated from the Son, on account of the fellowship of will and nature, is not believed to speak of Himself, but speaks all things that He speaks according to the Word and Truth of God. The following words of the Lord confirm this opinion, when He says: “He shall glorify Me,” that is, the Paraclete; “because He shall receive of Mine.” Here again, “to receive” must be understood as befitting the divine nature, ^B so that we may believe that there is the same nature of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, which is that of the Father and the Son.

38. For because no human voice can judge anything other than bodies, and the Trinity, of which we are now speaking, surpasses all material substances, therefore no word can be properly fitted to It, nor can it signify Its substance, but everything we say is *katachresticos*, that is, abusive, concerning all incorporeal things, and especially when we speak of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit therefore glorifies the Son, showing Him and bringing Him into the open for those who are worthy to understand and see Him, and to know the splendor of the substance and the image of the invisible God. On the other hand, the image itself, showing Itself to pure minds, glorifies the Father, revealing Him to those who do not know Him, for He Himself says: “He who seeth Me, seeth the Father also.” The Father, too, revealing the Son to those who have merited to arrive at the peak of knowledge, glorifies His Only-begotten, showing His magnificence and power. But the Son Himself also, bestowing the Holy Spirit upon those who have prepared themselves worthy of His gift, and unfolding ^C the sublimity of the glorification, and the power of His magnitude, glorifies Him. Then, adding the interpretation, when He had said in what manner, “He shall receive of Mine,” He immediately added: “All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore I said, He shall receive of Mine and shall announce it to you,” speaking in a certain way, that although the Spirit of truth proceeds from the Father, and God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him, yet because “All things that the Father hath are Mine,” and the Spirit Himself is My Spirit, He shall receive of Mine. But beware, when these things are said, lest you fall into a grave fault of understanding, and think that there is some thing and possession which is held by the Father and the Son. But the things which the Father has according to substance, that is, eternity, immutability, incorruption, immutable goodness, subsisting of Himself and in Himself, these same things the Son also has. And, to add more, whatever the Son Himself subsists as, and whatever are the Son’s, these same things the Father also has. Far be from here the snares of dialecticians, and let the sophisms be driven away from the truth, which, catching at an occasion for impiety from pious preaching, say: "Therefore the Father is the Son, and the Son is the Father." For if He had said, all things whatsoever God has, ^D which He bestows, nor does He impart them to others with His own loss, so also the Spirit does not receive what He did not have before. For if He receives what He did not have before, with the gift being transferred to another, the giver is rendered empty, ceasing to possess what he bestows. How then, debating above about incorporeal natures, we understood, so also now we understand that the Holy Spirit receives from the Son, that which was to be known of His own nature, and not that the giver and the receiver signify two substances, but one. For indeed the Son also is said to receive from the Father the very things by which He Himself subsists. For the Son is nothing else, except for those things which are given to Him by the Father; nor is the substance of the Holy Spirit anything else besides that which is given to Him by the Son. Therefore this is said, that we may believe that there is the same nature of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, which is that of the Father and of the Son.

^A mine are, impiety might have occasion to invent, and it would seem like a lie. But when He said, "All things that the Father has are mine," He declared Himself to be the Son by the name of the Father; He did not usurp the paternity, for He was the Son, although He Himself, by the grace of adoption, is Father to many saints, according to that which is read in the Psalms, "If your sons keep my covenant," and again, "If his sons forsake my law." But in this discourse and in the sense proposed, it follows that the Son has those things which we have said above belong to the Father, and the Holy Spirit also has those things which belong to the Son. For He says, "He shall take of mine, and for this reason He shall declare them to you." For through the Spirit of truth, certain knowledge of future things is granted to holy men. Whence also the prophets, being filled with this same Spirit, would foretell ^B by a sense, and contemplate as if they were present the things that were to follow thereafter. Let it suffice to have said these things abundantly enough according to the poverty of our talent concerning the present chapter of the Gospel. But if the Lord has revealed more to some, and they have been brought into the vicinity of the truth, and are more capable of discerning the truth, let us concede the better things to their disputation, to whom He who is the Spirit of truth gives support; and we ask those who are about to read to forgive our inexperience, and grant pardon to our zeal, desiring to offer to God all that he could, although he could not fulfill his own intention.

59. Let us set forth the Apostle’s testimony to the Romans, and let us discuss those things that appear to us to be in harmony with the present subject matter. "That the justification," he says, "of the law might be fulfilled in you, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For they who are according to the flesh, savor the things that are of the flesh: but they who are according to the spirit, savor the things that are of the spirit. For the wisdom of the flesh is death; but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace; because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God: for it is not subject to the law of God; neither can it be. And they who are in the flesh, cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit: if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit lives because of justice. And if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, ^D Father. For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him." In this present chapter of the Apostle, many things are demonstrated concerning the fellowship which the Spirit has with the Father and the Son. For the Apostle asserts that divine justification and the spiritual law is fulfilled in those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The apostolic text has described him who walks according to the flesh, as one who, joined to the body by the pleasures and vices of the flesh, does all things which are of the flesh and the works of the body. Furthermore, it describes him who walks according to the Spirit as one who, proceeding in the precepts of the law of God and the Gospel, follows the order of spiritual commandments. For just as it is of carnal vices to savor those things which are of the flesh, and to think of those things which are of the bodies, so, on the contrary, it is the virtue of spiritual things always to think of heavenly and eternal things, and to occupy themselves with those things which are of the spirit. But the wisdom of the flesh, being immediately linked to death, destroys those who walk and savor according to the flesh; but the wisdom of the spirit bestows upon those who have it interior peace, and tranquility of mind, and eternal life. When they have possessed this, they will have under their feet all perturbations and kinds of vices, and the very demons themselves (who strive to suggest these things). The wisdom of the flesh, therefore, since it is joined to death, is an enemy to God. For it renders those people enemies who have lived by their own laws; it is always contrary, and repugnant to the will and law of God. For it is not possible that he who is in the wisdom of the flesh should keep the precepts of God, and be subject to His will. As long as we serve the passions, we cannot serve God. But when we have subjected the tickling luxury to our feet, and, transferring ourselves wholly to the spirit, we are no longer in the flesh—that is, in the passions of the flesh—then we shall be subjected to God. For the Apostle’s text is not about this flesh in which we live, and in whose vessel our soul is contained, because all the saints, being surrounded by body and flesh, have pleased God; but it pertains rather to that which is perpetrated against the commandment of God by human society, of which is: "You shall love the Lord your God," and: "What you would not have done to you," etc. You, however, he says, there is no doubt that you, the disciples of Christ, who have received the wisdom of the Spirit, and life and peace, are not in the flesh, that is, in the works of the flesh, nor do you perform its works, if indeed you have the Spirit of God in you. But the same Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Christ, leading and coupling to the Lord Jesus Christ him who has it in himself. Whence also in what follows it is written: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not his."

40. Again in the present [section] we learn the fellowship which the Holy Spirit has with God, and with

^A Christ. Moreover, in the Epistle of Peter, the Holy Spirit is proven to be the Spirit of Christ: "Searching," he says, "and inquiring," that is, the prophets, "what or what manner of time" (95) the Spirit of Christ that was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow: unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit, however, is also called the Spirit of God, not only in the present passage, but also in many other places, as where it is said: "The things of God no man knows, but the Spirit of God." Then follows what is said after this: "If any man have not the Spirit of God, he is not of him"; and it is inferred: "But if Christ be in you," and it is most manifesty shown ^B that the Holy Spirit is inseparable from Christ: because wheresoever the Holy Spirit shall be, there also is Christ, and from wheresoever the Spirit of Christ shall depart, thence likewise departs Christ. "For if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of his." To which connection, if anyone were to assume the contrary, he might say: If any man is of Christ, so that Christ is in him, in him is the Spirit of God. And this same thing is likewise to be understood of God the Father. If any man possess not the Spirit of God, he is not of him. To which again, if one were to assume the contrary, saying: If any man is of God, in him is the Spirit of God. Whence it is written: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" And in the Epistle of John: "Hereby it is known that God dwelleth in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." From all which the indissoluble and inseparable substance of the Trinity ^C is demonstrated.

41. When therefore he says: "The body indeed is dead because of sin," by no means serving vices and lasciviousness, but (96) mortified unto sin, it is not moved unto vices: and it will by no means be vital unto sin. After, however, the body has been dead unto sin, Christ, in those who have mortified their own bodies, shows the presence of the Spirit of life through justice or the correction of immortal works, or the faith of Jesus Christ (97), in those who conduct themselves according to his faith. Then the Apostle uses another conjunctive syllogism, which the dialecticians more significantly call the ^D axiom, and says: "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Does it not seem to you that he says: If the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus Christ, that is, who is the Spirit of the same Jesus Christ, dwelleth in you: consequently your mortal bodies will be quickened along with your immortal souls (98) by him who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, the prince and firstborn of the resurrection? And to whom such and so great a gift has been granted through the Spirit, we are debtors to the Spirit, not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you shall live according to the flesh, you shall die that death which follows sin. For sin, when it is perfected, begets death, ^A according to James. But also Ezekiel writes that a sinning soul dies. For it is already separated from the life which is situated in the wisdom of the Spirit.

42. If, however, anyone shall have surpassed the life of the flesh, and shall have mortified the works of the flesh by the Spirit (99), he shall live a blessed and eternal life, brought into the sons of God, and directed into the straight way because of the Holy Spirit, who is also called the Spirit of God. "For if," he says, "you live according to the flesh, you shall die. But if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live"; and in the consequences: "For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Again refreshing them, and consoling them, and provoking them to hope for better things, he says ^B to those to whom he was speaking: "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear," that is, you do not abstain from vices by the likeness of servants, through the fear and terror of punishments, because you have the Spirit of adoption given to you (1) by the Father, that is, the Holy Spirit, who himself is called the Spirit both of God, and of Christ, and of truth, and of wisdom. If, however, this Spirit adopts into the sons of God those whose inhabitant he is made by his condescension, I leave to you the understanding of the things that follow concerning his power.

Furthermore, in this Spirit of adoption, those who have possessed him cry out to God the Father, as the speech shows, saying: "In whom we cry: Abba, Father": ^C the Spirit himself, who adopts us into sons, bearing witness by the participation of himself, which is possessed by our spirit, that we are the sons of God. To which it is consequent that God indeed, as a father, has bestowed upon us hereditary riches, spiritual gifts; but that we are co-heirs of Christ, in that we are called his brothers through his grace and kindness.

^A And those who agree with his mercy and his virtues, they say, in everything which he renders to them, not according to their justice, but according to his mercy and goodness, he who is judge to the house that sees, and to the mind that with a pure heart perceives the Lord. For this is interpreted from the Hebrew idiom into our tongue as Israel, that is, a mind seeing God. For although the Judge sometimes inflicts torments and punishments on those who deserve judgment, yet he who looks more deeply into the causes of things, seeing the purpose of his goodness, who desires to correct the sinner, confesses him to be good, saying: "Bringing upon us according to his mercy." For if the Lord should heed their iniquities whom he judges, who shall stand? Moreover, because there is propitiation with the Lord, our Lord and Savior clearly brings upon us, according to his mercy, all things which promote us unto salvation. Bringing upon us also according to his mercy, and doing this in judgment, he grants us things that are, when mingled with the kindness of mercy, justice.

43. Moreover, because this is as much as we have been able to explain, let us put forward the chapter of the prophet, containing certain things concerning the Holy Spirit, so that we may be taught about his faith and understanding not only from the New, but also from the Old Testament. For we have already spoken previously, that in all the saints, as much in those who were after the advent of our Lord, as also in former times, in the patriarchs namely and the prophets, the grace of the Holy Spirit has resided, and has filled them with diverse charisms and virtues. For just as possessing the grace of one God and His Only-begotten, as much those who were before, as even those who were after his advent, raised the standard of justice and attained the knowledge of truth; so they will also possess the grace of the Holy Spirit, because I have shown in many places above that the Holy Spirit is inseparable from the Father and the Son. It is therefore written in the prophet: "I have remembered the mercies of the Lord, and his virtue in all things that he hath rendered to us. The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel, bringing upon us according to his mercy, and according to the multitude of his justice. And he said: Is not my people my children, and will they not turn aside? And he was made for them a salvation out of all their tribulation; not an envoy, nor an angel, but he himself saved them, because he loved them and spared them. He himself redeemed them, and took them up, and exalted them in all the days of the age. But they did not believe, and provoked his Holy Spirit; and he was turned ^C to them into an enemy. He himself fought against them, and remembered the days of old. He who led out from the earth the shepherd of the sheep, who placed in them the Holy Spirit, gathering Moses with his right hand."

44. Those who have frequently attained the benefits of God, knowing that they have attained them more through his grace and mercy, than through their own works from themselves, as if by the consent of all and agreeing in one mind, they say: "I have remembered the mercies of the Lord." For thinking on the gifts which they have frequently received from him through Moses, they return thanks, and with mercy, they also remember the virtues of the Lord, whether his miracles, which he often did for them among the peoples, or the progress of the soul, by which they were instructed through the law, and the prophets, and his salutary precepts. Indeed in the Scriptures the name of virtue signifies both. ^D

43. One must argue from this present chapter against the error of the heretics, who, separating goodness from justice, have invented one good God and another just one. For behold, in the present text, He himself is God, both good and a judge, and one who restores according to his mercy and justice, and subsists equally as both good and just. Therefore, it is in vain that they feign an unrighteous dogma, and maintain that the God of the Gospel is good and the God of the Old Testament is just, because both in very many other places, and now in the prophet's discourse, God is written as a "good judge," and on the contrary, which they do not wish, in the Epistle of the apostle Paul (who is certainly a preacher of the New Testament) God is referred to as a just judge. "There is laid up for me," he says, "a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day." The God of the New and Old Testament is therefore the same, though they are unwilling, the creator of visible and invisible things, with the Savior also clearly testifying in the Gospel to a just and good Father: "Just Father, the world hath not known thee." And in another place: "None is good, but one, God." But also in the old law God is called at one time just, at another good. In the Psalms, he says, "The Lord is just, and hath loved justice." And on the contrary in Jeremiah, "The Lord is good to them that wait for him." Again in the Psalms: "How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart." And these things indeed are by way of an aside against the heretics.

These matters have been stated briefly. It is time, however, as we ^A proposed, to follow the order of the prophet, which is woven thus: "And he said, there is no doubt that the Lord: 'Did not my people have sons, and will they not transgress?'" They were not, he says, like those who were begotten and exalted, and who despised Him who had begotten them. "And he became their salvation," that is, to those of whom the Lord says: "Did not my people have sons, and will they not transgress?" For this very fact, that they did not transgress and did not despise the Father, became their salvation: or by the very fact that they were called sons, He became the cause of salvation for them. This salvation, bestowed by Christ the Lord, is also confirmed by the voice of the angels to the shepherds, saying: "Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for there is born to you this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David." He has become, for all who believe in Him, the occasion of eternal salvation, and He is the Savior of the world, who came to seek what was lost. And He is the One of whom the choir of saints sings: "Our God, the God of [the act of] saving."

^B Consequently, because He is God who provides eternal salvation, it was said: "Neither a messenger, nor an angel," that is, not a prophet, not a patriarch, not the lawgiver Moses saved them. For all whom I have named could exercise an embassy to the Lord on behalf of the people. Indeed, Moses, interceding for the sinful people, says: "If You forgive them their sin, forgive." But he besought pardon by fasting for forty days, and by the affliction of his soul provoking the mercy of God. But no one from the number of these messengers can be a savior, being himself in need of Him who is the true bestower of salvation. For even the angels, although they are spirits, and are sent for diverse ministries on behalf of those who are about to receive salvation, are not the authors of salvation, but they interpret and announce Him who is the ^C fountain of salvation. Whence it was said, "neither a messenger, nor an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them." Not for any other reason, but because "He loved them and spared them." Now, He is said to "spare," as if they were His own creatures, according to what is written elsewhere: "But You spare all, O Lord, lover of souls, for they are Yours, for You do not hate what You have made." Wherefore, the Father, not sparing His own Son for their salvation, handed Him over to death, so that through the death of His Son He might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is, the devil, and redeem all who were held by him in the bond of captivity. Whence it is added: "But He Himself redeemed them, and took them up, and exalted them." For He takes up and exalts the saved, and lifts up the redeemed on the sublime wings of virtues, and with the learning and knowledge of the truth, not for one day or another, but for all the days of eternity, ^D dwelling in them, and with them, even to the consummation of the world, bestowing upon them life, and existing as the author of their salvation. And in all the days of the world, illuminating their hearts, He does not permit them to linger in the darkness of ignorance and error. And I think this is what is written, "in all the days He exalted them."

47. Because they were changeable, and fell spontaneously into vices, after so many benefits they became incredulous toward God, and abandoned His precepts, and provoked the Holy Spirit of God, who had bestowed many good things upon them; they fell into a similar sin to those who, after they were begotten and exalted, despised their Father. Or certainly, they are now being described who were also described before, since even there, after the sin, it is said to them: "You have abandoned the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, and now, because they themselves did not believe, ^B and provoked His Holy Spirit." From the present passage, therefore, the association of the Spirit with the Lord is shown. He who has abandoned the Lord, and is incredulous, and provokes the Holy One of Israel to anger, also provokes His Holy Spirit. The same indignation against sinners is referred as much to the Holy Spirit as to the Holy One of Israel. Whence also in the subsequent similar passages the union of the Trinity is shown, as Scripture says, that the Lord turned to enmity against those who provoked His Holy Spirit, and handed them over to eternal suffering, after they blasphemed, not in speech but in their deeds, against His Holy Spirit. He, therefore, who turned against them in enmity, fought against them, and subjected them to manifold and long sufferings, so that neither in the present time nor in the future may they obtain the forgiveness of sins. For they provoked His Holy Spirit, and blasphemed against Him.

48. But if you wish to understand this of the Jews, who crucified the Lord Savior, and therefore provoked the Holy Spirit, that which is written, "He Himself fought against them," is to be referred to that understanding, that they were handed over to the Romans, when the wrath of God came upon them to the end. For in the whole world and in all regions, they alone are exiles from their fatherland, wandering in a foreign land, possessing neither an ancient city nor their own seats, which they did to the prophets and to their own Savior, [and] which they received. For because they were blood-guilty, ^D and always captured by insane fury, they not only killed the prophets and stoned those who had been sent to them, but, having gone to the peak of impiety, they betrayed and crucified the Lord Savior, who had deigned to descend to earth for the salvation of all; therefore they were expelled from the city which they had stained with the blood of the prophets and of Christ. According to this sense, therefore, we must understand them to have been defeated by the Lord, not for a brief time, but...

^A for every future age until the consummation of the world. Indeed, as we have said, they are refugees and captives, wandering among all nations, possessing neither a city nor a region of their own. Yet, because the One who had defeated them is naturally benign and merciful, He granted them a place for repentance, if they should wish to turn to better things. Hence it is also said, "He remembered the days of the age." For, having remembered the future times, He unlocked the closed door for them in some part, so that after the fullness of the Gentiles has entered, then all Israel (who shall have been worthy of this appellation) may be saved. For although they broke forth into such rashness that they killed Him who had been sent for their sake, saying: "His blood be upon us, and upon our children," yet God raised Him from the earth,—in whose heart He had tarried for three days and three nights,—as the shepherd of His sheep. For it is thus interwoven: "who brought out from the earth the shepherd of His sheep."

49. That the One who is now described in the prophetic utterance as the shepherd of His sheep is indeed the Lord, we learn more clearly in the Gospel, by the testimony of the Savior Himself: "I am the good shepherd, and I lay down my life for my sheep." And again: "My sheep hear my voice." After all these things, the prophet ^B says: "Where is He who put His Holy Spirit among them?" He marvels, indeed, at how great are the miseries to which they have fallen from such happiness. And he speaks in a certain manner: "He who had redeemed them, who had placed His Holy Spirit in them, dwelling with them, where is He now? Whither has He departed?" He abandoned them because they had first abandoned Him, and provoked the Holy One of Israel to wrath. But God had long ago placed the Holy Spirit in them, when they were still good and strove to obey His precepts. For the Holy Spirit is inserted only in those who, having abandoned vices, follow the chorus of virtues, and alongside them and through them live in the faith of Christ. But if, by negligence gradually creeping in, they begin to flow toward worse things, they incite the Holy Spirit, their inhabitant, against themselves, and they turn Him who had given that Spirit into enmity. To this, the Apostle likewise, writing to the Thessalonians, says: "For God did not call us to impurity, but to sanctification."

50. Therefore, he who scorns—or what is considered better—in the Greek, "who rejects," ^C not man will he reject, but God, who gave His Holy Spirit in you. For in these words, God, calling through faith to sanctification—that is, that believers might become holy spirits—gave them the Holy Spirit. And as long as they kept the precepts of God, the Holy Spirit, whom they had received, remained in them. But when they fell through slippery love and lapsed into impurity, they spurned—or rather, they prevaricated against—the Lord, who had given them the Holy Spirit, not so that they might serve impurity, but so that they might be sanctified. Hence, those who have committed such things will pay the penalty, not as if they were spurning a man, but as if they were spurning God. And that we may know that the Lord is the Holy Spirit who is given to believers, let us learn from the eloquence of the prophet Isaiah himself, who introduces someone saying to the Lord: "My Spirit is in you, and My words I have put in your mouth." For it is shown by the present discourse that whoever has received the Spirit of God, possesses with Him also the words of God—that is, the discourses of knowledge and wisdom. Indeed, in another place, the same prophet says that God speaks: "I have put My Spirit upon him." He, therefore, who placed the Holy Spirit in them, commemorates that Moses was sanctified by His right hand, whether that illustrious man and initiator of the mysteries of God, of whom the Lord said to Jesus the son of Nave: "Moses my servant," or His Law, which is written in the Old Testament. For I remember having often read that Moses is called "the law," as in the Apostle: "Unto this day, when Moses is read." And Abraham said to the rich man, established in torments: "They have," he says, "Moses and the prophets." And surely it is clearly proven there that by "Moses," the aforementioned man is not signified, but the law.

51. Further, what is the right hand of God, which added Moses, if not our Lord and Savior? For He Himself is the right hand of the Father, through whom He saves and exalts and performs power, just as it is said elsewhere ^D of God: "He saved for Himself by His right hand, and His holy arm." And again: "The right hand of the Lord has performed power, the right hand of the Lord has exalted me: I shall not die, but I shall live, and I shall tell the works of the Lord." And surely this voice is put forward from the person of the Lordly Man, whom the only-begotten Son of God deigned to assume from the virgin.

^A It is manifestly proven from that very place, because He himself is at the right hand of God, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, that He was made from the seed of David according to the flesh, born of the Virgin, with the Holy Spirit coming upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowing her. Concerning whom David prophesied in the Spirit, that rising from the dead, He was assumed into the heavens, raised up at the right hand of God (22). But it is written there in this manner: "The same David, foreseeing, spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that He was not left (23) in hell, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, of whom we all are witnesses. Therefore, being exalted by the right hand of God, and receiving from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this gift in us, which you see and hear, for David did not ascend into heaven." For to no one is it doubtful ^B that the Lord Jesus was exalted by the right hand of God and rose from the dead, as He himself has testified in the discourse of the Scripture. Therefore, this One who rose from the dead says: "I have slept and taken my rest; and I have risen, because the Lord has kept me."

52. Therefore, this same Word (24) assumed into heaven, having been raised up from that [state] of which we spoke above, is preached as being at the right hand of God, and having received the promises of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and having poured Him out upon those who believe, so that they spoke the great works of God in the tongues of all. For the Lordly Man also received the communication of the Holy Spirit, as is written in the Gospels: "Jesus therefore, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan"; and in another place: "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." However, we ought to accept these things without any calumny regarding the Lordly Man, who is the whole Christ, the one Jesus, the Son of God (25), in a sense of piety, not as though one [person] is one and another is another, but that discourse is being held about one and the same [Christ], as if of another according to the nature of God, and [of another] according to the nature of man, and because God the Word, the only-begotten Son of God, receives neither change nor increase. For He is the fullness of all good things. ^C 53. It is sufficiently supposed from the testimony of the prophet, nor let us proceed to the remaining things, so that just as we know that (26) the Father and the Son make the holy and the good perfect by their communication: so also the Holy Spirit, by the participation of Himself, may make those who believe good and holy; and from this, it may also be taught that He is of the one substance with the Father and the Son. It is said in the Psalms to the Lord: "Thy good Spirit shall lead me into the right land." But we know that in certain exemplars it is written: "Thy Holy Spirit." Furthermore, in Esdras, He is called the good Spirit without any ambiguity: "Thou gave Thy good Spirit, that Thou mightest make them understand." But that the Father sanctifies, the Apostle writes, saying: "May the God of peace sanctify you perfect (27)." And the Savior says: "Holy Father, sanctify them in truth, for Thy word is truth." Saying clearly: In Me (who am Thy Word and Thy truth), sanctify them by faith and by my companionship. It is said also elsewhere that God is good: "No one is good, except one God." We also showed above that the Son sanctifies, with Paul concurring in the same words: "For both He who sanctifies, and they who are sanctified, are all out of one." Signifying Christ as the One who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified as those who are able to say: "Christ is made unto us wisdom from God, and justice, and sanctification." Indeed, He is also called the Spirit of sanctification. Whence it is said to Him: "And all are sanctified under Thy hands, and are under Thee." Our Lord Jesus Christ is good, and He was generated from the good Father, and we read concerning Him: "Confess to the Lord, for He is good." But let them confess to Him who pray to Him either for the remission of sins or give thanks to His clemency for the benefits bestowed. The Holy Spirit also sanctifies those whom He deigns to fill, as has already been demonstrated above, when we showed that He is capable of being participated in and being taken by many at once. And now, in the present testimony of Paul, He is shown to be the bestower of sanctification, in that ^D "the Lordly Man" can be defended in some manner, because indeed someone can say that "the Lordly Man" is said by reason of the human nature, which this name "man" signifies, but not by reason of the person.

We must, however, also give thanks to God always for you, beloved brethren of the Lord, because God chose us as firstfruits for salvation, in the sanctification of the Holy Spirit and in the faith of the truth. For in this passage also, the gifts of God are implied in the Spirit, since through the sanctification of the Spirit, faith and truth are likewise possessed.

54. Since, therefore, we have truly and piously said these things, the word for sanctification and goodness is rightly referred to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, just as the appellation of "Spirit" itself also is. For the Father is also called Spirit, as where it is said: "God is Spirit"; and the Son is Spirit: "The Lord," he says, "is Spirit." But the Holy Spirit is always designated by the title of Holy Spirit, not because the name "Spirit" is used only by association with the Father and the Son, but because they possess one nature and one name. But since the word "Spirit" signifies many things, we must briefly enumerate the things to which its name is applied. "Spirit" is also called wind, as in Ezekiel: "But you shall scatter the third part into the spirit," that is, into the wind. But if you wish to understand that according to the history which is written, "In a violent spirit you shall shatter the ships of Tharsis," nothing else is understood there by "spirit" than wind. Furthermore, Solomon, among many, received this gift also from God, to know the violence of spirits; demonstrating that he had received nothing else in this than to know the rapid blasts of the winds, and by what causes their nature consists. "Spirit" is also called the soul, as in the Epistle of James: "As your body is dead without the spirit," and the rest. For most clearly here "spirit" is called nothing else but the soul. According to which understanding, Stephen also, calling his soul a spirit, says: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." That, too, which is said in Ecclesiastes: "Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward, and the spirit of the beast goes downward?" One must consider whether the souls of animals are called spirits. It is also said, apart from the soul and apart from our own spirit, that there is another spirit in man, about which Paul writes: "For who among men knows the things of a man, unless the spirit of man which is in him?" For if anyone should wish to contend that the soul is signified here by "spirit," who will be the man whose thoughts, and arcana, and hidden secrets of the heart, a man does not know ^A if one wishes to understand these things as pertaining to the body alone, it is most foolish.

55. But if he relies on subtle fraud while attesting these scriptures to the Holy Spirit, if he carefully considers the words themselves, he will cease to assert falsehood. For it is written thus: "For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? So also the things that are of God, no one knows, except the Spirit of God." For as another is man, and another is God, so also the spirit of man, which is in him, is separated from the Spirit of God, which is in him: which we have frequently shown to be the Holy Spirit. But also in another place the same Apostle, distinguishing the Spirit of God from our spirit, says: "The Spirit itself bears witness to our spirit," ^B signifying this, that the Spirit of God, that is, the Holy Spirit, bears witness to our spirit, which we have now said to be the spirit of man. To the Thessalonians also: "Your whole," he says, "spirit, and soul, and body." For as the soul is one thing, and the body another: so the spirit is distinct from the soul, which is specially called by its own name in its place. Concerning which he also prayed that it might be preserved whole with the soul and the body, because it is incredible, and indeed blasphemous, for the Apostle to pray that the Holy Spirit be preserved whole, who can receive neither diminution ^C nor increase. Regarding our human spirit, therefore, as we have said, the discourse of the Apostle stands witness.

56. Also, the supernal rational virtues, which Scripture is wont to call angels and powers, are named by the word "spirit," as there: "who makes your angels spirits"; and elsewhere: "Are they not all ministering spirits?" I think that what is written in the Acts of the Apostles is also referred to this sense: "The Spirit of the Lord snatched away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more," that is, the angel of the Lord lifting Philip on high, transferred him to another place. Other rational creatures, too, which by their own will flow from good into evil, are called evil spirits and unclean spirits; as there: "But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man," and in the subsequent verses: "He takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself." Demons in the Gospels are also called spirits. But this also is to be noted: that "spirit" is never signified as contrary without some addition, such as "unclean spirit" and "spirit of a demon"; but those which are holy spirits are called simply "spirit" without any addition ^D.

for example, "the good, holy one," and the other similar things, of which we touched upon slightly a little before, and which denotes the will of man and the aim of the soul. For the Apostle, wishing not only in deed but also in mind for the virgin to be holy—that is, not only in body but also in the internal movement of the heart—says: "That she may be holy in body and in spirit," signifying the works of the will by "spirit" and "body." Consider whether this same thing is meant in Isaiah in what is written: "And they who err in spirit shall understand." For those who, through an error of judgment, think one thing instead of another to be good, shall receive understanding, so that their error may be corrected, and that in place of evil things they may choose those that are right. Also that other: "The only fortitude of your spirit," see if it indicates the same thing. And above all, the term "spirit" in the Holy Scriptures signifies an higher and more mystical intellect, as in that place: "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life," calling the "letter" a simple and manifest narrative according to history, but the "spirit" (which is holy and spiritual) the understanding of what is read. To this sense also conforms the saying: "We are the circumcision, who serve God in spirit and do not put confidence in the flesh." For those who do not cut the flesh by the letter, but circumcise the heart by the spirit, taking away all its superfluity—which is close to the generation and akin to it—these are truly circumcised in spirit, Jews in the hidden place, and true Israelites in whom there is no guile. Those who, passing beyond the shadows and images of the Old Testament, worship the true Father in spirit and truth: in spirit, because they have transcended corporal and base things; in truth, because leaving behind the types, shadows, and examples, they have come to the very substance of truth; and, as we have already said, the base and corporal simplicity of words being despised, they have reached a spiritual knowledge of the law.

58. While these things regarding how many meanings the word "spirit" might signify were touched upon, at its proper time, if Christ grants it, we shall discuss what each one signifies. Sometimes, however, the Spirit is called our Lord Jesus Christ—that is, the Son of God. "For the Spirit of wisdom is benign." And in another place: "The Lord is the Spirit," as we have said before, where we also added this: "God is Spirit," not according to a mere communion of name, but according to a fellowship of nature and substance. For since it happens that those who have a different substance are sometimes designated by a common term, and these things are called homonyms, so among those whose nature and substance are the same, together with the community of the term, there is linked an equality of nature, and it is the discipline of the dialecticians to call these synonyms. Therefore, the term "Spirit," and whatever other thing is of the Trinity, is accustomed to be used as synonyms.

59. Furthermore, we have necessarily come down to these things, so that because the appellation "spirit" is frequently sprinkled throughout the Scriptures with divine references, we may not slip in the name, but receive each one according to the variety of the passages and understandings. Therefore, with all study and diligence, by contemplating the term "Spirit"—where and how it has been termed—let us crush the sophistries and fraudulent snares of those who assert that the Holy Spirit is a creature. For reading in the Prophet, "I am he who establishes the thunder, and creates the Spirit," they, through ignorance of the manifold nature of language in this part, thought that the Holy Spirit was demonstrated by this term, while in the present context the name "spirit" sounds like "wind." Likewise, hearing in Zechariah that the Lord spoke, that He Himself is the one who "fashions the spirit of man in him," they thought that the Holy Spirit was signified in this chapter also, not noticing that the appellation "spirit" signifies the soul of man or the mind (which we have already said is the third thing in man). Therefore, as we have prefaced, let us consider how each thing was said, lest perhaps through ignorance we fall into the abyss of error. For while in other matters an error arising from the joining of terms brings confusion and shame to him who has erred, falling from heavenly and divine things to base ones leads to eternal punishment and the abyss—especially when, once deceived, one refuses to recover his senses but impudently defends his error. It was also fitting, and the magnitude of the volume required, that the discourse should receive an end.

60. But because there lies a question regarding those things which we disputed above—which for that reason we then passed over, lest it break the thread of the sermon and impious contention be placed in the midst of pious preaching—I think it necessary to answer the proposition, and leave it to the judgment of the reader what he thinks about these matters. Since, therefore, it is argued above that no creature can fill the soul or mind of man according to substance, except the Trinity alone (because only according to operation, and the error of the will, or virtue, is the mind filled with those things which are created), our question has arisen, as if solving the sentence, that a created substance, which in the Scriptures is called Satan, enters into some, and is said to fill the heart of some. For as to him who, of the price of the field sold, kept back half for himself while professing otherwise, it was said by the Apostle Peter: "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart?" And of Judas the Saviour Himself speaks, that there entered into him Satan. To which it must be answered afterward.

Let us now dispute against what is written, "Why has Satan filled your heart?" ^A namely, how Satan fills the mind and the principal part of the heart of any man, not by entering into him and into his sense, and, if I may say so, entering the threshold of the heart—since this power belongs to the Trinity alone—but as a certain crafty, wicked, and deceitful impostor, he draws the human soul toward himself, toward the affections of malice, through the thoughts and incentives of vices, of which he himself is full. Moreover, Elymas the sorcerer is also written of as "a son of the devil," subsisting according to malice and wickedness, full of all deceit and malice, with "Satan as his father," turning this will in him, as it were, from the habit of vices into a nature. ^B Therefore, the Apostle Paul, rebuking and correcting him, says: "O full of all iniquity and all deceit, you son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness of God!" For because he was crafty and cunning, he had taken into himself all the deceit of fraud, [and] he is called a son of the devil, because he himself filled his own principal part with fraud, iniquity, and all malice, so inciting and deceiving him that Satan himself was thought to have filled his soul and to dwell within the very one for whom he had prepared himself as a minister and servant for all the deceits of his own perversity.

61. But as to what we proposed ^C regarding the example of how Satan had entered into Judas, this must be said: The devil, observing by certain movements and signs of operations towards which the heart of Judas was most prone in its vices, discovered that he lay open to the snares of avarice; and having found the door of cupidity, he sent into his mind [the thought of] how he might receive the money he desired, and through the occasion of gain, become the betrayer of his Master and Saviour—exchanging silver for piety and receiving the price of wickedness from the Pharisees and Jews. This occasion of thought, therefore, gave place to Satan, so that, entering into his heart, he filled it with the worst will. He entered, therefore, not according to substance, but according to operation, because "to enter into someone" belongs to the uncreated nature, which may be participated in by many. The devil, therefore, is not participable; he is not a creator, but subsists as a creature. Whence, being also convertible and mutable, he fell away from holiness and virtue. We said above, ^D that that which is taken by participation is incorruptible and immutable, and consequently eternal. But that which can be changed is corruptible, and exists as something being and having a beginning. Moreover, that [creature] which is corruptible is both in the past and in the future; it is not, therefore, as some think, that the devil fills anyone by participation of nature or substance, or becomes his inhabitant, but he is believed to dwell in him whom he has filled through fraudulent dealing, deception, and malice. This fallacy, indeed, he also practiced upon the elders who had turned themselves into cruelty against Susanna, filling their souls with the fire of lust and the late pleasure of old age. For it is written: "And the two elders came, full of wicked thought." With these snares he filled also the whole people of the Jews, the prophet saying concerning them: "Woe, sinful nation, a people full of sins, a wicked seed, unrighteous children." For the devil is a wicked seed, and his children, on account of iniquity and fullness, are called sinners. But if, by those who are named his children in the Scriptures, he is not caught [or: named] according to participation of substance—since it has been frequently shown that this is impossible in creatures—nor can anyone else catch him by participation of substance, but only by the assumption of his most fraudulent will. For we have said that he has operation and pursuits, not only of good works but also of evil ones, within creatures; but that the nature and substance of the Trinity alone can enter into others.

62. Abundantly, as I think, has the proposed question been met. But because it seems inept and foolish to respond to absurdities, and if anything else has rushed into the mouths of the impious, to wish to dissolve it—for it is not so much impiety to propose wicked things as it is to wish to treat of wicked things with an opponent—therefore I pass over that which they are accustomed to boast of, proclaiming with sacrilegious audacity against us: If the Holy Spirit is not created, is He either the brother of God the Father, or the uncle of the only-begotten Jesus Christ, or the Son of Christ, or the grandson of God the Father, or is He the Son of God Himself? And then the only-begotten Lord Jesus Christ will no longer be [the only-begotten], since He would have another brother. O miserable and wretched ones, not perceiving that concerning incorporeal and invisible things, it is not permitted to dispute according to the nature of corporeal and visible things! "Brother" or "uncle," "grandson" or "son" are names of bodies and vocabularies of human weakness. The Trinity, however, surpasses all these designations. And whenever it falls into any of these, it does not speak of its own nature with our names and incongruous terms.

therefore let Holy Scripture say nothing further about the Trinity, except that God the Father is the Savior, and the Son is generated by the Father—this alone we must believe, which is written. And having shown that the Holy Spirit is uncreated, we must consequently understand that, since His substance is not created, He is rightly joined to the Father and the Son.

^B The present words are sufficient, regarding the poverty of our eloquence, as an indication of my fear that I have dared to speak about the Holy Spirit. For whoever blasphemes against Him shall not be forgiven, not only in this age, but also in the coming one; nor shall any mercy and pardon be reserved for him who has trampled upon the Son of God, and has done injury [or contumely] to the Spirit of His grace, in which he was sanctified. This must indeed be understood of God the Father as well. For he who blasphemes against Him, and acts impiously, shall be tormented without pardon, with no one to pray to the Lord for him, as it is written: "But if a man sin against the Lord God, who shall pray for him?" And likewise, he who denies the Son before men, will be denied by Him before His Father and His angels. Therefore, because no pardon is granted to those who blaspheme against the Trinity, ^C we must take care with all diligence and caution, so that we do not err even in a brief and small discourse when debating about it. Rather, if anyone should wish to read this volume, we ask that he cleanse himself from every evil work and from most wretched thoughts, so that, with an enlightened heart, he may be able to understand what is said, and, full of holiness and wisdom, forgive us if our execution has not fulfilled our intention, and consider only with what mind each thing was said, and not in what words it was expressed. For just as we boldly claim for ourselves the sense of piety according to our conscience, so, in regard to all that pertains to speaking about it, we candidly confess that rhetorical grace and eloquence, along with the coherence and text of the discourse, are far from us. Indeed, it has been our endeavor, while discussing the Holy Scriptures, to understand piously what is written and not to be unaware of the inexperience and limitations of our speech.

DIDYMUS, BOOK AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS

Chapter I. No opposition of contraries is absolute.

receives reasons. Therefore these also have ^A commonalities, so that they exist and are substances, and if anything else occurs about them and in them which is common. Yet it is the fact that one is good and the other is evil, and again that one is light and the other is darkness, that makes them contraries. Therefore it is understood that these are substances before they are good and evil. That they are contraries, then, is not on account of what is common, but on account of their property. But it is posited that these are ingenerate; yet there is nothing that precedes the ingenerate. But before these there is something, namely that which I said exists in them commonly. Therefore the principles are not ingenerate. For these are the ingenerate contraries; but that which exists in them commonly is prior to them. Therefore the principles are not ingenerate, for the very reason that nothing is prior to the ingenerate.

CAP. II. The evil principle is not ingenerate, because it is corruptible.

But if they should say that it is not by the reason that they are ingenerate ^B that they are contraries, this too will be found to be common to them. But again, because evil is ingenerately evil and good is ingenerately good, the ingenerate evil will be found to be common to both, and the ingenerate good common to both as well. If, however, it is impossible for the good to be found without the ingenerate, and the ingenerate is common, then that which necessarily accompanies the ingenerate will also be common; and this is the good.

But if they say that the ingenerate is not common to them, insofar as it exists in one but does not exist in the other, then the ingenerate will be either the good or the evil, but not both the good and the evil. Wherefore, if the good is found to be ingenerate, the evil will be generated.

Moreover, every evil is to be punished; but nothing that is to be punished is incorruptible: therefore no evil is incorruptible, lest it be corruptible in an incorruptible way. Nothing that is corruptible is ingenerate; but evil is corruptible; therefore evil is not ingenerate.

Nothing ^C is evil according to substance, because evil is a quality; but no quality is a substance; therefore evil is not a substance.

All contraries destroy one another; but things that are ingenerate are not subject to any destruction; therefore they are not contraries, for those things which are contraries are not immune to corruption.

Nothing ingenerate is subject to change; but the good is changed when it is overcome by evil; therefore the good is not ingenerate.

There is in the ingenerate no innate appetite for any corruption, nor any power of corrupting and destroying; but such an appetite is in evil; therefore evil is not ingenerate.

Divine Scripture says that not only humans who are evil are to be delivered to punishment, but the devil himself. ^D Now everything that is delivered to punishment is subject to change; but nothing that is subject to change is ingenerate; therefore nothing among those things which are evil is ingenerate.

Of things which are entirely contrary, there is nothing in common. Therefore, there is every necessity that what resides in the one should not reside in the other. It is of the nature of the Good to be unbegotten; therefore, neither of these resides in the Evil. ^A Thus, Evil is as nothing.

Whoever rightly desires anything, while he desires it in such a way, nothing prevents him from obtaining what is desired. But God desires to bring wickedness to destruction: therefore, wickedness is of the number of those things which are subject to destruction. And being of those things which can be destroyed, it will be destroyed; ^B and being destroyed, it is not unbegotten.

If evil were unbegotten, it would be evil according to its nature. But no one sins while performing and working that which is according to his nature. Therefore, Evil does not sin; and that which does not sin is not blameworthy. But Satan is blameworthy and guilty; therefore, he is not unbegotten.

Cap. III. Humans, children of wrath.

For Holy Scripture calls men children and offspring of the actions and pursuits to which they devote themselves. Therefore, it calls those who are irascible, and those who are enslaved to any other vice (since for that reason they are subject to the penalty of wrath), children of wrath, ^C just as Paul says: *And we were by nature children of wrath, even as others.* There is nothing to prevent such persons from being changed, so that they are no longer children of wrath by nature. Finally, Paul, speaking of himself and of those who became holy in a similar manner, says that "we were by nature children of wrath, even as other men who are still at this point in sin"—wherein the word "by nature" signifies not that which is from nature, but that which is in truth. For he says this, "We were by nature children of wrath," in order to declare that those who sin are in truth subject to wrath; and just as one becomes a child of wrath by nature by having wickedness attached to him, ^D so, by changing, he becomes a child of truth and virtue.

Thus it has been said by the Savior concerning certain ones: *Wisdom is justified by her children;* calling those who are wise children of wisdom. For since those who are children of someone have their existence from their parent, and those who are "of a certain sort" have their existence from the quality that has accrued to them, they are deservedly called children and sons of that quality. Just as it has been said by the Savior, "These wise ones are children of wisdom," so also He called others children of peace, saying to the disciples: *If you enter into a city or into a house, and if a child of peace be there, your peace (that which is given to the city or to the house) shall rest upon him who is in it, the child of peace.*

Cap. IV. The prudence of the children of this world.

Again, the same Savior says: *The children of this world are wiser than the children of light in their generation;* calling those children of light who are illuminated by the knowledge of the truth and by works of virtue. To these, who had already become light, since they were children of light, He says: *You are the light of the world.*

But those who love the present life, and refer everything they do to it, He named children of this aeon. Although He did call them ^A more prudent than the children of light, He did not call them more prudent in an absolute sense, but "in their generation"—that is, in the affairs pertaining to this aeon, they are more prudent than the children of light. For they are wise to do evil, but they have not understood how to do good. And it is also written concerning Judas that he was the son of destruction. For the Lord said of him, *None of them perished, except the son of destruction.* He called him the son of destruction because he did those things which are of destruction, and which sink one into ruin. For he was not such a person when he was one of the apostles and was ministering to the Savior along with them, but became so when he turned traitor to the Son of God and Teacher, having loved the silver of destruction. And that he was not evil by nature, he heard, along with all the disciples: *Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.* If He calls those who sin wolves, and those who apply themselves to virtue sheep—if Judas were naturally evil, he would not have been a sheep of Christ, since one who is evil by nature cannot practice virtue. But not even the devil himself is evil by nature, but became so by the change of his own free will.

Cap. V. How the body of sin is formed.

^B Just as, therefore, not only of evil actions and pursuits, but also of honorable ones, those who practice them in the aforementioned manner are called sons and children—by which logic they were called the offspring of qualities because they receive from them the being which they have from that quality and its function—so too, with good reason, is flesh of sin and the body of sin not said of anyone in an absolute sense, but because it serves sin. For a man, by abusing his body and flesh for lust and other similar energies, makes his body a body of sin and his flesh flesh of sin; just as a zealous person, through temperance and the virtue that follows it, sanctifies his own body and soul. The virgin, therefore, is made holy in body and spirit (that is, in soul), just as Paul writes, saying that a virgin must not be distracted by earthly things and cares, *that she may be holy in body and spirit.* But he also writes in the Epistle to the Corinthians: *Glorify God in your body.* If God is glorified in the body of men, and God is not glorified in what is evil, then the body is not evil by nature, even though the sinner makes it so by using it for the purposes of sin. And again, ^C after a few words, he addresses his own: *Know you not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have of God? If any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which you are.*

Cap. VI. If the body is evil by nature, it does not receive sanctification. The body can be sanctified.

But also in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, the same ^D

The Apostle writes: "May the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ." ^A For how can anyone be wholly sanctified, and have his whole body preserved, if the body is not naturally capable of being sanctified, being evil? If it is evil by nature, it is not receptive of sanctification; but if it receives the good, it is evident that it is not evil by nature, being capable of the good. For what is evil by nature is not receptive of the good, just as what is good by nature is not receptive of evil.

The same Apostle writes in another Epistle to some: "Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." By this very word and form of speech, he shows that the flesh is also so constituted that it may be cleansed from the defilements of sin that attach to it, and likewise the spirit and the soul. If the flesh were evil by substance and the spirit good by substance, the spirit would have no defilement, nor indeed would the flesh be cleansed from defilement. Yet he commands both to be cleansed from defilement, stating also the method of this cleansing: "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." He does well also to say, "in the fear of God," showing that they possess obedience from themselves, and not from necessity. If, by perfecting holiness in the fear of God, we cleanse our own flesh and spirit from defilement, it is clear that this occurs when holiness arises within us. For just as the soul is cleansed of ignorance and injustice by the presence of knowledge and justice (for the flight of vice makes a path for virtue, which is its contrary), so by the arrival of sanctification, the flesh and spirit are cleansed of defilement. By "spirit" in these contexts, he signifies the soul, just as in the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Stephen, while being stoned and about to die, said in prayer: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." For by those words he did not mean anything else as his spirit than his soul. ^C Since, therefore, the flesh and the spirit are in many places spoken of sometimes as of sin, and sometimes of sanctification, and are mentioned as being intended to glorify God, neither of them is evil or good by nature; but they are of such a kind that they can receive either by free will, or receive one or the other according to the use made of them by the one who possesses them. Sometimes they are spoken of as being of sin, sometimes of sanctification. If they, ignoring the passage from which they bring forward that the flesh is of sin, think this to be the case, we, however, setting it forth in its entirety, shall make the meaning manifest. It is as follows: ^D "God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh through sin." What he says is of this sort.

CAP. VII. Why did Christ come from a Virgin? A passage of the Apostle vexed by the Manichæans. The likeness of sinful flesh, arising from sexual union.

"God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, through sin." What he says is of this sort. The flesh of all men

the existence of human beings ^A arises from the union of man and woman, with the exception of the first parent and that which Christ assumed. For no other reason did the body of man come into being unless male and female were joined. Therefore, because the Savior assumed a body from the Virgin alone, which took its origin without intercourse, for that reason he called the flesh of the Lord a "likeness" of that flesh which is from intercourse. For he did not say simply that he possesses a likeness of flesh, but a "likeness of the flesh of sin." Now the likeness of the flesh of sin is flesh, lacking the others only in this one respect, that it obtained existence without a man. For it was fitting that he who was coming for the salvation of men should not receive a body from the union of a man. Nor again, [should he be] outside the succession of men, like the first man, lest his body be thought to be of a different kind. For if he himself had been formed from the earth, as was the prince of the human race, those who introduce a phantom appearance through the figment of their minds would have had an occasion to suspect that he did not perhaps truly possess a human body. ^B

Cap. VIII. Are marriages evil? The flesh of sin, propagated by carnal copulation, whose origin is from sin. The marriages of the faithful in Christ.

Furthermore, if he had taken a body from the union of a man, since it would differ in nothing, he himself would also certainly have been held liable to that sin which all his descendants contract from Adam by succession. But if they say: "If the flesh born from the conjunction of a man and woman is the flesh of sin, then marriage is evil," let them hear this: Before the coming of the Savior, who took away the sin of the world, all men, just as they acted with sin in other things, so also held marriage with sin. Whence, similarly, it is to be understood regarding bodies born from wedlock: and because the union of Adam and Eve took place after the sin, for that reason it is called the flesh of sin. For he who was immortal before the transgression had become mortal through the transgression; and thus the succession has mortality. Therefore Christ possessed the likeness of this flesh, even though his flesh did not see corruption. ^C But through his coming, just as sin was taken away from other things, so also it was taken away from marriage. And so now, those who live according to the Gospel can have honorable marriage and the bed undefiled, as Paul writes to the faithful: *Honorable is marriage, and the bed undefiled: but fornicators and adulterers God will judge*. By distinguishing honorable marriage, and those who use it, from fornicators and adulterers, he denies that these are fornication or adultery. Wherefore marriage is not a sin. ^D

Cap. IX. An encomium of virginity. Evil by comparison; what is good in itself. Virginity, the companion of virtue and faith; and persecution. The struggle for the Christian is heavier in proportion to his strength.

It may also be said more naturally: Virginity is a certain divine thing, and is splendid in the estimation of virtues. If anyone, therefore, comparing marriage with virginity, should say that marriage itself is a sin, it is not absolute sin. For evil does not [exist] in the comparison of good.

is evil, but it is such in itself. If at any time something is called evil in relation to some good, that thing itself would also be good, though inferior to the good preferred to it. ^A Those, therefore, who come to the Gospel come to it first of all so that they may practice piety and become wise according to God. To this there follows the being opposed by some; for it is necessary for them to take up Christianity firmly. And the firmness comes from the exercise in temptations. Hence it is necessary for them to endure struggles. And just as those who set up the games, if they are concerned for what is reasonable, do not pair this athlete with that one by chance, but with great precision, looking to the proportion of each one's strength; so too our arbiter of the games, Christ, does not pair everyone with the same adversaries, but according to the age and strength ^B of each, he assigns the opponent with whom the struggle is to be joined. Thus, to the Corinthians, who were still infants, Paul writes that they were held by the passions of the flesh: "No temptation has overtaken you, unless it is human" (1 Cor. x, 13). For the temptations and struggles of these people refer to human matters. But regarding himself and those similar to him, of equal balance and equal strength, he writes, saying: "We do not have a struggle against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, and against the powers, and against the world-rulers of this darkness of this age"; as if he were saying this: "For us who have ascended to a higher rank, the struggle is no longer against blood and flesh—that is, against human things—but against the ranks of the opponents who have also ascended." These are species of rational beings who have become evil ^C by the exercise of their will.

Let no one assume that, by saying "species of evil rational beings," we are speaking of an evil essence. For there are species and genera also of those things that exist by free will. We say, for instance, that there are species of the honorable: the just, the temperate, the prudent. Since virtue is a genus divided into species—into justice, temperance, and the rest—it is necessary for him who participates in the genus, being a virtuous person, to be, as it were, a genus of those who participate in the species of virtue; likewise, also, since knowledge is a genus, and grammar, music, and the others [are its species], we say that the one who is named after the genus—the "knowledgeable"—is a genus of those who are named after the species of knowledge. ^D Even if, therefore, we speak of species of evil rational beings, we mean that all who fall under these species are such by their own will. Certainly, then, the names that have been mentioned, "evil," are indicative not of essences but of choices.

Cap. XI. Diabolus, the name of a will and its depravity. Judas, diabolus. Judas, a good elect, became evil and a diabolus by his own will. Diabolus, an accuser and slanderer. Satanas, an adversary.

For the name "diabolus" (devil) signifies not an essence, but a will. Straightway, then, even Judas, a man,

when he was a man, the Lord called him a devil, not ^A on account of his substance, but on account of his will, when he said to the disciples all at once, including Judas among them: "Did I not choose you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" The Evangelist subjoins: "He said this concerning Judas, who was about to betray him." For if he was called a devil on account of his future betrayal, he was not yet a devil at the time when he obtained election with the others. For he became elect along with all the others because of the virtue found in him at that time; but he was named a devil when he performed the deeds of betrayal. If, therefore, in the case of Judas the name "devil" indicates a deliberate action, the word would signify something pertaining to free will when used of anyone else. Nor is the usage of this word in common parlance unknown. We call those devils who slander others to their neighbor, or vice versa, and disparage and calumniate them. Since, therefore, the devil also slanders God to men, and men to God, and men to one another, he obtained this name. If the name "Satan" is also spoken of the devil, let them know that this also is indicative of something pertaining to deliberate choice. For the word, being Hebrew, signifies nothing else in Greek than "the opponent"; and "opponent," when applied to a person, is equivalent to "enemy" or "harmful." Just as the enemy is such by deliberate choice, so too is the opponent; just as are their opposites: for "friend," "well-wisher," "harmonious," and "like-minded" are names indicative of deliberate choices. For this same person is called friend and well-wisher, just as he is called devil, and Satan, and evil. As the Savior in the Gospel teaches the disciples in prayer, among other things, to say: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." For the name of the "evil one" is also indicative of deliberate choice. If, therefore, through all these things signified, the originator of evil and the first deserter of virtue is such by deliberate choice, he cannot be evil by necessity of essence. If, however, they were to say that he is evil by essence and that those things by which he is thus named were added to it, let them know that what pertains to free will is not included among things that are essential. For no one says "by free choice" that one is an animal or a stone; for these are essential things. Hence there is nothing of deliberate choice here; for things of deliberate choice are found in those things in which free will itself exists. ^C But perhaps they will say: "Why did the good God bring into the nature of things one who was going to be harmful and a pestilence and a ruin?" Let those who say this know that they are not only opposing us, but all who believe in providence. For many others also, while believing in providence, say that all rational living creatures are from God, in whom evil also grows. If, therefore, concerning the devil these...

they say, and are forced to say this concerning all rational beings. But we, not following them, say: He who created that which is capable of falling into evil by its own inclination is not the cause of evil. For He fashioned a rational animal, which He willed to be good by its own power of choice, possessing the sovereignty to incline in either direction. For He willed it to be good, ^A choosing the good voluntarily. For no created being is able to be good against its will; but all who are good are such of their own free will. It was necessary, therefore, for the one who would be good by his own choice to have the power and the aptitude to lay hold of the good. It followed that it must be capable of both good and evil; having been thus fashioned, the rational being, possessing the power for virtue and for vice, was given a commandment so that it might possess virtue in act, but vice in aptitude alone. For the law of the Creator exhorts, encourages, and cooperates toward virtue, ^B turning nature away from vice. If, therefore, an aptitude for vice exists in the rational being, it is not on account of this aptitude that it is evil. For the powers and choices of both—I mean of virtue and of vice—are ours. For we choose to have the power of virtue, that we may be able also to take possession of it in act; we choose also to have the power of vice. For we possess it [vice] when we have virtue in act. And this opinion is not ours alone, but also that of all who have philosophized correctly concerning rational beings.

Cap. XIII. God is not the author of sin. All minds were created good and for the good. The abuse of art and of laws, while they themselves are unwilling and innocent.

If, therefore, God created the substance which is called the devil, He did not create it as the devil, but as ^C capable of virtue, that it might possess it, and capable of vice, that it might abstain from it. For since virtue cannot coexist with vice, and virtue is a friend to God, He instilled the powers of both into the rational being for this reason: that we might take the one into act, but that we might abstain from the end of the other power, which is the act [of vice]. Thus every rational being was made for the purpose of being virtuous, and not evil. If, therefore, any of the rational beings have run in the opposite direction to their Creator and Provider, the cause is not the Creator and Lawgiver, but those who have set themselves against the laws that were given and the laws by which they are provided for. We see, indeed, ^D even in ourselves, that these things often happen, which we teach our children, wishing to elevate them toward knowledge, so that they might also put it into effect; yet they do not always put it into effect exactly as they were taught; but it happens sometimes that many sons, educated by their fathers in the medical art, do not use the medical art as they ought, applying to those who are sick things that are morbific instead of healthful; and surely the medical art, or he who taught it

exist; and neither then is the medicine to be blamed, nor he who taught it to be accused of a crime. For he did not teach them in such a way that he should act so; for he acts, not as one taught to do. Again, we teach some people laws, that they may defend justice and repel injustice; yet some, by the depravity of their own minds, approach these laws and act contrary to what they have learned. We do not, however, on that account blame the law or the lawgiver. For if they themselves were the cause of the injustice, they would not punish the unjust. For this too belongs to their own judgment and decision: that the unjust man must be punished with just chastisement. Likewise, God punishes Satan and those who transgress the divinely instituted laws. For to certain wicked ones He says: "Depart into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels." ^B

CAP. XIV. The inconsistent ravings of the Manichaeans. The sin of the devil is not an innate malice, but assumed voluntarily long after his creation.

Let those, therefore, who contradict these words know that they speak things contradictory to themselves. For if the devil were evil by nature and foreign to the good God, and one who could contend with Him with equal strength, He could neither have prepared punishment for him nor have been able to cast him into that punishment. Yet He says that fire is prepared for the devil. And this must also be said: if the good God is immutable, as He indeed is, and always relies on the same powers, not being able to do one thing at one time and another at another; and since he was destined, after much harm and many losses accepted from him, to deliver him to eternal fire, why did He not do this from the beginning, when he exalted himself against Him and occupied a part of His realm? For it would have been more just for Him to have decreed punishment against him then, as one who had committed a greater offense. For now he harms men; but then, by their own admission and as they believe, he inflicted harm upon the Divinity itself. The severity and indignation of the law is, however, more just if anyone acts with insolent injury against a king than if against some of the subjects. For if these things must be thought of in this way, they will either attribute to God ignorance as to how He would exact vengeance and hinder the evil, or powerlessness. But neither of these is to be attributed to the good God. Therefore, he did not exalt himself against God as His enemy from no origin; but having been made to be good, he kept the faculty for attaining virtue incomplete and stunted, and he brought to action what was prone to vice and suitable for it. Therefore he is worthy of punishment, and deservedly is he long afterward subjected to it. ^C

CAP. XV. The repentance of those whose evil comes from the will.

But if they should object to that which was said by John the Baptist to those who were coming to baptism with hypocrisy, in these words: "Ye brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance; and do not think to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." ^D Let them hear that they cannot object to things which they do not receive. For they do not receive John the Baptist, who is one from the Old Testament.

For they do not accept John the Baptist, since he happens to be one from the Old Scripture. Yet, even so, one must speak to them as follows: throughout ^A the entire context, he destroys the notion that some are naturally good and others naturally evil. For he says to them: "Produce therefore fruit worthy of repentance." Now, repentance and its fruit do not apply either to one who is evil by essence or to one who is naturally good. For how could he who is always good be in need of repentance? Or how could he who is naturally evil make use of the good of repentance? For he who is evil by essence cannot turn away from sin; nor, on the other hand, is repentance of any benefit to the good. Furthermore, from the stones which he pointed to, he says that children would be raised up to Abraham, calling the foolish and those still remaining in wickedness "stones." For if these were to repent and believe in God, they would be children of Abraham, who for this reason was called the man of God, because he believed in God, in such a way that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Chapter XVI. Those who are descendants of Abraham have become a brood of vipers.

Since we have also heard that thing said by them against those who were born from Abraham and other holy men—as if, forsooth, by saying, "Serpents, offspring of vipers," he were signifying Abraham and his descendants—let them learn that they are speaking things contradictory to the consistency of the chapter. For he reproves and rebukes them, because they were not children of Abraham, but offspring of vipers, while they ^C falsely and in vain boasted of being of Abraham. For the Saviour says to them in another chapter: "This Abraham did not do," whom you falsely say is your father. "If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. But you are from your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he has not stood in the truth." And it is well said, "he has not stood," showing that he had previously stood in the truth. He calls the devil their father because of the likeness of his change and quality. Wherefore, he did not call Abraham and the saints with him vipers. For they had this—their being sons of vipers—from a change, because they used evil teachers, as has been said, according to their own choice. ^D Therefore John says to them: "Since by a change from virtue, you desired to become serpents (for they were not such by essence), cease being offspring of vipers, whose quality you desired to have. For you strove to be evil from the evil, and unjust from the unjust. But since, because you are coming to baptism, you say that you bring a sign of repentance, yet you do this dissemblingly, I say to you: Who warned you to flee from the anger to come?" For he who repents does so for this reason: that by no longer sinning, he may flee from the anger which is to come against the sinners. But he asks, "Who warned you?" in order to say...

who teaches2 to withdraw truly from evil, not to perform the act through pretense; but you do it with simulation, when you approach for baptism. You shall not, therefore, be cleansed. For he who wishes to be cleansed in truth withdraws from sins, and brings forth fruit of repentance of this kind, doing works contrary to the habit of sin. ^B But you have not done this, having condemned yourselves while saying that you have Abraham as your father. For it will not profit you that you are deemed sons of Abraham, but rather that you are his sons in that manner, in which you emulate his faith and his flight from idols. Wherefore, although you were once sons of Abraham, this will not make you safe. For God can make even those who are not now his sons to be his sons. Therefore, he obtains salvation who is a son of Abraham by the reasons of virtue, not he who has existed as his son according to the flesh only. But if he has so existed, let him not boast or be pleased with himself: for it is a thing of such a kind that it may slip away from one to another and be easily changed. Finally, those to whom even this has not happened will be able to attain it. For even Paul says to those whom he had not begotten in the flesh: *In Christ through the Gospel I have begotten you* (1 Cor. IV, 15).

CAP. XVII: The sinner, in the very act by which he sins, has a present punishment

CAP. XVIII: Promise and punishment are both good.

is brought about, being either productive of good, or a hindrance to evil. ^A God, therefore, since He wishes to hinder evil, establishes punishment. But He would not attempt to hinder evil, if that evil could not be hindered: yet that which is hindered cannot be by nature unbegotten. Ignorant men have fallen into error in this matter as well, imagining that punishment is contrary to the promise; for each is a recompense—the one bringing a reward to the good, the other a punishment upon those who have voluntarily transgressed the divine laws.

FRAGMENTS FROM THE LOST BOOKS OF DIDYMUS

^B "Constantly exercise yourself in your own mind with arguments concerning Providence and judgment," says that great teacher and instructor in spiritual knowledge, Didymus, "and endeavor to keep the subject matter of these arguments in your memory. For almost all blunder in these matters. And the arguments concerning judgment you will find in the difference of bodies and in the parts of the world; but the arguments concerning Providence you will detect in those ways by which we are led from vice and ignorance towards virtue and knowledge."

^C From long study and discipline, the violence and ferocity of the passions are weakened.

From the book of Didymus, *On the Incorporeal*. The instructions and exhortations of a teacher contribute to the benefit of the hearers, not when the teacher instructs by word alone, but when he does so also by action consistent with his words, and by adhering to the things he has promised. Again, it is necessary for a true teacher to lead a life consistent with the things he himself has legislated, so that his action may be properly harmonized with his word.

Another fragment was provided by Mingarelli in his notes, p. 277.

IV. A treatise to Rufinus on why infants die, although they have taken on bodies because of their own sins. See the *Works of Jerome*, ed. Migne, vol. II, p. 478 D.

DIDYMUS THE ALEXANDRIAN. THE SECOND PART OF HIS WORKS — EXEGETICAL. FRAGMENTS FROM THE CATENAE. ON GENESIS.

Ex Catena cui titulus: A Chain of fifty-one commentaries on the Octateuch and the Books of Kings, now first published by the request of the most pious and serene Prince of all Ungro-Wallachia, Lord Lord Gregory Alexander Ghica; edited by Nicephorus, hieromonk of the Theotokos. In Leipzig of Saxony, at the printing house of Breitkopf. In the year 1772.

^A CAP. 1, vers. 14. *Dixit autem Deus: Fiant luminaria in firmamento coeli ut illuminetur terra et dividant diem ac noctem.*

Didymus.—Whence also the creation of the luminaries, which happened on the fourth day, is attributed to this fourth day on account of the greater utility and excellence belonging to them. For the Tetrad, being virtually a Decad, is held in the greatest honor; since the monad, the dyad, the triad, and the tetrad, when added together, produce the decad; and throughout the entire course of Scripture the decad is celebrated; for Moses gave ten commandments, and tithes are offered to the priests. And as God, having on the third day gathered the water which had previously been spread over the face of the whole earth, made from it the seas, rivers, and fountains; so also God, having on the fourth day gathered the light which was created in the beginning and had previously been spread about, made from it the sun, the moon, and the remaining stars. The sun, however, does not differ from the day. ^B

CAP. III, vers. 19. *Spinas et tribulos germinabit tibi, et comedes herbam terrae.*

Didymus.—For what evil does not follow from the nature of the body, which exists as a tinderbox for pleasures and troubles? For the Savior signified that these are the thorns which choke the seed, as he says, if anyone receiving it does not store it in the depth of the heart.

VERS. 25. *Et collocavit ante paradisum voluptatis cherubim et flammeum gladium atque versatilem ad custodiendam viam ligni vitae.* ^C

Didymus.—It is called a versatile (turning) sword, so that it may be signified that if a man turns from vice to virtue, this sword itself is also turned, now permitting entry. If, therefore, the desire to enter seizes anyone, he will have these as guides: the cherubim, hinting at the knowledge...

of the truth, in which it is fitting for one who desires to enter to participate (for cherubim is interpreted as "multitude of knowledge"); and by the sword, the laborious way of life is signified. For it is not possible to obtain entry into the kingdom except through many tribulations.

CAP. VI, vers. 22. Tolles igitur tecum ex omnibus escis quæ mandi possunt, et comportabis apud te, et erunt tam tibi quam illis in cibum. Didymus. That which pertains to the dung of the animals is rightly passed over in silence, since Noah, together with his sons, was able to provide for this matter suitably, and it is obvious for us to conjecture and fill in what has been omitted.

CAP. VIII, vers. 1. Et recordatus est Deus Noe, etc. Didymus. ^B The phrase, "God remembered Noah," must be understood in a way that befits the divine nature. It does not imply that He suffered forgetfulness, but just as He says concerning the impious, "I do not know where you are from" (Luc. XIII, 27), that is, "I have never known you," as if to say, "I have never counted you among our number"; so too here, "He remembered" is the same as if He said: He established him to be the beginning of a new generation.

FRAGMENTA IN EXODUM.

CAP. XXIV, vers. 10. Et viderunt Deum Israel: et sub pedibus ejus quasi opus lapidis sapphirini, et quasi cœlum cum serenum est. Didymus. ^C For it is manifest from this reading that wherever God is present spiritually, there it is said to be the place of His feet, standing firmly there where virtue is practical. Perhaps, too, by the work of the sapphirine stone, wisdom is designated, which, because it consists in the contemplation of intellectual things, is compared to a serene heaven.

CAP. XXXIII, vers. 13. Si ergo inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo, ostende mihi faciem tuam ut per cognitionem videam te et inveniam gratiam ante oculos tuos, et cognoscas quia populus tuus est gens ista. Didymus. ^D That which is seen through knowledge is manifest as being grasped by the intellect alone, and by no means by the senses. For just as the eye perceives sensible things through vision, so the mind receives the vision of God through knowledge.

VERS. 19. Et dixit : Ego transibo prior te cum gloria mea; præibo ante faciem tuam cum gloria mea, et vocabo nomine Domini coram te. Didymus. For that (glory of mine) is posterior. For before the ages exists my glory, which is my only-begotten Son. When, therefore, I have passed by first, having

[BEGINS] our glory, then you shall follow. As a servant follows a master. ^A

VERS. 23. And I will take away my hand, and you shall see my backside: but my face you cannot see.

Didymus.—The divine nature, such as it existed from eternity before the foundation of the world, is indicated by the face; but creation and providence are signified by the backside.

CAP. XXXIV, vers. 2. And be ready in the morning, that you may ascend immediately into Mount Sinai, and you shall stand with me on the summit.

Didymus.—For he does not stand with any other but with God, to whom he will complete the predicted progress. But what is it to stand with God, unless it be to be prepared to hear the precepts of God? ^B

VERS. 3. And let no one ascend with you, nor let any one be seen throughout the whole mountain: let the oxen also and the sheep not graze over against it.

Didymus.—He commanded those who were more imperfect than Moses to remain at the foot of the mountain.

Fragments on the Second Book of Kings.

CAP. XXII. Vers. 5. For the sorrows of death encompassed me: the torrents of iniquity terrified me. ^C

Didymus.—He also speaks of the torrents of iniquity, because those who do not manfully withstand temptations fall into iniquity.

VERS. 6. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

Didymus.—The sorrows of death and hell are mortal sins.

VERS. 9. There went up a smoke in his wrath, and fire from his mouth shall devour: coals were kindled by it.

Didymus.—“There went up a smoke in his wrath,” as the pernicious matter is consumed, having an analogy to the things that are built up upon the foundation of Christ by wicked men—wood, hay, stubble (1 Cor. III, 12). ^D These are evil actions or perverse dogmas. But coals sometimes designate punishments, for example, when the Apostle says: “If your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in doing this, you shall heap coals of fire upon his head” (Rom. XII, 20); and David: “Coals shall fall upon them; you shall cast them into the fire” (Ps. CXXXIX, 11). These coals will be a help to you. Sometimes, however, coals signify the fiery words of God, by which the thoughts of the soul are purified; which Isaiah makes manifest, saying: “And there was sent one of the seraphim, and he took a coal with the tongs from the altar.”

Furthermore, that fire proves the thoughts of the soul prepared for this, so that it might emerge more beautiful; but it purifies sinners, consuming their wicked actions; and unless they receive this fire, they shall be consumed by the eternal fire.

^A Ver. 10. *And he bowed the heavens, and came down, and gloom was under his feet.*

Didymus.—The descent is to be referred to the economy. He descended, not by changing place, but by taking the form of a servant, while existing in the form of God (Phil. II, 6, 7). That which is obscure and hidden in the knowledge of God is signified by the gloom: which gloom Moses penetrated, as much as was possible for a human being. Such was the advent of God among us, inasmuch as he was known by mortals only in part.

Ver. 11. *And he sat upon the cherubim, and did fly, and appeared upon the wings of the wind.*

Didymus.—Cherub is interpreted as "multitude of knowledge." God, therefore, sitting upon these rational creatures, or also upon souls that are like them, flies through their most acute intelligence. But if you understand the winds as sensible ones, God sits upon them by providence, directing them as he wills; for he says, "He brings forth the winds from his treasuries" (Ps. CXXXIV, 7). If, however, by the name of winds you understand those who are lifted up by the Spirit, and if you wish to consider wise men similar to winds that exhale their own breaths ^B, God, riding upon their wings—that is, upon their high-flying thoughts—flies everywhere. But the Apostle also introduces winds of doctrine, when, speaking of the heterodox, he says: "That we may no longer be children, tossed about and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the trickery of men, in craftiness, to the scheming of error" (Ephes. IV, 14).

Ver. 14. *And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High gave his voice.*

Didymus.—Now that the things prophesied concerning Christ have reached their fulfillment, God immediately thunders from heaven: both by demonstrating the truth of the high-sounding prophecies by the very outcome of events, and by casting into the minds of all a high sense concerning the divine nature of his only-begotten Son, when he says: *This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased* (Matth. XVII, 5). Flesh and blood did not reveal it to them, indeed, but the heavenly Father; who, ^C in order to prepare for the reception of the divine thunder, decreed that his Son should conversed bodily on earth, and should lay down his own soul for the sake of the creature, so that, lifted up from earthly things by that thunder coming from heaven, they might draw near to the heavenly One, bearing the image of the heavenly, as the Apostle says.

Ver. 15. *And he sent forth arrows, and scattered them; and he flashed lightning, and confounded them.*

Didymus.—He sends forth arrows against those who are hostilely disposed, which are able to throw into confusion those who are of one mind in evil. And he calls the words previously uttered concerning vengeance "arrows" ^D.

…are troubled by the threats concerning it. ^A

FRAGMENTS ON JOB

CAP. I. Vers. 1. *Homo quidam erat in regione Ausitide, cui nomen Job.* ^A Didymus. — Interpreting more sublimely, "Ausitis" in the Greek tongue signifies "counsel," in which the just man dwelt. For whoever is prone to anger acts without counsel: whence, like a puppy of a dog, he produces blind words and deeds. But this just man did nothing without counsel, obeying that prudent precept: "Do all things with counsel" (Eccli. XXXII, 24). The name of Job signifies "patience," and it is understood as if he had already become that which he was previously called, or that he was called what he subsequently became. ^B

VERS. 2. *Facti sunt autem ei filii septem, et filiæ tres.* Didymus. — The Scripture deems it worthy in this place that the list of children, which agrees with mystical reasons, be reviewed. For who does not know that the septenary number is an index of the seven gifts, just as the appellation of three is wont to be referred to that which is more perfect and divine? Truly, that we might know that the faith of the Trinity, as a sort of head placed over the remaining virtues, is the worker of the gifts. ^C

VERS. 3. *Et erat homo ille nobilis, inter eos qui a solis ortu.* Didymus. — It is said literally that he was noble among those of the east, because he was kin to Abraham according to the flesh; but as far as the anagogical sense is concerned, those who inhabit the east are called sons of light and children of God through their bright works. For the just man attains a nobility that shines, not from men, but from the splendor of the sun of justice. ^D

VERS. 5. *Et postquam consummati essent dies convivii, mittebat Job et purificabat eos exsurgens mane, etc.* Didymus. — Just as it is said: "My spirit watches for you from the night in the morning, O God" (Isa. XXVI, 9). And: "O God, my God, I watch for you from the light" (Ps. LXII, 1), so Job rose at daybreak for no other reason than to offer sacrifices to God for his children, according to their number; that is, for each one individually and in order; for the holy man did nothing in a confused manner. In addition to this, he immolated a calf for all of them in his own peculiar way, that he might also accustom his children to that discipline. Thus, therefore, when the feast was finished, he purified them; for along with the purification that falls under the senses, he also showed things that would conduce toward the cleansing of the soul. For prophetically…

and according to the law, and according to grace, he appears to be fulfilling sacrifices. According to the law, by offers of diverse sacrifices; but according to grace, by the one calf for sin. For such a sacrifice of grace gave a forewarning of the truth, prefiguring the one sacrifice in the flesh of the only-begotten Son of God. But if the calf brought on behalf of all signifies the Savior who endured the cross for us, consider it with me and do not be surprised; for Job was not uninitiated in the ^A advent of the Savior, he who said that he is the one who is about to overcome the great sea monster (Job III, 8).

Ver. 7. And the devil answering the Lord said: I am here, having gone about the earth and walked about the part under heaven.

Didymus. It is to be noted that earth and that which is under heaven are different places: the earth being under heaven, while places which are under heaven are not necessarily earth. He goes about the earth, so that he may contemplate concerning which man he might make a request; but he walks about the parts under heaven, rejoicing in the spirits of wickedness, who serve him for the most base things. And one should not be surprised if, being a subtle spirit, he passed through the aforementioned places; for God did not convict him as lying. Yet the wildness and inhumanity of his manner is signified by such a circuit by the wicked one. For the words belong to one who is manic and moving about from distraction; just as it is also said elsewhere: "Because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5, 8). For he fights and goes about being sleepless, leading on his friends and asking for the destruction of his enemies; for he does not have authority over us. And his words signify something of this kind: "Since," he says, "those of earth and those of the air are subjected to me, Job alone resists me; I have come to make a request against him."

Ver. 9. And the devil answered and said before the Lord.

Didymus. It is characteristic of those who are hostile to virtue not to consider the good things of their neighbors to be genuine, but rather to speak by way of slander, saying that this one is just on account of his inability to do evil; another is temperate on account of what is called stupidity; and another has no money and means of gain on account of being unsuited for them; and in general, no wicked person admits the virtue of anyone as genuine.

Ver. 11. But put forth thy hand, and touch all that he has, and see if he will not bless thee to thy face.

Didymus. The hand of God should be understood in different ways: either as the punishing power that serves for this purpose, which is also called a vessel of wrath according to the text, "Thy hand destroyed nations"; or as the protecting and defensive power, as in, "Thou hast fashioned me, and hast laid thy hand upon me" (Ps. cxxxviii, 5). Therefore, here, "Put forth thy hand," is said instead of, "Attack him with blows"; and "Touch all that he has" is said instead of...

"bring upon him grievous things." ^A We have, moreover, an example of this in the words, "Touch not my anointed ones" (Ps. civ, 15). For it does not forbid every simple touch, but the audacity of those who bring injury upon the saints. See, however, how craftily and with hypocrisy he does not say, "Permit me," but, "Do thou perform it." For he is well aware of his own feebleness, yet he is raving and arrogant, which is the height of madness. But do you note for me another malice and diabolical blindness: that he is willing to persuade the One who is alone good to do evil. And such is his excessive cruelty that it does not suffice for him to destroy a portion of his possessions or to slay some of his children, but he wishes to strip him of all his goods at once and suddenly. Wherefore he does not petition against the righteous man in part, but entirely, for his ruin, when he says: "Touch all that he has," having stripped him of every human hope, so that he may be a matchless example of bitterness and sorrows; for then his expression of a grateful soul will be worthy of admiration, when it will not have been proven false by the changes in times and circumstances. "If he will not bless thee to thy face," that is, if he will not then openly blaspheme thee and, becoming bold against thee, sharpen his tongue, as he would be unable to bear the magnitude of his calamities. ^B Here, therefore, instead of "he will curse" and "he will blaspheme thee," the devil said "he will bless thee," employing a more specious term, so that he might not bring a harsher expression before God, nor say that he would be an adversary to Thee, O God.

VERS. 12. *Then the Lord said to the devil: Behold, all things whatsoever are his, I give into thy hand, but touch not him.*

Didymus. For that which is said, "Behold, I give all into thy hand," is a demonstration that no one falls into temptations without divine permission. But that we may know that He also sets a limit to this permission, He adds, "But touch not him." From which it is clear that calamities do not happen by fate or by chance, but by divine permission.

*And the devil departed from the Lord.*

According to some, if the devil had not been outside of God, he would have done nothing against Job. And it is said of the devil more appropriately than of Cain: ^C"He went out from the presence of the Lord" (Gen. iv, 16), which indicates that he does not enjoy the vision of God. For he is of the number of those who are excluded outside, even if he came in a certain guise together with those who stand before God.

VERS. 13. *And it was as this day.*

Didymus. He consistently remembers the day and the gathering of the children, so that in this way the report of their death—who were extinguished suddenly at one moment of time by the fall of the house—might be credible.

VERS. 14. *And behold, a messenger came to Job, and said to him, etc.*

Didymus. It is worthy of note how those things which have happened suddenly, as reported, contain in their very account that which is bitter, and incline one to the utmost sadness. ^D Truly, even if they were enough to disturb, by reason of their suddenness...

yet they did not disturb the righteous man. For it is written somewhere in the Psalms concerning the holy man: "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings" (Ps. CXII, 7).

Vers. 16. *While he was yet speaking, there came another messenger, and said unto Job, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep

^A and is experienced by those who have not known, but the one who has had that experience, and has had it before being deprived of it, possesses a fear of the passion mixed with perturbation; and after it has been snatched away, it brings bitter pains, since unbridled tranquility and a mind that cannot be instructed by discipline are gripped by wretched lamentations. Such was by no means the illustrious Job, that, I say, peerless treasure of patience and constancy, that supreme perfection of fortitude, that head of piety, and great exemplar of philosophy. For he knew how to bear both tranquility prudently and calamity with fortitude; for the philosophy and equanimity with which he was previously imbued were not in the least refuted by the wounds that subsequently followed. ^B For by what reason could that unbearable calamity appear as such to a man trained in the discipline of divine things and previously instructed in piety? For he who has learned to hold riches in common, grows rich in spending upon the needy, and fears not the loss of wealth; wherefore even when torn from them he does not bear it ill, but rather makes the calamity a cause of philosophy and equanimity; in prosperous affairs, moderation of character serves as a bridle, and in adverse ones, he does not allow himself to be broken or to yield, inasmuch as he is hedged about by divine protection. For he knows how to moderate both states with philosophy, whence he neither abuses magnificence for injury (for he possesses philosophy), nor is he submerged by calamities (for he practices patience); and the trial of the envious one becomes for him a way of salvation. For the adversary outwitted himself, opening a path for him toward the acquisition of goods from the very point whence he expected to overcome him; wherefore, the insidious wife is rebuked, and the utter ruin of the children does not in the least harm his piety, nor does the fire falling from heaven disturb his mind, preserved by the beneficence of God; nor do the frequent messengers of evils, and the wailing heard from every side, shake his constancy. For everyone who converses familiarly with God thinks little of things below and decaying. By so much the more is he made intimate with things above and abiding, by how much he is driven away from those present. For the spirit of wickedness and the rising of the storm do not know how to harm a righteous soul; for God guarded it, having measured the calamity; for those things which concerned the body he permitted to the tempter, for the testing of a sober judgment, but he preserved the mind impassible, with which he was about to do battle, and with which, having entered the lists, he won such great trophies.

VERS. 18, 19. *While he was yet speaking, there comes another messenger, saying to Job, Thy sons,* etc. ^D Didymus. Not in vain is it added, *while thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking,* but to intensify the suffering, and this the devil contrives, in order that the atrocious report of the things that have happened might cause the righteous man an incredible grief. For if this had happened while the children were sleeping, the ruin, being something without sensation, would have tortured Job's soul less; but the word *suddenly* is added, and it has emphasis, to signify that the matter had occurred in such a way that no opportunity of escape was granted to anyone.

^A CAP. II, vers. 6. *And the Lord said to the devil: Behold, I deliver him to you; only keep his life* (Theodotion, however: *Do not touch his life*).

Didymus. And this indeed [was done] for our benefit, so that Job, as a character and model of fortitude, might be left inscribed as if upon a column, and might serve as a goal of such virtue, not only for the men of that age, but also for those who came after; and so it has come to pass. For it is permitted for us to hear that athlete and combatant saying: *I know that I shall appear righteous* (Job xiii, 8). But the Lord, in delivering him to the devil, says, *Only keep his life.* The meaning of these words seems to be this: We often see some people falling into a frenzy and insanity of mind because of hidden and secret causes which only God knows. Since, therefore, the devil was endeavoring to drive the righteous man into folly and a state of mental disorder, so that he might force him—even against his will—to utter impious and blasphemous words, therefore, God says, I deliver to you him whom you have requested, that his virtue may be the more attested, and you may be covered with greater shame; but beware, lest you introduce a torpor or pervert his ruling faculty; for this is not permitted to you, because while the sanity of his mind is preserved, his fortitude in enduring evils must be shown: but, as you requested, touch his flesh and his bones.

^B vers. 9. *And after much time had passed, his wife said to him: How long will you endure, saying: Behold, I wait for a little time yet, expecting the hope of my salvation?*

Didymus. The devil, broken by so many incursions and battles, and no longer knowing what else to do, returns to the memory of his ancient fraud; and, drawing the mind of the woman toward himself by guile, he attempts through her to overthrow the athlete; and he prepares a third contest against him—a colloquy, namely, with her—in case he might by this method ensnare Job, just as Adam was led into deception by Eve. For when much time had passed, seeing that he could not shake the tower of piety, he persuades the wife to bring forth words of contempt.

^C CAP. III, vers. 8. *But let him curse it who curses that day, he who is ready to overcome [the] great sea-monster.*

Didymus. The expression, *he who is ready to overcome*, is well spoken, manifesting the mystery concerning the Incarnation, which had not yet occurred then, but was to occur thereafter. For it was not fitting that it should be by the divinity alone that the devil, who had the power of death (Heb. ii, 14), should be abolished, but by the Word made man, from the seed of him whom the devil had deceived; for it would have been a matter for boasting for the wicked demon if He had subjugated him by the divinity alone. ^D Furthermore, the diverse appellations of the devil declare his diverse operations, not a manifold essence. For the devil is called adversary, evil, lion, dragon, serpent, beast, and sea-monster on account of the ways of his character, since he works his malice with manifold artifice: a fact which utterly overthrows the dogma of the Manichaeans.

^A

CHAP. IV, verse 2. *Is word often had with you in distress? But who shall sustain the weight of your words?* Didymus. Or does the phrase *Is word often had with you in distress?* signify that you yourself have often used words with those who have fallen into grievous circumstances, and have brought them consolation in their distress—that is, in their calamities and tribulations—but that now your words, being full of contempt, no one can bear, and the harshness of your speech is so great that it rouses even one who would willingly keep silent to offer a refutation?

VERSE 10. *The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the roaring of the dragons have been extinguished. The myrmecoleon has perished for want of prey, and the lion’s whelps have scattered from one another.* Didymus. He takes the natures of irrational animals which are not only useless to our own kind, but even treacherous to it, and proves that God destroys everything that is unjust and arrogant. Thus, he says, the roaring lion falls when God wills; the savage cry of the lioness, by which she terrifies the weaker beasts, is extinguished; the dragons are humbled; the myrmecoleon perishes, food not being provided for it; and the whelps of the lions have scattered from one another, not being sent forth into successions. As far as the history is concerned, since Eliphaz said that those who sow absurdities shall perish by the command of the Lord, he adds that the lion and the dragon will experience the same thing when God wills it. He, therefore, who maintains order among the irrational animals will much more preserve it among men. ^B

VERSE 17. *For what? Shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? Or shall a man be blameless by his own works?* Didymus. Do not say, he suggests, that you suffer these things because you are free from sins, since it is impossible for human life to conform to the perfect standard of the Law. For it happens through the weakness of nature that we fall into sins, sometimes willingly, but often also unwillingly. This, indeed, when it is examined, if judged with discernment, involves a reproof; for if he who falls into miseries and tribulations is afflicted on account of his sins, and there is no one who is free from stain, then surely no one will be free from tribulations. ^C

VERSE 8. *But I will call upon the Lord, the Master of all, who does great and unsearchable things, and glorious and extraordinary things, of which there is no number.* Didymus. Having blamed the foolish and set forth what he had to say regarding them, he now, from what he proposes, confesses God as the author of providence and the Creator. It is not unlikely for Eliphaz to possess such reasonings, being a man who excelled in the wisdom of human affairs. He disputes of invisible and visible things, speaking of those that are least trackable, the great and glorious, of rain and water; which water, if he distinguishes it from rain, he understands as the water that springs from fountains, torrents, and veins. ^D He says, therefore, that I do not offer glory, nor do I think as the impious do, but rather, understanding providence, and knowing God as Master

of all things, [and of] times, and places, and events, ^A I call upon Him, deeming it fitting, Who at various times works wonders, worthy of astonishment, for the benefit of men, the multitude of which it is not possible to recount even in words. He speaks of the providence that has occurred in every generation in a varied manner, both commonly toward all, and privately toward each individual. For just as it is not possible to find a number for the human race, so too is it impossible to attain to [an understanding of] the providence of God, as the reasons for the divine providence are impossible for men to comprehend.

VERS. 11. *Who sets the humble on high, and lifts up those who had perished.*

Didymus. He moves on also to the providence which concerns men, and being thus disposed toward God, he considers that He is accustomed to humble those from a high place, to make the poor wealthy, to make rulers out of subjects, and to restore health to the sick.

VERS. 17. *But blessed is the man whom the Lord reproves; and do not reject the instruction of the Almighty.* For He causes pain, and again He restores; He struck, and His hands healed.

Didymus. God reproves, and adds the correction of the scourge, not that He might destroy, but that He might save the one being disciplined; do not you, therefore, lose heart, but with thanksgiving embrace the reproof.

VERS. 18. *Six times He shall deliver thee out of distresses, and in the seventh, no evil shall touch thee.*

Didymus. According to the opinion of some, ^B these verses suggest that as long as anyone dwells in the world, which was created in the span of six days, he suffers the distresses and afflictions that are in it; for even if one should be a saint, he is still subject to the necessity of the body: but having transcended the world, and being established in the seventh-day rest, he will not feel any affliction; since even the one who possesses an unavaricious manner is not touched by loss. The sense, however, is of this sort: In the present age He will exercise you, and in the future He will glorify you. But it is not necessary that the history of events should be aligned with the contemplations in every detail.

VERS. 26. *And thou shalt come to the grave, as ripe corn that is harvested in its season; or as a heap of the threshing floor, gathered in at the proper time.*

Didymus. For this is what the gathered heap signifies: completion, that is, and perfection, and that the perfect man is thereafter in security.

CHAPTER VI, VERS. 5.

Didymus. For the wild ass does not utter a voice in vain, but because it is in need of food; neither does the ox bellow, when food is lying at the manger; so do not blame me, if I cry out, according to your opinion, on account of grievous things, since [my] nature is weak. The righteous man says these things, [meaning] that just as the ass does not cry out in vain, or

the ox, but [does so] when its food fails; so too [would I not cry out], unless I had arrived at the extremity of evil, leading Eliphaz to not blame the one who is in pain, if he cries out. For the righteous man ought not to be devoid of feeling, even if he bears the things that afflict him with fortitude. For this is virtue, when someone, while receiving a perception of painful things, scorns the pains for the sake of God. ^A

VERS. 6. *Nunquid potest sine sale edi panis? aut est sapor in sermonibus vanis?*

Didymi. In respect to the sense, however: Every word which is deprived of action joined with virtue is empty and vain. This is confirmed by that [passage]: *For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power* (1 Cor. 4:20); our salvation does not consist in empty promises, but in an effective word. ^B

VERS. 15. *Propinqui mei non respexerunt me; tanquam torrens deficiens, aut sicut fluctus, transierunt me.*

Didymi. Certainly, those who appear to be friends, but on the approach of difficult times are exposed as having feigned friendship and having displayed it only by an external appearance, can be called a torrent and a wave due to their instability and perfidy. For just as a torrent presents the appearance of a perennial and ever-flowing river, and a wave, raised on high, would seem to the opinion of the inexperienced never to be brought down—yet filth and dryness prove the torrent to be temporary, and calm proves the wave [to be the same]—so too, the storm of time shows that those who falsely simulate friendship are very different from true friends. For the righteous, not in the least perverting the rule of friendship, are observed to guard a constant tenor of mind in both fortunes, prosperous and adverse, toward those whom they love; nor is it a wonder, since they extend charity even to their enemies, and behave peaceably toward those who turn away from peace. The wicked, however, hide what they are for a time, but in the adverse circumstances of their friends, having stripped off the mask, they are openly caught. This then happened to Job for the sake of testing, ^C perhaps even at the suggestion of the one who had demanded him for punishment, and who was persuading the friends to despise him on account of his miseries. Moreover, the absence of friends in bitter circumstances brings no little trouble. When the holy David was suffering this affliction, he sang: *I looked to the right and I saw, for there was no one who knew me* (Ps. CXLI, 5); and again, lamenting, he said: *I have been forgotten as one dead from the heart; I have become like a lost vessel* (Ps. XXX, 13).

VERS. 18. *Qui verebantur me, nunc irruerunt super me.*

Didymi. Perhaps he silently rebukes his friends, saying: Ignoring the cause of the evils which make an onslaught upon me, you insult me, and you dare to say such things as you would not have said before, out of reverence for me. It is also likely that many others likewise insulted him because of his calamity. ^D

^A Ver. 21. *But now you also have risen up against me without mercy.* Didymus. One who admonishes those who have fallen into bitter straits for some reason that deserves censure does not argue against reason, moved by anger; for that is not his purpose, but rather to encourage them to fortitude and to bear it with a generous spirit. For to say, "Why did you sin?" increases sorrows rather than alleviating them. And indeed, they stood against him without mercy, because they were ignorant of the cause of the affliction, and they attempted to censure one who was not subject to censure.

Ver. 21. *So, seeing my wound, fear.* Didymus. The saint, indeed, correcting them by his own affairs, and taking the starting point of his exhortation from their own opinion, conducts himself with the greatest care and solicitude toward those who were ill-disposed toward him. For if everyone who sins falls into sorrows, and he who has fallen into them has suffered this because of sins, yet no one is clean from filth, you also, taught by the terror of my wound, learn to fear yourselves.

Ver. 24. *Teach me, and I will be silent; if I have erred in anything, tell me.* Didymus. And with this, too, the holy man instructs them with the greatest possible gentleness, as to how they should use words toward those who are in distress; for he says, "Teach me," that is, you ought to teach, not to censure at the wrong time; unless even that needs to be done for the sake of instruction, according to what is said by Paul: "Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching" (2 Tim. 4:2). ^B

Ver. 25. *For I do not seek strength from you, nor will your censure calm me with words; nor will I endure the utterance of your speech. But you fall upon an orphan, and you insult your friend.* Didymus. This too is a mark of fortitude. For many who are often established in distress, hearing burdensome words, grow weary and succumb; but the holy Job neither totally disregarded the censure from his friends nor their words (since he did not consider them strong enough to shake his mind, even from the beginning), but showing the absurdity of their vituperation and the vanity of the censure, he says, "Your censure will not calm me." For a word brought forth without deeds is unstable and unworthy of belief; otherwise, also, if it does not proceed from truth, it still possesses weakness; so that you, using such censure, will not stop me from speaking what is true, nor will you find me passing over your words in silence. ^C

Ver. 29. *Sit down, I pray, and let there be no injustice, and again, stand with the righteous. For is there anything wrong on my tongue, or does my throat not meditate on understanding?* Didymus. These words allow judgment to their discretion and at the same time ward off evils, while in speaking [they teach] leisure, attention, and examination; this is indicated by the words, "Sit down." ^D

^A This is also said elsewhere: "Before thou hast examined, do not blame" (Eccl. 11:7). Great also is that which he added, "Let there not be injustice," for it is no small thing not to stumble in speech. Having exhorted them to attend with leisure and diligence to his examination—which he had expressed through the words, "Sit down, I beseech you, and let there not be injustice"—he then utters a word full of boldness, saying, "For there is no injustice in my tongue," silently condemning them, on account of the opinion which they fostered concerning him, namely, that he was suffering these things because of sins; and further suggesting to them that they were not dealing with a senseless man, so that by this means he might rouse them to the consideration of his state, and urge them to use it prudently and wisely.

CAP. VII, vers. 10. *If a man go down to the grave, he shall not come up any more, neither shall he return any more to his house, nor shall his place know him any more.* ^B

Didymus: Others, however, do not wish these things to have been said by Job as if to abolish the resurrection of the dead; but, first, to show the fragility of human life, and secondly, that he who has once died will not return to this corruptible life, nor will he discharge his customary duties. Wherefore, to those words, "He shall not ascend anymore from the grave," must be joined those, "He shall not return to his house"; as if he had said, He will indeed live again, but he will not return to his own house. This interpretation is indeed probable; but the former is truer, [suggesting] that the righteous man was ignorant of the mystery of the resurrection, whence he is the more worthy of admiration, because, hoping for nothing of the kind, he yet manifested the highest virtue in all things. ^C

CAP. VIII, vers. 11. *Shall the papyrus flourish without water? Or shall the reed-grass be raised up without drink? Further, etc.*

Didymus: If, however, one must comment on these matters more gracefully and elegantly: the hope of the impious does not truly center upon existing things. For hope in its general sense is nothing other than the expectation of good things; but he who fears also expects, yet not good things. For fear is the expectation of evils, but hope is the expectation of good things. Since, therefore, the impious expect things that do not exist, their hope vanishes; for they enjoy pleasurable things as though they were permanent, and place a vain hope in them. The righteous man, however, remaining in his virtue as in a house, will never find it deserted or uninhabitable, "For his righteousness remains for ever" (Ps. CXI, 3); but the wicked man, not cleaving to it, neither builds it up nor dwells in it. ^D Furthermore, the spider's web, woven by the help of nature, shows complexity, yet it is easily dissolved if touched by anything. The works of wicked men, therefore, and their whole manner of life, are like spiders' webs, which in no way subsist. For the thought of the impious (which is called a tabernacle), falling with a swift collapse, is dissolved with such ease, and reduced to nothing, that it seems never to have existed at all.

^A Just as a marsh will not increase without water, so it is impossible for one who has not received in his mind the benefit of superior things to bring forth useful fruit. This statement will also befit human affairs, because they are watered by divine providence as if by water; if this does not come, they will have an easy and quick dissolution. For everything in life, whether small or great, is subject to providence; and it dries up if this does not watch over it.

VERS. 17. *In the congregation of stones he sleeps, and in the midst of flints he shall live; if he should swallow, the place will lie to him.*

Didymus. To speak more sublimely: A house is a craft-like assembly of stones, having union with one another: such also is virtue, and holiness, and the communion of the Holy Spirit ^B itself. But a pile of stones and a mixture of flints is something dissipated and dissolved, similar to wickedness, which acknowledges no union, but only confusion. Therefore, the entire conversation of the dissolute impious man is in a house of wickedness, being dissolved, like stones outside the building, which are utterly unfit for the building of the tower, according to the *Shepherd*; nor do they hear: "But you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:20).

VERS. 19. *And from the earth he shall cause another to sprout; for the Lord will not reject the innocent.*

Didymus. Continuing with the metaphor of plants, he has placed "he shall sprout." By "innocent" (*akakos*) in this place, he does not mean the simpleton, but him who lacks wickedness; for the word signifies both. For when he speaks of heretics, saying that "by their fair speech they deceive the hearts of the simple" (Rom. 16:18), he calls those "simple" who are naïve and slow of understanding; but when he says, "The simple and upright have adhered to me" (Ps. 25:21), he signifies the just. ^C Just as in this place, therefore, he says that the Lord indeed roots out the base man, but plants the innocent in his stead; for the former is punished. But if someone be pious, and abstains from inflicting evil upon others, even if he be tested in extreme circumstances, God nonetheless imparts to him the fullest measure of His own providence.

VERS. 21. *But He will not receive any gift of the impious. But He will fill the mouth of those who speak truth with laughter, and their lips with confession.*

Didymus. "Truth-tellers" are those who do not feign or disguise virtue, who do not pretend to temperance, but are truly temperate, pursuing the just in a just manner. Therefore, God will fill the mouth of these true ones with laughter, that is, with joy. Instead of "confession," others have said "exultation."

CAP. IX, VERS. 5. *Who brings mountains to old age, and they know not; who overturns them in wrath.*

Didymus. I know other "mountains" too, Moses and the prophets, as in "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains" (Ps. 121:1). Christ makes the first Testament old, and the Jews do not perceive it, to whom it has been said: "If you believed Moses ^D

you would perhaps believe me" (John 5:46). He himself, according to the letter, overturned the mountains of Jerusalem and the sanctuary; he himself also obscures the sun and the stars with his own brightness. Good heavens! What things does a man sick and ulcerated say, having a potsherd and scraping away his pus, a man sitting on a dungheap! "Who leads mountains into old age, and they do not know it." ^A Let us see, therefore, of what sort these words are, and which mountains have grown old with age, and concerning whom that is to be understood, "And they do not know it." Jesus comes, who destroys the expectation according to the letter, and wipes out those who persist in it after grace; concerning whom the Apostle says, "But wrath has come upon them" (1 Thess. 2:16); for the old things have been destroyed; those things which pertain to the letter have taken on old age; those things which are of the spirit have been restored, so that we might serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter (Rom. 7:6). By his coming, Christ has done something ^B wonderful and contrary to the opinion of all: he has both made the same prophets old, and has made them new.

VERS. 6. "Who moves that which is under heaven from its foundations; but its columns are shaken."

Didymi. Some, however, speak more elegantly: The columns were the apostles of my Lord Jesus Christ; for these were shaken at the time when Jesus was suffering: "You will all be scandalized in me this night" (Mark 14:27). Earthquakes have indeed often occurred on the earth; but the earthquakes that occurred, both before Christ and after Christ, have shaken only a certain part of the earth; but at the time of my Lord Jesus Christ, not just a part of the earth was moved, but the whole earth was shaken from its very center. ^C

VERS. 7. "And he places a seal against the stars."

Didymi. It is reported, moreover, that at the time of the passion, during the three hours in which the sun failed, the stars appeared then too, just as in the night.

VERS. 13. "By him are bowed the sea-monsters which are under heaven."

Didymi. According to the letter, indeed: Sea-monsters and other poisonous beasts would not obey the command of man unless God had subjected them to him. According to the theory, however: He himself bowed and humbled the reprobate spirits (which are allegorically called sea-monsters, because they swim in the waves of the soul); for if they were not bent by God, the nature of man could not withstand them. ^D

VERS. 27. "For even if I have spoken, I will forget while I speak, bowing down my face I will groan, I am moved in all my limbs; for I know that you will not let me go guiltless."

Didymi. From these things, the moderation of the holy man, and his signal equanimity, is manifested. For although he had said (cap. 13), "I shall appear righteous," nonetheless he had it explored and persuaded that, just as before God the explorer the stars are not pure, so neither was he. Therefore he says, "If you will want to examine me diligently (for you are God), you will not let me go guiltless."

CAP. 10, VERS. 8. "Your hands have fashioned me, and have made me."

Didymus. There is a distinction between "fashioned" and "made." For the body was fashioned out of pre-existing earth or from a woman, but the soul was made out of no pre-existing matter; for as it is incorporeal, so also is it indivisible. ^A VERS. 14. "For if I sin, you watch me; and from my iniquity you have not made me guiltless." Didymus. He says this with good reason. For since he understands the God of the universe to be his creator and providential governor, he speaks in logical sequence of His long-suffering; he knows, according to the blessed David, that He does not bring wrath upon us every day (Ps. VII, 12), but watches the sinner, not wanting him to sin; according to that, "He does not desire the death of the sinner, but rather repentance" (Ezech. XVIII, 23). As for the words, "You have not made me guiltless," others have rendered it: "You will not make me guiltless, You will not cleanse me." VERS. 15. "For if I act impiously, woe is me; and if I be righteous, I cannot look up." Didymus. Perhaps he implies something of this kind: Whether I sin by the liberty of my own will, woe is me; or whether I suffer as from the lapse of Adam, with the debt also derived to us by succession, even so I cannot look up as one clean of every stain. For some sins arise from the liberty of our own will, which possess punishment as their companion, while others flow from our parents, to which purgation is owed. VERS. 18. "Why then have you brought me out from the womb, and I have not died? And eye had not seen me, and I had been as if I had not been. For why have I not been translated from the womb to the grave?" Didymus. See, however, that recalling the temptations that were falling upon him, he runs back to the primary cause of evils, that is, the transgression of the commandment, and generation from corruption; nowhere, however, does he complain indignantly against the first creation of man. But he deems it grievous to experience corruption of life, making mention of the womb and belly; for by our transgression we have brought this miserable life upon ourselves. VERS. 21. "Suffer me to rest a little, before I go whence I shall not return." Didymus. He puts these things forward in the manner of a prayer. For the distresses that were pressing upon him were not insignificant, nor did he bear his torments without a sense of pain; for if he had not perceived the sense of pain, he would not have shown himself a brave man. ^D He teaches, however, by his supplication—which is offered with thanksgiving—that he endured his torments by divine power; "Grant me," he says, "a respite from my pains, I who am to last for a brief time, and am to perish into eternity"; for this is what is meant by "to go whence I shall not return." He teaches also a most excellent principle, namely, that he who has once departed this life does not return again to this life, as they fable who have prodigiously invented the transmigration of bodies. Afterwards, he recounts the evils of Hades, that we may understand from what things our Savior has delivered us, saying to those who are in bonds, "Come forth," and to those who are in darkness, "to be revealed" (Isa. XLIX, 9).

^A

CHAP. XI, verse 8. Sublime is heaven, and what wilt thou do? And deeper than those which are in hell, what knowest thou? Or longer than the measure of the earth, or the breadth of the sea?

*Didymus.* By all these things he wishes to show that the knowledge of men has a limit and a measure, and is unable to attain to the judgments of God. "And now indeed," he says, "heaven is [so], and things deeper than hell, and longer than the earth, and the breadth of the sea; say something about them, if thou canst." He implies perhaps that even if someone should set out to speak about the earth, the sea, and the heaven, he is ignorant of the things beyond them.

*Verse 12. But man in vain swims with words, and a man born of a woman is like a solitary wild donkey.*

*Didymus.* Comparing the infallibility of divine knowledge with the concepts of men, he says that they swim in vain, because they are unable to encompass the whole of God's knowledge with their reasoning. By the "solitary wild donkey," using a hyperbolic form of speech, he sets before our eyes the extreme dullness of their understanding in the apprehension of God's judgments.

CHAP. XII, verse 4. For a just and blameless man became a mockery.

*Didymus.* It must be observed, however, that when Job says lesser things, he attributes them to himself (for he is not disposed towards empty ostentation through pride); but when he reviews greater things, he refers his discourse to the whole race; just as he says here almost as much as, "Let not the righteous be mocked; for they suffer adversities for as long as it seems good to God." ^B

CHAP. XIII, verse 3. Nevertheless, I will speak to the Lord.

*Didymus.* After he had accused his friends as being deceived, showing his confidence and freedom of speech, he says that he would address the Lord.

*Verse 4. But you are unjust physicians, and all of you are healers of evils.*

*Didymus.* An unjust physician is, as is obvious to all, one who applies to the sick remedies other than those which are beneficial; this happens in two ways, either from the physician's lack of experience, or from his depravity. But these men who are being rebuked, from ignorance rather than from wickedness, thinking that they were bringing words of consolation, said to Job that he was suffering because of his sins. They were, therefore, unjust in that they were ignorant of the cause of the evil. But by the phrase, "All of you are healers of evils," he is perhaps speaking against those who, puffed up by their own opinion, thought they could heal the adversities that had befallen others.

*Verse 6. Hear therefore the rebuke of my mouth, and attend to the judgment of my lips.*

*Didymus.* Consider diligently what I am about to bring forward for your rebuke, and perceive whether I speak with judgment. He uses "mouth" and "lips" for discourse. The saint, however, rebukes as a saint, and judges as it is fitting for him. For the just man does not employ untimeous rebuke, nor does he do this deceitfully and falsely, but uses rebuke and judgment justly and lawfully; for the mouth of the just ^C

^A meditates on wisdom, and his tongue speaks judgment (Ps. xxxvi, 30).

Verse 11. *But if you also secretly respect persons, will not his whirlwind shake you?* [Symmachus says: Will you secretly respect his person? Will not his agitation terrify you?] Fear, etc.

Didymus. The best judge is an examiner of things, not looking at the person of those being judged. For if those being judged are wealthy, or rulers, or for some other merit [or power] are superior, he does not regard their person, but the acts which he judges. For one must neither side with the rich man, nor by pitying the poverty of the poor, disregard justice; hence it is said, "Thou shalt not pity the poor in judgment" (Exod. xxiii, 3).

Verse 13. *Be silent that I may speak, and I shall rest from anger, taking my flesh in my teeth.*

Didymus. Perhaps he is in a way pacifying his friends. Since he had previously accused them of being comforters of evils (for they were not comforting as they ought, but rather stirring up the grief and pain of the one who was supposed to be comforted), he now says that he will "cease from the anger towards you," ^B by "taking my flesh in my teeth"; that is to say, I will no longer be angry with you, but with myself.

Verse 16. *And this shall turn out for me unto salvation; for deceit shall not enter before him.*

Didymus. In all this, it is the concern of the just man to teach his friends the cause of his hardships, so that he might win them over and prevent them from thinking contrary things. For he considered this to be salvation—that they should understand the reason for providence concerning him—which, when he wished to make manifest, he said, "I will rebuke"; for often "rebuke" indicates a demonstration. Therefore, wishing to present his own truthfulness and piety, he says, "What I speak, I speak with God looking on." For it is not possible for any deceit to happen to God, as though guile could enter before him. ^C

Verse 27. *And you have guarded all my works.*

Didymus. The blessed one, being holy, knows what was said by David, that God does not strictly observe all the iniquities of those who transgress; but again, teaching his friends the reason why he suffers (that it is for the struggle), he spoke the matter at hand, as though God had guarded and examined all his works, and thus brought the grievous things upon him, so that from this they might understand that the magnitude of such things brought upon him was not for the sake of sin, but for the sake of the struggle and the purpose of endurance.

Chapter XIV, verse 3. *Have you not also made an account of this, and have you made him come into judgment before you?*

Didymus. Perhaps in this place he makes manifest the providence concerning man, not as if he were spending ^D his life in the world rashly and by chance, but according to judgment

by divine will, not exceeding the limit foreordained by Him. These things, however, must be understood as not meaning that fate holds any dominion, but that the divine will arranges all things with limits and measures.

CAP. XV, vers. 7. ^A *What then? Was you the first man born?* etc. Didymus. When Eliphaz had brought forward the inscrutability of God’s judgments, thinking that by this reasoning he would impel the righteous man to conclude that he was suffering for no other cause than on account of sins (to which he himself was liable)—for he had neither heard the constitution of the Lord, nor had wisdom descended upon him so that he could understand why a righteous man suffers on account of sins—he reasonably makes him equal to all other men, because, clearly, he was ignorant of the magnitude of his virtue, and by this means he wished to eradicate the opinion of his righteousness from his mind.

CAP. XV, vers. 13. *What has thy heart dared? or what have thine eyes endured, that thou hast vented rage before the Lord, and brought forth such words from thy mouth?* ^B Didymus. For they considered that liberty of speech, which proceeded from supreme purity and integrity, as irascibility; which had indeed befallen them from the putrid and rancid foundation they had laid for themselves, considering the praiseworthy confidence of speech to be blasphemy. Therefore he says, "Whence have you taken such boldness, that you have lifted your eyes against God, and as if kindled with anger, have brought forth such words?"

VERS. 14. *For who, being a man, shall be without crime? or [who] as one about to be righteous, born of a woman?* ^C Didymus. It is characteristic of those who lack virtue to judge its acquisition to be difficult, and to be so affected in mind as if no one possessed it; just as the present Eliphaz says, led into error (as is likely) by the weakness of the body. For "who," he says, "being a man, can be blameless, or promise that he will be righteous, as you think yourself to be?"

VERS. 17. *But I will announce to you, hear me: what I have seen, I will announce to you, what the wise,* etc. ^D Didymus. Or perhaps, not with a disposition of mind joined with pride and arrogance, but because he thought him to be entangled in sins and therefore in need of his exhortation. And this man indeed seems (though by no means through divine knowledge, but through admiration of those who have excelled in prudence) to have brought forward something similar to that saying: "The whole world of wealth belongs to the faithful man, but not even an obol to the unfaithful." For although an unfaithful man may possess vast estates, he is not the master of his riches, but their slave; for he serves Mammon. And he subjoins what the old saying is, which he professes to have learned from the ancients.

VERS. 28. *Let him inhabit deserted cities, and enter into houses not inhabited: and what they have prepared, others shall take away.* Didymus. He signifies the utter desolation of the wicked,

^A who, having been active in building up cities and homes, are forced by poverty to inhabit deserted places. For a man of this sort, he says, having fallen away from his fortunes and being despoiled of all the power with which he was endowed, will pursue the solitudes; for it is the custom of fugitives to seek out any places that come to hand for the sake of survival, in order to escape the peril that looms over them. Such, therefore, will be the condition of the impious; his arrogance, which was born of riches, will deservedly be compensated by a change in his prosperous status, and the things that were acquired with great labor will be transferred to strangers. Then, showing that he will not only fail to accumulate further riches, but affirming also that he will fall away from the goods he already possesses, he increases the punishment of the impious; for he adds: ^B

CAP. XVI, vers. 7. *If I speak, my grief shall not be assuaged, and if I forbear, what am I eased?* Didymus. Perhaps he also wishes to demonstrate his sincere affection for his friends, saying: "Your salvation is my concern; wherefore, although I am tormented by my pains, I make use of this exhortation: for although others who are in pain have enough to do to heal their own troubles and ailments, I consider the salvation of my friends to be preferable."

Vers. 18. *Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.* Didymus. He says that it creates a heavier anxiety for him, and afflicts him with greater distress, that he is conscious of no wickedness or crime within himself. For I know nothing, he says, other than that I have invoked God with upright and sincere prayers; ^C wherefore I am struck with astonishment, and wonder at why I should have to endure such things. Notice, however, that the prayers of the just man were pure, being without any mixture of perturbations, subject to no fluctuations of spirit, nor distracted by the waves of worldly cares.

CAP. XXI, vers. 3. *Suffer me that I may speak: and after that I have spoken, mock on.* Didymus. That is: Considering in your minds that my reproof is not joined with insolence, but is brought forth for your own instruction, tolerate my words, and bear with me as I speak. ^D

EXPOSITION ON THE PSALMS BY DIDYMUS THE ALEXANDRIAN.

MONITUM.

I come now to the very copious and pious work of Didymus on the Psalms. That he explained not a part, but the entire body of the Psalms, is shown by the most certain testimony of Jerome, *De viris illustribus*, chap. 109, and in his epistle 112, 20, and the catenae, both manuscript and printed, place this before our eyes quite plainly. And although many portions of Didymus exist in the volumes of Corderius’s *Catena*, yet far more were in the Vatican codices, among which I have preferred two, namely Vat. 1789, a very old one, in which the authorities of Didymus are prolix and clear, but extend no further than the fiftieth psalm. The remaining two parts of the Psalter, or rather Didymus’s commentary upon them, I have continued by the benefit of the more recent codex Vat. 1682, to which 1683 is connected. At first I compared the *Catena* of Corderius, but then, abandoning it, I securely transcribed Didymus as he appeared in the aforementioned codices, much of which is excellent. For sometimes there was nothing of Didymus in the Corderian book, such as in Psalms II, IV, V, XII, XIV, XIX, XX, XXII, XXV, XXVI, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX, XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLV, XLVI, XLVIII, LXI, LXII, LXIII, XCI, CXV, CXIX. Sometimes there were far too few according to our source, such as in Psalms III, X, XIII, XXIII, XXIV, XXVII, XXXI, XXXIV, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XL, XLVII, LXVI, XCIV, XCVI, CXIV. In some places, however, Corderius had new and additional material; but we have held to this plan, at least after Psalm XXIII: to transcribe nothing from the book of Corderius, but everything from the codices—as is noted in the margins—whether the notation is Corderius’s or not, for the variety of readings is also useful. The greatest defect in Corderius is that after Psalm CXX nothing of Didymus is contained there, whereas our codices exhibit Didymus right up to the end of the Psalter. Moreover, we learn his mind and purpose in explaining the Psalms from his prologue, where, having praised the words of the New Testament which refer the prophecies of the Psalms to Christ, he says that this part of holy Scripture is to be understood especially in a spiritual sense. Furthermore, to the testimonies cited by Didymus, we must add another most important one uttered by the mouth of Christ Himself, Luke XXIV, 44: *Which were written in the Psalms concerning me* (a).

(a) Cardinal Mai published the first fifteen psalms in Greek and Latin, and the rest in Greek only; to these we have added our own translation. ED. PATR.

ΔΙΔΥΜΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΩΣ ΕΙΣ ΨΑΛΜΟΥΣ. DIDYMI ALEXANDRINI IN PSALMOS.

PROOEMIUM.

In the New Testament there exist testimonies taken from the book of the Psalms, ^A as if they were pronounced by the divine Spirit. Paul indeed, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, taking a chapter from the ninety-fourth psalm, writes that it was spoken by the Holy Spirit, saying: "As the Holy Spirit says: Today if you shall hear his voice," and so forth.

^A Likewise, Peter, the foremost of the apostles, says equivalent things in the Acts of the Apostles, where he says: "The Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus," and so forth; after which, having said a few things, he added: "For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it, and let another take his office." And it is nothing strange if the apostles write these things, when the Savior himself seals them; for a mention having been made in the Gospel of the beginning of the one hundred and ninth Psalm, which is as follows: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool," he put the Pharisees to the test: ^B "If David in the Holy Spirit called Christ Lord, how is he his son?" If, therefore, the Psalms contain spiritual meanings, one should not read their text perfunctorily.

PSALMUS I

VERS. 1. It is possible to call the devil the way of the wicked; he who has entered upon this way, let him take care not to linger there, according to that: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." For he who has not stood in it shall come to the Lord who says: "I am the way," and he who has followed it, running toward the goal, shall obtain the prize.

VERS. 3. He who is assimilated to wisdom becomes like Him who bestows such a quality; for the just man is made similar to God by justice, the holy by holiness, and the wise by wisdom, drawing from it the capacity to be wise, according to that which was said by the Savior: "It is enough for a disciple that he become as his teacher." He who makes himself similar to the tree of life stands in paradise, so that he may be planted together with it, just as the prophet Isaiah says in the person of God: "And as the days of the tree of life, so shall be the days of my people." ^C Therefore, the just man lives through the same time as the tree, becoming a branch grown together with it, and a shoot brought forth to produce divine fruit; for the true vine, which is the tree of life, said to the disciples: "I am the true vine, you are the branches, my Father is the husbandman; every branch in me abiding, my Father prunes, that it may bring forth more fruit."

He who is such as this prospers, for "to those who love God, all things work together for good." "For by the Lord," he says, "are a man's steps directed." He said "all things" accurately, to show the perfection of the matter; for he who conforms his own will to the divine law will do nothing contrary to it. But if it is written, "The way of the wicked prospers," ^D this is not said simply...

but with the addition of "of the wicked," according to that: "There is prosperity for a man in wickedness." ^A

The tree is the wisdom of God; its fruit is the mystical and spiritual sense of the Scriptures: the leaves covering the aforementioned fruit are the external words, which, besides expending their proper labor for the benefit of those who gather the fruits, also become fodder for good men, who on account of their simplicity are called beasts of burden, according to that: "You will save men and beasts, O Lord."

You will consider the wind, which scatters them here and there, to be the avenging angel, and also the impetuous nature of their fallacious doctrine; for they are indeed carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in craftiness.

Verse 5. That is, they will not rise to judgment; for they will indeed rise, but they will not be judged, being already condemned by themselves; for "he who does not believe," he says, "is already judged."

PSALM II

Verse 8. Since all men are moved by their own choice, for they are endowed with free will, no one is naturally good or evil. And because he alone who is possessed of virtue becomes familiar to God, whoever is of this kind is the inheritance of God. As long, therefore, as Israel was good, it was said of him: "Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel the line of his inheritance." But he did not possess this status merely by lot; rather, he also existed as such on account of the probity of his morals, as holy men speak of God: "He chose for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he loved." But if someone becomes the inheritance of God by the observance of the commandments and by faith in God, he who in turn transgresses the commandments of God and falls away from faith in Him is cast out of this honor; just as, conversely, he who turns away from evil and does good becomes God’s possession, even though he was not so before. Since matters stand thus, the people who were once the heir of God, Israel, on account of their piety, having turned away from God, fell from their status, because they did not receive Him who came as Savior, first for their benefit, and then for other men also. It was necessary, therefore, for another people to be introduced, gathered from many nations and approaching the Gospel. The words, therefore, "Ask of me, and I will give to you," were said for our sake, and not for the sake of the Son; for they signify that nothing is added to the Son Himself, but to those who are in need of Him; just as power is given to a teacher and a physician so that men may become sound and wise through his help. But also the words, "your possession the ends of the earth," will be understood more simply thus: Up to the ends of the earth will your doctrine obtain power, with the Gospel being preached; ^D up to the ends of the earth your teaching will prevail.

^B 9. *By Didymus and Theodoret.* But if this is said concerning the Jews, "You shall break them with a rod of iron," that will be fulfilled: "How are the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter?" as though nothing useful remained of them anymore. I have said these things in agreement with the prophet who says: "And there shall be a ruin," that is, of the sinful people, "as of a city captured, and like the breaking of an earthen vessel into small pieces." From which...

10, 11. But understand the words, "And now, O kings," instead of: Even if he is now crucified, yet he shall soon rise from the dead; fear, therefore, O princes, knowing that he is God; so that, when the service in fear has profitably ceased, gladness may follow for you. Such also is the verse: "Shout with joy to God with a voice of exultation, for the Lord Most High is terrible." For since this is the case, it is necessary that exultation should not be without trembling.

12. Now the phrase, "Apprehend discipline," can also signify this: As long as you use this life, learn discipline. It is not foreign to the kindness of the Savior that he says to the kings of the earth standing by, with the princes that gathered against him: "And now, O kings, understand." For even if you previously plotted in ignorance, yet now that you are instructed, repent; or return to understanding, after he who had been crucified has risen from the dead. Departing from there, the speech delivers discipline to the princes and kings who are to be shepherded by the iron rod, and says: Hear this, you who are already instructed, and understand what the power is of him who received the nations as an inheritance from the Father, and what and how great the rod is that is stretched out against you; cease from attacking him; but rather, being imbued with a prudent mind, surrender yourselves to rational discipline.

13. The phrase, "in a short time," should be referred to, "Apprehend discipline," as if it had been placed by hyperbaton; so that the series of the diction might be thus: Apprehend discipline in a short time, while you still enjoy this vital light; lest perhaps, while you are slothful, the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way. But the word "to trust" denotes faith with the most steadfast, unfailing hope; for not even in circumstances that seem most harsh does the pious man, strong in trust, despair of the Lord’s future aid to him.

PSALM III

1. God permits many to afflict the righteous man, giving him an occasion to acquire a weight of glory, which is produced from an abundance of tribulations. And if at any time the righteous man...

being in straits, should say to God, "O Lord, why are they multiplied that afflict me?" even while he is yet speaking, God replies, "Behold, I am here," ^A so that He may immediately make light for you the weight of the affliction, as it is phrased by hyperbole. Hence that saying: "Many are the tribulations of the righteous." And lest salvation should seem to be without God, David adds, "in God."

VERS. 4. Since the psalm is uttered as if from the person of the Lord, it must be said that His head also—which is God—is exalted, whenever His divinity becomes manifest to the faithful by demonstration. The word "head" signifies in these places "ruler"; wherefore Christ, being the ruler of holy men, is deservedly their king, and in this way is established as their head. ^B For if he has been raised with Christ, and sets his mind on things that are above, not on things that are upon the earth, his head will be exalted by the Lord, who is the Word. This is the glory of Him who chose him, which he seeks from Him alone, who does not receive glory from men.

VERS. 5. The holy mountain of God may be understood to mean His transcendent knowledge; the holy mountain of God from which God hears those who pray, the only-begotten Son of God, concerning whom it has been said, "The mountain of the Lord shall be conspicuous in the last days." ^C This phrase denotes His manifestation that was to come, when He would arrive at the consummation of the ages.

VERS. 6. "To lie down" signifies recline, after which sleep ensues. Because, therefore, He voluntarily laid down His soul, afterwards, by reclining, He fell asleep; but rising again from the dead, with God supporting Him, He became the first-born from the dead.

VERS. 7. It becomes a holy man, trusting in God, to be free from fear. Thus in the twenty-sixth psalm he says: "If a camp should array itself against me, my heart shall not fear." The Savior also foretells these things, seeing the myriads who would demand that He be crucified, toward whom He remained undisturbed.

VERS. 8. He has many enemies in vain who has provided no cause for hatred or enmity. ^D Such are all who suffer persecution because they live piously in Christ Jesus, to whom it is said by the Savior: "Blessed are you when they shall revile you and speak all evil against you, lying, for my sake," and the rest. Being of this disposition, David also had many enemies without cause, such as Saul, and Absalom, and their followers. For though the holy man had often manifested much gentleness and goodness toward them, they were his enemies for no reason.

VERS. 9. What other is the blessing coming upon the people, if not the will of the Father concerning the advent of the Son into the world?

PSALM IV

^A, produced by the voice alone; a psalm, however, is a hymn played on the instrument called the psaltery or even the cithara. According to the anagoge, an ode is the contemplation of truth, which takes place solely by the intellect, tempered as if by musical harmony; a psalm likewise denotes actions performed according to right reason, such that he who follows the practical life "psalms," while he who follows the theoretical life "sings." Since, then, David contemplates God and His truth with a pure heart, he brings forth a canticle, which he says is in the psalms, because he himself had accomplished many things through practice. This is the canticle. "To the end" is that which it is customary to call the final desirable object, for the sake of which all other things are desirable and to be sought; but it is for the sake of no other thing, which is the perfection of all. Regarding which Paul also speaks. Secondly, the end is that by which one, having become similar to God, will see Him. But why is it inscribed a "canticle *to* David," and not a "canticle *of* David"? Some say that it is a psalm or canticle *of* David when he himself recites it, being inspired by God; but that it is a canticle or psalm *to* David when the things said pertain to him. It often happens, however, that what is recited belongs both to him and to the other; namely, when David, yielding to the Spirit, prophesies the things suggested to him by it: then the psalm is given to some cantor, by whom it is in turn recited to David. But how those things which lie in the sacred Scriptures are in reality, only he who is wise according to God will be able to know.

^C VERS. 2. God dilates in tribulation, not by settling the calamity, nor by overturning the evildoers, but by providing greatness of soul to bear the calamitous events bravely; in this sense one must also understand: "Many are the afflictions of the just, and out of them all the Lord will deliver them [Ps. XXXIII, 20]," namely, by supplying patience. Sometimes God also actually delivers from calamities the just man who was magnanimous in the face of them, such as Joseph and Job, and this man of whom the present discourse treats.

VERS. 3. "Sons of men" is a periphrasis, just as among the heathens "sons of the Achaeans." Many things of this kind are also found in sacred Scripture; such as, "For mortal is he born of woman [Job XIV, 1]," and, "Among those born of women, there is no one greater than John [Luc. VII, 28]." For even these expressions mean nothing other than "men." ^D Or is the holy man of God not worthy of admiration when he bears tribulations with great heart, which seem to be beyond human patience, especially since, when he calls upon God, he finds Him immediately assenting? All of which the man of heavy heart—that is, he who has a mind filled with wickedness—is ignorant. Or, the discourse concerns Christ addressed to the Jews, who, because of the hardness of their heart, are no longer sons of God but sons of men. For why did He not inspire wonder in Himself and through Himself in…

^A His miraculous fulfillment of prophecies and the stupendous miracles wrought by Him, and finally in His rising from the dead? You will recognize these things if you put aside the hardness of your heart and search the Scriptures that speak of the Holy One. For to you who search, the newness of the Spirit will be found.

VERS. 5. The Apostle, seizing upon this utterance, forthwith subjoined: “Let not the sun go down upon your anger, and give not place to the devil.” He who accepts this apostolic exhortation does not sin when moved to anger, because he is not like the one who fosters rage and possesses it persistently—the one whom it is custom to call "the irritable." The text confirms this sense of the passage in what immediately follows, for it says: “What you say,” clearly when you are angry, “in your hearts, be pricked in your beds,” so that when you awake from sleep you do nothing or say nothing of what you devised in your heart during your anger. ^B

VERS. 7. We can say that the light of the countenance of God is the character of His substance and the image of God Himself, who is invisible. This light was subsequently marked upon us, who are conformed to His image. It should not be ignored that some read it thus: “Who will show us good things?” For it is not for many, but for one, to show good things; and this is the only-begotten Son of God. Those who interpret the word "who" (or "what person") in this way signify what is properly called something endowed with a certain quality, an individual, and a substance one in number. They use in evidence the text: “A certain nobleman.” For in this place, too, "who" (or "a certain") denotes something that is specifically such. ^C

VERS. 8. Although these men seem to be sated with things pleasant to them, yet I, expecting the future age and the reward of a righteous life, being placed beyond all perturbation on account of hope, “will lay me down and sleep in peace”; calling the departure from this life a lying down and a sleep. Having stated the reason why he reclined and slept in peace, he straightway adds: “For Thou, O Lord, hast established me in hope.” Indeed, it is also said in Hosea to the soul, from the person of God: “I will establish you in hope.” God does this, offering the hope of future divine good things to those established by Him in intellectual and practical virtue, and in the dogmas of truth and the laws of the Church. ^D

PSALM V.

VERS. 1. *Unto the end.* A hymn of thanksgiving is sung for the soul, or the Church, that has been elevated to a divine inheritance—not material, but spiritual. For the servants of God are raised up, according to the Apostle, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in the heavens. To which the Savior, inviting them, said: “Come, you that are at my right hand, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared...”

for you; and he who speaks here, desiring this, offers up prayers to God who has prepared it for them.

^B Ver. 2. The word “give ear,” which is unusual, is constantly used in Holy Scripture, signifying that he who hears receives into his ears the words announced by someone to whom he himself is near. Now, just men are near to God in affection. Whence it comes about that God is said to hear the prayers of the just, and to offer His ears to their supplications. God is at once King and Creator of those who have not stretched out their hands to a strange god, nor are subject to the dominion of sin.

Ver. 4. Furthermore, by contemplative reasoning, he to whom the sun of righteousness has risen, having come into being at the beginning of an intelligible day, offers a hymn of thanksgiving to the author of his illumination, saying: “In the morning you will hear my voice.” For to whom ought one to render thanks for so great a good, if not to you, O Master, who have caused light to rise for me, which is for me the cause of the greatest contemplation? Thus, love always precedes illuminations, and the will to know the beautiful truth. This is also demonstrated by the word “I shall see”; for just as “I come” denotes a restless person, so “I shall see” signifies a contemplation that is constantly being added to. For why should he not always see, who has merited the promise: “The Lord shall be your eternal light, and the light for the righteous forever”? For another Scripture also matches this: “I will present myself to your view,” which it is not permitted for everyone to say, but for those like the great Elijah, who, on account of the confidence of their past lives, dare to say: “The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand today.” ^C

Ver. 6. Since this is true, evil is not from God, according to the opinion of those who say that wickedness is substantial. For from the mouth of the Most High there shall not go forth evil and good, for He wills only that which is good. Since this is so, evil cannot exist in any being. But He destroys liars, in so far as they are liars, so that the truth may be known. And since all who speak lies are destroyed by God, he too shall perish, of whom it is said: “When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own.” But if this is so, he is not substantially evil; for he did not come into being and into substance at the same time; but having turned after these things, he had the beginning of speaking lies, having once been in the truth. This is shown by what is written of him: “He stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.” For since he is blameworthy because he did not stand, it is manifest that he was assailed by these passions. One must judge the liar by his intention, and not by his voice alone, so that those who have sometimes acted in this way for the sake of economy might not fall under the threat; as did Rahab, for she seemed to lie to those who were searching seeking to kill the spies—who were good men, for they were sent by Joshua son of Nun and were praiseworthy. Since the intention of this woman was very honorable, it is not consistent that she should be placed among the lost, or among those who speak lies. Just as ^D indeed, because someone...

kills a man, he is not always a murderer; so, too, he who sheds blood is not absolutely a man of blood. For we do not call those men murderers or men of blood who, according to Divine law, slay those who are worthy of suffering such a fate; since it would be time to call Samuel and Elijah such, who for the sake of true religion caused many to be put to death. ^A

VERS. 7. To the wicked and to the transgressors of the law not dwelling with You, nor abiding before your benevolent gaze, I, He says, shall through Your mercy enter Your house. For so shall I be able to say: "In the morning I will stand before You and watch," and as one who has obtained mercy, I will piously worship You in spirit and in truth. Yet the condition according to virtue is the temple of God, which those who possess it say with confidence: Christ is as a son over his own house, whose house we are, we who say to those like ourselves: "You are the holy temple"; ^B and "Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit," among whom the Son and the Father make their dwelling. The ecclesiastical dogma and doctrine also are the house of God and the temple, as in Timothy: "How you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God." And in both senses, one enters the house and worships at the temple of the Lord, namely, by the mercy of God rather than by one's own frugal and righteous life. — I lack, he says, the virtues that are able to join me to God and bring me into His house; but nevertheless, I trust in Your goodness, and relying ^C on it, I shall enter. Nor henceforth shall he be contemptible to me, who acts uprightly by Your guidance and providence. The more violent part of my strengths they shall remove, as if they were obstacles of a certain road, so that thus holding true righteousness, I might also have the strength thereof against my adversaries.

VERS. 8. He who has proposed to himself to think and act rightly experiences many opposing men and demons, who are hostile out of envy toward the benefits of those doing well: against whom, feeling himself weak, he implores God to be his helper. In some copies it is written: "Before me [is] Your way." For if our ^D way is straight before God, we shall experience no error. And if the way of the Lord is before our eyes, we shall traverse it eagerly. But for "direct," Symmachus says "make level," according to Isaiah who says: "The crooked shall become straight, and the rough [places] into smooth ways." It is also said in another psalm: "The steps of a man are directed by the Lord." Nor does he, being of a humble mind, ask for direction for the sake of his own righteousness, which he has been allotted to act rightly, but on account of those who were impiously attacking him. Then he proceeds to speak in detail: For they live a life full of lies, and have thoughts consonant with their tongue, and they emit a manifest stench for the corruption of others. He designates, of course, the blasphemy against God, and the words of intemperate lasciviousness; indeed, even things worse than words, hidden by guile against

their neighbors. — But how a person is guided by the justice of God must be examined. Is it not that he who, progressing according to the justice of God (for this is the genuine virtue), is following God, according to the text, "You shall walk after the Lord your God," is guided by Him who bestows upon him virtue, that is to say, by God? ^A

VERS. 11. Since "they provoked" is a human expression, it must be considered how it ought to be understood when said of God. God, being immutable and unchangeable... we have. For our own states are judged as though they were approaching Him; for instance, the forgetfulness we have regarding Him is supposed to be His. Regarding us, therefore, He said: "You have forgotten the law of your God, and I also will forget your children." Similar to this saying is that which is written by Paul: "If anyone is ignorant, he is ignored," evidently by God, who said to the wicked: "Depart from me, workers of iniquity; I never knew you." Therefore, just as he who embitters his own character experiences, through the most bitter wickedness, things commensurate with what he has done, he imagines that God is embittered against him. This very thing, then, the soul says, having fallen under the sentence of God on account of sins: "I, provoking, have been provoked." Whence, also perceiving the sequence of the judgment, she said: "The Lord is righteous, for I have provoked His mouth." ^B

VERS. 12. These things can also be said concerning the coming of the Savior, with all those who were expecting His incarnation rejoicing. For the prophets and as many as understood the prophecies were hoping for it. For the Word of God came, having become flesh to... For "the Word," he says, "became flesh and dwelt among us." Having thus dwelt, they who have received Him within themselves shall rejoice forever; for they shall see the glory of the Word who has dwelt within them via the flesh "as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." They do not rejoice for this time only, having seen in deed the glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, of which they say: "And if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him no longer," having the contemplation of His glory, according to which He is the Only-begotten from the Father. ^C

Armor and crown is the shield; armor for those who are fighting, a crown for those who are victorious; armor for the soldiers who are to endure hardships, a crown for those who are reigning.

PSALM VI.

VERS. 1. Since the psalm has a more divine meaning, it is contained in hymns; but it is sung "at the end" because the contemplations concerning the octave are most perfect. Whoever has the spiritual circumcision is circumcised unto God; but he who has the carnal, not necessarily. Therefore the prophet says: "Be circumcised to your God, and do not be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin"; and again: "All the nations are uncircumcised in flesh, but the house of Israel is uncircumcised in their hearts." Just as, therefore, he who is circumcised materially removes a portion of the

^A genital member; so he who casts away every thought of reproductive concern is circumcised in heart; just as those who are genuinely unmarried, who are anxious for the things of the Lord, so that they may please Him. This circumcision is accomplished on the eighth day; for it is necessary, by rising above this world created in six days, to arrive at the seventh, which is the true, holy, and delightful Sabbath. And since it does not suffice for perfect blessedness merely to have ceased from the things brought about in a worldly manner, it is necessary to take hold of the super-mundane state, which is above the preceding one, namely the eighth; and he who desires to attain this will love neither the world nor any of the things in it. That the Law indeed conducts the understanding to this goal is clear from the fact that it intended the threat of destruction against the male child not circumcised on the eighth day, and not, rather, against the parents or those who otherwise might have been rearing the child; for it would not be consistent to threaten death to one ^B who was not even able to observe the commandment.

VERS. 2. A man, however, having acquired understanding from the chastisement, says: "I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He judges my cause and removes my punishment, and brings me out into the light." For he knew that judgment occurs for the sake of bringing aid, and that this would be the outcome of the matter. But verbal admonition is better than angry rebuke, for it provokes voluntary repentance; better, I say, than that which is not entirely voluntary. Regarding verbal chastisement, Paul also said: "Everything corrected is made manifest by the light." For the correction that occurs by means of light is a manifestation, by way of demonstration, presented not only to sinners but also to the just, as God illuminates the hidden things, which because of ignorance or malice are called darkness, and makes manifest the deliberations of the hearts of the just. ^C Yet, even if anger and chastisement drive the wicked, it is still for a good end, since they are thus drawn back from evil and impiety. He who has perceived the utility from these things, therefore, says: "I will bless You, O Lord; for You were angry with me for my salvation. You turned away Your face, and You had mercy on me." And God Himself manifests the goodness hidden in His anger by saying: "When the wrath of My fury comes, then I shall heal." For even if the "wrath of God is revealed from heaven," it tends "against all impiety and injustice of men," in order to remove them from the midst. That the wrath of God is not a passion, Moses teaches by saying: "You sent Your wrath, and it devoured them like stubble." For the wrath which is a passion is not sent, being an irascible faculty of the soul; but here he calls the bringing of calamities upon the wicked by the name of "wrath." ^D

VERS. 3. The healing of an infirm soul is the power of God, so that he who has experienced this may say: "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me." That, however, where "bones" are named in sacred Scripture, the discourse is not always about material things, is realized from this: "All

^A my bones shall say, Lord, Lord, who is like unto thee?" And again: "Our bones are scattered at the grave."

Vers. 4, 5. "And thou, O Lord, how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my soul; save me for thy mercy's sake." He speaks thus, as if God had turned away from him on account of his sins, by reason of which all his domestic affairs became calamitous to him, and the rebellion of his own son came to pass. "Turn," he says, "O Lord," and from henceforth be favorably disposed, and save my soul from its infirmity, for the sake of thy unique loving-kindness.

The word "turn" is understood in two ways. For sometimes the meaning is this: Since thou hast turned thy face from me, I pray that thou wouldst turn it toward me in mercy, and reveal thyself to me. At other times, its significance is this: Since my soul, through sinning, has turned toward its own destruction, do thou, by turning it back ^B and recalling it to thyself (according to the saying, "Turn, ye backsliding children"), redeem it from the sins that have removed it far off, and from the evil powers that work these sins.

Vers. 6. Those who suppose that the preceding words are spoken concerning common death are mistaken, or rather, they think irreligiously. For holy men are not mindful of God only when they possess this common life, but much more so when they are separated from this corruptible body. What, then, does he say? Because no one who is mindful of thee falls into that death which sin begets; for this is that death which separates the sinning soul from the life of virtue. But I desire to be mindful of thee, and, looking toward thy benevolence for this very thing, save me, ^C lest, my present infirmity and perturbation prevailing against me, I be swallowed up by death. For it is not said, "The one who is dying is not mindful of God," but, "He who is mindful of him does not exist in death," concerning which the Savior says: "He who hears my word shall not see death for ever."

Vers. 8. See if the saying, "I have grown old among all my enemies," is capable of another meaning. When I lived in righteousness, I was always growing young, living according to the newness of the Spirit and the new covenant. But since, on account of my human negligence, I fell from that commendable way of life and became among enemies, I have grown old, according to the antiquity of that man whom Paul exhorts us to put off (for he speaks, of course, of a vicious life) ^D so that we may "put on the new man, which is created according to God in righteousness and true holiness." And this life is the unblemished one.

Vers. 9. You will understand these things to be said even against the invisible enemies and evil powers that were setting traps for him, who envied his progress toward God, and, after the sin was committed, said with perverse joy: "There is no salvation for him in his God."

^A Ver. 11. He prays for his enemies with a praiseworthy purpose of mind; for he wishes them to be ashamed of the deeds they committed, through which they were enemies of both the righteous and of God. This, moreover, would be useful for them; for he who feels shame from his inner conscience, and is troubled at the wickedness performed by him, becoming convicted of it, will cease to act on it any longer. This explanation is confirmed by the subsequent verse, which reads thus: "Let the enemies be turned back, confounded," not advancing further in their malice, but turning back to the virtuous life which they had abandoned. And may this good befall them, not after a long delay or slowly, but very speedily!

PSALM VII

Ver. 1. Chusi, son of Jemini, is named, from the people whence Saul and Semei originated, and who brought the message of Saul; and he is called son of Arachi, who was his father; he was the greatest friend, that is, the prince of friends, and joined by old friendship. He sings the psalm, performing it both practically and theoretically. It has, furthermore, been stated by us in the title of the fourth psalm that by the term "psalm" is denoted practice, but by "canticum" (ode), theory; and since there are also titles in which is written "psalm of a canticum" or "canticum of a psalm," it must be said that a "psalm of a canticum" is the theory of practical life and moral discipline, but a "canticum of a psalm" is that practice which is necessarily joined to the contemplation of truth. For many things are done above the contemplation of wisdom, which one might not incongruously call a "psalm of a canticum." With these things thus observed, David aptly sings the present psalm as he dwells on the event, ^B contemplating simultaneously and wisely, and quite divinely, regarding every deed: desiring to know what each of these things signifies, which are thus realized materially. But come, let us set forth the very words of the psalm, which begin thus: "O Lord my God, in thee have I hoped," etc.

Ver. 2. Who, however, is this, if not he who says: "There is no one who saves besides me"?—he who came to seek and to save what was lost, and to give his soul as a ransom for many. These things show ^C that God the Father saves through God the Son, who is the Word; whence neither in the aforementioned words is the divinity of the Father and the Son to be separated, as seemed right to some.

Ver. 6. Or let it be said thus: He prays that God may appear high above the ends of the enemies. For thus, he says, iniquity—because of which they are my enemies—shall have an end. He perhaps also calls the "ends" of the enemies their pride, into which, being lifted up, they think they will have stability in the best of ends.

Ver. 9. Or, rather, bring down your judgment according to my innocence and righteousness. For thus shall I be justified, with no iniquity found in my actions. But "innocence" in this place is not to be understood as foolishness, according to the saying: "Innocent [is he who is free from guile]."

^A Since this is the significance in which it is spoken to God by the holy man: "And for my innocence You have sustained me," and: "I walked in my innocence." But since, in some copies, it is carried as: "Judge me, O Lord, according to Your justice," the phrase is to be explained as follows: There is a certain justice of God which men are able to attain, which is distinguished from another, inferior justice. Paul, therefore, writing regarding the difference between these concerning the Jews, said: "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For unaware of the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God." By the justice of God he means that which is given to all who believe through Jesus Christ; which he himself also, having desired to possess, says he has sent away all things in which he was just in the Jewish manner, in order that he might be found having the justice which is from God through faith, and not his own. Jesus, wanting this same thing to be present in His disciples, said to them: "Unless your justice abounds more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." With this distinction having been established—of human justice and that of God—the Psalmist wishes to be judged according to the Lord’s justice; knowing well that it shall be for his salvation to be judged in such a way.

^B V. 10. When the discourse is about God, the words "to examine and search hearts" by no means denote seeking and investigating, but rather having a complete comprehension. And by "reins," one must understand the intellectual faculties of the soul. Certainly, it is said of the foolish: "You are near to their mouth, but far from their reins." By this He teaches in essence: if He saves those who are upright in heart, I ask for just aid. I shall be saved by Him, he said, because I have an upright heart and one vacant of all guile; therefore, I also ask to be judged according to my innocence.

^D V. 15. "He who has labored with iniquity has conceived pain, to bring forth injustice." These offspring bring destruction upon the one who bore them, because of his own iniquity and injustice, for which he will be punished; for which cause he will experience pain in his punishment, or in the very commission of the sin. For the work of iniquity is most heavy and burdensome, one that can be compared to a talent of lead; for nothing is more weighted than wickedness, which always inclines downward the man who is burdened by it. Some say that because of the disordered nature of wickedness, the labor (or "throes") is spoken of as occurring before the conception; for surely in pregnant women the pain comes after conception, and after this the birth; but here the pain is named before the conception, because wickedness possesses no order or sequence. It is well, likewise, that iniquity is mentioned before lawlessness (or "anarchy"). For a man having become a transgressor through iniquity, he is no longer under the law of justice; and so henceforth he sets his mind even against other men, so as to inflict injury upon them. This is found most especially in the case of Cain; for he was previously a lawless...

man, because he did not divide correctly things that were to be sacrificed to God; ^A later he brought forth injustice, violently attacking his brother. And these expressions are, first of all, fitting for the devil, who is the origin of evils, for he was unjust and unrighteous before all others. Every sinner harms first himself, and then another or others; for since sin is something damaging and harmful, it harms and punishes the one who commits it above all. "For the foolishness of a man perverts his ways." Whence it is aptly said: "Evils shall pursue sinners." Who is the pit which he who is censured digs for himself, if not the very sin he has committed? For it is written concerning the sinful soul: "As a pit cools water, so its wickedness cools the soul." In many places in Scripture, "pit" is taken to mean wickedness, as it is written: "If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Here, too, teachers who are blind through foolishness and other wickedness, along with their disciples, are to be understood as staggering. ^B

VERS. 18. Having begun the psalm with hope in the Lord his God, he concludes it with thanksgiving, as is fitting, having obtained his petitions or faithfully awaiting them. For the word "I will confess" signifies thanksgiving here; wherefore "I will sing" is also conjoined to it. He confesses, moreover, not in any haphazard way, but according to the righteousness of God; and he sings not perfunctorily, but to the name of the Lord Most High, as if, having invoked it, he had already obtained it for himself, because He is exalted through holiness and virtue. For no one who is cast down, but only he who has been raised to the heights through piety, participates in the title of the Most High. ^C

PSALM VIII.

VERS. 1. The life of every man is called a vineyard in the Sacred Scriptures. For this reason also Naboth preferred to die rather than be tyrannically despoiled by him who wished to make of it a garden of herbs. For that vineyard signified this militant life, both practical and contemplative, which the wicked wish to drag toward temporal things and quickly-withering affairs, such as are herbs; for like herbs, they quickly fall away. Concerning such vineyards, the bride says: "The sons of my mother fought against me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have not kept." He who in this vineyard brings forth the clusters of truth also bears a grape, which it is necessary to pluck in its own time and gather into wine-presses, that when pressed they may make wine which gladdens the heart of man; some bringing forth doctrines of truth, others spiritual works. ^D And the wine-press is not one; for there are many practical virtues, and for the fruit of each there is a peculiar wine-press prepared: for instance, those who rightly maintain celibacy bring their fruits to the wine-press of chastity, and likewise those who keep the marriage bed undefiled; and so it is with others. There are also many wine-presses for the contemplative life, to which those who are productive of truth bring the doctrines.

^A Yet we say these things not by destroying the interconnectedness and sequence of the virtues, but because not all who pursue them have an inclination toward every one; rather, each person becomes especially distinguished by that in which he participates more. For this reason, there are also different beatitudes in the Gospels. But this ode is also set in a proper numerical order, as it is the eighth; for it has much harmony with the Lord’s day of resurrection, in which a vintage of many vine-presses occurred, because the disciples were sent out to bear witness to the One who had risen to the ends of the earth.

Formerly, indeed, it was said of God: “In Israel His name is great,” but now the prophecy that says, “All nations shall serve Him,” has been fulfilled concerning Him; for He Himself is the expectation of the nations. Therefore, His name is wonderful among all; and he adds the cause, namely, His assumption: “For He magnified over all His holy name,” as it is said in another psalm. ^B There is no other magnificence that has been lifted up beyond His incarnation. For what is there in it that is not most magnificent? It is therefore exalted, now that He has sat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, after having made purification for sins; this is how one must understand the fact that He became higher than the heavens after the resurrection. All who have approached the faith are infants, being infantile in malice. Yet those who are infants in age surpass those who are still nursing, and for these, after milk, suitable food is to be given; such are all who have turned and become like children.

Ver. 4. There is for those who contemplate precisely a kind of expectation of being able to know the heavens and what is in them, in what manner they have been founded when they first began to exist. You may also call “heavens” those who mind the things above, and not the things of time; for these heavens declare the glory of God. By “moon” you may understand the Church, and by “stars” those who have heard, “You are the light of the world.” So it is as if he were saying that men are the works of God’s hands. ^C “For the heavens are the works of Your hands.” Unless, perhaps, he says that the greater works of God are created by His hands, but the rest by His fingers. But in order to show that he is speaking about the human body, he adds: “or the son of man.” For it is according to the body, not according to the soul, that one is a son of man. After which, denoting the rational substance, he subjoins its preeminence. ^D

Ver. 5. He did not say, “You formed him,” for he is not discoursing now about creation, but about providence. Scripture often laments human insignificance: “For man,” it says, “has been made like to vanity; his days pass away like a shadow”; and again: “Man, his days are as grass; as the flower of the field, so he will flourish; for a spirit passes through him,

...and it shall not exist, and its place shall be known no more.

^B VERSE 8. You see what follows. Man is not said to rule over all mortal living things indiscriminately, but over the tame ones: for he is not said to dominate the unicorn, nor does he stand over other strong and wild beasts as he is affirmed to rule over the tame ones, as is clear from these words: "Sheep and all oxen, and also the beasts of the field," etc. And I think this is well said; for before the transgression, man ruled even over these. Indeed, righteous men have ruled over them even after the transgression; just as Daniel, having been cast into the lions' den, suffered no harm from them; and Paul shook off the viper from his hand into the fire; for, it says, wild beasts will be at peace with you. Furthermore, by the "beasts of the field," the wild beasts are also included, as we have learned in Genesis.

VERSE 10. "O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth!" It was fitting for the song spoken regarding the Savior’s resurrection to have a conclusion similar to its beginning. For in fact, both in beginning and in ending, he uses the same expression, the Spirit teaching that the beginning corresponds to the end in the subject matter. So, "How wonderful is your name in all the earth!" agrees with, "Let all the earth worship you and sing psalms to you."

^C PSALMUS IX.

The term "son" is used indefinitely in many places of Scripture. Certainly when it is not added whose son it is, it is clear that this is the Savior, who is often shown and named thus. And so Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews says: "Christ, as a son over his own house, whose house we are"; and again: "In these last days he has spoken to us in a Son." And the Savior himself says of himself in the Gospel: "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." Moreover, the expression "to the end" is well referred to the present song of victory; for it was for the sake of that end that the Savior arrived; concerning whom the prince of the apostles writes: "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls; concerning which salvation the prophets inquired and searched diligently." And after a few words: "Testifying beforehand the sufferings that were to come for Christ, and the glories after them." Perhaps the Jews will say the title speaks of ^D Absalom, the son of the Psalmist; yet they are argued not to interpret it well, since they err everywhere through neglecting the search of the Scriptures. For what probable thing do they have to say regarding the expression "for the hidden things," unless perhaps they might say that the expression "for the hidden things" is set down on account of the secret conspiracy of Absalom? But this is said by them very foolishly.

VERS. 2, 5. (Of Theodoret, and likewise of Origen, and of Didymus.) It is the custom of perfect men to offer their whole heart to God, and to dedicate to Him their entire...

^A intellect. For it says: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength" (Luc. x, 27). He who is not so disposed cannot truly say: "I will confess to Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart." But the prophet, foreseeing future events with spiritual eyes, not only confesses "with his whole heart," but also declares "all His marvelous works," making all who hear the hymnody participants therein. For having routed all my enemies behind me, and having seen them perish from Thy face, I shall continue to sing of Thy benefits; and "rejoicing in Thee, my God," having as joy the "fruit of the Spirit," I shall "sing to Thy name" on high, and, having contemplated with exaltation, "I will declare all Thy marvelous works." The prophet speaks these things on behalf of human nature, which has both been snatched from the evil demon and received freedom through the divine nature. For it is not, as some have supposed, the Savior Himself who recites this psalm, but rather it is spoken to Him by those who have benefited from Him, as the words themselves demonstrate: "For Thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause" (Ps. IX, 5). In what way? "Thou didst sit upon the throne, Thou that judgest justice" (Ps. IX, 5). And what sentence did He pass? "Thou hast rebuked the heathen, and the wicked one hath perished: Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and for ever and ever" (Ps. IX, 6). For Thou didst not endure, he says, to overlook for long the nature of men being wretchedly enslaved by the bitter tyrant; but like a judge seated upon a high and fearful tribunal, Thou didst inflict upon him such punishment that his memory was consigned to total oblivion. ^B Now that saying, "Thou hast rebuked the heathen, and the wicked one hath perished," has this meaning: through the holy apostles and those who came after them, the heralds of the truth, He brought divine teachings to the Gentiles; and when they received them and departed from their errors, the wicked one perished, having no longer any who were deceived or who worshipped him. Thus, Barnabas and Paul rebuked the Lycaonians who tried to sacrifice to them, crying out: "Men, why do you do these things? We also are men of like passions with you, preaching unto you from these vanities to turn unto the living God" (Act. XIV, 15). Thus the blessed Paul rebuked the Galatians, crying out: "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" (Gal. III, 1). Thus to the Corinthians: "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles" (1 Cor. V, 1). "Thou hast rebuked," therefore, "the heathen, and the wicked one hath perished; Thou hast blotted out his name for ever and for ever and ever." Those [rites] were altogether abolished and delivered unto perpetual oblivion, so that now no one knows the mysteries of impiety. For those ^C initiations were extinguished entirely, and delivered to oblivion, so that no one of the men of today knows even the mysteries of their impiety.

VERS. 6. Such a sitting signifies Him as Judge, and not that He is established upon some [material] chair. Consider whether there is still room to say that, with the nations rebuked, their godless way of life perishes, so that they no longer exist [as such]. This will happen when...

that which was said before is completed: "The way of the ungodly shall perish." ^A

*From Origen and Didymus.* The word "rebuked" signifies correction, which is made clear by the [following] words: "reprove, rebuke, exhort"; for it is evident that the rebuke is for the sake of benefit.

VERS. 7. The swords of the enemy may perhaps be heretical doctrines and individual iniquities, which have failed so that they can no longer defend the cities they occupied, and they themselves are also destroyed. The cities, moreover, are crowds unlawfully established and administered. For it is written concerning their founder: "Who builds cities with blood, who constructs cities in iniquities"; for the substance of them is iniquities, and the shedding of the blood of those who are scandalized. The Savior destroyed these by His coming, defeating the enemy who wished to hold tyrannically the cities he thought he possessed. Now those who view this glorious deed with a lofty eye, applauding the victor, sing a prayer of thanksgiving with one voice, as it were, beginning thus: "O Lord my God, I will praise thee, I will celebrate thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things, a counsel of old, true." Yes, O Lord! "For thou hast made cities a trench, the cities of the ungodly shall not be built up for ever." See whether the irreparable ruin of Jerusalem is denoted, after the Savior was crucified there, and its citizens were thenceforth held in the number of the ungodly on account of the murder of the Lord. "With a sound," that is, not without military clamor for the victors, the achievement has come to pass. ^B

VERS. 8. "He hath prepared his throne in judgment; and he himself shall judge the world in equity: he shall judge the peoples in justice." These words admonish us to depart from malice and impiety, and to follow virtue and piety. For what person of good sense, if he actually believes these things, will not fear lest he fall into the hands of him who judges justly and rightly, because of his own blameworthy acts and impious thoughts? For under such a judge, one will not escape condemnation. ^C

VERS. 10. He demonstrates this fact by what was said by God Himself: "In an acceptable time I have heard thee"; and [also by] what is in the one hundred and first Psalm, which runs as follows: "Thou arising shalt have mercy on Sion; for it is time to have mercy upon her, for the time is come."

VERS. 11. "And let them hope in thee that know thy name; for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord." They have surely become superior to every kind of human hope. For having an assured and perfect knowledge of thy name, they place their trust in nothing else. They seek God, these who desire all things to be brought about for them by Him which they are unable to obtain by their own powers. Wherefore they are not abandoned by Him; which expression ought to be understood piously and prudently. For if anyone thinks that a man who prospers in worldly affairs is not abandoned by God, he is deceived; for many ungodly people fare in this way. Otherwise, [it might be thought that] Abel had been abandoned ^D

for he was put to death; and indeed, the prophets and apostles too, for they were constantly afflicted, and in the end, most of them were put to death by men. Having made this distinction, we say that he who remains with God until his last breath is not abandoned, even if he suffers countless things from his enemies; for this is what it truly means not to be abandoned by the Lord. The manner in which one ought to seek God is shown by what is written in the Book of Wisdom: "Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart; because he is found by those who do not put him to the test, and he appears to those who do not distrust him."

Ver. 12. They are commanded to sing a hymn, who are accustomed to sing in spirit and in mind; for these are the ones who sing with pious understanding and the inspiration of the Spirit. For they are commanded to chant and sing in their heart, who thus sing to the Lord dwelling in Sion, with the Holy Spirit leading the choir. Moreover, they receive another command from him, namely, to announce his deeds among the nations; these are the things which he did miraculously upon his advent, both intelligible and sensible. This second command could be said to pertain especially to the apostles, who were sent to make disciples of all nations.

Vers. 13, 14. And since, in seeking their blood, he remembered those who were slain by the fiery darts of the evil one; to these terms, he says, is added: "He has not forgotten the cry of the poor." One might raise a question here, saying: How did the heathens cry out to God, being poor, even though they had been slain by the prevailing error of polytheism and by the invisible enemies who promote it? To this it must be answered that they send forth their cry through their works, just as the blood of Abel cries out to God; and [as is the case with] the wages of the laborers that have been withheld: "Behold," he says, "the wages of those who have mown your fields, which you have withheld, cry out." For the cry was that of the withheld wages, which were not in the possession of the laborer, but in that of the owner of the field that was mown. Let us suggest another meaning for the passage. It is not necessarily the case that the heathens, whose blood he remembered, are the poor whose cry the benefactor God has not forgotten; for these poor might be those prophets who uttered prophecies about the heathens; of whom one said, "To you the nations shall come from the ends of the earth," and another, "All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you." And they are called poor here because they were lacking in a great part of the riches of the godhead or of divine knowledge; for until that time they prophesied only in part.

Ver. 15. The death which is in the lower parts, of which it is written, "Death has devoured, having prevailed," is somewhere below; his enemies strive to place there those whom they have humbled, whether through affliction or through sin. It is possible, by the mercy of God, to escape this kind of death and humiliation. For as to him who is still [exposed] to this kind of death...

world and suffering under its influence, if he attains a perception of his own evils and a knowledge of God’s goodness, he will speak in the manner of a prayer: "Have mercy upon me, and look upon my humiliation caused by my enemies." For they have humiliated me by dragging me down; but You alone, because of the goodness which essentially dwells in You, are able to lift me up from the gates of death.

*Of Origen and Didymus.* The gates of death are the sins that lead to death, from which he is raised up who has not even thought of committing them; he who alone can declare all the praises of the Lord.

By the daughters of Zion, understand the inhabitants thereof, just as when others are called children of light, of peace, and of wisdom. The gates of the daughter of Zion, being contrary to the gates of death, are praiseworthy deeds, meditations performed according to virtue and the wisdom of God.

^B VERSE 16. Since virtue is called incorruption in the place where it says, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption," that which is entirely contrary to it, namely wickedness, will consistently be called corruptela and corruption. Furthermore, that wickedness is identified by the name of corruption is evident from this: "If any man defile the temple of God." Also from the prophet saying to the wicked: "Because of incorruption you have been corrupted with corruption." Consonant with this is also the saying: "To your corruption, O Israel, who shall bring help?" Or rather, corruption is so called from the work, and is said to be created by its authors. Here it is said that the nations are fixed in the corruption which they committed. For no one is bound by the impiety and sin of another; for each shall die in his own sin. Next, because the wicked, having first harmed themselves, then attempt to lure others into the same ruin through deceit, they secretly construct snares with their treacherous thoughts and words, so as to capture the unwary. But they are punished by the very snare they had hidden; for those whom they deceived become their avengers. ^C This punishment actually occurs by the judgment of the provident God. For why would it not be the judgment of God that the sinner is caught by his own works, since he possesses the cause of his own condemnation in the things he has wickedly done? Consonant with this is what was said a little earlier, which runs as follows: "He that diggeth a pit for his neighbor, shall fall into it."

Having already spoken concerning the *diapsalma*, we must now speak concerning the canticum of the *diapsalma*. Since the present psalm begins with the words, "I will confess to You, O Lord," the discourse continues up to, "the sinner is caught." After which expression, the canticum beginning with the word, "Let them be turned back," it is consistent to couple the name of *canticum* to the *diapsalma*. For if the whole psalm were called a *canticum* in its own right and power, the appellation of *canticum* would certainly have been placed before it, as happens in many psalms. But since the matter stands otherwise ^D

^A a *canticum* is properly placed after the diapsalma. It will be shown that the following verses possess the sense of a psalm, once the words themselves are set forth: "Let the sinners be turned into hell, all the nations that forget God; for the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end; the patience of the poor shall not perish forever."

Verse 18. "Let the sinners be turned into hell," as if they were oppressive enemies. ^B Explaining further who these sinners are, he proceeds to say that by "the nations that forget God," we must understand not only men, but also immaterial powers. For if the word "sinner," which is a noun derived from sin, does not signify a substance but a quality, then one must think that the nations are also named in a way suited to these. Just as someone who is not yet in heaven locally, even while still walking the earth, can attain to being there through his conduct and his mind, so too someone not yet dwelling in hell locally can manifest signs of death and sin, as if he already dwelt in hell, even while still living in the body. Furthermore, he is called "poor" who is wretched on account of sin, as well as he who is modest and humble, and he who needs to receive something from God. Every human being born is such as this. By all these meanings, the person called "poor" is held in remembrance by God, even if for some useful purpose he seems sometimes given over to oblivion, which, however, is not perpetual. What the difference is between the "poor" (*ptochos*) and the "needy" (*penes*), we shall say later, when the occasion to speak of these things arises.

Verse 20. "Thou, O Lord," who causest those who are puffed up and arrogant to fall from their blameworthy height, opposing the proud; let them not therefore be strengthened, but let them be judged before thee; for great profit shall follow for them. ^C The words "Let not man be strengthened" might be interpreted as spoken concerning the devil; he whom the parable of the tares calls the "envious man." Indeed, it is also said in the prophecy: "This is the man that troubleth the earth." And because this man was being strengthened before the coming of the Savior, saying: "I will take the whole world in my hand as a nest, and as eggs that have been left I will take them; there is no one who will escape me or speak against me," the human race, unable to bear his prideful words, offers up a prayer to the Savior, saying: "Arise, O Lord, come to us, that the man who prides himself against us may not long prevail." The devil is called "man," not because he is a mortal, rational animal, but because he, like men, has fallen from the divine state; to whom God said: "I have said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High; but you shall die like men." ^D Certainly, the devil chooses those sorts of people who seem to be rich in lying words, with whom he sits in secret.

^A wishing to remain hidden so that he may kill the innocent by piercing him with his burning arrows; for they are deadly, as they tear one away from a life of virtue. The phrase "in secret" could also be joined with the preceding and following sentences. However, he cannot kill with his own arrows him who is clothed in the armor of God. Hence, he casts his eyes upon the poor man as one easy to capture—who is the same as the poor man kindled by the pride of the impious. With such words or even with deceitful works, he drags him into his net, so that he may devour him like a lion. Furthermore, he lies in wait when, perhaps speaking of domestic administration, he secretly introduces words of avarice; or he suggests a manner of lasciviousness to one who had resolved to live chastely, just as he also led Eve into transgression under the guise of divine equality. ^B And "he will bow down" signifies how, by turning his eye downward, he fell. For how does he not look downward, he who says, "God has forgotten," and thus denies providence? In the commandment given in paradise, he seized the poor man and dragged him into his trap, so that he might humiliate the one thus seized. Again, having lain in wait in secret, he seized Judas, who had become poor through avarice; and having dragged him to himself, he humiliated him in the trap which he had hidden.

Psalm X according to the Hebrews, but still IX according to the Latins and Greek Vatican.

VERS. 1. "Why, O Lord, have you stood afar off, do you overlook us in opportune times, in tribulation? When the impious man acts proudly, the poor man is set on fire." The Prophet asks as a man, and inquires of God, saying, "Why, O Lord, have you stood afar off?" Yet the Word might answer him by saying that the goodness of God leads sinners to repentance. Now, God has withdrawn far from sinners, because sin itself separates and drives away those who sin, according to what was said: "Your sins create an interval between me and you." ^C For otherwise, God is always present to all, and, existing everywhere, He fills all things. Therefore, it is said in the prophecies: "I am a God drawing near, says the Lord, and not a God far off." But when the just are distressed in the present life and are oppressed by the impious, it is as if you were absent from afar, he says, O Lord, and you overlook them. Therefore, the pride of the impious increases; but your needy and poor man is burned by care, zealously striving with religious zeal, and inflamed in his inmost soul.

VERS. 3. Such are, especially, those who lack divine riches and wisdom, and who do not accurately hold the dogmas of piety. ^D For these stumble at the judgments of wise providence, praising the sinner who indulges his own desires; since it is sufficiently apparent that the sinner seeks not better things, but only pleasant and voluptuous ones. Moreover, by this same error, they judge those to be in a state of blessing who possess wealth and human, temporal glory, and they say that the wicked

^A are blessed by God: but one ought to believe that God's blessing is bestowed upon the righteous.

Vers. 4. Even if God should seem to be far away and to neglect afflicted men, and those troubled by the pride of the impious, nevertheless He is greatly enraged against the proud man who brings scandals and, to speak with Scripture, sets the poor on fire, and makes ill use of the goods provided to him by God's providence. For this is set forth in the following words. It is said, namely: "The sinner has provoked the Lord;" but this refers to the proud impious man, who is praised in his desires. And he has provoked the Lord so much as to make burst forth the wrath which he had heaped up for himself; according to the saying: "According to your hardness and impenitent heart, you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath." But however much wrath the sinner may have heaped up for himself, yet, because of the goodness of the judging God, an inquiry will not be held according to its multitude and magnitude on the day of judgment. For if an inquiry were instituted according to the magnitude of the wrath, the wicked would perish utterly and at once. Observing this very thing, those who put forward God's goodness say: "If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall endure?"

Vers. 5. But the reason why the sinner provokes the Lord is that he does not have Him before his eyes, for he turns away from God. For whoever sins behaves in this way. On this account, God says concerning all such people: "They turned their backs to me, and not their faces." The parent of this impiety, Cain, "went out from the presence of the Lord God," that is, he turned away from Him. And if these things are said of sinful men, they are said much more regarding the devil who provokes God and does not have Him before his eyes; for the following readings are said especially of him: "His ways are defiled at all times." For whose ways are defiled at all times? Since even the impious often do many things honestly. But he proceeds profanely, leading men not only to vicious acts, but also denying divine providence. Thus, he persuades many to believe that the world is without God's governance, after he himself was the first to fall away from the right judgment concerning God's governance ^B and judgment. This is proven from those things that are said to God concerning the sinner: "Your judgments are taken away from before his face, he shall lord it over all his enemies;" not because he shall altogether succeed in this, but because he has proposed this rather to himself to do; for it would be falsely said that he is or will be the lord of all his enemies, for his foremost enemies are men perfect in holiness, none of whom he possesses, but he lords it only over those who commit sin. For it was said: "Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin." Therefore, he who works sin in himself is pressed by the devil's rule.

Vers. 6. But from the insatiable nature of his malice, which

the following passage signifies: "For he says: I shall not be moved from generation to generation without evil." This phrase indicates both the audacity and the shamelessness of his arrogance. If one attends to this expression, he might interpret it as though he were to rule over men alone, who are his enemies. For if he said "from generation to generation" in his heart, meaning that he would never be moved, being devoid of evil, it is clear that it was spoken only of men who succeed one another in a line of descent. Nevertheless, this is not entirely true; for he did not rule over the holy patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; rather, they themselves had him placed under their feet, with Jesus granting them this authority.

Vers. 7. ^B "Whose mouth is full of cursing, and bitterness and deceit; under his tongue are labor and sorrow." He who has fallen away from the holiness of God, and has led himself far from truth and blessing, has a mouth full of cursing, striving, as it were, to make those whom he deceives subject to punishment and curse. Yet his speech possesses great power, together with deceit. Therefore his word overflows with cursing, bitterness, and deceit, being called "his mouth." Upon these ones, to injure and destroy, he brings forth what is under his tongue; and this is his deceitful word, it is labor and sorrow; for it has nothing pleasant or good, but whatever causes labor and sorrow, that he brings forth.

Vers. 8. Since he has resolved to be in all things harmful and the cause of ^C destruction, he chooses for himself associates who appear to be rich in speech, men using false-sounding words. And sitting secretly with them, so as to lie hidden in who he is, he lays traps by which he may kill the innocent, wounding him with his fiery darts; for these are deadly, inasmuch as they draw a man away from the life accompanied by virtue, when he is pierced by these weapons.

However, we can also punctuate it thus: "He sits in ambush with the rich," and then, having made a punctuation mark, we continue: "that in secret he may kill the innocent." For because "in secret" contains an ambiguity, it can be punctuated on either side, which we have already done previously, punctuating: "He sits in ambush with rich men in secret." ^D But later we preferred to read: "He sits in ambush with the rich, that in secret he may kill the innocent." Yet, although he lies in wait, sitting with the aforementioned rich for the sake of catching and killing the innocent, nevertheless it must be known that no one who is wise according to God can be wounded by him, as being fortified by the armor of God.

Whence he directs his eyes toward the poor, hoping to catch him, as if he were a poor man who is burned by the arrogance of the wicked. "He lies in wait in secret like a fierce lion in his den," so as to snatch away the poor through deceitful words, and sometimes through deeds; and after he has caught someone in his snare, he draws him to apostasy. For he is a fierce beast, or rather, a lion. Therefore, frequently lying in wait, while he speaks on the subject of economy, he secretly persuades one to avarice; and while speaking of purity, he insinuates some form of licentiousness. Thus he deceitfully compelled Eve in paradise to the transgression of the commandment,

^A asserting it to be equal to God. Thus avarice ensnared Judas.

Vers. 10. That he lies bowed down demonstrates that he has collapsed with his eye fixed downward. For why should he who denies providence look downward, when he says, "God has forgotten," and the rest?

Vers. 12-15. Since you are able to humble the proud man who tyrannically oppresses those disturbed by his audacity without delay, why, when you are able to assist them most effectively, do you leave them to be afflicted for some time? It is understood that the suffering of this matter is overseen by you. But it comes to pass so that those who have been educated by temporal calamity might willingly surrender themselves into your hands, desiring henceforth to be ruled and taught by you. The poor man, therefore, has been left to you; you will look after the matter of his salvation, so that you may make him rich by providing blessings from above. Thus, he himself also assists the orphan, ^B patronizing and nurturing him in the place of a son. By the orphan here, one should understand the person who formerly had the devil as a father because of his own wickedness, but who has now cast him off through the habits of repentance. Now, who is the sinner and the wicked one—especially if it is expressed with the article (according to Greek and Latin usage)—if not the devil? His arm is crushed by the Lord, and his sin, when sought, is not found to have existence; it concludes in the very moment it is committed. For evil is not some substance, but a quality. And thus, that final end for the sake of which all things were made will be established; but it itself exists for the sake of no cause.

Vers. 16. "The Lord shall reign for ever, and for ever and ever," ^C so that his kingdom has no end. For it is not possible that the same human being be under two lords and kings. While sin was ruling and reigning over the one who committed it, the Lord God was not the lord, nor was he the king, of the sinner. But after the sin that used to rule has been sought for and not found by its author, "The Lord reigns for ever, and for ever and ever. You shall perish, O nations, out of his land." The good heart is called the land of God; from this land nations perish whenever every base thought and evil calculation is expelled. For by the name of nations are denoted the base workings of the mind and the thoughts, which by God's favor perish. But if one wishes to denote the land of the meek (for this, too, is the Lord's), nations perish from this land: ^D since no sinner is permitted to enter into it; for only the saints shall possess it. For it was said by a certain holy man: "I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living" (Ps. XXVI, 13), and to another God said: "I will raise you up to the good things of the earth."

Vers. 17. "You have heard the desire of the poor, O Lord: your ear has listened to the preparation of their heart." The desire of the poor was that he who tyrannically oppressed them should fall. Since, therefore, this has come to pass, with the arm of the sinner and the wicked one broken, rightly is God...

who knows the hearts and understands the hidden things, revealed to have had their desire, it being an efficacious prayer. And the Lord heard them, His ear attending to the preparation of their heart. For how would they not have a heart prepared for their own salvation, they who had a desire for the aforementioned goods, and were making their soul ready for the kingdom of God promised to them? ^B

VERS. 18. Here, too, the word "man" must be taken in a double sense: both of the mortal, rational animal which is puffed up with pride, and of the devil, who says: "I shall take hold of the whole world with my hand, and there is no one who shall escape me or contradict me." For he will no longer boast, now that the saints are treading upon his power with their feet, Jesus having granted this to them.

PSALM X

VERSUS. 1. "In the Lord I put my trust; how say ye to my soul," etc. "For, lo, the sinners have bent their bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver," and the rest. By these words he urges his own soul to lift itself up like a sparrow on the wings of virtue, so that, having passed over to the spiritual mountains which hold the heights, it may remain unharmed. But however the division of this reading should be made, one must certainly trust in the Lord.

VERS. 3. But in a spiritual sense, regarding the many enemies, both visible and invisible, who are full of cunning and who have a bent will, and who are compared to the prepared force of the bent bow—but the prepared weapons are also eloquent discourses—these are present for you to trust ^C in. Yet you, O soul, have your dwelling in the high mountains; placed there, you shall in no wise be wounded. Furthermore, it has been said that the more divine meanings of the Scriptures are designated by the title of "mountains"; and not only these, but also wise teachers, apostles, and prophets. We may, therefore, reckon that the word, "Flee as a bird to your mountain," is spoken by the Spirit, urging the soul to retreat, if it wishes to avoid the poisoned shafts of the archers. But if even the invisible powers themselves, being the same or akin to the archers, were to say, "Flee as a bird to your mountain," we should take this to be said mockingly, while they wish to denote those who trust in God with all their heart. Furthermore, because they are children of darkness and of night, they who use this sophistical speech, they are like archers who resolve to shoot their arrows ^D through the dark night against men who are gifted with an upright heart.

VERS. 5. If the discourse is about the Father, or even about the Savior Himself before the incarnation, His holy temple must be understood to be that holy and heavenly intellect of His, in which, as in His holy temple, He has His throne, reigning divinely and sublimely in heaven as in heaven. And we have noted in previous places that the "throne" is taken to represent "kingdom." But the observant and providential powers of God, which are called His eyes, being directed toward the poor, keep him unharmed. With these powers caring for the poor, the eyelids of the eyes of God examine the actions and thoughts of men. And this

^A demonstrates the benevolence of the Judge. For if He were to examine with both eyes and eyelids, the judgment would be intolerable to men; but since He examines their affairs only with His eyelids, it is clear that not all the sins of those being judged are observed, nor is the magnitude of these sins of such a degree. It is also well said that His eyes are directed toward him who receives a benefit, even if he be one of the number of the poor, while His eyelids are directed toward the multitude of the sons of men, in order that benefits may be bestowed copiously and with readiness, while punishments on the part of God proceed much more secretly. And these things, when considered according to the letter, do not signify any material eyelid or anything of that sort; wherefore these things too must be understood in a manner worthy of God.

Ver. 6. "The Lord explores the just and the impious."

Ver. 6. "He shall rain snares upon sinners."

Ver. 7. "Fire and brimstone and the spirit of a storm are the portion of their cup."

But the same meaning is also revealed in Jeremiah by the following words: "The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take the cup of unmixed wine from my hand, and you shall give it to all the nations to whom I shall send you." Can it not be, then, that in the present passage also, the portion of the cup distributed to them signifies punishments, especially since the fullness of this cup is fire, sulfur, and a spirit of storm—the symbols of which are the types of punishments that were brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah by the Lord, as recorded in Genesis? In addition to the fire and sulfur, there is also in this cup a spirit of storm; and the fire indeed signifies inflamed threats, the sulfur the impetus by which the fire is further fueled, and finally ^B the spirit of storm demonstrates a certain whirlwind of temptation. That the storm signifies temptation, we can clearly learn from Isaiah who writes: "And as a storm passing through the desert, a terrifying and cruel vision was announced to me." Let us, therefore, flee impiety, so that a cup of this kind may be far from us, and let us live piously, that we may drink to satiety what is best; of which it has perhaps also been said: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup." Since the Lord is just, and loves justice, His countenance beholds righteousness; and therefore He has His eyes fixed upon the poor, concerned for his salvation. Yet, nevertheless, He casts snares upon sinners; for the providence and judgments of God do not happen rashly; for God is substantially just, and not merely a participant in justice; and since He is so constituted by His own nature, He loves that justice should exist alike in many righteous people, approving the good intention of each one. We can also explain in another way how God loves justices: for since there is a certain justice for each individual judgment, and the judgments of God are many, concerning which it is written: "The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves"—it follows necessarily from this that there are many justices. And as He is just, so also you might call rectitude that will which is fashioned according to right reason; this God gladly gazes upon in those who possess it. ^C But concerning rectitude, one must speak in a sense congruent with that second notion of justices which we established regarding the inscrutable judgments of God—which, because of His complete approval, His face is said to behold. For the presence of God is known from the acts of providence and the effects of His judgments.

PSALM XI.

VERSUS 4. It must by no means be thought that the members of the body are said to be destroyed here, but rather their deceitful use and arrogant speech. For it is also said in Proverbs: "Remove from yourself a perverse mouth, and cast away from you unjust lips far away."

VERS. 5. "Our lips are our own; who is our lord?" Elevated by this audacity, the impious man, while exulting ^D

^A with a boastful tongue and deceitful lips, causes the poor to suffer, and the needy to groan, as they cannot bear their tyrannical manner. Because of this, the Lord says: "Now will I arise, that I may set the counsel in salvation; I will speak confidently in him against those who proudly exalt themselves over their inferiors; I will deliver them from their misery, so that the poor and the needy may not groan." By "poor and needy" here, you may understand those who are unable to defend themselves due to their inherent weakness, or because of the wickedness that has led them to such a state. These became superior to misery and groaning [at that time] when the Lord arose and came to us during the time of His visitation; thus, the salvation of those who were outside of misery and groaning was made manifest. ^B It is appropriate, therefore, for those who hear the verses now before us, to say: "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" To which saying he immediately and confidently adds: "I thank God through Jesus Christ." For through this, it is shown that it is Jesus Christ who delivers the man who was suffering because of the body of death he possessed, He who says: "Now will I arise, saith the Lord."

It has occurred to some to say that the poor are those who have fallen from wealth, while the needy are those who provide for their livelihood through labor and work. And in this sense, the poor man is necessarily in need; yet, conversely, the needy man is not [necessarily] poor. Perhaps even what is said ^C about the poor can be argued from Scripture, where it is said: "The rich have become poor," and "We have become very poor." Consistently with this, what is said of the Savior will also be understood: "For He being rich, became poor for our sakes, that we through His poverty might become rich." The expression "greetings of the needy" also supports the sense of the word "needy," who indeed always groan and lament because of the toil they endure due to the lack of necessities. The expression, "I will set in salvation," signifies "I will ordain and I will perform," just as in the words: "Whom He appointed heir of all things," ^D that is, whom He decreed and established as heir. You will understand in like manner: "God has set in the Church first apostles," and the rest; and that which was said to the elders of the Church: "The Holy Spirit has made you bishops to feed the Church."

^A For He has set them, indicating proof by the fact of their being appointed and made apostles and bishops.

VERS. 8. By this meaning of the word "keep," the Savior also said to the Father concerning the disciples: "Holy Father, keep them; while I was with them, I kept them, and the evil one did not touch them." I have spoken according to this meaning because of what is said in Genesis to the serpent concerning Adam: "He shall keep thy head, and thou shalt keep his heel." For it is no longer the same thing here to "guard" and to "keep," for it seems from this: "He shall watch/observe thy head, and thou his heel." The one who says, "Thou, O Lord, shalt keep us," offers up the prayer ^B after doing everything in his own power, keeping the admonition which says: "With all watchfulness keep thy heart." And since, when these things are accomplished, what we strive for is not sufficient to avoid being plotted against—for "unless the Lord keep the city, in vain does he stay awake who guards it"—the sequence leads us, after being guarded by ourselves, to offer the prayer saying: "Thou, O Lord, shalt keep us, and preserve us." For while He guards, we shall be confident, as we shall be safe from plots forever. For since Thou art most high, O Lord, and dwellest on high, according to the height which belongs to Thy goodness, Thou hast multiplied the sons of men, deeming them worthy to experience the protection of Thy providence.

PSALM XII

VERSUS 1, 5, 6. Although these things are said by the holy man in the guise of one praying, he is not, however, as one forgotten by God, but as one having taken on the persona of others, that he recites this prayer. It is absolutely certain that the words of the prayer do not speak of material light, nor of sleep and death, but of the light which we obtain from the knowledge of God. "Light for yourselves the light of knowledge," and, "Come to the Lord and be enlightened." This enlightenment takes place, not in the eye of the flesh, which looks only at the sun and any other material light. For the eyes which look upon the Sun of justice—which is the true light—are not of the body, but of the heart; for the eyes of the inner man are the intellectual powers. To one thus enlightened, a blessed life ensues; "For I am the light of the world," the Lord says. "He who walks in me," he says, "shall not remain in darkness, but shall have the light of life." When this life has come to the one who has been enlightened, his is an ^D end to sleeping unto death, as one who sleeps and dies is the man who dwells in the darkness of ignorance. For he who through negligence and sloth gives his eyes over to sleep will straightway die, departing from the life lived with virtue. Wherefore this blameworthy sleep and death must be shunned, so that, with the light of the eyes of the soul thus preserved, the enemy may no longer say: "I have prevailed against him," imagining he had prevailed long since, when we sinned. "Those who trouble me will exult if I should be moved."

^A But even if they exult when someone is shaken, I, O Master, hoping in Your mercy, shall not suffer the things they long to see in me; for I await Your salvation, which shall arrive speedily, at which my heart shall exult. For why should he who has experienced the salvation of God not be gladdened and exultant? And if this prophecy also reveals that the salvation of God—Christ—is to come, observe it carefully. For He, having come for the salvation of the world, destroyed those who rejoiced at the stumbling of souls, overthrowing with them the enemy who exalted himself ^B proudly; He gave light to the eyes, so that no one might see the death of the soul. He, having come, having looked upon us, heard us and eased our pain. With these things successfully accomplished, man, having received the benefit, sings a hymn of thanksgiving, saying: "I will sing to the Lord who has dealt bountifully with me, and I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High," having learned in practice what was well said by the Lord to those who pray: "While you are still speaking, I will say: 'Behold, I am here.'" He says this truly to those who are already with Him: "I have fared well, having attained that which I asked; wherefore I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High." Therefore, at every benefit that occurs to us, we also sing the proposed hymn, saying that it consists not in contemplation alone, but also in chanting. For "singing" signifies contemplation, but "chanting" signifies ^C practical action.

PSALM XIII

Verse 1. The "fool" here is understood not as one lacking common sense ^D or sharpness of mind, but as one who lacks one of the virtues: prudence, about which it is written: "He who possesses prudence loves his own soul, and he who guards prudence finds good things." That he does possess natural sharpness is shown by the discourse, which indicates that he does not say it to the ears of others, but "in his heart" that there is no God; for he knew that no one would tolerate hearing talk that denies God, since almost all men possess a firm belief about God. This first verse has a great affinity with that which was said concerning the devil; for even the devil did not say it to someone or to others, but within his own mind: "I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven, I will be like the Most High." For just as he who has knowledge of God keeps His word and translates His commandments into deeds, so everyone who sins does so because he is ignorant of God. John writes, therefore, that everyone who sins is far from having knowledge of God; for everyone who sins has not seen Him.

^A For if one departs from the soul that holds the preeminent and queenly place among virtues, piety, the other virtues depart with it as well. That this judgment rests upon a firm foundation is evident from those things that happened to the sons of Eli. For these men, not knowing the Lord, proved themselves to be wicked—or rather, they acted impiously in their priestly functions, performing legal and religious offices in an evil manner. You will recognize those things said so far by comparing them to what is stated in Jeremiah: “Usury upon usury, deceit upon deceit; all are committing adultery; a gathering of those who act lawlessly; because they have gone from evil to evil, and Me they have not known, says the Lord.” For how could they not have been transgressors of His laws while lacking the knowledge of God? These things, when viewed generally, persuade us to keep God in our memory, so that we may be shown to be praiseworthy in our activities, pursuing them ^B with an incorruptible intention. “There is none who does good, there is not even one.” Among those who have defiled themselves with abominable pursuits, no one is found who does something good. For all are reprobate, and they have cast aside all goodness because of the hardness of their hearts.

VERS. 2. “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there is any who understands or seeks God.” Since the incorporeal nature is subject neither to limitations nor to the dwellings of places, if God is ever said to be in a place, or to pass from one place to another, this must be understood in a manner worthy of God, just as with the other things said about Him in a similar way—such as His having feet and hands and eyes, and that He arises and sits. Since, ^C therefore, this conclusion is religious, we should understand God to dwell in heaven insofar as He uses the august powers that reside in the heavens as His temple, which have the same name as the places in which they are. For so too are men called by the name of the earth, as when it is said: “Let all the earth worship You,” and, “All the earth cries out with joy.” Then, because God also dwells within men who retain the heavenly image, it can be said that He dwells in the heavens. Furthermore, a third reason for such language may be mentioned. Since the world is His work, and He is present in all creation by way of formation and providence, it is demonstrated that God is in the world by referring to the most beautiful part of the world, which is the heavens. As in: “Our Father, who art in the heavens,” and, “God in heaven above.” ^D Beyond what has been said, it appears in many places of divine teaching that the term “heaven” denotes the intellectual substance in which it is most appropriate to seek God: “For the heaven of heaven belongs to the Lord.” From this He looks down condescendingly, observing men of an inferior nature, to see which of them, endowed with prudent sense, are seeking God, desiring to find Him so that they may obtain the gifts from Him. Then [1220 = Page ending]

^A This happens especially when there is a great deal of wickedness among men, accompanied by impiety, as it is written: “There is no mercy, nor truth, nor knowledge of God on earth; cursing and lying and theft and adultery have overflowed upon the earth, and blood mingles with blood.” [Ose. iv, 1, 2.] Since men were so exceedingly harmed, how could the good Savior not look upon them, in order that if He discovered even a trace of understanding in anyone, He might increase it, or rather, bring it to fulfillment? Or if there were someone who was seeking God, that He might make Himself found by him? For He reveals Himself to those who do not withhold their faith from Him.

Verses 3, 4, 5. As wisdom will not enter a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sin, [Sap. i, 4.] so he who still works iniquity does not receive divine knowledge; for no one who sins sees or knows God, according to what is written in the Epistle of John. [1 Joan. iii, 6.] Hence, the one who desires to be a gnostic sows for righteousness and reaps the fruit of life, so that he may light for himself the lamp of knowledge. And since the enemies of God’s people happen to be workers of iniquity, so that they devour them like bread, they are deprived of the knowledge of God. A man is seen to devour a man when he aims to harm him, according to the saying: “If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another.” [Galat. v, 15.] And it is likewise ^B written in Isaiah: “Syria from the rising of the sun, and the Greeks from the setting of the sun, who devour Israel with their whole mouth.” [Isa. ix, 12.] Yet, although they were at times able to devour the people of God—delivered to them because of their sins—they will nevertheless suffer punishment; for Israel is holy to the Lord, the first-born of His children. Evils will come upon them, says the Lord, who proposed to devour the people of God like bread. They did not call upon the Lord, thinking that they could accomplish all things by their own power and dominate the people of God. For if they had known that they had taken them captive only by the judgment of God, the avenger of sins, they would surely have feared to heap up the measure of evils against those who had been delivered up, lest they fall into the same judgment.

Therefore, it is said to those who acted with excessive savagery: “Because I was angry a little while, they fell upon them to inflict miseries.” And thus, having oppressed the people of God unjustly, ^C they fell into fear where there was no need to fear; for there was no fear if they had received those who were delivered up by the judgment of God and had behaved toward them humanely and gently; but since they did everything harshly and mercilessly, they became fearful, having fallen into the very things they had inflicted upon others.

This happened, moreover, because God is with the generation of the just. You may call a “generation of the just” either the harmony of just deeds, in which the just Judge is found, or the concord of just men and their gathering to the same purpose. For if where two or three are gathered in His name, the Lord is found to be present, ^D how much more will He be found there where

^A Does the whole generation of the righteous exist there? That those who are of the same opinion and the same life form one generation, even if they were born in different times, will be said later, when the occasion calls for it. Someone fears with a fear where there was no fear, namely, he who fears man, and specifically those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. For it has been said: "Except for God, fear no one else." The Lord rebukes Jerusalem for suffering from this ailment, saying: "Who are you, that you were afraid of mortal man?"

Verse 7. We must first consider what the captivity of the people was, so that we may subsequently see its return. He who, due to his own laziness, fails to do good is captured by the law of sin, so that he falls under the tyranny of the devil, who has the power of death. ^B The Lord recalls such a man, captured by enemies and exiled from his homeland—that is, from the society of virtue—through repentance, and at the same time promises him the remission of sins; and this is what the words signify: "To release the captives, and to turn back the captivity." When this has been accomplished through the Lord’s Cross, as the whole people believing from among the nations is redeemed, Jacob exults: who indeed is the same man as Israel, distinguished only by mental conception. For if, acting honorably and applying himself to virtue, he trips up desire and vices and the evil powers that tempt him, so that he emerges the victor over them, he is the exulting Jacob. But if, after the practical way of life, possessing a clean heart, he sees God, then he becomes Israel—that is, a mind seeing God. For this is how these terms are translated ^C into the Greek language: "exulting with divine exultation," and nothing prevents it from being said with equal sense that he should exult and rejoice.

PSALM XIV

Verse 1. When all have turned aside from equity, it follows that we need Him who is able to forgive sins and to save. He is said to be from Zion, since He is from the seed of Israel, according to that which is written: "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer;" and again: "Out of Zion is the beauty of His excellence." You would also say from the heavenly Zion; therefore, our hope is the kingdom of heaven. But when all nations are saved, then those who are truly just and prophets in Israel will rejoice, congratulating us that their prophecies have been fulfilled; for Simeon, too, after he called the Savior "a light for revelation to the Gentiles," added: "and the glory of Your people, Israel." ^D

Verse 3. He who was described in the preceding verses, being benevolent and fond of society, takes care to be wise by associating with the wise, fleeing from the foolish with all his might, lest he be seen as one of their number. If, therefore, he avoids wicked men and associates with the good—for the wise are good, and it is the wise with whom he has decided to associate—it follows that he does not receive reproach because of those who draw near to him; for those who have wicked men drawing near to them are always reproached.

Conversely, those are praised who have good companions and friends. ^A This sentiment is echoed by the one who says: "He who walked in a blameless way, this man ministered to me; he who spoke iniquities did not direct them before my eyes."

Verse 4. If at any time there is need of God’s testimony among those with whom we are speaking, we do this without negligence, just as the divine Apostle left behind a pattern and instruction for oaths in his Epistles, where he says: "God is my witness, whom I serve in the Gospel of his Son," and elsewhere: "I call God as a witness upon my soul," and again: "God, who is over all, knows that I do not lie." For this is the blameless faith; for an oath ^B is nothing other than speech with the testimony of God, or a matter confirmed with the testimony of God. Yet whatever the oath may be, no one who has sworn to his neighbor makes it void.

Verse 5. It is also possible to lend spiritually without usury, in the sense that was spoken to the disciples by the Master Jesus: "And him who wishes to borrow from you, do not turn away." For how could one think this was spoken of a material matter, given those who say: "We have left everything, and followed you; what then shall be ours?" and those who say: "Silver and gold have I none?" Since, therefore, it is forbidden for the righteous to practice ^C material usury, if ever they are said to do so, it must be understood in a spiritual sense, namely, that everyone lends spiritually to the author of doctrine, which is like silver by which material gains are made. For indeed, those who by teaching sow spiritual things receive carnal things only to the extent of needing sustenance (for "the laborer is worthy of his food"), yet they do not practice usury; for they do not receive silver in proportion to the merit of the spiritual things given, but only food.

He shall not be moved forever, but will remain through his whole life in the exercise of the virtues. For what is said here is the same ^D as: "I will never eat meat forever." Unshakable forever remains he who hears the words of Jesus and performs them; for he has the foundations of his own life—which is referred to by the term "house"—planted upon Christ, who is called the Rock. Those who were so secure were they of whom Jesus said: "There are some of those standing here," etc., and also those of whom the Apostle writes: "Rooted and grounded in love." But if the phrase "not to be moved forever" implies a greater extension of time, it is similar to the statement: "And everyone who lives and believes in me shall live forever." For the saints, while having their citizenship in heaven, dwell on His earth, even if they still reside in this lower earth.

You might also say this: The actions of sinners

do not last. For the pleasure of sin is said to be temporary, and the crime of the sinner and the wicked man will not remain; for when sought, it shall not be found. But the life of the saints is not of this kind; for they contemplate the invisible and eternal things, regarding each of whom it is said: "His righteousness remaineth for ever and ever" (Ps. CXI, 3). For the life of such people is, in a way, a column and a symbol of victory. But they also call "columns" those places where the decrees of the laws are attached, which they call *kyrbeis* or tablets; a designation which the teachings of the saints also receive, not being written on tablets of stone, but on the fleshy tablets of the heart; for these are yielding and receive the writing.

PSALM XV

^B VERSE 3. The will of God consists in the individual virtues; as in the passage: "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who shall fulfill all my wills" (Acts XIII, 22; I Kings XIII, 14). God is wonderful in His saints, who practice the virtues better than other men. For the apostles, prophets, and martyrs incomparably excelled in courage; and Joseph and Susanna in chastity; and others likewise in other virtues. Thus, therefore, a man having become wonderful, recognizes his own infirmity and how vastly inferior he is to the divine power. Yet these infirmities remain only insofar as they are recognized; truly they depart immediately, because the saints are strengthened by Christ, saying: "In God we shall perform power" (Ps. LIX, 14).

VERSE 4. He does not say simply that He will not gather their conventicles, but adds "from bloods." Nor does He say absolutely that He will not be mindful of their names, but "by my lips." Is it the case, therefore, because there are some who gather conventicles out of bloods—or rather, who disperse them, because they inflict harm upon those gathered—is it possible, I ask, that God, who rather aids and gives life to those whom He calls to Himself, gathers them not from bloods, but from immortality, mindful of their names, not in a superficial way, but with total depth of soul? ^C But it may also be explained in another way: Even if many prophets and apostles have been killed, their blood being shed, nevertheless I shall not gather their conventicles because of the abundance of these bloods, but only on account of the one blood of the spotless and pure Lamb, Christ. For this was given as a price, that they might be redeemed from their vain conversation handed down by their fathers. He will be mindful of those thus redeemed, not merely by an outward pronouncement, but by inward contemplation. ^D He who possesses God will harmoniously possess also those things which are His. Wherefore, he who has the Lord as the portion of his inheritance will also enjoy His goods, and will say: "Thou art He who restores my inheritance to me." Does He not, indeed, restore this to him who says: "Come, inherit the portion prepared for you" (Matth. XXV, 34)? "My portion art Thou in the land of the living."

^A Since this spiritual inheritance is given to the heirs in accordance with their faith and the excellence of their life, it is fitly added: "The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places" (or "in excellent places"). The measuring line is a symbol of allotment and inheritance; indeed, it is often written regarding the material land into which the Hebrews were introduced by Joshua, son of Nun, when it was being divided: "The line fell to the tribe of Judah, or Reuben, or another of the twelve tribes," toward the eastern region, for instance, or elsewhere. These things being considered in this way, he who says, "The lines have fallen to me in excellent places," indicates that good things have been allotted to him, that the most excellent part of the inheritance has fallen to him by lot, which he makes known through these spiritual geometer’s lines. Holding such a line in his hand, an angel appeared to Zechariah the prophet for the purpose of measuring the length and the width of the true Jerusalem. To these things is added: "For my inheritance is most excellent to me." It signifies: "Truly my inheritance exists." According to this meaning, Theophilus, to whom Luke the Evangelist writes, was "most excellent" (κράτιστος).

^B Ver. 7. "I will bless the Lord who has given me understanding; moreover, my reins also have instructed me until night." Having received understanding from God, and having been instructed by his own reins until night, he blesses the Giver of these good things. Now, this understanding occurs from the consideration of divine things presented to the mind. For he says, "From His face comes knowledge and understanding." In this way, the Savior, revealing Himself to him who has His commandments and keeps them, becomes the author of understanding. But what is meant by a man being instructed by his own "reins"? It is clear that this is not said of material reins, but of the intellectual ones, which are named together with the heart in the saying: "God, who searches hearts and reins." For these, being perfect understandings, instruct the one who attends to them, providing the light of knowledge until that night of ignorance is dissolved, concerning which it is said: "The night is far spent, and the day is at hand" (Rom. XIII, 12). For the night will have an end, with the day succeeding it, which is fashioned by the instruction of the reins. But if deeper understandings also occur through the night, ^C insofar as a certain discourse is dark and mystical, it is clear that by such a night the reins provide instruction, making clear things hidden and enigmatic. You will recognize this efficacy of the reins of which we speak if you consider the bodily reins for a moment. They say, therefore, that in the material reins, seminal power and generation are elaborated, from which they proceed into the genital passages and become the causes of offspring. Using the likeness of the aforementioned things, you will see if there are not powers of the soul, from which proceed certain understandings matching seeds, by which the offspring of the inner man are brought into being, which consist in good acts and contemplations of the truth. But whoever might wish to think that material reins are denoted by the aforementioned words will say that supreme temperance... is taught to a man by his reins, not

as they are restrained by a temperate mind so that material procreation flows—

VER. 8. “I foresaw the Lord before me always, because he is at my right hand, that I might not be shaken.”

Since these things are said from the person of Christ, that person who speaks these things under the name of the Lord is preserved without any change—that is, “The portion of my inheritance”—and if anyone accepts these verses also as said by the Lord, he will not wander from the truth. But those who do not have sufficiently firm thoughts about God understand the Son to be at the right hand of the Father locally, on account of the words: “Sit at my right hand,” or those which say that the Savior, after his ascension, sits at the right hand of Majesty. It is impossible to dispute with them; for if the Son is locally at the right hand of the Father, it is impossible for the Father to be at the right hand of the Son himself; which, however, the Son says: “I foresaw the Lord at my right hand.” Whence it must be understood differently that the Son is at the right hand of the Father, and the Father at the right hand of the Son: just as in that saying: “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.”

^B It must further be observed, since the Savior is at once God and man, that now... [we must] interpret [this], or [speak] of his dispensation in the flesh. But it cannot reverently be said as if from the person of God the Word, that he has the Father at his right hand, or always before him, so that he may remain immovable. For God the Word is immutable, and suffers no commotion at all. And furthermore, he implies that he is stating the cause why God the Word is immovable, since the Father is always in his sight and at his right hand; for because he himself is in the Father, and has him in himself, this is the cause why he who sees him, and who has him at his right hand, is not moved. ^C Since, therefore, he implies this—nay, it would be irreligious to understand these words concerning the only-begotten Son of God without his dispensation in the flesh—it must fittingly be conceded that these words were spoken concerning the time when, being immutable, he became man, and humbled himself, and being rich, he made himself poor. For his humanity was made like to us in all things without sin. But neither was his flesh inanimate; for flesh lacking a soul would not say that it has God at its right hand, and that it always sees him before it, lest it should sin; for commotion indicates the movement of sin. But if these things are impossible—for a body does not foresee God, nor does it have an understanding of one standing at the right hand, nor indeed in its sight at all—it remains that these things were said according to the human ^D dispensation by God the Word, who was immutably, perfectly, and truly incarnate; for as from one person all things are pronounced, both those which are of God and those which are of man. As a man, therefore, when he had become such, having God at his right hand, he was not to be moved, however bitter the things that surrounded him, even if the kings of the earth should stand by, and the princes should be gathered together against the Lord and against

^A his Christ. Thus, therefore, not being shaken in soul, "he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, having been tempted in all points like as we are, apart from sin." Next it is added how his heart rejoiced and his tongue exulted, because he had the Lord always at his right hand and before him. A laudable exultation and joy it is, when it comes about not because of anything casual, but through the contemplation of God.

Verse 9. "Moreover, my flesh also shall dwell in hope; because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, nor wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption." From these expressions, it is demonstrated most perfectly that the Lord has become man. For, the flesh having been deposited in the tomb, his soul was in the ^B heart of the earth for three days and three nights; after which, rising again, he took up the flesh which he had previously separated from the spirit. It is said, moreover, that the flesh "dwelt in hope," because of the resurrection that was to take place immediately; for it was not dissolved, nor did it suffer any corruption, but remaining unharmed, it was joined again to the soul that had not been left in Hades. But if the soul in question, being separated from the flesh, subsisted and was in Hades, where the rational souls of men are, it is clear that it cannot be irrational. For an irrational soul, when separated from the body, does not subsist, nor does it journey to Hades. But indeed, the soul of Jesus experienced both: for it was in the region of human souls, and being outside the body, it lived and subsisted. It is rational, therefore, and of the same substance as the ^C souls of men, just as his flesh is of the same substance as the flesh of men, having come forth from Mary. And if he appeared to suffer because of the cross, yet nonetheless he did not know corruption, both the soul and the flesh remaining unharmed, from which, being recomposed, the Holy One of God was again revealed, not having seen corruption, but even existing as the cause of the resurrection of other dead persons. For because of him, having become the firstborn from the dead, our corruptible and mortal nature, having put on incorruption, is rendered immortal along with the Holy One of God who did not see corruption.

Verse 10. "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance; at thy right hand there is delight for evermore." Having risen from the dead, the incarnate Word of God celebrates with a hymn, ^D insofar as he is man, not ceasing at the same time to be God, the One who showed him the ways leading to eternal life, so that he might also be filled with the perfect joy of Him who otherwise fills the saints with all spiritual joy. But the countenance of God is His image and the character of His substance. And what follows for one who has walked the ways known to be of life, but to have divine delight at the right hand of God, which is truth and wisdom? This is indeed the only-begotten Son of God; and because the delight at the right hand of God is most exquisite, it shall be the ultimate desirable

^A end. For it is not for the sake of any other thing, but for its own sake that all things exist. If, therefore, the Son of God is the Word, even when He became man, He discoursed by turns as God and as man; and He endured the cross, despising the shame, and He died and rose again, just as the foremost Peter, preaching in the Acts concerning David, said: "Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins he would set Christ according to the flesh, he foreseeing spake of the resurrection of him." Now that which he added, "according to the flesh," shows that He was also God; and that as man He was voluntarily offered and suffered, while at the same time He was God.

PSALM XVI

VERS. 1, 2. Some argue against David praying for boasting, saying that, in the manner of the modest, ^B no one would ever dare to say: "Hear, O Lord, my justice," and also, "Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance." But David is not boasting, he who does all the will of God; but wishing to be judged with kindness, he desires that his judgment should proceed from the divine countenance. "Let my eyes see equities." He prays that the eyes of the inner man may see the equities by which God judges, bringing forth judgment from His own countenance. Or he prays to contemplate the virtue which he calls equities. But if he is seeking to see it, he does not yet have it present. From which it follows that he is not boasting when he offers these prayers. This must be considered to have been said regarding the perfect virtue, which at length, after many intermediate ^C steps have been passed through, supervenes.

VERS. 3. From the aforementioned, the great confidence of the speaker is manifest. For if he says these things before God, he exhibits much of his own purity. For the heart of everyone suffering troubles is proved, if, pressed on all sides, he is not cast down, but enduring to the end he is found just. Such was Job, to whom God said: "Do you think that I have dealt with you otherwise than that you might appear just?" Namely, his heart having been proved by the Lord and examined by fire, no iniquity was found in him. But what is signified by, "Thou hast visited me by night"? Does he not call troubles night, on account of their darkness and because they have nothing entirely joyful in them, in which [night] God, visiting him, found him proven, and burning him through tribulations, rendered him pure from all iniquity? These things can also be understood thus: Since the hidden things of the heart are not manifest except to Him of whom it was said: "You alone know the hearts of men," they are called night. Which indeed, although they are obscure to others on account of their impenetrable nature, ^D to You, who have proved me, when You visited me in the night, are made manifest. With which agrees also that [saying]: "If"

I looked upon iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” ^B

VERS. 4. To proclaim the works of men by way of acting and living, and even by way of speech, is the mark of abject men. But what are those works if not those about which the Apostle writes: “For where there is strife and jealousy among you, are you not of the flesh and walking according to man?” 16 He therefore takes care not to speak the works of men, since in him there was no iniquity found, and he had been tested by God through temptations and other things of that kind, as if by fire.

VERS. 5. The paths of the Lord and of His saints are the observations of the commandments, or rather, the strivings toward virtue. These are shown to be smooth and level, since they are constantly trodden by those who hasten to reach their end; and the end of them is blessedness and the rendering of things promised. Let us therefore run along them, that we may attain salvation; let our footsteps not be moved, that is, let them not slip, since the Lord has perfected them in His paths. He who prays these things says: “Without iniquity I have run and directed [my steps],” 17 and that [other verse]: “I have run the way of Your commandments, when You did enlarge my heart.” 18

VERS. 6-8. “I have cried out, for You have heard me, O God: incline Your ear to me, and hear my words. Make wonderful Your mercies, You who save those who hope in You.” The word “I will cry out” must be understood spiritually. For it is not with a louder voice that one must cry out to the invisible God, but with an intense mind; for this is the cry of the interior man. He makes His mercies wonderful toward those who hope in Him when they receive something more wondrous from the bounty of His mercy. Then God inclining toward us and hearing the words of our voice is nothing other than His power graciously descending ^C to receive our prayers. In this sense must also be understood that: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and His ears unto their supplication.” 19 Since the right hand of God is nothing other than His only-begotten Son, as has been said a little while before, in the explanation of this verse, “In Your right hand there are delicacies even to the end,” 20 those who resist Him are the devil, and his angels, and besides them, sorcerers and wicked men; desiring to be kept unharmed by whom, the saint says to God: “Keep me from those who resist Your right hand, as the apple of the eye,” that my mind may remain unharmed; and also: “In the shelter of Your wings protect me,” from the countenance of the wicked who desire to surround me with misery. It is possible, according to the understanding, to say that the wicked and those who resist the right hand of God are different, even though in subject they be one and the same. That voice, “Keep me as the apple of the eye,” is not the voice of just anyone, but only of one who is illuminated according to the spirit, and who has the eyes of the heart illuminated. That also, “In the shelter of Your wings overshadow me,” must be understood ^D spiritually. For the overshadowing faculties of God are His wings

through which He covers and leads to cheerfulness the one who prays to be delivered from the impious who are plotting affliction against him. These are certain invisible enemies, who bring into misery those overcome by them, by inciting them to sin. ^B

VERS. 9-12. “My enemies have surrounded my soul; they have closed their fat; their mouth has spoken pride; casting me out, they now have surrounded me; they have set their eyes to turn aside to the earth.” The wild and raw nature of those who oppose him is signified by his saying that his soul is surrounded by his enemies, who have “closed their fat” on account of their affection for material things. For, being entirely and throughout material and carnal, they are made subject to sin, and were filled as with fat and suet from much cheerfulness and luxury. Therefore Symmachus translates: “They have blocked up with their fat.” Hence, too, their mouth speaks pride, for they forthrightly utter nothing friendly or proper. These enemies, casting out as it were the one who says these things through their great arrogance, surround him in order to harm and destroy him who has fallen into their snares; for they do not contrive anything good or beneficial. Having become transgressors of the divine laws, when they cast their eyes upon the earth, they become bowed down and rebellious. This is what the phrase “to set their eyes upon the earth” implies: wishing to contemplate temporal things and to savor earthly ones, turning aside and not wishing to walk along the straight path, but along winding paths, just as he who is “crooked” is perplexed. “For,” he says, “those who abandon the straight paths, to walk in the ways of darkness, whose paths are crooked and their tracks winding...” These, therefore, have set their eyes on the earth to turn aside; while those who bear the image of the heavenly One fix their eyes in heaven, to succeed in the straight path that leads up to the heavens. ^C

VERS. 13. Since, on account of Your longsuffering, they thought that You were sleeping, not immediately exacting punishment for the things they had committed murderously, “Arise,” then, “O Lord, that You might forestall them and supplant them.” It will be profitable for them to suffer this, so that they may not, by always running toward evil, increase their own destruction. For as they surround my soul and do other things, if they are not prevented, they harm it very greatly. Whence, “Supplant them,” so that they may no longer prevail against me, You having rescued my soul from each one who is of such a kind, and who for this reason is called impious. “Rescue,” he says, “my soul from the impious.” He will take His sword from their hand, for they had it given to them reasonably, but it is taken away from them since they do not use it as they ought. Therefore they become few on the earth, that is, they are held in low esteem; for those who are occupied with material and earthen things, being attached to them, lose the stature of the soul and the riches they would have possessed, had they...

not preferred earthly things. Therefore they are even called non-existent, as in this passage: "Do not deliver your scepter to those who do not exist; divide them in their life." ^A

VERSE 14. "They have been satisfied with sons, and have left the remainders to their infants."

"And your stomach has been filled with your hidden things." The "hidden things of God" are those things unworthy of His memory, of which they have left the remainders to their infants after having filled their own stomach. That wicked acts are unworthy of the eyes of God is shown by the example of Cain; for he went forth from the presence of God; and by this text: "Nor shall the lawless stand before your eyes." ^C Filled with these things, which are far removed from God, they left the remainders to their infants, having been "satisfied with sons"—that is to say, with the unclean. For they are worse than all those who are defiled, since they harm both themselves and become the cause of harm to others; this is indicated by the words: "And they have left the remainders to their infants." For they are not able to deceive the Just One; therefore it is written concerning them: "Because they treated infants unjustly, they shall be killed; and inquiry shall destroy the impious." ^D There is a version of the text that has "satisfied with sons," for whose sake they had grandchildren—those whom they held in aversion. Divided in their life, they suffered a multiform harm: for not only they themselves, but also their infants, were filled with the hidden things of God.

VERSE 15. "They indeed in this way," he says, "as has been said; but I shall appear in justice in your presence."

^A the glory of the Son, "glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

PSALM XVII

VERS. 1. What is this end spoken of? That for whose sake all other things exist, while it itself exists for the sake of nothing. Therefore, the wars are because of the victory over enemies, and all things tending to the superiority of the king are rightly called the "end"; and it invites us to hymn the Author to whom Ezra said, "With thee is victory." Whose servant and attendant then was David! And thus he brings forth the canticle in the day, that is, in the light, when all—even Saul—have been undone, with David having suffered no harm from them.

VERS. 5. "Torrentes of iniquity," because those who do not bravely endure temptations tend toward iniquity; and "pains" represent "death" and "hell," which are mortal sins. Furthermore, you may call "torrents of iniquity" the currents of malice, and "pains of death" the practical sins.

VERS. 7. These things are in harmony with those: "To us there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ"; unless, indeed, both are said of the same, since He is both Father and Son, both God and Lord, because of the same divinity and dominion. He who is heard believes that his cry will again come before Him; or, having perceived that God has assented, he is secure about the outcome.

VERS. 8, 9. Another says: He moves those mountains of errors, he who has faith like a grain of mustard seed. "For if," says Paul, "I have faith so that I could move mountains." Of this kind is the spirit of the lunatic, concerning whom the Savior says: "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: 'Remove from hence thither.'" "And smoke ascended in his anger," the wood of troubles being consumed, having a likeness to those things which are built upon Christ, the cornerstone, by vain men—wood, hay, stubble; and these are base actions and thoughts. The coals, perhaps, indicate chastisements, as in this passage: "If thy enemy be hungry, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head"; and that: "Coals of fire shall fall upon them, and thou shalt cast them down." These will be thy help. And perhaps they are the kindled words of God, which purify the words of the soul. This is manifest by Isaiah saying: "And one of the seraphim was sent, and he took a coal from the altar." Therefore, it burns to brightness the words of the soul prepared for that. But it cleanses sins, burning up their actions. But if they do not receive that fire, the eternal fire will burn them.

VERS. 10. The descent indicates the Incarnation of the Savior. He descended, however, not locally, but with ^D

^A in the form of God, that He might take upon Himself the form of a servant. Whatever is obscure and hidden in the knowledge of God is represented by the darkness, into which Moses penetrated as far as is possible for man. It also designates the Savior’s sojourn on earth, insofar as He was little known by mortals.

VERS. 11. By the cherubim is signified the abundance of knowledge. Therefore, God ascends and flies above these spiritual living beings, or over such souls, with the most lofty mind. But if you take "winds" as sensible ones, God ascends above them by the word of His providence, leading them as He Himself wills; for He leads the winds out from their treasuries. But if you think of those who are uplifted in spirit, and who, like winds, emit breaths—that is, wise men—you will understand that God, ascending upon the wings of these as well, flies everywhere, that is to say, upon their lofty contemplations. And speaking of the winds of doctrine concerning the heterodox, the Apostle said: "By every wind of doctrine in the sleight of men, in craftiness toward the way of error." And upon the wings of such winds fly fallacious spirits; but God, carried upon the wings of true doctrine, blows where He wills. ^B

VERS. 12-15. As dark clouds proceed into the light through revelation, no pretext of excuse is left for those who sin. Therefore, along with the clouds shining far and wide, there follow hail and coals of fire. These are images of punishments indicated through these words, and they also prophesy things that happen at the coming of Christ. Immediately Christ thunders from heaven; either because of the great majesty of the words spoken by Jesus, or because God infuses into each mind the most lofty divine sense concerning His only-begotten Son, exclaiming only this: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ^C But also, revealing His Son, the Most High gives a voice to those who have high thoughts concerning Christ, since neither blood nor flesh revealed this to them, but the heavenly Father His own Son. And just as for those whose minds are prepared for the vision of God and the interior hearing... the Lord and Most High gives His voice, so that, being uplifted by the thunders sent from heaven, they may depart from earthly things and reach toward heaven, bearing the image of Him who is above the heavens, and receiving the lofty thoughts given by the Most High. To those who set themselves as adversaries, the Lord sends forth arrows sufficiently capable ^D of disturbing those who previously conspired for evil. By "arrows," however, He now means the words that prophesy punishments. For threats are sufficient to agitate and disturb the soul; and when He clarifies threats previously spoken in riddles, and illuminates them like lightning, He will disturb those who were dispersed by the aforementioned arrows. For those who are dispersed lose their harmony for evil, becoming as if trembling in perturbation and confusion.

In many places of Scripture, clouds indicate the prophets.

^A For ^A calling the house of Israel a vineyard, He commands the clouds not to rain upon it; for no longer is that saying found among them: "Thus saith the Lord," nor that: "The word of the Lord came unto me." Up to these clouds, the truth shines. Gliding into souls with spiritual words, they pour out rain drop by drop, not for the earth, but for those who cultivate the earth of the air, being suspended through the ether by their own virtue and the spirit acting within. The moisture that was in them, however, before the descent and revelation through the Savior, is said to be obscured. But when God has spoken in the Son in the last days, and the law and the prophets have been fulfilled, and the splendors have shone forth widely, the clouds shall gather together in His sight, having become brighter through the presence of Him whom they had foretold.

Vers. 16. "And the fountains of waters appeared." When all things that have just been spoken of have come to pass, the fountains of waters shall appear; and if someone calls "fountains of waters" the thoughts of good things, he would say that these are to be seen, with all ignorance and malice of spirit cast aside; for when these are removed, they will no longer hide the fountains of good things within us. But if ^B it is permitted to call all divinely inspired spiritual Scripture, obscured by darkness, "fountains" that will be seen, consider this: whenever we have been converted to the Lord and the veil of ignorance and obscurity has been removed, the fountains of waters that lie beneath will be revealed, so that one may easily draw from each, according to that word: "Draw water with joy from the fountains of the Savior." For this water is full of gladness, which flows from the fountains of the Savior; for they are given to the perspicacious, and to those who are capable of seeing God; according to that word: "In the ^C churches bless God, the Lord from the fountains of Israel."

"And the foundations of the world were uncovered at Thy rebuke, O Lord." The world builds through those things which are done, and said, and thought therein. regarding the "foundations" assumed, you would not err much if you called them customs and habits... For when He has struck the wicked with His arrows, and has grazed them with the brightness of His lightnings, the hidden things of men will become manifest, as God illuminates the thickest darkness and reveals the foundations of the world, ^D and will make the deep things manifest out of the darkness by His rebuke of the world upon all things. But if one should also call the "foundations of the world" the divine men, because of the vigor of their life and the steadfastness of their virtue, upon whom those who live according to Christ are built, it will come to pass that these foundations also are revealed, a rebuke having been made against those who have sinned; for the punishment not touching these foundations, there shall be a manifestation and revelation of the righteous, "by the blast of the spirit of Thy wrath." God does not immediately exact punishments from sinners; for if this were done, all would be entirely destroyed; but by

His great goodness and love for mankind, while a multitude of sins occurs at every moment, He does not breathe the spirit of His wrath upon him every day, because He proclaims beforehand the punishments of wrath: "For I will chasten them in the wrath of their tribulation."

^B Ver. 17. "From many waters," that is, from the tumultuous and bitter affairs of life, ^A which are figuratively called the sea, or from hostile and disturbed things. Consider, moreover, whether the dogmas of ungodliness are not the "many waters" which are unable to quench love. By the "mighty enemies" from whom God delivers, we must understand the invisible ones; or perhaps also men in high positions, and those who set themselves to deceive through science falsely so-called, when they are skilled in sophistry. Nor would one be wrong—even if they might be disturbed by providence or persist in some other ungodliness—to call these "mighty enemies." When he prays to be delivered from those who hate him and have prevailed against him, he refers to those who hate him without cause; for no one who is hated on account of his own vices would dare to offer this prayer to God. But when one is hated by sinners who abhor piety because of Christ and a righteous life, then he may; for they consider the conduct of the righteous man to be a reproach to their own way of life. Moreover, those who cherish such hatred against the righteous attack them most of all when a time of affliction occurs; for, being ignorant of the judgment of Providence, they assume that the righteous man is being afflicted for no other reason than on account of sins, just as those who conversed with Job. For, although God had subjected him to afflictions in order that he might be proved righteous, those men claimed that the man had fallen into these evils on account of impiety and sin. But further, all the wicked demons and the devil also prevail against the one who is falling, so that now affliction is even considered to be sin.

Ver. 19. "And the Lord became my support." For when a person flees to God in the day of affliction, he shall have Him as his support—that is, as one who supports him, so that he may not be shaken and fall. And regarding the perfect soul, which has God the Word as its support, those who marvel at its ascent and brightness exclaim: "Who is this that comes up whitened, leaning upon her brother?"

Ver. 20. "And He brought me forth into a broad place." For when the Lord becomes a support to someone, He brings him out of the narrowness of afflictive things and bestows upon him breadth, according to the words, "In tribulation Thou hast enlarged me." But a person is enlarged in tribulation—not by being entirely free of the tribulation, but by being bravely and piously stretched toward it. "He delivered me because He delighted in me." Even if my enemies have very great power, yet He delivered me, because He delighted in me, who performs all His wills.

Ver. 21. "And the Lord will recompense me according to the

"and my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands he will render unto me." ^A This is truly the liberty of the most pure and most perfect, who finds in himself nothing—not even the slightest thing—to reproach. Therefore, those who refer this psalm to the person of the Savior apply these words to Him, who was tempted in all things by way of likeness, yet without sin. By "righteousness," he designates the virtuous life in its entirety; and by "purity of hands," he means practical actions which have become clean and undefiled because they are performed in accordance with the most excellent discourse; for one may frequently find the "hands" spoken of in reference to practical powers.

VERS. 22. God desires him who performs His will. ^B "Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not acted impiously toward my God." He does not say this arrogantly, as it seems to some, but rather attributes the cause of his prosperity to God. For he keeps the ways of the Lord who walks the path of His commandments and does not show himself impious toward his God. Those who think rightly concerning the dogmas of truth profess a just opinion about God and Christ, think reverently of the Holy Spirit, and, in short, believe about all dogmas as it is fitting to believe.

VERS. 23. "For all his judgments are before me." ^C For even if His judgments are unsearchable and like an abyss because they are beyond comprehension, yet it is possible for the one who has them "before" him neither to be opposed to Providence nor to be impious toward the Provider. For even if we do not understand, having become persuaded that all these things are brought to pass by the judgment of God, we are content with them. And the word itself, "judgments," indicates the equity of administration; for it has implicitly—and as it were understood—that these things are done according to justice, since judgments held contrary to what is right are for that very reason unjust and disorderly. For this reason he says: "The judgment shall go forth distorted, and I did not cast off His justifications from me." I keep, he says, to the justifications of God. For those who do not embrace them depart from them; and by "justifications" must be understood those things instituted according to equity and justice, such as: "If you acquire a Hebrew boy," ^D and what follows. For before all these it is stated: "And these are the judgments which you shall set before them," etc. The things here called "justifications" can also signify the proven and exquisite words of God. For since they can neither be corrected nor refuted, they are held as "judged," and therefore have been called "judgments." Of the same kind are the judgments held as the opinions of the just, being most accurate and for that very reason similar to canons.

VERS. 24. Those who have anything unspotted or irreproachable not for the sake of God, but for the sake of glory or something else, may indeed be spotless, but not with God. But those who practice the good for the sake of God and for the sake of no one else are spotless with God; for one

^A who separates and distances himself from God immediately becomes blameless*, turning into a blameless child because of the sin that occurs. *And I shall keep myself from my iniquity.* How does he who has accomplished all the aforementioned things speak of his own iniquity? You will note that perhaps what he means is this: The mind of man diligently inclines toward evil things from his youth, so that he is easily swayed toward sin, being charmed by pleasure. He, therefore, who has surrendered himself to the law of God keeps himself from the iniquity that leaps upon men; and perhaps even what is called the "mind of the flesh" in us, being enmity toward God and not subject to His law, is the "iniquity of man" from which one keeps himself, by the Spirit putting to death the deeds of the body and abstaining from the works of the flesh.

^B Ver. 25. *And the Lord will recompense me according to my righteousness.* He calls "righteousness" here that which consists in the faith of Jesus Christ; for the righteousness of God has been manifested unto all who have believed, for to him who rightly believes, faith is counted for righteousness. And in conjunction with this, you will call the purity of hands those works of faith which are performed brilliantly and undefiledly, without which faith is dead.

Ver. 26-28. With a sudden change of person having occurred, someone might say that the present verses are directed toward God because of what follows; for to no one else would he say that: *For Thou wilt save the humble people, and wilt humble the eyes of the proud,* ^C except to God. But another will say that these things are not said to God, but to man, because he who associates with the holy imitates their virtue; but he who is with the wicked undergoes a distortion, as the divine Scripture of the Proverbs says: *He who walks with the wise shall be wise, but he who walks with the foolish shall be known.* You will interpret it thus: With the holy, O Master, you will be made holy, providing him with the holiness granted from You, so that having perfected him through it, You may lead him into the appropriate promise, and the rest accordingly. It is well said, moreover, to use the word: *Thou shalt pervert.* For since he could have said "with the crooked you will be crooked," ^D he did not say this, but *Thou shalt pervert.* For God, restraining the path toward evil things, perverts him who is then racing down it, blocking his way with thorns and obstructing his paths. For the beginning of beneficence is to be hindered from evils. But he who wishes these things to be understood of man will say that the man who associates with a holy person is sanctified by the holy deeds being performed, just as Elisha was with Elijah, and Timothy with Paul; and he who hastens to be with the innocent, by seizing upon his virtue, will be innocent. And similarly, he who dwells with an elect man, and he who is with a perverse man, wishing to be made like him, will pervert his own life. He, therefore, who has thus interpreted these verses will transfer the person to God from the point of: *For Thou wilt save the humble people.*

^A

VERS. 29. *For Thou shalt light my lamp, O Lord my God; Thou shalt light my darkness.* That portion of the soul which is capable of light, or capacity, that is, the mind—which some also call reason—is said to be its lamp; it is not itself light by essence, but is capable of light. Its darkness, however, is irascibility and concupiscence. When, therefore, the mind has been illuminated by the Lord, who imparts to it His own light, then the irrational movements which arise in the soul are illuminated and are fulfilled wisely; not because the irrational parts themselves attain light (for they are incapable of knowledge), but because they are led in the manner that is fitting by that which is illuminated, by knowledge and virtue. When, therefore, the mind—which has been called the lamp—is illuminated by the Lord, it follows necessarily that what is here called our darkness is also illuminated. And if that which is naturally capable of being illuminated within us, that is, the mind, becomes darkness due to ignorance and lack of knowledge, then much more are the irrational powers of the soul—not having an illuminated guide—rendered intense darkness. And this is what the Savior says: *If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness?* For if the eye of the body, that is to say, the mind, which ought to be a lamp, lacks light, much more is the remainder, so to speak, the body of the soul, a shadow; yet not the human body that surrounds it, but that which relates to its irrational constitution. ^B Furthermore, those who have been illuminated by the knowledge of the truth have a lamp kindled by the gift of the Lord; and by performing their deeds rightly, on account of the illumination of the mind, they have their darkness also illuminated. Especially this can also be said: those who possess speculative knowledge regarding spiritual and invisible things have received a lamp illuminated by the Lord; but also, being very well disposed according to the intellect regarding sensible things, they have a perception that is clearly illuminated concerning realities, which is as it were a shadow to one who is not apt to be illuminated according to it—that is, to receive knowledge; for even brute animals are able to receive knowledge to a certain extent, having perception.

VERS. 30. *For in Thee I shall be snatched from temptation, and in my God I shall leap over a wall.* In no other way can we be liberated from the troublesome things surrounding us than in God: he is, however, in God who is a partaker of Him. ^C For just as one who is established in knowledge is liberated from ignorances, so he who hastens to be in God will be snatched from temptation, not falling into the tempter; not that he becomes immune to the tempter, but that he is not ensnared by his traps. For this reason, also, he who confesses Jesus before men is in Him: *For everyone who shall confess Me before men, I also will confess him before My Father who is in heaven.* For he who is a partaker of Him confesses Jesus, and he is confessed by God, as one who is in Him. ^D Moreover, the multitude of our iniquitous deeds separates us from God and disjoins us, as the prophet says: *Does not the right hand of the Lord have power to deliver? Or is it weighed down*

^A so that it cannot hear? But your iniquities stand between you and God.* Whenever, therefore, one comes to be in God, clinging to Him and being joined to Him, he passes over the wall of sins, throwing them behind his back, so that, being hindered by nothing from God, he may cast himself upon Him face to face. Perhaps also the mass of bodily and sensible things, situated between our intellect and God, separates us from Him. When, therefore, we think wisely and as far as is possible about God, perceiving Him above all bodies and sense, and longing to be united with Him, we withdraw from sensible things and bodies, so as to overleap the world and all visible things, in order that we might be able to stand before God.

Ver. 31. Our God has an immaculate way that leads to Him; and this is virtue, which, as we pursue it through study and ascetic practice, we shall be shown to be immaculate while coming to Him. But most of all, the way of God would be immaculate, He who said, *I am the way, and the truth, and the life.* For through this way it is possible to come to the Father. *The utterance of the Lord is refined,* because it is guileless and pure, or because it is a fire that warms those who partake of it, consuming the chaff of material things. *He is a protector of all those who hope in Him.* Those who are aware of the weakness that is present in them, when they discover that their adversaries are stronger, casting their hope upon God, desire to have Him as a defender, praying, *Fight against those who fight against me.* And thus God defends them with His own shield, according to the saying, *His truth shall encompass thee with a shield.*

Ver. 32. *For who is God besides the Lord?* For no one is truly Lord God, except the Word of God, as He is also called Only-Begotten God, because He alone is God, just as the Father is God. All others are constituted as gods by the presence of the Word of God; for He called those gods to whom the word of God came. But the Savior, not as a participant of divinity, is God, because He is the maker of gods. *And who is God besides our God?* By saying that no one is God in the proper sense except the Lord, He says that there is none who is God in the same way as our God. For no one of those who are gods by participation can be as the Lord ^D Jesus Christ; or our God, as the Father of the Only-Begotten—for to us there is one God the Father, and one Lord ^C Jesus Christ. And you yourself shall examine whether these two verses can be said in parallel.

Ver. 33. Here it is said, *He who girds me with strength.* But in Paul, those who have put on the armor of God gird themselves with truth; from which it is gathered that the truth is Christ, the power of God. For the Savior says, *I am the truth,* and Paul says, *Christ the power of God.* And He set my way to be immaculate—that is, He showed [it].

^A For "to set," in this place, signifies "to prove"; for even the phrase, "Whom He set heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2), signifies this.

It is also well observed that from this verse the whole psalm is spoken in the person of Christ. He who says these things, having purged all serpentine malice and the wicked powers that energized it, has—under God—the feet of his inner man complete—that is, his executive powers—so that he is able to say: "I have run without iniquity, and I have walked rightly." And having completed the course upon the high places, he shall hear from God: "But you, stand with Me." For to have stood in the high places, one does not have of himself, but from God.

^B VER. 35. "Who teaches my hands for war." Just as the other things are beautiful, so also are we taught by God to war against the opposing powers. For the hands of the soul signify its active powers; if we understand these prudently, they reveal the intelligible shield, and the sword of the Spirit, and whatever other spiritual armor there may be, and instruct us on how to use such things. For the Savior, having become man, warring on our behalf, taught us how to wrestle and war against the opposing power. And in prayer, he says, extending my hands, I become victor over the enemies. "And He set my arms as a bronze bow, teaching my hands for war." ^C Symbolically, those things called arms are set as a bronze bow; by the bronze, He signifies the invulnerable and the firm, but by the bow, the letting fly of arrows from our arms, capable of wounding the arrayed opponents.

VER. 36. "And You have given me the protection of Your salvation." In addition to all these, You have given me the protection of salvation, sending Your Son as my own shield to fight on my behalf. "But also Your discipline," he says, "has corrected me unto the end"—that is, formative teaching and laborious training. "Unto the end," that is, He has led me into perfect restoration and a perfect state; for discipline signifies correction, as in these words: "Receive my discipline, and do not let it go" (Prov. 4:13), but also indicates laborious effort, because of that which says: "Do not despise the discipline of the Lord" (Prov. 3:11). ^D And this discipline of Yours, in both ways, has become to me a teacher of good things. Symmachus indeed published: "And my obedience will increase me," but Aquila: "And Your meekness has multiplied me."

VER. 37. "You have dilated my steps beneath me." My steps, insofar as I advance from wickedness to virtue, and from sensible things to intelligible, and from the present into the future age. "You have dilated beneath me." For at first, those things which seemed narrow and laborious, as I walked the trodden way—and as I progressed, I beheld all these things, having been overcome, as if they were dilated. For he who has arrived at the summit, as he hastens toward the end, no longer feels the narrowness of the labors nor the sweats of the ascent, progressing as he is on a wider way. "And my footprints were not weakened," if he shall persevere continually in everything.

For if he were ^A continually enduring in the state of all things, then his footprints—that is, the legs of the inner man—would have been weakened. But since rest succeeds the labors endured for the sake of virtue, my footprints are not weakened, but are made stronger, so that I may say: "You set my feet in a wide place." And also, he who follows Jesus walks in His footprints, and by the very act of treading the path worn smooth by Jesus, he acquires stronger footprints for himself, so that in deed he may say, "My footprints were not weakened."

Verses 38, 39. Having been aided by God in a thousand ways, he took courage to pursue his enemies; and the end of the pursuit is the ruin of those enemies to the end; for neither weariness nor fear shall be an obstacle to me. "I will crush them, and they shall not be able to stand." Being cautious ^B towards those who hate him, he crushes them, so that they may not be firm and immovable in their hatred. For he does not surround them with tribulation with the intent of killing them, but so that, perceiving the evils they are in, they might cease from their hateful disposition. "They shall fall beneath my feet." For enemies to fall beneath the feet of a saint signifies nothing other than the submission of those who were at variance; for just as it is base to be involved in the worst condition, it is the beginning of salvation to fall; for he who falls from that condition no longer persists in opposition.

Verses 40-42. "You tripped up all those who rose against me," not permitting them to press forward in their wickedness; for being restrained from the impulse toward evil, they shall come under me, no longer considering me at variance with them, but as their leader and head. For in this way, instead of haters, they might become friends; for they did not perish according to their essence, but according to that which they hated. For it belongs to a good God to ^C destroy evil, but not the essence to which it has happened. For He says to some: "And if you multiply your prayer, I will not listen to you, because your hands"—that is, your deeds—"are murderous and full of blood."

Verses 43, 44. "And I will crush them as dust before the face of the wind; as the mud of the streets I will trample them." These whom the discourse concerns, having become gross by minding earthly things and having become material, bearing the image of the earthly, I will crush through exhortations, admonitions, threats, and a laborious way of life, so that, having become like dust before the face of the divine Spirit—metaphorically called wind—all the earthly matter about them may be scattered by the breath of the Spirit, leaving the subject of it pure of all dust, as it happens to be earthen. They should also be ^D called to this voluntarily. To them the Lord says, as if to a whole city: "Shake off your dust, Jerusalem." And these very ones the Lord, or His just imitator, will trample as the mud of the streets. Being trampled in this way, the mud will be able to become an earthen vessel, useful in the great house, in which there are gold and silver and wooden and earthen vessels. But since gold and silver are for honor, while wooden and earthen are for dishonor, he who cleanses himself from...

^A these becomes a vessel of honor, sanctified and useful to the Master, prepared for every good work, ridding those who were until then the mire of the streets—that is, the mud of pleasures and desires—of all the roughness that comes from the passions. He who says these things, by producing smoothness through polishing, will make them earthen vessels, so that by their own willing impulse they may cleanse themselves, in order to become vessels of honor, golden or silver; for just as some have made themselves into earthen vessels from gold and silver: "For the sons of Sion, most honorable, weighing as much as fine gold, how have they been reckoned as earthen vessels, the work of the hands of the potter?" ^B Thus they are vessels through their own power of choice. But since gold and silver are… how were they reckoned as earthen vessels, the work of the hands of the potter? Thus, from earthen vessels they will become gold or silver.

VERS. 45. A twofold kind of knowledge is displayed here: the former signifies to know simply; the latter signifies that the one who knows is united and mingled with the one who is known. According to the first meaning, God knows all, and not the righteous alone. For the Savior said to the wicked: "You are they who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts." And in the prophet: "For I have known all your iniquities." According to the second meaning, however, he is said to know the righteous alone: "For the Lord knows those who are his," but he ignored the wicked. And the Savior says to them: "Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you." And so the people from the Gentiles, unknown to the Savior when they worshipped idols and demons and practiced all other iniquity, having turned through repentance, have arrived at the worship of Christ. Therefore it is well said, "Whom I have not known." For he did not say, "The people whom I do not know served me"; as long as one does wickedly, he is not known. But he who abstains from sins, though previously unknown, is now known. To these things refer these apostolic words: "But then indeed, not knowing God, you served those who by nature are not gods; but now having known God, or rather being known by God." ^C For when they were ignorant of God, they were being ignored by him; but having known him, they were known by him. Yet perhaps it will seem to some that what is added is redundant, "In the hearing of the ear he has heard me," since everyone who hears hears with an ear. But the ear is not added redundantly or superfluously, since everyone who hears with God does not use human and mortal hearing, but a divine ear, which is added to him; for he has added to me an ear to hear.

VERS. 46. "Alien children have grown old," and what follows. Since God is the beginning and source of goods, he becomes the father of those who do good; and as long as they do what is necessary, these are the own sons of God, partakers of his Only-Begotten Son; but if they turn away, they will suffer the contrary, that is, they will be alienated from God by evil; "to grow old" has a fitting sense. For those who share in virtue ^D...

were formerly youthful, with a brilliant, unfading, and ever-new wisdom; but having fallen into wickedness, they grow old, as I might say, being worn away by their own corruption. And furthermore, since the verse concerns the Jews—for they remain seated in the antiquity of the letter, and are not willing to follow the newness of the Spirit, even in the slightest degree—it is said, "Alien children have been born and grown old." These indeed, having become indecisive and double-minded, are said to limp from their own paths. For Elias called this indecision limping, saying: "How long will you limp on both knees? If the Lord is God, follow him." And perhaps everyone who has received the divine Scripture, but does not understand it as he ought, is said to limp when ^A he neither walks properly nor behaves as one limping in it; for he who does not accept it, neither walks nor limps in it.

VERS. 47. "The Lord lives and blessed is God." God is said to live, not by receiving life, but by bestowing it. And so He Himself often speaks of Himself: "I live, says the Lord." But the Savior also, saying: "As the living Father has sent me, and I live through the Father," shows that He lives, not by a participation in life—for He Himself is the Life. From which it follows that the Son is consubstantial with the Father. For if the Son is life, He is not a participation in life, but He who vivifies those who participate in Him. The Father also lives in the same way, bestowing life just as the Son does, with the same power proceeding equally from the Father and the Son. Therefore, ^B the substance of the Father and the Son must be the same; and this phrase also shows this. "Living," He says, "the Father, and I live through the Father," as if to say: because He has such a Father, who lives according to substance. And He Himself is the one who exists; He is the living and blessed God, having blessed the saints with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. He might be called blessed because all blessing is from Him. For whatever is said and thought about Him is also said and thought in a state of blessing. "And let the God of my salvation be exalted." The God of my salvation is exalted when I grasp the sense of His greatness; for those whose works are great, they themselves are great. Since, therefore, the salvation of the rational living being is a great work, it is necessary that its author be great. Indeed, God is exalted not by moving from a humble place to a high one, but when we resolve to think great things about Him. ^C

VERS. 50, 51. For either by giving thanks for their growth and salvation, he confesses to Him; or, having taken their sins upon himself, he becomes an intercessor for their repentance. For the voice "I will confess to you" indicates both; but the Son also sings to the name of the Father, doing all things according to the will of the Father. "Magnifying the salvations of His king." The Father magnifying the salvations of Christ the King, not in the sense that the King Himself is saved, but those which He Himself provides to those being saved by Him. But the King is God’s, not in the sense that He reigns over God Himself, but over those devoted to God; for we say a leader at one time is of those he governs, as their guide, and at another time, the leader of the king according to his laws. ^D

^A VERSE 51. *And showing mercy to His Christ.* He shows mercy to Christ, by showing mercy to those under Christ, over whom He serves as priest and king; for the word "Christ" signifies priest and king. *To David and to his seed forever.* If the expression refers to David—that is, anyone capable [of understanding it] by hand—it shows God showing mercy to practical men, who are capable in their actions, and to those who happen to be their seed, through the instruction and imitation of their life. The mercy that he shows to them is not temporary nor for a short time, but unto the ages. But if the discourse is concerning God, the true David—for "I will raise up for you one shepherd, my servant David"—He shows eternal mercy to Him and to His seed, because His anointing and His priesthood cannot be undone; for with the old priesthood being changed, the priesthood of Christ is inviolable. ^B

PSALM XVIII.

VERSE 2. *The heavens, therefore, declare the glory of God.* The glory of God is either the Only-Begotten according to the radiance of His glory, according to the saying, *And the glory of the Lord shall be seen*, or it is the ordinance and magnificence of His kingdom. These things, then, the powers proper to the heavens declare, singing and theologizing, being named homonymously with the heavens which they inhabit, according to the trope of metonymy. But the firmament makes known the work of the active powers of God, which are called His hands, not so much by words as by the very deeds themselves. But also those who embrace the contemplative life store up treasure ^C in heaven, and having their heart there, they are heavens declaring this glory of God through contemplation of intelligible things. But the practical ones are the firmament, as they are steadfast, and they declare the work of the hands of Christ, working the things of God, and being themselves the works of God. A lucid mind is day; for God called the light day. This day, harmonious to a lucid mind, belches forth a word, just as Old Scripture, filled with spiritual food, is brought forth belching out words of abundance into the New Testament. Night, however, the deepest perception of mystical things, leads us to another obscurity, which perception the Spirit of God gives to those possessing Him, He who also searches the depths of God. Speech brings forth words, and words bring forth knowledge, providing arguments. Both are said by God for this reason, that they might be heard. Therefore, for the obstinate there is no defense; ^D they receive the sound, whoever they are that are like earth suitable for receiving seeds—that is, the reading and the sense of Scripture. Those who have advanced beyond them, and are called the ends [of the earth], receive the words, having been wisely instructed. Hearing this sound, Peter said: *You have the words of eternal life*; and the Savior said: *the words which I have spoken to you, they are spirit*. For He said these things to the apostles, who are the ends of the earth.

^A Ver. 6. According to the law of anagogy, the Church can be the tabernacle of God, placed in the sun, that is to say, wherever and as long as the sun appears; for it harmonizes with the solar motions that reach to the ends of the earth. Moreover, everyone who receives the glory of God, and is named His tabernacle, can be placed in the Sun of righteousness—that is to say, in Christ. For the foundation and base of such tabernacles is the light of the world. And the Savior is called the true Light and the Sun of righteousness (nor is it possible to have an understanding of this Light while being ignorant of the sensible light). He who partakes of the transcendent light—which is the Sun—receives from its contemplation a representation of the intellectual light, just as he will find the true Light dwelling in the sensible sun. For ^B we must not heed certain heretics who say that after the resurrection from the dead, the Savior deposited the body He wore in the solar sphere, to be guarded until His second and glorious coming. "He set His tabernacle in the sun," and what follows, you will understand in a deeper sense, because the Sun of righteousness [proceeded] from the bridal chamber of the paternal bosoms... of God, whether in things or in wicked powers. God will spare His own servant, since He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for all. For what would it have been to spare the Son? The destruction of all. But to not have spared Him was the salvation of all. And the Son Himself will be immune from every detriment, since His nature cannot possibly suffer that.

^C Ver. 8. God is worthy of trust, bearing witness through good works and the knowledge of the truth: according to that which is written, "Faithful is the word"—not because He believes, but as one who is believed; and again, "God is faithful"; and "There is no iniquity in Him"; and "Faithful is God, by whom you have been called." Therefore, the testimony is faithful because it is steadfast. It makes wise those who have turned and have become like children. And the Gospel grants wisdom to infants newly born, and likewise to those unskilled in human wisdom, the illiterate and the simple-minded. Moreover, His righteous decrees, having nothing crooked, make those who receive them upright; these, experiencing no grief, become partakers in divine joy. ^D Since godly fear is not affected by passion, it is pure; for it is not like that which is cast out by divine love, being the same—namely, fear in piety and reverence—which also makes men holy and is not temporary. As for the judgments that God judges, they are called such because of the truth according to which He judges. Paul also says, "For we know that the judgment of God is according to truth upon those who do such things." There are also false and unjust judgments, from which He has distinguished these. These divine [judgments] are known to be bound together with one another; and to the pleasure of these things said, he says, nothing in life is to be compared; for to the sweetness of intelligible things, nothing of the sensible is to be likened. He who has transferred his psychic perception from the latter to the former receives all his desire; for these things, every man of God...

^A guards, being about to have a great recompense, which is not among things sensible.

VER. 13. He calls "astrology" a great sin. For if I were not cleansed from my hidden matters, these remaining trespasses would lead to shameful action, and I would become liable to great sin.

VER. 15. "And the words of my mouth shall be for pleasure." For when these things befall me from Thee, then the words of my mouth—which I have offered up praying to Thee, hymning Thee, and giving Thee thanks—shall be for pleasure. They are "for pleasure" because they are worthy of acceptance. "And the meditation of my heart in Thy sight," since it consists in thoughts and perceptions, and being outside of all blame, it occurs in Thy sight at all times. ^B Indeed, that the meditation is blameless arises from nothing else but from Thee, who hast cleansed me from my hidden matters. "O Lord, my helper and my redeemer." With Thee helping me, O Master, I yield to none of those who fight against me spiritually. But if, by my own negligence, it happens that I yield to adversaries, do Thou redeem me from those who have mastered me, becoming both my helper and my redeemer.

PSALM XIX

VER. 5. God grants [the request] according to the heart of the person praying, whenever he asks for such things as are fitting for God to give and advantageous for the recipient. For a petition made correctly regarding such things will find God compliant. "And may He confirm all thy counsel"—counsel, that is, the right intention—may He confirm it. ^C But an intention is fulfilled when it does not fall away from its purpose, but encounters those things which it had previously intended.

VER. 6. "We shall rejoice in Thy salvation." This is that of which it was said: "Behold, there is born to us today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." He indicates "salvation" to be that by which he whom God hears in the day of tribulation shall be saved, from which salvation there shall be rejoicing. "And in the name of the Lord our God we shall be magnified." While others are magnified by worldly things, we shall be magnified in the name of the Lord our God. The word "we are magnified" signifies progress in that which is truly good. For he did not say "we are great." On this account also, Isaac, as he progressed, became greater, until he became very great. ^D One is magnified in the name of the Lord if he fulfills the duties of a true and perfect servant.

VER. 7. "May the Lord fulfill all thy petitions." It is a great praise of the person concerning whom the discourse is, that all his petitions are to be fulfilled by the Lord, and that he seeks nothing which God does not grant. The fulfillment of petitions is when those things which we have desired occur and succeed prosperously. "Now I have known that the Lord has saved His Christ." The designation "Christ" signifies now the priest, now the king, and now the incarnation of God the Word according to the flesh. And this David, according to some, or

^A Hezekiah, according to others, is to whom this psalm is ascribed; some also refer it humanly to the incarnation. But in all who believe, the body of Christ is fulfilled, according to that saying: "So also Christ is one body, but many members." Christ is said to be saved when those of whom his body and members consist receive salvation. And rightly it is said: "Now I have known"; for now, that is, in the present time, we have known Christ saved, having received therefrom the earnest of salvation. "He will hear him from his holy heaven; in mighty deeds is the salvation of his right hand." He hears Christ, having attained all these things we mentioned before. But the right hand of God, that is, his Word, works salvation; not in any way whatsoever, but "in mighty deeds," as befits a leader or a most excellent king.

^B VERSE 8. By "horses" one should understand the goads of the passions, by which the opposing powers are carried along; and by "chariots," the vehement conspiracy of the passions, with which they attack us. But if they have these for themselves, for us the invocation of God is an unconquerable fortress.

PSALM XX.

VERSES 2, 3. He who has been established king upon Mount Sion is peculiarly and truly king, exulting with divine exultation on account of the power of God present to him. But the whole psalm may be understood of Christ the king and of him who reigns with him, lest we be forced to point this out at ^C every single verse. "And in thy salvation he will exult vehemently. Thou hast given him the desire of his heart, and hast not deprived him of the will of his lips." He who does not fulfill the desire of the flesh, walks in the Spirit. This man, therefore, tempered by the Spirit, receives the desire of his heart from God; for he is not hindered by the incitements of the flesh, but those things by which his heart—that is, his mind—is incited, he receives from God, who fulfills his desire with good things; and if anyone obtains those things which he needs, he is not defrauded by the Lord of the will of his lips.

VERSES 4, 5. Christ, having received oil from the Most High, when he is anointed with the oil of exultation, possesses an inviolable priesthood ^D according to the order of Melchisedec; for it will not be temporary or unstable.

VERSE 12. You might say that they inclined evil or impious dogmas about God toward him; or that they imputed the cause of their malice to him; and that the traitors and his enemies inclined evil toward the Savior. It must be noted that evils are performed by an inclination, and not by rectitude; but the base, having become distorted, undertake attempts against the powerful. For they plot against one who does not suffer harm. And furthermore, every wicked man has a malice that is uncertain and unstable. But over those whom God turns away, he places the back, when they could have been made face; and those who do not have a pure heart, and for this reason cannot see his face, he...

constitutes as the back for them to meditate upon the things that are after him—namely, the works—so that through the spectacle of creation they might be led back to him. For the things of God that are above his sensible creatures are more exalted. ^A

VERS. 14. "Exalt thyself in thy power." After you have indulged our weakness and taken on something weak, which is nonetheless stronger than men—having been crucified out of weakness—"exalt thyself in thy power." "We will sing and chant thy powers." Singing is to be understood as referring to speculation, and chanting as referring to efforts toward virtue. Therefore, contemplating the concept of the virtues and acting according to them, "we will sing and chant thy powers," which you have exalted while triumphing as a King against the devil and opposing powers. This can also be understood in this way: We sing grateful praises to you for the triumph over death. ^B

PSALM XXI

VERS. 1. "Morning help" is rightly spoken of when the Sun of justice arises and prepares the beginning of the day; for the true light rises, which, putting an end to ignorance and error, illuminates the spiritual dawn. But this, beginning, will reach the limit of perfect light, through which light all other spiritual things are also spiritually perfected, because he himself is the end. For his sake all other things exist, while he is not for the sake of anything; which they also call the supreme object of desire, because there is nothing higher than this, and it is the highest desirable good. The inscription, therefore, of the present psalm, "Unto the end," is sung of the morning help for David, that is, for him who was to be born according to the flesh from his seed. And this must be noted, that from beginning to end this psalm preserves one person and transfers nothing away from this person; and since the New Testament accepts the words of this psalm as spoken by Christ, it is necessary to interpret everything concerning this same person of Christ; however, we shall explain those passages which the New Testament has used, whenever we arrive at them. ^C

VERS. 2. It must be noted that it uses the nominative case instead of the vocative. For whereas he could have said, "My God, my God, why?" he says, "God, my God." Scripture is accustomed to doing this in many places. But what he wishes to say is this: "You, who are the universal and true God, being my God, assist me as I am fought against and surrounded by many miseries: why have you abandoned me?" The voice is that of one asking the cause of the abandonment; for since he was conscious of extreme purity within himself (for he knew no sin), he knew that he had not been abandoned on account of sin, but for something else that would be for the benefit of all. He wishes this, therefore, to be made manifest: that he is suffering not for his own sake, but for the sake of those who see him. For recognizing that he was abandoned for their sake, they will celebrate him with hymns as the Savior. One must say, therefore, "words of transgressions," not words spoken concerning transgressions; for just as we say "word of heaven," by which it is established, and "word of the sun," by which it subsists, so we shall also speak the word of transgressions, and not the transgressions ^D themselves.

He took on the transgressions for the Savior into His own body. Indeed, His body bore these accounts of transgressions before the passion. But having risen from the dead, because He is also said to have been saved, He kept the accounts of the aforementioned sins far from His salvation, having stripped off the principalities and powers that act out the transgressions, when He triumphed over them in Himself, having made a display of them on the cross. ^B

VERS. 3. "O my God, I will cry by day, and Thou wilt not hear; and by night, and not for my ignorance." It is not only when painful and gloomy things surround me, which "night" allegorically signifies, that I cry to Thee, my God, so that I might not suffer anything; but even when the things concerning me are bright and shining, I cry again so that nothing harmful may come from exaltation. The Savior, confessing these things concerning us, says: But I know that when I cry in this way, Thou wilt hear; for it must be read with a pause: "And by night I will cry, and not [for] my folly," when the things surrounding me are gloomy, [as happens] when many are darkened by their circumstances; for one ought not to be ignorant even of what to say when crying to God; for I know on account of what the nightly condition is around me.

VERS. 5. And the fathers from whom I am according to the flesh, these are the patriarchs; they hoped in Thee, expecting my illumination; but they also did not fail in their hope. For they were delivered from death and the devil, by My having redeemed and delivered them. For when they also cried to Thee, they obtained salvation *through* Me and *from* Me. For they were not put to shame by hoping in Thee; for they received what they had hoped for and expected. But let those who say these things, those claiming to be learned in the law, know that they are holding false opinions concerning Providence. For one might say the same things concerning the sawn-asunder Isaiah, and those who else have suffered for the sake of piety. For we say that to be delivered and saved from the painful things that surround us is not to be outside of them, but to bear them bravely and patiently, so that the mind might not be harmed, by having its right purpose deflected because of the pains. For we say that the martyrs of the truth, having suffered countless things and having died in their torments, have been delivered and saved from their tribulations. For those who are made "outside" of tribulating things through abjuration, not only were they not delivered and saved from temptations, but they were also swallowed up by them. ^C

VERS. 10. For perhaps he who is conceived from seed in the womb, when the time of birth is completed, is cast forth by the womb itself to the air. But the Father alone draws the Savior out from the womb of the Virgin, not with seed introduced from the outside, but drawn out *from* her by a divine birth. "My hope from my mother's breasts; I was cast upon Thee from the womb." To other human beings, hoping and expecting things to come belongs to those who have reached maturity after the completion of the word, but the infant from Mary alone from His mother's breasts hopes for perfection; for He has God as His hope; and He was never made in malice. ^D

[;] as Isaiah indicated, saying ^A: "Before he knows good or evil, he rejects evil to choose the good."

VER. 11. "From my mother's womb, you are my God." Before His incarnation, Jesus had His intimacy only with the Father; for God was His Father, and He Himself was the Son of God. But from the time He became flesh and came forth from the womb, He had a relationship with the Father as God. Therefore He says: If You are always my Father, yet You also began to be my God from the womb of my mother.

VER. 12. "Do not withdraw from me, for tribulation is near, for there is no one who helps." When God is present at a time of tribulation, He is able to provide steadfastness so that one may endure the tribulation courageously. But when God is absent, the surrounding circumstances are overpowering. Therefore, he who speaks the psalm prays—becoming a model for us humans and teaching us in temptations—and prays in this way, that he might not commit such things on account of which God might withdraw, so that with God present he might be able to defeat those who stir up the tribulation; for if God should withdraw from anyone, there will be no one to help him. ^B

VER. 13. "But calves" would be the wicked powers that stir up things pertaining to the earth and the flesh; for this animal is used for the cultivation of the earth. Those, however, who preside over false doctrines, insulting as if with horns through deceitful words and sophistry, are "fat bulls" on account of their ostentatious, learned, and refined speech. It is also possible to say that the Jews, who according to the Law sacrifice oxen—from which they also prepare what are called calves—hostilely surround the Lord; and Pontius Pilate, and any others in the highest rank of dignity—and therefore being like horned bulls—hasten to besiege Him. Furthermore, the Savior may also speak these things regarding His own body, the Church, seeing men who are groveling and hostilely tilling the earth ^C surrounding His body: "Many calves have surrounded me." And seeing the rulers of this age who promise wisdom surrounding His body, He will say: "Fat bulls have beset me."

VER. 14. Having exposed the savage nature of their perversity, which is always prepared for oppression, He says: "They opened their mouth against me, as a lion that tears and roars." For their mouth, opened to seize the deceived, is a word of captious wisdom. Perhaps, however, "as a lion that tears and roars" refers to the devil; from which lion the good Shepherd snatched two legs, and [he, the devil,] was devouring the lobe of an ear; for by hearing, you will understand the ear of the soul of man, and by the legs, its way of life. ^D

VER. 15. "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are scattered." Since the body of Christ are the faithful...

^A having taken upon himself the sufferings of those who believe, He says these things, which have happened to those who constitute His body. Since, therefore, the sheep suffered dispersion when the Shepherd was struck down, He says: "Like water I am poured out"; for water that has been poured out is scattered. But He also says concerning the apostles, "My bones have all been scattered." For they are His bones, as they are solid and support the whole body. "My heart has become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels. My strength has dried up like a potsherd." Perhaps someone's heart becomes melting like wax in the middle of his bowels when he sees those whom he has brought forth in pain and begotten suffering calamity. Since, therefore, the things mentioned above also happened to the disciples of Jesus, His heart, being disposed toward them with burning love, received the state of wax in the midst of the bowels, sympathizing with those whom He had begotten. But also the sweetness ^B of the heart, as it were wax, melts when it becomes food and descends into the belly; for the thoughts of the heart, nourished as if wax, are sent down into the belly, melting and becoming refined through constant meditation, so that they may be rendered for the constitution of what has been fed. But also strength, having been introduced into the furnace of life, has dried up like a potsherd; for after the experience of tribulations, as one brought forth from a furnace, a man presents the dryness of a potsherd, no longer moist like the mud from the moisture of clay and the fluid of pleasures.

VER. 16. "And my tongue has stuck to my throat." The listeners being scattered, and no longer present to whom the tongue might be active in teaching and discoursing, it would be inactive, stuck to the throat; for...

VER. 17. To dig, therefore, signifies the perforation of nails. The bones of the body are numbered when it is stripped of the bones that are stuck to it; his bones, then, are the apostles; the flesh, however, are those who have believed in a more superficial and corporal manner. ^C When, therefore, the body is at unity, the bones support the flesh. But the flesh, as it happens, covers the bones.

VER. 18, 19. When, therefore, fear disturbs, those of weaker faith fleeing, the robust and staunch zealots remain, and being stripped of the multitude, they are easily numbered. In addition to the historical sense, you might consider the garments of Jesus to be the common expressions of the Scriptures; for each of them accepts some Scriptures, but rejects others. Here, the tunic of Jesus is not indicated, since it is indivisible, being without seam; for it possesses not a forced, but a natural unity; and it is also from above, because it is divinely inspired; it is woven throughout, for the Scripture is from above in every power. But the Church does not divide the garments, nor does she cast lots for them. For ^D she possesses them all and is clothed in them, standing at the right hand of Jesus like a queen "clothed in a golden garment, adorned" (Ps. xliv, 10). She, having gone beyond the garments, and

himself, clothing himself with Jesus, the wisdom and power of the Father, and having become wise and strong.

VERS. 20. "But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help far from me; look to my defense." Therefore, while these are doing these things, do not remove thy help far from me; for with thee helping and looking to my defense, who on the third day didst rise from the dead, I shall show the machinations against me to be vain.

VERS. 21. "Deliver my soul from the sword." Since the enemies who surround me, thirsting for my blood, are drawing a sword against me—one capable of wounding not the body, but the soul—deliver my soul from their sword, keeping it unharmed from turmoil and fear. For even if our soul is well prepared, yet on seeing the devil with the whole phalanx of demons and the company of opposing powers and wicked men incited by them, it becomes agitated (for it is of a changeable nature) and petitions to have as a helper Him who is able to rescue it from the sword of the enemies. Perhaps also the devil himself may be called a sword allegorically, since he dares against every soul, seeking to wound it; and it is from this sword that he asks to be delivered. "And my only one from the hand of the dog." Those whom he earlier called in the plural "dogs" surrounding him, he now calls in the singular, by genus. He calls his soul his "only one" because it is set apart and separated from other souls; for while all those have known iniquity, this one has not. And to those, God the Word comes and converses only at intervals, but to this one He remains inseparably and without interruption, indissoluble until the end. These noble things that belong to it are therefore termed its "only" qualities; moreover, the glorious Church that stands with Him, not having spot or wrinkle, being filled entirely with the perfect, is held to be His only one. These are indeed distributed into many ranks according to the degree of perfection; for although there are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and an innumerable number of maidens, this one is above all others the perfect dove, she who is the only begotten to her mother, the Jerusalem above.

VERS. 22. "Save me from the lion's mouth, and my lowliness from the horns of unicorns." He now prays to be saved from the aforementioned lion, the devil; but also for his lowliness, in accordance with which he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the Father even unto death, even the death of the cross. He also wishes to be saved from the horns of unicorns, another kind of opposing power that claims a kingdom for itself; for the horn is a symbol of kingdom. There are those, however, who think that the cross is signified in this place, as it presents the shape of a horn.

VERS. 23. The Epistle to the Hebrews says that this verse also is spoken in the person of Christ, declaring to the Father: O Father, thy name...

that is, thy property, thy notion, I will declare, manifesting it to those who have become my brothers, to whom thou hast sent my Spirit; to whom it might be said: "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts." These are they who have received the Spirit of adoption from God, so that they may be sons of God, and brothers of the Only-begotten. And so, rising from the dead, having appeared to the women, he said, "Go, tell my brothers that I have risen." And in the midst of the Church gathered from these, he will praise the Father with hymns and songs.

^B VERS. 24. Jacob is named in various senses. This designation signifies now the holy man, the son of Isaac, and father of the twelve patriarchs; now the nation of twelve tribes that sprang from him; now only the ten tribes that separated from the house of David and followed Jeroboam; now the Savior himself, according to that word: "Jacob is my servant, I will uphold him; Israel is my chosen, my soul has accepted him." For Matthew wrote that this prophecy was spoken concerning the Savior. It must be inquired to which of those we have just enumerated the following refers: "All the seed of Jacob, glorify him." Most will say that he wishes the seed of the patriarch Jacob—namely, the twelve tribes, nourished by the reading of the Law and the Prophets—to glorify God by their thoughts, words, and good works. But this would have to be counted as false, since many who sprang from Jacob became unbelievers and betrayers of Jesus. It can be said of that Jacob who tripped up ^C and cast down death and the opposing power—for this is Jesus; his seed, having been begotten by his teaching, will be able entirely to glorify God. But if Israel is also he whom the soul of God has accepted, being his chosen seed, as he is Israel, he will fear God. And each of the imitators of Jesus, if he endures the struggle against the principalities and powers and world-rulers of this darkness, is a Jacob, tripping up his adversaries by the struggle. But if he has a pure heart and a clear mind, he will see God, and therefore will be an Israel. Every such person, therefore, as his seed, will fear God.

^D VERS. 25. "For he did not despise the supplication of me the poor man, nor was he angry, spurning it." On account of this, becoming grateful that the prayer made for us on our behalf was heard by the Lord, "praise and glorify and fear him." For if, even as a poor man... you owe it, because I, who am rich and being the treasury of the fullness of all good things, became poor for your sake, that by my poverty I might make you rich. For you, who are clothed with flesh, could not have received my riches, knowing and prophesying only in part. I, therefore, having become poor for your sake, cried out to the Lord on your behalf, and he heard me, giving to you those things by which you were shown to be rich. For so, when I am praying for you...

^A, "He did not turn his face from me," but rather made it shine more brightly upon me; and for this reason he also accepted my cry.

VERS. 26. Men indeed praise according to manifest works and pursuits; but God, seeing the hidden things, praises according to perfect virtue and surpassing knowledge. It is therefore for someone great to say with boldness: "With you, O God, is my praise," not in just any place, but in the "great Church"; and the great Church is that which is gathered together from individuals who are great, just as a large Church is that which consists of many. — Prayer is the consensus of acts of thanksgiving, if it consists of things pertaining to God.

VERS. 28. Those who are called the ends of the earth—for their kingdom is in heaven—turn to him; and the nations, which previously were unable to worship according to the law of Jerusalem because they were too far away, fulfill the prophecy of Zephaniah: "And they shall worship in his presence, each from his own place, all the families of the nations ^B."

VERS. 30. The "fat ones of the earth" can be those who are nourished by earthly things; but those who are called in spirit to repentance, mortifying in spirit the deeds of the body so as no longer to mind earthly things, and having eaten the spiritual food supplied by Jesus, have worshipped God in spirit. One might also call those "fat" who excel in wisdom, whether they are participants in the wisdom of the world, or are flourishing in wealth and are ruling according to the senses. For these, too, having eaten the food received from Jesus, which is a bulwark against encroaching evils, worship God, finding him to be above all the wisdom and wealth and rule that they possess. Those "descending into the earth" can be called all the angels sent from heaven to earth, worshipping the Lord and Savior according to that: ^C "Let all the angels of God worship him." Observe, however, whether those who have undergone the common death are able to descend into the earth, who shall worship the Lord, who for their sake descended into the lowest parts of the earth.

VERS. 32. "A coming generation shall be announced to the Lord, and they shall announce his righteousness to the people who shall be born, whom the Lord has made." As for that, "A generation goes and a generation comes," some, taking this to refer to the two peoples, have called the departing generation the people of the circumcision, which withdrew from the Lord. Therefore it became a crooked and perverse generation; but the coming generation is the calling of the Gentiles... hastening. This, then, shall be announced to the Lord by those who have been sent as ambassadors on its behalf, saying to you: "Nations shall come from the end of the earth"; and, "All nations, as many as you have made, shall come and worship in your sight." For the Savior does not cast out this generation coming to him, saying: ^D "Him who comes to me I will not cast out." And it is well also that...

^A the generation of which the discourse treats has not already come, but is now coming to him, following the precepts of faith. These same people, announcing to the Lord the coming generation, and the justice of God which through faith in Jesus extends to all who believe, shall announce to the people to be born through the divine birth: "which the Lord has made," for he formed it by his own blood and called it his own people.

PSALM XXII

Vers. 1, 2. He who has rendered the meek and steady flock of Christ upright will say concerning the good Shepherd: "The Lord rules me, and nothing shall be lacking to me." For he leads me into salutary pastures, where there are divine herbs. Then the Shepherd himself says concerning his own flock: "He shall enter and go out and shall find pasture." For the grassy place can be divine doctrine, where spiritual grass is found, that is, moral instruction. In this place, then, he has settled me, but did not dwell [continuously]. For he wishes me, as I make progress, ^B to use such pasture perfectly. For when I have ceased to make progress, I shall have need, not of a shepherd, but of a master and teacher, once the sheep has been made a man. I am no longer a sheep, which, having wandered from the pasture on account of iniquity, is brought back to it by the shepherd who finds what was lost; for what has once departed is able to return; for sin supervenes upon those who reject God. "He has brought me up over the water of refreshment." For ethical knowledge is not only a remedy for thirst, but also provides the forgiveness of sins.

Vers. 3. "He converted my soul." For if, even being a sheep, I have wandered, having become outside the pasture through sinning, yet the shepherd who turns back what has wandered has converted my soul. It is to be noted that no one is evil by nature, since he is capable of conversion; but someone is returned to that place where he once was in the beginning; sin, therefore, has happened to those who have turned away from God; therefore let it be removed. "He led me upon the paths of justice for his name's sake." He says this concerning the shepherd: "He led me," implying one going before and making the way, so that we may tread the paths he himself has trod, following his footsteps; for whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and his own sheep follow him. ^C He calls justice the habit by which we practice the works of justice; but its paths are those performed in accordance with it; or perhaps justice is the universal and general virtue, and its paths are the virtues in their specific forms. Therefore, because of his name called upon me, he has led me upon the aforementioned paths of justice.

Vers. 4. Whenever God is with someone, nothing of those things that are harmful can cause damage or injury, as the prophet says— ^D

^A "Behold, the Lord will help me; who shall harm me?" If, therefore, I walk in tribulations and in the bitter things which are called the shadow of death, I shall not fear evil things, having God with me. He does not call "evil" here what is evil in the proper sense, but rather difficulties, poverty, sickness, calamity, and other things of that kind, about which Job says: "Shall we not endure evil things?" For whoever does not have God with him dwells where evils are peculiarly contrary to the good. Some say that the rod signifies to chastise and to teach, according to the passage: "What will you? Shall I come to you with a rod?" and that the staff [signifies] to support the spirit with counsel, exhortation, and incitement. "You have prepared a table before me in the face of those who tribulate me." What does that mean, "in the face of those who tribulate me"? There is an ineffable mystery in this, that we should pray to be tribulated. Consider, I beseech you, how in great contests prizes are proposed for each individual struggle; just so, for each individual tribulation, when the tribulation is raging and the powers that tribulate [us] are adverse, think that a spiritual and intellectual table has been prepared for the sake of this tribulation. As often, therefore, as you are tribulated, so often is a spiritual table set before you. Only have eyes such as can behold my tables, so that you may say, giving thanks with the Apostle: "Not only so, but we also glory in tribulations."

Vers. 5.

many are the adversaries." ^A This means that He pours understanding into him abundantly; for this priestly oil is the ointment, of which Aaron bore the symbol. For it says, "Like the ointment upon the head, that runneth down upon the beard, even Aaron's." And "Thy cup is intoxicating, how excellent it is!" Since Wisdom has prepared not only a table, but has also poured into a mixing bowl her own wine, derived from herself, since she is the true vine—she poured out that wine by mixing divine knowledge with human language. From this bowl, dispensing to each one, she gives drink; and that cup is called "excellent," that is, beautiful and precious to the one who receives it, just as the Holy Spirit himself says: "He who receives it, receives my cup." And if it were read, "Thy cup," this would be the sense: "It is Thy cup, O Lord, which Thou hast given me to drink." For the aforementioned mixture offered by Wisdom is not human. ^B

VERS. 6. "And Thy mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Not so much does one reap salvation from works as from the grace of the merciful God. For God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love He has for men, has brought to life with Christ those who were dead because of sins and transgressions. Whence also the saint says: "And Thy mercy shall follow," always leaping upon and rushing to me. And this is not by some interruption, or for a time, but it follows me all the days of my life. For "all the days of my life," that is to say, either the various illuminations of the truth and those by which we are made alive, or Christ who is present to us through life, happen to be. "And my dwelling in the house of the Lord, unto length of days." He dwells in a place of pasture, but he houses in the house of the Lord, not for a certain time, but all the days of immortal life, being perpetually and without any intermission illuminated. Trusting in Thy mercy and Thy grace, I know that I shall not fall away from the hope placed in Thee, ^C my every day of life being instituted by Thy mercy. This mercy of Thine, therefore, and this grace of Thine has deemed me worthy to inhabit Thy house and Thy Church, where, making my abode as in a sacred house of God and a holy temple, I shall obtain length of days with Thee and eternal life. For my dwelling in Thy house, and never to recede or turn away from it, but always to make my sojourns within the sacred precincts—these things I believe will be the causes for me of the length of days arising from Thy light. Instead of "unto length of days," Symmachus interpreted it as "unto length of time," signifying a life according to God, namely, limitless and immortal.

PSALM XXIII

^A it is necessary to know that it signifies the Lord’s resurrection. Mystically, the earth became the Lord's when, having descended, he freed it from the demons that tyrannically held it, dismantling everything performed upon it through deception—magic, sorcery, and the oracles that the demons on earth brought forth, along with laws concerning idols and sacrifices. Indeed, its fullness consists of both good and evil, according to whether people turn away from iniquity, according to the saying: "The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord."

VERS. 2. Moreover, the Catholic Church, inhabited by the faithful, is one with the inhabitants who think and live in accordance with the Church. It has an immovable seat, remaining unshaken in faith even when the surges and storms of temptations strike. He established4 it upon rivers, making it fit through divine legislation to receive the Holy Spirit, from whom, as from a fountain, various graces and rivers of living water flow.

Didymus and Eusebius. VERS. 3. The mountain of God signifies the supreme good and the divine Word; for rarely is anyone able, by progressing, to ascend to its summit.

Didymus and Origen. For he who has been perfected, since he can no longer advance further, stands firm, and is therefore called the holy place of God. For he who walks behind the Lord ascends, forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forward to those things that are in front, having as his goal to stand with God in his holy place, to which it is necessary ^B for the one who evangelizes Sion to ascend and stand. To Moses, as he arrived there, God said: "But do you stand here with me;" and also, "He set my feet upon a rock," just as the prophet says concerning another sanctuary, for the rock was Christ.

VERS. 4. But who is the one who will enjoy these promises? This is the one who "has not received his soul in vain." Truly, also, if someone receives a rational soul, capable of virtues and doctrines, and does not receive the things for which it is capable, but is tormented by the deception of life and worldly anxiety, and is addicted to pleasures and passions, he has received his soul in vain. But he who conducts himself otherwise has not received it in vain. Therefore, the life of most people is the vanity of vanities.

VERS. 5, 6. Since the petition was not made regarding ^C one single person ascending into the mountain of the Lord and standing in his holy place, nor was the answer regarding one, but regarding everyone innocent in hands and pure in heart. Therefore, he adds: "This is the generation of those who seek the Lord," instead of saying, "All such people," and those having the aforementioned virtue, are the generation seeking; while seeking the Lord, they seek to find the face of the God of Jacob, whom they desire to behold, so that having been improved by the knowledge and radiance of him, they may say: "The light of your countenance, Lord, has been marked upon us."

^A VER. 7. The divine angels running ahead were saying to those standing guard at the heavenly gates: "Lift up your gates, you princes," whose custodians you are. For just as when he descended, he bowed the heavens and passed through without opening them, so also, when he was taken up, he did not enter by gates that were opened, but by those that were lifted up. Then, since these gates are also rational, the angels say to them: "Be lifted up, you eternal gates." These spiritual gates are not temporary, since they are not bodily, but eternal, inasmuch as they are devoid of matter and separated from all coagulation. Furthermore, by saying that the gates should be lifted up and exalted, they do not mean that one of the glorious ones is to enter, but they declare it is the King of glory. Now the Savior is the King of glory, because he rules over all glorious beings; he is called this as God, and as one who receives glory from all, and possesses a true and permanent kingdom, which he grants to those who are worthy. And he is called the Lord of it, according to the text: "For had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

^B VER. 8. But since not only God the Word ascended, but brought with him the flesh he had taken, animated by a rational soul, the supernal powers, struck with amazement, were asking: "Who is this King of glory?" For they were astonished to see him who is called the King of glory clothed in flesh.

Again, those running ahead were saying: "The Lord is strong and mighty," crying out this directly: "He whom you know as King of kings and Lord of all, strong and mighty—this one is here clothed in a body, having triumphed over those who fell from us and assumed a tyrannical habit; the Lord strong in battle has appeared, for he has overthrown all who wished to resist him and oppose him."

^C VER. 9. Hearing these things, the princes who were at the eternal gates were not content merely to do what was commanded, but announced what they had heard to the powers established higher up, and even to the gates of the higher heavens themselves, crying out: "Lift up your gates, you princes," and the rest. And when they in turn asked them, they gave back the same answer that they themselves had received.

VER. 10. "The Lord of hosts," they saying, "he is the King of glory." They called him Lord of hosts as commander of armies. It should be noted that those who have accurately studied the Hebrew texts say that the word *Sabaoth*, which is found in Hebrew, was translated into the Greek language by the Seventy sometimes as "Lord of hosts," sometimes as "Lord of armies," and sometimes as "the Almighty." They say, therefore, that in this place, *Sabaoth* was rendered by "Lord of hosts." But if *Sabaoth* is spoken of the Savior and is translated as "the Almighty," then the word "Almighty" would deservedly be attributed to the Savior. For if all things were made through him, and he is before all things, and all things are to be referred to him.

^A and he holds them providentially, having been made through him, and is before all things that have their existence in him, consequently he is called Almighty. It is his person, therefore, that is speaking in Zechariah: "Thus says the Lord Almighty: After glory he sent me; and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." For the Almighty being sent by the Almighty is the Son being sent by the Father. And most clearly the Savior is called Almighty in the Apocalypse of John: ^B "For thus says the Lord, the faithful and true witness, who was, and is, and is to come, the Lord God Almighty." For undoubtedly these things are spoken concerning the Son.

PSALM XXIV

VERS. 2. He who trusts in anything other than God, such as in riches, will be mocked: which I shall not suffer, for I have trusted in you; but the enemies are the devil with his demons and impious men. Perhaps he also foresees the incarnation of the Savior, after which the laughter of the enemies has ceased.

VERS. 4. By ways and commandments, he perhaps means those paths he deems worthy to learn, which those who went before have trodden, so that by following their footsteps, he may make his journey unerring; and because practical action is not sufficient for salvation, he supplicates to attain also the contemplation of the truth.

VERS. 10. "All the ways" leading to the Lord, or those which he himself traverses in the manner mentioned, being directed according to truth and conducted with integrity, "are mercy and truth." For [divine] mercy is necessary before all things, so that one may set upon them and thus, by advancing, arrive at truth itself. Yet the ways of the Lord are not seen as mercy and truth by all, but to those who "seek his testament and his testimonies"; ^C for whoever is outside the testament and the testimonies is unacquainted with the excellence and beauty of the Lord’s ways. It is required, therefore, to seek the testament which the Lord established for the fathers, leading them out of spiritual Egypt, that is, the error of polytheism; for by seeking and searching into it, we shall also know the new testament which Jesus confirmed with his own blood. For every testament is weak when he who established it has not yet died, just as the Apostle says: "For a testament is firm over dead bodies, since it is never valid as long as he who established it lives." Wherefore, wishing his own testament to be fulfilled, Jesus accepted death. ^D There must also be sought in the testament the testimonies of God, witnessing and inspired words from him.

VERS. 11. "For your name's sake, O Lord,"

^A I, your servant, will seek your testament, expecting from it liberty or the inheritance, which you have determined for one who has become a son; but also "be propitious to my sin," not to one still being committed, but to one that has ceased; "for it is great," not in quantity, but in comparison to the purity we ought to possess.

VERS. 13. The soul of the prudent man, not going beyond the good things, dwells in them, always performing them; and therefore he shall in general obtain the seed to inherit the earth, not that which lies under our feet, but the earth of the meek.

VERS. 16. He calls himself "unigenitus" [only-begotten], according to him who says: "I am left alone, and they seek my soul." Therefore I am poor, not having help from peers. It must be known, however, that you should not take the word "Unigenitus" in the sense of the Only-Begotten Son; for where the word "Son" ^B is added to "Unigenitus," or where it is said, "the Only-Begotten from the Father," then the generation of the Son exclusively begotten of God is expressed.

VERS. 17. You will understand the "tribulations of the heart" as troublesome and adverse thoughts; and these are necessary circumstances, compelling us to swerve from our purpose.

VERS. 21. He calls "innocent" those who are void of malice, or the simpler ones; but "upright" those who have attained perfect virtue. "These therefore clung to me" by like-mindedness, "because I waited for you, O Lord." Perhaps he also calls "innocent" those who are zealous among men; and "upright" the divine angels who cling to him, when divine virtues surround the righteous man.

PSALM XXV

VERS. 2. No sinner wishes to be judged regarding the things he has done, and especially by him who sees secret things. But he who has walked in innocence, that is, who has progressed, desires this to happen to him; for he knows he will obtain a reward or inheritance. Or he calls "innocence" the not participating in the depravity and malice of one's own people and the madness of others. "And hoping in the Lord, I shall not be weakened." As long as hope in God will hold me, strengthened by it, I shall not be weakened. ^C It is reported in the Scripture: "I shall not waver"; and through this, it is signified: Since hope in God has provided me a firm and immovable seat, hoping in the Lord I shall not waver. I would not have desired to suffer the previously mentioned painful things, unless your mercy had entered my mind as being an aid to me in enduring them.

VERS. 6. Whoever washes his hands—symbolically called the active powers of the soul—among the innocent, does nothing base through them, but performs something excellent; perhaps even he who previously defiled them, if instead of water he uses good works.

VERS. 8. He who loves the Lord with his whole soul, loves also all things of God, among which the beauty of his house is reckoned; the beauty of the house of God is the truth of the dogmas, and the order of the canons of the Church, which is understood as a house. And besides this, he loves the tabernacle of the glory of God. ^D

^A And perhaps the tabernacle of testimony, which Moses constructed in the desert, is the tabernacle of the glory of God; this is a sign of progress. But the house which Solomon built after the journey to Jerusalem is the house whose beauty he loves, bearing the type of perfection. He prays further not to be dealt with in the same way as the impious, so that his soul may not perish with them; for anyone possessing a pious mind will not suffer this. He also asks not to become a man of blood, so that his life may not perish with men of blood.

VERS. 11. ^B "Redeem me and have mercy on me." Even if he spoke the aforementioned things, supported by a good conscience, yet fearing that he might not be justified in this—since secret sins often lie hidden—he desires to be redeemed and treated with mercy.

PSALM XXVI

Of Theodoret and Didymus. VERS. 1. In some copies it is inscribed, "A Psalm of David, before he was anointed." You will not find this inscription in the Hexapla, but it is in some manuscripts. From this, some have taken the opportunity to reject all the inscriptions as untrue. For how, they say, could David, not yet having been anointed and not yet having received the grace of the most Holy Spirit, have written prophetic psalms? Besides, he was young at that time, tending sheep, not steering a kingdom, nor being pursued by any enemies. But they ought to have observed that the history of the Kings relates that David was anointed twice, or rather three times: first, indeed, in Bethlehem by Samuel the prophet; second, in Hebron by the tribe of Judah after the slaughter of Saul; and third, by all the tribes after the death of Mephibosheth. He uttered this psalm, therefore, before he received the second anointing and clearly undertook the administration of affairs. ^C Furthermore, being pursued by Saul, he used these words when he went to Achimelech the priest and prayed in the tabernacle of God, and having received the blessing of the holy loaves, he escaped the hands of the one warring against him. And he says this in the psalm itself: "For He hid me in His tabernacle in the day of my evils." Then also Doeg the Edomite, pasturing the royal mules there, reported the flight of David to Saul. Wherefore he also says in the psalm: "For unjust witnesses have risen up against me." Our Savior is God, delivering us from sins and from death; and He is the illumination, dissolving the mist of malice and ignorance, and shining with the light of knowledge. ^D Being thus united and illuminated by the Lord, whom shall he fear? For no one is able to harm one who has attained such goods and such safety.

VERS. 3. These things can be said both concerning sensible enemies and concerning the phalanx of invisible foes. "For if," he says, "war should rise up against me," in this my heart which does not fear them, I hope, having confidence to have God as my protector.

^A Ver. 4. He asks to dwell in the Church by contemplating ecclesiastical things all the days of his enlightened life. "When I am on earth," he says, "although I have need of many good things, I have for the present asked one thing of Him." Since it is impossible to enjoy all good things, take heed lest you leave behind that which is great or precious.

Ver. 5. It has been said many times elsewhere that the tabernacle signifies progress, but the house signifies perfection. Therefore, no one, when the day of evils is upon him, can be in the house of God, but he is hidden in the shadow, because being freed from malice covers his progress; for some things are manifest, others are mystical. God does not, then, protect the one who is advancing in things of light moment. He says "His tabernacle," because not every progress is toward God; but the rock of perfection has succeeded to progress. He says fittingly, "He hid me" with progress, and "He exalted me" with perfection. ^B You might say that the tabernacle is the life according to the law and the prophets, in which the one being instructed is hidden, whom God, having instructed him, exalts upon the rock, Christ.

Ver. 7. He who says these things, knowing that God listens to the prayers of the righteous, crying out to the righteous with the same disposition, desires to be heard. For no one is worthy to be heard by God unless he is pitied. These things, he says, I have not spoken from the surface of my lips, but from the heart itself; for God listens to such a voice.

Ver. 11. "Set a law for me," that, having received such a law from you, I may follow Him who said, "I am the way," and, "Guide me in a straight path and in your path which is not winding, because of my enemies," who place snares for me along the path; furthermore, since virtue is a mean between excess and deficiency, ^C as I must keep the mean, do you, O Master, "guide me," leading me to its end, "because of my enemies," who work iniquity by acting in excess, standing at the door of virtue and deceitfully capturing those who do not attend to the difference between the mean and the excess. But if you call the walk of true doctrines a straight path, know that when God is not guiding them, those who lead others into false doctrines alongside the truth—the rulers of this world—are enemies; because of whom, that we may not fall into their deceit, we pray to be guided by the Lord along the straight path.

Ver. 12. "Since I chose to walk the straight path, all the wicked have set themselves to afflict me. But you, O Lord, caring for me, do not deliver me into their souls"; that is, either praying not to be delivered to them, ^D or not to be numbered among the souls which the oppressors had, choosing by this very fact to be unjust witnesses. But the iniquity which they had attached to themselves, being unstable and insecure, lied to itself; for it was not found to be such as it claimed to be. For the speech that lied...

meaning not always that which is contrary to the truth, as in the prophet: ^A “The threshing floor and the wine-press lied to them,” instead of: “The threshing floor and the wine-press were not found as they promised to be year after year.”

VERS. 13. The “land of the living” is called the land of promise, on account of eternal life, since no one in it suffers the death which comes from sin. Furthermore, this land is situated in invisible and eternal things, and upon it sits the truth, and properly that of God... It is of such a sort: “I believe that I shall be a participant in eternal life, so that by this life I may be moved into the land of the living, in order to behold the good things of the Lord that are in it, which remain according to the promise for those who have lived holily.” And it is well said “to behold,” and not necessarily to eat or to touch, or anything else; for all utility is in the contemplation of the good things of God. ^B

VERS. 14. He says, “In the virility of the soul and the infirmity of the body, act viriliter”; for we have a battle against strong and non-carnal enemies; but by endurance we both gain victory and enjoy the good things promised by God.

PSALM XXVII

VERS. 1. The name “pit” designates the place where the condemned are guarded.

VERS. 2. Since, therefore, being in need of many things, I have known that these can be fulfilled by you, I cry out to you and pray that you may hear the voice of my supplication, for I implore no one other than you. For no one else is able to fulfill that of which I am in need. But the temple of God is the glory of God; the temple of God would also be the supercelestial place, and the powers in it receiving the presence of God, as far as is possible; it would also be the Word of God, saying: “The Father remaining in me, does the works.” ^C

VERS. 3. He prays, therefore, saying: Since destruction awaits the one who acts entirely unjustly, grant me justice, lest you allow me to be placed in iniquity, so that I may not perish with those who work it.

VERS. 4. He who prudently discerns matters, as one who knows that harmful things are base, turns away from them, preferring the good things which are useful; but the base man, charmed by pleasure, performs evils, not seeing their harmfulness. Since, therefore, he does not logically perceive the harmful things, the saint prays that retribution be dealt to the base man according to his laborious works, so that, if even through these hardships, he might turn away from the evils which have become the cause of punishment for him. ^D

VERS. 5. Just as a man acts, these are his works, and these are the works of his hands: for he himself acts according to his disposition. Moreover, the active powers, called his hands, perform the things that are to be done in sins. He asks, therefore, among other things, that retribution come about, “because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and the works of his hands.” Of the works of God, some are visible, others are invisible. Therefore, those who have not understood the works of God and the works of his hands, retribution...

^A he wishes to receive; for they voluntarily chose not to understand the works, which was followed by their falling subject to punishments.

Vers. 7. “In the Lord as helper and protector,” my heart having hoped, it was helped, so that no shameful thought or base doctrine remains in it; for it is the mark of a heart that is helped to consent to what is right, and to recoil toward the contrary. And with my heart thus helped, my flesh has flourished again in practicing these things. And perhaps the heart that hopes might be helped, receiving at the time of the resurrection the flesh that has sprung up; which is nearly similar to this: “And our bones shall spring up like grass.” For our present body has the relation of seed to that which will be at the resurrection; for this very thing sown in corruption flourishes again, being sown in incorruption; whence Paul also used the example of that which is sown for matters concerning the resurrection. ^B

Vers. 8. For what other bulwark is there for the people of God, except the Lord? Everyone who partakes of Christ is called Christ by the same name. Since, therefore, he is saved by things pertaining to salvation, in this way Christ himself is the protector; or since he is in reality Christ, he is the protector of the salvations according to which he saves.

Vers. 9. “Save this thy people, of whom thou happenest to be the strength, and bless thine inheritance,” which is no other than thy people; but bless it with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, having raised and lifted them up through virtue; and also ^C “pasture them” for all this age; for in the age to come, having surpassed the condition of beasts, they will rely on thee as instructor and teacher.

PSALM XXVIII.

Vers. 1. The subject psalm, containing the greatest mysteries, is deservedly ranked as the twenty-eighth, being a heptad in power. For if you sum the numbers from one to seven, the number twenty-eight is completed; whence it is also triangular, showing seven on every side; it is also a perfect number, the second after the number six. They call a number perfect that is composed of its own parts in such a way that nothing exceeds or falls short. And the number in question has as its parts the half, the fourth, the seventh, the fourteenth, and the twenty-eighth; which, when added together, complete the number itself: 14, 7, 4, 2, 1.

He commands either the angels, or human beings endowed with the spirit of adoption, to bring ^D to the tabernacle things necessary for the sacrifice. Those who have received the spirit of adoption are commanded, among other things, to bring also the sons of rams; but by rams are to be understood those who have undertaken a life of intensity toward piety, and who do not fail to contemplate the truth intelligently; therefore, they are capable of ruling; and the sons of rams are those who have been born of them, as it were, through the imitation of their way of life. For those who believe as is fitting regarding the Trinity bring glory; and all who keep the commandments bring honor. For even he who transgresses the law, through his transgression dishonors God. In

^A the holy atrium he worships, who honors God according to the dogmas and canons of the Church.

Vers. 3, 7. One might, taking a closer interpretation, say that John, baptizing in the river Jordan, is the "voice of the Lord upon the waters." Furthermore, John, having taken up an austere and strictly ordered life, making the burning heat of the pleasures of life passable, is the "voice of the Lord cutting through the flame of fire."

Vers. 9. "Harts" signify souls that by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, and by the Spirit, through their lips, in imitation of God, destroy the impious serpent from their midst. That the wild beasts dwelling within them might be made manifest, the harts are aroused; for the wood is a place overgrown with fruitless trees, which are cut down by the axe of the Word and cast into the fire. When those things which, because of their density, were an impediment to the progress of men are removed, then every man, having abandoned the error of false gods, will speak of glory in the temple of God. ^B

Vers. 10. This session shows the immutability of God. He assigns it, therefore, to those who have perished on account of change, saying that He sits for eternity, while we perish with time. He demonstrates, therefore, the stability of His kingdom.

PSALM XXIX.

Vers. 1. The true David, born according to the flesh from the seed of David, after He built the Church, whose foundation He laid with His own blood, saying, "I will establish my holy house," purposed to dedicate this, giving the beginning of the dwelling in it to those who believe; on account of which the "Psalm of the Canticle" is sounded forth in thanksgiving. David, most desirous of building a sensible house, had heard: "You shall not build me a house, because you have been a man of war from your youth, but he who shall come forth from your loins, he shall build me a house." Having therefore prepared the materials for his son, he also left behind this psalm as something necessary, so that, when it was completed, it might be sounded forth with thanksgiving. ^C

Vers. 4. God saves either by not allowing one to succumb to death, or by raising up those who have fallen. These things may also be understood of the person of Christ, who gave His own soul for us, and rose again from the dead with the approval of God and His Father.

Vers. 6. But also those upon whom the true light has set, weep, being placed in the beginning of the night; while those for whom the "Sun of Righteousness" has risen, rejoice. It set for the old people, and they wept; it rose for the nations, and they rejoiced.

Of Didymus and Basil. Vers. 7. This is fitting both for Adam before the transgression and for Hezekiah after his victory; for in Chronicles it is said that his heart was lifted up. ^D

Vers. 8. The beauty of the soul is the harmony of its powers, just as the symmetry of the limbs is the beauty of the body. Grant me, therefore, this beauty, which I received by doing your will and that of the Father who is in heaven; for he who...

^A has become conformed to the image of the Son of God has received beauty from God by being united to the Lordly will.

VERS. 11. By this, “The Lord became my helper,” it is shown that “became” does not altogether indicate creation, but also a relation toward something. This, therefore, must be understood also regarding the Savior, if it should ever be said. Now properly, it is a lamentation when the hands strike the breast, from which is said—taking place in the consciousness of one’s own sins—that through spiritual hands one must turn the lament into gladness, taking up the fruit of joy from the Spirit. The words “that I may not be stung” mean the glory of the one singing; right conduct and pure knowledge are illuminated.

PSALM XXX

VERS. 2. He who hopes to enjoy the blessed end is not put to shame; and when harassed by the enemy, he asks to be delivered by the Only-begotten of God, who is his righteousness. And when he does not attain it, he says: “Our cry is to your height; incline your ear to me,” descending so that you may add speed, being implored. And now, the phrase “be unto me” shows the status of one protecting toward one protected; he asks that a house of refuge may become his, as he avoids the enemies, and that he may be fed with the heavenly bread.

VERS. 8. “I will exult and rejoice,” trampling underfoot sorrow and the other passions. Humility sometimes denotes a lack of pride, and sometimes the harm received from enemies; but it is a good thing for God to look upon both ^B forms of humility. Here, however, the discourse is about damages, when necessities are submitted; for he calls the circumstances of things “necessities.” If, however, he means by “spatiosum” the same as the broad and spacious way, which is a life of pleasure, he gives thanks that, while he is in a worldly place—where it is dangerous to live on account of the hidden snares—he has stood in such a way as not to be carried hither and thither by desires. He calls it “spatiosum” in a praiseworthy manner, and gives thanks that he is not in a narrow place, but has been enlarged and endures tribulations with an even mind.

VERS. 11. In the sensible realm, it is not absolutely the case that a beggar is weak, nor that a weak person is a beggar; but in spiritual matters, since strength and riches are the same, he who grows rich in good works possesses strength. Therefore he says, “I was weakened,” as one who has turned away from looking at riches. He speaks of strength, however, as one who possesses this condition; for just as it is not possible to be ignorant of science, so neither is it possible for strength to be weakened. Similar ^C to this is that saying of Paul, “That we might become the righteousness of God in him,” instead of “himself as just.”

VERS. 12. The enemies, being lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, not only are not ashamed, nor ^D

^A do they think to accept reproach for the things they do wickedly, but on the contrary, they glory in them. Hence it is said of them: “Whose glory is in their confusion,” in that they boast of things for which they ought to be held in contempt. Be ashamed, therefore, of your boasting before the Lord; from whence also these shall rise to reproach and everlasting confusion. The one who perceives himself to be in the aforementioned poverty confesses that he is a subject for reproach; therefore he says, “I have become a reproach among all my enemies,” and also among all who draw near to me in habitation, that is, among those who think the same things, who, having considered from what wealth I have fallen into what poverty, fearing to suffer similar things, fled from my situation, because I, who was once a vessel precious and useful to the Master, have become so useless that I seem to have been lost. The Master hears reproach from those who are seen to be his disciples, because they do not adhere to his doctrines nor remain in them; perhaps also by dwelling among these reproached ones, I have become a lost vessel, according to that which is written: “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?” “Fear has become the lot of my acquaintances,” for he says they feared to be with me, lest they fall in with my enemies.

VERS. 16. By "assisting hands" he means the powers, in which he says all the lots are held, according to the divine judgment, whether to suffer or to be delivered. For do not think that these things happen by chance. ^B In the protecting and assisting powers, which are termed thy hands, are my lots, that is, all things that I have obtained as a portion according to thy judgment, namely, to be delivered from them or to suffer; for I believe that nothing happens by chance. Others, however, interpret this passage thus: The authority given, they say, to those who govern, or to masters, or to those exercising some kind of superiority, is called their "lots." These, therefore, are in the hands of God; for as he himself establishes, so also does he depose kings. If, therefore, because of the authority granted to me, certain people come wishing to overthrow it, they will not be able, because all things that concern me are in thy hands.

VERS. 20 and 21. He does not entirely hide the sweetness from those who fear him; for they already see much of it, but he hides the ^D “multitude” of it, so that they may not be harmed. And it is rightly said, “to those who fear thee,” for it is for them that he stores it up. He manifests it to them when, having advanced to perfect love, they cast out fear. And these very things which thou hast hidden “from those who fear thee,” thou hast already effectively manifested to those who have more hope than fear before the sons of men. By "men" you shall understand those who have kept the Word and the sign undefiled, and by "their sons" those who have wisely become their disciples and imitators. And you shall call that which is hidden from the face of God that which is not now accessible to knowledge, but which shall be revealed then, when we shall see him as he is. To this hidden thing is opposed that which is said in Paul, “Science”

^A distinguish what is said by Paul, “that which is known of God is manifest to them,” that is, His creative and providential power. For immediately after “God hath manifested it,” it is said: “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” Perhaps the Savior, being the face of God, holds hidden everything that pertains to His Divinity, but makes manifest everything that pertains to the Economy. When, therefore, the Word, having become flesh, dwells among us, we are hidden in the secret place of His face, about to see it when we behold His glory, “glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” ^B Observe, however, if the manifest works of providence can also be His face; for through them we imagine God for ourselves; but His hidden things are the secret words according to which those things come to pass which are happening, which we shall know at the end of all things, away from the turmoil of men. Those who proclaim human dogmas are men who cast forth turmoil, by which they confuse the unstable. God, keeping those who hope in Him apart from this turmoil, hides them in the secret place of His face, according to all the ways we have just mentioned. But he who advances still further, and in the tabernacle desires that God, dwelling within him, should protect him, warding off from him the false opinions—which He called “tongues”—but as for the one who has attained to perfection, freed from every stage of progress, and contemplating henceforth the very truth itself, it is said: “And every voice that shall rise up against thee in judgment, thou shalt overcome them all.”

^C VERS. 22, 23. It is not so much worthy of admiration when the mercy of God appears in prosperous and sprawling cities, as it is admirable when it comes to pass in a fortified city. Wherefore it is fitting that God be blessed, and they bless Him who have been delivered from many vicissitudes of affairs. The word “excess” signifies distraction, but it also denotes admiration accompanied by astonishment. The present passage indicates the second of these meanings. For what it says is this: “In an excess,” namely, having fallen into astonishment, “I said: I am cast away from the presence of thy eyes,” that is, I thought I was far from those powers of yours which watch and keep vigil; but when I imagined these things, I prayed that I might not remain cast away, but that the face of your eyes might appear to me, “and therefore you heard the voice of my supplication when I cried to you.”

^D VERS. 24. While there is one truth that says, “I am the truth,” many arise in those who partake of the truth in the soul of each one; which it received as a type from the unique truth. Since, therefore, the Lord seeks all these truths, He wishes to demand payment for them from those who possess them; for which sake, “O love the Lord, all ye his saints: seek him”; not returning without reward for the truth which you have.

PSALM XXXI. VERS. 1. Since the psalm contains many hidden things

^A repent, but they even become more hardened in their evil state.

VERS. 2. “He who is without sin,” not simply “man,” but “husband” (or “man” in the sense of one who has attained the measure of a perfect man) is spoken of on account of [his] perfection. Thus, therefore, “God does not impute sin,” either by forgiving it or because it did not exist at all. This is most fittingly applied to Christ according to the dispensation. And that which is said: “There is no deceit in his mouth,” ought to be interpreted in the same way, whether it means that deceit has been cast out or that it never existed; for there is no deceit in the mouth of Him who possesses the true and unblameable Word.

VERS. 3. “Illumined by the true light, I lived in the day, and in this whole time I cried out, praying with hymns.” Since, therefore, through carelessness I ceased from this crying out, the strong and robust [parts] of my dogmas, called my bones, became old. He signifies the backsliding of one who speaks in this way, since his bones became old, and were not old by nature. He distinguishes the sins resulting from the transgression of the law from offenses [committed] outside the law; for the former are forgiven—since, being outside the law, they meet with indulgence—but sins are not forgiven at all; they are only veiled by love; for love covers a multitude of sins, when those who have transgressed the law subsequently repent. Since, therefore, there is remission through the laver, and covering through repentance, he embraces both. Some say that the remission refers to the Gentiles, but the covering to those of the circumcision who believed.

VERS. 4. It has already been said above that, in many places of Scripture, the chastening power of God is called His hand. He says, therefore, that this pressed heavily upon him day and night, that is, continuously, because of his turning to the worse. The Savior interpreted the life-cares and pleasures of this age as thorns. When, therefore, such a thorn is driven into anyone, he immediately turns to misery. It is worth knowing that one becomes miserable through conversion and change, whereas by nature he is not such. The word signifies a pitiable and wretched person; and the fact that a thorn is driven in shows that it is not there by nature, but penetrates from without. Being ulcerated by this, therefore, he turned to misery, which is born, of course, from repentance and the chastening admonition of the Lord: “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens; and He scourges every son whom He receives.” We know also from the books of Kings how much he suffered on account of this sin, being chastened by the Lord because of his previous righteousness, so that, having been freed from that sin and the punishment he had merited for it, he might be restored to his former health.

VERS. 5. He who falls into sin, as long as he wishes to be active in it, covers and hides it; but he who has come to hate it makes it manifest to Him who is able to heal it, laying it open through confession; and he also reveals the lawlessness which is akin to this. For lawlessness is a species of sin; for everyone who acts lawlessly sins; and

^A repent of their evil deeds, but even think that they can properly act in accordance with them. And ^B it can be stated by way of comparison that all who sin are law-breakers; especially because of this: “Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” But when he says, “I will confess against myself the injustice I have committed,” he received more than he had asked for; for God forgave not only this, but also the impiety of the heart. Now, the impiety of the heart can be that peevishness regarding providence which happens to many, born from the apparent confusion of circumstances.

VERS. 6. Even if the holy are free from actual lawlessness, they still have their thoughts lightly touched by that impiety of heart which we just mentioned. Therefore, they will not pray for the lawlessness which they do not have, but will pray for that impiety, asking for its remission at an opportune time. An opportune time of prayer for this remission is when one purifies oneself from impurities. And just as one who is wounded all over will not request a physician’s service for a mere scratch, while one who has his whole body intact but is wounded only by that scratch might, so no one burdened by deeds will pray for purity of thoughts, but only one who has been entirely sanctified. When a flood of many spiritual waters comes, and someone has within himself a fountain of water springing up into eternal life, that is to say, waters that wipe away all sins and the impiety of the heart along with them, then impiety and lawlessness will not approach him who has prayed for them.

VERS. 7. He who says these things does not think he can find deliverance from the surrounding tribulation in any other way than by fleeing to Christ.

VERS. 9. That is, lest, by failing to act prudently, they fall into the condition of brute animals, so as to be likened to a horse because of lust for women, or to a mule because of stubbornness in evil. Those who are teachable and obedient approach God by their own voluntary impulse; but the others, of whom I have just spoken, having become like a horse and a mule because of their lack of understanding, will be dragged to you by the aforementioned necessity of the bridle.

PSALM XXXII

VERS. 1. Those who have perfected a moral life are just, rejoicing in the Lord; but the upright, whom it befits to praise, are those who have escaped all the crookedness of false doctrine: for it is appropriate for these to praise God, since “praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner.”

VERS. 2. The confession indicated here signifies thanksgiving; this, therefore, must be performed on the lyre. And if the lyre be the body, its stretched strings are nothing other than the senses, which, when we use them in a praiseworthy manner, allow us to confess to the Lord in a rhythmic and harmonious way. But if one should take the lyre to be the soul, its faculties—such as memory, approval, rejection, and others which the mind strikes like strings according to reason—will mystically confess to Christ the Lord.

^A cithara difference, musicians say that the cithara produces sound from lower parts, but the psalter makes it from upper parts, while also being perfectly straight throughout. Therefore, the soul is given as the cithara, and the spirit of the man that is in him—which is perhaps nothing other than the mind—is the psalter, singing to none other than God. For when we use upright thoughts and take up the Holy Spirit into our own spirit, then we sing on a ten-stringed psalter. Perhaps its perfection is represented by it having ten strings. For it is possible to find such a number being constantly praised in the Scriptures; and indeed to the high priest Moses, God revealed no more than ten general commandments, and the people are ordered to pay tithes.

VERS. 3. For he who celebrates God in all things also shouts aloud through the voice; for the shout is a kind of voice, universal and confused, occurring against those conquered in war, so that it is aptly called "shout"; but the new song is akin to the New Testament and the newness of the Spirit.

VERS. 4. The word of the Lord, which He gives to those pursuing the things of knowledge, has nothing deceitful or crooked. To this word, the deeds that its workers perform in faith are corresponding and steady, since the deeds of the word are also immovable, and the word is straight according to what it foretells. But if we consider the Word of God as straight, the deeds which He does within Himself were in the faith of those in whom Jesus performed every miracle: for "Let it be done to you according to your faith." ^C

VERS. 6. In this passage, men of proven piety agree that the Holy Spirit is the Creator. ^D

VERS. 7. Since He calls the water of the sea and pours it out upon all the earth through rains at His command like a wineskin, He makes the water aloft in the air, so that, with the clouds hanging, rain is brought down upon the earth. Allegorically, the life of men is often called the sea, because of the unstable and salty character of those upon the earth, which the Savior gathered as in a wineskin in the body He assumed, making it serene and tranquil. He also shows that nothing in created things is carried on in a disorderly way. For He holds everything together as in a treasury by His own will; indeed, even the winds, not moved by their own impulse, are said to be led out from His treasuries, not being moved by their own power. Thus, therefore, He regulates the great multitude of waters by His own judgment, appearing either to restrain or send forth the showers—which He also did through the prophet Elijah.

VERS. 7. But also, opening the good treasury, the heaven, He gives rain to the seed of the earth; just as, conversely, He stays the rain by closing the heaven. Therefore, the abysses, which because of the immense multitude of waters might harm

^A, He places in a treasury, shutting them in, that when He wills, He may use them as is appropriate according to the season. He is also able to set those things which are incomprehensible to thoughts and unsearchable in His judgments—the abysses—in the hidden treasuries of knowledge and wisdom, so that none of them may be perceived by anyone, unless God Himself grants it.

Vers. 9. Since at His saying they were made, and at Him commanding they were created, let them be moved by Him; for it belongs to Him who has made to also change for the better. He signifies by "they were made" the bringing into essence of those things brought to being; and by "they were created," the arrangement which happened after the bringing into essence. If then God speaking and commanding, all were made and created, He to whom He spoke and commanded is none other than the creative Word; and this is the Son of God.

Vers. 10. Of Didymus and Basil. But also the customs and doctrines of the nations are dispersed; only the truth of the Gospel reigns in the world. For there is much counsel in men, but the counsel of the Lord has prevailed; and it has stood firm in our souls, when we have dispersed human counsels, just as ^B things written in tablets are erased. For then the soul purely receives the divine words. Therefore He adds, "Who has dispersed the counsels of the impious nations," throwing down the nation-deceiving customs and ancestral ways of theirs, and the reasonings—that is, the syllogisms—against the truth, He will reject, rejecting the wisdom of the wise; but also the counsel of the people of the circumcision, who have reasoned much against Jesus, the Lord will reject. He will also reject ^C the counsels of the rulers, of Herod and Pontius Pilate and of those invisible rulers of this age acting through them.

Vers. 11. Just as He speaks of other human things which we know, as if He had hands and eyes and other such things, so (He speaks of) His heart, that I might so say, His deliberative and intellectual energy. Therefore, the reasonings of this heart, being fixed and firm, extend from generation to generation, that is, in every succession in a generation the same divine reasonings remain; or perhaps the reasonings which He infused into the generation of the circumcision, these He infuses into the generation of the nations who believe; ^D for the nations are not called to other things, but to those which the people of the circumcision had, hidden in shadow.

Vers. 14. But not only men inhabit the earth, but also invisible spirits and the other mortal animals. Therefore, the care of God extends over all who are on the earth, looking down upon them from His aforementioned dwelling-place.

Vers. 16. That "a king is not saved by much power," you will learn from history: Pharao... but God threw his chariots and his power into the sea.

^A And all history is full of such things. Furthermore, he said that the giant, excessively strong as he is, shall not be saved by the strength he possesses at present; you will perceive this if you attend to what happened to Goliath. But if this designation looks to him who fights against God, neither in this way shall he be saved by a multitude of diabolical doctrines which he follows. Therefore, it is possible to find the strong man so-called in Isaiah saying, "A giant and a vigorous one"; and again, the one who fights against God in the same: "They come rejoicing to exert my wrath," rejoicing together. And in Genesis: "And Nembrod was a hunting giant before the Lord."

^B Vers. 20. Surely even those who, before the incarnation, could not help themselves, hope for and await the Savior who is to be their helper and protector; in whom alone all the faithful rejoice with their whole heart, taking no pleasure in any of the things of this life. It is permitted to say freely: "Measure your mercy by my hope." Now the Savior himself also taught this, saying: "With what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you."

PSALM XXXIII

Vers. 4. Just as those who were seen in the furnace in Babylon, being unhurt by the fires, praising God, summoned the whole of creation to this, knowing that they themselves were unequal to so great a task (for to praise God is a great thing), so also he who says, "Magnify the Lord with me," wishes either the whole of creation or the meek to join with him in this. To magnify God is not to increase his magnitude (for he is without magnitude; this is a property of bodies, but God is incorporeal), but to think and speak about him ^C what is great, not in relation to him, but in relation to us. They "exalt his name together" who are attuned by the same mind and the same judgment; the name of God is exalted by created beings, not because it is moved from a humble to a sublime place, but when those who perceive it consider nothing earthly, but high and heavenly things. For as they profane the name of God—not that the name itself is defiled, but as far as it pertains to those who are encompassed by it, while they do and think profane things—so also it is sanctified by our actions. Whence the Savior, among other things, also says this in the prayer, teaching, "Hallowed be thy name," not that his name is hallowed by becoming holy from a non-holy state; for we must pray for it to be hallowed in us, as we think and act ^D holily, and thus the conception which we have regarding God, according to a most accurate knowledge of God—this is the name of God. We shall have this hallowed when we perform all things holily. For if at any time some of mankind are in error and ignorance, the name of God is, in a certain way, injured, being dragged toward things to which it ought not to be; for some have called idols and their own bellies "gods."

Vers. 7. Here he calls him "poor" who is not able to save himself from present tribulations; and we all have this poverty. Wherefore, regarding everyone...

he says, touching the salvation requested from God: "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him."

^A Ver. 8. If we understand "them that fear God" to be the perfect, and that He "encampeth an angel round about them" to deliver them, we shall say it is none other than God, the Savior of the great counsel. This is also confirmed by what was said by Jacob: "The angel that delivereth me from all evils." 25 The angel is not able to deliver, but the Savior who is signified [is].

Ver. 9. God’s optimal [thing] is the same as the good. Since, therefore, the bread of life is also nourishing, ^B the Spirit commands those who do not have an appetite for it to be filled with it, and at least to taste of it; for the taste is sufficient to make them desirous, just as it indicates that they wish to be satisfied by tasting, even if in another way it is necessary to extract and seek from God. But blessed is the man who, through perfection, hopes entirely in the Lord.

Ver. 12. For neither does he speak here of the introductory fear, which observes the commandments, according to that: "Fear God, and keep his commandments." 26 For now he calls saints those who, through initiation, are traveling toward perfection, to whom he also imparts a fear that fulfills every good. — It should be noted that, like other goods, divine fear is also something that can be taught; from which we learn that it is not a passive fear being indicated. For the latter is not taught by nature, but exists not only in humans, but in other animals as well.

Ver. 16. Since the powers of God that look upon all things, metaphorically called eyes, look upon the just, and His ears are also ready to receive their prayer, for this reason, he says, if you wish to enjoy these things, "turn from evil, and do good." — For, he says, God provides for the just; for he does not call eyes here simply with regard to inspection, but that which is done by God for beneficence and providence. ^C And with God looking upon them, turn from evil and do good.

Ver. 21. "The bones of the just," that is, the dogmas of truth or the powers of the soul, the Lord will guard, not allowing even one of them to be broken; of the just, namely, so that neither the dogmas nor the virtues themselves are shattered.

Ver. 22. The sinner is deprived of the life that remains for the observers of the commandments, succumbing to a "pessimistic" (or evil) death; and a pessimistic death is either that which is contrary to the good life, or that which brings punishment to the dying. For so also was Job tormented by a pessimistic ulcer, that is, one causing pain.

Ver. 23. Note that, properly speaking, redemption delivers souls from captivity. For if ever bodies are redeemed, it is not primarily, but accidentally; and it is not just any soul that is delivered, but of His servants.

PSALM XXXIV

Ver. 1. Since many, through false doctrines and [the... ^D

^A other wickedness, set themselves to make war, for this reason, do You fight against them on my behalf; for they shall undoubtedly be destroyed, since You, O Lord, are one who crushes wars. — By "to harm," it signifies injury, as in, "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall in any way harm you." [Luk. x, 19]

Ver. 2. One must understand "arms" in the same way, in reference to God. — The way of the wicked is a burdensome life. Let there be no light in it, he says, even if they have thought it broad. He prays also that they find no stance within it; and the powers of the angels are the arms of God.

Ver. 8. He shows, moreover, that each person is requited according to what he has done; and instead of optatives, he uses imperatives.

Ver. 10. Those who wish to accept everything literally and nothing allegorically should be refuted by this verse. For nothing is so absurd as to believe that sensible bones have any understanding of God so as to praise Him and know that no one is like Him; for these things [“All my bones”] were said regarding the bones of the inner man, his powers, and true dogmas. For through every insight and true dogma they were strengthened, so that none of them that are created would be like the Lord; for only the Son is the image of the invisible God and the character of the divine substance. It is possible, however, for the same person to be both poor and destitute: the former as one who has lost his wealth; the latter as one providing for the necessities of life with labor. ^B

Ver. 13. The prayer of one who has prayed well returns to him, bringing the good things for which it was made; and having been turned aside, it gathers into the bosom of the one who sent it forth. The "bosom" signifies their ruling faculty. For thus their humiliation in the land of Egypt is "into their bosom," and "into the bosom come all things to the wicked"; and for this reason all the righteous go into the bosom of Abraham, that is, into the same judgment and promise as he.

Ver. 14. The present verse can be understood as an explanation of, "They rewarded me evil for good"; for while I was mourning for him and sorrowing over the ruin to which they were coming, they, gathering against me, were filled with joy, as though they would seize me as easy prey. ^C

Ver. 15. Having gathered and rejoiced against me, and yet even so being scattered, they still were not pricked at heart—that is, they did not repent of the things they wickedly plotted, but again set themselves to the same things.

Ver. 17. The saint says, "O Lord, when will You look down?" For when God looks down, all the aforementioned things will vanish, passing away together with those who do them. By "my unique one" he calls his own soul, because he has it alone; for we must not give credence to the myth-making regarding metempsychosis. Or perhaps the "unique one" that is distinct from his soul is the substance of the spirit conjoined to the soul— ^D

^A for this is unique in that it is separated from all things that are in us according to divinity.

Verse 18. The Church is great, gathered from many saints; it is a numerous people, firm and robust, distinguished from the light and tractable.

Verse 22. When you are standing by me, let my enemies be far away, "do not depart from me," lest they attack me when I have been left by you.

Verse 23. Since God's long-suffering is in many places called his sleep, when the enemies have worn him down, he rouses the Lord to anger, saying: "Arise, O Lord, and heed my judgment," that is, rouse your watchful power to examine the things which my enemies have plotted against me; for this belongs to a good father, since they are wickedly raging against me. Then he concludes the end of the whole discourse regarding himself, saying: "And my tongue will meditate on your righteousness." (Didymus rendered the psalm indefinitely in the just man.)

Verse 26. These things are said for the benefit of the enemies, so that they might be ashamed and feel compunction, and receive perception of their own sins, and turn back from the path upon which they had set out.

PSALM XXXV

Verse 2. He who is habitually lawless while reflecting within himself says nothing other than to sin. For one who has first given consent in thought proceeds to sin in action. Moreover, he is able to sin also in the things he says within himself, such as: "But you said in your mind, 'I will ascend to heaven'," and the rest; that is, he thinks that no one sees his deliberations.

Verse 4. There is another Scripture saying: "The words of his mouth are iniquity and trouble," that is, he brings burdensome trouble to those who pay attention to him. "He would not understand to do good." It is clear from the things said that the lawless man is not such by nature; for the refusal to have understanding for the purpose of doing good is an act of free will.

Verse 6. So also in Isaiah mention is made of the clouds as follows: "Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness." But sensible clouds do not rain down righteousness or truth, but rain. Therefore, the clouds that rain down righteousness are divine men pouring forth the spiritual rain, that is, the word according to virtue. Those who exalt the heaven above them are the blessed natures who inhabit the heaven, or the Savior allegorically so named. For this heaven is from above, that is, it is above the nature of every created thing, and it rejoices for the benefit of all. And so here, in the heaven, I mean in the Savior, is the mercy of the Lord, who has mercy on all; and his truth, which is separated from the figures, is in the aforementioned clouds; for even if the prophets lived in shadow, they were not ignorant of the truth of which this is the symbol.

Verses 7, 8. It is no wonder that those who take men [in the form]

of rational movement obtain salvation. But when someone sees those who had already become like beasts and horses, mad with lust, and who had taken on the habits of other irrational animals, now coming to salvation, he will be struck with amazement at the goodness of God and will say: "Since you have multiplied your mercy, O God, not only men are saved, but even beasts; for great sins require greater and abundant mercy."

Ver. 9. Since the house of God is the Church, its abundance is ecclesiastical discipline. From this, those who are surrounded by it will be made drunk with a sober drunkenness. But if the Savior is the house of God, those who are imbued with his teaching, which is abundance, will be made drunk.

Ver. 9, 10. "For with you is the fountain of life" (and this is he who says: "I am the life"), perhaps you will make those who have been made drunk with the abundance of your house drink from the fountain of life that runs like "the torrent of your delights." The Savior is the fountain of life, because he has nothing from outside, but offers himself again to all living things, not only to men, but also to those who are superior; and therefore he is called the fountain of wisdom. But the torrent of delight is the Holy Spirit, because those who drink of him enjoy delights, receiving his various graces. "In your light we shall see light." The light of God is the true light, the light that is the brightness of eternal light. In this light, therefore, we shall see light, that is, you, the eternal light, concerning whom it is said: "God is light." You will join to this: "He who has seen me has seen the Father."

Ver. 12. The divine word knows how to use metaphorical expressions. As here it called "foot," not of an animal furnished with feet, but of a habit, [the foot] of pride. And in the Proverbs: "For the feet of folly lead astray." What, therefore, he prays for is this: "Let not pride have opportunity to penetrate into my soul, nor let a hand, that is, the work of a sinner, move me; for if I perform the works of sinners, I shall be cast down from virtue."

PSALM XXXVI

Ver. 3. This goodness will cause you to inhabit the holy land, that you may feed upon its riches; for you shall have a true shepherd leading you to divine pastures, which are called the riches of that land.

Ver. 4. Providing himself to us through all things useful, the Lord is found to be both our food and drink. When, therefore, we feed upon him who is the bread of life, and are filled with his flesh and his blood, being true food and drink, delighting in him, we shall have him granting the petitions of the heart, that is, of the mind; not those which are sensible [perceptible to the senses], but spiritual and intelligible.

Ver. 8. Anger is a destructive passion, so much so that

it kills even the wise; but it is also an impediment to virtue: "For the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God." Therefore, "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath," having become a zealot of gentleness and sweetness... ^B

Ver. 10. But it shall not avail the sinner, since his evil nature, whereby he is such a one, is rendered ineffectual; and the "place" which is not found is to be understood as an "order," as, for example, the other order of a master and a disciple. Until [the disciple], having received the same knowledge, shall be placed in the same order as he, having left the place of a disciple. Thus, wickedness being removed, those who have chosen it shall have no place. "But there shall be a multitude of peace in the land of the meek," when all the enemies with whom we must do battle shall be dissolved.

Ver. 12. These things may also be said of the devil; for with the article [the] he calls him "the sinner." And sinners do not harm even those who are growing rich in evils, nor do they slaughter the wicked, since they are friends to them in their hearts.

Ver. 14. For the sinner perishes by his own sin, and their sword, which they had sharpened against others, shall harm them, entering into their own hearts; but their bows also shall be shattered, so that they may be able to shoot no one. Now their bows, stretched taut, are their wicked thoughts; but the sword sharpened against those differing from them is their destructive speech.

Ver. 17. Understand by "arms" the practical faculties of the soul. In regard to the sense, it is better for the just man to have a little knowledge with piety than riches with the impiety of sinners—riches which some, pursuing the things of "falsely named knowledge," think they possess. ^C

Ver. 19. It is an evil time when someone endures hardships on account of sins. In such a time, therefore, the blameless shall not be put to shame, not doing those things for which one ought to be ashamed.

Ver. 25. In regard to the sense, from the childish and unstable manner of living in which I was young, I have been changed and have come to old age, having obtained an unblemished life and hoary wisdom. Yet, having advanced thus far, "I have not seen a just man forsaken," who indeed has had God as his provider and the one who grants divine loaves, so that the seed of the just—that is, those educated in the discipline of the just—has never sought bread. Therefore, the one established in meekness shows mercy all the day, being most helpful to all and lending, whether ^D precepts to those who hear, or to God. For he who shows mercy to the poor lends to God, having gained the fruits of salvation; and therefore their seed is blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Ver. 30. The just man, after he has corrected every moral virtue, comes to contemplation. And for this reason his speech, allegorically called a mouth, is nothing other than that which is in the

^A mind, which mediates on wisdom; to this will be received that saying: "The speech of a pious man is always wisdom, but a fool is changed like the moon." The tongue of the righteous does not speak indiscriminately or as it happens; for, having judged and examined the difference between what should be said and what should not be said, he will speak some things and keep silent about others. Such is that saying: "The lips of the wise are bound by understanding," for he has understood when to speak and when to be silent, using understanding as a bridle for his lips.

VERS. 31. The law which we have by nature in our heart, by which we discern what must be done and from what we must abstain, is none other than that of God who created us according to His own image. Assuredly, when we preserve upright thoughts, retreating from worse things, we seek better ones. Using this law as a guide for our path, we walk without being tripped up toward the goal to which we are hastening. It is possible also for the evangelical law to be signified in this passage.

VERS. 34. To the righteous man, whom the sinner watches, seeking to put him to death, it is said: "Wait for the Lord," even if you have many plotting death against you, receive salvation from God. For if you are thus disposed, the companion will be present to help you and will exalt you, so that you may inherit the land already mentioned many times. It should be noted that he says the land of promise is situated on high. Someone is exalted, for that land is celestial. Therefore, it is said in Isaiah: "The Lord will advance you to the good things of the earth." And consider at what height that land itself is found, ^C as God Himself leads [people] to it and exalts them, so that they may inherit it, since it is not possible for anyone to reach it by himself.

VERS. 36. Having passed, he says, in [his] mind to the future life, I no longer found the ungodly, so that I sought his place, nor did I afterwards find the wicked, not because their substance was destroyed, but the disposition by which they are such. And that their place was not found in the order of things has been demonstrated before. But if these things were said concerning Satan, since he is called the prince of this world, and this world passes away, anyone seeking in the future age the place of this prince will not find it. And if sin is the place of the devil, according to that saying: "Give no place to the devil," ^D with wickedness destroyed, the place of the ungodly is not found.

VERS. 37. Perhaps someone might say that this is the difference between innocence and equity: if innocence is to abstain from evil, equity would be the habit by which we rightly do all things; but if he calls innocence upright morals, equity would be the inflexible contemplation of the dogmas of truth. He commands us to do both: to guard innocence and to see equity, that they may be left for the future life to the peaceful man, who has guarded the double innocence and has beheld the previously mentioned double equity, to the

^A total destruction of the impious together, and at the same time in the time of judgment. But salvation of the just comes from the Lord, protecting them in the time of tribulation. It shall come to pass for them also to obtain help from the Lord, and to be delivered from enemies, but also to be rescued from the hand of sinners—that is, from evil deeds or powers—because they have hoped in Him. Wherefore this psalm also is placed in its own number among those mentioned in it; for it is the thirty-sixth. But this number is together both triangular and quadrangular with a side of eight; now the eight is the day of the resurrection of the Savior. For the quadrangular has for a side the number six, which is perfect; for six times six is thirty-six; and it is triangular in this way. For if you count in order from unity to the eight, ^B you will find this same number.

PSALM XXXVII

^C VERS. 2. A confessing person is introduced in this psalm. If it has been done to me, he says, as I have deserved, let me be reproved with fury, but being penitent I pray to be reproved by word and not by fury, and to be chastised by discipline and not by anger. And he explains the reasonableness of the request by adding these words: “Because thy arrows have stuck fast in me, and thou hast laid thy hand heavily upon me.” The words of the Lord are arrows. For the Savior Himself says: “He has made me as a chosen arrow, and in his quiver has he hidden me.” He, therefore, who speaks the word of the Lord, shoots an arrow; and when he speaks things that convert, he pierces the prudent listener with this arrow. He, therefore, who is able, from having been pierced, to have understood and hoped, is confident that the intelligible arrows of God have not fallen, ^D nor have they passed beyond him, but have struck him; as if it were said, “Have you seen how such-and-such a person has been pricked?” and, “Thou hast laid thy hand heavily upon me.” The one who is being struck might say to the teacher or pedagogue striking him, when he is not struck idly, “Thou hast laid thy hand heavily upon me.” For with the hand of the Lord resting upon the one who shoots the intelligible arrows, the arrows are sent forth, and they pierce and stick fast in the soul of the listener. But the naming of arrows sometimes also signifies punishments, as was said in the preceding. He says, therefore: Since I have committed sins, which are followed by punishment, thy arrows have already stuck fast in me.

VERS. 5. He says that his iniquities have gone over his head, so as to press down and weigh heavily upon his ruling faculty, which is allegorically named the head, and that these have also been weighed upon him like a burden. For since wickedness is by nature prone and very heavy, so as to be compared to a talent of lead, only the penitent perceives its weight, while he who performs it with pleasure thinks it to be most light. Whence Jesus invites those who labor and are burdened through repentance to come to Him, having become aware of the load of sin, and

^A he says that the scars which he had from the inflamed arrows of the wicked have turned to putrefaction and stench, due to the face of the folly he possessed. For folly is always accompanied by malice; whereas the works of virtue are performed with wisdom. But what follows must be interpreted thus: "Unto the end," that is, throughout the time of life, "I am bowed down," viewing things that are below and looking toward the earth, and therefore I was saddened and miserable; which is indicated by "I have become wretched."

VERS. 6, 7. Whether because of my thoughts, or because of perverse spirits. Therefore, I walked about saddened throughout my whole life, with all hilarity cast off. And since the Scriptures relate—sometimes indeed "my loins," at other times "my flanks are filled with illusions"—it must be said that, since the seeds pertaining to generation gather in the loins and flanks, these are filled with illusions when they are used not for generation, but for fornication.

VERS. 9. Drawing sighs of sorrow from the depth of repentance, not feigned nor simulated, as is done by those who simulate repentance, and therefore confident, he says to You, O Lord: "For before You is the desire of my heart." For every lust for evils is far from You and is hidden. But the desire of my heart, wishing to pass from iniquity to virtue... desiring repentance, has a good desire, which is not found in the eyes. One may also speak of evil desire: Since the wicked lust implanted in me does not escape You, I shall groan having confessed this, so that my groan, once freely uttered, may not be hidden from You. ^{B C}

VERS. 10. My heart, that is, my faculty of understanding, having suffered disturbance, my strength, which contemplates the thoughts of the mind, has forsaken me. But also the knowledge of truth, which is the light of my eyes, that is, of my mind, "is not with me." For intent upon that which lacks reason, I shall be able neither to think clearly nor to decide firmly. Strength may also be [considered] that of him who speaks, and the light of his eyes, the right word by which he is endowed with reason. This, therefore, has forsaken him, and it no longer seems to be with him, the strength of his heart having been disturbed, as it is called according to the instruction of those who are practical; but the light of the eyes [is so called] according to the illuminating of those who see by clarity. But those whom he says he had as friends and neighbors, while he was living sumptuously, he had as adversaries and enemies when he began to depart from evil and do good. These very ones, who lately were neighbors to me in form and habit, "stood afar off," in the manner of enemies. This can also be taken in this way: If anyone should fail in his affairs, he is forsaken by all who lately were nearby him, friends and neighbors... whom they formerly desired. You may find images of these in Job: "And they who hostil- ^D itly and contention-wise sought my soul and desired to offer violence to me," with compelling words, thinking they could deceive me as if with arguments that are beyond doubt;

but the things said previously regarding the investigation of the evils to which they hastened to subject me, appeared to me as vanity. For I heard them not as arguments, but as vain and deceitful sophistry. And this is the vanity through which they practice sophistry, speaking throughout the whole day—that is, throughout their whole life—meditating on deceit, not then providing proofs for the matters, but judging how to seize [others] sophistically. ^A

Ver. 14. He who is endowed with judgment observes this: "Thou shalt not receive a vain report." He has become deaf to deceitful and treacherous words, not even wishing to have the perception of them from hearing; but even more, like one who is mute, he would not wish to reply to such words, nor to refute them. For it has been said in another place that it is characteristic of a fool to refute very foolish words. "I became," therefore, he says, "to such men as one not hearing, and not having in my mouth reproofs." ^B For it is often dangerous to hear blasphemous words and to discourse upon problems subject to punishment. Therefore, it is blessed to be deaf to such things, and to be considered unable to refute them.

Ver. 15. Since, having despised all other things, I have hoped in Thee alone, O Lord, who art my [God] and being [God], Thou wilt hear me, Whom I called upon when I began, starting from the Lord, "Do not convict me in Thy wrath." For often the wicked demons, who are with me when I sin, reproach me, bringing to light what I had previously done, trying through this to hinder my repentance and to cause [me] despair of salvation. ^C I, therefore, toward those who suggest such thoughts, have become as one deaf and not hearing, not even wishing to refute them, so that, by not occupying myself with this, I may not weaken my intense zeal for repentance. Since, therefore, I have hoped, O Lord, I am confident that I shall be heard.

Ver. 18. I am ready and prepared for the scourges of conscience. Accordingly, my pain, by which I grieve over what was done of old, is before me, wounding and scourging me. For there is, clearly, a compassion toward us, for the sake of which He always has the memory of His own suffering. ^D "For in that which He Himself has suffered, being tempted," says Paul, "He is able to help those who are tempted."

Ver. 19. It is one's duty to be anxious for one's own sin while hastening to perform the works of repentance. He calls the sin of our own race "my own iniquity," as having become the first-fruit of our lump; as the new Adam, wishing to reform the old one in Himself, He is anxious about the sin for which He is in some way purified. For He was anxious about the words that were spoken in the Gospels: "I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I wish if it be already kindled?" He says; for He spoke of that which consumed our thorns.

Ver. 20. Of Theodoret and Didymus.—As far as repenting for sins is concerned, I ought to have been beloved; ^B

^A but they, so far from loving me, cast me away like a loathsome corpse, because of the stench. Ver. 21. Even if they cast me away like a loathsome corpse, do Thou protect me under Thy strong hand; for when Thou art present, my enemies are powerless and weak.

PSALM XXXVIII

^B Ver. 1. King David, while bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem, instituted certain holy men as singers, to whom the office and duty should belong of singing hymns to God. One of them, therefore, was Idithun, as is stated in the catalogue and enumeration of the aforementioned singers. Something similar is seen in the Paralipomena [Chronicles]. He either sang the psalm appointed for him, having composed it himself for David, or he recited it having received it as written by David himself. There is also, in the aforementioned psalm, the person of one returning from repentance to virtue, who is speaking.

Ver. 2. Since the cause of almost every iniquity lies in the word, he who intends to guard his ways in his own deeds makes a pledge with himself not to sin with his tongue. For if he were to abstain in his speech from every impure word, it would follow that he would be purified from every iniquitous act. "For by thy words," He says, "thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned"; and: "Amen I say unto you, of every word you shall render an account in the day of judgment." Here the sinner is called the devil, or even the evil angel present to man. When, therefore, someone has said to himself that he will guard his ways and set a guard over his mouth, then the sinner, rising up and arrayed against the penitent, calls to his memory what he had done before and upbraids him, bringing it into the open; or he wishes to entice him by the memory of it, so that he may lead back to his former sin the one who has already turned away from it. Thus, therefore, he says, when the sinner stood against me, being dumb to his words, I kept silence, when I had already begun to speak good things; for I had begun to speak to us concerning innocence, or concerning good doctrines.

Ver. 3. With the sinner rising against me with his words, my heart grew hot and inflamed. ^C Since I said nothing to such utterances, the heat grew within me, and by my meditation a fire shall be kindled. He who does not loosely, but diligently and fervently meditates upon divine things, will say this, when such a fire is kindled by such meditation and deep down destroys the former perverse manner of acting. Toward the sinner, he says, "I became dumb, and was humbled and kept silence"; but toward God, "I spoke in my tongue." He who brings forth words out of sincere desire and understanding speaks in his own tongue, while he who speaks deceitfully speaks in an alien tongue. ^D Furthermore, since we have also, in the interior...

^A to the man, the tongue; strictly speaking, this is our tongue, that by which we speak according to our disposition.

Ver. 3. Since every prudent person acts and works toward a certain end, which is called a limit, and it is necessary to have knowledge of this, he prays to know what is the end for which he is set to live, and what is the number of his days according to the considerations of truth. For thus he will know what he lacks for the fulfillment of his goal.

Ver. 6. ^B "Behold, you have made my days as wrestlers [palæstricos]." From the time I came into life, I was inscribed to wrestle. Since, in the beginning, I had the struggle against blood and flesh. But when I passed beyond the child and became a man, my struggle was against principalities, against powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness. Therefore, "wrestlers" signifies the same as "In struggle you have placed my days."

Substance [hypostasis] can now be said instead of essence [ousia], so that the statement is as follows. Another Scripture contains, "Behold, you have made my days ancient [palaias]," having an affinity to the old man whom I put on. Therefore, "and my substance, by which I stood before the things before faith, is as nothing before You; nevertheless, all things are vanity." He calls everything upon the earth vanity: animals, plants, and similar things. Man alone is living, besides these, a participant in immortal life.

Ver. 7, 8. ^C Constancy [hupomonē] is expectation. Even if "substance" [hypostasis] is spoken of, it itself is from God as from a creator; and even if we consider that by which we exist [hupistametha], this subsistence of ours is also from Him, giving to us the subsistence of those things which happen, even if they be painful. He who proceeds in advancing, partaking of the divine image, does this, being conformed to the image of the Son of God.

And yet, every living man travels in an image—either that of God, keeping what is according to the image, or that of some other animal—becoming an unbridled horse or some other irrational thing according to his character. And further, the sensible and manifest world is an image of the intelligible and invisible. Man therefore travels of his own volition in this world, which is an image.

Speaking then of the common man, he says what was said about individuals, that "they are troubled in vain" in their anxieties for mortal things. For each one, therefore, he adds, "He gathers treasures, and knows not for whom he shall gather them." For he who gathers on earth does not know who will succeed to the wealth for which he himself has labored. But he who gathers in heaven, having gathered for himself and not for another, knows for whom; knowing his wealth to be something he cannot be deprived of.

Ver. 10. ^D From the present verse we learn that the so-called "plagues" of God are nothing other than reproofs. For after saying, "Remove your plagues from me," he adds that they are "in reproofs for iniquity." For by reproofs brought upon them for iniquities, a man is disciplined, his soul being thinned out by casting away all carnal fatness.

^A VERS. 12. For then, like a spider, he is able to weave, not by using material supplied from without, but by bringing it forth from his house and from himself. Since I have prayed to be delivered from all my iniquities, and have not yet attained this, the foolish man insults me as if he held your work in his own power: "For I have failed by the strength of your hand." For when the chastising hand strikes severely, the one being chastised fails in proportion to what he is.

VERS. 14. After he has known himself to be still in need of many things, he prays that it be granted to him to remain yet in this life, that he may be refreshed by enjoying perfect goods. For if it were not so, but he were to depart while still deficient, he would no longer exist—not by falling into nothingness, for the soul is immortal and indefeasible—but by no longer having a share in the Being. For this happens to be true existence: to share in Him who said, "I am who I am." Those who do not enjoy this participation are said not to be, according to that which is said in prayer to God: "Do not deliver your scepter to those who are not." Desiring to be a partaker of this existence, he prays that time be given to him to be refreshed by the communication of Him who is, so that he may truly exist.

PSALM XXXIX

VERS. 3. Let those who think that nothing is signified in Scripture by this passage state how excellent is the good that man has obtained whose feet have been set upon a sensible rock; for he gives great thanks to Him who has bestowed this upon him. We, however, say that this is proclaimed by one who has been led out of the aforementioned pit and mire, and has been established in perfection, which is unbreakable and unfading through virtue. For he who has thus stood upon the rock also follows [the path] of having his footsteps directed rightly by the Lord, passing from wickedness to virtue, ^C and from mortal things to immortal, and indeed in every progression.

VERS. 4. Proper to the newness of the spirit. And indeed, a new song is moral discourse; but a hymn is theology.

VERS. 5. One must consider him to be calling the anxieties of life "vanity," and false doctrines and lying prophecies "false frenzies." It should be noted that, because these frenzies are not true, he added that they are "lying," for true prophets have a true frenzy, whereas false prophets have a lying one.

VERS. 6. He calls "thoughts of God" the meditations—so to speak—on the providence of God; he says, therefore, that no one among created beings has been found like these thoughts of yours, ^D because there is no one who knows the mind of the Lord.—"Your wonders and your thoughts." For when someone wishes to discourse upon some deep matter, then he finds it more obscure than before. "For I said: I shall become wise,"

^A and it was far removed from me, beyond what it was, and the depth is deep, who shall find it?

Vers. 7. The Epistle to the Hebrews shows that these verses are spoken from the person of the Savior, saying: "Wherefore, coming into the world, he says: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me." It gives grounds to understand the whole psalm as spoken from the person of the Savior. By the will of the Father, he says, he took away the sin of the world, being sacrificed for the sin of all. For when forgiveness has occurred, there is no longer need for a sacrifice for sin.

Vers. 8. By "the head of the book" he means all divinely inspired Scripture, both legal and prophetic. For in it is written concerning the coming of the Savior hither. He said "head" because the whole is gathered into one. And this "the whole" signifies the Savior becoming human, so that he might wish to do the will of the Lord. Aquila and Symmachus say ^B "volume." In this way, Jews are accustomed to preserve the divine Scriptures even until today.

Vers. 9. It should be noted that a will which runs together with another's will is indicative of the consubstantiality of the deliberative faculty with the essence of the wisher. "And your law in the midst of my belly—you wrote it in my governing faculty." And whoever has been trained according to the spiritual law would have the law in his heart, that is, in his own moral habit. He spoke this metaphorically, as those who are well-disposed toward someone and strive to bring the beloved within. He says, therefore, that I have every zeal to fulfill your commandments and to conduct myself according to your will. These things it is not fitting for David, nor for any other of the prophets, to say. While the law held sway, burnt offerings and sacrifices were offered to God; but the prophetic word, casting out all such things, pointed to the spiritual sacrifice. ^C

Vers. 10. The Church is great, being completed from great and perfect things, in which is evangelized the righteousness which is through faith in Jesus. And he knew this of his, as both receiving and appropriating it. As one steadfastly proclaiming it, he said: "I will not hinder my lips."

Vers. 11. By these things he signifies the remission of sins which occurred through mercy; by truth, that which is distinguished from the shadow. God, who knows good things, also accepted it from him who said, "He knew righteousness." By "many assembly" he speaks of that gathered from all nations, in which, openly proclaiming the mercy and truth of God, he says he has not hidden them. And perhaps he proclaims mercy, declaring the remission of sins that occurred through mercy; but truth, that which is distinguished from the shadow. ^D

Vers. 15. Since the psalm is of a single person and is spoken from Christ, it must also be said to those who contend that the Lord assumed only a body, using the [following words]...

^A *“But a body you have prepared for me,”* because it declares that he also possesses a soul, which those who erroneously suppose him to possess none seek to take away—those whom it also behooves to be ashamed. And just as those who hasten toward virtue are commanded not to turn back, for this is destructive, so let those who are hurried toward evil hasten to turn back, rejecting their vile purpose; for then they will have [their share] of shame from [what they now perceive by] feeling. ^B

VERS. 2. *An evil day,* perhaps that of judgment, in which God, having had mercy on the one who showed mercy, will deliver him from all punishment. Or perhaps, the entire present life is an evil day, in which the Lord delivers [one] from the things that beset him.

VERS. 3. *He will make him live*—that is, [with] the true life—*in the land of the meek.* He who is forbidden to be such is not handed over to the souls of his enemies.

VERS. 4. From these things we learn that sin is a disease and a wound of the soul.

VERS. 5. All agree that what follows applies properly to the discourses concerning the passion of the Savior. As for *“I have sinned against thee,”* [it is] because I have violated thy laws, O Master; for all our sin is convicted as being of this kind.

VERS. 7. Judas, having already departed from the society of the Savior and of the disciples from the moment he resolved to betray the teacher, having entered in as if he were still an apostle, *spoke vainly,* calling Jesus “Rabbi” and “Master,” while iniquity gathered in his heart. For when the devil had cast avarice into his heart, he also spurred him on to betray Jesus. But this man, having gone out—that is, having become outside the discipleship of Jesus—*spoke to the same intent* as the Pharisees against the Savior. And since they were secretly conspiring concerning the giving of the thirty pieces of silver, they were whispering against him... for whispering is a voice not free. They *devised evil,* planning to encompass the Savior with death; they set an iniquitous word against him, for to buy and sell innocent blood is the work of an iniquitous agreement. ^C

VERS. 10. Nothing strange, the Savior will say, if those who are enemies have set such things against me; for even *the man of my peace* who was at peace with me, and who was laboring for my peace, in whom I had hoped, [he] upon whom it happened to rely and [who was] a participant in the same salt, or rather, who was eating my bread and dining with me, has hostilely lifted up his heel against me, saying deceitfully, “Hail, Rabbi,” and whatever else the malignant one said. Clearly, therefore, he speaks here concerning Judas, having already treated of him covertly in the preceding verses. ^D

VERS. 13. Because you have supplied me with another people in place of the one rejected, and Matthias in place of Judas. But also, raise me up, so that I may recompense them [with] the recompense, which will happen for their good.

^A Ver. 14. "Blessed" indeed is he when there are those who bless [him]; but "Blessed" [in the absolute sense], that is to say, worthy to be blessed eternally—with the blessed God of Israel being [present]—[the Psalmist] prays, "Fiat, fiat." Not that prayers make God blessed; just as the prayer of those who say "Hallowed be thy name" does not sanctify the name of God either. But this has been spoken of in a preceding place.

PSALM XLI

^A Ver. 1. There were three sons of Core appointed with others to sing the divine psalms, which the Scripture also calls "canticles," the names of whom are also recorded in Chronicles. These three, therefore, being fashioned by the same mind and the same opinion, and being united in all things, [and] especially since they were in agreement, ^B they bring forth all things that are set forth in the present psalm with a unified voice.

Ver. 2. The divine fountain is the Father, saying, "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water"; and the Savior, concerning whom it has been said to someone, "Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom"; and the Holy Spirit, concerning whom it has been announced, "He who shall drink of the water that I will give him, it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting." Perhaps also all divinely inspired Scripture is a saving fountain. The disposition of the prudent man toward God is therefore likened to the longing of the deer for the fountains of waters. And since he knows that in the present life he approaches God through a mirror—the vision face to face being reserved for the things after this—he prays for the time to arrive when, having come, he might be seen by the face of God. And furthermore, since the Law, embracing a shadow of the good things to come, exists, ^C and the feasts during which the males appeared before the face of God are the shadow and symbols of future feasts, he prays to arrive at the spiritual feasts, so that he might appear perfectly before the face of God, which [appearing] is nothing other than the image of the invisible God. — The deer is an animal that acts in a hostile manner toward serpents and eats them; if ever, having eaten, it is burned with thirst from the [venom] produced by the reptiles it has eaten, it seeks with haste the fountains of waters, in order to slake its thirst. And there are those who say that, wishing to look at itself as in a mirror in the waters, it seeks the fountains so that it might see the stain impressed upon it from the blood of the serpents: for in tearing apart the serpents, those [serpents] splash their own blood upon it. Therefore, the holy man, subduing the serpents and scorpions according to the power ^D which he received from Jesus, but also condemning all disobedience—being a spiritual deer—hastes to track down the divine fountains of waters.

Ver. 4. He who does not weep in vain, but from a disposition [of soul], laboring for the sake of virtue, he shall be fed by his tears as if by bread, not [only] in times of ease, which he calls "day," but also in times of trouble, which he calls "night." It is for the perfect to be able to say this. Since the imperfect [man], moved by those things that buffet him from without, pours his soul out externally...

he is shameless and reproached by all, revealing his own soul through the voice itself and through the words he utters. ^A Since they are deceived in all things, they go astray also by thinking that God is in a [specific] place; consequently, they say reproachfully: "Where is your God?"

VER. 6. For along with this desire, he increased for me the despondency and the reproach from those who act as if there were no one to help me; and in addition to these, [there is] the memory of the things accomplished in those places for your healing; and [as for] the phrase, "These things I remembered, and poured out my soul on me," it means, "I was being dissolved from despondency."

VER. 7. "If I should be in the land of Jordan," that is, if I should be accounted worthy of holy baptism, ^B then I will remember you. They interpret *Hermoniim* also as "way of the lamp," as if holy baptism were opening for them a way of illumination and brightness into the mind and heart.

VER. 8. The cataracts of God are the most profound words about Him, or the divine prophets. Therefore, the teaching of Jesus, being an abyss, calls out to the abyss from the old Scripture. Perhaps also, since the judgments of some have been called [judgments] of others, and those again [judgments] of all, all come from the Word of God, which is called a "small mountain." For the great mountain, he says, is God the Word; but the small mountain is that for which He underwent a voluntary emptying for our sake. — "All your billows and your waves have passed over me." ^C Since the sea is allegorically the human life, he who does not suffer shipwreck in it, but sails aright, having experience of the swells and the winter of the sea, having reached the harbor of salvation, will say the verse; for he did not say, "they are passing over me," but "they have passed."

VER. 10. The voice of one speaking with boldness. For he who says, "Why have you forgotten me?" is confident that he has done nothing for which the Lord should forget him. And since, when the enemy presses me, ^D I go about sorrowful, I ask what the cause of this is. So that if it should be from me, I may remove it through repentance; for we all clearly know about God, that He is merciful, even if we do not all see how He shows mercy. For often we do not gladly accept things that are done for our mercy, because they are painful, nor do we think they are works of mercy. And for this reason we say, "Why have you forgotten me?" But he who has understood that everything God brings, He brings for our profit, will say nothing of this sort, unless he is working out his own repentance.

VER. 11. The bones of the soul, as we saw above, are called its solid dogmas and faculties. Therefore, since it often happens that the bones are broken by the arguments of wicked sophists, the deceivers reproach [us], saying constantly, "Where is your God?"—whom you preach, and in whose discipline you say you are instructed. But even concerning this affliction he converses with his own soul, saying: "Why are you sorrowful?" For having hoped in the Lord, I will confess to Him. For His countenance will greatly shine upon you, indeed the truth, so that possessing the truth of God, you may be able [to solve the deceits of those who would crush you].

your bones, as we have said.

PSALM XLII

VERS. 1. The person of the Savior is introduced, saying to the Father what is in the psalm: and he called the Jews "a nation not holy," and Judas "the man unjust and deceitful." These things, however, cannot be harmonized with what follows. For how could He possibly say: "Send forth Your light and Your truth," and what follows?

VERS. 3. Since the Savior is the true light and says that He Himself is the truth, those who lived before the incarnation, having learned from the prophecies that the light and truth of God would shine forth, prayed that the light and truth be sent through the incarnation, so that they might be led by them into the holy mountain—the higher discourse concerning the Trinity—and the eternal tabernacles. Light and truth are not different in essence. Both are the Son of God, but distinct only in thought; for the one frees from shadow and falsehood, while the other is light from error and ignorance.

VERS. 4. This expression, "I will go in," is not spoken thoughtlessly; for having received from the material altar an image of the intelligible one, he enters unto God Himself invisibly, offering sacrifices to Him.

PSALM XLIII

VERS. 2. Those who reject the Scripture as if it were not just say: "For whom could they hear, if not with their own ears?" ^B Being ignorant that He speaks not to their own ears, but to the ears of those men who listen rationally. Just as musical men passed on musical disciplines to the ears of musicians, such as that saying: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." You might call them fathers, and those who teach.

VERS. 3. God, having afflicted the peoples of the circumcision, drove them out from the holy instruction of the law; yet those from the nations who believed did not inherit the aforementioned land by the law of war; nor did their arm save them, that is, their own works. For they obtained salvation by grace through Your right hand and arm, that is, through the only-begotten Son; and the illumination which lights up Your face, "because You were pleased in them," saving them by grace, not from their works, so that ^C they might not boast.

VERS. 5. God commands the holy spirits, who are sent forth for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation, concerning the salvations of Jacob, of him who supplants base things, through which he is saved.

VERS. 6. The horns for the saints are the powers of Christ, by which they corner their enemies. And for this reason all animals that have horns, if they are clean, are either led to the divine altar or become food for the portion of God.

VERS. 9. He speaks of life as being in God all the day, which is lived with tranquility and the knowledge of God.

VERS. 10, 11. But God has not cast off from Himself... ^D

^A entirely because of sin, but also for other causes which He Himself knows. Not everyone, however, who turns backward undergoes this blamelessly; for if anyone, having abandoned evil things, flees far away, departing from them, this person, if he turns backward to the things he left behind, falls into destruction. But if anyone, having abandoned Zion—that is, virtue—hastens toward wickedness, which is called Babylon, [and] while turning backward receives [back] a blessed thing, [that is another matter]. However, those who say the things set forth here, since they have come to be among the enemies, have fallen into a turn backward worthy of reproach.

VERS. 12. Those who say these things appear to be certain saints, similar to him who is led as a sheep to the slaughter, being like sheep for food, to be consumed by those who, for the sake of utility, have expended words and life upon them. But even among the nations these were dispersed by God like seed, which farmers cast out, so that having changed the nations, they might bring them to the same quality as themselves. For we must not pay attention to those who say that the portion of God has been dispersed among the nations by way of captivity. ^B

VERS. 16. After we have succumbed to the aforementioned abominations, blushing throughout the day in our lives, we have our confusion against us, and the shame of our face covers us, such that we no longer dare to contemplate the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face of the soul.

VERS. 17. From the voice of him who reproaches and brings forth strife and constrains, one sees shame [being] against oneself all the day; and from the enemy showing his own dreadful face and pursuing [them], shame has covered their face. ^C

VERS. 18. This is the voice of those who have attained perfect manliness; for when many and various tribulations came upon them and incited them to the forgetfulness of God, they nevertheless kept God before their eyes, so that each of them could say, "In tribulation I remembered the Lord."

VERS. 19. God turns aside the paths of someone from His own way, handing him over to the desires of his own heart and to a reprobate mind.

VERS. 20. A place of affliction is that which is upon the earth and the subterranean region, where those who have borne the death of the body are humbled. The impressions in the heart, which must be addressed next. ^D

VERS. 26. If these things are said tropically, the meaning is this: since we are clothed in dust—that which is composed from pleasures and other passions—for this reason our soul has been humbled into the dust, since we have become low-lying; and indeed our belly has been glued to the earth, since we are not fed by anything heavenly, but like the serpent, we are eating earth all the days of our life. But if the passage set forth is interpreted allegorically, the soul inhabiting the body will say, "Our soul has been humbled in the dust." This soul, having fallen from the blessed life which is in the heavens by setting its mind on things below, will say, "Our belly has been glued to the earth." For it is not nourished by anything of the earthly things,

^A

Verse 27. He speaks here also to the Savior, lying in the heart of the earth during the time of the passion, so that rising, He might provide help and redemption, giving His soul as a redemption for many. ^B

PSALM XLIV

Of Didymus and Eusebius. Verse 1. Some have thought that the canticle is spoken from the person of the Father concerning the Word that was in the beginning with Him, ^C whom, as it were from the heart or the very bowels, He brought forth, he says, and from a good heart the good Word came forth. But to me it seems that these things should be referred to the prophetic person. For what follows immediately in the passage does not similarly accord with this interpretation concerning the Father. For the Father could not have said regarding His own tongue that, "My tongue is the pen of a ready-writing scribe." ^D "Beautiful in beauty beyond the sons of men." For it does not possess the excellence of beauty from comparison with men. And going forward He says, "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness." For He did not say, "I, God, anointed you," but, "He anointed you." From this, it seems demonstrated to us that the person speaking here is another. Who then is this, if not the Prophet, when he felt the power of the Holy Spirit descended into himself? "My heart has poured forth," he exclaims, "a good word."

Verse 2. He calls God the Word the scribe, who inscribes His divine laws upon the minds; and the reed of the ready-writing scribe, which He took up, is the man who writes the word of the Gospel in the whole earth, that is to say, in the soul of man.

Verse 3. It also teaches certain doctrines to those who are writing; for as the word of the Gospel, compared to a grain of mustard, if it meets with cultivation, becomes greater than human words—which are called herbs because of their fleeting nature—so the things which God the Word writes with His own pen at the opportune time manifest themselves [as superior] to the writings of men. Since the things of generation are performed about the thigh, and shameful desires grow up about these, there is need for the censuring word, which is called a sword, so that, girded about the thigh, it may cut away licentious pleasures. The Savior, therefore, according to the human type, establishing a pattern of the best discipline on account of His absolute purity, is girded with a sword upon His thigh, possessing grace and beauty on account of the virtue inherent in His sinlessness. That the thigh is a symbol of the things mentioned above has already been stated. The Word who became flesh can, in so far as He is Word, be a sword, but in so far as He is flesh, a thigh, since the flesh has its beginning thence. This one, however, with whom the Word was, having escaped all infirmity, is capable of possessing the splendor of divinity, grace, and beauty.

Verse 5. But extending like an excellent archer [his] bow, prosperously wound those who are struck with divine love. And it should also be read [as] "prosperously direct"; it is equal to...

^A granting prosperity. And in addition to these, "Rule over those wounded by desire." The reason for your reigning is the perfection of virtue, not in action alone, but also in knowledge. For "[because of] truth and meekness and justice" signifies this: Reign, he says, for the sake of truth being known, and that meekness and justice may be rectified for those under your authority. "And your right hand shall lead you wonderfully." He who does all things according to God is led wonderfully by the practical power of goods, which is the right hand, using it as a guide on the way to the Savior; and the Savior, therefore, performing wonderful deeds with his right hand, is led wonderfully by his own right hand. VERS. 6. The status of those sitting in evils is base, and being struck by these arrows, they fall under him, that is, they are subjected to him and come into his power. The enemies of the King, Christ, are all sinners. When, therefore, the aforementioned arrows come into their hearts, they fall from enmity, bowing at the knees of the King. Or perhaps those who stand in the heart of the enemies of the King, being confirmed according to the desire of their enmity, once struck by the arrows, shall be brought under Christ, having fallen at the heart of his enemies. VERS. 8. But if these things refer to the only-begotten Son of God, the Son of God, having hated the iniquity that was lived out before his advent, and having loved the righteousness that springs from faith after his coming, gave himself by the will of the Father to become man, and ^B to be anointed with the oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Spirit. VERS. 10. Kings are mentioned here who reign together with Christ, of whom he himself is the King of kings. Their daughters have become such through discipline—which they are teaching—[namely] souls; or rather, Churches, which, being daughters held in honor of him who is celebrated, delighted King Christ "from ivory palaces." But you shall call lofty theologies ivory palaces; for ivory, as God [is], is a symbol of the word; for the teeth are organs of speech. Ivory palaces are, of course, the great houses. Since, therefore, they so magnified their own word that the many daughters of the kings became the greatest house of speculations concerning God, they delighted Christ from the aforementioned ^C ivory kingdoms. VERS. 11. There is a change of person occurring. For it is God who is addressing the Church from among the nations, whom he also calls his daughter. He says, therefore: Having received my words, O daughter, listen and see their meaning, applying your mind to them. For you shall be willing to incline your ear even far more to hear and desire them more fully and effectively; and oblivion of your fellow countrymen will follow for you, no longer wishing to dwell in those same customs and ancestral traditions among the nations; and you shall forget also the house of your father who begat you ^D according to the iniquity of the devil.

^A Ver. 12. "For this reason I call you, daughter," says God to her, "so that you may perform what has been commanded to you, since my Son, being King, has desired the beauty that resides within you, who were made according to my image and likeness." But this same King, desiring your beauty, is not one of your peers; for He is your Lord, since He is not an angel or an archangel or any other created being. For everyone worships Him. Since, therefore, it belongs to God to be worshipped, know that the King who desires your beauty is God, and He is also your Lord.

Ver. 13. Furthermore, know that you have undergone a great change. For being a daughter of Tyre, because of those superstitions in which you were steeped, you have been named my daughter, so that all the rich of the people may entreat your countenance; whoever becomes rich in faith and the truth of the Gospel comes to you, entreating your countenance, ^B because you have become a consort to the King. For just as the ancients from the nations, brought by piety toward God, would betake themselves to Israel, invoking his countenance, so now those who are converted from the Jews flee for refuge to the Church of the nations, asking to be received by her.

Ver. 14. "All the glory of the daughter of the king is from within." Esebon is interpreted as "thoughts." The King of the just thoughts is the Lord: hence the glory of her who is called the daughter of Tyre is not external, but comes from the King of thoughts. It should be noted that in many places in the Scriptures, gold is taken to represent intelligible existence. Since, therefore, the word concerning intelligible things—especially that concerning the Trinity—is woven together with the virtues existing in her garments, she is robed in golden fringes, being adorned because of the manifold and varied nature ^C of the doctrine of Christ.

Ver. 15. Although there may be many incorrupt souls whom it is customary to call virgins, not all are yet brought to the King, but those who in their disposition have drawn near and become close to the perfect bride, to whom also they "shall be brought." For those who have not had experience of the bridegroom Word are not able to go to Him by themselves. But those who impart the preliminary teachings to them lead them to Him; these are the Law and the Prophets. — Since the phrase has a certain obscurity, let us take its meaning from another source. In the Song of Songs, interpreting the differences between the souls coming to Christ, the Scripture says: "There are queens, and concubines, and maidens without number; one is my dove, my perfect one." ^D As if it were said regarding her: "The daughters saw her and will call her blessed; the queens and concubines and they will praise her." From which it is shown that there are others besides the daughters, who...

are called young women and concubines and queens. It is shown from these words that souls approaching Christ, the ones not yet having the time for marriage, are young women, but those who are gathered unto Him are already joined to them; ^A some are noble, having surpassed the world created in six days, and are sixty queens; others, having received the circumcision on the eighth day, and having the spirit of bondage, are eighty concubines. But the glorious Church of the Word, which has surpassed all these, fashioned according to the spirit, so as to be a dove, is perfect, having neither spot nor wrinkle nor anything of the sort. The Psalmist, praising this Church in the preceding verses, now says that those who were formerly not yet having the hour of union, but now because of their perfection have been brought into the bridal chamber, along with her belong to the King, their Groom, so that reclining with the King they may be deemed worthy to become members of the one perfect bride, no longer being separate from her as they were when they were imperfect.

VERS. 17. Since almost all things in the Psalm are said unto Christ, so this verse also says: "Instead of the fathers you had according to the flesh," that is to say, those from the circumcision, "there have been born to you from the same race sons," having embraced the evangelical word; "whom you have also established as princes over all the earth," saying to them: "Going, teach all nations."

VERS. 18. Therefore, the peoples will gratefully confess, not for one or a second age, but even to the age of the age; for the confession regarding sins does not happen for the age of the age, for there is a place for repenting and confessing only in this age. But if it has "they shall be mindful" according to another Scripture, instead of that, those who have been chosen by you to rule will be mindful of your name in every generation and generation, extending your kingdom unto all ages. ^{B C}

PSALM XLV

VERS. 1. It is customary to call things spoken obscurely, by some arrangement, "hidden." For just as, according to that word, the wisdom of God is hidden in a mystery, so also the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are called hidden. There is, therefore, an end or limit to these hidden things, either that they hide the knowledge of divine things from the unworthy, or that the peoples who are more studious of divine knowledge, applying themselves to labors and exercises, might attain the goal.

VERS. 2. God is not a refuge for all, but only for those who have repudiated human aids; for their security and strength comes from the participation ^D of Him, according to the Apostle saying: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me, Christ," and that: "which have found us exceedingly," which can be referred either to "aids" or to "tribulations."

^A Ver. 3. Do not think that the mountains translated into the heart of the seas are sensible parts of the earth, but rather wicked powers translated into souls stirred up by the tumults of the passions, where there is brine and bitterness of character. Indeed, the Savior also says to the disciples: “If you have faith as a mustard seed,” you will not only do what is done with the fig tree, but “even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and cast into the sea,’ nothing will be impossible for you.” The mountain indicated here by the Savior is none other than the hostile power; for, speaking again of the demon that drives the epileptic [(76)], He said: “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there.’” He seems to compare the most perfect faith to a mustard seed. For the Apostle also says: “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains.”

Ver. 4. By the might of Christ, the wicked spirits were stirred up, being driven out from the souls and bodies of those they had previously possessed; for those mountains, thinking great things of themselves, on seeing Him who drives them out with authority, suddenly fell into commotion.

Ver. 5. The city of God must be understood to be the Church, or the heavenly Jerusalem. The streams of the river gladden this city, which is called by either name; the river is the Word of God, which flows ^B forth from Eden, the divine delight, and irrigates the whole spiritual paradise, and calls all to Himself: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” Its streams are in part the doctrines, or the thoughts which He suggests to the soul.

— Of Didymus and Basil. —

The Tabernacle of the Highest

— Of Didymus and Cyril. — Ver. 6. — There is another Scripture which says: “God will help her with His countenance.” For He preserves its beauty intact and uncorrupted, that is, the spiritual beauty, when it suffers turmoil ^C from the adversaries. For as long as the soul keeps faith unassailable within itself, and clothes itself with the ornaments of every virtue, it possesses that spiritual beauty in which Christ Himself also delights. But having turned away from the good, it immediately becomes deformed and hateful. But that which is not

^A in such a state will not be subject to this, he says, for the Church preserves its beauty. “God is in the midst of it, it shall not be shaken,” because of the sinlessness that resides within it. For it is shaken by those who sin; whence Adam also is found walking about after his sin; and in Zechariah it is said: “The Lord shall go forth in the tumult of threats.”

VERS. 7. He calls the “nations” the throngs of demons warring against it. When, therefore, these behold the incarnate manifestation of the Savior, they are troubled against His Church, or even filled with fear. Then it will also come to pass that the wicked kingdoms, over which death and sin reigned, will be called. But if you call those who are ruled “kingdoms,” even they have been called from error to the knowledge of truth, and have turned from malice to virtue; for when God is silent, earthly and material things seem to have firmness and stability, but they are shaken when God has given His voice. For when God cries out in the mind, immediately everything therein that is earthly is shaken. After God gave a voice through the Gospel, “the earth was shaken,” with the customs, laws, and ancestral belongings therein changed, and everything in the nations and kingdoms of the earth that is infected with the error of the wicked being shaken. But we take courage, having with us the Lord of powers, our Savior, the God of Jacob. For as he who does the ^B works of Abraham is his son, so he who imitates the exercise of Jacob becomes his son, having help from the God of Jacob.

VERS. 9. The Holy Spirit calls those who perceive keenly to the contemplation of these things with the words, “come,” inviting them to draw near; and by the words, “see,” He prepares them to look attentively at the truth. — The apostles also filled the whole world with miracles, traveling here and there, recounting the things that were done by Him, and performing wonders in His name. The Spirit can also call the nations by the contemplation of the miracles that appear in creation, so that they may recognize its Creator.

VERS. 10. Coming and overthrowing the devil who has the power of death, and the other wicked powers, “He has taken away ^C wars unto the end of the earth,” that is, unto those who have put an end to earthly desires. “Breaking the bow,” out of which the flaming arrows of the wicked one were shot; but He shall also burn with fire the shield of infidelity, which stands in opposition to the shield of faith.

PSALM XLVI

VERS. 2. Since hands are often used for deeds, and the nations practiced different things according to the diversity of their ancestral customs before the incarnation, the Savior, having dwelt among men, commands a clapping to be made, that is, a harmony of the practical virtues of the nations, which are allegorically called hands. Harmony in action alone is not sufficient for salvation, unless also ^D

^A a right mind be added to these; for this reason He commands the nations to shout aloud in a voice of exultation with a clapping of hands. It is not doubtful that He reigns over the celestial realms. But concerning those who doubt whether He also rules over the earth, the preceding verse is brought forward, and especially on account of those who circumscribe providence up to the lunar sphere, not wishing for terrestrial things to be under providence.

Vers. 3. He is terrible because He is venerable; wherefore those who meditate upon Him are more cautious in themselves.

Vers. 4. You will understand this also in this way: He subjected the peoples of the circumcision to the holy apostles, and the nations under their feet, having appointed them as rulers and teachers of all men.

Vers. 5. Choosing His inheritance, which is no other than the election of Israel and Jacob, which having chosen, He loved. He calls Jacob the entire people of the Hebrews: from this is also recognized the impartiality of God, for He loved nothing else than the beauty of Jacob. For in every nation he who fears Him and works justice is acceptable to Him. ^B

Vers. 6. The "shout," in which He ascends, is the confused clamor of the falling enemies. But He ascends having been found above our understanding. It seems that the great and distinguished voice of the dogmas is called the voice of a trumpet; for the trumpet is used in the Gospel also for manifestation, as in the saying: "When you do an alms, do not sound a trumpet before you," that is, do not make it known.

Vers. 7. It is necessary for him who psalms to also have an understanding of those things which are brought forth in the hymn; for he ought not to be primarily occupied with the modulation and harmony of the voice, but with understanding those things which are sung. For God rejects those who do not psalm in this way, but only produce a sound, saying: "Remove from Me the sound of Thy songs, and I will not hear the psalm of Thy instruments." Now he who acts according to the divine precepts and meditates upon them psalms intelligently. ^C

Vers. 10. The princes of the peoples, either the apostles, or the leaders of the Churches, are gathered with the God of Abraham, that they may lead the peoples benefited by them; for He is the God of them who have become children of Abraham. But consider whether angelic beings can be the princes of the peoples, concerning whom it has been said: "He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." Who indeed are also gathered with the God of Abraham, since through faith they have been made children of Abraham—the portions of which they happen to be princes. "The strong ones of the earth," who have conducted their own affairs rightly, being lifted up by thinking on the things above, by seeking the things above. For these, having been greatly lifted up by divine knowledge, and exalted by virtue, have become ^D of God; for the strong ones of the earth, having become an acquisition of God, have been lifted up.

^A

PSALM XLVII

Vers. 2. "Great and greatly to be praised" is not shown everywhere, but in the city of God, that is, in the holy Church, the heavenly Jerusalem. This city is not lowly, nor is it in a base and hollow place, but it is situated specifically on a holy mountain. This holy mountain, that is, the most perfect virtue and knowledge of God, is the Word; for He Himself is the foundation of this city, just as He is its architect.

Vers. 3. "The exultation of all the earth," having excellent and noble foundations, is in truth nothing other than He who said: "I am the true vine." For He Himself is the exultation of all the earth, being the cause and provider of all jubilation. It is fitting that the cities of the great King should be souls pregnant from Him who is their bridegroom; having also taken on the form of the seeds received from Him, they are at the time of parturition. I do not know by what mindset some have been moved to believe that what the Savior suffered is indicated in this passage; for they say that the Savior was crucified on the northern sides of Sion, since the place of the skull is there. But we maintain, following many Scriptures, that the "north" ^B is none other than the devil, according to the passage: "Arise, O north, and come, O south." Therefore, the "sides" of this one are wicked men, just as they say the "sides" of a ruler are his attendants. Wicked men, therefore, who attend the devil, being previously his sides, if they should undergo such a change toward virtue, are no longer called sides of the north, but are shown to be mountains of Sion. Paul, therefore, when he was a persecutor, was a side of the north; but having converted, he was called a mountain of the Church, which is Sion. And since a woman is called a "side," and those who become the wives of the devil are "sides" of him through their communion with him, through conversion they become mountains of Sion. Whence it is also called the city of the great King, Christ. ^C

Vers. 5. "In the city, the kings arrived and gathered together into the same," having been brought into harmony in the same mind and the same opinion. These kings are those who have ruled according to God, such as Abraham was, to whom some said, even if he did not reign bodily: "You are a king from God among us." These, seeing those who were once sides of the north raised to such a height that they were mountains of Sion, wondered, being struck by so great a conversion of their spiritual nature. But when one sees those who have become prudent and wise from being base, having marveled at the change, he will be troubled because he will reconsider that those who have become prudent and wise can fall back again, that is, reflecting on those who have advanced the most in virtue, he will place disturbance and tumult ^D in his soul, and from fear, trembling will seize them. To this is consonant that which says: "In the places of the impious..."

^A *In the places of the impious the just groan;* for when these fall, they fear.

VERS. 8. To the sense: the bodies of souls are often termed "ships" in Scripture, just as they are who "go down to the sea in ships." These bodies are therefore broken for them—that is, dissolved—so that at the time of the resurrection they may become from corruptible, weak, dishonorable, and psychical, incorruptible, strong, glorious, and spiritual. And they are not just any ships, but the *ships of Tharsis*, that is, of "exultation," if interpreted by the Greek tongue. For then the decayed and dead bodies are laudably broken when those who inhabited them contemplate the divine joy.

VERS. 11. By the name of God, ^B divine glory is customarily designated in Holy Scripture. Now God is celebrated by those crying out: "Who shall be like unto Thee?" And the "ends of the earth" are not to be considered only its boundaries, but also those who have passed from the earth into heaven, among whom the name and praise of God have reached.

VERS. 13. Since the speculative doctrine of the Church is the truth, and is therefore called Sion, it behooves us to encompass it with understanding, so that, comprehending the dogmas of truth, we may mark them out as in a circle within our mind. And since the city of God is fortified on all sides because of ^C attacking enemies, and possesses towers already prepared from which it is possible to look out upon the advancing foes, it is necessary for those dwelling in its towers to recount them. This also accords with the text: "Upon thy walls they have set keepers, day and night, who shall not be silent for ever, mindful of the Lord." Hence also wisdom is preached upon the heights of the walls. Place, therefore, your heart—that is, your mind—wisely setting it upon the strength of Sion, which is ecclesiastical discipline, and divide and distribute it to each according to its nature. For just as it is possible to logically divide existing things into substance and accident, and genera into species, so too ^D is the strength of Sion able to be divided into its "towers" (or weightier parts). Its "towers" are the contemplations of each, in which the dogmas of piety reside. Do this, consequently, so that you may "recount it to another generation, because this is our God." For the former generation, which received the city and its strength, was proven wicked, adulterous, deceitful, and perverted by its own heresy. Standing, therefore, in the strength of the city and distributing its towers, you shall know concerning the vocation of the saints, what is the "other generation" after the former; and you shall recount that this is God, who, having performed the aforementioned miracles, rejected the former generation and called another, and others. Now this God of whom the present Scripture speaks, according to the same and similarly, remains into the age and into the age of the age. And He Himself rules us into the ages, according to that which was said: "He shall stand and see, and shall feed His flock in the strength of the Lord."

PSALM XLVIII

VERS. 3. Since among the nations that are called to hear, some are entirely earth-born ^A regarding matter and earthly thoughts, while others are made sons of men through knowledge and discipline, those who are trained in teachings and words. He calls not only the common and brutish men, but also the understanding ones. He will say: "Hear these things, you who are earth-born among the nations, and you sons of men"; for teachers are debtors not only to the wise but also to the foolish.

VERS. 4. I will bring forth wisdom from my mouth, having meditated on prudence in my heart. For then a person will be able to offer a wise word blamelessly, when he has a mind well-exercised in understanding.

VERS. 6. If then the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me, not being other than that handed down from the father, which the serpent ^B set in the heel of Adam.

Didymus, Basil, Origen. VERS. 7, 8. — It extends to the earth-born and the rich: the former "in their strength," the latter "boasting in the multitude of their riches." For hear, you who think that because of bodily strength or the obscurity of wealth you are sufficient for yourselves. Redemption is necessary for us that we might be freed from the slavery of the devil. But the redemption must be valuable, and not of the same kind as those who are held captive. For no man will be able to persuade the devil, nor will anyone be given to pay for his brothers. A man, therefore, is not able to give an ^C expiation to God even for his own sins. What is so precious to him that it can be given in exchange for the price of his soul? Since it was also made in the image of Him who created it. And what total sum of labors will a man perform that is worthy of the life to come? For this reason, this Scripture sufficiently suppresses the conceit of men. Things loftier can be said regarding the powers of the soul, if we speak of strength and riches: for no soul is sufficient for its own salvation. For even if one be perfect among the sons of men, if the wisdom which comes from God is absent, he will be reckoned as nothing. And if he possesses the wealth of human studies, he should learn his own slavery, being led captive ^D by sin; and that no man given for men is sufficient for the recovery of the liberty which he lost. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Do not seek, therefore, for redemption, a brother or a mere man, but the God-man Jesus Christ, who alone can give an expiation to God for us, because God set Him forth as a propitiatory through faith. Since Moses was of the same blood and was a brother of Israel, and was not able to redeem him, how then will any chance man redeem? Wherefore, that voice, "a man will redeem," is that of one indignant,

^A for Moses did not free the people from sin, but he averted the wrath of God regarding that sin; and even when he fell into error, he was not able to offer a piacular sacrifice on his own behalf to God, when, after so many and such great signs, he doubted, saying, "Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Wherefore God said, "Therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." The holy and most precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was therefore given as the price of the redemption of our soul. And so we were bought with a price. But if man does not redeem, it is not a man who redeems us, nor was there need for Him who redeemed us to give to God a propitiation for Himself. Wherefore He did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. He who redeemed us did so not with payments or gifts, according to Isaiah, but by His own blood, having made us not brothers, but enemies to Him by our transgressions. And after the freedom which He deigns to grant us, He Himself calls us His brothers. "For I will declare," He says, "Your name to My brothers," not according to the nature of the divinity by which we were redeemed, but according to the indulgence of grace; He who had no need of propitiation, since He is Himself the Propitiator. For such a High Priest was befitting for us, holy, guileless, undefiled, and all that follows. Who, being the very Life, the indefatigable nature, labored in this world; for He was weary from the journey, and sat by the spring. ^{B C} VERS. 7. All mortals are of the same nature, and are brothers. For no one can redeem his brother who sins; for only that man will redeem, of whom it is said, "He will send them a man, who will save them." Who also said of Himself, "But now you seek to kill Me, a man who has spoken the truth to you." But this man, since He did not know sin nor commit iniquity, will not give to God a propitiation for Himself, such as is given for those who sin; but neither will He offer a price for the redemption of His soul; but having labored in virtue, He will live forever, no longer to die. It can also be said of the redeemed one, "He will not give to God his propitiation," for no one is able to give a propitiation for himself, since Christ makes propitiation for all in His own blood; but neither is anyone capable of giving the price of the redemption of his soul, since Christ gave His own soul as a ransom for all. Even if he will not give a propitiation nor the price of the redemption of his soul, yet, after he is redeemed, he receives commandments, so that by laboring according to them he may be able to live to the end, having attained eternal life. ^D VERS. 10. He who is redeemed by Christ will have salvation so secure that nothing can shake or disturb him. Even if, therefore, they might deem... the wise, by reason of those things which they have wickedly committed, are dying. When, however

to have been injured by seeing those who were thought to be wise fall, it is in fact a small thing to be injured by seeing them fail. ^A

VERS. 14. *The senseless and the foolish, not knowing who they themselves are, have imagined that their soul, like that of animals lacking reason, does not endure.* They say, indeed: *Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.* These men think the tombs in which they are buried to be their homes forever, not awaiting the resurrection of the dead. But they also believe their tabernacles to be monuments from generation to generation, hoping for compassion only in this life; for they perform nothing vital, but are dead because of the sins they have committed. Cast down into the tomb, they imagine the grave to be their eternal home. He calls the fool not someone entirely devoid of reason, but one who thinks and opines wickedly. For we are accustomed to call one who has a base countenance, "countenanceless," and one who is poorly skilled, "unskilled." Thus, therefore, the evil-minded and evil-thinking shall suffer punishment together. For this is their destruction, by which they shall leave to others the riches which they had wickedly amassed. For no one is a closer heir to these things than the one who is a wealthy fool and senseless. ^B

VERS. 19. That rich man, who in his life knows no other life, thinks his soul is blessed in this one. And he will confess only then, when You have gratified him with the fulfillment of his carnal desires. Even if the aforementioned things happen to most men, yet God will redeem my soul from the underworld, which is already overcoming it and striving to devour it. And since the sinner is in the underworld because of his iniquity, he who has the redemption of the sins that are bringing force upon him gives thanks to God, who delivers his soul from the very hand of the underworld. ^C

VERS. 20. He had fathers who begat him with wicked works and evil counsels. Doing the same things himself, he imitated his parents, even until he shall enter in, being made similar to them in the generations of his fathers. But this man, acknowledging only the present life, did not desire to contemplate the light. Therefore, it is said that he shall not draw near to it even unto eternity. For to one condemned to the outer darkness, it will no longer be permitted to behold the eternal light. ^D

PSALM XLIX

Eusebius and Didymus. VERS. 1. He was the choir-master of those chanting the psalms, as the book of Chronicles taught: *The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken, and called the earth.* The three others interpreted this differently: *The Mighty God has spoken, and called the earth.* But the Seventy call "gods" those who have been allotted to rule and have been entrusted with the ministry of judging, which is proper to God. This is taught to us by the eighty-first psalm, which is also inscribed to Asaph. For it says: *God stood in the assembly of gods, and in the midst He judges the gods.* It adds: *How long do you judge

^A iniquity, and accept the faces of sinners? Judge the fatherless and the destitute: do justice to the humble and the poor.* Now this is proper to priests and to others whoever have been entrusted with the office of judging. Thus also the law declares: *You shall not revile the gods, and you shall not speak evil of the rulers of your people.* Yet they would reasonably be called gods who have kept the image [of God] intact; God gathers the whole world of these to the judgment.

Verse 2. And again, it says, *From the rising of the sun even unto the going down thereof,* it has shone forth; for out of the supernal Sion He shall make His second coming. Having therefore called the earth, that is, those who dwell upon the earth, He shone upon them so that they might know, as they approached Him, that *out of Sion is the beauty of His splendor.* For it was shown that He was *of the seed of David according to the flesh.* He Himself, the God of gods, who called the whole earth to the participation of Himself, shall come not secretly, nor in a hidden manner, but *manifestly* in His second coming in glory, with His angels; He shall not keep silent, judging each one according to his works and deeds. And it should be noted that even in the present psalm He signifies both comings of Christ: the first, through the words *out of Sion is the beauty [of His splendor];* but the second, through the words *God shall come manifestly.*

Verse 4. He calls the divine powers ^B *heaven*, and those who dwell upon it *earth*, so that they may be reproved concerning those very things for which they were adopted as sons. Since the giving of the law was provided with witnesses in heaven and on earth, as it is written in Deuteronomy, it is necessary that the people, being judged before the witnesses in whose presence they received the law, should undergo an examination, having transgressed the divine laws. Therefore, He calls from above the *heaven*, that is, the divine powers; and the *earth*, I mean those who dwell upon it, that they may be reproved concerning their own adoption: *For hear, O heaven,* He says, *and give ear, O earth,* concerning the proclamation of the children of God; for they did not keep the law that they received in your presence; and through these things, He signifies those who are in heaven and upon the earth.

Verse 5. Perhaps He is commanding the angels or sacred men that, having gathered His holy ones ^C to establish and set in order His divine testament upon spiritual sacrifices; for He calls spiritual sacrifices the sacrifice of praise and whatever other sacrifice is similar. Therefore, accepting the sacrifices upon which the testament is ordered, He commands His holy ones to be gathered so that they may perform the things aforementioned.

Verse 6. *The heavens shall declare righteousness,* being called holy men, who are priests bearing the image of the heavenly one.

Verse 8. But I do not argue against the intent with which you offer these, just as I censured Cain because he did not divide his offerings rightly. God argues, not against those who offer,

but against the intent with which these are brought. Even if someone offers a spiritual sacrifice—offering his own body as a whole burnt offering through the complete absence of marriage—he must do this with a right mind; for one is rebuked not for actions that are commendable in themselves, but when they are not performed with a right mind (85). ^B

VERS. 9. Since those in your house who are metaphorically called calves were seen to be hostile to the Saviour, as he says: "Many bulls have surrounded me, fat bulls have beset me," for this reason I will not accept them, nor the kids that are numbered along with them; for even these, while offering themselves for sins, sin none the less. Understand that those who were once beasts of the forest, those who have risen from wild heathen nations, having been tamed by divine teaching, have become mine—they who previously understood nothing but barrenness, for the forest is a symbol of this. But also the beasts of burden [are mine], as it were, the ^C sheep of Christ, and the "oxen" who have gone up from your house—that is, from the shadow of the law—into the doctrines of the Gospel, dwelling in them because of their sublimity as on "mountains." Paul, therefore, being an ox among those on the mountains, while explaining the law concerning the ox, added: "Is it for oxen that God is concerned?" Or does he speak entirely for our sake? But also souls that have become high-flying, having been winged by right thoughts and actions, are called "birds of the heavens": "which I have known," for I am knowing of those who belong to me.

VERS. 11. The good field, that is to say, the upright heart which receives the seed sown by Christ and brings forth fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold, having full and mature fruit, is the beauty of the field, which is not far from the sower. For he himself says: "The beauty of the field is with me."

VERS. 12, 14. The Saviour hungers for the salvation of some, just as, naturally, he says to the disciples concerning the salvation of the Samaritan woman: "I have food to eat which you do not know," and: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me." Since, therefore, the Jews, surrounded by darkness, offer him corporeal victims as if to one who is hungry, he says: "If I were hungry, I would not tell you: for the inhabited world is mine," occupied by my illustrious Church, "and its fullness." His fullness, however, is the Gospel, which is no longer a figure or a shadow. Since, therefore, the fullness of the nations is my food, I will not desire your food, which is nothing but a figure. But if you wish to worship me, your true God, with worthy service, "sacrifice to me a sacrifice of praise," asking and theologizing; for I accept these offerings: "For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." But also ^D "render to the Most High," to the Father, through me, those things for which you prayed intellectually; for the true and purest knowledge of God may be [attained] through faith in Christ.

^A Ver. 16. Since it is not seemly (praise) in the mouth of a sinner, God rebukes the one who sins, saying: "Why do you declare my statutes," which you refuse to perform? "And why do you take my covenant through your mouth?" For you ought to have received it first into your heart and modeled your thoughts according to it, so as to then bring forth the words of my covenant. In harmony with this is the one who proclaims: "You who preach not to steal, do you steal?" and the rest.

Ver. 18. And you may understand it in this sense as well: If at any time you observed someone with a heretical mindset stealing away the will of the truth, and by approving the matter you ran along with him. And if there were adulterers who attempted to violate the virgin of Christ by dragging faithful souls into their own factions, by agreeing with them, or by neglecting to oppose them, "you were setting your portion with adulterers." You may say this expression is fitting for those who profess to be ecclesiastical, but who come into communion with men who are not ecclesiastical.

^B Ver. 19. He who, not knowing the good, does evil, sins less; but he who sins while knowing the good possesses an intensified wickedness. Wherefore also, "the servant who knew his master’s will and did not do it, shall be beaten with many stripes." But it may also be interpreted this way: Since, having taken up the covenant of God by his mouth, he had a heart full of sin—to whom the word is addressed (for he is a sinner "out of the abundance of his evil heart")—he truly had wickedness teeming in his mouth, so that he uses his tongue, by which he employs sophistry, "to weave deceits." For he weaves and composes heretical discourses, which are nothing but sophistries.

^C Ver. 21. The silence of God is called the patience that sustains sinners. For when He exacts punishments from them, He is not silent, but reveals the punishments that are imminent for them. This same meaning is held by that which says, "I have kept silence from of old; shall I also remain silent and refrain forever?" The Lord therefore says to the sinner whom He rebukes: You have committed all these aforementioned sins, and I have held my peace, giving place for repentance through patience. But you, failing to benefit from such silence, have on the contrary assumed, in addition to the evils you already had, an iniquity by which "you thought that I am like yourself," imagining, that is, that I consent to your deeds and would never take action against you.

^D Ver. 23. It is not here in the perceptible worship, but there in the divine [worship] which consists of praise, that the way lies which God reveals, enlightening His salvation, the only-begotten Son, our Savior; or [rather] salvation itself, for at times it signifies the Savior Christ.

PSALM L

Ver. 1. But let no one trample upon the great David; for since God has justified him, there shall be no one to condemn him. And though he held supreme power for so many years, only this one sin of his is reported, namely, that he commanded the people to be numbered contrary to the will of God. But

^A nor did he keep the sin for long; for such a king, when rebuked by a private individual, did not take it amiss, but at once humbled himself, so that the prophet said: "The Lord also has taken away your sin." By the phrase "the Lord also," he signifies that the sin had already been taken away by David himself through repentance. For while other men are broken by their sins, the saints, who are running the course of salvation, even if they should happen to suffer something through negligence, do not fall in the midst of their running, but soon finish the journey they have begun. The failings of the saints are recorded so that we might not hesitate to strive for their zeal, fearing that they were possessed of a divine fate and in no way prone to sin. ^B Divine Providence therefore permits them to slip at times, and so provides us with holy examples of both virtue and repentance. For it could be the case that, unless they had sinned at some time, they might think their virtues were perfected by their own strength, and not by the cooperation of God. In this way, divine grace meets the danger of an overly proud mind and teaches everyone how weak our nature is, and how necessary is refuge in God.

The fiftieth psalm is so numbered because it is concerned with remission; for the Holy Spirit would not have placed it before the fifty-first, the fifty-third, and others which occur later, unless there were some reason other than the chronological order. ^C For the fifty-first is inscribed concerning Doeg the Syrian and his plot against Saul, which happened before David was king; and the fifty-third concerns the plot of the Ziphites against Saul. Since, then, the number fifty has a certain relation to mercy, the Savior, explaining his teaching on remission, introduced two debtors, one of whom owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty; and to both, the remission was granted, because they were debtors of fifty and an amount related to it—five hundred denarii. Not without reason do we celebrate feasts for fifty days, because through his death and resurrection the Lamb of God has granted us the remission of sins; and on the fiftieth day we were deemed worthy ^D to be cleansed through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Among the Jews, too, money owed was remitted to a debtor in the Jubilee or fiftieth year, when everyone returned to liberty and to their own possessions, so that this year was considered celebratory. Rightly, therefore, is the fiftieth psalm, which treats of mercy, written under this number. The number fifty is composed of seven weeks and a unit, so that it constitutes a week of weeks, to which he who lays aside the burden and work of sin is said to come.

VERSE 3. Moved by intense sorrow, and exhibiting fruits worthy of repentance, he asks that the great mercy of God be bestowed upon him; for repentance is not sufficient unless God has mercy, nor is the mercy of God sufficient unless we, as much as lies in us, turn through repentance to salvation.

VER. 4. ^A Just as the most stubborn stains do not vanish unless they are washed many times, so too must graver sins be removed by the greater mercy of God. He calls the mortal activity iniquity and sin, differing in their nuance: iniquity is termed that which is done apart from the law, while sin is that which is done contrary to the law. Yet he prays that God would wash and cleanse him from both, for He alone has the power to wash and cleanse the soul from the aforementioned habit.

VER. 5. If you had the sin once committed always before your eyes, you would not be able to commit another; for it is only because we forget our previous offenses that we sin again.

VER. 6. ^B Insofar as he was king, he was not subject to human law; hence he did not sin against any of the lawgivers, nor did he do evil before any of them. But inasmuch as, being king, he also wishes to be godly, he was subject to the law of God; therefore he sinned against God alone, and did the evil before Him. And again: since God says that the human mind is more prone to evil, and that "there is no man who will not sin," ^C God is justified in His words to those who sin, or even to the saints, in which He contends that all have turned aside and become worthless. Thus He prevails when He judges men, and proves all to be sinners. To this agrees the text: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar"; for whoever boasts of his own innocence, insofar as it rests with him, declares God to be a liar.

VER. 8. ^D He who is trained in the art of the sophists for the pursuit of truth, once he has known its greatness, has felt a perfect love towards it; for those who have been exercised in falsehoods, having become more clear-sighted, perceive the adorable beauty of the truth—such as Moses and Daniel. For after having been tried by sophistic discourses, and having ascended to the true wisdom itself, they received testimony from God as being perfect, with God clearly revealing to them the hidden and secret things of His wisdom, so that nothing of these disciplines remained obscured to them. David, having attained this same condition, uttered the verse before us.

VER. 10. It has been said many times that these are opinions and powers of the soul. These bones are humbled by sin and sophistic trickery; but when God makes them to hear, the humbled bones will exult with joy and gladness.

VER. 11. Sins are blotted out through the participation of the virtues; for just as knowledge, when it comes into the soul, destroys and blots out ignorance, so does the presence of perfect virtue blot out all sin.

VER. 13. While all the righteous always stand before the face of God, the sinner is cast far from Him. "May I not suffer this," he says, being encompassed by divine understanding; "and may I not be stripped of the divine Spirit that was given to me."

^A VERSE 14. Expecting the coming of our Savior to earth, through which it happens that perfect joy is attained, he invokes the Father, saying: "Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and confirm me with a guiding and perfect spirit." By "spirit" in both these instances he signifies the guiding and leading power, either the Holy Spirit, which is ruling and guiding, or the spirit of man, which in him is other than the soul.

VERSE 15. In the preface to the Psalm we already taught that, God permitting, sometimes even the saints sin, so that by performing sincere repentance they may provide examples of repentance to others. Behold, he confirms the same thing in this verse; for he promises that by confessing his sins to God, he will show the ways of God Himself to the iniquitous, so that, having entered them, if they ever slipped through negligence, they might turn back to Him.

VERSE 16. "Since I am full of blood from the sins by which I surrendered myself unto death, deliver me from these, O God, my God." "My tongue," that is, my speech, which is always occupied in celebrating your justice, "will exult in your justice."

VERSE 17. God opens the lips of him who speaks words to praise Him. Therefore also his mouth will announce the praise of God, always praising and celebrating Him.

VERSE 20. He who laments his own sins, what does he wish to say regarding Sion and Jerusalem? We respond that, even if he has deviated from the straight path, he has not for that reason been stripped of all gifts. Therefore, retaining the prophetic grace and his former communion with the Holy Spirit, he offers vows and prophecies. And he celebrates Sion, ^C kindly accepted by your Son and assisted by the Spirit. That which says, "the walls of Jerusalem shall be built," indicates the care of angels for men, or the unshakable foundation of evangelical doctrines.

VERSE 21. By "justice" he here indicates that which is established through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. This justice itself is a spiritual offering and a spiritual sacrifice: in the same sense is that, "Sacrifice a sacrifice of justice," then also "they will place" spiritual "calves upon the altar," not those working the earth and pulling plows, but souls which are none other than the souls of the martyrs, seen above the heavenly altar, and there offered in the manner of calves; for in the Apocalypse of John the souls of those slain for the name of Jesus and for His testimony are seen ^D beneath the heavenly altar.

PSALM LI. VERSE 1. Truly that is the meaning of the spoken words, which is understood only by God illuminating it. But for what reason he might rage with such fury, [or who must provide the cause for such a tragedy, if not the shepherd...]

of brute animals? For Doeg was a muleteer. ^A When David therefore saw this utter villain, or the devil who had stirred up envy within him, he uttered the words of this psalm as if against one who were present.

Vers. 4. By the term "day," it is signified how manifest the malice of Doeg is, or for what length of time it may have endured.

Didymus and Eusebius. Vers. 8. Just men, when they see others turning away from virtue to evil, fear lest they suffer the same things. Nay, rather, they themselves utter biting words, as is said: "They laughed at him, and will say: Behold the man," and so forth.

Vers. 9. Truly any evil man, rich and deceived by a false opinion, prides himself on the multitude of his riches and hopes in them, and thus thinks himself to be superior; for which reason he both surrenders himself to iniquity and also retreats from the good.

Vers. 10. "In the house of God," he who is planted through faith brings forth the fruit of virtue, by which desires and sins are kept at bay, while the light of knowledge is nourished. He who brings forth such merciful fruits "hopes in the mercy of God," for he is not ignorant that the merciful shall obtain mercy (Matt. v, 7); nor does he hope for one age only, but "unto the age of the age."

PSALM LII

Vers. 2. The "fool" here is to be understood as one deprived of divine instruction. For he who is under discussion seems to lack common sense; for although he knows that the knowledge of God is implanted in every mind, he nevertheless professes impiety, not indeed before another, but "in his heart" saying: "There is no God." ^C

Didymus and Eusebius. Vers. 3. This present verse declares that God provides not only for celestial things, but also for those which come to pass upon the earth. For it is said: "From heaven He looks down providently upon the sons of men"; it is not said that He looks upon them merely from the outside, with respect to the body, but also with respect to the secret parts of the heart. "He looks down, therefore, upon the sons of men, to see if there is any one who understands," and who by that means does good, or by examining the truth "is seeking God." It is said in a human manner and in a way adapted to our mind that God "looks down from heaven" and sees if there is any one who understands; for with a great, so to speak, sweep of his eyes, He beholds even the most hidden things. ^D

Vers. 4. From these words we learn that sin comes about through the violation of the law: whence it follows that no one is evil by nature, for "all have declined." They sin, however, who decline, because they turn away from the straight path. "At the same time they have become useless," who had declined; they are called useless either because they serve their passions, or because, encumbered by a crowd of constantly succeeding affairs, they can no longer make use of reason.

Didymus and Eusebius. Vers. 4. The same things occur in Psalm XIII. Wherefore, especially in interpreting

^A certain words, he seems to contain variations. For there it is written: “they were corrupted and became abominable in their pursuits,” but here: “they were corrupted and became abominable in their iniquities.” The variation is attributed to the interpreters. By these words, the discourse indicates the fall from common perceptions—the wicked and godless mindset of all humanity that prevailed before the manifestation of the Savior—and how they corrupted the sound seeds sown in them concerning God, and surrendered themselves to the worship of abominable idols, dividing impiety among themselves, whether by complete atheism or polytheism, and by observing the consequences, and their own godless and perverse pursuits. For he who thinks wrongly regarding God falls into other evils as well. For by casting piety out of his own soul, he has at the same time cast out every virtue that accompanies piety as a queen. Thus, those who, through folly, say that there is no God, corrupted their own ^B mind in the iniquities they committed, from which they became abominable—that is, they became detestable. Either because all sin, or because even those who seem to do good do not perform it properly and truly. ^C Vers. 5. Since wisdom will not enter into a soul that devises evil, “they will not know” what must be known according to divine knowledge. And this must be read not as a question, but as a statement. Vers. 6. “They trembled” is written instead of “they will tremble.” Therefore, the words there, “they will tremble with fear, where there was no fear,” can be referred to the age to come; for they will tremble, having perceived the punishments by which they are to be punished, which, however, should have been faced with a firm mind. They will tremble for this reason, that God will demonstrate that they were liars here and intent solely on the desire “to please men,” and will reveal it there by God “scattering their bones,” that is, their opinions and the vain counsels of the soul. ^D PSALM LIII. Vers. 3. The power of the Father is Christ. He will judge the hidden things of men, and he prays to be handed over for examination not to other judges, but to the power of the good God; for he knew that he would thus obtain forgiveness for his own negligences, whereas those who were undeservedly plundering him were to be condemned. Vers. 5. He calls those “strangers” who lead a life alien to the ways of the righteous, and “mighty ones” the evil demons. He says, therefore: Since “they did not set God before them,” fleeing from Him and departing from Him, “they rose up against the righteous, and sought his soul.” Vers. 6, 7. He confesses that he has God as a helper, perhaps the Father, and the Lord as the sustainer of his soul; yet he hints at the Son, who “will turn back the evils upon my enemies.” For as they themselves will suffer the same evils by which they had determined to oppress me, the Lord judging so. To which corresponds the statement: “And you shall do to him as he was malicious enough to do against his brother.”

^A Of Didymus and Theodoret. Ver. 8. These things having been accomplished, he says, with a willing spirit I shall be about to give thanks and “voluntarily I will sacrifice to you,” not by force or necessity compelled, but moved by the free study of the mind.

PSALM LIV

Ver. 2. Invoking God, he prays that He may draw near to him, and with His own ears receive the prayer of the one supplicating: for He hears who stands near the one speaking, and perceives the words of the speaker with His ears. Praying, he then adds: “For no other cause shall I hope to obtain those things of which I am in need, except that you will not despise my prayer; attend to me,” ^B lifting up holy hands to you with a placid and simple mind, in a seemly and composed manner invoking you, “and hear” the prayers which I pour out to you with a pure mind.

Ver. 4. Perhaps the enemy and the sinner are not two different people, for they differ only in their affections. When therefore the sinner was troubling me by the things which he does evilly, and the enemy of truth was uttering impious things, “I was saddened in my exercise, and was troubled to such a degree.” These things must be referred to the prayer itself. Therefore the holy man says: Seeing the enemy insolently raging, and the sinner troubling me, I was saddened unto God without any intermission through prayers; seeing my citizens and fellow-tribesmen fallen into an abyss of malice, I was troubled concerning this depraved nature; lest perhaps I myself should admit the same ways. It was possible also for him to be saddened with concern, on account of the insanity of the wicked; thus a father groans when he sees those who are insane raging against his son. For some think that this psalm should be interpreted as if it were put forth in the person of Christ. To whom it befits ^C to grieve concerning afflicted men.

Ver. 5. The righteous man knows that it is one thing to sin in thought, which is tolerable, and another to sin in deeds and words, which is grave and full of danger. Wherefore, if by chance he has sinned or transgressed in thought, he keeps it quiet, nor does he bring forward the hidden sin by words, nor does he perform it effectively, knowing that the thought is curable, but what is in deed and words is difficult to cure, or even ^D incurable; wherefore he says, “My heart was troubled within me;” for I neither explained the disturbance by speech, nor did I perform anything according to it, but the “fear of death” which follows upon sin “fell upon me,” and I kept it within myself; for it happens that out of that which is external, fear is made manifest, and he who is revealed becomes a stumbling block to others.

Ver. 17. Such being those who attack the Savior with such great impetuosity, “I cried to God,” and I had my voice heard by the Lord; for only he who cries to God is heard by the Lord; for not everyone who cries, calls out to God; it is written about the Sodomites: “The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied,” even though they were not crying to God.

^A Ver. 18. When the just man is always meditating on wisdom, the Psalmist, being as he is pious and always meditating on wisdom, says: “At evening,” when the malice and the quenching light of the impious have set; “and in the morning,” when the Sun of Justice rises for me—to make me like the dawn—and when He is at His peak, I shall enter into the “midday,” and I shall recount the affairs of the aforementioned evening, and of the morning previously announced, and of the aforementioned midday. And when I recount these things, God will listen to my voice, accepting it and, so to speak, delighting in my voice which has recounted all things.

Ver. 20. “Who is before the ages,” He says of God, and not “who was.” For if He had said “who was,” He would have implied that He came into being at some certain time before the ages. For this reason He says “who is,” positing Him as eternal and lacking any beginning. By the phrase “before the ages,” He declares that the ages had a beginning. Let it not escape you that by “ages” all creatures are to be understood. The Savior likewise is eternal and exists from eternity before the ages, since the ages themselves were made through Him. And Paul says, “And He is before all things,” which means the same as “who is,” for this is what that utterance signifies: “And He is before all things”; for we do not read, “And He was before all things.”

“For there is no commutation for them,” regarding sins. Some sins are with difficulty or even impossible to heal, while others can be healed. Concerning those that can be healed, you will indeed find a commutation if you offer sacrifices for delinquencies, and especially almsgiving and prayer together with fasting; for these deliver from death. But for those who have committed incurable sins, there is no commutation, nor can a price of redemption be established: “For if a man sins against a man, and others pray for him, there occurs a commutation of such an injury. But if they pray to the Lord God for him,” no commutation shall be made; for there is none for such sins as these. ^B

Ver. 21. “He extended His hand,” while rendering to each according to their merits. For when they betrayed and sacrificed Christ, stained by most grievous iniquity, they were seen as worthy to pay the penalties; for “they defiled the covenant of God,” not recognizing the prophet, but rather killing Him whom it had announced. It can also be said that, since this covenant was to be kept by sensing it in a carnal way only until a definite time, once the time had elapsed during which it was necessary to transfer it from the carnal sense to the spiritual, those who retained the worship of the figure “defiled the covenant of God.” ^C Wherefore, extending His avenging hand, He delivered them over, so that His wrath might take them away, by which they had already been divided, scattered among all the nations.

Ver. 22. “God drew near,” He says, having mingled with men, His words being like oil, salutary and soothing the ailment of those who labor. But ^D

^A these words that are smoother than oil will be for those who despise them avenging darts; for many times the term "arrow" is used regarding punishments, and "arrow" and "dart" signify the same thing. Even if the Jews are thought to be soft and smooth, because they behave with hypocrisy, they were deadly darts and full of poison.

Ver. 24. He prays that those who are not intimidated by God, but who also defiled His covenant, may be humbled by God who ^B “is before the ages.” He calls them “men of blood,” saying those who said: “His blood be upon us and upon our children,” and upon whom “shall come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth.” They are also called “men of deceit,” who always pursued the Savior and the saints with their wiles. He prays, therefore, that these may not reach half of their days; for since, having turned away from the day constituted by the shining of the true light, they devised for themselves another day of illumination through mythical traditions, and it is a wicked thing for their days to be fulfilled in these, he petitions that they might not reach half of their days, so that the sun of righteousness might arise for them, that they may come to be in the day of the Lord. And one might also force the literal meaning to this: Since they remain in life with an impenitent resolve and do evil, he, sparing them, asks that they be snatched from life in the middle of their human span, so that they might be punished for few sins and not for many. Things being so, he says, I have my expectation and hope in You, O Lord.

PSALM LV

Ver. 2. Scripture employs the word “trampled” ^C for things considered vile; thus it is said regarding the salt that has lost its savor, “It is cast out to be trampled by men.” And the Apostle: “Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who has trampled under foot the Son of God?” Therefore, the holy man is trampled by one who, on account of depravity, is a man, according to the text, “For where jealousy and faction are among you, are you not men?” and in need of mercy from God. But this person, being an unceasing and murderous enemy, “all the day” of his life, oppresses, warring against the righteous man, not wishing to be peaceful even in the slightest. And since in the parable of the tares the sower of these, the “wicked man,” is interpreted as the devil, understand that the things presently stated are spoken concerning him as well.

Ver. 3. Having begun a long time ago to do this, he says, or perhaps having fallen from a “higher day” and life, “my enemies have come.”

Ver. 5. By “flesh” he means either man or that mind which, being hostile to God, is not subject to the law of God; for he who is in the flesh cannot please God. Let not flesh, therefore, cause fear to him who is in the spirit, as if it will do anything to him, having mortified the works of the flesh; for thus he has truly hoped in God.

VERS. 9. You promised, O Lord, that You would hear the groaning of the oppressed: For, "he groans unto me, and I have fulfilled the promises; and while I was still speaking, You said: 'Behold, I am here,' according to Your unwavering promises." ^A

VERS. 11. The word uttered in God and through God is worthy of praise; the same is true of the discourse. Indeed, the terms "word" and "discourse" are used here in the same sense, applied to repeat the same things. But elsewhere, they occur with different meanings. For since a "word" is but a portion of a "discourse," God does not address a man who is still a novice in piety with a most complete discourse, which he could not grasp, but first with a word, which is, as it were, a part of the discourse. Indeed, the word of the Lord came first to Jeremiah, and later the discourse of the Lord. Likewise, in Isaiah: "Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His discourse;" but "hear the word of the Lord" is spoken to one who is being initiated through it. If anyone objects, saying that the word is given to those who evangelize with great power, so that it may be received as a word pertaining to the knowledge and instruction of future things—things which we now know and prophesy only in part—one might answer that, having attained both the beginning and the sum of the knowledge of the discourse at once, he praises God in word and discourse. ^B

VERS. 12. He who makes a vow, when he acts fittingly, prays by means of the vow. Within it are vows of praise, which he will render to God; for vows of praise are the praises themselves. For just as you promise God that you will do or give this or that, so also does one promise that God will praise him.

VERS. 13. It is customary to accompany the dead with tears and groaning; but no one except yourself will grieve for the death of your soul. Deservedly, therefore, O soul delivered from death, will you refrain from tears. He also "rescued [my] feet from slipping," by binding upon the feet, as it were, a shoe that lifts one up and makes one rise above the earth. For when you have raised yourself to sublime things, it is fitting that the feet should be rescued from slipping. You are rescued from the aforementioned evils so that you may please God, living and enlightened. For he who pleases God "in the light of the living" does this. He who is a partaker of God truly lives and is enlightened. For He Himself, being Life, is the light of men. My enemies indeed attacked me with all their might and tried to inflict death upon me. For by driving me out of my country and forcing me to flee to foreign and alien nations, in so far as it lay within their power, they sought to kill my soul, forcing it to surrender itself to the idols of the foreigners. But by Your grace and mercy, O God, You did not allow such things to happen, but protected me even among the foreigners, that I might suffer no evil from their company. Therefore I give thanks to You, because "You have rescued my feet" from the "slipping" of the soul. ^{C D}

PSALM LVI.

VERS. 1. Some contend that this psalm was written by David at the time when he hid from the face of Saul in the cave.

^A of Engaddi, and when he entered it to relieve himself, he was able to kill him, but did not kill him.

VERS. 2. The repetition of the word "have mercy" indicates that we need the mercy of God both in this present life and in the life to come. He calls the divine providence the "shadow of the wings." If, however, the "shadow" must be taken in a literal sense, the meaning of the passage is this: As long as I spend this life, I am in the shadow of the wings, but I hope to attain the wings themselves, being winged by virtue and spiritual intelligence. The wings of God are either His protective powers or the sublime thoughts concerning Him. The fact that iniquity "passes by" shows that it is temporary. Just as it passes, so also it began at a certain time. For it has been said concerning a certain kind of iniquity: "It was not from the beginning, nor will it be forever."

VERS. 3. Since iniquity is creeping and groveling, he who wishes to be rid of it cries out to the "Most High," so that by being lifted up in his cry to the height, he may be far from the harmful beast; for this reason he says, "God Most High."

VERS. 4. He who is sent from heaven to save is the Lord, who says, "I have descended from heaven." For God sent forth this, being His Word, and He healed those who were crushed because of their destructions ^B. One might ask regarding this "being sent from heaven" whether it signifies a local departure from the corporeal heaven. For it would seem absurd to attribute a local descent to God. Might it be, then, that the term "heaven" signifies the incorporeal and intelligible essence, according to the passage: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," that is, on high? He who, "being in the form of God and equal to God, having taken the form of a servant," came to men. And this is what "sending from heaven" is, so that the God-Word might become flesh and, having been seen upon the earth, might converse with men. Peter, initiating us into the mysteries, writes the same things concerning the Holy Spirit: "Which now have been declared to you through those who preached the gospel to you, by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven." For the Spirit, being sent from that intelligible essence, was made to dwell in the men who preached the gospel to you.

VERS. 5. In the preceding verse he said, "He sent from heaven," without saying what was sent; now he explains that it is "His mercy and His truth." These are not different in essence, but the Savior Himself is both, rescuing His own soul having fallen among enemies who have trampled it; these are called "lion cubs" because of their fierce and cruel spirit.

Sleep often signifies rest, as in the passage: "In peace I will both sleep and rest." What he wishes to say, then, is this: Even if I was troubled while being trampled by enemies, and terrified by the lion cubs that took me into their midst, still the disturbance did not prevail; "for I slept" ^C troubled, not remaining awake while troubled, but I slept having cast off my soul. The image of this is that woman, ^D

^A who "had a spirit of infirmity, who was bent over and could not lift herself up at all," whom Jesus "loosed from the bonds of Satan," being "a daughter of Abraham." Perhaps every person who thinks in a lowly way has a bent-over soul, unable to contemplate the things above so long as they are such.

VERS. 10. By "peoples" you will understand those from the circumcision, and by "nations" those who have converted from the worship of idols, so that one Church might be formed.

PSALM LVII

VERS. 2. The same is asserted concerning justice also in Proverbs: "To understand true justice, and to direct judgment." But he who serves sin, and operates evil without any intermission, weaves together injustice. To this is equivalent the saying: "Each one is constricted by the ropes of his own sins." Not without cause is it added to the working of iniquity, "on the earth"; for even if someone commits iniquity in their heart, "on the earth," that is, by dealing with material things, they perform it.

VERS. 4. The great Judge, he says, is hidden from nothing, even of those things which anyone has conceived only in thought. For even if you think you might hide from the eyes of men, you will not be able to deceive God, since even before they come into the light, all things are known to Him who sees all things before they come to be. Therefore, before they were born, He foresaw them as though they already existed and were such as they now are. Already from that time they were rejected by Him. "The sinners are therefore alienated from the womb." And even if they pretend at most to speak justice today, while in their deeds they carry out the opposites, they cannot hide from God Himself; for before they went out from the womb, or rather even before they were conceived in the womb, they were reckoned among the erring by Him, and it was not unknown what sort of people they were to become. ^C

VERS. 5. Those who do not hesitate to inveigh against the Scriptures also impugn this verse, saying: It is absurd for a human to err and speak false things from the womb; for no one sins unless they are in possession of their reason. But we will say that an infant freshly born is capable of virtue and vice by potentiality, but by act will only be good or bad when it is able to discern between good and evil. Although one does not begin to institute a life toward virtue until one has become a person of reason, nonetheless one is said to have done good from the mother's womb. Thus we read in Job: "If I have eaten my morsel alone, and have not shared with the orphan... for from my mother's womb I was a guide to them and fostered them as a father." And these, therefore, of whom we now speak, likewise, when they became participants of reason, began to err in act. The words of the psalmist themselves signify this, when it is said that they "speak false things." And you will not interpret these things ineptly also regarding the proponents of depraved teachings, ^D since they are accustomed, from the very womb—that is, the parent discipline itself—both to err and to "speak false things."

VERS. 8. We have already noted earlier that arrows signify

^A the punishments. Now the "bow," from which these arrows are sent, signifies the very power of judging. He therefore stretches this "bow" until those whom He attacks are weakened; but for them, being weakened is a good thing, since the strength they once possessed for wickedness is destroyed. "As wax that melts, so shall it pass away," ^B because it is both fusible and possesses thickness, having been transformed by the first fire upon which it is placed; so, too, sinners, having experienced punishments, cast off the thickness born of their evil habit. Before the punishment, however, there is the true light, which is the Sun of Justice. It is not possible to endure the brilliance of this intelligible Sun. Hence it is said here that "the fire" of retribution "has fallen," and those who have fallen into punishment "have not seen the sun." But those who understand their own passions—which are allegorically called thorns—will no longer experience the wrath that punishes; but "before they understand" those things which, by way of metaphor, are called thorns and buckthorn, "as living" they shall be swallowed up by wrath. For they will not be taken by wrath as truly living, but as those who seem to be living. For in Scripture "to swallow" signifies to conquer and overcome, such that the one swallowed is by then mastered and defeated. Thus, what is mortal is swallowed up by life, ^C as life masters and overcomes death.

PSALM LVIII

VERS. 5. He rightly says "I ran," for this is the voice of one completing his course. But if anyone objects regarding the sin against the wife of Uriah committed later, saying that it is absurd for David to speak as if he had already attained the desired finish line, we say that he is striving for this one thing: that he had conducted himself "without iniquity" toward Saul, and therefore he was being unjustly accused. Perhaps the sense of the words spoken is also this: "Up to this point I have run 'without iniquity,' and I have directed my perfect journey in the best way possible." But since human nature is liable to change, he later stumbled; ^D yet, as he was not habituated to sinning, he very quickly repented.

VERS. 12. In his narration, he reports that his enemies were punished by God, but he prays that they not be killed. For he knew that if they perished before being reformed, they would forget the divine law; but if they were dispersed by God's power and handed over into captivity, having experienced the trial of punishment, they would cry out to God with groans. He also wishes that they be brought down from the great pride with which they are lifted up, and that You may do this, he says, "You who shield me, O Lord," for every punishment is prepared and intended for conversion. And that David, in sparing them, is asking for this—that they might be corrected by lighter punishments and recalled to saner paths—is declared by what follows; for if they are dispersed and at the same time chastised, once penance has been done, they will be able to be gathered back into one. For this same reason he wishes that their "sin of the mouth," the "speech of their lips," be brought down—that is, humbled—for this is very useful both to those who must be humbled and to many others, lest they imitate those who in pride 47, 51.

^A speak and utter unjust things. But when those who speak in pride and lie about unjust things are caught in the calamities brought about by the pride of their own words, it will be clear to everyone that they were apprehended on account of their iniquity. [Psalm LIX]

[Verse 6.] What is the sign that God gives, or the light by which it is permitted to discern between spirits, the good and the bad? For once this discernment has been made, we would flee far from evils, from wicked works, and from the evil spirit. But this sign is not given to just anyone who happens by, but to those who, according to God, are ^B "those who fear" God.

[Verse 8.] God speaks in every person who participates in holiness. Thus, at any rate, God spoke in Paul, because he was holy, and in every prophet. But if that voice—"holy"—in which He speaks is referred to the Father, it would be the Savior, in accordance with [the text], "The Father abiding in me does the works," and, "The Father has given me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak." And these things fit the economy very well.

[Psalm LX]

[Verse 3.] He who pours out prayers here, knowing that he is far from Him to whom he sends his vows, says that he is "from the ends of the earth," and that he cries out to God when he is "in distress." The same meaning is conveyed by that passage in Ecclesiastes: "God is in heaven above, and you are upon earth below." By these words is indicated a distinction not of place, but of natures, of the uncreated and the created. For God, since His nature is superior, is said to be "above in heaven"; man, however, is "below upon the earth," because ^C he was not, and afterwards was made. Thus also the Baptist says that the Savior is "from above, from heaven," but that a human being "is from the earth" and speaks from it; for he utters that which is fitting for a creature.

We understand that Christ is signified by the "rock" from which the spiritual drink flows. He who is in this rock, having become a participant in it (for it is wisdom and righteousness and sanctification), is lifted up in his mind, raised on high by God. And those who propose to follow the Savior, in accordance with His exhortations, as He says, "Come after me," use Him as their guide, not expecting to find another leader for the way that leads to the Author of all things. Having received this gift, David also celebrates God with these words: "You have guided me, for you have become my hope"; ^D and not only have you been my guide, but You have become a "tower from the face of the enemy"; for having You as my strength and "tower of strength," I have remained unharmed, even though the enemy rose up against me and sought to attack me.

^A One may also refer the words "from the face of the enemy" to what follows: "You have led me," in a connection such as this: "You have led me from the face of the enemy," having become my hope. But the Savior has also become for me a true and unfailing hope of the saints, as Paul says: "and Christ Jesus, our hope." And the prophecy says: "In him shall the nations hope," for he is the one who was foretold to be the expectation of the nations. ^B "But he who has been perfected in holiness shall dwell for ages in that tabernacle"; this clarifies the meaning of: "Who shall dwell in your holy mountain?" For this is eternal, being the same as the tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. Yet, even if such a tabernacle has such perfection that it is called the Holy of Holies, there will nevertheless be after it a state superior to created beings, according to which they shall be in the Father and the Son, or rather in the Trinity. Therefore it is said: "to dwell for ages," and not "to dwell in the tabernacle." He who has come to be in this house "shall be protected in the covering of the wings of God."

^C VERSE 6. For being rich, He says, and bestowing great gifts, or rather, granting to perfect men that they should become your sons, "you have given them an inheritance." For even if it is expected to be given after the resurrection in the age to come, nevertheless, it is already given on earth to men who approach it at the proper time: [giving] His name to those who believe in Him and in His name. It has already been said often that those who call upon the name of the Lord are of a lower rank than those who are united with God Himself. Behold, an inheritance is given even to those who fear God; and if this grace is granted to the lesser, how much more so to those who have surpassed them.

^D VERSE 7. The King who has obtained such gifts is some [sort of] person, according to what has been said regarding the pious, that they are "a royal priesthood, a holy nation." Expecting to reign with this meaning, the apostles also say to the Corinthians: "Without us you have reigned... that we also might reign with you." To the king who has thus come to be, years are added by the Lord, as day is brought to day. For one must pass from a preceding state of light to another having the same quality, so that from the days being named, the eternal years may be completed, concerning which it is said: "And I remembered eternal years." And the life of those who take up day after day extends unto the day of generation of generations before God.

VERSE 8. "And who shall seek out His mercy and truth?" Very often in divine teachings, His mercy is conjoined with the truth of God. For such is the infirmity of men that they could never by their own strength attain to the truth of God; for this reason, we have need of the mercy of God in order to understand the truth. To these points agrees that utterance: "I desire all men to be saved..."

and to come to the full knowledge of the truth." For one must first be saved by the mercy of God, through which—for those who follow—there exists the full knowledge of the truth; for the salvation of men is the work of God’s mercy. For "God sent forth His mercy and His truth," and so on.

^B VERSE 9. Having become master of my vows, offering thanks to Thee, "I will sing to Thy name," praising through works, thoughts, and good words Thy name which has been invoked upon me. Furthermore, day by day "I will pay my vows," as Jacob says: "If God will give me bread to eat," and so on; "everything that Thou shalt give me, I will tithe a tithe to Thee." For before these words it is written, "And Jacob made a vow, saying, If the Lord God will be with me," up to, "I will tithe a tithe to Thee." Not ineptly does he say that he pays his vows day by day, and sings to the name of God for ever and ever; for singing to the name of the One being hymned is fitting even for those who have entered the future age. However, the capacity for paying vows is bounded by the same ends as our days—namely, the life granted to us. As long, therefore, as we live, let us pay our vows to God, so that we may also be able to sing to the name of God for ever and ever.

PSALM LXI.

VERSE 3. Everyone is shaken who turns aside from virtue to wickedness; and this happens by a manifold movement. For first the mind is disturbed by passions; then, if it carries out the plans of the disturbing passions, it slips and falls. Therefore, when an evil desire, or any other wicked affection, has invaded our mind, we must immediately flee piously to God, lest we also perform the evil in deed and thus commit a still greater sin. This ^C the Savior teaches us most openly through the Gospel, removing the beginnings of sins, so that, they not remaining, it may not happen that we are shaken even more in action.

[Note: [alt-version omitted]]

VERSE 4. A man who is founded and rooted in charity is a wall that cannot be shaken, and he has a most valid hedge, lest those who pass by the way—wicked men and evil powers—should harvest him. God Himself has hedged round this most firm hedge, as He said: "And I hedged it about and fortified it." For this wall is fortified both by angels guarding it, and by the doctrine of the truth and works instituted for virtue. While this stands, no one will be able to steal the divine fruits of the spiritual plant. If, however, it should happen that the vineyard which is so carefully guarded should produce thorns instead of grapes, then God, abandoning it, says: "I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for a spoiling; and I will pull down its wall, and it shall be for a trampling." But when this has happened on account of sin—

then it is said: "The wall is inclined," and "the fence is broken down." ^A

VERS. 5. Virtue and piety are the ornament of the wise, according to that: "Glory and honor and peace to every one that worketh good." Sin, however, is a disgrace; having committed it, sinners, perceiving what they have suffered, say: "Our disgrace hath covered us" in tribulation. And that: "Man being in honor, did not understand." He does not say, "They repelled my price," but, "They devised to repel my price"; for demons do not attack us by force, but by wiles. Not unlike them are the men about whom Paul wrote: "By smooth words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the innocent." That also does not differ from this: "If thine enemy ask thee with a loud voice, do not believe him: for there are seven wickednesses in his soul"; perhaps these are the seven spirits which the unclean spirit takes with him, being worse than himself. Do not, therefore, believe his flatteries. ^B

VERS. 7. He indicates perhaps that since he had been protected by God, he had not wandered. "He is therefore my Savior," he says, "but not I, myself." For He gives glory to those who seek Him, and salvation, not of the flesh, but of the rational soul, which one possesses having trusted in the homeland, according to that: "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." Wherefore, if anything should again force me into a storm, I place my hope in God who has already often saved me. ^C

VERS. 9. All you congregations of the peoples who have believed from the nations, be no longer without hope and piety. "Hope in him," putting aside iniquity, "and pour out your hearts before him": for God will be a helper to you. These words, "to pour out the heart before God," mean the same as: "to love him with all the heart and with all the soul." Understand, therefore, that the Psalmist intends this: Do not approach him with a double heart; but as it is written: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy mind." Or he urges also those from the nations, that they might no longer be without hope and without piety, revealing their hearts to God without craftiness, and loving him with all their soul: for the outpouring is often one of abundance, as in that: "The love of God is shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Spirit." ^D

VERS. 10. To such as these it is said: "Why do you love vanity and seek lying?" It is likewise forbidden to them to have a small and a great weight, but to have a true balance, since a double weight is an abomination before the Lord. They also repent who strive for a hollow agreement. "Sons of men" is said by circumlocution, either for men themselves, or for those who die like men, for they are no longer gods or sons of the Most High. "For whereas there is among you," he says, "envying and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk according to man?"

^A VERSE 11. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon," nor indeed hope in iniquity and in God. For the wealth of the unrighteous man seems to slip away and diminish. "Do not," therefore, "set your heart" upon riches that are soon to diminish. Now, by iniquity we sin against others. Thus it sounds: "But ye have wrought iniquity and plundered," or, brothers, especially by heaping up robberies and deceptive riches. Now also by iniquity are designated evil works, the Scripture saying: "I have hated iniquity and abhorred it"; and elsewhere: "Who rejoices in iniquity": for robbery is truly a species of malice.

VERSE 12. Since God is unbegotten and has a spiritual nature, he speaks with a single and simple voice. The prophet, however, as one begotten, hears "these two" things signified; for the word "these" is demonstrative. Therefore, these things were said with a pure mind and simple voice. For it is not permitted for me to grasp by thought what is called by some an arcanum, and never "arcane words," as Paul calls them. For they are not uttered by syllables, and therefore are they arcane (untold); but words are those things that signify something true. For where there is truth, there is a proposition to be expressed in words; it also happens that we understand what God commanded concerning sacrifices properly, at the same time in a spiritual and literal sense: the same is valid regarding circumcision. By the word "God," perhaps the Father is indicated; and by the word "Lord," the Son, or both by each word. But by what pact will God "render to each according to his works"? If "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed," nor will sinners be punished according to their merits: for "if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Retribution happens, therefore, not according to quantity, but according to quality. But if, however, you understand these things concerning quantity, the reward of good things will be greater, but the punishment of evil things lesser: God’s justice will be equitable, not in punishing evils, but in distinguishing the just from the unjust. ^{B C}

PSALM LXII. ^D VERSE 2. It belongs to a man liberated from the servitude of malice and ignorance to say: "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." The same thing is sounded by: "With my spirit will I watch for thee from the dawn, O God." But for one doing the works of night and darkness, the dawn has not shone. And the "toward thee" is not to be taken as of place: for God is not circumscribed by any place; but they express the affections and senses of a man rejecting worldly things and approaching God. He also says, "O God, my God"; for God is the God of the saints serving him, but not in fact the God of all who exist, since some are rejected. "I have thirsted for thee uniquely," who bestow upon me the "fountain of water springing up into eternal life"; let my soul be illuminated, and indeed even "my flesh": it tends toward thee with all its strength; it "thirsted for thee." But if the Prophet makes these words to the Father, "his power and glory is the Only-begotten; for Christ"

is the power of God, and, "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed." But if referred to the Son, the theology concerning him is his power and glory and the energy that accomplishes miracles. According to that in the Gospel: "Power went out from him and healed all"; and again: "The power of the Lord was to heal them." And concerning glory: "We beheld his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten"; and again: "Glorify me, Father, with the glory which I had before the world was." Consequently, you will understand both, as well as the ^A verse: "In the sanctuary I have appeared to you." Observe that the place meant is the desert, a trackless and waterless, region—that is to say, a land destitute of perfection, and waterless by not having in abundance the gifts of the Spirit; for it is said: "Rivers of living water." For this reason it is also trackless, with nothing dwelling upon it that is, as far as possible, made like to God, and therefore it is justly called a desert. For knowledge is in part within it, and only a pledge of the Spirit. For the words indicate what is scarce, but not a total deprivation.

Ver. 5. The Apostle has written that godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. By the words "that now is," he does not mean the common life which all living things share, but that which is capable of being realized in this life, concerning which the Savior says: "He that believes in me has eternal life"; and: "This is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ." This present life and the life to come, which happens according to its perfection to those who ^B encounter the truth face to face. "Thy mercy is better than life," by which and for which the one being led into them comes to be in these lives; for it is not according to the merit of action or contemplation, but by the goodness and mercy of God that one comes to live according to both lives. Therefore, mercy is better as the cause is better than the caused, which designates the God Word, of whom it is said: "God sent his mercy and his truth."

Ver. 6. See if the fat that fills the soul is that with which Wisdom has slaughtered her victims, and the true food is the flesh of the Word, and the fatness is that which gladdens the inner man, the wine harvested from the true vine. And the true drink of Wisdom is the blood. For whoever is called to partake of the table prepared by Wisdom, having slaughtered her own victims and mixed her own wine, and having already been satisfied ^C by the divine feast and longing for more, has said: "Let my soul be filled as with fat and fatness." And since the one partaking of this feast drinks because of the insatiability of the appetite of the mind, "Let it be filled," he says, "and not filled," my soul, even though having already partaken abundantly of the food and drink; therefore, some hope in vain that sensible foods and drinks are to be bestowed upon men after the resurrection, for the reason that he who is admitted to this banquet here, although he has used both foods and drinks abundantly, says nonetheless that his soul is not satisfied due to the insatiable appetite of the mind. Not

the body, but the soul, he says, shall be filled with fat and richness, with God satisfying the soul's desire with good things, as he said in another psalm. Having been filled with gladness, he gives thanks to the One who offered this, saying: "And the lips of rejoicing shall praise Thy name." Regarding whom he had said: "My lips shall praise Thee." It is possible to call them "lips of rejoicing" because virtue is called "rejoicing"; just as it is said regarding "folly," for the feet of those who engage in it lead them down to the folly of practice. ^B

VERS. 9. These things may be said of him who refrains himself from iniquity, so that by being concerned with the things of the Lord he may please Him; and of him who keeps an undefiled bed and is joined to his wife purely after the example of the holy men. Just as it is permitted for one who completes the course of virtue and piety to set goals, as it was said: "I have finished the course"; and elsewhere: "Without iniquity I ran and directed my steps"; for the word "I ran" belongs to one who has reached the goal. Thus, he who follows God according to Jeremiah: "But I have not labored while following after Thee." And according to Hosea: "I will walk after the Lord"; and as Moses says: "You shall walk after the Lord your God." He might eventually complete the walk after God having reached the goal of blessedness itself, when he shall hear from God: "But you, stand here with Me." Therefore, he who has "cleaved" and been united no longer walks, just as those who hate evil and cleave to the good are united; such as the saying: "He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit," which is more perfect than merely walking after Him. For even if one who applies himself to the Lord attains the end of the journey, he who cleaves to the Lord and thus becomes one spirit with Him obtains yet more excellent things. But he confesses that his soul cleaves after the Lord, being supported by the right hand of God, which is the Only-Begotten, the power of God. With Him fighting for us, the enemies, visible and invisible, will make vain attacks, nor will they be able to harm him whom the powerful hand of God defends. ^C

VERS. 11. That is, of the evil powers; for by nature foxes are crafty and malicious. The verse, "Let sinners be turned into hell," agrees with this one. For this "sword" denotes the punishments there; and the "hands" of this sword indicate either the labors of punishments, or the ministers of punishments, who are also elsewhere called "vessels of wrath." Because of their malice, the evil powers are likened to foxes. ^D

VERS. 12. Thereafter, all shall celebrate Him with a sincere mouth, calling Him King, and swearing by His salvation, having laid aside all fear of the slanderers, whose mouths have been obstructed by death—a thing which they were afraid to do while Saul was alive, when so many priests were slaughtered for David's sake.

^A Ver. 3. He calls the conspiracy of the wicked a "gathering" and a consent unto evil, the opposition to which is better displayed as having been successfully repelled as if protected by a wall of divine providence; for they wove slanders against me, kindling war against me.

Ver. 5. They approach from ambush, not regarding God who beholds them. And the heterodox say that there is no one who can grasp their refined and sophistical teaching.

Ver. 7. "They have failed in searching out their searches," because they searched out iniquity so intensely as to establish for themselves an evil word, and to hide snares in their narratives, thinking that no one would find them out and break them. "A man will approach," one who is true, preserving the image, and having articulated what it is to be learned, and having a deep understanding for reproof; so that "God will be exalted," grasping the wise in their craftiness. In this way He revealed the guile of Elymas the sorcerer; for God is exalted through holy men, when error is exposed, just as Moses exposed the sorcerers and enchanters of Pharaoh. And all shall praise God, through the "deep heart" given by the Spirit who searches all things.

^B Ver. 8. Those who saw that they had failed in their wicked attempts were filled with confusion and fear, and marvelled at the divine providence; for the following verses show this. As the arrows of infants are made void, so too will the impiety and bitter speech of the sophists be broken, and their words will be refuted by those armed with the shield of faith. Wherefore those who formerly admired them were afraid, ceasing from the error by which they were convinced that there is no providence, and that all things happen automatically, and that people are good or evil by nature and live under fate. But when they were shaken, they thought the opposite, having contemplated the Creator from the greatness and beauty of his creatures.

PSALM LXIV

Ver. 1. It has been said previously that the psalm denotes action, while the 'ode' denotes contemplation; for the life that is looked upon as both contemplative and practical proves a man perfect.

Ver. 5. He who is chosen for holiness, if he persists in his choice, is taken up by God, as one removed from the place concerning the earth, to dwell in the courts of Him who chose him, concerning which it is said: "Enter into His courts with hymns." And the Psalmist, having been struck with a longing for them from that point on, said: "My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord." And since the end of happiness is not in the courts, the one who has been taken up there dwells in them in order that, having progressed, he might afterwards be admitted into the house of God itself, being blessed: "Blessed are they who dwell in thy house; for ever and ever they will praise thee." This shows that it is less to be chosen than to be taken up by the One who chooses.

This is made clear by: "Thou didst guide me in thy counsel, and with glory thou didst take me up." For when one who is chosen performs all things according to the will of God, then he is taken up with glory into the promises. These are the words used by those who pronounce the eulogy for those who have departed from this life. ^B

Vers. 8. How would all not be afraid and troubled, when the oracles were brought to nothing, and the demons, who proclaimed their own healing, along with magic and sorcery, and Satan himself, who holds the power of death, were confounded? Truly, through the signs, those who had been instructed concerning his divinity knew him thereafter, as one who takes providence even over the things of the heavens; by his laws the stars rise and set; for the "outgoings of the morning" are the risings, and the "evening" are their settings, upon which those who believe rejoice, having acknowledged him who became man and liberated us from the servitude of error.

Vers. 10. ^C God gives spiritual rain, the early rain through the Old Testament, and the latter rain through the New Testament; by which the earth, spoken of here by allegory, is made drunk. This is the soul of man, which was enriched "with every word and every knowledge" and with good works by God himself who fills it. The river of God and the fount of life is his Word. And perhaps the Word is the fount with God; because "with thee is the fount of life," the river is found when he waters the rational creation. Its streams, which are the teachings given in parts, gladden the city of God, the Church; and since "the fullness of the divinity dwells in him," he is full of waters, as it is written concerning him: "We beheld his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." From these waters, which the river is full of, every rational creature is watered. ^D Moreover, it has food prepared by God, the sowing of wheat that bears fruit a hundredfold. By this river the furrows of the earth, upon which the spiritual plow has been cast, are made drunk and drink in gladness, so that the fruits of righteousness growing in it may increase and multiply, concerning which it is written: "Sow for yourselves in righteousness, reap the fruit of life"; and again: "Seek the Lord until the fruits of righteousness come upon you." And since the furrows of the earth are made drunk not only by the river, but also by the spiritual rain which the clouds shower down, according to that which is written, "And let the clouds rain righteousness," the earth rejoices as it springs up with the drops that come upon it, namely, the words and thoughts of the divinely-inspired Scriptures by which it is illuminated.

Vers. 14. Some say that by "valleys" are signified souls that are humbled, having no loftiness, which abound in wheat from which bread can be made. Thus: "Open your eyes, and be filled with bread." For when the eyes of the soul are opened...

^A they are illuminated by the light of knowledge; and when this occurs the loaves are multiplied—that is, the practical virtues by which a man is fed inwardly. In the Song of Songs, the Bridegroom, who is none other than the Savior, says: "I am the flower of the field, the lily of the valleys." He calls the earth the field, where the flower germinates so that men might also begin to bring forth fruit. But by the valleys, He indicates here the souls existing in the underworld, for whom He became a lily by taking on death. He also became a grain of wheat, just as He Himself taught: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit." Through death, therefore, He produced much fruit, and was the cause in the underworld for the valleys to abound with wheat.

It is worth noting that some writers have asserted that after the return from Babylon there was a year of great abundance and plenty of rain, and that the Jordan flowed deeply, which they contend is called the river of God. ^B Yet, in truth, they were in the greatest poverty, as Ezra taught, and the remaining parts of the Psalm require that the calling of the nations be understood. Others falsely claim that these things will be fulfilled when, at the end of time, the Jews are gathered again to inhabit Jerusalem.

PSALM LXV

VERS. 1. The victors jubilate against the captives with a festal and most loud voice. Since, therefore, by the grace of God the Savior, who tasted death for everyone, the dead arise, the devil having been defeated who held this power of death, the Psalmist commands all the earth to jubilate to God—for all, ^C both just and unjust, arise. Let all jubilate, especially since that resurrection which comes through repentance befalls everyone. For it is said to all men: "Does not he who falls rise again?" And to the whole Church converted from the nations the Lord says: "Arise, come, my neighbor." For he who has arisen through repentance is no longer far from Christ. And with the voice in jubilation against the defeated having occurred, those who have been liberated are commanded to chant to God, the author of victory. He gives glory to His praise who praises God with works. For praise is fitting for the holy. Therefore the wicked man is forbidden to do this, since praises are untimely in the mouth of a sinner.

^D VERS. 6. He refutes with these words those who contend that these miracles were done by one, and those which are recounted in the Gospels by another. For Jesus saved the people from the land of Egypt, as is read in the Apostolic Epistle. But why should those things which concern the directing of the chaste and the poor be unbecoming to the divine plan? For He dried up the surging passions, casting fire upon the earth, the Word drying up all moisture, so that the passage might be easy for everyone. For the same reason Peter walked upon the waters to signify greater things, trusting in the Savior; but the river is nothing else than the Word, fortified by Greek wisdom and art, blocking the way to the holy...

^A land. But He turned even this by grasping the wise in their craftiness, and made it passable for those journeying toward holiness.

VERS. 7. ^B And all the opposing power acts bitterly; for it was threatening the nations that were departing from them, while terrifying some, and emboldening others who were departing from them. "His eyes," he says, "look upon the nations," indicating the protection from God.

VERS. 9. The feet of the inner man are not cast into a shaking when one is established upon the unbroken and most firm Word of God; so as to say in thanksgiving: "You set my feet upon a rock." ^C And the soul of him who attains the end of faith, which is salvation, is placed for life; so as to say with faithful purpose: "And my soul lives for Him." Now the soul that is adorned with virtues and wisdom lives; for the sinning soul shall die. For which reason it says to God: "In Your righteousness, give me life." Therefore, the feet of the man who is established on the most firm Word of God are not moved.

VERS. 11. For we must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of heaven. But even if You did "place men upon our heads," we are nevertheless persuaded that, having cast down the enemies, we shall lift them up through patience, with the hostile men who were set upon us being dragged down.

VERS. 17. Without any utterance, I exalted Him in my mind in silence. ^D For when God saw me purified of such thoughts, He bountifully deemed me worthy of His own gifts. And the words, "I did not behold iniquity in my heart," agree with that utterance of the great Paul: "I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this justified," for God sees many things that escape us: the saying, "Who will understand lapses? Cleanse me from my secret faults," sounds exactly the same.

PSALM LXVI

VERS. 2. The Creator of all things illumines His countenance upon us when He has filled us with blessing and mercies, when the character of His hypostasis has appeared to us, and has appeared to those who are worthy of such a gift, just as He himself says concerning those who keep His commandments. For since Christ is the image of the invisible God, he who in a pure mind clings to Him, sees the Father: for, "He who sees me," He says, "sees the Father." Then He has mercy on those who do well, and He blesses them "with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

VERS. 5. Once the way of the Lord has become known in the earth, and His salvation among all nations, having been freed from all malice and the deception of many gods, the nations rejoice and exult, having received the knowledge of the true God. The terms "peoples" and "nations" here designate the same thing; for they are called peoples who are from the circumcision, and nations who are from the gentiles, having professed the true faith. Let them rejoice, he says, since

^A he judged the injustices against them with all equity, and leads them back and brings them to ^B their own land, by having become a leader to them, on account of leading them back with his own power.

Ver. 6. For how was it not going to be that every earth, that is, those of mankind upon it, should be filled with praise, and bear the fruit of piety, with incense and a pure sacrifice offered in every place among the nations?

PSALM LXVII

Ver. 2. This prayer is sent forth with imperative verbs. This is customary in Scripture also. You might say that the enemies of God being scattered refer, if I am not mistaken, to those who err concerning the knowledge of the truth; but those who hate and flee are those who follow, being those who sin in matters of practice. For those who love God keep his commandments. He might also pray for the resurrection of him who descended to spoil Hades, in order to scatter the Jews who have stood together with the demons; for, unable to look upon him who has risen, they will flee. And he says those who hate and flee from God "from his face" are those who have practical wickedness; for if he who loves him keeps his commandments, he who does not keep them does not love God. In every place where they prophesied and were worshipped, they used to dictate—the demons having fallen to such a state of madness—that their own followers should offer even their most beloved to them. But now, of all those, there has been a disappearance and a desolation of destruction, so that not even a memory of them is left to remain.

Ver. 4. What it is not merely to rejoice and exult, but to do so ^C "in the presence of God," and to receive these things from God, and to revel in divine pleasure, cannot be worthily explained in speech. For righteousness does not perish, as wickedness does. For it is written: "His righteousness remains for ever and ever." Consonant with these things is also: "As a sour grape is harmful to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is iniquity to those who use it." For figuratively, the teeth of the soul are the faculties by which it cuts and grinds spiritual food, and the eyes are the thoughts; by both of these, wickedness is harmed, while the essence of the soul remains incorrupt. For not even the melting wax is destroyed into non-existence, but it is given over into the substance of the fire, its quality perishing, just as that according to which someone is a sinner. For he did not say simply that sinners perish, but that they perish from the face of God. Exultation, being a certain kind of joy, is a "fruit of the Spirit; for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." And cheerfulness is the pleasant affection that ^D pours out the mind of the soul.

Ver. 5. One would not perform the good unless he had departed from the evil; for they are incompatible. Nor would one be illuminated by the sun of righteousness, while still participating in him who "transforms himself into an angel of light," and pretends to be the sun of righteousness, but is called the light of impiety. "For the light of the ungodly shall be extinguished." For when that one sets, the other rises in our hearts,

ascendens super occasum » prioris; for the sunset of the day prepares a path for him toward evil. Therefore, Adam was cast out of Paradise, which was planted to the east, so that he might be led back again to the east. This is what Christ also did for the thief when he was repenting, saying: «Today you will be with me in Paradise.» ^A

VERS. 6. Thus, He gladdens men oppressed by the rule of Satan, while He declares the Savior to them. Let us, therefore, as quickly as possible abandon the former father who birthed us in wickedness, and the man who lived with us in iniquity, so that we may have God as our Father, who enriches us with divine gifts. — «God’s holy place,» He established as the Church, sanctified by Christ, or indeed every faithful person, or His holy body gifted with soul and reason.

VERS. 7. But in truth, He also brings the dead out of the sepulchers, according to that word: «The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall awaken; for the dew which is from You is a healing unto them.» ^B Such also is that which is in the Gospel: «The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life; but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.»

VERS. 8. Truly, when God withdrew from the sight of His people, or from their midst, when He said: «Behold, your house is left to you desolate;» and as in Jeremiah: «I have abandoned my house, I have left my inheritance;» when He passed through the desert, that is, the Church which is from the nations, «then the earth was moved,» namely, the letter and the shadow of the Law, ^C with «the heavens distilling» the divine mind, according to the life-giving Spirit of the divine Scriptures. By “heavens” are meant, strictly speaking, Moses and the prophets and the mystical contemplations hidden in their words; for such are the drops that those clouds distill of which it was said: «Let the clouds rain down righteousness.» Concerning which the clouds and heavens have been celebrated by the prophecies. The earth was moved, especially when the nations were converted from the worship of idols to the true doctrine, with the evangelical faith achieving victory, while the apostles and evangelists and the other teachers distilled spiritual dew.

VERS. 14. Another says that by these words are signified the «cleri» (lots) and the «aqueducts»; for it is said in Genesis concerning Issachar, that when he was called a husbandman, he rested among the cleri. ^D But these things must now be understood of the Old and New Testaments; for they irrigate souls with a spiritual river, so that they may bring forth spiritual fruits. He sleeps between these two testaments who thinks that both are of one God, and therefore distinguishes the spirit from the letter. Thus, also, he is shielded as if with wings, perceiving according to the Holy Spirit. But these wings, which are the insights that lift up the winged soul, must be confirmed by divine utterances, which are called silver (or rather gold) tested by fire; wherefore they are silver-plated. «Gold» in many places of Scripture indicates the most pure mind; which, as having

^A the greenness of the life of those who live, it possesses. You might also interpret «in the midst of the lots» otherwise. According to Leviticus, on the day of atonement, two goats were brought to the tabernacle of testimony; then, the lot having been cast, the one was led to the altar to be sacrificed to the Lord, but the other, upon whom the lot of the scapegoat had fallen, was sent away into the desert. These were symbols of good and evil. Between these [two] it is necessary for a person to discriminate, to perform the holy service of the good to the Lord, and to send away the evil to him who is pleased by it, since from him also it took its beginning. For thus shall one have wings silver-plated and the greenness of gold upon his back.

^B Ver. 15. The kings having been distinguished will follow; «they shall be made white in Salmon,» that is, they shall be filled with snow. By snow are signified virtues, which irrigate the mind with their stream and quench the burning of the passions; for neither in the passage, «Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,» is the word used in a literal sense, since it is not sufficient to express the whiteness of a purified soul. The same holds true in that passage: «And if your sins shall be as crimson, I will make them white as snow;» and in that: «Her Nazarites were purer than snow.» Salmon is interpreted as «the shadow of the portion.» Perhaps, therefore, since these kings were apostles who once Judaized, keeping the law that was according to the shadow, they are of the portion of the shadow, having indeed a spiritual portion, but having been experienced in the shadow; such as he who says, «A Hebrew of Hebrews, according to the Law, a Pharisee.» Or, since the portion of Christ’s disciples was in the heavens, according to, «Who has made us worthy for the portion of the saints in light.» Yet they had not yet reached it, even though they had their citizenship in heaven, for while they still walked upon earth, knowing in part and prophesying in part, and having the earnest of the Spirit, they are in the shadow of their own portion. And therefore it is a great thing to be made snowy in this [portion], having a spotless life.

^C Ver. 19. The chorus of the saints declares these things to Him who ascended the height of the cross, and from thence took captive those oppressed by the tyranny of Satan, having given His own soul as the price of redemption for many. For thus, having proclaimed remission to the captives, He redeemed all from their vain manner of life; He draws even those who do not believe, sometimes through sickness and tribulations; and many also have been brought through miracles to dwell with Jesus.

^D Ver. 21. «Our God, is the God of saving,» giving eternal salvation. He says, therefore: «The Savior is none beside me.» Therefore, He provides issues through which one escapes, by repentance, the death that follows upon sin. For the devil is also called thus in the passage, «Death has swallowed, having prevailed.» And He provides «the issues of death» to Him who has been lifted up from the gates of death; «the heads of enemies,» either indicate the princes, or the principality: to the former

^A it is used in the sense of: «From the head of the princes of the nations;» and to the latter in that which says: «I have given their ways upon their own heads;» and in that: «Your hands are upon your own head.» Both perhaps signify that which says: «You have cast death upon the heads of the ungodly.» By His benefits, God was exhorting them to change the life miserably given over to sins; but since they were enemies to Him on account of their transgressions, they continued walking in their sins.

VERS. 25. Another version has: «To be seen.» The Psalmist calls thoughts what we grasp not but by reflection; for you shall not discern the goings of God with the sharpness of the eyes.

VERS. 26. He calls those who instruct themselves to live uprightly «the singing ones.» And «young maidens, the timbrel-players,» are the souls which mortify the members that are upon the earth, and always «carry about the mortification of Jesus in their body.» These singing ones were anticipated by those who, according to the teaching, are called «princes,» because in rightly ordering their life they have held the principality. And «in the midst of the young maidens» are the apostles, by reason of having the authority for timbrel-playing—that is, the mortification of the members that are upon the earth of the aforesaid young maidens.

VERS. 29. «Command Your strength,» so that, having descended, it may loose the infirmity of men; «from Your temple,» having arrived—she through whom is empowered that which was for our sake, the birth of Emmanuel. For by this strength, which is none other than the Word of God, God says that all things were made, and He commanded that diverse things should be created. ^C When the infirmity has been loosed, «kings shall bring gifts» to the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the Church. And by kings, either those whom «the heavenly One has chosen» in His inheritance, who lead their own to the truth, as Peter led his brother Andrew, and Philip Nathanael, and every apostle his own disciples; or all the faithful are meant, according to that: «And would to God you did reign, that we also might reign with you,» whose gifts, and movements of mind, and words, and works are praiseworthy for praising God.

VERS. 30. Symmachus says: «Because of Your temple which is above Jerusalem,» so that the phrase «they shall offer You gifts» no longer coheres with these words. «Because of the temple,» he says, You have been taken up from us, and are seated above every principality, and power, and virtue; for He calls Jerusalem the city which is above, which is also called free by Paul. They ask, therefore, through the affinity by which it is joined to the temple, that the grace granted might be confirmed, and that, through the first-fruits of the gifts already received, they might attain the whole mass of flour.

VERS. 31. «The beasts of the reed» are called those who profess false doctrine, to whom pertains that prophecy: «Woe to those who write wickedness.»

VERS. 32. By Egypt is indicated the whole earth which served that crafty Pharaoh, and by Ethiopia...

^A the darkened soul of those in sin. And elsewhere it is also said: «And behold, the foreigners and Tyre and the people of the Ethiopians, these were born there,» clearly meaning in the spiritual Sion. And Sophonias also says: «Then will I turn to the peoples a language, that all may call upon the name of the Lord, and serve Him under one yoke. From the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring me sacrifices.» That Ethiopia denotes all the nations, the bride, speaking through repentance, proves, saying: «I am black and beautiful:» black indeed, and misshapen because of the worship of idols and perverse habits; but beautiful, because she had already embraced healthier things. Moreover, reaching out her hand to God, she was so enlightened that those who saw her with the Bridegroom said: «Who is this that cometh up whitened?» ^B

VERS. 36. Showing yourselves grateful, therefore, in works and in word, you ought to extol God with hymns and benedictions, that you may be able to celebrate His magnificence, seeing God, because you are of a clean heart: for this is Israel. For the transcendent knowledge of God, possessing that which is fitting in great things, abides only with him who has holiness and peace.

PSALM LXVIII

VERS. 1. In all those things which are here put forward as if from one person, recognize the mind of God calling us away ^C from the errors of sinners and the unfaithful. They are changed also who believe from the circumcision, living according to the spirit of the law. Those too are changed who have turned toward evil: indeed, a certain change exists for the dead, according to that: «And we shall be changed,» which through the passion Christ will perfect, which the Apostle also mentions in that same place; for to Him whom death serves, there also belongs the power of raising all the dead.

VERS. 2. As if from our person the Savior utters most of the words of this psalm, bearing our infirmities, and afflicted for our sake. For he did not commit the sins which he confesses, just like friends of a King who intercede for those who have sinned. For these, commending the cause of the sinners, seem to confess everything of/for themselves. Thus, indeed, praying for others, holy men say: «We have sinned, we have done ^D wickedly, we have offended.» By affection, or rather by supereminent solicitude, the Savior has become a patron for the whole world, as God bestowing all things that are asked. Therefore He takes away the sin of the world, and grants remission of sins to those who approach Him. Since, therefore, He went to death not for His own sake but for ours, «A tempest,» He says, «has sunk me into the depths of the sea,» calling the temptation a tempest, as in that: «A tempest passed through the desert;» and that, «I expected Him who would save me from faint-heartedness and the tempest.» By what reasoning, then, does He say, just as if He were approaching death with a willing mind: «No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself»? Since it was not by sickness nor by anything of that sort, but by the cross that [He...]

^A he perished; yet he endured this with a willing mind, and calls it a tempest.

VERS. 4. This passage expresses how deaf the Jews made themselves: «I have labored crying out». He also admonishes us not to grow weary in praying day and night. He agrees with the one who said: «With a strong cry». He also adds, being uniquely intent in his hope in God: «My eyes have failed», that is, the eyes of the heart. For they hated and persecuted without cause a man performing such great deeds, as the Savior, healing every kind of infirmity among the Jews and raising the dead, on account of which their city was an object of wonder to all. Scripture is accustomed to using hyperbole, and by exaggeration it says: «more than the hairs of my head». If he paid back what he had not stolen, he certainly redeemed us, by settling the accounts which we ourselves were obliged to pay.

VERS. 6. Thus Paul also not undeservedly calls the passion of Christ foolishness, and his cross weakness: «because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men». God knows those who are his, since he has chosen certain ones whom he judged worthy of the knowledge of God; and that foolishness of his which is spoken of, being worthy of the knowledge of God, had a great and profound meaning. For God was not unaware of that supposed foolishness, according to which ^C «he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled himself even unto death», for it came about by his own judgment. «For the word of the cross», says the Apostle, «is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God: for God was well pleased through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe». For even if it seemed foolishness to the Greeks, it was nevertheless being fulfilled according to profound reasons. Symmachus writes: «You know my ignorance»; for being ignorant of human malice, he attributes this noble ignorance to the knowledge of the Father. «If there had been offenses of mine for which I was crucified, they would not have escaped your notice. But there were none: they persecuted me, hating me without cause, and having set up false witnesses against me, they exacted from me what I had not stolen.» He says these things especially by the sentence of the Father, taking upon himself our sins, according to the passage: «He bore our sins and suffered for us», etc. It is also written concerning him: «He became a curse for us».

There is no sinner whose foolishness and offenses are known by God, as he himself remains before God, while transgressions do not remain before his eyes. Foolishness does not differ much from ignorance, by which he says to many: «I never knew you», and by which he himself...

says that he does not know the day or the hour of judgment. ^A If we understand these things piously, we shall also understand foolishness in the same way; for the Teacher, possessing perfect knowledge, seems to know these things through acts of condescension toward those who are being introduced, to whose capacity these things are adapted, in a certain manner becoming like them. He accepted such condescension, which was, in a way, ignorance and foolishness. Since, therefore, «Jesus, being rich» in wisdom, «became poor for our sake», so as not to appear to be wisdom, he possessed foolishness through which we have been enriched in every word and in all knowledge; we must understand his failures accordingly. If anyone takes offense at this, let him consider the things that appear worse than these which are said about God: forgetfulness, change of counsel, fury, anger, and such like.

^B Verse 10. This utterance is explained by that Paul who had Christ within himself, saying: «Let each of us please his neighbor for his good; for Christ did not please himself, but as it is written: The reproaches of those who reproached you fell upon me.»

Verse 11. One might say: Did he not bear the reputation of being a glutton and a wine-drinker among the malicious? To which it must be replied that neither he nor his disciples attended banquets very often, but they did not refuse when invited a few times, since they intended to provide benefits and perform miracles. The evangelists relate that miracles were performed on such ^C occasions, but he attended a banquet only very rarely. Now, the calumniators, seeing this, used such words against him, as if he lived addicted to luxury. To refute them, it is sufficient to recall that fast of his which lasted forty days continuously and without any interruption. And since fasting is a preventative against the pride of irrational passions, he says: «I afflicted my soul with fasting.» It is customary for the wicked to reproach the good for the virtues with which they are adorned, for «godliness is an abomination to a sinner.» The sackcloth signifies the harsh and miserable life he led, confessing on our behalf. Some say that by this is meant the body that he has taken on.

Verse 14. Hear me, he says, in an opportune time, for the sake of the multitude of your mercy, providing true salvation to those for whom I plead. This you will do by saving him who died for them through the resurrection; for I undertake life and salvation on their behalf. The salvation according to God is «in truth», while the salvation from doctors and commanders is typological. If, therefore, you have said at other times that you were well-pleased in me, show your good pleasure at the time of the passion ^D by raising me up for their sake. For with me, those who are dead through sins shall be made alive. Teaching these mysteries, the Apostle said: «God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love...

with which he loved us, even when we were dead through trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ.»

Verse 15. He prays that we may not be mired in mud, that is, that we may not be ensnared in our bodily desires. Perhaps he took our sins upon his own body as mud, so that he might take them away. He also prays that we might be rescued from temptations; for with him we overcome the depths of the waters. «For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.» Those who do not bravely endure temptations fall into these depths, and only God can rescue them. To whom he also says: «Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord,» and he asks for the things that follow on our behalf. For he himself fears nothing of those things which harm others. If, therefore, he is troubled and distressed before his death, he bore these evils primarily for our sake, and also to prove that he had truly become man. ^A

Verse 17. He invokes the kindness of God for those for whom he prays, for he dissolves their sins. For this same reason he also asks for a multitude of mercies, as it were for all; for he was sent «not that he might judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved.» He calls the mercy of God sweet, so that he may deprecate all punishments; for when God is about to punish men, he says: «My eye shall not spare, and I will have no mercy on him.» He calls himself a child because he was made man, though the word also signifies the Son. For having been made like us «without sin, and taking the form of a servant,» and having assumed our natural and blameless affections, he says these things. And his soul was redeemed, not being held in Hades, but also redeeming the souls captive there. This is a thing one would not say of a soul destitute of reason and having no proper subsistence of its own; but it is possible for a rational soul to be redeemed. You might call his soul, and every soul that has been joined to him, his; for the holy one is called the man of God. For thus also the soul that has adhered to him and become one spirit with him was. And he is redeemed by giving for it that which he assumed; as also body for body, so that a whole human being might be given for a human being. These he seeks to rescue through his resurrection, so that the enemies might be destroyed, and the devil who holds the power of death. «Whom you know, he says, to be in your sight,» unless perhaps these tribulations indicate being oppressed for those for whom he was sent. Through these words he teaches us how greatly God has spared us, since he did not spare his own Son. And by «reproach and misery» he indicated the cross. ^B

Verse 21. By allegory, it is said that Jesus looked for reproach and misery, so that by suffering for the world he might take away its sin. None of the Israelites according to the flesh desired to die with him, so that he was saddened, having his soul full of grief.

^A And there was no one to console him, for they were not instructed by his own prophecies concerning his death. On the contrary, gall and vinegar were their fruit, for they did not keep the plantation which God had planted from the beginning: the Jewish crowd as a "vine fruitful, all true." Having turned into bitterness, it became a strange vine. It is said, therefore, concerning those enemies who had become senseless: "For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their branch is from Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, their cluster is of bitterness; their wine is the rage of dragons, and the rage of asps is incurable." This gall of the grape, and this cluster of bitterness, they brought to him as a drink, although he thirsted for their salvation; for the corruption of wine is vinegar. Yet in the calling of the nations, one is found who is both saddened and consoles. They say, therefore: "If we have died with him, we shall also live with him," and, "We have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in that of his resurrection."

^B Vers. 27. His body was affected by wounds, clearly, on account of our sins, in order to heal them. Those are called "wounds" which we suffered by being struck by robbers while traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho; but here he says "pain" because he was moved [on account of] our sins. But if we also persecute him, we add "upon his pain," since he now grieves not only for sinners, but also for those who persecute him.

Vers. 29. That those who possess virtue and the knowledge of God live is shown by the text: "This is your life, and the length of your days, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul," and by the text: "He who believes in me has eternal life." The book in which those living in this way are written is the knowledge of God, who knows those who are his own; from which it follows that the ungodly are blotted out from his memory.

Vers. 34. For he is the one who looses those who are bound, and brings those who are fettered out of bonds and from the house of confinement.

Vers. 37. Those, clearly, who were formerly called prophets and godly men, and those who after them were ministers and deacons of the Gospel.

PSALM LXIX

^C Vers. 1. The salvation for every penitent man is the memory of those things which he had forgotten. For "all the ends of the earth will remember and turn toward the Lord"; for the memory of the good is the end of conversion. For all, having been made according to the image and likeness of God, have notions concerning God sown within them; and even if someone sins out of negligence, by repenting he is reminded of the good, the notion of which he possesses by nature.

Vers. 3. Insensibility to good leads to sin. For this reason, evil is often committed with pleasure and boldness, according to the text: "Whose glory is in their shame." To whom the prophecy says: "Be ashamed of your boasting." For it brings both reproach and...

^A ruin: for those who are ashamed will cease from evil, and will consequently do good. He prays that those who are his enemies even now may be brought to shame, remembering the things they have committed. For they "sought my soul," not desiring to fall into sin in the same way, or to slay one who does not run with them into the apostasy by which they are alienated from God. He asks on their behalf, for their benefit—that they may be turned back from their evil path, and that they may be confounded in the counsel by which they wished to lead him astray, saying: "Euge," that is, "We shall seize you as you flee from us." Observe, however, that they have the power to wish to do harm, but they do not perform the damage unless God permits them.

VERS. 5. This salvation is none other than Christ, who is the author of eternal salvation for us, and "all flesh shall see this salvation."

PSALM LXX

VERS. 1. He who hopes in God will not be confounded forever, and for the same reason, the hope of one who confides in anything else will soon fail him; for it is written: "He that trusteth in riches, he shall fall." Likewise: "Do not trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation." And: "Cursed is the man who hath hope in man; but blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his hope." Concerning this hope it is written: "You have regenerated us into a living hope," which he who possesses, he says, will not be confounded forever. "In justice he is delivered," that is, he who abstains from sin, and in wisdom he who seeks after it. You might perhaps say he is praying to be delivered from the unrighteous; and this would not be unfitting for men, who, according to the psalm's inscription, had been led into captivity for the sake of others, and therefore not undeservedly asked for freedom. But righteousness is also called a life adorned with virtues, and injustice is every sin perfected in act. He prays, therefore, that he may be delivered from injustice into righteousness; he who loves his own soul hates ^C injustice. That righteousness signifies all virtues is taught by the saying: "He who walks in righteousness," is blameless; and that all wickedness is called injustice is indicated by: "I have hated and abhorred injustice," and again: "The blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all injustice." The same expression will be used by anyone who wishes to abandon the shadow of the law, that he may have the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and not his own righteousness which is from the law.

VERS. 2. How could men, or creatures so far inferior to you, utter cries audible to your hearing? But you, being good, and accommodating yourself to our weakness, "incline your ears to me" as I pray for salvation.

VERS. 6. These things can be referred to all: for if the power of God did not guard and cherish what is conceived in the womb, it would not subsist at all, bereft entirely of life. We should not interpret "from the womb" in a spiritual, but in a literal sense; for in a spiritual sense the word would not be appropriate here. For it is written that Samuel also knew God "before he came to know the Lord" (in the sense of full maturity), although he had been reared piously from his tenderest years. He says also...

^A that Moses in the desert [said]: "And all the little ones who today do not know good or evil, they shall enter into the land of promise." How then is it that he who speaks this, knowing God at that time, was established by his own choice in Him? He is saying, therefore, that "You have bestowed upon me the beginning of both knowing and acting; from which [time] I knew you alone." This, however, a person would not say who had returned from wickedness through repentance, but only he who had remained from the beginning in God, saying like Job: ^B "If I have eaten my morsel alone, and have not shared it with the orphan; if I did not lead them from my mother's womb and nurture them as a father"—[it is] clear that [he spoke] from the time he began to act rationally. Just as those saying: "If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have stretched out our hands to a strange god"—from the time they began to think, clearly. But it is also fitting for him who is born of divine instruction and of water and the Spirit, that the "womb" and "belly"—from which he who is born has intellectually emerged—are understood in a manner ^C befitting this birth.

Ver. 7. "For godliness is an abomination to the sinner." And such people say: "Let us bind the just man, because he is troublesome to us." Therefore, he said "to the many"—that is, to the base and vulgar, by whom you keep me unharmed. Thus, the Apostle said consistently: "We have become as the offscourings of the world and are the refuse of all things even until now." So also is the [scriptural] "We are foolish for Christ's sake," and the "For I think that God has shown us the apostles last, as men appointed to death," and the "We have become a spectacle to the world." By no other reasoning does God say to the sinners: ^D "And Ezechiel shall be a portent to you," as the prophet records, since he so often indicated [what was] to come by his symbolic actions—such as his lying for so many days upon his right side, and for as many again upon his left, and the shaving of the hair of his body. And if such men seemed to be [a portent] to the many, yet to God and to the holy people they were wise and just; and to many, the Savior also, because of the cross, seemed a portent.

Ver. 10. For if Christ is the one speaking, it follows [that the words], "If an enemy had reviled me, I would have endured it," apply to him; for this, and the things that follow, pertain to Judas.

Ver. 12. Having you as a helper, I know that I shall see all my enemies put to shame.

Ver. 16. Because of my shamed enemies, and because they have labored in vain against me, I add now also, singing to you with victory, to the previous praise concerning which he said: "In you is my singing always." But they were casting down his soul, saying: "God has forsaken him." For nothing is shown to be more of a reproach against the one forsaken. Regarding the words, "But I will hope always," he says [this], showing that he is not to be forsaken by...

^A God, nor that any evil has happened to him from these outcries. As the law according to the letter has not yet been cast away, nor [are we] under the letter and the shadow, I will enter in according to the life-giving Spirit, possessing kingly power. God has granted me that I should not be anxious about the righteousness which is according to the shadow of the law; regarding which Paul writes, "As touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless," judging all shadowy things—which were formerly his gains—as having been suffered as loss, "and [I] count them but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of God." In some [manuscripts] it is written "negotiations," signifying that one has become far removed from every worldly negotiation, because of the injustice that for the most part accompanies it, [in the one] who has made mention of divine righteousness.

VERS. 19. These high and great things took place when Christ came to us: for when Christ was born of the Virgin, a multitude of the heavenly host cried out, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." For since this good will had come to pass, all hostile things upon earth were destroyed, and glory came to be in the highest, as those who had been saved ascended to the highest places. For since they had already become perfect, just as the heavenly Father is perfect, and possessed supreme holiness, they had God within themselves, becoming all in all. The Savior therefore said in the Gospels: "Father, I will that where I am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory."

VERS. 20. ^B Since, however, to the words, "Thou hast brought me up from the abysses," he added "again," it will be consistent, if "abyss" be understood as the depth of calamities, to refer it to this sentiment, namely, that we can emerge from this abyss not once, but always, with God—who is prepared to do good—as our helper; [as is] that well-known testimony of Scripture: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all." For by His goodness and mercy, God draws back from the abyss of evils those who are immersed in them. But since committed evils seem to lead [men] down into the underworld, it is necessary that, having rejected evils, we be made alive by this common life. He speaks these things in the person of humanity, which has suffered so many calamities and so many afflictions before the coming of the Savior; but the Savior afterward made us alive, giving His own soul as a ransom for us, so that the faithful might possess eternal life. He Himself also descended into Hades, to bring back those who had been cast down into those places because of their own sins. If, therefore, "abyss" indicates calamitous matters, the word "again" declares that he who is carried out of such gulfs has been the object of many benefits: "For many are the afflictions of the righteous, and the Lord ^C delivereth them out of them all." But if it signifies Hades, how ^D again from thence...

will they be brought back? For there is one entry to life, and the same departure. The voice "again" seems to suggest that the vivified soul is brought forth from Hades as if by a second benefit.

^B V. 22. In other words he says: "With psaltery and harp I will sing to God who makes alive after evil things, and who sanctifies Israel." For he declares that we are sanctified by the holy God, in which sense also some are called the holy ones of God. For it is written in reference to Christ: "He has been made for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." For this happens to those who are fashioned according to Him. And elsewhere it says: "You have provoked the holy one of Israel to anger." He redeems a rational soul, providing such a one on its behalf, just as He provided a body of like substance for the body.

PSALM LXXI

V. 1. These things do not befit Solomon himself, but Him who is signified through Solomon and who likewise showed Himself to be a peacemaker (for this is the force of the name), for He says: "My peace I give to you." Concerning whom the Theologian has written: "For He Himself is our peace," and again: "He announced peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near," removing the enmity separating the Gentiles from the Hebrews; so that all might become one flock to the Son of David and the Virgin according to the flesh. For this is what is indicated by the words: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David."

V. 2. Since all were condemned to death, He most graciously tasted death for them. He calls those from the circumcision the "people," and those who believed from the nations "poor," on account of the extreme poverty in which they were laboring, held captive by infidelity and malice. He may also be intending those of whom it is said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

V. 5. This has the same meaning as: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." And with regard to the words "before the moon," it is the same as "Before the age he established me," and "It shall endure with the sun," that is to say, the righteousness of the flesh which He assumed for Himself, which was animated by a rational and intelligent soul, having that union indivisible. But it also exists before the moon, which is spoken of analogously, because the Church is established in Him and through Him, being composed of all human beings who have line after line of descent; for these have their succession from generation to generation. It has been spoken of also concerning the Church, which is figured as the spouse: "Who is this who comes forth like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, chosen?"

V. 6. But just as rain is the cause of fertility for the earth, so is the Savior for the faithful in terms of fruit. Perhaps it signifies the fleece as Israel, and the earth as the nations; since first it "descended upon the fleece," and from there afterwards "upon the earth," because of the incredulity of Israel, all the earth was watered with droplets to bring forth spiritual fruits.

V. 7. Now we have established the moon as the Church

^A designated. For the moon shines with a spurious light borrowed from the sun, and does not have it from itself; so the Church, as long as it is upon the earth, knows in part, and is not yet entirely illuminated by the genuine light. But at the end, it will be with the sun, when it shall see God perfectly and face to face; for the lunar constitution of the Church shall be restored, being informed according to the Sun of justice; and they who fulfill the Church shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Wherefore it is said to the bride: "Who is this that comes forth as the dawn," that is, already illuminated by the rising light? Then it shall be as the full moon, when it shall astonish all like the sun.

V. 15. They shall celebrate the Father of Christ, instructed by Him in this matter, according to Paul saying: "I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ" (Rom. I, 8); and again, "Through whom we have access to the Father" (Eph. II, 18); the Savior Himself also says: "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John XIV, 6). Therefore they shall return thanks to the Father for the good things they have obtained, taught hymns by the Son, and by the Son through whom they have been deemed worthy of such things.

V. 16. "The summit of the mountains," the words of the prophets; which, perfecting him who had been predicted, became a foundation upon the earth.

PSALM LXXII

V. 1. Asaph, a lyric poet and leader of the chorus of singers. — Israel is to be interpreted as "seeing God." Therefore, those who consider Whom they see, know that He is good, and that He turns even the most grievous calamities to our advantage.

V. 9. They have sinned by impiety and the depravity of their morals, "clothed about" with iniquity, that is, with perverse morals, and at the same time with impiety, especially errant concerning the divine providence. "Iniquity," however, "proceeds" from those who lead a luxurious life, having become the fat of the aforementioned intentions through evil works. For they did not do such evil merely by the deliberation of the heart, but they also wished to destroy others. For this reason, with a badly disposed mind, they spoke deceitfully, ostensibly preaching good things. But while they attacked the divine providence with insults, it escaped no one on earth how unjust those insults were. Such are they who attribute to the affections of the stars things which are governed by divine providence. They who hold the stars to be gods, and set the creature before the Creator, ^D "have set their mouth against heaven." But they are proven by the wise to offer nothing but futile and nonsensical things.

V. 10. To the impious speaking proudly, the people of God found an occasion for repentance, having been recalled to the contemplation of luminous doctrines, which are here called "days." The voice "hither" designates the place which God holds; as it was said to Moses: "But you stand here with me" (Exod. XXXIV, 2). Again, "How would He know," they say, as if God were lacking senses and corporeal members

^A of regarding the things on earth, since the divine mind cannot receive the images of things spoken or occurring. And yet the phrase, "How would He know?" contains an admission that God knows, though the method of this knowledge escapes them. Subsequently, however, they contend that He does not know, saying, "Is there knowledge in the Most High?" But they are deceived in thinking that He possesses a disposition according to quality, for He is the Father of wisdom, of truth, and of divine knowledge. It is said, therefore, "God is the Lord of knowledge" (1 Reg. II, 3) and, "He that teaches man knowledge" (Ps. XCIII, 10), and, "The Lord knows the thoughts of men" (ibid. 11).

Vers. 12. And how is it that He who teaches and bestows is ^B lacking? To desire that everyone should receive according to their merits is a trait of a resentful passion, whereas the truly wise man does not consider the one who abounds in pleasures to be happy, nor the one who abounds in calamities to be miserable; but determines a man to be blessed or unhappy according to how he is adorned or stripped of virtues and piety. Since, therefore, things pleasant and unpleasant happen to both—and not solely to sinners or to the pious, for this would contradict the present verse—but while they recall in speech the things that disturb the mind, God piously delivers them. God Himself asserts this in Malachi: "You have weighed heavily upon me with your words, and you have said: In what have we spoken against Thee? You said: Vain is he who serves God; and now we pronounce the aliens happy; and all who do iniquitous things are built up; they have resisted ^C God and have been saved, and we have nothing more, who serve Him; although we are suppliants going before His face." And to those who say these things He adds, among other matters: "You have said that everyone who does evil is good before Him, and in these He has been well pleased."

Vers. 23. He did not say simply, "I have become a beast," but added, "with Thee." For before the Father of wisdom and God of knowledge, any creature whatsoever is ignorant. For thus Moses, seeing God, said: "I am not fit, neither from yesterday, nor from the day before, nor from the time that You began to speak to Your servant: for I am of a weak voice and slow of tongue" (Exod. IV, 10). For that most eloquent man did not say this absolutely, but "since You began to speak to Your servant." For before he had heard the divine voice, he ^D thought himself to be of prompt and magnificent eloquence. Abraham also said to the Creator: "Now I have begun to speak to my Lord; but I am earth and ashes" (Gen. XVIII, 27), which he did not know before he spoke with God. Such is the beast "with Him," whose own knowledge is unequal to divine providence. "Always is he with Him," who always performs virtue and all piety, and has never fallen away from it even in the least.

Vers. 27. There is no one who is separated by local distance from God, who is not contained in a place; but whoever indulges in depraved and iniquitous affections is seen to be far distant from the Just and Good, and perishes; thus he is saved

solely by repentance, no longer distancing himself; in this way "he who commits," but not "he who has committed," sin, is a servant of sin. While many have philosophized much concerning the good, the wise man here briefly says that there is no other good than to cling to God and to place one’s hope in Him. The virtues that lead us to perfection are the "gates of Zion," whose daughter is the soul that has been formed and instructed according to them. ^A

PSALM LXXIII

VER. 1. They inquire into the cause of evils, so that if the cause be removed, they themselves may also be removed. Now, God repels no one except those who withdraw themselves from God; for "him who comes to me I will not cast out," 40 says Jesus. Do not judge the anger and fury of God by the standard of men. Far be this madness from you! For we can profess nothing human about God, but by the words spoken, the writer hints at the superabundant aversion which he says the sheep of His pasture endure. But the pasture of God is the oracles of the Spirit, such as the prophets and the law, by which He feeds the righteous as sheep. ^B

VER. 17. You who have done all these things, he says, Creator of such and so great things, be mindful of your creation.

VER. 18. "The enemy mocking the Lord," is the devil; but the imprudent people is the chorus of demons. But even Caiaphas, being high priest, mocked Christ. And the imprudent Jewish people provoked His name, crying out: "Away with him, away with him, crucify him." 41 And He refers to those beasts of whom it is said: "Israel is a scattered flock; the lions have driven him away." 42 And their teeth the Lord has broken. 43 Out of these is Satan, according to Peter, who says: "Our adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 44 For not all the martyrs were eaten by beasts. But His "poor" are those who say: "Behold, we have left all, and followed you"; 45 and again, those who have cast off the riches of vain doctrine and malice are perhaps the same as the poor in spirit. 46 Then he urges God to be mindful of His covenant with Abraham, so that He might not "utterly" abandon the seed of this patriarch. But those who, inasmuch as they are pressed down to the earth by the body, having their minds darkened by ignorance, "have been filled with houses of iniquity." ^C

PSALM LXXIV

VER. 1. "Destruction" or "corruption" in Scripture frequently indicates sin, whereas incorruption indicates virtue. For "grace," he says, "be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption." 47 And since he who has begun a good work must also bring it to completion, "do not destroy," he says, until, having avoided corruption, one may subsist in incorruption. ^D

^A And after this. Therefore, once it is completed, a "psalm of a song" is sent up to God. Those, then, who have hastened to this same end confess to God, the author of every virtue; for those who are not yet perfect confess to Him regarding what they have received, and they pray that they might obtain the rest; but those who are already perfect confess regarding all things, and they pray for the secure preservation of them.

Verse 7. "Desert" he speaks of as being destitute of virtue and piety. He indicates their wickedness, in that they are appeased through sacrifices; for they are harmful if they do not receive libations, and smoke, and the steam of fat. But if they are pious and acknowledge God, He will free them from the perceptions of soothsayers and enchanters.

PSALM LXXV

Verse 3. Malice is nothing other than war. But having obtained the peace "which surpasses all understanding," we have become a place and dwelling-place of God, contemplating all truth and virtue; for Zion is a watchtower. The holy Church, established in peace, is also a place of God. But since these things are accomplished by the grace of God and not by our own power, the discourse here invokes God as the author of peace. ^B

Verse 7. By the word "they slumbered," he indicates how easily death invades them; for just as a drowsy man sleeps most easily, so also did they reach the end of their life most swiftly.

PSALM LXXVI

Verses 2-4. Whenever the speaker is far from the one to whom he addresses his words, it is necessary to cry out with a loud voice. Since, therefore, the created substance is far removed from its Creator, it is fitting that it should cry out. He calls Him God, because He has made all things, and Lord, because He reigns over those things that have come to be from Him. One might also say that he calls the Father God, and the Son Lord. "Day of tribulation" means his whole life, or the present age, in which one prays to be rescued by God, as if one were calling a physician for a distressing illness. ^C And he seeks Him in action and disposition, not being deceived like those who are ignorant of the end of contingent circumstances, as Saul was deceived when he went to the ventriloquist. But a holy man, as long as he is troubled, seeks God in the confusion of circumstances, which in this place is called "night," according to the passage in Isaiah: "In tribulation I remembered Thee."

Verse 4. Communing with Him in a praiseworthy manner. For so it is often placed in Scripture as constant prayer. At any rate, when Anna was hindered by the priest’s boy from continuing in prayer, she says: "Because of the abundance of my meditation, I have extended it until now"; but also "Isaac went out to meditate in the field." But it is used in a blameworthy sense in: "The lawless have told me meditations." ^D The quality of the person, however, distinguishes the term. Now, therefore, also the person...

nature. Here, however, the mind and the voice [are] praiseworthy: ^A it reveals the soul, whose spirit has become pusillanimous. For thus also Stephen says: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." [Acts VII, 58] Distrusting himself because of the pressing enemies, he delivers himself to God. — "I was troubled by a certain anticipated perturbation; but I spoke nothing turbulent, the mind alone was troubled."

VER. 17. For [the] arrows of God flying on all sides were preaching him in [their] passage.

VER. 20. Because the reason for his ways [is] clear to no one.

PSALM LXXVII

VER. 1. Here, he calls the entire Old Testament "the law," ^B inasmuch as it teaches us to avoid these things and to perform those; this is the work of the law, [which is] partly forbidding and partly commanding. Those who have the mind of Christ have understood these things spiritually. For the fathers according to the spirit told them to them; and they themselves also begat others in knowledge, so that they too might tell them to those after them.

VER. 21. Namely, the fire which burned for the enlightening of their humble senses.

VER. 63. Perhaps they even called those who had died amid such great calamity blessed, rather than lamenting them.

VER. 67. Again, leaving aside the other tribes, he mentions only the tribe of Ephraim, which he foresaw would possess the kingdom; for from it came Jeroboam, who led the ten tribes away from the Davidic empire.

VER. 70. On account of this, and [because of] the divine providence toward them, God chose a man of faith and piety who had conducted himself as an example, so that he might preside over the wiser flock.

PSALM LXXVIII

VER. 1. Some interpret these things as concerning Jerusalem [being] captured by the Romans after the Jews raged against Christ; ^C others, however, [interpret them] concerning the incursions of Antiochus Epiphanes.

VER. 2. "Not far from Jerusalem, nor near Jerusalem, but in its circuit" (for this is the vision of peace). Since, therefore, he who is scandalized is cast out of Jerusalem, the citadel of true doctrines, the aforementioned blood is poured out outside it and in its circuit, "and there is none to bury [it]," or to account him worthy of burial, so great are his sins! Such are the lapses [that occur] after the recognition of the truth! And so, since the one who is baptized is buried together with Christ, there will be no other redemption, ^D and certainly "there was no one to bury" those who, once redeemed, sin again.

VER. 4. These [words] are of one defending his cause, and indeed before God. For even if we are deserving of what we have suffered, he says, yet "Thy name is used for reproach." For thus God himself speaks through Isaiah [Isa. LII, 5]: "Because of you, my name is always blasphemed among the gentiles." He calls the Idumeans, the Ammonites, and the Moabites "neighbors," and those other neighboring nations which are adverse and hostile to them. "In our circuit are" the nations

^A of the Greeks, the wise ones, mocking and deriding us as believing without examination and foolishly. "Thou hast instructed," he says, "the Idumeans sufficiently." "Pour out thy wrath now upon the impious nations, and upon the kingdoms which do not fear thee."

Ver. 13. Mystically you shall say: In the present and in the future life. Or in both generations, in that which is from circumcision, and in that which is called from the nations, so that they too may learn to praise God.

PSALM LXXIX

Ver. 12. "She extended her shoots," even to the very rivers which irrigate her, in order to yield the appropriate fruit in return.

Ver. 13. These are false teachers, and the spirits of error. Yet they harvest her when she bears grapes of gall and clusters of bitterness; for she has become productive of such things. And when, on the one hand, instead of moral virtues she brings forth passions, she has brought thorns instead of grapes; but when ^C she errs regarding the truths of knowledge, she brings forth a grape of gall and a cluster of bitterness.

Ver. 18. "The Son of man," he says, "whom thou hast strengthened for thyself," not allowing him to have the constitution of his body from the seed of a man. For when the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin, and the power of the Most High, this holy offspring came into being, which prepared the vine for fruitfulness.

PSALM LXXX

PSALM LXXXI

on account of his humble modesty, and on account of the things he endured for piety, has been made needy.

VERS. 7. Men do not die the common death, but the death that follows sin, falling similarly to one of the princes. ^B This is the devil; this came to pass through his condescension towards the serpent.

PSALM LXXXII

VERS. 14. The nature of the wheel is shifting and inconstant; such is the life of the impious; according to the variety of times they are now carried to the height, now fall back from thence, after the likeness of a wheel.

VERS. 19. Some indeed come forth as high and exalted through the most high God, being lifted up and raised by virtue. But there is no one among them who is such of himself and by his nature: for God alone is the Most High, the Creator, not a creature, just as He alone is wise and alone true, teaching wisdom and truth.

PSALM LXXXIII

VERS. 12. God gives grace to those who are saved by grace, according to that: "By grace you have been saved."

PSALM LXXXIV

VERS. 2. The Lord blesses His land, a good heart studious of righteousness. For he who has received the seed from Him gives back a hundredfold. A multitude of those who were held in captivity by evil powers ^C and who, resisting carnal desires, are called Jacob, will return into the land of the Lord. Which being done, He will remit all sins; and if they sin besides, He will cover the sins through virtue, not by hiding them, but by taking them away entirely, as it says: "Love covers a multitude of sins." For as knowledge covers ignorance, so divine love, which is not other than virtue, covers the sins of those whom He has deigned to bless. He has blessed them, moreover, by sending His own Son to be seen upon the earth and to dwell with men. At whose birth, it was said: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." Hence it is apparent that the wrath of God is not a passion; it is kindled by the sins of men, and when sins are removed, it is immediately extinguished. Wrath and fury mean one and the same thing; the ministers of which are called "vessels of wrath."

VERS. 4. He prays to the God of salvations, that He might provide an occasion of repentance for conversion; for thus they will appease the fury which they themselves had incited through their sins: for when all combustible matter is taken away, there is no longer a fire. When God brings to life those who turn to Him from their former manner of life, He Himself also receives back those whom He had rejected on account of their sins.

VERS. 10. When salutary miracles shall be performed, and the dead shall rise, and the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed, and other wonders of this kind shall be seen. As salvation is far from sinners who perform ^D the works of destruction, so the Lord is near to those who...

perform the works of salvation; and they possess this ^A inseparably, nor is there any lack in those in whose heart He causes His glory to dwell—for He called this heart of theirs the earth, yielding fruit a hundredfold, according to the text: “God, who said light would shine out of darkness, shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ.” Thus also concerning the body, according to the text: “Glorify God in your body,”—for those who possess perfect temperance.

Ver. 11. ^B From this place it can be perceived in what intimate union certain virtues are joined among themselves, mercy with truth, justice with peace. Now they occur conjoined in this: “Thy mercy and Thy truth have gone before my face,” and in that: “Send forth Thy mercy and Thy truth.”

Ver. 13. As the earth, when rain is given, brings forth its fruit, so the spiritual earth, our soul, brings forth fruit by the kindness of God, adorned with every kind ^C of virtue.

PSALM LXXXV

Ver. 2. All the saints glory in the service of God as in a certain dignity. Thus, when Jonah was asked whence he was: “I am a servant of God,” he said, “and I worship the God of heaven.” Likewise the apostles testify concerning the Savior, excellently confessing Him Lord by works and by words: “You call me Master and Lord, and you speak well, for so I am.” This they also place as a great dignity of their own writings. For James, “a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and Paul, “a servant of Jesus Christ,” ^D bear themselves no otherwise than those who in their writings concerning their life mention all the dignities and honors with which they can be illustrated.

Ver. 5. God is not called gentle in the absolute sense—for this is a human emotion—but He is called gentle in the same way as He is said to rejoice, and to be glad, and to remember.

Ver. 8. Again He calls the saints gods, not demons or idols; for the Lord alone is God in the same sense as the Father. But every saint is a participant of the Lord—a god, because he has received the Word of God, according to the text: “He called them gods to whom the word of God came.” For they were made according to the image and likeness of God, but no one is a god by nature; they are not made like unto God, but were made. For “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” He Himself is holy, but they shall be those who are made holy. Concerning whom it is true to say: “Who is holy as Thou, O Lord?” For, He says, “who shall be compared among the gods, O Lord? but who is like unto Thee?” For they shall be like Him according to what was said: “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” There is therefore no one now among the gods who is like God, nor even according to His works. Therefore we read...

in the Gospel: ^A “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin.” For although they do the same works at times with regard to the underlying matter, the manner is different. For they did theirs by prayer and faith, but He did His by His own authority and power. But sufficient has been said about these things at the beginning of the eighty-second Psalm.^B

VERS. 11. He who has chosen good things, in the enjoyment of which he may rejoice. So also to fear the name of the Lord, that he may enjoy it with gladness.

PSALM LXXXVI

VERS. 6. In it are inscribed not only princes, but also peoples: this scripture is none other than the Church of the first-born who are registered in heaven. Whose inscription is not made by syllables and names, but by signs signifying the quality of the soul; nor can anyone recount their writing, except Him who alone sees the inscription. On the contrary, “Those who have received upon the earth shall be written,” says Jeremiah. It is fitting for those who savor earthly things to remain in earthly matters; but those who cultivate the image of the heavenly God have their citizenship in heaven, being inscribed in the book of God. ^C

PSALMUS LXXXVII

VERS. 1. *Pro macleth*, that is, for the dance of the choir of the sons of Core, that he who fears God and is therefore a true Israelite may wisely respond. For *Heman* is interpreted as “their fear,” and anyone who has feared God will be a *Heman*. It behooves those reciting the song of the Psalm to respond with understanding, and with understanding to direct the solemn dance while listening to the song the Psalm proclaims.

VERS. 2. By day, indeed, oppressed by the weight of affairs, I pray that you may share your good things with me. But in the night and in sadness, that when the night has fled, my spirit may be able to rise to you. It might also be spoken more simply according to that which was said by the Savior: “My Father will execute justice for His children crying out to Him day and night.” For he who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night, by this very fact cries out to the God of his salvation day and night, ^D that God may either grant him salvation or preserve it. With much confidence he adds: “Let my prayer enter into your sight,” certain that he is asking for those things which are useful to him, and in themselves good, and which God will freely grant; he also prays that He may more kindly incline His ear to his prayer. “For I have cried out to you,” he says.

VERS. 6. As the dead, he says, now no longer hope for any human help, so I too have been freed from hoping for any good thing, that is: now not even the slightest hope remains for me. For I have not been cast out of your hand; and “no one will be able to snatch me” from it, as the Savior himself testifies; for as long as

^A a person is encompassed by God, he is invincible to those who wish to snatch him away; whereas, from that [hand], he who sins is cast out, being no longer worthy of it.

Vers. 7. That I may draw them out from thence into the paradise of God; for though I have been made to undergo death on their account, yet it was not actual death, but the shadow of death; for on the third day I rose ^B from the sepulcher. Having been placed by them in darkness, I shone upon them, so that they might no longer lead their lives in darkness, but in me, who am the light.

Vers. 15. That famous saying fittingly applies to Jesus: “Why do you cast me off?” For there is no cause for you to cast off my prayer, since I have committed no sin. Therefore, receive it, and save those for whom I intercede, illuminating your face upon them.

Vers. 17. For he underwent the wrath which we ourselves had stirred up by our sins. ^C The terrors of the Father only perturbed him, but there was no way for them to afflict one who was innocent, as he had committed no sin. But the wraths and terrors of God are powers serving the punishments, which are called vessels of wrath. For which cause the Savior also said, “Now my soul is troubled.” For he had a most perfect soul. But in the midst of such a multitude of enemies, he felt the pressure, especially as they were choking him on every side like water, as happens to one who does not know how to swim. But he ^D passed through these things in the best manner. “For many waters shall not quench love.” For the soul that is perfect and placed towards God through love is subsequently unquenchable, which is what inhered in Jesus according to his humanity.

PSALMUS LXXXVIII

Vers. 2. But we have also often said that wherever the word “generation” occurs twice, it signifies both the people from circumcision and the gentiles. Then he tells the reason why he sings of the mercies of the Lord: for as long as the present age continues, the mercy of God will manifestly adorn many with its benefits; just as a building is made from many stones, so perhaps mercy is built up, when Wisdom builds a house for herself. For her incarnation is the foundation and the goal of mercy, since all, being then liberated from their sins, have obtained mercy. But truth is prepared in the heavens for those who have prepared themselves from here below, as they think, to approach it through a glass and in an enigma, through which we here on earth imagine it; for its face is beauty there, and the perfection of truth, when the imperfect version has been brought to nothing. It is also prepared for those who have their conversation in the heavens, because they bear the image of the heavenly one, for which reason they are also called heavens.

Vers. 3. Therefore he says that his kingdom shall have no end. And it was not through respect of persons that he swore to David, but because he was a servant of God. And he gave a sign to his house, that he who is God with us men should be born of a Virgin; for this is “Emmanuel,” which is meant...

^A that which is the prepared seed of David. But toward those to whom God grants securely, He is said to swear, because among men words are confirmed by an oath. Since God is immutable, His oath indicates the immutability of His counsel. It is manifest that this is not understood as referring to David himself (for how could one who is dead hear such things?), but to Christ, the descendant of David, who lives and reigns forever.

VERS. 7. None of those who receive adoption, and thus become children of God, will be similar to the true Son of God. For how can he who is a participant be similar to Him who is not a participant by any reason? For this cause Paul, when he says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father,” fearing lest any should think that he attributes equality to himself with the only-begotten Son, added, “and from our Lord Jesus Christ.” For although by grace He has become our Father, He is nevertheless in nature the Son, to whom all are servants. Wherefore also now, “Who,” he says, “is similar to the Lord?” For there is no similarity according to essence, but according to quality; for the Son Himself is consubstantial with the Father. For according to quality we also become merciful, “as the heavenly Father is merciful.” And the Father Himself is perfect, saying, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” This Lord indeed shall come with power and great glory, and the saints “shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so that they may always be with the Lord.” Therefore, when the ^B Lord and the saints are in the clouds, not even then will any of those who are caught up in the clouds be similar to Him who shall come “upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” For even if each one has been caught up with power and glory, yet not with “great” power and glory; for he will have that power and that glory which he has received; but the Savior comes with the “great” power which He Himself bestows. And while they are “in the cloud,” He is “upon the clouds,” which marks supreme and royal power. Furthermore, any one of the saints is a spiritual cloud dropping spiritual dew (for “the clouds,” he says, “shall rain righteousness”). But no one of them is similar to the Lord, who is Himself the clouds. For each of those clouds scarcely waters a few, but this One [waters] not only all men, but also all rational creatures.

VERS. 8. He is also terrible when He inflicts punishments upon His enemies. For if those who are instructed by divine discipline approach Him too closely, by sinning they are carried to the fire. For this cause the Savior says: “He who is near Me, is near the fire; ^C but he who is far from Me, is far from the kingdom.” Now, therefore, He says to those who neglect the commandments round about Him, that He is “great and terrible” truly to those who are opposed to Him because of [their lack of] virtue.

VERS. 10. That God also rules over the sea as over other creatures, Jonas testifies, saying: ^D “He raised up”

^A a storm on the sea,” and again: “By His will the sea stood still from its commotion.” Jesus also rebuked this, showing that He is the Son of the “Master of its power.” But if the sea represents the life of men, then its power is nothing other than the devil, whom the whole world serves, that is, the mortal and fleeting dominion. Having unnerved him, the Lord gave His disciples the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all his ^B power, restraining his unstable impulses, which are called its waves, so that it might become passable for those treading upon it—of whom Peter is the image. For no one without Jesus can tread upon the sea of life, overcoming its pleasures and worries, but only by Him walking alongside. For He Himself is the one who walks upon the sea as upon solid ground, to whom it has been said: “In the sea is Your way, and Your paths in many waters.” ^C He having trodden in this life both the passions and the worries, which it is possible for those to tread upon when following in His footsteps.

VERS. 12. You might understand it thus: The heavens, which are interpreted as confessing His wonders, and the earth which receives the seed of Jesus and produces fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty, is “Your earth.” The inhabited world which He founded together with its fullness is also the Lord’s, revealing the Church. For in it dwell souls, having received the true Word, and holy powers encamped round about those who fear Him. In which, says Paul, “No man can lay another foundation beside that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Upon whom is the fullness of virtues and godly doctrines, and of the gifts of the Divine Spirit. The Lord created the north and the seas so that they should no longer be what they were before; even as He who created the two into one new man, has made them one out of two. And a pure heart is also created, from which one has become pure; and He creates also those who are outside the faith, that they may become a ^D new creation in Christ.

VERS. 13. Thabor is “elect,” and Hermoniim is “the elevation of light.” For he who has obtained divine election, and is elevated by the light, which light of knowledge has illumined him, exults in the name of God. And Thabor is interpreted as a “pit.” For God gives to some [the grace of] the Spirit in the manner of a pit, hewn out, which they who receive did not hew out for themselves. And even if it is used for reproach, if he who is thus addressed changes his life so that it may be called a well or a fountain, he will exult in the name of the Lord.

VERS. 14. The Only-Begotten is called “arm,” in the verse: “And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” and in the verse: “Your arm is exalted, and we did not know [it].” And as “hand” in the verse: “Your high hand has made all these things;” and as “right hand” in the verse: “The right hand of the Lord”

^A creates wonders; Peter therefore used this with God: “Grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, by your stretching out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders.” The right hand of the Lord is also exalted, lifting up everyone who imitates Him to sublime things. “Mercy and truth go before your face.” For who shall reach your face unless he has first reached mercy, and has lived in truth? Perhaps you might say again that the Only-begotten is designated by mercy and truth, as in the passage: “God sent forth his mercy and his truth.” For as one arriving beforehand in the minds [of men], He reveals the Father who is joined with Him: “For he who receives me, receives the Father,” and: “We shall come, I and the Father.” For being the image of the invisible God, He shows Himself to the pure mind, revealing the Father through Himself. He is also the face of the Father, being the character of His substance. And it is necessary that He first be in the hearts of those who are able to see Him in purity: mercy through moral virtues, and truth through pious knowledge. For by moral action we are made merciful, and by knowledge we approach truth. Therefore, these are often linked together in Scripture.

^C VERS. 16. Observe how He said, “He who knows,” and not “He who has known.” For he who always carries on the struggle against adversaries must always strive for victory. For this leads him to the contemplation of truth; and he will henceforth be illuminated by the face of the Lord in the eternal day, in which he will rejoice with his companions, having obtained the saving fellowship of God. For this is the occasion of exultation. Your justice, ^D too, shall be exalted by Him who has been made wisdom and holiness and sanctification, who is Himself high and draws those who adhere to Him to Himself. We are also exalted by that justice which, through faith in Jesus Christ, is fitting for all the faithful. For even if they have the power by which they can act and contemplate, they boast of the gifts received from You, according to the word: “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” And they shall say: For He Himself gives the strength to do mighty things. Therefore, they also say with boldness: “In God we shall make strength, and in your good pleasure our horn shall be exalted.” For Christ has been exalted in us by the good pleasure of the Father, who says: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” For in Him, He was pleased to save us. And His reception is of Him who fights for us, who is the holy king of the true Israel, [the people] seeing God—Christ Himself and the Lord. The reception can also be of the Lord, as being brought about by Him, and of the holy Israel as awaiting it; for holy is he who is now being sanctified; to perceive Him with the mind is most excellent: “For the reception is of the Lord our king, and of the Holy One of Israel.”

^A

Vers. 20. He who does not understand hears only the speaker. But he who also understands perceives the intent of the speaker through the vision of the mind. God shows rather than speaks to those who are called perfect sons. Therefore, it is said that he spoke in a vision, according to that: “And the people saw the voice of the Lord,” that is, they perceived it. Such are the visions of the prophets, who do not behold things that are sensory, but see things that are intelligible. “Upon the mighty one,” who from the root of Jesse had placed an aid to help the whole creation, upon Him who was exalted from the people according to the flesh, according to which He was also chosen and accepted. For he is indeed “chosen from ten thousands,” as it has in the Song of Songs. And the Father exalted Him, granting Him the name which is above every name, to Him who is called both servant and David, from whose seed He was. Being mighty and sufficient in hand to teach the rational creation to serve God, for which office He was also anointed by the Holy Spirit, being declared both high priest and king over all. Regarding which anointing it is said: “God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” The hand and the arm by which He took hold of and strengthened Him are the divinity of the Only-begotten, which wrought great things through Him. And He has become superior to the devil, by not having committed sin, nor having had deceit in His mouth, by which that one seems to profit. Nor will “the son of iniquity” be able to injure Him through sins. But that he profits in the enemy, the Gospels testify; for the Pharisees and priests were saying among themselves: “Ye see that ye profit nothing: behold, the world is gone after him.” ^B

Vers. 30. Do not imagine that the throne of Christ will be cast down when the time of the heaven is fulfilled. For “heaven and earth,” He says, “shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” If, however, the words do not pass away, He will certainly reign even after the passing of heaven and earth. For He does not say until the heaven passes, but “as the days of heaven,” and the heaven will remain even when it has passed; for it is one thing for it to perish, and another for it to pass. It should also perhaps be said that the days of the earth signify those splendors and honors which men pursue with such zeal; while the days of heaven are the lucid mysteries of the truth, to which the throne of the Savior is similar and unshaken. ^C

Vers. 36. When God makes a promise that is perpetual and lasting, He swears. Therefore, when He gives an eternal priesthood according to the order of Melchisedech, He will not repent. So also to Abraham He declares with an oath that in his seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. But concerning things that are transient and perishable, He does not swear; and He is even said to repent, as when He had anointed Saul as king. Therefore, He also swears to David that the Savior Christ would be born from his seed, the throne of his kingdom being destined to endure with him alongside the sun of justice: the moon, He says—this is the assembly of those who are illuminated by Christ—will remain full for eternity, being filled by the sun, the righteous shining forth as the sun in the kingdom ^D of their Father. And that all these things are so in heaven,

concerning which Job says: "For behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is in the highest." ^A

VERS. 39. "You said, O Lord, that the seed of Christ remains forever, and yet You have cast away his seed; and having said that You would not profane the covenant made with him, You have profaned," that is to say, "His sanctuary unto the earth," by delivering his body unto death and the tomb. Or, by permitting the Church, which is his house and sanctuary, to be delivered over at times to the persecutions brought upon her by the impious. Christ is the servant of God, inasmuch as he took the form of a servant, being born of her who said to the angel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word." ^B But You have also destroyed all the most powerful aid of his children, so that they lay exposed to the snares of all; for Scripture calls "macerias" (walls/hedges) divine protection. The divine apostles are also perchance called the hedges of the vineyard of the Lord, whom those who saw them scattered and scandalized on the night in which Jesus was betrayed say were taken away by God. These are also called fortifications, having at that same time fallen into fear, which was followed by the plundering of Christ, who is his body; for "You are the body of Christ, and members in particular." His fortifications are also the Churches scattered throughout the world, which have become a reproach to those who are called neighbors standing round about her. ^C These, indeed, are they who seem to adhere to Scripture and to belong to the Church, but bring her into reproach by their doctrines and evil works. For just as we glorify God by acting and feeling rightly, so his enemies are exalted, as if they were doing by their own power what You permitted him to suffer. Wherefore those who hate him are gladdened, seeing him destitute of every aid while his enemies attack him with war; and for that reason, having bound him, they led him to the cross and afflicted him with the most grievous torments.

Such things are brought forth by those who desire Christ and confess his providence, but have not perceived the purpose ^D by which God, not sparing his own Son, delivered him up to those who rose up against him. But they shall be silent when they recognize that salvation is established by his death. For not only did the Father deliver him up for us, but he also delivered up himself; for he gave his soul as a redemption for many. Previously they thought that Christ was also dissolved from the purification which he himself worked by his blood, and that his throne had been dashed to the ground, although God had established him "as the days of heaven." For seeing his passion and the cross, they thought that his kingdom had reached its end, having been diminished and overturned by the shame that occurred upon the cross. Concerning which the Apostle said: "Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,"

^A according to that word: "Having made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high," having a seat restored and firmly founded, abiding for long days and unto eternity.

Ver. 48. "Remember," they say who speak thus, that we are mutable by nature, having free will, lest we slip into impiety; perhaps it refers also to that substance by which we endure all sorts of evils.

Ver. 49. The word "Who" is used ^B sometimes interrogatively, as in the passage: "Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?" Sometimes it signifies rarity, as in: "Who then is the faithful and prudent servant?" and, "Who is wise, and shall understand these things?" And impossibility, as in: "Who hath known the mind of the Lord?" and, "Who hath gathered the winds in his fist?" It also signifies someone contemptible, as in: "If God be for us, who is against us?" and, "Behold, the Lord will help me, who will harm me?" Among some, the word so ^C used indicates a quality, while among others it indicates an individual, and one in number; as in: (a man) which is a token of "no one." For "Who shall avoid the common death?" For "death," he says, "passed unto all men." And in the same way, sin, by which we have fallen away from the divinity. Likewise, this rings true: "But you shall die like men"; and that which says: "For whereas there is among you envying and contention, are you not carnal, and walk according to man?" But such a person, being homonymous, shall not escape death. For this is ^D the substance of the divinity of those who have become gods. They live forever, having obtained eternal life, which is bestowed by God who is exalted above the underworld.

PSALM LXXXIX

Ver. 3. When you have raised man on high, distracted from worldly businesses, do not turn him back to them.

Ver. 9. Every time, therefore, during which we live with our body is manifest and illuminated to you, so that you see everything whatsoever we have committed in mind or in deed.

Ver. 12. This prayer belongs to those who know that God has a right hand, by which He created and governs the universe, and who desire to see it, so that they may never be seized by it but rather cleave to it. This prayer can also be understood of the coming of Christ. For then the right hand of God was revealed, when the Word, made flesh, dwelt among us. "For we saw his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father." Then, together with him, we saw manifest the "erudite in heart in wisdom," who are none other than those saying: "We speak wisdom among the perfect." Then

^A even the prophets who spoke of him at that time are revealed as having said true things, although they might have been suspected before the fulfillment, as not having their hearts instructed in the wisdom of God—such is one who is wise in mind, even if he errs in spoken word. For one who is truthful will speak, even if he be unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge. And it is also written: "those fettered," for the shackles of wisdom do not permit one to walk without piety; for we are commanded to place the feet of the soul into these. They are despondent and say: "Until when?"—that is, "Do you turn your face and your right hand away from us?" For even the briefest delay is, for this, a very long time. However, turn back to those who have turned away from your commandments. Then he says: "As your right hand, when it shone upon us, being the Sun of Righteousness, prepared the beginning of a spiritual day, through which we were filled with your mercy, so that we might rejoice in all the days which your true light illuminated for us, affecting in various senses the hearts which it enlightens." And indeed, rising in actions and thoughts, it brings about many days in us, so that we, exulting, may dissolve the gloom of the troublesome days in which we were humbled, being delivered into captivity on account of wickedness and ignorance, having come to be in evils or in things contrary to the truly good things—concerning which it has been said: "The fool does evil in amusement"—or in the grievous things, concerning which Job said: "If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the evil?" Look, therefore, upon your servants, and guide ^B those born to us in the teaching and imitation of virtue, vigorous and manly, on the path of salvation. For thus your splendor shall be upon us, and shine as the sun in your kingdom. And trusting in what they have done, they ask that they themselves be directed, and the works of their hands upon them—which the wicked man does not want, desiring rather that all things be consigned to oblivion.

PSALM XC

VERS. 7. For at the very moment of desiring to draw near to the righteous man, the phalanx of the enemies falls; for "at the drawing near" of "those who do evil against me, to eat my flesh, those who afflict me and my enemies, they themselves grew weak and fell."

PSALM XCI

VERS. 3. Being a subject of theology and the vision of God, it has as an end the truth, which it is fitting to announce, not from the surface and from manifest things, but from deep and hidden things, the excellence of discernment. And he called the wisdom that is in such things "night"; for by nature, the things said piously and rightly about God are remote from the knowledge of the many, due to the greatness of the power. And it is "night" because of its incomprehensibility; and this night has a reference to the darkness which God made his hiding place.

VERS. 8. When sinners spring up like grass, and lawlessness is ^C at work, their hostility toward God is intensified. But the height and greatness of God is unknown, as wickedness blinds the eye of the mind which is able to reach out to the Lord; and when the dissolution...

^A from sin occurs, so that those who have become enemies of God through sin perish—and those who are such ought to perish—then God most high will be found by the purified mind.

Verse 10. On the day of judgment, when the pride of all men concerning fleeting things is humbled, the Lord shall be exalted, being revealed as the only King of all, having provided for and ordered all things blamelessly.

PSALM XCII

Verse 3. The rivers which imitate the river that gladdens the city of God first lift up their own understanding, and afterwards the voices which express their mind. By the voice, therefore, of these many waters, those who were once, through arrogance and wealth and insolence and the swellings of vain opinions, the sea of human life, become ^B wonderful and worthy of acceptance through repentance and the reception of virtue. The very words of the divinely inspired Scriptures, both New and Old, can also be called rivers, because of their precious, life-giving power and their cause of fruitfulness.

Verse 4. According to the mind of the writer, the swellings of the sea are nothing other than what are called temptations, which for this reason also become wonderful, appearing as causes of salvation from the voices of the many potable waters. It is possible, therefore, to see in these temptations and struggles some who are shown to be victors. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation,” and the rest. For from the affairs themselves, and from those who enter into them in themselves, ^C the swellings of the sea become wonderful when they are examined rationally and wisely. In the lofty and exalted words, the Lord is wonderful, so that the testimonies related to what are called ordinances and laws may be confirmed by this.

Verse 5. All who have admitted Him into themselves are the house of God; to whom it truly befits to be holy, not for one day or a second, but “unto length of days.” Whence the mystagogue, wishing for the house of God to have sanctification “unto length of days,” says: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, ^D God will defile him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.” For holiness and sanctification truly befit every house that becomes God’s, so that as they are God’s, they are holy, or as they are holy, so they are God’s. Whether one speaks of it as His own flesh, or the Church, or those who have been consecrated to Him, the sanctification of these is “unto length of days,” that is to say, unto the ages of ages. Therefore, the other translators have rendered it as “lengths of time.” The prophecy, therefore, cannot be understood as referring to the temple of the Jews; for since that was destroyed long, long ago, how would its sanctification be “unto length of days”? But as for us, if we should desire to be called the temple of God, so that He may dwell

^A and we may have the Holy Spirit, let us preserve [that] sanctification “unto length of days.”

PSALM XCIII

VERS. 1. God brings about vengeances with confidence because He accurately perceives what they have done and with what intent those who are being judged acted, whereas other judges are sometimes deceived, so that they no longer exact penalties according to the magnitude of the offenses. For which reasons judges are sometimes affected by confusion, punitively punishing in an inept manner those who are caught in malice. Only He acts with confidence in taking vengeance, who says: “In what measure you measure, it shall be measured back to you.” For He renders to each according to his works.

VERS. 2. Show everyone how lofty your dominion is, and break the arrogance of the proud, teaching through experience that You are the Judge of the world, who opposes the proud and renders to them the punishment that is appropriate for them. All these things became manifest at the coming of Christ. For then He acted with confidence, having become a man without sin, although He was the Lord of vengeances. He also judged the earth, declaring it full of sins, although He Himself neither committed sin ever, nor knew sin. Therefore, He “repaid” the Pharisees who arrogantly despised Him, and the invisible enemies who mocked Him as He was crucified.

VERS. 20. O our Creator, Lord, and truly You care for us. If any good befalls us, we know it is as much from You. But when we see that certain evil men are killing the just and condemning the innocent, we cry out to You: “Shall a throne of kingdom ^B adhere to You, or shall it adhere” to You, when such things are perpetrated against Your servants? But no throne of iniquity adheres to You; for You have established the law as queen of all, by which all things are directed. — And a little later: A throne of iniquity is nothing other than the most powerless dominion. For, being most cruel and hateful, it commands heavy and laborious things, and adds toil to its precepts. But the commandments of the Lord, according to John, are not heavy by nature; therefore they bear one upward, and exalt, and lift to high places him who serves them. — And again: “Therefore restrain their most cruel” attacks against us. — Feigning ^C themselves to be judges and equipped with the office of magistrates, they condemn innocent blood.

PSALM XCIV

VERS. 3. He calls gods those whom the Scripture calls angels; but God reigns even over those who have become gods, to whom the word of God has come.

VERS. 4. The word, laying hold of the whole earth according to the principle of providence, has in its own hand the so-called ends of the earth; for its possession is the ends of the earth.

^C By the "ends of the earth," he refers to men who are distinguished, being separated by their life and mindset, those who are godly men. They are "excellent" in a special way, and this is why he calls them the "heights of the mountains."

Verse 8. The Apostle, testifying that these words up to the end of the psalm were spoken by the Holy Spirit, used them in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in some way adding his own interpretation to them. He interpreted "today" as referring to the entire present age, extending it to everyone; for every single day of the age is signified by the word "today."

Verse 10. "I was offended," he says, "I became provoked," not with every generation, but with that one which was always living in error, because it did not wish to have knowledge of God. He says that God, having been angered, swore that they should not enter into His rest. Since he said these things in the seventy-seventh [psalm], and since Paul also explained this expression, we shall say no more than what was said at that time. Yet these things will also reach us if, when we hear the voice of God calling us even now in the present day, we harden our own hearts; for the wrath of God will overtake us, and we shall be cast out of the rest which is from Him and with Him.

PSALM XCV

Verse 1. It must be said, therefore, regarding such a restoration of the house to its ancient state, that David, having perceived this in a more prophetic way, composed the song for the renewal of the house. Those who strip off the old man and put on the new—the man being renewed so as to be in the image of Him who created him—sing this song, having been taught by the New Testament and having embraced the newness of Christ's covenant and teaching.

Verse 2. All these who sing to God are commanded to sing to Him and to bless His name; for by good works and by knowledge of the truth one blesses and glorifies the name of God.

Verse 3. Concerning the wonders of which it was said in the thirty-ninth psalm: "You have done many things, O Lord my God, Your wonders." ^D Celebrating the author of these wonders, the prophet Isaiah says: "O Lord God, I will glorify You, I will praise Your name; for You have done wonderful things, an ancient and true counsel." For God the Savior has done wonderful things, having liberated every soul oppressed by the devil. And a little later: But if one wishes these things to be the "terrible powers" and the wonders promised to the nations, such as how Jesus raised up the dead and restored sight to the blind, and if anything else of such a kind is recorded, he is not mistaken.

PSALM XCVI

Verse 1. The hand of the sufficient one. This is the spiritual David, who [is] from his seed according to the flesh.

has been made. His earth, therefore, was established, either because he took away every disturbance and warlike tumult of any kind, or because he fashioned the earth so that, upon receiving the seed, it might offer fruits of a hundred, sixty, and thirty-fold to those who sow justice for themselves, and so that the seeds of justice sown by Jesus himself might be filled. For this reason God also reigns—not that he attained a kingdom which he previously lacked entirely, but because he became king to sinners who were doing penance, those who formerly denied his rule. Therefore all the earth exults, commanded to do this because its Lord reigns. ^B

VERS. 2. Not corporally. For if the things in the circuit were bodies, then the one encircled would also be a body, or at least he would be clothed with a body—he who is encompassed. But God, and his only-begotten Son, in so far as he is God the Word, is incorporeal, or rather superior to those bodies. To indicate that he cannot be comprehended by the intellect, it is said now that he is surrounded by cloud and darkness. Perhaps the cloud signifies those potable discourses which flow from him; the darkness, however, declares how difficult he is to grasp: for it was said already before: “He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet.” For the fact that he is most difficult to behold, or rather incomprehensible to the mind of any creature, as to the manner in which God creates and governs all things, is declared by those words: “Darkness under his feet.”

VERS. 3. The enemies of justice are those who lead a foolish and wicked life, just as those who teach and profess falsehoods are alien to the truth; and it has been said ^C that friendship with the world makes us enemies of God. “He will inflame them,” not by destroying and rendering their nature null—for the substance of the soul is immortal—but by taking away from them the works of the flesh and base affections that have grown up around them. Therefore the Savior glories in having sent fire upon the earth, so that he might consume all worldly things.

VERS. 4. The illustrious discourses of his divine discipline “shone like lightning” to the whole world, illuminating and brightening it, so that it might obtain the light of knowledge. Seeing these lightnings, the earth was moved and changed, putting off earthly senses so that it might put on the image of the heavenly one. It will see human laws and the customs in harmony with them; all, having abandoned their ancestral ways, ^D have betaken themselves to the evangelical discipline. The whole world is illuminated having seen the lightnings of the Lord. But the earth is moved by the quaking, taking its beginning so that it might also be called the world, so that the divine lightnings of the Lord might appear to it as having been made such.

VERS. 6. Those who announced the Savior—that is to say, the justice of God—as about to come hither, are aptly called the heavens, because they bear the image of the heavenly one, and—

^A they have their citizenship in heaven, announcing that the justice of God shall come from heaven, which is not different from His own justice. But because practical virtue is often called justice, only the heavens—that is, righteous men—know how to announce this in a practical manner; for the righteous man announces the faith that is demonstrated, with their faith being reckoned as justice.

Verse 10. The wicked one is hostile and hateful to God, not by an opposition of nature; for nature does not differ from the good, nor are you to suppose that a nature is indicated here which is called "wicked." For we do not understand any such nature in our knowledge, such that we might hate it upon knowing it; but we call anything that is a work of malice "wicked," and we pursue it with hatred, provided we think rightly. ^B If anyone ever assaults the holy ones, he will have the power, at most, to harm the body or inflict death; but their soul will remain unharmed and unimpaired. For who would not confess that the martyrs of the truth are guarded in their souls by the Lord whom they confess?

Verse 11. To him who has perfected practical virtue, which is called justice, the light of knowledge has arisen, which is no other than the true light, of which the Father said: "But to you that fear my name, *the Sun of justice* shall arise."

PSALM XCVII

Verse 3. Israel differs from Jacob by way of disposition, but not in substance; for the same person is at one time Jacob and at another Israel. ^C For when he is a practitioner of practical virtue, wrestling down irrational passions, sins, and the wicked powers that effect them, he is Jacob, "tripping up" the aforementioned ranks. But when, having risen above all malice, he approaches God through the purity of his mind, he is called Israel. — For the Gospel having been preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, according to the prophecy of Christ: "All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of God," namely Christ. — And a little later: They who have passed beyond the earth and have been raised above it, by no longer thinking thoughts that are humble and earthly, but by seeking and thinking on the things that are above—these are the "ends of the earth," seeing salvation and its author, the Word of God, who is the salvation ^D of God.

Verse 4. He commands all the earth—that is, all men living upon the earth—to send up a song of victory to the Lord who has defeated the enemies, the invisible foes of men, the devil and his henchmen.

Verse 5. What the cithara is, we have often said; what it is to play upon it, what it is to perform the things of virtue practically through the body, or through all the powers of the soul. — Instead of: "With the voice of the psalm," that is, in addition to the psalm played upon the instrument, let there be an added voice which is the contemplation of those things that are to be practiced.

^A VERSE 6. "With ductile trumpets" note: the Latin text here follows a different reading of the verse than the common translations, reflecting the context of the commentary they sing, whoever proclaims the word of truth brilliantly and clearly. For these are truly capable of rousing [the assembly] to a spiritual festival, saying: "Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient ministers of the new Testament"; a thing which others cannot confess, except for those who are rich in every word and every knowledge.

VERSE 7. In the densely populated cities of men, the perfection of prophecy is especially to be considered. For the multitude of pious men in the churches imitates the surging sea, and the voices of those singing psalms resound there in accompaniment.

VERSE 8. Again, he calls them "rivers," to whom the duty of teaching others has been entrusted, and who, like rivers, pour forth divine waters; he bids them to clap their hands, that is, to celebrate God; for this is the speech of those who rejoice. — And again: What occurs here perhaps designates the multitude of those who, like waves, are rolled toward salvation, and with voices and praises celebrate the kingdom of the Lord.

VERSE 9. He shall judge his servants first "in equity." For when peoples have a right heart and right customs, he will render to each according to his works.

PSALM XCVII

^C VERSE 2. First, in Sion, with the law given and the prophets sent forth, the Lord is great; then he appeared exalted over all the peoples who turned to the faith from the nations. For "glory and honor and peace to everyone working good, to the Jew first and to the Greek." For having been exalted from the earth, he drew everyone to himself.

VERSE 5. "Exalt the Lord," not indeed by carrying him from an inferior place to a higher one; for this would befit none but bodies; but by thinking high and sublime thoughts concerning him. ^D And his "footstool" is declared to be the old temple, as it is written in Jeremiah: "How has the Lord obscured in his wrath the daughter; he cast down from heaven to earth her sanctification, and did not remember his footstool?" And a little after: He commands that the footstool be worshipped, namely, the supreme rule over the whole world, which will then appear, to which not only the holy, but all, will be subject. Priests and prophets were also called holy. But he says that this footstool is not to be worshipped by this [kind of] holy person, desiring to declare how much he differs from the other holy ones; for he himself was the Holy of Holies. For this reason he mentions Moses as the lawgiver, Aaron as the high priest, and Samuel as the prince of the prophets. These things are not to be referred to these men alone, but to all who excel in the same virtues. And a little after: What then do we have

to say about these things? Or is it that he gave the name eponymously to those who possess the same virtues? If this is the case, it is evident that all who become faithful servants ^A are after the likeness of Moses; and the same holds true for the others similarly.

Vers. 7. Since the Word of God is firm and unwavering, it is fittingly called a pillar, so that the Church, which has received it, is the pillar and foundation of the truth. But since it is also drinkable and the cause of fruits, coming like rain into the minds of men, it is a “pillar of cloud.” Perhaps also by this was foretold the coming of the Savior hither, by which, ^B having mounted a light cloud, he came into Egypt, which is the region around the earth. — It is the part of a perfect man, and one endowed with all virtues, to keep all the testimonies and commandments of God. —

Vers. 8. You are our Lord and God, I mean the King of the nations—the very One who also heard both Moses and Aaron. When they stood in need of instruction, just as Aaron did concerning the making of the calf, and Moses concerning the unbelief at the water of provocation.

PSALM XCIX

Vers. 4. The gates of the Lord are virtues by type, concerning which it has been said in other places: “Open to me the gates of justice.” Having entered into the courts of the Lord, singing hymns to God, they will gladly confess to God.

PSALM C

Vers. 1. He who is now singing ^C informs and adorns the characters of the hearers through the song, celebrating God as the judge of the deeds perfected by men. Then, since his judgment is accurate, searching out not only what is manifest but also the hidden things of the heart, he adds with a good intention: for if he should look upon—according to their deserts—our deeds and words and thoughts, we perish utterly; so that this might not happen, he shows mercy before judgment: “If thou, O Lord, shalt mark iniquities, who shall stand?” And since with thee is propitiation, for you happen to be the source of goodness and mercy, we are confident that when you examine our affairs with mercy and judgment, we shall attain salvation.

Vers. 2. Those who walk according to the operations of the law, as many as are moved ^D with malice, become outside of themselves, being passionately enslaved to sensible things. Accordingly, it is customary to say that such persons are outside themselves and beside themselves. But he who moves with innocence, that is to say with virtue, concerning things that are to be done and thought, turns cyclically toward himself, being wholly of the mind and the care of the inner man, and walks “in the midst of his house” with an excellent habit. The house of each of the diligent is what they bring to perfection: virtue.

^A Ver. 3. I have no law given to me that I should transgress. This verse could be used by Joseph, and Susanna, and the three youths in the furnace, and whoever else has followed in their footsteps. Ver. 4. It is written in Ecclesiastes: “God made man upright.” If, therefore, man became upright, having been instructed in virtue from the beginning, all malice and depravity of morals is far from him. Whoever, then, has remained keeping uprightness and the likeness to God, utters this voice. Ver. 8. For when the members that are upon the earth are dead, and the body is oppressed and reduced to servitude, these are the impulses by which the flesh drives us to sins, which so affect souls that, for the love of pleasure, they do not hesitate to work iniquity.

^B PSALM CI Vers. 1. But if you ask for something, not having what you seek, and are about to obtain it through petition, you are poor. Everyone, therefore, who prays to God asks for a participation in good things, which he is not able to have from himself; hence all are poor before God. Although, therefore, David was great and a king, he was poor, in need of those things which God bestows; hence, knowing himself to be lacking in many or all of the things provided by God, he is filled with despondency, so as to be greatly troubled. Then, after being thus disposed, he pours out his prayer before the Lord, asking from Him who gives good things to those who ask Him. For he who does not ask for such things, but for what will perish, does not dare to pour out his prayer before the Lord, having a soul addicted to evil affections.—Praying to God, we invoke Him as suppliants; requesting, we seek those things which He wishes to be supplied to the needy. These, however, are things absolutely good, which it is fitting for God to bestow, and beneficial for us who ask to receive. It has already been said concerning the cry of the saints praising God and calling upon Him with a loud voice, that they do not cry out with the mouth, but with the affection of the mind towards God.

^C Vers. 4. It has already been noted often that “bones” are nothing other than the most firm doctrines of the inner man and the strongest virtues of the soul, which are crushed by the fire of passions; but his heart is withered, having nothing joyful by which he might be gladdened. For I have fallen into such great calamities that I have even forgotten to eat my bread, which is convenient and congruent to his superior nature. He who is no longer agitated and whirled about by external things has become a participant in this bread.

Vers. 17. By which words, if I am not mistaken, he announces the sojourn among men of the Word of God, the Lord and Savior himself, Jesus Christ; by whose works Zion has been rebuilt again. But if you confess this, do not think that a worldly city or an earthly Jerusalem is under discussion here; but he says that the way of life of piety is to be renewed.

^A Since those who are ignorant of the divine economies supposed that the captivity of the Jews and the desolation of Jerusalem were a weakness of God, he not undeservedly calls the restoration of the city the glory of God.

^B VER. 22. The soul, which is understood here by the name Sion, will have teachers who announce the name of the Lord to it, and who also celebrate his praise in their minds; this is called Jerusalem, because it sees peace. Sion and Jerusalem also designate the Church; for she chooses the best things and sees peace, with doctrines so fittingly connected to one another. Nor is it without cause that the name of the Lord is announced in this Sion, and his praise is preached in this Jerusalem. For in her are recounted the mysteries of his divinity, both those things which are before the ages, and those which are to be referred to his second and glorious coming.

VER. 24. "Who answered him in the way of his strength?" The Scripture does not indicate that these words are used by the new people to celebrate the Lord. You would think more rightly, therefore, that these words are uttered by him who is called "pauper" and "anxious" in the heading, and who is pouring out his prayer before the Lord, and that he is answering not with voice and speech, but in the way of his strength: that is, by perfecting the way of virtue and honorable life with a firm and certain step.

VER. 25. "In the half of his days," he is taken away, who did not bring forth perfect or worthy fruits of virtue on this earth. ^C For these things are not measured by a temporal interval, since I am found full of days according to Abraham when I have attained the perfect knowledge of truth and perfect virtue.

VER. 26. That is to say, you made the earth at the same time that you brought it into existence. And the text, "In the beginning God made heaven and earth" (Gen. I, 1), agrees with this; it is not able to overturn the opinion of those who contend that the earth is the element of all things, such that all things were made from it, and nothing existed before it. For it appears that it is not a first principle, but that there were certain principles of it conceived beforehand, which are its foundations. And it is said by the Lord himself to Job, who founded the earth: "Where were you when I founded the earth?" (Job XXXVIII, 4). The Lord, through whom all things were made, is the one who founded the earth. It is also said of the Father: "God in wisdom founded the earth" (Prov. III, 19); and again: "Suspending the earth over nothing" (Job XXVI, 7), which implies that the earth was placed in the center of the whole universe. ^D By "hands" are meant the powers by which God operates; for since with us craftsmen finish their works with their hands, they imagine that God created these things in a similar way. It is manifest from the fact that creatures are called "the works of his hands" that they are properly the works of God.

VER. 28. "You are not one who can be corrupted or changed; for this is the property of creatures, inasmuch as they are created even through change." While all things grow old in time—for those things that have come into existence at a certain time,

^A when much time has passed, they grow old. And a little later: "That which is growing old and being folded up indicates that the need for which they contributed to the present arrangement has passed; for just as a cloak is folded up after it has fulfilled its purpose, so too, since there will again be a re-constitution of heaven together with the earth, after they have passed away, according to the Savior who says: 'Heaven and earth will pass away.' It is fittingly said to be folded up like a cloak. At least, the phrase 'and they will be changed' is added to this folding of his. As for You, O Master, who are always the same and unchanging, You neither began to be, nor do You will to have years in time; for He about whom these things are said is timeless. And again: 'He said that His years would not fail,' because His existence is infinite, remaining incorruptible, and He is the only one who truly possesses immortality."

Vers. 29. "The sons of the servants of God" are not to be understood according to the flesh, but are those who are formed according to their standard and discipline. For this is why certain men were called "sons of the prophets," clearly because they organized their lives according to the ways of the prophets. "And their seed" refers to those who were increased by them.

PSALM CII

Vers. 1. Although the composite man is nothing other than soul and body, for he is composed of these very things, yet he addresses his own soul as if it were distinct from himself. Therefore, the man himself rouses his soul to praise God. Those who maintain that this soul is the Spirit do not, in truth, think that it is animated by it, but that it directs it by command and care. He calls "my inward parts" all the faculties of the mind; for in this sense you must interpret what the Savior said to some: "The kingdom of heaven is within you."

Vers. 3. "Heal," he says, "my soul, for I have sinned against You." He redeems life from destruction so that you might no longer live a corrupt and lustful life, but might love the Lord Jesus in incorruption. He will also redeem your life from corruption when, in the resurrection, He bestows upon you an incorruptible body.

Vers. 4. "For your crown consists of mercy and compassion." For just as others obtain the crown of righteousness and the unfading crown of glory, woven from righteousness and right report, so too will you be crowned for your works with mercy and compassion, according to the passage: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." ^D But this will be even more on account of the mercy and compassion of God, than on account of the praise which you may have earned for yourself in this life. He crowns us not for our merits, but for His own supreme mercy and compassion.

Vers. 5. "(He satisfies) with good things, bestowing them upon those who ask Him. Since—"

it is the same thing, moreover, to desire good things and to ask to obtain them—for He gives you all things for which you yearn—^A "He satisfies your desire with good things"; for every desire of the righteous is good. For just as that bird, when it grows old, is plucked of its feathers so that it may be renewed by another nature, so too does he who has grown old in malice become renewed, exchanging the antiquity of your youth in the release that comes to pass. In those things which you once used, being strong, and now utilizing, you are lifted aloft to heaven towards all who have awaited God together with you. "For they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall put forth feathers as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary."

VERS. 6. The Father of mercies and the only good Lord acts with pity, bestowing mercy and beneficence upon all. Whence, rendering judgment for those suffering injury from the devil and from malice, He sent His own Son ^B to heal and to liberate those whom Satan held enslaved. "That by the blood of His Lord Jesus Christ we might be cleansed from all unrighteousness," not only that which we have suffered, but also that which we have ourselves committed. From this we learn, according to Paul’s exhortation, that it is better to suffer injury than to inflict it; for God renders judgment to those who suffer injury, heaping benefits upon them, whereas He brings punishment upon those who inflict injury, so that they do not inherit the divine promise. "For the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

VERS. 7. By "ways," here, virtues are designated. For he who says, "Make known to me Thy ways, O Lord," ^C asks that the virtues be made manifest to him.

VERS. 8. Of these good things, he says, the cause is the abyss of divine goodness, the infinite mercy, the ocean of philanthropy.

VERS. 9. All these things apply to the Lord, since He is the true God. But since He is the true God, He is not adorned with these virtues, but is the fountain of them, not merely their substance; wherefore we also have confidence. For even if He should be angered at us when we sin, He does not do so to destroy or to bring us to an end. For that would be the meaning of "He will be angry unto the end," ^D that is, that the anger should remain until the end and ruin of those against whom the anger is directed. Since, however, He is not "angry unto the end," He will not be indignant forever.

VERS. 14. For although our entire composition is not of dust—for we possess also a rational nature, having attained to the image and likeness of God—yet in our prayers to God, imploring His help and benefits, we present ourselves as most infirm and most feeble, saying: "Remember, O Lord, that we are dust." Wherefore, help our infirmity and our vileness.

VERS. 15. Following the text, "Remember, O Lord, that we are dust," it declares these things, not regarding the inner man, but the outer. For according to our material and fleshly life, we have certain days that complete for us the length of our time.

^A And a little later: He compares the time of life lived in the flesh to grass that is withering. And a little later: He shows that these prosperities, riches, glories, honors, and other such successes appear to exist for those who live in the flesh. These flow away and wither like a flower and grass, so that they seem not even to have existed.

VERS. 16. By "Spirit" he means the soul, in whose presence the body also lives and acts; but when it has flown away, the body is extinguished and decays, so that its former characteristics are not even recognized—that is to say, those [characteristics] that exist in this present mortal life.

VERS. 17. Our nature, then, is transitory. But divine kindness grants a long-lasting life, and even keeps for the sake of the ancestors the reward due to the just [descendants]. You might find countless such things in the histories; for because of the righteousness of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, God deemed the people who later sprang from them worthy of the calling and of his own providence. "Children of the just," that is, those who emulate their works; thus, the mercy upon those who fear Him is uncircumscribed, extending ^B "from everlasting to everlasting." For He is not merciful at one time and not at another; but being good by nature, He is always merciful. And a little later: But righteousness, which is joined with this mercy, is also not limited by time; it extends to all generations, to the sons of sons, and remains for every succession, so that it always possesses this righteousness, along with the mercy that is from everlasting to everlasting. And those who by doing good works became heirs of the future promises.

VERS. 18. For these commandments are given not that they may be merely committed to memory, but that they may also be performed in deed. That they were given to men for the sake of doing them, the Savior Himself testifies, saying: "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." For the reward and inheritance of the promises belong to the doing of them, not to the mere memory of them. ^C

VERS. 19. It has been said elsewhere that God is not circumscribed in place, but that He is said to dwell in heaven for some consistency and economy of speech. Consistently with those [teachings], then, it is said even here that He has prepared, that is, established, the throne of His kingdom in heaven, signifying that His rule and kingdom not only govern and reside over those in heaven, but over all things without exception.

VERS. 20. One must understand that it is not the prophet, being a man, who commands the angels in the things set forth, but the Holy Spirit inhabiting him: for "All his angels," he says—namely the Lord's—"bless Him." But by commanding all the angels, the Spirit is seen to be different from them in essence. ^D If this is so, how could some have dared so rashly to claim that He is of the order of the angels, even though He is distinct from them all?

PSALM CIII. VERS. 3. He covers the air above us and the ether that inclines toward God with waters through those that gather in clouds

In accordance with the meaning, He calls the intellectual substance "heaven," extending and spreading itself for the protection of the mind. He who covers the higher regions of the soul with intellectual and divine waters—that is, its faculties which happen to be above the sensory realm— ^A VERS. 6. He calls the immeasurable knowledge of God an "abyss"; He has put this on and wrapped Himself in it because of its incomprehensible beauty. Therefore, He is unknown in the magnitude of His knowledge. ^B VERS. 9. The sea seems to revere the sand, just as it is held back by the divine limit as if by a bridle, returning and withdrawing backward. VERS. 18. The race of deer is hostile to the race of serpents; they are eager, therefore, to destroy them. Such are, by all means, the disciples of Christ, who are ready to avenge every disobedience. They also possessed power against the intellectual serpents from Him who gave them authority "to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy." VERS. 27. It is in due season that they expect to obtain this, when they are delivered from all depravity and disease. For then, when it is given, they will gather it, being as eager to receive it as they are to be satisfied. This is spoken only of spiritual things; for to wait and to have expectation toward God implies nothing else. ^C VERS. 31. The Lord rejoices in our worship, not as though He were in need of it. But since He wishes us to be saved, He shows the truth; and while He has the power to punish, He does not inflict punishment. But if you wish to understand these things spiritually, as God looks upon us according to the saying, "Look upon me," and, "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous," this is not in a worldly sense, but those who are laboring under a dark dizziness tremble, so that the humble ways are cast off and pass away. VERS. 32. And God, touching the evil powers which are called "mountains" because of their pride, causes them to smoke, lighting in them the fuel for punishment by fire. VERS. 33. This is the gain of life, and for this reason it is worth living. Therefore, death is to be feared, because it silences the one who sings praises. For death is destruction. Because "there is no one in death who remembers You," and life is existence alone, since "the living," He says, "will praise You"; for in the union with Him who is, we have our being. And the song is not in the voice, but in the mind that possesses existence. "I will sing," He says, "and in perfect works to God," as long as I have existence, through which I partake of Him who existed before the ages, and who said, "I am who I am." ^D VERS. 34. For thus also Christ Himself, having accepted the Church, says in the Song of Songs, "Your voice is sweet." When the predicted time arrives, that of God’s righteous judgment, then "I shall rejoice in the Lord."

if even now, in the present time, my discourse may be sweet to Him. ^A

PSALM CIV

VERS. 4. Just as, as history attests, Samuel, ministering continuously in the tabernacle of the testimony, saw the face of the Lord, so those who dedicate themselves unceasingly and without any interruption to the contemplation of true doctrine and to the works of virtue always seek the face of God, desiring to behold Him with a pure mind. The face of God, moreover, is the character of His hypostasis, the image of the invisible God. Therefore, he who sees the Son sees the Father also.

VERS. 5. About to recount the prodigies that took place in Egypt, he first recalls how just were the punishments of the Egyptians. Think of His mouth as His Word, who, like a lawgiver and an accurate teacher, handed down to you most just laws and doctrines. ^B

VERS. 8. The number of thousands of generations is cited not to declare a multitude, but because it is more becoming to the one God. Thus also in that passage: "Thousands of those who rejoice," and again: "The law of your mouth is good to me, above thousands of gold and silver."

VERS. 12. "Short" is said instead of "few"; for brevity is referred to length, while paucity is referred to number.

VERS. 18. He humbled only his feet in shackles, but his soul was not bound at the same time, and it escaped the iron. For whoever, upon being surrounded by bonds, bears this affliction ignobly, possesses a soul bent by the iron. This man, however, did not endure it forever: for He Himself defines the end of the captivity, saying that it lasted until the Word of God came, by whom, once freed from the shackles, he was appointed curator and nourisher of all.

VERS. 19. That he might be fervent in spirit and adhere to the divine light itself; for by whose works will you be able to fulfill that exhortation: "Do not quench the Spirit"? ^C

VERS. 20. Nor did Joseph himself miss this doctrine. For he says to his brothers: "You did not send me here." "For you indeed devised evil, but God intended it for good."

VERS. 22. Since not all are able by their own strength to escape from evils, God sends to men who have fallen into that infirmity guides by whom they may be directed as they make their way toward good things. Such, moreover, are the law of God, Moses, and the tradition of the high priests, of which Aaron is the symbol. ^D

VERS. 26. This discourse recalls the memory of these things as in the chanting of a hymn, wishing to teach that God, being mindful of His people, pursued and punished the Egyptians, His enemies, not by any of the great...

^A things; for the almighty hand did not need ministers such as lions, or bears, or famine, or death, to press upon them with wrath. But He afflicted them with the aforementioned evils, gradually exhorting them also to repentance.

PSALM CVI

VERS. 17. In the way of their iniquity still proceeding, God took them up in His mercy, since because of the multitude of their impieties, having been humbled, they were held back by those things from which the Lord brought them out. And see if what is recounted concerning the thief who repented upon the cross can be applied to these. For while he was still in the way of iniquity—for he had been judged on account of robbery—and humbled by punishment on account of the iniquities he possessed, the Lord took him up, saying to him, "Today you shall be with me in paradise."

VERS. 20. Whom did He heal, if not those of whom it has been spoken above? For the only-begotten Son, sent from above by the Father, healed these who had suffered so much and had been tried in such great evils, and delivered them from their corruptions. So that they no longer wander as of old, nor are ignorant of the way of salvation and the city of God, toward which the Word urges them to hasten; nor do they hunger and ^B thirst and cause their souls to famish through the lack and scarcity of spiritual nourishment; nor do they sit in darkness and the shadow of death, nor are they bound in poverty and iron, nor are they hemmed in around the gates of death; but they have been delivered from all these things. And they not only know, but also walk, the way that leads to the heavenly city, and hasten to attain the kingdom of heaven.

VERS. 22. Not the sacrifices commanded through Moses, but those handed down through the New Testament. Aquila, therefore, interpreted most accurately, saying: "And let them sacrifice a sacrifice of praise." Clearly, through such an interpretation, by pointing out the rational and bloodless [sacrifices], he designates those of the New Testament, which it is our custom to call also the sacrifices of the Eucharist. And they are commanded, when offering these, to announce to all men the achievements of God the Word that have been accomplished for them, and to do this in exultation. — And everyone who announces to others what has been done for himself, and has had experience of His benefit, announces the works of the Lord in exultation, not he who simply recounts the works performed for the sake of others.

VERS. 26. These things are said by way of exaggeration; for you might find thousands of examples of such a trope in the Scripture. For concerning the cities of the enemies of Israel, it is said that they were walled up to heaven, because they were walled with excessively high walls; and so it is with that which says, "And I shall be whitened more than snow." ^{C D}

^A VERSE 32. After what has been said concerning the apostles and the Church, he clearly makes mention of the honors established for the elders in the Church; for in the announcement of good things, this was also to be commended. It is commanded, moreover, to those who are going to exalt their Lord "in the assembly of the people," that they should also praise Him "in the seat of the elders."

VERSE 33. What are these rivers? The ancient people of the circumcision: indeed, they, who were previously adorned with great goods, were afterwards afflicted with evils. And a little later: "Because of the malice of those who dwell in it," and for no other cause was the land changed into saltiness. The whole nation of the Jews has been deprived of all the good things in which it once abounded: so that now no prophets teach it, nor do angels appear to it. And everything sacred to them has been taken away: fatherland, temple, Holy of Holies, kingdom, priesthood; nay, they have become slaves instead of free, and they who had been masters of their own laws have become subject to the laws of the nations. And all these things they have suffered because of their own malice and iniquity.

VERSE 35. The Church of those who believed from the nations, which had previously been deserted by God and was destitute of good and barren, has been changed "into pools of water," and what had once been without water has become "into outlets of water."

VERSE 36. And they have dwelt in it, whosoever once hungered and perished and wandered in the false worship of many gods; who, when they had wandered for a long time, at length found a tower of refuge and a sure harbor, having attained the evangelical discipline. This saying indicates their pious manner of life. There have been settled those who once hungered: for, with Jesus God sent into the earth, they obtained the help and benefits of the Lord, and established "a city of habitation," and in it settled those who had previously thirsted, being freed from the scarcity of divine and spiritual foods from which they suffered, and deemed worthy of the heavenly food.

^C VERSE 37. Those who recall men from worse things to better, so that they also sow the heavenly seed here—as if born of the Father and having attained it through the ministry of the apostles—and plant vineyards in the hearts of men, that is, the Churches dispersed everywhere in the world: at the same time they were deemed worthy to be blessed and multiplied. Those who are lesser in understanding and reason are called beasts of burden; it is right that these should be multiplied and illuminated, seeing the grace of the Saviour diffused over the whole world.

VERSE 39. This does not differ from that saving utterance, in which it is said that the kingdom of God is to be taken away from the former people and given to a nation producing its fruit.

VERSE 43. It is not permitted to everyone to understand and recognize the benign counsels of the Saviour, nor to keep the divine commands.

but ^A only to him who uses divine wisdom and understanding, and who cries out to the Lord: "Open my eyes and I will consider the wondrous things of your law."

PSALM CVII

VERS. 2. "His glory," nothing other than the disposition of the mind for recognizing virtue in the soul and for perfecting it in deed.

VERS. 4. To whom the true light has shone. Having risen early to the Lord, as those walking decently in the day, striking the psaltery and plucking the harp, they sing to the all-wise God, sending up hymns in good rhythm and harmony.

VERS. 6. This verse, from the first word down to "your glory over all the earth," occurs in Psalm LVI. The rest of this psalm to the end is found in Psalm LIX: therefore, what was said there needs to be briefly repeated here. God is exalted in those who bear the image of the heavenly, and are for this reason called heavens. His glory is extended over all the earth that is able to bear fruit a hundred, sixty, and thirty-fold. Or, God being exalted upon the theoretical natures of the world, called heavens, His glory extends to the practical ones, which are called earth.

VERS. 7. For not otherwise would those worthy of being loved by Thee be delivered from the enemies oppressing or pursuing them, unless Thou saved them by Thy right hand, and heard me praying on their behalf. ^B He calls the "right hand" the good operation.

VERS. 8. Sichem is interpreted as "shoulder," being a symbol of labor. The Lord, therefore, having been exalted upon the cross, having ascended, divided the works of men, so as to justify some and condemn others; for He is a righteous judge.

VERS. 9. Galaad is translated as "transmigration," Manasses as "oblivion," and Ephraim as "fruitfulness." The Saviour therefore says: "Galaad is mine and Manasses is mine," being translated from evil to truth, and from evil to virtue, or from earth to heaven; and he is mine who, having forgotten all evils, has now laid aside that very oblivion. For he who after oblivion comes to remembrance is Manasses, that is to say, he casts off and rejects the oblivion by which he had been unmindful of God and His good things. ^C But also the abundant fruitfulness of the nations who have believed has become a covering and a protection for the Saviour. For just as Paul writes to those benefited by him, "You are my joy and crown," so the Saviour has as His crown the protection of those who weave into themselves justice and exhibit truth. And Judas is His king, not in the sense that he rules over Him, but that this king is intimately united with Him; such is David, or perhaps anyone who confesses the miracles of the Lord, for Judas is interpreted as "confession." ^D

^A

Ver. 10. Moab is the cauldron of hope to the one singing psalms, because it is the chastiser of those who were delivered to it by the Lord; for "cauldron" everywhere designates the chastisement of the prophets. Since, therefore, punishments are brought on with a good purpose, possessing a good hope following after them, the cauldron is the hope and expectation of good things. But if these things were to be proclaimed from the person of Christ, since Idumaea designates earthly things, He would say that He descends to the earth and to earthly things; for the sandal is a symbol of a hidden journey. For long ago the Creator used to walk openly, taking care of affairs. Now, however, He has come clothed in flesh, which His sandal declares.

Ver. 11. When the Prophet heard such things concerning the calling of the nations, and also learned what was said in the fifty-ninth Psalm regarding the Jewish nation, and knew that the foreigners and aliens would be brought into subjection and would become friends with God, he praises those who are deemed worthy of this experience, and prays that he himself might be one of them. That is, [he prays for] that state of all-blessedness which is to be, when God deems it worthy to place His foot upon their land. And a little later: "Who therefore will guide me to the grace given to the nations, if not you, O God?" For thus Symmachus interpreted these things, saying: "If not you, O God, who rejected us?"

Ver. 12. For you do not shield or fight for us, but you have delivered us as servants and subjects into the hands of your enemies, no longer free; for we would never have been defeated, had you been our general and leading our phalanx.

Ver. 13. For we are not protected by a military array, nor by human strength; but Symmachus says: "May you be our hope against the afflictions that are about to rise up against us."

Ver. 14. Truly, we are those whom He set out to tread upon with His sandal, and whom He will again comfort with society and friendship. For when these were lost, we confessed ourselves rejected, because God "no longer went forth in our virtues." And He himself, with an invisible and hidden hand, "will bring our afflicters to nothing."

PSALM CVIII

Ver. 6. The right hand is not the same for all, but for the righteous it is spiritual things and virtue, while for the wicked it is sensible things and malice. For at the right hand of the saint, God stands, but at the right hand of the sinner, the devil.

Ver. 7. When he asks for things that are not proper, and which would harm the one receiving them, he is condemned by God for no other reason than that he asks for things which it would be neither proper for God to give, nor beneficial for him to receive.

Ver. 8. For to everyone who betrays the truth, the days become few—those days which he had, enlightened by the true light, before he betrayed the truth. And his episcopate also...

he receives, and he becomes his own teacher, he who has remained and progressed in the truth. ^A

Ver. 14. The fathers of Judea who were able to beget him by betrayal are those who urged him on to this by the offering of money, as well as he who cast the betrayal of the Lord into his heart, Satan, and the rulers who possess the wisdom of this age, concerning whom Paul says: "For if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

Ver. 21. Because he is kind and full of goodness. You might call the apostles his heart and fellow-minded ones, since the rest of the faithful have been accounted as his body. Since, therefore, the disciples were scattered, having been scandalized on that night when the crowd of the Pharisees stood upon him to seize him, it happened that his heart was troubled, as he considered them to be his heart. Yet even if his heart was troubled, it did not depart from him, but remained enveloping him and within his disciples. ^B

Ver. 23. The Lord says this concerning human life, which is neither firm nor stable. Locusts, on account of the weakness of their nature, are shaken off and driven away very easily. Thus I too, having assumed a weak life for the sake of men, was driven out from weakness to be crucified, and having been taken up, I have migrated. It is possible to apply to all the disciples what is said about him: "I have been shaken off like locusts." For since they are pursued and shaken off by those who wish to do evil, they are not humbled, but flying aloft they are carried on high. All the martyrs, therefore, having been shaken off like locusts, leaving behind the things below, pursue the prizes of the upward calling. ^C

Ver. 31. Namely, of me who became a pauper for the sake of all, so that by my poverty they might be enriched. And the Lord stands at the right hand of him who does and thinks all things rightly. And again, concerning the Lord standing at his right hand, he sets forth the reason, saying: "to save my soul."

PSALM CIX

Ver. 1. To the Son who is Lord, who has fulfilled the economy and risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, the Lord—that is to say, the Father—said: "Sit at my right hand," and so on. Paul, indeed, knows that this utterance was spoken after this ascension, by saying: "When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high," and so on. And again: "To which of the angels did he ever say, Sit at my right hand?" The Father, therefore, being Lord of all things created by him, says to the Lord of creation: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." ^D The Father speaks to the Son just as a father might speak to a son and a son to a father. For he does not use vocal utterance to converse with the Son. For he himself is his own thought, truth, wisdom, and Word. The Lord sits at the right hand of the Lord; for if he were a body, he would not

position, or else he would not have said: "And in place we sought the right hand." Therefore, those who have become partakers of the divine holiness and goodness are the right hand of God; over whom He rules in no other way than by reigning together with the Father. For that which says, "Sit at my right hand," ^B indicates the Son reigning together with the Father.

VER. 3. The word for "beginning" here signifies the kingdom which the Savior attained "in the day of his power," or after the resurrection, when He rose from the dead; for if He was crucified out of weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. Or, it signifies the inherent authority present to Him, by which He rules and holds dominion. "In the splendors" by which the true light illuminates and brightens them. Whence it is also said: "Let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us." All ecclesiastical writers, not today for the first time but always, have thought that these words were spoken by the Father and should be joined to the beginning of the psalm, thus: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool; out of the womb before the morning star I have begotten you," ^C believing that the other verses were inserted between them. And the Apostle also seems to have followed this thought, saying: "To which of the angels did He ever say, Sit at my right hand?" He says this as if to mean: He said it to no creature, but only to His uniquely begotten Son, "Sit at my right hand." Since He alone is the Only-Begotten, who is "in the bosom of the Father." When we speak of legitimate offspring, we mention the womb; for some are truly sons, while others are adopted and put in that position. Whenever we indicate not the adopted but the true ones, we call them the offspring of the parents' womb. God, therefore, wishing to present His own and uniquely begotten Son, makes mention of the womb. And a little later: The Father does not say these things to the Son because the Son does not know them, but these things were written so that we might know the intimacy of the Father toward the Son, and of the Son toward the Father. And a little later: ^D The morning star is not only sensible light, but also intelligible light. But if it is prior to intelligible things, it is evident that it is also prior to every creature, according to what is said: "And He is before all things."

VER. 4. Just as the Savior defines swearing for us by saying, "Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No,'" so, and indeed much more, God is said to swear when He asserts the truth, even though He has employed no imprecation or oath. "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind," because He will never repent of His gifts, nor of the greatest of all callings, by which the Savior was called to the priesthood. His gift will surely remain forever, and the priesthood "according to the order" not of Aaron, but "of Melchizedek" forever.

VER. 5. Whereas the Father had previously said, "Sit at my right hand," it is now said to the Son: "The Lord is at your right hand," that it may appear that the Son is not at the right hand of the Father by reason of place; for otherwise the Father would simultaneously be at the right hand

of the Son, and the Son himself at the right hand of the Father. But this is absurd, unless these things are understood spiritually. Just as, therefore, the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, so the Son is the right hand of the Father, and the Father is at the right hand of the Son. ^A These kings are none other than the devils, instructed in the kingdom, empire, and dominion of darkness. These same are they who are to be trampled by the feet of the Savior on account of the malice and wickedness through which they have become his enemies. They are to be crushed and cast out from the kingdom when the Lord shall break the empire and power of those. The day of wrath is called in the Scriptures the time in which all things are to be judged.

VERS. 6. He will not send away empty or deprived of his fullness any of those who are meant for salvation, that they may rise again to eternal life. — [To those] resisting because of the malice of many of those who are called. ^B

VERS. 7. This torrent signifies temptation, as it does elsewhere; for to drink from the torrent is nothing other than to undergo temptation. Now Jesus was tempted for [our] salvation, having entered into the way of men, as the Apostle testifies, writing thus: "For in that he himself hath suffered and been tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Having been proclaimed King of all, and having been granted authority in heaven and on earth, he raised his head, having been appointed by the Father not only of those on earth, but also of those in heaven, ^C so that "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"; the cross bears the symbol of this exaltation.

PSALM CX

VERS. 5. By a wonderful method, God gives food to them that fear him, with a certain miraculous action. Thus, he gave a meal to Daniel, who was hungering in the lions' den in Babylon; for he carried Habakkuk from Jerusalem through the air into Babylon, so that he might bring food to Daniel. Thus also he commanded the ravens to bring bread in the morning and flesh in the evening to Elijah, and when the whole region was ravaged by famine, he fed him who feared the Lord. The Old Testament, since it was to be dissolved upon the arrival of Christ, "shall be mindful forever of his testament," [the testament] of the new [covenant] instituted according to the Gospel, and destined to endure forever without any interruption. — When, with Israel becoming blinded in part, the fullness of the Gentiles has obtained the incorrupt and glorified inheritance, he "is mindful forever of his testament" ^D made with the sons of Israel on account of their fathers.

VERS. 6. Revealing to them what power his works have, which were to be performed by the people, and what account they are to render for their deeds. — To the Israelite people, that considering the virtue of the redemption, they too may be saved, [after] the fullness of the Gentiles has obtained the inheritance, being divinely taught concerning the inheritance granted to the Gentiles.

^A VERSE 7. And these things are also proper to the New Testament, fitting appropriately to the introduction and the elementary discipline of the evangelical teaching. But what are these? It is for us to know and learn that the works of the New Testament were not in types, shadows, and symbols, such as those of Moses, but the works of Christ were truth. Wherefore it is said: "Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." But besides truth, the works of our Savior were also judgment; hence it is said in Isaiah concerning him: "And he shall be clothed with justice about his loins, and wrapped with truth about his sides." Since the disciples of the Gospel do not obtain salvation from the works of the law, but from the hearing of faith, according to the holy Apostle, the commandments of Moses were temporary; but those of the Gospel, not merely for this present age, but will abide into the future. For just as the works of his hands were truth and judgment, so too are his commandments performed by his disciples in truth and uprightness.

VERSE 9. These things mean the same as those: "The Son of man came to give his life as a ransom for many." ^B By that same precious blood, therefore, by the grace of God who tasted death for everyone, we have been redeemed from the manner of life handed down to us from our fathers. So that, serving the testament with firm and perfect zeal, they might obtain the eternal inheritance according to the immovable and eternal promises. His name, he says, is "holy" to the saints, and "terrible" to sinners.

VERSE 10. As the beginning of the good way (which is the contemplation of truth) is to do what is just, so too is the beginning of the introduction into the wisdom of God—which is itself nothing other than the contemplation of truth—the divine fear, which is the same as that which is named among practical matters as justice. Therefore, in whatever relation doing what is just has to the good way, just so does the fear of God have to wisdom. It is not for those who have understood it without doing it, but for those who do it. For to those who perform the understanding—which is not something other than virtue—it ^C is of benefit; from which benefit they learn how good it is. For this is the appropriate end for those who theologize, to say: "His praise"—that is, of the One who has been theologized—"remains forever." For since He who is praised is eternal, it is necessary that his praise also be unending, so as to last for all ages.

PSALM CXI.

VERSE 1. He who performs the commandments of the Lord for their own sake, and not for any other cause, such as for human glory, or so as not to fall into the punishment impending over sinners, or to seek any sort of reward, but loves and works the good itself; for he is truly blessed.

VERSE 2. But if one wishes to interpret the seed of the blessed man in a literal and Jewish sense, this pronouncement would be false. For there have been ^D countless holy and pious men

^A and prophets whose seed did not appear powerful upon the earth. For no one is able to point out, let us say, the seed of Melchizedek, or of Jesus Nave, or of Elijah, or of Jeremiah, or of the rest of the prophets—that is, sons and successions of sons—and seed that has become powerful upon the earth. But according to the spiritual understanding you will grasp the result of the word; having given consideration to each of the apostles, whose rational seed, having partaken of so much power, was cast as if into fertile and fruitful lands, namely the souls of men. It is not possible to say, for instance, that the apostle Paul, having established for God churches of ten thousand men from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum, did not possess a powerful seed upon the earth. Likewise, also, for each of the other disciples. And after a little: "But this seed of the saints, together with those themselves who sow such things, is blessed, not in a passing generation, but in that of the upright."

VERS. 3. This you will interpret by hearing Paul saying: "As poor, yet making many rich; and as having nothing, ^B and possessing all things." For who could become richer than he who has become an heir of God, and a co-heir of Christ? He who, having turned the words of Jesus which he heard [into] deeds, builds his house upon the rock, upon the unshaken word of God, having entirely changed his foundations of the contemplative and practical life. This house, therefore, which each of those who fear the Lord has built, by having willed to be in the commandments of the Lord—that is, having willed intensely to be in the words of Jesus—he fills with the glory of the true discipline, and with riches composed of every word and every knowledge and good works. But you will also understand this, having given consideration to the fact that "by the works of the law no flesh will be justified ^C before God," according to the Apostle, "but he who does them shall live by them; but by the hearing of faith." "First, indeed, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness." And then also those who similarly attain the Gospel of Christ through faith.

VERS. 9. He calls God a horn. For all the righteous, trusting in Him, say, "In thee we shall gore our enemies." And since the one who is blessed has gored his own enemies in the Lord, he necessarily has the horn by which he defeated them exalted in glory.

VERS. 10. In the life to come after these things, while the righteous attain the promises, each of the sinners afflicted with punishments will see ^D the righteous man whom he provoked, and will be enraged, being moved by the most violent repentance. Then he will also gnash his teeth, and he will be laid low, having cast off the tumor and the weight of his material and carnal frame and choice, as the desire of sinners perishes.

PSALM CXII

VERS. 1. That "children" is used absolutely does not permit one to suppose that it is said instead of "slaves"; for young ones are called children simply and without any addition; but slaves are called the children of someone. For just as a slave, ...

so also a child has his reference toward a master.

^A Ver. 3. Perhaps there are certain risings of the sun of righteousness, according to which it rose; and these have kinship, or they themselves happen to be relative to the risings in which Paradise is planted. And there would be likewise settings corresponding to these risings, according to which risings and settings it is fitting to praise the name of the Lord; for it set to Israel, but rose to the nations that believe.

Ver. 5. And through the words set forth we learn that God provides for all things; concerning whom the saint, seeing that He is incomparably superior to these created things, says: "Who is like the Lord our God?" For there is no one like Him, since He alone is the Creator and Governor of all. And he says these things not dividing the Son from the Father, or the Father from the Son; for the Godhead is one, and the Son is not another God, and the Father another, or the Son also different; and the Father is the Father of the Son.

^B Ver. 9. "He will make her dwell in a house," who before, on account of barrenness, lacked children, but now has become a mother most abundant in children and rejoicing. — And a little later: The prophet exhorts the Church from among the nations, which was first barren and lacked children, to rejoice, saying: "Rejoice, O barren one who bearest not; break forth and cry out, thou who travailest not, for the children of the desolate one are many more than of her who has a husband." For truly the Church from among the nations has become prolific and beautiful in children, more than the synagogue of the Jews, which has the Law as a husband. And every soul that is childless on account of barrenness is made to dwell by God in a house, namely, in the Church of the living God; she becomes a mother of works, of doctrines, of concepts, and of words, so as to rejoice together with her offspring through God the Word, who dwells with her. And history, ^C according to Scripture, provides many proofs of this matter. For instance, Anna, the mother of Samuel, was made to dwell in a house; she is called a mother rejoicing in her children, having become the mother of six children in total. And similar things are reported of Sarah, and Rebecca, and Elisabeth, and before her the mother of Samson. One might well say concerning each of them: "He has made her to dwell as a mother of children, rejoicing."

PSALM CXIII.

Ver. 1. While You, O Master, provide for us with benefits, the nations will have no place to say, "Where is their God?" For since they themselves have local gods and such as are established somewhere, they suppose this same thing about You, saying, "Where is their God?" Or perhaps they say this mockingly, thinking that we have no God. But if they, being in error, say such things, we, by a sure faith, are persuaded that our God is above in the heavens. — The whole race of the pious, when it possesses a mind that perceives God, is called the house of Israel, because it is the Church of the living God.

Ver. 10. And the house of those who worship the Divine, when ^D

^A they are priests, "hoped in the Lord," with a hope greater and more contemplated than that of Israel. For for those who have advanced in contemplation and practice, hope is greater, as they more intensely ask to have Him as their helper and protector. ^B These are the proselytes, they who are added to the Law from the nations, who, having hoped also themselves in the Lord, are called to have Him as their helper and protector. And the children according to God are taught to say these things, so that they might see that they too have become fellow-citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And so that they might see that just as the ancients hoped in the Lord and had Him as a helper when they acted rightly, so also now we, the new ones, the children who have come from the nations and have taken up the fear of the same Lord. In the battle against enemies we, who fear the Lord, have the Lord as protector and helper. But in our own affairs, both those concerning the soul and those concerning the body, we again have Him blessing us. So that the Lord alone suffices for us instead of every good and beautiful thing, and instead of every treasure and great possession, both for external things and for internal things. Thus, indeed, He blesses us now, as formerly He blessed the prior people; for the grace has passed from them to us. For as there is one and the same Lord, He presided over the ancients in the same way as He does over the new ones. And again, He blesses the new ones in the same way as He blessed the ancients; so that there is one calling, and one grace, and one people ^C from both ranks standing fast before God. Ver. 23. For he himself is the one whose laws we keep; for lest anyone should think that the oracles which Moses ministered were brought forth by some other, the hierophant consistently delivered the things concerning the creation of the world before the giving of the laws, through which he teaches that there is one God, and all parts of the world belong to Him.

PSALM CXIV

Ver. 2. "He inclined," he said, "his ear to me," ^D not that you should take any notion of bodies concerning God, as having ears and declining them to the spoken word—which we do to those who speak in a low voice, that we might receive the meaning of the spoken words from being nearby—but "he inclined," he said, that he might acknowledge his own weakness. For He descended to me, lying on the ground, on account of philanthropy; for the divine hearing needs no voice for perception. For He knows how to recognize even in the movement of the heart the things that are set before Him. And after a few words: "His auditory power." That is to say, I have called upon Him in all the time of my life, in my days which have come to be under the sun of righteousness, and being always illuminated, I have called upon Him. Ver. 3. So much, he says, was I from falling into these temptations as if involuntarily, that I have even invited upon myself many more temptations than these voluntarily. - "The pains of death," by which the mind is offended. - "I will call upon in my days," where it seems Didymus read "I will call upon."

^A - The things that are sinned in the thoughts are the pains of death. The "perils of hell" can be the practical effects of sins. Nor should one despair concerning these things, [even] for the sins of the soul, against the wicked powers, for the soul that receives them into [sin].

VERS. 4. Being confident, because I am strengthened by the same name, I shall endure all the things heretofore mentioned. - "Tribulation and sorrow," which I have found for myself voluntarily. For though he had said before: "The perils of hell found me;" here, however, he says: "I found tribulation and sorrow." Since, therefore, I was found with an unbroken spirit against the evils brought by the tempter, that I might show the abundance of my love toward God, I added tribulations upon tribulation, and sorrow upon sorrow, overcoming all temptations, not indeed by my own strength, but because I invoked the name of the Lord. ^B

VERS. 5. Everywhere Scripture joins God's mercy with justice, teaching us that neither is God’s mercy indiscriminate, nor is his judgment unmerciful. Mercy is an emotion by which we grieve for the miseries of those who endure unworthy things. Thus [God] pities man, who is cast down from the highest prosperity into the lowest penury, or who falls from the most perfect health into the most grievous diseases. Since, therefore, we too were once glorious, but afterward, on account of sin, were cast out of paradise and became inglorious and humble, God pities us, seeing how much we have been changed from those who we once were.

VERS. 6. But if you look to the body, you will feel that human nature could not subsist unless God were to preserve the very small and infants. ^C For how could they be carried in the womb or nourished or move, living in such a narrow and confined, nay, rather, in such a dark and humid prison, and not even being able to breathe, unless they were cherished by the custody of God? And how could they, who are cast into this strange place and [pass] from a most warm womb into a most cold air, live even for a little while, unless they were preserved by God? "The Lord preserves the little ones." Since I was humbled and became as a little child, and as a child I received the kingdom of heaven, [as] the Lord who preserves the little ones, He saved me from the pains of death and the perils of hell. ^D

VERS. 7. The good athlete exhorts his own soul, consenting closely to Paul, who says: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; as to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice," etc. - And a little later: For an eternal rest awaits those who have legitimately contended in the life here, not indeed as a debt due to the merits of their works, but granted by the grace of the munificent God to those who hope in Him.

^A

VERS. 8. He describes the rest to come, by comparing it with this present life. For here, he says, "the pains of death have surrounded me," but there "He has delivered my soul from death"; here the eyes of those in tribulation shed tears, but there there are no tears to obscure the pupils of the saints who rejoice in the contemplation of the most beautiful God. "For God has taken away every tear from every face." Here there is great danger of falling, whence even Paul said: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall"; but there are firm foundations, and an immutable life.

PSALM CXV.

VERS. 1. "I believed." The Apostle explains the sense of this expression when writing to the Corinthians: "Having," he says, "the same spirit of faith, according to what is written: I believed, therefore I have spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak." He calls it the spirit of faith, either faith itself, or the spirit granted by God to those who have faith, which concurs with that which says: "I believed, therefore I have spoken." "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This was not said because of the loss of his own height, but because he saw God as greater and higher than himself. ^B

VERS. 2. The prophet does not contradict himself with these words, as certain of the sophists attempt to argue by posing a question through permission, as though he were raving. For, they say, if every man is a liar, and David is a man, he himself will be a liar, and no faith should be placed in his words. But if his statement is false, then not every man is a liar, and David himself is freed from the charge of lying. But if he does not lie, his words must be believed; and believing his words, we must at the same time deny him faith. If, therefore, David speaks the truth, he contradicts himself, being at once a man and truthful; but if he lies, he asks for no faith for himself. For who would believe a liar? Since, therefore, he asserted that every man is a liar, David must lie so that he might confirm this statement; or if he is truthful, he overturns his own doctrine. But these are the games of sophists, and those who entice the unlearned with the snares of disputations; for this is how the truth stands. Men are called those who still serve the desires of man here. ^C But he who has been raised above carnal desires, and through the perfection of his mind, has arrived near to the angelic nature, whenever he speaks of other men, he distinguishes himself from them, as is evident. For truthful is He who says: "I said, you are gods." Although this name may befit others as well as David; for "the Son of the Most High," who is most closely conjoined with God by virtue, does not die like a man, but has the living God within Himself. ^D

VERS. 3. Having come to a realization of the myriad gifts with which he has been adorned by God; for he who was made by God, when before he was not,

was honored by reason, through which he is able to bear the image of the Heavenly One. Furthermore, looking toward the dispensation for the human race, that the Lord gave Himself as a ransom for many, he is perplexed and seeks among all these things that he possesses, what gift he might find worthy for the Master—not sacrifices, nor burnt offerings, but his entire life. ^B VERS. 4. He calls the cup the endurance in the struggles undertaken for piety, by which we struggle against sin even unto death. The Savior Himself teaches this in the Gospels: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me"; and again He says to the disciples, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" He signified the death that He was to undergo for the salvation of the world. "Do not fear the glorious struggle," He says, "O men, nor fear death; for it is not the end of life, but its beginning. By death we are not utterly destroyed, but we pass over to glory." But if this is indicated as the death of the saints, by which they die together with Christ, and carry about the putting to death of Jesus in our body, I know that I shall render worthy thanks by accepting the cup of this saving death. And he who accepts it will drink it piously, if he has called upon the name of the Lord that he may drink it worthily.

PSALM CXVII

VERS. 1. Since God, being good, desires the repentance of the sinner rather than his death, confess to the Lord with a contrite heart, all you who are subject to sin, and make confession to Him, and He will forgive you the things for which you confess; for His mercy, which is inseparable from Him, remains forever. Since the Lord always has mercy, not only now for the first time, but also from of old, all who have experienced His mercy confess to Him.

VERS. 5. Where God had previously gathered the defined ranks and had fashioned one body and one people, He teaches this people that tribulations must be endured by it, having been convinced that "tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation hope, and hope does not put to shame." Wherefore the people of Christ is taught to profess: "From tribulation I called upon the Lord." Through prayers he found the Lord made a breadth for him; as on one side, according to his human life, he walks the narrow and afflicted path, and therefore says, "From tribulation I called upon the Lord"; but on the other side, he has the Lord Himself as breadth and roominess. Whence Symmachus also has: "And He heard me in a broad place." The righteous man who is distressed by tribulation does not so much pray to be outside of it, but that he may endure it with a noble and joyful spirit. For even he who is about to wrestle with adversaries in the stadium, most willingly initiates the struggle, not only not refusing it; but he asks the trainer—

to assist him, so that by holding out against the assaults brought on ^A by the adversary, in the hope of victory and a crown, he may seem to earn the crown more easily. Furthermore, who these invisible enemies are, who also stir up other men against us by communicating their own hatred to them and desire our downfall, this shall also be stated.

VERS. 6. It also commands Christ’s people to withstand the assaults of men, and not to fear them, nor to surrender their spirit to despondency, but to say: "The Lord is my helper," and the rest. For they are enemies for no other reason than out of envy toward the people of God, because they are instructed in pious doctrine and conduct their lives according to God. And both those instructed through the senses and those lacking them—the impious and wicked demons—are to be called enemies.

VERS. 8. It is not in the same way ^B and with the same reason good to trust and hope in the Lord, as it is to trust in man and hope in princes. For the former is simply and absolutely good. But to trust and hope in man and in a prince is not good. Therefore, it exhorts those who do not hesitate to trust in man and hope in a prince, that they should learn to trust in the eternally abiding, mighty, and omnipotent God, and not to trust in a mortal and easily perishable man.

VERS. 10. This is impossible, unless it is spoken by way of hyperbole. For who could say, being a single man living in Judea: "All the ^C nations surrounded me," and surrounding, they surrounded him to wage war, and in the name of the Lord he took vengeance upon them? For this name becomes a weapon, a shield, and a bulwark for the person who is equipped with it. But consider whether it may not be permissible to interpret these things according to that verse: "In the morning I slew all the sinners of the land," by saying that the righteous man is surrounded by evil spirits, who beset him with the allurements of the flesh and the provocations of other passions, and further, with impious words that subtly and craftily subvert the doctrines of the truth. But he, ^D bravely and strongly, and equipped with the name of God, will repel all the nations and put them to flight, and sometimes even completely destroy them.

VERS. 12. Do not imagine that having been attacked once, you will have peace and will henceforth live your life tranquilly; rather, new battles await you. But let not your spirit grow sluggish, nor fail, but remain steadfast in reliance upon your name, for the sake of which they endure persecutions. The race of drones bears a resemblance to bees; for although they happen to be larger than bees in their bulk, they deceive those who are unlearned into thinking them bees. They do not produce honey, nor do they fashion a honeycomb, nor do they have the means to repel those who attempt to harm the wax. On the contrary, they consume the honey and attack the bees themselves; so that the bees, employing their own stings against them, destroy the drones in heaps, as being harmful to their fruits. But by the allegory of the bee producing honey and wax, [it means] nothing other than the Church of God...

Since she is a worker, desirable and glorious, kings and commoners offer their toils to her for their health, although she is weak in physical strength, because her preaching is not in the persuasive words of human wisdom. ^B Yet she possesses a sting, as she has the word of faith in the demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God, so that she may destroy heresies like drones, dividing them by the refutation of the truth. And the Church remains one, having honored the wisdom of God, as it is written, prevailing by the power of God over those who fight against her. And those who oppose her are not bees, but as it were bees (whom you would not ineptly call drones, as they surround the honeycomb to plunder the honey). They also burn ^C as a fire among thorns. For heretics kindle the fire of base deeds and desires, according to that word of Paul: "For the things that are done by them in secret, it is shameful even to speak of." And the Gospel interprets the thorns as pleasures. For it not only remained without loss itself, but also destroyed all their sophisticated reasoning and every height raised up against the knowledge of God; because his weapons are not carnal, but powerful to God—that is, the name of God—it defended itself against them.

VERS. 13. These things can be referred simultaneously to the Jews and to the faithful from the nations. For those would have perished completely had not God cherished them with grace; and these would have been submerged even more deeply into impiety, had not God rescued them from thence.

VERS. 14. We therefore have Him as our strength, and victory, and the subject matter of our hymns; for we celebrate with a joyful mind the One who grants us all good things. ^D "Becoming a salvation," the Lord does not then for the first time begin to exist, for He is perpetual and eternal. But He becomes a salvation when He takes us up to be saved, and according to that principle, all those things that are said to be made about Christ are to be interpreted. For neither the Word of God, nor Truth, nor Wisdom, nor the Son, was made, but He has become for us righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. For since He is simple and eternal, that which comes to pass is said with regard to our condition. Thus also God has made Him both Christ and Lord. Christ, indeed, meaning King and Priest to those subject to his rule and to those for whom He offers sacrifices; but Lord, to those desiring to serve Him. And in general, if you explain the things said about Him relatively, you will not err.

VERS. 15. "The tabernacles of the just": those mansions with the Father, according to the teaching of the Gospel. Concerning which the Savior says: "When it fails"—that is, mammon—"that they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles." In these tabernacles all the just rejoice; for they have attained the good things they had hoped for. Whence it is excellently said: "The voice of exultation and"

^A of confession is in the tabernacles of the just," for sorrow and sighing have fled away. And with peace finally prevailing, and the tabernacles of God—that is, His Churches raised up throughout the whole inhabited world—the voice, he says, is heard within the Churches of those who are saved and rejoicing.

Ver. 16. And after a little: "For this is the right hand, and it has strengthened its own people," during the time of persecutions; this also, having humbled the enemies of the Lord, exalted the people themselves. This also procured power for those who were previously being warred against, so that they might not succumb to the death of the soul, but live to God. Hence each one says: "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me." This [right hand] exalts and lifts up the one who partakes of it, as having been strengthened more brightly and more greatly by the right hand of the Lord, and it allows one to say, "The right hand of the Lord has wrought power." His right hand works power in everyone who thinks and acts rightly; but it also exalts him, so that he becomes a second time in Him ^B to have power from the former power, by which, having attained immortality, he will say: "I shall not die, but live."

Ver. 17. I shall no longer die the death that follows upon wickedness, but I shall live, having partaken of the life contrary to the evil death, to the end that I may recount the wondrous works of God that have come to pass for me.

Ver. 19. Since the name of righteousness occurs here, and it designates every moral virtue, it must be said that this concerns the very gates of virtue, into which we enter when, by exercising ourselves studiously in them, we have knocked at them. And they enter [them] in order to confess the things for which, while they were outside the gates of righteousness, they sinned. But he says to enter not *through* the gates, but *into* the gates. For we must not pass over the operations of the virtues, but abide in them. Of old, the Law and the prophets were the gates, through which Israel approached God; but now faith is the gate ^C through which we now approach more intimately, being confirmed by the testimony of the Law and the prophets.

Ver. 21. Therefore I will sing to Him who opened to me the gates of righteousness, and I give thanks because You heard me, and accepted my prayer, and provided salvation.

Ver. 22. The stone which became reprobate for our sake, "which the builders rejected," after their rejection, became the head of another corner. And after a little: "Isaiah called him a chief cornerstone, and elect, and precious," because it joins two buildings under one corner. But the Son of God is truly a living and elect stone, so that He might bind together the building according to God, and hold together the two corners—of the old building of those from the circumcision, and the new one from the Gentiles—under one corner. This stone, therefore, the teachers of the law and the chief priests from among the circumcision of old, who were builders, previously cast off ^D and rejected; He Himself, however, has become the foundation.

and head of the other corner, namely the Church which is from the nations; and this has been granted as a most great gift from Christ. ^A

VERS. 23. Symmachus, however, says: "From the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our sight." Truly, it was indeed wonderful and beyond all amazement. For who could ever have believed that the Son of God would be rejected by the rulers of His former people and repudiated by the builders among them, yet become the leader and head of strangers and foreign nations, who had for so long been deceived by demonic errors? And a little later: "And it is wonderful in our eyes," namely the stone just mentioned. And a little later: The blessed Daniel also beheld this stone cut without hands, learning that He is the incommunicable Son of the Virgin.

VERS. 26. The evangelists also contended that this voice was preached concerning Christ. For He is truly the One who comes with authority and in the name of the Lord, whereas all holy men and angels who came before Him professed themselves to be servants of God. Certainly, each one used to say: "Thus says the Lord," and the angels, when they approach someone, address them with these words: "The Lord has sent me." But He is: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." And again: It is well said "who comes," and not "who has already come." For He is always coming and visiting the human race, even if not in the flesh. The Lord is not moved by coming, nor does He pass from one place to another, for He is Himself immovable and unchangeable, filling heaven and earth with His divine presence; but we approach Him or are distanced from Him by our habit and disposition. "From the house of the Lord," that is, He who comes goes forth from the bosom of the Father. ^B

VERS. 27. For His coming is not a matter of moving from one place to another, but of appearing when He was not previously seen; for He who was invisible, the invisible image of God, took the form of a servant, and the Word was made flesh so that He might be seen, and by appearing in this sight, He might lead us to contemplate His glory, "glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

VERS. 28. Glorifying and theologizing, I praise Thee for the wonders Thou hast done for me; for Thou hast exalted me and given me strength, that I might not die, but live to declare Thy works.

VERS. 29. Therefore, having wondrously experienced how great is Thy mercy and how great Thy goodness, I exhort others, saying: "Confess unto the Lord, for His mercy endures forever." ^C

PSALM CXVIII

VERS. 1. Those who, having extinguished all evil desire, approach God through good works and an upright mind. He rightly declares those blessed who "walk," and not those who have walked. ^D

^A Ver. 3. He indicates that they had never learned the precepts of the divine law, as if that saying applied to them: "As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law." These are they who have never heard divine instruction. But those who are instructed and then fall, sin under the law, and are called transgressors of it.

Ver. 4. He who performs the things commanded by the Lord with all vigor and intensity will be able to appropriate this verse.

Ver. 5. For I would not otherwise have kept your commandments, had not my ways been directed by you. What, then, are these commandments? Are they those which you set forth "before the children of Israel? If you acquire a Hebrew slave, six years he shall serve you; but in the seventh he shall let go free," and the rest. And a little later he says: I wish, therefore, that my ways were directed, so that all that you have justified, these I might render to each as is fitting.

^B Ver. 11. He who does not receive the words of God superficially hides them in his heart, so that, having informed his mind and purpose according to them, he might be blameless before God, who sees the hidden things; not only not committing adultery, but not even having an impure desire. He who is conscious of his own progress from the words “to seek God with the whole heart,” blesses Him, already giving thanks for the things of which he has been deemed worthy; for having obtained ineffable words worthy of being hidden, he blesses the Lord on their account.

Ver. 13. For I have declared with my lips what God was about to do with those who hear and inquire into his judgments.

Ver. 14. For just as one who has attained wealth—not moderate, but ^C countless, consisting of both immovable and movable property—rejoices in it, so also he who has fulfilled spiritual desires rejoices in them; and by progressing in the testimonies of God and performing the virtues, he attains every good thing, saying: "For many, Thy testimonies are my joy and my wealth."

Ver. 17. So that I might not appear to have performed your commandments for nothing, repay me with the divine and blessed life, so that living by it I may keep your words; for since I will not forget them, it is fitting that I should also perform them.

Ver. 18. The Word comes and opens the eyes, removing the veil; for when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The prophet knew that the law contained a shadow of the good things to come; therefore he desired to perceive the ^D good things whose shadow the law provided; and praying not in a Jewish manner, but in a generous and prophetic one, he cries out to the Lord: "Open my eyes, and I will consider the wonders from your law," so that with unveiled face he might behold the glory of the Lord, transforming himself into the image, and contemplating the wonders of God from His law.

^A Ver. 20. Thinking not of judgments, but of precepts, he considered the judgments of the Lord to be beneficial, as they were in themselves truly good. Having, therefore, a desire for them at all times, he longed for them, not wishing to perform them out of sorrow or necessity, as those do who perform them for fear of falling into punishment, but with appetite and desire. For from this it will happen that he will bear all things prudently and generously, not only what is pleasant, but also what is laborious and disagreeable, and he will proceed to every good work with ardor of soul. Why, however, did he not say, "My soul desired your judgments," but "He longed to desire the judgments of God"? As we explained regarding "Render to your servant," that it is not for everyone to pray, "Render to your servant," but only for those who serve God with a pure conscience; so it is not for everyone to "desire the judgments at all times," but only for those who do not sin. For at the time when I sin, if I desire judgments, I desire them so that I may be punished. Since, therefore, it is the mark of a perfect person to desire the judgments of God at all times, for this reason the Prophet says these things.

Ver. 21. For the opposing (diabolical) power does not cease to provoke us. For sometimes it attacks us openly, and at other times it seeks us out even when we are excelling in virtue and merits, in order to make us proud and puffed up. But "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore, the greater you are, be so much the more humble, and you will find grace before the Lord. We have already said that we turn aside not only from the right way, but even from the commandments. For where there is a commandment, there an inclination can occur: for the commandment of God is righteousness.

^B Ver. 22. Therefore, not only is he accursed who has fallen away from the commandment, but also he who has turned aside even a little from the commandment of God. "Since certain people pursue me with insults and contempt, because I have sought your commandments, take away from me reproach and contempt." These things, however, will perhaps be taken away if those who previously provoked me with insults and contempt attain to the knowledge of the truth. When this happens, they themselves will seek your commandments with me.

Ver. 25. The saint has these words in the name of the sinner performing penance.

^D Ver. 26. Another Scripture says: "I have recounted my ways," meaning, the ways that lead to you, which are no different from the ways of virtue, O Lord. My life, that is, with a good mind and good works, I have recounted, and you have heard me. Wherefore he says to God who hears him: "Teach me your justifications."

Ver. 27. For if, through your teaching, I understand the way of the mysteries that are in your justifications, I shall consider it such that I may be able to perform it, and understanding the wonders that are in your justifications, I shall meditate upon them.

^A in these, and that it may be permitted to converse by recounting them.

Vers. 29. He who has determined to depart from the way of iniquity and to approach the law of God, desires these things to be achieved by God, who supplies the perfection of all good things. Thus, he who hates his former ignorance and desires to be illuminated by divine knowledge, since he cannot of his own power dispel ignorance and be instructed in holy doctrines, cries out to the Master: "Remove ignorance from me, and by your knowledge have mercy on me."

Vers. 32. The way that leads to life is narrow and afflicted, but the heart is broad and spacious, enlarged by the Word, ^B contemplating all holy things and God himself, and running the noble course of the way of the commandments of God. Likewise, the broad and spacious way leads to perdition; but the narrow heart, which does not contain within itself the dwelling of the Father and the Son, turns itself away from God through the narrowness that those have acquired for themselves by their own wickedness.

Vers. 40. "Because I have desired your commandments," he says, "vivify me according to your justice," and recompense me not only for performing your commandments, but also for being disposed towards them with zeal. Therefore, since I observe them for no other reason than for their own sake, I pray: "In your justice vivify me," which is to live according to virtue. Moreover, since the Son is the justice of the Father, he who wishes to live in the Son will profess the same.

Vers. 43. Although sometimes many doubts occur concerning providence, ^C and questions of a similar nature, to which I might not have an answer to resolve the objections of those who doubt; yet you, by your own goodness, open my mouth, and do not deny to your word the ability to explain the truth. Grant that the word of truth may not be utterly taken away from my mouth, but rather that I may be able to profess it even in calamities, saying, "I have hoped in your judgments"—in the just and approved words and in the judgments by which you guide and govern men.

Vers. 51. The heterodox have boasted against the law by attacking it; but I have continued to the utmost in keeping it, nor has my mind turned away from it even in the slightest.

Vers. 52. Again, we shall consider the affections of the just man. ^D Mindful, he says, of the judgments of God, which have been determined for each one from eternity and unto eternity, he is consoled, and he remains free from pain and imperturbable. He says that the sufferings of this present time are not comparable to the glory that is to be revealed in us in the future life.

Vers. 65. The same is meant by partaker, companion, and friend, as Ecclesiastes indicates: "If one falls, another will raise up his partaker." This, therefore, declares that he will never be a friend or companion, except of those who...

who fear the Lord, and who keep His commandments;

VERS. 65 ^A. Since both goodness and severity exist in God, as the Apostle testifies, He cherishes those who remain in faith with goodness, and pursues those who diverge from it with severity. The saint, therefore, being confirmed in faith, says: "You have dealt kindly with your servant." He says "thy servant," declaring that God's kindness does not occur with this one or that one by mere chance, but rather with His servant, whoever he may be. The phrase "according to thy word," which is added, shows that the Lord's kindness occurs with someone in accordance with reason and a rational cause.

VERS. 66. By "discipline" he refers to moral virtue, and by "knowledge" to intellectual virtue. — Because I have rightly and prudently believed in Thy commandments, to the point of fulfilling them, grant me wisdom, teaching me goodness and discipline and knowledge. This agrees with the saying: "I have desired wisdom; keep the commandments, and the Lord will provide it to you."

VERS. 72. ^B There is a twofold law: one spiritual and directed toward the intellect, the other written according to the letter and the shadow, ordained by angels through the hand of a Mediator. Therefore, the Prophet says that the law of the divine mouth is good for him, above all the goods of the world, which he designates by "thousands of gold and silver." To one who considers the matter, silver will be seen to stand for the word, and gold for the mind.

VERS. 74. Those who fear God, since they lack nothing, are perfect; likewise, they are good because they fear rightly; therefore they also rejoice in those who are pleasing to God. ^C

VERS. 75. All the judgments of God are perfected. The faithful person believes that the judgments of God are justice, but he would not have known this had he not received the word of knowledge. The unfaithful person does not even believe, but complains against Providence. Regarding these judgments, therefore, some believe, while others do not; but the better person is he who not only believes but also knows what the justice of God is in these matters. The prophet understands this knowledge in relation to those things which happen to men. — And a little later: I have often noted that the phrase "You have humbled me," which is used in many places, and especially in the Psalms, means the same as "You have surrounded me with temptations." ^D For unless one were exercised by many calamities and helped by God beyond hope, it would not be possible for a human being to be confirmed in virtue.

VERS. 76. The Prophet, like a noble athlete and one accustomed to bearing temptations, prays not to be liberated from things that afflict him, but that in the time of tribulations he might be consoled by a strengthening word, so that he might be able to endure whatever happens with a tranquil and joyful mind. For in this, he says, have mercy on me, that I may attain exhortation and consolation.

^A

Vers. 79. He desires, as it behooves a prophet, that those who fear God may turn to him and converse with him, so that he may bestow upon them the grace with which he himself is filled.

Vers. 83. The Word of God is a spiritual hoarfrost; for since it is also called dew and rain in many places, it cools the burning flames of my passions and weakens my flesh, so that I may bear in it the mortification of Jesus.

Vers. 84. All the days of human life are few. Since, therefore, I live for a short time on earth, and desire to see those who persecute me judged, I pray you do not delay. But who are those whom he considers to be judged? Those who persecute us—Satan and the spiritual forces of wickedness. For when a man seems to persecute us, it is not the man who is primarily persecuting us, but that man merely provides an occasion for persecution. But you will perform this judgment, trampling down Satan under my feet very quickly, and subjecting to my soul the powers hostile to you, and causing them to be trodden upon by your Word, which is formed within my intent.

Vers. 85. For many attempt to interpret the divine Scriptures, both those of the Church and those outside it—of heretics, Jews, or Samaritans; but not all speak well. For rare is he who has the grace from God for this; for many there is only idle talk and trifling; for a right, firm, and saving word cannot be found in the soul of an iniquitous man.^B

Vers. 86. Your commandments are not figures or symbols: "Injustly they have persecuted me; help me." For it is possible to be persecuted justly, and unjustly. The one who lives wickedly is justly persecuted; but the just man, the lover of truth, who has become an enemy to men because of the truth, is persecuted unjustly. Those who were persecuting me have assailed me so much that I was near to being brought to an end by them; I was near to perishing through their persecutions; the time of my life was finished as the devil pressed upon me; yet I did not fall away from your commandments, I did not yield to evil, I did nothing lawless, but I persisted in the love of your commandments. And a little later: To be brought to an end in the earth does not mean to die by a common death, but to sink down to lowly things, which he calls earth, as if to an end, so that one might live thenceforth in them. To live according to the word of God is to live with piety, not simply to live this sensory life. For he who has attained this will be in a good life, he who guarded the testimonies of the mouth of God, testified and demonstrated by the Word of God, which he says is his mouth.^C

Vers. 88. This verse is to be used by him who performs the commandments of the Lord more accurately and diligently.

Vers. 91. By set and equal times...^D

^A the yearly circles are fulfilled, nor does the day fail, nor does the constant series of days, now longer and now shorter, ever change.

VERS. 98. Our invisible enemies leave nothing untried to propel us toward seeking pleasure; but pleasure softens us so that we might even reject the divine commandment, which is to be performed with sweat. But he who understands the commandment of God, taught by God, overcomes pleasure and the enemies who advocate for it, so that he possesses it for eternity, having confessed concerning the pleasure which is for a little while and fleeting. Therefore, singing hymns of thanks to God, he says: "You have made me wise in your commandment, from which I have even become superior to my enemies." ^B

VERS. 105. The law was a lamp to those who walked in the night before the rising of the sun of righteousness; but the true light is not a lamp, but the sun illuminating those for whom the night has passed, as the day approaches so that they may walk honorably.

VERS. 106. What is meant by that, "I have sworn," must be inquired. He established a testament for his elect, and the faithful received this testament established by God. And the faithful man who has admitted the testament handed down by God is bound as if by a sacrament to God. For by receiving the testament, we have promised God as by a pact that we will keep and observe the judgments of his righteousness. "I establish these," I say, "in my soul," and by this action, it happens to me as Solomon said in the Proverbs: "The thoughts of the just are judgments." These, therefore, are the judgments of the righteousness of God, which were once made when I swore and established them in myself. But to "establish" here ^C is nothing other than to define firmly. And to "swear"—not to swear by God, but to propose this to oneself immutably, and to keep it faithfully—this is the work of an oath that I can perform.

VERS. 125. No slave of sin is a slave of God. For he who serves God, and shapes his works and affections according to the word of God, may deservedly say: "I am your servant." Being such, the prophet requests a reward for his servitude, "Give me understanding." For there is an understanding which God bestows, which is deposited with God as in a treasury; for "the Spirit of God is a spirit of wisdom and understanding," and the rest of the gifts of good things. ^D

VERS. 126. "Time to act," this is, to turn the nations to the Lord. For that Israel dissipated the law. For the time had not yet come when the Lord was to come, as long as the Jews had not dissipated the law of God; which this prophet, taught by the Spirit, declares, which Isaiah also predicts, and the Apostle explains the same. Behold the words of Isaiah: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you." The Apostle, however, bringing forward this passage, adds: "Behold, now is the acceptable time."

It is for the one who has accomplished the time of doing for the Lord, when the law has been scattered by those who received it.

^A Ver. 127. It is the mark of a more perfect man to do and to love at the same time; but of a less perfect man to do [it], yet not to do so with love. Now, of things in the world, gold seems to be the most precious. Even if all wealth and your commandment were presented together, I would not look upon the wealth as I would upon your commandment. This is in harmony with the verse: "The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces," and with the verse: "Receive instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than tested gold; for wisdom is better than precious stones; and every precious thing is not worthy of it."

Ver. 137. Therefore, your judgment is right. Since you are just, according to the most straight laws of justice, you will judge all who have accepted your judgments.

Ver. 138. For your divine Scriptures, which you commanded to men—not only the new ones but also the old—are justice consistent with righteous morals, that is, tested: you commanded us to perform judgments, in order that we might judge according to the law, and provided that we judge even the smallest thing with a just judgment, and bring to bear every rectitude, which is truth and justice.

Ver. 144. "The testimonies which you have given me," are not of short-lived utility, but are "justice forever," justifying those who cling to them with affection.

Ver. 152. God has established his testimonies so that no one could live if they were to fall; for your Word, being wisdom and your Son, is their foundation. For this reason, declaring how inexpugnable and invincible they are, he says: "My words shall not pass away, even if heaven and earth pass away."

^B Ver. 161. There is a twofold fear: one is irrational, occurring in the irascible part of the soul, while the other is rational, forming in the heart and the mind, not without reason; and perhaps it is, or is capable of being, the very same as the fear of God.

Ver. 163. What he means is almost as follows: Those men now loathe a dead body and the cadaver of a man, like a newt or a weasel; but I [loathe] what is worthy of loathing. And what profit is there in loathing those things? "I have loathed iniquity"; that provides great profit to the one who has loathed it. "I have loved your law," not like those men who drag it down to earthly things and pull it down to lower matters. For we, as having been resurrected with Christ, seek the things above, not the things on earth, and we understand the law spiritually.

Ver. 170. He prays that "the supplication" may be such ^C as…

^A to be tested, accepted, and inexpugnable, so that it may enter into the sight of the Lord. "But I shall know if my supplication has entered into your sight, if I am delivered by you according to your word," and my supplication and wisdom. For he who has overcome every craving, and has withdrawn as far as possible from impious words and works, is delivered by God according to His word. In place of "my supplication," Aquila says "my prayer," and Symmachus "my entreaty." He therefore petitions for two things: to understand the divine oracles, and to be delivered and removed from the miseries of life, which is likewise necessary for us.

Ver. 171. My lips shall proclaim your hymn, when you have taught me your justifications. ^B Eructation usually occurs with those who are sated. For when we have been filled, we belch forth the quality of the food which we have received. The divine word therefore speaks here of spiritual food; for the Word Himself says that He is bread: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. He who eats this bread shall live forever." And the Word also says that He has flesh: "He who eats my flesh has life in himself: for my flesh is food indeed." If, therefore, we have been sated with this bread and this flesh, we shall belch forth a hymn. Sometimes they also belched forth vows; for he declared that the same thing happens through vows: "When you have taught me your justifications." Unless I am taught your justifications, I am unable to belch forth such an eructation. ^C From being energized and having them clearly guaranteed to me, I may offer to you a grateful hymn from the lips of my inner man. But the eructation, of course, is the praises of God, which, having become the food of the soul, is the fullest theology.

Ver. 172. My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are justice. The various commandments of yours, being prescriptions of individual virtues, are all in each. Or, I declare that general virtue is such that by the pursuit of the individual virtues, he who possesses one perfectly possesses them all. "My lips will speak your word"—but they truly speak the word regarding justice, not merely pronouncing it with the voice, but also in works and practical intentions aligned according to right reason.

Ver. 175. My soul shall live and shall praise you, and your judgments shall help me. ^D Since, by remembering your judgments and adhering to them, I escape the death impending from sin; no longer sinning, but performing those works by which the soul lives and gratefully praises you, he said: "Provide for it eternal life."

PSALM CXIX. Ver. 1. It must be noted that the temple in Jerusalem had fifteen steps, and on each of them, as they were ascending, those who had been assigned the office of singing stood and sang a verse. Thus it happened that upon entering

^A there were as many verses as there were steps of the temple: these are found in the books of Paralipomenon, where it was established that they should be sung on each step of the temple. Consider the holy temple of God to be at once spiritual and rational—the subsistent being of God.

PSALM CXXI.

VERS. 4. He declares that the inhabitants themselves are to be united, saying: "Thither ascended the tribes, the tribes of the Lord." They are united, not because they had walls, but because they themselves—by being, as it were, a "testimony to Israel" ^B (that is, the truth, the marvelous promise)—owe the confession of thanksgiving for the benefactions they have received. He says that the thrones of the house of David were established upon it, since Daniel also prophesies of the kingdom over all things. And the kingdom of David is restored by the grace of Christ, who gave the twelve apostles the authority to sit on twelve thrones to judge Israel.

VERS. 7. "In thy strength," because she reigns powerfully, having overthrown every adversary. Great towers are called "munited towers" ^C in the walls, built for the sake of spying on those who are advancing. Among the Syrians, large houses are locally called "fortresses"; by these are signified those who, through the height of their moral conduct and their contemplation, not only perceive the enemies coming to war but are also able to repel them from on high with refutations.

PSALM CXXIV.

VERS. 1. The mountain of divine words is unshaken and immovable; unshaken also are those who, by imitation, reflect the likeness of this. ^D If you understand this properly, every mountain is immovable. But the question here is about that mountain of which the Spirit says through the prophet: "Get thee up into the high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion." For the Church, which searches for and contemplates the good, is Sion; it is interpreted as "a high watchtower of the heavenly Sion," regarding which it is said: "Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." Therefore, it is blessed to rely upon God, according to the saying, "Thou shalt be confident in the Lord," and to ascend to "the good things of the land," that is, the land of the living and the meek. For reliance upon God is the beginning of the ascension toward it. Scripture calls the Church Jerusalem, as in the passage: "Be enlightened, O new Jerusalem that is being built." He who thinks the thoughts of the Church is said to dwell in it, not to be shaken for ever from such a dwelling, provided he remains sound in his thinking and acting. But neither shall one who possesses a love for God and a zealous desire for the good die; he shall not be shaken, having received from this the pledge of eternal life. But he who neither desires nor strives for the good will be cast off from this discipline on account of his sloth. Whence it says in the Proverbs: "The just shall not change for ever."

VERS. 2. Mountains are the sublime doctrines of the truth.

^A And the ecclesiastical canons, and all the saints who lived before the coming of Christ or after it. For the Church is hedged about by all these; and the saints who encamp are in a circle around those who fear the Lord. But greater than all is He who circles her house... You see, Lord, not in terms of place... standing among them, both now and in the age to come.

VERS. 4. You who are by nature good, preserve for those who by discipline have become good, a disposition toward Your goodness that is unwavering. ^B Those are "good" who possess virtue; but "upright in heart" are those who think piously. The difference is not one of substance, but of conception; for both possess those who dwell for eternity in Jerusalem. Those whom God benefits, He blesses by giving an increase of virtue and faith, and a participation in gifts, so that He might lead them also into the kingdom of heaven. Since, therefore, we learn this in all other things from divine philosophy—that the Divine always becomes toward us such as we show ourselves to be toward God through our own free choice—David testifies that He is good to the good. To those, however, who have become beast-like through their life, another of the prophets calls Him a bear or a leopard, setting forth through enigmas the evangelical doctrines, in which the character of the King’s words is seen: to others, He is good and gentle, while to others, He is fearful and implacable. Great is the goodness of God, and great the cruelty of the slave who cast his fellow slave into prison. The evangelical utterance called "evil" those who are good—comparing the goodness of men with the divine kindness—saying: "If therefore you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children." But it is written: "Do good, O Lord, to the good." And, "If the good man brings forth out of his treasure the good things, how much more will your Father give good things to those who ask Him!" ^C

PSALM CXXVI. VERS. 1. There is no other place in Scripture that declares more clearly than these verses how much God provides for all things; for human efforts would be in vain unless they received from God the power to attain the fitting end. Therefore, when we have done something, let us not ascribe everything to ourselves, but to God who brings it to perfection; nor, by remaining idle, shall we entrust all things to Him to be carried out. For both these verses most aptly define what belongs to God and what belongs to us: they say that he builds in vain who does not have God helping him; yet He does not work except with us.

VERS. 5. He declares those to be blessed who are instructed by discipline; it clearly indicates the arrival of the preacher. ^D

PSALM CXXVII. VERS. 2. "Palms," he says—using the hands as a sign of the part—that is, you shall eat the labors of your practical powers. To him who fears the Lord, a gift is given, not an ordinary wife...

but one adorned with good fruits, so that it might be said of her: "A good wife, a good portion." ^A

PSALM CXXVIII

VERS. 1. He shall not usurp this who has been harassed by enemies only once, but only he who from his youth even unto old age has put the enemies to flight, always adorned with victory and trophies.

VERS. 6. Such are the wise of the world, who by their way of thinking and acting seem to have surpassed the heights of human life. Therefore, they also wither most quickly, neither casting their roots into the earth of the senses, nor hastening to become a spiritual planting instead of grass. Wherefore, even before they are plucked up, they wither on account of unbelief; for "The ungodly shall not rise in judgment," and, "He that believeth not is already judged." They fill neither hand nor bosom, because they are not received first into the bosom of Abraham, then into the bosoms of the reaping angel; for the Savior declared the angels to be the reapers. But in the prophet it is written: "Therefore I slew your prophets." For He Himself will purge His floor, gathering the wheat into His barn, but burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. Those who hate Sion—not being grass, but being as grass—are the tares sown by the wicked one among the good seed, which at the time of harvest are delivered to the fire in the age to come, signifying the heretics to whom the discourse is addressed, who appear to surpass the human life: "Why have you all ascended onto vain roofs?" Let not the citizens of Sion who are on the roofs descend to take the vessels from their house. But what they have heard in the ear, let them proclaim upon the rooftops, so that, remaining good seed and bearing fruit, they may be gathered into the threshing floor of salvation. But the heretics, since they possessed the promise of life and of wisdom only for a time, are called "those passing by"; they consider no one great except themselves, and they greet no one with a blessing. ^B But we, who bless the name of the Lord, having love toward all, pronounce a blessing upon those with whom we speak. Or the discourse is indeed about the same people: "For those that pass by did not say, Blessing be upon you," nor did they say, "We have blessed you in the name of the Lord."

PSALM CXXIX

VERS. 4. "For with Thee there is propitiation," O Savior, who art propitious and takest away sins; do not watch, examining iniquities. For if You were to do this, no one would stand; for all have turned aside, all have sinned. Since, therefore, no one endures Your judgment, there is need of the propitiation from You, which grants salvation to all. And that the Savior is the propitiation, John writes: "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he himself is the propitiation for our sins: not for our sins ^C only, but also for the whole world." ^D

As Paul also cries out: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood," and so forth.

Vers. 5. He holds on in the law who conforms his character to the law; just as he who is in knowledge and virtue lives according to them, so that he both meditates upon them and fulfills them in his works. Therefore, mindful of the good things of God, he awaits them and says that he hopes in the Lord.

Vers. 6. We must hope in the Lord always and at every time, not only when things are prosperous, but also when difficult things encompass us. "From the morning watch," that is, when things are bright, "even until night," when things are cheerless and darker; and from the morning watch, as the true light rises and brings the beginning of the spiritual day, the discerning mind, called Israel in the Hebrew tongue, should hope in the Lord; expecting from Him an addition of pleasant things and an escape from the cheerless ones, because they are with Him as in a fountain. And with Him also is mercy, which those who hope in Him await. "And with him there is much redemption," which is nothing other than propitiation. Whence the Lord himself shall redeem him from all his iniquities. For although the iniquities of Israel are many, the Lord shall redeem him from them all.

PSALM CXXXI

Vers. 1. "Remember these things, O Lord," he says, when Thou comest to men, and offerest Thyself as a redemption for all sinners, granting the remission of sins to all men. Together with all of them, O Lord, remember also David, and the torments by which he afflicted himself at that time, punishing himself for his sins, when, prostrate upon the ground before the face of Thy sanctuary, he swore with an oath that he would not sooner rise from the pavement, nor depart from the place where he lay in piety, than he should learn and know who it was that had been defined and prepared as the place for God when He comes to men, where the tabernacle of the God of Jacob would be. For he had learned through the Holy Spirit and the prophetic disciplines that the Lord was to come to men, so that He might effect for all men a redemption of their former sins. Being hopeful, therefore, that he would then be saved, he burned with a desire to know and learn at what time, in what place, and in what manner the Lord would come to men. Moved by this desire, he was so consumed by sorrow that he even rejected his bed, and would not return to his own house, and lay prostrate upon the ground before God, and suppliantly asked where the place of the Lord was and the tabernacle of the God of Jacob. But to him who was urgent in prayers, and lying upon the ground, and constantly and unceasingly repeating the same petition, and confirming his desire with an oath, God, in His mercy, assented, thus

not being one to lie, having once sworn not to rise until he attained what he longed for. Therefore, he is gifted with knowledge through the prophetic Spirit, seeking the inheritance, the land of the meek. ^B

Vers. 7. He refers to the Mount of Olives, where all who approach worship. We worship the flesh of the Savior, not because of its nature, but because Christ is in it; and the flesh is indeed worthy of worship because of Christ, and Christ because of God the Word who dwells in Him. By Christ here I mean the rational and holy soul, which, together with God the Word, entered into the life of human beings; flesh alone is not by nature capable of receiving God, because our God is wisdom. "In a good heart," says Solomon, "wisdom will rest." None of the four constituent elements is capable of knowledge, but our God is known. ^C

Vers. 14. It is by no means fitting to speak of the earth as "forever and ever," since heaven and earth will pass away. Thus the statement refers to the Church, concerning which it was said: "Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion."

Vers. 15. Behold prosperity from every side: from the lack of nothing necessary, from the priests being in safety, from the people being in gladness, from the king being in strength (for he calls this [strength] a lamp, or protection), and, what is greatest, the enemies being covered in shame.

Vers. 16. Who is the author of the righteousness with which the priests are clothed, and of the exultation with which the holy ones exult, if not David, who is mighty in hand and holy? Hence the addition: "For the sake of David the servant," that is, he who "took the form of a servant" when "he emptied himself."

Vers. 17. "There," in Zion, "I will make a horn to sprout for David." This horn of the kingdom is made by God to sprout in the house of David, according to that which was said by the righteous one: "He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David." And the Father prepared for this horn, who is Christ, a lamp running ahead of His coming, the divine law, concerning which it is written: "Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths." Or indeed, John, up to whom the law and the prophets were, is the lamp prepared for His Christ. Concerning whom the Savior Himself said: "He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a time in his light." These things being spoken theologically concerning Him who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, His enemies shall be clothed in shame, wishing they had been consumed by fire, because "A child is born, a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder"; they shall suffer even greater shame in that, while professing the same things as other men, He had a life that is not surpassing. For therefore over

^A His sanctification shall blossom. Concerning this he says in Isaiah: "And a flower shall ascend from the root." In accordance with this: "The flowers of the earth were seen in our land." These flowers are those that have received the sanctification blossoming from the Lord. For this which blossoms sanctifies those who approach it, it being the holy thing of God, being at once both a flower and the lily of the field and of the valleys. With good reason shall flowers be seen in our land, for God has caused His sanctification to sprout forth upon those who are enlightened and are becoming young for the blessed and spiritual feast.

PSALM CXXXIII

VERS. 1. Those who bless the Lord are such as have not walked far from Him, but rather are in His house, drawing near to the Lord according to the understanding that is in the divine Scriptures and the doctrines of truth; for these are His courts. They stand ^B and with good reason bless God; for sleep shall not then overcome the assembly of the saints, by the power of their incorruptible bodies.

PSALM CXXXIV

VERS. 1. After the completion of the songs of ascents, it was logical that those who had ascended into the temple itself should praise with thanksgiving the God whose temple it is. For this reason the psalm is inscribed "Alleluia," the heading indicating that the God who is must be praised. ^C

VERS. 13. To the end. — This is a memorial from the former generation of the Hebrews down to the generation of the calling of the nations, concerning which it is said: "A generation to come shall be announced to the Lord." These things remain firm, although God, moved by the prayers of His servants, has mercy upon the people: the praise of God interrupted the continuity of the discourse. For even Paul, writing to the Galatians, said: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, who gave Himself," and so forth. Then he adds: "To whom be the glory forever"; and elsewhere: "Whose adoption is that of sons, and the glory and the service and the promises; from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." But now the Prophet, considering the providence in its entirety and the events that happened to Israel, ^D being inflamed by love for mankind, praises God as having glory that does not fade. Regarding the people, however, he says either that He will exact punishment and will cease after this, or that He will indeed avenge the people, but will be entreated for them, not according to their merits. For where there is entreaty, there is need of pardon and a time for mercy.

PSALM CXXXV

VERS. 1. The present psalm also, being inscribed for the praising of God, urges us to confess to the Lord, who does all things with great kindness and goodness. For this reason, on every verse, by way of a refrain, is added: "For His mercy is forever." For since He does not show mercy only at one time or another, but always shows mercy, with good reason do those who sing the refrain say: "For His mercy is forever."

^A Verse 4. "Who alone does great wonders." For the Father, remaining in the Son, does the works. But one must also confess Him who made the heavens in understanding, and established the earth upon the waters. To this agrees what is said: "God by wisdom founded the earth; He prepared the heavens in prudence." What else, then, could be the understanding and prudence by which the heavens are prepared and established, if not the Word of God by whom all things were made? Concerning whom the theologian says: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." But indeed, those who bear the image of the heavenly One also become, in a spiritual sense, heavens. Such souls are prepared in the aforementioned understanding and prudence of God. And the earth is established upon the waters, having received the seed sown by Jesus in order to bring forth fruit; for while still dwelling among the flux and transient affairs of this life—referred to allegorically as waters—it proved itself firm and constant so as to yield the greatest possible fruit. Most aptly, then, did the Prophet recall the eternal mercy of God in every verse; for He was not moved by any necessity of His own, but by mercy, when the most merciful One created all things. He rightly says "Who does wonders" ^B and not "Who did," declaring that God ever acts and performs wonders. These things, however, are not said to disparage Christ, but to distinguish Him from the demons.

Verse 7. Having alone done great things, by saying, "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven," He appointed "the sun for the power of the day, and the moon and stars for the power of the night." As it is also said in the account of creation, the sun was made for the beginnings of the day, and the moon and stars for the beginnings of the night. These elements contribute no small amount to our orderly conduct of life and to life itself, nourishing and ripening the fruits without which one cannot live. They show us the seasons, characterize the hours, mark the courses of day and night, guide travelers on land and sea, and provide a myriad of other necessities. See how "His mercy is forever."

Verse 10. But how is death wrought by mercy? Because mercy is for those who suffer injustice, ^C whilst for those who commit injustice there is punishment, and justice applies to both. He calls the operation "hand" and the strength "arm," while referring to the meting out of justice to sinners—which both cuts off wickedness and lessens future punishment—as mercy. For the ungrateful, [the Psalmist] persistently rehearses what happened in Egypt, cutting off their forgetfulness of these things. Egypt is otherwise called the region "about the earth," whose firstborn God strikes for the sake of helping Israel. For thus the mind that sees God gets outside of this [region], being led by God. And the Word of His and Wisdom leads it out from the midst of the Egyptians. ^D

^A For this is His arm and mighty hand. "And Jesus also saved the people," according to the Epistle of Jude; whose mighty hand and exalted arm is His wonder-working energy and power.

Vers. 13. God did not divide the Red Sea into one part, but into several, so that He might lead Israel through the midst of it as if walking upon dry land. It is handed down, however, that the sea was divided into twelve parts, so that twelve paths were made, and a passage lay open to each of the tribes of Israel.

Vers. 24. As often as we humble ourselves through lack of pride, our God both remembers us and grants us redemption.

PSALM CXXXVIII

Vers. 2. "Sessio" (Sitting) designates the best habit of the rational nature, according to which it becomes slow to move toward wickedness; but by "resurrection" we are transferred from humble things to sublime things.

Vers. 7. After he has celebrated God as provident over all things, and instructed in all knowledge and understanding, he declares that the same [God] is everywhere. "When Thy Spirit fills the whole world, whither shall I go from Him? When also Thy countenance searches and sees all things, whither shall I be able to flee from it?" For if I ascend to heaven, I see Thee standing there; if I descend to hell, I feel Thee conversing with me there. But if God is known to be present in heaven and in hell, it is necessary that He also occupy the intermediate regions. Yet He represents Him as being everywhere, not as occupying space, but as composing all things and directing them by His providence. ^B

Vers. 9. I considered, he says, whether, lifted up by the wings of thoughts, having crossed the sea and the ocean itself, and having been placed in the furthest regions, I shall be able to go from Thy Spirit and to flee from Thy countenance. But there also I perceived Thy active and provident hand, and Thy own surpassing right hand working. Thus, even for one dwelling in the ends of the sea, all things succeed in the aforementioned manner, with Thy hand leading me, and Thy right hand holding me. For although the ocean is infinite, yet those [things] which are beyond the world are directed by the will of the Lord; for all things which were made by Him, wherever they may be, He rules and governs by the empire of His providence. ^C

Vers. 11. Enlightened by the knowledge of the Lord in the morning, as if having attained the rising of the day, I thought that I was able to be raised up by spiritual wings, by which every substantial nature is instructed, so that I might pass far beyond the ocean. But I knew this also, that I had not gone away from the Spirit of God, and the rest. Therefore I devised another way, by which I might go from the Spirit of God and flee from His countenance. ^D I sought, namely, whether I might be hidden from God, veiled in darkness. I said therefore, "Perhaps beneath darkness having become..."

^A I shall be able to escape notice? Therefore I say, 'Shall darkness tread upon me?' ^B that is to say, shall it hide me? For just as the ground that is trodden upon is hidden, so might I be hidden below, if darkness were to tread upon me, having become vastly around me and upon me. Then, when I thought to revel in obtaining what was sought, I immediately saw that even this night and the dense darkness is light, nothing of the darkness itself being darkened, since God illuminates it just as all other things. Among us, who use our sense of sight, there is a difference between night and day; during the day we see and are seen, but at night we neither see nor are seen. With God, however, the night is illuminated as the day, those in darkness and in the night being as manifest to Him as those in the light and in the day, since even the night is illuminated by God Himself as though it were day. The just man attributes all these things to his own person, intending to teach those who do not have an upright conception concerning God that it is impossible to escape God. For if You are a knower of my hidden things, inasmuch as You possess my reins, in whatever part of the world I might be, You have knowledge as though I were present—for You didst also lay hold of *—me from my mother's womb, ^C forming me in the womb and placing Your hand upon me. Then, since You were fearfully marveled at through all the aforementioned—for with fear I have marveled at all things which I have considered concerning You—turning to thanksgiving I say: 'I shall confess to You, because You were fearfully marveled at.'

Verse 13. God possesses the reins of him who has achieved purity in chastity. He, therefore, who has leisure for virginity, having inscribed his own reins to God, will say: 'You possessed my reins, O Lord.' With which achievement, having obtained knowledge of all His wonderful works—namely, those of creation and providence and the working of wonders—'Wonderful,' he said, 'are Your works, and my soul knows it exceedingly.' The 'exceedingly' can be referred either to the knowledge of the soul or to the wonderful things. 'My bone,' he says, 'which You made in secret,'—so that no one knows the manner of its cohesion—'is not hidden from You.' For how would it be possible, when You are the creator of it just as of the whole body, for it to be so? It has been said even by those who have dealt with the nature of animals that the transformation of blood into bone is invisible and incomprehensible, even though they observe how the rest—I mean the flesh and nerves—are generated; yet not even the substance has been hidden from You, not even having reached the lowest parts of the earth. For neither does the soul, having been in Hades, nor the body itself, buried and dissolved into earth, escape Your contemplation.

Verse 18. He speaks from himself the hope laid up for the just, which is life eternal from the resurrection. But the Lord is also with the saints from there onward. For they have heard Him say, 'Lo, I am with you all the days.' ^D Then it is manifest that it will be with him when You slay, he says, 'sinners...'

' ^A clearly the devil and the malign powers along with him, who are sinners.

Verse 21. It is also of the same person both to receive and honor the friends of God, and to hate those who hate Him and are considered His enemies, because they think impious and godless thoughts concerning God. For how are they not enemies of God who lead those who are deceived away from the truth, when God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth? Hatred toward such men is perfect when one hates them not for any other reason than that they are enemies of God. And just as one has perfect love for the good, when he desires it not for the sake of anything else but for its own sake, so he who hates the enemies, as enemies of God alone—not hating them because of any passion, but only because they are enemies of God—is fervent against them according to the Prophet who says, "I have been very jealous for the Lord Almighty, because the children of Israel have forsaken Thee." If the perfect man who has hated evil abstains from all wickedness, he who partakes in any of its wickedness has not perfectly hated the evil one.

^B PSALM CXXXIX.

Verse 2. *A malign man* is the treacherous and deceitful one; but *an unjust man* is one who has advanced beyond these in malice, so that through cunning and mischief, he hastens to do injustice, trying by some artifice to transfer the rational nature from virtue to malice. He who says the things before us prays to God, wishing to be saved from both. For they devised injustice against him, hiding it in their heart, so that by staying hidden to show what they are, they might be able to ensnare him, standing as enemies and adversaries against him for the whole duration of his life. Therefore it is said, "All the day they prepared wars," having no moment of peace and rest. Instead of a sword, they have sharpened their tongue to bring forth a word that is deceitful and capable of wounding, in imitation of ^C the serpent who destroyed Eve by his craftiness. Whence also under their lips—that is, in their utterance, which is like poison—they have thoughts suggested to them by malign powers, because of the harmful and venomous nature of those called asps. It is possible, however, to take these things also as regarding the devil and the other invisible enemies; for the devil is often called a malign man and enemy; but you may also call him Antichrist who serves the counsels of the devil. But also he who serves his will could be called Antichrist.

Verse 5. *The hand of the sinner* is the sinful act, from which he prays to be guarded, with God protecting him. He asks, furthermore, to be rescued from the men who by their own choice wish to wrong him; ^D because they have devised in their words and false thoughts to trip up the steps of those who are advancing toward better things. It is possible in these to understand the sinner as the devil, and the unjust men as his malign angels, or the men in whose souls he works, so as to wrong them. These, however, are perhaps none other than those who think false wisdom in their pride.

which they do not bring forth openly, but hide as a snare ^A under their sophistical words. But they also stretch forth their ropes, that is, their manifold wickednesses, or the sophistical words composed and woven by them, in order to catch the feet of those who walk uprightly, thinking by these ropes to trip up the steps of those who are unsuspecting, and they place as obstacles in the path that someone has trodden, what he also called stumbling-blocks. These are the reasonings that are suggested to those who choose to walk well and according to virtue. But he who knows himself, that he is not self-sufficient to remain unharmed from such things, flees to God and demands power.

^B Ver. 9. "Lest they should have devised many things against me," and prevail, do not abandon me; guard me in the shelter of your wings, and under your mighty hand, from which no one can snatch [me], lest they be exalted arrogantly against me as if I had been captured by him.

Ver. 12. He seems to call the quarrelsome and abusive man "tongue-thrilled." For no one of such men, so long as he feels earthly things, can be guided, being always agitated by the fact of being quarrelsome; for it is the character of those who love sin to rejoice in fights and insults and revilings. Hence it is impossible for such a person to be guided by virtue.

^C PSALM CXL.

Ver. 5. Their malice would be sufficient, if I were to become a participant with them, to scatter my prayer and to cast it within their wickednesses.

Ver. 6. But Symmachus: "For still my prayer is among their evils. Their judges shall be emptied by the hand of the rock. They shall hear my sweetest words; just as a farmer when he breaks the earth, so that our bones are scattered along the side of hell."

Ver. 8. "To you, O Lord, I have lifted up my eyes, having hoped in you." Therefore, "do not take away my soul," that it might not fall completely. For even if the bones of each one of us are scattered ^D along the side of hell, yet I hope that you, having gathered them, will restore them to their proper harmony and concord. This being brought about by your goodness, not only shall I not be captured, while you are guarding me, "from the snare which they have laid for me," but you will also guard me "from the stumbling-blocks of those who work iniquity."

PSALM CXLI.

Ver. 8. Fittingly, as if imprisoned in the innermost parts of the cave, he prays, saying according to Symmachus: "Bring my soul out from the enclosure," the rest being known. But for those who interpret the verse mystically, malice and all impiety seem to hold the soul as if it were a guarded troupe, surrounded and kept within, from which custody everyone, desiring to be freed, sends up these vows to the Lord.

^A beseeching Him to come in answer to their prayer to lead the bound out of their chains and to bring those sitting in darkness out of the house of custody. Yet these words, “Bring my soul out of custody,” are not for all to say, but only for those who, through purity of heart and having laid aside this body, are able to indulge in the contemplation of things that are. Aquilas, however, renders it: “Lead my soul out of the blockade,” as if it were being held in a kind of prison or jail, with enemies sitting in wait at the cave’s mouth. He promises that, having received salvation, he will repay these benefits with hymns. ^B

PSALM CXLII

VERS. 1. The third psalm is already inscribed: “A Psalm of David, when he fled from the face of Absalom his son.” Regarding this, however: “When his son pursued him.” There is less danger for one who flees than for one who is pursued. For it is possible for someone to flee out of mere suspicion. But when they pursue one who is already fleeing, the cruelty and savagery of the pursuers becomes manifest. He says, therefore: “Being in need of many things, I took refuge in Thee, knowing precisely that Thou wilt fill me with all that I lack, having inclined Thine ear to my petition, ‘in truth,’” ^C either because God said, “I am the truth,” or because he wishes to hint at this: "I who worship Thee now in image and shadow, pray that the rest may be granted to me, which is to transcend the typical worship so as to approach Thee in Thy naked truth, that I may worship Thee in spirit and in truth." “Hear me in Thy righteousness,” justifying me in it; for my own righteousness will be reckoned as nothing before Thee. Therefore I beseech Thee, “enter not into judgment with me,” for I am Thy servant, and I have no desire to be judged before Thee or by Thee; for Thou searchest not only words and deeds, but also considerest with what intent these things are accomplished. Hence, there is no one among men, even if they be furnished with the most perfect virtue, who could be judged ^D before Thee. All the righteous, therefore, comparing their own righteousness with Thine, say with sincere heart that all our righteousness is as nothing before Thee. We are justified, however, freely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, having the righteousness which—apart from the law—has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

VERS. 3. You may also interpret these things anagogically regarding the devil, for he does not cease pursuing us. Who, then, shall be delivered from his persecutions? When we have found a place that he cannot enter. And what is this place, if not heaven? And by what means shall we ascend to heaven? Hear now Paul saying: “Seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God,” and: “Our conversation is in heaven.” “He has humbled my life to the earth.” The word “humiliation” signifies many things; for there is a humiliation of virtue, as when he says, “A broken and humbled heart, God will not despise.”

^A Humiliation also comes from calamities and from sins. Here, however, he speaks of the humiliation that comes from calamities; therefore he added: «He has humbled my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness,» and «as those who have been long dead.» He speaks of a double calamity: that he is in darkness, and that he is like those who have been long dead, hinting at his captivity and flight. For since he is in darkness, he knows that when a lamp is lit, it signifies one’s duty; wishing to show with intensity the excess of his evils, he does not hesitate to use the name of the dead to paint this tragedy. «Those who have been long dead» would also be those who are deprived of the life in God, concerning whom He says: «Let the dead bury their own dead.»

^B VERSE 6. «This thirsty land,» and souls similarly disposed, that is, arid places, the unclean spirit passes through, finding no rest nor repose for itself among them. Yet even if they are in a thirsty land, deprived of evil waters, they pursue the Lord as if to find Him ready like the dawn, when He shall come to them like the early and latter rain. Therefore they, too, shall become watered lands, having in themselves fountains of living water springing up into eternal life.

^C VERSE 9. A moment ago he said that a single enemy was pursuing his soul, as he just said, but now he prays to be delivered from a multitude of enemies. Yet these different expressions do not contradict one another; for he called the leader of wickedness a single enemy, but he called his army, in the plural, enemies. He asks to be delivered from the enemies most justly, since he has taken refuge with no one but God alone.

VERSE 10. «Teach me,» he says, not only to know, but «to do your will.» For knowledge alone is not, without action, a sanctifying and beatifying thing for him, but rather that which is worked and performed. Therefore the Savior also says: «Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.» It is clear that he who does the will of God knows it, but not everyone who knows it does it. With this that ^D also agrees: «Learn to do good.» And what this learning of the divine will is, the following phrase signifies: that it is the guidance of the Holy Spirit to the «right land.» For he who has learned the will of God in moral virtues shall be guided by the grace of God by the Holy Spirit, who leads everyone into the truth. The «right land» is either the good and pure heart in which Jesus will make the seed bear fruit, or it is the land of the meek.

VERSE 11. «For the sake of your invoked name, I am called yours; you shall quicken me in your righteousness,» justifying me according to it. For in this way it will come to pass that I shall be quickened in it; and it is fitting that he refers «you shall quicken me» to a future time, since here, just as we have other good things partially, so too do we have life; we shall live perfectly then when Christ, our life, is manifested. For He Himself is the righteousness of God, in which he shall live...

who clings to it. ^A PSALM CXLIII. Vers. 2. He has it confirmed by experience, that which he here professes. For "You," he says, "are my mercy," who have refreshed me with the fountains of mercy; "You are my refuge," for trusting not in the aid of men, I took refuge in You and was saved; "You are my supporter," for encouraged by Your spur I overcame my enemies; "You are my deliverer and protector," for with Your protection You fortified me when I was harassed, and rescued me when I was besieged. In You, therefore, I shall have a firm hope.

^B PSALM CXLIV. Vers. 4. Since the things which God has made, as Ecclesiastes witnesses, remain forever, every generation that beholds the works of God praises them, although they may appear greater than any praise. They also announce Your power through which You brought them into existence. This is that wisdom according to which You have made all things. Your power and wisdom is Your Only-begotten Son; for Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Vers. 5. Those who have received the holiness of God, at the same time attain also to His glory, and magnificently celebrate Him whose holiness and magnificent glory it is. They do not praise God by voice alone, but first by deeds, and with an upright mind, holily and excellently—nay, even magnificently—they perceive, act, and speak. Vers. 13. God possesses sovereignty over all things which He has created through His Wisdom and His Word, and He uses supreme authority. Nay, He even made the ages; for it is said: "Through whom He also made the ages." Whence He reigns also into the ages, according to that word of Paul: "To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, to the only wise God." If, therefore, the Father is the King of the ages, the kingdom of the Son is also the kingdom of all the ages. Hence, this kingdom shall lack beginning and end, since He reigns both before the ages and after the ages. For "The Lord" is "reigning [for] the age, and upon ages, and beyond." And elsewhere: "Our God is King before the age," that is, before every age. Since His kingdom is such, His dominion ^C must also extend to all generations. He indeed holds dominion over those who are comprehended by time and generation; but He reigns over those who have passed beyond what is perishable, contemplating hidden and eternal things. Vers. 14. Perhaps those who go astray not in deed, but in desires and wicked words, are falling; but those who sin in deeds are crushed. Nevertheless, He helps both; for the latter He sustains, commanding each one: "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife," and the rest; while the former He exhorts through the words of the wise: "Do not let the desire for beauty overcome you." ^D Those who are falling

^A might be those who commit sins in moral matters but still retain the Christian doctrine; while those who are crushed are those who have abandoned it.

Ver. 17. "In all the ways in which He proceeds," whether providing, or governing, or judging, or benefacting, or granting favors, or punishing, God is always found to be just. "For God is faithful, and there is no injustice." But if someone should call His ways the virtues (for they lead to God whoever attaches himself to them in mind and deed), in these too He appears just. Therefore, there is no one among the saints and those endowed with virtue who finds fault with the providence of God; but only those who are depraved and walk outside of His ways blame God.

Ver. 18. We approach Him by invoking the name of the Lord. Whence it is said "near" to them, because they are perfect ^B who invoke Him. As Moses and Aaron and Samuel and Samson used to invoke the Lord. But he who renounces his own human will says to God: "Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God." Which petition God brings to fulfillment. The wills, therefore, are the individual virtues; but the will is the general and common name for virtue. He is guarded whom God loves; and the wicked one shall touch him not at all. There is laid up for him who loves with his whole soul and heart and strength, "what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it risen into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for them that love Him."

PSALM CXLV

Ver. 9. Since the text before us mentions proselytes simultaneously with the righteous, one must say that those "righteous" are those loved by the Lord, who pleased Him according to the Old Testament; but the proselytes are those who have been called from the nations to the instruction of the Gospel. In addition to these, note that perhaps those who have just come to piety are proselytes, ^C while those who have advanced and matured in it are called righteous. Whence He loves the righteous, but protects the proselytes; for those who have immediately come to the word of truth, not yet being strong and stable, are in need of the protecting Lord in order to remain unharmed, whereas the righteous, through perfection, become familiar to Him and are loved by Him.

Ver. 10. "Sion" is that which contemplates and searches out the truth, that is to say, the perfect soul or the Church of the living God. "Thy God shall reign unto the ages," of whose kingdom there shall be no end, as His sovereignty embraces generation and generation. It was said in the previous psalm concerning His unending kingdom, that it will endure throughout all ages, and how He reigns ^D unto generation and generation. For "The Lord shall reign unto the ages, thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation."

PSALM CXLVI

Ver. 1. "Psallite" (Sing psalms), he says; for it is "good" and useful. In this respect, "psalm" does not differ from praise, especially when one sings with spirit and with mind.

^A If, however, to sing psalms is further to act in a practical way, he exhorts those who perform this good psalm to also praise God through theology, so that, by being perfected in both action and thought, they may gladden God; for "a sacrifice," he says, "of praise shall glorify me," and the Spirit commands the one capable of offering it: "Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise."

Ver. 5. With such rational bonds, God healed the one wounded and beaten while descending from Jerusalem to Jericho.

PSALM CXLVII

Ver. 4. Much as the wisdom of God is not earthly, nor soulish, nor demonic, but from above, originating from God Himself, so too His word is not from the earth, but being sent to earth, it comes to each of those capable of ministering to it, being the same as the promise given by the Lord to those evangelizing with great power. Then, having been given, this is distributed to many souls, for it runs with speed, being the word of God, as that which is written is fulfilled: "Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." ^B For no sooner had Christ’s ascension occurred than the evangelical word immediately passed into all the earth that is under heaven. These things appear to us to be spoken as though by way of a parable, with the works of the cosmic creation being set forth in likeness to the dispensation regarding the Church. For just as hoar-frost descends into a certain place, and afterwards dissolves, and pours forth waters, so the divine Word first fell upon the Jews, and then spread to all. Therefore, the sending forth of the Word, and the breathing of the Spirit, are excellently designated by such works. For when the Word had come into the world, and the Spirit had breathed, the word of holy and salutary instruction went out from Jerusalem to the whole world. By way of allegory, you should understand the snow, the crystal, and the mist as temptations brought against the saints for their testing. ^C For these things, sent by the opposing powers, attempt to freeze the charity that is in them; for just as cold freezes a pool, so malice freezes charity. "Before the face of this cold, who shall stand?" Unless perhaps you interpret these things according to the mind of Peter and Paul, and of Job and Jacob, who said: "I became burned by the heat of the day and by the frost of the night." Compare with these also the things said by Moses: "Let my speech be expected as rain, and let my words descend as dew, as a shower upon the grass, and as a drop upon the herb." For in the same way that the words of Moses are similar to these, the word of God sent to the earth is divided into all the aforementioned things.

^D Ver. 7. The prudent word of God, being sent from heaven, will melt the snow and those things that are of the same nature; especially—

if one is to hear these things spiritually, the word of God, the interpreter of things spoken with hidden meaning, being sent forth, will melt the mist, the crystal, and the snow, in order to make them drinkable at the same time that the spirit of God himself breathes. But also the word of God, being sent into the heart of those who receive it, will render those same temptations invisible. And those who are fervent in spirit, bravely enduring such temptations, will dissolve them.

PSALM CXLVIII.

Ver. 2. There might be angels in the heavens, but there are powers even above these, [dwelling] in the highest, ^B pertaining to the Most High, being [set] above the task of delivering messages to men. For they possess their blessedness only in that stability which is with God, [being] such as those called "thrones" by the Apostle, the name indicating that God Himself is seated upon them. And that they are subject to the divine majesty that is above creation; and in this they are ever established, possessing [both] that which is stable and [that which is] fixed in the receiving of divine glory.

PSALM CXLIX.

Ver. 1. Those who have put on the new man ^C are the only ones able to sing the new song, by thinking and doing the things of the New Testament, serving in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. These also fulfill the Church of the saints, accomplishing the holy and faithful things of David, and possessing a most holy righteousness before God; by the accomplishment of which they praise the Lord.

PSALM CL.

Ver. 3. He who is not ashamed of Jesus and his words, but with boldness, clearly and with a great voice, sets forth the things of theology, praises Him and His Father ^D "in the sound of the trumpet." Whence those heralds of the truth, in order to proclaim the doctrine more boldly and clearly, are commanded to raise their voice as with a trumpet. It was said to them, therefore: "Blow the trumpet in Sion, preach on my holy mountain." But also the resurrection of the dead, so that it may be rendered manifest to all who rise, is signified by a trumpet: "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorruptible." And in another Epistle: "With the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God He shall descend from heaven, so that those who have fallen asleep in Christ may rise." As, therefore, the command of the resurrection, being revealed to all so that both the just and the unjust may rise, is [signified] by the loud-voiced [trumpet] of the instruments, it is understood as a consequence that the praises of God are also to be offered with the same instrument. "Praise Him with the psaltery and harp." What is the psaltery?

^A And what difference they have from one another has been stated in the preceding pages. Let us therefore praise God, singing in spirit and in mind; this is the psaltery. For the spirit and the mind from above, from God, resound together through the sublimity of the doctrines.

VERS. 5. This phrasing, "praise Him with cymbals of well-sounding," indicates, in my judgment, that the Lord must be celebrated by us with a distinct voice. The Apostle seems to confirm this meaning when he writes: "I have become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." ^B For he says that unless I speak in mind and tongue, and interpret whatever is uttered by the tongue, the listeners will perceive only empty sounds, so that to them I appear to use a barbaric tongue. While they perceive nothing but the noise of voices, it becomes to them as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, merely striking the ears and causing a clamor. Let us therefore praise God with a distinct voice, imitating the holy men. For of each of these it is said: "The narration of a righteous man is always wisdom." And likewise: "The mouth of the righteous will meditate on wisdom, and his tongue will speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart," ^C that is, with mind, tongue, and mouth he celebrates God. A well-sounding cymbal he calls a sweet and pleasing voice, clearly proclaiming works; for "the cymbal of jubilation" he calls the song concerning enemies who have been overcome and defeated.

VERS. 6. When God shall be all in all, this saying will be fulfilled; for helping our infirmity, the Spirit grants us the mind of the divine breath, as it is written concerning the first man: "And He breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." ^D For He is life and the fountain of life, Who said: "I am the life." Concerning this life it is said to the Father: "With Thee is the fountain of life." The breath of this beatifying and sanctifying life, coming to man, makes his soul alive, so that the one who has attained such things, giving thanks, may say: "And my soul lives for Him." No one enjoys this gift except him who has received the word of Jesus: "He who believes in Him who sent Me, has eternal life." This breath He will grant to those who despise earthly things and tread upon those things which are subject to the people, as the prophet testifies concerning Him: "Thus says the Lord God, Who made the heaven and established the earth, and Who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who tread upon it," namely, the earth. It is also said by some ancient writer: "The breath of the Almighty is what teaches me."

OTHER FRAGMENTS OF DIDYMUS ON THE PSALMS, FROM THE NANIAN CODEX XXIII

(Greek manuscripts preserved by the Patrician Nani family of Venice, ed. Mingarelli, Bologna 1784, in 4°.)

A parchment codex, in quarto, consisting of 86 leaves, written in the tenth century, mutilated at the end. Furthermore, since the traces of letters have perished entirely on many pages, it cannot be of great use. It contains a collection, or chain, on the Psalms, namely from the first psalm up to the hundred and fourth; for the rest have perished. Who the author may be, I do not know. On the first page scarcely another word remains, besides this title: on the middle pages the psalms are written, while in the margins there is a chain, or commentaries, or scholia. The first words of the chain that survive begin on the second page of the first leaf thus: [*ε′*] (that is, verse 5): *Not so the ungodly*, etc. The Fathers, whose words are cited here and there in this chain, are Chrysostom, Basil, Hesychius, Theodoret, Origen, Athanasius, Arethas the archbishop, Eusebius, Didymus, Diodorus, Aquila, Maximus, Theologus (namely Gregory Nazianzen), Isidore, Theodotion, Gregory of Nyssa, Theodotius (for on leaf 52 b and 61 a and 62 b one reads *Cyrillus* and *Symmachus*). I have decided now to exhibit some specimens of this chain. And first indeed, I shall write out all the passages of Didymus the Alexandrian that exist there, choosing this author above others because I formerly edited his books *On the Trinity*.

1. Fol. 14 a. On verse 15 of the ninth psalm: *Break the arm of the sinner, etc.*, the following is read: Didymus — When mentioned with the article, "the sinner" denotes the devil, whose arm is broken by the Lord, and his sin, when sought, is not found, having its being in the act of being performed and then ceasing; for evil is a quality, not a substance.

II. Fol. 27 b. On the fourth verse of the twentieth psalm: *For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness; thou hast set upon his head a crown of precious stone*, the following is read: Didymus — A man is crowned for those things which he practices; for the just man, having pursued justice, shall receive the crown of righteousness, and he who glorifies the Trinity aright shall obtain the unfading crown of glory, having delighted in the Lord; and he who is saved by grace receives the crown of graces. ^B

III. Fol. 28 a. On the ninth verse of the same psalm: *May thy hand be found by all thy enemies; may thy right hand find all who hate thee*, the following is read: Didymus — This signifies either the hand that punishes or the one that wars against those arrayed against the divine law, according to the passage: *The Lord wages war with a hidden hand against Amalek*; and he would mean by enemies both these and the godless, so that through what they suffer they may know Him who presides over all things.

*Another*. — It alludes to the punishments of the Jews after the cross. For the enemies of God find Him, but those who hate Him are found by Him; and through the Law we find God, but through the Gospels we are found by Him; or through the practical life we find Him, but through contemplation we are found by Him, being formerly enemies and strangers to the covenants of God, having no hope and being without God in the world.

IV. Fol. 28 b. On verse 12 of the same psalm: *For they have turned aside evil against thee; they have devised schemes which they shall not be able to establish*. — *For they have turned aside evil against thee* — because they moved the tongue against Thee and used blasphemous words. — Didymus. — Because evil is performed by deviation and not by rectitude, as is the case with good things. And in all things the base are perverted; and they attempt impossible things; for they devise treachery against the One who does not endure harm.

V. Fol. 47 b. On the second verse of the fifty-sixth psalm: *And I will hope in the shadow of thy wings, until iniquity pass away*, the following is read: Didymus — He distinguishes "shadow" from "truth," saying this: that being in this life, I hope in the shadow of the wings, and have been winged by virtue to come upon the wings themselves, and by spiritual understanding; for the wings of God are the powers of God, and the sublime thoughts concerning Him. And after a little: but when iniquity shall have passed, and the treachery against me, and the one named as the slanderer, then no longer in the shadow; but in thy very wings, as one who has progressed and has been liberated from every iniquitous deed, I shall hope. ^C

VI. Fol. 49 b. On the tenth verse of the psalm fifty-seven, at the words: *As living, as in wrath he shall swallow them up*, the following is read: *As living . . . as* — Didymus — For not as living, but as living in semblance, shall they be overtaken by wrath; for to "swallow up" signifies to overpower, as he who has been swallowed is already overpowered and conquered.

VII. Fol. 50 b. On the third and tenth verses of the fifty-ninth psalm: *And thou, O Lord, shall laugh them to scorn; you shall annihilate all the nations. My power I will keep toward…*

^A you; for you, O God, are my helper*, the following is read: *And you, O Lord, shall laugh them to scorn.* Those men, then, dare such things, but you hear and see and laugh at their folly. By Chrysostom: By "nations" here he means the tribes of the demons. *My power I will keep toward you:* The Son says to the Father, "toward you," that is, with you. By Didymus: I do not choose to usurp the kingdom, but I await receiving it from you; and I have confidence in the trial, having learned many times that you are both God and my helper. For even if I am not worthy by my own power to receive the right to reign, yet your mercy, having anticipated me, will show it to me in the face of my enemies, so that while they shall be punished, I shall receive the kingdom from you.

VIII. Fol. 52 a. On the third verse of the fifty-ninth psalm: *O God, you have cast us off, and destroyed us; you have been angry and pitied us,* the following is read: *O God, you have cast us off, and destroyed us.* Here he predicts the captivity; then, the justice and philanthropy of God: *you have been angry and pitied [us].* A. (that is to say, Athanasius, I think): Being angered, you have turned us away. S.: You were angry and you brought us round. For on account of transgressions he was angry; but after the punishment he showed mercy. By Didymus: One must refute those who think the Creator is vengeful; for God is angry not in order to destroy, but in order to pity. This agrees with: *I will praise you, O Lord; for you were angry with me, unto salvation.* For if he is angry unto salvation, anger is no passion, but it is taken up usefully.

IX. Fol. 52 b. On the tenth verse of the same psalm, on the words: *Moab is the pot of my hope,* the following is read: By Didymus: *Moab is the pot of...* He joins together the severed parts through concord; for Moab is a pot of washing or a pot of freedom from care; for the cast-out Moab, through the bath of baptism, which has forgiveness and becomes a cause of freedom from care—and all the Gentiles have been subjected, having bowed down to the yoke of Christ.

X. Fol. 53 a. On the third verse of the sixtieth psalm: *From the ends of the earth I have cried out toward you,* the following is held: *From the ends of the earth;* By Didymus: He says "earth" is the body; the ends of the earth are the senses, from which it is good to cry out to God and pray, so that we may have no rebellious perception. By Origen: "Earth" is wickedness, from which he who has departed cries out to God.

XI. Fol. 59 a. On the sixth verse of the sixty-fifth psalm: *There we shall rejoice in him,* the following is read: *There we shall rejoice.* By Didymus: "There," instead of "in such wonders we rejoiced in God." For the tense has been changed, as also in: *he who turns,* for instead of "he who turned."

XII. Fol. 65 a. On the fifth verse of the sixty-eighth psalm, on the words: *For what I did not plunder, then I paid,* the following is held: By Didymus: Even if ^B he paid back what he did not plunder, yet he redeemed us. And this is to pay back, by blotting out the handwriting against us, which we were forced to pay off, and being imposed against us, these things have been blotted out and taken out of the way, forgiveness of sins having been given.

XIII. Fol. 66 a. On the fourteenth verse of the same psalm: *But as for me, my prayer is toward you, O Lord; a time of good pleasure, O God, in the multitude of your mercy hear me,* etc., the following is held: *A time of good pleasure;* Symmachus thus: A time of reconciliation, O God. He says it is sufficient... the punishment brought upon me [a time]... to be loosed, and your philanthropy to appear; for he calls the good will "good pleasure." By Didymus: So that when I am made alive, those who are dead through sin may be made alive with me.

XIV. Ibidem, on the fifteenth verse of the same psalm, on the words: *Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep of the waters,* the following is read: *Let me be delivered from... deep of the waters...* he called the punishment. By Didymus: The deep of the waters is... ^C ...he writes "deep of the waters," and not "from the depths of the waters."

XV. Fol. 67 a. On the twenty-second and twenty-third verses of the same psalm: *And they gave me gall for my food; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before them,* etc., the following is read: *And they gave me gall for my food...* And this, he says, the very food, they prepared bitter and grievous. For satisfying food is joyless to those who eat with pain. *Let their table become...* By Chrysostom: That is, the luxury; all good things shall be transformed and shall perish, and they shall become exposed to all. And showing that they suffer these things paying the penalty for sins, he added: *and for a recompense.* He calls the punishments "snares," and *they were darkened,* not having received the sun of righteousness. By Didymus: The table is the divinely inspired ^D Scripture, whose contemplation and intellection contains food for rational souls, but the letter occupies the place of a table.

XVI. Fol. 69 a. On the fourteenth verse of the seventieth psalm: *But I will hope continually in you; and will add to all your praise,* the following is read: *But I will hope continually;* for seeing these things happening, I shall be strengthened in the hope in you, and I shall offer up praise many times over. By Didymus: The Son made an addition to the praises of the Father, having delivered the New Testament alongside the Old; for he did not do away with the first things by introducing the second, but he made an addition.

XVII. Fol. 80 b. On the fourteenth verse of the seventy-ninth psalm: *The boar out of the wood has laid it waste, and the solitary*

for these passions conceal the irrational impulses; and the title "solitary" can signify angers and wraths. ^A

XVIII. Fol. 81 a. On verse 18 of the same psalm: *Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand; and upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself*: these things are found: Didymus: *He made himself strong, not allowing the constitution of his body to have its origin from the casting of man's seed*. For the Holy Spirit having come upon the Virgin, the holy birth came to be, which also prepared the vine for the bearing of fruit.

*Hactenus omnia Didymi loca, quæ supersunt, aut legi possunt in hacce catena, exscripsi. Fol. quidem 42a legebatur alius Didymi locus, sed nunc litteræ evanuerunt.*

DIDYMI FRAGMENTA IN PROVERBIA.

That Solomon's Proverbs were explained by Didymus the Alexandrian in his commentaries is evidently testified to by the catenas—the Latin, namely, of Peltanus, and the Greek of the Vatican codices (A); Vat. Ottob. (B); Vat. reg. (C); not to mention other testimonies from the codices of foreign libraries which I might summon in vain. Cassiodorus stated in his *Institutiones divinarum litterarum*, cap. 5, that he possessed this work of Didymus: "In which book [of Proverbs] we find Didymus as expositor in the Greek language, who was most diligently translated into the Latin tongue by our friend, a most learned man, Epiphanius." Since we have already collected in our fourth volume, so far as possible, the work of Didymus on Second Corinthians and the Gospel of John, now, not unwillingly, we have gathered together his remains on the divine Proverbs, which have filled about fifteen pages for us.

FROM DIDYMUS' COMMENTARIES ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.

CHAPTER FIRST.

Proverb is, as if one were to say: *Sweet is war to the inexperienced*; and, *A constant drop hollows a stone*. ^B The name "proverb" arose from the fact that when in former times paths were not marked by any signs—those which are now called mile-markers (milliaria) by the Romans, but were previously called "signs"—the men of old placed them in certain spots along the road, and they inscribed upon these certain questions. They did this for two reasons: both to indicate to the traveler the length of the road, and so that, while he was reading the inscription and engaging his mind in its meaning, he might be lightened of his fatigue. For the road is called *oimos* (whence *paroimia*, "proverb," is derived).

^A

Vers. 2. *To know words of prudence*, is primarily the office of virtue, as the other interpreters also clarify, rendering it not as "of prudence," but "of understanding." Or, by "words of prudence" he means those which are sophistical and subtly elaborated.

Vers. 3. The sacred discourse, rebuking those who feign justice and claim to possess it as they ought, says: *If you truly speak justice, judge rightly, O you sons of men.*

Vers. 6. I hear of the interpretation of Theodotion, which Symmachus also placed in his edition; for they have written "problem." What, therefore, is a dark discourse? It is one confounded in sense and phrasing; like that which is found in the prophet Isaiah: *Woe to the land of ships beyond the rivers of Ethiopia! Sending envoys by sea, and papyrus letters over the waters.* For none of these has [in this place] either a clear diction in the manner of a parable, or a manifest narration of any history. Now, while the literal sense of an enigma can at least be understood, the literal sense of a dark discourse cannot even be understood. "Dark discourse" is a general term; "parable" is a specific one. It is called dark not on account of a lack of light, but because it is abstruse, so that darkness arises for the one who is ignorant. "Utterances" are graceful aphorisms; an "enigma" is a discourse signifying the truth in a hidden way; such as that which says: *Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, and let fire devour thy cedars.* ^B

Vers. 7. *True fear is reverence in religion.* But it is good *understanding*. A stop should be placed here. For it is not sufficient for blessedness to know the good, unless one also practices it in deed. But piety toward God is the *beginning of understanding*.

Vers. 8. *Father of the righteous is God.* For everyone who performs justice has been born of God. Our *mother* is the Church, of whom our Lord Jesus Christ is the bridegroom. The *laws* are the apostolic constitutions. Although the things said above also have an anagogical sense, yet they are also adapted to natural parents when they raise their children in accordance with their own piety toward God. Now, since there is a man, that teacher who begets his pupils through the Gospel, the spouse to this man, and the mother of those begotten, is the Church, or rather, the ecclesiastical doctrine and way of life. If, therefore, he says, you will listen to me, the author of the proverbs, now as a guide and father, and now as the mother, that is, of wisdom and virtue, you will be girded with a crown of graces, and your neck will be adorned with a collar made of intellectual gold and ornaments. For the material of the crown, with which the head of the inner man is girded, is the circle of virtues, which are called graces. Therefore, in harmony with the intellectual crown, one must also understand the golden collar cast about the neck of the soul, that is, its obedience. ^C

Vers. 9. He calls the *mind* the crown and the neck; and he calls the *golden collar* the knowledge and the intellectual adornment of the soul; or, the golden collar is the subjection to God and the protection of the divine oracles. ^D

^A Ver. 10. To sin with others is not without penalty. The men are impious, perfected in iniquity.

Ver. 11. They bury them under the earth, those whom they have persuaded to think on earthly things. But you shall regard as a just man him who has a heavenly sense of mind. These things can be understood as applying to Christ and to the Jewish people. The Scripture denotes the sufficiency by the word "to swallow," as in that place: *Lest such a one be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow.* They say, therefore, that those who have overcome and defeated the one who has a heavenly sense of mind, transfer him to themselves, so that he may think on earthly things. But the one who has a right opinion concerning what must be done, and casts this away, is swallowed up while still alive.

CAPUT II. Ver. 11. He calls *counsel* the resolve of the mind, by which we determine to do what we ought, or otherwise. But he calls *thought* that which is concerned with visible things, so that we may omit these, and approach God, and observe his commandments to the best of our ability. ^B

CAPUT III. Ver. 3. He who has the habit of the virtues, and is not easily sluggish in the exercise of them, has them inscribed on the tablet of his heart, that is, in the depth of his soul—or rather, the constant longing—so that the adversary may not subvert you.

Ver. 8. I say the *body* is the collection of the powers of the soul; the *bones* are its firm powers; for all our bones shall say: Lord, Lord.

Ver. 16. Its *right hand* is the knowledge of divine matters, from which comes eternal life; but the *left* is the knowledge of human affairs. ^C

Ver. 18. Here again he calls the cross the tree of life. For to those who are sincerely attached to Christ, a varied life flows from the wood; and for those leaning upon its foundations, a fortified firmness stands unswervingly, just as for those who are securely founded upon the Lord. But if the tree of life is the wisdom of God, justly was Adam prohibited from partaking of it. For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, since the tree of life grows from the fruits of righteousness. But not finding anyone to whom he might compare the one who hopes in the Lord, he turns the discourse to himself, saying, as it were, "in the Lord"; for he who leans upon Him, because he hopes in God, is secure.

Ver. 20. This also applies now to the Son of God, who is the wisdom and prudence of God. But the faithful soul is also earth, bringing forth hundredfold fruit. This soul becomes wise from the fatness of wisdom, with God the Father establishing it upon it. For He founds the mastery of doctrine in it, joining it together with wisdom, and always advancing it for the better, making it like the heaven, a most pure creature, a dwelling place for angels and intellectual substances. Having received a perception of the Existent, and considering the accuracy of things, as if a great abyss

of the judgments of God, he called these "clouds"; or he called the prophets "clouds," and the teaching "dew."

Do not be far from the drinkable water of life. By "counsel," he means the movement regarding things to be done; by "meditation," that which occurs regarding theoretical matters. He calls the soul itself "the neck," which bears the yoke of the Lord. And just as the neck is encircled by the pectoral pieces, so the soul shall bear the gifts of God in the kingdom, just as it bears his commandments here.

Even the splendid things of the impious are struck with a curse; but even the lowly things of the just are blessed. By "house," he means the faculties of the rational soul; by "huts," the irascible and concupiscible part: for therein dwell the irrational passions.

CHAPTER IV

Vers. 8. The honor of wisdom is the observance of the commandments. Wisdom is Christ, whose bride is the soul that honors him with virtues, which he shall embrace.

Vers. 20. Like a young child, he always sets prizes for the attentions of the simple, and raises up the one who occasionally falls. The fountains of life are the virtues, from which comes the living water, the knowledge of Christ. To one who is advancing in wisdom, there are many fountains, and not just one, but according to the number of the virtues. To those who observe these admonitions, they become life: these are the prize.

Vers. 26. Pursue the journey according to life rightly, he says. The feet are the transiency-making impulses of this soul; for virtue holds the middle course.

CHAPTER V

Vers. 2. Beware of attending to fraudulent doctrine, which ensnares through pleasant speech, that is, heresy, and idolatry, and vain words.

Vers. 3. The goodness of these things is only as far as the hearing. Such indeed is the nature of error: it is accustomed to hide the destruction, and to put forward the sweet, so that it may deceive; for otherwise men would immediately flee away. But God is not so; rather, he hides the sweet and puts forward the laborious. And he did not say, "It flows away," but "It distills," so that the bitterness might not seem satiating; yet afterwards it is felt to be more bitter than gall. Not as great as the pleasure (of vice) is the bitterness, but much greater.

Vers. 8. By the name of "way," he denoted here the mind that tends toward virtue; or perhaps he commands virtue to separate us from wickedness.

Vers. 11. That is, in old age; or by the wasting away of the flesh, he denotes intemperance, which is a certain corruption.

Vers. 12, 14. He introduces the corrupt man who blames himself because he hated discipline, and says: "I perished and wasted away, wearing out my flesh in luxuries, and I have all but cast away life itself. Therefore my punishment became manifest in the midst of the Church and the Synagogue." For this is the voice of a penitent, who is not yet in that extremity to which he was close. Equal to that is: "My steps had well-nigh slipped." For having awakened, he perceives...

"Where," he says, "did I come near?" How then can we heal the madness arising from nature?

^B Vers. 15. Knowledge is at once a well and a fountain: for those who are approaching the virtues, it is a well; for those who have been perfected in them, it is a fountain. Knowledge is also called mother, and wife, and sister: mother, because through it we are begotten by the teacher; wife, because in union it brings forth virtues and right doctrines; sister, because we have come into existence from one God. "And I said unto wisdom, You are my sister."

Vers. 16, 17. See how it shows not only the ease through abundance, but also by having no one as a sharer in its enjoyment. It doubles the matter, moreover, and calls it an acquisition; for it knows the pleasure of such a thing.

CHAPTER VI

Vers. 8. Imitate the very natural labor of the brutes; or "go" is said for "know." For many act well only as far as theory and hearing go, but not as far as discipline. He calls the prophets and apostles bees, whose labors are useful both to those of high condition and to the lowly; he calls the affairs the honeycomb, and the theory of these, the honey. Just as the bellwether leads the goats, so the king leads the bees. Order, therefore, is a beautiful thing in every life.

Vers. 12. The fool is the atheist, who abolishes the theoretical; the iniquitous is he who abolishes the practical.

CHAPTER VII

^C Vers. 1. In a general sense it is said "keep"; that it may happen to you, he says, to enjoy eternal life and to become contemplative. For by far more brilliant than the light of the eyes is the observance of the divine commandments shining upon us.

Vers. 3. The hand is the whole action; the finger, a part of it. If you obey me, you will have a wide heart for the reception of the virtues.

Vers. 19. She feigns to dwell with a husband, as if living according to the norm of the law; and she removes all fears and hindrances, putting forward the absence of her husband.

Vers. 27. Her house is the ways of Hades, leading down to the chambers of death. For those who are persuaded by her, becoming muddy from her and earthly, thus perish. As for what is said here, "To the trap of Hades," other ^D interpreters write "depth."

CHAPTER VIII

Vers. 22. Since "beginning" signifies many things, as we said, here it signifies the eternal, and the causal, and the creative. Now the beginning of something is a commencement; and it demonstrates a relation, not a substance. For this is the account of things which are relative, like "right" and "left." Since, therefore, the wisdom of God is a substance, it is not the beginning of anything; for even before the creation, wisdom existed. But after it began to have a relation toward created things, then it becomes the beginning of the ways of God, creative and providential, regarding the works which

possess existence from the Creator, which however confer nothing upon it so that it might be wisdom; but the relation, on account of which it is called the beginning and creative, then had substance when the created things also existed: for a beginning does not exist before those things of which it is the beginning; nor are they said to be after it, if created things receive substance in time. For since wisdom is eternal, it is not subject to time. The beginning, therefore, is linked to the creatures. Being pre-existent to the creation, being wisdom, the Son of God, if He says: "The Lord created me," he does not have the thought of substance, but of his relation toward the creatures. For he says ^A that he was created for the works, for the purpose that he might be the beginning of the active and providential ways of God, that is to say, the Cause, if we may speak in the scholastic manner. The Son of God became man, having assumed the form of a servant; and though he is eternal before the ages, insofar as he is the Word of God, he is nonetheless spoken of as created after he received birth from Mary, having become flesh: so that those who wish to walk according to God, and toward God, might use him as a teacher, as an example of a most excellent life, and as one who hands down the teaching to his disciples. Finally, that the word "created" does not everywhere signify the making of a substance, David is witness, who says: "Create a clean heart in me, O God." He asks ^B not as one who does not have a heart, but because he had defiled it, he desires to regain it cleansed. Paul also, while saying that the two are created into one new man, shows not a substance conferred upon men, but a unity arising from concord. This is what the translators rendered as "He created me."

Vers. 23. This says to the effect of: He brought forth the cause and foundation of the creatures. According to that: "All things consist in him, and he is before all things." And the Lord himself also says: "I am the beginning of the creation of God." For as he consented to become man, wishing to be the foundation of the Church, so that it might be established immovable upon him; so also, wishing to give existence to the creatures, he accommodated himself to their standard, introducing the aforementioned relation, becoming the beginning and cause for the things that are to be. Yet although according to these things I was created, before all else God begot me, who is clearly the Son.

Vers. 27. He speaks of the throne as his kingdom, and the winds as the intellectual spirits. Or as David says: "Who walks upon the wings of the winds;" by which words he wishes to denote the lightness and incorporeity of the substance of God. ^C

Vers. 29. Observe the works distributed between them, wisdom and God. He was making, he says; and I was disposing. Why, however, are they solid? Because they stand in need of no foundation; for they exist by the sole will of God.

Vers. 35. Either because as soon as I appear I provide life, or because condescending through revelation to someone ^D regarding the testimony of the work.

^A that signifies infirmity to him, then it goes forth; for being life, and having come outside the sight of men, it provides life. He calls it "will" or "love"; or it is because he made us masters of our own actions, so that we might be ready to perform what is necessary.

CHAPTER IX

Vers. 2. Let him decline, I say, so that he may learn prudence; for the imperfect is strengthened by the words and mysteries of wisdom.

Vers. 5. The same food is named both flesh, and bread, and milk, and wine. Nevertheless, the foolish are said to partake of them as if of bread and of mixed wine. ^B But if this were the case, how are we to understand those words: "Man ate the bread of angels"? By bread, understand for me the solid commandments of God, and by wine, the knowledge of him derived from the meditation of the divine Scriptures; and in the same way, also his divine body and precious blood.

CHAPTER X

Vers. 5. The prudent natural man hears: "The sun shall not burn you by day, nor the moon by night." He calls worldly cares heat; and those who are withered by it, he calls hay. But the Savior in the parable indicates that these are tribulations; and he has called the trials against the sacred doctrine, and also persecutions, heat. ^C

Vers. 13. The wise man, by word of rebuke, brings the empty-hearted man to his senses.

CHAPTER XI

Vers. 7. Do you see that it is not the desiring that is evil, but desiring in such a way, that is evil? But the hopes of the impious are also evil; for whatever the impious hopes for is destruction.

Vers. 8. The words "For the just" are not spoken as if he were subject to condemnation, but because when a snare has been set by the wicked against the just, the pious man is indeed snatched from it by God, but the impious, having been abandoned by divine Providence, falls into it; or because, since even the just man is subject to certain sins, as being human, if the impious man comes and harms the just man, he rescues him from his sins and future punishments, ^D but diverts those penalties onto himself. He is delivered, however, not by another, but by his own malice, since he had already delivered himself into a reprobate mind.

Vers. 24. Those who gather corruption are diminished in virtues; or it is understood as those who accumulate learning and do not share it.

Vers. 29. He who is vexed at each of the defects of his own household will be homeless; and the foolish man will serve the prudent.

Vers. 31. Therefore, he says, the impious is he who hates God; the sinner is he who is wicked in his actions; and by the "just" in this place he means the man who is active with both word and knowledge; for the rigor of justice is great.

DIDYMI ALEXANDRINI CHAPTER XII.

Vers. 2. "Better" is not here a comparative, but is said in place of "good." ^A

Vers. 9. A man of action, even if he be unlearned, is more honorable than he who is pompous in speech but inactive.

Vers. 12. That is, the roots of the just shall not be plucked up, meaning their good habits.

Vers. 17. Whatever he says, he confirms by his works; and if anything is more credible than a work—or rather, he speaks in order to show that [the truth] is clear, tested, irreproachable, and sufficient in itself. He calls him a witness of an unjust thing who, even if he performs unjust acts, defends them; and [he calls him] deceitful, who possesses nothing upright. ^B

Vers. 25. The discourse on punishments terrifies him who has recently approached the active life; but the message of the promises refreshes him. For the perfect just man will not be afraid of a bad report, having the fear of the Lord which is superior to all things.

Vers. 26. The just man, conscious of human weakness, is forgiving, even if a friend has sinned; or else, because knowing that his friend is made in the image of God, he is in harmony with himself, holding a modest opinion, restraining himself, and retaining nothing of hostile malice, he fosters tranquil thoughts.

CHAPTER XIII.

Vers. 2. The just man shall attain the end of his virtue, but the unjust shall not reap mature fruit. The iniquitous man shall terrify himself, finding no defense for his sin. ^C

Vers. 14. The natural law, from which the cause of life springs, for to the just person the law is not set; but there is punishment unto death for the one ensnared in sins. The fountain of life is the execution of the commandments. To the just among the Gentiles, the wealth of the circumcised shall accrue.

CHAPTER XIV.

Vers. 10. The mind conscious of sin gives pain to the soul; the homes of the impious are their habits and customs; their tabernacles are their inner intentions. There is a way that appears straight, which prefers things that seem to exist over those that truly do. Constantly it deliberates on what must be done. They shall hold a portion, or share it equally among themselves; for the bold man would not be a coward. ^D

Vers. 20, 23. It seems to me that he states this not for the sake of an exhortation, but narrating what is wont to happen. Then the following words contain the reason for correction: "He who despises the poor sins"—for the evil consequences are clear from this. Unless someone corrects [this], who of these would repent? Who would praise others? He who is eager for virtue abounds in work and knowledge; for by always thinking of his duty, he will progress more. But the soft and indolent man—that is, the one who avoids labors—will labor in his lack of virtues.

CHAPTER XVI.

Vers. 16. "Nidus" (nest) signifies at times a place, at times a philosophical thought. [alt-version omitted]

^A Since therefore the place of wisdom is the theorems in which it dwells, these are to be preferred to "falsely named knowledge"; or else, they are "the brood of wisdom." For just as gold is better than silver, so is wisdom superior to prudence; for the one deals with knowing, the other with interpreting what is known. Or understand by the "nest of wisdom" the Churches, or the dwellings of the saints in the heavens; but wisdom is Christ.

Vers. 17. Holding to a perpetual series of actions, they have the duration of a life that is consistent, turning away from evils, that is, from death.

Vers. 29. Here he calls the iniquitous man the devil, who tempts men, wishing to know who among them are like him and willing to sin; and he drives them into paths, that is, into actions that are not good. He it is who fixes his eyes upon each individual man, ^B observing carefully to which lust he is prone; and when he knows this from his movements, he sets his snares; and having caught him, he leads him into all evils. By "defining with his lips" he implies that by his wicked suggestions he strives to see whatever he desires fulfilled in deed through men; he is the furnace of iniquity, which inflames the one it has caught with his enticements unto every kind of wickedness.

Vers. 30. "An eye seeing good things," that is, one that distinguishes. But what are the good things? One must inquire. One is not pained because one does not see gold, or waste away because one does not look upon a beautiful body. But hear what the good things are: ^C Heaven, earth, the sea, and the entire creation. Look upon such things as these, which gladden the soul; for what profit is there in the eye being delighted, if nothing of utility is gained, but rather one's soul is corrupted?

Vers. 31. Having already spoken above of many of the devil's iniquities, we shall add to what has been said the things that remain. To all his exaggerations he also says these things to his followers: "This thing is a necessity (having sharpened one's perception toward evil), therefore one must use it. Pleasure is natural, one must enjoy it. Wealth comes from God, one must rejoice in it." And when he has persuaded his subject of all these things, then he makes him boast in his mind as if he were performing great acts of righteousness, ^D and he stores this up in the honors of old age.

CHAPTER XVII.

Vers. 6. The faithful man, not being eager about sensible things, is seen as having everything; but he who is eager about them, is seen as having nothing. For he who loves money will not be satisfied with money. Or, the faithful man will perceive whatever is said about this world as being tropes for the riches of the mind; but the infidel will not attain the teaching of any matter because of the impurity of his soul.

Vers. 28. "A fool" [is he who] by silence hides his own ignorance, or who hides a passion either within himself or from his neighbors.

CHAPTER XIX

Vers. 7. He does not perform every wickedness (for it is impossible), but he performs those that are able to co-exist; yet he does not cease from doing evil. He calls Christ the good thought; for He himself provides it. And everyone who does good will find Him; for he calls anyone who performs every good work "prudent." ^A

Vers. 24. He who does not live rightly hides his hands unjustly in his soul. [Being] unwilling to cultivate his own field, how will he be filled with bread? For the practical virtues take the place of hands, bringing our bread—the bread that comes down from heaven—to our mouth. Therefore, such a one cannot be helped even from the beginning, because he is slothful.

CHAPTER XXI

Vers. 21. That is, the judgment covers over the defense of the ungodly. For God excels those who do good with His rewards. ^B

CHAPTER XXII

Vers. 26. Do not surrender yourself to postponing repentance, out of respect for anyone. For if you die and have no time to repent, you will no longer have rest.

CHAPTER XXIII

Vers. 23. He introduces the envious devil to himself, and eats his bread with him, who for the sake of vainglory, or to please men, does any of his good works; for such a one receives his reward. For the devil manifests these things to men, so that, through human praise, the time-server might be corrupted and robbed of eternal blessings. ^C

CHAPTER XXIV

Vers. 20. The wicked will not produce virtues and right dogmas (for these are the offspring of the soul), because they do not fear the Lord. But those who remain in the fear of the Lord will bring forth offspring daily, and their hope will not depart. These things follow what was said. For the enemies, he says, being wicked, rejoiced in the falls of others; but that which you censure, do not imitate. For their worldly splendor and illusion [last] only up to this life, and are extinguished by death; often, indeed, they vanish while the guilty are still living. ^D

CHAPTER XXX

Vers. 7. The wise man says these things to Wisdom itself, or the servant of Christ to the Lord. And having mentioned two [things], he asks for more; but what seems to be the first request is rather the preamble of the request; for he prays to obtain what he asks, saying: Do not shut your ears to my prayers, but grant the grace. After which, he adds the first petition: Drive far from me an empty word and a false opinion, so that, having been filled with these, I might not become a liar. A sense of fullness creates pride and makes a man consider himself above rebuke, innocent in word and deed. For [in saying] "Who sees me?" he speaks [as if] for "Who will convict me?" so that, not being filled with wisdom, I might not seem incomprehensible to others, or even appear as a liar, speaking things above their grasp.

Vers. 15. The leech is born in sweet waters, from

which it is a kind of worm-like animal; it is extremely smooth to the touch and, to those who drink the water with open mouths, it subtly enters on account of its smoothness. Then, having wound itself within some inner part, it does not break away until it has killed the man by drinking his blood; for it is a blood-sucker, and from this it is nourished and grows. He now likens the devil to this creature, who, not being able to master men by force—for he mostly uses three attacking forces against them: pleasure, allurement, and deceit, and because of this, killing them little by little and secretly—first leads them to perdition by the ways of false doctrine, which he also calls Hades, by showing at the end of the judgment the magnitude of sin. Then he overwhelms them with the sweetness of dissipation, which he calls the love of women. Following these is the love of money, or greed, which he also calls the earth, never satisfied with water; for such is the sandy and insatiable thing. These, therefore, are the passions that the evil one has devised for the destruction of men, which he so loves and cherishes as if they were his own daughters. He calls the fourth thing the practice and habit of these. For he who has once held a wrong opinion, or committed fornication, or craved more, does not immediately fall into these passions, but rather he who has been defeated by habit and ^B sensation. For you would find such people, buried in false doctrines, never satisfied, but always further intensifying their passions, to the point that they urge others also toward them. Just as water and fire, when supplied with suitable matter, do not cease, nor do they say, "It is enough," but rather increase; and likewise water, with the influx of water, does not subside but grows. Which things you, O child, knowing, refrain from, lest, being unaware, you become prey to pleasure little by little, just as to a most smooth leech, and be despoiled of your life.

Vers. 19, 20. The tracks of a flying eagle: the soul of the wise person, which, though wise, is unable to know by itself the flights of the intellectual eagle. Concerning which it is written: “The great eagle, long in its extension and full of talons," having no trace of the presence of the devil; whether it flew in upon me from somewhere, I do not know. For the evil one, turning aside from me, I did not recognize, as I had no desire for him. Such is the way of an adulteress, namely, spurious doctrine.

Vers. 22. The people from the Gentiles, who were formerly a slave of sin and the devil. So that passage: “I will provoke you to jealousy with a foolish nation,” and: “The foolish man shall be filled with the food of life,” and: “The odious woman,” that is, the harlot. For the Church from the Gentiles was formerly a harlot, going after strange gods. ^C And the maidservant shall cast out her mistress; the Church of the Gentiles [shall cast out] the Synagogue, which was the mistress; for the law and the prophets are subject to it. A slave of intellectual scrutiny was that which is according to the letter, which the Jews formerly revered as a mistress. But the nations, converting the material word into the spiritual, cast out that which was mistress among them—namely, the corporal observance of the law.

Vers. 25. He says "the nations," who have no strength, and yet they store up for themselves eternal life by good works.

^A And the *choerogryllii*—a kind of fish, or rather the hares which are called *oistroi*—are the nations formerly weak, who took refuge in Christ; for the rock is a place of refuge for the *choerogryllii*, which dwell in the rocks. You, too, therefore, He says, even if you are a weak animal, take refuge in the rock of the true faith, and there amend your life. By relying on works, one enters into the kingdom. Therefore you too, He says, do not despair of the kingdom of the heavens because of the weakness of your faith, but, trusting in the promise concerning it, pursue the commandments that produce it. The lion is Christ; for all rational beings are as beasts of burden before Him. For Moses says: "But I am an infant." On account of its natural alacrity, it is said to walk freely.

Vers. 51. Truly He, having been offered as a sacrifice for sins, and walking on high, has the flock following Him. "For when I am lifted up," He says, "I will draw all men to myself." The rooster plays the role of a teacher, who, sowing doctrine in souls, strongly proclaims the light: "Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near." This was He who from the beginning awakened the hearts of men, and, through many things, was announcing in advance the day of His presence in the flesh; He was dispelling the darkness and clearly showing the eternal light to all. Walking ^B nimbly among the females—that is, in the Churches—nimbly and bravely, as He says: "Behold, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age."

Vers. 32. Or if you set yourself to the meaning of the Scriptures; or, unless you have a teachable ear, but are contentious, will you hear? "But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom."

CHAPTER XXXI

Vers. 3. Do not give your wealth to strange pleasures or doctrines. Drink wine prudently; that is, drink the wine of the true vine—the interpretation of the Scriptures, and the contemplation of things that are—and exercise your mind with much discernment.

Vers. 6. Now He calls labor "sorrow." Therefore, those who labor and suffer for God, after they have been inebriated ^C with the fatness of the Lord's house, will forget their sorrows.

Vers. 8. Strengthen your purpose to attend to my words, which are of God Himself.

CHAPTER XX (in Greek)

Vers. 23. The north wind is the devil, who stirs up and tempts the saints who are placed on high, and who does not want them to work; or it means stirring up words against His own dogmas.

CHAPTER XXVI (in Greek)

Vers. 3. Therefore, just as these things bring animals to their duty, so the rod, that is, reproof, corrects the lawless nation.

Vers. 7. Of such as these, He says, rather extinguish their authority, and concede them neither practical nor theoretical rule. ^D

Verse 15. If the tree of life grows from the fruits of justice, whoever buries justice with iniquity, which is called a hand, shall not eat of the tree of life.

CHAPTER XXVII (in Greek).

CHAPTER XXXI (in Vulg.).

THE SAME DIDYMUS: UNPUBLISHED FRAGMENTS OF THE COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

^A I. ^B CAP. IV. Vers. 24. God is Spirit. Since God is invisible, and incorporality follows invisibility; since God is incorporeal, He is also invisible. If this is so, then He who is called Spirit in this place will not be moved air. For it is not because "spirit" signifies wind among men that it must necessarily have the same meaning in God. Just as, therefore, when the same God is called light, because He illuminates not the eye but the mind, He is not a body but an intellectual light; and furthermore, when He is called love, He is not a certain affection, but a substance loving those things which He creates and over which He provides; so when God is called Spirit, He denotes not wind, but an incorporeal and life-giving substance. ^C But everyone who has learned that God is Spirit, worshipping Him spiritually, in spirit and in truth, no longer worships the God of all things in a figurative way. For the sake of distinguishing from the letter, He says "in spirit," and to distinguish from a figure, He says "in truth." For these things were valid as long as the appropriate time lasted; but with the coming of the truth, that is, the presence of Christ, all things have ceased.

^B II. CAP. V. Vers. 29. They shall go forth who have done good, unto the resurrection of life; but they who have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. With men divided according to their disposition into the impious or the unbelieving, and the religious or the believers, those former ones, that is, the impious and the unbelieving, also rise in the universal resurrection, yet not to judgment, because he who does not believe has already been judged. ^D But those who have believed in the Savior, and who in addition have performed good works, these shall rise in a resurrection to life, not to be condemned; while conversely those others,

^A who have sinned, shall rise to judgment. But as for the state of infants, since they too are resurrected, God alone perhaps knows, as do those to whom the revelation of the truth concerning this matter has been made.

III.

Here also it should be noted how easily their impetus was broken. For those who had said, "This is the prophet," ^B who had labored to seize him so as to make him king, having found him, by no means appoint him king; but, having cast off their amazement, as I think, they no longer marveled at the previous things, but were longing again to enjoy a table such as had been provided before. The Jews had indeed crossed the Red Sea once, with Moses leading; but there is a great difference. For he performed everything while praying, and as a servant; but this one [did so] with full authority. And there, when a south wind blew, the water receded, so that they could pass over on dry land; here, however, a greater miracle occurred. For the sea, remaining in its own nature, thus carried its Lord upon its back, bearing witness to the oracle which says: ^C "Walking upon the sea as upon pavement." Rightly, moreover, as he was about to enter Capharnaum, a rebellious and unbelieving town, he performed the miracle, making himself manifest not only to those within it but also to those outside the city by the things miraculously done, and rendering them evident, wishing to soften its unbelief. For when such great multitudes of people had flocked there, setting aside the care for other things—what stone would this not have been sufficient to soften? Yet they experienced nothing of the sort, but again were longing for corporal food.

IV.

Benignity and gentleness are not always useful, but sometimes the master must use harshness when the student is lazy and dull. This the Son of God did also, as ^D many times elsewhere, so also at this time. For when the crowds came, and were flattering him, and saying: "Master, when did you come here?"—in order to show that he does not desire human glory, he answered them harshly, with only their salvation proposed to himself; and wishing not only to provide this, but even to bend their mind and bring it into the open. For what does he say? "Amen I say to you," that is, definitely and firmly: "You seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate from the loaves and were filled." The miracle of the loaves had not stunned the crowds, but the being filled. Therefore they had come again, so that they might enjoy the same benefit. Hence they were saying: "Our fathers ate the manna in the desert." Now after he had struck the crowds with this great rebuke, he did not stop here, but added a warning, saying:

^A “Work, not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which remaineth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for him the Father, even God, hath sealed.” Do not, he says, be concerned with this food, but with that spiritual and immortal one, which leads to immortal life. He says these things not to forbid working, but so that we might not be clung to created things, taking thought for the rest of the morrow. For it is possible to work without hoarding or worrying about anything for the morrow. If someone being idle is busy with his belly and pleasures, this one works for the food which perisheth; but if one should feed and give drink and clothe Christ, working ^B both bodily and spiritually, who is so senseless and mad as to say that such a one works for food that perisheth, for the sake of which the promise of the kingdom that is to come and the enjoyment of those good things is to be partaken of? For this food remains perpetually. Then, since he had spoken something great about himself, and had said that he would give it, so that he might not again bring upon himself the aforementioned objection, making his word credible, he leads the provision of such food to the Father; for having said, “Which the Son of man shall give unto you,” he added, “For him the Father, even God, hath sealed,” that is, “For this purpose he sent him, to supply you with this heavenly food.” The expression also implies another interpretation; for elsewhere Christ says: “He that heareth my words hath set his seal that God is true”; in so far as he has affirmed the truth of God to be in him, that is, he demonstrated and revealed it through his own testimony; for he had indeed shown himself; but because he was speaking to the Jews, he brought the testimony of the Father into the midst.

V. Verse 59. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever. ^C If it seems to be contrary to that which says, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness,” there is by no means any disagreement. For if anyone does not hunger, nor thirst, after having eaten of this bread and drunk of the immortal cup, nevertheless, because of the lovely and praiseworthy nature of the food and the drink, he who is satisfied still hungers, and he who hungers still thirsts, so that he is always satisfied and always hungering.

VI. Chapter VIII. Verse 51. If a man keep my word, he shall never see death. ^D Since the Saviour had said that he who keeps his word shall not see death, the Jews who were present were mistaken, and assumed that "to see death" was the same as "to taste it." For it seemed to them, in so far as their words went, that he would not taste death who would not experience common death. But this seems to subvert the Lord’s promise, since even those who have kept his word die. However, their error arose from a malicious cavil concerning homonymy. For he who keeps the word of Jesus shall not see the death that follows because of sin, even if he should taste of common and bodily death.

^A Since they spoke indefinitely, "The prophets are dead," without adding "all," there is no contradiction in the fact that Enoch and Elias did not experience death.

VII. Vers. 56. *Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day.*

We must ask what day he means. I say, then, that since the Savior is and is called the true light and the sun of righteousness, He creates a day whenever He rises upon someone through virtue and divine knowledge. Since, therefore, He also appeared to Abraham, illuminating him unto righteousness, he rejoiced with rational joy, seeing the intellectual day of the Lord.

VIII.

CAP. IX, vers. 37. *And you have seen him; and it is he who speaks with you.*

^B The eyes of his heart had been illuminated, because the true light had shone upon him. But he who, on the contrary, is held blinded by his own ignorance, seems to himself to have no sin, in that he has not voluntarily committed at least more grievous things. But ignorance itself is in another sense a sin; for, being a rational human, he could have possessed the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, he is condemned for the negligence of that very ignorance. Thus you will understand that saying: *The servant who has not known his Lord's will shall be beaten with few.*

IX.

CAP. XIV, vers. 28. *The Father is greater than I.*

In what sense did the Savior utter the word "greater"? Is it in terms of the size of bodies? Or as being greater in time? Or as adorned with greater virtue? But all these things are within the bounds of quantity, and of things that are capable of being measured. But there is nothing capable of being measured or limited in God. Therefore, nothing "greater" or "less" is spoken of regarding God the Word or the Father; for God is not of a nature to be measured or circumscribed. ^C But if you say the Father is greater because He is unbegotten and the Son is begotten, we shall say that these are modes of existences, not of substances—and especially in the case of those that are without quality and incorporeal—and they do not diminish the dignity of those who are consubstantial, by attributing "less" or "more" to this one or that one. For that which is simple in substance and intelligence is not of a nature to be compared by measure or quantity of size. Why, then, was it said? The Savior brought forth a double method of teaching in one statement. For the meaning of the word spoken is twofold. For example, by the words, *He who sent me*, and *I go*, He hinted at the body existing in a place, which is circumscribed, and not at His own uncircumscribed divinity which embraces all things. But by the comparative word, by which He says the Father is greater than Himself, He manifests His divinity as being compared with the Father, in that He is consubstantial with Him, yet so that on account of the assumption of the body, He is regarded as less than the Father. ^D And do not be surprised if the Savior says He is less than the Father when He has become man, since even [He is] a little lower than the angels

[is] said ^A according to this: "A little less than the angels we see Jesus because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor." And it was said to his own disciples as being the lesser: "But I," he says, "am in the midst of you as one who serves and as the lesser." Therefore, things which are compared in this way are consubstantial; but things which are simple in concept of mind and in substance do not admit of greater and lesser. But if, regarding the divinity of the Son, you wish to interpret the saying, "The Father who sent me is greater than I," without the assumption of flesh, you will make him contained and enclosed in places, and sent where he was not, and departing from where he is—which is absurd.

^B CAP. XVII, vers 2. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you.

This is what he says: "Reveal me to those who are ignorant; make manifest to them the glory which I have with you, being God the Word." For "No one," he says, "is able to come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him." In the same way, one is to understand also the Son glorifying the Father by revealing him to those who did not know God. In this same way also the Holy Spirit is said to glorify the Son, by revealing him to those who are ignorant. But if he speaks more humanly even here, do not be surprised; for he does this for the reasons already stated, and always taking care ^C lest he seem to speak magnificently about himself.

The words, "And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God," he says by way of distinction from the so-called gods; for indeed he was about to send them to the nations that had many gods. But if they [the Arians] will not endure this because of the word "only," but deny that the Son is the true God, proceeding further they will also deny that he is the Son of God. It must be known, moreover, that he speaks of the cause in place of the caused thing; for to know the true One procures for us eternal life.

FRAGMENTS FROM DIDYMUS’ EXPOSITION ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

(Wolf, Anecdota, vol. IV, p. 1, from a Catena ms. on the Acts which the library of New College, Oxford, preserves, codex LVIII.)

^D CAP. II, vers 5. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem.

Didymus. The words, "from every nation," are to be understood more broadly.

^A Someone might approach this more forcibly, saying that the text refers to the devout Jews living in Jerusalem; it signifies those from every nation who were in Jerusalem—for example, let us say there were ^B seventy nations in all. From these seventy nations, some happened to be in Jerusalem; suppose that from these, twenty were the devout Jews in Jerusalem, who were speaking the mighty works of God. Thus, the phrase "from every nation" should not be taken simply and strictly, but only of those who were in Jerusalem. And while we assume there were twenty nations in Jerusalem, let no one think that the entire twenty nations were there, but rather that certain men from them were. Consistent with these points, one must also endeavor to understand the prophecy of Joel, which speaks in the person of God: "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," but we must say that it is given to those prepared to receive the Spirit.

^C Vers. 17. *I will pour out of my Spirit.* When those who bear the image of the heavenly [one], having become partakers of the true light, say: "The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is marked upon us." Truly, wonders are also published on earth when all nations depart from their ancestral customs and gods, receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, whence it follows that divine gifts according to the Spirit are to be considered as wonders for men living on earth.

Vers. 21. *And it shall be: Whosoever shall call upon, etc.* Thus those words of Christ are true, "Everyone that asketh receiveth," provided that among all those who ask, those who ask wrongly are not included (for he who asks wrongly does not truly ask). In this sense, the following is true: "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," provided that these are not included—those who, not doing the will of the Father, call Jesus Lord and therefore seem to themselves to be calling upon his name. Otherwise, it is not one and the same thing to call upon the name of the Lord and to pronounce it. For he who prays and desires to obtain some good thing calls; to whom, consequently, help is granted. But he who pretends to be a servant invokes Christ saying, "Lord, Lord," yet does not do the things that are a servant's. Therefore, to such he says: "Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I command?" ^D Therefore, take the saying, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," in a way consistent with this: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," that is, [calling him] Lord, both in deed and in the disposition of a servant.

^A Ver. 22. *A man approved of God.*

But if those who are maddened by the doctrines of Artemas, and those who followed them—even the followers of Samosatenus—think that Jesus is a mere man because of the passage before us, let them know that the Son of God, who is God the Word, became man, having taken the form of a servant, so that Christ, while dwelling among men, is at once God and man. Just as, therefore, when Christ is called the power of God and the wisdom of God, we understand it of his divinity, not of his humanity; so, in turn, when Christ is said, according to the Scriptures, to have died and been buried, we understand it of his body, and not of his divinity. ^B And indeed, there are ten thousand such things to be found in the Scriptures. Hence, if one calls Jesus "a man approved of God by signs and wonders," we understand it in consistency with that which is said: "Now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth," and with that: "A man full of stripes, and acquainted with infirmity." For indeed, hearing this same man—the one approved of God—saying, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son," and, "I am the light of the world," and, "I am in the Father, and the Father in me," we are not so foolish as to think that these things are said of a mere man. Let them tell us, those who hold this opinion, how they interpret: "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man," and that: "If ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before." For they will not be able to understand any of these things piously, if they deny the divinity of Jesus. How, then, has he who is from Mary, whom they suppose to be a mere man, descended from heaven, and how does the same ascend to where he was before? They will have no answer. By the passage before us, we must also refute those who think that the Savior was mere flesh. For the word "man" cannot, in truth, be appropriately used of mere flesh.

^C Ver. 25. *Because he is on my right hand, etc.*

They who do not foster sober and just opinions concerning God accept the session of the Son at the right hand of the Father locally, because it is said: "Sit thou on my right hand," or that the Savior is narrated to have sat at the right hand of majesty after his ascension. To them one may say this: For if the Son is at the right hand of the Father locally, as they think, it is impossible for the Father to be at the right hand of the Son by this same logic. But the Son says: I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.

^A Therefore, we must conceive of the Son being at the right hand of the Father, and the Father at the right hand of the Son, in another way than that of place. In this same way must the saying be understood: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. And this one also: And my flesh shall rest in hope. For Jesus, insofar as he underwent death, laid aside the flesh which he had assumed for the sake of our salvation, so that on the third day he might raise it from death again. He says that this flesh of his, therefore, rested in hope, due to the expectation of the resurrection. And if anyone supposes this to have been said in the person of David, let him cease from running against the opinion of the prudent concerning the resurrection. For although they who hold this view cannot demonstrate what they believe to the eye, they act piously nonetheless, saying that the flesh rose again so as to become a spiritual and incorruptible body. For just as the dead man who rises again lives after the resurrection and is dead no more, so the flesh that is raised up is, after the resurrection, a spiritual and incorruptible body.

Vers. 31. Neither did his flesh see corruption. That the flesh of Jesus did not see corruption does not mean that it did not die (for it did die, and was laid in a sepulcher), but rather it means that it did not decay. For he rose again on the third day. For it was fitting that the resurrection should happen in this way. For if his flesh had been dissolved after the manner of the dead, his rising would have brought hesitation, with people being in doubt whether the body that rose again was truly the body of Jesus. ^B Furthermore, it would follow from this that the resurrection did not happen on the third day, but after it. In order, therefore, that every hesitation might be cut off, he rose again after three days, without decay having occurred, and was buried in a new sepulcher, in which no one had previously been laid, so that it might not be supposed that someone else had risen in another’s place.

Vers. 38. And let each of you be baptized. Since the Savior commands those who are initiated to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, some, imprudently attacking the Scripture, and hearing Peter exhorting that each one be baptized in the name of Christ, believe ^C that this one title is equivalent to the three. They are, in fact, affected by the heresy of Sabellius. The Church, however, believing the most holy Trinity to be indivisible and inseparable, affirms the Father to be the Father of the Son, and the Son to be the Son of the Father, and the Holy Spirit to be of the Father and of the Son. Through this union it comes to pass that whoever is baptized in the name of Christ is baptized into the Trinity, nor is the essence of God separated by the circumscription and distinction of the names of Father and Son. ^D

FRAGMENTA IN ACTUS APOSTOLORUM

^A CAP. III, vers. 20. *Ut veniant tempora refocillationis.*

Whoever is diligent in reading will find many kinds of prophecy revealed in the Scriptures, among which is the prediction of future events. Some men, instructed by God in this kind of prophecy, predicted the birth of Christ, and no less the passion which He was to undergo for the sake of men. These prophecies concerning such events, which came to pass when the Lord was crucified, God fulfilled; wherefore, when it is written here that the words of all the prophets were fulfilled when Christ suffered, one ought to understand not all the prophets absolutely, but only those who predicted the passion of Christ.

Vers. 21. *Usque ad tempora restitutionis.*

He who observes the custom of Scripture will not take the expressions "until" and "then" in a strict sense, as if they circumscribed a time, in the meaning that once that time had passed, something else different from the former must occur. For what was said by God to some, "I am your God, until you have grown old, I am," does not imply that when they have grown old, He will no longer be their God; for He is immortal and eternal. Innumerable things agree with this, which are handed down in the same way in divine doctrine, and who could suffice to enumerate them? When, therefore, the present text says that heaven must receive the Lord "until the times of restitution," etc., it is to be thought that Christ, having been received into heaven, remains there until the consummation of the world, and will come then with power, when all other things which the prophets predicted have been restored. Or these things may also be accepted in this way: that when the end is imminent, and sensible things have passed away, Christ will be ^B superior to all the heavens, not indeed as being established in heaven, but as established above heaven, in that glory which He had with the Father before the world was created. Being, therefore, above every visible creature, He puts an end ^C to that which is in heaven.

Vers. 23. *Fiet vero, ut omnis anima, etc.*

Because the soul is immortal, its perdition is to be understood as its falling away from those good things which it was to enjoy, had it lived a pious life.

CAP. IV, vers. 12. *Neque est in ullo alio salus.*

Since our salvation is founded in the equal essence of the Trinity, it follows that he is saved who embraces Christ born for us, and believes in His name, which was given on earth under the appellation of the Son, from the time of the nativity, in which he who believes partakes, through the Son, of the Father, and of the Holy Spirit, as the sent Paraclete. Whence he who is saved in the name of the Savior, the same obtains salvation from the Holy Trinity. ^D

Vers. 24. *Master, thou art God, who hast made heaven and earth.* ^A Many heretics divide the Godhead, saying that one is God the maker of the world, and another is the Father of Christ. Whence, having also divided the Scripture, they say that the Old Testament is of the world’s maker, but the New is from the Father of Christ. And consistently with their impious opinion, they say that these gods are opposed to one another, as are their Scriptures, so that those who adhere to the Lord are opposed to the maker of the world, and are therefore better than him; just as, in turn, the followers of the Creator of the world think most evilly of Christ and his teaching. But the present passage of Scripture refutes their impiety, since it represents the apostles, after being delivered from the plots of the high priests and elders, and returning to their own people—that is, those who professed the same faith as they did—singing together with them all a hymn of thanksgiving to the maker of heaven and earth, and furthermore mentioning the second psalm, as having been pronounced by him through the mouth of David in the Holy Spirit, the beginning of which is: *Why did the nations rage?* etc. For by all these things it is shown that the same [Being] is God the maker of the world and Father of our Savior, and that both Testaments proceeded from the same. ^B

CAP. V, vers. 32. *And the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to those who obey him,* etc. Not only here, but in other places of Scripture it is signified that the Holy Spirit is given, if we ourselves provide the occasion and cause for receiving him. For to obey God is a matter of our own will, as is believing, to which surely the Holy Spirit is given in proportion, to those who attain his gifts. Akin to this is the verse: *He will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.*

CAP. VI, vers. 5. *And they chose Stephen.* ^C Those who pursue virtue possess it, some perfectly, others imperfectly. Stephen, therefore, is said to have been chosen because he was full of faith and of the Spirit; for not all who believe in some way are full of faith. For a certain person who was seen by Peter is said to have faith, but not to be full of faith. ^D

CHAP. VII. Vers. 22. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.

^B Vers. 32. And Moses, becoming terrified, etc. Although the expression exactly as it is in the Exodus account is not carried in these words, nevertheless it is set forth there meaning the same thing. For the word "terrified" will not differ much from "fearful," when Moses became fearful. These things are said concerning the vision at the bush, with the same distinction remaining between the fearful and the terrified, even in the account concerning Mount Sinai. For what is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "And so terrible was the sight," refers to that mountain. For concerning it Moses said, "I am terrified and tremble," having used the words as equivalent.

Vers. 38. This is he who was in the church, in the desert. ^C The preceding word shows that it does not happen that one is in better or worse places only according to location. For those of whom the discourse treats, even though they were in location outside of Egypt, were in the same state within it, not having departed in their mind from the Egyptian customs. Of the same meaning is also that which is in the Gospel, "Where the treasure is, there is also the heart," not necessarily where one is according to place, but where one has his mind. Many, therefore, though they are on earth, by gathering things suitable for heaven, have their heart there; but conversely, the angels who fell, even then, while they were there, had their disposition on the earth; by which it followed that they were cast from heaven to earth.

Vers. 42. But God turned, and gave them up. ^D Some, having approached the Old Testament as they ought, think that the Jews were given up by God to serve the host of heaven, having been rapt away from that which is written: "For if the word spoken through angels was firm," etc., and from the other portion, where the law is said to have been ordained through angels in the hand of a Mediator. But he who defines it thus has need of much correction and counsel. We, however, knowing that which is said, "God turned," and what follows, [declare that] the betrayal which is now indicated came about thus.

For as in those things which we ourselves chose, God permits us [to remain], after having often restrained us, so did He [act] regarding the Hebrews, who had a desire to honor the creation more than the Creator; having restrained them often through the prophets [from] such a purpose, He permitted them—as they remained [in their purpose]—to be handed over to that which they had chosen. Whence it is necessary to hear more accurately the statement, "God turned and handed them over." For this was not the primary intention of the Law. For if in it [we] read, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve," He handed over those who had transgressed this commandment to serve the host of heaven, not indeed making them so by a primary design, ^B but rather, as the text says, [as one who] had turned [them] away from a prior will.

Vers. 54. *But hearing these things, they were cut to the heart.*

This was clarified shortly before, when we were discussing that statement: "For if the word spoken through angels," etc., that is, the law promulgated through angels was given to men by God as the angels' [law]: unless it be rather intimated hereby that the law was so prescribed to men that they should lead a life after the manner of angels. For they are placed under God. Therefore, it is said of them: "Bless the Lord, all you His angels, mighty in strength, doing His word." But the second interpretation seems more forced.

CAP. VIII, vers. 2. *And they made great lamentation.*

As therefore one ought not to receive every gain, ^C nor only that which truly contributes to salvation; so one ought not to be distressed at every loss or misfortune, but [only] at those things which truly harm the soul. Since, therefore, Stephen, while conversing with men, contributed much towards the piety of those who desired it, it was consistent that those who were henceforth to be deprived of so great a man should be grieved at his slaughter. And thus it is necessary, even upon the death of others—if they should otherwise be our closest friends—to mourn, [yet] with a sorrow not admitted beyond measure. For the Savior Himself provides an example of this, who even went so far as to shed tears over the beloved Lazarus who had died.

Vers. 22. *Repent, therefore.*

The change here is voluntary, which falls only upon ^D him who is capable of both virtue and vice. But man, according to the fables of the heretics, being evil by nature, is not capable of voluntary change. Whence it is superfluous, when it is said to Simon, "Repent," [to imagine it is] from...

his very creation that he was evil. But now, it is not in vain that it is said here: "Repent, therefore." Thus he also is free to such an extent. And since he is not evil by nature, nor prone to commanded wickedness, neither will any other person be discovered to be like this. ^A

Vers. 36. *And as they went on their way.* It must be noted that truly Christian men held baptism—which is external and sensible—in the highest regard. For since it is bestowed in a twofold way—at one time by water, at another by the Holy Spirit and fire—they did not despise that which was more bodily, on the grounds that the other, which was wrought by the Spirit, was more excellent. For even that former one contributes to salvation toward the resurrection of the body. And it is possible, by means of the present book of the Acts of the Apostles, to glean many things that demonstrate the usefulness of baptism by water.

Vers. 39. *The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip.* The aforementioned rapture is equivalent to the assumption of Elijah. And since Philip, having been snatched away, was transported from one place to another, it follows that Elijah too, being taken up from the earth, was translated to another region, even if in some cases the names of the places to which they were translated are indicated, and in others they are not. For Philip, after his snatching away, was found at Azotus; ^B but Paul the Apostle, having been transported into the third heaven, and even as far as paradise, heard unspeakable words. You must also consider Habakkuk in this regard. For he too was carried aloft by an angel from Jerusalem to Babylon. But Elijah is not described as having arrived in a certain place when he was taken up. For it is said that he was "assumed as if into heaven." This phrase implies that he was not translated into heaven itself, nor does it define where he was. Similarly, Enoch was also transported from place to place. For this is understood from the fact that he is said to have been "translated." But because it is not expressed in the canonical books where he arrived, he is recorded in the apocryphal accounts as having been taken up into paradise. If the matter is thus, it is simultaneously clear what is to be determined concerning Elijah. And so the phrase "as if into heaven" is not equivalent to the phrase "in paradise." But concerning our Savior, it is expressly said that after the resurrection he was taken up into heaven. ^C For there are many testimonies that exist concerning this.

CHAP. IX, vers. 6. *But arise and go.* Because Jesus, in saying to Paul, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" was the cause of his blindness, this must be set against the heretics who rail against Him who says, "Who has made the seeing and the blind? Is it not I, the Lord God?" For such passages as these drive into a corner those who say that there are different gods, and who accuse one as if He were the cause of blindness, while they accept the other... ^D

on the ground that He restores sight. But as for us, who profess one God, these things do not trouble us, especially knowing that He, having the care of this whole universe, has foreknowledge of to whom He will grant the faculty of seeing, and to whom not; and why, and when, and how. Thus, for example, He says that the man blind from birth was born so, that the works of God might be made manifest in him. And it is not an evil that contributes to the manifestation of the works of God; wherefore it is not inappropriate to say that God makes someone blind. ^A

*Vers. 7. Audientes quidem vocem, neminem vero videntes.* (Hearing the voice, but seeing no one.)

What is this conflict in the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles concerning Paul's vision? For Luke testifies that those who were with Paul in that vision which occurred on the road, heard the voice, but saw no one; but Paul himself, when narrating the same vision while standing on the steps, says that those who were with him saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one speaking. ^B By the sequence of the history, Chrysostom has carefully interpreted this passage, saying that the former narrative, which says that those present heard the voice, means that they heard the voice of Paul saying, "Who are you, Lord?" but that they saw no human being except Paul. But the subsequent narrative, which says that they beheld the light but did not perceive the voice of the one speaking, in the same man's judgment, is to be understood as concerning the voice of the Lord made to Paul, so that therefore they saw only the light. ^C

*Vers. 15. Dixit vero ad illum Dominus.* (And the Lord said to him.)

Those who dogmatize about a double nature say that Paul, being a spiritual man, was incapable of malice. And they confirm this opinion of theirs also from the text placed before us, in that God says concerning him: "He is a chosen vessel to Me." For they say, it is not written "He shall be to Me" here. But it must be answered to this that this testimony was given concerning him when, of his own free will, believing the oracle, the man went forth to meet Ananias. Wherefore it also follows that he who underwent such profound repentance in a moment of time became a chosen vessel. Furthermore, the fact that he did not eat for three whole days was proof of his intense repentance. ^D It is also possible to say that God, who knows the future as accurately as the present, testified for the sake of his future service, as if it were already

a chosen vessel. Others will say that being pious with a zeal full of ignorance, he persecuted those who believed in the Savior ^A as if they were apostates from God and His law; and since he did this with a certain divine intent, even if mistakenly, the One who called him looked at his intent and said, “Why do you persecute me?” For he immediately listened to the speaker and acted in a manner worthy of that call. Those who ponder the natures would have ceased from their deception had they understood that his being a chosen vessel belongs to the One who chooses, who does not regard nature but regards the life.

Ver. 33. He found there a certain man.

Ver. 36. In Joppa there was a certain disciple.

Ver. 36. She was full of works.

Scripture, which testifies that Dorcas was full of all good works and alms which she did. For it follows ^A that he who conducts his life in such a way must necessarily live without stains. And she is found to be full of alms which she did, whenever she performs them due to communion and the commandment of God, and not in order to hunt for praise from men. You shall say the same also concerning the other good works with which the woman praised here was filled.

Verse 37. *And it came to pass that she died from her sickness.* Why did they wait until she had died? Why had they not troubled Peter before this? They considered it unworthy, using their reason, to cause business for the disciples in this matter and to call them away from the ministry of the Gospel. Therefore it is said that Lydda was near to Joppa: whence they requested that they might undertake this labor in their spare time. ^B

CAP. X, verse 10. *A trance fell upon him.* Those who introduce the doctrine of a dual nature assert that those men who, through the depravity of their character, are called dogs and swine—to whom the Savior forbade the giving of the holy thing and casting of divine pearls—are incapable of salvation. Furthermore, they say that those who are called beasts of prey and foxes, and all who are simply designated by the names of brute animals, are evil by nature. It is necessary, therefore, to refute them from the present vision, showing that none of them is evil by nature, but only by choice. For when God wished to teach Peter ^C that no human being should be rejected as common and unclean, He let down a vessel like a sheet from heaven to earth by four corners, in which were all the kinds of brute animals, from which Peter was ordered to kill and eat. But he, still clinging to the Jewish custom and referring what was seen to the senses, refused to do this, saying that he had never eaten anything common or unclean. While he was saying these things, he heard the divine oracle: *What God has cleansed, do not you call common.* Taught by this same thing, he understood that God had spoken concerning the characters of the men mentioned, and he said that God had shown him that no human being is unclean by nature; therefore he also went without hesitation to Cornelius, who desired ^D with his whole house to receive the benefit of the evangelical teaching. Hence, the quadrupeds and the reptiles and the birds were shown, having a reference to the conditions of men, bestowed by God; it is not because of a nature opposing holiness that it is forbidden to cast pearls before dogs or swine, but because of a most wicked choice, which it is possible to abandon so that one no longer exists as a dog or a swine. Thus, the Syrophoenician woman, through faith, became a human from a dog, whence Jesus also bestowed upon her the bread of the children.

^A "And there came upon him," he says, "an ecstasy, and he saw the heaven opened" (Acts 10:10). Those who choose to be disciples of the wandering women—these are the ones from Phrygia—say that the prophets, being possessed by the Holy Spirit, did not understand their own utterances, being carried along at the time of prophecy. They also think they have a proof for this impiety from the text before us, which says that Peter fell into an ecstasy. But let those fools, who are truly wandering, know that this word signifies many things. For it means a stupor born of wonder, and an excursion from the senses to spiritual things, and also delirium; but the latter is not to be spoken either of Peter or of the prophets, though the other meanings derived from the word are. Indeed, Peter, having fallen into an ecstasy, understood, inasmuch as he reported what he had seen and heard, and of what things those shown to him were symbols. You will say the same concerning all the prophets, as they understood what they were reporting as visions. For they were wise, knowing from their own mouth what they uttered, after the Lord clearly commanded after the resurrection to make disciples of all nations. Or how could the apostles who were in Jerusalem, having heard the things concerning Cornelius, have disputed with Peter? Peter, the leader of the apostles and most holy man, certainly stood in need of the divine revelation concerning the Gentiles.

DIDYMUS FRAGMENTS ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS

The history of the Manichaeans and their extensive refutations, which we have covered in this volume, have brought to our memory Didymus the Alexandrian, who is numbered among the first and noble adversaries of that sect; yet the little book which remains against the Manichaeans is only an imperfect part of his work. And indeed, having recently examined two Vatican manuscripts of his writing, I found nothing beyond the published edition. But because I had begun to think about Didymus, I did not wish to return empty-handed from my investigation, until in a distinguished manuscript catena on the Epistles of Paul—from which I had already taken Cyril—I observed a large portion of Didymus commenting on the second epistle to the Corinthians; which, when I perceived it to be entirely unpublished—for neither Oecumenius, nor the recent Greek

the catena published at Oxford contains some material of Didymus on this Epistle; I immediately recorded this excellent matter in my notes, and having rendered it into Latin from the Greek, I have set it forth in the following pages of this volume for the use of the Church, just as in previous years I edited from the Vatican codices the work of Victorinus, a contemporary of Didymus, who likewise commented on the Epistles of Paul. ^A Who is ignorant of Didymus, the most celebrated teacher of the Alexandrian school, who counted among his countless auditors both our Jerome and Rufinus? Mingarelli has collected the many testimonies of the ancients regarding him—so studiously displayed in the appendix to the books of his *De Trinitate*—that no one can add anything to them. Furthermore, Jerome, in *De viris illustribus*, ch. 109, is witness that besides his commentaries on almost the entire Old Testament, of which much memory remains, Didymus also wrote on Matthew and John. But on Matthew, nothing of Didymus appears to survive, either in printed versions or in manuscript catenae. However, on John, the catena edited by Corderius has preserved some fragments of his. For my part, when I examined three Vatican manuscript catenae on the Gospel of John, one indeed contained nothing of Didymus; but the other two fortunately offered some moderate particles of his which Corderius entirely missed. We shall, therefore, append these to the other riches of Didymus. The edited catenae teach that Didymus also commented on the Acts of the Apostles. Nay, even beyond that, Cassiodorus (*Inst. div.*, ch. 8) testifies that Didymus possessed the Catholic Epistles in Greek, and expresses his gratitude that he had been rendered into Latin by Epiphanius Scholasticus—which translation, in fact, exists in printed form. But indeed, some critics, among whom is Cellerius (*Auct. sacr.*, vol. VIII, p. 759), denied or doubted, almost impudently, that this was the offspring of Didymus. But behold, the catena on the Catholic Epistles recently published at Oxford holds some fragments specifically of Didymus, which correspond entirely to the Latin text of Epiphanius. Jerome also narrates in his proems to those Epistles that Didymus wrote on the Epistles to the Galatians and to the Ephesians. ^B But to come to our most precious object: the same Jerome (*Ep.* 49) affirms that Didymus interpreted the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians most extensively. Although he does not explicitly say the former rather than the latter, it is clear that he speaks of the former; for he treats a famous passage of Paul concerning marriage and virginity (1 Cor. vii, 7). It is, moreover, a wonder that in our Vatican codex nothing of Didymus is read on the first Epistle among the various interpreters who make up the catena; yet, suddenly, on the second, an abundance of Didymus so overflows that it seems to be an almost complete commentary, with the exception of the ninth chapter, where there is a manifest omission of Didymus. And lest anyone doubt the author, the name of Didymus is always accurately written at the head of every segment in the codex. Let it be permitted us, therefore, to rejoice that at long last an excellent writing of Didymus is published—a man whom Jerome, in his preface to Hosea, calls the most learned of his time, and in Epistle 50, praises him as supreme in the knowledge of the Scriptures, as Tully in eloquence, Aristotle in arguments, etc. Rufinus also (*Hist. eccl.* II, 7) says that God, in the darkness of error, had kindled Didymus as a certain lamp shining with divine light, and narrates that he was highly approved by the great Bishop Athanasius and visited by the divine Anthony. I omit the distinguished praises accumulated upon him by Socrates and Sozomen and others. Nor, finally, shall I speak of the accusations brought against Didymus, which Mingarelli has sufficiently either diluted or elevated.

DIDYMI ALEXANDRINI COMMENTARIUS IN EPISTOLAM SECUNDAM PAULI APOSTOLI AD CORINTHIOS

CAP. I, VERS. 1. *Paulus apostolus et Timotheus frater, Ecclesiæ Dei quæ est Corinthi, cum omnibus sanctis qui sunt in universa Achaia.*

He addresses all who are in Achaia; for Corinth is a part of Achaia. He addresses the Epistle as written by himself, Silvanus, and Timothy; although he does not always do this. But this I believe he does, whenever he writes to a Church known

^A to him and to those taken as his associates in the ministry. Others say that if perhaps some of his companions suggested certain thoughts to him while he was writing, he was accustomed to add their names as well, thus showing that they also contributed something to the writing; and this he did out of great humility. But whether it can truthfully be said that one who wrote at the prompting of the Holy Spirit stood in need of outside help, consider for yourself. Nevertheless, even if the Epistle is from three, he alone is designated as the apostle of Christ by the will of God, for those who sign with him are disciples of the apostles. The words, "with all the saints," are ambiguous; for it is either, "With us, all the saints greet you," or, "With you, we greet all the saints." It should also be known that ^B in some copies the passage is written as if it were from Paul and Timothy alone.

VERS. 2. Grace to you and peace. The writers pray that grace and peace may come to the Corinthians from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; for it is evident that the same gift is bestowed by the Father and the Son. For just as the works which the Father does, the Son does in like manner; so also the gifts which the Father gives, the Son bestows. For one grace and one peace is given by the Trinity. It must also be said that when they call God their Father, they no longer call their Savior their brother, but their Lord; showing that although created beings may become sons of God, they nevertheless remain servants of the Lord Jesus, who is their creator. For He alone is truly, and not by adoption, the Son of God, and is the Lord of those who are adopted.

VERS. 3. Blessed be God. The holy Scriptures call God blessed, not as if He receives a blessing, but because He bestows it. For just as He alone is holy and good, hallowing and making men good, though He Himself does not become what He makes others; so He alone is blessed, bestowing a blessing but not receiving one. This, therefore, is the blessed God, who is God and Father of the Lord Jesus; God because of the incarnation, but Father of the same insofar as He is the Word and the only-begotten Son. He is Father of mercies by essence, ^C acting as the fountain of them; for He is not found to be such by a choice of virtue, as are those who become merciful. As the heavenly Father is merciful, for the Father of mercies bestows upon those who strive to imitate Him, not that they may be so essentially, but that they may become merciful. Besides this, He is the God of all consolation, clemency, and grace; this is that in which

^A all who are afflicted for the sake of the truth, or rather for the sake of true religion, are refreshed. For thus will these also teach other, weaker persons who are afflicted, to receive comfort under the lash of those who tribulate them.

Verse 6. Whether we are afflicted.

Masters declare themselves to be afflicted for the progress and salvation of their pupils, so that having perfect patience they may be strengthened, while they hope that worthy rewards will be given to the apostles who struggle for the truth, and to their hearers as well.

Verse 7. As you are partners in sufferings.

Since they had been partners in the sufferings on account of which there was consolation, he signifies to them the great tribulation that had befallen him in Asia from the accusation and calumny of Demetrius. And indeed appropriately, since he said he suffered for their consolation and salvation, so that they might acquire the patience which works within those very sufferings, he rightly, I say, manifests to them that he and those with him had suffered persecution and tribulation beyond their strength; so much so that we almost doubted whether the end of life was at hand. ^B He also sets forth the reason why he had almost died, saying: "Because we relied on ourselves, so that we might stand unyieldingly against every tribulation, God being our helper." That we might confidently trust that in Him and through Him we could overcome every hardship, He withdrew His help from us for a short time, persuading us that we must always trust in Him. For such confidence not only preserves the living in life, but also recalls to it those who have lost their lives, God, of course, raising them from the dead. Wherefore we also stir ourselves up, and exhort you, that you should not place your confidence in your own strength, lest we fall away from life, but that we should hope in God, who will make us alive even if we fall into death. Know, however, that even if we had perturbation and agony on account of the most grave tribulation that had befallen us, yet this battle was only in our heart; for we had the sentence of death, judging within ourselves the death down to our thoughts, ^C doing nothing turbulent... Whence we also had a good thought concerning the duty of relying on Him who raises from the dead and delivers from death. Consistent with what is set before us is that which says, "I was troubled and did not speak," and that about Job, that he did not sin with his lips before the Lord, despite the bitter and terrible things that had happened to him. It is evident that these things are not written about the common life or death. For he says: "Who delivered and does deliver us from such and so great a death, in whom we have hoped." For if this discourse were about common death, those who speak thus would never die, once they have departed from the body in the course of time. But those who affirm such things do actually undergo common death. Therefore, they speak of that death ^D which draws the soul away from eternal life.

^A

VERS. 11. *Adjuvantibus et vobis oratione pro nobis.* By these words he teaches that great and truly divine benefits are granted when many pray on behalf of one who has received them. Wherefore, also stirring up their benevolence and affection toward himself, he says: "From such and so great a death I have been delivered by God, with you also assisting by prayer for me," so that for the benefit received by me, who was afflicted, through the prayers of many men, thanks might be given by many; for if many have assisted by prayer in obtaining the grace, it follows that these same should give thanks to God the Giver.

VERS. 12. *Nam gloria nostra haec est, testimonium conscientiae nostrae.* Gloriation in God has witness from the conscience. This is said, however, of the conscience which does not accept persons. This glory, therefore, which is the testimony of our conscience, has caused us to behave in the whole world, and especially among you, not with human discipline, but with holiness and purity; for he who instructs according to the rule of the Gospel does not proclaim human doctrine, but that which the holy Scriptures hand down; which, since it is without any stain, is sincere. He calls "carnal wisdom" that which concerns sensible things, and he who possesses it does not grasp the wisdom of the Spirit, because he considers it to be foolishness. It is the custom of Scripture to call the disciplines of worldly and material things "carnal." So, therefore, it is also called "the prudence of the flesh"; and among the works of the flesh are numbered heresies, sorceries, idolatries; for these are by no means to be called carnal as though the name were taken from sensible flesh, but they are called so rather from material affection, by the norm of which he who works is said to walk according to the flesh, and becomes carnal, having become a captive of sin. Nevertheless, even if we have conducted ourselves in the whole world with holiness and purity, we have done so all the more among you.

VERS. 13. *Non enim alia scribimus vobis, quam quae legitis.* For since you are accustomed to read the Gospels and the Law and the prophets, we indeed write nothing different from what you read; for those things which we trace in our Epistles are likewise divinely inspired. Know this also, therefore, you who have until now had only a partial instruction. We hope, however, with the help of God, that you will come to know even unto the end, that is, perfectly and without any defect. For since you know us in part, by adding to your present knowledge an increase of science and other observations, you will have perfect clarity that we write the same things as Moses and the prophets and the evangelists; for the Word of God, which came to them, also speaks in us, not being alien to Christ. I am confident—

^A—that you are affected by this same spirit, to boast of me. For you are our glory in the day of the Lord, in which He will judge those who are manifested at His judgment seat. And perhaps the illumination which is made in souls by the true light is the day of the Lord.

VERS. 15. *With this confidence I wanted to come to you before.*

By this expression, he shows that he had joy in the benefit of the Corinthians, because he had made them better. Therefore, persevering in this purpose, he wished to come to them again while he was going into Macedonia, and then returning from there, to visit them again, that he might again rejoice in their progress. For it appears from the writing of both Epistles that Paul had been in Corinth; and it is also shown by the words, *but to spare you I came no more to Corinth.*

VERS. 23. *But I call God as a witness to my soul.*

^B Although he is conscious of the word of the Lord in the Gospel, that one ought not to swear, but to speak exactly, namely "yes" when it is so in reality, and "no" when it is not, yet he now appears to affirm with an oath. And this is quite just. For because he is announcing his own affection toward the Corinthians, and this exists only in the mind and the heart, and it was likely that those who were beloved would doubt such a genuine love toward them, he calls God as a witness of his words to his own soul, Who knows even the things hidden within it. For he says: I come to you impelled by the desire for you. And if I do not do this at times, I refrain only in order to spare you. ^C For you know that when I first came to your city, I spent a whole year and six months there, while I gladly watched your daily growth and benefit in Christ. Then, indeed, besides the common doctrine, I also set forth for you mystical traditions; for I indicated this in the previous Epistle, exhorting you to retain what you had received. But because I now know for certain that you are being deceived by some false teachers, who deny the resurrection from the dead and the immortality of the soul, and furthermore subvert the knowledge of indifferent things; for these reasons I have deferred coming to you now, before some remedy which can be effected by letters. But I write these things by Epistle, declaring myself to be the lord of your faith; for we assist in your believing through teaching: ^D and since you have come to the faith through our instruction, just as we taught, so we also remind you that you may remain in the faith which you have rightly received. For although some have been subverted by deceivers, nevertheless I trust that you will be firm in the faith in which you were imbued.

CAP. II, VERS. 3. *My joy is the joy of you all.*

My joy, he says, is the joy of you all because of your good reputation; demonstrating at the same time that

^A it behooved the believers to sympathize with the sorrowing Apostle, so that they might also rejoice together with him when he was joyful. And that I write these things from a genuine disposition, he says, "know that out of much affliction and anguish of heart with many tears I wrote the Epistle." For I would not have wished you to need such rebukes, but rather to have the dogmas of truth demonstrated to you and to be reminded, or better, to be exhorted to perfect virtue.

In the person of Christ.

But when I came to Troas.

^Aceiving God’s doctrine. It seems also that the door of the Word is opened when the hearers are ready for the reception of instruction.

VERS. 15. We are the aroma of Christ to God.

Therefore, he says, God manifests through us the aroma of the knowledge of Christ in every place, since "we are the aroma of Christ." For just as those who participate in his light are the light of the world, so where there is ointment, those who are united to it exhale its fragrance. Now this fragrant exhalation is to some an odor from death to death, but to others an aroma from life to life. Yet one must not blame the fact that it becomes an odor from death to death; for the cause of this is those to whom it happens, just as healthy food seems to harm the sick if it is served at an inopportune time. For as many as are seized by that death which results from sin, and do not receive the divine knowledge with a right judgment, pass from the death of practical sins to the death which follows upon impious opinions. Just as, conversely, those who receive the divine knowledge along with life-giving works are transferred from life to life; for as material ointment, while useful for the health and good condition of the body, harms certain small animals that cannot bear its sharpest fragrance, so the divine aroma benefits and leads to health—or rather, to life—those who retain the image and likeness of God (for these are truly human beings), while those who have transformed the inner man are harmed by it, to such an extent that they are allegorically called "flies that corrupt the composition of the oil of sweetness," as the Ecclesiastes says.

VERS. 17. For we are not as the many, adulterating the word of God.

One must not attend to those heterodox persons who say that the apostles in preaching in Christ spoke of a God other than the Father of the Savior, that is, that we speak things contrary to Him. But when he says "the many," he signifies the deceivers on account of the abundance of people of this kind. For this word, that is, "many," being ambiguous, signifies many things. For it is said sometimes for "certain ones," as when the Lord said: "Many will say to me in that day." But it is also said in a way that distinguishes from the few; as in: "Many are called, but few are chosen." The word also signifies "all," as in: "For as by the disobedience of the one, many were made sinners." For all human beings, because of the disobedience of one, were made subject to sin. It also signifies a great number, as in the present verse; or likewise in these words: "Be not many masters, brethren." It also signifies any multitude whatsoever, as: "Many rise up against me"; and: "Many say to my soul." In the aforementioned expression he says: "We are not as some, adulterating the word of God," that is, mixing water into it through frigid and foolish exegesis; but as from (22) Note well Didymus’s testimony concerning original sin.

^A sincerely and purely we offer it. Do we begin again to commend ourselves? He gently reproves the Corinthians, as if they were still ignorant of the apostolic stature, saying, "As from sincerity, from God, before God we speak," we think it is sufficiently manifest to you what the disposition of our mind is; unless perhaps you are so affected that there is need of an epistle to commend us to you. And our circumstances are so manifest that there is no need for you to commend yourselves to others, nor others to you. For you yourselves are the Epistle of Christ, conceived by us, practically written by the Spirit of God, but not with ink. For words are traced with ink, but the practical and contemplative life is characterized by the Spirit of the living God; so that he who is thus formed lives according to God in the spirit. For the foolish receive the types in their souls as if they were stone tablets from ink; but those who are docile and ready for the assent of divine things, having hearts of flesh, that is, sensible ones, receive the writing from the Spirit of the living God. For the instruction is inscribed threefoldly upon the breadth of the heart, inasmuch as God gives laws when He writes them upon the breadth of the heart.

"And such trust we have," etc. ^B Let no one think that we act stupidly in saying that from sincerity we speak before God in Christ. For we are so disposed toward Him, as God has made us sufficient, having called us to the ministry of the word, "not that we are sufficient to think anything from ourselves as if from ourselves according to divine knowledge," but He Himself who gave us the ministry of the New Testament provided the confidence for speaking. And the ministry that was entrusted to us is of the spirit, but not of the letter; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. The New Testament is of the life-giving Spirit, not the Old. For there is no other teaching to come after it in this life; for it has no successor. And the heterodox (24) use this phrase for the disparagement of the Old Testament, saying that that Scripture kills, but the New ^C makes alive as being of the life-giving Spirit. Therefore they must be refuted, as being far from the apostolic mind. For even if the letter kills, yet one must praise the death it brings to those who are slain. For while they lived in ignorance and wickedness before the reception of the legal teaching, upon receiving it they are slain, casting off the wicked life they had. For thus they will be ready to receive the life-giving work of the Spirit; such as he who is in evil, living according to it; he who swerves from it casts off the life he had according to it, intending to come through the doing of good to live blessed. For just as evil and good cannot co-exist, so too both these lives cannot be together. Therefore the letter is not blamed ^D insofar as it puts an end to a wicked life: immediately

^A it will lead to the life that is according to the spirit.

Vers. 7. *But if the ministration of death, in letters, engraved upon stones, etc.*

He compares both Testaments, the New and the Old, attributing to each the honor of divine origin. ^B Yet even though both are glorious, nevertheless that which is spiritual has greater glory. If, therefore, upon comparison the glory of the Spirit is greater, the one to which it is compared is not blameworthy; for it is the good added to the good—the greater good. For the ministration of death, in letters engraved upon stones, is the law through Moses, ministering the death which we said the letter brings. Just as that [law], therefore, was the productive cause of the aforementioned death, so the ministration of the Spirit is the provider of the life that follows that death. He attempts to bring forth a proof that the ministration of the Spirit is in glory, constructing the argument from the lesser: for he says: If the ministration of condemnation had such glory, that by no means could all the children of Israel look to the perfection—for they could barely bear it even when veiled—how much more will the spiritual ministration be in glory? He makes another argument of the same kind, saying: The former Scripture, condemning those who were worthy of the life they had according to sin, so that they experienced the aforementioned death, was given until a certain time; for it is succeeded by the evangelical teaching, which itself has no successor. ^C If, therefore, that which is being nullified has an end in glory, much more does that which remains have greater glory; the expression "is nullified" is not used insultingly. For indeed, the knowledge and prophecy of the saints which is "in part" shall also be nullified, not absolutely, but with the arrival of the knowledge of the truth. And just as if we were to say that elementary training is nullified by the knowledge of perfect doctrines, this would not be said insultingly; for by the aforementioned expression is demonstrated the office of Paul, who introduces [them] to the Gospel. Therefore, having such confidence, as having been established as ministers of the New Testament, presenting the doctrine without any veil, we use great boldness, inasmuch as we are teachers of perfect hearers; for the instruction we present does not need external glory, since it has it as its own. For Moses, indeed, wore a veil over his face when he spoke to the multitude of the people; for they were not equal to the sublimity of the doctrine. But yet, when speaking to the elders and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to any other equal to these, he showed the glory unveiled. Now this and many other things were done symbolically by Moses: for this man bears the person of the Law. And since the Law, as much in sense as in words, was spoken to men who could comprehend only the letter and the word, wrapped in shadows and figures, it now approaches those who have ascended to higher things, delivering those things which were spoken by spiritual allegory without any veil. Although, therefore, it is veiled to some, ^D not by him, but by those who are unable without

^A a veil to behold his glory, the blame is not his, but rather theirs who cannot look upon his glory without a veil. Otherwise, Jesus himself would have to be blamed for not revealing the mysteries to all. For he spoke to those outside through parables; and thus the evangelical doctrine was spoken coveredly to those who were on the outside, but openly to those who had penetrated into the mystical meaning, providing an explanation of the parables. For he says to those who entered his house: "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables." Therefore, the aforementioned words show that Moses veiled the glory of his face because the minds of those people were blinded, so that they could not gaze upon it naked. It is clear from the context of all that has been said that Moses is cited by Paul as representing the Law.

VERS. 17. *Now where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, etc.*

By these words the fable of those who divide the Scripture of God is overturned. For it is one, sometimes veiled in types and shadows, and sometimes appearing without veils, since we receive the revelation of it from the Spirit of the Lord, firmly believing that the Spirit of the Lord is liberty.

CAP. IV, VERS. 4. *In whom the god of this world, etc.*

They say that the devil is the god of this world; just as also the demons are the gods of the gentiles, and the belly is the god of the gluttons. But some make a punctuation after "in whom God." Then they read as if from the beginning: "Of this world, he has blinded the minds of the unbelievers." Yet what they say is easily refuted. For if some are unbelievers of this world, surely other unbelievers would be found who do not belong to this world; for every unbeliever belongs to this world. For no one who has transcended it and has been deemed worthy of the world to come is blinded in his mind, but rather has enlightened eyes. I have known some who explained the passage before us by saying that the Gospel is not veiled for those who are entirely unbelievers—for they have no experience of it, either as veiled or as naked. But these interpreters were saying that by "those who are perishing," for whom the Gospel is veiled, we should understand those who have indeed received it, but who have not approached it without a veil; just like those who heard the ^C words of Jesus in parables. And they thought that the term "perishing" was used of them for the sake of demonstrating their changeability—for such are those who progress, always rendering themselves different from what they were. Wherefore they believed that the term "perishing" was not placed there in the way of reproach, but in the same manner as the phrases "the heavens shall perish" and "we are perishing into the age." For these terms of perishing are used for the sake of signifying progress, by passing from one state to another.

VERS. 5. *For we do not preach ourselves.*

The passage before us has a reference to the phrase: "Not that we have dominion over your faith." For it might follow consistently with that saying: "We do not preach ourselves; therefore we do not..."

^A have dominion over your faith." For we preach Jesus Christ as God and Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Christ’s sake; so that it is not we, but He who has dominion over your faith, accepting or judging you according to it. Furthermore, the saying, "For God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness," must be joined with the other: "But we all, with open face, behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord." For light shines out of darkness to him who comes from ignorance to the recognition of the truth. We say, therefore, that from an ignorant and unwise person, one becomes wise and learned. Since therefore ignorance and wickedness, which are called darkness, had preoccupied men, God made the light of practical and theoretical virtue to shine in their hearts, that men might acquire knowledge of the glory of Christ in His own person—the glory, indeed, by which they have faith toward Him, or the glory by which we recognize Him as glorified.

VERS. 7. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels."

He calls "earthen vessels" the humble style of speaking and the simplicity of his interpretation. For if the preachers of the Gospel had proclaimed the truth according to human philosophy, it would have been suspected whether men had been brought under the yoke of saving doctrine by human artifice rather than by the power of God. But since the ministers were unlettered and ignorant men, the excellence of the power of the treasure of knowledge will be considered to be from God and not from mortal strength. Consonant with this is the saying: "Though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge"; and that: "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom." ^B For he had the treasure of knowledge—in which he was not ignorant—in earthen vessels, inasmuch as he was ignorant in speech. [Some, however, say that the earthen vessels are the bodies with which we are clothed while we dwell in sensible things. And the meaning is: Since we are still surrounded by the flesh, which hinders the contemplation of truth, we nevertheless have knowledge of the Trinity; but the sublimity of the greatness of this knowledge is recognized by us to be produced not from ourselves, but from the power of God.] Thus also Cyril.

VERS. 8. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed."

Certainly, because of the bitterness of the surrounding evils, we would have been in despair and would have perished; but with God consoling us, everything leads toward our salvation. If, therefore, we are troubled in every matter, yet by the fortitude of our souls we are not reduced to straits. And although some think us ^C destitute of all help, and therefore persecute and harass us, yet we are altogether cheerful, and we do not tremble, nor do we perish, nor are we cast down. For while the wicked try to overthrow us, we stand immobile, we resist our persecutors bravely, and all things abound for us toward salvation. It must be known that the word "to be distressed" sometimes signifies "to be troubled," and sometimes something ^D else. For when both words are used, it signifies, on the one hand,

external aggression, but "to be distressed" signifies to be hesitant in the counsel of the mind. And when both are not taken together, they signify the same thing in parallel. ^B

VERS. 11. *For we who live are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake.*

The words "always" and "continually," set down in the passage before us, do not signify that which is without end and without beginning—as we speak of the eternal—but rather that which is incessant and without interval. For he who does not bear the mortification of Jesus in his body at one time and not at another, but carries it about, will say that he does this "always." But he also who possesses life and piety and the diligence to struggle for the truth without interval will say: "We who live," in the manner spoken of—that is, without interruptions—"are being given up to death." You will take in this sense also what was said by Stephen to the Jews: "You always resist the Holy Spirit." For he conjoined to it the question, "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" The meaning is the same for the words: "I said: They always go astray in their heart," that is, not at one time and not at another, but without interval. The phrase, "I kept silence, shall I keep silence always?" signifies the boundless and incessant. For even if now, he says, I am long-suffering toward you who sin, the delay of punishment will not be infinite; for after much long-suffering, those who persevere in malice will be punished.

*Having the same spirit of faith.*

He calls the "spirit of faith," he says, that [life] which possesses the faith which one has.

Our earthly house

The scripture before us signifies two different houses: one earthly and made by hand, which is this visible world brought into being by the hands of God. For the Psalmist, showing all sensible things, says: "Your hand made all these things." But that other saying, "The works of your hands are the heavens," contains the same meaning. We understand "a house not made by hands that is in the heavens" to be the world other than this one. Since, therefore, upon this sensible world being dissolved, the figure of heaven and earth does not pass away—as though led to non-existence—men change that which had previously dwelt in the dissolved earthly house, and the future and eternal [house] shall receive them. And he says: "We have a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens," showing that it has long since been prepared for those worthy to attain it. ^C Indeed, the things promised in it, which "eye has not seen, nor has any other sense or intellect grasped," are said to be prepared by God for those who love Him. And the Savior says: "Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." This so-called sensible dwelling is not simply called "our house," but that "of our tabernacle"; for in reality the heavenly house is our primary dwelling place. ^D

^A For even if, at the resurrection, the tabernacle of the soul is given back, so that it too may be in the heavenly house, yet this occupation is primarily that of the soul, and only incidentally that of the tabernacle which surrounds it. Just as the earthly house is, in the primary sense, the house of the tabernacle, and in a secondary sense, that of the soul dwelling in the body. I have read somewhere that the earthly house of the tabernacle is what is called the body, composed of bones and flesh. And the tabernacle in this house is the form of the inner man, which is a luminous and organic body; those who interpret it in this way say, therefore, that upon the dissolution of this house of the coarse body, the soul migrates to the heavenly realm, which is called an eternal house not made with hands. Yet the soul will recover the body it had laid aside, now become heavenly, which is called a dwelling from heaven. ^B VERS. 2. *For in this we groan, desiring to be super-clothed with our habitation which is from heaven.* Even if, upon the dissolution of the aforementioned house of the tabernacle, we are encompassed by the tabernacle, and pass with it into the heavenly house, nevertheless, while in it we groan, longing to be super-clothed with the habitation from heaven; that is, with that body we had laid aside, which will at some time exist from heaven, when it is clothed with incorruption and immortality. But although we desire this habitation, consider whether he who is clothed with it is thereby entirely covered. For this is what the words signify: "If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked." But he is not found naked who has been clothed with it, if he has certainly been a faithful and holy person, specifically if he has previously clothed himself with the Lord Jesus, and the armor of light, and the bowels of mercy. ^C For the faithless and wicked man, even if he happens to obtain the spiritual body which is called a dwelling from heaven, will nevertheless be found naked, because he did not labor to have the garments of the inner man. While things are thus, we who are in the tabernacle groan, being burdened; since the earthy tabernacle weighs down a mind full of many cares. Yet although we are burdened by having it, we do not desire to cast it off, but rather to be clothed with the habitation which is from heaven: *that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.* For life will not destroy our tabernacle when we have clothed ourselves with immortality, but will swallow it up, inasmuch as its quality becomes more powerful than that of the one in which we are mortal.

VERS. 12. *For whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we are sober, it is for you.*

Let them be refuted by you concerning these things; he is speaking, of course, about the false apostles. But we do these things for your sake and because of you. ^D For even if, being outside of human things, we are beside ourselves unto God, nevertheless we are sober for your sake, since ecstasy possesses not madness, but sobriety. Nor should we pay attention to the followers of the Phrygians, who say that the apostles and prophets were beside themselves in such a way as to be delirious. For what they said and did, they understood perfectly well.

^A For the term "ecstasy" does not only signify derangement and distraction, but also amazement at some wonder. For in this way Isaac was in a great ecstasy. And "some shall stand in awe of the Lord and of His blessings," according to the prophet. But if the word signifies other things as well, let him who applies himself to the Scriptures take note.

For the love of Christ urges us.

From now on we know no one according to the flesh.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.

^A Since it states, "the old things have passed away, the new have come into existence"—if he means the legal and prophetic things, these have passed away, the Gospels having succeeded them; these old and new things differ not in subject matter, but in our conception of them. For the teaching of the two Testaments is the same, whether it was proposed veiled or openly. Therefore, those things which are called veiled are old. But if one should say that the customs and state prior to the faith were the "old," these have passed away, having ceased, with the teaching according to the Gospel now present. The saying, "All things are from God" (34), will apply to the former account as well. For the law, the prophets, and the Gospels are from God, according to the subsequent narrative, with all the new things being from God, although the things which have passed away are not so; but all things are from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ. For we were very much enemies, mastered by error and sins; but we have been reconciled to him, having received forgiveness from him and through him; and he reconciled us to himself through the Lord who died and rose again for us. ^B But so that we might not be unfeeling toward so great a benefit of God, he has given the teaching concerning reconciliation to the apostles (35), so that, being instructed by them, we might remain in our existence in Christ; for through him, the friendship with God that has come into being after the reconciliation will be enduring.

VERSE 21. *For him who did not know sin.* He says "did not know" instead of "did not experience sin." For he does not mean that he was ignorant of its nature (in fact, the Savior knew it better than anyone), but that he was without experience of it. For in this way, even he who keeps a commandment is said not to "know" an evil word.

CHAPTER VI, VERSE 3. *Giving no offense in anything.* Since God, having heard in an acceptable time and a day of salvation, helped us by sending his own Son and handing him over for our sake, let no one in any way become an offense of unbelief, lest the ministry of the evangelical teaching have a blemish. ^C Whence it must be diligently sought to commend ourselves by good works, even if they are laborious. This will happen if, possessing patience, we bear tribulations, necessities, and distresses and things of that kind courageously, enduring even bonds and prisons cheerfully. For thus it will come about that our soul is sanctified, thinking and acting rightly. "Purifying," he says, "our souls in obedience to the truth" (36). But also, the fear of the Lord, being holy, confers every holiness upon those who have received it.

VERSE 7. *Through the weapons of righteousness of the right and the left.* Perhaps the "weapons of righteousness of the right and the left" refers to the person who conducts himself so justly in sensible matters that he would rather suffer injustice and plunder than commit these things ^D

^A For he is indeed fortified by the weapons of justice on his right side. He who retains justice toward God—which we call holiness—by giving to God the things that are God’s, carries His right-hand weapons. In other passages, these are called the "weapons of light," as it is said: "Put on the armor of light." These weapons of warfare are not carnal, that is to say, human, but powerful through God. See if he who is justified in the shadow of the law is able to possess the weapons of justice of the left hand, while he who is perfected according to the justice that comes through Jesus Christ unto all who believe possesses the weapons of the right hand. This is the justice regarding which the Savior said to the disciples: "Unless your justice exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Furthermore, he who pursues what is just in human dealings is armed with the left-hand weapons of justice; but he who does this according to the dogmas of truth, sustaining persecution for the sake of becoming a son of justice, carries her right-hand weapons. Observe alongside what has been said whether what I am about to say holds weight: he who is abused for the sake of piety, and is defamed and considered an impostor, yet bears these things gallantly and praiseworthily, uses the left-hand weapons of justice while being protected by her right-hand weapons, in case any praise or other fame and commendation should, like the semblance of truth, make him swollen and proud. Apply this mode of thought to each of the following statements, as each one also is expressed with the same antithesis.

VERS. 10. *As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.* ^B We who are believed to be sorrowful, and poor, and having nothing, rejoice on account of that poverty which we profess, because we are rich in good works, and in every word and every thought; so much so that we enrich others also with that kind of wealth which perceives sharply; for he who possesses such wealth abstains from everything, being content with these things. Yet it can be rightly said in every trial, just as that saying: "In things excellent and salutary, this has been said to me."

VERS. 11. *Our mouth is open to you.* He who has taken to himself great boldness in speaking will also anticipate the will of his auditors. "Our mouth is open, and our heart is enlarged in reflection toward you, O Corinthians." Therefore, you are also narrowed in your affections due to the annoyance of ignorance; yet this does not happen because of us. We ask you as children to reward us by enlarging your own minds for the reception of the education which we offer you. ^C Here, one must understand "viscera" (bowels/heart) not as material things; for the discourse is not about bodily matters, but about spiritual ones.

VERS. 14. *Do not bear the yoke with unbelievers.* By ecclesiastical—or rather, scriptural—custom, married women are spoken of as being yoked to their husbands. Therefore, he forbids marriages with outsiders in these words, saying: "Do not bear the yoke with unbelievers." This is almost explicitly

saying: "Let not a faithful man take to wife an unbelieving woman; for you are under the sweet yoke of Jesus, but she is under the yoke of some wicked one." Conversely, let not a woman who has the faith be joined to an idolater. He exhorts, therefore, that marriage with those who are alien to the faith be avoided, setting forth what will inevitably follow, saying: "For what participation has righteousness with iniquity?" and the rest. ^A For since the believer has righteousness and is the light of the world, living under Christ, while the unbeliever is full of iniquity and for this reason is darkness, being subject to Belial (and he is a wicked one), the believer must not have a portion with an unbeliever. For he himself has been fashioned into a temple of God, but the unbeliever into one of idols. Whence, since righteousness has no part in iniquity, and light has no communion with darkness, and there is no harmony between Christ and Belial, nor any agreement of the temple of God with a temple of idols, such a marriage must not be approached ^B. For one who acts thus harms himself, the believer, while he becomes a participant in wickedness—nay, more, he communicates with darkness, deserts to Belial, and chooses the unbelieving part. Let us, therefore, flee all the aforementioned things, we who are the temple of God who says: "I will dwell in them and walk among them." For if you are sons and daughters of God, being separated from the unclean unbelievers, beware lest you be brought again under the same yoke; so that you may obtain these sacred rewards, if you have purged yourselves from all defilement of carnal marriages with aliens. For then at last you will perfect the sanctification of the spirit in mind and in work.

CHAP. VII, VER. 1. Having therefore these promises, etc.

VER. 2. Receive us, etc. About to speak with confidence, along with the sender of this Epistle...

he says to the Corinthians: ^A “Receive us,” that is, “Bear with us as we make our defense; for we have wronged no one, nor corrupted, nor exploited any among you.” I speak with such confidence ^B not because I wish to judge you; for I have previously testified that you are so prepared that you would even die for us; for we are likewise prepared for you. For such a readiness of zeal has been established in our hearts as in yours. Therefore, having much boasting on your behalf, I am full of consolation, and our joy and gladness superabound in all things because of the hardship we have suffered for the truth. For when we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, with temptations continually assailing us. Yet even if the flesh has no rest, we are valiant in spirit; because we are not straitened, even if we are troubled on every side.” And explaining what the afflictions were, he added, “Without were fightings, within were fears.” This is understood in two ways. First, it must be said that “without were fightings” for the apostles, coming from those unbelievers who wished to persecute and harass them. “Within were fears” refers to those who seemed to be within the Church and the faith, but were unstable and insecure. For he feared the inconstancy of the Corinthians, because they were easily led away from the dogmas of the truth; whence he says to them, “I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted.” ^C Alternatively, “Without were fightings” may be understood thus: the uprisings that occur against us afflict our outward parts, but they do not penetrate to the point of troubling the heart. Even if the soul is untroubled, there are nevertheless inward fears regarding [the possibility of] a change; for we are mutable.

VER. 6. But God, who comforts those who are cast down. The God who gives grace to the humble comforts them, offering consolation so that they may bear their hardships patiently. He also comforted us in the return of Titus to us from you. And not only did his presence comfort us, but also the report concerning you. For he spoke of the zeal you showed toward him according to God; and this increased our joy, as we know what great longing and overflowing affection he preserves toward you; in addition to this, he reported your zeal, your sorrow, and your longing for me, so that I no longer hesitate about the fact that I caused you sorrow by the rebukes in my previous Epistle. ^D For I learned from his words that the sorrow which existed for a little while on account of my writing has become the seed and form of the greatest joy.

VER. 12. Even if I wrote, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong. He calls the one who had his father’s wife the “wrongdoer,” and he calls the one who suffered the wrong either the father whose wife he had, even if he be dead, or the one who prevents such a marriage

For ^A it was possible, if the address was principally for their sake, to make the Epistle not common, but looking toward them alone. Therefore, it should be considered that the aforementioned address was not inscribed for their sake, but for the sake of making your zeal for obedience known. For I always boast of this to the Macedonians, inciting them to the same zeal. I was afraid, indeed, that I might be put to shame, if you had not received the sorrow in the proper way. Since, therefore, it has not turned out so, but you have grieved according to God, in such a way that much repentance has followed, I rejoice, being confident in all such things in you.

VERS. 13. *And we rejoiced the more abundantly, etc.*

In addition to this joy, our refreshment and consolation were increased, [he] testifying joyfully concerning your holy zeal: for he says that his spirit has been refreshed by your obedience; because he found you such as they constantly reported your obedience to be. But the spirit of anyone rests ^B when it receives the causes of rest, namely, works of piety and virtue, and a mind faithful according to the truth: but those who receive the pleasures of life from their well-wishers rest according to the flesh, and not according to the spirit. For Titus refreshes us greatly, constantly reporting your obedience toward good works; and this itself becomes a cause of joy, because we have been seen to speak the truth always, just as in other matters.

CHAP. VIII, VERS. 13. *For it is not that there should be relief for others, and tribulation for you.*

The doctrine of religion does not compel one to give what one does not have, but to give readily what one does have. But this will be done more easily if we consider who these are to whom we impart from our own: for they are holy and are servants of God; wherefore we also hope that there will be a recompense for us: for they are able to recompense spiritual things in return for the material things which they receive. Thus, therefore, there will be equality even in the present time. As happened in the granting of the manna, when neither did it fail for him who had little, nor did it abound for him who had much. For inequality remains ^C when, while the holy ones possess heavenly and great things, and you possess earthly and small things, no exchange takes place. Wherefore, sow carnal things, favoring the needs of the holy ones, that you may reap spiritual things from them. For thus there will be equality, you receiving from them the great, and they in turn receiving the small; for you shall have the great with the small, and they in turn the small with the great. And this equality will be established according to the corrective law.

VERS. 20. *Avoiding this, that no one should blame us, etc.*

I say these things not to apologize to you (for I know how you are affected toward me), but that we might be seen to manage our affairs well not only before the Lord, but also before men. For that God is a witness of our eager service toward you, there is no doubt; but ^D there must also be regard for men, lest perhaps

they be deceived by those who are crafty and sophistical. ^A One must know that he who proposes to please God primarily, and then men, is not a man-pleaser, but one who has fixed his mind on this alone; whereas he who chooses only to live in a way acceptable to mortals, even if God does not approve, is of the number of those who study only to please men.

VERSE 22. *Our brother whom we have proved.* Having praised him for his own accomplishments, he also extols him for his love toward those, sowing beforehand the seeds of love toward the Corinthians, so that by this the offering might also become greater. And finally, since he has demonstrated their virtue, he prays that things may go well with them as well.

CHAPTER X, VERSE 1. *But I myself, Paul, beseech you.*

^B I, your master, who write these things, beseech you by the virtue which Christ has granted me (which is meekness and gentleness), that I may not have to be bold when absent, but that when present among you I may appear humble. For when I come to you and find my exhortations translated into deeds, I will abide with you in a modest spirit and with much meekness. Wherefore I ask that I may not be forced, when present, to be bold in such a way as to assume the guise of an accusing and chastising master, and to be forced by the confidence of a master's authority to act harshly toward some who think that we walk according to the flesh. Or would anyone think that we live according to the flesh, if he should happen to suppose that we have not written these things for the sake of the matter itself, but so that we might appear to be some great ones, while you were becoming subject to us and contributing more? But God is witness, and ^C the greater number of men, that this advice was given in order that the ministry might be bountiful, and not for the sake of any other human consideration.

VERS. 3. *For walking in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.*

These words contain the same meaning as what is written in another Epistle, which is as follows: *Walking on earth, we have our citizenship in heaven.* For indeed, walking according to the flesh is the same as walking on earth; and conversely, not to war according to the flesh is the same as to have one's citizenship in heaven. By "to war according to the flesh," he does not mean those who are prepared for war in the general sense, but rather carnal men and those who are therefore sold under sin, such as those were of whom it was said: *My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh.* ^D Those who have risen above these, as regards the mind and the works of the flesh, in their turn war according to the spirit for the King of all, Christ. Therefore, in order to please their Emperor, they do not entangle themselves in the affairs of this life, that is, in material things. Indeed, the weapons they carry are not sensible and bodily (for these are weak), but are mighty before God. Therefore, those who use these weapons destroy the strongholds of deceitful arguments constructed very sophistically by the heterodox, but also the high things in those arguments that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. For those who...

^A appear to have been instructed, as it were, and who put forward with a show of proof what is actually a vain height—which is puffed up with false knowledge—falsely think it rises above the ecclesiastical mind, which is called the knowledge of God; for He is the one who grants it to those who are worthy of it. Therefore, for the sake of tearing down the aforementioned heights and fortresses, having put on the armor of God according to the spirit, let us fight in the way we have described. Let us dissolve their sophistic arguments, and let us refute their dogmas; let us take captive, I say, every thought of those who have been led astray by these deceivers and placed under the yoke of error; and let us cause the inhabitants of their region to submit to the obedience of Christ.

The saying of the Apostle can also be understood in this way: that is, any opinion expressed in any doctrine we must necessarily and forcefully bring into subjection so that we may fully persuade them to the obedience of Christ. For indeed, the inscription on the altar in Athens, which suggested the understanding of a plurality of gods, the author of this ^B Epistle took and transferred to the one true God, saying: "What therefore you worship without knowing, this I announce to you" —and indeed, the epigram indicated a multitude of gods under the name "unknown." When, therefore, every intellect is taken captive in the obedience of Christ, then we shall be ready to exact vengeance against every disobedience. Just as those who have taken captives, having defeated a certain nation, confidently hurry to lay waste to that region.

He adds these things to what he had written: "When your obedience has been fulfilled, look at what is according to the face." Now this expression may be understood in various ways. For if it is spoken in the imperative, it signifies this: "When your obedience has been fulfilled through assent to the divine teaching, O Corinthians, then examine what is according to the face." For in this way you will recognize ^C men clothed in sheep’s skins, who are inwardly ravenous wolves. Likewise, you will distinguish the genuine teachers, to whom it was said: "You are the light of the world." With you observing in this way, the deceivers will be known, whom you will also cast out, and (you will know) the true apostles of Christ, whom you will also willingly desire to obey. This is in harmony with the saying: "By their fruits you will recognize them."

But if "look at what is according to the face" is pronounced in the indicative mood, it conveys a sense of this kind: "You judge the quality of the teachers and the character of the disciples, always looking at the face of those who speak, and are deceived by those who take care only for outward appearance." If, therefore, someone who is a wolf pretends only to be a sheep by wearing its skin, treat him as a false apostle; but treat him who is a prophet as an apostle and a prophet. Indeed, some who pretend to be disciples of Christ, but in actual truth are companions ^D of him who transforms himself into an angel of light...

have persuaded some of you, as if there were no resurrection of the dead, nor that the rational soul survives after its separation from the body. Since, therefore, it is ambiguous how the phrase ^A “Do you look according to the face?” is to be understood, it is better to have it taught by the master.

Vers. 17. *But he who gloateth, let him gloat in the Lord.* Having sufficiently reproved those who were teaching the opposite, and who were boisterously claiming in vain to be of Christ, he necessarily added that he who desires glory blamelessly and purely must gloat in the Lord. For he who shows himself off as approved ^B is not necessarily so, but only he whom the Lord has commended by His testimony. Certainly, the saying of the Pharisee, when he said, "I am not as the rest of men," did not appear as approved, but rather as disapproved; whereas the publican, who had confessed his own sins, was justified before Him. Indeed, the saints are approved and beyond controversy, if they are commended by God. And to the author of this epistle, the Lord did bear witness, speaking of him to Ananias: "He is to me a vessel of election." Moreover, for all the apostles, the election made by the Savior testifies that they did not commend themselves, but received this gift from God.

CAP. XI. VERS. 1. Would that you could bear with me a little in my foolishness!

VERS. 7. Or did I commit a sin, humbling myself? Do you think that because I ministered the Gospel to you for free, I sinned by humbling myself? I accused myself, so that you might appear to be exalted, by truthfully saying that I had sinned, because I did not accept a reward for the Gospel. But you know that not only when I departed from you did I refuse to accept anything, but even while present in my home country

when I lacked the necessities that had run out, I have not been a burden; other Churches ^A have supplied my need. For the brothers who came to me from Macedonia provided what was necessary for my needs. This confidence is maintained for me before all the Churches of Achaia; and I will maintain this very intention, so that in all things I have kept myself, and will keep myself, free from burden.

VERS. 12. *That I may cut off an opportunity from those who want an opportunity.*

We do not do this out of hatred, but that we might cut off every pretext for those who are looking for opportunities to find cause for slander; so that if these impostors, by chance, should receive nothing from anyone, they might be found to be like us. For we are not like them, but they will be found to be like us. ^B Yet if the truth must be spoken freely, they will be found to be like us only in appearance. For we pursue the aforementioned economy with a sincere intention; they, however, having assumed a feigned persona of honesty, are eager not to be such, but to appear so.

VERS. 13. *For such pseudapostles are deceitful workers.*

True apostles, workers without any adjective, are spoken of in the passage: "Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out workers" [Matt. IX, 38]; and further: "The worker is worthy of his food" [1 Tim. V, 18]. But those about whom I write are here called deceitful workers; in another Epistle they are termed evil workers [Phil. III, 2]. They therefore transform themselves into apostles of Christ, not being such, but deceiving by appearance alone; ^C having the same intention as the pseudoprophets, who, while in their mind being ravenous wolves, wrap themselves in sheepskins so that they might appear to be sheep. By saying this concerning them, he shows that what is said is not paradoxical. For if he who happens to be the cause of their being such (this being the devil) pretends to be an angel of light, being himself of darkness, consequently those who are moved by him to deceive transform themselves, so that they might be thought by the simple-minded to be ministers of righteousness.

It should be known, however, that it is only improperly said that Satan is transformed into an angel of light. For strictly speaking, transformation is asserted of bodies that change into other bodies. Therefore this expression ^D signifies rather him who masks himself as light, while otherwise being full of ignorance and darkness. If anyone thinks that he who transforms himself into an angel of light is constituted of darkness, let him take care not to assume that he is such substantially; for such an opinion is impious, being Manichaean. For the devil is evil and darkness by his own intention; wherefore, of his own volition, in order to deceive others, he simulates light, so that he may be believed to possess virtue and knowledge. Even if, therefore, pseudapostles have deceived some by transforming themselves into the aforementioned forms, they will nevertheless obtain an end equal to their deeds, since as his ministers they will depart with the devil into eternal fire.

^A

FRAGMENTS ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS

CAP. XII, VERS. 2. *I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, etc.* He proceeds to announce the visions and revelations that had been offered to him; and while he manifests these from the greatness of God, he does not attribute them to himself, but narrates them as if they concerned another, even though he had set the boastings of infirmity in his own person. He rightly attributes the present vision to the man who was in Christ, so that he may demonstrate that no one can be worthy of such things unless he is occupied in God the Word, and in wisdom, and truth, and holiness; for Christ is all these things. This man in Christ was caught up to the third heaven and into paradise. "Whether in the body or out of the body, I know not." And indeed, someone might say that what is written is possible in either way. For Elijah was caught up ^B while still existing in the body; and Habakkuk was translated from Jerusalem to Babylon while carrying his body, being raised aloft by an angel by the will of God. Another interpreter says: Just as someone walking on earth can have his citizenship in heaven, and indeed even sit with Christ in the heavenly places, so too can someone, while still clothed in his body, be led by a vision of the mind into heaven and dwell in paradise. Another will say that the words "whether in the body or out of the body" are not written by Paul concerning his own body, by which the soul is surrounded, but concerning the universe; so that the sense of this saying is: He was caught up into the third heaven and into paradise; but whether these are bodies or otherwise, I know not: for the knowledge of these things pertains to God, the Father of wisdom. The words "up to the third heaven" also possess ambiguity. For ^C by this ambiguity it is signified at one time that there are multiple heavens, and that Paul came up to the third, so that he might behold the affairs of that place (and this third is counted from the firmament, which is the first heaven for those who calculate everything); otherwise, if one heaven is believed to exist, it is understood that he reached up to its third part. But the truer opinion is beyond this; God certainly knows, as does he to whom He revealed it. At the same time, two raptures are demonstrated, namely, up to the third heaven and up to paradise. Furthermore, it must be said that Paul says nothing about the third heaven, as if he had heard or seen anything there. For regarding what he announces he heard there, ^D "ineffable words," he uses the word "heard" as referring to a revelation, as if he had received the knowledge of those things by way of hearing. Such is that of the prophet: "Who has believed our report?"—the prophet calling the revelation a "report," through which he received the knowledge of those matters as if through some hearing; and he says the "words" are "things," for it is likely that he saw the beauty of paradise, and the choirs of the saints in it, and the all-harmonious voice of their hymnody.

^A "Unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Or should one take "I heard unspeakable words in the third heaven or of the heaven, and in paradise" as being in common? However it may be, it is declared that paradise is a school of divine learning. But what is meant by the expression "unspeakable words"? One must know that in so far as he who utters them does not use syllables and sounds, they are "unspeakable"; but in so far as they possess truth, having subsistence in divine intelligence, they are "words." And these are heard not by the apprehension of the senses, but by the contemplation of divine intellect. Indeed, God the Word himself, who is Christ, does not speak to Paul, but in Paul; and in like manner he taught, being present also in each of the prophets. If, therefore, the Savior speaks in the saints, the things spoken are unspeakable; for if they were utterable, he would have struck their hearing and spoken not in them, but unto them.

But if it is also said, "not lawful for a man to speak"—for it is possible for a man having an enlightened intellect to hear, but impossible to speak them with sounds and syllables, for these are the organs of men who speak. The word "lawful" is used instead of "possible," not here alone, but also in other Epistles of him who writes these things; for "All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient" is equivalent to "All things are possible, but not all things are expedient." ^B Having related the divine revelations and visions, he necessarily added: "On behalf of such a one I will boast in Christ; but on my own behalf, I will boast only in my infirmities already mentioned." But saying these things, he is no other than he who beheld the visions. Yet although he is the same person, he differs in conception, at one time being considered as a weak man for the sake of the purpose of humility, and at another time, as having ascended on high and being "a man in Christ" on account of the contemplation. ^C

OF ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF NICAEA: WHAT?

How is "things which it is not lawful to speak" to be understood? Is it as though the Divine did not reveal such things to any other person? And that it was for the sake of Paul himself, and because he displayed a zeal and a proclamation beyond that of an average man? Or as if Paul, fearing to speak the things he had heard, kept them unutterable to all because of their greatness? But in the case of the Divine, this would have no place to stand, to whom it is permitted to reveal and show forth the greatness of his unsurpassable power to anyone who clarifies his virtue according to Paul. And how could Paul, boasting on his own behalf, say this, he who came to say these things by necessity, and who called the boasting about them "foolishness," and who, having kept silent about these things for a very long time, demonstrated his moderation throughout by the many things said in these matters? ^D Therefore, regarding the Divine, one would not piously accept these things; but regarding Paul, this way of thinking would be very appropriate: that he himself heard these things from the Divine, but kept them unutterable to the many, either because of the magnitude of what was heard, or because others were not worthy of such hearing beyond that of a man, or because they had not purified their life as he had—for they would have been deemed worthy of the rapture to the third heaven and of paradise and of the unspeakable miracles in the same way. There is also the wish to invite them to the same path and manner, for which reason he said this, as if others would not have been deemed worthy of the same revelations, and had not looked toward the same teaching, and the same boldness of speech, and the same asceticism. Or perhaps he says that the Divine alone is worthy of the manifestation of such words; but that the generated and mortal nature is incapable of bringing them forth and illuminating them to men, as they are greater than can be told. It is, moreover, proper to the moderation of Paul that he should rank himself with the others and demonstrate no difference at all—lest perhaps he might also provoke the rashness of base teachers through these things; for since he renders them unworthy of hearing the unspeakable things, how much more so of the rapture and the other vision and revelation beyond man?

⦑A⦒ VERS. 7. *Ne magnitudo revelationum extollat me, etc.* Others, however, not wishing to give an occasion, nor to yield in any way to the devil to devise infirmities, nor even tolerating that perfect men should set much store by the health of the body (for they know that they struggle against painful things), will say: If anyone receives many great visions, unless he is pricked by human infirmity, he might think highly of himself. And how would he not have room, if the power of God, which guards our ruling faculty, often prudently manages that the one being guarded should be outside of His protection, so that human thought may find an entry? And since perfect men avert their gaze even from a stain in the mind, they think they receive a great blow, even if a Satanic angel enters only into their thought. They pray, therefore, eloquently to be cleansed also from hidden things, and to have nothing evil in their conscience. And that this is so, Paul, being struck, knew to take refuge with God, as he shows by writing: *For this troublesome Satanic angel, I besought the Lord three times that he might depart from me.* And the Lord whom I besought said to me: *My grace is sufficient for thee;* for through this you will be made certain that perfection comes not from your own powers, but from My help. But as for the statement, *I besought three times*, someone will think that it is said for "often"; for plurality begins from the number three; for three are many.

VERS. 19. *Again, do you think that we are making our defense to you?* ⦑B⦒ Do not think that we are making our defense to you; for it is not our intention to please men primarily, but God. For we provide good things before God, and secondly before men, that we may be manifest to God, persuading men rightly by a way of life and a word that is appropriate. For in Christ, speaking before God, as those who see His thought, we do and say all things. I am confident, therefore, that having genuinely read also this Epistle, you will refrain from detraction, having renounced whispering as slavish; for this is the boldness of slavish and murmuring men; but also turn away from rivalries, and the strifes and contentions arising from them; for thus will follow [the result], *You find me such as you desire.* For a teacher is lifted up and greatly exults when he abounds in listeners to whom he can speak wisdom; just as, in turn, he is humbled and cast down when his hearers must be rebuked and corrected for the things they do wickedly. ⦑C⦒ For if, while practicing fornication and uncleanness and the following wantonness, they do not repent, they have died the death of the soul; so that he who has a providential care for them grieves for them more than those who build cenotaphs for those who have departed to the philosophers. ⦑D⦒

those who desert philosophy. For a sense is wont to be stirred in sinners when others mourn and lament on their behalf. According to this meaning, it is possible that the Savior called those who weep blessed, since after the affliction of mourning they will be comforted by God. But when He says, "Lest, when I come again, I be humbled," He reveals that in his previous visit to them also he experienced the same thing, although he had strongly exhorted them to repentance. Consequently, he necessarily added: "Behold, this is the third time I am coming to you," so that you may be confirmed, having the third ^A coming in place of three witnesses. For if every word that brings condemnation stands—that is, is held to be sufficiently suitable and firm—on the mouth of two or three witnesses, so it was necessary that, through the two visits I have made, you should be rendered firm. But since you still need to be confirmed, I have decided to meet you a third time.

CAP. XIII, VER. 11. Finally, brethren, rejoice, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

After every exhortation, he advises that, by fostering concord, they should strive toward the happy end, perfected by the acquisition of genuine virtue and faith. For if they are of this mind, they will attain stability, living in peace, because the charity of God will lodge among them. For the presence of peace will establish for them a constant state. So that each one, imitating the master, may say: "Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?" and the rest.

QUÆSTIONES AC VINDICIÆ DIDYMIANÆ SIVE DIDYMI ALEXANDRINI ENARRATIO IN EPISTOLAS CATHOLICAS LATINA Græco exemplari magnam partem e Græcis scholiis restituta, EDIDIT GODOFR. CHR. FRIDERICUS LÜCKE THEOLOGIE DOCTOR ET PROFESSOR PUBLICUS ORDINARIUS. (Particulæ quatuor Gottingæ 1829-1832, in-4.) COMMENTATIO CRITICA PRÆVIA.

I. About three years ago, when I was examining the Epistles of S. [Paul], I happened upon—among other things, toward the end of my work in interpreting the Fathers to see if any of them had written commentaries on these Epistles—and when I had almost completed [my study of] that somewhat obscure work which is attributed to Didymus of Alexandria, the *Enarration on the Epistles*

^A in the Latin edition, it is found in the *Bibliotheca Patrum* at Paris, second edition (Vol. IX), the Great Cologne edition (Vol. IV), the Maxima Lugdunensis (Vol. IV), and the Gallandiana (Vol. VI). The name of the author, formerly most celebrated in the Church, moved and as it were invited me to examine the booklet more carefully. If you ask what I gained from this commentary, take this as my answer: not much, yet truly not nothing. Didymus possesses some things which no one would deny are spoken truly and elegantly. And I have indeed noted those things which seemed to contribute to the interpretation of the Epistles of John in the appendix of my commentary, which, however, if omitted, no one would miss. To speak in a word, Didymus said nothing in that commentary in such a way that, were it a bit obscure or difficult, no one else could solve it with the help of the Epistles of the Catholic Church. But indeed, do not seek the worth of my labor in these scraps of good interpretation! ^B What I gained from my reading is from a different category entirely, though by no means to be despised. For while I was reading the *Enarration* of Didymus more attentively, I noticed, at first almost grudgingly, in several places a great similarity and wonderful agreement with the Greek scholia which are added at the end of the edition of the *Catholic Epistles* of Matthew; soon, however, having instituted a more accurate collation of each example, I was delighted to find almost the same things expressed in the Latin *Enarration* and in the Greek scholia. Why say more? I discovered that the Greek truth of the Latin *Enarration* of Didymus on the Catholic Epistles—hitherto, so far as I know, unknown to anyone and indeed believed by all to be lost—remains in great part still extant in those scholia. I spoke then, indeed, of this [Greek: ἐμπαλῷ] however briefly, and as it were in advance, in my commentary on the Epistles of St. John (1), intending to pursue the matter more accurately—for it requires it—as soon as opportunity and leisure for it have come to me. Behold, therefore, for you, dear reader, given this opportunity, are these *Didymian Questions and Reclamations*. I know indeed that the nature and significance of this discovery are not such that it pertains to all, or that it is the concern of all, yet I hope that at least among those who have become conspicuous and celebrated among us for the study and care of understanding and restoring ecclesiastical antiquity, I may merit some gratitude for gathering, restoring, and illustrating the remains of a man who was not the least among the theologians of the elder Church, and in his time a most celebrated interpreter. In this matter, lest I seem to assent unwillingly to those who grant aid—and who in our age, as it is prone to any extreme, exceed the just measure of things and ruin a good cause—I will speak frankly in a few words about my sentiment on the exegetical use of the Fathers. Indeed, I do not wish to be numbered among those who, while they seek for themselves an easy glory in interpreting, despise the labors and studies of the Fathers in this art, and I can never agree with those who have existed in these days, excessive praisers of the ancient interpreters, who—having nothing older than that they might play with the long-since overcome infancy of the exegetical art, or pour out their own ignorance and carelessness of the ancient Church upon sacred books, sewing together parts both inept and false, recooking them into their own commentaries, in which it is right to find new things better than ancient ones—cram them in rather than interpose them with right judgment; they strive to reject us, as it were, to the golden age of the catenae. Let there be to each thing its own honor and true estimation! The use of ancient commentaries in interpreting is for us absolutely none unless it be critical. In which, where you discover things pertaining to the matter, learnedly and elegantly exposed, and entirely present—things which you will be able to use and enjoy, especially from a theological kind of interpretation—you will owe it both to piety and to doctrine toward antiquity as if it were religious to repeat these things, to make them our own, to connect them to our own: but those things which you have understood to be less true, or indeed false, it will be better to omit, or, if they seem graver, to judge the admitted things and be content with truth and religion. And so much for these things. Let us now proceed to the Didymus *Enarration* itself on the Catholic Epistles, vindicating the Greek exemplar, as much as remains, ^C defending it.

II. Regarding the life of Didymus, since those who have dealt with these things by mandate—most weighty authors, among whom most recently after Mingarelli (2) Guericke (3) has excelled—have administered this province excellently, we shall set forth only a few things which seem necessary according to the reason of our undertaking. It is agreed among all that Didymus, whom antiquity itself named "the blind" (since from early childhood he was deprived of his eyes), was for almost sixty years, up to the eighty-fifth year of his age, the prefect of the illustrious school of Alexandria, the successor of Macarius, a man most praiseworthy and truly admirable for his doctrine and his utterly excellent erudition in both literatures, and who, with his nearly innate blindness impeding nothing, had acquired this by continuous vigils and assiduous and laborious listening (4). He flourished in his time with many names, but especially with such praise for his exegetical art that students flocked to Alexandria from everywhere to hear such a teacher, among whom one may name before others: Rufinus, who for many years, as he himself boasts (5), heard him; Jerome; and Isidore of Pelusium. And Didymus taught not only by word of mouth (6), but also increased his praises among posterity greatly by his exegetical writings. A witness is—above others—

the most learned Jerome, who in his Catalogue (7) narrates that he wrote many and noble works by the help of shorthand scribes, commentaries upon all the Psalms, commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew and of John, in Isaiah seventeen tomes; in Hosea indeed he wrote for me three books of commentaries, and at my request five books of commentaries on Zechariah, and commentaries on Job, and infinite other things, which it would be difficult to put into one's own index.» And the catalogue of commentaries on both Testaments edited by Didymus can be excellently augmented from the commentaries of that same Jerome, in which he here and there cites individually the treatises of Didymus which he himself had used in his own. And now, omitting Didymus’s commentaries on the books of the Old Testament, Jerome himself used his small commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Ephesians and Galatians in his own (8). Furthermore, that Didymus wrote a commentary on the Acts of the Apostles is testified to by the fragments of this commentary collected and illustrated by J. Christoph Wollius in his *Anecdota Graeca* (9). But that nothing besides notice and a few fragments in the catenae has been left to us of these commentaries which we have hitherto enumerated, is entirely a cause for our grief. Only one, as it seems, nearly complete, in Latin, remains to us: Didymus's Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, of which we must now speak more accurately.

III. Besides Cassiodorus, a writer of the sixth century, no one testifies that Didymus wrote a commentary on the Catholic Epistles. He, indeed, in his *Institution of Divine Letters* (10), narrates at length how he himself, already an old man, so that he might assist his monks in studying divine letters, prepared nine books of the entire Holy Scripture, diligently emended and furnished with exegetical annotations taken for the most part from the Greeks. The eighth book of this exegetical library contained the Epistles of the Apostles. Concerning which, when he narrates, “In the canonical (or Catholic) Epistles,” he says, “Clement of Alexandria, the presbyter, who is also called the Stromateus—that is, on the first Epistle of St. Peter, the first and second of St. John, and of James (11)—declared certain things in the Attic tongue, where he spoke much indeed with subtlety, but some things incautiously, which we have had translated into Latin in such a way that, with certain stumbling blocks excluded, his purified doctrine could be drawn more securely. St. Augustine also treated the Epistle of the apostle James with his customary care and diligence, which I have left behind for you written in a parchment codex. But when great thought regarding the remaining canonical Epistles was wearying us, suddenly by the Lord’s bounty, there was provided to us a codex of Didymus, written in the Greek style, on the exposition of the seven canonical Epistles, ^B which by the grace of God, who was moved by the man who was most learned, Epiphanius, was translated.

Such is the account of this testimony, so that regarding the matter which we are seeking, nothing more valid or certain can be conceived. You could, however, in this one thing, which is unique, take a cause for doubt. But truly, what will prevent and hinder you from doing so is the history of the Didymian name after his death, once it is known and weighed a little more accurately. For it is certain that Didymus, while he lived, flourished with the praise of orthodoxy, accepted indeed by almost everyone as unstained, nay even as a fierce defender; yet not long after his death, he was touched by the same iniquitous fate as Origen, whom he followed most of all in theology, so that among anxious patrons of ecclesiastical orthodoxy, because of some Origenian opinions which he had declared in his writings, he was ill-spoken of, having been called into the crime of heresy. Jerome himself, though once a listener and admirer of Didymus, and indeed even his friend and his interpreter among the Latins, yet when he saw his own reputation for orthodoxy in danger before Rufinus, preferred to expose the hitherto intact reputation of his master to peril—being more cautious for himself than for defending him; indeed, he was the first to begin to agitate against his Origenian opinions. But as for how much the authority of Jerome prevailed in assessing the doctors of the Church among the suspicious ears of that age, no one is ignorant. Nevertheless, for some time, the glory of Didymus resisted the repeatedly leveled accusations, ^C because of his piety he was almost considered holy. But after the Emperor Justinian, that most fierce champion of ecclesiastical—or rather, courtly—orthodoxy, with the Origenian disputes miserably renewed at that time, had leveled his weapons against the impious Origen and his followers in that famous epistle given to Mennas, Archbishop of Constantinople, our Didymus also, in the synod held by the order of the emperor in the year 544, to wit, after their perceived Origenist blasphemies were agitated rather than examined in the manner of zealots, was struck with public and ecclesiastical anathema along with other good men. Which rash condemnation of the Origenists, since it was subsequently repeated and made, as it were, perpetual by Pope Martin in the Lateran Synod of 649, the Quinisext Synod, and finally the second ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the result was that the glorious memory of Didymus of old came into oblivion among the Greeks, and his writings, especially those which seemed to smack of Origenism more than the others, were first despised, then, being despised, nearly all perished. Hence, do not wonder that Photius, who nevertheless sustained the effort to diligently examine even the writings of heretics, did not even ^D [have] of our Didymus...

^A mention it ever in his Library. Yet our Enarratio on the Catholic Epistles seems in some way to signify that it was little known and little used in both Churches during the fifth and sixth centuries, except for the passage of Cassiodorus cited, which clearly declares it; this is because Cosmas Indicopleustes complains (12) that the Greek interpreters of the sacred books cared little or nothing for the Catholic Epistles. Nevertheless, this Enarratio has been rescued for us from the injury of oblivion, though I do not know if it is complete. And certainly, we owe this to Cassiodorus, who searched in vain for more famous expositors of the Catholic Epistles—a man whose judgment in sniffing out the filth of heretics was not very keen—and then, truly, to the Latin interpreter Epiphanius, whose skill in purging the writings of the ancients was, in this one matter, most fortunate for us.

IV. To remove entirely any scruple for anyone doubting the authenticity of our Enarratio, it would surely do much if, in even one place, the Greek scholia, which refer to the Latin interpretation of Didymus in express terms, bore the name of the author Didymus inscribed upon them. Yet his name nowhere appears in the scholia. But do not be offended by this. For the greatest part of the scholia show no names of authors. ^B Yet there exists one place in the Enarratio itself (13), from which it can be established by certain arguments that it was indeed written by Didymus. For these things are read in it almost exactly: "The true Son of God is Jesus Christ, existing as true God. And consider, just as the Son is consubstantial with the Father and not the same in number according to Sabellius.... Therefore, each of these matters has had an examination, as far as possible, in other works." By these words, therefore, the author clearly declared that he had expounded more fully the doctrine concerning the Trinity against heretics in other books. Now, Didymus wrote three books *De Trinitate*, which Mingarelli the Italian (14) first published almost entire from the codex and vindicated for our author with most rich commentaries. By these vindications, it was at the same time effected that you might easily understand the author of both works to be one and the same, and that he held one and the same mind regarding the Trinity against Sabellius. Moreover, it can be gathered from the same passage cited that Didymus composed our Enarratio on ^C the Catholic Epistles only after the books *De Trinitate* were written. Yet since nothing regarding the time in which those books *De Trinitate* were produced can be defined by accurate evidence, it is also impossible to state more accurately when our Enarratio was written.

However, this is so full of the traces of the Didymian genius that they appear everywhere even to one searching lightly, nor could one, by a more diligent comparison of the works of Didymus, doubt the authenticity of our Enarratio any longer. In which question, even ^D if Mingarelli—not without some other intention, namely that he might vindicate for Didymus the books *De Trinitate*, in which the name of the author and the beginning of the work were missing in the codex he was using—managed things most excellently, it is still for us, who have obtained such a teacher, to be brief. I shall therefore dispatch with a few words. And, to pursue first the things that pertain to dogmatic doctrine, you will find everything that is considered peculiar to Didymus—regarding God as one and three, the creation and plan of the world, good and evil angels, the devil and his nature, Christ and his natures and works, the nature of man and grace, and the remaining dogmas, a list of which Guerickius has recently provided (15)—treated in the Enarratio in the same manner as in the remaining works of Didymus, either expounded more fully or lightly sketched. Out of many things, of which Guerickii’s commentary is most full, let these few examples suffice. In his books, Didymus repeatedly teaches that God is devoid of all quantity, or rather ἄποσος, and therefore is *incomprehensible* and *inaccessible* to the eyes, or rather the minds, of mortals. He brings forth the same opinion in our Enarratio so very often that he denies that God can be comprehended by any created intelligence. See *In I Joannem*, col. 1609 and elsewhere. Didymus teaches that angels are incorporeal, and therefore invisible to the eyes of our body, but that they are indeed created and therefore visible to the mind (*De Trinit. III*). In the same place he teaches that angels are the guardians of holy men; he says the same in the fragment in *Ming. Comment.*, cap. 13, in these words: *The angels who lead the holy ones to light watch over them.* Concerning the devil, he has these things in his book *Contra Manichaeos*, col. 1105: *But not even the devil himself is evil by nature, but by a turning of his own free will.* Cf. ibid. col. 1101, where, having explained the names of the devil, he subjoins these things: *If, therefore, through all that it signifies, the author of evil and first apostate is such by choice, he cannot be evil in substance.* In the same way in *Enarrat. in I Joannem III*, col. 1645, "the devil," he says, "is not a mark (*σημεῖον*) of something substantial, but of voluntary operation." To which you may add those things which are read in *Enarrat. in Ep. Judae*, col. 1648: "Nor is the devil a terrestrial substance. For he once had divine glory and the holy knowledge of God, although having turned away [from it] he fell from such great magnitude." It is shown, therefore, from the common sense which we have concerning all rational beings, that since they are free in will, and the conversion (16) of the devil was brought about, he is not evil by nature.

So far as the doctrine concerning the devil is concerned, Didymus seems the same and consistent through everything. Yet in this doctrine there is one point in which he has seemed to some to disagree with himself, and he understood the books *contra Manichaeos* to be of better fruit. Wrongly. Our interpretation is persuaded, nay demanded, both by the context of the whole passage and by the use of the word *τροπῆς* regarding the fall, or mutation into something worse, which is most frequent in Didymus. See *contra Manich.*, col. 1099; *De Sp. S. III*, p. 528.

^A And the author of the Enarration. For they make him argue against the Manichaeans as if to say that the devil was once destined to be consigned to eternal fire; but they want to claim that in the Enarration he taught the exact opposite of Origen, namely, that the fallen angels, and therefore the devil, could eventually return to a better state and become participants of the salvation restored by Christ to us and to the entire rational world. The passages which seem to bear on this are two that exist in the Enarration on the first Epistle of Peter.

The other passage, which is on I Pet. 1:10-12, as expressed and punctuated in the Library, is commonly read: “If anyone has supposed the salvation sought by the prophets to be at the end of the world, which is in all and in the highest degree an object of desire, since for its sake all other things are done, but for the sake of it, nothing is done.” It is not out of place to understand this to be said also about the holy angels and simply all blessed rational beings, since they all have the desire to look into the things which are to be done at the end of the age. But if they have seen some other blessed state (through those things which have been revealed by the Holy Spirit to those who have received the Gospel) beyond that which was stated; it must be said that the angels, who were found in a certain transgression, also desire to look into it. For although some of them are wicked, yet being held by punishment [resipiscentes (17)], whence they fell, which is also promised to diligent humans, they will have the desire to look into these things even through the windows.

You easily see that this whole passage is almost so corrupted, or rather desperate, that unless it had been amended earlier, it could not be understood in any way at all. As for the beginning, it is clear that the distinction of words is terrible, or rather insane. But a certain and effective cure for this evil has luckily been prepared for us in the Greek scholia, where the same things are read thus: Εἰ δέ τις ἐκλάβοι τὴν ζητουμένην ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν σωτηρίαν κατὰ τὸ τέλος εἶναι, ὃ ἐπὶ πᾶσι καὶ ἔσχατον ὀρεκτὸν τυγχάνει, οὐκ ἀπεμφαίνει περὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων καὶ ἁπλῶς πάντων μακαρίων λογικῶν τὸ προκείμενον ἐκλαβεῖν, πάντων ὄρεξιν ἐχόντων παρακύψαι εἰς τὰ κατὰ τὸ τέλος πράγματα. Therefore, once the full stop after the word *aguntur* is removed, so that a single and continuous statement is made from the two cola, the Latin speech would flow excellently, if it were not hindered besides by these more obscure words: “when for its sake indeed all things are done, but for the sake of it, nothing is done.” These things can, if I am not mistaken, be amended in such a way that you substitute “for the sake of none” (of the things that are done) for “for no one,” and then shut off the words “for whose sake” with a small punctuation mark. With these thus restored and explained, the things which are read subsequently and at the end will be understood by you thus: Since all who are endowed with reason are led by nature and the desire for blessedness, and long to look upon those things which will happen at the end of the age, that is, the perfect salvation and blessedness through the Gospel for all who enjoy some ^B rational status, provided they have not been totally depraved and completely deprived of their rational nature (which is a thing that cannot even be conceived, except by those who have been deceived by the errors of the Manichaeans), the salvation to be looked forward to at the end of the world can be understood as capable of being possessed and truly even to be attained. For although some of them are wicked, yet being detained by punishment (by which they are indeed tormented, but so that they can be amended, and not be extinguished), repenting whence they fell, they will have the desire to look into these things even through the windows; that is, the most ardent desire to look into them in any way whatsoever. By which words, if I see anything, nothing else is taught than this: that the evil angels, however wicked, still are not devoid of the conscience of the better state which they once enjoyed, nor entirely without the desire of once-repaired blessedness. I would not deny that it is possible to conclude from these things that Didymus, due to his doctrine slightly inclined toward Origen, had shown himself so favorable and merciful to the evil angels that he did not wish to take away from them the hope of repaired salvation; nevertheless, until a more just cause for the charge is brought forward, no one among fair judges of the matter will condemn our author for Origenian heresy on this opinion. For he could so excuse himself as to say that the conscience of lost blessedness and the desire for repaired salvation are an increase of punishments for the evil angels.

But that a just cause for the accusation is not lacking to his accusers, the passage which is read in the same Enarration on I Pet. 3:22 proves in express words. For there it is thus: “Jesus reconciled through the blood of His cross things which are in heaven and which are on the earth, destroying every war and tumult. For soon in His descent and birth from the Virgin it was said: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace! Concisely, however, it is said here too, because when He had risen from the dead and was sitting at the right hand in the highest, having journeyed into heaven, the angels, powers, and virtues were subjected to Him. For just as humans refraining from sins are subjected, so also the superior rational beings corrected from spontaneous faults, which (18) perhaps they had, were subjected to Him, a complete dispensation having been held for the salvation of all. It is possible, however, for some to say, while refraining from such spontaneous passions, that an entire change of the subjected heavenly animals is not signified.” Who is there who does not see that this disputation of Didymus is as far as possible from the condemned doctrine of Origen concerning the *ἀποκατάστασις πάντων*?

Let us now look into that passage in the book of Didymus *Against the Manichaeans*, which they say is clearly contrary to the charge of Origenian heresy. But the passage stands in the Basnagian edition of that book, p. 213 (cap. 13). There Didymus argues primarily against those who make God the author of sin. To dispel these, among other things

he uses an argument most accommodated to the vulgar understanding: that God, the legislator and judge, since by the authority of holy Scripture (Matt. xxv, 41) He has decreed that the unjust—above all Satan—are to be delivered to punishment at a certain time, cannot even be thought to be the author of sin. In explaining this argument more accurately, he expounds the passage of Scripture just cited: "Depart into the eternal ^A fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," in such a way that, whereas God is there said to have prepared the fire for the devil, he bluntly denies that the devil is evil by eternity and by nature (κατ’ οὐσίαν), or that he is alien to the good God. But in order to defend the passage itself against the cavils of adversaries, who ask why God did not decree that the devil be delivered to eternal fire immediately after his fall, but only after much damage and much destruction of men, he reasons roughly thus: "If these things," he says, "are to be thought of in this way, they will either attribute to God [then], regarding how He punished and hindered evil, either ignorance or inability. But neither of these things belongs to the good God. Therefore, he did not emerge as an enemy of God without beginning, but, having been created to be good, he kept the power of virtue incomplete, while he brought the aptitude for vice into act, on account of which he was both to be punished and justly subjected to retribution after a long time."

In this whole argumentation there is nothing at all that contributes to defining more accurately the opinion of Didymus concerning evil angels and their salvation, whether it be something to be hoped for one day or something to be despaired of. Indeed, nothing is taught therein regarding the devil and his punishment such that you could gather from it by certain reasons that Didymus rejected the Origenian heresy concerning the salvation of the devil being at no time to be despaired of. In which matter it is primarily to be observed that in more than one place in his discussion Didymus speaks simply of the fire, or the punishment, of the devil, in such a way that he clearly omits the word *aionios* [eternal] which is added in holy Scripture; which thing that otherwise religious follower of Origen is not to be thought to have done rashly. To which you may add that in his books *On the Trinity*, Didymus uses the word *aionios* so very often that nothing is contained therein beyond the notion of the divine (19). They are therefore mistaken, as far as I see, and strikingly so, who judge that this passage of the discussion against the Manichaeans regarding the punishment of the devil conflicts with that manifest confession of the Origenian heresy by Didymus.

And this is sufficient and more than sufficient regarding the dogmatic character of our *Enarration* from Didymus.

V. Let us now proceed to investigate the critical character of our work, specifically that which concerns the canon of holy Scripture, which was at that time here and there various. In which matter there is one thing in which the integrity and authenticity ^B of the later Epistle of Peter, to the defenders of the Didymian work, is offended, nay, is vexed, and they can be vexed greatly. The passage exists at the end of the commentary on the later Epistle of Peter, where these most troublesome words are read concerning the authenticity of the same Epistle: "It is not therefore to be ignored that the present Epistle is falsified, which, although it is published, is nevertheless not in the Canon."

And first of all, it is easily understood that the sense of this rather obscure passage is almost this: The second Epistle of Peter is falsified, *notheuetai*, that is, it is denied to be Peter's, and the same, although it is published in the churches (ἐν πλείσταις δεδημοσιευμένη Ἐκκλησίαις), is nevertheless alien to the Canon (οὐκ ἐνδιάθηκος). And it is agreed among all that this Epistle of Peter was numbered among the doubtful, or *antilegomena*, by Origen and Eusebius, and then later from about the fourth century onwards it was received into the common Canon of the Church, yet so that, according to Jerome, there were still many in this very century who denied it to be Peter's (20). That Didymus himself, in his *Enarration*, stood on the side of those who would adjudicate that Epistle away from the apostle Peter could be demonstrated entirely, apart from that closing clause of the commentary, primarily by the fact that during the commentary he never names the author of the Epistle the apostle Peter, but [names] the "conscriptor of the Epistle" as if he were known to no one, and doubtful—unless it had already been correctly observed by Mingarelli that Didymus uses the same formula in his *Enarration* of the former Epistle, which nevertheless he could not even have denied to be Peter's, e.g., col. 1595. In these points, thus far, we find no offense. But it is much more difficult to understand how those words, with which the commentary on the second Epistle of Peter ends, cohere in sense with the preceding [words], joined by the little word "therefore." Let us write out the whole passage, so that the readers themselves may judge it better. "It is a wonder to many, and from these words (II Pet. iii, 5-7) it is signified that there are mundane revolutions and mutations. For they hold as follows: For the heaven was of old and the earth from water and through water constituted by the word of God, by which the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire." And after other things (ibid. 13): "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth." For they who are held by this opinion say: "An age (*aion*) was of old, and an earth without heavens (21), and the earth which now is (Gen 1), and outside these, which now are, there will be new heavens and a new earth." It is manifest to all that three worlds consist by succession, since it is written: "The heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store: and the mutation again will be similar to them which perished under the flood." But the conscriptor of the Epistle recognized these things...^C ... ^D ...

(19) Similarly Origen, whom Didymus follows in this doctrine, establishes that there is one doctrine about eternal punishments that is popular, and another that is philosophical. When he professes his own philosophical opinion on this matter, he does not say that eternal punishments for evils are eternal in the sense that there is no end to them at all, but rather that they are more severe and long-lasting, by which, as immense ages pass, sins are, as it were, burned out of the souls of creatures, not, however, that the creatures themselves are annihilated. Cf. Huet. Orig. 1, 11, § 20; Guericke, *De schola Alex.* II, p. 297. (20) See the commentary of Olshausen. On the integrity and authenticity of the later Epistle of Peter, p. 1. (21) That is, not without heavens.

^A proof from the words of Jesus concerning the consummation of the age, as follows [prolatis (22)]. For as in the days of Noah, men were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, selling, buying, planting, building, until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and took them all (23)... so will it be in the presence of the Son of man. But he discourses further on these words, when he says: "By fire this creation which is now seen is to be dissolved." For he says that the day of judgment comes secretly as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a great rush and without delay, the elements being melted by the fire brought upon them, after which, the heavens having been amputated at the root, new heavens and a new earth will follow, in which the righteous shall possess the justice and the promises of God in their own dwelling place. It is not, therefore, etc.

It is clear from these things that Didymus, because of his inclination toward the cosmological opinions of Clement and Origen (24), was offended in the highest degree that the author of the Epistle, not content with those things which Christ himself had said in general concerning the consummation of the age, dared to teach further things, namely, that the whole creation which is now seen is to be deleted and dissolved at the root by fire (25). And it seems that Didymus fostered the opinion of those who thought that while the form of the world would once be changed or rather amended by the conflagration of worldly fires, the substance of things or matter itself would remain immutable (26). Therefore, those things which in the Petrine Epistle seemed to be taught in almost explicit words contrary to his own opinion were displeasing to him. But lest he should seem too audaciously to oppose apostolic authority, he added that clause, by which he might warn ^C readers that that opinion, which might seem strange and full of offense to many, although it had been published in the Epistle, yet, because this same thing was held to be falsified, it rested on no canonical authority at all. If this interpretation of our passage is true, everything hangs together very well. But there were those who said that Didymus, by narrating Peter's opinion, had made it his own. Let them see for themselves how they defend the clause. Basnage, when he did not perceive the meaning of the passage, thought that the things which are read at the end of the commentary were badly stitched on by a foreign hand. And rightly so, indeed, provided it could be proven that Didymus had given his assent to the argument of the Epistle; although not even so do I understand by what reason or for what cause those things could have been stitched on ^D [to the] narration of Peter, you would say it was so mutilated that, among many other things, those things especially had perished, or were omitted by the Latin interpreter, by which the clause of the commentary would be consistent. But you will have the matter made easier in the way I mentioned above. It is indeed true that Didymus, if he himself wrote that clause, could seem to be inconsistent with himself herein, in that he attributed the Epistle which is called Petrine to the apostle Peter, [a fact] undoubted in other books (27). But indeed I am not so moved by these things as to assent rashly to Mingarelli (28), who suspects, if I see it correctly, that the whole narration of the other Epistle of Peter, being very brief indeed and imperfect, was either not Didymus's at all, or was interpolated by those whose interest it was either to obtrude a perverse doctrine or to cover the name of Didymus with infamy many years after his death, or [that] in the end, when he wrote his books *De Trinitate* in the last years of his life, he had cast off the opinion which he had embraced before, or indeed all hesitation. For that fertile abundance of various conjectures of Mingarelli, which I fear the fear of the priest may have made, seems to me indeed more religious than true—namely, lest the Petrine name, famous before many others, should be wanting to the Church in defending the authority of that Epistle. You will truly explain the knot of the matter, which is entirely present, and the scruple, more easily thus: by saying that Didymus disputed otherwise concerning that Epistle for another kind of teaching, economically. In which matter he followed Origen, so that in questions especially exegetical, according to the reason of his undertaking, he would open up the critical causes of the canon, but in dogmatic and homiletic matters, lest he should offend the common people, he kept more cautiously the common custom of the ecclesiastical Canon for himself, untouched.

VI. The method of our work is such that it everywhere reflects the method of Didymus, namely the Alexandrian, or rather the Origenian, yet so tempered that in the books of the N.T. at least it abstains from an excessive study of allegories. The grammatical and historical manner of interpreting, as in his commentaries, so also in our narration he has not indeed neglected; nay, he sometimes has things which are most useful to it. In which, however, take care not to apply the measure of our art to the estimation of the exegetical works of the older Church. For the ancient Greek theologians, when they [read] the books of the N. [Scripture... ^D].

while they still possessed the living language, understood them more easily than they interpreted them by philological art. They did not, indeed, despise grammatical principles—nay, where it seemed necessary to them, they sometimes explained them—but in interpreting, they principally aimed at probing the subject matter and the sentiments of the Holy Scriptures, and once probed, at accommodating them to life and the school. Yet they did this in such a way that it would be entirely wrong for us, according to our more advanced theological art, to follow them. Didymus, in his interpretation, followed Origen, who was the first to reduce the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures into the form of an art, in such a way that he collected the individual methods and causes of interpreting, and directed those collections toward that end which seemed to contain the entire theological interpretation; so that from the Holy Scriptures—which, in that age, were considered to breathe and conceal in every single word the Word and Spirit of God—the Christian doctrine could be more fully and fruitfully constructed, defended, and applied to the life of men. ^A Didymus, addicted to this type of interpretation by the custom of the Alexandrian school, placed the so-called theological causes as the chief elements in his interpretation; and he is entirely concerned with elucidating these, both in all his commentaries and especially in the Enarratio of the Catholic Epistles.

Hence I would by no means deny that our Enarratio, if we estimate it by the custom of that age, is a true commentary. In which matter I cannot help but contradict Guericke, who argued that it is a freer and somewhat select explanation, not of the individual words and sentiments, but only of those which it pleased Didymus to illustrate more copiously. If this opinion of Guericke were true, you could by the same right deny that Didymus wrote a commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. Although there is nothing left to us of that commentary besides exegetical selections, the manifest form of these selections is such that I agree with Wolf, who by suitable arguments proved that Didymus wrote a commentary on the Acts of the Apostles extending through the whole book (29). In this question, something most grave must not be passed over: that the Enarratio has not been left to us in its entirety, but is mutilated in many places, as it seems; concerning which matter we shall soon have to discourse more fully.

Moreover, our Enarratio has this peculiarity: that in interpreting, it everywhere touches upon and refutes the Manichaeans, especially their wicked errors, even in those places where there seems to be almost no cause or subject matter present for arguing against them. And see how in these things also the habit and character of Didymus’s Enarratio reveals itself to us. For he held the heresy of the Manichaeans in such abhorrence that, besides the individual book he wrote about it, he even in his exegetical treatises—e.g., in his commentary on the Acts of the Apostles—in accordance with the pugnacity of that time against heresies, ^B recurred repeatedly to refuting it (30). And Mingarelli, indeed, when he understood that Didymus in our Enarratio was almost excessive in noting and refuting the errors of the Manichaeans, conjectured that it was composed for that purpose, "to refute the pestilential heresy of Manes." You could by the same right conjecture that Didymus wrote his Enarratio against the Arians or the Sabellians, whom he repeatedly noted. But you will easily be able to dispense with this conjecture. For all those things which seem to tend this way will be explained much better by the polemical method of explaining—or rather, applying—Holy Scripture which men of that age were wont to use. And truly, there is nothing else contained in our book by which this conjecture of Mingarelli can be supported or defended.

These things having been set forth, if any doubt concerning the integrity of our Didyman work still resides in you, I would have you note—to pluck it entirely from your mind—the interpretations of certain places in the Catholic Epistles which are repeated in other books by Didymus with a certain distinctiveness and constancy; which, to spare time, we shall note below at the Enarratio itself.

VII. We hinted above that we greatly doubt the integrity of our work, as it is now held. But in order that you may not believe this to have been done by us rashly, come, let us inquire more accurately into what the reasons for this doubt might be.

And first, indeed, the more attentively I read our Enarratio, the more I seem to have missed the connection and continuity of a commentary in many places. Nor can I help but suspect that there are omissions or gaps present, whether larger or smaller. As far as the smaller gaps are concerned, the first person who published our work already observed well in general that some things were lacking in it, though only a few (51); yet he did not indicate the places which seemed poorly sane or full of gaps. Gallandius did this with the sagacity and diligence to which he was accustomed. But if such things are indeed missing, they pertain to the fault of the copyist, from whose manuscript book—which is the only one so far discovered, and which, while very ancient, is most negligently made—our Latin Enarratio was expressed. But lest we rashly exaggerate the fault of the copyist, the first editor himself seems not infrequently to have brought in a false appearance of gaps where there are none, in that he poorly transcribed the true reading of the manuscript book and, as it were, hid the integrity of the connected discourse with the worst possible punctuation of the words. We shall note examples of both kinds below.

^C The question regarding the larger gaps or omissions which are detected in our commentary is more serious. For the inequality of the interpretation, now long to the point of nausea, now shorter—especially in the latter Epistle of Peter and also the Epistle of James—troubles me so badly, or rather offends me, that I can scarcely believe it was left to us in its entirety.

believe that the Enarratio has been left to us in its complete state, nor will I ever allow myself to be persuaded that Didymus was so little consistent with himself in the Greek commentary, and so little like himself, that if he were interpreting the seven Catholic Epistles in one continuous draft—a thing which you might not doubt—he would decorate some parts with overly prolix and indeed extraneous questions, rather than overburden them, while hardly or even barely touching upon others with his annotation. Additionally, comparing the fragments of the Greek commentary that have been left to us with the Latin Enarratio more accurately, we are almost forced to suspect that the Greek copy was much longer than the Latin. Clearer examples of this fact will be provided by the annotation to the Enarratio, which is hereafter to be placed before us. ^A Why say more? I will say what I feel. Epiphanius, who made our commentary Latin from the Greek, seems to me to have composed a summary catena from it, as was the custom at that time, in such a way that he omitted at will and as it were inverted those things which seemed to him to have something of an offense, or to be less necessary or more obscure. Which is wonderfully confirmed ^B by the suspicion that Cassiodorus himself admits, who was the author for Epiphanius of the interpretation or Latin version of Didymus, that he ordered the outlines of Clement of Alexandria to be translated in such a way that, as they seemed to contain many things that were not cautiously expressed, the offensive parts having been excluded, the doctrine might be more safely drawn from them. For do you think that for Didymus, who had long since incurred the charge of Origenian heresy among the common people, it happened as it did for the more fortunate Clement, that his Enarratio, under the auspices and hands of Epiphanius—with the task of cleaning it up almost commanded—was published among the Latins undiminished and intact? You might indeed, from the passage of Cassiodorus cited above, conjecture by your own right that the Greek codex of the Enarratio which was offered to Cassiodorus did not contain the whole of it, but had long before been reduced by the Greeks into a compendium of a catena. I would not object to that conjecture, provided that the form and composition of the Enarratio were such as the Greek catenae usually are—more accurate and more uniform. Wherefore, the mutilation or compendium of our work, if any such has been done, should more rightly be blamed upon Epiphanius.

DIDYMUS THE ALEXANDRIAN: LATIN ENARRATIO ON THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES

Having set forth those things which seemed necessary to be premised concerning the authority, authenticity, and method of the Didyman Enarratio, let us now proceed to prepare the justification itself of this Enarratio from the Greek scholia.

And I had initially intended to arrange only the Greek fragments collected from the scholia alongside the Latin ones, expressed side-by-side, so that from the mutual agreement of both texts the truth of my discovery might be easily apparent to everyone. But having weighed the matter more carefully, and realizing that by this path it would not be possible to sufficiently discern the mutual relationship of the Greek scholia to the Latin exemplar, nor could an informed judgment be brought by readers regarding the nature and character of the Enarratio itself, I changed my plan. And so, the better to adorn the province of defender which I have taken upon myself, I decided hereafter to publish the entire Enarratio, having been more accurately revised and augmented with the Greek fragments inserted in their proper places. In which task I considered it my primary duty to ensure that the Latin Enarratio should come forth more purified, as much as I could, from the errors with which it teemed, almost countless owing to the carelessness and negligence of those remarkable first editors. And so that I may explain a few things more accurately regarding the method of my critical task, it will be occupied partly with correcting the punctuation of the words, which the first editors handled very poorly, and partly with restoring readings for the insane ones, where possible, with better ones. In this business, Gallandius occupied no small part of the labor, and was the first to attempt to heal the passages he understood to be corrupt, either by changing the punctuation or the reading. He had, indeed, no codex as an authority in this, but used only his own ingenuity and conjectural art, sometimes with great success. In order, therefore, to save at least some portion of my labor, I have arranged for the text of the Enarratio to be rendered from Gallandius's more amended edition. But what he annotated is arranged in such a way that, if I were to omit it, I would seem to myself to be lacking in my own edition. And so, no one will wonder that the critical annotation of Gallandius has been repeated by me and interposed with my own. Nor did he indeed complete the whole thing; rather, he left much for others to restore, if it might be possible to do so better. If this...

if it has fallen to us to be more fortunate than Gallandi, it is in no small degree owed to the Greek scholia, which we have used quite often as remedies for the true Latin version, both in discovering and in correcting its readings and punctuation. But just as there is no small help and, as it were, a remedy found in the Greek scholia for amending the Latin version, so too there are not a few points in the Latin version that we were able to use to the best advantage in restoring the text of the Greek scholia, which is sometimes corrupt. These scholia, although published from sufficiently good and older manuscripts [(33)], yet at times contain individual corrupt words or a badly jumbled order of sentences, which leave one in doubt. Matthaei, the editor, indeed discerned well by the acuity of his own talent most of these corruptions and defects, and sometimes attempted with excellent conjecture to alleviate them; yet, since he was unaware that a Latin translation of the Didymian scholia survived, he left many things, which seem most certain to be repaired from it, either left entirely untouched or not healed by later care. Our critical notation will supply examples of this—what power the Latin version has in correcting the Greek scholia—repaying it, as it were, with grace for the salvation sought by it from these sources. And so much for these matters.

BRIEF ENARRATION OF DIDYMUS THE ALEXANDRIAN ON THE EPISTLE OF BLESSED JAMES THE APOSTLE

^A CAP. 1, VERS. 1. ‹James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the dispersion, greeting.› Just as men who crave mortal glory place before others the honors they are thought to possess in their official records, so holy men in the Epistles which they write to the Churches primarily proclaim themselves to be servants ^B of our Lord Jesus Christ, judging this title to stand above the kingdoms of the whole world. For rightly does James, the apostle of the circumcision, write to those ‹who are of the circumcision,› just as Peter, since he is proven to be their apostle, writes to the Jews established in the dispersion. For these things which are written to them can also be adapted to those who are Jews secretly and spiritually; for even John, being an apostle along with James and their like, had a contemplation in the Apocalypse concerning the spiritual Israelites and their tribes.

VERS. 2, 3. ‹Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience: but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.› For the most perfect courage and endurance, exhorting ^C as he follows it, he calls them brethren, and not children, nor sons, to whom he writes. For how should they not be perfect, who not only without sadness, but even with joy for Christ’s sake bear temptations? For whoever bears various temptations with delight, the most approved work follows, from which also both perfect patience and principal fortitude are corrected. And so this patience is known to be the perfect work of one who struggles well: which work now comes to pass when it is brought to fulfillment, not for any other reason, but by divine charity. For what greater endeavor is there than that someone should be perfect, and have all virtues, by which he is consistently driven, so that to those who possess them no want should arise? Thus, similar to this is that saying: ‹Tribulation produces patience, and patience probation, and probation hope, and hope does not confound.› For it is proven that in these discourses of the apostles, there is a difference of words, not of meanings.

VERS. 12. ‹Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been tested, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.› After he had sufficiently invited them, with joy, to endure temptations, as a bearable work, and to be held by perfect patience—which are done for their own sake, not on account of anything else—by another warning he strives to persuade them by the promises, so that the present things might be corrected: he says that he is blessed who endures temptation. It shall happen, he says, for whoever has bravely undertaken the contest, that he is a perfect man and exercised in all things; but he who...

^A has appeared after the trial shall merit the crown of life meant for those who love God, prepared by God.

From these things we recognize that, according to the virtues of each, a crown can be bestowed by God—to some the crown of justice, to others that of incorruptibility and right faith. But it is fitting that, besides these crowns, another crown also be conferred upon those who hope and endure for the future, the substance of which is the Lord Himself. Above these, another is set aside for those enjoying the Lord and experiencing the delights of paradise, and drinking from the torrent of God’s delights. The examples of the aforementioned crowns are these: "There is laid up," he says, "for me the crown of justice"; and again: "You shall receive the incorruptible crown of glory"; and likewise: "In that day the Lord of Hosts shall be a crown of hope"; and again: "The crown of delights shall protect you." Concerning which crown it must be considered whether it is the very one of which it was said, "The crown of graces," or another. For just as he who enjoys the crown of delights, and who has the grace of God cooperating, receives the crown of graces, so he who practices justice and correctly pursues those things which are to be understood, or he who seeks perfect glory, merits the crown of justice and glory. ^B Thus, he who does not despise the endurance of temptations, being insistent even upon death itself, shall receive the crown of eternal life, for which he has despised the joys of this temporal life. It must be asked whether the substance of the crown of life which God prepared for those who love Him is such that it cannot be subjected to the magnitude of the majesty of sight and hearing, nor has it ascended into the sheer intellect of any man.

VERS. 17. *Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.*

He calls God the Father of intelligible lights—that is, of rational illuminators—from whom, as from the giver of things, he says heavenly gifts come to men; which, because they are beneficial, he calls the best gifts; and because they are full and without defect, he calls them perfect gifts, ^C unhesitatingly. And how can some say, regarding this expression, that only those things which are better belong to God, and not also those which are judged troublesome and sad? We must set down that passage where Scripture says: "He has brought evils upon them"; and that: "Evils have descended from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem"; and similar things. From these and other examples of this kind, the opinion is recognized that both pleasant and sad things come to men from the judgment of God. Since, therefore, all things are attributed to the providence of God, it was nevertheless consequent that he who was inviting to patience and the perfection of virtue should have a better remembrance, while everyone who strives to live according to virtue deserves not sad things, but rather the best gifts and perfect endowments.