On the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ

The cause of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. On the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, I begin to write a treatise on the causes of the events that were done for the teaching of the fear of God, by Mar Thomas of Edessa. And Mar Qiyura, his disciple. The first of those made for Mar Thomas. The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. First chapter. To him who asks of me that I make it in writings: of two, that I show the heads of the cause; of three, a request concerning why they make this feast; of four, that I show the benefits that are given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ; of five, why until now these benefits have not been revealed; of six, there was necessity concerning the mediation of something that from his hand we receive these benefits from God; of seven, concerning what causes something else did God not take in this time for his revelation, but with the head that is fitting, our Lord Christ; of nine, why was he not taken from the earth with the head of our Lord, but with a virgin, without the union of a man; of ten, why at this time did God spread out that the star would be placed over the head of our Lord; of eleven, the superiority concerning good conduct. First chapter To him who asks of me that I make it in writings. Your counsel, beneficial, with the beloved brothers who are in Karshunia, and your sweet command with them, O chosen one of God, Mar Moses the reader. Disturbing thoughts were born in me, and in various anxieties I was troubled. For you commanded me concerning the cause of that which was said after the holy teacher Mar Aba the interpreter, of the glorious birth of our Lord and King Christ, to deliver it also in writings. This which I have accomplished, I have arranged, that it may not be disorderly and a hindrance concerning everything that was thought of in a simple manner, with those who love to add to the cause and to that which is without cause.

And no further command brought it forth to the final deed. It did not transgress the command and announce your kingdom, nor did it delay any person of all who are spoken of for the sake of the fear of the living God. But while I was occupied with these thoughts and with others like them, it was fitting that it be a delight for me to show your own will, while I leave to others to speak as they wish. And not because I fear the conclusive words that nothing is lacking with respect to God—for you are fitting for Christ in good will and perfect conduct—did I bring a cause for murmuring against me, in that I did not obey your command which was given deceitfully, while the help of your prayers is received on behalf of Christ, I ask: behold, I give myself to fulfill your will. While this is before all of them, I ask of you, and of those who are as they are destined to encounter these writings, that you not rely on me in any one of the forms, so that when I speak concerning myself, that I am able by the power of everything that the great one spoke in this discourse, thus also I have completed it as he said. I approached to speak in word or to act in writings. But this I declare concerning my words, that I also myself am persuaded, that this entire work of mine, from the great one, as if alone it is entangled, so each person from among them is entangled with his own. As with an image in relation to its reflection, and as with a shadow in relation to the body from which it is cast, and as it is not fitting to light a small lamp in a place where the rays of the sun are spread, so also these things of mine are confounded. While these great and luminous plants of their meanings are spread out, I therefore distinguish the heads in which the entire course of the cause runs, as for the sake of greater profit. And now I begin to speak of those things that follow the order of each one of them in its own cause.

your wisdom and intelligence are known, that those who are about to travel on a path of so many words, a hand that does not cease in it from any firmness, greatly helps them with the signs and knowledge that they receive on the path, and it restrains them from wandering. For thus it happens to them that when their heart is set. For the night, when it does not cease, from sign to sign and from knowledge to knowledge, they travel until the end of the path. And if this is so, it is evident that it is more fitting for those who seek to receive the discourse of so many words, that the heads of the narrative itself, before everything, teach them who they are. For if this were so, at the time when they are required to speak, they would not even be able to speak the writings that they have taken as a reminder of the entire discourse, but by that which they first learned, the quantity and knowledge of all the heads, they can easily speak, and they do not fall short in the discourse in the middle. The second head: who are the heads of the cause itself. For it is also evident to everyone that this feast which completes the day of the birth of Christ. But the thought does not rely on this alone, that it teaches that this feast is the birth of the Lord. But it goes out in inquiry many times. That also for what reason they celebrate it. And when they investigate and find that it is because of the great benefits that were given to us through our Lord Christ. This one who was born on the day for all creatures. As his benefits towards us are examined. When they take his remembrance and fulfill the will of those who are required to speak of what these benefits are. And after again they examine them and show them. It is required from you that which is because of what benefits that are so beneficial to all, until even over them the spirit goes out. And another inquiry is made.

that without mediation, nothing was able to be accomplished for the sake of these good things from God. And when it is shown again that this was necessary from every side concerning that which by its hand was to be prepared for the reception of them, it is required to know why it was not revealed by another means, but only by the head. And when it is shown that many of the things that were sought were being taken from the preparedness of the head of the matter, in another place. For if because of these things from the beginning it was necessary concerning the head, it would have been sufficient then for the salvation itself alone. And thus it is made known that also God in him was necessarily seeking a dispensation, as it would be known that not by an ordinary head was it possible to save. And not from God without mediation was anything able to receive the good things that were prepared for it. But after it is seen that because of the good things that were given to it, by our Lord Jesus Christ they make the feast of his birth day. The good things that are revealed, however, what they are and the receiver brings forth in spirit also that which, because of what, from before time, was not revealed. And it is seen that also necessity was upon the mediation of something, as in their revelation and nothing else was but fire. The head, however, was not ordinary, but that in which God, the power of all, was able. Those who for the sake of salvation acted in his dispensation are required. Why? For this head did God not take from the earth like the first Adam, or from a woman was it necessary that he be born? Why was it not the seed of a man that was born from a virgin? And after the cause of this is shown, the remainder is why at the time of the dispensation God spread out that which was to be annulled, and what is understood from this that at this time he was born. And thus after these things they give an end to the whole cause, while they complete also the little discourse.

bread, as for truth and the correction of the senses. The beginning of the third inquiry: For what reason do we celebrate this holy feast of the Nativity? For this feast is indeed celebrated by us today, and the holy Church is completed in all its aspects with great joy, because the birth of Christ our Lord is manifest. For this is proclaimed equally from the mouth of all eloquent men and women, and from youths to elders. But this is required: whether perhaps, because of the novelty of the birth that occurred without union, we have erred in the day and abolished this feast, while we marvel at the power by which his conception was found without the seed of a man from Mary the Virgin. And it is known that this is a great and exalted matter, that a virgin should give birth without the union of a man. But however exalted it may be in power, it was not sufficient by itself without the other things that were destined to be said, that thus the cause of this feast would be in all its aspects. For we see other exalted things that occurred among people in their time. And because other things did not reach the novelty of their creation, their birth was not celebrated fittingly. Such as Adam and Eve and Isaac and Elijah and the like. For indeed each one of these, more than its companion, is equal to wonder. And it proclaims greatly the divine power. And it remains prior in this, that of Isaac, how great it was that from a barren and old woman a son was born. For it was sufficient for each one of them, from her and for her, to stop the course from that which, for the sake of fruits, let it be, when both of them were, old age and barrenness together, but this was not from seed. And what does seed do in barrenness and old age?

For it is a great wonder if one of the seeds of farmers should sow a man upon a roof, or cast seed upon the stones of a mountain, or plant in water, or in the air, and should find fruit from one of these. So also, if an old and barren woman should cast seed, it is a great wonder if a son should come from the womb of one of these, being found in a single moment. For here both are found together with Sarah. With the blessed Mary, therefore, one thing was lacking from the order of nature, namely that she should receive seed. With Sarah, however, both were present, as I said: old age and barrenness. And it is more astonishing that a land should bear fruit when it is not sown, than that which yields fruit. The sins that fall upon the stones of the mountain, and also to God, difficult and easy things are alike. For in the case of that which is measured by a limited power, they are not equally accomplished in the matters of error and of truth. For God, however, there is nothing that is difficult for His fellow, because He is not limited in His power, and His mere sign is sufficient for Him with respect to all things. Just as with a coal, moreover, that which burns and also that which is extinguished are equal to the wonder, more than that which is shown. For here there is no womb, nor conception, nor seed, but a rib from the side, and this again is that which was from the male, that a woman came from him, not by the passage of time in the growth that is measured hand in hand, but she arose from rest at the twinkling of an eye, which is completed in an instant. This is also from that which is from the earth of Adam. For this was life from life, and sentience from sentience. Adam, however, was life and rational, and sentience from the earth, which does not share in any of these. If, therefore, these are also wonders, each one of them is more than its fellow of the Lord.

For all the joy is only in the work of the Church, the feast which is like this day in all regions. But it is evident that it is not when the creatures are perfected that this feast occurs. For not even the Magi, when they were moved by divine grace, in which manner they were to go up to worship him, brought the offerings that signified concerning her concerning this they approached him. But gold, myrrh, and frankincense. Frankincense for the censer of the temple, which is the temple of this God who was born. And in him divinity is destined to be worshipped by all rational beings without body, as in a temple that is not shaken. And gold for the sign of his kingship and his commandments. And therefore it is right for all the faithful to receive him. And to him they should listen with all their strength. And myrrh for the sign that by his death he conquers death. And he rises to the kingdom that is not shaken by one of the forms. And these things which they brought to him. It is evident that as they were instructed by divine sign, and the angel also when he appeared to the shepherds and announced good news to them. It was not that he boasted to them that the Lord was born of a virgin. But he said to them: I announce to you great joy, which will be for the whole world. And why did he say: A savior day is born for you, who is the Lord Messiah in the city of David. When he mentioned the city of David to show that in this that a day was born, the promises of God to the fathers go forth to fulfillment. And in this all nations will be blessed like the promises to Abraham. That in your seed all nations will be blessed. And upon this he relied and continued from his course the promise that was to David: that from the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne. And to his kingdom there will be no end. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and to his kingdom there will be no end.

That one whose name is Lord, because He is the Lord of all creation, because of the closeness of the Word to God. For the Lord did not make the Messiah God. This is the anointing that they received through the laying on of hands. And that one of the Messiah, because for this He was separated and chosen, and He became the true Messiah, just as all the former ones were anointed with the oil of anointing. That one, however, with the Spirit of Holiness, because of this, your God cannot be anointed with the oil of joy more than your companions. That one of the Savior, because through His hand they were destined to be saved from sin, death, destruction, and the servitude of Satan. For in truth, the joy is that of the whole world of peoples, who are joined to the divine household, and that the people of Israel go out to the covenants with their fathers, so that all equally are saved from all the afflictions of this world. It is evident, then, that even the angels participate with us in the joy, for they too rejoice greatly in the change for the better. But the thousand of John the Baptist, because of this, the holy Church makes remembrance of him at every hour, because they served through his hand, and because of his perfect and exalted conduct, and his death for the sake of the fear of God, while they were ascending over all these things that are his, he hastened to speak in them as much as he could, so that he might be worthy to taste with him the fragrance of heavenly goods. This, then, they do now for her, while they fulfill the remembrance of all the holy fathers and of those who witnessed concerning the face of the Messiah, each one of them in his order, and for the sake of this very feast that I mentioned earlier. Now, then, while they celebrate this glorious and honored feast of the birth of our Lord the Messiah, it is not when they look naturally at this new birth alone, which was without union. For the cause of this they say after you.

of hands. But because of these ineffable blessings, which were given to all creation through the Messiah our hope. As when they received their testimony and accepted the teaching concerning them, they were bound by the yoke of their own will, which was fitting for the ascent to heaven and for the participation in those blessings that are reserved for those who believe rightly. And they are guided according to the measure of their faith. The beginning of the fourth [section]: Of those which are the blessings that were given to us through our Lord the Messiah. What then are these blessings that were ordained for us through our Lord the Messiah, such that, as we celebrate their commemoration, the day on which we perform this feast compels us to speak. They teach us, then, what the holy angels were, who with great joy were crying out and saying at the time of the birth of our Savior thus: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good hope to men." In these three phrases are examined, as it were, all the good ordinances that were given to us through our Lord the Messiah. For because of the righteousness, as it were, of creation, the holy angels, in that they saw that we had fallen from the soundness of the fear of God, and had been seized by the sickness of the fear of idols, and had been completely delivered over to the service of demons, and had been established in the drunkenness of abominable deeds, they were grieved and distressed. When one of those who were compelled and in need was thrown down to the ground to act, they were seeking, as it were, to cut off and cast away the exhausted members from their fellowship, if not for the good Lord of all, God, who, for the sake of the hope of the restoration and the repentance of those with him, enslaved them, as it is written: "Creation was not enslaved in vain, not by its own will, but because of what enslaved it for the sake of hope.

It is vain and without profit, for they considered their labor on your behalf to be in vain, when the fear of God was established in them by will, and they were not wearied by toil, on account of the hope of future things that would benefit them. As in the service on your behalf, when he confirmed in them the hope of a change for the better, from the cry of the blood of Abel, and from the righteousness of Enoch, and from the ascent of Elijah, and from that which was not believed, that God at all times and in generations of generations would guide those who are for salvation and towards the participation that is with the truth, which are helpers. It is fitting, therefore, for them, as for the healthy members of creation, to persist in the health of the love of their Lord, to err in the things that provoke wrath, and to be deprived of the hope of better things. They are revealed from God, the good things that through the Messiah our Lord are distributed to all creation. And with great joy they cried out, saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good hope to men.” It was a shame for us until now that the glory that was due to God from men was withheld. And they were worshipping deaf idols, and error was being served, and demons were rejoicing, and evil spirits were exulting, and they were laughing at men and mocking them, and they were acting nocturnally all evil things in their prayers to the harlots in the works of the slanderer. Now, however, through this one who was born from the seed of David, as by divine kingships, he is reconciled to God. That glory which is due to him from all is known, and he is exalted and raised above all in his essence, the maker of all and the wearied one. And men are turned away from the worship of idols, and they are gathered and turned away from the service of demons. Demons are ashamed, and the slanderer falls. Men arise and are fair to their maker, through the knowledge of the truth.

and by virtuous conduct, and they receive the formation of all the excellent habits from the beginning. And upon the face of all these, upon the earth, peace. For the servants of the works of their hands, who were accustomed to worship, worship him in a most exalted manner to God, the work of his own and of theirs, when they are guided according to his will. And also peace, tranquility, and order reign upon the earth. For the work was angry at the creatures, and he placed at the head of lives, and he was over all the servants like the coal of their deeds. Thus, then, by this one who was born, order and measure stand with them. The angels also were watching over them, like good servants of their lord, and laborers, and subjects of their toil. And just as they were many to please the work of the interior, so also they extend to him the love that is with them. And thus they extend the diligence upon the face of their advantage. And they hold them like strong mothers, and they embrace them like loving brides. But also all the peoples who were persecuting one another, when that one was worshipping the sun, and this one the moon, and others the stars, and others something else, while according to the changes of those who were being called gods by them, their enmity towards one another was also disturbed. Unity and love of the fear of God were lacking in all. And together with the people of Israel, even from them, from the participation with all their saints and their good ones, they were estranged, like scattered members from one body of the fear of God, who are moved in love and unity, while all their former righteousness is dissolved. And also that one, the head, with him stands peace without end. For in that his body is mortal, and his soul is immortal, how many mortals oppose the immortals.

Thus also the movements of the body are opposed to the soul. For the soul is that which is elevated, discerning, and not subject to death, and it receives the knowledge of God and the discipline of His commandments, and it inclines toward the works of virtue. The body, however, which is irrational, undiscerning, and mortal, is bound to the things that are seen, being attached to them by its passions and its desires. For a constant and unceasing conflict arises in the head against it. This is what is resolved by the hand of our Lord Christ, when He makes the body immortal, and uproots from it all its passion that follows after the carnal desires, and at the same time cuts off from the soul its inability to incline toward virtue, so that without hindrance the will of God may be accomplished, and that it may please Him without difficulty. This entire wealth of peace that reigns is manifested in the righteous toward their works, and to Him alone, as the cause of all good things, they praise and exalt, while they strive to please Him through virtuous conduct. For the Creator is with His creatures, and the angels are with the righteous, and all peoples are with one another and with Israel, and He Himself is with the head, after all these, so that nothing else remains to be added, except the hope of heavenly goods. For a good hope is for the righteous; confidence now takes hold, and a good hope increases the uprooting of sin, and the freedoms from demons and from the accuser, and from the dissolution of death, and from the abolition of corruption, and from the resurrection of the dead, and from the gift of immortality, and from the partnership that is incorruptible, and from the grace that is placed in the children of the ascension to heaven, and from the mixture with all the saints of God, which is given to you in these heavenly goods that are not transitory and do not pass away forever. These are the goods, therefore, that were given to you by our Lord Christ. O my honored brothers.

as is the case with the external works, so too these days are. In the interpretation of the words, it was said that they were spoken. And when it happened that it was good for all peoples and more excellent than that knowledge of God in their minds, and the cause of all their good things, it is known that not even one, for all the good things of this world are also found where there is no fear of God, they do not do them equally. But where there is fear of God, it is manifested in confession and in deeds, and also it happens that in a short time distress is found in one of the forms. But all visible and peaceful things are placed in their time. Especially after the departure from this world. For it is like this: when a man wishes to go to the gate of the kingdom, and when he begins to travel, he deviates from the path, and goes out into a pleasant desert. And also as much as those provisions he had are lost and wasted, and the rest of him then dies, while he does not arrive at the place where he was intending to go. Therefore, that one who deviates from the path, the straight path and the fear of the true God, and all the provisions of his life are also found lost for him, and he does not arrive at the kingdom with God, but falls into the condemnation of God without end. And also it happens that he has works that seem good, but for that height, the son is cast down to the ground, and descends into the depth as that man descends. And he cannot find the release of waters. For power in the idols that they prepare for their worshippers is not found. But behold, in the name of God he does his beauties. Also it is fitting that without God, that one is not named from his own. And what is the benefit from this? It is clear that not even one. For if a man errs the debt that he owes to the kingdom from that action, and when he goes, he hangs it on the will of his own soul.

as is the case with the external works, so too these days are. In the interpretation of the words, it was said that they were spoken. And when it happened that it was good for all peoples and more excellent than that knowledge, and it is fitting that the empty works that pass through various places be set aside. For it is fitting that a man bring his works before the king in the order of the king, to be presented before him. And he who goes and casts before them the silver that is owed to the kingdom, not after a time by the command of the true king, is confused and bound, while that which he gave is not cut off from being named. Only when he is not king. In that same manner, also the man who has taken all his worship and his righteousness of the true God, and raises them before those who are not gods, but are named by a name not their own through the work of demons, not one of them is counted for him when he enters into the judgment of God, the maker of all. He who alone is God, and to him alone is owed the worship that is from all creatures. Therefore, every man who does not possess divine knowledge falls from all his joys, even the works that are found for him in time. And in this time, all his labor is without profit. And in his works that appear good, they are found for him without profit. And in his works that appear good, they are found for him without reward. And he falls into eternal ruin. This is what all peoples were accustomed to before the coming of Christ. It is evident, however, that also for the people of Israel, even though they had a household relationship with God, yet for them also a great benefit was in the coming of our Lord Christ, that the conduct of children ceased, and they also attained the perfect knowledge of the holy Trinity of Father and Son and Holy Spirit, who are known in one. For they did not distinguish from the one who is named self and sun as one, while not allowing that to him as heat and growth. And this was a small thing and a word.

And when the child is weaned from milk, and is brought to solid food, there is great joy. How much more fitting is this mystery, that the Israelites, along with all the nations, were brought to the full knowledge of the holy Trinity, not only in the pure ways, but also in the holding of the earthly things. Thus they all held equally, as if they knew God by instruction. And they did not hope for the good things from him, like a child who is anxious after the breast at the time of its weaning. Thus they were anxious after earthly things. But our Lord God established in his gospel the meaning of those things that are to come. And he cast and spread over all these things of this world, that this too is a good thing, a beginning, when it is with the fear of God. For thus, at the rational beginning, which is taken with the love of these transient coverings, like language and the eye that hangs on the holy thing, something like their desire, with that which is not their desire, is this for them. But also each one of them, with the activity of the mind, the profitable nature of itself and of the whole body. And like a child who receives upon himself a little comfort, more than good stones that do not cease in the worth of their waters. There is nothing good and comforting for the wicked in the likeness of that which they knew God with full knowledge, and only his commandments they preserved. And they are raised from the anxiety after these visible things. For thus it was for them, that God also delighted in them. And they preserved their own angels, and they established love among themselves, and they were equal to non-transient blessings, in a new and unceasing world. But there are people who until now have not believed in Christ, as they believed, and do not fulfill his commandments. This is not from him, it is from them.

of his own, for the light of his knowledge is spread over all. And the thanksgiving for his benefits is prepared for all. But it is a stumbling block for those who did not believe, or who believed but did not act, like a person who stands under the sun and closes his eyes so as not to see, and like a person who is invited to a feast and holds back his feet from going. The beginning of the fifth [section]: Why until now have these good things not been revealed? It is necessary, then, to pass on to what is required: why until this time has the coming of Christ not occurred? For it has been shown that this is the advantage of all rational beings. Was it because God did not know it until now? And when he knew it, did he desire it, but lacked the power to accomplish it? Or, if both were available to him—knowledge, I mean, and power—did he begrudge the benefits, as if he were evil? And for this reason it was delayed until now? For either from ignorance, or from powerlessness, or from malice, is a person prevented from doing good, when he himself is the cause of the delay. But did God not know from the beginning that he was destined to set up our Lord Christ? It is clear from what was previously examined concerning his coming, and concerning the benefits that were given through him to those who from the beginning were with the fathers in his covenants, and through the prophets among the people of Israel. And so, they cannot deny that he now knows that he is destined to set up from among the dead, because he did not set him up earlier in the same manner, nor can they suppose that he did not know that he was destined to show our Lord Christ, because from the beginning he did not accomplish this in deeds. For he did not complete it in action, but he was testing his own, and his types were inscribed for the ancients.

the beginning of creation and remains. For if he had looked at what was to come, he would not have created the two heavens, which are necessary for the governance of both worlds. And again, he cannot by force, as it were, bring about what is possible. For it is not difficult for that which comes into being after it has been renewed, like that which, when it did not exist at all, was brought into being. When there was nothing that could be hindered and given a foundation. And that is known to be good. For if it were evil from the beginning, it would never change to goodness. Because God, all his own, without change, stands for them. Or is this not a good thing, unspeakable, that when he brought them into being, they were not able to come from their own will? This is not only that they came into being, giving them existence like stones and wood, but he also raised them from the brute animals, and made them rational and articulate, and gave them authority without envy over all these visible things. If, then, he was good from the beginning, and known, and powerful, there was nothing else that could hinder him from bringing forth all his benefits into action, except their own weakness, which was unable to receive all of them in the fullness of their abundance. For in this, when divine wisdom looked, as it were, and saw, so his unspeakable grace guided them. For if a son or a disciple, who desires to learn the letters that his teacher knows, does not go from the small to the great. And if a catechumen, like a man who says he wants to learn, the teacher first teaches him the alphabet. And then the names of the letters and their pronunciation. And after these, the psalms, which he also learns to read.

and when he finished writing the tablets until he learned the form of the letters, so also after all these he gave him to read in the sections of the interpretation, that he might grasp the meaning of the divine books. For it is evident that before he learned to read, he who says the interpretation of words is difficult for the learner, it is clear that when the learner understands nothing, it appears that the teacher is also foolish, for he laid the foundation without having set it. For if he had cast foundations and roofs, thus they would know how to administer their affairs in order, when their knowledge and power are sufficient for their needs and their disciples. But they are able for their teaching towards them as they are capable of receiving. One like the Lord, who is wise above all and good above all, it was fitting that all things be as they are for their excellence and according to their power, he can in his administration, not according to the precedence of his own knowledge and power, but according to the capacity of his own. And it remains in that ineffable wisdom, how from the beginning of his desire he leads them towards perfect knowledge, like a compassionate father and a humble teacher. For those first generations from Adam until Noah, the daughter of grace, in one order, as in the first measure of children who are taught to write, while I was administering all those things that were necessary for their upbringing together and for their protection from evils, and they would approach the service of goods. As also we have when they are disturbed, they disturb themselves. For through all these things, towards that same duty of existence, they take cause from them.

as also thus and thus he was in need of them, thus also God did, he who at all times showed fatherly love toward the human race by his grace which is not to be measured. There is a time when he placed a dead beginning upon the causes, as upon Adam and Eve from the beginning. And as upon Cain who killed his brother. For when good was being brought to those who after them would be instructed from those who were not to approach the service of the orders. As also from a king who teaches. For when a man killed not by his will, he was seized with great fear, while he was not for himself and was mourning in the proximity of his friends. As that which in many aspects of Cain was destined to receive from God the placing of a beginning, when he killed after he also learned that there is no evil decree that was delivered to the murderer. And there is again a time when for the blood of the righteous Abel he made a cry from the earth after he died. To show how much worthlessness God considered for his worshippers, that even after their death, he hears their voice and makes for them a resurrection from their afflictions. For from this he incites everyone, that they may gather as to love and to be zealous for his commandments as they see that the friend of such a one did what was justified. As also it was fitting for the discourse of the house of the wicked. And for the dwelling that was established a little while before him. There are waters of the flood upon those first ones, because of their righteousness and their holiness and their evil deeds. And he saved Noah and those with him, when he gave them laws, that those who were before them would not be instructed in them. For everything they ate like the green of grass after the blood of him who is for the wild beasts was cast in the order of the soul. As also a friend after a child learns the alphabet, he writes for him the alphabet and the names of the letters of the alphabet.

And again, after a time not insignificant, he chose Abraham, the head of the patriarchs, and gave him the law of circumcision and the bitter afflictions upon his seed—something that was superior to that earlier state of the house of Noah. And when the seeds were scattered among many evils in the land of Egypt, he brought that state out from there through various mighty deeds, and gave them laws that were changed in their writings, just as also teachers do for their pupils and disciples: after they learn to read, they write the psalms that they have learned, and also for reading; and thus they give them also to write a clean copy. And after this, the course reached a full stature, as it were, of a full-grown man, and it passed on and was engaged in those earlier teachings. Then he accomplished the coming of Christ, who teaches the perfection of knowledge, and gave hope and the expectation of future goods, like a man who gives to his son, after those teachings of the order, the keys of interpretation of reading and understanding and the sense of what he previously learned. For he did not cease even from that which in all generations they do while they are active, as with those earlier ones: when a dead beginning is placed over the wicked and the sinners, and he makes the house-born ones glorious and known, and manages well for the sake of that head which we mentioned earlier. And just as when there are for a man ten disciples according to the word of one measure of teaching that stands in the house of instruction, and one of them is silent with his teaching and goes out to amuse himself with pipes, and another reclines to eat and drink without being ashamed of his reading, and another sleeps and slumbers, and others again are occupied together in idle talk of empty tales.

and they did not weary of the command of their teaching, while the rest learned how much was fitting and more than everything they honored the meditation of their teaching according to the will of their master, at the time when it was required to receive and to place at the head, not because they had not learned to read and to understand the sense of the scriptures, but because they taught the house not to err like the saying of their companions. Thus also the Lord God, when he entered into judgment and the demand of the deeds of the ancients, did not demand from those of the house of Adam why they did not circumcise, nor from those of the house of Noah why they did not keep the Sabbath, but in the periods for each generation in the measure of those who were with him he demanded, while he repaid each one according to his deeds at the time in which he stood, and the laws that were given by God in his days. And just as God did not demand from the first what belongs to the last because they were not, in the same manner it was not fitting that in one order the course should continue while it did not guide before it, as also not for the child the help of old age until his old age, except by the teaching of the house of his tutor alone. Therefore, the coming of the Messiah did not oppress those first ones, because the ways of the Messiah were not required beforehand. And your own help, which is without measure, has brought you near to God from error, and has completed you in perfect knowledge, and has made you reign over the good things that are prepared, as I said above. And it is seen that this happened with great wisdom at this time, because if it had been shown beforehand, the first ones would not have been able to receive it, just as even he who now begins in the teaching of reading is not sufficient in knowledge to grasp the meaning of the difficult passages of interpretation. But if someone says that God could have established something in all knowledge without distinction, by which means?

from the beginning. This is a mistake: for when he wants to free himself from labor, he falls into a silence that is without words. For everything that is small, naturally it is without dispute. Likewise, again, for the ends and the labors, in which there is no praise, no boasting, no good reward, nor even the placing of a crown upon the head, as is fitting for one of these signs. This also happened to us here, as if it were a chance event, if not for the dispute from her from the creation, she would have received life, those who are not needy and are perfect. For this reason, it was necessary that it be first. It was necessary that he who is taught and learns should pass from the small things to the great things. But behold, he is not yet a son of the perfect. And because of this, the cause is sinful. And because of what I said to you when you sinned. Show me what is determined concerning that which is perfect. Enough, for he does not even know. For it is not that which is perfect and sin. Perfection is called that which, when a person wishes to do this, with respect to both equally, he is able to be perfect. Sin, however, is considered this: when a person acts according to his own discernment and learns from the commandments of God, or even when he is able to know that this thing is not fitting for him to do, but he despises his discernment and transgresses the divine commandments, and acts because of his passion, which is in a moment, or because of his lack of self-control in the face of his anger, or because of some other cause, which he himself has attained or could attain without it being fitting for him to do. And the divine commandment again restrains him from doing it. For that which a person is perfect with respect to what is not fitting, it is not that he does not know God, but that which, when he is able to restrain himself from doing what he does, and it is not fitting because of some cause, he does not do this. But behold, not if he had not created you perfect.

nor are they sinners. But they are not even justified. For how, if you were thus free, as if you could not sin against God, you would have no sin. In the same way, if you were thus placed as if you could not sin, you would have not a single righteousness. Now, since you are able, equally, to do each one of these things whenever you wish, you have both sin and righteousness. Sin, because when you were able to please God, like the rest of the wicked who in their generations pleased him and fulfilled his will, you instead went after your own desires, not bending your neck to the yoke. And righteousness, again, because when you were able to do good deeds, you honored the yoke and the fear of God more than anything. For this reason you are reproached and receive a mark on your forehead. On account of this, however, you are praised and anointed with the balm of good deeds. Your hands are named after brute beasts or sentient beings that are rational. As in the case of Sha'īl, they are named thus. Instead of saying that they differ in their nature, concerning rational beings this small thing is said, in what I said above. Now you say that God could have done both to you, that he would not have made you rational from the beginning. And also the knowledge of the distinction of all things and non-things would have been established in you without any effort in other matters. This is known, that he does not fit in anything he says. Nor does he know what he asks. For everything, as it arises in his thoughts, is found to be one of these small things. And outside of them there is nothing that exists otherwise. And outside of them there is nothing that exists otherwise. Nor can it come to be. There is God, the maker of all.

And all rational beings are divided into two orders: visible and invisible. And all animals are irrational. And there are beings that are neither living nor sentient. But to God there is no limit nor beginning. For how can a creature be like the Creator, when it is not even possible for that which is created to give existence to that which is its own being? How can a creature be without beginning, when it comes into being from nothing, and before it existed it was not? Or how can that which is bounded by time have its nature unbounded? For that whose nature has nothing to restrain it, neither time nor measure, in the essence of that being, it is fitting that it be found to be prior to its own existence. For all these things belong to God alone, who gives existence to all natures when they are not, while He Himself is existent and eternal, before all worlds and mountains that rise up in thought. And He who is, His nature is also unbounded and infinite, just as it is not possible to comprehend all these things by circumscription, nor even that which knows something, when it does not receive from another side, nor takes the assistance of anything. And He who is, is as He is at all times. And when He acts or speaks, He receives no change in the essence of His being. For God, therefore, is one in His uniqueness. And that one of the creatures should equal Him is not possible. For if one of these things were found, the circumscription of that one would require that all things found be circumscribed. So then, it is great arrogance and the audacity of the adversary, that which says that it is fitting that the first principles be unbegotten and unchangeable, and that all distinct knowledges are firmly established from it from the beginning. For he knows this, that he seeks to stand in rank.

could He be set at the head, or can anyone say that He is equal to them, and by the same token that nothing is equal to that which says it. If, therefore, according to this order it was not possible for it to come to be—lest, like stones and wood and the four elements, and those things that are like them, which are not capable of sin, they should have been intended to come to be—but behold, even the existence of that which is from rational beings, if this is asked, all of them equally can be asked about it. Since not even like the sun does it wish to come to be, which does not cease from its place even to give light well. For it is evident that this sun is a nature of fire. From that which is kindled in many rays, fire is either kindled or not. And it is evident that fire also comes from stone, for something hidden within stones. It is evident that it is not living, and not sentient, and for this reason no one from rational beings answers it. And if not this, then perhaps they intended to come to be like irrational animals, for whom sin and righteousness are not cut off, and as they are, so are their offspring. For they do not judge a cock as to how it is a cock, nor do they praise a fox as to whether it does not participate, but only one. And they do not say of a sign that it is equal to being set at the head, as to whether it receives in error. Nor do they give praise to a mule, which is not at all a pair or a receiver of error. Thus also for the rest of their members, they do not say that sin is of the small and righteousness of their actions, but that even from that which is its own, as from that first one, all rational beings can be asked. For this reason all these were created, so that with that which is extended to you, knowledge along with necessities.

many, but also that He might teach that there is no good equal to the Creator of all, not even one among His creatures. And He receives the grace of His love from the flesh. What then? If as God He cannot be, and if as one of the irrational animals, or as one of the insensible natures, He is not chosen to be. What else is there for Him to say? But if this is so, that they receive the grace of God in word and deed, as much as is sufficient, so that He is honored and exalted above all that are visible, and also approaches and participates in His own things, as was fitting. And if someone says, why was He not created in the likeness of the angels? Behold, even those are subject to slander, like Him. For all demons and accusers, from those ranks, were indeed a help, as this teaching shows. That from the whole creation, visible and invisible, He composed a single nature in the elements, that He might teach a single nature in the hypostases. And angels likewise equally, that one God is the maker of all creations, visible and invisible. And this was indeed plausible, for it was the first: that according to the changes of natures, so also many works. Now then, that all changes of creation He composed and established as a wise work for one rational animal at the head. It is clearly known that natures are changed and creations are formed, but one is their maker, He who composed and established all of them in one head that is composed of all these. But behold, because of the cause of their being slandered, many sin, and because of this they are completed in Gehenna to place at the head without end, and what advantage were the rational and knowledgeable ones, who are not equal to the heavenly goods? He who says this, it would be fitting for him to look at that.

He was able to sin and not to sin, like the rest of the beings that are pleasing to God. When He was with the living, they, by their own will, erred and transgressed the divine commandments, and were justly stripped of heavenly blessings. Yet this is a great and lofty thing: that a man should be in the flesh, more so than that he should be without speech and without discernment. And if my word is not acceptable, let him look and not be delighted by the brilliant light of the sun, which is perceptible, and let him see what he chooses: whether he prefers the darkness that is, or the wine that has large dregs, and let him look clearly. But he is blind, if not greatly evil in his defect. And what is inferior to a lion in this world? Even he, when asked, can be found to seek that which is more than the pains of the stomach. And he does not turn into a camel, as a man might say, or anything else like that. In the same way, those who go to Gehenna and fall into the snare of various heads because of their evil deeds receive the grace of their Maker without ceasing, so that they do not become nothing, as they were worthy, and He does not make them like brute beasts and like insensible stones. For they are stripped of the ascent to heaven and of communion with the righteous; their actions are cut short, and they become without spirit, even as in this they praise the divine power that has no end. But also what I said above: remember that there is knowledge of everything without the help of anything, and a permanence that is in being while being, without change, which is that which, by one of the forms, must be all these things of God. Now a man might think that this is falsehood, because after the resurrection from the dead, the complete knowledge of all the faithful who receive the rational ones is confirmed.

and without change, enduring without end. For as much as this is far from that, it is clear to those who know how to understand. For I have said that the knowledge of everything without the mediation of anything and endurance, in which when He was, when He, or any person, would err, and among these things nothing is ever found. For He was established for many things, from when He was in this world, and underwent changes not few, so that by deceit not even in this is God present. But this lineage, or my honored brother, as much as any person would say without shame. For if any person were to remain firmly, he is able to know how much in the sections I have said these things are for all these at this beginning. The beginning of the sixth It was necessary for the old age of the middle something by whose hand would receive these from God for these great goods. And it shows, therefore, that it was not possible to receive these goods and to enjoy them without the mediation of anything. For how, if from the beginning something had been revealed, they would not have been increased from them, because they were not able to know them due to their youth and these causes that I have said, in that same manner and if at this time by the mediation of something the Lord of all God had not been prepared according to His wisdom, their benefit would not have reached them. For if God had been visible, it would have been sufficient for them as for their learning, this which they would have seen of Him. Now, however, since He is not visible, it is not possible to teach about Him without the mediation of anything. And also it is said by the prophets who saw the Lord, but it is clear that they did not see His nature. For the truth, indeed, that grace was through Jesus Christ, John says. For he says truth and grace, that no one has ever seen God. And He who dwells in the clear light that no one from the wicked sees Him, nor is able to see Him.

when the blessed Paul teaches that the first ones did not see God at any time, nor did the last ones ever see him—neither by means of the senses, so to speak, nor by means of powers that are invisible. Everything that is perceived is seen either in part or in whole. For the earth is seen in part, and the sky and the sea. And when only a part of each one of them is seen, the sight is not sufficient to encompass the four sides of the regions. They say that the sky, the earth, and the sea are seen, as well as small objects such as a person says to stones, to wood, and to the like, because of their smallness. All of them are seen in a limited way. Therefore, God cannot be seen in part, like the earth and the sky, because he is not composite. Nor is he constituted by parts. Nor, again, does he fall under sight in the manner of small objects, because he is not limited or bounded all at once. And if, as he is, they had wished to see him, only those who are stirred up would be confounded. For who is there who casts a little foam into the mouth of a fire and then finds it? Or who throws a handful of dust into the great sea and is able to measure it with it? Or by the works of all creatures, are there objects that destroy and annihilate each other? If they approach and fall into them, how much more so is God, the maker of everything that exists, not limited in his divinity, nor is his glory diminished? If all of the moisture were in him, sight would not be destroyed. More than the dryness of fire consumes moisture, and more than what a small amount of dust loses in many waters. And just as the great sea, because of its breadth and depth, is not disturbed, so no one is able to pass through it without the mediation of something like a ship or a boat...

without the mediation of anything, by which it might be conveyed to the knowledge of that invisible one. For if the soul of a creature is and is limited, in that it does not see that which is invisible, it is not able to teach its will or that it is without the instrumentality of one of the members of the body. How much more so that which is the maker of all and is not apprehended, it is not possible to receive teaching about him and to teach his wills. That his revelation is not through one of the creatures. Rightly, then, God willed in goodness. Like the abundant wealth of his grace, he did not make his revelation to us without the mediation of anything. But he took for himself a perfect beginning for his revelation to us, and through it taught the complete knowledge of himself and of his wills. And he gave us heavenly goods that are not transitory. The beginning of the seventh [discourse] concerning why the Lord God did not take some other causes at this time for his revelation, but rather the beginning of man. But it says, then, these causes on account of which it was necessary that the divine revelation be at the beginning of man at this time. For it is sought on account of what need or request or one of the causes of creation. God did not make his revelation to us, as to the first fathers, but rather through a perfect beginning that was taken from the body. It is said, therefore, that on account of this itself, through one of these causes, God did not make his revelation to us now. Because through them he was revealed to our fathers. For just as from the beginning through various causes God established the whole creation, and when nothing was lacking, at the end of all of them he added one beginning, after which he created nothing new.

in that same manner, even now, after the deeds of the fathers in the first generations, all the revelations of his mysteries were completed in the last times in this man who took flesh. After him, nothing else is revealed, as was the case with all the earlier things that were perfected in him. And he remains forever, without dissolution. For when the Saviour wished to act in a preparatory way, and the teaching sought to instruct the children, and the need of the time desired to fill the good with the sign of the creation, his revelation to the disciples was being completed. But now, since the perfect Saviour wished to rejoice the whole creation, and the perfect teaching was shown to him to be fulfilled, he took the beautiful bond of the whole creation upon the man who is perfect in body and soul. And through him all the creations, both visible and invisible, are set in motion. And again, because Adam, the first man, the father of all the living, from the beginning of his creation listened to the slanderer and transgressed the divine commandment, and received from God the sentence of death, this, like a debt, was spread and borne upon all his descendants. And they, moreover, increased the sentence of death upon themselves by the various kinds of works of idols and diverse sins. They defiled the love of relatives and cast aside the honour of fathers, and they also abandoned the ordinances of the law of Moses. It became necessary that a man, a rational being, their brother from the lineage of the first man Adam, should arise, who, being justified in all things and being without blemish in all his ways, would enter and annul the sentence of death, and dissolve and abolish sin, and deliver from the servitude of Satan and demons, and free from the curse of the law of Moses.

and he gave life to the living who are not subject to death through the resurrection of the dead from the house of the dead. For just as through the first man death came, so also through the first man life for the dead came. And just as in Adam all the wicked die, so also in Christ all live. And just as because of the disobedience of one first man many sins occurred, so also because of the obedience of one first man many righteous ones came to be. For it is like this: when a man owes a debt of something, and he has nothing with which to pay, his children are taken from him and made into slaves, even his descendants. Then a man arises from his lineage who is able through his excellence to pay the debts of his father; he takes his children and frees all his brothers from the bondage of sin and slavery. So also after Adam incurred a debt through the obedience of the slanderer, he and all his descendants after him were enslaved to death. God took the first man Jesus, the second Adam, from the flesh, and made him through his grace to be without blemish. And he died without being liable, because he did not sin, so that through his own innocence the debt of his own might be loosed. And he died without being enslaved to sin, and he lived again, so that because of sin he received the tribute of death. For if God had been crucified and died, as the heretics say, there would have been no benefit for his own. Rather, he would have redeemed his fellow gods. For if God is mortal, it is evident that there are many gods like him. But the God of truth does not share in any of the sufferings of creatures. Then a man says that this is rather the mercy of that one who died and lived again and was redeemed. It is like this: if a man owes, another pays on behalf of those who were enslaved to slavery and frees them. This is what the first man of the Lord did.

when he alone was justified and became without blemish, life that is not subject to death was poured out upon all the living in the house of life. For God it was easy that if he had shown himself to the world, even without taking on the form of a man, by his mere command he could have brought forth life that is not subject to death for all. But he did not do this, so that it would not be thought that he was a lover of the world, since he came to save those in their sins without the mediation of a man who was justified. But now, by taking on the form of a man and freeing him from death and sin, he showed his mercy and demonstrated that he does not serve the world and its evils. For he who was not guilty delivered himself to death, and now he saves. Since one alone sufficed for the whole body, the ineffable mercy of God is shown. For when all were guilty of becoming without blemish, and now life that is not subject to death has shone forth, it was poured out for this reason alone: that one who was justified might not delay and cut off the hope of change for the better. But these reasons are in accordance with the patterns of divine economy. For it is clear that from the beginning God saw it thus: first, suffering and death would be inflicted upon life; and later, after the struggle and the departure of rational beings from this world, they would share in life that is not subject to death and not subject to change. For of all that is ours, the advantage that remains is shown to death, which was placed in the life of Adam from its creation, when through sin it came upon him.

of all fear and trembling, and was hidden from doing against the commandments of God, as if this were a disobedience not to be listened to. Just as he also loosed the reins of his chariot at the beginning, and separated himself from his body. But the life that is not subject to death, which from before the foundation of the world was appointed for him, at the time when the decree was cut off for him, was revealed to him through the beginning, Jesus Christ. As the apostle Paul said, that he is the one mediator between God and human beings. He brought all together, and hastened that he might love and teach them the righteousness of such firm powers, that when he is found alone for the many, he does not weary. Therefore, this divine will existed from before all worlds. But the form of his governance was abundant for them in many ways, as I said. This, when a person is free and takes up the study of the Scriptures, rightly says that these are the reasons that are being discussed now. However, it was necessary for the fulfillment of the beginning of our Lord more than all others. Because of this, at this time when he was to be born as a human, as I said, to a complete stature like a man, it was necessary that he receive complete teaching about God, who is known in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—equal in nature, without beginning and without end. This could not be revealed to rational beings through any one of the created orders. And this is evident from the fact that however much he was revealed to them in such ways, God was not to the ancients this knowledge that they learned about that glorious nature of divinity, which is known in three persons, and is above all composition and all end and limit in one of the places. But some of them supposed that his dwelling was in paradise; others of them, however, supposed that he alone in heaven limited his dwelling.

and the chariot was running in Jerusalem, being prevented from performing the deeds of the mysteries, while in the division of the natures of divinity they were not persuaded. But now he teaches through the head of the matter: that God is spirit, and also in every place, because wherever he is, he is equally present in every place. And wherever he is in nature, he is equally able to act. That is, the whole world is sustained by him, and in him it is like a pearl in the hand of one man. And as it is impossible to say, and thirdly, in the natures, that ineffable essence exists. For from that which is called Christ, they learn about the Father who anointed him, and the Holy Spirit who filled him in place of the anointing. Jesus, when he was formed, this anointing is God through the Holy Spirit and power. And again, the Spirit of the Lord is upon him. Therefore, he is anointed, the Lord said concerning himself. And in that which is called Son, they understand the eternal Son who is with his Father. Just as with this bread which is called the body of Christ, it is directed toward that body which is in heaven. One of these, however, the works of creation by which he was revealed to the ancients, such as the mountain, the cloud, the stones, and the wood of the temple, and the ark and the golden vessel, which were called by the name of Son, could not be. But at the head of the Lord, who was called Son of God, nothing new was seen. Because many were called thus, like the one who said, "I have given birth and exalted," and "I am the mother of the gods," and "Your sons are all of you, Mary." And when they approached him and saw his deeds, which were exalted beyond his nature, and heard his words, which he spoke, "I and my Father are one," and "Whoever sees me sees also the Father," they recognized that the eternal Son, who is hidden with the Father, performed these deeds through his hand.

and they were speaking words like these. For how, if he were to nod with his hand and gesture with his head or wink with his eyes, the soul hidden in the body and not seen at all would be made known, or that he goes or that he comes or that he stands or that he sits, or anything of this sort. But all his wills and the knowledge of his thoughts, only through speech does he teach and bring forth into the open, in the same way, while through one of these bodily motions the invisible God was revealed to the ancients, teaching them instructive knowledge according to the need that the youthfulness of their understanding required. Now, however, that he has taken on a head that is complete, he taught all his wills through it and fully made known concerning himself as much as was possible. Just as the soul makes all its knowledge known through speech, bringing it forth into the open and manifesting it to the senses. So also for this reason it was necessary concerning the completeness of the head that he took on. And again, because the resurrection from among the dead was being deliberated, and the confession of the ascension to heaven was to take place, it was not fitting that one of these should be accomplished without it. For if a man had taken on a body like ours but had not been seen, that he died and rose and ascended first to heaven, while in a body like ours they were accustomed to the former, it would not have been difficult for them to be persuaded of his likeness when with him the living body was seen. For he who in deed from then on received the signs of the ascension of the righteous to heaven, it is written that through him God was about to judge all the wicked, as the apostle says, when God reveals the hidden things of the wicked according to my Gospel through Jesus Christ. For the righteous are more delighted by the fragrance of good things, and the wicked by the stench of the heads they receive, when they see that they receive the reward of all their deeds according to their likeness.

and again, after the resurrection from the dead and the ascension of the righteous to heaven, they will no longer be able to seek after the forms of statues, of wood, of cedar, and of precious stones, in which they worshipped gods in this world. Instead, that place will be filled for them, and they will worship in it the holy and unending childhood, while showing their love for God, in that they offer to him in it as in a speaking temple the worship that is due to him from them, together with praise and the reception of grace. And peace and rest will dwell in it, and their thought will be able to see God, as in a pure mirror, when they see him as that one, and they ascend from him to that invisible one, as from an image to its archetype. For if the image of the invisible God, even when it is far from a person who is beloved, remains in his image and is remembered, how much more are the righteous delighted and rejoice, and receive the consolation of the bond of love of their thought, which is eager to see God in their spirit, and the cause of all their goods, in this speaking image that is clothed in divine glory, and is higher than all and rules over all creatures, while as that one who is invisible to them is seen in it, and in it that hidden one is understood in his essence, and they receive the consolation concerning him. All these things follow from the old age of the head of the passage, or from the honored brother. The completion and perfection of all the previous saviors of all creatures, visible and invisible, the solution of all the difficulties that through Adam the first head were shown to be deliberated concerning nature.

the error of the idol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . receives according to the justice of his deeds and in him the sins of the righteous against God are shown. And in him they receive the reward of the invisibility of their works and their labors. The beginning of the error is that it is not in the beginning that the venerable Lord Messiah is. But rather, now the remainder of the many is revealed. For when they hear the word of the singular mysteries of the humanity of the Lord and the reasons for which it was taken, they fall upon it, saying: In the beginning, then, is the venerable one. And he alone was sufficient to redeem according to your word. This they say in their folly and without their understanding. For if they had looked carefully at what was said, they would have understood that which is said: that in him the Word of God is revealed with his Father and the Holy Spirit. And in him, as in a speaking temple, he is worshipped without end. And in him again, as in an image, he is seen by all his righteous ones. These things, which are not slack, are to be considered venerable in the beginning of the Lord. And the reasons suffice by themselves when they are spoken: that they show his greatness and his distinction from all creatures. However, he also says other reasons, which show that God was in that beginning which was taken from the word. He says from above.

It was necessary that he be justified completely and become without blemish in all respects, in thoughts, in word, and in deeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And assistance was extended to him according to the height of his will. He was justified in spirit. And because, when he had completed the Law of Moses for himself, it was necessary that his course cease, just as it had been completed from the beginning. It was necessary also for this reason, that God be in him. For it was his alone to abolish the Law, just as he himself had given it from the beginning. And again, after the Law had ceased from its course, and the dispensation of the New Testament had taken its beginning, it was necessary that they receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, which was placed in the children, those who are reborn to God through the faith that is in him. For also for this reason, it is said that God dwells in him. While he alone is sufficient to bestow the grace of the Spirit, yet even the head of the Lord, that he might rise from the dead and ascend to heaven, would not have been possible if God were not in him. For the nature of death alone is able to destroy, but even at the end it was not able to receive new life, and the righteous would not have ascended to the high places if the head had been mortal. For all these reasons, therefore, it was necessary that God also be in that man who was born from the seed of the house of David, as also for these earlier reasons that I have stated. It was not permitted that without . . . . . . . . . .

The beginning of the discourse: Why was he not taken from the earth at the beginning of the Lord, but rather from a virgin without the union of a man? But after it was seen that because of the good things that were given to her through the Lord Christ, the righteous ones of the days, it became known that also those good things are hers. And it was revealed that even that which before time was not revealed was managed with great wisdom for her own benefit. It was seen, moreover, that there was also a necessity for the mediation of something by which these good things would reach her. That which, however, did not delay but rather at the beginning—at the beginning, which was not suitable—but that even God, the all-ruler and all-powerful, was in it. And so he says: Why then was the Lord’s beginning not taken from the earth like that of the first Adam? And why was he born from a woman without the union of a man? And when this is shown, he comes to that: why at this time did God spread out that which was in his belly? And what is understood from that which was born at this time? While they are filled with a little bitterness, they give an end to the whole cause as I said from the beginning. From the beginning of their creation, they were provocateurs and transgressors of divine commandments, and they trampled upon the purity of their separation because of their evil inclination against their righteousness. And in the pauses throughout all generations, it was thus seen that they were in opposition to God in words and deeds. As much as they turned, they were becoming nothing worthy for her . . . and apart from the nights of the generations, they were found in their houses like pearls in the sand. If God had taken the Lord’s beginning from the earth like the first Adam, then immediately all hope would be cut off, and they would think that God had forgotten the body because of their sins.

And there is no further hope of improvement. For in his mercy and fatherly goodness, which are unmeasurable, toward the race that was from the beginning, it was seen by him that he should not be taken from the earth, but from the living one. For he taught that the living are not mortal, nor subject to affliction, nor corruptible, and that the Lord took in his resurrection from among the dead, for the whole race that is subject to corruption, and all together share in that. Because he is the son of the living one, and not a stranger to them. For just as because of the sons of the living, the sin of the first Adam, all the afflictions that the first one received were borne and spread over all, so also because the Lord is the son of the living one, and he is the beginning of the good things that are to come, just as Adam was. So that the afflictions of the world, the faithful sin and have hope of sharing in the living, who are not mortal nor subject to affliction, with the Lord Messiah, just as they shared with the first Adam in these things that are here full of all afflictions. For just as through Adam all die, so through the Messiah all live. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Like the first Adam or the last one, from where he is, if someone says, it is clear that even without union he was created and born from Mary the virgin. But for the whole living race, common to men and women, and a mixture from all of them is in him. Just as the blessed Mary, in the likeness of all women, was from a man and from a woman. And if she who bore him was from both sexes, of men and of women, she stood, it is necessary that also in him there is a mixture from all of them, in that he was born from her who stood from both. For in truth, the son of David and of Abraham is spoken of in the scriptures.

as the seed of their race was being corrupted, the blessed Mary, from whom he was born, was also. But the good things that are in him toward all the corruptible races, toward men together and toward women, because he gives life to all of them as I said. That one, however, who was formed from the Holy Spirit without the union of a man, so that it might be known that he is the beginning of the new dispensation and of the world to come, in the likeness of Adam, who was formed from the earth without union, and became the head and father of this world. For that one, who was to be by the order of mortals, was fittingly formed from the earth without life. But this one, who became the beginning and the giver of life to this world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . life not mortal from the living earth, Mary the virgin was formed without the union of a man. For the newness of her creation, which was without seed, was sufficient to proclaim that the beginning of the new dispensation was that which gives the resurrection of the dead, which occurs by the power of the Spirit, that which also did not hesitate to be formed from a virgin without union, above the order of nature. The beginning of the tenth [chapter] concerning why in the first time God decreed that it should be abolished. That which in the second time God decreed that it should be abolished, because also in this time God made the whole creation. For the nature of time taught that also he, when he is the one who is from the beginning, and his being renews now through this which was abolished. And so he was born in this time according to the order of nature which was established for him by God from the beginning, from which from the constriction and mortality of the acts are said to be necessary.

as the seed of their race was being corrupted, the blessed Mary, from whom he was born, was also. But the good things that are in him toward all the corruptible races, toward men together and toward women, because he gives For just as at this time the day begins to take from the night and descends until the ninth hour, and from then on the day begins to take its power from the night, seizing the darkness. And again, fruits, whether of seeds or of trees, have no day in the earth. For the seed begins to rot, and all the trees dry up, even their leaves. In the same way both are seen among all the wicked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of the coming of our Lord Messiah. For the light of the knowledge of truth was blotted out from souls, and the darkness of the error of idolatry had seized the thoughts. When they were stripped and divested even of all the fruits of the works of righteousness, then our Lord and Saviour Christ came and was seen in his providence. And he drove away from them the darkness of the worship of idols made by hands, and he caused the perfect knowledge of the holy Trinity—of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—to shine forth, while also giving them the grace of the Spirit, by which they were enabled to bring forth and produce fruits of righteousness that are pleasing to God the Creator. But the impious idolaters of the elements, at every hour, celebrate a great festival in every place, every day, on the face of this earth, because the sun began to prevail and to take its power for more days. And it was fitting for them to rejoice, for if the whole is equal for joy and for a great festival—this which from now on the day begins to take from the night—in the same way, for them, when it is equal for them, also that which at the last time begins to take the power of darkness, the night from the day, seizing the sun. For just as when the night lengthens, if it does not turn and diminish, the conduct of the wicked is lost.

in that same manner also the day, when the course of the year lengthens, then again a short standing does not occur for this world, for without summer and winter, heat and cold, the governance of the life of the body cannot be established. For the completions . . . these, without the rising and setting of the sun and the length and shortness of night and day, that advantage which it has when the sun conquers cannot be measured. It is when it has what it lacks. And it is fitting that through both of these changes they perform. A festival of the pagans, or not even in one of them. Because the advantage from both is equal. That one, however, from God who thus ordered them. End of the eleventh chapter. Chapter Twelve: On Good Conduct. They were therefore performing the festival as I said, to the sun, as if it were beginning in this season to conquer the hold of darkness and again turns to lack. The holy Church, however, celebrates the festival of the birth of Christ, the sun of righteousness, who began to conquer error and perversity and no longer lacks anything. But rather, as he came, he took hold of the reins of power, until all rational beings, visible and invisible, are subdued under his authority. To you, O man, it is fitting that all creatures, of the heavens and of the earth and of those beneath the earth, should be subject. And it is fitting for you that, just as your festivals are great and holy compared with the festivals of all the pagan cults, so also the truth of knowledge is found with you alone. Thus it is fitting that your conduct in the worship of God be beautiful and holy in comparison with the rest of the wicked, while you take care of both equally: the reading of the scriptures and their interpretation, and the teaching of the mysteries and their causes, and the excellent conduct of those who shepherd for Christ our Lord. And incline yourself toward your companions and brothers more than toward your opponents.

not all the disciples of the apostles who were rebellious against their masters, for behold all of them, on account of the benefit belonging to them, were abolished. And also that which they were laboring by night and by day, in summer and in winter, on sea and on land, in every manner and in every form, that all of them might approach the household of our Lord Christ, and find the good things prepared in heaven for those who believe rightly and conduct themselves orderly. For they delivered themselves over to all evils, and gave their souls to death for them, so that the life belonging to them in Christ might be more honored by them than the life of their own persons in this world. And when he says, "in this world," behold one of them also from the good things that are future chooses for himself to be separated for the sake of all his brothers, that they might participate in the good things of Christ. For he says, "I was praying that my person might be an anathema with Christ, for the sake of my brothers and sisters in the flesh who are the sons of Israel." If then the blessed Paul, the companion of the persons and the destroyer of the little and the small for the sake of the benefit of the interior, was asking in prayer, how are not those who are confounded and ashamed and in great fear and trembling, and not at all falling, when their disciples call themselves and in their conduct and in their wills are not rebellious, but are likened to the apostles, teachers in everything as much as possible, that they might participate with them in the heavenly good things. For how much if they shine in their teaching and confess in their faith, when their conduct is not found to be for the place to which they have gone, they are not hindered, but are for them like blind men who spread out the rays of the sun upon themselves, and are not delighted by their radiance, because they have no organs that receive their light.

In truth, the demonstration of the true faith and the confirmation of the complete teaching of good conduct are shown, which without . . . . . . . . . . . . even that teaching is not believed by the outsiders. And again, the inner ones do not suppose that they learn the fear of God from evil, but rather the care of conduct and of love towards one another. And there is no cause of evils for the people, nor do they see any stumbling blocks at all. But the good person prepares himself for good works, so that he may be worthy of the daughter of the voice, that which says, “Come, you blessed ones of my father, and inherit the kingdom,” that which was prepared for you from before the foundation of the world, with all the righteous ones of Christ, to whom glory belongs. His love is eternal and enduring. Completed is the homily on the Nativity of our Lord, composed by Mar Thomas the Teacher of Edessa. His prayer be upon the sinner who copied it. Amen.