Fragmenta in sancti Pauli epistulam ii ad Corinthios

Of the same holy Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, a few fragments on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Volume One, Discourse One. Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy the brother. The most wise apostle Paul says that he was appointed to the ministry in Christ by the will of God, rejecting the opinion of false prophets and false apostles as impious, speaking in Spirit, and having Jesus himself dwelling in his own soul; so that he says on the one hand, "I also seem to have the Spirit of God," and on the other, "If you seek proof of Christ speaking in me." He says he is his servant, although God alone rules and has authority over all things; for it was said to him, "All things are your servants." How then does he not clearly attribute to him a natural and truly most God-befitting glory of lordship? From this, he calls himself an apostle of Jesus, and proclaims Jesus as God by nature and truly; for no one would be an apostle of men but rather of God according to nature; and he shows that he was not called to the apostleship against the will of the Father, nor does he speak from the heart like false prophets, but he ministers the oracles of God. And he makes Timothy a partner in the epistle, as approved and following in his footsteps, so that he may more quickly persuade through agreement, since the law says, "On the testimony of two or three witnesses every word will be established." To the church of God which is in Corinth. They write to the church of God which is in Corinth, although the Church is said to be of Christ.

For he himself presented her to himself as a pure virgin. If, then, the Church is of God, and Christ is the one who presented her to himself, then Christ is by nature God, born of the holy and Theotokos Mary. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. If he did not know the Son to be God by nature, why would he not rather say, "Grace to you and peace from God the Father alone"? But now, by including and making Christ a co-giver of whatever the divine nature might bestow, it would be evident that he certainly did not fail to know that he is God by nature. Therefore, we must necessarily include the Son together with God the Father in the account of identity and consubstantiality, so that one God may be understood as the provider of spiritual goods. And when he names Christ Jesus, he indicates the Word from God manifested in flesh. If he is the provider of whatever the Father himself is, how is Christ not understood as God by nature, in economic union with his own flesh? Thus also the most wise Paul says somewhere concerning those from Israel: "Whose fathers, and from whom Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed to the ages, amen.

Volume 1, Discourse 2. God is faithful, that our discourse to you did not become a "yes and no." No one says "Lord Jesus except in the Holy Spirit;" and the Spirit is truth, according to what is written. Therefore, having their mind full of truth, that is, of the Holy Spirit, the heralds of the evangelical ordinances could not be considered false speakers. Whatever they might say about Christ, these things are entirely correct and well-fitted. And Christ himself will confirm this by saying, "For you are not the ones speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking in you." Hence, he does not say this as if to those attempting to slander him for saying contradictory things, because sometimes he proclaims Jesus as God by nature, and at other times also as a man. Necessarily, then, leaping upon their unfairness, as it were, that his discourse has not become double and unclear, but rather simple and true, he assures us by saying, "Our discourse to you did not become a 'yes and no,'" that is, he is not contradicting himself and suffering from inconsistency, sometimes praising this, sometimes blaming that, but speaking truth in his proclamation. Therefore, God is faithful, that is, unerring and truthful. The leading thinkers among the Greeks hold various opinions about the gods they suppose, saying "yes and no;" for truth is not among them, but rather falsehood; hence they are tossed about by different opinions. But the true and natural Son of the all-powerful God, how could he become a "yes and no"?

Necessarily also the Son by nature from him, who was proclaimed among you through us, through me and Silvanus and Timothy, did not become a "yes and no." For every word concerning him is true through the voice of the divinely inspired speakers. And all the promises of God, as he says, have their "yes" in him, that is, we have received every ambition and promise in him from God the Father; and this is in the "Yes," that is, in truth. For these things come to fulfillment through Christ: "death was swallowed up in victory," and the power of corruption was shaken, and cowardice and dishonor will also cease, as the most wise Paul said also in the former epistle. And we have been shown to be heirs and partakers of the kingdom of the saints themselves. For he himself will say to us at the divine tribunal, he in whom is the "Yes": "Come, the blessed ones of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." For we are servants, as far as nature is concerned; but we have been called from slaves to a free dignity through him, from corruption to incorruption, we have been released from serving the devil. Therefore every promise of God has its "yes" only through Christ; the "no," which is denial, is completely inadmissible. For he himself is the truth. And he further demonstrates this singularly, that he is God by nature. For if he would not falsify the promises, but would rather fulfill them for the saints, even though God the Father distributes the goods, how could he not be by nature and truly Son, and as God from God, he in whom "every good gift and every perfect gift" is not falsely?

That the word is not false, he further confirms by saying, "Therefore also through him the 'amen' to God for glory through us." For since he himself is the mediator, the one through whom alone the Father is approachable, the one in whom every spiritual gift resides, through him indeed also every end of prayer will be accomplished; and this is the "amen." And to this end the Son himself has instructed us, saying to the holy apostles, "And on that day you will ask me nothing; amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything, he will give it to you in my name; until now you have asked nothing in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be fulfilled." Through him, then, the "amen" to God the Father for glory through us. For it is our custom to conclude every prayer with the name of Christ. And that he himself would not fail to be fittingly glorified, we will see without effort from the blessed prophet Jacob saying, "Judah, your brothers shall praise you"; for Christ was born from the tribe of Judah according to the flesh, and from the prophet Isaiah saying, "I saw the Lord Sabaoth sitting on a high and lofty throne," with the seraphim standing around, calling him holy, and naming him Lord Sabaoth, and saying that the heaven and the earth are full of his glory.

That the Son has been seen, the wise John will demonstrate by saying, "These things Isaiah said because he saw his glory and spoke about him." Therefore, even if the Father is glorified through him, and since he has been placed as "a mercy seat through faith," and has also become "the minister of the saints" on account of the human element, he performs as a spiritual sacrifice the prayer of each of the saints; for through him is our "amen." And he could not be thought of as outside the necessity of being worshipped and jointly glorified with the one who begot him, by us ourselves and by the higher multitude of the holy spirits. The divine Paul said somewhere, "But when he again introduces the firstborn into the inhabited world," he says, "And let all the angels of God worship him." Yet to whom among beings is it unclear that he is the Only-begotten insofar as he is conceived as God? For he alone has been begotten from the Father alone. But since he lowered himself into our circumstances, he has become among many brothers; then he is set as preeminent. And in addition to being the Only-begotten as God, he has also been designated firstborn on account of the human element. The one who confirms us together with you in Christ, etc. God and Father confirms us in Christ, establishing a right and unshakable faith in the souls of all, persuading us to think that he is by nature and truth God, even if he is seen in the form that is among us, having been born in the flesh from a woman, he who is above all creation.

And indeed our Lord Jesus Christ himself, when Peter was confessing the faith and saying clearly, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," replied, saying, "Blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven." For since the mystery is exceedingly great, it would fittingly require initiation from above and from the Father. Therefore, he himself confirms us in Christ, he who also sealed and anointed us and gave the pledge of the Spirit. And it would not be unclear to us even from these things that the Son has not become "yes and no," but rather true God, and in all good things "yes in him." For when God is said to seal and anoint us and to give the pledge of the Spirit, Christ would again be the one who accomplishes these things in us, not in a ministerial way, nor by anointing and sealing us with an alien Spirit, but with his own and that of the Father. For in both, the Holy Spirit, on account of the identity of essence, is not divided, but as from the Father through the Son extends to creation. For he breathed upon the holy apostles, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit." And through him and in him we have been sealed to the divine and intelligible image.

For the divine apostle himself, writing to the Galatians, said, "My children, whom I am again in travail with, until Christ is formed in you." But if we are being formed into Christ, and we possess the divine image in ourselves, then he himself is the image of God and Father and the exact likeness, and not as we are, called to likeness by participation in sanctification, but rather by nature and substantially. For God, who is by nature from the true and real God and born from his own substance, would have nothing dissimilar. And that he himself is sealed by God and Father, the most wise John says: "For he who received his testimony sealed that God is true." And he is sealed again not in the same manner as we are, but with the Father, as it were, inscribing his whole self in the nature of the Son and substantially imprinting himself. For this reason he said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." But thanks be to God, who always triumphs over us in Christ and reveals the scent of his knowledge through us in every place. The apostles give thanks, being tested and laboring, and they boast in the struggles for Christ. For just as Christ triumphed over us, enduring death on the wood and being perfected through sufferings, so too they say they are triumphed over for him, that is, to be known everywhere and to be glorified through trials and to conquer the world, by being ready and very willing to suffer everything for the name of Christ. For they are partakers of his sufferings, as he says, "and partners in the glory that is to be revealed.

They say that God is the one who triumphs over them, not as one who allows them to suffer, nor indeed as one who heaps afflictions upon them, but because, according to his own will, those who proclaim Jesus throughout the whole world under heaven encounter trials on his behalf; for it is impossible to be esteemed without trials. And the fruit of these is that they suffer in Christ, that is, for Christ's sake, which is glorious and full of good hopes. What then is the fragrance of the knowledge of God and Father, which is manifested to the world through the holy apostles and in every place, as they themselves say, the divine Paul himself will again teach, saying, "For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants through Jesus Christ"; and again, "For I judged that I knew nothing among you except Christ Jesus, and him crucified." Then in what manner will one born of a woman, who endured the cross and underwent death, even if he revived again, be a fragrance of the knowledge of God and Father, if, as some suppose, Christ is understood as a mere man like us, that is, a God-bearing man, and not himself being God by nature, even if the Word from God is conceived as having assumed the human element economically? For in being like us and nothing more, he will not sweeten the nature of God and Father, nor would one who endured death become a fragrance of that which knows no death. How then is Christ a fragrance of the knowledge of the Father? Is it not clearly because he is conceived and is God, even if he appeared in flesh for our sake?

For in what manner do those who proclaim Christ announce to the world the one who is by nature and truly God? Or how would they know Jesus? And in what way is God and Father said by the holy mystagogues to reconcile the world to himself in Christ, unless one admits that the human element was taken into union with the Word that came from God, this being required by the wise economy? For the divine disciples proclaim, speaking in spirit, not that the Word of God dwelt in a man, but that he became flesh, that is, was united to flesh possessing a rational soul; for thus the crucified one would also be lord of glory. Therefore, even if he were conceived of with flesh, even if not this, but alone, as if not yet having become like us, the Word from God is a fragrance of the knowledge of God and Father, as in his own nature he diffuses toward us the one from whom he is. And if what I say is true, how could he be created and numbered among those who have come into being from non-existence? For there could not be a fragrance of the uncreated, nor of one existing in a created manner; for we will not see the created in the uncreated, nor the uncreated in the created. But indeed the Son showed the Father in himself; therefore he is God by nature because of the identity of essence. So let the Son also hear from us: "Your name is poured-out myrrh;" for we have known through him and in him the Father and God from whom he was begotten. That we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those being saved and among those being lost.

They offer up to God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ as a fragrant incense, first because they have Him dwelling and abiding in them through the Spirit, and then because by proclaiming and spreading everywhere the word concerning Him, like some most fragrant incense, they presented to God their zeal in this matter; and in the third way, because having become conformed to Him, they have been perfected through the same sufferings. They say that they themselves are a fragrance of Christ among those being saved and among those being destroyed, for some a scent from death to death, for others a scent from life to life, as it is fitting to observe. Therefore, those being saved and those being destroyed would be understood by us, according to the proper aim of the contemplations, as those who believe and those who reject the faith, and those who have not yet known God who is by nature and truly, but have rather worshipped the creation instead of the creator. These, not accepting the word of the divine proclamation, but rather mocking and considering the mystery of Christ to be folly, receive "the scent of the knowledge" of the Father from death to death; for being in death on account of the ignorance and hardness present in them, they would all but stumble into a second death. Those, however, who through the instruction of the Law have been brought to the beginnings of the knowledge of God, have somehow come to be in life, but if they should believe, they will receive the scent of the knowledge of the Father from life to life.

For somewhere Christ says to the Father and God in the heavens, "This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent." But who, he says, would be capable of this? And quite reasonably; for it is truly difficult to find one in whom there exists the ability to speak correctly and without error concerning the mystery of Christ, such as were the divine disciples, correcting the perversities of the heterodox, who are accustomed and have it as their utmost zeal to, as it were, adulterate the word of God, and always love to make the rendering of faith mixed with deceit and falsehood; for among them one cannot find the truth unmixed and unadulterated. But the divine mystagogues, speaking in the Spirit, do and say everything as from sincerity before God. "You are our epistle, inscribed in our hearts." We do not need testimony through words, for you, the disciples and faithful of Christ, having been shown to be approved by deeds themselves, crown us, your teachers, and have shown us to be approved. Therefore, "You are our epistle, inscribed in our hearts," that is, always and continually in the memory placed among us; for we always pride ourselves, he says, in you. "Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of a fleshy heart." And he seals it with prophetic testimony: "Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of a fleshy heart.

For somewhere, he says, God spoke through the voice of a prophet: "Behold, days are coming," says the Lord, "and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not abide in my covenant, and I neglected them," says the Lord; "giving my laws into their understanding, and I will inscribe them upon their hearts, for this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord. For in olden times the inspired Moses received the law, the pedagogue, on stone tablets, as it is written; and we say that this was a symbol of the hardness of heart of the Jews. For it shows the law as rather unacceptable to their minds, as if barely and with difficulty settled in stones, yet entirely easily cast off and very readily rejected. And indeed God somewhere said: "This people approaches me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me; and they vainly worship me, teaching teachings that are commandments of men." But our Lord Jesus Christ inscribes the sacred and divine laws for us on the tablets of a fleshy heart, that is, a sentient one.

Therefore, he also said through the voice of the prophet Ezekiel: "And I will tear out their stony heart from their flesh and give them a fleshy heart, so that they may walk in my ordinances." If, then, someone does not cling to the shadows through Moses, nor has the law written in ink as on stone tablets, but inwardly in the mind through the Spirit, that person is a letter of Christ known to all men. BOOK TWO. DISCOURSE ONE. "But we have such confidence through Christ toward God," etc. Paul, knowing the dignity of the apostolate, does not attribute it to human powers rather than to the all-powerful God, who grants it to those worthy to receive through the mediator Christ. Therefore he says that all good things for the saints are in Christ; for "every perfect gift is from above and from the Father of lights." But the one through whom all things and in whom all things are, Christ, mediating between us and God on account of the economy, yet effecting all things from God the Father, since he is indeed his very wisdom and power. And what this confidence through Christ toward God is, listen as he adds and says: Not that we are sufficient from ourselves to reason anything as from ourselves; "for all wisdom is from the Lord," according to what is written. But our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. And what is the letter? The type in the law, the things still fulfilled as in shadows.

Spirit, however, is the power of worship in Christ, rendering spiritual those who approach it through faith. And to the extent that the type is inferior to the truth, to that extent, I think, those who serve the type fall short of those who minister the truth. For Christ sprinkles us with his own blood, and not only for "the purity of the flesh," as indeed also the things in the law do, but rather he cleanses "our conscience from dead works" and removes transgression. In addition to this, he also grants hope of life; for it is true that "he who believes in the Son has eternal life." For the resurrection of the bodies themselves and their return to incorruption and to a long-lived existence have been promised. For neither has the glorified been glorified in this respect, because of the surpassing glory. He again refers to the incomparably superior dignity of the divine apostolate, and having made a comparison of the ministries and having well brought out the peculiarity of each, he renders more evident the worship in Christ through the Spirit. And the purpose of his thought comes through these things, but the expression is not very clearly phrased; for it seems to be somehow not very easy to see, nor readily visible to those who wish. For what is "the glorified has not been glorified" and so forth? It is something like this that he wishes to indicate. Moses, he says, has been glorified as a minister of the law that is being abolished, but the glory of the new proclamation in Christ, prevailing over the former, has shown it to be such.

as if it had never been glorified at all. For just as when night still remains and its darkness blackens the whole universe, the circle of the moon shines forth, and the chorus of stars has its own glory; but when the sun rises and spreads its own radiance, the light of the moon is vanquished by the superior, and seems somehow not even to be illuminated—in the same way, I think, you will understand the meaning of the matters before us. For the glorified thing, he says, that is, the ministry of the law, although it received glory from God, seems somehow not to have been glorified at all because of the surpassing glory granted, evidently, to those who serve the divine and evangelical proclamation; for the lesser always yields, in a way, to the superior. For if what is being abolished is in glory, much more so is what remains in glory. What is being abolished? The shadow and the law, that is, the type. And what remains? The ordinances of God. Therefore the shadow was also in glory, but the things of Christ are in more manifest glory; for it remains if it prevails under heaven. Having such hope, then, we act with great boldness. What hope? That of being made sufficient by God and being properly equipped through grace to be "ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter." It is fitting for such persons to speak with great boldness, neither ashamed of the weakness of the types nor of the ignorance of the hearers; for the Holy Spirit, established in the souls of the faithful, makes them easily understand even the deep discourses. And not as Moses placed a veil over his own face.

In this again the disciples of Christ are more resplendent in glory, because the word of the proclamation has become clear and substantial and has nothing difficult, unlike that through Moses. For since the sons of Israel, after so many miraculous works, were worthless and made a calf, Moses put a veil over himself and, when speaking the divine law to them, used coverings, teaching through riddles, because they would not have been able to see the true face of the law, that is, Christ; they barely attack a second face, as it were, the shadow having no glory, which shadow and type are also abolished. For it has ceased, the new covenant having been introduced, and Christ is the end of the abolished law. Therefore the hidden glory of Moses, Christ, was the end of the abolished law; for if one removes the shadow and, as it were, the manifest and second face, that which is in the letter, and takes it away, he will see Emmanuel, formed in many ways in each case, undergoing slaughter for the sake of the world and saving what is under heaven, so that he may be glorified by us and worshipped by the holy angels. Therefore the light of the glory of the Saviour is inaccessible to the minds of the Jews. For since every spiritual contemplation looks to the mystery of Christ, but the wretched Jews do not accept faith in him, the veil has remained upon them, but it is abolished in Christ. But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

The Lord Himself is the light and reveals "the deep" and "hidden things," and shows the glorified true face of the law to the wise who are sanctified in spirit and made brilliant through faith in Christ. For the law leads as a pedagogue toward Christ, but he who is appointed to lead toward something else does not set his pupils upon themselves, but rather carries them off to something better and greater than himself. Hence also the divine Paul says he considered the things in the law as refuse "because of the surpassing excellence of the knowledge of Christ." And the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Therefore it is necessary to become spiritual, for it is not otherwise possible to behold Christ, who is "the end of that which is being abolished," I mean the law. Then entirely and in every way "the veil is removed," and with a bare and unclad face they will see the holy Moses, having no mask from the letter, that is, no shadow from the evident history. For among these are those who have richly received in Christ the free revelation of the Spirit. But if wherever the Spirit is, there also is freedom, how is it not free by nature? If this is so, it is also removed from the measures of slavery, and is no longer created, but would fittingly be ranked with the highest and free nature, which has power over all things; for it is the Spirit of the Father, extending from Him to creation in Christ.

But all of us, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed from glory to glory into the same image, as if from the Lord of the Spirit. For Moses placed a veil over himself because the sons of Israel were unable to behold "the glory of his face"; for they were psychic and fleshly and imperfect in faith. But we, the faithful, having our heart illuminated through the torch-bearing of the Spirit and knowing how to see clearly with the eye of the mind, have beheld the Lord with unveiled face. For He has spoken to us and appeared in glory and preeminence most befitting God. For we have known Him as God, the character of the Father's hypostasis. As in a mirror, therefore, we behold the divine and ineffable nature; for the mind of believers is remolded, as it were, from legal learning to evangelical instruction, and is transformed in a certain way into spiritual knowledge, no longer tolerating shadow or types, but having chosen to pass from the glory according to the law to another glory, that in Christ through the Spirit. Therefore we are transformed into the same image; for, transferring the types to truth and shaping the mystery of Christ from the shadow of the law by the subtlety of concepts, we shall find the same glory as in a form.

For if glory is given to those who serve the law, greater and incomparably superior to the first is the glory of the holy hierourgoi, who are appointed by God as ministers "of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit." It is therefore manifest and not unclear to anyone, that those who are transferred from legal instruction to the precision of the Gospel, going as it were from the first glory to another glory, would be understood to be remolded for the better. And it is the Spirit that transfers them to this, freeing them from the slavery of the law; for in it "we cry 'Abba, Father'" as sons and free men. And it is not possible to see the depth of the meager speech according to the law otherwise than through the Holy Spirit alone; for it is that which searches "even the depths of God." And by "depths of God" we mean the knowledge treasured in the sacred writings. Thus also the inspired David made his supplications to God, saying, "Open my eyes, and I will contemplate your wonders from your law." And the Savior himself did not consider it unworthy that one should ascend from legal knowledge to spiritual, that is, to the Gospel; for he said, "Therefore I tell you that every scribe who has been discipled in the kingdom of heaven is like a rich man who brings out from his treasure both new and old." For the old are the things in the law; the new, those in Christ.

If someone should wish to understand the transformation from glory to glory of our same image in yet another way, he will admit something like this into his mind: that all of us who have known Christ and have been counted among the children of God are wholly and entirely in glory; but at the time of the resurrection we transform the same image from glory to glory, as if by the Lord Spirit; for Christ himself, who granted us "the pledge of the Spirit," will supply what is lacking at that time, and will also transform "the body of our humility" into a form "conformed to the body of his glory." Since the mystagogue says, "As if by the Lord Spirit," and "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom," we will not tolerate the slander of the impious heretics, who number the Spirit among the created; for if wherever the Spirit is, there freedom is certainly present, how is it not free by nature? And if this is so, it stands above the measures of servitude; for the Spirit is of the Father, extending from him to creation in Christ. So that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, may not shine upon them. Since, like the sun, the sacred proclamation shines forth, and every believer with unveiled face beholds "the glory of the Lord," no one of right mind will ascribe the ignorance of some to the divine proclamation. For what if it is possible for them to know, but they reject knowledge, their minds hardened by diabolical deception? Yet those who are better than that perversity, wise and more prudent, have acquired knowledge.

For if some barbarians, having spoken and been subjected to the yoke of slavery, and someone else were to add to those who have fallen into this misery the deliverance from what has befallen them, and then, having set before them the freedom, they were to leave the beasts of burden lying there and make their misfortune indelible, would anyone, tell me, blame the one who benevolently set before them the license of freedom, or would he rather indict them for ill counsel? Therefore, God of all set before those willing to believe in the Son the opportunity to behold his glory with a bare and unveiled face; but those who have the darkness of the devil as something to be rejected have missed the grace, and, lacking understanding, do not accept the light of the evangelical ordinances. For the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, would have shone also for them. And he calls Satan the god of this age, not because he is God by nature, but because he is considered to be so by those who do not know who is truly and by nature God. Yet that is again worthy of admiration: for Paul theologizes and makes clear the mystery of the economy of the Only-begotten in the flesh. For behold, the apostolic preaching clearly calls the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, although Christ is called the Son who is from God by nature, at the time of the anointing, at which time, although he himself is the supplier of the Holy Spirit, he is said to have been anointed by God the Father with the oil of gladness.

Therefore, having come into being and appeared as a man on earth in our form, the Only-Begotten Word of God, then indeed and most rightly is conceived and called Christ. So faith is not proclaimed to the world in one of our kind and a mere man by the Spirit-bearers, but rather they announce the Word from God manifested in human form, and the Only-Begotten as firstborn among many brothers. For what sort of illumination of the gospel of his glory would be conceived by us, if not in his being conceived as God and image of the Father, and not in a manner equal to us, but rather substantially and naturally? And we do not at all say that the Father must also be conceived as having become incarnate; for the beauty of the image does not lie in these things, but it is rather worthy to consider this, that the Word was God and a character and natural likeness of the Begetter even before the flesh; and again, in his having become like us, the being conceived in the form of the Father belongs to him, the human element of the economy being present in him. He has therefore been accounted as one with his own flesh; and he is thus also an image of the Father in that he is God and has been begotten from him by nature. He who shone in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face

Jesus Christ. That faith is in God, even if it is exercised in the person of Christ, the mystagogue will clarify through the present passage. For both Jews and Greeks have been called to the knowledge of Christ, the former as if from error and false worship to true knowledge of God, the latter as if being educated into a more precise understanding of the law. And indeed the divine Paul, "because of the surpassing excellence of the knowledge" of Christ, is seen to have little concern for the teachings of the law. Therefore, when the mystagogues proclaim Christ, and those who believe in God believe in the one and true God, how is Christ not God—not spurious, not falsely named, that is, not of a different nature from the Father, but rather true as being from him according to nature? For the mind of those who wander is filled with mental darkness and demonic deception, but God promised that light would shine for us out of darkness. For he said somewhere through the voice of Isaiah: "The people sitting in darkness, see a great light; those dwelling in a land and shadow of death, light will shine upon you." And the divine David says, as if from the perspective of those in mist and darkness: "For you will light my lamp, Lord; my God will light my darkness." Since the Father's promise has now been fulfilled for us, and the divine and intelligible light has dawned upon us, we have known his glory in the person of Christ. Then, if Christ is not by nature and truly God, have we beheld the glory of the Father in him? Yet I clearly hear God and the Father saying, "I will not give my glory to another." But behold, he has given it to the Son.

He is not other than him, except insofar as he exists individually in hypostasis, so that the Father may not appear to have spoken falsely, having set forth his own glory in the person of the Son, and that he is God by nature, known in him and through him; for he is the face and image and radiance of his hypostasis. And the Son is revealed by the Father, and he himself reveals the Father to us in himself. BOOK THREE. DISCOURSE ONE. "In earthen vessels." The expression calls them common earthen vessels, for the transmission of the divine mysteries to us is not in a pomp of words, but as in language customary to all, so that all may learn and understand. What then, O Paul? Was it not possible for the God who makes all wise to render the holy apostles very eloquent and much more skilled in speech than they were, and able to astonish readers with a clatter of words? Yes, he says, for he himself is the giver of wisdom; but in earthen vessels, that is, he enclosed the divine treasure for us in a small capacity. For what reason? So that the excess of power might be of God and not from us. For thus they persuaded all to hasten to the faith. For if their speech had been brilliant, it might sometimes have seemed that the faith of those called was not an achievement of his power. But since they persuaded through plain words, no one doubts that the excess of power in this matter has come from God. We call "earthen vessels" the bodies we wear, being in the realm of the sensible, with this meaning.

Since we are still clothed in flesh, which hinders the contemplation of truth, we have knowledge concerning the Trinity; the excess of the magnitude of knowledge is not from us, but is known to us as existing from the power of God. In everything we are oppressed, but not straitened, etc. For they appear to have endured even death itself for the sake of piety toward him; yet even if this happened to them to suffer, they nevertheless live, about to live for God; and as the word of wisdom says, "They seemed in the eyes of men to have died, and their departure was reckoned a calamity, and their going from us a ruin; but they are in peace, and their hope is full of immortality." What then is the meaning of the toils? Paul again interprets, saying thus: Always bearing the mortification of Jesus in the body, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body. We say that the mode of mortification understood here is twofold, one of which is intelligible and spiritual, the other indeed taken as in sensation according to the body. For being God and having appeared from God by nature, his only-begotten Logos made his own the flesh from the earth, and put on this mortal and human body, having a rational soul; and what was the reason for this? That he might mortify sin in the flesh, and blunt the sting of the innate movements in it that lead to depraved pleasures. And he, being God the Logos, did not accomplish this for himself, to be seen as beyond the passions in us; for he does not know sin.

but as if transforming the whole of human nature within himself into a holy and blameless life, when he became man and in a form like ours. For he became "first in all things" himself, so that we, following in his footsteps, might have within ourselves his mortification, that is, the power of sin rendered inoperative in the flesh; and thus we might be able to take up the blameless life. And in another way also, one may understand the death and life of Jesus spoken of here. For he became obedient to God the Father, as it is written, even to the point of death, and laid down his life for the sheep. Yet "he died once for all to sin," that is, for the sin of the world, for he was set forth as an expiation through faith. "But he who lives, lives for God." This mortification, then, extending through sufferings even to death itself, the initiates bear in their own bodies, so that the life of Jesus, as he himself says, may be manifested in our bodies. For they too will live for God the holy, blameless, and blessed life. That he specifically mentions this mortification and life will be confirmed for the present by the meaning of the preceding passages, which contain a narrative of the trials and labors that one must endure who wishes to complete the glorious course of the apostolate. And no less will it persuade us to think thus, as he almost interprets for them what he said. For he immediately adds the following: "For we who are living are always being delivered up to death for Jesus' sake," etc.

Through these things he also shows that they themselves willingly endure the death of the flesh on account of their piety toward Christ. For their aim is not to look at present things, but rather to foresee what will come and the rewards of their labors. They make no account of the sweat from their struggles, but rather rejoice in the goods from above, for they consider the breadth of God's munificence. For this reason they give themselves over to death for Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in mortal flesh. And what is the life of Jesus? It is incorruption and sanctification, great and supercosmic glory. For thus he will appear to us at the proper times, when he comes down to us from above and from heaven as judge. And he will transform "the body of our humility into the same form as the body of his glory, according to the power by which he is able to subdue all things to himself." So death is at work in us, but life in you. For the mystagogues under the sun have imitated their own master; they too have set down their own souls, so that we

We who were once wandering gain the life that comes from faith in Christ. Therefore, they say through the voice of the psalmist, as if to our Lord Jesus Christ: "Because of you we are put to death all day long, we were counted as sheep for slaughter." Book 3, Discourse 2. Therefore we do not lose heart, but even if our outer human is destroyed, our inner human is renewed day by day. It is possible to approach the meaning of the present passage not inelegantly, having set forth the matter as common to all who have chosen to be pious: "For the flesh wages war against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other," according to what is written. We say, then, that it is somehow necessary, when the flesh is in a way corrupted and the movements in it have been weakened, that then especially the other, that is, the mind of the spirit, is strengthened all the more. The word "Therefore" introduces a statement of cause and a kind of reminder of something previously said. So he said: For if "we who are living are handed over to death for Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our hearts," having this hope, he says, and rejoicing in what will be, we do not lose heart, foreseeing the beauty of the coming glory, but even if affliction comes, we bear it nobly. For even if as humans we feel pain and suffer some harm to the body, we are not overcome by these things; for our inner human is renewed. And the argument is common. So when the outer human is destroyed by the labors of asceticism, then necessarily our inner human is renewed day by day.

And otherwise you will apply yourself to what has been said: since they proclaimed Jesus to both Jews and Greeks, they endured terrible and unbearable persecutions, and their body was destroyed by the labors involved in this. But the greater the labor, the more, I think, the recompense of grace would naturally be more abundant. For the immediate lightness of our affliction, to an extraordinary degree, works for us an eternal weight of glory, when we look not at visible things but at invisible things; for visible things are temporary, but invisible things are eternal. It strengthens the mind of those who wish to contend, belittling the struggles and exalting the crowns of the victors, placing the lightness on the afflictions and the weight on the glory; for in this life, even if the measured onset occurs to an extraordinary degree because of its temporariness, yet it will issue, he says, into an eternal weight of glory, since the goods of the future age are beyond account. Therefore one must not look at visible temporary things but at invisible eternal things. For we know that if our earthly house of the tent is destroyed, etc. He calls our earthly house of the tent, periphrastically, the tent itself, that is, the body; for it is written in Job: "But those dwelling in houses of clay, from which we ourselves are of the same clay." We know then, he says, that when death destroys our earthly house of the tent, that is, the body, there will succeed it, and not long after, at the time of the resurrection clearly, a dwelling from heaven, that is, incorruption.

He says that it is from above, first because the matter is God-given; and then, in addition, because all those who inhabit the city above—I mean the companies of the holy angels—are in bodies that are imperishable and indestructible; for the nature of angels is free from this earthly thickness. Therefore, he calls imperishability a building from God, a house not made by hands, and indeed eternal. For it is in this that we groan, longing to put on our dwelling from heaven as an outer garment. For this reason we groan, as if weighed down by corruption, and we yearn to put on the dwelling from above and from heaven, that is, imperishability, as an outer garment. So we groan, not desiring to find a laying aside of our present state, but rather praying to clothe ourselves with imperishability, the house not made by hands, if indeed, having put it on, we shall not be found naked. For it is true that "a perishable body weighs down the soul," and we have made the occasion of groaning the being weighed down by corruption, and we yearn to put on the dwelling from above and from heaven, that is, imperishability, as an outer garment. Then what does "to put on as an outer garment" signify, if not that imperishability is to be thrown around the present body? So we groan. If indeed, having put it on, we shall not be found naked. The "if indeed" he does not say as expressing doubt, but rather as affirming and demonstrating that it is firmly established that, when we put on the dwelling from heaven and from above as an outer garment over the pre-existing tent, that is, the earthly body, we shall not be naked.

Therefore, the phrase "if indeed" is placed in the sense of "when," so that the meaning is something like this: "When we have put it on, we will not suffer the removal of the first, nor will we be stripped of the pre-existing body," which he clarifies in what follows. The mortal is consumed by life, not being annihilated, nor passing into non-existence entirely, but rather being transformed into incorruption; for it was so made even in the beginning. For it is written that God took dust from the earth and fashioned man. And so that the perishable might be consumed by life—for the flesh is perishable by nature—"He breathed into his face a breath of life, and man became a living soul." But death was introduced in between through sin. Then, as the divine Paul himself says, God the Father saw fit "to recapitulate all things in Christ"; for He came to renew us through the Spirit to the original state; and He Himself, as God, wrought this in us and gave us the pledge of the Spirit. Therefore, as a secure guarantee of the incorruption that will be given to us in the later times of the age, the life-giving Spirit has been implanted by Christ; now, for the time being, as in a firstfruits, but after the resurrection from the dead, as in full measure. Then, at that time, when corruption is entirely abolished, we will come forth, as the prophet says, and leap "like calves released from bonds," and indeed we will say, taunting corruption, "Where is your justice, Death? Where is your sting, Hades?" For sin and death will cease, and Christ will reign over the saints in incorruption.

And so that the perishable, which is the perishable flesh by nature, might be swallowed up by life, "God breathed into his face a breath of life, and the man became a living soul." Book 4. Discourse 1. "He who also gave us the pledge of the Spirit," etc. Those who have the pledge of the Spirit and have been enriched with the hope of the resurrection, seizing upon things expected to be as if already present, say: "Henceforth we know no one according to flesh, for we are all spiritual and not in fleshly corruption." For in these words, I think, he names the corruption of the flesh. For when the Only-begotten shone upon us, we were transformed toward the Life-giving Word in all things. For just as we were subject to the bonds of death when sin reigned, so now that righteousness in Christ has been admitted, we have shaken off corruption. Therefore, no one is in flesh, that is, in fleshly weakness. And among other things, corruption would reasonably be understood. But since he said he knew no one according to flesh, he adds, anticipating the strange notions of some: "For even if we knew Christ according to flesh, yet now we no longer know him." It is as if he chose to say: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and he underwent death for the life of all according to flesh, and thus we knew him. Yet from now on we no longer know him. For even if he is in flesh—for he revived after three days and is with the Father in the heavens—nevertheless he is conceived as beyond flesh. For having died once, he no longer dies; death no longer rules over him.

For what died died to sin once for all; what "lives, lives to God." Therefore, if the founder of our life has come to be in these things, there is somehow a necessity that we ourselves, following in his footsteps, be conceived not as in the flesh, but as above the flesh. Very rightly, then, the divine Paul. Thus, if anyone says that in Christ a new creation, the old things have passed away; behold, they have become new. For the old is "You are earth and to earth you will return;" and also that in the book of Moses, "For the mind of man is intently inclined toward evil things from youth." Moreover, the things in the law are also old. All these, he says, are to be set aside; for we have been justified through faith in Christ, and the power of the curse has ceased. For he who trampled the power of death has come to life for us, and we have come to know the one who is by nature and truly God, fulfilling the worship in spirit and truth, with the Son mediating and giving the blessings from above and from the Father to the world. Hence, very wisely, the divine Paul says, "But all things are from the God who reconciled us to himself through Christ." For truly the mystery of the economy with the flesh and the renewal through it is not unwilled by the Father. The mystagogue adds to these things that the Father himself reconciled us to himself through Christ, we who had been estranged from him—Greeks through the error of polytheism, and Jews through their desire to cling to the shadows of the law and not to accept the word of true worship.

For through him we have obtained our introduction, and "No one comes to the Father," as he himself says, "except through" him. Therefore, all things are from God, who reconciled us through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Observe again that Christ having given them the ministry of reconciliation—for they were appointed through him to the apostolate—he said that God was the giver. So then they proclaim him God and equal in glory to the Father, knowing that the lordship and authority of both are one. What then is this word of the ministry, or what is the manner of the reconciliation? He adds, saying, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself," that is, the one who in Christ reconciles the world to himself was God. For through faith in Christ, as I said, we have made peace with God, that is, we have been reconciled. And a clear proof of this is the remission of offenses, which God the Father grants, but the Son, as God, again bestows by his own authority, saying to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven you." Therefore, in Christ—that is, in the person of Christ—God reconciles the world to himself, not holding their transgressions against those who have sinned. But since we are appointed, he says, to the sacred ministry of the evangelical ordinances, and the word of reconciliation has been placed in us—for we are ministers of God—necessarily, to those who have so believed, offering prayers on their behalf, and as it were assuming the person of Christ himself, we say to those who wish to depart: "We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God, having believed in him," clearly meaning the one on whose behalf we intercede.

For Christ is the door and he himself is the way. But since it was likely that some would disregard the evangelical proclamations and consider the season of salvation, truly acceptable, as nothing, and would subsequently thrust aside the faith, the mystagogue again devises for them something not insufficient for causing shame and for easily persuading them not to fall into indolence, but rather to seize hold of the life in Christ. And he says concerning God and the Father: "He who knew no sin committed sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him." It is as if he were saying: He who had never sinned at any time was prepared to suffer what belongs to those who are exceedingly prone to sin, in order that he might declare us righteous who have received faith in him. For he endured "the cross, despising shame"; for one died for all, who is worthy of all. Therefore, when it is said that sin occurred, do not suppose that he committed sin; for being God the Word, he does not know how to transgress. Rather, know that it was given by God the Father on behalf of our sins; just as, of course, the sacrifices for sin, according to the law of Moses, were called "sins." For it is written in the prophets concerning those appointed to serve as priests: "They will eat the sins of my people, and in their iniquities they will receive their souls." For they ate the offerings for sins according to the law, those who were the overseers and ministers of the divine altars. Therefore, it is a great thing for causing shame to those who wish to be indolent to consider wisely that he who knew no sin was condemned and hung together with sinners for our sake, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

We have been justified by God and Father "not from works of righteousness which we performed," but according to his great mercy, through faith in Christ. And I, Paul myself, exhort you through the gentleness and fairness of Christ, etc. There were many of the wise in Athens, living among those in Corinth, who considered the cross of the Saviour folly, and the word proclaiming the divinely inspired scripture, they called the blessed Paul himself a charlatan and a babbler along with the other saints. And some others of the circumcision again looked down upon the believers, praising circumcision and the legal sacrifices, saying that the blessed Paul was out of his mind, as having chosen to wage unholy war against the ancient ordinances. Against such persons the zealots among the Corinthians were naturally provoked, and they wished to lay hands on them as enemies of the divine proclamation. But since the matter was very unseemly, and as far as possible from the fairness befitting saints,

For "a servant of the Lord must not fight, according to what is written, but be gentle toward all, instructing those who oppose with meekness," he commands, saying, "I myself, Paul, the priest of the divine mysteries, the steward and apostle, distinguished by zeal, sharpening even you yourselves to say with me, 'For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain,'" I exhort you through the gentleness and fairness of Christ, "who, when reviled, did not revile in return, when suffering, did not threaten, but handed over to the one judging justly." Therefore, at the opportune time, he brings them to remembrance of Christ's life, rendering them very gentle and fair. "And I myself," says Paul, "who am present among you in person, am humble, not arrogant, nor sharpened for strife and fights, who am confident when absent, but now also, though present, I need to be confident; because, as it occurs to me to reason, in no way will you dare against some who think we walk according to the flesh," that is, live carnally in strife and zeal. "For where," he says, "zeal and strife are among you, are you not carnal and walking according to man?" Therefore, it is fitting for those who wish to follow to become superior to that suspicion.

with the gentle ways of the Savior, and not to walk in a fleshly manner. For if some are disobedient, it is necessary not to compel them by striking them with clubs, but rather to await their voluntary return to God. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not serve in a fleshly campaign; for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful in God. For those who know how to excel in battles, and who stand against their opponents in a fleshly manner, would naturally have a fleshly panoply; for they have helmets and breastplates, weapons and swords, and all by which they might prevail. But for us, the struggle and the manner of war require spiritual weapons. And indeed, the divine Paul says that the soldier understood in Christ must be adorned with such splendid armor; for he places upon him a breastplate of righteousness, a helmet of salvation, "and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," and in addition to these, "the shield of faith," by which all the fiery arrows of the evil one are quenched. Therefore, the weapons of the saints are not fleshly, but rather spiritual and powerful in God, useful for the demolition of strongholds—I mean of Hellenic and heretical doctrines—and for showing their syllogisms to be rotten, most unskilled, and foolishly composed. So let us demolish such things and every height raised up against the knowledge of God.

We shall captivate every thought into the obedience of Christ, that is, we shall cast down every height raised against God by impious notions, and we shall glorify him with fitting utterances, imagining nothing lowly about him; for we shall also benefit others, conveying them onto a right and most unerring path of thoughts, so that we may avenge every disobedience, our own having first been fulfilled; for great in the kingdom of heaven will be not only the one who taught, but also whoever wishes to add to the word the boasts of good works. Since you seek proof, etc. For we too are weak in him, but we shall live in him by the power of God toward you. He threatens those in Corinth who have previously sinned, that if they do not wish to do what is fitting and live in a holy manner, he will again not spare them; and the word "again" contains a reminder of the indignation that has already occurred. And that he would certainly rebuke those who err, his word will be effective, he tries to persuade further, both from what has already passed and from what is expected to be; he says this: "If you seek proof of Christ speaking in me." For it is likely, he says, that you wait and see through subsequent events whether Christ ever speaks in me, and he brings the modes of rebuke to completion; for do not think, he says, that he is weak, as some unbelievers and even insolent persons think; for he is powerful among you, clearly among those who have believed and have come under him, in whom he also grants necessary care and turns back those who err. Therefore he is powerful among you; for he works as God and makes the utterances of the saints true.

And you will find my word prevailing everywhere and in every way; for I am not the one speaking, but rather Christ who is in me. Since he makes mention of those who, from excessive folly, truly thought that Christ was weak because he endured the cross and put up with the boorishness, that is, impiety, of the Jews, he usefully defends the case, bringing forward the power of the mystery at the opportune moment, explaining the voluntary kenosis of the Only-Begotten, and the incomparable preeminence of the glory that follows. For, he says, as indeed those who are still far from believing suppose according to their own notions, he was crucified from weakness, suffered as a man, and voluntarily underwent death in the flesh; but it was necessary to know in addition that, having despoiled Hades and trampled upon the power of death, he revived on the third day, not using human power but divine and ineffable power. For it would befit God alone to be able to do all things, even to destroy the power of death itself and to crown the body subject to corruption with the grace of incorruption. Therefore, he voluntarily underwent weakness for a short time, at least according to the nature of the flesh; just as, of course, he is said to have hungered and thirsted and labored, and indeed even to have died for the sake of the economy; yet he lives by the power of God, and does not receive the ability to do all things from another, but has it from himself and it inheres substantially; for he is God by nature, who suffered in the flesh for us. Therefore, if they are scandalized by the cross, let them marvel at the resurrection; and even if he is said to live by the power of God, you will understand that the power of God is none other than the Son himself.