Haereticarum fabularum compendium

For the Prophet says of the God of all: "He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble." Then he sat upon their tongues in the form of fire, just as Moses once said that God appeared in the bush. And just as that bush was not consumed while burning, so the tongues of the apostles did not experience the burning energy. The most divine Peter, having learned these things not by words but by deeds, called it God when he exposed the theft of Ananias. For having said, "Why has Satan deceived your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" he added, "You did not lie to men but to God." What was said by the inspired Paul concerning the Spirit is also in agreement. For he called those who had believed temples of God, having the grace of the Spirit dwelling within them: "Do you not know," he says, "that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" And again: "Do you not know that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?" These things plainly teach that the all-holy Spirit is of divine nature. For if those who believed are called temples of God because they received the grace of the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit is from God; for having the grace of this one dwelling within them, they were named temples of God. But more clearly to us he

The Lord demonstrates the worthiness of the Spirit. For when teaching the mystery of baptism, he spoke thus to the disciples: "Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit." But if the Son or the all-holy Spirit had a created nature, they would not have been numbered together with God who possesses [all things]; for the divine words condemn those who have worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. Therefore indeed the Only-begotten became man, so as to free humans from this error and to teach the difference between God and creation. And having abolished the worship of creation, he would not again command worship of a created nature; for it is among the most absurd things to draw humans away from non-existent gods and then bring them back again to the slavery of created things. It is clear, then, that both the Son and the all-holy Spirit have an uncreated nature. For it is precisely for this reason that we are taught to believe in the Father, and the Son, and the holy Spirit, and are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. For since the first man was formed not by the Father alone, but also by the Son and the holy Spirit—for he said: "Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness"—reasonably, then, when the re-formation takes place and the new creation is accomplished, the Son and the all-holy Spirit share with the Father; and the invocation of the Trinity renews each of those being baptized. But indeed, concerning the holy Spirit, against the heretics who are destitute of his grace, I have written three discourses.

And I think it superfluous to prolong this here, since the remaining chapters draw the discourse on toward themselves. Having therefore added the interpretation concerning the divine names, I shall pass on to those matters. For since the thunderstruck, not knowing the meaning of the Hebrew names, supposed that Adonai and Eloi and Sabaoth were different gods, I consider it advantageous to show to those who are ignorant what each of these signifies in the Greek tongue. The name Eloth, then, is interpreted as God; and Eloi, my God; and El, when written without the rough breathing, itself also signifies God, but when aspirated, the strong one; and Adonai, the Lord; and Kyrios Sabaoth is interpreted as Lord of the powers, or Lord of hosts. For among the Greeks too the military ranks are called powers. And Saddai signifies the sufficient and mighty one; and Aia, the one who is. This was also unutterable among the Hebrews. But the Samaritans call it Iabai, not knowing the force of the word. Not having understood these things, the deranged called them different gods. But we shall proceed to the rest of the treatise.

4. On Creation.

But before all things it is necessary to demonstrate that the Creator of creation exists—not the one who was formed, according to the myth of Valentinus, from the passion of Achamoth, and who was begotten after thirty-five projections of Aeons from conversion and passion; nor certain angels, according to Basilides, Cerinthus, and the others, over whom they say Ialdabaoth rules; nor indeed, according to the abominable Marcion, do we say that there is any other beside the good Creator, but that the God of all things, together with the only-begotten Word and the all-holy Spirit, created all things—this we have been taught and we teach. "For by the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their powers." And elsewhere, having made mention of the visible and invisible creation, and having exhorted to hymn the Creator, he added: "For he spoke and they came to be; he commanded and they were created." And again: "He who stretches out the heaven like a curtain, who covers

who stretches out his upper chambers in the waters. And after a little: Who founded the earth upon its firmness. And again: To him who made the heavens in understanding, to him who established the earth upon the waters. And before this, the great Moses teaches us more securely that he himself made the heaven and the earth along with the other elements; that he himself created and adorned the nature of light, adorning the heaven with luminaries, and the earth with groves, meadows, and fields, and himself brought forth the kinds of animals, and gave the air as a dwelling to the birds, assigned the watery substance to the swimming creatures, and the earth to cattle and wild beasts. And how, above all, he molded the nature of human beings. And all the prophets likewise teach us in agreement; and Isaiah cries out: He who made the heaven and fixed it, who established the earth and the things in it, who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who tread upon it. And again: He who set the heaven like a vault, and stretched it out like a tent. And God himself says through him: I alone stretched out the heaven. And the blessed Jeremiah spoke thus: This is God, who pointed out the earth, filled it with cattle and four-footed beasts. He who sends forth the light and it goes, he called it and it obeyed him with trembling. But indeed I have no need of prophetic voices. For before the law and the prophets, nature taught these things to human beings. And that ancient Melchizedek spoke thus, blessing Abraham:

Blessed be Abraham by God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth." And the patriarch himself said the same things to those from Sodom: "I will stretch out my hand to God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth." And again, when Abraham sent his servant to betroth a bride: "Put," he said, "your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord God of heaven and earth." And the noble Job too, who shone in virtue before the giving of the law, knows the true God as Creator. "For he," he says, "who alone stretched out the heaven, who walks upon the sea as upon dry ground." And the same giver of the contest teaches the victorious athlete many things about creation. But so that we may not give an occasion to those who do not accept the Old Scripture to contradict what has been said, let us pass over to the New, and show that it speaks in agreement; for in this way it will indeed become evident that these and those streams have one source. Let us hear, then, John the divine saying that all things came to be through the Word, and that nothing of the things observed or conceived in creation came to be apart from him. "For without him," he says, "not one thing came to be." And let us hear the divine Paul also crying out that "in him all things were created, whether visible or invisible." And again: that "through him the Father made the ages." And speaking publicly on the Areopagus, he said thus:

God, who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all life and breath in all things. And he made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." And at Lystra he said this to those who wished to sacrifice: "We also are men of like passions with you, proclaiming good news that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and all things in them." And the following words also hold to the same meaning. But indeed it is superfluous to prolong the matter concerning this, and to bring forward many testimonies from the divine Scripture, and from those among the Greeks who shone in philosophy and said that God is the Creator. For Socrates the son of Sophroniscus, and Plato the son of Ariston, and their successors, and indeed also very many others, have come to be of this opinion, and they said that God took the starting points of creation from underlying matter. Come then, let us display in this chapter also the nobility of the ecclesiastical doctrines. 5. – On matter.

Those men, then, as I said, claim that all things were created out of pre-existing matter, and calling it co-eternal with God, they name God as its cause; yet they do not define it as evil, according to the impiety of Marcion and Manes; for they consider it the greatest blasphemy to say that God is the maker of evils. And those men perhaps have some excuse, since they did not hear the prophetic words, nor had they the divine apostles as guides, but entrusted the knowledge of existing things to reasonings alone. But these men, what worthy penalties of impiety would they pay, who have enjoyed the divine Gospels, yet have fled from their light and embraced darkness, like creatures of the night? They ought at least to have confirmed the opinion of these philosophers, since they stopped their ears and were unwilling to listen to the oracles of the divine Spirit, and to introduce matter, but not to call it evil. And this too is a proof of the weakness of human reasonings.

For since every human craft requires underlying matter—pottery needs clay, building needs stones and bricks, carpentry and shipbuilding need wood, weaving needs wool, shoemaking needs hides, painting and plastering need colors, and, to put it briefly, each craft needs its appropriate materials—the foolish supposed that God too could not create without matter, and they did not perceive how great is the difference between man and God, nor that it is impossible for the image to possess everything that the archetype has, and that man, as an image, creates from existing things, whereas God creates both from existing things and from things that do not exist. And the divine Scripture clearly taught us this. For the Apostle says: "By faith we understand that the ages were fashioned by the word of God, so that what is seen did not come to be from things that appear." And again: "He who calls things that are not as though they were." And the one who wrote the account of the world's origin clearly taught which things the Creator made from things that do not exist and which from things that exist; and that he made the heaven and the earth and the other elements from things that do not exist. For he says: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth." And the light likewise he created from things that do not exist. For he says: "God said, Let there be light, and there was light." But the firmament he brought forth from things already created. For he said: "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it divide between water and water." And the seeds and the plants he commanded to sprout from the earth.

For let the earth bring forth grass of the herb, sowing seed according to its kind and according to its likeness, and a fruit-bearing tree producing fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its likeness, according to its kind, upon the earth." Thus also he brought forth the kinds of irrational animals: from the waters, the creatures that fly in the air, those that live in the waters, and those called amphibious. "For let the waters," he said, "bring forth reptiles of living souls, and birds flying across the firmament of heaven." And from the earth, the four-footed creatures and reptiles. "For let the earth," he says, "bring forth a living soul, four-footed creatures, reptiles, and cattle." But man he made from things that are and from things that are not. For the body he molded, taking dust from the earth, but the soul he fashioned from things that are not. For not according to the impious doctrine of Marcion is the soul of the same essence as God who made it, but it was created from things that are not; for he creates most easily whatever he wills. For it is not fitting to measure the power of the Maker by the things that have already come into being. For it is easy for him to bring forth many times more than these. And this the divine David indicated. "For all things," he says, "whatever the Lord willed, he made." He did not say, "Whatever he was able," but, "Whatever he willed." For he has power equal in measure to his will. Hence he creates not only from things that are but also from things that are not. Consequently, then, the doctrine concerning matter has been driven out from the teachings of the truth. But those who revile creation, and attempt to slander the all-harmonious workmanship, and for this reason introduce the doctrine concerning matter, let them hear the divine oracles of the holy Scriptures:

God saw all things that he had made, and behold, they were very good." For nothing that has come into being from God is evil by nature. But the account concerning this we shall unfold later. For now, let us go through briefly the mythology of the Aeons.

56. — Concerning the Aeons.

Valentinus, and Secundinus, and Marcus, and those who succeeded them say that there are very many Aeons older than the Demiurge, having learned this not from the divine oracles, but themselves having fabricated the myths. And those thunderstruck men did not perceive that the aeon is not some subsistent essence, but a certain interval of time, indicative sometimes of the infinite, when it is spoken of God, sometimes of what is commensurate with creation, and at other times of human life. For concerning us the divine David says: "Our aeon is unto the illumination of your face." And concerning creation the Lord says: "Behold, I am with you all the days, until the consummation of the aeon." And concerning the God of all things again the blessed David: "From the aeon and unto the aeon you are," instead of, You have neither beginning nor end. And since the aeon indicates a certain interval, lest anyone foolishly suppose that the God of all things did not exist before the aeons, in another psalm the same Prophet said: "God will hear, and he who exists before the aeons will humble them." Therefore the God of all things, the Demiurge of all, is not after thirty-five aeons from the passion of Achamoth, after the ogdoad, and the decad, and the dodecad, and Achamoth, and the Horos, and the Son, and the Spirit—

But he is before all the ages—not those shameful ones mythologized in pairs, but those that signify any interval whatsoever. For this reason the blessed Paul also said that the Father and the Son are makers of the ages: "For he spoke to us in his Son," he says, "whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages." And "he made" does not indicate the substance of the ages, but that no one is older than the God of all things. And in another place he says: "To the king of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." He teaches not that the ages are certain subsistent beings, but proclaims the kingdom of God to be eternal. And again the same Apostle: "We speak wisdom among the mature, a wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God foreordained before the ages." But if the mystery of the economy, according to the divine decree, is older, it is the utmost impiety to call the God of all things younger than the ages. And the prophet Isaiah also cries out: "God, the eternal, who made the ends of the earth." And again: "From the age we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God besides you." Before the ages, therefore, is God, the craftsman of all things.

7. On Angels.

We do not deify the angels, as do the poets and philosophers of the Greeks, nor do we divide the incorporeal nature into female and male, nor do we accuse the invisible powers of licentious unions; nor, following the myths of the heretics, do we define them as creators of the creation, nor indeed do we say that they are co-eternal with the God of all things. For to humans the female is useful for the increase of the race. For the God of all things, foreseeing this, thus formed this nature. Therefore he also brought this blessing to the race, saying: "Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it." For since death plunders the nature of humans, and like some reaper cuts down not only the old but also the young, nature necessarily needed those who cultivate and sow, and who bring in other ears of grain in place of those cut down, and who by their farming overcome the hands of the reaper. But for the immortal nature the division of sex is superfluous; for they neither need increase, since they do not diminish, nor do they need union, being freed from bodies. And the divine Scripture is the teacher of this. For it did not create only two angels in the beginning, as it did humans, but it brought forth as many myriads as he willed. For the nature that is free from corruption has no need of increase. But humans, having a mortal body and being subject to death, necessarily require the female. But let none of the pleasure-lovers make an accusation against the angels out of ignorance, taking as a starting point for blasphemy what was recorded by the all-wise Moses:

that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and took from them as wives. For it is the height of madness to attribute the licentiousness of humans to the angels. For there were two families at that time, that of Cain and that of Seth; and the family of Cain was accursed, while the family of Seth devoted itself to piety. For Enos, his son, hoped to call upon the name of the Lord God. From there, those descended from him, being called sons of God, fled from intermingling with the family of Cain. But after many years had passed, the descendants of the pious, seeing their daughters to be pleasing, were overcome by their beauty, and transgressed the ancestral law, and embraced kinship with them. Then the intermingling introduced wickedness. When, therefore, we hear the divine Scripture saying, "The sons of God went in to the daughters of men," let us not accuse the incorporeal angels; for it was humans who dared the transgression, being called sons of God. And that these things are so, God himself, the God of all, is witness, saying thus: "My spirit shall not remain in these humans, because they are flesh." And again the historian: "And the Lord saw the earth, and it was corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth." And to Noah the God of all said: "Behold, I am destroying all flesh." And having commanded him to build an ark, he brought on

Because I have found you righteous in this generation." But if angels had sinned, the Lawgiver would not have punished humans for righteousness—and humans, not ten or twenty or a hundred, but countless myriads. Therefore the nature of angels has no need of the female for either increase or intercourse. The divine Scripture teaches that there are many myriads of angels: "For a thousand thousands," it says, "were ministering to him, and ten thousand myriads stood before him." And the ministry of angels is hymnody. For concerning the Seraphim the blessed Isaiah says that they cried out and said, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts; heaven and earth are full of his glory." And concerning the Cherubim the divine Ezekiel said that he heard them saying, "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from its place." And they not only hymn but also minister in the divine dispensations. And this the all-wise Paul taught us, saying: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" And the Lord himself in the holy Gospels said: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, these least of those who believe in me; for truly I say to you, daily their angels see the face of my Father who is in heaven." And the inspired Daniel the prophet also says that certain beings are rulers of nations—or rather, not he himself, but the angel speaking to him.

For he stood," he says, "over against me, the prince of Persia." And he has made mention of the prince of the Greeks, and has added that no other assisted him in his embassy to God on behalf of the freedom of the Jews, except Michael their prince. And the great Moses also said in his song: "When the Most High divided the nations, as he scattered the sons of Adam, he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." These things also give evidence, as do the things said in Daniel and the things spoken by the Lord, that some of the angels preside over nations, while others have been entrusted with the care of each individual man, so that the avenging demons may not harm and injure them. And we believe that the angels were made by the God of all things; for so we were taught. For David, the composer of hymns, having exhorted the angels and the heavenly powers to hymn the God of all things, added: "For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created." And again: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." And the three children in the furnace, blessing God, called all creation to share in the hymnody, and the angels first. And the preface of the hymnody is as follows: "Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord; hymn him, and exalt him above all forever." Then immediately they add: "Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord," teaching that these also are a part of the divine works. And the divine Apostle taught us this more clearly. For having made mention of our Lord Jesus Christ, he added:

For in him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, whether visible or invisible." And as though leaving the visible things plain, he speaks of the orders of invisible things: "Whether Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers, all things were created through him and for him." These things we have been taught to think also concerning the angels. 8. — Concerning the devil and the demons.

But the devil and the demons who are ranked under him, according to the myths of Marcion and Cerdo and of Manes, we say are not unbegotten. For if they were unbegotten, they would be of equal honor with the God of all things; and if of equal honor, it is clear that they are also of equal power; and if of equal power, how do we say they were created by the God of all things? For how could those who from the beginning received such a nature be justly punished? But that they will be punished, the Lord plainly said to those on the left: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." And the demons themselves clearly know this; whence they cried out: "What have we to do with you, Son of the most high God? Have you come before the time to torment us?" And again: "I adjure you, do not torment me." That they will be punished, then, we have been clearly taught. But let us consider next whether they will justly suffer this, having received such a nature from their Maker. And how could the maker of evil be reasonably called good, or how just, if he punishes a nature that is unable to do any good, but is fettered by the bonds of evil? But we know that the God of all things is just, and the source of justice; therefore he will not unjustly punish the demons, and

their leader. And we know that the good God, who is called by all right-minded people the maker of good things, is the creator. He certainly did not create a nature that is able to do no good, but that gives birth to evil alone against its will. But if God neither created an evil nature—for as a good maker he is the maker of good things—nor consents to punish unjustly—for he is just and a lawgiver of justice—and yet he punishes the devil and those who are under his command, then the devil and those of his company are evil by their own choice. For just as God, being good, created man good from the beginning, and by their own free choice some kept the nature they received undefiled, while others inclined toward the worse and corrupted the divine marks and made the godlike beastly, so the devil and the swarm of demons, having come into being along with the other incorporeal beings, did not emulate their goodwill toward the Master God, but having received the passion of pride and arrogance, they turned toward the worse and fell from their former lot. And the divine Apostle has made this clear, when he lays down the law concerning episcopal ordination: "Not a novice, lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the devil." For through these words he hints that pride was the cause of the devil's fall. And writing to the Ephesians, he indicated that before they turned toward the worse, he had been entrusted with the stewardship of the air.

For according to the ruler," he says, "of the authority of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience." And having fallen from his former rank, he has as his servants those who oppose God. And the Lord also said in the holy Gospels: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." And in another place, "He," he says, "was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth." And this indicates that, having turned aside from the truth, he chose the things contrary to the truth. And the blessed prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel also used similar riddles. For this is what is meant by: "I will set my throne above the stars, and I will be like the Most High, and I will seize the inhabited world like a nest, and I will take them up like abandoned eggs." And Ezekiel, through the prince of Tyre, hints at the apostate ruler who worked in him. And he says thus: "Thus says the Lord Adonai: You are the seal of likeness, full of wisdom, and a crown of beauty, and you were in the delight of the paradise of God, you have clothed yourself with every stone." Then, having enumerated the kinds of stones, he added: "From the day you were established, with the cherub anointed by God who dwells there, and I placed you on the holy mountain of God. You were born in the midst of fiery stones, you walked blameless in your days, from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you. For from the abundance of your trafficking, you filled your treasuries with lawlessness, and you sinned, and you were wounded; the overshadowing cherub brought you down from the mountain of God, from the midst of the fiery stones.

Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. Your knowledge was corrupted with your beauty. Because of the multitude of your sins, I cast you down to the earth; I gave you to be made an example before kings. Because of the multitude of your lawless deeds and the injustices of your trade, I profaned your sanctuary. I bring fire out from your midst; this shall devour you. This prophetic word showed that the devil was made good from the beginning, but willingly received the inclination toward the worse, and increased his wickedness by his evil devices. For the going about and the trade he called the inventions of wickedness. He made him an example, having convicted him of his weakness, and he commanded that he be trampled underfoot by those who formerly worshipped him. For his is the voice: "Behold, I have given you authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy." And one may find very many other things through which it is easy to learn that the devil, having been created good, willingly turned aside to wickedness. But the threatened punishment is sufficient also to show the self-chosen nature of his evil. For it is not proper to a righteous God to punish one who became wicked by necessity.

9. – On man.

We say that man was formed, not by certain angels according to the myths of Basilides and Cerinthus, nor by Ialdabaoth according to the frenzy of the Sethians, nor by Saklas according to the madness of Manes, but by the divine and all-holy Trinity which fashioned all things. For we have heard the divine Scripture saying that the God of all said: "Let us make man in our image and likeness." In agreement with this the blessed David also said: "For your hands, it says, made me and fashioned me; instruct me, and I shall learn your commandments." By the hands of God we understand not certain bodily parts, but his creative power. For the incorporeal and uncircumscribed nature is not composite, according to the folly of Audaeus, but simple and formless and without shape, and comprehending all things. Hearing, then, the Mosaic history relating that God took dust from the earth and formed man, we seek the meaning of the letter, and we understand the exceptional disposition which the God of all holds toward human nature. For the great prophet, making this clear, said that the God of all made the other things by a word, but formed man with his hands. And neither in those things do we understand the command as a spoken word, but as will and purpose; nor here do we understand the forming as the work of bodily hands, but as the greater disposition toward this creature.

For just as now, when he wills it, the embryo is formed in the womb, and nature follows the boundaries established by him from the beginning, so then, when he willed it, a human body was compacted from the earth, and the clay became flesh, and blood, and skin, and fat, and sinews, and veins, and arteries, and brain, and marrow, and the supports of the bones, and the coats of the eyes, and the clarity of the pupil, and the spiral passages of the ears, and the perception of odors, and the rational instrument of the mouth, in which the teeth fulfill the role of strings, the tongue imitates the plectrum, and the mind the right hand of the musician. But who is sufficient worthily to marvel at the formation of this living creature, which many others also attempt to disparage, not least the successors of Manes? For this reason, they say that it was not God who formed this, but Saklas, the ruler of matter. But the wise men of the Greeks—Socrates, and Hippocrates, and Plato, and Xenophon, and Aristotle, and Galen, and countless others—have extolled the harmony of the human body, and marvel at the use of each part, and confess that the speech which praises it is defeated by the wisdom of the supreme Artificer of all things observed in this living creature. By so much are they better than the ill-named heretics, who have neither received the prophetic cultivation nor enjoyed the guidance of the apostles, but have entrusted the knowledge of divine things to reasoning alone.

And I say these things, not defending the polytheistic error of those called philosophers, but showing that those who pride themselves on the name of Christ are more impious not only than the philosophers but even than the demons. For what is more unholy than these, who make any and every thing an occasion for blasphemy against the Creator? But we have been taught to hymn him in all things, not only for what seem pleasant, but also for what are thought distressing. But this must not yet be discussed; for the discourse ought to preserve the harmony of its composition. We say, then, that the body was formed from the four elements. For it has heat from fire, coldness from air, dryness from earth, and moisture from water. But the soul, we say, is simple and rational and immortal, yet it does not pre-exist the body. For Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, and those of his company, having agreed that souls are immortal, said that they pre-exist bodies, and that there is a certain multitude of innumerable souls, and that those which transgress are sent down into bodies, so that, purified by such instruction, they may return again to their own place; but those which in bodies have embraced a lawless life are sent down into irrational animals: the bitter and venomous into reptiles, the rapacious into wolves, the bold into lions, the crafty into foxes; and they fashioned certain such absurd myths. But they say that the Peripatetics also deprive souls of immortality by their argument.

But the wisest of physicians called the body's good temperament a soul, having derived this opinion from the afflictions that befall the body—epilepsy, I mean, and apoplexy, and phrenitis. For since each of these afflictions maims the rational faculty and makes it vanish, they supposed the body's good temperament to be the soul. But they ought to have seen that the lyre-player too, when the lyre is not well tuned, does not display his own skill. For the strings, when overstretched, and indeed when grown slack, corrupt the harmony. And if some are cut through, they render the musician wholly idle. This can be seen with flutes as well, and with other instruments. So too a boat that is waterlogged, or constructed contrary to the rule of the art, injures the helmsman's skill. And horses that are lame, or naturally slow, and indeed the afflictions of chariots, injure the charioteers. So in just the same way certain bodily afflictions do not permit the soul to display the activity of the rational faculty. But when the affliction occurs in the tongue, speech is checked; and in the eyes, the power of the visual activity no longer passes through the organ. And if the disease falls upon the membrane, the badness of the vapors and humors injures the brain, and the brain, flooded by these, does not receive the soul's activity, but resembles something submerged, moving hands and feet and the other parts of the body as it happens.

The substance of the soul, then, is not the good temperament of the body; rather, in the body's good temperament the soul's substance displays its own proper wisdom. These men, then, fell into this irrationality. But the impious heretics—Carpocrates, Epiphanes, Prodicus, the Cainites, the Antitactae, and the Eutychites—acquired a folly far more unholy than these. For they said that souls are sent down into bodies, so that after working every licentiousness and lawlessness in them, they might serve the world-making angels by their practices of impiety. But the Church, obeying the divine words, utterly abhors their doctrine, and turns away from the myths of the others as well; and obeying the divine Scripture, it says that the soul is created together with the body, not having the starting points of its creation from the matter of the seed, but by the will of the Maker coming into being after the formation of the body. For the most divine Moses too said that Adam's body was formed first, and then God breathed in the soul. "For God took dust from the earth, and formed the man, and breathed into his face a breath of life, and he became a

Man became a living soul." But that inbreathing we say is not a part of the divine substance, according to the madness of Cerdo and Marcion; rather, we say that the nature of the soul is signified through this, because the soul is spirit, rational and intelligent. And again in the laws the same prophet taught us more clearly that the body is first formed, and then the soul is implanted. For concerning the one who struck a pregnant woman he said: "If the embryo comes out fully formed, he shall pay an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," and the rest. But if it does not come out fully formed, he shall be fined; thereby teaching that what has been formed is ensouled, but what has not been formed is soulless. And the all-praised Job also said to the Lord: "Remember that you molded me as clay, and turn me back to earth again. Did you not milk me like milk, and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and sinews." And having shown through these things the formation of the body first, he then added the hymn concerning ensoulment: "For," he says, "you placed life and mercy with me." He also mentions the care that follows: "But your visitation guarded my spirit." Then he proclaims God's omnipotence: "Having these things in yourself, I know that you can do all things, and nothing is impossible for you." But God honored the body with the privileges of time, dispensing equality. For since he made the soul immortal but the body mortal, he assigned to the body the prerogatives of time, so that the soul might not boast over it, having the advantage both in nature and in time.

10. On Providence. The Church has been taught this opinion concerning soul and body from the divine oracles. And it knows the God of all not only as Creator, but also as guardian and president and pilot of all things. For it is among the most absurd claims to say that he made all things, not for any need of his own, but from mere love for humanity, and yet neglects what he made, and overlooks creation as though it were some ship without ballast and without a pilot, driven hither and thither by contrary winds, and dashed against reefs and crags. For we abhor the godlessness of the followers of Diagoras; and we detest Epicurus too, who concedes that God exists, but says that he is turned toward himself and perceives nothing of what happens in creation. And we also accuse the providence of Aristotle; for he set the moon as its boundary, charging it with one of two things, either inability or hesitation: for either it does not have power sufficient for the care of all things, or, having power but hesitating, it has left our affairs ungoverned. But each alternative is full of blasphemy. For he who willed to create even the smallest parts of creation, how could he be called powerless? And how could he neglect through hesitation these things which he made through the abyss of his goodness? But the providence of Plato sufficiently refutes the folly of these men. For he said, and indeed those who hold his views, that the God of all things provides for all things. But if God provides, the myth of fate, together with the Fates and their threads, is driven out.

For it is the height of folly, while God steers, to bring in another pilot for the ship of the world. But we must distinguish in argument which things hang upon the helm of Providence, and which have been assigned to the rational faculty of the soul, and which are called natural, and which are called by the same name—not being evils, but thought to be. Of human affairs, then, the natural goods are prudence, temperance, righteousness, courage, and the other parts of virtue; and the evils are folly, licentiousness, injustice, cowardice, and all else akin to these. But wealth and poverty, slavery and mastery, health and sickness, and the other good fortunes and misfortunes of human life have a certain middle lot. For they lie before men like so many instruments. And the best of men build up virtue through each of the things mentioned. For one can find men both abounding in wealth and living with poverty who care for virtue, and who in health hymn the Benefactor and in sickness endure, and slaves made illustrious by temperance and righteousness; and again, others who in poverty embrace vice and not only steal but dare even to rob the dead and to commit sacrilege, and others who make wealth an instrument of injustice, and in health employ arrogance and vanity, and in sickness belch forth blasphemous words. From these things it is easy to perceive that wealth and poverty, slavery and mastery, and the like, according to those who use them, are now praiseworthy and now blameworthy.

Just as we now call iron a fellow-worker of human life—through the plough, the mattock, and the hoe it tills the earth, through the sickle it prunes the plants, through the axe and the saw it provides for the construction of houses and various implements—yet some now call it treacherous, seeing the sword and the slaughters that have come about through it. But the sword is not the cause of the slaughters, but the one who uses the sword badly; nor are wealth and poverty, and the other good and ill fortune of life, worthy of accusation, but those who use each of these contrary to the laws. For if each of these were by nature evil, it would not have become the cause of good for some. Yet we find many who through these have set virtue aright. Neither, then, is that evil which becomes an instrument of good, nor again is that good which becomes a tool for another's wickedness. It holds, therefore, a middle rank, just like medicines. For opium and hemlock, if judged best by the physicians, become remedies; but if taken contrary to the principle of the art, they are poisons and deadly. And sometimes bread and wine bring disease upon those who use them; for excess begets harm. So too, good fortune and misfortune: those who steer them wisely prepare them as saving remedies; but those who do so foolishly and without understanding receive through them occasions of destruction. These things, then, and all that resembles them—fertility of the earth and barrenness, fair voyages and shipwreck—depend upon divine Providence. Therefore all must be content with what comes from it, and not busy themselves inquisitively with the causes.

For the word of the divine governance is unattainable; but it is for us to take care of the things that are in our power, and to put away vice entirely, and to bring virtue to dwell within us, and to be made radiant by its parts; and just as women who love adornment brighten the body by the art of cosmetics, so should we adorn the beauty of the soul with the flowers of temperance and righteousness and courage and prudence. For the possession of these things is in our power. But it is the height of stupidity to seek after the possession of things not in our power, and this when it lies exposed to swift-turning changes, while despising things that fall under our own authority, which are glorious and have permanence and stability, as though they were cheap and worth nothing. If we recognize this distinction in human affairs, we shall be content with the motions of the divine helm, and we shall not doubt concerning Providence that steers all things. For we see the seasons of the year changing in order, and all things growing at the proper time, and each thing coming to be at the proper time. For not according to the most licentious myths of Manes do the rulers of matter, desiring the daughter of light and pursuing her, sweat and supply the rain; but the Creator of all things nods, and the clouds gather together. And the divine Scripture clearly teaches this. For it says, "He brings up clouds from the ends of the

of the earth, he has made lightnings for rain, who brings forth winds from his treasuries." And again: "He who calls the water of the sea, and pours it out upon the face of the earth." And again: "His spirit shall blow, and waters shall flow." And elsewhere: "Watering the mountains from his upper chambers, the earth shall be filled from the fruit of your works. He who brings forth grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men, to bring forth bread from the earth." And one may find countless other things in the divine Scripture showing the providence of God. But having already written ten discourses on providence, I think it superfluous now to expand this account.

11. On the economy of the Savior.

It is necessary to show beforehand what we hold concerning the divine incarnation. For this account proclaims more clearly the providence of the God of all. Valentinus, then, in the myths he fashioned, said that one is the Only-Begotten, another the Word, and another the Christ within the Pleroma, and another Jesus, and again another the Christ outside. He said that Jesus became incarnate, having put on the Christ outside, and having taken a body from the psychic substance; and that he made only a passage through the Virgin, having taken nothing from human nature. And Basilides likewise said that one is the Only-Begotten, another the Word, and another Wisdom. Cerdo, and Marcion, and Manes said that Christ appeared as a man, having nothing human.

Cerinthus said that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary according to the common law of men, but that the Christ came down from above upon Jesus. The Ebionites, and the Theodotians, and the Artemonians, and the Photinians said that the Christ was born of the Virgin as a mere man. Arius and Eunomius said that he took a body, but that the divinity performed the function of the soul. Apollinarius said that the Savior's body was animate, but did not possess a rational soul; for the mind, he says, was superfluous, since the Word of God was present. I have set down the opinions of the more numerous heresies, wishing to demonstrate the truth of the Church. For the Church names the same one both Son, and Only-begotten, and God the Word, and Savior, Lord, and Jesus Christ. But he was named Only-begotten Son, and God the Word, and Lord even before the incarnation, and after the incarnation he is called in the same way. But Jesus Christ was named the same after the incarnation, receiving his appellations from the facts. For Jesus means Savior, and of this Gabriel is a witness, saying to the Virgin: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he himself will save his people from their sins." And he was called Christ because of the anointing of the Spirit. For David, the composer of hymns, says: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." And through the tongue of the prophet Isaiah the Master himself said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

For this reason he anointed me Lord. The Master himself taught us to understand the prophecy in this way. For when he entered the synagogue and took the prophetic book, he read the passage that had been spoken, and he said to those present: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ears." And the great Peter also proclaimed in agreement with the prophets. For showing the mystery to Cornelius and those with him, he said thus: "You know the word that came throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power." It is clear, then, from what has been said, that because of the anointing of the Spirit he was named Christ. And he was anointed, not as God, but as man. But if he was anointed according to the human nature, then after the incarnation he was also named Christ. Nevertheless, the God Logos is not one and the Christ another; for the God Logos, having become man, was named Jesus Christ. And he became man in order to renew the nature that had been corrupted by sin. For this reason he took upon himself all that had sinned, in order to heal it all. For he did not take on the nature of the body using the divinity as a covering, according to the madness of Arius and Eunomius; for it was easy for him to be seen even without a body, just as of old he was seen by Abraham, and by Jacob, and by the other saints; but he wished to conquer the adversary by means of that very nature which had been defeated, and to receive the victory. For this reason he took on both a body and a rational soul.

For divine Scripture does not divide man into three parts, but says that this living being is composed of soul and body. For God, having molded the body from dust, breathed in the soul, and showed two natures, not three. And the same Master says in the Gospels: "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul." And one can find many such things in divine Scripture. But that he did not take a complete human nature as a mere veil contrived for the divinity, in accordance with the myths of the heretics, but rather, through the firstfruits, secured the victory for the whole race—the divine Apostle is a true witness and an exact teacher. For in the Epistle to the Romans, revealing the mystery of the economy, he spoke thus: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so death passed to all men, inasmuch as all sinned." Having shown through these words the origin of sin, and the fruit that sprang from it, and the one who received it from the beginning, he demonstrates its end. "For until the law," he says, "sin was in the world, but sin is not counted when there is no law; yet death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the one to come." He calls the law Moses, and until the appearance of the Savior the polity according to him prevailed.

But when those who lived under him also transgressed, and those who were under the law according to nature, death rightly reigned, sin strengthening its dominion; for death was the condemnation of sin. Having thus taught whence sin took its beginning, and until what point death reigned, he shows how their power was destroyed, and he hymns the immeasurable philanthropy of God, saying thus: "But not as the transgression, so also is the gift. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abounded unto the many." The generosity of his philanthropy, he says, surpasses justice. For the boundary of justice delivered all the race of the one who had sinned to death; but divine mercy, when all men had come under the curse and were buried in the snares of sin, has bestowed salvation upon all through the righteousness of one. And he called the Savior a man, not denying his divinity (for he knows him to be God, and God equal in honor to the one who begot him), but teaching that like was healed by like, and the whole was sanctified by the firstfruits. For having become under the law according to the human, and having fulfilled the law, he freed those who had transgressed the law from the curse. Then again he rolls out the same argument in another way: "And not as through one who sinned is the gift. For the judgment was from one unto condemnation; but the gift, from many transgressions unto

…righteous decree." When, he says, one man sinned, all were condemned; but now, since all have sinned, the salvation that comes through faith is set before all who are willing. Having thus shown that the righteousness of the one became a defense against evil for the common sin, he shows through him also the accomplished destruction of death. "For if by the trespass of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift and of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ." The cause of death, he says, is sin, but the cause of life in the kingdom is the righteousness of the one. We are saved, not by law, but obtaining salvation by the divine mercy. For the law of the righteous one led all to punishment. For we all have become workers of sin. For if, when one man had sinned, the race was condemned, surely it is all the more just that those who have fulfilled the things under sin should receive the punishment. But the divine mercy has overstepped the bounds of what is just, and loving-kindness has conquered equality, and since one man has fulfilled the law, it is possible for all who are willing to believe in him to enjoy salvation. Having shown in these things the unsearchable nature of loving-kindness, he again turns to the argument of the passage. Therefore, "as through one trespass it came to all men unto condemnation, so also through one righteous act it came to all men unto justification of life." Then he passes from the things to the persons.

For as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous." And very necessarily has he placed "the many" in each case. For although Adam sinned, and the majority transgressed the divine laws, some remained within the bounds of nature and became careful students of virtue, such as Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and the patriarchs, and the prophets, and very many others, not only among the Jews but also among the other nations, concerning whom the divine Apostle said: "For when the nations, which do not have the law, do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves." And after the manifestation of the Savior, not all enjoy salvation, but those who believe and conduct their lives according to his divine laws. For this reason, both in the case of the image and in the case of the archetype, he has placed "many." But let us see for what reason the only-begotten Son of God became man, and having taken human nature, was called a man. He has brought the same teaching to us also in the Epistle to the Corinthians. And he says thus: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, resurrection of the dead also comes through a man." Then he passes from the nature to the persons, and says, "For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." And he did not say "will be saved," but "will be made alive"; for the resurrection is common to all, but after the resurrection the distinction will be made.

And he has indicated this by adding, "But each in his own order." For there are many orders both of those being punished and of those being saved. For in accordance with both the quality and the quantity of righteousness, the recompenses of the gifts will be provided. And likewise, in accordance with the difference of sins, the punishments will come to be. 12. That the Lord took a body.

Since, then, we have learned the cause of the divine incarnation, come, let us show, using the testimonies of the divine oracles, that God the Word, having become man, took a human body. For first, the swaddling clothes were of a body, not of a divinity; and then the butter and the honey, which the prophet foretold long beforehand, and the mother's milk, and the other food and drink, demonstrate the nature capable of receiving these things. But if someone in his folly should object with the nourishment that took place in Abraham's tent, let him know that he is being exceedingly foolish. For those things seemed to happen, being caught up in another manner, which the one who consumed them knows. And even if someone foolishly should grant that the incorporeal nature partook of those things, yet you will not find hunger and thirst there. But here, need stirred up such affections, not as though the united divinity were unable to render the body free from need (for the one who a little later will grant immortality to all bodies could more easily have shown his own body superior to need), but it yielded to this, that it might display its own nature, so that the heresies which have denied his assumption of it might be clearly convicted of lying.

For just as he was able to show himself stronger than death (for this indeed he also accomplished after three days), he also permitted himself to suffer and to die, in order to fulfill the mystery of the dispensation; so too he allowed himself to hunger and thirst and to grow weary and to sleep, so that the Docetae might receive no pretext for confirming the heresy of their falsehood. Therefore both the hunger and the thirst, and in addition to these the weariness and the sleep, testify that the Lord's body is a human body. And confirming this account, the divine Apostle cries out, saying: "Since therefore the children have shared in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same, so that through death he might destroy the one who holds the power of death, and might set free those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to death." And through these words he has shown plainly that he clothed himself in the same nature as ours. But if anyone is displeased at the clothing, let him hear the patriarch Jacob foretelling: "He shall wash his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of the grape." And let him hear the divine Paul crying out: "Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entrance into the holy places by the blood of Jesus, which he inaugurated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, of his flesh, and a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," and the rest. For he called his flesh a veil, as the patriarch Jacob called it a robe and clothing.

But it is superfluous to expand the account concerning this, since both the New and the Old Testament clearly demonstrate the body of the Lord.

13. That he also took up a soul together with the body. That the only-begotten Son of God, when he became man, also took up a rational soul, the evangelist Luke teaches, saying: "But Jesus advanced in age and in grace before God and men." For the body advances in age, but the soul in wisdom. For the Godhead admits of no increase in either; for the Word of God is perfect. And with good reason he joined the increase of wisdom to the growth of age. For the divine nature revealed its own wisdom in proportion to the measure of the body's age. But the Lord teaches the assumption of the soul more clearly. For to those who supposed that the suffering was involuntary, he said before the suffering: "I have authority to lay down my soul, and I have authority to take it again. No one takes it from me; I lay it down of myself, that I may take it again." And by these words he has shown clearly that the soul which is laid down and taken up is one thing, and the Godhead which lays it down and takes it up is another. And I said "another and another," not dividing into two persons, but showing the difference of the natures. Thus also elsewhere he said: "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my soul for the sheep." And in another place, also the disturbance which the soul endured at the time of the passion

he demonstrated plainly. For he said: "Now my soul is troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause I have come to this hour." And through these reasonings he showed agony, now dreading the passion, now thrusting away the fear. But Luke taught this fear more clearly. For he said that he agonized over the passion to such a degree that the sweat of his body became bloody. "For his sweat," he says, "became like drops of blood." And he added this also, that an angel came and strengthened him. And through all these things, observe for me the weakness of human nature. For why, when the deity of the Only-begotten was united, and the Spirit was present as an anointing, did an angel support the weakness of both the soul and the body? Is it not clear that all these things happened by the concession of the divine nature, so that those who would come afterward—the ones believing in the assumption of the soul and the body—might be confirmed by the proofs, while those who contradict might be refuted by the evident testimonies?

14. That he took a complete human nature. And for this reason he calls himself both man and Son of Man. For to the apostles he often said: "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise." And to the one who wished to follow him he said: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." And to the Jews he said plainly: "Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I heard from my Father?" And the divine Apostle cries out: "One God, one also mediator between God and men." And again: "For since death came through a man, through a man also comes the resurrection of the dead." For this reason, then, he was named both the seed of Abraham and the son of David. For since the God of all things promised Abraham that in his seed all the nations would be blessed, and gave the promise also to Isaac and to Jacob, the divine Apostle, writing to the Galatians, rightly said: "The promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his seed." And teaching whom he called the seed, he added: "He does not say, 'And to the seeds,' as of many; but as of one, 'And to your seed,' which is Christ." And writing to the Hebrews he said thus:

For he surely does not take hold of angels, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham, wherefore he had to be made like his brothers in all things, so that he might become merciful and a faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. And since Jacob the patriarch also assigned to Judah the blessing which he received from the God of all, having said: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from your loins, until he comes to whom it is reserved, and he shall be the expectation of the nations"; and Micah the prophet also renews the prediction, saying: "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come forth to me a leader, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity." And again the divine Apostle has shown the fulfillment of the predictions, and added: "For it is evident that our Lord has arisen out of Judah." And David the king and prophet also received these promises from the God of all. For he said to him: "Forever I will prepare his seed, and I will build your throne to generation and generation." And again: "And I will establish his seed forever and ever, and his throne, as the days of heaven." And shortly after: "Once I have sworn in my holiness, shall I lie to David? His seed remains forever, and his throne as the sun before

...and as the moon made perfect forever, and the witness in heaven is faithful." But these promises the truthful Master renewed again through Isaiah the prophet. "For there shall come forth," he says, "a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from the root. And the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and piety, a spirit of the fear of God shall fill him;" and the rest that follows the same meaning. And again: "The root of Jesse shall be, and he who rises up to rule the nations; in him the nations shall hope, and his rest shall be honor." And in another place: "And I will make," he says, "with you an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David. For what I promised to him I will fulfill, and through his seed I will save the world. For faithful and true to me is the promise." Showing the truth of these promises, Matthew the evangelist, in the very preface of his writing, proclaims the good news to the world, that the expectation of the nations has blossomed. "For the book," he said, "of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham." For the promises concerning the seed were made to both. And indeed the divine Apostle also, writing to the Romans, at the beginning of the Epistle, showed the fulfillment of the promise to David.

For Paul, he says, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Scriptures, concerning his Son who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." And by adding "according to the flesh," he has made clear that our Lord Jesus Christ was also God before all ages; but he was called Son of David according to the human nature. And teaching this more clearly, he added: "of his Son, in power according to the Spirit of holiness, from the resurrection of the dead, of our Lord Jesus Christ." For having risen, he says, from the dead, and having filled the apostles with the grace of the Spirit, he was shown to be God through the wonders performed by them. For in his name they accomplished the greatest miracles. And in the middle of the Epistle, having reminded them of the good things given long ago to the Jews, he added: "whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all." And in the one person he showed the difference of the two natures: that he was born of the Jews according to the flesh, but is God over all as God, and blessed forever. And to the blessed Timothy he gives charge, saying: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, of the seed of David according to my Gospel, in which I suffer hardship even to chains as a criminal." And one can find very many other testimonies in either Scripture proclaiming the kinship of our Savior according to the flesh.

But these things are also sufficient to teach that he took up a complete human nature, and for this reason he was named both son of David, and son of Abraham, and son of man, and man, and Adam, and Jacob, and Israel. For just as he was perfect God, so also being perfect man he provided perfect salvation to men.

15. That he raised up the nature he took up.

That he also raised up the nature he took up, he himself testifies, showing both his hands and his feet to the apostles; the fingers of Thomas also testify, having touched the wounds, and the rest of the apostles did this too, the Lord having commanded it. "For touch," he said, "and see that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me having." And the divine apostle John also cries out at the beginning of his Epistle: "What we have seen, and our hands have touched." And the great Peter

speaking publicly among the Jews, then having reminded them of David's prophecy, which he foretold concerning the Lord's resurrection, also said these things: "Men, brothers, it is permitted to speak with boldness to you concerning the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is among us until this day.

Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit of his loins he would raise up the Christ according to the flesh, to sit upon his throne, he foretold, saying concerning his resurrection, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. Two witnesses, then, teach us the same thing at once, the one an apostle, the other a prophet; the one foretelling, the other interpreting the prophecy after its fulfillment, that the resurrection is not of the divinity, but of the body and the soul. And of those whose resurrection it is, of these also was the passion, not that the soul was destroyed together with the body (for the souls of men are also immortal), but that by the separation of the soul the body received death. But the divinity has not been separated from the humanity, neither on the cross nor in the tomb; being immortal and impassible, it endured neither death nor passion. For if the soul, because of its innate immortality, did not share in the death of the body, how could it be that the uncircumscribable nature was either nailed to the wood or delivered to the tomb? Declaring this, the four evangelists make mention of Joseph of Arimathea, and say that he came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and that Pilate having given it, he took down the body from the wood, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and delivered the body to the tomb. And often have they set down the name of the body, stopping the shameless mouth of the blasphemers with clear and manifest testimonies.

16. That the same is both good and just.

Since, however, the abominable Marcion says that the just one is one being, whom he also names the Demiurge, and the good one another, whom he says is Christ Jesus, come, let us go through this matter briefly too, and show that our Lord Jesus Christ is both Demiurge and Savior, and that the same is both good and just. For since the utterly polluted one heard the law declaring, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, a burn for a burn, a bruise for a bruise, while the Lord pledges to the one who strikes the right cheek to turn the other also, and to the one who wishes to be judged and to take the tunic, to give up the cloak as well, the thunderstruck man supposed that the former was just, but the latter good. And he did not perceive that the strictness of the evangelical laws is more fearful than the Mosaic legislation. For that law forbids murder, but the law of the Gospels threatens Gehenna even to the one who calls his brother a fool. "For everyone," it says, "who says to his brother, Fool, is guilty of the Gehenna of fire." Thus again the old law accuses adultery, but the evangelical law calls even shameful desire, the one that steals in through a licentious gaze, adultery. And the old law forbids falsehood, but the new one forbids even an oath. And the old law commanded the one who was disgusted with his wife to dismiss her; but the new one calls the dismissal without porneia adultery. "For everyone," it says, "who dismisses his wife except for the word of porneia makes her to be committed adultery, and the one who marries a dismissed woman commits adultery.

In addition to these things, he threatened to demand an account even for an idle word, and eternal punishment, and outer darkness, and the Gehenna of fire, and many other such things. From these things, it will be found that the one called by him the just one is

good, and the one named good is just. For he has laid down stricter laws and threatened harsher punishments. But even to say these things is manifest madness. For the one who in the Gospels commanded us to love our enemies also in the old law ordered us not to overlook an enemy's beast fallen under its burden, but to help it up, and not to remember the hostility in the time of need. So again he commands that an enemy's wandering ox be brought back and returned to its owner. Nor does the old law teach only philanthropy toward humans, but it already commands that compassion be shown even to irrational animals. "You shall not muzzle an ox treading out grain," it says. And, "You shall not boil a lamb in its mother's milk." And to those who find the nestlings of certain birds, it forbids hunting their parents along with them. And it enjoined that the seventh day be kept free from work, so that not only the male servant and the female servant might rest, but also the ox and the beast of burden; such great care does it take even of irrational creatures. One can also find the laws written concerning proselytes, full of all philanthropy. "You shall not mistreat the proselyte," it says, "for you were proselytes in Egypt." And it commanded those reaping to leave the fallen ears of grain for the proselyte, and for the orphan, and for the widow.

In this way he also forbids those who glean the fallen grapes and those who secretly gather the vines twice. He commands the same to be done also with the other fruits. "For you shall not glean your vineyard again," he says, "nor shall you gather the remnants of your olive tree, but it shall be for the stranger, and for the orphan, and for the widow, and for the birds of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth." Moreover, he deems the captive woman worthy of the greatest forethought; for he does not hand her over to the lustful for outrage, but commands that first her relatives be permitted to honor her with lamentation, then that she be shorn, and only then that she be joined in marriage. And if the master should become sated with the pleasure, he neither permits her to be sold nor allows her to serve, but ordains that she be sent away free, reckoning the union that has taken place in place of the price. What punishment, then, worthy of their impiety will they pay, who have dared to call the Lawgiver who is so good not only not just, but even wicked?

17. That the same one gave both the Old and the New Testament. But we know one giver of both the Old and the New Testament, and he teaches this very thing clearly through Jeremiah the prophet. "For I will make," he says, "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; but I will make with them a new covenant, giving my laws into their mind, and I will write them on their hearts." Clearly through these words he taught that the one who gave the old covenant will also provide the new. "For I will make," he said, "not according to the covenant which I made." And through Isaiah the prophet he said: "And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David." And David the prophet likewise cries out: "Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you; appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them." But if they disbelieve the prophecies, let them hear the one who gives the law, and who does not overturn the old laws but tightens them. For it would belong to one who overturns them to say, "It was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you, Commit adultery"; and "It was said to those of old, You shall not murder; but I say to you, Murder." For this is what the kinsmen of Marcion, the Antitactae, do. But the Lord, through the laws he gives, teaches plainly that he does not overturn the old, but

He introduces a more precise way of life. And just as a grammar teacher teaches the shapes of letters to those beginning their education, and offers the combinations of syllables to those who have learned these things, and educates others in the composition of words and others in the harmony of reading, he does not introduce contradictory laws of teaching, but offers lessons suited to their ages; so the Master Christ gave to each generation the laws appropriate to it. For the necessary and first laws he inscribed in the nature of human beings. For each person has the discernment of good and evil; and by doing what we do not wish to suffer, we proclaim in this way, as we know, that what is done is evil. Therefore one who murders or commits adultery knows that what is done is evil. For he not only does not wish to be slaughtered, but also contrives every means so as not to suffer this; and when his wife has been seduced, he accuses the one who has violated his bed, and when he has received insults, he brings a charge of outrage. And examining other matters in this way, we shall find that all human beings know that evil is evil. These laws, then, God our Creator has placed in nature; but the others he gave in various ways to each generation. For to Adam he gave the law concerning the plant; and to Noah, the one concerning the eating of meat; and he legislated circumcision for the patriarch; and the others he wrote through Moses the great prophet. But in the divine Gospels, having brought to an end the legislation concerning small matters as a kind of study of elementary things, he gave the most perfect laws.

And just as mothers offer the breast to newborn infants, and a little later food finely ground for the teeth, and then solid food to those who have become children and youths, so the God of all things offers more perfect teachings to those who have been instructed in those things. Nevertheless we cherish the Old Testament as a mother's breast, but we do not partake of the milk. For milk is superfluous for the mature, though they honor the nurse, since they were nourished by her. So indeed we too do not endure to keep circumcision, the Sabbath, the sacrifices, and the sprinklings, but we reap the other benefit of the Old Testament. For it accurately teaches piety, and faith in God, and love toward one's neighbor, and temperance, and righteousness, and courage, and it sets before us for imitation the archetypes of the ancient saints.

18. On Baptism.

And instead of those sprinklings, the gift of the all-holy baptism suffices for believers. For it not only grants forgiveness of old sins, but also instills the hope of the promised good things, and makes them partakers of the Master's death and resurrection, and bestows participation in the gift of the Spirit, and declares them sons of God, and not only sons, but also heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. For baptism does not, as the demented Messalians think, merely imitate a razor, removing sins that have already occurred. For this it grants out of its abundance.

For if this were the only work of baptism, why do we baptize infants who have not yet tasted of sin? For the mystery does not promise this alone, but things greater and more perfect than these; for it is the earnest of the good things to come, and a type of the resurrection that is to be, and a communion in the Master's sufferings, and a participation in the Master's resurrection, and a garment of salvation, and a robe of gladness, and a raiment full of light, or rather light itself. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." And: "As many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death; that just as Christ was raised through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall also be united with his resurrection." The divine Apostle taught us to think these things concerning the all-holy baptism, that being buried together with Christ, we shall share in his resurrection. But here there is need of more mystical discourses; and besides, having composed twelve mystical discourses, we shall send those who love learning back to them, and we shall make our examination of the remaining chapters.

19. On the Resurrection.

Thus, when we celebrate the mystery of baptism, we receive the hope concerning the resurrection, and we await the resurrection of bodies. For the very name makes this clear. For resurrection is a standing up again from above. And it is the body that is corrupted and dissolved and changed into dust. "For his spirit shall go forth," it says, "and shall return to his dust." And again: "You shall take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust." And the Maker himself said to Adam: "You are earth, and to earth you shall go." Therefore the reconstitution of this from above is reasonably called resurrection. For of the immortal soul there is not a resurrection, but a return to the body. But Marcion, and Cerdo, and Manes, and all who did not accept the resurrection of bodies, cast out this present life as altogether impossible. For just as they thought that God could not create without matter, so they supposed that he could by no means bring back again to its former form that which has once for all been dissolved, and changed into a little dust, and consumed by time. And yet they themselves say that God took one clod of earth and molded man. And they ought to have understood that just as then God, the Lord of all, most easily changed that clod into a body, and made many and various parts, so it is easy for him to fashion the substance of the body from these few remains. For this very thing we see happening now in the womb according to the ancient creation.

For from the little matter of the seed, bones grow, and membranes, and sinews, and veins, and arteries, and skin, and fat, and flesh, and all the other things of which the body consists. For nature proceeds according to the divine ordinance, and like some sculptor it molds the living statue, and neither the smallness of the matter, nor the narrowness of the place, nor the surrounding darkness confines the creation. It is therefore the height of folly to disbelieve the things that are seen, and especially when God has promised. For Christ himself has said, "Those in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will come forth to a resurrection of life; but those who have done evil, to a resurrection of judgment." And no one of sound mind would say that souls dwell in the tombs; for it is bodies that lie in these. And when the Lord rebuked the Sadducees, who did not accept the doctrine of the resurrection, he said these things: "Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? And he added: He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And to Martha he said, "Your brother will rise." And she, having been taught this from the Old Scripture, answered, "I know that my brother will rise in the resurrection, on the last day." Then the Lord took up the word and said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, even if he dies

shall live." Just as then, when he said, "Your brother will rise," he did not raise only the soul of Lazarus, but brought that back and raised the body, foul-smelling and already dissolved—so indeed also, having promised the common resurrection, he will give back the dissolved bodies standing together again with their souls, having shown them free from death and corruption. And the divine Apostle taught this plainly: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption." And again: "In that we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." And again: "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." And again: "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible." And he set forth the objection of those who disbelieve: "But someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?'" And first he called them foolish, as seeing in seeds the type of the resurrections and not being led from there to the resurrection of bodies. "Fool," he said, "what you sow is not made alive unless it dies; and what you sow, you do not sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, if it happens to be of wheat or of any of the rest." Look, he says, at what happens every day. For the furrows do not differ at all from tombs.

For in these, as in tombs, the seeds are buried, but the Creator of all things, providing the rain, causes them to sprout roots, and leaves, and stalk, and the awns, and the ears of grain; and while the farmers do nothing else but bury the seeds, the power of him who fashioned all things accomplishes the rest. For this the divine Apostle also said: "But God gives it a body as he willed." And lest anyone suppose that a different body is formed, he necessarily added: "And to each of the seeds its own body." And writing to the Philippians he cries out: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also await a Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform the body of our humiliation, to make it conformed to the body of his glory." He has called it a transformation, not a change into another form, but a change from corruption to incorruption. And to the Thessalonians, consoling them who were greatly disheartened over those who had died, he brought forward the word concerning the resurrection. "For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers," he says, "concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve as the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus." And lest anyone suppose that he was saying these things relying on his own reasoning, he added:

For we say this to you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain at the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep." And one can find countless other testimonies in this man clearly proclaiming the resurrection. And in Jerusalem too, judged as a transgressor of the law, he cried out: "For the resurrection of the dead I am judged today." And why do I speak of the apostles, who received clearer teaching from the Lord concerning the resurrection? For the divine prophets also continued to hold this hope. For we hear the most divine David saying to God: "You will take away their spirit, and they will fail, and to their dust they will return; you will send forth your spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth." And we hear the divine Isaiah crying out: "The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised." And the thrice-blessed Ezekiel also said that he had seen the manner of the resurrection; for having beheld very many bones, he himself was commanded to exhort them,

and to produce flesh, and sinews, and skins. "And it came to pass," he says, "when I prophesied, and behold, there was a shaking, and it brought bone to bone, each to its joint. And I saw, and behold, sinews came upon them, and flesh grew, and came up upon them, and skin was stretched over them from above." Then he teaches how the spirits, having been commanded, returned from every side, and how, when these were joined to those, the type of the future resurrection was prefigured. But if the prophets foretold these things even before the appearing of the Savior, what penalty would they not justly pay who, after the resurrection of the Savior and the preachings of the apostles, disbelieve the word of the resurrection?

20. — On Judgment.

But how will the judgment be justly conducted, if, according to the account of the unbelievers, bodies do not rise, but only souls are exacted the penalties for their transgressions? For it is not just that the soul which sinned with the body, and through the eyes received both envy and unnatural desires, and through the ears was bewitched by lawless words, and through each member of the body received certain evil provocations, should alone be exacted the punishment for its transgressions, and should endure this, not for a short time, but for endless ages; for this we have been taught by the divine Scripture. "For these," it says, "shall go away into eternal life, and these into eternal punishment and shame." And how again is it pious that the souls of the saints alone should enjoy the promised good things, when they accomplished virtue together with their bodies?

For the eyes pour out tears of compunction, and the ears convey the divine oracles to the soul, and the tongue both hymns the Benefactor and continually offers prayer, and the hands minister to the care of the needy, and the feet now run to houses of prayer, now stand in prayers, and endure the greatest toil. How then is it just that the body, which together with the soul gathered the wealth of virtue, should be dust and be cast aside, while only the soul is proclaimed as a victor? But if this is cruel, then it is just that the bodies should rise first, and then thus together give account of the things done in public life. For this is what the divine Apostle also said: "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive the things done through the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil." And the blessed David says in agreement: "For you will render to each according to his works." Pythagoras, then, mythologized the transmigrations of souls, saying that they pass not only into the bodies of irrational creatures but also into plants. And Plato followed this myth in some such way. From here Manes, and before him the impious chain of those called Gnostics, having taken their starting points, said that this is a punishment. But the utterly polluted Carpocrates and Epiphanes, and Prodicus, and the Cainites, legislating a swinish life, said that souls are sent into bodies, so that through lewdness and every licentiousness each might serve the angels who made the world.

But the Church of the pious abhors these and suchlike myths, and following the divine words believes that the bodies shall rise again, and that the souls shall be judged together with them, and that those who have lived with vice shall be punished, while those who have cared for virtue shall obtain the rewards.

21. — Concerning Promises.

But the great Giver promised to give nothing corruptible or temporary, but the eternal enjoyment of good things; for the kingdom of our God and Savior shall not be earthly, according to Cerinthus and those like him, nor bounded by a fixed span of time. For let those men imagine the cycle of a thousand years, and corruptible luxury, and the other pleasures, and besides these the sacrifices and the Jewish festivals; but we await the life that does not grow old. "For these," says the Lord, "shall rise to eternal life, and these to punishment and eternal shame." And again: "Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world." And, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And: "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And he commanded the divine apostles, when they preached, to say: "The kingdom of heaven has drawn near." And elsewhere he has said to them: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself." And again: "There are many mansions with my Father; if it were not so, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you." And:

I will come again, and I will take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be." And again: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life." And indeed, speaking also to the Father, he said thus: "Father, those whom you have given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, so that they may behold my glory which you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world." Having learned these things, the divine Apostle said: "We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, and so we shall always be with the Lord." And again: "The saying is faithful; for if we died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him." And writing to the Romans he said: "If by the one man's trespass death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift and of righteousness shall reign in life through the one Jesus Christ." And again: "For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us beyond measure an eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." And the crowning point of the good things is that the promised life is free from sin. For when the bodies rise incorruptible and the souls receive immutability, sin will no longer have any place. And when sin has been removed, and the devil with the demons has been handed over to Gehenna, the labors of the contests will cease, and the fear of defeat, and the anxiety about victory.

A life without grief and full of cheer will be given to those who are worthy, and they will enjoy a light both intellectual and divine—or rather, they themselves will become light-like. "For then," says the Lord, "the righteous will shine like the sun." 22. Concerning the second appearance of God and our Savior. These things will be after the second appearance of our Savior. For thus he also promised to the apostles: "I am going away and I am coming to you." And again: "I will come again to you and will take you to myself." And in another place: "Then you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven in his glory, and all the holy angels with him. Then he will sit on the throne of his glory, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left." This appearance of his the divine Daniel also beheld. "I was watching," he says, "until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat down; his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool; his throne was a flame of fire, its wheels a blazing fire, a river of fire flowed forth before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat, and books were opened." "And behold, one coming on the clouds of heaven like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and to him was given the authority and the kingdom.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom shall be for ever. And, "The dominion of the beasts was taken away, and the kingdom was given to the saints of the Most High." So great is the agreement of the gospel proclamations and the prophetic oracles. For these words and those are of one God. Concerning this fire the prophet Isaiah also says: "Who will declare to you the eternal place?" And at the end of his prophecy he says: "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched." Proclaiming this same manifestation, the divine David also said: "God, the Lord of gods, has spoken, and has called the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion is the splendor of his beauty. God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silence. Fire shall burn before him, and round about him a violent tempest." And in another psalm: "Cloud and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the establishment of his throne; fire shall go before him, and shall flame round about his enemies." And again: "For he has come to judge the earth, to judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in uprightness." And through Malachi the prophet, the God of all himself says: "Behold, I send you Elijah the Tishbite, lest coming I strike the earth utterly." And the divine Apostle, writing to the blessed Titus, joined the second manifestation to the first manifestation of our Savior:

For, it says, the saving grace of God has appeared to all men, instructing us, so that, having renounced impiety and worldly desires, we might live soberly and righteously and piously in the present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." By these words he showed that the former appearing also came to be for the sake of the second. For on this account, he says, it appeared, so that, having freed us from impiety and lawlessness and having trained us in every virtue, it might prepare us to await the second appearing with gladness. And he marvels at the Thessalonians, because, having been delivered from the error of idols, they chose to serve the living and true God, and to await his Son from the heavens, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath. And writing to the Hebrews, he made known this coming, having used a prophetic testimony. "For yet," it says, "a very little while, and the one who is coming will come and will not delay." He taught these things also to the Philippians: "For our citizenship," he said, "is in the heavens, from which we also await a Savior, the Lord Jesus." And likewise to the Thessalonians: "For the Lord himself," it says, "will descend from heaven with a command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first," and the rest. It is easy also to bring forward other testimonies proclaiming the second appearing of our Savior, but these are sufficient to persuade even the most contentious.

23. On the Antichrist.

However, it is necessary to add this to what has been said: that before the Lord's appearing, the avenger of men, the demon opposed to God, the robber of the divine title, will come, assuming a human nature. And just as long ago he stole the name "God" and applied it to himself and to his fellow-workers in wickedness, and persuaded men through hand-carved idols to offer divine worship to him, so too, having usurped the title of the Lord Christ, he will deceive, so to speak, everyone, and will beguile even many of those who bear the revered name, saying that he himself is the Christ whom the divinely inspired prophets foretold would appear. He will ensnare even the easily caught by employing certain deceptive miracles; and many of the prophets hinted at this enigmatically in the Old Testament. But the divine Daniel prophesied more broadly and clearly about this. And if it is necessary to clarify any of these things, we have set them out above, having interpreted the entire prophecy word for word. And having interpreted what was written by the divine Paul to the Thessalonians along with the other epistles, we employed discourses longer than usual, investigating the passage concerning the Antichrist.

For some had supposed that the time of the Master's coming was at hand, and so the divine Apostle necessarily taught them that it was needful first for the world to be illumined by the rays of the knowledge of God, and for the nurslings of the faith to become manifest, and for those who contradicted to be separated out from among the believers, and only then for the craftsman of falsehood to appear first, for the conviction of those who did not receive the proclamation of the truth. For this the Lord also said to the Jews: "I came in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me. Another will come in his own name, and him you will receive." And the divine Apostle said this same thing: "Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, and for this reason God will send them a working of error, that they may believe the lie, so that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness, for conviction." Therefore upon those who have disbelieved the proclamation of the truth will come the father and teacher of wickedness. For since the Jews, ostensibly defending God, nailed the Master to the cross as an enemy of God, the coming of the Antichrist will become their greatest conviction of impiety. For the Master Christ, being true God and Son of the true God, called himself Son of Man and man, giving himself these titles from the nature that is seen, and only rarely did he call himself Son of God. But the utterly wicked demon will name himself the greatest god. For this the holy angel also taught the prophet Daniel:

For he will not understand the gods of his fathers, and he will glorify the god Mazurim in his own place"—that is, he will proclaim himself a strong and mighty god. Nevertheless, those who crucified the Master, since he called himself the Son of God, will believe in this one when he appears, and by this they show that they are most hostile to the truth and workers of falsehood. For this reason the all-wise one permits the sinner to appear. For it is evident that he would not have been seen unless God willed it. Yet we do not call the will an activity. For God is the cause of no evils, even according to the outside philosophers. For he did not himself make Cain a murderer, since he did not prevent him when he wished to kill his brother. Nor did he himself cause the sons of Jacob to sell Joseph, since he did not stop their attempt. For it is possible to find that they made bad use of the free choice of their mind, while the all-wise Master through their wickedness showed the truth of the dreams. In this way, then, also

He permits this one to appear, exposing that one's wickedness and refuting the depravity of the Jews. And he brings about very swiftly total destruction for this one, but healing for the Jews. "For he will send Elijah the Tishbite, both to refute that one's deceit and to foretell beforehand his saving advent." However, the adversary of the truth will for the most part imitate the Master's advent, and having chosen a human vessel worthy of his own activity, he will thus make use of men, employing false wonder-workings. And the divine Apostle taught this plainly in what he wrote to the Thessalonians. He speaks as follows: "But we ask you, brothers, concerning the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as though from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand." And through these words he has made clear that certain persons deceived them, having said that the Apostle declared the Lord's advent to be near. Therefore he forbade not only the deceit that comes through words and through writings, but also through what is supposed to be prophetic utterance. For this is what he said: "Neither by spirit." Then he adds:

Let no one deceive you in any way, for unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, the one who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he even sits in the temple of God as a god, showing himself that he is a god." He calls the coming of the Antichrist itself the apostasy. For many, deceived by the wonders that will occur, will apostatize from the truth and embrace the lie. He called him a man of sin and a son of perdition, both displaying the visible nature and uncovering the manifold activity of sin. He also made clear his tyranny, his conceit, and his arrogance, calling him the one who opposes and exalts himself, and showing that he will not only name himself superior to the falsely named gods, but will even preside in the divine temple as a god. By divine temple he means the churches. Then, reminding them of what he had often taught: "Do you not remember," he says, "that while I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, so that he may be revealed in his own time." He would have already appeared, he says, if the divine grace had not prevented him, and he has allotted the coming of that one to the fitting time. "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work." Through these words he hints at the heresies that sprang up at that time. Only the one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. The divine decree, he says, holds him back from appearing. For it is necessary, according to the divine foretelling, that the Gospel be preached to all the nations, and then that he be seen.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth, and will bring to nothing by the manifestation of his coming. He has clearly shown that the Master, appearing at once, will make the destroyer vanish and hand him over to eternal punishments, whose coming is according to the working of Satan in all power and signs and lying wonders, and in all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing. For he will not ensnare all to destruction, but those who possess a mind easily swayed and easily deceived. And he taught that he will also receive the working of the devil Satan. For just as the only-begotten Son of God distributed the graces of the all-holy Spirit to the holy prophets and the sacred apostles, and indeed to the other saints, but when he became man he did not give some partial grace to the nature he assumed, but, according to the Apostle, all the fullness of the deity was pleased to dwell in him; so the devil, to the other men, as many as he has persuaded, as workers

of wickedness, he has not set down all the forms of evil; but he, wholly joined to him, will display through him his manifold devices of wickedness. Then he also states the cause of the permission: "Because they did not receive the love of the truth, so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send them a working of error, so that they believe the lie; in order that all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness." These things we have been taught from the divine Scripture also concerning the Antichrist. And we have written the things concerning him in summary, since, in interpreting both the prophet Daniel and the Apostle, we employed longer discourses concerning his coming, and it is easy for one who wishes to encounter those examples, and to find in them whatever we have omitted in these. These doctrines the Church has received from the God-bearing men—the prophets, I mean, and the apostles, and those who succeeded them—not fashioning impious myths, nor following human reasonings, but believing divine words. But since the utterly accursed also corrupted the ethical teaching, and devised paths contrary to one another—for some called marriage fornication, while others embraced every lawless and unlawful licentiousness—come, let us also display the mind of the Church in ethical matters.

24. On Virginity.

Cerdo, then, and Marcion legislated virginity in hostility to the Creator, so that through marriage they might not increase his creation. But Mani called marriage a fellow-worker of matter, and for this reason commanded men to remain virgins. Saturnilus and Tatian openly called marriage the work of the devil. But the Lord God has not laid down laws concerning virginity; for he knows the matter is beyond nature; but by its commendations he urged those who wished to the contest. For when the apostles had said, "If this is the cause of a man with a woman, it is not expedient to marry," the Lord took it up and said: "Not all men receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God." And this he said not concerning the excision of the members, but concerning the cutting off of improper thoughts. Then he added: "He who is able to receive it, let him receive it." For this reason also the divine Apostle, when introducing the subject of virginity, says: "I have no commandment of the Lord; for the Lord has not laid down a law concerning virginity; but I give my judgment, as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful." I advise, he says, I do not legislate, and this not from boldness, but having received the ministry of the preaching by divine vote. "I think, then, that this is good for a man, that he be so." He has used the word "I think" not because he was in doubt about what he was advising, but to discipline his discourse, so that it might not become a law. For the law also involves transgression, and transgression brings punishment as well.

For this reason he added “I think,” to show that the statement is advice, not a law. Then he shows what he called good: “You are bound to a wife? Do not seek release. You are released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.” For foreseeing the poisonous drugs of the heretics, he prepares the preventive remedy. Therefore he first confirmed the law of marriage, and then in this way introduced the counsels concerning virginity. For lest anyone suppose that he was legislating purity while accusing marriage, he necessarily strengthened the law of marriage, saying, “Do not seek release”; and having set down this same thing concerning purity, and saying, “Do not seek a wife,” he did not abide by the definition, but added: “But even if you marry, you have not sinned, and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned.” For I do not advise avoiding marriage as if it were a transgression, but as urging toward a better life. He also shows the gain of virginity. For concerning those who marry he said: “Such people will have affliction in the flesh.” For the married man is distracted by many cares, managing not only a wife but also children, servants, and maidservants; and indicating this he said: “Such people will have affliction in the flesh.” He also lays bare his own tender affection; for he said: “But I spare you.” And shortly after: “I want you to be free from cares.” Then he makes a comparison and juxtaposition of the married man and the one who embraces celibacy. “The unmarried man cares about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but the married man cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. Both the woman and the virgin are divided.

The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord, how she may please the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And in these words he plainly taught the need of virginity. For he does not command us to flee marriage as though it were unlawful, but to pursue virginity as free from cares. For the mind of married people, being divided among many things, is hindered from accomplishing the exact and perfect life; but those who have chosen the monastic life devote all their care to divine things. And he continues, showing what is advantageous and casting out legal compulsion from his discourse: "But this I say for your own advantage, not that I may cast a snare upon you." For I do not drag the unwilling by compulsion, but I show the benefit that arises. For this reason he added: "But for what is seemly and well-attended upon the Lord without distraction." For he who is free from the marriage yoke easily draws this yoke, since nothing else draws him away from good attendance upon the Lord. And he continues, refuting the legislation of the ill-named heretics; for he says: "But if anyone thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, if she is past her prime, and so it ought to be, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin, let them marry." But he says this concerning those who have not yet made agreements about virginity. "But he who stands firm in his heart, having no necessity, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, does well." The phrase "having no necessity" is instead of "not having authority from another.

For they prevent servants from doing what their masters wish. Thus also, to the one who wishes to give her in marriage, and to the one who is eager to keep his daughter pure, having given authority, I added: "So that both the one who gives his daughter in marriage does well, and the one who does not give her in marriage does better." Such boundaries concerning virginity we have received from the men who are theologians, not accusing marriage, but urging those who wish toward the unanxious life. 25. On Marriage.

I think it is also useful to go through the laws concerning marriage, and to refute the boldness of those who accuse it. The difference of the race is sufficient to show the cause of its creation. For it was for this reason that the Maker of all things fashioned woman, for which cause he also called her a helper. For he said, "Let us make for Adam a helper corresponding to him." And not only did he fashion her, but he also joined her to the man, and according to the law now in force, he led her to the man, and he himself became the bridegroom's attendant and the one who gives the bride, and he himself, as it were a gift, brought this blessing to the marriage, saying, "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it." This first blessing of the human race from the God of all things

received a blessing. And many years later, when he brought total destruction through the flood, he commanded not only men but also women, equal in number to the men, to enter the ark, and after the punishment ceased, he renewed the former blessing. For to these too he said: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." And when he led Abraham the patriarch out of his father's land, he commanded him to look at the stars of heaven, and promised to make men equal in number to these; for he said, "I will make your seed as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand by the shore of the sea." But if marriage were evil, the Master God would not have established it from the beginning, nor would he have called childbearing a blessing. For indeed, for this reason he did not prevent the ancients from having more wives, so that the human race might increase. For this cause, men beloved of God united with two, three, and more wives, desiring to become fathers of more children. That they did not endure intercourse with more wives as slaves to pleasure is testified by Abraham the patriarch, who consorted with Hagar after Sarah's many entreaties, and then after the birth no longer approached her. The all-wise Jacob also testifies, who took Leah against his will, but because of the jealousy of his wives endured the company of the maidservants. And those women too, not enslaved to pleasure but desiring to become mothers of more children, held rivalry against one another.

The Old Testament also teaches those nurtured in the faith the purpose of marriage. But those who do not accept the old laws should be taught the same things from the New. For in every way marriage is here also among the things praised. For the first of the apostles was called from the company of those who had married. And the evangelists are witnesses, plainly teaching that the Master healed his mother-in-law when she was feverish. And the Lord himself not only did not forbid marriage, but even feasted at a wedding, and brought the unworked wine as a gift to the wedding. And he so confirmed the law of marriage that he also prevents by another law the one who wishes to dissolve a marriage apart from porneia. "For everyone," he says, "who divorces his wife except for the reason of porneia makes her commit adultery." Then, when the Pharisees had said that the old law commanded to give a bill of divorce, he explained to them the purpose of the law; for he said: "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you; but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female." – "For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother, and will be joined to his wife, and the two will be one flesh." Thus, having first read the law which he himself had given, he added: "So that they are no longer two. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." And all these things show the lawfulness of marriage. And the great Peter did not separate Ananias and Sapphira when they were joined together, but he rebuked them intensely and very warmly when they had stolen. For the one thing was lawful, but the other was exceedingly unlawful.

The divine apostle Paul, writing to Philemon and Apphia, who were joined by the law of marriage, wrote a perfect letter. But to the Corinthians, who wished to learn whether those who have believed in the Lord ought to prefer chastity to marriage, he made these things clear: "Concerning the things about which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman; but because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband." Having thus legislated these things, he enjoins that goodwill toward one another be kept firm: "Let the husband render to the wife the goodwill that is owed, and likewise the wife to the husband." But since it was likely that either the husband or the wife would prefer continence to the union, and when this did not happen by agreement, it came about that the one unable to endure fell into fornication, he forbids continence without agreement, and says: "The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." You are, he says, under each other's authority. You cannot do what you wish, apart from the one who shares the yoke with you. And strengthening the law, he added: "Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a time, that you may devote yourselves to fasting and prayer, and again come together." He has called it deprivation—the cessation of intercourse that happens against one's will. For when one of the two practices continence, he considers the other party to be deprived of the union. He also teaches for what reason he commanded them to come together again after prayer and fasting; for he added:

Lest Satan tempt you." And showing that it is from us that he takes the occasions for war, he necessarily added: "Because of your incontinence." For, he says, when you strive, that one will in no way prevail. Then, urging them on to better things, he says: "But this I say by way of permission, not by way of command. For I wish that all men were as I myself am, in continence, but each has his own gift from God, one in this way, another in that." But if the thrice-blessed Paul called marriage with chastity a gift of God, the lawless laws of the ill-named heretics are evident. And what follows holds the same meaning: "To those who are married, he says, I command, not I, but the Lord, that a wife not be separated from her husband; but if she is separated, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband; and let a husband not divorce a wife." So far is he from forbidding marriage that he even binds with the Lord's laws the one being torn apart. For, he says, I do not write this law, but the Lord God, who in the Gospels added to the divine commands, and directed that the separated woman remain unmarried, forcing her by this means to return to her husband. And indeed, to those who have unbelieving husbands, and to those joined to unbelieving wives, he commands not to dissolve the marriage. "For if any brother, he says, has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

And a woman, if any has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, let her not leave him. But if he did not dissolve the marriage of the one who does not have agreement in faith, it is clear that he knows the marriage to be lawful, not unlawful.

26. On second marriage.

And why do I speak of the first marriage? He also legislated a second union. "For I say," he said, "to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they remain as I also am; but if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn." And by "burning" he named not the annoyance of desire, but the defeat. And a little later he confirms the law; and he says thus: "A woman is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if her husband also falls asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord"—that is, both chastely and lawfully, to a pious and faithful husband. And concerning continence he advises: "But she is more blessed if she remains thus, according to my judgment." And by the addition he shows the law's trustworthiness: "For I think," he said, "that I also have the Spirit of God." I do not legislate using human reasonings, but becoming an instrument of the divine Spirit. And it must be noted that he called the continent woman not blessed but more blessed, teaching by this that she who welcomes second marriage is not entirely deprived of blessedness, if indeed she receives the yoke according to the established law. And writing to the Romans, both of law and of grace

teaching the difference, he set forth the example of second marriage. "Or do you not know, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law rules over a man for as long as he lives?" Then the example: "For the married woman is bound by law to her living husband. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of the husband. So then, while the husband lives, she will be called an adulteress if she becomes another man's; but if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so as not to be an adulteress when she becomes another man's." Here too, then, by establishing the other point, he showed that the second marriage is not to be rejected. And writing to the blessed Timothy, and laying down laws concerning ecclesiastical orders, after discussing many things about the enrollment of widows, he added: "But refuse younger widows." And having stated the reasons, he adds: "I desire, then, that younger women marry, bear children, manage the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for the sake of reviling." But while Paul says, "I desire," Novatus dares to say, "I do not desire." But let us follow the laws of Paul, and let us leave the boastfulness of Novatus to bewail itself. 27. — Concerning fornication.

We forbid fornication and every kind of licentiousness as unlawful practices. For we hear the most divine Paul crying out: "But let not fornication and uncleanness be even named among you, as is fitting for saints." And again: "Let no one be a fornicator or profane like Esau." And: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge fornicators and adulterers." And in the Epistle to the Corinthians: "If any brother is called a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler, do not even eat with such a one." Because of this licentiousness he also handed over the one who had committed fornication to Satan, and he cries out plainly: "If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are." For this reason he also commands us to flee licentiousness headlong. "Do you not know," he says, "that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body? For they shall be," he says, "the two into one flesh. But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man commits is outside the body; but the one who commits fornication sins against his own body." And to the Galatians he brought the same teaching: "For the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and things like these.

What I foretell to you, just as I also foretold, is that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. These things Basilides, and Carpocrates, and Epiphanes, and Prodicus, and the rest of the teachers of licentiousness and lawlessness, did read, but they introduced a contrary legislation, openly arraying themselves against the laws of the Spirit. And in agreement with these he also wrote to the Ephesians: "For I say, he said, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who, having become callous, gave themselves over to licentiousness, to the working of uncleanness in greed. But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off according to your former conduct the old man, which is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit;" and the things that follow these. And after a little: "For this you know, that every fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has no inheritance

in the kingdom of Christ and God." These things he also sent in his letter to the Philippians: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is good, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things, which you also learned and received and saw in me." Likewise he also writes to the Colossians: "Put to death therefore your members that are on the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry, because of which the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." And the Old Scripture also has been legislated in harmony with the New. For God himself says: "Be holy, as I also am holy." And: "Do not pay heed to a wicked woman; for honey drips from the lips of a prostitute, which for a time sweetens your throat, but afterward you will find it more bitter than gall." And there are countless other things one can find that accuse this debauchery. But those utterly polluted and ill-named men called their licentiousness a "mystic fellowship.

27. On Repentance.

Divine Scripture not only forbids transgressions but also heals those who have received the wounds of these things. For it abhors the savagery of Novatus, and it accuses those shepherds who did not exercise this care for the sheep. And God himself says: "O shepherds, you did not strengthen the weak, and you did not heal the sick, and you did not bind up the injured, and you did not turn back the wandering, and you did not seek the lost." And he who accuses those who have not made this provision clearly wishes the weak among the sheep to be deemed worthy of healing; for this reason he said to the same prophet: "I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel, and you shall hear a word from my mouth, and you shall guard him from me. When I say to the sinner, 'You shall surely die,' and you do not warn the sinner to guard himself, to turn him from his evil way so that he may live, that lawless man shall die in his lawlessness, but his blood I will require at your hand." And a little later: "As I live, says Adonai the Lord, I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he turn from his evil way and live." Then, by way of exhortation: "Turn, turn from your evil way, and why do you die, house of Israel?" Then he commands the prophet, and that he should convey this word to them: "And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of the righteous man shall in no way deliver him on the day when he goes astray.

And the lawlessness of the lawless man shall in no way kill him on the day when he turns away from his lawlessness, and does judgment and righteousness, and restores the pledge that is owed, and repays what was seized. If the lawless man has walked in the commandments of life so as not to do injustice, he shall surely live, and shall not die; all his sins that he committed shall not be remembered against him, because he did judgment and righteousness, he shall live in them. And to Nebuchadnezzar the blessed Daniel offered the medicines of repentance. "And now, O king," he says, "let my counsel be pleasing to you; and wash away your lawless deeds in almsgiving, and your injustices in compassion for the poor." And the prophecy of the divine Jeremiah is full of this teaching. For now it says: "Turn back, you sons who have revolted, and I will turn back to you, says the Lord God." And now: "Wash your heart from wickedness, O Israel, that you may be saved, lest thoughts of your labors be found in you." And again: "Does not the one who falls rise again, or the one who turns away turn back?" And very many other such admonitions can be found in him. And the all-wise

Isaiah cries out: "When you turn away and groan, then you shall be saved, and you shall know where you were when you trusted in vain things." And in the preface, having gone through very many transgressions of the people and shown the disease to be hard to cure, he said, "For there is no plaster to apply, nor oil, nor bandages." After a little, he brought them the healing of repentance, to which he said: "Wash yourselves, become clean, remove the wickednesses from your souls from before my eyes. Cease from your wickednesses, learn to do good, seek judgment, rescue the wronged from the hand of the one wronging him." Then he promises to make them like white wool and snow, even if they have a crimson and scarlet color. But this is possible for God alone; for dyers change white into other colors, but they cannot change any other of the colors into white; but for the Maker all things are easy. But we prolong the discourse beyond measure if we collect all the exhortations of the prophets; for the prophetic melody is full of these, and so are the oracles of the other prophets. But those who succeeded to the conceit of Novatus say that after baptism healing must not be offered to those who sin. But they ought to have understood that the ancients also had the sprinklings and the divine sacrifices as a type of the sacred mysteries. But in order to refute this very folly from abundant surplus, let us bring Aaron into the middle.

For this man, having been anointed and first appointed high priest, and having received the grace of the divine Spirit, yielded to the impious demands of the lawless people, and fashioned the image of the calf, and offered sacrifices together with the other Levites; yet nevertheless he obtained forgiveness, and continued serving as high priest until his death. And the great David also, being a prophet and having possessed the grace of the divine Spirit dwelling within him, committed two grievous transgressions, but he healed the wounds through repentance, and was not stripped of the grace of the Spirit, but even after his sin he prophesied many things to come. What would they say about the one who committed fornication in Corinth, who was not only deemed worthy of the divine mysteries, but also obtained the gift of teaching? For this reason, since those under him thought greatly of him as wise and learned, the divine Apostle accused them, saying: "And you are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, so that the one who did this deed might be removed from among you." But nevertheless, though he was a teacher and had dared the greatest transgression, having handed him over to Satan, he again snatched him from his hands and restored him to the body of the Church. And he writes thus in the second Epistle: "To whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For indeed, if I have forgiven anything, to whom I have forgiven it, it is for your sakes." And so that no one might suppose he did this to please men, he added: "In the person of Christ, that is, as the Master of all sees, as one who knows that this also pleases him." Hence he also adds the reason: "So that we may not be outwitted by Satan.

For we are not ignorant of his designs. "So that you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest such a one be swallowed up by excessive sorrow." Such was the compassion of the teachers of the Church; for they were spiritual physicians, preserving the health of the sound and driving out the diseases of those who were ill. Pursuing this, he has also put these things in his writings to this effect: "Lest, when I come again to you, my God humble me, and I mourn for many of those who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and licentiousness which they practiced." Thus the Galatians, who had been perverted from the faith, and after the calling of grace and the partaking of the divine mysteries had accepted circumcision and embraced the observance of the legal prescriptions, he brings back to salvation, and applies to them the remedies of repentance, and utters the voice of a loving mother: "My little children, for whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you." And the Master Christ also brought this teaching to us through his own parables. For the lost sheep and the lost coin teach us to take care of those who have sinned. And the prodigal son plainly indicates the transgression that occurs after baptism. For having received the proper portion of his father's substance and having squandered it prodigally, he returned; yet nevertheless he was deemed worthy of the first robe, and through the ring he received back the divine image, and he enjoyed the fatted calf, and his father devised a very great feast.

And every teaching and deed of the Lord teaches the healing of sinners: the tax collectors who were called, the harlot who came near, the robber who believed, and the words of his love for humanity: "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. For those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." But if they say that these things happened before baptism, let them understand that the first foundation of the Church was shaken and made firm by divine grace. For Peter, who denied three times, remained first, healed by his own tears. The Master commanded him to offer this healing to himself and to his brothers: "And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." And having given the disciples a pattern of prayer, he commanded them to say: "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." But we teach this prayer not to the uninitiated, but to those being initiated into the mysteries. For no one among the uninitiated dares to say, "Our Father, who is in the heavens," not yet having received the gift of adoption. But he who has obtained the gift of baptism calls God Father, as one who has been perfected into sons by grace. These, then, were commanded to say: "Forgive us our debts." Therefore even the wounds that come after baptism are healable; healable, but not as of old, when forgiveness was given through faith alone, but through many tears, through lamentations, and weeping, and fasting, and prayer, and toil, measured out in proportion to the magnitude of the sin committed.

For we have not been taught to forbid those who are so disposed, nor to impart divine things rashly. "Do not give," he says, "what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine." These are the laws the Church also holds concerning repentance. 29. On continence. Abstinence from wine and from eating meat, and the rest of continence, she does not embrace in the manner of the heretics. For they legislate that these things be abstained from as abominations; but the Church has legislated nothing concerning these things, nor does she forbid the partaking of them. For this reason some partake without fear of the customary pleasant things, while others abstain. And no one of sound mind condemns the one who eats; for both abstinence and partaking fall under the authority of the will, and the solitary life is not compulsory but voluntary. And this too we have been taught from the apostolic laws: "Let not the one who eats," he says, "despise the one who does not eat, and let not the one who does not eat judge the one who eats." And again: "All things are clean, but it is evil for the man who eats through offense." And also, accusing these very impious men in the Epistle to Timothy, he has written these things: "But the Spirit says expressly, that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, attending to spirits of error and teachings of demons, in the hypocrisy of liars, whose own conscience is seared, who forbid marriage and abstain from foods, which

God created for the faithful and those who have come to know the truth to partake of with thanksgiving, because every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer. And to the Corinthians he commanded them to eat everything sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake. And the one invited to a meal by one of the unbelievers he ordered to partake without fear of what is set before him, unless someone should indicate that some of the dishes are food sacrificed to idols. So far was that divine man from forbidding the partaking of meats. And the Lord himself said concerning himself: "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say: Behold a man who is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." And when he celebrated the Passover, he ate the lamb, clearly with his disciples; and when invited to the wedding, he not only did not forbid drinking, but even wondrously made wine for the guests. Therefore the divine doctrines also brilliantly refute the error of the Encratites; and the Church of God sets itself against the myths of the heretics, and follows the divine doctrines. I exhort, then, those who will read this writing to set the divine doctrines alongside each of those wicked doctrines, and by the comparison to learn how great is the distance between falsehood and truth. "For what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial?" For in truth those things are inventions of diabolical malice; but these are doctrines of the divine Spirit.

It is fitting to follow these things continually, and to keep unswervingly the rule of them, and to direct one's own soul by this rule; in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom glory, honor, and majesty are fitting to the Father together with the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.