In illud: In qua potestate haec facis

Of our father among the saints John Chrysostom, on the saying that says, "By what authority do you do these things?" The beginning of human salvation is the fear of God, and the root of all good things in us is the law of God. Neither is there law of God without fear, nor fear without law. For the law has fear as the servant of its commands, and fear has the law as the judge of what is commanded. The one who approaches the law with fear, and the God who gave the law, dwells among the saints and is enrolled among the holy. But the one who dares against divine fear and approaches the divine law with arrogance is deemed unworthy of grace and is cast out of piety. Therefore, those who approach the divine law with fear and desire are taught and enlightened with all uprightness, and are instructed in piety itself by truth itself; for they submit to the very source of truth, saying, "Blessed are you, Lord; teach me your ordinances." But the saints are so reverent, so God-loving, that they learn truth itself from itself. The enemies of truth, however, or rather the enemies of their own life, having preferred arrogance and pride to simplicity, approach the teacher of piety in a tyrannical manner. This is precisely what the children of the Jews have done, as you have just heard from the words of the Gospels. For they approach our Lord Jesus, the king of the saints, while he is staying in the temple, in that same temple, not with the fitting fear, not as servants to a master, not as humans to God, nor even as disciples to a teacher.

Enemies of truth and hunters of evil, displaying their own wickedness, attempted with human reasonings to circumscribe the wisdom that is beyond the cosmos. For they came, it says, in the temple to Jesus, the priests and the elders of the people, saying, "By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?" O the fearlessness of that heart! How much it dares, how much it utters, how much it rises up in arrogance! O the folly of the wicked! O the forbearance of the Savior! Clay utters these things, and the Potter endures; the creature rises up against the Creator, and the benefactor who is beyond reproach bears it patiently. They demand an account from the Word of God and pry into the authority, the summit of sovereignty. Let us also opportunely say the words of the wise man: "O man, why does earth and ashes boast?" You question God and demand from him an account of his own works, and you dare to say to the authority beyond the cosmos, "By what authority do you do these things?" Why do you question him at all, and not rather investigate the power of the deeds themselves? Examine for yourself carefully in the secret council chamber of the soul, considering the nature of the things that happen, whether what is done is of human conception or of divine authority, the things accomplished by the Lord. Ask also the laws of nature, the boundaries of authority, and the sequence of reasonings: what authority can raise the dead—that of humans or of God? Who can cleanse lepers, drive away diseases, and banish every infirmity of souls and bodies by word alone? Then, who can fashion eyes from clay—God or man?

Why do you not ask about the nature of the things themselves, but with boldness pry into the worker, saying, "By what authority do you do these things?" For I take up again the words of those who rashly dare everything, who demand an account from the Word of God, and attempt to circumscribe with reasonings the one who catches the wise in their own cunning. O the folly! They bring the test of words to the Word of God, for whom every art of words is easily captured and every studied web of reasonings. For what does human speech avail against the Word of God? What does contrived wickedness avail against wisdom beyond the cosmos? "By what authority do you do these things?" Ask the paralytic, by what authority he is restored to strength; ask the miracles, and do not pry into the authority of the miracle-worker. Divine grace does not answer you, judging those who ask wickedly as unworthy of an answer. For such is the Word of God. When he sees a soul that is crooked and perverted, he casts it off as unworthy of grace, and often, though they strive much to learn, they do not obtain truth from Truth. The Jews ask often and never learn, so much did the silence of the Savior torment their souls into pain, that that wicked council then said, "How long will you take away our soul? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." But not even after this utterance does he answer them; for those who asked wickedly were unworthy of an answer. What then does the Savior say to them? "I told you, and you did not hear; what do you wish to hear again? The works that I do, these bear witness about me.

Do you see that he wishes the works to be asked about, and not his authority to be meddled with? The Jews ask: "If you are the Christ, tell us plainly: how long will you keep our soul in suspense?" And he gives no resolution to the ambiguity. For they asked not in order to learn, but in order to accuse. But the high priest Caiaphas, worthy of that synagogue, came to such a pitch of madness as to say: "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the son of the Blessed One." And the Savior, teaching us to receive words with reverence, answers the oath but gives no resolution to the disputed point. "Tell us," he says, "if you are the son of the Blessed One." The Lord says to him: "You have said it." And he honored the oath by confessing, but did not satisfy their malice, abhorring their craftiness. The Jews sought wrongly and obtained no answer. And quite reasonably so: for crooked thoughts separate from God. He did not permit his wisdom to those who meddle with his wisdom wrongly. For wisdom will not enter a soul that is evil and crafty.

And often those who have sought have not found what they were seeking. But a certain woman, approaching without guile and with genuine faith, not testing the incomprehensible power, but coming to the Lord in simplicity and with bare words but sincere faith, said to him: "We know that when the one called Messiah, the Christ, comes, he himself will announce everything to us." Immediately she heard from the one who loves simplicity: "I am the one speaking to you." She had not yet asked, and immediately she learned. She had not yet sown the seed of faith, and immediately she reaped the fruit of piety. For God is holy, resting in simple and holy ones; when he sees the simplicity of the one approaching, he himself simplifies the benefaction of his wisdom; when he sees a soul perverted by wickedness, he withholds the benefaction and does not admit the teaching. Listen to him saying through Moses: "If you go to me straight, I also go to you straight. But if you are crooked, I will use crooked anger against you." Not that the divine nature twists its own straightness, but because for the wicked, things from the truth do not come straight. "By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority?" And the savior to them [...]. Here pay attention to how the Lord of all sets forth for us a boundary and rule of teaching. And what is this? He wishes us not to answer everything to the questions of wicked heretics, Jews, Greeks, or any others separated from piety. For it is, it is often the case that some questions are not worthy of an answer. And it is necessary always to respond to these base inquiries with a just counter-question.

Therefore the Lord says to them: "I will ask you a question as well, and whatever answer you give me, I will respond to you." "John's baptism," he says, "where was it from? From heaven or from men?" See how the source of wisdom refutes falsehood by its questioning. See how the Word of God overturns wickedness with syllogisms. Observe also how wickedness is consumed by its own weapons and is brought down by its own artifices. "John's baptism, where was it from? From heaven or from men?" They examined among themselves the force of the statement and say: "If we say 'from heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe?'" Wickedness knows its own slippery slope. It knows that it is destroyed by the very things it proposes. Since they had not heeded John, they were afraid to say that it was from God, lest the refutation follow immediately. "But if we say 'from men,' we fear the crowd, lest we be stoned." For the prejudice concerning the righteous man will bring inevitable judgment against us. For all the people regarded John as a prophet. They did not wish, therefore, to speak the truth, that it was from God. For they had rejected the truth of God, and they did not dare to speak falsehood. For they had fear as the judge of their shamelessness, and this not divine fear, but human. For it is indeed so: many often, having no fear of God, are enslaved to human fear. They feared the people. Would that they feared God and not the people. For the former is piety, the latter impiety. They say to him: "We do not know." See how wickedness lurks in evil things. See how impiety proclaims its own absurdity.

Just as a viper or one of the most wicked beasts, lurking in the drains, gently peeps out from its hiding place and is unwilling to come out completely, so too the Jews, living in the den of wickedness, do not bring their own opinion to light. Therefore the Lord says to them: "Neither do I tell you." See how silence punished the improper question; see how it did not satisfy their wickedness but stopped them in the midst of their syllogisms. And what Balaam's donkey once suffered because of the angel who stood against it, so too did Jewish wickedness suffer, neither daring to look to the right of truth because of the Savior's denial, nor to the left of falsehood because of the people's fear. Therefore we too, brothers, receiving this rule from the Lord, must not give in to all the questions of the heretics. When a heretic asks wickedly, resolve his improper inquiry with a righteous counter-question. A heretic often asks: "Do you know God or do you not know God?" If you say that you know, he immediately adds: "Do you then know what you worship?" The pious person says, "Yes." For who would endure saying, "I do not know what I worship"? He adds again: "Do you then know the essence of God?" If you say that you do not know, he immediately retorts: "Therefore you do not know what you worship." See the crooked words; see the varieties of the wicked serpents. Do you see? But one must not be disturbed. For this, brothers, one must know: that there are many ways of knowing. One can know that God exists, not how he exists. For even among us humans, there are many paths of knowledge.

I know this man living in this city, but I do not know what trade he practices. I know another who practices this trade, but I do not know from where he derives his lineage. For I know in part, and in part I am ignorant. And certainly, neither does partial knowledge introduce complete knowledge, nor does not knowing in all respects abolish partial knowledge. What then? I know that God is, that He is good, that He is immortal, that He is incorruptible, that He is incomprehensible, that He is inconceivable, that He is incorporeal, that He is immutable. All these things I know, and knowing them I worship. But how He is I do not know, nor was I taught to busy myself with the how He is, but that He is. For I find no teacher greater than the Apostle, who is able to set before me a better piety; he teaches somewhere with a clear voice, saying: For the one approaching God must believe that He is. Not how He is. But that He is, and He becomes a rewarder for those who seek Him out. Therefore, what I know I revere. I did not learn to busy myself with the essence of God. I learned to believe, brothers; to believe, not to busy myself. Read your confession, heretic, the one agreed upon in the secret and awesome mystery. When you approached to be baptized, what did you say? Were you inquiring, investigating with curiosity, or believing? You came in one way and with other covenants you were deemed worthy of that grace. If indeed you were deemed worthy while thinking such things, and you have violated the covenants, and in the awesome and dread mysteries you brought faith, but outside the mysteries you circumscribe faith and offer inquiry.

But see what the enemy of truth says. Did God not give us reasoning faculties idly? Did we not simply receive the criterion of the mind? It is necessary to investigate faith with reasonings, and not to leave piety unexamined. Good. But the limit of examination is the divine oracles and the canons of piety given to us by him. But you, overstepping the canons, do not adhere to the divinely inspired scriptures, but meddle with divine matters and force the truth, and rush everywhere, and follow the irregularity of reasonings rather than serve faith, as if you had gained experience of other things or had come to experience of visible things. Tell me, using the sequence of reasonings, how the sky stands, hollowed out to such an infinite height and having nothing in such a vast circumference to support it, how it stands, by what it is borne, what are the foundations on which it is fixed? How in such a time is its beauty not dissolved, its harmony not destroyed? Show the columns that bear it; show the base that underlies such masses. And what shall I say about the sky and not about the earth, which I tread? First, explain to me the condition of the earth. That it is founded upon waters, this I have received and you yourself admit. But how it is fixed upon the waters, explain. Do not simply follow the account, but give a reason for what is sought. How are such and so many mountains, hills, and plains borne upon waters? Tell how the sea is separated; tell how it, raging with so many waves and rising to an infinite height, when it approaches the sand, is dissolved.

Explain, brother, how, though the earth is one, one mother, the shoots are different—whence the bitter roots, whence the sweet, whence the differences of the fruits. One earth sprouting, one rain nourishing, whence the difference? Explain, whence the springs gushed forth and from what abysses, how it is possible to comprehend these things. But when we are at a loss about these matters, we have one true and pious solution to the perplexities. And the blessed David sang somewhere thus, saying: "For the word of the Lord is straight, and all his works are in faith." Works without faith cannot be comprehended, and is it possible to find God without faith? Works without faith, and the Son in demonstration? "For the word of the Lord is straight, and all his works are in faith." But let us, leaving aside the enemies of the truth, return to the healthy and secure [path] of faith and show the rule of piety shining forth through truth itself. No one among the ancients is more trustworthy than Moses; no one among the moderns is wiser than Paul. Investigate the ancient state, and you will find no one greater than Moses: "For I have known you and you have found grace beyond all." No one among the moderns is more perfect than Paul. For he is a vessel of election, having Christ speaking within himself. Do not transgress the boundaries of Moses and Paul. What did Moses find—a comprehension of essence or the glory of God? Moses, brothers, came into a desire for God as a God-loving man, and he was ignorant that he desired the impossible; nevertheless, through what he asked of God, he showed it. For what does he say? "I beseech you, Lord, if I have found grace before you, let me see you knowably; reveal yourself to me.

This man was a brother of Philip, who said, "Show us the Father, and that is enough for us." "Lord, you said that I found favor before you; reveal yourself to me, so that I may see you clearly." For he saw him also at the bush; he saw him also from Mount Sinai; he saw him also from various places where he appeared, and he manifested his appearance in different ways. But that blessed Moses longed to see the character of his nature. Being a human, he imagined human things about the supramundane power. God, however, accepted the longing of his faithful servant. He persuades the human appetite that desires impossible things. For what does he say to him? "No one will see my face and live." The power of those who long does not contain the object of longing; a mortal vision does not bear the immortal nature. What then, O Master, do you leave the longing without consolation and not even provide a shadow of the desire to one who imagines such great longing? Hence he says: "I place you in the rock, and I cover you with my hand; and as my glory passes by, you will see the back, but you will not see the front." In passing by, he did not say "me," but "my glory." For it is not possible, having passed beyond the glory, to find the essence. Moses found nothing more than glory, and this he did not see in its entirety, but the back. Not because the divine nature is delineated by back and chest—for it is simple and uncompounded—but because God makes himself known in this way, not according to the dignity befitting him, but according to the power of those who are to enjoy the vision. Moses reached glory and did not surpass glory.

And you, heretic, do you pry into the glory beyond the substance of God? Let us come also to the blessed Paul. Paul, in the new dispensation, having stooped to examine certain particular economies of God and, as if growing dizzy at the depths of thought, cried out that great and awe-filled voice, speaking somewhere thus: O depth of wealth of wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and untraceable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his counselor? Or who has given to him in advance, and it will be repaid to him? And the conclusion of the discourse: That from him and through him and to him are all things; to him is the glory unto the ages. Do you see that, having come to the glory of God, he did not overstep the limit? And what am I saying about men? Ascend in thought to the supramundane realms; question the heavens and say: What are you able to announce to me concerning God? Heavens, describe to me what sort of God is; declare to me what God is in substance. But the heavens do not answer when questioned about impossibilities. But even if you boldly ask these things, that divine oracle through the marvelous Jeremiah will answer: The heaven shuddered at this. For heaven truly shudders when it sees the divine nature being pried into. And the blessed David will also resist, chastising your excessive curiosity, and will say: Did you not hear that the heavens proclaim the nature of God, but the glory of God? Did he not cry out to you through his holy lyre that the heavens proclaim the glory of God, not the nature of God? They do not interpret the substance, but announce the glory.

But do not think that the supramundane powers know anything more. Question the angels, I say, question them—not because it is permitted for you to converse with the powers above, but because from Scripture you have the remedies and the restraints for your boldness. Question the angels; question them when you see them dancing on earth or singing hymns. Say to them: What new thing do you teach? What strange tidings do you announce? And immediately the divine choir will answer you through the holy Gospels: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men. Angels came to earth; they did not transgress the bounds of glory—and heretics have not hesitated to overstep them. But what of the highest powers, those above the angels, I mean? I speak of the archangels. For those are distinct natures. Question the cherubim, the royal throne. The one seated upon the cherubim, reveal yourself. Question the cherubim as a sapphire throne, and the one seated on the throne as the likeness of a son of man. And a voice of the cherubim arose, like the sound of many waters, crying out: Blessed is the glory of the Lord from her place.

Do you see the reverence even of the cherubim? It reached glory and did not overstep the limit. "Blessed is the glory of the Lord." And how? "From its place," to show you that it dwells even in the heavenly regions and that its dignity lies far above the heavenly powers and invisible beings. They do not speak as if approaching, but as standing far off from the divine dignity. "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from its place." Not that it has a place—for everything is circumscribed by place—but it calls the dignity around God his "place." You have seen both the cherubim and their voice: "Blessed is the glory of the Lord." And it announced nothing more. For you, standing around in a circle, must know the proclamations of God. For the seraphim stood in a circle around him. What, then, is there to learn from them? Do not hinder me. But they too will say that even if we excel in dignity, we still recognize the limits of our nature and do not overstep the measures of knowledge; we do not pry into our creator, we do not meddle with the one who honored us. We know the incomprehensible nature, that it is not subject to inquiry, that it does not serve the sequences of reasonings; it surpasses every angelic state together, and every supramundane conception, and every supercelestial power—the glory of the one who is worshipped. For this reason we too do not overstep the limits. The cherubim did not overstep, but with all reverence they sing that heavenly hymn: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of his glory." Do not Paul and Moses, not overstepping glory, put you to shame? The heaven, proclaiming glory, will put you to shame. But does the heaven not persuade you? Angels will put you to shame.

Do you despise angels? Fear the cherubim. But do you even overstep these in your audacity? Let the seraphim sober you. But are you persuaded neither by supramundane beings nor by earthly examples? Remove yourself from the sacred choirs, exile yourself from the divine courts. For you cannot busy yourself with God and be numbered among the faithful. And what am I saying about God? Do you not know that it is fearful to dare to investigate the nature of God? Even if you wish to busy yourself with the works of God, God does not deem you worthy of his intimacy, but casts you far away, as one who dares the impossible. Moses, that man so great and of such stature, the worker of so many wonders, who became the mediator between God and men, for whom the sea was divided, who brought manna from the heavens—this man, because he dared to measure by human reasoning one of the things commanded by God, and not to yield to divine power, suffered inexorable punishment. For when he reached the rock, he said to the people: "O hard and disobedient people, will I not be able to give you water from this rock?" And what did God say to him? "Because you did not glorify me before the congregation, you will not enter the land which I swore." Pay close attention here. "Because you did not glorify me." What was the glorification? To say: "God can do all things." For it is a sin against God to examine by reasoning the things done by him and not to yield to divine power, which works beyond all its own capacities. David apologizes for Moses, who erred not in thought but in speech. For the sins of the righteous are about the lips; the injustices of the impious are about the mind.

And just as the impious man is cut off in his mind, yet seems somehow to approach God with his lips—for this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me—so the pious man, having a strong heart, often slips with his tongue. For this reason David defends Moses, a prophet on behalf of a prophet: "And they provoked him at the water of contradiction, and Moses was distressed because of them." Not because of himself. What does "because of them" mean? He did not display disbelief contrary to his own judgment, but having been stirred up by the people's contradiction, he no longer found his reasoning clear, as if in confusion. I have spoken these things as they are brought forth from the workshop of injustice. Where did you hear of "unbegotten" and "begotten"? Where did you hear those mad and fantastical discourses? The things of the spirit were circumscribed, and the things of the devil were introduced in their place. If you seek these things, why do you inscribe Paul as teacher? If you busy yourself with these things, why does Peter exalt you to have him? Deny the faith and offer inquiry. But, he says, I do not withdraw from Scripture—far from it. An enemy and [...] a disciple and an introducer of reasonings? Interpret for me, having served reason, how did the Savior enter when the doors were closed? What need is there to be occupied with other things? For often it brings loss to both speakers and hearers. Interpret concerning the invisible nature: how did the Father beget, what is the manner of divine generation? I demand the matter of the economy.

Tell me how the Savior entered when the doors were shut; how did the body enter? The nature of the body denies [...] the Gospels. If I follow faith, the truth is unerring. How did he enter when the doors were shut? For it was not the bodiless nature, which cuts through all bodies, but the body was with the bodiless. And this was the instrument of the bodiless nature. For the Savior had this human body. Indeed, the disciples, looking at the strangeness of the miracle, thought that it was a spirit, since the matter at hand overcame the nature of the body. He [...] says to those who are doubting: "Touch me and see that a spirit has no flesh and bones, as you see I have." How did he enter? Did the planks dissolve like air? Or was the body thinned and thus pass through the thickness of the wood? But neither can you say, nor am I able to explain. Scripture handed down none of these things to me. I do not pry. I follow what it proclaimed, even if I do not wish to. That he entered I believe, but how I do not pry. Do not think that he entered [...] the doors. It did not say that he entered when the door was rarefied or dissolved, but when it was shut. It proclaimed the event. It did not show the manner of the event. Peter left the prison. But the gates were opened for him, and Scripture noted, saying that the iron gate opened by itself for them. It did not say: "By itself it received Peter as he passed through." For the body was human and from human clay.

The human aspect of Christ is due to his kinship with us, the divine aspect due to his union with the Word of God and due to the strange birth-pangs of the Virgin. How did he enter when the doors were shut? How did he ascend when the heavens were closed? Oh, the absurdity of those who dare such things! Oh, the piety of those who believe everything! But what does the objector say? "We do not find faith secure everywhere; we have found it slipping as well. One must not believe without examination, but with precise examination." Many outsiders agree with them. For the thoughts of heretics and Greeks are akin; both are inventions of demons and teachings of demons. Some of those who oppose faith say that its irrationality is harmful; unless a reasoned examination is joined to faith, it brings no benefit to the believer. "For whence," he says, "do you wish to examine the nature of faith? Do you wish to begin from creation itself?" he says. "Seek the one you call the first-formed. I find him fallen from faith. See the words of the evil demon, who dares everything and readily attacks—what he dares, what he utters, what he proposes. You say," he says, "that the serpent said to him: 'On the day you eat from the tree, you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.' He believed the serpent; having believed, he perished. So the beginning of evils is faith." These things are said against us by those enemies of truth, those foes of piety. But the impious have ignored the true definition of faith; they do not know what they propose. For do we say that everyone who believes anything at all has faith and is called faithful?

It is not that the one who trusts in any chance person is faithful, but the one who truly trusts in God. For have you shown that someone who trusted in God perished? He who trusted in the devil fell; he who disbelieved God slipped. Why do you twist the words? Listen to Jeremiah saying: "Hear me, you who hate judgment, you who twist everything that is straight." And indeed, one ought to say: "The beginning of evils is disbelief." For if he had believed God saying, "On whatever day you eat, you will die by death," he would not have slipped, but would have had faith, a secure faith for salvation. Never slander the name of faith. For it is not the one who trusts in everyone who is faithful, but the one who trusts in God; this one alone both is and is called faithful. Leave behind inquiries and embrace faith. Faith illumines all; faith sanctifies all; faith renders worthy of the Holy Spirit. For the crown is full of faith and power. If faith had not shone forth beforehand, power would not have followed the saint. Where there is faith, there also is power. Where there is disbelief, there also is weakness. The beginning of goods is faith; the source of goods is faith. Let us take up the weapon of salvation. Why do you serve words and flee the truth? Why do you bring up things that not even the nature of angels dares to investigate? What am I saying, the nature of angels? Things that not even demons dare. Do you not wish to follow Peter? Do you not wish to follow Paul? Not the angels? Not the cherubim? Become at least a disciple of the demons. The demons saw the Savior and said to him: "Ha, what have we to do with you, Son of God?" The demons confess "Son," and you, heretic, blaspheme? Demons make him equal, and you contrive inequality? And what shall I do, says the heretic, with the Lord saying—

So that they may know you as the only true God? He said "only," he proclaimed only the true God the Father. Do I adhere to the truth proclaimed by God? Do you follow the voice of the "only" and serve the word? Keep the definitions for me in the matters under examination. God says through the prophet: "I am the first and I am after these things, and there is no other besides me. There is no just one and savior besides me. And turn to me and you will be saved from the ends of the earth. I am God and there is no other. I swear by myself. I am the first and I am after these things." And he added: "And there is no other besides me." Do you see how he shows an isolated nature, having nothing in common with another separated nature? God says these things: "I am and there is no other." He who says through the prophet: "I alone stretched out the heaven." Pay attention to "alone," since you utter "the only true God." "I alone stretched out the heaven." And here similarly: "I am and there is no other. I swear by myself." Pay attention both to the authority and the power of the speaker: because he said, "There is no other" and "I am alone," and he swore this by himself. And he indicates that there is no one greater than him speaking. So also the apostle says: "Since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself." Therefore, the one who says, "I swear by myself" has no greater, unless "justice will come out of my mouth, my words will not be turned back." And what do you swear? That "every knee will bend to me and every tongue will confess the true God." Who says these things, heretic? The Father or the Son?

With me, the faithful one, and with every pious person, lies the dignity of the Father and the authority of the Son. For keep this in mind, that many of the things said among us are proclaimed in a polemical manner, not a dogmatic one. For me and for every faithful person, the doctrine of piety stands firm: that wherever the Father speaks alone, the Son and the Holy Spirit are also included. Where the Son speaks, there is the authority of the Father. Where the Father exercises authority, there is the power of the Son. Where the Holy Spirit acts, there is the energy of the Father. The glory of the Holy Trinity is not divided, because the doctrine of truth is not divided. Do not acknowledge one kingdom. Since I am training the enemy, these things have been said by me, so that none of those who love to slander may say: "See how he said that everything belongs to the Son, and the Son speaks, and he demonstrated that the prophecy of the Father is alien, but that of the Son is his own." For me, the definition of faith stands unshaken. What is being exercised is a contest. Here I show the Son speaking, and when I persuade you, then I persuade myself: the Father speaking, the Son proclaiming, the Holy Spirit uttering oracles. "I first, I also after these things, and besides me there is no God. I swear against myself. Who is it that says, 'I am, and there is no other,' and that 'from my mouth justice will come forth, and my words will not be turned back,' and that 'every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess the true God'? How do you place the word? To whom do you apply the name? But neither do you speak of what you do not know, nor do I profess what I do not understand. Let us follow a spiritual teacher, one able to guide us toward piety.

Do not then listen from me, but listen with me. I know Paul as the teacher of the ecclesiastical doctrines. When I say Paul, I proclaim Christ; for it was he who spoke in Paul, according to what is said: Do you seek proof of the Christ speaking in me? This prophecy of Isaiah, then, the one previously spoken—the "I am, and there is no other, and I swear by myself that every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess the true God"—Paul takes up in reference to Christ. And where do you find this demonstration? Writing to the Romans he says: But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? Why do you judge one another? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: I live, says the Lord, that every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess the true God. That one who says: I am and there is no other; I swear by myself that every knee will bow to me. If, then, Paul refers the prophecy to Christ, and the one speaking in the prophet is Christ, and Christ says: I alone am and there is no other, does he then exclude the Father from divinity? But he does not exclude, just as he does not exclude; for the glory is undivided. Therefore it has been clearly demonstrated that just as the Son, when he says I alone am, does not exclude the Father, so also when he says concerning the Father, that they may know you, the only true God, he does not separate himself from the truth. And not only does this heal that, but also that Christ is true God is brought forth from the same testimony; for he adds:

And every tongue will confess the true God. Therefore, the one who says "I alone" and "I am true" is the Son. What difference does it make, then, when the truth agrees concerning the words? Why, then, did he say, "You, the only true God"? Be taught, and do not quarrel. The Savior is the teacher of the world, the corrector of the inhabited world, the one who raises up what has fallen, the one who turns back what has gone astray and renews what has grown old. Since he knew that his own word would go forth and prevail throughout the whole world under heaven, for the correction of Greek error and for the refutation of Jewish disobedience, he utters a two-edged word: so that by saying "the true and only God" through me, he might brand the many and falsely named, and by adding "and Christ whom you sent," he might convict those who have denied the economy. And so that you may learn, brother, that he is both true God and son of a true God, John the Evangelist, in whom these things are written—for it is in the Gospel according to John that it says, "So that they may know you, the only true God"—that same herald, that same one who proclaimed these things, writing in his own epistle—and of the churchly ones, not the apocryphal, is the first epistle; for the fathers exclude the second and third from the canon; but the first epistle all have unanimously declared to be John's. What, then, does that holy one proclaim through the epistle, theologizing? It is necessary to pay attention. "We know," he says, "that the Son of God has come and given us understanding, so that we may know the true one; and we are in the true one, in his Son Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life. This one, brothers, spoke those things and proclaimed these things. Moreover, if it seems good, let us philosophize and contend concerning the "alone." Many arrows are to be sent against the unbeliever—arrows not to wound bodies, but to correct minds. Let words be sent to the faithful, but arrows to the unbelievers. For the arrows of the mighty one are sharpened: "Peoples will fall beneath you, in the heart of the enemies." So says the blessed Jeremiah—or rather, Baruch his disciple, as Elisha was of Elijah: "He who constructed the earth filled it for eternal time with beasts and quadrupeds; he sent forth the light, and it proceeds; he called it, and it obeyed him with trembling. And the stars shone in their watches and rejoiced. He called the stars, it says, and they said, 'We are present,' and they shone in joy to their maker." And after theologizing so much, he says: "This is our God; no other will be reckoned with him." Pay close attention to how he excludes the other: "No other will be reckoned with him. He discovered every path of knowledge and gave it to Jacob his servant and to Israel, his beloved. After these things, he appeared on earth and lived among men. This is our God, with whom no other will be reckoned; he appeared on earth and lived among men after these things." Do you see the truth secured? See how he gives no entrance to error, so that a Jew may not slander the truth and say that God appeared to Moses—for God appeared on the mountain. Beside him there is no other.

and does not cast the Father out of divine dignity. If the Father is called alone, does he banish the Son from participation in the dignity? When God says that he himself is and is alone one, whether the Father or the Son, he does not deny the proper affinity of nature. The Father does not cast out the Son; the Son does not reject the Father. But when such things are said, the discourse is directed against the error of idols. Why do you construct blasphemy against the only-begotten? Does God not give his glory to idols, or does he not give it even to the one born from him? He gives it, not by grace, but also by the communion of nature. And whence the proof that Christ receives glory from the Father? For he said: I will not give my glory to another. Listen how the Savior himself, discoursing with the apostles, says: When the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father, he having previously said that I will not give my glory to another. Examine the word and you will find the meaning. He did not say: I will not give my glory to my Son, but: I will not give it to another. And "another" is that which is alien to affinity and separated from nature. But the Son is not another. For I and the Father are one. It has therefore been clearly demonstrated that the phrase "that they may know you as the only true God" does not abolish the Son being true God. Do not cast the discourse into slander, as if the meaning were left suspended; which some of the brothers have suffered concerning the cup. For as if the meaning had not received a solution, they brought forward accusations. For, they say, he left the inquiry hanging and suspended. But what more, brothers, was there to say?

What was needed for proof in addition to what was said earlier? First, if possible, let the cup pass from me, and regarding what is suggested by the expression—for the expression seems somehow to place the suppliant under another authority—we adduced that utterance of the Lord, which is truly full of all divine authority and displays the dignity of the speaker. I have authority to set down my soul, and I have authority to take it up; and that the phrase "I have" is proper to the divinity, while the phrase "if possible, let this cup pass from me" was spoken from the perspective of the flesh and not from the perspective of the divinity. And on these points we again set the dominical testimony as a seal. Therefore he said: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." And we noted that it is most absurd, when the Lord himself attributes it to the flesh, for us to ascribe the baseness of the saying to the authority of the divinity. But also, to present the Lord's purpose, why he said "let the cup pass from me," as not fleeing the economy of the cross he declined death, but because those inexperienced in the economy were about to be scandalized at the cross, he used this expression. And again, the testimony followed this thought: "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." Others falsely accused us, as if we had said: "If it is possible to fulfill the economy by another manner of death." But this has neither been said nor will be said. I did not say by another death; but I said by another manner the economy could be fulfilled, that is, apart from death. For I interpreted the cup.

The other way, as in "apart from death." And this happened not because the Lord truly begged off death for the sake of the world, but to confirm the weakness of the flesh, that it was truly flesh that was cowardly, that was disturbed. For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He ascribed the words of weakness to the flesh, he did not wound the authority of the divinity. Why do you slander what I do not say? Why do you calumniate what I do not proclaim? I said it was another manner, not of death, but of economy. For it is not said: "If possible, let this cup be exchanged." The weakness of the flesh; the passion of the incarnation. He utters the words of weakness in order to show that he has put on this nature that fears death. But lest you again be enslaved to the letter, I also brought that up from abundance, that what reason is there that the apostles should trample death nobly, but the Lord of the apostles should fear and tremble at the experience of death? And I will say these things now as well, brothers. Paul boasts not only of being bound, but also of dying for the name of Christ, and the Lord of Paul begs off death? And Paul's heart is not crushed, but Christ's soul is disturbed? For now he says, "My soul is disturbed." All these things I have uttered before you as witnesses. But does this not persuade you? But does "if possible" still scandalize you? Yes, he says. Let us come together, brothers, with the contentious one; let us contend with the power of truth to raise up those who have fallen by the weakness of unbelief. If Christ had authority, he would not have said "if possible, let it pass.

Therefore, one could also accuse God, who through the law made use of a certain expression far removed from his own authority. For he says to Moses, when he spoke from Mount Sinai through that great and fearful manifestation—when the whole people trembled, hearing the voice of the living God—the one who holds authority over all and governs everything for all, God who gives all things, says to Moses: "Who will give that their heart be in them in such a way that they fear me and keep all the days, so that it may be well for them and their children?" God says: "Who will give this people a heart?" And who, O Lord, is stronger than you to give? Are you not the one who gives all things, and especially those that contribute to piety? If you were not the one giving a good heart to those who love you; if you are not the giver, how does David pray to you: "Create a pure heart in me, O God"? The prophets ask for a pure heart from you and other good gifts and purity of heart; and you, using a human voice, say: "Who will give this people a heart?" And who gives more than you? Yet, even if you spoke thus as one who is good, the blessed Moses did not follow your expression, but proclaimed your worth, showed your authority, made known your power. He says to the people in the words: "The Lord God gave you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.

You see, that the same one gives heart and eyes and ears and everything? How then did the one who gives everything say, "Who will give this people such a heart?" And again, if he himself were not the one giving heart, how did he say through Ezekiel, "And I will tear out from them the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh and write my law in their hearts"? Just as there God himself, who is able to give a good heart, says, "Who will give?", so also the only-begotten of the Father, filling the world with authority and speaking with authority, "I have authority to set my soul and I have authority to take it," again answers in human form from the perspective of fleshly weakness, saying, "If possible, let the cup pass from me." Do not, therefore, misrepresent what is not said, but adhere to what is proclaimed; do not slander the teaching, failing to grasp its meaning. I know from where you slip into slander; I know from where you suffer these things. The passion is human, the disease is envy. For just as the eye, if it is clear, sees and discerns everything correctly; but if smoke enters and damages the beauty of vision, or dust falls in and dulls the sight, and it does not see well as it saw correctly before—so also now each of the hearers, as long as he has a clear eye of faith, a clear eyelid of love, sees correctly and clearly. But if smoke of blasphemy enters into what is said, or dust of envy runs under the soul, it clouds the vision and destroys the clarity of the mind, and what it did not hear, it heard, and what it heard, it did not understand well.

Therefore, divine Scripture, foreseeing the stumbling blocks that would trouble the minds of those who would stumble over the sacred writings, and where one of the prophets cried out after fulfilling the divine proclamation: "Who is wise and will understand these things? And who is a prudent man and will know these things? That the ways of the Lord are straight, and the righteous will walk in them." So then, brother, do not snatch up words to create stumbling blocks. The word is naked, the truth is naked. It is not one, not two, not ten, not a hundred who have heard; there is an infinite multitude, an innumerable multitude. The Church is a sea of piety, not filled with waves, but full of faith. The vessel of teaching does not suffer shipwreck among us, it is not struck, not troubled, not storm-tossed; but as into a calm harbor, it anchors in the souls of those who love the Lord. But let this suffice for now. That, however, must be considered: that the saints of God fall victim to slanders. What is so remarkable if we, who are worthless and humble and, so to speak, nothing, are slandered? Or did you not hear how David says: "Deliver me from the slander of men?" Even the holy apostles of the Savior were slandered, as the blessed Paul also said: "And not as we are blasphemed, and as some say we claim, that 'Let us do evil so that good may come.'" I am not grieved to be slandered along with the saints, even if I am unworthy of the saints. I have all of you as judges, and before all of you, our common father, who judges not by prejudice but decides by understanding. He knows our thoughts, he recognizes our words, because we were taught these things by him.

We set before you: if what had been said were lacking, he would have corrected what was said. But he did not suppose so. For if he had corrected, it would not have been out of hatred, but out of love. For a father corrects whom he loves; but whom he does not correct, he turns away from. This wonderful father both accepts what is well said and applies correction to what is erroneous. For this is proper to a father: to judge what is well said and proclaimed with faith. Sufficient, then, in place of all is his vote, and before him again that of the all-holy God. Let us cleave to piety; let us keep the faith unshaken. Believe the truth and do not contradict the truth. Do not falsify the faith; do not pry into the divine nature; do not subject the immortal dignity to mortal reasonings. The path of reasonings is perilous; the conception of confession according to faith is safe and secure. True wisdom is faith. Hear what the divine oracle says: For even if one is perfect among the sons of men, if you are absent from the wisdom from you, it will be accounted as nothing. Flee from questions and do not prefer words to faith. Have Paul as teacher; inscribe Peter as guide; follow their faith. Hear Peter saying: You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Follow Paul clearly hymning the son of God, and on the one hand saying that God spoke to us in a son, through whom he also made the ages; who is the radiance of the glory and the character of the hypostasis, bearing all things by the word of his power; and on the other hand again proclaiming in the one concerning the Jews.

Of whom our fathers, from whom Christ is according to the flesh, the God who is over all, blessed into the ages of ages. Amen.