Prooemium Pseudo-Oecumenii In Apocalypsin Commentarii (E Cod.)

Oecumenius Bishop of Tricca in Thessaly and Arethas of Caesarea in Cappadocia A Collection of Expositions from Holy Men on the Apocalypse of the Evangelist.

From the works of the blessed Oecumenius of Thessaly, composed with love for God, on John the Theologian: a summary in the manner of a scholion, a summary as is fitting for a summary. Christ God, assist us. That this composition is a revelation, from the reclining upon the breast of the super-divine wisdom of the beloved, being both divinely inspired and unquestionably beneficial, has been understood; but it is not among the spurious works, as some, confounded by a wandering spirit, have babbled, but is both genuine and worthy of the son of thunder. For one must trust Athanasius the Great, in his exposition of the canonized books of the Old and New Testaments, who judges this also among the genuine; and also the divine Basil showed this in his brief inquiry concerning the Son; and the divine Gregory in his farewell discourse; and Methodius the most wise Bishop of Patara in his work on the resurrection; and the great Cyril in his labors concerning the worship and adoration of the Spirit; and in addition, Hippolytus, the president of Rome, in his interpretation of the book of Daniel; and many others, to be brief, to whom it did not seem to be cast aside as spurious and rejected, but to be judged genuine; they would not have thought this, with such and so many accurate judgments, if they had not known the moderate value to be sought in it.

For if this were not so, not even the threefold cord, according to Ecclesiastes Solomon, remaining unbroken would not quickly be snapped, much less the sixfold one. Through this Apocalypse, therefore, the disciple of Christ shows that he also possesses the prophetic gift abundantly, since the present writing treasures knowledge of present, past, and future things—of which every prophecy is full, as even those among us who are wise in word but stand outside acknowledge. But since some have been presumptuous, as has been said before, and have sought to discredit this divinely inspired oracle with a charge of spuriousness—insofar as this God-possessed father of discourse is accustomed to dignify with theology the procession, as it were, from the very beginning of his God-appropriate productions—he does not do this now; rather, he devotes the prooemium to the assumption of humanity on our behalf, through the ineffable love for us. It is necessary to say that, knowing it to be indifferent, he uses either manner concerning the one and the same thing that existed in the ineffable union of the natures that came together: whether beginning from the more divine aspects of the Savior Christ or from the human ones. In his first writings, beginning from the more God-appropriate, he did not refuse to proceed to the human; from which he says, "And the Word became flesh." In the present writing, beginning from the human aspects, so that he might not seem to know him only from the more divine, he did not, however, refuse to rest the discourse on the human aspects, but even in these he does not shrink from attributing the more God-appropriate.

through which he also wishes the superhuman things to be contemplated in the human nature of the Lord; which is also the aim of the divine Paul in his letter to the Colossians, when he says concerning Christ, "In him all things were created, both those in heaven and those on earth; all things were created through him, and he is before all things; and all things hold together in him; and he is the head of the body of the Church; who is the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might be first in all things.

himself preeminent. For the flesh assumed by him, ensouled with intellect, so that Emmanuel might be conceived without confusion from two natures, divinity and humanity being united, each existing perfectly according to its own principle, and preserving the natural qualitative property and difference; the elements that have come together being neither confused nor altered, nor yet divided in the integrity of the natures after the ineffable union. So that Nestorius might be put to shame, and Eutyches perish along with him. But as to how the precise and polished doctrine concerning the Savior in the other divine writings is, having dwelt here, as has been said, on human matters, he made use of human words; yet neither are the divine things separated from the human, nor conversely the human from the divine, but the usage proceeds according to more and less.

From the works of Andrew, to the most blessed Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, on the Apocalypse: a scholastic summary, set forth by Arethas, unworthy Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. It should be known that the entire treatise of the present book the blessed and divinely inspired man divided into twenty-four discourses and into seventy-two chapters, not without understanding; for the number twenty-four, being tripled, generates the number seventy-two. And the twenty-four was taken on account of the twenty-four elders whom the Apocalypse here mentions; they are a symbol of those who from eternity until the consummation have been pleasing to God. This number was tripled not without purpose, but on account of those pleasing to God having a threefold hypostasis—soul, body, and spirit—for assimilation to the all-ruling Trinity. Concerning the divine inspiration of the book, Basil among the saints, and Gregory the Divine in word, and Cyril, and Papias, and Irenaeus, and Methodius, and Hippolytus, the ecclesiastical fathers, are trustworthy to confirm it. Oikoumenios, Bishop of Trikke in Thessaly, and Arethas, of Caesarea in Cappadocia: a collection of exegeses from holy men on the Apocalypse of the Evangelist.

From the works of Oecumenius, the blessed Archbishop of Thessaly, beloved of God, composed on John the Theologian: a scholastic summary, a summary of the summary, as much as is in summary form. Christ God, assist us. That this writing is a revelation, from the reclining upon the breast of the super-divine wisdom of the beloved, being both divinely inspired and indisputably beneficial, has been accepted; but it is not among the spurious works, as some, confounded by a wandering spirit, have babbled, unless it is both genuine and worthy of the son of thunder. For one must trust Athanasius the Great, in his exposition of the canon of the Old and New Testament books, who judges this also among the genuine; and also Basil the Divine, who showed this briefly in his inquiry concerning the Son; and Gregory the Divine, in his farewell discourse; and Methodius the most wise Bishop of Patara, in his work on the resurrection; and Cyril the Great, in his labors concerning the worship and adoration in spirit; and in addition, Hippolytus, the president of Rome, in his interpretation of the book of Daniel; and many others, to be brief, for whom it did not seem to be cast aside as spurious and rejectable, unless it was judged genuine; they would not have deemed this acceptable to such and so many accurate judgments, unless they knew the moderate value to be earnestly sought in it.

For if this were not so, not even the threefold cord, according to Solomon the Preacher, remaining unbroken would quickly be snapped, much less the sixfold one. Through this Apocalypse, therefore, the disciple of Christ shows that he also abounds in the prophetic gift, since the present writing treasures knowledge of things present, past, and future—which is the case with every prophecy pregnant with meaning, even among those wise in word who stand outside our circle. But since some have been presumptuous, as has been said before, and have sought to discredit this divinely inspired oracle with a charge of spuriousness—insofar as this God-possessed father of discourse is accustomed to exalting with theology the procession, as it were, from the very beginning of his divinely appropriate offspring—he does not do this now; rather, he devotes the proem to the assumption of humanity on our behalf, out of ineffable love for us. It is necessary to say this: that he knew it to be indifferent, with regard to the one and the same reality that subsisted in the ineffable union of the natures that came together, to employ either manner—whether beginning from the more divine aspects of the Savior Christ or from the human aspects in his first writings. Having begun from the more divinely appropriate, he did not refuse to proceed to the human; from which he declares, “And the Word became flesh,” while in the present writing, beginning from the human aspects, so as not to seem to know him only from the more divine, he did not, however, refuse to rest the discourse on the human aspects, but even in these he does not hesitate to assign the more divinely appropriate.

through which he wishes the human nature of the Lord to be contemplated in its superhuman aspects; this is also the aim of the divine Paul in his letter to the Colossians, when he says concerning Christ: "In him all things were created, both those in heaven and those on earth; all things were created through him, and he is before all things; and all things subsist in him; and he is the head of the body of the Church; he is the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might become first in all things.

He himself is preeminent. For the flesh assumed by him, ensouled with a rational soul, so that Emmanuel might be understood without confusion from two natures—divinity and humanity—each existing perfectly according to its own principle, with its natural qualitative property and difference; the elements that have come together being neither confused nor altered, nor yet divided in the integrity of the natures after the ineffable union. So that Nestorius might be put to shame, and Eutyches perish along with him. But as to how the precise and polished doctrine concerning the Savior among the other divine matters is, having dwelt here, as has been said, on human matters, he made use of human words; yet neither are the divine things separated from the human, nor conversely the human from the divine, but the usage proceeds according to more and less.

From the works of Andrew to the most blessed Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, on the Apocalypse: a scholastic summary, set forth by Arethas, unworthy bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. It should be known that the blessed and divinely inspired man divided the entire treatise of the present book into twenty-four discourses and into seventy-two chapters, not without understanding; for the number twenty-four, when tripled, generates seventy-two. The number twenty-four was taken because of the twenty-four elders whom the Apocalypse here mentions; they are a symbol of those who from eternity until the consummation have been pleasing to God. This number was tripled not without purpose, but because of those pleasing to God, who have a threefold constitution—soul, body, and spirit—for assimilation to the all-ruling Trinity. Concerning the divine inspiration of the book, Basil among the saints, and Gregory the Divine, and Cyril, and Papias, and Irenaeus, and Methodius, and Hippolytus, the ecclesiastical fathers, are trustworthy to attest.