enlightened

But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.

Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.

His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

O Lord the God of this house, in which I was first enlightened by thee; O Jesus, son of the living God, who wast my helper before the governor, my helper in the fire, and my helper among the beasts; thou alone art God forever and ever. Amen.

When she departed thence, she went to Seleucia, and enlightened many in the knowledge of Christ.

Therefore have we not shrunk from writing unto you concerning the testimony of Christ our Saviour, of what he did, when we followed with him, how he enlightened our understanding .. .

Having therefore remained with them for five years, he built a church; and having appointed as bishop one of his disciples, and presbyters, and deacons, and prayed for them, he went away, going round the cities of Syria, and teaching, and healing all the sick; whence he brought many cities and countries to Christ through His teaching. Teaching, therefore, and evangelizing along with the disciples, and healing the sick, he went to Berytus, a city of Phœnicia by the sea; and there, having taught and enlightened many, he fell asleep on the twenty-first of the month of August. And the disciples having come together, buried him with great honour; and many sick were healed, and they gave glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

And when the Lord had conquered the tyrant, He sent His apostles into all the world, that He might redeem His people from the deception of the devil; and one of these I am, an apostle of Christ. On this account we seek not after gold and silver, but rather despise them, because we labour to be rich in that place where the kingdom of Him alone endures for ever, where neither trouble, nor grief, nor groaning, nor death, has place; where there is eternal blessedness, and ineffable joy, and everlasting exultation, and perpetual repose. Wherefore also the demon sitting in your temple, who makes responses to you, is kept in chains through the angel of the Lord who has sent me. Because if you shall be baptized, and wish yourself to be enlightened, I will make you behold Him, and learn from how great evils you have been redeemed. At the same time hear also by what means he injures all those who are lying sick in the temple. The devil himself by his own art causes the men to be sick, and again to be healed, in order that they may the more believe in the idols, and in order that he may have place the more in their souls, in order that they may say to the stock and the stone, You are our God. But that demon who dwells in the idol is held in subjection, conquered by me, and is able to give no response to those who sacrifice and pray there. And if you wish to prove that it is so, I order him to return into the idol, and I will make him confess with his own mouth that he is bound, and able to give no response.

And some of the faithful ran up to take down Philip, and take off him the iron grapnels, and the hooks out of his ankles. But Philip said: Do not, my children, do not come near me on account of this, for thus shall be my end. Listen to me, you who have been enlightened in the Lord, that I came to this city, not to make any merchandise, or do any other thing; but I have been destined to go out of my body in this city in the case in which you see me. Grieve not, then, that I am hanging thus; for I bear the stamp of the first man, who was brought to the earth head downwards, and again, through the wood of the cross brought to life out of the death of the transgression. And now I accomplish that which has been enjoined upon me; for the Lord said to me, Unless you shall make that of you which is down to be up, and that which is on the left to be on the right, you shall not enter into my kingdom. Be not therefore likened to the unchanged type, for all the world has been changed, and every soul dwelling in a body is in forgetfulness of heavenly things; but let not us possessing the glory of the heavenly seek that which is without, which is the body and the house of slavery. Be not unbelieving, but believing, and forgive each other's faults. Behold, I hang six days, and I have blame from the true Judge, because I altogether requited you evil, and put a stumbling-block in the way of my rectitude. And now I am going up on high; be not sorrowful, but rather rejoice, because I am leaving this dwelling-place, my body, having escaped from the corruption of the dragon, who punishes every soul that is in sins.

And I found Paul in bed in Antioch from the toil of the journey, who also seeing me, was exceedingly grieved on account of my delaying in Pamphylia. And Barnabas coming, encouraged him, and tasted bread, and he took a little of it. And they preached the word of the Lord, and enlightened many of the Jews and Greeks. And I only attended to them, and was afraid of Paul to come near him, both because he held me as having spent much time in Pamphylia, and because he was quite enraged against me. And I gave repentance on my knees upon the earth to Paul, and he would not endure it. And when I remained for three Sabbaths in entreaty and prayer on my knees, I was unable to prevail upon him about myself; for his great grievance against me was on account of my keeping several parchments in Pamphylia.

And surrounding her her groomsmen keep her, the number of whom is seven, whom she herself hath chosen. And her bridesmaids are seven, and they dance before her. And twelve in number are they that serve before her and are subject unto her, which have their aim and their look toward the bridegroom, that by the sight of him they may be enlightened; and for ever shall they be with her in that eternal joy, and shall be at that marriage whereto the princes are gathered together and shall attend at that banquet whereof the eternal ones are accounted worthy, and shall put on royal raiment and be clad in bright robes; and in joy and exultation shall they both be and shall glorify the Father of all, whose proud light they have received, and are enlightened by the sight of their lord; whose immortal food they have received, that hath no failing, and have drunk of the wine that giveth then neither thirst nor desire. And they have glorified and praised with the living spirit, the Father of truth and the mother of wisdom.

And surrounding her her groomsmen keep her, the number of whom is seven, whom she herself hath chosen. And her bridesmaids are seven, and they dance before her. And twelve in number are they that serve before her and are subject unto her, which have their aim and their look toward the bridegroom, that by the sight of him they may be enlightened; and for ever shall they be with her in that eternal joy, and shall be at that marriage whereto the princes are gathered together and shall attend at that banquet whereof the eternal ones are accounted worthy, and shall put on royal raiment and be clad in bright robes; and in joy and exultation shall they both be and shall glorify the Father of all, whose proud light they have received, and are enlightened by the sight of their lord; whose immortal food they have received, that hath no failing, and have drunk of the wine that giveth then neither thirst nor desire. And they have glorified and praised with the living spirit, the Father of truth and the mother of wisdom.

But the youth said unto the apostle with many tears: Wherein have I sinned against thee? for thou art a man that hast two forms, and wheresoever thou wilt, there thou art found, and art restrained of no man, as I behold. For I saw that man that stood by thee and said unto thee: I have many wonders to show forth by thy means and I have great works to accomplish by thee, for which thou shalt receive a reward; and thou shalt make many to live, and they shall be in rest in light eternal as children of God. Do thou then, saith he, speaking unto thee of me, quicken this youth that hath been stricken of the enemy and be at all times his overseer. Well, therefore, art thou come hither, and well shalt thou depart again unto him, and yet he never shall leave thee at any time. But I am become without care or reproach: and he hath enlightened me from the care of the night and I am at rest from the toil of the day: and I am set free from him that provoked me to do thus, sinning against him that taught me to do contrary thereto: and I have lost him that is the kinsman of the night that compelled me to sin by his own deeds, and have found him that is of the light, and is my kinsman. I have lost him that darkeneth and blindeth his own subjects that they may not know what they do and, being ashamed at their own works, may depart from him, and their works come to an end; and have found him whose works are light and his deeds truth, which if a man doeth he repenteth not of them. And I have left him with whom lying abideth, and before whom darkness goeth as a veil, and behind him followeth shame, shameless in indolence; and I have found him that showeth me fair things that I may take hold on them, even the son of the truth that is akin unto concord, who scattereth away the mist and enlighteneth his own creation, and healeth the wounds thereof and overthroweth the enemies thereof. But I beseech thee, O man of God, cause me to behold him again, and to see him that is now become hidden from me, that I may also hear his voice whereof I am not able to express the wonder, for it belongeth not to the nature of this bodily organ.

Then the holy John said unto them: Go, and redeem to you the lands which ye have sold, for ye have lost the estates of heaven. Buy yourselves silken raiment, that for a time ye may shine like the rose which showeth its fragrance and redness and suddenly fadeth away. For ye sighed at beholding your servants and groaned that ye were become poor. Flourish, therefore, that ye may fade: be rich for the time, that ye may be beggars for ever. Is not the Lord's hand able to make riches overflowing and unsurpassably glorious? but he hath appointed a conflict for souls, that they may believe that they shall have eternal riches, who for his name's sake have refused temporal wealth. Indeed, our master told us concerning a certain rich man who feasted every day and shone with gold and purple, at whose door lay a beggar, Lazarus, who desired to receive even the crumbs that fell from his table, and no man gave unto him. And it came to pass that on one day they died, both of them, and that beggar was taken into the rest which is in Abraham's bosom, but the rich man was cast into flaming fire: out of which he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus, and prayed him to dip his finger in water and cool his mouth for he was tormented in the flames. And Abraham answered him and said: Remember, son, that thou receivedst good things in thy life, but this Lazarus likewise evil things. Wherefore rightly is he now comforted while thou art tormented, and besides all this, a great gulf is fixed between you and us, so that neither can they come thence hither, nor hither thence. But he answered: I have five brethren: I pray that some one may go to warn them, that they come not into this flame. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. To that he answered: Lord, unless one rise up again, they will not believe. Abraham said to him: If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again. And these words our Lord and Master confirmed by examples of mighty works: for when they said to him: Who hath come hither from thence, that we may believe him? he answered: Bring hither the dead whom ye have. And when they had brought unto him a young man which was dead, he was waked up by him as one that sleepeth, and confirmed all his words. But wherefore should I speak of my Lord, when at this present there are those whom in his name and in your presence and sight I have raised from the dead: in whose name ye have seen palsied men healed, lepers cleansed, blind men enlightened, and many delivered from evil spirits? But the riches of these mighty works they cannot have who have desired to have earthly wealth. Finally, when ye yourselves went unto the sick and called upon the name of Jesus Christ, they were healed: ye did drive out devils and restore light to the blind. Behold, this grace is taken from you, and ye are become wretched, who were mighty and great. And where as there was such fear of you upon the devils that at your bidding they left the men whom they possessed, now ye will be in fear of the devils. For he that loveth money is the servant of Mammon: and Mammon is the name of a devil who is set over carnal gains, and is the master of them that love the world. But even the lovers of the world do not possess riches, but are possessed of them. For it is out of reason that for one belly there should be laid up so much food as would suffice a thousand, and for one body so many garments as would furnish clothing for a thousand men. In vain, therefore, is that stored up which cometh not into use, and for whom it is kept, no man knoweth, as the Holy Ghost saith by the prophet: In vain is every man troubled who heapeth up riches and knoweth not for whom he gathereth them. Naked did our birth from women bring us into this light, destitute of food and drink: naked will the earth receive us which brought us forth. We possess in common the riches of the heaven, the brightness of the sun is equal for the rich and the poor, and likewise the light of the moon and the stars, the softness of the air and the drops of rain, and the gate of the church and the fount of sanctification and the forgiveness of sins, and the sharing in the altar, and the eating of the body and drinking of the blood of Christ, and the anointing of the chrism, and the grace of the giver, and the visitation of the Lord, and the pardon of sin: in all these the dispensing of the Creator is equal, without respect of persons. Neither doth the rich man use these gifts after one manner and the poor after another. But wretched and unhappy is the man who would have something more than sufficeth him: for of this come heats of fevers rigours of cold, divers pains in all the members of the body, and he can neither be fed with food nor sated with drink, that covetousness may learn that money will not profit it, which being laid up bringeth to the keepers thereof anxiety by day and night, and suffereth them not even for an hour to be quiet and secure. For while they guard their houses against thieves, till their estate, ply the plough, pay taxes, build storehouses, strive for gain, try to baffle the attacks of the strong, and to strip the weak, exercise their wrath on whom they can, and hardly bear it from others, shrink not from playing at tables and from public shows, fear not to defile or to be defiled, suddenly do they depart out of this world, naked, bearing only their own sins with them, for which they shall suffer eternal punishment.

Then both he that had been raised and all the people together with Atticus and Eugenius, cast themselves at the apostle's feet and besought him to intercede for them with the Lord. Unto whom the holy apostle gave this answer: that for thirty days they should offer penitence to God, and in that space pray especially that the rods of gold might return to their nature and likewise the stones return to the meanness wherein they were made. And it came to pass that after thirty days were accomplished, and neither the rods were turned into wood nor the gems into pebbles, Atticus and Eugenius came and said to the apostle: Thou hast always taught mercy, and preached forgiveness, and bidden that one man should spare another. And if God willeth that a man should forgive a man, how much more shall he, as he is God, both forgive and spare men. We are confounded for our sin: and whereas we have cried with our eyes which lusted after the world, we do now repent with eyes that weep. We pray thee, Lord, we pray thee, apostle of God, show in deed that mercy which in word thou hast always promised. Then the holy John said unto them as they wept and repented, and all interceded for them likewise: Our Lord God used these words when he spake concerning sinners: I will not the death of a sinner, but I will rather that he be converted and live. For when the Lord Jesus Christ taught us concerning the penitent, he said: Verily I say unto you, there is great joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth and turneth himself from his sins: and there is more joy over him than over ninety and nine which have not sinned. Wherefore I would have you know that the Lord accepteth the repentance of these men. And he turned unto Atticus and Eugenius and said: Go, carry back the rods unto the wood whence ye took them, for now are they returned to their own nature, and the stones unto the sea-shore, for they are become common stones as they were before. And when this was accomplished, they received again the grace which they had lost, so that again they cast out devils as before time and healed the sick and enlightened the blind, and daily the Lord did many mighty works by their means.

Now as for that which is to befall me, let it not really trouble you as some strange spectacle, that the servant of God unto whom God himself hath granted much in deeds and words, should by an evil man be driven out of this temporal life: for not only unto me will this come to pass, but unto all them that have loved and believed on him and confess him. The devil that is wholly shameless will arm his own children against them, that they may consent unto him; and he will not have his desire. And wherefore he essayeth this I will tell you. From the beginning of all things, and if I may so say, since he that hath no beginning came down to be under his rule, the enemy that is a foe to peace driveth away from (God) such a one as doth not belong indeed to him, but is some one of the weaker sort and not fully enlightened, nor yet able to recognize himself. And because he knoweth him not, therefore must he be fought against by him (the devil). For he, thinking that he possesseth him and is his master for ever, opposeth him so much, that he maketh their enmity to be a kind of friendship: for suggesting to him his own thoughts, he often portrayeth them as pleasurable and specious, by which he thinketh to prevail over him. He was not, then, openly shown to be an enemy, for he feigned a friendship that was worthy of him.

Now, then, it is fitting for you to know the end of Ptolemaeus. He went home and sorrowed night and day over that which had befallen him, and by reason of the many tears which he shed, he became blind. And when he had resolved to rise up and hang himself, lo, about the ninth hour of the day, he saw a great light which enlightened the whole house, and heard a voice saying unto him: Ptolemaeus, God hath not given thee the vessels for corruption and shame, and yet more doth it not become thee which hast believed in me to defile my virgin, whom thou shalt know as thy sister, even as if I were unto you both one spirit (sic). But rise up and go quickly unto the house of the apostle Peter, and thou shalt see my glory; he shall make known unto thee what thou must do.

But Peter entered in, and beheld one of the aged women, a widow, that was blind, and her daughter giving her her hand and leading her into Marcellus' house; and Peter said unto her: Come hither, mother: from this day forward Jesus giveth thee his right hand, by whom we have light unapproachable which no darkness hideth; who saith unto thee by me: Open thine eyes and see, and walk by thyself. And forthwith the widow saw Peter laying his hand upon her. And Peter entered into the dining-hall and saw that the Gospel was being read, and he rolled up the book and said: Ye men that believe and hope in Christ, learn in what manner the holy Scripture of our Lord ought to be declared: whereof we by his grace wrote that which we could receive, though yet it appear unto you feeble, yet according to our power, even that which can be endured to be borne by (or instilled into) human flesh. We ought therefore first to know the will and the goodness of God, how that when error was everywhere spread abroad, and many thousands of men were being cast down into perdition, God was moved by his mercy to show himself in another form and in the likeness of man, concerning which neither the Jews nor we were able worthily to be enlightened. For every one of us according as he could contain the sight, saw, as he was able. Now will I expound unto you that which was newly read unto you. Our Lord, willing that I should behold his majesty in the holy mount—I, when I with the sons of Zebedee saw the brightness of his light, fell as one dead and shut mine eyes, and heard such a voice from him as I am not able to describe, and thought myself to be blinded by his brightness. And when I recovered (breathed again) a little I said within myself: Peradventure my Lord hath brought me hither that he might blind me. And I said: If this also be thy will, Lord, I resist not. And he gave me his hand and raised me up; and when I arose I saw him again in such a form as I was able to take in. As, therefore, the merciful God, dearly beloved brethren, carried our infirmities and bare our sins (as the prophet saith: He beareth our sins and suffereth for us; but we did esteem him to be in affliction and smitten with plagues), for he is in the Father and the Father in him—he also is himself the fulness of all majesty, who hath shown unto us all his good things: he did eat and drink for our sakes, himself being neither an-hungered nor athirst; he carried and bare reproaches for our sakes, he died and rose again because of us; who both defended me when I sinned and comforted me by his greatness, and will comfort you also that ye may love him: this God who is great and small, fair and foul, young and old, seen in time and unto eternity invisible; whom the hand of man hath not held, yet is he held by his servants; whom no flesh hath seen, yet now seeth; who is the word proclaimed by the prophets and now appearing; not subject to suffering, but having now made trial of suffering for our sake (or like unto us); never chastised, yet now chastised; who was before the world and hath been comprehended in time; the great beginning of all principality, yet delivered over unto princes; beautiful, but among us lowly; seen of all yet foreseeing all. This Jesus ye have, brethren, the door, the light, the way, the bread, the water, the life, the resurrection, the refreshment, the pearl, the treasure, the seed, the abundance (harvest), the mustard seed, the vine, the plough, the grace, the faith, the word: he is all things and there is none other greater than he. Unto him be praise, world without end. Amen.

And in his priesthood the Gentiles shall be multiplied in knowledge upon the earth, and enlightened through the grace of the Lord. In his priesthood shall sin come to an end, and the lawless shall cease to do evil.

But some perhaps may answer that not all men are masters of the passions because not all men have their Reason enlightened.

. THAT THE PEOPLE OUGHT TO BRING OFFERINGS TO THE CHURCH ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITY. (ii. 26.) Hear now also, ye people of the elect Church of God. For of old the Hebrews were called the people of God, a holy people; but now ye are priests, a holy people, elect (in) your generation, and your names are written in heaven for a kingdom and a priesthood, a holy people, a bride adorned for the Lord God, a glorious and faithful Church. Hear how it was appointed of old what should be given to those set in authority over the Church of God,’ (whether) vows, first-fruits of corn, or tithes for the salvation of men’s souls. The beginning of the name of Jesus is iota, by number, ten. Hear, O thou Holy Church, the congregation of people which hath been founded on iota, which was manifested in the law, and hath kept the faith, and believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, and been a guide to the knowledge of the word iota, and hath stood fast in the perfection of His glory. For in old times they brought sacrifices, and thank-offerings, and vows, and tithes, and first-fruits, which were their oblations in those days; but now let the bishops and priests offer the sacrifice of the oblation to the Lord our God and our Lord Jesus Christ, who died as a ransom for us. And He hath appointed high-priests, and presbyters, and deacons,” and readers, and singers, and doorkeepers, and deaconesses; and also widows, and virgins, and orphans. And over all these is set the bishop, for he is the teacher and instructor of all who serve God in the right faith, and for their sakes he delivereth the word. It is right that they obey him, for he is the teacher of the law for all, and besides their father, who hath begotten them by water and by the spirit. Since he is your chief and your teacher, and your stay, and your god on earth under the true God, ye ought to magnify him, and others who are like him; even as God spake by the mouth of David the prophet, saying, “I said ye are gods, and all of you children of the Most High.” '? Speak no evil word against the gods, that is, the bishops; but let the bishops have the first seat amongst you, for to them hath been given honour and glory from the Lord God, that they may feed His people in peace, as Christ the great High-priest." But let the deacon minister in purity without blame, and let him do nothing without the permission of the bishop his father. And let the deaconess do nothing without the permission of the deacon. And let no other woman go to the deacon save only with the deaconess; and in like manner let no woman go to the bishop save with the deacon. Honour then the priests, for they admonish you and teach you the way of God; and ye shall receive from them the word in the right faith. For He sent them to preach, and teach, and admonish, and baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach men to observe all that He had commanded them. Honour widows and orphans as the Church; and virgins also as the altar and the offering of incense. [ii., 27.] For of old none was able to offer sacrifice except he were of the sons of Levi, and the people could not approach the altar except along with the priests." And in like manner do ye also do nothing without the counsel of the bishop. He who acteth thus without the permission of the bishop his work () is idle and vain and without profit. As Saul offered a sacrifice without Samuel the prophet, and heard a voice saying, “Thy sacrifice is vain”; in like manner, if a layman do (anything) without the priest, it is vain. Uzziah the King also, when he was not a priest, and yet did the office of a priest, became a leper. And if there be anyone of the people that usurpeth the priest’s office, and doeth not the commandments of God, he shall not escape judgment, for he hath taken an honour that was not given unto him, and hath resisted the priesthood, and hath not imitated Christ, ‘‘who glorified not Himself to be made a great High-priest”; but patiently endured until He heard the voice of the Father saying, ‘‘The Lord sware, and will not repent, thou art his priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” But if Christ glorified not Himself without the Father who is equal with Him, how then can a man by himself take the priesthood to himself, unless he that hath authority over him have given it unto him? For the sons of Korah were of the tribe of Levi, yet when they strove against Moses and Aaron, the fire consumed them, because they sought to take that which belonged not to them. Dathan and Abiram went down alive into Sheol. The rod that budded destroyed the counsel of many foolish men, and He made manifest thereby the great High-priest who was ordained by God. Therefore, brethren, ye ought to bring your sacrifices and your incense to the bishop, for he is the High-priest. Bring unto him your first-fruits and tithes (and) all your vows, that he may give to each one according to his need, even to the destitute who have nothing. Let him appoint unto them as is fitting, that none wrong his neighbour in receiving alms. The bishop ought to exercise due care concerning all the destitute, and to examine their lives and know well their condition.. at [ii., 28.] Moreover when the faithful desire to invite to a feast the destitute and the widows, as the Lord hath commanded, the deacons ought to minister. And let them, knowing well the lives (of all), invite them and set them each one in his place, as is fitting. And let them distribute unto them; and to the shepherd also let them give thereof in secret, for the honour of God, seeing that the priesthood hath been given unto him. And after distribution hath been made unto the widows, let the deacons take thereof two portions; and in like manner the presbyters also, who watch, and teach the word of admonition, and let them receive double, for they are apostles of our Lord,” they being counsellors of the bishop, and the crown of the Church, who therein judge uprightly. And let the reader receive one portion, and in like manner the singers also, and let the doorkeepers get each one according to the appointment of the Church; and to the people let them give such portions as befit them. And let them not neglect the bishop, nor delay to give unto him, but send speedily unto him along with the ministering deacons. The deacons ought to inform the bishop of every need of the people, that he may command them to do as befitteth. For of old there was no man that entered into the temple, or did anything (therein) without the Priest. Malachi the prophet saith, “For the priest’s lips keep counsel and search out the law.”! For those who serve (false) gods, and do their will, and set themselves up. as righteous, though they are impure and their works evil, and (who) have no good works, and account themselves as the saints—men indeed seeing their works mock at, and detest, and despise them— yet is there none of these that can accomplish or do anything without the counsel of the idol-priests, but they look up to them and hearken to the voice of him that commandeth them, and do all that he saith unto them; and they honour the idol-priests, and put their trust in them, and believe in their gods. Now if they believe in these that have no life, and (if they) serve unclean spirits in whom is no profit, and hope in vanity and set themselves up as righteous, how much more should we, who have received grace, and have an enlightened faith and a perfect hope wherein is no deceit, believe the message which is full of glory and without fear, that we may please the Lord our God. For know of a truth that the first fathers and the bishops are the mouth of God. [ii., 29.] For Aaron spake to Pharaoh, being a helper to Moses, and therefore he was called the prophet, and Moses was called the god of Pharaoh, as a king and high-priest. Even as God said unto him, “Behold, I have made thee to be a god unto Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother to be unto thee a prophet.” How then do ye not believe them, for they intercede for you, and deliver the word? [ii., 30.] Serve them, for they are prophets and servants of God, the deacon like Aaron, and the bishop like Moses. And if Moses was called a god by the Lord, it is right that for you also to honour the bishops as God, and the deacon as a prophet. As Christ did nothing without the Father, in like manner let the deacon do nothing without the counsel of the bishop. Also there is nothing that the Son doeth without the Father, and as the Son is subject to His Father, in like manner let the deacon be subject to the bishop.

OF THE RIGHT FAITH AND THE HOLY TRINITY WHICH THE APOSTLES PREACHED TO US IN TRUTH. [vi., 11.] But we, (being) children of God and sons of peace, preach this holy word to those who are obedient in uprightness. We believe in One God, the Maker of the whole creation, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose existence is without cause (), even as we said before, but He is existent at all times without beginning or end. and in Him is light unquenchable, and to Him none can approach. He is not two, nor three, nor is He capable of increase, but He is One alone who abideth for ever. Yet He is not a hidden (Being) who cannot be known, but we have known surely by the Law and the prophets that He is Almighty and the Ruler of the whole creation. He is the One God, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who was begotten before the world was created, the only-begotten Son, who is equal with Him, the maker of all hosts and powers and dominions; who was pleased to become man in the latter days, and took flesh of the holy Virgin Mary, without seed of man, and grew up” amongst men, without sin, or trespass, nor was there guile in His mouth; and afterwards He suffered and died without sin in the flesh, and rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven to the Father, who had sent Him, and sat down on the right hand of power; and He sent to us the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who proceedeth from the Father, and hath saved the world; who is co-existent with the Father and the Son. We say then that every creature of God is good and there is nothing (to be) rejected, but that the spirit, the life of the flesh, is pure and holy in all things. We say that marriage is pure, and the begetting of children not unclean, for God made Adam and Eve that man might be multiplied. We understand then that there is in our body a soul which doth not die, nor perish with the body; but we abhor every deed of apostates from the faith, and all divisions, and transgression of the law, for unto us such are unclean. Again, we believe in the. resurrection of the dead, both of the righteous and sinful in the day of judgment, when every man shall be requited according to his works. Moreover, we believe that Christ was in nothing subjected to loss by His incarnation, but that He is God the Word, who became man in truth, and reconciled the race of man with God, and (that He is) the High-priest of the Father. We do not practise circumcision then like the Jews; we know that He hath come who fulfilled the Law and the prophets, for whose coming all the nations hoped, Jesus Christ who sprang from Judah and from the root of Jesse, and whose government is on His shoulder. [vi., 12.] For in those days ungodliness grew strong, and led many astray, whereby the Church was disturbed. Then we gathered together in Jerusalem, we the twelve apostles, and appointed Matthias in the place of Judas Iscariot, even as it is written, “And his office let another take "; and we were assembled together with James our Lord’s brother, the bishop of Jerusalem, and we took counsel with the presbyters to speak to the people words of admonition. For there were some who set forth from Judaea, and went to Antioch to teach the brethren who were in that place, saying, Unless ye be circumcised according to the law of Moses, and walk according to his ordinance, ye shall not be saved; and there arose enmity and strife. Then the brethren who were in Antioch knew that we were gathered together and had enquired concerning this matter, and they sent unto us faithful men, who had knowledge of the holy Scriptures, to search out this thing. And they came to us in Jerusalem to declare unto us all that had happened in Antioch; and there were some who said unto them, Ye must needs be circumcised, and do what is in the ordinances of the Law. But I Peter rose up and said unto the people, Brethren, ye know that God chose the Gentiles who took heed unto the preaching of the Gospel, and believed, to whom God who knoweth the hearts bare witness. And to Cornelius the centurion an angel of the Lord appeared, and bade him send to me that he might hear from my mouth the word of life. And he sent to me to the city of Joppa, and brought me to Caesarea. And before I came unto him, I stood on a lofty place and prayed; and behold I saw the heaven opened, and a great sheet descend to the earth, held by its corners; and‘in it were creeping things and beasts and birds of the heaven. And heard a voice which said, Arise, Peter, kill and eat; and I said, Never hath there entered into my mouth anything defiled, which was not clean. And again a voice came which said, What God hath cleansed, count thou not unclean, and the whole (sheet) was drawn up again into heaven. And while I thought thus, What thing is this that hath appeared unto me the Holy Spirit said unto me, Behold (certain) men are seeking thee; arise and go with them without doubting, for I have sent (them) to thee. These were they whom the centurion had sent. Then I thought in my heart, and believed what the Scripture saith, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved"; and again it is said, “Let all the ends of the earth remember and turn unto the Lord, and let all the lands of the nations worship before him; for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he shall judge the nations.”" Moreover, I remembered that which is written concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and [went with them, and entered into the man’s house, and preached the word. And forthwith the Holy Spirit descended upon him and upon all who were with him, even as He had descended upon us; and there was no distinction between us in faith, and in the purification of our hearts. And I perceived that God respecteth not persons, but that all nations that fear God and do righteousness are well-pleasing before Him. Then the faithful rose up and said, How long tempt ye God, and lay on the shoulders of the Gentiles a heavy burden which they cannot bear? But we believe that we shall be saved by grace even as (they). The Lord hath loosed us from the bond of sin, and lightened (and removed) from off us the heavy burden. And when I had said this, all the people kept silence. Then James the brother of our Lord answered and said unto them, Hearken unto what I say unto you: behold Simeon hath before declared how God chose the Gentiles for His inheritance as it is written, “I will come and build the house of David which is in ruins, and I will raise up those that have fallen, that all the Gentiles on whom my name is named may turn to the Lord, saith the Lord.” Wherefore I say unto you, Lay no burden on the Gentiles who have turned to God, but command them to abstain from all (that is) unclean, and not to eat that which dieth of itself, or which hath been sacrificed to (false) gods, and (to abstain from) fornication, (and from) what is not commanded in the law, and is not written in the book of the fathers, Enosh, Enoch and Noah and Melchizedek and Job and others such as they. Then the apostles, and James, the bishop of Jerusalem, and the presbyters of the Church agreed, and chose from amongst us men whom they should send with Barnabas and Paul the tent-maker, both Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were chosen from the brethren. Then we wrote and sent (a letter) to the brethren in the churches of Antioch and Syria, saying, Peace be unto you. Because we have heard (that there arc) some who have troubled your souls with words, to whom we gave no (such) commandment, now also we having agreed together have chosen men to send unto you with our brethren Barnabas and Paul, men who have surrendered their lives for Jesus Christ’s sake. And we have sent Judas and Silas that they may inform you (of these things). For the Holy Spirit agreed with us that we should lay no burden (upon you) nor add any other (charge) save this only, that men should abstain from anything sacrificed to (false) gods, and from that which dieth of itself, and from blood, and from fornication; and that what they hate for themselves they should not do to their neighbours. Take heed to these things and peace be to you. (vi., 13.] This letter we sent, (but) we laboured in Jerusalem for many days, desiring to do what was good for us and you (? ). And after a few days we visited the brethren and confirmed them with the word of admonition, and commanded them to keep far from those who blasphemed against the name of the Lord and against Moses. For these are ravening (wolves), and make themselves like unto sheep, and strive against the Lord and Moses and the prophets, (being) false Christs and false prophets and lying apostles who destroy the nations, and bow down themselves to the earth, and think all (manner of) evil, and spoil the holy vineyard. And by reason of these the love of many shall wax cold; but he who patiently endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And concerning these our Lord commanded us, saying, “ Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves, and from their fruit ye shall know them.” [vi., 14.] And because of this we all have assembled in one place—we are the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, Peter and Andrew; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Cananean; Thaddaeus and Matthias who was numbered with us and appointed in place of Judas Iscariot; and James the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the bishop of Jerusalem and Paul the chosen (vessel) and teacher of the Gentiles—and being gathered together in one place we have sent unto you this holy message.” Ye also, faithful brethren, have believed in Christ, by whom were all things: and now also we say unto you that there is One God Almighty, and there is no other god besides Him; (and) we teach you to worship Him, and adore Him, and to serve Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and to read the Holy Scriptures of the Law and the prophets. Honour your parents, and abstain from all that contendeth against the law; and believe in the resurrection and the day of judgment; and wait in hope for that time. when He shall render to every man according to his works. For the whole creation is from God, and not from Satan; but all evil is from Satan. And in lawful marriage there is no defilement nor loss, but rather it is from God, for in the beginning He created (them) male and female; and for this cause it is said “Let a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife, and let them two be one flesh.”! And after a man is married, let him not put away his wife, but for fornication only, for “she is thy spirit and thy flesh, for I created them and not another.” Again, it is said, “What God hath joined together let not man separate.” For he that separateth himself from his wife, dividing the one flesh, hath transgressed the commandment of God. le also that hath married one that is divorced hath defiled his flesh; and he that hath cleaved to an adulteress hath quite transgressed the law. Cut off the adulteress from thy flesh, for she is not thine. Defile ye not then your flesh, for circumcision of the heart in a pure spirit is sufficient for the faithful. ([vi., 15.] Make no repetition of baptism: the first baptism which you have received sufficeth for you, for ye were buried into the death of Christ; (a baptism) which hath not been given to the ungodly and unbelieving, but to holy priests who have bestowed it upon you into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the. Holy Spirit. Receive not baptism at the hands of apostates from the faith. For there is one baptism, and one God, the Father, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit: one is the death of Jesus in the flesh; and in like manner let your baptism which ye have received into His death be one. And he that believeth not, and doeth not thus, his portion shall be with the ungodly in their evil doctrine. To those who do thus, God saith, “ Because ye have rejected my doctrine, also will reject you and forsake you, and not make you priests unto me. - And those who are baptized by them are not cleansed, but are unclean, and have no remission of sin. So are they who receive a second baptism, and make the work of Christ a mockery, and despise holy things, and blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, and count unclean His precious blood, and set at naught His sufferings and His testimony. But those who believe not, and are not baptized into the right faith, are transgressors of the law and condemned, for they reproach Him, and give Him not thanks. Our Lord saith, “He that is not born again of water and the Holy Spirit cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven,” but he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned.” And he who saith, Afterwards I will be baptized, and maketh light of baptism, the same shall be condemned and be far from God. Delay not to turn to the Lord for man knoweth not that which shall come upon him. And baptize your children, while they are babes, and feed them with spiritual food, and bring them up with admonition and wisdom, for it is said, “ Suffer the little children (and) forbid them not to come unto me.” [vi., 16.) Behold we have written all this unto you, beloved brethren, that ye may understand wisdom and knowledge, and not receive idle words which the ungodly put forth in our name. Say not, then, We have apostles who will pray for us, but rather see whether their deeds are right. For there are some that do many mighty works, which are full of the poison of death, in the name of Christ, like Simon the Sorcerer and Cleobius, and those with them in every place, who lead men astray. [Ye also are they that have loved Christ (and) we are His servants.] And others also of the ancients have written apocryphal books of Moses, and Enoch, and Adam, and Seth, and Isaiah, and David, and Elijah, and the three patriarchs, who strove against those that were transgressors of the law. Moreover (certain) have written books that are vain; who account themselves elect and pure, and say, Our Scriptures are sure, though they are unclean. From those who do thus keep far away, lest ye be condemned with those that have written to lead astray the faithful—who are blameless, the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. [vi., 17-] We said, then, concerning bishops and presbyters that they should live with one wife before ordination, but that after ordination it is net right that they should marry. And again we give commandment concerning the servants who are obedient to the Church, sub-deacons, and readers, and doorkeepers that they should live with one wife, and (in one) marriage. But after they have received baptism and ordination, let them not commit sin, lest they fall into condemnation. Behold we give commandment that they marry not a harlot, nor a servant, nor a woman that is divorced, nor a widow, even as it is written in the law. Moreover let the deaconess be a pure virgin, or a faithful widow who hath been married to one man. (Such) women ought to be appointed. (vi., 18.] Those women also who turn from sin, receive. This is the will of God in Jesus Christ. And as touching the catechumens when they understand the teaching, baptize them into the name to the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; and command the faithful to separate themselves from those that serve not God, (and not to have fellowship with them) in anything, whether counsel or word or prayer. And put them forth from the Church of God, for they are strangers, and evil, and corrupt, who destroy the sheep of Christ's flock; concerning whom the wise Solomon saith, Woe to the unbelieving who account themselves wise, and their latter end (cometh) unto the condemnation of Sheol." These are they that teach false doctrine, and blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, from whom hath been taken the portion of the inheritance which they received from Him, and who have forgiveness neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. For they have transgressed more grievously than the Jews and the heathen, who have blasphemed against God (who is) the Creator of all things and is above all; and they have risen up against His Son, and denied the Holy Spirit, and made void the holy Scriptures, and made blasphemy their portion,“ and spoiled the Church of Christ. These are the foxes that spoil the vineyard. From such we bid you keep far away. For he that followeth a wise man shall be wise like unto him; but he that followeth a fool shall be a fool like unto him. Ye ought not to dwell with robbers, nor be partakers with adulterers. Hear what the holy David saith, “I have hated, O Lord, them that hate thee, and have been troubled because of thine enemies. I have hated them with a perfect hatred and they are become mine enemies. or God cursed Jehoshaphat because of the love and help of King Ahab; and to King [Uzziah] he said by [Joel] the prophet, “Thou hast been a help to a sinner; wilt thou then save him whom the Lord hath hated?’ “ Wherefore there came on him speedily the anger of the Lord; because his heart was not right with Him, his works were diminished in “ Ps,. the earth. Keep, then, far from them, and receive not their salutation. Concerning them saith the prophet, “The wicked have no rejoicing before God.” These are ravening wolves and dogs that have no mercy And when the day hath drawn nigh and the hour is come, they will be evil, even as our Lord saith in the Gospel, “In the latter days faith and love shall grow less, and sin shall be multiplied, and there shall come false Christs and false prophets, and they shall do signs in heaven and seduce many of the elect. Behold then let us pray to God to save us from their error by Jesus Christ, and to deliver us from the ungodly people, that we may confirm the Church and save many, and heal them by much admonition, and by the word of grace. But those who received not our preaching could not be healed, and have gone forth from the flock, lest they should corrupt other undefiled sheep in whom was no blemish. Thus, then, we have ordained in all lands, and have set forth for you this right doctrine of the Didascalia in truth and in purity as a memorial for those who believed in our Lord Jesus Christ; and we have sent (it) with Clement the beloved and the elect Barnabas, and our beloved son Timothy and the blessed Mark, and with these Titus and Luke, and Jason and Lucius, and Sosipater. [vi., 19.] We beseech you therefore: imitate these and hear their words, and shun your former manner of life, for the former things have passed away; and become new yourselves, for ye have known our Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things; and (who) hath given unto us a pure law (for) the salvation of our souls, wherein He put His own perfect name, which is without division or defect, or change, unspotted and converting souls, When the Hebrews forgot this, He gave them a memorial by Malachi the prophet, who saith, “ Remember the law of Moses the man of God who enjoined on you these commandments of righteousness and holiness.” But our Lord Jesus Christ did not abolish the ordinances of the Law, nor diminish (them), but rather said, “ One word shall not pass from the Law, till all this be fulfilled.” Again, He saith, “I have not come to abolish the Law and the prophets, but to fulfil them.” or Moses the legislator, prophet and king, and Elijah the prophet, who appeared with our Lord when He was transfigured before them, bare testimony concerning His passion and His death and His incarnation as friends, and men of His household, and not as strangers. [vi., 20.] The Lord gave the ordinance, the ten words which are in the Law and the holy prophets, and they heard His voice continuously, before they made for themselves the calf which the Egyptians called Apis. For the ordinance is righteous, and therefore was it called the law; and He judgeth in uprightness. Simon and those with him hate this ordinance, and praise themselves, but they shall go down to Gehenna. But the law is good and holy, for He saith, “If thou wilt make for me an altar, build it for me in the land,” and He saith not, “Build for me,” except (it be) thy pleasure, for God needeth not sacrifices and offerings from us. But Abel, and Noah, and Abraham, the friends of God, offered up sacrifices of incense unto Him according to their pleasure. And in like manner the Hebrews did thus according to their pleasure. And it was not He who commanded them, but they themselves did His good pleasure, and He received their sacrifices which they offered up unto Him with a pure heart. Wherefore He saith, ‘I desire not your incense, nor do I need aught, for the world is mine and all that is therein.” In days of old the people forgat God, and made for themselves a calf as a god instead of the true God. And when they came out of Egypt it is said, “Is this thy god, O Israel, that brought thee forth from the land of Egypt?” They worshipped a calf in (their) ungodliness, and forsook God who had sent Moses, and brought them out of sore affliction. And behold God wrought signs by the hand of Moses his servant, and with the rod which destroyed the Egyptians with the ten plagues, and wherewith he smote the Red Sea, and made them pass through it on dry ground as it were a course for horses; but he overwhelmed his enemies therein; and he made sweet the fountain of bitter water; and he clave the rock and made water to pour forth for them; he overshadowed them by day with a cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire; and he enlightened them and led them—but they knew not whither they were going; he brought down from heaven manna for them to eat and (sent them) flesh as the dust; and he gave them the law in the desert, and made them ready to hear His voice. They forsook him who had done all this, and said to Aaron, “Make us gods who shall go with us.” And (Aaron) made a calf for them, and they bowed down before it. And God knew that they felt no gratitude for all that, He had done for them, so they were bound with bonds that could not be loosed, and were cast into a net, whence was no escape. (And God said unto them), “When ye make an altar, offer up thereon sacrifices at all times.” For He saith, Thou didst forget God who saved thee, and gavest no. thanks to my name. Offer then your offerings that there ye may remember to give thanks to my name. And substitute not an unclean beast for a clean, for if ye do thus, I will bring upon you sore punishment as (on) an evil and slothful and foolish servant, and ye shall [not] be bound with the bonds of the commandment. Take heed then and fall not into the error of (having) many gods, lest there come upon you the word which saith “Where is thy God, O Israel?”' And remember what is written, saying, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is One.” And abide ye in this ordinance, and know that there is no other god besides Him in heaven or in earth; love Him with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and fear Him alone, and set not in thy heart the name of strange gods, nor make mention of them with thy mouth, for because of the guile of their hearts God bound them. [vi., 21.] But as for you, since ye have known the One God with a pure heart, and a good understanding, and have heard the voice of the Saviour, blessed are your eyes, for they have seen, and your ears for they have heard. Behold ye are loosed from the bonds and are freed from the servitude. Moreover He saith, “I will not call you my servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth unto him; but ye are my friends. Behold I have taught you all that I have heard from my Father.” But as for those who desire not to see nor to hear, their heart hath been hardened, and they are far from Him. (vi., 22.) But blessed are ye from whom God hath taken away His curse. For Christ the Son of God came, (and) established and fulfilled the law; and He removed the heavy burden that was therein, (and) saved us, and freed us from the service of sin, and had mercy on us, and gave us life eternal. And again He saith, “He that will come after me, let him await my second coming.” But He received not the sacrifices and offerings which the nations offered, for oftentimes they offered unto Him; and they thought that it was by multiplying sacrifices that they would be saved, without repentance, from the scourge of God’s anger. Moreover it is said, “ Wherefore bring ye to me incense from Saba, and cinnamon from a far country? I have no pleasure in your sacrifices, and will not receive your incense.” And again Isaiah saith, Wherefore offer ye to me your sacrifices; I am sated with the sacrifices of rams and oxen and with the fat of sheep. I desire not the blood of oxen and goats. If ye bring (them), will ye not show me who hath required this at your hands? Ye shall not again tread the courts of my house. And if ye bring fine flour, it is in vain; your incense, and your feasts, and your sabbaths, and your great day I desire not; your fasts also and your prayers I desire not; my soul hath hated (them) and ye are an abomination unto me.” Moreover the prophet saith, “Remove from me the sound of thine anger.” Again Samuel the prophet said to Saul, when he desired to sacrifice, ‘‘To hearken is better than to sacrifice and knowledge than the fat of sheep, for the Lord desireth not that thou shouldst sacrifice to him, but rather that thou shouldst hearken to his word.” And David also saith, “I will take no oxen from thy house, nor rams from thy flock, for all the beasts of the field are mine; the cattle of the field also, and the oxen; and I know all the birds of the heaven; and the beauty of field also is with me. If I be hungry I will not ask of thee, for the whole world is mine, with the fulness thereof. I will not eat the flesh of oxen, nor drink the blood of goats. Sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise and send up thy prayer to the Most High.” Moreover it is written in the Scripture that He desireth not the incense of those that have sinned against Him, for unclean before Him is the sacrifice of the ungodly who offer contrary to the law: everyone who eateth of it is unclean. But He desireth above all a meek heart and a humble spirit which are better than sacrifice. Behold, then, He came to bring to an end the sacrifices of blood which they offered. [vi., 23-] For He said in the Law, “The Lord thy God is One”; again He said in the Gospel, ‘This is life eternal that they should know the One true God." Moreover He said, ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself”; (and) repeated (it in the Gospel) and said, “I have given you a commandment that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” For thus He said (in the law) Thou shalt not kill, but He hath commanded us never to hate anyone. He who said Thou shalt not commit adultery nor desire thy neighbour’s wife, behold He hath commanded (us not even to look upon a woman to lust after her). He said (then), Thou shalt not steal, but He hath commanded us to abstain from every evil deed, and to love our enemies. For He who said, Ye shall not render evil to him that doeth you injury, hath commanded us to be at peace with all men; for mercy is better than those who desire vengeance unrighteously (?). He said (then), “Honour your parents; but He hath commanded us to humble ourselves unto all men. He put an end to circumcision, and He Himself fulfilled circumcision: and He fulfilled the hope for which the whole world was hoping. He who said, “Perform unto the Lord thine oath,” hath commanded us not to swear by anything. Instead of sacrifices of blood He hath given us a rational bloodless offering; and instead of sacrifices in one place, He hath commanded us that our offering should be made in all the earth from the rising of the sun even to its setting.”... Moses saith in the law, Read thou the words which I have commanded thee while thou workest, or while thou sittest, or while thou standest, or while thou walkest in the way.” ” And David also saith, “ But the law of the Lord is his delight, and in his law he will meditate day and night.” And everywhere He hath commanded that they should do that which (is written) in the law, and not transgress the ordinance. And again it is said, “Blessed are they that are pure in their way, and that walk in his ways, and seek him with all their heart.” Moreover it is said in the Gospel, “ Blessed are ye, if ye do this.” (vi., 24.] For on account of this is the law manifest in righteousness, and illumineth all the world, (even) those who believe in our Lord, and have forsaken the worship of idols, and kept far from wickedness and received all that is good. And the Jews also, who have rejected the covenants, whose hearts were blinded, and (who) followed the way of those who said, ‘We have no king but Caesar,” and said again, “If we let this man alone, the Romans will come, (and) will take away our nation and our land,” prophesied against Him and said, ‘It is better for us to put one man to death, than that the nation perish.” (Yet) all nations have believed in Him, and the Romans have taken away their authority and all their ordinances; and therefore are they accursed because they have not been able to do His commandment. Moreover it is said, “Cursed is he that doeth not all the commandments which are written in the book of the law.” [vi., 25.] But we follow the way of Christ, that we may receive a blessing: and let us receive the law, and the prophets, and the holy Gospel; and turn aside from those that worship many gods, and let us keep far from the murderers of Christ, and from them that slew the prophets. These are the unbelieving Jews. And let us be humble and firm in faith in Christ the King who hath authority over all things, and is the teacher of the law, and the guardian of the ordinances. ([vi., 26.] Keep far, then, bishops and priests and people, from (those that cause) division (even) from those that account unclean the Law and the prophets, being the enemies of God Almighty; and who believe not in Christ the Son of God, and separate (?) His birth in the flesh, and blaspheme against His sufferings in the flesh, and revile His cross, and mock at His death, and believe not in His resurrection, and make void His generation from the Father before the whole creation, [and say (that in Him) are flesh and soul and not the Godhead]. And there are others who say that Jesus Christ is above the whole creation, and glorify Him and say that He alone is the Father; and again they say that He is the Son and the Paraclete. Are not these then more impious than all? And there are others who say that the resurrection of the dead (is of) souls without bodies. To these He saith, Depart into fire eternal. Keep far (from such men), beloved brethren, lest ye be condemned together with them. [vi., 27.] [And those that watch the stars, and worship the host of heaven, and observe days and hours —as for such, will He accept their prayers, and be pleased with their offerings and will they read the holy Scriptures? These then are void () of the Holy Spirit, which abideth in the heart of the faithful. Solomon saith concerning the saints, “Let them be prepared, if they sleep, to watch; if they sleep and awake, to be wise in truth and love.”] For the Holy Spirit is not far from faithful Christian people from the day of their birth, until they die. Let a woman after her child-bearing remain in her separation seven days. But if she think in her heart, and say, How shall the Holy Spirit abide upon me, while am unclean and if (her) faith grow weak, and she be without good works, the Holy Spirit will not abide upon her. For this matter is not a transgression of the law, but marriage, and the customary separation of women, and nocturnal pollutions hinder not the Holy Spirit. But with the ungodly and unbelieving who have transgressed the law and the ordinances, the Holy Spirit will not abide. And those that have not the Holy Spirit are the habitation of unclean (spirits): but upon those that have believed and (that) hope in His second coming the Holy Spirit abideth. [For the Paraclete hateth lies and every (evil) work; and the devil hateth works of righteousness and goodness. And whosoever is baptized in faith is separated from the spirit of Satan, and is the habitation of the Holy Spirit: and he that doeth His will is filled with wisdom and knowledge, and the unclean spirit cannot come nigh to him. The unclean spirit loveth such as are ungrateful, slothful, and sinners and sorcerers, for the devil by his want of gratitude fell from his throne, and was deprived of the glory of God. And he himself chose to be Satan rather than to be an archangel. Wherefore women ought to beware of every evil and vain thing, and be mindful of God, who created all things, and to follow His law, (and) not work the pleasure of the flesh, except only in lawful wedlock. Beware then of the counsel of evil men, and of union with them. [vi., 28.] Wherefore separate yourselves, beloved brethren, from all the heathen who practise evil, and keep far from them; and count not as an abomination the flesh of men’s dead bodies. We believe that the dead shall live and rise again. And in like manner lawful marriage is not an abomination, for the union of man and woman is righteous (before God) who created man and woman, and blessed them, and said unto them, “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.” Behold we understand that from God are all these things; without Him was not anything. Howbeit the men of Sodom sinned; they perverted nature and wrought abomination; and in like manner (sin) those who practise bestiality, which is unclean and is a transgression of the law. They that do such things shall not escape from punishment, for they defile pure marriage, and do what is unseemly and what is not commanded in the law; (but as) it is said, ‘They are joined one to another, man with man. But they work their own shame, and their iniquity shall return on their own heads.” For the Scripture saith, “If any man lieth with a man as with a woman; they have wrought uncleanness, let both of them die the death ”’; and, ‘He that lieth with a beast, let him die the death ’’; and, ‘He that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, let him die the death,” for it is a shame to Israel. ‘The hire of a harlot, and the price of a dog they shall not offer in the house of the Lord.” This is what is forbidden in the law, but marriage is pure. And God blessed the union of man and woman. And Solomon also saith, ‘The union of man and man is abominable before the Lord.” David saith, “Let thy wife be as a pleasant vine in the chamber of thy house, and thy children also as young olive plants at thy table. Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.” For a man that is a lover of God ought not to be subject to lust. [vi., 29.] And let the women also be obedient to their own husbands in love and fear, even as the blessed Sarah was obedient to her husband Abraham, and said to him, My lord. She did not name his name, but said of him, My lord is old. And in like manner, ye men, love your wives, for they are your members and sharers with you in the begetting of children. It is said, “ Love the wife of thy youth, as the hart loveth the fountains of waters; for she is thine and is with thee at all times, and is a member of thine.” For it is said, “Take heed to yourselves and forsake not your wives.” And as touching the lawful union of man and wife, when they rise from sleep let them not give heed to ceremonial washings, but rather take thought for prayer and supplication to God. But if a man lie with the wife of his neighbour, or defile himself with a harlot, and, when he riseth, wash himself in the sea, and in all the waters of the rivers, he shall not be able to cleanse himself; but his portion shall be rather in eternal condemnation. [vi., 30.] Take no heed then of laws relating to the flesh, for lawful marriage is not unclean; nor seek after the way of the Jews, nor use at all times (such ceremonial) washings, nor practise their customary purifications.

Let her hymns of praise be said thus quietly: Holy, holy, without spot, who hast Thy dwelling in the light, God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, God of Enoch and David, of Elijah, of Elisha, of Moses, of Joshua, and of the prophets and of the others who in truth preached Thy Name, God of the Apostles, the God who hast guided all things by Thy reason and hast blest them who lovingly trust in Thee; my soul praiseth Thee with the power of the spirit of my power, my heart praiseth Thee, O Lord, and Thy might, alway. Let all my power praise Thee, O Lord, for if Thou wilt, J am Thine, O God, the God of the poor; for Thou art the Helper of them that lack, and Thou art He that looketh on the meek, and the Assister of the weak; assist me, O Lord, because by Thy grace Thou wast well pleased in me that I should be Thine handmaid, for Thou hast bestowed upon me a great name, that I should be called a Christian. Thou who hast freed me from servitude that I may serve a servitude to God, the Mighty One who [art] for ever, who seest all, that I may praise Thee uncondemned. Yea, O Lord God, confirm my heart in Thee until it is perfected in the Holy Ghost. Rejuvenate us for the edification of Thy holy Church, Son and Word and Thought of the Father, the Christ who camest for the salvation of the race of man, who didst suffer and wast buried, and didst rise, [and] also wast glorified by Him who sent Thee, turn, help, O Lord, set upright our thoughts by the strong faith of the Spirit. Glorify Thy Name in us. For in Thy Father and in Thee and in the Holy Ghost is our hope for ever and ever. With those who are with her let her say: Amen. But let her say the hymn of praise at dawn thus: O Eternal God, Guide of our souls, Maker of light, Treasure of life, who restest in the praises and prayers of the holy ones, Lover of compassion merciful, kind, King of all, and God, our Lord, my spirit praiseth [Thee], sending [up] to Thee the unceasing voices of Thine handmaid, O Lord, who beseecheth Thee that Thou mayest perfect in Thine handmaid the spirit of reason and of piety and of right knowledge. I praise Thee, O Lord, who didst take away from our poverty all disturbance and confusion, wrath and all contention and evil habit, who didst prepare [and] change the feelings of my understanding that I might serve Thee only, O God; who hast adorned Thy holy Church with various ministries, who drivest away from Thine handmaid all doubtfulness, fear, weakness; and holdest the thoughts of those who rightly serve Thee; I praise Thee, O God, who hast enlightened me with the light of Thy knowledge, through Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [be] praise and might to Thee for ever and ever. Amen? And with those who are with her let her say: Amen.

On the Saturday let the bishop assemble them who receive the laver, and let him bid them to kneel while the deacon proclaimeth. And when there is silence let him exorcise [them], laying a hand on them, and saying: O God of heaven, God of the lights, God of the archangels who are under Thy power, God of the angels who are under Thy might, King of glories and of dominions, God of saints, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; who hast loosed the souls that were bound by death; who hast enlightened him that was bound in darkness and fixed firm, by the firm-fixing of the suffering of Thy Only-begotten; who hast loosed our cords and hast loosed every weight from [off] us; who hast repelled from us every attack of the Evil One; O Son and Word of God, who hast made us immortal by Thy death; who hast glorified us with Thy glory; who hast loosed all the bands of our sins by Thy passion; who hast borne the curse of our sins by Thy cross, and by Thy resurrection hast taught [mankind] to pass from [being] sons of men to become gods; who hast taken on Thee our humiliation; who hast trodden the way to heaven for us; who hast changed us from corruption to incorruptibility; hear me, O Lord, who cry to Thee in pain and fear,O Lord God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, before Him before whom stand the holy hosts of archangels and of cherubim and armies without number, of princes and of seraphim; whose veil [is] the light, and before whose face [is] fire; the throne of whose glory is ineffable; the habitations of whose delights, which Thou hast prepared for Thy saints, are ineffable, the raiments and treasures of which are visible to Thee alone and to Thy holy angels; before whom all things tremble, giving praise; whose glance measureth the mountains, and whose Name, when uttered, cleaveth the depths; whom the heavens which are shut up by Thy hand, hide from view; before whom the earth and the depths together tremble; before whom the sea and the dragons that [are] in it quake; of whom the wild beasts trembling, stand in awe; through whom the mountains and the firmament of the earth melt with fear; at whose power the tempest of the winter quaketh and trembleth, and the raging whirlwind keepeth its limits; because of whom the fire of vengeance doth not overpass that which hath been prescribed to it, but abideth when reproved by Thy commandment; because of whom the whole creation travaileth, groaning with groans, being bidden to tarry till its time; from whom all nature and creation that opposeth itself fleeth; because of whom the whole army of the adversary is subdued, and the Devil is fallen, and the serpent is trodden down, and,the dragon is killed; because of whom the nations which have confessed Thee are enlightened and strengthened in Thee, O Lord; because of whom life is revealed and hope confirmed, and faith strengthened and the Gospel preached; because of whom corruption is brought to naught and incorruptibility waxeth strong; through whom man was fashioned from the earth, but having believed in Thee he is no longer earth; O Lord God Almighty, I exorcise these in the Name of Thee and of Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ. Drive away from the souls of these Thy servants every disease and illness, and every stumbling block and all unbelief, all doubt and all contempt, every unclean spirit that worketh, that is a witch, that killeth, that is under the earth, that is fiery, dark, evil-smelling, given to witchcraft, lascivious, loving gold, uplifted, money loving, wrathful. Yea, O Lord God, overthrow from these Thy servants who have been named in Thee the weapons of the Devil, all magic, witchcraft, fear of idols, divination, astrology, necromancy, observation of the stars, astronomy, pleasure of the passions, love of disgraceful things, sadness, love of money, drunkenness, fornication, adultery, lasciviousness, contumacy, contentiousness, wrath, confusion, wickedness, evil suspicion. Yea, O Lord God, hear me, and breathe on these Thy servants the spirit of tranquillity, that, being guarded by Thee, they may bring forth in Thee fruits of faith, of virtue, of wisdom, of purity, of self-discipline of patience, of hope, of concord, of modesty, of praise. For by Thee they have been called as servants, in the Name of Jesus Christ, being baptized in the Trinity, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, the angels, glories, dominions, all the heavenly army being witnesses. O Lord, the real-essence of our life and theirs, guard their hearts, O God, for Thou art mighty and glorious for ever and ever. And let all the people, also the priests, say: Amen, So be it, so be it, so be it. If any one be in the endurance of any thing, rise suddenly while the bishop is saying [these words], and weep or cry out, or foam [at the mouth] or gnash with his teeth, or stare or be much uplifted or altogether run away, being quickly carried off, let such an one be put aside by the deacons, so that there be no disturbance while the bishop is speaking, and let such an one be exorcised by the priests until he be cleansed, and so let him be baptized. After the priest exorciseth those who have drawn near, or him who is found unclean, let the priest breathe on them and seal them between their eyes, on the nose, on the heart, on the ears; and so let him raise them up.

On the Saturday let the bishop assemble them who receive the laver, and let him bid them to kneel while the deacon proclaimeth. And when there is silence let him exorcise [them], laying a hand on them, and saying: O God of heaven, God of the lights, God of the archangels who are under Thy power, God of the angels who are under Thy might, King of glories and of dominions, God of saints, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; who hast loosed the souls that were bound by death; who hast enlightened him that was bound in darkness and fixed firm, by the firm-fixing of the suffering of Thy Only-begotten; who hast loosed our cords and hast loosed every weight from [off] us; who hast repelled from us every attack of the Evil One; O Son and Word of God, who hast made us immortal by Thy death; who hast glorified us with Thy glory; who hast loosed all the bands of our sins by Thy passion; who hast borne the curse of our sins by Thy cross, and by Thy resurrection hast taught [mankind] to pass from [being] sons of men to become gods; who hast taken on Thee our humiliation; who hast trodden the way to heaven for us; who hast changed us from corruption to incorruptibility; hear me, O Lord, who cry to Thee in pain and fear,O Lord God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, before Him before whom stand the holy hosts of archangels and of cherubim and armies without number, of princes and of seraphim; whose veil [is] the light, and before whose face [is] fire; the throne of whose glory is ineffable; the habitations of whose delights, which Thou hast prepared for Thy saints, are ineffable, the raiments and treasures of which are visible to Thee alone and to Thy holy angels; before whom all things tremble, giving praise; whose glance measureth the mountains, and whose Name, when uttered, cleaveth the depths; whom the heavens which are shut up by Thy hand, hide from view; before whom the earth and the depths together tremble; before whom the sea and the dragons that [are] in it quake; of whom the wild beasts trembling, stand in awe; through whom the mountains and the firmament of the earth melt with fear; at whose power the tempest of the winter quaketh and trembleth, and the raging whirlwind keepeth its limits; because of whom the fire of vengeance doth not overpass that which hath been prescribed to it, but abideth when reproved by Thy commandment; because of whom the whole creation travaileth, groaning with groans, being bidden to tarry till its time; from whom all nature and creation that opposeth itself fleeth; because of whom the whole army of the adversary is subdued, and the Devil is fallen, and the serpent is trodden down, and,the dragon is killed; because of whom the nations which have confessed Thee are enlightened and strengthened in Thee, O Lord; because of whom life is revealed and hope confirmed, and faith strengthened and the Gospel preached; because of whom corruption is brought to naught and incorruptibility waxeth strong; through whom man was fashioned from the earth, but having believed in Thee he is no longer earth; O Lord God Almighty, I exorcise these in the Name of Thee and of Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ. Drive away from the souls of these Thy servants every disease and illness, and every stumbling block and all unbelief, all doubt and all contempt, every unclean spirit that worketh, that is a witch, that killeth, that is under the earth, that is fiery, dark, evil-smelling, given to witchcraft, lascivious, loving gold, uplifted, money loving, wrathful. Yea, O Lord God, overthrow from these Thy servants who have been named in Thee the weapons of the Devil, all magic, witchcraft, fear of idols, divination, astrology, necromancy, observation of the stars, astronomy, pleasure of the passions, love of disgraceful things, sadness, love of money, drunkenness, fornication, adultery, lasciviousness, contumacy, contentiousness, wrath, confusion, wickedness, evil suspicion. Yea, O Lord God, hear me, and breathe on these Thy servants the spirit of tranquillity, that, being guarded by Thee, they may bring forth in Thee fruits of faith, of virtue, of wisdom, of purity, of self-discipline of patience, of hope, of concord, of modesty, of praise. For by Thee they have been called as servants, in the Name of Jesus Christ, being baptized in the Trinity, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, the angels, glories, dominions, all the heavenly army being witnesses. O Lord, the real-essence of our life and theirs, guard their hearts, O God, for Thou art mighty and glorious for ever and ever. And let all the people, also the priests, say: Amen, So be it, so be it, so be it. If any one be in the endurance of any thing, rise suddenly while the bishop is saying [these words], and weep or cry out, or foam [at the mouth] or gnash with his teeth, or stare or be much uplifted or altogether run away, being quickly carried off, let such an one be put aside by the deacons, so that there be no disturbance while the bishop is speaking, and let such an one be exorcised by the priests until he be cleansed, and so let him be baptized. After the priest exorciseth those who have drawn near, or him who is found unclean, let the priest breathe on them and seal them between their eyes, on the nose, on the heart, on the ears; and so let him raise them up.

Concerning the time at which it is seemly to eat It is not proper for the catechumens to eat with the believers. Before any taste and drink anything whatsoever, it is proper for them to take the cup and give thanks over it, and (then) drink and eat, for (then) they are pure. To the catechumens let them give the bread of blessing and the cup. The commandment concerning the impropriety of the catechumens eating with the believers, and of the catechumens sitting down with the believers at the table of the Lord. And it is right for him who eats to remember him who invited him and gave him all the food, every time that he eats; for this cause he asked them to come into his house: for this cause it is seemly that they should eat with caution (lit. fear) and moderation what is sufficient and not be drunken. And they shall eat and drink with regularity and not drink until they are drunken; that men may not deride them; and that he who invited them be not pained because of their folly. But rather shall they pray that the holy ones may enter the house. For he said: Ye are the salt of the earth. Behold, he gave to you the last of them all with him, that ye might take from him your portions: but eat with moderation and drink with moderation, that there may be some left; and that that. which is left from you may be sent by him who invited you to whom he will; and he shall say that this meat and this drink are the leavings of the holy ones. And they shall rejoice at your going to them; and they shall eat what ye leave, and he shall say this meat is the leavings of the holy ones. And they shall rejoice at your coming as they eat: and further, those who are invited shall eat without conversing, but when the bishop allows, they shall speak, and ask what is suitable, and they shall answer. And when (one) has finished saying all the things which are suitable which he wished to ask, then again they shall be silent with modesty, until the bishop again asks them at the supper. If the believers shall be without the bishop at the supper, either from the presbyter or the deacon they shall take the Eulogia with the hand. And likewise the catechumens shall receive a piece of the mystic bread. And if there are any laity among them, they shall eat in silence: and the laity are not allowed to make the Eulogia. And having given thanks, every one shall eat in the name of the Lord and drink with moderation, having called upon the name of God. Because thus is it due to God, that we should be zealots among the peoples, all of us equal and quiet and pure and without fault For God the Father rejoices in his work, and we indeed (are) his work, if we are pure. Concerning the gift to the sick. The deacon in time of adversity shall give the sealing to the sick with diligence. If there is no presbyter to give that which was distributed, as much as ought to be received, (the deacon) shall give thanks and shall take count there of them who take (it) away, that they minister with care and give the Eulogia. If there is any who takes it away, let them bear it to widows and the sick. Concerning the bringing in of lamps at the supper of the congregation. When the evening has come, the bishop being there, the deacon shall bring in a lamp, and standing in the midst of all the Faithful, being about to give thanks, the bishop shall first give the salutation, thus saying: The Lord (be) with you all. And the people also shall say: With thy spirit. And the bishop shall say: Let us give thanks to the Lord. And the people shall say: Right and just, both greatness and exaltation with glory are due to him. And they shall not say: Lift up your hearts, because that shall be said at the time of the Oblation. And he prays thus, saying: We give thee thanks, God, through thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, because thou hast enlightened us by revealing the incorruptible light, we having therefore finished the length of a day and having come to the beginning of the night, and having been satiated with the light of the day which thou hast created for our satisfaction, and now since we have not been deficient of the light of the evening by thy grace, we sanctify thee and we glorify thee through thine only Son our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom to thee with him (be) glory and might and honour with the Holy Spirit now, etc. And they shall all say: Amen. And having risen up therefore after supper, the children and virgins having prayed, they shall say the psalms: and afterwards the deacon, holding the mingled cup of the Presfora, shall say the psalm from that in which (is) written Hale luya, [and] after that the presbyter has commanded: And likewise from those psalms. And afterwards the bishop having offered the cup, as is proper for the cup, he shall say the psalm Hale luya; and all of them as he recites the psalms shall say Hale luya, which is to say: We praise him who is God most high: glorified and praised is he who founded all the world with one word. And likewise, the psalm having been completed, he shall give thanks over the cup, and shall give of the fragments to all the Faithful. And as they are eating their supper the believers shall take a little bread from the hand of the bishop before they partake of their own bread, for it is Eulogia and not Eucharist as of our Lord.

For they began to hold a council against the Lord on the second day of the week, in the first month, which is Xanthicus; and the deliberation continued on the third day of the week; but on the fourth day they determined to take away His life by crucifixion. And Judas knowing this, who for a long time had been perverted, but was then smitten by the devil himself with the love of money, although he had been long entrusted with the purse, and used to steal what was set apart for the needy, yet was he not cast off by the Lord, through much long-suffering; nay, and when we were once feasting with Him, being willing both to reduce him to his duty and instruct us in His own foreknowledge, He said: Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you will betray me; and every one of us saying, Is it I? And the Lord being silent, I, who was one of the twelve, and more beloved by Him than the rest, arose up from lying in His bosom, and besought Him to tell who it should be that should betray Him. Yet neither then did our good Lord declare His name, but gave two signs of the betrayer: one by saying, he that dips with me in the dish; a second, to whom I shall give the sop when I have dipped it. Nay, although he himself said, Master, is it I? the Lord did not say Yes, but, You have said. And being willing to affright him in the matter, He said: Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for him if he had never been born. Who, when he had heard that, went his way, and said to the priests, What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they bargained with him for thirty pieces of silver. And the scripture was fulfilled, which said, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them for the house of the potter. And on the fifth day of the week, when we had eaten the passover with Him, and when Judas had dipped his hand into the dish, and received the sop, and had gone out by night, the Lord said to us: The hour has come that you shall be dispersed, and shall leave me alone; and every one vehemently affirming that they would not forsake Him, I Peter adding this promise, that I would even die with Him, He said, Verily I say unto you, Before the cock crows, you shall thrice deny that you know me. And when He had delivered to us the representative mysteries of His precious body and blood, Judas not being present with us, He went out to the Mount of Olives, near the brook Cedron, where there was a garden; and we were with Him, and sang an hymn according to the custom. And being separated not far from us, He prayed to His Father, saying: Father, remove this cup away from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done. And when He had done this thrice, while we out of despondency of mind were fallen asleep, He came and said: The hour has come, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. And behold Judas, and with him a multitude of ungodly men, to whom he shows the signal by which he was to betray Him — a deceitful kiss. But they, when they had received the signal agreed on, took hold of the Lord; and having bound Him, they led Him to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, wherein were assembled many, not the people, but a great rout, not an holy council, but an assembly of the wicked and council of the ungodly, who did many things against Him, and left no kind of injury untried, spitting upon Him, cavilling at Him, beating Him, smiting Him on the face, reviling Him, tempting Him, seeking vain divination instead of true prophecies from Him, calling Him a deceiver, a blasphemer, a transgressor of Moses, a destroyer of the temple, a taker away of sacrifices, an enemy to the Romans, an adversary to Cæsar. And these reproaches did these bulls and dogs in their madness cast upon Him, till it was very early in the morning, and then they lead Him away to Annas, who was father-in-law to Caiaphas; and when they had done the like things to Him there, it being the day of the preparation, they delivered Him to Pilate the Roman governor, accusing Him of many and great things, none of which they could prove. Whereupon the governor, as out of patience with them, said: I find no cause against Him. But they bringing two lying witnesses, wished to accuse the Lord falsely; but they being found to disagree, and so their testimony not conspiring together, they altered the accusation to that of treason, saying, This fellow says that He is a king, and forbids to give tribute to Cæsar. And themselves became accusers, and witnesses, and judges, and authors of the sentence, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him; that it might be fulfilled which is written by the prophets concerning Him, Unjust witnesses were gathered together against me, and injustice lied to itself; and again, Many dogs compassed me about, the assembly of the wicked laid siege against me; and elsewhere, My inheritance became to me as a lion in a wood, and has sent forth her voice against me. Pilate therefore, disgracing his authority by his pusillanimity, convicts himself of wickedness by regarding the multitude more than this just person, and bearing witness to Him that He was innocent, yet as guilty delivering Him up to the punishment of the cross, although the Romans had made laws that no man unconvicted should be put to death. But the executioners took the Lord of glory and nailed Him to the cross, crucifying Him indeed at the sixth hour, but having received the sentence of His condemnation at the third hour. After this they gave to Him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall. Then they divided His garments by lot. Then they crucified two malefactors with Him, on each side one, that it might be fulfilled which was written: They gave me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink. And again: They divided my garment among themselves, and upon my vesture have they cast lots. And in another place: And I was reckoned with the transgressors. Then there was darkness for three hours, from the sixth to the ninth, and again light in the evening; as it is written: It shall not be day nor night, and at the evening there shall be light. All which things, when those malefactors saw that were crucified with Him, the one of them reproached Him as though He was weak and unable to deliver Himself; but the other rebuked the ignorance of his fellow and turning to the Lord, as being enlightened by Him, and acknowledging who He was that suffered, he prayed that He would remember him in His kingdom hereafter. He then presently granted him the forgiveness of his former sins, and brought him into paradise to enjoy the mystical good things; who also cried out about the ninth hour, and said to His Father: My God! My God! Why have You forsaken me? And a little afterward, when He had cried with a loud voice, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, and had added, Into Your hands I commit my spirit, He gave up the ghost, and was buried before sunset in a new sepulchre. But when the first day of the week dawned He arose from the dead, and fulfilled those things which before His passion He foretold to us, saying: The Son of man must continue in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. And when He was risen from the dead, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, then to Cleopas in the way, and after that to us His disciples, who had fled away for fear of the Jews, but privately were very inquisitive about Him. But these things are also written in the Gospel.

Now the law is the decalogue, which the Lord promulgated to them with an audible voice, before the people made that calf which represented the Egyptian Apis. And the law is righteous, and therefore is it called the law, because judgments are thence made according to the law of nature, which the followers of Simon abuse, supposing they shall not be judged thereby, and so shall escape punishment. This law is good, holy, and such as lays no compulsion in things positive. For He says: If you will make me an altar, you shall make it of earth. It does not say, Make one, but, If you will make. It does not impose a necessity, but gives leave to their own free liberty. For God does not stand in need of sacrifices, being by nature above all want. But knowing that, as of old, Abel, beloved of God, and Noah and Abraham, and those that succeeded, without being required, but only moved of themselves by the law of nature, did offer sacrifice to God out of a grateful mind; so He did now permit the Hebrews, not commanding, but, if they had a mind, permitting them; and if they offered from a right intention, showing Himself pleased with their sacrifices. Therefore He says: If you desire to offer, do not offer to me as to one that stands in need of it, for I stand in need of nothing; for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. But when this people became forgetful of that, and called upon a calf as God, instead of the true God, and to him did ascribe the cause of their coming out of Egypt, saying, These are your gods, O Israel, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt; and when these men had committed wickedness with the similitude of a calf that eats hay; and denied God who had visited them by Moses in their afflictions, and had done signs with his hand and rod, and had smitten the Egyptians with ten plagues; who had divided the waters of the Red Sea into two parts; who had led them in the midst of the water, as a horse upon the ground; who had drowned their enemies, and those that laid wait for them; who at Marah had made sweet the bitter fountain; who had brought water out of the sharp rock till they were satisfied; who had overshadowed them with a pillar of a cloud on account of the immoderate heat, and with a pillar of fire which enlightened and guided them when they knew not which way they were to go; who gave them manna from heaven, and gave them quails for flesh from the sea; who gave them the law in the mountain; whose voice He had vouchsafed to let them hear; Him did they deny, and said to Aaron, Make us gods who shall go before us; and they made a molten calf, and sacrificed to an idol;— then was God angry, as being ungratefully treated by them, and bound them with bonds which could not be loosed, with a mortifying burden and a hard collar, and no longer said, If you make but, Make an altar, and sacrifice perpetually; for you are forgetful and ungrateful. Offer burnt-offerings therefore continually, that you may be mindful of me. For since you have wickedly abused your power, I lay a necessity upon you for the time to come, and I command you to abstain from certain meats; and I ordain you the distinction of clean and unclean creatures, although every creature is good, as being made by me; and I appoint you several separations, purgations, frequent washings and sprinklings, several purifications, and several times of rest; and if you neglect any of them, I determine that punishment which is proper to the disobedient, that being pressed and galled by your collar, you may depart from the error of polytheism, and laying aside that, These are your gods, O Israel, may be mindful of that, Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord; and may run back again to that law which is inserted by me in the nature of all men, that there is only one God in heaven and on earth, and to love Him with all your heart, and all your might, and all your mind, and to fear none but Him, nor to admit the names of other gods into your mind, nor to let your tongue utter them out of your mouth. He bound them for the hardness of their hearts, that by sacrificing, and resting, and purifying themselves, and by similar observances, they might come to the knowledge of God, who ordained these things for them.

Let us pray for the peace and happy settlement of the world, and of the holy churches; that the God of the whole world may afford us His everlasting peace, and such as may not be taken away from us; that He may preserve us in a full prosecution of such virtue as is according to godliness. Let us pray for the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church which is spread from one end of the earth to the other; that God would preserve and keep it unshaken, and free from the waves of this life, until the end of the world, as founded upon a rock; and for the holy parish in this place, that the Lord of the whole world may vouchsafe us without failure to follow after His heavenly hope, and without ceasing to pay Him the debt of our prayer. Let us pray for every episcopacy which is under the whole heaven, of those that rightly divide the word of Your truth. And let us pray for our bishop James, and his parishes; let us pray for our bishop Clement, and his parishes; let us pray for our bishop Euodius, and his parishes; let us pray for our bishop Annianus, and his parishes: that the compassionate God may grant them to continue in His holy churches in health, honour, and long life, and afford them an honourable old age in godliness and righteousness. And let us pray for our presbyters, that the Lord may deliver them from every unreasonable and wicked action, and afford them a presbyterate in health and honour. Let us pray for all the deacons and ministers in Christ, that the Lord may grant them an unblameable ministration. Let us pray for the readers, singers, virgins, widows, and orphans. Let us pray for those that are in marriage and in child-bearing, that the Lord may have mercy upon them all. Let us pray for the eunuchs who walk holily. Let us pray for those in a state of continence and piety. Let us pray for those that bear fruit in the holy Church, and give alms to the needy. And let us pray for those who offer sacrifices and oblations to the Lord our God, that God, the fountain of all goodness, may recompense them with His heavenly gifts, and give them in this world an hundredfold, and in the world to come life everlasting; and bestow upon them for their temporal things, those that are eternal; for earthly things, those that are heavenly. Let us pray for our brethren newly enlightened, that the Lord may strengthen and confirm them. Let us pray for our brethren exercised with sickness, that the Lord may deliver them from every sickness and every disease, and restore them sound into His holy Church. Let us pray for those that travel by water or by land. Let us pray for those that are in the mines, in banishments, in prisons, and in bonds, for the name of the Lord. Let us pray for those that are afflicted with bitter servitude. Let us pray for our enemies, and those that hate us. Let us pray for those that persecute us for the name of the Lord, that the Lord may pacify their anger, and scatter their wrath against us. Let us pray for those that are without, and are wandered out of the way, that the Lord may convert them. Let us be mindful of the infants of the Church, that the Lord may perfect them in His fear, and bring them to a complete age. Let us pray one for another, that the Lord may keep us and preserve us by His grace to the end, and deliver us from the evil one. and from all the scandals of those that work iniquity, and preserve us unto His heavenly kingdom. Let us pray for every Christian soul. Save us, and raise us up, O God, by Your mercy. Let us rise up, and let us pray earnestly, and dedicate ourselves and one another to the living God, through His Christ. And let the high priest add this prayer, and say:—

And I James, the brother of John, the son of Zebedee, say, that the deacon shall immediately say, Let none of the catechumens, let none of the hearers, let none of the unbelievers, let none of the heterodox, stay here . You who have prayed the foregoing prayer, depart. Let the mothers receive their children; let no one have anything against any one; let no one come in hypocrisy; let us stand upright before the Lord with fear and trembling, to offer. When this is done, let the deacons bring the gifts to the bishop at the altar; and let the presbyters stand on his right hand, and on his left, as disciples stand before their Master. But let two of the deacons, on each side of the altar, hold a fan, made up of thin membranes, or of the feathers of the peacock, or of fine cloth, and let them silently drive away the small animals that fly about, that they may not come near to the cups. Let the high priest, therefore, together with the priests, pray by himself; and let him put on his shining garment, and stand at the altar, and make the sign of the cross upon his forehead with his hand, and say: The grace of Almighty God, and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. And let all with one voice say: And with your spirit. The high priest: Lift up your mind. All the people: We lift it up unto the Lord. The high priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord. All the people: It is meet and right so to do. Then let the high priest say: It is very meet and right before all things to sing an hymn to You, who art the true God, who art before all beings, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named; who only art unbegotten, and without beginning, and without a ruler, and without a master; who standest in need of nothing; who art the bestower of everything that is good; who art beyond all cause and generation; who art always and immutably the same; from whom all things came into being, as from their proper original. For You are eternal knowledge, everlasting sight, unbegotten hearing, untaught wisdom, the first by nature, and the measure of being, and beyond all number; who brought all things out of nothing into being by Your only begotten Son, but begot Him before all ages by Your will, Your power, and Your goodness, without any instrument, the only begotten Son, God the Word, the living Wisdom, the First-born of every creature, the angel of Your Great Counsel, and Your High Priest, but the King and Lord of every intellectual and sensible nature, who was before all things, by whom were all things. For You, O eternal God, made all things by Him, and through Him it is that You vouchsafe Your suitable providence over the whole world; for by the very same that You bestowed being, did You also bestow well-being: the God and Father of Your only begotten Son, who by Him made before all things the cherubim and the seraphim, the æons and hosts, the powers and authorities, the principalities and thrones, the archangels and angels; and after all these, by Him made this visible world, and all things that are therein. For You are He who framed the heaven as an arch, and stretch it out like the covering of a tent, and founded the earth upon nothing by Your mere will; who fixed the firmament, and prepare the night and the day; who brought the light out of Your treasures, and on its departure brought on darkness, for the rest of the living creatures that move up and down in the world; who appointed the sun in heaven to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night, and inscribed in heaven the choir of stars to praise Your glorious majesty; who made the water for drink and for cleansing, the air in which we live for respiration and the affording of sounds, by the means of the tongue, which strikes the air, and the hearings which co-operates therewith, so as to perceive speech when it is received by it, and falls upon it; who made fire for our consolation in darkness, for the supply of our want, and that we might be warmed and enlightened by it; who separated the great sea from the land, and rendered the former navigable and the latter fit for walking, and replenished the former with small and great living creatures, and filled the latter with the same, both tame and wild; furnished it with various plants, and crown it with herbs, and beautify it with flowers, and enrich it with seeds; who ordained the great deep, and on every side made a mighty cavity for it, which contains seas of salt waters heaped together, yet You every way bounded them with barriers of the smallest sand; who sometimes raises it to the height of mountains by the winds, and sometimes smooths it into a plain; sometimes enrages it with a tempest, and sometimes stills it with a calm, that it may be easy to seafaring men in their voyages; who encompassed this world, which was made by You through Christ, with rivers, and water it with currents, and moisten it with springs that never fail, and bound it round with mountains for the immoveable and secure consistence of the earth: for You have replenished Your world, and adorned it with sweet-smelling and with healing herbs, with many and various living creatures, strong and weak, for food and for labour, tame and wild; with the noises of creeping things, the sounds of various sorts of flying creatures; with the circuits of the years, the numbers of months and days, the order of the seasons, the courses of the rain clouds, for the production of the fruits and the support of living creatures. You have also appointed the station of the winds, which blow when commanded by You, and the multitude of the plants and herbs. And You have not only created the world itself, but hast also made man for a citizen of the world, exhibiting him as the ornament of the world; for You said to Your Wisdom: Let us make man according to our image, and according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the heaven. Wherefore also You have made him of an immortal soul and of a body liable to dissolution — the former out of nothing, the latter out of the four elements — and hast given him as to his soul rational knowledge, the discerning of piety and impiety, and the observation of right and wrong; and as to his body, You have granted him five senses and progressive motion: for You, O God Almighty, by Your Christ planted a paradise in Eden, in the east, adorned with all plants fit for food, and introduced him into it, as into a rich banquet. And when You made him, You gave him a law implanted within him, that so he might have at home and within himself the seeds of divine knowledge; and when You had brought him into the paradise of pleasure, You allowed him the privilege of enjoying all things, only forbidding the tasting of one tree, in hopes of greater blessings; that in case he would keep that command, he might receive the reward of it, which was immortality. But when he neglected that command, and tasted of the forbidden fruit, by the seduction of the serpent and the counsel of his wife, You justly cast him out of paradise.

Let us still further beseech God through His Christ, and let us beseech Him on account of the gift which is offered to the Lord God, that the good God will accept it, through the mediation of His Christ, upon His heavenly altar, for a sweet-smelling savour. Let us pray for this church and people. Let us pray for every episcopate, every presbytery, all the deacons and ministers in Christ, for the whole congregation, that the Lord will keep and preserve them all. Let us pray for kings and those in authority, that they may be peaceable toward us, that so we may have and lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Let us be mindful of the holy martyrs, that we may be thought worthy to be partakers of their trial. Let us pray for those that are departed in the faith. Let us pray for the good temperature of the air, and the perfect maturity of the fruits. Let us pray for those that are newly enlightened, that they may be strengthened in the faith, and all may be mutually comforted by one another. Raise us up, O God, by Your grace. Let us stand up, and dedicate ourselves to God, through His Christ. And let the bishop say: O God, who art great, and whose name is great, who art great in counsel and mighty in works, the God and Father of Your holy child Jesus, our Saviour; look down upon us, and upon this Your flock, which You have chosen by Him to the glory of Your name; and sanctify our body and soul, and grant us the favour to be made pure from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and may obtain the good things laid up for us, and do not account any of us unworthy; but be our comforter, helper, and protector, through Your Christ, with whom glory, honour, praise, doxology, and thanksgiving be to You and to the Holy Ghost forever. Amen. And after that all have said Amen, let the deacon say: Let us attend. And let the bishop speak thus to the people: Holy things for holy persons. And let the people answer: There is One that is holy; there is one Lord, one Jesus Christ, blessed for ever, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will among men. Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed be He that comes in the name of the Lord, being the Lord God who appeared to us, Hosanna in the highest. And after that, let the bishop partake, then the presbyters, and deacons, and sub-deacons, and the readers, and the singers, and the ascetics; and then of the women, the deaconesses, and the virgins, and the widows; then the children; and then all the people in order, with reverence and godly fear, without tumult. And let the bishop give the oblation, saying, The body of Christ; and let him that receives say, Amen. And let the deacon take the cup; and when he gives it, say, The blood of Christ, the cup of life; and let him that drinks say, Amen. And let the thirty-third psalm be said, while the rest are partaking; and when all, both men and women, have partaken, let the deacons carry what remains into the vestry. And when the singer has done, let the deacon say:—

O God, who art without beginning and without end, the Maker of the whole world by Christ, and the Provider for it, but before all His God and Father, the Lord of the Spirit, and the King of intelligible and sensible beings; who hast made the day for the works of light, and the night for the refreshment of our infirmity — for the day is Yours, the night also is Yours: You have prepared the light and the sun, — do Thou now, O Lord, Thou lover of mankind, and Fountain of all good, mercifully accept of this our evening thanksgiving. You who has brought us through the length of the day, and hast brought us to the beginnings of the night, preserve us by Your Christ, afford us a peaceable evening, and a night free from sin, and vouchsafe us everlasting life by Your Christ, through whom glory, honour, and worship be to You in the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. And let the deacon say: Bow down for the laying on of hands. And let the bishop say: O God of our fathers, and Lord of mercy, who formed man of Your wisdom a rational creature, and beloved of God more than the other beings upon this earth, and gave him authority to rule over the creatures upon the earth, and ordained by Your will rulers and priests— the former for the security of life, the latter for a regular worship, — do Thou now also look down, O Lord Almighty, and cause Your face to shine upon Your people, who bow down the neck of their heart, and bless them by Christ; through whom You have enlightened us with the light of knowledge, and have revealed Yourself to us; with whom worthy adoration is due from every rational and holy nature to You, and to the Spirit, who is the Comforter, forever. Amen. And let the deacon say: Depart in peace. In like manner, in the morning, after the repetition of the morning psalm, and his dismission of the catechumens, the energumens, the candidates for baptism, and the penitents, and after the usual bidding of prayers, that we may not again repeat the same things, let the deacon add after the words, Save us, O God, and raise us up by Your grace: Let us beg of the Lord His mercies and His compassions, that this morning and this day may be with peace and without sin, as also all the time of our sojourning; that He will grant us His angel of peace, a Christian departure out of this life, and that God will be merciful and gracious. Let us dedicate ourselves and one another to the living God through His Only-begotten. And let the bishop add this prayer, and say:—

I know that some will attempt to say that, even according to the declarations of our own Scriptures, God is a body, because in the writings of Moses they find it said, that “our God is a consuming fire;” and in the Gospel according to John, that “God is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Fire and spirit, according to them, are to be regarded as nothing else than a body. Now, I should like to ask these persons what they have to say respecting that passage where it is declared that God is light; as John writes in his epistle, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Truly He is that light which illuminates the whole understanding of those who are capable of receiving truth, as is said in the thirty-sixth Psalm, “In Thy light we shall see light.” For what other light of God can be named, “in which any one sees light,” save an influence of God, by which a man, being enlightened, either thoroughly sees the truth of all things, or comes to know God Himself, who is called the truth? Such is the meaning of the expression, “In Thy light we shall see light;” i.e. in Thy word and wisdom, which is Thy Son, in Himself we shall see Thee the Father. Because He is called light, shall He be supposed to have any resemblance to the light of the sun? Or how should there be the slightest ground for imagining, that from that corporeal light any one could derive the cause of knowledge, and come to the understanding of the truth?

This being the state of the case, we shall sketch out, as if by way of illustration and pattern, what may occur to us with regard to the manner in which Holy Scripture is to be understood on these several points, repeating in the first instance, and pointing out this fact, that the Holy Spirit, by the providence and will of God, through the power of His only-begotten Word, who was in the beginning God with God, enlightened the ministers of truth, the prophets and apostles, to understand the mysteries of those things or causes which take place among men, or with respect to men. And by “men,” I now mean souls that are placed in bodies, who, relating those mysteries that are known to them, and revealed through Christ, as if they were a kind of human transactions, or handing down certain legal observances and injunctions, described them figuratively; not that any one who pleased might view these expositions as deserving to be trampled under foot, but that he who should devote himself with all chastity, and sobriety, and watchfulness, to studies of this kind, might be able by this means to trace out the meaning of the Spirit of God, which is perhaps lying profoundly buried, and the context, which may be pointing again in another direction than the ordinary usage of speech would indicate. And in this way he might become a sharer in the knowledge of the Spirit, and a partaker in the divine counsel, because the soul cannot come to the perfection of knowledge otherwise than by inspiration of the truth of the divine wisdom. Accordingly, it is of God, i.e. of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that these men, filled with the Divine Spirit, chiefly treat; then the mysteries relating to the Son of God—how the Word became flesh, and why He descended even to the assumption of the form of a servant—are the subject, as I have said, of explanation by those persons who are filled with the Divine Spirit. It next followed, necessarily, that they should instruct mortals by divine teaching, regarding rational creatures, both those of heaven and the happier ones of earth; and also [should explain] the differences among souls, and the origin of these differences; and then should tell what this world is, and why it was created; whence also sprung the great and terrible wickedness which extends over the earth. And whether that wickedness is found on this earth only, or in other places, is a point which it was necessary for us to learn from divine teaching. Since, then, it was the intention of the Holy Spirit to enlighten with respect to these and similar subjects, those holy souls who had devoted themselves to the service of the truth, this object was kept in view, in the second place, viz. for the sake of those who either could not or would not give themselves to this labour and toil by which they might deserve to be instructed in or to recognise things of such value and importance, to wrap up and conceal, as we said before, in ordinary language, under the covering of some history and narrative of visible things, hidden mysteries. There is therefore introduced the narrative of the visible creation, and the creation and formation of the first man; then the offspring which followed from him in succession, and some of the actions which were done by the good among his posterity, are related, and occasionally certain crimes also, which are stated to have been committed by them as being human; and afterwards certain unchaste or wicked deeds also are narrated as being the acts of the wicked. The description of battles, moreover, is given in a wonderful manner, and the alternations of victors and vanquished, by which certain ineffable mysteries are made known to those who know how to investigate statements of that kind. By an admirable discipline of wisdom, too, the law of truth, even of the prophets, is implanted in the Scriptures of the law, each of which is woven by a divine art of wisdom, as a kind of covering and veil of spiritual truths; and this is what we have called the “body” of Scripture, so that also, in this way, what we have called the covering of the letter, woven by the art of wisdom, might be capable of edifying and profiting many, when others would derive no benefit.

But let it be sufficient for us in all these matters to adapt our understanding to the rule of religion, and so to think of the words of the Holy Spirit as not to deem the language the ornate composition of feeble human eloquence, but to hold, according to the scriptural statement, that “all the glory of the King is within,” and that the treasure of divine meaning is enclosed within the frail vessel of the common letter. And if any curious reader were still to ask an explanation of individual points, let him come and hear, along with ourselves, how the Apostle Paul, seeking to penetrate by help of the Holy Spirit, who searches even the “deep things” of God, into the depths of divine wisdom and knowledge, and yet, unable to reach the end, so to speak, and to come to a thorough knowledge, exclaims in despair and amazement, “Oh the depth of the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of God!” Now, that it was from despair of attaining a perfect understanding that he uttered this exclamation, listen to his own words: “How unsearchable are God’s judgments! and His ways, how past finding out!” For he did not say that God’s judgments were difficult to discover, but that they were altogether inscrutable; nor that it was [simply] difficult to trace out His ways, but that they were altogether past finding out. For however far a man may advance in his investigations, and how great soever the progress that he may make by unremitting study, assisted even by the grace of God, and with his mind enlightened, he will not be able to attain to the end of those things which are the object of his inquiries. Nor can any created mind deem it possible in any way to attain a full comprehension [of things]; but after having discovered certain of the objects of its research, it sees again others which have still to be sought out. And even if it should succeed in mastering these, it will see again many others succeeding them which must form the subject of investigation. And on this account, therefore, Solomon, the wisest of men, beholding by his wisdom the nature of things, says, “I said, I will become wise; and wisdom herself was made far from me, far further than it was; and a profound depth who shall find?” Isaiah also, knowing that the beginnings of things could not be discovered by a mortal nature, and not even by those natures which, although more divine than human, were nevertheless themselves created or formed; knowing then, that by none of these could either the beginning or the end be discovered, says, “Tell the former things which have been, and we know that ye are gods; or announce what are the last things, and then we shall see that ye are gods.” For my Hebrew teacher also used thus to teach, that as the beginning or end of all things could be comprehended by no one, save only our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, so under the form of a vision Isaiah spake of two seraphim alone, who with two wings cover the countenance of God, and with two His feet, and with two do fly, calling to each other alternately, and saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of Thy glory.” That the seraphim alone have both their wings over the face of God, and over His feet, we venture to declare as meaning that neither the hosts of holy angels, nor the “holy seats,” nor the “dominions,” nor the “principalities,” nor the “powers,” can fully understand the beginning of all things, and the limits of the universe. But we are to understand that those “saints” whom the Spirit has enrolled, and the “virtues,” approach very closely to those very beginnings, and attain to a height which the others cannot reach; and yet whatever it be that these “virtues” have learned through revelation from the Son of God and from the Holy Spirit—and they will certainly be able to learn very much, and those of higher rank much more than those of a lower—nevertheless it is impossible for them to comprehend all things, according to the statement, “The most part of the works of God are hid.” And therefore also it is to be desired that every one, according to his strength, should ever stretch out to those things that are before, “forgetting the things that are behind,” both to better works and to a clearer apprehension and understanding, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, to whom be glory for ever!

This being the state of the case, we have to sketch what seem to us to be the marks of the [true] understanding of Scriptures. And, in the first place, this must be pointed out, that the object of the Spirit, which by the providence of God, through the Word who was in the beginning with God, illuminated the ministers of truth, the prophets and apostles, was especially [the communication] of ineffable mysteries regarding the affairs of men (now by men I mean those souls that make use of bodies), in order that he who is capable of instruction may by investigation, and by devoting himself to the study of the profundities of meaning contained in the words, become a participator of all the doctrines of his counsel. And among those matters which relate to souls (who cannot otherwise obtain perfection apart from the rich and wise truth of God), the [doctrines] belonging to God and His only-begotten Son are necessarily laid down as primary, viz. of what nature He is, and in what manner He is the Son of God, and what are the causes of His descending even to [the assumption of] human flesh, and of complete humanity; and what, also, is the operation of this [Son], and upon whom and when exercised. And it was necessary also that the subject of kindred beings, and other rational creatures, both those who are divine and those who have fallen from blessedness, together with the reasons of their fall, should be contained in the divine teaching; and also that of the diversities of souls, and of the origin of these diversities, and of the nature of the world, and the cause of its existence. We must learn also the origin of the great and terrible wickedness which overspreads the earth, and whether it is confined to this earth only, or prevails elsewhere. Now, while these and similar objects were present to the Spirit, who enlightened the souls of the holy ministers of the truth, there was a second object, for the sake of those who were unable to endure the fatigue of investigating matters so important, viz. to conceal the doctrine relating to the previously mentioned subjects, in expressions containing a narrative which conveyed an announcement regarding the things of the visible creation, the creation of man, and the successive descendants of the first men until they became numerous; and other histories relating the acts of just men, and the sins occasionally committed by these same men as being human beings, and the wicked deeds, both of unchastity and vice, committed by sinful and ungodly men. And what is most remarkable, by the history of wars, and of the victors, and the vanquished, certain mysteries are indicated to those who are able to test these statements. And more wonderful still, the laws of truth are predicted by the written legislation;—all these being described in a connected series, with a power which is truly in keeping with the wisdom of God. For it was intended that the covering also of the spiritual truths—I mean the “bodily” part of Scripture—should not be without profit in many cases, but should be capable of improving the multitude, according to their capacity.

But Celsus perhaps has misunderstood certain of those whom he has termed “worms,” when they affirm that “God exists, and that we are next to Him.” And he acts like those who would find fault with an entire sect of philosophers, on account of certain words uttered by some rash youth who, after a three days’ attendance upon the lectures of a philosopher, should exalt himself above other people as inferior to himself, and devoid of philosophy. For we know that there are many creatures more honourable than man; and we have read that “God standeth in the congregation of gods,” but of gods who are not worshipped by the nations, “for all the gods of the nations are idols.” We have read also, that “God, standing in the congregation of the gods, judgeth among the gods.” We know, moreover, that “though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many and lords many), but to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” And we know that in this way the angels are superior to men; so that men, when made perfect, become like the angels. “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but the righteous are as the angels in heaven,” and also become “equal to the angels.” We know, too, that in the arrangement of the universe there are certain beings termed “thrones,” and others “dominions,” and others “powers,” and others “principalities;” and we see that we men, who are far inferior to these, may entertain the hope that by a virtuous life, and by acting in all things agreeably to reason, we may rise to a likeness with all these. And, lastly, because “it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like God, and shall see Him as He is.” And if any one were to maintain what is asserted by some (either by those who possess intelligence or who do not, but have misconceived sound reason), that “God exists, and we are next to Him,” I would interpret the word “we,” by using in its stead, “We who act according to reason,” or rather, “We virtuous, who act according to reason.” For, in our opinion, the same virtue belongs to all the blessed, so that the virtue of man and of God is identical. And therefore we are taught to become “perfect,” as our Father in heaven is perfect. No good and virtuous man, then, is a “worm rolling in filth,” nor is a pious man an “ant,” nor a righteous man a “frog;” nor could one whose soul is enlightened with the bright light of truth be reasonably likened to a “bird of the night.”

But even this rational light itself ought not to be worshipped by him who beholds and understands the true light, by sharing in which these also are enlightened; nor by him who beholds God, the Father of the true light,—of whom it has been said, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Those, indeed, who worship sun, moon, and stars because their light is visible and celestial, would not bow down to a spark of fire or a lamp upon earth, because they see the incomparable superiority of those objects which are deemed worthy of homage to the light of sparks and lamps. So those who understand that God is light, and who have apprehended that the Son of God is “the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” and who comprehend also how He says, “I am the light of the world,” would not rationally offer worship to that which is, as it were, a spark in sun, moon, and stars, in comparison with God, who is light of the true light. Nor is it with a view to depreciate these great works of God’s creative power, or to call them, after the fashion of Anaxagoras, “fiery masses,” that we thus speak of sun, and moon, and stars; but because we perceive the inexpressible superiority of the divinity of God, and that of His only-begotten Son, which surpasses all other things. And being persuaded that the sun himself, and moon, and stars pray to the Supreme God through His only-begotten Son, we judge it improper to pray to those beings who themselves offer up prayers [to God], seeing even they themselves would prefer that we should send up our requests to the God to whom they pray, rather than send them downwards to themselves, or apportion our power of prayer between God and them. And here I may employ this illustration, as bearing upon this point: Our Lord and Saviour, hearing Himself on one occasion addressed as “Good Master,” referring him who used it to His own Father, said, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God the Father.” And since it was in accordance with sound reason that this should be said by the Son of His Father’s love, as being the image of the goodness of God, why should not the sun say with greater reason to those that bow down to him, Why do you worship me? “for thou wilt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve;” for it is He whom I and all who are with me serve and worship. And although one may not be so exalted [as the sun], nevertheless let such an one pray to the Word of God (who is able to heal him), and still more to His Father, who also to the righteous of former times “sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

Since Celsus, moreover, from a desire to depreciate the accounts which our Scriptures give of the kingdom of God, has quoted none of them, as if they were unworthy of being recorded by him (or perhaps because he was unacquainted with them), while, on the other hand, he quotes the sayings of Plato, both from his Epistles and the Phœdrus, as if these were divinely inspired, but our Scriptures were not, let us set forth a few points, for the sake of comparison with these plausible declarations of Plato, which did not, however, dispose the philosopher to worship in a manner worthy of him the Maker of all things. For he ought not to have adulterated or polluted this worship with what we call “idolatry,” but what the many would describe by the term “superstition.” Now, according to a Hebrew figure of speech, it is said of God in the eighteenth Psalm, that “He made darkness His secret place,” to signify that those notions which should be worthily entertained of God are invisible and unknowable, because God conceals Himself in darkness, as it were, from those who cannot endure the splendours of His knowledge, or are incapable of looking at them, partly owing to the pollution of their understanding, which is clothed with the body of mortal lowliness, and partly owing to its feebler power of comprehending God. And in order that it may appear that the knowledge of God has rarely been vouchsafed to men, and has been found in very few individuals, Moses is related to have entered into the darkness where God was. And again, with regard to Moses it is said: “Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but the rest shall not come nigh.” And again, that the prophet may show the depth of the doctrines which relate to God, and which is unattainable by those who do not possess the “Spirit which searcheth all things, even the deep things of God,” he added: “The abyss like a garment is His covering.” Nay, our Lord and Saviour, the Logos of God, manifesting that the greatness of the knowledge of the Father is appropriately comprehended and known pre-eminently by Him alone, and in the second place by those whose minds are enlightened by the Logos Himself and God, declares: “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” For no one can worthily know the “uncreated” and first-born of all created nature like the Father who begat Him, nor any one the Father like the living Logos, and His Wisdom and Truth. By sharing in Him who takes away from the Father what is called “darkness,” which He “made His secret place,” and “the abyss,” which is called His “covering,” and in this way unveiling the Father, every one knows the Father who is capable of knowing Him.

And therefore there was no need that there should everywhere exist many bodies, and many spirits like Jesus, in order that the whole world of men might be enlightened by the Word of God. For the one Word was enough, having arisen as the “Sun of righteousness,” to send forth from Judea His coming rays into the soul of all who were willing to receive Him. But if any one desires to see many bodies filled with a divine Spirit, similar to the one Christ, ministering to the salvation of men everywhere, let him take note of those who teach the gospel of Jesus in all lands in soundness of doctrine and uprightness of life, and who are themselves termed “christs” by the Holy Scriptures, in the passage, “Touch not mine anointed, and do not my prophets any harm.” For as we have heard that Antichrist cometh, and yet have learned that there are many antichrists in the world, in the same way, knowing that Christ has come, we see that, owing to Him, there are many christs in the world, who, like Him, have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and therefore God, the God of Christ, anointed them also with the “oil of gladness.” But inasmuch as He loved righteousness and hated iniquity above those who were His partners, He also obtained the first-fruits of His anointing, and, if we must so term it, the entire unction of the oil of gladness; while they who were His partners shared also in His unction, in proportion to their individual capacity. Therefore, since Christ is the head of the church, so that Christ and the church form one body, the ointment descended from the head to the beard of Aaron,—the symbols of the perfect man,—and this ointment in its descent reached to the very skirt of his garment. This is my answer to the irreverent language of Celsus when he says, “He ought to have breathed [His Spirit] alike into many bodies, and have sent it forth into all the world.” The comic poet, indeed, to cause laughter, has represented Jupiter asleep and awaking from slumber, and despatching Mercury to the Greeks; but the Word, knowing that the nature of God is unaffected by sleep, may teach us that God administers in due season, and as right reason demands, the affairs of the world. It is not, however, a matter of surprise that, owing to the greatness and incomprehensibility of the divine judgments, ignorant persons should make mistakes, and Celsus among them. There is therefore nothing ridiculous in the Son of God having been sent to the Jews, amongst whom the prophets had appeared, in order that, making a commencement among them in a bodily shape, He might arise with might and power upon a world of souls, which no longer desired to remain deserted by God.

Accordingly, we can show from an examination of the sacred Scriptures, that the Jewish prophets, who were enlightened as far as was necessary for their prophetic work by the Spirit of God, were the first to enjoy the benefit of the inspiration; and by the contact—if I may so say—of the Holy Spirit they became clearer in mind, and their souls were filled with a brighter light. And the body no longer served as a hindrance to a virtuous life; for to that which we call “the lust of the flesh” it was deadened. For we are persuaded that the Divine Spirit “mortifies the deeds of the body,” and destroys that enmity against God which the carnal passions serve to excite. If, then, the Pythian priestess is beside herself when she prophesies, what spirit must that be which fills her mind and clouds her judgment with darkness, unless it be of the same order with those demons which many Christians cast out of persons possessed with them? And this, we may observe, they do without the use of any curious arts of magic, or incantations, but merely by prayer and simple adjurations which the plainest person can use. Because for the most part it is unlettered persons who perform this work; thus making manifest the grace which is in the word of Christ, and the despicable weakness of demons, which, in order to be overcome and driven out of the bodies and souls of men, do not require the power and wisdom of those who are mighty in argument, and most learned in matters of faith.

Now let us hear what it is that he invites us to learn, that we may ascertain from him how we are to know God, although he thinks that his words are beyond the capacity of all Christians. “Let them hear,” says he, “if they are able to do so.” We have then to consider what the philosopher wishes us to hear from him. But instead of instructing us as he ought, he abuses us; and while he should have shown his goodwill to those whom he addresses at the outset of his discourse, he stigmatizes as “a cowardly race” men who would rather die than abjure Christianity even by a word, and who are ready to suffer every form of torture, or any kind of death. He also applies to us the epithet “carnal” or “flesh-indulging,” “although,” as we are wont to say, “we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth we know Him no more,” and although we are so ready to lay down our lives for the cause of religion, that no philosopher could lay aside his robes more readily. He then addresses to us these words: “If, instead of exercising your senses, you look upwards with the soul; if, turning away the eye of the body, you open the eye of the mind, thus and thus only you will be able to see God.” He is not aware that this reference to the two eyes, the eye of the body and the eye of the mind, which he has borrowed from the Greeks, was in use among our own writers; for Moses, in his account of the creation of the world, introduces man before his transgression as both seeing and not seeing: seeing, when it is said of the woman, “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise;” and again not seeing, as when he introduces the serpent saying to the woman, as if she and her husband had been blind, “God knows that on the day that ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened;” and also when it is said, “They did eat, and the eyes of both of them were opened.” The eyes of sense were then opened, which they had done well to keep shut, that they might not be distracted, and hindered from seeing with the eyes of the mind; and it was those eyes of the mind which in consequence of sin, as I imagine, were then closed, with which they had up to that time enjoyed the delight of beholding God and His paradise. This twofold kind of vision in us was familiar to our Saviour, who says, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind,”—meaning by the eyes that see not the eyes of the mind, which are enlightened by His teaching; and the eyes which see are the eyes of sense, which His words do render blind, in order that the soul may look without distraction upon proper objects. All true Christians therefore have the eye of the mind sharpened, and the eye of sense closed; so that each one, according to the degree in which his better eye is quickened, and the eye of sense darkened, sees and knows the Supreme God, and His Son, who is the Word, Wisdom, and so forth.

For Scripture testifies, in regard to those who have a knowledge of those things of which Celsus speaks, and who profess a philosophy founded on these principles, that they, “when they knew God, glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations;” and notwithstanding the bright light of knowledge with which God had enlightened them, “their foolish heart” was carried away, and became “darkened.” Thus we may see how those who accounted themselves wise gave proofs of great folly, when, after such grand arguments delivered in the schools on God and on things apprehended by the reason, they “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” As, then, they lived in a way unworthy of the knowledge which they had received from God, His providence leaving them to themselves, they were given “up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies,” in shamelessness and licentiousness, because they “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”

But since he sends us to Hercules, let him repeat to us any of his sayings, and let him justify his shameful subjection to Omphale. Let him show that divine honours should be paid to one who, like a highway robber, carries off a farmer’s ox by force, and afterwards devours it, amusing himself meanwhile with the curses of the owner; in memory of which even to this day sacrifices offered to the demon of Hercules are accompanied with curses. Again he proposes Æsculapius to us, as if to oblige us to repeat what we have said already; but we forbear. In regard to Orpheus, what does he admire in him to make him assert that, by common consent, he was regarded as a divinely inspired man, and lived a noble life? I am greatly deceived if it is not the desire which Celsus has to oppose us and put down Jesus that leads him to sound forth the praises of Orpheus; and whether, when he made himself acquainted with his impious fables about the gods, he did not cast them aside as deserving, even more than the poems of Homer, to be excluded from a well-ordered state. For, indeed, Orpheus says much worse things than Homer of those whom they call gods. Noble, indeed, it was in Anaxarchus to say to Aristocreon, tyrant of Cyprus, “Beat on, beat the shell of Anaxarchus,” but it is the one admirable incident in the life of Anaxarchus known to the Greeks; and although, on the strength of that, some like Celsus might deservedly honour the man for his courage, yet to look up to Anaxarchus as a god is not consistent with reason. He also directs us to Epictetus, whose firmness is justly admired, although his saying when his leg was broken by his master is not to be compared with the marvellous acts and words of Jesus which Celsus refuses to believe; and these words were accompanied by such a divine power, that even to this day they convert not only some of the more ignorant and simple, but many also of the most enlightened of men.

Let us see what Celsus further says of God, and how he urges us to the use of those things which are properly called idol offerings, or, still better, offerings to demons, although, in his ignorance of what true sanctity is, and what sacrifices are well-pleasing to God, he call them “holy sacrifices.” His words are, “God is the God of all alike; He is good, He stands in need of nothing, and He is without jealousy. What, then, is there to hinder those who are most devoted to His service from taking part in public feasts?” I cannot see the connection which he fancies between God’s being good, and independent, and free from jealousy, and His devoted servants taking part in public feasts. I confess, indeed, that from the fact that God is good, and without want of anything, and free from jealousy, it would follow as a consequence that we might take part in public feasts, if it were proved that the public feasts had nothing wrong in them, and were grounded upon true views of the character of God, so that they resulted naturally from a devout service of God. If, however, the so-called public festivals can in no way be shown to accord with the service of God, but may on the contrary be proved to have been devised by men when occasion offered to commemorate some human events, or to set forth certain qualities of water or earth, or the fruits of the earth,—in that case, it is clear that those who wish to offer an enlightened worship to the Divine Being will act according to sound reason, and not take part in the public feasts. For “to keep a feast,” as one of the wise men of Greece has well said, “is nothing else than to do one’s duty;” and that man truly celebrates a feast who does his duty and prays always, offering up continually bloodless sacrifices in prayer to God. That therefore seems to me a most noble saying of Paul, “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.”