[vi. 4] If therefore upon those schismatics, who supposed that they were glorifying God, this threat and judgement was laid, what will happen to these heretics who blaspheme Him? Do you then, when you see from the Scriptures with the eyes of faith the plates of brass laid over the altar, beware of making schisms. For the adherents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram were made a monument and example of the destruction of schismatics; and every one who imitates them shall perish even as they. As men therefore who believe and know, keep yourselves far from schisms, and go not near them in any wise: as Moses said concerning them to the people: Separate yourselves from among these stubborn men, and come not near to any thing that is theirs, lest ye perish with them in all their sins. And when the anger of the Lord had burned against the schismatics, it is written that the people fled from them, and said: Lest the earth swallow us also (p. 99) with them. So then do you also, as men contending for their lives, flee from schisms; and those who would do any such thing reject, for you know the place of their condemnation.
[vi. 5] But as for heresies, be unwilling even to hear their names, and defile not your ears (with them); for not only do they in no wise glorify God, but they verily blaspheme against Him. Wherefore, the heathen are judged because they have not known, but the heretics are condemned because they withstand God: as also our Lord and Saviour Jesus said: There shall be heresies and schisms: and again: Woe unto the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals and schisms come: yet woe to the man by whom they come.
Then indeed we did but hear, but now we have also seen, even as the Scripture declares by Jeremiah saying: Defilement is gone forth in all the earth. Now these defilements, of heresies, are gone forth j and they have come about for the persuasion of our hearts, and for the confirming of our belief that those things which were foretold are true; for behold, they have come to pass and are accomplished. For all the I working of the Lord our God has passed from the People to the Church through us the Apostles; and He has withdrawn Himself and left the People, as it is written in Isaiah: He hath left his people the house of Jacob; and: Jerusalem is deserted, and Judah is fallen. And their tongues are (busy) with iniquity, and they obey not the Lord\ and: I will leave (my) vineyard; and: Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
He has left that People, therefore, and has filled the Church; and He has accounted her a mountain of habitation, and throne of glory, and lofty house, as He said in David: The mount of the Lord is a mountain of fatness, a mountain of peaks. What think ye of the mountain of peaks? It is the mountain which the Lord hath chosen him to dwell therein: the Lord shall abide therein for ever. You see then how He saith to others: What think ye? even to those who err (in thinking) that there are other churches: for one is she that is the mountain of God’s sanctuary. And by Isaiah He said again: In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord, the God of Jacob, shall be established on the top of the' mountains, and higher than the hills; (p. ioo) and all nations shall look unto it; and many peoples shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he shall teach us his way, and we ivill go therein. And again He said: There shall be signs and wonders in the midst of the people from the Lord of Sabaoth, and him that dwelleth in Mount Zion. And again by Jeremiah He said: A high throne is our sanctuary. As then He left the People, so did He leave their temple to them desolate; and He rent the veil, and took away from it the Holy Spirit, and shed Him upon them that believed from among the Gentiles, as He said by Joel: I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. For He took away the Holy Spirit, and the power of the word, and all the ministry from that People, and set it in His jo Church.
Now in like manner did Satan also, the tempter, depart from that People and come against the Church. And he now no longer tempts that People, because by their evil works they have fallen into his hands, but he has set about to 2 5 tempt the Church and to exercise his agency in her. And he has raised up against her afflictions and persecutions, and blasphemies and heresies and schisms, [vi. 6] Formerly indeed, in that time, there were heresies and schisms in that People; but now Satan by his evil agency has driven forth 3o (some) that were of the Church, and has made heresies and schisms.
[vi. 7] Now the beginning of heresies was on this wise. Satan clothed himself in a certain Simon, one that was a magician and his minister of old; and when we, by the gift of the Lord our God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, were working miracles of healing in Jerusalem, and by the laying on of our hand the fellowship of the Holy Spirit zuas given to those who drew nigh (to the faith), then he offered us much money, and desired that, as he had deprived Adam of the knowledge of life through eating of the tree, so by the gift of money he might deprive us also of the gift of God, and might take captive our minds with the bestowal of possessions, to the end that we should barter away and give to him for money the power of the Holy Spirit. Hereupon were we all stirred up; then Peter looked upon Satan, who was dwelling in Simon, and said to him: Thy money go with thee to perdition: but thou shalt have no part in this word.
[vi. 8] (p. 101) But when we had divided the whole world into twelve parts, and were gone forth among the Gentiles into all the world to preach the word, then Satan set about and stirred up the People to send after us false apostles for the undoing of the word. And he sent out from the People one whose name was Cleobius, and joined him to Simon, and others also after them. [vi. 9] Now the party of Simon followed hard upon me Peter, and came to corrupt the word. And when he was in Rome he disturbed the Church much and subverted many; and he even made a show as though he would fly. And he was capturing the Gentiles, moving them by the power and -agency of his magic arts. And on a certain day I went and saw him flying in the air; then I stood still, and said: ‘By the power of the name of Jesus I cut off thy powers.’ And he fell and broke the ankle-bone of his foot. And then many turned back from him; but others, worthy of him, continued with him. And thus was that his heresy first established. And by other false prophets beside was the enemy working.
[vi. 10] And they all had one law fupon earthf, that they should not employ the Torah and the Prophets, and that they should blaspheme God Almighty, and should not believe in the resurrection. And in other respects they were teaching and disturbing (men) with many opinions. For many of them taught that a man should not marry, saying that if one did not marry, this was holiness; and in the name of holiness they were commending the tenets of their heresies. Others again of them taught that a man might not eat flesh, saying that no one might eat any thing wherein there is a soul. But others said that one was bound to abstain from swine’s flesh only, but might eat those things which the Law pronounces clean, and that he should be circumcised according to the Law. And some taught this, and some that, causing contentions and disturbing the Churches.
Chapter XXIV
On the ordering of the Church: showing also that the Apostles came together for the correction of abuses.
[vi. 1 1] Now already we had rightly preached the holy word of For some forsooth were observing holiness; and some abstained from flesh and from wine, and some from swine’s flesh; and they were observing (some or other) of all the bonds which are in the Second Legislation.
[vi. 1 2] When therefore the whole Church was in peril of falling into heresy, all we the twelve Apostles came together to Jerusalem and took thought what should be done. And it seemed good to us, being all of one accord, to write this Catholic Didascalia for the confirming of you all. And we have established and set down therein that you worship God Almighty and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; that you employ the holy Scriptures, and believe in the resurrection of the dead; and that you make use of all His creatures with thanksgiving; and that men should marry: for He saith in Proverbs: Of God is a woman betrothed to a man\ and in the Gospel again our Lord saith: He that created from the beginning the male, said that he created also the female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they two shall be one body. What therefore God hath coupled, let not man separate. But sufficient for the faithful is the circumcision of the heart, (which is) spiritual, as He said by Jeremiah: Light you a lamp, and sow not among thorns. Be circumcised unto the Lord your God, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart, ye men of Judah. And again in J oel He saith: Rend your hearts, and not your garments. And as for baptism also, one is enough for you, even that which has perfectly forgiven you your sins. For Isaiah said not (only) Wash, but Wash, and be cleansed.
Now we had much questioning, as men contending for life; and not we the Apostles only, but also the people, together with James the bishop of Jerusalem, who is our Lord’s brother after the flesh, and with his presbyters and deacons and all the Church. For also some days before, certain men had come down from Judaea to Antioch, and were teaching the brethren, [saying): Except ye be circumcised and conduct yourselves according to the law of Moses, and keep yourselves clean from meats, and all the xtsX,ye cannot be saved; and they had much conflict and questioning. And when the brethren of Antioch knew that we were all assembled and come to make inquiry of these matters, they sent to us (p. 103) certain men (that were) believers and had knowledge of the Scriptures to learn concerning this question. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they related to us the controversy which they had in the Church of Antioch. And there rose up certain (men) who had believed from the sect of the Pharisees, saying: Ye ought to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses. And others also were crying out and saying in like manner. Then I Peter rose zip and said to them: ‘ Men, brethren, ye yourselves know that from the first days when I was among you, God made choice that by my hands the gentiles should hear the gospel and believe. And God, who proveth the hearts, gave witness of them; for to Cornelius, a certain centurion, there had appeared an angel and told him of me; and he sent for me. But when I was ready to go to him, it was shown me concerning the Gentiles that they were about to believe, and concerning all meats. For I 9 had gone zip to a housetop to pray; 2 11 and I saw the heavens opened, and a certain vessel, that was tied by its four corners, being lowered and let down upon the earth; 12 and there were therein all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and fowls of the heaven. 13 And there came to me a voice saying: Simon, arise, slay and eat. 14 But I said: God forbid, Lord, for I have never eaten any thing defiled and profane. 15 And there came to me again another voice, the second time, saying: What God hath made clean, do not thou make profane. 16 Now this was done thrice: and the vessel was taken tip to heaven. Thereupon I bethought me, and understood the word of the Lord, how that He had said: Rejoice, ye gentiles, with the people, and that everywhere He had spoken of the calling of the Gentiles; and I rose up and went my way. And when I was entered into his house and had begun to speak the word of the Lord, the Holy Spirit lighted down upon him and upon all the Gentiles that were there present. God, then, hath given the Holy Spirit to them even as to us, and hath made no distinction between us and them in the faith, and he hath cleansed their hearts. Now therefore, why tempt ye God, that ye should lay a yoke upon the necks of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we believe that we shall be saved even as they also.
For our Lord came and released us from those bonds, and said: Come unto me, all ye that toil and are laden with heavy burdens, and L will give you rest. (p. 104) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for L am gentle and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is pleasant, and my burden is light. If then our Lord has released and unburdened us, why will ye lay snares for your own selves? ’
13 Then all the people was silent; and 1 James answered and said: Men, brethren, hear me. 14 Simon hath told how formerly God said that he would choose him out a people from the gentiles to his name: 15 whereunto agree the words of the prophets, as it is written: 16 Hereafter will I raise up and build the tabernacle of David, that is fallen; and the ruins thereof will / build and raise up; 17 that the residue of men may seek the Lord, and all the gentiles upon whom my name is called, 18 saith the Lord who maketh known these things from everlasting. 19 Wherefore I say, that no man vex them that turn to God from among the gentiles, 20 but that word be sent them on this wise: that they abstain from evil ( practices ), and from idols, and from that which is sacrificed, and from that which is strangled, and from blood. 22 Then we the apostles and the bishops and the elders, together with the whole church, thought it well to choose out men from amongst them and send them t0 (to Antioch) in company with Barnabas and Paul, who were come thence. And we chose and appointed Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, notable men among the brethren, 23 and wrote by them as followeth: — The apostles and elders and brethren to the brethren who are of the gentiles in Antioch and i5 Syria and Cilicia, greeting. 24 Forasmuch as we have heard that some have troubled you with words, that they might corrupt your souls, whom we sent not: 25 we have determined, being all assembled together, to choose out and send men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and his companions, whom ye sent (hither). 27 And we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you of these things by word (of mouth). 28 For it hath seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, that no further burden be laid upon you, save that ye abstain from (these) necessary things: 29 from that which is sacrificed, and from blood, and from that which is strangled, and from fornication. And from these keep yourselves, and do well. Fare ye ivell.
[vi. 13] Now the epistle we sent; but we ourselves remained in Jerusalem many days; and we were consulting and ordering together those things which were for the advantage of all the people, and writing also this Catholic Didascalia.
Chapter XXV
(p. 105) Showing that the Apostles returned once more to the
Churches and set them in order.
Now the decision which we reached with counsel and thought concerning those who have already gone astray, we have thus affirmed and established. And we will return yet again and go to the Churches a second time, as in the beginning of the preaching, and will confirm the faithful that they may avoid the offences aforesaid, and may not receive those who come deceitfully in the name of apostles, but may know them by the changeableness of their words and by the performance of their works. For these are they of whom our Lord said: There shall come unto you men having on the clothing of lambs, but inwardly ravening wolves: and by their fruits ye shall know them. Beware of them therefore. Now there shall arise false Christs and lying prophets, and lead many astray; and by reason of manifold iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure tmto the end, the same shall be saved.
[vi. 14] Now let those who have not erred, and those also who repent of their error, be left in the Church. But as for those who are still held fast in error and repent not, we have decreed and enjoined that they be put forth from the Church and be separated and removed from the faithful, because they are become heretics; and that the faithful be commanded wholly to avoid them, and not to communicate with them 2e, either in speech or in prayer. For these are enemies and spoilers of the Church; for concerning these our Lord commanded us and said to us: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees; and: In to the cities of the Samaritans ye shall not enter. Now the cities of the Samaritans are those of the heresies, which go in a perverse way, concerning which He said in Proverbs: There is a way which men think right: but the end thereof leadeth to the bottom of Sheol. These are they concerning whom our Lord sternly and bitterly gave sentence and said: It shall not be forgiven them, neither in this world nor in the world to come. For as regards the People, who believed not io in Christ and laid hands upon Him, it is against the Son of Man, on whom they laid hands, that they blaspheme; and our Lord said: It shall be forgiven them; and again our Lord said of them: My Father, they know not what they have done, nor what they speak: if it be possible, forgive them. And as for the Gentiles again, it is against the Son of Man also that they blaspheme, by reason of (p. 106) the cross; and for these there shall come forth forgiveness. For to those who have believed, from the People or from the Gentiles, forgiveness of their evil w'orks has been granted through baptism; as the Lord Christ said: Wherefore I say unto you: All sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven to men: but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come. And every one that shall say a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but every one that shall say (it) against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come. But those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, those who lightly and in hypocrisy blaspheme God Almighty, those heretics who receive (not) His holy Scriptures, or receive them ill, in hypocrisy with blaspheming, who with evil words blaspheme the Catholic Church which is the receptacle of the Holy Spirit: it is they who, before the judgement to come and before ever they can make a defence, are already condemned by Christ. For that which He said,// shall?iot be forgiven them, is the stern sentence of condemnation which goes forth for them.
And when we had ordained and affirmed and set down (these things) together with one accord, we set forth to go each one to his former province, confirming the Churches. For those things which were foretold have been fulfilled, and the hidden wolves are come, the false Christs and lying prophets have appeared. And this is evident and manifest, that when the times draw near and the Advent is at hand, there will be yet many more and worse than these: from whom the Lord God will deliver you.
Those then who have repented of the error of (their) godless apostasy we have healed with much admonition and with the word of doctrine (and) exhortation, and have made them whole and have suffered them to remain in the Churches; but those who are smitten unto death with the perverse word of error, and for whom there is no cure, we have driven out, that they may not contaminate the holy Catholic Church, ao the pure Church of God: that (the evil) may not creep like a leprosy and travel to all like a putrid gangrene, but that pure and without stain or blemish or scar the Church may remain sound unto the Lord God. And these things we so do in every place and in every city, and throughout the whole world; and we have given (our) testimony, and have left this Catholic Didascalia justly and rightly to the Catholic Church for a memorial and for the confirming of the faithful.
Chapter XXVI
(p. 107) On the bonds of the Second Legislation of God.
[vi. 15] But you who have been converted from the People to believe in God our Saviour Jesus Christ, do not henceforth continue in your former conversation, brethren, that you should keep vain obligations, purifications and sprinklings and baptisms and distinction of meats; for the Lord has said to you: Remember not the former things; and: Behold, I make all things new: the which I now declare, that ye may know them. And I will make in the desert a way. Now deserts the Churches formerly were, in which there is now a highway and the knowledge of religion, (a way) wherein there is no erring, but new and evident, even Jesus Christ and all His dispensation which was from the beginning. For you know that He gave a simple and pure and holy law, (a law) of life, wherein our Saviour set His name. For whereas He spoke the Ten Words, He signified Jesus: for Ten represents Yod; but Yod is the beginning of the name of Jesus. Now concerning the Law the Lord testifies in David, saying thus: The law of the Lord is without blemish, and co7iverting souls. And many other things are said on this wise everywhere; for in completion of the writings of the Prophets the Lord spoke at the end by Malachi the Angel and said thus: Remember the law of Moses the servant of the Lord, how he commanded you commandments and judgements. And our Saviour also, when He cleansed the leper, sent him to the Law, and said to him: Go, show thyself to the high priests, and offer the gifts of thy cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them ) that He might show that He does not undo the Law, but teaches what is the Law and what the Second Legislation. For He said thus: I am not come to undo the law, nor the prophets, but to fulfil them. The Law therefore is indissoluble; but the Second Legislation is temporary, and is dissoluble. Now the Law consists of the Ten Words and the Judgements; to which (Law) Jesus bore witness and said thus: One Yod letter shall not pass away from the law. Now it is the Yod which passes not away from the Law, even that which may be known from the Law itself through the Ten Words, which is the name of Jesus. But the letter is the extension of the wood of the cross. And in the mount also Moses and Elias appeared with our Lord: that is, the Law and the Prophets.
[vi. 16] The Law then consists of the Ten (p. 108) Words and the Judgements, which God spoke before that the People made the calf and served idols. For also that it is called the Law, (is) truly on account of the Judgements. This is the simple and light Law, wherein is no burden, nor distinction of meats, nor incensings, nor offerings of sacrifices and burnt offerings. In this Law accordingly He shows concerning the dispensation of the Church and concerning the uncircumcision of the flesh only. For He spoke concerning sacrifices thus: If thou shalt make me an altar., make it of earth: hut if of stones, thou shalt make it of whole and unwrought, and not of wrought stones. Forasmuch as thou hast laid an iron (tool) upon it, thou hast also polluted it: not (as speaking) concerning (the axe, but concerning) the iron of the knife which is the physician’s knife, with which he circumcises the foreskin. Wherefore He does not say, ‘ Make for me ’, but, If thou shalt make an altar. He did not impose this as a necessity, but showed what was about to be. For God had no need of sacrifices; as neither of old was it commanded Cain and Abel, but they of their own accord presented offerings: and their offering achieved a brother’s murder. And Noah likewise offered, and was blamed. Wherefore He signified here: ‘ If thou desire to sacrifice, whereas I need it not thou sacrificest unto me.’
So then the Law is easy and light, fof no weak voicef. But when the People denied God, who by Moses visited them in their afflictions, who wrought signs by his hand and through his rod, who smote the Egyptians with the ten plagues and divided the Red Sea in two, who led them in the midst of the sea on dry land as in the desert, who drowned their enemies and them that hated them, who with wood made sweet the fountain of the bitter waters of Marah, who made water to flow for them in abundance from the rock that they might be satisfied, who with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire overshadowed and guided them, who brought them down manna from heaven, and gave them flesh from the sea, who ordained the Law for them in the mount: Him they denied and said: We have no God to go before us; and they made them a molten calf and worshipped it and sacrificed to a graven image.
Therefore the Lord was angry; and in His hot anger — (yet) with the mercy of His goodness — He bound them with the Second Legislation, and laid heavy burdens upon them, and a hard yoke (p. 109) upon their neck. And He says now no longer: If thou shalt make, as formerly; but He said: ‘ Make an altar, and sacrifice continually’, as though He had need of these things. Wherefore He laid upon them continual burnt offerings with a necessity, and caused them to abstain from meats by means of distinctions of meats. For from that time were animals discerned, and clean and unclean flesh; from that time were separations, and purifications, and baptisms, and sprinklings; from that time were sacrifices, and offerings, and tables; from that time were burnt offerings, and oblations, and shewbread, and the offering up of sacrifices, and firstlings, and redemptions, and he-goats for sin, and vows, and many other things marvellous. For because of manifold sins there were laid upon them customs unspeakable; but by none of them did they abide, but they again provoked the Lord. Wherefore He yet added to them by the Second Legislation a blindness worthy of their works, and spoke thus: If there be found in a man sins worthy of death, and he die, and ye hang him upon a tree; his body shall not remain the night upon the tree, but ye shall surely bury him the same day: for cursed is every one that is hanged upon a tree; that when Christ should come they might not be able to help Him, but might suppose that He was guilty of a curse. For their blinding therefore was this spoken, as Isaiah said: Behold, I show my righteousness, and thine evils: and they shall not help thee at all. For the Lord judged them with a just judgement, and dealt thus with them because of their wickedness, and hardened their heart like Pharaoh’s; as the Lord said to them by Isaiah: Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not know. For the heart of this people is waxed gross; and their eyes they have shut, and their ears they have stopped, that they may not be converted: lest at any tune they should see with their eyes, and hear ivith their ears. And in the Gospel again He said: This people s heart is waxed gross; and their eyes they have shut, and their ears they have stopped, lest at any time they should be converted. But blessed are your eyes that see, and your ears that hear. For you have been released from the bonds, and relieved of the Second Legislation, and set free from bitter slavery, and the curse has been taken off and put away from you.
[vi. 17] For the Second Legislation was imposed for the making of the calf and for idolatry. But you through baptism have been set free from idolatry, and from the Second Legislation, which was (imposed) on account of idols, you have been released. For in the Gospel (p. no) He renewed and fulfilled and affirmed the Law; but the Second Legislation He did away and abolished. For indeed it was to this end that He came, that He might affirm the Law, and abolish the Second Legislation, and fulfil the power of men’s liberty, and show forth the resurrection of the dead. For even before His coming He foretold His coming through the prophets, and together with His coming He signified also the disobedience of the People, and preached the undoing of the Second Legislation; as He said by Jeremiah: Why bring ye me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from afar country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable unto me, and your sacrifices delight me not. And again He said: Bring together your burnt offerings with your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I gave you no command, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt, neither concerning burnt offerings nor concerning sacrifices. Yea, verily, in the Law He gave no command, but in the bonds of the Second Legislation, after that they had served idols. And again by Isaiah also He said: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord. I am sated with burnt offerings of rams; and the fat of lambs and the blood of oxen I desire not. And when ye come to see my face, who hath required these things at your hands? Trample my courts no more. If ye 'will bring me fine flour, it is a vain oblation; and your new moons and your sabbaths and solemn days are rejected of me: your fasts and your restings are not acceptable unto me, and your festivals my soul hateth. And in all the Scriptures He speaks thus; and through the sacrifices He abolishes the Second Legislation; for, as we have already said, it is in the Second Legislation that sacrifices are prescribed.
If, then, even before His coming He made known and revealed His coming, and the disobedience of the People, and spoke of the abolition of the Second Legislation, much more, being come, did He fully and completely abolish the Second Legislation. For He did not use sprinklings, or baptisms, or other wonted rites; nor did He offer sacrifices or burnt offerings, or any thing that it is written in the Second Legislation to offer. And what else did He (hereby) signify but the abolition of the Second Legislation? as also He loosed you and called you from the bonds, and said: Come unto me, all ye that toil and are laden with heavy burdens; and I will give you rest. Now we know that our Saviour did not say (this) to the Gentiles, but He said it to us His disciples from among the Jews, and brought us out from burdens and a heavy load.
Those therefore who do not (p. iii) obey Him, that He may lighten and deliver them from the bonds of the Second Legislation, obey not God, who has called them to come forth unto release and rest and refreshment; and they bind themselves with the heavy burdens of the Second Legislation, which are of no avail, [vi. 1 8] For our Lord and Saviour Himself, who gave the Law and the Second Legislation, bears witness concerning the Law that it is life to them that keep it; (but) concerning the Second Legislation He testifies and shows that it is a bond and a blindness. For He everywhere makes a distinction; and He bears witness to the Law, and admonishes and commands us that we be under the Law: for every one who is not under law is lawless. And therefore He thus bears witness to the Law: In the law of the Lord shall be his pleasure, and in his law will he meditate day and night. Not so the wicked. We see then, beloved, how the righteous are declared blessed on account of righteousness and the keeping of the Law. But not so the wicked; for they have no pleasure either in the righteous or in the Law, and they do not mediate therein. Wherefore He calls ‘the wicked’ those who do not converse according to the Law. For in the Gospel also He affirms the Law, and calls and brings us out from (the burden of the bonds and from the Second) Legislation. But that the Law is other than the Second Legislation, in David likewise He shows by a distinction, speaking thus: Let us sever their cords, and loose their yoke from us. You see how the Holy Spirit speaks as it were out of the mouth of the world and reveals its thought, and says that the Law is a ‘ yoke but the Second Legislation ' cords ’. For the Law is a yoke, because like the plough-yoke of oxen it is laid upon the former People and upon the present Church of God; even as now in the Church it is upon us who are called from the People, and upon you who from among the Gentiles have obtained mercy: it has gathered and held us both together in one accord. But He well calls the Second Legislation ‘ bonds ’; for when the People served idols, there was added to them the weight of the Second Legislation. For the bonds were justly imposed, as it befell the People then; but the Church has not been bound. For to Ezekiel He explains and makes known that the Law of life is one, but the second Law, of death, is another; for He spoke thus: I brought them forth from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness, and gave them my commandments, and made known to them my judgements: that if a man should do them, he might live (p. 1 1 2) by them. And afterwards, upbraiding them because they had sinned and had not kept the Law of life, He repeats to them and saith thus: I have given them commandments that are not good, and judgements whereby they may not live. Now the judgements which do not give life are those of the bonds. Hence also the word aforesaid in the Second Legislation was for the blinding of a blind people, to wit: Cursed is every one that is hanged upon a tree.
For thus did they think of Him who gives and distributes blessings to them that are worthy, that He is under a curse. Wherefore, (because) they knew Him not, even after the signs that were done by Him in the world: when He suffered, justly in accordance with their works that word was set down for the blinding of the People; and it was a bar that they might not believe and be saved. Whence also by Isaiah He speaks thus: Who is blmd, but my servants? and the servants of God are blinded. And I have brought out a blind people, that have eyes, and see not: and their ears also are deaf. For by this word, because of their works, their eyes were blinded, and their ears made deaf like Pharaoh’s. Hence with this word the Second Legislation also was imposed, which Moses appointed. And it is the Second Legislation that He called judgements that are not good; and it cannot save alive.
They therefore who bring upon themselves those things which were imposed for the worship of idols, shall inherit the Woes; for Woe to them that prolong their sins as a long rope, and their iniquity as the band of a heifer s yoke. For the yoke of the bonds is the heifer s yoke — the bonds of the (Second) Legislation (now) upon the People, which like a long rope is laid upon them by reason of other men’s sins which from former times and generations they bring upon themselves. Every one who strives to be under the (Second) Legislation becomes guilty of the calf-worship; for the Second Legislation was imposed for nothing else but for idolatry. For the bonds were decreed because of idolatry; they therefore who regard them are bondsmen and idolaters. Wherefore, every one who binds himself becomes guilty of the Woe, and ought likewise to profess idolatry. Now one who is such asserts also the curse against our Saviour; for if thou uphold the Second Legislation, thou also assertest the curse against our Saviour, and thou art held fast in the bonds and made guilty of the Woe — an enemy of the Lord God.
Cease therefore, beloved brethren, (p. 113) you who from among the People have believed, yet desire (still) to be tied with the bonds, and say that the Sabbath is prior to the first day of the week because that the Scripture has said: In six days did God make all things; and on the seventh day he finished all his works, and he sanctified it.
We ask you now, which is first, Alaf or Tau? For that (day) which is the greater is that which is the beginning of the world, even as the Lord our Saviour said by Moses: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. But the earth was invisible and unshapen. And again He said: And there was one day: and as yet the seventh day was unknown. But what say you? Which is greater, that which had come into being, and existed, or that which was yet unknown, and of which there was no expectation that it should come to be? But again we ask you: Are your last children blessed, or the firstborn? as the Scripture also saith: Jacob shall be blessed among the firstborn; and: My son, my firstborn (is) Israel; and: Every male that openeth the womb of his mother is blessed to the Lord.
But that we may make you firm in the faith, hear ye. The first day and the last are equal; for learn how you find it written, that In his kingdom the day of the Lord is as a thousand years: the day of yesterday which is past; and as a watch of the night. (One day therefore is a thousand years in the kingdom of Christ, wherein also will be the judgement. For a watch of the night) He said concerning the judgement, which is a dark prison to them that are condemned. A day therefore is to be revealed in which the sun will stand in his mid-course, and the moon likewise, following the sun. For He said: Behold, / make the first things as the last, and the last as the first; and: The last shall be first> and the first last; and: Remember no more the former things, and let them not come to your mind. Behold, I make things new, which now shall be revealed; and: In those days and in that time they shall no more say: The ark of the covenant; neither shall it come to mind, nor be visited, nor any more be made. But the Sabbath itself is counted even unto the Sabbath, and it becomes eight (days); thus an ogdoad is (reached), which is more than the Sabbath, even the first of the week.
Wherefore, brethren, every day is the Lord’s; for the Scripture has said: The earth is the Lord's with the fullness thereof: the world that is wider heaven, and all that dwell therein. For if God willed that we should be idle one day for six, first of all the patriarchs and righteous men, and all they that were before Moses, would have remained idle (upon it), and God Himself also with all His creatures. But now all (p. 1 14) the governance of the world is carried on ever continually; and the spheres do not cease even for a moment from their course, but at God’s command (their universal and perpetual motion proceeds.) For if He would say: Thou shalt be idle, and thy son, and thy servant, and thy maidservant, and thine ass, how does He (continue to) work, causing to generate, and making fthe winds to blowf, and fostering and nourishing us His creatures? On the Sabbath day He causes (the winds) to blow, and (the waters) to flow, and (thus) works. But this (the Sabbath) has been set as a type for the times, even as many other things have been set for a type. The Sabbath therefore is a type of the (final) rest, signifying the seventh thousand (-years), [vi. 19] But the Lord our Savioui, when He was come, fulfilled the types and explained the parables, and He showed those things that are life-giving, and those that cannot help He did away, and those that cannot give life He abolished.
And not only in His own person did He show this, but He wrought also by the Romans; and He overthrew the temple, and caused the altar to cease, and made an end of sacrifices, and all the commands and bonds that are in the Second Legislation He abolished. For the Romans also hold the Law, but they refuse the Second Legislation: therefore is their dominion strong. Thou, therefore, who desirest to-day to be under the Second Legislation, whilst the Romans rule thou canst not perform aught that is written in the Second ^ Legislation. For thou canst not stone the wicked, nor kill idolaters, nor discharge the ministry of sacrifices, nor perform the libations and sprinklings (with the ashes) of a heifer; nor canst thou fulfil aught else of those things which are in the Second Legislation, nor observe them. For it is written: 1 Cursed is every one that keepeth not these words to do them; and this is a thing impossible, to fulfil the Second Legislation while dispersed among the Gentiles. Wherefore, every one that touches it falls under a curse, and binds himself, and inherits a Woe; and he asserts the curse against our Saviour, and as an enemy of God he is condemned.
But if thou follow Christ, thou shalt inherit the blessings. For there is no disciple better than his master: but when thou conformest to Him, through the Gospel thou conformest to the Law, and thou wilt entirely avoid the Second Legislation: even as the Lord Himself, who gave the kingdom to men, declared also that His commands ought justly to be kept; for in every age there is of right a legislation (given). Now having the Gospel, [thou conformest to the Law,] the renewal of the Law and the seal, beyond (p. 115) the Law and the Prophets seek nothing else. For the Second Legislation is undone, but the Law is made firm. And those who would be without the Law, against their will come under the Law; for He said in the Law: Thou shalt not kill; but if a man kill, he is condemned by the law of the Romans, and he comes under the Law. But if you follow and conform to the truth of the Church and the power of the Gospel, your hope in the Lord shall not be frustrated.
[vi. 20] Do you therefore avoid all heretics, who follow not the Law and the Prophets, and obey not Almighty God. but are His enemies; and who abstain from meats, and forbid to
5 Cf. I Pet. iii 9. 6 Mt. x 24. 17 Ex. xx 13. marry, and believe not in the resurrection of the body; who moreover will not eat and drink, but would fain rise up demons, unsubstantial spirits, who shall be damned everlastingly and punished in unquenchable fire. Fly and avoid them therefore, that you may not perish with them.
[vi. 2 1] But if there be any who are precise and desire, after the Second Legislation, to observe the wonted courses of nature and issues and marriage intercourse: first let them know that, as we have already said, together with the Second Legislation they affirm the curse against our Saviour and ro condemn themselves to no purpose. And again, let them tell us, in what days or in what hours they keep themselves from prayer and from receiving the Eucharist, or from reading the Scriptures— let them tell us whether they are void of the Holy Spirit. For through baptism they receive the Holy Spirit, who is ever with those that work righteousness, and does not depart from them by reason of natural issues and the intercourse of marriage, but is ever and always with those who possess Him, and keeps them; as the Lord said in Proverbs: If thou sleep, he keepeth thee; and when thou awakes t, he will speak with thee. And in the Gospel also our Lord said: Every one that hath, there shall be given to him, and shall be added unto him; but from him that hath not, even that which he thinketh he hath shall be taken away. To those therefore who have, yea, it shall be added unto them; but from those who think that they have not, even that which they think they have shall be taken away.
For if thou think, O woman, that in the seven days of thy flux thou art void of the Holy Spirit; if thou die in those days, thou wilt depart empty and without hope. But if (p. 116) the Holy Spirit is always in thee, without (just) impediment dost thou keep thyself from prayer and from the Scriptures and from the Eucharist. For consider and see, that prayer also is heard through the Holy Spirit, and the Eucharist through the Holy Spirit is accepted and sanctified, and the Scriptures are the words of the Holy Spirit, and are holy. For if the Holy Spirit is in thee, why dost thou keep thyself from approaching to the works of the Holy Spirit? as those who say: Whosoever sweareth by the altar, sinneth not; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that zs upon it, sinneth. As our Lord said: Fools and blind, ivhether zs greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Every one therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is zipon it. And every ozze that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And every one that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throzie of God, azzd by him that sitteth thereon. If therefore thou possess the Holy Spirit, but keep thyself from His fruits so that thou approach not to them, thou also shalt hear from our Lord Jesus Christ: ‘ Fool and blind, whether is greater, the bread, or the Spirit that (sanctifieth the bread?’ Therefore, if the Holy Spirit) thou possessest: fool, thou keepest vain observances. But if the Holy Spirit is not in thee, how canst thou work righteousness? For the Holy Spirit continues ever with those who possess Him; but from whom He departs, to him an unclean spirit joins himself. For the unclean spirit, when he is gone out from a man, departeth and goeth about in waterless places — that is, men who go not down into the water (of baptism) — and when he hath found him no rest, he saith: I will return to my former house, whence I came out. If therefore he come and find it empty and swept and garnished, then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits worse than himself, and they come and dwell in that man; and his last state is made worse than the first.
Learn now, why, when the unclean spirit is gone out, he finds him no rest in any place: because every man soever is filled with a spirit, one with the Holy Spirit, and one with an unclean spirit. A believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, and an unbeliever with an unclean spirit: and his nature does not receive an alien spirit. He therefore who has withdrawn and separated himself and departed from the unclean spirit by baptism, is filled with (p. 117) the Holy Spirit; and if he do good works, the Holy Spirit continues with him, and he remains fulfilled; and the unclean spirit finds no place with him, for he who is filled with the Holy Spirit does not receive him. For all men are filled with their own spirit; and the unclean spirits depart not even a little from the heathen, while yet they are heathens, even though they imagine that they do good works; for there is no other power whereby the unclean spirit may depart save by the pure and holy Spirit of God. Thus, then, when he has nowhere found him a place to enter, he returns and comes to him from whom he went forth; because one who is filled with the Holy Spirit does not receive him.
Thou then, O woman, according as thou sayest, (if) in the days of thy flux thou art void, thou shalt be filled with unclean spirits. For when the unclean spirit returns to thee and finds him a place, he will enter and dwell in thee always: and then will there be entering in of the unclean spirit and going forth of the Holy Spirit, and perpetual warfare. Wherefore, O foolish (women), these misfortunes befall you because of your imaginings; and because of the observances which you keep, and on account of your imaginings, you are emptied of the Holy Spirit and filled with unclean spirits: and you are cast out from life into the burning of everlasting fire. But again I will say to thee, O woman: In the seven days of thy flux thou accountest thyself unclean according to the Second Legislation: after seven days, therefore, how canst thou be cleansed without baptism? But if thou be baptized for that which thou supposest, thou wilt undo the perfect baptism of God which wholly forgave thee thy sins, and wilt be found in the evil plight of thy former sins; and thou shalt be delivered over to eternal fire. But if thou be not baptized, according to thine own supposition thou remainest unclean, and the vain observing of the seven days has availed thee nothing, but is rather hurtful to thee; for according to thy supposition thou art unclean, and as unclean thou shalt be condemned.
Be thus minded therefore concerning all those who observe issues and the intercourse of marriage; for all these observances are foolish and hurtful. For if, when a man use matrimony, or blood come forth from him, he be baptized, let him also wash his couch: and he will have this labour (p. 118) and vexation incessantly; he will be baptizing and will be washing his clothes and his couch, and will be able to do nothing else. Now if thou be baptized from an issue and from marriage intercourse according to the Second Legislation, thou owest it also to be baptized when thou treadest upon a mouse: and thou shalt never be clean. For even as to the shoes of thy feet, with the skin of dead (animals) and with the hides of those that are sacrificed thou art shod; and as to clothes also, with the wool of the like (animals) thou art clothed. And if thou tread upon a bone, or enter a tomb, thou oughtest to be baptized: and thou shalt never be clean. And thou wilt undo the baptism of God, and thou renewest thy offences, and art found in thy former sins, and affirmest the Second Legislation, and takest upon thee the idolatry of the calf, — for if thou take upon thee the Second Legislation, take also idolatry, for because of idolatry the Second Legislation was imposed, — and the former sins of others, as a long rope, and as the band of a heifer, thou drawest and bringest upon thee. Moreover, thou bringest upon thee the Woe; for when thou affirmest the Second Legislation, thou consentest to the curse against our Saviour; and thou settest at naught Christ the King, who distributes blessings to them that are worthy. Wherefore thou shalt inherit a curse; for every one that shall curse a man is cursed [ and every one that blesseth is blessed\ To what curses, therefore, and to what judgement or to what condemnation shall they be delivered who affirm a curse against our Saviour and our Lord and our
[vi. 22] Wherefore, beloved, flee and avoid such observances: for you have received release, that you should no more bind yourselves; and do not load yourselves again with that which our Lord and Saviour has lifted from you. And do not observe these things, nor think them uncleanness; and do not refrain yourselves on their account, nor seek after sprinklings, or baptisms, or purification for these things. For in the Second Legislation, if one touch a dead man or a tomb, he is baptized; but do you, according to the Gospel and according to the power of the Holy Spirit, come together even in the cemeteries, and read the holy Scriptures, and without demur perform your ministry and your supplication to God; and offer an acceptable Eucharist, the likeness of the royal body of Christ, both in your congregations and in (p. 119) your cemeteries and on the departures of them that sleep — pure bread that is made with fire and sanctified with invocations — and without doubting pray and offer for them that are fallen asleep. For they who have believed in God, according to the Gospel, even though they should sleep, they are not dead; as our Lord said to the Sadducees: Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is written: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? And he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And Elisha the prophet also, after he had slept and was a long while (dead), raised up a dead man; for his body touched the body of the dead and quickened and raised it up. But this could not have been were it not that, even when he was fallen asleep, his body was holy and filled with the Holy Spirit. I
For this cause therefore do you approach without restraint to those who are at rest, and hold them not unclean. In like manner also you shall not separate those (women) who are in the wonted courses; for she also who had the flow of blood was not chidden when she touched the skirt of our Saviour’s cloak, but was even vouchsafed the forgiveness of all her sins. And when (your wives) suffer those issues which are according to nature, have a care that, in a manner that is right, you cleave to them; for you know that they are your members, and do you love them as your soul: as it is written in the Twelve Prophets, (in) Malachi who was called the Angel: The Lord hath borne witness between thee and thezvife of thy youth, whom thou hast left, thy partner, and she the ivife of thy covenant. And did not he make her? and they (fem.) are the residue of his spirit. And ye have said: What else doth God seek but pure seed? Give heed in your spirits: and the wif? of thy youth thou shaltnot leave. Wherefore, a woman when she is in the way of women, and a man when an issue comes forth from him, and a man and his wife when they consort and rise up one from another: let them assemble without restraint, without bathing, for they are clean. But if a man should corrupt and defile another’s wife after baptism, or be polluted with a harlot, and rising up from her should bathe in all the seas and oceans and be baptized in all the rivers, he cannot be made clean.
Do you therefore, our beloved, avoid all such foolish observances, and come not near them. And be careful to abide (p. 1 20) in the wedded company of one wife, and to keep your bodies unspotted and unsullied; that you may receive life, that you may be partakers of the kingdom of God, and that you may receive that which the Lord God has promised, and may have rest for evermore.
[vi. 23] Now with many other demonstrations similar to these we might the more clearly declare to you the Didascalia; but not to extend and prolong the writing, already we conclude the discourse and lay it aside, lest by reason of the severity of the truth the teaching of our discourse should remain but a short time with you. Wherefore, take not amiss those things which have been said; for our Lord and Savioui also spoke with severity to those who were worthy of condemnation, and said: Take and cast them into the outer darkness: there shall he weeping and gnashing of teeth; and: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father hath prepared for the evil one and his angels. That the word is likened to fire and a sword, He has said also in Jeremiah: Behold, my words go forth as fire, and as iron that cutteth stone — yet sword and fire and fconstraintf, not to those who hearken to the truth, but (He means) that word which the People heard not with pleasure when our Lord and Teacher reproved them; for they were unwilling to hearken to it because they esteemed it hard like iron. For they hearkened not to that which He said to them, for He appeared to them to speak harshly and severely. Wherefore He said to them: Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and that which I say ye do not? And so in like manner this our writing also appears to some to speak harshly and severely by reason of its truth. For if we had written indulgently for the gratification of men, many would grow weak and melt away from the faith, and we should be guilty of their blood. For as a physician, when he has not been able to conquer and heal an ulcer with drugs and fomentations, comes to a severer remedy and to surgical cuttings, that is to iron and cauteries, by which alone the physician is able to overcome and conquer (the sore) and presently heal the sick man: even so is the word; to those who hear and do it it is as a compress and an emollient and a plaster, but by those who hear and do it not it is esteemed as iron and fire.
Now to Him who is able to open (p. 12 j) the ears of your hearts to receive the fincisivef words of the Lord through the Gospel and the teaching of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, who was crucified in the days of Pontius Pilate, and slept, that He might announce to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and to all His saints the end of the world and the resurrection that is to be for the dead; and rose from the dead, that He might show and give to us, that we might know Him, a pledge of the resurrection; and was taken up to heaven by the power of God His Father and of the Holy Spirit, and sat on the right hand of the throne of God Almighty upon the Cherubim; to Him who cometh with power and glory to judge the dead and the living: to Him (be) dominion and glory and majesty and kingdom, and to His Father and to the Holy Spirit: who was, and is, and abideth, both now and unto all generations and ages. Amen.