And the divine Scripture states that the Spirit of the Lord worked mightily upon him', or according to the text |236 contained in other manuscripts, 'the Spirit of the Lord prospered his way' 634; and, though he opposed himself to God's laws, the grace of the Holy Spirit did not abandon him. However it was not fornication on which they were bent, but marriage. And again at the wedding-feast he composed a certain question, or rather 635 a riddle, and asked it of those Philistines, fixing gifts for them and promising them so many garments and articles of clothing, if they told him the solution of that riddle; but, if they failed to find the origin of it and did not tell it, on the other hand he appointed a similar present for them to give. So much for what he did: but they could not find the interpretation of the question; but they persuade the woman who had been united to him to get the answer to the riddle from him by a trick, and make this known to them, as was in fact done. And thereupon those garments had to be exacted from him; for the holy Scripture said, «The spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and he went down to Ascalon, and there killed thirty men; and he took their spoils, and gave their garments to those who interpreted the riddle to him» 636. Now mark here again also how it said that the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, because he killed men alien to his race in fight, since God, as we have said, permitted this |237 same thing, that these men should perish, as men who had oppressed Israel: and at every great and wonderful and glorious deed that he did Scripture stated and said that the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him 637. And, after he had gone down to Gaza as is written 638, and had there seen a harlot and gone in to her, he shone with the same brilliant deeds and was resplendent with the same good successes, and with great power advanced to such acts, God instigating him to these. Nevertheless after the fornication on the occasion of the successes gained by him the divine Scripture no longer stated that the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; for the sin of fornication which is committed against the body, that is which is a sin against God, is of such a kind as to drive away the Holy Spirit. Wherefore also the wise Paul too says, «He who commits fornication sins against his own body», not as if the other sins were not objects of condemnation, for all of them contain a falling from the kingdom, but for the reason that was stated he was desirous to show that fornication is evil, and he wished to eradicate the passion itself from every man, as from some root; because the |238 Corinthians sinned wickedly in this respect; for he said, «Such fornication is reported among you, and fornication of such a kind that is not even named among the peoples, that a man should have his father's wife" 639. He began with an accusation of this kind, founded upon the particular unlawful intercourse, and he went on to use the spiritual knife against all fornication; and he raised a charge of this kind to a height. Look at the strict mercifulness of God, as in the history of Samson.
As soon as he had committed fornication, the grace of the sanctifying power of the Spirit departed from him, but it was nevertheless poured out upon him in the power and operation of the successes obtained by him, giving an opportunity for repentance by means of which every sin is overthrown and cast out, unless we throw ourselves into the pit of despair 640.
> > LXVI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO EUPRAXIUS.
[508-11.] For not only the manifestations of wrath that arise from wars, but also the chastisements of many kinds which are brought to pass from heaven for our correction it is the habit of Scripture to call evils. For the prophet |239 Amos said, «Is there evil in a city which the Lord hath not done?» And, explaining what an evil of this kind is, which is brought to pass by God in order to benefit, he said as his mouthpiece: « 'I smote you with heat and with jaundice, ye increased your gardens: your vines and your olives and your figs the caterpillar ate, and even so ye turned not to me', saith the Lord» 641.
(A little farther on.) Of these chastisements and calamities therefore God is the maker, for our reproof and the repression of our sins. Indeed we also call the things that are brought upon us by way of chastisement evils: and the holy prophet also speaks and composed according to our custom, or rather 642 the Lord himself who spoke in him.
> > LXVII. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO EUPRAXIUS THE CHAMBERLAIN.
[508-11] First he says, «I am he who formed light», and then he added, «and made darkness;» 643 meaning this; that, because he formed light, he himself |240 made darkness. If light had not existed first, darkness would not have been brought into being, from the shield of the heavenly body. When light was formed, and heaven was stretched like a roof over the earth, the space between became of necessity 644 not light, and so darkness was accidentally brought into being, not having existed before; and for this reason the maker of all had need to say, in order to illuminate the darkness that was in the world, «Let there be light» 645. All darkness is brought about by reason of shadowing bodies; because, if bodies did not exist in the way of the light, darkness would not result. The words are moreover spoken in order to do away with the falsely-named gods, and that we may know that he is the Creator of night and of day, and not, as the deceivers say, that the Creator of light is one and the creator of darkness again another.
But the phrase «maketh peace and createth evil» makes its interpretation clear from the very understanding of the composition of the words: for he meant, 'Let everyone know that I am he who makes peace and creates evil'. What evil? That which stands in active opposition to peace, that is wars, and devastations of cities, which are justly brought upon us on account of our sins: just as, when the sons of Israel sat in peace |241 and plenty, and afterwards left the Lord and turned aside to idolatry, God delivered them into the hand of the Moabites, and at times to the sons of Ammon, and to the rest of the nations: and this Micah declares when he says, «Evils came down from the Lord upon Jerusalem, noise of chariots and horsemen» 646.
> > LXVIII. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 10th LETTER OF THE 2nd BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN BEFORE EPISCOPACY, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO PHOCAS AND EUPRAXIUS THE CHAMBERLAINS.
[508-11. ] For, after the fishermen had proclaimed the gospel and caught all the world, the word of truth took teachers of the church from profane wisdom, and seized them like vessels of sanctification (? ) 647, and, having given them to taste of the bowl of true wisdom, and satisfied them with the unintoxicating drinks of the Holy Spirit, it sent them out like fishermen and they caught those who were puffed up with the wisdom of the rulers of this world on all mountains, that is by means of the very thoughts of false |242 knowledge which are supposed to be high and elevated. This was proclaimed beforehand by Jeremiah the prophet when he said thus: «'Lo! I send out the many fishermen', saith the Lord, 'and they shall catch them; and after these things I will send out the many hunters, and they shall catch them on all mountains, and on all high places'» 648; though indeed, when a goodly spoil has been caught by the doctrines of divine wisdom, they reveal and expose their own defeat by means of another prophecy, crying to God their Saviour, «Behold us. We will be bondmen to thee, because tho. u art the Lord our God, and truly the high places and the power of the mountains were reduced to falsehood» 649. But, if the thoughts of profane wisdom are understood to be the low mountains, we shall consequently understand that the gates of bronze which are shattered and the bars 650 of iron that are broken 651 are the snares of argument and the precise questions stated in words from which there is no escape, which have many windings; questions which the truth has refuted and dissolved, being, stronger than everything, which heaven also blesses, as Ezra said 652; questions which Jeremiah calls 'holes of the rocks', on account of the secrecy and obscurity and the |243 ambushes hard to see which the same objections contain; for «they shall catch them», he says, «on all mountains, and on all high places and from the holes of the rocks». For the low mountains may be understood in another way also as those who are proud and arrogant in character, but are taught the gospel and made lowly, and are changed so that they cast themselves on their faces on the earth and converted to a humble demeanour by hearing the Teacher say, «Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls» 653, and thereby another prophecy of Isaiah also is fulfilled in addition which says, «All mountains and all high places shall be brought low, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and those that have rough paths smooth, and all flesh shall see God's salvation» 654. But, if we call the change of the souls of the haughty to a lowly demeanour the low mountains, we shall not receive it as unfitting that the gates of bronze and the bars 655 of iron are the character of wickedness that is very wicked, that has not only set men under the compulsion 656 of nature, but also 657 brought them to such a state that they cannot be reformed, since 'they have been constrained in their will', as Jeremiah says, 'and |244 become pieces of flesh' 658, so that they are not able to have God's spirit dwelling in them.
That character so to speak of gates of bronze and bars 659 of iron was shattered and crushed by the power of the divine Incarnation by him who said, «The kingdom of heaven belongs to violent men, and violent men seize it» 660, and, «I will give thee hidden and secret treasures, and invisible ones will I open to thee that thou mayst know that I am the Lord God who calleth thy name, the God of Israel, because of Jacob my bondman and Israel my chosen»661. And we said before at the beginning of the composition that Cyrus searched the very depths of the earth themselves in Babylon, and carried all the riches of the Babylonians into captivity. This therefore God himself promises to Cyrus by word of mouth, saying, «I will give thee hidden and secret treasures, and invisible ones will I open to thee, that thou mayst know that I am the Lord thy God, who called thy name, the God of Israel». But he uses the name 'kingdom', on account of which he also termed him 'anointed' 662. «These», he says, «you shall find, because of Jacob my bondman and Israel my chosen», |245 whom also Cyrus brought up from captivity: therefore he merited also the aforesaid rewards. It was because of Cyrus therefore that the announcement was put together in this way: but the aforestated words fit Christ the Saviour of us all also; for, if he divested himself and became poor for our; sake while he is rich 663, he does not refuse to have words used of him which befit his exinanition.
> > LXIX. ---- THE LETTER OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH, TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS 664.
[522-6. ] While walking in the way of righteousness (I mean that of asceticism), and the monastic life, you meditate on the sublime thoughts of the God-inspired Scriptures, and gather benefit from them, and shun lack of knowledge and the poverty arising therefrom as something alien to the commandments of religion, and for this disposition therefore you are an object of praise. For the book of Proverbs also somewhere said, «The lips of the |246 righteous know high things, but fools die in scarcity». For this reason it has decreed for you a blessing from above, and a life that is without sorrow and blessed: for it adds, 'The blessing of the Lord upon the head of the righteous, this maketh rich, and sorrow in heart shall not be added unto it» 665. It is therefore known beforehand that to me too you bring freedom from sorrow through your God-loving questions, inasmuch as you cause me to enjoy the pleasure of spiritual thoughts. Accordingly I will readily try to give an elucidation of the rest 666 of your questions also. You are pleased to ask me what our Lord Jesus Christ wishes to make known to us by that parable which Luke the Evangelist recorded as follows: «Who among you shall have a friend, and he shall go unto him at midnight and say to him, 'My friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend hath come to me from a journey, and I have not wherewith to set before him', and he from within shall answer and say, 'Trouble me not. Lo! the door is shut, and my children with myself are in bed. I cannot rise and give to thee'? I say unto you that, if he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, because of his importunity he will rise and give him as much as he needeth». For 667, us to find the reason of this parable from outside is foolish and senseless, |247 since our Saviour himself plainly added by his own words and declared that he brought this forward to convince us that we ought to pray and make requests without ceasing and at all times, readily 668 and without ever growing slack or weak from the constant habit 669: for he added, «I also say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given unto you. Seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened unto him» 670. In what precedes he delivered to the disciples the form of that divine prayer which begins, «Our Father which art in heaven» 671; and so he added to it the parable given above, so that on all sides the object'is clear. But, since you have thought to yourself that there is some spiritual, sublime, lofty allegory 672 contained in the words of the parable, and ask what those three loaves are, we ourselves also find it quite impossible not to be uplifted with your instruction-loving and inquiring mind, and to state the partial result which we have reached; for assuredly we must not force the parables into an allegory 673 in every point.
These 674 three loaves I consider to be faith in |248 the Father and in the Son and the Holy Spirit; to which it is reasonable to suppose that our Lord, the ' one of the Trinity ' is urging all men through these words; because indeed, as the apostle said, he ' wisheth all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth' 675. Since therefore some have wasted all their life in negligence, and taken no account of the faith, and at last towards the end of life come to a perception of their sins, and rush to the faith, the merciful one says this: «Even men of this kind, who come and knock at my door at an untimely hour of night, I will hear, not for the sake of justice, but because of their importunity 676, and I will hand to them the loaves of faith, which is the confession of the Holy Trinity». The friend therefore, the master of the house, is the God and Saviour Jesus 677, who loves every man, even those who have not yet believed on him, and thirsts for their salvation. But he who asks for the three loaves in the middle of the night is he who comes to the faith late. But the friend who came from a journey and was received by him we should afterwards rightly understand as the angel or angels who come at the end of life to take us and |249 conduct us on the last journey; for they themselves also love us, and make our salvation a subject of rejoicing, according to the testimony of our Lord which says, «Joy ariseth before the angels of God over a sinner who repenteth»678. But the children who are resting in the bed are those who have been brought up as children, and have believed the gospel with a simple heart, and have been judged worthy to rest with our Lord. For the lying on the bed also is a sign of rest, as our Lord himself again says in the Gospel of Matthew: «Many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven»679.
The words spoken by our Saviour to the Jews, «In order that upon you may come all the blood, of righteous men that has been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zacharias 680 whom ye |250 slew between the temple and the altar» 681, have been variously understood by those who have interpreted, because concerning this matter nothing is plainly stated by the God-inspired Scripture. But, since our Saviour's purpose requires that he should unite and comprise in the saying all the blood of righteous men that was unjustly shed, from Abel down to the day on which he himself said these things to the Jews, and lay the responsibility for this upon them and upon their ancestors, it 682 is a right and reasonable thing, as it seems to me, to understand that he referred to Zacharias the priest, who begot for us the holy 683 John the Forerunner and Baptist, whom a tradition not contained in Scripture relates that the Jews slew between the temple and |251 the altar, because he plainly prophesied or rather 684 showed the God-bearer to be a virgin 685, and him that is born of her, the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, like some King and chief and Lord over their people, and did not remove the holy Virgin herself after the incomprehensible conception by the Holy Spirit from the virgins' place in the temple, between the temple and the altar, as one that was married, but knew her to be still a virgin, and allowed her to stand in the same 686 accustomed place as usual. For this reason (they say) those who heard of it fell into a rage and took weapons in their hands against him, fearing the king who was expected from his |252 prophecy, who was to exercise sway over them and lay the yoke of bondage upon them. And these things Gregory the wise in divine things, the brother of Basil the great, and bishop of Nyssa, in the sermon on the Nativity of our Saviour, states thus: «But, if we are not straying a long way from the subject, it would perhaps not be inopportune to adduce Zacharias also who was slain between the temple and the altar to testify to the undefiled mother. This Zacharias was a priest, but not a priest only, but possessing also the gift of prophecy, and the power of prophecy is proclaimed in the book of the gospel as inevitable 687, in that the divine grace makes a way for men beforehand, that they may not think the birth from a virgin incredible, and, training the assent of those who did not believe beforehand by small miracles, a child |253 is born to her that is barren and past age 688. This is the beginning of the miracle that is performed in the Virgin 689. For, as Elizabeth does not become a mother by the power of nature, inasmuch as she had grown old in the world 690 without bearing, but the boy's birth is referred to the divine will, so also the incredibility of the virgin birth-throes obtains belief by reference to the deity.
Since therefore the son born of the barren woman, who at the voice of her that had conceived the Lord, before he came forth to the light, leaped in his mother's womb, preceded the son born of the virgin, immediately on the forerunner of the Word coming forth to birth, then the silence of Zacharias is dissolved, by the prophetic indwelling, and all things that Zacharias utters were a prophecy of the future. This man therefore who was being led by the spirit of prophecy to the knowledge of hidden |254 things, having understood the mystery of virginity in the undefiled birth, did not exclude the unmarried mother in the temple from the place which according to the law was assigned to the virgins, teaching the Jews that the Maker of the things that are and Ring of all creation has human nature under his rule with all things, and by his own will leads it to that which pleases him, and is not himself controlled by this nature, so that it is in his power to make a new form of birth which will not cause her who has become a mother to cease from being a virgin. Therefore he did not exclude her in the temple from the ranks of the virgins; and this place was a space between the temple and the altar. Since therefore they heard that the King of creation was coming forth 691 by dispensation to human birth, in fear of being under a king's rule they slew the man who testified these things |255 concerning the birth, sacrificing 692 the priest at the very altar» 693. But of the Zacharias who was one of the twelve prophets we cannot reasonably understand the passage quoted, since it is not related that he was killed, but he departed from life by the ordinary end of human life. Wherefore also in the times of the pious king Theodosius the grandson of the elder Theodosius his holy body was found by revelation in the territory of Eleutheropolis, when it had not been in the least corrupted but was found as if it had been buried yesterday, at a place at which an oratory is now to be seen, and a temple which was consecrated to God in his name; and it is known and honoured by all who pass by that way. This is related by a certain Sozomen who wrote ecclesiastical histories 694. Some have supposed that in the above-quoted passage our Saviour referred to Zacharias the son of Jehoiada who was put to death by Joash, king of the Jews. But this explanation is futile, and is refuted by the facts themselves. For it is not the case that the foul murder of prophets and priests, the murder which it is the intention of the |256 evangelic saying of our Saviour to set forth, was perpetrated down to his time and then ended: for after Joash other kings of the Jews also reigned who turned aside to idolatry, and, as is natural, were ill-disposed towards those who pleased God; among whom Manasseh is said to have put Isaiah the great among prophets to death with a saw. But besides these things we should know this also, that the man who was put do death by Joash was called Azarias and not Zacharias, though in certain copies some men have changed the name, and by a slight change have written 'Azarias' as 'Zacharias' 695.
Accordingly for all these reasons it seems to be a just conclusion that we must consequently understand our Saviour's saying of the father of John the Baptist, as the holy Gregory said.
Of the passage written by the wise Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians, «He that speaketh with tongues edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth edifieth the church 696», this is the elucidation. In the times in which the apostles were "propagating the saving preaching of the gospel in the |257 world, many of those who believed worked signs and prodigies, in order to bring unbelievers to accept the truth. For it is for this cause that miracles are numerous among unbelievers, and not among those who have already believed, according to the saying of the same Paul 697. For this very same reason the gifts of the Spirit were given with greater liberality, and more openly, to these who were being brought to the faith. And those who were baptized often spoke with tongues immediately, and some were thought worthy to receive prophetic inspiration, while certain others even enjoyed the possession of both, as is written in the book of the Acts about some men who were baptized by Paul at Ephesus, as follows: «But, when they had heard it, |258 they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And, when Paul had laid his hand upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied» 698. This grace therefore flourished among the Corinthians also at that time, and some used to speak with tongues, while others were thought worthy to prophesy. And the form of prophecy was such that it was made known not only by foretelling the future but also by the commingling of words of instruction which corrected morals, as the God-clad doctors such as Athanasius the great and Basil, and such as Gregory and John, and all who were like these, gained renown at one time and another in the churches. Since therefore certain men at Corinth were puffed up and thought much of themselves because they spoke with |259 tongues, while others prophesied and taught things useful and beneficial, Paul, wishing to bring down their high looks, says this: «He who speaks with the tongues of the nations edifies himself, that is, establishes his own reputation, and is admired only, but does not benefit the soul of the hearers by reforming morals: but he who prophesies and weaves a web of moral teaching, and reproves secret things of the heart, and purifies the souls of the hearers from shameful passions, edifies the church, and acquires the gift of prophesy or of teaching for others rather 699 than for himself».
The meaning of Job's saying, «May the blessing of him that hath perished come upon me» 700 is plain to those who read with intelligence and not carelessly from the fact that it follows the words which precede, and from |260 the words which next follow. This is what he says: «Often have I seen a man suffering extreme tortures, and just on the point of perishing, as perhaps when enemies were upon him, or violent men, and have rescued him from distress701 and saved him; and such a one has blessed me, because against all hope he had been delivered from the destruction that was impending over him702. May that blessing therefore come upon me, and may God bring it to effect» 703. That this is so the words which follow will prove as I said before. What in fact does he say? «For I delivered the poor from the hand of the powerful, and I helped the orphan who had no helper. May the blessing of him that hath perished come upon me; and the mouth |261 of the widow hath blessed me» 704. But one may also understand this in a higher sense as a parable. For our Lord also says in the gospels about those who mortify their soul to the world, and give up their body to the arena 705 of martyrdom, or to labours of asceticism, and are thereby thought to be destroying and slaying their soul, because they are deprived of worldly pleasure: «He that destroyeth his soul for my sake shall find it» 706. The prayer and blessing therefore of a man who has thus perished according to our Saviour's saying and finds his soul is a great thing: and any right-minded man will pray that this may come upon him, and will wisely say the words, «May the blessing of him that hath perished come upon me».
As to what is written at the end of the book of Job, that he took an Arabian 707 wife, it is unnecessary for us to inquire much who this is, |262 whether this is another wife by whom he had other children after the calamity, or the former one, who under the magnitude of the afflictions that came upon him gave way and stumbled, and advised him to utter some blasphemous speech and depart from his pains. However it is reasonable for us to understand that the wife by whom the children after the calamity were born was some other one different from her. For it is as if adding something new that the writer uses the words: «Having taken an Arabian wife he begets a son» 708. For it would have been far from just that she should share in the good things, who shrank in the time of the struggle, and tried to bring the combatant 709 down from the highest summit of endurance. |263
The words that were written by the writer in the book, and these also about Job, of whom it is written that he also 'shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth' 710, we must suppose to have been composed with this meaning. In consequence of so great a trial he had in a sense gone down to Sheol and final destruction, so that even his name should thenceforth be extinguished, as he himself said when he was being tormented by the pains 711, and suddenly he arose as from the dead, and put off the unsightliness of the sores, and he was comely in body, as in the bloom of youth, and everything ended for him in a change to the best fortune. Therefore, lest any think that the prize of virtue ends with these things, and lest we who read imagine that we shall receive the rewards for the labours |264 of virtue in this world, for this reason the writer recorded the words that are written, «He shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth»; that is, lest any think that his rewards are completed and ended with present things: for these were given as an earnest for the things that are future and are expected by us all. For he shall rise with those whom the Lord raiseth, viz. those who have conducted themselves after the same pattern, of whom Paul also in writing to the Hebrews says that all those who have borne testimony through faith 'did not receive the promises, God having provided some better thing for us, that they might not be made perfect without us'712. By the words which he used (and it is written, «He shall |265 again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth») the writer is thought to be explaining this also, that he endured such pains, not because he looked to the things that were given him in this. world, but to the hope of the great and wonderful resurrection, concerning which also he said, «I will endure for thee until I shall again be» 713; and again, «For I know that he ever floweth who shall release me upon the earth. He shall raise my skin which endureth these things»714. The words which are before us for the purpose of interpretation were used by the author with reference to the general resurrection which is expected by everyone (and the words are «He shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth»), and not, as your religiousness has supposed, to that by which some of the saints rose, |266 when our Lord took the saving Cross upon him for our sakes, and the Good Shepherd laid down his soul for the sheep. For this the holy 715 Matthew the Evangelist recorded in these words: «But Jesus, when he had cried with a loud voice, gave up the ghost. And lo! the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who slept arose, and came out from the graves, and after his resurrection went into the holy city, and appeared to many» 716. Since then the Evangelist stated indefinitely that many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep rose, it is unnecessary for us to inquire who these were, and if Job was among them.
For the reason why he said 'many', and not 'all the bodies of the saints' is because the resurrection which is expected by everyone is not that one, |267 but the one at the second coming of our Saviour Christ. For then, I mean at the time of the revered Gross, it was only in order to demonstrate the power of our same Saviour, who in that the soul separated from the body went down to Sheol, that certain men rose by a divine manifestation, showing that in the places beneath the earth there was perception of the God-befitting illumination. And these were prophets and some of those who lived after the same manner as they, who were well-known from the Holy Scriptures among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is stated also by the God-clad Ignatius, who adorned the throne of the Antiochenes, immediately after the apostolic administration 717, and the first see of the chief of the apostles Peter, and was perfected with a crown of martyrdom. In writing-to those at |268 Magnesia he wrote as follows about our Saviour Christ: «How shall we be able to live without him? whom the prophets also, being his disciples in the spirit, expected as a teacher; and for this reason he whom they rightly awaited when he came raised them from the dead»718. But that we should think that those who rose then, at the time of the saving Cross, remained to this day the words of the gospel do not permit; for they cry plainly, «They went into the holy city and appeared to many». The word 'appeared' plainly denotes a temporary appearance, for the purpose of confirming, as we 719 said, the power of our Saviour, who broke the gates of bronze, and the bars of iron 720 from which there is no escape, of the places |269 beneath the earth. After therefore those who rose had shown themselves at that time, they again laid their bodies aside and departed to their places, awaiting the general resurrection which is expected by everyone. That this is so, the holy John bishop of Constantinople also testifies in the fourteenth note of the second part of the commentary on the first epistle to the Corinthians, where he wrote thus: «But if any be in doubt why, when speaking about the resurrection, he did not here introduce the bodies which rose in our Lord's time, we will say this, that this is not speaking about the resurrection. For to show that those who rose die again was alien to the purpose of one who is showing that death is finally destroyed. For it is for this reason also that he said that it is the last thing to be destroyed, in order that you may no longer fear that it will rise. For, when evil is |270 done away, much more shall death be annihilated» 721. And in the fifteenth note which follows, when speaking about saving baptism, and explaining why a man who is about to be baptized, when he repeats 722 the baptismal confession, is baptized into the remission of sins and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal life, he says this: «For, since sin brought in death, the root being dried up, we must no longer dispute in any way about the: destruction of the fruit. Therefore after first saying 'the remission of sin', he then confesses 723 also the resurrection of the dead, being led from this to that also.
And afterwards, since the name 'resurrection' does not suffice to set forth everything (for many after they had risen departed again,' as |271 those in the Old Testament, as Lazarus, as those at the time of the Cross) you are bidden 724 to say, 'and in eternal life', that none may any longer fear death after that resurrection» 725.
We have now discharged, as you see, all the God-loving debt of your, esteemed questions, according to our feebleness, and according to the small measure of knowledge which has come to us; and we pray that there may fall to you the glorious part of Mary, who never tired of bending her instruction-loving ear to the saving teaching of Jesus, and upon whom that testimony was given which said, «For Mary hath chosen for herself the good part, which shall not be taken from her» 726. But, whereas in the previous letter to us you stated how your religious brother Innocent and the sisters stand in the faith, and after writing this about them, as if you had done something contrary to the profession of philosophy, you then added that you take no «thought for them, know clearly that it is not a thing unworthy of your perfection that as regards the faith and in fitting spiritual matters you should take thought for those who are related to you, and perform all that is in your power, and give assistance with counsels and |272 prayers. For in these things our duty consists; and to this also the apostolic saying extends, «If any man taketh no thought for his own and especially those of the house, he denieth the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever» 727. And that we should take thought for their worldly opulence, or for anything else that is pleasant, is the part of those who are not philosophers. This distinction therefore I too made, and asked the love of God that is in you to write to me about them; and you have done well in telling everything both wisely and in accordance with truth; and it is proper that the distinction in this point also should not escape you. Upon another matter you have asked me questions of this kind. 1 have heard that Isaiah 728 the unlawful, like Dathan and Abiram, has risen against the laws of the priesthood, and has trampled upon everything like a hog, with foul, disorderly, uncanonical feet; and that, having gone to Pamphylia, he has thought fit to whisper lies about me, and to say that in what I wrote about the incorruptibility of the body of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ 729 I proclaimed the faith, and said that the body was corrupted and dissolved during the three days' burial, and certain similar blasphemies which are not plausible, which wound the ears, and disturb the souls, of those who listen without intelligence: and it |273 is therefore in my mind to send a man there carrying all that has been written by me, in order to establish the truth. If then you also have heard of any similar report that has been whispered there, since some persons have perhaps written and told you, tell me. The statement on which you have dilated in the letter, as to how you have loved and still love my humility with peculiar warmth, I read with great pleasure, and I rejoiced with spiritual joy on learning the fervour of the love that is in you, the God-befitting and pure love, wherewith rational souls are smitten towards one another, even among those with whom you associate in the blood of Christ. But I believe of you that, even if you write at very great length in every letter, you will not be able to express even a small portion of the love and confidence that you have towards me, who am unworthy and fall far short of this.
But I pray that for this perfect love you may receive rewards both in this world, and in the future and endless life.
The end of the letter to Anastasia the deaconess 730. |274
> > LXX. ---- OF THE SAME CONCERNING DAVID'S SAYING, «AS ARROWS IN THE HAND OF A MIGHTY MAN, SO ARE THE SONS OF THE SHAKEN» 731, FROM THE LETTER TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS 732.
But I pray that for this perfect love you may receive rewards both in this world, and in the future and endless life. The end of the letter to Anastasia the deaconess 730. |274
> > LXX. ---- OF THE SAME CONCERNING DAVID'S SAYING, «AS ARROWS IN THE HAND OF A MIGHTY MAN, SO ARE THE SONS OF THE SHAKEN» 731, FROM THE LETTER TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS 732.
[522-6. ] But the words used in the 126th 733 Psalm, which is the 8th of the Songs of Ascents, «As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of the shaken», should receive this interpretation. But the words contained in this statement apply also in a higher sense to each man's soul which by means of deeds of repentance is built up and renovated to form a holy temple of God. Those who returned from Babylon to this tangible and visible Jerusalem became sons of the shaken; who after captivity came to repentance, and by means of many trials were driven this way and that and shaken, and produced fruits of repentance, and thereby merited the return. But those who build up their own soul are in another sense sons of the shaken. |275 Divine Scripture calls the holy prophets and apostles, and all who conducted themselves like these, 'the shaken', because they shook out of their own soul like ashes all earthliness, whether thought or action, and all the likeness of the creature of dust and of the old man, and introduced into and impressed upon themselves instead of these the likeness of the heavenly one 734 by means of a new life, as through the mouth of Isaiah our Lord is introduced saying to Jerusalem, and raising her obediently (? ) from earthly deeds, «Shake the dust from thee and rise» 735. And a garment that is shaken is not eaten by moth, and remains whole and uneaten. So therefore also those who by means of earnestness that is not eaten by evil things have been preserved for the adoption are understood to be and are called shaken. And again. Those who like smooth rocks that cannot be broken receive without changing the waves of this world and the assault of trials will therefore be understood and that very rightly to be shaken : and the sons of those who are shaken are the teachers of the church, who are held like arrows in the hand of a mighty man. For God the Lord of hosts is able to shoot those who through the same men learn religion, and to send into their |276 hearts the arrow of wisdom, the arrow of righteousness, the arrow of love in him, which comprises all the virtues; and through the same men also he shoots those too who oppose the word of truth, sending shafts of reproofs to effect a saving restoration if they will. To these sons of the shaken therefore, who are as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, he next gives a blessing, and says, «Blessed is the man who shall fill his desire from them» 736, for a blessing is given to the teacher who fills his desire by means of such arrows. But what else is the teacher's desire except the things that are for the profit of the souls of those that are saved? And this therefore should be understood not of a teacher only, but also of every Christian who lives virtuously, and through his own manner of life shoots everyone else as with arrows, and draws them to his own pattern. For those who so teach, or live, 'shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate' 737; and the gate is the exit from this world.
For, even when they depart from the world, and take the last journey, and are about to go to the actual presence of their God himself, the demons the enemies of man's life are no longer able to encounter them; because, when they take |277 the last departure, those holy ones are not silent, but speak with the high voice of deeds, and in company with the rulers, I mean with the good and angelic hosts, who come to receive them, sing songs of victory and thanksgiving, according to what is said in the 67th Psalm, «Rulers went in front following singers, in the midst of damsels beating tambourines» 738. And he applies the expression 'damsels beating tambourines' to the souls which show youthful prowess over evil passions, and like tambourines have deadened the bodies and fleshly desires.
> > LXXI. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE 8th LETTER OF THE 2nd BOOK OF THOSE AFTER EXILE, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS.
And he applies the expression 'damsels beating tambourines' to the souls which show youthful prowess over evil passions, and like tambourines have deadened the bodies and fleshly desires. > > LXXI. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE 8th LETTER OF THE 2nd BOOK OF THOSE AFTER EXILE, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS.
[522-6. ] As to the words therefore which the Evangelist Matthew wrote that our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ used: «Pray that your flight be not in the winter nor on the sabbath» 739, know that they have a double meaning, and as a historical fact this has already happened to the Jews at the time |278 of the captivity at the hands of the Romans 740, but in a higher sense it is expected to take place at the end of the whole world. In fact after the outrage on the cross the judgment of God-slayers was exacted from them when the Romans took arms against them, and encamped over all Judaea and over the country round for whole years, and during the winter-seasons the evil consequences of war prevailed, and these especially in the winter when the fighting-men were idle; and not so only, but on the sabbath also they were slaughtered, because on account of the cessation of the sabbath they could not take arms in their hands and exact vengeance from those who were fighting with them. And this is often recorded by those who described the calamities of those men, that, by reason of the distress of the calamities which came upon them, they disregarded even the cessation of the sabbath, and took arms against their adversaries: nevertheless even so they fell with a complete and lamentable fall, and endured utter ruin. But, when our Saviour's words in respect of this prophecy are raised in meaning so as to refer to the time of the end and of Antichrist, it induces believers |279 always to persevere in works of virtue, and strive not to be caught by the winter or by the sabbath, at the time of the end, or the departure of every soul and its separation from the body, the winter signifying absence of fruit, and the sabbath cessation from virtue: for we know that the winter is unproductive as regards the production of fruit, and that the sabbath signifies cessation. For the winter, in which there is much rain and falls of snow, and gathering of clouds and a murky atmosphere 741, and scarceness of pure air 741, may denote confusion. The intention of the saying therefore is that our souls should be active and fruitful, and free from confusion as regards readiness and preparation for acts of religion, as in the words sung by David the prophet, «I was made ready and was not confounded» 742. In the same way should also be interpreted the saying, «Woe to them that are with child and to them that suckle in those days» 743. For this also occurred as a historical fact throughout Judaea, when the hand of the Romans fought with them, so that the women who were with child and those who were |280 suckling were pitifully slain with their children themselves, either while they were yet in the womb or while they were being nourished at the breast. And in a higher sense on the last day the souls are to be reckoned as objects of pity which received in the mind the practice of virtue and bear it as in a womb, and began to hold the seed of the word of religion, which was with difficulty conceived in them, which bring forth to the light and as it were give birth, but produce the thing itself in very imperfect form, like women who are unable to give perfect nourishment to their babies.
For those who cultivate virtue must according to the parable that is in the gospel bear the full measure so as to rise to the number of 100, or produce fruit of the measure of 60, or at least of 30; for what is less than this should like an incompletely-formed and unnourished babe be reckoned as nothing.
But the saying «Where the corpse is, there will the eagles be gathered together» 744 is spoken as a kind of simile and proverb and illustration. As, when a dead body is found lying anywhere, both eagles and other birds of |281 prey come from different quarters from very lofty heights, suddenly and unexpectedly, in order to be fed, 'in the same way' (he says) 'shall be also the coming of the Son of man' 745, for, when he shall again appear upon the earth, at the glorious second coming to judge the world, and shall appear with armed ranks of angels, all the saints also, rising 'suddenly and in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump' 746, as the apostle said, shall suddenly all appear like some swift eagles of rapid motion. And very rightly were they compared to eagles, because they had high and heavenly thoughts, and lived in a manner worthy of the kingdom of heaven. But some have tried to interpret this saying in the following way, and have said that at the Lord's second coming all those who have lived a righteous life, and were like high and heavenly eagles in their mind, shall receive Paradise, and shall be gathered in the same place where Adam's fall 747 was, and the disobedience through which he fell into sin. Of the words, «Two men shall be at that time m the field, one is taken away and one left, two women shall be grinding |282 in the mill, one is taken away and one left» 748 this is the explanation. The field is the world, according to what was said by our Saviour, «He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; but the field is the world»749. Those therefore who have received the seed of the gospel, and the word of religion, while they are in the field and at work, either are taken into the kingdom because they are working and acting strenuously, or are left and remain as men who are indolent and slothful and lax. And the mill after the same model is this world, in which we pass our 750 time as at a mill, eating bread by labour and toil; and some strenuously undergo hardship and exertion in works of righteousness, while others spend their time in vain acts which pass away like a shadow. And on account of those things 751 therefore it is |283 manifest that some are taken and others left. But the very wise Luke the Evangelist wrote this passage in the following form: «In this night there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other left. There shall be two women grinding together; the one shall be taken away but the other left» 752. And these things are brought about beforehand by each act, of the rich that is and of the poor, some of whom because they have done deeds worthy of the kingdom of heaven shall be taken, while others who have been negligent shall be left. For indeed even those who are in bed, those that is to say who enjoy ease in this world, and are in the portion of the rich, who 753, if they administer the riches well, shall earn the privilege |284 of the kingdom of God, but those who spend this on vanities will justly be despised and put to contempt.
But by the work of the mill those again are denoted who live in poverty and contempt, according to what is said in Exodus, «And all the firstborn shall die in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sitteth on his throne down to the firstborn of the bondwoman who is in the mill-house»754; so that from this it is manifest that the name of [mill-house or 755] mill signifies the utter contempt and poverty of those who continue in such service for the sake of daily sustenance. Accordingly our Lord's saying in the gospel signifies that both from among the rich who enjoy ease upon beds, and from among the utterly poor who are occupied in contemptible employments on the last day some shall be found, of whom |285 some will be saved, while others will perish, and neither poverty nor riches are 756 impediments to him who seeks to live in the fear of God, in order to earn the kingdom of heaven. But some have said that the words «Two women shall be grinding in the mill, one is taken and one is left» were meant by our Saviour to refer to those who teach in the church. For those men grind the word of teaching as in a mill for those who learn, and lay rational bread before them, suprasensually feeding the souls. Wherefore also they say that what is written in Deuteronomy, «Thou shalt hot take a millstone nor an upper millstone in pledge, because this man taketh a soul in pledge» 757, was meant to refer to teaching, that a teacher must not lay them under any debt and bond of debt, since the souls of those who are |286 taught are taken in pledge, and made void 758 in respect of the principles of religion and the hope that arises thence. And this holy Scripture signifies in Koheleth also, saying of the time of the end, «And the grinding-women ceased because they had became few» 759. Then accordingly all teaching shall be silent, and labour and toil, when those who have previously performed shall receive rewards: for neither is it time then for them to teach or perform. Therefore Paul in writing to the Galatians said: «Therefore then while we have time let us work that which is good» 760. This then is what our Saviour said: «Then shall there be two women grinding» (and that means souls occupied in teaching), «one is taken and one is left»: and he who has taught the things that belong to religion, and has set the sound word without detraction and accurately before the rational sheep is taken |287 into the kingdom, but he who has detracted from 761 the teaching by heretical doctrines and deceived many, who by his own deceit has injured some, shall be left and sent outside the kingdom, having extreme judgments exacted from him on account of the wrong that he has done. Those again upon the roof they interpreted as those who have stood at the height of eminence.
> > LXXII. ----OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS. 762
[522-6.] But do not think that the words written in the Revelation, of John, «Blessed and holy is he who hath part in the first resurrection» 763 indicate a first and second resurrection, in order of time. There is one resurrection of all men, and God 'appointed one day, on which he will judge the world in righteousness' 764, and that is the day of the resurrection and of the judgment, |288 and of receiving of good things. But John used the term 'first resurrection', because it has the first, glorious, superior rank. Our Lord said in the gospel, «The abodes in my Father's house are many» 765. But, if there are many abodes, it is plain that the ranks are also many of those who are admitted to the different abodes; so that one is first, and another second, and another third, and others lower, as each prepared his conduct. But the first rank belongs to the souls which have suffered tribulation for the testimony of Jesus' 766, and those who are like these 767.
> > LXXIII. ---- OF THE SAME, AS TO WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE SAYING THAT THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE HEAVENLY SEED WILL PRODUCE FRUIT A HUNDREDFOLD AND SIXTYFOLD AND THIRTYFOLD 768, FROM THE LETTER TO DOROTHEUS THE COUNT.
[513-8 (?).] Those therefore who love the Lord as it is written with all their heart and with all their soul 769, and observe the commandments that were given |289 by him, and follow him as far as men can rise to the height, are said to produce fruits to the number of a hundred; and to the number of sixty those who hold a middle place; and after the same fashion those who produce thirtyfold also, who are lower than these. Though all received the saving word with the very same faith, and therefore all were with equal honour termed 'good soil', yet all had not the same capacity. Accordingly therefore among the crowns that are provided in the future blessed life they will receive abodes and honours on different scales, those which our Lord signified when he said in the gospel, «Many are the abodes in my Father's house» 770. And, when as in a parable he was about to go on a journey, he distributed talents among his bondmen to use, for it is plainly written thus: «To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each of them according to his own capacity, and immediately started on his journey» 771. Words agreeing with these were spoken by Paul also in writing to the Corinthians, «Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour» 772. |290
> > LXXIV. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO VlCTOR THE PRESBYTER 773, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH IS, «With great pleasure I received the letter of your God-loving wisdom».
[513-21] (?). And these things are obvious in accordance with the primary and as one might say the superficial sense, for it was not even my intention to touch upon the deep meaning of the expression: but now the very expressions which precede in Job's speech appear to me to lead the man who examines them up to a higher understanding, and to show very clearly that we must understand the saying as referring to the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, and is himself Life and God, who is everlastingly with the Father and the Son.
> > LXXV. ---- To VICTOR THE PRESBYTER.
[513-21 (?).] A great and stern rebuke given in its time as the saying is should not be called presumption as some think, but gentleness. |291
> > LXXVI. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERDS, FROM THE LETTER TO GEORGIA THE PATRICIAN AND TO HER DAUGHTER 774.
[532-8 (?)] Your modesty's highness asked me some time ago why towards the end of the proverbs of Solomon we find this heading placed among them, as it were between two lines: «These are the indiscriminate admonitions or proverbs of Solomon, which the friends of Hezekiah king of Judah set down or arranged» 775; and it seems to me that the sentence bears some such meaning as this; that the proverbs contained in the book down to this heading are those which were discriminately arranged as one may say in one corpus and volume, that is which were set down in order and collected, Solomon having so arranged them; but many others also which were spoken by him as in short utterances were in a scattered way current. And the book of Kingdoms also states this, that Solomon spoke 3000 proverbs or parables 776, from those therefore that were set down in a scattered way, confusedly |292 and indiscriminately, not as in a series and collection, Hezekiah's friends chose these, brought them into one order and collection, and added them to the book itself. You certainly do not forget that Hezekiah was a lover of God and an observer of the commandments of the law. Consequently therefore some learned Hebrews, wise in the divine words, took the trouble to dispose these indiscriminate and confused proverbs in some order, put them together as in one corpus, and presented them as a rational present to the king.
> > LXXVII. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO PHILOXENUS THE BISHOP.
Consequently therefore some learned Hebrews, wise in the divine words, took the trouble to dispose these indiscriminate and confused proverbs in some order, put them together as in one corpus, and presented them as a rational present to the king. > > LXXVII. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO PHILOXENUS THE BISHOP.
[513-8.] This saying refers to teaching; and this is plain from the words that precede: for he said, «According to the grace of God that was given to me like a wise master-builder I laid a foundation» 777. But what is the foundation that Paul laid in the souls of believers except the gospel-preaching? |293
What he here said therefore is this. If a man has expounded the genuine message of the gospels to those who listen, like gold or silver or precious stones, this man's work, that is his teaching, will by the test of the last fire, and by the impartial judgment, be shown to be genuine, and of necessity 778 it abides and is not destroyed. But, if one of the falsely-named teachers has used defiled and spurious doctrines, like pieces of wood and reeds and hay, this man's doctrine does not endure the fire, but, as soon as it is brought into contact with the flame, it will be burnt and consumed. But the expounder and teacher of this doctrine will not be destroyed, nor come to annihilation, but he shall be saved, continuing to maintain a'strange kind of existence, painful and grievous, being consumed by the fire without being consumed. This Isaiah the prophet also said, «Such mens' worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched» 779. |294
> > LXXVIII. ---- Or THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE 55th LETTER OF THE 2nd BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN DURING EPISCOPACY, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO CONON THE SILENTIARY 780.
[513-8.] The reason for which we are said to have become heirs of the curse and of condemnation and of death is not that the sin and condemnation and death passed to us, as if these fell to our nature by lot, for man's nature was from the beginning free from all these things, but that the method by which intercourse takes place derived its origin from sin, as I have said, a method which cut away the blessing of immortality, so that the race of men is preserved from dissolution by the procreation of children 781. We therefore were in consequence born mortal from a mortal father. These things are defined both by the holy John in the Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans 782, and by the holy Cyril in the letter to Succensus 783. |295
> > LXXIX. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 4th LETTER OF THE 6th BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO PROBUS THE GENERAL 784.
We therefore were in consequence born mortal from a mortal father. These things are defined both by the holy John in the Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans 782, and by the holy Cyril in the letter to Succensus 783. |295
> > LXXIX. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 4th LETTER OF THE 6th BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO PROBUS THE GENERAL 784.
[519-38.] «Give a portion to seven, also to eight» 785. This has this elucidation. In six days, as the writings of the blessed Moses mystically teach us, God made this visible world, and on the seventh he rested. This same period therefore during which we men live in this world, like a wheel, turns and revolves round itself in the space of seven days, but at the end it gives up the course and this circular movement; and thereafter rises a great much-beloved light, that of the last day, with which there is no night, but this day is one thing extending without end, and does not pass into another; the day on which the Lord the Judge will come, and 'will reward every man according to his works' 786, and to those who have lived well, and are prepared by zealous actions, he will reveal the good things which ' eye hath not seen, |296 and ear hath not heard, and which have not gone up into the heart of man' 787, and the whole kingdom of heaven itself. This last and renowned day without evening therefore is one reckoned by itself: but, if a man reckons it with the seven days of this world, he mentions it in the sequence of the eighth 788; the day for which all who have believed in Christ are made ready by good actions, yearning to be admitted to the good things in it, which do not wither, which belong to the angels only. This therefore is (he 789 says) the commandment of Koheleth also, that we ought to give a portion to seven, that is, give the proper attention to the affairs of this world, in which the seventh period is passing 790, but give a portion also to the eighth, and that means show great earnestness in the matter of labours of virtue, and of good works which on the eighth day procure for us the beloved bliss, not the enjoyment that blooms and withers. |297
> > LXXX. ---- OF THE SAME MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO AMMONIUS THE PRESBYTER OF ALEXANDRIA 791.
[515-8.] That which you say is staled by Koheleth, «There is nothing new under the sun; whosoever shall speak and say 'Lo! this is new'; whatever happened is already», and, «All things that are to be lo! they have been already» 792, does not apply to everything, but only to those things that belong to the weekly circle, and to this limited and temporal life, which revolves upon itself by means of nights and days, and blooms and withers by means of birth and death, and to the distraction and vanity to which Adam was condemned after the disobedience, and the fall from the immaterial and blessed life in Paradise.
But all things that occurred in Christ and after Christ are the appointed time 793 or beginnings of that eighth day, and of that new life without evening and without end. Therefore also the torments that are applied to those who come afterwards are terrible and beyond conception, and such as the |298 previous time did not display. What also shall we in fact say, when our Saviour himself cries in the gospel about the things that shall happen in the last times, «For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world unto now, and shall not be» 794? Or what solution shall we devise in consideration of the plagues beyond conception which John the son of thunder named, when he had mysteries revealed to him in the wonderful revelation? Shall we say that these things also fall under the words of Koheleth? But how is it not unreasonable, and a thing that plainly contends against the truth, and against the sacred Scriptures?
> > LXXXI. ---- OF THE SAME TO JOHN OF BOSTRA 795, EXPLAINING WHY, WHEN THE GOSPELS AND THE OTHER DIVINE SCRIPTURES SAY THAT CHRIST DAWNED UPON US IN THE LAST DAY, WE SEE THAT MANY REVOLUTIONS OF YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THAT TIME.
[519-38.] If Jews and heathens accepted the words of the apostles, we should have said what Peter says in the second epistle: «One day with the Lord is as a |299 thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord delayeth not from his promise, as some reckon delay; but he is long-suffering toward us not wishing that any should perish, but that all men should come to repentance, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief, wherein the heavens shall pass away with a cry, the elements shall be burnt and dissolved» 796. But, since those men are under no obligation 797 to bow to the writings of the New Testament 798, but from this source yet more increase their unbelief, we will produce a demonstration for them from the prophetic words. Daniel the seer of those divine visions hard of interpretation, when he was explaining Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and was revealing the heterogeneousness of the image that appeared to him in the dream, which was composed of gold and silver and bronze and iron and earthenware, and by the diversity of the materials 799 signified the various kingdoms, said of Christ's kingdom as follows: «And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed for ever; and his kingdom shall not pass to another people. It shall break in pieces and scatter all the kingdoms and itself shall stand for ever» 800. Those therefore who proclaimed |300 the gospel applied the term 'last days' to the days of Christ's kingdom and the evangelic life.
John the Evangelist also when he said in his epistle, «Children, it is the last season» 801, did not speak falsely. For it is in fact the custom to apply the term 'seasons' 802 not only to those of the days, but also to those of the whole year: for the whole course of the year is divided into the spring season, the summer season, the autumn season, and the winter season; and the winter was in truth that of godlessness, which covered the whole world, in which there was all spiritual barrenness, and coldness as regards the fervour of the divine Spirit, and the whole earth was completely devoid of the gifts from heaven, when Christ 'the Sun of righteousness' 803 by his coming in the flesh dawned upon us.
And, to put it in another way, since 5000 years and more had passed since the world came into being, as the writings of Moses have handed down to us, and from Christ's coming there has not yet been completed as much as 600 or 700 or 1000 years4 (let us concede this), how can it appear unreasonable to apply the term ' last' to the days of the 600 years or may be 1000, |301 'when compared with those of the 5000? Johannes also in the 34th homily of the Commentary on the Gospel of John uses these words, which agree with the above sentiments: «For whence do you know, O man, that the end is not near and that the things mentioned will occur after a short time 804? For, as we do not say that the last day is the end of the year, but also the last month, although it contains 30 days, so also, even if I call 400 years the end of so large a number of years, I shall not be wrong» 805.
> > LXXXII. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 11th LETTER OF THE 1st BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO SCHOLASTICUS.
[519-38.] «Hungry men he filled with good things and rich men he sent empty away» 806. For the Jews, who thought that they were rich in the riches of the divine Scriptures, became empty of these, and the nations who were hungry with the hunger of the word of God, as the prophet Amos said 807, |302 were filled. This our Lord himself also foretold to the proud Pharisees, who were to fall completely away from the principles of the divine Scriptures; «The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a people that shall bring forth its fruits» 808.
> > LXXXIII. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS TO JOHN 809, THAT, ACCORDING TO THE LETTER, BOTH CHRIST AND PAUL ABOLISHED THE LAW, BUT, ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT, THEY CONFIRM IT.
[519-38.] We say that according to the letter the law was abolished through Christ, but that in the spirit it was much more fully brought to confirmation. But what were the things of the letter? Sacrifices, sprinklings, various temporary cleansings repeated at stated times, and other similar things, which were different from heathen demon-worship, but prefigured the truth as in a shadow, as Paul also says: «For the law contained a shadow of the future good things, not the very image of the facts» 810. In the |303 same way Gregory the Theologian 811 also in the homily on the Holy Spirit wrote thus: «The first, when it cut away idols conceded sacrifices: the second, when it caused sacrifices to pass away, did not forbid circumcision. But afterwards, when they had once accepted the suppression, they conceded even what had been conceded, the one sacrifices, the other circumcision; and they became instead of Gentiles Jews, and instead of these Christians, having by a gradual change of position been brought near to the gospel. Let Paul persuade you of this, who from circumcising and being purified was brought to say: 'But as for me, my brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I continue to be persecuted?' The one is a matter of the dispensation, the other of perfection» 812.
Let Paul persuade you of this, who from circumcising and being purified was brought to say: 'But as for me, my brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I continue to be persecuted? ' The one is a matter of the dispensation, the other of perfection» 812.
That God permitted sacrifices in order to lead men to shun idolatry, Moses also testifies, since in Leviticus he wrote thus, after he had said that those of Israel were not allowed to perform any kind of sacrifice in another place besides the tent of witness: «And they shall no longer perform their own sacrifice to the vanities after whom they themselves go a whoring» 813. When therefore we say that the enactments which were laid down for that infant people, who were incapable of rising to the perfect service of God, |304 that I mean which is performed through the spirit, when the perfection came, which is Christ, were in the bodily form done away, we do not sin 814. Let me, as if dealing with a hypothesis 815, test the matter. Various animals were formerly sacrificed for sin, and the blood of these was brought into the sanctuary by the high-priest, while, their bodies were delivered to be burnt outside the camp. This kind of sacrifices therefore symbolized beforehand the great sacrifice which balances the great sin of the world, as Paul also says: «For, as for the animals whose blood was brought into the sanctuary because of sins by the high-priest, the bodies of these were burnt outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, in order to sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered outside the gate» 816. Since then Christ the Saviour of all was sacrificed in the original model on the cross, and is also slaughtered so to speak every day on the altar, and is distributed to the believers limb by limb by the hand of the priests, who is so mad, and so exceedingly uninstructed in the greatest matters, as to dare to deny that the type was abolished in the letter, that is according to the bodily form, and the |305 sacrifice of animals ceased, but the intellectual meaning 817 was also preserved according to the spirit, in which the truth was prefigured through it? After the same manner also the eating of unleavened bread was abolished according to the letter, but according to the spirit it is still maintained, in that we 'keep the feast not in the leaven of wickedness and bitterness, but in the unleavened bread of purity and truth' 818. (A little farther on). But we will grant if you wish that the wax represents the letter, and the bronze that has been melted is the perfection in the spirit. If then it is the fact that, when the bronze is brought to the fire, it is reduced to non-existence, and the wax, when liquefied, gives to the bronze the shape only of that which was fashioned, explain if you have any abundant store of wisdom. But, if the wax has been dissolved and liquefied, the letter will be dissolved, but the spiritual meaning 819 of the law will remain, preserving the form 820 of the letter. or Cyril teaches and says: «We have not relegated the types to utter desolation(? ), though certainly to partial desolation, I mean since the letter of the bodily observances ceases» 821. Listen to the expressions of Gregory |306 the Theologian 822, and let the words of that man and his thoughts be a law to you, and a fixed ordinance, since they are indeed such to all Christians.