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| Excerpts of Theodotus.
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Excerpts of Theodotus;196
| 196 [I have prefixed this
title, which Mr. Wilson has omitted, possibly because these extracts
are themselves somewhat abridged.] |
or,
Selections from the Prophetic
Scriptures.197
| 197 [For all the
confusions about Theodotus and the divers persons so called, see
Lardner, Credib., viii. 572–579. These are the
extracts commonly called the Eclogues or Excerpts of
Theodotus; but they do not contain certain passages, which may have
been interpolations.] |
————————————
I. Those around
Sedrach, Misak, and Abednago in the furnace of fire say as they praise
God, “Bless, ye heavens, the Lord; praise and exalt Him for
ever;” then, “Bless, ye angels, the Lord;” then,
“Bless the Lord, all ye waters that are above
heaven.” So the Scriptures assign the heavens and the
waters to the class of pure powers198
as is shown
in Genesis. Suitably, then, inasmuch as “power” is
used with a variety of meaning, Daniel adds, “Let every power
bless the Lord;” then, further, “Bless the Lord, sun and
moon;” and, “Bless the Lord, ye stars of heaven.
Bless the Lord, all ye that worship Him; praise and confess the
God of gods, for His mercy is for ever.” It is written in
Daniel, on the occasion of the three children praising in the
furnace.
II. “Blessed art Thou, who lookest on
the abysses as Thou sittest on the cherubim,” says Daniel, in
agreement with Enoch,199
| 199 [See vol. vi., this
series, note 9, p. 147.] | who said,
“And I saw all sorts of matter.” For the abyss, which
is in its essence boundless, is bounded by the power of God.
These material essences then, from which the separate genera and their
species are produced, are called abysses; since you would not call the
water alone the abyss, although matter is allegorically called water,
the abyss.
III. “In the beginning God made the
heaven and the earth,”200
both terrestrial and
celestial things. And that this is true, the Lord said to Osee,
“Go, take to thyself a wife of fornication, and children of
fornication: because the land committing fornication, shall
commit fornication, departing from the Lord.”201
For it is not the element of
earth that he speaks of, but those that dwell in the element, those
who have an earthly disposition.
IV. And that the Son is the
beginning202
or head,
Hosea teaches clearly: “And it shall be, that in the place
in which it was said to them, Ye are not my people, they shall be
called the children of the living God: and the children of Judah
and the children of Israel shall be gathered to the same place, and
they shall place over them one head,203
and they shall
come up out of the land; for great is the day of
Jezreel.”204
For whom one
believes, him He chooses. But one believes the Son, who is the
head; wherefore also he said in addition: “But I will have
mercy on the sons of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their
God.”205
Now the Saviour
who saves is the Son of God. He is then the head.206
V. The Spirit by Osee says, “I am your
Instructor;”207
“Blow
ye208
| 208 “Blow ye the
cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah.”—A.V. | the trumpet upon the hills of the Lord;
sound upon the high places.”209
And is
not baptism itself, which is the sign of regeneration, an escape from
matter, by the teaching of the Saviour, a great impetuous stream, ever
rushing on and bearing us along? The Lord accordingly, leading us
out of disorder, illumines us by bringing us into the light, which is
shadowless and is material no longer.
VI. This river and sea of matter two
prophets210
cut asunder and
divided by the power of the Lord, the matter being bounded, through
both divisions of the water. Famous leaders both, by whom the
signs were believed, they complied with the will of God, so that the
righteous man may proceed from matter, having journeyed through it
first. On the one of these commanders also was imposed the name
of our Saviour.211
VII.
Now, regeneration is by water and spirit, as was all creation:
“For the Spirit of God moved on the abyss.”212
And for this reason the Saviour was
baptized, though not Himself needing213
| 213 [In a quotation
which Jones makes from the Excerpts (not found here) the reverse
is shamelessly asserted. Canon, vol. i. p.
375.] | to be so, in
order that He might consecrate the whole water for those who were being
regenerated. Thus it is not the body only, but the soul, that we
cleanse. It is accordingly a sign of the sanctifying of our
invisible part, and of the straining off from the new and spiritual
creation of the unclean spirits that have got mixed up with the
soul.
VIII. “The water above the
heaven.” Since baptism is performed by water and the Spirit
as a protection against the twofold fire,—that which lays hold of
what is visible, and that which lays hold of what is invisible; and of
necessity, there being an immaterial element of water and a material,
is it a protection against the twofold214
fire. And the earthly water cleanses the body; but the heavenly
water, by reason of its being immaterial and invisible, is an emblem of
the Holy Spirit, who is the purifier of what is invisible, as the water
of the Spirit, as the other of the body.
IX. God, out of goodness, hath mingled fear
with goodness. For what is beneficial for each one, that He also
supplies, as a physician to a sick man, as a father to his
insubordinate child: “For he that spareth his rod hateth
his son.”215
And the Lord
and His apostles walked in the midst of fear and labours. When,
then, the affliction is sent in the person of a righteous man,216
| 216 ὅταν
οὖν πιστοῦ
σώματος ᾐ. | it is either from the Lord rebuking him for
a sin committed before, or guarding him on account of the future, or
not preventing by the exercise of His power an assault from
without,217
| 217 The sense is hazy,
but about as clear as that to be obtained by substituting conjecturally
for προσβολήν
(assault), πρὸς
βολήν, or ἐπιβολήν, or
ἐπιβουλήν. | —for some
good end to him and to those near, for the sake of example.
X. Now those that dwell in a corrupt body, like
those who sail in an old ship, do not lie on their back, but are ever
praying, stretching their hands to God.
XI. The ancients were exceedingly
distressed, unless they had always some suffering in the body.
For they were afraid, that if they received not in this world the
punishment of the sins which, in numbers through ignorance, accompany
those that are in the flesh, they would in the other world suffer the
penalty all at once. So that they preferred curative treatment
here. What is to be dreaded is, then, not external disease, but
sins, for which disease comes, and disease of the soul, not of
the body: “For all flesh is grass,”218
and corporeal and external good things
are temporary; “but the things which are unseen are
eternal.”219
XII. As to knowledge, some elements of it we
already possess; others, by what we do possess, we firmly hope to
attain. For neither have we attained all, nor do we lack
all. But we have received, as it were, an earnest of the eternal
blessings, and of the ancestral riches. The provisions for the
Lord’s way are the Lord’s beatitudes. For He
said: “Seek,” and anxiously seek, “the kingdom
of God, and all these things shall be added to you: for the
Father knoweth what things ye have need of.”220
Thus He limits not only our
occupations, but our cares. For He says: “Ye cannot,
by taking thought, add aught to your stature.”221
For God knows well what it is good
for us to have and what to want. He wishes, therefore, that we,
emptying ourselves of worldly cares, should be filled with that which
is directed towards God. “For we groan, desiring to be
clothed upon with that which is incorruptible, before putting off
corruption.” For when faith is shed abroad, unbelief is
nonplussed. Similarly also with knowledge and
righteousness. We must therefore not only empty the soul, but
fill it with God. For no longer is there evil in it, since that
has been made to cease; nor yet is there good, since it has not yet
received good. But what is neither good nor evil is
nothing. “For to the swept and empty house
return,”222
if none of the
blessings of salvation has been put in, the unclean spirit that dwelt
there before, taking with him seven other unclean spirits.
Wherefore, after emptying the soul of what is evil, we must fill with
the good God that which is His chosen dwelling-place. For when
the empty rooms are filled, then follows the seal, that the sanctuary
may be guarded for God.
XIII. “By two and three witnesses
every word is established.”223
By
Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, by whose witness and help the
prescribed commandments ought to be kept.224
| 224 [This looks as
if the text of the three witnesses had been in this
compiler’s copy of St. John’s First Epistle. See vol.
iii. Elucid. III. p. 631. St. Augustine also seems to me to
sustain the African text in the De Civit., lib. v. cap. xi. p.
154, ed. Migne.] |
XIV. Fasting, according to the signification of
the word, is abstinence from food. Now food makes us neither more
righteous nor less. But mystically it shows that, as life is
maintained in individuals by sustenance, and want of sustenance is the
token of death; so also ought we to fast from worldly things, that we
may die to the world, and after that, by partaking of divine
sustenance, live to God. Especially does fasting empty the soul of matter, and make it,
along with the body, pure and light for the divine words. Worldly
food is, then, the former life and sins; but the divine food is faith,
hope, love, patience, knowledge, peace, temperance. For
“blessed are they that hunger and thirst after” God’s
“righteousness; for they shall be filled.”225
The soul, but not the body, it is
which is susceptible of this craving.
XV. The Saviour showed to the believing apostles
prayer to be stronger than faith in the case of a demoniac, whom they
could not cleanse, when He said, Such things are accomplished by
prayer. He who has believed has obtained forgiveness of sins from
the Lord; but he who has attained knowledge, inasmuch as he no longer
sins, obtains from himself the forgiveness of the rest.
XVI. For as cures, and prophecies, and signs
are performed by the agency of men, God working in them, so also is
Gnostic teaching. For God shows His power through men. And
the prophecy rightly says, “I will send to them a man who will
save them.”226
Accordingly
He sends forth at one time prophets, at another apostles, to be
saviours of men. Thus God does good by the agency of men.
For it is not that God can do some things, and cannot do others:
He is never powerless in anything. No more are some things done
with, and some things against His will; and some things by Him, and
some things by another. But He even brought us into being by
means of men, and trained us by means of men.
XVII. God made us, having previously no
existence. For if we had a previous existence, we must have known
where we were, and how and why we came hither. But if we had no
pre-existence, then God is the sole author of our creation. As,
then, He made us who had no existence; so also, now that we are made,
He saves us by His own grace, if we show ourselves worthy and
susceptible; if not, He227
| 227 The reading is,
εἰ μὴ
παρήσει πρὸς
τὸ οἰκεῖον
τέλος; and the Latin translator
renders “si non segnes simus ad finem proprium.” It
seems better, with Sylburgius, to take εἰ μὴ as equivalent to εἰ δὲ μὴ,
and to put a comma after μὴ, so as to render as above. | will let us pass
to our proper end. For He is Lord both of the living and the
dead.
XVIII. But see the power of God, not only in the
case of men, in bringing to existence out of non-existence, and making
them when brought into being grow up according to the progress of the
time of life, but also in saving those who believe, in a way suitable
to each individual. And now He changes both hours, and times, and
fruits, and elements. For this is the one God, who has measured
both the beginning and the end of events suitably to each one.
XIX. Advancing from faith and fear to
knowledge, man knows how to say Lord, Lord; but not as His slave, he
has learned to say, Our Father.228
| 228 [A happy reference
to the Lord’s Prayer as connected with St. Paul’s reference
to the Abba; and it is worth while to compare the use of this word with
the prayer as used in the synagogue. Vol. v. Elucid. III. p. 559,
this series.] | Having set
free the spirit of bondage, which produces fear, and advanced by love
to adoption, he now reverences from love Him whom he feared
before. For he no longer abstains from what he ought to abstain
from out of fear, but out of love clings to the commandments.
“The Spirit itself,” it is said, “beareth witness
when we cry, Abba,229
| 229 [A happy reference to
the Lord’s Prayer as connected with St. Paul’s reference to
the Abba; and it is worth while to compare the use of this word with
the prayer as used in the synagogue. Vol. v. Elucid. III. p. 559,
this series.] |
Father.”230
XX. Now the Lord with His precious blood
redeems us, freeing us from our old bitter masters, that is, our sins,
on account of which the spiritual powers of wickedness ruled
over us. Accordingly He leads us into the liberty of the
Father,—sons that are co-heirs and friends.
“For,” says the Lord, “they that do the will of my
Father are my brethren and fellow-heirs.”231
“Call no man, therefore,
father to yourselves on earth.”232
For it
is masters that are on earth. But in heaven is the Father, of
whom is the whole family, both in heaven and on earth.233
For love rules willing
hearts, but fear the unwilling. One kind of fear is base;
but the other, leading us as a pedagogue to good, brings us to Christ,
and is saving.
XXI. Now if one has a conception of God, it by no
means corresponds with His worthiness. For what can the
worthiness of God be? But let him, as far as is possible,
conceive of a great and incomprehensible and most beautiful light;
inaccessible, comprehending all good power, all comely virtue; caring
for all, compassionate, passionless, good; knowing all things,
foreknowing all things, pure, sweet, shining, stainless.
XXII. Since the movement of the soul is
self-originated, the grace of God demands from it what the soul
possesses, willingness as its contribution to salvation. For the
soul wishes to be its own good; which the Lord, however, gives
it. For it is not devoid of sensation so as to be carried along
like a body. Having is the result of taking, and taking of
willing and desiring; and keeping hold of what one has received, of the
exercise of care and of ability. Wherefore God has endowed the
soul with free choice, that He may show it its duty, and that it
choosing, may receive and retain.
XXIII. As through the body the Lord spake
and healed, so also formerly by the prophets, and now by the apostles
and teachers. For the Church is the minister of the Lord’s
power. Thence He then assumed humanity,234
that by it He might minister to the Father’s
will. And at all times, the God who loves humanity235
invests Himself with man for the salvation
of men,—in former times with the prophets, and now with the
Church. For it is fitting that like should minister to like, in
order to a like salvation.
XXIV. For we are of the
earth.…Cæsar is the prince, for the time being, whose
earthly image is the old man, to which he has returned. To him,
then, we are to render the earthly things, which we bore in the image
of the earthly, and the things of God to God. For each one of the
passions is on us as a letter, and stamp, and sign. Now the Lord
marks us with another stamp, and with other names and letters, faith
instead of unbelief, and so forth. Thus we are translated from
what is material to what is spiritual, “having borne the image of
the heavenly.”236
XXV. John says: “I indeed
baptize you with water, but there cometh after me He that baptizeth
with the Spirit and fire.”237
But
He baptized no one with fire. But some, as Heraclius says, marked
with fire the ears of those who were sealed; understanding so the
apostolic saying, “For His fan is in His hand, to purge His
floor: and He will gather the wheat into the garner; but the
chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable.”238
There is joined, then, the
expression “by fire” to that “by the Spirit;”
since He separates the wheat from the chaff, that is, from the material
husk, by the Spirit; and the chaff is separated, being fanned by the
wind:239
| 239 Or
spirit—πνεύματος
. | so also the Spirit possesses a
power of separating material forces. Since, then, some things are
produced from what is unproduced and indestructible,—that is, the
germs of life,—the wheat also is stored, and the material part,
as long as it is conjoined with the superior part, remains; when
separated from it, it is destroyed; for it had its existence in another
thing. This separating element, then, is the Spirit, and the
destroying element is the fire: and material fire is to be
understood. But since that which is saved is like wheat, and that
which grows in the soul like chaff, and the one is incorporeal, and
that which is separated is material; to the incorporeal He opposes
spirit, which is rarefied and pure—almost more so than mind; and
to the material He opposes fire, not as being evil or bad, but
as strong and capable of cleansing away evil. For fire is
conceived as a good force and powerful, destructive of what is baser,
and conservative of what is better. Wherefore this fire is by the
prophets called wise.
XXVI. Thus also, then, when God is called
“a consuming fire,” it is because a name and sign, not of
wickedness, but of power, is to be selected. For as fire is the
most potent of the elements, and masters all things; so also God is
all-powerful and almighty, who is able to hold, to create, to make, to
nourish, to make grow, to save, having power of body and soul.
As, then, fire is superior to the elements, so is the Almighty Ruler to
gods, and powers, and principalities. The power of fire is
twofold: one power conduces to the production and maturing of
fruits and of animals, of which the sun is the image; and the other to
consumption and destruction, as terrestrial fire. When, then, God
is called a consuming fire, He is called a mighty and resistless
power, to which nothing is impossible, but which is able to
destroy.
Respecting such a power, also, the Saviour says,
“I came to send fire upon the earth,”240
indicating a power to purify what is holy, but destructive, as they
say, of what is material; and, as we should say, disciplinary.
Now fear pertains to fire, and diffusion to light.
XXVII. Now the more ancient men241
did not write, as they neither wished to
encroach on the time devoted to attention bestowed on what they handed
down, in the way of teaching, by the additional attention bestowed on
writing, nor spent the time for considering what was to be said on
writing. And, perhaps convinced that the function of composition
and the department of teaching did not belong to the same cast of mind,
they gave way to those who had a natural turn for it. For in the
case of a speaker, the stream of speech flows unchecked and impetuous,
and you may catch it up hastily. But that which is always tested
by readers, meeting with strict242
| 242 It seems better, with
Sylb., to read ἀκριβοῦς,
qualifying ἐξετάσεως
(as above), than ἀκριβῶς, adv. qualifying
βασανιζόμενον,
tested. | examination, is
thought worthy of the utmost pains, and is, so to speak, the written
confirmation of oral instruction, and of the voice so wafted
along to posterity by written composition. For that which was
committed in trust to the elders, speaking in writing, uses the
writer’s help to hand itself down to those who are to read
it. As, then, the magnet, repelling other matter, attracts iron
alone by reason of affinity; so also books, though many read them,
attract those alone who are capable of comprehending them. For
the word of truth is to some “foolishness,”243
and to others a
“stumbling-block;”244
but to a few
“wisdom.”245
So also is
the power of God found to be. But far from the Gnostic be
envy. For it is for this reason also that he asks whether it be
worse to give to the unworthy, or not commit to the worthy; and runs
the risk, from his abundant love of communicating, not
only to every one who is qualified,
but sometimes also to one unworthy, who asks importunately; not on
account of his entreaty (for he loves not glory), but on account of the
persistency of the petitioner who bends his mind towards faith with
copious entreaty.
XXVIII. There are those calling themselves
Gnostics who are envious of those in their own house more than
strangers. And, as the sea is open to all, but one swims, another
sails, and a third catches fish; and as the land is common, but one
walks, another ploughs, another hunts,—somebody else searches the
mines, and another builds a house: so also, when the Scripture is
read, one is helped to faith, another to morality, and a third is freed
from superstition by the knowledge of things. The athlete, who
knows the Olympic stadium, strips for training, contends, and becomes
victor, tripping up his antagonists who contend against his scientific
method, and fighting out the contest. For scientific
knowledge246
is necessary both
for the training of the soul and for gravity of conduct; making the
faithful more active and keen observers of things. For as there
is no believing without elementary instruction, so neither is there
comprehension without science.247
XXIX. For what is useful and necessary to
salvation, such as the knowledge of the Father, and Son, and
Holy Spirit, and also of our own soul, are wholly requisite; and it is
at once beneficial and necessary to attain to the scientific account of
them. And to those who have assumed the lead in doing good, much
experience is advantageous; so that none of the things which appear to
be known necessarily and eruditely by others may escape their
notice. The exposition, too, of heterodox teaching affords
another exercise of the inquiring soul, and keeps the disciple from
being seduced from the truth, by his having already had practice
beforehand in sounding all round on warlike instruments of
music.248
| 248 [It is not to be
doubted that much sound Alexandrian teaching is here mixed up with
folly.] |
XXX. The life of the Gnostic rule, (as they say
that Crete was barren of deadly animals,) is pure from every evil deed,
and thought, and word; not only hating no one, but beyond envy and
hatred, and all evil-speaking and slander.
XXXI. In length of days, it is not on account of
his having lived long that the man is to be regarded happy, to whose
lot it has also fallen, through his having lived, to be worthy of
living for ever. He has pained no one, except in instructing by
the word the wounded in heart, as it were by a salutary honey, which is
at once sweet and pungent. So that, above all, the Gnostic
preserves the decorous along with that which is in accordance with
reason. For passion being cut away and stript off from the whole
soul, he henceforth consorts and lives with what is noblest, which has
now become pure, and emancipated to adoption.
XXXII. Pythagoras thought that he who gave things
their names, ought to be regarded not only the most intelligent, but
the oldest of the wise men. We must, then, search the Scriptures
accurately, since they are admitted to be expressed in parables, and
from the names hunt out the thoughts which the Holy Spirit, propounding
respecting things, teaches by imprinting His mind, so to speak, on the
expressions; that the names used with various meanings, being made the
subject of accurate investigation, may be explained, and that that
which is hidden under many integuments may, being handled and learned,
come to light and gleam forth. For so also lead turns white as
you rub it; white lead being produced from black. So also
scientific knowledge (gnosis), shedding its light and brightness on
things, shows itself to be in truth the divine wisdom, the pure light,
which illumines the men whose eyeball is clear, unto the sure vision
and comprehension of truth.
XXXIII. Lighting, then, our torch249
| 249 [Compare
Tatian’s use of a like figure, vol. ii. note 2, p. 67, this
series.] | at the source of that light, by the
passionate desire which has it for its object, and striving as much as
possible to be assimilated to it, we become men250
full
of light,251
Israelites
indeed. For He called those friends and brethren who by desire
and pursuit aimed after likeness to the Divinity.
XXXIV. Pure places and meadows have received
voices and visions of holy phantasms.252
But
every man who has been perfectly purified, shall be thought worthy of
divine teaching and of power.
XXXV. Now I know that the mysteries of
science (gnosis) are a laughing-stock to many, especially when not
patched up with sophistical figurative language. And the few are
at first startled at them; as when light is suddenly brought into a
convivial party in the dark. Subsequently, on getting used and
accustomed, and trained to reasoning, as if gladdened and exulting for
delight, they praise the Lord.…For as pleasure has for its
essence release from pain; so also has knowledge the removal of
ignorance. For as those that are most asleep think they are most
awake, being under the power of dream-visions very vivid and fixed; so
those that are most ignorant think that they know most. But
blessed are they who rouse themselves from this sleep and derangement,
and raise their eyes to the light and the truth.
XXXVI. It is, therefore, equally requisite for him
who wishes to have a pupil who is docile, and has blended faith with aspiration, to
exercise himself and constantly to study by himself, investigating the
truth of his speculations; and when he thinks himself right, to descend
to questions regarding things contiguous. For the young birds
make attempts to fly in the nest, exercising their wings.
XXXVII. For Gnostic virtue everywhere makes
man good, and meek, and harmless,253
| 253 For ἀβλαβές in the text, we
must, translating thus, read ἀβλαβῆ. If we translate,
as we may, “Gnostic virtue is a thing everywhere good, and
meek,” etc., no change is required in the reading. | and painless,
and blessed, and ready to associate in the best way with all that is
divine, in the best way with men, at once a contemplative and active
divine image, and turns him into a lover of what is good by love.
For what is good,254
as there it is
contemplated and comprehended by wisdom, is here by self-control and
righteousness carried into effect through faith: practising in
the flesh an angelic ministry; hallowing the soul in the body, as in a
place clear and stainless.
XXXVIII. Against Tatian,255
| 255 [From some lost work of
his.] |
who says that the words, “Let there be light,”256
are supplicatory. If, then, He is
supplicating the supreme God, how does He say, “I am God, and
beside me there is none else?”257
We have
said that there are punishments for blasphemies, for nonsense, for
outrageous expressions; which are punished and chastised by
reason.
XXXIX. And he said, too, that on account of their
hair and finery, women are punished by the Power that is set over these
matters; which also gave to Samson strength in his hair; which punishes
the women who allure to fornication through the adornment of their
hair.
XL. As by the effluence of good, people are made
good; in like manner are they made bad. Good is the judgment of
God, and the discrimination of the believing from the unbelieving, and
the judgment beforehand, so as not to fall into greater
judgment—this judgment being correction.
XLI. Scripture says that infants which are
exposed are delivered to a guardian angel, and that by him they are
trained and reared. “And they shall be,” it says,
“as the faithful in this world of a hundred years of
age.” Wherefore also Peter, in the Revelation,258
| 258 [On these
quotations see Lardner, Credib., ii. 256, and Jones,
Canon. vol. i. p. 373.] | says: “And a flash of fire,
leaping from those infants, and striking the eyes of the
women.” For the just shines: forth as a spark in a
reed, and will judge the nations.259
XLII. “With the holy Thou wilt be
holy.”260
“According to thy praise is thy name glorified;” God being
glorified through our knowledge, and through the inheritance.
Thus also it is said, “The Lord liveth,” and “The
Lord hath risen.”261
XLIII. “A people whom I knew not hath
served me;”262
—by covenant
I knew them not, alien sons, who desired what pertained to
another.
XLIV. “Magnifying the salvations of
His king.”263
All the
faithful are called kings, brought to royalty through
inheritance.
XLV. Long-suffering is sweetness above honey; not
because it is long-suffering, but in consequence of the fruit of
long-suffering. Since, then, the man of self-control is devoid of
passion, inasmuch as he restrains the passions, not without toil; but
when habit is formed, he is no longer a man of self-control, the man
having come under the influence of one habit and of the Holy
Spirit.
XLVI. The passions that are in the soul are
called spirits,—not spirits of power, since in that case the man
under the influence of passion would be a legion of demons; but they
are so called in consequence of the impulse they communicate.
For the soul itself, through modifications, taking on this and that
other sort of qualities of wickedness, is said to receive
spirits.
XLVII. The Word does not bid us renounce
property;264
| 264 κτήσεως,
instead of κτίσεως, as in the
text, and κτῆσιν for κτίσιν in the
next clause. | but to manage
property without inordinate affection; and on anything happening, not
to be vexed or grieved; and not to desire to acquire. Divine
Providence bids keep away from possession accompanied with passion, and
from all inordinate affection, and from this turns back those
still remaining265
| 265 ᾽Αναστρέφει
ἐπὶ μόνους
τοὺς ἐν
σαρκί. For which, as slightly
preferable, Sylburg. proposes ἔτι
μένοντας ἐν
σαρκί, as above. | in the
flesh.
XLVIII. For instance, Peter says in the
Apocalypse,266
| 266 [See note 6, p.
48, supra.] | that abortive
infants shall share the better fate;267
| 267 Adopting the reading
μοίρας, instead of that
in the text, πείρας. | that these
are committed to a guardian angel, so that, on receiving knowledge,
they may obtain the better abode, having had the same experiences which
they would have had had they been in the body. But the others
shall obtain salvation merely, as being injured and pitied, and remain
without punishment, receiving this reward.
XLIX. The milk of women, flowing from the
breasts and thickening, says Peter in the Apocalypse,268
| 268 [See note 6,
p. 48, supra.] | will produce minute beasts, that prey on
flesh, and running back into them will consume them: teaching
that punishments arise for sins. He says that they are produced
from sins; as it was for their sins that the people were sold.
And for their want of faith in Christ, as the apostle says, they were
bitten by serpents.
L. An
ancient said that the embryo is a living thing; for that the soul
entering into the womb after it has been by cleansing prepared for
conception, and introduced by one of the angels who preside over
generation, and who knows the time for conception, moves the woman to
intercourse; and that, on the seed being deposited, the spirit, which
is in the seed, is, so to speak, appropriated, and is thus assumed into
conjunction in the process of formation. He cited as a proof to
all, how, when the angels give glad tidings to the barren, they
introduce souls before conception. And in the Gospel “the
babe leapt”269
as a living
thing. And the barren are barren for this reason, that the soul,
which unites for the deposit of the seed, is not introduced so as to
secure conception and generation.
LI. “The heavens declare the glory of
God.”270
| 270 Ps. xix. 1. [Here follow notes on successive
verses, some not unworthy of an orthodox Father.] | The heavens
are taken in various meanings, both those defined by space and
revolution, and those by covenant,—the immediate operation of the
first-created angels. For the covenants caused a more especial
appearance of angels,—that271
in the case
of Adam, that in the case of Noah, that in the case of Abraham, that in
the case of Moses. For, moved by the Lord, the first-created
angels exercised their influence on the angels attached to the
prophets, considering the covenants the glory of God.
Furthermore, the things done on earth by angels were done by the
first-created angels to the glory of God.
LII. It is the Lord that is principally
denominated the Heavens, and then the First-created; and after these
also the holy men before the Law, as the patriarchs, and Moses, and the
prophets; then also the apostles. “And the firmament
showeth His handiwork.” He applies the term
“firmament”272
to God, the
passionless and immoveable, as also elsewhere the same David says,
“I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength273
and my refuge.”274
Accordingly, the firmament itself shows forth the work of His
hands,—that is, shows and manifests the work of His angels.
For He shows forth and manifests those whom He hath made.
LIII. “Day unto day uttereth
speech.” As the heavens have various meanings, so also has
day. Now speech is the Lord; and He is also frequently called
day. “And night unto night showeth forth
knowledge.” The devil knew that the Lord was to come.
But he did not believe that He was God; wherefore also he tempted Him,
in order to know if He were powerful. It is said, “he
left275
| 275 For ἐᾶν,
which is the reading of the text, Sylburgius’ suggestion of
εἴα or εἴασε has been
adopted. | Him, and departed from Him for a
season;” that is, he postponed the discovery till the
resurrection. For he knew that He who was to rise was the
Lord. Likewise also the demons; since also they suspected that
Solomon was the Lord, and they knew that he was not so, on his
sinning. “Night to night.” All the demons knew
that He who rose after the passion was the Lord. And already
Enoch276
| 276 See note 9, p.
3, supra.] | had said, that the angels who
transgressed taught men astronomy and divination, and the rest of the
arts.
LIV. “There are no speeches or words whose
voices are not heard,” neither of days nor nights.
“Their sound is gone forth unto all the earth.” He
has transferred the discourse to the saints alone, whom he calls both
heavens and days.
LV. The stars, spiritual bodies, that have
communications with the angels set over them, and are governed by them,
are not the cause of the production of things, but are signs of what is
taking place, and will take place, and have taken place in the case of
atmospheric changes, of fruitfulness and barrenness, of pestilence and
fevers, and in the case of men. The stars do not in the least
degree exert influences, but indicate what is, and will be, and has
been.
LVI. “And in the sun hath He set His
tabernacle.” There is a transposition here. For it is
of the second coming that the discourse is. So, then, we must
read what is transposed in its due sequence: “And he, as a
bridegroom issuing from his chamber, will rejoice as a giant to run his
way. From heaven’s end is his going forth; and there is no
one who shall hide himself from his heat;” and then, “He
hath set His tabernacle in the sun.”
Some say that He deposited the Lord’s body in the
sun, as Hermogenes. And “His tabernacle,” some say,
is His body, others the Church of the faithful.
Our Pantænus277
| 277 [No doubt he may
have said this.] |
used to say, that prophecy utters its expressions indefinitely for the
most part, and uses the present for the future, and again the present
for the past. Which is also seen here.278
| 278 Or rather, as
Sylb. points out, this is a case of the past used for the present,
etc. | For “He hath set” is
put both for the past and the future. For the future, because, on
the completion of this period, which is to run according to its
present279
| 279 παρουσίαν,
κατάστασιν,
the reading of the text, is, as Sylburg. remarks, plainly corrupt;
παροῦσαν, as
above, is the most obvious correction. | constitution, the Lord will come to
restore the righteous, the faithful, in whom He rests, as in a tent, to
one and the same unity; for all are one body, of the same race, and
have chosen the same faith and righteousness. But some as head,
some as eyes, some as ears, some as hands, some as breasts, some as
feet, shall be set, resplendent, in the sun. “Shine forth
as the sun,”280
or in the sun;
since an angel high in
command is in the sun. For he is appointed for rule over days; as
the moon is for ruling over night.281
Now
angels are called days. Along with the angels in282
| 282 μεθ᾽ here clearly should be
καθ᾽ or
ἐφ᾽. | the sun, it is said, they shall have
assigned to them one abode, to be for some time and in some respects
the sun, as it were the head of the body which is one. And,
besides, they also are the rulers of the days, as that angel in the
sun, for the greater purpose for which he before them283
| 283 If we may venture
to change αὐτοῦ into αὐτῶν. | migrated to the same place. And
again destined to ascend progressively, they reach the first abode, in
accordance with the past “He hath set:” so that the
first-created angels shall no longer, according to providence, exercise
a definite ministry, but may be in repose, and devoted to the
contemplation of God alone; while those next to them shall be promoted
to the post which they have left; and so those beneath them
similarly.
LVII. There are then, according to the
apostle, those on the summit,284
| 284 ᾽Εν
τῇ ἀκρῇ
ἀποκαταστάσει.
The last word yields no suitable sense, and conjecture as to the right
reading is vain; and we have left it untranslated. The Latin
translator renders “qui in summa arce collocati sunt.” | the
first-created. And they are thrones, although Powers, being the
first-created, inasmuch as God rests in them, as also in those who
believe. For each one, according to his own stage of advancement
possesses the knowledge of God in a way special to himself; and in this
knowledge God reposes, those who possess knowledge being made immortal
by knowledge. And is not “He set His tabernacle in the
sun” to be understood thus? God “set in the
sun,” that is, in the God who is beside Him, as in the Gospel,
Eli, Eli,285
| 285 ῞Ηλιος is (with marvellous ignorance
of the Hebrew tongue, as Combefisius notices) here identified with Eli,
ילִא” | instead of my
God, my God. And what is “above all rule, and authority,
and power, and every name that is named,” are those from among
men that are made perfect as angels and archangels, so as to
rise to the nature of the angels first-created. For those who
are changed from men to angels are instructed for a thousand years by
the angels after they are brought to perfection. Then those who
have taught are translated to archangelic authority; and those who have
learned instruct those again who from men are changed to angels.
Thus afterwards, in the prescribed periods, they are brought to the
proper angelic state of the body.
LVIII. “The law of God is perfect,
converting souls.”286
The
Saviour Himself is called Law and Word, as Peter in “the
Preaching,” and the prophet: “Out of Zion shall go
forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”287
LIX. “The testimony of the Lord is sure,
making children wise.” The covenant of the Lord is true,
making wise children; those free from evil, both the apostles, and then
also us. Besides, the testimony of the Lord, according to which
He rose again after His passion, having been verified by fact, led the
Church to confirmation in faith.
LX. “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring
for ever.” He says that those who have been turned from
fear to faith and righteousness endure for ever.
“The judgments of the Lord are
true,”—sure, and incapable of being overturned; and giving
rewards according to what is right, bringing the righteous to the unity
of the faith. For this is shown in the words, “justified
for the same.”288
“Such desires289
| 289 αἱ
τοιαῦται
ἐπιθυμίαι, for
which the Septuagint has ἐπιθυμητά as in
A.V. | are above gold
and precious stone.”
LXI. “For also Thy servant keeps
them.” Not that David alone is called servant; but the
whole people saved is called the servant of God, in virtue of obedience
to the command.
LXII. “Cleanse me from my secret
faults;”—thoughts contrary to right
reason—defects. For He calls this foreign to the righteous
man.
LXIII. “If they have not dominion over me,
then shall I be innocent.” If those who persecute me as
they did the Lord, do not have dominion over me, I shall not be
innocent. For no one becomes a martyr unless he is persecuted;
nor appears righteous, unless, being wronged, he takes no revenge; nor
forbearing…
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