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| On the Clause, And Shall Come in Glory to Judge the Quick and the Dead; Of Whose Kingdom There Shall Be No End.
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Lecture
XV.
On the Clause, And Shall Come in Glory
to Judge the Quick and the Dead; Of Whose Kingdom There Shall Be No
End.
Daniel vii. 9–14
I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was
ancient of days did sit, and then, I saw in a vision of
the night, and behold one like unto the Son of Man came with the clouds
of heaven, &c.
1. We preach not
one advent only of Christ, but a second also, far more glorious than
the former. For the former gave a view of His patience; but the
latter brings with it the crown of a divine kingdom. For all
things, for the most part, are twofold in our Lord Jesus Christ:
a twofold generation; one, of God, before the ages; and one, of a
Virgin, at the close of the ages: His descents twofold; one, the
unobserved, like rain on a fleece1811
;
and a second His open coming, which is to be. In His former
advent, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger; in His
second, He covereth Himself with light as with a
garment1812
. In His first
coming, He endured the Cross, despising shame1813
; in His second, He comes attended by a host
of Angels, receiving glory1814
| 1814 Cyril’s contrast
of the two Advents seems to be partly borrowed from Justin M.
(Apol. i. 52; Tryph. 110). See also Tertullian
(Adv. Judæos, c. 14); Hippolytus (De Antichristo,
44). | . We rest not
then upon His first advent only, but look also for His second.
And as at His first coming we said, Blessed is He that cometh in the
Name of the Lord1815
, so will we repeat
the same at His second coming; that when with Angels we meet our
Master, we may worship Him and say, Blessed is He that cometh in the
Name of the Lord. The Saviour comes, not to be judged again,
but to judge them who judged Him; He who before held His peace when
judged1816
, shall remind the
transgressors who did those daring deeds at the Cross, and shall say,
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence1817
. Then, He came because of a divine
dispensation, teaching men with persuasion; but this time they will of
necessity have Him for their King, even though they wish it
not.
2. And concerning these two comings, Malachi the
Prophet says, And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His
temple1818
; behold one
coming. And again of the second coming he says, And the
Messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold, He cometh,
saith1819
| 1819 The Benedictine Editor
by omitting λέγει, obtains the sense,
He cometh, even the Lord Almighty. But λέγει is
supported by the mss. of Cyril, as well as by
the Septuagint and Hebrew. | the Lord
Almighty. But who shall abide the day of His coming? or who shall
stand when He appeareth? Because He cometh in like a
refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ herb; and He shall sit as
a refiner and purifier. And immediately after the Saviour
Himself says, And I will draw near to you in judgment; and I will be
a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulteresses,
and against those who swear falsely in My Name1820
, and the rest. For this cause Paul
warning us beforehand says, If any man buildeth on the foundation
gold, and silver, and precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every
man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed in fire1821
. Paul also knew these two comings,
when writing to Titus and saying, The grace of God hath appeared
which bringeth salvation unto all men, instructing us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and godly, and
righteously in this present world; looking for the blessed hope, and
appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ1822
. Thou seest
how he spoke of a first, for which he gives thanks; and of a second, to
which we look forward. Therefore the words also of the Faith
which we are announcing were just now delivered thus1823
| 1823 νῦν
παρεδόθη. Cyril
means that at the beginning of this present Lecture he had delivered to
the Catechumens those articles of the Creed which he was going to
explain. Compare Cat. xviii. 21, where we see that Cyril first
announces (ἐπαγγέλλω)
the words which the learners repeat after him (ἀπαγγέλλω).
The clause, Whose
Kingdom shall have no end, was not contained in the original
form of the Creed of Nicæa, a.d. 325, but
its substance is found in many earlier writings. Compare Justin
M. (Tryph. § 46: καὶ αὐτοῦ
ἐστιν ἡ
αἰώνιος
βασιλεία); Const.
Apost. vii. 41; the Eusebian Confessions 1st and 4th Antioch,
and the Macrostich, a.d. 341, 342, 344.
Bp. Bull asserts that the Creed of Jerusalem, containing this clause,
was no other than the ancient Eastern Creed, first directed against the
Gnostics of the Sub-Apostolic age (Judicium Eccl. Cathol.
vi. 16). | ; that we believe in Him, who also
ascended into the heavens, and sat
down on the right
hand of the Father, and shall come in glory to judge quick and dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
3. Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, comes from
heaven; and He comes with glory at the end of this world, in the last
day. For of this world there is to be an end, and this created
world is to be re-made anew1824
| 1824 The Benedictine Editor
suggests that Cyril “is refuting those who said that the Universe
was to perish utterly, an opinion which seems to be somehow imputed to
Origen by Methodius, or Proclus, in Epiphanius (Hæres.
lxiv. 31, 32).” On Origen’s much controverted
opinions concerning the beginning and end of the world, see Huet.
Origeniana, II. 4–6: and Bp. Westcott, Dictionary
of Christian Biography, “Origen,” pp. 137,
138. | . For since
corruption, and theft, and adultery, and every sort of sins
have been poured forth over the earth, and blood has been mingled
with blood1825
in the world,
therefore, that this wondrous dwelling-place may not remain filled with
iniquity, this world passeth away, that the fairer world may be made
manifest. And wouldest thou receive the proof of this out of the
words of Scripture? Listen to Esaias, saying, And the heaven
shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all the stars shall fall, as
leaves from a vine, and as leaves fall from a fig-tree1826
. The Gospel
also says, The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give
her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven1827
. Let us not
sorrow, as if we alone died; the stars also shall die; but perhaps rise
again. And the Lord rolleth up the heavens, not that He may
destroy them, but that He may raise them up again more beautiful.
Hear David the Prophet saying, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst
lay the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy
hands; they shall perish, but Thou remainest1828
| 1828 Ps. cii. 25, 26; Heb. i.
10–12. | . But some one will say, Behold, he
says plainly that they shall perish. Hear in what sense he
says, they shall perish; it is plain from what follows; And
they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou
fold them up, and they shall be changed. For as a man is said
to “perish,” according to that which is written, Behold,
how the righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart1829
, and this, though the resurrection is looked
for; so we look for a resurrection, as it were, of the heavens
also. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood1830
. Here let
converts from the Manichees gain instruction, and no longer make those
lights their gods; nor impiously think, that this sun which shall be
darkened is Christ1831
| 1831 Cat. vi. 13; xi.
21. | . And again
hear the Lord saying, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words
shall not pass away1832
; for the creatures
are not as precious as the Master’s words.
4. The things then which are seen shall pass
away, and there shall come the things which are looked for, things
fairer than the present; but as to the time let no one be
curious. For it is not for you, He says, to know times
or seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power1833
. And venture not thou to declare when
these things shall be, nor on the other hand supinely slumber.
For he saith, Watch, for in such an hour as ye expect not the Son of
Man cometh1834
| 1834
Matt. xxiv. 42,
44; Ib. v. 3. | . But since it
was needful for us to know the signs of the end, and since we are
looking for Christ, therefore, that we may not die deceived and be led
astray by that false Antichrist, the Apostles, moved by the divine
will, address themselves by a providential arrangement to the True
Teacher, and say, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what
shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the
world1835
? We look for
Thee to come again, but Satan transforms himself into an Angel of
light; put us therefore on our guard, that we may not worship
another instead of Thee. And He, opening His divine and blessed
mouth, says, Take heed that no man mislead you. Do you
also, my hearers, as seeing Him now with the eyes of your mind, hear
Him saying the same things to you; Take heed that no man mislead
you. And this word exhorts you all to give heed to what is
spoken; for it is not a history of things gone by, but a prophecy of
things future, and which will surely come. Not that we prophesy,
for we are unworthy; but that the things which are written will be set
before you, and the signs declared. Observe thou, which of them
have already come to pass, and which yet remain; and make thyself
safe.
5. Take heed that no man mislead
you: for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and
shall mislead many. This has happened in part: for
already Simon Magus has said this, and Menander1836
,
and some others of the godless leaders of heresy; and others will say
it in our days, or after us.
6. A second sign. And ye shall hear
of wars and rumours of wars1837
| 1837 Matt. xxiv. 6. The war with Sapor II.,
King of Persia, which broke out immediately on the death of
Constantine, and continued throughout the reign of Constantius, was
raging fiercely at the date of these Lectures, the great battle of
Singara being fought in the year 348 a.d. | . Is
there then at this time war between Persians and Romans for
Mesopotamia, or no? Does nation rise up against nation and
kingdom against kingdom, or no? And there shall be famines and
pestilences and
earthquakes in divers places. These things have already
come to pass; and again, And fearful sights from heaven, and mighty
storms1838
. Watch
therefore, He says; for ye know not at what hour your Lord doth
come1839
.
7. But we seek our own sign of His coming;
we Churchmen seek a sign proper to the Church1840
| 1840 ἑκκλησιαστικός, when applied to persons, means either, as here, an orthodox member of
the Church in contrast to a heretic, pagan, or Jew (Origen, in
Job xx. 6), or more particularly a Cleric as opposed to a layman
(Cat. xvii. 10). | . And the Saviour says, And then
shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate
one another1841
. If thou hear
that bishops advance against bishops, and clergy against clergy, and
laity against laity even unto blood, be not troubled1842
| 1842 “S. Cyril
here describes the state of the Church, when orthodoxy was for a while
trodden under foot, its maintainers persecuted, and the varieties of
Arianism, which took its place, were quarreling for the
ascendancy. Gibbon quotes two passages, one from a pagan
historian of the day, another from a Father of the Church, which fully
bear out S. Cyril’s words. What made the state of things
still more deplorable, was the defection of some of the orthodox party,
as Marcellus, into opposite errors: while the subsequent
secessions of Apollinaris and Lucifer show what lurking disorders there
were within it at the time when S. Cyril wrote. (Vid.
infr. 9.) The passages referred to are as follows:
‘The Christian Religion,’ says Ammianus, ‘in itself
plain and simple, he (Constantius) confounded by the dotage of
superstition. Instead of reconciling the parties by the weight of
his authority, he cherished and propagated, by vain disputes, the
differences which his vain curiosity had excited. The highways
were covered with troops of Bishops, galloping from every side to the
assemblies, which they called synods; and while they laboured to reduce
the whole sect to their own particular opinions, the public
establishment of the posts was almost ruined by their hasty and
repeated journeys.’ Hist. xxi. 16. S. Hilary
of Poictiers thus speaks of Asia Minor, the chief seat of the Arian
troubles: ‘It is a thing equally deplorable and dangerous,
that there are as many creeds as opinions among men, as many doctrines
as inclinations, and as many sources of blasphemy as there are faults
among us; because we make creeds arbitrarily, and explain them as
arbitrarily. The Homoousion is rejected and received and
explained away by successive synods. The partial or total
resemblance of the Father and of the Son is a subject of dispute for
these unhappy divines. Every year, nay, every moon, we make new
creeds to describe invisible mysteries. We repent of what we have
done, we defend those who repent, we anathematize those whom we
defended. We condemn either the doctrine of others in ourselves,
or our own in that of others; and reciprocally tearing one another to
pieces, we have been the cause of each other’s
ruin,’ ad Constant. ii. 4, 5.
Gibbon’s translations are used, which, though diffuse, are
faithful in their matter. What a contrast do these descriptions
present to Athanasius’ uniform declaration, that the whole
question was really settled at Nicæa, and no other synod or debate
was necessary!”—(R.W.C.).
Compare, for example, the account of the seditions in Antioch and in
Constantinople, in Socrates, Eccles. Hist. i. 24; i.,
12–14, and Athanas. Hist. Arianorum, passim. | ; for it has been written before. Heed
not the things now happening, but the things which are written; and
even though I who teach thee perish, thou shalt not also perish with
me; nay, even a hearer may become better than his teacher, and he who
came last may be first, since even those about the eleventh hour the
Master receives. If among Apostles there was found treason, dost
thou wonder that hatred of brethren is found among bishops? But
the sign concerns not only rulers, but the people also; for He says,
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax
cold1843
. Will any
then among those present boast that he entertains friendship unfeigned
towards his neighbour? Do not the lips often kiss, and the
countenance smile, and the eyes brighten forsooth, while the heart is
planning guile, and the man is plotting mischief with words of
peace?
8. Thou hast this sign also: And
this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come1844
. And as we see, nearly the whole world
is now filled with the doctrine of Christ.
9. And what comes to pass after this?
He says next, When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation,
which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the Holy Place,
let him that readeth understand1845
. And
again, Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ,
or, Lo, there; believe it not1846
. Hatred
of the brethren makes room next for Antichrist; for the devil prepares
beforehand the divisions among the people, that he who is to come may
be acceptable to them. But God forbid that any of Christ’s
servants here, or elsewhere, should run over to the enemy!
Writing concerning this matter, the Apostle Paul gave a manifest sign,
saying, For that day shall not come, except there came first the
falling away, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who
opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that
is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself
that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I
told you these things? And now ye know that which restraineth, to
the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work, only there is one that
restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall
the lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the
breath of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan,
with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of
unrighteousness for them that are perishing1847
. Thus wrote Paul, and now is the
falling away. For men have fallen away from the right
faith1848
| 1848 The prediction was
supposed by earlier Fathers to refer to a personal Antichrist whom they
expected to come speedily. See Justin M. (Tryph. §
110: ὁ τῆς
ἀποστασίας
ἄνθρωπος;
ib. § 32: “He who is to speak blasphemous and
daring things against the Most High is already at the
doors.” Iren. Hær. V. 25. Cyril in
this passage regards the heresies of his time as the apostasy in
general, but looks also for a personal Antichrist: (§§
11, 12). | ; and some preach the identity of the Son
with the Father1849
| 1849 υἱοπατορία
. On this contemptuous name for Sabellianism, see Cat. iv. 8; xi.
16. The Third (Eusebian) Confession, or Third of Antioch,
a.d. 341, anathematizes any who hold the
doctrines of Marcellus of Ancyra or Sabellius, or Paul of Samosata
(Athan. de Synodis, § 24 note 10, p. 462, in this
Series, and Mr. Robertson’s Prolegomena, p. xliv.).
In the Ecthesis, or Statement of Faith, § 2,
Athanasius writes: “Neither do we hold a Son-Father, as do
the Sabellians, calling Him of one but (a sole and?) not the
same essence, and thus destroying the existence of the
Son.” As to Marcellus, see Athanasius, Hist.
Arian. § 6 (p. 271), and the letter of Julius in the
Apologia c. Arian. § 32 (p. 116): also notes 3, 4 on
§ 27 below. | , and others dare to
say that Christ was
brought into being out of nothing1850
| 1850 See Athanasius, De
Synod. § 15: “Arius and those with him thought and
professed thus: ‘God made the Son out of nothing, and
called Him His Son:’” and Expos. Fidei,
§ 2: “We do not regard as a creature, or thing made,
or as made out of nothing, God the Creator of all, the Son of God, the
true Being from the true Being, the Alone from the Alone, inasmuch as
the like glory and power was eternally and conjointly begotten of the
Father.” The 4th (Eusebian) Confession, or 4th of Antioch,
a.d. 342, ends thus: “Those who
say that the Son was from nothing,.…the Catholic Church regards
as aliens.” | . And
formerly the heretics were manifest; but now the Church is filled with
heretics in disguise1851
| 1851 Athan. Adversus
Arianos, Or. i. 1: “One heresy and that the last which
has now risen as forerunner of Antichrist, the Arian as it is called,
considering that other heresies, her elder sisters, have been openly
proscribed, in her craft and cunning affects to array herself in
Scripture language, like her father the devil, and is forcing her way
back into the Church’s paradise, &c.” The
supposed date of this Oration is 8 or 10 years later than that of
Cyril’s Lectures. | . For men have
fallen away from the truth, and have itching ears1852
. Is it a plausible discourse? all
listen to it gladly. Is it a word of correction? all turn away
from it. Most have departed from right words, and rather choose
the evil, than desire the good1853
| 1853 A reading
supported by the best mss. and approved by the
Benedictine Editor gives a different sense, “and rather choose to
seem than resolve to be,” inverting the proverb
“esse quam videri.” | . This
therefore is the falling away, and the enemy is soon to be
looked for: and meanwhile he has in part begun to send forth his
own forerunners1854
, that he may then
come prepared upon the prey. Look therefore to thyself, O man,
and make safe thy soul. The Church now charges thee before the
Living God; she declares to thee the things concerning Antichrist
before they arrive. Whether they will happen in thy time we know
not, or whether they will happen after thee we know not; but it is well
that, knowing these things, thou shouldest make thyself secure
beforehand.
10. The true Christ, the Only-begotten Son
of God, comes no more from the earth. If any come making false
shows1855
| 1855 φαντασιοκοπῶν,
a rare word, rendered “frantic” in Ecclus. iv. 30: its more precise meaning seems to
be “making a false show,” which is here applied to a false
Christ, and again in § 14 to the father of lies who makes a vain
show of false miracles. | in the wilderness, go not forth; if they
say, Lo, here is the Christ, Lo, there, believe it not1856
. Look no longer downwards and to the
earth; for the Lord descends from heaven; not alone as before, but with
many, escorted by tens of thousands of Angels; nor secretly as the dew
on the fleece1857
; but shining forth
openly as the lightning. For He hath said Himself, As the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so
shall also the coming of the Son of Man be1858
;
and again, And they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds
with power and great glory, and He shall send forth His Angels with a
great trumpet1859
; and the
rest.
11. But as, when formerly He was to take
man’s nature, and God was expected to be born of a Virgin, the
devil created prejudice against this, by craftily preparing among
idol-worshippers1860
| 1860 ἐν
εἰδωλολατρείᾳ
may mean either “in idol-worship,” or “among
idolaters,” the abstract being used for the concrete, as in
Rom. iii. 30: δικαιώσει
περιτομήν. | fables of false
gods, begetting and begotten of women, that, the falsehood having come
first, the truth, as he supposed, might be disbelieved; so now, since
the true Christ is to come a second time, the adversary, taking
occasion by1861
| 1861 ἐφόδιον, “provision
for a journey,” is here equivalent in meaning to ἀφορμή, “a starting
point,” or “favourable occasion.” | the expectation of
the simple, and especially of them of the circumcision, brings in a
certain man who is a magician1862
| 1862 Antichrist is
described by Hippolytus (De Christo et Antichristo, § 57,
as “a son of the devil, and a vessel of Satan,” who will
rule and govern “after the manner of the law of Augustus, by whom
the Roman empire was established, sanctioning everything
thereby.” Cf. Iren. Hær. V. 30, § 3;
Dictionary of Christian Biography, Antichrist: “The
sharp precision with which St. Paul had pointed to ‘the
man of sin,’ ‘the lawless one,’
‘the adversary,’ ‘the son of
perdition,’ led men to dwell on that thought rather than on the
many ψευδόχριστοι
of whom Christ Himself had spoken.” | , and most expert in
sorceries and enchantments of beguiling craftiness; who shall seize for
himself the power of the Roman empire, and shall falsely style himself
Christ; by this name of Christ deceiving the Jews, who are looking for
the Anointed1863
, and seducing those
of the Gentiles by his magical illusions.
12. But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come
when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the
end of the world is now drawing near1864
| 1864 The fourth kingdom in
the prophecy of Daniel (vii. 7; 23) was generally understood by early
Christian writers to be the Roman Empire; and its dissolution was to be
speedily followed by the end of the world. See § 13 below;
Irenæus, V. 26; and Hippolytus, ubi supra, §§ 19,
28. | . There
shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different
parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an
eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the
Roman power; and of the kings who reigned before him, three he shall
humble1865
| 1865 Dan. vii. 24: and he shall put down
three kings (R.V.). | , and the remaining
seven he shall keep in subjection to himself. At first indeed he
will put on a show of mildness (as though he were a learned and
discreet person), and of soberness and benevolence1866
| 1866 The Jerusalem Editor
quotes as from Hippolytus a similar description of Antichrist (§
23): ”In his first steps he will be gentle, loveable,
quiet, pious, pacific, hating injustice, detesting gifts, not allowing
idolatry, &c.” But the treatise is a forgery of unknown
date, apparently much later than Cyril. | : and by the lying signs and wonders of his magical
deceit1867
| 1867 Iren. V. 28, §
2: “Since the demons and apostate spirits are at his
service, he through their means performs wonders, by which he leads the
inhabitants of the earth astray.” | having beguiled the
Jews, as though he were the expected Christ, he shall afterwards be
characterized by all kinds of crimes of inhumanity and lawlessness, so
as to outdo all unrighteous and ungodly men who have gone before him;
displaying against all men, but especially against us Christians, a
spirit murderous and most cruel, merciless and crafty1868
| 1868 Iren. V. 25, § 4: “He shall
remove his kingdom into that city (Jerusalem), and shall sit in the
Temple of God, leading astray those who worship him as if he were
Christ.”
According to the genuine treatise of
Hippolytus Antichrist was to restore the kingdom of the Jews (De
Antichristo, § 25), to collect the Jews out of every
country of the Dispersion, making them his own, as though they were his
own children, and promising to restore their country, and establish
again their kingdom and nation, in order that he may be worshipped by
them as God (§ 54), and he will lead them on to persecute the
saints, i.e. the Christians (§ 56). Compare the elaborate
description of Antichrist and his cruelty in Lactantius, Div.
Inst. vii. 17; Epit. § 71. | . And after perpetrating such things
for three years and six months only, he shall be destroyed by the
glorious second advent from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our
Lord and Saviour Jesus, the true Christ, who shall slay Antichrist
with the breath of His mouth1869
, and shall
deliver him over to the fire of hell.
13. Now these things we teach, not of our
own invention, but having learned them out of the divine Scriptures
used in the Church1870
| 1870 ἐκκλησιαζομένων.
Cf. Cat. iv. 35, 36, where Cyril distinguishes the Scriptures
ἃς καὶ
ἐν ᾽Εκκλησίᾳ
μετὰ
παρρησίας
ἀναγινώσκομεν
from ὅσα ἐν
᾽Εκκλησίαις
μὴ
ἀναγινώσκεται. | , and chiefly from
the prophecy of Daniel just now read; as Gabriel also the Archangel
interpreted it, speaking thus: The fourth beast shall be a
fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall surpass all
kingdoms1871
. And that
this kingdom is that of the Romans, has been the tradition of the
Church’s interpreters. For as the first kingdom which
became renowned was that of the Assyrians, and the second, that of the
Medes and Persians together, and after these, that of the Macedonians
was the third, so the fourth kingdom now is that of the Romans1872
| 1872 Irenæus (V. 26)
identifies the fourth kingdom with “the empire which now
rules.” Hippolytus, de Antichristo, §
25: “A fourth beast dreadful and terrible: it had
iron teeth and claws of brass. And who are these but the
Romans?” | . Then Gabriel goes on to interpret,
saying, His ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and another
king shall rise up after them, who shall surpass in wickedness all who
were before him1873
; (he says, not only
the ten, but also all who have been before him;) and he shall subdue
three kings; manifestly out of the ten former kings: but it
is plain that by subduing three of these ten, he will become the eighth
king; and he shall speak words against the Most High1874
. A blasphemer the man is and lawless,
not having received the kingdom from his fathers, but having usurped
the power by means of sorcery.
14. And who is this, and from what sort of
working? Interpret to us, O Paul. Whose coming, he
says, is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and
lying wonders1875
| 1875 2 Thess. ii. 9. Lactantius (a.d. 300 circ.), Div. Inst. vii.
17: “that king.…will also be a prophet of lies; and
he will constitute and call himself God, and will order himself to be
worshipped as the Son of God; and power will be given him to do signs
and wonders, by the sight of which he may entice men to adore
him.” Cf. Epitome, lxxi. | ; implying, that
Satan has used him as an instrument, working in his own person through
him; for knowing that his judgment shall now no longer have respite, he
wages war no more by his ministers, as is his wont, but henceforth by
himself more openly1876
. And with
all signs and lying wonders; for the father of falsehood will make
a show1877
| 1877 φαντασιοκοπεῖ.
See above, § 10, note 9, and the equivalent phrase in §
17: σημείων
καὶ τεράτων
φαντασίας
ἐδείκνυον. | of the works of
falsehood, that the multitudes may think that they see a dead man
raised, who is not raised, and lame men walking, and blind men seeing,
when the cure has not been wrought.
15. And again he says, Who opposeth and
exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; (against every God; Antichrist forsooth will
abhor the idols,) so that he seateth himself in the temple of
God1878
. What temple
then? He means, the Temple of the Jews which has been
destroyed. For God forbid that it should be the one in which we
are! Why say we this? That we may not be supposed to favour
ourselves. For if he comes to the Jews as Christ, and desires to
be worshipped by the Jews, he will make great account of the Temple,
that he may more completely beguile them; making it supposed that he is
the man of the race of David, who shall build up the Temple which was
erected by Solomon1879
| 1879 See § 12, notes
3, 4, and Hippolytus, ubi supra: “The Saviour
raised up and shewed His holy flesh like a temple; and he will raise a
temple of stone in Jerusalem.” “Cyril wrote this
before Julian’s attempt to rebuild the Jewish Temple”
(R.W.C.). | . And
Antichrist will come at the time when there shall not be left one stone
upon another in the Temple of the Jews, according to the doom
pronounced by our Saviour1880
; for when,
either decay of time,
or demolition ensuing on pretence of new buildings, or from any other
causes, shall have overthrown all the stones, I mean not merely of the
outer circuit, but of the inner shrine also, where the Cherubim were,
then shall he come with all signs and lying wonders, exalting
himself against all idols; at first indeed making a pretence of
benevolence, but afterwards displaying his relentless temper, and that
chiefly against the Saints of God. For he says, I beheld, and
the same horn made war with the saints1881
;
and again elsewhere, there shall be a time of trouble, such as never
was since there was a nation upon earth, even to that same
time1882
. Dreadful is
that beast, a mighty dragon, unconquerable by man, ready to devour;
concerning whom though we have more things to speak out of the divine
Scriptures, yet we will content ourselves at present with thus much, in
order to keep within compass.
16. For this cause the Lord knowing the
greatness of the adversary grants indulgence to the godly, saying,
Then let them which be in Judæa flee to the
mountains1883
. But if any
man is conscious that he is very stout-hearted, to encounter Satan, let
him stand (for I do not despair of the Church’s nerves), and let
him say, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ and the
rest1884
? But, let
those of us who are fearful provide for our own safety; and those who
are of a good courage, stand fast: for then shall be great
tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world
until now, no, nor ever shall be1885
. But
thanks be to God who hath confined the greatness of that tribulation to
a few days; for He says, But for the elect’s sake those days
shall be shortened1886
; and Antichrist
shall reign for three years and a half only. We speak not from
apocryphal books, but from Daniel; for he says, And they shall be
given into his hand until a time and times and half a time1887
| 1887 Dan. vii. 25. By “apocryphal” books
Cyril probably means all such as were not allowed to be read in the
public service of the Church: see Cat. iv. 33, note 3; and Bp.
Westcott’s note on the various meanings of the word ἀπόκρυφος,
Hist. of the Canon, P. III. c. 1. That the Apocalypse of
St. John is included under this term by Cyril, appears probable from
the following reasons suggested by the Benedictine Editor. (1) It
is not mentioned in the list of the Canonical Scriptures in iv.
36. (2) The earlier writers whom Cyril follows in this Lecture,
Irenæus, Hær. V., 26, § 1, and Hippolytus,
De Antichristo, § 34, combine the testimony of the
Apocalypse with that of Daniel. The omission in Cyril therefore
cannot have been accidental. | . A time is the one year in
which his coming shall for a while have increase; and the times
are the remaining two years of iniquity, making up the sum of the three
years; and the half a time is the six months. And again in
another place Daniel says the same thing, And he sware by Him that
liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, and times, and half a
time1888
. And some
peradventure have referred what follows also to this; namely, a
thousand two hundred and ninety days1889
;
and this, Blessed is he that endureth and cometh to the thousand
three hundred and five and thirty days1890
. For this cause we must hide ourselves
and flee; for perhaps we shall not have gone over the cities of
Israel, till the Son of Man be come1891
.
17. Who then is the blessed man, that shall
at that time devoutly witness for Christ? For I say that the
Martyrs of that time excel all martyrs. For the Martyrs hitherto
have wrestled with men only; but in the time of Antichrist they shall
do battle with Satan in his own person1892
| 1892 αὐτοπροσώπως
. See above, § 14, note 2. Some mss. read ἀντιπροσώπως,
“face to face,” as in xii. 32, ἀντιπρόσωπος. | . And former persecuting kings only put
to death; they did not pretend to raise the dead, nor did they make
false shows1893
| 1893 See above, § 14,
note 3. | of signs and
wonders. But in his time there shall be the evil inducement both
of fear and of deceit, so that if it be possible the very elect
shall be deceived1894
. Let it never
enter into the heart of any then alive to ask, “What did Christ
more? For by what power does this man work these things?
Were it not God’s will, He would not have allowed
them.” The Apostle warns thee, and says beforehand, And
for this cause God shall send them a working of error;
(send, that is, shall allow to happen;) not that they
might make excuse, but that they might be condemned1895
. Wherefore? They, he
says, who believed not the truth, that is, the true Christ,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness, that is, in
Antichrist. But as in the persecutions which happen from time to
time, so also then God will permit these things, not because He wants
power to hinder them, but because according to His wont He will through
patience crown His own champions like as He did His Prophets and
Apostles; to the end that having toiled for a little while they may
inherit the eternal kingdom of heaven, according to that which Daniel
says, And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that
shall be found written in the book (manifestly, the book of life);
and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and same to shame and everlasting contempt;
and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and of the many righteous1896
| 1896 Dan. xii. 1, 2: (R.V.) they that turn
many to righteousness. Cyril follows the rendering of the
Septuagint, ἀπὸ
τῶν δικαίων
τῶν πολλῶν, which
gives no proper construction. | , as the stars
for ever and ever.
18.
Guard thyself then, O man; thou hast the signs of Antichrist; and
remember them not only thyself, but impart them also freely to
all. If thou hast a child according to the flesh, admonish him of
this now; if thou hast begotten one through catechizing1897
| 1897 Compare 1 Cor. iv. 15: I begat you through the
gospel. Clem. Alex. Strom. iii. c. 15:
τῷ διὰ
τῆς ἀληθοῦς
κατηχήσεως
γεννήσαντι
κεῖταί τις
μισθός. | , put him also on his guard, lest he receive
the false one as the True. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work1898
. I fear these
wars of the nations1899
; I fear the schisms
of the Churches; I fear the mutual hatred of the brethren. But
enough on this subject; only God forbid that it should be fulfilled in
our days; nevertheless, let us be on our guard. And thus much
concerning Antichrist.
19. But let us wait and look for the
Lord’s coming upon the clouds from heaven. Then shall
Angelic trumpets sound; the dead in Christ shall rise
first1900
,—the godly
persons who are alive shall be caught up in the clouds, receiving as
the reward of their labours more than human honour, inasmuch as theirs
was a more than human strife; according as the Apostle Paul writes,
saying, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord1901
.
20. This coming of the Lord, and the end of
the world, were known to the Preacher; who says, Rejoice, O young
man, in thy youth, and the rest1902
; Therefore
remove anger1903
| 1903 Ib.
v. 10: (R.V.) sorrow. Marg. Or, vexation, Or,
provocation. | from thy heart, and
put away evil from thy flesh;…and remember thy
Creator…or ever the evil days come1904
,.…or ever
the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be
darkened1905
,.…and they
that look out of the windows be darkened1906
;
(signifying the faculty of sight;) or ever the silver cord be
loosed; (meaning the assemblage of the stars, for their appearance
is like silver;) and the flower of gold be broken1907
; (thus veiling the mention of the golden
sun; for the camomile is a well-known plant, having many ray-like
leaves shooting out round it;) and they shall rise up at the voice
of the sparrow, yea, they shall look away from the height, and terrors
shall be in the way1908
| 1908 Eccles. xii. 5. Cyril means rightly that
the aged shrink from a giddy height, and from imaginary dangers of the
road. For the voice of the sparrow, see below, § 21,
note 4. | . What shall
they see? Then shall they see the Son of man coming on the
clouds of heaven; and they shall mourn tribe by tribe1909
. And what shall come to pass when the
Lord is come? The almond tree shall blossom, and the
grasshopper shall grow heavy, and the caper-berry shall be scattered
abroad1910
. And as the
interpreters say, the blossoming almond signifies the departure of
winter; and our bodies shall then after the winter blossom with a
heavenly flower1911
| 1911 “Dr.
Thomson (The Land and the Book, p. 319) says of the almond tree,
“It is the type of old age, whose hair is white”
(Speaker’s Commentary). | . And the
grasshopper shall grow in substance (that means the winged soul
clothing itself with the body1912
| 1912 The step, once
as active as a grasshopper, or locust, shall grow heavy and
slow. For other interpretations see Delitzsch. | ,) and the
caper-berry shall be scattered abroad (that is, the transgressors
who are like thorns shall be scattered1913
| 1913 The caper-berry
(κάππαρις)
shall fail, i.e. no longer stimulate appetite. But
διασχεδασθήσεται
(Sept. Cyril) means that the old man shall be like a caper-berry
which when fully ripe bursts it husks and scatters its seeds: so
R.V. (Margin); The caper-berry shall
burst. Greg. Thaumat. Metaphr. Eccles.
“The transgressors are cast out of the way, like a black and
despicable caper-plant.” | ).
21. Thou seest how they all foretell the
coming of the Lord. Thou seest how they know the voice of the
sparrow. Let us know what sort of voice this is. For
the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the Archangel, and with the trump of God1914
. The Archangel shall make proclamation
and say to all, Arise to meet the Lord1915
| 1915 Compare the
spurious Apocalypse of John: “And at the voice of
the bird every plant shall arise; that is, At the voice of the
Archangel all the human race shall arise” (English Trs.
Ante-Nic. Libr. p. 496). According to the Talmud the
meaning is, “Even a bird awakes him”
(Delitzsch). | . And fearful will be that descent of
our Master. David says, God shall manifestly come, even our
God, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall burn before Him, and a
fierce tempest round about Him, and the rest1916
. The Son of Man shall come to the
Father, according to the Scripture which was just now read, on the
clouds of heaven, drawn by a stream of fire1917
, which is to make trial of men. Then
if any man’s works are of gold, he shall be made brighter; if any
man’s course of life be like stubble, and unsubstantial, it shall
be burnt up by the fire1918
. And the
Father shall sit, having His garment white as snow, and the
hair of His head like pure wool1919
. But
this is spoken after the manner of men; wherefore? Because He is
the King of those who have not been defiled with sins;
for, He says, I will make your sins white as snow, and as
wool1920
, which is an emblem
of forgiveness of sins, or of sinlessness itself. But the Lord
who shall come from heaven on the clouds, is He who ascended on the
clouds; for He Himself hath said, And they shall see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory1921
.
22. But what is the sign of His coming? lest
a hostile power dare to counterfeit it. And then shall
appear, He says, the sign of the Son of Man in
heaven1922
. Now
Christ’s own true sign is the Cross; a sign of a luminous Cross
shall go before the King1923
| 1923 Cat. xiii. 4. In
the letter to Constantius, three or four years later than this Lecture,
Cyril treats the appearance at that time of a luminous Cross in the sky
as a fulfilment of Matt. xxiv.
30: but he there adds
(Ep. ad Constantium, § 6) that our Lord’s
prediction “was both fulfilled at that present time, and shall
again be fulfilled more largely.” On the opinion that
“the sign of the Son of Man in heaven” should be the Cross,
see Suicer, Thesaurus, Σταυρός.
It is not improbable that the earliest trace of this interpretation is
found in The Teaching of the Apostles, § 16:
“Then shall appear the signs of the Truth: the first the
sign of a (cross) spreading out (ἐκπετάσεως)
in heaven.” | , plainly declaring
Him who was formerly crucified: that the Jews who before
pierced Him and plotted against Him, when they see it, may
mourn tribe by tribe1924
, saying,
“This is He who was buffeted, this is He whose face they spat on,
this is He whom they bound with chains, this is He whom of old they
crucified, and set at nought1925
| 1925 Cf. Barnab.
Epist. c. vii.: “For they shall see Him in that day
wearing the long scarlet robes about His flesh, and shall say, Is not
this He, whom once we crucified, and set at nought, and spat upon
(al. and pierced, and mocked)?” | . Whither,
they will say, shall we flee from the face of Thy wrath?”
But the Angel hosts shall encompass them, so that they shall not be
able to flee anywhere. The sign of the Cross shall be a terror to
His foes; but joy to His friends who have believed in Him, or preached
Him, or suffered for His sake. Who then is the happy man, who
shall then be found a friend of Christ? That King, so great and
glorious, attended by the Angel-guards, the partner of the
Father’s throne, will not despise His own servants. For
that His Elect may not be confused with His foes, He shall send
forth His Angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together
His elect from the four winds1926
. He
despised not Lot, who was but one; how then shall He despise many
righteous? Come, ye blessed of My Father1927
, will He say to them who shall then ride on
chariots of clouds, and be assembled by Angels.
23. But some one present will say, “I
am a poor man,” or again, “I shall perhaps be found at that
time sick in bed;” or, “I am but a woman, and I shall be
taken at the mill: shall we then be despised?” Be of
good courage, O man; the Judge is no respecter of persons; He will
not judge according to a man’s appearance, nor reprove according
to his speech1928
| 1928 Is. xi. 3: (R.V.) He shall not
judge after the sight of his eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of his
ears. | . He honours
not the learned before the simple, nor the rich before the needy.
Though thou be in the field, the Angels shall take thee; think not that
He will take the landowners, and leave thee the husbandman.
Though thou be a slave, though thou be poor, be not any whit
distressed; He who took the form of a servant1929
despises not servants. Though thou be
lying sick in bed, yet it is written, Then shall two be in one bed;
the one shall be taken, and the other left1930
. Though thou be of compulsion put to
grind, whether thou be man or woman1931
; though thou
be in fetters1932
| 1932 The Jerusalem
ms. (A) alone has the true reading
πέδας,
which is confirmed by πεπεδημένους
in the quotation following, instead of παῖδας, which is quite
inappropriate, and evidently an itacism. | , and sit beside the
mill, yet He who by His might bringeth out them that are
bound1933
, will not overlook
thee. He who brought forth Joseph out of slavery and prison to a
kingdom, shall redeem thee also from thy afflictions into the kingdom
of heaven. Only be of good cheer, only work, only strive
earnestly; for nothing shall be lost. Every prayer of thine,
every Psalm thou singest is recorded; every alms-deed, every fast is
recorded; every marriage duly observed is recorded; continence1934
| 1934 ᾽Εγκράτεια.
“Id est viduitas” (Ben. Ed.). This special reference
of the word to widowhood is to some extent confirmed by 1 Cor. vii.
9: εἰ δὲ
οὐκ
ἐγκρατεύονται,
and is rendered highly probable by Cyril’s separate mention of
marriage and virginity. | kept for God’s sake is recorded; but
the first crowns in the records are those of virginity and purity; and
thou shalt shine as an Angel. But as thou hast gladly listened to
the good things, so listen again without shrinking to the
contrary. Every covetous deed of thine is recorded; thine every
act of fornication is recorded, thine every false oath is recorded,
every blasphemy, and sorcery, and theft, and murder. All these
things are henceforth to be recorded, if thou do the same now after
having been baptized; for thy former deeds are blotted out.
24. When the Son of Man, He says,
shall come in His glory, and all the Angels with Him1935
. Behold, O man, before what multitudes
thou shalt come to judgment. Every race of mankind will then be
present. Reckon, therefore, how many are the Roman nation; reckon
how many the barbarian tribes now living, and how many have died within
the last hundred years; reckon how many nations have been buried during
the last thousand years; reckon all from Adam to this day. Great
indeed is the multitude; but yet it is little, for the Angels are many
more. They are the ninety and nine sheep, but mankind is
the single one1936
. For
according to the extent of universal space, must we reckon the number
of its inhabitants. The whole earth is but as a point in the
midst of the one heaven, and yet contains so great a multitude; what a
multitude must the heaven which encircles it contain? And must
not the heaven of heavens contain unimaginable numbers1937
| 1937 There is much
variation in the reading and punctuation of this passage. I have
followed the text adopted by the Jerusalem Editor with Codd. A. Roe.
Casaub. and Grodecq, in preference to the Benedictine text, with which
the Editor himself is dissatisfied. | ? And it is written, Thousand
thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before Him1938
; not that the
multitude is only so great, but because the Prophet could not express
more than these. So there will be present at the judgment in that
day, God, the Father of all, Jesus Christ being seated with Him, and
the Holy Ghost present with Them; and an angel’s trumpet shall
summon us all to bring our deeds with us. Ought we not then from
this time forth to be sore troubled? Think it not a slight doom,
O man, even apart from punishment, to be condemned in the presence of
so many. Shall we not choose rather to die many deaths, than be
condemned by friends?
25. Let us dread then, brethren, lest God
condemn us; who needs not examination or proofs, to condemn. Say
not, In the night I committed fornication, or wrought sorcery, or did
any other thing, and there was no man by. Out of thine own
conscience shalt thou be judged, thy thoughts the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of
men1939
. The
terrible countenance of the Judge will force thee to speak the truth;
or rather, even though thou speak not, it will convict thee. For
thou shalt rise clothed with thine own sins, or else with thy righteous
deeds. And this has the Judge Himself declared—for it is
Christ who judges—for neither doth the Father judge any man,
but he hath given all judgment unto the Son1940
,
not divesting Himself of His power, but judging through the Son; the
Son therefore judgeth by the will1941
| 1941 νεύματι. Cat.
xi. 22. | of the Father;
for the wills of the Father and of the Son are not different, but one
and the same. What then says the Judge, as to whether thou shalt
bear thy works, or no? And before Him shall they gather all
nations1942
: (for in the
presence of Christ every knee must bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth1943
:) and He shall separate them one
from another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats. How does the shepherd make the separation? Does
he examine out of a book which is a sheep and which a goat? or does he
distinguish by their evident marks? Does not the wool show the
sheep, and the hairy and rough skin the goat? In like manner, if
thou hast been just now cleansed from thy sins, thy deeds shall be
henceforth as pure wool; and thy robe shall remain unstained, and thou
shalt ever say, I have put off my coat, how shall I put it
on1944
| 1944 Cant. V.
3. Compare Cat. iii. 7;
xx. (Mystag. ii.) 2. | ? By thy
vesture shalt thou be known for a sheep. But if thou be found
hairy, like Esau, who was rough with hair, and wicked in mind, who for
food lost his birthright and sold his privilege, thou shalt be one of
those on the left hand. But God forbid that any here present
should be cast out from grace, or for evil deeds be found among the
ranks of the sinners on the left hand!
26. Terrible in good truth is the judgment,
and terrible the things announced. The kingdom of heaven is set
before us, and everlasting fire is prepared. How then, some one
will say, are we to escape the fire? And how to enter into the
kingdom? I was an hungered, He says, and ye gave Me
meat. Learn hence the way; there is here no need of allegory,
but to fulfil what is said. I was an hungered, and ye gave Me
meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye
took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I
was in prison, and ye came unto Me1945
. These things if thou do, thou shalt
reign together with Him; but if thou do them not, thou shalt be
condemned. At once then begin to do these works, and abide in the
faith; lest, like the foolish virgins, tarrying to buy oil, thou be
shut out. Be not confident because thou merely possessest the
lamp, but constantly keep it burning. Let the light of thy good
works shine before men1946
, and let not Christ
be blasphemed on thy account. Wear thou a garment of
incorruption1947
| 1947 The prayer for
the Catechumens in the Apostolic Constitutions, viii. 6,
contains a petition that God would “vouchsafe to them the laver
of regeneration, and the garment of incorruption, which is the true
life.” | , resplendent in
good works; and whatever matter thou receivest from God to administer
as a steward, administer profitably. Hast thou been put in trust
with riches? Dispense them well. Hast thou been entrusted
with the word of teaching? Be a good steward thereof. Canst
thou attach the souls of the hearers1948
| 1948 προσθεῖναι.
Cf. Acts ii. 41: προσετέθησαν
. According to some mss. the sentence
would run thus: “Hast thou been entrusted with the word of
teaching? Be a good steward of thy hearers’ souls.
Hast thou power to rule (προστῆναι)?
Do this diligently.” | ? Do this
diligently. There are many doors of good
stewardship. Only let none of us be condemned and cast out; that
we may with boldness meet Christ the Everlasting King, who reigns for
ever. For He doth reign for ever, who shall be judge of quick and
dead, because for quick and dead He died. And as Paul says,
For to this end Christ both died and lived again, that He might be
Lord both of the dead and living1949
.
27. And shouldest thou ever hear any say
that the kingdom of Christ shall have an end, abhor the heresy; it is
another head of the dragon, lately sprung up in . A certain one
has dared to affirm, that after the end of the world Christ shall reign
no longer1950
| 1950 Marcellus, Bishop of
Ancyra, and his pupil Photinus, are anathematized in the Creed called
Μακρόστιχος
as holding that Christ first became “Son of God when He took our
flesh from the Virgin.…For they will have it that then Christ
began His Kingdom, and that it will have an end after the consummation
of all and the judgment. Such are the disciples of Marcellus and
Scotinus of Galatian Ancyra, &c.” See Newman on
Athanasius, de Synodis, § 26, (5), notes a and
b. Compare the description of Marcellus in the Letter of
the Oriental Bishops who had withdrawn from the Council of Sardica to
Philippopolis (a.d. 344). “There
has arisen in our days a certain Marcellus of Galatia, the most
execrable pest of all heretics, who with sacrilegious mind, and impious
mouth, and wicked argument seeks to set bounds to the perpetual,
eternal, and timeless kingdom of our Lord Christ, saying that He began
to reign four hundred years since, and shall end at the dissolution of
the present world” (Hilar. Pictav. Ex Opere Hist.
Fragm. iii.). | ; he has also dared
to say, that the Word having come forth from the Father shall be again
absorbed into the Father, and shall be no more1951
| 1951 “The
person meant by Cyril, though he withholds the name, is Marcellus of
Ancyra; who having written a book against the Arian Sophist Asterius to
explain the Apostle’s statement concerning the subjection of the
Son to the Father, was thought to be renewing the heresy of Paul of
Samosata. On this account he was reproved by the Bishops at the
Council of Jerusalem, a.d. 335, for holding
false opinions, and being ordered to recant his opinions promised to
burn his book. Afterwards he applied to Constantine, by whom he
was remitted to the Council of Constantinople, a.d. 336, and deposed by the Bishops. As however he
was acquitted by the Councils of Rome, a.d.
342, and of Sardica, a.d. 347, it became a
matter of dispute whether he was really heretical.…From the
fragments of his books transcribed by Eusebius, you may possibly acquit
him of the Sabellian heresy and the confusion of the Father and the
Son, but certainly not of the heresy concerning the end of
Christ’s kingdom, and the abandonment by the Word of the human
nature which He assumed for our sake; so express are his words recorded
by Eusebius in the beginning of the 2nd Book Contra
Marcellum, pp. 50, 51.” (Ben. Ed.) Cf.
Dict. Chr. Biogr. “Eusebius of Cæsarea,” p.
341; and note 3 on § 9 above. | ;
uttering such blasphemies to his own perdition. For he has not
listened to the Lord, saying, The Son abideth for ever1952
. He has not listened to Gabriel,
saying, And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His
kingdom there shall be no end1953
. Consider
this text. Heretics of this day teach in disparagement of Christ,
while Gabriel the Archangel taught the eternal abiding of the Saviour;
whom then wilt thou rather believe? wilt thou not rather give credence
to Gabriel? Listen to the testimony of Daniel in the
text1954
; I saw in a vision of the night, and behold,
one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the
Ancient of days.….And to Him was given the honour, and the
dominion, and the kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and languages
shall serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall
not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed1955
. These things rather hold fast, these
things believe, and cast away from thee the words of heresy; for thou
hast heard most plainly of the endless kingdom of Christ.
28. The like doctrine thou has also in the
interpretation of the Stone, which was cut out of a mountain without
hands, which is Christ according to the flesh1956
; And His kingdom shall not be left to
another people. David also says in one place, Thy throne,
O God, is for ever and ever1957
; and in
another place, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the
foundations of the earth, &c., they shall perish, but Thou
remainest, &c.; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not
fail1958
: words which
Paul has interpreted of the Son1959
.
29. And wouldest thou know how they who
teach the contrary ran into such madness? They read wrongly that
good word of the Apostle, For He must reign, till He hath put all
enemies under His feet1960
; and they say, when
His enemies shall have been put under His feet, He shall cease to
reign, wrongly and foolishly alleging this. For He who is king
before He has subdued His enemies, how shall He not the rather be king,
after He has gotten the mastery over them.
30. They have also dared to say that the
Scripture, When all things shall be subjected unto Him, then shall
the Son also Himself be subjected unto Him that subjected all things
unto Him1961
| 1961 1 Cor. xv. 28. Theodoret Comment. in
Epist. i. ad Cor. xv. 28: “This passage the followers
of Arius and Eunomius carry continually on their tongue, thinking in
this way to disparage the dignity of the
Only-begotten.” | ,—that this
Scripture shews that the Son also shall be absorbed into the
Father. Shall ye then, O most impious of all men, ye the
creatures of Christ, continue? and shall Christ perish, by whom both
you and all things were made? Such a word is blasphemous.
But further, how shall all things be made subject unto Him? By
perishing, or by abiding? Shall then the other things, when
subject to the Son abide, and shall the Son, when subject to the
Father, not abide? For He shall be subjected, not because He
shall then begin to do the Father’s will (for from eternity He
doth always those things that please Him1962
), but because,
then as before, He obeys the Father, yielding, not a forced obedience,
but a self-chosen accordance; for He is not a servant, that He should
be subjected by force, but a Son, that He should comply of His free
choice and natural love.
31. But
let us examine them; what is the meaning of “until” or
“as long as?” For with the very phrase will I close
with them, and try to overthrow their error. Since they have
dared to say that the words, till He hath put His enemies under His
feet, shew that He Himself shall have an end, and have presumed to
set bounds to the eternal kingdom of Christ, and to bring to an end, as
far as words go, His never-ending sovereignty, come then, let us read
the like expressions in the Apostle: Nevertheless, death
reigned from Adam till Moses1963
| 1963 Rom. v. 14. “ἄχρι from ἄκρος, as μέχρι from μῆκος,
μακρός” (L. and Sc.).
It is not always possible to mark this distinction in
translation: cf. Lobeck, Phrynichus, p. 14; Viger, De
Idiot. Gr. p. 419. | . Did men
then die up to that time, and did none die any more after Moses, or
after the Law has there been no more death among men? Well then,
thou seest that the word “unto” is not to limit time; but
that Paul rather signified this,—“And yet, though Moses was
a righteous and wonderful man, nevertheless the doom of death, which
was uttered against Adam, reached even unto him, and them that came
after him; and this, though they had not committed the like sins as
Adam, by his disobedience in eating of the tree.”
32. Take again another similar text.
For until this day…when Moses is read, a vail lieth upon their
heart1964
. Does
until this day mean only “until Paul?” Is it
not until this day present, and even to the end? And if
Paul say to the Corinthians, For we came even as far as unto you in
preaching the Gospel of Christ, having hope when your faith increases
to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you1965
, thou seest manifestly that as far as
implies not the end, but has something following it. In what
sense then shouldest thou remember that Scripture, till He hath
put all enemies under His feet1966
? According as
Paul says in another place, And exhort each other daily, while it is
called to-day1967
; meaning,
“continually.” For as we may not speak of the
“beginning of the days” of Christ, so neither suffer thou
that any should ever speak of the end of His kingdom. For it is
written, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom1968
.
33. And though I have many more testimonies
out of the divine Scriptures, concerning the kingdom of Christ which
has no end for ever, I will be content at present with those above
mentioned, because the day is far spent. But thou, O hearer,
worship only Him as thy King, and flee all heretical error. And
if the grace of God permit us, the remaining Articles also of the Faith
shall be in good time declared to you. And may the God of the
whole world keep you all in safety, bearing in mind the signs of the
end, and remaining unsubdued by Antichrist. Thou hast received
the tokens of the Deceiver who is to come; thou hast received the
proofs of the true Christ, who shall openly come down from
heaven. Flee therefore the one, the False one; and look for the
other, the True. Thou hast learnt the way, how in the judgment
thou mayest be found among those on the right hand; guard that which
is committed to thee1969
concerning Christ,
and be conspicuous in good works, that thou mayest stand with a good
confidence before the Judge, and inherit the kingdom of
heaven:—Through whom, and with whom, be glory to God with the
Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
