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Oration
XLI.
On Pentecost.
It is uncertain to
what year the following Oration belongs. It was, however,
certainly delivered at Constantinople; the Benedictine Editors think in
the year 381, in which case the day would be May 16. An
indication tending to establish this date is found in c. 14, in the
expression of apprehension of personal danger to himself for his
boldness in setting forth the true faith. In fact, in the earlier
part of this year, after the Emperor Theodosius had put him in
possession of the Patriarchal Throne, vacant by the expulsion and
deposition of the Arian Demophilus, he had narrowly escaped
assassination at the hands of the Arians.
The Oration deals again with the subject of the Fifth
Theological Oration, the question of the Deity of the Holy Ghost, but
proceeds to establish the point by quite a different set of arguments
from those adopted in the former discourse, none of whose points are
here repeated.
The Preacher begins by commenting on the various ways in
which Festivals are kept by Jews, by Heathen and by Christians.
Then he remarked on the mystical significance of the number Seven,
which he illustrates by several instances; and next proceeds with his
principal Subject.
God the Holy Ghost, he says, completes the work of
Christ. Those who regard Him as a Created Being, as did the
followers of Macedonius, are thereby guilty of blasphemy and
impiety. The true Faith recognizes Him as God; and this belief is
necessary to salvation; yet some reserve must be employed in applying
that Name to Him. We must indeed insist on the recognition of His
possession of all the attributes of Godhead; and we must at any rate
bear with those who, like the Orator himself, also give Him the Name of
God, which he hopes all his hearers will receive from the Holy Ghost
grace to do. Then he proceeds to shew from Holy Scripture that in
fact all the Attributes of Deity do belong to the Holy Spirit; and that
His distinctive Personal Mark is that He is neither Unbegotten like the
Father, nor Begotten like the Son. He does not touch on the
question of the double Procession.
It would seem from some expressions in c. 8 that this
Discourse was not delivered to his usual audience, but to an Assembly
of “Religious.”
The Title of the Oration varies in different
mss. Thus some have it “Of The
Same On Pentecost,” to which one adds “And On The Holy
Spirit;” and another puts it “Of The Same, a Homily on
Pentecost.” The printed Editions before the Benedictine
have “On The Holy Pentecost.”
I. Let us reason a
little about the Festival, that we may keep it spiritually. For
different persons have different ways of keeping Festival; but to the
worshipper of the Word a discourse seems best; and of discourses, that
which is best adapted to the occasion. And of all beautiful
things none gives so much joy to the lover of the beautiful, as that
the lover of festivals should keep them spiritually. Let us look
into the matter thus. The Jew keeps festival as well as we, but
only in the letter. For while following after the bodily Law, he
has not attained to the spiritual Law. The Greek too keeps
festival, but only in the body, and in honour of his own gods and
demons, some of whom are creators of passion by their own admission,
and others were honoured out of passion. Therefore even their
manner of keeping festival is passionate, as though their very sin were
an honour to God, in Whom their passion takes refuge as a thing to be
proud of.4205
| 4205 They deify bad
passions, and then act as if the gratification of them were an honour
to the gods in whom they have personified them. | We too keep
festival, but we keep it as is pleasing to the Spirit. And it is
pleasing to Him that we should keep it by discharging some duty, either
of action or speech. This then is our manner of keeping festival,
to treasure up in our soul some of those things which are permanent and
will cleave to it, not of those which will forsake us and be destroyed,
and which only tickle our senses for a little while; whereas they are
for the most part, in my judgment at least, harmful and ruinous.
For sufficient unto the body is the evil thereof. What need has
that fire of further fuel, or that beast of more plentiful food, to
make it more uncontrollable, and too violent for reason?
II. Wherefore we must keep the feast
spiritually. And this is the beginning of our discourse; for we
must speak, even if our speech do seem a little too discursive; and we
must be diligent for the sake of those who love learning, that we may as it were mix up
some seasoning with our solemn festival. The children of the
Hebrews do honour to the number Seven, according to the legislation of
Moses (as did the Pythagoreans in later days to the number Four, by
which indeed they were in the habit of swearing4206
| 4206 The followers of
Pythagoras swore by their master, who taught them the mystic properties
of the number Four, which he called the Fountain of the Universe,
because all things were made of four elements. | as
the Simonians and Marcionites4207
| 4207 The Simonians and Marcionites were two
Gnostic sects, the one deriving its name from Simon Magus, the other
from Marcion of Sinope. Simon, of whom we read in the Acts c. viii., is generally regarded by the
Fathers as the precursor of the
Gnostic Heresies. He maintained a system of Emanations from God,
of which he claimed to be himself the chief. In his teaching the
first cause of all things was an Ineffable Existence or Non-existence,
which he sometimes called Silence and sometimes Fire, from which the
Universe was generated by a series of six Emanations called Roots,
which he arranged in pairs, male and female; and these six contained
among them the whole Essence of his first Principle Silence.
These Roots with Simon himself and his consort Helena, make up the
Ogdoad referred to in the text.
Marcion was a native of Sinope in Pontus,
and flourished about the middle of the Second Century. His system
of teaching was mainly rationalistic, and did not recognize (Dr. Mansel
tells us, “Gnostic Heresies,” p. 203) any theory of
Emanations as connecting links between God and the world; for from his
point of view the Supreme God was not, even indirectly, the Author of
the world. It would seem that S. Gregory is confusing Marcion
with Valentinus, and Egyptian heresiarch who flourished about the same
time. In his theory we first find a system of
“Æons,” divided into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a
Dodecad. Or he may mean Marcus, a follower of Valentinus, and
founder of the subordinate sect of the Marcosians. | do by the number
Eight and the number Thirty, inasmuch as they have given names to and
reverence a system of Æons of these numbers); I cannot say by what
rules of analogy, or in consequence of what power of this number;
anyhow they do honour to it. One thing indeed is evident, that
God, having in six days created matter, and given it form, and having
arranged it in all kinds of shapes and mixtures, and having made this
present visible world, on the seventh day rested from all His works, as
is shewn by the very name of the Sabbath, which in Hebrew means
Rest. If there be, however, any more lofty reason than this, let
others discuss it. But this honour which they pay to it is not
confined to days alone, but also extends to years. That belonging
to days the Sabbath proves, because it is continually observed among
them; and in accordance with this the removal of leaven is for that
number of days.4208
And that
belonging to years is shewn by the seventh year, the year of
Release;4209
and it consists not
only of Hebdomads, but of Hebdomads of Hebdomads, alike in days and
years. The Hebdomads of days give birth to Pentecost, a day
called holy among them; and those of years to what they call the
Jubilee, which also has a release of land, and a manumission of slaves,
and a release of possessions bought. For this nation consecrates
to God, not only the firstfruits of offspring, or of firstborn, but
also those of days and years. Thus the veneration paid to the
number Seven gave rise also to the veneration of Pentecost. For
seven being multiplied by seven generates fifty all but one day, which
we borrow from the world to come, at once the Eighth and the first, or
rather one and indestructible. For the present sabbatism of our
souls can find its cessation there, that a portion may be given to
seven and also to eight4210
| 4210 Eccles. xi. 2. S. Gregory himself (Or. xviii.
“in laudem Patris,” c. 20) comments upon this passage as
enjoining liberal almsgiving. S. Ambrose (in Luc. vi.) has a
mystical interpretation somewhat resembling that here referred
to: but I cannot find a predecessor of Gregory on the
verse. Some later commentators, according to Cornelius and
Lapide, take the Seven of the poor in this life, and the Eight of the
souls in Purgatory, following a common interpretation of these
numbers. | (so some of our
predecessors have interpreted this passage of Solomon).
III. As to the honour paid to Seven there
are many testimonies, but we will be content with a few out of the
many. For instance, seven precious spirits are named; for I think
Isaiah4211
loves to call the
activities of the Spirit spirits; and the Oracles of the Lord are
purified seven times according to David,4212
and the just is delivered from six troubles and in the seventh is not
smitten.4213
But the
sinner is pardoned not seven times, but seventy times seven.4214
And we may see it by the contrary also
(for the punishment of wickedness is to be praised), Cain being avenged
seven times, that is, punishment being exacted from him for his
fratricide, and Lamech seventy times seven,4215
because he was a murderer after the law and the condemnation.4216
| 4216 It will be worth
while, says Nicetas, to add S. John Chrysostom’s account of the
sevenfold punishment which was inflicted on Cain. The number
Seven he says (Hom. in Gen. xix. 5, p. 168 c.) is often used in Holy
Scripture in the sense of multitude, as e.g., in such places, as,
“The barren hath borne seven,” and the like. So here;
the greatness of the crime is implied, and that it is not a simple and
single crime, but seven sins; and those of such a sort that every one
of them must be avenged by a very severe punishment. First, that
he envied his brother when he saw that God loved him, a sin which
without any other added to it was sufficient to be deadly. The
next was that this sin was against a brother. The third that he
compassed a deceit. The fourth that he perpetrated a
murder. The fifth that it was his brother that he slew. The
sixth that he was the first man to commit a murder. The seventh
that he lied to God. You have followed these steps with your
mind, or do you desire that I should repeat the enumeration in a fuller
way, to make you understand how each of these sins would be visited
with a very severe penalty, even if it stood alone. Who would
judge a man worthy of pardon who envies another simply because he
enjoys the favour and love of God? Here then is one very great
and inexpiable sin. And this is shewn to be even more atrocious
when he who is envied is a brother, and has done him no wrong.
Further, he contrived a deceit, bringing his brother out by a trick
into the field, without reverence for nature herself. The fourth
crime is the murder which he committed. The fifth is that it was
his brother whom he put to death; his brother, I say, that came out of
the same womb. Sixthly, he was the first inventor of
murder. Seventhly, when questioned by God he did not hesitate to
lie. And therefore because he dared to lay hands on his brother,
he draws upon himself severe punishments. He then proceeds to
shew how Lamech’s crime was worse than Cain’s, and is
therefore said to be punished seventy times; that is, in manifold
ways. Lamech slew a man and a young man, and this, after the law
against murder had been given; that is, after God had punished
Cain. Cain’s punishment he says was sevenfold,
corresponding to his seven sins:—1. Cursed is the ground for thy
sake. 2. Thou shalt till the ground; i.e., thou shalt never rest
from the toils of husbandry. 3. It shall not yield unto thee its
strength; 4. thy labours shall be barren, and 5. “sighing and
trembling” shalt thou be. And the sixth is from the lips of
Cain himself:—“If Thou castest me out from the
earth,” i.e., from all earthly conveniences, “from Thy face
shall I be hid.” And God put a mark upon Cain; this is the
seventh punishment—a mark of infamy declaring his guilt and shame
to all that should see him. Others according to the same
authority (and Bishop Wordsworth adopts the explanation) explains it
thus. From Cain to the Deluge are seven generations, and then the
world was punished because sin had spread far and wide. But
Lamech’s sin could not be cured by the Deluge, but only by Him
Who taketh away the sin of the world. Then count all the
generations from Adam to Christ, and according to the Genealogy in
Luke, you will find that our Lord was born in the seventieth
generation. This is S. Jerome’s explanation. | And wicked neighbours
receive sevenfold into their
bosom;4217
and the House of
Wisdom rests on seven pillars4218
and the Stone of
Zerubbabel is adorned with seven eyes;4219
and God is praised seven times a day.4220
And again the barren beareth
seven,4221
the perfect number,
she who is contrasted with her who is imperfect in her
children.4222
| 4222 Peninnah who had
“many” children is called Imperfect in her children,
because Many is an indefinite word; where Hannah’s one child
Samuel was so perfect a man that he was as it were seven to his
mother. For Seven is mystically, as Six or Ten is arithmetically,
the perfect number. (Six because it is the sum of its own
factors, 1, 2, 3; Ten, because it is the basis of numeration; Seven
because it is the number of Creation; for God rested on the Sabbath
Day.). |
IV. And if we must also look at ancient
history, I perceive that Enoch,4223
the seventh
among our ancestors, was honoured by translation. I perceive also
that the twenty-first, Abraham,4224
was given the
glory of the Patriarchate, by the addition of a greater mystery.
For the Hebdomad thrice repeated brings out this number. And one
who is very bold might venture even to come to the New Adam, my God and
Lord Jesus Christ, Who is counted the Seventy-seventh from the old Adam
who fell under sin, in the backward genealogy according to
Luke.4225
And I think of the seven trumpets of
Jesus, the son of Nave, and the same number of circuits and days and
priests, by which the walls of Jericho were shaken down.4226
And so too the seven compassings of
the City; in the same way as there is a mystery in the threefold
breathings of Elias, the Prophet, by which he breathed life into the
son of the Sareptan widow,4227
and the same number
of his floodings of the wood,4228
when he consumed
the sacrifice with fire sent from God, and condemned the prophets of
shame who could not do the like at his challenge. And the
sevenfold looking for the cloud imposed upon the young servant; and
Elissæus stretching himself that number of times upon the child of
the Shunammite, by which stretching the breath of life was
restored.4229
| 4229 2 Kings iv. 25, where the LXX. has “he contracted himself upon the child until
seven times, and the child opened his eyes;” saying nothing about
the sneezing of the child, which the Hebrew and Vulgate mention, while
they omit the number in the case of Elisha’s similar
action. S. Bernard has a curious explanation of the seven sneezes
of the child (in Cant. xvi). | To the same
doctrine belongs, I think (if I may omit the seven-stemmed and
seven-lamped candlestick of the Temple4230
)
that the ceremony of the Priests’ consecration lasted seven
days;4231
and seven that of the purifying of a
leper,4232
and that of the
Dedication of the Temple4233
the same number,
and that in the seventieth year the people returned from the
Captivity;4234
that whatever is in
Units may appear also in Decads, and the mystery of the Hebdomad be
reverenced in a more perfect number. But why do I speak of the
distant past? Jesus Himself who is pure perfection, could in the
desert and with five loaves feed five thousand, and again with seven
loaves four thousand. And the leavings after they were satisfied
were in the first case twelve baskets full, and in the other seven
baskets;4235
| 4235 Different words are
used here as in the New Testament for Baskets. The second implies
a larger size; it is the word used for the “basket” in
which St. Paul was let down from the wall of Damascus, Acts ix. 25. | neither, I imagine,
without a reason or unworthy of the Spirit. And if you read for
yourself you may take note of many numbers which contain a meaning
deeper than appears on the surface. But to come to an instance
which is most useful to us on the present occasion, not that for these
reasons or others very similar or yet more divine, the Hebrews honour
the Day of Pentecost, and we also honour it; just as there are other
rites of the Hebrews which we observe…they were typically
observed by them, and by us they are sacramentally reinstated.
And now having said so much by way of preface about the Day, let us
proceed to what we have to say further.
V. We are keeping the feast of Pentecost and
of the Coming of the Spirit, and the appointed time of the Promise, and
the fulfilment of our hope. And how great, how august, is the
Mystery. The dispensations of the Body of Christ are ended; or
rather, what belongs to His Bodily Advent (for I hesitate to say the
Dispensation of His Body, as long as no discourse persuades me that it
is better to have put off the body4236
| 4236 S. Gregory makes this
explanation because there were certain heretics who taught that our
Lord at His Ascension laid aside His Humanity. It is said that
this was held by certain Manichæans, who based their idea on
Ps. xix. 4, where the LXX. and Vulgate read, “He hath set His Tabernacle
in the Sun.” | ), and that of
the Spirit is beginning. And what were the things pertaining to
the Christ? The Virgin, the Birth, the Manger, the Swaddling, the
Angels glorifying Him, the Shepherds running to Him, the course of the
Star, the Magi worshipping Him and bringing Gifts, Herod’s
murder of the children, the
Flight of Jesus into Egypt, the Return from Egypt, the Circumcision,
the Baptism, the Witness from Heaven, the Temptation, the Stoning for
our sake (because He had to be given as an Example to us of enduring
affliction for the Word), the Betrayal, the Nailing, the Burial, the
Resurrection, the Ascension; and of these even now He suffers many
dishonours at the hands of the enemies of Christ; and He bears them,
for He is longsuffering. But from those who love Him He receives
all that is honourable. And He defers, as in the former case His
wrath, so in ours His kindness; in their case perhaps to give them the
grace of repentance, and in ours to test our love; whether we do not
faint in our tribulations4237
and conflicts for
the true Religion, as was from of old the order of His Divine Economy,
and of his unsearchable judgments, with which He orders wisely all that
concerns us. Such are the mysteries of Christ. And what
follows we shall see to be more glorious; and may we too be seen.
As to the things of the Spirit, may the Spirit be with me, and grant me
speech as much as I desire; or if not that, yet as is in due proportion
to the season. Anyhow He will be with me as my Lord; not in
servile guise, nor awaiting a command, as some think.4238
| 4238 The reference is to
the Macedonians or Pneumatomachi, followers of Macedonius, Patriarch of
Constantinople, who had passed from extreme or Anomœan Arianism to
Semi-Arianism, and was forcibly intruded on the See by order of
Constantius in 343, but was afterwards deposed. After his
deposition he broached the heresy known by his name, denying the Deity
of the Holy Ghost; some of its adherents, with Macedonius himself,
maintaining Him to be a mere creature; others stopping short of this;
and others calling Him a creature and servant of the Son. The
heresy was formally condemned in the Ecumenical Council of
Constantinople in 381. | For He bloweth where He wills and on
whom He wills, and to what extent He wills.4239
Thus we are inspired both to think and
to speak of the Spirit.
VI. They who reduce the Holy Spirit to the
rank of a creature are blasphemers and wicked servants, and worst of
the wicked. For it is the part of wicked servants to despise
Lordship, and to rebel against dominion, and to make That which is free
their fellow-servant. But they who deem Him God are inspired by
God4240
| 4240 S. Gregory here
commends the practice of reserve in respect of the Deity of the Holy
Ghost. To believe it is necessary to salvation, he would
say; but in view of the prevailing ignorance it is well to be careful
before whom we give Him the Name of God. But he demands that his
hearers should give to the Holy Ghost all the Attributes of Godhead,
and should bear with those who, like himself, gave Him also the Name,
as he prays that they all may have grace to do
(Bénoît). | and are illustrious in their mind; and they
who go further and call Him so, if to well disposed hearers are
exalted; if to the low, are not reserved enough, for they commit pearls
to clay, and the noise of thunder to weak ears, and the sun to feeble
eyes, and solid food to those who are still using milk;4241
whereas they ought to lead them little by
little up to what lies beyond them, and to bring them up to the higher
truth; adding light to light, and supplying truth upon truth.
Therefore we will leave the more mature discourse, for which the time
has not yet come, and will speak with them as follows.
VII. If, my friends, you will not
acknowledge the Holy Spirit to be uncreated, nor yet eternal; clearly
such a state of mind is due to the contrary spirit—forgive me, if
in my zeal I speak somewhat over boldly. If, however, you are
sound enough to escape this evident impiety, and to place outside of
slavery Him Who gives freedom to yourselves, then see for yourselves
with the help of the Holy Ghost and of us what follows. For I am
persuaded that you are to some extent partakers of Him, so that I will
go into the question with you as kindred souls. Either shew me
some mean between lordship and servitude, that I may there place the
rank of the Spirit; or, if you shrink from imputing servitude to Him,
there is no doubt of the rank in which you must place the object of
your search. But you are dissatisfied with the syllables, and you
stumble at the word, and it is to you a stone of stumbling and a rock
of offence;4242
| 4242 Isa. viii. 14; Rom. ix. 33; 1 Pet. ii.
8. | for so is Christ to
some minds. It is only human after all. Let us meet one
another in a spiritual manner; let us be full rather of brotherly than
of self love. Grant us the Power of the Godhead, and we will give
up to you the use of the Name. Confess the Nature in other words
for which you have greater reverence, and we will heal you as infirm
people, filching from you some matters in which you delight. For
it is shameful, yes, shameful and utterly illogical, when you are sound
in soul, to draw petty distinctions about the sound, and to hide the
Treasure, as if you envied it to others, or were afraid lest you should
sanctify your own tongue too. But it is even more shameful for us
to be in the state of which we accuse you, and, while condemning your
petty distinctions of words to make petty distinctions of
letters.
VIII. Confess, my friends, the Trinity to be
of One Godhead; or if you will, of One Nature; and we will pray the
Spirit to give you this word God. He will give it to you, I well
know, inasmuch as He has already granted you the first portion and the
second;4243
| 4243 i.e., inasmuch as He
has granted you a right faith in the Consubstantiality and Unity of the
Trinity, I am sure He will in time grant you the grace also to call Him
by the Name of God. | and
especially if that
about which we are contending is some spiritual cowardice, and not the
devil’s objection. Yet more clearly and concisely, let me
say, do not you call us to account for our loftier word (for envy has
nothing to do with this ascent), and we will not find fault with what
you have been able to attain, until by another road you are brought up
to the same resting place. For we are not seeking victory, but to
gain brethren, by whose separation from us we are torn. This we
concede to you in whom we do find something of vital truth, who are
sound as to the Son. We admire your life, but we do not
altogether approve your doctrine. Ye who have the things of the
Spirit, receive Himself in addition, that ye may not only strive, but
strive lawfully,4244
which is the
condition of your crown. May this reward of your conversation be
granted you, that you may confess the Spirit perfectly and proclaim
with us, aye and before us, all that is His due. Yes, and I will
venture even more on your behalf; I will even utter the Apostle’s
wish. So much do I cling to you, and so much do I revere your
array, and the colour of your continence, and those sacred assemblies,
and the august Virginity, and purification, and the Psalmody that lasts
all night4245
| 4245 The Constantinopolitan
followers of Macedonius at the period were noted for their strict
asceticism. The attempt to revive the Night Office among the
secular Clergy of the Diocese brought great odium on S. John Chrysostom
a few years later. | and your love of
the poor, and of the brethren, and of strangers, that I could consent
to be Anathema from Christ, and even to suffer something as one
condemned, if only you might stand beside us, and we might glorify the
Trinity together. For of the others why should I speak, seeing
they are clearly dead (and it is the part of Christ alone to raise
them, Who quickeneth the dead by His own Power), and are unhappily
separated in place as they are bound together by their doctrine; and
who quarrel among themselves as much as a pair of squinting eyes in
looking at the same object, and differ with one another, not in sight
but in position—if indeed we may charge them only with squinting,
and not with utter blindness. And now that I have to some extent
laid down your position, come, let us return again to the subject of
the Spirit, and I think you will follow me now.
IX. The Holy Ghost, then, always existed,
and exists, and always will exist. He neither had a beginning,
nor will He have an end; but He was everlastingly ranged with and
numbered with the Father and the Son. For it was not ever fitting
that either the Son should be wanting to the Father, or the Spirit to
the Son. For then Deity would be shorn of Its Glory in its
greatest respect, for It would seem to have arrived at the consummation
of perfection as if by an afterthought. Therefore He was ever
being partaken, but not partaking; perfecting, not being perfected;
sanctifying, not being sanctified; deifying, not being deified; Himself
ever the same with Himself, and with Those with Whom He is ranged;
invisible, eternal, incomprehensible, unchangeable, without quality,
without quantity, without form, impalpable, self-moving, eternally
moving, with free-will, self-powerful, All-powerful (even though all
that is of the Spirit is referable to the First Cause, just as is all
that is of the Only-begotten); Life and Lifegiver; Light and
Lightgiver; absolute Good, and Spring of Goodness; the Right, the
Princely Spirit; the Lord, the Sender, the Separator; Builder of His
own Temple; leading, working as He wills; distributing His own Gifts;
the Spirit of Adoption, of Truth, of Wisdom, of Understanding, of
Knowledge, of Godliness, of Counsel, of Fear (which are ascribed to
Him4246
) by Whom the Father is known and the Son is
glorified; and by Whom alone He is known; one class, one
service, worship, power, perfection, sanctification. Why make a
long discourse of it? All that the Father hath the Son hath also,
except the being Unbegotten; and all that the Son hath the Spirit hath
also, except the Generation. And these two matters do not divide
the Substance, as I understand it, but rather are divisions within the
Substance.4247
| 4247 Bible:Ps.42 Bible:Isa.11.1-Isa.11.3 Bible:Isa.48.16 Bible:Mal.3.6 Bible:Wis.1.2 Bible:John.1.14 Bible:John.3.24 Bible:John.15.26 Bible:John.16.14-John.16.15 Bible:Acts.13.2 Bible:Rom.4.17 Bible:Rom.15.16 Bible:Rom.19 Bible:1Cor.2.10 Bible:1Cor.6.19 Bible:1Cor.8.2 Bible:2Cor.3.1 Bible:2Cor.6 Bible:2Cor.13.4 Bible:2Thess.3.5 Bible:1Tim.6.10 Bible:Heb.9.14">Job xxxviii. 4, Ps. v. 10,
xxxvi., cxxxix. 7–15, cxlii., Isa. xi. 1–3, xlviii. 16,
Mal. iii. 6, Wisd. i. 2, John i. 14, iii. 24, xv. 26, xvi. 14, 15, Acts
xiii. 2, Rom. iv. 17, xv. 16, 19, 1 Cor. ii. 10, vi. 19, viii. 2, 2
Cor. iii. 1, 6, xiii. 4, 2 Thess. iii. 5, 1 Tim. vi. 10, Heb. ix.
14. |
X. Are you labouring to bring forth
objections? Well, so am I to get on with my discourse.
Honour the Day of the Spirit; restrain your tongue if you can a
little. It is the time to speak of other tongues—reverence
them or fear them, when you see that they are of fire. To-day let
us teach dogmatically; to-morrow we may discuss. To-day let us
keep the feast; to-morrow will be time enough to behave ourselves
unseemly—the first mystically, the second theatrically; the one
in the Churches, the other in the marketplace; the one among the sober,
the other among the drunken; the one as befits those who vehemently
desire, the other, as among those who make a joke of the Spirit. Having then
put an end to the element that is foreign to us, let us now thoroughly
furnish our own friends.
XI. He wrought first in the heavenly and
angelic powers, and such as are first after God and around God.
For from no other source flows their perfection and their brightness,
and the difficulty or impossibility of moving them to sin, but from the
Holy Ghost. And next, in the Patriarchs and Prophets, of whom the
former saw Visions of God, or knew Him, and the latter also foreknew
the future, having their master part moulded by the Spirit, and being
associated with events that were yet future as if present, for such is
the power of the Spirit. And next in the Disciples of Christ (for
I omit to mention Christ Himself, in Whom He dwelt, not as energizing,
but as accompanying His Equal), and that in three ways, as they were
able to receive Him, and on three occasions; before Christ was
glorified by the Passion, and after He was glorified by the
Resurrection; and after His Ascension, or Restoration, or whatever we
ought to call it, to Heaven. Now the first of these manifests
Him—the healing of the sick and casting out of evil spirits,
which could not be apart from the Spirit; and so does that breathing
upon them after the Resurrection, which was clearly a divine
inspiration; and so too the present distribution of the fiery tongues,
which we are now commemorating. But the first manifested Him
indistinctly, the second more expressly, this present one more
perfectly, since He is no longer present only in energy, but as we may
say, substantially, associating with us, and dwelling in us. For
it was fitting that as the Son had lived with us in bodily
form—so the Spirit too should appear in bodily form; and that
after Christ had returned to His own place, He should have come down to
us—Coming because He is the Lord; Sent, because He
is not a rival God. For such words no less manifest the Unanimity
than they mark the separate Individuality.
XII. And therefore He came after Christ,
that a Comforter should not be lacking unto us; but Another
Comforter, that you might acknowledge His co-equality. For this
word Another marks an Alter Ego, a name of equal Lordship, not of
inequality. For Another is not said, I know, of different kinds,
but of things consubstantial. And He came in the form of Tongues
because of His close relation to the Word. And they were of Fire,
perhaps because of His purifying Power (for our Scripture knows of a
purifying fire, as any one who wishes can find out), or else because of
His Substance. For our God is a consuming Fire, and a
Fire4248
burning up the ungodly;4249
though you may again pick a quarrel over
these words, being brought into difficulty by the
Consubstantiality. And the tongues were cloven, because of the
diversity of Gifts; and they sat to signify His Royalty and Rest among
the Saints, and because the Cherubim are the Throne of God. And
it took place in an Upper Chamber (I hope I am not seeming to any one
over tedious), because those who should receive it were to ascend and
be raised above the earth; for also certain upper chambers4250
are covered with Divine Waters,4251
by which the praise of God are sung.
And Jesus Himself in an Upper Chamber gave the Communion of the
Sacrament to those who were being initiated into the higher Mysteries,
that thereby might be shewn on the one hand that God must come down to
us, as I know He did of old to Moses; and on the other that we must go
up to Him, and that so there should come to pass a Communion of God
with men, by a coalescing of the dignity. For as long as either
remains on its own footing, the One in His Glory4252
| 4252 ἐπὶ
περιοπῆς; Billius
renders “In specula sua,” “On His watch
tower,” and the meaning is admissible, but the context seems
rather to point to the passive sense of Majesty or Glory. The
word is not in the Lexicon, and Suicer does not notice it; but the
corresponding adjective has only the passive sense.
Specula, however, is used in the sense of Eminence, but apparently only
geographically. | the other in his lowliness, so long the
Goodness of God cannot mingle with us, and His lovingkindness is
incommunicable, and there is a great gulf between, which cannot be
crossed; and which separates not only the Rich Man from Lazarus and
Abraham’s Bosom which he longs for, but also the created and
changing natures from that which is eternal and immutable.
XIII. This was proclaimed by the Prophets in
such passages as the following:—The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me;4253
and, There shall rest upon Him Seven
Spirits; and The Spirit of the Lord descended and led them;4254
and The spirit of Knowledge filling
Bezaleel,4255
the Master-builder
of the Tabernacle; and, The Spirit provoking to anger;4256
and the Spirit carrying away Elias in a
chariot,4257
and sought in
double measure by Elissæus; and David led and strengthened by the
Good and Princely Spirit.4258
And He was
promised by the mouth of Joel first, who said, And it shall be in the
last days that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh (that is,
upon all that believe), and upon your sons and upon your
daughters,4259
and
the rest; and then afterwards
by Jesus, being glorified by Him, and giving back glory to Him, as He
was glorified by and glorified the Father.4260
And how abundant was this
Promise. He shall abide for ever, and shall remain with you,
whether now with those who in the sphere of time are worthy, or
hereafter with those who are counted worthy of that world, when we have
kept Him altogether by our life here, and not rejected Him in so far as
we sin.
XIV. This Spirit shares with the Son in
working both the Creation and the Resurrection, as you may be shewn by
this Scripture; By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all
the power of them by the breath of His Mouth;4261
and this, The Spirit of God that made me, and the Breath of the
Almighty that teacheth me;4262
and again, Thou
shalt send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and Thou shalt
renew the face of the earth.4263
And He is the
Author of spiritual regeneration. Here is your proof:—None
can see or enter into the Kingdom, except he be born again of the
Spirit,4264
and be cleansed
from the first birth, which is a mystery of the night, by a remoulding
of the day and of the Light, by which every one singly is created
anew. This Spirit, for He is most wise and most loving,4265
if He takes possession of a shepherd makes
him a Psalmist, subduing evil spirits by his song,4266
and proclaims him King; if he possess a
goatherd and scraper4267
| 4267 The Hebrew word
means “a cultivator of sycamores.” The LXX. rendering is due to the process of maturing the
fruit, which grows on the stem of the trunk, and is made to mature by
puncturing it with an iron instrument, when after three days the fruit
is fit to eat. The Hebrew word occurs only this once in the
Bible; Aquila renders it by “Looking for;” Symmachus by
“propping with stakes.” | of sycamore
fruit,4268
He makes him a
Prophet. Call to mind David and Amos. If He possess a
goodly youth, He makes him a Judge of Elders,4269
even beyond his years, as Daniel testifies, who conquered the lions in
their den.4270
If He takes
possession of Fishermen, He makes them catch the whole world in the
nets of Christ, taking them up in the meshes of the Word. Look at
Peter and Andrew and the Sons of Thunder, thundering the things of the
Spirit. If of Publicans, He makes gain of them for discipleship,
and makes them merchants of souls; witness Matthew, yesterday a
Publican, today an Evangelist. If of zealous persecutors, He
changes the current of their zeal, and makes them Pauls instead of
Sauls, and as full of piety as He found them of wickedness. And
He is the Spirit of Meekness, and yet is provoked by those who
sin. Let us therefore make proof of Him as gentle, not as
wrathful, by confessing His Dignity; and let us not desire to see Him
implacably wrathful. He too it is who has made me today a bold
herald to you;—if without rest to myself, God be thanked; but if
with risk, thanks to Him nevertheless; in the one case, that He may
spare those that hate us; in the other, that He may consecrate us, in
receiving this reward of our preaching of the Gospel, to be made
perfect by blood.
XV. They spoke with strange tongues, and not
those of their native land; and the wonder was great, a language spoken
by those who had not learnt it. And the sign is to them that
believe not,4271
and not to them
that believe, that it may be an accusation of the unbelievers, as it is
written, With other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this
people, and not even so will they listen to Me4272
saith the Lord. But they heard. Here stop a little and
raise a question, how you are to divide the words. For the
expression has an ambiguity, which is to be determined by the
punctuation. Did they each hear in their own dialect4273
| 4273 The actual order of
the words in the Greek of Acts
ii. 6 is, They heard each
individual in his own dialect them speaking; so that the position of
the comma affects the meaning. | so that if I may so say, one sound was
uttered, but many were heard; the air being thus beaten and, so to
speak, sounds being produced more clear than the original sound; or are
we to put the stop after “they Heard,” and then to add
“them speaking in their own languages” to what follows, so
that it would be speaking in languages their own to the hearers, which
would be foreign to the speakers? I prefer to put it this latter
way; for on the other plan the miracle would be rather of the hearers
than of the speakers; whereas in this it would be on the
speakers’ side; and it was they who were reproached for
drunkenness, evidently because they by the Spirit wrought a miracle in
the matter of the tongues.
XVI. But as the old Confusion of tongues was
laudable, when men who were of one language in wickedness and impiety,
even as some now venture to be, were building the Tower;4274
for by the confusion of their language the
unity of their intention was broken up, and their undertaking
destroyed; so much more worthy of praise is the present miraculous
one. For being poured from One Spirit upon many men, it brings
them again into harmony. And there is a diversity of Gifts, which
stands in need of yet another Gift to discern which is the best, where all are
praiseworthy. And that division also might be called noble of
which David says, Drown O Lord and divide their tongues.4275
Why? Because they loved all
words of drowning, the deceitful tongue.4276
Where he all but expressly arraigns
the tongues of the present day4277
which sever the
Godhead. Thus much upon this point.
XVII. Next, since it was to inhabitants of
Jerusalem, most devout Jews, Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, Egyptians,
and Libyans, Cretans too, and Arabians, and Mesopotamians, and my own
Cappadocians, that the tongues spake, and to Jews (if any one prefer so
to understand it), out of every nation under heaven thither collected;
it is worth while to see who these were and of what captivity.
For the captivity in Egypt and Babylon was circumscribed, and moreover
had long since been brought to an end by the Return; and that under the
Romans, which was exacted for their audacity against our Saviour, was
not yet come to pass, though it was in the near future. It
remains then to understand it of the captivity under Antiochus, which
happened not so very long before this time. But if any does not
accept this explanation, as being too elaborate, seeing that this
captivity was neither ancient nor widespread over the world, and is
looking for a more reliable—perhaps the best way to take it would
be as follows. The nation was removed many times, as Esdras
related; and some of the Tribes were recovered, and some were left
behind; of whom probably (dispersed as they were among the nations)
some would have been present and shared the miracle.
XVIII. These questions have been examined before
by the studious, and perhaps not without occasion; and whatever else
any one may contribute at the present day, he will be joined with
us. But now it is our duty to dissolve this Assembly, for enough
has been said. But the Festival is never to be put an end to; but
kept now indeed with our bodies; but a little later on altogether
spiritually there, where we shall see the reasons of these things more
purely and clearly, in the Word Himself, and God, and our Lord Jesus
Christ, the True Festival and Rejoicing of the Saved—to Whom be
the glory and the worship, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and
for ever. Amen. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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