The Giving of Good and Evil

Ἤλθεν οὖν ἐκζητῆσαι τῇ ἑαυτοῦ σοφίᾳ τί γέγονεν ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, τίς ἡ σύγχυσις τῶν τῇδε πραγμάτων, πῶς ἐδουλὼθη τὸ ὄν τῷ μὴ ὄντι· πῶς δυναστεύει κατὰ τοῦ ὄντος τὸ ἀνυπόστατον. Καὶ οἰδεν ὅτι περισπασμὸν πονηρὸν ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς υἱοῖς ἀνθρώπων, τοῦ περισπᾶσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐχ ὡς ἄν τις ἐκ τοῦ προχείρου νοήσειε, εὐσεβές ἐστιν οἴεσθαι, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν πονηρὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις περισπασμόν· ἦ γὰρ ἄν εῑς ἐλεῖνον ἡ τῶν κακῶν αἰτία ἐπαναφέροιτο. Ὁ γὰρ τῇ φύσει ἀγαθὸς, καὶ ἀγαθῶν πάντως παρεκτικὸς γίνεται· διότι πᾰν δένδρον καλὸν καρποὺς καλοὺς ποιεῖ, καὶ οὔτε ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὴ, οὔτε ἐξ ἀμπέλου ἄκανθα φύεται· ὅ οὖν τῇ φύσει ἀγαθὸν, οὐκ ἄν τι πονηρὸν ἐκ τῶν θησαυρῶν αὐτοῦ προχειρίσαιτο. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας κακὰ λαλεῖ, ἀλλὰ κατάλληλα τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φθέγγεται φύσει· πόσῳ οὖν μᾰλλον ἡ τῶν ἀγαθων πηγὴ οὐκ ἄν τι τῶν πονητῶν ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως προχέοι; Ἀλλὰ τουτο νοεῖν ὑποτίθεται ἡ εὑσεβεστέρα διάνοια, ὅτι τὸ ἀγαθὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ δόμα. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν, ἡ αὐτεξούσιος κίνησις ἢ τῇ διημαρτημένῃ τῶν ἀνθρώπων χρήσει ὄργανον εἰς ἁμαρτίαν ἐγένετο. Ἀγαθὸν γὰρ τῇ φύσει τὸ αὐτεξούσιον καὶ ἀδούλωτον, τὸ δὲ ὑπεζευγμένον ἀνάγκαις, οὐκ ἄν τις ἐν ἀγαθοῖς ἀριθμήσειεν· ἀλλ' ἠ αὐτεξούσιος αὔτη τῆς διανοίας ὁρμὴ ἀπαιδαγωγήτως πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν τῆς κακίας ἀποῥῥυεῖσα, πειρασμὸς τῆς ψυχῆς ἐγένετο, ἀπὸ τῶν ὑψηλῶν τε καὶ τιμίων, πρὸς τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς τῆς φύσεως κινήσεις κατασπασθείσης. Τοῦτο ἐστιν ὅ σημαίνει τὸ ἔδωκεν, οὐχ ὅτι αὐτὸς τὸ κακὸν τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωῇ ἐνποίησεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι τοῖς παρὰ Θεοῦ δοθεῖσιν ἀγαθοῖς ὁ ἀνθρωπος ὑπὸ ἀβουλίας κακῶν ὑπηρεσίαν ἐχρήσατο. Σύνηθες δέ ἐστι τῇ ἁγιᾳ Γραφῇ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν νοημάτων ταῖς τοιαύταις ἐξαγγέλλειν φωναῖς· ὡς τὸ, Παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς εἰς πὰθη ἀτιμίας· καὶ, Ἔδωκεν αὐτοὺς εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, και Ἐσκλήρυνε τὴν καρδίαν Φαραὼ· καὶ τὸ, Τί ἐπλάνησας ἡμᾶς, Κύριε, ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου, ἐσκληρυνας τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν τοῦ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι σε; καὶ Ἐπλάνησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀβάτῳ καὶ οὐχ ὁδῷ· καὶ Ἡπάτησας με καὶ ἠπατήθην· καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ἑστὶν ὁμότροπα, ἐφ' ὦν ἡ ἀκριβὴς διάνοια οὐ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ συνίστησι φύσει· ἀλλὰ κατηγορεῖ τῆς ἐξουσίας, ἥ ἀγαθον μέν ἐστι καὶ Θεοῦ δῶρον δεδομένον τῇ φύσει· γέγονε δὲ, διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον ῥοπῆς κακόν. Εἶδεν οὖν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστὴς σύμπαντα τὰ πεποιημένα ἐν τῷ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον βίῳ, ὅτι πάντα ματαιότης, Οὐκ ἧν γὰρ ἀσυνιῶν, οὐκ ἧν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὸν Θεόν· ἐπειδὴ πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἀμα ἠχρειώθησαν. Διὰ τοῠ το εἰπὼν, ὅτι Καὶ ἰδου τὰ πάντα ματαιότης  τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπήγαγεν, ὅτι οὐχ ὁ Θεὸς τούτων αἴτιος, ἀλλὰ ἠ προαίρεσις τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ὁρμῆς, ἥν πνεῦμα ὠνόμασεν. Κατηγορεῖ δὲ τούτου τοῦ πνεύματος, οὐχ ὅτι τοιοῦτον ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἧν· ἧ γὰρ ἄν ἔξω κατηγορίας ἥν, εἰ τοιοῦτον ἐγένετο· ἀλλ' ὅτι διαστραφὲν ἐξηρμόσθη τοῦ κόσμου. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην, Ὁμιλια Β'

Ecclesiastes has come, then, to seek out by his own wisdom what is done under the sun, that confusion of deeds, why existence is subject to non existence and how that which is insubstantial has power over being. He knew that 'God has given to the sons of men an evil trouble to vex him' 1. And let this be thought as something not easily understood, that a pious man considers that God has given an evil to the sons of men in order to trouble them, for then one may choose to attribute the cause of evil to God. But He who is good by nature is indeed a giver of good things because every good tree bears good fruit and from thorns  grapes do not spring, nor do thorns grow from a vine; 2 therefore the One who is good by nature does not offer some evil from his storehouse. A good man does not speak evil from the abundance of his heart but utters words appropriate to his nature. How then is it that the fountain of good may not be a giver of evils? Let this be considered with a more reverent understanding, since the gifts of God are good. That is, the freedom of will given, man misused it as an instrument for sin, for free will is good in its nature and subject to no one, while anything yoked to necessity should not be accounted among things good, but in liberty, during a soul's testing, an impulse of the mind led to choice of evil, and from high state of honour it was drawn down to the passions. This is what  'He has given' means, not that He has given evil to the life of men, but that the goods God has given men have been used by them to commit mindless evil. Holy Scripture expresses such things as we have been considering, by proclaiming: 'God has handed them over to disgraceful of passions' 3, and 'He has given them over to a base mind.' 4 and 'He has hardened Pharaoh's heart'  5, and 'Why, Lord, have you caused us to wander from your way and why have you hardened our hearts not to fear you?' 6, and 'He make them wander in a desert and not in the way' 7, and 'You have deceived me, and I was deceived', 8 and other remarks similar to these, which being understood correctly does not mean that human nature has something inappropriate from God, but they censure free will which in itself is a good and a gift bestowed by God to our nature, but as a result of error, free will inclines to evil. So Ecclesiastes sees all things done in life under the sun, that they are vain. 'There is not one who understands or seeks after God' 9 since all have turned aside and have become useless. And thus he says 'Behold, all is vanity.'  10 He does not attribute the cause to God but to human choice which he names the wind. He censures this wind, for it is not as it was at the beginning. There it was free of censure and in no need of condemnation, but it turned aside by turning to the world.   Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Ecclesiastes,  Homily 2 1 Eccl 1.13 2 Mt 7.17 3 Rom 1.26 4 Rom. 1.28 5 Ex 9.12 6 Is 63.17 7 Ps 106.40 8 Jer 20.7 9 Rom 3.11 10 Eccl 1.14

Seeing the Light

Πολλῶν γὰρ ὄντων ἡμῖν καὶ μεγάλων, οὐ μὲν οὖν εἴποι τις ἂν ἡλίκων καὶ ὅσων, ὧν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἔχομέν τε καὶ ἕξομεν·  τοῦτο μέγιστον καὶ φιλανθρωπότατον, ἡ πρὸς αὐτὸν νεῦσίς τε καὶ οἰκείωσις.  Ὅπερ γάρ ἐστι τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ἥλιος, τοῦτο τοῖς νοη τοῖς Θεός.  Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὸν ὁρώμενον φωτίζει κόσμον, ὁ δὲ τὸν ἀόρατον·  καὶ ὁ μὲν τὰς σωματικὰς ὄψεις ἡλιοειδεῖς, ὁ δὲ τὰς νοερὰς φύσεις θεοειδεῖς ἀπεργάζεται.  Καὶ ὥσπερ οὗτος τοῖς τε ὁρῶσι καὶ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις, τοῖς μὲν τὴν τοῦ ὁρᾷν, τοῖς δὲ τὴν τοῦ ὁρᾶσθαι παρέχων δύναμιν, αὐτὸς τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐστὶ τὸ κάλλιστον·  οὕτω Θεὸς τοῖς νοοῦσι καὶ τοῖς νοουμένοις, τοῖς μὲν τὸ νοεῖν, τοῖς δὲ τὸ νοεῖσθαι δημιουργῶν, αὐτὸς τῶν νοουμένων ἐστὶ τὸ ἀκρότατον, εἰς ὃν πᾶσα ἔφεσις ἵσταται, καὶ ὑπὲρ ὃν οὐδαμοῦ φέρεται.  Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχει τι ὑψηλότερον, ἢ ὅλως ἕξει, οὐδὲ ὁ φιλοσοφώτατος νοῦς καὶ διαβατικώτατος, ἢ πολυπραγμονέστατος.  Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ τῶν ὀρεκτῶν ἔσχατον, καὶ οὗ γενομένοις πάσης θεωρίας ἀνάπαυσις. Ὧτινι μὲν οὖν ἐξεγένετο, διὰλόγου καὶ θεωρίας διασχόντι τὴν ὕλην καὶ τὸ σαρκικὸν τοῦτο, εἴτε νέφος χρὴ λέγειν, εἴτε προκάλυμμα, Θεῷ συγγενέσθαι, καὶ τῷ ἀκραιφνεστάτῳ φωτὶ κραθῆναι, καθ όσον ἐφικτὸν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει·  μακάριος οὗτος, τῆς τε ἐντεῦθεν ἀναβάσεως, καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖσε θεώσεως, ἣν τὸ γνησίως φιλοσοφῆσαι χαρίζεται, καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ τὴν ὑλικὴν δυάδα γενέσθαι, διὰ τὴν ἐν τῇ Τριάδι νοουμένην ἑνότητα. Ὅστις δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς συζυγίας χείρων ἐγένετο, καὶ τοσοῦτον τῷ πηλῷ συνεσχέθη, ὡς μὴ δυνηθῆναι ἐμβλέψαι πρὸς τὰς τῆς ἀληθείας αὐγὰς, μηδὲ ὑπὲρ τὰ κάτω γενέσθαι, γεγονὼς ἄνωθεν, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἄνω καλούμενος·  ἄθλιος οὗτος ἐμοὶ τῆς τυφλώσεως, κἂν εὐροῇ τοῖς ἐνταῦθα·  καὶ τοσούτῳ πλέον, ὅσῳπερ ἂν μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῆς εὐροίας παίζηται, καὶ πείθηται ἄλλο τι καλὸν εἶναι πρὸ τοῦ ὄντος καλοῦ, πονηρὸν πονηρᾶς δόξης καρπὸν δρεπόμενος, ἢ ζόφον κατακριθῆναι, ἢ ὡς πῦρ ἰδεῖν, ὃν ὡς φῶς οὐκ ἐγνώρισεν.  Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΚΑ'

For as many and great as our blessings are, and none may say how great and how many, which we have and shall have from God, this is the greatest and most benevolent, our inclination and relationship to Him. For as the sun is to things sensible, God is to intelligible things. One gives light to the visible world, the other to the invisible world; one makes our bodily eyes see the sun, the other one makes our intellectual natures see God. And as this which bestows on the things which see and are seen, the power of seeing and being seen, is itself the most beautiful of visible things, so God who creates, for those who think and things thought of, the power of thinking and being thought of, is Himself the highest of things thought of, in Whom every longing ends, and beyond Whom it cannot go. For nothing higher even the most philosophic, the most piercing, the most inquisitive mind can have or will have. For this is the utmost of things desirable, and of it is rest from all seeking. Whoever has been permitted to escape by reason and contemplation from matter and this fleshy cloud or veil, whichever it should be called, and to commune with God, and to be associated with the purest light, insofar as man's nature can attain, blessed is he, both for his ascent from where he was, and for his deification there, which is granted by the authentic philosophy, and by being above the dualism of matter through the unity which is understood in the Trinity. And whosoever has been degraded by being joined to the flesh and so constrained by the clay that he is unable to look at the rays of truth, nor be above things below, though he is born from above and called to things above, this one to me is wretched in his blindness, even if he has an abundance of things here, and all the more so because he is the plaything of his abundance, being persuaded that something else is beautiful for that which is really beautiful, reaping, as the wicked fruit of wicked opinion, the condemnation to darkness, seeing Him to be fire, whom he did not recognize as light. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 21

Learning from God

Magnum est et admodum rarum universam creaturam corpoream et incorpoream consideratam compertamque mutabilem intentione mentis excedere atque ad incommutabilem Dei substantiam pervenire et illic discere ex ipso, quod cunctam naturam, quae non est quod ipse, non fecit nisi ipse. Sic enim Deus cum homine non per aliquam creaturam loquitur corporalem, corporalibus instrepens auribus, ut inter sonantem et audientem aeria spatia uerberentur, neque per eius modi spiritalem, quae corporum similitudinibus figuratur, sicut in somnis uel quo alio tali modo, nam et sic uelut corporis auribus loquitur, quia uelut per corpus loquitur et uelut interposito corporalium locorum interuallo; multum enim similia sunt talia uisa corporibus; sed loquitur ipsa ueritate, si quis sit idoneus ad audiendum mente, non corpore. Ad illud enim hominis ita loquitur, quod in homine ceteris, quibus homo constat, est melius, et quo ipse Deus solus est melior. Cum enim homo rectissime intellegatur uel, si hoc non potest, saltem credatur factus ad imaginem Dei: profecto ea sui parte est propinquior superiori Deo, qua superat inferiores suas, quas etiam cum pecoribus communes habet. Sed quia ipsa mens, cui ratio et intellegentia naturaliter inest, vitiis quibusdam tenebrosis et ueteribus invalida est, non solum ad inhaerendum fruendo, uerum etiam ad perferendum incommutabile lumen, donec de die in diem renouata atque sanata fiat tantae felicitatis capax, fide primum fuerat inbuenda atque purganda. In qua ut fidentius ambularet ad ueritatem, ipsa ueritas, Deus. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De Civitate Dei, Lib. XI

It is a great and extremely rare thing after contemplating the whole corporeal and incorporeal creation, and having ascertained its mutability, that by the intent of the mind one passes beyond it to attain to the substance of God and there learn from Him that all nature, that which is not Him, no one has made but Himself. For God speaks not with a man like some corporeal creature, making a noise in his ears of flesh, by the vibrations of the air between speaker and hearer, nor even by means of a spirit which is fashioned with the appearance of a body, as is found in dreams or similar states, for even here He would speak as if to the ears of the body because it is by means of a body He would speak and as if there were an interval of space between bodies, for such visions are very accurate representations of bodily objects, but He speaks by the truth itself, if any one is prepared to listen with the mind rather than with the body. For He speaks to that in man which is better than all else by which he is constituted, and in comparison with which only God is better. For since man is most correctly understood as being made in the image of God, or, if it cannot be understood, then at least let it be believed, certain it is that it is this part of him which is nearer the higher God and by which he rises above those lower parts he has in common with the beasts. But because the mind itself, in which reason and understanding naturally dwell, is weakened by obfuscating and inveterate vices, one must not merely in delight abide in the unchanging light, but even endure it, until from day to day the mind is renewed and healed, and made capable of such happiness, which it had in the first place to be imbued with faith, and so purified. And this that it might walk to truth more confidently, the truth itself, God. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from The City of God, Book 11

Bad and Good Teaching

Πότερον οὐχὶ Κύριός ἐστιν ὁ διδάσκων σύνεσιν καὶ ἐπιστήμην;   Τὰ οἶκονομούμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγιου Πνεύματος ἀναγραφῆς ἀξιωθῆναι χρή. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀναγράφεται ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα ὠφελεῖσθαι ἐκ τῶν ἀναγινωσκομένων. Εἰ μὴ οὖν χρήσιμοι ἧσαν οἱ λόγοι τῶν τριῶν, τῶν παραγενομένων πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ, ὡς τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα λαβεῖν τι ἀπὸ τῶν εἰρημένων ὑπ' αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἰὼβ· οὐκ ἂν ἡ πρόνοια εἰς τὴν βίβλον τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἐποίησεν ἀναγραφῆναι καὶ τοὺς λόγους τῶν τριῶν. Ἔστιν οὖν ὠφεληθῆναι μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ, ἐνορῶντα τοῖς δόγμασιν· ὁρᾷν δὲ τὸ ἔγκλητον τῶν λόγων περὶ ἔν μόνον, ὅτε αἰτιῶνται τὸν Ἰὼβ, οἰόμενοι αὐτὸν πάσχειν διὰ τὰ ἡμαρτημένα αὐτῳ· οὐχ ὁρῶντες, ὅτι καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ αἴτιά ἐστι τοῦ συμβαίνειν ἀνθρώποις. Τοιαῦτα ἐστι νενομισμένα εἶναι καλὰ ἢ Χαλεπὰ, ἢ ὅπως ποτὲ βούλεται τις αὐτὰ ὀνομάζειν. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· Πότερον οὐχὶ Κύριός ἐστιν ὁ διδάσκων σύνεσιν καὶ ἐπιστήμην; Τὸ δόγμα ὑγιές ἐστι· ὅτι ἀληθινὸς διδάσκαλος ἀρετῆς οὐ δύναται εἶναι ἄνθρωπος. Ὁ διδάσκων γὰρ ἀνθρωπον γνῶσιν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς ἀναγέγραπται, ὅτι οὐκ ἄλλος ἐστὶν ἢ Θεός. Καὶ Δίδαξόν με, φησὶν, τὰ δικαιώματα σου, ὁ Προφήτης, εἰδὼς διδάσκαλον εἶναι ἀληθῆ καὶ τέλειον τὸν Θεόν. Διδάσκει δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἐλλάμπων τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ μανθάνοντος ὑπ' αὐτοῠ, καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν φωτίζων τῷ φωτὶ, τῷ ἀληθινῷ λόγῳ αὐτοῦ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἄνδρες δίκαιοι ἡμᾶς διδάσκουσι διδασκαλικὴν εἰληφότες χάριν.  Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Τον Ιὠβ

Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge? 1 Things overseen by the Holy Spirit are worthy to be described. Therefore they shall be described that the reader may be benefited by what he reads. If the words of the three who had come to Job were not useful, still the reader may be benefited from what they said to Job. Divine Providence, as it is described in the book of Job, did not fashion the words of these three, and so to draw profit from the words one must attend to the teachings, and at least note the fault of the words of the one who blamed Job, thinking that he suffered what he did on account of his sins, not seeing that there are many other causes by which things befall a man. Such things that are so constituted as to be a good or a trouble, or whatever one wishes to give as a name to these things. And then after a little while it is said: ' Is it not the Lord, who teaches understanding and knowledge? The teaching is beneficial because the true teacher of virtue is not able to be a man. 'He who teaches man knowledge,' as the Psalmist writes, 'is no one but God.' 2 And 'Teach me,' says the Prophet, 'your law,' 3 knowing God to be the true and perfect teacher. Truly God teaches, enlightening the learning soul from Himself and illuminating the mind, and without doubt His word is true. So righteous men may teach us, those who have received the grace of teaching. Origen, On Job, Fragment  1 Job 21.22 2 Ps 93.10 3 Ps 118.68

Learning and Faith

Πῶς δὲ οὐχὶ ἀποδοχῆς ἄξιοι οἵ τε μαθεῖν ἐθελοντες, οἵ τε δυνάμενοι, κατὰ τὸν Σολομῶντα, γνῶναι σοφίαν καὶ παιδείαν, νοῆσαι τε λόγους φρονήσεως, δέξασθαι τε στροφὰς λόγων, νοῆσαι τε δικαιοσύνην ἀληθῆ; ὡς οὔσης καὶ ἑτέρας τῆς μὴ κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν διδασκομένης πρὸς τῶν νομῶν τῶν Ἐλληνικῶν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν φιλοσόφων. Καὶ κρίματα, φησὶν,  εὐθῦναι, οὐ τὰ δικαστικα, ἀλλὰ τὸ κριτήριον τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν, ὑγιὲς καὶ ἀπλανὲς ἔχειν δεῖν μηνυει· Ἵνα δῷ ἀκὰκοις πανουργίαν, παιδὶ δὲ νέῳ αἴσθησιν τε καὶ εὔνοιαν. Τῶνδε γὰρ ἀκούσας σοφὸς ὁ ὑπακούειν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς πεπεισμένος, σοφώτερος ἔσται κατὰ τὴν γνῶσιν· ὁ δὲ νοήμων κυβέρνησιν κτήσεται· νοήσει τε παραβολὴν καὶ σκοτεινὸν λόγον, ῥήσεις τε σοφῶν καὶ αἰνιγματα. Οὐ γὰρ κιβδήλους οἱ ἔπιπνοι ἐκ Θεοῦ λόγους προφέρουσιν, οὐδ' οἱ παρὰ τούτων ἐμπορευόμενοι· οὐδὲ μὴν πάγας, αἶς οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν σοφιστῶν τοὺς νέους ἐμπλέκουσι, πρὸς ούδὲν ἀληθὲς σχολάζοντες· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα κεκτημένοι, ἑρευνῶσι τὰ βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέστι, τῆς περὶ τὰς προφητείας ἐπικρύψεως ἐπήβολοι γινόμενοι. Τῶν δὲ ἃγίων μεταδιδόναι τοῐς κυσὶν ἀπαγορεύεται, ἔστ' ἄν μἐνῃ θηρία· οὐ γὰρ ποτε ἐγκιρναναι προσήκει φθονεροῖς καὶ τεταραγμένοις, ἀπίστοις τε ἔτι ἤθεσιν, εἰς ὑλακὴν ζητήσεως ἀναιδέσι, τοῦ Θείου καὶ καθαροῦ νάματος τοῦ ζῶντος ὕδατος. 'μὴ δὴ ὑπερεκχείσθω σοι ὑδατα ἔξω πηγῆς σου· εἰς δὲ σὰς πλατεὶας διαπορευέσθω σὰ ὕδατα.' Οὐ γὰρ φρονέουσι τοιαῦτα πολλοὶ, ὀκόσοι ἐγκυρσεύουσιν· οὐδὲ μαθόντες, γινώσκουσιν· ἑαυτοῖσι δὲ δοκέουσι, κατὰ τὸν γενναῖον Ἡράκλειτον. Ἅρ' οὐ δοκεῖ σοι καὶ οὔτος τοὺς μὴ πιστεύοντας ψέγειν; Ὁ δὲ δίκαιος μου ἐκ πὶστεως ζήσεται, ὁ προφήτης εἴρηκε. Λέγει δὲ καὶ ἄλλος προφήτης· Ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσητε, οὐδὲ μὴ συνῆτε. Πῶς γὰρ τούτων ὑπερφυᾶ θεωρίαν χωρήσαι ποτ' ἄν ψυχὴ, διαμαχομένης ἔνδον τῆς περὶ τὴν μάθησιν ἀπιστίας;   Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Δευτερος, Κεφ β'.

But how entirely worthy of praise are they who are willing to learn, those able, according to Solomon, 'to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive words of wisdom, to grasp twisting words, and to perceive true righteousness,' there being another righteousness, not according to the truth, but taught by the laws of the Gentiles and the other philosophers. 'And to guide judgments,' it is said, not those of the courts, but he means the critical faculty within us, that we must preserve it sound and free of error. 'That I may give subtlety to the innocent, to the youth sense and good understanding.' 'For having heard these things the wise man who has been persuaded to obey the commandments 'will become wiser by knowledge; and the intelligent man will acquire rule, and will understand a parable and an obscure saying, the words and enigmas of the wise.' 1 For it is not deceitful words those inspired by God bring forth, nor do those who deal with them, nor is it the traps in which many of the sophists entangle the young, that they waste their time on nothing true, but those who possess the Holy Spirit search the deep things of God, 2 that is, they grasp the things hidden in the prophecies. 'To give holy things to dogs' 3 is forbidden, while they remain beasts, for never should those who are envious and perturbed and still faithless in conduct, shameless in howling at investigation, touch the divine and clear stream of the living water. 'Let not the waters of your fountain overflow, your waters spreading over your streets.' 4 For it is not many who understand whatever things they encounter; or having learned them know them, though it seems to them that they do, according to the worthy Heraclitus. Does not even he seem to fault those who do not believe? 'My righteous one shall live by faith,' 5 the Prophet said. And another Prophet says, 'If you do not believe, you will not understand.' 6 For how could the soul admit the transcendental contemplation of such things, while within struggled unbelief of what was to be learned? Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 2, Ch 2.  1 Prov 1:2-6 2 1 Cor 2:10 3 Mt 7.6 4 Prov 5:16 5 Hab 2:4 6 Isa 7:9

A Deacon Chastised

Samuel quondam lugebat Saulem, quia poenituerat Dominum, quod unxisset eum regem super Israel: et Paulus Corinthos, in quibus audiebatur fornicatio, et talis fornicatio, quae ne inter gentes quidem, voce flebili commonebat, dicens,' Ne cum rursus venero, humiliet me Deus apud vos, et lugeam multos ex his qui ante peccaverunt, et non egerunt poenitentiam super immunditiis, quas gesserunt in impudicitia et fornicatione.' Si hoc Propheta et Apostolus nulla ipsi labe maculati, clementi in cunctos mente faciebant, quanto magis ego ipse peccator, in te debeo facere peccatorem, qui non vis erigi post ruinam, nec oculos ad coelum levas; sed prodacta Patris substantia, porcorum siliquis delectaris, et superbiae praerupta conscendens, praeceps laberis in profundum? Deum ventrem vis habere pro Christo: servis libidini, gloriaris in carne et confusione tua, et quasi pinguis hostia in mortem propriam saginaris, imitarisque eorum vitam, quorum tormenta non metuis: ignorans, quoniam benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te hortetur. Secundum autem duritiam tuam et cor impoenitens, thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae. An idcirco induratur justa Pharaonem cor tuum, quia non statim percuteris, et differeris ad poenam diu? Et ille dilatus est, et decem plagas non quasi ab irato Deo, sed quasi a patre commonente sustinuit, donec in perversum acta poentitentia, populum quem dimiserat, per deserta sequeretur, et ingredi auderet maria; per quae vel sola doceri potuit, timori habendum eum, cui etiam elementa servirent. Dixerat et ille, 'Non novi Dominum, neque dimitto Israel.' Quem tu imitans loqueris: 'Visio quam hic videt, in dies longos est, et in tempora longa iste prophetat. Propter quod dicit idem Propheta: Haec dicit Adonai Dominus: Non prolongabunter amplius omnes sermones mei, quoscumque loquar; quia loquar verbum, et faciam. Santus David de impiis et de scelestis dicit, quorum tu pars non modica, sed princeps es, quod saeculi felicitate fruerentur et dicerent: Quomodo cognovi Deus, et is est scientia in excelso? Ecce ipsi peccatores et abundantes in saeculo obtinuerunt divitias: pene lapso pede et fluctuanti vestigo causabatur, dicens: 'Ergo sine causa justificavi cor meum, et lavi inter innocentes manus meas. Praemiserat enim, Quia aemulatus sum super iniqua agentes, pacem peccatorum videns: quia non est respectus morti eorum, et solida plaga in flagella eorum. In laboribus hominum non sunt, et cum hominibus non flegellabuntur. Propterea tenuit eos superbia, circumdati sunt inqiuitate et impietate sua. Egredietur sicut ex adipe iniquitas eorum: transierunt in affectum cordis. Cogitaverunt, et locuti sunt mala, iniquitatem in excelso locuti sunt. Posuerunt in coelum os summ et lingua eorum pertansiit super terram. Nonne tibi videtus de te omnis iste Psalmus esse compositus? Vegeto quippe es corpore, et novus Antichristi Apostolus, cum in una notus fueris civitate, transgrederis ad aliam. Non indiges sumptibus; non plaga forti percuteris; et cum hominibus, qui non sunt, ut tu, velut irrationabilia jumenta, corripi non mereris. Propterea elatus es in superbiam, et vestimentum tuum est facta luxuria, et quasi ex arvina pungui et quodam adipe eructans verba mortifera, non te respicis esse moriturum, nec umquam post expletam libidinem, poenitentia remorderis. Transisti in affectum cordis, et ne tibi solus videaris errasse, simulas nefanda de servis Dei, nesciens quod iniquitatem in altum loquaris, et ponas in coelum os tuum. Nec mirum si a te qualescumque servi Dei blasphementur, cum patremfamilias Beelzebub vocaverint patres tui. Non est discipulus supra magistrum, nec servus supra dominum suum. Si illi in viridi ligno tanta fecerunt, tu in me, arido ligno, quid facturus es? Tale quid in Malachia plebs scandalizata credentium, de corde tuo loquitur: 'Dixerunt, vanus est qui servit Deo. Et quid plus? Quia custodivimus mandata ejus, et quoniam ivimus supplicantes ante faciem Domini omnipotentis. Et nunc nos beatos dicimus alienos. Reaedificantur omnes qui faciunt iniqua. Adversati sunt Deo, et slavi facti sunt. Quibus postea diem judicii Dominus comminatur, et quid inter justum et injustum futurum sit, multo ante praenuntians, ait: Et contvertimini: et videbitis quid sit inter justum et injustum: inter servientem Domino, et non servientem. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola CXLVII, Ad Sabinianum Diaconum

Samuel once lamented for Saul because the Lord repented that he had anointed him to be king over Israel, 1 and Paul did so also for the Corinthians when he heard that there was fornication among them and such fornication as was not found among the Gentiles, 2 and with tearful voice he appealed to them saying: 'Lest, when I come again, God will humble me among you and I shall lament many who have sinned and have not made penance for the uncleanness they bear on account of immodesty and fornication.' 3 If an Apostle or Prophet, not themselves with fault stained, could act with mercy toward all, how much more should I, a sinner, act toward you, a sinner, who after ruin does not wish to rise, nor do you  lift your eyes to heaven, but having wasted the substance of the Father you delight in the swill of pigs, 4 and climbing the precipice of pride you fall headlong into the deep? You have your belly for God instead of Christ; you are a slave to lust; you glory in flesh and in your confusion; 5  like a plump sacrificial victim you fatten yourself up for death, and you imitate the lives of those who fear not the torments, because you are ignorant that the goodness of God is calling you to repentance. 'But on account of your hardness and the impenitence of your heart you heap up for yourself wrath for the day of wrath.' 6 Or is it that your heart is hardened just as the Pharaoh's was, because you are not presently struck but your punishment is delayed? He was given time and the ten plagues were not as from an angry God but as a warning from a father, that he repent of perverse deeds, but when he let the people go and then pursued them through the desert and he dared enter the sea , by that alone was he able to be taught that He should be feared whom even the elements serve. He had said: 'I know not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.' 7 He whom you imitate when you say: 'The vision that he sees is formany days far off, and he prophesies about times that are to be.' 8 Yet then the same Prophet says: 'Thus says the Lord God, My words be will not be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be.' 9 The Holy David too says of the godless, of which you are not a slight but prime example, that they rejoice in the happiness of this age and say: 'How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold these are the sinners who prospering in the world have gained their wealth.' 10 Then almost losing his footing and staggering in the way he makes complaint, saying 'Therefore in vain I have cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence.' 11 For he had previously said: 'I envied those acted iniquitously seeing the peace of sinners. For they have no care for death, but firm is the blow of their whip. They do not labour like other men, with whom they are not flogged. Therefore pride has them; they are surrounded by iniquity and impiety. Their evil stands out like fatness: they have passed into the desires of their hearts. They think and speak evil , they speak evil against the High. They have placed their mouths in heaven and their tongues trail along the earth.' 12 Does not this whole Psalm seem to you to be written about yourself? Certainly your body is in good health, and like a new apostle of the Antichrist when you are noted in one city, you pass to another. 13 You do not lack for money, no strong blow assails you, neither are you troubled as other men are who are not like you, mere brute beasts. Therefore you are lifted up into pride, and lust is made your garment, and as from a fat and bloated carcass you belch forth fatal words, not considering that you must die, nor being troubled by any repentance when you have satisfied your lust. You have passed into the desires of your heart; and, lest you seem to be alone in your errors, you create scandals about God's servants, not knowing that it is against the High that you are speaking iniquity and placing your mouth in the heavens. It is no wonder that God's servants are blasphemed by you, when the fathers of those like you called the master of the house Beelzebub. 'The disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his lord.' 14  If they did such things to the green tree, what will you do with me, the dry? 15 In like manner the offended believers in Malachi spoke of your heart, 'They said it is vain to serve God. What do we gain having kept his commandments and having come as supplicants before the Lord Almighty? And now we call strangers blessed. All those who do wickedness are raised up. They who oppose God have been saved.' 16 The Lord threatens them with a later day of judgment, and announcing beforehand the distinction that shall then be made between the righteous and the unrighteous, He says: 'Return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him who does not serve.' Saint Jerome, Letter 147, To The Deacon Sabinianus 1 1 Kings 16 2 1 Cor 5:1 3 2 Cor 12:21 4 Lk 15  5 Philipp 3:19 6 Rom 2:4-5 7 Exod 5:2 8 Ez 12:27-28 9 Ez 12.28 10 Ps 72, 11-12  11 Ps 72, 13  12 Ps 72 3- 9 13 Mt 10:23  14 Mt 10:24-25  15 Luke 23:31  16 Malach 3.14-15 LXX  17 Malach 3.18

Scandal Within

Μὴ δὴ σκανδαλιζώμεθα ἐπὶ τοῖς αἱρετικοῖς.  Ὅρα γὰρ ἐν προοιμίοις τοῦ κηρύγματος πόσα σκάνδαλα·  οὐ λέγω τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν·  ταῦτα γὰρ οὐδὲν ἦν·  ἀλλὰ τὰ ἔνδον.  Οἷον πρῶτον, ὁ Ἀνανίας, ἔπειτα ὁ γογγυσμὸς, ἔπειτα Σίμων ὁ Μάγος, ἔπειτα οἱ ἐγκαλοῦντες Πέτρῳ διὰ Κορνήλιον, ἔπειτα ὁ λιμὸς, ἔπειτα αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν κακῶν.  Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔνι καλοῦ τινος γινομένου μὴ συνυφεστάναι καὶ πονηρόν.  Μὴ δὴ θορυβώμεθα, εἴ τινες σκανδαλίζονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτων εὐχαριστῶμεν τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι εὐδοκιμωτέρους ἡμᾶς ποιεῖ.  Οὐ γὰρ δὴ αἱ θλίψεις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ πειρασμοὶ λαμπροτέρους ἡμᾶς ἐργάζονται.  Ὁ μὲν γὰρ, μηδενὸς ὄντος τοῦ πλανῶντος, τῆς ἀληθείας ἐχόμενος, οὐκ ἂν εἴη σφοδρὸς ἐραστὴς τῆς ἀληθείας·  ὁ δὲ πολλῶν ἀφελκόντων, οὗτος εὐδόκιμος.  Τί οὖν;  διὰ τοῦτο γίνεται τὰ σκάνδαλα;  Οὐ λέγω, ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα ποιοῦντος·  μὴ γένοιτο·  ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκείνων πονηρίας εὐεργετοῦντος ἡμᾶς·  ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς οὐδέποτε ἐβούλετο γενέσθαι.  Δὸς αὐτοῖς, φησὶν, ἵνα ἓν ὦσιν·  ἐπειδὴ δὲ γίνεται τὰ σκάνδαλα, οὐδὲν τούτους βλάπτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὠφελεῖ.  Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τοὺς μάρτυρας ἄκοντες ὠφελοῦσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τὸ μαρτύριον ἕλκοντες, οὐ μὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὠθοῦνται πρὸς τοῦτο·  οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα, μὴ ἴδωμεν ὅτι σκανδαλίζονται. Τοῦτο αὐτὸ τεκμήριον τοῦ σπουδαῖον εἶναι τὸ δόγμα, τὸ πολλοὺς ὑποκρίνεσθαι καὶ μιμεῖσθαι·  οὐ γὰρ ἂν, εἰ μὴ καλὸν ἦν, ὑπεκρίνοντο.  Καὶ τοῦτο ἤδη ποιήσω ὑμῖν φανερόν. Τὰ μύρα τὰ εὐώδη ταῦτα ἔχει τοὺς νοθεύοντας αὐτὰ, οἷον φύλλον ἄμωμον.  Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σπάνιά ἐστι καὶ ἀναγκαῖα, πολλὰ καὶ νόθα γίνεται.  Οὐδεὶς οὖν ἂν ἕλοιτο ἄλλο τι τῶν εὐτελῶν νοθεῦσαι.  Ὁ βίος ὁ καθαρὸς πολλοὺς ἔχει τοὺς νοθεύοντας· οὐδεὶς δὲ ἂν ἕλοιτο ὑποκρίνεσθαι τὸν ἐν φαυλότητι. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὑπομηνα Ἐις Τας Πραξεις Των Αποστολων, Ὀμιλια ΛΓ'

Let us not then be scandalised on account of heretics. For see how many scandals there were at the outset of the preaching. I do not speak about those which were without, for these were nothing, but about things within. For instance, first Ananias, 1 then the murmuring, 2 then Simon the magician, 3 and then they who accused Peter on account of Cornelius, 4 then the famine, 5 then this, the head of evils. 6 For no good thing happens but some evil comes along with it. Let us not then be troubled if some are offended, but let us thank God even on account of this, because it makes us more approved. For it is not tribulations alone but even temptations that render us more illustrious. He is no great lover of the truth for holding to it when there is none to lead him astray, but he is proved when many try to draw him away. What then? Is this why scandals come? I do not say that God is creator of them, let it not be, but that even out of wickedness He works good to us. It was never His wish that they should arise: 'Grant to them,' He says, 'that they may be one'; 7 but since scandals do come, they do no harm to these but even benefit them. It is just as the persecutors unwillingly benefit the martyrs by dragging them away to martyrdom, and yet they are not driven to this by God, and so let us not observe here that men are scandalised. And this is itself a proof of the excellence of the doctrine, that many simulate and mimic it, for they would not do so, if it were not good. And this I will now make plain to you. The fragrant spices of perfumes are they which people counterfeit, like the amomum leaf. Since these are rare and necessary, so many spurious imitations arise. Nobody would care to counterfeit any common thing. The pure life has many counterfeits, but no one would want to counterfeit the vicious man. Saint John Chrysostom, On the Acts of the Apostles, Homily 33 1 Acts 5. 1-6 2 Acts 6.1 3 Acts 8 4 Acts  10-11 5 Acts 11.28 6 Acts 15 1-5 7 Jn 17:21

A Heretical Teacher

Solemus haereticis compendii gratia de posteritate praescribere. In quantum enim ueritatis regula prior, quae etiam haereses futuras renuntiauit, in tantum posteriores quaeque doctrinae haereses praeiudicabuntur, quia sunt quae futurae ueritatis antiquiore regula praenuntiabantur. Hermogenis autem doctrina tam novella est; denique ad hodiernum homo in saeculo, et natura quoque haereticus, etiam turbulentus, qui loquacitatem facundiam existimet et inpudentiam constantiam deputet et maledicere singulis officium bonae conscientiae iudicet. Praeterea pingit in licite, nubit assidue, legem Dei in libidinem defendit, in artem contemnit, bis falsarius, et cauterio et stilo, totus adulter, et praedicationis et carnis, siquidem et nubentium contagio foetet nec ipse apostolicus Hermogenes in regula perseuerauit.  Sed viderit persona, cum doctrina mihi quaestio est. Dominum non alium videtur agnoscere, alium tamen facit quem aliter agnoscit, immo totum quod est deus aufert nolens illum ex nihilo universa fecisse.  A Christianis enim ad philosophos conuersus, de ecclesia in Academiam et Porticum, inde sumpsit  materiam cum domino ponere, quae et ipsa semper fuerit neque nata neque facta nec initium habens omnino nec finem, ex qua dominus omnia postea fecerit. Tertullianus, Adversus Hermogenem

We are accustomed, for the sake of concision, to write against heretics by their lateness. For inasmuch as by rule truth precedes them, which also foretold future heresies, so must later teachings be prejudged as heresies, being those things which the older rule of truth predicted for days to come. Now the teaching of Hermogenes has such novelty. In short, he is a man of the present time, and by his nature a heretic, and turbulent with it, one who regards loquacity as eloquence and thinks impudence to be constancy, and judges that to malign other men is the duty of a good conscience. Besides this he paints what he will, marries continually, affirms the law of God in the promotion of lust, spurns it in his art, falsifies by a double way, with his malice and his pen, is a thorough adulterer, both in doctrine and in the flesh, since he reeks with the disease of many marriages, nor, like the Apostle's Hermogenes 1 has he persevered in the law. But we have gazed only at the character of the man, when it is his teaching I question. He seems not to acknowledge another Lord, though he acknowledges Him in a different way, or rather by this he takes from Him everything which is God, since he will not have it that He made all things from nothing. For, turning from Christians to  philosophers, from the Church to the Academy and the Porch, he learned there how to place matter beside the Lord, as if it had always been, never born, never made, having no beginning at all nor end, from which the Lord afterwards created all things. Tertullian, Against Hermogenes 1 2 Tim 1:15

The New Theology

Ἦν ὅτε ἤκμαζε τὰ ἡμέτερα, καὶ καλῶς εἶχεν, ἡνίκα τὸ μὲν περιττὸν τοῦτο, καὶ κατεγλωττισμένον τῆς θεολογίας καὶ ἔντεχνον, οὐδὲ πάροδον εἶχεν εἰς τὰς θείας αὐλὰς, ἀλλὰ ταυτὸν ἦν ψήφοις τε παίζειν, τὴν ὄψιν κλεπτούσαις τῷ τάχει τῆς μεταθέ σεως, ἢ κατορχεῖσθαι τῶν θεατῶν παντοίοις καὶ ἀνδρογύνοις λυγίσμασι, καὶ περὶ Θεοῦ λέγειν τι καὶ ἀκούειν καινότερον καὶ περίεργον· τὸ δὲ ἁπλοῦν τε καὶ εὐγενὲς τοῦ λόγου, εὐσέβεια ἐνομίζετο. Ἀφ' οὗ δὲ Σέξτοι, καὶ Πύῤῥωνες, καὶ ἡ ἀντίθετος γλῶσσα, ὥσπερ τι νόσημα δεινὸν καὶ κακόηθες, ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἡμῶν εἰσεφθάρη· καὶ ἡ φλυαρία παίδευσις ἔδοξε, καὶ, ὅ φησι περὶ Ἀθηναίων ἡ βίβλος τῶν Πράξεων, εἰς οὐδὲν ἄλλο εὐκαιροῦμεν, ἢ λέγειν τι καὶ ἀκούειν καινότερον. Ὢ τίς Ἱερεμίας ὀδυρεῖται τὴν ἡμετέραν σύγχυσιν καὶ σκοτόμαιναν, ὁ μόνος εἰδὼς ἐξισοῦν θρήνους πάθεσι! Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος ΚΑ'

When our affairs flourished and all was well, when this over elaborate and indeed obscene treatment of theology had not made its way into the Divine halls, but to play with pebbles which deceive the eye by the swiftness of their changes, or to dance before spectators with varied and effeminate contortions, was looked down upon in the same way as speaking or hearing of God in a manner novel or frivolous, only simple and noble speech was thought holy. But since then the Sextuses and Pyrrhos, 1 and the antithetic style, like a fearful and malignant disease, have infected our churches, and puerile chattering is esteemed, and we, as the book of the Acts says of the Athenians, spend our time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear something new. 1 O what Jeremiah  will bewail our confusion and dark madness? Only he could utter lamentations equal to our sufferings. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 21 1 Skeptic philosophers 2 Acts 17:21

Scarlet Fire

Videamus ergo qua ratione coccum dixerit duplicatum. Color iste, ut diximus, ignis indicat elementum. Ignis autem duplicem habet virtutem, unam qua illuminat, aliam qua incendit. Haec est historiae ratio. Veniamus et ad intellectualia. Etiam in ipsis ignis duplex est. Est ignis quidam in hoc saeculo, est et in futuro. Dominus Jesus dicit, 'Ignem veni mittere in terram.' Ignis iste illuminat. Item rursus Dominus dicet in futuro operariis iniquitatis: ' Ite in ignem aeternum, quem praeparavit Pater meus diabolo et angelis ejus.' Ille ignis incendit. Verumtamen iste ignis, quem venit mittere Jesus, illuminat quidem omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, habet tamen aliquid quod et incendat, sicut confitenetur illi qui dicunt, 'Nonne cor nostrum ardens erat infra nos, cum adaperiret nobis Scripturas?' Simul ergo et incendebat et illuminabat, adaperiens Scripturas. Nescio autem si et ille ignis in futuro saeculo qui incendit, habeat aliquid quod et illuminet. Est ergo, ut ostendimus, natura ignis duplex, et ideo jubetur offerri occus duplicatus. Quomodo ergo nos offerre possumus ignem istem duplicatum ad aedificium tabernaculi, videamus. Si doctor es, exstruis tabernaculi aedificans Ecclesiam Dei; dicit ergo et ad te Deus quod et ad Jeremiam dixit: 'Ecce dedi verba mea in os tuum,' id est ignem. Si ergo docens et aedificans Ecclesiam Dei, increpes tantomodo et arguas et castiges, et peccata populi exprobes, nihil autem consolationis proferas de Scripturis divinis, obscurum nihil explanes, nihil scientiae profundioris attingas, nec aliquid intelligentiae sacratiores a aperies, obtulisti quidem coccum, sed non duplicatum. Ignis enim tuus incendit tantummodo, et no illuminat. Et rursum si docens mysteria legis aperias, secretorum arcana discutias, peccantem vero non arhuas, negligentem non corripias, severitatem disciplinae non teneas, obtulisti quidem coccum, sed non duplicatum. Ignis enim tuus tantum illuminat, non accendit. Qui ergo recte offert, et recete dividit, coccum offert duplicatum, ut cum scientiae lumine igniculum serveritatis admisceat. Origenes, In Exodum Homilia XIII, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense

Let us see, therefore, for what reason Moses said 'scarlet doubled.'1 This colour, as we have said, indicates the element of fire. Fire, however, has a double power: one which enlightens, another which burns. This is the historical reason. Let us come also to the spiritual reason. Even in this fire is double. There is a certain fire in this age and in the future. The Lord Jesus says, 'I came to cast fire on the earth.' 2 That fire enlightens. Again the same Lord says in the future to the workers of iniquity: 'Go into the eternal  fire my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels.'3 That fire burns. Nevertheless, that fire which Jesus came to cast enlightens, indeed, 'every man coming into this world.'4 But it has something also which burns, as those acknowledge who say, 'Was not our heart burning within us when he opened to us the Scriptures?'5 Therefore, by opening the Scriptures he both burned and enlightened at the same time. I do not know, however, whether that fire in the world to come which burns also has power to enlighten. The nature of fire, therefore, as we have shown is double and, for that reason, it is ordered that 'scarlet doubled' be offered. Let us see, therefore, how we can offer that doubled fire for the building of the tabernacle. If you are a teacher you are erecting a tabernacle when you edify the church of God. God, therefore, says to you also what he said to Jeremiah: 'Behold I have made my words in your mouth as fire.' 6 If, therefore,when you teach and edify the Church of God, you rebuke only and reprove and censure and upbraid the sins of the people, but you offer no consolation from the Sacred Scriptures, you explain nothing obscure, you touch nothing of more profound knowledge, you do not open any more sacred understanding, you have offered scarlet, indeed, but not doubled. For your fire burns only and does not enlighten. And again, if, when you teach, you open the mysteries of the Law, you discuss hidden secrets, but you do not reprove the sinner nor correct the negligent, nor hold to severity of discipline, you have offered scarlet, to be sure, but not doubled. For your fire enlightens only; it does not burn. He, therefore, who offers rightly and divides rightly offers scarlet doubled, so that he mixes the small flame of severity with the light of knowledge Origen, Twelfth Homily on Exodus, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Ex 35.5 2 Lk 12.49 3 Mt 25.41 4 Jn 1.9 5 Lk 24.32 6 Jer 1.9

Exultation and the Righteous

Ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, δίκαιοι, ἐν Κυρίῳ· τοῖς εὐθέσι πρέπει αἴνεσις Συνήθης τῇ Γραφῇ τῆς ἀγαλλιάσεως ἡ φωνὴ, φαιδροτάτην τινὰ καὶ περιχαρῆ κατάστασιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀξίοις εὐθυμίας ἐμφαίνουσα.  Ἀγαλλιᾶσθε οὐν, δίκαιοι, ἐν Κυρίῳ· μὴ ὅταν ὑμῖν εὐθηνῆται τὰ κατὰ τὸν οἶκον, μὴ ὅταν εὐεκτῆτε τῷ σώματι, μὴ ὅταν αἱ ἄρουραι πληθύνωσι καρπῶν παντοδαπῶν· ἀλλ' ὅτι Κύριον ἔχετε, τοιοῦτον μὲν τὸ κάλλος, τοιοῦτον δὲ τὴν ἀγαθότητα, τὴν σοφίαν τοιοῦτον. Ἀρκείτω ὑμῖν ἡ ἐπ' αὐτῷ εὐφροσύνη. Καὶ ἔοικεν ὁ μετ' εὐφροσύνης καὶ χαρᾶς ἐπαγαλλόμενος τινι τῶν περισπουδάστων, οὕτως ἀγαλλιᾷν ἐπ' αὐτῷ. Διὸ τοὺς δικαίους παρορμᾷ ὁ λόγος αἰσθάνεσθαι μετὰ τοῦ ἀξιώματος, ὅτι τοιούτου Δεσπότου δοῦλοι εἶναι κατηξιώθησαν, καὶ ἐπαγάλλεσθαι αὐτοῦ τῇ δουλείᾳ μετὰ χαρᾶς ἀμυθήτου καὶ σκιρτημάτων, τῆς καρδίας οἱονεὶ πηδώσης τῷ ἐνθουσιασμῷ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. Εἴ ποτέ σου τῇ καρδίᾳ οἱονεὶ φῶς ἐμπεσὸν ἀθρόαν Θεοῦ ἔννοιαν ἐνεποίησε, καὶ περιέλαμψε σου τὴν ψυχὴν, ὥστε ἀγαπῆσαι μὲν τὸν Θεὸν, καταφρονῆσαι δὲ κόσμου καὶ τῶν σωματικῶν πάντων, ἐκ τῆς ἀμυδρᾶς ἐκείνης καὶ βραχείας εἰκόνος γνώρισον τὴν ὅλην τῶν δικαίων κατάστασιν, ὁμαλῶς καὶ ἀδιακόπως τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ εὐφροσύνην κατορθούντων. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΛΒ' Ψαλμον

Exult, O righteous, in the Lord, praise befits the upright. 1 Common to the Scriptures is the voice of exultation, which shows by hilarity and happiness the state of the soul in those worthy of joy. Exalt, then, do the righteous in the Lord. And may we not exult when it happens to us that the things of our house prosper, nor when we have the goods of the body, nor when the fields are full of every kind of fruit, but because we have the Lord, with such beauty, such goodness, such wisdom. And may the joy of it be pleasing to you. And as a man who abounds in something appears with joy and cheer rejoicing, so rejoice in this. And may these words encourage the righteous, that they regard they own worth, and that they exult to be worthy of being servants of such a Master, in that service exulting with unspeakable joy and excitement, with the heart jumping from the infusion of the love of the good. If ever on your heart this light falls and you are suddenly given the knowledge of God, and your soul is enlightened, that you love God and disdain the world and all worldly things, from that faint and brief similitude, understand the whole state of the righteous, who uniformly and immovably delight in God. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 32 1 Ps 32.1

The Word Transfigured

Καὶ οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς μεταμορφοῦται ἔμπροσθεν τῶν τοιούτων μαθητῶν, οὐδὲ προστίθησι μόνον τῇ μεταμορφώσει τὸ λάμψαι τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος· ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἀναχθεῖσιν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ ὑψηλὸν ὄρος κατ' ἰδίαν φαίνεται λευκὰ ὡς τὸ φῶς · ἱμάτια δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ αἱ λέξεις καὶ ἂ ἐνεδύσατο τῶν Εὐαγγελίων γράμματα. Οἴμαι δ' ὅτι καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις δηλοῠντα τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἱμάτιά ἐστιν Ἰνσοῦ, γινόμενα τοῖς ἀναβαίνουσιν εἰς τὸ ὑψηλὸν ὃρος μετὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λευκά. Ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ καὶ λευκῶν εἰσι διαφοραὶ, τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ γίνονται λευκὰ ὡς τὸ πάντων λευκὸν λαμπρότατον καὶ καθαρώτατον· τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ φῶς. Ἐπὰν οὖν ἴδῃς τινὰ οὐ μόνον τὴν περὶ Ἰησοῦ θεολογίαν ἀκριβοῦντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν λέξιν τῶν Εὐαγγελίων πᾶσαν σαφηνίζοντα, μὴ ὄκνει τῷ τοιούτῳ φάσκειν γεγονέναι τὰ ἱμάτια τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λευκὰ ὡς τὸ φῶς. Ἐπὰν δὲ οὕτω νοηθῇ καὶ θεωρηθῇ μεταμορφωθεὶς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ εἶναι ἥλιον, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ λευκὰ ὡς τὸ φῶς, εὐθέως ὀφθεῖεν ἂν τῷ τοιοῦτον ἰδόντι τὸν Ἰησοῦν Μωσῆς ὁ νόμος, καὶ ὁ Ἠλίας συνεκδοχικῶς, οὐχ εἰς μόνος, ἀλλὰ πάντες οἱ προφῆται κοινολογούμενοι πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν· τοιοῠτον γάρ ἐστι τὸ δηλούμενον· Μετ' αὐτοῦ συλλαλοῦντες· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Λουκᾶν· Μωσῆς καὶ Ἠλίας ὀφθέντες ἐν δοξῃ, καὶ τὰ ἐξῆς, ἕως τοῦ, ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ. Εἴ τις δὲ εἶδε Μωσέως τὴν δόξαν, νοήσας τὸν πνευματικὸν νόμον, ὡς ἕνα πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν λόγον, καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις ἐν μυστηρίῳ ἀποκεκρυμμένην σοφίαν, εἴδε Μωσῆν καὶ Ἠλἰαν ἐν δόξῃ, ὅτε εἶδε αὐτοὺς μετὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Εἶτα, ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὸν Μάρκον δεήσει διηγήσασθαι τό· Καὶ ἐν τῷ προσεύχεσθαι αὐτὸν μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσωεν αὐτῶν, λεκτέον, ὅτι μήποτε μάλιστά ἐστιν ἰδεῖν τὸν Λόγον ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν μεταμορφούμενον, ἐὰν τὰ προειρημένα ποιήσωμεν, καὶ ἀναβῶμεν εἰς τὸ ὅρος, καὶ ἴδωμεν τὸν Αὐρολόγον κοινολογούμενον πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ εὐχόμενον αὐτῷ ὑπὲρ ὦν εὔξαιτ' ἄν ἀληθινὸς ἀρχιερεὺς ἀληθινῷ μόνῳ Θεῷ. Ἵνα δὲ οὕτω Θεῷ ὁμιλῇ, καὶ προσεύξηται τῷ Πατρὶ, ἀναβαίνει εἰς τὸ ὅρος· τότε δὲ κατὰ Μάρκον Γίνονται τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ λευκὰ καὶ στίλβοντα ὡς τὸ φῶς, οἴα γναφεὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς οὐ δύναται οὕτως λευκάναι. Καὶ τάχα οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς γναφεῖς οἱ ἐπιμελούμενοι εἰσι σοφοὶ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου λέξεως ἥς νομίζουσι λαμπρᾰς καὶ καθαρᾶς, ὡς κοσμεῖσθαι δοκεὶν καὶ τὰ αἰσχρὰ νοήματα, καὶ τὰ ψευδῆ δόγματα ὑπὸ τῆς, ἵν' οὕτως ὀνομάσθ, γναφικῆς αὐτῶν· ὁ δὲ στίλβοντα τοῖς ἐπαναβεβηκόσον ἐπιδεικνὺς τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ, καὶ λαμπρότερα ὦν δύναται ποιεῖν ἡ ἐκείνων γναφικὴ, ὁ Λόγος ἐστὶ, παριστὰς ἐν ταῖς ὑπὸ πολλῶν καταφρονουμέναις λέξεσι τῶν Γραφῶν τὴν τῶν νοημάτων στίλψιν, ὁτε ὁ ἱματισμὸς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, κατὰ τὸν Λουκᾶν, λευκὸς καὶ ἐξαστράπτων γίνεται. Ὠριγένης, Κατὰ Ματθαιον Ἐξηγητικων, Τομος ΙΒ'

And not only is He transfigured before such disciples, nor does He only add to the transfiguration his face shining like the sun, for even his garments appear white as the light to those who were led up by Him into the high mountain, 1 and the garments of Jesus are the expressions and letters of the Gospels with which He invested Himself. For I think that the words in the Apostles which indicate the truths concerning Him are the garments of Jesus, which become white to those who go up into the high mountain along with Jesus. But since there are differences of white things, it is said His garments become white as the brightest and purest of all white things, and that is light. When then you note someone not only having an accurate theology concerning Jesus, but also one who is able to make clear every expression of the Gospels, do not hesitate to say that to him the garments of Jesus have become white as the light. And when the Son of God in His transfiguration is so understood and beheld, His face like the sun, and His garments white like light, immediately there will appear to him who beholds Jesus in such a way Moses, the law, and Elijah, in the way of synecdoche, not one prophet only, but all the prophets, holding converse with Jesus, for such is clear from: 'they were talking with Him,' 2  and, according to Luke, 'Moses and Elijah appeared in glory,' down to the words, 'in Jerusalem.' 3  But if any one sees the glory of Moses, having understood the spiritual law as one with the teaching of Jesus, and the wisdom in the prophets which is hidden in a mystery, 4 he sees Moses and Elijah in glory when he sees them with Jesus. Then, since one must speak on the passage as given in Mark, ' And as He was praying He was transfigured before them,' 5 let it be said that one may certainly see the Word transfigured before us if we have done the things we have spoken of, and gone up the mountain, and seen the absolute Word holding converse with the Father, and praying to Him for such things as the true High Priest might pray for to the only true God. But that He might thus associate with God and pray to the Father, He goes up the mountain, and then, according to Mark, 'His garments became white and glistening as the light, as no fuller on earth can whiten them.' 6 And perhaps the fullers on the earth are the wise of this age who have great care over speech which they consider to be bright and pure, so that even their ugly thoughts and deceitful teachings seem to be beautified by their fulling, so to speak, but He who shows His own garments glistening and brighter than their fulling can make them to those who have ascended is the Word, who gives in the expressions of the Scriptures, which are despised by many, the glistening of His thoughts, when the garments of Jesus, according to Luke, became white and dazzling. 7 Origen, from the Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Book 12 1 Mt 17:2 2 Mt 17:3 3 Lk 9:30-31 4 1 Cor 2:7 5 Lk 9.28 ! 6 Mk 9:3 7 Lk 9:29

The Eighth Day

In diebus octo assumpsit, et duxit in montem. Quid est quod iste dicit: In diebus octo post haec verba. Ne forte quia is qui verna Christi audit et credit, resurrectionis tempore gloriam Christi videbit; octava enim die facta est resurrectio; unde et plerique psalmi in octavam inscribuntur. Aut forte ut ostenderet nobis quia dixerat quod is qui propter Dei verbum perdiderit animam suam, salvam faciet eam; quoniam promissa sua in resurrectione restituat. Sed Matthaeus et Marcus post dies sex assumptos hos esse memorarunt  De quo possemus dicere, post sex millia annorum, Mille enim anni in conspectu Dei tamquam dies una: sed plures quam sex millia computantur anni: et malumus sex dies per symbolum intelligere, quod sex diebus mundi opera sunt creata; ut per tempus opera, per opera mundum intelligamus. Et ideo mundi temporibus impletis, resurrectio futura monstratur: aut quia is qui supra mundum ascenderit, et hujus saeculi momenta transcenderit, velut in sublimi locatus, futurae resurrectionis expectabit aeternum. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VII

On the eighth day he took them up and led them on to the mountain. 1 What is the meaning of him saying, 'On the eighth day after these words' unless perhaps that he who is a servant of Christ, who hears and believes, shall see in time the glory of the resurrection of Christ. For the eighth day is the resurrection, whence many Psalms are written in eight sections. 2 Or perhaps that it might be shown to us that he said that he who for the word of God gives his own soul, that he will save it, because His promise will restore in the resurrection. But Matthew and Mark recall that he took them up on the sixth day. 3 Concerning which we are able to say, after six thousand years, 'For a thousand years are as a day in the sight of God ' 4 but more than six thousand years are reckoned, and we prefer to understand the six days as a figure, that in six days the things of the world were created, that through time the works were done, and through the works we might understand the world. And therefore with the fullness of the time of the earth, the future resurrection will be shown. Or because this is of the one who has risen above the world, and this age transcended, and as in sublime place, is expecting the eternity of the future resurrection. Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 7 1 Lk 9.28 2 cf Ps 6 and 11 3 Mt 17.1 , Mk 9.1 4 Ps 89.4

The Great Lights

Et fecit Deus duo luminaria magna: luminare majus in principatum diei, et luminare minus in pincipatum noctis, et stella. Et posuit ea Deus in firmamento caeli, ut luceant super terram et potestatem habeant diei et noctis, et dividant inter medium lucis et inter medium tenebrarum. Et vidit quia bonum est: et factum est vespere et factum est mane dies quarta.   Sicut sol et luna magna luminaria dicta sunt esse in firmamento coeli; ita et in nobis Christus et Ecclesia. Sed quoniam etiam stellas in firmamento posuit Deus, videamus quae sunt etiam in nobis stellae, id est, in cordis nostri coelo. Moyses stella est in nobis, quae lucet et illuminat nos aetibus suis. Et Abraham, Isaac et Jacob et Isaias, et Jeremias, et Ezechiel, et David, et Daniel: et omnes quibus Scriptura sancta testimonium dedit, quia placuerint Deo. Sicut enim 'stella ab stella differt in claritate ita et a Christo atque Ecclesia illuminatur mentes nostrae. Ita tamen illuminamur, si non simus mentibus caeci. Nam sicut sol et luna corporalibus oculis caecos quamvis illustrent, illi tamen recipere lumen non possunt; ita et Christus lucem suam praestat mentibus nostris, sed ita demum nos illuminabit, si nequaquam caecitas mentis impediat. Quod etiam si accidat primo, oportet eos qui caeci sunt sequi Christum, dicentes et clamantes: Misere nobis, fili David,'  ut etiam visum ab ipso recipientes, possint deinceps et lucis ejus splendore radiari. Verum non aequaliter omnes qui vident illuminantur a Christo, sed singuli secundum eam mensuram illuminantur, qua vim luminis recipere valent. Et sicut non aequaliter oculi corporis nostri illuminantur a sole, sed quanto quis in loca altiora conscenderit, et ortum ejus editioris speculae intuitione fuerit contemplatus, tanto amplius et splendoris ejus vim percipiet et caloris: ita etiam mens nostra quanto altius et excelsius appropinquaverit Christo, ac se viciniorem splendori lucis ejus objecerit, tanto magnificentius et clarius ejus lumine radiabitur, sicut et ipse ait per prophetam; Approprinquate mihi et appropinquabo vobis dicit Dominus. Et iterum dicit, Deus approximans ego sum, et non Deus de longe' Non similiter tamen venimus ad eum omnes sed unusquisue secundum propriam suam virtutem. Aut enim cum turbis venimus ad eum, et per parabolas nos reficit, ad hoc tantummodo ne multis jejuniis deficiamus in via: aut certe semper et indesinenter ejus pedibus assidemus, vacantes ad hoc solum ut audiamus verbum ejus, nequaquam perturbati erga multum ministerium, sed optimam partem eligentes, quae non auferetur a nobis. Et utique qui sic accedunt ad eum, multo amplius ex ejus lumine consequuntur. Si vero sicut apostoli nusquam omnino moveamur ab eo, sed semper cum eo permaneamus in omnibus tribulationibus ejus, tunc nobis secreto ea, quae ad turbas locutus fuerat, exponit, atque dissolvit, et multo clarius illuminat nos. Si vero etiam talis quis fuerit, ut possit et in montem ascendere cum eo sicut Petrus et jacobus et Joannes, iste non solum Christi lumine, sed etiam Patris ipsius illuminabitur voce. Origenes, Homilia I In Genesim, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense

'And God made two great lights, the great light to rule the day and a lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. And God placed them in the firmament of Heaven that they shine on all the earth and that they have power over the day and the night, and they divided between the middle of the light and between the middle of the darkness. And He saw that it was good and there was an evening and a morning, the fourth day .' 1 Like the sun and moon  there are said to be great lights in the firmament of heaven, that is, in us Christ and the Church. But because God placed stars in heaven, we see that there are also stars in us, that is, in our heavenly heart. Moses is a star in us, which shines and illuminates us with his age. And Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and David and Daniel, and all of whom Scripture testifies as being holy, because they were pleasing to God. For as star and star differs in brightness, 2 so even by Christ and the Church our minds are illuminated. That is, we are illuminated if we are not blind in our minds. For as the sun and moon are to our corporeal eyes, that though they shine we may not able to see their light, so even Christ offers his light to our eyes, but we are only illuminated if we have no blindness of mind. And if that blindness should happen, first we should follow those blind men who followed Christ, crying out, ' Be merciful to us, son of David' 3 that receiving sight  from Him, we may then be able to be lit up by the splendour of his light. Certainly all are not equal who receive light from Christ, but each is illuminated according to his measure, that is, by the power of the light that he is able to receive. And as our corporeal eyes are not lit equally by the sun, but much more is he  who has risen to a higher place where he may contemplate His rising by thought on the mirror which shows Him, and there so much more shall a man perceive His splendour and heat to be. So even our minds the more they rise and are higher, having neared Christ, being closer as He throws down the splendour of his light, so much more magnificently and brightly are they lit up by His light, as even He says through the Prophet, Draw near to me and I shall draw near to you, says the Lord 4. And again He says, 'I am God who is near not a God who is far off.' 5 Not in identical fashion do we come to Him, but everyone comes according to his own virtue. For either we come with the crowds to Him, and by parables he refreshes us, lest by being little used to fasting we weary on the way. Or we sit at length near His feet, attending only to this: that we hear His word, not all disturbed by many distractions, but choosing the better part, which will not be taken from us. 6 And he who approaches Him in this way obtains much more of His light. Truly if we be as the Apostles and never move away from Him, but always remain with him in His troubles, then to us is expounded the mystery of what he has spoken to the crowd who have been dismissed. And yet with much more light He may illuminate us. And if indeed someone would have that, let him be able to climb up the mountain like Peter and James and John, 7 there not only to be illuminated by Christ, but even to be illuminated by the voice of the Father. Origen, First Homily on Genesis, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Gen 1.16 2 2 Cor 15.41 3 Mt 9.27  4 Zach 1.3  5 Jer 23.23  6 Lk 10. 39-42  7 Lk 9.28

The Living Sacrifice

'Obsecro itaque vos, fratres, per misericordiam Dei, ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventiam, sanctam, Deo placentem, rationabile, obsequium vestrum. Et nolite confimari huic saeculo: sed reformamini rennovatione sensus vestri: ut probetis quae sit voluntas Dei, quod bonum, et beneplacitum, et perfectum Quoniam, inquit, ostendimus a sacrificiis carnalibus recedendum, secundum quod et Propheta dicit: Hostias et oblationem noluisti, nec placita sunt tibi : nunc, ait, doceo vos quibus hostiis delectetur Deus: et haec doceo non quasi imperans, nihil enim proficit legis imperium, sed quasi qui officium susceperim reconciliandi vos Deo, osbsecro vos, fratres; et obsecro non per potentiam, sed per misericordiam Dei. Quia enim, sicut supra ostendi omnes conclusi sunt sub peccato,  nunc iam non in meritis, sed in misericordia Dei salus humana consistit. Quid autem est quod vos obsecro? Ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem, santam, Deo placentem, ut sit rationabile obsequium vestrum. Obsequium hic cultum Dei dicit. Qui cultus quoniam dudum in pecudum mutorum corporibus consistebat, nunc, inquit, in corpore rationabilis hominis offeratur, et corpora magis vestra quam  pecudum fiant sacrificiorum quae in Levitico lata est secundum spiritalem intelligiam complent. Verbi causa, ut ibi offerebant vitulum primo loco, vel secundo arietem, aut tertio hircum, aut quarto turtures, vel etiam pullos columbarum, ut in his uniuscujusque anima purificaretur pro qualitate gestorum; haec nunc in suo corpore unusquisque purificans, et spiritali sensu discernens, rationabili obsequio viventem hostiam offert Deo. De quibus singulis, cum in librum Levitici aliqua diceremus, pro viribus explanare tentavimus quomodo unusquisque rationabili obsequio cultus Dei, si superbiam corporis sui vincat, immolet vitulum; si iracunduam superet, arietem jugulet; si libidinem vincat, holocaustum offerat hircum; si vagos et lubricos cogitationum resecet volatus, columbas et turtures immolet. Origenes, Commentarium in Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber IX, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense

'I beg you, brothers, through the mercy of God, that you show your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy , pleasing to God, and a reasonable offering. And do not conform to this age: but be remade in  the renewal of your mind that you might discover what is the will of God, what is good, and pleasing, and perfect.'1   Because, he said, we are shown that we must withdraw from carnal sacrifice, when the Prophet says 'Sacrifices and oblations You did not want nor are they pleasing to You,' 2 now, he says, I shall teach you what sacrifices delight God: and I teach not like one who commands, for the rule of the law profits not, but as one who has taken up this office for reconciliation with God, and I beseech not through power, but through the mercy of God. Because indeed, as we have said before, everyone has been bound up within sin, 3 and so man's salvation is brought about not by his own merit but by the mercy of God. And what is this I ask? That you show your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, a reasonable offering. Here he speaks of worship as being an offering to God. That worship then which a little time ago consisted in the changeable bodies of cattle, now, he says, shall be offered with reason by the body of man, and so let your body, not beasts, be brought to sacrifice, that one may have a spiritual understanding of Leviticus. By the word, we offer there in first place flesh, or as second a ram, or third a goat, or fourth turtle doves, or even doves, that the soul may be purified by the quality of deeds, these things now purifying the body, discerned with spiritual sense, offered humbly as a reasonable sacrifice to God. Concerning these things we have mentioned from the book of Leviticus we shall try to explain how each one may be a rational offering for the worship of God. If  a man would conquer pride of body he sacrifices flesh; if anger he would overcome, he chooses a ram, if lust he would defeat he offers a holocaust of goats, if he would fly from wandering and slippery thoughts, he sacrifices doves and turtle doves. Origen, Commentary on Romans, Book 9, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Rom 12 -1-2 2 Ps 39.7 3 Rom 11.32