Preaching, Rule And Glory

Οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς κηρύσσομεν  Ἀναφορὰν ἔχει ἡ προκειμένη λέξις πρὸς τὸ οὐχ ὅτι κυριεύομεν τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν· ἀκολούθως γὰρ ἐκείνῳ ῥηθείη ἄν· οὐχ ἑαυτοὺς κηρύττομεν, διὸ οὐ κυριεύομεν ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως· κηρύττομεν γὰρ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν θεὸν κύριον, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ δούλους ὑμῶν διὰ Χριστοῦ. ὥστε οὐχ ἡμεῖς ἀλλ' αὐτὸς κυριεύει τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, ἀποδεχόμενος ἢ κρίνων ὑμᾶς κατ' αὐτήν. πρὸς τούτοις καὶ τὸ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ὁ εἰπὼν ἐκ σκότους φῶς λάμψαι, συναπτέον τῷ ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντες ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμεθα. ἐκ σκότους δὲ λάμπεται φῶς τῷ ἐξ ἀγνοίας εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐρχομένῳ· λέγομεν γοῦν ἐξ ἀγνοοῦντος καὶ ἀληθοῦς ἐπιστήμονα καὶ πεπαιδευμένον γίνεσθαι. τῆς οὖν προκαταλαβούσης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀγνοίας καὶ κακίας ὠνομασμένων σκότους, ἔλαμψεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις φωτισμὸν πρακτικῆς καὶ διανοητικῆς ἀρετῆς, ἵν' ἔχωσι θεωρίας τῆς δόξης Χριστοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ. δόξαν δὲ ἤτοι καθ' ἣν φρονοῦσι περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἢ δόξαν καθ' ἣν δεδοξασμένον αὐτὸν ἴσμεν. Δυδύμος του Ἀλεξανδρέως, Εἰς Την Δευτεραν Ἐπιστολήν Προς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογή  Migne PG 39 1697-1700

'For we do not preach ourselves.' 1 This bears a relation to the passage that says, 'For we do not wish to dominate your faith.' 2 for following that it may be said, 'We do not preach ourselves, on account of not wanting to dominate your faith.' 'For we preach the Lord God Jesus Christ, and we are your servants on account of Christ,' 1 and thus not we, but He rules your faith, testing and approving you according to it. Whence it is said: 'The God who told light to shine out from darkness.' 1 that we all be united, reflecting the revealed face of God's glory. The light illuminates the darkness, and from ignorance we come to knowledge of truth. So it is said that from ignorance and unlearnedness comes wisdom and learning. When therefore men are beset by ignorance and wickedness and are named darkness, God makes shine in their hearts the light of practical and intellectual virtue, by which men acquire awareness of Christ in His own person; glory, I say, by which they have knowledge of Him, glory by which we come to the same glorification. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on Second Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 4.5 2 2 Cor 1.23 3 2 Cor 4.6