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 T. and T. Clark's Publications. 
 
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 AI^TE-2s^ICENE 
 
 CHRISTIAN LIBRARY 
 
 TRANSLATIONS OF 
 THE WRITINGS OF THE FA THERS 
 
 DOiyy TO A.D. 325. 
 
 EDITED BY TltE 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D.D, 
 
 AND 
 
 JAMES DONALDSON, LL.D. 
 
 VOL. XIY. 
 
 THE WKITiNGS OF METHODIUS 
 
 ETC. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 T. & T. CLAKK, 38, GEORGE STREET. 
 
 Mi)CCCLX\x)ri.
 
 PRINTED BY MORRISON' AND OIBB, 
 FOB 
 
 T. & T. CLAHK, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON, . . • • HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 
 DUBLIN, .... GEORGE HERBERT. 
 
 KEW YORK, . . • SrRlBNER AND WELFORD.
 
 THE 
 
 WRITINGS OF METHODIUS, 
 
 ALEXANDER OF LYCOPOLIS, 
 
 PETER OF ALEXAIfDRIA, 
 
 AND SEVERAL FEAG:MEN'TS. 
 
 EDINBUEGH: 
 T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. 
 
 LONDON : HAMILTON & CO. DUBLIN : JOHN ROBEIiTSON k CO. 
 BIUCCCLXXXIII.
 
 3^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE WEITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins ; or, concerning Chastity, 
 Discourse i. !Marcella, . 
 II. Theophila, 
 
 III. Thaleia, . 
 
 IV. Theopatra, 
 
 V. Thallousa, 
 
 VI. Agathe, . 
 
 VII. Procilla, . 
 
 VIII. Thekla, . 
 IX. Tusiane, . 
 
 X. Domnina, 
 
 XI. Arete, 
 Concerning Free Will, 
 From the Discourse on the Resurrection, 
 The Second Discourse on the Resurrection, 
 From the Discourse on the Resurrection (Photius, Bibliotheca 
 
 cod. 234), .... 
 A Fragment on the History of Jonah, 
 Extracts from the Work on Things Created, 
 Fragments against Porphyry, 
 From his Discourse concerning Martyrs, 
 Oration concerning Simeon and Anna on the Day that they 
 
 met in the Temple, 
 Oration on the Pahns, 
 Three Fragments from the Homily on the Cross and Passion 
 
 of Christ, ..... 
 Some other Fragments of the same Methodius, 
 
 PAOE 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 37 
 
 43 
 
 52 
 
 58 
 
 67 
 
 92 
 
 101 
 
 109 
 
 120 
 
 139 
 
 152 
 
 153 
 174 
 176 
 183 
 183 
 
 184 
 210 
 
 221 
 226 
 
 ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF LYCOPOLIS. 
 
 Notice of his Life and Writings, 
 On the Tenets of the Manichccans, 
 
 23.3 
 236 

 
 Vi CONTENTS. 
 
 PETER, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Historical Notice, ...... 2G9 
 
 The Genuine Acts of Peter of Alexandria, . . . 272 
 The Canonical Epistle, with the Commentaries of Theodore 
 
 Balsamon and John Zonaras, .... 292 
 
 Letter to the Church at Alexandria, .... 323 
 
 , Fragment from the Book on the Godhead, . . . 323 
 
 Fragment from the Homily on the Advent of our Saviour, 324 
 
 Fragment from the Homily on the Sojourning of Christ with us, 324 
 
 That up to the time of the Destruction of Jerusalem, the 
 
 Jews rightly appointed the Fourteenth Day of the first 
 
 Lunar Month, ...... 325 
 
 Of the Soul and Body, 330 
 
 On St Matthew, . . . . . .331 
 
 From a Sermon or a Treatise on Theology, . . . 332 
 
 ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 Introduction, ....... 338 
 
 Epistles on the Arian Heresy, and the Deposition of Arius, . 334 
 Two Fragments from an Epistle to jEglon, Bishop of 
 
 Cynopolis, against the Arians, .... 355 
 
 On the Soul and Body and the Passion of the Lord, . . 356 
 
 CLEMENT OF ROME. 
 
 Introductory Notice, ...... 365 
 
 Two Epistles concerning Virginity, .... 367 
 
 FRAGMENTS OF WRITERS OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 
 
 Theognostus of Alexandria — 
 
 Biographical Notice, ..... 396 
 
 Fragments of his Seven Books of Hypotj^oses or Outlines, 397 
 
 PiERius OF Alexandria — 
 
 Biographical Notice, ..... 399 
 A Fragment of a Work of Pierius on the First Epistle of 
 
 Paul to the Corinthians, .... 400 
 
 Different Discourses of the Presbyter Pierius, . . 400
 
 COXTEXTS. vii 
 
 Malchiox, a Presbyter of the Church of Axtioch — 
 
 Biographical Notice, ..... 401 
 
 The Epistle -flrritten by Malchion, in name of the Synod 
 
 of Antioch against Paul of Samosata, . . 402 
 
 Fragments apparently of the same Epistle of the Synod 
 
 of Antioch ; to wit, of that part of it which it is 
 
 agreed that Eusebius left unnoticed, . . . 407 
 
 From the Acts of the Disputation Conducted by Malchion 
 
 against Paul of Samosata, .... 409 
 
 An'atolius of Alexandria, Bishop of Laodicea, in Syria — 
 
 Biographical Notice, . . . • .410 
 
 The Paschal Canon of Anatolius, . . . . 411 
 
 Fragments of the Books on Arithmetic, . . . 4-17 
 
 Theonas, Bishop of Alexandria — 
 
 Biographical Notice, . . . . .431 
 
 The Epistle of Theonas, Bishop of Alexandria, to 
 
 Lucianus, the Chief Chamberlain, . . . 432 
 
 Phileas, Bishop of Thmuis and Martyr — 
 
 Biographical Notice, ..... 439 
 
 Fragments of the Epistle of Phileas to the People of 
 
 Thmuis, ...... 440 
 
 The Epistle of the same Phileas of Thmuis to Meletius, 
 
 Bishop of Lycopolis, ..... 443 
 
 Pamphilus, Presbyter of the Church of C^esareia, and 
 Martyr — 
 Biographical Notice, ..... 447 
 
 An Exposition of the Chapters of the Acts of the 
 
 Apostles, by Pamphilus the lilartyr, . . 44S 
 
 Indexes — 
 
 Index of Texts, ...... 457 
 
 Index of Subjects, ..... 4G4
 
 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 ETIIODIUS, who is also called Eubuliiis/ vras 
 first of all bishop simultaneously of Olympus 
 aud Patara, in Lycia, as is testified by several 
 ancient wiiters.'^ lie was afterwards removed, 
 according to St Jerome, to the episcopal see of Tyre in 
 Phoenicia, and at the end of the latest of the great per- 
 secutions of the Church, about the year 312, he suffered 
 martyrdom at Chalcis in Greece. Some consider that 
 it was at Chalcis in Syria, and that St Jerome's testi- 
 mony ought to be thus understood, as Syria was more 
 likely to be the scene of his martjTdom than Greece, 
 as being nearer to his diocese. Others affirm that he 
 suffered under Decius and Valerian ; but this is incorrect, 
 since he wrote not only against Origen long after the death 
 of Adamantius, but also against PorphjTy, whilst he was 
 alive, in the reign of Diocletian. 
 
 Methodius is known chiefly as the antagonist of Origen; 
 although, as has been pointed out, he was himself influenced 
 in no small degree by the method of Origen, as may be seen 
 by his tendency to allegorical interpretations of Holy Scrip- 
 ture. The only complete work of this writer wliich has 
 come do^wn to us is his Banquet of the Ten Virgijis, a 
 dialogue of considerable power and grace, in praise of the 
 virginal life. His antagonism to Origen, however, comes 
 
 1 St Epiph. Hocres. 64, sec. 63. 
 
 * St Hieronymus, Dc viris illust. c 83.
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 out less in this than in his works On the Eesurrcdion, and 
 On Things Created. The treatise On Free Will is, accordiag 
 to recent critics, of doubtful authorship, although the in- 
 ternal evidence must be said to confirm the ancient testi- 
 monies which assign it to Methodius. His writings against 
 Porphyry, with the exception of some slight fragments, are 
 lost, as are also his exegetical writings. 
 
 !For the larger fragments we are indebted to Epiphanius 
 {Hccrcs. 64), and Photius {BiUiotheca, 234-37). 
 
 Combefis published an edition of his works in 1644; but 
 only so much of the Banquet as was contained in the 
 BiUiotheca of Photius. In 1656 Leo Allatius published for 
 the first time a complete edition of this work at Eome from 
 the Vatican MS. Combefis in 1672 published an edition 
 founded chiefly upon this; and liis work has become the 
 basis of all subsequent reprints. 
 
 The following translation has been made almost entirely 
 from the text of Migne, which is generally accurate, and the 
 arrangement of which has been followed throughout. The 
 edition of Jahn in some places rearranges the more frag- 
 mentary works, especially that On the Resurrection; but, 
 although his text was occasionally found useful in amend- 
 ing the old readings, and in improving the punctuation, it 
 was thought better to adhere in general to the text which is 
 best known, 
 
 A writer who was pronounced by St Epiphanius^ to 
 be oivrip Xoyiog xai spodpa -Tnpl rl^g aXrihlag ayuvtsdiJ^ivog^ and by 
 St Jerome, disertissiimis martyr^ who elsewhere speaks of 
 him as one who nitidi compositique sermonis lihros confecit^ 
 cannot be altogether unworthy the attention of the nine- 
 teenth century. 
 
 ^ Epiph. Hmr. 64, sec. 63. ^ Hieron. Com. in Ban. c. 13. 
 
 2 Id. De vir. ill. c. 83. Many more sucli testimonies will he found 
 collected in tlie various editions of his works in Greek.
 
 The Treatises in tHs Volume, from page 1 to page 230, are translated 
 by Rev. William R. Clark, M.A. Oxen., Vicar of St Mary Magda- 
 lene, Taunton ; from page 233 to 363, by Rev. James B. H. Hawkixs, 
 M.A. Oxon., Curate of Ilminster, Somerset ; from page 3G5 to 395, by 
 Rev. B. L. Pratten; and from page 39G to 455, by Rev. S. D. 
 S ALMOND, Free Cliurcli, Barry.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 CONCERNING CHASTITY. 
 
 Persons of the Dialogue : 
 
 EuBOULios/ Gregorion, Arete; Marcella, Theophila, 
 Thalfja, Tiieopatra, Thallousa, Agathe, Procilla, 
 Thekla, Tusiane, Domnina. 
 
 INTEODUCTIOK 
 
 Flan of the worh — Way to Paradise — Description and per- 
 sonification of Virtue — Y%€ Agnos a symbol of Chastity — 
 Marcella, the eldest and foremost among the Virgins of 
 Christ. 
 
 \UBOULIOS. — You have arrived most seasonably, 
 Gregorion, for I have just been looking for you, 
 ^vantiiiiT to hear of the meeting of iMarcella and 
 1'heopatra, and of the other vu'gins who wore 
 ])!( .^cnt at the banquet, and of the nature of their discourses 
 on the subject of cliastity ; for it is said that they argueil 
 with such ability and power that there was nothing lack- 
 ing to the full consideration of the subject. If, therefore, 
 you have come here for any other purpose, put that off to 
 another time, and do not delay to give us a complete and 
 connected account of the matter of M'hich we are inqumng. 
 Gregorion. — I seem to be disappointed of my hope, as 
 
 ^ In Migne's ed. Euhoulion, but apparently with lc.s.s authority ; 
 and probably because the name is connected with that of Gregorion. 
 Evboidios is a man, and Gregorion a woman. 
 
 A
 
 2 THE WIUTIXGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 some one else has given you intelligence beforehand on the 
 subject respecting which you ask me. For 1 thought that 
 you had heard nothing of what had happened, and I was 
 llattcring myself greatly with the idea that I should be the 
 first to tell you of it. And for this reason I made all haste 
 to come here to yon, feaiing the very thing which has hap- 
 pened, that some one might anticipate me. 
 
 Eul). — Be comforted, my excellent friend, for we have 
 had no precise information respecting anything which hap- 
 pened ; since the person who brought us the intelligence 
 had nothing to tell us, except that there had been dialogues ; 
 but when he was asked what they were, and to what pur- 
 pose, he did not know. 
 
 Greg. — Well then, as I came here for this reason, do you 
 want to hear all that was said from the beginning ; or shall 
 I pass by parts of it, and recall only those points which I 
 consider worthy of mention ? 
 
 Euh. — By no means the latter ; but first, Gregorion, relate 
 to us from the very beginning where the meeting was, and 
 about the setting forth of the viands, and about yourself, 
 how you poured out the wine 
 
 " They in golden cups 
 Each other pledged, while towards broad heaven they looked." 
 
 HoM. II. iv. 3, 4. 
 
 Greg. — ^You are always skilful in discussions, and exces- 
 sively powerful in argument — thoroughly confuting all your 
 adversaries. 
 
 JEub. — It is not worth while, Gregorion, to contend about 
 these things at present ; but do oblige us by simply telling 
 us what happened from the beginning. 
 
 Greg. — Well, I will try. But first answer me this : You 
 know, I presume, Arete,^ the daughter of Philosophia ? 
 
 Eub. — Why do you ask ? 
 
 Greg. — " We went by invitation to a garden of hers with 
 an eastern aspect, to enjoy the fruits of the season, myself" 
 (I am repeating the words of Theopatra, for it was of her 
 I obtained the information), " and Procilla, and Tusiane. We 
 
 ^ A personification of ■virtue, the daughter of philosophy.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 3 
 
 went, Grcgorion, by a very rough, steep, and arduous path. 
 When," said Theopatra, "we drew near to the place, we 
 were met by a tall and beautiful woman walking along 
 quietly and gracefully, clothed in a shining robe as white as 
 snow. Her beauty was something altogether inconceivable 
 and divine. Modesty, blended with majesty, bloomed on her 
 countenance. It was a face," she said, " such as I know 
 not that I had ever seen, awe-inspiring, yet tempered with 
 gentleness and mirth ; for it was wholly unadorned by art, 
 and had nothing counterfeit. She came up to us, and, like 
 a mother who sees her daughters after a long separation, slie 
 embraced and kissed each one of us with great joy, saying, 
 ' 0, my daughters, you have come with toil and pain to me 
 who am earnestly longing to conduct you to the pasture of 
 immortality ; toilsomely have you come by a way abound- 
 ing with many frightful reptiles ; for, as I looked, I saw you 
 often stepping aside, and I was fearing lest you should tiu-ii 
 back and slip over the precipices. But thanks to the 
 Bridegroom to whom I have espoused ^ you, my children, 
 for having granted an effectual answer to all our prayers.' 
 And, while she is thus speaking," said Theopatra, " we 
 arrive at the enclosure, the doors not being shut as yet, and 
 as we enter we come upon Thekla and Agathe and Marcella 
 preparing to sup. And Arete immediately said, ' Do you 
 also come hither, and sit down here in your place along 
 with these your fellows.' Now," said she to me, " we who 
 were there as guests were altogether, I think, ten in num- 
 ber ; and the place was marvellously beautiful, and abound- 
 ing in the means of recreation. The air was diffused in soft 
 and regular currents, mingled with pure beams of light, and 
 a stream flowing as gently as od through tlie very middle 
 of the garden, threw up a most delicious drink ; and the 
 water flowing from it, transparent and pure, formed itself 
 into fountains, and these, overflowing like rivers, watered 
 all the garden with their abundant streams ; and there were 
 different kinds of trees there, full of fresh iruits, and the 
 fruits that hung joyfully IVom their branches were of ecjual 
 ' -1 Cor. xi. 2.
 
 4 THE WJUTJyas OF MF/niOlJli'.^. 
 
 beauty ; and there were ever-blooming meadows strewn 
 with variegated and sweet-scented flowers, from which came 
 a gentle breeze laden with sweetest odour. And the Agnos^ 
 grew near, a lofty tree, under which Ave reposed, from its 
 being exceedingly widespreading and shady." 
 
 Eiib. — You seem to me, my good friend, to be making a 
 revelation of a second paradise. 
 
 Greg. — You speak truly and wisely. " When there," she 
 said, " we had all kinds of food and a variety of festivities, 
 so that no delight was wanting. After this Arete, entering, 
 gave utterance to these words : — 
 
 'Young maidens, the glory of my greatness, beautiful 
 virgins, who tend the undefiled meadows of Christ with 
 unwedded liands, we have now had enough of food and 
 feasting, for all things are abundant and plentiful with us, 
 What is there, then, besides which I wish and expect ? 
 That each of you shall pronounce a discourse in praise of 
 virginity. Let Marcella begin, since she sits in the highest 
 place, and is at the same time the eldest. I shall be 
 ashamed of myself if T do not make the successful dis- 
 putant an object of envy, binding her with the unfading 
 flowers of wisdom.' 
 
 " And then," I think she said, " Marcella immediately 
 began to speak as follows." 
 
 DISOOUESE I.— Marcella. 
 
 Chap. i. — The difficulty and excellence of virginity — Hie study 
 of doctrine necessary for virgins. 
 
 Virginity is something supernaturally great, wonderful, 
 and glorious ; and, to speak plainly and in accordance with 
 the Holy Scriptures, this best and noblest manner of life 
 alone is the root^ of immortality, and also its flower and 
 
 1 " A tall tree like the willow, the branches of which were strewn by 
 matrons on their beds at tlie Thesmophoria, vitex agnuscastus. It was 
 associated with the notion of chastity, from the likeness of its name to 
 dyvo?." — LiDDELL and Scott. 
 
 * Lit. the ndder.
 
 THE BA.\QVET OF THE TEX VIRLUXS. b 
 
 first fruits ; and for this reason the Lord promises that those 
 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven who have made 
 themselves eunuchs, in that passage^ of the Gospels in 
 which He lays down the various reasons for which men 
 have made themselves eunuchs. Chastity with men is a 
 very rare thing, and difficult of attainment, and in propc»r- 
 tion to its supreme excellence and magnificence is the 
 greatness of its dangers. 
 
 For this reason, it requires strong and generous natuitss, 
 such as, vaulting over the stream of pleasure, direct the 
 chariot of the soid upwards from the earth, not turning aside 
 from their aim, until having, by swiftness of thought, lightly 
 hounded above the world, and taken their stand truly upon 
 the vault of heaven, they purely contemplate immortality it- 
 self as it leaps out from the undefiled bosom of the Almighty. 
 
 Earth could not bring forth this draught ; heaven alone 
 knew the fountain from whence it Hows ; for we must 
 think of virginity as walking indeed upon the earth, but 
 as also reaching up to heaven. And hence some who have 
 longed for it, and considering only the end of it, have cuni<'. 
 by reason of coarseness of mind, ineffectually with unwashed 
 feet, and have gone aside out of the way, from having con- 
 ceived no woithy idea of the [virginal] manner of life. For 
 it is not enough to keep the body only undefiled, just as we 
 should not show that we think more of the temple than uf 
 the image of the god; but we should care for the souls of 
 men as being the divinities of their bodies, and adorn them 
 with righteousness. And then do they most care for them 
 and tend them when, striving untiringly to hear divine dis- 
 courses, they do not desist until, wearing the doors of the 
 wise,^ they attain to the knoAvledge of the trutli. 
 
 For as the putrid humours and matter of flesh, and all 
 those things which corrupt it, are driven out by salt, in the 
 game manner all the irrational appetites of a virgin are 
 banished from the body by divine teaching. For it nnist 
 needs be that the soul which is not sprinkled with tlie 
 words of Clirist, as Mith salt, should stink and breed worms, 
 > Matt. i.\. \-l. 2 Ki;clu8. vi. 3U.
 
 6 TIIK WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 as King David, openly confessing with tears in the moun- 
 tains, cried out, "My wounds stink and are corrupt,"^ 
 because lie had not salted liimself with tlie exercises of self- 
 control, and so subdued his carnal appetites, but had self- 
 indulgently yielded to them, and became corrupted in 
 adultery. And hence, in Leviticus,^ every gift, unless it be 
 seasoned with salt, is forbidden to be offered as an oblation 
 to the Lord God. Now the whole spiritual meditation of 
 the Scriptures is given to us as salt which stings in order 
 to benefit, and which disinfects, without which it is impos- 
 sible for a soul, by means of reason, to be brought to the 
 Almighty ; for " ye are the salt of the earth," ^ said the Lord 
 to the apostles. 
 
 It is fitting, then, that a virgin should always love things 
 v/hich are honourable, and be distinguished among the 
 foremost for wisdom, and addicted to nothing slothful or 
 luxurious, but should excel, and set her mind upon things 
 worthy of the state of virginity, always putting away, by 
 the word, the foulness of luxury, lest in any way some 
 slight hidden corruption should breed the worm of incon- 
 tinence ; for " the unmarried woman careth for the things 
 of the Lord," how she may please the Lord, " that she may 
 be holy both in body and in spirit,"* says the blessed Paul. 
 But many of them who consider the hearing of the word 
 quite a secondary matter, think they do great things if they 
 give their attention to it for a little while. But discrimiu- 
 ation must be exercised with respect to these ; for it is not 
 fitting to impart divine instruction to a nature which is 
 careful about trifles, and low, and which counterfeits wisdom. 
 For would it not be laughable to go on talking to those who 
 direct all their energy towards things of little value, in order 
 that they may complete most accurately those things which 
 they want to bring to perfection, but do not think that the 
 greatest pains are to be taken with those necessary things 
 by which most of all the love of chastity would be increased 
 in them ? 
 
 ^ Ps. xxxvii. 6 (lxx.), xTc.wdii. 5 (e. v.). 
 
 - Lev. ii. 13 ; Mark ix. 40. ' Matt, v, 13. * 1 Cor. vii. 34
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 
 
 CliAP. ]i. — Virginity a plant from heaven, introduced late 
 — The advancement of mankind to i^rfcction, how 
 arranged. 
 
 For truly by a great strctcli of power the plant of vir- 
 frinity was sent down to men from heaven, and for tliis 
 reason it was not revealed to the first generations. For 
 the race of mankind was still very small in nimiber; and it 
 was necessary that it should first be increased in number, 
 and then brought to perfection. Thereibre the men of old 
 times thought it nothing unseemly to take their own sisters 
 for wives, until tlic law coming separated them, and by 
 forbidding that -which at first had seemed to be right, 
 declared it to be a sin, calling liim cursed who should 
 "uncover the nakedness" of his sister;^ God thus merciCully 
 l)ringing to our race the needful help in due season, as 
 parents do to their children. For they do not at once set 
 masters over them, but allow them, during the period of 
 childhood, to amuse themselves like young animals, and 
 first send them to teachers stammering like themselves, 
 until they cast off the youthful wool of the mind, and go 
 onwards to the practice of greater things, and from thence 
 again to that of greater still. And thus we must consider 
 that the God and Father of all acted towards our forefathers. 
 For the world, wliile still unfilled with men, was like a child, 
 and it was necessary that it should lirst be filled with these, 
 and so grow to manhood. But when hereafter it Avas colon- 
 ized from end to end, the race of man spreading to a 
 ])oundless extent, God no longer allowed man to remain in 
 the same ways, considering how they might now proceed 
 iVom one point to another, and advance nearer to heaven, 
 until, having attained to the very greatest and most exalted 
 lesson of virgin it}', they should reach to perfection; that first 
 they should abandon the intermarriage of brothers and 
 sisters, and marry wives from other families; and tlien tliat 
 they should no longer have many wives, Wko l)rute beasts, 
 
 * Lev. xviii. 10, xt. 17.
 
 8 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 as thougli born for the mere propagation of the s])ecies; and 
 then that they sliould not be adulterers ; and then again that 
 they should go on to continence, and from continence to vir- 
 ginity, when, having trained themselves to despise the flesh, 
 they sail fearlessly into the peaceful haven of immortality. 
 
 Chap. hi. — Bij the circumcision of Abraham, marriage with 
 sisters forhiddoi—In the times of the j^rophets poly- 
 gamy put a stop to — Conjugal purity itself hy degrees 
 enforced. 
 
 If, however, any one should venture to find fault with 
 our argument as destitute of Scripture proof, we will bring 
 forward the writings of the prophets, and more fully demon- 
 strate the truth of the statements already made. Now 
 Abraham, when he first received the covenant of circum- 
 cision, seems to signify, by receiving circumcision in a 
 member of his own body, nothing else than this, that one 
 should no longer beget children with one born of the same 
 parent; showing that every one should abstain from inter- 
 course with his own sister, as his own flesh. And thus, 
 from the time of Abraham, the custom of marrying with 
 sisters has ceased; and from the times of the prophets the 
 contracting of marriage with several wives has been done 
 away with; for we read, " Go not after thy lusts, but refrain 
 thyself from thine appetites;"^ for "wine and women will 
 make men of understanding to fall away;"^ and in another 
 place, " Let thy fountain be blessed; and rejoice with the 
 wife of thy youth, "^ manifestly forbidding a plurality of 
 wives. And Jeremiah clearly gives the name of " fed 
 horses"* to those who lust after other women; and we read, 
 " The multiplying brood of the ungodly shall not thrive, nor 
 take deep rooting from bastard slips, nor lay any fast 
 foundation."^ 
 
 Lest, however, we should seem prolix in collecting the 
 testimonies of the prophets, let us again point out how 
 
 ^ Ecclus. xviii. 30. 2 Ecclus. xix. 2. ^ Yxow v. 18. 
 
 * Jer. V. 8. ^ "Wisdom iv. 3.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VJIKJINS. 9 
 
 chastity succeeded to marriage with one wife, taking away 
 by degrees the lusts of the ilesh, until it removed entirely 
 the inclination for sexual intercourse engendered by habit. 
 For presently one is introduced earnestly deprecating, from 
 henceforth, this seduction, saying, "0 Lord, Father, and 
 Governor of my life, leave me not to their counsels; give 
 me not a proud look; let not the greediness of the belly, nor 
 lust of the flesh, take hold of me."^ And in the Book of 
 Wisdom, a book full of all virtue, the Holy Spirit, now 
 openly drawing His hearers to continence and chastity, 
 sings on this wise, " Better it is to have no children, and to 
 have virtue, for the memorial thereof is immortal; because 
 it is known with God and with men. When it is present 
 men take example at it; and when it is gone they desire it: 
 it weareth a crown and triumpheth for ever, having gotten 
 the victory, striving for undefiled rewards."^ 
 
 Chap. iv. — Christ alone taught virginity, ojpenly p-eaching 
 the hingdorii of heaven — Tlie likeness of God to he 
 attained in the light of the divine virtues. 
 
 We have already spoken of the periods of the human 
 race, and how, beginning with the intermarriage of brothers 
 and sisters, it went on to continence; and we have now left 
 for us the subject of virginity. Let us then endeavour to 
 speak of this as well as we can. And first let us inquire 
 for what reason it was that no one of the many patriarchs 
 and prophets and righteous men, who taught and did many 
 noble things, either praised or chose the state of virginity. 
 Because it was reserved for the Lord alone to be the first 
 to teach this doctrine, since He alone, coming down to us, 
 taught man to draw near to God; for it was fitting that He 
 who was iirst and chief of priests, of prophets, and of angels, 
 should also be saluted as first and chief of virgins. For in 
 old times man was not yet perfect, and for tliis reason was 
 unable to receive perfection, which is virginity. For, being 
 made in the Image of God, he needed to receive that which 
 ^ EccuIh. xxiii. 1, 4, (i. - AVisd. iv. 1, 2.
 
 10 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 was according to His Likeness;'^ whicli tlie Word hcing sent 
 down into the world to perfect, He first took upon Ilim our 
 form, disfigured as it was by many sins, in order that we, 
 for whose sake He bore it, might be able again to receive the 
 divine [form]. For it is then that we are truly fashioned 
 in the likeness of God, when we represent His features in a 
 Iniman life, like skilful painters, stamping them upon our- 
 selves as upon tablets, learning the path which He showed 
 us. And for tliis reason He, being God, was pleased to put 
 on human flesh, so that we, beholding as on a tablet the 
 divine Pattern of our life, should also be able to imitate 
 Him who painted it. For He was not one who, thinking 
 one thing, did another; nor, while He considered one thing 
 to be right, taught another. But whatever things were 
 truly useful and right, these He both taught and did. 
 
 Chap. v. — Christ, hy preserving Hisfiesh incorrupt in virginity, 
 draws to the exercise of virginity — The small number 
 of virgins in proportion to the number of saints. 
 
 What then did the Lord, who is the Truth and the Light, 
 take in hand when He came down from heaven ? He pre- 
 served the flesh which He had taken upon Him incorrupt in 
 virginity, so that we also, if we would come to the likeness 
 of God and Christ, should endeavour to honour virginity. 
 For the likeness of God is the avoiding of corruption. And 
 that the Word, when He was incarnate, became chief Virgin, 
 in the same way as He was chief Shepherd and chief Prophet 
 of the Church, the Christ-possessed John shows us, saying, in 
 the Book of the Kevelation, " And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb 
 stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred forty and 
 four thousand, having His name and His Father's name written 
 in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the 
 voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder ; 
 and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps : 
 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and 
 l)efore the four beasts, and the elders : and no man could 
 ^ A distinction common amoufj the Fatlier.s.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 11 
 
 learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, 
 which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which 
 were not defiled with women ; for they are virgins. These 
 are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth ;"^ 
 showing that the Lord is leader of the choir of virgins. And 
 remark, in addition to this, how very great in the sight of 
 God is the dignity of virginity : " These were redeemed from 
 among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the 
 Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile : for they 
 are without fault, "^ he says, "and they follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever He goeth." And lie clearly intends by this 
 to teach us that the number of virgins was, from the be- 
 ginning, restricted to so many, namely, a hundred and forty 
 and four thousand, while the multitude of the other saints 
 is innumerable. Por let us consider what he means when 
 discoursing of the rest. " I beheld a great multitude, 
 which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, 
 and people, and tongues."^ It is plain, therefore, as I said, 
 that in the case of the other saints he introduces an unspeak- 
 able multitude, while in the case of those who are in a state 
 of virginity he mentions only a veiy small number, so as to 
 make a strong contrast with those who make up the innu- 
 merable number. 
 
 Tliis, Arete, is my discourse to you on the subject of 
 virginity. But, if I have omitted anything, let Theophila, 
 who succeeds me, supply the omission. 
 
 DISCOURSE II.— Theophila. 
 
 Chap. i. — Marriage not abolished by the commendation of 
 virginity. 
 
 And then, she said, Theophila spoke : — 
 
 Since Marcella has excellently begun this discussion 
 without sufficiently completing it, it is necessary that I 
 should endeavour to put a finisli lo it. Now, the fact that 
 1 Rev. xiv. 1-4. ■^ Rev. xiv. -I. '>. ' Rev. vii. 9.
 
 12 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 man has advanced by degrees to virginity, God urging him 
 on from time to time, seems to me to have l-een admirably 
 proved ; but I cannot say the same [as to the assertion] that 
 from henceforth they should no longer beget children. For 
 I think I have perceived clearly from the Scrijitures that^ 
 after He had brought in virginity, the Word did not alto- 
 gether abolish the generation of children ; for although the 
 moon may be greater than the stars, the light of the other 
 stars is not destroyed by the moonlight. 
 
 Let us begin with Genesis, that we may give its place of 
 antiquity and supremacy to this Scripture. Now the sen- 
 tence and ordinance of God respecting the begetting of 
 children^ is confessedly being fulfilled to this day, the 
 Creator still fashioning man. For this is quite manifest, 
 that God, like a painter, is at this very time working at the 
 world, as the Lord also taught, " My Father worketh hither- 
 to"^ {sag apri, even until now). But when the rivers shall 
 cease to flow and fall into the reservoir of the sea, and the 
 light shall be perfectly separated from the darkness (for the 
 separation is still going on), and the dry land shall henceforth 
 cease to bring forth its fruits with creeping things and four- 
 footed beasts, and the predestined number of men shall be 
 fulfilled ; then from henceforth shall men abstain from the 
 generation of children. But at present man must co-operate 
 in the forming of the image of God, while the world exists and 
 is still being formed ; for it is said, " Increase and multiply."^ 
 And we must not be offended at the ordinance of the 
 Creator, from which, moreover, we ourselves have our being. 
 For the casting of seed into the furrows of the matrix is the 
 beginning of the generation of men, so that bone taken 
 from bone, and flesh from flesh, by an invisible power, are 
 fashioned into another man. And in this way we must 
 consider that the saying is fulfilled, " This is now bone of 
 my bone, and flesh of my flesh."* 
 
 1 Gen. i. 28. - S. Jno. v. 17. ^ Gen. L 28. * Gen. iL 23.
 
 rilE BASQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 13 
 
 CllAP. n. — Generation something akin to tJie first formation 
 of Em from the side and nature of Adam — God tlce 
 Creator of men in ordinary generation. 
 
 And this jierhaps is Avhat was shadowed forth by the 
 sleep and trance of the first man, which prefigured the 
 embraces of connubial love. When thirsting for children a 
 man falls into a kind of trance,^ softened and subdued by 
 the pleasures of generation as by sleep, so that again some- 
 thing drawn from his ficsli and from his bones is, as I said, 
 fashioned into another man. For the harmony of the 
 bodies being disturbed in the embraces of love, as those 
 tell us who have experience of the marriage state, all the 
 marrow-like and generative part of the blood, like a kind of 
 liquid bone, coming together from all the members, worked 
 into foam and curdled, is projected through the organs of 
 generation into the living body of the female ; and probably 
 it is for this reason that a man is said to leave his father 
 and his mother, since he is then suddenly unmindful of all 
 things when united to his wife in the embraces of love, he 
 is overcome by the desire of generation, offering his side to 
 the divine Creator to take away from it, so that the father 
 may again appear in the son. 
 
 Wherefore, if God still forms man, shall we not be guilty 
 of audacity if we think of the generation of children as 
 something offensive, which the Almighty himself is not 
 ashamed to make use of in working with His undefiled 
 hands ; for He says to Jeremiah, " Before I formed thee in 
 tlie belly T knew thee ;"- and to Job, " Didst thou take clay 
 and form a living creature, and make it speak upon the 
 eartli?"^ and Job draws near to Him in supplication, say- 
 ing, "Thine hands have made me and fasliioned me."* 
 Would it not, then, be absurd to i'orbid marriage unions, 
 seeing that we expect that after us there will be martyrs, 
 and those wliu shall oppose the evil one, for whose sake also 
 
 * Remark the connection, sKorxfrts and i^larotmci. 
 
 • Jcr. i. 5. 3 Jq\j x.x.wiii. 14 (lxx.). * Job x. 8.
 
 11 Tllb: WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 the Word promised that lie would shorten those days?^ 
 For if the generation of children henceforth had seemed evil 
 to God, as you said, for what reason will those who have 
 come into existence in opposition to the divine decree and 
 will be able to appear well-pleasing to God ? And must 
 not that which is begotten be something spurious, and not 
 a creature of God, if, like a counterfeit coin, it is moulded 
 apart from the intention and ordinance of the lawful 
 authority ? And so we concede to men the power of form- 
 ing men. 
 
 Chap. hi. — An ambiguous passage of Scripture — Not only the 
 faithful hut even prelates sometimes illegitimate. 
 
 But Marcella, interrupting, said, " Tlieophila, there 
 appears here a great mistake, and something contrary to 
 what you have said ; and do you think to escape under cover 
 of the cloud which you have thrown around you? For tliere 
 comes that argument, which perhaps any one who addresses 
 you as a very wise person will bring forward: What do you 
 say of those who are begotten unlawfully in adultery ? For 
 you laid it down that it was inconceivable and impossible 
 for any one to enter into the world unless he was introduced 
 by the will of the divine Euler, his frame being prepared 
 for him by God. And that you may not take refuge behind 
 a safe wall, bringing forward the Scripture which says, ' As 
 for the children of the adulterers, they shall not come to 
 their perfection,'^ he will answer you easily, that we often 
 see those who are unlawfully begotten coming to perfection 
 like ripe fruit. 
 
 And if, again, you answer sophistically, ' 0, my friend, by 
 those who come not to perfection I understand being per- 
 fected in Christ-taught righteousness;' he will say, 'But, 
 indeed, my worthy friend, very many who are begotten of 
 unrighteous seed are not only numbered among those who 
 are gathered into the flock of the brethren, but are often 
 called even to preside over them. Since, then, it is clear, 
 1 Matt. xxiv. 22. - Wisd. iii. 16.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. Ifj 
 
 and all testify, that those who are born of adultery do come 
 to perfection, we must not imagine that the Spirit was teacli- 
 ing respecting conceptions and births, but rather perhaps con- 
 cerning tliose who adulterate the truth, who, corrupting the 
 Scriptures by false doctrines, bring forth an imperfect and 
 immature wisdom, mixing their error with piety.' And, 
 tlierefore, this plea being taken away from you, come now 
 and tell us if those who are born of adultery are begotten 
 by the wiU of God; for you said that it was impossible that 
 the offspring of a man should be brought to perfection unless 
 the Lord formed it and gave it life." 
 
 Chap. iv. — Human generation, and the ivorh of God 
 therein set forth. 
 
 Theophila, as though caught round tlie middle by a strong 
 antagonist, grew giddy, and with difficulty recovering her- 
 self, replied, "You ask a question, my worthy friend, 
 which needs to be solved by an example, that you may still 
 better understand how the creative power of God, pervading 
 all things, is more especially the real cause in the generation 
 of men, making those things to g^ow which are planted in 
 the productive earth. For that which is sown is not to be 
 Itlamcd, l)ut lie who sows in a strange soil by unlawful 
 embraces, as though purchasing a slight pleasure by shame- 
 fully selling his own seed. For imagine our birth into the 
 world to be like some such thing as a house having its 
 entrance lying close to lofty mountains; and that the house 
 extends a great way down, far from the entrance, and that 
 it has many holes behind, and that in this part it is circular."' 
 " I imagine it," said Marcella. " Well, then, suppose that 
 a modeller seated within is fashioning many statues ; imagine, 
 again, that the substance of clay is incessantly brought to 
 him from without, through the holes, by many men who do 
 not any of them see the artist himself. Now suppose the 
 house to be covered with mist and clouds, and nothing 
 visible to those who are outside but only the holes." " Let 
 this also be supposed," she said. " And that each one of those
 
 16 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 who are labouring together to provide the clay has one hole 
 allotted to himself", into which he alone has to bring and 
 deposit his own clay, not touching any other hole. And if, 
 again, he shall officiously endeavour to open that which is 
 allotted to another, let him be threatened with fire and 
 scourges. 
 
 "Well, now, consider further what comes after this: the 
 modeller within going round to the holes and taking pri- 
 vately for his modelling the clay which he finds at each 
 hole, and having in a certain number of mouths made his 
 model, giving it back through the same hole; having this 
 for his rule, that every lump of clay which is capable of 
 being moulded sliall be worked up indifferently, even if it 
 be unlawfully thrown by any one through another's hole 
 (for the clay has done no wrong, and, therefore, as being 
 blameless, should be moulded and formed); but that he who, 
 in opposition to the ordinance and law, deposited it in 
 another's hole, should be punished as a criminal and trans- 
 gressor. For the clay should not be blamed, but he who 
 did this in violation of what is right; for, through incontin- 
 ence, having carried it away, he secretly, by violence, depo- 
 sited it in another's hole." " You say most truly." 
 
 Chap. v. — The Holy Father follows up the same argument. 
 
 And now that these things are completed, it remains for 
 you to apply this picture, my wisest of friends, to the things 
 which have been already spoken of; comparing the house 
 to the invisible nature of our generation, and the entrance 
 adjacent to the mountains to the sending down of our souls 
 from heaven, and their descent into the bodies; the holes to 
 the female sex, and the modeller to the creative power of 
 God, which, under the cover of generation, making use of 
 our nature, invisibly forms us men within, working the gar- 
 ments for the souls. Those who carry the clay represent 
 the male sex in the comparison; when thirsting for children, 
 they bring and cast in seed into the natural channels of the 
 female, as those in the comparison cast clay into the holes.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 17 
 
 For the seed, which, so to speak, partakes of a divine creative 
 power, is not to he tlioiight guilty of the incentives to incon- 
 tinence; and art always works up the matter submitted to 
 it; and nothing is to he considered as evil in itself, hut 
 hecomes so hy the act of those who used it in such a way; 
 for when properly and purely made use of, it comes out 
 pure, but if disgracefully and improperly, then it becomes 
 disgraceful. For how did iron, which was discovered for 
 the benefit of agriculture and the arts, injure those who 
 sharpened it for murderous battles ? Or how did gold, or 
 silver, or brass, and, to take it collectively, the whole of the 
 workable earth, injure those who, ungratefully towards their 
 Creator, make a wrong use of them by turning parts of them 
 into various kinds of idols ? And if any one should supply 
 wool from that which had been stolen to the weaving art. 
 that art, regarding this one thing only, manufactures tire 
 material submitted to it, if it will receive the preparation, 
 rejecting nothing of that which is serviceable to itself, since 
 that which is stolen is here not to be blamed, being lifeless. 
 And, therefore, the material itself is to be wTOught and 
 adorned, but he who is discovered to have abstracted it 
 unjustly should be punished. So, in like manner, the viola- 
 tors of marriage, and those who break the strings of the 
 harmony of life, as of a harp, raging with lust, and letting 
 loose their desires in adultery, should themselves be tortured 
 and punished, for they do a great wrong stealing from the 
 gardens of others the embraces of generation ; but tlie seed 
 itself, as in the case of the wool, should be formed and 
 endowed with life. 
 
 Chap. VI. — God cares even for adullerous hirths — Angels 
 given to them as gibardians. 
 
 But what need is there to protract the argument by using 
 such examples? for nature could not thus, in a little time, 
 accomplish so great a work without divine help. For who 
 gave to the bones their fixed nature? and M'ho bound the 
 yielding members with nerves, to be extended and relaxed at 
 
 B
 
 18 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 the joints? or who prepared channels for the blood, and a 
 soft windpipe for the breath ? or wliat god caused the humours 
 to ferment, mixing them with blood and forming the soft 
 flesh out of the earth, but only the Supreme Artist making 
 us to be man, the rational and living image of Himself, and 
 forming it like wax, in the womb, from moist slight seed? 
 or by whose providence was it that the foetus was not suffo- 
 cated by damp when shut up within, in the connexion of the 
 vessels ? or who, after it was brought forth and had come into 
 the light, changed it from weakness and smallness to size, 
 and beauty, and strength, unless God Himself, the Supreme 
 Artist, as I said, making by His creative power copies of 
 Christ, and living pictures ? Whence, also, we have received 
 from the inspired writings, that those who are begotten, 
 even though it be in adultery, are committed to guardian 
 4,ngels. But if they came into being in opposition to the 
 will and the decree of the blessed nature of God, how should 
 they be delivered over to angels, to be nourished with much 
 gentleness and indulgence? and how, if they had to accuse 
 their own parents, could they confidently, before the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ, invoke Him and say, " Thou didst not, 
 Lord, grudge us this common light; but these appointed 
 us to death, despising Thy command?" " For," He says, 
 " children begotten of unlawful beds are witnesses of wicked- 
 ness against their parents at their trial." ^ 
 
 Chap. vii. — The rational sovJ from God Hivisclf — Chastity 
 not the only good, although the best and most honoured. 
 
 And perhaps there will be room for some to argue 
 plausibly among those who are wanting in discrimination 
 and judgment, that this fleshly garment of the soul, being 
 planted by men, is shaped spontaneously apart from the 
 sentence of God. If, however, he shoidd teach that the 
 immortal being of the soul also is sown along with the 
 mortal body, he will not be believed ; for the Almighty 
 alone breathes into man the undying and undecaying part, 
 ^ Wisd. iv. 6.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 19 
 
 as also it is He alone who is Creator of the invisible and 
 indestructible. For, He says, He " breathed into his nostrds 
 the breath of life ; and man became a living soul." ^ And 
 those artificers who, to the destruction of men, make images 
 in human form, not perceiving and knowing their own 
 Maker, are blamed by the Word, which says, in the Book 
 of Wisdom, a book full of all virtue, " his heart is ashes, 
 his hope is more vile than earth, and his life of less value 
 than clay ; forasmuch as he knew not his Maker, and Him 
 that inspired into him an active soul, and breathed in a 
 living spirit;"^ that is, God, the Maker of all men; there- 
 fore, also, according to the apostle. He " will have all men 
 to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the ti-uth."' 
 And now, although this subject be scarcely completed, yet 
 there are others which remain to be discussed. For when 
 one thoroughly examines and understands those things 
 which happen to man according to his nature, lie wiU 
 know not to despise the procreation of children, althougli 
 he applauds chastity, and prefers it in honour. For although 
 honey be sweeter and more pleasant than other things, we are 
 not for that reason to consider other things bitter which are 
 mixed up in the natural sweetness of fruits. And, in sup- 
 port of these statements, I will bring forward a trustworthy 
 witness, namely, Paul, who says, " So then he that giveth 
 her [liis virgin] in marriage doeth well ; but he that giveth 
 her not in marriage doeth better."* Now the word, in 
 setting forth that wliich is better and sweeter, did not 
 intend to take away the inferior, but arranges so as to 
 assign to each its own proper use and advantage. For there 
 are some to whom it is not given to attain virginity ; and 
 there are others wliom He no longer wills to be excited by 
 procreations to lust, and to be defiled, but henceforth to 
 meditate and to keep the mind upon the transformation of 
 the body to the likeness of angels, wlien they " neither 
 marry nor are given in marriage,"^ according to the infal- 
 lible words of the Lord ; since it is n<?t given to aU to attain 
 
 1 Gen. ii. 7. - Wisd. xv. 10, 11. ^ 1 Tim. ii. 4. 
 
 * 1 Cor. vii. aa " .Malt. xxii. 30.
 
 20 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 that uiidcfiled state of being a eunuch for the sake of the 
 kingdom of heaven/ but manifestly to those only who are 
 able to preserve the ever-blooming and unfading flower of 
 virginity. For it is the custom of the prophetic Word to 
 compare the Church to a flower-covered and variegated 
 meadow, adorned and crowned not only with the flowers 
 of virginity, but also with those of child-bearing and of 
 continence ; for it is written, " Upon thy (the bridegroom's) 
 right hand did stand the queen in a vesture of gold, wrought 
 about with divers colours."^ 
 
 These words, Arete, I bring according to my ability to 
 this discussion in behalf of the truth. 
 
 And when Theophila had thus spoken, Theopatra said 
 that applause arose from all the virgins approving of her 
 discourse ; and that when they became silent, after a long 
 pause, Thaleia arose, for to her had been assigned the third 
 place in the contest, that which came after Theophila. And 
 she then, as I think, followed, and spoke. 
 
 DISCOUESE III.— Thaleia. 
 
 Chap. i. — The passages in Gen. ii. 23, 24, and Eph. v. 28-32, 
 compared. 
 
 You seem to me, Theophila, to excel all in action and 
 in speech, and to be second to none in wisdom. For there 
 is no one who will find fault with your discourse, however 
 contentious and contradictory he may be. Yet, while 
 everything else seems rightly spoken, one thing, my friend, 
 distresses and troubles me, considering that that wise and 
 most spiritual man — I mean Paul — would not vainly refer 
 to Christ and the Church the union of the first man and 
 woman,^ if the Scripture meant notliing higher than what 
 is conveyed by the mere words and the history; for if we 
 are to take the Scripture as a bare representation wholly 
 referring to the union of man and woman, for what reason 
 
 1 Matt. xix. 12. - Ps. xlv. 10 (xliv. 10, lxx.). ^ Eph. v. n2.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 21 
 
 should the apostle, calling these things to remembrance, and 
 guiding us, as T opine, into the way of the Spirit, allegorize 
 the history of Adam and Eve as having a reference to 
 Christ and the Church ? For the passage in Genesis reads 
 thus : " And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and 
 flesh of my flesh : she shall be called Woman, because she 
 was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his 
 father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and 
 they shall be one flesh." ^ But the apostle considering this 
 passage, by no means, as I said, intends to take it according 
 to its mere natural sense, as referring to the union of man 
 and woman, as you do ; for you, explaining the passage in 
 too natural a sense, laid down that the Spirit is speaking 
 only of conception and births ; that the bone taken from 
 the bones was made another man, and that living creatures 
 coming together swell like trees at the time of conception. 
 But he, more siDiritually referring the passage to Christ, 
 thus teaches : " He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For 
 no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and 
 cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church : for M'e are 
 members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For 
 tliis cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and 
 shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one 
 flesh. This is a great mystery : but I speak concerning 
 Christ and tlie Church." ^ 
 
 CiiAP. II. — The digressions of tJie Apostle Paul — TJic cliaracter 
 of his doctrine : nothing in it contradictory — Con- 
 demnation of Origcn, who wrongly turns everything 
 into allegory. 
 
 Let it not disturb you, if, in discussing one class of sub- 
 jects, he \i.e. Paid] should pass over into anotlier, so as 
 to appear to mix them uj), and to import matters foreign 
 to the subject under consideration, departing from the 
 question, as now for instance. For wisliing, as it seems, 
 to strengthen most carefully the argument on behalf of 
 > Gen. ii. 23, 24. 2 Ejih. v. 28-32.
 
 22 THE W n IT I SGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 chastity, lie prepares the mode of argument beforehanfl, 
 ])eginning with the more persuasive mode of si^eech. For 
 the character of his speech being very various, and arranged 
 for the purpose of progressive proof, begins gently, but flows 
 forward into a style which is loftier and more magnificent. 
 And then, again changing to what is deep, he sometimes 
 finishes with what is simple and easy, and sometimes with 
 what is more difficult and delicate ; and yet introducing 
 nothing which is foreign to the subject by these changes, 
 but, bringing them all together according to a certain 
 marvellous relationship, he works into one the question 
 which is set forth as his subject. It is needful, then, that I 
 should more accurately unfold the meaning of the apostle's 
 arguments, yet rejecting nothing of Mdiat has been said 
 before. For you seem to me, Theophila, to have dis- 
 cussed those words of the Scripture amply and clearly, and 
 to have set them forth as they are without mistake. For it 
 is a dangerous thing wholly to despise the literal meaning,^ 
 as has been said, and especially of Genesis, where the un- 
 changeable decrees of God for the constitution of the 
 universe are set forth, in agreement with which, even until 
 now, the world is perfectly ordered, most beautifully in 
 accordance with a perfect rule, until the Lawgiver HimseK 
 having re-arranged it, wishing to order it anew, shall break 
 up the first laws of nature by a fresh disposition. But, since 
 it is not fitting to leave the demonstration of the argument 
 unexamined — and, so to speak, half -lame — come let us, as 
 it were completing our pair, bring forth the analogical sense, 
 looking more deeply into the Scripture ; for Paul is not to 
 be despised when he passes over the literal meaning, and 
 shows that the words extend to Christ and the Church. 
 
 Chap. hi. — Comparison instituted between the first and 
 second Adam. 
 
 And, first, we must inquire if Adam can be likened to 
 the Son of God, when he was found in the transgression of 
 
 ^ This is the obvious English equivalent of the Greek text — Tr.
 
 THE BAXCiUET OF THE TE^ VIIiGEXS. 23 
 
 the Fall, and heard tlie sentence, " Dust thou art, and unto 
 dust shalt tliou return."^ For how shall he be considered 
 "the first-born of every creature,"^ who, after the creation of 
 the earth and the firmament, was formed out of clay ? And 
 liow shall he be admitted to be " the tree of life" who was 
 cast out for his transgression,^ lest " he should again stretch 
 forth his hand and eat of it, and live for ever?"* For it is 
 necessary that a thing which is likened unto anything else, 
 should in many respects be similar and analogous to that 
 of which it is the similitude, and not have its constitution 
 opposite and dissimilar. For one who should venture to 
 compare the uneven to the even, or harmony to discord, 
 would not be considered rational. But the even should l)e 
 compared to that which in its nature is even, although -/c 
 should be even only in a small measure ; and the white to 
 that which in its nature is white, even although it should 
 be very small, and should show but moderately the white- 
 ness by reason of which it is called white. Now, it is 
 beyond all doubt clear to every one, that that which is 
 sinless and incorrupt is even, and harmonious, and bright 
 as wisdom ; but that that which is mortal and sinful is 
 uneven and discordant, and cast out as guilty and subject 
 to condemnation. 
 
 Chap. rv. — Some ndngs here hard and too slightly treated, 
 and apparently not sufflciently brought out according' 
 to the rule of theology. 
 
 Such, then, I consider to be the objections urged by many 
 who, despising, as it seems, the wisdom of Paul, dislike the 
 comparing of the first man to Christ. For come, let us con- 
 sider how rightly Paul compared Adam to Christ, not only 
 considering him to be the type and image, but also that 
 Christ Himself became the very same thing,^ because tlie 
 Eternal Word fell upon Ilim. For it was fitting that the 
 first-born of God, the first shoot, the only-begotten, even the 
 
 1 Gen. iii. 19. -' Col. i. 15. ' Rev. ii. 7. 
 
 * Gen. iii. 22. ^ Namely, the second Adam.
 
 24 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 wisdom of God, should be joined to the first-formed man, 
 and iirst and first-born of mankind, and should become 
 incarnate. And this was Christ, a man filled with the pure 
 and perfect Godhead, and God received into man. For it 
 was most suitable that the oldest of the iEons and the first 
 of the Archangels, when about to hold communion with 
 men, should dwell in the oldest and the first of men, even 
 Adam. And thus, when renovating those things which 
 were from the beginning, and forming them again of the 
 Virgin by the Spirit, He frames the same [second Adam], 
 just as at the beginning. When the earth was still virgin 
 and untilled, God, taking mould, formed the reasonable 
 creature from it without seed. ^ 
 
 Chap. v. — A passage of Jeremiah examined. 
 
 And here I may adduce the prophet Jeremiah as a trust- 
 tv'orthy and lucid witness, who speaks thus : " Then I went 
 down to the potter's house; and, behold, he wrought a work 
 on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was 
 marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again 
 another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it."^ 
 For when Adam, having been formed out of clay, was still soft 
 and moist, and not yet, like a tile, made hard and incorrup- 
 tible, sin ruined him, flowing and dropping down upon him 
 like water. And therefore God, moistening him afresh and 
 forming anew the same clay to His honour, having first 
 hardened and fixed it in the Virgin's womb, and united and 
 mixed it with the Word, brought it forth into life no longer 
 soft and broken; lest, being overflowed again by streams of 
 corruption from without, it should become soft, and perish 
 as the Lord in His teaching shows in the parable of the 
 finding of the sheep; where my Lord says to those standing 
 by, " What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose 
 
 ^ The obscurity of this chapter is indicated in the heading placed 
 over it hy the old Latin translator. The general meaning, however, 
 will be clear enough to the theological reader. — Tr. 
 
 2 Jer. xviii. 3, 4.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 25 
 
 one of tliem, doth not leave the ninety and nhie in the 
 wilderness, and go after that which is lost until he hnd it? 
 and when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders 
 rejoicing; and when he cometh home, he calleth together 
 his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Eejoice with 
 me ; for I have fomid my sheep which was lost." 
 
 Chap. vi. — The whole numher of sjnritual sheep — 3fa?i a 
 second choir, after the angels, to the praise of God — T/ie 
 parable of the lost sheep explained. 
 
 Now, since lie truly was and is, being in the beginning 
 with God, and being God,^ lie is the chief Commander 
 and Shepherd of the heavenly ones, whom all reasonable 
 creatures obey and attend, wlio tends in order and numbers 
 the multitudes of the blessed angels. For this is the equal 
 and perfect number of immortal creatures, divided according 
 to their races and tribes, man also being here taken into 
 the flock. For he also was created without corruption, 
 that lie might honour the king and maker of all things, 
 responding to the shouts of the melodious angels which 
 came i'rom heaven. But when it came to pass that, by 
 transgi'essing the commandment [of God], he suffered a 
 terrible and destructive fall, being thus reduced to a state 
 of death, for this reason the Lord says that He came 
 from heaven into [a human] life, leaving the ranks and 
 the armies of angels. For the mountains are to be ex- 
 plained by the heavens, and the ninety and nine sheep 
 l)y the principalities and powers^ which the Captain and 
 Shepherd left when He went down to seek the lost one. 
 For it remained that man should be included in this cata- 
 logue and number, the Lord lifting him up and wrapi)ing 
 him round, that he might not again, as I said, be overllowed 
 and swaUowed up by the waves of deceit. For with this 
 purpose the Word assumed the nature of man, that, having 
 overcome the serpent, He might by Himself destroy the 
 condemnation which had come into being along with man's 
 
 » St J.il.n i. 1. 2 p^pii. i. 21,iii. ]0.
 
 26 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 ruiu. For it was fitting that the Evil One shouhl be over- 
 come by no other, but by him whom he had deceived, and 
 whom he was boasting that he held in subjection, because 
 no otherwise was it possible that sin and condemnation 
 should be destroyed, unless that same man on whose account 
 it had been said, " Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt 
 return,"^ should be created anew, and imdo the sentence 
 which for his sake had gone forth on all, that "as in Adam" 
 at first "all die, even so" again "in Christ," who assumed the 
 [nature and position of] Adam, should " all be made alive."^ 
 
 Chap. VII. — The ivorks of Christ, inopcr to God and to man, 
 the works of Him who is one. 
 
 And now we seem to have said almost enough on the 
 fact that man has become the organ and clothing of the 
 Only-begotten, and what He was who came to dwell in him. 
 But the fact that there is no (moral) inequality or discord 
 [in Him] may again be considered briefly from the begin- 
 ning. For he speaks well who says that that is in its own 
 nature good and righteous and holy, by participation of which 
 other things become good, and that wisdom is in connection 
 with^ God, and that, on the other hand, sin is unholy and 
 unrighteous and evil. For life and death, coiTuption and 
 incorruption, are two things in the highest degree opposed 
 to each other. For life is a (moral) equality, but corruption 
 an inequality; and righteousness and prudence a harmony, 
 but unrighteousness and folly a discord. Now, man being 
 between these is neither righteousness itself, nor unrighteous- 
 ness; but being placed midway between incorruption and 
 corruption, to w^hichever of these he may incline is said to 
 partake of the nature of that which has laid hold of him. 
 Now, when he inclines to corruption, he becomes corrupt 
 and mortal, and when to incorruption, he becomes incorrupt 
 
 1 Gen. iii. 19. -1 Cor. xv. 22. 
 
 2 Here, as in the previous chapter, and in many other passages, I 
 have preferred the text of Jahn to that of Mrgne, as being generally the 
 more accurate. — Tr.
 
 THE BANQCKT OF THE TEX VIllGlXS. 27 
 
 and immoital. For, being placed midway between the tree 
 of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of 
 the fruit of which he tasted,^ he was changed into the nature 
 of the latter, himself being neither the tree of life nor that 
 of corruption; but having been sliown forth as mortal, from 
 his participation in and presence with corruption, and, again, 
 as incon-upt and immortal by connection with and participa- 
 tion in life ; as Paid, also taught, saying, " CoiTuption shall not 
 inherit incorruption, nor death life," ^ rightly defining corrup- 
 tion and death to be that which con-upts and kills, and not 
 tliat which is corrupted and dies; and incorruption and life 
 that which gives life and inunortality, and not that which 
 receives life and immortality. And thus man is neither a 
 discord and an inef|uality, nor an equality and a harmony. 
 But when he received discord, W' liich is transgression and sin, 
 he became discordant and unseemly; but when he received 
 harmony, that is righteousness, he became a harmonious and 
 seemly organ, in order that the Lord, the Incorruption which 
 conquered death, might harmonize the resurrection with the 
 flesh, not suffering it again to be inherited by corruption. 
 And on this point also let these statements sufitice. 
 
 Chap. vili. — Th& hones and flcsli of Wisdom — Tlie side out of 
 which the spiritual Eve, is formed, the Holy Spirit — 
 The woman. the help-meet of Adam — Virgras betrothed 
 to Christ. 
 
 For it has been already established by no contemptible 
 arguments from Scripture, that the first man may be pro- 
 perly referred to Christ Himself, and is no longer a type and 
 representation and image of the Only-beg(jtten, but has 
 become actually Wisdom and the Word. 
 
 For man, having been composed, like watei', of wisdom 
 and life, has become identical with the veiy same untainted 
 light which poured into him. Whence it was that the 
 
 1 Gen. ii. 9. 
 
 * 1 Cor. XV. 22. The words are, " Neither doth corruption iiiherit 
 incomiption."
 
 28 THE WHITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 apostle directly referred to Christ the words which had 
 been spoken of Adam. For thus will it be most certainly 
 aerreed that the Church is formed out of His bones and 
 flesh ; and it was for this cause that the Word, leaving His 
 Father in heaven, came down to be "joined to His wife;"^ 
 and slept in the trance of His passion, and willingly suffered 
 death for her, that He might present the Church to Him- 
 self glorious and blameless, having cleansed her by the laver,^ 
 for the receiving of the spiritual and blessed seed, which is 
 sown by Him who with whispers implants it in the depths 
 of the mind ; and is conceived and formed by the Church, 
 as by a woman, so as to give birth and nourishment to 
 virtue. For in this way, too, the command, " Increase and 
 multiply,"^ is duly fulfilled, the Church increasing daily in 
 greatness and beauty and multitude, by the union and com- 
 munion of the Word, who now still comes down to us and 
 falls into a trance by the memorial of His passion; for 
 otherwise the Church could not conceive believers, and give 
 them new birth by the laver of regeneration, unless Christ, 
 emptying HimseK for their sake, that He might be contained 
 by them, as I said, through the recapitulation of His passion, 
 should die again, coming down from heaven, and being "joined 
 to His wife," the Church, should provide for a certain power 
 being taken from His own side, so that all who are built up in 
 Him should grow up, even those who are born again by the 
 laver, receiving of His bones and of His flesh, that is, of 
 His holiness and of His glory. For he who says that the 
 bones and flesh of Wisdom are understanding and virtue, 
 says most rightly ; and that the side [rib] is the Spirit of 
 truth, the Paraclete, of whom the illuminated* receiving 
 are fitly born again to incorruption. For it is impossible 
 for any one to be a partaker of the Holy Spirit, and to be 
 chosen a member of Christ, unless the Word first came 
 down upon him and fell into a trance, in order that he, 
 being filled^ with the Spirit, and rising again from slee]:. 
 
 ^ Eph. V. 31. 2 Eph. V. 26, 27. ^ Qen. L IR 
 
 * Conuuonly used by the Greek Fathers for the Baptised. 
 
 ^ Jahn's reading, xvaTrT^riaStl;. Mitjne has a.vx-Tir'KxaSu;, moulded.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 29 
 
 with Him who was laid to sleep for his sake, should be able 
 to receive renewal and restoration. For He may fitly be 
 called the side [rib] of the Word, even the sevenibld Spirit 
 of truth, according to the prophet;^ of whom God taking, 
 in the trance of Christ, that is, after His incarnation and 
 passion, prepares a help-meet for Him^ — I mean the souls 
 which are betrothed and given in marriage to Him. For it 
 is frequently the case that the Scriptures thus call the 
 assembly and mass of believers by the name of the Church, 
 the more perfect in their progress being led up to be the one 
 person and body of the Church. For those who are the 
 better, and who embrace the truth more clearly, being de- 
 livered from the evils of the flesh, become, on account of 
 their perfect purification and faith, a Church and help-meet 
 of Christ, betrothed and given in marriage to Him as a virgin, 
 according to the apostle,^ so that receiving the pure and 
 genuine seed of His doctrine, they may co-operate with 
 Him, helping in preaching for the salvation of others. And 
 those who are still imperfect and beginning their lessons, 
 are born to salvation, and shaped, as by mothers, by those 
 who are more perfect, until they are brought forth and 
 regenerated unto the greatness and beauty of virtue ; and 
 so these, in their turn making progress, having become a 
 church, assist in labouring for the birth and nurture of 
 other children, accomplishing in the receptacle of the soul, 
 as in a womb, the blameless will of the Word. 
 
 Chap. ix. — The dispensation of grace in Paul the Ajwstlc. 
 
 Now we should consider the case of the renowned Paul, 
 that when he was not yet perfect in Christ, he was first born 
 and suckled, Ananias preaching to him, and renewing him 
 in baptism, as the history in the Acts relates. But when 
 he was grown to a man, and was buUt up, tlien being 
 moulded to spiritual perfection, he was made the liolp-meet 
 and bride of the Word ; and receiving and conceiving the 
 .seeds of life, he who was before a child, becomes a cliurch 
 
 1 Is. xi. 2. - Gen. ii. 18. ^ 2 Cor. xi. 12.
 
 30 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 and a mother, himself labouring in birth of those who, 
 through him, believed in the Lord, until Christ was formed 
 and born in them also. For he says, " My little children, 
 of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in 
 you;"^ and again, "In Christ Jesus I have begotten you 
 thi-ough the gospel."^ 
 
 It is evident, then, that the statement respecting Eve and 
 Adam is to be referred to the Church and Christ. For this 
 is truly a great mystery and a supernatural, of which I, 
 from my weakness and dulness, am unable to speak, accord- 
 ing to its worth and greatness. Nevertheless, let us attempt 
 it. It remains that I speak to you on what follows, and of 
 its sisnification. 
 
 Chap. x. — Tlic doctrine of the same Apostle concerning Purity. 
 
 Now Paul, when summoning all persons to sanctification 
 and purity, in this way referred that which had been spoken 
 concerning the first man and Eve in a secondary sense to 
 Christ and the Church, in order to silence the ignorant, now 
 deprived of all excuse. For men who are incontinent in 
 consequence of the uncontrolled impulses of sensuality in 
 them, dare to force the Scriptures beyond their true meaning, 
 so as to twist into a defence of their incontinence the say- 
 ing, "Increase and multiply;"^ and the other, "Therefore 
 shall a man leave his father and his mother ;"* and they are 
 not ashamed to run counter to the Spirit, but, as though 
 born for this purpose, they kindle up the smouldering and 
 lurking passion, fanning and provoking it ; and therefore 
 lie, cutting off very sharply these dishonest follies and in- 
 vented excuses, and having arrived at the subject of 
 instructing them how men should behave to their wives, 
 showing that it should be as Christ did to the Church, 
 " who gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and 
 cleanse it by the washing [laver] of water by the Word,"* 
 he referred back to Genesis, mentioning the things spok<m 
 
 1 Gal. iv. 19. 2 1 Cor. iv. 15. 3 Gen. ii. 18. 
 
 * Gph. ii. 24. ° Eph. v. 25, 26.
 
 THE BAXQUET OF THE TEN VIRGIXS. 31 
 
 concerning the first man, and explaining these tilings as 
 bearing on the subject before him, that he might take away 
 occasion for the abuse of these passages from those who 
 taught the sensual gratification of the body, under the pre- 
 text of begetting children. 
 
 Chap. xi. — Tlic same argument. 
 
 Tor consider, virgins, how he [Paul], desiring with 
 all his might that believers in Christ should be chaste, 
 endeavours by many arguments to show them the dignity 
 of chastity, as when he says,^ " Now, concerning the things 
 whereof ye wrote unto me : It is good for a man not to 
 touch a woman," thence showing already very clearly that it 
 is good not to touch - a Avoman, laying it down and setting it 
 forth unconditionally. But afterwards, being aware of the 
 weakness of tlie less continent, and their passion for inter- 
 course, he permitted those who are unable to govern the 
 flesh to use their own wives, rather than, shamefully trans- 
 gressing, to give themselves up to fornication. Then, after 
 having given this permission, he immediately added these 
 words,^ " that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency ;" 
 which means, " if you, such as you are, cannot, on account 
 of the incontinence and softness of your bodies, be perfectly 
 continent, I will rather permit you to have intercourse with 
 your own wives, lest, professing perfect continence, ye be 
 constantly tempted by the evil one, and be inflamed witli 
 lust after other men's wives." 
 
 Chat. xii. — Paul an cxamjiile to widows, and to those who do 
 not live with their wives. 
 
 Come, now, and let us examine more carefully the very 
 words which are before us, and observe that the apostle did 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. vii. 1. 
 
 ^ In the oii;,nnal the two wonl.s are different. In the quotation fronj 
 St Paul it is cc-77TioSon ; here it is -TrpoTipximv. Nothijiy could be 
 gained by using two words in the translation. — Tb, 
 
 •' 1 Cor. vii. 5.
 
 32 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 not gi'ant these things unconditionally to all, but first laid 
 down the reason on account of which he was led to this. 
 For, having set forth that " it is good for a man not to 
 touch a woman," ^ he added immediately, " Nevertheless, to 
 avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife"^ — that is, 
 " on account of the fornication which would arise from your 
 being unable to restrain your voluptuousness" — and let 
 every woman have her own husband. Let the husband 
 render unto the wife due benevolence : and likewise also 
 the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of 
 her own body, but the husband : and likewise also the 
 husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 
 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent 
 for a time, that ye may give youi'selves to prayer;^ and 
 come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your 
 incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of 
 commandment."* And this is very carefully considered. 
 " By permission," he says, showing that he was giving 
 counsel, " not of command ;" for he receives command re- 
 specting chastity and the not touching of a woman, but 
 permission respecting those who are iinable, as I said, to 
 chasten their appetites. These things, then, he lays down 
 concerning men and women who are married to one spouse, 
 or who shall hereafter be so ; but we must now examine 
 carefully the apostle's language respecting men who have 
 lost their wives, and women who have lost their husbands, 
 and what he declares on this subject. 
 
 " I say therefore," he goes on,^ " to the unmarried and 
 widows. It is good for them if tliey abide even as I. But if 
 they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry 
 than to burn." Here also he persisted in giving the prefer- 
 ence to continence. For, taking himself as a notable ex- 
 ample, in order to stir them up to emulation, he challenged 
 his hearers to this state of life, teaching that it was better that 
 a man who had been bound to one wife should henceforth 
 
 1 1 Cor. vii. 1. -I Cor. vii. 2. 
 
 ^ E. V. " Fasting and prayer." As in the best ]\ISS.. tk urianiet 
 Kxl is wanting in the text. 
 
 * 1 Cor. vii^ 2-6. ^ 1 Cor. vii. 8, 9.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGIXS. 33 
 
 remain single, as he also did. But if, on the other hand, 
 this should be a matter of difficulty to any one, on account 
 of the strength of animal passion, he allows that one who 
 is in such a condition may, " by permission," contract 
 a second marriage ; not as though he expressed the opinion 
 tliat a second marriage was in itself good,^ but judging it 
 better than burning. Just as though, in the fast which 
 prepares for the Easter celebration, one should offer food to 
 another who was dangerously ill, and say, " In trutli, my 
 friend, it were fitting and good that you should bravely hold 
 out like us, and partake of the same things,- for it is for- 
 bidden even to think of food to-day ; but since you are held 
 down and weakened by disease, and cannot bear it, there- 
 fore, ' by permission,' we advise you to eat food, lest, being 
 quite unable, from sickness, to hold up against the desire 
 for food, you perish." Thus also the apostle speaks here, 
 first saying that he wished all were healthy and continent, 
 as he also was, but afterwards allowing a second marriage 
 to those who are burdened with the disease of the passions, 
 lest they should be wholly defiled by fornication, goaded on 
 by the itchings of the organs of generation to promiscuous 
 intercourse, considering such a second marriage far prefer- 
 able to burning and indecency. 
 
 Chap. xiii. — Tlic doctrine of Paul concerning Virginity 
 explained. 
 
 1 have now brouglit to an end what I liave to say respect- 
 ing continence and marriage and chastity, and intercourse 
 with men, and in which of these there is help towards pro- 
 gress in righteousness ; but it still remains to speak concern- 
 ing virginity — if, indeed, anything be prescribed on this 
 subject. Let us then treat this subject also; for it stands 
 thus •? " Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment 
 
 ^ K«Xo'». It is the same word Avliicli is translated good in ver. 1. 
 " It is good for a man." 
 
 2 i.e. participate in tlie same ordinances, and in tlioir fruits. 
 
 3 1 Cor vii. 2o-2S. 
 
 C
 
 34 Till-: wniTixas of mktiiodius. 
 
 ol" the Lord: yet I give my ■ud.i^nient, as one that hatli 
 obtained mercy of the Lord to be iaithf'ul. I siijjpose there- 
 fore that this is good for the present distress ; I say, that it 
 is good for a man so to bo. Art thou bound unto a wife? 
 seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek 
 not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned ; 
 and if a virgin marry, slie has not sinned. Nevertheless 
 such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you." 
 Having given his opinion with great caution respecting 
 viiginity, and being about to advise him who wislied it to 
 give his virgin in marriage, so that none of those things 
 which conduce to sanctification should be of necessity and 
 by compulsion, but according to the free purjjose ot the soul 
 (for this is acceptable to God), he does not wish these things 
 to be said as by authority, and as the mind of the Lord, 
 with reference to the giving of a virgin in marriage; for 
 after he had said,^ " if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned," 
 directly afterwards, with the greatest caution, he modified 
 his statement, showing that he had advised these things by 
 human permission, and not by divine. So, immediately 
 after he had said, " if a viigin marry, she hath not sinned," 
 he added, " such shall have trouble in the flesh : but I spare 
 you."^ By which he means : " I sparing you, such as you are, 
 consented to these things, because you have chosen to think 
 thus of them, that I may not seem to hurry you on by 
 violence, and compel any one to this [which I reconmiend]. 
 But yet if it shall please you who find chastity hard to bear, 
 rather to turn to marriage ; I consider it to be profitable for 
 you to restrain yourselves in the gratification of the flesh, not 
 making your marriage an occasion for abusing your own 
 vessels to uncleanness." Then he adds,^ " But this I say, 
 brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they 
 that have wives be as though they had none." And agam, 
 going on and challenging them to the same things, he con- 
 firmed his statement, powerfully supporting the state of 
 virginity, and adding expressly the folloAving words to those 
 
 1 1 Cor. vii. 28. 2 i Cor. vii. 28. 
 
 3 1 Cor. vii. 29.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIIIGIXS. 35 
 
 wliich he had spoken belbre, he exclaimed,^ " I would liave 
 you without carefulness. He that is unmanied careth lor 
 the things that belong to the Lord:^ but he that is married 
 careth for the things that are of the world, how he may 
 jdease his wife. There is a difference also betMeen a wife 
 and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things 
 of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in 
 spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the 
 world, how she may please her husband." Kow it is clear 
 to all, without any doubt, that to care for the things of the 
 Lord and to please God, is much better than to care for the 
 things of the world and to please one's wife. For who is 
 there so foolish and blind, as not to perceive in this 
 statement the higher praise which Paul accords to chastity ? 
 " And this," he says,^ " I speak for youi* own profit, not 
 that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is 
 comely." 
 
 ('hap. XIV. — Virginity a gift of God: the purpose of Virginity 
 not rashly to he adopted hy any one. 
 
 Consider besides how, in addition to the words already 
 (j noted, he commends the state of virginity as a gift of God. 
 AVherefore he rejects those of the more incontinent, who, 
 under the influence of vain-glory, would advance to this 
 state, advising them to marry, lest in their time of manly 
 strength, the flesh stirring up the desires and passions, they 
 should be goaded on to defile the soul. For let us consider 
 what he lays down :* " But if any man think that he be- 
 haveth himself uncomely towards his virgin," he says, " if 
 she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him 
 do what he will, he sinneth not: let him marry;" properly 
 here preferring marriage to " uncomeliness," in the case of 
 those who had chosen the state of virginity, but afterwai'ds 
 finding it intolerable and grievous, and in word boasting of 
 their perseverance belore men, out of shame, but indeed no 
 
 • 1 Cor. vii. 32-34 - A clause is oiiiitletl here iu the te.\t. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. vii. 35. * 1 Cur. vii. 3G.
 
 36 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 longer having the power to persevere in the life of a eunuch. 
 But for him who of his 0"\vn free will and purpose decides 
 to preserve his flesh in virgin purity, " having no necessity,"^ 
 that is, passion calling forth his loins to intercourse, for 
 there are, as it seems, differences in men's bodies; such an 
 one contending and struggling, and zealously abiding by his 
 profession, and admirably fulfilling it, he exhorts to abide 
 and to preserve it, according the highest prize to virginity. 
 For he that is able, he says, and ambitious to preserve his 
 flesh pure does better; but he that is unable, and enters into 
 marriage lawfully, and does not indulge in secret corrup- 
 tion, does well. And now enough has been said on these 
 subjects. 
 
 Let any one who will, take in his hand the Epistle to the 
 Corinthians, and, examining all its passages one by one, 
 then consider what we have said, comparing them together, 
 as to whether there is not a perfect harmony and agreement 
 between them. These things, according to my power, 
 Arete, T offer to thee as my contribution on the subject of 
 chastity. 
 
 Etih. — Through many things, Gregorion, she has scarcely 
 come to the subject, having measured and crossed a mighty 
 sea of words. 
 
 Greg. — So it seems; but come, I must mention the rest of 
 what was said in order, going through it and repeating it, 
 while I seem to have the sound of it dwelling in my ears, 
 before it flies away and escapes ; for the remembrance of things 
 lately heard is easily effaced from the aged. 
 
 Eiil). — Say on, then; for we have come to have the plea- 
 sure of hearing these discourses. 
 
 Greg. — And then after, as you observed, Thaleia had 
 descended from her smooth and unbroken course to the 
 earth, Theopatra, she said, followed her in order, and spoke 
 as follows. 
 
 * 1 Cor. vii. 37.
 
 rilE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 37 
 
 DISCOUESE IV.— TiiEOPATEA. 
 
 CliAi'. I. — The necessity of praising Virtue, for those who have 
 the poiccr. 
 
 If the art of speaking, virgins, always went by the same 
 ways, and passed along the same path, there would be no 
 way to avoid wearying you for one who persisted in the 
 arguments which had already been urged. But since there 
 are of arguments myriads of currents and ways, God inspir- 
 ing us "at sundry times and in divers manners,"^ who can 
 have the choice of holding back or of being afraid? For lie 
 would not be free from blame to whom the gift has been 
 given, if he failed to adorn that which is honourable witli 
 words of praise. Come then, we also, according to our gifts, 
 will sing the brightest and most glorious star of Christ, 
 which is chastity. For this way of the Spirit is very wide 
 and large. Beginning, therefore, at the point from whicli 
 we may say those things which are suital)le and fitting 
 to the subject before us, let us from thence consider it. 
 
 Chap. ii. — Tlic protection of Chastity and Virginity divinely 
 yicen to men, that they may emerge from the mire of 
 vices. 
 
 Now I at least seem to perceive that nothing has boon 
 such a moans of restoring men to paradise, and of the chaii.m- 
 to incorruption, and of reconciliation to God, and such a 
 means of salvation to men, by guiding us to life, as chastity. 
 And I will now endeavour to show why I tliink so concorn- 
 ing these things, that having heard distinctly the power of 
 the grace already spoken of, you may know of how great 
 blessings it has become the giver to us. Anciently, tlien, 
 after the fall of man, when he was cast out by reason of liis 
 transgression, tlie stream of corruption poured forth aluiii- 
 dantly, and running along in violent currents, not only fiercely
 
 38 Till-: WIHTIXGS OF MKTJIODli:^. 
 
 swept along whatever touched it iVnm without, but also 
 I'ushiiig within it, overwhehnecl the souls of men. And they,^ 
 continuously exposed to this, were carried along dumb and 
 stupid, neglecting to pilot their vessels,^ from having nothing 
 firm to lay hold of. For the senses of the soul, as those 
 have said who are learned in these things, when, being 
 overcome by the excitements to passion which fall upon 
 tliem from without, they receive the sudden bursts of the 
 waves of folly which rush into them, being darkened turn 
 aside from the divine course its whole vessel, which is by 
 nature easily guided. Wherefore God, pitying us who were 
 in such a condition, and were able neither to stand nor to 
 rise, sent down from heaven the best and most glorious help, 
 virginity, that by it we might tie our bodies fast, like ships, 
 and have a calm, coming to an anchorage without damage, 
 as also the Holy Spirit witnesses. For this is said in the 
 hundred and thirty-sixth^ psalm, where the souls send joy- 
 i'uUy up to God a hymn of thanksgiving,* as many as have 
 been taken hold of and raised up to walk with Christ in 
 lieaven, that they might not be overwhelmed by the streams 
 of the world and the flesh. "\Mience, also, they say that 
 Pharaoh was a t}^e of the devil in Eg}q;)t, since he merci- 
 lessly commanded the males to be cast into the river,^ but 
 the females to be preserved alive. For the devil, ruling*' 
 from Adam to Moses over this gi'eat Egj^t, the world, took 
 care to have the male and rational offspring of the soul 
 carried away and destroyed by the streams of passions, but 
 lie longs for the carnal and irrational ofi'spring to increase 
 and multiply. 
 
 1 f.c. U.I \^i>x,!ii'- ^ The body. 
 
 2 P.s. cxxxvii. E. v., and m Heb. * Or, eucharistic hymn. 
 ° Exod L 16. 6 Rom. v. 14.
 
 TIIK BAXilUKT OF Till-: TKX VIRfllXS. 39 
 
 Chap. in. — Tliat 'passcujc of David e-rplaineil, " Bj tlic wakrs 
 of Bahylon" dx. — IFIiat the harps huuf/ upon the 
 li'illoius signify — Tlic willow a symbol of Chastity — 
 lite u'illoii'S watered hy streams. 
 
 But not to 2)fis.s away from our subject, come, let us take 
 in our hands and examine this })sahn, Avhieli the pure antl 
 stainless souls sing to God, saying:^ "By the rivers of 
 Babylon there we sat down; yea, we wept, wla-n we remem- 
 bered Zion. We hanged our liar]».s upon tlie willows in 
 the midst thereof," clearly giving the name of harps to their 
 bodies which they hung upon the branches of chastity, fas- 
 tening them to the wood that they might not be snatched 
 away and dragged along again by the stream of incontinence. 
 For Babylon, which is interpreted " distiu-bance" or " con- 
 fusion," signifies this life around which the water flows, while 
 we sit in the midst of which the Avater flows round us, as 
 long as we are in the A\-orld, the rivers of evil always beating 
 upon us. AVherefore, also, we are always fearful, and we 
 groan and ciy with weeping to God, that our harps ma}- 
 not be snatched oft" by the Avaves of pleasure, and slip down 
 Irom the tree of chastity. For everywhere the divine writ- 
 ings take the willow as the type of chastity, because, when 
 its flower is steeped in water, if it be drunk, it extinguishes 
 whatever kindles sensual desires and passions within us, 
 imtil it entirely renders barren, and makes every inclination 
 to the begetting of children without effect, as also Homer 
 indicated, for this reason calling the willows destructive of 
 fruit.2 And in Isaiah the righteous are said to " spring up 
 as willows by the water courses."^ Surely, then, the shoot 
 of virginity is raised to a great and glorious height, wlieii 
 the righteous, and he to whom it is given to preserve it and 
 to cultivate it, bedewing it witli wisdom, is watered by tlie 
 gentlest streams of Christ. For as it is the nature of this 
 tree to bud and grow through water, so it is the nature of 
 
 1 Ps. c.vx.wii. 1, 2. * Odyss. K'. ^lO. ' j^_ ^ij^. 4.
 
 40 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 virginity to blossom and grow to maturity when enriched by 
 words, so that one can hang his body^ upon it. 
 
 Chap. iv. — The autlwr goes on with the interpretation of the 
 same passage. 
 
 If, then, the rivers of Babylon are the streams of volup- 
 tuousness, as wise men say, which confuse and disturb the 
 soul, then the willows must be chastity, to which we may 
 suspend and draw up the organs of lust which overbalance 
 and weigh down the mind, so that they may not be borne 
 down by the torrents of incontinence, and be drawn like 
 worms to impurity and corruption. For God has bestowed 
 upon us virginity as a most useful and a serviceable help 
 towards incorruption, sending it as an ally to those who are 
 contending for and longing after Zion, as the psalm shows, 
 which is resplendent charity and the commandment respect- 
 ing it, for Zion is interpreted " The commandment of the 
 watch-tower."^ Xow, let us here enumerate the points 
 which follow. For why do the souls declare that they were 
 asked by those who led them captive to sing the Lord's 
 song in a strange land ? Surely because the Gospel teaches 
 a holy and secret song, which sinners and adulterers sing to 
 the Evil One. For they insult the commandments, accom- 
 plishing the will of the spirits of evil, and cast holy tilings 
 to dogs, and pearls before swine,^ in the same manner as 
 those of whom the prophet says with indignation, " They 
 read the law [to those] without;"* for the Jews were not to 
 read the law going forth out of the gates of Jerusalem or 
 out of their houses ; and for this reason the prophet blames 
 them strongly, and cries that they were liable to con- 
 demnation, because, while they were transgressing the 
 
 ^ opyxvov. The word used for harp above, and here employed ydih a 
 double meaning. 
 
 2 In Hebrew the word means simply " a memorial." 
 
 3 Matt. Aoi. 6. 
 
 ♦ Amos iv. 5 (lxx.). The E. V. is, " Offer a sacrifice of thanksgidng 
 in the leaven."
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 41 
 
 commandments, and acting impiously towards God, they 
 were pretentiously reading the law, as if, forsooth, they were 
 piously observing its precepts; but they did not receive it 
 in their souls, holding it firmly with faith, but rejected it, 
 denying it by their works. And hence they sing the Lord's 
 song in a strange land, explaining the law by distorting and 
 degrading it, expecting a sensual kingdom, and settiug their 
 hopes on this alien world, which the Word says Avill pass 
 away,^ where those who carry them captive entice them 
 with pleasures, lying in wait to deceive them. 
 
 Chap. v. — The gifts of Virgins, adorned ivith which they are 
 23rcsentcd to one husband, Christ. 
 
 Now, those who sing the Gospel to senseless people seem 
 to sing the Lord's song in a strange land, of which Christ is 
 not the husbandman ; but those who have put on and shone 
 in the most pure and bright, and unmiugled and pious and 
 becoming, ornament of virginity, and are found barren and 
 unproductive of imsettled and grievous passions, do not sing 
 the song in a strange land ; because they are not borne thither 
 by their hopes, nor do they stick fast in the lusts of their 
 mortal bodies, nor do they take a low view of the meaning 
 of the commandments, but well and nobly, with a lofty 
 disposition, they have regard to the promises which are 
 above, thirsting for heaven as a congenial abode, whence 
 God, approving their dispositions, promises with an oath to 
 give them choice honours, appointing and establishing them 
 " above His chief joy ;" for He says thus :^ " If I forget thee, 
 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I 
 do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of 
 my mouth ; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my cliief joy ;" 
 meaning by Jerusalem, as I said, these very undefiled and 
 incorrupt souls, which, having witli self-denial drawn in the 
 pure drauglit of virginity with unpolluted lips, are "espoused 
 to one husband," to be presented "as a chaste virgin to 
 Christ"^ in heaven, "having gotten the victory, striving for 
 
 > 1 Pet. ii. 10. 2 p^_ c.\.\.\vii. T), G. ' 2 Cor. .\i. 2.
 
 42 Tllh: WniTlNiJS OF MKTIIODIL'S. 
 
 undefiled rewards."* Hence also the prophet Isaiah pro- 
 claims, saying,- " Arise, shine [0 Jerusalem], for thy light is 
 come, and. the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Xow 
 these promises, it is evident to every one, will be fulfilled 
 after the resurrectio-n.'^ For the Holy Spirit does not speak 
 of that well-known town in Judea; but truly of that 
 heavenly city, the blessed Jerusalem, which He declares 
 to be the assembly of the souls which God plainly promises 
 to place first, " above His chief joy," in the new dispensation, 
 settling those who are clothed in the most white robe of 
 virginity in the pure dwelling of imapproachable light ; 
 because they had it not in mind to put off their wedding 
 garment— that is, to relax their minds by wandering 
 thoutihts. 
 
 CiiAP. VI. — Virr/inifi/ to he cuUivafrd and commended in every 
 •place and time. 
 
 Further, the expression in Jeremiah/ "That a maid should 
 not forget her ornaments, nor a bride lier attire [lit. breast- 
 band]," shows that she should not give up or loosen the band 
 of chastity througli wiles and distractions. For by the heart 
 are properly denoted our heart and mind. Xow the breast- 
 band, the girdle which gathers together and keeps firm the 
 purpose of the soul to chastity, is love to God, which our 
 Captain and Shepherd, Jesus, who is also our Euler and 
 Bridegroom, illustrious virgins, commands both you and 
 me to hold fast unbroken and sealed up even to the end ; 
 for one will not easily find anything else a greater help to 
 men than this possession, pleasing and grateful to God. 
 
 ^ "VVisd. iv. 2. 2 Is. ix. i. 
 
 ^ Commentators have remarked the allusion to Phil. iii. 11. See 
 Migne's note. The thought of the marriage of the heavenly bride- 
 groom, Christ, to His virgin bride, the Church, at the second Advent, 
 when "the dead shall be raised," Avas obviously present to the mind of 
 the writer. 
 
 * Jer. ii. 32. The author, in qiioting from the lxx., slightly alters the 
 text, so as to make it almost a command, instead of a question. The 
 origmal has fTr/X^frsTse/ ; in the text it is i-Trty^ctSsidxi.
 
 TI]K BAXQUF.T OF THE TK.X VIRGINS. 43 
 
 Therefore, I say, that we should all exercise and honoui 
 chastity, and always cultivate and commend it. 
 
 Let these first-fruits of my discourse suffice for thee, 
 Arete, in proof of my education and my zeal. " And I 
 receive the gilt," slie said that Arete replied, "and bid 
 Thallousa speak after thee ; i'or I must have a discom-se 
 from eacli one ol' you." And she said that Thallousa, paus- 
 ing a little, as though considering somewhat with herself, 
 thus spoke. 
 
 DISCOUPuSE v.— TirAT.LousA. 
 Chap. i. — TJic ojfcring of Chastifij a great gift. 
 
 I jiray you. Arete, that you will give your assistance now 
 too, that I may seem to speak something worthy in the first 
 place of yourself, and then of those who are present. For I 
 am persuaded, having thoroughly learnt it from the sacred 
 writings, that the greatest and most glorious offering and 
 gift, to which there is nothing comparable, Avhich men can 
 offer to God, is the life^ of virginity. For although many 
 accomplished many admirable things, according to their 
 vows, in the law, tliey alone were said to fulfil a great vow 
 who were willing to offer themselves of their free will. For 
 the passage runs thus : " And the Lord spake unto Moses, 
 saying. Speak unto the eliildren of Israel, and say unto them, 
 when eitlier man or woman sliall separate themselves . . . 
 unto tlie Lord"- — [///. sliall greatly vow a vow to offer, with 
 sacrihces of purification, chastity to the Lord]. One vow.s 
 to offer gold and silver vessels for the sanctuary when he 
 comes, another to offer the tithe of his fruits, another of his 
 property, another the best of his flocks, another consecrates 
 his being ; and no one is able to vow a great vow to the 
 Lord, but he who has offered himself entirely to God. 
 
 ^ Lit. game or toil, ddxov. ' Numb. vi. 1, 2.
 
 44 THE WHITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 CllAP. II. — Abraham's sacrifice of a heifer three years old; 
 of a goat, and of a ram also three years old: its 
 meaning — Every age to he consecrated to God — The 
 threefold watch and our age. 
 
 I must endeavour, virgins, by a true exposition, to 
 explain to you the mind of the Scripture according to its 
 meaning.^ Now, he who watches over and restrains him- 
 self in part, and in part is distracted and wandering, is not 
 wholly given up to God. Hence it is necessary that the 
 perfect man offer up all, both the things of the soul and 
 those of the flesh, so that he may be complete and not lack- 
 ing. Therefore also God commands Abraham,^ " Take Me 
 an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years 
 old, and a ram of tliree years old, and a turtle dove, and a 
 young pigeon ;" which is admirably said ; for remark, that 
 concerning those things, He also gives this command. Bring 
 them Me and keep them free from the yoke, even thy soul 
 uninjured, like a heifer, and your flesh, and your reason; 
 the last like a goat, since he traverses lofty and precipitous 
 places, and the other like a ram, that he may in nowise skip 
 away, and fall and slip off from the right way. For thus 
 shalt thou be perfect and blameless, Abraham, when thou 
 hast offered to Me thy soul, and thy sense, and thy mind, 
 which He mentioned under the symbol of the heifer, the 
 goat, and the ram of three years old, as though they repre- 
 sented the pure knowledge of the Trinity. 
 
 And perhaps He also symbolizes the beginning, the 
 middle, and the end of our life and of our age, wishing as 
 far as possible that men should spend their boyhood, their 
 manhood, and their more advanced life purely, and offer 
 them up to Him. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ commands 
 in the Gospels, thus directing: "Let not your lights be 
 extinguished, and let not your loins be loosed. Therefore 
 also be ye lilvc men who wait for their Lord, when he 
 
 ^ There are two readings. The above rendering may faii-ly embrace 
 them both. 
 3 Gen. XV. 9.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 45 
 
 will return from the wedding ; that, when he cometh and 
 knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed 
 are ye, when he shall make you sit downi, and shall come 
 and serve you. And if he come in the second, or in the 
 third watch, ye are blessed."^ For consider, virgins, when 
 He mentions three watches of the night, and His three 
 comings. He shadows forth in symbol our three periods of life, 
 that of the boy, of the full-gi-owu man, and of tlie old man; 
 so that if He should come and remove us from the world 
 M'hile spending our first period, that is, while we are boys, 
 He may receive us ready and pure, having nothing amiss ; 
 and the second and the third in like manner. For the 
 evening watch is the time of the budding and youth of 
 man, when the reason begins to be disturbed and to be 
 clouded by the changes of life, his flesh gaining strength 
 and urging him to lust. The second is the time when, 
 afterwards advancing to a full-grown man, he begins to 
 acquire stability, and to make a stand against the turbulence 
 of passion and self-conceit. And the third, M'hen most of 
 the imaginations and desires fade a^ay, the flesh now 
 withering and declining to old age. 
 
 Chap. hi. — Far host to cultivate Virtue from hof/hood. 
 
 Therefore, it is becoming that we should kindle the 
 unquenchable light of faith in the heart, and gird our loins 
 with purity, and watch and ever wait for the Lord ; so that, 
 if He should will to come and take any of us away in the 
 flrst period of life, or in the second, or in the third, and 
 should find us most ready, and working what He appointed. 
 He may make us to lie down in the bosom of Abraham, 
 of Isaac, and of Jacob. Now Jeremiah says, " It is good 
 for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth -"^ and "that 
 his soul should not depart from the Lord." It is good, 
 indeed, from boyhood, to submit the neck to the divine 
 Hand, and not to shake off, even to old age, the Eider who 
 guides with pure mind, Avhcn the Evil One is ever drag- 
 
 ^ Luke xii. 35-38. The autlmr apparently qnntcs from memory. 
 - Lam. iii. 27.
 
 4G TJIIC WniTJNGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 'Xm^ down the mind to that which is worse. For who is 
 there that docs not receive tlirough the eyes, through tlie 
 ears, through the taste and smell and touch, pleasures and 
 delights, so as to become impatient of the control of con- 
 tinence as a driver, who checks and vehemently restrains 
 tlie horse from evil ? Another wlio turns his thoughts to 
 other things will think differently ; but we say that he 
 offers himself perfectly to God who strives to keep the flesh 
 undefiled from childhood, practising virginity ; for it speedily 
 brings great and much-desired gifts of hopes to those who 
 strive for it, drying up the corrupting lusts and passions of 
 the soul. But come, let us explain how we give ourselves 
 up to the Lord. 
 
 Chap. iv. — Perfect consecration and devotion to God: 
 tcliat it is. 
 
 That wdiich is laid down in the Book of Numbers,^ 
 ■' gTcatly to vow a vow," serves to show, as, with a little 
 more explanation, I proceed to prove, that chastity is the 
 great vow above all vows. For then am I plainly conse- 
 crated altogether to the Lord, when I not only strive to 
 keep the flesh untouched by intercourse, but also unspotted 
 by other kinds of unseemliness. For " the unmarried woman," 
 it is said,- " careth for the things of the Lord, how she may 
 please the Lord;" not merely that she may bear away the 
 glory in part of not being maimed in her virtue, but in 
 both parts, according to the apostle, that she may be sanc- 
 tified in body and spirit, offering up her members to the 
 Lord. For let us say what it is to offer up oneself perfectly 
 to the Lord. If, for instance, I open my mouth on some 
 subjects, and close it upon others ; thus, if I open it for the 
 explanation of the Scriptures, for the praise of God, accord- 
 ing to my power, in a true faith and with all due honour, 
 and if I close it, putting a door and a watch upon it^ 
 against foolish discourse, my mouth is kept pure, and is 
 
 ^ Numb. vi. 2 (lxx.). ^ 1 Cor. vii. 34 ; quoted from memory. 
 
 ^ Cf. Ps. cxxxix. 4, and cxli. 3.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VinGIXS. 47 
 
 offered up to God. "My tongue is a pen,"^ an organ of 
 Avisdom ; for the Word of the Spirit writes by it in clearest 
 letters, from the depth and pouer of the Scriptures, even 
 the Lord, the swift Writer of the ages, that He quickly 
 and swiftly registers and fulfils the counsel of the Father, 
 liearing the words, "quickly spoil, SAviftly plunder."^ To such 
 a Scribe the words may be applied, "My tongue is a pen;" 
 for a beautiful pen is sanctified and offered to Him, -writing 
 things more lovely than the poets and orators who confirm 
 the doctrines of men. If, too, T accustom my eyes not to 
 lust after the charms of the body, nor to take delight in 
 unseemly sights, but to look up to the things which are 
 above, then my eyes are kept pure, and are offered to the 
 Lord. If I shut my ears against detraction and slanders, 
 and open them to the word of God, having intercourse witli 
 wise men,^ then have I offered up my ears to the Lord. If 
 1 keej) my hands from dishonourable dealing, from acts of 
 covetousness and of licentiousness, then are my hands kept 
 ])ure to God. If I withhold my steps from going * in per- 
 verse ways, then have I offered up my feet, not going to the 
 places of public resort and banquets, where wicked men 
 are found, but into the right Avay, fulfilling something of 
 the [divine] connnands. "What, then, remains to me, if I 
 also keep the heart pure, offering up all its thoughts to 
 God ; if I think no evil, if anger and A\Tath gain no rule 
 over me, if I meditate in the law of the Lord day and 
 night? And this is to preserve a great chastity, and to 
 vow a great vow. 
 
 CiiAi'. v. — The vov of Chastity, and its rites in the hoc — 
 Vines, Christ, and the Devil. 
 
 1 will now endeavour to explain to you, virgins, the 
 rest of that which is prescribed; for this is attached to 
 
 1 Ps. xlv. 2. 
 
 ^ Isaiah viii. 1. The lxx. is quoted from memory. The meaning,', 
 however, is uearer the oiigiual than the E. V. (y. Keil and Delitzsch, 
 Bib. Com., in he. 
 
 ^ Of. Ecchi:?. vi. 36. * to -ooivziKov. tlie power of going.
 
 48 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 your duties, consisting of laws concerning virginity, which 
 are useful as teaching how we should abstain, and how 
 advance to virginity. For it is "WTitten thus •} " And the 
 Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of 
 Israel, and say unto them, "Wlien either man or woman 
 shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to 
 separate themselves unto the Lord ; he shall separate himself 
 from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of 
 wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink 
 any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried, all 
 the days of his separation." And this means, that he who 
 has devoted and offered himself to the Lord shall not take 
 of the fruits of the plant of evil, because of its natural 
 tendency to produce intoxication and distraction of mind. 
 For we perceive from the Scriptures two kinds of vines 
 which were separate from each other, and were unlike. For 
 the one is productive of immortality and righteousness ; 
 but the other of madness and insanity. The sober and joy- 
 producing vine, from whose instructions, as from branches, 
 there joyfully hang down clusters of graces, distilling love, 
 is our Lord Jesus, who says expressly to the apostles,- " I 
 am the true vine, ye are the branches ; and my Father is 
 the husbandman." But the wild and death-bearing vine 
 is the devil, who drops down fury and poison and wrath, as 
 Moses relates, writing concerning liim,^ " For their vine 
 is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah : 
 their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter : 
 their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of 
 asps." The inhabitants of Sodom having gathered gTapes 
 from this, were goaded on to an unnatural and fruitless 
 desire for males. Hence, also, in the time of j^^oah, men 
 having given themselves up to drunkenness, sank do"mi into 
 imbelief, and, being overwhelmed by the deluge, were 
 drowned. And Cain, too, having drawn from this, stained 
 his fratricidal hands, and defiled the earth with the blood 
 of his own family. Hence, too, the heathen, becoming 
 intoxicated, sharpen their passions for murderous battles • 
 1 Nimib. vi. 1-4. 2 s_ j^iiu xv. 1, 5. ^ x)eut. xxxii. 32. 33.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 49 
 
 for man is not so much excited, nor goes so far astray through 
 wine, as from anger and wrath. A man does not become 
 intoxicated and go astray through wine, in the same way 
 as he does from sorrow, or from love, or from incontinence. 
 And therefore it is ordered that a virgin shall not taste of 
 this vine, so that she may be sober and watchful from the 
 cares of life, and may kindle the shining torch of the light 
 of righteousness for the AVord. " Take heed to yourselves," 
 says the Lord,^ "lest at any time your hearts be over- 
 charged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares ol' 
 this life, and so that day come upon you unawares, as 
 a snare." 
 
 Chap. vi. — Sihcra, a manvfadured and spurious wine, yet 
 intoxicating — Things xchich are aldn to sins are to he 
 avoided by a Virgin — The Altar of Incense Virgins. 
 
 Moreover, it is not only forbidden to virgins in any way 
 to touch those things which are made from that vine, but 
 even such things as resemble them and are akin to them. 
 For Sikera, which is manufactured, is called a spurious kind 
 of wine, whether made of palms or of other fruit-trees. For 
 in the same way that draughts of wine overthrow man's 
 reason, so do these exceedingly; and to speak the plain 
 truth, the wise are accustomed to call by tlie name of Sikera 
 all that produces drunkenness and distraction of mind, 
 besides wine. In order, therefore, tliat the virgin may not, 
 when guarding against those sins which are in their own 
 nature evil, be defiled by those which are like them and 
 akin to tliem, conquering the one and being conquered by 
 the other, that is, decorating herself with textures of diffe- 
 rent cloths, or with stones and gold, and other decorations 
 of the body, things which intoxicate the soul; on this 
 account it is ordered tliat she do not give herself up to 
 womanish weaknesses and laughter, exciting herself to wiles 
 and foolish talking, wliich whirl the mind around and con- 
 fuse it; as it is indicated in another place,- " Ye shall not eat 
 
 * Luke xxi. 34. * Lev. xi. 29 ; not an exact quotati'in. 
 
 D
 
 r>0 TJIE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 the hyania and animals like it; nor the weasel and creatures 
 of that kind." For this is the straight and direct way to 
 heaven, not merely not to avoid any stumbling-block which 
 would trip up and destroy men who are agitated by a desire 
 for luxuries and pleasures, but also from such things as 
 resemble them. 
 
 Moreover, it has been handed down that the unbloody 
 altar of God signifies the assembly of the chaste; thus vir- 
 ginity appears to be something great and glorious. There- 
 fore it ought to be preserved undefiled and altogether pure, 
 having no participation in the impurities of the flesh; but it 
 should be set up before the presence of the testimony, gilded 
 with wisdom, for the Holy of holies, sending forth a sweeu 
 savour of love to the Lord ; for He says/ " Thou shalt make 
 an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim-wood shalt thou 
 make it. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim-wood, 
 and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before 
 the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy- 
 seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 
 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: 
 when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 
 And when Aaron lighteth tlie lamps at even, he shall burn 
 incense upon it; a perpetual incense before the Lord through- 
 out your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense 
 thereon, nor burnt-sacrifices nor meat-offering ; neither shall 
 ye pour drink-offering thereon." 
 
 Chap. vii. — The Church intermediate hctwcen the shadotvs 
 of the Law and the recditics of Heaven. 
 
 If the law, according to the apostle, is sjDiritual, containing 
 the images " of future good things,'"^ come then, let us strip 
 off the veil of the letter which is spread over it, and consider 
 its naked and true meaning. The Hebrews were conimonded 
 to ornament the Tabernacle as a type of the Church, that 
 
 1 Exod. XXX. 1-9. 
 
 ' Heb. X. 1. The apostle says, " a shadow," and " not tlie very image.'' 
 The difference, however, is verbal only. — Tr.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 51 
 
 they miglit be able, by means of sensible things, to announce 
 beforehand the image of divine things. For the pattern 
 which was showTi to Moses ^ in the mount, to which he wai* 
 to have regard in fashioning the Tabernacle, was a kind of 
 accurate representation of the heavenly dwelling, which we 
 now perceive more clearly than through types, yet more 
 darkly than if we saw the reality. For not yet, in our present 
 condition, has the truth come unmingled to men, who are 
 here unable to bear the sight of pure immortality, just as we 
 cannot bear to look upon the rays of the sun. And the 
 Jews declared that the shadow of the image [of the heavenly 
 things which was afforded to them], was the third from the 
 reality; but we clearly behold the image of the heavenly 
 order; for the truth will be accurately made manifest after 
 the resurrection, when we shall see the heavenly tabernacle 
 (the city in heaven " whose builder and maker is God"-j 
 " face to face," and not " darkly" and " in part."^ 
 
 Chap. viii. — The double altar, Widoios and Virgins — Gold 
 the symbol of Virginity. 
 
 Now the Jews prophesied our state, but we foretell ilw 
 heavenly; since the Tabernacle was a symbol of the Church, 
 and the Church of heaven. Therefore, these things being 
 so, and the Tabernacle being taken for a type of the Church, 
 as I said, it is fitting that the altars should signify some of 
 the things in the Church. And we have already compared 
 the brazen altar to the company and circuit of widows; for 
 they are a living altar of God, to which they bring calves 
 and tithes, and free-will offerings, as a sacrifice to the Lord; 
 but the golden altar within the* Holy of holies, before the 
 presence of the testimony, on which it is forbidden to oiler 
 sacrifice and libation, has reference to those in a state of 
 virginity, as those who have their bodies preserved pure, like 
 
 1 Exod. XXV. 40. - Hul). xi. 10. ^l Cor. xiii. 12. 
 
 * An apparent confusion between the altar of incense, to which the 
 autlior refers, and which stood in the Holy Place, and the Mercy-Swit, 
 which was within tlic veil in the Holv of holies. — Tr.
 
 52 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 iinallojed gold, from carnal intercourse. Now gold is com- 
 mended for two reasons : the first, that it does not rust, 
 and the second, that in its colour it seems in a measure to 
 resemble the rays of the sun; and thus it is suitably a 
 symbol of virginity, which does not admit any stain or spot, 
 but ever shines forth with the light of the word. Therefore, 
 also, it stands nearer [to God] within the Holy of holies, and 
 before the veil, with undefiled hands, like incense, offering 
 up prayers to the Lord, acceptable as a sweet savour; as also 
 John indicated, saying that the incense in the vials of the 
 four-and-twenty elders were the prayers of the saints. This, 
 then, I offer to thee, Arete, on the spur of the moment, 
 according to my ability, on the subject of chastity. 
 
 And when Thallousa had said this, Theopatra said that 
 Arete touched Agathe with her sceptre, and that she, per- 
 ceiving it, immediately arose and answered. 
 
 DISCOUIiSE VI.— Agathe. 
 
 Ch.vp. I. — The excellence of the cibicling glory of Virginity — 
 The soul made in the image of the Image of God, that 
 is of His Son — The devil a suitor for the soul. 
 
 With great confidence of being able to persuade, and to 
 carry on this admirable discourse, Arete, if thou go with 
 me, will I also endeavour, according to my ability, to con- 
 tribute something to the discussion of the subject before us; 
 something commensurate to my own power, and not to be 
 compared with that M'hich has already been spoken. For I 
 should be unable to put forth in philosophizing anytliing 
 that could compete with those things which have already 
 been so variously and brilliantly worked out. For I shall 
 seem to bear away the reproach of silliness, if I make an 
 effort to match myself with my superiors in wisdom. If, 
 however, you will bear even with those who speak as they 
 can, I will endeavour to speak, not lacking at least in good 
 will. And here let me begin. 
 
 We have all come into this world, virgins, endowed
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. bo 
 
 with singular beauty, which has a relationship and affinity 
 to [divine] wisdom. For the souls of men do then most 
 accurately reseniLle Ilim who begat and formed them, when, 
 reflecting the unsullied representation of His likeness, and 
 the features of that countenance, to which God looking 
 formed them to have an immortal and indestructible shape, 
 they remain such. For the unbegotten and incorporeal 
 beauty, which neither begins nor is corruptible, but is un- 
 changeable, and grows not old and has need of nothing, He 
 resting in Himself, and in the very light which is in un- 
 speakable and inapproachable places,^ embracing all things 
 in the circumference of His power, creating and arranging, 
 made the soul after the image of His image. Therefore, 
 also, it is reasonable and immortal. For being made after 
 the image of the Only-begotten, as I said, it has an unsur- 
 passable beauty, and therefore evil spirits^ love it, and plot 
 and strive to defile its godlike and lovely image, as the 
 prophet Jeremiah shows, reproaching Jerusalem, " Thou 
 hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed;"^ 
 speaking of her who prostituted herself to the powers which 
 came against her to pollute her. For her lovers are tlie 
 devil and his angels, who plan to defile and pollute our 
 reasonable and clear-sighted beauty of mind by intercourse 
 with themselves, and desire to cohabit with every soul which 
 is "betrothed to the Lord. 
 
 Chap. u. — The Parable of the Ten Virgins. 
 
 K, then, any one will keep this beauty inviolate and un- 
 harmed, and such as He who constructed it formed and 
 fashioned it, imitating the eternal and intelligible nature of 
 which man is the representation and likeness, and will become 
 like a glorious and holy image, he will be transferred thence 
 to heaven, the city of the blessed, and will dwell there as in 
 a sanctuary. Now our beauty is then best preserved unde- 
 
 1 CJ. Tim. vi. 16. 
 
 ^ TTviv/xoiTiKoi T^; xovf,Btu; (Ej)h. vi. 12). In E. V. " spiritual 
 wickedness." ^ Jer. iii. 3.
 
 54 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 tiled and perfect when, protected by virginity, it is not 
 darkened by the heat of corruption from witliout; but, re- 
 maining in itself, it is adorned with righteousness, being 
 brought as a bride to the Son of God; as He also Himself 
 •suggests, exhorting that the light of chastity should be kindled 
 in their flesh, as in lamps; since the number of the ten 
 virgins^ signifies the souls that have believed in Jesus Christ, 
 symbolizing by the ten the only right way to heaven. Now 
 five of them were prudent and wise; and five were foolish 
 and unwise, for they had not the forethought to fill their 
 vessels with oil, remaining destitute of righteousness. Now 
 by these He signifies tliose who strive to come to the bouji- 
 daries of virginity, and who strain every nerve to fulfil this 
 love, acting virtuously and temperately, and who profess and 
 boast that this is their aim; but who, making light of it, and 
 being subdued by the changes of the world, come rather to 
 be sketches of the shadowy image of virtue, than workers 
 who represent the living truth itself. 
 
 Chap. hi. — The same endeavour and ef'ort after Virginity, 
 with a different result. 
 
 Now when it is said^ that " the kingdom of heaven is 
 likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went 
 forth to meet the bridegroom," this means that the same 
 way towards the goal had been entered upon, as is shown 
 by the mark X.^ By profession they had equally proposed 
 the same end, and therefore they are called ten, since, as I 
 have said, they chose the same profession; but they did not, 
 for all that, go forth in the same way to meet the bridegroom. 
 For some provided abundant future nourishment for their 
 lamps which were fed with oil, but others were careless, 
 thinking only of the present. And, therefore, they are 
 divided into two equal numbers of five, inasmuch as the one 
 class preserved the five senses, which most people consider 
 
 ^ Matt. XXV. 2 j^j;att, j^v. 
 
 ^ In Greek / = ten. The word eniiilovcd signifies the inties of a 
 sim-dial. — Tr.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 55 
 
 the gates of wisdom, pure and undefiled by sins ; but the 
 others, on the contrary, corrupted them by multitudes of 
 sins, defiling themselves with evil. For having restrained 
 them, and kept them free from righteousness, they bore a 
 more abundant crop of transgressions, in consequence of 
 M'hich it came to pass that they were forliidden, and shut 
 out from the divine courts. For whether, on the one hand, 
 we do riglit, or, on the other, do wrong through these senses, 
 our habits of good and evil are confirmed. And as Thal- 
 lousa said that there is a chastity of the eyes, and of the 
 ears, and of the tongue, and so on of the other senses; so 
 Iiere she who keeps inviolate the faith of the five pathways 
 of virtue — sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing — is called 
 by the name of the five virgins, because she has kept the 
 five forms of the sense pure to Christ, as a lamp, causing the 
 light of holiness to shine forth clearly from each of them. 
 For the flesh is truly, as it were, our five-lighted lamp, 
 which the soul will bear like a torch, when it stands before 
 Christ the Bridegroom, on the day of tlie resurrection, show- 
 ing her faith springing out clear and bright through all the 
 senses, as He Himself taught, saying,^ " I am come to send 
 fire on the earth'; and what will I if it be already kindled?" 
 meaning by the earth our bodies, in \\-hich He wished the 
 swift-moving and fiery operation of His doctrine to be 
 kindled. Now the oil represents wisdom and righteousness ; 
 for while the soul rains down unsparingly, and pours Ibrth 
 these things upon the body, the light of virtue is kindled 
 unquenchably, making its good actions to shine before men, 
 so that our Father which is in heaven may be glorified.- 
 
 CllAP. IV. — Wliat the oil in the lamps means. 
 
 Now they offered, in Leviticus,^ oil of this kind, " pure oil 
 olive, beaten for the light, to cause the lanijjs to burn con- 
 tinually, witliout the veil . . . before the Lord." IJut 
 
 ^ Luke xii. 49. The Latin version is certainly more accurate, " QiuM 
 volo nisi ut accendatur?" — Tk. 
 
 2 Mutt. V. IG. ' Lev. .\xiv. 2. 3.
 
 ,56 THE WJUTINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 they were comnianded to have a feeLle light from the even- 
 ing to the morning. Por their light seemed to resemble the 
 prophetic word, which gives encouragement to temperance, 
 being nourished by the acts and the faith of the people. 
 Jiut the temple [in which the light was kept burning] refers 
 to "the lot of their inheritance,"^ inasmuch as a light can 
 shine in only one house. Therefore it was necessary that 
 it should be lighted before day. Tor he says,^ " [they shall 
 burn it] until the morning," that is, until the coming of 
 Christ. But the Sun of chastity and of righteousness hav- 
 ing arisen, there is no need of light. 
 
 So long, then, as this people treasured up nourishment for 
 the light, supplying oil by their works, the light of contin- 
 ence was not extinguished among them, but was ever shining 
 and giving light in the " lot of their inheritance." But when 
 the oil failed, by their turning away from the faith to in- 
 continence, the light was entirely extinguished, so that the 
 virgins have again to kindle their lamps by light transmitted 
 from one to another, bringing the light of incorruption to 
 the world from above. Let us then supply now the oil of 
 good works abundantly, and of prudence, being purged from 
 all corruption which would weigh us down; lest, while the 
 Bridegroom tarries, our lamps may also in like manner be 
 extinguished. For the delay is the interval which precedes 
 the appearing of Christ. Now the slumbering and sleeping 
 of the virgins signifies the departure from life; and the 
 midnight is the kingdom of antichrist, during which the 
 destroying angel passes over the houses.^ But the cry 
 which was made when it was said,* " Behold the bridegroom 
 Cometh, go ye out to meet him," is the voice which shall be 
 heard from heaven, and the trumpet, when the saints, all 
 their bodies being raised, shall be caught up, and shall go 
 on the clouds to meet the Lord.^ 
 
 For it is to be observed that the word [of God] says, that 
 after the cry all the virgins arose, that is, that the dead shall 
 be raised after the voice which comes from heaven, as also 
 
 ^ Ps. cv. 11. ^ Lev. xxiv. 3. ' E.\od. xi., xiL 
 
 « Matt. XXV. 6. M Thess. iv. 16, 17.
 
 THE BANQUET OF TILE TEN VIRGINS. 57 
 
 Paul intimates/ that " tlie Lord Himself shall descend from 
 heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
 and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall 
 rise first;" tliat is the tabernacles [bodies], for they died, 
 being put off by their souls. " Then we which are alive 
 shall be caught up together \vith them," meaning our souls.^ 
 For we truly who are alive are the souls which, with the 
 bodies, having put them on again, shall go to meet Him in 
 the clouds, bearing our lamps trimmed, not with anything 
 alien and worldly, but like stars radiating the liglit of jjru- 
 dence and continence, full of etliereal splendour. 
 
 CiiAP. V. — The reward of Virginity. 
 
 These, fair virgins, are the orgies of our mysteries; 
 these the mystic rites of those who are initiated in virginity; 
 these the "undefiled rewards"^ of the conflict of virginity. 
 I am betrothed to the "Word, and receive as a reward the 
 eternal crown of immortality and riches from the Father; 
 and I triumph in eternity, crowned with the bright and un- 
 fading flowers of wisdom. I am one in the choir with Christ 
 dispensing His rewards in heaven, around the unbeginning 
 and never-ending King. I have become the torchbearer of 
 the unapproachable lights,'* and I join with their company 
 in the new song of the archangels, showing forth the new 
 grace of the Church; for the Word says that the company of 
 virgins always follow the Lord, and liave fellowship with 
 Him wherever He is. And this is wliat John signifies in 
 the commemoration of the hundred and forty-four thousand.^ 
 
 Go then, ye virgin band of the new ages. Go, fill your 
 vessels with righteousness, for the hour is coming when ye 
 must rise and meet the bridegi'ooni. Go, lightly leaving on 
 
 1 1 Thcss. iv. 16. 
 
 ^ 1 Thess. iv, 17. Commentators have remarkeil on the peculiarity of 
 the interpretation. We give simply the writer's meaning. — Tii. 
 
 3 Wisd. iv. 2. 
 
 * Although the Greek word is not the same as in 1 Tim. vi. 16, the 
 meaning is probably this rather than unquenchable, as it is rendered in 
 the Latin.— Tr. * Rev. vii. 4, xiv. 4
 
 58 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 one side the fascinations and the pleasures of life, which 
 confuse and bewitch the soul; and thus shall ye attain the 
 promises, "This I swear by Ilim who has shown me the 
 way of life." This crown, woven by the prophets, I have 
 taken from the prophetic meadows, and offer to thee, O 
 Arete. 
 
 Agathe having thus admirably brought her discourse to 
 an end, she said, and having been applauded for what she 
 had uttered, Arete again commanded Procilla to speak. 
 And she, rising and passing before the entrance, spoke thus. 
 
 DISCOUESE VIL— riiociLLA. 
 
 Chap. i. — What the trite and seemly manner of praising — 
 The Father greater than the Son, not in suhstance, hut 
 
 in ordei Virginity the lily — Faithful soids and 
 
 virgins, the one hride of the one Christ. 
 
 It is not lawful for me to delay, Arete, after such dis- 
 courses, seeing that I confide undoubtingly in the manifold 
 wisdom of God, which gives richly and widely to whom- 
 soever it wills. For sailors who have experience of the 
 sea declare that the same wind blows on all who sail ; and 
 that different persons, managing their course differently, 
 strive to reach different ports. Some have a fair wind ; to 
 others it blows across their course ; and yet both easily 
 accomplish their voyage. Now, in the same way, the 
 "understanding Spirit,^ lioly, one only \lit. only begotten],""^ 
 gently breathing down from the treasures of the Father 
 above, giving us all the clear fair wind of knowledge, will 
 suffice to guide the course of our words without offence. 
 
 And now it is time for me to speak. 
 
 This, virgins, is the one true and seemly mode of 
 praising, when he who praises brings forward a witness 
 better than all those who are praised. For thence one 
 may learn with certainty that the commendation is given 
 
 * Tiiiuciec here, and for vnnd above. ^ Wisd. vii. 22.
 
 THE BAXQUET OE THE TEN VIRGINS. 59 
 
 not from favour, nor of necessity, nor from repute, but in 
 accordance with truth and an unflattering judgment. And 
 so the proplicts and apostles, who spoke moi-e fully con- 
 cerning the Son of God, and assigned to Him a divinity 
 above other men, did not refer their praises of Him to the 
 teaching of angels, but to Him, upon whom all authority 
 and power depend. For it was fitting that He who was 
 greater than all things after the Father, should have the 
 Father, who alone is greater than Himself,^ as His witness. 
 And so I will not bring forward the praises of virginity 
 from mere human report, but from Him who cares for us, 
 and who has taken up the whole matter, showing that He 
 is the husl)andman of this grace, and a lover of its beauty, 
 and a fitting witness. And this is quite clear, in the Song 
 of Songs, to any one who is willing to see it, where Christ 
 himself, praising those who are firmly established in vir- 
 ginity, says,^ " As the lily among thorns, so is my love 
 among the daughters ;" comparing the grace of chastity to 
 the lily, on account of its purity and fragrance, and sweet- 
 ness and joyousness. For chastity is like a spring flower, 
 always softly exlialing immortality from its white petals. 
 Therefore He is not asliamed to confess that He loves the 
 beauty of its prime, in the folluwing words :^ " Thou hast 
 ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished 
 my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy 
 neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse ! how 
 much better is thy love than wine ! and the smell of thine 
 ointments than all spices ! Thy lips, my spouse, drop 
 as the honeycomb ; honey and milk are under thy tongue ; 
 and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 
 A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse ; a spring sliut 
 up, a fountain sealed." 
 
 These praises does Clirist proclaim to tliose who have 
 come to the boundaries of virginity, describing tliem all 
 under the one name of His spouse ; for the spouse must 
 be betrothed to the ]]ridegroom, and called by His name. 
 And, moreover, she must be undefiled and unpolluted, as a 
 
 » S. Jno. xiv. 28. ^ Cant. ii. 2. ' Cant. iv. 9-12.
 
 60 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 <,farden sealed, in which all the odours of the fragrance of 
 lieaven are gro-wn, that Christ alone may come and gather 
 tliem, blooming with incorporeal seeds. For the Word 
 loves none of the things of the flesh, because He is not of 
 such a nature as to be contented with any of the things 
 which are corruptible, as hands, or face, or feet; but He 
 looks upon and delights in the beauty which is immaterial 
 and spiritual, not touching the beauty of the body. 
 
 Chap. ii. — The interpretation of that passage of the Canticles, 
 Chap. iv. vcr. 9-12. 
 
 Consider now, virgins, that, in saying to the bride, 
 " Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my sjjouse," He 
 shows the clear eye of the understanding, when the inner 
 man has cleansed it and looks more clearly upon the truth. 
 For it is clear to every one that there is a twofold power of 
 sight, the one of the soul, and the other of the body. But 
 the Word does not profess a love for that of the body, but 
 only that of the understanding, saying, " Thou hast ravished 
 my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy 
 neck ;" which means. By the most lovely sight of thy mind, 
 thou hast urged my heart to love, radiating forth from 
 within the glorious beauty of chastity. Now the chains of 
 the neck are necklaces which are composed of various 
 precious stones ; and the souls which take care of the 
 body, place around the outward neck of the flesh this 
 visible ornament to deceive those who behold ; but those 
 who live chastely, on the other hand, adorn themselves 
 within with ornaments truly composed of various precious 
 stones, namely, of freedom, of magnanimity, of wisdom, and 
 of love, caring little for those temporal decorations which, 
 like leaves blossoming for an hour, dry up with the changes 
 of the body. For there is seen in man a twofold beauty, 
 of which the Lord accepts that which is within and is 
 immortal, saying, " Thou hast ravished my heart with one 
 chain of thy neck;" meaning to show that He had been 
 drawn to love by the splendour of the inner man shining
 
 THE BANQUET OE THE TEN VIRGINS. 61 
 
 forth in its glory, even as the Psahnist also testifies, saying, 
 " The Kincr's daughter is all glorious within." ^ 
 
 CiiAP. III. — Virgins being martyrs first among tJie companions 
 of Christ. 
 
 Let no one suppose that all the remaining company of 
 those who have believed are condemned, thinking that we 
 who are virgins alone shall be led on to attain the promises, 
 not understanding that there shall be tribes and families and 
 orders, according to the analogy of the faith of each. And 
 this Paul, too, sets forth, saying,^ " There is one glory of the 
 sun, and another glory of the moon, and another gloiy of 
 the stars : for one star differeth from another star in glory. 
 So also is the resurrection of the dead." And the Lord does 
 not profess to give the same honours to all; but to some He 
 promises that they shall be numbered in the kingdom of 
 heaven, to others the inheritance of the earth, and to others 
 to see the Father.^ And here, also, He announces that the 
 order and holy choir of the virgins shall first enter in com- 
 pany with Him into the rest of the new dispensation, as into 
 a bridal chamber. For they were martyr.s, not as bearing 
 the pains of the body for a little moment of time, but as 
 enduring them through all their life, not shrinking from 
 truly wrestling in an Olympian contest for the prize of 
 chastity; but resisting the fierce torments of pleasures and 
 fears and griefs, and the other evils of the iniquity of men, 
 they first of all carry off the prize, taking their place in the 
 higher rank of those who receive the promise. Undoubt- 
 edly these are the souls whom the "Word calls alone His 
 chosen spouse and His sister, but the rest concubines and 
 virgins and daughters, speaking thus:^ " There are threescore 
 queens and fourscore concubines, and virgins without num- 
 ber. ;My dove, my undefiled, is but one; she is tlie only one 
 of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her: the 
 daughters saw her and blessed her: yea, the queens and tlie 
 
 1 Ps. xlv. 14. 'I Cor. XV. 41, 42. » ^i^n, ^ 3.1(3^ 
 
 * Cant. vi. 8, !).
 
 02 THE WIUTINGH OF METHODIUS. 
 
 concubines, and they praised her." For there being plainly 
 many daughters of the Church, one alone is the chosen and 
 most precious in her eyes above all, namely, the order of 
 virgins. 
 
 Chap. iv. — The passage, Canticles vi. 8, 9, explained — Tlu 
 queens, the holy souls lief ore the deluge — TJie eoncuhines, 
 the souls of the pirophets — Tlie divine seed for spiiritual 
 offspring in the hooks of the prophets — The nuptials of 
 tJie Word in the prophets as though clandestine. 
 
 Now if any one should have a doubt about these things, 
 inasmuch as the points are nowhere fully wrought out, and 
 should still wish more fully to perceive their spiritual signi- 
 ficance, namely, what the queens and the concubines and the 
 virgins are, we will say that these may have been spoken con- 
 cerning those who have been conspicuous for their righteous- 
 ness from the begiiming throughout the progress of time; as 
 of those before the flood, and those after the Hood, and so on 
 of those after Christ. The Church, then, is the spouse. The 
 queens are those royal souls before the deluge, who became 
 well-pleasing to God, that is, those about Abel and Seth and 
 Enoch. The concubines those after the flood, namely, those 
 of the prophets, in whom, before the Chui'ch was betrothed 
 to the Lord, being united to them after the manner of con- 
 cubines. He sowed true words in an incorrupt and pure 
 philosophy, so that, conceiving faith, they might bring forth 
 to Him the spirit of salvation. For such fruits do the souls 
 bring forth with whom Christ has had intercourse, fruits 
 which bear an ever-memorable renown. For if you will 
 look at the books of Moses, or David, or Solomon, or Isaiah, 
 or of the prophets who follow, virgins, you will see wdiat 
 offspring they have left, for the sa^-ing of life, from their 
 intercourse with the Son of God. Hence the Word has witli 
 deep perception called the souls of the prophets concubines, 
 because He did not espouse them openly, as He did the 
 Church, having killed for her the fatted calf.^ 
 
 1 Taike xv. 23.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. G3 
 
 Chap. v. — The sixtt/ queens: why sixty, and v:hy queens — The 
 excellence of the saints of the first age. 
 
 In addition to these matters, there is this also to be con- 
 sidered, so tliat nothing may escape us of things -which are 
 necessary, why lie said that the queens were sixty, and the 
 concubines eiglity, and the virgins so numerous as not to be 
 counted from their multitude, but the spouse one. And first 
 let us speak of the sixty. I imagine that He named under the 
 sixty queens, those who had pleased God from the first-made 
 man in succession to Noah, for this reason, since these had no 
 need of precepts and laws for their salvation, the creation of 
 the world in six days being stiU recent. For they remem- 
 bered that in six days God formed the creation, and those 
 things which were made in paradise; and how man, receiv- 
 ing a command not to touch ^ the tree of knowledge, ran 
 aground, the author of evil having led him astray.^ Thence 
 he gave the symbolical name of sixty queens to those souls 
 who, from the creation of the world, in succession chose 
 God as the object of their love, and were almost, so to speak, 
 the offspring of the first age, and neighbours of the great 
 six days' M^ork, from their having been born, as I said, im- 
 mediately after the sLx days. For these had great honour, 
 being associated with the angels, and often seeing God 
 manifested visibly, and not in a dream. For consider what 
 confidence Seth had towards God, and Abel, and Enos, 
 and Enoch, and INIethuselah, and Noah, the first lovers of 
 righteousness, and the first of the first-born children who are 
 written in heaven,^ being thought worthy of the kingdom, 
 as a kind of first-fruits of the plants for salvation, coming 
 out as early fruit to God. Aud so much may suffice con- 
 cerning these. 
 
 ^ This v";is Eve's tesluuuiiy to the serpent, not the original conx- 
 mand. — Tu. 
 
 - Gen. iii. 3. ' Ileb. xi. 23.
 
 64 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 Chap. vi. — The eighty conciibines, what — The knowledge of 
 the Incarnation communicated to the prophets. 
 
 It still remains to speak concerning the concubines. To 
 those who lived after the deluge the knowledge of God was 
 henceforth more remote, and they needed other instruction 
 to ward off the evil, and to be their helper, since idolatry 
 was already creeping in. Therefore God, that the race of 
 man might not be wholly destroyed, through forgetfulness 
 of the things which were good, commanded His own Son 
 to reveal to the prophets His own future appearance in 
 the world by the flesh, in which the joy and knowledge of 
 the spiritual eighth day^ shall be proclaimed, which would 
 bring the remission of sins and the resurrection, and that 
 thereby the passions and corruptions of men would be 
 circumcised. And, therefore, He called by the name of 
 the eighty virgins the list of the prophets from Abraham, 
 on account of the dignity of circumcision, which embraces 
 the number eight, in accordance with which also the law is 
 framed ; because they first, before the Church was espoused 
 to the Word, received the divine seed, and foretold the 
 circumcision of the spiritual eighth day. 
 
 Chap. vn. — The Virgins^ the righteous ancients — The Church, 
 the one only Spouse, more excellent than the others. 
 
 Now he calls by the name of virgins, who belong to a 
 countless assembly, those who, being inferior to the better 
 ones, have practised righteousness, and have striven against 
 sin with youthful and noble energy. But of these, neither 
 the queens, nor the concubines, nor the virgins, are com- 
 pared to the Church. For she is reckoned the perfect and 
 chosen one beyond all these, consisting and composed of all 
 the apostles, the Bride who surpasses all in the beauty of 
 
 ^ Here, and in many other places, the prevalent niillenarian belief 
 of the first centimes is expressed by Methodius. — Tr. 
 
 2 This word, as being that employed in the E. T. of the Canticles, 
 is adopted throughout. It must be remembered, that, in this connec- 
 tion, it stiinds for uixvils;, and not for vupSkvoi. — Tii.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 65 
 
 youth and virginity. Therefore, also, she is blessed and 
 praised by all, because she saw and heard freely what those 
 desired to see, even for a little time, and saw not, and to 
 hear, but heard not. For " blessed," said our Lord to His 
 disciples,^ " are your eyes, for they see ; and your ears, for 
 they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets 
 have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not 
 seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and 
 have not heard them." For this reason, then, the prophets 
 count them blessed, and admire them, because the Church 
 was thought wortliy to participate in those things which 
 they did not attain to hear or see. For " there are three- 
 score queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without 
 number. My dove, my undefiled, is but one."* 
 
 Chap. viii. — Tlic human nature of Christ His one dove. 
 
 Can any one now say otherwise than that the Bride is the 
 undefiled flesh of the Lord, for the sake of which He left the 
 Father and came down here, and was joined to it, and, being 
 incarnate, dwelt in it ? Therefore He called it figuratively 
 a dove, because that creature is tame and domestic, and 
 readily adapts itself to man's mode of life. For she alone, 
 so to speak, was found spotless and undefiled, and excellinfr 
 all in the glory and beauty of righteousness, so that none 
 of those who had pleased God most perfectly could stand 
 near to her in a comparison of virtue. And for this reason 
 she was thought worthy to become a partaker of the king- 
 dom of the Only-begotten, being betrothed and united to 
 Him. And in the forty-fourth psalm,^ the queen who, 
 chosen out of many, stands at the right hand of God, 
 clothed in the golden ornament of virtue, whose beauty 
 the King desired,* is, as I said, the undefiled and blessed 
 flesh, which the Word Himself carried into the heavens, 
 and presented at the right hand of God, " \ATOught about 
 with divers colours," that is, in the pursuits of immortalitv, 
 
 1 Miitt. xiii. 1(5, 17. 2 Cant. vi. 8, 9. 
 
 3 Tlie forty-tifth in our arraiigeinont. ■* Pa. xlv. 2.
 
 66 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 which he calls symbolically golden fringes. For since 
 this garment is variegated and woven of various virtues, as 
 chastity, prudence, faith, love, patience, and other good 
 things, which, covering, as they do, the unseemliness of 
 the flesh, adorn man with a golden ornament. 
 
 Chap. ix. — The Virgins immediately after the Queen and 
 
 Spouse. 
 
 ]\Ioreover, we must farther consider what the Spirit 
 delivers to us in the rest of the psalm, after the enthroniza- 
 tion of the manhood assumed hy the Word at the right 
 hand of the Father. " The virgins," He says,^ " that be her 
 fellows shall bear her company, and shall be brought unto 
 thee. With joy and gladness shall they be brought, and 
 shall enter into the King's palace." Xow, here the Spirit 
 seems quite plainly to praise virginity, next, as we have 
 explained, to the Bride of the Lord, who promises that the 
 virgins shall approach second to the Almighty witli joy and 
 gladness, guarded and escorted by angels. For so lovely 
 and desirable is in truth the glory of virginity, that, next to 
 the Queen, whom the Lord exalts, and presents in sinless 
 glory to the Father, the choir and order of virgins bear her 
 company, assigned to a place second to that of the Bride. 
 Let these efforts of mine to speak to thee, Arete, concern- 
 ing chastity, be engraven on a monument. 
 
 And Procilla having thus spoken, Thekla said. It is my 
 turn after her to continue the contest ; and I rejoice, since 
 I too have tlie favouring wisdom of words, perceiving that 
 1 am, like a harp, inwardly attuned, and prepared to sj)eak 
 with elegance and propriety. 
 
 Arete. — I most willingly hail thy readiness, Thekla, in 
 which I confide to give me fitting discourse, in accordance 
 with thy powers ; since thou wilt yield to none in universal 
 philosophy and instruction, instructed by Paul in what is 
 fitting to say of evangelical and divine doctrine. 
 
 ^ Ts. xlv. 15, ] n.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 67 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII.— TiiEKLA. 
 
 Chap. i. — Methodius' derivation of the word rrafhv'ia : wholly 
 divine — Virtue, in Greek dpirrj, whence so ccdled. 
 
 Well, then, let us first say, beginning from the origin of 
 the name, for what cause this supreme and blessed pursuit 
 was called -Trapkiia,^ what it aims at, what power it has, and, 
 afterwards, what fruits it gives fortli. For almost all have 
 been ignorant of this virtue as being superior to ten thousand 
 other advantages of virtue which we cultivate for the puri- 
 fication and adornment of the soul. For virginity {rrapOtvla) 
 is divine {'rapOsta') by the change of one letter, as she alone 
 makes him who has her, and is initiated by her incorrup- 
 tible rites like unto God, than which it is impossible to find 
 a greater good, removed, as it is, from pleasure and grief; 
 and the wing of the soul sprinkled by it becomes stronger 
 and lighter, accustomed daily to fly from human desires. 
 
 For since the children of the wise have said tliat our life 
 is a festival, and that we have come to exhibit in the theatre 
 the drama of truth, that is, righteousness, the devil and the 
 demons plotting and striving against us, it is necessary for 
 us to look upwards and to take our flight aloft, and to flee 
 from the blandishments of their tongues, and from their 
 ibrms tinged with the outward appearance of temperance, 
 more tlian from the Sirens of Homer. F'.'^r many, bewitched 
 by the pleasures of error, take their flight downwards, and 
 are weighed down when they come into this life, their 
 nerves being relaxed and unstrung, by means of whicli the 
 power of the wings of temperance is strengthened, ligliten- 
 ing the downward tendency of the corrujition of tlie body. 
 AVhence, Arete, whether thou hast tliy name [signifying 
 virtue], because thou art worthy of being chosen (aipsrr}) for 
 thyself, or because thou raisest {alptiv) and liftest up to 
 heaven, ever going in the purest minds, come, give me thy 
 help in my discour.se, which thou liast thyself appointed 
 me to speak.
 
 68 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 Chap. ii. — The lofty mind and constancy of the sacred Viryina 
 — The introduction of Virgins into the Messed abodes 
 lefore others. 
 
 Those wlio take a downward flight, and fall into pleasures, 
 do not desist from grief and labours until, through their 
 passionate desires, they fulfil the want of their intemperance, 
 and, being degraded and shut out from the sanctuary, they 
 are removed from the scene of truth, and, instead of pro- 
 creating children with modesty and temperance, they rave 
 in the wild pleasures of unlawful amours. But those who, 
 on light wing, ascend into the supramundane life, and see 
 from afar what other men do not see, the very pastures of 
 immortality, bearing in abundance flowers of inconceivable 
 beauty, are ever turning themselves again to the spectacles 
 there ; and, for this reason, those things are thought small 
 which are here considered noble — such as wealth, and glory, 
 and birth, and marriage ; and they think no more of tliose 
 things [than of the most ordinary things of life]. But yet 
 if any of them should choose to give up their bodies to 
 wild beasts or to fire, and be punished, they are ready to 
 have no care for pains, for the desire of them or the fear of 
 them ; so that they seem, while in the world, not to be in 
 the world, but to have already reached, in thought and in 
 the tendency of their desires, the assembly of those who are 
 in heaven. 
 
 Now it is not right that the wing of virginity should, by 
 its own nature, be weighed down upon the earth, but that 
 it shoidd soar upwards to heaven, to a pure atmosphere, 
 and to the life which is aldn to that of angels. Whence 
 also they, first of all, after their call and departure hence, 
 who have rightly and faithfully contended as virgins for 
 Christ, bear away the prize of victory, being crowned by 
 Him with the flowers of immortality. For, as soon as their 
 souls have left the world, it is said that the angels meet 
 them with much rejoicing, and conduct them to the very 
 pastures already spoken of, to which also they were longing 
 to come, contemplating them in imagination from afar, when,
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 6'J 
 
 while they were yet dwelliug in their bodies, they appeared 
 to them divine. 
 
 CiiAr. III. — Tlic lot and inheritance of Virginity. 
 
 Furthermore, when they liave come hither, they see wonder- 
 ful and glorious and blessed things of beauty, and such as 
 cannot be spoken to men. They see there righteousness 
 itself and prudence, and love itself, and truth and temperance, 
 and other flowers and plants of wisdom, equally splendid, 
 of which we here behold only the shadows^ and apparitions, 
 as in dreams, and think that they consist of the actions of 
 men, because there is no clear image of them here, but only 
 dim copies, which themselves we see often when making 
 dark cojiies of them. For never has any one seen with his 
 eyes the greatness, or the form or the beauty of righteous- 
 ness itself, or of understanding, or of peace ; but there, in 
 Him whose name is "I AM,"- they are seen perfect and 
 clear, as they are. For there is a tree of temperance itself, 
 and of love, and of understanding, as there are plants of the 
 fruits which grow here — as of grapes, the pomegranate, and 
 of apples ; and so, too, the fruits of those trees are gatliered 
 and eaten, and do not perish and wither, but those who gather 
 them grow to immortality and a likeness to God. Just as 
 he from whom all are descended, before the fall and the 
 blinding of his eyes, being in paradise, enjoyed its fruits, God 
 appointing man to dress and to keep the plants of wisdom. 
 For it was entrusted to the first Adam to cultivate those 
 i'ruits. Now Jeremiah saw that these things exist specially 
 in a certain place, removed to a great distance from our 
 world, where, compassionating those who have fallen i'rom 
 that good state, he says:^ " Learn where is wisdom, ^\■here is 
 
 ^ The in/luencc of Plato is tvaceaLle, here and elsewhere, tliroui^hont 
 the works oi Methodius. It has heen fully examined in the able wo'k 
 ol' Jalui, Muthodius I'latonizans. — Tn. 
 
 - Exod. iii. 14. 
 
 ^ Earuch, iii. 14, IT). The apncryphal liook of Ijanich, as lieariiifr 
 the name of the comj>anion of Jeremiah, was lusually (juoted, in llie 
 second and tliird centuries^ as the work of tiiat gi'ent prophet. — Tr.
 
 70 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 strength, wliere is understanding ; that thou mayest know 
 also where is length of days, and life, where is the light of 
 the eyes, and peace. Who hath found out her place? or 
 who hath come into her treasures ?" The virgins having 
 entered into the treasures of these things, gather the reason- 
 able fruits of the virtues, sprinkled with manifold and well- 
 ordered lights, which, like a fountain, God throws up over 
 them, irradiating that state with unquenchable lights. And 
 they sing harmoniously, giving glory to God. For a pure 
 atmosphere is shed over them, and one which is not 
 oppressed by the sun. 
 
 Chap. iv. — Exiiortation to the cultivation of Virginity — Tlu 
 ^passage, Eev. xii. 1-6, is 2^Toposccl to he examined. 
 
 Now^ then, Virgins, daughters of undefiled temperance, 
 let us strive for a life of blessedness and the kingdom of 
 heaven. And do ye unite with those before you in an ear- 
 nest desire for the same glory of chastity, caring little for 
 the tilings of this life. For immortality and chastity do not 
 contribute a little to happiness, raising up the flesh aloft, 
 and drying up its moisture and its clay-like weight, by a 
 greater force of attraction. And let not the uncleanness 
 which you hear creep in and weigh you down to the earth ; 
 nor let sorrow transform your joy, melting away your hopes 
 in better things ; but shake off incessantly the calamities 
 which come upon you, not defiling your mind with lamenta- 
 tions. Let faith conquer wholly, and let its light drive 
 away the visions of evil which crowd around the heart. 
 For, as when the moon brightly shining fills the heaven 
 with its light, and all the air becomes clear, but suddenly 
 the clouds from the w^est, enviously rushing in, for a little 
 while overshadow^ its light, but do not destroy it, since they 
 are immediately driven away by a blast of the wind; so ye 
 also, when causing the light of chastity to shine in the world, 
 although pressed upon by afflictions and labours, do not grow 
 u'eary and abandon your hopes. For the clouds which come
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. Tl 
 
 from the Evil One are driven away by the Spirit,^ if ye, like 
 your Mother, who gives birth to the male Virgin in heaven, 
 Fear nothing the serpent tliat lies in wait and plots against 
 you ; concerning wlioni I intend to discourse to you more 
 plainly ; for it is now time. 
 
 John, in the course of the Apocalypse, says :^ " And there 
 appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with 
 the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a 
 croAvn of twelve stars : and she, being with child, cried, 
 travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there 
 appeared another wonder in heaven ; and behold a great red 
 dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns 
 upon his heads. xVnd his tail drew the third part of the stars 
 of heaven, and did cast them to the earth : and the dragon 
 stood before tlie woman which was ready to be delivered, for 
 to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought 
 forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of 
 iron : and her cliild was caught up unto God, and to His 
 throne. And the woman lied into the wilderness, where she 
 hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her 
 there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." So 
 far we have given, in brief, tlie history of the woman and 
 the dragon. But to search out and explain the solution of 
 them is beyond my powers. Nevertheless, let me venture, 
 trusting ia Him who commanded to search tlie Scriptures.^ 
 If, then, you agree with this, it will not be difhcult to under- 
 take it ; for you will quite pardon me, if I am unable suffi- 
 ciently to explain the exact meaning of the Scripture. 
 
 Chap. v. — The icoman ivho Irings forth, to whom Hie dragon 
 is ojyjwscd, the Church — Her adornment and grace. 
 
 The woman who appeared in heaven clothed with the 
 sun, and crowned with twelve stars, and having the moon 
 for her footstool, and being with child, and travailing in 
 
 ^ The same word in the text which is traiuslated wind : rr^iiiA*. 
 The play upon tlie word cannot be preserved in the trans^lation. — Tr. 
 * Kev. xii. l-G. 3 St Jno. v. 3<).
 
 72 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 birth, is certainly, according to the accurate interpretation, 
 our mother, virgins, being a power by herself distinct 
 from her children ; whom the prophets, according to the 
 aspect of their subjects, have called sometimes Jerusalem, 
 sometimes a Bride, sometimes Mount Zion, and sometimes 
 the Temple and Tabernacle of God. For she is the power 
 which is desired to give light in the prophet, the Spirit 
 crying to her:^ "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and 
 the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, 
 the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the 
 people : but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory 
 shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to 
 thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up 
 thine eyes round about, and see ; all they gather themselves 
 together, they come to thee : thy sons shall come from far, 
 and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side." It is the 
 Church whose children shall come to her with all sj)eed 
 after the resurrection, running to her from all quarters. She 
 rejoices receiving the light which never goes down, and 
 clothed with the brightness of the Word as with a robe. 
 For with what other more precious or honourable ornament 
 was it becoming that the queen should be adorned, to be led 
 as a Bride to the Lord, when she had received a garment of 
 light, and therefore was called by the Father? Come, then, 
 let us go forward in our discourse, and look upon this mar- 
 vellous woman [of the Apocalypse] as upon virgins prepared 
 for a marriage, pure and undefiled, perfect and radiating a 
 permanent beauty, wanting nothing of the brightness of 
 light ; and instead of a dress, clothed with light itself; and 
 instead of precious stones, her head adorned with shining 
 stars. For instead of the clothing which we have, she had 
 light ; and for gold and brilliajit stones, she had stars ; but 
 stars not such as those which are set in the visible heaven, 
 but better and more resplendent, so that these may rather 
 be considered as their images and likenesses. 
 
 1 Is. k. 1-4.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGIXS. 
 
 Chap. vi. — The works of the Church, the hringing forth of 
 children in Baptism — The moon in Baptism, ilic full 
 moon of Christ's passion. 
 
 Now the statement that she stands upon the moon, as I 
 consider, denotes the faith of those who are cleansed from 
 corruption in the laver [of regeneration], because the light 
 of the moon has more resemblance to tepid water, and all 
 moist substance is dependent upon her. The Church, then, 
 stands upon our faith and adoption, under the figure of the 
 moon, until the fulness of the nations come in, labouring 
 and bringing forth natural men as spiritual men; for whicli 
 reason too she is a mother. For just as a woman receiving 
 the unformed seed of a man, within a certain time brings 
 forth a perfect man, in the same way, one should say, does 
 the Church conceive those who flee to the Word, and, form- 
 ing them according to the likeness and form of Christ, after 
 a certain time produce them as citizens of that blessed state. 
 "Whence it is necessary that she should stand upon the 
 laver, bringing forth those who are washed in it. And in 
 this way the power which she has in connection with the 
 laver is called the moon ((TeA;J^?J), because the regenerate shine 
 being renewed with a new ray (ff£>^af), that is, a new light. 
 AVlience, also, they are by a descriptive term called newly- 
 enlightened {\tio!fujrt(STOt) ; the moon ever showing forth anew 
 to them the spiritual full moon, namely, the period and the 
 memorial of the passion, until tlie glory and the perfect 
 light of the great day arise. 
 
 CiLAP. VII. — The child of the woman in the Apocali/pse not 
 Christ, hid tlic faithful who are horn in the laver. 
 
 If any one (for there is no difficulty in speaking distinctly) 
 should be vexed, and reply to what we have said: "But 
 how, virgins, can this explanation seem to you to be 
 according to the mind of Scripture, when the Apocalypse 
 plainly defines that the Church brings fortli a male, while
 
 74 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 you teach that her labour-pains have their fulfilment in those 
 who are washed in the laver?" We will answer, But, O 
 faultfinder, not even to you will it be possiljle to show tliat 
 Christ Himself^ is the one who is born. For long before 
 the Apocalypse, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word 
 was fulfilled. And John speaks concerning things present 
 and things to come. But Christ, long ago conceived, was not 
 caught up to the throne of God when He was brought forth, 
 from fear of the serpent injuring Him. But for this was 
 He begotten, and Himself came down from the throne 
 of the Father, that He should remain and subdue the dragon 
 who made an assault upon the flesh. So that you also must 
 confess that the Church labours and gives birth to those 
 who are baptised. As the Spirit says somewhere in Isaiah:- 
 "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain 
 came, she was delivered of a man-child. A\Tio hath heard 
 such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the 
 earth be made to bring forth in one day ? or shall a nation 
 be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought 
 forth her children." [In the LXX. "a male."] From whom 
 did he flee? Surely from the dragon, that the spiritual 
 Zion might bear a masculine people, who should come back 
 from the passions and weakness of women to the unity of 
 the Lord, and grow strong in manly virtue. 
 
 Chap. viii. — The faithful in Baptism males, configured to 
 Christ — The Saints themselves Chrisfs. 
 
 Let us then go over the gi'ound again from the beginning, 
 until we come in course to tlie end, explaining what we 
 have said. Consider if the passage seems to you to be 
 explained to your mind. For I think that the Cliurch is 
 here said to give birth to a male; since the enlightened [the 
 baptised] receive the features, and the image, and the man- 
 liness of Christ, the likeness of the form of the Word being 
 
 ^ It is hardly necessary to observe, that amid many interpretations 
 of the passage, this which ]\Iethodius condemns is probably the true 
 one, as it is certainly the most natural. — Tr. ^ jg, ]x%-i. 7, s.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS 75 
 
 stamped upon tliem, and beg(jttpn in them by a true know- 
 ledge and faith, so that in each one Christ is spiritually 
 born. And, therefore, the Church swells and travails in 
 birth until Christ is formed in us,^ so that each of the saints, 
 by partaking of Christ, has been born a Christ. According 
 to which meaning it is said in a certain Scripture,^ " Touch 
 not mine anointed [xP"^^^^], i^nd do my prophets no harm," 
 as though those who were baptised into Christ had been 
 made Christs [anointed] by communication of the Spirit, 
 the Church contributing here their clearness and transfor- 
 mation into the image of the Word. And Paul confirms 
 this, teaching it plainly, where he says :^ " For this cause T 
 bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of 
 whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that 
 He would gi'ant you, according to the riches of His glory, 
 to be strengthened w^ith might by His Spirit in the inner 
 man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." For 
 it is necessary that the word of truth should be imprinted 
 and stamped upon the souls of the regenerate. 
 
 CiiAr. IX. — The Son of God, v:1w ever is, is to-day "begotten in 
 the minds and sense of the faithful. 
 
 Now, in perfect agi-eement and correspondence witli what 
 has been said, seems to be this which was spoken by the 
 Father from above to Christ when He came to be baptised 
 in the water of the Jordan, "Thou art my son: this day 
 have I begotten thee;"^ for it is to be remarked that He was 
 declared to be His Son unconditionally, and without regard 
 to time ; for He says " Thou art," and not " Thou hast 
 become," showing that He had neither recently attained to 
 the relation of Son, nor again, having begun before, after 
 this had an end, but having been previously begotten,^ that 
 He was to be, and was the same. But the expression, 
 1 Gal. iv. 19. 2 Ps. cv. 15. ^ e^i,, jij, 14.17, 4 -p^ ^i 7 
 * Certain phrases like this have led to the opinion that Methodius 
 was inclined to Arianism. There is no ground for the supposition. 
 In the writer's mind, as is clear from the previous statoincTits, the 
 previous generation was eternal. — Tr.
 
 7G THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 " This day liave I begotten thee," signifies tliat He willed 
 that He who existed before the ages in heaven should be 
 begotten on the earth — that is, that He who was before 
 unknown should be made known. Now, certainly, Christ 
 has never yet been born in those men who have never per- 
 ceived the manifold wisdom of God — that is, has never been 
 known, has never been manifested, has never appeared to 
 them. But if these also shovild perceive the mystery of 
 grace, then in them too, when they were converted and 
 believed, He would be born in knowledge and understand- 
 ing. Therefore from hence the Church is fitly said to form 
 and beget the male Word in those who are cleansed [in the 
 baptismal font]. So far I have spoken according to my 
 ability concerning the travail of the Church ; and here we 
 must change to the subject of the dragon and the other 
 matters. Let us endeavour, then, to explain it in some 
 measure, not deterred by the greatness of the obscurity of 
 the Scripture; and if anything difficult comes to be con- 
 sidered, I will again help you to cross it like a river. 
 
 Chap. x. — The dragon, the devil — The stars strucJc from 
 heaven by the tail of the dragon, heretics — The numhers 
 of the Trinity, that is, the j;c?'so?is numbered — JErrors 
 concerning thein. 
 
 The dragon, which is great, and red, and cunning, and 
 manifold, and seven-headed, and horned, and draws down 
 the third part of the stars, and stands ready to devour the 
 child of the woman who is travailing, is the devil, who lies 
 in wait to destroy the Christ-accepted mind of the baptised, 
 and the image and clear features of the Word which had 
 been brought forth in them. But he misses and fails of his 
 prey, the regenerate being caught up on high to the throne 
 of God — that is, the mind of those who are renovated is 
 lifted up around the divine seat and the basis of truth 
 against which there is no stumbling, being taught to look 
 upon and regard the things which are there, so that it may 
 not be deceived by the dragon weighing them down. For
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 77 
 
 it is not allowed to him to destroy those whose thoughts 
 and looks are upwards. And the stars, which the dragon 
 touched wdth the end of his tail, and drew them down to 
 earth, are the bodies of heresies ; for we must say that the 
 stars, which are dark, obscure, and falling, are the assemblies 
 of the heterodox; since they, too, wish to be acquainted with 
 the heavenly ones, and to have believed in Christ, and to 
 have the seat of their soul in heaven, and to come near to 
 the stars as children of light. But they are dragged down, 
 being shaken out by the folds of the dragon, because they 
 did not remain within the triangular forms of godliness, 
 falling away from it with respect to an orthodox service. 
 Whence also they are called the third part of tlie stars, as 
 having gone astray with regard to one of the three Persons 
 of the Trinity. As when they say, lilce Sabellios, that tlie 
 Almighty Person of the Pather Himself suffered;^ or as 
 when they say, like Artemas, that the Person of the Son 
 was born and manifested only in appearance;^ or when they 
 contend, like the Ebionites, that the prophets spoke of the 
 Person of tlie Spirit, of their own motion. For of IMarcion 
 and Valentinus, and those al)Out Elkesaios and others, it 
 is better not even to make mention. 
 
 Chap. XI. — Tlic u-07nan with the male child in the wilderness 
 the Church — The ivilderness belongs to Virgins and 
 Saints — Tlie perfection of numbers and mysteries — TJu- 
 equality and 'perfection of the number six — The number 
 six related to Christ — From this mimbcr, too, the 
 creation and harmony of the world completed. 
 
 Now she who brings forth, and has brought forth, the 
 masculine Word in the hearts of the faithful, and who passed, 
 undciiled and uninjured by the wrath of the beast, into the 
 wilderness, is, as we have explained, our mother the Church. 
 And the v>-ilderness into which she comes, and is nourished 
 for a thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is tj'uly 
 
 * Patripassianisiii : nearly the f<ame a.« Pabellianism. — Tn. 
 ^ Ao)tyi(ni, hene.e Doceice. — Tr.
 
 78 THE \VniTL\GS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 waste and unfruitful of evils, and barren of corruption, and 
 difficult of access and of transit to the multitude ; but fruit- 
 ful and abounding in pasture, and blooming and easy of 
 access to the holy, and full of wisdom, and productive of 
 life, is this most lovely, and beautifully wooded and well- 
 watered abode of Arete [virtue]. Here the south wind 
 awakes, and the north wind blows, and the spices flow out,^ 
 and all things are filled with refreshing dews, and crowned 
 with the unfading plants of immortal life ; in wdiich we now 
 gather flowers, and weave with sacred fingers the purple and 
 glorious crown of virginity for the queen. For the Bride of 
 the Word is adorned with the fruits of virtue. And the 
 thousand two hundred and sixty days that we are staying 
 here, virgins, is the accurate and perfect understanding 
 concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, in which 
 our mother increases, and rejoices, and exults throughout 
 this time, until the restitution of the new dispensation, when, 
 coming into the assembly in the heavens, she will no longer 
 contemplate the I AM through the means of [human] know- 
 ledge, but wiU clearly behold entering in together with 
 Christ. For a thousand,^ consisting of a hundred multiplied 
 by ten, embraces a full and perfect number, and is a symbol 
 of the Father Himself, who made the universe by Himself, 
 and rules all things for Himself. Two hundred embraces 
 two perfect numbers united together, and is the symbol of 
 the Holy Spirit, since He is the Author of our knowledge of 
 the Son and the Father. But sixty has the number six 
 multiplied by ten, and is a symbol of Christ, because the 
 number six proceeding^ from unity is composed of its proper 
 parts, so that nothing in it is wantmg or redundant, and is 
 complete wdien resolved into its parts. Tlius it is necessary 
 that the number six, when it is divided into even parts by 
 
 1 Cant. iv. 16. 
 
 "^ Methodius is not tlie first or the last who has sought to explore the 
 mystery of numbers. An interesting and profound examination of 
 the subject will he fomid in Biihr's Symbolik ; also in Delitzsdi's Bib. 
 rsycholocjij. — Tr. 
 
 ' i.e. in a regular arithmetical progression.
 
 Tin-: BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 79 
 
 even parts, should again make up the same quantity from 
 its separated segments.^ For, first, if divided equally, it 
 makes three ; then, if divided into three parts, it makes two; 
 and again, if divided by six, it makes one, and is again col- 
 lected into itself. For when divided into twice three, and 
 three times two, and six times one, when the three and the 
 two and the one are put together, they complete the six 
 again. But everything is of necessity perfect wliich neither 
 needs anything else in order to its completion, nor has any- 
 thing over. Of the other numbers, some are more tlian per- 
 fect, as twelve. For the half of it is six, and the third four, 
 and the fourth three, and the sixth two, and the twelfth one. 
 The numbers into which it can be divided, when put together, 
 exceed twelve, this number not having preserved itself equal 
 to its parts, like the number six. And those which are im- 
 perfect, are numbers like eiglit. For the half of it is four, 
 and the fourth two, and the eighth one. Now the numbers 
 into which it is divided, when put together, make seven, and 
 one is wanting to its completion, not being in all points 
 harmonious with itseK, like six, Avhich has reference to the 
 Son of God, who came from the fulness of the Godhead into 
 a human life. For having emptied Himself,^ and taken upon 
 llim the iorm of a slave, He was restored again to His former 
 perfection and dignity. For He being humbled, and appar- 
 ently degraded, was restored again from His humiliation 
 and degradation to His former completeness and greatness, 
 having never been diminished from His essential jier- 
 fection. 
 
 Moreover, it is evident that the creation of the world was 
 accomplished in harmony with tliis number, God huving 
 made heaven and earth, and the things which are in them, 
 in six days; the word of creative power containing the 
 number six, in accordance with which tlie Trinity is the 
 maker of bodies. For length, and breadth, and depth make 
 up a body. And the number six is composed of triangles. 
 On these subjects, however, there is not sullicient time at 
 
 ' i.e. its divisors or clivitleiuls. 
 
 ^ "Made Himself of no reputation." — E. T., PLil. iL 7.
 
 80 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 present to enlarge with accuracy, for fear of letting the main 
 subject slip, in considering that which is secondary. 
 
 Chap. xii. — Virgins are called to the imitation of the Church 
 in the ivUderness overcoming the dragon. 
 
 The Church, then, coining hither into this wilderness, a 
 place unproductive of evils, is nourished, flying on the 
 heavenward wings of virginity, which the Word called the 
 " wings of a great eagle,"^ having conquered the serpent, 
 and driven away from her full moon the wintry clouds. It 
 is for the sake of these things, meanwhile, that all these 
 discourses are held, teaching us, fair virgins, to imitate 
 according to our strength our mother, and not to be troubled 
 by the pains and changes and afflictions of life, that you 
 may enter in exulting with her into the bride-chamber, 
 showing your lamps. Do not, therefore, lose courage on 
 account of the schemes and slanders of the beast, but 
 bravely prepare for the battle, armed with the helmet of 
 salvation,^ and the breastplate, and the greaves. For you 
 will bring upon him an immense consternation when you 
 attack him with great advantage and courage; nor will he 
 at all resist, seeing his adversaries set in array by One more 
 powerful; but the many-headed and many-faced beast will 
 immediately allow you to carry off the spoils of the seven 
 contests : — 
 
 " Lion in front, but dragon all behind, 
 And in the midst a she-goat breathing forth. 
 Profuse the violence of flaming fire. 
 Her slew Bellerophon in truth. And this 
 Slew Christ the King ; for many she destroyed, 
 Nor could they bear the fetid foam which burst 
 From out the fountain of her horrid jaws ;"^ 
 
 unless Christ had first weakened and overcome her, making 
 her powerless and contemptible before us. 
 1 Ezak. xviL 3. ^ Eph. vL 17. ^ jjom, n ^ igi_
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 81 
 
 CiiAP. xiir. — Tlic seven croions of the Beast to he toI:cn away 
 hj victorio\is Chastity — The ten croiuns of the Drayon, 
 the, vices opposed to Hw Decalogue — The opinion of Fate 
 the greatest evil. 
 
 Therefore, taking to you a masculine and sober mind, 
 oppose your armour to tho swelling beast, and do not at all 
 give way, nor be troubled because of his fury. For you will 
 have immense glory if you overcome him, and take away 
 the seven crowns which are upon him, on account of which 
 we have to struggle and wrestle, according to our teacher 
 Paul. For she who having first overcome the devil, and 
 destroyed his seven heads, becomes possessed of the seven 
 crowns of virtue, having gone through the seven great 
 struggles of chastity. For incontinence and luxury is a head 
 of the dragon; and whoever bruises this is wreathed with the 
 crown of temperance. Cowardice and weakness is also a 
 head; and he who treads upon this carries off the crown of 
 ■nartyrdom. Unbelief and folly, and other similar fruits of 
 wickedness, is another head; and he who has ON'crcome 
 these and destroyed them carries off the honours connected 
 Avith them, tho power of the dragon being in many ways 
 rooted up. INloreover, the ten horns and stings \\-hich he 
 was said to have upon his heads are the ten opposites, O 
 virgins, to the Decalogue, by which he was accustomed to 
 gore and cast down the souls of many imagining and con- 
 triving things in oj^position to the law, " Thou shalt love 
 the Lord thy God,"^ and to the other precepts which follow. 
 Consider now the fiery and bitter horn of fornication, by 
 which he casts down the incontinent; consider adultery, 
 consider falsehood, covetousness, theft, and the other sister 
 and related vices, which flourish by nature around his 
 murderous heads, which if you root out with the aid of 
 Christ, you will receive, as it were, divine heads, and will 
 bloom with the crowns gained from the dragon. For it is 
 our duty to prefer and to set forward the best things, who 
 
 1 Dent. vi. r>. 
 F
 
 S2 THE WHITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 have received, above the eartli-horn, a commanding and 
 voluntary mind, and one free from all necessity, so as to 
 make choice like masters of the tilings which please us, not 
 being in bondage to fate or fortune. And so no man would 
 be master of himself and good, unless selecting the human 
 example of Clirist, and bringing himself to the likeness of 
 Him, he should imitate Him in his manner of life. For of 
 all evils the greatest which is implanted in many is that 
 which refers the causes of sins to the motions of the stars, 
 and says that our life is guided by the necessities of fate, as 
 those say who study the stars, with much insolence. For 
 they, trusting more in guessing than in prudence, that is, in 
 something between truth and falsehood, go far astray from 
 the sight of things as they are. Whence, if you permit me, 
 O Arete, now that I have completed the discourse which 
 you, my mistress, appointed to be spoken, I will endeavour, 
 with your assistance and favour, to examine carefully the 
 position of those who are offended, and deny that we speak 
 the truth, when we say that man is possessed of free will, 
 and prove that 
 
 " They perisli self-destroyed, 
 By their own fault," ^ 
 
 choosing the pleasant in preference to the expedient. 
 
 Arete. — I do permit you and assist you; for your discourse 
 will be perfectly adorned when you have added this to it. 
 
 Chap. xrv. — The doctrine of Mathematicians not icliolly to he 
 despised, when they are concerned about the hnoidcdge 
 of the Stars — The tvjelve signs of the Zodiac mythical 
 names. 
 
 Thelcla. — Resuming then, let us first lay bare, in speaking 
 of those things according to om- power, the imposture of 
 those who boast as though they alone had comprehended 
 from what forms the heaven is arranged, in accordance with 
 the hypothesis of the Chaldeans and Egyptians. For they 
 say that the circumference of the world is likened to the 
 1 Horn. Oil. i. 7.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 83 
 
 turnings of a well-rounded globe, the earth having a central 
 point. For its outline being spherical, it is necessary, they 
 say, since there are the same distances of the parts, that the 
 earth should be the centre of the universe, around which, as 
 being older, the heaven is whirling. For if a circumference 
 is described from the central point, which seems to be a 
 circle (for it is impossible for a circle to be described with- 
 out a point, and it is impossible for a circle to be without 
 a point), surely the earth consisted before aU, they say, 
 in a state of chaos and disorganization. Now certainly the 
 wretched ones were overwhelmed in the chaos of en-or, 
 " because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him 
 not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in 
 their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened;"^ 
 and their wise men said that nothing earth-born was more 
 honourable or more ancient than the Olympians. Whence 
 they are not mere children who know Christ, like the 
 Greeks, who, burying the truth in fables and fictions, rather 
 than in artistic words, ascribing human calamities to the 
 heavens, are not ashamed to describe the circumference of 
 the world by geometrical theorems and figures, and explain 
 that the heaven is adorned with the images of birds and of 
 animals that live in water and on dry land, and that the 
 qualities of the stars were made from the calamities of the 
 men of old, so that the movements of the planets, in their 
 opinion, depended upon the same kind of bodies. And they 
 say that the stars revolve around the nature of the twelve 
 signs of the Zodiac, being drawn along by the passage of the 
 circle of the Zodiac, so that through their intermingling they 
 see the things which happen to many, according to their 
 conjunctions and departures, their rising and setting. 
 
 For the whole heaven being spherical, and having the 
 earth for its central point, as they think, because all tlie 
 straight lines from tlie circumference falling upon the earth 
 are equal to one another, holds back from the circles which 
 suiTound it, of wliich the meridian is tlie ,L;Teatest; and the 
 second, which divides it into two equal parts, is the horizon; 
 ' lloin. i. 21.
 
 84 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 and the thirJ, which separates these, the equinoctial; and 
 on each side of this the two tropics, the summer and the 
 winter — the one on the north, and the other on the south. 
 Beyond is tliat which is called the axis, around which are 
 the greater and lesser Bears, and beyond them is the tropic. 
 And the Bears, turning about themselves, and weighing 
 upon the axis, which passes through the poles, produce the 
 motion of the whole Avorld, having their heads against each 
 other's loins, and being untouched by our horizon. 
 
 Then they say that the Zodiac touches all the circles, 
 making its movement diagonally, and that there are in it 
 a number of signs, which are called the twelve signs of the 
 Zodiac, beginning with the Piam, and going on to the Fishes, 
 which, they say, were so determined from mythical causes ; 
 saying that it was the Eam that conveyed Helle, the daughter 
 of Athamas, and her brother Phryxos into Scythia; and that 
 the head of the Ox is in honour of Zeus, who, in the form of 
 a Bull, carried over Europe into Crete ; and they say the 
 circle called the Galaxy, or milky way, which reaches from 
 the Fishes to the Eam, was poured forth for Herakles from 
 the breasts of Hera, by the commands of Zeus. And thus, 
 according to them, there was no natal destiny before 
 Europe or Phryxos, and the Dioscuroi,^ and the other signs 
 of the Zodiac, which were placed among the constellations, 
 from men and beasts. But our ancestors lived without 
 destiny. Let us endeavour now to crush falsehood, like 
 physicians, taking its edge off, and quenching it with the 
 healing medicine of words, here considering the truth. 
 
 Chap. xv. — Arguments from the noidty of Fate and Genera- 
 tion — That golden age, early men — Solid arguments 
 against the Mathematicians. 
 
 If it were better, wretched ones, that man should be 
 subject to [the star of] his birth, than that he should not, 
 why was not liis generation and birth from the very time 
 
 ^ Castor and Pollux,
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 85 
 
 when the race of man began to he ? And if it was, what is 
 the need of those which had lately been placed among the 
 stars, of the Lion, the Crab, the Twins, the Virgin, the Bull, 
 the Balance, the Scorpion, the Bam, the Archer, the Fishes, 
 the Goat, the Watercarrier, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, 
 Pegasus, Hydra, the Baven, the Cup, the Lyre, the Dragon, 
 and others, from which you introduce, by your instractions, 
 many to the knowledge of mathematics, or, rather, to a 
 knowledge which is anathema?^ Well, then, either there 
 was generation among those before, and the removal of 
 these [creatures above] was absurd ; or else there was not, 
 and God changed human life into a better state and govern- 
 ment than that of those who before that lived an inferior 
 life. But the ancients were better than those of the present 
 time ; whence theirs was called the golden age. There was 
 then no natal destiny. 
 
 If the sun, driving through the circles and passing along 
 the signs of the Zodiac in his annual periods, accomplishes 
 the changes and turnings of the seasons, how did those who 
 were born before the signs of the Zodiac were placed among 
 the stars, and the heaven was adorned with them, continue 
 to exist, when summer, autumn, winter, and sj)ring, were not 
 as yet separated Irom each other, by means of which the 
 body is increased and strengthened ? But they did exist, 
 and were longer lived and stronger than those who live 
 now, since God then disposed the seasons in the same 
 manner. The heaven was not then diversified by such 
 shapes. 
 
 If the sun and the moon and the other stars were made 
 for the division and protection of the members of the time," 
 and for the adornment of the heaven, and the changes of 
 the seasons, they are divine, and better than men ; for these 
 must needs pass a better life, and a blessed and peaceful 
 one, and one which far exceeds our own life in righteous- 
 ness and virtue, observing a motion which is well-ordered 
 
 ^ We cannot preserve the play upon words of the original. There 
 it is — /iietd/;f<.ocriKr,v and x,»ru6:fiXTtx,>iu. — Til. 
 ^ Ueu, i. 14, etc.
 
 86 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 and happy. But if they are the causes of the calamities 
 and mischief of mortals, and busy themselves in working 
 the lasciviousness, and the changes and vicissitudes of 
 life, then they are more miserable than men, looking upon 
 the earth, and their weak and lawless actions, and doing 
 nothing better than men, if at least our life depends upon 
 their revolutions and movements. 
 
 Chap. xvi. — Several other tilings turned against the same 
 Ma them aticia ns. 
 
 If no action is performed without a previous desire, 
 and there is no desire without a want, yet the Divine Being 
 has no wants, and therefore has no conception of evil. And 
 if the nature of the stars be nearer in order to that of God, 
 being better than the virtue of the best men, then the stars 
 also are neither productive of evil, nor in want. 
 
 And besides, every one of those who are persuaded that 
 the sun and moon and stars are divine, will allow that they 
 are far removed from evil, and incapable of human actions 
 vdiich spring from the sense of pleasure and pain ; for such 
 abominable desires are unsuitable to heavenly beings. But 
 if they are by nature exempt from these, and in no want of 
 anything, how should they be the causes to men of those 
 things which they do not will themselves, and from whicli 
 they are exempt ? 
 
 Now those who decide that man is not possessed of free will, 
 and affirm that he is governed by the unavoidable necessities 
 of fate, and her imwritten commands, are guilty of impiety 
 towards God Himself, making Him out to be the cause and 
 author of human evils. For if He harmoniously orders the 
 whole ckcular motion of the stars, with a wisdom which 
 man can neither express nor comprehend, du-ecting the 
 course of the universe; and the stars produce the qualities 
 of virtue and vice in human life, dragging men to these 
 things by the chains of necessity; then they declare God to 
 be the Cause and Giver of evils. But God is the cause of
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 87 
 
 injury to no one; therefore f'atc^ is not the cause of all 
 things. 
 
 Whoever has the least intelligence will confess that God 
 is good, righteous, wise, true, helpful, not the cause of evils, 
 free from passion, and everything of that kind. And if the 
 righteous be better than the unrighteous, and unrighteous- 
 ness be abominable to them, God, being righteous, rejoices 
 in righteousness, and unrighteousness is hateful to Him, 
 being opposed and hostile to righteousness. Therefore God 
 is not tlie autlior of unrighteousness. 
 
 If that which profits is altogether good, and temperance 
 is profitable to one's house and life and friends, then tem- 
 perance is good. And if temperance be in its nature good, 
 and licentiousness be opi^osed to temperance, and that which 
 is opposed to good be evil, then licentiousness is evil. And 
 if licentiousness be in its nature evil, and out of licentious- 
 ness come adulteries, thefts, quarrels, and murders, tlien a 
 licentious life is in its nature evil. But the Divine Being 
 is not by nature implicated in evils. Therefore our birth is 
 not the cause of these tilings. 
 
 If the temperate are better than tlie incontinent, and 
 incontinence is abominable to tliem, and God rejoices in 
 temperance, being free from the knowledge of passions, then 
 incontinence is hateful also to God. Moreover, that the 
 action which is in accordance with temperance, being a 
 virtue, is better than that which is in accordance with 
 incontinence, which is a vice, we may learn from kings and 
 rulers, and commanders, and women, and children, and 
 citizens, and masters, and servants, and pedagogues, and 
 teachers; for each of these is useful to himself and to the 
 public, when he is temperate; but when he is licentious he 
 is injurious to himself and to the public. And if there be 
 any difference between a filthy man and a noble man, a 
 licentious and a temperate; and if the character of the noble 
 and the temperate be the better, and that of the opposite 
 the worse; and if those of the better character be near to 
 
 ^ yiveai; — birtli, i.e. oiu' life is not controllcil by the star of oiu: 
 nativity. — Tu.
 
 88 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 God and His friends, and those of the worse be far from 
 Him and His enemies, those who believe in fate make no 
 distinction between righteousness and unrighteousness, be- 
 tween filthiuess and nobility, between licentiousness and 
 temperance, which is a contradiction. For if good Ije 
 opposed to evil, and unrighteousness be evil, and this be 
 opposed to righteousness and righteousness be good, and 
 good be hostile to evil, and evil be unlike to good, then 
 righteousness is different from unrighteousness. And 
 therefore God is not the cause of evils, nor does He rejoice 
 in evils. Nor does reason commend them, being good. If, 
 then, any are evil, they are evil in accordance with the 
 wants [and desires] of their minds, and not by necessity. 
 " They perish self-destroyed, 
 By their own fault." ^ 
 
 If destiny^ leads one on to kill a man, and to stain his 
 hands with murder, and the law forbids this, punishing 
 crimmals, and by threats restrains the decrees of destiny, 
 such as committing injustice, adultery, theft, poisoning, 
 then the law is in opposition to destiny; for those things 
 which destiny appointed the law prohibits, and those things 
 which the law prohibits destiny compels men to do. Hence 
 law is hostile to destiny. But if it be hostile, then law- 
 givers do not act in accordance with destiny; for by passing 
 decrees in opposition to destiny they destroy destiny. Either, 
 then, there is destiny and there was no need of laws ; or there 
 are laws and they are not in accordance with destiny. But 
 it is impossible that anyone should be born or anything 
 done apart from destiny; for they say it is not lawful for 
 anyone even to move a finger apart from fate. And there- 
 fore it was in accordance with destiny that Minos and 
 Dracon, and Lycurgus, and Solon, and Zaleukos were 
 lawgivers and appointed laws, prohibiting adulteries, murders, 
 violence, rape, thefts, as things which neither existed nor 
 took place in accordance with destiny. But if these things 
 were in accordance with destiny, then the laws were not in 
 
 1 Horn. Od. i. 7. 
 
 - yiviai-, = birth, h. the star of man's nativity, h. destiny.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGIXS. 89 
 
 accordance with destiny. For destiny itself would not he 
 destroyed by itself, cancelling itself, and contending against 
 itself; here appointing laws forbidding adultery and murders, 
 and taking vengeance upon and punishing the wicked, and 
 there producing murders and adulteries. But this is impos- 
 sible: for nothing is alien and abhorrent to itself, and self- 
 destructive, and at variance with itself. And, therefore, 
 there is no destiny. 
 
 If everything in the world falls out in accordance with 
 destiny, and nothing without it, then the law must needs be 
 produced by destiny. But the law destroys destiny, teach- 
 ing that virtue should be learnt, and diligently performed ; 
 and that vice should be avoided, and that it is produced by 
 want of discipline. Therefore there is no destiny. 
 
 If destiny makes men to injure one another, and to be 
 injured by one another, what need is there of laws ? But if 
 laws are made that they may check the sinful, God ha\'ing 
 a care for those who are injured, it were better that the evil 
 should not act in accordance with Fate, than that they 
 should be set right, after having acted. But God is good 
 and wise, and does what is best. Therefore there is no fixed 
 destiny. 
 
 Either education and habit are the cause of sins, or the 
 passions of the soul, and those desires which arise through 
 the body. But whichever of these be the cause, God is not 
 the cause. 
 
 If it is better to be righteous than to be unrighteous, why 
 is not man made so at once from his birth ? But if afterwards 
 he is tempered by instruction and laws, that he may become 
 better, he is so tempered as possessing free will, and not by 
 nature evil. 
 
 If the evil are evil in accordance with destiny, by the 
 decrees of Providence, they are not blameworthy and deserv- 
 ing of the punishment which is inflicted by the laws, since 
 they live according to their own nature, and are not capable 
 of being changed. 
 
 And, again, if the good, living according to then- own pro- 
 per nature, are praiseworthy, their natal destiny being the
 
 00 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 cause of their goodness ; yet the wicked, living according to 
 their own proper nature, are not blamable in the eye of a 
 righteous judge. For, if we must speak plainly, he who lives 
 according to the nature which belongs to him, in no way 
 sins. For he did not make himself thus, but Fate; and he 
 lives according to its motion, being urged on by unavoidable 
 necessity. Then no one is bad. But some men are bad : 
 and vice is blameworthy, and hostile to God, as reason has 
 shown. But virtue is lovable and praiseworthy, God having 
 appointed a law for the punishment of the wicked. There- 
 fore there is no Fate. 
 
 Chap. xvii. — The lust of the flesh and sjnrit: Vice and 
 
 Virtue. 
 
 But why do I draw out my discourse to such length, 
 spending the time with arguments, having set forth the 
 things wdiicli are most necessary for persuasion, and to gain 
 approval for that which is expedient ; and having made 
 manifest to all, by a few words, the inconsistency of their 
 trick, so that it is now possible even for a child to see and 
 perceive their error ; and that to do good or evil is in our 
 own power, and not decided by the stars. For there are 
 two motions in us, the lust of the flesh and that of the soul, 
 differing from each other,^ whence they have received two 
 names, that of virtue and that of vice. And we ought to 
 obey the most noble and most useful leading of virtue, 
 choosing the best in preference to the base. But enough 
 on these points. I must come to the end of my discourse ; 
 for I fear, and am ashamed, after these discourses on chas- 
 tity, that I should be obliged to introduce the opinions of 
 men who study the heavens, or rather who study nonsense, 
 who waste their life with mere conceits, passing it in nothing 
 but fabulous figments. And now may these offerings of 
 ours, composed from the words which are spoken by God, be 
 acceptable to thee, Arete, my mistress. 
 
 1 Gal. V. 17.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 91 
 
 Eiib. — How bravely and maguificently, Gregorion, has 
 Thekla debated ! 
 
 Greg. — What, then, would you have said, if you had 
 listened to herself, speaking fluently, and with easy expres- 
 sion, with much gi-ace and pleasure? So that she was 
 admired by every one who attended, her language blossom- 
 ing with words, as she set forth intelligently, and in fact 
 picturesquely, the subjects on which she spoke, her counte- 
 nance suffused with the blush of modesty; for she is 
 altogether brilliant in body and soul. 
 
 Euh. — Pdghtly do you say this Gregorion, and none of 
 these things is false; for I knew her wisdom also from other 
 noble actions, and what sort of things she succeeded in 
 speaking, giving proof of supreme love to Christ ; and how 
 glorious she often appeared in meeting the chief conflicts of 
 the martyrs, procuring for herself a zeal equal to her 
 courage, and a strength of body equal to the wisdom of 
 her counsels. 
 
 Greg. — Most truly do you also speak. But let us not 
 waste time ; for we shall often be able to discuss these and 
 other subjects. But I must now first relate to you the dis- 
 courses of the other virgins which followed, as I promised; 
 and chiefly those of Tusiane and Domnina ; for these stdl 
 remain. When, then, Thekla ceased speaking these things, 
 Theopatra said that Arete directed Tusiane to speak ; and 
 that she, smiling, passed before her and said.
 
 92 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 DISCOUESE IX.— TusiANE. 
 
 CiiAF. I. — Chastity the chief ornament of the true Tahernacle — 
 Seven days aj)2^ointe(l to the Jews for celebrating the 
 Feast of Tdber^iacles : what they signify — TJie sum 
 of this Septe7iary uncertain — Not clear to any one 
 when the consummation of the world will he — Even 
 now the fabric of the world comipleted. 
 
 Arete, thou dearest boast to the lovers of virginity, I 
 also implore thee to afford me thine aid, lest I should be 
 wanting in words, the subject having been so largely and 
 variously handled. Wherefore I ask to be excused exordium 
 and introductions, lest, whilst I delay in embellishments 
 suitable to them, I depart from the subject : so glorious, and 
 honourable, and renowned a thing is virginity. 
 
 God, when He appointed to the true Israelites the legal 
 rite of the true feast of the tabernacles, directed, in Leviticus, 
 how they should keep and do honour to the feast; above all 
 things, saying that each one should adorn his tabernacle 
 witli chastity. I will add the words themselves of Scrip- 
 ture, from which, without any doubt, it will be shown how 
 agreeable to God, and acceptable to Him, is this ordinance 
 of virginity: "In the fifteenth day of the seventh month, 
 when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall Iceep 
 a feast imto the Lord seven days : on the first day shall be a 
 Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath. And ye 
 shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, 
 branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and 
 willows ^ of the brook ; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord 
 your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto 
 the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for 
 ever in your generations ; ye shall celebrate it in the seventh 
 month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days ; all that are 
 Israelites born shall dwell in booths ; that your generations 
 
 1 " And of the Agnos," the Lxx. adds. See note on this tree at the 
 beginning of the treatise, ji. 4.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 93 
 
 may know that I made the cliildren of Israel to dwell iu 
 booths, when I brought them out of Egypt : I am the Lord 
 your God."^ 
 
 Here the Jews, fluttering about the bare letter of Scripture, 
 like drones about the leaves of herbs, but not about flowers 
 and fruits as the bee, fully believe that these words and 
 ordinances were spoken concerning such a tabernacle as 
 they erect ; as if God delighted iu those trivial adornments 
 which they, preparing, fabricate from trees, not perceiving 
 the wealth of good things to come ; whereas these things, 
 being like air and phantom shadows, foretell the resurrection 
 and the putting up of our tabernacle that had fallen upon 
 the earth, which at length, in the seventh thousand of years, 
 resuming again immortal, we shall celebrate the great feast 
 of true tabernacles in the new and indissoluble creation, the 
 fruits of the earth ha\dng been gathered in, and men no 
 longer begetting and begotten, but God resting from the 
 works of creation. 
 
 For since in six days God made the heaven and the 
 earth, and finished the whole world, and rested on the 
 seventh day from all His works which He had made, and 
 blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,^ so by a figui'e in 
 the seventh month, when the fruits of the earth have been 
 gathered in, we are commanded to keep the feast to the 
 Lord, wliich signifies that, when this world shall be termi- 
 nated at the seventh thousand years, when God shall have 
 completed the world, He shall rejoice in us.^ For now to 
 this time all things are created by His all-sufficient will and 
 inconceivable power; the earth still yielding its fruits, and 
 the Avaters being gathered together in their receptacles ; 
 and the light still severed from darkness, and the allotted 
 number of men not yet being complete ; and tlie suu 
 arising to rule the day, and the moon the night ; and four- 
 footed creatures, and beasts, and creeping things arising fruni 
 the earth, and winged creatures, and creatures that swim, 
 from the water. Then, when the a])p(>inted times shall 
 have been accomplished, and God shall liavc ceased to form 
 1 Levit. xxiii. 39-42. • C.rii. ii. 1. ^ p,^_ ^\y_ 3i_
 
 94 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 this creation, in the seventh month, the great resurrection- 
 day, it is commanded that the Feast of our Tabernacles shall 
 be celebrated to the Lord, of which the things said in 
 Leviticus are symbols and figures, which things, carefiiUy 
 investigating, we should consider the naked truth itself, for 
 He saith, " A wise man will hear, and will increase learn- 
 ing ; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise 
 counsels : to understand a proverb, and the interpretation ; 
 the words of the wise, and their dark sayings."^ 
 
 "Wherefore let it shame the Jews that they do not perceive 
 the deej) things of the Scriptures, thinking that nothing else 
 than outward things are contained in the law and the pro- 
 phets; for they, intent upon things earthly, have in gnreater 
 esteem the riches of the world than the wealth which is of 
 the soul. For since the Scriptures are in this way divided 
 that some of them give the likeness of past events, some of 
 them a type of the future, the miserable men, going back, 
 deal with the figures of the future as if they were already 
 things of the past. As in the instance of the immolation of 
 the Lamb, the mystery of which they regard as solely in 
 remembrance of the deliverance of their fathers from Egypt, 
 when, although the first-born of Egypt were smitten, they 
 themselves were preserved by marking the door-posts of 
 their houses with blood. ISTor do they understand that by 
 it also the death of Christ is personified, by whose blood 
 souls made safe and sealed shall be preserved from wrath 
 in the burning of the world ; whilst the first-born, the sons 
 of Satan, shall be destroyed with an utter destruction by 
 the avenging angels, who shall reverence the seal of the 
 Blood impressed upon the former. 
 
 Chap. II. — Figure, image; truth: Law, grace, glory — Man 
 created immortal: death hrought in hy destructive sin. 
 
 And let these things be said for the sake of example, 
 showing that the Jews have wonderfully fallen from the 
 hope of future good, because they consider things present to 
 
 1 Prov. i. 5, 6
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 95 
 
 be only signs of things already accomplished; whilst tliey do 
 not perceive that the figures represent images, and images 
 are the representatives of truth. For the law is indeed the 
 figure and the shadow of an image, that is, of the Gospel; 
 but the image, namely, the Gospel, is the representative of 
 truth itself. For the men of olden time and the law fore- 
 told to us the characteristics of the Church, and the Church 
 represents those of the new dispensation which is to come. 
 Wlience we, having received Clirist, saying, "I am the 
 truth," ^ know that shadows and figures have ceased; and we 
 hasten on to the truth, proclaiming its glorious images. For 
 now we know " in part," and as it were " through a glass," - 
 since that which is perfect has not yet come to us; namely, 
 the kingdom of heaven and the resurrection, when " that 
 which is in part shall be done away."^ For then will all our 
 tabernacles be firmly set up, when again the body shall 
 rise, with bones again joined and compacted with flesh. 
 Then shall we celebrate truly to the Lord a glad festal-day, 
 when we shall receive eternal tabernacles, no more to perish 
 or be dissolved into the dust of the tomb. Now, our taber- 
 nacle was at first fixed in an immovable state, but was 
 moved by transgression and bent to the earth, God putting 
 an end to sin by means of death, lest man immortal, living 
 a sinner, and sin living in him, should be liable to eternal 
 curse. Wherefore he died, although he had not been created 
 liable to death or corruption, and the soul was separated 
 from the flesh, that sin might perish by death, not being 
 able to live longer in one dead. Wlience sin being dead and 
 destroyed, again I shall rise immortal; and I praise God 
 who by means of death frees His sons from death, and I 
 celebrate lawfully to His honour a festal-day, adorning my 
 tabernacle, tliat is my flesh, with good works, as there did 
 the five virgins with tlie five-lighted lamps. 
 
 1 S. Jno. xiv. IG. -\ Cor. xiii. 12. ^\ Cur. xiii. 10.
 
 96 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 CiiAP. III. — IIoio each one ovglit to prepare MmHcJf for tlu 
 future Besurrection. 
 
 In the first day of the resurrection I am examined whether 
 I bring these things which are commanded, whether I am 
 adorned with virtuous works, whether I am overshadowed 
 by the boughs of chastity. Tor account the resurrection to 
 be the erection of the tabernacle. Account that the things 
 which are taken for the putting together of the tabernacle 
 are the works of righteousness. I take, therefore, on the 
 first day the things which are set down, that is, on the day 
 in which I stand to be judged, whether I have adorned my 
 tabernacle with the things commanded; if those things are 
 found on that day which here in time we are commanded 
 to prepare, and there to offer to God. But come, let us 
 consider what follows. 
 
 " And ye shall take you," He says, " on the first day the 
 boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and the 
 boughs of thick trees, and willows [and the tree of chastity] 
 of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God."^ 
 The Jews, uncircumcised in heart, think that the most 
 beautiful fruit of wood is the citron wood, on account of its 
 size; nor are they ashamed to say that God is worshipped 
 with cedar, to whom not all the quadrupeds of the earth 
 would suffice as a burnt-offering or as incense for burning. 
 And moreover, hard breasts, if the citron appear beautiful 
 to you, why not the pomegranate, and other fruits of trees, 
 and amongst them apples, which much surpass the citron? 
 Indeed, in the Song of Songs,^ Solomon having made mention 
 of all these fruits, passes over in silence the citron only. 
 But this deceives the unwary, for they have not understood 
 that the tree of life^ which Paradise once bore, now again 
 the Church has produced for all, even the ripe and comely 
 fruit of faith. 
 
 Such fruit it is necessary that we bring when we come to 
 the judgment-seat of Christ, on tlie first day of the feast; 
 
 1 Lev. xxiii. 40. ^ c^^^^t. iv. 13. = Geu. ii. 9.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 97 
 
 for if we are without it we shall not be able to feast with 
 God, nor to have part, according to John,^ in the first resur- 
 rection. For the tree of life is wisdom first begotten of all. 
 " She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her," says 
 the prophet;- "and happy is every one that retaineth her." 
 " A tree planted by the waterside, that will bring forth his 
 fruit in due season;"^ that is, learning and charity and dis- 
 cretion are imparted in due time to those wlio come to the 
 waters of redemption. 
 
 He that hath not believed in Christ, nor hath understood 
 that He is the first principle and the tree of life, since he 
 cannot show to God his tabernacle adorned with the most 
 goodly of fruits, how shall he celebrate the feast? How shall 
 he rejoice? Desirest thou to know the goodly fruit of the 
 tree? Consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how 
 pleasant they are beyond the children of men. Good fruit 
 came by Moses, that is the Law, but not so goodly as the 
 Gospel. For the Law is a kind of figure and shadow of 
 things to come, but the Gospel is truth and the grace of 
 life. Pleasant was the fruit of the prophets, but not so 
 pleasant as the fruit of immortality which is plucked from 
 the GospeL 
 
 Chap. iv. — Tlic Mind clearer ivhen cleaiiscd from Sin — The 
 ornaments of the Mind and the order of Virtue — 
 Charity deep and full — Chastity the last ornament of 
 all — The very iise of Matrimony to he restrained. 
 
 " And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of 
 goodly trees, branches of palm-trees."'* This signifies the 
 exercise of divine discipline, by which the mind that subdues 
 the passions is cleansed and adorned by the sweeping out 
 and ejection from it of sins. For it is necessary to come 
 cleansed and adorned to the feast, arrayed, as by a decora- 
 tor, in the discipline and exercise of virtue. For the mind 
 being cleansed by laborious exercises from the distracting 
 thoughts which darken it, quickly perceives the truth; as 
 
 * lltv. .\.\. G. 2 Pl.^Jy, iii, 18. 3 j>3_ i_ 3. 4 i^yv. .xxiii. 40. 
 
 G
 
 98 THE WPJTJXGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 the widow in the Gospels^ found the piece of money after 
 she had swept the house and cast out the dirt, that is, the 
 passions which obscure and cloud the mind, which increase 
 in us from our luxuriousness and carelessness. 
 
 Whoso, therefore, desires to come to that Feast of Taber- 
 nacles, to be numbered with the saints, let him first procure 
 the goodly fruit of faith, then palm branches, that is, atten- 
 tive meditation upon and study of the Scriptures, afterwards 
 the far-spreading and thickly-leaved branches of charity, 
 which He commands us to take after the palm branches; 
 most fitly calling charity dense boughs, because it is all 
 thick and close and very fruitful, not having anything bare 
 or empty, but all full, both branches and trunks. Such is 
 charity, having no part void or unfruitful. For " though I 
 sell all my goods and give to the poor, and though I yield 
 up my body to the fire, and though I have so great faith 
 that I can remove mountains, and have not charity, I am 
 nothing."^ Charity, therefore, is a tree the thickest and 
 most fruitful of all, full and abounding, copiously abound- 
 ing in graces. 
 
 After this, what else does He will that we should take ? 
 Willow branches; by that figure indicating righteousness, 
 because " the just," according to the prophet, shall spring 
 up " as grass in the midst of the waters, as willows by the 
 watercourses,"^ fiomishing in the word. Lastly, to crown 
 all, it is commanded that the boughs of the Agnos tree be 
 brought to decorate the Tabernacle, because it is by its 
 very name the tree of chastity, by which those akeady 
 named are adorned. Let the wanton now begone, who, 
 through their love of pleasure, reject chastity. How shall 
 they enter into the feast with Christ who have not adorned 
 their tabernacle with boughs of chastity, that God-making 
 and blessed tree with which all who are hastening to that 
 assembly and nuptial banquet ought to be begirt, and to 
 
 ^ Luke XV. 8. 
 
 2 1 Cor. yiii. 2, 3. Quoted from memory and in meaning, not 
 verbally. — Tr. 
 
 3 Isaiah xliv. 4. The reading of the Lxx
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 90 
 
 cover their loins ? For come, fair virgins, con-sider the 
 Scripture itself, and its commands, how the Divine word 
 has assumed chastity to be the crown of those virtues and 
 duties that have been mentioned, showing how becoming 
 and desirable it is for the resurrection, and that without it 
 no one will obtain the promises which w^e who profess 
 virginity supremely cultivate and offer to the Lord. They 
 also possess it who live chastely Avith their wives, and 
 do, as it were about the trunk, yield its lowly branches 
 bearing chastity, not being able like us to reach its lofty 
 and mighty boughs, or even to touch them ; yet they, too, 
 offer no less tnily, although in a less degree, the branches 
 of chastity. But those who are goaded on by their lusts, 
 although they do not commit fornication, yet who, even in 
 tlie things which are permitted with a lawful wife, through 
 the heat of unsubdued concupiscence are excessive in em- 
 braces, how shall they celebrate the feast ? how shall they 
 rejoice, who have not adorned their tabernacle, that is their 
 flesh, with the boughs of the Agnos, nor have listened to 
 that which has been said, that " they that have wives be a.s 
 though they had none ?"^ 
 
 CllAP. V. — The Mystery of tJie Tahcrnadcs. 
 
 Wherefore, above all other things, I say to those y%\\o love 
 contests, and who are strong-minded, that without delay 
 they should honour chastity, as a thing tlie most useful and 
 glorious. For in the new and indissolulile creation, who- 
 ever shall not be found decorated with the boughs of 
 chastity, shall neither obtain rest, because he has not 
 fulfilled the command of God according to the law, nor 
 sliall he enter into the land of promise, because he has 
 not previously celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. For 
 they only who have celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles 
 come to the Holy Land, setting out from those dwellings 
 which are called tabernacles, until they come to enter into 
 the temple and city of God, advancing to a greater and 
 1 1 Cor. vii. 29.
 
 100 TIIK WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 more glorious joy, as tlie Jewish types indicate. For like 
 as the Israelites, having left the borders of Egypt, first came 
 tp-: the Tabernacles [in Hebrew, Succoth],'^ and from hence, 
 having again set forth, came into the land of promise, so 
 also do we. For I also, taking my journey, and going forth 
 from the Egypt of this life, came first to the resurrection, 
 which is the true Feast of the Tabernacles, and there having 
 set up my tabernacle, adorned with the fruits of virtue, on 
 the first day of the resurrection, which is the day of judg- 
 ment, celebrate with Christ the millennium of rest, wdilch 
 is called the seventh day, even the true Sal3bath. Then 
 again from thence I, a follower of Jesus, "who hath 
 entered into the heavens," ^ as they also, after the rest of the 
 Feast of Tabernacles, came into the land of promise, come 
 into the heavens, not continuing to remain in tabernacles — 
 that is, my body not remaining as it was before, but, after 
 the space of a thousand years, changed from a human and 
 corruptible form into angelic size and beauty, where at 
 last we virgins, when the festival of the resurrection is 
 consummated, shall pass from the wonderful place of the 
 tabernacle to greater and better things, ascending into the 
 very house of God above the heavens, as, says the Psalmist, 
 " in the voice of praise and thanksgiving, among such as 
 keep holy day."^ I, Arete, my mistress, offer as a gift to 
 thee this robe, adorned according to my ability. 
 
 JEiib. — I am much moved, Gregorion, considering 
 within myself in how great anxiety of mind Domniua 
 must be from the character of the discourses, perplexed in 
 heart as she is, and with good cause, fearing lest she should 
 be at a loss for words, and should speak more feebly than 
 the rest of tlie virgins, since they have spoken on the sub- 
 ject with such ability and variety. If, therefore, she was 
 evidently moved, come and complete this too ; for I wonder 
 if she had anything to say, being the last speaker. 
 
 Greg. — Theopatra told me, Euboulios, that she was greatly 
 moved, but she was not perplexed from want of words. 
 iUter, therefore, Tusiane had ceased. Arete looked at her 
 1 Numb, xxxiii. 5. - Heb. iv. 14. ^ Ps. xlii. 4.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX V1U(JE\S. K'l 
 
 and said, Come, iny daughter, do thou also deliver a dis- 
 course, that our banquet may be quite complete. At this 
 Domnina, blushing, and after a long delay, scarcely looking 
 up, rose to pray, and turning round, invoked AVisdom to be 
 her present helper. And Avhen she had prayed, Theopatra 
 said that suddenly courage came to her, and a certain di^•ine 
 confidence possessed her, and she said : 
 
 DISCOURSE X.— DoMXiXA. 
 
 CiiAr. I. — Chastity alone aids and effects the most Xfi'ttiscworthy 
 government of the Soul. 
 
 Arete, I also, omitting the long preludes of exordiums, 
 will endeavour according to my ability to enter upon the 
 subject, lest, by delaying upon those matters which are 
 outside the subject in hand, I should speak of them at 
 greater length than their importance woidd warrant. For 
 I account it a very great part of prudence not to make long 
 speeches, which merely charm the ears, before coming to 
 the main question, but to begin forthwith at the point in 
 debate. So I will begin from thence, for it is time. 
 
 Notliing can so much profit a man, fair virgins, with 
 respect to moral excellence, as chastity ; for chastity alone 
 accomplishes and brings it about that the soul shoidd be 
 governed in the noblest and best way, and should be set free, 
 pure from the stains and pollutions of the Avorld. For which 
 reaison, when Christ taught us to cultivate it, and showed 
 its unsurpassable beauty, the kingdom of the Evil One was 
 destroyed, who aforetime led captive and enslaved the 
 whole race of men, so that none of the more ancient people 
 pleased tlie Lord, but all were overcome by errors, since the 
 law was not of itself sufficient to free the human race from 
 corruption, until virginity, succeeding the law, governed men 
 by the precepts of Christ. Nor truly had the first men so 
 often run lieadlong into combats and slaughter, into lust 
 and idolatry, if the rigliteousness tliat is by the law had
 
 102 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 been to them sufficient for salvation. Now tnily tlicy 
 were then confused by great and frequent calamities ; but 
 from the time when Christ was incarnate, and armed and 
 adorned His flesh with virginity, the savage tyrant who was 
 master of incontinence was taken away, and peace and 
 faith have dominion, men no longer turning so much as 
 before to idolatry. 
 
 Chap. ii. — The Passage in Judges ix. 8-15 exj^hmied — TJie 
 Allegory of the Trees demanding a King. 
 
 But lest I should appear to some to be sophistical, and 
 to conjecture these things from mere probabilities, and to 
 babble, I will bring forward to you, virgins, from the Old 
 Testament, written prophecy from the Book of Judges, to 
 show that I speak the truth, where the future reign of 
 chastity was already clearly foretold. For we read : " The 
 trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; 
 and they said unto the olive-tree, Eeign thou over us. 
 But the olive-tree said unto them. Should I leave my 
 fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and 
 go to be promoted over the trees ? And the trees said to 
 the fig-tree. Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig- 
 tree said unto them. Should I forsake my sweetness, and 
 my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees ? Then 
 said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. 
 And the vine said unto them. Should I leave my wine, 
 which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over 
 the trees ? Then said all the trees unto the bramble. Come 
 thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the 
 trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come 
 and put your trust in my shadow ; and if not, let fire come 
 out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon."^ 
 
 Now, that these things are not said of trees growing out 
 of the earth, is clear. For inanimate trees cannot be as- 
 sembled in council to choose a king, inasmuch as they are 
 firmly fixed by deep roots to the earth. But altogether are 
 ^ JxitlLres ix. 8-15.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 103 
 
 these things narrated concerning souls which, before the 
 incarnation of Christ, too deeply luxuriating in transgres- 
 sions, approach to God as suppliants, and ask His mercy, 
 and that they may be governed by His pity and compassion, 
 which Scripture expresses under the figure of the olive, 
 because oil is of great advantage to our bodies, and takes 
 away our fatigues and ailments, and affords light. For all 
 lamp-light increases when nourished by oil. So also the 
 mercies of God entirely dissolve death, and assist the human 
 race, and nourish the light of the heart.^ And consider 
 whether the laws, from the first created man until Christ in 
 succession, were not set forth in these words by the Scrip- 
 ture by figments, in opposition to which the devil has 
 deceived the human race. And it has likened the fig-tree 
 to the command given to man in paradise, because, when 
 he was deceived, he covered his nakedness with the leaves 
 of a fig-tree f and the vine to the precept given to Noah at 
 the time of the deluge, because, when overpowered by wine, 
 he was mocked.^ The olive sit,aiifies the law "iven to IMoses 
 in the desert, because the prophetic grace, the holy oil, had 
 failed from their inheritance when they broke the law 
 Lastly, the bramble not inaptly refers to the law which was 
 given to the apostles for the salvation of the ^\•orld ; because 
 by their instruction we have been taught virginity, of which 
 alone the devil has not been able to make a deceptive image. 
 For which cause, also, four Gospels have been given, because 
 God has four times given the Gospel [good news] to the 
 human race, and has instructed them by four laM's, the times 
 of which are clearly known by the diversity of the fruits. 
 For the fig-tree, on account of its sweetness and richness, 
 represents the deliglits of man, which he had in paradise 
 before the fall. Indeed, not rarely, as we shall afterwards 
 show, the Holy Spirit* takes the fruit of the fig-tree as an 
 emblem of goodness. But the vine, on account of the 
 gladness produced by wine, and the joy of those who 
 were saved from \vrath and from the deluge, signifies tho 
 
 ^ For this use of heart, cf. 2 Cor. iv. 6. — Tr^ 
 
 *Geu. iii. 7. ^ Gen. ix. 22. ''Jer. viii. 13.
 
 104 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 change pix)duced from fear and anxiety into joy.^ IVIoreover, 
 the olive, on account of the oil which it produces, indicates 
 the compassion of God, who again, after the deluge, bore 
 patiently when men turned aside to ungodliness, so that 
 He gave them the law and manifested Himself to some, and 
 nourished by oil the light of virtue, now almost extinguished. 
 
 Chap. hi. — TJic BramUe and the Agnos the Symlol of Chastity 
 — The Four Gospels, that is, Teachings or Laws, instructing 
 to Salvation. 
 
 Now the bramble commends chastity, for the bramble 
 and the agnos is the same tree : by some it is called 
 bramble, by others agnos.^ Perhaps it is because the plant 
 is akin to virginity that it is called bramble and agnos ; 
 bramble, because of its strength and firmness against plea- 
 sures ; agnos, because it always continues chaste. Hence 
 the Scripture relates that Elijah, fleeing from the face of 
 the woman Jezebel,^ at first came under a bramble, and 
 there, having been heard, received strength and took food ; 
 signifying that to him who flies from the incitements of 
 lust, and from a woman — that is, from pleasure — the tree 
 of chastity is a refuge and a shade, ruling men from the 
 coming of Christ, the chief of vii-gins. For when the first 
 laws, which were published in the times of Adam and JSToali 
 and ]\Ioses, were unable to give salvation to man, the 
 evangelical law alone has saved all. 
 
 And this is the cause why the fig-tree may be said not to 
 have obtained the kingdom over trees, which, in a spiritual 
 sense, mean men; and the fig-tree the command, because man 
 desired, even after the fall, again to be subject to the dominion 
 of virtue, and not to be deprived of the immortality of the 
 paradise of pleasure. But, having transgressed, lie was rejected 
 and cast far away, as one who could no longer be governed 
 by immortality, nor w^as capable of receiving it. And the 
 first message to him after the transgression w^as preached by 
 
 ^ Joel ii. 22. ^ Jahn's reading is liere followed- 
 
 ■'' 1 Kin<:rs xix. 4.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 105 
 
 Noali,^ to which, if he had applied liis mind, he mii^lit liave 
 been saved from sin ; for in it he promised botli liappiuess 
 and rest from evils, if he gave heed to it with all his might, 
 just as the vine promises to yield wine to those who culti- 
 vate it with care and labour. But neither did this law rule 
 mankind, for men did not obey it, although zealously 
 preached by Noah. But, after they began to be surrounded 
 and drowning by the waters, they began to repent, and to 
 promise that they would obey the commandments. Where- 
 fore with scorn they are rejected as subjects ; that is, they 
 are contemptuously told that they cannot be helped by the 
 law ; the Spirit answering them back and reproaching them 
 because they had deserted those men whom God had com- 
 manded to help them, and to save them, and make them 
 glad ; such as Noah and those with him. " Even to you, 
 rebellious," said he, " I come, to bring help to you who are 
 destitute of prudence, and who differ in nothing from dry 
 trees, and who formerly did not believe me when I preached 
 that you ought to flee from present things." 
 
 Chap. iv. — Tlic Lmo ilscIcss for Salvation — The last Law of 
 Chastity ttndcr the figure of the Branible. 
 
 And so those men, having been thus rejected from the 
 divine care, and the human race having again given them- 
 selves up to error, again God sent forth, by Moses, a law to 
 rule them and recall them to righteousness. But these, 
 thinking fit to bid a long farewell to this law, turned to 
 idolatry. Hence God gave them up to mutual slaughters, 
 to exiles, and captivities, the law itself confessing, as it 
 were, that it could not save them. Therefore, worn out 
 with ills and afflicted, they again promised that they would 
 obey the commandments; until God, pitying man the fourth 
 time, sent chastity to rule over them, which Scripture con- 
 sequently called the bramble. And she consuming plea- 
 sures threatens besides, that unless all uudoubtingly obey 
 her, and truly come to lier, she will destroy all with tire. 
 
 > (Jen V. 29.
 
 106 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 since tliere will be hereafter no other law or doctrine but 
 judgment and fire. For this reason, man henceforth began 
 to do righteousness, and firmly to believe in God, and to 
 separate himself from the devil. Thus chastity was sent 
 down, as being most useful and helpful to men. For of her 
 alone was the devil unable to forge an imitation to lead men 
 astray, as is the case with the other precepts. 
 
 Chap. v. — The Malignity of the Devil is an imitator in all 
 things — Two hinds of Fig-trees and Vines. 
 
 The fig-tree, as I said, from the sweetness and excellence 
 of its fruit, being taken as a type of the delights of paradise, 
 the devil, having beguiled tlie man by its imitations, led him 
 captive, persuading him to conceal the nakedness of his 
 body by fig-leaves ; that is, by their friction he excited him 
 to sexual pleasure. Again, those that had been saved from 
 the deluge, he intoxicated with a drink which was an imita- 
 tion of the vine of spiritual joy ; and again he mocked 
 them, having stripped them of virtue. And what I say will 
 hereafter be more clear. 
 
 The enemy, by his power, always imitates the forms of 
 virtue and righteousness, not for the purpose of truly pro- 
 moting its exercise, but for deception and hypocrisy. For 
 in order that those who fly from death he may entice to 
 death, he is outwardly dyed with the colours of immortality. 
 And hence he wishes to seem a fig-tree or vine, and to pro- 
 duce sweetness and joy, and is " transformed into an angel 
 of light," ^ ensnaring many by the appearance of piety. 
 
 For we find in the Sacred Writings that there are two 
 kinds of fig-trees and vines, " the good figs, very good ; and 
 the evil, very evil;"^ "wine that maketh glad the heart 
 of man,"^ and wine which is the poison of dragons, and the 
 incurable venom of asps.^ But from the time when chastity 
 beo'an to rule over men, the fraud was detected and over- 
 come, Christ, the chief of virgins, overturning it. So both 
 
 1 2 Cor. xi. 14. - Jer. xxiv. 3. 
 
 3 Ps. civ. 15. * Deut. xxxii. 33.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 107 
 
 the true fig-tree and the true vnie yield fruit after that the 
 power of chastity lias laid hold upon all men, as Joel the 
 prophet preaches, saying : " Fear not, land ; be glad and 
 rejoice, for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye 
 beasts of the field ; for the pastures of the wilderness do 
 spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the 
 vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of 
 Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He hath given 
 you food unto righteousness;"^ calling the former laws the 
 vine and the fig, trees bearing fruit unto righteousness for 
 the children of the spiritual Zion, which bore fruit after the 
 incarnation of the Word, when chastity ruled over us, when 
 formerly, on account of sin and much error, they had 
 checked and destroyed their buds. For the true vine and 
 the true fig-tree were not able to yield such nourisliment to 
 us as would be profitable for life, whilst as yet the false fig- 
 tree, variously adorned for the purpose of fraud, flourished. 
 But when the Lord dried up the false branches, the imita- 
 tions of the true branches, uttering the sentence against the 
 bitter fig-tree, " Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for 
 ever," 2 then those which were truly fruit -bearing trees 
 flourished and yielded food unto righteousness. 
 
 The vine, and that not in a few places, refers to the 
 Lord Himself,^ and the fig-tree to the Holy Spirit, as the 
 Lord "maketli glad the hearts of men," and the Spirit 
 healeth them. And therefore Hezekiah is commanded* 
 first to make a plaster with a lump of figs — that is, the fruit 
 of the Spirit — that he may be healed — that is, according to 
 the apostle — by love ; for he says, " The fruit of the Spirit 
 is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
 meekness, temperance;"'' which, on account of their gi-eat 
 pleasantness, the prophet calls figs. ISIicah also says, 
 " They shall sit every man under his vine and under liis fig- 
 tree ; and none shall make them afraid."^ Now it is certain 
 
 ^ Joel ii. 21-23. The last words of the quotation are from the Lxx. 
 vert^ion. — Tr. 
 
 2 Matt. xxi. 19. ^ Jiio. xv. 1. ' 2 Kuv;^^ xx. 7 ; Is. JLXxviii. 21. 
 ' (Jal. V. 22, 23. « Micah iv. 4.
 
 108 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 that those who have taken refuge and rested under the 
 Spirit, and under the shadow of the Word, sliall not be 
 alarmed, nor frightened by hiin who troubles the hearts of 
 men. 
 
 Chap. vi. — The Mystery of the Vision of Zechariah. 
 
 Moreover, Zechariah shows that the olive shadows forth 
 the law of Moses, speaking thus: "And the angel that 
 talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is 
 wakened out of his sleep, and said nnto me. What seest 
 thou ? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick 
 
 all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it And two 
 
 olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and 
 the other upon the left side thereof."^ And after a few 
 words, the prophet, asking what are the olives on the right 
 and left of the candlestick, and what the two olive-boufihs 
 in the hands of the two pipes, the angel answered and said : 
 " These are tho two sons of fruitfulness ^ which stand by the 
 Lord of the whole earth," signifying the two first-born vil'tues 
 that are waiting upon God, which, in His dwelling, supply 
 around the wick, through the boughs, the spiritual oO. of 
 God, that man may have the light of divine knowledge. 
 But the two boughs of the two olives are the law and 
 the prophets, around, as it were, the lot^ of the inheritance, 
 of which Christ and the Holy Sjiirit are the authors, we our- 
 selves meanwhile not beino; able to take the whole fruit and 
 the greatness of these plants, before chastity began to rule 
 the world, but only their boughs — to wit, the law and the 
 prophets — did we formerly cultivate, and those moderately, 
 often letting them slip. For who was ever able to receive 
 Christ or the Spirit, unless he first purified himself? For 
 the exercise which prepares the soul from childhood for 
 desirable and delectable glory, and carries this grace safely 
 thither with ease, and from small toils raises up mighty 
 hopes, is chastity, which gives immortality to our bodies ; 
 
 1 Zech. iv. 1-3. 2 g. Y. « Anointed ones," ver. 14. 
 
 •^ axoiri(r/^u : same word as tliat translated " wick." — Tr.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGIXS. 103 
 
 wliich it becomes all men willingly to prefer in honour and 
 to praise above all things ; some, that by its means they 
 may be betrothed to the Word, practising virginity ; and 
 others, that by it they may be freed from the curse, " Dust 
 thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." ^ 
 
 This, Arete, is the discourse on virginity wliich you 
 required of me, accomplished according to my ability; which 
 I pray, mistress, although it is mediocre and short, that 
 thou wilt receive with kindness from me who was chosen 
 to speak last. 
 
 DISCOUESE XT.— Arete. 
 
 Chap. i. — Tlic true and chaste Virgins few — Chastity a 
 contest — ThcJcla chief of Virgins. 
 
 I do accept it, Theopatra related that Arete said, and 
 approve of it all. I'or it is an excellent thing, even althougli 
 you had not spoken so clearly, to take up and go through 
 with earnestness those things which have been said, not to 
 prepare a sweet entertainment for those who listen, but for 
 correction, recollection, and abstinence. For whoever teaches 
 that chastity is to be preferred and embraced first of all 
 among my pursuits, rightly advises; which many think that 
 tliey honour and cultivate, but which few, so to speak, really 
 lionour. For it is not one who has studied to restrain his 
 ilcsh from the pleasure of carnal delight that cultivates 
 chastity, if he do not keep in check the rest of the desires ; 
 but rather he dishonours it, and that in no small degree, by 
 Ijase lusts, exchanging pleasures for pleasures. Nor if he 
 have strongly resisted the desires of the senses, but is lifted 
 up with vainglory, and from this cause is able to repress 
 the heats of burning lust, and reckon them all as nothing, 
 can he be thought to honour chastity; for he dishonours it 
 in that he is lifted up with pride, cleansing tlie outside of 
 the cup and platter, that is, the flesh and the body, but 
 
 1 Geii. iii. 19.
 
 no THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 injuring the heart by conceit and ambition. Nor when 
 any one is conceited of riches is he desirous of honouring 
 chastity; he dishonours it more than all, preferring a little 
 gain to that to which nothing is comparable of those things 
 that are in this life esteemed. For all riches and gold " in 
 respect of it are as a little sand."^ And neither does he 
 who loves himself above measure, and eagerly considers 
 that wliich is expedient for himself alone, regardless of the 
 necessities of his neighbour, honour chastity, but he also dis- 
 honours it. For he who has repelled from himself charity, 
 mercy, and humanity, is much inferior to those who honour- 
 ably exercise chastity. Nor is it right, on the one hand, by 
 the use of chastity to keep virginity, and, on the other hand, 
 to pollute the soul by evil deeds and lust; nor here to pro- 
 fess purity and continence, and there to pollute it by indul- 
 gence in vices. Nor, again, here to declare that the things 
 of this world bring no care to himself; there to be eager in 
 procuring them, and in concern about them. But all the 
 members are to be preserved intact and free from corruption; 
 not only those which are sexual, but those members also 
 which minister to the service of lusts. For it would be 
 ridiculous to preserve the organs of generation pure, but 
 not the tongue ; or to preserve the tongue, but neither the 
 eyesight, the ears, nor the hands; or lastly, to preserve these 
 pure, but not the mind, defiling it with pride and anger. 
 
 It is altogether necessary for him who has resolved that 
 he will not err from the practice of chastity, to keep all his 
 members and senses clean and under restraint, as is cus- 
 tomary with the planks of ships, whose fastenings the ship- 
 masters diligently join together, lest by any means the way 
 and access may lie open for sin to pour itseK into the mind. 
 For great pursuits are liable to gTcat falls, and evil is more 
 opposed to that which is really good than to that which is 
 not good. For many who thought that to repress vehement 
 lascivious desires constituted chastity, neglecting other 
 duties connected with it, failed also in this, and have brought 
 blame upon those endeavouring after it by the right way, 
 1 Wisd. vii. 9.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEX VIRGINS, 111 
 
 as you have proved wlio are a model in even'tliing, leading 
 a virgin life in deed and word. And now what that is 
 which becomes a virgin state has been described. 
 
 And yon all in my hearing having sufficiently contended 
 in speaking, I pronounce victors and crown; but Thekla 
 with a larger and thicker chaplet, as the chief of you, and 
 as having shone with greater lustre than the rest. 
 
 Chap. ii. — TheJda singing decorously a hymn, tJte rest of the 
 Virgins sing with her — Joh7i the Baptist a martyr to 
 Chastity — The Chureh the spouse of God, pure and 
 virgin. 
 
 Theopatra said that Arete having said these things, com- 
 manded them all to rise, and, standing under the Agnos, to 
 send up to the Lord in a becoming manner a hymn of 
 thanksgiving; and that Thekla should begin and should 
 lead the rest. And when they had stood up, she said that 
 Thekla, standing in the midst of the virgins on tlie right of 
 Arete, decorously sang; but the rest, standing together in a 
 circle after the manner of a chorus, responded to her. 
 
 Vcrsicle} 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and liokling 
 \ lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Bcsponse. 
 
 From above, virgins, the sound of a noise tliat wakes 
 the dead has come, bidding us all to meet the Bridegi-oom 
 in wliite robes, and with torches towards the east. Arise, 
 before the King enters within the gates. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Fleeing from the soiTowful happiness of mortals, and 
 having despised the luxuriant delights of life and its love, 
 I desire to be protected under Tliy life-giving arms, and to 
 behold Thy beauty for ever, blessed One. 
 
 1 The text of Jahn is here followed. — Til
 
 112 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Leaving marriage and the beds of mortals and my golden 
 liome for Thee, King, I have come in undefiled robes, in 
 order that I might enter with Thee within Thy happy bridal 
 chamber. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Having escaped, blessed One, from the innumerable 
 enchanting wiles of the serpent, and, moreover, from the 
 flame of fire, and from the mortal-destroying assaults of wild 
 beasts, I await Thee from heaven. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 I forget my own country, Lord, through desire of Thy 
 grace.^ I forget, also, the company of virgins, my fellows, 
 the desire even of mother and of kindred, for Thou, Christ, 
 art all things to me. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Giver of life art Thou, Christ. Hail, light that never 
 sets, receive this praise. The company of virgins call 
 upon Thee, Perfect Flower, Love, Joy, Prudence, Wisdom, 
 Word. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 With open gates, beauteously adorned Queen, admit 
 us Avithin thy chambers. spotless, gloriously triumi^haut 
 Bride, breathing beauty, we stand by Christ, robed as He 
 is, celebrating thy happy nuptials, youthful maiden. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 The virgins standing without the chamber,- with bitter 
 tears and deep moans, wail and mournfully lament that 
 their lamps are gone out, having failed to enter in due time 
 the chamber of joy. 
 
 1 Ps. Xlv. 10. 2 ]\i:;xtt. XXV. 11.
 
 THE BAXQUET OF THE TEN VIRGIXS. 113 
 
 I keep myself pure for Tliee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 For turning from the sacred way of life, unhappy ones, 
 tliey have neglected to prepare sufficiency of oil for the path 
 of life; bearing lamps whose bright light is dead, they groan 
 from the inward recesses of their mind. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee, 
 
 Here are cups full of sweet nectar; let us drink, virgins, 
 for it is celestial drink, which the Bridegroom hath placed 
 for those duly called to the wedding. 
 
 I keep myseK pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Abel, clearly prefiguring Thy death,^ blessed One, with 
 ilowing blood, and eyes lifted up to heaven, said. Cruelly 
 slain by a brother's hand, Word, I pray Thee to receive 
 me. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Thy valiant son Joseph,- "Word, won the greatest prize 
 of virginity, when a woman heated with desire forcibly drew 
 him to an unlawful bed ; but he giving no heed to her lied 
 naked, crying aloud : 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Jephthah offered his fresh slaughtered virgin daugliter a 
 sacrifice to God, like a lamb ; and she, nobly fulfilling the 
 type of Thy body, blessed One, bravely cried : 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Daring Judith,^ by clever wiles having cut off the licad 
 of the leader of the foreign hosts, whom previously she had 
 allured by her beautiful form, without polluting the limbs 
 of her body, Avith a victor's shout said : 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 iSeeing the great beauty of Susanna, the two Judges, 
 
 * Gen. iv. 10. - Gen. x.xxix. IJ. ^ Juil. viii. 
 
 H
 
 114 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 maddened with desire, said, dear lady, we have come 
 desiring secret intercourse with thee ; but she with tremu- 
 lous cries said : 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 It is far better for me to die than to betray my nuptials 
 to you, mad for women, and so to suffer the eternal justice 
 of God in fiery vengeance. Save me now, Christ, from 
 these evils. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Thy Precursor, washing multitudes of men in flowing 
 lustra! water, unjustly by a wicked man, on account of his 
 chastity, was led to slaughter; but as he stained the dust 
 with his life-blood, he cried to Thee, blessed One : 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 The parent of Thy life, that unspotted Grace ^ and un- 
 defiled Virgin, bearing in her womb without the ministry 
 of man, by an immaculate conception, and who thus became 
 suspected of having betrayed the marriage -bed, she, 
 blessed One, when pregnant, thus spoke : 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Wishing to see thy nuptial day, blessed One, as many 
 angels as Thou, King, calledst from above, bearing the 
 best gifts to Thee, came in unsullied robes : 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 In hymns, blessed spouse of God, we attendants of the 
 Bride honour Thee, undefiled virgin Church of snow- 
 white form, dark haired, chaste, spotless, beloved. 
 
 I keep myseK pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Corruption has fled, and the tearful pains of diseases; 
 death has been taken way, all folly has perished, consuming 
 
 ^ Matt. i. 18.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 11 a 
 
 mental grief is no more; for again the grace of the God- 
 Christ has suddenly shone upon mortals. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Paradise is no longer bereft of mortals, for by divine 
 decree he no longer dwells there as formerly, thrust out 
 from thence when he was free from corruption, and from 
 fear by the various wiles of the serpents, blessed One. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Singing the new song, now the company of virgins attends 
 thee towards the heavens, Queen, all manifestly crowned 
 with white lilies, and bearing in tlieir hands bright lights. 
 
 I keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegi-oom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 blessed One, who inhabited the undefded seats oi 
 heaven without beginning, who governed all things by 
 everlasting power, Father, with Thy Son, we are here, 
 receive us also within the gates of life. 
 
 1 keep myself pure for Thee, Bridegroom, and holding 
 a lighted torch I go to meet Thee. 
 
 Chap. hi. — Which arc the better, the continent, or those who 
 delight in tranqitillity of life? — Contests tlie 2Jcril of 
 Chastity: the felieity of tranquillity — Purified and 
 tranquil minds yods; they who shall see God — Virtue 
 disciplined by Temptations. 
 
 Euh. — Deservedly, Gregorion, has Thekla borne oft' ihe 
 chief prize. 
 
 Greg. — Deservedly indeed. 
 
 Enb. — But what about tlie stranger Telmisiake ?^ Tell 
 me, was she not listening from without? I wonder if she 
 could keep sUence on hearing of this banquet, and would 
 not forthwith, as a bird flies to its food, listen to the things 
 which were spoken. 
 
 Greg. — The report is that she was present with Methodios 
 when he inquired respecting these things of Arete. But it 
 1 III Jaliu Telniesiakc— Tr.
 
 11«> THE WRlTIXaS OF METIlODli'S. 
 
 is a good as well as a liappy thing to have such a mistress 
 and guide as Arete, that is virtue. 
 
 Euh. — But, Gregorion, which sliall we say are the Ijctter, 
 those who without lust govern concupiscence, or those who 
 under tlie assaults of concupiscence continue pure ? 
 
 Grc(j. — For my part, I tliink those who are free from 
 lust, for they have their mind midefiled, and are altogether 
 uucorrupted, sinning in no respect. 
 
 Euh. — "Well, I swear by chastity, and wisely, Gregorion. 
 But lest in any wise I hinder you, if I gainsay youi" words, 
 it is that I may the better learn, and that no one hereafter 
 may refute me. 
 
 Greg. — Gainsay me as you will, you have my permission. 
 For, Euboulios, I think that I know sufficient to teach you 
 that he who is not concupiscent is better than he who is. 
 If I cannot, then there is no one who can convince you. 
 
 Eiib. — Bless me ! I am glad that you answer me so 
 magnanimously, and show how wealthy you are as regards 
 wisdom. 
 
 Greg. — A mere chatterer, so you seem to me to be, O 
 Euboulios. 
 
 EiiJj.—\\\\j so ? 
 
 Greg. — Because you ask rather for the sake of amusement 
 than of truth. 
 
 Euh. — Speak fair, I pray you, my good friend; for I 
 greatly admire your wisdom and renown. I say this 
 because, with reference to the things that many wise men 
 often dispute among themselves, you say that you not 
 only understand them, but also vaunt that you can teach 
 another. 
 
 Greg. — Xow tell me truly whether it is a difficulty 
 with you to receive the opinion, that they who are not 
 concupiscent excel those who are concupiscent, and yet 
 restrain themselves ? or are you joking ? 
 
 Euh.—\lo\x so, when I tell you that I do not know? 
 But, come, tell me, wisest lady, in what do the non- 
 concupiscent and chaste excel the concupiscent who live 
 chastely ?
 
 THE BAXQVET OF THE TEX VIRGINS. 117 
 
 Greg. — Because, in the first place, tliey have the soul 
 itself pure, and the Holy Spirit always dwells in it, seeing 
 tliat it is not distracted and disturbed by fancies and unre- 
 strained thoughts, so as to pollute the mind. But they are 
 in every way inaccessil)le to lust, both as to their flesh and 
 to their heart, enjoying tranquillity from passions. But 
 they who are allured from without, through the sense of 
 sight, with fancies, and receiving lust flowing like a stream 
 into the heart, are often not less polluted, even when they 
 think that they contend and fight against pleasures, being 
 vanquished in their mind. 
 
 Eah. — Shall we then say that they who serenely live and 
 are not disturbed by lusts are pure ? 
 
 Greg. — Certainly. For these ^ are they whom God makes 
 gods in the beatitudes ; they who believe in Him without 
 doubt. And He says that they shall look upon G(xl with 
 confidence, because they bring in nothing that darkens or 
 confuses the eye of the soul for the beholding of God; but 
 all desire of things secular being eliminated, they not only, 
 as I said, preserve the flesh pure from carnal connexion, 
 but even the heart, in which, especially, as in a temple, 
 the Holy Spirit rests and dwells, is open to no unclean 
 thoughts. 
 
 lEub. — Stay now ; for I think that from hence we shall 
 the better go on to the discovery of what things are truly 
 the best ; and, tell me, do you call any one a good pilot ? 
 
 Greg. — I certainly do. 
 
 Eiib. — Whether is it he that saves his vessel in great and 
 perplexing storms, or is it he who does so in a breathless 
 calm ? 
 
 Grcf). — He that does so in a great and perplexing storm. 
 
 Eah. — Shall we not then say that the soul, which is 
 deluged with the surging waves of the passions, and yet does 
 not, on that account, weary or grow faint, but direct her 
 vessel — that is, the flesh — nobly into the port of chastity, is 
 better and more estimable than he that navigates in c:dni 
 weather ? 
 
 * M;ilt. V. 8.
 
 118 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 Greg. — "We will say so. 
 
 Eul). — For to be prepared against the entrance of tlie 
 gales of the Evil Spirit, and not to be cast away or over- 
 come, but to refer all to Christ, and strongly to contend 
 against pleasures, brings greater praise than he wins who 
 lives a virgin life calmly and with ease. 
 
 Greg. — It appears so. 
 
 Eub. — And what saith the Lord ? Does He not seem to 
 show that he who retains continence, though lusting, excels 
 him who, having no lust, leads a virgin life ? 
 
 Greg. — "VATiere does He say so ? 
 
 Euh. — Where, comparing a wise man to a house well 
 founded. He declares him immovable because he cannot be 
 overthrown by rains, and floods, and winds; likening, as it 
 would seem, these storms to lusts, but the immovable 
 and unshaken firmness of the soul in chastity to the 
 rock. 
 
 Greg. — You appear to speak what is true. 
 
 Eub. — And what say you of the physician ? Do you not 
 call him the best who has been proved in great diseases, 
 and has healed many patients ? 
 
 Greg. — I do. 
 
 Euh. — But the one who has never at any time practised, 
 nor ever had the sick in his hands, is he not still in all 
 respects the inferior ? 
 
 Greg. — Yes. 
 
 Eul. — Then we may certainly say that a sqid which is 
 contained by a lustful body, and which appeases with the 
 medicaments of temperance the disorders arising from the 
 heat of lusts, carries off the palm for healing, over one to 
 whose lot it has fallen to govern aright a body which is 
 free from lust. 
 
 G^rg. — It must be allowed. 
 
 Eul. — And how is it in wrestling ? Whether is the better 
 wrestler he who has many and strong antagonists, and con- 
 tinually is contending without being worsted, or he who 
 has no opponents ? 
 
 Gi^eg. — Manifestly he who wrestles.
 
 THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 119 
 
 Eul). — And, in wrestling, is not the athlete who contends 
 the more experienced ? 
 
 G-reg. — It must be granted. 
 
 Euh. — Therefore it is clear that he whose soul contends 
 against the impulses of lust, and is not borne down by it, 
 but draws back and sets himself in array against it, appears 
 stronger than he who does not lust. 
 
 Greg. — True. 
 
 Euh. — "SVliat then ? Does it not appear to you, Gre- 
 gorion, that there is more courage in being valiant against 
 the assaults of base desires ? 
 
 Greg. — Yes, indeed. 
 
 Eul). — Ts not this courage the strength of virtue ? 
 
 Greg. — Plainly so. 
 
 Euh. — Therefore, if endurance be the strength of virtue, 
 is not the soul, which is troubled by lusts, and yet perse- 
 veres against thera, stronger than that which is not so 
 troubled ? 
 
 Gixg. — Yes. 
 
 Euh. — And if stronger, then better ? 
 
 Gi'eg.—Tvwlj. 
 
 Euh. — Therefore the soul which is concupiscent, and 
 exercises self-control, as appears from what has been said, 
 is better than that which is not concu]nscent, and exercises 
 self-control. 
 
 Greg. — You speak truly, and I sliall desire still more 
 fuUy to discourse with you concerning these things. If, 
 therefore, it pleases you, to-morrow I will come again to 
 hear respecting them. Now, however, as you see, it is 
 time to betake ourselves to the care of the outward man.
 
 CONCERNING FREE WILL. 
 
 \IITH0D. — The old man of Ithaca, according to 
 the legend of the Greeks, when he wished to 
 hear the song of the Sirens, on account of the 
 charm of their voluptuous voice, sailed to 
 Sicily in bonds, and stopped up the ears of his companions ; 
 not that he grudged them the hearing, or desired to load 
 himself with bonds, but because the consequence of those 
 singers' music to those who heard it was death. For such, 
 in the opinion of the Greeks, are the charms of the Sirens. 
 Now I am not within hearing of any such song as this ; nor 
 have I any desire to hear the Sirens who chant men's 
 dirges, and whose silence is more profitable to men than 
 their voice ; but I pray to enjoy the pleasure of a divine 
 voice, which, though it be often heard, I long to hear again ; 
 not that I am overcome with the charm of a voluptuous 
 voice, but I am being taught divine mysteries, and expect 
 as the result, not death but eternal salvation. For the 
 singers are not the deadly Sirens of the Greeks, but a divine 
 clioir of prophets, with whom there is no need to stop the 
 ears of one's companions, nor to load one's-self with bonds, 
 in fear of the penalty of hearing. For, in the one case, the 
 hearer, with the entrance of the voice, ceases to live ; in the 
 other, the more he hears, the better life will he enjoy, being 
 led onwards by a divine Spirit. Let every one come, then, 
 and hear the divine song without any fear. There are not 
 with us the Sirens from the shore of Sicily, nor the bonds of 
 Ulysses, nor the wax poured melting into men's ears ; but 
 a loosening of all bonds, and liberty to listen to every 
 one that approaches. For it is worthy of us to hear 
 such a song as this; and to hear such singers as these, seems 
 to me to be a thing to be prayed for. But if one wishes 
 to hear the choir of tlie apostles as well, he will find the
 
 CO \cj: j:\j.\cj fjike will. 121 
 
 same liarmony of song. For the others sang beforeliand 
 the divine plan in a mystical manner; but tliese sing an 
 interpretation of what has been mystically announced by 
 the former. Oli, concordant harmony, composed by the 
 Divine Spirit ! Oh, the comeliness of those wlio sing of the 
 mysteries [of God] ! Oh, that I also may join in tliese songs 
 in my prayer ! Let us tlien also sing the like song, and raise 
 the hymn to the Holy Pather, glorifying in the Spirit Jesus, 
 who is in His bosom. 
 
 Shun not, man, a spiritual hymn, nor be ill-disposed to 
 listen to it. Death belongs not to it ; a story of salvation is 
 our song. Already I seem to taste better enjoyments, as I 
 discourse on such subjects as these; and especially when there 
 is before me such a flowering meadow [as I see], that is to 
 say, our assembly of those M'ho unite in singing and hearing 
 the divine mysteries. Wherefore I dare to ask you to listen 
 to me with ears free from all envy, without imitating the 
 jealousy of Cain,^ or persecuting your brother, like Esau,' or 
 approving the brethren of Joseph,* because they hated their 
 brother on account of his words ; but differing far from all 
 these, insomuch that each of you is used to speak the mmd 
 of his neighbour. And, on this account, there is no evil 
 jealousy among you, as ye have undertaken to supply your 
 brother's deficiencies. noble audience, and venerable 
 comjjany, and spiritual food ! That I may ever have a 
 right to share in such pleasures, be this my prayer ! 
 
 Oiial. — As I was walking yesterday evening, my friend, 
 along the shore of the sea, and was gazing on it somewhat 
 intently, I saw an extraordinary instance of divine power, 
 and a work of art produced by wise science, if at least such 
 a thing may be called a work of art. Tor as that verse of 
 Horner^ says — 
 
 " As Avlu-n two adverse winds Mowing from Thrace, 
 Ijoreas and Zephyrus, the lisliy Deej) 
 Vex sudden, all around, the sable llnod 
 High curled, lihigs forth the salt weed on the shore ;" — 
 
 * Jno. i. 18. = Gen. iv. n. ' Gen. x.wii. 41. 
 
 * Gen. xxxvii. 4 '" Iliad, ix. 4, IT. (Ciiwpc'r's Tr.).
 
 122 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 So it seemed to me to have liappened yesterday. For T 
 saw waves very like mountain-tops, and, so to speak, 
 reaching up to heaven itself. Whence I expected nothiuij 
 else but that the whole land would be deluged, and I began 
 to form in my mind a place of escape, and a Noah's ark. 
 But it was not as I thought ; for, just as the sea rose to a 
 crest, it broke up again into itself, without overstepping its 
 own limits, having, so to speak, a feeling of awe for a 
 divine decree.^ And as oftentimes a servant, compelled by 
 his master to do something against his will, obeys the com- 
 mand through fear, while he dares not say a word of what 
 he suffers in his unwillingness to do it, but, full of rage, 
 mutters to himself, — somewhat so it appeared to me that 
 the sea, as if enraged and confining its awe within itself, 
 kept itself under, as not willing to let its Master perceive 
 its anger. 
 
 On these occurrences I began to gaze in silence, and 
 wished to measure in my mind the heaven and its sphere. 
 I began to inquire Avhence it rises and where it sets ; also 
 what sort of motion it had — whether a progressive one, tliat 
 is to say, one from place to place, or a revolving one ; and, 
 besides, how its movement is continued. And, of a truth, it 
 seemed worth while to inquire also about the sun, — what is 
 the manner of his being set in the heaven ; also what is the 
 orbit he traverses ; also wliither it is that, after a short 
 time, he retires ; and why it is that even he does not go out 
 of his proper course : but he, too, as one may say, is observ- 
 ing a commandment of a higher power, and appears with 
 us just when he is allowed to do so, and departs as if he 
 were called away. 
 
 So, as I was investigating these things, I saw that the 
 sunshine was departing, and the daylight failmg, and that 
 immediately darkness came on ; and the sun was succeeded 
 by the moon, who, at her first rising, was not of full size, 
 but after advancing in her course presented a larger 
 appearance. And I did not cease inquiring about her also, 
 but examined the cause of her waning and waxing, and 
 1 Job xxxviii. 11.
 
 CONCERNING FREE WILL. 123 
 
 ■why it is that she, too, oLscrves the revohitiou of days ; and 
 it seemed to me from all this that there is a divine govern- 
 ment and power controlling the whole, which we may justly 
 call God. 
 
 And thereupon I began to praise the Creator, as I saw 
 the eartli fast fixed, and living creatures in sucli variety, 
 and the blossoms of plants with tlieir many hues. But my 
 mind did not rest upon these things alone ; but tliereupon 
 I began to inquire whence they have their origin — whether 
 from some source eternally co-existent witli God, or from 
 Himself alone, none co- existing with Him ; for that He has 
 made nothing out of that which has no existence appeared 
 to me the right view to take, unless my reason were alto- 
 gether untrastworthy. For it is the nature of things which 
 come into being to derive their origin from what is already 
 existing. And it seemed to me that it might be said with 
 equal truth, that nothing is eternally co-existent with God 
 distinct from Himself, but that whatever exists has its 
 origin Ironi llim, and I was persuaded of this also by the 
 undeniable disposition of tlie elements, and by the orderly 
 arrangement of nature about them. 
 
 So, with some such thoughts of the fair order of things, 
 I returned home. But on the day following, that is to-day, 
 as I came I saw two beings of the same race (I mean men), 
 striking and abusing one another ; and another, again, wish- 
 ing to strip his neighbour. And now some began to venture 
 upon a more terrible deed ; for one stripped a corpse, and 
 exposed again to the light of day a body that had been 
 once hidden in the earth, and treated a form like his own 
 with such insult as to leave the corpse to be food for dogs ; 
 while another bared his sword, and attacked a man like 
 himself. And he wanted to procure safety by iliglit ; V)ut 
 the other ceased not from pursuing, nor would control his 
 anger. And why should I say more ? It is enough that he 
 attacked liim, and at once smote liiui witli his sword. So 
 [the wounded man] became a sup]>liant to his fellow, and 
 spread o\it liis hands in su])i)lic:itioii, and was willing to 
 give \ip his elutliiiig, and only made a claim tor life. But
 
 12 i THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 the otlier did not subdue his anger, nor pity his fellow-man, 
 nor would he see his own image in the being before him ; 
 but, like a wild beast, made preparations with his sword for 
 feeding upon him. And now he was even putting his 
 mouth to the body so like his own, such was the extent of 
 his rage. And there was to be seen one man suffering 
 injurious treatment, and another forthwith stripping him, 
 and not even covering with earth the body which he 
 denuded of clothing. But, in addition to these, there was 
 another who, robbing others of their marriage rights, 
 wanted to insult his neighbour's wife, and urged her to 
 turn to unlawful embraces, not wishing her husband to be 
 fatlier to a child of his own. 
 
 After that I began to believe the tragedies, and thought 
 that the dinner of Thuestes had really taken place ; and 
 believed in the unlawful lust of Oinomaos, nor doubted of 
 the strife in which brother drew the sword on brother. 
 
 So, after witnessing such things as these, I began to 
 inquire whence they arise, and Avhat is their origin, and 
 who is the author of such devices against men, whence 
 came their discovery, and who is the teacher of them. 
 Now to dare to say that God was the author of these 
 things was impossible ; for surely it could not even be said 
 that they have from Him their substance, or their exist- 
 ence. For how were it ]3ossible to entertain these thoughts 
 of God ? For He is good, and the Creator of what is excel- 
 lent, and to Him belongs nothing bad. Nay, it is His 
 nature to take no pleasure in such things ; but He forbids 
 their production, and rejects those who delight in them, 
 but admits into His presence those who avoid them. And 
 how could it be anything but absurd to call God the maker 
 of these things of which He disapproves ? For He would 
 not wish them not to be, if He had first been their creator ; 
 and He wishes those who approach Him to be imitators of 
 Him. 
 
 Wherefore it seemed to me unreasonable to attribute these 
 things to God, or to speak of them as having sprung from 
 Him ; though it must certainly be gi-anted that it is pos-
 
 CONCEIiXING FREE WILL, 125 
 
 sible for something to come into existence out of wliat has 
 no existence, in case He made what is evil. For He who 
 hrouglit them into existence out of non-existence would 
 not reduce them to the loss of it. And again, it must be 
 said that there was once a time when God took pleasure in 
 evil things, which now is not the case. Wherefore it seems 
 to me impossible to say this of God. For it is unsuitable 
 to His nature to attach this to Him. Wherefore it seemed 
 to me that there is co-existent with Him somewhat which 
 has the name of matter, from which He formed existing 
 things, distinguishing between them with wise art, and 
 arranging them in a fair order, from which also evil things 
 seem to have come into being. For as this matter was 
 without quality or form, and, besides this, was borne about 
 without order, and was untouched by divine art, God bore 
 no grudge against it, nor left it to be continually thus borne 
 about, but began to work upon it, and wished to separate 
 its best parts from its worst, and thus made all that it was 
 fitting for God to make out of it ; but so much of it as was 
 like lees, so to speak, this being unfitted for being made into 
 anything, He left as it was, since it was of no use to Him ; 
 and from this it seems to me tliat what is evil has now 
 streamed down among men. This seemed to me the right 
 view to take of these tilings. But, my friend, if you think 
 that anything I have said is wrong, mention it, for 1 exceed- 
 ingly desire to hear about these things. 
 
 Ortliod. — I appreciate your readiness, my friend, and a}i- 
 plaud your zeal about the subject ; and as for the opinion 
 which you have expressed respecting existing things, to tlie 
 effect that God made them out of some undeilying substance, 
 I do not altogether find fault with it. For, truly, the origin 
 of evil [is a subject that] has called out opinions i'rom many 
 men. Before you and me, no doubt, there have been many 
 able men who have made the most searching impiiry into 
 the matter. And some of them expressed the same opinion 
 as you did, but others again represented God as tlie creator 
 of these things, fearing to allow the existence of substance as 
 coeval with Him; while the former, from fear of saying thjt
 
 12G Till-: WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 God was tlie author of evil, thouglit fit to represent matter 
 as coeval with llim.^ And it was the fate of both of these 
 to fail to speak rightly on the subject, in consequence of 
 their fear of God not being in agreement with an accurate 
 knowledge of the ttutli. 
 
 But others declined to inquire about sucli a question at 
 all, on the ground that such an inquiry is endless. As for 
 me, liowever, my connection with you in friendship does 
 not allow me to decline the subject of inquiry, especially 
 when you announce your own purpose, that you are not 
 swayed by prejudice (although you had your opinion about 
 tlie condition of things derived from your conjectures), but 
 say that you are confirmed in a desire of knowing the 
 truth. 
 
 "Wherefore I will willingly turn to the discussion of the 
 qiiestion. But I wish this companion of mine here to 
 listen to our conversation. For, indeed, he seems to have 
 much the same opinions about these things as you have, 
 wherefore I wish tliat you should both have a share in the 
 discussion. For whatever I should say to you, situated as 
 you are, I shall say just as much to him. If, then, you 
 are indulgent enough to think I speak truly on this great 
 subject, give an answer to each question I ask ; for the 
 result of this will be that you will gain a knowledge of the 
 truth, and I shall not carry on my discussion with you at 
 random. 
 
 Glial. — I am ready to do as you say ; and therefore be 
 quite ready to ask those questions from which you think I 
 may be able to gain an accurate knowledge of this important 
 subject. For the object which I have set before myself is 
 not the base one of gaining a victory, but that of becoming 
 thoroughly acquainted with the truth. Wherefore apply 
 yourself to the rest of the discussion. 
 
 Ortliod. — Well, then, I do not suppose you are ignorant 
 that it is impossible for two uncreated things to exist 
 together, although you seem to have expressed nearly as 
 
 ^ The reader will here naturally think of tlie great and long-continued 
 Manichsean controversy. — Tr.
 
 CONCERNING FREE WILL. 127 
 
 much as this in an earlier part of the conversation. As- 
 suredly we must of necessity say one of two things : either 
 that God is separate from matter, or, on the other hand, that 
 He is inseparable from it. If, then, one would say that they 
 are united, he will say that tliat which is uncreated is one 
 only (for each of the things spoken of will be a part of the 
 other), and as they are j)arts of each other, there will not be 
 two uncreated things, but one composed of different elements. 
 For we do not, because a man has different members, break 
 him up into many beings. But, as the demands of reason 
 require, we say that a single being, man, of many parts, has 
 been created by God. So it is necessary, if God be not 
 separate from matter, to say that that which is uncreated 
 is one only ; but if one shall say that He is separate, there 
 must necessarily be something intermediate between the 
 two, which makes their separation evident. For it is 
 impossible to estimate the distance of one tiling from 
 another, unless there be something else with which the 
 distance between them may be compared. And this holds 
 good, not only as far as the instance before us, but also 
 to any number of others. For the argument which we 
 advanced in the case of two uncreated things would of 
 necessity be of equal force, were the uncreated things 
 granted to be three in number. For I sliould ask also 
 respecting them, whether they are separate from each other, 
 or, on the other hand, are united each to its neighbour. 
 For if any one resolve to say that they are united, he avlQ 
 be told the same as before ; if, again, that they are separate, 
 lie will not escape the necessary existence of that which 
 separates them. 
 
 If, then, any one were to say that there is a third account 
 Avhich might fitly be given of uncreated things, namely, 
 that neither is God separate from matter, nor, again, are 
 they united as part of a whole; but that God is locaUy 
 situate in matter, and matter in God, he must be told as 
 the consequence,^ that if we say that God is placi'd in 
 matter, we must of necessity say that He is contained 
 ' Jahn's reacliii'' is liere followed.
 
 128 THE WPJThVaS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 M-ithin limits, and circumscribed by matter. But then lie 
 must, equally with matter, be carried about without order. 
 And tliat lie rests not, nor remains by Himself, is a neces- 
 sary result of that in which He is being carried, now this 
 way, and now that. And besides this, we must say that 
 God was in worse case still. 
 
 For if matter were once without order, and He, deter- 
 mining to change it for the better, put it into order, there 
 was a time when God was in that which had no order. 
 And I might fairly ask this question also, whether God 
 filled matter completely, or existed in some part of it. For 
 if one resolve to say that God was in some part of matter, 
 how far smaller than matter does he make Him; that is, if 
 a part of it contained God altogether. But if he were to 
 say that He is in all of it, and is extended through the 
 whole of matter, he must tell us how He wrought upon it. 
 For we must say that there was a sort of contraction of 
 God, which being effected. He wrought upon that from 
 which He was withdrawn, or else that He wrought iu union 
 with matter, without having a place of withdrawal. But if 
 any one say that matter is in God, there is equal need of 
 inquiry, namely, whether it is by His being separated from 
 Himself, and as creatures exist in the air, by His being 
 divided and parted for the reception of the beings that are 
 in Him; or whether it is locally situated, that is to say, as 
 water in land; for if we were to say, as in the air, we must 
 say that God is divisible; but if, as water in earth (since 
 matter was without order and arrangement, and besides, 
 contained what was evil), we must say that in God were to 
 be found the disorderly and the evil. Now this seems to 
 me an unbecoming conclusion, nay, more, a dangerous one. 
 For you wish for the existence of matter, that you may 
 avoid saying that God is the author of evil; and, determining 
 to avoid this, you say that He is the receptacle of evil. 
 
 If, then, imder the suj)position that matter is separate from 
 created substances, you had said that it is imcreated, I 
 should have said much about it, to prove tliat it is impossible 
 for it to be uncreated; but since you say that the [question
 
 COSCKUS'ISG FUEK WlLl.. 12!) 
 
 of] the origin of e^■il is tlie cause of this supijosition, it 
 tlierefore seems to me right to in-oceed to inquire into this. 
 For when it is cleariy stated ho\v evil exists, and that it is 
 not possible to say that God is the cause of evil, because of 
 matter being subject to Him, it seems to me to destroy such 
 a supposition, to remark, that if God created the qualities 
 which did not exist, He equally created the substances.^ 
 
 Do 3'ou say, then, that there co-exists with God matter 
 without qualities out of which He formed the beginning of 
 this world? 
 
 Oual. — So T think. 
 
 Ortliod. — If, then, matter had no qualities, and the world 
 were produced by God, and qualities exist in the world, 
 then God is the maker of qualities ? 
 
 Oucd. — It is so. 
 
 Ortliod. — Xow, as I heard you say some time ago that it 
 is impossible for anything to come into being out of that 
 which has no existence, answer my question : Do you tliink 
 that the qualities of the world were not produced out of any 
 existing qualities ? 
 
 Oaal. — I do. 
 
 Ortliod. — And that they are something distinct from sub- 
 stances? 
 
 Oual. — Yes. 
 
 Ortliod. — If, then, qualities were neither made by God 
 out of any ready at hand, nor derive their existence from 
 substances, because they are not substances, we must say 
 that they were produced by God out of what had no exist- 
 ence. "Wherefore I thought you spoke extravagantly in 
 saying that it was impossible to suppose that anything was 
 produced by God out of Avhat did not exist. 
 
 But let our discussion of this matter stand tlius. J-'nr 
 truly we see among ourselves men making things out of 
 what does not exist, although they seem for the most part 
 to be making them with sometliiiig. As, fur instance, we 
 uuiy have an example in the case of architects; for they 
 
 * The text is huiv in an uncertain ^tatc. (yi Miyni- and Jain.. 
 
 I
 
 130 THE WIIITIM.S el-' .]J/:T//o/i/ f'S. 
 
 truly do not make cities out of cities, ikh- in like maimer 
 teiiqilcs t)Ut of tcinplcs. ....... 
 
 friiijicvfc'ct.) 
 
 ['The rest from titc Blhllolhrca of J'huluisl] 
 
 Ent if, because substances underlie these things, you think 
 that the builders make them out of ^vllat does exist, you are 
 mistaken in your calculation. For it is not the substance 
 uliicli makes the city or the temples, but art applied to 
 substance. And this art is not produced out of some art 
 ^vhich lies in the suljstances themselves, but from that which 
 is not in them. 
 
 But you seem likely to meet me with this argument: 
 that the artificer makes the art which is connected with the 
 substance out of the art which he has. Xow I think it is 
 a good reply to this to say, that in man it is not produced 
 from any art lying beneath; for it is not to ])e granted that 
 substance by itself is art. For art is in the class of acci- 
 dents, and is one of the things that have an existence only 
 when they are employed about some substance. For man 
 will exist even without the art of building, but it will have 
 no existence unless man be previously in being. Whence 
 we must say that it is in the nature of things for arts to be 
 produced in men out of what has no existence. If, then, we 
 have shown that this is so in the case of men, why \vas it 
 improper to say that God is able to make not only qualities, 
 but also substances, out of that which has no existence I 
 For as it appears possible for -something to be produced out 
 of Avhat exists not, it is evident that this is the case with 
 substances. To return to the question of evil. Do you 
 think evil comes imder the head of substances, or of quali- 
 ties of substances ? 
 
 Oual. — Of qualities. 
 
 Orfhod. — But matter was found to be without quality or 
 form ? 
 
 Oual. — It was. 
 
 Orthod. — Well, then, the connection of these names with 
 substance is owiufr to its accidents. For murder is nf»t a
 
 CO.YCKRXIXG FREE WILL. 131 
 
 substance, nor is any other evil; but tlie substance receives 
 a cognate name from putting it into practice. For a man is 
 not [spoken of as] murder, but by committing it he receives 
 tlie derived name of murderer, witliout being himself 
 nmrder; and, to speak concisely, no other evil is a sub- 
 stance; but by practising any evil, it can be called evil. 
 !Similarly consider, if you imagine anything else to be the 
 cause of evil to men, that it too is evil by reason of it-^ 
 acting by them, and suggesting the committal of evil. For 
 a man is evil in consequence of his actions. For he is said 
 to be evil, because he is the doer of evil. Now what a man 
 does, is not the man himself, but his activity, and it is 
 from his actions that he receives the title of evil. For 
 if we were to say that he is that which he does, and lie 
 commits murders, adidteries, and such-like, he will be all 
 these. Xow if he is these, then when they are produced 
 he has an existence, but when they are not, he too ceases 
 to be. Xow these things are produced by men. ]\ren 
 then will be the authors of them, and the causes of their 
 existing or not existing. But if each man is evil in con- 
 sequence of what he practises, and what he practises has 
 an origin, he also made a beginning in evil, and evil too 
 had a beginning. Xow if this is the case, no one is 
 without a beginning in evil, nor are evil things without 
 an origin. 
 
 Oual. — Well, my friend, you seem to me to have argued 
 sufficiently against the other side. For you appeared tn 
 draw right conclusions from the premises which we granted 
 to the discussion. For truly if matter is without qualities, 
 then God is the maker of qualities ; and if evils are 
 qualities, God will be the author of evils. But it seems 
 to me false to say that matter is without qualities; for it 
 cannot be said respecting any substance that it is with- 
 out qualities. But indeed, in the very act of saying that 
 it is without qualities, you declare that it has a quality, 
 by describing the character of matter, whicli is a kind of 
 quality. Therefore, if you please, begin the discussion from 
 the beginning; for it seems to me that matter never began
 
 132 TIII<: WUTTJNGS OF M KTIIODICS. 
 
 to have qualities. For such hein.Lj the case, I assert, mv 
 friend, that evil arises from its emanation. 
 
 Orthod. — If matter were j)0ssessed ot qualities from 
 eternity, of -what will God be the creator ? For if we say 
 substances, we speak of them as pre-existing ; if, again, we 
 say qualities, these too are declared to have an existence. 
 Since, then, b(jth substances and qualities exist, it seems to 
 me superfluous to call God a creator. But answer me a 
 ([uestion. In what way do you say that God was a creator? 
 AVas it by changing the existence of tliose sul)stances into 
 non-existence, or by changing the qualities while He pre- 
 served the substances ? 
 
 Oual. — I think that there was no change of the sub- 
 stances, but only of the qualities ; and in respect to these 
 we call God a creator. And just as if one might chance to 
 say that a house was made of stones, it cannot be said of 
 them that they do not still continue stones in substance, 
 because they are called a house ; for I affirm that the house 
 is made by the quality of construction. So I think that 
 God, while substance remained, produced a change of its 
 qiialities, by reason of which I say that this world was made 
 by God. 
 
 Orthod. — Do you think, too, that evil is among the quali- 
 ties of substances ? 
 
 Oucd.—l do. 
 
 Orthod. — And were these qualities in matter from the 
 first, or had they a beginning ? 
 
 On(d. — I say that these qualities were eternally co-ex- 
 istent with matter. 
 
 Orthod. — But do you not say that God has made a change 
 in the qualities ? 
 
 Ou(d. — I do say this. 
 
 Orthod. — For the better ? 
 
 Oual. — I think so. 
 
 Orthod. — If, then, evil is among the qualities of matter, 
 and its qualities were changed by God for the better, the 
 inquiry must be made whence evil arose. For either all 
 of them, beiuu' evil, underwent a change for the better,
 
 co.\x'j':ii'\Lya fl'EE will. i-.vo 
 
 or some of tliem being evil, and some not, the evil ones 
 were not changed for the better ; but the rest, as ihr as 
 they were found superior, were cluinged by God for the 
 sake of order. 
 
 Dual. — That is the opinion I lu-ld from the l)eginning. 
 
 Orthod. — How, then, do you say it was that He left tlie 
 (jualities of evil as tliey were? Was it tliat He was alih; 
 to do away with them, or that, tliough He wisheil to do so, 
 He was unable? For if you say that He ^\■as alili', Imt 
 disinclined to do so, He must be the author of these things; 
 because, wliile He had power to bring evil to an end, He 
 allowed it to remain as it w^as, esi:)ecially when He had 
 begun to work upon matter. For if He had had nothing 
 at all to do with matter. He would not have been the 
 author of what He allowed to remain. But since He works 
 upon a part of it, and leaves a part of it to itself, while He 
 lias power to change it for the better, I think He is the 
 autlior of evil, since He left part of matter in its vileness. 
 He wrought then for the ruin of a part ; and, in this 
 respect, it seems to me that this part \vas chiefly injured 
 by His arranging it in matter, so that it became j^artakcr 
 of evil. For before matter was put in order, it Avas witli- 
 out the perception of evil ; but now each of its parts has 
 the capacity of perceiving evil. Xow, take an example in 
 the case of man. Previously to becoming a living creatuic, 
 he was insensible to evil ; but from tlie time wlien he is 
 fashioned by God into the form of man, he gains the per- 
 ception of approaching evil. So this act of God, wliiih 
 you s.ay was done for the beiiciit of matter, is Ibund lo lia\e. 
 happened to it rather for tlie worse. But if you say that 
 God was not able to stop evil, does the impossibility residt 
 i'roni His l)eing naturally weak, or from His being overconHi 
 by fear, and in subjection to some more jiowerful Being? 
 See which of these you M^ould like to attribute to the al- 
 mighty and good God. But, again, answer me about matter. 
 Is matter simple or compound? For if matt(n' be sim]»le 
 and \iniform, and the nniverse com])Ound, and composed (jf 
 dilfciciit sul)stan(,'(.'s, it is ini}iossi]>le to say that it is made
 
 134 Till-: wurrixas of mktiiodius. 
 
 of matter, Lccause compound tliinj^'s caimot he composed of 
 one ])nre and simple ingredient. For composition indicates 
 the mixture of several simple things. But if, on the otiier 
 ]iand, you say that matter is coni]30und, it lias been entirely 
 composed of simple elements, and they -svere once each 
 separately simple, and by their composition matter was pro- 
 duced ; for compound things derive their composition from 
 simple things. So there was once a time when matter did 
 not exist — that is to say, before the combination of the 
 simple elements. But if there was once a time when matter 
 did not exist, and there was never a time when what is 
 uncreated did not exist, then matter is not uncreated. And 
 from this it follows that there are many things which are 
 uncreated. For if God were uncreated, and the simple 
 elements of ^\-hich matter was composed were uncreated, 
 tlie immber of the uncreated would be more than two. 
 But to omit inquiring what are the simple elements, matter 
 or form — for this would be followed by many absurdities — 
 let me ask, do you think that nothing that exists is contrary 
 to itself I 
 
 Glial. — I do. 
 
 Ortliod. — Yet water is contrary to fire, and darkness to 
 light, and heat to cold, and moisture to dryness. 
 
 Oucd. — I think it is. 
 
 Ortliod. — If, then, nothing that exists is contrary to itself, 
 and these are contrary to one another, they will not be one 
 and the same matter — no, nor formed from one and the 
 same matter. But, again, I wish to ask, do you think that 
 the parts of a thing are not destructive of one another? 
 
 Oucd. — I do. 
 
 Ortliod. — And that tire and water, and the rest likewise, 
 are parts of matter ? 
 
 Oucd. — I hold them to be so. 
 
 Orthocl. — AVliy, then, do you not think that water is 
 destructive of fire, and light of darkness, and so on with 
 tlie rest ? 
 
 Oucd.—l do. 
 
 Ortliod. — Then, if parts of a thing are not destructive of
 
 COSf'EItXlXa I'llKK Wll.J.. \?u^ 
 
 one another, and tli(;.se are found to be so, tliry will not be 
 parts of the same thing. Bnt if tliey are not parts of the 
 same thing, they will not be parts of one and the same 
 matter. And, indeed, they will not be matter either, 
 because nothing that exists is destructive of itself. And 
 this being the case Avitli the contraries, it is shown that 
 they are not matter. This is enough on the subject of 
 matter. 
 
 Xow Ave must eome to the examination of evils, and 
 mu.st necessarily ini[uii'e into the evils among men. As to 
 these, are tliey foims of tlie principle of evil, or parts of it ? 
 If forms, evil will not have a separate existence distinct 
 from them, because the species are to be sought for in the 
 forms, and underlie tliem. But if this is the case, evil has 
 an origin. For its forms are shown to have an origin — 
 such as murder, and adultery, and the like. But if you will 
 have them to be parts of some principle of evil, and they 
 have an origin, it also must have an origin. For those 
 things whose parts have an origin, are of necessity origi- 
 nated likewise. For the whole consists of parts. And the 
 whole will not exist if the parts do not, though there may 
 be some parts, even if the whole be not there. 
 
 XoAv there is nothing existing of which one part is origi- 
 nated, and another part not. But if T were c\'en to grant 
 this, then there M'as a time when evil A\'as not complete, 
 namely, before matter was wrought by (lod. And it 
 attains comjdeteness when man is produced by God ; hji 
 man is the maker of the parts of evil. And from tins it. 
 follows that the cause of evil being complete, is God th<; 
 Creator, A\hich it is impious to say. But if you say that 
 evil is neither of tlu^ things su})posed, but is the doing of 
 something e\'il, you declare that it has an origin. For the 
 doing of a thing makes the beginning of its existence. And 
 besides thi.s, you have nothing further to pronounce evil. 
 For what other action have you to jioint out as such, 
 e.xcept what happens among men? Now, it has been 
 already sliown that hi' wlio acts is not evil according to 
 his luMiin-, but in accorilancf w ith liis evil doino.
 
 136 TJIh: WlllTIMIS OF M FTJIijUJ US. 
 
 Because there is nothing evil l^y nature, hut it is hy use 
 that evil things become such. So I say, says he, that man 
 M-as made with a free will, not as if tliere were already evil 
 in existence, which he liad the power of choosing if he 
 wished, but on account of liis capacity of obeyiug or di-s- 
 obeying CJod. 
 
 For this was the meaning of the gift of Free Will. And 
 UKiu after his creation receives a commandment from God ; 
 and li-om tliis at once rises evil, for he does not obey 
 the divine command ; and this alone is evil, namely, dis- 
 obedience, Mhich liad a beginning. 
 
 For man^ received power, and enslaved himself, not 
 because he M'as overpowered by the irresistible tendencies 
 of his nature, nor because the capacity with which he was 
 gifted deprived him of what was better for him ; for it was 
 for the sake of this that I say he was endowed with it [but 
 he received the power above mentioned], in order that he 
 may obtain an addition to what he already possesses, which 
 accrues to him from the Superior Being in consequence of 
 his obedience, and is demanded as a debt from his ]\Iaker. 
 For I say that man was made not for destruction, but for 
 Ijetter things. For if he were made as any of the elements, 
 or those things which render a similar service to God, lie 
 would cease to receive a reward befitting deliberate choice, 
 and would be like an instrument of tlie maker ; and it 
 would be unreasonable for him to suffer blame for his 
 wrong-doings, for the real author of them is the one Ijy 
 N\-hom he is used. But man did not understand better 
 things, since he did not know the author [of his existence], 
 but only the object for which he was made. I say there- 
 lore that God, purposing thus to honour man, and to grant 
 him an understanding of better things, has given him the 
 j)o\vei' of being able to do what he wishes, and commends 
 
 ^ The wliole of this work, as pieserved, is in a very iragmentaiy state. 
 "We luive followed Migue in general, as his edition is most widely 
 kuown, and but little is gained by adopting Jahn's, -whicli is somewhat 
 more i.-cniplete. — Tr.
 
 co.\rKn.\L\<j i'lii:!-: will. i37 
 
 fhe employment of liis power for Letter tliiii<:is ; not that He 
 deprives him again of free will, hut wishes to point out the 
 hetter way. For the power is present with him, and he 
 receives the commandment; hut God exhorts him to turn 
 his power of choice to better things. For as a iather 
 exhorts liis son, who lias power to learn his lessons, to give 
 more attention to them, inasmuch as, while he points out 
 this as the hetter course, lie does not deprive his sun of the 
 ])ower which he possessed, even if he he not inclined to 
 learn willingly ; so I do not think that God, wlule He urges 
 on man to obey liis commands, deprives him of the power 
 of purposing and withholding obedience. For He points out 
 the cause of His giving this advice, in that He does not 
 deprive him of the power. Ijut He gives commands, in order 
 that man may be able to enjoy better things. For this is 
 the consequence of obeying the commands of God. So that 
 He does not give commands in order to take away the 
 power which He has given, but in order that a better gift 
 may be bestowed, as to one Morthy of attaining greater 
 things, in return for his having rendered obedience to God, 
 M-hile he had power to withhold it. I say that man was 
 made with iree will, not as if there were alreaily existing 
 some evil, which he had the power of choosing if he wished, 
 
 but that the power of obeying and 
 
 dis()l)eying (Jod is the only cause [of the bestowal of free 
 will]. 
 
 For this was the object to be obtained by free will. 
 And man after his creation receives a commandment from 
 (Jod, ;md from this at once rises evil; for he does not 
 obey the divine command, and this alone is evil, namely, 
 disobedience, Avhich had a beginning. For no one has 
 it in his power to say that it is without an origin, when 
 its author had an origin. But you will be sure to ask 
 whence arose this disobedience. It is clearly recordeil in 
 Holy Scripture, Vy which 1 am enabled to say that man 
 Mas not made by C!od in this conditiuii, but that he has 
 come to it by some teaching. For man did not receive such 
 a nature as this. For if it weie the case that his nature
 
 138 Tin-: WRITINGS OF M ETIfOUI CS. 
 
 was such, tliis would not have come upon liini liy tcacliiiig. 
 Now one says in Holy Writ, that " man has learnt [evil]."^ 
 I say, then, that disobedience to God is taught. For tin's 
 alone is evil which is produced in opposition to the pur- 
 pose of God , for man would not learn evil by itself. He, 
 then, wlio teaches evil is the Serpent. 
 
 Tor my part, I said that the beginning of e\'il was envy, 
 and that it arose from man's being distingiiished by God 
 Avith higher honour. Now evil is disobedience to the com- 
 mandment of God. 
 
 ^ Jer. xiii. 23.
 
 FROil THE 
 
 DISCOUr.SE ON THE RESURR!:OTION. 
 
 [DD did not make evil, nor is He at all in any 
 way the author of evil ; but -syhatever failed to 
 keep the law, Avhich !!(; in all justice ordained, 
 after being made by Him with the faculty of 
 fioc will, for the purpose of guarding and keeping it, is 
 called eviL Now it is the gravest faid.t to disobey God, by 
 overstej)ping the bounds of that righteousness which is con- 
 sistent M'ith free will. 
 
 II. Now the question has already been raised, and an- 
 swered,^ that the " coats of skins " - are not bodies. Never- 
 theless, let us speak of it again, for it is not enough to have 
 mentioned it once. Before the preparation of these coats of 
 skins, the first man himself acknowledges that he has both 
 bones and Hesh; for when he saw the woman brought to 
 him : " This is now," he cried,^ "bone of my bone, and tlesh 
 of my flesh." And again : " She shall be called Woman, 
 because she was taken out of man. For this cause, shall a 
 man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto 
 hi.s wife, and they two shall be one flesh." For I cannot 
 endure the trilling of some who shamelessly do violence to 
 Serii)ture, in order that their opinion, that the resurrection 
 is without tlesh, may find support; supposing rational 
 bones and tlesh, and in different ways changing it back- 
 wards and forwards by allegorizing. And Christ confirms 
 the taking of these things as they are written, when, to the 
 
 ^ Cf. Aiiastasiu.'^, in Jlarfrina J'utruDi (/<■ ]'n-hi Incurnatione, c 25 
 [Jalm]. By Ki)ipliaiiius, llu.r. l.\.iv. n. 22 [JIi;,'iiL']. 
 
 - Gen. iii. '2^. ^ (Juii. ii. 23. 24.
 
 140 TlIK WlHTJXaS OF M F/niOJjJ TS. 
 
 (|iU',slion of the riiarisecs about yaitting aAvay a Avife, He 
 answers : "Have ye not read tliat He which made them at 
 the beginning made them male and female ; and said, For 
 this cause shall a man leave his father," ^ and so on. 
 
 III. But it is evidently absurd to think that the body 
 ■will not co-exist with the soul in the eternal state, because 
 it is a bond and fetters ; in order that, according to their 
 \iew, Ave who are to live in the kingdom of light may not 
 ]»e for ever condemned to be bondmen of corruption. For 
 as the question has been sufficiently solved, and the state- 
 ment refuted in which they defined the flesh to be the 
 soul's chain, the argument also is destroyed, that the flesh 
 will not rise again, lest, if we resume it, we be prisoners in 
 the kingdom of light. 
 
 IV. In order, then, that man might not be an undying 
 or ever-living evil, as would ha\e been tlie case if sin 
 were dominant within him, as it had sprung up in an im- 
 mortal body, and was provided with immortal sustenance, 
 God for this cause pronounced him mortal, and clothed 
 him with mortality. For this is what was meant by tlie 
 coats of skins, in order that, by the dissolution of the 
 l)ody, sin might be altogether destroyed from the very 
 roots, that there miglit not be left even the smallest par- 
 ticle of root from which new^ shoots of sins might again 
 burst forth. 
 
 \. For as a fig-tree, which has grown in the splendid 
 buildings of a temple, and has reached a great size, and is 
 spread over all the joints of the stones with thickly-branch- 
 ing roots, ceases not to grow, tiU, by the loosening of the 
 stones from the place in which it sprung up, it is altogether 
 torn away ; for it is possible for the stones to be fitted into 
 their own places, when the fig-tree is taken away, so that 
 1 he temj)le may be preserved, having no longer to support 
 Avhat was the cause of its own destruction ; while the fig- 
 tree, torn away by the roots, dies ; in the same way also, 
 God, the builder, checked by the seasonable application of 
 death, His own temple, man, when he had fostered sin, like 
 1 Matt. xi.\. 4. ,■).
 
 DISCO U USE OA n/E nESUlUiKCTIOX. in 
 
 a wild fig-tree, "killinj4," ^ in the words of Scripture, "and 
 making' alive," in order that the Hesh, after sin is withered 
 and dead, may, like a restored temple, be raised up again 
 Avith the same parts, uninjured and immortal, while sin is 
 utterly and entirely destroyed. For w];ile the body still 
 lives, before it has passed through death, sin must also live 
 with it, as it has its roots concealed within us, even thougli 
 it be externally checked by the wounds inflicted by correc- 
 tions and warnings ; since, otherwise, it would not hapjxMi 
 that we do wrong after baptism, as we should Ije entirely 
 and absolutely free from sin. But now, even after belie\'- 
 iug, and after the time of being touched by the Mater of 
 sauctitication, we are oftentimes found in sin. For no one 
 can boast of being so free from sin as not even to have an 
 evil thought. So that it is come to pass that sin is now 
 restrained and lulled to sleep by faith, so that it does not 
 produce injurious fruits, but yet is not torn up by the roots. 
 For the present we restrain its sprouts, such as evil ima<Tin- 
 ations, "lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble "- 
 us, not suffering its leaves to unclose and open into shoots ; 
 while the Word, like an axe, cuts at its roots ■which 
 grow below. But hereafter the veiy thought of e\i\ will 
 disappear. 
 
 YI. But come now, since there is need of many examples 
 in matters of this kind, let us examine them particularlv 
 from this point of view, without desisting till our argument 
 ends in clearer explanation and proof It appears, then, as 
 if an eminent craftsman were to cast over again a noble 
 image, wrought by himself of gold or other material, and 
 beautifully proportioned in all its members, upon his sud- 
 denly perceiving tliat it had been mutilated by some 
 infamous man, wlio, too envious to endure the image being 
 beautiful, spoiled it, and thus enjoyed the empty pleasure 
 of indulged jealousy. For take notice, most wise Aglaojihon, 
 that, if the artificer wish that tliat upon which he lias 
 bestowed so much pains and care and labour, shall lie 
 ipiite free from injury, lie will be impelled to melt it down, 
 1 Dent, .\x\ii. :}!). -■ n.-l). \ii. 15.
 
 142 riih: \vh'/T/.\as of metjtodius. 
 
 and rtistorc, it to its former condition. But if he sliould not 
 cast it afresli, nor reconstruct it, l)ut allow it to remain 
 as it is, repairing and restoring it, it must be that the image, 
 being passed through the fire and forged, cannot any longci' 
 be preserved iinehanged, but will be altered and wasted. 
 Wherefore, if he should wish it to be perfectly beautiful and 
 I'aultless, it must be broken up and recast, in order that all 
 the disfigurements and mutilations inflicted upon it by 
 treachery and envy, may be got rid of by the breaking up 
 and recasting of it, while the image is restored again unin- 
 jured and unalloyed to the same form as before, and made 
 as like itself as possible. For it is impossible for an image 
 imder the hands of the original artist to be lost, even if it 
 be melted down again, for it may be restored; but it is j)0ssible 
 for blemishes and injuries to be put off, for they melt away 
 and cannot be restored ; because in every work of art the 
 best craftsman looks not for blemish or failure, but foi 
 symmetry and correctness in his work. Now God's plan 
 seems to me to have been the same as that which prevails 
 among oiu'selves. For seeing man. His fairest work, cor- 
 rupted by envious treachery, He could not endure, with His 
 love for man, to leave him in such a condition, lest he should 
 be for ever faulty, and bear the blame to eternity; but dis- 
 solved him again into his original materials, in order that, 
 by remodelling, all tlie blemishes in him might waste away 
 and disappear. For the melting down of the statue in tlie 
 former case corresponds to the death and dissolution of the 
 body in the latter, and the remoulding of the material in the 
 I'ormer, to the resurrection after death in the latter; as also 
 saith the prophet Jeremiah, for he addresses [the Jews] in 
 tliese words, "And I went down to the potter's house; and, 
 behold, he ^^T0ugllt a work upon the stones. And the vessel 
 wliich he made in his hands was broken; and again he made 
 another vessel, as it pleased him to make it. And the word 
 of the Lord came to me, saying. Cannot 1 do to you as this 
 potter, house of Israel? Behold, as the clay of the potter 
 arc ye in my hands''^ 
 
 ^ Jer. x\-iii. 3-G.
 
 DISCOUliSE ON THE PJuSURRECriOX. 140 
 
 YII. For I call your attention to tliis, that, as I said, 
 after man's transgression the Great Hand was not content 
 to leave as a trophy of victoiy its own work, debased by the 
 Evil One, who wickedly injured it from motives of envy; 
 but moistened and reduced it to clay, as a potter breaks 
 up a vessel, that by the remodelling of it all the blemishes 
 and bruises in it may disappear, and it may be made afresli 
 faultless and pleasing. 
 
 VIII. But it is not satisfactory to say that the universe 
 Avill be utterly destroyed, and sea and air and sky will be no 
 longer. For tlie whole world will be deluged with fire from 
 heaven, and burnt for the purpose of purification and 
 renewal; it will not, liowever, come to complete ruin and 
 coi'ru])tion. For if it were better for the world not to be 
 than to be, Avhy did God, in making the world, take the 
 worse course? But God did not work in vain, or do that 
 wliich A\-as worst. God therefore ordered the creation with 
 a view to its existence and continuance, as also the Wisdom 
 confirms, saying, " For God created all things that they 
 might have their being; and the generations of the M'orld 
 were healthful, and there is no poison of destruction in 
 them."^ And Paul clearly testifies this, saying, "For the 
 earnest expectation of the creature [or creation] waiteth for 
 the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature [or 
 creation] was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by 
 reason of him that subjected the same in hope: because tlie 
 creature [or creation] itself also sliall be delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the chil- 
 dren of God." 2 For the creation was made subject to vanity, 
 he says, and he expects that it will be set free from such 
 servitude, as he intends to call this M'orld by the name of 
 creation. For it is not what is unseen but wliat is seen that 
 is subject to corruption. The creation, then, after being 
 restoreil to a better and more seemly state, renuiins, rejoicing 
 and exulting over the children of God at the resurrection; for 
 whose sake it now groans and travails,^ waiting itself also for 
 
 1 Wis.l. i. 14. - R.tiii. viii. \'d--l\. 
 
 ^ The icadiiiy and punctuation nl' Jalm are liere adopted.
 
 1J4 TIIK WRlTLXaS OF M l'/rHUl)l US. 
 
 our rGdemption fiom the corruption of the hody, that, Avhen 
 we liave risen and shaken off the n)ortality of the Hesh, 
 according to tliat wliich is written, " Shake off the dust, 
 and arise, and sit down, Jerusalem," ^ and have been set 
 free from sin, it also shall he freed from corruption and he 
 sul)ject no longer to vanity, hut to rigliteousness. Isaiah 
 says, too, " For as the new heaven and the new earth which 
 I make, remaineth before me, saitli the Lord, so shall your 
 seed and your name be;"- and again, " Thus saith the Lord 
 that created the heaven, it is He who prepared the earth and 
 created it, He determined it ; He created it not in vain, but 
 formed it to be inhabited."^ For in reality God did not 
 establish the universe in vain, or to no purpose but destruc- 
 tion, as those weak-minded men say, but to exist, and be 
 inhabited, and continue. AMierefore the earth and the 
 heaven must exist again after the conflagration and shaking 
 of all things. 
 
 IX. But if our opponents say. How then is it, if the universe 
 be not destroyed, that the Lord says that "heaven and earth 
 sliall pass away;"* and the prophet, that "the heaven sliall 
 perish as smoke, and the earth shall grow old as a garment;"^ 
 we answer, because it is usual for the Scriptures to call the 
 change of the world from its present condition to a better 
 and more glorious one, destruction; as its earlier form is 
 lost in the change of all things to a state of greater splen- 
 dour; for there is no contradiction nor absurdity in the Holy 
 Scriptures. For not " the world " but the " fashion of thi.s 
 world passeth away,'"^ it is said; so it is usual for the 
 Scriptures to call the change from an earlier form to a better 
 and more comely state, destruction; just as when one calls 
 l\v the name of destruction the change from a childish form 
 into a perfect man, as the stature of the child is turned into 
 [manly] size and beauty. We may expect that the creation 
 will pass away, as if it were to perish in the burning, in 
 order that it may be renewed, not however that it will be 
 destroyed, that we who are renewed may dwell in a renewed 
 
 ' Isaiah lii. 2. - Isaiah Ixvi. 22. "' Isaiah xlv. IS. 
 
 ^ Matt. xxiv. 3;-). '• Isaiali li. G. « 1 Cor. vii. ;]1.
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE RESUMRECTIOX. 145 
 
 world without taste of sorrow; according as it is said, 
 " When Thou lettest Thy breath go forth, they sliall be made, 
 and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth ;"^ God hence- 
 forth providing for the due temperature of tliat which sur- 
 rounds it. For as the earth is to exist after the present age 
 [or " dispensation"], there must be by all means inhabitants 
 for it, who shall no longer be liable to death, nor shall 
 marry, nor beget children, but live in all happiness, like the 
 angels, without change or decay. Wherefore it is silly to 
 discuss in what way of life our bodies will then exist, if 
 tliere is no longer air, nor earth, nor anything else. 
 
 X. But in addition to what has been said, there is this 
 point worth consideration, since it misleads very much, if 
 we may be outspoken about matters of such importance, 
 Aglaophon. For you said that the Lord declared plainly 
 [when tempted by the Sadducees] that those who shall 
 obtain the resurrection shall then be as the angels.^ You 
 brouglit this objection : The angels, being without tiesh, are on 
 this account in the utmost happiness and glory. We must 
 then, as we are to be made equal to the angels, be like 
 them stripped of flesh, and be angels. But you overlooked 
 this, my excellent friend, that He who created and set in 
 order the universe out of nothing, ordained the nature of 
 immortal beings to be distributed not only among angels 
 and ministers, but also among principalities, and thrones, 
 and powers. For the race of angels is one, and that of 
 principalities and powers another; because immortal beings 
 are not all of one order, and constitution, and tribe, and 
 family, l)ut there are differences of race and tril)e. And 
 neither do the cherubim, departing from tlieir own nature, 
 assume the form of angels; nor, again, do angels assume the 
 form of the others. For they cannot be anything but what 
 they are and have been made. Moreover, man also having 
 been ai)pointed by the original order of things to inhabit 
 the world, and to rule over all that is in it, when he is 
 innnortal, will never be changed from being a man into the 
 form either of angels or any other; lor neither do angels 
 1 r.s. civ. 3l>. - ^latt. xxii. 30. 
 
 K
 
 H6 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 undergo a change from their original form to another. For 
 Christ at llis coming did not proclaim that the human 
 nature should, when it is immortal, be remoulded or trans- 
 formed into another nature, but into what it was before tlie 
 fall. For each one among created things must remain 
 in its own proper place, that none may be wanting to any, 
 but all may be full : heaven of angels, thrones of powers, 
 luminaries of ministers ; and the more divine spots, and 
 the undefiled and untainted luminaries, with seraphim, 
 who attend the Supreme Council, and uphold the universe ; 
 and the world of men. For if we granted that men 
 are changed into angels, it would follow that we say that 
 angels also are changed into powers, and these into one 
 thing and the other, until our argument proceed too far Ibi 
 safety. 
 
 XL Neither did God, as if He had made man badly, oi 
 committed a mistake in the formation of him, determine 
 afterwards to make an angel, repenting of His work, as the 
 worst of craftsmen do; nor did He fashion man, after He 
 had wished originally to make an angel, and failed; for this 
 would be a sign of weakness, etc. AVhy even then did He 
 make man and not angels, if He wished men to be angels 
 and not men? Was it because He was unable? It is 
 blasphemy to suppose so. Or was He so busy in making 
 the worse as to loiter about the better ? This too is absurd. 
 For He does not fail in making what is good, nor defers it, 
 nor is incapable of it; but He has the power to act how 
 and when He pleases, inasmuch as He is Himself power. 
 AVherefore it was because He intended man to be man, 
 that He originally made him so. But if He so intended — 
 since He intends what is good — man is good. JSTow man 
 is said to be composed of soul and body; he cannot then 
 exist without a body, but M-ith a body, unless there be pro- 
 duced another man besides man. For all the orders of 
 immortal beings must be preserved by God, and among these 
 is man. " For," says Wisdom, " God created man to be im- 
 mortal, and made him to be an image of His own eternity.'' ^ 
 1 Wisd. ii. 23.
 
 niSCOURSE ON THE RESURRECTIOX. 147 
 
 The body then perishes not; for man is composed of soul 
 and body. 
 
 XII. Wlierefore observe that these are the very thin^^s 
 which the Lord wished to teach to the Sadducees, who did 
 not believe in the resurrection of the flesh. For this was 
 the opinion of the Sadducees. "Whence it was that, havinj? 
 contrived the parable about the woman and the seven 
 brethren, that they might cast doubt upon the resurrection 
 of the flesh, " Tliere came to Him," ^ it is said, " the 
 Sadducees also, who say tliat there is no resurrection." 
 Christ, then, if there had been no resurrection of the flesh, 
 but the soul only were saved, would have agreed with their 
 opinion as a right and excellent one. But as it was, He 
 answered and said, " In the resurrection they neither 
 marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in 
 heaven,"^ not on account of having no flesh, but of not 
 marrying nor being married, but being henceforth incor- 
 ruptible. And He speaks of our being near the angels in 
 this respect, that as the angels in heaven, so we also iu 
 paradise, spend our time no more in marriage-feasts or 
 other festivities, but in seeing God and cultivating lii'e, 
 under the direction of Christ. For He did not say " they 
 shall be angels," but like angels, in being, for instance, 
 crowned, as it is M-ritten, with glory and honour ; differing 
 a little from the angels,^ while near to being angels. Just 
 as if He had said, while observing the fair order of the sky, 
 and the stillness of the night, and everything illumined by 
 the heavenly light of the moon, " the moon shines like the 
 sun." We shoidd not then say that He asserted that the 
 moon was absolutely the sun, but like the sun. As also 
 that which is not gold, Init a])proaching the nature of gokl, 
 is said not to be gold, but to be, like gold. JUit if it were 
 sold, it would be said to be, and not to be like, gold. But 
 since it is not gold, but approaching to the nature of it, and 
 has the appearance of it, it is said to be like gold ; so also 
 when He says that the saints shall, in the resurrection, be 
 like the angels, we do not understand Him to assert that 
 ' Matt. .\xii. 23. - .Matt. .\.\ii. 2.3. ^ j>_^_ ^.ij^_ r,_
 
 148 TIIK WPJTINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 they will then he actually aiii^^els, hut approacliinj:^ to the 
 condition of angels. So that it is most unreasonahle to say, 
 " Since Christ declared that the saints in the resurrection 
 appear as angels, therefore their bodies do not rise," although 
 the very words employed give a clear jiroof of the real state 
 of the case. For the term "resurrection" is not applied to 
 that which has not fallen, but to that which has fallen and 
 rises again ; as when the prophet says, " I will also raise up 
 again the tabernacle of David which has fallen down,"^ Now 
 the much-desired tabernacle of the soul is fallen, and simk 
 down into "the dust of the earth." ^ For it is not that 
 which is not dead, but that which is dead, that is laid 
 down. Bat it is the flesh which dies ; the soul is immortal. 
 So, then, if the soul be immortal, and the body be the 
 corpse, those who say that there is a resurrection, but not 
 of the flesh, deny any resurrection ; because it is not that 
 which remains standing, but that wdiich has fallen and 
 been laid down, that is set up ; according to that which is 
 ■^Titten, " Does not he who falls rise again, and he who 
 turns aside return ?"^ 
 
 XIII. Since flesh was made to border on incorruption and 
 corruption, being itself neither the one nor the other, and 
 was overcome by corruption for the sake of pleasure, 
 though it was the work and property of incorruption ; 
 therefore it became corruptible, and was laid in the dust of 
 the earth. When, then, it was overcome liy corruption, and 
 delivered over to death through disobedience, God did not 
 leave it to corruption, to be triumphed over as an inherit- 
 ance; but, after conqviering death by the resurrection, 
 delivered it again to incorruption, in order that corruption 
 might not receive the property of incorruption, but incor- 
 ruption that of corruption. Therefore the apostle answers 
 thus, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal must put on immortality." * Xo w the corruptible 
 and mortal putting on immortality, what else is it but that 
 v.'hich is " sown in corruption and raised in incorruption"^ 
 
 ^ Amos ix. 11. 2 j)mi xii. 2. ^ Jer viii. 4. 
 
 * 1 Cor. XV. 53. 6 1 Qor. v. 42.
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE ItESURRECTIOX. 140 
 
 (for tlie soul is not corruptible or mortal ; Lut tliis ■which is 
 mortal and corrupting is of flesh), in order that, " as we 
 have borne the image of the earthy, wo. shall also bear the 
 image of the heavenly?"^ For the image of the earthy 
 which we have borne is this, " Dust thou art, and unto 
 dust shalt thou return."- But the image of the heaveidy is 
 the resurrection from the dead, and incorruption, in order 
 that " as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory 
 of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life." ^ 
 But if any one were to think that the earthy image is the 
 flesh itself, but the heavenly image some other spiritual 
 body besides the flesh ; let him first consider that Christ, 
 the heavenly man, when He appeared, bore the same form 
 of limbs and the same image of flesh as ours, through which 
 also He, who was not man, became man, that " as in Adam 
 all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."* For if 
 He bore flesh for any other reason than that of setting the 
 flesh free, and raising it up, why did He bear flesh super- 
 fluously, as He purposed neither to save it, nor to raise it 
 up ? But the Son of God does nothing superfluously. He 
 did not then take the form of a servant uselessly, but to 
 raise it up and save it. For He truly was made man, ami 
 died, and not in mere appearance, but that He might truly 
 be shown to be the first begotten from the dead, changing 
 the earthy into the heavenly, and the mortal into tht.' 
 immortal. When, then, Paul says that " flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit the kingdom of God,"^ he does not give a 
 disparaging opinion of the regeneration of the flesh, but 
 would teach that the kingdom of God, which is eternal life, 
 is not possessed by the body, but the body by the life. For 
 if the kingdom of God, which is life, were possessed by the 
 body, it would happen that the life would be consumed by 
 corruption. But now the life possesses what is dying, iu 
 order that "death may be swallowed up in victory"" by life, 
 and the corruptiljle may be seen to be the jiossession of 
 incorruption and immortality, while it becomes unbound 
 
 1 1 Cor. XV. 49. - Gun. iii. 19. ■• Rom vi. 4. 
 
 * 1 Cor. XV. 22. * 1 Cor. xv. 50. <= I Cor. xv. 54.
 
 ]50 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 and iVee from death and sin, but the slave and servant of 
 immortality; so that the hody may he the possession of 
 incorru})tion, and not incorniption that of the hody. 
 
 XIV. If, then, out of such a drop, small, and previously 
 without any existence, in its actual state of moistness, con- 
 tractedness, and insignificance, in fact out of nothing, man 
 is brought into being, how much rather shall man spring 
 again into being out of a previously existing man? For it 
 is not so difficult to make anything anew after it has once 
 existed and fallen into decay, as to produce out of nothing 
 that which has never existed. Now, in case we choose to 
 exhibit the seminal fluid discharged from a man, and place 
 by it a corpse, each by itself, which of them, as they both 
 lie exposed to view, will the spectators think most likely to 
 become a man — that drop, which is nothing at all, or that 
 which has already shape, and size, and substance? For if 
 the very thing which is nothing at all, merely because God 
 pleases, becomes a man, how much rather shall that which 
 has existence and is brought to perfection become again 
 a man, if God pleases? For what was the purpose of the 
 theologian Moses, in introducing, under a mystical sense, the 
 Feast of Tabernacles in the Book of Leviticus ? Was it that 
 we may keep a feast to God, as the Jews with their low 
 view of the Scriptures inteipret it? as if God took pleasure 
 in such tabernacles, decked out with fruits and boughs and 
 leaves, which immediately wither and lose their verdure. 
 We cannot say so. Tell me, then, what was the object of 
 the Feast of Tabernacles? It was introduced to point to 
 this real tabernacle of ours, which, after it was fallen down 
 to corruption through the transgression of the law, and 
 broken up by sin, God promised to put together again, and 
 to raise up in incorruptibility, in order that we may truly 
 celebrate in His honour the great and renowned Feast of 
 Tabernacles at the resurrection; when our tabernacles are 
 put together in the perfect order of immortality and harmony, 
 and raised up from the dust in incorruption ; when the dry 
 bones,^ according to the most true prophecy, shall hear a 
 1 Ezek. xxxvii. 4.
 
 DISCOURSE OX THE RESURRECTION. 151 
 
 voice, and be brought to their joints by God, the Creator 
 and Perfect Artificer, who will then renew the flesh and 
 bind it on, no more with such ties as those by which it was 
 at first held together, but by such as shall be for ever un- 
 decaying and indissoluble. For I once saw on Olympus 
 (which is a mountain of Lycia), fire bursting up from the 
 ground spontaneously on the summit of the mountain; and 
 by it was standing an Agnos tree, so flourishing, green, and 
 shady, that one might suppose a never-failing stream of 
 water had nourished its growth, rather tlian what was really 
 the case. For whicli cause, therefore, though the natures of 
 things are corruptible, and their bodies consumed by fire, 
 and it is impossible for things which are once of an inflam- 
 mable nature to remain unaffected by fire; yet this tree, so 
 far from being burnt, is actually more vigorous and green 
 than usual, though it is naturally inflammable, and that too 
 when the fire is glowing about its very roots. I certainly 
 cast some boughs of trees from tlie adjoining wood on to 
 the place where the fire burst forth, and they immediately 
 caught fire and were burnt to ashes. Now, tlien, tell me 
 why it is that that which cannot bear even to feel the heat 
 of the sun, but withers up under it unless it be sprinkled 
 with water, is not consumed when beset by such fiery heat, 
 but both lives and thrives ? What is the meaning of this 
 marvel ? God appointed this as an example and intro- 
 duction to the day that is coming, in order that we may 
 know more certainly that, when aU things are deluged with 
 fire from heaven, the bodies whicli arc distinguished by 
 chastity and righteousness will be taken up by Him as free 
 from all injury irom the fire as from cold water. For tridy, 
 beneficent and bountiful Lord, " the creature that serveth 
 Thee, who art the Maker, increaseth his strength against 
 the unrighteous for their punishment, and abateth his 
 strength for the benefit of such as put their trust in 
 Thee;"^ and at TJiy pleasure fire cools, and injures nothing 
 that Thou determinest to be preserved ; and again, water 
 burns more fiercely than fire, and notliing opposes Thine 
 1 Wisd. xvi. -lA.
 
 152 TILE WPdTIXaS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 nnconquerable power and miglit. For Thou creatcdst all 
 things out of nothing; wherefore also Thou changest and 
 transformest all things as Thou wilt, seeing they are Thine, 
 and Thou alone art God. 
 
 XV. The apostle certainly, after assigning the planting 
 and watering to art and earth and water, conceded the 
 growth to God alone, where he says, " IS'either is he that 
 planteth anything, neither he that watereth ; but God that 
 giveth the increase." ^ For he knew that Wisdom, the first- 
 horn of God, the parent and artificer of all things, brings 
 forth everything into the world ; whom the ancients called 
 Nature and Providence, because she, %vitli constant provision 
 and care, gives to all things birth and growth. " For," says 
 the Wisdom of God, " my Father worketh hitherto, and I 
 work." 2 Now it is on this account that Solomon called 
 Wisdom the artificer of all things, since God is in no 
 respect poor, but able richly to create, and make, and vary, 
 and increase all things. 
 
 XVI. God, who created all things, and provides and cares 
 for all things, took dust from the ground, and made our 
 outer man. 
 
 THE SECOND DISCOUESE ON THE 
 EESUEEECTION. 
 
 [S. John Damascene, Orat. 2. De Imagin. torn. i. p. 389, Ed. 
 Paris, 1712.] 
 
 For instance, then, the images of our kings here, even 
 though they be not formed of the more precious materials — 
 gold or silver — are honoured by all. For men do not, while 
 they treat with respect those of the far more precious 
 material, slight those of a less valuable, but honour every 
 image in the w^orld, even though it be of chalk or bronze. 
 And one who speaks against either of them, is not acquitted 
 as if he had only spoken against clay, nor condemned for 
 having despised gold, but for having been disrespectful 
 ^ Cor. iii. 7. - John v. 17.
 
 DISCOURSE OX THE PJCSURRECTIOX. 153 
 
 towards the King and Lord Himself. The images of God's 
 angels, which are iashioned of gold, the principalities and 
 powers, we make to His honour and glory. 
 
 FrvO:\r the discourse on the eesureection. 
 
 [Photics : Bibliotheca, cod. 234.] 
 
 I. Eead the Book on the Resurrection by St ]\Ietho- 
 dius, Bishop and ^lartyr, of which that which follows is 
 a selection, that the body is not the fetter of the soul, as 
 Origen thought, nor are souls called by the prophet Jere- 
 miah "fettered" on account of their being within bodies. 
 For he lays down the principle that the body does not 
 hinder the energies of the soul, but that rather the body is 
 carried about with it, and co-operates in whatever the soul 
 commits to it. But how are we to understand the opinion 
 of Gregory ^ the theologian, and many others ? 
 
 II. That Origen said that the body was given to the soul 
 as a fetter after the fall, and that previously it lived without 
 a body ; but that tliis body which we wear is the cause of 
 our sins ; wherefore also he called it a fetter, as it can 
 hinder the soul from good works. 
 
 III. That ii the body was given to the soul after the fall 
 as a fetter, it must have been given as a fetter upon the evil 
 or the good. Now it is impossible that it should be upon 
 tlie good ; for no physician or artificer gives to that which 
 has gone M-rong a remedy to cause further error, much less 
 would God do so. It remains, then, that it was a fetter 
 upon evil. But surely we see that, at the beginning, Cain, 
 clad in tliis body, committed murder ; and it is evident into 
 what wickedness those who succeeded him ran. The body is 
 not, then, a fetter ujion evil, nor indeed a fetter at all ; nor 
 was the soul clothed in it for the first time after the fall. 
 
 lY. That man, with respect to his nature, is most truly 
 said to be neither soul without body, nor, on the otlier hand, 
 body without soul ; but a being composed out of the union 
 
 ^ Gregory, • siiniaiiied Tlit'ologus, commonly known as Gregory 
 Naziuuzi;n.
 
 154 THE WRITLVGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 of soul and body into one form of the beautiful. But 
 Origen said that the soul alone is man, as did Plato. 
 
 V. That there is a difference between man and other 
 living creatures ; and to them are given varieties of natural 
 form and shape, as many as the tangible and visible forces 
 of nature produced at the command of God ; while to him 
 was given the form and image of God, with every part 
 accurately finished, after the very original likeness of the 
 Father and the only-begotten Son. Now we must consider 
 how the saint states this. 
 
 VI. He says that Phidias the statuary, after he had 
 made the Pisa^an image of ivory, ordered oil to be poured 
 out before it, that, as far as he could secure it, it might be 
 preserved imperishable. 
 
 VII. He says that the devil is a spirit, made by God, 
 in the neighbourhood of matter, as was said also by Athena- 
 goras (as of course the rest of the angels are), and that he 
 was entrusted with the oversight of matter, and the forms 
 of matter. For, according to the original constitution of 
 angels, they were made by God, in His providence, for the 
 care of the universe ; in order that, while God exercises a 
 l^erfect and general supervision over tlie whole, and keeps 
 the supreme authority and power over all — for upon Him 
 their existence depends — the angels appointed for this 
 purpose take charge of particulars. Now the rest of 
 them remained in the positions for which God made and 
 appointed them ; but the devil was insolent, and ha%dng 
 conceived envy of us, behaved wickedly in the charge com- 
 mitted to him ; as also did those who subsequently were 
 enamoured of fleshly charms, and had illicit intercourse with 
 the daughters of men. For to them also, as was the case 
 with men, God granted the possession of their own choice. 
 And how is this to be taken ? 
 
 VIII. He says that by the coats of skins is signified 
 death. For he says of Adam, that when the Almighty God 
 saw that by treachery he, an immortal being, had become 
 evil, just as his deceiver the devil was. He prepared the 
 coats of skins on this account ; that when he was thus, as it
 
 DiscounsE oy tiik nESuiuux'iio^. 155 
 
 ■were, clotlied in mortality, all that was evil in liim might 
 (lie in the dissolution of the body. 
 
 IX. He holds that St Paul had two revelations. For tlie 
 apostle, he says, does not suppose paradise to be in the 
 third hea.ven, in the opinion of those who know how to 
 observe the niceties of language, when he says, " I know 
 such a man caught up to the third heaven ; and I know 
 such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, God 
 knoweth, that was caught \\\^ into paradise." ^ Here he 
 signifies that he has seen two revelations, having been evi- 
 dently taken up twice, once to the third heaven, and once 
 into paradise. For the words, " I know such a man caught 
 up," make it certain that he was personally shown a revela- 
 tion respecting the third heaven. And the words which 
 follow, " And I know such a man, whether in the body or 
 out of the body, God knoweth, that he was caught up into 
 paradise," show that another revelation was made to him 
 respecting paradise. Now he was led to make tins state- 
 ment by his opponents having laid it down from the 
 apostle's words that paradise is a mere conception, as it ia 
 above the heaven, in order to draw the conclusion that life 
 in paradise is incorporeal. 
 
 X. He says that it is in our power to do, or to avoid 
 doing, evil ; since otherwise we should not be punished for 
 doing evil, nor be rewarded for doing well ; but the presence 
 or absence of evil thoughts does not depend upon ourselves. 
 "VVlierefore even the sainted Paul says, " For what I would, 
 that do I not, but what I would not, that I do ;"^ that is to 
 say, "My thoughts are not what I would, but what I would 
 not." Now he says that the habit of imagining evil is 
 rooted out by the approach of physical death, since it was 
 for this reason that death was appointed by God for the 
 sinner, that evil might not remain for ever. 
 
 P>ut what is the meaning of this statement (it is to be 
 noted that it has been made by others of our Fathers as 
 well), seeing that those who meet death find in it at tlie 
 time neither increase nor decrease of sins. 
 
 1 i Cur. xii. 2, :}. 2 ii„„i. vii. \:y.
 
 156 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 A Synopsis of some Apostolic Words from the same 
 
 Discourse. 
 
 [PnoTius: Blbliotheca, ihid.] 
 
 I. ricad a compendious interpretation of some apostolic 
 words from the same discourse. Let us see, then, what it is 
 that we have endeavoured to say respecting the apostle. 
 For this saying of his, "I was alive without the law once,"^ 
 refers to the life which was lived in paradise before the law, 
 not without a body, but with a body, by our first parents, 
 as we have shown above ; for we lived without concu- 
 piscence, being altogether ignorant of its assaults. For not 
 to have a law according to which we ought to live, nor a 
 power of establishing what manner of life we ought to 
 adopt, so that we might justly be approved or blamed, is 
 considered to exempt a person from accusation. Because 
 one cannot lust after those things from which he is not 
 restrained, and even if he lusted after them, he would not 
 be blamed. For lust is not directed to things which are 
 before us, and subject to our power, but to those which are 
 before us, and not in our power. For how should one care 
 for a thing which is neither forbidden nor necessary to 
 him ? And for this reason it is said, " I had not known lust, 
 except the law had said. Thou shalt not covet." - For when 
 [our first parents] heard, " Of the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou 
 eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,"^ then they conceived 
 lust, and gathered it. Therefore was it said, " I had not 
 known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet;" 
 nor would they have desu-ed to eat, except it had been said, 
 " Thou shalt not eat of it." For it was thence that sin took 
 occasion to deceive me. For when the law was given, the 
 devil had it in his power to work lust in me ; " for without 
 the law, sin was dead ;"^ which means, " when the law was 
 not given, sin could not be committed." But I was alive 
 and blameless before the law, having no commandment in 
 accordance with which it was necessary to live ; " but when 
 
 1 Rom. vii. 9. ^ Rom. vii. 7. ^ Gen. ii. 17. ^ Rom. vii. S.
 
 DISCOURSE OX THE RESURRECTION. Vol 
 
 the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the 
 commandment, whicli was ordained to life, I found to be 
 imto deatli."^ For after God had given the law, and had 
 commanded me what I ought to do, and what I ought not to 
 do, the devil wrought lust in me. For the promise of God 
 which was given to me, this was for life and incorruption, so 
 that obeying it I miglit have ever-blooming life and joy 
 unto incorruption ; but to him who disobeyed it, it would 
 issue in death. But tlie devil, whom he calls sin, because 
 he is the author of sin, taking occasion by the command- 
 ment to deceive me to disobedience, deceived and slew 
 me, thus rendering me subject to the condemnation, " In 
 the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."^ 
 " Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, 
 and just and good;"^ because it was given, not for injury, 
 but for safety ; for let us not suppose that God makes 
 anything useless or hurtful. Wliat then ? " Was then that 
 which is good made death unto me ?"* namely, that which 
 was given as a law, that it might be the cause of the greatest 
 good ? " God forbid." For it was not the law of God that 
 became the cause of my being brouglit into subjection to 
 corruption, but the devil ; that he might be made manifested 
 who, through that which is good, wrouglit evil ; that the 
 inventor of evil might become and be proved the greatest of 
 all sinners. "For we know that the law is spiritual ;"^ and 
 therefore it can in no respect be injurious to any one; for 
 spiritual things are far removed from irrational lu.st and sin. 
 "But I am carnal, sold under sin;'"* which means: But 1 
 being carnal, and being placed between good and evil as a 
 voluntary agent, am so that I may have it in my power to 
 choose what I will. For " behold I set before thee life and 
 death ;"^ meaning that dcatli woidd n^suU iVom disobedi- 
 ence of the s])iritual law, tliat is of the comniandmrnt; and 
 from obedience to the carnal law, that is the counsel of the 
 serpent; for by such a choice " 1 am sold" to the devil, 
 
 1 Rom. vii. n, 10. ^ Con. ii. 17. •' Uniii. vii. 12. 
 
 * Rom. vii. 13. '"> Rom. vii. J 4. " Rom. vii 14. 
 
 ^ Jcr. xxi. H; Ecclu-'. xv. 8; Di'Ut. xxx. 1').
 
 158 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 falling under sin. Hence evil, as tliough besieging me, 
 cleaves to me and dwells in me, justice giving me up to be 
 sold to the Evil One, in consequence of having violated the 
 law. Therefore also the expressions : " That which I do, I 
 allow not," and " what I hate, that do I," ^ are not to be 
 understood of doing evil, but of only thinking it. For it is 
 not in our power to think or not to think of improper things, 
 but to act or not to act upon our thoughts. For we cannot 
 hinder thoughts from coming into our minds, since we 
 receive them wdien they are inspired into us from without ; 
 but we are able to abstain from obeying them and acting 
 upon them. Therefore it is in our power to will not to 
 think these things ; but not to bring it about that they shall 
 pass away, so as not to come into the mind again ; for this 
 does not lie in our power, as I said ; which is the meaning 
 of that statement, "The good that I would, I do not;"^ foi 
 I do not will to think the things which injure me ; for this 
 good is altogether innocent. But " the good that I w^ould, 
 I do not ; but the evil which I would not, that I do ;" not 
 willing to think, and yet thinking what I do not will. And 
 consider whether it was not for these very things that David 
 entreated God, grieving that he thought of those things 
 Avhich he did not will : " O cleanse Thou me from my secret 
 faults. Keep Thy servant also from presumptuous sms, 
 lest they get the dominion over me ; so shall I be undeliled, 
 and innocent from the great offence."^ And the apostle too, 
 in another place : " Casting down imaginations, and every 
 high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, 
 and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience 
 of Christ."* 
 
 II. But if any one should venture to oppose this state- 
 ment, and reply, that the apostle teaches that we hate not 
 only the evil which is in thought, but that we do that which 
 we will not, and we hate it even in the very act of doing it, 
 for he says, " The good which I would, I do not ; but the 
 evil wdiich I would not, that I do;"^ if he who says so 
 
 ^ Rom. vii. 15. - Rom. vii. 19. ^ Pd. xix. 12, 13. 
 
 * 2 Cor. X. 5. ^ Rom. vii. 19.
 
 DISCOURSE OX THE RESURRECTION. 159 
 
 speaks the truth, let us ask lum to explain what was tlie 
 evil which the apostle hated and willed not to do, but did ; 
 and the good which he willed to do, but did not ; and con- 
 versely, whether as often as he willed to do good, so often 
 he did not do the good which he willed, but did the evil 
 which he willed not ? And how he can say, when exhort- 
 ing us to shake off all manner of sin, " Be ye followers of 
 me, even as I also am of Christ?"^ Thus he meant the 
 things already mentioned which he willetl not to do, not to 
 be done, but only to be thought of. For how otherwise 
 coidd he ]je an exact imitation of Christ ? It would be 
 excellent then, and most delightful, if we had not those who 
 oppose us, and contend with us ; but since this is impos- 
 sible, we cannot do what we will. For we will not to have 
 those who lead us to passion, for then we could be saved 
 without weariness and effort; but that does not come to 
 pass which we will, but that which we will not. For it is 
 necessary, as I said, that we should be tried. Let us not 
 then, my soul, let us not give in to the Evil One ; but 
 putting on " the whole armour of God," which is our pro- 
 tection, let us have " the breast-plate of righteousness, and 
 your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel [of peace]. 
 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be 
 able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take 
 the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which 
 is the Word of God," ^ that ye may be able to stand against 
 the wiles of the devil ; " casting down imaginations, and 
 every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge 
 of Christ,"^ " for we wrestle not against flesh and blood ;"■* 
 " for that which I do, I allow not ; lor what I woidd, that 
 do I not; but what I hate, that do 1. If then I do that 
 whicli I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 
 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth 
 in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwel- 
 leth no good thing."^ And tliis is rightly said. For re- 
 member how it has been already shown that, liom the time 
 
 M C(.r. xi. 1. '-iEph. vi. 13, 14-r.. ' 2 Cor. x. 5. 
 
 * Eph. vi. 12. '•> Kom, vii. 15-18.
 
 160 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 when man went astray and disobeyed the law, tlience sin, 
 receiving its birth from his disobedience, dwelt in him. For 
 thus a commotion was stirred up, and we were filled with 
 agitations and foreign imaginations, being emptied of the 
 divine inspiration and filled with carnal desire, which the 
 cunning serpent infused into us. And, therefore, God 
 invented death for our sakes, that He might destroy sin, 
 lest rising up in us immortals, as I said, it should be 
 immortal. When the apostle says, " for I know that in 
 me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," by 
 which words he means to indicate that sin dwells in us, 
 from the transgression, through lust ; out of which, like 
 young shoots, the imaginations of pleasure rise around us. 
 For there are two kinds of thoughts in us; the one which 
 arises from the lust which lies in the body, which, as I said, 
 came from the craft of the Evil Spirit; the other from the 
 law, which is in accordance with the commandment, which 
 we had implanted in us as a natural law, stirring up our 
 thoughts to good, when we delight in the law of God 
 according to our mind, for this is the inner man; but in the 
 law of the devil according to the lust which dwells in the 
 flesh. For he who wars against and opposes tlie law of 
 God, that is, against the tendency of the mind to good, is 
 the same who stirs up the carnal and sensual impulses to 
 lawlessness. 
 
 III. For the apostle here sets forth clearly, as I think, 
 three laws : One in accordance with the good which is 
 implanted in us, which clearly he calls the law of the mind. 
 One the law which arises from the assault of evil, and which 
 often draws on the soul to lustful fancies, which, he says, 
 " wars against the law of the mind."^ And the third, Avhicli 
 is in accordance with sin, settled in the flesh from lust, 
 which he calls the "law of sin which dwells in our 
 members;" 2 Avhich the Evil One, urging on, often stirs up 
 against us, driving us to unrighteousness and evil deeds. 
 For there seems to be in ourselves one thing which is better 
 and another which is worse. And when that which is in 
 1 Rom. vii. 23. 2 Rq^. yii. 23.
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE RESURRECTION. 161 
 
 its nature better is about to become more powerful than 
 tliat which is worse, the whole mind is carried on to that 
 which is good; but wlien that which is woi-se increases and 
 overbalances, man is on the contraiy urged on to evil imagi- 
 nations. On account of which the ajtostle prays to be 
 delivered from it, regarding it as death and destruction; as 
 also does the prophet when he says, " Cleanse Thou me 
 from my secret faults."^ And the same is denoted by the 
 words, " For I delight in the law of God after the inward 
 man; but I see another law in my members, warring against 
 the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the 
 law of sin which is in my members. wretched man that I 
 am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?"2 
 By which he does not mean that the body is death, but the 
 law of sin which is in his members, lying hiddeu in us 
 through the transgression, and ever deluding the soul to the 
 death of unrighteousness. And he immediately adds, clearly 
 showing from what kind of death he desired to be delivered, 
 and who he was who delivered him, " I thank God, through 
 Jesus Christ."^ And it should be considered, if lie said 
 that this body was death, Aglaophon, as you supposed, 
 he would not afterwards mention Christ as delivering him 
 from so great an evil. For in that case what a strange 
 thing should we have had from the advent of Christ? And 
 how could the apostle have 'said this, as being able to be 
 delivered from death by the advent of Christ; when it was 
 the lot of all to die before Christ's coming into the world ? 
 And, tlierefore, Aglaophon, lie says not that this body 
 was death, but the sin which dwells in the body through 
 lust, from wdiich God has delivered him by the coming of 
 Christ. " For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
 hath made me free from the law of sin and death;" so that 
 " He that raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken 
 your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you;" 
 having " condemned sin" which is in the body to its destruc- 
 tion; " that the righteousness of the law"* of nature which 
 
 I Ps. xix. 12. 2 Rom. vii. -22-24. ^ j^^^, y\\ o"). 
 
 *Rom. viii. 2. 11.3. 4. 
 
 L
 
 1G2 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 (liiuvs us to i,'oo(l, and is in accordance with the command- 
 iiient, might be kiiuUed and manifested. For the good 
 which " the law " of nature " couhl not do, in that it was 
 weak," being overcome by the lust which lies in the body, 
 God gave strength to accomplish, " sending His own Son in 
 the likeness of sinful ilesh;" so that sin being condemned, 
 to its destruction, so that it should never bear fruit in the 
 fiesh, the righteousness of the law of nature might be ful- 
 filled, abounding in the obedience of those who walk not 
 according to the lust of the flesh, but according to the lust 
 and guidance of the Spirit; " for the law of the Spirit of 
 life," which is the Gospel, being different from earlier laws, 
 leading by its preaching to obedience and the remission of 
 sins, delivered us from the law of sin and death, having 
 conquered entirely sin which reigned over our flesh. 
 
 IV. He [Methodius] says that plants are neither nour- 
 ished nor increased from the earth. For he says, let any 
 one consider how the earth can be changed and taken up 
 into the substance of trees. For then the place of the eartli 
 which lay around, and was drawn up through the roots into 
 the whole compass of the tree, where the tree grew, must 
 needs be hollowed out; so that such a thing as they hold 
 respecting the flux of bodies is absurd. For how could the 
 earth first enter in through the roots into the trunks of 
 the plants, and then, passing through their channels into all 
 their branches, be turned into leaves and fruit? Now there 
 are large trees, such as the cedar, pines, firs, which annually 
 bear much leaves and fruit; and one may see that they con- 
 sume none of the surrounding earth into the bulk and sub- 
 stance of the tree. For it would be necessary, if it were 
 true that the earth went up through the roots, and was 
 turned into wood, that the whole place M^here the earth lay 
 round about them should be hollowed out ; for it is not the 
 nature of a dry substance to flow in, like a moist substance, 
 and fill up the place of that, which moves away. jMoreover, 
 there are fig-trees, and other similar plants, which frequently 
 grow in the buildings of monuments, and yet they never 
 consume the entire building into themselves. But if anv
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE RESURRECTION. 163 
 
 one should clioosc to collect their fniit and leaves for many 
 years, he would perceive that their hulk had become mudi 
 larger than the earth upon tlie monuments. Hence it is 
 absurd to suppose that the earth is consumed into the crop 
 of fruits and leaves ; and even if they were all made by 
 it, they would be so only as using it for their seat and 
 place. Tor bread is not made without a mill, and a place, 
 and time, and fire; and yet bread is not made out of any of 
 these things. And the same may be said of a thousand 
 other things. 
 
 V. Now the followers of Origen bring forward this pass- 
 age, " For we know that if our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle were dissolved,"^ and so forth, to disprove the resur- 
 rection of the body, saying that the " tabernacle " is the 
 body, and the " house not made with hands " " in tlie 
 heavens" is our spiritual clothing. Therefore, says the 
 holy Methodius, by this eartlily house must metaphorically^ 
 be understood our short-lived existence here, and not this 
 tabernacle ; for if you decide to consider the body as being 
 the earthly house which is dissolved, tell us what is the 
 tabernacle whose house is dissolved ? For the tabernacle is 
 one thing, and the house of the tabernacle another, and still 
 another we who have the tabernacle. " For," he says, " if 
 our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved" — by 
 which he points out that the souls are ourselves, that the 
 body is a tabernacle, and that the house of the tabernacle 
 figuratively represents the enjoyment of the flesh in tlie 
 present life. If, then, this present life of the body be di.^- 
 solved like a house, we shall have that which is not maile 
 with hands in the heavens. " Not made with hands," he 
 says, to point out the dilference; because this life may be 
 said to be made with hands, seeing that all the employ- 
 ments and pursuits of life are carried on by the hands of 
 men. For tlie body being the wurkmanship of God, is not 
 
 1 2 Cor. V. 1. 
 
 ^ The word moans literally, " liy an aliiiso, or misapplication;" 
 "but the author's moaning is very iioarly that o.vjirossed in the lo.vt. 
 — Tr.
 
 1C4 Till': WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 said to be made with hands, inasmuch as it is not formed 
 by tlic arts of men. But if they shall say that it is made 
 with hands, because it was the workmanship of God, then 
 our souls also, and the angels, and the spiritual clothing in 
 the heavens, are made with hands; for all these things, also, 
 are the workmanship of God. What, then, is the house 
 wliich is made with hands? It is, as I have said, the short- 
 lived existence which is sustained by human hands. For 
 God said, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread;" ^ 
 and when that life is dissolved, we have the life which is 
 ■ not made with hands. As also the Lord showed, when He 
 said : " Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of un- 
 righteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into 
 everlasting habitations."^ For what the Lord then called 
 " habitations " [ffzyivag,] the apostle here calls " clothing " 
 [i-Tsi/^i/ffatr^a/].^ And what He there calls "friends" "of 
 unrighteousness," the apostle here calls " houses " " dis- 
 solved." As then, when the days of our present life shall 
 fail, those good deeds of beneficence to which we have 
 attained in this unrighteous life, and in this " world " wliich 
 "lieth in wickedness,"* wiU receive our souls; so when this 
 perishable life shall be dissolved, we shall have the habita- 
 tion which is before the resurrection — that is, our souls 
 shall be with God, until we shall receive the new house 
 whicli is prepared for us, and which shall never fall. 
 Whence also " we groan," " not for that we would be 
 unclothed," as to the body, "but clothed upon"^ by it in 
 the other life. For the " house in heaven," with which we 
 desire to be "clothed," is immortality; with which, when 
 we are clothed, every weakness and mortality will be en- 
 tirely " sM^allowed up " in it, being consumed by endless 
 life. "For we walk by faith, not by sight ;"^ that is, for 
 ^ye still go forward by faith, viewing the things which are 
 beyond with a darkened understanding, and not clearly, so 
 that we may see these things, and enjoy them, and be in 
 them. " Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can- 
 
 ^ Gen. iii. 19. 2 L^^^e xvi. 9. ' 2 Cor. v. 2, 3. 
 
 * 1 John V. 19. 6 3 Cor. y. 4. « 2 Cor. v. 7.
 
 DISCOURSE 0.\ Tin-: JiESL'lUiECTWX. IGj 
 
 not inherit tlie kingdom of God; neitlier doth con'U])tion in- 
 herit incorrnption." ^ By Hesh, he did not mean lle.sh itself, 
 but the irrational impulse towards the lascivious pleasures 
 of the soul. And therefore when he says, " Flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit the kingdom of God," he adds tlie explana- 
 tion, " Neitlier dotli corruption inherit incorruption." Xow 
 corruption is not the thing which is corrupted, but the thing 
 wliich corruj^ts. For when death prevails the body sinks 
 into corruption ; but when life still remains in it, it stand? 
 uncorrupted. Therefore, since the flesh is the boundary 
 between corruption and incorruj^tion, not being either cor- 
 ruption or incorruption, it was vanquished by corruption on 
 account of j)leasure, although it was the work and the pos- 
 session of incorruption. Therefore it became subject to 
 corruption. When, then, it had been overcome by corruption, 
 and was given over to death for chastisement, lie did not 
 leave it to be vanquished and given over as an inheritance 
 to corruption ; but again conquering death by the resurrec- 
 tion, lie restored it to incorruption, that corruption miglit 
 not inherit incorrui^tion, but incorruption that wliich is 
 corrnptil)le. And therefore the apostle answers, "This 
 corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal im- 
 mortality."^ But the corruptible and mortal putting on 
 incorruption and immortality, what else is this, but tliat 
 which is sown in corruption rising in incorruption?^ For, 
 " as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also 
 bear the image of the heavenly."* For the "image of tlie 
 e.arthly" which we have borne refers to the saying, "Dust 
 thou art, and unto dust thou slialt return."^ And the 
 " image of the heavenly is the resurrection from the di-ad 
 and incori'uption." 
 
 VI. Now Justin of Neapolis,^ a man not far removed 
 either i'roni the times or from the virtues of the apostles, 
 says that that which is mortal is inherited, but that life 
 inherits; and tliat Ik'sh dies, but that tlie kingdom of heaven 
 
 1 1 Cor. XV. no. - 1 Cor. xv. 53. ^ 1 L'ur. .\v. 4l'. 
 
 * 1 Cor. XV. 4i). s Cen. iii. 19. 
 
 '' Cuniiuoulv known ;is S. Juslin Martyr. — Tii.
 
 J r.fi THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 lives. When, then, Paul says that "flesh and blood cannot 
 inherit the kingdom of heaven,"^ he does not so speak as 
 seeming to slight the regeneration of the flesh, but as teach- 
 ing that the kingdom of God, which is eternal life, is not 
 inherited by the body, but the body by life. For if the 
 kingdom of God, which is life, were inlierited by the 
 body, it would happen that life was swallowed up by 
 corruption. But now life inherits that which is mortal, 
 that death may be swallowed up of life unto victory, and 
 that which is corruptible appear the possession of incor- 
 ruption ; being made free from death and sin, and become 
 the slave and subject of immortality, that the body may 
 become the possession of incorruption, and not incorruption 
 of the body. 
 
 YII. Now the passage, " The dead in Clu-ist shall rise 
 iii'st : then we which are alive," S. Methodius thus explains : 
 Those are our bodies ; for the souls are we ourselves, who, 
 rising, resume that which is dead from the earth ; so that 
 being cauglit up with them to meet the Lord, we may glori- 
 ously celebrate the splendid festival of the resurrection, 
 because we have received our everlasting tabernacles, which 
 shall no longer die nor be dissolved. 
 
 VIII. I saw, he says, on Olympus^ (Olympus is a moun- 
 tain in Lycia), a fire spontaneously arising on the top of the 
 mountain from the earth, beside which is the plant Puragnos, 
 so flourishing, green, and shady, that it seemed rather as 
 though it grew from a fountain. For what cause, although 
 they are by nature corruptible, and their bodies consumed 
 by fire, was this plant not only not burnt, but rather more 
 flourishing, although in its nature it is easily burnt, and the 
 Are was burning about its roots ? Then I cast branches of 
 trees out of the surrounding wood into the place where the 
 fire streamed forth, and, immediately bursting up into flame, 
 they were converted into cinders. What then is the mean- 
 ing of this contradiction ? This God appointed as a sign 
 and prelude of the coming Day, that we may know tliat, 
 when all things are overwhelmed by fire, the bodies which 
 1 1 Cor. XV. 50. 2 (jf_ p. 151,
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE liESURliECTIOX. 167 
 
 are endowed witli chastity and righteousness shall ])a33 
 through it as though it were cold water. 
 
 IX. Consider, he says, whether too the blessed John, when 
 he says, " And the sea gave up the dead whicli were in it : 
 and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in 
 them," ^ does not mean the parts which are given \i]i by the 
 elements for the reconstruction of each one ? By the sea is 
 meant the moist element ; by hell (Hades), the air, derived 
 from aiiok, because it is invisible, as was said by Origen ; 
 and by death, the earth, because those who die are laid in 
 it; whence also it is called in the Psalms the "dust of 
 death," ^ Christ saying that He is brought " into tlie dust of 
 death/' 
 
 X. For, he says, whatever is composed and consists of 
 pure air and pure fire, and is of like substance with the 
 angelic beings, cannot have the nature of earth and water ; 
 since it would tlien be earthy. And of such nature, and 
 consisting of such things, Origen has shown that the body 
 of man shall be which shall rise, which he also said would 
 be spiritual. 
 
 XL And he asks wliat will Ijc the appearance of the risen 
 body, when this human form, as according to him useless, 
 shall wholly disappear ; since it is the most lovely of all 
 things which are combined in living creatures, as being the 
 form which the Deity Himself employs, as the most wise 
 Paul explains : " For a man indeed ought not to cover his 
 head, Ibrasmuch as he is the image and gloiy of God ;" ^ iu 
 accordance with which the rational bodies of the angels are 
 set in order ? will it be circular, or polygonal, or cubical, or 
 pyramidal ? For tliere are very many kinds of forms ; but 
 this is impossible. Well then, what are we to think of the 
 assertion, tliat the godlike shape is to be rejected as moro 
 ignoble (for he himself allows that tlie soul is like the body), 
 and tliat man is to rise again without liaiids or feet ? 
 
 XII. The transformation, he says, is the restoration into 
 an impassible and glorious state. For now tlie b(;dy is a 
 body of desire and of humiliation,* and therefore Daniel 
 
 1 Rev. x.\. 13. - Ps. .\.\ii. 15. ^ i q^„._ ^i. 7. ^ IMiil. iii. :>1.
 
 1G8 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 was called " a man of desires." ^ But then it will be trans 
 figured into an impassible body, not by the change of the 
 arrangement of the members, but by its not desiring carnal 
 pleasures. 
 
 Then he says, refuting Origen, Origcn therefore thinks 
 that the same flesh will not be restored to the soul, but tliat 
 the form of each, according to the a]Dpearance by which the 
 flesh is now distinguished, shall arise stamped upon another 
 spiritual body ; so that every one will again appear the same 
 in form ; and that this is the resurrection wliich is promised. 
 For, he says, the material body being fluid, and in no wise 
 remaining in itself, but wearing out and being replaced 
 around the appearance by which its shape is distinguished, 
 and by which the figure is contained, it is necessary that 
 the resurrection should be only that of the form. 
 
 XIII. Then, after a little, he says : If then, Origen, you 
 maintain that the resurrection of the body changed into a 
 spiritual body is to be expected only in appearance, and put 
 forth the vision of Moses and Elias as a most convincing 
 proof of it ; saying that they appeared after their departure 
 from life, preserving no different appearance from that which 
 they had from the beginning ; in the same way will be the 
 resurrection of all men. But Moses and Elias arose and 
 appeared with this form of which you speak, before Christ 
 suffered and rose. How then could Christ be celebrated by 
 prophets and apostles as "the first begotten of the dead?"^ 
 For if Christ is believed to be the first begotten of the dead. 
 He is the first begotten of the dead as having risen before all 
 others. But Moses appeared to the apostles before Christ 
 suffered, having this form in which you say the resurrection 
 is fulfilled. Hence, then, there is no resurrection of the form 
 without the flesh. For either there is a resurrection of the 
 form as you teach, and then Christ is no longer "the fii'st 
 begotten of the dead," from the fact that souls appeared 
 before Him, having this form after death ; or He is truly 
 the first begotten, and it is quite impossible that any should 
 liave been thought meet for a resurrection before Him, eo as 
 ^ Dan. ix. 23, marginal reading. ^Eev. i. 5.
 
 DISCOURSE ON THE HESURRECTIOX. 1C9 
 
 not to die again. But if no one arose before Him, and 
 Moses and Elias appeared to the apostles not having llesh, 
 but only its appearance, the resurrection in the ilesh is 
 clearly manifested. For it is most absurd that the resur- 
 rection should be set forth only in form, since the souls, 
 after their departure from the flesh, never appear to lay 
 aside the form which, he says, rises again. But if that 
 remains with them, so that it cannot be taken away, as with 
 the soul of j\Ioses and Elias ; and neither perislies, as you 
 think, nor is destroyed, but is everywhere present with 
 them ; then surely that form which never fell cannot be 
 said to rise again. 
 
 XIV. But if any one, finding this inadmissible, answers, 
 But how then, if no one rose before Christ went down into 
 Hades, are several recorded as having risen before Him \ 
 Among whom is the son of the widow of Sarepta, and the 
 son of the Shunammite, and Lazarus. We must say : These 
 rose to die again ; but we are speaking of those who shall 
 never die after their rising. And if any one should speak 
 doubtfully concerning the soul of Elias, as that the Scrip- 
 tures say that he was taken up in the flesh, and we say that 
 he appeared to the apostles divested of tlie flesh, we must 
 say, that to allow that he appeared to the apostles in the 
 flesh is more in favour of our argument. For it is shown 
 by this case that the body is suscej^tible of immortality, as 
 was also proved by the tran.slation of Enoch. For if he 
 could not receive immortality, he could not remain in a 
 state of insensibility so long a time. If, then, he appeared 
 with the body, that was truly after he was dead, but certainly 
 not as having arisen from the dead. And this, we may say, 
 if we agree with Origen when he says that the same form is 
 given to the soul after death ; when it is separated from tlie 
 body, which is of all things the most impossible, from tlie 
 fact that the form of the flesh was destroyed before by its 
 changes, as also tlie form of the molted statue before its 
 entire dissolution. Because the quality cannot be separ- 
 ated from the material, so as to exist by itself; for the 
 shape wliich disappears around the brass is separated
 
 1 70 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 from the melted statue, and lias not longer a substantial 
 existence. 
 
 XV. Since the form is said to be separated in death from 
 the flesh, come, let us consider in how many ways that 
 which is separated is said to be separated. Now a thing is 
 said to be separated from another either in act and subsis- 
 tence, or in thought ; or else in act, but not in subsistence. 
 As if, for instance, one should separate from each other wheat 
 and barley which had been mingled together ; in as far as 
 they are separated in motion, they are said to be separated 
 in act ; in as far as they stand apart when separated, they 
 are said to be separated in subsistence. They are separated 
 in thought when we separate matter from its qualities, and 
 qualities from matter ; in act, but not in subsistence, when 
 a thing separated from another no longer exists, not having 
 a substantive existence. And it may be observed that it is 
 so also in mechanics, when one looks upon a statue or a 
 brazen horse melted. For, when he considers these things, 
 he will see their natural form changing ; and they alter into 
 another figure from which the original form disappears. 
 For if any one should melt down the works formed into the 
 semblance of a man or a horse, he Avill find the appearance 
 of the form disappearing, but the material itseK remaining. 
 It is, therefore, untenable to say, that the form shall arise in 
 nowise corrupted, but that the body in which the form was 
 stamped shall be destroyed. 
 
 XVI. But he says that it will be so ; for it will be changed 
 into a spiritual body. Therefore, it is necessary to confess 
 that the very same form as at first does not arise, from its 
 being changed and corrupted with the flesh. For although 
 it be changed into a spiritual body, that wiU not be properly 
 the original substance, but a certain resemblance of it, 
 fashioned in an etherial body. If, however, it is not the 
 same form, nor yet the body wdiich arises, then it is another 
 in tlie place of the first. For that which is like, being 
 different from that which it resembles, cannot be that very 
 first thing in accordance with which it was made. 
 
 XVII. Moreover, he says that that is the appearance or
 
 DISCOURSE OX TllK RESURIiECTIOX. 171 
 
 form which shows forth the identity of the members iu the 
 distinctive character of tlie form. 
 
 XVIII. And, when Origeu allegorises that which is said 
 hy the prophet Ezekiel concerning the resurrection of the 
 dead, and perverts it to the return of the Israelites from their 
 captivity in Babylon, the saint in refuting him, after many 
 other remarks, says this also : For neither did they [the 
 Israelites] obtain a perfect liberty, nor did they overcome 
 theirenemiesbyagi'eater power,and dwellagain in Jerusalem; 
 and when they frequently intended to build [the temple], 
 they were prevented by other nations. Whence, also, they 
 were scarce able to build that in forty-six years, which 
 Solomon completed from the foundations in seven years. 
 But what need we say on this subject ? For from the time 
 of Xebuchadnczzar, and those who after him reigned over 
 Babylon, until the time of the Persian e;cpedition against the 
 Assyrians, and the empire of Alexander, and the war which 
 was stirred up by the Eomans against the Jews, Jerusalem was 
 six times overthrown by its enemies. And this is recorded 
 by Josephus, who says : " Jerusalem was taken in the second 
 year of the reign of Vespasian. It had been taken before 
 five times ; but now for the second time it was destroyed. 
 For Asocha3us, king of Egj'pt, and after him Antiochus, 
 next Pompey, and after these Sosius, \\itli Herod, took the 
 city and burnt it ; but before these, the king of Babylon 
 conquered and destroyed it." 
 
 XIX. He says that Origen holds these opinions which he 
 refutes. And there may be a doubt concerning Lazarus and 
 the rich man. The simpler persons think tliat tliese things 
 were spoken as though both were receiving their due for the 
 things which they had done in life in their bodies ; but the 
 more accurate think that, since no one is left in life after 
 the resurrection, these things do not happen at the resurrec- 
 tion. For the rich man says : " I have five brethren ; . . . . 
 lest they also come into this ])lace of torment,"' send 
 Lazarus, that he may tell them of those things which are 
 here. And, therefore, if we ask respecting the "tongue," 
 
 > Luke xvi. L'S.
 
 172 Till': WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 and tlie "finder," and "ALraliaiii's bosom," and the reclinini' 
 there, it may perliaps be that the soul receives in the change 
 a form similar in appearance to its gross and earthly body. 
 Jf, then, any one of those who have fallen asleep is recorded 
 as having appeared, in the same way he has been seen in 
 the form which he had when he was in the flesh. Besides, 
 when Samuel appeared,^ it is clear that, being seen, he was 
 clothed in a body ; and this must especially be admitted, if 
 we are pressed by arguments which prove that the essence 
 of the soul is incorporeal, and is manifested by itself^ But 
 the rich man in torment, and the poor man who was com- 
 forted in the bosom of Abraham, are said, the one to be 
 punished in Hades, and the other to be comforted in Abra- 
 ham's bosom, before the appearing of the Saviour, and 
 before the end of the world, and therefore before the re- 
 surrection; teaching . that now already, at the change, the 
 soul uses a body. Wherefore, the saint says as follows: 
 Setting forth that the soul, after its removal hence, has a 
 form similar in appearance to this sensitive body ; does 
 Origen represent the soul, after Plato, as being incorporeal? 
 And how should that which, after removal from the world, 
 is said to have need of a vehicle and a clothing, so that 
 it might not be found naked, be in itself other than incor- 
 poreal ? But if it be incorporeal, must it not also be incap- 
 able of passion ? For it follows, from its being incorporeal, 
 that it is also impassible and imperturbable. If, then, it 
 was not distracted by any irrational desire, neither was it 
 changed by a pained or suffering body. For neither can 
 that which is incorporeal sympathise with a body, nor a 
 body with, that which is incorporeal, if,^ indeed, the soul 
 should seem to be incorporeal, in accordance with what has 
 been said. But if it sympathise with the body, as is proved 
 by the testimony of those who appear, it cannot be incor- 
 poreal. Therefore God alone is celebrated, as the unbe- 
 gotten, independent, and unwearied nature; being incorpo- 
 
 ^ 1 Sam. xxviii. 12. 
 
 ^ The reading of Jahn, '* x.u§ suvt'/}i/" i.-^ here adopted. — Tr. 
 
 ^ Jahn's readin"
 
 DISCOURSE OX THE RESURRECTION. 173 
 
 real, and therefore invisible; for "no man hath seen God."^ 
 ]jut soids, being rational bodies, are arranged by the Maker 
 and Father of all things into members which are visible to 
 reason, having received this impression. Whence, also, in 
 Hades, as in the case of Lazarus and the rich man, they are 
 spoken of as having a tongue, and a finger, and the other 
 members; not as though they had with them another invi- 
 sible body, but that the souls themselves, naturally, when 
 entirely stripped of their covering, are such according to 
 their essence. 
 
 XX. The saint says at the end : The words, " For to this 
 end Christ both died, and rose, and re\'ived, that He might 
 1)6 Lord both of the dead and living," ^ must be taken as 
 referring to souls and bodies; the souls being the living, as 
 being immortal, and the bodies being dead. 
 
 XXI. Since the body of man is more honouraV^le than 
 other living creatures, because it is said to have been formed 
 by the hands of God, and because it has attained to be the 
 vehicle of the reasonable soul ; how is it that it is so short- 
 lived, shorter even than some of the irrational creatures ? 
 Is it not clear that its long-lived existence wiU be after the 
 resurrection ? 
 
 ^ John L 18. * Roni. iiv. 9.
 
 A 
 
 FRAGMENT ON THE HISTORY OF JONAH. 
 
 FEOM THE BOOK ON THE EESUEEECTIOK 
 
 [Given by Combefis, in Latin, in the Bihliotheca Concionatoria, t. ii. 
 p. 263, &c. Published in Greek from the Vatican MS. (1611), 
 by Simon de Magistris, in Acta Martyrum ad ostia Tiberina 
 sub Claudio Gothico. (Rome, 1792, folio. Append, p. 462.) ] 
 
 HE history of Jouali contains a great mystery. 
 For it seems that the whale signifies Time, 
 which never stands still, but is always going 
 on, and consumes the things which are made 
 by long and shorter intervals. But Jonah, who fled from 
 the presence of God, is liunseK the first man who, having 
 transgressed the law, fled from being seen naked of immor- 
 tality, having lost through sin his confidence in the Deity. 
 And the ship in wliich he embarked, and which was tem- 
 pest-tossed, is this brief and hard life in the present time; 
 just as though we had turned and removed from that 
 blessed and secure life, to that which was most temj)estu- 
 ous and unstable, as from solid land to a ship. For what a 
 ship is to the land, that our present life is to that which 
 is immortal. And the storm and the tempests which beat 
 against us are tlie temptations of this life, which in the 
 world, as in a tempestuous sea, do not permit us to have 
 a fair voyage free from pain, in a calm sea, and one which 
 is free from evils. And the casting of Jonah from the ship 
 into the sea, signifies the fall of the first man from life to 
 death, who received tliat sentence because, through having 
 sinned, he feU from righteousness : " Dust thou art, and unto 
 dust shalt tliou return."^ And his being swallowed by the 
 ^ Gen. iii. 19.
 
 FRAGMENT ON THE HISTORY OF JOXAH. 175 
 
 whale signifies our inevitable removal by time. For the 
 belly in which Jonah, when he was swallowed, was con- 
 cealed, is the all-receiving earth, which receives all things 
 which are consumed by time. 
 
 II. As, then, Jonah spent three days and as many nights 
 in the whale's belly, and was delivered up sound again, so 
 shall we all, who have passed through the three stages of 
 our present life on earth — I mean the beginning, the middle, 
 and the end, of which all this present time consists — rise 
 again. For there are altogether three intervals of time, the 
 past, the future, and the present. And for this reason the 
 Lord spent so many days in the earth symbolically, thereby 
 teaching clearly that when the fore-mentioned intervals of 
 time have been fulfilled, then shall come our resurrection, 
 which is the beginning of the future age, and the end of 
 this. For in that age (or dispensation) there is neither past 
 nor future, but only the present. Moreover, Jonah having 
 spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, 
 was not destroyed by his flesh being dissolved, as is the case 
 with that natural decomposition which takes place in the 
 belly, in the case of those meats which enter into it, on 
 account of the greater heat in the liquids, that it might be 
 shown that these bodies of ours may remain undestroyed. 
 For consider that God had images of Himself made as ot 
 gold, that is of a purer spiritual substance, as the angels ; 
 and others of clay or brass, as ourselves. He united the 
 soul which was made in the image of God to that which 
 was earthy. As, then, we must here honour all tlie images 
 of a king, on account of the form which is in tlieni, so also 
 it is incredible that we wlio are tlie images of God should 
 be altogether destroyed as being without honour. Whence 
 also the AVord descended into our world, and \\as incarnate 
 of our bod}'-, in order that, having fashioned it to a more 
 divine image, He might raise it incorrupt, altliougli it had 
 been dissolved by time. And, indeed, when we trace out 
 the dispensation which was figuratively set forth by the 
 prophet, we shall find the whole discourse visibly extending 
 to this.
 
 176 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 EXTEACTS FEOM TTTE WOEK ON THIXGS 
 CEEATED. 
 
 [Photius : Bihliotheca, cod. 235.] 
 I. This selection is made, by way of compendium or 
 synopsis, from the work of the holy martyr and Lisliop 
 Methodius, concerning things created. The passage, " Give 
 not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your 
 pearls before swine," ^ is explained by Origen as signifying 
 that the pearls are the more mystical teachings of our God- 
 given religion, and the swine those who roll in impiety and 
 in all kinds of pleasures, as swine do in mud ; for he said 
 that it was taught by these words of Christ not to cast 
 about the divine teachings, inasmuch they coidd not bear 
 them who were held by impiety and brutal pleasures. The 
 great Methodius says : If we must understand by pearls the 
 glorious and divine teachings, and by swine those who are 
 given up to impiety and pleasures, from whom are to be 
 withheld and hidden the apostle's teachings, which stir men 
 up to piety and faith in Christ, see how you say that no 
 Christians can be converted from their impiety by the teach- 
 ings of the apostles. For they would never cast the mys- 
 teries of Christ to those who, through want of faith, are like 
 swine. Either, therefore, these things were cast before all 
 the Greeks and other unbelievers, and were preached by the 
 disciples of Christ, and converted them from impiety to the 
 faith of Christ (as we believers certainly confess), and then 
 the words, " Cast not your pearls before swine," can no 
 longer mean what has been said ; or meaning this, we must 
 say that faith in Christ and deliverance from impiety have 
 been accorded to none of the unbelievers, whom we compare 
 to swine, by the apostolic instructions enlightening their 
 soids like pearls. But this is blasphemous. Tlierefore the 
 pearls in this place are not to be taken to mean the deepest 
 doctrines, and the swine the impious ; nor are we to under- 
 stand the words, " Cast not your pearls before swine," as 
 ^ Matt. vii. fi.
 
 FROM THE WORK ON THINGS CREATED. 177 
 
 forbidding us to cast before the impious and unbelieving 
 the deep and sanctifying doctrines of faith in Christ ; but 
 we must take the pearls to mean virtues, with which the 
 soul is adorned as vrith precious pearls ; and not to cast 
 them before swine, as meaning that we are not to cast these 
 virtues, such as chastity, temperance, righteousness, and 
 truth, that we are not to cast these to impure pleasures (for 
 these are like swine), lest they, fleeing from the virtues, 
 cause the soul to live a swinish and a vicious life. 
 
 II. Origen says that what he calls the Centaur is the 
 universe which is co-eternal with the only wise and indepen- 
 dent God. For he says, since there is no workman without 
 some work, or maker without some tiling made, so neither 
 is there an Almighty without an object of His power. For 
 the workman must be so called from his work, and the 
 maker from what he makes, and the Almighty Euler from 
 that which He rules over. And so it must be, that these 
 things were made by God from the beginning, and that there 
 was no time in which tliey did not exist. For if there was 
 a time when the things that are made did not exist, tlicn, as 
 there were no things which had been made, so there was no 
 maker; which you see to be an impious conclusion. And 
 it will result that the unchangeable and unaltered God has 
 altered and changed. For if He made the universe later, 
 it is clear that He passed from not making to making. But 
 this is absurd in connection with what has been said. It is 
 impossible, therefore, to say that the universe is not un- 
 beginning and co-eternal with God. To whom the saint re- 
 plies, in the person of another, asking, " Do you not consider 
 God the beginning and fountain of wisdom and glory, and 
 in short of all virtue in substance and not by acquisition?" 
 " Certainly," he says. " And what besides ? Is He not by 
 Himself perfect and independent?" "True; for it is im- 
 possible that he who is independent should have his inde- 
 pendence from another. For we must say, that all which 
 is full by anotlicr is also imperfect. For it is the thing 
 which has its completeness of itself, and in itself alone, 
 wliicli can alone be considered perfect" "You say most 
 
 M
 
 178 THE WRITINGS OF :\IETnODIUS. 
 
 truly. For would you pronounce that which is neither hy 
 itself complete, nor its own completeness, to be independent?" 
 " By no means. For that which is perfect through anytliin;,' 
 else must needs be in itself imperfect." " Well, then, shall 
 God be considered perfect by Himself, and not by some 
 other?" "Most rightly." "Then God is something differ- 
 ent from the world, and the world from God?" "Quite 
 so." " We must not then say that God is perfect, and 
 Creator, and Almighty, through the world ?" " No ; for He 
 must surely by Himself, and not by the world, and that 
 changeable, be found perfect by Himself." " Quite so." 
 " But you will say that the rich man is called rich on ac- 
 count of his riches ? And that the wase man is called wise 
 not as being wisdom itself, but as being a possessor of sub- 
 stantial wisdom?" "Yes." "Well, then, since God is 
 something different from the world, shall He be called on 
 account of the world rich, and beneficent, and Creator?" 
 "By no means. Away wdth such a thought!" "Well, 
 then, He is His own riches, and is by Himself rich and 
 powerful." " So it seems." " He was then before the world 
 altogether independent, being Father, and Almighty, and 
 Creator ; so that He by Himself, and not by another, w^as 
 this." " It must be so." " Yes ; for if He were acknow- 
 ledged to be Almighty on account of the world, and not of 
 Himself, being distinct from the world (may God forgive the 
 words, which the necessity of the argument requires), He 
 would by Himself be imperfect and have need of these 
 things, through w^hich He is marvellously Almighty and 
 Creator. We must not then admit this pestilent sin of those 
 who say concerning God, that He is Almighty and Creator 
 by the things which He controls and creates, which are 
 changeable, and that He is not so by Himself. 
 
 III. Now consider it thus : " If, you say, the world was 
 created later, not existing before, then we must change the 
 ])assionless and unchangeable God ; for it must needs be, 
 that he who did nothing before, but afterwards, passes from 
 not doing to doing, changes and is altered." Then I said, 
 "Did God rest from making the world, or not?" "Ho
 
 FROM THE WORK ON THINGS CREATED. 170 
 
 rested." " Because otherwise it would not have been com- 
 pleted." " True." " If, then, the act of making, after not 
 making, makes an alteration in God, does not His ceasing 
 to make after making the same ?" " Of necessity." " But 
 should you say that He is altered as not doing to-day, from 
 what He was, wdien He was doing." "By no means. There 
 is no necessity for His being changed, when He makes the 
 world from what He was wdien He was not making it ; and 
 neither is there any necessity for saying that the universe 
 must have co-existed with Him, on account of our not being 
 forced to say that He has changed, nor that the universe is 
 co-eternal with Him." 
 
 IV. But sj^eak to me thus : " Should you call that a thing 
 created which had no beginning of its creation ?" "Not at 
 all." " But if there is no beginning of its creation, it is of 
 necessity uncreated. But if it was created, you will grant 
 that it was created by some cause. For it is altogether 
 impossible that it should have a beginning without a cause." 
 " It is impossible." Shall we say, then, that tlie world and 
 the things which are in it, having come into existence and 
 formerly not existing, are from any other cause than God ? " 
 "It is plain that they are from God." "Yes; for it is 
 impossible that that which is limited by an existence 
 which has a beginning should be co-existent with the 
 infinite." " It is impossible." " But again, Centaur, 
 let us consider it from the beginning. Do you say that the 
 things wdiich exist were created by Divme knowledge or 
 not?" "Oh, begone, they will say; not at all." "Well, but 
 was it from the elements, or from matter, or tlie firmaments, 
 or however you choose to name them (for it makes no difl'er- 
 ence) ; these things existing beforehand uncreated and borne 
 along in a state of chaos ; did God separate them and reduci^ 
 them all to order, as a good painter who forms one picture, 
 out of many colours ?" " No, nor yet this." For they will 
 quite avoid making a concession against tliemselves, le.=^t 
 agreeing that there was a beginning of the separation and 
 transformation of matter, they should be forced in con- 
 sistency to say, tliut in all things God began the oixiering
 
 180 77//'; WniTlNGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 and a(li)niiiig of matter wliicli liitlierto had been without 
 ronn. 
 
 V. V>\\t come now, since by the favour of God we have 
 arrived at this point in our discourse; let us suppose a 
 beautiful statue standing upon its base ; and that those who 
 behold it, admiring its harmonious beauty, differ among 
 themselves, some trying to make out that it had been made, 
 others tliat it had not. I should ask them : For what reason 
 do you say that it was not made ? on account of the artist, 
 because he must be considered as never resting from his 
 work ? or on account of the statue itself ? If it is on 
 account of the artist, how could it, as not being made, be 
 fashioned by the artist ? But if, when it is moulded of 
 brass, it has all that is needed in order that it may receive 
 whatever impression the artist chooses, how can that be said 
 not to be made which submits to and receives his labour ? 
 If, again, the statue is declared to be by itself perfect and 
 not made, and to have no need of art, then we must allow, 
 in accordance with that pernicious heresy, that it is self- 
 made. If perhaps they are unwilling to admit this argu- 
 ment, and reply more inconsistently, that they do not say 
 that the figure was not made, but that it was always made, 
 so that there was no beginning of its being made, so that 
 artist might be said to have this subject of his art with- 
 out any beginning. Well then, my friends, we will say 
 to them, if no time, nor any age before can be found in 
 the past, when the statue was not perfect, will you teU 
 us what the artist contributed to it, or wrought upon 
 it ? For if this statue has need of notliing, and has no 
 beginning of existence, for this reason, according to you, a 
 maker never made it, nor w^iil any maker be found. And 
 so the argument seems to come again to the same conclu- 
 sion, and Ave must allow that it is self-made. For if an 
 artificer is said to have moved a statue ever so slightly, he 
 will submit to a beginning, when he began to move and 
 adorn that which was before unadorned and unmoved. 
 But the world neither was nor wiU be for ever the same. 
 Now we must compare the artificer to God, and the statue
 
 FROM THE WORK ON TJI/XaS CREATED. 181 
 
 to the world. ]>ut how then, foolish men, can you 
 imagine the creation to be co-eternal with its Artificer, and 
 to have no need of an artificer ? For it is of necessity that 
 the co-eternal should never have had a l)(\t!;inning of l)eing, 
 and should be ecjually uncreated and powerl'ul with llim. 
 ]jut the uncreated appears to be in itself perfect and 
 unclumgeable, and it will have need of nothing, and be free 
 from corruption. And if this be so, the world can no lunger 
 be, as you say it is, capable of change. 
 
 VI. He says that the Church ('ExxAJio/a) is so called from 
 being called out (^£-/iKf/./.ri-/.smi) with resjDcct to pleasures. 
 
 VII. The saint says : We said there are two kinds of forma- 
 tive power in what we have now acknowledged; the one 
 which works by itself what it chooses, not out of things 
 which already exist, by its bare will, without delay, as soon 
 as it wills. This is the power of the Father. The otlier 
 which adorns and embellishes, by imitation of the former, the 
 things which already exist. This is the power of the Son, tlie 
 almighty and powerful hand of the Father, by which, after 
 creating matter not out of things which were already in 
 existence. He adorns it. 
 
 VIII. The saint says that the Book of Job is by ^Moses. 
 He says, concerning the words, " In the beginning God 
 created the heaven and the earth," ^ that one will not err 
 who says that the " Beginning " is AVisdom. For Wisdom 
 is said by one of the Divine band to speak in this manner 
 concerning herself: "The Lord created me the beginning 
 of His ways for His works : of old He laid my foun- 
 dation."^ It was fitting and more seemly that all things 
 which came into existence, should be more recent than 
 Wisdom, since they existed through her. Now consitler 
 whether the saying : " In the beginning was the Word, 
 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
 The same was in the beginning witli God;"^ — wliethor 
 these statements be not in agreement with tlioso. For 
 we must say that the Beginning, out of wliich the most 
 upright Word came forth, is tlie Father and Maker of all 
 
 ' (len. i. 1. - Prov. viii. 2± •* Joliii i. 1, 2.
 
 182 THE WIUTINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 things, in whom it was. And the words, "The same 
 was in the beginning with God," seem to indicate the 
 position of authority of the Word, which He had with the 
 Father before the world came into existence ; beginning 
 signifying His power. And so, after the peculiar unbegin- 
 ning beginning, who is the Father, He is the beginning of 
 other things, by whom all things are made. 
 
 IX. He says that Origen, alter having faljled many things 
 concerning the eternity of the universe, adds this also : Nor 
 yet from Adam, as some say, did man, previously not exist- 
 ing, first take his existence and come into the world. Kor 
 again did the world begin to be made six days before the 
 creation of Adam. But if any one should prefer to differ in 
 these points, let him first say, whether a period of time be 
 not easily reckoned from the creation of the world, according 
 to the Book of jMoses, to those who so receive it, the voice 
 of prophecy here proclaiming : " Thou art God from everlast- 
 ing, and world without end. . . . For a thousand years in 
 Thy sight are but as yesterday : seeing that is past as a 
 watch in the night." ^ For when a thousand years are 
 reckoned as one day in the sight of God, and from the 
 creation of the world to His rest is six days, so also to our 
 time, six days are defined, as those say who are clever 
 arithmeticians. Therefore, they say that an age of six 
 thousand years extends from Adam to our time. For they 
 say that the judgment will come on the seventh day, that is 
 in the seventh thousand years. Therefore, all the days from 
 our time to that which was in the beginning, in which God 
 created the heaven and the earth, are computed to be thir- 
 teen days ; before which God, because he had as yet created 
 nothing according to their folly, is stripped of His name 
 of Father and Almighty. But if there are thirteen days in 
 the sight of God from the creation of the world, how can 
 Wisdom say, in the Book of the Son of Sirach : " Who can 
 number the sand of the sea, and the drops of rain, and 
 the days of eternity ?"2 This is what Origen says seriously, 
 and mark how he trifles, 
 
 1 Ps. xc. 2, 4. 2 Ecclus. L 2.
 
 WORKS OF METHODIUS AGAINST PORPHYRY. 183 
 
 FRAGMENTS FROM THE WORKS OF METHODIUS 
 AGAINST PORPHYRY. 
 
 I. 
 
 [From the Parallels of S. Joliii Damascene. Opera torn. ii. p. "778, 
 Ed. Lequieii.] 
 
 This, in truth, must be called most excellent and praise- 
 worthy, which God Himself considers excellent, even if it 
 be despised and scoffed at by all. For things are not what 
 men think them to be. 
 
 II. 
 [lUd, p. 784, B.] 
 
 Then repentance effaces every sin, when there is no delay 
 after the fall of the soul, and the disease is not suffered to 
 go on through a long interval. For then evil will not have 
 power to leave its mark in us, wlicn it is drawn up at the 
 moment of its being set down like a plant newly planted. 
 
 III. 
 
 {Ihld, \). ISb, E.] 
 Ill truth, our evil comes out of our want of resemblance 
 to God, and our ignorance of Him ; and, on the other hand, 
 our great good consists in our resemblance to Him. And, 
 therefore, our conversion and faith in the Being who is in- 
 corruptible and divine, seems to be truly our proper good, 
 and ignorance and disregard of Him our evil; if, at least, 
 those things which are produced in us and of us, being the 
 evil effects of sin, are to be considered ours. 
 
 FROM HIS DISCOURSE CONCERNING MARTYRS. 
 
 [From Theodoretus, Dial. 1, ' ArptTrr. 0pp. ed. Sinnond. 
 Tom. iv. p. 37.] 
 
 For martyrdom is so admirable and desirable, that the 
 Lord, the Son of God Himself, honouring it, testified, " He 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God,"^ that He 
 might lionour man to whom He descended with this gift. 
 I Phil. ii. c
 
 ORATION CONCERNING SIMEON AND ANNA 
 ON THE DAY THAT THEY MET IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The Oration likewise treats of the Holy Mother of God. 
 
 ALTHOUGH I have before, as briefly as possible, 
 in my dialogue on chastity, sufficiently laid the 
 foundations, as it were, for a discourse on vir- 
 ginity, yet to-day the season has brought for- 
 ward the entire subject of the glory of virginity, and its 
 incorruptible crown, for the delightful consideration of the 
 Church's foster-children. Eor to-day the council chamber 
 of the divine oracles is opened wide, and the signs prefigur- 
 ing this glorious day, with its effects and issues, are by the 
 sacred preachers read over to the assembled Church. To- 
 day the accomplishment of that ancient and true counsel is, 
 in fact and deed, gloriously manifested to the world. To- 
 day, without any covermg,^ and with unveiled face, we see, 
 as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of the 
 divine ark itself. To-day, the most holy assembly, bearing 
 upon its shoulders the heavenly joy that was for generations 
 expected, imparts it to the race of man. " Old things are 
 passed away"^ — things new burst forth into flowers, and 
 such as fade not away. No longer does the stern decree of 
 the law bear sway, but the grace of the Lord reigneth, draw- 
 ing all men to itself by saving long-saffering. No second 
 time is an Uzziah ^ invisibly punished, for daring to touch 
 what may not be touched; for God Himself imdtes, and 
 who will stand hesitating with fear ? He says : " Come unto 
 Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden." * Who, then, 
 ^ 2 Cor. iii. 18. 2 2 Cor. v. 17. ^ Sam. vi. 7. * Matt. xi. 28.
 
 ORATION COiXCEnXING SIMEON AND ANNA. 185 
 
 will not run to Him ? Let no Jew contradict tlie truth, 
 looking at the type which went before the house of Obede- 
 dom.^ The Lord has " tnanifestly come to Hvi own!''^ And 
 sitting on a living and not inanimate ark, as upon the 
 mercy-seat, He comes forth in solemn procession upon the 
 earth. The publican, when he touches this ark, comes away 
 just ; the harlot, when she approaches this, is remoulded, as 
 it were, and becomes chaste; the leper, when he touches 
 this, is restored whole without pain. It repulses none ; it 
 shrinks from none ; it imparts the gifts of healing, without 
 itself contracting any disease ; for the Lord, who loves and 
 cares for man, in it makes His resting-place. These are the 
 gifts of this new grace. This is that new and strange thing 
 that has happened under the sun ^ — a thing that never had 
 place before, nor will have place again. That which God of 
 His compassion toward us foreordained has come to pass. 
 He hath given it fulfilment because of that love for man 
 which is so becoming to Him. AVith good right, therefore, 
 has the sacred trumpet sounded, " Old things are passed 
 away, behold all things are become new."* And what shall 
 I conceive, what shall I speak worthy of this day ? I am 
 struggling to reach the inaccessible, for the remembrance of 
 this holy virgin far transcends all words of mine. Where- 
 fore, since the greatness of the panegyric required completely 
 puts to shame our limited powers, let us betake ourselves to 
 that hymn which is not beyond our faculties, and boasting 
 in our own^ unalterable defeat, let iis join the rejoicing 
 chorus of Christ's Hock, who are keeping holy-day. And do 
 you, my divine and saintly auditors, keep strict silence, in 
 order that througli the narrow channel of ears, as into the 
 
 1 2 Sam. vi. 10. 
 
 -John i. 11 ; V». 1. 3. Tf^dtv — e/ic(pxi/u;. Tlie text plainly riuiuiiv.s 
 tliis connection with evident allusion to Psalm 1. " Our God will 
 manifestly come" ef<,(pxvci>; vj^n, which passage our author connects 
 with another from J<ilin i. — Tk. 
 
 ^ Ecclus. i. 10. •'2 Cor. v. 17. 
 
 * TJji/ ccKivriToi/ TjTTXv iyx.otv^r,a(x.icivot. It seems hettcr to retain this. 
 I'antinus would substitute civiK/nvi/ for dy.i'vnrov, and render less hai)pily 
 "invicto hoc certamine victos."
 
 186 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 liarbour of the understanding, the vessel freighted with truth 
 may peacefully sail. We keep festival, not according to the 
 vain customs of the Greek mythology; we keep a feast which 
 brings with it no ridiculous or frenzied banqueting of the 
 gods, but which teaches us the wondrous condescension 
 to us men of the awful glory of Him who is God over 
 all.i 
 
 II. Come, therefore, Isaiah, solemnest of preachers and 
 greatest of prophets, wisely unfold to the Church the mys- 
 teries of the congregation in glory, and incite our excellent 
 guests abundantly to satiate themselves with enduring 
 dainties, in order that, placing the reality which we possess 
 over against that mirror of thine, truthful prophet as thou 
 art, thou mayest joyfully clap tliine hands at the issue of 
 thy predictions. It came to pass, he says, " in the year in 
 which king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a 
 throne, high and lifted up ; and the house was full of Hia 
 glory. And the seraphim stood round about him : each one 
 had six wings. And one cried unto another, and said. Holy, 
 holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of 
 His glory. And the posts of the door ^\evQ moved at the 
 voice of him that cried, and the house was filled v.'ith smoke. 
 And I said. Woe is me ! I am pricked to the heart, for I 
 am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a 
 people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen the King, 
 the Lord of hosts. And one of the seraphim was sent unto 
 me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with 
 the tongs from off the altai-. And he touched my mouth, 
 and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips ; and thine iniquity 
 is taken away, and thy sin is purged. Also I heard the 
 voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will 
 go unto this people ? Then said I, Here am I ; send me. 
 And He said. Go, and tell this people. Hear ye indeed, but 
 understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not."- 
 These are the proclamations made beforehand by the pro- 
 phet tlu-ough the Spirit. Do thou, dearly beloved, consider 
 
 ^ Rom. ix. 5. 
 
 * Isaiah vi. 1-9. The quotations are from Lxx. version.
 
 ORATION CO^X'ERNING SLUE OX AXD AXXA. 187 
 
 tlie force of these words. So shalt thou understand the issue 
 of these sacramentaP symbols, and know both what and 
 how great this assembling together of ourselves is. And 
 since the prophet has before spoken of this miracle, come 
 thou, and with the greatest ardour and exultation, and alacrity 
 of heart, together with the keenest sagacity of thine intel- 
 ligence, and therewitli approach Bethlehem tlie renowned, 
 and place before thy mind an image clear and distinct, com- 
 paring the prophecy with the actual issue of events. Thou 
 wilt not stand in need of many words to come to a know- 
 ledge of the matter; only fix thine eyes on the tilings which 
 are taking place there. " All things tnily are plain to them 
 that understand, and right to them that find knowledge." - 
 For, behold, as a throne high and lifted up by the glory of 
 Him that fashioned it, the virgin-mother is there made 
 ready, and that most evidently for the King, the Lord of 
 hosts. Upon this, consider the Lord now coming unto thee 
 in sinful flesh. Upon this virginal throne, I say, worship 
 Him who now comes to thee by this new and ever-adorable 
 way. Look around thee with the eye of faith, and thou 
 wilt find around Him, as by the ordinance of their courses,^ 
 the royal and priestly company of the serapliim. These, as 
 His body-guard, are ever wont to attend the presence of 
 their king. "SVlienco also in this place they are not only said 
 to ]i}Tnn with their praises the divine substance of the divine 
 unity, but also the glory to be adored by all of that one of 
 the sacred Trinity, wliich now, by the appearance of God in 
 the flesh, hath even lighted upon earth. They say : " The 
 whole earth is full of Plis glory." For we believe that, together 
 with the Son, wlio was made man for our sakes, according 
 to the good pleasure of His will,"* was also present the Fathei-, 
 
 1 fivarvipiou is, in the Greek Fathers, equivalent to the Latin Sacra- 
 vientum. — Tr. 
 
 * Prov. viii. 9. 
 
 ' hpocTivfist. Perhaps \ch^ definitely priesthood. Ace. Arist. it is 
 If TT-pl Toyj dtoi/; tTifii'Aiiet. The cult, and ordinances of religion to he 
 oUserved especially hy the priests, whose business it is to celebrate the 
 excellence of God. — Tr. 
 
 ■* KUT» T>ji/ ivooKixu. Allusion is made to Eph. i. f), According to the
 
 188 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 wlio is inseparable from Him as to His divine nature, and 
 also the Spirit, who is of one and the same essence with Hini> 
 For, as says Paul, the interpreter of the divine oracle,^ 
 " God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not 
 imputing their trespasses unto them."^ He thus shows that 
 the Father was in the Son, because that one and the same 
 will worked in them. 
 
 III. Do thou, therefore, lover of this festival, when 
 thou hast considered well the glorious mysteries of Beth- 
 lehem, which were brought to pass for thy sake, gladly join 
 thyself to the heavenly host, which is celebrating magni- 
 ficently thy salvation.^ As once David did before the ark, 
 so do thou, before this virginal throne, joyfully lead the dance. 
 Hymn with gladsome song the Lord, who is always and 
 everywhere present, and Him who from Teman,^ as says the 
 prophet, hath thought fit to appear, and that in the flesh, to 
 the race of men. Say, wdth Moses, " He is my God, and I 
 will glorify Him ; my father's God, and I w^ill exalt Him."^ 
 Then, after thine hymn of thanksgiving, we shall usefully 
 inquire what cause aroused the King of Glory to appear in 
 Betlilehem. His compassion for us compelled Him, who 
 cannot be compelled, to be born in a human body at Beth- 
 lehem. But what necessity was there that He, when a 
 suckling infant,'' that He wdio, though born in time, was not 
 
 good pleasure of God, and His decree for tlie salvation of man. Less 
 aptly Pantinns renders, ob propensani secfem in nos voluntatera. — Tr. 
 
 ^ " One and the same essence." This is the famous 6,uoo'jaiog of the 
 Nicene Council. — Tr. 
 
 - ispotpxvryjs, teacher of the divine oracles. This, which is the technical 
 term for the presiding priest at Eleusis, and the Greek translation 
 of the Latin Pontifex Maximus, is by our author apj^lied to St 
 Paul.— Tr. 3 2 Cor. v. 19. * 2 Sam. vi. 14. 
 
 5 Habak. iii. 3. « Exod. xv. 2. 
 
 ^ uTrortrdiof royxxi/ouTx. It is an aggravation, so to speak, that He not 
 only willed to become an infant, and to take upon Him, of necessity, 
 the infirmities of infancy, but even at that tender age to be banished 
 from His coimtry, and to make a forcible change of residence, fiiroiKo; 
 yividdoLv. [^kroix-ot are those who, at the command of their jirinces, are 
 tninsferred, by way of punishment, to another State. Their lauds are 
 confiscated. Thev are sometimes called dyde.rj'Tru.arot. Like to the con-
 
 ORATION CONCEUSIXG SIMEON AND ANNA. 189 
 
 limited by time, that lie, ^vho though wrapped in swaddling 
 clothes, was not by them held fast, what necessity was there 
 that He should be an exile and a stranger from His country ? 
 Should you, forsooth, wisli to know this, ye congregation 
 most holy, and upon whom the Spirit of God hath breathed, 
 listen to Moses proclaiming plainly to the people, stimulat- 
 ing them, as it were, to the knowledge of this extraordinary 
 nativity, and saying, " Every male that opcnetli tlie womb, 
 shall be called holy to the Lord."^ wondrous circuni- 
 stance ! " the depth of the riches both of the wisdom 
 and knowledge of God!"" It became indeed the Lord of 
 the law and the prophets to do all things in accordance 
 with His own law, and not to make void the law, but to 
 fulfil it, and rather to connect with the fullilment of the law 
 the beginning of His grace. Therefore it is that the mother, 
 ■\\\\o was superior to the law, submits to the law. And 
 she, the holy and undefiled one, observes that time of forty 
 days that was appointed for the unclean. And He who 
 makes us free from the law, became subject to the law; 
 [ind there is offered for Him, who hath sanctified us, a 
 pair of clean birds/ in testimony of those who approach 
 clean and blameless. Now that that parturition was unpol- 
 luted, and stood not in need of expiatory victims, Isaiah is 
 our witness, who proclaims distinctly to the whole earth 
 under the sun: "Before she travailed," he says, " she brought 
 forth ; before her pains came, she escaped, and brought forth 
 a man-child."'* Who hath heard such a thing ? Wlio hath 
 seen such things ? The most holy virgin mother, therefore, 
 escaped entirely the manner of women even before slie 
 l)rought forth : doubtless, in order that the Holy Si)irii>, 
 lietrothing lier unto Himself, and sanctifying her, she might 
 conceive without intercourse with man. She hath brought 
 forth her first-born Son, even the only-begotten Son of God, 
 Him, I say, who in the licavens above shone forth as the 
 
 (litiori of these was that of Jesus, who tleil into Egypt soon after His 
 liirth. For the conditiuii of tlie fiiroiKoi at Athens, see Art. Smith's 
 Did. Antiq. — Tr. 
 
 ^ Exod. xxxi. lit. ^ Koni. \i. ?>'i. •* Luke xi. 24. * Lsaiah Ixvi. 7.
 
 190 7V//'.' WRITINGS OF METIIODHJS. 
 
 only-begotten, Avitliout mother, from out His Father's sub- 
 stance, and preserved the virginity of His natural unity 
 undivided and inseparable ; and who on earth, in the 
 virgin's nuptial chamber, joined to Himself the nature of 
 Adam, like a bridegroom, by an inalienable union, and pre- 
 served liis mother's purity uncorrupt and uninjured — Him, 
 in short, who in heaven was begotten without corruption, 
 and on earth brought forth in a manner quite unspeakable. 
 But to return to our subject. 
 
 IV. Therefore the prophet brought the virgin from Xaza- 
 reth, in order that she might give birth at Bethlehem to her 
 salvation-bestowing child, and brought her back again to 
 Nazareth, in order to make manifest to the world the hope of 
 life. Hence it was that the ark of God removed from the 
 inn at Betlilehem (for there He paid to the law that debt of 
 the forty days, due not to justice but to grace), and rested 
 upon the mountains of Sion, and receiving into His pure 
 bosom as upon a lofty throne, and one transcending the 
 nature of man, the IMonarch of all,^ she presented Him there 
 to God the Father, as the joint-partner of His throne, and 
 inseparable from His nature, together with that pure and 
 undefiled flesh which he had of her substance assumed. 
 The holy mother goes up to the temple to exhibit to the law 
 a new and strange wonder, even that child long expected, 
 Avho opened the virgin's womb, and yet did not burst the 
 barriers of virginity ; that child, superior to the law, who 
 yet fulfilled the law ; that child that was at once before the 
 law, and yet after it; that child, in short, who was of her 
 incarnate beyond the law of nature. For in other cases 
 every womb being first opened by connection with a man, 
 and, being impregnated by his seed, receives the beginning of 
 conception, and by the pangs which make perfect parturition, 
 doth at length bring forth to light its offspring endowed with 
 reason, and with its nature consistent, in accordance with 
 the wise provision of God its Creator. For God said, " Be 
 fruitful, and multiply, and rejilenish the earth." But the 
 womb of this virgin, without being opened before, or being 
 1 Cf. Luke ii. 22.
 
 ORATION CONCERNING SIMEON AND ANNA. 101 
 
 impregnated Avith seed, gave birtli to an offspring that tran- 
 scended nature, "while at the same time it was cognate to it, 
 and that without detriment to the indivisible unity, so that 
 the miracle was the more stupendous, tlie prerogative of 
 virginity likewise remaining intact. She goes up, therefore,, 
 to the temple, she who was more exalted than the temple, 
 clothed with a double glory — the glory, I say, of undefiled 
 virginity, and that of ineffable fecundity, the benediction of 
 the law, and the sanctification of grace. Wherefore he says 
 who saw it : " And the whole house was full of His glory, 
 and the seraphim stood round about him ; and one cried unto 
 another, and said. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts : the 
 whole earth is full of His glory." ^ As also the blessed pro- 
 phet Habakkuk has charmingly sung, saying, " In the midst 
 of two living creatures thou shalt be known : as the years 
 draw nigh thou shalt be recognised — when the time is come 
 thou shalt be shown forth." ^ See, I pray you, the exceeding 
 accuracy of the Spirit. He speaks of knowledge, recogni- 
 tion, showing forth. As to the first of tliese : " In the midst 
 of two living creatures thou shalt be known," ^ he refers to 
 that overshadowing of the divine glory which, in tlie time 
 of the law, rested in the Holy of holies upon the covering of 
 the ark, between the typical cherubim, as He says to ]\Ioses, 
 " Tliere will I be known to thee." * But He refers likewise 
 to that concourse of angels, which hath now come to meet 
 ns, by the divine and ever adorable manifestation of the 
 Saviour Himself in the flesh, although He in His very 
 nature cannot be beheld by us, as Isaiah has even before 
 declared. But when He says, "As the years draw nigli, thou 
 shalt be recognised," He means, as has been said before, tliat 
 glorious recognition of our Saviour, God in the liesh, who 
 is otherwise invisible to mortal eye; as somewhere Paul, 
 that great interpreter of sacred mysteries, says : " But when 
 the fulness of the time was come, CJod sent forth His Son, 
 made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them 
 
 ^ Lsaiah vi. 3. 
 
 '■^ The quotation from the prophet ITaliakkuk is IVoin the lxx. ver- 
 sion.— Tii. 3 H.iV,. iii. 2. * Exod. XXV. i»2.
 
 l'J2 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 tliat were under tlie law, that we might receive the adoption 
 of sons."^ And tlien, as to that which is subjoined, "When 
 the time is come, thou shalt be shown forth," what exposi- 
 tion doth this require, if a man diligently direct the eye of 
 his mind to the festival which we are now celebrating? 
 " For then shalt thou be shown forth," He says, " as upon a 
 kingly charger, by thy pure and chaste mother, in the 
 temple, and that in the grace and beauty of the flesh 
 assumed by thee." All these things the proj^het, summing 
 up for the sake of greater clearness, exclaims in brief : " The 
 Lord is in His holy temple;"^ "Fear before Him all the 
 earth."3 
 
 V. Tremendous, verily, is the mystery connected w^ith 
 thee, virgin mother, thou spiritual throne, glorified and 
 made worthy of God. Thou hast brought forth, before the 
 eyes of those in heaven and earth, a pre-eminent wonder. 
 And it is a proof of this, and an irrefragable argument, that 
 at the novelty of thy supernatural child-bearing, the angels 
 sang on earth, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
 peace, good- will towards men,"'* by their threefold song 
 bringing in a threefold holiness.^ Blessed art thou among 
 the generations of women, thou of God most blessed, for 
 by thee the earth has been filled with that divine glory of 
 God ; as in the Psalms it is sung : " Blessed be the Lord God 
 of Israel, and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. 
 Amen. Amen."^ And the posts of the door, says the pro- 
 phet, moved at the voice of him that cried, by which is 
 signified the veil of the temple drawn before the ark of the 
 covenant, which typified thee, that the truth might be laid 
 open to me, and also that I might be taught, by the t}^es 
 and figures wdiich went before, to approach with reverence 
 and trembling to do honour to the sacred mystery which 
 
 1 Gal. iv. 4, 5. 2 jjab. ii. 20. ^ Ps_ ^cvi. 9. * Luke ii. 14. 
 
 '• Tov rptv'hoe.(!tccci[^6u rvig ikyiorrtro;, Pantiniis translates triplicem 
 sanctitatis rationem, but this is hardly theological. Allusion is made 
 to the song of the seraphim, Is. vi. ; and our author contends that the 
 threefold hymn sung by the angels at Christ's birth answers to that 
 threefold acclamation of theirs in sign of the triune Deity. — Tr. 
 
 " Ps. l.x.xii. 18, 19.
 
 ORATION COXCEUXiyG SIMEON AND ANNA. 103 
 
 is connected with tlioe ; and tlmt by means of this pri(jr 
 shadow-painting of the Law I might be restrained i'rom boklly 
 and irreverently contemplating with fixed gaze Him who, 
 in His incomprehensibility, is seated far above all.^ For if 
 to the ark, wliich was the image and type of tliy sanctity, 
 such lionour was paid of God that to no one but to the 
 jtriestly order only was the access to it open, or ingress 
 allowed to behold it, the veil separating it ofl', and keeping 
 the vestibule as that of a queen, wliat, and what sort of 
 veneration is due to thee from us who are of creation the 
 least, to thee who art indeed a queen; to thee, the living ark 
 of God, the Lawgiver; to thee, the heaven that contains Him 
 who can be contained of none ? For since thou, holy 
 virgin, hast dawned as a briglit day upon the world, and hast 
 brought forth the Sun of Kighteousness, that hateful horror 
 of darkness has been chased away ; the power of the tyrant 
 has been broken, death hath been destroyed, iiell swallowed 
 up, and all enmity dissolved before the face of peace ; 
 noxious diseases depart now that salvation looks forth; and 
 the whole universe has been filled wnth the pure and clear 
 light of truth. To whicli things Solomon alludes in the 
 Book of Canticles, and begins thus : " My beloved is mine, 
 and I am his ; he feedeth among the lilies until the day 
 break, and the shadows flee away."- Since then, the God 
 of gods hath appeared in Sion, and the splendour of His 
 beauty hath appeared in Jerusalem; and "a light has sprung 
 up for the righteous, and joy for those who are true of heart."^ 
 According to tlie blessed David, the Perfecter and Lord of 
 the perfected'* Imtli, by the Holy Spirit, called the teacher 
 and minister of the law to minister and testify of those 
 things which were done. 
 
 VI. Hence the aged Simeon, jtutling off tlie weakness of 
 
 ^ TQV rX 'Tra.tlTOt, fj CiKXTX'A/l-J/l'ct V-77iOIQpVfiivlJV. Of. 1 Tilll. vi. Id, 
 
 (flug oiKcui/ ccrrpooiToy, 6u siOtj/ oi/Oil; ocu^pu-:Tu> oi/Ot' /oe/» ovi/xrcti. — Til. 
 
 - Cant. ii. !(!, 17. ^ P.-^. xcvii. 11. 
 
 * d Tuu Ti'Kovy.ivuv n'hsiuTti;, initiator, consniiuniitor. oioc rov Ilvct/- 
 fiocTo; uyiou is to be relened to fffVcx«A-<7:>, lulhur tlian to t<u»
 
 19i THE WlilTING'S OF METllODIUS. 
 
 tlie flesh, and putting on the strength of hope, in the face of 
 the law hastened to receive the Minister of the law, the 
 Teacher^ with authority, the God of Abraham, the Protector 
 of Isaac, tlie Holy One of Israel, the Instructor of Moses ; 
 Him, I say, who promised to show him His divine incar- 
 nation, as it were His hinder parts;- Him who, in the midsfc 
 of poverty, was rich ; Him who in infancy was before the 
 ages ; Him who, though seen, was invisible ; Him who in 
 comprehension was incomprehensible ; Him who, though in 
 littleness, yet surpassed all magnitude — at one and the same 
 time in the temple and in the highest heavens — on a royal 
 throne, and on the chariot of the cherubim ; Him who is 
 both above and below continuously; Him who is in the 
 form of a servant, and in the form of God the Fathei- ; a 
 subject, and yet King of all. He was entirely given up to 
 desire, to hope, to joy ; he was no longer his own, but His 
 who had been looked for. The Holy Spirit liad announced 
 to him the joyful tidings, and before he reached the 
 temple, carried aloft by the eyes of his understanding, as 
 if even now he possessed what he had longed for, he 
 exulted with joy. Being thus led on, and in his haste 
 treading the air wath his steps, he reaches the shrine hitherto 
 held sacred; but, not heeding the temple, he stretches 
 out his holy arms to the Euler of the temple, chant- 
 ing forth in song such strains as became the joyous occa- 
 sion : I long for Thee, Lord God of my fathers, and Lord 
 of mercy, who hast deigned, of Thine own glory and good- 
 ness, which provides for all, of Thy gracious condescension, 
 with which Thou inclinest towards us, as a Mediator bring- 
 ing peace, to establish harmony between earth and heaven. 
 I seek Thee, the Great Author of all. With longing I ex- 
 pect Thee who, with Thy word, embracest all things. I 
 wait for Thee, the Lord of life and death. For Thee I look, 
 the Giver of the law, and the Successor of the law. I 
 hunger for Thee, who quickenest the dead; I thirst for 
 Thee, who refreshest the weary ; I desire Thee, the Creator 
 
 ^ riv ui/dii/r/iv I/Iugkoi^^qv. The alliu'.inii is to Mark i. 22. 
 « Exod. iii. 2:^.
 
 ORATION CO.XCERXIXG SIMEON AND ANNA. 195 
 
 and liedeemer of the world.^ Thou art our God, and Tliee 
 we adore ; Thou art our holy Temple, and in Thee we pray ; 
 Thou art our Lawgiver, and Thee we ohey ; Thou art God 
 of all things the First. Before Thee was no other god 
 begotten of God the Father ; neither after Thee shall there 
 be any other son consubstantial and of one glory with the 
 Father. And to know Thee is perfect righteousness, and to 
 know Thy power is the root of immortality.- Thou art He 
 who, for our salvation, was made the head stone of the 
 corner, precious and honourable, declared before to Sinn.^ 
 For all things are placed under Thee as their Cause and 
 Author, as He who brought all things into being out of 
 nothing, and gave to what was unstable a firm coherence ; 
 as the connecting Band and Preserver of that which has 
 been brought into being ; as the Framer of things by nature 
 different ; as He who, with wise and steady hand, holds the 
 helm of the universe; as the very Principle of all good 
 order; as the irrefragable Bond of concord and peace. For 
 in Thee we live, and move, and have our being.* Wliere- 
 fore, Lord my God, I will glorify Thee, I will praise Thy 
 name ; for Thou hast done wonderful things ; Thy counsels 
 of old are faithfulness and trutli ; Thou art clothed witli 
 majesty and honour,^ For what is more splendid for a king 
 than a purple robe embroidered around with flowers, and a 
 shining diadem ? Or \\\\Ai for God, who delights in man, is 
 more magnificent than this merciful assumption of the man- 
 hood, illuminating with its resplendent rays those who sit 
 in darkness and the shadow of death ?^ Fitly did that tem- 
 poral king and Thy servant once sing of Thee as the King 
 Eternal, saying, Thou art fairer than the children of men, 
 who amongst men art very God and man.' For Thou hast 
 girt, by Thy incarnation. Thy loins with righteousness, and 
 anointed Thy veins with faithfulness, who Tliyself art 
 very righteousness and truth, the joy and exultation of 
 
 1 Is. xliii. 10. - Wisd. xv. 3. 
 
 3 Ps. cxviii. 22 ; Is. xxviii. 16 ; 1 Pt-t. ii. 6. * Acts xviiL 2a 
 
 * Exod. XV. 2 ; Is. xxv. 1 ; Ps. civ. 1. '' Is. .xlii. 7 ; Luke i. 79. 
 
 "> 1 Tim. i. 17 : Ps. xlv. 2.
 
 190 TiiK wnrnyus of metuoijius. 
 
 'Si\} Therefore rejoice Avitli me this day, ye heavens, for 
 the Lord liath showed mercy to His people. Yea, let the 
 clouds drop the dew of righteousness upon the world; 
 Ifct the foundations of the earth sound a trumpet-blast 
 to those in Hades, for the resurrection of them that sleep 
 i;s come.- Let the earth also cause compassion to spring 
 up to its inhahitants ; for I am filled with comfort ; I 
 am exceeding joyful since I have seen Thee, the Saviour 
 of men.^ 
 
 VIL While the old man was thus exultant, and rejoic- 
 ing with exceeding great and holy joy, that which had 
 before been spoken of in a figure by the prophet Isaiah, 
 the holy mother of God now manifestly fulfilled. For 
 taking, as from a pure and undefiled altar, that coal living 
 and ineffable, with man's flesh invested, in the embrace of 
 her sacred hands, as it were with the tongs, she held him 
 out to that just one, addressing and exhorting him, as it 
 seems to me, in words to this effect : Eeceive, reverend 
 senior, thou of priests the most excellent, receive the Lord, 
 and reap the full fruition of that hope of thine which is not 
 left widowed and desolate. Eeceive, thou of men the most 
 illustrious, the unfailing treasure, and those riches which 
 can never be taken away. Take to thine embrace, thou 
 of men most Avise, that unspeakable might, that unsearch- 
 al^le power, which can alone support thee. Embrace, 
 thou minister of the temple, the Greatness infinite, and the 
 Strength incomparable. Fold thyself around Him who is 
 the very life itself, and live, thou of men most venerable. 
 Cling closely to incorruption and be renewed, thou of 
 men most righteous. Not too bold is the attempt; shrink 
 not from it then, thou of men most holy. Satiate thyself 
 with Him thou hast longed for, and take thy delight in Him 
 who has been given, or rather who gives Himself to thee, 
 thou of men most divine. Joyfully draw thy light, thou of 
 men most pious, from the Sun of Eighteousness, that gleams 
 around thee through the unsullied mirror of the flesh. Fear 
 not His gentleness, nor let His clemency terrify thee, thou 
 ^ Is. xi. 5. - Is. xlv. S. 2 2 Cor. vii. 4.
 
 OBATIOX COXCERXIXG SIMI'.OX A XI J AXXA. l'.)? 
 
 of men most blessed. Be not afraid of His lenity, nor 
 slirink from His kindness, O thou of men most modest. 
 Join thyself to Him with alacrity, and delay not to obey 
 Him. That which is spoken to thee, and held out to thee, 
 savours not of over-boldness. Be not then reluctant, thou 
 of men the most decorous. The flame of the grace of my 
 Lord does not consume, but illuminates thee, thou of men 
 most just.^ Let the bush which set forth me in type, witli 
 respect to the verity of that fire which yet had no subsist- 
 ence, teach thee this, thou who art in the law the best 
 instructed. - Let that furnace which was as it were a breeze 
 distilling dew persuade thee, master, of the dispensation 
 of this mystery. Then, beside all this, let my M'omb be a 
 proof to thee, in which He was contained, who in nouglit 
 else was ever contained, of the substance of wliich the in- 
 carnate Word yet deigned to become incarnate. The blast^ 
 of the trumpet does not now terrify those who approach, 
 nor a second time does the mountain all on smoke cause 
 teiTor to those wlio draw nigli, nor indeed does the law 
 I)unish relentlessly ^ those who would boldly touch. Wliat 
 is here present speaks of love to man; what is here apparent, 
 of the Divine condescension. Thankfully, then, receive tlie 
 God who comes to thee, for He shall take away thine 
 iniquities, and thoroughly purge thy sins. In thee, let the 
 cleansing of the world first, as in type, have place. In thee, 
 and by tliee, let that justification which is of grace become 
 known beforehand to the Gentiles. Thou art worthy of 
 tlie quickening first-fruits. Thou hast made good use of 
 tlie law. Use grace henceforth. "With the letter thou liast 
 gi'own weary; in the spirit be renewed. Put oil" that which 
 is old, and clothe thyself with that wliich is new. For of 
 these matters I think not that tliou art ignoi-ant, 
 
 VIIL Upon all this that righteous man, waxing bold and 
 yielding to the exhortation of the mother of God, who is 
 the handmaid of God in regard to tlie things wliicli pert^xin 
 to men, received into his aged arms Him wlio in infancy 
 was yet the ancient of days, and blessed God, and said, 
 
 I Exod. iii. 2. ^ i;^,,^ jij, £1. s E.vud. .\i.\. IG. * Ps. vi. G.
 
 198 THE WRTTTXGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 " Lord, now lettest Thou Tliy servant depart in peace, 
 according to Thy word : for mine eyes have seen Thy 
 salvation, which Tlioii liast prepared before the face of all 
 people ; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of 
 Thy people Israel." ^ I have received from Thee a joy 
 unmixed with pain. Do thou, Lord, receive me rejoicing, 
 and singing of Thy mercy and compassion. Thou hast 
 given unto me this joy of heart. I render unto Thee with 
 gladness my tribute of thanksgiving. I have known the 
 power of the love of God. Since, for my sake, God of Thee 
 begotten, in a manner ineffable, and -svithout corruption, 
 has become man. I have known the inexplicable greatness 
 of Thy love and care for us, for Thou hast sent forth Thine 
 o%\Ti bowels to come to our deliverance. N^ow, at length, I 
 understand what I had from Solomon learned : " Strong as 
 death is love : for by it shall the sting of death be done 
 away, by it shall the dead see life, by it shall even death 
 learn what death is, being made to cease from that dominion 
 which over us he exercised. By it, also, shall the serpent, 
 the author of our evils, betaken captive and overwhelmed.'"^ 
 Iliou hast made known to us, Lord, Thy salvation,^ 
 causing to spring up for us the plant of peace, and we shall 
 no longer wander in error. Thou hast made known to us, 
 Lord, that Thou hast not unto the end overlooked Thy 
 servants ; neither hast Thou, beneficent One, forgotten 
 eotirely the works of Thine hands. For out of Thy com- 
 passion for our low estate Thou hast shed forth upon us 
 abundantly that goodness of Thine which is inexhaustible, 
 and with Thy very nature cognate, having redeemed us by 
 Thine oidy begotten Son, who is unchangeably like to Thee, 
 and of one substance with Thee; judging it unworthy of Thy 
 majesty and goodness to entrust to a servant the work of 
 saving and benefiting Thy servants, or to cause that those 
 who had offended should be reconciled by a minister. But 
 by means of that light, which is of one substance with 
 Thee, Thou hast given light to those that sat in darkness *■ 
 
 1 Luke ii. 29-32. 2 Caut. viii 6. ^ p^, xc\-iii. 2. 
 
 * Is. ix. 2, xlii. 7 ; Luke i. 79.
 
 ORATION COXCERSING SIMEON AND ANNA. 109 
 
 and in the shadow of death, in order that in Thv light 
 they might see tlie light of knowledge;^ and it has seemed 
 good to Thee, by means of our Lord and Creator, to fashion 
 xis again unto immortality ; and Thou hast graciously given 
 unto us a return to Paradise by means of Him who separated 
 us from the joys of Paradise ; and by means of Him who 
 hath power to forgive sins Thou hast" blotted out the 
 h.andwriting which was against us. ^ Lastly, by means 
 of Him who is a partaker of Thy throne, and who cannot 
 be separated from Thy divine nature, Thou hast given 
 unto us the gift of reconciliation, and access unto Thee with 
 confidence, in order that, by the Lord who recognises the 
 sovereign authority of none, by the true and omnipotent God, 
 the subscribed sanction, as it were, of so many and such gi-eat 
 blessings might constitute the justifying gifts of grace to 
 be certain and indubitable rights to those who have obtained 
 mercy. And this very thing the prophet before had an- 
 nounced in the words : No ambassador, nor angel, but the 
 Lord Himself saved them ; l)ecause He loved them, and 
 spared them, and He took them up, and exalted them.* 
 And all this was, not of works of righteousness'' which we 
 have done, nor because we loved Thee (for our first earthly 
 forefather, who was honourably entertained in the delightful 
 abode of Paradise, despised Thy divine and saving command- 
 ment, and was judged unworthy of that life-giving place, 
 and mingling his seed with the bastard oli-shoots of sin, he 
 rendered it very weak) ; but Thou, Lord, of Thine own 
 self, and of Thine ineffable love toward the creature of Thine 
 hands, hast confirmed Thy mercy toward us, and, pitying 
 our estrangement from Thee, hast moved Thyself at the 
 sight of our degradation*' to take us into compassion. 
 Hence, for the future, a joyous festival is established for us 
 of the race of Adam, because the first Creator of Adam of 
 His own free will has become the Second Adam. And the 
 brightness of the Lord our God hath come down to sojourn 
 with us, so tliat we see God face to face, and are saved. 
 
 1 Ps. xxxvi. S). - Mark ii. 10. ^ Col. ii. 4. 
 
 * Is. Ixiii, 9, Sept. version. •'• Titii.s iii. "). '^ Jno. iv. !).
 
 200 THE WHITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 Therefore, Lord, I seek of Thee to he allowed to depart. 
 I have seen Thy salvation ; let me be delivered from the 
 bent yoke of the letter. I have seen the King Eternal, to 
 whom no other succeeds ; let me be set free from this servile 
 and burdensome chain. I have seen Him who is by nature 
 my Lord and Deliverer ; may I obtain, then, His decree for 
 my deliverance. Set me free from the yoke of condemnation, 
 and place me under the yoke of justification. Deliver me 
 from the yoke of the curse, and of the letter that killeth ; ^ 
 and enrol me in the blessed company of those who, by the 
 grace of this Thy true Son, who is of equal glory and power 
 with Thee, have been received into the adoption of sons. 
 
 IX. Let then, says he, what I have thus far said in 
 brief, suffice for the present as my offering of thanks to 
 God. But what shall I say to thee, mother-virgin and 
 virgin-mother ? For the praise even of her who is not 
 man's work exceeds the power of man. Wherefore the dim- 
 ness of my poverty I will make bright with the splendour 
 of the gifts of the spirits that around thee shine, and offer- 
 ing to thee of thine own, from the immortal meadows I will 
 pluck a garland for thy sacred and divinely crowned head. 
 With thine ancestral hymns will I greet thee, daughter of 
 David, and mother of the Lord and God of David. For ^t 
 were both base and inauspicious to adorn thee, who in thine 
 own glory excellest with that wdiich belongeth unto another. 
 Eeceive, therefore, lady most benignant, gifts precious, 
 and such as are fitted to thee alone, thou who art exalted 
 above all generations, and w^ho, amongst all created tilings, 
 both visible and invisible, shinest forth as the most hon- 
 ourable. Blessed is the root of Jesse, and thrice blessed 
 is the house of David, in which thou hast sprung up.^ God 
 is in the midst of thee, and thou shalt not be moved, for the 
 ^lost High hath made holy the place of His tabernacle. 
 For in thee the covenants and oaths made of God unto the 
 fathers have received a most glorious fulfilment, since by 
 tliee the Lord hath appeared, the God of hosts with us. 
 That bush which could not be touched,^ whicli beforehand 
 1 2 Cor iii. (?. 2 p^. xlvi. 4, d. '■^ Exod. iii. 2.
 
 ORATION CONCERXIXG SIMEON AND ANNA. 201 
 
 shadowed forth thy figure endowed with divine majest)', 
 bare God without being consumed, who manifested Himself 
 to the prophet just so far as He willed to be seen. Then, 
 again, that hard and rugged rock,^ wliich imaged forth the 
 grace and refreshment which has sprung out from thee for 
 all the world, brought Ibrth abundantly in the desert out oi" 
 its tliirsty sides a healing draught for the fainting people. 
 Yea, moreover, the rod of the priest wliich, witliout culture, 
 blossomed forth in fruit,- the pledge and earnest of a per- 
 petual priesthood, furnished no contemptible symbol of thy 
 supernatural child-bearing.^ What, moreover ? Hath not 
 the miglity Moses expressly declared, that on account of 
 these types of thee, hard to be understood,* he delayed 
 longer on the mountain, in order that he might learn, 
 holy one, the mysteries that with thee are connected ? For 
 being commanded to build the ark as a sign and similitude 
 of this thing, he was not negligent in obeying the command, 
 although a tragic occurrence happened on his descent from 
 the mount ; but having made it in size five cubits and a 
 half, he appointed it to be the receptacle of the law, and 
 covered it with the wings of the cherubim, most evidently 
 presignifying thee, the mother of God, who hast conceived 
 Him without corruption, and in an ineffable manner brouglit 
 forth Him who is Himself, as it were, the very consistence 
 of incorruption, and that within the limits of the five and a 
 half circles of the world. On thy account, and the undefiled 
 Incarnation of God, the Word, which by thee had place for 
 the sake of that flesh whicli immutably and indivisibly 
 remains with Him for ever.^ The golden pot also, as a most 
 certain type, preserved the manna contained in it, which in 
 other cases was changed day by day, unchanged, and keej)- 
 ing fresh for ages. The prophet Elijah*' likewise, as prescient 
 of thy chastity, and being emulous of it through the Spirit, 
 bound aroiind him the crown of that fiery life, being by tlie 
 divine decree adjudged superior to death. Thee also, iire- 
 figuring his successor Elisha," having been instructed by a 
 
 » E.xod. xvii. (i. '^ Nwiiili. xvii. 8. ■' H.-b. i.x. 4. * E.xod. xxv. 8. 
 •' lleb. i.\. 4. '' -J. \\\\\'jfi ii. 1 1. " Ecclus. xlviii. 1.
 
 202 THE WRITINGS OF MKTIIOBIUB. 
 
 wise master, and anticipating thy presence who wast not 
 yet born, by certain sure indications of the things that 
 would have place liereafter/ ministered help and healing to 
 those who were in need of it, which was of a virtue beyond 
 nature; now with a new cruse, which contained healing 
 salt, curing the deadly waters, to show that the world was 
 to be recreated by the mystery manifested in thee; now 
 with unleavened meal, in type responding to thy child- 
 bearing, without being defiled by the seed of man, banishing 
 from the food the bitterness of death ; and then again, by 
 efforts which transcended nature, rising superior to the 
 natural elements in the Jordan, and thus exhibiting, in 
 signs beforehand, the descent of our Lord into Hades, and 
 His wonderful deliverance of those who were held fast in 
 corruption. For all things yielded and succumbed to that 
 divine image which prefigured thee. 
 
 X. But why do I digress, and lengthen out my discourse, 
 giving it the rein with these varied illustrations, and that 
 when the truth of thy matter stands like a column before 
 the eye, in which it were better and more profitable to 
 luxuriate and delight in ? Wlierefore, bidding adieu to the 
 spiritual narrations and wondrous deeds of the saints 
 throughout all ages, I pass on to thee who art always to 
 be had in remembrance, and who boldest the helm, as it 
 were, of this festival. Blessed art thou, all-blessed, and to 
 be desired of all. Blessed of the Lord is thy name, full of 
 divine grace, and grateful exceedingly to God, mother of 
 God, thou that givest light to the faithful. Thou art the 
 circumscription, so to speak, of Him who cannot be circum- 
 scribed ; the roof^ of the most beautiful flower ; the mother 
 of the Creator ; the nurse of the Nourisher ; the circumfer- 
 ence of Him who embraces all things; the upholder of Him^ 
 who upholds all things by His word ; the gate through which 
 God appears in the flesh;'' the tongs of that cleansing coal f 
 the bosom in small of that bosom which is all-containing ; 
 the fleece of wool,*^ the mystery of which cannot be solved ; 
 
 1 2 Kings, ii. 20, iv. 41, v. 2 jg, ^i, 1, 3 jjgij, j, 3. 
 
 * Ezek. xliv. 2. ^ Is. vi. G. ^ Judges vi. 37.
 
 ORATIOX COXCERXJNG SIMKOX AXD AXXA. 203 
 
 the well of Betlileliem/ that reservoir of life which David 
 longed for, out of which the draught of immortality gushed 
 forth ; the mercy-seat^ from which God in human form was 
 made known unto men ; tlie spotless robe of Ilim who clothes 
 Himself with light as with a garment.^ Thou hast lent to 
 God, who stands in need of nothing, that flesh which He had 
 not, in order that the Omnipotent niiglit become that which 
 it was His good pleasure to be. What is more splendid 
 than this ? What than this is more sublime ? He who fills 
 earth and heaven,^ whose are all things, has become in need 
 of thee, for thou hast lent to God that flesh which He had not. 
 Thou hast clad the Mighty One with that beauteous panoply 
 of the body by which it has become possible for Him to be 
 seen by mine eyes. And I, in order that I might freely 
 approach to behold Him, have received that by which all 
 the fiery darts of the wicked shall be quenched.^ Hail ! 
 hail ! mother and handmaid of God. Hail ! hail ! thou to 
 whom the great Creditor of all is a debtor. We are all 
 debtors to God, but to thee He is Himself indebted. For 
 He who said, " Honour thy father and thy mother,"^ will 
 have most assuredly, as Himself willing to be tested by 
 such proofs, kept inviolate that grace, and Ilis own decree 
 towards lier who ministered to Him that nativity to which 
 He voluntarily stooped, and will have glorified with a divine 
 honour her wdiom He, as being without a father, even as 
 she was without a husband. Himself has written down as 
 mother. Even so must these things be. For the hymns 
 which we offer to thee, thou most holy and admirable 
 liabitation of God, are no merely useless and ornamental 
 words. Nor, again, is thy spiritual laudation mere secular 
 trifling, or the shoutings of a false flattery, thou who of 
 God art praised ; thou who to God gavest suck ; who by 
 nativity givest unto mortals their beginning of being, but 
 they are of clear and evident truth. But tlie time would 
 fail us, ages and succeeding generations too, to render unto 
 thee thy fitting salutation as the mother of the King Eternal/ 
 
 1 2 Sam. .\xiii. 17. " Exod. x.vxv. 17. ^ p.^ ,.iv. 2. * Jer. xxiii. 2-i. 
 «Eplies. vi. IG. "Exod. xx. 12. ^ 1 Tim. i. 17.
 
 20-1 THE WRITIXGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 even as somewliere the illustrious prophet says, teaching us 
 how incomprehensible thou art.^ How great is the house of 
 God, and how large is the place of His possession ! Great, 
 and hath none end, high and unmeasurable. For verily, 
 verily, this prophetic oracle, and most true saying, is con- 
 cerning thy majesty; for thou alone hast been thought 
 worthy to share with God the things of God ; who hast 
 alone borne in the flesh Him, who of God the Father was 
 the Eternally and Only-Begotten. So do they truly believe 
 who hold fast to the pure faith. 
 
 XL But for the time that remains, my most attentive 
 hearers, let us take up the old man, the receiver of God, and 
 our pious teacher, who hath put in here, as it were, in safety 
 from that virginal sea, and let us refresh him, both satisfied 
 as to his divine longing, and conveying to us this most 
 blessed theology ; and let us ourselves follow out the rest of 
 our discourse, directing our course unerringly with reference 
 to our prescribed end, aud that under the guidance of God 
 the Almighty, so shall we not be found altogether unfruitful 
 and unprofitable as to what is required of us. "When, then, 
 to these sacred rites, prophecy and the priesthood had been 
 jointly called, and that pair of just ones elected of God 
 (Simeon, I mean, and Anna, bearing in themselves most evi- 
 dently the images of both peoples) had taken their station 
 by the side of that glorious and virginal throne (for by the 
 old man was represented the people of Israel, and the law 
 now waxing old ; whilst the widow represents the Church of 
 the Gentiles, which had been up to tliis point a widow), the old 
 man, indeed, as personating the law, seeks dismissal; but the 
 widow, as personating the Church, brought her joyous con- 
 fession of faith," and spake of Him to all that looked for re- 
 tlemption in Jerusalem, even as the things that were spoken 
 of both have been appositely and excellently recorded, and 
 quite in harrdony with the sacred festival. For it was fit- 
 ting and necessary that the old man who knew so accurately 
 that decree of the law, in which it is said : Hear Him, and 
 every soul that will not hearken unto Him shall be cut off 
 ^ Baruch iii. 24, 25. - Luke ii. 3S.
 
 ORATION CO^X'ERXL\G SIMEOX AND ANNA. 205 
 
 from His people,^ should seek a peaceful discharge from the 
 tutorship of the law ; for in truth it were insolence and pre- 
 sumption, when the king is present and addressing the 
 people, for one of his attendants to make a speech over 
 against him, and that to this man his subjects should in- 
 cline their ears. It was necessary, too, that the widow wlio 
 had been increased with gifts beyond measure, sliould in 
 festal strains return her thanks to God ; and so the things 
 which there took place were agreeable to the law. But, 
 for what remains, it is necessary to inquire how, since 
 the prophetic types and figures bear, as has been shown, 
 a certain analogy and relation to this prominent feast, 
 it is said that the house was filled with smoke. Nor does 
 the prophet say this incidentally, but with significance, 
 speaking of that cry of the Thrice-Holy,- uttered by the 
 heavenly seraphs. You will discover the meaning of tliis, 
 my attentive hearer, if you do but take up and examine what 
 follows upon this narration : For hearing, he says, ye shall 
 hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, ye shall see, an<i 
 not perceive.^ When, therefore, the foolish Jewish children 
 had seen the glorious wonders which, as David sang, the 
 Lord had performed in the earth, and had seen the sign 
 from the depth'* and from the height meeting together, 
 without division or confusion ; as also Isaiah had before de- 
 clared, namely, a mother beyond nature, and an ott'spring 
 beyond reason ; an earthly mother and a heavenly son : a 
 new taking of man's nature, I say, by God, and a child- 
 bearing without marriage ; what in creation's circuit could 
 be more glorious and more to be spoken of than this ! yet 
 when they had seen this it was all one as if tliey had not 
 seen it ; they closed their eyes, and in respect of praise were 
 supine. Therefore the house in which they boasted was 
 filled with smoke. 
 
 XII. And in addition to this, wlien besides the spectacle, 
 and even beyond the spectacle, they heard an old man, very 
 righteous, very worthy of credit, worthy also of emulation, 
 
 ^ Deut. xviii. 15-19. - I-. vi. 4. - Is. vi. 9 ; Acts xxviii. :i(J. 
 * Ps. xlvi. 8 : Is. vii. 1 1.
 
 20G THE WPdTINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 inspired Ly the Holy Spirit, a teacher of the law, honoured 
 with the priesthood, illustrious in the gift of prophecy, by 
 the hope which he had conceived of Christ, extending the 
 limits of life, and putting off the debt of death — when they 
 saw him, I say, leaping for joy, speaking words of good 
 omen, quite transformed with gladness of heart, entirely 
 rapt in a divine and holy ecstasy; who from a man had 
 been changed into an angel by a godly change, and, for the 
 immensity of his joy, chanted his hymn of thanlcsgiving, 
 and openly proclaimed the " Light to lighten the Gentiles, 
 and the glory of Thy people Israel." ^ Not even then were 
 they willing to hear what was placed within their hearing, 
 and held in veneration by the heavenly beings themselves ; 
 wherefore the house in which they boasted was filled with 
 smoke. Now smoke is a sign and sure evidence of wrath ; 
 as it is written, " There w^ent up a smoke in His anger, and 
 fire from His countenance devoured ;" ^ and in another 
 place, "Amongst the disobedient people shall the fire 
 burn,"^ wdiich plainly, in the revered gospels, our Lord 
 signified, when He said to the Jews, " Behold your house is 
 left unto you desolate."^ Also, in another place, "The 
 kinfT sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, 
 and burnt up their city."^ Of such a nature was the 
 adverse reward of the Jews for their unbelief, which 
 caused them to refuse to pay to the Trinity the tribute 
 of praise. For after that the ends of the earth were 
 sanctified, and the mighty house of the Church was filled, 
 by the proclamation of the Thrice Holy, with the glory 
 of the Lord, as the great waters cover the seas,^ there hap- 
 pened to them the things which before had been declared, 
 and the beginning of prophecy was confirmed by its issue, 
 the preacher of truth signifying, as has been said, by the 
 Holy Spirit, as it were in an example, the dreadful destruc- 
 tion which was to come upon them, in the words : " In the 
 year in which king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord " — Uzziah, 
 doubtless, as an apostate, being taken as the representative 
 
 ^ Luke ii. 32. ^ pg. xviii. 8. ^ Ecclus. xxii, 7. 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 38. * ^latt. xvii. 7. « Is. vi. 3, 4, L
 
 ORATION CONCERNING SIMEON AND ANNA. 207 
 
 of the whole apostate body — the head of which he certainly 
 was — who also, paying the penalty due to his presumption, 
 carried on his forehead, as upon a brazen statue, the divine 
 vengeance engraved, by the loathsomeness of leprosy, 
 exhibiting to all the retribution of their loathsome impiety. 
 Wherefore with divine wisdom did he, who liad foreknow- 
 ledge of these events, oppose the bringing in of the thankful 
 Anna to the casting out of the ungrateful synagogue. Her 
 very name also presignifies the Church, that by the grace 
 of Christ and God is justified in baptism. For Anna is, 
 by interpretation, grace. 
 
 XIII. But here, as in port, putting in the vessel that 
 bears the ensign of the cross, let us reef the sails of our 
 oration, in order that it may be with itself commensurate. 
 Only first, in as few words as possible, let us salute the city 
 of the Great King,^ together with the whole body of the 
 Church, as being present with them in spirit, and keeping 
 holy-day with the Father, and the brethren most held in 
 honour there. Hail, thou city of the Great King, in which 
 the mysteries of our salvation are consummated. Hail, thou 
 heaven upon earth, Sion, the city that is for ever faithful unto 
 the Lord. Hail, and shine thou Jerusalem, for thy light is 
 come, the Light Eternal, the Light for ever enduring, the 
 Light Supreme, the Light Immaterial, the Light of one sul)- 
 stance with God and the Father, the Light which is in the 
 Spirit, and in which is the Father; the Light which illu- 
 mines the ages; the Light which gives light to mundane and 
 supramundane things, Christ our very God. Hail, city 
 sacred and elect of the Lord. Jo)i"ully keep thy festal days, 
 for they will not multiply so as to wax old and pass away. 
 Han, thou city most happy, for glorious things are spoken 
 of thee ; thy priest shall be clothed with righteousness, and 
 thy saints shall shout for joy, and thy poor shall be satisfied 
 with bread.2 Hail ! rejoice, Jerusalem, for the Lord 
 reigneth in tlie midst of thee.^ That Lord, I say, who in 
 His simple and immaterial Deity, entered our nature, and 
 
 » Ps. xlviii. 2 ; Matt, v, 35 ; Is. i. 26. 
 
 - Is. k. 1 ; Py. Ixxxvii. :} ; P.<. c.xxxii. IG. ^ jg ^jj p^
 
 208 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 of tlie virgin's womb became ineffably incarnate; tliat Lord, 
 who was partaker of nothing else save the lump of Adam, 
 who was by the serpent tripped up. For the Lord laid not 
 lioid of the seed of angels^ — those, T say, Avho fell not away 
 i'rom that beauteous order and rank that was assigned to 
 them from the beginning. To us He condescended, that 
 Word wlio was always with the Father co-existent God. 
 Nor, again, did He come into the world to restore ; nor will 
 He restore, as has been imagined by some impious advo- 
 cates of the devil, those wicked demons who once fell from 
 light ; but when the Creator and Framer of all things had, 
 as the most divine Paul says, laid hold of the seed of Abra- 
 ham, and through him of the whole human race. He was 
 made man for ever, and without change, in order that by 
 His fellowship with us, and our joining on to Him, the 
 ingress of sin into us might be stopped, its strength being 
 broken by degrees, and itself as wax being melted, by that 
 fire which the Lord, when He came, sent upon the earth.' 
 Hail to thee, thou Catholic Church, which hast been planted 
 in all the earth, and do thou rejoice with us. Fear not, 
 little ilock, the storms of the enemy ,^ for it is your Father's 
 good pleasure to give you the kingdom, and that you should 
 tread upon the necks of your enemies.'* Hail, and rejoice, 
 thou that wast once barren, and without seed unto godli- 
 ness, but who hast now many children of faith.^ Hail, 
 thou people of the Lord, thou chosen generation, thou royal 
 priesthood, thou holy nation, thou peculiar people — show 
 forth His praises who hath called you out of darkness into 
 His marvellous light ; and for His mercies glorify Him.^ 
 
 XIV. Hail to thee for ever, thou virgin mother of God, 
 our unceasing joy, for unto thee do I again return. Thou 
 art the beginning of our feast; thou art its middle and end ; 
 the pearl of great price that belongest unto the kingdom ; 
 the fatof every victim, the living altar of the bread of life. 
 
 ' Ileb. ii. 16. 2 L^^e xii. 49. 
 
 ^ ToiKv/ictcts, stormy waves. Latin, decimiani fluctus. Methodius per- 
 liaj)s alludes to Diocletian's persecution, in which he perished as a 
 martyr.— Tr. * Luke xii. 32. ^ i^. Jiv. 1. 1 Peter ii. 9.
 
 ORATION CONCERNING SIMEON AND ANNA. 209 
 
 Hail, thou treasure of the love of God. Hail, thou fount of 
 the Son's love for man. Hail, thou overshadowing mount^ 
 of the Holy Ghost. Thou gleamedst, sweet gift-bestowing 
 mother, of the light of the sun ; thou gleamedst with the 
 insupportable fires of a most fei-vent charity, bringing forth 
 in the end that which was conceived of thee before the 
 beginning, making manifest the mystery hidden and un- 
 speakable, the invisible Son of the Father — the Prince of 
 Peace, who in a marvellous manner showed Himself as less 
 than all littleness. Wherefore, we pray thee, the most 
 excellent among women, who boastest in the confidence of 
 thy maternal honours, that thou wouldest unceasingly keep 
 us in remembrance. holy mother of God, remember us, I 
 say, who make our boast in thee, and who in hymns august 
 celebrate the memory, which will ever live, and never fade 
 away. And do thou also, honoured and venerable 
 Simeon, thou earliest host of our holy religion, and teacher 
 of the resurrection of the faithful, be our patron and advo- 
 cate with that Saviour God, whom thou wast deemed worthy 
 to receive into thine arms. We, together with thee, sing 
 our praises to Christ, who has the power of life and death, 
 saying. Thou art the true Light, proceeding from the true 
 Light; the true God, begotten of the true God; the one 
 Lord, before Thine assumption of the humanity ; that One 
 nevertheless, after Thine assumption of it, which is ever to 
 be adored ; God of Thine own self and not by grace, but 
 for our sakes also perfect man ; in Thine own nature the 
 King absolute and sovereign, but for us and for our salva- 
 tion existing also in the form of a servant, yet immacu- 
 lately and without defilement. For Thou who art incor- 
 ruption hast come to set corruption free, that Thou miglitest 
 render all things uncon-upt. For Thine is the glory, and 
 the power, and the greatness, and the majesty, with tlie 
 Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 
 
 1 Habak. iii. 3.
 
 ORATION ON THE PALMS. 
 
 [LESSED be God : let us proceed, brethren, from 
 wonders to the miracles of the Lord, and as it 
 were, from strength to strength.^ Eor just as in 
 a golden chain the links are so intimately joined 
 and connected together, as that the one holds the other, and 
 is fitted on to it, and so carries on the chain — even so 
 the miracles that have been handed down by the holy 
 gospels, one after the other, lead on the Church of God, 
 which delights in festivity, and refresh it, not with the meat 
 that perisheth, but with that which endureth unto everlast- 
 ing life.^ Come then, beloved, and let us, too, with pre- 
 pared hearts, and with ears intent, listen to what the Lord 
 our God shall say unto us out of the prophets and gospels 
 concerning this most sacred feast. Verily, He will speak 
 peace unto His people, and to His saints, and to those 
 which turn their hearts unto Him. To-day, the trumpet- 
 blast of the prophets have roused the world, and have made 
 glad and filled Avith joyfulness the Churches of God that 
 are every^vhere amongst the nations. And, summoning the 
 faithful from the exercise of holy fasting, and from the 
 palaistra, wherein they struggle against the lusts of the flesh, 
 they have taught them to sing a new hymn of conquest 
 and a new song of peace to Christ who giveth the victory. 
 Come then, every one, and let us rejoice in the Lord ; 
 come, all ye people, and let us clap our hands, and make a 
 joyful noise to God our Saviour, with the voice of melody.^ 
 Let no one be without portion in this grace ; let no one 
 come short of this calling; for the seed of the disobedient is 
 appointed to destruction. (Let no one neglect to meet the 
 ^ Ps. Ixxxiv. 8. 2 John vi. 27. ^ Ps. Ixxxv. 9, xcv. 1, xlvii. 1.
 
 ORATION OX THE PALMS. 211 
 
 King, lest he be shut out from the Bridegroom's chamber.) 
 Let no one amongst us be found to receive Him with a sad 
 countenance, lest he be condemned with those wicked citi- 
 zens — the citizens, I mean, who refused to receive the Lord 
 as King over them.^ Let us all come together cheerfully; 
 let us all receive Him gladly, and hold our feast with all 
 honesty. Instead of our garments, let us strew our hearts 
 before Him.^ In psalms and hymns, let us raise to Him 
 our shouts of thanksgiving ; and, without ceasing, let us 
 exclaim, " Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord;"^ for blessed are they that bless Him, and cursed are 
 they that curse Him.* Again I wiU say it, nor will I cease 
 exhorting you to good, Come, beloved, let us bless Him who 
 is blessed, that we may be ourselves blessed of Him. Every 
 age and condition does this discourse simimon to praise the 
 Lord ; kings of the earth, and all people ; princes, and all 
 judges of the eartli; both young men and maidens^ — and 
 what is new in tliis miracle, the tender and innocent a<fe of 
 babes and sucklings hath obtained the first place in raising 
 to God with thankful confession the hymn which was of God 
 taught them in the strains in which Moses sang before to 
 the people when they came forth out of Egypt — namely, 
 " Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." 
 
 II. To-day, holy David rejoices with great joy, being by 
 babes despoiled of his lyre, with wliom also, in spirit, leading 
 the dance, and rejoicing together, as of old, before the ark 
 of God,° he mingles musical harmony, and sweetly lisps out 
 in stammering voice. Blessed is He that cometh in the name 
 of the Lord. Of whom shall we inquire ? Tell us, pro- 
 phet, who is this that cometh in the name of the Lord? 
 He will say it is not my part to-day to teach you, for He 
 hath consecrated the school to infants, who hath out of the 
 mouth of babes and sucklings perfected praise to destroy 
 the enemy and the avenger,^ in order that by the miracle 
 
 » Luke xix. 27. 2 p..,. ixii. a 
 
 3 Ps. cxviii. 2() ; Matt. xxi. 9 ; Mark xi. !) ; Luke xix. 38 ; Jno. xii. 13. 
 * Gen. xxvii. 29. * Ps. cxlviii. 11, 12. 
 
 " 2 Sam. vi. 14. ' Ps. viii. 2.
 
 212 THE WJllTJXGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 of these tlie hearts of the fathers might be turned to the 
 children, and the disobedient unto the wisdom of the just.^ 
 Tell us, then, children, whence is this, your beautiful 
 and graceful contest of song ? Who taught it you ? Wlio 
 instructed you ? Who brought you together ? Wliat were 
 your tablets ? Who were your teachers ? Do but you, they 
 say, join us as our companions in this song and festivity, 
 and you will learn the things which were by Moses and the 
 prophet earnestly longed for.^ Since then the children have 
 invited us, and have given unto us the right hand of fellow- 
 ship,^ let us come, beloved, and ourselves emulate that holy 
 chorus, and with the apostles, let us make way for Him who 
 ascends over the heaven of heavens towards the East,^ and 
 who, of His good pleasure, is upon the earth mounted upon 
 an ass's colt. Let us, with the children, raise the branches 
 aloft, and with the olive branches make glad applaud, that 
 upon us also the Holy Spirit may breathe, and that in due 
 order we may raise the God-taught strain : " Blessed is He 
 that Cometh in the name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the 
 highest."^ To-day, also, the patriarch Jacob keeps feast in 
 spirit, seeing his prophecy brought to a fulfilment, and with 
 the faithful adores the Father, seeing Him who bound liis foal 
 to the vine,® mounted upon an ass's colt. To-day the foal 
 is made ready, the irrational exemplar of the Gentiles, who 
 before were irrational, to signify the subjection of the people 
 of the Gentiles ; and the babes declare their former state 
 of childhood, in respect of the knowledge of God, and their 
 after perfecting, by the worship of God and the exercise 
 of the true religion. To-day, according to the prophet,^ is 
 the King of Glory glorified upon earth, and makes us, the 
 inhabitants of earth, partakers of the heavenly feast, that 
 He may show Himself to be the Lord of both, even as He 
 is hymned with the common praises of both. Therefore it 
 was that the heavenly hosts sang, announcing salvation upon 
 earth, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts; the 
 v;hole earth is fiill of His glory." ^ And those below, join- 
 
 » Mai. iv. 6 ; Luke i. 17. ^ Luke x. 24. ^ Qal. ii. 9. ^ Ps. Ixviii. 4, 34. 
 * Matt. xxi. 5. <^ Gen. xlix. 10. ^ Ps. cxlviii. 9. » jg. yj. 3.
 
 ORATION OX THE PALMS. 213 
 
 ing in liarmony with the joyous hymns of heaven, cried : 
 " Hosanna in the highest ; Hosanna to tlie Son of David." 
 In heaven tlie doxology was raised, " Blessed be the glory 
 of the Lord from His place ;"^ and on earth was this cauglit 
 up in the words, " Blessed is He that cometh in the name of 
 the Lord." 
 
 III. But while these things were being done, and the 
 disciples were rejoicing and praising God witli a loud voice 
 for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed 
 be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord ; peace in 
 heaven, and glory in the highest;^ the city began to inquire, 
 saying. Who is this ?^ stirring up its hardened and inveterate 
 envy against the glory of the Lord. But when thou Iiearest 
 me say the city, understand the ancient and disorderly 
 multitude of the synagogue. They ungratefully and malig- 
 nantly ask, Who is this ? as if they had never yet seen their 
 Benefactor, and Him whom divine miracles, beyond the 
 power of man, had made famous and renowned ; for the dark- 
 ness comprehended not* that unsetting light wliich shone in 
 upon it. Hence quite appositely with respect to them hath 
 the prophet Isaiah exclaimed, saying. Hear, ye deaf; and 
 look, ye blind, that ye may see. And who is blind, l)ut mv 
 children ? and deaf, but they that have the dominion over 
 them?^ And the servants of the Lord have become bhnd ; 
 ye have often seen, but ye observed not ; your ears are 
 opened, yet ye hear not. See, beloved, liow accurate are 
 these words ; how the Divine Spirit, who Himself sees be- 
 forehand into the future, has by His saints foretold of things 
 future as if they were present. For these thankless men 
 saw, and by means of His miracles handled the wonder- 
 working God, and yet remained in unbelief.^ They saw a 
 man, blind from his birth, proclaiming to them tlie God who 
 had restored his siglit. They saw a paralytic, who had grown 
 up, as it were, and become one witli his infirmity, at His 
 bidding loosed from his disease.'^ They saw Lazarus, who 
 was made an exile from tlie ivgion of death.* They heard 
 
 1 Ezek. iii. 22. 2 l„i^(. xix. 37, 38. ^ U-M. xxi. 10. * J„lin i. T). 
 * Is. xlii. 18-20. «Jolinix. ^Julmv. 5. *Johuxi, 44.
 
 2U THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 that He had walked on the sea.^ They heard of the wine 
 that, without previous culture, was ministered ;- of the bread 
 that was eaten at that spontaneous banquet;^ they heard 
 that the demons had been put to flight ; the sick restored to 
 health.* Their very streets proclaimed His deeds of wonder; 
 their roads declared His healing power to those who jour- 
 neyed on them. All Judea was tilled with His benefit ; 
 yet now, when they hear the divine praises, they inquire, 
 "Wlio is this ? the madness of these falsely-named 
 teachers ! incredulous fathers ! foolish seniors ! 
 seed of the shameless Canaan, and not of Judah the devout !^ 
 The children acknowledge their Creator, but their unbeliev- 
 ing- parents said, Who is this ? The age that was young and 
 inexperienced sang praises to God, w^hile they that had waxen 
 old in wickedness inquired. Who is this ? Sucklings praise 
 His Divinity, while seniors utter blasphemies ; children 
 piously offer the sacrifice of praise, whilst profane priests 
 are impiously indignant.*^ 
 
 IV. ye disobedient as regards the wisdom of the just,^ 
 turn your hearts to your children. Learn the mysteries of 
 God • the very thing itseK w^hich is being done bears witness 
 that it is Gocl that is thus lipnned by uninstructed tongues. 
 Search the Scriptures, as ye have heard ^ from the Lord ; for 
 they are they which testify of Him, and be not ignorant of 
 tliis miracle. Hear ye men without grace, and thankless, 
 what good tidings the prophet Zechariah brings to you. He 
 says, Eejoice greatly, daughter of Zion ; behold thy King 
 Cometh unto thee: just and having salvation; lowly, and 
 riding upon the foal of an ass.^ Why do ye repel the joy ? 
 Why, when the sun shineth, do ye love darkness ? Why do 
 ye against unconquerable peace meditate w^ar ? If, there- 
 fore, ye be the sons of Zion, join in the dance together with, 
 vour children. Let the religious service of your children be 
 to you a pretext for joy. Learn from them wdio was their 
 Teacher; who called them together; whence was the 
 
 ^ Matt. xiv. 26. ^ John ii. 7. ^ John vi. 11. 
 
 * Luke viii. 29, etc. * Dan. iii. 5G (lxx.) ^ Matt. xxi. 15. 
 
 ■ Luke L 17. ^ John v. 39. » Zech. ix. 9.
 
 ORATIOX OX THE PALMS. 215 
 
 doctrine ; what means this new theology and old pro- 
 phecy. And if no man hath taught them this, but of their 
 own accord they raise the hymn of praise, then recognise 
 the work of God, even as it is written in the law : Out of 
 the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou perfected 
 praise.^ Eedouble, therefore, your joy, that you have been 
 made the fathers of such cliildren who, under the teaching 
 of God, have celebrated with their praises things unknown 
 to their seniors. Turn your hearts to your children,- and 
 close not your eyes against the truth. But if you remain 
 the same, and hearing, hear not, and seeing, perceive not,^ 
 and to no purpose dissent from your children, then shall 
 they be your judges,^ according to the Saviom-'s word. Well, 
 therefore, even this thing also, together Avith others, has the 
 prophet Isaiah spoken before of you, saying, Jacob shall 
 not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. 
 But when they see their children doing my works, they shall 
 for me sanctify My name, and sanctify the Holy One of 
 Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that err 
 in spirit shall come to imderstanding, and they that mur- 
 mured shall learn obedience, and the stammering tongues 
 shall learn to speak peace.^ Seest thou, foolish Jew, how 
 from the beginning of his discourse, the prophet declares 
 confusion to you because of your unbelief. Learn even 
 from him how he proclaims the God-inspired hymn of praise 
 that is raised by your children, even as the blessed David 
 hath declared beforehand, saying, Out of the mouth of babes 
 and sucklings hast Thou perfected praise. Either then (as 
 is right), claim the piety of your children for your own, or 
 devoutly give your children unto us. We with them will 
 lead the dance, and to the new glory will sing in concert the 
 divinely-inspired hymn. 
 
 V. Once, indeed, the aged Simeon met the Saviour,® and 
 received in his arms, as an infant, the Creator of the world, 
 and proclaimed Ilim to be Lord and God ; but now, in the 
 place of foolish elders, children meet the Saviour, even as 
 
 1 Ps. viii. 2. - Luke i. 17. ^ U. vi. 10. 
 
 * Matt. xii. 27. ' Is. x-vi.\. 22, 24. « Luke ii. 29.
 
 216 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 Simeon did, and instead of their arms, strew under Him the 
 branches of trees, and bless the Lord God seated upon a 
 colt, as upon the cherubim, Hosanna to the son of David : 
 Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord ; and 
 together with these let us also exclaim, Blessed is He that 
 cometh, God the King of Glory, who, for our sakes, became 
 poor, yet, in His own proper estate, being ignorant of 
 poverty, that with His bounty He might make us rich. 
 Blessed is He who once came in humility, and who will 
 hereafter come again in glory : at the first, lowly, and seated 
 upon an ass's colt, and by infants extolled, in order that it 
 might be fulfilled which was written : Thy goings have 
 been seen, God; even the goings of my God, my King, in 
 the sanctuary; but at the second time seated on the clouds, 
 in terrible majesty, by angels and powers attended. the 
 mellifluous tongue of the children ! the sincere doctrine 
 of those who are well pleasing to God ! David in prophecy 
 hid the spirit under the letter; children, opening their 
 treasures, brought forth riches upon their tongues, and, in 
 language full of grace, invited clearly all men to enjoy them. 
 Therefore let us with them draw forth the unfading riches. 
 In our bosoms insatiate, and in treasure-houses which cannot 
 be filled, let us lay up the divine gifts. Let us exclaim with- 
 out ceasing. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the 
 Lord ! Very God, in the name of the Very God, the Omni- 
 potent from the Omnipotent, the Son in the name of the 
 Father. The true King from the true King, whose kingdom, 
 even as His who begat Him, is with eternity, coeval and 
 pre-existent to it. For tliis is common to both ; nor does 
 the Scripture attribute this honom' to the Son, as if it came 
 from another source, nor as if it had a beginning, or could be 
 added to or diminished — away with the thought ! — but as 
 that which is His of right by nature, and by a true and 
 proper possession. For the kingdom of the Father, of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is one, even as their substance 
 is one and their dominion one. Whence also, with one 
 and the same adoration, we worship the one Deity in three 
 Persons, subsisting without beginning, uncreate, without
 
 OliATION OX THE PALMS. 217 
 
 end, and to which there is no successor. For neither 
 Avill the Father ever cease to he the Father, nor again 
 the Son to he the Son and King, nor the Holy Ghost 
 to be what in substance and personality He is. For 
 nothing of the Trinity will suffer diminution, either in 
 respect of eternity, or of communion, or of sovereignty. For 
 not on that account is the Son of God called king, because 
 for our sakes He was made man, and in the flesh cast down 
 the tyrant that was against us, having, by taking this upon 
 Him, obtained the victory over its cruel enemy, but because 
 He is always Lord and God ; therefore it is that now, both 
 after His assumption of the flesh and for ever. He remains a 
 king, even as He who begat Him. Speak not, heretic, 
 against the kingdom of Christ, lest thou dishonour Him who 
 begat Him. If thou art faithful, in faith approach Christ, 
 our very God, and not as using your liberty for a cloak of 
 maliciousness. If thou art a servant, with trembling be 
 subject unto thy Master; for he who fights against the 
 Word is not a weU-disposed servant, but a manifest enemy, 
 as it is written : He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth 
 not the Father which hath sent Him. 
 
 VI. But let us, beloved, return in our discourse to that 
 point whence we digressed, exclaiming. Blessed is He that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord : that good and kind 
 Shepherd, voluntarily to lay down His life for His sheep. 
 That just as hunters take by a sheep the wolves that 
 devour sheep, even so the Chief Shepherd,^ offering Himself 
 as man to the sph-itual Avolves and those who destroy the 
 soul, may make His prey of the destroyers by means of that 
 Adam who was once preyed on by them. Blessed is He that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord: God against the devil; 
 not manifestly in His might, which cannot be looked on, 
 but in the weakness of the flesh, to bind the strong man- 
 that is against us. Blessed is He that cometh in the 
 name of the Lord : the King against the tyrant ; not with 
 omnipotent power and wisdom, but with that wliich is 
 accounted the foolishness ^ of the cross, wliich hath reft his 
 ' 1 IVt. V. 4. - Matt. xii. 29. ^ i to,., j. oi_
 
 218 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 spoils from the sei-pent wlio is wise in wickedness. Blessed 
 is He that cometh in the name of the Lord : the True One 
 against the liar ; the Saviour against the destroyer ; the 
 Prince of Peace ^ against him who stirs up wars; the Lover 
 of mankind against the hater of mankind. Blessed is He 
 that cometh in the name of the Lord: the Lord to have 
 mercy upon the creature of His hands. Blessed is He 
 that cometh in the name of the Lord : the Lord to save 
 man who had wandered in error ; to put away error ; to 
 give light to tliose who are in darkness ; to abolish the 
 imposture of idols ; in its place to bring in the saving know- 
 ledge of God; to sanctify the w^orld; to drive away the 
 abomination and misery of the worship of false gods. 
 Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord : the one 
 for the many ; to deliver the poor- out of the hands of them 
 that are too strong for him, yea, the poor and needy from 
 him that spoileth him. Blessed is He that cometh in the 
 name of the Lord, to pour wine and oil upon him who had 
 fallen amongst thieves, ^ and had been passed by. Blessed 
 is He that cometh in the name of the Lord : to save us by 
 Himself, as says the prophet ; no ambassador, nor angel, but 
 the Lord HimseK saved us.* Therefore we also bless Thee, 
 Lord; Thou with the Father and the Holy S^^irit art blessed 
 before the worlds and for ever. Before the world, indeed 
 and until now being devoid of body, but now and for ever 
 henceforth possessed of that divine humanity which cannot 
 be changed, and from which Thou art never divided. 
 
 VII. Let us look also at what follows. What says the 
 most divine evangelist ? When the Lord had entered into 
 the temple, the blind and the lame came to Him; and He 
 healed them. And when the chief priests and Pharisees 
 saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children 
 crying, and saying, Hosanna to the Sou of David : Blessed is 
 He that cometh in the name of the Lord,^ they brooked not 
 this honour that was paid Him, and therefore they came to 
 Him, and thus spake, Hearest Thou not what these say ? As 
 
 1 Is. ix. 6. 2 ps. XXXV. 10. 3 Lu]^e x. 34. 
 
 * Is, Ixiii. 9. 5 Tjiatt. xxi. 14-lG.
 
 OnATlOX ON Till-: I'AI.MS. 219 
 
 if tliey said, Art Thou not grieved at hearing from tliese 
 innocents tilings which beiit God, and God alone ? Has not 
 God of old made it manifest by the prophet, " My glory will 
 I not give unto another ;"^ and how dost Thou, being a man, 
 make Thyself God?- 15ut what to this answers the long- 
 suffering One, He who is abundant in mercy, ^ and slow to 
 wrath ?^ He bears with these frenzied ones; with an 
 apology He keeps their wrath in check; in His turn He calls 
 the Scriptures to their remembrance ; He brings forward 
 testimony to what is done, and shrinks not from inquiry. 
 Wherefore He says. Have ye never heard ^Nle saying by the 
 prophet, Then shall ye know that I am He that doth speak ? ^ 
 nor again. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast 
 Thou perfected praise because of Thine enemies, that Thou 
 mightest still the enemy and the avenger ? Which without 
 doubt are ye, who give heed unto the law, and read the 
 prophets, while yet ye despise ]\Ie who, both by the law and 
 the prophets, have been beforehand proclaimed. Ye think, 
 indeed, under a pretence of piety, to avenge the glory of God, 
 not understanding that he that despiseth Me despiseth ^ly 
 Father also.^ I came forth from God, and am come into the 
 world, ^ and My gloiy is the glory of ]\ry Father also. Even 
 thus these foolish ones, being convinced by our Saviour-God, 
 ceased to answer Him again, the truth stopping their 
 mouths ; but adopting a new and foolish device, they took 
 counsel against Him. But let us sing. Great is our Lord, and 
 great is His power; ^ and of His understanding there is no 
 number. For all this was done that the Lamb and Son of 
 God, that taketli away the sins of the world, might, of His 
 own will, and for us, come to His saving Passion, and might 
 be recognised, as it were, in the market and place of selling; 
 and that those who bought Him might for thirty pieces of 
 silver covenant for Him who, with His life-giving blood, was 
 to redeem the world ; and that Christ, our passover, might be 
 sacrificed for us, in order that those wlut wfre sprinkled 
 with His precious blood, and sealed on their lips, as the posts 
 
 1 Is. xlii. 8. 2 j„o. X. 3:5. ^ j,,,.] ij. i;>. •• Junics i. 10, 
 
 * Is. Hi, 6. ' John xv. -I'i. '' Juliii .w i. 2S. * Pd. cl.wii. 5.
 
 220 THE \VR1TL\(JS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 of the door,^ might escape from the darts of the destroyer; 
 and that Christ having thus suffered in the flesh, and hav- 
 ing risen again the third day, might, with equal honour 
 and glory with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be by all 
 created things equally adored ; for to Him every knee shall 
 bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things 
 under the earth,^ sending up glory to Him, for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 1 Exod. xi 7. 2 piiU^ ii io.
 
 THREE FRAGMENTS 
 
 FROM THB 
 
 HOMILY ON THE CROSS AND PASSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 [Apud. Gretserum, torn. ii. De Sancta Cruce, p. 401. 
 Nov. edit. Rutisb. 1754.] 
 
 [ETIIODIUS, Bishop, to those who say: Wliat 
 dotli it profit us that the Son of God was 
 crucified upon earth, and made man? And 
 wherefore did He endure to suffer in the 
 manner of the cross, and not by some other punishment ? 
 And what was the advantage of the cross ? 
 
 Christ, the Son of God, by the command of the Father, 
 became conversant witli the visible creature, in order that, 
 by overturning the dominion of the tyrants, the demons, 
 that is. He might deliver our souls from their dreadful 
 bondage, by reason of which our whole nature, intoxicated 
 by the draughts of iniquity, had become full of tumult and 
 disorder, and could by no means return to the remembrance 
 of good and useful things. Wherefore, also, it was the 
 more easily carried away to idols, inasmuch as evil had 
 overwhelmed it entirely, and had spread over all genera- 
 tions, on account of the change which had come over our 
 fleshy tabernacles in consequence of disobedience; until 
 Christ, the Lord, by tlie flesh in which He lived and 
 appeared, weakened the force of Pleasure's onslaughts, l)y 
 means of which the infernal powers that were in arms 
 against us reduced our minds to slavery, and fre«Hl man- 
 kind from all their evils. Fur witli this end the Lord 
 Jesus both wore our flesh, and became man, and by the 
 divine dispensation was nailed to the cross ; in order that
 
 222 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 by the flesh in which the demons had proudly and falsely 
 feigned themselves gods, having carried our souls captive 
 unto death by deceitful wiles, even by this they might be 
 overturned, and discovered to be no gods. For he prevented 
 their arrogance from raising itself higher, by becoming man ; 
 in order that by the body in which the race possessed of 
 reason had become estranged from the worship of the true 
 God, and had suffered injury, even by the same receiving 
 into itself in an ineffable manner the Word of Wisdom, the 
 enemy might be discovered to be the destroyers and not the 
 benefactors of our souls. 
 
 For it had not been wonderful if Christ, by the terror of 
 His divinity, and the greatness of His invincible power, had 
 reduced to w^eakness the adverse nature of the demons. 
 But since this was to cause them greater grief and torment 
 (for they would have preferred to be overcome by one 
 stronger than themselves), therefore it was that by a man 
 He procured the safety of the race ; in order that men, after 
 that very Life and Truth had entered into them in bodily 
 form, might be able to retm-n to the form and light of the 
 Word, overcoming the power of the enticements of sin; 
 and that the demons, being conquered by one weaker than 
 they, and thus brought into contempt, might desist from 
 their over-bold confidence, their hellish wrath being re- 
 pressed. It was for this mainly that the cross was brought 
 in, being erected as a trophy against iniquity, and a deter- 
 rent from it, that henceforth man might be no longer subject 
 to wrath, after that he had made up for the defeat which, 
 by his disobedience, he had received, and had lawfully con- 
 quered the infernal powers, and by the gift of God had been 
 set free from every debt. Since, therefore, the fiirstbom 
 Word of God thus fortified the manhood in which He 
 tabernacled with the armour of righteousness. He overcame, 
 as has been said, the powers that enslaved us by the figure 
 of the cross, and showed forth man, who had been oppressed 
 by corruption, as by a tyrant power, to be free, with im- 
 fettered hands. For the cross, if you wish to define it, is 
 the confirmation of the victory, the way by which God to
 
 THREE FRAGMENTS. 223 
 
 man descended, the trophy against material spirits, the repul- 
 sion of death, the foundation of the ascent to the true day; 
 and the ladder for those who are liastening to enjoy the 
 light that is there, the engine by which those who are 
 fitted for the edifice of the Church are raised up from below, 
 like a stone four square, to be compacted on to the divine 
 Word. Hence it is that our kings, perceiving that tlie figure 
 of the cross is used for the dissipating of every evil, have 
 made vcxillas, as they are called in the Latin language. 
 Hence the sea, yielding to this figure, makes itself navig- 
 able to men. For every creature, so to speak, lias, for the 
 sake of liberty, been marked with this sign ; for the birds 
 which fly aloft, form the figure of the cross by tlie expan- 
 sion of their wings ; and man himself, also, with his hands 
 outstretched, represents the same. Hence, when the Lord 
 had fashioned him in this form, in which He had from the 
 beginning framed him, He joined on liis body to the Deity, 
 in order that it might be henceforth an instrument con- 
 secrated to God, freed from all discord and want of harmony. 
 For man cannot, after that he has been formed for the 
 worship of God, and hath sung, as it were, the incorruptible 
 song of truth, and by this hath been made capable of hold- 
 ing the Deity, being fitted to the lyre of life as the chords 
 and strings, he cannot, I say, return to discord and cor- 
 ruption, 
 
 IL 
 
 [Apud. Gretserum, ibid. p. 403.] 
 
 Tlic same Mdliodius to those who are ashamed of the 
 
 Cross of Christ. 
 
 Some think that God also, whom they measure with the 
 measure of their own feelings, judges the same tiling that 
 wicked and foolish men judge to be subjects of praise and 
 blame, and that He uses the opinions of men as His rule and 
 measm-e, not taking into account the fact that, by reason of 
 the ignorance that is in tliem, every crcatuit; falls short 
 of the beauty of God. For He draws all things to life by
 
 224 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 His Word, from their universal substance and nature. For 
 whether He would have good, He Himself is the Very 
 Good, and remains in HimseK; or, whether the beautiful is 
 pleasing to Him, since He HimseK is the Only Beautiful, 
 He beholds Himself, holding in no estimation tlie things 
 which move the admiration of men. That, verily, is to be 
 accounted as in reality the most beautiful and praiseworthy, 
 which God Himself esteems to be beautiful, even though it 
 be contemned and despised by all else — not that which men 
 fancy to be beautiful. Whence it is, that although by this 
 figure He hath willed to deliver the soul from corrupt affec- 
 tions, to the signal putting to shame of the demons, we 
 ought to receive it, and not to speak evil of it, as being 
 that which was given us to deliver us, and set us free from 
 the chains which for our disobedience we incurred. For the 
 Word suffered, being in the flesh af&xed to the cross, that 
 He might bring man, who had been deceived by error, to His 
 supreme and godlike majesty, restoring him to that divine 
 life from which he had become alienated. By this figure, 
 in truth, the passions are blunted; the passion of the passions 
 having taken place by the Passion, and the death of death 
 by the death of Christ, He not having been subdued by 
 death, nor overcome by the pains of the Passion. For neither 
 did the Passion cast Him down from His equanimity, nor 
 did death hurt Him, but He was in the passible remaining 
 impassible, and in the mortal remaining immortal, com- 
 prehending all that the air, and this middle state, and the 
 heaven above contained, and attempering the mortal to the 
 immortal divinity. Death was vanquished entirely; the 
 fiesh being crucified to draw forth its immortality.
 
 THREE FliAGMENTS. 225 
 
 III. 
 
 [Apud. Allatiura, Diatr. de Methodiorum scriptis, p. 349.] 
 
 27te same Methodius: How Christ the Son of God, in a brief 
 and definite time, being enclosed hy the body, and existiwj 
 impassible, became obnoxious to the Passion. 
 
 For since this virtue was in Him, now it is of the essence 
 of power to be contracted in a small space, and to be dimi- 
 nished, and again to be expanded in a large space, and to 
 be increased. But if it is possible for Him to be with the 
 larger extended, and to be made equal, and yet not with the 
 smaller to be contracted and diminished, then power is not 
 in Him. For if you say that this is possible to power, and 
 that impossible, you deny it to be power; as being infirm 
 and incapable with regard to the things which it cannot do. 
 Xor again, further, will it ever contain any excellence of 
 divinity with respect to those tilings which suffer cliange. 
 Tor both man and the other animals, with respect to those 
 things which they can effect, energise ; but with respect to 
 those things which they cannot perform, are weak, and fade 
 away. AVherefore for this cause the Son of God was in 
 the manhood enclosed, because this was not impossil)le to 
 Him. For with power He suffered, remaining impassil^le; 
 and He died, bestowing the gift of immortality upon mortals. 
 Since the body, when struck or cut by a body, is just so far 
 struck or cut as the striker strikes it, or he that cuts it cut 
 it. For according to the rebound of the thing struck, the 
 blow reflects upon the striker, since it is necessary that the 
 two must suffer equally, both the agent and the sufferer. 
 If, in truth, that which is cut, from its small size, does not 
 correspond to that which cuts it, it will not be abh^ to cut 
 it at all. For if the subject body does not resist the blow 
 of the sword, but rather yields to it, the operation will be 
 void of effect, even as one sees in the thin and subtle bodies 
 of fire and air; for in such cases the impetus of the more 
 solid bodies is relaxed, and remains without cfTecl. But if 
 fire, or air, or stone, or iron, or anything whir.h men use 
 
 I'
 
 220 THE WRITJXaS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 against themselves for the purposes of mutual destruction — 
 if it is not possible to pierce or divide these, Ixicause of tlie 
 subtle nature which they possess, why should not rather 
 Wisdom remain invulnerable and impassible, in nothing 
 injured by anytliing, even though it were conjoined to the 
 body which was pierced and transfixed with nails, inas- 
 much as it is purer and more excellent than any other 
 nature, if you except only that of God who begat Him ? 
 
 SOME OTHER FRAGMENTS OF THE SAME 
 METHODIUS.! 
 
 [Ex Nicetae Catena on Job, cap. xix. p. 429, edit. Londin. 1637.] 
 
 But, perhaps, since the friends of Job imagkied that they 
 understood the reason why he suffered such things, that 
 just man, using a long speech to them, confesses that the 
 wisdom of the divine judgment is incomprehensible, not 
 only to him, but also to every man, and declares that this 
 earthly region is not the fitting place for understanding the 
 knowledge of the divine counsels. One might say, that 
 perfect and absolute piety — a thing plainly divine, and of 
 God alone given to man, is in this place called wisdom. 
 But the sense of the words is as foUows : God, he says, 
 hath given great things unto men, sowing, as it were, in 
 their nature the power of discovery, together with wisdom, 
 and the faculty of art. And men having received this, dig 
 metals out of the earth, and cultivate it ; but that wisdom 
 which is conjoined with piety, it is not possible in any place 
 to discover. Man cannot obtain it from his own resources, 
 nor can he give it unto others. Hence it was that the wise 
 men of the Greeks, who in their own strength sought to 
 search out piety, and the worship of the Deity, did not 
 
 ^ All the shorter fragments collected in the editions of Migne and 
 Jahn are here appended.
 
 SOME OTHER FRAGMENTS. 227 
 
 attain their end. For it is a tiling, as we have said, wliich 
 exceeds human strength, the gift and the grace of God ; and 
 therefore from the beginning, partly by visions, partly by 
 the intervention of angels, partly by the discourses of the 
 divinely-inspired prophets, God instructed man in the prin- 
 ciples of true religion. Nay, moreover, that contemplative 
 wisdom by which we, are impelled to the arts, and to other 
 j)ursuits, and with which we are all in common, ju.st and 
 unjust, alike endued, is the gift of God : if we have been 
 made rational creatures, we have received this. "WTierefore, 
 also, in a former place it was said, as of a thing that is of 
 God bestowed, " Is it not the Lord who teacheth under- 
 standing and knowledge ?"^ 
 
 II. 
 
 [^Ihid. cap. x.xvi. p. 538.] 
 
 Observe that the Lord was not wont from the beginning 
 to speak with man ; but after that the soul was prepared, 
 and exercised in many ways, and had ascended into the 
 height by contemplation, so far as it is possible for human 
 nature to ascend, then is it His wont to speak, and to reveal 
 His Word unto those who have attained unto this elevation. 
 But since the whirlwind is the producer of the tempests, 
 and Job, in the tem])est of his afflictions, had not madii 
 shipwreck of his faith, but his constancy shone forth the 
 rather ; therefore it was that He who gave him an answer 
 answered him by the whirlwind, to signify the tempest of 
 calamity which had befallen Imn ; but, because He changed 
 the stormy condition of his affairs into one of serene tran- 
 quillity. He spoke to him not only by the whirlwind, but in 
 clouds also. 
 
 HI. 
 
 iUnd. ]). 547.] 
 
 Many have descended into the deep, not so as to walk on 
 it, but so as to be by its bonds restrained. Jesus ali>ne 
 walked on the dee]), wlicre there are no traces of walkers, 
 ' Job .\.\i. 22, x.\ii. 2. •
 
 228 THE WniTlNGS OF M h/rnODlL'S. 
 
 aa a free man. For He chose death, to which He was not 
 subject, that He might deliver those who were tlie bond- 
 slaves of death; saying to the prisoners, "Go forth ; and to 
 them that are in darkness, show yourselves."^ With which, 
 also, the things which follow are consistent. 
 
 IV. 
 
 \Ihid. cap. x.xviii. p. 570.] 
 
 Seest thou how, at the end of the contest, with a loud 
 proclamation he declares the praises of the combatant, and 
 discovers that which was in his afflictions hidden, in the 
 words : " Thinkest thou that I had else answered thee, but 
 that thou shouldest appear just."^ This is the salve of his 
 wounds, this the reward of his patience. For as to what 
 followed, although he received double his former possessions, 
 these may seem to have been given him by divine provi- 
 dence as small indeed, and for trifling causes, even though 
 to some they may appear great. 
 
 Fragment, Uncertain. 
 
 Thou contendest with Me, and settest thyself against Me, 
 and opposest those who combat for Me. But where wert 
 thou when I made the world ? What wert thou then ? 
 Hadst thou yet, says He, fallen from thy mother ? for there 
 was darkness, in the beginning of the world's creation. He 
 says, upon the face of the deep. Now this darkness was no 
 created darkness, but one which of set purpose had place, by 
 reason of the absence of light. 
 
 V. 
 
 [Ihid. cap. xix. p. 418, ex Olympiodoro.] 
 
 But Methodius : The Holy Spirit, who of God is given 
 to all men, and of whom Solomon said, " For Thine incor- 
 
 1 Is. xlix. 9. - Job xl. 3 (lxx.)
 
 SOME (rniF.n fragments. 2W 
 
 niptible Spii-it is in all things,"^ He receives for the con- 
 science, which condemns the offending soul. 
 
 \J. 
 
 [Ex Parallelis. Daniascen. 0pp. tom. ii. p. 331. D.] 
 
 2'hc same Mdhodius. 
 
 1 account it a greater good to be reproved than to reprove, 
 inasmuch as it is more excellent to free one's-self from evil 
 than to free another. 
 
 VII. 
 
 [Ihid. p. 488, B.] 
 
 The same Methodw^. 
 
 Human nature cannot clearly perceive pure justice in the 
 soul, since, as to many of its thoughts, it is but dim-sighted, 
 
 VIII. 
 The same Methodius. 
 Wickedness never could recognise virtue or its own self. 
 
 IX. 
 
 The same Methodius. 
 
 Justice, as it seems, is four square, on all sides equal and 
 like. 
 
 The just judgment of God is accommodated to our affec- 
 tions; and such as our estate is, proportionate and similar 
 .shall the retribution be which is allotted us. 
 
 TWO FEAGMENTS, UNCEETAIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 The beginning of every good action has its foundation in 
 our wills, but the conclusion is of God. 
 1 Wisd. \ii. 1.
 
 230 THE WRITINGS OF METHODIUS. 
 
 TT. 
 
 Perhaps these three persons of our ancestors, being in an 
 image the consubstantial representatives of all humanity, 
 are, as also Methodius thinks, types of the Holy and Con- 
 substantial Trinity, the innocent and unbegotten Adam 
 being the type and resemblance of God the Father Almighty, 
 who is uncaused, and the cause of all; his begotten son 
 shadowing forth the image of the begotten Son and Word of 
 God ; whilst Eve, that proceedeth forth from Adam, signifies 
 the person and procession of the Holy Spirit.
 
 ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF LYCOPOLIS. 
 
 a«i
 
 ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF LYCOrOLIS. 
 
 NOTICE OF HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 [Titmslated from Gallandi, Vet. Patr. Biblioth.} 
 
 |0]\rBEriS conjectured that Alexander was called 
 AoTco-TTOAirrig^ as having been born at L}xus, a city 
 of the Thebaid, and so by race an Egyj^tian, and 
 to his opinion both Cave and Fabricius are 
 inclined. But this conjecture is plainly uncertain, if we 
 are to trust Photius, in his JEpitome Be Manicliccis, which 
 Montfaiicon has edited.^ For in this work Photius, whilst 
 speaking of the authors who wrote against those heretics, 
 makes mention also of Alexander as Bishop of the city of 
 
 LycUS, oTi rric to'Xewc a'jkuv AXi^ccvdpog rovg apyjtpariy.o\ji co'/xouj 
 
 iyxt^iifiis/Mivog.^ So that it is no easy matter to state whether 
 our author was called Avxo'ro}JTr,g, because he was born either 
 at Lycopolis in the Thebaid, or at another Lycopolis in Lower 
 Egypt, which Stephanus places close to the sea in the Seben- 
 nj'tic nome, or whether he was nut rather called Ai/x&'T&X/V?;;, 
 as having held the bishopric of Lycopolis. The unwontt'd 
 manner of speaking employed by Photius need not delay 
 the attention of any one, wlien he makes Alexander to 
 have been Archbishop of Lycopolis ; for it is established 
 that the P)ishop of Alexandria alone was Archbishop and 
 
 ^ Cf. Cuiiibef. Audar. Noviss. part ii. p. 2 ; Cav., Dmert. de. Script. 
 EccL, incert. actat. p. 2 ; Fabricius, Bill. Gr., tuui. v. p. 2S7 ; Muut- 
 faucon, Bibl. Coisl., p. 349, seqq. 
 
 * Photius, Epist. de Manich, B. C. p. 3^4.
 
 234 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 Patriarch of the whole Egyptian diocese.' Epijjhanius^ cer- 
 tainly says, when speaking of Meletius/ the schismatical 
 Bishop of Lycopolis, shoy-n ds 6 MsX^nog ruv xaTo, rrjv A/'yoTrot 
 Tpori'/.uv, %at hiunpivuv rw Ui-pu rui r^g A'As^avdpeiag ■/.a.ra, rr,v 
 
 apy^itincsxorrT}]/. And to the same purpose he says elsewliere, 
 
 MiXrjTiog, 6 r^g Aiyo'TTOu octto @7ij3atdoi do'/Sjv ihai za! aurhg apyj- 
 
 srrisxoTog. Bvit however these matters are understood, it is 
 admitted that Alexander came just before Meletius in the 
 see of Lycopolis, and we know that he occupied the episco- 
 pal chair of that city in the beginning of the fourth centuiy, 
 in which order Le Quien places him among the Lycopolitau 
 prelates, on the authority of Photius. 
 
 But however it be, wdiether Alexander was called 
 AvxorroXirfig from his birthj)lace, or from his episcopal see, 
 
 ^ In the time of Constantine, the Eastern and Western Empire were 
 each divided into seven districts, called dioceses (hioiniiaeig), which com- 
 prised abont one hundred and eighteen provinces {t7:-ctpxi»i) ; each 
 province contained several cities, each of which had a district {•^xpoix.ix) 
 attached to it ; the ecclesiastical rulers of the dioceses were called 
 patriarchs, exarchs, or archbishops, of whom there were fourteen ; the 
 rulers of the provinces were styled metropolitans (i.e. governors of the 
 finrpo-Tro'hts or mother city), and those of each city and its districts 
 were called bishops. So that the division which we now call a diocese, 
 in ancient times was a union of dioceses, and a parish was a combina- 
 tion of modem parishes, — Tr. 
 
 2 Epiph. Hcer. lx\Tii. n. 1, Ixix. n. 2 ; Le Qiiien, Oriens CfliristianxLS, 
 torn. ii. p. 597. . 
 
 ^ Meletius of Lycopolis, a schismatical bishop of the third and fourth 
 centuries. Athanasius tells us that Meletius, who was Bishop of 
 Lycopolis in Upper Egypt at the time of the persecution under 
 Diocletian and his successors, yielded to fear and sacrificed to idols ; 
 and being subsequently deposed, on tliis and other charges, in a Syuoii 
 over which Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, presided, determined to 
 separate from the Church, and to constitute with his followers a 
 separate community. Epiphanius, on the other hand, relates that both 
 Peter and Meletius, being in confinement for the faith, differed con 
 cerning the treatment to be used toward those who, after renouncing 
 their Christian profession, became penitent, and ■wished to be restored 
 to the commixnion of the Church. The Meletians afterwards co- 
 operated with the Arians in their hostility to Athanasius. — See Art 
 Meletius, in Smithes Biograph. Diet. — Ti^.
 
 NOTICE OF Ills LIFE ASl) WIUTIXGS. 235 
 
 this is certain and acknowledged, tliat lie of good riglit 
 claims for himself a place among ecclesiastical writers, for 
 he has given us an elaborate treatise against the Manichaean 
 tenets ; and he is therefore styled by Allatius auctor 
 cruditisswuis et (piXocopx^rarog^ and his work lihcllus aureus. 
 Allatius ■v\Tote out and brought to light two passages from 
 it, while as yet it was lying hid in the libraries. From the 
 inscription of the work, we learn that Alexander was first 
 a pagan; and afterw^ards, having given up the religion of the 
 Greeks, became an adherent of the ]\Ianichaean doctrines, 
 which he says that he learnt from those who were on 
 terms of familiar intercourse with the heresiarch, a-rh ri* 
 ymfili(t,v Tou dvdpog ;i so that he would seem to be not far 
 wrong in his conjecture who would place our author at 
 no very distant date from the times of Manes himself. 
 From the errors of this sect he was divinely reclaimed, 
 and, taking refuge in the Church, he exposed the scandals 
 ittaching to the heresiarch, and solidly refuted his unwhole- 
 some dogmas. From having been an adherent of the sect 
 himself, he has given us more information concerning their 
 tenets than it was in the power of others to give, and on 
 that account his treatise seems to be held in much estima- 
 tion.^ 
 
 * Cf. Alex., De Manich. placit., cap. 2. 
 
 - Tliis treatise of Alexander was first puhli.sheil by Combefis, with .\ 
 Latin version, in the Anctarium novis^simum, Bihl. S. S. Patrum, 
 Ps. ii. p. 3. It is published also by Gallandi, Bib!. Patrum, vol. 
 iv. p. 73,
 
 TREATISE OF ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF LYCOPOLIS, 
 ON THE TENETS OF THE MANICHiEANS. 
 
 ALEXANDER OF LYCOPOLIS, WHO TUENED FROM PAGANISM 
 TO THE MANIC H^AN OPINIONS. 
 
 Chap. i. — The excellence of the Christian philosophy — Tlic 
 origin of Jteresies amongst Christians. 
 
 The philosophy of the Christians is termed simple. But 
 it bestows very great attention to the formation of manners, 
 enigmatically insinuating words of more certain truth 
 respecting God ; the principal of which, so far as any 
 earnest serious purpose in those matters is concerned, 
 all will have received when they assume an efficient 
 cause, very noble and very ancient, as the originator of all 
 things that have existence. For Christians leaving to 
 etliical students matters more toilsome and difficult, as, 
 for instance, what is virtue, moral and intellectual ; and to 
 those who employ their time in forming hypotheses respect- 
 ing morals, and the passions and affections, without marking 
 out any element by which each virtue is to be attained, and 
 heaping up, as it were, at random precepts less subtle — the 
 common people, hearing these, even as we learn by experi- 
 ence, make great progress in modesty, and a character of 
 piety is imprinted on their manners, quickening the moral 
 disposition which from such usages is formed, and leading 
 them by degrees to the desire of what is honourable and 
 good. 
 
 But this being divided into many questions by the number 
 of those who come after, there arise many, just as is tlie case
 
 ox THE TENETS OF THE MAXICJLEAXS. 2;i7 
 
 with those who are devoted to dialectics/ some more skilful 
 than others, and, so to speak, more sagacious in handling 
 nice and suhtle questions ; so that now they come forward 
 as parents and originators of sects and heresies. And by 
 these the formation of morals is hindered and rendered 
 obscure ; for those do not attain unto certain verity of 
 discourse who wish to become the heads of the sects, and 
 the common people is to a greater degree excited to strife 
 and contention. And there being no rule nor law by whicli a 
 solution may be obtained of the things which are called in 
 question, but, as in other matters, this ambitious rivalry 
 running out into excess, there is nothing to which it does 
 not cause damage and injury. 
 
 Chap. ii. — 77ie age of Manichceus, or Manes — His first dis- 
 ci2')lcs — The two pi'inciples — Manichcean matter. 
 
 So in these matters also, whilst in novelty of opinion each 
 endeavours to show himself lirst and superior, they brought 
 this philosophy, which is simple, almost to a nullity. Such 
 was he whom they call IManichajus,^ a Persian by race, my 
 instructor in ^\•hose doctrine was one I'apus by name, and 
 after him Thomas, and some others followed them. They 
 say that the man lived when Valerian was emperor, and 
 that he served under Sapor, the king of the Persians, and 
 having ofTended him in some way, was put to death. Some 
 such report of his character and reputation has come to me 
 from those who were intimately acquainted with him. He 
 laid down two principles, God and Matter. God lie called 
 good, and matter he affirmed to be evil. But God excelled 
 
 ^ ill To/f ipiartKol;. The philosophers of the Megarean school, who 
 were devoted to dialectics, were nicknamed o« EpiariKoi, See Diog. 
 Laertius. — Tr. 
 
 '^ Manes, or ManichsBus, lived about a.d. 240. He was a Persian liy 
 birth, and this accounts for the Parsooisin which can bo detected in 
 his teaching. He was probably ordained a priest, but wa.s afterwards 
 expelled from the Christian community, and ])ut to death by Uie 
 Persian govevnmcnt. His tcnet.s spread considerably, and were in 
 early youth eml)raced by St Augustine. Til.
 
 238 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 more in good than matter in evil. But he calls matter 
 not that which Plato calls it,^ which becomes everything 
 when it has received quality and iigure, whence he terms it 
 all-embracing — the mother and nurse of all things; nor 
 what Aristotle^ calls an element, with which form and 
 privation have to do, but something beside these. For the 
 motion which in individual things is incomposite, this he 
 calls matter. On the side of God are ranged powers, like 
 handmaids, all good ; and likewise, on the side of matter 
 are ranged other powers, all evil. Moreover, the bright 
 shining, the light, and the superior, all these are with God ; 
 while the obscure, and the darkness, and the inferior are 
 with matter. God, too, has desires, but they are all good ; 
 and matter, likewise, which are all evil. 
 
 Chap. in. — The Fancies of Manichmus concerning Matter. 
 
 It came to pass on a time that matter conceived a desire 
 to attain to the superior region ; and when it had arrived 
 there, it admired the brightness and the light which was 
 with God. And, indeed, it wished to seize on for itseK the 
 place of pre-eminence, and to remove God from His position. 
 God, moreover, deliberated how to avenge HimseK upon 
 matter, but was destitute of the evil necessary to do so, for 
 evil does not exist in the house and abode of God. He sent, 
 therefore, the power which we call the soul into matter, to 
 permeate it entirely. For it will be the death of matter, 
 when at length hereafter this power is separated from it. 
 So, therefore, by the providence of God, the soul was com- 
 mingled with matter, an unlike thing with an unlike. 
 Now by this commingling the soul has contracted evil, and 
 labours under the same infirmity as matter. For, just as in 
 a corrupted vessel, the contents are often-times vitiated in 
 quality, so, also the soul that is in matter suffers some such 
 change, and is deteriorated from its own nature so as to par- 
 ticipate in the evil of matter. But God had compassion 
 
 ^ Plato, Timceus, 51. 
 
 2 In substance, but not in words, Aristotle, Met., Book A 4 (1070' h).
 
 OA TUK TENETS OE THE MANICH^ANS. 239 
 
 upon the soul, and sent forth another power, wliich we call 
 hriiMiovpyov (that is, the Creator of all things) ; and when this 
 power had arrived, and taken in hand the creation of tlie 
 world, it separated from matter as much power as from the 
 commingling had contracted no vice and stain, and hence the 
 sun and moon were first formed ; but that which had con- 
 tracted some slight and moderate stain, this became the 
 stars and the expanse of heaven. Of the matter from whicli 
 the sun and the moon was separated, part was cast entirely 
 out of the world, and is that fu'e in which, indeed, there is the 
 power of burning, although in itself it is dark and void uf 
 light, being closely similar to night. But in the rest of the 
 elements, both animal and vegetable, in those the divine 
 power is unequally mingled. And therefore the world was 
 made, and in it the sun and moon who preside over the 
 birth and death of things, by separating the divine virtue 
 from matter, and transmitting it to God. 
 
 CiiAP. lY. — The Moon's Increase and Wane — The Manicha:an 
 IWifiing respecting it — Their Dreams about Man and 
 Christ — Their Foolish System of Abstinence. 
 
 He ordained this, forsooth, to supply to the Br,/ji,iovpyh;, oi 
 Creator, another power which miglit attract to the splendour 
 of the sun ; and the thing is manifest, as one might say, 
 even to a blind person. For the moon in its increase receives 
 the virtue which is separated from matter, and during the 
 time of its augmentation comes forth full of it. But when 
 it is full, in its Avanings, it remits it to the sun, and tlie sun 
 goes l)ack to God. And when it has done this, it waits 
 again to receive from another full moon a migration of the 
 soul to itself, and receiving this in the same way, it suffers 
 it to pass on to God. And this is its work continually, 
 and in eveiy age. And in tlie sun some such image is 
 seen, as is the form of man. And matter ambitiously strove 
 to make man from itself by mingling together all its virtue, 
 so that it might have some portion of soul. But his form con- 
 tributed much to man's obtaining a greater share, and one
 
 240 tup: writings of ALEXANDER. 
 
 beyond all other aninuils, in the divine virtue. For he is the 
 image of the divine virtue, but Christ is the intelligence. Who, 
 when He had at length come from the superior region, dis- 
 missed a very great part of this virtue to God. And at length 
 being crucified, in this way He furnished knowledge, and 
 fitted the divine virtue to be crucified in matter. Because, 
 therefore, it is the Divine will and decree that matter should 
 perish, they abstain from those things which have life, and 
 feed upon vegetables, and everything which is void of sense. 
 They abstain also from marriage and the rites of Venus, 
 and the procreation of children, that virtue may not strike 
 its root deeper in matter by the succession of race ; nor do 
 they go abroad, seeking to purify themselves from the stain 
 which virtue has contracted from its admixture with matter. 
 
 Chap. v. — The ivorsJiip of the Sun and Moon iinder God — 
 Support sought for the Manichceans in the G^'ecian 
 Fables — The authority of the Scriptures and Faith 
 despised hy the Manichmans. 
 
 These things are the principal of what they say and 
 tliink. And they honour very especially the sun and moon, 
 not as gods, but as the way by which it is possible to attain 
 imto God. But when the divine virtue has been entirely 
 separated off, they say that the exterior fire will fall, and 
 burn up both itself and all else that is left of matter. Those 
 of them who are better educated, and not unacquainted with 
 Greek literature, instruct us from their own resources. 
 From the ceremonies and mysteries, for instance : by 
 Bacchus, who was cut out from the womb, is signified that 
 the divine virtue is divided into matter by the Titans, as 
 they say ; from the poet's fable of the battle with the Giants, 
 is indicated that not even they were ignorant of the rebellion 
 of matter against God. I indeed will not deny, that these 
 things are not sufficient to lead away the minds of those 
 who receive words without examining them, since the de- 
 ception caused by discourse of this sort has drawn over to 
 itself some of tliose who have pursued the study of philosophy
 
 ox THE TEXETS OF THE MAXICILEAXS. 241 
 
 with me; but in what manner I sliould approach the thing to 
 examine into it, I am at a loss indeed. For their hypotheses 
 do not proceed by any legitimate method, so that one might 
 institute an examination in accordance with these ; neither 
 are there any principles of demonstrations, so that we may 
 see what follows on these ; but theirs is the rare discovery 
 of those who are simply said to philosophize. These men, 
 taking to themselves the Old and New Scriptures, though 
 they lay it down that these are divinely inspired, draw their 
 own opinions from thence ; and then only think they are 
 refuted, when it happens that anything not in accordance 
 with these is said or done by them. And what to those 
 ■who philosophize after the manner of the Greeks, as respects 
 principles of demonstration, are intermediate propositions ; 
 this, with them, is the voice of the prophets. But here, 
 all these things being eliminated, and since those matters, 
 which I before mentioned, are put forward without any 
 demonstration, and since it is necessary to give an answer 
 in a rational way, and not to put forward other things more 
 plausible, and which might prove more enticing, my attempt 
 is rather troublesome, and on this account the more ardu- 
 ous, because it is necessary to bring forward arguments of 
 a varied nature. For the more accurate arguments will 
 escape the observation of those who have been convinced 
 beforehand by these men without proof, if, when it comes to 
 persuasion, they fall into the same hands. For they imagine 
 that they proceed from like sources. There is, therefore, 
 need of much and great diligence, and truly of God, to be 
 the guide of our argument. 
 
 Chap. vi. — The hoo principles of the Manicha'ans — Them- 
 selves controverted — The Pythagorean opinion ratpccting 
 first pn'inciplcs — Good and evil contrary — Tlic victory 
 on the side of good. 
 
 They lay down two principles, God ami Matter. If lie 
 (Manes) separates that which comes into being from that 
 which really exists, tlie supposition is not so faulty in this, 
 
 Q
 
 242 THE WrJTh\GS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 that neither does matter create itself, nor does it admit two 
 contrary qualities, in being both active and passive ; nor, 
 again, are other such theories proposed concerning the 
 creative cause as it is not lawful to speak of. And yet 
 God does not stand in need of matter in order to make 
 things, since in His mind all things substantially exist, so 
 far as the possibility of their coming into being is concerned. 
 But if, as he seems rather to mean, the unordered motion 
 of things really existent under Him is matter, first, then, lie 
 unconsciously sets up another creative cause (and yet an evil 
 one), nor does he perceive what follows from this, namely, 
 that if it is necessary that God and matter should be sup- 
 posed, some other matter must be supposed to God ; so that 
 to each of the creative causes there should be the subject 
 matter. Therefore, instead of two, he will be shown to give 
 us four first principles. Wonderful, too, is the distinction. 
 For if he thinks this to be God, which is good, and wishes to 
 conceive of something opposite to Him, why does he not, as 
 some of the Pythagoreans, set evil over against Him ? It is 
 more tolerable, indeed, that two principles should be spoken 
 of by them, the good and the evil, and that these are con- 
 tinually striving, but the good prevails. For if the evil 
 were to prevail, all things would perish. Wherefore matter, 
 by itself, is neither body, nor is it exactly incorporeal, nor 
 simply any particular thing ; but it is something indefinite, 
 which, by the addition of form, comes to be defined ; as, 
 for instance, fire is a pyramid, air an octahedron, water an 
 eikosahedron, and earth a cube ; how, then, is matter the 
 unordered motion of the elements ? By itself, indeed, it 
 does not subsist, for if it is motion, it is in that which is 
 moved ; but matter does not seem to be of such a nature, 
 but rather the first subject, and unorganized, from which 
 other things proceed. Since, therefore, matter is unordered 
 motion, was it always conjoined with that which is moved, 
 or was it ever separate from it ? For, if it ^vere ever by 
 itself, it would not be in existence ; for there is no motion 
 witliout something moved. But if it was always in tliat 
 which is moved, then, again, there ^^•ill be two principles — ■
 
 ON THE TENETS OF THE MANICH.EANS. 243 
 
 that whicli moves, and that which is moved. To wliich of 
 these two, then, will it he granted that it subsist as a primary 
 cause along with God ? 
 
 Chap. vii. — 3rotion vindicated from the charge of irregular- 
 ity — CirculcLi — Straight — Of generation and corrup- 
 tion — Of alteration, and qucdity affecting sense. 
 
 There is added to the discourse an appendix quite 
 foreign to it, rh ara-ATov. For you may reasonably speak of 
 motion not existing. And what, also, is the matter of 
 motion ? Is it straight or circular ? Or does it take place 
 by a process of change, or by a process of generation and 
 corruption ? The circular motion, indeed, is so orderly and 
 composite, that it is ascribed to the order of all created 
 things ; nor does this, in the ^lanichrean system, appear 
 worthy to be impugned, in which move the sun and the 
 moon, whom alone, of the gods, they say that they venerate. 
 But as regards that which is straight : to this, also, there is 
 a bound when it reaches its own place. For that which is 
 earthly ceases entirely from motion, as soon as it lias touched 
 the earth. And every animal and vegetable makes an end 
 of increasing when it has reached its limit. Therefore the 
 stoppage of these tilings would be more properly the death of 
 matter, than that endless death, which is, as it were, woven 
 for it by them. But the motion which arises by a process 
 of generation and corruption it is impossible to think of 
 as in harmony with this hypothesis, for, according to 
 them, matter is unbegotten. But if they ascribe to it the 
 motion of alteration, as they term it, and that by whicli 
 we suffer change by a quality allecting tlie sense (for this 
 seems to be the principal thing that they assert, since by 
 matter it comes to pass, as they say, that maunei-s are 
 changed, and that vice arises in the soul), it is worth 
 while to consider how they come to say this. For in 
 altering, it will always begin from the beginning ; and, pro- 
 ceeding onwards, it will reach the middle, and thus will it 
 attain unto the end. But when it has reached the end, it
 
 244 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 will not stand still, at least if alteration is its essence. 
 But it will again, by the same route, return to the begin- 
 ning, and from thence in like manner to the end ; nor will 
 it ever cease from doing this. As, for instance, if a and y 
 suffer alteration, and the middle is /3, a by being changed; 
 will arrive at /3, and from thence will go on to y. Again 
 returning from the extreme y to /3, it will at some time or 
 other arrive at a ; and this goes on continuously. As in 
 the change from black, the middle is dun, and the extreme, 
 white. Again, in the contrary direction, from white to dun, 
 and in like manner to black ; and again from white the 
 change begins, and goes the same round. 
 
 Chap. viii. — Is matter iviclxd ? — Of God and matter. 
 
 Is matter, in respect of alteration, an evil cause ? It is 
 thus proved that it is not more evil than good. For let the 
 beginning of the change be from evil. Thus the change 
 is from this to good through that which is indifferent. But 
 let the alteration be from good. Again the beginning goes 
 on through that which is indifferent. AMiether the motion 
 be to one extreme or to the other, the method is the same, 
 and this is abundantly set forth. All motion has to do with 
 quantity ; but quality is the guide in virtue and vice. Xow 
 we know that these two are generically distinguished. But 
 are God and matter alone principles, or does there remain 
 anything else which is the mean between these two ? For 
 if there is nothing, these things remain unintermiugled one 
 with another. And it is well said, that if the extremes are 
 intermingled, there is a necessity for some thing inter- 
 mediate to connect them. But if something else exists, it 
 is necessary that that something be either body or incor- 
 poreal, and thus a third adventitious principle makes its 
 appearance. First, therefore, if we suppose God and matter 
 to be both entirely incorporeal, so that neither is in the 
 other, except as the science of grammar is in the soul ; to 
 understand this of God and matter is absurd. But if, as in 
 a vacimm, as some sax the vacuum is surroundeil by this
 
 ON THE TENETS OF THE MANlCJIyEANS. IVo 
 
 universe ; the other, again, is without substance, for the 
 substance of a vacuum is nothing. But if as accidents, first, 
 indeed, this is impossible ; for the thing that wants sub- 
 stance cannot be in any place ; for substance is, as it 
 were, the vehicle underlying the accident. But if botli are 
 bodies, it is necessaiy for both to be either heavy or light, 
 or middle ; or one hea^y, and another light, or intermediate. 
 If, then, both are heavy, it is plainly necessary that these 
 should be the same, both among light things and those 
 things which are of the middle sort ; or if they alternate, 
 tlie one will be altogether separate from the other. For 
 that which is heavy has one place, and that which is middle 
 another, and the light another. To one belongs the superior, 
 to the other the inferior, and to the third the middle. Xow 
 in every spherical figure the inferior part is the middle ; lor 
 from this to all the higher parts, even to the topmost super- 
 ficies, the distance is every way equal, and, again, all hea\y 
 bodies are borne from all sides to it. "Wlierefore, also, it 
 occurs to me to laugh when I hear that matter moving with- 
 out order (for this belongs to it by nature), came to the region 
 of God, or to light and brightness, and such-like. But if oiw^.^ 
 be body, and the other incorporeal, first, indeed, that which 
 is body is alone capable of motion. And then if they are 
 not intermingled, each is separate from the otlier according 
 to its proper nature. But if one be mixed up with the other, 
 they will be either mind or soul or accident. For so only it 
 haj)pens that things incorporeal are mixed up with bodies. 
 
 CiiAP. IX. — Tlic ridiculous fancies of the Manichcrans ahcmf 
 ike motion of matter towards God — God tlic Author of 
 the rebellion of matter in the, Manicha-an sense — The 
 longing of matter for light and brightness good — 
 Divine good none tlie less for being communicated. 
 
 But in what manner, and from wliat cause, Avas matter 
 brought to the region of God ? for to it by nature belongs 
 the lower place and darkness, as they say ; and the upper 
 region and light is contrary to its nature. "Wherefore
 
 246 THE WETTINGS OF ALEXANDEIL 
 
 there is then attributed to it a supernatural motion; and 
 something of the same sort happens to it, as if a man were 
 to throw a stone or a lump of earth upwards ; in this way, 
 the thing being raised a little by the force of the person 
 throwing, when it has reached the upper regions, falls back 
 again into the same place. Who, then, hath raised matter to 
 the upper region ? Of itself, indeed, and from itself, it would 
 not be moved by that motion which belongs to it. It is 
 necessary, then, that some force should be applied to it for it 
 to be borne aloft, as with the stone and the lump of earth. 
 But they leave nothing else to it but God. It is manifest, 
 therefore, what follows from their argument. That God, 
 according to them, by force and necessity, raised matter 
 aloft to Himself. But if matter be evil, its desires are 
 altogether evil. Now the desire of evil is evil, but the 
 desire of good is altogether good. Since, then, matter 
 has desired brightness and light, its desire is not a bad 
 one ; just as it is not bad for a man living in vice, after- 
 wards to come to desire virtue. On the contrary, he is 
 not guiltless who, being good, comes to desire what is 
 evil. As if any one should say that God desires the evils 
 which are attaching to matter. For the good things of God 
 are not to be so esteemed as great wealth and large estates, 
 and a large quantity of gold, a lesser portion of which 
 remain with the owner, if one effect a transfer of them to 
 another. But if an image of these things must be formed 
 in the mind, I think one would adduce as examples wisdom 
 and the sciences. As, therefore, neither wisdom suffers 
 diminution nor science, and he who is endowed with these 
 experiences no loss if another be made partaker of them; 
 so, in the same way, it is contrary to reason to think that 
 God grudges matter the desire of what is good; if, indeed, 
 M'ith them we aUow that it desires it.
 
 Oi\ THE TEMCTS OF THE MANlCHyEANS. 247 
 
 Chap. X. — Tlic mythology respecting the gods — The dogmas of 
 the Manichccans resemble this: The Homeric allegory 
 of the battle of the gods — Envy and emulation existing 
 in God according to the llanichctan ojnnion — These 
 vices are to he fouoid in no good man, and are to he 
 accounted disgraceful. 
 
 Moreover, they far surpass the mythologists in fables, 
 those, namely, who either make Coelus suflier mutilation, or 
 idly tell of the plots laid for Saturn by his son, in order that 
 tliat son might attain the sovereignty ; or those again who 
 make Saturn devour his sons, and to have been cheated of his 
 purpose by the image of a stone that was presented to him. 
 Por how are tliese things which they put forward dissimilar 
 to those ? When they speak openly of the war Ijetweeu 
 God and matter, and say not these things either in a 
 mythological sense, as Homer in the Iliad ;^ when he 
 makes Jupiter to rejoice in the strife and war of the gods 
 with each other, thus obscurely signifying that the world 
 is formed of unequal elements, fitted one into anothei", 
 and either conquering or submitting to a conqueror. And 
 this has been advanced by me, because I know that people 
 of this sort, when they are at a loss for demonstration, 
 bring together from all sides passages from poems, and 
 seek from them a support for their own opinions. Which 
 would not be the case with them if they had only read 
 what they fell in with with some reliection. But wlien all 
 evil is banished from the company of tlie gods, surely 
 emulation and envy ought especially to have been got rid 
 of. Yet these men leave these things witli God, when they 
 say that God formed designs against matter, because it felt 
 a desire for good. But with which of those things which 
 God possessed could He have wished to take vengeance on 
 matter? In truth, I think it to be more accurate iloctrine to 
 say that God is of a simple nature, than what tliey advance. 
 Nor, indeed, as in the other things, is the enunciation of this 
 > Hum. 11. \\. :i;}-r>i.
 
 248 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 fancy easy. For neither is it possible to demonstrate it 
 simply and with words merely, hut with much instruction 
 and labour. But we all know this, that anger and rage, and 
 the desire of revenge upon matter, are passions in him 
 who is so agitated. And of such a sort, indeed, as it could 
 never happen to a good man to be harassed by them, much 
 less then can it be that they are connected with the Absolute 
 Good. 
 
 Chap. xi. — Tlic transmitted virtue of the Manichcvans — Tlie 
 virtues of matter mixed vnth equal or less amount of evil. 
 
 To other things, therefore, our discourse has come round 
 about again. For, because they say that God sent virtue 
 into matter, it is worth our while to consider whether this 
 virtue, so far as it pertains to good, in respect of God is 
 less, or whether it is on equal terms with Him. For if it is 
 less, what is the cause ? For the things which are with God 
 admit of no fellowship with matter. But good alone is the 
 characteristic of God, and evil alone of matter. But if it 
 is on equal terms with Him, what is the reason that He, as a 
 king, issues His commands, and it involuntarily undertakes 
 this labour ? Moreover, with regard to matter, it shall be 
 inquired whether, with respect to evil, the virtues are alike 
 or less. For if they are less, they are altogether of less 
 evil. By fellowship therefore with the good it is that 
 they become so. For there being two evils, the less has 
 plainly by its fellowship with the good attained to be what 
 it is. But they leave nothing good around matter. Again, 
 therefore, another question arises. For if some other virtue, 
 in respect of evil, excels the matter which is prevailing, it 
 becomes itself the presiding principle. For that which is 
 more evil will hold the sway in its own dominion.
 
 ON THE TENETS OF THE MANlCJIyEAN.^. 249 
 
 CiLU*. xiT. — T7ie destruction of evil hij the immission oj 
 virtue rejected ; because frovi it arises no dlminutiun 
 of evil — Zends opinion discarded, that iJic warld will 
 he burnt up hy fire from the sun. 
 
 But that God sent virtue into matter is asserted witliout 
 any proof, and it altogether wants probability. Yet it is 
 right that this should have its own explanation. The 
 reason of this they assert, indeed, to be that there might be 
 no more evil, but that all things should become good. It 
 was necessary for virtue to be intermingled with evil, after 
 the manner of the athletes, who, clasped in a firm embrace, 
 overcome their adversaries, in order that, by conquering 
 evil, it might make it to cease to exist. But I think it 
 far more dignified and worthy of the excellence of God, 
 at the first conception of things existent, to have abolished 
 matter. But I think they could not allow this, because 
 that something evil is found existing, which they call 
 matter. But it is not any the more possible that things 
 should cease to be such as they are, in order that one should 
 admit that some things are changed into that which is worse. 
 And it is necessary that there should be some perception of 
 this, because these present things have in some manner or 
 other suffered diminution, in order that we might have 
 better hopes for the future. For well has it been answered 
 to the opinion of Zeno of Citium, who thus argued that the 
 world would be destroyed by fire : "Everything which has 
 anything to burn will not cease from burning until it has 
 consumed the whole ; and the sun is a fire, and will it not 
 burn what it has ?" Whence he made out, as he imagined, 
 that the universe would be destroyed by fire. But to 
 him a facetious fellow is reported to have said, " But 1 in- 
 deed yesterday, and the year before, and a long time ago, 
 have seen, and now in like manner do I see, that no injury 
 has been experienced by the sun ; and it is rea.sonable that 
 this should happen in time and by degrees, so that we may 
 believe that at some time or other the wliole will be burnt uj). 
 And to the doctrine of Manichieus, although it rests upon no
 
 250 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 proof, I think that the same answer is apposite, namely, 
 that there has been no diminution in the present condition 
 of things, but what was before in the time of the first 
 man, when brother killed brother, even now continues to be; 
 the same wars, and more diverse desires. Now it would be 
 reasonable that these things, if they did not altogether 
 cease, should at least be diminished, if we are to imagine 
 that they are at some time to cease. But while the same 
 things come from them, what is our expectation of them for 
 the future ? 
 
 Chap. xiii. — Evil ly no means found in the stars and 
 constellations — All the evils of life vain in the 
 Manichwan opinion, luhich hring on the extinction 
 of life; their fancy having been above explained 
 concerning the transportation of souls from the moon 
 to the sun. 
 
 But what things does he call evil ? As for the sun and 
 moon, indeed, there is nothing lacking ; but with respect 
 to the heavens and the stars, whether he says that there is 
 some such thing, and what it is, it is right that we should 
 next in order examine. But irregularity is according to 
 them evil, and unordered motion, but these things are al- 
 ways the same, and in the same manner ; nor will any one 
 have to blame any of the planets for venturing to delay at 
 any time in the zodiac beyond the fixed period ; nor again 
 any of the fixed stars, as if it did not abide in the same 
 seat and position, and did not by circumvolution revolve 
 equally around the world, moving as it were one step back- 
 ward in a hundred years. But on the earth, if he accuses 
 the roughness of some spots, or if pilots are ofi'euded at the 
 storms on the sea ; first, indeed, as they think, these things 
 have a share of good in them. For should nothing ger- 
 minate upon earth, all the animals must presently perish. 
 But this result will send on much of the virtue which is 
 intermingled with matter to God, and there will be a 
 necessity for many moons, to accommodate the great multi-
 
 Oy THE TEXETS OF THE MANICHyEANS. 251 
 
 tude that suddenly approaclies. And the same language 
 they hold with respect to the sea. For it is a piece of un- 
 looked for luck to perish, in order that those things which 
 perish may pursue the road whicli leads most quickly 
 to God. And the wars which are upon the earth, and 
 the famines, and every thing which tends to the destruction 
 of life, are held in very great honour by them. For every 
 thing which is the cause of good is to be had in honour. 
 But these things are the cause of good, because of the 
 destruction which accompanies them, if they transmit to 
 God the virtue which is separated from those who perish. 
 
 Chap xrv. — Noxious animals worshii'iiJcd ly (lie Egyptians — 
 Man by arts an evil-doer — Lust and injustiee connected 
 by laws and discipline — Contingent and necessary 
 things in which there is no stain. 
 
 And, as it seems, we have been ignorant that the 
 Egyptians rightly Avorship the crocodile and tlie lion and 
 the wolf, because these animals being stronger tlian the 
 others devour their prey, and entirely destroy it ; the eagle 
 also and the hawk, because they slaughter tlic weaker 
 animals both in the air and upon the earth, liut })erhaps 
 :ilso, according to them, man is for this reason held in 
 especial honour, because most of all, by liis subtle inven- 
 tions and arts, he is wont to subdue most of the animals. 
 And lest he himself should have no portion in this good, 
 he becomes the food of others. Again, the te fore, those 
 generations are, in their opinion, absurd, which from a 
 small and common seed produce what is great ; and it is 
 nuicli more becoming, as they tliink, tliat tliese sliould be 
 destroyed by God, in order that the divine virtue may be 
 quickly liberated from the troubles incident to living in this 
 world. But what shall we say with respect to lust, and in- 
 justice, and things of this sort, ^faniclueus will ask. Surely 
 against these things discipline and law come to the rescue. 
 Discipline, indeed, using careful forethought that nothing of 
 this sort may have jdace amongst men ; l)Ut law inllicting
 
 2i}2 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 punishirieut upon any one who has been caught in the 
 commission of anything unjust. But, then, why should it 
 be imputed to the earth as a fault, if the husbandman 
 has neglected to subdue it ? because the sovereignty of 
 God, which is according to right, suffers diminution, when 
 some parts of it are productive of fruits, and others not 
 so; or when it has happened that when the winds are 
 sweeping, according to another cause, some derive benefit 
 therefrom, whilst others against their will have to sustain 
 injuries ? Surely they must necessarily be ignorant of tlie 
 character of the things that are contingent, and of those 
 that are necessary. For they would not else thus account 
 such things as prodigies. 
 
 Chap xv. — The lust and desire of sentient things — Demons — 
 Animals sentient — so also the sun and the Tnoon and 
 stars — TJie Platonic docti'inc, not the Christian. 
 
 Whence, then, come pleasure and desire ? For these are 
 the principal evils that they talk of and hate. Nor docs 
 matter apioear to be anything else. That these things, 
 indeed, only belong to animals which are endowed witli 
 sense, and that nothing else but that which has sense per- 
 ceives desire and pleasure is manifest. For what percep- 
 tion of pleasure and pain is there in a plant ? Wliat 
 in the earth, water, or air ? And the demons, if indeed 
 they are living beings endowed with sense, for this reason, 
 perhaps, are delighted with what has been instituted in 
 regard to sacrifices, and take it ill when these are wanting 
 to them ; but nothing of this sort can be imagined with 
 respect to God. Therefore those who say, " Why are 
 animals affected by pleasure and pain ? " should first make 
 the complaint, "Why are these animals endowed with 
 sense, or why do they stand in need of food ? " For if 
 animals were immortal, they would have been set free 
 from corruption and increase ; such as the sun and moon 
 and stars, although they are endowed with sense. They 
 are, however, bej'ond the power of these, and of such a
 
 ON THE TEXETS OF THE MANICIIJEANS. 2j3 
 
 complaint. But man, being able to perceive and to jud<'e, 
 and being potentially wise (for he has the power to become 
 so), when he has received what is peculiar to himself, treads 
 it under foot. 
 
 Chap. xvi. — Because some are wise, nothing prevents others 
 from hcing so — Virtue is to be acquired by diligence 
 and study — By a sounder philosophy men are to be 
 carried omoards to the good — TJie common study oj 
 virtue has by Christ been opened up to all. 
 
 In general, it is worth M-liile to inquire of these men, " Is 
 it possible for no man to become good, or is it in the power 
 of any one ? " For if no man is wise, what of IManicluTus 
 himself ? I pass over the fact that he not only calls others 
 good, but he also says that they are able to make othere 
 such. But if one individual is entirely good, Mhat prevents 
 all from becoming good ? For what is possible for one is 
 possible also for all. And by the means by which one has 
 l)ecome virtuous, by the same all may become so, unless 
 they assert that the larger share of this virtue is inter- 
 cepted by such. Again, therefore, first, Y\'hat necessity is 
 there for labour in submitting to discipline (for even whilst 
 sleeping we may become virtuous), or what cause is there 
 for these men rousing their hearers to hopes of good ? 
 For even though wallowing in tlie mire with harlots, they 
 can obtain their proper good. But if discipline, and better 
 instruction and diligence in acquiring virtue, make a man 
 to become virtuous, let all become so, and that oft-re})eated 
 ] )lnase of theirs, the unordered motion of matter, is made void. 
 But it would be much better for them to say that wisdom is 
 an instrument given by God to man, in order that by bring- 
 ing round by degi'ees to good that wliich arises to them, from 
 the fact of their being endowed with sense, out of desire 
 or pleasure, it might remove from them the absurdities 
 that How from them. For thus tliey themselves wlio 
 profess to be teachers of virtue would be objects of emula- 
 tion for their purpose, and for tlieir mode of life, and there
 
 254 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 would be great hopes that one day evils will cease, when 
 all men have become wise. And this it seems to me that 
 Jesus took into consideration ; and in order that husband- 
 men, carpenters, builders, and other artisans, might not be 
 driven away from good, He convened a common council of 
 them altogether, and by simple and easy conversations He 
 both raised them to a sense of God, and brought them to 
 desire what was good. 
 
 Chap. xvii. — The Maniclicean idea of virtue in matter 
 scouted — If one virtue has been created immaterial, 
 the rest are also immaterial — Material virtue an 
 exploded notion. 
 
 Moreover, how do they say, did God send divine virtue 
 into matter ? For if it always was, and neither is God 
 to be understood as existing prior to it, nor matter either, 
 then again, according to Manichseus, there are three first 
 principles. Perhaps also, a little further on, there will 
 appear to be many more. But if it be adventitious, and 
 something which has come into existence afterwards, how 
 is it void of matter ? And if they make it to be a part of 
 God, first, indeed, by this conception, they assert tliat God 
 is composite and corporeal. But this is absurd, and im- 
 possible. And if He fashioned it, and is without matter, I 
 wonder that they have not considered, neither the man 
 himself, nor his disciples, that if (as the orthodox say, tlie 
 things that come next in order, subsist while God remains) 
 God created this virtue of His own freewill, how is it 
 that He is not the author of all other things that are 
 made without the necessity of any pre-existent matter ? 
 The consequences, in truth, of this opinion are evidently 
 absurd; but what does follow is put do\vji next in 
 order. Was it, then, the nature of this virtue to dif- 
 fuse itself into matter ? If it was contrary to its nature, 
 in what manner is it intermingled with it ? But if this 
 was in accordance with its nature, it was altogether surely 
 and always with matter. But if this be so, how is it tliat
 
 0^' THE TENETS OF THE MANICII^ANS. 255 
 
 they call matter evil, which, from the beginning, was inter- 
 mingled with the divine vu-tue ? In what manner, too, will 
 it be destroyed, the divine vii'tue wliich was mingled witli 
 it at some time or other seceding to itself ? For that it 
 preserves safely what is good, and likely to be productive of 
 some other good to those to whom it is present, is more 
 reasonable than that it should bring destruction or some 
 other evil upon them. 
 
 CiiAP. xviii. — Dissolntion and inherence according to the 
 Manicharins — This is well piit, ad hominem, icifh 
 respect to Manes, icho is himself in matter. 
 
 This then is the wise assertion which is made by them 
 — namely, that as we see that the body perishes when the 
 soul is separated from it, so also, when virtue has left 
 matter, that which is left, which is matter, will be dissolved 
 and perish. First, indeed, they do not perceive that nothing 
 existent can be destroyed into a non-existent. For that 
 which is non-existent does not exist. But when bodies 
 are disintegrated, and experience a change, a dissolution of 
 them takes place; so that a part of them goes to earth, a j>art 
 to air, and a part to something else. Besides, they do not 
 remember that their doctrine is, that matter is unordereil 
 motion. But that which moves of itself, and of which motion 
 is the essence, and not a thing accidentally belonging to it 
 — how is it reasonable to say that when virtue departs, that 
 which was, even before virtue descended into it, should 
 cease to be ? Nor do they see the difl'erence, that every 
 body which is devoid of soul is immovable. For plant.s 
 also have a vegetable soul. But motion itself, and yet un- 
 ordered motion, they assert to be the essence of mutter. But 
 it were better, that just as in a lyre which sounds out of 
 tune, by the addition of harmony, everything is brouglit into 
 concord ; so the divine virtue wlien intermixed with that 
 unordered motion, which, according to them, is matter, 
 should add a certain order to it in the place of its innate 
 disorder, and should always add it suitably to tlie divine
 
 256 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 time. Por I ask, liow was it that Manicliteus himself 
 became fitted to treat of these matters, and when at 
 length did he enunciate them ? For they allow that he 
 himself was an admixture of matter, and of the virtue 
 received into it. Whether therefore being so, he said these 
 things in unordered motion, surely the opinion is faulty ; or 
 whether he said them by means of the divine virtue, the 
 dogma is dubious and uncertain ; for on the one side, that 
 of the divine virtue, he participates in the truth ; wdiilst on 
 the side of unordered motion, he is a partaker in the other 
 part, and changes to falsehood. 
 
 Chap. xix. — Tlie second virtue of the Manicliccans hesct with 
 the former, and luith new absurdities — Virtue, active 
 and passive, the fashioner of matter, and concrete with 
 it — Bodies divided hy Manichmus into three parts. 
 
 But if it had been said that divine virtue both hath 
 adorned and does adorn matter, it would have been far more 
 wdsely said, and in a manner more conducing to conciliate 
 faith in the doctrine and discourses of Manichseus. But 
 God hath sent dow^n another virtue. What has been already 
 said with respect to the former virtue, may be equally 
 said with respect to this, and all the absurdities which 
 follow on the teaching about their first virtue, the same may 
 be brought forward in the present case. But another, who 
 will tolerate ? For why did not God send some one virtue 
 which could effect every thing ? If the human mind is so 
 various towards all things, so that the same man is endowed 
 with a knowledge of geometry, of astronomy, of the carpen- 
 ter's art, and the like, is it then impossible for God to find 
 one such virtue which should be sufiicient for him in all 
 respects, so as not to stand in need of a first and second ? 
 And why has one virtue the force rather of a creator, and 
 another that of the patient and recipient, so as to be well 
 fitted for admixture with matter. For I do not again see 
 here the cause of good order, and of that excess wdiich is 
 contrary to it. If it was e\dl, it was not in the house of
 
 ON THE TENETS OF THE MANICILEANS. 2.37 
 
 God. For since God is the only good, and matter the only 
 evil, we must necessarily say that the other things are of a 
 middle nature, and placed as it were in the middle. But 
 there is found to be a different framer of those things M'hich 
 are of a middle nature, when they say that one cause is 
 creative, and another admixed with matter ? Perhaps, 
 therefore, it is tliat primaiy antecedent cause which more 
 recent writers speak of in the book -rrepl ru>v dia:popuiv. But 
 when the creative virtue took in hand the making of the 
 world, then they say that there was separated from matter 
 that which, even in the admixture, remained in its own 
 virtue, and from this the sun and the moon had their begin- 
 ninjT. But that which to a moderate and slit>ht degree had 
 contracted vice and evil, this formed the heaven and the 
 constellations. Lastly came the rest encompassed within 
 these, just as they might happen, which are admixtures of 
 the divine virtue and of matter. 
 
 Chap. xx. — The divine virtue in the view of the same 
 Manichccus corjjorcal and divisible — TJie divine virtue 
 itself matter which becomes every thing — This is not 
 fitting. 
 
 I, indeed, besides all these things, wonder that they do 
 not perceive that they are making the divine virtue to be 
 corporeal, and dividing it, as it were, into parts. For why, 
 as in the case of matter, is not the divine virtue also passible 
 and divisible throughout, and from one of its parts tlie sun 
 made, and iVom another the moon ? For clearly this is wliat 
 they assert to belong to the divine virtue ; and this is what 
 we said was the property of matter, which by itself is 
 nothing, but when it has received form and qualities, every 
 thing is made which is divided and distinct. If, tlierefore, 
 as from one subject, the divine virtue, only the sun and the 
 moon have their beginning, and these things are different, 
 why was any thing else made ? But if all tilings are made, 
 what follows is manifest, tliat divine virtue is matter, and 
 that, too, such as is made into loniis. But il nothing else
 
 2:,S TIIK WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 but the sun and moon are wliat was created by the divine 
 virtue, then what is intermixed with all things is the sun 
 and moon ; and each of the stars is the sun and moon, and 
 each individual animal of tliose who live on land, and ot 
 fowls, and of creatures amphibious. But this, not even 
 those who exhibit juggling tricks would admit, as, I think, 
 is evident to every one. 
 
 Oi.vr. XXI. — Some portions of the virtue have good in them, 
 others more good — In the sun and the moon it is in- 
 corrupt, in other things depraved — An iniprolaUe 
 opinion. 
 
 But if any one were to apply his mind to what follows, 
 the road would not appear to be plain and straightforward, 
 but more arduous even than that which has been passed. 
 For they say that the sun and moon have contracted no 
 stain from their admixture with matter. And now they 
 cannot say how other things have become deteriorated 
 contrary to their own proper nature. For if, when it 
 was absolute and by itself, the divine virtue was so 
 constituted that one portion of it was good, and another 
 had a greater amount of goodness in it, according to 
 the old tale of the centaurs, who as far as the breast were 
 men, and in the lower part horses, which are both good 
 animals, but the man is the better of the two ; so also, in 
 the divine virtue, it is to be understood that the one portion 
 of it is the better and the more excellent, and the other will 
 occupy the second and inferior place. And in the same 
 way, with respect to matter, the one portion possesses, as it 
 were, an excess of evil ; while others again are different, and 
 about that other the language will be different.^ For it is 
 possible to conceive that from the beginning the sun and 
 moon, by a more skilful and prudent judgment, chose for 
 themselves the parts of matter that were less evil for the 
 pm-poses of admixture, that they might remain in their own 
 
 ^ This passage and the followiug sentences are corruj)t. Possibly 
 Bomething is wanting. — Tr.
 
 ON THE TENETS OF THE MANltTEEANS. 209 
 
 perfection and virtue ; but in the lapse of time, m lien the 
 evils lost their force and became old, they brought out so 
 much of the excess in the good, while the rest of its parts 
 fell away, not, indeed, without foresight, and yet not with 
 the same foresight, did each object share according to its 
 quantity in the evil that was in matter. But since, with 
 respect to this virtue, nothing of a different kind is asserted 
 by them, but it is to be understood throughout to be 
 alike and of the same nature, their argument is im- 
 probable ; because in the admixture part remains pure 
 and incorrupt, while the other has contracted some share 
 of evil. 
 
 CiiAr. XXII. — The light of the moon from, the sun — The 
 inconvenience of the ojnnion that souls are received in 
 it — The two deluges of the Greeks. 
 
 Now, they say that the sun and the moon having by 
 degrees separated the divine virtue from matter, transmit it 
 to God. But if they had only to a slight degree frequented 
 the schools of the astronomers, it woukl not have happened 
 to them to fall into these fancies, nor M'ould they have been 
 ignorant that the moon, which, according to the opinion of 
 some, is itself without light, receives its light from the sun, 
 and that its configurations are just in proportion to its di.s- 
 tance from the sun, and that it is then full moon wlieu 
 it is distant from the sun one hundred and eiglity degrees. 
 It is in conjunction when it is in the same degree with the 
 sun. Then, is it not wonderful how it comes to pass that 
 there should be so many souls, and from such diverse 
 creatures ? For there is the soul of tlie world itself, and (if 
 the animals, of plants, of nymphs, and demons, and among.st 
 these are distinguished by api)earance those of fowls, of 
 land animals, and animals amphibious ; but in the moon 
 one like body is always seen by us. And what of the con- 
 tinuity of this body ? When the moon is half-full, it appears 
 a semicircle, and when it is in its third quarter, the same again. 
 How then, and with what figure, are tliey assumed into the
 
 200 THE WIHTINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 moon ? For if it be light as fire, it is probable that they 
 would not only ascend as far as the moon, Ijut even higher, 
 continually ; but if it be heavy, it would not be possible for 
 them at all to reach the moon. And what is the reason 
 that that which first arrives at the moon is not immediately 
 transmitted to the sun, but waits for the full moon until the 
 rest of the souls arrive ? When then the moon, from having 
 been full, decreases, where does the virtue remain during 
 that time ? until the moon, which has been emptied of the 
 former souls, just as a desolated city, shall receive again a 
 fresh colony. For a treasure-house should have been marked 
 out in some part of the earth, or of the clouds, or in some 
 other place, where the congregated souls might stand ready 
 for emigration to the moon. But, again, a second question 
 arises. What then is the cause that it is not full immedi- 
 ately ? or why does it again wait fifteen days ? Nor is 
 this less to be wondered at than that which has been said, 
 that never within the memory of man has the moon become 
 full after the fifteen days. Nay, not even in the time of the 
 deluge of Deucalion, nor in that of Phoroneus, when all 
 things, so to speak, which were upon the face of the earth 
 perished, and it happened that a great quantity of virtue was 
 separated from matter. And, besides these things, one must 
 consider the productiveness of generations, and their barren- 
 ness, and also the destruction of them; and since these 
 things do not happen in order, neither ought the order of 
 the full moon, nor the times of the waning moon, to be so 
 carefully observed. 
 
 CiiAP. XXIII. — Tlic image of matter in the sun, after which man 
 is formed — Trifling fancies — It is a mere fancy, too, 
 that man is formed from matter — Man is either a 
 comjiosite heing, or a soid, or mind and understanding. 
 
 Neither is this to be regarded with slight attention. For 
 if the divine virtue which is in matter be infinite, those 
 things cannot diminish it which the sun and moon fashion. 
 For that which remains from that finite thing which has
 
 0.\ Till': TEXKT6 OF THE MAMCJE^-JAXS. 2G1 
 
 been assumed is infinite. But if it is finite, it would lie 
 perceived by the senses in intervals proportionate to the 
 amount of its virtue that had been subtracted from the 
 world. But all things remain as they were. Xow what 
 understanding do these things not transcend in their in- 
 credibleness, when they assert that man was created and 
 formed after the image of matter that is seen in the sun { 
 For images are the forms of their archetypes. But if tlu'V 
 include man's image in the sun, where is the exemplar after 
 which his image is formed ? For, indeed, they are not gning 
 to say that man is really man, or divine virtue; for this, 
 indeed, they mix up with matter, and they say that tiie 
 image is seen in the sun, which, as they think, was formed 
 afterwards from the secretion of matter. Neither can they 
 bring forward the creative cause of all things, for this they 
 say was sent to preserve safety to the divine virtue ; so that, 
 in their opinion, this must be altogether ascribed to the sun ; 
 for this reason, doubtless, that it haj)pens by his arrival 
 and presence that the sun and moon are separated from 
 matter. 
 
 Moreover, they assert that the image is seen in the sun ; 
 but they say that matter fashioned man. In what manner, 
 and by what means ? For it is not possible that this should 
 fashion him. For besides that, thus according to them, 
 man is the empty form of an empty form, and having no 
 real existence, it has not as yet been possible to conceive 
 how man can be the product of matter. For the use of 
 reason and sense belongs not to that matter which they 
 assume. Now what, according to them, is man ? Is he 
 a mixture of soul and body ? Or another thing, or th;it 
 which is superior to the entire soul, the mind ? But if he 
 is mind, how can the more perfect and the better part be 
 the product of that which is worse ; or if he be soul (for 
 this they say is divine virtue), how can they, when they 
 have taken away from God the divine virtue, subject this 
 to the creating workmanship of matter? But if they leave 
 to him body alone, let them remember again that it is by 
 itself immovable, and that thev say that the essence of
 
 2G2 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 matter is motion. Neither do they think that any thing ot 
 itself, and its own genius, is attracted to matter. Nor is it 
 I'casonable to lay it down, tliat wliat is composed of these 
 things is the product of this. To think, indeed, that that 
 wliich is fashioned by any one is inferior to its fashioner 
 seems to be beyond controversy. For thus the world is 
 inferior to its Creator or Fashioner, and the works of art 
 inferior to the artificer. If then man be the product of 
 matter, he must surely be inferior to it. Now, men leave 
 nothing infeiior to matter; and it is not reasonable that 
 the divine virtue should be commingled with matter, and 
 with that which is inferior to it. But the things which 
 they assert out of indulgence, as it were, and by way 
 of dispensation, these they do not seem to understand. 
 For what is the reason of their thinking that matter has 
 bound the image of God to the substance of man ? Or, 
 why is not the image sufficient, as in a mirror, that man 
 sliould appear ? Or, as the sun himself is sufficient for the 
 origination and destruction of all things that are made, hath 
 lie imitated an image in the work of their creation ? With 
 which of those things which he possessed ? AVas it with the 
 divine virtue wdiich was mingled with it, so that the divine 
 virtue should have the office of an instrument in respect 
 of matter ? Is it by unordered motion that he will thus 
 give matter a form ? But all like things, in exquisite and 
 accurate order, by imitating, attain theu' end. For they do 
 not suppose that a house, or a ship, or any other product of 
 art, is effected by disorder ; nor a statue which art has 
 fashioned to imitate man. 
 
 Chap. xxiy. — Christ is mind, according to the 3fanichceans — 
 What is He in the viciv of the Church? — Incon- 
 gruity in their idea of Christ — That He suffered only 
 in ajopcarancc, a dream of the Manichcccins — Nothing 
 is attributed to the Word hy tcay of fiction. 
 
 Christ, too, they do not acknowledge ; yet they speak of 
 Christ, but they take some other element, and giving to tlie
 
 ox THE TENETS OF THE MAXICHJEAXS. 2G3 
 
 Word, designating His sacred person, some other significa- 
 tion than that in which it is rightly received, they say that 
 He is mind. But if, when they speak of Him as that 
 which is known, and that which knows, and wisdom as 
 having the same meaning, they are fountl to agree with those 
 things wliich the Church doctors say of Him, how comes it 
 then that they reject all that is called ancient history ? 
 l>ut let us see whether they make Him to be something 
 adventitious and new, and which has come on from with- 
 out, and by accident, as the opinion of some Ls. For they 
 who hold this opinion say, as seems very plausible, that 
 about the seventh year, when the powers of perception 
 became distinct, He made His entrance into the body. But 
 if Christ be mind, as they imagine, then will He be both 
 Christ and not Christ. For before that mind and sense 
 entered, He was not. But if Christ, as they will have it, 
 be mind, then into Him already existing does the mind 
 make its entrance, and thus, again, according to their opinion, 
 will it be mind. Christ, therefore, is and is not at the same 
 tiine. But if, according to the more approved sect of them, 
 mind is all things which are, since they assume matter to 
 be not produced, and coeval so to speak with God, this first 
 mind and matter they hold to be Christ; if, indeed, Clnist be 
 the mind, which is all things, and matter is one of tliose 
 things which are, and is itself not produced. 
 
 They say it was by way of appearance, and in tliis 
 manner, that the divine virtue in matter was affixed to the 
 cross ; and that He Himself did not undergo this punish- 
 ment, since it was impossible that He should suft'er tliis; 
 which assertion Manichceus himself lias taken in hand to 
 teach in a book written upon the subject, that the divine 
 virtue was enclosed in matter, and again departs from it. 
 The mode of this they invent. That it should be said, 
 indeed, in the doctrine of tlie Church, that He gave Him- 
 self up for the remission of sins obtains credit from the 
 vulgar, and ap])ears likewise in the Greek liistories, which 
 say that some " surrendered themselves to death in order to 
 ensure safety to their countrymen." And of this doctrine
 
 264 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 the Jewish history has an example, which prepares the son 
 of Abraham as a sacrifice to God.* But to subject Christ to 
 His passion merely for the sake of display, betrays great 
 ignorance, for the Word is God's representative, to teach and 
 inform us of actual verities. 
 
 Chap. xxv. — The Manichcean abstinence from living things 
 ridiculoiis — Their 7nadness in abhorring marriage — 
 The mythologij of the giants — Too allegorical an 
 exposition. 
 
 They abstain also from living things. If, indeed, the 
 reason of their abstinence were other than it is, it ought 
 not to be too curiously investigated. But if they do so 
 for this reason, that the divine virtue is more or less 
 absent or present to them, this their meaning is ridiculous. 
 For if plants be more material, ho-w is it in accordance with 
 reason to use that which is inferior for food and susten- 
 ance ? or, if there be more of the divine virtue in them, 
 how are things of this sort useful as food, when the soul's 
 faculty of nourishing and making increase is more cor- 
 poreal? Now in that they abstain from marriage and 
 the rites of Venus, fearing lest by the succession of the 
 race the divine virtue should dwell more in matter, I 
 wonder how in thinking so they allow of themselves ? For 
 if neither the providence of God suffices, both by genera- 
 tions and by those things which are always and in the 
 ^ame manner existent, to separate off the divine \'irtue from 
 matter, what can the cunning and subtlety of Manicheeus 
 effect for that purpose ? For assuredly by no giant's co- 
 operation does assistance come to God, in order by the 
 removal of generations to make the retreat of the divine 
 virtue from matter quick and speedy. But what the poets 
 say about the giants is manifestly a fable. For those who lay 
 it down about these, bring forward such matters in allegories, 
 by a species of fable hiding the majesty of their discourse ; 
 as, for instance, when the Jewish history relates that angels 
 ^ Gen. xxii. 1.
 
 ON THE TENETS OF THE MANICH.EANS. 2C5 
 
 came clown to hold^ intercourse with the daughters of men ; 
 for this saying signifies that the nutritive powers of the 
 soul descended from heaven to earth. But the poets wlio 
 say that tliey, when they had emerged in full armour from 
 the earth, perished immediately after they stirred up rebellion 
 against the gods, in order that they might insinuate tlie frail 
 and quickly -perisliing constitution of the body, adorn their 
 poetry in this way for the sake of refreshing the soul by 
 the strangeness of the occurrence. But these, understanding 
 nothing of all this, wheresoever they can get hold of a para- 
 logism, from whatsoever quarter it comes, gi-eedOy seize on 
 it as a God-send, and strive with all their arts to overturn 
 truth by any means. 
 
 Chap. xxvi. — Tlte much talked of fire of the Manichceans — 
 TJiatfire matter itself. 
 
 That fire, endowed indeed with the power of burning, yet 
 possessing no light, which is outside the world, in what 
 region has it place ? For if it is in the world, why does the 
 world hitherto continue safe ? For if at some time or other 
 it is to destroy it, by approaching it, now also it is conjoined 
 with it. But if it be apart from it, as it were on high in its 
 own region, what will hereafter happen to make it descend 
 upon the world ? Or in what way will it leave its own 
 place, and by what necessity and violence ? And what sub- 
 stance of fire can be conceived without fuel, and how can 
 what is moist serve as fuel to it, unless what is rather 
 physiologically said about tliis does not fall within the pro- 
 vince of our present disquisition ? But this is quite mani- 
 fest from what has been said. For the fire existing outside 
 the world is just that winch they call matter, since the sun 
 and the moon, being the purest of the pure, by their divine 
 vh'tue, are separate and distinct from that fire, no part of them 
 being left in it. This fire is matter itself, absolutely and 
 jt)«r se, entirely removed from all admixture with the divine 
 virtue. Wherefore when the world has been emptied of ail 
 
 1 (Jen. vi. 2.
 
 266 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 the divine virtue which is opposed to it, and again a fire of 
 this sort shall be left remaining, how then shall the fire 
 either destroy any thing, or be consumed by it ? For, from 
 that which is like, I do not see in what way corruption is to 
 take place. For what matter will become when the divine 
 virtue has been separated from it, this it was before that 
 the divine virtue was commingled with it. If indeed 
 matter is to perish when it is bereft of the divine virtue, 
 why did it not perish before it came in contact with the 
 divine virtue, or any creative energy ? "Was it in order that 
 matter might successively perish, and do this ad infinitum ? 
 And what is the use of this ? For that which had not 
 place from the first volition, how shall this have place from 
 one following ? or what reason is there for God to put off 
 things which, not even in the case of a man, appears to be 
 well ? For as regards those who deliberate about what is 
 impossible, this is said to happen to them, that they do not 
 wish for that which is possible. But if nothing else, they 
 speak of God transcending substance, and bring Him forward 
 as some new material, and that not such as intelligent men 
 always think to be joined with Him, but that which investi- 
 gation discovers either to be not existing at all, or to be the 
 extreme of all things, and which can with difficulty be con- 
 ceived of by the human mind. For this fire, devoid of light, 
 is it of more force than matter, which is to be left desolate 
 by divine virtue, or is it of less ? And if it is of less, how 
 will it overcome that which is of more ? but if it is of more, 
 it will be able to bring it back to itself, being of the same 
 nature ; yet will it not destroy it, as neither does the Nile 
 swallow up the streams that are divided off from it.
 
 PETER, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 267
 
 PETER, BISHOP OF ALEXANURIA, AND MARTYR. 
 HISTOEICAL XOTICE. 
 
 [From Gallandi. I 
 
 USEBIUS alone, of the more ancient writers, 
 speaks in terms of the highest praise of Peter, 
 Bishop of Alexandria. He was, says he, a 
 divine bishop, both for the sanctity of his life, 
 and also for his dDigent study and knowledge of the Holy 
 
 Scriptures : ^sTov iTiazorruv yJr^iLa, iSlOV Ti xa/' apirr,; mxa y.ai 
 rrj; ruv iipuv Xoyuv 6\jm6-/.r,<!iui; ;^ and in another place he styles 
 him "that excellent doctor of the Christian religion," who, 
 indeed, during the whole period of his episcopate, which 
 lie held for twelve years, obtained for himself the highest 
 renown. He obtained the bisliopric of Alexandria next in 
 succession to Theonas. He governed that church about 
 three years before the persecution broke out : Trph roD oiuyiMnZ 
 rpkiv ovi' oXoig rr/nffafii'^og rr,: ExxAj;ff/a; ; the rcst of his time 
 he spent in the exercise of a closer discipline over himself, 
 yet did he not in the meanwhile neglect to provide for the 
 common interests of the Church. Tn the ninth year of 
 the persecution lie was beheadeil, and gained the crown of 
 martyrdom. So far we have the account of Eusebius, whom 
 Dodwell" proves to have accurately distributed the yeai-s 
 of Peter's episcopate. After IV'ter had .spent twelve years 
 a,s bishop, and in the ninth year of the jiersecution which 
 broke out imder Maximin, he was beheaded ; so that his 
 martyrdom falls in the year of our Lord oil — as the 
 
 ^ EusebuiP, J7i.s^ EccL, Vih. i.\. cap. G; lil). viii. cap. Kl ; lil>. vii. cap. 
 .1-2, towards the end. 
 
 - Dodwell, IHsscrt. Sing. ad. I'tars., cap. G, .sec. 21, p. 71.
 
 270 THE \VIUTh\GS OF PETER. 
 
 Egyptians reckon on the 29th day of the month Athyi-, 
 whicli answers to our 25th of November, as Lequien/ after 
 Ilenaudot,^ has observed. 
 
 St Peter wrote in the fourth year of the persecution, 
 A.D. 306, some Canons Penitential with reference to those 
 who had lapsed. They are to be met with in every collec- 
 tion of Canons. In the 2v\/odixov sive Pandecta Canonum 
 of Bishop Beveridge (vol. ii. p. 8, fol. Oxon. 1672), they 
 are accompanied by the notes of Joannes Zonaras and 
 Theodoras Balsanion. Upon these Penitential Canons, how- 
 ever, Tillemont-^ should be consulted. Moreover, according 
 to Kenaudot,* Echmimensis, Ebnapalus, Abulfaragius, and 
 other Oriental Christians of every sect, make use of tlie 
 testimony of these Canons ; and in the anonymous collec- 
 tions of them called Eesponsa, some fragments of other 
 works of Peter are extant. Some of these are praised by 
 the Jacobites, in the work which they call Fides patrum. 
 In another work, entitled Unio pretiosus, occurs a homily 
 of Peter on the baptism of Christ. 
 
 The fragments of the other w^ritings of this holy martyr, 
 which have been preserved by the Greeks, are here appended 
 to the Penitential Canons. Eor instance : (1.) An extract from 
 his book De Deitatc, which is extant in the Acta Conciliorum 
 Ejphesini et Chalcedonoisis ; (2.) Another fragment from the 
 homily Be Advcntu Salvatoris, cited by Leontius Byzantinus 
 in his first book against Nestorius and Eutyches ; (3.) An 
 epistle of the same prelate to the Alexandrine Church 
 recently published, together with some other old ecclesi- 
 astical monuments by Scipio Maffei.^ Peter is said to have 
 written this epistle after one addi-essed to jMeletius, Bishop 
 of LycopoUs. In it, after interdicting the Alexandrians 
 from communion with Meletius, he says that he will himself 
 come in company with some wise doctors, and will examine 
 
 ^ Lequien, Oriens Christ, torn. ii. p. 397. 
 
 - Eenaudot, Hist. Patriarch Alex., p. 60. 
 
 3 Tillemont, Mem., torn. v. p. 450. 
 
 * Renaudot, I.e., p. 61, seqq. 
 
 ^ Maffei, Osservazione Letterarie, torn. iii. p. 17.
 
 HISTORICAL NOTICE. 271 
 
 into his tenets ; alluding, most probably, to the Synod held 
 afterwards at Alexandria, in which Meletius was deposed 
 from his office. Athanasius says,^ respecting this Synod, 
 Peter, who was amongst us as bishop before the persecu- 
 tion, and who died a mart}'T in the persecution, deposed 
 in common council of the bishops, jNIeletius, an Egyptian 
 bishop, M'ho had been convicted of many crimes. But with 
 respect to the time in Avhich the mournful Meletian schism 
 commenced, MaiTei ^ defends the opinions of Baronius,^ wlio 
 connects it with the year a.d. 306, against I'agius and 
 Montfaucon, both from this epistle of Petrus Alexandrinus, 
 and also from another of tlie four bishops, of M-liich Peter 
 makes mention in his own ; (4.) A passage from the Scrmo 
 in Sanctum Fascha, or from some other work of Peter's on 
 the same subject, is given in the Diatriha de Pascliate, 
 prefixed to the Chronicon Alcxandrinum S. Paschalc, and 
 published separately in the Uranologion of Petavius, fob 
 Paris, 1630, p. 396. 
 
 ^ Athana.sius, Apol. contra Avian, sec. 39, toni. i. p. 177. 
 
 ^ MaiTei, I.e., p. 24. ^ Baronius, Ad. Annum, 306, sec 44.
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS OF PETER, 
 
 BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, AND MARTYil, 
 AS INTERPRETED BY ANASTASIUS BIBLIOTHECARIUS.^ 
 [Apud Maium, Sjndlegii, torn. iii. p. 671.] - 
 
 Were all the limbs of my body to be turned into tongues, 
 and all the joints of my limbs to utter articulate sounds, it 
 would noways be sufficient to express who, how great and 
 how good, was our most blessed Father Peter, Archbishop 
 of Alexandria. Especially incongruous do I consider it to 
 commit to paper what perils he underwent by tyrants, what 
 conflicts he endured with Gentiles and heretics, lest I should 
 seem to make these the subjects of my panegyric rather 
 than that passion to which he manfully submitted to make 
 safe the people of God. Nevertheless, because the office of 
 the narrator must fail in narrating his inmost conversation 
 and wonderful deeds, and language is noways sufficient for 
 the task, I have considered it convenient to describe only 
 
 ^ That Anastasius BibUotliecarms translated from the Greek the 
 Passion of St Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, is affirmed by Anastasius 
 liimself in his j^rologue, Ad Passionem Martyrum, mcccclxxx., 
 published by Mabillon in the Museum Italicum, torn. i. part ii. p. 80 : 
 " Post translatam a me ad petitionem sanctitatis tuse (he is addressing 
 Peter, Bishop of Gavinum), passionem prsecipui doctoris et martyris, 
 Petri Alexandrinse urbis episcopi." And then an anonymous bio- 
 grapher of John VIII., in Miiratori R.I.S., tom. iii. p. i. p. 269, confirms 
 the same. Anastasius, the librarian of the Roman Church, translated 
 from the Greek into Latin the Passion of St Peter, Archbishop of 
 Alexandria. But it is a matter of conjecture which of the different 
 Passions of St Peter Anastasius translated. Of the Acts of St Peter, 
 there are three different records : — (1.) Acta Sinccra, which, according 
 to Baronius, are the most genuine. (2.) A shorter Latin version, by 
 Surius. (3.) A Greek version, by CoAbefis. 
 
 272
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 273 
 
 those exploits of liis by wliicli he is known to have attained 
 to the pontificate, and after Arius had been cut off from 
 the unity of the Church, to have been crowned with the 
 martyr's laurel. Yet this do I consider to be a glorious end, 
 and a spectacle of a magnificent contest, sufficient for those 
 who do not doubt of a truthful narration, which is unstained 
 by falsehood. In commencing, therefore, our account of the 
 episcopate of this most holy man, let us call to our aid his 
 own language, in order that we may make it co-operato 
 with our ow-n style. 
 
 Alexandria is a city of exceeding magnitude, ^\•hich holds 
 the first place not only among the Egyptians, but the 
 Thebans also and the Libyans, who are at no great distance 
 from Egypt. A cycle of two hundred and eighty-five years 
 from the incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
 had rolled round, when the venerable Theonas, the bishop 
 of this city, by an ethereal flight, mounted upwards to the 
 celestial kingdoms. To him Peter, succeeding at the lielm 
 of the Church, was by all tlie clergy and the whole Christian 
 community appointed bishop, the sixteenth in order from 
 Mark the Evangelist, who was also archbishop of the city. 
 He in truth, like Lucifer rising among the stars, shining 
 forth with tlie radiance of his sacred virtues, most magni- 
 ficently governed the citadel of tlie faith. Inferior to none 
 who had gone before him in his knowledge of Holy Scrip- 
 ture, he nobly applied himself to the advantage and instruc- 
 tion of the Church ; being of singular prudence, and in all 
 things perfect, a true priest and victim of God, he watch- 
 fully laboured night and day in every sacerdotal care. 
 
 But because virtue is the mark of the zealot, " it is the 
 tops of the mountains that are struck by lightning,"^ he 
 hence endured multifarious conflicts with rivals. Why 
 need I say more ? He lived in persecution almost the 
 whole of his life. Meanwhile he ordained fifty-five bishops. 
 Meletius lastly, in mind and name most black, was made 
 the schismatical bishop of the city of Lycopolis, doing many 
 things against the rule of the canons, and sui-jiassiug even 
 1 Hor. Od. ii. 10, 11.
 
 274 THE WRITINGS OF PF.TER. 
 
 the Lloody soldiery in cruelty who, at the time of the Lord's 
 Passion, feared to rend His coat ; he was so hurried on by 
 giving the rein to his madness, that, rending asunder the 
 Catholic Church not only in the cities of Egypt, but even in 
 its villages, he ordained bishops of his own party, nor cared 
 he ought for Peter, nor for Christ, who was in the person of 
 Peter. To him Arius, who was yet a laic, and not marked 
 with the clerical tonsure, adhered, and was to him and his 
 family most dear ; and not without reason : every animal, as 
 says the Scripture, loves its like. But upon this coming to 
 his knowledge, the man of God being affected with grief, 
 said that this persecution was worse than the former. And 
 although he was in hiding, yet, so far as his strength per- 
 mitted, directing everywhere his exhortations, and preaching 
 up the unity of the Church, he strengthened men to with- 
 stand the ignorance and nefarious temerity of Meletius. 
 Whence it came to pass that not a few, being influenced 
 by his salutary admonitions, departed from the Meletian 
 impiety. 
 
 Nearly about the same time Arius, armed with a viper's 
 craft, as if deserting the party of Meletius, fled for refuge to 
 Peter, who at the request of the bishops raised him to the 
 honours of the diaconate, being ignorant of his exceeding 
 hypocrisy. For he was even as a snake suffused with deadly 
 poison. Yet neither can the imposition of hands upon this 
 false one be imputed as a crime to this holy man, as the 
 simulated magic arts of Simon is not ascribed to Philip. 
 Meanwhile, the detestable wickedness of the Meletians in- 
 creased beyond measure ; and the blessed Peter, fearing lest 
 the plague of heresy should spread over the whole flock com- 
 mitted to his care, and knowing that there is no fellowship 
 with light and darkness, and no concord betwixt Christ and 
 Belial, by letter separated the Meletians from the communion 
 of the Church. And because an evil disposition cannot long 
 be concealed, upon that instant the wicked Arius, when he 
 saw his aiders and abettors cast do"UTi from the dignity of 
 the Church, gave way to sadness and lamentation. This did 
 not escape the notice of this holy man. For when his
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 275 
 
 hypocrisy was laid bare, immediately using the evangelical 
 sword, " If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast 
 it from thee," ^ and cuttmg off Arius from the body of the 
 Church as a putrid limb, he expeHed and baui^slied him 
 from the communion of the faithful. 
 
 This done, the storm of persecution suddenly abating, 
 peace, although for a short time, smiled. Then this most 
 choice priest of the Lord shone manifestly before the people, 
 and the faithful began to run in crowds to keep the memory 
 of the martyrs, and to assemble in congregations to the praise 
 of Christ. Whom this priest of the divine law quickened 
 with his holy eloquence, and so roused and strengthened 
 that the multitude of believers increased continually in the 
 Church. But the old enemy of salvation of man did not 
 long remain quiet and look on these things with favouring 
 eyes. For on a sudden the storm-cloud of paganism gave 
 forth its hostile thunder, and like a winter shower struck 
 against the serenity of the Church, and chased it away in 
 flight. But that this may be understood more clearly, we 
 must necessarily turn back to the atrocities of Diocletian, 
 that impious one, and rebel against God, and also to ^Maximian 
 Galerius, who at that time, with his son ]Maximin, harassed 
 the regions of the East with his tyrannical sway. 
 
 For in the time of this man the fire of Christian persecu- 
 tion so raged, that not only in one region of the imiverse, but 
 even throughout the whole world, both by land and by sea, 
 the storm of impiety gave forth its thunder. The imperial 
 edicts and most cruel decrees running hither and tliitlier, the 
 worshippers of Christ were put to death now openly, and 
 now by clandestine snares ; no day, no night, passed off free 
 from the effusion of Christian blood. Nor was the type of 
 slaughter of one kind alone ; some were slain with diverse and 
 most bitter tortures ; some again, that they might want the 
 humanity of kinsmen, and buiial in their own country, were 
 transported to other climes, and by certain new machina- 
 tions of punishment, and as yet to the age unknown, were 
 driven to the goal of martyrdom. Oli, the horrible wicked- 
 » :\Iatt. V. 29.
 
 27G THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 ness ! So great was their impiety that they even upturned 
 from their foundations the sanctuaries of divine worship, 
 and hurned the sacred books in the fire. Diocletian of 
 execrable memory having died, Constantinus Major was 
 elected to administer the kingdom, and in the western parts 
 began to hold the reins of government. 
 
 In these days information was brought to Maximin about 
 the aforesaid archbishop, that he was a leader and holding 
 chief place among the Christians ; and he, inflamed with 
 his accustomed iniquity, on the instant ordered Peter to be 
 apprehended and cast into prison. For which purpose he 
 despatched to Alexandria five tribunes, accompanied with 
 their bands of soldiers, who, coming thither as they had been 
 commanded, suddenly seized the priest of Christ and com- 
 mitted him to the custody of a prison. "Wonderful was the 
 devotion of the faithful ! When it was known that this holy 
 man was shut up in the dungeon of the prison, an incredibly 
 large number ran together, principally a band of monks and 
 of virgins, and with no material arms, but with rivers of tears 
 and the affection of pious minds, surrounded the prison's 
 circuit.-^ And as good sons towards a good father, nay, rather 
 as the Christian members of a most Christian head, adhered 
 to him with all their bowels of compassion, and were to him 
 as walls, observing that no pagan might get an opportunity 
 of access to him. One indeed was the vow of all, one their 
 voice, and one their compassion and resolve to die rather 
 than see any evil happen to this holy man. Now while the 
 man of God was being kept for a few days in the same 
 stocks, with his body thrust back, the tribunes made a 
 suggestion to the king concerning him, but he, after his 
 ferocious manner, gave his sentence for capitally punish- 
 ing the most blessed patriarch. And when this got to the 
 ears of the Christians, they all with one mind began to 
 guard the approaches to the prison with groaning and 
 
 ^ Thus watched the faithful at ^lilan around Ambrose, their bishop, 
 against whom the WTatli of the Arian Empress Justina was directed, 
 according to the testimony of Augustine, who was an eye-witne.ss, 
 Cf. Can/ess., lib. ix. cap. 7.
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 211 
 
 lamentation, and persistently prevented any Gentile from 
 obtaining access to liim. And when the tribunes could 
 by no means approach him to put him to death, they 
 held a council, and determined that the soldiers shoukl 
 with drawn swords break in upon the crowd of people, and 
 so draw him forth to behead him ; and if any one opposed, 
 he should be put to death. 
 
 Arius, in the meanwhile, having as yet been endowed 
 only with the dignity of a Levite, and fearing lest, after 
 the death of so great a father, he should noways be able Lo 
 iret reconciled to the Church, came to those who held the 
 chief place amongst the clergy, and, hypocrite that he was, 
 by his sorrowful entreaties and plausible discourse, en- 
 deavoured to persuade the holy archbishop to extend to 
 him his compassion, and to release him from the ban of 
 excommunication. But what is more deceptive than a 
 feigned heart ? What more simple than a holy composure ? 
 There was no delay ; those who had been requested went 
 in to the priest of Christ, and, after the customary oration, 
 prostrating themselves on the gi'ound, and with groans and 
 tears kissing his sacred hands, implored him, saying : " Thee, 
 indeed, most blessed father, for the excellence of thy faith, 
 the Lord hath called to receive the martyr's crown, which 
 we noways doubt does quickly await thee. Therefore do 
 we think it right that, with thy accustomed piety, thou 
 shouldest pardon Arius, and extend thy indulgence to liis 
 lamentations." 
 
 Upon hearing this the man of God, moved with indignation, 
 put them aside, and, raising his hands to heaven, exclaimed : 
 " Do ye dare to supplicate me on belialf of Arius ? Arius, both 
 here and in the future world, will always remain banished 
 and separate from the glory of the Son of God, Jesus Christ 
 our Lord."^ He thus protesting, all who were present, being 
 
 ^ Tlie Acta Combefisiana, add, queinadinodinii illc Dei Filium a natcma 
 gloria et substantia sequestravit, even as lie has sejiarated tlio Son of God 
 from the glory and substance of His Fatlier. But Arius had not a.s yet 
 laid bare his heresy, but had been excluded from the Church for join- 
 ing in the Meletian schism, and a suspicious course of action. — Tr.
 
 278 THE WPdTINGS OF PETER. 
 
 struck with terror, like men dumb, kept silence. Moreover 
 they suspected that he, not without some divine notification, 
 gave forth such a sentence against Arius. But when the 
 merciful father beheld them silent and sad from compunction 
 of heart, he would not persist in austerity, or leave them, as 
 if in contempt, without satisfaction ; but taking Achillas 
 and Alexander, who amongst the priests appeared to be tlie 
 elders and the most holy, having one of them at his right 
 hand, and the other on his left, he separated them a little 
 from the rest, and at the end of his discourse said to them : 
 " Do not, my brethren, take me for a man inhuman and 
 stern ; for indeed I too am living under the law of sin ; 
 but believe my words. The hidden treachery of Arius sur- 
 passes all iniquity and impiety, and not asserting this of 
 mine own self, have I sanctioned his excommunication. 
 For in this night, whilst I was solemnly pouring forth my 
 prayers to God, there stood by me a boy of about twelve 
 years, the brightness of whose face I could not endure, for 
 this whole cell in whicli we stand was radiant with a great 
 light. He was clothed with a liuen tunic ^ divided into 
 two parts, from the neck to the feet, and holding in his 
 two hands the rents of the tunic, he applied them to his 
 breast to hide his nakedness. At this vision I was stupefied 
 with astonishment. And when boldness of speech was given 
 to me, I exclaimed : Lord, who hath rent thy tunic ? Then 
 said he, Arius hath rent it, and by all means beware of 
 receiving him into communion ; behold, to-morrow they 
 will come to entreat you for him. See, therefore, that thou 
 be not persuaded to acquiesce : nay, rather lay thy com- 
 
 ^ x.o7.63iou — this is the tunicle, tunica, tunicella, dalmatica. It 
 original^ had no sleeves ; it is said that ^Wde sleeves were added iii 
 the West about the foui'th century ; and the garment was then called 
 dalmatic, and was the deacon's vestment when assisting at the holy 
 communion ; while that worn by sub-deacons, called by the Anglo- 
 Saxons "roc," and "tunicle" generally after the 13th century, was 
 of the same form, but smaller and less ornamented (Palmer, Orig. 
 Ltturgicce, vol. ii. p. 314). The word, in its classical use, meant an 
 under-garment with its sleeves curtailed (xoXo/3df) — i.e. reaching only 
 half do^vn to the elbow, or entirely without sleeves. — Tr.
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 279 
 
 mands upon Achillas and Alexander the priests, who after 
 thy translation will rule my Church, not by any means 
 to receive him. Thou shalt very quickly fulfil the lot 
 of the martyr. Now there was no other cause of this 
 vision. So now I have satisfied you, and I have declared 
 unto you what I was ordered. But what you will do in 
 consequence of this, must be your o\m care. Thus much 
 concerning Arius. 
 
 Ye know too, beloved, and ye know well, what has been 
 the manner of my conversation amongst you, and what 
 conflicts I have endured from the idolatrous Gentiles, who, 
 being ignorant of the Lord and Saviour, do not cease in 
 their madness to spread abroad the fame of a multitiule 
 of gods who are no gods. Ye know likewise how, in 
 avoiding the rage of my persecutors, I wandered an exile 
 from place to place. For long time I lay in hiding in 
 Mesopotamia, and also in Syria amongst the Phoenicians ; 
 in either Palestine also I had for a long time to wander ; 
 and from thence, if I may so say, in another element, tliat 
 is, in the islands I tarried no short time. Yet in the 
 midst of all these calamities I did not cease day and night 
 WTiting to the Lord's flock committed to my poor care, and 
 confirming them in the unity of Christ. For an anxious 
 solicitude for them constantly kept urging my heart, and 
 suffered me not to rest; then only did I think it to be more 
 tolerable to me when I committed them to the Po\\\t 
 above. 
 
 Likewise also, on account of those fortunate prelates, 
 Phileus, I mean, Ilesychius and Theodorus, who of divine 
 grace have received a worthy vocation, what great tribula- 
 tion agitated my mind. For these, as ye know, for the 
 faith of Christ were with the rest of the confessors wiusted 
 with diverse torments. And because in such a conflict 
 they were not only of the clergy but of the laity also 
 the standard-bearers and preceptors, I on this account 
 greatly feared lest they should be found wanting under their 
 long affliction, and lest their defection, which is terrible to 
 speak of, should be to many an occasion of stumbling and
 
 280 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 of denying tlio faith, for there were more than six hundred 
 and sixty confined along with them within the precincts of a 
 dungeon. Hence, although oppressed with great labour and 
 toil, I ceased not to write to them with reference to all those 
 predicted passages [of Scripture], exhorting them to earn the 
 martyr's palm with the power of divine inspiration. But 
 when I heard of their magnificent perseverance, and the 
 glorious end of the passion of them all, falling on the 
 ground I adored the majesty of Christ, who had thought 
 fit to count them amongst the throng of the martyrs. 
 
 Why should I speak to you about Meletius of Lycopolis ? 
 What persecutions, what treachery, he directed against me, 
 I doubt not but that ye well know. Oh, the horrible wicked- 
 ness ! he feared not to rend asunder the holy Church, which 
 the Son of God redeemed with His precious blood, and to 
 deliver which from the tyranny of the devil He hesitated 
 not to lay down His life. This Church, as I have begun to 
 say, the wicked Meletius rending asunder, ceased not to 
 imprison in dungeons, and to afflict holy bishops even, who 
 have a little before us by martyrdom penetrated to the 
 heavens. Beware therefore of his insidious devices. Tor 
 I, as ye see, go bound by divine charity, preferring above all 
 things the will of God. I know, indeed, that under their 
 breath the tribunes whisjDer of my death with eager haste ; 
 but I will not from this circumstance open any communica- 
 tion with them, nor will I count my life more precious than 
 myself. Nay, rather, I am prepared to finish the course which 
 my Lord Jesus Christ hath deigned to promise to me, and 
 faithfully render up to Him the ministry which from Him I 
 have received. Pray for me, my brothers; you will not see 
 me longer living in this life with you. Wherefore I testify 
 before God and your brotherhood, that before all of you have 
 I preserved a clean conscience. For I have not shunned to 
 declare unto you the injunctions of the Lord, and I have 
 refused not to make known to you the things which will 
 hereafter be necessary. 
 
 Wherefore take heed unto yourselves, and the whole 
 flock over which the Holy Ghost has appointed you as
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 281 
 
 overseers in succession — thee Achillas in the first place, 
 and next to thee Alexander. Behold with living voice I 
 protest to you, that after my death men will arise in the 
 Church speaking perverse things/ and will again divide 
 it, like JMeletius, drawing away the people after their mad- 
 ness. So I have told you before. But I pray you, mine 
 own bowels, be watchful ; for ye must undergo many tribu- 
 lations. For we are no better than oui- fathers. Are ye 
 ignorant what things my father endured from the Gentiles, 
 he who brought me up, the most holy bishop Theonas, 
 whose pontifical chair I have undertaken to fill ? AVould that 
 I had his manners also ! Why too should I speak of the 
 gi-eat Dionysius his predecessor ? "Who wandering from 
 place to place sustained many calamities from the frantic 
 Sabellius. Nor will I omit to mention you, )'e most holy 
 fathers and high priests of the divine law, Heraclius and 
 Demetrius, for whom Origen, that framer of a perverse dogma, 
 laid many temptations, who cast upon the Church a detest- 
 able schism, which to this day is throwing it into confusion. 
 But the grace of God which then protected them, will, I 
 believe, protect you also. But why do I delay you longer, 
 my very dear brethren, with the outpouring of my prolix 
 discourse. It remains, that with the last words of the 
 Apostle ^ who thus prayed I address you : " And now I com- 
 mend you to God and the word of His grace, which is power- 
 ful to direct both you and His flock." "When he had finished, 
 falling on his knees, he prayed with them. And his speech 
 ended, Achillas and Alexander kissing his hands and feet 
 and bursting into tears sobbed bitterly, specially grieving at 
 those words of liis which they heard when he said tliat they 
 should henceforth see him in this life no more. Tiien this 
 most gentle teacher going to the rest of the clergy, who, as 
 I have said, had come into him to speak in behalf of Arius, 
 spake to them his last consoling words, and such as were 
 necessary ; then pouring forth his prayers to God, and 
 bidding them adieu, he dismissed thcni all in ])eace. 
 
 1 Cf. 1 Tim. iv. 1. 
 
 ^ Cf. St Paul's farewell address to the elders at MLletu.s, Acts xx. 17-37.
 
 282 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 These things having thus ended, it was everywliere pub- 
 lished far and wide that Arius had not been cut oil' i'roui 
 the catholic unity without a divine interposition. But that 
 contriver of deceit, and disseminator of all wickedness, ceased 
 not to keep hidden his viper's poison in the labp-inth of his 
 bosom, hoping that he should be reconciled by Achillas and 
 Alexander. This is that Arius the heresiarch, the divider 
 of the consubstantial and indivisible Trinity. This is he 
 who with rash and wicked mouth, was not afraid to 
 blaspheme the Lord and Saviour, beyond all other heretics ; 
 the Lord, I say, and Saviour, who out of pity for our human 
 wanderings, and being sorely grieved that the world should 
 perish in deadly destruction and condemnation, deigned for 
 us all to suffer in the flesh. For it is not to be believed 
 that the Godhead which is impassible was subject to the 
 passion. But because the theologians and fathers have 
 taken care in better style to remove from catholic ears the 
 blasphemies of this nature, and another task is ours, let us 
 return to our subject. 
 
 This most sagacious pontiff then, perceiving the cruel 
 device of the tribunes, who, in order to bring about his 
 death, were willing to put to the sword the whole Christian 
 multitude that was present, was unwilling that they should 
 together with him taste the bitterness of death, but as a 
 faithful servant imitating his Lord and Saviour, whose 
 acts were even as his words, "The good Shepherd giveth 
 His life for the sheep,"^ prompted by his piety, called to 
 liim an elder of those who there waited on his words, and 
 said to him : " Go to the tribunes who seek to kill me, 
 and say to them, Cease ye from all your anxiety, lo ! I am 
 ready and willing of mine own accord to give myself to 
 them." Bid them come this night to the rereward of the 
 house of this prison, and in the spot in which they shall 
 hear a signal given on the wall from within, there let them 
 make an excavation, and take me and do with me as they 
 have been commanded. The elder, obeying the commands 
 of this most holy man (for so great a father could not be 
 1 John X. 11.
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 28S 
 
 contradicted), departed to the tribunes, and made the inti- 
 mation to them as he had been commanded. They, when 
 they had received it, were exceedingly rejoiced, and talcing 
 with them some stonemasons, came about the dawn of 
 the day without their soldiers to the place which had been 
 pointed out to them. The man of God had passed the whole 
 night as a vifjil without sleep in prayer and watchfulness. 
 But when he heard their approach, whilst all who were with 
 him were rapt in slumber, with a slow and gentle step he 
 descended to the interior part of the prison, and according 
 to the agreement made, made a sound on the wall ; and 
 those outside hearing this, forcing an aperture, received this 
 athlete of Christ armed on all sides with no brazen breast- 
 plate, but with the virtue of the cross of the Lord, and fully 
 prepared to carry out the Lord's words who said, " Fear not 
 them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul : 
 but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and 
 body in hell."^ "VVonderfid was the occurrence ! Such 
 a heavy whirlwind of wind and rain prevailed during that 
 night, that no one of those who kept the door of the prison 
 coidd hear the sound of the excavation. This martyr most 
 constant too, kept urging on his murderers, saying, Do 
 what ye are about to do, before those are aware who are 
 guarding me. • 
 
 But they took him up and brouglit him to tlie place 
 called Bucolia, where the holy St ]\Iavk underwent martyr- 
 dom for Christ. Astonishing is the viitue of the saints ( 
 As they carried him along, and beheld his great con- 
 stancy and strength of mind when in peril of death, on 
 a sudden a fear and trembling came upon them to such a 
 degree, that none of them could look steadfastly into his 
 face. ^Toreover, the blessed martyr entreated them to allow 
 him to go to the tomb of St Mark, for he desired to com- 
 mend himself to his patronage. But they from confusion, 
 looking down on the ground, said, " Do as you wish, but 
 make haste." Thcretbre approacliing the burial-i)lace of 
 the evangelist, he embraced it, and speaking to liini as if 
 1 Miiit. X. -^A.
 
 284 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 he were yet alive in the flesh, and able to hear him, he 
 prayed after this manner : father most honourable, thou 
 evangelist of the only-begotten Saviour, thou witness of His 
 passion, thee did Christ choose, who is the Deliverer of us 
 all, to be the first pontiff and pillar of this see ; to thee did 
 He commit the task of proclaiming the faith throughout 
 tlie whole of Egypt and its boundaries. Thou, I say, hast 
 watchfully fulfilled that ministry of our human salvation 
 which was intrusted to thee ; as the reward of this labour 
 thou hast doubtless obtained the martyr's palm. Hence, 
 not without justice, art thou counted worthy to be saluted 
 evangelist and bishop. Thy successor was Anianus, and the 
 rest in descending series down to the most blessed Theonas, 
 who disciplined my infancy, and deigned to educate my 
 heart. To whom I, a sinner and unworthy, have been 
 beyond my deservings appointed as successor by an heredi- 
 tary descent. And, what is best of all, lo ! the largeness of 
 the divine bounty has granted me to become a martyr of His 
 precious cross and joyful resurrection, giving to my devotion 
 the sweet and pleasant odour of His passion, that I should 
 be made meet .to pour out unto Him the offering of my blood. 
 And because the time of making this offering is now instant, 
 pray for me that, the divine power assisting me, I may be 
 meet to reach the goal of this agony with a stout heart 
 and ready faith. I commend also to thy glorious patronage 
 the flock of Christ's worshippers which was committed to 
 my pastoral care ; to thee, I say, I with prayers commend 
 it, who are approved as the author and guardian of all pre- 
 ceding and subsequent occupiers of this pontifical chair, 
 and who, holding its first honours, art the successor not of 
 man, but of the God-man, Christ Jesus. Saying these words, 
 he went back to a little distance from the sacred tomb, 
 and, raising his hands to heaven, prayed with a loud voice, 
 saying : thou Only-begotten, Jesus Christ, Word of the 
 Eternal Father, hear me invoking Thy clemency. Speak 
 peace, I beseech Thee, to the tempest that shakes Thy 
 Church, and with the effusion of my blood, who am Thy 
 servant, make an end to the persecution of Thy people.
 
 THE GEM' IX K ACTS. 28.1 
 
 Tlien a certain virgin dedicated to God, who had lier cell 
 adjoining to the tomb of the evangelist, as she was spending 
 the night in prayer, heard a voice from heaven, saying : 
 Peter was the first of the apostles, Peter is the last of the 
 martyred bishops of Alexandria. 
 
 Having ended his prayer, he kissed the tomb of the 
 blessed evangelist, and of the other pontiffs who were 
 buried there, and went forth to the trilnines. But they 
 seeing his face as it had been the face of an angel, being 
 terror-stricken, feared to speak to him of his instant 
 agony. Nevertheless, because God does not desert those 
 who trust in Him, He willed not to leave His martyr 
 without consolation in the moment of so great a trial. For 
 lo ! an old man and an aged virgin, coming from the 
 smaller towns, were hastening to the city, one of whom was 
 carrying four skins for sale, and the otlier two sheets of 
 linen. The blessed prelate, when he perceived them, recog- 
 nised a divine dispensation with reference to himself. Ho 
 inquired of them on tlie instant, "Are ye Christians ?" And 
 they replied, " Yes." Then said he, " "Whither are ye going ?" 
 And they replied, " To the market in the city to sell these 
 things that we are carrying." Then the most merciful 
 father answered, " My faithful children, God has marked 
 you out, persevere M'ith me." And they immediately re- 
 cognising him, said, " Sire, let it be as thou hast commanded." 
 Then turning to the tribimes, he said, " Come, do what ye 
 are about to do, and fulfil the king's command ; for the 
 day is now on the point of breaking." But they, suffering 
 vialence as it were on account of the wicked decree of the 
 prince, brought him to a spot opposite to the sanctuary of 
 the evangelist, into a valley near the tombs. Then said the 
 holy man, " Spread out, thou aged man, the skins which thou 
 earnest, and thou too, aged woman, the linen sheets."^ And 
 when they had been spread out, this most constant martyr, 
 mounting upon them, extended botli his hands to lioavon, 
 and bending his knees on the ground, and fixing his mind 
 
 ^ The Latin reads here : " Sjiread out, ye aged men, the skins which 
 
 ye are carrying."
 
 286 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 upon heaven, returned his thanks to the Almighty Judge ^ 
 of tlie contest, and fortifying himself with the sign of the 
 cross, said, Amen. Then loosening his omophorion^ from 
 his neck, he stretched it forth, saying, " What is commanded 
 you, do speedily." 
 
 Meanwhile the hands of the tribunes were paralyzed, 
 and looking upon one another in turn, each urged his fellow 
 to the deed, but they were all held fast with astonishment 
 and fear. At length they agreed that out of their common 
 Btock a reward for the execution should be appointed, and 
 that the man who should venture to perpetrate the murder 
 should enjoy the reward. There Y\"as no delay, each of them 
 brought forth five solidi.^ But, as says the heathen poet, — 
 " Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, 
 Auri sacra fames ?"* 
 
 one of them, after the manner of the traitor Judas, em- 
 
 ^ liyauoSiirng — the president of the Grecian games, the jiidge. — Tr. 
 
 2 The omoi^horion, which is worn by every eastern h'«hop, resembles 
 the Latin pallium, except that it is broader, and tied round the neck 
 in a knot. Cf. following passage from Neale's Introduction to the 
 TraTislation of the Eastern Liturgies: But while the Gospel i;- being 
 read, the bisho]j lays aside his omophorion, thereby making profession 
 of liis service to the Lord. For since it is the Lord who is represented 
 as speaking by the Gospel, and is, as it were, Himself present, the 
 bishop at that time ventures not to be arrayed with the symbol of His 
 incarnation — I mean the "omophorion;" but taking it off from liis 
 shoulders, he gives it to the deacon, who holds it folded in his right 
 hand, himself standing near the bishop, and preceding the holy gifts. 
 When he has finished the litiu'gy, and comes to the communion, he 
 again assumes the omophorion, manifesting that before this he was one 
 of the ministers, and was afraid to put upon himself tliat holy garment. 
 But when the work is accomplished, and he goes on to elevate the 
 bread, and to divide it into parts, and to receive it himself, and dis- 
 tribute it to others, it is necessary that he should put on all the sacred 
 symbols of his dignity ; and since the omophorion is the principal A^est 
 of a pontift', he necessarily assumes that, and iu that is partaker of the 
 most divine things. — Tr. 
 
 ^ A solidus or aureus worth 25 denarii, denarius being 8fd. ; it was 
 woilh 17s. 8id. ; five solitli, £4, 8s. G^d.— Tr. 
 
 * Virgil, ^71., book iii. 56 : 
 
 " O sacred hunger of pernicious gold, 
 What bands of faith «m impious lucre liold?" — Dryden.
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 287 
 
 boldened by the desire of money, drew his sword and 
 beheaded the pontiff, on the 25th day of November, after 
 he had held the pontificate twelve years — three of which 
 were before the persecution, but the nine remaining were 
 passed by him under persecutions of diverse kinds. The 
 blood-money being instantly claimed by the executioner, 
 these ^vicked purchasers, or rather destroyers, of man's life 
 quickly returned, for they feared the multitude of the people, 
 since, as I have said, they were without their military escort. 
 But the body of the blessed martyr, as the fathers athrm who 
 went first to the place of execution, remained erect, as if 
 instant in prayer, until many people, coming together, dis- 
 covered it standing in the same posture ; so that what was 
 his constant practice whilst living, to this his inanimate 
 body testified. They found also the aged man and woman 
 \vatching with grief .and lamentation the most precious relic 
 of the Church. So, honouring him with a triumphal funeral, 
 they covered his body with the linen sheets ; but the sacred 
 blood which had been poured forth, they collected reverently 
 in a wallet. 
 
 In the meanwliilc an innumerable multitude of eitlier 
 sex, flocking together from the populous city, with groans 
 and ejaculations asked each other in turn, being ignorant, in 
 what manner this had happened. In trutli, from the least 
 to the greatest, a very great grief was prevalent amongst all. 
 For when the chief men of the city beheld the laudable 
 importunity of the multitude, who were busied in dividing 
 his sacred spoils to keep tlicm as relics, they wrai»})c'd him 
 np the tighter in the skins and linen sheets. Tor the most 
 holy minister of God was always clothed in sacerdotal vest- 
 ments of a white colour — that is, with the tunic, the kulobiou, 
 and the omophorion. Then there arose among tliem no small 
 contention; for some were for carrying the most sacred limbs 
 to the church which he had himself built, and where he now 
 rests, but others were endeavouring to carry liim to the 
 sanctuary of the evangelist, wliere he attained the goal of 
 martyrdom ; and since neither party would yield to the 
 other, they began to turn tlieir religious observance into a
 
 288 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 wrangling and a fight. In the meanwhile a spirited body 
 of senators of those who are engaged in the public trans- 
 port service, seeing what had happened, for they were near 
 the sea, prepared a boat, and suddenly seizing upon the 
 sacred relics, they placed them in it, and scaling the Pharos 
 from behind, by a quarter which has the name of Leucado, 
 they came to the church of the most blessed mother of God, 
 and Ever- Virgin Mary, which, as we began to say, he had 
 constructed in the western quarter, in a suburb, for a 
 cemetery of the martyrs. Thereupon the throng of the 
 people, as if the heavenly treasure had been snatched from 
 them, some by straight roads, and others by a more devious 
 route, followed with hasty steps. And when they at length 
 arrived there, there was no longer any altercation where he 
 was to be placed, but by a common and unimpeachable 
 counsel they agreed first to place him in his episcopal chair, 
 and then to buiy him. 
 
 And this, most prudent reader, I would not have you 
 regard as a wild fancy and superstition, since, if you learn 
 the cause of this novelty, you will admire and approve 
 of the zeal and deed of the populace. For this blessed 
 priest, when he celebrated the sacrament of the divine 
 mysteries, did not, as is the ecclesiastical custom, sit 
 upon his pontifical throne, but upon its footstool under- 
 neath, which, when the people beheld, they disliked, and 
 complaiuingly exclaimed. Thou oughtest, father, to sit 
 upon thy chair; and when they repeated this frequently, 
 the minister of the Lord rising, calmed their complaints with 
 tranquil voice, and again took his seat upon the same stool. 
 So all this seemed to be done by him from motives of 
 humility. But upon a certain great festival it happened 
 that he was offering the sacrifice of the mass, and wished to 
 do this same thing. Thereupon, not only the people, but 
 the clergy also, exclaimed with one voice. Take thy seat 
 upon thy chair, bishop. But he, as if conscious of a mystery, 
 feigned not to hear this ; and giving the signal for silence 
 (for no one dared pertinaciously to withstand him), he made 
 tliem all quiet, and yet, nevertheless, sat down on the foot-
 
 THE GENUINE ACTS. 289 
 
 stool of the chair ; and the solemnities of the mass having 
 been celebrated as usual, each one of the faithful returned 
 to his own home. 
 
 But the man of God sending for the clergy, with tranquil 
 and serene mind, charged them with rashness, saying, How 
 is it that ye blush not for having joined the cry of tlie 
 laity, and reproaching me ? Howbeit, since your reproacli 
 flows not from the muddy torrent of arrogance, but from 
 the pure fountain of love, I will unfold to you the secret 
 of this mystery. Very often when I wish to draw near to 
 that seat, I see a virtue as it were sitting upon it, ex- 
 ceeding radiant with the brightness of its light. Then, 
 being in suspense between joy and fear, I acknowledge 
 that I am altogether unworthy to sit upon such a seat, 
 and if I did not hesitate to cause an occasion of ofl'ence 
 to the people, without doubt I would not even venture 
 to sit upon the stool itself. Thus it is, my beloved sons, 
 that I seem to you in this to transgress the pontifical 
 rule. Nevertheless, many times wlien I see it vacant, as ye 
 yourselves are witnesses, I refuse not to sit upon tlie cliair 
 after the accustomed manner. Wherefore do ye, now that 
 ye are acquainted with my secret, and being well assured 
 that, if I shall be indulged, I will sit upon the chair, for I 
 liold not in slight esteem the dignity of my order, cease 
 any further from joining in the exclamations of the popu- 
 lace. This explanation the most holy father, whilst he was 
 yet alive, was compelled to give to the clergy. The faithful of 
 Christ, therefore, remembering all this with pious devotion, 
 brought his sacred body, and caused it to sit upon the episco- 
 l)al throne. As much joy and exultation arose then to heaven 
 from tlie people, as if they were attending him alive and in 
 the body. Then "embalming liim with sweet spices, tliey 
 wrapped him in silken coverings ; what each one of them 
 could be the first to bring, tliis he accounted to himself as 
 greatest gain. Then carrying palms, tlie tokens of victory, 
 with flaming tapers, with sounding hymns, and with fragrant 
 incense, celebrating the trium])h of his heavenly victor}-, 
 they laid down the sacred relics, and buried them in the 
 
 T
 
 200 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 cemetery which had been long ago constructed by him, 
 where too from henceforth, and even to this day, mira- 
 culous virtues cease not to show themselves. Pious vows, 
 forsooth, are received with a propitious hearing ; the health 
 of the impotent is restored ; the expulsion of unclean spirits 
 testifies to the martyr's merits. These gifts, Lord Jesus, 
 are Thine, whose wont it is thus magnificently to honour 
 Thy martyrs after death : Thou who with the Father and tlie 
 Holy Consubstantial Spirit livest and reignest for evermore. 
 Amen. After this, how that wolf and framer of treachery, 
 that is Arius, covered with a sheep's skin, entered into the 
 Lord's fold to worry and torment it, or in what manner he 
 was enabled to attain to the dignity of the priesthood, let 
 us employ oui-selves in relating in brief. ^ And this not to 
 annoy those who ventured to recall to the threshing-floor 
 of the Lord those tares of apostacy and contagion that had 
 been winnowed out of the Church by a heavenly fan ; for 
 these are without doubt reckoned eminent for sanctity, but 
 thinking it a light tiling to believe so holy a man, they 
 transgressed the injunctions of the divine command. What 
 then ? Do we reprehend them ? By no means. For as 
 long as this corruptible body weighs us down, and this 
 earthly habitation depresses the sense of our infirmity, 
 many are easily deceived in their imaginations, and think 
 that to be just which is unjust, that to be holy which is 
 impure. The Gibeonites who, by the divine threatenings, 
 were to be utterly destroyed, having one thing in their 
 wishes and another in their voice and mien, were able 
 quickly to deceive Joshua,^ that just distributor of the land 
 of promise. David^ also, full of prophetic inspu-ation, when 
 he had heard the words of the deceitful youth, although 
 it was by the inscrutable and just judgment of God, yet 
 acted very differently from what the true nature of the case 
 required. What also can be more sublime than the apostles, 
 
 1 Ackillas, the successor of Peter, admitted Arius to the priesthood- 
 * Cf. Joshua ix. 
 
 3 Perhaps Absalom, or it may be Ziba, is referred to. (2 Sam. 
 xiv. 33, xvi. 3.)
 
 TIIK GENUhSK ACTS. 291 
 
 who have not removed themselves from our infirmity ? For 
 one of them writes, " In many things we offend all;"^ and 
 another, " If we say we have no sin, we deceive oui-selves, 
 and the truth is not in us." - But when we repent of these, 
 so much the more readily do we obtain pardon, when wc 
 have sinned not willingly, but through ignorance or frailty. 
 And certainly offences of this sort come not of prevarication, 
 but of the indulgence of compassion. But I leave to others 
 to write an apology for this; let us pursue what is in liand. 
 After that magnificent defender of the faith, Peter, worthy of 
 his name, had by the triumph of martyrdom 
 {The rest is wanting) 
 
 i James iiL 2. ^1 John L 8.
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 COMMENTARIES OF THEODORE BALSAMON AND JOHN ZONARAS. 
 
 The Canons of the Messed Pder, Archhisho}:) of Alexandria, 
 as they are given in his Sermon "On Penitence."^ 
 
 Canon T. 
 
 iUT since the fourth passover of the perseciiti(jn 
 has arrived, it is sufficient, in the case of those 
 who have been appreliended and thrown into 
 prison, and who have sustained torments not to 
 he borne,^ and stripes intolerable, and many other dreadful 
 afflictions, and afterwards have been betrayed by the frailty 
 of the ilesh, even though they were not at the first received 
 on account of their grievous fall that followed, yet because 
 they contended sorely and resisted long ; for they did not 
 come to this of their own will, but were betrayed by the 
 frailty of the flesh ; for they show in their bodies the marks 
 of Jesus,^ and some are now, for the third year, bewailing 
 their fault : it is sufficient, I say, that from the time of 
 their submissive approach, other forty days should be 
 enjoined upon them, to keep them in remembrance of these 
 things ; those forty days during which, though our Lord 
 
 ^ These Canons of Peter of Alexandria are interesting as bearing 
 upon the controversy between Cyprian and the clergy of Carthage, 
 witli regard to the treatment of the lapsed. They also bear upon the 
 subject-matter of the Novatian schism. 
 
 - Another reading is ai/^xsorofj, "which cannot be cured." 
 
 ^ Tlie marks of Jesus, (STiyi-cccrot. Cf. Gal. vl 17.
 
 THE CAXOMCAL KPISTLE. 2^3 
 
 and Saviour Jesus Clirist liad fasted, He was yet, after He 
 had been baptized, tempted of the devil. And when they 
 shall have, during these days, exercised themselves much, 
 and constantly fasted, tlien let them Awatcli in prayer, medi- 
 tating upon what was spoken by the Lord to him who 
 tempted Him to fall down and worship liim: "Get thee 
 behind me, Satan ; for it is written, Thou shalt worship ilie 
 Lord tliy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." ^ 
 
 Balsamon. — The present canons treat of tliose wlio have 
 in the persecution denied the faith, and are doing peuame. 
 And the first canon ordains, that upon those who after many 
 torments have sacrificed to tlie gods, not being able l-y 
 reason of frailty to persevere, and who have passed tlnee 
 years in penitence, other forty days should be enjoined, 
 and that then they should be admitted into the Church. 
 Observe these present canons which lay down various and 
 useful rules in favour of those who have denied their God, 
 and seek for repentance, and concerning those mIio have of 
 their own accord sought martyrdom, and have lapsed, and 
 then have afjain confessed the faith, and other thin2[s of the 
 like nature. Consult also, for you will profitably do so, 
 many canons of the council of Ancyra. 
 
 Zonaras. — Amongst those who in these turbulent times 
 denied the faith, the holy Peter makes a distinction, ami 
 says, that upon those who had been brought before the 
 tyrant, and thrown into prison, and who had endured very 
 grievous torments, and intolerable scourgings, and sucli as 
 could be cured by no care or medicine (for axo; signifies 
 medical care, and dvrixtorov is the same as immedicabile), and 
 other dreadful afllictions, and afterwards yielding, saerifici'd 
 to the gods, being betrayed as it were by the weakness of 
 •the flesh, which could not hold out under the pain unto the 
 end, that for them the time past should sullice for jiunisli- 
 ment; since, indeed, says he, the fourth i)a.ssover ha.s imw 
 past since they made this veiy grievous fall. And although 
 perhaps at first, when they approached in penitence, they 
 were not received, yet because they did not of their own 
 
 ' Malt. iv. 10.
 
 294 rilR WRITINGS OF PET Kit. 
 
 free -svill proceed to sacrifice to the gods, and resisted long, 
 and Lear about witli them the marks of Jesus, that is to 
 say, the scars of the wounds which, in behalf of Christ, they 
 have endured, and the third year has now elapsed since 
 they first bewailed their fall, he decrees that, as an addi- 
 tional punishment, other forty days from the time that they 
 came asking to be admitted to communion should be enjoined 
 on them in the place of any further severity ; during which 
 they should exercise a still greater degree of penance, and 
 should fast more earnestly, that is, with more attentive care, 
 keeping guard over themselves, being watchful in prayer, 
 meditating upon, that is, turning over perpetually in their 
 minds, and saying in words, the text quoted by the Lord 
 against the tempter, " Get thee behind me, Satan ; for it is 
 written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him 
 only shalt thou serve." 
 
 CxVNON II. 
 
 But in the case of those who, after that they were thrown 
 into prison, and in the dungeon, as in a place besieged, 
 endured afflictions and nauseous odours, but afterwards, 
 without the conflict of torments, were led captive, being 
 broken in spirit by poverty of strength, and a certain blind- 
 ness of the understanding, a year in addition to the foregoing 
 time wiU suffice ; for they gave themselves up to be afflicted 
 for the name of Christ, even though in their dungeon they 
 enjoyed much consolation from their brethren; which, 
 indeed, they shall return many fold, desiring to be set free 
 from that most bitter captivity of the devil, especially 
 remembering Him who said : " The spirit of the Lord is 
 upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the 
 Gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal the broken- 
 hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering 
 of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised ; 
 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of 
 recompense unto our God."^ 
 
 1 Is. Ixi. ], 2 ; Luke iv. 18. 19.
 
 THE CAXOXICAL K PINTLE. 295 
 
 Balsamon. — This canon enacts tliat those who have only 
 been evil entreated in prison, and who without torment 
 have lapsed, should be punislied after tlie tliree yeai-s witli 
 an additional year. For though they obtained consolatiun, 
 certain of the faithful ministering to tliem tlie necassaries 
 of life, yet they ought to obtain pardon, as being those who 
 have suffered severely for the faith. 
 
 Zonaras. — In the second order, he places those wlio 
 have onl)"- been thrown into prison, and evil entreated in 
 the dungeon, and yet, though harassed by no torments, have 
 offended ; upon whom, besides the time past, the three years, 
 namely, of which we have spoken, he proposes to inflict tlie 
 penalty of an additional year, since they also, says he, have 
 for Christ's name endured hardness, even though it may be 
 that they obtained some consolation from the brethren 
 whilst in prison. For it is probable that the faithful, who 
 were not in custody, ministered to those in bonds the neces- 
 saries of life, and brought to them some alleviation of their 
 lot. "Which things, indeed, they shall return many fold ; for 
 those consolations which they enjoyed in prison they shall 
 vex themselves with penance, and alUict themselves in 
 diverse ways, if they wish to be set free from the captivity 
 of the devil, having become his captives and slaves by their 
 denial of Christ. He subjoins the words of the prophet, 
 taken from Isaiah, which he says that they ought to keep in 
 remembrance. 
 
 Canon III. 
 
 But as for those who have suffered none of the.se things, 
 and have shown no fruit of faith, but of their own accord 
 have gone over to wickedness, being betrayed by fear and 
 cowardice, and now come to repentance, it is necessary and 
 convenient to propose the parable of the unfruitful fig-tree, 
 as the Lord says : " A certain man had a fig-tree planted iu 
 his vineyard ; and he came and sought fruit tliereon, and 
 found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard. 
 Behold, these three years I come seeking iruit on this tig-
 
 296 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 tree, and find none : cut it down ; wliy cuinLercth it the 
 ground ? And he answering, said unti^ him, Lord, let it 
 alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it. 
 And if it bear fruit, well ; and if not, then after that thou 
 shalt cut it down." Keeping this before their eyes, and 
 showing forth fruit worthy of repentance, after so long an 
 interval of time, they will be profited. 
 
 Balsamon. — Those who from fear only and timidity 
 deserted the faith, and then had an eye towards repentance, 
 the canon punishes with three years' exclusion, according to 
 the parable of the fig-tree in the Gospels. For the Lord 
 said. Three years I come to it seeking fruit, and find 
 none ; but the vine-dresser replies, Lord, let it alone this 
 year also. 
 
 Zoncn-as. — But those, he says, who having suffered no 
 hardness, have deserted from fear only and timidity, in 
 that they of their own accord have approached to wicked- 
 ness, and then looked towards repentance, their case the 
 pai'able of the fig-tree in the Gospels will exactly suit. 
 Let them keep this before their eyes, and show forth for an 
 equal period labours worthy of penitence, and they shall be 
 profited; that is, after the fourth year. For the Lord 
 said. Three years I come to it seeking fruit, and find 
 none; and the vine-dresser answered. Lord, let it alone 
 this year also. 
 
 Canon IV. 
 
 To those who are altogether reprobate, and unrepentant 
 who possess the Ethiopian's unchanging skin,^ and the 
 leopard's spots, it shall be said, as it was spoken to another 
 fig-tree, " Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever ; 
 and it presently withered away."- For in them is fulfilled 
 what was spoken by the Preacher : " That wdiich is crooked 
 cannot be made straight ; and that which is wanting cannot 
 be numbered."^ For unless that whicli is crooked shall 
 first be ma/le straight, it is impossible for it to be adorned ; 
 ^ Jeremiah iii. 23, -Matt xxi. 19. species, i. 15.
 
 THE CA\0\ICAL EPISTLE. 297 
 
 and unless that wliich is wanting shall first be made up, 
 it cannot be numbered. Hence also, in tlie end, will happen 
 imto them what is spoken by Esaias tlie prophet : " They 
 shall look upon the carcases of the men that have trans- 
 gressed against ^le ; for their worm shall not die, neither 
 shall tlieir lire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring 
 unto all Hcsh."^ Since as by the same also has been pre- 
 dicted, " But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it 
 cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is 
 no peace, saitli my God, to the wicked." ^ 
 
 Bcdsamon. — What has been previously said of the lapsed, 
 has been said of the repentant. But against those who are 
 unrepentant, he brings forward the cursing of another fig- 
 tree, to A\hich the Lord said, because of its unprofitableness, 
 "1^0 fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." 
 
 Zonaras. — "What has been previously said of the lapsed, 
 has been said of the repentant. Against those whom, from 
 desperation or depraved ojnnion, are impenitent, and caiTy 
 about with them perpetually the inherent and indelible 
 blackness of sin, as of an ^Ethiopian's skin, or the leopard's 
 spots, he brings forward the cursing of another fig-tree. 
 To which the Lord said for its barrenness, " Let no fruit 
 grow on thee henceforward for ever. And he says that in 
 them must be fidfilled that word of the Preacher : " That 
 which is crooked cannot be made straight ; and that whicli 
 is wanting cannot be numbered." Then having explained 
 these things, he subjoins the words of Isaiali. 
 
 Canon V. 
 
 But upon those who have used dissimulation like David, 
 who feigned himself to be mad^ to avoid death, being not 
 mad in reality; and those who have not nakedly written 
 down their denial of the faith, but being in nnuh tribula- 
 tion, as boys endowed with sagacity and prudence amongst 
 foolish children, have mocked the snares of their enemies, 
 either passing by the altars, or giving a writing, or sending 
 1 Is. l.wi. 24. =« l.s Ivii. :i<i, 21. ^ Cf. 1 Saiu. xxi. 13.
 
 298 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 heathen to do sacrifice instead of themselves, even tliough 
 some of them who have confessed have, as I have heard, 
 pardoned individuals of them, since with the greatest caution 
 they have avoided to touch the fire with their own hands, 
 and to offer incense to the impure demons ; yet inasmuch 
 as they escaped the notice of their persecutors by doing this, 
 let a penalty of six months' penance be imposed upon them. 
 For thus will they be the rather profited, meditating upon the 
 prophet's Avords, and saying, " Unto us a child is born, unto 
 us a Son is given ; and the government shall be upon His 
 shoulder : and His name shall be called the Messenger of 
 My mighty counsel."^ Who, as ye know, when another 
 infant in the sixth month- of his conception had preached 
 before His coming repentance for the remission of sins, was 
 himself also conceived to preach repentance. Moreover, we 
 hear both also preaching, in the first place, not only repent- 
 ance, but the kingdom of heaven, which, as we have learned, 
 is within us f for the word which we believe is near us, in 
 our mouth, and in our heart ; which they, being put in 
 remembrance of, will learn to confess with their mouths 
 that Jesus is the Christ ; believing in their heart that God 
 hath raised him from the dead, and being as those who hear, 
 that " with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; 
 and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."* 
 
 Balsamon. — But if any have pretended to approach the 
 altars, or to write their denial of the faith, and have not 
 done this nakedly and openly, but by feigned arts have 
 illuded those who offered them violence, as David did, who, 
 when he w^as flying from Said, and was amongst sti-angers, 
 feigned himself to be mad, and thus escaped death. So they 
 mocked the snares of their enemies, as children endowed 
 with wisdom and prudence mock foolish children; for 
 they deceived the impious heathen, in that they seemed to 
 sacrifice, although they did not sacrifice, or perhaps they 
 suborned heathens and infidels to take their place, and by 
 these means they thought that they offered sacrifice; for 
 them, he says, a period of six months will sufi&ce for 
 
 lis. ix. 6. 2 Luke i. 76, 77 ^ Luke xvii. 21. * Rom. x. 8-10.
 
 TIIK CAXOXICAL EPISTLE. 299 
 
 penance. For although they did not sacrifice, yet because 
 they promised to sacrifice, or sent others to do so in their 
 place, they are thought to stand in need of repentance, even 
 tliough some of tliose who have given their testimony for 
 the faith have pardoned individuals of them. He compares 
 them to children, as not having manfully -withstood the 
 idolaters, but to prudent children, because by artifice tliey 
 avoided doing sacrifice. 
 
 Zonaras. — But if any have pretended to approach the 
 altars, or to write their denial of tlie faith, l)ut have not 
 nakedly written down their abnegation, that is, not mani- 
 festly, not openly; but by a sort of trick have cheated those 
 who offered them violence ; as David, who while he was 
 Hying from Saul, and had come amongst strange people, 
 feigned himself to be mad, and in this way avoided death. 
 They mocked indeed, he says, the insidious devices of their 
 enemies ; as prudent children, endowed with wisdom and 
 sagacity, and tliose who skilfully take counsel, deceive 
 foolish children. Now he compares those to prudent 
 children by whom the impious heathen were deceived, and 
 those who though they did not sacrifice, yet seemed to 
 sacrifice, prudent indeed, as having thus far avoided sacri- 
 ficing ; but cliildren, in that tliey did not show fortli a 
 mature and manly spirit, and did not nobly resist the wor- 
 shippers of idols, but covenanted to sacrifice, even though 
 they suborned some in their places, heatliens, forsooth, and 
 infidels, and when these sacriliceil, they were considered to 
 have sacrificed. For men of this sort, he says, a period of 
 six months will suffice for penance. For although they did 
 not sacrifice, yet because they covenanted to sacrifice, or 
 suborned others to do so, and thus themselves appeared to 
 have sacrificed, they were judged to stand in need of repent- 
 ance ; even though some confessors might have pardoned 
 individuals of them; for some of those who witnessed to the 
 faith and suffered for it, pardoned tliose who by an artifice, 
 as has been said, escaped offering sacritiop, and aihuitted 
 them to communion with the faithful, because they 
 studiouslv avoided offerinfj sacrifice to (U-mons. And on
 
 500 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 account of the fixing of this term of six months, he calls to 
 remembrance the annunciation made by Gabriel, in the 
 sixth month of the conception of the Forerunner, in which 
 the Lord was conceived. Then he subjoins the words of 
 the apostle. 
 
 Canon VI. 
 
 In the case of those who have sent Christian slaves to 
 offer sacrifice for them, the slaves indeed as being in their 
 master's hands, and in a manner themselves also in the cus- 
 tody of their masters, and being threatened by them, and 
 from their fear having come to this pass and having lapsed, 
 shall during the year show forth the works of penitence, 
 learning for the future, as the slaves of Christ, to do the will 
 of Christ and to fear Him, listening to this especially, that 
 " whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he 
 receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."^ 
 
 Balsamon. — The slaves who under the commands and 
 threatenings of their masters offered sacrifice, this father 
 punishes with a year's exclusion ; yet he pardons them as 
 having acted under the orders of a master, and does not 
 inflict a heavy punishment upon them. But yet since they 
 are much more the servants of Christ, even as they ought 
 to fear Hun more, he imposes on them a moderate punish- 
 ment; for, as says the great Paul, "whatsoever good thing 
 any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, 
 whether he be bond or free." 
 
 Zonaras. — Some have sent their o^\^l Christian servants, 
 even against their will, to offer sacrifice in their stead. 
 These servants, therefore, although not of their own free 
 win, but being compelled by their masters, they offered 
 sacrifice, this father ordains shall pass a year in penance, 
 and enjoins them to remember that, being of the number of 
 the faithful, they are the servants of Christ, and that Him 
 they ought rather to fear ; for " whatsoever any man doeth," 
 says the great apostle, " the same shall he receive, whether 
 he be bond or free." 
 
 ^ Eph. vi. 8.
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 301 
 
 Canox VI r. 
 
 But the free men shall be tried by penance for three 
 years, both for their dissimulation, and for liaving com- 
 pelled their fellow-servants to offer sacrifice, inasmuch as 
 they have not obeyed tlie apostle, who would have the 
 masters do the same things unto the servant, forbearing 
 threatening ;^ knowing, says he, that our and tlieir Master 
 is in heaven; and that there is no respect of persons with 
 Him.^ Now, if we all have one I\Iaster, with whom is no 
 respect of persons, since Christ is all and in all, in barbarian, 
 Scythian, bond or free,^ they ought to consider what they 
 have done, wishing to preserve their own lives. They 
 have drawn their fellow-servants to idolatry wlio would 
 have been able to escape, had they given to them that 
 which is just and equal, as again says the apostle. 
 
 Balsamon. — But upon the freemen, or the masters of the 
 servant compelled to sacrifice, he enjoins a punishment of 
 three years, both because they pretended to sacrifice, and 
 seemed to assent to it ; and also because they compelle<l 
 their fellow-servants to ofter sacrifice, and did not obey the 
 apostle, who ordered them to forbear threatening their 
 servants, inasmuch as they themselves, the masters, are thu 
 servants of God, and fellow-servants with their own 
 domestics. And then they have made haste to preserve 
 their own lives, and have driven their fellow-servants to 
 idolatry who might have escaped. 
 
 Zonaras. — But upon the freemen, that is, the masters of 
 the servants who were compelled to sacrifice, he enjoins a 
 penalty of three years, both because they pretended to sacrifice, 
 and altogether appeared to succimib ; and also because they 
 compelled their fellow-servants to offer sacrifice, and did not 
 obey the apostle's injuncti(jn to forbear threatening their 
 servants ; since they also, the masters, are the servants of 
 God, and the fellow-servants of their own domestics. And 
 they indeed made haste to preserve their own lives, and drove 
 their fellow-servants, who niiglit have escaped, to idolatry. 
 lEpl). vi. 9. - Rom. ii. 11. 'Col. iii. 11.
 
 302 THE WRITINGS OF VLTEll. 
 
 Canon VIII. 
 
 But to those who have been delivered up, and have 
 fallen, who also of their own accord have approached the 
 contest, confessing themselves to be Christians, and have 
 been tormented and thrown into prison, it is right with joy 
 and exultation of heart to add strength, and to communicate 
 to them in all things, both in prayer, and in partaking of 
 the body and blood of Christ, and in hortatory discourse ; 
 in order that contending the more constantly, they may be 
 counted worthy of "the prize of their high calling."^ For 
 " seven times," he says, " a just man falleth, and riseth up 
 again," ^ which, indeed, if all that have lapsed had done, 
 they would have shown forth a most perfect penitence, and 
 one which penetrates the whole heart. 
 
 Balsamon. — Some had had information laid against them 
 before the tyrant, and had been delivered up, or themselves 
 had of their own accord given themselves up, and then being 
 overcome by their torments, had failed in their testimony. 
 Afterwards repenting, and acknowledging what was right 
 and good, they confessed themselves to be Christians, so that 
 they were cast into prison, and afflicted with torments. 
 These this holy man thinks it right to receive with joy of 
 heart, and to confirm in the orthodox faith, and to com- 
 municate with, both in prayers and in partaking of the 
 sacraments, and to exhort with cheering words, that they 
 may be more constant in the contest, and counted worthy of 
 the heavenly kingdom. And that it might not be thought 
 that they ought not to be received, because they had lapsed, 
 he brings forward the testimony of Scripture to the effect 
 that "seven times," that is, often, "the just man falleth, and 
 riseth up again." And, says he, if all who have failed in 
 their confession had done this, namely, taken up their 
 struggle again, and before the tyrant confessed themselves 
 to be Christians, they would have shown forth a most 
 perfect penitence. The subject, therefore, comprehended 
 in this canon differs from that contained in the first 
 ^ Philipp. iii. 14. - Prov. xxiv. 1(5.
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 303 
 
 canon, for there indeed those who by reason of their tor- 
 ment had lapsed, were not converted so as to confess the 
 faith before tlie tyrants ; but here those who by reason of 
 their torment have lapsed, with a worthy penitence, confess 
 tlie Lord before the tyrants, wherefore they are reckoned not 
 to liave fallen. 
 
 Zonarus. — But, says he, if any have had information laid 
 against them before the tyrants, and have been delivered up, 
 or have of themselves given themselves up, and being over- 
 come by the violence of their torments have failed in their 
 testimony, not being able to endure the distresses and afHic- 
 tions with which in the dungeon they were afllicted. And 
 afterwards taking uj) the contest anew, have confessed 
 themselves to be Christians, so that they have been again 
 cast into prison and afllicted with torments. Such men 
 this holy martyr judges it reasonable that they should be 
 joyfully received ; and that they should be strengthened, 
 that is, have strength, spirit, and confidence added to tliem, 
 in order that they may confess the faith, and that tliey 
 should be communicated with in all things, both in 
 prayer, and in partaking of the sacraments, and that they 
 should be exhorted with loving words, to rouse themselves 
 to give testimony to the faith, that they may be more con- 
 stant in the contest, and counted worthy of the heavenly 
 kingdom. And that it might not be thought by any that 
 they ought not to be received from the fact that they had 
 lapsed, and sacrificed to the idols, he brings forth this testi- 
 mony from Holy Scripture : " Seven times," that is, often, 
 " the just man falleth, and riseth up again." And, says he, 
 if all who have failed in their confession had done this, that 
 is, after their fall, taken up the contest afresh, and confessed 
 themselves to be Christians l)cfore the tyrants, they would 
 have given jiroof of a most })erfect repentance. 
 
 Canon IX. 
 
 "With those also who, as it were from sleep, themselves 
 leap forth upon a contest whicli is travailing long and likely
 
 304 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 to be protracted, and draw upon tliemselves tlie temptations 
 as it were of a sea-fight, and the inundations of many waves, 
 or rather are for the brethren kindling the coaLs of the 
 sinners, with them also we must comnnmicate, inasmuch 
 as they come to this in the name of Christ, even though 
 they take no heed unto His words, when He teaches us 
 "to pray that we enter not into temptation;"^ and again 
 in His prayer. He says to His Father, " and lead us not into 
 temptation, but deliver us from evil."^ And perhaps also 
 they know not that the Master of the House and our Great 
 Teacher often retired from those who would lay snares for 
 Him, and that sometimes He walked not openly because 
 of them ; and even when the time of His passion drew on. 
 He delivered not up Himself, but waited until they came 
 to Him with " swords and staves." He said to them there- 
 fore, " Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and 
 staves, for to take Me?"^ And they "delivered Him," He 
 says, " to Pilate."* As it was with Him it happens to 
 those who w^alk keeping Him before them as an example, 
 recollecting His divine words, in which, confirming us. He 
 speaks of persecution : " Take heed unto yourselves, for they 
 will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge 
 you in their synagogues."^ Now% He says, they will deliver 
 you up, and not, ye shall deliver up yourselves ; and " ye 
 shall be brought before rulers and kings for My sake,"^ but 
 not, ye shall bring yourselves, for He would have us pass 
 from place to place as long as there are those who persecute 
 us for His name's sake ; even as again we hear Him saying, 
 "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into 
 another."'' For He would not have us go over to the 
 ministers and satellites of the devil, that we might not be 
 the cause to them of a manifold death, inasmuch as thus 
 we should be compelling them both to be harsher, and to 
 carry out their deadly works, but He would have us to wait, 
 and to take heed to ourselves, to watch and to pray, lest we 
 
 1 Matt. XXVI. 41. - Matt. vi. 13. ^ Matt. xxvi. 55. 
 
 < Matt, xxvii. 2. ^ Matt. x. 17. « ilatt. x. la 
 
 ^ Matt. X. 23.
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTL?:. 305 
 
 enter into temptation.^ Thus first Stephen, pressing on His 
 footsteps, suffered mart}T:dom, being apprehended in Jeru- 
 salem by the transgi-essors, and being brought before tlie 
 council, lie was stoned, and glorified for the name of Christ, 
 praying with the words, " Lord, lay not this sin to their 
 charge."^ Thus James; in the second place, bemg of Herod 
 apprehended, was be}ieaded with the sword. Thus Peter, 
 the first of the apostles, having been often apprehended, 
 and thrown into prison, and treated with ignominy, was 
 last of all crucified at Rome. Likewise also, the renowned 
 Paul having been oftentimes delivered up and brought in 
 peril of death, having endured many evils, and making his 
 boast in his numerous persecutions and aftlictions, in tlie 
 same city was also himself beheaded; who, in the things 
 in which he gloried, in these also ended his life ; and at 
 Damascus he was let down by night in a basket by tlie 
 ■wall, and escaped the hands ^ of him who sought to take 
 him. For \\'hat they set before themselves, first and fore- 
 most, was to do the work of an evangelist, and to teach the 
 Word of God, in which, confirming the brethren, that they 
 might continue in the faith, they said this also, " that we 
 must out of much tribulation enter into the kingdom of 
 God."* For they sought not what was profitable for them, 
 but that which was profitable for the many, that they miglit 
 be saved, and that tliey might be enabled to say unto them 
 many things conducing to this, that they might act suitably 
 to the "Word of God, "unless," as says the apostle, "the time 
 should fail me in speaking."^ 
 
 Bahamon. — Those who have but just arisen from sleep, 
 and especially if they were weighed down with a heavy and 
 profound sleep, have no constant reason, but one perturbed 
 and unsteady. To such as tliese this blessed martyr likens 
 those who, not in due order, but rashly and inconsiderately, 
 thrust themselves upon the contest, whicli is as it were in 
 travail, and delayed and protracted, inasmucli as it has nrt 
 yet burst forth openly, but meditates and delays, hesitating 
 
 » Matt. xxvi. 41. 2 Acts vii. no. ' 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33. 
 
 * Acts xiv. 22. ' Hub. xi. 32. 
 
 U
 
 30G TIIK WJUTINGS OF FETE It. 
 
 ill truth to bring foi'th tlie combatants, wlio bring tempta- 
 tion upon themselves, or draw it towards them. Now 
 these especially are, for the rest of the faithful, kindling the 
 coals of the sinners, that is to say, the punishment of the 
 t}a\ants. But although he reprehends those who act so, 
 yet he enjoins the faithful nevertheless to communicate 
 with them, because on account of Christ they have under- 
 gone the contest, even though they have ignored His teach- 
 ing ; for He teaches them to pray that they may not be 
 tempted; and He did not deliver up HimseK, but was 
 delivered up ; and we are not to go over to the tormentors, 
 that we may not be the cause of bringing upon them the 
 guilt of many murders, as those do who incite them to 
 inflict punishment upon the godly. The canon brings 
 forward different examples from Holy Scripture. 
 
 Zonaras. — Those who have recently arisen from sleep, 
 especially if they were oppressed with a heavy sleep, have 
 no steady reason, but one inconstant and perturbed. To 
 men of this sort this holy martyr likens those who rush 
 upon the contest, that is, those who, not in due course, but 
 rashly and inconsiderately, intrude themselves upon it. It is, 
 as it were, in travail, and delayed and protracted, inasmuch 
 as it has not yet burst forth openly, but meditates and 
 delays, and hesitates to bring forth the combatants, who 
 bring temptation upon themselves, that is, draw it towards 
 themselves, or rather, for the rest of the faithful, kindle the 
 coals of the sinners, the torments, namely, which are by the 
 tyiunts inflicted. But although he finds fault with those 
 who act in this way, he nevertheless decrees that the faith- 
 ful must communicate with them, because in the name of 
 Christ they come forward to this, trusting, that is, in Christ, 
 or in His name demanding this trial for themselves, even 
 though, perhaps, they are not obeying His precepts ; for He 
 taught them to pray that they might not be tempted ; and 
 they are ignoring the fact too that the Lord retired from 
 those who were laying snares for Him, and was wont some- 
 times to walk not openly ; neither did He give up Himself 
 to His passion, but was given up by others ; and He com-
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 307 
 
 mandecl His disciples, when their enemies persecuted them, 
 to fly iVoiu city to city, and not of their own accord to give 
 themselves up to the tormentors, lest tliey should he tlie 
 cause of bringing the guilt of much blood upon their heads, 
 irritating them as it were to inflict punishment upon godly 
 men. And he brings forward the exani])le of the apostles, 
 of Stephen, of James, and the chiefs of the order, Peter and 
 Taul. 
 
 Canox X. 
 
 Whence it is not right either that those of the clergy wlio 
 have deserted of their own accord, and have lapsed, and 
 taken up the contest afresh, should remain any longer in 
 their sacred office, inasmuch as they have left destitute tlie 
 Hock of the Lord, and brought blame upon themselves, 
 which thing did not one of the apostles. For when the 
 blessed ajoostle Paul had undergone many persecutions, and 
 liad shown forth the prizes of many contests, though he 
 knew that it was far better to "depart, and to be with 
 Christ," yet he brings this forward, and says, " Nevertheless 
 to abide in the liesh is more needful for you."^ For con- 
 sidering not his own advantage but the advantage of many, 
 that they might be saved, he judged it more necessary than 
 his own rest to remain with the brethren, and to have a 
 care for them ; who also would have him that teacheth to 
 be "in doctrine"^ an example to the faithful. "Whence it 
 follows that those who, contending in prison, have fallen 
 from their ministry, and have again taken up the struggle, 
 are plainly wanting in perception. For how else is it that 
 they seek for that which they have left, when in this present 
 time they can be useful to the brethren ? For as long Jis 
 they remained firm and stable, of that which they liail 
 done contrary to reason, of this indulgence was accorded 
 them. But when they lapsed, as having carried themselves 
 with ostentation;'^ and brought reproach upon themselves. 
 
 1 Pliilipp. i. 23, 24. "■^ Titus ii. 7. 
 
 ^ Cf. St Paul'-s description of cluiiity, 1 Cor. .\iii. 4: " Cluuily 
 vaunteth not itself," ov -Tzip-Tzipivi-rui.
 
 308 Till': wniTixas of peter. 
 
 tliey can no longer discharge their sacred ministiy; and, 
 tlierefore, let them the rather take lieed to pass their life 
 in humility, ceasing from vainglory. For communion is 
 sufficient for them, which is granted them with diligence 
 and care for two causes ; both that they should not seem to 
 be affiicted with sorrow, and hence by violence seize on 
 their departure from this world; and also lest any of the 
 lapsed should have a pretext for being remiss by occasion 
 of the punishment. And these indeed will reap more sliame 
 and ignominy than all others, even as he who laid the 
 foundation and was not able to finish it ; for " all that pass 
 by," He says, " will begin to mock him, saying, " This man 
 laid the foundation, and was not able to finish it." 
 
 Bahamon. — The father having spoken of those who of 
 their own accord went over to the contest of martyrdom, 
 now also speaks of those of the clergy who are in such a 
 case, and he says, that if any clergyman hath of his own 
 accord sought the contest, and then, not being able to bear 
 the tortures, has fallen, but returning to himself, has recanted 
 his error, and before the tyrants confessed himself a Christian, 
 such an one shall no longer discharge his sacred ministry, 
 because he hath deserted the Lord's flock, and because, 
 having of his OM'n accord sought the contest, through not 
 being able to endure the torment, he hath brought reproach 
 upon himself. For to neglect the teaching of the people, 
 and to prefer their own advantage, this did not the apostles. 
 For the mighty Paul, after that he had endured many tor- 
 ments, though he perceived that it was far better to leave 
 this life, yet chose rather to live and to be tormented for 
 the salvation and instruction of the people. They are there- 
 fore altogether devoid of perception who seek the sacred 
 ministry from which they have fallen of their own accord. 
 For how is it that they seek for that which they have left, 
 when they are able in this season of persecution, that is, to 
 be nseful to their brethren ? If indeed they had not fallen, 
 of that which they had done contrary to reason, their 
 spontaneous flight for instance, or their slackness in teach- 
 ing and confirming the brethren, of these things indulgence
 
 THE CAXOMCAL EPISTLE. SOU 
 
 would be extended to tliein. But if from their own arro- 
 gance and conceit they have lapsed (lor of such a nature is 
 it rashly to venture to expose themselves to torture, and not 
 to be able to endure it, and thus a triumph has been gained 
 over tliem), they cannot any longer execute their sacred 
 office. Wherefore let them the rather take heed that thcv 
 perfect their confession by humility, ceasing from the vain- 
 glory of seeking for the sacred ministry; for conmiunion 
 with the faithful is sufficient for them, wliich is granted for 
 two reasons, Avith diligent caution, and just judgment. For 
 if we say that we will not hold them to be comnmnicants, 
 we shall both afllict them with grief, giving our sentence 
 as it were that they should dejiart this life with violence ; 
 and we shall cause others also, who may have lapsed, and 
 wish to return to what is right, to be negligent and remiss 
 in this respect, having as a pretext, tliat they will not l)e 
 admitted to communicate with the faithful, even though 
 after their fall they should confess the faith, who, if they 
 are not converted, will undergo more shame and ignominv 
 than others, even as he who laid the foundation, and 
 did not finish the building. For such an one do those 
 resemble, who, for Christ's sake indeed, have offered them- 
 selves to be tormented, and having laid as it were a good 
 foundation, have not been able to perfect that M'hich is good 
 by reason of their fall. Observe, then, that not even con- 
 fession for Christ's sake restores him who lias once lapsed 
 and thus become an alien from his clerical ofiice. 
 
 Zonaras. — The father having spoken of those who have 
 of their own accord exposed themselves to the contest of 
 martyrdom, now begins to discourse about those of the 
 clergy who have done the same thing; and says that if any 
 clergyman has of his own accord given himself up, and then, 
 not being able to endure the violence of the torment, ha.s 
 fallen, and again recollecting himself has roused himself 
 afresh to the contest, and has confessed himself a Christian 
 before the tyrants, a man of this sort is not any longer to be 
 admitted to the .sacred ministry. And the reason of this he 
 subjoins; because he nns foicnlccn the Lord's tlock, and
 
 310 THE WRITINGS OF RKTEn. 
 
 because having of his own accord offered himself to the 
 enemy, and not having with constancy endured his torments, 
 he has brouglit reproach upon himself. But that they 
 should despise the instruction of the people, and prefer 
 their own advantage, this did not the apostles. For the 
 mighty Paul, though he had endured many torments, and 
 felt that it was better for him to leave this life, preferred to 
 live and to be tormented for the salvation and instruction of 
 the people. Wlierefore he demonstrates those to be alto- 
 gether devoid of perception who ask for the sacred ministry 
 from which they have voluntarily fallen. For how is it, 
 says he, that they ask for that which they have left, when 
 in a season of this sort, of raging persecution forsooth, they 
 can be of great assistance to the brethren ? As long as 
 they were free from the charge of having lapsed, they would 
 have obtained pardon for their action that was raslily imder- 
 taken, that, namely, of voluntarily offering themselves to the 
 adversary, or their negligence in instructing the brethren. 
 But since they have fallen, inasmuch as they have acted 
 ostentatiously, they are not to be permitted any longer to dis- 
 charge their sacred functions. If, says he, that they had not 
 fallen they would have obtained pardon for their action w^hicli 
 was devoid of reasan ; calling that action devoid of reason, 
 not only because they gave themselves up to the enemy, but 
 rather because they deserted the Lord's flock, and did not 
 remain to guard it, and to confirm the brethren who were 
 harassed in this time of persecution. But if they have 
 fallen, from the fact that they have carried themselves 
 vauntingiy, and he here calls pride and arrogance 'jnp'ZBpsia, 
 because it is from arrogance that they have put confidence 
 in themselves, and have put an end to the contest, and have 
 brought reproach upon themselves ; that is, by reason of 
 tlieir fall, they have contracted a blemish and stain, it is 
 not lawful for them any longer to be occupied in the sacred 
 ministry. Wherefore let them study, says he, to perfect 
 their confession by humility, ceasing forsooth from all vain- 
 glory. For in that they seek to be enrolled in the sacred 
 ministry, this proceeds from ambition and self-seeking. For
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 311 
 
 communion is snfTicicnt for them, tliat the faithful should 
 communicate "with tliem, and pray with them, and that they 
 should participate in the sacred mysteries. And this should 
 he granted witli diligent caution and care, both lest tliey 
 should seem to bo atliicted with grief, seizing on a dissolu- 
 tion of this life, lest, that is, as he says, being overcome 
 ■with grief, they should depart and get free from the body, 
 that is, go out from it, from the violence of the torment 
 and atiiictions which they undergo in the prison ; and 
 that none should have the pretext of their punishment 
 for carrying themselves dissolutely and cowardly in the 
 contest of confession, and thus fall away. AVho will the 
 rather be put to shame, according to the saying in the 
 Gospel, " AVho could not finish after that he had laid the 
 foundation." 
 
 [Tlce dir/rcssion ichich foUoivs is entirely directed af/ninst 
 Iluzalon.] 
 
 IMoreover, let those ap])ly their minds to what is in 
 thi^ place brought forward by this great father and holy 
 martyr, who say that it is lawl'ul for bishops to give up 
 their sees, and to retain tlie dignity of the priesthood. 
 For if to the clergy who voluntardy offered themselves to 
 the contest of confession, and who, when tormented, failed 
 in constancy and yielded, and afterwards returned to the 
 contest, if to them indulgence is scarcely granted, because 
 they deferred to execute their ministerial duties ; nor, in the 
 opinion of this divine father, is any thing else ol)jectcd to 
 them but that they deserted the brethren, when in advei-se 
 and turbulent timea they might have been useful in con- 
 firming them in the faith, and that after that they had been 
 counted worthy to bear testimony to the faith, ami carried 
 about in their flesh the marks of Christ ; how shall that chief 
 priest and pastor, who ought to lay down liis life for the 
 sheep, when he has' deserted the flock that was committed 
 unto him, and repudiated its care and administration, and 
 as far as in him lies given it over to the wolf, be thought 
 worthy to retain the dignity of the sacred ministry, and not 
 rather be judged worthy of tlic severest punisliments for
 
 312 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 deserting the people entrusted to his care? Nay, but he 
 will demand a reward for this thing, or rather he will him- 
 self supply it to himself : refusing that which brings labour 
 to them, namely, the office of teaching and of correcting 
 vice ; but embracing that which gains for them honour and 
 glory, making it their own, keeping hold of it with their 
 teeth as it were, and not letting it go in the least. For if 
 in the case of the clergy it be called an action contrary to 
 reason to desert the people, and to go away from them to 
 the contest in the cause of piety ; how much more contrary 
 to reason shall it be judged for a bishop to desert his people, 
 not in order that he may contend in a contest, but that he 
 may deliver himself up to ease and indolence, and lay aside 
 and escape entirely from his cares for the salvation of souls ? 
 The sixteenth canon also of the seventh Oecumenical Council 
 gravely accuses those of folly who decree that the dignity 
 of the sacred ministry can be retained by a bishop who has 
 repudiated his bishopric. For if according to the sentence 
 of the aforesaid canon, a bishop wdio has been absent from 
 his see more than six months, unless some one of the causes 
 there enumerated shall have intervened, has both fallen 
 from the episcopate and the highest dignity of the priesthood, 
 and is deprived of both ; how shall he who has repudiated the 
 episcopate, and refuses any longer to feed the flock entrusted 
 to him, and despises the care of it through his desire of an 
 easy life, be held to be of the number of bishops ? For if he 
 who has committed the lesser fault, of leaving for more tlian 
 six months the people placed under him destitute of the 
 care and administration of a pastor, incurs the privation of 
 the episcopate and of his sacred dignity ; he who ojffends in 
 a way greater and much more grievous, namely, in desert- 
 ing altogether the multitude which the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit has committed to him to be cared for and guarded, 
 shall deservedly be punished wdth greater severity, and will 
 pay the heavier penalty of losing, as far as he is concerned, 
 the flock of which he was appointed shepherd by the great 
 and chief Shepherd and High Priest. But those who 
 decree the dignity of the priesthood to him as a reward
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 313 
 
 and honorarium for declining his office, in my opinion 
 make both tliemselves and him obnoxious to the judg- 
 ment of God. 
 
 Canon XT. 
 
 For those who first, when the persecution waxed warm, 
 leaped forth, standing around the judgment-seat, and behold- 
 ing the holy martyi'S who were hastening to the " prize of 
 their high calling,"^ then, fired Avilh a holy zeal, gave them- 
 selves up to this, using much boldness, and especially when 
 they saw those who were drawn aside and lapsed, on their 
 account they were roused mightily within, and, as it were 
 by some inward voice, impelled to war down and subdue the 
 adversary who was exulting; for this they earnestly con- 
 tended, that he might not seem "to be wise in his own 
 conceit," ^ on account of those things in which by reason of 
 his subtlety they appeared to be inferior to liim, even though 
 it escaped his observation that he was overcome by those 
 who with constancy endured the torments of the lasli and 
 scourge, and the sharp edge of the sword, the burning iu 
 the fire, and the immersion in the water. To those also who 
 entreat that the prayers and supplications of faith shouhl be 
 made either in behalf of those wlio have been punished by 
 imprisonment, and have been delivered up by hunger ami 
 thirst, or for those who out of prison have by the judges 
 been tortured with whippings and scourgings, and afterwards 
 have been overcome by the infirmity of the flesh, it is right 
 to give our consent. For to sympathize with the soitow and 
 affliction of those who sorrow and mourn for tliose wlio in the 
 contest have been overcome by the great strength of the evil- 
 contriving devil, whether it be for parents, or brethren, or 
 children, hurts no one. For we know that on account of the 
 faitli of others some have obtained the goodness of CJoil, Ijoth 
 in the remission of sins, and in the health of their bodies, and 
 in the resurrection of the dead. Therefore, beiug mindful 
 of the many labours and distresses which for the name (if 
 Christ they have sustained, since they have themselves also 
 1 I'liilipp. iii. 14. • Roiu. xii. 1(5.
 
 314 TJIK WRITINGS OF PETKR. 
 
 repented, and have bewailed that which was done by them 
 through their being betrayed by the languor and niortiftca- 
 tion of the body ; and since, besides this, they testify that in 
 their life they have as it were been aliens from their city, 
 let us pray together with them and entreat for tlieir recon- 
 ciliation, together with other things tliat are befitting, 
 through Him who is "our Advocate with the Father, and 
 makes propitiation for our sins." " And if any man sin," 
 says he, " we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
 the righteous : and He is the propitiation for our sins."^ 
 
 Balsamon. — The saint having said before that those who 
 of their own accord entered upon the contest and lapsed, 
 and did not repent nor recant their error, would be covered 
 with more shame, as being like men who did not go on with 
 the building beyond the foundation, that is, did not perfect 
 that which is good, now brings forward a confirmation of 
 this and other matters, saying. Those who taking their stand 
 in the fervour and vehemence of the persecution, seeing the 
 holy martyrs, and with what divine zeal they contended to 
 receive the celestial crown, gave themselves up to martjT- 
 dom with much boldness, and especially wlien they saw 
 some drawn aside, that is, led astray and deluded by the 
 devil, and lapsing or denying godliness ; wherefore being 
 inwardly inflamed, and with hearts enkindled, as hearing that 
 they by this means should war down and subdue the proud 
 adversary the devil, were eager to undergo martj^dom lest 
 the devil should boast and seem " to be wise in his own 
 conceit," as having by his subtlety and malice overcome 
 those who of their own accord sought martp-dom : even 
 though it escaped him that he was rather overcome by 
 those combatants who bravely withstood the torments. 
 Therefore to the faithful who pray for those who are 
 enduring punishment, and afflicted by it, it is right to 
 assent or to concur in this, which is also decreed ; and it 
 can by no means be hurtful to sympathize in their sorrow 
 and affliction with the parents or other relatives in behalf 
 of those who have given tlieir testimony and undergone 
 1 1 John ii. 1.
 
 THE CAXOMCAL KPISTLP:. 31:, 
 
 martyrdom, but have lapsed by the arts and snares of the 
 devil. For we know that many have obtained tlie .t,foodness 
 and compassion of God by the prayers of others. Therefore 
 we will pray for tliem that remission of their sins be i^ranted 
 them by God ; and with the others who ha\e lapsed, and 
 have afterwards recanted their error, and confessed godli- 
 ness, we will communicate, being mindful of those contest? 
 wliich before their fall they sustained for God's sake, and 
 also of their subsequent worthy repentance, and that they 
 testify that on account of their sin they have been as it 
 were aliens from their city ; and we will not only com- 
 municate with them, but pray also for their reconciliation, 
 together with other things that are convenient, eitlier v/ith 
 the good works whicli ought to be done by them — fasting, 
 for instance, almsgiving, and penance ; by which tiling;; lie 
 who is our Advocate makes the Father propitious tovtards 
 us. Then he makes use of a passage of Holy Scripture, and 
 this is taken from the first catholic epistle of the holy apostle 
 and evangelist John. 
 
 Zonaras. — The meaning of tlie present canon is as 
 follows : — Those, he says, who set in the fervour of t'/ie i)er- 
 secution, that is, in its greatest height and most veiiement 
 heat, beheld the martyrdoms of the saints, and how eagerly 
 they hastened to receive tlie celestial crown, fired with a 
 holy emulation, gave themselves up to martp-dom, leajnng 
 as it were into the contest with much boldness, in imitation 
 of the saints who suffered, and offered themselves reailily 
 for the confirming of the faith by their testimony ; and on 
 that account especially, because they beludd many who 
 were drawn aside, that is, led astray, denying their fiiith. 
 Whereupon they being inflamed, that is, fired in licart, 
 endeavoured to subdue the adversary that was hostile to 
 them, that he might not, as a victor, e.xult over the gotUy. 
 Although it escaped him that he was r.ither conquered by 
 them, many even unto death showing forth constancy for 
 the faith. They hastened, therefore, says he, to do this, l)iit 
 overcome by the violence of their torments, by reason of the 
 infinuity of the flesh, being some of them evil entreated in
 
 316 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 prison, and others punished by decree of the judges, and 
 not being able to endure their punishment. It is meet, 
 therefore, to sympathize with those who mourn for their 
 sakes. Now tliey mourn, says he, some the lapse of parents, 
 others of brethren, and others of children. To mourn, 
 therefore, with those who bewail the lapsed, hurts no one ; 
 neither to join in prayer and grief with those who pray foi 
 themselves, together with other things that are reasonable, 
 namely, that they who have lapsed may show forth other 
 things that are consistent with penitence ; such as are fasting 
 and tears and other humiliations, and observe the punish- 
 ment inflicted on them, and, if their means allow, bestow 
 money upon the poor ; by which means He who is the 
 Advocate in our behalf Avill render the Father propitious to 
 us. Tlien he brings forward a passage from Holy Scripture, 
 which is taken from the first epistle of the holy ajpostle 
 and evangelist John. 
 
 Canon XII. 
 
 Against those wdio have given money that they might be 
 entirely undisturbed by evil [/.axia], an accusation cannot 
 be brought. For they have sustained the loss and sacrifice 
 of their goods that they might not hurt or destroy their soul, 
 which others for the sake of filthy lucre have not done; and 
 yet the Lord says, " What is a man profited, if he shall gain 
 the whole world, and lose his own soul?^ and again, "Ye 
 cannot serve God and mammon."^ In these things, then, 
 they have shown themselves the servants of God, inasmuch 
 as they have hated, trodden under foot, and despised money, 
 and have thus fulfilled what is written : " The ransom of a 
 man's life are his riches."^ For we read also in the Acts of 
 the Apostles that those who in the stead of Paul and Silas 
 were dragged before the magistrates at Thessalonica, were 
 dismissed with a heavy fine. For after that they had been 
 very burdensome to them for his name, and had troubled 
 the people and the rulers of the city, " having taken secu- 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 2G. - Matt. vi. 24. = Prov. xiiL 8.
 
 Till-: CAXOMCAL KPISTLE. 317 
 
 rity," he says, "of Jason, and of the otlicrs, tliey let tlieiii 
 go. And tlie brethren immediately sent away Paul and 
 Silas by night unto Berea."^ 
 
 Balsamon. — After tliat the saint had finislied liis discourse 
 concerning those who of their own accord had offered tliem- 
 selves to martyrdom, he said that those were not to be 
 reprehended who by a sum of money paid down freed them- 
 selves from the afliiction of persecution. For they preferred 
 to make a sacrifice of their money rather than of their souls. 
 Then he confirms this, and brings forward different Scripture 
 examples from the Acts of the Apostles concerning the 
 blessed apostle Paul and others. 
 
 Zonaras. — But those, he says, are not to be reprehended 
 who have paid money down, and thus escaped, and main- 
 tained their piety, nor for this thing may any one bring an 
 accusation against them. For they have preferred to lose 
 their money rather than their souls, and have shown that 
 they wish to serve God and not mammon ; that is, riches. 
 And he brings forward the words of Scripture, and the 
 example, as in the Acts of the Apostles, of the blessed 
 apostle Paul and others. Now, when it is said that they 
 have been undisturbed by all evil [zax/a], it is to be so 
 taken, either that they have been left undisturbed, so far 
 as the denial of the faith is concerned, whicli overcomes 
 all evil [y-axia], or he means by xax/a;, the atliiutious of 
 persecutions. 
 
 Canon XI 11. 
 
 Hence neither is it lawful to accuse those who have left 
 all, and have retired for the safety of their life, as if otliei-s 
 had been held back by them. For at Ephesus also they 
 seized Gains and Aristarchus instead of Paul, and rushed 
 to the theatre, these being I'aul's companions in travel,- and 
 he wishing himself to enter in unto the peo])le, since it wa.s 
 by reason of his having persuaded tliem, and (h-awing away 
 a great multitude to the worsliij) o( tlie true God, that the 
 tumult arose. "The disciples suffered him not," he says. 
 1 Acts xvii. 9, 10. - Acts .xi.x. 20-30.
 
 TJLE WRITINGS OF PETEIl 
 
 " Nay, moreover, certain of the cliief of Asia, who were his 
 friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not 
 adventure himself into the theatre." But if any persist in 
 contending with them, let them apply their minds with 
 sincerity to him who says, " Escape for thy life ; look not 
 behind thee."^ Let tliem recall to their minds also how 
 Peter, the chief of the apostles, " was thrown into prison, and 
 delivered to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him;"^ of 
 whom, when he had escaped by night, and had been preserved 
 out of the hand of the Jews by the commandment of tlie 
 angel of the Lord, it is said, " As soon as it was day, there 
 was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of 
 Peter, And when Herod had sought for him, and found 
 him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they 
 should be put to death," ^ on account of whom no blame is 
 attributed to Peter; for it was in their power, when they 
 saw what was done, to escape, just as also all the infants 
 in Bethlehem,* and all the coast thereof, might have escaped, 
 if their parents had known Avhat was going to happen. 
 These were put to death by the murderer Herod, in order 
 to secure the death of one Infant whom he sought, which 
 Infant itself also escaped at the commandment of the angel 
 of the Lord, who now began quickly to spoil, and to hasten 
 the prey, according to the name whereby he was called ; as 
 it is written, " Call his name Maher-shalal-hasli-baz : for 
 before the child shall have knowledge to cry, ]My father 
 and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of 
 Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Ass}Tia."^ 
 The Magi then as now having been despoiled and divided 
 for a prey, humbly, and in the guise of suppliants, adore 
 the Child, opening their treasures, and offering imto Him 
 gifts most o^iportune and magnificent — gold, and frank- 
 incense, and myrrh — as to a king, to God, and to man; 
 whence they were no longer wiQing to return to the 
 
 1 Gen. xix. 17. ^ Acts. xii. 4. 
 
 3 Acts xii. 18, 19. ^ Matt. ii. 13-16. 
 
 * Is. viii. 3, 4. The literal meaning of the name Maher-shalalhash- 
 baz is, " In speed spoil, booty hastens."
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 319 
 
 Assyrian king, being forbidden to do so by Providence. 
 For "being warned of God in a dream," lie says, " that they 
 sliould not return to Herod, they departed into their own 
 country another way." ^ Hence the bloodthirsty " Herod, 
 when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was 
 exceeding wroth, and sent forth," he says, "and slew all 
 the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coast 
 thereof, from two years old and under, according to the 
 time that he had diligently inquired of the wise men."^ 
 Together with whom, having sought to kill another infant 
 that had been previously born, and not being able to find 
 him, he slew his father Zacharias between the teniple and 
 the altar, the Child having escaped witli his mother Eliza- 
 beth. Whence these men that have withdrawn themselves 
 are not at all to be blamed. 
 
 Balsamon. — But if any, says he, have left their good and 
 gone away, lest they should be detained and brought into 
 peril, as being those perhaps who might not be able to per- 
 sist in their confession to the end, on account of the cruelty 
 of their tormentors, they shall not be found fault with, even 
 though others have been detained on their account. And 
 he brings forward as an instance on this score Gains and 
 Aristarchus, who were detained instead of Paid; the soldiers 
 who kept Peter ; the infants who were massacred by Herod 
 on account of Christ; and Zacharias, the father of the revered 
 and blessed forerunner. 
 
 Zoiutras. — But if' any, says he, have left their possessions, 
 and have gone away, lest being detained they should be 
 endangered, and because, perhaps, they would not be able 
 to persist in their confession unto the end, on account of 
 the cruelty of the tormentors, they are not to be accused, 
 even if others are detained and i)unished on their account. 
 And, again, he brings forward an example Irom the Acts of 
 the Apostles, saying that at Ephesus also Gaius and Aris- 
 tarchus were apprehended in the stead of Paul, and that 
 Paul was not blamed lor this ; nor was l*eter, wlien he was 
 brought forth out of prison by an angel, and escaped the 
 ^ Matt. ii. ll-i:}. '^ ^r;ill. ii. 10.
 
 320 THE WRITINGS OF PET Kit. 
 
 danger, and the soldiers who guarded liini were on his 
 account punished. Then he cites another example from 
 the Gospel, namely, the infants who were put to death by 
 Herod ; on account of which, says he, our Lord was not 
 blamed. And when Elizabeth had taken to flight witli 
 John, and had preserved him, his father Zacharias was put 
 to death, the child being demanded of him ; nor was this 
 imputed as a crime to John. 
 
 Canon XIV. 
 
 But if any have endured much violence and the strong pres- 
 sure of necessity, receiving into their mouths iron and chains, 
 and for their good affection towards the faith have bravely 
 borne the burning of their hands that against their will had 
 been put to the profane sacrifice, as from their prison the 
 thrice-blessed martyrs have ^vritten to me respecting those 
 in Libya, and others their fellow-ministers; such, on the 
 testimony of the rest of their brethren, can be placed in 
 the ministry amongst the confessors, as those who have been 
 mortified by many torments, and were no longer able either 
 to speak, or to give utterance, or to move, so as to resist 
 those who vainly offered them violence. For they did 
 not assent to their impiety ; as I have again heard from 
 their fellow-ministers, they will be reckoned amongst the 
 confessors, as also he who hath after the example of Timothy 
 ordered his life, obeying him who says, "Follow after 
 righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 
 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, where- 
 unto thou art also called, and hast professed a good pro- 
 fession before many witnesses." ^ 
 
 Balsatnon. — Those who by the violence of the tyrant 
 seemed to eat meat that had been offered to idols, or to 
 drink wine from the Greek libations (for it happened some- 
 times that they were thrown upon the ground, and hooks 
 or pieces of iron put into their mouths to keep them open, 
 and then the tyrants poured wine down their throats, or 
 1 1 Tim. -^-i. 11, 12.
 
 THE CANONICAL EPISTLE. 321 
 
 threw into them pieces of meat; or putting hot coals into 
 their hands, together with incense, they compelled them to 
 sacrifice), if they were clergymen, the canon decrees that 
 they should each in his own degree bo ranked amongst tlie 
 confessors. But if laymen, that they shoidd be reckoned as 
 martyrs, because they did not these things of their own free 
 will, nor did they at all assent to the action ; as also amongst 
 the confessors are to be reckoned those who from the ex- 
 tremity of the tortures lost their strength of body, and were 
 i\ot able to resist those who poured into their mouths the 
 wine of the libations. And next in order he speaks of 
 those who give the testimony of a good conscience, and 
 enumerates them amongst the confessors. 
 
 Zonaras. — Those who chastised the blessed martyrs, after 
 many torments, in the case of some violently poured into 
 their mouths the wine of the libations, or even crammed 
 into their mouths some of the meat that had been offered to 
 idols, and putting incense into their hands, they dragged 
 them to the altars, and then violently seizing on their hands, 
 they either sprinkled the incense upon the altar, or placed 
 liot coals together Avith the incense into their hands, that, 
 not being able to bear the pain of the burning, they might 
 drop the incense together with the coals upon the altar ; for 
 tliey were constrained by them. Men of this sort, lie affirms, 
 can remain enrolled in the sacred ministry, or rather be 
 placed in the rank of confessors. For they did not by their 
 own choice either taste the libations, or ])lace the incense 
 upon the altar, but being compelled by violence, their reason 
 not consenting to the action ; as also those who from the 
 extremity of the suffering lost their bodily vigour, so as 
 neitlier to be able to speak or move, nor to resist those 
 who were violently pouring into their mouths the wine of 
 libations, these also are to be placed amongst the confessors. 
 And next in order he discourses of those who give the 
 testimony of a good conscience, and phices them also in 
 the number of confessors.
 
 322 TiJE WRITINGS OF i'ETELl. 
 
 Canon XV. 
 
 No one shall find fault with us for observing the fourtli 
 (lay of the week, and tlie preparation [the sixth day],^ on 
 which it is reasonably enjoined us to last according to the 
 tradition. On the fourth day, indeed, because on it the 
 Jg'vs took counsel for the betrayal of the Lord ; and on tlie 
 sixth, because on it He himself suffered for us. But the 
 Lord's day we celebrate as a day of joy, because on it He 
 rose again, on Avhich day we have received it for a custom 
 not even to bow the ki •t.o.. 
 
 Balsamon. — Conformably to the sixty-fourth apostolical 
 canon, which decree <» that we are not to fast on the 
 Sabbath, with one f iception, the great Sabbath ; and to 
 the sixty-ninth canon, which severely punishes those wlio 
 do not fast in the Holy Lent, and on every fourth day of 
 the week and day of prejiaration. Thus also does the pre- 
 sent canon decree. 
 
 Zonaras. — iVlways, says he, are the fourth and sixth days 
 of every week to be kept as fasts ; nor will any one find 
 fault with us for fasting on them ; and the reasons he sub- 
 joins. But on the Lord's day we ought not to fast, for it 
 is a day of joy for the resurrection of the Lord, and on it, 
 says he, we have received that we ought not even to bow 
 the knee. This word, therefore, is to be carefully observed, 
 " we have received," and " it is enjoined upon us according 
 to the tradition." For from hence it is evident that long- 
 established custom was taken for law. Moreover, the great 
 Basil annexes also the causes for which it was forbidden to 
 bend the knee on the Lord's day, and from the Passover to 
 Pentecost. Eead also the sixty-sixth and sixty-ninth a^aos- 
 tolical canons. 
 
 1 The dav before the Hebrew Sabbath.— Tb.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 32i 
 
 LETTER TO THE CHUECH AT ALEXANDRIA.^ 
 
 Peter, to the brethren beloved and established in the 
 faith of God, peace in the Lord. Since I have found out 
 that Meletius acts in no way for the common good (for 
 neither is he contented with the letter of the most holy- 
 bishops and martyrs), but, invading my parish, hath 
 assumed so nmch to himself as to endeavour to separate 
 iiom my authority the priests, and those who had been 
 entrusted with visiting the needy ; and, giving proof of liis 
 desire for pre-eminence, has ordained in the prison several 
 unto himself; now, take ye heed to this, and hold no com- 
 munion with him, until I meet him in company with some 
 wise and discreet men, and see what the designs are which 
 he has thought upon. Fare ye well. 
 
 A FRAGMENT FROM THE BOOK ON THE 
 GODHEAD. 
 
 [From the Acts of tlie Council of Ephesus, i. and vii. 2. — Galland.] 
 
 Since certainly " grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,"' 
 whence also by grace we are saved, according to that word 
 of the apostle, " and that not of yourselves, nor of works, 
 lest any man shovdd boast ;"^ by the will of God, " the "Word 
 was made llesh,"* and "was found in fashion as a man."^ 
 But yet lie was not left without His divinity. For neither 
 "though He was rich did He become poor"^ that He might 
 iiljsolutcly be separated from His power and glory, but that 
 He might Himself endure death for us sinners, the just for 
 the unjust, that He might bring us to God, " being put to 
 death in the ilesli, but quickened by the Spirit;" and after- 
 wards otlier things. Whence the evangelist also asserts the 
 truth when he says, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us ;" then indeed, from the time when the angel 
 ' From Galkndius. 2 j„],n i. 17. 3 Epij, ij, v^^ 9, 
 
 * John i. 14. •'• riiil. ii. 7. « 2 Cor. viii. 9.
 
 324 THE wmrixas of peter. 
 
 liad saluted the virgin, saying, " Hail, thou that art highly 
 favoured, tlie Lord is with thee." Now when Gabriel said, 
 " The Lord is with thee," he meant God the Word is with 
 thee. Tor he shows that He was conceived in the womh, 
 and was to become flesh; as it is written, "The Holy 
 Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of tlie Highest 
 shall overshadow thee ; therefore also tliat holy tiling, which 
 shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God;"^ and 
 afterwards other things. ISTow God the Word, in the absence 
 of a man, by the will of God, who easily effects every thing, 
 was made flesh in the womb of the virgin, not requiring the 
 operation or the presence of a man. For more efficacious 
 than a man was the power of God overshadowing the virgin, 
 together with the Holy Ghost also who came upon her. 
 
 A FEAGMENT FEOM THE HOIMILY ON THE 
 ADVENT OF OUE SAVIOUE. 
 
 [Apud Leontium Byzant., lib. i., contra Nestor, et Eutycli., torn, i 
 Thes. Canis. p. 550.] 
 
 And He said unto Judas, " Betrayest thou the Son of God 
 with a kiss ?"^ These things and the like, and all the signs 
 which He showed, and His miracles, prove that He is God 
 made man. Both things therefore are demonstrated, that 
 He was God by nature, and that He was man by nature. 
 
 A FEAGMENT FEOM THE HOMILY ON THE 
 SOJOUENING OF CHEIST WITH US. 
 
 [Ex Leontio Hierosolymitano, contra Monophysitas, Ap. Mai. Script. 
 Vet, torn, vii. p. 134.] 
 
 Born therefore is proved, that he was God by nature, and 
 was made man by nature. 
 
 1 Luke i. 35. - Luke xxii. 4S.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 325 
 
 That up to the time of the Destruction of jEPa's.vLE.M, 
 THE Jews eightly appointed the fourteenth day of 
 the first lunar month. 
 
 [Apud Galland, Ex Clironico Paschal., p. 1, seqq., edit. 
 Venet. 1729.] 
 
 1. Since the mercy of God is every where great, let us bless 
 Him, and also because He has sent unto us the Spirit of 
 truth to guide us into all truth. For for this cause tlie 
 month Abib was appointed by the law to be the beginning 
 of months, and was made known imto us as the first among 
 the months of the year; both by the ancient writers who 
 lived before, and by the later who lived after the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, it was sliown to possess a most clear and 
 evidently defined period, especially because in some places 
 the reaping is early, and sometimes it is late, so as to be 
 sometimes before the time and sometimes after it, as it 
 happened in the very beginning of the giving of the law, 
 before the Passover, according as it is written, "But tlie 
 \vheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown 
 up."^ Whence it is rightly prescribed by the law, that from 
 the vernal equinox, in whatsoever week the fourteenth day 
 of the first month shall fall, in it the Passover is to be coh;- 
 brated, becoming and conformable songs of praise ha\iiig 
 been first taken up for its celebration. For this first niuntli, 
 says he, " shall be unto you the beginning of months,"- when 
 the sun in the simamer time sends forth a far stronger and 
 clearer light, and the days are lengthened and become lungii-, 
 whilst the nights are contracted and shortened. Mori-ovt-r, 
 when the new seeds have sprung up, they are thorougldy 
 purged, and borne into the tlireshing floor ; nor only tliis, 
 but also all the shrubs blossom, and burst forth into flower. 
 Immediately therefore tliey are discovered to send forth in 
 alternation various and diverse I'ruits, so tliat the grape- 
 clusters are found at that time; as says the lawgiver, " Nom-, 
 1 E\od. ix. 32. - Ex(k1. .\ii. :>.
 
 32G THE WRITINGS OF PICTEIL 
 
 it was tlie time of spring, of tlie first ripo grapes ;"^ and wlien 
 ho sent the men to spy out the hin<l, they brought on bearers 
 a large cluster of grapes, and pomegranates also, and figs. 
 For then, as they say, our eternal God also, the Maker and 
 Creator of all things, framed all things, and said to them, 
 " Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and 
 the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in 
 itself upon the earth." Then he adds, "And it was so; 
 and God saw that it was good."" Moreover, he makes 
 (juite clear that the first month amongst the Hebrews was 
 appointed by law, which we know to have been observed 
 by the Jews up to the destruction of Jerusalem, because 
 this has been so handed down by the Hebrew tradition. 
 But after the destruction of the city it was mocked at by 
 some hardening of heart, which we observing, according 
 to the law, with sincerity have received ; and in this, 
 according to the AVord, when he speaks of the day of our 
 holy festivity, which the election hath attained : but the 
 rest have become hardened,^ as said the Scripture ; and after 
 other things. 
 
 . 2. And He says as follows : " All these things will they 
 do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not 
 Him that sent Me."* But if they knew not Him who sent, 
 a,nd Him who was sent, there is no reason to doubt but 
 that they have been ignorant of the Passover as prescribed 
 by the law, so as not merely to err in their choice of the 
 place, but also in reckoning the beginning of the month, 
 which is the first amongst the months of the year, on the 
 fourteenth day of which, being accurately observed, after 
 the equinox, the ancients celebrated the Passover, according 
 to the divine command; whereas the men of the present 
 day now celebrate it before the equinox, and that altogether 
 through negligence and error, being ignorant how they cele- 
 brated it in its season, as He confesses who in these things 
 was described. 
 
 3. Whether therefore the Jews erroneously sometimes 
 celebrate their Passover according to the course of the 
 
 1 Niuii. xii. 24. - Gen. i. 11, 1-2. ^ Rqiu. xi. 7. * John xv. 21.
 
 FnAG}fKXTS. 327 
 
 moon in the month Phcamenoth, or according to the interca- 
 lary month, every third year in the month Pharmuthi, 
 matters not to us. For we have no other object than to 
 keep the remembrance of His Passion, and that at this very 
 time ; as those who were eye-witnesses of it have from the 
 beginning handed down, before the Egyptians believed. For 
 neitlier by observing the course of the moon do they neces- 
 sarily celeljrate it on the sixteenth day of Phamenotli, but 
 once every three years in the month Pharniutlii ; for from 
 the beginning, and before the advent of Christ, they seem to 
 have so done. Hence, when the Lord reproves them by the 
 prophet. He says, " They do always err in their heart ; ;ind I 
 have sworn in My wrath that they shall not enter intu ^ly 
 rest."i 
 
 4. Wherefore, as thou seest, even in this thou appeurest 
 to be lying greatly, not only against men, but also against 
 God. First, indeed, since in this matter the Jews never 
 erred, as consorting with those wlio were eye-witnesses and 
 ministers, much less from the beginning before the advent 
 of Christ. For God does not say that they did always err 
 in their heart as regards the precept of the law concerning 
 tlie Passover, as thou hast written, but on account of all 
 their other disobedience, and on account of their evil and 
 unseemly deeds, when, indeed. He perceiv^ed them turning 
 to idolatry and to fornication. 
 
 5. And after a few things. So that also in tliis respect, 
 since thou hast slumbered, rouse thyself much, and very 
 much, with the scourge of the Preacher, being mindful 
 especially of that passage where he speaks of " slipping on 
 the pavement, and with the tongue."^ For, as thuu seest 
 again, the charge cast by thee upon their leaders is rellected 
 back ; nay, and one may suspect a great subsequent danger, 
 inasmuch as we hear that the stone which a man casts up on 
 high falls back upon his head. Much more reckless is he 
 who, in this respect, ventures to bring a charge against 
 Moses, that mighty servant of God, or Joshua, the son of 
 Nun, who succeeded him, or those who in succession riglitly 
 
 ^ Ps. xcv. 1(1, 11. - Ecchis. x.\. IS.
 
 828 THE WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 followed them and niled ; the judges, I mean, and the 
 kings who appeared, or the prophets whom the Holy Spirit 
 inspired, and those who amongst the high-priests were 
 blameless, and those who, in following the traditions, changed 
 nothing, but agreed as to the observance of the Passover in 
 its season, as also of the rest of their feasts. 
 
 6. And after other things. But thou oughtest rather to 
 have pursued a safer and more auspicious course, and not to 
 have written rashly and slanderously, that they seem from 
 the beginning, and always, to have been in error about the 
 Passover, which you cannot prove, whatever charge you 
 may wish to bring against those who, at the present time, 
 have erred with a grievous wandering, having fallen away 
 from the commandment of the law concerning the Passover 
 and other things. For the ancients seem to have kept it 
 after the vernal equinox, wdiich you can discover if you read 
 ancient books, and those especially which were written by 
 the learned Hebrews. 
 
 7. That therefore up to the period of the Lord's Passion, 
 and at the time of the last destruction of Jerusalem, which 
 happened under Vespasian, the Eoman emperor, the people 
 of Israel, rightly observing the fourteenth day of the first 
 lunar month, celebrated on it the Passover of the law, has 
 been briefly demonstrated. Therefore, when the holy pro- 
 phets, and all, as I have said, who righteously and justly 
 walked in the law of the Lord, together with the entire 
 people, celebrated a typical and shadoAvy Passover, the 
 Creator and Lord of every visible and invisible creature, the 
 only-begotten Son, and the Word co-eternal with the Father 
 and the Holy Spuit, and of the same substance with them, 
 according to His divine nature, our Lord and God, Jesus 
 Christ, being in the end of the world born according to the 
 flesh of our holy and glorious lady. Mother of God, and 
 Ever- Virgin, and, of a truth, of Mary the jSIother of God ; 
 and being seen upon earth, and having true and real con- 
 verse as man with men, who were of the same substance 
 with Him, according to His human nature. Himself also, 
 with the people, in tlie years before His public ministry and
 
 FRAGMENTS. 329 
 
 during His public ministry, did celebrate the legal and 
 shadowy Passover, eating the typical lamb. For " I came 
 not to destroy the law, or the prophets, but to fulfil them," 
 the Saviour Himself said in the Gospel. But after His 
 public ministry He did not eat of the lamb, but Himself 
 suffered as the true Lamb in the Paschal feast, as John, the 
 divine and evangelist, teaches us in the Gospel written by 
 lum, where he thus speaks : " Then led they Jesus from 
 Caiaphas imto the hall of judgment : and it was early ; and 
 they themselves went not into the judgment-hall, lest they 
 .shoidd be defiled, but that they miglit eat the passover."^ 
 And after a few things more. " When Pilate therefore 
 heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in 
 the judgment-seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, 
 but in tlie Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation 
 of the passover, and about the third hour," ^ as the correct 
 books render it, and the copy itself that was written by the 
 hand of the evangelist, which, by the divine grace, has been 
 preserved in the most holy Church of Ephesus, and is there 
 adored by the faithful. And again the same evangelist 
 says : " The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, 
 tliat the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the 
 Sabbath-day (for that Sabbath-day was an high day), be- 
 souglit Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they 
 raigiit be taken away."^ On that day, therefore, on wliich 
 the Jews were about to eat the Passover in the evening, 
 our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was crucified, being 
 made the victim to those who were about to partake by 
 faith of the mystery concerning Him, according to what is 
 written by the blessed Paul : " For even Christ our Passover 
 is sacrificed for us;"'* and not as some who, carried along 
 by ignorance, confidently affirm that after He had eaten the 
 
 ^ John xviii. 28. 
 
 2 John xix. 13, 14. And about the si.vth hour is the reading of our 
 Englisli version. According to St Alark, the crucifixion took i)Iace at 
 the third hour (chap. xxv. 25.) Eusebius, Theo])hyhict, and Severua 
 (in the Catena, ed. Liicke, iL) suppose that there lias been some very 
 early erratum in our copies. Hee Alford's note on the pa-ssage. — Tr. 
 
 ^ John xix. 31. * 1 Cor. v. 7.
 
 330 TUB WRITINGS OF PETER. 
 
 Passover, lie was betrayed ; wliich we neither leani from 
 the holy evangelists, nor has any of the blessed apostles 
 handed it down to us. At the time, therefore, in which our 
 Lord and God Jesus C 'rist suffered for us, according to the 
 flesh, He did not eat of the legal Passover ; but, as I have 
 said. He Himself, as the true Lamb, was sacrificed for us in 
 the feast of the typical Passover, on the day of the prepara- 
 tion, the fourteenth of the first lunar month. The typical 
 Passover, therefore, then ceased, the true Passover being 
 present : " For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for u.s," as 
 has been before said, and as that chosen vessel, the apostle 
 Paul, teaches. 
 
 IL 
 
 [Ihid. p. 175, D.] 
 
 Now it was the preparation, about the third hour, as the 
 accurate books have it, and the autograph copy itself of the 
 Evangelist John, which up to this day has by divine gi-ace 
 been preserved in the most holy Church of Ephesus, and is 
 there adored by the faithful. 
 
 OF THE SOUL AND BODY. 
 
 [Ex Leontii et Joannis Rer. Sacr. lib. ii. Apud Mai. Scrii)t. Vet. 
 torn. vii. p. 85.] 
 
 From his demonstration that the soul was not jjrc-cjcistc^it 
 to the body. 
 
 The things which pertain to the divinity and humanity 
 of the Second Man from heaven, in what has been written 
 above, according to the blessed apostle, we have explained ; 
 and now we have thought it necessary to explain the things 
 which pertain to the first man, who is of earth and earthy, 
 being about, namely, to demonstrate this, that he was created 
 at the same time one and the same, although sometimes he 
 is separately designated as the man external and internal.
 
 FRAGMEXTS. 331 
 
 For if, according to the AVord of salvation, He who made 
 what is without, made also that which is within, He cer- 
 tainly, by one operation, and at tlie same time, made both, 
 on that day, indeed, on which God said, " Let us make man 
 in our image, after our likeness ;"^ whence it is manifest that 
 man Avas not formed by a conjunction of tlie body with a 
 certain pre-existent tj^pe. For if the earth, at the bidding 
 of the Creator, brought forth the other animals endowed 
 with life, much rather did the dust which God took from 
 the earth receive a vital energy from the will and operation 
 of God. 
 
 FEAGMEXT. 
 
 [Ex Leontio et Joanne Rer. Sacr. lib. ii. Apud. Mai. Script. J'ct. 
 torn. vii. p. 96.1 
 
 Wretch that I am ! I have not remembered that God 
 observes the mind, and hears the voice of the soul. I turned 
 consciously to sin, saying to myself, God is merciful, and 
 will bear with me ; and when I was not instantly smitten, 
 I ceased not, but rather despised His forbearance, and 
 exhausted the lons-sufierins of God. 
 
 ON ST matthp:\v. 
 
 [From the Treatise of the Emperor Justinian against the Monophysitea. 
 
 Apud Mai. Script. Vet. vii. 306, 307.] 
 
 And in the Gospel according to ^Matthew, the Lord said 
 to him who betrayed K[ira : " Betrayest thou the Son of 'Slan 
 with a kiss?" which Peter the MartjT and Archbishop of 
 Alexandria exj)ounding, says, this and other tilings like, 
 " All the signs which He showed, and the miracles that He 
 did, testify of Him that He is God incarnate ; both things 
 therefore are together proved, that He was God by nature, 
 and was made man by nature." 
 
 ' Ucu. i. JG.
 
 3o2 THE \VllJTL\aS OF PETER. 
 
 FEOM A SERMON OE A TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 
 
 In the meanwhile the evangelist se.ys with firmness, " The 
 Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."^ Erom this 
 we learn that the angel, when he saluted the virgin with 
 the words, " Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is 
 with thee,"" intended to signify God the Word is with thee, 
 and also to show that He would arise from Her bosom, and 
 would be made flesh, even as it is written, " The Holy Ghost 
 shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall 
 overshadow" thee ; therefore also that holy thing, which shall 
 be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God."^ 
 
 » John i 14. * Luke i. 2S. ^ l^^^ i 35^
 
 ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 INTliODUCTIOX. 
 
 jjLEXAXDEIi ^ya.s appointed successor to Achilles, 
 as Bishop of Alexandria, about a.d. 312. The 
 virtues of this prelate, which Eusebius has 
 passed over entirely without mention, other 
 ecclesiastical writers have greatly extolled. For on all 
 sides he is styled " tlie staunchest upholder of evangelical 
 doctrine," "the patron and protector of apostolic doctrine ;" 
 and "that bishop of divine faith, full of wisdom and of 
 zeal enkindled by the Holy Spirit." He was the first to 
 detect and to condemn Arius ; and taking his stand upon 
 passages of Holy Scripture, as Theodoret remarks,-^ he taught 
 tliat the Son of God was of one and the same majesty with 
 the Father, and had the same substance with the Father 
 who begat Him. 
 
 At first he sought to bring back Arius from his lieresy. 
 But when he perceived that he openly and obstinately 
 taught his false doctrines, he assembled a first and then a 
 second synod of the bishops of Egypt, and degraded him 
 from the order of the priesthood, and cut him off from the 
 communion of the Church. This proving ineffectual, the 
 ("(nincil of Nicrea was convened, in which he was finally 
 condemned. In comljating the Arian heresy, .tUexander 
 endured, although at a great age, many trials, and died 
 shortly after the holding of the Council. 
 
 ' //. A", i. 2.
 
 EPISTLES ON THE ARIAN HERESY 
 THE DEPOSITION OF ARIUS. 
 
 [Apud. Theodoritiim, Hist. EccL, Look l chap. 4.] 
 
 The Epistle of Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, to 
 Alexander, Bishop of the City of Constantinople. 
 
 To the most reverend and like-minded hrotlier, Alexander, 
 Alexander sends greeting in the Lord : 
 
 The ambitious and avaricious will of wicked men is 
 always wont to lay snares against those churches which 
 seem greater, by various pretexts attacking the ecclesiasti- 
 cal piety of such. For incited by the devil who works in 
 them, to the lust of that which is set before them, and 
 throwing away all religious scruples, they trample imder 
 foot the fear of the judgment of God. Concerning which 
 things, I who suffer, have thought it necessary to show to 
 your piety, in order that you may be aware of such men, 
 lest any of them presume to set foot in your dioceses, 
 whether by themselves or by others ; for these sorcerers 
 know how to use hypocrisy to carry out their fraud ; and 
 to employ letters composed and dressed out with lies, which 
 are able to deceive a man wlio is intent upon a simple and 
 sincere faith. Arius, therefore, and Achilles, having lately 
 entered into a conspiracy, emulating the ambition of 
 Colluthus, have turned out far worse than he. For Colluthus, 
 indeed, who reprehends these very men, found some pre- 
 text for his evil purpose ; but these, beholding his ^ bartt^r- 
 
 ^ Colluthus, being a presbyter of Alexandria, puffed up -vvitli arro- 
 gance and temerity, had acted as a bishop, and had ordaiaed many
 
 THE EPISTLES ON THE AlUAX IIEnESY. 335 
 
 ing of Chiist, endured no longer to be subject to the 
 Church ; but building for themselves dens of thieves, they 
 hold their assemblies in them unceasingly, night and day 
 directing their calumnies against Christ and against us. For 
 since they call in question all pious and apostolical doctrine, 
 after the manner of the Jews, they have constructed a work- 
 shop for contending against Christ, denying the Godhead of 
 our Saviour, and preaching that He is only the equal of aU 
 others. And having collected all the passages which speak 
 of His plan of salvation and His humiliation for our sakes, 
 they endeavour from these to collect the preachiug of their 
 impiety, ignoring altogether the passages in which His 
 eternal Godhead and unutterable glory with the Father is 
 set forth. Since, therefore, they back up the impious opinion 
 concerning Christ, which is held by tlie Jews and Greeks, 
 in every possible way they strive to gain their approval; 
 busying themselves about all those things which they are 
 wont to deride in us, and daily stirring up against us 
 seditions and persecutions. And now, indeed, they drag us 
 before the tribunals of the judges, by intercourse with silly 
 and disorderly women, whom they have led into error ; at 
 another time they cast opprobrium and infamy upon the 
 Christian religion, their young maidens disgiacefully wan- 
 dering about every village and street. Nay, even Cluist's 
 indivisible tunic, wliicli His executioners were unwilling to 
 divide, these wretches have dared to rend. 
 
 2. And M'e, indeed, though we discovered ratlier late, on 
 account of their concealment, their manner of life, and their 
 unholy attempts, by the common suffrage of all have ^ cast 
 them forth from the congregation of the Church which adores 
 the Godhead of Christ. But they, running hither and thither 
 against us, have begun to betake themselves to our colleagues 
 
 priests and deacons. Bvit in the Synod tliat was assonibled at Alex- 
 andria all Ids acts of ordination were rescinded ; and tliose Avlio had 
 teen ordained by him degraded to the rank of laymen. — Tr. 
 
 ^ It is interred from these words that this letter of Alexander was 
 written after the Synod of Ale.\andria in which Arius and his com- 
 panion were condemned. But Ale.xiuuler convened two synods of the 
 bishops of Egj'pt ayainst Arius and his friends. — Tr.
 
 336 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 who are of the same mind with us ; in appearance, indeed, 
 pretending to seek for peace and concord, but in reality 
 seeking to draw over some of them by fair words to their 
 own diseases, asking long wordy letters from them, in order 
 that reading these to the men whom 'they have deceived, 
 they may make them impenitent in the errors into which 
 they have fallen, and obdurate in impiety, as if they had 
 bishops thinking the same thing and siding with them. 
 Moreover, the things which amongst us they have wrongly 
 taught and done, and on account of which they have been 
 expelled by us, they do not at all confess to them, but they 
 either pass them over in silence, or throwing a veil over 
 them, by feigned words and writings they deceive them. 
 Concealing, therefore, their pestilent doctrine by their 
 specious and flattering discourse, they circumvent the 
 more simple-minded and such as are open to fraud, nor 
 do they spare in the meanwhile to traduce our piety to 
 all. Hence it comes to pass that some, subscribing their 
 letters, receive them into the Church, although in my opinion 
 the greatest guilt lies upon those ministers who venture to do 
 this ; because not only does the apostolic rule not allow of 
 it, but the working of the devil in these men against Christ 
 is by this means more strongly kindled. Wherefore with- 
 out delay, brethren beloved, I have stirred myself up to 
 show you the faithlessness of these men who say that there 
 was a time when the Son of God was not ; and that He who 
 was not before, came into existence afterwards, becoming 
 such, when at length he was made, even as every man is 
 wont to be born. For, they say, God made all things from 
 things which are not, comprehending even the Son of God 
 in the creation of all things, rational and irrational. To 
 which things they add as a consequence, that He is of 
 mutable nature, and capable both of virtue and vice. And 
 this hypothesis being once assumed, that He is "from 
 things which are not," they overturn the sacred waitings 
 concerning His eternity, which signify the immutability 
 and the Godhead of Wisdom and the "Word, which are 
 Christ.
 
 THE EPISTLES ON THE ARIAN HERESY. 337 
 
 3. We, therefore, say these wicked men, can also be the 
 sons of God even as He. For it is written, "I have 
 nourished and brought up children."^ But when what 
 follows was objected to them, "and they have rebelled 
 against me," which indeed is not applicable to the nature 
 of the Saviour, who is of an immutable nature ; they, 
 throwing off all religious reverence, say that God, since He 
 foreknew and had foreseen that His Son would not rebel 
 against Him, chose Him from all. For He did not choose 
 Him as having by nature anything specially beyond His 
 other sons, for no one is by nature a son of God, as they 
 say ; neither as having any peculiar property of His own ; 
 but God chose Him who was of a mutable nature, on ac- 
 count of the carefulness of His manners and His practice, 
 which in no way turned to that wliich is evil ; so tliat, if 
 Paul and Peter had striven for this, there would have been 
 no difference between their sonship and His. And to con- 
 firm this insane doctrine, playing with Holy Scripture, tliey 
 bring forward what is said in the Psalms respecting Christ : 
 " Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness : there- 
 fore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of glad- 
 ness above Thy fellows." ^ 
 
 4. But that the Son of God was not made " from things 
 which are not," and that there M-as no time when He was 
 not, the evangelist John sufficiently shows, when lie thus 
 writes concerning Him: "The only-begotten Son, who is in 
 the bosom of the Father." ^ For since that divine teacher 
 intended to show that the Father and the Son are two 
 tilings inseparable the one from the other, he spoke of 
 of Him as being in the bosom of the Father. Now that 
 also the Word of God is not comprehended in the number 
 of things that were created " from things which are not," 
 the same John says, " All things were made by Him." For 
 he set forth His proper personality, saying, " In the begin- 
 ning was the Word, and the AVord was with God, anil the 
 Word was God. All things were made by Him ; and with- 
 out Him was not any thing made that was made." * For if 
 
 1 Ls. i. 2. "^ r«i. xlv. 7. 3 j„i,„ i_ 13 4 j^,i„i j_ i.3_ 
 
 Y
 
 538 THE WPdTINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 all things were made by Him, how comes it that He who 
 gave to the things which are made their existence, at one 
 time Himself was not. For the Word which makes is not 
 to be defined as being of the same nature with the things 
 which are made ; since He indeed was in the beginning, 
 and all things were made by Him, and fashioned "from 
 things which are not." Moreover, that which is seems to 
 be contrary to and far removed from those things which are 
 made " from things which are not." For that indeed shows 
 that there is no interval between the Father and the Son, 
 since not even in thought can the mind imagine any dis- 
 tance between them. But that the world was created 
 " from things which are not," indicates a more recent and 
 a later origin of substance, since the universe receives an 
 essence of this sort from the Father by the Son. When, 
 therefore, the most pious John contemplated the essence of 
 the divine Word at a very great distance, and as placed 
 beyond all conception of those things that are begotten, he 
 thought it not meet to speak of His generation and creation. 
 Not daring to designate the Creator in the same terms as 
 the things that are made. Not that the Word is unbe- 
 gotten, for the Father alone is unbegotten, but because the 
 inexplicable subsistence of the only-begotten Son transcends 
 the acute comprehension of the evangelists, and perhaps 
 also of angels. 
 
 5. Wherefore I do not think that he is to be reckoned 
 amongst the pious who presumes to inquire into any thing 
 beyond these things, not listening to this saying: "Seek not 
 out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the 
 things that are above thy strength."^ For if the knowledge 
 of many other things that are incomparably inferior to this, 
 are hidden from human comprehension, such as in the 
 apostle Paul, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
 have entered into the heart of man, the things which God 
 hath prepared for them that love Him." - As also God said 
 to Abraham, that " he could not number the stars ; " ^ and 
 that passage, " Who can number the sand of the sea, and 
 
 ^ Ecclus. iii. 22. - 1 Cor. ii. 9. ^ Gen. xv. 5.
 
 THE EPISTLES ON THE ARIAN HERESY. 339 
 
 the drops of rain." ^ How shall any one he ahle to investi- 
 gate too curiously the suhsistence of the divine "Word, unless 
 he he smitten with frenzy ? Concerning wliich the Spirit 
 of prophecy says, "Who shall declare his generation?"^ 
 And our Saviour Himself, who blesses the pillars of all 
 things in the world, sought to unburden them of the know- 
 ledge of these things, saying that to comprehend this was 
 quite beyond their nature, and that to the Father alone 
 belonged the knowledge of this most divine mystery. " For 
 no man," says He, " knoweth the Son, but the Father ; 
 neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son." "' 
 Of this thing also I think that the Father spoke, in the 
 words, " My secret is to J\Ie and jNIine." 
 
 G. Now that it is an insane thing to think that the Son 
 was made from things which are not, and was in being in 
 time, the expression, " from things which are not," itself 
 shows, although these stupid men understand not the in- 
 sanity of their own words. For the expression, " was not " 
 ought either to be reckoned in time, or in some place of an 
 age. But if it be true that " all things were made by Him," 
 it is established that both every age and time and all space, 
 and that " when " in which the " was not " is found, wai 
 made by Him. And is it not absurd that He who fasluoned 
 the times and the ages and the seasons, in which that " was 
 not " is mixed up, to say of Him, that He at some time was 
 not ? For it is devoid of sense, and a mark of great ignor- 
 ance, to afhrm that He who is the cause of every thing is 
 posterior to the origin of that thing. For according to them, 
 the space of time in wliich they say that the Sou had not 
 yet been made by the Father, preceded the wisdom of Gud 
 that fashioned all things, and the Scripture speaks falsely 
 according to them, which calls Him " the First-born of every 
 creature." Conformable to which, that whicli the majesti- 
 cally-speaking Paul says of Him : " AVhom He hath ap- 
 pointed heir of all things. By wliom also He made the 
 worlds. But by Him also were all things created that are 
 in lieaven, and that are in earth, viaible and invisible, 
 i Ecclus. i. 2. - Is. liii. 8. ^ yi^^^^^ ^i_ 07,
 
 340 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or 
 powers ; all things were created by Ilim, and for Him ; and 
 He is before all things." ^ 
 
 7. Wherefore, since it appears that this hypothesis of a 
 creation from tilings which are not is most impious, it is 
 necessary to say that the Father is always the Father. 
 But He is the Father, since the Son is always with Him, 
 on account of whom He is called the Father. Wherefore, 
 since the Son is always with Him, the Father is always per- 
 fect, being destitute of nothing as regards good ; who, not in 
 time, nor after an interval, nor from things which are not, 
 hath begotten His only-begotten Son. How, then, is it not 
 impious to say, that the wisdom of God once was not, which 
 speaks thus concerning itself : " I was with Him forming 
 all things ; I was His delight;"^ or that the power of God 
 once did not exist ; or that His Word was at any time muti- 
 lated ; or that other things were ever wanting from which 
 the Son is known and the Father expressed ? For he who 
 denies that the brightness of the glory existed, takes away 
 also the primitive light of which it is the brightness. And 
 if the image of God was not always, it is clear also that He 
 was not always, of whicli it is the image. INIoreover, in 
 saying that the character of the subsistence of God was not. 
 He also is done away with who is perfectly expressed by it. 
 Hence one may see that the Sonship of our Saviour has 
 nothing at all in common with the sonship of the rest. For 
 just as it has been shown that His inexplicable subsistence 
 excels by an incomparable excellence all other things to 
 which He has given existence, so also His Sonship, whicli 
 is according to the nature of the Godhead of the Father, 
 transcends, by an ineffable excellence, the sonship of those 
 who have been adopted by Him. For He, indeed, is of 
 an immutable nature, every way perfect, and wanting in 
 nothing; but these, since they are either way subject to 
 change, stand in need of help from Him. For what progress 
 can the wisdom of God make ? What increase can the 
 truth itself and God the Word receive ? In what respect 
 1 Col. i. 16, 17. - Prov. viii 30 (lxs.)
 
 77//; EPISTLES OX THE APJAX J/ EI! EST. 041 
 
 can the life aud the true light be made better ? And if this 
 be so, how much more unnatural is it that wisdom should 
 ever be capable of folly; that the power of God should be 
 conjoined with infirmity ; tliat reason shoidd be obscured by 
 unreason; or that darkness should be mixed up with the 
 true light ? And the apostle says, on this place, " ^^^lat 
 communion hatli light with darkness ? and what concord 
 hath Christ with Belial?"^ And Solomon says, that it is 
 not possible that it should come to pass that a man should 
 comprehend with his understanding " the way of a serpent 
 upon a rock," which is Christ, according to the opinion of 
 Paul. But men and angels, who are His creatures, have 
 received His blessing that they might make progi'ess, exer- 
 cising themselves in virtues and in the commandments of 
 the law, so as not to sin. Wherefore our Lord, since He is 
 by nature the Son of the Father, is by all adored. But 
 these, laying aside the spirit of bondage, ^hen by brave 
 deeds and by progress they have received the spirit of adop- 
 tion, being blessed by Him who is the Son by nature, are 
 made sons by adoption. 
 
 8. And His proper and pecidiar, natural and excellent 
 Sonship, St Paul has declared, who thus speaks of God: 
 " Who spared not His own Son, but for us," who were not 
 His natural sons, "delivered Him up."^ For to distinguish 
 Him from those who are not properly sons. He said that 
 He was His own Son. And in the Gospel we read : "This is 
 ;My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."^ jNIoreover, 
 in the Psalms the Saviour says : " The Lord hath said unto 
 ^[e. Thou art my Son."'* Where, showing tliat He is the 
 true and genuine Son, He signilies that there are no other 
 genuine sons besides Himself. And what, too, is the 
 meaning of this ? " From the womb before the morning I 
 begat thee."^ Does He not plainly indicate tlie natuml 
 sonship of paternal bringing forth, which He obtained not 
 by the carefid framing of His manners, not by the exer- 
 cise of and increase in viiiue, but by property of nature ? 
 
 > 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. 2 R„m. viii. 32. = Matt. iiL 17. 
 
 * Ps. .\i. 7. 6 Ps. c.\. 3 (LXX).
 
 :H2 the writings of ALEXANDER. 
 
 Wherefore, the only-lDcgotten Son of the Father, indeed, pos- 
 sesses an indefectible Sonship ; but the adoption of rational 
 sons belongs not to them by nature, but is prepared for them 
 by the probity of their life, and by the free gift of God. 
 And is mutable as the Scripture recognises : " Por when 
 the sons of God saw the daughters of men, they took them 
 wives," ^ &c. And in another place : " I have nourished and 
 brought up children, but they have rebelled against Me,"- 
 as we find God speaking by the prophet Isaiah. 
 
 9. And though I could say much more, brethren beloved, 
 I purposely omit to do so, as deeming it to be burdensome 
 at great length to call these things to the remembrance of 
 teachers who are of the same mind with myself. For ye 
 yourselves are taught of God, nor are ye ignorant that this 
 doctrine, which hath lately raised its head against the piety 
 of the Church, is that of Ebion and Artemas ; nor is it 
 ought else but an imitation of Paul of Samosata, bishop of 
 Antioch, who, by the judgment and counsel of all the 
 bishops, and in every place, was separated from the Church. 
 To whom Lucian succeeding, remained for many yeara 
 separate from the communion of three bishops. And now 
 lately having drained the dregs of their impiety, there have 
 arisen amongst us those who teach this doctrine of a creation 
 from things which are not, their hidden sprouts, Arius 
 and Achilles, and the gathering of those who join in their 
 wickedness. And three bishops in Syria, having been in 
 some manner consecrated on account of their agreement with 
 them, incite them to worse things. But let the judgment 
 concerning these be reserved for your trial. For they, re- 
 taining in their memory the words which came to be used 
 with respect to His saving Passion, and abasement, and 
 examination, and what they call His poverty, and in short 
 of all those things to which the Saviour submitted for our 
 sakes, bring them forward to refute His supreme and eternal 
 Godhead. But of those words which signify His natural 
 glory and nobility, and abiding with the Father they have 
 become unmindful. Such as this : " I and INIy Father are 
 ^ Geu. vi. 2. ^ Is. i. 2.
 
 THE EPISTLES ON THE A HI AN HE REST. 343 
 
 one/'^ which indeed the Lord says, not as proclaiming Him- 
 self to be the Father, nor to demonstrate that two persons 
 are one; but that the Son of the Father most exactly 
 preserves the expressed likeness of the Father, inasmuch as 
 He has by nature impressed upon Him His similitude in 
 every respect, and is the image of the Father in no way 
 discrepant, and the expressed figure of the primitive ex- 
 emplar. Whence, also, to Philip, who then was desirous to 
 see Him, the Lord shows this abundantly. For when he 
 said, "Show us the Father,"^ He answered : " He that hath 
 seen Me, hath seen the Father," since tlie Father was 
 Himself seen through the spotless and living mirror of 
 the divine image. Similar to whicli is what the saints 
 say in the Psalms : " In Thy light shall we see light."^ 
 " "\Mierefore he that honoureth the Son, honoureth the Father 
 also;"^ and with reason, for every impious word M'liicli they 
 dare to speak against the Son, has reference to the Fallier. 
 
 10. But after these things, brethren beloved, what is there 
 wonderful in that which I am about to write, if I shall set 
 forth the false calumnies against me and our most pious 
 laity ? For those who have set themselves in array against 
 the Godhead of Christ, do not scruple to utter their ungrateful 
 ravings against us. Who will not either that any of the 
 ancients should be compared with them, or suffer that any 
 of those whom, from our earliest years, we have used as- 
 instructors should be placed on a level with them. Nay,, 
 and they do not tliink that any of all those who are now our 
 colleagues, has attained even to a moderate amount of wis- 
 dom ; boasting themselves to be the only men who are wise 
 and divested of worldly possessions, the sole discoverei-s of 
 dogmas, and that to them alone are those things revealed 
 which have never before come into the mind of any other 
 under the sun. Oh, the impious arrogance ! Oh, the 
 immeasurable madness ! Oh, the vainglory befitting tliose 
 that are crazed ! Oh, the pride of Satan which has taken 
 root in their unholy souls. The religious perspicuity of 
 the ancient Scriptures caused them no sliame, nor did the 
 
 1 Jdliii X. 30. - Juliu xiv. 8, 9. ^ Pd. xxxvi. 1). * John v. 23.
 
 844 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 consentient doctrine of our colleagues concerning Christ 
 keep in check their audacity against Him. Their impiety 
 not even the demons will bear, who are ever on the watch for 
 a Idaspheinous word uttered against the Sou. 
 
 11. And let these things be now urged according to our 
 power against those who, with respect to matter which they 
 know nothing of, have, as it were, rolled in the dust against 
 Christ, and have taken in hand to calumniate our i^iety 
 towards Him. For those inventors of stupid fables say, that 
 we who turn away with aversion from the impious and un- 
 scriptural blasphemy against Christ, of those who speak of 
 His coming from the things which are not assert, that 
 there are two unbegottens. For they ignorantly affirm that 
 one of two things must necessarily be said, either that He 
 is from things which are not, or that there are two unbe- 
 gottens ; nor do those ignorant men know how great is the 
 difference between the unbegotten Father, and the things 
 which were by Him created from things which are not, as 
 well the rational as the irrational. Betv/een which two, as 
 holding the middle place, the only begotten nature of God, 
 the Word by which the Father formed all things out of 
 nothing, was begotten of the true Father Himself. As in a 
 certain place the Lord Himself testified, saying, " Every one 
 that loveth Him that begat, loveth Him also that is begotten 
 of Him." 1 
 
 12. Concerning whom we thus believe, even as the Apos- 
 tolic Church believes. In one Father unbegotten, who has 
 from no one the cause of His being, who is unchangeable 
 and immutable, who is always the same, and admits of no 
 increase or diminution ; who gave to us the Law, the pro- 
 phets, and the Gospels ; who is Lord of the patriarchs and 
 apostles, and all the saints. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the only-begotten Son of God ; not begotten of things which 
 are not, but of Him who is the Father ; not in a corporeal 
 manner, by excision or division as Sabellius and Valentinus 
 thought, but in a certain inexplicable and imspeakable 
 manner, according to the words of the prophet cited above : 
 
 1 Jnllll V. 1.
 
 THE EPISTLES OX THE A lit AX IIEllESY. 345 
 
 " ^Vho sliall declare His generation?" ^ Since tliat His sub- 
 sistence no nature which is begotten can investigate, even 
 as the Father can be investigated by none ; because that the 
 nature of rational beings cannot receive the knowledge of 
 His divine generation by the Father. But men who are 
 moved by the Spirit of truth, have no need to learn these 
 things from me, for in our ears are sounding the words 
 before uttered by Christ on this very thing, "No man 
 knoweth the Father, save the Son ; and no man knoweth who 
 the Son is, save the Father." - That He is equally with the 
 Father unchangeable and immutable, wanting in nothing, 
 and the perfect Son, and like to the Father we have learnt; 
 in this alone is He inferior to the Father, that He is not 
 unbegotten. For He is the very exact image of the Father, 
 and in nothing differing from Him. For it is clear that He 
 is the image fully containing all things by which the 
 greatest similitude is declared, as the Lord Himself hath 
 taught us, when He says, " My Father is greater than 1." ^ 
 And according to this we believe that the Son is of the 
 Father, always existing. " For He is the brightness of His 
 glory, the express image of His (Father's) person." ■* But 
 let no one take that word ahcays so as to raise suspicion 
 that Ho is unbegotten, as they imagine who have their 
 senses blinded. For neither are the words, " He was," or 
 " always," or "before all worlds," equivalent to unbegotten. 
 But neither can the human mind employ any other word to 
 signify unbegotten. And thus I think that you understand 
 it, and I trust to your right purpose in all things, since these 
 words do not at all signify unbegotten. For these words 
 seem to denote simply a lengthening out of time, but the 
 (jodhead, and as it were the antiquity of the only-begotten, 
 they cannot worthily signify ; but they have been employed 
 by holy men, whilst each, according to his capacity, seeks to 
 express this mystery, asking indulgence from the hearere, 
 and pleading a reasonable exciLse, in saying. Thus far have 
 we attained. I>ut if there be any wIkj are expecting from 
 mortal Y\\)s some word whicli exceeds human caimcity, 
 1 l^^. liii. 8. 2 ]^iatt. xi. :i7 ^ j„i,i, ^jv. 2S. * Heb. i. 3.
 
 346 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 saying that those things have l)een done away wliich are 
 known in part, it is manifest that the words, "He was," 
 and " always," and " before all ages," come far short of what 
 they hoped. And whatever word sliall be employed is not 
 equivalent to nnbegotten. Therefore to the unbegotten 
 Father, indeed, we onglit to preserve His proper dignity, in 
 confessing that no one is the cause of His being ; but to the 
 Son must be allotted His fitting honour, in assigning to 
 Him, as we have said, a generation from the Fatlier with- 
 out beginning, and allotting adoration to Him, so as only 
 piously and properly to use the words, " He was," and 
 " always," and " before all worlds," with respect to Him ; 
 by no means rejecting his Godhead, but ascribing to Him a 
 similitude which exactly answers in every respect to tlie 
 Image and Exemplar of the Father. But we must say that 
 to the Father alone belongs the property of being unbegotten, 
 for the Saviour Himself said, " My Father is gTeater than I." ^ 
 .A-nd besides the pious opinion concerning the Father and 
 the Son, we confess to one Holy Spirit, as the divine 
 Scriptures teach us; who hath inaugurated both the holy 
 men of the Old Testament, and the divine teachers of thai 
 which is called the New. And besides, also, one only 
 Catholic and Apostolic Church, which can never be de- 
 stroyed, though all the world should seek to make war 
 with it ; but it is victorious over every most impious revolt 
 of the heretics who rise up against it. For her Goodman 
 hath confirmed our minds by saying, " Be of good cheer, I 
 have overcome the world." ^ After this we know of the 
 resurrection of the dead, the first fruits of which was our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who in very deed, and not in appearance 
 merely, carried a body, of IMary, JNIother of God, who in the 
 end of the world came to the human race to put away sin, 
 was crucified and died, and yet did He not thus perceive 
 any detriment to His divinity, being raised from the dead, 
 taken up into heaven, seated at the right hand of majesty. 
 
 13. These things in part have I written in this epistle, 
 thinking it burdensome to write out each accurately, even 
 1 John xiv. 28. - John xvi. 33.
 
 Till-: EPISTLES OX THE ARIAX HERESY. 347 
 
 as I said before, iDecause tliey escape not your religious 
 diligence. Thus do we teach, thus do we preach. These 
 are the apostolic doctrines of the Church, for which also we 
 die, esteeming those but little who would compel us to 
 forsware them, even if they would force us by tortures, and 
 not casting away our hope in them. To these Arius and 
 Achilles opposing themselves, and those who Avith them are 
 the enemies of tlie truth, have been exi)elled from the 
 Church, as being aliens from our holy doctrine, according to 
 the blessed Paul, who says, " If any man preach any other 
 gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be 
 accursed ; even though he feign himself an angel from 
 heaven." ^ And also," If any man teach otherwise, and con- 
 sent not to the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and to the doctrine which is according to godliness ; lie 
 is proud, knowing nothing,"- and so forth. These, therefore, 
 who have been anathematized by the brotherhood, let no 
 one of you receive, nor admit of those things which are 
 either said or written by them. For these seducers do 
 always lie, nor will they ever speak the truth. They go 
 about the cities, attempting nothing else but that under tlie 
 mark of friendship and the name of peace, by tlieir hypo- 
 crisy and blandishments, they may give and receive letters, 
 to deceive by means of these a few " silly women, and laden 
 with sins, who have been led captive by tliem,"^ and so forth, 
 14. These men, therefore, who liave dared such tilings 
 against Christ ; who have partly in public derided the 
 Christian religion ; partly seek to traduce and inform 
 against its professors before the judgment-seats; who in 
 a time of peace, as far as in them lies, have stiiTe<l up a 
 persecution against us ; who have enervated the ineffable 
 mystery of Christ's generation ; from these, I say, beloved 
 and like-minded brethren, turning away in aversion, give 
 your suffrages with us against their mad daring ; even as 
 our colleagues have done, who being moved with indigna- 
 tion, have both written to us letters against these men, 
 and have subscribed our letter. Which also I have sent 
 ' Gal. i. 8, 0. - \ Tim. vi. X 4. ^ 2 Tim. iii. 4.
 
 3-.^ THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 unto you by my son Apion the deacon, being some of 
 them from the whole of Egypt and the Thebaid, some from 
 Libya and Pentapolis. There are others also from Syria, 
 Lycia, Pamphylia, Asia, Cappadocia, and the other neighbour- 
 ing provinces. After the example of which I trust also that 
 I shall receive letters from you, For though I have pre- 
 pared many helps towards curing those who have suffered 
 injury, this is the especial remedy that has been devised for 
 healing the multitudes that have been deceived by them, 
 that they may comply with the general consent of our col- 
 leagues, and thus hasten to return to repentance. Salute 
 one another, together with the brethren who are with you. 
 I pray that ye may be strong in the Lord, beloved, and 
 that I may profit by your love towards Christ. 
 
 Epistle IT. 
 
 [Taken from the Works of St Atlianasius, vol. i. part i. p. 397, seqq. 
 Edit. Benedic. Paris, 1698.] 
 
 To our beloved and most reverend fellow-ministers of tJie 
 CatJiolic Church in every ^lace, Alexander sends greet- 
 ing in tlie Lord : 
 
 1. Since the body of the Catholic Church is one, and it is 
 sommanded in Holy Scripture that we should keep the bond 
 of unanimity and peace, it follows that we shoidd write and 
 signify to one another the things wliich are done by each of 
 us ; that whether one member suffer or rejoice we may all 
 either suffer or rejoice with one another. In our diocese, 
 then, not so long ago, there have gone forth lawless men, and 
 adversaries of Christ, teaching men to apostatize ; which 
 thing, with good right, one might suspect and call the pre- 
 cursor of Antichrist. I indeed wished to cover the matter 
 up in silence, that so perhaps the evil might spend itself in 
 the leaders of the heresy alone, and that it might not spread 
 to other places and defile the ears of any of the more simple- 
 minded. But since Eusebius, the present bishop of Xico-
 
 THE EPISTLES OX THE ARIAX HERESY. 349 
 
 media, imagining that witli him rest all ecclesiastical matters, 
 because, having left Beiytus and cast his eyes upon the 
 Church of the Nicomedians, and no punishment has been 
 inflicted upon him, he is set over these apostates, and lias 
 undertaken to write every where, commending them, if by 
 any means he may draw aside some who are ignorant to this 
 most disgraceful and Antichristian heresy ; it became neces- 
 sary for me, as knowing what is written in the law, no longer 
 to remain silent, but to announce to you all, that you may 
 know both those who have become apostates, and also the 
 ^^Tetched words of their heresy ; and if Eusebius write not 
 to give lieed to him. For he, desiring by their assistance to 
 renew that ancient wickedness of his mind, with respect to 
 which he has for a time been silent, pretends that he is 
 "WTiting in their behalf, but he proves by his deed that he is 
 exerting liimseK to do this on his own account. 
 
 2. Now the apostates from the Church are these : Arius. 
 Achilles, Aithales, Carpones, the other Arius, Sarmates, wlio 
 were formerly priests; Euzoius, Lucius, Julius, Menas, 
 Helladius, and Gaius, formerly deacons ; and with them 
 Secundus and Tlieonas, who were once called bishops. And 
 the words invented by them, and spoken contrary to tlie 
 mind of Scripture, are as follows : — 
 
 3. God was not always the Father ; but there was a time 
 when God was not the Father. The Word of God was not 
 always, but was made "from things that are not;" for He 
 who is God fashioned the non-existing from the non-exist- 
 ing ; wherefore there was a time when lie was not. For 
 the Son is a thing created, and a thing made : nor is He 
 like to the Father in substance; nor is He the true and 
 natural Word of the Father ; nor is He His true Wisdom ; 
 but He is one of the things fashioned and made. And He 
 is called, by a misapplication of the terms, the Word and 
 Wisdom, since He is Himself made by tlie proper Word of 
 God, and by tliat wisdom Avhich is in God, in which, as God 
 made aU other things, so also did He make Him. Where- 
 fore, He is by His very nature changeable and mutable, 
 e([ually Avitli otlier ration:il Iteings. Th'' Word, too, is alien
 
 350 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 and separate from the substance of God. The Father also 
 is ineffable to the Son; for neither does the Word per- 
 fectly and accurately know the Father, neither can He 
 perfectly see Him. For neither does the Son indeed know 
 His own substance as it is. Since He for our sakes was 
 made, that by Him as by an instrument God might create 
 us ; nor would He have existed had not God wished to 
 make us. Some one asked of them whether the Son of God 
 could change even as the devil changed ; and they feared 
 not to answer that He can; for since He was made and 
 created. He is of mutable nature. 
 
 4. Since those about Arius speak these things and shame- 
 lessly maintain them, we, coming together with the Bishops 
 of Egypt and the Libyas, nearly a hundred in number, have 
 anathematized them, together with their followers. But those 
 about Eusebius have received them, earnestly endeavouring 
 to mix up falsehood with truth, impiety with piety. But 
 they will not prevail ; for the truth prevails, and there is no 
 communion betwixt light and darkness, no concord between 
 Christ and Belial.^ For who ever heard such things ? or 
 who, now hearing them, is not astonished, and does not stop 
 his ears that the pollution of these words should not touch 
 them ? Who that hears John saying, " In the beginning 
 was the Word,"^ does not condemn those who say there was 
 a time when He Avas not ? W^ho that hears these words of 
 the Gospel, "the only-begotten Son ;" ^ and, " by Him were 
 all things made,"* will not hate those who declare He is one 
 of the things made ? For how can He be one of the things 
 made by Him ? or how shall He be the only-begotten who, 
 as they say, is reckoned with all the rest, if indeed He is a 
 thing made and created ? And how can He be made of 
 things which are not, Avhen the Father says, " ~Mj heart 
 belched forth a good Word ;"^ and, " From the womb, before 
 the morning have I begotten Thee ?" *^ Or how is He unlike 
 to the substance of the Father, who is the perfect image and 
 brightness of the Father, and who says, " He that hath seen 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. vi. 14. ^ John i. i, 3 jdm i. IS. * John i. 3. 
 5 Ps. xlv. 1. 6 Ps. ex. 3 ; Heb. i. 3.
 
 THE EPISTLES OX THE APJAN HEllESY. ?,h\ 
 
 Me hatli seen the Father ?" ^ And how, if the Son is tlie 
 Word or Wisdom and Eeason of God, was there a time 
 when He was not ? It is all one as if they said, that there 
 was a time when God was without reason and wisdom. 
 How, also, can He be changeable and mutable, who say3 
 indeed by Himself : " I am in the Father, and the Fatlier in 
 ]\Ie,"- and, " I and My Father are one;" ^ and by the prophet, 
 " I am the Lord, I change not ? " * For even though one say- 
 ing may refer to the Father Himself, yet it would now be 
 more aptly spoken of the "Word, because when He became 
 man. He changed not ; but, as says the apostle, " Jesus 
 Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."^ Who 
 hath induced them to say, that for our sakes He was made ; 
 altliougli I'aul says, " for whom are all tilings, and by whom 
 are all things ?"<* 
 
 5. Now concerning their blasphemous assertion who say 
 that the Son does not perfectly know the Father, we need 
 not wonder: for having once purposed in their mind to 
 wage war against Christ, they impugn also these words of 
 His, " As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the 
 Father." ^ AVlierefore, if the Father only in part knoweth 
 the Son, then it is evident that the Son doth not perfectly 
 know the Father. But if it be wicked thus to speak, and if 
 the Father perfectly knows the Son, it is plain that, even as 
 the Father knoweth His own Word, so also the Word 
 knoweth His own Father, of whom He is the Word. 
 
 6. By saying these things, and by unfolding the divine 
 Scriptures, we have often refuted them. But they, chame- 
 leon-like, changing their sentiments, endeavour to claim for 
 themselves that saying: "When the wicked cometh, then 
 cometh contempt." ^ Before them, indeed, many heresies 
 existed, which, having dared more than was riglit, have 
 fallen into madness. But these by all their words have 
 attempted to do away ^ith the Godhead of Christ, have 
 made those seem righteous, since they have come nearer to 
 Antichrist. Wherefore they have been excommunicated and 
 
 1 John xiv. 9. "- Jolm xiv. 10. ^ Jdlm x. 30. ■• ]\I;il. iii. H. 
 •' Hub. xiii. 8. « Ilfl.. xi. 10. ' Jolm x. 15. « Prov. xviii. 3.
 
 852 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 anathematized liy the Church. And indeed, although we 
 grieve at the destruction of these men, especially that after 
 having once learned the doctrine of the Church, they have now 
 gone hack ; yet we do not wonder at it ; for this veiy thing 
 Hymenoeus and Philetus suffered,^ and before them Judas, 
 who, though he followed the Saviour, afterwards became a 
 traitor and an apostate. Moreover, concerning these very men, 
 warnings are not wanting to us, for the Lord foretold : "Take 
 heed that ye be not deceived : for many shall come in My 
 name, saying, I am Christ ; and the time draweth near : go 
 ye not therefore after them." ^ Paul, too, having learnt these 
 things from the Saviour, wrote, " In the latter times some 
 shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, 
 and doctrines of devils which turn away from the truth." ^ 
 
 7. Since, therefore, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
 has thus Himself exhorted us, and by His apostle hath 
 signified such things to us ; we, who have heard their im- 
 piety with our own ears, have consistently anathematized 
 such men, as I have already said, and have declared them 
 to be aliens from the Catholic Church and faith, and we 
 have made known the thing, beloved and most honoured 
 fellow-ministers, to your piety, that you should not receive 
 any of them, should they venture raslily to come unto you, 
 and that you should not trust Eusebius or any one else who 
 WT-ites concerning them. For it becomes us as Christians 
 to turn with aversion from all who speak or think against 
 Christ, as the adversaries of God and the destroyers of souls, 
 and " not even to wish them God speed, lest at any time 
 we become partakers of their evil deeds," ^ as the blessed 
 John enjoins. Salute the brethren who are with you. Those 
 who are with me salute you. 
 
 1 2 Tim. ii. 17. « Luke xxi. 8. ^ I Tim. iv. 1. * 2 Jolm x.
 
 THE EPISTLES ON THE ARIAN HERESY. 353 
 
 Presbyters of Alexandria. 
 
 I, Colluthus, presbyter, give my suffrage to the things 
 which are written, and also for the deposition of Arius, 
 and those who are guilty of impiety with him. 
 
 Alexander, presLyter, in like Arjiocration, presbyter, in like 
 
 manner. 
 Dioscorus, 
 
 manner. 
 Dionysius, 
 
 manner. 
 Eusebius, presbyter, 
 
 manner. 
 Alexander, presbyter, in like 
 
 manner. 
 Nilaras, presbyter, in like 
 
 manner. 
 
 presbyter, in like 
 presbyter, in like 
 like 
 
 maimer. 
 Agatlms, presbyter. 
 Neniesius, j^resbyter. 
 Longiis, presbyter. 
 Silvanus, presbyter. 
 Perous, presbyter. 
 Apis, presbyter. 
 Proteiius, presbyter. 
 Puuhis, presbyter. 
 C}Tus, presbyter, in 
 
 maimer. 
 
 like 
 
 Deacons. 
 
 Ammonias, deacon, in like 
 
 manner. 
 Macarius, deacon. 
 Pistus, deacon, in like manner. 
 Athanasius, deacon. 
 Eumenes, deacon. 
 ApoUonius, deacon. 
 Olympius, deacon. 
 Aphthonius, deacon. 
 Athanasius, deacon. 
 Macarius, deacon, in like manner. 
 Paulus, deacon. 
 Petrus, deacon. 
 Ambytianus, deacon. 
 
 Gaius, deacon, in like manner. 
 Alexander, deacon. 
 Dionysius, deacon. 
 Agathon, deacon. 
 Polybius, deacon, in like 
 
 manner. 
 Thconas, deacon. 
 Marcus, deacon. 
 Commodus, deacon. 
 Serapion, deacon. 
 Nilus, deacon. 
 
 Komanus, deacon, in like 
 manner. 
 
 Presbytery of ;Mareotis, 
 
 I, ApoUonius, presbyter, give my suffrage to the things 
 wliicli are written, and also for the deposition of Arius, and 
 of those who are guilty of impiety with hiuL 
 
 Ingenius, presbyter, in like Dioscorus, presbyter, 
 manner. Sostras, presbyter. 
 
 Ammonias, presbyter. 
 
 Theon, presbyter.
 
 S54 
 
 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 T^Tannuf?, presbyter. 
 Coi)res, presbyter. 
 Ammonas, presbyter. 
 Orion, presbyter. 
 Serenus, presbyter. 
 Didymiis, presbyter, 
 Heracles, presbyter. 
 
 Boccon, presbyter. 
 Agathus, presbyter. 
 Achilles, presbyter. 
 Paulus, presbyter. 
 Thalela3us, presbyter. 
 Dionysius, presbyter, in like 
 manner. 
 
 Deacons. 
 
 Sarapion, deacon, in like 
 
 manner. 
 Justus, deacon, in like manner. 
 Didymus, deacon. 
 Demetrius, deacon- 
 Maurus, deacon. 
 Alexander, deacon. 
 Marcus, deacon. 
 Comon, deacon. 
 Tryphon, deacon. 
 Ammonius, deacon. 
 
 Didymus, deacon. 
 Ptollarion, deacon. 
 Seras, deacon. 
 Gains, deacon. 
 Hierax, deacon. 
 Marcus, deacon. 
 Theonas, deacon, 
 Sarmaton, deacon, 
 Carpon, deacon. 
 Zoilus, deacon, 
 manner. 
 
 like 
 
 III. 
 
 [Athanas., ibid. p. 396.] 
 
 The Deposition of Arius and his roLLOWERS by 
 Alexander, Archbishop of Alexandria. 
 
 Alexander, to the priests and deacons, of Alexandria and 
 Mareotis, being ^w-escw^ to them present, brethren beloved 
 in the Lord, sends greeting: 
 
 Although you have been forward to subscribe the letters 
 that I sent to those about Arius, urging them to abjure their 
 impiety, and to obey the wholesome and Catholic faith ; 
 and in this manner have shown your orthodox purpose, 
 and your agreement in the doctrines of the Catholic Church; 
 yet because I have also sent letters to all our fellow-minis- 
 ters in every place with respect to the tilings which concern 
 Arius and his companions ; I have thought it necessary to 
 call together you the clergy of the city, and to summon you 
 also of Mareotis; especially since of your number Chares
 
 THE EPISTLES ON THE ARIAN HERESY. 355 
 
 and Pistus, the priests; Sarapion, Parammon, Zosimus, and 
 Irenseus, the deacons, have gone over to the party of Arius, 
 and have preferred to be deposed with them ; that you 
 may know what is now written, and that you should de- 
 clare your consent in these matters, and give your suffrage 
 for the deposition of those about Arius and Pistus. For it 
 is right that you should know wdiat I have written, and 
 that you should each one, as if he had Amtten it himself, 
 retain it in his heart. 
 
 IV. 
 TWO FEAGMENTS 
 
 FROM AN EPISTLE TO iEGLON, BISHOP OF CYNOPOLIS, AGAINST 
 THE ARIAXS. 
 
 [St Maxim. Theological and Polemical Works, vol. ii. pp. lo2-155. 
 Edit. Paris, 1675.] 
 
 From a letter of St Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, to 
 ^glon, bishop of Cynopolis, against the Arians. 
 
 1. Natural will is the free faculty of every intelligent 
 nature as having nothing involuntary which is in respect of 
 its essence. 
 
 2. Natural operation is the innate motion of all sub- 
 stance. Natural operation is the substantial and notifying 
 reason of every nature. Natural operation is the notifying 
 virtue of every substance. 
 
 Note to the Discourse on the Soul and Body, and the Passion 
 of tlie Lord. 
 
 Many writiiigs of the ancients, as Cardinal Mai has remarked, may be 
 disinterred from the Oriental manuscripts in the Yalican library, some 
 of which have been brought to light by that eminent scholar. In an 
 Arabic MS. he discovered a large portion of the following discourse by 
 St Alexander, the patriarch of Alexandria, which he afterwards met 
 with entire in the Syrian Vatican manuscript 368. Tlie Greek version 
 heing lost, Mai, with the assistance of the erudite Maronites, Matthcciis
 
 856 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 Scialuianus, and Francisciis Mehasebus, translated tlie discourse into 
 Latin, and his version has been chiefly followed in the following trans- 
 lation. Of its genuineness there is no doubt, and it is quite worthy of 
 a place among his other writings. 
 
 ON THE SOUL AND BODY AND THE PASSION 
 OF THE LOED. 
 
 The Word wliich is ungrudgingly sent down from heaven, 
 is fitted for the irrigation of our hearts, if we have been 
 prepared for His power, not by speaking only, but by listen- 
 ing. For as the rain without the ground does not produce 
 fruit, so neither does the Word fructify without hearing, 
 nor hearing without the Word. Moreover, the Word then 
 becomes fruitful when we pronounce it, and in the same 
 way hearing, when we listen. Therefore since the Word 
 draws forth its power, do you also ungTudgingiy lend your 
 ears, and when you come to hear, cleanse yourselves from 
 all ill-will and unbelief. Two very bad things are ill-will 
 and unbelief, both of which are contrary to righteousness ; 
 for ill-will is opposed to charity, and unbelief to faith; just in 
 the same way as bitterness is opposed to sweetness, darkness 
 to light, evil to good, death to life, falsehood to truth. 
 Those, therefore, who abound in these vices that are re- 
 pugnant to virtue, are in a manner dead ; for the malignant 
 and the unbelieving hate charity and faith, and they who 
 do this are the enemies of God. 
 
 2. Since therefore ye know, brethren beloved, that the 
 malignant and the unbelieving are the enemies of righteous- 
 ness, beware of these, embrace faith and charity, by which 
 all the holy men who have existed from the beginning of the 
 world to this day have attained unto salvation. And show 
 forth the fruit of charity, not in words only, but also in 
 deeds, that is, in all godly patience for God's sake. For, see ! 
 the Lord Himself hath shown His charity towards us, not 
 only in words but also in deeds, since He hath given Him- 
 self up as the price of our salvation. Besides, we were not 
 created, like the rest of the world, by word alone, but also
 
 OA' THE I'AiiSlON OF THE LOUD. 357 
 
 by deed. For God made the world to exist "by the power 
 oi' a siugie word, Liit us lie produced by the efficacy alike of 
 His word and working. For it was not enough lor God to 
 say, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,"^ 
 but deed followed word ; for, taking the dust from the 
 ground, He formed man out of it, conformable to His image 
 and similitude, and into him He breathed the breath of lil'e, 
 so that Adam became a living soul. 
 
 3. But when man afterwards by his fall had inclined to 
 death, it was necessary that that form should be recreated 
 anew to salvation by the same Artificer. For the form 
 indeed lay rotting in the gTOund; but that inspiration 
 which had been as the breath of life, %vas detained separate 
 from the body in a dark place, which is called Hades. 
 There was, therefore, a division of the soul from the body; it 
 was banished ad inferos, whilst the latter was resolved into 
 dust ; and there was a great inter\'al of separation between 
 them ; for the body, by the dissolution of the flesh, becomes 
 corrupt ; the soul being loosened from it, its action ceases. 
 For as when the king is thrown into chains, the city falls 
 to ruin ; or as when the general is taken captive, the army 
 is scattered abroad; or as when the helmsman is sliakcn 
 o{{, the vessel is submerged; so when the soul is bound in 
 chains, its body goes to pieces ; as the city without its king, 
 so its members are dissolved ; as is the case with an army 
 when its general is lost, they are drowned in death, even as 
 happens to a vessel when deprived of its helmsman. Tlie 
 soul, therefore, governed the man, as long as the body sur- 
 vived ; even as the king governs the city, the general tlie 
 army, the helmsman the ship. But it was powerless to 
 rule it, from the time when it was immovably tied to it, 
 and became immersed in error; therefore it was that it 
 declined from the straight path, and followed tempters, 
 giving heed to fornication, idolatry, and sliedding of blood ; 
 by which evil deeds it has destroyed the i)roper manliood. 
 Nay, but itself also being carried at length to tlie lower 
 regions, it was there detained by the wicked tempter. Else 
 
 1 Gen. i. 2G.
 
 358 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 was it wont, as the king restores the ruined city, tlie general 
 collects the dispersed army, the sailor repairs the broken ship, 
 even so, I say, the soul used to minister supplies to the body 
 before that the body was dissolved in the dust, being not as 
 yet itself bound fast with fetters. But after that the soul 
 became bound, not with material fetters but with sins, and 
 thus was rendered impotent to act, then it left its body in 
 tlie ground, and being cast down to the lower regions, it was 
 made the footstool of death, and despicable to all. 
 
 4. Man went forth from paradise to a region which was 
 the sink of unrighteousness, fornication, adultery, and cruel 
 murder. And there he found his destruction ; for all things 
 conspired to his death, and worked the ruin of him who 
 had hardly entered there. Meanwhile man wanted some 
 consolation and assistance and rest. For when was it well 
 with man ? In his mother's womb ? But when he was 
 shut up there, he differed but little from the dead. ^Vhen 
 he was nourished with milk from the breast ? Not even 
 then, indeed, did he feel any joy. "Was it rather whilst he 
 was coming to maturity? But then, especially, dangers 
 impended over him from his youthful lusts. Was it, 
 lastly, when he grew old ? Nay, but then does he begin to 
 groan, being pressed down by the weight of old age, and the 
 expectation of death. For what else is old age but the 
 expectation of death? Verily all the inhabitants of earth 
 do die, young men and old, little children and adults, for no 
 age or bodily stature is exempt from death. Why, then, is 
 man tormented by this exceeding grief? Doubtless the 
 very aspect of death begets sadness ; for we behold in a 
 dead man the face changed, the figure dead, the body 
 shrunk up with emaciation, the mouth silent, the skin cold, 
 the carcase prostrate on the ground, the eyes sunken, the 
 limbs immovable, the flesh wasted away, the veins con- 
 gealed, the bones whitened, the joints dissolved, all parts of 
 him reduced to dust, and the man no longer existing. What, 
 then, is man ? A flower, I say, that is but for a little time, 
 which in his mother's Avomb is not apparent, in youth 
 flourishes, but wliich in old age withers and departs in death.
 
 ox THE PAS.iioy of the loud. 355 
 
 5. But now, after all this bondage to death and corruption 
 of the manhood, God hath visited His creature, which He 
 formed after His own image and similitude ; and this He 
 liath done that it might not for ever be the sport of death. 
 Therefore God sent down from heaven His incorporeal Son 
 to take flesh upon Him in the virgin's womb ; and thus, 
 equally as thou, was He made man ; to save lost man, and 
 collect all His scattered members. For Christ, when He 
 joined the manhood to His person, united that wliich death 
 by the separation of the body had dispersed. Christ suffered 
 that we should live for ever.^ For else why should Christ 
 have died? Had He committed any thing worthy of deatli ? 
 AVTiy did He clothe HimseK in flesh who was invested with 
 glory ? And since He was God, why did He become man ? 
 And since He reigned in heaven, why did He come down 
 to earth, and become incarnate in the virgin's womb ? 
 What necessity, I ask, impelled God to come down to 
 earth, to assume flesh, to be ^^Tapped in swaddling clothes 
 in a manger-cradle, to be nourished with the milk from 
 the breast, to receive baptism from a servant, to be lifted up 
 upon the cross, to be interred in an eartlily sepulchre, to 
 rise again the third day from the dead ? What necessity, I 
 say, impelled Him to this ? It is sufficiently discovered 
 that He suffered shame for man's sake, to set him free from 
 death ; and that He exclaimed, as in the words of the pro- 
 phet, " I have endured as a travailing woman." ^ In very 
 deed did He endure for our sakes sorrow, ignominy, torment, 
 even death itself, and burial. For thus He says Himself by 
 the prophet : " I went down into the deep." ^ AVlio made 
 
 1 The folloAving passage, as far as to "rise again the tliird <lay from 
 the dead," is generally marked with inverted commas, and Mai n-raarks 
 that it had been already brought to light by him under the name of 
 the same Alexander, in the Spicileg. Roman., vol. iii. p. (399, amongst 
 some extracts of the Fathers from the Arabic Vatican Codex, 101, in 
 Avhich is contained the celebrated Monophysite work entitled Fides 
 Patrum. It is established therefore that this discourse was written in 
 Greek by Alexander, and afterwards tran.slated not only into the Syriac, 
 but also into tiie Arabic language. — Tr. 
 
 - Isaiali xlii. 14. ^ Jonah ii. 4.
 
 3G0 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 Him thus to go down ? The impious people. Behold, ye 
 sons of men, behold what recompense Israel made unto 
 Him ! She slew her Benefactor, returning evil for good, 
 affliction for joy, death for life. They slew by nailing to 
 the tree Him who had brought to life their dead, had healed 
 their maimed, had made their lepers clean, had given light 
 to their blind. Behold, ye sons of men ! behold, all ye 
 people, these new wonders ! They suspended Him on the 
 tree, who stretches out the earth ; they transfixed Him 
 with nails who laid firm the foundation of the world ; they 
 circumscribed Him who circumscribed the heavens; they 
 bound Him who absolves sinners ; they gave Him vinegar 
 to drink who hath made them to dri»k of righteousness; 
 they fed Him with gall who hath offered to them the Bread 
 of Life; they caused corruption to come upon His hands 
 and feet who healed their hands and feet ; they violently 
 closed His eyes who restored sight to them ; they gave Him 
 over to the tomb, who raised their dead to life both in the 
 time before His Passion and also whilst He was hanging on 
 the tree. 
 
 6. For when our Lord was suffering upon the cross, the 
 tombs were burst open, the infernal region was disclosed, 
 the souls leapt forth, the dead returned to life, and many of 
 them were seen in Jerusalem, whilst the mystery of the cross 
 was being perfected; what time our Lord trampled upon 
 death, dissolved the enmity, bound the strong man, and 
 raised the trophy of the cross, His body being lifted up upon 
 it, that the body might appear on high, and death to be 
 depressed under the foot of flesh. Then the heavenly 
 powers wondered, the angels were astonished, the elements 
 trembled, every creature was shaken whilst they looked on 
 this new mystery, and the terrific spectacle which was being 
 enacted in the universe. Yet the entire people, as uncon- 
 scious of the mystery, exulted over Christ in derision; 
 although the earth was rocking, the mountains, the valleys, 
 and the sea were shaken, and every creature of God was 
 smitten with confusion. The lights of heaven were afraid, 
 the sun fled away, the moon disappeared, the stars withdrew
 
 ON THE PASSION OF THE LORD. 301 
 
 their shining, the day came to end ; the angel in astonish- 
 ment departed from the temple after the rending of the veil, 
 and darkness covered the earth on which its Lord had closed 
 His eyes. IMeamvhile heU. (Hades) was with light resplen- 
 dent, for thither liad the star descended. The Lord, indeed, 
 did not descend into hell in His body but in His Spirit. He 
 forsooth is working every where, for whilst He raised the 
 dead by His body, by His spirit was He liberating their 
 souls. For when the body of the Lord was himg upon the 
 cross, the tombs, as we have said, were opened ; hell was 
 unbarred, the dead received their life, the souls were sent 
 back again into the world, and tliat because the Lord 
 liad conquered hell, had trodden down death, had covered 
 the enemy with shame ; therefore was it that the souls 
 came forth from Hades, and the dead appeared upon the 
 earth, 
 
 7. Ye see, therefore, how great was the effect of the death 
 of Christ, for no creature endured His fall with equal mind, 
 nor did the elements His Passion, neither did the earth 
 retain His body, nor hell His Spirit. All things were in 
 the Passion of Christ disturbed and convulsed. The Lord 
 exclaimed, as once before to Lazarus, Come forth, ye dead, 
 from your tombs and your secret places ; for I, the Christ, 
 give unto you resurrection. For then the earth could not 
 long hold the body of our Lord that in it was buried ; but 
 it exclaimed, O my Lord, pardon mine iniquities, save me 
 from Thy wrath, absolve me from the curse, for I have 
 received the blood of the righteous, and yet I have not 
 covered the bodies of men or Thine own body ! Wliat is at 
 length this wonderful mystery ? "Why, Lord, didst Tliou 
 come down to earth, unless it was for man's sake, who has 
 been scattered every where : for in every place has Thy fair 
 image been disseminated ? Nay ! but if thou sliouldest give 
 but one little word, at the instant all bodies would stand 
 before Thee. Now, since Thou hast come to earth, and hast 
 sought for the members of Thy fashioning, undertake for 
 man who is Thine own, receive that which is committed to 
 Thee, recover Thine imago, Thine Adam. Then the Lord,
 
 862 THE WRITINGS OF ALEXANDER. . 
 
 the third day after His death, rose again, thus bringing man 
 to a knowledge of the Trinity. Then all the nations of the 
 human race were saved by Christ. One submitted to the 
 judgment, and many thousands were absolved. Moreover, 
 He being made like to man wliom He had saved, ascended 
 to the height of heaven, to offer before His Father, not 
 gold or silver, or precious stones, but the man whom 
 He had formed after His own image and similitude; and 
 the Father, raising Him to His right hand, hath seated 
 Him upon a throne on high, and hath made Him to be 
 judge of the peoples, the leader of the angelic host, the 
 charioteer of the cherubim, the Son of the true Jerusalem, 
 the Virgin's spouse, and King for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 The Addition in the Codex, with a Vapjous Peading. 
 
 God, therefore, wishing to visit His own form which He 
 had fashioned after His own image and similitude, hath in 
 these last times sent into the world His incorporeal and 
 only Son, who being in the virgin's womb incarnate, was 
 born perfect man to raise erect lost man, re-collecting His 
 scattered members. For why else should Christ have died ? 
 Was He capitally accused ? And since He was God, why 
 was He made man ? Why did He who was reigning in 
 heaven come down to earth ? Who compelled God to come 
 down to earth, to take flesh of the holy virgin, to be 
 wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, to be 
 nourished with milk, to be baptized in the Jordan, to be 
 mocked of the people, to be nailed to the tree, to be buried 
 in the bosom of the earth, and the third day to rise again 
 from the dead; in the cause of redemption to give life for 
 life, blood for blood, to undergo death for death ? For Christ, 
 by dying, hath discharged the debt of death to which man 
 was obnoxious. Oh, the new and ineffable mystery ! the 
 Judge was judged. He who absolves from sin was bound ; 
 He was mocked who once framed the world; He was 
 stretched upon the cross who stretched out the heavens; 
 He was fed with gall who gave the manna to be bread ; He
 
 ON THE PASSION OF THE LOUD. 3G3 
 
 died who gives life ; He was given up to tlie tomb wlio 
 raises the dead. The powers were astonished, the angels 
 wondered, the elements trembled, the whole created universe 
 was shaken, the earth quaked, and its foundations rocked ; 
 the sun fled away, the elements were subverted, the light of 
 day receded ; because they could not bear to look upon 
 their crucified Lord. The creature, in amazement, said, 
 What is this novel mystery ? The judge is judged and is 
 sQent; the invisible is seen and is not confounded; the 
 incomprehensible is grasped and is not indignant at it ; the 
 immeasurable is contained in a measure and makes no 
 opposition ; the impassable suffers and does not avenge its 
 own injury ; the immortal dies and complains not ; the 
 celestial is buried and bears it with an equal mind. "\Miat, 
 I say, is this mystery ? The creature surely is transfixed 
 with amazement. But when our Lord rose from death and 
 trampled it down, when He bound the strong man and set 
 man free, then every creature wondered at the Judge who 
 for Adam's sake was judged, at the invisible being seen, 
 at the impassable suffering, at the immortal dead, at the 
 celestial buried in the earth. For our Lord was made man ; 
 He was condemned that He might impart compassion; 
 He was bound that He might set free ; He was apprehended 
 that He might liberate ; He suffered that He might heal our 
 sufferings ; He died to restore life to us ; He was buried to 
 raise us up. For when our Lord suffered. His humanity 
 suffered, that which He had like unto man ; and He dis- 
 solves the sufferings of him who is His like, and by dying 
 He hath destroyed death. It was for this cause that He 
 came down upon eartli, that by pursuing deatli He might 
 kill the rebel that slew men. For one underwent the 
 judgment, and myriads were set free ; one was buried, ami 
 myriads rose again. He is the IMediator between C!od and 
 man ; He is the resurrection and the salvation of all ; He 
 is the Guide of the erring, the Shepherd of men who have 
 been set free, the life of the dead, tlie charioteer of the 
 cherubim, the standard-bearer of the angels, and the King 
 of kings, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
 
 THE EPISTLES OF CLEMENT 
 CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 
 
 INTRODUCTOKY NOTICE. 
 
 |HILE the great mass of early Christian litera- 
 ture bearing the name of Clement of Eome is 
 undoubtedly spurious, the case is somewhat 
 different with regard to the two followiug 
 epistles. Not only have Eoman Catholic writers main- 
 tained their genuineness with great ingenuity and learn- 
 ing, but "SVetstein, who first edited them, argued jwwer- 
 fully for their being received as the authentic productions 
 of Clement ; and even Neander has admitted that they 
 may possibly have been written by that friend and fellow- 
 labourer of the apostles. 
 
 Their literary history in modern times is somewhat 
 curious. Wetstein unexpectedly discovered them appended 
 to a copy of the Syriac Peschito version of the New Testa- 
 ment furnished to him by Sir James Porter, then British 
 ambassador at Constantinople. He soon afterwards (1752) 
 published them in Syriac, accompanied by a Latin version 
 of his own, with Prolegomena, in which he upheld their 
 genuineness. This speedily called forth two works, one by 
 Lardner (1753), and a second by Venema (1754), in botli of 
 which their authenticity was disputed. To these writings 
 Wetstein himself, and, after his death, Gallandius, pub- 
 lished rejoinders ; but the question remained as far from 
 j)ositive settlement as ever, and continues sub judice even 
 at the present day.
 
 366 THE WHITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 It is generally admitted (and, of course, asserted by those 
 that maintain their truly Clementine origin) that Greek was 
 the original language of these epistles. Many have argued 
 that they contain plain references to the sub-introdudce 
 spoken of in the literature of the third century, and that 
 therefore they were j)robably composed in the Oriental 
 Church about that period. 
 
 These epistles have been very carefully edited in recent 
 times by the Eoman Catholic scholars Villecourt (1853) 
 and Beelen (1856). Both have argued strenuously for the 
 genuineness of the letters, but it may be doubted if they 
 have succeeded in repelling all the objections of Lardnei 
 and Venema. Beelen's work is a highly scholarly produc- 
 tion, and liis Prolegomena are marked by great fulness and 
 perspicuity. 
 
 A German translation of these epistles was published by 
 Zingerle (1821). They are now for the first time translated 
 into the English language. 
 
 The translation is made from the text of Beelen. 
 
 The division into chapters is due to Wetstein.
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY, 
 
 BY THE BLESSED CLEMENT, 
 
 THE DISCIPLE OF PETER TUE APOSTLE. 
 
 The First Epistle of the blessed Clement, the disciple 
 OF Peter the Apostle. 
 
 Chap. i. — The Salutation. 
 
 To all those who love and cherish their life [which is] in 
 Christ through God the Father, and obey the truth of God 
 in hope of eternal life ; to those who bear affection towards 
 their brethren and towards their neighbours in the love of 
 God; to the blessed [brother] virgins,^ who devote them- 
 selves to preserve vii-ginity " for the sake of the kingdom 
 of heaven;" 2 and to the holy [sister] virgins: the peace 
 which is in God.^ 
 
 CiLVP. II. — For true Virginity perfect virtue is necessary. 
 
 Of all virgins of either sex who have truly resolved to 
 preserve virginity for the sake of the kingdom of lieaven — 
 of each and every one of them it is required that he be 
 worthy of the kingdom of heaven in every tiling. For not 
 
 1 In later Greek vap6iuos was used of both sexes (comp. Rev. 
 xiv. 4). The Syriac original employs both a masculine and a feminine 
 form. This will not always be indicated in the following transla- 
 tion. 2 Matt. xix. 12. 
 
 3 Or " to the holy virgins who are in God : jtcace." So Zingerle, and 
 probably Wctstein. 
 
 367
 
 308 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 by eloquence ^ or renown,^ or by station^ and descent, or by 
 beauty or strength, or by length of life,* is the kingdom of 
 heaven obtained ; but it is obtained by the power of faith, 
 when a man exhibits the works of faith. For whosoever 
 is truly righteous, his works testify concerning his faith, 
 that he is truly a believer, with a faith which is great, 
 a faith which is perfect, a faith which is in God, a faith 
 which shines in good works, that the Father of all may be 
 glorified through Christ. Now, those who are truly virgins 
 for the sake of God give heed to Him who hath said, 
 " Let not righteousness and faith fail thee ; bind them on 
 thy neck, and thou shalt find favour for thyself; and 
 devise thou good things before God and before men."^ 
 " The paths," therefore, " of the righteous shine as the light, 
 and the light of them advances until the day is perfect." ® 
 For the beams of their light illumine the whole creation 
 even now by good works, as those who are truly " the 
 light of the world," ^ giving light to "those who sit in dark- 
 ness," ^ that they may arise and go forth from the darkness 
 by the light of the good works of the fear of God, " that 
 they may see our good works, and glorify our Father who is 
 in heaven." ^ For it is required of the man of God, that in. 
 all his words and works he be perfect, and that in his life he 
 be adorned with all exemplary and well-ordered behaviour,^" 
 and do all his deeds in righteousness, as a man of God. 
 
 ^ Zing. , not so well, takes tMs to mean, " by the confession of the 
 mouth" (dnrch das mundliche Bekeimtniss), comparing Matt. vii. 21. 
 
 2 Lit. " by word or by name." 
 
 2 The Greek word a^jh^cc, here adopted in the Syriac, is sometimes 
 thus used. — Beelen. * Lit. " much time." 
 
 5 Prov. iii. 3, 4 (lxx.) « Lit. " fixed." Prov. iv. 18. 
 
 7 Matt. V. 14. 8 jg_ ix 2 ; Matt. iv. 16. 
 
 9 Matt. V. 16 ; 1 Peter ii. 12. 
 " Probably referring to 1 Cor. xiv. 40, — Beelen.
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 3G9 
 
 Chap. hi. — Trzie Virgins prove themselves such hy self-denial, 
 as docs the true believer hy good works. 
 
 For virgins are a beautiful pattern to believers, and to 
 those wlio shall believe. The name alone, indeed, without 
 works, does not introduce into the kingdom of heaven ; but, 
 if a man be truly a believer, such an one can be saved. 
 For, if a person be only called a believer in name, 
 whilst he is not such in works, lie cannot possibly be a 
 believer. " Let no one," therefore, " lead you astray with 
 the empty words of error." ^ For, merely because a person 
 is called a virgin, if he be destitute of works excellent and 
 comely, and suitable to virginity, he cannot possibly be 
 saved. For our Lord called such virginity as that " foolish," 
 as He said in the Gospel ; - and because it had neither 
 oil nor light, it was left outside of the kingdom of 
 heaven, and was shut out from the joy of the bridegroom, 
 and was reckoned with His enemies. For such persona 
 as these "have the appearance only of the fear of God, 
 but the power of it they deny." ^ For they " think with 
 themselves that they are something, whilst they are nothing, 
 and are deceived. But let every one constantly try * liis 
 works," ^ and know himself; for empty worship does he 
 offer, whosoever he be that makes profession of virginity 
 and sanctity, " and denies its power." For virginity of such 
 a kind is impure, and disowned by all good works. For 
 " every tree whatsoever is known from its fruits."*^ "See 
 that thou understand^ what I say: God will give thee under- 
 standing."^ For wliosoever engages before God to preserve 
 sanctity must be girded with all the holy power of God. 
 And, if with true fear^ he crucify his body, he for the sake 
 
 1 Eph. V. 6. - Matt. xxv. 2. 
 
 3 2 Tim. iii. 5. * Lit. "let every one be trying." 
 
 6 Gal. vi. 3, 4. " Matt. xii. 33. 
 
 ^ Or " consider." Tliore is no play on words in the passage quoti*! 
 (2 Tim. ii. 7), nor perhaps was this intended in tlie Syriac. 
 
 8 2 Tim. ii. 7. 
 
 » Lit. "true in fear [of God]." The reading is probably faulty.— 
 Beelen. 
 
 2 A
 
 870 TITE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 of the fear oi" God excuses himself from tliat word [in] 
 which [the Scripture]^ has said: "Be fruitful, and multiply,"^ 
 and [shuns] all the display, and care, and sensuality,^ and 
 fascination of this world, and its revelries and its drunken- 
 ness, and all its luxury and ease, and withdraws from the 
 entire life of* this world, and from its snares, and nets, 
 and hindrances; and, w^hilst thou walkest^ upon the 
 earth, be zealous that thy work and thy business be in 
 heaven. 
 
 Chap. iv. — Continuation of the remarhs on Self-denial — 
 Ohjcct and reward of true Virgins. 
 
 For he who covets for himself these things [so] great 
 and excellent, withdraws and severs himself on this account 
 from all the world, that he may go [and] live a life divine 
 and heavenly, like the holy angels, in work pure and holy, 
 and "in the holiness® of the Spirit of God,"^ and that he 
 may serve God Almighty through Jesus Christ for the 
 sake of the kingdom of heaven. On this account he severs 
 himself from all the appetites of the body. And not only 
 does he excuse himself from this [command], " Be fruitful, 
 and multiply," but he longs for the " hope promised " and 
 prepared " and laid up in heaven "^ by God, who has 
 declared with His mouth, and He does not lie, that it is 
 "better than sons and daughters,"^ and that He wiU give 
 to virgins a notable place in the house of God, which 
 is [something] " better than sons and daughters," and 
 better than [the place of] those who have passed a wedded 
 life in sanctity, and whose "bed has not been defiled." ^"^ 
 
 ^ The ellipsis is usually to be thus filled up in these epistles ; the 
 brackets ■will be henceforth omitted. 
 
 2 Gen. i. 28. ^ Or " the sensual i^leasures." 
 
 * Or " from all intercourse with." 
 
 ^ Either something is here omitted by the transcriber, or Clement 
 has varied the form of expression. — Beelen. 
 
 6 " Sanctification."— ^ec^f?!. ^ £ Thess. ii. 13. 
 
 8 Col. i. 5. » Is. Ivi. 4, 3. lo Heb. xiii. 4.
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 371 
 
 For God will give to virgins the kingdom of heaven, as to 
 the holy angels, by reason of this great and noble profession. 
 
 Chap. v. — The irJcsomeness and the enemies of Virginity. 
 
 Thou desirest, then, to be a virgin ? Knowest tliou what 
 hardship and irksomeness there is in true virginity — that 
 which stands constantly at all seasons before God, and does 
 not withdraw [from His service], and " is anxious how it 
 may please its Lord with a holy body, and witli [its] spirit?"^ 
 Knowest thou what great glory pertains to virginity, and is 
 it for this that thou dost [set thyself to] practise it ? Dost 
 thou really know and understand what it is thou art eager 
 to do ? Art thou acquainted with the noble task of holy 
 virginity? Dost thou know how, like a man, to enter 
 "lawfully" upon 2 this contest and "strive,"^ that, in the 
 might of the Holy Spirit,* thou choosest this for thyself, that 
 thou mayest be crowned with a crown of light, and that 
 they may lead thee about [in triumph] through " the 
 Jerusalem above "?^ If so be, then, that thou longest 
 for all these things, conquer the body ; conquer the appe- 
 tites of the flesh; conquer the world in the Spirit of 
 God; conquer these vain things of time, which pass 
 away and grow old, and decay, and come to an end ; 
 conquer the dragon ;^ conquer the lion -J conquer the ser- 
 pent;^ conquer Satan; — through Jesus Christ, who doth 
 strengthen thee by the hearing of His words and the 
 divine Eucharist.^ "Take up thy cross and follow "^*' Him 
 who makes thee clean, Jesus Christ thy Lord. Strive to 
 run straight forward and boldly, not with fear, but witli 
 courage, relying on the promise of thy Lord, that thou shalt 
 obtain the victor-crown^^ of thy "calling on high"^- through 
 
 1 1 Cor. vii. 34. ^ m^ i< Jescend to." ^ 2 Tiiu. ii. 0. 
 
 •« The words, " in the might of the Holy Spiiit," appear to obscure 
 the sense. — Bcclen. 
 
 * Gal. iv. 26. " Rev. xii. 7. 
 
 7 1 Peter v. 8. * 2 Cor. xi. 3. 
 
 » Lit. "the Eucharist of tlie Godhead." ^^ Matt. xvi. 24. 
 " Lit. "crowTi of victory." '- Phil. iii. 14.
 
 372 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 Jesus Christ. For whosoever walks perfect in faith, and not 
 fearing, doth in very deed receive the crown of virginity, 
 which is great in its toil and great in its reward. Dost thou 
 understand and know how honourable a thing is sanctity ? ^ 
 Dost thou understand how great and exalted and excellent 
 is the glory of virginity 1^ 
 
 Chap. vi. — Divinity of Virginity. 
 
 The womb of a holy virgin^ carried our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the Son of God ; and the body which our Lord wore, and in 
 which He carried on the conflict in this world, He put on 
 from a holy virgin. From this, therefore, understand the 
 greatness and dignity of virginity. Dost thou wish to be a 
 Christian ? Imitate Christ in every thing. John, the am- 
 bassador, he who came before our Lord, he " than whom 
 there was not a greater among those born of women,"* the 
 holy messenger of our Lord, was a virgin. Imitate, therefore, 
 the ambassador of our Lord, and be his follower^ in every 
 thing. [That] John, again, who " reclined on the bosom of 
 our Lord, and whom He greatly loved," ^ — he, too, was a holy 
 person." For it Avas not without reason that our Lord loved 
 him. Paul, also, and Barnabas, and Timothy, with all the 
 others, " whose names are Avritten in the book of life," ^ 
 — these, I say, all cherished and loved sanctity,^ and ran in 
 the contest, and finished their course without blemish, as 
 imitators of Christ, and as sons of the living God. More- 
 over, also, Elijah and Elisha, and many other holy men, we 
 find to have lived a holy^° and spotless life. If, therefore, 
 thou desirest to be like these, imitate them with all thy 
 power. For the Scripture has said, " The elders who are 
 among you, honour ; and, seeing their manner of life and 
 
 ^ i.e. continency. 
 
 2 The last two sentences properly belong to cha}). vi. 
 
 3 Or " the Holy Virgin." * ]Matt. xi. 11. 
 5 Lit. " lover," or " friend." ^ Jno. xxi. 20. 
 ' i.e. a virgin. * Phil. xiv. 3. 
 
 • i.e. virginity. ^^ i.e. celibate, or chaste
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 373 
 
 conduct, imitate tlieir faith." ^ And again it saith, "Imi- 
 tate me, my brethren, as I [imitate] Clirist."^ 
 
 CiLvr. Yii. — The true Virgin. 
 
 Those, therefore, who imitate Christ, imitate Ilim earnestly. 
 Tor those who have " put on Christ"^ in truth, express His 
 likeness in their thoughts, and in their whole life, and in all 
 their behaviour : in word, and in deeds, and in patience, and 
 in fortitude, and in knowledge, and in chastity, and in long- 
 suffering, and in a pure heart, and in faith, and in hope, and 
 in full and perfect love towards God. No virgin, therefore, 
 unless they be in every thing as Cluist, and as those " who 
 are Christ's,"* can be saved. !For every virgin who is in 
 God is holy in her body and in her spirit, and is constant 
 in the service of her Lord, not turning away from it any 
 whither, but waiting upon Him always in purity and holi- 
 ness in the Spirit of God, being " solicitous how she may 
 please her Lord,"^ [by living] purely and without stain, and 
 solicitous to be pleasing before Him in every thing. She 
 who is such does not withdraw from our Lord, but in spirit 
 is [ever] with her Lord : as it is written, " Be ye holy, as I 
 am holy, saith the Lord."^ 
 
 Chap. VIII. — Virgins, hj the laying aside of all carnal 
 affection, arc imitators of God. 
 
 For, if a man be only in name called holy, he is not holy ; 
 but he must be holy in every thing : in his body and in his 
 spirit. And those who are virgins rejoice at all times in 
 becoming like God and His Christ, and are imitators of them. 
 For in those that are such there is not "the mind" uf the 
 flesh." In those who are truly believers, and " in whom 
 the Spirit of Christ dwells "^ — in them " the mind of the 
 tlesh " cannot be : wluch is fornication, uncleanness, wanton- 
 
 1 lleb. xiii. 7. - 1 Cor. xi. 1. ^ Uoiii. xiii. 14. 
 
 < Gal. V. 24. 5 1 Cor. vii. 32. « 1 IVt. i. 15 (<•/. Lev. xL -U., 
 
 ^ Rom. viii. 6 {(pp6vnf/..et). * I'diii. viii. <).
 
 374 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 ness ; idolatry/ sorcery ; enmity, jealousy, rivalry, wrath, 
 disputes, dissensions, ill-will; drunkenness, revelry; buf- 
 foonery, foolish talking, boisterous laughter; backbiting, 
 insinuations ; bitterness, rage ; clamour, abuse, insolence 
 of speech ; malice, inventing of evil, falsehood ; talkative- 
 ness,2 babbling ;^ threatenings, gnashing of teeth, readiness 
 to accuse,* jarring,^ disdainings, blows ; perversions [of the 
 right],^ laxness [in judgment]; haughtiness, arrogance, 
 ostentation, pompousness, [boasting] of family, of beauty, 
 of position, of wealth, of an arm of flesh ;'^ quarrelsomeness, 
 injustice,^ eagerness for victory; hatred, anger, envy, perfidy, 
 retaliation ;^ debauchery, gluttony, " overreaching (which is 
 idolatry)," 1° "the love of money (which is the root of all 
 evils) ;"^^ love of display, vainglory, love of rule, assumption, 
 pride (which is called death, and which "God fights 
 against "),^2 Every man with whom are these and such 
 like things — every such man is of the flesh. For, " he that 
 is born of the flesh is flesh ; and he that is of the earth 
 speaketli of the earth," ^^ and his thoughts are of the earth. 
 And " the mind of the flesh is enmity towards God. For it 
 does not submit itself to the law of God ; for it cannot [do 
 so],"^* because it is in the flesh, " in which dwells no good,"^^ 
 because the Spirit of God is not in it. For this cause justly 
 does the Scripture say regarding such a generation as this : 
 
 ^ Lit. "tlie worsliip of idols." The single word '{l^.'^Lsij some- 
 times used to express "idolatry" (as in Eph. Syr., opp. tom. i. p. 116), 
 is not found in these epistles. 
 
 2 Lit. " much talking." ^ j^{_i_ « empty words." 
 
 * The word thus rendered is not in the lexicons, but is well illus- 
 trated by Isaiah xxix. 21 (" who make a man an offender "), where the 
 Hiphil of xon is used, corresponding to the Aphel of the same root, 
 
 from whicli the present word is derived. 
 
 ^ The word is used in the Peschito of 1 Tim. vi. 5, to express 
 oixTccpxipttiu.i ("incessant quarrellings," Alf.) 
 
 * Ex. Conject. Beelen. The word is not in the lexicons. 
 
 ^ Or " power." « Lit. " folly ;" but so used in 2 Cor. xii. 13. 
 
 ^ Or " returning of e\als." ^^ Col. iii. 5. 
 
 " I Tim. vi. 10. 12 j Peterv. 5 ; James iv. 6. 
 
 " Jno. iii. 6, 31. " Rom. viii. 7. ^^ Rom. vii. 18.
 
 TJVO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 375 
 
 " IMy Spirit shall not dwell in men for ever, because they are 
 liesh." ^ " Whosoever, therefore, has not the Spirit of God 
 in him, is none of His i"*^ as it is written, " The Spirit of God 
 departed from Saul, and an evil spirit troubled him, which 
 was sent upon him from God."-^ 
 
 Chap. ix. — Continuation of the subject of mortification- 
 Dignity of persons consecrated to God. 
 
 He in whomsoever the Spirit of God is, is in accord with 
 the will of the Spirit of God ; and, because he is in accord 
 with the Spirit of God, therefore does he mortify the deeds 
 of the body and live unto God, "treading do^\^l and subju- 
 gating the body and keeping it under ; so that, while preacli- 
 ing to others," he may be a beautiful example and pattern 
 to believers, and may spend his life in works which are 
 worthy of the Holy Spirit, so that he may " not be cast 
 away,"^ but may be approved before God and before men. 
 For in " the man who is of God,"^ with him [I say] there 
 is nothing of the mind of the flesh ; and especially in virgins 
 [of either sex] ; but the fruits of all of them are " the 
 fruits of the Spirit"^ and of life, and they are tndy the 
 city of God, and the houses and temples in Avhich God 
 abides and dwells, and among which He M'alks, as in 
 the holy city of heaven. For in this "do ye appear to 
 the world as lights, in that ye give heed to the Word of 
 life,"^ and thus ye are in truth the praise, and the boast, 
 and the crown of rejoicing, and the delight of good seiTants 
 in our Lord Jesus Christ. For all who see you \\\\\ 
 "acknowledge tliat ye are the seed which tlie Lord luith 
 blessed;"^ in very deed a seed honourable and holy, and " a 
 priestly kingdom, a holy people, the people of the inheri- 
 tance,"'' the heirs of the promises of God ; [of] things 
 which do not decay, nor witlier ; of " that whicli eye hath 
 not seen, and ear hath not heard, and wliich hath not 
 
 1 Gen vi. 3. - Worn. viii. 9. ^ 1 Sam. xvi. 14. 
 
 * 1 Cor. ix. 27. * 1 Tim. vi. 11. « Gal. v. 22. 
 
 " Phil. ii. 15. 8 U. l.\i. i). 1 Pet. ii. 0.
 
 376 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 come up into the heart of man ; of tliat which God hath 
 prepared for those who love Him and keep His command- 
 ments." ^ 
 
 Chap. x. — Denunciation of dangerous and scandalous 
 association ivith maidcyis. 
 
 Now, we are persuaded of you, my brethren, that 
 your thoughts are occupied about those things which 
 are requisite for your salvation.^ But we speak thus^ in 
 consequence of the evil rumours and reports concerning 
 shameless men, who, under pretext of the fear of God, have 
 their dwelling with maidens, and [so] expose themselves to 
 danger, and walk with them along the road and in solitary 
 places* alone — a course which is full of dangers, and full 
 of stumbling-blocks and snares and pitfaUs ; nor is it in 
 any respect right for Christians and those who fear God so to 
 conduct themselves. Others, too, eat and drink with them 
 at entertainments [allowing themselves] in loose behaviour 
 and much imcleanness — such as ought not to be among 
 believers, and especially among those who have chosen 
 for themselves [a life of] holiness.^ Others, again, meet 
 together for vain and trifling conversation and merriment, 
 and that they may speak evil of one another ; and they 
 hunt up tales against one another, and are idle : persons 
 with whom we do not allow you even to eat bread. Then, 
 others gad about among the houses of virgin brethren 
 or sisters, on pretence of visiting them, or reading the 
 Scriptures [to them], or exorcising them. Forasmuch as they 
 are idle and do no work, they pry into those things which 
 ought not to be inquired into, and by means of plausible 
 words make merchandize of the name of Christ. [These 
 are] men from whom the divine apostle kept aloof, because 
 of the multitude of their evil [deeds] ; as it is written : 
 
 1 1 Cor. ii. 9. ~ Or " life." 
 
 ^ The words wliicli follow, " concerning those things which we 
 speak," appear not to he genuine. — Beelen. 
 
 * Beelen supposes a 'iv "hioi Ivoh : " along the lonely road." 
 
 * i.e. virginity.
 
 TWO EPISTLES COXCERXIXG VIRGINITY. 377 
 
 " Thorns sprout in the hands of the idle ;" ' and, " The ways 
 of the idle are full of thorns."^ 
 
 Chap. xi. — Pernicioiisness of Idleness — Warning against the 
 empty longing to he teachers — Advice about teaching and 
 the icse of Divine gifts. 
 
 Such are the ways of all those who do not work, but go 
 hunting for tales, and think to themselves that this is pro- 
 fitable and right.^ For such persons are like those idle and 
 prating widows " who go wandering about* among houses"^ 
 with their prating, and hunt for idle tales, and carry them 
 from house to house with much exaggeration, without fear 
 of God. And besides all this, barefaced men as they are,® 
 imder pretence of teaching, they set forth a variety of doc- 
 trines. And would that they taught the doctrines of truth ! 
 But it is this which is [so] disquieting, that they under- 
 stand not what they mean, and assert that which is not 
 [true] : because they wish to be teachers, and to display 
 themselves as skilful in speaking; because they traffic in 
 iniquity in the name of Christ — which it is not right for the 
 servants of God [to do]. And they hearken not to that 
 which the Scripture has said : " Let not many be teachers 
 among you, my brethren, and be not all of you prophets." ^ 
 For " he who does not transgress in word is a perfect man, 
 able to keep down and subjugate his whole body." ^ And, 
 " If a man speak, let him speak in the words ^ of God." ^'^ 
 And, " If there is in thee understanding, give an answer to 
 thy brother ; but if not, put thy liand on thy mouth." ^^ 
 For, "at one time [it is proper] to keep silence, and at 
 another time to speak." ^- And again it says : " When a 
 man speaks in season, it is honourable ^^ to him." ^* And 
 
 1 Prov. xxvi. 9. - Prov. xv. 19 (lx.\.) 
 
 3 Lit. " prolit and righteousness." 
 
 ♦ Lit. "go about and wander." * 1 Tim. v. 13. 
 
 « Lit. " in their barefacedness." ' 1 Cor. xii. 29. 
 
 8 James iii. 2. " Lit. " speech." ^^ 1 Pet. iv. 11. 
 
 " Eccl. V. 14. '■ Eccl. iii. 7. 
 
 " Lit. "beautiful." " Prov. xxv. 11.
 
 &78 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 again it says : " Let your speech be seasoned with gi-ace. 
 For it is required of a man to know how to give an answer 
 to every one in season."^ For "he that ntters whatsoever 
 comes to his mouth, that man produces strife ; and he that 
 utters a superfluity of words increases vexation ; and he that 
 is hasty with his lips falls into evil. For because of the 
 unruliness of the tongue cometh anger; but the perfect 
 man keeps watch over his tongue, and loves his soul's 
 life." 2 For these are they "who by good words and fair 
 speeches lead astray the hearts of the simple, and, while 
 offering them blessings, lead them astray." ^ Let us, tliere- 
 fore, fear the judgment which awaits teachers. For a 
 severe judgment will those teachers receive " who teach, but 
 do not,"^ and those who take [upon them] the name of 
 Christ falsely, and say : We teach the truth, and [yet] 
 go wandering about idly, and exalt themselves, and make 
 their boast " in the mind of the flesh." ^ These, moreover, 
 are like " the blind man who leads the blind man, and they 
 both fall into the ditch." ^ And they will receive judgment, 
 because in their talkativeness and their frivolous teaching 
 they teach natural ^ wisdom, and the " frivolous error of the 
 plausible words of the wisdom of men," ^ " according to the 
 will of the prince of the dominion of the air, and of the 
 spirit which works in those men who will not obey, 
 according to the training of this worlu, and not according to 
 the doctrine of Christ." ^ But if thou hast received " the 
 word of knowledge, or the word of instruction, or of pro- 
 phecy," ^° blessed be God, " who helps every man without 
 grudging — that God who gives to every man and does not 
 upbraid [liim]."^^ With the gift, therefore, which thou hast 
 received from our Lord, serve [thy] spiritual brethren, the 
 prophets who know that the words which thou speakest are 
 
 1 Lit " in his place." Col. iv. 6. 
 
 2 Lit. "Ms soul for life." Prov. xviiL 6 ; xiii. 3 ; xxi. 13. 
 
 3 Rom. XV. 17-19. * Matt, xxiii. 3. 
 6 Col. ii. 18. « Matt. xv. 14. 
 
 ^ As 1 Cor. XV. 44 (-tpuxix-oi). — See James iii. 15. 
 8 See Col. ii. 8. ^ Eph. ii. 2 ; Col. ii. 8. 
 
 ^^ 1 Cor. xii. 5. ^^ James i. 6.
 
 TWO EPISTLES COXCEllNIXG VIllGlMTY. 37'J 
 
 [those] of our Lord ; and declare the gift which thou liast 
 received in the Church for the edification of the brethren 
 in Christ (for good and excellent are those things which help 
 the men of God), if so be that they are truly ^ith tliee.^ 
 
 Chap. xn. — Rvles for visits, exorcisms, and how people arc to 
 assist the sick, and to walk in all things without offence. 
 
 Moreover, also, this is comely and useful, that a man 
 " visit orphans and widows,"^ and especially those poor per- 
 sons who have many children. These tilings are, without 
 controversy, required of the servants of God, and comely and 
 suitable for them. This also, again, is suitable and right 
 and comely for those who are brethren in Christ, that they 
 should visit those who are harassed by evil spirits, and pray 
 and pronounce adjurations ^ over them, intelligently, [offer- 
 ing] such prayer as is acceptable before God; not with a 
 multitude of fine words,^ well prepared and arranged, so that 
 they may appear to men eloquent and of a good memory. 
 [Such men] are " like a sounding pipe, or a tinkling c^tu- 
 bal;"^ and they bring no help to those over whom they 
 make their adjurations ; but they speak with terrible words, 
 and affright people, but do not act with true faith, according 
 to the teaching of our Lord, who hath said : " This kind 
 goeth not out but by fasting and prayer," ^ offered unceas- 
 ingly and with earnest mind. And let them holily ask and 
 beg of God, with cheerfulness and all circumspection and 
 purity, without hatred and witliout malice. In this way let 
 us approach a brother or a sister w^ho is sick, and visit tlieni 
 in a way that is right, without guile, and without covetous- 
 ness, and without noise, and without talkativeness, and 
 without such behaviour as is alien from the fear of God, 
 and without haughtiness, but with the meek and lowly 
 
 ^ An obscure clause, whicli Beelen supposes to be due to the mi^i- 
 apprehension of tlie Syrian translator. Perliaps the diHiculty will be 
 met if we read "gifts," as do "Wets, and Zing., by a change in the pointing. 
 
 - James i. 27. ^ Or " e.\orcL3ni.s." 
 
 * Lit. "elegant and nuiiii;rou3 words." ^ 1 Cor. xiii. 1. 
 
 6 Matt. xvii. 2 it.
 
 380 r///-; wmTjyas of clement. 
 
 spirit of Christ. Let them, therefore, with fasting and with 
 prayer make their adjurations, and not with the elegant and 
 well-arranged and fitly-ordered words of learning, but as 
 men who have received the gift of healing from God, confi- 
 dently, to the glory of God. By^ your fastings and prayers 
 and perpetual watching, together with your other good 
 works, mortify the works of the flesh by the power of the 
 Holy Spirit. He who acts thus " is a temple of the Holy 
 Spirit of God." ^ Let this man cast out demons, and God 
 will help him. For it is good that a man help those that 
 are sick. Our Lord hath said : " Cast out demons," at the 
 same time [commanding] many other acts of healing ; and, 
 " Freely ye have received, freely give." ^ For such persons 
 as these a goodly recompense is [laid up] by God, because 
 they serve their brethren with the gifts which have been 
 given them by the Lord. This is also comely and helpfiil 
 to the servants of God, because they act according to the 
 injunctions of our Lord, who hath said : " I was sick, and ye 
 visited Me, and so on." * And this is comely and right and 
 just, that we visit our neighbours for the sake of God with 
 all seemliness of manner and purity of behaviour ; as the 
 Apostle hath said : " Who is sick, and I am not sick ? who is 
 offended, and I am not offended ? " ^ But all these things 
 are spoken in reference to the love with which a man should 
 love his neighbour. And in these things let us occupy our- 
 selves,^ without giving offence, and let us not do anything 
 with partiality or for the shaming of others, but let us love 
 the poor as the servants of God, and especially let us visit 
 them. For this is comely before God and before men, that 
 we should remember the poor, and be lovers of the brethren 
 and of strangers, for the sake of God and for the sake of 
 those who believe in God, as we have learnt from the law and 
 from the prophets, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, concern- 
 ins the love of the brotherhood and the love of strangers : for 
 ye know the words which have been spoken concerning the 
 
 1 Or " in." 2 1 Cor. vi. 19. ^ j^j^tt. x. 8. 
 
 * Lit. " and things similar to these," Matt. xxv. 36. 
 
 ° 2 Cor. i.\. 29. ^ Lit. "let us be."
 
 TWO EPISTLES COXCERNIXG VIIIGIMTY. 381 
 
 love of the brotherhood and the love of strangers ;^ power- 
 fully are the words spoken to all those who do them. 
 
 Chap. xiii. — What priests should he and should not he. 
 
 Beloved brethren ! that a man should build up and 
 establish the brethren on the faith in one God, this also is 
 manifest and well-known. This too, again, is comely, that 
 a man should not be envious of his neighbour. And more- 
 over, again, it is suitable and comely that all those who 
 work the works of the Lord should work the works of tlie 
 Lord in the fear of God. Thus is it required of them to 
 conduct themselves. That " the harvest is great, but the 
 workmen are few," this also is well-known and manifest. 
 Let us, therefore, "ask of the Lord of the harvest" tliat 
 He would send forth workmen into the harvest;^ such 
 workmen as " shall skdfully dispense the word of truth ;" 
 workmen "who shall not be ashamed ;"^ faithful workmen; 
 workmen who shall be " the light of the world ; " * workmen 
 who "work not for the food that perisheth, but for that food 
 which abideth unto life eternal ; " ^ workmen who shall be 
 such as the apostles ; workmen wlio imitate the Fatlier, and 
 the Son, and the Holy Sjjirit ; wlio are concerned for tlie 
 salvation of men ; not " hireling " ° workmen ; not workmen 
 to whom the fear of God and righteousness appear to be 
 gain ; not workmen who " serve their belly ; " not workmen 
 who "with fair speeches and pleasant words mislead the 
 hearts of the innocent ; " ^ not workmen wlio imitate the 
 children of light, while they are not light but darkness — 
 "men whose end is destruction;"^ not workmen who prac- 
 tise iniquity and wickedness and fraud ; not " crafty work- 
 men ; " ^ not workmen " drunken " and " faithless ; " ^'^ nor 
 workmen who traffic in Christ ; not misleaders ; not " lovers 
 of money ; not malevolent." ^^ 
 
 1 Beelen here omits, as spurious, the words, " because this same thing 
 is pleasant and agreeable to you : because ye are all tauj.jht of Go<J." 
 ' Matt. ix. 37, 38. ^ Lit. "without shame," 2 Tim. ii. 1.';. 
 
 < Mutt. V. 14. 6 Jno. vi. 17. « Jno. x. 12, 13. 
 
 ' Kom. xvi. 18. 8 piiii. iii. 11). 9 2 Cor. xi. 13. 
 
 1'^ See Matt. xxiv. 45-50. " 1 Tim. iii. 3 ; Tit. i. 7.
 
 382 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 Let us, therefore, contemplate and imitate the faithful who 
 have conducted themselves well in the Lord, as is becoming 
 and suitable to our calling and profession. Thus let us do 
 service before God in justice and righteousness, and without 
 blemish, " occupying ourselves with things good and comely 
 before God [and] also before men." ^ For this is comely, 
 that God be glorified in us in all things. 
 
 [Thus] endeth the first Epistle of Clement. 
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE OF THE SAME CLEMENT. 
 
 Chap. i. — He describes the circumsjjectness of his intercourse 
 with the other sex, and tells how in his Journeys he acts 
 at places where there are brethren only. 
 
 I would, moreover, have you know, my brethren, of what 
 sort is our conduct in Christ, as well as that of all our 
 brethren, in the [various] places in which we are. And if 
 so be that you approve it, do ye also conduct yourselves in 
 like manner in the Lord. Now we, if God help us, conduct 
 ourselves thus : with maidens we do not dwell, nor have 
 we any thing in common with them ; with maidens we do 
 not eat, nor drink ; and, where a maiden sleeps, \ve do not 
 sleep ; neither do women wash our feet, nor anoint us ; and 
 on no account do w^e sleep where a maiden sleeps w^ho is 
 unmarried or has taken the vow:^ even though she be in 
 some other place [if she be] alone, we do not pass the 
 night there.^ Moreover, if it chance that the time [for rest] 
 overtake us in a place, w^hether iti the country, or in a 
 village, or in a town, or in a hamlet,* or wheresoever we 
 happen to be, and there are found brethren in that place, we 
 turn in to one who is a brother, and call together there all 
 the brethren, and speak to them words of encouragement 
 and exhortation.^ And those among us who are gifted in 
 
 ^ Eom. xii. 17. ^ ^' Lit. "or [is] a daughter of the covenant." 
 ^ Beelen's rendering, " we do not even pass the night," seems not to 
 be favoiu'ed either by the arrangement or the context. 
 
 * Lit. " dwelling-place." 
 
 * Or "consolation." So -Trapxx.'KriGi; in the N. T. has both senses.
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 383 
 
 speaking will speak such words as are earnest, and serious, 
 and chaste, in the fear of God, and [exhort them] to please 
 God in every thing, and abound and go forward in good 
 works, and "be free from^ anxious care in every thing,"- as 
 is fit and right for the people of God. 
 
 Chap. n. — His behaviour i^i jylaces where there were Christians 
 of both sexes. 
 
 And if, moreover, it chance that we are distant from our 
 homes and from our neighbours, and the day decline and 
 the eventide overtake us, and the brethren press us, through 
 love of the brotlierhood and by reason of their affection for 
 strangers, to stay with them, so that we may watch with 
 them, and they may hear the holy word of God and do [it], 
 and be fed with the words of the Lord, so that they may 
 be mindful of them, and they set before us bread and 
 water and that which God provides, and we be willing and 
 consent to stay through the night with them ; if there be 
 there a holy man,^ with him we turn in and lodge, and 
 that same brother will j)i'ovide and prepare whatever is 
 necessary for us ; and he himself waits upon us, and he 
 himself washes our feet for us and anoints us with ointment, 
 and he himself gets ready a bed for us, that we may sleep 
 in reliance on God. All these things will that consecrated 
 brother, who is in the place in which we tarry, do in his 
 own person. He will himself serve the brethren, and each 
 one of the brethren who are in the same place will join with 
 him in rendering all those services' which are requisite for 
 the brethren. But with us may no female, whether young 
 maiden or married woman, be there at that time ; nor slie 
 that is aged,^ nor she that has taken the vuw ; not even a 
 maid-servant, whether Christian or heatlien ; but there shidl 
 
 1 Lit. " Avithuut." 2 i^iiii, iy (3_ 
 
 3 i.e. oue wlio lias taken the vow of celibacy. 
 * Lit. "will with him iniuister all tlioso thing's." 
 s ]n > Av iK-eleu's conjecture fur "J^AL "rich." Zingerlc pro- 
 poses ]^Z'.ik " about [to be married]."
 
 384 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 only "be men with men. And, if we see it to be requisite 
 to stand and pray for the sake of the women, and to speak 
 words of exhortation and edification, we call [together] the 
 brethren and all the holy sisters and maidens, [and] like- 
 wise all the other women who are there, [inviting them] with 
 all modesty and becoming behaviour to come and feast on the 
 truth.^ And those among us who are skilled in speaking 
 speak to them, and exhort them in those words which God 
 has given us. And then we pray, and salute^ one another, 
 the men the men. But the women and the maidens will 
 wrap their hands in their garments ; [and] we also, with 
 circumspection and with all purity, our eyes looking 
 upwards, shall wrap our right hand in our garments ; and 
 then they will come and give us the salutation on our right 
 hand wrapped in our garments. Then we go where God 
 permits us. 
 
 Chap. hi. — Rules for the conduct of celihate brethren in places 
 where there are only married Christians. 
 
 And if, again, we chance to come into a place where there 
 is no consecrated brother, but all are married, all those who 
 are there will receive the brother who comes to them, and 
 minister to him, and care for his wants^ in every tiling, 
 assiduously, with good-will. And the brother shall be 
 ministered to by them in the way that is suitable. And 
 the brother will say to the married persons who are in 
 that place : "VVe holy men do not eat or drink with women, 
 nor are we waited on by women or by maidens, nor do 
 women wash our feet for us, nor do women anoint us, 
 nor do women prepare our bed for us, nor do we sleep 
 where women sleep, so that we may be without reproach 
 in every thing, lest any one should be offended or stumble 
 at us. And, whilst we observe all these things, " we are 
 without offence to every man."* As persons, therefore, 
 
 1 Lit. " come to the delight of the truth." 
 
 2 Lit. " ask of the peace of." 
 
 3 Lit. " for that which is his ;" or " for what [belongs] to him." 
 * 2 Cor. vi. 3.
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 385 
 
 " who know the fear of the Lord, we persuade meu, and 
 to God we are made manifest." ^ 
 
 Chap. iv. — Conduct of the hoJy man where there are 
 women only. 
 
 But if we chance to come into a place where there are 
 no [Christian] men, but all the believers are women and 
 niaidens,^ and they press us to pass the night there in that 
 l^lace, we call them all together to some suitable place,^ 
 and ask them how they do ; and according to that which 
 we learn from them, and what we see to be their state of 
 mind, we address them in a suitable manner, as men fear- 
 ing God. And when they have all assembled and come 
 [together], and we see that they are in peace,* we address 
 to them words of exhortation in the fear of God, and read 
 the Scripture to them, with purity and in the concise^ 
 and weighty w^ords of the fear of God. We do every thing 
 as for their edification. And as to those who are married, 
 we speak to them in the Lord in a manner suited to them. 
 And if, moreover, the day decline and the eventide draw on, 
 M'e select, in order to pass the night there, a woman who 
 is aged and the most exemplary® of them all ; and we 
 speak to her to give us a place all to ourselves, where 
 no woman enters, nor maiden. And this old w^oman her- 
 self will liring us a lamp, and whatever is requisite for us 
 she will herself bring us. I'rom love to the bretln-en, she 
 will bring whatever is requisite for the service of stranger 
 brethren. And she herself, wdien the time for sleep is 
 come, will depart and go to her house in peace. 
 
 1 2 Cor. V. 11. 
 
 2 Lit. " all of them are believing women and maidens." 
 
 ' Lit. " some place on the right side." The Syrian translator has 
 probably mistaken the meaning of t/f "« lovov "hi^iov, where o»|/o'i» may 
 be compared with dexter in Hor. Sat., ii. 1, 18. — Bechii. 
 
 * Probably meaning, " when we have inquired of their welfare.'' 
 
 ^ Lit. " compressed." 
 
 « Lit. " chaste," or " modest."
 
 S86 THE WIUTINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 Chap. v. — Where there is only one woman, the father docs 
 not make a stay. How carefully stumhling-hloelcs must 
 he avoided. 
 
 But if, moreover, we chance upon a place, and find there 
 one believing woman only, and no other person be there but 
 she only, we do not stop there, nor pray there, nor read the 
 Scriptures there, but we flee as from before the face of a 
 serpent, and as from before the face of sin. Not that we 
 disdain the believing woman — far be it from us to be so 
 minded towards our brethren in Christ ! — but, because she 
 is alone, we are afraid lest any one should make insinuations 
 against us in words of falsehood. For the hearts of men are 
 firmly set^ on evil. And, that we may not give a pretext 
 to those who desire to get a pretext against us and to speak 
 evil of us, and that we may not be a stumbling-block to any 
 one, on this account we cut off the pretext of those who 
 desire to get a pretext against us ; on this account we must 
 be " on our guard that we be to no one a stumbling-block, 
 neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor yet to the Church 
 of God ; and we must not seek that which is profitable to 
 ourselves only, but that which is for the profit of many, so 
 that they may be saved."- For this does not profit us, 
 that another stumble because of us. Let us, therefore, be 
 studiously on our guard at all times, that we do not smite 
 our brethren and give them to drink of a disquieting con- 
 science through our being to them a stumbling-block. For 
 " if for the sake of meat our brother be made sad, or 
 sliocked, or made weak, or caused to stumble, we are not 
 walking in the love of God. For the sake of meat thou 
 causest him to perish for whose sake Christ died."^ For, 
 [in] " thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their 
 sickly consciences, ye sin against Christ Himself. For, if for 
 the sake of meat my brother is made to stumble," let us 
 [who are] believers say, " Never will we eat flesh, that we 
 may not make our brother to stumble."* These things, 
 
 1 Or "are set and fixed." 2 \ Qqp_ x. 32, seqq. 
 
 3 Rom. xiv, 15. ■* 1 Cor. viii. 12, 13.
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VinGIXlTY. 387 
 
 moreover, does every one who truly loves God, who truly 
 takes up his cross, and puts on Christ, and loves his neigh- 
 bour ; the man who watches over himself that he be not a 
 stumbling-block to any one, that no one be caused to stumble 
 because of him and die because he is constantly with maidens 
 and lives in the same house with them — a tiling wliich is not 
 right — to the overthrow of those who see and hear. Evil 
 conduct like this is fraught with stumbling and peril, and 
 [is] akin^ to death. But blessed is that man who is circum- 
 spect and fearful in every thing for the sake of purity I 
 
 Chap. vi. — How Christians should behave iJiemselves among 
 heathens. 
 
 If, moreover, it chance that we go to a place in Mliieh 
 there are no Christians, and it be important for us to stay 
 there a few days, let us be "wise as serpents, and harmless as 
 doves ;^ and let us " not be as the foolish, but as the "^'ise,"^ 
 in all the [self-] restraint of the fear of God, that God 
 may be glorified in every thing through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, through our chaste and holy behaviour. For, 
 " whether we eat, or drink, or do any thing else, let us 
 do it as for the glory of God."* Let " all those who see 
 us acknowledge that we are a blessed seed,"^ "sons of the 
 living God,"^ in every thing — in all [our] words, in shame- 
 fastness, in purity, in humQity, forasmuch as we do not 
 copy the heathen in any tiling, nor are [as] believers like 
 [other] men, but in every thing are estranged from tlie 
 wicked. And we " do not cast that which is holy before 
 dogs, nor pearls before s^^^.ne;"^ but with all possible 
 [seK-] restraint, and with all discretion, and with all fear 
 of God, and -with earnestness of mind we praise God. For 
 we do not minister where heathens are drinking and blas- 
 pheming in their feasts with words of impurity, because of 
 their wickedness.^ Therefore do we not sing [psalms] to the 
 
 1 Lit. "near." 2 ]^iatt. x. 16. ^ YL^ih. v. 15, IG. * 1 Cor. x. 31. 
 
 * Is. IxL 9. " riiil. ii. 15. ^ Matt. vii. G. 
 
 ® Beelen joins " because of tlicir wickedness" wth the words that follow.
 
 388 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 heathens, nor do we read to them the Scriptures, that we 
 may not be like [common] singers, either those who play 
 on the lyre,-^ or those who sing with the voice, or [like] 
 soothsayers, as many are, w^ho follow these practices and 
 do these things, that they may sate themselves with a paltry 
 mouthful of bread, and who, for the sake of a sorry cup of 
 wine, go [about] " singing the songs of the Lord in the 
 strange land"^ of the heathen, and doing what is not right. 
 Do not so, my brethren ; we beseech you, my brethren, 
 let not these deeds be done among you; but put away 
 those who choose thus to behave themselves with infamy 
 and disgrace. It is not proper, my brethren, that these things 
 should be so. But we beseech you, brethren in righteous- 
 ness, that these things be so [done] with you as with us, as 
 for a pattern of believers, and of those who shall believe. Let 
 us be of the flock of Christ, in all righteousness, and in all 
 holy and unblemished conduct, behaving ourselves with 
 uprightness and sanctity, as is right for believers, and 
 observing those things which are praiseworthy, and pure, 
 and holy, and honourable, and noble ; and do ye promote^ 
 all those things which are profitable. For ye are " our joy, 
 and our crown," and our hope, and our life, " if so be that 
 ye stand in the Lord."* So be it !^ 
 
 Cpiap. VII. — Uses of considering admonitory exanvples, as well 
 as instructive patterns. 
 
 Let us consider, therefore, my brethren, and see how all 
 the righteous fathers conducted themselves during the 
 whole time of their sojourn in [this] life, and let us search 
 and examine from the law [down] to the New Testament. 
 For this is both becoming and profitable, that we should 
 know how many men there have been, and who [they were], 
 that have perished through women ; and who and how many 
 have been the women that have perished through men, by 
 reason of the constancy with which they have associated 
 
 ^ Or " citbara." ^ pj, cxxxvii. 4. ^ Or "set on foot."' 
 
 * Phil. iv. 1. 5 Or"Ameii."
 
 TWO EPISTLES COXCEUXTXG VinGiyiTY. 389 
 
 with one another. And further, also, for the same reason, I 
 will show how many have heen the men, and who [they 
 were], that lived all their lifetime, and continued even to 
 the close, with one another in [the perfonnance of] chaste 
 w^orks without blemish. And it is manifest and well-known 
 that this is so.-^ 
 
 Chap. viii. — Joseph and Potiphar's wife — Of v:hat kind love 
 to females ought to he. 
 
 [There is] Joseph, faithful, and intelligent, and wise, and 
 who feared God in every thing. Did not a woman conceive 
 an excessive passion for the beauty of this chaste and 
 upright man ? And, w^hen he would not yield and consent 
 to gratify her passionate desire,^ she cast the righteous man 
 into every kind of distress and torment, to within a little ol 
 death,^ by [bearing] false witness. But God delivered him 
 from all the evils that came upon him through [thiii] 
 wTctched woman. Ye see, my brethren, what distresses 
 the constant sight of the person of the Egyptian woman 
 brouglit upon the righteous man. Therefore, let us not be 
 constantly with women, nor with maidens. For this is 
 not profitable for those who truly wish to " gird up their 
 loins." * For it is required that we love the sisters in all 
 purity and chasteness, and w4tli all curbing of thought, in 
 the fear of God, not associating constantly with them, nor 
 finding access to them at eveiy lioui". 
 
 Chap. ix. — Samson's admonitory fall. 
 
 Hast thou not heard concerning Samson the Xazarite, 
 " with whom was tlie Spirit of God," ^ tlie man of great 
 strengtli ? This man, who was a Nazarite, and consecrated 
 to God, and who was [gifted] with strength and might, a 
 woman brought to ruin with [her] wretched botly, and with 
 
 ^ Wetstein and Zingerle join on this sentence to the next, by a 
 change of the constructi-jn. 
 
 2 Lit. " her pa.ssion and her desire." ^ Lit. " even to death." 
 
 * Luke xii. 35. ' Judges xiii. 11.
 
 390 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 [her] vile passion. Art thou, perchance, such a man 
 as he ? Know thyself, and know the measure of thy 
 strength.^ "The married woman catcheth precious souls." ^ 
 Therefore, we do not allow any man whatsoever to sit 
 with a married woman ; much less to live in the same house 
 with a maiden who has taken the vow, or to sleep where she 
 sleeps, or to be constantly with her. For this is to be hated 
 and abominated by those who fear God, 
 
 Chap. x. — David's sin, so admonitory to us weak men. 
 
 Does not the case of David instruct thee, whom God 
 "found a man after His heart," ^ one fiuthful, faultless, pious, 
 true ? This same man saw the beauty of a woman — I 
 mean of Bathsheba — when he saw her as she was cleansing 
 herself and Avashing unclothed. This woman the holy man 
 saw, and was thorouglily* captivated with desire by the sight 
 of her.^ See, then, what evils he committed because of a 
 woman, and [how] this righteous man sinned, and gave 
 command that the husband of this woman should be killed 
 in battle. Ye have seen what wicked schemes he laid and 
 executed, and [how], because of his passion for a woman, he 
 perpetrated a murder — [he], David, who was called "the 
 anointed of the Lord." ^ Be admonished, man : for, if such 
 men as these have been brought to ruin through women, 
 what is thi/ righteousness, or what art thou among the holy, 
 that thou consortest with women and with maidens day and 
 night, with much silliness, without fear of God ? Not [thus], 
 my brethren, not thus let us conduct ourselves ; but let us 
 be mindful of that word which is spoken concerning a 
 woman : " Her hands lay snares, and her heart spreadeth 
 nets ; but the just shall escape from her, whilst the wicked 
 falleth into her hands." '' Therefore let us, who are conse- 
 
 1 Lit. " know tliy measure." - Prov. vi. 26. 
 
 ^ 1 Sam. xiii. 14 ; Ps. Ixxxviii. 20, seqq.; Acts xiii. 22. 
 * Lit. " verily." 
 
 ^ " By the pleasure [derived] from the sight of heT."—Beelen. 
 « Ps. xvii. 51 : 2 Sam. xix. 21. ' Eccl. vii. 27.
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIRGINITY. 391 
 
 crated/ be careful not to live in the same house with females 
 who have taken the vow. Por such conduct as this is not 
 becoming nor right for the servants of God. 
 
 Chap. xi. — Admonitory history of the incestuous children of 
 
 David. 
 
 Hast tliou not read concerning Amnon and Tamar, the 
 children of David ? This .Amnon conceived a passion for 
 his sister, and humbled her, and did not spare her, because 
 he longed for her with a sliameful passion ; and he proved 
 wicked and profligate because of his constant intercourse 
 with her, without the fear of God, and he " wrought un- 
 cleanness in Israel."- Therefore, it is not proper for us, 
 nor right for us, to associate with sisters, [indulging] in 
 laughter and looseness ; but [we ought to behave towards 
 them] with aU chasteness and pmity, and in the fear of the 
 Lord. 
 
 Chap. xii. — Solomoiis infatuation through u-omen. 
 
 Hast thou not read the history of Solomon, the son of 
 David, the man to whom God gave wisdom, and knowledge, 
 and largeness of mind,^ and riches, and much glory, beyond 
 all men ? Yet this same man, through women, came to 
 ruin,'' and departed from the Lord. 
 
 Chap. xni. — The history of Susanna teaches circumspection 
 icith the eyes and in society. 
 
 Hast thou not read, and dost thou not know, concerning 
 those elders wlio were in the days of Susanna, wlio, 
 because they were constantly with women, and looking 
 upon the beauty which was another's,* fell into the depths 
 of wantonness, and were not able to keep themselves in a 
 chaste mind,'' but were overcome by a depraved disposition, 
 
 1 Ut. "holy." 2 Gen. xxxiv. 7. ' Lit. "heart." 
 
 '' Or "perished." * Susanna ha\diig a liusliand, Joacliini. 
 
 " Lit. " a mind of chasteness."
 
 392 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 and came suddenly ^ upon the blessed Susanna to corrupt 
 her. But she did not consent to their foul passion, but 
 cried unto God, and God saved her out of the hands of the 
 bad old men. Does it not, therefore, behove us to tremble 
 and be afraid, forasmuch as these old men, judges and elders 
 of the people of God, fell from their dignity because of a 
 woman? For they did not keep in mind that which is 
 said : " Look thou not on the beauty which is another's ; " 
 and, " The beauty of woman has destroyed many ; " ^ and, 
 " With a married woman do not sit ; " ^ and that, again, 
 [in] w^hich it says : " Is there any one that puts fire in his 
 bosom, and does not burn his clothes;"* or, "Does a man 
 walk on fire, and his feet are not scorched ? So whosoever 
 goeth in to another man's wife is not pure from e\nl, and 
 whosoever comes near to her shall not escape."^ And 
 again it says : " Thou shalt not long after the beauty of a 
 woman, lest she take thee captive with her eyelids ; " ^ and, 
 "Thou shalt not look upon a maiden, lest thou perish 
 through desire of her ; " '^ and, " With a woman that sings 
 beautifully thou shalt not constantly be ; " ^ and, " Let him 
 that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he faU."^ 
 
 Chap. xiv. — Examples of cirmimsjject hehaviour from the 
 Old Testament. 
 
 But see what it says also concerning [those] holy men, the 
 prophets, and concerning the apostles of our Lord. Let us 
 see whether any one of [these] holy men was constantly 
 vnth maidens, or with young married women, or with 
 such widows as the divine apostle declines to receive. Let 
 us consider, in the fear of God, the manner of life of [these] 
 holy men. Lo ! we find it \\Titten concerning Moses and 
 Aaron, that they acted and lived in the company of^° 
 men, who [themselves also] followed a course of conduct 
 
 1 Lit. "rose." 2 Ecclus. ix. 8. ^ Ecclus. ix. 12. 
 
 * Prov. xi. 27. * Prov. vi. 28, seq(i. ^ Prov. vi. 25. 
 
 ^ Ecclus. ix. 5. 8 Ecclus. ix. 4. » 1 Cor. x. 12. 
 
 ^^ Lit. "their conduct and livinc: was with."
 
 TWO EPISTLES COXCERNIXG VIRGIXITY. 393 
 
 like theirs. And thus [did] Joshua also, the son of Nun. 
 Woman was there none with them ; but tliey by themselves 
 used holily to minister before God, men with men. And 
 not only so ; but they taught the people, that, whensoever 
 the host moved, every tribe should move on apart, and the 
 women with the women apart, and that they should go into 
 the rear behind the host, and the men also apart by their 
 tribes. And, according to the command of the Lord, so did 
 they set out, like a wise people, that there might be no dis- 
 order on account of the women when the host moved. Witli 
 beautiful and well-ordered arrangements did they march 
 without stumbling. For lo ! the Scriptures bear testimony 
 to my words : " "Wlien the children of Israel had crossed 
 over the Sea of Suph, Moses and the children of Israel sang 
 the praises of the Lord, and said : We will praise the Lord, 
 because He is exceedingly to be praised."^ And, after that 
 Moses had finished^ singing praises, then ]Miriam, the sister 
 of Moses and Aaron, took a timbrel in her hands, and all the 
 women went out after her, and sang praises with her, women 
 with women apart, and men with men apart. Then again, we 
 find that Elisha and Gehazi and the sons of the prophets 
 lived together in the fear of God, and that they had no females 
 living with them. Micah [too], and all the prophets likewise, 
 we find to have lived in this manner in the fear of the Lord. 
 
 CuAP. XV. — The example of Jesus — Hoio we may allow 
 ourselves to he served hy women. 
 
 And, not to extend our discourse to [too] great length, what 
 shall we say concerning our Lord Jesus Christ ? Our Lord 
 Himself was constantly with His twelve disciples when He 
 had come [forth] to the world. And not only so ; but also, 
 when He was sending them out, He sent them out two and 
 two together, men with men ; but women were not sent 
 with them, and neither in the higliway nor in the house did 
 they associate with women or with maidens : and thus thty 
 pleased God in every tiling. Also, when our Lord Jesua 
 ^ Exodub XV. 1. - Lit. "ceased from."
 
 394 THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 Christ Himself was talking with the woman of Samaria by 
 the well alone, "His disciples came" and found Him talking 
 with her, " and wondered that Jesus was standing and talk- 
 ing with a woman." ^ Is He not a rule, such as may not be 
 set aside, an example, and a pattern to all the tribes of men ? 
 And not only so ; but also, when our Lord was risen from 
 the place of the dead, and Mary came to the place of sepul- 
 ture, she ran and fell at the feet of our Lord and worshipped 
 Him, and would have taken hold of Him. But He said to 
 her : " Touch Me not ; for I am not yet ascended to My 
 Father."^ Is it not, then, matter for astonishment, that, 
 while our Lord did not allow Mary, the blessed woman, to 
 touch His feet, yet thou livest with them, and art waited on 
 by women and maidens, and sleepest where they sleep, 
 and women wash thy feet for thee, and anoint thee ! 
 Alas for this culpable state of mind ! Alas for this 
 state of mind which is destitute of fear ! Alas for this 
 effrontery and folly which is without fear of God ! Dost 
 thou not judge thine own self? Dost thou not examine 
 thine own self ? Dost thou not know thine own self and 
 the measure of thy strength ? These things, moreover, are 
 trustworthy, and these things are true and right ; and 
 these are rules immutable for those who behave themselves 
 uprightly in our Lord. Many holy women, again, ministered 
 to holy men of their substance, as the Shunammite woman 
 ministered to Elisha ; but she did not live with him, but the 
 prophet lived in a house apart. And, when her son died, she 
 wanted to throw herself at the feet of the prophet ; but his 
 attendant would not allow her, but restrained her. But 
 Elisha said to his servant : " Let her alone, because her soul 
 is distressed."^ From these things, then, we ought to 
 understand their manner of life. To Jesus Christ our Lord 
 women ministered of their substance; but they did not 
 live A^dth him ; but chastely, and holily, and unblameably 
 they behaved before the Lord, and finished their course, and 
 received the crown in* our Lord God Almighty. 
 
 1 Jno. iv. 27. - Jno. xx. 17. ^ 2 Kings iv. 27. 
 
 * Beelen suggests the reading " from," or to render the present 
 text "bj."
 
 TWO EPISTLES CONCERNING VIIiGrNITY. 305 
 
 Chap xvi. — Exhoi'tation to vnion and to obedience — 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Therefore, we beseecli you, our brethren in our T^rd, that 
 these things be observed with you, as with us, and that we 
 may be of the same mind, that we may be one in you and 
 ye may be one in us, and that in ever}"thing we may be [of] 
 one soul and one heart in our Lord. Wliosoevcr knowcth 
 the Lord heareth us ; and every one who is not of God 
 heareth not us. He who desires truly to keep sanctity 
 heareth us ; and the virgin who truly desires to keep 
 virginity heareth us ; but she who does not truly desire 
 to keep virginity doth not hear us. Finally, farewell in our 
 Lord, and rejoice in the Lord, all ye saints. Peace and joy 
 be with you from God the Father through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. So be it. 
 
 [Thus] endeth the second Epistle of Clement, the disciple 
 of Peter. His prayer be with us ' Sc be it.
 
 FRAGMENTS OF WRITERS OF THE 
 THIRD CENTURY. 
 
 THEOGNOSTUS OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 |F this Theognostus we have no account "by 
 either Eusebius or Jerome. Athanasius, how- 
 ever, mentions him more than once with honour. 
 Thus he speaks of him as dvrip Xoyiog, an eloqvxnt 
 or learned man (De Becrd. Nic. Syn. 25, Works, vol. i. 
 part i. p. 230), and again as QidyvuoTog o dau/j^dawg xai 
 cTovdaTog, the admirable and zealous Theognostus (Epist. 4, 
 to Serapion, sec. 9, vol. i. part ii. p. 702). He seems 
 to have belonged to the Catechetical school of Alexandria, 
 and to have flourished there in the latter half of the third 
 century, probably about 260. That he was a disciple of 
 Origen, or at least a devoted student of liis works, is clear 
 from Photius (Bihl. cod. 106). He wrote a work in seven 
 books, the title of which is thus given by Photius : roZ 
 /jLay.aptou Oioyvudrov AXs^uiidpiug xai e^i^yriTOu vTorv^uetig ; TJie 
 Outlines of the blessed Theognostus, the exegete of Alexandria. 
 Dodwell and others are of opinion that by this term i^nynroxj 
 is meant the presidency of the Catechetical school and the 
 privilege of public teaching; and that the title i/Torucrcoffg/c, 
 or Outlines, was taken from Clement, his predecessor in 
 office. According to Photius, the work was on this plan. 
 The first book treated of God the Eather, as the maker of 
 the universe ; the second, of the necessary existence of the 
 Son ; the third, of the Holy Spirit ; the fourth, of angek
 
 FRAGMENTS. 397 
 
 and demons ; the fifth and sLxth, of the incarnation of God ; 
 ■wliile the seventh bore the title, On God's Creation {de Dei 
 creation). Photius has much to say in condemnation of 
 Theognostus, who, however, has been vindicated by Bull 
 {Defens. fid. Nic., sec. ii. chap. 10), and Prudentius ^Nlaranus 
 {Divinit. I. C, iv. 24). Gregory of Xyssa has also charged 
 him with holding the same error as Eunomius on the sub- 
 ject of the Son's relation to the work of creation (book iii., 
 against Eunomius). He is adduced, however, by Athanasius 
 as a defender of the Homousian doctrine. 
 
 FEAGMENTS OF HIS SEVEN BOOKS OF 
 HYPOTYPOSES OE OUTLINES. 
 
 [From Book ii. In Athanasius,^ On the Decrees of the Niccne Council, 
 sec. XXV. From the edition B.B., Paris, 1698, vol. i. part L p. 230.J 
 
 The substance (outr/a) of the Son is not a substance 
 devised extraneously Q^adiv ifsvpeOiTga), nor is it one intro- 
 duced out of nothing (ix firi ovt uv imieri-xdn) ; but it was born 
 of the substance of the Father, as the reflection of light or as 
 the steam of water. For the reflection is not the sun itself, 
 and the steam is not the water itseK, nor yet again is it any 
 thing alien ; [neither is He Himself the Father, nor is He 
 alien, but He is]- an emanation (drro^poia) from tlie substance 
 of tlie Father, this substance of the Father suflering the 
 while no partition. For as the sun remains the same and 
 suffers no diminution from the rays tliat are poured out 
 by it, so neither did the substance of the Father undergo 
 any change in having the Son as an image of itself. 
 
 ^ Athanasius introduces this fragment in the following terms : — 
 Learn then, ye Christ-opposing Arians, that Theognostus, a man of 
 learning, did not decline to use the expression " of the substance" {U r^; 
 ovaixg). For, writing of the Son in the second book of his Outlines, he 
 has spoken thus : The substance of the Son. — Tr. 
 
 - The words within brackets were inserted by Routh from a Catena 
 on the Epistle to the ne1)rews, where they are ascribed to ThcognostUiJ ; 
 " He Himself" is the Sun.
 
 398 THE WRITINGS OF TIIEOGNOSTUS. 
 
 II. 
 
 [In Athanasius, Epist. 4, toSeraitiou, sec. 11, vol. i. part ii. p. 703.] 
 
 Theognostus, moreover, himself adds words to this effect : 
 He who has offended against the first term {opo)/), and the 
 second may be judged to deserve smaller punishment ; but 
 he who has also despised the third, can no longer find 
 pardon. For by the first term and the second, he says, is 
 meant the teaching concerning the Father and the Son ; but 
 by the third is meant the doctrine committed to us with 
 respect to the perfection {nXuujcu) and the partaking of the 
 Spirit. And with the view of confirming this, he adduces 
 the word spoken by the Saviour to the disciples : " I have yet 
 many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 
 But when the Holy Spirit is come. He will teach you."^ 
 
 III. 
 
 [In the same."] 
 
 Then he says again : As the Saviour converses with those 
 not yet able to receive what is perfect {ra tsXsio), conde- 
 scending to their littleness, while the Holy Spirit com- 
 munes with the perfected, and yet we could never say on 
 that account that the teaching of the Spirit is superior to 
 the teaching of the Son, but only that the Son condescends 
 to the imperfect, while the Spirit is the seal of the per- 
 fected ; even so it is not on account of the superiority of the 
 Spirit over the Son that the blasphemy against the Spirit is 
 a sin excluding impunity and pardon, but because for the 
 imperfect there is pardon, while for those who have tasted 
 the heavenly gift,^ and been made perfect, there remains no 
 plea or prayer for pardon. 
 
 1 Jno. xvi. 12, 13. * Heb. vi. 4
 
 FRAGMENTS. 399 
 
 PIERIUS OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 BIOGEArHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 Among the very eminent men ^vho flourished near his own 
 time, Eusehius mentions I'ierius, a presbyter of Alexandria, 
 and speaks of him as greatly renowned for his voluntary 
 poverty, his philosophical erudition, and his skill in tlie 
 exposition of Scrij)tiire and in discoursing to the public 
 assemblies of the Church {Hist. UccL, vii. 32). He lived in 
 the latter part of the third century, and seems to have been 
 for a considerable period president of the Catechetical school 
 at Alexandria. Jerome says that he was called Origcnes, 
 junior ; and according to Photius, he shared in some of the 
 errors of Origen, on such subjects especially as the doctrine 
 of the Holy Ghost and the pre-existence of souls. In his 
 manner of life he was an ascetic. After the persecution 
 under Galerius or INIaximus he lived at Eome. He appears 
 to have devoted himself largely to sacred criticism and the 
 study of the text of Scripture ; and among several treatises 
 MTittcn by him, and extant in the time of Photius, we find 
 mention made of one on the prophet Hosea. And, in 
 addition to the Commentary on the First Epistle to the 
 Corinthians^ Photius notices twelve books of his, and 
 praises both their composition and their matter. — Sec 
 Eusebius as above, Jerome in the preface to Hosea, 
 Fhotius, cod. 118, 119 ; Fjnphanius, 69, 2 ; Zardncr, part ii. 
 book i. chap. 24 ; &c. 
 
 ^ Lai'daer (part ii. book i. chap, xxiv.) does not tliink that tlicre was 
 a commentary written by Pierius on this epistk^ but only that the 
 word of Paul, nientionetl behjw, was e.xjiounded at lonj^'th in some work 
 or other by Pierius. Fabricius holds the opposite opiuiou. — Tr.
 
 400 THE WRITINGS OF FIERI US. 
 
 I. 
 
 A Fragment of a Work of Pierius on the First Epistle 
 OF Paul to the Corinthians. 
 
 This very brief quotation is preserved in Jerome's Second EpLstle to 
 PammacMus. Thus : 
 
 Origen, Dionysius, Pierius, Eusebius of Caesareia, Didy- 
 mus, and Apollinaris, have interpreted this epistle most 
 copiously (latissimc) ; of whom Pierius, when he was 
 expounding and unfolding the meaning of the apostle, 
 and purposed to explain the words. For I tvould that all 
 men were even as I myself} added this remark : In saying 
 this, Paul, without disguise, preaches celibacy (vol. iv. 
 p. 243, edit. Benedictin). 
 
 II. 
 A SECTION ON THE WPJTINGS OF PIEEIUS. 
 
 From the Bibliotheca of Photius, cod. 119, p. 300, ed. Hoeschel.] 
 
 Different Discourses of the Preshyter Pierius. 
 
 There was read a book by Pierius the presbyter, who, 
 they say, endured the conflict (of martjTdom) for Christ, 
 along with his brother Isidorus. And he is reputed to have 
 been the teacher of the martyr Pamphilus in ecclesiastical 
 studies, and to have been president of the school at Alex- 
 andria. The work contained twelve books {X6yo\ig). And 
 in style he is perspicuous and clear, with the easy flow, 
 as it were, of a spoken address, displajang no signs of 
 laboured art {IviiliXh, hdBixrjfMivog), but bearing us quietly 
 along, smoothly and gently, like off-hand speaking. And 
 in argument he is most fertile, if any one is so. And he 
 expresses his opinion on many things outside what is now 
 established in the Church, perhaps in an antique manner : 
 but with respect to the Father and the Son, he sets forth his 
 ^ 1 Cor. vii. 7.
 
 FRAUMEMS. 401 
 
 sentiments piously, except that lie speaks of two substances 
 and two natures; using, however, the terms substance and 
 nature, as is apparent from what follows, and from what 
 precedes tliis passage, in the sense of person (u-rosraaig) and 
 not in the sense put on it by the adherents of Arius. AVith 
 respect to the Spirit, however, he lays down his opinion in 
 a very dangerous and far from pious manner. For he 
 affirms that He is inferior to the Father and the Son in 
 glory. He has a passage also in the book (s/; rov /.6yoi) 
 entitled, On the Gospel according to Luke, from which it 
 is possible to show that the honour or dishonour of the 
 image is also tlie honour or dishonour of the original. 
 And, again, he indulges in some obscure speculations, after 
 the manner of the nonsense of Origen, on the suliject of tlie 
 " pre-existence of souls." And also in the book on the 
 Passover (Easter) and on Hosea, he treats both of the 
 cherubim made by Moses, and of the pillar of Jacob, in 
 which passages he admits the actual construction of those 
 things, but propounds the foolish theory that they were 
 given economically, and that they were in no respect like 
 other things which are made ; inasmuch as tliey bore the 
 likeness of no other form, but had only, as he foolishly says, 
 the appearance of wings.^ 
 
 MALCHION, 
 
 A PEESBYTEIi OF THE CIIUllCII OF ANTIOCH. 
 
 BIOGEArHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 Eusebius {llid. EccL, vii. 29) speaks of Maldiion as a 
 man accomplished in other branches of learning («»;/» ra n 
 
 1 The text here is evidently corrupt. It runs thu.s : oUoi>of*.iei{ li 
 "hoyu avyx^p/t&^Doti fioi.-vxio'hoyu u; ovOiu vjioi!/ u: tTtox ri '/i'/(»r,un>et. 
 u; oi/Oi rifzov oi'h'Kov i^ips fioolffi;, ocXAot /aoixii/ rrrtovyusi KmoMyu TtOUf 
 ctvTx a%riU.oi. Hoe.sclieliiis propo.ses <u; ovhiv ^oui>, u; 'irtpov *i<Jitv, iii 
 inpcc, &c. ; and lie rejects the u; in u; ovhiv ri/xov on the authority oi 
 four codices. — Tu.
 
 402 THE WniTINGS OF MALCJJWN. 
 
 a)Xa 'Koytoi), and well-vcrscd in Greek letters in particular, 
 and as liolding the presidency of the Sophists' school at 
 Antioch. Jerome {De viris illustr., ch. 71) says that he 
 taught rhetoric most successfully in the same city. Nor 
 was it only that he excelled in secular erudition ; but for 
 the earnest sincerity of his Christian faith he obtained the 
 dignity of presbyter in the church of that place, as Eusebius 
 also tells us. He took part in the Synod of Antioch, whicli 
 Eusebius calls the final council, and which Gallandi and 
 others call the second, in opposition to Pearson, who holds 
 that there was but one council at Antioch. This synod met 
 apparently about 269, and dealt with Paul of Samosata, who 
 had introduced the heresy of Artemon into the Chm'ch of 
 Antioch; and Eusebius says that Malchion was the only 
 one who, in the discussion which took place there with the 
 arch-heretic, and which was taken down by stenographers 
 who were present, was able to detect the subtle and crafty 
 sentiments of the man. Paul's real opinions being thus 
 unveiled, after he had baffled the acuteness of his ecclesias- 
 tical judges for some time, he was at length convicted ; and 
 the discussion was published, and a synodical epistle was 
 sent on the subject to Dionysius, bishop of Eome, and to 
 Maximus of Alexandria, and to all the provinces, which, 
 according to Jerome {De vir. illustr., ch. 71), was \^Titten by 
 Malchion, and of which we have extracts in Eusebius 
 (vii. 30). 
 
 The Epistle written by Malchion, in name of the Synod 
 OF Antioch, against Paul of Samosata. 
 
 (In Eusebius, vii. 30.) 
 
 To Dionysius and ]\Iaximus, and to all our fellows in the 
 ministry throughout the world, both bishops and presbyters 
 and deacons, and to the whole Catholic Church under 
 heaven, Helenus and Hymena^us and Theoi)hilus and Theo- 
 tecnus and Maximus, Proclus, Nicomas and Aelianus, and 
 Paul and Bolanus and ProtoQ'enes and Hierax and Eutychius
 
 FRAG MEMS. 4(i3 
 
 and Theodorus and jNIalcliion and Lucius, and all the others 
 who are with us, dwelling in the neighbouring cities and 
 nations, both bishops and presbyters and deacons, together 
 wath the churches of God, send greeting to our brethren 
 beloved in the Lord. 
 
 1. After some few introductory words, they proceed thus : 
 — AVe wrote to many of the bishops, even those who live at 
 a distance, and exhorted them to give their help in relieving 
 us from this deadly doctrine ; among these, we addi-esscd, 
 for instance, Dionysius, the bishop of Alexandria, and Fir- 
 milian of Cappadocia, those men of blessed name. Of these, 
 the one wrote to Antioch without even deigning to honour 
 the leader in this error by addressing him ; nor did he write 
 to him in his own name, but to the whole district (^apoixicf.), 
 of which letter we have also subjoined a copy. And Fir- 
 milian, who came twice in person, condemned the innova- 
 tions in doctrine, as we who were present know and bear 
 witness, and as many others know as well as we. But when 
 he (Paul) promised to give up these opinions, he believed 
 him ; and hoping that, without any reproach to the A\'ord, 
 the matter would be rightly settled, he postponed his 
 decision ; in wliich action, however, he was deceived by that 
 denier of his God and Lord, and betrayer of the faith whicli 
 he formerly held. And now Firmilian was minded to cross 
 to Antioch ; and he came as far as Tarsus, as having already 
 made trial of the man's infidel (apvrjdidkv) iniquity. But 
 when we had just assembled, and were calling for liini and 
 waiting for his arrival, his end came upon liim. 
 
 2. After other matters again, they tell us in the following 
 terms of what manner of life he was : — But there is no need 
 of judging his actions when he was outside (the Church), 
 w'hen he revolted from the faith and turned aside t<> 
 spurious and illegitimate doctrines. Nor need we say any 
 thing of such matters as this, that, whereas he wa.s formeily 
 poor and beggarly, having neither inherited a single posses- 
 sion from his fathers, nor acquired any property by art or 
 by any trade, he has now come lo have excessive wealtli by 
 liis deeds of iiii(|uity ami sacrilege, and by tliose means by
 
 404 THE WIUTIXGS OF MALClllON. 
 
 ^vllich lie despoils and concusses the brethren, casting- the 
 injured unfairly in their suit/ and promising to help them 
 for a price, yet deceiving them all the while and to their 
 loss, taking advantage of the readiness of those in difficulties 
 to give in order to get deliverance from what troubled 
 them, and thus supposing that gain is godliness.- Neither 
 need I say any thing about his pride and the haughtiness 
 with which he assumed worldly dignities, and his wishing 
 to be styled procurator^ rather than bishop, and his strutting 
 through the market-places, and reading letters and reciting 
 them {yrtayofiLoiv) as he walked in public, and his being 
 escorted by multitudes of people going before liim and fol- 
 lowing him ; so that he brought ill-will and hatred on the 
 faith by his haughty demeanour and by the arrogance of 
 his heart. Nor shall I say any tiling of the quackery 
 which he practises in the ecclesiastical assemblies, in the 
 way of courting popularity and making a gTeat parade, 
 and astounding by such arts the minds of the less sophis- 
 ticated ; nor of his setting up for himself a lofty tri- 
 bunal and throne, so unlike a discij)le of Christ; nor of 
 his having a secretum^ and calling it by that name, after 
 the manner of the rulers of this world ; nor of his striking 
 his thigh with his hand and beating the tribunal with his 
 feet ; nor of his censuring and insulting those who did not 
 applaud him nor shake their handkerchiefs,^ as is done in 
 the theatres, nor bawl out and leap about after the manner of 
 his partisans, both male and female, who were such dis- 
 orderly listeners to him, but chose to hear reverently and 
 modestly as in the house of God ; nor of his unseemly and 
 \dolent attacks in the congregation upon the expounders of 
 the AVord who have already departed this life, and his magni- 
 
 1 x«T«/3j5s£/3it)wj/, perhaps=receiviiig bribes from. - 1 Tim. vi. 5. 
 
 ^ aovx-rivotpto;, the name given under tbe Emperors to those procura- 
 tors who received 200 sestertia of annual salary. 
 
 * aiix-prfrov (from the Latin secerno, to separate) was the name given to 
 the elevated place, railed in and curtained, where the magistrate sat to 
 decide cases. 
 
 ^ KXTxaziovixi TOil; 666uccts, alluding to the custom of sliakiiig the 
 orana or linen handkerchiefs as a token of applause.
 
 FRAUMKXTS. 40,j 
 
 fying of himself, not like a bishop, hut like a soplii^t and 
 juggler; nor of his putting a stop to the psalms sung iu honour 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the recent compositions of recent 
 men, and preparing women to sing psalms in honour nf 
 himself in the midst of the Church, in the great day of the 
 Paschal festival, which choristers one might shudder to hear. 
 And besides, he acted on those bishops and presbyters, who 
 fawned upon him in the neighbouring districts and cities, to 
 advance the like opinions in their discourses to their people. 
 
 3. For we may say, to anticipate a little what we intend 
 to \STite below, that he does not wish to acknowledge that 
 the Son of God came down from heaven. And this is a 
 statement wliich shall not be made to depend on simple asser- 
 tion; for it is proved abundantly by those memoranda whith 
 we sent you, and not least by that passage in which he says 
 that Jesus Christ is from below. And they who sing his 
 praise and eidogise him among the people, declare that their 
 impious teacher has come down as an angel from heaven. 
 And such utterances the haughty man does not check, but 
 is present even when they are made. And then again there 
 are these women — these adopted sisters,^ as the peojile of 
 Autioch call them — who are kept by him and by the presby- 
 ters and deacons with him, whose incurable sins in this and 
 other matters, though he is cognisant of them, and has con- 
 A'icted them, he connives at concealing, with the view of 
 keeping the men subservient to himself, and preventing 
 them, by fear for their own position, from daring to accuse 
 him in the matter of his impious words and deeds. Besides 
 this, he has made liis followers rich, and for that he is loved 
 and admired by those who set their hearts on these things. 
 But why should we write of these things ? For. beloved, 
 we know that the bishop and all tlie clergy (itpartm) ought 
 
 ^ avvii7ot.x.Tov; yvi/ocixct;, ])riests'-lioust'keeperp. Sec Lanf,'e on Nitf- 
 jdiorus, vi. 30, and 1'. Ixlunanus on llutinu.s, vii. The third canon «)f 
 the Nicene Council in the Code.v Corl)eien.si.s has this title, De subin- 
 trodiidis id f.s< adopthns sororibits, 0/ the subintmduced, that i'.*, the 
 adopted sisters. See also on the abuse, Jerome, in the Kpij<tle to Ktts- 
 tochius. They appear also to have Iteen call''1 '""• """•• »'"■• :ni<l nn<ip' fir. 
 See the. note of Valesius in Minnie. —Ta.
 
 406 THE WRITINGS OF MALClllON. 
 
 to be an example in all good works to the people. Nor are 
 we ignorant of the fact that many have fallen away through 
 introducing these women into their houses, while others 
 have fallen under suspicion. So that, even although one 
 should admit that he has been doing nothing disgraceful in 
 this matter, yet he ought at least to have avoided the sus- 
 picion that springs out of such a course of conduct, lest 
 ])erchance some might be offended, or find inducement to 
 imitate him. For how, then, shoidd any one censure another, 
 or warn him to beware of yielding to greater familiarity 
 with a woman, lest perchance he might slip, as it is written : ^ 
 if, although he has dismissed one, he has still retained two 
 with him, and these in the bloom of their youth, and of fair 
 counteuan(3e ; and if when he goes away he takes them with 
 him ; and all this, too, while he indulges in luxury and sur- 
 feiting ? 
 
 4. And on account of these things all are groaning and 
 lamenting Avith themselves ; yet they have such a dread of 
 liis tyranny and power that they cannot venture on accusing 
 him. And of these things, as we have said already, one 
 miffht take account in the case of a man who held catholic 
 sentiments and belonged to our own number ; but as to one 
 who has betrayed (ggop^Jiffa/xsvov, danced away) the mystery 
 (of the faith), and who swaggers (-vxTo/xcrsioi/ra) with the 
 abominable heresy of Artemas (for why should we hesitate 
 to disclose Ms father ?), we consider it unnecessary to exact 
 of him an account for these things. 
 
 5. Then at the close of the epistle they add the following 
 vwrds : — We have been compelled, therefore, to exconmiuni- 
 cate this man, who thus opposeth God Himself, and refuses 
 submission, and to appoint in his place another bishop for the 
 Church catholic, and that, as we trust, by the providence of 
 God — namely, the son of Demetrianus, a man of blessed 
 memory, and one who presided over the same Church with 
 distinction in former times, Domnus by name, a man en- 
 dowed with all the noble qualities which become a bishop. 
 And this fact we have communicated to you in order that 
 
 1 Eeferrini,^ either to Proverbs vi. or to Ecclesiasticus xxv.
 
 FRAGMEXTS. 407 
 
 ye may write him, and receive letters of commuuiou^ fruin 
 him. And that other may MTite to Artemas, if it please 
 liim ; and those who think with Artemas may hold com- 
 munion with him, if they are so minded. 
 
 II. 
 
 Fragments apparkntly of the same Eimstle of the Synod 
 OF Antioch ; to wit, of that part of it which it is 
 
 AGREED THAT EUSEBIUS LEFT UNNOTICED. 
 [In Lcontius of Byzantium, contra Nestor., book iii., towards the end.] 
 
 He says, therefore, in the commentaries (they speak of 
 I*aul), that he maintains the dignity of wisdom. 
 And thereafter: 
 
 If, however, he had been united (copulatus crnt) according 
 to formation and generation, this is M'hat befalls the man. 
 And again : For that wisdom, as we believe, was not con- 
 generate {congencratam) with humanity substantially, but 
 qualitatively {secundum qualitatem). 
 And thcreriftcr : 
 
 In what respect, moreover, does he mean to allege that 
 the formation {formationem) of Christ is different and 
 diverse from ours, when we liold that, in this one thing of 
 
 ^ x-oiuuvix-d. yo»t4,y.*Tx. On this Valesius gives the foUowin;^ note : — 
 The Latins call these littcrce comv\unicatori<B , the use of which is of 
 very ancient date in tlie Church. They called the sanie also formatce, 
 as Augustine witnesses in Epistle 163. There were, moreover, two 
 kinds cif them. For there were some which were given to the clerg}' 
 and laity when about to travel, that they might be admitted to com- 
 munion by foreign bishops. And there were others which bishop:^ 
 were in the way of sending to other bishops, and which they in turn 
 received from others, for the purpose of attesting their intercommunion ; 
 of which sort the Synod speaks here. These were usually sent by 
 recently-ordained bishops soon after their ordination. Augustine, 
 Epistle 102 ; Cyprian, in the Epistle to Conielius,p. 92 ; and the Synoili- 
 cal Epistle of the Coimcil of Sardica, appear to refer to these, though 
 thev may refer also to \'\\(t formatce.
 
 408 THE WRITINGS OF MALCIIION. 
 
 prime consequence, His constitution differs from ours, to 
 wit, that what in us is the interior man, is in Him the 
 ■Word.i 
 
 And thereafter: 
 
 If he means to allege that Wisdom dwells in Him as in 
 no other, this expresses indeed the same mode of inhabita- 
 tion, though it makes it excel in respect of measure and 
 multitude ; He being supposed to derive a superior know- 
 ledge from the Wisdom, say for example, twice as large as 
 others, or any other number of times as large ; or, again, it 
 may be less than twice as large a knowledge as others have. 
 This, however, the catholic and ecclesiastical canons disallow, 
 and hold rather that other men indeed received of Wisdom 
 as an inspiration from without, which, though with them, is 
 distinct from them (cdia est apud iinos) ; but that Wisdom 
 in verity came of itself substantially into His body by Mary. 
 And after other matters : 
 
 And they hold that there are not two Sons. But if Jesus 
 Christ is the Son of God, and if Wisdom also is the Son of 
 God; and if the Wisdom is one thing and Jesus Clirist 
 another, there are two Sons. 
 
 And thereafter: 
 
 Moreover understand (Paul would say) the union with 
 the Wisdom in a different sense, namely as being one accord- 
 ing to instruction and participation ; - but not as if it were 
 formed according to the substance in the body. 
 And after other matters: 
 
 Neither was the God who bore the human body and had 
 assumed it, without knowledge (exjjers) of human affections 
 {passionum, sufferings) in the first instance {principalitcr) ; 
 nor was the human body without knowledge, in the first 
 instance, of divine operations in him in whom He (the God) 
 
 ^ We .saj', tliat as the exterior and the iiiteiior man are one person, 
 so God the Word and humanity have been assumed as one person, a 
 thing which Paul denies. — Can. 
 
 2 Secundum disciplinam et participationem. Paul of Samosata used 
 to say that the humanity was united with the Wisdom as instruction 
 (discij^lina) is united witli the learner by iiarticipation. — Can.
 
 lUA(iMi:M\'S. 409 
 
 was, and by whom He wrought these operations. lie was 
 formed, in the first instance, as man in the woml^ ; and, 
 in the second instance,^ the God also was in the womb, 
 united essentially with the human {awovaiuiMho; rQ ai-iJ^wrA'^), 
 that is to say, His substance being wedded with the man. 
 
 III. 
 
 Feom the Acts of the Disputation conducted by 
 jNIalchion against Paul of Samos.vta. 
 
 [In Petrus Diacoims, l)e Incarnat. ad Fulgentiiim, cli. G. Among the 
 works of Fulguntius, Epistle 16.] 
 
 The compound is surely made up of the simple elements 
 (ex simplicibics jit certc compositum), even as in the instance 
 of Jesus Christ, who was made one (person), constituted by 
 God the Word, and a human body which is of the seed of 
 David, and who subsists without having any manner of divi- 
 sion between the two, but in unity. You, however, appear to 
 me to decline to admit a constitution {com2)ositio7ic7n)ahev this 
 fashion : to the effect that there is not in this person, the Son 
 of God according to substance, but only tlie Wisdom accord- 
 ing to participation. For you made this assertion, that the 
 Wisdom bears dispensing, and therefore cannot be com- 
 pounded ;- and you do not consider that the divine Wi.sdom 
 remained undiminished, even as it was before it evacuated 
 itself (exinanissct) ; and thus in this self-evacuation, wliich 
 it took upon itself in compassion (for us), it continued 
 undiminished and unchangeable. And this assertion you 
 also make, that the Wisdom dwelt in Him, just as we also 
 dweU in houses, the one in the otlicr,^ and yet not as if we 
 formed a part of the house, or the house a part of us. 
 
 ^ Secundaria, i.e. kxtcc Ozirnpov Xsyov. — Turridii. 
 
 * Quia sapientia dii^pcndium patiatur et ideo composita esse non possit — 
 the sense intended being perhaps just that Paul alleged that the divine 
 AVisdoni admitted of being disjiensed or imparted to another, but not 
 of being substantially unit(d witli him. — Tr. 
 
 •* Some read alter in <tlliru, otiiurs alter in altera.
 
 410 THE WHITINGS OF ANATOLI US. 
 
 IV. 
 
 [From the same Acts in Leontius, as above.] 
 
 Did I not say before that you do not admit that the only- 
 begotten Son, who is from all eternity before every creature, 
 was made substantially existent {ohaiuadai) in the whole 
 person of the Saviour (m toto Salvatore) ; that is to say, was 
 united (with Him) according to substance ? 
 
 ANATOLIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, 
 
 BISHOP OF LAODICEA, IX SYRIA. 
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 From Jerome [De illustr. viris., ch. 73) we learn that 
 Anatolius flourished in the reign of Probus and Carus, that 
 he was a native of Alexandria, and that he became bishop 
 of Laodicea. Eusebius gives a somewhat lengthened account 
 of him in the 32d chapter of the seventh book of his 
 Ecclesiastical History, and speaks of him in terms of the 
 strongest laudation, as one surpassing all the men of his 
 time in learning and science. He tells us that he attained 
 the highest eminence in arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, 
 besides being a great proficient also in dialectics, physics, 
 and rhetoric. His reputation was so great among the Alex- 
 andrians that they are said to have requested him to open a 
 school for teaching the Aristotelian philosophy in their city. 
 He did great service to his fellow-citizens in Alexandria on 
 their being besieged by the Eomans in a.d. 262, and was 
 the means of saving the lives of numbers of them. After 
 this he is said to have passed into Syria, where Theotecnus, 
 the bishop of Caesareia, ordained him, destining him to be 
 his own successor in the bishopric. After this, however, 
 having occasion to travel to Antioch to attend the synod 
 convened to deal with the case of Paul of Samosata, as he 
 passed through the city of Laodicea, he was detained by the 
 people and made bishop of the place, in succession to Euse-
 
 FRAGMK.XTS. 411 
 
 bius. This must have Ijeen about tlie year 270 a.d. How 
 long he held that dignity, however, we do not know. 
 Eusebius tells us that he did not write many books, but yet 
 enough to show us at once his eloquence and his erudition. 
 Among these was a treatise on the Chronolony of EaMer, of 
 which a considerable extract is preserved in Eusebius. The 
 book itself exists now only in a Latin version, which is 
 generally ascribed to Eufinus, and which was published by 
 -^gidius Bucherius in Ids Doctrina Teyi^iorum, which was 
 issued at Antwerp in 1G34. Anotlier work of his was the 
 Institutes of Arithmetic, of wliicli we have some frajmients 
 in the koXoyoliuva Tr,g dpiO/i-rirr/.r^g wliich, was published at 
 Paris in 1543. Some small fragments of his mathematical 
 works, which have also come down to us, were published 
 by Fabricius in his Bihliotheca Grccca, iii. p. 4G2. 
 
 THE PASCHAL CANON OF ANATOLIUS 
 OF ALEXxVNDRIA, 
 
 [First edited from au ancient nianusciii)t by .^gidius Buclieriua, 
 of the Society of Jesus.] 
 
 As we are about to si)eak on the subject of the order of 
 the times and alternations of the world, we sliall first dispose 
 of the positions of diverse calculators ; who, by reckoning 
 only by the course of tlie moon, and leaving out of account 
 the ascent and descent of the sun, with the addition of 
 certain problems, have constructed diverse periods (circulos), 
 seK-contradictory, and such as are never found in the 
 reckoning of a true computation ; since it is certain that no 
 mode of computation is to be ajtproved, in Nvhicli these two 
 measures are not found together. For even in the ancient 
 exemplars, tliat is, in the books of the Hebrews and d reeks, 
 we find not only the course of the moon, but also tliat of tlie 
 sun, and, indeed, not simply its course in the gencrae (f/rcssuji), 
 but even the separate and ndnutest moments of its hours all
 
 412 riii<: \yjiiTL\(;s of anatotaus. 
 
 calculatud, as we shall sliow at the proper time, when tlie 
 matter in hand demands it. Of these Hippolytus made up 
 a period of sixteen years with certain imknown courses of 
 tlie moon. Others have reckoned by a period of twenty-five 
 years, others by thirty, and some by eighty-four years, 
 without, however, teaching thereby an exact method of cal- 
 culating Easter. But our predecessors, men most learned 
 in the books of the Hebrews and Greeks (I mean Isidore 
 and Jerome and Clement), althougli they have noted dis- 
 similar beginnings for the montlis, just as they differ also 
 in language, have, nevertheless, come harmoniously to one 
 and the same most exact reckoning of Easter, day and month 
 and season meeting in accord with the highest honour for 
 the Lord's resurrection. But Origen also, the most erudite 
 of all, and the acutest in making calculations (a man, too, to 
 whom the epithet y(^a,x-/.iUT7]g^ is given), has published in a 
 very elegant manner a little book on Easter. And in this 
 book, while declaring, with respect to the day of Easter, that 
 attention must be given not only to the course of the moon 
 and the transit of the equinox, but also to the passage 
 (traoisccnsum) of the sun, which removes every foul ambush 
 and offence of all darkness, and brings on the advent of light 
 and the power and inspiration of the elements of the whole 
 world, he speaks thus : In the (matter of the) day of Easter, 
 he remarks, I do not say that it is to be observed that the 
 Lord's day should be found, and the seven ^ days of the 
 moon which are to elapse, but that the sun should pass that 
 division, to wit, between light and darkness, constituted in 
 an equality by the dispensation of the Lord at the beginning 
 of the world ; and that, from one hour to two hours, from 
 two to three, from three to four, from four to five, from five 
 to six hours, while the light is increasing in the ascent of 
 
 the sun, the darkness should decrease,^ and the 
 
 addition of the twentieth niunber being completed, twelve 
 
 ^ i.e. "smitli" or "brasier," probaWy from liis assiduitii. 
 ~ Limae vii. Perhaps, as Buclier conjectui-es, Limae xiv., fourteen 
 days, &c. 
 
 2 The text is doubtful and corrui't here.
 
 1 n AG ME MS. 41:3 
 
 parts should be su])plieJ in one and the same day. But if 
 I should liave attenq^ted to add any little drop of mine 
 {aliqiLxd stillicidii) after the exuberant streams of the 
 eloquence and science of some, what else should there 
 be to believe but that it should be ascribed by all to 
 ostentation, and (to speak more truly) to madness, did 
 not the assistance of your promised prayers animate us 
 for a little ? For we believe that nothing is impossible to 
 your power of prayer, and to your faith. Strengthened, 
 therefore, by this confidence, we shall set bashfulness aside, 
 and shall enter this most deep and unforeseen sea of tlie 
 obscurest calculation, in which swelling questions antl 
 problems surge around us on all sides. 
 
 II. 
 
 There is, then, in the first year, the new moon of the 
 first month, which is the beginning of every cycle of nine- 
 teen years, on the six and twentieth day of the month called 
 by the Eg\q)tians Phamenoth. But, according to the montlis 
 of the j\Iacedonian.s, it is on the tM'o-aiid-twentieth day of 
 Dystrus. And, as the Eomans would say, it is on the 
 eleventh day before the Kalends of April. Now the sun is 
 found on the said six-and-twentieth day of riiamenoth, not 
 only as having mounted to the first segment, but as already 
 passing the i'ourth day in it. And this segment tliey are 
 accustomed to call the first dodecatemorion (twelfth part), 
 and the equinox, and the beginning of months, and the 
 head of the cycle, and the starting-])oint^ of the cour.se of the 
 planets. And the segment before this they call the last of 
 the months, and the twelfth segment, and the last dodecate- 
 morion, and the end of the circuit {mptCbou) of the planets. 
 And for this reason, also, we maintain that tliose who place 
 the first month in it, and who determine the fourteenth day 
 of the Paschal season by it, make no trivial or common 
 blunder. 
 
 ^ The Avonl is Alpiaig, wliicli Vali'.^ius makos equivalent to elt-rr.oi'x, 
 the rope or po.st from whicli the chariots started in the race, and so=ai 
 etarting-point. — Tu.
 
 414 THE WIUTINGS OF ANATOLI US. 
 
 III. 
 
 Nor is this an opinion confined to ourselves alone. For 
 it was also known to the Jews of old and before Christ, and 
 it was most carefully observed by them.^ And this may be 
 learned from what Philo, and Josephus, and Musseus have 
 written ; and not only from these, bnt indeed from others 
 still more ancient, namely, the two Agathobuli,^ who were 
 surnamed the Masters, and the eminent Aristobulus," who 
 was one of the seventy who translated the sacred and holy 
 Scriptures of the Hebrews for Ptolemy Philadelphus and 
 his father, and dedicated his exegetical books on the law of 
 Moses to the same kings. These writers, in solving some 
 questions which are raised with respect to Exodus, say 
 that all alike ought to sacrifice the Passover (?« diaidri-ripia 
 '^■jsiv) after the vernal equinox in the middle of the first 
 month. And that is found to be when the sun passes 
 through the first segment of the solar, or, as some among 
 them have named it, the zodiacal cii'cle. 
 
 ^ -^po; oci/rZv — others read -^po, before them. 
 
 2 Anatolius -writes that there were two Agathobuli with the siir- 
 name Masters ; but I fear that he is wrong in his opinion that they 
 were more ancient than Philo and Josephns. For Agathobuliis, 
 the philosopher, flourished in the tianes of Adrian, as Eusebius writes 
 in his Clironicon, and after him Georgius Syncellus. — Vales. 
 
 ^ ' ApioTofiov'Aov rov Trxuu — Rufinus erroneously renders it Aristobulum 
 ex Paneade, Aristobulus of Paneas. Scaliger also, in his Animadvcr- 
 sioncs EiLsehiana, p, 130, strangely thinks that the text should be 
 corrected from the version of Rutinus. And Bede, ia his De Rations 
 Computi, also follows the faulty rendering of Rufinus, and writes Aris- 
 tobulus et Paniada, as though the latter word were the proper name of a 
 Je\vish writer, finding probably in the Codex of Rufinus, wliich he pos- 
 sessed, the reading Aristobulus et Paneada, which indeed is found in a 
 very ancient Paris manuscript, and also in the Codex Corbeiensis. But 
 that that Aristobulus was not one of the seventy translators, as Anatolius 
 wTites, is proved by Scaliger in the work cited above. This Aristobulus 
 was also surnamed B^oao-xaAoj, or Master, as we see from the Maccabees, 
 ii. 1. Por I do not agree with Scaliger in distinguishing this Aristo- 
 bulus, of whom mention is made in the Maccabees, from the Peripatetic 
 philosopher who dedicated lus Commentaries on the Law of Moses to 
 Ptolemy Philometor. — Vales.
 
 FHAGMENTS. 41. 
 
 TV. 
 
 But tins Aristobulus also adds, that for the feast of the 
 Passover it was necessaiy not only that the sun should pass 
 the equinoctial segment, but the moon also. For as there are 
 two equinoctial segments, the vernal and the autumnal, and 
 these diametrically opposite to each other, and since the day 
 of the Passover is fixed for the fourteenth day of the month, 
 in the evening, the moon will have the position diametrically 
 opposite the sun; as is to be seen in full moons. And the 
 sun will thus be in the segment of the vernal equinox, and 
 the moon necessarily will be at the autumnal equinox. 
 
 T am aware that very many other matters were discussed 
 by them, some of them with considerable probability, and 
 others of them as matters of the clearest demonstration,^ by 
 which they endeavour to prove that the festival of the 
 Passover and unleavened bread ought by all means to be 
 kept after the equinox. But I shall pass on without de- 
 manding such copious demonstrations (on subjects-) from 
 which the veil of the Mosaic hiw has been removed ; for now 
 it remains for us with unveiled face to behold ever as in a 
 glass Christ Himself and the doctrines and sufferings of 
 Christ. But that the first month among the Hebrews is 
 about the equinox, is clearly shown also by what is taught in 
 the book of Enoch.^ 
 
 ^ Kvpixjccc; xvooiilii? — Cliristophorsonus renders it ratas ; Riifinua 
 gives validissimas assertiones. The Greelcs u.sc x-Cpio; in this si-nso, 
 xvplxi oUxi, 16^x1, &c., decisive, ra^'J, judgment.'^, opinions, &c. 
 
 ■^ The text gives dTrxiruv uv Tiptfip/trxi, 6ic. ; various codices read 
 uv xvrau, &c. Valesiu.s now i)roposes vJ^x; eiTrxnun' ^ "x^tpifip/rrxi, I 
 shall pass on without .... for the veil is removed from me. 
 
 ^ An apocryphal book of some antiquity, which professes to proceed 
 from the i)aliiarch of that name, Init of wliose existence prior to the 
 Cliristian era there is no real evidence. The lirst author who clearly 
 rclers to it by name is Tertullian. — Tii.
 
 416 THE WRITINGS OF ANATOLIUS. 
 
 VI. 
 
 And, therefore, in this concurrence of the sun and moon, 
 the Paschal festival is not to be celebrated, because as long 
 as they are found in this course the power of darkness is not 
 overcome ; and as long as equality between light and dark- 
 ness endures, and is not diminished by the light, it is shown 
 that the Paschal festival is not to be celebrated. Accord- 
 ingly, it is enjoined that that festival be kept after the 
 equinox, because the moon of the fourteenth,^ if before the 
 equinox or at the equinox, does not fill the whole night. But 
 after the equinox, the moon of the fourteenth, with one day 
 being added because of the passing of the equinox, although 
 it does not extend to the true light, that is, the rising of the 
 sun and the beginning of day, will nevertheless leave no 
 darkness behind it. And, in accordance with this, Moses is 
 charged by the Lord to keep seven days of unleavened 
 bread for the celebration of the Passover, that in them no 
 power of darkness should be found to surpass the light. 
 And although the outset of four nights begins to be dark, 
 that is, the 17th and 18th and 19th and 20th, yet the 
 moon of the 20th, which rises before that, does not permit 
 the darkness to extend on even to midnight. 
 
 VII. 
 
 To us, however, with whom it is impossible for all these 
 things to come aptly at one and the same time, namely, the 
 moon's fourteenth, and the Lord's day, and the passing of the 
 equinox, and whom the obligation of the Lord's resurrection 
 binds to keep the Paschal festival on the Lord's day, it is 
 granted that we may extend the beginning of our celebra- 
 tion even to the moon's twentieth. For although the moon 
 of the 20th does not fill the whole night, yet, rising as it 
 does in the second watch, it illumines the greater part of 
 
 ^ xiv. hina. The Romans used tlie phrase lima prima, secunda, &c., 
 as meanin.?, the first, second day, Sec, after new moon. — Tr.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 417 
 
 the night. Certainly if the rising of the moon should be 
 delayed on to the end of two watches, that is to say, to 
 midnight, the light would not then exceed the darkness, 
 but the darkness the light. But it is clear that in the 
 Paschal feast it is not possible that any part of the darkness 
 should surpass the light; for the festival of the Lord's 
 resurrection is (one of) light, and there is no fellowship 
 between light and darkness. And if the moon should 
 rise in the third watch, it is clear that the 22d or 23d of 
 the moon would then be reached, in which it is not pos- 
 sible that there can be a true celebration of Easter. For 
 those who determine that the festival may be kept at this 
 age of the moon, are not only unable to make that good by 
 the authority of Scripture, but turn also into the crime of 
 sacrilege and contumacy, and incur the peril of their soids ; 
 inasmuch as they affirm that the true light may be cele- 
 brated along with something of that power of darkness 
 which dominates all. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Accordingly, it is not the case, as certain calculators of 
 Gaul allege, that this assertion is opposed by that passage 
 in Exodus,^ where we read : " In the first month, on the 
 fourteenth day of the first month, at even, ye shall eat 
 unleavened bread until the one-and-twentieth day of tlie 
 month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found 
 in your houses." From this they maintain that it is quite 
 permissible to celebrate the Passover on the twenty-first 
 day of the moon; imderstandiug that if the twenty-second 
 day were added, there would be found eight days of 
 unleavened bread. A thing which cannot be found with 
 any probability, indeed, in the Old Testament, as the Lurd, 
 through Moses, gives this charge : " Seven days ye shall eat 
 unleavened bread." ^ Unless perchance the fourteentli day 
 is not reckoned by them among tlie days of unleavened 
 bread with the celebration of the feast ; which, however, is 
 1 Exocl xii. 18, 19. ' Exod. xii. 15 ; Lovit. xxiii. C. 
 
 2 D
 
 418 THE WRITINGS OF ANATOLWS. 
 
 contrary to the Word of the Gospel which says : " Moreover, 
 on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to 
 Jesus."^ And there is no doubt as to its being the fourteentli 
 day on which the disciples asked the Lord, in accordance 
 with tlie custom established for them of old, " Where wilt 
 Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover ? " But 
 they who are deceived with this error maintain this addition, 
 because they do not know that the 13th and 14th, the 14th 
 and 15th, the 15th and 16th, the 16th and 17th, the 17th 
 and 18th, the 18th and 19th, the 19th and 20th, the 20th 
 and 21st days of the moon are each found, as may be most 
 surely proved, within a single day. For every day in the 
 reckoning of the moon does not end in the evening as the 
 same day in respect of number, as it is at its begin- 
 ning in the morning. For the day which in the morning, 
 that is up to the sixth hour and half, is numbered the 13th 
 day of the month, is found at even to be the 14th. "Wliere- 
 fore, also, the Passover is enjoined to be extended on to the 
 21st day at even ; which day, without doubt, in the morning, 
 that is, up to that term of hours which we have mentioned, 
 was reckoned the 20th. Calculate, then, from the end of 
 the 13th ^ day of the moon, which marks the beginning of 
 the 14th, on to the end of the 20th, at which the 21st day 
 also begins, and you wall have only seven days of unleavened 
 bread, in which, by the guidance of the Lord, it has been 
 determined before that the most true feast of the Passover 
 ought to be celebrated. 
 
 IX. 
 
 But what wonder is it that they should have erred in the 
 matter of the 21st day of the moon who have added three 
 days before the equinox, in which they hold that the Pass- 
 over may be celebrated ? An assertion which certainly 
 must be considered altogether absurd, since, by the best- 
 known historiographers of the Jews, and by the Seventy 
 
 ^ Matt, xxvi 17 ; Mark xiv. 12 ; Luke xxii. 7. 
 2 But the text gives 12tli.
 
 FRAG MEMS. 419 
 
 Elders, it has been clearly determined that the Paschal 
 festival cannot be celebrated at the equinox. 
 
 X. 
 
 But nothing was difficult to them with whom it was la\s - 
 ful to celebrate the Passover on any day when the four- 
 teenth of the moon happened after the equinox. Following 
 their example up to the present time aU the bishops of 
 Asia (as themselves also receiving the rule from an unim- 
 peachable authority, to wit, the evangelist John, who leant 
 on the Lord's breast, and drank in instructions spiritual 
 without doubt) were in the way of celebrating the Paschal 
 feast, without question, every year, M'henever tlie fourteentli 
 day of the moon had come, and the lamb was sacrificed by 
 the Jaws after the equinox was past ; not acquiescing, so far 
 as regards this matter, with the authority of some, namely, 
 the successors of Peter and Paul, wlio have taught all the 
 churches in which they sowed the spiritual seeds of the 
 Gospel, that the solemn festival of the resurrection of the 
 Lord can be celebrated only on the Lord's day. Whence, 
 also, a certain contention broke out between the successors 
 of these, namely, Victor, at that time bishop of the city of 
 Eome, and Polycrates, wlio then appeared to hold the 
 primacy among the bishops of Asia. And this contention 
 was adjusted most rightfully by Irenreus, at that time pre- 
 sident of a part of Gaul, so that both parties kept by their 
 own order, and did not decline from the original custom of 
 antiquity. The one party, indeed, kept the Paschal day on 
 the fourteenth day of the first month, according to tlie 
 Gospel, as they thought, adding nothing of an extraneous 
 kind, but keeping through all things the rule of faith. And 
 the other party, passing the day of the Lord's Passion as one 
 replete with sadness and grief, hold tliat it should not be 
 lawful to celebrate the Lord's myster}' of the Passover at 
 any other time but on the Lord's day, on wliich the resur- 
 rection of the Lord from death took place, and on which 
 rose also for us tlie cause of everlasting joy. For it is one
 
 420 THE WHITINGS OF ANATOLIUS. 
 
 tiling to act in accordance with the precept given by the 
 apostle, yea, by the Lord Himself, and be sad with the sad, 
 and suffer with him that suffers by the cross, His own word 
 being : " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death ;" ^ 
 and it is another thing to rejoice with the victor as he 
 triumphs over an ancient enemy, and exults with the 
 highest triumph over a conquered adversary, as He Him- 
 self also says : " Eejoice with Me ; for I have found the 
 sheep which I had lost."^ 
 
 XI. 
 
 Moreover, the allegation which they sometimes make 
 against us, that if we pass the moon's fourteenth we cannot 
 celebrate the beginning of the Paschal feast in light {luci- 
 dum), neither moves nor disturbs us. For, although they lay 
 it down as a thing unlawful, that the beginning of the 
 Paschal festival should be extended so far as to the moon's 
 twentieth ; yet they cannot deny that it ought to be ex- 
 tended to the sixteenth and seventeenth, which coincide 
 with the day on which the Lord rose from the dead. But 
 we decide that it is better that it should be extended even 
 on to the twentieth day, on account of the Lord's day, than 
 that we should anticipate the Lord's day on account of the 
 fourteenth day ; for on the Lord's day w^as it that light was 
 shown to us in the beginning, and now also in the end, 
 the comforts of all present and the tokens of all future 
 blessings. For the Lord ascribes no less praise to the 
 twentieth day than to the fourteenth. For in the book of 
 Leviticus^ the injunction is expressed thus : " In the first 
 month, on the fourteenth day of this month, at even, is the 
 Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of this mouth 
 is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord. Seven days 
 ye shall eat unleavened bread. The first day shaU be to 
 you one most diligently attended {celebcrriiimis, honoured, 
 solemn) and holy. Ye shall do no servile work thereon. 
 And the seventh day shall be to you more diligently 
 ^ Matt. xxvi. 38. - Luke xv. 6. ^ Levit. xxiii. 5-7.
 
 FliAGMENTS. 421 
 
 attended (solemn) and holier ; ye shall do no servile work 
 thereon." And hence we maintain that those have con- 
 tracted no guilt before the tribunal of Christ, who have 
 held that tlie beginning of the Paschal festival ou^lit to be 
 extended to this day. And this, too, the must especially, as 
 we are pressed by three difficulties, namely, that we should 
 keep the solemn festival of the Passover on the Lord's 
 day, and after the equinox, and yet not beyond the limit 
 of the moon's twentieth day. 
 
 XII. 
 
 But this again is held by other wise and most acute nun 
 to be an impossibility, because within that narrow and 
 most contracted limit of a cycle of nineteen years, a 
 thoroughly genuine Paschal time, that is to say, one held 
 on the Lord's day and yet after the equinox, cannot occur. 
 But, in order that we may set in a clearer light the 
 difficulty which causes their incredulity, we shall set down, 
 along with the courses of the moon, that cycle of yeare 
 which we have mentioned ; the days being computed before 
 in which the year rolls on in its alternating courses, by 
 Kalends and Ides and Nones, and by the sun's ascent and 
 descent. 
 
 XIIL 
 
 {Tlie moorCs age set forth in the Julian Calendar.) 
 
 January, on the Kalends, one day, the moon's first (day) ; 
 on the Nones, the 5th day, the moon's 5th ; on the Ides, 
 the 13th day, the moon's 13th. On the day before the 
 Kalends of February, tlie 31st day, the moon's 1st ; on the 
 Kalends of February, the 32d day, the moon's 2d ; on the 
 Nones, the 3Gth day, the moon's 6th ; on the Ides, the 44th 
 day, the moon's 14th. On the day before the Kalends of 
 March, the 59th day, the moon's 29th ; on the Kalends of 
 March, the 60th day, the moon's 1st ; on the Nones, the 
 66th day, the moon's 7th ; on the Ides, the 74th day.
 
 422 THE WRITINGS OF ANATOLI US. 
 
 the moon's 15tli. On the day before the Kalends of April, 
 the 90th day, the moon's 2d ; on the Kalends of A])ril, the 
 91st day, the moon's 3d; on the Nones, the 95th day, the 
 moon's 7th; on the Ides, the 103d day, the moon's 15th. 
 On the day before the Kalends of May, the 120th day, the 
 moon's 3d ; on the Kalends of May, the 121st day, the 
 moon's 4th ; on the Nones, the 127th day, the moon's 10th ; 
 on the Ides, the 135th day, the moon's 18th. On the day 
 before the Kalends of June, the 151st day, the moon's 3d; 
 on the Kalends of June, the 152d day, the moon's 5th ; on 
 the Nones, the 153d day, the moon's 9th ; on the Ides, 
 the 164th day, the moon's 17th. On the day before the 
 Kalends of July, the 181st day, the moon's 5 th ; on the 
 Kalends of July, the 182d day, the moon's 6th ; on the 
 Nones, the 188th day, the moon's 12th ; on the Ides, the 
 196th day, the moon's 20th. On the day before the Kalends 
 of August, the 212th day, the moon's 5th; on the Kalends 
 of August, the 213th day, the moon's 7th ; on the Nones, 
 the 217th day, the moon's 12tli ; on the Ides, the 225th day, 
 the moon's 19th. On the day before the Kalends of Sep- 
 tember, the 243d day, the moon's 7th ; on the Kalends of 
 September, the 244th day, the moon's 8th , on the Nones, 
 the 248th day, the moon's 12th; on the Ides, the 256th 
 day, the moon's 20th. On the day before the Kalends of 
 October, the 273d day, the moon's 8th; on the Kalends of 
 October, the 274th day, the moon's 9th; on the Nones, tlie 
 280th day, the moon's 15th; on the Ides, the 288th day, the 
 moon's 23d. On the day before the Kalends of November, 
 the 304th day, the moon's 9th ; on the Kalends of Novem- 
 ber, the 305th day, the moon's 10th; on the Nones, the 
 309th day, the moon's 14th ; on the Ides, the 317th day, the 
 moon's 22d. On the day before the Kalends of December, 
 the 334th day, the moon's 10th ; on the Kalends of Decem- 
 ber, the 335th day, the moon's 11th; on the Nones, the 
 339th day, the moon's 15th ; on the Ides, the 347th day, the 
 moon's 23d. On the day before the Kalends of January, 
 the 365th day, the moon's 11th ; on the Kalends of January, 
 the 366th day, the moon's 12th.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 
 
 423 
 
 XIV. 
 
 [The Paschal {or EoMer) Table of A?iatolitts.] 
 
 Now, then, after the reckoning of the days and the ex- 
 position of the course of the moon, whereon the whole 
 revolves on to its end, the cycle of the years may be set 
 forth from the commencement {annorum circidi jyrincipuun 
 inchoanduvi est). This makes the Passover (Easter season) 
 circulate between the 6th day before the Kalends of April 
 and the 9th before the Kalends of ^lay, according to the 
 foUowinsT table : — 
 
 EQUINOX. 
 
 JIOOX. 
 
 EASTER. 1 iluoX. 
 
 1 
 
 1. Sabbath, . 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 XVth before the Kiik'uds of 
 May, i.e. 17th April, 
 
 XVIIL 
 
 2. Lord's Day, 
 
 VII. 
 
 Kalends of April, i.e. 1st 
 April, .... 
 
 XIV. 
 
 3. ILSD DAY (ferial), 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Xlth before the Kalends of 
 May, i.e. 21st April, 
 
 XVI. 
 
 4. IIIrd day, . 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Ides of April, i.e. 13th April, 
 
 XIX. 
 
 5. IVtii day, . 
 
 X. 
 
 IVth before the Kalends of 
 April, i.e. L'inh iMarch, . 
 
 XIV. 
 
 6. Vxn DAY, . 
 
 XXI. 
 
 XlVth before the Kalends 
 of May, i.e. 18th April, 
 
 XVI. 
 
 7. Sabbath,^ . 
 
 IL 
 
 Vlth before the Kalends of 
 April, i.e. 27th March, 
 
 XVII. 
 
 8. Lord's Day, 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Kalends of April, i.e. Ist 
 April, .... 
 
 XX. 
 
 9. IInd day, . 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 XVIIIth before the Kalends 
 of May, i.e. 14th March, 
 
 XV. 
 
 10. IIIrd day, . 
 
 V. 
 
 Vlllth before the Ides of 
 April, i.e. 6th April, 
 
 XV. 
 
 11. IVtii day, . 
 
 XVI. 
 
 IVth before the Kalends of 
 April, i.e. 29th March, 
 
 XX. 
 
 * Bissextile reckoning.
 
 42i 
 
 THE WRITINGS OF ANATOLIUS. 
 
 EQUINOX. 
 
 MOON. 
 
 EASTER. MOON. 
 
 12. Vth day, . 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Ilird before the Ides of 
 April, i.e. 11th April, 
 
 XV. 
 
 13. VItH DAT, . 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Ilird before the Nones of 
 April, i.e. 3d April, 
 
 XVII. 
 
 14. Sabbath, 
 
 XX. 
 
 IXth before the Kalends of 
 May, i.e. 23d April, 
 
 XX. 
 
 15. Lord's Day, 
 
 I. 
 
 VIth before the Ides of 
 April, i.e. 8th April, 
 
 XV. 
 
 16. IInd day, . 
 
 XII. 
 
 Ilnd before the Kalends of 
 April, i.e. 31st March, 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 17. IVth day,^ , 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 XlVth before the Kalends 
 of May, i.e. 18th April, 
 
 XIX. 
 
 18. Vth day, 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ilnd before the ISTones of 
 April, i.e. 4th April, 
 
 XIV. 
 
 19. VIth day, . 
 
 XV. 
 
 VIth before the Kalends of 
 April, i.e. 27th March, 
 
 XVII. 
 
 XV. 
 
 This cycle of nineteen years is not approved of by certain 
 African investigators who have drawn up larger cycles, 
 because it seems to be somewhat opposed to their surmises 
 and opinions. For these make up the best proved accounts 
 according to their calculation, and determine a certain be- 
 ginning or certain end for the Easter season, so as that the 
 Paschal festival shall not be celebrated before the eleventh 
 day before the Kalends of April (i.e. 24th IMarch), nor after the 
 moon's twenty-first, and the eleventh day before the Kalends 
 of May {i.e. 21st April). But we hold that these are limits 
 not only not to be followed, but to be detested and over- 
 turned. For even in the ancient law it is laid down that 
 this is to be seen to, viz., that the Passover be not celebrated 
 before the transit of the vernal equinox, at which the last 
 of the autumnal (term) is overtaken {in quo autumtuilis 
 
 ^ Bissextile again.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 425 
 
 novissima x>ars vincitur), on the fourteenth day of the first 
 month, which is one calculated not by the beginnings of the 
 day, but by those of the moon {lunce orsibus). And as this 
 has been sanctioned by tlie charge of the Lord, and is in 
 all things accordant with the Catholic faith, it cannot be 
 doubtful to any wise man that to anticipate it must be a 
 thing unlawfid and perilous. And, accordingly, this only 
 is it sufficient for all the saints and catholics to observe, 
 namely, that giving no heed to the diverse opinions of very 
 many, they should keep the solemn festival of tlie Lord's 
 resurrection within the limits which we have set forth. 
 
 XVL 
 
 Furthermore, as to the proposal subjoined to your epistle, 
 that I should attempt to introduce into tliis little book some 
 notice of the ascent and descent of the sun, which is made 
 out in the distribution of days and nights. The matter pro- 
 ceeds thus : In fifteen days and half an hour, the sun 
 ascending by so many minutes, that is, by four in one day, 
 from the eighth day before the Kalends of January {i.e. Sfjth 
 December) to the eighth before tlie Kalends of April 
 {i.e. 25th March), an hour is taken up {diminuitur); at 
 which date there are twelve hours and a twelfth. On this 
 day, towards evening, if it happen also to be the moon's 
 fourteenth, the lamb was sacrificed among the Jews. But 
 if the number went beyond that, so that it was the moon's 
 fifteenth or sixteenth on the evening of the same day, on 
 the fourteenth day of the second moon, in the same month, 
 the Passover was celebrated ; and the people ate unleavened 
 bread for seven days, up to the twenty-first day at evening. 
 Hence, if it happens in like manner to us, that the seventh 
 day before the Kalends of April (26th March), proves to be 
 both the Lord's day and the moon's fourteenth, Easter is to 
 be celebrated on the fourteenth. But if it proves to be the 
 moon's fifteenth or sixteenth, or any day up to the twentieth, 
 then our regard for the Lord's resurrection, wliich took place 
 on the Lord's day, will lead us to celebrate it on the same
 
 426 THE WRITINGS OF ANATOLIUS. 
 
 principle ; yet this should be done so as that the beginning 
 of Easter may not pass beyond the close of their festival, that 
 is to say, the moon's twentieth. And therefore we have said 
 that those parties have committed no trivial offence who 
 have ventured either on anticipating or on going beyond this 
 number, which is given us in the divine Scriptures them- 
 selves. And from the eighth day before the Kalends of 
 April (25th March), to the eighth before the Kalends of July 
 (24th June), in fifteen days an hour is taken up : the sun 
 ascending every day by two minutes and a half, and the 
 sixth part of a minute. And from the eighth day before 
 the Kalends of July (24th June) to the eighth before the 
 Kalends of October (24th September), in like manner, in 
 fifteen days and four hours, an hour is taken up : the sun 
 descending every day by the same number of minutes. And 
 the space remaining on to the eighth day before the Kalends 
 of January (25th December), is determined in a similai 
 number of hours and minutes. So that thus on the eighth 
 day before the Kalends of January, for the hour there is the 
 hour and half. For up to that day and night are distributed. 
 And the twelve hours which were established at the vernal 
 equinox in the beginning by the Lord's dispensation, being 
 distributed over the night on the eighth before the Kalends 
 of July, the sun ascending through those eighteen several 
 degrees which we have noted, shall be found conjoined with 
 the longer space in the twelfth. And, again, the twelve hours 
 which should be fulfilled at the autumnal equinox in the 
 sun's descent, should be found disjoined on the sixth before 
 the Kalends of January as six hours divided into twelve, the 
 night holdincr eighteen divided into twelve. And on the 
 eighth before the Kalends of July, in like manner, it held 
 six divided into twelve. 
 
 XYII. 
 
 Be not ignorant of this, however, that those four deter- 
 mining periods {tcmporum confinia), which we have men- 
 tioned, although they are approximated to the Kalends of
 
 FRAGMEXTS. 427 
 
 the following months, yet hold each the middle of a season, 
 viz., of spring and summer, and autumn and winter And 
 the beginnings of the seasons are not to be fixed at that point 
 at which the Kalends of the month begin. But each season 
 is to be begun in such way that the equinox divides the 
 season of spring from its first day ; and the season of 
 summer is divided by the eighth day before the Kalends of 
 July, and that of autumn by the eighth before the Kalends 
 of October, and that of winter by the eighth before the 
 Kalends of January in like manner. 
 
 FEAGMENTS OF THE BOOKS ON ARITHMETIC. 
 
 [FaLricius, Biblioth. Graca, ed. Harlcs, vol. iii. p. 462. 
 Hamburgh, 1793.] 
 
 What is mathematics ? 
 
 Aristotle thinks that aU philosophy consisted of theory 
 and practice (huf^t'ag xal 'rpd^iug), and divides the practical 
 into ethical and political, and the theoretic again into the 
 theological, the physical, and the mathematical. And thus 
 very clearly and skilfully he shows that mathematics is (a 
 branch of) philosophy. 
 
 The Chaldaeans were the originators of astronomy, and 
 the Egyptians of geometry and arithmetic 
 
 And whence did mathematics derive its name ? 
 
 Those of the Peripatetic school affirmed that in rhetoric 
 and poetry, and in the popular music, any one may be an 
 adept though he has gone through no process of study ; but 
 that in those pursuits properly called studies (/xa^^/xara), none 
 can have any real knowledge unless he lias first become a 
 student of them. Hence they supposed that the theory of 
 these things was called Mathematics (from fidOmMa^ study, 
 science). And the followers of Pythagoras are said to have 
 given this more distinctive name of mathematics to geometry 
 and arithmetic alono. For of old these had eacli its own
 
 428 THE WRITINGS OF ANATOLIUS. 
 
 separate name ; and they had up till then no name common 
 to both. And he (Archytas) gave them this name, because 
 he found science {rh iirisrrifj.ovr/.ov) in them, and that in a 
 manner suitable to man's study (/xdSTjm). For they (the 
 Pythagoreans) perceived that these studies dealt with things 
 eternal and immutable and perfect (s/X/x^/i/^, absolute), in 
 which things alone they considered that science consisted. 
 But the more recent philosophers have given a more exten- 
 sive application to this name, so that, in their opinion, the 
 mathematician deals not only with substances (vXriv) incor- 
 poreal, and falling simply within the province of the under- 
 standing (voT^T'^v), but also with that which touches upon 
 corporeal and sensible matter. For he ought to be cog- 
 nisant of C^supririKog) the course of the stars, and their 
 velocity, and their magnitudes, and forms, and distances. 
 And, besides, he ought to investigate their dispositions to 
 vision, examining into the causes, why they are not seen as 
 of the same form and of the same size from every distance, 
 retaining, indeed, as we know them to do, their dispositions 
 relative to each other (rovg 'xphg oKkrika Xoyovg), but producing, 
 at the same time, deceptive appearances, both in respect of 
 order and position. And these are so, either as determined 
 by the state of the heavens and the air, or as seen in reflect- 
 ing and all polished surfaces and in transparent bodies, and 
 in all similar kinds. In addition to this, they thought that 
 the man ought to be versed in mechanics and geometry and 
 dialectics. And still further, that he should engage himself 
 with the causes of the harmonious combination of sounds, 
 and with the composition of music; wliich things are bodies 
 (ffoi/iara, substances), or at least are to be ultimately referred 
 to sensible matter. 
 
 What is mathematics ? 
 
 Mathematics is a theoretic science (iTiff-TjfiT} ^suprinxri) 
 of things apprehensible by perception and sensation for 
 
 communication to others (rrphg rriv rojv VTOT/Trovrm boSiv). 
 
 And before this a certain person indulging in a joke, while 
 hitting his mark, said that mathematics is that science (to 
 which Homer's description of Discord may be applied) : —
 
 FRAGMENTS. 429 
 
 " Small at her birth, hut rising every hour, 
 While scarce the skies her horrid (mighty) head can bound, 
 She stalks on earth and shakes the world around." "^ 
 
 For it begins with a point and a line (ari/jLiIov xa) ypaiiiir,;), 
 and forthwith it takes heaven itself and all things within 
 its compass. 
 
 How many divisions arc there of mathematics ? 
 
 Of the more notahle and the earliest mathematics there 
 are two principal divisions, viz., arithmetic and geometry. 
 And of the mathematics which deals with things sensible 
 there are six divisions, viz., computation (practical arith- 
 metic), geodesy, optics, theoretical music, mechanics, and 
 astronomy. But that neither the so-called tactics nor archi- 
 tecture (to apy^iTiKTovixov), nor the popular music, nor physics, 
 nor the art which is called equivocally the mechanical, con- 
 stitutes, as some think, a branch of mathematics, we shall 
 prove, as the discourse proceeds, clearly and systematically. 
 
 As to the circle having eight solids and six superficies and 
 
 four angles What branches of arithmetic have 
 
 closest affinity with each other? Com])utation and theo- 
 retical music have a closer allinity than others with arith- 
 metic ; for this department, being one also of quantity and 
 ratio, approaches it in number and proportion {avaXoyiag). 
 Optics and geodesy, again, are more in aihnity with 
 geometry. And mechanics and astrology are in general 
 affinity with Ijolh. 
 
 As to mathematics having its principles {apy^d;, begin- 
 nings) in hypothesis and about hypothesis. Now, the term 
 hypothesis is used in three ways, or indeed in many ways. 
 For according to one usage of the term we have the dramatic 
 revolution (aef/Tsrf/a, reversal of circumstances on which the 
 plot of a tragedy hinges) ; and in this sense there are said 
 to be h}'potheses in the dramas of Euripides. According to a 
 second meaning, we have the investigation of matters in the 
 special in rhetoric ; and in tliis sense the Sopliists say that a 
 hypothesis must be proposed. And, according to a third 
 signification, the beginning of a proof is called a hj'pothesis, 
 > Iliixd, iv. 442-3 (Pope).
 
 430 THE WRITINGS OF ANATOLI US. 
 
 as Ijeing the begging of certain matters with a view to the 
 establishment of another in question. Thus it is said that 
 Democritus^ used a hypothesis, namely, that of atoms and a 
 vacuum; and Asclepiades^ that of atoms (oyxo/s) and pores. 
 Now, when applied to mathematics, the term hypothesis is 
 to be taken in the third sense. 
 
 That Pythagoras was not the only one who duly honoured 
 arithmetic, but that Ms best known disciples did so too, being 
 wont to say that " all things fit number." 
 
 That arithmetic has as its immediate end chiefly the 
 theory of science (rriv £TiaTri/jjovrA.^v deuplav), than which there 
 is no end either greater or nobler. And its second end 
 is to bring together in one all that is found in determi- 
 nate substance (^evXX7]j3di^v zaTaXalSBlv To'ca rfi upis/xsnj] ouela 
 
 Who among the mathematicians has made any discovery ? 
 
 Eudemus^ relates in his Astrologies that (Enopides^ found 
 out the circle of the zodiac and the cycle {'XipisTaaiv, revolu- 
 tion) of the great year. And Thales^ discovered the eclipse of 
 the sun and its period in the tropics in its constant inequality. 
 And Anaximauder^ discovered that the earth is poised in 
 space (fiiTsupog), and moves round the axis of the universe. 
 
 ^ A native of Abdera, in Tiirace, born about 4G0 B.C., and, along 
 ■vvitli Leucippns, the founder of the philosophical theory of atoms, 
 according to which the creation of all things was explained as being 
 due to the fortuitous combination of an infinite niunber of atoms 
 floating in infinite space. 
 
 2 A famous physician, a native of Bithynia, but long resident in 
 great repute at Rome in the middle of the first century B.C. He 
 adopted the Epicurean doctrine of atoms and pores, and tried to form 
 a new theory of disease, on the principle that it might be in all cases 
 reduced to obstruction of the pores and irregular distribution of the 
 atoms. 
 
 ^ A native of Rhodes, a disciple of Aristotle, and editor of his works. 
 
 * A native of Chios, mentioned by Plato in connection A\ith Anaxa- 
 goras, and therefore supposed by some to have been a contemporary of 
 the latter sage. 
 
 ^ Of Miletus, one of the sages, and founder of the Ionic school. 
 
 ® Of Miletus, born 610 B.C., the immediate successor of Thales in the 
 Ionic school of philosophy.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 431 
 
 And Anaximenes^ discovered that the moon has her liglit 
 from the sun, and found out also the way in which she 
 suffers eclipse. And the rest of the matliematicians have 
 also made additions to these discoveries. "We may instance 
 the facts — that the fixed stars move round the axis passing 
 through the jioles, while the planets remove from each other 
 {arriy^oveiv aXXj^Xwv) round the perpendicular axis of the 
 zodiac ; and that the axis of the fixed stars and the planets 
 is the side of a pentedecagon with four-and-twenty parts. 
 
 THEONAS, BISHOr OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 Of this Theonas we know extremely little. EuseLius 
 {Hist. Eccl., vii. 32) tells us that Maximus, who had held the 
 episcopal office at Alexandria for eighteen years after the 
 death of Dionysius, was succeeded by Theonas. That 
 bishopric, we also learn, he held for nineteen years. Ilis 
 date is fixed as from about 282 to 300 a.d. The only thing 
 of his that has come down to our time is his letter to 
 Lucianus, the chief chamberlain {pra-positiis citbicidariorum), 
 and a person in high favour with the emperor. Tliis epistle, 
 which is a letter of advice to that individual on the duties 
 of his office, was first published in the Spicilegium of 
 Dacherius, and again in Gallandi's Bihliothcca. The name 
 of the emperor is not given, neither does the letter itself 
 tell us who the Bishop Theonas was who wrote it. Hence 
 some have, without much reason, supposed anotlier Theonj^s, 
 bishop of Cyzicus, as the author. And some, such a.s Cave, 
 have thouglit the emperor in question was Constantius 
 Chlorus. But the wliolc circumstances suit Diocletian 
 best. See Neander's Church Hvitury, vol. i. p. 197 (Bohu). 
 Some infer from the diction of the epistle, as we have it, 
 that it is a translation from a Greek original. 
 
 ^ Of Miletus, tlie tliiril in the scries of Ionic i)hilosophcr9.
 
 432 THE WRITINGS OF THEONAS. 
 
 The ErisTLE of Theonas, Bishop of Alexandria, to 
 LuciANUS, the Chief Chamberlain. 
 
 (In Dacherii Spicilegium, iii. pp. 297-299.) 
 
 Bishop Theonas to Zucianus, the Chief Chamberlain of our 
 Most Invincible Emperor. 
 
 I. I give thanks to Almighty God and our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who has not given over the manifesting of His faith 
 throughout the whole world, as the sole specific for our 
 salvation (in salutis nostras unicum remedium), and the 
 extending of it even in the course of the persecutions of 
 despots. Yea, like gold reduced in the furnace, it has only 
 been made to shine the more under the storms of perse- 
 cution, and its truth and grandeur have only become always 
 the more and more illustrious, so that now, peace being 
 granted to the churches by our gracious prince, the works of 
 Christians are shining even in sight of the unbelieving, and 
 God your Father, who is in heaven, is glorified thereby;^ 
 a thing which, if we desire to be Christians in deed rather 
 than in word, we ought to seek and aspire after as our first 
 object on account of our salvation. For if we seek our own 
 glory, we set our desire upon a vain and perishing object, 
 and one which leads ourselves on to death. But the glory 
 of the Father and of the Son, who for our salvation was 
 nailed to the cross, makes us safe for the everlasting redemp- 
 tion ; and that is the greatest hope of Christians. 
 
 Wherefore, my Lucianus, I neither suppose nor desire that 
 you should make it a matter of boasting, that by your means 
 many persons belonging to the palace of the emperor have 
 been brought to the knowledge of the truth; but rather does 
 it become us to give the thanks to our God who has made 
 thee a good instrument for a good work, and has raised thee 
 to great honour with the emperor, that you might diffuse the 
 sweet savour of the Christian name to His ow^n glory and to 
 the salvation of many. For just the more completely that the 
 emperor himself, though not yet attached {ascriptus) to the 
 1 Matt. V. 16.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 433 
 
 Christian religion, has entrusted the care of his life and 
 person to these same Christians as liis more faithful 
 servants, so much the more careful ought ye to be, and the 
 more diligent and watchful in seeing to his safety, and in 
 attending upon him, so that the name of Christ may be 
 gTeatly glorified thereby, and His faith extended daily 
 through you who wait upon the emperor. For in old times 
 some former princes thought us malevolent and filled with 
 all manner of crime ; but, now, seeing your good works, 
 they should not be able to avoid glorifying Christ Himself. 
 II. Therefore you ought to strive to the utmost of your 
 power not to fall into a base or dishonourable, not to say 
 an absolutely flagitious way of thinking, lest the name of 
 Christ be thus blasphemed even by you. Be it far from 
 you that you should sell the privilege of access to the 
 emperor to any one for money, or that you should by any 
 means place a dishonest account of any affair before youi 
 prince, won over either by prayers or by bribes. Let all the 
 lust of avarice be put from you, which serves the cause of 
 idolatry rather than the religion of Christ.^ No filthy lucre, 
 no duplicity, can befit the Christian Avho embraces the 
 simple and unadorned {nudum) Christ. Let no scunilous 
 or base talk have place among you. Let aU things be done 
 with modesty, courteousncss, affability, and uprightness, so 
 that the name of our God and Lord ifcsus Christ may be 
 glorified in all. 
 
 Discharge the official duties to which you are severally 
 ai)pointed with the utmost fear of God and aflection to your 
 ])rince, and perfect carefulness. Consider that every com- 
 mand of the emperor which does not offend God has pro- 
 ceeded from God Himself; and execute it in love as well as 
 in fear, and with all cheerfulness. For there is nothing 
 which so well refreshes a man who is wearied out with 
 weighty cares as the seasonable cheerfulness and benign 
 jiatience of an intimate servant; nor, again, on the otht-r 
 hand, docs any thing so much annoy and vex him as the 
 moroseness and impatience and grumbling of his servant 
 > Epli. V. 4, :.. 
 2 E
 
 434 THE WRITINGS OF TIIEONAS. 
 
 Be such things far IVoin you Christians, whose walk is in 
 zeal for the faith {qui zelo fidei inceditis). But in order that 
 God may be honoured ^ in yourselves, suppress ye and tread 
 down all your vices of mind and body. Be clothed with 
 patience and courtesy ; be replenished with the virtues and 
 the hope of Christ. Bear all things for the sake of your 
 Creator Himself; endure all things; overcome and get 
 above all things, that ye may win Christ the Lord. Great 
 are these duties, and fuU of painstaking. But he that 
 striveth for the mastery^ is temperate in all things ; and they 
 do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. 
 
 III. But because, as I apprehend it, ye are assigned to 
 different offices, and you, Lucianus, are styled the head of 
 them all, whom, also, by the grace of Christ given you, you 
 are able to direct and dispose in their different spheres, 
 I am certain that it wiU not displease you if I also bring 
 before your notice, in a particular and summary manner, 
 some of my sentiments on the subject of these offices. For 
 I hear that one of you keeps the private monies of the 
 emperor ; another the imperial robes and ornaments ; another 
 the precious vessels ; another the books, who, I understand, 
 does not as yet belong to the believers ; and others the dif- 
 ferent parts of the household goods. And in what manner, 
 therefore, these charges ought, in my judgment, to be exe- 
 cuted, I shall indicate in a few w^ords. 
 
 IV. He who has charge of the private monies of the 
 emperor ought to keep every thing in an exact reckoning. 
 He should be ready at any time to give an accurate account 
 of aU things. He should note down every thing in writing, 
 if it is at all possible, before giving money to another. He 
 should never trust such things to his memory, which, being 
 drawn off day by day to other matters, readily fails us, 
 so that, without writing, we sometimes honestly certify 
 thino-s which have never existed ; neither should this kind 
 of wTiting be of a commonplace order, but such as easily 
 and clearly unfolds all things, and leaves the mind of the 
 inquirer without any scruple or doubt on the subject; 
 
 1 1 Peter iv. 11. - 1 Cor. ix. 25.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 435 
 
 a thing which will easily he effected if a distinct and 
 separate account is kept in writing of all receipts, and of 
 the time when, and the person by whom, and the place at 
 which they were made. And, in like manner, all that is 
 paid out to others, or expended by order of the emperor, 
 should be entered in its own place by itself in the reckon- 
 ing; and that servant shoidd be faithful and prudent, so 
 that his lord may rejoice that he has set him over his goods,^ 
 and may glorify Christ in him. 
 
 V. Nor will the diligence and care of that servant be less 
 who has the custody of the robes and imperial ornaments. 
 All these he should enter in a most exact catalogue, and he 
 should keep a note of what they are and of what sort, and 
 in what places stored, and when he received them, and from 
 whom, and whether they are soiled or unsoiled. All these 
 things he should keep in his diligence ; he should often 
 review again, and he should often go over them that they 
 maybe the more readily known again. All tliese he should 
 have at hand, and all in readiness; and he should always 
 give the clearest information on every matter on which 
 it is sought, to his prince or his superior, whenever they 
 ask about any thing ; and all tliis at the same time in such 
 wise that every thing may be done in humility and cheerful 
 patience, and that the name of Christ may be praised even 
 in a small matter. 
 
 VI. In a siiudar maimer should he conduct himself to 
 whose fidelity are entrusted the vessels of silver and gold, 
 and crystal or nmrrlia,'^ for eating or for drinking. All 
 these he should arrange suitably, of them all he should keep 
 an account, and with all diligence he should make an 
 inventory of how many and which sort of precious stones 
 are in them. He should examine them all with great 
 prudence; he should produce them in their proper places 
 
 1 Matt. xxiv. 45, 47. 
 
 - Munhiiie vessels were lirst introduced into Rome by l\»nij>cy, 
 Tlu'v were valued cliiefly for their variegated colours, and weiv 
 extremely costly. Some think they were made of onyx stone, others 
 of variegated glass ; but most modem writers suppose that what is 
 meant was some sort of porcelain.
 
 ^36 Till': WRITINGS OF Til EON AS. 
 
 and on their proper occasions. And lie should observe 
 most carefully to whom he gives them, and at what tinn?, 
 and from whom he receives them again, lest there should 
 occur any mistake or injurious suspicion, or perhaps some 
 considerable loss in things of value. 
 
 VII. The most responsible person, however, among you, 
 and also the most careful, will be he who may be entrusteil 
 by the emperor with the custody of his lil)rary. He will 
 himself select for this office a person of proved knowledge, a 
 man grave and adapted to great affairs, and ready to reply 
 to all applications for information, such an one as Phila- 
 delphus chose for this charge, and appointed to the superin- 
 tendence of his most noble library — I mean Aristeus, his 
 confidential chamberlain, whom he sent also as his legate to 
 Eleazar, with most magnificent gifts, in recognition of the 
 translation of the Sacred Scriptures ; and this person also 
 wrote the full history of the Seventy Interpreters. If, there- 
 fore, it should happen that a believer in Christ is caUed to 
 this same office, he should not despise that secular literature 
 and those Gentile intellects which please the emperor. To 
 be praised are the poets for the greatness of their genius, 
 the acuteness of their inventions, the aptness and lofty 
 eloquence of their style. To be praised are the orators ; to 
 be praised also are the philosophers in their own class. To 
 be praised, too, are the historians, who unfold to us the order 
 of exploits, and the manners and institutions of our ances- 
 tors, and show us the rule of life from the proceedings of 
 the ancients. On occasion also he will endeavour to laud 
 the divine Scriptures, which, with marvellous care and most 
 liberal expenditure, Ptolemy Philadelphus caused to be 
 translated into our language ;^ and sometimes, too, the 
 Gospel and the Apostle will be lauded for their divine 
 oracles ; and there will be an opportunity for introducing 
 the mention of Christ ; and, little by little. His exclusive 
 divinity will be explained ; and all these things may happily 
 come to pass by the help of Christ. 
 
 » It is from these words that the inference is drawn that this epistle 
 was written by a Greek.
 
 FltAaMEM,<. 4?n 
 
 He ought, therefore, to know all the books which the 
 emperor possesses ; he sliould often tnrn them over, an«l 
 arrange them neatly in their proper order by catalogue ; if, 
 however, he shall have to get new books, or old ones tr.m- 
 scribed, he should be careful to obtain the most accurate 
 copyists; and if that cannot be done, he should appoint 
 learned men to the Avork of correction, and recompense 
 them justly for their labours, lie should also cause all 
 manuscripts to be restored according to their need, and 
 should embellish them, not so much with mere superstitious 
 extravagance, as with useful adornment ; and therefore he 
 should not aim at having the whole manuscripts written on 
 purple skins and in letters of gold, imless the emperor has 
 specially required tliat. With the utmost submission, how.- 
 ever, he should do every thing tliat is agreeable to Ciesar. 
 As he is able, he should, with all modesty, suggest to the 
 emperor that he should read, or hear read, those books 
 which suit his rank and honour, and minister to good use 
 rather than to mere pleasure. He should himself lirst be 
 thoroughly familiar with those books, and he should often 
 commend them in presence of the emperor, and set forth, in 
 an appropriate fashion, the testimony and the weight of 
 those who approve them, that he may not seem to lean to 
 his own understanding only. 
 
 VIII. Those, moreover, who have tlie care of the emi)e- 
 ror's person should be in all things as prompt as possible; 
 always, as we have said, cheerful in countenance, sometimes 
 merry, but ever with such perfect modesty as tliat he may 
 commend it above aU else in you all, and perceive that it is 
 the true product of the religion of Christ. You should also 
 all be elegant and tidy in person and attire, yet, at the same 
 time, not in such wise as to attract notice by extravagance or 
 affectation, lest Christian modesty be scandalised. Let every 
 thing be ready at its proper time, and disposed as well as 
 possible in its own order. There sliould also be diU3 
 an-angement among you, and carefulness that no confusion 
 appear in your work, nor any loss of property in any way ; 
 and appropriate places shoidd be settled and suitably jue-
 
 438 THE WRITINGS OF TIIEONAS. 
 
 pared, in accordance with the capacity {cajplu) and importance 
 of the places. 
 
 Besides this, your servants should be the most thoroughly 
 honest, and circumspect, and modest, and as serviceable to 
 you as possible. And see that you instruct and teach them 
 in true doctrine with all the patience and charity of Christ ; 
 but if they despise and lightly esteem your instructions, 
 then dismiss them, lest their wickedness by any hap recoil 
 upon yourselves. For sometimes we have seen, and often 
 we have heard, how masters have been held in ill-repute 
 in consequence of the wickedness of their servants. 
 
 If the emperor visits her imperial majesty, or she him, 
 then should ye also be most circumspect in eye and 
 demeanour, and in all your words. Let her mark your 
 mastery of yourselves and your modesty ; and let her fol- 
 lowers and attendants mark (your demeanour) ; let them 
 mark it and admire it, and by reason thereof praise Jesus 
 Christ our Lord in you. Let your conversation always be 
 temperate and modest, and seasoned with religion as with 
 salt.^ And, further, let there be no jealousy among you or 
 contentiousness, which might bring you into all manner of 
 confusion and division, and thus also make you objects of 
 aversion to Christ and to the emperor, and lead you into 
 the deepest abomination, so that not one stone of your 
 building could stand upon another. 
 
 IX. And do thou, my dearest Lucianus, since thou art 
 wise, bear with good-will the unwise;^ and they too may 
 perchance become wise. Do no one an injury at any time, 
 and provoke no one to anger. If an injury is done to you, 
 look to Jesus Christ ; and even as ye desii^e that He may 
 remit your transgTCSsions, do ye also forgive them theirs f 
 and then also shall ye do away with all ill-will, and brviise 
 the head of that ancient serpent,* who is ever on the M-atch 
 with all subtlety to undo your good works and your pros- 
 perous attainments. Let no day pass by without reading 
 some portion of the Sacred Scriptures, at such convenient 
 hour as offers, and giving some space to meditation. And 
 1 Col. iv. 6. 2 2 Cor. xi. 19. ^ m^j-Jj. ^i. 25. * Rom. xvi. 20.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 4:39 
 
 never cast off the habit of reading in the Holy Scriptures ; 
 for nothing feeds the soul and enriches the mind so well as 
 those sacred studies do. But look to this as the chief gain 
 you are to make by them, that, in all due patience, ye may 
 discharge the duties of your office religiously and piously — 
 that is, in the love of Christ — and despise all transitory 
 objects for the sake of His eternal promises, which in truth 
 surpass all human comprehension and understanding,^ and 
 shall conduct you into everlasting felicity. 
 
 A happy adieu to you in Christ, my I.,ord Lucianus. 
 
 P H I L E A S, 
 
 Bishop of Thmuis and ]Martyr. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL XOTICE. 
 
 From Jerome {Dc vir. illustr., chap. 78) we learn that 
 this Phileas belonged to Thmuis, a town of Lower Egypt, 
 the modern Tmai, which was situated between the Tanite 
 and ]Mendesian branches of the Nile, an episcopal seat, and 
 in the time of Valentinian and Theodosius the Great a 
 place of considerable consequence, enjoying a separate 
 government of its own. Eusebius {Hist. Eccks., viii. 9 
 and 10) speaks of him as a man not less distinguished for 
 his services to his country than for his eminence in jihiloso- 
 phical studies and his proficiency in foreign literature and 
 science. He teUs us further, that, along with another person 
 of considerable importance, by name Philoromus, being 
 brought to trial for his faith, he withstood the threats 
 and insults of the judge, and all the entreaties of rela- 
 tives and friends, to compromise his Christian belief, 
 and was condemned to lose his head. Jerome also, 
 in the passage already referred to, names him a true 
 yMlosophcr, and, at tlce same time, a godly martyr ; and 
 states, that on assuming the bishopric of his native dis- 
 1 Phil. iv. 7.
 
 440 THE WRITINGS OF nil LEAS. 
 
 trid, lie wrote a very elegant hooJc in ^^raise of the martyrs. 
 Of this book certain fragments arc preserved for us in Euse- 
 l)ius. In addition to these we have also an epistle which 
 the same Phileas seems to have written in name of other 
 three bishops, as well as himself, to Meletius, the bishop of 
 Lycopolis, and founder of the Meletian schism. This epistle 
 a]:)pears to have been written in Greek; but we possess only 
 a Latin version, which, however, from its abrupt style, is 
 believed to be very ancient. The four bishops whose names 
 stand at the head of the epistle — viz., Hesychius, Pachomius, 
 Theodorus, and Phileas, are also mentioned by Eusebius 
 (Hist. EccL, viii. 13) as distinguished martyrs. This epistle 
 was written evidently when those bishops were in prison, 
 and its date is determined by the mention of Peter as the 
 then bishop of Alexandria. The martyrdom of Phileas is 
 fixed with much probability as happening at Alexandria, 
 un'der Maximus, about the year 307 a.d. 
 
 FEAGMENTS OF THE EPISTLE OF PHILEAS 
 TO THE PEOPLE OF THMUIS. 
 
 [In Euse^jius, Hist. Eccles., viii. 10.] 
 
 I. Having before them all these examples and signs and 
 illustrious tokens which are given us in the divine and holy 
 Scriptures, the blessed martyrs who lived with us did not 
 hesitate, but, directing the eye of their soul in sincerity to 
 that God who is over all, and embracing with willing mind 
 the death which their piety cost them, they adhered stead- 
 fastly to their vocation. For they learned that our Lord Jesus 
 Christ endured man's estate on our behalf, that He might 
 destroy all sin, and furnish us with the provision needful 
 for our entrance into eternal life. " For He thought it not 
 robbery to be equal with God : but made Himself of no 
 reputation, taking upon Him the form of a servant: and 
 being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself unto 
 death, even the death of the cross." ^ For which reason aLso 
 1 Phil. ii. G-8.
 
 FRAGMEXrS. 141 
 
 these Clirist-"bearing^ martjTs sought zealously the greater 
 gifts, and endured, some of them, every kind of pain and 
 all the varied contrivances of torture not merely once, but 
 once and again ; and though the guards showed their fury 
 against them not only by threatenings in word, but also by 
 deeds of violence, they did not swerve from their resolution, 
 because perfect love casteth out fear}- 
 
 II. And to narrate their virtue and their manly endur- 
 ance under every torment, what language would suffice ? 
 For as every one who chose was at liberty to abase them, 
 some beat them with wooden clubs, ^ and others with rods, 
 and others with scourges, and others again with thongs, and 
 others with ropes. And the spectacle of these modes of 
 torture had great variety in it, and exhibited vast malignity. 
 For some had their hands bound behind them, and w-ere 
 suspended on the rack and had every limb in their body 
 stretched with a certain kind of pullevs {iMuyyd'joi; na'i). 
 Then after all this the torturers, according to their orders, 
 lacerated Avith the sharp iron claws * the whole body, not 
 merely, as in the case of murderers, the sides only, but also 
 the stomach and the knees and the cheeks. And others 
 were hung up in mid-air, suspended by one hand from the 
 portico, and their sufferings were fiercer than any other 
 kind of agony by reason of the distention of their joints 
 and limbs. And others w^ere bound to pillars, face to face, 
 not toucliing the ground with their feet, but hanging with 
 all the weight of the body, so that their chains were drawn 
 all tlie more tightly by reason of the tension. And this 
 they endured not simply as long as the governor^ spoke with 
 
 ^ Xpt(Tro(f:6pot. So Ignatius of Antiocli was called dio^6po{, God-bearer. 
 
 - 1 John iv. 18. 
 
 ^ |yAo/f. What is meant, however, may be the instrument called by 
 the Romans equuleus, a kind of rack in the shape of a horse, com- 
 monly used in taking the evidence of slaves. 
 
 ■• The text gives oc/uvvt/ioioi; tKo'Kot^ou, for which Nicophorus reads 
 d^uvvrnptoi; tx; Ko'hdcaii;. The oitAvj~Y,Diot. were ])robably the Latin 
 imgulcr, an instrument of torture like claws. So Rulinus understauda 
 the phrase. 
 
 * iiyiuu-j. That is probably the Umnan Prajfectus Augustalis.
 
 442 THE WRITINGS OF PIIILEAS. 
 
 them, or had leisure to hear them, but well-nigh through 
 the whole day. For when he passed on to others he left 
 some of those under his authority to keep watch over these 
 former, and to observe whether any of them, being over- 
 come by the torture, seemed likely to yield. But he gave 
 them orders at the same time to cast them into chains with- 
 out sparing, and thereafter, when they were expiring, to 
 throw them on the ground and drag them along. For 
 they said that they would not give themselves the slightest 
 concern about us, but would look upon us and deal witli us 
 as if we were nothing at all. This second mode of torture 
 our enemies devised then over and above the scourging. 
 
 III. And there were also some who, after the tortures, 
 were placed upon the stocks and had both their feet stretched 
 through all the four holes, so that they were compelled to 
 lie on their back on the stocks, as they were unable (to 
 stand) in consequence of the fresh wounds they had over 
 the whole body from the scourging. And others being 
 thrown upon the ground lay prostrated there by the exces- 
 sively frequent application of the tortures ; in which con- 
 dition they exhibited to the onlookers a still more dreadful 
 spectacle than they did when actually undergoing their 
 torments, bearing, as they did, on their bodies the varied 
 and manifold tokens of the cruel ingenuity of their tortures. 
 "While this state of matters went on, some died under their 
 tortures, putting the adversary to shame by their constancy. 
 Arid others were thrust half-dead into the prison, where in a 
 few days, worn out with their agonies, they met their end. 
 But the rest, getting sure recovery under the application of 
 remedies, through time and their lengthened detention in 
 prison, became more confident. And thus then, when they 
 were commanded to make their choice between these alter- 
 natives, namely, either to put their hand to the unholy 
 sacrifice and thus secure exemption from further trouble, 
 and obtain from them their abominable sentence of absolu- 
 tion and liberation (r^s s--apdTov iXsuhpia;), or else to refuse 
 to sacrifice, and thus expect the judgment of death to be 
 executed on them, they never hesitated, but ^^'ent cheerfully
 
 FRAGMENTS. 443 
 
 to death. For they knew the sentence declared for us of 
 old by the Holy Scriptures : " He that sacrihceth to other 
 gods," it is said, " shall be utterly destroyed." ^ And again, ^ 
 " Thou shalt have no other sods before IMe."^ 
 
 The Epistle of the same Thileas of Thmuis to ]\Ieletius, 
 Bishop of Lycopolis. 
 
 The beginning of the Epistle of tlie Bishops. * 
 
 Hesy chins, Pachomius, Theodorus, and Pliileas, to Mele- 
 tius, our friend and fellow-minister in the Lord, greeting. 
 Some reports having reached us concerning thee, which, on 
 the testimony of certain individuals who came to us, spake 
 of certain things foreign to divine order and ecclesiastical 
 rule which are being attempted, yea, rather which are being 
 done by thee, we, in an ingenuous manner held them to 
 be unreliable, regarding them to be such as we would not 
 "willingly credit, when we thought of the audacity implied 
 in their magnitude and their uncertain attempts. But 
 since many who are visiting us at the present time have 
 lent some credibility to these reports, and have not hesitated 
 to attest them as facts, we, to our exceeding surprise, have 
 been compelled to indite this letter to thee. And what agi- 
 tation and sadness have been caused to us all in common 
 and to each of us individually by (the report of) tlie ordina- 
 
 i Exod. xxii. 20. 2 Exod. xx. 3. 
 
 3 Eusebius, after quoting these passages, adds : — " These are the 
 words of a true philosopher, and one who was no less a lover of God 
 than of wisdom, which, before the final sentence of his judge, and 
 while he lay yet in prison, he addressed to the brethren in his church, 
 at once to represent to them in what CDudition he was himself, and to 
 exhort them to maintain steadfastly, even after his speedy death, their 
 piety towards Christ." — Tr. 
 
 * This epistle was first edited by Scijjio Maffeius from an ancient 
 Verona manuscript in the O.fserv. Letter, vol. iii. pp. 11-17, wliere is 
 given the Fragment of a History of the Mi. Iftian Schi.im. See Neander's 
 important remarks on this whole document, Church History, iii. p. 310 
 (Bohn).— Tr.
 
 444 THE WRITINGS OF rill LEAS. 
 
 tion carried through by thee in parishes having no manner of 
 connection with thee, we are unable sufhciently to express. 
 We have not delayed, however, by a sliort statement to 
 prove your practice wrong. There is tlie law of our fathers 
 and forefathers, of which neither art thou thyself ignorant, 
 established according to divine and ecclesiastical order ; for 
 it is all for the good pleasure of God and the zealous regard 
 of better things {zdo racliorum). By them it has been 
 established and settled that it is not lawful for any bishop to 
 celebrate ordinations in other parishes than his own ; a law 
 which is exceedingly important (&cwc nimis magna) and 
 wisely devised. For, in the first place, it is but right that 
 the conversation and life of those who are ordained should 
 be examined with great care ; and in the second place, that 
 all confusion and turbulence should be done away with. 
 Eor every one shall have enough to do in managing his own 
 jDarish, and in finding with great care and many anxieties 
 suitable subordinates (among these) with whom he has 
 passed his wdiole life, and who have been trained under his 
 hands. But thou, neither making any account of these 
 tilings, nor n^garding the future, nor considering the law of 
 our sainted fathers and those who have been taken to Christ 
 time after time, nor the honour of our great bishop and 
 father, Peter, on whom we all depend in the hope which we 
 have in the I,ord Jesus Christ, nor softened b}' our im- 
 prisonments and trials, and daily and multiplied reproach, 
 hast ventured on subverting all things at pnce. And what 
 means will be left thee for justifying thyself with respect to 
 these tilings ? But perhaps thou wilt say : I did this to 
 prevent many being drawn away with the unbelief of many, 
 because the flocks were in need and forsaken, there being 
 no pastor with them. Well, but it is most certain that 
 they are not in such destitution : in the first place, because 
 there are many going about them and in a position to act as 
 visitors; and in the second place, even if there was some 
 measure of neglect on their side, then the proper way would 
 have been for the representation to be made promptly by 
 the people, and for us to take account of them according to
 
 FRAGMKXTS. 415 
 
 tjipiv desert {(ypm^tvcrat ex j)oimlo pivpcrare oc nos exi</nv 
 jyi'O mcrito). But they knew that they were in no want of 
 ministers, and therefore they did not come to seek them. 
 They knew that we were wont to discharge them witli an 
 admonition from such inquisition for matter of complaint, 
 or that every thing was done with all carefulness wliich 
 seemed to he for their profit ; for all was done under correc- 
 tion {s^Lb argiicntc), and all was considered with well-approved 
 honesty. Thou, however, giving such strenuous attention 
 to the deceits of certain parties and their vain words, hast 
 made a stealthy leap to the celebrating of ordinations. For 
 if, indeed, those with thee were constraining thee to this, 
 and in their ignorance were doing violence to ecclesiastical 
 order, thou oughtest to have followed the common rule and 
 have informed us by letter ; and in that way what seemed 
 expedient would have been done. And if perchance some 
 persuaded you to credit their story that it was aU over with 
 us (a tiling of which thou couldest not have been ignorant, 
 because there were many passing and repassing by us who 
 might visit you), even although, I say, this had been the 
 case, yet thou oughtest to have waited for tlie judgment of the 
 superior father and for his allowance of this practice. But 
 without giving any heed to these matters, but indulging a 
 different expectation, yea rather, indeed, denying all respect 
 to us, thou hast provided certain rulers for the people. Fur 
 now we have learned, too, that there were also divisions,^ 
 because thy unwarrantable exercise of the right of ordina- 
 tion displeased many. And thou wert not persuaded to 
 delay such procedure or restrain thy purpose readily even 
 by the v>'ord of the Apostle Paul, the most blessed seer,- and 
 the man who put on Christ, who is the Christ of all of us no 
 less ; for he, in writing to his dearly-beloved son Timothy, 
 says : " Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker 
 of other men's sins."^ And thus he at once shows his own 
 
 ^ The maiiuscriiit reads chrismata, lor wliich schi.tmata is jimposed. 
 
 2 I'rovisoris — perhaps ratlier, the ruoviUEU — the mini who with cart- 
 ful Jorcthowjht has mapped out our proper course in such matters. 
 
 3 1 Tim. V. 2±
 
 446 THE WRITINGS OF PIIILEAS. 
 
 anxious consideration for him [crcia ilium providcntiam), and 
 gives him his example and exhibits the law according to 
 which, with all carefulness and caution, parties are to be 
 chosen for the honour of ordination.^ We make this decla- 
 ration to thee, that in future thou mayest study ^ to keep 
 within the safe and salutary limits of the law. 
 
 The Conclusion of the Epistle of the Bishops. 
 
 After receiving and perusing this epistle, he neither wrote 
 any reply nor repaired to them in the prison, nor went to 
 the blessed Peter. But when all these bishops and presby- 
 ters and deacons had suffered martyrdom in the prison at 
 Alexandria, he at once entered Alexandria. Now in that city 
 there was a certain person, by name Isidorus, turbulent in 
 character, and possessed with the ambition of being a 
 teacher. And there was also a certain Arius, who wore the 
 habit of piety, and was in like manner possessed with the 
 ambition to be a teacher. And when they discovered the 
 object of Meletius's passion {cv'piditatc7n) and what it was 
 that he sought, hastening to him, and looking with an 
 evil eye on the episcopal authority of the blessed Peter, 
 that the aim and desire of Meletius might be made patent 
 {ut cogniscatar concupiscentia Mcldii), they discovered to 
 Meletius certain presbyters, then in hiding, to whom the 
 blessed Peter had given power to act as parish-visitors. 
 And Meletius recommendmg them to improve the oppor- 
 tunity given them for rectifying their error, suspended them 
 for the time, and by his own authority ordained two persons 
 in their place,^ namely, one in prison and another in the 
 mines. On learning these things the blessed Peter, with 
 much endurance, wrote to the people of Alexandria an 
 epistle in the following terms.'* 
 
 ^ The manuscript gives ordinando adnuntias, for whicli is proposed 
 ordinandi. Admintiamus. 
 
 2 Reading studeas for studetur. 
 
 ^ The text is — Gommendans ei occasionem Meletius, separavit eos, &c. ; 
 on "which see especially Neander, iii. p. 311 (Bokn). 
 
 * Tliis epistle is given elsewliere.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 447 
 
 PAMPHILUS, 
 
 PRESBYTER OF THE CIIUKCII OF C.ESAKEIA, AND MARTYR, 
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 According to tlie common account I*amphilus was a 
 native of Berytus, the modern Beii-ut, and a member of a 
 distinguished Phoenician family. Leaving Berytus, how- 
 ever, at an early period, he repaired to Alexandria and 
 studied under Pierius, the well-known head of the Cate- 
 chetical school there. At a subsequent period he went to 
 the Palestinian CiEsareia, and was made a presbyter of the 
 Church there under Bishop Agapius. In course of the 
 persecutions of Diocletian he was thrown into prison by 
 Urbanus, the governor of Palestine. This took place towards 
 the end of the year 307 A.D., and his confinement lasted tiU 
 the beginning of the year 309, when he suffered martyrdom 
 by order of Firmilianus, who had succeeded Urbanus in the 
 governorship of tlie country. During his imprisonment he 
 enjoyed the affectionate attendance of Eusebius, the Church 
 historian, and the tender friendship which subsisted long 
 between the two is well known. It Mas as a memorial of 
 that intimacy that Eusebius took the surname of Pampliili. 
 Pampliilus appears to have given himself up with great 
 enthusiasm to the promotion of Biblical studies, and is 
 spoken of as the founder of a theological school in which 
 special importance was attached to exposition. He busied 
 himself also with the transcription and disseminatitjn of tlie 
 Scriptures and other writings, such as those of Origen, of 
 whom he was a devoted follower. At Ca^sareia he estab- 
 lished a great public library, consisting mainly of ecclesias- 
 tical writers ; and among the treasures of that library are 
 mentioned the Tetrapla and Hexapla of Origen, from wliicli, 
 with the help of Eusebius, he produced a new and revised 
 edition of the Septuagint. There is a statement in Jerome 
 (Apol. contr. Hit/., book i. mun. 9, Works, ii. p. 4G5) to 
 the effect tliat, thougli he was so great a student of the
 
 448 THE WRITINGS OF rAMPIIILUS. 
 
 writings of others, Pampliilus, tlirougli an excess of modesty, 
 ■wrote no work of his own, witli exception of some letters to 
 his friends (projmi operis nihil omnino scrijmt, exceptis 
 epistolis quas ad amicos forte mittcbat ; m tantum se humi- 
 litate dejecerat). But there is a work bearing the title of 
 An Expiosition of the Chapters of the Acts of the Ap)ostlrs, 
 which is attributed by many to him, although others ascribe 
 it to Euthalius, bishop of Sulce. And besides this there is 
 also the Apology for Origcn, of which, according to the 
 statement of Photius (Bibl. Cod., cxviii. p. 295), the first 
 five books were compiled by Pamphilus, in conjunction with 
 Eusebius, during the period of his imprisonment, the sixth 
 book being added by Eusebius after his friend's martyrdom. 
 Of this Apology we possess now only the first book, and that, 
 too, only in the faulty Latin version of Eufinus. There are 
 repeated and warmly eulogistic references to Pamphilus in 
 the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius. Thus he speaks ol 
 him as that holy martyr of our day (vi. 32) ; and as thai 
 most eloquent man, and that philosopher truly such in his life 
 (vii. 32) ; and again, as that most admirable man of our times, 
 that glory of the Church of Cmsareia (viii. 13). He devotes 
 the eleventh chapter of the eighth book also to a notice of 
 Pampliilus and other martyrs. And besides all this he wrote 
 a separate life of his friend, in three books, of which, how- 
 ever, all has perished, with exception of a few disputed 
 fragments. 
 
 An Exposition of the Chapters of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, by Pamphilus the Martyr.^ 
 
 Having had ourselves the advantage of the method and 
 model received from our fathers an.d teachers, we attempt, 
 in a modest way, to give these in this exposition of the 
 
 ^ This iyJtatg was edited, under the name of Euthalius, Bishop of Sulce, 
 towards the end of the preceding century, by Laurentius Zacagnius, in 
 the collection of Monumenta Vetera, p. 428, published at Eome. 
 Fabricius also compared the edition of Montfaucon with the Roman. 
 This collation is added here. — Migne.
 
 FRAGMENTS. 440 
 
 chapters, entreating your forgiveness for the rashness of 
 such an endeavour in us who are young in point both of 
 years and of study ,^ and looking to have the indulgence 
 {(j-jlimpifofav -AoiMi^CiMivoi) of every one who reads tliis MTiting 
 in prayer on our behalf. We make this exposition, there- 
 fore, after the history of Luke, the evangelist and historian. 
 And, accordingly, we have indicated whole chapters by the 
 letters of the alphabet,^ and their subdivisions into parts we 
 have noted by means of the asterisk.^ 
 
 A. Of Christ's teaching after His resurrection, and of His 
 
 appearing to the disciples, and of the promise of the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost, and of the spectacle and 
 manner of Christ's assumption.* 
 
 B. Peter's discourse to those who were made disciples, on 
 
 the subject of the death and reprobation (a-ro/So/.^;) 
 of Judas ; ^ * in this chapter we have also the section 
 on the substitution of Matthias, who was elected by 
 lot tlirough the grace of God with prayer. 
 
 C. Of the divine descent {im^oirrietug) of the Holy Ghost on 
 
 the day of Pentecost which lighted on tliem who 
 believed. In this we have also * the instruction 
 delivered by Peter, and * passages from the prophets 
 on the subject, and * on the passion and resurrection 
 and assumption of Christ, and the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost ; also * of the faith of those present, and tlieir 
 salvation by baptism ; and, further,* of the unity of 
 spirit pervading the believers and promoting the com- 
 mon good, and of the addition made to their number, 
 
 ^ Tlic text is vioi %pd'J<^ T£ Kxl fioc6/!f4.»raiu, tKotarov, &c. ; for which 
 Euthal., )(,p6vuv re kuI /nxS/i/xoiruv vocp Uftcus/ iKuarov. 
 
 ^ But Euthal., lici pLiv Tov i^i>.avoi ... 0/« Ss toD Kivyx^iptu;, i.6., 
 hv the (liflerent colours of Llack and vermilion. 
 
 3 These marks are wholly wanting in the Coislin Codex, from which 
 Montfaucon edited the piece. But they are found in the Vatican 
 Codex.— Tr. 
 
 * Euthal. adds, k»1 mpi rii; ttiOo^rjV y.ctl Oiuripx; ai/roii —xoovaixi, i.t, 
 and of His glorious and second coming. 
 
 * But Eutlial., aTOffTo/^,-. apostleship. 
 
 2f
 
 450 THE ^VIUTJ^■as of rAMriiiLUS. 
 
 D. Of the healing in (the name of) Christ of the man lame 
 
 from his birth ; and of the discourse (y.arriyj^Gi'jiz) of 
 Peter, in which he reasons and sympathizes and 
 counsels with respect to his ^ salvation. And here 
 we have * the interposition {i-mGraaia) of the chief 
 priests through jealousy of what had taken place, 
 and their judgment on the miracle, and Peter's con- 
 fession^ of the power and grace of Christ. Also the 
 section on * the unbelieving chief priests, command- 
 ing that they should not speak boldly in the name of 
 Christ,^ and of the dismissal* of the apostles. Then* 
 the thanksgivings offered up by the Church for the 
 faithful constancy of the ajDostles. 
 
 E. Of the harmonious and universal fellowship of the be- 
 
 lievers ; and also * of Ananias and Sapphira and their 
 miserable end. 
 
 F. Of the apostles being cast into prison, and led out of it 
 
 by night by the angel of the Lord, who enjoined 
 them to preach Jesus without restraint ; and * of the 
 fact that, on the following day, the chief priests 
 apprehended them again, and, after scourging them, 
 sent them away with the charge not to teach any 
 longer. Then* the trusty opinion of Gamaliel 
 touching the apostles, together with certain examples 
 and proofs. 
 
 G. Of the election of the seven deacons. 
 
 H. The rising and slanderous information of the Jews 
 against Stephen, and his address concerning the 
 covenant of God with Abraham, and concerning the 
 twelve patriarchs. Also the account of the famine 
 and the buying of corn, and the mutual recognition 
 of the sons of Jacob, and of the birth of IMoses and 
 the appearance of God {kocpaviia) to Moses, which 
 
 ^ But Eutlial., uvTuv, their. 
 
 - Eutlial. inserts Tnol cc'ttsi'?^?;;, and of the threatening of the chief 
 2:iriests. 
 
 ^ M rq> o'j(/y.u.Ti ; but Eutlial., i~\ to duouot. 
 
 * Reading cc-Aaecj; witli Euthal., instead of dvxviiiasu;.
 
 FIIAGMEXTS. 451 
 
 took place at Mount Sinai. *Also of the exodus 
 and the calf-making of Israel (and other matters), 
 up to the times of Solomon and the building of the 
 temple. *Then the acknowledgment of the super- 
 celestial glory of Jesus Christ wliich was revealed to 
 Stephen himseK, on account of wliich Stephen was 
 himself stoned, and fell asleep piously. 
 
 I. Of the persecution of the Church and the burial of 
 Stephen ; also * of the healing of many in Samaria 
 by Philip the apostle. 
 
 J. Of Simon JMagus, who believed and was baptized witli 
 many others ; also * of the sending of Peter and 
 John to them, and their praying for the descent of 
 the Holy Ghost upon the baptized. 
 
 K. That the participation of the Holy Ghost was not given ^ 
 for money,- nor to hypocrites, but to saints by faith ; 
 also * of the hypocrisy and the reproof of Simon. 
 
 L. That the Lord helps the good and the believing on the 
 way to salvation, as is shown from the instance of the 
 eunuch. 
 
 M. Of the divine call that came from heaven for Paul to 
 the apostleship of Clirist ; also * of the healing ami 
 the baptism of Paul by the hand of Ananias, iu 
 accordance with the revelation from God, and of his 
 boldness of speech and his association with tl»e 
 apostles by the instrumentality of Barnabas.^ 
 
 N. Of the paralytic -(Eneas who was cured by Peter at 
 Lydda. Also * the account of Tabitha, the friend of 
 widows, whom Peter raised from the dead by means 
 of prayer iu Joppa. 
 
 O. Of Cornelius, and what the angel said to him. Alsii 
 what was spoken* to Peter from heaven with respect 
 to the calling of the Gentiles. Then * that Peter, on 
 being summoned, came to Cornelius. *The repetition 
 
 ^ ihiaoTo ; Euthal., oiovrxt is given. 
 
 ^ crT/ ovK dpyvoiov ; Euthiil., oi/ 6/' dpyvptou. 
 
 3 Eutluil., oix Vjupuxiixv, on Barnubas's acrouiU. 
 
 * Euthal. insert .s x«A<v, again.
 
 452 Tin: WIUTINGS OF rAMPIlILUS. 
 
 by Cornelius of the things wliich tlie angel said ^ to 
 Cornelius himself.* Peter's instruction of them in 
 Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost upon those 
 who heard him, and how those who believed from 
 among the Gentiles were baptized there. 
 
 P. That Peter recounts to the apostles who contended with 
 him {hia-A.pi6iTei rrpi; avrov) all the things that had 
 happened in order and separately. * Then the send- 
 ing of Barnabas to the brethren in Antioch. 
 
 Q. The prophecy of Agabus respecting the famine in the 
 world,^ and the liberal relief sent to the brethren in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 U. The slaying of the Apostle James. * Also the appre- 
 hension of Peter by Herod, and the account of the 
 manner in which the angel by divine command 
 delivered him from his bonds, and how Peter, after 
 showing himself to the disciples by night, quietly 
 withdrew. Also of the puni.shment of the keepers, 
 and then of the miserable and fatal overthrow^ of the 
 impious Herod. 
 
 S. The sending of Barnabas and Paul by the Holy Ghost to 
 CyjDrus. * The things which he did ■* there in the 
 name of Christ on Elymas the sorcerer. 
 
 T. Paul's admirable (suSaXyjg) exposition of the truth con- 
 cerning Christ, both from the law and from the 
 prophets in their order, both historical and evangeli- 
 cal; *his use both of the confuting and the argu- 
 mentative mode of discourse on the subject of the 
 transference of the word of preaching to the Gen- 
 tiles, and of their persecution and their arrival at 
 Iconium. 
 
 U. How, when they had preached Christ in Iconium, and 
 many had believed, the apostles were persecuted. 
 
 ^ The text is Zv u-ttsu 6 alyysT^og, &c. But Eutlial., Zv 6 xy/sio; 
 l-rsi^ecprvpriai x-ul v(pr,y'/;(j!>Lro, which the angel testified, and showed. 
 " The text gives oiKov/nsvit'/i; ; Euthal., oUovf4,ev/i;. 
 •'' The text gives KxrctdXccyiig; Euthal., x^ccrctarpoip'/i; 
 * Eutliiil., iipyciauvro, fhcij did.
 
 FRAGMENTS. V,u\ 
 
 V. Of the man lame from his birth in Lystra who was 
 healed by the apostles ; on account of which they 
 were taken by the people of the place for gods who 
 had appeared on eartli. After that, however, Paul 
 is stoned there by the neighbouring people. 
 
 W. That according to the decree and judgment of the 
 apostles, the Gentiles who believe ought not to be 
 circumcised. Here, also, is the epistle of the 
 apostles themselves to those from among the Gentiles, 
 on the subject of the things from which they should 
 keep themselves.^ * The dissension of Paul with 
 Barnabas on account of Mark. 
 
 X. Of the teaching of Timothy, and of the coming of Paul 
 into Macedonia according to revelation. * Of the 
 faith and salvation of a certain woman Lydia, and * 
 of the cure of the damsel having a spirit of divina- 
 tion, on account of which the masters of the dam.sel 
 cast Paul into prison ; and * of the earthquake and 
 miracle which happened there; and how the jailer 
 believed and was baptized forthwith that same night 
 with all his house.^ *That the apostles on being 
 besought went out from the prison. 
 
 Y. Of the tumult that arose in Thessalonica on account oi 
 their preaching, and of the flight of Paul to Lerea, 
 and thence to Athens. 
 
 Z. Of the inscription on the altar at Atliens, and of tlie 
 philosophic preaching and piety of Paul. 
 
 AA. Of Aquila and Priscilla, and the unbelief of the Corin- 
 thians, and of the good-will of God towards theni 
 according to foreknowledge revealed to Paul. Also* 
 of Priscus,^ the chief ruler of the synagogue, wlio 
 believed witli certain others and was baptized. 
 And* that a tumult being stirred up in Corintli. 
 Paul departed; and coming to Ephesus, and haviiig 
 
 * Reading <pv'Ku.KTiuv -with Eiitluil., instead of <pv/^uKtui>. 
 
 ^ The text gives '^utiiinio; ; Eutlial., xocj/tVr/o;. Muiitfaucon reads 
 
 XUVOtKl'. 
 
 ^ But Euthal., Kpia-TTov, t'rispi(.'<.
 
 454 THE WHITINGS OF PAMPIIILUS. 
 
 discoursed there, he left it. * And concerning 
 Apollos, an eloquent man and a believer. 
 
 WW. Of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost conferred 
 by means of the prayer of Paul on those who be- 
 lieved in Ephesiis, and of the healing of the people. 
 *0f the sons of Sceva, and as to its not being 
 meet to approach^ those who have become unbeliev- 
 ing and unworthy of the faith ; and of the confes- 
 sion of those who believed ;* and of the tumult that 
 was stirred up in Ephesus by Demetrius, the silver- 
 smith, against the apostles. 
 
 CO. Of the circuit of Paul, in which also we have the 
 account of the death of Eutychus and his restora- 
 tion by prayer in Troas ; also Paul's own pastoral 
 exhortations^ to the presbyters at Ephesus ; alsc 
 Paul's voyage from Ephesus to Caesareia in Pales- 
 tine. 
 
 DD. The prophecy of Agabus as to what should befall Paul 
 in Jerusalem. 
 
 EE. The address of James to Paul touching the matter that 
 he should not offer to keep the Hebrews back from 
 the practice of circumcision. 
 
 FE. Of the tumult that was excited against Paul in Jerusa- 
 lem, and how the chief-captain rescues him from the 
 mob. *Also Paul's speech {v-aTacraeii) concerning 
 himseK and his vocation to be an apostle; *and of 
 what Ananias said to Paul in Damascus, and of the 
 vision and the voice of God that befell him once in 
 the temple. *And that when Paul was about to be 
 beaten for these words, on declaring that he was a 
 Pioman, he was let go. 
 
 GG. What Paul endured, and what he said, and what he 
 did exactly^ when he came down into the council. 
 
 HH. Of the aml3ush planned by the Jews against Paul, 
 and its discovery to Lysias; *and that Paul was 
 
 ,-' ^ Tpoc^xi^psh ; Euthal., kyxupuv. 
 
 - Eiitlial., TTctpxti/siTi; Troiucti/TiKii, pastoral exhortation. 
 
 2 svdvfio'Ku;, perhaps here, as Montfaucon makes it, sagaciously.
 
 FKAGMENTS. 455 
 
 sent to Crcsareia to tlie governor with soldiers and 
 with a letter. 
 
 IT. Of the accusation laid by Tertullus in Paul's case, and 
 of his defence of himself before the governor. 
 
 J J. Of the removal of Felix and the an-ival of Festus as his 
 successor, and of Paul's pleading before them,^ and 
 his dismissal. 
 
 KK. The coming of Agrippa and Bernice, and their inquiry 
 into the case of Paul.^ * Paul's defence of himself 
 before Agrippa and Bernice, respecting his nurture 
 in the law, and his vocation to the gospel. That 
 Paul does no wrong to the Jews, Agrippa said to 
 Festus. 
 
 LL. Paul's voyage to Eome, abounding in very many and 
 very great perils. * Paul's exhortation to those with 
 him as to his hope of deliverance. The shipwreck of 
 Paul, and how they effected their safety on the 
 island of ]Melita, and what marvellous things he did 
 on it. 
 
 MM. How Paul reached Eome from Melita. 
 
 NX. Of Paul's discourse with the Jews in Eome. 
 
 There are in all forty chapters ; and the sections follow- 
 ing these, and marked with the asterisk,^ are forty-eight. 
 
 ^ Eutlial., iv sivTov, before him. 
 
 2 Euthal., KXTx II«Daoj/, against Paul. 
 
 ^ Euthal., Old. Kivi/cct^upsu;, with tJce vennilion.
 
 INDEXES. 
 
 I.-INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 
 Q 
 
 ENES 
 
 s. 
 
 1 
 
 
 PAOr 
 
 PA OF. 
 
 iii. 2.3 
 
 . 194 
 
 1.1 181 
 
 iii. 9, 32 
 
 . 325 
 
 i. 11, 12, 
 
 
 
 
 . 326 
 
 xi. xii.. 
 
 . 56 
 
 i. 14, 
 
 
 
 
 . 85 
 
 xii. 2, . , . . 
 
 . 325 
 
 i. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 . 428 
 
 xii. 15, . 
 
 . 417 
 
 i. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 . 331 
 
 xii. 18, 19, 
 
 . 417 
 
 i. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 \2bis, 370 
 
 XV. 1 
 
 . 393 
 
 ii. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 . 91 
 
 XV. 2 
 
 188, 195 
 
 ii. 7, 
 
 
 
 
 . 19 
 
 xvii. 6, . . . 
 
 . 201 
 
 ii. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 27, 96 
 
 xix. 6, . . . 
 
 . 197 
 
 ii. 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 156 
 
 XX. 1-9, , 
 
 . 50 
 
 ii. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 29,30 
 
 XX. 3, . . . 
 
 . 443 
 
 ii. 23, 
 
 
 
 
 . 12 
 
 XX. 12, . 
 
 . 203 
 
 ii. 23, 24, 
 
 
 
 
 21, 139 
 
 xxii. 20, . 
 
 . 443 
 
 ii. 24, 
 
 
 
 
 . 30 
 
 XXV. 8, . . . 
 
 . 201 
 
 iii. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 . (;3 
 
 XXV. 17, . 
 
 . 203 
 
 iii. 7, 
 
 
 
 
 . 103 
 
 XXV. 22, . 
 
 . 191 
 
 iii. 19, 23 
 
 ,2G, 
 
 L09, 1 
 
 49,1 
 
 J4, 169, 174 
 
 XXV. 40, . 
 
 . 51 
 
 iii. 21, 
 
 
 
 
 . 139 
 
 xxxi. 19, . 
 
 . 189 
 
 iii. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 . 23 
 
 
 
 iv. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 127 
 
 LE\TriCU8. 
 
 
 iv. 10, 
 V. 29, 
 
 
 
 
 . 113 
 . 105 
 
 xi. 7, . . 
 
 xi. 13, . . . 
 
 xi. 29, . . . 
 
 . 220 
 
 6 
 
 49 
 
 vi.2, 
 vi.3, 
 ix. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 265, 342 
 
 
 
 
 . 375 
 . 103 
 
 xi. 44, 
 
 373 
 
 XV. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 338 
 
 xviii. 19, . 
 
 7 
 
 XV. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 . 44 
 
 XX. 17, . . . 
 
 7 
 . 417 
 . 420 
 . 93 
 
 xix. 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 318 
 
 xxiii. 6, . . . 
 
 xxii. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 . 264 
 
 xxiii. 5-7, . 
 
 xxvii. 29, 
 
 
 
 
 . 211 
 
 xxiii. 39-42, 
 
 xxvii. 41, 
 
 
 
 
 . 121 
 
 xxiii. 40. . 
 xxiv. 2, 3, . 
 
 96. 97 
 
 iixxiv. 7. 
 
 
 
 
 . 391 
 
 •'•' 
 
 xxxvii. 4, 
 
 
 
 
 
 xxiv. 3, . . . 
 
 b>^ 
 
 
 
 
 121 
 
 
 
 xxxix. 12, 
 
 
 
 . 113 
 
 Xlmiiehs. 
 
 
 xlix. 10, . 
 
 
 
 . 212 
 
 
 
 
 vi. 12, . . . 
 
 43 
 
 1 
 
 IXODUS. 
 
 vi. 1-4. . 
 vi.2. 
 
 48 
 46 
 
 i. IC. 
 
 . 38 
 
 xii. 24, . . . 
 
 . 326 
 
 iii. 2, 
 
 . 197. 200 
 
 xvii. 8, . . . 
 
 . 201 
 
 iii. 14. 
 
 
 
 
 . 69 
 
 xxxiiL 5, . 
 
 . 100
 
 458 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 D 
 
 EOTERONOMY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PACK 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 xix. 12 161 
 
 vi. 5, 
 
 . 
 
 . 81 
 
 xix. 12, 13, 
 
 
 
 . 158 
 
 xviii. 15-19, 
 
 . 
 
 . 205 
 
 xxii. 15, . 
 
 
 
 . 167 
 
 XXX. 15, 
 
 . 
 
 . 157 
 
 XXXV. 10, . 
 
 
 
 . 218 
 
 xxxii. 32, 83, 
 
 . 
 
 . 48 
 
 xxxvi. 9, . 
 
 
 
 . 199, 343 
 
 xxxii. 33, . 
 
 . 
 
 . 106 
 
 xxxvii. 6 (lxx.) 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 xxxii. 39, . 
 
 JosiruA. 
 
 . 146 
 
 xxxviii. 5 (e.v.; 
 xiii. 4, 
 xlv. 1, 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 . 100 
 . 350 
 
 ix., . 
 
 Judges. 
 
 . 290 
 
 xlv. 2, 
 xlv. 7, 
 xlv. 10, . 
 
 
 
 47, 65, 195 
 
 . 337 
 
 . 20, 112 
 
 vi. 37, 
 
 . 
 
 . 202 
 
 xlv. 14, . 
 
 
 
 . 61 
 
 ix. 18. 19, . 
 
 . 
 
 . 102 
 
 xlv. 15, 16, 
 
 
 
 . 62 
 
 xiii. 14, 
 
 1 Samuel. 
 
 . 389 
 
 xlvi. 4, 5, . 
 xlvi. 8, . 
 xlviL 1, 
 
 
 
 . 200 
 . 205 
 . 210 
 
 xiii. 14, 
 
 . 
 
 . 390 
 
 xlviii. 2, . 
 
 
 
 . 207 
 
 xvi. 14, 
 
 . 
 
 . 375 
 
 Ii. 3, . 
 
 
 
 . 185 
 
 xxi. 13, 
 
 . 
 
 . 297 
 
 Ixii. 8, 
 
 
 
 . 211 
 
 xxviii. 12, . 
 
 2 Samuel. 
 
 . 172 
 
 Ixviii. 4, 34, 
 Ixxii. 18, 19, 
 Ixxxiv. 8, . 
 
 
 
 . 212 
 . 192 
 . 210 
 
 vi. 7, 
 
 
 . 184 
 
 Ixxxv. 9, . 
 
 
 
 . 210 
 
 vi. 10, 
 
 . 
 
 . 185 
 
 Ixxxvii. 3, 
 
 
 
 . 207 
 
 vi. 14, 
 
 . 
 
 188, 211 
 
 Ixxxviii. 20, 
 
 
 
 . 390 
 
 xiv. 33, . 
 
 . 
 
 . 290 
 
 xc. 2, 4, 
 
 
 
 . 182 
 
 xvi. 3, 
 
 
 . 290 
 
 xcv. 1, 
 
 
 
 . 210 
 
 xix. 21, . 
 
 . 
 
 . 390 
 
 xcv. 10, 11, 
 
 
 
 . 327 
 
 xxiii. 17, . 
 
 . 
 
 . 203 
 
 xcvi. 9, 
 
 
 
 . 192 
 
 
 
 
 xcvii. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 . 193 
 
 
 1 Kings. 
 
 
 civ. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 . 195 
 
 xix. 4, 
 
 2 Kings. 
 
 . 104 
 
 civ. 2, 
 civ. 15, 
 civ. 30, 
 
 
 
 
 . 203 
 . 106 
 . 145 
 
 ii. 11, 
 
 . . 
 
 . 201 
 
 civ. 31, 
 
 
 
 
 . 93 
 
 ii. 20, 
 
 . 
 
 . 202 
 
 cv. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 . 56 
 
 iv. 27, 
 
 . 
 
 . 394 
 
 cv. 15, 
 
 
 
 
 . 75 
 
 iv. 41, 
 
 . 
 
 . 202 
 
 ex. 3. 
 
 
 
 
 . 341, 350 
 
 XX. 7, 
 
 Job. 
 
 . 107 
 
 cxviii. 2, 
 cxviii. 22, 
 cxviii. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 . 198 
 . 195 
 . 211 
 
 X. 8, 
 
 . 
 
 . 13 
 
 exxxii. 16, 
 
 
 
 . 207 
 
 xxi. 22, . 
 
 . 
 
 . 227 
 
 cxxxvii., . 
 
 
 
 . 38 
 
 xxii. 2, 
 
 . 
 
 . 227 
 
 cxxxvii. 1, 2, 
 
 
 
 . 39 
 
 xxxviii. 11, 
 
 . 
 
 . 122 
 
 cxxxvii. 4, 
 
 
 
 . 3SS 
 
 xxxviii. 14, 
 
 . 
 
 . 13 
 
 cxxxviii. 5, 6, . 
 
 
 
 . 41 
 
 xl. 3, 
 
 Psalms. 
 
 . 228 
 
 cxxxix. 4, 
 cxli. 3, 
 cxlvii. 5, . 
 
 
 
 . 46 
 . 46 
 . 219 
 
 ii. 7, 
 
 . 
 
 75 
 
 cxlviii. 9, . 
 
 
 
 212 
 
 vi. 6, 
 
 . 
 
 . 197 
 
 cxlviii. 11, 12, . 
 
 
 
 .' 211 
 
 viii. 2, 
 
 . 
 
 211,215 
 
 
 viii. 5, 
 
 . 
 
 , 147 
 
 Proverbs. 
 
 xi. 7, 
 
 . 
 
 . 341 
 
 i. 5. 6 94 
 
 xviii. 8, 
 
 . 
 
 . 206 
 
 iii. 3, 4, 368 
 
 xviii. 50 (51), 
 
 . 
 
 . 390 
 
 iii. 10, 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 97
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 45D 
 
 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PAOB 
 
 iv. 18 3G8 
 
 xxxviii. 21, ... . 107 
 
 V. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 xl. 1, 
 
 
 
 . 292 
 
 vi. 25, 
 
 
 
 
 . 392 
 
 xJii. 7, 
 
 
 
 
 . 195, 198 
 
 vi. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 . 390 
 
 xiii. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 . 219 
 
 vi. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 . 392 
 
 xiii. 14, 
 
 
 
 
 . 359 
 
 vi. 47, 
 
 
 
 
 . 392 
 
 xiii. 18-20. 
 
 
 
 
 . 213 
 
 viii. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 . 187 
 
 xlllL 9, 
 
 
 
 
 199, 218 
 
 viii. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 . 181 
 
 xllii. 10, 
 
 
 
 
 • 195 
 
 viii. 30, 
 
 
 
 
 . 340 
 
 xliv. 4, 
 
 
 
 
 . 98 
 
 xiii. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 . 378 
 
 xliv. .5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 39 
 
 xiii. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 . 316 
 
 xlv. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 . 196 
 
 XV. 19, 
 
 
 
 
 . 377 
 
 xlv. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 . 144 
 
 xviii. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 . 351 
 
 xlix. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 228 
 
 xviii. 6, 
 
 
 
 
 . 378 
 
 11. 6, 
 
 
 
 
 '. 144 
 
 xsi. 13, 
 
 
 
 
 . 378 
 
 111. 2, 
 
 
 
 
 . 144 
 
 xxiv. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 . 302 
 
 Hi. 6, 
 
 
 
 
 . 219 
 
 XXV. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 . 377 
 
 liii. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 339, 345 
 
 xxvi. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 . 377 
 
 liv. 1. 
 
 
 
 
 . 20S 
 
 
 Ivl. 4, 5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 370 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 Ivll. 20, 21, 
 
 
 
 
 . 297 
 
 i. 15. .... 190 
 
 Ix. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 42, 207 
 
 iii. 7 377 
 
 Ix. 1-i 
 
 
 
 
 . 72 
 
 V. 14 377 
 
 Ixi. 1, 2, 
 
 
 
 
 . 294 
 
 vii. 27, 390 
 
 1x1. 9, 
 Ixvl. 7, 
 
 
 
 
 375, 337 
 
 . 189 
 
 Caktici-es. 
 
 Ixvl. 7, 8. 
 
 
 
 
 . 74 
 
 ii.2 59 
 
 Ixvl. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 . lU 
 
 ii. 16, 17, 
 
 
 , 
 
 . 193 
 
 Ixvi. 24, 
 
 
 
 
 . 297 
 
 iv. y-12, 
 iv. 13, 
 
 
 
 . 59 
 . 90 
 
 jEREJnAH. 
 
 iv. 16, 
 vi. 8, 9, 
 
 
 
 . 78 
 61, 65 
 
 i. 5, . 
 11. 32, 
 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 viiL 6, 
 
 
 
 . 198 
 
 ill. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 
 ill. 23, 
 
 
 
 
 296 
 
 ISAIAIX. 
 
 V. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 i.2. . 
 
 
 
 337, 342 
 
 . 207 
 . 186 
 
 viii. 4, 
 viii. 13, . 
 
 
 
 
 14S 
 io;5 
 
 1. J<>, • 
 vi. 1-9, 
 
 
 
 xiii. 23, 
 
 
 
 
 138 
 
 vi. 3, 
 
 
 
 191, 212 
 
 xxviii. 3, 4. 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 vi. 3, 4, 
 
 
 
 . 206 
 
 xxviii. 3-<;, 
 
 
 
 
 142 
 
 vi. 4, 
 
 
 
 . 205 
 
 xxiil. 24, . 
 
 
 
 
 2n3 
 
 vi. 6, 
 
 
 
 . 202 
 
 xxiv. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 lot; 
 
 vi. 9, 
 
 
 
 . 205 
 
 xxxl. 8, io« 
 
 vi. 10. 
 
 
 
 . 215 
 
 LAMEyTATIOSS. 
 
 vii. 11, 
 
 
 
 . 205 
 
 ill. 27, 45 
 
 viii. 1, 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 
 viii. 3, 4, 
 
 
 
 . 318 
 
 EZKKIEU 
 
 ix. 2, 
 
 
 
 198, 268 
 
 Hi. 22, 213 
 
 ix. 6, 
 
 
 
 218, 398 
 
 xvll. 3, .'•o 
 
 X. 1. 
 
 
 
 . 42 
 
 xxxvli. 4, 1''0 
 
 xi. 2, 
 
 
 
 . 29 
 
 xliv. 2, 202 
 
 xi. 5, 
 
 
 
 . 196 
 
 
 xii. 6, 
 
 
 
 . 207 
 
 Daniku 
 
 XXV. 1, 
 
 
 
 . 195 
 
 111.21 197 
 
 xxviii. 16, 
 
 
 
 . 195 
 
 ill. 56, 214 
 
 .'cxix. 21, 
 
 
 
 . 374 
 
 ix. 23 168 
 
 xxix. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 . 215 
 
 xU. 2, 
 
 
 
 
 
 14S
 
 4 GO 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 
 
 Joel 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PA OK 
 
 
 
 PlOE 
 
 ix. 12 392 
 
 ii. 13, 
 
 
 . 219 
 
 XV. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 
 157 
 
 ii. 21-23, ■ 
 
 , 
 
 . 107 
 
 xviii. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 
 201 
 
 ii. 22, 
 
 Amos. 
 
 . 104 
 
 xviii. 30, . 
 six. 2, 
 XX. IS, 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 327 
 
 iv. 5, 
 
 
 . 40 
 
 xxii. 7, 
 
 
 
 
 
 206 
 
 ix. 11, 
 
 
 . 148 
 
 xxiii. 1, 4, 6, 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 Jonah. 
 
 
 Baruoh. 
 
 ii. 4, 
 
 
 . 359 
 
 iii. 14, 15, 69 
 
 iii. 24, 25 204 
 
 
 MiCAH. 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 iv. 4, 
 
 
 . 107 
 
 Matthew. 
 i. 18, 114 
 
 
 Habakkuk. 
 
 
 ii. 11-13, 
 
 
 
 
 . 319 
 
 ii. 20, 
 
 , . 
 
 . 192 
 
 ii. 13-16, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 318 
 
 iii. 2, 
 
 , , 
 
 . 191 
 
 ii. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 . 319 
 
 iii. 3, 
 
 Zechaiuah. 
 
 188, 209 
 
 iii. 17, 
 iv. 10, 
 iv. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 . 341 
 . 393 
 . 3G8 
 
 iv. 1-3, . 
 
 , 
 
 . 108 
 
 V. 8, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 117 
 
 iv. 14, 
 
 . 
 
 . 108 
 
 V. 13, 
 
 
 
 
 6, 304 
 
 ix. 9, 
 
 • 
 
 . 214 
 
 V. 13-16, 
 V. 14, 
 
 
 
 
 . CI 
 . 368 
 
 
 Malachi. 
 
 
 V. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 55, 368, 381 
 
 iii. 6, 
 
 
 . 351 
 
 V. 29, 
 
 
 
 
 . 275 
 
 iv. 6, 
 
 APOCRYPHA. 
 Judith. 
 
 . 212 
 
 V. 35, 
 vi. 13, 
 vi. 24, 
 
 vii. 6, 
 ix. 12, 
 ix. 37, 38, 
 
 
 
 
 . 207 
 . 304 
 . 316 
 W, 176, 387 
 5 
 . 381 
 
 viii. 
 
 Wisdom. 
 
 . 113 
 
 X. 8, 
 X. 16, 
 X. 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 380 
 . 387 
 . 304 
 
 iv. 14, 
 
 . 
 
 . 143 
 
 X. 18, 
 
 
 
 
 . 304 
 
 ii. 23, 
 
 
 
 
 . 146 
 
 X. 23, 
 
 
 
 
 . 304 
 
 iii. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 . 14 
 
 X. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 . 383 
 
 iv. 1, 2, 
 
 
 
 
 42, 57 
 
 xi. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 . 372 
 
 iv. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 xi. 27, 
 
 
 
 
 . 339, 345 
 
 iv. 6, 
 
 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 xi. 28, 
 
 
 
 
 . 184 
 
 vii. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 . 110 
 
 xii. 27, 
 
 
 
 
 . 215 
 
 vii. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 . 58 
 
 xii. 29, 
 
 
 
 
 . 217 
 
 xii. 1, 
 
 
 
 
 . 229 
 
 xii. 33, 
 
 
 
 
 . 369 
 
 XV. 3, 
 
 
 
 
 . 195 
 
 xiii. 16, 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 65 
 
 XV. 10, 11, 
 
 
 
 
 . 19 
 
 xiv. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 . 214 
 
 xvi. 24, 
 
 
 
 
 . 151 
 
 XV. 14. 
 
 
 
 
 . 378 
 
 
 
 
 xvi. 16, 
 
 
 
 
 . 432 
 
 
 ECCLESIASTICDS 
 
 
 xvi. 24, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 371 
 
 i. 2, . 
 
 . 
 
 182, 338 
 
 xvi. 26, 
 
 
 
 
 . 316 
 
 i. 10, 
 
 
 
 
 . 185 
 
 xvii. 7, 
 
 
 
 
 . 206 
 
 iii. 22, 
 
 
 
 
 . 336 
 
 xvii. 20, 
 
 
 
 
 . 379 
 
 vi. 36, 
 
 
 
 
 . 5,47 
 
 xix. 4. 5, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 140 
 
 ix. 4, 
 
 
 
 
 . 392 
 
 xix. 12, . 
 
 
 
 
 20, 367 
 
 ix. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 392 
 
 xxi. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 212 
 
 ix. 8, 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 . 392 
 
 xxi. 9, 
 
 
 
 
 
 211
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 AC] 
 
 
 PACK 
 
 
 
 
 
 PACS 
 
 xxi. 10, . 
 
 . 213 
 
 x'ii- 21 398 
 
 xxi. 14-16, 
 
 . 218 
 
 xix. 27, 
 
 
 
 211 
 
 xxi. 15, . 
 
 . 214 
 
 xix. 37, 38, 
 
 
 
 213 
 
 xxi. 19, . 
 
 . 107. 396 
 
 xix. 38, . 
 
 
 
 211 
 
 xxii. 2;5, 
 
 147 /;w. 
 
 xxi. 34, . 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 xxii. 30, 
 
 19, 145 
 
 xxii. 7, 
 
 
 
 41H 
 
 xxiii. 3, . . . 
 
 . 378 
 
 xxiL 48, . 
 
 
 
 324 
 
 xxiii. 38, . 
 
 . 206 
 
 
 
 xxiv. 22, . 
 
 . . 13 
 
 JOII.N 
 
 
 xxiv. 35, . 
 
 . 144 
 
 i. 1, . 
 
 25, 350 
 
 xxiv. 45, 47. 
 
 . 435 
 
 i. 1, 2, 
 
 
 
 . ISi 
 
 xxiv, 45-50, 
 
 . 281 
 
 i. 1-3, 
 
 
 
 . 337 
 
 XXV. 
 
 54 his. 
 
 L3, 
 
 
 
 . 351 
 
 XXV. 2, . . . 
 
 . 369 
 
 i. 5, 
 
 
 
 . 213 
 
 XXV. 6, . . . 
 
 . 56 
 
 i. 11, 
 
 
 
 . 185 
 
 XXV. 11, . 
 
 . 112 
 
 i. 14, 
 
 
 
 . 323, 332 
 
 XXV. 3G, . 
 
 . 380 
 
 i. 17, 
 
 
 
 . 323 
 
 xxvi. 17. . 
 
 . 418 
 
 i. 18, 
 
 
 1 
 
 21, 173, 337, 350 
 
 xxvi. 38, . 
 
 . 420 
 
 ii. 7, 
 
 
 
 . 214 
 
 xxvi. 41, . 
 
 , 304, 305 
 
 iii. G, 31, 
 
 
 
 . 374 
 
 xxvi. 55, . 
 
 . 304 
 
 iv. 9. 
 
 
 
 . 199 
 
 XXV ii. 2, . 
 
 . 304 
 
 iv. 27, 
 V. 1, 
 
 
 
 . 394 
 . 344 
 
 Mark. 
 
 
 V. 5, 
 
 
 
 . 213 
 
 i. 22 
 
 . 104 
 
 V. 17, 
 
 
 
 . 12, 152 
 
 ii.To, 
 
 . 197 
 
 V. 23, 
 
 
 
 . 343 
 
 ix. 40, . . . 
 
 6 
 
 V. 39, 
 
 
 
 . 71, 214 
 
 xi. 19, . . . 
 
 . 211 
 
 vi. 11, 
 
 
 
 . 214 
 
 xi. 25. . . . 
 
 438 
 
 vi. 17. 
 
 
 
 . 381 
 
 xiv. 12, , 
 
 . 418 
 
 vi. 27, 
 ix. 
 
 
 
 . 210 
 . 213 
 
 Luke. 
 
 
 X. 11, 
 
 
 
 . 282 
 
 i. 17, ... 21 
 
 2. 214, 215 
 
 X. 12, 13, 
 
 
 
 . 3SI 
 
 i. 2S. 
 
 . 332 
 
 X. 15, 
 
 
 
 . ;{.-. I 
 
 i. 3.5. 
 
 324, 332 
 
 X. 31), 
 
 
 
 . 34.!. 351 
 
 i. 76, 77, . 
 
 . 398 
 
 X. 33. 
 
 
 
 . 219 
 
 i. 79 
 
 195, 198 
 
 xi. 44. 
 
 
 
 . 213 
 
 ii. 14, 
 
 . 192 
 
 xii. i:{. 
 
 
 
 . 211 
 
 ii. 22, 
 
 . 190 
 
 xiv. S, 9. . 
 
 
 
 . 343 
 
 ii. 29 
 
 . 215 
 
 xiv. 9, 
 
 
 
 . 351 
 
 ii. 29-32, . 
 
 . 198 
 
 xiv. 10, . 
 
 
 
 . 351 
 
 ii. 32 
 
 . 206 
 
 xiv. 16. 
 
 
 
 . 95 
 
 ii. 38, . . . . 
 
 . 204 
 
 xiv. 28, . 
 
 
 
 59. 345, 346 
 
 iv. 18, 19 
 
 . 394 
 
 XV. 1, . 
 
 
 
 . 107 
 
 viii. 29 
 
 . 214 
 
 XV. 1,5, 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 X.24, . . . . 
 
 . 212 
 
 XV. 21, 
 
 
 
 . 326 
 
 X. 34 
 
 . 218 
 
 XV. 23, 
 
 
 
 . 219 
 
 xi. 24 
 
 . 189 
 
 xvi. 12, i:i. 
 
 
 
 . 398 
 
 xii. 32 
 
 . 208 
 
 xvi. 28, . 
 
 
 
 . 219 
 
 xii. 3i> 
 
 . 389 
 
 xvi. ,33. , 
 
 
 
 . 346 
 
 xii. 35, 38, . . . 
 
 . 45 
 
 xix. 31, . 
 
 
 
 . 329 
 
 xii. 49, 55 . 
 
 . 208 
 
 XX. 17, 
 
 
 
 . :?94 
 
 XV. 6, . . . . 
 
 . 420 
 
 xxi. 20, . 
 
 
 
 . 372 
 
 XV. 8, . . • . 
 
 . 98 
 
 
 
 XV. 23, . . . . 
 
 . (;2 
 
 Acts. 
 
 
 xvi. 9, . . . . 
 
 . 164 
 
 vii. 5.5, 
 
 . 305 
 
 xvi. 28, . . . . 
 
 . 171 
 
 xii. 4, 
 
 
 
 
 318
 
 4G2 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 xii. 18, 19, 
 xiii. 22, 
 xiv. 22, . 
 xvii. 9, 10, 
 xviii. 28, . 
 xix. 26-30, 
 XX. 17, 37, 
 xxviii. 26, 
 
 i. 21, 
 ii. 11, 
 V. 14, 
 vi. 4, 
 vii. 7, 
 vii. 8, 
 vii. 9, 
 vii. 9, 10, 
 vii. 12, 
 vii. 13, 
 vii. 14, 
 vii. 15, 
 vii. 15, 18, 
 vii. 18, 
 vii. 19, 
 vii. 22, 24, 
 vii. 23, 
 vii. 25, 
 viii. 2, 
 viii. 3, 4, 
 viii. 6, 
 viii. 7, 
 viii. 9, 
 viii. 11, 
 viii. 19-21, 
 viii. 32, 
 ix. 5, 
 X. 8-10, 
 xi. 7, 
 xi. 33, 
 xii. 16, 
 xiii. 14, 
 xiv. 9, 
 xiv. 15, 
 XV. 17-19 
 xvi. 18, 
 xvi. 30, 
 
 i. 1, . 
 ii. 9, 
 iii. 7, 
 iv. 15, 
 V. 7, . 
 V. 25-28, 
 vi. 19, 
 vii. 1, 
 
 Romans. 
 
 1 CORINTniANS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 , 318 
 
 vii. 2 32 
 
 . 390 
 
 vii. 2-6, . 
 
 
 
 . 32 
 
 . 305 
 
 vii. 5, 
 
 
 
 . 32 
 
 . 317 
 
 vii. 7, 
 
 
 
 . 400 
 
 . 195 
 
 vii. 8, 9, . 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 . 317 
 
 vii. 28, 
 
 
 
 :;4 his. 
 
 . 281 
 
 vii. 29, 
 
 
 
 33, 39 
 
 205 
 
 vii. 31, 
 vii. 32-34, 
 vii. 34, 
 
 
 
 . 144 
 '. 6, 46, 3'7i 
 
 . 83 
 
 vii. 35, 
 
 
 
 . 35 
 
 . 300 
 
 vii, 36, 
 
 
 
 . 35 
 
 . 38 
 
 vii. 37, 
 
 
 
 . 36 
 
 . 149 
 
 vii. 38, 
 
 
 
 . 19 
 
 . 156 
 
 viii. 12, 13 
 
 
 
 . 386 
 
 . 156 
 
 ix. 25, 
 
 
 
 . 434 
 
 . 156 
 
 ix. 27, 
 
 
 
 . 375 
 
 . 157 
 
 X. 12, 
 
 
 
 . 392 
 
 . 157 
 
 X. 31, 
 
 
 
 . 387 
 
 . 157 
 
 X. 32, 
 
 
 
 . 386 
 
 \o7 bis. 
 
 xi. 1, 
 
 
 
 . 59, 373 
 
 . 155, 158 
 
 xi. 7, 
 
 
 
 . 167 
 
 . 159 
 
 xii. 5, 
 
 
 
 . 378 
 
 . 374 
 
 xii. 29, 
 
 
 
 . 377 
 
 158 his. 
 
 xiii. 1, 
 
 
 
 . 379 
 
 . 161 
 
 xiii. 2, 3, 
 
 
 
 . 98 
 
 . 160 bis. 
 
 xiii. 4, 
 
 
 
 . 307 
 
 . 161 
 
 xiii. 10, 
 
 
 
 . 95 
 
 . 161 
 
 xiii. 12, 
 
 
 
 51, 95 
 
 . 161 
 
 XV. 22, 
 
 
 
 26, 27, 149 
 
 . 373 
 
 XV. 41, 42, 
 
 
 
 . 61 
 
 . 374 
 
 XV. 42, 
 
 
 
 . 148, 165 
 
 . 373, 375 
 
 XV. 44, 
 
 
 
 . 378 
 
 . 161 
 
 XV. 49, 
 
 
 
 . 149, 165 
 
 . 143 
 
 XV. 50, 
 
 
 
 . 149, 165, 166 
 
 . 341 
 
 XV. 53, 
 
 
 
 . 148, 165 
 
 . 186 
 
 XV, 54, 
 
 
 
 . 149 
 
 . 298 
 
 
 . 326 
 
 2 CORIXTIUANS. 
 
 . 189 
 
 iii. 6, 200 
 
 . 313 
 
 iii. 18, 
 
 
 
 . 184 
 
 . 373 
 
 V. 1, 
 
 
 
 . 163 
 
 . 173 
 
 V. 2, 3, 
 
 
 
 . 164 
 
 . 386 
 
 V. 4, 
 
 
 
 . 164 
 
 . 378 
 
 V. 7, 
 
 
 
 . 164 
 
 . 381 
 
 V. 11, 
 
 
 
 , 385 
 
 . 438 
 
 V. 17, 
 V. 19, 
 vi. 3, 
 
 
 
 . 184, 165 
 
 . 185 
 . 384 
 
 . 217 
 
 vi. 14, . 
 
 
 
 . 350 
 
 . 338, 376 
 
 vi. 14, 15,. 
 
 
 
 . 341 
 
 . 152 
 
 vii. 5. 
 
 
 
 . 106 
 
 . 30 
 
 vii. 32, . 
 
 
 
 . 373 
 
 . 329 
 
 viii. 9, 
 
 
 
 . 323 
 
 . 34 
 
 ix. 29, . 
 
 
 
 . 3S0 
 
 . 380 
 
 X. 5, 
 
 
 
 . 158, 159 
 
 31, 32 
 
 xi.2. 
 
 
 
 . 3, 41
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 4G3 
 
 xi. 3, 
 
 xi. 12, 
 xi. 13, 
 xi. 14, 
 xi. 19, 
 xi. 32, 33, 
 xii. 2, 3, 
 
 i. B. 9, 
 ii. 9, 
 iv. 4. 5, 
 iv. 19, 
 iv. 26, 
 V. 17, 
 V. 22, 
 V. 22, 23, 
 V. 24, 
 Ti. 3, 4, 
 vi. 17, 
 
 i. 21, 
 ii. 2, 
 ii. 8, 9, 
 iii. 10, 
 iii. 14-17, 
 V. 4, 5, 
 V. 6, 
 V. 16, 
 V. 25, 26, 
 V. 26, 27, 
 V. 28, 32, 
 V. 31, 
 V. 32, 
 vi. 8, 
 vi. 9, 
 vi. 12, 
 vi. 13, 14, 
 vi. 16, 
 vi. 17, 
 
 23, 24, 
 . 6. 
 .6-8, 
 . 7, 
 . 10, 
 . 15, 
 i. 14, 
 i. 19, 
 i. 21, 
 r. 1, 
 r.3, 
 r.6, 
 
 Galatians, 
 
 EpH£SIANS. 
 
 17, 
 
 PlIILIPPIANS. 
 
 . 79, 
 
 375, 
 302, 313, 
 
 PAOG 
 
 371 
 29 
 381 
 KiG 
 438 
 305 
 155 
 
 347 
 212 
 192 
 
 30 
 371 
 
 90 
 375 
 107 
 373 
 369 
 392 
 
 25 
 
 378 
 
 323 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 433 
 
 369 
 
 387 
 
 30 
 
 28 
 
 21 
 
 28 
 
 20 
 
 300 
 
 301 
 
 159 
 
 159 
 
 203 
 
 80 
 
 307 
 183 
 440 
 323 
 220 
 387 
 371 
 381 
 167 
 388 
 372 
 3S3 
 439 
 
 
 Colo-ssiaxs. 
 
 TAOE 
 
 i. 5, 
 
 . 
 
 . 370 
 
 i. 1.-.. 
 
 
 
 
 . 23 
 
 i. 16, 17, 
 
 
 
 
 . 340 
 
 ii. 4, 
 
 
 
 
 . 199 
 
 ii. 8, 
 
 
 
 
 . 378 bis. 
 
 iii. 5, 
 
 
 
 
 . 374 
 
 iii. 11, 
 
 
 
 
 . 301 
 
 iv. 6, 
 
 
 
 
 370, 438 
 
 
 THESSALONIANS. 
 
 iv. 16. 
 
 
 . 67 
 
 iv. 16, 17, 
 
 , 
 
 . 56 
 
 iv. 17, 
 
 
 
 
 57 
 
 ii. 13, 
 
 2 TlIESSALONIANS. 
 
 i. 17, 
 ii. 4. 
 iii. 3, 
 iv. 1, 
 V. 13, 
 V. 22, 
 vi. 3, 4, 
 vi. 5, 
 vi. 10, 
 vi. 11, 
 vi. 11, Y. 
 vi. 16, 
 
 11. /, 
 ii. 15, 
 ii. 1 7. 
 iii. 4, 
 iii. 5, 
 
 i. 7. . 
 
 ii. 7, . 
 iii. 5, 
 
 i. 1, . 
 i. 3, . 
 i. 16, 
 iv. 14, 
 vi. 4, 
 ix. 4, 
 X. 1.. 
 xi. 10, 
 xi. 23. 
 xi. 32, 
 xii. l.") 
 
 1 Tlvotuv. 
 
 2 Tnioniv. 
 
 Titus. 
 
 HEBREW'S. 
 
 370 
 
 195, 203 
 19 
 381 
 352 
 377 
 445 
 347 
 404 
 374 
 375 
 320 
 
 53, 193 
 
 371 
 3t;9 
 3M 
 3:.2 
 347 
 369 
 
 381 
 3(i; 
 199 
 
 . 37 
 
 202, 345, 350 
 
 . 208 
 
 . 100 
 
 . 398 
 
 201 bif. 
 
 5(1 
 
 51, 351 
 
 . 63 
 
 . 305 
 
 . 141
 
 464 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 xiii. 4, 
 
 xiii. 7, 
 xiii. 8, 
 
 i. 6, . 
 i. 19, 
 i. 27, 
 iii. 2, 
 iii. 15, 
 iv. 6, 
 
 i. 15, 
 ii. 6, . 
 ii. 9, . 
 ii. 10, 
 ii. 12, 
 iv. 11, 
 T. 4, . 
 V. 5, . 
 V.8, . 
 
 James. 
 
 1 Peter. 
 
 291, 
 
 208, 
 
 377, 
 
 PAOR 
 
 .370 
 373 
 351 
 
 378 
 219 
 379 
 377 
 378 
 374 
 
 373 
 195 
 375 
 41 
 368 
 434 
 217 
 374 
 371 
 
 i. 8, . 
 ii. 1, . 
 iv. 18, 
 V. 19, 
 
 i. 10, 
 
 i. 5, . 
 
 ii. 7, . 
 vii. 4, 
 vii. 9, 
 xii. 1-G, 
 xii. 7, 
 xiv. 1-4, 
 xiv. 4, 
 xiv. 4, 5, 
 XX. G, 
 XX, 13, 
 
 1 John. 
 
 2 John. 
 
 Revelation. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 . 391 
 
 . 314 
 
 . 441 
 
 104, 386 
 
 352 
 
 168 
 23 
 57 
 11 
 71 
 
 371 
 
 11 
 
 7,367 
 
 11 
 
 97 
 
 167 
 
 II.-INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Abib, the month, 325. 
 
 Abraham, his sacrifice of a heifer, a 
 goat, and a ram three years old, its 
 meaning, 44, 45. 
 
 Abstinence, the foolish, practised by 
 the ISIanichc-eans, 240, 260. 
 
 Achilles and Arius, 332, &c. 
 
 Acta Comhejisiana, 277. 
 
 Adam and Eve, the union of, an alle- 
 gory of the union of Christ and His 
 Church, 21. 
 
 Adam, the first and the second, com- 
 pared, 22-29. 
 
 Adulterous births, God cares for, 17, 
 18 ; committed to the guardianship 
 of angels, 18. 
 
 Agnos-tree, the, 98, 99. 104; the 
 singular case of one on Mount Olym- 
 pus, 151 ; see also 166. 
 
 Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, a 
 notice of, 333 ; an epistle of, against 
 Arius, 334, &c. 
 
 Alexander, bishop of Lycopolis, a notice 
 of, 233-235. 
 
 Alexandria, 273. 
 
 Alexandria, a letter of bishop Peter 
 
 to the Church of, 323. 
 Alexandria, the presbyters and deacons 
 
 of, 353. 
 Altar, the double, in the Tabernacle, 50. 
 Altar of incense, the, 51. 
 Allegory, the. of the trees demanding 
 
 a king, 102, &c.. 104, &c. 
 Anastasius Bibliothecarius, 272. 
 Anatolius, of Alexandria, bishop of 
 
 Laodicea, a biographical notice of, 
 
 410; the Paschal Canon of, 411, 
 
 &c. ; Paschal or Easter Table of, 
 
 423. 
 Anaximander, 430. 
 Angelic salutation, the, to ilary. 332. 
 Angels, made by God for the care of 
 
 the universe, 154 ; the fall of some. 
 
 ibid. 
 Angels, man in the resurrection. 
 
 shall be as, 145-149. 
 Animal worship, the, of the Egyptians, 
 
 251.
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 4G5 
 
 Anna and Simeon, 20-t. 
 
 Apostates, from tho Church, 349. 
 
 Areto, described, 2, 3 ; tho garden of, 
 3, 4 ; tho derivation of the name, 
 67. 
 
 Aj-ithmctic, 430. 
 
 A rius, adheres to Meletius, 274; for- 
 sakes Meletius and is ordained 
 deacon by Peter, bishop of Alexan- 
 dria, ibid. ; is excommunicated, 274, 
 275 ; seeks to have the excommuni- 
 cation removed, but in vain, 277 ; 
 his excommunication not without 
 divine interposition, 282 ; epistle of 
 Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, 
 against, 334, &c. ; tho views of, ex- 
 posed and confuted. 335, &c. ; tho 
 sentence of deposition of, 354. 
 
 Artemas, 77. 
 
 Asclepiades, 430. 
 
 Babes and sucklings, praise perfected 
 out of tho mouth of, 214, 215. 
 
 Babylon, 39 ; the rivers of, 40. 
 
 Balsamon, Theodore, and Zonaras, the 
 commentaries of, on tho Canons of 
 Peter, archbishop of Alexandria, 
 292, &c. 
 
 Baptism, tho laver of regeneration in 
 which children are bom to the 
 Church, 73, 74 ; tho faithful con- 
 formed to Christ in, 74 j sin after, 
 141. 
 
 Baptist, tho, 114. 
 
 Beast, the seven crowns of, taken 
 away by victorious chastity, 81. 
 
 Beginning, the. 181. 
 
 Bishop, the, who deserts his see, 311, 
 &c. 
 
 Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, 
 the, 398. 
 
 Blessed is Ho that conioth in the 
 name of the Lord, 21(5, 217, 218. 
 
 Body, the, the resurrection of, 140 ; 
 objections to tho resurrection of, 
 answered, 145, &.c.\ how a fetter to 
 tho soul, 153; appearance of, when 
 raised, 107, 108; being honourable, 
 why so short lived, 173. 
 
 Body of death, tho, 161. 
 
 Boyhood, virtue best cultivated from, 
 45. 
 
 Bramble, the, the significance of, 104, 
 106. 
 
 Brazen altar, the, its tvpical import, 
 51. 
 
 Celibate brethren, rules for, 38 1, Ac. 
 
 Chastity, not the only good, but tho 
 most honoured, 19; its divine ex- 
 cellence and usefulness, 37, dtc; the 
 offering of, a great gift, 43 ; tho vow 
 of, 47; virtuous, takes away the 
 seven crowns of tho beast, 81 ; tho 
 chief ornament of tho true taber- 
 nacle, 92 ; tho crown of virtue, 98, 
 99 ; effects tho most praiseworthy 
 government of the soul, 101 ; signi- 
 fied by the bramble in Jotham'a 
 parable, 104, 105 ; violated by pride, 
 conceit, (tc, 109, 110; a hymn in 
 honour of, 111-115; maintained 
 without, and with a contest, — which 
 of the two the greater, 115-119. 
 
 Childhood of the world, tho, 7. 
 
 Children, the, in tho temple, praising 
 Christ, 214, &c. 
 
 Christ, fii-st taught virginity, 9 ; tho 
 first and chief of virgins, 9, 10; 
 draws to tho exercise of virginity, 
 10, 11; and Adam, comparetl, 22- 
 29; seeks tho strayed sheep, 25; 
 the works of, proper to God and 
 man, 26 ; the true Vine, 48 ; tho 
 human nature of, the one Uove of 
 Canticles, 65 ; the fii st-fniits of tho 
 resiurection, 168, 109; th3 miracu- 
 lous birth of, 188, &c. ; the presen- 
 tation of, in tho temple, 193, 194; 
 the triumphant entry of into Jeru- 
 salem, 211, &c. ; His cross, 221-223; 
 and passion, 225 ; crucified on tho 
 day of the Passover, 329 ; Go<l in- 
 carnate, 331 ; the Son of Gotl. 332 ; 
 assault of Arius on tho deity of, 
 335, &c. ; 349, &c. ; the equality of 
 with tho Father, 345 ; took tlcsh, 
 and suffered to redeem man, 359, 
 &c. ; events at tho crucifixion of, 
 300 ; the unity of tho person of, 
 409. 
 
 Christ, Arius' views of, 335, d:c. ; 349, 
 &c. 
 
 Christ, tho Manicha?an view of, 202- 
 204. 
 
 Christ, tho views of Paul of Samosata 
 of, 409, Ac. 
 
 Christian philosophy, tho excellency 
 of, 236. 
 
 Christians, how they should bohnvo 
 themselves among tlio heathen. 3S7. 
 
 Church, tho, compared to a flower- 
 covered mcad'iw, liO ; her union 
 with Ciirist illiistratod by tho nuir- 
 riago union, 21', 21 ; fr>niif><l out of 
 the ii.Je of Christ, 28, 29 ; intor- 
 
 2 (J
 
 4G6 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 
 
 modiato hctwoen tho shadows of the 
 Liw and tho realities of heaven, 50, 
 51 ; a typo of heaven, 51 ; tho 
 Spouse spoken of in Canticles, 62 ; 
 the vfoman clothed with tho sun, 71, 
 72, 73, 77, 78. 
 
 Circumcision, as given to Abraham, 
 what it signified, 8. 
 
 City of the great King, the, saluted, 207. 
 
 Clergy, who have lapsed, not to bo 
 received again into the ministry, 307- 
 311. 
 
 Coats of skins, 139, 140, 154. 
 
 Colluthus, 334, 335. 
 
 Concubines, the eighty of Canticles, 
 64. 
 
 Confessors, some forced to sacrifice, 
 320, &c. 
 
 Conflict, the inward, 256, &c. 
 
 Consecration to God, perfect, 46. 
 
 Continence, Paul's doctrine of, 31. 
 
 Creation, from pre-existent matter, 
 the theory of, refuted, 125, 12G, &c.; 
 none without a beginning, 1 7'J ; 
 illustration of, 180; in the begin- 
 ning, 181. 
 
 Creation, difficult and mysterious 
 questions connected with the con- 
 sideration of the works of, 121-123. 
 
 Creation, the, groaning, to be delivered, 
 143. 
 
 Cross, the, of Christ, its power, 221-223. 
 
 Crowns, the seven, of the beast, taken 
 away by victorious chastity, 81. 
 
 Crowns, tiie ten, of the dragon, 81. 
 
 Crucifixion, the, of Chi-ist, the miracu- 
 lous events which occurred at, 360. 
 
 Cupiscent, the, who live pure, and the 
 non-cupiscent, — which are the bet- 
 ter? 116-119. 
 
 David, the sin of, admonitory, 390 ; 
 the incestuous children of, 391. 
 
 Days, the fourth, sixth, and first, ob- 
 served by Christians, 322. 
 
 Deacons, of the Church of Alexandria, 
 353 ; of Mareotis, 354. 
 
 Dead, the sea and hell deliver up the, 
 who are in them, 167. 
 
 Dead in Christ, the, shall rise first, 166. 
 
 Death, brought in by sin, 95 ; is the 
 removal of the wild fig-tree from 
 the temple built by God, 140, 141 ; 
 the breaking up of the work of the 
 divine Artist, spoiled by sin, that it 
 may be remoulded, 141-143, 160 ; 
 the separation of foi-m from the flesh 
 in, 170. 
 
 Deception, men are liable to, 290. 
 
 Deep, Jesus walks on the, 227. 
 
 Democritus, 430. 
 
 Destiny, the idea of, refuted, 88-90. 
 
 Devil, the, his power in the world, 38 ; 
 tries to pollute the soul, 53 ; an 
 imitator of the forms of virtue, 106 ; 
 injured God's work, 143 ; his fall, 
 154 ; the author of sin, 157. 
 
 Dove, the one, of Canticles, 65. 
 
 Dragon, the, 75 ; the ten crowns of, 
 81. 
 
 Easter, the time of the observance of, 
 
 411-422; Anatolius' table of, 423. 
 Esryptians, the, their animal worship, 
 
 ^251. 
 'Ex.x.'hwtot, 181. 
 Endemus, 430. 
 
 Enoch, the book of, 415, and note. 
 Eusebius of Nicomedia, 348, 349. 
 Eve, the rib from which she was 
 
 formed, its allegorical import, 289. 
 Evil, the origin of, 123, &c., 125, &c., 
 
 130, &c., 135, &c. ; traced to the 
 
 free will of the creature, 136 ; in 
 
 man's power to avoid, 155. 
 Evil, the Manichajan view of, stated 
 
 and examined, 241, 242, 249, 250. 
 Evil one, the, 143. 
 Example, the, of Jesus, 393. 
 Examples, of an admonitory kind, and 
 
 the use of, 388-391. 
 Examples of circumspection, 391-394. 
 Exorcism, 379, 380. 
 
 Faithfulness in the discharge of public 
 duties enforced on Christians, 432- 
 439. 
 
 Fall of man, the, 104, 105, 357. 
 
 Fate, the doctrine of, refuted, 84, 87-90. 
 
 Feast of tabernacles, the, its signifi- 
 cance, 92, 93, 150 ; preparation for, 
 98, 99 ; the mystery of, 99, 100. 
 
 Fig-tree, the, its significance, 103, 104; 
 two kinds of, 106 ; sometimes refers 
 to the Holy Spirit, 107. 
 
 Fire, the Manichasan notion of, 265, 
 266. 
 
 Fleeing from persecution, 317. 
 
 Flesh, a resurrection of the, 139, 148. 
 
 Flesh and blood cannot inherit tho 
 kingdom of God, how to be under- 
 stood, 149, 150, 165. 
 
 Flesh, the lust of the, 90. 
 
 Force, used to make Ckristians sacri- 
 fice to idols, &c., 320. 
 
 Foui-teenth day of the first lunar
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 4C7 
 
 month, the, observed by the Jews 
 as the day of Passover, 225, &c. 
 Free will, the, of man, 82 ; argued for 
 against the mathematicians, 86, &c.; 
 argued and discussed at length, 120, 
 &c. ; the possession of, renders man 
 capable of sinning, 136, 155. 
 
 Generation, akin to the first formation 
 of Eve, 13 ; creating power the 
 chief cause in — the difficulty in re- 
 gard to, occasioned by adultoi-y and 
 fornication solved by an illustration, 
 14-16. 
 
 God. not the author of evil, 124, 129, 
 131, 133, 135, 137, 139 ; the Creator 
 and matter, 12G, &c. ; had images 
 of Himself made, 175 ; is diflferent 
 from, above, and before, the imi- 
 verso, 177, 178; the Manichajan 
 notion of, 237. 
 
 Godhead, a fragment from Peter of 
 Alexandria's book on the, 323, 324. 
 
 Gods, who are so called by Christ, 117. 
 
 Golden altar, the, its tyjjical import, 
 51, 52. 
 
 Harps upon the willows by the waters 
 of Babylon, what ? 39. 
 
 Heresies, the origin of, among Chris- 
 tians, 236, 237. 
 
 Herod, 818, 319. 
 
 Holv Spirit, the, blasphemy against, 
 397. 
 
 Homer, quoted or referred to, 2, 39, 
 80, 82, 88, 121, 247, 273, 429. 
 
 House, the earthly, and that not made 
 by hands, 163. 
 
 Housekeepers, priests', 405, 406. 
 
 Hymn in praise of chastity, sung by 
 Arete and the Virgins, 111-115. 
 
 lipoCPuUTYJi, 188. 
 
 lUegitimac}', note, 14, 15. 
 
 Images, of Himself, which God made, 
 175. 
 
 Incontinence and the incontinent, 87. 
 
 Jephtha, 113. 
 
 Jerusalem, the city of the great King, 
 saluted, 207. 
 
 Jesus, our example, 39.3, 394. 
 
 Jews, the, their unbelief and punish- 
 ment of, 205, &c. ; considered in 
 their relation to Christ, 213. 214. 
 
 Jonah, the history of, its typical char- 
 actor, 174, 175. 
 
 Joseph, eulogised, 113; and Potiphar's 
 wife, 389. 
 
 Jotham's parable, 102-106. 
 
 Judith, eulogised, 113. 
 
 Julian Calendar, the Moon's age as 
 
 determined \>y, 421. 
 Justin of Xeapolis, quoted, 165, 166. 
 
 King, the city of the great, saluted, 
 207. 
 
 VirilVUVlKX. yptAUUXTX, 407. 
 
 K(,>.6iiioi>, 278, note, 287. 
 
 Lapsed, the, who are penitent, how to 
 be treated — the first class of, 292 
 second class, 294; third class, 206 
 fourth class, 297; fifth class, 3U() 
 sixth class, 301; seventh class, 302 
 eighth class, 303 ; treatment of 
 clergy who are of the number of 
 the, 307; ninth class, 313; those 
 who only seem to be of the number 
 of, but are really not, 320. 
 
 Lasciviousness, 87. 
 
 Laver of regeneration, the, 7.3. 74. 
 
 Law, the, useless in respect to salva- 
 tion, 105; being alive without, 156; 
 not the cause, but the occasion, of 
 lust, 156, 157. 
 
 Law, the, a figure and shadow, 95. 
 
 Laws, three spoken of, by Paul, 160, 
 161. 
 
 Lazarus and the rich man, 171, 172. 
 
 Librarian, the roj-al, his dutv, 43G, 
 437. 
 
 Life, three periods of, shadowed by 
 Abraham's sacrifice of a heifer, a 
 goat, and a ram, three years olil, 44, 
 45. 
 
 Literce communicatorice, or Jormata; 
 note, 407. 
 
 Lucian, chief chamberlain of the 
 emperor, an epistle of Theonas to, 
 exhorting him to diligence and 
 faithfulness, 432-439. 
 
 Lust of the llesh and spirit, 90, &c. 
 
 Lusts of every kind violate chastity, 
 109, 110. 
 
 Magi, the, 318. 
 
 Maidens, scandalous and dangerous 
 association with, condomncd, 376. 
 
 Malchion of Antiocb, a biographionl 
 notice of, 401 ; au epistle of, against 
 Paul of Samosata, 402, &c.; dispute 
 conducted by, against Paul of Samo- 
 sata, 409, &'c. 
 
 Mammon of unrighteousness, making 
 friemls of. 165. 
 
 Man, the first, 330, 331,
 
 4G8 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Man, his fall, many apostacios, and 
 misery, 104, 10"), 357, 858 ; created 
 free, 136; clothed with mortality, 
 •why, 140 ; not body or soul alone, 
 153 ; difference between him and 
 other creatures, 155 ; Manich.Tan 
 notions of, 2G0-262 ; visited by God, 
 359. 
 
 Man, the Christian, the holy conduct 
 demanded of, where there are women 
 only, 385. 
 
 Man child, the, of the woman clothed 
 with the sun, 73, 74. 
 
 Manichajans, the, the abstinence prac- 
 tised by, 240 ; honour the sun 
 and moon, 240, 241 ; the two prin- 
 ciples of, 241 ; views of, respecting 
 motion, generation, &c., and the evil 
 nature of matter, refuted, 243-246 ; 
 other foolish notions of rejected, 
 247, &c.; their ideas of virtue ex- 
 posed, 254, &c,, 257, &c. ; other 
 trifling fancies of, 259, &c. ; their 
 view of Christ and that of the Church, 
 262, &c. ; their abstinence from 
 living things and from marriage 
 ridiculous, 264 ; the fire of the, 
 265. 
 
 Manichseus or Manes, his age and 
 opinions, 237; his fancies concern- 
 ing matter, 238 ; about the moon, 
 239; about man and Christ, 239, 
 240. 
 
 Mareotis, the presbyters and deacons 
 of, 353, 354. 
 
 Marriage not abolished by the com- 
 mand of virginity, 11, 12 ; a type of 
 the union of Christ and his Church, 
 20, 21 ; abhorred by the Manichseans, 
 264. 
 
 Marriage with sisters at first permitted, 
 7 ; but afterwards forbidden, 8. 
 
 Martyrs, the cruel tortures inflicted on 
 the, 441, 442. 
 
 Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin, 328. 
 
 Mathematicians, the doctrines of, not 
 wholly to be despised, 81 ; argu- 
 ments against their views of fate, 
 44, &c., 86, &c. 
 
 Mathematics, import of the name, and 
 nature and divisions of the science, 
 427-431. 
 
 IMatter, the theory of the creation of 
 existing things out of some under- 
 Ij'ing and pre-existing, stated, 125 ; 
 acd refuted, 126-130. 
 
 flatter, the Manichsean notions re- 
 specting, 238, 241 ; is it evil ? 245 ; 
 
 ridiculous fancies of the Mani- 
 
 chaians in regard to, 245. 
 Slatrimony, the uso of, to be rostruined, 
 
 99. 
 Melotius and the Meletians, 273, 274, 
 
 280, 323 ; epistle of Phileas to, 443. 
 Memljers of the body, all to be kept 
 
 pure, 110. 
 Mind, the, the purer when kept from 
 
 sin, 97. 
 Misery, the, of man, 358. 
 Moon, the ago of, as set forth in the 
 
 Julian Calendar, 421. 
 Moon, her increase and wane, silly 
 
 dreams of the Manichseans respect- 
 ing, 239. 
 Moon, the, on which the woman in the 
 
 Apocalypse stands, 93. 
 Moses, the law of, useless in respect to 
 
 salvation, 105. 
 Moses and Elias, the appearance of, 
 
 and its bearing on the resurrection, 
 
 168. 
 Mother, the, of our Lord lauded, 189, 
 
 193, 200, 204. 
 Mother of God, the, 197, 288, 828, 346. 
 Motion, the jManichaan notion of, 
 
 243. 
 Mm-rhine vessels, note, 435. 
 Mysteries of creation and providence, 
 
 121, &c. 
 
 Natural will and operation, 355. 
 Nazarites, the consecration of, it« 
 
 symbolical import, 48. 
 Noah, the law preached by, 104, 105. 
 Numbers, the symbolical signification 
 
 of, 78. 
 
 CEnopides, 430. 
 
 Oil in the lamps, what it means, 55. 
 
 Olive-tree, the, in the parable of 
 Jotham, its signification, 101, 102. 
 
 Olive-trees, the two, in the vision of 
 Zechariah, 108. 
 
 Omphorion, 286, note. 
 
 Ordinations, not lawfully celebrated by 
 a bishop in other parishes than his 
 own, 444, 446. 
 
 Origon, his view of the body refuted, 
 153, 163, 167, 168, 171; his view 
 of casting pearls before swine exa- 
 mined, 176; his view of the \miverse 
 refuted, 177. 
 
 Palms, oration on the, 210, &c. 
 Pamphilus of Cajsareia, martyr, a 
 biographical notice of, 447, 448; a
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 4C9 
 
 Byllabus of an exposition of the 
 Act8 by, 448-455. 
 
 Parable, the, of Jotham, 102-106. 
 
 Parable, the, of the ten virgins, 53, &c. 
 
 Paradise, where situated, 155. 
 
 Tlecpdivi'cc, derivation of the vrord, 67. 
 
 Uxpdisiog, 367. 
 
 Paschal Tables, the, of Anatolius, 423. 
 
 Passover, the, the time of the observ- 
 ance of, by the Jews, 325-329 ; on 
 the day of the, our Lord was cruci- 
 fied, 329, 330; Anatolius on the, 
 411, &c. 
 
 Passion, the, of Christ, 225. 
 
 Paul, his mode of discussing subjects, 
 21, 22 ; the dispensation of gi-ace 
 given to, 29, 30 ; his doctrine con- 
 cerning purity, 30, 31 ; an example 
 to widows and to those who do not 
 live with their wives, 31-33, his 
 doctrine of virginity, 33-36 ; other 
 references to, 305, 307, 317, 328. 
 
 Paul of Samosata, 342; an epistle of 
 Malchion against, 402, &c. ; cha- 
 racter and conduct of, 404 ; eiTors 
 of, 405 ; dispute conducted by Mal- 
 chion against, 409. 
 
 Pearls, casting, before swine, 176. 
 
 Persecution, on rashly courting, 303 ; 
 on those who flee from, 317. 
 
 Person, the, of Christ, the unity of, 409. 
 
 Peter, the apostle, 305, 318. 
 
 Peter, bishop of Alexandria, a bio- 
 graphical notice of, 269-271, 
 272; relations of, with Moletiua 
 and Arius, 273-275 ; appiohended 
 and imprisoned by order of Maxi- 
 min, 276 ; guarded in prison by 
 multitudes of Christians, 276; re- 
 fuses to receive Arius, 277, 278 ; by 
 a device delivers himself into the 
 hands of the tribune, and is exe- 
 cuted, 282, 283 ; circumstances con- 
 nected with the execution of, 283- 
 286 ; his burial, and the procedure 
 of the people in tliis, 287, 288. 
 
 Pharaoh, a tyjso of the devil, 38. 
 Phidias, 154. 
 
 Philoas, bishop of Thmnis, and mar- 
 tyr, a biographical notice of, 539, 
 440 ; fragments of the epistle of, 440, 
 &c. 
 Philosophy, the, of the Christians, the 
 
 excellency of, 236. 
 Pierius of Alexandria, a biographical 
 notice of, 399 ; extracts from the 
 writings of, 400, 401. 
 Plant from heaven, vii-ginity a, 7. I 
 
 Potiphar's wife, 389. 
 
 Praising, the ti-uo and seemly mode of, 
 
 58. 
 Presbyters and deacons of the church 
 
 of Alexandria, a list of the, 353 ; 
 
 of Mareotis, 353, 354. 
 Priests, what they should, and should 
 
 not be, 381. 
 Priests' housekeepers, 405, 406. 
 Principles, the two, of the Manichxans, 
 
 237, 238. 
 Providence, a divine, difUculties in- 
 volved in the Ijelief of, 123, &c. 
 Puragnos, the plant so-called, 166, 
 
 see Agnos. 
 Purity, Paul's doctrine of, 30, 31. 
 Purity, imiversal, inculcated, 109-111. 
 
 Queen, the, of Psalm xlv., what i> 
 meant by, 65. 
 
 Queens, and concubines, the, of the 
 Canticles, who, 62 ; why called 
 queens, and why sixty, 63. 
 
 Regeneration, the lavor of, 73, 74. 
 
 Holies, the, of Peter, bishop of .:\Jex- 
 andria, eagerly gathered, 287, 
 
 Resurrection, the, 95 ; how each 
 should prepare himself for, 96, 97 ; 
 of the flesh or body ; the subject 
 treated of at large, 139, &c. ; of the 
 flesh, 139, 140; the remoulding of 
 the body, injured by sin, 141-143; 
 an objection to, answered, 145-148 ; 
 corruption overcome by, 148 ; of 
 Christ's, the pattern of ours, 149 ; 
 the raising of man's tabernacle 
 which had fallen down, 148, ir>n ; 
 rational, 150, illustrated by the 
 Agnos, or Puragnos tree, 151, Kitl; 
 Origen's views of, refuted, 153, Ac, 
 163, 167, 168, 171 ; the case of 
 Closes and Elias considered in rela- 
 tion to, 168. 
 
 Resurrection bodv, the form of the, 
 167, 168,170-173. 
 
 Rib, the, taken from Adam's side, its 
 allegorical import, 28, 29. 
 
 Sabellius, 77. 
 
 Salvation, the law useless for, 105. 
 
 Samson, his admonitory fall, 389. 
 
 Seven days, Bjipoiute<l for the feast of 
 tabernacles, the meaning and occa- 
 sion of, 93, 94. 
 
 Sexes, the, the intercourse of, curiously 
 prescribed for by the psoudo-Clo- 
 ment, 382, &c
 
 470 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Shoop, the ninety and nine, 24, 25. 
 
 Sick, the, rules for visiting, 371). 
 
 Sikera, 49. 
 
 Simoon, his rejoicing on seeing the 
 child Jesus, 193-190 ; the Virgin's 
 supposed address to, 19(!, 197; tlio 
 song of, 197, 198 ; and Anna, 2U4, 
 &c. 
 
 Sin, brought death on men, 95 ; its 
 effects illustrated by a wild fig-tree 
 growing in a temple, 140, 141 ; the 
 spoiler of the work of the divine 
 Artist, 141, 142, 143. 
 
 Sirens, the, and Ulysses, 120. 
 
 Sisters, taken for wives in primitive 
 ages, 7 ; but since Abraham's time 
 the custom has been abolished, 8. 
 
 Six and sixty, the symbolical import 
 of, 78, 79. 
 
 Skins, coats of, the symbolism of, 139, 
 140, 154. 
 
 Solidtis, a, 286, note. 
 
 Solomon, the infatuation of, 391. 
 
 Son of God, the, 331, 332 ; the views 
 of Arius respecting, exposed and 
 refuted, 335, &c., 349, &c. ; equal 
 with the Father, 345 ; begotten, 75, 
 76, 345, 346 ; visits man to redeem 
 him, 359, &c. ; of one substance with 
 the Father, 397. 
 
 Song, the, of the virgins, in praise of 
 virginity, 113-115. 
 
 Song, the, of the divine choir of pro- 
 phets, 120, 121. 
 
 Soul, the rational, from God, 18, 19 ; 
 made in the image of God, and 
 beautiful; therefore sought after 
 by evil spirits, 53. 
 
 Soul and body, man consists of, 330 ; 
 the division and separation of, caused 
 by sin, 357. 
 
 Stars, the third part of, swept down by 
 the tail of the dragon, 77. 
 
 Statue, the figure of a, employed to 
 illustrate creation, 180. 
 
 Stephen, the proto-martyr, 305. 
 
 Susanna, an example of chastity, 113, 
 114, 391. 
 
 Swine, casting pearls before, 176, 177. 
 
 Tabernacle, the, a type of the Chm'ch, 
 51. 
 
 Tabernacles, the feast of, its origin and 
 significance, 92, 93, 150 ; prepara- 
 tion for keeping the true, 98 ; the 
 mystery of, 99, 100. 
 
 Temperance, and the temperate, 87. 
 
 Tempted, the, who conquer — and the 
 
 untoniptcd, wliich the more praise- 
 worthy, 115-119. 
 
 Ten virgins, the parable of the, 53, &c. 
 
 Thales, 430. 
 
 Thcognostus of Alexandria, a bio- 
 graphical notice of, 396. 
 
 Theonas, bishop of Alexandria, a bio- 
 graphical notice of, 431 ; an epistle 
 of, to Lucian, chief chamberlain of 
 the emperor, 432. 
 
 Thousand, a, its symbolical signifi- 
 cance, 78. 
 
 Thousand years, a, 182. 
 
 Tortures, the cruel, inflicted on the 
 martyrs, 441, 442. 
 
 Trees, and plants, how nurtured, 162. 
 
 Trees, the, seeking a king — Jotham's 
 parable of, 102-104. 
 
 Trinity, the, 230. 
 
 Two hundred and sixty, the symboli- 
 cal signification of, 78, 79. 
 
 Ulysses, and the sirens, 120. 
 
 Uncreated substances, two or more 
 cannot exist together, 126, &c. 
 
 Universe, the, not to be destroyed, but 
 purified with fire, 143, 144 ; objec- 
 tions to this view answered, 144. 
 
 Universe, the, according to Origen, 
 co-existent and co-eternal with God, 
 177. 
 
 Vine, the, of what a symbol, 101, 102 ; 
 sometimes denotes Christ, 107. 
 
 Vines, two kinds of, mentioned iu 
 Scripture in a symbolical sense, 48, 
 106, 107. 
 
 Virgin Mary, the, lauded, 189-193, 
 200-208 ; her supposed address to 
 Simeon at the presentation of the 
 child Jesus, 197 ; invoked, 209 ; 
 Mother of God, 328. [See Mother 
 of God.] 
 
 Virginity, the excellence and dignity 
 of, 4-6 ; a plant from heaven, 7 ; 
 first taught by Christ alone, 9 ; 
 makes like Christ, 9, 10 ; Christ 
 draws to the exercise of, 10 ; mar- 
 riage not abolished by the commen- 
 dation of, 11, 12; not the only good, 
 but the most honoured, 19 ; Paul's 
 doctrine of, explained, 33-36 ; a gift 
 of God, 35 ; the necessity of praising 
 it for those who have the power, 37 ; 
 given to men, that they might 
 emerge from the mire of vices, 37, 
 38 ; illustrated by hanging the harps 
 on the willows by the waters of 
 Babylon, 39-42 ; to be cultivated
 
 I^DEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 471 
 
 and commendod in every place, 42, 
 43 ; the offering of, a gi-eat gift, 43 ; 
 represented by the altar of incense 
 made of gold, 50, 51 ; the abiding 
 glory of, 52 ; the reward of, 57 ; the 
 lily of the Canticles, 59 ; derivation 
 of the name of 'Trxphvix, G7 ; soars 
 upward, G8 ; the lot and inheritance 
 of, G9 ; exhortation to the cultiva- 
 tion of, 70. 
 
 Virgins, tho number of, small com- 
 pared with the number of the saints, 
 11; the gifts which adorn — pre- 
 sented to Christ as tho One Husband, 
 41, 42; things akin to sins, to be 
 avoided by, 4'J; typified by the 
 golden altar, 51, 52; the bride of 
 Glirist, 5'J ; martyrs of Christ, Gl ; 
 stand next to the Queen, G6 ; soar 
 aloft, G8 ; called to imitate the 
 Chiu'ch in the wilderness, 8G. 
 
 Virgins, of both sexes, 367, 3G8 ; how 
 true, prove themselves, 3G9 ; object 
 and reward of, 370 ; tho hardship 
 and enemies to be encountered by, 
 371 ; tho true, 373 ; imitators of 
 God, 373, 374; the dignity of, 375 ; 
 various eiTors and scandals in, con- 
 demned, 377, 377; rules for the 
 guidance of. 371) ; what priests [who 
 are virgins] should be and not be, 
 381 ; further rules and regulations 
 for tho conduct of, 382-395. 
 
 Virgins, tho song of the, 111-115. 
 
 Virgins, tho, without number, of the 
 Canticles, 64, 65. 
 
 Virgins, the parable of the ten, 53-57. 
 
 Virtue, to bo cultivated from boyhood, 
 45 ; to bo acquired by diligence, 
 253; tho study of, proposed by 
 
 Christ to all, 254 ; Manich.-can idea 
 of, as resident in matter, scouted, 
 253, 254 ; further views of the 
 Manichajans respecting, 256, 257, 
 258. 
 
 Virtue and vice, 90. 
 
 Visiting orphans and widows, rules 
 for, 379. 
 
 Vow of chastity, tho, 47, &c, 
 
 ^Vhirlwind, God answered Job out of 
 
 the, 227. 
 Wickedness, in various horrid forms, 
 
 how consistent with the providence 
 
 of God, 123, &c. 
 Widows, tj'pified by tho brazen altar, 
 
 51, 
 Willows, the type of, what, 38. 
 Wisdom, 236. 
 Woman, tho, clothed with the snn, 71, 
 
 72, 73 ; the man-child brought forth 
 
 by, 73, 74, 77, 78. 
 Women, bow unmarried men may 
 
 allow themselves to be served bv, 
 
 394. 
 World, tho, not to be destroyed but 
 
 purified by fire, 143 ; objections to 
 
 this view answered, 144, &c. 
 
 Zechariah'a vision of tlie olive-trees, 
 108. 
 
 Zeno, of Citium, his opinion respect- 
 ing tho destruction of tho world by 
 fire, 249, 
 
 Zodiac, tho twelve signs of the, 83, 
 84. 
 
 Zonoras and Balsamon, tho commen- 
 tary of, on tho Canons of Peter, 
 bishop of Alexandria, 292, &c.
 
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