Ephesians 4:7–13

Our Hierarch must be most generous in the amount of what He gives out. As written in the Epistle to the Ephesians, "to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's bestowal. Thus it says, 'Ascending on high, He led away captives; He gave gifts to men.'" As indeed a cloud rises aloft in order that it may rain down, so does Christ ascend in order that He may grant His gifts.

In counseling humility, meekness, etc., he sets forth the reason why each person is called to patience and forbearance. Grace has been given to each of us according to the measure in which Christ grants it. Since therefore different people have different gifts, there is no cause for envy or refusal. One should not grieve over what another has, nor should any refuse to give what grace he has received. If therefore Christ grants according to the measure of the grace given to each, we should all embrace one another in love, bearing everything with forbearance and patience, with meekness and humility.

What then? he saith, whence are those diverse spiritual gifts? For this subject was continually carrying away both the Ephesians themselves, and the Corinthians, and many others, some into vain arrogance, and others into despondency or envy. Hence he everywhere takes along with him this illustration of the body. Hence it is that now also he has proposed it, inasmuch as he was about to make mention of diverse gifts. He enters indeed into the subject more fully in the Epistle to the Corinthians, because it was among them that this malady most especially reigned: here however he has only alluded to it. And mark what he says: he does not say, "according to the faith of each," lest he should throw those who have no large attainments into despondency. But what saith he? "According to the measure of the gift of Christ." The chief and principal points of all, he saith,-Baptism, the being saved by faith, the having God for our Father, our all partaking of the same Spirit,-these are common to all. If then this or that man possesses any superiority in any spiritual gift, grieve not at it; since his labor also is greater. He that had received the five talents, had five required of him; whilst he that had received the two, brought only two, and yet received no less a reward than the other. And therefore the Apostle here also encourages the hearer on the same ground, showing that gifts are bestowed not for the honor of one above another, but for the work of the church, even as he says further on: "For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministering unto the building up of the body of Christ."

What is meant by, "according to the measure"? It means, "not according to our merit," for then would no one have received what he has received: but of the free gift we have all received. And why then one more, and another less? There is nothing to cause this, he would say, but the matter itself is indifferent; for every one contributes towards "the building." And by this too he shows, that it is not of his own intrinsic merit that one has received more and another less, but that it is for the sake of others, as God Himself hath measured it; since he saith also elsewhere, "But now hath God set the members each one of them in the body, even as it pleased Him." And he mentions not the reason, lest he should deject or dispirit the hearers.

If everything, as you say, is common, then why does one person have a greater gift and another a lesser one? For this aroused envy in them, in the Corinthians and many others. Resolving this, the apostle says that to each one a gift was given in the measure that the Giver determined. Therefore, since it is a gift, be content, because you received it after all, and it was not given to you as something owed. And since God determined this measure, do not be curious. For if God determined it, then of course He did so in a manner entirely fitting. Thus, what is essential and without which one cannot be a Christian is common to all, and if someone has a somewhat greater gift, do not grieve, because greater labor is also joined with it, as he will say further on. And he did not say "according to the measure of each one's faith," lest those who have little of it fall into faintheartedness, but he places the measure in the will of the Giver, so that they would not even dare to question it at all.

Previously the Apostle dealt with ecclesial unity in the perspective of what is common within the Church (4:5), now he manifests this same unity from the viewpoint of what is personal and specific to each of the faithful members of the Church.

He states: We have in the Church one God, one faith, one baptism. Nonetheless, each of us has the diverse graces especially granted to him—to every one of us is given grace. As though he said: None of us lack a share in divine grace and communion, "of his fullness we all have received; and grace for grace" (Jn. 1:16). This grace, however, is certainly not bestowed on everyone uniformly and equally but according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Christ is the donor who metes out the grace to each, who have "different gifts according to the grace that is given us" (Rom. 12:6).

The variation does not spring from fate or chance, nor from a difference of merit, but from the giving of Christ; that is, according as Christ allots it to us. Only he has received the Spirit without measure (cf. Jn. 3:34); the rest of the saints obtain it in a limited degree, "according as God hath divided to every one the measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3). "And every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor" (1 Cor. 3:8). Again, "to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability" (Mt. 25:15). Just as it is in Christ's power to give or not, so he can grant more or less.

Light's glittering morn bedecks the sky, heaven thunders forth its victor cry, the glad earth shouts its triumph high, and groaning hell makes wild reply:

While he, the King of glorious might, treads down death's strength in death's despite, and trampling hell by victor's right, brings forth his sleeping Saints to light.

Fast barred beneath the stone of late in watch and ward where soldiers wait, now shining in triumphant state, He rises Victor from death's gate.

Hell's pains are loosed, and tears are fled; captivity is captive led; the Angel, crowned with light, hath said, 'The Lord is risen from the dead.'

Now Christ was delivered from the sword, and ascended from out of Sheol, and revived and rose the third day, and so God abode for His help.

But in the Body which was circumcised, and carried, and ate and drank, and was weary, and was nailed on the tree and suffered, there was the impassible and incorporeal Word of God. This Body it was that was laid in a grave, when the Word had left it, yet was not parted from it, to preach, as Peter says, also to the spirits in prison.

And this above all shews the foolishness of those who say that the Word was changed into bones and flesh. For if this had been so, there were no need of a tomb. For the Body would have gone by itself to preach to the spirits in Hades. But as it was, He Himself went to preach, while the Body Joseph wrapped in a linen cloth, and laid it away at Golgotha. And so it is shewn to all that the Body was not the Word, but Body of the Word.

We know that He, the Only-begotten Son of God, at the Father's bidding came from the heavens for the abolishment of sin, and was born of the Virgin Mary, and conversed with the disciples, and fulfilled the Economy according to the Father's will, and was crucified, and died and descended into the parts beneath the earth, and regulated the things there, Whom the gate-keepers of hell saw (Job xxxviii. 17, LXX.) and shuddered; and He rose from the dead the third day, and conversed with the disciples, and fulfilled all the Economy, and when the forty days were full, ascended into the heavens, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and is coming in the last day of the resurrection in the glory of the Father, to render to every one according to his works.

Just as Christ insofar as He is the uncreated Word most perfectly formed all things, so insofar as He is incarnate He ought to have most perfectly reformed all things. Because the remedy of the passion was most sufficient, it therefore extended itself to celestial, terrestrial, and infernal things. Through Christ infernal things were recovered, terrestrial things remedied, and celestial things restored to wholeness—such that the first of these He accomplished through pardon, the second through grace, and the third through glory: therefore after the passion His soul descended to the nether regions to free those detained in hell; then He rose from the dead to vivify those dead in sins; He ascended into the heavens, leading captivity captive, to restore the heavenly Jerusalem to wholeness; and He sent the Holy Spirit to build up the earthly Jerusalem. All of which necessarily follow and are required for the sufficiency of human restoration.

Our Hierarch must be most generous in the amount of what He gives out. As written in the Epistle to the Ephesians, "to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's bestowal. Thus it says, 'Ascending on high, He led away captives; He gave gifts to men.'" As indeed a cloud rises aloft in order that it may rain down, so does Christ ascend in order that He may grant His gifts.

The real New Testament authority for assigning Psalm 68 to Whitsunday appears in verse 18 ('Thou art gone up on high, thou hast led captivity captive, and received gifts for men'). According to the scholars the Hebrew text here means that God, with the armies of Israel as his agents, had taken huge masses of prisoners and received 'gifts' (booty or tribute) from men. St Paul, however (Eph. 4:8) quotes a different reading: 'When He ascended up on high He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.' This must be the passage which first associated the Psalm with the coming of the Holy Ghost, for St Paul is there speaking of the gifts of the Spirit and stressing the fact that they come after the Ascension. After ascending, as a result of ascending, Christ gives these gifts to men, or receives these gifts from His Father 'for men', for the use of men, in order to transmit them to men. And this relation between the Ascension and the coming of the Spirit is of course in full accordance with Our Lord's own words, 'It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you' (John 16:7); as if the one were somehow impossible without the other, as if the Ascension, the withdrawal from the space-time in which our present senses operate, of the incarnate God, were the necessary condition of God's presence in another mode.

Thus the law of God proclaims: when the Highest became lowly, Hell gave way, so that Adam might be lifted from Death; the Lord, having mercy on his own creation, descended into the tomb, and thus through hidden power, he nullified the power of Death. The Lord crept up, concealed from the old robber, and He allowed Himself to suffer, in order to cast him down more completely. That one, indeed, bold and always cruel like an enemy, while he hoped to rage against a man, was conquered by the Highest. By that thing through which the evil one had previously brought man down to death, he himself was overcome; from there comes forth life for us.

For that He utterly abolished death, and effaced destruction, and spoiled hell, and overthrew the tyranny of the enemy, and took away the sin of the world, and opened the gates above to the dwellers upon earth, and united earth to heaven: these things proved Him to be, as I said, in truth God.

He was truly laid as Man in a tomb of rock; but rocks were rent asunder by terror because of Him. He went down into the regions beneath the earth, that thence also He might redeem the righteous. For, tell me, could thou wish the living only to enjoy His grace, and that, though most of them are unholy; and not wish those who from Adam had for a long while been imprisoned to have now gained their liberty? Esaias the Prophet proclaimed with loud voice so many things concerning Him; would you not wish that the King should go down and redeem His herald? David was there, and Samuel, and all the Prophets, John himself also, who by his messengers said, Are you He that should come, or look we for another [Matthew 11:3]? Would you not wish that He should descend and redeem such as these?

But He who descended into the regions beneath the earth came up again; and Jesus, who was buried, truly rose again the third day. And if the Jews ever worry you, meet them at once by asking thus: Did Jonah come forth from the whale on the third day, and has not Christ then risen from the earth on the third day?

He cried to the Father, saying, Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit [Luke 23:46]; I commend it, that I may take it again. And having said these things, He gave up the ghost [Matthew 27:50]; but not for any long time, for He quickly rose again from the dead.

The Sun was darkened, because of the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2]. Rocks were rent, because of the spiritual Rock. Tombs were opened, and the dead arose, because of Him who was free among the dead; He sent forth His prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water [Zechariah 9:11].

In the time before the Messiah came, the expectation of the godly was to die and go to Sheol. Jonah (most likely) actually died and cried out to God from the depths of Sheol (Jon. 2:1). The psalmist expected that Sheol would swallow him up (Ps. 18:5; 86:13; 116:3).

In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, they both died and went down to Hades. In that parable, Hades was divided in two by a vast chasm. The side where Lazarus was had the name of Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:23), while the rich man was in torment in Hades. Nevertheless, it was possible for communication to occur across the chasm.

In our text [Matt. 12:40], Jesus said that He was going to be three days and nights in the heart of the earth. But He also told the thief on the cross that He would be with him in Paradise that same day (Luke 23:43). So then, Abraham's bosom was also known as Paradise. To the Greeks, this went by the name of Elysium. This is where Jesus went, and preached across the chasm.

The Greek word for the lowest pit of Hades, the worst part, was Tartarus. This word is used once in the New Testament (without any redefinition, mind). Peter tells us this: "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Tartarus], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (2 Peter 2:4).

While in Hades, the Lord preached. But the preaching was not "second chance" preaching. Rather the word used is one used for heralding or announcing, not the word for preaching the gospel. "By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water" (1 Pet. 3:19–20). The Lord was announcing their final defeat to the "sons of God" and Nephilim both. And this, incidentally, tells us how momentous the rebellion at the time of the Flood actually was. Thousands of years after their definitive defeat, Jesus went to them to announce their final defeat.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the king of all things. The devil is not the ruler of Gehenna—Jesus is. The lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). It is a place of torment for the devil. Furthermore, Jesus holds the keys to Hades as well. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [Hades] and of death." (Rev. 1:18). Jesus, not the devil, is the King of Hell. Jesus, not the devil, is the Lord of Hades.

When the Lord rose from the dead, He led captivity captive (Eph. 4:8)—all the saints in the Old Testament who had died and gone to Abraham's bosom were transferred when Paradise was moved (Matt. 27:52). And by the time of Paul, Paradise was up (2 Cor. 12:4). So if you had lived in the Old Testament, you would have died and gone down to Sheol/Hades. But the part of Hades that contained the saints of God has been emptied out, and now when God's people die, what happens? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6, 8). We still go to Paradise, but Paradise itself has been moved into the heavens.

The final place of torment is Gehenna, which I take as the lake of fire. There is an intermediate place of torment, which is located within Hades. We can tell they are distinct because at a certain point, death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). And in the Apostles Creed, Jesus descends to Hades, not into Hell.

Aeneas descended into Hades, which was a place divided into two compartments. The bad side was called Tartarus and the good side was called Elysium. Aeneas went to commune with his father, who was a shade, but who was in Elysium, a place of peace. The Jewish name for Elysium was Abraham's bosom, or Paradise. Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom, within shouting distance of the rich man, who was in torment in Hades (presumably Tartarus). Jesus descended into Elysium because He told the thief on the cross that he would be with him that day in Paradise (Luke 23:43). That is where He preached (across the chasm) to the spirits who had been disobedient in the time of Noah, announcing to them their final defeat (1 Pet. 3:19-20). The apostle Peter even refers to Tartarus by name (2 Pet. 2:4), using a word in verb form that means to cast into Hell/Tartarus. When Jesus rises from the dead, He holds the keys of death and Hades (Rev. 1:18), and when He ascends He transfers Paradise to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2-4). When believers die now, that is where they go (2 Cor. 5:8)...

Jesus tells us where this Paradise was. He says that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12:40). Jonah cried out to God from Sheol, the Hebrew word that is rendered in the New Testament (without redefinition) as Hades. Hades is not the grave — Plato thought he knew where the gates of Hades were. It was the kind of place you could get to if you got lost in Carlsbad Caverns, you and your flashlight.

"Wilson blithely asserts that the "Jewish name for Elysium was Abraham's bosom, or Paradise". Where is the evidence for that?"

This is my "quacks like a duck" argument. Hades had two compartments, Tartarus and Elysium. The New Testament uses the names of two of these three, and I infer the third by good and imaginative consequence...

Jesus said He was going to the heart of the earth like Jonah did, and Jonah went down to Sheol, which was in the heart of the earth, and which the New Testament calls Hades, and Jesus told the thief on the cross that He was going to Paradise, and the only subterranean place that could remotely be thought of as a kind of Paradise would be Elysium.

He departed from Sheol and took up His abode in the Kingdom; that He might seek out a path from Sheol which oppresses all, to the Kingdom which requites all. For our Lord gave His resurrection as a pledge to mortals, that He would remove them from Sheol, which receives the departed without distinction, to the Kingdom which admits the invited with distinction; so that, from [the plan] which makes equal the bodies of all men within it, we may come to [the plan] which distinguishes the works of all men within it. This is He Who descended to Sheol and ascended, that from [the place] which corrupts its sojourners, He might bring us to the place which nourishes with its blessings its dwellers...

Sheol brought Him forth, that through Him its treasures might be emptied out...

For our Lord bare His cross and went forth according to the will of Death: but He cried upon the cross [Matthew 27:50-52] and brought forth the dead from within Sheol against the will of Death. For in that very thing by which Death had slain Him [i.e., the body], in that as armour He bore off the victory over Death. But the Godhead concealed itself in the manhood and fought against Death, Death slew and was slain. Death slew the natural life; and the supernatural life slew Him. And because Death was not able to devour Him without the body, nor Sheol to swallow Him up without the flesh, He came unto the Virgin, that from thence He might obtain that which should bear Him to Sheol; as from beside the ass they brought for Him the colt whereon He entered Jerusalem, and proclaimed concealing her overthrow and the destruction of her children. With the body then that [was] from the Virgin, He entered Sheol and plundered its storehouses and emptied its treasures. He came then to Eve the Mother of all living. This is the vine whose fence Death laid open by her own hands, and caused her to taste of his fruits. So Eve the Mother of all living became the well-spring of death to all living. But Mary budded forth, a new shoot from Eve the ancient vine; and new life dwelt in her, that when Death should come confidently after his custom to feed upon mortal fruits, the life that is slayer of death might be stored up [therein] against him; that when Death should have swallowed [the fruits] without fear, he might vomit them forth and with them many. For [He Who is] the Medicine of life flew down from heaven, and was mingled in the body, the mortal fruit. And when Death came to feed after his custom, the Life in His turn swallowed up Death. This is the food that hungered to eat its eater. So then, by one fruit which Death swallowed hungrily, he vomited up many lives which he had swallowed greedily. The hunger then which hurried him against one, emptied out his greed which had hurried him against many. Thus Death was diligent to swallow one, but was in haste to set many free. For while One was dying on the cross, many that were buried from within Sheol were coming forth at His cry. [Matthew 27:50-53] This is the fruit that cleft asunder Death who had swallowed it, and brought out from within it the Life in quest of which it was sent. For Sheol hid away all that she had devoured. But through One that was not devoured, all that she had devoured were restored from within her. He, whose stomach is disordered, vomits forth both that which is sweet to him and that which is not sweet. So the stomach of Death was disordered, and as he was vomiting forth the medicine of life which had sickened it, he vomited forth along with it also those lives that had been swallowed by him with pleasure.

This is the Son of the carpenter, Who skilfully made His cross a bridge over Sheol that swallows up all, and brought over mankind into the dwelling of life. And because it was through the tree that mankind had fallen into Sheol, so upon the tree they passed over into the dwelling of life. Through the tree then wherein bitterness was tasted, through it also sweetness was tasted; that we might learn of Him that among the creatures nothing resists Him. Glory be to You, Who laid Your cross as a bridge over death, that souls might pass over upon it from the dwelling of the dead to the dwelling of life!

Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: "My Lord be with you all." Christ answered him: "and with your spirit." He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying : "Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth , all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

But tomorrow assemble for me all your citizens, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and descended into Hades, and burst the bars which from eternity had not been broken, and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and thus ascended to his Father.

The Enemy, therefore, beholding in Him such power, saw also in Him an opportunity for an advance, in the exchange, upon the value of what he held. For this reason he chooses Him as a ransom for those who were shut up in the prison of death. But it was out of his power to look on the unclouded aspect of God; he must see in Him some portion of that fleshly nature which through sin he had so long held in bondage. Therefore it was that the Deity was invested with the flesh, in order, that is, to secure that he, by looking upon something congenial and kindred to himself, might have no fears in approaching that supereminent power; and might yet by perceiving that power, showing as it did, yet only gradually, more and more splendour in the miracles, deem what was seen an object of desire rather than of fear... His choosing to save man is a testimony of his goodness; His making the redemption of the captive a matter of exchange exhibits His justice, while the invention whereby He enabled the Enemy to apprehend that of which he was before incapable, is a manifestation of supreme wisdom...

For since, as has been said before, it was not in the nature of the opposing power to come in contact with the undiluted presence of God, and to undergo His unclouded manifestation, therefore, in order to secure that the ransom in our behalf might be easily accepted by him who required it, the Deity was hidden under the veil of our nature, that so, as with ravenous fish, the hook of the Deity might be gulped down along with the bait of flesh, and thus, life being introduced into the house of death, and light shining in darkness, that which is diametrically opposed to light and life might vanish; for it is not in the nature of darkness to remain when light is present, or of death to exist when life is active.

What shall we learn of the three days' time? [...] This one hath loosed the oath of death, this one hath comforted the firstborn of the dead, in this one the iron gates of death are broken down, in this one the brass of the rod of hell are broken. Now the prison of death is opened, now the prisoners are declared to be released... As the ruler of darkness could not approach the presence of the Light unimpeded, had he not seen in Him something of flesh, then, as soon as he saw the God-bearing flesh and saw the miracle performed through it by the Deity, he hoped that if he came to take hold of the flesh through death, then he would take hold of all the power contained in it. Therefore, having swallowed the bait of the flesh, he was pierced by the hook of the Deity and thus the dragon was transfixed by the hook.

Concerning this again he says, "Ascending on high, He led captivity captive, He gave gifts to men." For ascending on high, He led captivity captive, because He absorbed our corruption by the power of His incorruption. And He gave gifts to men, because, sending the Spirit from above, to one He granted the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another the grace of powers, to another the grace of healings, to another kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of speeches. Therefore He gave gifts to men.

Moreover, after your departure I learned from information given me by my most beloved sons the deacons that your Love had said that our Almighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when He descended into hell, saved all who there acknowledged Him as God, and delivered them from the pains due to them. With regard to this subject I desire that your Charity should think very differently. For, when He descended into hell, He delivered through His grace those only who both believed that He should come and observed His precepts in their lives... Considering, therefore, all these things, hold nothing but what the true faith teaches through the Catholic Church: namely, that the Lord in descending into hell rescued from infernal durance those only whom while living in the flesh He preserved through His grace in faith and good conduct.

He showed all power given by the Father to the Son [Matthew 28:18], who is ordained Lord of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and Judge of all [Philippians 2:10]: of things in heaven, because He was born, the Word of God, before all (ages); and of things on earth, because He became man in the midst of men, to re-create our Adam through Himself; and of things under the earth, because He was also reckoned among the dead, preaching the Gospel to the souls of the saints [1 Peter 3:19], (and) by death overcoming death.

He [John the Baptist] also first preached to those in Hades, becoming a forerunner there when he was put to death by Herod, that there too he might intimate that the Saviour would descend to ransom the souls of the saints from the hand of death.

For this reason the warders of Hades trembled when they saw Him; and the gates of brass and the bolts of iron were broken. For, lo, the Only-begotten entered, a soul among souls, God the Word with a (human) soul. For His body lay in the tomb, not emptied of divinity; but as, while in Hades, He was in essential being with His Father, so was He also in the body and in Hades. For the Son is not contained in space, just as the Father; and He comprehends all things in Himself. But of His own will he dwelt in a body animated by a soul, in order that with His soul He might enter Hades, and not with His pure divinity.

If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death-whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master-how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead.

He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. By those in heaven I mean such as are possessed of incorporeal natures; by those on earth, the Jews and Romans, and such persons as were present at that time when the Lord was crucified; and by those under the earth, the multitude that arose along with the Lord. For says the Scripture, "Many bodies of the saints that slept arose," their graves being opened. He descended, indeed, into Hades alone, but He arose accompanied by a multitude; and rent asunder that means of separation which had existed from the beginning of the world, and cast down its partition-wall. He also rose again in three days, the Father raising Him up; and after spending forty days with the apostles, He was received up to the Father, and "sat down at His right hand, expecting till His enemies are placed under His feet."

For the Lord, through means of suffering, "ascending into the lofty place, led captivity captive, gave gifts to men," and conferred on those that believe in Him the power "to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy," that is, of the leader of apostasy. Our Lord also by His passion destroyed death, and dispersed error, and put an end to corruption, and destroyed ignorance, while He manifested life and revealed truth, and bestowed the gift of incorruption.

As Jeremiah declares, "The holy Lord remembered His dead Israel, who slept in the land of sepulture; and He descended to them to make known to them His salvation, that they might be saved." For this reason also were the eyes of the disciples weighed down when Christ's passion was approaching; and when, in the first instance, the Lord found them sleeping, He let it pass — thus indicating the patience of God in regard to the state of slumber in which men lay; but coming the second time, He aroused them, and made them stand up, in token that His passion is the arousing of His sleeping disciples, on whose account "He also descended into the lower parts of the earth," to behold with His eyes the state of those who were resting from their labours, in reference to whom He did also declare to the disciples: "Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see and hear what ye do see and hear."

For it was not merely for those who believed on Him in the time of Tiberius Caesar that Christ came, nor did the Father exercise His providence for the men only who are now alive, but for all men altogether, who from the beginning, according to their capacity, in their generation have both feared and loved God, and practised justice and piety towards their neighbours, and have earnestly desired to see Christ, and to hear His voice. Wherefore He shall, at His second coming, first rouse from their sleep all persons of this description, and shall raise them up, as well as the rest who shall be judged, and give them a place in His kingdom.

...all the prophets announced His two advents: the one, indeed, in which He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass, and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek; while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father's fold the children who were scattered abroad, and remembered His own dead ones who had formerly fallen asleep, and came down to them that He might deliver them...

Since, again, some who are reckoned among the orthodox go beyond the pre-arranged plan for the exaltation of the just, and are ignorant of the methods by which they are disciplined beforehand for incorruption, they thus entertain heretical opinions. For the heretics, despising the handiwork of God, and not admitting the salvation of their flesh, while they also treat the promise of God contemptuously, and pass beyond God altogether in the sentiments they form, affirm that immediately upon their death they shall pass above the heavens and the Demiurge, and go to the Mother (Achamoth) or to that Father whom they have feigned. Those persons, therefore, who disallow a resurrection affecting the whole man (universam reprobant resurrectionem), and as far as in them lies remove it from the midst [of the Christian scheme], how can they be wondered at, if again they know nothing as to the plan of the resurrection? For they do not choose to understand, that if these things are as they say, the Lord Himself, in whom they profess to believe, did not rise again upon the third day; but immediately upon His expiring on the cross, undoubtedly departed on high, leaving His body to the earth. But the case was, that for three days He dwelt in the place where the dead were, as the prophet says concerning Him: "And the Lord remembered His dead saints who slept formerly in the land of sepulture; and He descended to them, to rescue and save them." And the Lord Himself says, "As Jonas remained three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." Then also the apostle says, "But when He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?" This, too, David says when prophesying of Him, "And thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell;" and on His rising again the third day, He said to Mary, who was the first to see and to worship Him, "Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to the disciples, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and unto your Father."

If, then, the Lord observed the law of the dead, that He might become the first-begotten from the dead, and tarried until the third day "in the lower parts of the earth;" then afterwards rising in the flesh, so that He even showed the print of the nails to His disciples, He thus ascended to the Father;-[if all these things occurred, I say], how must these men not be put to confusion, who allege that "the lower parts" refer to this world of ours, but that their inner man, leaving the body here, ascends into the super-celestial place? For as the Lord "went away in the midst of the shadow of death," where the souls of the dead were, yet afterwards arose in the body, and after the resurrection was taken up [into heaven], it is manifest that the souls of His disciples also, upon whose account the Lord underwent these things, shall go away into the invisible place allotted to them by God, and there remain until the resurrection, awaiting that event; then receiving their bodies, and rising in their entirety, that is bodily, just as the Lord arose, they shall come thus into the presence of God. "For no disciple is above the Master, but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master." As our Master, therefore, did not at once depart, taking flight [to heaven], but awaited the time of His resurrection prescribed by the Father, which had been also shown forth through Jonas, and rising again after three days was taken up [to heaven]; so ought we also to await the time of our resurrection prescribed by God and foretold by the prophets, and so, rising, be taken up, as many as the Lord shall account worthy of this [privilege].

Therefore, he says: 'Ascending on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men.' For he had said above, 'To each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ,' so that he might confirm these very gifts, which he also enumerates a little later, saying: 'And he gave some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers,' and the rest. From the Savior, who gave them, he took testimony from the sixty-seventh Psalm, that we might know that the spoils that Christ the conqueror purchased are distributed to men. For ascending on high, he led captivity captive. We believers in Christ, gathered out of the Gentiles, when we were God's creatures, were captured by the devil and distributed among his followers. Then our Lord Jesus Christ came, bearing with him the vessels of captivity spoken of by Ezekiel (Ch. IX and XII), and with his head veiled so as not to be recognized by his adversaries, he preached remission to the captives and release to them who were held in chains. And he freed us from the chains of the enemy and the fetters of the old captivity, and led us with himself into heaven. And to those whom he delivered from the hand of the enemy as the victor, he gave different gifts of grace. And elegantly, he placed here, 'he gave gifts to men,' whereas in the Psalter it is written, 'he received gifts from men' (Ps. LXVII, 19). But there, because it had not yet happened, but was promised for the future, it is said, 'he received.' Here, however, since the Apostle writes that he had already given, and the Church was established throughout the world, he does not write 'received,' but 'gave.' Some have explained this passage such that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended victoriously to heaven so that he might send from there angels and other powers to guard his churches. And while this place on earth is unworthy to have the presence of sublime powers, in a certain way they endured captivity. For he ascended on high, that he might captive captivity and give gifts to men. And the Apostle repeats this whole thing to teach that since he had already said, 'bearing with one another in love, eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,' he might show that in the various gifts of the Church, there might be harmony, and that there might not be immediately given occasion for schisms and dissensions, because according to the measure of the gift of Christ, each one of us received gifts, not the same but in one body and in one spirit, all of us called, that is, so that just as there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God the Father, so also we might be one in charity, keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

As though he had said, Why art thou high-minded? The whole is of God. The Prophet saith in the Psalm, "Thou hast received gifts among men" whereas the Apostle saith, "He gave gifts unto men." The one is the same as the other.

But where have the Scriptures said that He was buried, and on the third day shall rise again? By the type of Jonah which also Himself alleges, saying, "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall also the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." [Matthew 12:40] By the bush in the desert. For even as that burned, yet was not consumed, [Exodus 3:2] so also that body died indeed, but was not holden of death continually. And the dragon also in Daniel shadows out this. For as the dragon having taken the food which the prophet gave, burst asunder in the midst; even so Hades having swallowed down that Body, was rent asunder, the Body of itself cutting asunder its womb and rising again.

As though he had said, Why art thou high-minded? The whole is of God. The Prophet saith in the Psalm, "Thou hast received gifts among men" whereas the Apostle saith, "He gave gifts unto men." The one is the same as the other.

When thou hearest these words, think not of a mere removal from one place to another; for what Paul establishes in the Epistle to the Philippians, that very argument is he also insisting upon here. In the same way as there, when exhorting them concerning lowliness, he brings forward Christ as an example, so does he here also, saying, "He descended into the lower parts of the earth." For were not this so, this expression which he uses, "He became obedient even unto death," were superfluous; whereas from His ascending, he implies His descent, and by "the lower parts of the earth," he means "death," according to the notions of men; as Jacob also said, "Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." And again as it is in the Psalm, "Lest I become like them that go down into the pit," that is like the dead. Why does he descant upon this region here? And of what captivity does he speak? Of that of the devil; for He took the tyrant captive, the devil, I mean, and death, and the curse, and sin. Behold His spoils and His trophies.

"Now this, He ascended, what is it but that He also descended?"

This strikes at Paul of Samosata and his school.

The soul when it was deified descended into Hades, in order that, just as the Sun of Righteousness [Malachi 4:2] rose for those upon the earth, so likewise He might bring light to those who sit under the earth in darkness and shadow of death [Isaiah 9:2]: in order that just as He brought the message of peace to those upon the earth, and of release to the prisoners, and of sight to the blind , and became to those who believed the Author of everlasting salvation and to those who did not believe a reproach of their unbelief [1 Peter 3:19], so He might become the same to those in Hades: That every knee should bow to Him, of things in heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth. [Philippians 2:10] And thus after He had freed those who had been bound for ages, straightway He rose again from the dead, showing us the way of resurrection.

Trypho: We ask you first of all to tell us some of the Scriptures which you allege have been completely cancelled.

Justin: I shall do as you please... And since this passage from the sayings of Jeremiah is still written in some copies [of the Scriptures] in the synagogues of the Jews (for it is only a short time since they were cut out)... And again, from the sayings of the same Jeremiah these have been cut out: 'The Lord God remembered His dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and He descended to preach to them His own salvation.'

Furthermore in the matter which you placed last in your confidential letter, I am surprised that any intelligent Christian should be in difficulty as to whether when Christ descended to the realms below, his flesh rested in the tomb: for as it truly died and was buried, so it was truly raised the third day.

Who is my opponent? I, he says, am the Christ. I am the one who destroyed death, and triumphed over the enemy, and trampled Hades under foot, and bound the strong one, and carried off man to the heights of heaven, I, he says, am the Christ.

By the cross death is destroyed, and by the cross salvation shines; by the cross the gates of hell are burst, and by the cross the gates of paradise are opened... the cross is the destroyer of hell.

Sheol saw me and was shattered, and Death ejected me and many with me. I have been vinegar and bitterness to it, and I went down with it as far as its depth. Then the feet and the head it released, because it was not able to endure my face. And I made a congregation of living among his dead; and I spoke with them by living lips; in order that my word may not be unprofitable. And those who had died ran towards me; and they cried out and said, Son of God, have pity on us. And deal with us according to Your kindness, and bring us out from the bonds of darkness. And open for us the door by which we may come out to You; for we perceive that our death does not touch You. May we also be saved with You, because You are our Savior. Then I heard their voice, and placed their faith in my heart. And I placed my name upon their head, because they are free and they are mine.

Therefore he said, "When he ascended on high." And that the gift is Christ's grace, and he himself gave it out, listen to David: "And when he ascended on high," he says, "Your magnificence was raised above the heavens." Whom did he lead captive? Us, of course, a beautiful and useful captivity. For when he had defeated the devil in the spiritual battle, he took us captive, not to subject us to slavery (for how could he have done this when we were already slaves?), but to free us from the bitter tyranny of that wicked one. But some have understood this from the cross, that when he ascended on the cross, he led captivity captive. He did indeed lead the devil captive, but in place of punishment he gave gifts and grace to those who had been captive...

But what does 'he ascended' mean? It is not necessary, he says, for the prophet to say 'he ascended' unless he knew that he had first descended. For someone usually says 'he ascended' about the one who had previously descended. For he who ascends or in what he ascends begins at the lower place so that he may be in the higher place, just as when someone begins to ascend, although he was not previously in a higher place.

Either he does not now begin his ascent, but he was indeed in a higher place from the beginning. But since he descended from there, he now ascends again. Therefore, where it says, "When he ascended," it is to be understood how it should be interpreted: "When he ascended," not as if he had just begun to ascend now, for he was from the beginning in the sublimity of divine dignity and paternal glory. But because, by his own dispensation and descent even to the lower parts, he ascended again for the appropriate manifestation of divine sublimity, it is said, "he ascended."

"Into the lowest parts of the earth." After which, it is evident that there are no lower parts. But he speaks of hell, looking at it as a common way of speaking, for this is how we are accustomed to say. Therefore, Jacob also says, "And you shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to hell." And David, "And I shall be likened to those who descend into the pit." For he called death the lower parts of the earth. "The same who also ascended." This refutes the blasphemy of Nestorius. For there is one who descended and who also ascended.

If, on the other hand, as it reads in some manuscripts, "even in those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression," this death, namely that which was keeping souls bound in the underworld, is said to exercise dominion, then we shall understand it to mean that even the saints had fallen prey to that death certainly under the law of dying, even if not under the punishment of sin. But it was on this account that Christ descended into the underworld, not only because he would not be held by death [Acts 2:24], but also in order that he might release those who were held there, as we said, not so much through the crime of transgression as much as by the condition of dying. As it is written, "Many bodies of saints who were sleeping were resurrected with him and entered into the holy city." [Matthew 27:52-53] In this as well the prophet's sayings were fulfilled, in which he said of Christ, "In ascending on high he led captivity captive." [Ephesians 4:8-9] Thus by his own resurrection he has already destroyed the dominions of death, which is also why it is written that he set captivity free.

The strong root of your faith, spoken of in days [Philippians 1:5] long gone by, endureth even until now, and bringeth forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins suffered even unto death, [but] "whom God raised from the dead, having loosed the pains of Hades." [quoting variant Acts 2:24 found in a few manuscripts of the so-called "Western" text]

The Word was not in need and did not come into being, nor were humans able to give these gifts to themselves. But through the Word they have been given to us. For these reasons they were given to us after being given to him. For his purpose in becoming a man was that, having been given to him, they might be passed on to us.

They then caused to be read a paper which they held in their hands, containing another form of the creed: this had indeed been drawn up at Sirmium, but had been kept concealed, as we have before observed, until their present publication of it at Ariminum. It has been translated from the Latin into Greek, and is as follows:

We believe in one only and true God, the Father Almighty, the Creator and Framer of all things: and in one only-begotten Son of God, before all ages, before all beginning, before all conceivable time, and before all comprehensible thought, begotten without passion: by whom the ages were framed, and all things made: who was begotten as the only-begotten of the Father, only of only, God of God, like to the Father who begat him, according to the Scriptures: whose generation no one knows, but the Father only who begat him. We know that this his only-begotten Son came down from the heavens by his Father's consent for the putting away of sin, was born of the Virgin Mary, conversed with his disciples, and fulfilled every dispensation according to the Father's will: was crucified and died, and descended into the lower parts of the earth, and disposed matters there; at the sight of whom the (door-keepers of Hades trembled): having arisen on the third day, he again conversed with his disciples, and after forty days were completed he ascended into the heavens, and is seated at the Father's right hand; and at the last day he will come in his Father's glory to render to every one according to his works.

Now hear how he declared that by Christ Himself, when returned to heaven, these spiritual gifts were to be sent: "He ascended up on high," that is, into heaven; "He led captivity captive," meaning death or slavery of man; "He gave gifts to the sons of men," that is, the gratuities, which we call charismata. He says specifically "sons of men," and not men promiscuously; thus exhibiting to us those who were the children of men truly so called, choice men, apostles. "For," says he, "I have begotten you through the gospel; " and "Ye are my children, of whom I travail again in birth."

I, on my part, now wish to engage with you in a discussion on the allegorical expressions of the apostle. What figures of speech could the novel god have found in the prophets (fit for himself)? "He led captivity captive," says the apostle. With what arms? In what conflicts? From the devastation of what Country? From the overthrow of what city? What women, what children, what princes did the Conqueror throw into chains? For when by David Christ is sung as "girded with His sword upon His thigh," or by Isaiah as "taking away the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus," you make Him out to be really and truly a warrior confest to the eye. Learn then now, that His is a spiritual armour and warfare, since you have already discovered that the captivity is spiritual.

But what is that which is removed to Hades after the separation of the body; which is there detained; which is reserved until the day of judgment; to which Christ also, on dying, descended? I imagine it is the souls of the patriarchs.

By ourselves the lower regions (of Hades) are not supposed to be a bare cavity, nor some subterranean sewer of the world, but a vast deep space in the interior of the earth, and a concealed recess in its very bowels; inasmuch as we read that Christ in His death spent three days in the heart of the earth, [Matthew 12:40] that is, in the secret inner recess which is hidden in the earth, and enclosed by the earth, and superimposed on the abysmal depths which lie still lower down. Now although Christ is God, yet, being also man, "He died according to the Scriptures," [1 Corinthians 15:3] and "according to the same Scriptures was buried." With the same law of His being He fully complied, by remaining in Hades in the form and condition of a dead man; nor did He ascend into the heights of heaven before descending into the lower parts of the earth, that He might there make the patriarchs and prophets partakers of Himself. [1 Peter 3:19]

"Therefore it says: 'He ascended on high and led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men.' Indeed, the psalm says, 'He received gifts among men'; but he himself gave them. Both of these things have been done. For by receiving faith, he gives grace in return. Also, the Prophet clearly stated, 'He led captivity captive.' For he did not lead us into captivity when we were free, but when we were under the power of the devil, he led us captive in the opposite direction and gave us freedom. Then he interprets the ascent."

That He gave a gift, he says, is evident from the words of the prophet: He gave gifts to men. But the prophet says: you received gifts, and this is the same thing, because God, in granting gifts, receives service in return. And whoever receives gifts receives them in order to work and labor. Therefore one must not be idle. He ascended "on high" — either onto the cross, or into heaven at the ascension, which is even better, as is evident from what follows. Of what captivity does he speak? Of the captivity of the devil. For He took captive the devil and death, and the curse, and transgression, and also us, who were under the power of the devil and subject to what has been said.

But he ascended to the summit, either by the cross or by the assumption of heaven, which is even more important, as is clear from what follows. But what captivity does he mean? The captivity of the devil: for he captured the devil, and death, and curse, and sin, and we, subject to the devil, are now liable. But what does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower regions, that is, the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. In discussing humility here, Paul presents Christ as an example, as he does in his letter to the Philippians: "Just as he did not refuse to descend, so you should not refuse to humble yourselves." For it is clear from the prophet that he who ascended also descended. When we speak of God ascending, we must first understand that he descended; this is not the case with human beings. But where did he descend? To the depths, which are commonly called the lowest parts of the earth, just as Jacob said, "You will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave," and David said, "I am like those who go down to the pit." He descended to the lowest parts, beyond which there is nothing else, and ascended far above all, beyond which is nothing. His descent did not prevent him from ascending. Therefore, if you humble yourselves, you will be exalted. For this reason, he fills all things with his dominion and power, and does so in the flesh, since he had already filled everything with his divinity. This is what Paul is arguing against Samosata and Nestorius. For he who descended, it is clear that even though he was in the heavens, he descended through incarnation to the earth and, through death, to the depths, and he is one and the same, not different.

"Wherefore he saith" introduces an authoritative text from Psalm 67 (19) supporting "according to the measure of the giving of Christ." Three points are made. First, it speaks of Christ's ascension; secondly, of mankind's liberation; thirdly, of the bestowal of spiritual gifts.

He refers to the ascension saying: Wherefore to signify this the prophet David saith in Psalm 67: ascending on high... "For he shall go up that shall open the way before them. They shall divide and pass through the gate and shall come in by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them" (Mic. 2:13). Christ "setteth up his wings on high" (Job 39:18). He ascends, I say, but not alone. He led captivity captive, that is, those whom the devil had captured. For the human race was imprisoned; the saints who had died in love, and so merited eternal glory, were held like prisoners by the devil in limbo. "My people led away captive because they had not knowledge" (Is. 5:13). Christ liberated these prisoners and brought them with himself to heaven. "Shall the prey be taken from the strong? Or can that which was taken by the mighty be delivered? For thus saith the Lord: Yea verily. Even the captivity shall be taken away from the strong: and that which was taken by the mighty shall be delivered" (Is. 49:24-25).

Indeed, this is not only true of those already dead; it also applies to the living. Held under sin's bondage, Christ made men the slaves of justice in delivering them from sin, as Romans 6 (18) phrases it. Thus in some way he led men captive not unto destruction but salvation. "From henceforth thou shalt catch men" (Lk. 5:10).

Besides grasping men from a diabolical slavery and placing them in his own service, he has enriched them spiritually. Hence he adds he gave gifts of grace and glory to men. "For God loveth mercy and truth; the Lord will give grace and glory" (Ps. 83:12). "By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises, that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4). This version does not contradict the reading which has "Thou hast received gifts in men," for he as God bestows the gifts which he as man receives in the faithful who are his members. In heaven he gives, since he is God, while on earth he accepts what is given in the manner Matthew 25 (40) describes: "As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me."

Since it was fitting for Christ to die in order to deliver us from death, so it was fitting for Him to descend into hell in order to deliver us also from going down into hell. Hence it is written (Hosea 13:14): "O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite." Secondly, because it was fitting when the devil was overthrown by the Passion that Christ should deliver the captives detained in hell, according to Zechariah 9:11: "Thou also by the blood of Thy Testament hast sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit."

These words of Peter [1 Peter 3:19] are referred by some to Christ's descent into hell: and they explain it in this sense: "Christ preached to them who formerly were unbelievers, and who were shut up in prison"—that is, in hell—"in spirit"—that is, by His soul. Hence Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii): "As He evangelized them who are upon the earth, so did He those who were in hell"; not in order to convert unbelievers unto belief, but to put them to shame for their unbelief, since preaching cannot be understood otherwise than as the open manifesting of His Godhead. which was laid bare before them in the lower regions by His descending in power into hell.

Augustine, however, furnishes a better exposition of the text in his Epistle to Evodius quoted above, namely, that the preaching is not to be referred to Christ's descent into hell, but to the operation of His Godhead, to which He gave effect from the beginning of the world. Consequently, the sense is, that "to those (spirits) that were in prison"—that is, living in the mortal body, which is, as it were, the soul's prison-house—"by the spirit" of His Godhead "He came and preached" by internal inspirations, and from without by the admonitions spoken by the righteous: to those, I say, He preached "which had been some time incredulous," i.e. not believing in the preaching of Noah, "when they waited for the patience of God," whereby the chastisement of the Deluge was put off: accordingly (Peter) adds: "In the days of Noah, when the Ark was being built."

I answer that, As Christ, in order to take our penalties upon Himself, willed His body to be laid in the tomb, so likewise He willed His soul to descend into hell. But the body lay in the tomb for a day and two nights, so as to demonstrate the truth of His death. Consequently, it is to be believed that His soul was in hell, in order that it might be brought back out of hell simultaneously with His body from the tomb.

Reply to Objection 1. When Christ descended into hell He delivered the saints who were there, not by leading them out at once from the confines of hell, but by enlightening them with the light of glory in hell itself. Nevertheless it was fitting that His soul should abide in hell as long as His body remained in the tomb.

Reply to Objection 2. By the expression "bars of hell" are understood the obstacles which kept the holy Fathers from quitting hell, through the guilt of our first parent's sin; and these bars Christ burst asunder by the power of His Passion on descending into hell: nevertheless He chose to remain in hell for some time, for the reason stated above.

Reply to Objection 3. Our Lord's expression is not to be understood of the earthly corporeal paradise, but of a spiritual one, in which all are said to be who enjoy the Divine glory. Accordingly, the thief descended locally into hell with Christ, because it was said to him: "This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise"; still as to reward he was in paradise, because he enjoyed Christ's Godhead just as the other saints did.

When Christ descended into hell, all who were in any part of hell were visited in some respect: some to their consolation and deliverance, others, namely, the lost, to their shame and confusion.

That He descended into hell is also evidently foretold in the Psalms, where it is said, "You have brought Me also into the dust of the death." And again, "What profit is there in my blood, when I shall have descended into corruption?" And again, "I descended into the deep mire, where there is no bottom." Moreover, John says, "Are You He that shall come (into hell, without doubt), or do we look for another?" Whence also Peter says that "Christ being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit which dwells in Him, descended to the spirits who were shut up in prison, who in the days of Noah believed not, to preach unto them;" where also what He did in hell is declared. Moreover, the Lord says by the Prophet, as though speaking of the future, "You will not leave my soul in hell, neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption." Which again, in prophetic language he speaks of as actually fulfilled, "O Lord, You have brought my soul out of hell: You have saved me from them that go down into the pit"... He returned, therefore, a victor from the dead, leading with Him the spoils of hell. For He led forth those who were held in captivity by death, as He Himself had foretold, when He said, "When I shall be lifted up from the earth I shall draw all unto Me." To this the Gospel bears witness, when it says, "The graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept arose, and appeared unto many, and entered into the holy City"...

The truth incarnate is that he is said to have descended in order to ascend, unlike humans, who have descended in order to remain there. For by decree they were held in the lower world. But this decree could not hold the Savior. He has conquered sin. Therefore, after his triumph over the devil, he descended to the heart of the world, so that he might preach to the dead, that all who desired him might be set free. It was necessary for him to ascend. He had descended to trample death underfoot by the force of his own power, then only to rise again with the former captives.

After having said that "Christ was put to death in the flesh, and quickened in the spirit," the apostle immediately went on to say: "in which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were unbelieving, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water;" thereafter he added the words: "which baptism also now by a like figure has saved you." [1 Peter 3:18-21] This, therefore, is felt by me to be difficult. If the Lord when He died preached in hell to spirits in prison, why were those who continued unbelieving while the ark was a preparing the only ones counted worthy of this favour, namely, the Lord's descending into hell? For in the ages between the time of Noah and the passion of Christ, there died many thousands of so many nations whom He might have found in hell. I do not, of course, speak here of those who in that period of time had believed in God, as, e.g. the prophets and patriarchs of Abraham's line, or, going farther back, Noah himself and his house, who had been saved by water (excepting perhaps the one son, who afterwards was rejected), and, in addition to these, all others outside of the posterity of Jacob who were believers in God, such as Job, the citizens of Nineveh, and any others, whether mentioned in Scripture or existing unknown to us in the vast human family at any time. I speak only of those many thousands of men who, ignorant of God and devoted to the worship of devils or of idols, had passed out of this life from the time of Noah to the passion of Christ. How was it that Christ, finding these in hell, did not preach to them, but preached only to those who were unbelieving in the days of Noah when the ark was a preparing? Or if he preached to all, why has Peter mentioned only these, and passed over the innumerable multitude of others?

It is established beyond question that the Lord, after He had been put to death in the flesh, "descended into hell;" for it is impossible to gainsay either that utterance of prophecy, "You will not leave my soul in hell," — an utterance which Peter himself expounds in the Acts of the Apostles, lest any one should venture to put upon it another interpretation — or the words of the same apostle, in which he affirms that the Lord "loosed the pains of hell, in which it was not possible for Him to be holden." Who, therefore, except an infidel, will deny that Christ was in hell? As to the difficulty which is found in reconciling the statement that the pains of hell were loosed by Him, with the fact that He had never begun to be in these pains as in bonds, and did not so loose them as if He had broken off chains by which He had been bound, this is easily removed when we understand that they were loosed in the same way as the snares of huntsmen may be loosed to prevent their holding, not because they have taken hold. It may also be understood as teaching us to believe Him to have loosed those pains which could not possibly hold Him, but which were holding those to whom He had resolved to grant deliverance...

As to the first man, the father of mankind, it is agreed by almost the entire Church that the Lord loosed him from that prison; a tenet which must be believed to have been accepted not without reason, — from whatever source it was handed down to the Church — although the authority of the canonical Scriptures cannot be brought forward as speaking expressly in its support, though this seems to be the opinion which is more than any other borne out by these words in the book of Wisdom. [Wisdom 10:1-2] Some add to this [tradition] that the same favour was bestowed on the holy men of antiquity — on Abel, Seth, Noah and his house, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the other patriarchs and prophets, they also being loosed from those pains at the time when the Lord descended into hell...

But seeing that plain scriptural testimonies make mention of hell and its pains, no reason can be alleged for believing that He who is the Saviour went there, except that He might save from its pains; but whether He did save all whom He found held in them, or some whom He judged worthy of that favour, I still ask: that He was, however, in hell, and that He conferred this benefit on persons subjected to these pains, I do not doubt...

You perceive, therefore, how intricate is the question why Peter chose to mention, as persons to whom, when shut up in prison, the gospel was preached, those only who were unbelieving in the days of Noah when the ark was a preparing — and also the difficulties which prevent me from pronouncing any definite opinion on the subject.

But what is it that ascends except that which also descends into the lower parts of the earth? He who is said to have ascended, ascended because he had descended before. This means: 'But what is it that ascends except that which has also descended.' Therefore, we must look into that which is written elsewhere: 'No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man' (John 3:13), how did he ascend before descending? For when he spoke these words, he had already descended from heaven and was showing how he had once ascended to heaven. Similarly, we must consider how the descent and ascent are to be understood. Whether it was a physical descent and ascent or a spiritual one, or perhaps both. The lower parts of the earth refer to hell, into which our Lord and Savior descended in order to bring with him the souls of the saints who were held captive there, triumphantly leading them to heaven. This is why, after his resurrection, many bodies of the righteous were seen in the holy city (Matthew 27:52-53). That hell is located in the lower part of the earth is confirmed by the Psalmist who says: 'The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram' (Psalm 106:17). This is further explained in the Book of Numbers (Chapter 16). We also read elsewhere: 'Let death come deceitfully upon them; and let them go down alive into Hell' (Psalm 55:15).

When thou hearest these words, think not of a mere removal from one place to another; for what Paul establishes in the Epistle to the Philippians, that very argument is he also insisting upon here. In the same way as there, when exhorting them concerning lowliness, he brings forward Christ as an example, so does he here also, saying, "He descended into the lower parts of the earth." For were not this so, this expression which he uses, "He became obedient even unto death," were superfluous; whereas from His ascending, he implies His descent, and by "the lower parts of the earth," he means "death," according to the notions of men; as Jacob also said, "Then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." And again as it is in the Psalm, "Lest I become like them that go down into the pit," that is like the dead. Why does he descant upon this region here? And of what captivity does he speak? Of that of the devil; for He took the tyrant captive, the devil, I mean, and death, and the curse, and sin. Behold His spoils and His trophies.

"Now this, He ascended, what is it but that He also descended?"

This strikes at Paul of Samosata and his school.

"He that descended, is the same also that ascended far above all the Heavens, that He might fill all things."

He descended, saith he, into the lower parts of the earth, beyond which there are none other: and He ascended up far above all things, to that place, beyond which there is none other. This is to show His divine energy, and supreme dominion. For indeed even of old had all things been filled.

It is the Son, too, who ascends to the heights of heaven, [John 3:13] and also descends to the inner parts of the earth. [Ephesians 4:9]

It is the Son, too, who ascends to the heights of heaven, and also descends to the inner parts of the earth. "He sitteth at the Father's right hand " -not the Father at His own.

"But what is 'ascend' except that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?" The ascent involves the descent. For since he had previously descended and procured our salvation, he ascended again. For the wall of the lower parts of the earth had called forth death. Thus, the Prophet also says, 'They put me in the lower pit.' And again, 'And my substance is in the lower parts of the earth.'"

Speaking here of humility, Paul points to Christ as an example, just as in the Epistle to the Philippians (Phil. 2:8), saying: as He did not refuse to descend, so you too should not refuse to humble yourselves through humility. And that He descended is evident from the prophet's expression: "having ascended," because in relation to God, when it says "having ascended," one must necessarily understand that He first descended, whereas concerning a man this is not yet the case. Where then did He descend? Into Hades: this, of course, is what he calls "the lower parts of the earth," according to the common understanding. As Jacob also said: "you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave" (Gen. 44:30); and David: "lest I become like those who go down into the pit" (Ps. 28:1).

In reflecting upon this point, it appears improper for Christ, who is true God, to lower himself, since nothing is more eminent than God. To remove any doubts on this score the Apostle asserts, Now, that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first. As if he would say: For this reason do I first mention that he ascended and only afterward that he descended; he descended in order that he might ascend. For otherwise he could not have ascended.

How he descended is shown in "into the lower parts of the earth," which can be interpreted in two ways. In one, the lower regions are understood as those parts of the earth we inhabit. It is lower than the heavens and the atmosphere. The Son of God came down to these sections of the earth, not by any local movement, but by assuming a lowly, terrestrial nature; according to that text of Philippians 2 (7): "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man." In the second way it can be understood as referring to hell, which is even below us. He descended thither in his soul that he might free the saints from it. This seems to agree with the "he led captivity captive" above. "Thou also, by the blood of thy testament, hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water" (Zach. 9:11). "I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven" (Apoc. 10:1). "I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry... And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them" (Ex. 3:7-8).

Nothing in the cosmos is left untouched by Christ. He indeed descended to the lower parts of the earth and ascended above all the heavens. What heavens? Some say three, some more … but what does it matter? Christ, who ascended, ascended above all the heavens, however many. For eternity is now presently reigning in heaven and incorruptible life. All things there live by the Spirit. This reordering did not occur, however, until the descent of Christ. Once the mystery [of the cross] had been accomplished, all these received salvation after the passion and ascent of Christ and have been perfected. For this is what he means by "so that he might fulfill all," that is, make them perfect and full, with nothing lacking.… Surely this could not be understood to infer that he fulfilled his mission on earth but set nothing right in the heavens and perfected nothing there.

But what Isaiah said, "From the height above, or from the depth beneath," was meant to indicate, that "He who descended was the same also who ascended."

Learn then, ye foolish men, that Jesus who suffered for us, and who dwelt among us, is Himself the Word of God. For if any other of the Aeons had become flesh for our salvation, it would have been probable that the apostle spoke of another. But if the Word of the Father who descended is the same also that ascended, He, namely, the Only-begotten Son of the only God, who, according to the good pleasure of the Father, became flesh for the sake of men, the apostle certainly does not speak regarding any other, or concerning any Ogdoad, but respecting our Lord Jesus Christ.

Could he possibly have passed through and beyond all the heavens and all the supernal regions and the heavenly orbits which philosophers call the spheres to take his place in the highest heaven, in its topmost location? Or should we rather believe that, transcending and spurning everything corporeal and contemplating the eternal, he has taken his place above the heavens, that is, above all that is visible? I think this the better opinion. Therefore the Son of God descended to the lower parts of the earth and ascended above all the heavens, so that he might fulfill not only the Law and the Prophets but also certain hidden dispensations which only the Father knew. He also descended to the lower parts and ascended to heaven, so that he might bring fulfillment to those who were in those regions, so far as they were able to receive. From this we know that before Christ descended and ascended everything was void and in need of his fullness.

Thus, He descended to the very lowest regions, beyond which there is nothing else, and ascended far above all things, above which there is nothing more. And this descent did not hinder His ascent. Therefore you also, if you humble yourselves, will be exalted. He accomplished this in order to fill all things with His dominion and power, according to the flesh, since according to His Divinity He already filled all things before. All of this is directed against Paul of Samosata and Nestorius. For He who descended — evidently, as a dweller on high He descended, both through the incarnation to earth and through death into Hades — is one and the same, and not different.

Three aspects of the ascension are discussed. First, He that descended is the same also that ascended indicates the person who ascends. It affirms the unity of person in the two natures of Christ, the divine and the human. For he who descended, as was said, is the Son of God taking on human nature. He who ascends is the Son of man, raising human nature to the preeminence of immortal life. Thus the Son of God who descended and the Son of man who ascended are identical: "And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven" (Jn. 3:13). Notice too how the humble who voluntarily lower themselves, spiritually ascend to the grandeur of God: "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Lk. 14:11).

Secondly, above all the heavens denotes the destination of the ascension. "He mounteth above the heaven of heavens, to the east" (Ps. 67:34). This should not be understood simply in reference to an ascension above the physical heavens, it also refers to every spiritual creature. God has set Christ "on his right hand in the heavenly places. Above all principality and power and virtue and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Eph. 1:20-21).

Thirdly, the fruitful outcome of the ascension is that he might fill all things, bestowing on every race of men the fullness of spiritual gifts. "We shall be filled with the good things of thy house" (Ps. 64:5); "Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits" (Ecclus. 24:26). Or, that he might fulfill, that is, put into effect all things written concerning himself: "all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms, concerning me" (Lk. 24:44).

Apostles are bishops, while prophets are interpreters of the Scriptures.… Even if they are not elders they can nonetheless preach the gospel without a chair, as Stephen and Philip are recorded to have done. Shepherds may be readers, who nourish the people who hear them by their readings.… Masters may refer to the healers in the church who constrain and chastise those who are troubled. Or they may be those who were accustomed to hearing the readings and imparting them to children, as was the Jewish custom. Their tradition was passed on to us but has by now become obsolete through neglect.

But the mysteries are delivered mystically, that what is spoken may be in the mouth of the speaker; rather not in his voice, but in his understanding. "God gave to the Church, some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

Such are the preparatory exercises of gnostic discipline. And since the omnipotent God Himself "gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" we are then to strive to reach manhood as befits the Gnostic, and to be as perfect as we can while still abiding in the flesh, making it our study with perfect concord here to concur with the will of God, to the restoration of what is the truly perfect nobleness and relationship, to the fulness of Christ, that which perfectly depends on our perfection.

This is a house set up and ordered by Jesus.… He does not do this in a casual manner. It is with the utmost discrimination and discretion: One is assigned to the rank of an apostle, one to the place of a prophet, others to look after the flock of Christ and to work at the divine instruction of others for those saints who are prepared to learn.

The name prophets is given to those who, having received the Spirit of God, spoke beforehand of Christ and his advent. These were the prophets who "were until Christ." But after he arrived, was there no reason for any further prophecy? What prophets does Paul speak of here? It is obviously those who being full of the Spirit spoke of God after his coming, continuing to expound the divine teaching.

There are five ways of speaking about the Scriptures: speaking in tongues, speaking in revelation, speaking in knowledge, speaking in prophecy, speaking in teaching.… But there is another thing apart from these. It is being an evangelist. This means to relate what Christ did and announce that Christ himself is to be worshiped.

From this passage Paul clearly confirms the divinity of the Father and Son. What Christ is here said to have bestowed [as in his first letter to the Corinthians] is nothing less than the gift of God. … Failing to understand this, Sabellius confused the Father and the Son, not grasping that, though distinguishable, they work together with single intent.

It is not to be supposed that as with the first three … he has allotted different offices to shepherds and teachers. For he does not say "some shepherds, some teachers" but "some shepherds and teachers," meaning that he who is a shepherd should at the same time be a teacher. No one in the church, even a saintly person, should take to himself the name of shepherd unless he can teach those whom he feeds.

What he said elsewhere, "Wherefore also God hath highly exalted Him," that saith he also here. "He that descended, is the same also that ascended." It did Him no injury that He came down into the lower parts of the earth, nor was it any hindrance to His becoming far higher than the Heavens. So that the more a man is humbled, so much the more is he exalted. For as in the case of water, the more a man presses it downwards, the more he forces it up; and the further a man retires to hurl a javelin, the surer his aim; so is it also with humility. However, when we speak of ascents with reference to God, we must needs conceive a descent first; but when with reference to man, not at all so. Then he goes on to show further His providential care, and His wisdom, for He who hath wrought such things as these, who had such might, and who refused not to go down even to those lower parts for our sakes, never would He have made these distributions of spiritual gifts without a purpose. Now elsewhere he tells us that this was the work of the Spirit, in the words, "In the which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops to feed the Church of God." And here he saith that it is the Son; and elsewhere that it is God. "And He gave to the Church some apostles, and some prophets." But in the Epistle to the Corinthians, he saith, "I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." And again, "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." So is it also here; for what if thou bring in but little? Thou hast received so much. First, he says, "apostles"; for these had all gifts; secondarily, "prophets," for there were some who were not indeed apostles, but prophets, as Agabus; thirdly, "evangelists," who did not go about everywhere, but only preached the Gospel, as Priscilla and Aquila; "pastors and teachers," those who were entrusted with the charge of a whole nation. What then? are the pastors and the teachers inferior? Yes, surely; those who were settled and employed about one spot, as Timothy and Titus, were inferior to those who went about the world and preached the Gospel. However, it is not possible from this passage to frame the subordination and precedence, but from another Epistle. "He gave," saith he; thou must not say a word to gainsay it. Or perhaps by "evangelists" he means those who wrote the Gospel.

"For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ."

Perceive ye the dignity of the office? Each one edifies, each one perfects, each one ministers.

So long, however, as its form exists in its proper order, you may seek and discuss as much as you please, and give full rein to your curiosity, in whatever seems to you to hang in doubt, or to be shrouded in obscurity. You have at hand, no doubt, some learned brother gifted with the grace of knowledge, some one of the experienced class, some one of your close acquaintance who is curious like yourself; although with yourself, a seeker he will, after all, be quite aware that it is better for you to remain in ignorance, lest you should come to know what you ought not, because you have acquired the knowledge of what you ought to know.

And it is significant that he said: "He." For He Who so cared for us and Who for our sake did not refuse to descend even to the lowest limits, did not simply distribute the gifts, but undoubtedly with wisdom and benefit. How then do you grieve that the distribution was made unwisely? And in one place he says that the Spirit distributes: "in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers" (Acts 20:28) and: "but one and the same Spirit works all these things" (1 Cor. 12:11); and in another he attributes this to the Father: "God has appointed in the Church first Apostles" and so on (1 Cor. 12:28), and: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (1 Cor. 3:6). But here he attributes it to the Son. Thus, the operation of the Three is one.

The first are apostles, because they also possessed the gift of prophecy, whereas the prophets, namely those of the New Testament, did not possess apostleship.

Or those who wrote the Gospel, or those who, although they did not travel everywhere, yet preached the Gospel, like Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:3).

He calls by this name those to whom the Churches have been entrusted – bishops, such as Timothy, Titus, and others like them. But you may also understand by "pastors" both presbyters and bishops, and by "teachers" even deacons. For they too, holding the rank of purifiers, purify the people through the word.

Here the Apostle expounds what was mentioned earlier (4:9) about the bestowal of gifts. The many different states and functions in the Church are designated as the gifts of Christ. Consider how, among the gifts of Christ, the Apostles are conceded the first place: And he gave some Apostles. "And he chose twelve of them whom also he named apostles" (Lk. 6:13). "God indeed hath set some in the church; first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly doctors; after that miracles..." (1 Cor. 12:28).

Apostles are put first because they had a privileged share in all of Christ's gifts. They possessed a plenitude of grace and wisdom regarding the revelation of divine mysteries. Christ "opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures" (Lk. 24:45). "To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God" (Mk. 4:11). "Because all things, whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you" (Jn. 15:15). They also possessed an ample ability to speak convincingly in order to proclaim the gospel. "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay" (Lk. 21:15). "Go ye unto the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk. 16:15). Moreover, they also had an exceptional authority and power for looking after the Lord's flock. "Feed my sheep" (Jn. 21:17). "For if also I should boast somewhat more of our power, which the Lord hath given us unto edification and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed" (2 Cor. 10:8).

Therefore, the Apostle adds three ecclesiastical categories according as they share in each of the foregoing. Related to the revelation of divine mysteries he annexes and some prophets who foretold the incarnation of Christ. Of them 1 Peter 1 (10) declares: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and diligently searched, who prophesied of the glory to come in you." "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John" (Mt. 11:13). But after Christ came, the apostles became the prophets of the joy of the life to come. "Blessed is he that readeth and heareth the words of this prophecy, and keepeth those things which are written in it; for the time is at hand" (Apoc. 1:3). They also became the interpreters of what the ancient prophets had foretold. "Be zealous for spiritual gifts; but rather that you may prophesy" (1 Cor. 14:1). "Behold I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them you will put to death" (Mt. 23:34).

Relative to the proclamation of the gospel he adds some evangelists. They had the duty of preaching the good news, and even of writing it down although they were not among the principal apostles. "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good things!" (Rom. 10:15). "To Jerusalem I will give an evangelist" (Is. 41:27).

In reference to the care of the Church he says some pastors who are responsible for the Lord's flock. Under the same heading he adds and doctors to bring out how the pastor's specific task in the Church is to instruct the people in what pertains to faith and good conduct. The administration of temporalities does not belong to bishops, who are the successors of the Apostles, but rather to deacons. "It is not reasonable that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables" (Ac. 6:2). "Embracing that faithful word which is according to doctrine, that he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine" (Tit. 1:9). The words of Jeremias 3 (15) apply to bishops: "I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine."

He says that the church's order has been so formed as to join the human race together in the profession of unity, so that all may be in Christ, having Christ as their single head, that is, as the source of life.

Do you see what dignity this is? Each one speaks, acts, each one serves the edification of the Body of Christ, or the Church. Why then do you grieve, as one who has received a lesser gift? For even you contribute to the "perfecting of the saints," that is, to the benefit of the faithful and their improvement. So then, look: having received a gift for the edification of others, do not destroy yourself through envy of greater gifts. Moreover, if another has received a greater gift for the perfecting of the faithful, understand that greater labor and service are also joined with it, and therefore greater responsibility. And on the other hand, is it not a satanic trait to envy the one who perfects and edifies the Body of Christ? For this befits an enemy of God.

Next, he discloses the fruitful results of these gifts or functions.

The proximate effects of the above mentioned gifts or functions are threefold. First, consider those who are placed in these functions; spiritual gifts are communicated to them that they might be at the service of God and their fellow man. Thus he states for the work of the ministry which offers honor to God and salvation to one's fellow men. "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor. 4:1). "You shall be called the priests of the Lord; to you it shall be said: Ye ministers of our God" (Is. 61:6).

Secondly, consider the perfection of those who already believe; so he says for the perfecting of the saints, that is, of those already sanctified through faith in Christ. Prelates must be especially anxious to lead those entrusted to them toward the state of perfection. This is why Dionysius claims, in his Ecclesiastica Hierarchia, that they are to be all the more perfect. "Wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to things more perfect; not laying again the foundation of penance from dead works and of faith towards God" (Heb. 6:1).

A third immediate effect is the conversion of the unbelievers. About this he states for the edifying of the body of Christ. When the infidels are converted, Christ's Church—which is his body—is built up. Whoever preaches "speaketh to men unto edification and exhortation and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3). "For greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues; unless perhaps he interpret, that the church may receive edification... So you also, forasmuch as you are zealous of spirits, seek to abound unto the edifying of the church" (1 Cor. 14:5, 12).

He exhorts them to strive to attain to the perfecting of faith, the essence of which is to hold fast to Christ as true and perfect God. Do not measure him by some human measure. Measure yourself by regarding him as perfect God in the fullness of his deity. When he refers to a mature man he does not mean a span of years or physical stature but a maturation into the full understanding of the divinity of the Son of God.

The bodies of all human beings will rise in the general resurrection, with no difference among them as to the order of time, but a great difference as to the order of dignity. For the wicked will rise with their deformities and punishments, miseries and defects, which they had in the state of wayfare. But in the good, nature will be preserved, and defects will be removed, and all will rise with a whole body and full age and due measure of members; so that all the Saints may attain to the perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ.

Because the resurrection must be in accordance with the demand of the consummation of grace, and perfect grace makes us conformed to Christ, our head, in whom there was no defect of members, but perfect age and due stature and beautiful form: it is fitting that the good be raised in the best conditions; and through this it is necessary that in them defects be removed and nature be preserved. It is also fitting that, if any member was lacking, it be supplied; if there was any superfluity, it be removed; if there was any disorder of the members, it be corrected; if one was a child, he be brought by divine power to the measure of the age of Christ which he had at the resurrection; if decrepit, he be restored to the same age; if a giant, if a dwarf, he be limited to a fitting measure; so that thus all, whole and perfect, may attain to the perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ.

And writing to the Ephesians, he has unfolded in the clearest manner the point in question, speaking to the following effect: "Till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we be no longer children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the craft of men, by their cunning in stratagems of deceit; but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up to Him in all things," -saying these things in order to the edification of the body of Christ, who is the head and man, the only one perfect in righteousness; and we who are children guarding against the blasts of heresies, which blow to our inflation; and not putting our trust in fathers who teach us otherwise, are then made perfect when we are the church, having received Christ the head.

Such are the preparatory exercises of gnostic discipline. And since the omnipotent God Himself "gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" we are then to strive to reach manhood as befits the Gnostic, and to be as perfect as we can while still abiding in the flesh, making it our study with perfect concord here to concur with the will of God, to the restoration of what is the truly perfect nobleness and relationship, to the fulness of Christ, that which perfectly depends on our perfection.

Now there are some who say that three hundred cubits are the symbol of the Lord's sign; and fifty, of hope and of the remission given at Pentecost; and thirty, or as in some, twelve, they say points out the preaching [of the Gospel]; because the Lord preached in His thirtieth year; and the apostles were twelve. And the structure's terminating in a cubit is the symbol of the advancement of the righteous to oneness and to "the unity of the faith."

Since, according to my opinion, the grades here in the Church, of bishops, presbyters, deacons, are imitations of the angelic glory, and of that economy which, the Scriptures say, awaits those who, following the footsteps of the apostles, have lived in perfection of righteousness according to the Gospel. For these taken up in the clouds, the apostle writes, will first minister [as deacons], then be classed in the presbyterate, by promotion in glory (for glory differs from glory) till they grow into "a perfect man."

But, on the other hand, they allowed him who had been delighted with vice to consort with the objects of his choice; and, on the other hand, that the soul, which is ever improving in the acquisition of virtue and the increase of righteousness, should obtain a better place in the universe, as tending in each step of advancement towards the habit of impassibility, till "it come to a perfect man," to the excellence at once of knowledge and of inheritance.

The cause of these, then, is love, of all science the most sacred and most sovereign. For by the service of what is best and most exalted, which is characterized by unity, it renders the Gnostic at once friend and son, having in truth grown "a perfect man, up to the measure of full stature."

Now, of what I may call the passionlessness which we attribute to the Gnostic (in which the perfection of the believer, "advancing by love, comes to a perfect man, to the measure of full stature," by being assimilated to God, and by becoming truly angelic), many other testimonies from the Scripture, occur to me to adduce.

Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. But they will yet again question us on this point: How does one who is diminutive in body rise perfect? And how can the maimed and the lame or he that is mutilated in one of his limbs rise up sound and quite perfect? Let them listen to us replying from scripture and from what is seen in Nature thus: Just as God took Adam's rib, a very small member of his body, and constructed out of it a perfect woman, mysteriously supplying what was deficient; and just as a man and woman copulate, of whom one or the other is, as is often the case, blind or maimed, and their offspring is born sound and entire, so it is to be believed and understood with respect to the resurrection of the dead, in which we are born anew from the tomb into a better birth than from the womb.

For there is also one Son (or Servant) of God, by whom we too, receiving the regeneration through the Holy Spirit, desire to come all unto one perfect and heavenly man.

We must ask: Who are the all whom he speaks of "coming together in the unity of faith"? Does he mean all the people of God or all saints? Or rather all who are capable of reason? He seems to me to be speaking of all the people of God because there are so "many winds of doctrine" blowing about them. When these blasts and billows are aroused, people in general are carried here and there by diverse errors, uncertain of their course.

According to the traditions of the church and the apostle Paul, our resurrection will "be into a mature man and the stature of the fullness of Christ." This is the state in which the Jews claim that Adam was created and in which we have read that the Lord rose.

By "stature" here he means perfect "knowledge"; for as a man will stand firmly, whereas children are carried about and waver in mind, so is it also with believers. "To the unity," saith he, "of the faith." That is, until we shall be shown to have all one faith: for this is unity of faith, when we all are one, when we shall all alike acknowledge the common bond. Till then thou must labor to this end. If for this thou hast received a gift, that thou mightest edify others, look well that thou overturn not thyself, by envying another. God hath honored thee, and ordained thee, that thou shouldest build up another. Yea, for about this was the Apostle also engaged; and for this was the prophet prophesying and persuading, and the Evangelist preaching the Gospel, and for this was the pastor and teacher; all had undertaken one common work. For tell me not of the difference of the spiritual gifts; but that all had one work. Now when we shall all believe alike then shall there be unity; for that this is what he calls "a perfect man," is plain. And yet he elsewhere calls us "babes," even when we are of mature age; but he is there looking to another comparison, for there it is in comparison with our future knowledge that he there calls us babes. For having said, "We know in part," he adds also the word "darkly," and the like: whereas here he speaks with reference to another thing, with reference to changeableness, as he saith also elsewhere, "But solid food is for full-grown men." Do you see then also in what sense he there calls them full-grown? Observe also in what sense he calls men "perfect" here, by the words next added, where he says, "that we may be no longer children." That we keep, he means to say, that little measure, which we may have received, with all diligence, with firmness and steadfastness.

For so long as abominable passions envelop a man like an after-birth, and fetter the limbs of the new man, his growth is impeded, and the man is not able to arrive at that measure of stature which is given by Christ, and concerning which Paul said, "We all grow and become one thing in the knowledge of the Son of God, and one perfect man, in the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Now unless a man hath gone forth from the world he is not able to arrive at this measure, and unless he hath first cast off all the conversation of the body he is not able to arrive at the knowledge by which he will perceive the greatness of these things which are given in a mystery by Christ.

In the future life we shall attain perfection. But in the present life we need all the help we can get from the apostles, the prophets and our teachers.

Until then, he says, all of us who have received gifts must act, labor, and build up, until we come to the unity of the faith, that is, until we all appear as having one faith, not differing in doctrines and having no disagreement among ourselves in matters concerning life. For then there will be true unity of the faith, then we will know the Son of God, when we hold right opinion in the matter of teaching and preserve the bond of love. For Christ is love.

By the image of the perfect man and the measure of the stature, he speaks of the perfect knowledge of the dogmas, just as by the fullness of Christ he means the perfect and complete knowledge of Him and the faith that He, one of the Trinity and equal to the Father, became Man, a single hypostasis in two natures, wills, and activities, and that together with the body He sits enthroned with the Father and will come again, and everything else that is rightly thought and said about this. How then does he elsewhere call our knowledge imperfect? In contrast to future knowledge; but here, with regard to the unchangeableness of knowledge, he calls it perfect. For when we shall no longer waver, then we shall be perfect, as is evident from what follows.

He goes on to discuss the ultimate fruit of the Church's preaching which can be understood in two ways. One sees it as touching on the absolutely ultimate effect: the resurrection of the saints. In this perspective two facts are asserted. First is the spiritual and corporeal convergence of all who have risen. The physical convergence will consist in this, that all the saints will be drawn together toward Christ: "Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together" (Mt. 24:28). Concerning this he says until we all meet, as if to say: The above ministry, the perfecting of the saints, and the edifying of the Church will continue until we all meet Christ in the resurrection. "Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye forth to meet him" (Mt. 25:6). "Be prepared to meet thy God, O Israel" (Am. 4:12). We shall meet one another also: "We who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ" (1 Thess. 4:16). "If by any means I may attain to the resurrection which is from the dead" (Phil. 3:11).

The spiritual convergence, however, is seen in relation to our merits, which is according to the same faith; regarding this he says into the unity of faith. There is only "one Lord, one faith" (Eph. 4:5). The knowledge of the Son of God is the reward, it consists in the perfect vision and knowledge of God of which 1 Corinthians 13 (12) speaks: "Then shall I know even as I am known." "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord; for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest" (Jer. 31:34).

Secondly, he discusses the aforementioned fruit in respect to the perfection of those who rise. He relates first of all the perfection itself when he says unto a perfect man. This should not be understood as though women will be changed into men at the resurrection—some have misread it in such a fashion. Both sexes will remain, though sexual intercourse will no longer occur, as our Lord indicates in Matthew 22 (30): "For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married, but shall be as the angels of God in heaven." They will remain as a witness to the perfection of nature, and for the glory of God who created such a nature. The perfect man designates the complete and total perfection of that state. "When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away" (1 Cor. 13:10). Thus man is used here rather in contradistinction to boy than as the opposite of woman.

He describes, in the second place, the exemplar of this perfection when he says unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. Consider how the true physical body of Christ is the exemplar of his mystical body. Both are made up of many members joined into a unified whole. Now the physical body of Christ grew to the mature and robust age of thirty-three years before he died. Therefore, the age of the risen saints, who will experience neither imperfection nor the failings of old age, will correspond to that mature age. "He will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory" (Phil. 3:21).

In another way this passage can be understood as referring to the ultimate fruit of the Church's ministry in the present life. This will happen when all the faithful come to her in the unity of faith and the knowledge of the truth. "And other sheep I have that are not of this fold; them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd" (Jn. 10:16). In this the mystical body is perfected spiritually in a manner similar to the physical perfection of Christ's natural body. In this perspective, the whole body of the Church is termed a manly body, following the metaphor used by the Apostle in Galatians 4 (1): "Now, I say: As long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all."