Friday of the 10th week after Pentecost

(Enchir. 88.) But that earthy matter of which the flesh of men is made perishes not before God; but into whatsoever dust or ashes reduced, into whatsoever gases or vapours dispersed, into whatsoever other bodies incorporated, though resolved into the elements, though become the food or part of the flesh of animals or men, yet is it in a moment of time restored to that human soul, which at the first quickened it that it became man, lived and grew.

(cont. Faust. xvi. 24.) Seasonably may we confute the Manichæans by this same passage by which the Sadducees were then confuted, for they too though in another manner deny the resurrection.

On account of these things, they erred since they did not know the Scriptures. Because they were ignorant of the Scriptures, they denied the power of God, that is, Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

(Verse 29.) But Jesus, answering, said to them: You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. Therefore, they err because they do not know the Scriptures, and because they are ignorant of the Scriptures, they consequently do not know the power of God, that is, Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1).

They therefore err because they know not the Scriptures; and because they know not the power of God.

For what saith He? "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." For since, as if they knew them, they put forward Moses and the law, He shows that this question is that of men very ignorant of the Scriptures. For hence also arose their tempting Him, from their being ignorant of the Scriptures, and from their not knowing the power of God as they ought.

"For what marvel then is it," He saith, "if ye tempt me, who am as yet unknown to you, when at least ye know not so much as the power of God, of which ye have had so much experience, and neither from common sense nor from the Scriptures have become acquainted with it;" if indeed even common sense causes us to know this, that to God all things are possible. And in the first place He answers to the question asked. For since this was the cause for their not believing a resurrection, that they think the order of things is like this, He cures the cause, then the symptom also (for thence arose the disease too), and shows the manner of the resurrection.

What then saith Christ? He replies unto both, as taking His stand not against the words, but the purpose, and on every occasion revealing the secrets of their hearts; and at one time exposing them, at another time leaving the refutation of them that question Him to their conscience. See, at any rate here, how He proves both points, as well that there will be a resurrection, as that it will not be such a resurrection as they suspect.

But someone might inquire if [passage], 'You are in error, not knowing the Scriptures,' which is said to the Sadducees who did not recognize any other Scripture than the Law, has reference to other Scriptures than the Law of Moses. This person, therefore, might say in respect of this same passage that the Sadducees are so called because in not recognizing the Scriptures which come after the Law they are in error since they do not know them. Another person might say: it is sufficient for the Sadducees to be reproved of error for not understanding the Scriptures according to Moses such that they apprehend the divine meaning in them. To be sure, however, he claims that the Sadducees do not know two things: one, the Scriptures, and the other, the power of God, which is the power by which those of the resurrection and the new life in it comes to be.

Two (1 Cor. 1:24.) things there are which He says they know not, the Scriptures and the power of God, by which is brought to pass the resurrection, and the new life in it. Or by the power of God, which the Lord here convicts the Sadducees that they knew not, He intends Himself, who was the power of God; and Him they knew not, as not knowing the Scriptures which spoke of Him; and thence also they believed not the resurrection, which He should effect. But it is asked when the Saviour says, Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures, if He means that this text, They neither marry, nor are given in marriage, is in some Scripture, though it is not read in the Old Testament? We say that these very words are indeed not found, but that the truth is in a mystery implied in the moral sense of Scripture; the Law, which is a shadow of good things to come, whenever it speaks of husbands and wives, speaks chiefly of spiritual wedlock. But neither this do I find any where spoken in Scripture that the Saints shall be after their departure as the Angels of God, unless one will understand this also to be inferred morally; as where it is said, And thou shalt go to thy fathers, (Gen. 15:15.) and He was gathered to his people. (Gen. 25:8.) Or one may say; He blamed them that they read not the other Scriptures which are besides the Law, and therefore they erred. Another says, That they knew not the Scriptures of the Mosaic Law, for this reason, that they did not sift their divine sense.

Wisely does He first convict them of folly, in that they did not read; and afterwards of ignorance, in that they did not know God. For of diligence in reading springs knowledge of God, but ignorance is the offspring of neglect.

Or, when He says, In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, He referred to what He had said, Ye know not the power of God; but when the proceeded, I am the God of Abraham, &c. to that Ye know not the Scriptures. And thus ought we to do; to cavillers first to set forth Scripture authority on any question, and then to show the grounds of reason; but to those who ask out of ignorance to show first the reason, and then the authority. For cavillers ought to be refuted, enquirers taught. To these then who put their question in ignorance, the first shows the reason, saying, In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage.

These things which are spoken concerning the conditions of the resurrection He spoke in answer to their enquiry, but of the resurrection itself He replies aptly against their unbelief.

God; who have restored the honour of their flesh, and who have already dedicated themselves as sons of that (future) age, by slaying in themselves the concupiscence of lust, and that whole (propensity) which could not be admitted within Paradise! Whence it is presumable that such as shall wish to be received within Paradise, ought at last to begin to cease from that thing from which Paradise is intact.

The Saviour shows that there will also be a resurrection, not such a resurrection of the flesh as they mistakenly imagine, but one more divine and more spiritual. Why then are you deluded, not knowing either the Scriptures or the power of God? For if you knew the Scriptures, you would understand that God is not God of the dead but of the living. If you knew the power of God, you would know that for God all things are possible, so that He can even make men to live as angels. See the Lord's wisdom! By using Moses they were intent on overturning the doctrine of the resurrection, but He, also by using Moses, convinces them, quoting, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Ex. 3:6). What Christ means is this: God is not the God of that which is not, but of that which exists and is. For God did not say, "I was," but "I am." Even though they had died, they live in hope of the resurrection. But you may ask, "How is it, then, that he says in another place that He is Lord of both the dead and the living?" (Rom. 14:9). Learn, then, that "the dead" means, in that passage, those who have died but who shall live again. Here the Lord says, in opposing the heresy of the Sadducees who teach that there is no immortal soul but that it altogether perishes, that He is not God of the dead, that is, of those who appear to us to have utterly perished, but of the living, that is, of those who have an immortal soul and will be resurrected, though they are dead now.

There follows the response. And first he shows the error and its cause; secondly, he insinuates the truth. Hence he says, Jesus answering, said to them: you err, i.e., you hold an erroneous opinion; Wisdom 2:21: they devised, and they erred; for their own malice blinded them. And what is the cause of the error? Not knowing the Scriptures. Hence they did not meditate on the commands of God; Psalm 118:100: I have had understanding above ancients, because I have sought thy commandments. Hence he who meditates on the commands of God can avoid errors; hence John 5:39: search the Scriptures. But they did not search, and therefore they erred, as do some who understand badly. Likewise, some, not knowing the power of God, wish to measure the power of God according to inferior things; Romans 1:20: the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.

(de Civ. Dei, xxii. 17.) To me they seem to think most justly, who doubt not that both sexes shall rise again. For there shall be no desire which is the cause of confusion, for before they had sinned they were naked; and that nature which they then had shall be preserved, which was quit both of conception and of child-birth. Also the members of the woman shall not be adapted to their former use, but framed for a new beauty, one by which the beholder is not allured to lust, which shall not then be, but God's wisdom and mercy shall be praised, which made that to be which was not, and delivered from corruption that which was made.

If swiftness, or strength, or freedom of body, which nothing can resist: they shall be like the Angels of God, because it is sown a natural body, and shall rise a spiritual body, by power, assuredly, not by nature.

For God divided the one place which extends from the earth to the higher heaven by interposing in the middle the second heaven, and thus made two places; and to this mortal and mutable state he assigned the lower place, and to the immortal and immutable state the higher, which is called also the Kingdom of Heaven, and about which the Lord Christ speaks thus in the Gospel of Matthew: For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven;

when the Lord in arguing with the Pharisees and Sadducees concerning the resurrection he speaks thus: For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

the Jews acknowledge a resurrection for men, but say that we shall live upon the earth and eat and drink and marry and be given in marriage, as, in the Gospels, the Sadducees proposed a question to the Lord, saying: In the resurrection of which of the seven shall she be the wife? These the Lord very summarily convicted of error and of not knowing divine scripture, in which there is the power of God, saying to them: For, in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. It is therefore proved against these, both from what is written and from the figure of the world prepared from its foundation, that the upper place was not made without occasion—but that there is a second heavenly state prepared from the foundation of the world.

It had been enough to have cut off this opinion of the Sadducees of sensual enjoyment, that where the function ceased, the empty pleasure of the body accompanying it ceased also; but He adds, But are as the Angels of God in heaven.

The same cavil that the Sadducees here offer respecting marriage is renewed by many who ask in what form the female sex shall rise again. But what the authority of Scripture leads us to think concerning the Angels, so must we suppose that it will be with women in the resurrection of our species.

(Verse 30) For in the resurrection neither do they marry, nor are they given in marriage; but they are as the angels of God in heaven. The Latin custom does not correspond to the Greek idiom. For to marry is properly said of women, and to take wives of men; but let us simply understand the statement, that to marry is written of men, and to be given in marriage of women. If in the resurrection they do not marry, nor are they given in marriage, then the bodies that are able to marry and be given in marriage will rise again. For no one indeed says about a stone and a tree, and these things which do not have reproductive organs, that they do not marry, nor are they married; but about those things which can marry, they do not marry in a different way. But what is brought forth: But they are like the angels of God in heaven. A spiritual conversation is promised.

In these words the Latin language cannot follow the Greek idiom. For the Latin word 'nubere' is correctly said only of the woman. But we must take it so as to understand marry of men, to be given in marriage of women.

This that is added, But are as the Angels of God in heaven, is an assurance that our conversation in heaven shall be spiritual.

For none could say of a stone and a tree or inanimate things, that they shall not marry nor be given in marriage, but of such things only as having capacity for marriage, shall yet in a sort not marry.

"For in the resurrection," saith He, "they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels of God in Heaven." But Luke saith, "As Sons of God."

If then they marry not, the question is vain. But not because they do not marry, therefore are they angels, but because they are as angels, therefore they do not marry. By this He removed many other difficulties also, all which things Paul intimated by one word, saying, "For the fashion of this world passeth away."

And by these words He declared how great a thing the resurrection is; and that moreover there is a resurrection, He proves. And indeed this too was demonstrated at the same time by what He had said, nevertheless over and above He adds again to His word by what He saith now. For neither at their question only did He stop, but at their thought. Thus when they are not dealing with great craft, but are asking in ignorance, He teaches even over and above, but when it is of wickedness only, not even to their question doth He answer.

Our Savior does not explain the meaning of the passage from Moses' law, rejecting them as unworthy of the knowledge of such a great mystery. He only represents matters in the simplest way as he speaks and teaches from the divine Scriptures concerning the resurrection of the dead. He teaches that there is no marriage in heaven but that those who are risen from the dead are like the angels in heaven. And, just as the angels in heaven neither marry nor are given in marriage, so he says it is with those who are risen from the dead. But I think he means that only those who are considered worthy of the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage as the angels in heaven. Furthermore, their "humble" bodies are changed to become like the bodies of the angels, ethereal and brilliant.

In this life that we may die, therefore are we born; and we marry to the end that that which death consumes, birth may replenish; therefore where the law of death is taken away, the cause of birth is taken away likewise.

It should be noted, that when He spoke of fasting, alms, and other spiritual virtues, He did not bring in the comparison of Angels, but only here where He speaks of the ceasing of marriage. For as all acts of the flesh are animal acts, but this of lust especially so; so all the virtues are angelic acts, but especially chastity, by which our nature is bound to the other virtues.

(de Divin. Nom. i.) For then when we shall be incorruptible and immortal, by the visible presence of God Himself we shall be filled with most chaste contemplations, and shall share the gift of light to the understanding in our impassible and immaterial soul after the fashion of the exalted souls in heaven; on which account it is said that we shall be equal to the Angels.

The ogdoad, or eightfold number, therefore, is not concerned in our formation; for in the time it represents there will be no more marriage. We have already demonstrated the conjunction of the body and the soul, from the concretion of their very seminations to the complete formation of the f£tus.

"For this corruptible"-and as he spake, the apostle seemingly pointed to his own flesh-"must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality," in order, indeed, that it may be rendered a fit substance for the kingdom of God. "For we shall be like the angels." This will be the perfect change of our flesh-only after its resurrection. Now if, on the contrary, there is to be no flesh, how then shall it put on incorruption and immortality? Having then become something else by its change, it will obtain the kingdom of God, no longer the (old) flesh and blood, but the body which God shall have given it.

To this discussion, however, our Lord's declaration puts an effectual end: "They shall be," says He, "equal unto the angels." As by not marrying, because of not dying, so, of course, by not having to yield to any like necessity of our bodily state; even as the angels, too, sometimes were "equal unto" men, by eating and drinking, and submitting their feet to the washing of the bath-having clothed themselves in human guise, without the loss of their own intrinsic nature. If therefore angels, when they became as men, submitted in their own unaltered substance of spirit to be treated as if they were flesh, why shall not men in like manner, when they become "equal unto the angels," undergo in their unchanged substance of flesh the treatment of spiritual beings, no more exposed to the usual solicitations of the flesh in their angelic garb, than were the angels once to those of the spirit when encompassed in human form? We shall not therefore cease to continue in the flesh, because we cease to be importuned by the usual wants of the flesh; just as the angels ceased not therefore to remain in their spiritual substance, because of the suspension of their spiritual incidents. Lastly, Christ said not, "They shall be angels," in order not to repeal their existence as men; but He said, "They shall be equal unto the angels," that He might preserve their humanity unimpaired. When He ascribed an angelic likeness to the flesh, He took not from it its proper substance.

With what consistency do we mount that (future) judgment-seat to pronounce sentence against those whose gifts we (now) seek after? For you too, (women as you are, ) have the self-same angelic nature promised as your reward, the self-same sex as men: the self-same advancement to the dignity of judging, does (the Lord) promise you.

"But if 'in that age they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be equal to angels,' is not the fact that there will be no restitution of the conjugal relation a reason why we shall not be bound to our departed consorts? "Nay, but the more shall we be bound (to them), because we are destined to a better estate-destined (as we are) to rise to a spiritual consortship, to recognise as well our own selves as them who are ours. Else how shall we sing thanks to God to eternity, if there shall remain in us no sense and memory of this debt; if we shall be reformed in substance, not in consciousness? Consequently, we who shall be with God shall be together; since we shall all be with the one God-albeit the wages be various, albeit there be "many mansions", in the house of the same Father having laboured for the "one penny" of the self-same hire, that is, of eternal life; in which (eternal life) God will still less separate them whom He has conjoined, than in this lesser life He forbids them to be separated.

In the resurrection they shall neither marry, nor be married. He makes his point clear. And because he had said two things, namely, that they did not know the Scriptures nor the power of God, therefore first he declares that they were ignorant of the power of God; secondly, that they were ignorant of the Scriptures. And since he mentioned the Scriptures first, why is this declared second? Chrysostom responds that when someone disputes with one who errs from malice, he should first cite authority; when with one who errs from ignorance, he should first propose a reason, and then authority. Thus the Lord does. First he proposes a reason; hence he says, in the resurrection they shall neither marry, nor be married. The first, according to the letter, is true. Neither shall they marry, etc., because then it will not be necessary as it is now. Jerome says: the word for marrying is understood differently in Latin and in Greek, because properly in Latin to marry pertains to women: hence it is said to be a neuter passive verb; but in Greek, men marry, i.e., take wives, and women are married, not marry. Therefore he says, they shall not marry, the men; nor be married, the women. For since marriage is for the procreation of offspring, so that man may be preserved in being in his likeness, who cannot be preserved in himself, therefore since the resurrection will be unto immortality, then marriage will not be necessary. Therefore these men erred and were ignorant of the power of God. But they are as the angels of God in heaven. That state is the state of reward, and the end of this life. Job 14:14: dost thou think that a man once dead shall live again? All the days in which I am now in warfare, I wait until my change come; and that change was the reward. That life will be of those shining with intellect. But why will they be like the angels? Because they will be free from passions; for now man has his intellect bound to the senses, and in this the angels surpass him, but then it will be purified, and therefore they will be like the angels: 2 Samuel 14:17: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, that he is neither moved with blessing nor cursing. Hence those who have their mind elevated above passions are like the angels. But the passions that most make men bestial are the passions of sexual pleasure, which are exercised through marriage; therefore then they will neither marry nor be married. Likewise, some have said that not all will rise, but only men. But Augustine refutes this, saying that the sexes will rise; but sex is not preserved in men alone. He removes this opinion when he says, neither shall they marry, nor be married. From this it is given to understand that both sexes will rise, but neither shall they marry, nor be married.

(in Joan. Tr. xi. 8.) God is therefore called in particular The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, because in these three are expressed all the modes of begetting the sons of God. For God begets most times of a good preacher a good son, and of a bad preacher a bad son. This is signified in Abraham, who of a free woman had a believing son, and of a bondslave an unbelieving son. Sometimes indeed of a good preacher He begets both good and bad sons, which is signified in Isaac, who of the same free woman begot one good and the other bad. And sometimes He begets good sons both of good and bad preachers; which is signified in Jacob, who begot good sons both of free women and of bondmaids.

(Vers. 31 seqq.) But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken by God, saying to you: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching. To prove the truth of the resurrection, he could have used many other more obvious examples, among which is: The dead will be raised up, and those who are in the graves will rise again (Isaiah 26:19). And in another place: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some unto everlasting life, and others unto shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. XII, 2). Therefore, it is asked what the Lord intended by this testimony, which seems ambiguous or not sufficiently related to the truth of the resurrection: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and as if having proclaimed this, he proved what he wanted by immediately adding: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Those who also surrounded the turmoil, knowing the mystery, were amazed at his teaching and answers. We have already said above that the Sadducees, confessing neither angel, nor spirit, nor resurrection of bodies, also preached the destruction of souls. These accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the prophecies of the prophets. Therefore, it was foolish to present testimonies whose authority they did not follow. Furthermore, in order to prove the eternal nature of souls, he presents the example of Moses: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' (Exodus 3:6). And immediately he deduces: 'God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,' so that when he has proven that souls continue to exist after death (for it could not be that God would be their God if they did not exist at all), the resurrection of the bodies, which have carried out good or evil deeds along with the souls, would consequently be introduced. In the final part of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul expands on this topic more fully (1 Cor. XV).

In proof of the resurrection there were many plainer passages which He might have cited; among others that of Isaiah, The dead shall be raised; they that are in the tombs shall rise again: (Is. 26:19. juxta LXX.) and in another place, Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. (Dan. 12:2.) It is enquired therefore why the Lord should have chosen this testimony which seems ambiguous, and not sufficiently belonging to the truth of the resurrection; and as if by this He had proved the point adds, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. We have said above that the Sadducees confessed neither Angel, nor spirit, nor resurrection of the body, and taught also the death of the soul. But they also received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the Prophets. It would have been foolish therefore to have brought forward testimonies whose authority they did not admit. To prove the immortality of souls therefore, He brings forward an instance out of Moses, I am the God of Abraham, &c. and then straight subjoins, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; so that having established that souls abide after death, (forasmuch as God could not be the God of those who had no existence any where,) there might fitly come in the resurrection of bodies which had together with their souls done good or evil.

And again by Moses doth He stop their mouths, since they too had brought forward Moses; and He saith, "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Not of them that are not His meaning is, and that are utterly blotted out, and are to rise no more. For He said not, I was, but, I am; of them that are, and them that live. For like as Adam, although he lived on the day that he ate of the tree, died in the sentence: even so also these, although they had died, lived in the promise of the resurrection.

How then doth He say elsewhere, "That He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living?" But this is not contrary to that. For here He speaks of the dead, who are also themselves to live. And moreover too, "I am the God of Abraham," is another thing from, "That He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." He knew of another death too, concerning which He saith, "Let the dead bury their dead."

But as concerning the resurrection of the dead, etc. After he showed that they were ignorant of the power of God, here he shows that they were ignorant of the Scriptures. Hence, have you not read that which was said by God, saying to you: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? This is written in Exodus 3:6. But Jerome asks, since there are other authorities more explicit about the resurrection, as is found in Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 33 and Daniel 12, why did he cite this one which is ambiguous? He responds that they did not accept the prophets, but only the five books of Moses.

It should be further considered, that this was said to Moses at a time when those holy Patriarchs had gone to their rest. They therefore of whom He was the God were in being; for they could have had nothing, if they had not been in being; for in the nature of things that, of which somewhat else is, must have itself a being; so they who have a God must themselves be alive, since God is eternal, and it is not possible that that which is dead should have that which is eternal. How then shall it be affirmed that those do not, and shall not hereafter, exist, of whom Eternity itself has said that He is?

(Vers. 31 seqq.) But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken by God, saying to you: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching. To prove the truth of the resurrection, he could have used many other more obvious examples, among which is: The dead will be raised up, and those who are in the graves will rise again (Isaiah 26:19). And in another place: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some unto everlasting life, and others unto shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. XII, 2). Therefore, it is asked what the Lord intended by this testimony, which seems ambiguous or not sufficiently related to the truth of the resurrection: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and as if having proclaimed this, he proved what he wanted by immediately adding: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Those who also surrounded the turmoil, knowing the mystery, were amazed at his teaching and answers. We have already said above that the Sadducees, confessing neither angel, nor spirit, nor resurrection of bodies, also preached the destruction of souls. These accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the prophecies of the prophets. Therefore, it was foolish to present testimonies whose authority they did not follow. Furthermore, in order to prove the eternal nature of souls, he presents the example of Moses: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' (Exodus 3:6). And immediately he deduces: 'God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,' so that when he has proven that souls continue to exist after death (for it could not be that God would be their God if they did not exist at all), the resurrection of the bodies, which have carried out good or evil deeds along with the souls, would consequently be introduced. In the final part of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul expands on this topic more fully (1 Cor. XV).

God moreover is He who says, I am that I am; (Ex. 3:14.) so that it is impossible that He should be called the God of those who are not. And see that He said not, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. But in another place He said thus, The God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee. (Exod. 7:16.) For they who in comparison of other men are most perfect before God, have God entirely in them, wherefore He is not said to be their God in common, but of each in particular. As when we say, That farm is theirs, we show that each of them does not own the whole of it; but when we say, That farm is his, we mean that he is owner of the whole of it. When then it is said, The God of the Hebrews, this shows their imperfection, that each of them has some small portion in God. But it is said, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, because each one of these possessed God entirely. And it is to the no small honour of the Patriarehs that they lived to God.

And how does it serve the purpose? He says, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is said to be the God of certain ones in their worshiping him. These, therefore, worship him. But to worship God does not belong to the dead, but to the living. Therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive; but not according to the body: therefore according to the soul. But what does this avail for the resurrection? It avails, because these men said the soul does not exist; but he shows the soul to remain: and if the soul remains, therefore also the resurrection, because naturally the soul is inclined toward the body. But what does it mean when he says that he is not the God of the dead? This is true according to the body. Yet he is also the God of the dead, because they live according to the spirit; Romans 14:8: whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. Likewise, this is against the heretics who condemn the fathers of the Old Testament, because here it says that they live according to the soul. Likewise, he says it in the singular, because among the other nations each one had his own god. Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one, Deuteronomy 6:4.

But the Lord is not moved against them, that He might show that perfect virtue has no feeling of revenge, nor is there any anger where there is fulness of love. For weakness must not be thrust out, but assisted. Let indignation be far from the religious, let the high-souled have no desire of vengeance. Hence it follows, But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

But when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" And he turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. Great and holy men, who already knew very well that this death, which separates the soul from the body, is not to be feared, according to their spirit who feared it, punished some sins with death, so that fear might be instilled in the living, and to those who were punished with death, death itself would not harm them, but the sin, which could increase if they lived, was not recklessly judged by those to whom God had given such judgment. From this it is that Elijah put many to death, both by his own hand and by fire called down from heaven. In his example, when the apostles wanted to call fire from heaven to consume those who would not give them lodging, the Lord rebuked in them not the example of the holy prophet, but the ignorance of vindicating, which was still in the novices, observing that they desired vengeance not out of love but out of hate. Therefore, after he had taught them to love their neighbor as themselves, and after the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, such acts of vengeance were still found, although much more rarely than in the Old Testament. For there, serving more under fear, they were pressed; but here, being nurtured more in love, they were made free. For even at the words of the apostle Peter, Ananias and his wife fell down dead, nor were they raised up, but buried, and Paul says of a certain sinner: "Whom I have delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved" (1 Corinthians 5).

The Lord blames them, not for following the example of the holy Prophet, but for their ignorance in taking vengeance while they were yet inexperienced, perceiving that they did not desire correction from love, but vengeance from hatred.

Secondly, as regards the reasonable reprehension in the word of the Lord, it is added: And turning, he rebuked them, saying: You do not know of what spirit you are. He says this because they believed themselves to be moved by a spirit of righteousness, yet they were moved by a zeal of bitterness, which they ought not to have been, as James 3 says: "But if you have bitter zeal, and there are contentions in your hearts, do not glory and be liars against the truth." And therefore it is said in 1 John 4: "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God." For the spirit of Christ is a spirit of meekness, according to that word of Isaiah 61: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to proclaim to the meek"; and Isaiah 42: "Behold my servant, I will uphold him. I have placed my spirit upon him. A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not extinguish." And these disciples ought to have had this spirit as good disciples and imitators of the Master.

Therefore God does not here take the semblance of man, but of a dove, because He wished to show the simplicity and gentleness of the new manifestation of the Spirit by the likeness of the dove. For the law was stern, and punished with the sword; but grace is joyous, and trains by the word of meekness. Hence the Lord also says to the apostles, who said that He should punish with fire those who would not receive Him, after the manner of Elias: "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of."

For their benefit, he rebuked the disciples and gently restrained the sharpness of their wrath, not permitting them to grumble violently against those who sinned. He rather persuaded them to be patient and to cherish a mind that is unmovable by anything like this.

Christ rebuked them for their own good when they were enraged beyond measure at the hatred of the Samaritans. He did this so they might learn that as ministers of the divine tidings, they must rather be full of longsuffering and gentleness, not revengeful. They must not be given to wrath or savagely attack those who offend them.

For we must not always punish the offender, since mercy sometimes does more good, leading thee to patience, the sinner to repentance. Lastly, those Samaritans believed the sooner, who were in this place saved from fire.

The Son of Man did not come to destroy souls, but to save them. And you, therefore, he says, by whose Spirit you are signed, follow His deeds, now advising piously, but justly judging in fury.

After that He had taught them what it was to love their neighbour as themselves, and the Holy Ghost also had been infused into them, there were not lacking these punishments, though far less frequent than in the Old Testament, because the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. As if He said, And do you therefore who are sealed with His Spirit, imitate also His actions, now determining charitably, hereafter judging justly.

And therefore he adds: For the Son of man came not to destroy the souls of men, but to save them: because this coming was not of justice, but of mercy, according to that passage in John 3: "God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him"; whence from this end He received His name, so that He would be called Jesus, according to that passage in Matthew 1: "You shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins"; and Matthew 20: "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life as a redemption for many." And therefore he who has the spirit of Christ ought not to seek vengeance, but to show patience, according to that saying of Ambrose in the Gloss: "Perfect virtue," he says, "has no zeal for revenge: nor is there any wrath where there is the fullness of charity." Therefore it is said in Romans 12: "Not defending yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath."

Third, as regards the memorable instruction in the Lord's deed, it is added: And they went to another village: in which He gave a model to the disciples that they should flee from men rather than contend with them; according to the model He gave His disciples in Matthew 10: "When they persecute you in one city, flee to another." Moreover, we have the example of this from Abraham and Lot, Genesis 13, where "Abraham said: 'Let there be no quarrel, I pray, between me and you: for we are brothers. If you go to the left, I will take the right.'" In this He taught perfect meekness, which befits the servants of Christ, according to that passage in 2 Timothy 2: "The servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle"; whence according to that passage in James 1: "Let every man be slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not work the justice of God." For if the Lord of majesty was unwilling to be angry at such great inhumanity, how much less ought we to be indignant at anyone? And this meekness ought especially to be found in the prelates of the Church: whence the Apostle in 2 Timothy 4: "Reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine"; since in the Psalm it is said: "Meekness has come upon us, and we shall be corrected." And Seneca says: "The spirit of man is noble, and is more easily led than dragged"; whence he himself says that the king of bees has no sting.

"The life," says He, "was manifested," not the soul. And again, "I am come to save the soul." He did not say, "to explain" it.

1. This text refers not to the eternal Word but to the Incarnate. And from not perceiving this they of the sect of Arius, Eusebius and his fellows, indulge impiety against the Lord. For they say, if all things were delivered (meaning by 'all' the Lordship of Creation), there was once a time when He had them not. But if He had them not, He is not of the Father, for if He were, He would on that account have had them always, and would not have required to receive them. But this point will furnish all the clearer an exposure of their folly. For the expression in question does not refer to the Lordship over Creation, nor to presiding over the works of God, but is meant to reveal in part the intention of the Incarnation (τῆς οἰκονομίας). For if when He was speaking they 'were delivered' to Him, clearly before He received them, creation was void of the Word. What then becomes of the text in Him all things consist Colossians 1:17? But if simultaneously with the origin of the Creation it was all 'delivered' to Him, such delivery were superfluous, for 'all things were made by Him' John 1:3, and it would be unnecessary for those things of which the Lord Himself was the artificer to be delivered over to Him. For in making them He was Lord of the things which were being originated. But even supposing they were 'delivered' to Him after they were originated, see the monstrosity. For if they 'were delivered,' and upon His receiving them the Father retired, then we are in peril of falling into the fabulous tales which some tell, that He gave over [His works] to the Son, and Himself departed. Or if, while the Son has them, the Father has them also, we ought to say, not 'were delivered,' but that He took Him as partner, as Paul did Silvanus. But this is even more monstrous; for God is not imperfect , nor did He summon the Son to help Him in His need; but, being Father of the Word, He makes all things by His means, and without delivering creation over to Him, by His means and in Him exercises Providence over it, so that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father Matthew 10:29, nor is the grass clothed without God Matthew 6:30, but at once the Father works, and the Son works hitherto cf.John 5:17. Vain, therefore, is the opinion of the impious. For the expression is not what they think, but designates the Incarnation.

2. Sense in which, and end for which all things were delivered to the Incarnate Son. For whereas man sinned, and is fallen, and by his fall all things are in confusion: death prevailed from Adam to Moses cf.Romans 5:14, the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised cf.Psalm 49:12, while the devil was exulting against us—then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go?' Isaiah 6:8. But while all held their peace, the Son said, 'Here am I, send Me.' And then it was that, saying 'Go,' He 'delivered' to Him man, that the Word Himself might be made Flesh, and by taking the Flesh, restore it wholly. For to Him, as to a physician, man 'was delivered' to heal the bite of the serpent; as to life, to raise what was dead; as to light, to illumine the darkness; and, because He was Word, to renew the rational nature (τὸ λογικόν). Since then all things 'were delivered' to Him, and He is made Man, straightway all things were set right and perfected. Earth receives blessing instead of a curse, Paradise was opened to the robber, Hades cowered, the tombs were opened and the dead raised, the gates of Heaven were lifted up to await Him that 'comes from Edom?' Psalm 24:7, Isaiah 63:1. Why, the Saviour Himself expressly signifies in what sense 'all things were delivered' to Him, when He continues, as Matthew tells us: 'Come unto Me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' Matthew 11:28. Yes, you 'were delivered' to Me to give rest to those who had laboured, and life to the dead. And what is written in John's Gospel harmonises with this: 'The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand' John 3:35. Given, in order that, just as all things were made by Him, so in Him all things might be renewed. For they were not 'delivered' unto Him, that being poor, He might be made rich, nor did He receive all things that He might receive power which before He lacked: far be the thought: but in order that as Saviour He might rather set all things right. For it was fitting that while 'through Him' all things came into being at the beginning, 'in Him' (note the change of phrase) all things should be set right cf. John 1:3, Ephesians 1:10. For at the beginning they came into being 'through' Him; but afterwards, all having fallen, the Word has been made Flesh, and put it on, in order that 'in Him' all should be set right. Suffering Himself, He gave us rest, hungering Himself, He nourished us, and going down into Hades He brought us back thence. For example, at the time of the creation of all things, their creation consisted in a fiat, such as 'let [the earth] bring forth,' 'let there be' Genesis 1:3, 11, but at the restoration it was fitting that all things should be 'delivered' to Him, in order that He might be made man, and all things be renewed in Him. For man, being in Him, was quickened: for this was why the Word was united to man, namely, that against man the curse might no longer prevail. This is the reason why they record the request made on behalf of mankind in the seventy-first Psalm: 'Give the King Your judgment, O God?' Psalm 72:1: asking that both the judgment of death which hung over us may be delivered to the Son, and that He may then, by dying for us, abolish it for us in Himself. This was what He signified, saying Himself, in the eighty-seventh Psalm: 'Your indignation lies hard upon me' Psalm 88:7. For He bore the indignation which lay upon us, as also He says in the hundred and thirty-seventh: 'Lord, You shall do vengeance for me' Psalm 137:8.

3. By 'all things' is meant the redemptive attributes and power of Christ. Thus, then, we may understand all things to have been delivered to the Saviour, and, if it be necessary to follow up understanding by explanation, that has been delivered unto Him which He did not previously possess. For He was not man previously, but became man for the sake of saving man. And the Word was not in the beginning flesh, but has been made flesh subsequently cf.John 1:1 sqq, in which Flesh, as the Apostle says, He reconciled the enmity which was against us Colossians 1:20, 2:14, Ephesians 2:15-16 and destroyed the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might make the two into one new man, making peace, and reconcile both in one body to the Father. That, however, which the Father has, belongs also to the Son, as also He says in John, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine' John 16:15, expressions which could not be improved. For when He became that which He was not, 'all things were delivered' to Him. But when He desires to declare His unity with the Father, He teaches it without any reserve, saying: 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine.' And one cannot but admire the exactness of the language. For He has not said 'all things whatsoever the Father has, He has given to Me,' lest He should appear at one time not to have possessed these things; but 'are Mine.' For these things, being in the Father's power, are equally in that of the Son. But we must in turn examine what things 'the Father has.' For if Creation is meant, the Father had nothing before creation, and proves to have received something additional from Creation; but far be it to think this. For just as He exists before creation, so before creation also He has what He has, which we also believe to belong to the Son John 16:15. For if the Son is in the Father, then all things that the Father has belong to the Son. So this expression is subversive of the perversity of the heterodox in saying that 'if all things have been delivered to the Son, then the Father has ceased to have power over what is delivered, having appointed the Son in His place. For, in fact, the Father judges none, but has given all judgment to the Son?' John 5:22. But 'let the mouth of them that speak wickedness be stopped' Psalm 63:11, (for although He has given all judgment to the Son, He is not, therefore, stripped of lordship: nor, because it is said that all things are delivered by the Father to the Son, is He any the less over all), separating as they clearly do the Only-begotten from God, Who is by nature inseparable from Him, even though in their madness they separate Him by their words, not perceiving, the impious men, that the Light can never be separated from the sun, in which it resides by nature. For one must use a poor simile drawn from tangible and familiar objects to put our idea into words, since it is over bold to intrude upon the incomprehensible nature [of God].

4. The text John 16:15 , shows clearly the essential relation of the Son to the Father. As then the light from the Sun which illumines the world could never be supposed, by men of sound mind, to do so without the Sun, since the Sun's light is united to the Sun by nature; and as, if the Light were to say: I have received from the Sun the power of illumining all things, and of giving growth and strength to them by the heat that is in me, no one will be mad enough to think that the mention of the Sun is meant to separate him from what is his nature, namely the light; so piety would have us perceive that the Divine Essence of the Word is united by nature to His own Father. For the text before us will put our problem in the clearest possible light, seeing that the Saviour said, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine;' which shows that He is ever with the Father. For 'whatsoever He has' shows that the Father wields the Lordship, while 'are Mine' shows the inseparable union. It is necessary, then, that we should perceive that in the Father reside Everlastingness, Eternity, Immortality. Now these reside in Him not as adventitious attributes, but, as it were, in a well-spring they reside in Him, and in the Son. When then you wish to perceive what relates to the Son, learn what is in the Father, for this is what you must believe to be in the Son. If then the Father is a thing created or made, these qualities belong also to the Son. And if it is permissible to say of the Father 'there was once a time when He was not,' or 'made of nothing,' let these words be applied also to the Son. But if it is impious to ascribe these attributes to the Father, grant that it is impious also to ascribe them to the Son. For what belongs to the Father, belongs to the Son. For he that honours the Son, honours the Father that sent Him, and he that receives the Son, receives the Father with Him, because he that has seen the Son has seen the Father Matthew 10:40; John 14:9. As then the Father is not a creature, so neither is the Son; and as it is not possible to say of Him 'there was a time when He was not,' nor 'made of nothing,' so it is not proper to say the like of the Son either. But rather, as the Father's attributes are Everlastingness, Immortality, Eternity, and the being no creature, it follows that thus also we must think of the Son. For as it is written John 5:26, 'As the Father has life in Himself, so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself.' But He uses the word 'gave' in order to point to the Father who gives. As, again, life is in the Father, so also is it in the Son, so as to show Him to be inseparable and everlasting. For this is why He speaks with exactness, 'whatsoever the Father has,' in order namely that by thus mentioning the Father He may avoid being thought to be the Father Himself. For He does not say 'I am the Father,' but 'whatsoever the Father has.'

5. The same text further explained. For His Only-begotten Son might, you Arians, be called 'Father' by His Father, yet not in the sense in which you in your error might perhaps understand it, but (while Son of the Father that begot Him) 'Father of the coming age' Isaiah 9:6, Septuagint. For it is necessary not to leave any of your surmises open to you. Well then, He says by the prophet, 'A Son is born and given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Angel of Great Counsel, mighty God, Ruler, Father of the coming age' Isaiah 9:6. The Only-begotten Son of God, then, is at once Father of the coming age, and mighty God, and Ruler. And it is shown clearly that all things whatsoever the Father has are His, and that as the Father gives life, the Son likewise is able to quicken whom He will. For 'the dead,' He says, 'shall hear the voice of the Son, and shall live' cf.John 5:25, and the will and desire of Father and Son is one, since their nature also is one and indivisible. And the Arians torture themselves to no purpose, from not understanding the saying of our Saviour, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine.' For from this passage at once the delusion of Sabellius can be upset, and it will expose the folly of our modern Jews. For this is why the Only begotten, having life in Himself as the Father has, also knows alone Who the Father is, namely, because He is in the Father and the Father in Him. For He is His Image, and consequently, because He is His Image, all that belongs to the Father is in Him. He is an exact seal, showing in Himself the Father; living Word and true, Power, Wisdom, our Sanctification and Redemption 1 Corinthians 1:30. For 'in Him we both live and move and have our being' Acts 17:28, and 'no man knows Who is the Father, save the Son, and Who is the Son, save the Father?' Luke 10:22.

6. The Trisagion wrongly explained by Arians. Its true significance. And how do the impious men venture to speak folly, as they ought not, being men and unable to find out how to describe even what is on the earth? But why do I say 'what is on the earth?' Let them tell us their own nature, if they can discover how to investigate their own nature? Rash they are indeed, and self-willed, not trembling to form opinions of things which angels desire to look into 1 Peter 1:12, who are so far above them, both in nature and in rank. For what is nearer [God] than the Cherubim or the Seraphim? And yet they, not even seeing Him, nor standing on their feet, nor even with bare, but as it were with veiled faces, offer their praises, with untiring lips doing nought else but glorify the divine and ineffable nature with the Trisagion. And nowhere has any one of the divinely speaking prophets, men specially selected for such vision, reported to us that in the first utterance of the word Holy the voice is raised aloud, while in the second it is lower, but in the third, quite low—and that consequently the first utterance denotes lordship, the second subordination, and the third marks a yet lower degree. But away with the folly of these haters of God and senseless men. For the Triad, praised, reverenced, and adored, is one and indivisible and without degrees (ἀ σχηματιστός). It is united without confusion, just as the Monad also is distinguished without separation. For the fact of those venerable living creatures Isaiah 6; Revelation 4:8 offering their praises three times, saying 'Holy, Holy, Holy,' proves that the Three Subsistences are perfect, just as in saying 'Lord,' they declare the One Essence. They then that depreciate the Only-begotten Son of God blaspheme God, defaming His perfection and accusing Him of imperfection, and render themselves liable to the severest chastisement. For he that blasphemes any one of the Subsistences shall have remission neither in this world nor in that which is to come. But God is able to open the eyes of their heart to contemplate the Sun of Righteousness, in order that coming to know Him whom they formerly set at nought, they may with unswerving piety of mind together with us glorify Him, because to Him belongs the kingdom, even to the Father Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. When you read all things, you recognize the almighty, not discolored, not degenerate from the Father. When you read handed over, you confess the Son, to whom by nature all things of one substance are rightfully proper, not granted as a gift by grace. However, all things which he says were handed over to him are not to be understood as the elements of the world, which he himself created, but as those to whom the Father revealed the sacraments of the Son, being humble in spirit, and concerning whose salvation the same Son, when he spoke these things, rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. Of all these, he says elsewhere: All that the Father gives me will come to me (John VI).

And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. This is not to be understood as though the Son could be known by no one except the Father alone, and the Father not only by the Son but also by those to whom the Son reveals him, but it refers to both when he says: And anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him, so that we may understand both the Father and the Son being revealed by the Son.

Third, he shows that one must rejoice in incomprehensible power, when he says: All things have been delivered to me by my Father. For in that he says: All things, without limit, delivered, he shows that his power is universal, according to that passage in John one: "All things were made through him," that is, through the Word; and again in chapter seventeen: "All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine." In that he adds: By my Father, he indicates that this power is natural, according to that passage in John five: "Whatever the Father does, all these things the Son likewise does." In both together he shows equality and immensity: hence the Gloss: "When you hear all things, you recognize the Omnipotent; when you hear delivered, you confess the Son, to whom all things are properly his own by right through the nature of one substance, not conferred as a gift through grace." And from this it is apparent that the power of the Son is immense and incomprehensible. And then he adds: And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, that is, no intellect perfectly comprehends this except the paternal intellect; and therefore the Holy Spirit is not excluded by this, but only created intellect, which cannot comprehend him, since he is immense. Hence Job eleven: "Can you perhaps comprehend the traces of God and discover the Almighty unto perfection? He is higher than heaven, and what will you do?" etc.

And because the Son is incomprehensible, therefore He can comprehend the Father. On account of which He adds: And who the Father is, except the Son: supply: no one knows: because, John 1, "No one has ever seen God except the Only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." Since He alone comprehends, therefore He alone can reveal; and therefore He adds: And to whomever the Son wills to reveal. For the Son is the Wisdom and Word of the Father, and the Speaker manifests Himself through His Word; whence Wisdom 9: "Who will know Your mind, unless You give wisdom from on high?" Whence Chrysostom: "The philosophers, striving to inquire about God, confessed that they had found nothing else except that God is unknowable, just as one who undertakes to navigate an unnavigable ocean, when he cannot cross over, must necessarily return by the same way: so they began from ignorance and ended in ignorance. And the reason for this is that they were not disciples of Jesus Christ, who is the truth, nor did they have the Spirit, of whom John 16 says: 'When that Spirit of truth comes, He will teach you all truth.'"

For the new minds, which have newly become wise, which have sprung into being according to the new covenant, are infantile in the old folly. Of late, then, God was known by the coming of Christ: "For no man knoweth God but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal Him."

But "no one is good," except His Father. It is this same Father of His, then who being one is manifested by many powers And this was the import of the utterance, "No man knew the Father," who was Himself everything before the coming of the Son. So that it is veritably clear that the God of all is only one good, just Creator, and the Son in the Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

So God is good on His own account, and just also on ours, and He is just because He is good. And His justice is shown to us by His own Word from there from above, whence the Father was. For before He became Creator He was God; He was good. And therefore He wished to be Creator and Father. And the nature of all that love was the source of righteousness-the cause, too, of His lighting up His sun, and sending down His own Son. And He first announced the good righteousness that is from heaven, when He said, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, but the Son." This mutual and reciprocal knowledge is the symbol of primeval justice.

Yet let him know that it was God Himself that promulgated the Scriptures by His Son. And he, who announces what is his own, is to be believed. "No one," says the Lord, "hath known the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal Him." This, then, is to be believed, according to Plato, though it is announced and spoken "without probable and necessary proofs," but in the Old and New Testament.

Now those that ruminate, but do not part the hoof, indicate the majority of the Jews, who have indeed the oracles of God, but have not faith, and the step which, resting on the truth, conveys to the Father by the Son. Whence also this kind of cattle are apt to slip, not having a division in the foot, and not resting on the twofold support of faith. For "no man," it is said, "knoweth the Father, but he to whom the Son shall reveal Him."

Now having said that all things were given Him by His Father, He rises to His own glory and excellence, showing that in nothing He is surpassed by His Father. Hence He adds, And no one knoweth who the Son is but the Father, &c. For the mind of the creatures is not able to comprehend the manner of the Divine substance, which passes all understanding, and His glory transcends our highest contemplations. By Itself only is known what the Divine nature is. Therefore the Father, by that which He is, knoweth the Son; the Son, by that which He is, knoweth the Father, no difference intervening as regards the Divine nature. And in another place. For that God is, we believe, but what He is by nature, is incomprehensible. But if the Son was created, how could He alone know the Father, or how could He be known only by the Father. For to know the Divine nature is impossible to any creature, but to know each created thing what it is, does not surpass every understanding, though it is far beyond our senses.

For the Lord, revealing Himself to His disciples, that He Himself is the Word, who imparts knowledge of the Father, and reproving the Jews, who imagined that they had [the knowledge of] God, while they nevertheless rejected His Word, through whom God is made known, declared, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son has willed to reveal [Him]."

But the Son, administering all things for the Father, works from the beginning even to the end, and without Him no man can attain the knowledge of God. For the Son is the knowledge of the Father; but the knowledge of the Son is in the Father, and has been revealed through the Son; and this was the reason why the Lord declared: "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, save the Son, and those to whomsoever the Son shall reveal [Him]." For "shall reveal" was said not with reference to the future alone, as if then [only] the Word had begun to manifest the Father when He was born of Mary, but it applies indifferently throughout all time. For the Son, being present with His own handiwork from the beginning, reveals the Father to all; to whom He wills, and when He wills, and as the Father wills. Wherefore, then, in all things, and through all things, there is one God, the Father, and one Word, and one Son, and one Spirit, and one salvation to all who believe in Him.

Therefore have the Jews departed from God, in not receiving His Word, but imagining that they could know the Father [apart] by Himself, without the Word, that is, without the Son; they being ignorant of that God who spake in human shape to Abraham, and again to Moses, saying, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them." For the Son, who is the Word of God, arranged these things beforehand from the beginning, the Father being in no want of angels, in order that He might call the creation into being, and form man, for whom also the creation was made; nor, again, standing in need of any instrumentality for the framing of created things, or for the ordering of those things which had reference to man; while, [at the same time,] He has a vast and unspeakable number of servants. For His offspring and His similitude do minister to Him in every respect; that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom; whom all the angels serve, and to whom they are subject. Vain, therefore, are those who, because of that declaration, "No man knoweth the Father, but the Son," do introduce another unknown Father.

(non occ.) He wishes to reveal as the Word, not without the exercise of reason; and as Justice, who knoweth rightly both the times for revealing, and the measures of revelation; but He reveals by removing the opposing veil from the heart, (2 Cor. 3:15) and the darkness which He has made His secret place. (Ps. 18:11.) But since upon this men who are of another opinion think to build up their impious doctrine, that in truth the Father of Jesus was sent down to the ancient saints, we must tell them that the words, To whomsoever the Son will reveal him, not only refer to the future time, after our Saviour uttered this, but also to the past time. But if they will not take this word reveal for what is past, they must be told, that it is not the same thing to know and to believe. To one is given by the Spirit the word of knowledge; to another faith by the same Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:8, 9.) There were then those who believed, but did not know.

To this Simon replied: "From the words of your master I shall refute you, because even he introduces to all men a certain God who was known. For although both Adam knew the God who was his creator, and the maker of the world; and Enoch knew him, inasmuch as he was translated by him; and Noah, since he was ordered by him to construct the ark; and although Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and all, even every people and all nations, know the maker of the world, and confess him to be a God, yet your Jesus, who appeared long after the patriarchs, says: 'No one knows the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any one the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son has been pleased to reveal Him.' Thus, therefore, even your Jesus confesses that there is another God, incomprehensible and unknown to all."

"'And that he does not really believe even the doctrines proclaimed by his teacher is evident, for he proclaims doctrines opposite to his. For he said to some one, as I learn, Call me not good, for the good is one. Now in speaking of the good one, he no longer speaks of that just one, whom the Scriptures proclaim, who kills and makes alive,—kills those who sin, and makes alive those who live according to His will. But that he did not really call Him who is the framer of the world good, is plain to any one who can reflect. For the framer of the world was known to Adam whom He had made, and to Enoch who pleased Him, and to Noah who was seen to be just by Him; likewise to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; also to Moses, and the people, and the whole world. But Jesus, the teacher of Peter himself, came and said, No one knew the Father except the Son, as no one knoweth even the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son may wish to reveal Him. If, then, it was the Son himself who was present, it was from the time of his appearance that he began to reveal to those to whom he wished, Him who was unknown to all. And thus the Father was unknown to all who lived before him, and could not thus be He who was known to all."

But after all, it is, I presume, the edification rather than the demolition of the law and the prophets which we have thus far found effected in Christ. "All things," He says, "are delivered unto me of my Father." You may believe Him, if He is the Christ of the Creator to whom all things belong; because the Creator has not delivered to a Son who is less than Himself all things, which He created by Him, that is to say, by His Word.

But "no man knoweth who the Father is, but the Son; and who the Son is, but the Father, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." And so it was an unknown god that Christ preached! And other heretics, too, prop themselves up by this passage; alleging in opposition to it that the Creator was known to all, both to lsrµl by familiar intercourse, and to the Gentiles by nature.

He exults in spirit when He says to the Father, "I thank Thee, O Father, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent." He, moreover, affirms also that to no man is the Father known, but to His Son; and promises that, as the Son of the Father, He will confess those who confess Him, and deny those who deny Him, before His Father.

The Father delivers all things to the Son, because all things must be subject to the Son. God reigns over all in a twofold manner: first, over those who do not desire His Kingdom, and second, over those who do desire it. To give an example: God is my Master even if I do not wish it, because He is my Creator; and again, God is my Master when I, as a prudent servant, fulfill His will through the keeping of the commandments. Human nature was formerly in bondage and in the hands of God, even though it did not wish it, even though it served Satan. But when Christ endured the struggle on our behalf and, having freed us from the power of the devil, made us His servants and keepers of the commandments, from that time we became prudent servants both by nature and by choice; for the first servitude was only by nature, while the second was also by our choice. So the Lord now says: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father," that is, all things must be subject to Me and fall under My dominion. This is similar to the other saying: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18). And He says this because He reconciled all things (Col. 1:20), both in heaven and on earth. And in another sense: the Father delivers all things to the Son—all the works of the economy of our salvation. Therefore, for our sake neither the Father nor the Spirit became incarnate, or suffered, or rose again, but the Son accomplished all of this, and He became the captain of our salvation; therefore He says that all things have been delivered to Him. He spoke as if to say: My Father has entrusted all things to Me—to become incarnate, to suffer, to rise again, to save the nature that had fallen away. Since He said that all things have been delivered to Me, He now resolves, as it were, a certain perplexity. Lest anyone should think: why then did He deliver all things to You, and not to another, even to an Angel or an Archangel. He says: He delivered all things to Me because I am of one Nature and Essence with Him. And as no one knows Him, so no one knows Me either, except the Father alone. Therefore He rightly delivered all things to Me, as One consubstantial with Him and surpassing all knowledge, just as He too is above all knowledge. For the Father, He says, is known by the Son alone and by the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Notice: the Son knows the Father not through revelation, but creatures know Him through revelation, for they receive knowledge by grace; consequently, the Son is not created.

But that you may know that as the Son revealed the Father to whom He will, the Father also reveals the Son to whom He will, hear our Lord's words, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And turning to his disciples, he said: Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see, etc. Not the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees, who see only the body of the Lord, but those blessed eyes that can recognize his mysteries, about which it is said: And you have revealed them to little children. Blessed are the eyes of the little ones, to whom the Son is worthy to reveal both himself and the Father.

Matthew more clearly calls them prophets, and righteous men. For those are great kings, who have known how, not by yielding to escape from the assaults of temptations, but by mastering to gain the rule over them.

For those looking afar off saw Him in a glass and darkly, but the Apostles having our Lord present with them, whatever things they wished to learn had no need to he taught by angels or any other kind of vision.

The third firmness of faith is that which proceeds from the witness of truth as expressed through the inspired word: and this occurred with all the prophets. And we have heard this Word, for it is the Spirit that bears witness that Christ is the truth. Some have actually seen Him in the flesh. Hence in Luke: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it."

Fourth, He shows that one should rejoice over the desirable presence, with regard to which He adds: And turning to His disciples, He said: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see: therefore you can rightly rejoice, because you see Me both in mind and in body, since Abraham rejoiced, who saw only by faith, according to that passage of John 8: "Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it and was glad." And therefore as a figure of this it is said in 3 Kings 10 to Solomon: "Blessed are your men and blessed are your servants, those who stand before you always and hear your wisdom." This is said of Solomon as a figure of Christ, because, as He says of Himself in Matthew 12, "behold, something greater than Solomon is here." Whence this was a special gift.

He also gave the holy apostles power and might even to raise the dead, cleanse lepers, heal the sick, and by the laying on of hands to call down from heaven the Holy Spirit on anyone they wanted. He gave them power to bind and to loose people's sins. His words are "I say to you, whatever you will bind on earth, will be bound in heaven. Whatever you will loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven." These are the things we see ourselves possessing. Blessed are our eyes and the eyes of those of all who love him. We have heard his wonderful teaching. He has given us the knowledge of God the Father, and he has shown him to us in his own nature. The things that were by Moses were only types and symbols. Christ has revealed the truth to us. He has taught us that not by blood and smoke, but rather by spiritual sacrifices, we must honor him who is spiritual, immaterial and above all understanding.

He turns to them indeed, since He rejected the Jews, who were deaf, with their understandings blinded, and not wishing to see, and gives Himself wholly to those who love Him; and He pronounces those eyes blessed which see the things no others had seen before. We must however know this, that seeing does not signify the action of the eyes, but the pleasure which the mind receives from benefits conferred. For instance, if any one should say, He hath seen good times, that is, he has rejoiced in good times, according to the Psalm, Thou shall see the good of Jerusalem. (Ps. 128:5.) For many Jews have seen Christ performing divine works, that is to say, with their bodily sight, yet all were not fitted to receive the blessing, for they believed not; but these saw not His glory with their mental sight. Blessed then are our eyes, since we see by faith the Word who is made man for us, shedding upon us the glory of His Godhead, that He may make us like unto Him by sanctification and righteousness.

(in Joan. Hom. 8.) Now from this saying many imagine that the prophets were without the knowledge of Christ. But if they desired to see what the Apostles saw, they knew that He would come to men, and dispense those things which He did. For no one desires what he has no conception of; they therefore knew the Son of God. Hence He does not merely say, They desired to see me, but those things which ye see, nor to hear me, but those things which ye hear. For they saw Him, but not yet Incarnate, nor thus conversing with men, nor speaking with such authority to them.

If you look also into the next words, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things which ye see, for I tell you that prophets have not seen the things which ye see," you will find that they follow from the sense above, that no man indeed had come to the knowledge of God as he ought to have done, since even the prophets had not seen the things which were being seen under Christ.

Turning to the disciples, the Lord blesses them and indeed all who look upon Him with faith as He walks in the flesh and works miracles.

Having said above, No one knoweth who the Father is but the Son, and to whomsoever the Son will reveal him; He pronounces a blessing upon His disciples, to whom the Father was revealed through Him. Hence it is said, And he turned him unto his disciples, and said, Blessed are the eyes, &c.

Now He blesses them, and all truly who look with faith, because the ancient prophets and kings desired to see and hear God in the flesh, as it follows; For I say unto you, that many prophets and kings have desired, &c. (Matt. 13:17.)

For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Abraham rejoiced that he might see the day of Christ, and saw it, and was glad. Isaiah also, and Micah, many other prophets saw the glory of the Lord, who for that reason are called seers. But all these seeing from afar and greeting (Him) saw through a glass and in a riddle (1 Cor. 13), but the apostles having the Lord in the present time, eating with Him, and learning by asking whatever they wished, by no means needed to be taught through angels or various visions. While Luke calls many prophets and kings, Matthew more explicitly calls them prophets and the righteous. For they are truly great kings, because they know how to not succumb by giving in to the impulses of their temptations, but to command by ruling over them.

The third firmness of faith is that which proceeds from the witness of truth as expressed through the inspired word: and this occurred with all the prophets. And we have heard this Word, for it is the Spirit that bears witness that Christ is the truth. Some have actually seen Him in the flesh. Hence in Luke: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it."

And on this account He adds: But I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see what you see, and did not see it. Those sublime in knowledge and power desired the presence of Christ, according to that passage of Haggai 2: "The desired of all nations will come." Whence on account of their vehement desire it is said in Isaiah 64: "O that You would rend the heavens and come down!" and Numbers 24: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a scepter shall spring up from Israel"; and after: "Alas! who shall live when the Lord does these things?" Nor is it a wonder, because in the penultimate chapter of Esther it is said to Ahasuerus in the person of Christ: "You are exceedingly wondrous, lord, and your face is full of graces." And therefore they desired to see the presence of Christ.

They also desired to hear the teaching, and therefore he adds: And to hear what you hear, and they did not hear, that is, my words: because, as it is said in Hosea 10, "it is time to seek the Lord, when he shall come who will teach you justice." For this was the very greatest benefit, to hear God speaking, not through a subject creature, but in his own person and in a united creature. Commemorating which benefit, the Apostle says in Hebrews 1: "In many ways and by many modes God, speaking of old to the Fathers through the Prophets, in these last days" etc. Blessed is he who hears this speech humbly and obediently, according to that passage below in chapter eleven: "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." Hence blessed are those who through faith saw and heard Christ on the way, according to that passage in Proverbs 8: "Blessed is the man who hears me and who watches at my gates daily and waits at the posts of my door." But most blessed are those who will see in the homeland, according to that passage in Revelation 19: "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Tell us, then, O children, whence is this, your beautiful and graceful contest of song? Who taught it you? Who instructed you? Who brought you together? What were your tablets? Who were your teachers? Do but you, they say, join us as our companions in this song and festivity, and you will learn the things which were by Moses and the prophet earnestly longed for.

(in Cant. 1:2.) But why does he say that many prophets desired, and not all? Because it is said of Abraham, That he saw the day of Christ and was glad, (John 8:56.) which sight not many, but few attained to; but there were other prophets and just men not so great as to reach to Abraham's vision, and the experience of the Apostles, who, He says, saw not, but desired to see.

"But also a witnessing voice was heard from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him.' And in addition to this, willing to convict more fully of error the prophets from whom they asserted that they had learned, He proclaimed that they died desiring the truth, but not having learned it, saying, 'Many prophets and kings desired to see what ye see, and to hear what you hear; and verily I say to you, they neither saw nor heard.' Still further He said, 'I am he concerning whom Moses prophesied, saying, A Prophet shall the Lord our God raise unto you of your brethren, like unto me: Him hear in all things; and whosoever will not hear that Prophet shall die.' "

For the ancient prophets and kings, though they greatly desired to see the Lord in the flesh and to hear Him, were nevertheless not deemed worthy of this. And in another sense: since He said above that he knows the Father to whom the Son reveals Him, He now blesses the disciples as those who have already received this revelation. For through Himself He revealed the Father to them, since he who saw Him saw the Father (John 14:9). And no one among those saints who lived before the appearing and working of the Son of God in the flesh attained this blessing. Since they did not see the Lord in the flesh, through Whom the Father was known, it follows that they did not see the Father in the way the apostles saw Him.