Against the Heretics
Contra haereticos
The Deceiver as Teacher of Heresies§1
1Against the heretics: they do not think heavenly things, nor do they possess a human mindset; they do not dare to come into the light, to be discussed with a wise man, or to attack a city of Christians, like the leaders of the other heresies, who attempt to lead some astray through philosophy and empty deception. For because of the danger approaching them and the Scriptures, they attempt to draw people toward their own wills and thereby deceive the simpler ones; for the Scriptures are like medical aids, which, when prepared well, heal, but when given poorly or unskillfully, kill; therefore it is reasonable that small foxes are called.
As for the other heresies, it is to be found that they possess both reason and probability, and they surround some of the simpler ones with syllogisms and sophisms; for I think the prophet also prays concerning these things, saying, 'Deliver me from my mighty enemies' (Ps 143:12). But the small foxes, that is, these heresies, what do they possess capable of deceiving? Not wisdom, not strength, not boldness of their doctrine, nor the ability to deceive those divided in faith by the justice of cities; they have only one thing, the harm of these beasts. For when they enter into a vineyard, that is, into the people, they do not enter openly, but secretly like thieves, like these beasts, the foxes. When they see the vine-dresser busy in another part, they enter ungratefully into the labors of others, which they also destroy.
And it is possible to understand the scriptural word thus: not only calling them small foxes, but also small ones destroying vineyards. For no man among them, being strong and firm in faith and established upon the rock, that is, Christ (Matt 7:24), is deceived, but if anyone is led astray by a windless place and is tossed by every wind (Eph 4:14), he is cast away from the church. Concerning such things also the Lord in the Gospels...
He says: Whoever causes one of the little ones believing in me to stumble, it is expedient that a millstone be hung from his neck. And the following, clearly, of a great one, strengthened in faith and holding the head of the church, Christ, being unable to be stumbled. Concerning these things also the apostle Paul clearly touched upon, saying: 'These are they who enter into houses and capture little women piled up with sins, led by various incantations, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth' (2 Timothy 3:6). He showed through the word 'those entering' the den of the serpent that deceived the first woman (Gen 3:1); and he also revealed the harmful and cowardly nature of their ways and of their preaching, the weakness and the shallowness of those being deceived; for he does not remember a man, except only little women easy for deception. Because of this also their preaching is that kind of deception, and one might say it is womanish; and it is possible to see in their synagogues more little women being deceived, subsequently following strange men and living with them without distinction; and the things following these are shameful even to speak of.
Who is the teacher of these heresies? The teacher of all heresies is the devil. For just as Christ is the teacher of the catholic church and gave himself for it, so that he might sanctify it and present to himself the church not having a blemish or wrinkle or anything of this kind (Eph 5:27), so also the devil, being ready to deceive and scatter, has become a teacher of all heresies. For only the race of humans was taught to worship God, but the devil made many false gods; and what do I say 'many', he made all creation into gods, so that he might lead the wretched man astray from the truly God. For it was possible to see likenesses of animals and beasts and creeping things and birds being worshiped, and yet...
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The Deception of Apostasy vs. the Fruitfulness of the Church§2
2And almost all matter was honoring it as a god. And because of this, the Lord accepted the incarnate economy on behalf of the human race, in order to abolish the manifold error and to turn them back toward the worship of the truly God through the bath of regeneration, and to gather together all humanity scattered into the church and to designate it as his own body, and so that his word might be fulfilled: 'There shall be one flock, one shepherd' (John 10:16).
But again the envious devil, by his own wickedness and his ancient craft, does not cease deceiving the unthinking ones; for just as before, having renamed idols as gods, he led men astray from the truly God, so also now, having named many churches—or rather, if it is necessary to speak the truth, having raised up idols of churches—he causes those believing in him to depart through the apostasy of Christ, so that just as then, through the so-called gods, they departed from God, so also now, through the so-called churches, he might tear away them from the truly Church. For it is the habit of the devil to deceive through great promises; for approaching the first human, that is, the woman, he said: 'If you eat of the tree of knowledge, you shall be as gods' (Gen 3:5), promising to make them gods, that is, immortal, and he seized their life for himself.
Therefore his deceit has even more; for when the Savior appeared and many believed in him, the evil one incited persecution against the Christians, and those whom he could no longer hold by deception, he forced to become apostates through tyranny. And it was a thing to be seen as terrible: kings raging against the Christians, laws full of lawlessness, judges vengeful for impiety. For piety was a crime for every murder and every sorcery; and only the Christians filled the prisons, they were turned about, they were beaten, they were fried, they were burned, they were thrown to the beasts.
And all these things being brought upon them by the evil one and his ministers, in order that they might deny the church of God, they bravely and willingly bore all things because of the love toward the Savior, and they died sweetly the temporal death, exchanging it for the eternal life. Having learned these things, the devil, and having understood that his violence was being defeated and all his schemes, he turned to another kind of deception and...
Again, there is a useful promise and a humble appearance and a devout religious practice. For who would not easily be deceived by this trick, when self-control and renunciation are being preached? He knows that it is heavy for a Christian to hear: 'Apostate from God, deny the Savior, flee from the church, abandon the blood of Christ through whom you were purchased.' If these things were said, who would have listened to him?
But now, by the old method, promising great things of the true paradise, the church of Christ, he drives the man away. For truly the church of Christ is a paradise, in which is both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, and a spring rising from the earth and watering the paradise, from which even the four rivers flow; and it also has much variety of fruits. For this reason it is a paradise, since there are many kinds of fruits; for a paradise is not of a single kind, as the apostates say.
And each one, according to his faith and zeal, increases and bears fruit; let him only remain in the paradise of Christ, just as it has been written: 'Being planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God' (Ps 92:13). And if even a time of martyrdom should come, let us deliver up the body, let us leave the temporary life, let us throw away lineage, let us disregard possessions; let all things be lost, let faith, hope, and love remain in us, as the apostle says (1 Cor 13:13).
And in another place: 'I am persuaded,' he says, 'that neither life nor death, nor things present nor things to come, nor any else creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Christ' (Rom 8:35-39). And what is this love? Our Lord Jesus Christ himself said: 'He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him' (John 6:56).
And because of his great love toward us, his indwelling blood paid a price on our behalf; 'for you were purchased with precious blood,' says the apostle Peter (1 Pet 1:18-19). Therefore, he who denies the blood of Christ insults his presence and treats as worthless the value laid down for him. And how will those defending themselves, having denied the blood of God and having fled from the church, answer? For if, as we said, the apostles and martyrs suffered so much for the blood of Christ and were perfected in this confession, what punishment are these worthy of, who are without wounds, who are without the sword?
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The Apostasy against the Mysteries§3
3Should they be thought to possess anything of a Christian, denying this, without any danger of having denied the honor cast upon them? For all the mysteries of the Christians hang upon this; even if you speak of churches, or Scriptures, or catechisms, or baptism, or an altar, or the body itself, without the blood there is nothing; for a body without blood is dead, and no one offers a dead thing for an altar.
For one finds everywhere in the Old Testament blood being offered, and almost everything is cleansed in blood according to the law. How much more does the blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14), says the apostle; and again: Therefore, having, brothers, confidence for the entrance into the holy places in the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:19), which He made a new and living way (Hebrews 10:20).
It has shown you everywhere the power of the Christian mysteries, that it is not possible to escape sin, nor the devil himself, nor to enter the entrance into the holy places, which He made for us a new and living way, to be made known by the king as not bearing the seal. For if soldiers, struggling in wars and contending for its very safety, guard the symbol and through this demonstrate their goodwill toward the king, calculating that if they lose this, they will no longer be able to behold the face of the king, what will they do, having lost not an insensate sign, but having been plundered of the blood of Christ itself?
But if anyone examines accurately, those having been led astray by every man are more to be pitied and are worthy of many wailings, those having been led astray in these heresies. For so much the evil one has prevailed over them and has darkened their foolish heart, so that they do not recognize what they have suffered. For it is necessary for them to wail and weep, having been deprived of so many and such great good things and of life itself.
They suffer the opposite; they call themselves righteous and higher than all men; and what shall I say of them being more holy than all men and of the blood of Christ. For if the devil were to seize any of them and cast them out of the church, one would see from that time such a person speaking injustice to the height thoughtlessly.
No longer knowing either the baptizing priest, or the spiritual mother, the church, the generation that bore and nurtured him, or the altar from which he was fed and watered as a child, or the holy things themselves being offered. But immediately, a first progress and a great error is deemed by them to be the denial and the blasphemy against the mysteries; for such a person begins to speak, but rather it is the devil speaking in him: 'What is a church? What is baptism? And is that the blood of Christ? May it never enter my mouth.'
Woe! If you kept your heart with all vigilance, if you cried out heavily until the last breath, the fortress would remain to you. If you did not give entrance to the devil into your heart, you would not have been snatched away by him according to his will. Self-control and renunciation led you to this progress, and it taught nothing else but to renounce only the holy things.
Is the blood of Christ unclean and you clean? I thought you had a renunciation of another kind, concerning which the Lord said: 'If anyone does not renounce all that he has, he is not my disciple' (Luke 14:33), and 'If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor' (Matthew 19:21), and he did not add: 'If anyone does not renounce my church or my mysteries, he is not my disciple.' For it is clear that he taught us through his incarnate economy first to renounce the devil and his idols and all his plan, and to be arranged with him alone through his church and his mysteries.
Did I renounce the first renunciation or the second? The first is an avoidance of idols, the second is a disdain for possessions and a contempt for all fleshly pleasure. Let us see then what kind of renunciation you speak of, the one of possessions. And who is so given to the passion of avarice as the heretics? For they not only hold securely the money falling to them, but they also become stewards and treasurers of others' things as if they were their own, and they gather interest and profits, and they provide money to others, but they themselves gain iniquities, only so that they may increase the passion of greed. For no one has ever heard that a heretic, having sold all his...
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The Loss of the Spiritual Garment§4
4He gave what was due to the poor and has become a doer of this commandment. Therefore, I will command only the saints; you have only been taught by your self-control and by your rejection of not knowing your priest who always nourishes you through the mystical and holy food, having made little progress.
For if you call this progress, those driven mad also reach this point; for they, when they are seized by this passion, do not recognize those who begot them, they do not recognize a brother, they do not remember benefits, but even if someone wishes to help, he is perceived by them as an enemy and a foe, and when asked by their own people to state the cause of their grief, they say nothing coherent or relevant. It is therefore evident that those who depart from the church are also seized by the passion of madness, raging against everyone, withdrawing, calling the father who begot them an adulterer, and considering the mother a prostitute, not keeping the commandment of God which says, 'Let him who curses father or mother die a death' (Exodus 21:17).
But perhaps, making a pretext, he will say, 'I revile carnal parents.' You do not do even this well; for the law says this and our Lord Jesus Christ seals this; for being reproached by the Jews, when they called to him saying, 'Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders and eat with unwashed hands?' (Matthew 15:2), the Lord says to this: 'Why do you also transgress the commandment of God and your own tradition?' (Matthew 15:3). For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother' (Exodus 20:12), and 'let him who curses father or mother die a death' (Exodus 21:17). Do you see how He sealed the commandment, or rather the law of nature through His own word? And many things could be said about the honor and fear of parents, but both the old and new covenant testify sufficiently concerning this.
Let us see, however, if they honor even the spiritual parents. Who then is the spiritual father? Certainly, after God, the priest who baptized you; for it is written: 'In Christ Jesus through the gospel I have begotten you' (1 Corinthians 4:15), and 'Behold, I and the children which you, O God, have given me' (Isaiah 8:18), and to those who have fallen, 'My children, for whom I labor again, until Christ is formed in you' (Galatians 4:19). Which also...
We stand and aim to become part of them; and the mother is certainly the church and the one who has nurtured you. So, if the heretic recognizes these, he knows the benefit from them, that through these he escaped the tyranny of the devil, and through these he was named a Christian? What do I say, 'Christian'? He clothed himself with Christ himself; for the scripture says: 'As many as were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ' (Gal 3:27), only if you have not again stripped yourself off by the serpent. What then is against these things? Do you recognize these, or have you denied even these? And what will you do? For if you have dishonored those who begat you according to the flesh, and have denied those who regenerated you through the bath of rebirth, from where will your life come?
But since you have truly departed to a far country and have consumed the part of the father's essence which was laid upon you, and you feed pigs, eating the bran and the chaff of the first mill; for there are not sheep there, for the good shepherd is one and his flock is one. And what is the essence which you have lost? It is manifest and also very clear: the faith and the gift which you received through baptism. For just as having been baptized into Christ you clothed yourself with Christ, so, having departed from the church, you have stripped yourself of Christ.
And so that you may not think the said thing to be a sophism, when that son turned back, the father commanded nothing else than that the first robe and the ring be given to him. Imitate this one, brother; arise from earthly thoughts just as he arose from the earth, having come into himself, just as he also said: 'How do the hired servants of my father abound in bread, but I perish here with hunger?' (Luke 15:17). I do not have bread capable of supporting the heart of a man, but only the food of pigs, the bran. And what are these, but rather the devilish writings, as we will show in another discourse?
Remember from where you fell, how you were led astray being deceived by the serpent promising great things, in order that he might deprive you of the good things present. For in the beginning, the Word taught, that he thus deceived the first human, that is, the woman, saying: 'You shall be as gods' (Gen 3:5). And he led you away with the same deceit through the name of self-control and of renunciation from the father's house to the far country, to which there were not sheep, but only pigs. And if you had guarded the...
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The Foundation of Faith vs. False Asceticism§5
5A lordly commandment tells you: I will place enmity between you and the serpent, so that you would not hear his counsel. But God is a lover of mankind, and He does not know how to hold a grudge; only if you turn back, He is ready, because of His own goodness, to meet you just as He did with that one. He knows that you have died in so much time without tasting bread; having embraced you, He will kiss your neck, which the devil had hardened, and He will feed you again through the well-fed calf, the mysteries of Christ.
And there will be great joy also upon you, and the father will say: It is necessary to rejoice and be glad, because my son was dead and lived again, and was lost and was found (Luke 15:24). And you will find all of us rejoicing with the father and being glad together at your salvation; for among us not even one is envious. If you listen to our counsel, you will find these things happening from the common father concerning you and from the brother; if because of women, those deceived with you will begin to present pretexts in sins: 'Shall I return to the church after so much time? I will listen to the women living with me, the dividers.'
For this has been spoken much by them, and this is the most bitter craft of the devil, that he not only trips up man at the beginning, but also after the fall does not permit this one to turn back to God and be healed. What is a division? And what is a transgression? Tell me. In any case, division is when someone abandons the faith and the mysteries handed down with it in the church of God and moves into unbelief.
These things you ought to have said in the beginning, when you were in the father's house, when the devil and his workers were persuading you to depart from the paternal wealth of true life; then you ought to have said: 'I do not become a divider, I do not become a transgressor, no one shall separate me from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35); He Himself endured so much through me for nothing...'
He was placed so that he might redeem the one he fashioned with his own blood from sin. And how could I escape from the church, having denied the honor cast upon me? And he continued, persuading you through the kind promise and the venerable names—as is the custom of him and his workers—to depart from the faith, rushing toward a semblance of self-control and the renunciation of something or another venerable name.
It was necessary for you then to say: 'It is permitted for me, being a Christian and remaining in the church and guarding the mysteries, to renounce possessions, to renounce wickedness, to renounce the whole world, that is, worldly cares; and if it is necessary, also to exercise self-control over filth and all fleshly pleasure; and lest I say anything incorrect, and even if it is necessary to guard virginity and purity, it is permitted for me, being a Christian and guarding the faith, to build up all these things. For if I remove the foundation of the faith, which is Jesus (1 Cor 3:11), where shall I build the citizenship? For these things I hear every day being proclaimed in the church of Christ by the fathers who also enlightened me; but to you I will say: Depart from me, all you who work lawlessness (Matthew 7:23); if anyone evangelizes to you something other than what you received (Galatians 1:9), let him be accursed. Whenever you fell, whenever you awoke, you would not have been led astray by the teacher of heresies, you would not have truly become a destroyer; for no one, even upon your returning to the church, would compel you to eat and drink fleshly food, nor even to marry or to be unmarried, but perhaps not to eat bread or something that torments the body. Only do not deprive yourself of the body and blood of Christ, nor loathe the creatures of God. That these heresies come from Simon the Magician: every man has the power to abstain from the evil and to approach the good, and to receive from the good such power and grace as he himself wills; for example...'
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The Fall of Simon Magus§6
6For when the vessel is found, so is the grace given to the one asking, just as the scripture says concerning spiritual and holy ones that the spiritual one examines all things, himself being examined by no one (1 Cor 2:15). And this is indeed great, that he received such authority from God to examine all things, himself being examined by no one; but having already become higher than all human nature and having received from God the right to judge even before the resurrection. And that thing even more astonishes those who hear, that there is progress and a measure for this; for, so to speak, the scripture says: The one clinging to the Lord is one spirit, and it did not say: he is spiritual or he is holy. But it reveals that he is one spirit, as such a one was examined by divinity; he became one with God, and can no longer be separated.
By the same word, the unbeliever and the fleshly one, according to their own measure, insofar as they give themselves over to fleshly pleasures and to unbelief, finds lawlessness increasing within himself. And it is possible to find even this in the scripture; to the fleshly ones it says: I was not able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly (1 Cor 3:1). But those having fallen into the most extreme wickedness, he calls not fleshly, as they no longer have a beginning even if the Holy Spirit should happen to be in them; for he says thus concerning the creation: My Spirit shall by no means remain in these men because they are flesh (Genesis 6:3). And it was necessary to set forth more witnesses from the scriptures concerning this, but we deemed it sufficient since the two characters of the believer and the unbeliever are manifest.
For you will find in the first measure of piety the holy prophets and apostles and martyrs and many children of the Christ's church having fallen short; and in the second character, you will find many others in the scriptures working lawlessness and being children of the devil and being named with many various names; and one of them is Simon, the leader of these heresies, whom we will show having received all the devil's wickedness into his own heart. For this one, having approached Philip the apostle, preaching something in Samaria (Acts 8:13), and having been instructed by him in the word of truth and having renounced the devil and having ordered himself to God, is made worthy even of baptism, who also was remaining with the apostle, observing the signs and
He was resisting the powers being accomplished through him; for he did not merely hear the proclamation, but the scripture shows him remaining even for a time, so that he was fully convinced by sight and hearing. And these things the philanthropy of God was working, so that he might be won over; and if he had wished, he would have attained this, but instead he thinks the opposite.
For after the holy Philip had declared to the co-apostles in Jerusalem that Samaria had received the word of God and that a time had come for them to be given a priest, and after the holy Peter and John had come down from Jerusalem and were performing the laying on of hands, those of this grace were receiving the Holy Spirit according to what they were worthy. And Simon, seeing that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit is given, having been diseased by a love of rule, offers gifts to the apostles, saying: 'Give also to me this authority, so that whoever I lay my hands upon may receive the Holy Spirit.'
But Peter said to him: 'May your silver be with you for destruction (Acts 8:20), because you thought to acquire the gift of God through money and the following things.' This is Simon, who before having renounced the devil and his angels and all his works; this is the one who, having been received by the apostle Philip, received baptism (Acts 8:13); but he was praiseworthy until this, and after these things, wretched. For having missed the goal and such grace and the laying on of hands, having been judged unworthy, he begins to fight against the apostles, no longer knowing the workers, no longer knowing the one who begat, forgetting all things together; the one who a little while ago was a disciple and now is an enemy.
What have you suffered, man? Who has thus made you a brute? Who has led you into this destruction? What did you give yourself over entirely to the evil one, so that your whole heart became hardened and you no longer receive the exhortation of the apostles, but think yourself to be more righteous than the apostles? And he does not cease fighting against the apostles until death, and he did not hesitate to travel from Samaria even to Rome to work there with the devil and to fight against Christ. We have shown through these things the leader of the heresies; and these things have been sufficient to convince the deceived as to who are disciples, who are zealots, whom they pursue in their work, and for whose sake they fight. But
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The Deception of False Separation§7
7In order that we may more effectively shame them, we will convince them that they hold the teaching of that man even until today; and having taken this from them, we will refute them by their own proofs. Just as the catholic and apostolic church preserves the genealogy of Christ, so also the heresies preserve the succession of Simon.
It is written in a book kept by them, which they call the Acts of Peter, that a certain Gemellus became a genuine disciple of Simon; he himself remained with him even until the last hour and death. And the name of this man still clings to the heresy of the false apostates, for they are called Gemellians.
This Gemellus, after the fall of Simon and his bitter death—for the death of sinners is evil, not finding a place to overthrow anyone or to deceive in Rome, as the letter testifies, for there is no such heresy in it—seizes these parts and, finding the people simple, easy, and infinite for error, begins to teach and to ordain and to do all evil with the mysteries of Christians, and calls himself an apostate. And he himself was a leader of the sect, having inherited the heresy from Simon, having neither received baptism from anyone nor being called a Christian at all, but having only been a disciple to Simon and having benefited from him. This is how the sect had its beginning.
And as time passed and some were deceived because the leaders of the churches of Christ were being driven away by those then persecuting the church, and being a single sect, they seemed to act in secret, the devil, their teacher, once held them in his grasp and made them subjects to all things, divides them into two thus: having found some among them carrying baskets, he separated them from those carrying linen garments, as if from the impious. But even until this, he was not filled with the pertaining to...
The devil deceives by means of a false separation; for he again divides those who have embraced a false separation. Until now, there was a pretext for the devil, through which he was making a division among them; for the division among them occurred by means of tetrapods or sacks. But now there is no pretext for division, for all are equal; for all bear not the name of Christ, but of Simon and Gemellus, and those are Apostates, and all are successors of Simon and Gemellus.
And what is the division? And what is the cause? Say it, so that we may know; you have separated yourselves from Christ and from all His mystery, and subsequently you no longer find anyone from whom you might separate yourselves. Once having been deprived of all good things by one another, they separate; for loathing one another and separating from one another as if they were separating from enemies, which they also call 'separation'.
Let us also see the other form which these have cast aside as useless. What kind of name will they innovate for themselves, having been cast out by such a separation? Yet nevertheless, they find a good name for themselves; for they call themselves 'Temperate' because they align themselves with those. For having been separated from one another, they possess unceasing war against them, so that we may see their self-control and from whom they exercise self-control.
To promise self-control or separation by word is nothing wonderful and no great labor; but not only word is sought, but also the deed. For the Lord says in the Gospels: 'Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?' (Luke 6:46), and the prophet Isaiah: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me' (Isaiah 29:13); so they honor me in vain, and the following. For the Lord, having enclosed all the power of the Scripture of the Old and New Covenants into two commandments, says: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself' (Matthew 22:37-39).
Do these people keep these commandments? But certainly no sensible person will believe the promises, unless he learns from you the fruits of the earth. For you are ready to promise great things and through these to deceive the unprincipled. And above this, we have shown that Simon himself, having apostatized from the apostles, was saying...
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The Deception of the Presumptuous§8
8He found for himself a name capable of stunning the simpletons, using the power of God. His disciple Gemellus, having preached a renunciation, caused an apostasy.
Perhaps you, following your teachers, promise these things in word while being sufficient in works; for you say, 'I love God, I love my neighbor, and I am self-controlled.' First, if you had desired to be self-controlled, you would have done as you wished; for by this you would have benefited both yourself and your neighbor; for we find in the Scriptures that the righteous were granted to sinners, and the sinners were simultaneously condemned as righteous. There is much to be said about these things, but let us grasp what is at hand.
Whom do you call neighbor? The one you love? Certainly, according to the word of the Lord, every man is your neighbor; for this the Gospel declares. If then you loved your neighbor, you would not have escaped the church by abandoning everyone at once, imitating the Pharisee and suffering from his blindness, condemning everyone with your own word and regarding only yourself as righteous.
For he, having ascended into the temple, prayed thus: 'I thank you, God, that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or like this tax collector; I fast twice a week, I tithe all that I possess' (Luke 18:11-12). He did not lie about these things, but even if it seemed to him to speak truths, he is condemned; not because he believed or tithed what was his, but because he condemned all humanity with his own word.
But the tax collector, the sinner, beating his breast, the fountain of thoughts, not counting the entitlements of the belly like the Pharisee, nor even daring to lift his eyes to heaven, said: 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner' (Luke 18:13). To this the Lord said: 'Amen I say to you, that the tax collector descended justified rather than that Pharisee' (Luke 18:14). And so that no one might think these things were said to him regarding the two persons, he added, saying: 'For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted' (Luke 14:11).
Do you see how the confession of sins justified the tax collector, and how the counting of entitlements condemned the Pharisee? Moreover, if anyone examines strictly, even that Pharisee was more impious if...
Thus those who have departed into the supposed self-control. For he indeed, even if he humbled men, yet he came to the temple and with all the people performed the worship to God; but these the devil has enticed to such an extent, that even the church of Christ itself was defiled.
And what will they answer on the day of judgment? For surely the Lord will say to them: 'I ate with tax collectors and sinners (Matt 9:10), and reclining with them I did not become a sinner, but you despised all my people as sinners. Perhaps none of you was in righteousness; you found no one equal to yourselves, you entered into the hearts of all, you read the thoughts of all. You know that God is a tester of hearts, not a weigher of bellies (1 Sam 16:7); and even if you condemned my people as sinners, you did not store up the judgment for me, but you yourselves were condemning all before the time. And of my church, what did you know? What sin will you accuse it of? And the altar, what injustice did it do to you? And this you left behind.'
But what will they do? For impiety has reached the judge; for they rose up not only against all the people, but also against the lordly creation; for they say that even that is a sinner. For as long as they had themselves, as long as they guarded the things given by the grace remaining in the church of Christ, the holy things were holy and he sanctified them through the participation. But when he turned away from them and raised up their heart, the holy things became unclean and their love became unclean; for this was the word: Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31). You did not judge your neighbor; this is your self-control, to say to the bitter demon: I call you more ungrateful to the church of Christ and to its holy mysteries, being crowded by certain evil spirits, and to those who are children of the church, having this gift, rebuking the demons. And if they see the unclean spirit hardening toward departure, they name nothing else but the holy and fearful name of Christ, and thus they drive out the bitter demon; demons hearing the name of Christ shiver and not...
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The False Piety of the Samaritan§9
9Bearing the terror of the mystery, they withdraw. And the heretics blaspheme this in various ways; but since no one has been found near them in the churches of the inhabited world even until now—neither a priest of God ministering with the sacrificial rite, nor one living ecclesiastically having renounced wealth and spending time in fasts and vigils, nor a virgin thinking with virginity guarding also the oil, which is the chrism of baptism—but they think those captured by them by the devil are near them.
Learn, even if they guard this, so that from the facts we may inform them, that the devil does not hold restraint, he does not guard nor spare his own disciples, but in many ways and many parts he divides them. For he does this only so that he may turn some away from the church of Christ; just as a wolf, having snatched sheep from the fold, tears them apart with a bleat and does not spare, for he has no bowels; in this way, the devil, when he separates some from the church, divides them without mercy, ensuring they never return to the fold of Christ.
For indeed it is possible to see those called Encratites dividing and separating from one another, understanding the Gospel to mean that every house divided against itself will not stand (Mark 3:25). Those dividing the church so much leave a remnant of love in us, where it was saying: Known is God in Judah, great is his name in Israel, and his habitation is in Zion (Psalm 76:1). And Zion is that very mountain in which the city was built; for the Lord will bless you from Zion, and you shall see the good of Jerusalem (Psalm 128:5). However, even if Moses many times wrote the same things elsewhere not to offer a sacrifice, but Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the illegitimate, the one not fearing God, the one seizing upon the law and the prophets, separates the people from Jerusalem and, having taught apostasy, established law in it.
He does not ascend to Jerusalem, nor does he offer there the worships which the law commanded, nor does he listen to the scriptures, nor does he look at all to the house of God, reasoning this: that if the people comes to Jerusalem and obeys the commandments of God, there will be an addition to the house of God and he will honor the lawful king and leave him. What then does he do for the sake of leadership and empty deception? In order that it might seem glorious to rule the people, he sets up two golden calves on the mountains, saying: 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt' (Exodus 32:4); to these worship, do not ascend to Jerusalem. And having legislated these things to the people, he turned them away from God and from Jerusalem.
Do you see what emptiness does, what arrogance and pride work? He rose up against the lawful king, and was consequently compelled by the passion of self-love and to sin against God impiously. And what is added to this? He calls himself and the people Samaritan; but a Samaritan is a guardian of the law in the Hebrew voice. Did he therefore subsequently lay the name Samaritan upon himself, or did he lie? If you were a guardian of the law, you would have guarded the law, you would have ascended to the temple of God, there you would have offered the firstfruits and the tithes and all the prayers, as God commanded through Moses, and you would be truly a guardian of the law.
But on the contrary, you turned the people away from God, you set up idols, and you call yourself a guardian of the law. Certainly, those remaining at Jerusalem and guarding the commandments of the law and of the prophets are guardians of the law. But it was not enough for him only to put a false name upon himself, but he also calls the people of God remaining at Jerusalem unclean, and he abhors this one, being himself abhorred and unclean. For he does not touch anything of what the people of God touches, nor does he use any vessel with which the people of God used before. And what do I say, if he abhorred the Jews? But also...
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The Apostasy of the Unbaptized§10
10Even until today, Christians are turned away from all things, not even using their own cup or plate, but saying that their vessels are defiled by men. And so that each of us may know to what extent they have fallen away, the Samaritan woman first said to Christ regarding Jerusalem, who was contending: 'Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and how do you say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship?' (John 4:20). And concerning the water, as he said to her: 'Give me to drink from the spring,' she says to him: 'And how do you ask to drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?' (John 4:9). You see that he did not wish to give to her, so that he might not defile her spring, as she had suggested; and the things are manifest.
Who does not recognize the Samaritans among us? Those departing from Jerusalem, that is, from the Church of Christ, those having legislated no longer to offer prayer or firstfruits to God in Jerusalem, nor to obey the Scriptures or the teachings being given in the churches by the shepherds through the Holy Spirit, but to be separated and entirely strangers from the people of God, having falsely named themselves venerable names. For just as he, after all impiety, called himself a guardian of the law, so these, having denied the faith which they received in the church, called themselves Encratic and Apostatic. It is necessary to call them transgressors, because they have broken the covenants toward God.
Where then shall we place each? They were baptized in the church by the priests of God; after baptism they were nourished by the holy body and the precious blood of Christ. Do they then guard these traditions? If anyone denies one of these, he has denied all. Do they therefore guard the three, the baptism, the body, the blood? One priest handed down to you the triad of the mysteries; you are not able to hold one and let go of the other; if another had been the one baptizing you and another giving the body and another the blood, you would say: 'The two truly handed them to me, but the third played with me.' But now, from one priest, I have received all the mysteries; if you call him a priest of Christ, guard the mysteries, so that you may not become a transgressor; but if you do not call him a priest, you say that he is being catechized...
The name of Christ is foreign to you, for elsewhere you were baptized nowhere. And just as those blaspheming the Son of God impiously blaspheme the Father and the Holy Spirit, so also those being unfaithful to the Holy Spirit are unfaithful to the all-holy Father and to His all-holy Son Jesus Christ; thus it is found even regarding the Trinity of mysteries. If anyone rejects one of them, he has rejected the Trinity; having therefore rejected the mysteries of Christ and having apostatized from the Church, you justly ought to be named a transgressor.
And in order that I may persuade you that you are also among the impious transgressors who, not bearing many trials, often endured wounds through weakness of body, yet often refused to deny, being merciful and worthy of many lamentations; but nevertheless, having recognized all their life, they often repented, so that God, having been reconciled to them, might at last once again qualify them for the entrance of the saints. But you, the devil has darkened to such an extent that you do not seek the fellowship of the saints but speak the opposite, so that the blasphemous, the terrible, and the holy blood of Christ might no longer enter into your mouth.
Behold, therefore, from every side you have been shown not only to have innovated like a Samaritan, but also to have committed a transgression. And just as the Samaritan made his apostasy through outward form and is convicted by circumcision that he was once an Israelite, so also you, even if you have withdrawn from the Church or innovated a transgression, are nevertheless convicted by the seal, because you received the baptism in the Church of Christ. For where does such similarity to the Samaritan come to you? Let it be that you withdrew, let it be that you made lawless those who were cast down by you, so that they no longer suffer the house of God, no longer hear the priests who were baptizing and making you a Christian; but where does such observation of vessels come to you? From what tradition? Did the apostles, preaching the word of God and going through the inhabited world, carry pots and platters while all were Greeks and all were mad for idolatry? Or, having Christ with them, did they know that there is no idol in the world, but all things are pure to the pure (Titus 1:15), and that things are sanctified through the word of God and through prayer, and entering many times into a house...
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The rejection of material goods as heresy§11
11If the Greeks, when they were able to persuade the master of the house to believe in God, immediately made the house a church, this is what happened also when the holy apostle Paul was in the house of Onesiphorus in our city; the apostle did not ask which vessels were clean and which were unclean, but he made the house itself, as we have said, a church.
But so that we may convince them that they abstain because of the vainglory and arrogance of the vessels, and that their foolish heart has been so darkened—and while claiming to be wise they have become foolish—they see even the bees that work the wax, how they carry themselves upon everything, and not only upon grasses and flowers, but also upon the fresh meats and upon the blood. And especially it is possible to see even in the time of the vintage how they settle upon the grapes and draw out the must that is upon the grapes, and after all these things, hastening to the domestic work and wisely performing this according to the wisdom given to them by the Creator. But they do not see the beekeepers pouring out good wine for both the wax and the bees; rather, because this is sweet, the gluttons eat this pleasantly, being gourmands, and they prepare wine from it to console their own drunkenness.
If they abstain because of the purity of the vessels, it would have been more fitting to abstain from the honey rather than from the plate or the cup which is unable to provide you with any pleasure. For indeed, having heard the Scripture, that honey becomes unclean; and into an altar, the law says, it shall not be brought (Leviticus 2:11). And by what logic do you eat oil? Do you not see or hear that those trading in this business pour this into the cells of new-builders, and thus, having emptied the cells for many days and pressing these, they sell the oil? And do you not hear those pressing the oil leaving the so-called pig's lard and thus extracting the oil, as if the lard itself were being pressed by the instruments of those crushing the oil, to be poured upon the oil? But nonetheless you, the clean one, loathing the shards and the rest of the vessels, eat this pleasantly without distinction, and where pleasure is not present, that is, in the plate or the cup, these...
You loathe the places where there is sweetness and softness, yet you eat these things with pleasure. Let all Samaria, having become zealous, guard the vessels; for by what word do you abstain from and loathe the meats and the other things which God created for the participation of the faithful and those who know the truth, and do you blaspheme the Creator? For this is not merely a Samaritan doctrine, but also the loathsome and unclean heresy of the Manichaeans; for their teaching is to abstain from that which is animated. And from what scripture did you learn this? Who taught you this? Did you not hear the scripture saying: The first man Adam begat two sons, Cain and Abel; and Abel shepherded the sheep; and it came upon their hearts to bring offerings to God, and Cain, having brought seeds, was not received because of the wickedness of his manner, but Abel, having taken from the firstborn sheep and the fats, brought them to God; and behold, He says, He looked upon Abel and upon his gifts, but upon Cain and his sacrifices He did not pay attention (Gen 4:4-5). See how God named the firstborn and the fats as gifts because He accepted them sincerely, but He named the seeds of Cain because they were not from the original sacrifice, so that He might persuade you, the unbelieving heretic, that even seeds have some life-giving power, which we have shown more clearly to you elsewhere, that God, having accepted the meats, surpassed the seeds.
Moreover, you will reject or set aside Noah from your self-control and your rejection, because after saving the seed of every kind through his own righteousness from the flood, having come out of the ark, he did no other work than first to build an altar to God; and the Lord smelled a pleasing aroma and promised to the righteous not to make a flood upon the earth again (Genesis 8:21). You saw an acceptable sacrifice, you saw how he pleased God so that He would not bring such wrath upon the world until this age stands; and God to him: I have given you all like herbs of the field, except meat, in the blood of the soul you shall not eat; for I will seek your blood from all the animals and from the hand of man, and from a brother I will seek the soul of man (Genesis 9:5). Meat He permitted, but blood is life.
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The Honor of Creation and Abraham's Hospitality§12
12It has been forbidden. And the new covenant seals this, so that you might not think there is one lawgiver for the old covenant and another for the new.
For the apostles can be seen gathered in Jerusalem; and after the holy Paul and Barnabas had descended to Antioch of the Syrians and were strengthening the brothers to guard the doctrines and the instructions of the apostles, certain men, having come from circumcision, were teaching the converts, saying that unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you are not able to be saved.
After a dissension and a question not a little concerning them had arisen, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and certain others from among them to ascend to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this question. Having ascended therefore and having recounted both the conversion of the Gentiles and the progress of the churches, they set this matter also before them.
And the apostles, having been gathered together to the same place, sent to them thus: The apostles and the elders and the brothers to the brothers in Antioch and Cilicia and Syria, the brothers from among the Gentiles, greetings. Because we heard that certain ones among us have troubled you, reshaping your souls, whom we had not sent, it seemed to us, having become of one mind, to choose men to send to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men to whom the souls have been entrusted for the sake of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, and them through a word announcing these things. For it seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us not to lay any greater burden upon you except these things which are necessary: to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality; from which things, if they observe themselves, they do well. Be strong.
This is the letter of the apostles written by the Holy Spirit through the evangelist Luke. Because the Holy Spirit knew that certain ones, having come into such a folly, would not hesitate to slander the apostles—which indeed happened—being at the same place, they write this letter, not interrupting marriage, not forbidding eating meat or drinking wine, but, as previously written, to abstain every Christian from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from...
And against the sins of fornication. You were taught from above by this God that one might eat all meat like vegetables of the field; there you learned from the apostles certain things from which one must abstain. Why do you dare to blaspheme the creatures of God and through them to dishonor the Creator? For if God made all things in wisdom and praised them, saying 'very good' (Gen 1:31), and having gifts and fruits presented to him, he accepted them and blessed those who brought them and permitted them to eat, why are you so foolish and audacious? For just as you judge men who partake of meats to be condemned, so you blaspheme the Creator himself. Why did he make these things?
Perhaps you also find him loathsome and judge him to be a stranger to righteousness, because he himself accepted sacrifices. But perhaps you will also look down upon holy Abraham, seeing that he presented sacrifices to God and, having received the angels, did not feast them on these vegetables, but having taken a calf from the herd, he commanded that this be made with butter and milk. And thus he honored the angels, and not only the angels, but even Christ himself; which is worthy of wonder, that even before the incarnation economy he sanctified his own creatures and partook of them, so that no one might think to suppose one thing concerning the Father and another concerning the Son, just as the heresies of the Manichaeans and Marcionites were revealed, and so that it might become manifest what is said, that the Son of God came to Abraham.
While he was sitting under the tent at midday and watching for those passing through, lest any stranger should pass him by, he saw three men coming and met them, and he did not say: 'Lords, if I have found favor in your sight' (Genesis 18:3), but also: 'If I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant' (Gen 18:3). Do you see how the one eating meats and hosting strangers through meats observed them? You saw a pure heart, how he knew who the master was and who the servants were. Truly blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matt 5:8). Because of this, also shortly after, the Lord himself, sending the angels to Sodom and Gomorrah, says: 'I will not hide from Abraham my friend what I am about to do' (Gen 18:17). What kind of friend reveals mysteries to a friend in such a way as God revealed to Abraham? And I think that even until today none such exists.
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The eating of meat by the holy§13
13It is from God to those called Ascetics or Monastics, since it was permitted to Abraham, who ate meat and lived with a wife. And what about Isaac, regarding the eating of the kids prepared by Rebecca his wife and brought in by Jacob his son? How, after eating the dishes and drinking the wine, he blessed Jacob, saying: 'May God give to you from the dew of heaven and from the richness of the earth, and let nations serve you and let rulers worship you, and may you become lord of your brother' (Genesis 27:28). And not one word of the blessing was divided, but the whole patriarchal blessing came upon Jacob.
And what about Jacob himself and all the saints? I say indeed Moses and Aaron, and following them all the saints who were righteous and pleasing to God: how all ate meat and gave thanks to the Creator. And the holy Samuel himself, having been dedicated at three years to the house of God and being brought up among the holy of the holies, partakes of the creatures of God and, having anointed Saul for king, permitted him to eat and all the people.
And a certain prophet regarding them: Moses and Aaron among his priests and Samuel among those calling upon his name, they called upon the Lord, and he himself heard them; in a pillar of cloud he spoke to them (Psalm 99:7). And it was possible to say following about all the saints, how all with thanksgiving partook of the creatures of God and glorified the Creator.
But so that we do not make those seeking intercession more sluggish by a multitude of words, it was sufficient to show that even God accepted from the saints the sacrifices and permitted them to eat with thanksgiving and reverence. And if even some of the saints abstained from foods for a short time, it was not as if they abstained from unclean things. For what reward is there from abstaining from the unclean? But each of the devout abstains from the pleasant and forbidden things, just as someone abstains from a woman although...
abstain from women by practicing chastity
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The Abundance of the Fishes and the Hypocrisy of the Heretic§14
14those that come out of the heart
He granted them fishes. For he commanded the crowds to sit down, and having blessed the loaves and the fishes, he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. The ones wanted to ask the heretic: 'If you were present, were you receiving the blessing of Christ, or were you turning away the blessing because of the fishes?' But indeed, he would even loathe Christ himself, because he provided living things to the people for eating and enjoyment. Yet still, those who always fall against Christ dare to say that there was no abundance from the fishes.
First, who are you to answer God? Does the creature say to the one who fashioned it: 'Why did you make me thus?' Do you not violate the mystery? Are you not astonished at the paradox, that from five loaves and two fishes such multitudes were satisfied, and similarly also from seven loaves and two fishes the same thing happened? Except that every shameless mouth might be shut, Mark the evangelist said that there was abundance even from the fishes. Will you not then cease now discussing with the Lord? Or do you persist in shamelessness?
And the worm, from where did you learn to avoid it as a poison? But whom did you ever know that, having eaten a worm, he was judged or perished? Or where in the Scriptures did God forbid eating a worm? But you, above all fornication and adultery, fear the worm, and with foreign women you live pleasantly, bedding with them without calculating the harm, yet you guard against the worm as an abomination. Perhaps also from much indifference you do not perceive the Lord saying: 'Everyone who looks at a woman to desire, commits adultery' (Matt 5:28).
And how will you escape the judgment of God, always cohabiting with foreign women? Flee from a woman as from the face of a serpent, as the Scripture says (Sirach 21:2); and 'Who will kindle fire in his bosom and his garments will not be burned?' (Prov 6:27) Or 'Who will walk on coals and not burn his feet?' (Prov 6:28) And he brought it forward, saying thus: 'The one entering into a foreign woman will not be without punishment for evils,' and so on. Whether she is a virgin or unchaste, she is a stranger to you; and you were taught to avoid these, but not the worm. Let us hold that it harms you yourself, which is impossible, but nevertheless through these words you ensnare the wretched little women, saying: 'I am not harmed.' For if you were incorporeal and did not wear a body, you truly would not have suffered; but nevertheless, because of the stumbling block, you would have clearly fallen in the judgment of God by living this way.
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The Lord's interaction with creation and his post-resurrection appearances§15
15After it was said that it is appropriate for an animal millstone to be hung by its neck and cast into the sea, or that one of these little ones should be scandalized, we will show that the Lord accepts even the worm and calls it good; for this is his own creature. For teaching his disciples, he says: 'If a son asks his father for bread, will he not give him a stone? And if he asks for a fish, will he not give him a serpent? And if he asks for a worm, will he not give him a scorpion?' (Matt 7:9-10). And he immediately proceeds: 'If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, and so on.' Do you see how he called bread, worm, and small fish good, because they are the creatures of a good God? But you, through your contentious spirit, seek to show the offspring of the Creator to be a maker of evils, but no one is good according to the Gospel except God alone; and being good, He abundantly created all good things.
And it was sufficient indeed to convince all men of this, that the Creator of all things made all things for the use and enjoyment of men, and that He sanctified His own creatures, just as the Word demonstrated. But we shall teach the children of the church more things, and we shall rebuke those who are always opposing and acting lawlessly toward God; we shall convince each person that our Lord Jesus Christ, even until His passion, ate meat and nowhere throughout the whole of His incarnate economy did He loathe or forbid eating such things. For what does the Gospel say? At the first of the Unleavened, His disciples approached Him, saying, when they were sacrificing the Passover: 'Rabbi, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?' (Matthew 26:17). But which of men most faithful is ignorant of this Passover? For He showed, both through the season and through the Unleavened, the lamb being sacrificed, which the law showed; for it was necessary that the law be fulfilled through this Passover and that the new covenant take its beginning through the true Lamb. And the apostles, having been sent, prepared the lawful Passover, which the Lord says with His own disciples: 'With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, because in the past times of the incarnate economy, in each year, they ate the Passover' (Luke 22:15). For it was not possible to neglect this; for it is written in Luke: 'As He was ascending into Jerusalem...'
The custom of the feast. However, they did not eat this with such desire because their own Passover was still far off; but when the grace of the human race drew near and he was about to deliver himself for the life of the world, he ate the Passover with great desire among his disciples. It is thus shown also in this that our Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples, even until his passion, partook of his creatures; rather, the Lord himself, through his own goodness and economy, sanctified his own creatures.
And these things indeed were so until the passion. But what of after the resurrection? So that no one might disbelieve the economy, nor think anyone that the Lord had arrived among the human race without flesh; after his rising from the dead, he appears to his disciples and shows them the marks of the nails and the wound of the side, which he received from the soldier with the spear. And again after these things he makes himself manifest to his disciples upon the sea of Tiberias.
For the holy John the Evangelist says thus: Peter, Thomas who is called Didymus, and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, about whom the Lord testified, 'Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit' (John 1:47), were there also, and the sons of Zebedee, John and James, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter says to them, 'I am going fishing.' They say to him, 'We will come also with you.' So they went out and went up into the boat immediately, and in that night they caught nothing. But when it became morning, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus says to them, 'Children, do you have any food?' They answered him, 'No.' Jesus says to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find.' So they cast, and they were no longer able to haul it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved, that is, John himself, says, 'It is the Lord' (John 21:7). Simon Peter, having heard that it is the Lord, took the garment and girded himself, for he was naked, and threw himself into the sea; but the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but as from two hundred fathoms, hauling the...
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The Physicality of Christ and the Error of Manichaeism§16
16The net of fish. As they went out onto the land, they saw charcoal lying there and a fish lying with bread. Jesus says to them: 'Bring from the fish which you have now cast.' Simon Peter went up and drew the net onto the land full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and when these were present, the net was not torn. Jesus says to them: 'Come, breakfast.' But none of the disciples dared to examine him: 'Who are you?' knowing that it is the Lord. Jesus comes and takes the bread and gives to them, and the fish likewise. And when they had eaten, then immediately he commands Peter and the rest of the apostles how they shall shepherd the humanity.
Do you see the goodness of God? Do you see the philanthropy of the Master? Not one of the apostles did he recognize, nor did he blame these, nor did he strike them, saying: 'Why did you leave the preaching and turned toward the fishing of the fish?' But he also visits these and exhorts them and works with them toward the hunt and breakfasts them, making ready bread and the fish, so that in this also he might show that he is the creator of land and sea.
And what also does the blessed Luke the evangelist say after the resurrection? For first he says that he saw the holy women having seen the tomb opened and having heard from the angels: 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but as he said, he was raised from the dead.' Having learned these things from the angels, they reported to the eleven disciples that the Lord was raised from the dead. And the holy Peter, having heard, ran to the tomb and stooping, saw the cloths lying and went away to himself marveling.
And two of them were going toward a certain village, to whom, having seen the Lord, he exposed their unbelief and was teaching them that it is necessary for the Christ Lord to suffer and to rise. And after their return to Jerusalem and their telling to the eleven disciples how the Lord appeared to them on the way, and while the disciples were still troubled and debating about this, the Lord himself stood in the midst of them, saying to them, 'Peace to you, I am, do not fear.' But having been terrified and having become fearful, it seemed to them to be a spirit. And he said to them...
To those: Why are you disturbed, and for what reason do arguments arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, that I do not have flesh and bones as you see me having. And having said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they were still disbelieving out of amazement, he said to them: Do you have something edible here? And they gave him a piece of roasted fish and some of honeyed wax; and having taken it, he ate in their presence, so that he might convince them also through the food, that he is the one who was with them and dining with them even before the passion. Who will still dare to fight against God? Who will be carried away into such unbelief as to disbelieve these things?
If everywhere it has been demonstrated through both the old and the new covenant that the creatures of God are sanctified—for whether it is offered to God, or whether Christ who became man partakes of it, through all his creatures he is sanctified—then let the heretics stop correcting God. For to say: 'He did this well, he did this poorly,' is not the property of a human mind, but of one being mad and fighting against God.
Let us see, then, if they themselves abstain from all living things according to the teaching of the unclean Manichaeans. For their leaders, having once legislated to abstain from living things because of the impiety dwelling in them, said that things growing from the earth are living; but they have torn away the testimonies from the Scriptures; for as it says in Daniel: 'Bless the beasts and cattle and all the flying things of the heaven, the Lord'—thus he says—'Bless all things growing from the earth, the Lord.' And following their own impiety, they fell into the abyss of error; for it is no longer possible for those saying these things to live in the flesh. And those imitating those teachers were also falling away; for they say that seeds have a life-giving power and bodies, and we say this too; but to abstain from living things, this you have legislated for yourself; and since you have rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, even if you have kept his confession, you are abstaining from living things and from foreign bodies. For the Lord says in the gospels concerning the...
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The Greek is on each section page: §16
The Analogy of the Seed and the Body§17
17Of seeds: But if it dies, it bears much fruit. It is evident that the living one dies; and you once refrained from eating the things that have life-giving power. And the apostle Paul says: That which you sow is not made alive unless it dies (1 Cor 15:36); and that which you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be born, but a naked grain if it should be wheat or something of the rest; but God gives to it a body, as He willed (1 Cor 15:37-38). It has been demonstrated also concerning the seeds, how it dies and is made alive, and that God gives to it a body, as He willed.
You have in the Old Testament that God sincerely accepted sacrifices from the righteous, and that all the saints ate meat and the rest of the creatures with thanksgiving; you were persuaded through the holy gospels that [The text is damaged here.].
Greek · §17
The Greek is on each section page: §17
The Death of the Seed§18
18Of seeds: But if it dies, it bears much fruit. It is evident that the living one dies; and you once set aside eating the things possessed which have the life-giving power.
And the apostle Paul says: That which you sow is not made alive unless it dies (1 Corinthians 15:36); and that which you sow, not the body.
Greek · §18
The Greek is on each section page: §18
The Seed and the Body§19
19You sow what is about to become, but if you should happen to find a naked grain of wheat or of something else; but God gives it a body, just as He willed. It has also been demonstrated concerning the seeds, how it dies and is made alive (1 Cor 15:36), and that God gives it a body.
Greek · §19
The Greek is on each section page: §19
Sacrifice and Holy Meals in the Old Testament§20
20Just as he willed. You have in the old covenant that God sincerely accepted sacrifices from the righteous, and that all the saints ate meat and the other creatures with thanksgiving. You were persuaded through the holy gospels that...........
Greek · §20
The Greek is on each section page: §20