Different glory, one way for all
Cyril: …‘to make the face cheerful with oil’ (Psalm 104:15). And the wine is a sign of spiritual gladness, the gladness that comes from above and through the Spirit; for ‘wine,’ it says, ‘gladdens the human heart’ (Psalm 104:15).
Palladius: I understand.
Cyril: So then, in proportion to the fruit someone bears, the supply of life from God also comes, with cheerfulness and gladness. Of course we do not say that in living itself, that is, in being given life by God, there is a greater or a lesser; for that is nonsense. When we speak of life, we mean the splendor that belongs to living, in which one person may perhaps surpass another, while another, again, will stand lower than others, yet not without honor and glory; ‘for star differs from star in glory’ (1 Corinthians 15:41). Here too, then, the difference among the victims is an image of the saints’ life in glory: by the quantity of the portions that go with each, it sketches for us the measure of that glory. And that those from the nations, together with those of Israel’s blood, would bow their necks under the Savior’s yoke, and go by way of the same sacrifices and the same spiritual excellence, the law showed when it added that the proselyte is not to live by other laws. For there is one way for all into kinship with God the Father, and that way is Christ (John 14:6). For as the inspired Peter said, ‘There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).
Palladius: Our argument has turned out excellently, and with great skill.
Cyril: That we shall not be speaking falsely in the least when we affirm that there are different kinds of excellence, and that God will assign rewards matched in weight to each one’s measure, the most wise Paul will also make clear when he says: ‘Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully’ (2 Corinthians 9:6). And long before, David too had cried out: ‘And the Lord will repay me according to my righteousness, and according to the cleanness of my hands he will repay me’ (Psalm 18:20). Or would you not say that the righteousness of Paul, for example, is different from that of anyone at all who has not yet reached the stature we may picture in Paul (I mean in spiritual strength), a stature that enabled him to cry out plainly: ‘But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world’ (Galatians 6:14)?
Palladius: Certainly.
Cyril: What then? Shall we not grant that the cleanness of John’s hands is different from that of someone else who is just springing up to make a start in the Gospel way of life?
Palladius: We shall grant it; how could we not?
Cyril: Then tell me: since the Judge of all is just, will he demand from us a righteousness that keeps pace with the excellence of the saints and is like it in every way? Or rather, having tested the measure of strength within us, will he demand nothing more than what a person has and is able to accomplish?
Greek
γραπται γὰρ, ὅτι «Τοῦ ἱλαρύναι πρόσωπον ἐν ἐλαίῳ.» Εὐφρασίας δὲ τῆς νοητῆς, τῆς ἄνωθεν καὶ διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος σημεῖον, ὁ οἶνος· «Οἶνος γὰρ,» φησὶν, «εὐφραίνει καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Συνίημι.
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐκοῦν ἀναλόγως, οἷς ἄν τις καρποφορήσειε, καὶ ἡ τῆς ζωῆς ἐπιχορηγία παρὰ Θεοῦ σὺν ἱλαρότητι καὶ εὐφρασίᾳ. Καὶ οὐ δήπου φαμεν, ὡς ἔν γε τῷ ζῇν, ἤτοι τῷ ζωοποιεῖσθαι παρὰ Θεοῦ τὸ μεῖζον, ἢ μεῖον. Λῆρος γὰρ τοῦτο. Ζωὴν δὲ λέγοντες, τὴν ἔν γε τῷ ζῇν λαμπρότητά φαμεν, καθ' ἢν ὁ μέν τις τυχὸν ὑπερέξει τοῦ δεῖνος· ὁ δὲ αὖ, ἐν μείοσι μὲν, ἢ ἐν οἷς ἂν εἶεν ἕτεροι. Πλὴν οὐκ ἔξω τιμῆς τε καὶ δόξης· «Ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ.» Εἰκὼν οὖν ἄρα κἀνθάδε τῆς ὡς ἐν εὐκλείᾳ ζωῆς τῶν ἁγίων, ἡ τῶν θυμάτων διαφορὰ, τῇ τῶν ἑπομένων ποσότητι, τὸ τῆς εὐκλείας ἡμῖν καταγράφουσα μέτρον· ὅτι δὲ ἔμελλον οἱ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, ὁμοῦ τοῖς ἐξ αἵματος Ἰσραὴλ, τοῖς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ζυγοῖς ὑπενεγκεῖν τὸν αὐχένα, καὶ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἰέναι θυσιῶν καὶ πνευματικῶν εὐδοκιμήσεων παρέδειξε προσθεὶς, οὐχ ἑτέροις δεῖν τὸν προσήλυτον κεχρῆσθαι νόμοις. Μία γὰρ ἡ πάντων ὁδὸς, εἰς οἰκειότητα τὴν ὡς πρὸς Θεὸν καὶ Πατέρα· καὶ ἔστιν αὕτη Χριστός. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ θεσπέσιος ἔφη Πέτρος, «Οὐκ ἔστιν ὄνομα ἕτερον ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν, τὸ δεδομένον ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἐν ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὡς ἄριστά τε ἡμῖν καὶ εὐτέχνως ἄγαν ὁ λόγος ἔχει.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὅτι γὰρ ψευδοεπήσομεν ἥκιστά γε, διαφόρους εἶναι διαβεβαιούμενοι τοὺς τῆς εὐδοκιμήσεως τρόπους, ἀπονεμηθήσεσθαι δὲ παρὰ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἑκάστου μέτροις ἰσοστάθμους τὰς ἀμοιβὰς, σαφηνιεῖ λέγων καὶ ὁ σοφώτατος Παῦλος· «Ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως, φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει· καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ' εὐλογίαις, ἐπ' εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει.» Προανακεκράγει δέ που καὶ ὁ Δαβίδ· «Καὶ ἀνταποδώσει μοι Κύριος κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου, καὶ κατὰ τὴν καθαριότητα τῶν χειρῶν μου ἀνταποδώσει μοι.» Ἦ γὰρ οὐχ ἑτέραν εἶναι φὴς τὴν Παύλου, φέρε εἰπεῖν, δικαιοσύνην, παρὰ τὴν ὁτουοῦν τῶν οὔπω τοσούτων, ὁποῖός περ ἂν ἡμῖν ὑπάρχων νοοῖτο (πρὸς ἀλκὴν δέ φημι τὴν πνευματικὴν), ὡς ἀνακραγεῖν δύνασθαι σαφῶς· «Ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ γένοιτο καυχᾶσθαι, εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ;»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Τί δέ; οὐχ ἑτέραν εἶναι δώσομεν τὴν καθαριότητα τῶν χειρῶν Ἰωάννου, παρὰ τὴν ἑτέρου, τοῦ πρὸς ἀρχὴν ἀναθρώσκοντος πολιτείας εὐαγγελικῆς,
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Δώσομεν· πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
{ΚΥΡ.} Εἶτα, εἰπέ μοι, δίκαιος ὢν ὁ τῶν ὅλων κριτὴς, ταῖς τῶν ἁγίων εὐδοκιμήσεσι σύνδρομόν τε καὶ εἰσάπαν ἐμφερῆ παρ' ἡμῶν ἐξαιτήσει τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ἤγουν δοκιμάσας τῆς ἐνούσης ἡμῖν εὐσθενείας τὸ μέτρον, οὐδὲν ὧν ἄν τις ἔχοι καὶ δύναιτο κατορθοῦν, ἐξαιτήσει πλεῖον;