Why the altar of the law had no gold
Cyril: …was the altar. For it needed, yes, it needed measurements, and very generous ones. For on it were to be brought up split logs and portions of oxen, and whole burnt offerings, and offerings of sheep and goats consecrated to God. That is why its grate and firepan were of bronze, and its meat forks and bowls and all its vessels, so that they could render their own service to the sacrifices of the law and not be destroyed by the assaults of the all-devouring fire. The crown and the horns at the corners we will put down to the beauty of its form, for with the all-wise God nothing is graceless. But come, let us make this point once more, fixing our minds closely on what was decreed about each thing. He ordered an altar suited and fitting for the sacrifices of the law, but there is nothing of gold on it, such as one would certainly see on the ark, and again on the lampstand and the table and the things that go with it.
Palladius: And what, then, does this mean?
Cyril: Did we not say, Palladius, that gold very well signifies the supremacy over all things and the incomparable splendor of the divine and pure nature (splendor as the mind conceives it, I mean)?
Palladius: That is so.
Cyril: Observe, then, that the altar of the worship under the law is entirely without gold. God sets the matter before us as a kind of riddle, and a very clear one: the law in no way procures the Holy Spirit, and the power of the worship in types has not been honored with such a grace. For a spirit of slavery was upon Israel; but to us the gift was granted through Christ after his return to life from the dead. For he breathed on them, saying, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ (John 20:22). That is why Paul also said to those who had believed: ‘For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father”’ (Romans 8:15). And that the power of the worship under the law was not rich in a share of the Holy Spirit, but that this has been given rather to those justified by faith, the wise John will assure us when he says: ‘For the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified’ (John 7:39). For Christ had not yet returned to life; for it was then that human nature was, so to speak, gilded by the Spirit and by fellowship with him. This, then, as I think, is why he ordered the altar to be made without gold. But it seems that to pass over the meaning of the bronze from which it was made would not be without loss for those who love learning. For careful testing may bring forth something needful, as in the saying wisely spoken by someone: ‘In everyone who takes pains there is profit’ (Proverbs 14:23).
Palladius: What, then, could you say about this in turn?
Cyril: Listen, then. Holy Scripture says that the divine Aaron was appointed priest and leader by the decision from above. But Korah and Dathan, and the savage crowd around them, rushing most rashly against the decision from above, and…
Greek
τὸ θυσιαστήριον. Ἔδει γὰρ, ἔδει μέτρων αὐτῷ, καὶ λίαν ἀφθονωτάτων. Σχίσαι τε γὰρ ἐπ' αὐτῷ καὶ βοῶν ἔμελλον ἀναφέρεσθαι τμήματα, καὶ ὁλοκαυτώσεις, οἰῶν τε καὶ τράγων ἀναφοραὶ καθιερουμένων Θεῷ. Ταύτῃτοι χαλκῆ καὶ ἐσχάρα καὶ πυρεῖον αὐτῷ, κρεάγραι τε καὶ φιάλαι, καὶ πάντα αὐτοῦ τὰ σκεύη, ὡς ἂν δύναιντο ταῖς κατὰ νόμον θυσίαις, τὴν παρά γε σφῶν αὐτῶν εἰσκομίζοντα χρείαν, ταῖς τοῦ παμφάγου πυρὸς μὴ καταφθείρεσθαι προσβολαῖς. Στεφάνην δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ ταῖς γωνίαις κέρατα, τῷ τοῦ σχήματος κάλλει προσθήσομεν. Ἄχαρι γὰρ οὐδὲν παρὰ τῷ πανσόφῳ Θεῷ. Πλὴν, ἐκεῖνο πάλιν δὴ φέρε λέγωμεν, ἀκριβῆ τὸν νοῦν ἐπερείδοντες τοῖς ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ τεθεσπισμένοις. Θυσιαστήριον προστέταχε ταῖς κατὰ νόμον θυσίαις ἐοικὸς καὶ πρέπον, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτῷ χρυσοῦν, καθάπερ ἀμέλει, καταθεῷτό τις ἂν ἐπὶ τῆς κιβωτοῦ, λυχνίας τε αὖ καὶ τραπέζης, καὶ τῶν ἀμφ' αὐτήν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τί δὴ οὖν ἄρα καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι;
{ΚΥΡ.} Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τῆς θείας τε καὶ ἀκηράτου φύσεως τὴν κατὰ πάντων ὑπεροχὴν, καὶ ἀσύγκριτον λαμπρότητα, ὡς ἐν νοήσει λέγω, τὸ χρυσίον εὖ μάλα καταδηλοῦν ἐλέγομεν, ὦ Παλλάδιε;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὧδε ἔχει.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἄθρει δὴ οὖν, ἀχρύσωτον παντελῶς τῆς κατὰ νόμον λατρείας τὸ θυσιαστήριον, αἴνιγμά που τὸ χρῆμα τιθέντος ἡμῖν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ μάλα σαφῶς, ὅτι Πνεύματος ἁγίου πρόξενος ἥκιστα μὲν ὁ νόμος, τετίμηται δὲ οὐχὶ τοιαύτῃ χάριτι τῆς ἐν τύπῳ λατρείας ἡ δύναμις. Πνεῦμα γὰρ ἦν δουλείας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραήλ· ἡμῖν δὲ τὸ δῶρον ἀπενεμήθη διὰ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναβίωσιν. Ἐνεφύσησε γὰρ, λέγων, «Λάβετε Πνεῦμα ἅγιον.» Τοιγάρτοι καὶ Παῦλος προσεφώνει τοῖς πεπιστευκόσιν, «Οὐ γὰρ ἐλάβετε πνεῦμα δουλείας πάλιν εἰς φόβον, ἀλλ' ἐλάβετε πνεῦμα υἱοθεσίας, ἐν ᾧ κράζομεν, Ἀββᾶ ὁ Πατήρ.» Ὅτι δὲ τῆς κατὰ νόμον λατρείας ἡ δύναμις τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος οὐκ ἐπλούτει μέθεξιν, δέδονται δὲ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἐν πίστει δεδικαιωμένοις, πληροφορήσει λέγων ὁ σοφὸς Ἰωάννης· «Οὔπω γὰρ ἦν Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐδέπω ἐδοξάσθη.» Οὔπω γὰρ ἀνεβίω Χριστός· μονονουχὶ γὰρ τότε κατεχρυσώθη τῷ Πνεύματι, καὶ κοινωνίᾳ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἡ ἀνθρώπου φύσις. Χρυσοῦ μὲν δὴ δίχα, ταύτῃτοι γενέσθαι προστέταχε τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καθάπερ ἐγῷμαι, τὸν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ χαλκῷ λόγον, ἐξ οὗ καὶ πεποίητο, παραδραμεῖν, ὡς ἔοικε, τοῖς φιλομαθέσιν οὐκ ἀζήμιον. Ἐκτέκοι γὰρ ἄν τι τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἡ βάσανος, καθάπερ τὸ ὑπό του σοφῶς εἰρημένον, Ἐν παντὶ μεριμνῶντι ἔνεστι περιττόν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τί οὖν ἂν ἔχοις εἰπεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ τῷδε πάλιν;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἄκουε δή· ψήφῳ μὲν γὰρ τῇ ἄνωθεν εἰς ἱερέα καὶ ἡγούμενον τὸν θεσπέσιον Ἀαρὼν κεχειροτονῆσθαί φησι τὸ Γράμμα τὸ ἱερόν. Κορέ γε μὴν καὶ Δαθὰν, καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ' αὐτοὺς, ἡ ἀγρία πληθὺς τῆς ἄνωθεν ψήφου προαλέστατα καταθέοντες, καὶ