On the Incarnation of the Word

1 In the previous treatise we gave a sufficient account — choosing a few points out of many — of the error of the pagans about idols and the worship of idols, and of how idols were first invented; namely, how people devised idol worship for themselves out of wickedness. By God's grace we also noted something of the divinity of the Word of the Father, of His universal Providence and power, and that the Good Father orders all things through Him, all things are moved by Him, and in Him they are given life. So come now, Macarius (worthy of that name), true lover of Christ, let us follow up the faith of our religion and also set out what relates to the Word's becoming Man and to His divine Appearing among us, which Jews slander and Greeks ridicule, but we worship; so that, all the more because of the Word's seeming lowliness, your devotion to Him may increase and multiply. 2 For the more He is mocked among unbelievers, the more He bears witness to His own Godhead. What people mistakenly think impossible, He Himself shows to be possible; what people mock as improper, He by His own goodness clothes with dignity; and what people, conceited about their wisdom, laugh at as merely human, He by His own power shows to be divine. By His supposed humiliation — the Cross — He overthrows the pretensions of idols, and those who mock and disbelieve He invisibly wins over to recognize His divinity and power. 3 But to treat this subject we must recall what was said before, so that you will neither fail to know why the Word of the Father, so high and so great, appeared in a body, nor think that the Savior wears a body as a consequence of His own nature. Rather, though incorporeal by nature and the Word from the beginning, He has nevertheless, out of the loving-kindness and goodness of His own Father, been revealed to us in a human body for our salvation. 4 It is right, then, to begin treating this subject by speaking of the creation of the universe and of God its Craftsman, so that it may be properly seen that the renewal of creation was the work of the same Word who made it in the beginning. For it will not seem out of keeping for the Father to have brought about its salvation through the one by whom He made it.

1 Many have taken different views of the making of the universe and the creation of all things, and each has laid down the law just as he pleased. Some say that all things came into being by themselves, by chance; the Epicureans, for example, who in their self-contempt tell us that there is no universal providence, speaking in the very face of obvious fact and experience. 2 For if, as they say, everything had its beginning by itself and without purpose, it would follow that everything had simply come into being, so as to be all alike and not distinct. Because of the unity of body, everything would have to be sun or moon, and in human beings the whole body would have to be hand, or eye, or foot. But in fact this is not so. On the contrary, we see a distinction between sun, moon, and earth; and again, in human bodies, between foot, hand, and head. Such a distinct arrangement tells us not that they came into being by themselves, but that a cause preceded them; and from that cause it is possible to perceive God also as the Maker and Orderer of all. 3 But others, including Plato, who is so highly regarded among the Greeks, argue that God made the world out of matter that already existed and had no beginning. For God could have made nothing if the material had not already existed, just as the wood must be ready at hand for the carpenter before he can work at all. 4 But in saying this they do not realize that they are attributing weakness to God. For if He is not Himself the cause of the material, but only makes things out of material that already existed, He turns out to be weak, since He cannot produce anything He makes without the material; just as it is undoubtedly a weakness in a carpenter not to be able to make anything needed without his timber. On this hypothesis, if the material had not existed, God would not have made anything. And how could He then be called Maker and Craftsman, if He owes His ability to make to some other source — namely, to the material? So if this is so, on their theory God will be only a Mechanic, and not a Creator out of nothing, if He works on existing material but is not Himself the cause of the material. For He could not in any sense be called Creator unless He is the Creator of the material from which created things have in turn been made. 5 But the sectarians imagine a different maker of all things, other than the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, so deeply blind are they even to the words they use. 6 The Lord says to the Jews: Have you not read that from the beginning He who created them made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? Then, referring to the Creator, He says, Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. So how can these men claim that creation is independent of the Father? Or if, in the words of John, who says without exception, All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made, how could the maker be another, distinct from the Father of Christ?

1 So they speculate in vain. But godly teaching and the faith according to Christ brand their foolish talk as godlessness. For this faith knows that the universe did not come about spontaneously, because forethought is not absent; nor from existing matter, because God is not weak; but that out of nothing, with no previous existence at all, God made the universe exist through His Word, as He says first through Moses: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; and second, in the most edifying book of the Shepherd: First of all believe that God is one, who created and framed all things, and made them exist out of nothing. 2 Paul also refers to this when he says, By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 3 For God is good, or rather is in His very being the source of goodness, and one who is good could not be stingy with anything. So, begrudging existence to nothing, He has made all things out of nothing by His own Word, Jesus Christ our Lord. And among these, He took special pity, above all things on earth, on the human race; and seeing that by the condition of its origin it was unable to remain in one state, He gave it a further gift. He did not simply create human beings, as He did all the irrational creatures on the earth, but made them in His own image, giving them a share even in the power of His own Word, so that, having as it were a kind of reflection of the Word and being made rational, they might be able to remain in blessedness forever, living the true life that belongs to the saints in paradise. 4 But knowing again how the human will could incline to either side, He secured beforehand the grace He had given them by a law and by the place where He put them. For He brought them into His own garden and gave them a law, so that if they kept the grace and remained good, they might still keep the life in paradise without sorrow, pain, or care, besides having the promise of incorruption in heaven; but if they transgressed, turned back, and became evil, they might know that they were bringing on themselves the corruption in death that was theirs by nature: no longer to live in paradise, but, cast out of it, from then on to die and to remain in death and corruption. 5 This is what Holy Scripture also warns of, speaking in the Person of God: Of every tree in the garden, eating you shall eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it, for on the day that you eat, dying you shall die. But what else could dying you shall die mean than not merely dying, but also remaining forever in the corruption of death?

1 You may be wondering why, having proposed to speak of the Incarnation of the Word, we are now discussing the origin of humankind. But this too properly belongs to the aim of our treatise. 2 For in speaking of the Savior's appearance among us, we must also speak of the origin of humankind, so that you may know that we were the reason He came down, and that our transgression called forth the loving-kindness of the Word, so that the Lord would both hurry to help us and appear among men. 3 For we were the reason for His becoming Incarnate, and for our salvation He showed such love as to appear and be born even in a human body. 4 In this way, then, God made man and willed that he should remain in incorruption; but people, having despised and rejected the contemplation of God, and devised and contrived evil for themselves (as was said in the former treatise), received the sentence of death with which they had been threatened. From then on they no longer remained as they were made, but were being corrupted according to their own schemes, and death ruled over them as king. For transgressing the commandment was turning them back to their natural state, so that, just as they had their being out of nothing, so too, as might be expected, they might look for corruption into nothing in the course of time. 5 For if, out of a former natural state of non-existence, they were called into being by the Presence and loving-kindness of the Word, it naturally followed that when people were stripped of the knowledge of God and turned back to what is not (for what is evil is not, but what is good is), they should, since they derive their being from God who IS, be forever stripped even of being; in other words, they should disintegrate and remain in death and corruption. 6 For man is mortal by nature, since he is made out of what is not; but because of his likeness to Him who is (and if he still preserved this likeness by keeping Him in his knowledge), he would hold off his natural corruption and remain incorrupt; as Wisdom says: Paying attention to His laws is the assurance of immortality.⁠a And being incorrupt, he would live from then on as God, which I suppose divine Scripture refers to when it says: I said, you are gods, and you are all sons of the Most High; but you die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

1 For God has not only made us out of nothing, but by the Grace of the Word He also freely gave us a life in accord with God. But people rejected eternal things and, on the devil's advice, turned to the things of corruption, and so became the cause of their own corruption in death. As I said before, they were corruptible by nature, but by the grace that comes from sharing in the Word they would have escaped their natural state, had they remained good. 2 For because the Word dwelt with them, even their natural corruption did not come near them, as Wisdom also says: God made man for incorruption, and as an image of His own eternity; but through the envy of the devil death came into the world.⁠a But once this had happened, people began to die, and from then on corruption prevailed against them, gaining even more than its natural power over the whole race, since, because of the transgression of the commandment, it had the threat of the Deity as a further advantage against them. 3 For even in their wrongdoing people did not stop at any set limits, but, gradually pressing forward, went beyond all measure. At first they invented wickedness and brought death and corruption on themselves; later, having turned aside to wrong and surpassing all lawlessness, stopping at no single evil but devising every kind of new evil one after another, they became insatiable in sinning. 4 There were adulteries and thefts everywhere, and the whole earth was full of murders and plundering. As for corruption and wrongdoing, no attention was paid to law, but every crime was being committed everywhere, both by individuals and by groups. Cities were at war with cities, and nations were rising up against nations; the whole earth was torn by civil unrest and battles, each person competing with others in lawless deeds. 8 Nor were they free even of crimes against nature, but, as the Apostle and witness of Christ says: For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are against nature; and in the same way the men also, giving up natural relations with women, burned in their lust for one another, men committing shameless acts with men, and receiving in themselves the fitting penalty for their error.

1 For this reason, then, with death gaining ground on people and corruption remaining on them, the human race was perishing; rational man, made in God's image, was disappearing, and God's handiwork was in the process of dissolving. 2 For, as I said above, from that time on death gained a legal hold over us, and it was impossible to escape the law, since God had laid it down because of the transgression; and the result was truly both monstrous and improper. 3 It would have been monstrous, first, for God, having spoken, to prove false — that is, having once decreed that man would surely die if he transgressed the commandment, for man not to die after the transgression, and for God's word to be broken. For God would not be true if, after He had said we would die, man did not die. 4 Again, it would have been improper for creatures once made rational, and having shared in the Word, to go to ruin and turn back toward non-existence by way of corruption. 5 For it would not have been worthy of God's goodness for the things He had made to waste away because of the deceit the devil practiced on people. 6 Above all, it was utterly improper for God's handiwork in humankind to be done away with, whether through their own carelessness or through the deceit of evil spirits. 7 So, as the rational creatures were wasting away and such works were being ruined, what was God in His goodness to do? Allow corruption to prevail against them and death to hold them fast? Then what would have been the point of making them in the first place? For it would have been better for them never to be made than, once made, to be left to neglect and ruin. 8 For neglect would reveal weakness, not goodness, on God's part — if, that is, He let His own work be ruined once He had made it — more than if He had never made man at all. 9 For if He had not made them, no one could accuse Him of weakness; but once He had made them, creating them out of nothing, it would have been most monstrous for the work to be ruined, and that before the eyes of the Maker. 10 It was out of the question, then, to leave people to the current of corruption, because this would be improper and unworthy of God's goodness.

1 But just as this conclusion must hold, so too, on the other side, God's just claims stand against it: God must appear true to the law He had laid down concerning death. For it would have been monstrous for God, the Father of truth, to appear a liar for our benefit and preservation. 2 So here, once again, what course was God to take? To demand repentance from people for their transgression? Someone might call this worthy of God, reasoning that, just as people had become set toward corruption through transgression, so through repentance they might be set once more on the way of incorruption. 3 But repentance, first, would fail to uphold God's just claim. For He would be no more true if people did not remain in the grip of death. Nor, second, does repentance call people back from what is their nature; it merely stops them from acts of sin. 4 Now if it had been merely a matter of wrongdoing, and not of the corruption that followed from it, repentance would have been enough. But once transgression had gained a start, people became caught up in the corruption that was their nature and were deprived of the grace they had as beings in the image of God. What further step was needed, then? Or what was required for such grace and such a recall, but the Word of God, who had also made everything out of nothing in the beginning? 5 For it was His task once again both to bring the corruptible to incorruption and to keep the Father's just claim on all intact. For being the Word of the Father and above all, He alone was by nature both able to recreate everything and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be the ambassador for all with the Father.

1 For this purpose, then, the incorporeal, incorruptible, and immaterial Word of God comes into our realm, although He was not far from us before. For no part of creation is left empty of Him: He has filled all things everywhere, while remaining present with His own Father. But He comes, stooping down to show His loving-kindness to us and to visit us. 2 He saw the race of rational creatures on the way to perishing, and death reigning over them through corruption. He saw, too, that the threat against transgression gave a firm hold to the corruption that was upon us, and that it would be monstrous for the law to fall through before it was fulfilled. He saw, again, the impropriety of what had happened: that the things He Himself had crafted were passing away. He saw, further, the extreme wickedness of people, and how little by little they had increased it against themselves to an intolerable level. And He saw, lastly, how all people were under the penalty of death. So He took pity on our race, had mercy on our weakness, and stooped to our corruption; and, unable to bear that death should have the mastery — so that the creature would not perish and His Father's handiwork in humankind would not be wasted — He takes to Himself a body, and one no different from ours. 3 For He did not simply will to become embodied, or will merely to appear. If He had willed merely to appear, He could have made His divine appearance by some other, higher means as well. But He takes a body of our kind, and not only that, but from a spotless and stainless virgin who had not known a man, a body clean and truly untouched by intercourse with men. For being Himself mighty, and the Craftsman of everything, He prepares the body in the Virgin as a temple for Himself, and makes it His very own as an instrument, revealing Himself in it and dwelling in it. 4 And so, taking from our bodies one of the same nature, because all were under the penalty of the corruption of death, He gave it over to death in place of all and offered it to the Father. He did this, moreover, out of His loving-kindness, so that, first, since all are held to have died in Him, the law involving the ruin of humankind might be undone (since its power was fully spent in the Lord's body, and it no longer had any ground to stand on against people, His peers); and so that, second, whereas people had turned toward corruption, He might turn them back toward incorruption and bring them to life from death by the appropriation of His body and by the grace of the Resurrection, banishing death from them like straw from the fire.

1 For the Word saw that the corruption of humankind could not be undone in any other way except through death as a necessary condition, while it was impossible for the Word to suffer death, being immortal and the Son of the Father. For this reason He takes to Himself a body capable of death, so that, by sharing in the Word who is above all, it might be worthy to die in place of all, and might remain incorruptible because of the Word who had come to dwell in it, and so that from then on corruption might be halted for all by the Grace of the Resurrection. So by offering to death the body He Himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from any stain, He at once did away with death for all His peers by offering an equivalent. 2 For being over all, the Word of God, by offering His own temple and bodily instrument for the life of all, naturally paid the debt by His death. And so He, the incorruptible Son of God, being united with all by a shared nature, naturally clothed all with incorruption by the promise of the resurrection. For the actual corruption in death no longer has any ground to stand on against people, because of the Word, who has come to dwell among them by His one body. 3 It is like when a great king has entered some large city and made his home in one of its houses: such a city is certainly held worthy of high honor, and no enemy or bandit comes down on it anymore to subdue it; on the contrary, it is thought entitled to every care, because the king has taken up residence in a single house there. So too has it been with the Monarch of all. 4 For now that He has come into our realm and made His home in one body among His peers, from now on the whole conspiracy of the enemy against humankind is checked, and the corruption of death that previously prevailed against them is done away with. For the human race would have gone to ruin had not the Lord and Savior of all, the Son of God, come among us to bring death to an end.

1 Now truly this great work was especially suited to God's goodness. For if a king who has founded a house or a city does not by any means neglect it when bandits attack it through the carelessness of its occupants, but avenges it and reclaims it as his own work, with regard not to the carelessness of the inhabitants but to what befits himself, much more did God the Word of the all-good Father not neglect the human race, His work, as it was going to corruption. Instead, while He blotted out the death that had followed by the offering of His own body, He corrected their neglect by His own teaching, restoring all that was humankind's by His own power. 2 And one may be assured of this by the Savior's own inspired writers, if one happens upon their writings, where they say: For the love of Christ compels us, because we have concluded this, that if one died for all, then all died; and He died for all so that we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again for our sake, our Lord Jesus Christ. And again: But we see Him who was made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 3 Then He also points out the reason why it was necessary for none other than God the Word Himself to become incarnate, as follows: For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. By these words He means that it belonged to no one else to bring people back from the corruption that had begun than the Word of God, who had also made them in the beginning. 4 And they also refer to the fact that the Word Himself also took a body for the sake of the sacrifice for bodies like His own, in these words: Since then the children share in blood and flesh, He Himself likewise partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 5 For by the sacrifice of His own body He both put an end to the law that was against us and made a new beginning of life for us, by the hope of resurrection He has given us. For since it was from man that death prevailed over people, so conversely, through the Word of God becoming man, the destruction of death and the resurrection of life have come about; as the man who bore Christ says: For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, and so on. For we no longer die as those subject to condemnation; but as people who rise from the dead we await the general resurrection of all, which God, who has also brought it about and given it to us, will reveal in its own time. 6 This, then, is the first reason for the Savior's becoming man. But one might also see from the following reasons that His gracious coming among us was fitting.

1 God, who has power over all things, when He was making the human race through His own Word, saw the weakness of their nature: that it was not sufficient by itself to know its Maker, nor to form any idea of God at all. For while He was uncreated, the creatures had been made out of nothing; while He was incorporeal, people had been formed in a lower way, in the body; and in every way the things made fell far short of being able to comprehend and know their Maker. Taking pity, I say, on the human race, since He is good, He did not leave them without the knowledge of Himself, so that their very existence would not be pointless. 2 For what benefit would creatures have if they did not know their Maker? Or how could they be rational without knowing the Word (and Reason) of the Father, in whom they received their very being? For nothing would distinguish them even from brute creatures if they knew nothing but earthly things. Indeed, why would God have made them at all, if He did not wish to be known by them? 3 So, to keep this from happening, being good, He gives them a share in His own Image, our Lord Jesus Christ, and makes them according to His own Image and likeness, so that, perceiving the Image by such grace — that is, the Word of the Father — they may be able through Him to form an idea of the Father, and, knowing their Maker, live the happy and truly blessed life. 4 But people, in their perversity, once again disregarded the grace given them despite all this, and so completely rejected God and so darkened their souls that they not only forgot their idea of God but also made for themselves one invention after another. For not only did they carve idols for themselves in place of the truth, honoring things that are not rather than the living God and serving the creature rather than the Creator, but, worst of all, they transferred the honor due to God even to blocks of wood and stones, to every material object, and to human beings; and they went even further than this, as we said in the former treatise. 5 Their impiety went so far that they went on to worship demons and proclaim them as gods, fulfilling their own lusts. For, as was said above, they offered brute animals and human sacrifices, as befitted such gods, binding themselves all the faster under their maddening inspirations. 6 This is also why magic arts were taught among them, oracles in various places led people astray, and everyone attributed the influences on their birth and existence to the stars and all the heavenly bodies, with no thought of anything beyond what was visible. 7 In a word, everything was full of irreligion and lawlessness, and God alone, and His Word, was unknown, although He had not hidden Himself from people's sight or given the knowledge of Himself in only one way; on the contrary, He had unfolded it to them in many forms and by many ways.

1 For although the grace of the Divine Image was in itself sufficient to make known God the Word, and through Him the Father, God still, knowing human weakness, made provision even for their carelessness, so that if they did not care to know God by themselves, they might be enabled through the works of creation to avoid ignorance of the Maker. 2 But since human carelessness sinks little by little to lower things, God once again made provision even for this weakness of theirs by sending a law and prophets, men they knew, so that even if they were not ready to look up to heaven and know their Creator, they might receive instruction from those close at hand. For people can learn about higher things more directly from other people. 3 So it was open to them, by looking into the height of heaven and perceiving the harmony of creation, to know its Ruler, the Word of the Father, who by His own providence over all things makes the Father known to all, and moves all things for this purpose, so that through Him all may know God. 4 Or, if this was too much for them, they could at least meet the holy men, and through them learn of God, the Maker of all things, the Father of Christ, and learn that the worship of idols is godlessness and full of all impiety. 5 Or it was open to them, even by knowing the law, to stop all lawlessness and live a virtuous life. For the law was not for the Jews alone, nor were the Prophets sent for them only; though sent to the Jews and persecuted by the Jews, they were a holy school for all the world in the knowledge of God and the conduct of the soul. 6 Yet though God's goodness and loving-kindness were so great, people, overcome by the pleasures of the moment and by the illusions and deceits sent by demons, did not raise their heads toward the truth, but loaded themselves all the more with evils and sins, so that they no longer seemed rational, but by their ways would be judged devoid of reason.

1 So then, with people brutalized in this way, and demonic deceit clouding every place and hiding the knowledge of the true God, what was God to do? Keep silent about so great a matter, and allow people to be led astray by demons and not know God? 2 Then what was the use of man having been made in God's image in the first place? It would have been better for him to have been made simply like a brute animal than, once made rational, to live the life of the brutes. 3 Or what need was there at all for him to receive the idea of God in the first place? For if he is not fit to receive it even now, it would have been better if it had not been given to him at first. 4 Or what benefit or glory could it be to God who made them, if people made by Him do not worship Him, but think that others are their makers? For then God turns out to have made them for others instead of for Himself. 5 Again, a merely human king does not let the lands he has settled pass to others to serve them, or go over to other men; he warns them by letters, often sends friends to them, or, if need be, comes in person to rebuke them as a last resort by his presence, just so that they will not serve others and his own work will not be wasted. 6 Will not God much more spare His own creatures, so that they are not led astray from Him to serve things that are nothing? Especially since such straying proves to be the cause of their ruin and undoing, and since it was not fitting that those who had once shared in God's image should perish. 7 What then was God to do? Or what was to be done except the renewal of what was in God's image, so that by it people might once more be able to know Him? But how could this have happened except by the presence of the very Image of God, our Lord Jesus Christ? It was impossible by human means, since humans are only made after an image; nor by angels either, for not even they are (God's) images. So the Word of God came in His own person, so that, as the Image of the Father, He might be able to recreate man after the image. 8 But, again, it could not have happened otherwise unless death and corruption were done away with. 9 So He fittingly took a mortal body, so that while death might be done away with in it once for all, people made after His Image might once more be renewed. No one else, then, was sufficient for this need except the Image of the Father.

1 For when a likeness painted on a panel has been ruined by stains from outside, the one whose likeness it is must come again so that the portrait can be renewed on the same wood; for, for the sake of his picture, even the mere wood on which it is painted is not thrown away, but the outline is renewed on it; 2 in the same way, the most holy Son of the Father, being the Image of the Father, came to our region to renew man, once made in His likeness, and to find him, as one lost, by the forgiveness of sins; as He Himself says in the Gospels: I came to find and to save the lost. So He also said to the Jews: Unless a man is born again — not meaning, as they thought, birth from a woman, but speaking of the soul born and created anew in the likeness of God's image. 3 But since wild idolatry and godlessness filled the world, and the knowledge of God was hidden, whose task was it to teach the world about the Father? Man's, someone might say? But it was not in human power to reach everywhere under the sun; people neither had the physical strength to travel so far, nor would they be able to win belief in this matter, nor were they sufficient by themselves to withstand the deceit and frauds of evil spirits. 4 For when all were struck down and confused in soul by demonic deceit and the emptiness of idols, how could they win over the human soul and the human mind, when they cannot even see them? Or how can a person convert what he does not see? 5 But perhaps someone might say that creation was enough. But if creation had been enough, these great evils would never have happened. For creation was already there, and all the same people were groveling in the same error about God. 6 Who, then, was needed, but the Word of God, who sees both soul and mind, who gives movement to all things in creation, and by them makes the Father known? For He who was teaching people about the Father by His own Providence and ordering of all things was the one who could also renew this same teaching. 7 How, then, could this have been done? Perhaps someone might say that the same means were open as before, for Him to reveal the truth about the Father once more through the work of creation. But this was no longer a sure means. Quite the contrary: people had failed to see this before, and have turned their eyes no longer upward but downward. 8 So, naturally, wishing to benefit people, He lives here as a man, taking to Himself a body like the others, and from earthly things, that is, by the works of His body [He teaches them], so that those who would not know Him from His Providence and rule over all things may know, even from the works done by His actual body, the Word of God who is in the body, and through Him the Father.

1 For as a kind teacher who cares for his students comes down to their level when some of them cannot benefit from higher subjects, and teaches them at least by simpler lessons, so also did the Word of God. As Paul also says: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 2 For people had rejected the contemplation of God and, with their eyes turned downward as though sunk in the deep, were searching for God in nature and in the world of the senses, inventing gods for themselves out of mortal men and demons. For this reason the loving and universal Savior of all, the Word of God, takes to Himself a body, walks among people as Man, and meets the senses of everyone halfway, so that those who think God is bodily may perceive the truth from what the Lord does through His body, and through Him recognize the Father. 3 So, human as they were and human in all their thoughts, wherever they fixed their senses, there they found themselves met halfway and taught the truth from every side. 4 For if they looked at Creation in awe, they still saw how she confessed Christ as Lord; or if their minds were drawn to human beings, so as to think them gods, then from the Savior's works, if they compared them, the Savior alone among men appeared to be the Son of God; for no works like those done by the Word of God had been done among the rest. 5 Or if they were inclined even toward evil spirits, yet when they saw them cast out by the Word, they were to know that He alone, the Word of God, was God, and that the spirits were not gods at all. 6 Or if their minds had already sunk even to the dead, so that they worshiped heroes and the gods spoken of in the poets, yet when they saw the Savior's resurrection, they were to confess that these were false gods, and that the Lord alone is true, the Word of the Father, who was Lord even of death. 7 For this reason He was both born and appeared as Man, died, and rose again, dimming and overshadowing the works of all earlier men by His own, so that in whatever direction people were inclined, He might call them back from there and teach them of His own true Father, as He Himself says: I came to save and to find what was lost.

1 For since the human mind had finally fallen to the things of the senses, the Word disguised Himself by appearing in a body, so that, as Man, He might transfer people to Himself and center their senses on Himself, and, as people from then on saw Him as Man, persuade them by the works He did that He is not Man only, but also God, and the Word and Wisdom of the true God. 2 This, too, is what Paul means to point out when he says: That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong enough to grasp with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 3 For by the Word revealing Himself everywhere, both above and below, in the depth and in the breadth — above, in creation; below, in becoming man; in the depth, in Hades; and in the breadth, in the world — all things have been filled with the knowledge of God. 4 For this reason also, He did not offer His sacrifice for all immediately on His coming, by offering His body to death and raising it again, for by this means He would have made Himself invisible. Instead He made Himself visible enough by what He did, remaining in the body and doing such works and showing such signs as made Him known no longer as Man, but as God the Word. 5 For by becoming Man, the Savior was to accomplish both works of love: first, putting away death from us and renewing us again; second, though unseen and invisible, revealing and making Himself known by His works to be the Word of the Father, and the Ruler and King of the universe.

1 For He was not, as one might imagine, confined within the body; nor, while present in the body, was He absent elsewhere; nor, while He moved the body, was the universe left empty of His working and Providence. But, most marvelous of all, Word as He was, far from being contained by anything, He Himself rather contained all things. And just as, while present in the whole of Creation, He is distinct in being from the universe and yet present in all things by His own power — giving order to all things, revealing His own providence over all and in all, and giving life to each thing and to all things, encompassing the whole without being encompassed, but being wholly and in every respect in His own Father alone — so, even while present in a human body and Himself giving it life, He was, without contradiction, giving life to the universe as well; He was in every process of nature, and was outside the whole; and while known from the body by His works, He was no less revealed by the working of the universe as well. 3 Now it is the function of the soul to perceive even what is outside its own body by acts of thought, without, however, working outside its own body or moving things far from the body by its presence. A person never moves or displaces things at a distance simply by thinking of them; nor, if someone sat in his own house and reasoned about the heavenly bodies, would his thinking move the sun or make the heavens revolve. He sees that they move and exist, but cannot actually influence them. 4 Now the Word of God in His human nature was not like that; for He was not bound to His body, but was rather Himself wielding it, so that He was not only in it, but was actually in everything, and while outside the universe, remained in His Father only. 5 And this was the wonderful thing: He was at once walking as man, giving life to all things as the Word, and dwelling with His Father as the Son. So not even when the Virgin bore Him did He undergo any change, nor was [His glory] dimmed by being in the body; on the contrary, He sanctified the body also. 6 For not even by being in the universe does He share in its nature; on the contrary, all things are given life and sustained by Him. 7 For if even the sun, which was made by Him and which we see revolving in the sky, is not defiled by touching bodies on earth, nor put out by darkness, but on the contrary itself lights them up and cleanses them too, much less was the all-holy Word of God, Maker and Lord also of the sun, defiled by being made known in the body. On the contrary, being incorruptible, He gave life to the body too, which was mortal in itself, and cleansed it: He who, as it says, committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.

1 So when the inspired writers on this matter speak of Him as eating and being born, understand that the body, as a body, was born and sustained with food suited to its nature, while God the Word Himself, who was united with the body, was ordering all things, and also showed Himself by the works He did in the body to be not man but God the Word. But these things are said of Him because the actual body that ate, was born, and suffered belonged to no one but the Lord; and because, since He had become man, it was proper for these things to be said of Him as man, to show that He had a body in truth and not in appearance. 2 But just as from these things He was known to be bodily present, so from the works He did in the body He made Himself known to be the Son of God. So He also cried out to the unbelieving Jews: If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. 3 For just as, though invisible, He is known through the works of creation, so, now that He has become man and is unseen in the body, it may be known from His works that He who can do these things is not man, but the Power and Word of God. 4 For commanding evil spirits and driving them out is not the deed of a man but of God. Or who, seeing Him heal the diseases to which the human race is subject, could still think Him man and not God? For He cleansed lepers, made the lame walk, opened the ears of the deaf, made the blind see again, and, in a word, drove away all diseases and weaknesses from people; and from these acts even the most ordinary observer could see His Godhead. For who, seeing Him restore what was missing to people born lacking it, and open the eyes of the man blind from birth, would have failed to perceive that human nature was subject to Him, and that He was its Craftsman and Maker? For He who restored what the man had lacked from birth must surely be the Lord also of human birth. 5 So from the very beginning, when He was coming down to us, He formed His body for Himself from a Virgin, giving all in this way no small proof of His Godhead, since He who formed this is also the Maker of everything else. For who, seeing a body coming forth from a Virgin alone without a man, could fail to infer that He who appears in it is the Maker and Lord of other bodies also? 6 Or who, seeing the substance of water changed and transformed into wine, fails to perceive that He who did this is Lord and Creator of the substance of all waters? It was for this reason that He also walked on the sea as its Master, as though on dry land, to give those who saw it evidence of His lordship over all things. And in feeding so vast a crowd on so little, and producing abundance from Himself where there was none, so that five thousand had enough from five loaves and there was as much again left over, did He show Himself to be anyone other than the very Lord whose Providence is over all things?

1 But the Savior thought it right to do all this so that, since people had failed to know His Providence revealed in the Universe and had failed to perceive His Godhead shown in creation, they might at least recover their sight from the works of His body, and through Him receive an idea of the knowledge of the Father, inferring, as I said before, His Providence over the whole from particular cases. 2 For who, seeing His power over evil spirits, or seeing the evil spirits confess that He was their Lord, will still keep his mind in doubt whether this is the Son and Wisdom and Power of God? 3 For He made even creation break its silence: even at His death, amazing to tell, or rather at His very triumph over death — the Cross, I mean — all creation was confessing that He who was revealed and suffered in the body was not merely man, but the Son of God and Savior of all. For the sun hid its face, the earth quaked, and the mountains were split: all people were awed. These things showed that Christ on the Cross was God, while all creation was His slave and was bearing witness by its fear to its Master's presence. In this way, then, God the Word showed Himself to people by His works. But our next step must be to recount and speak of the end of His bodily life and course, and of the nature of the death of His body, especially since this is the sum of our faith and everyone without exception is full of it; so that you may know that from this too Christ is known to be God and the Son of God, not one bit less.

1 We have now stated in part, as far as was possible and as far as we ourselves had been able to understand, the reason for His bodily appearing: that it was in no one else's power to turn the corruptible to incorruption except the Savior Himself, who had also made all things out of nothing in the beginning; that no one else could recreate the likeness of God's image for people except the Image of the Father; that no one else could make the mortal immortal except our Lord Jesus Christ, who is Life itself; and that no one else could teach people about the Father and destroy the worship of idols except the Word, who orders all things and alone is the true Only-begotten Son of the Father. 2 But it was also necessary for the debt owed by all to be paid; for, as I have already said, all were bound to die, and this was the special reason He came among us. For this purpose, after the proofs of His Godhead from His works, He next offered His sacrifice on behalf of all, giving up His Temple to death in place of all, first to acquit people and free them from their old offense, and further to show Himself more powerful even than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the first fruits of the resurrection of all. 3 Do not be surprised if we often repeat the same words on the same subject. Since we are speaking of the counsel of God, we set out the same meaning in more than one form, so that we will not seem to be leaving anything out and be charged with inadequate treatment; for it is better to accept the blame for repetition than to leave out anything that ought to be set down. 4 The body, then, shared the same nature as all, for it was a human body; and though by an unparalleled miracle it was formed from a virgin only, it was mortal and so was also to die, like its peers. But because of the union of the Word with it, it was no longer subject to corruption according to its own nature; because of the Word who had come to dwell in it, it was placed beyond the reach of corruption. 5 And so two marvels happened at once: the death of all was accomplished in the Lord's body, and death and corruption were completely done away with because of the Word who was united with it. For death was needed, and death had to be suffered on behalf of all, so that the debt owed by all might be paid. 6 So, as I said before, the Word, since it was not possible for Him to die, being immortal, took to Himself a body that could die, so that He might offer it as His own in place of all, and, suffering on behalf of all through His union with it, destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

1 Now that the common Savior of all has died on our behalf, we, the faithful in Christ, no longer die the death of condemnation as before, as the law warned; for this condemnation has ceased. Instead, since corruption has ceased and been put away by the grace of the Resurrection, from now on we are only dissolved, in keeping with our bodies' mortal nature, at the time God has set for each, so that we may be able to gain a better resurrection. 2 For like the seeds that are sown in the earth, we do not perish by dissolution, but, sown in the earth, we shall rise again, since death has been destroyed by the grace of the Savior. That is why blessed Paul, who was made a guarantor of the Resurrection to all, says: This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality; and when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? 3 Why, then, someone might say, if it was necessary for Him to give up His body to death in place of all, did He not lay it aside privately as a man, instead of going so far as to be crucified? For it would have been more fitting for Him to lay His body aside honorably than to endure such a shameful death. 4 Consider, I reply, whether such an objection is not merely human, whereas what the Savior did is truly divine and for many reasons worthy of His Godhead. First, the death that comes to people comes in keeping with the weakness of their nature; unable to remain in one state, they decay with time. That is also why diseases come upon them, and they fall sick and die. But the Lord is not weak; He is the Power of God, the Word of God, and Life itself. 5 If, then, He had laid aside His body somewhere in private, on a bed, as people do, it would have been thought that He too did this in keeping with the weakness of His nature, and because there was nothing more in Him than in other people. But since, first, He was the Life and the Word of God, and since, second, the death on behalf of all had to be accomplished, therefore, on the one hand, because He was life and power, the body gained strength in Him; 6 while on the other hand, since death had to happen, He did not take the occasion of completing His sacrifice on His own, but received it at others' hands. For it was not fitting either for the Lord to fall sick, who healed the diseases of others; nor again was it right for that body to lose its strength in which He gives strength to the weaknesses of others. 7 Why, then, did He not prevent death, as He did sickness? Because it was for this that He had the body, and it was not fitting to prevent it, or the Resurrection would also have been hindered; while it was equally unfitting for sickness to come before His death, or it would have been thought weakness on the part of Him who was in the body. Did He not hunger, then? Yes; He hungered, in keeping with the properties of His body. But He did not perish from hunger, because of the Lord who wore it. So even though He died to ransom all, He did not see corruption. For [His body] rose again perfectly whole, since the body belonged to no one else but to Life itself.

1 But, someone might say, it would have been better to hide from the plots of the Jews, so as to protect His body from death altogether. Let such a person be told that this too was not fitting for the Lord. For just as it was not fitting for the Word of God, being the Life, to inflict death on His own body Himself, so neither was it suitable to flee from death offered by others, but rather to pursue it to its destruction. For this reason He naturally neither laid aside His body of His own accord nor, again, fled from the Jews when they plotted against Him. 2 But this did not show weakness on the Word's part; on the contrary, it showed Him to be Savior and Life, since He both waited for death in order to destroy it and hurried to accomplish the death offered Him for the salvation of all. 3 Besides, the Savior came to accomplish not His own death but the death of humankind. So He did not lay aside His body by a death of His own — for He was Life and had none — but accepted the death that came from people, in order to do away with it completely when it met Him in His own body. 4 Again, from the following one might also see why it was reasonable for the Lord's body to meet this end. The Lord was especially concerned with the resurrection of the body, which He was about to accomplish. For what He was to do was to display it as a monument of victory over death, and to assure all that He had blotted out corruption and that their bodies would be incorrupt from then on; as a pledge of this and a proof of the resurrection in store for all, He has preserved His own body incorrupt. 5 If, then, once again, His body had fallen sick and the Word had been separated from it in the sight of all, it would have been improper for Him who healed the diseases of others to let His own instrument waste away in sickness. For how could people have believed in His driving out the diseases of others if His own temple fell sick in Him? Either He would have been mocked as unable to drive away diseases, or, if He could but did not, He would be thought unfeeling toward others as well.

1 But even if, without any disease or pain, He had hidden His body away secretly by Himself in a corner, or in a desert place, or in a house, or anywhere, and afterward suddenly appeared and said that He had been raised from the dead, everyone would have thought He was telling idle tales, and what He said about the Resurrection would have been all the more discredited, since there was no one at all to bear witness to His death. Now death must come before resurrection, since there would be no resurrection unless death came first; so if the death of His body had taken place somewhere in secret, without the death being evident or taking place before witnesses, His Resurrection too would have been hidden and without evidence. 2 Or why, when He proclaimed the Resurrection after He had risen, should He have caused His death to take place in secret? Or why, when He drove out evil spirits in the presence of all, made the man blind from birth recover his sight, and changed the water into wine, so that by these means He might be believed to be the Word of God, should He not reveal His mortal nature as incorruptible in the presence of all, so that He Himself might be believed to be the Life? 3 Or how were His disciples to speak boldly of the Resurrection if they could not say that He had first died? Or how could they be believed, saying that death had first taken place and then the Resurrection, if they had not had as witnesses of His death the very people before whom they spoke boldly? For if, even as it was, when His death and Resurrection had taken place in the sight of all, the Pharisees of that day would not believe, but forced even those who had seen the Resurrection to deny it, then surely, if these things had happened in secret, how many excuses for disbelief would they have devised? 4 Or how could the end of death and the victory over it be proved, unless He had challenged it before the eyes of all and shown it to be dead, made powerless from then on by the incorruption of His body?

1 But we must also anticipate in reply what others might say. For perhaps someone might even say this: If it was necessary for His death to take place before all and with witnesses, so that the account of His Resurrection might also be believed, it would at least have been better for Him to devise a glorious death for Himself, if only to escape the shame of the Cross. 2 But if He had done even this, He would have given grounds for suspicion against Himself, that He was not powerful against every death, but only against the death devised for Him; and so again there would have been an excuse for disbelief about the Resurrection all the same. So death came to His body not from Himself, but from hostile plots, so that whatever death they offered the Savior, He might do away with it completely. 3 And just as a noble wrestler, great in skill and courage, does not pick his opponents himself, so as not to raise suspicion that he is afraid of some of them, but leaves the choice to the spectators, especially if they happen to be his enemies, so that he may throw whomever they match him against and be believed superior to them all; so also the Life of all, our Lord and Savior, Christ, did not devise a death for His own body, so as not to appear afraid of some other death. Instead, He accepted on the Cross and endured a death inflicted by others, above all by His enemies, a death they thought dreadful, shameful, and not to be faced; so that, with this death too destroyed, He Himself might be believed to be the Life, and the power of death might be brought completely to nothing. 4 So something surprising and startling has happened: the death they thought to inflict as a disgrace was actually a monument of victory against death itself. That is why He neither suffered the death of John, whose head was cut off, nor was He sawn in two, like Esaias; so that even in death He might still keep His body undivided and perfectly whole, and no excuse be given to those who would divide the Church.

1 So much in reply to outsiders who pile up arguments for themselves. But if any of our own people also ask, not from love of debate but from love of learning, why He suffered death in no other way than on the Cross, let him also be told that no other way than this was good for us, and that it was right for the Lord to suffer this for our sake. 2 For if He came Himself to bear the curse laid on us, how else could He have become a curse unless He received the death appointed for a curse? And that is the Cross. For this is exactly what is written: Cursed is he who hangs on a tree. 3 Again, if the Lord's death is the ransom of all, and by His death the dividing wall is broken down and the calling of the nations is brought about, how would He have called us to Himself had He not been crucified? For it is only on the cross that a man dies with his hands spread out. So it was fitting for the Lord to bear this also and to spread out His hands, so that with the one He might draw the ancient people, and with the other those from the Gentiles, and unite both in Himself.⁠a 4 For this is what He Himself has said, indicating by what kind of death He was to ransom all: I, when I am lifted up, He says, will draw all people to Myself. 5 And again, the devil, the enemy of our race, having fallen from heaven, wanders about our lower air, and there, ruling over his fellow spirits as his peers in disobedience, not only works illusions through them in those who are deceived, but tries to hinder those who are going up (and about this the Apostle says: According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience). The Lord, on the other hand, came to cast down the devil, clear the air, and prepare the way up into heaven for us, as the Apostle said: Through the veil, that is to say, His flesh — and this had to be by death. Well then, by what other kind of death could this have come about than by one that took place in the air, I mean the cross? For only one who dies on the cross dies in the air. So it was entirely fitting that the Lord suffered this death. 6 For being lifted up in this way, He cleared the air of the malice both of the devil and of demons of every kind, as He says: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven; and He made a new opening of the way up into heaven, as He says once more: Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors. For it was not the Word Himself who needed the gates opened, being Lord of all; nor were any of His works closed to their Maker; it was we who needed it, whom He carried up by His own body. For as He offered it to death on behalf of all, so by it He once more prepared the way up into the heavens.

1 The death on the Cross, then, has proved fitting and appropriate for us, and its reason has been shown to be sound in every respect; and it may rightly be argued that in no other way than by the Cross was it right for the salvation of all to take place. For not even in this way — not even on the Cross — did He leave Himself hidden. Far from it: while He made creation bear witness to the presence of its Maker, He did not let the temple of His body remain long, but, having merely shown it to be dead by the contact of death with it, He at once raised it up on the third day, carrying off, as the sign of victory and the triumph over death, the incorruptibility and impassibility that resulted for His body. 2 For He could have raised His body even immediately after death and shown it alive; but the Savior, in wise foresight, did not do this either. For someone might have said that He had not died at all, or that death had not fully touched Him, if He had revealed the Resurrection at once. 3 Then again, perhaps, had the interval between His dying and rising again been only two days, the glory of His incorruption would have been obscure. So, in order that the body might be proved to be dead, the Word waited one more intervening day, and on the third showed it incorruptible to all. 4 So then, so that the death on the Cross might be proved, He raised His body on the third day. 5 But so that He would not be disbelieved, as though He had exchanged it for some other body, by raising it up after it had remained a long time and been completely corrupted — for a person might also distrust what he saw with the passing of time, and forget what had taken place — for this reason He waited no more than three days; nor did He keep those He had told about the Resurrection in suspense for long: 6 but while the word was still ringing in their ears, their eyes still expectant and their minds in suspense, and while those who had killed Him were still living on earth, were on the spot, and could bear witness to the death of the Lord's body, the Son of God Himself, after an interval of three days, showed His body, once dead, to be immortal and incorruptible; and it was made clear to all that the body had died not from any natural weakness of the Word who dwelt in it, but so that in it death might be done away with by the power of the Savior.

1 For that death is destroyed, that the Cross has become the victory over it, and that it has no more power but is truly dead — of this no small proof, or rather clear evidence, is that all Christ's disciples despise it, all go on the offensive against it and no longer fear it, but by the sign of the Cross and by faith in Christ trample it down as dead. 2 For in the past, before the divine coming of the Savior, death was terrible even to the saints, and everyone mourned the dead as though they had perished. But now that the Savior has raised His body, death is no longer terrible; for all who believe in Christ trample it as nothing, and would rather die than deny their faith in Christ. For they truly know that when they die they are not destroyed, but actually [begin to] live, and become incorruptible through the Resurrection. 3 And the devil, who once maliciously delighted in death, now that its pains were loosed, was left as the only one truly dead. And a proof of this is that before people believe in Christ, they see death as an object of terror and act like cowards before it. But once they have gone over to Christ's faith and teaching, their contempt for death is so great that they even eagerly rush to meet it and become witnesses to the Resurrection the Savior has accomplished against it. For while still young they hurry to die, and not only men but women too train themselves by bodily discipline against it. So weak has death become that even women who were formerly deceived by it now mock it as dead and paralyzed. 4 For when a tyrant has been defeated by a true king and bound hand and foot, all who pass by laugh at him, striking and insulting him, no longer fearing his fury and cruelty, because of the king who has conquered him. So also, since death has been conquered and exposed by the Savior on the Cross and bound hand and foot, all who are in Christ trample on it as they pass by, and, bearing witness to Christ, scoff at death, mocking it and saying what was written against it long ago: O death, where is your victory? O grave, where is your sting?

1 Is this, then, a slight proof of the weakness of death? Or is it a slight demonstration of the Savior's victory over it, when the young men and young women who are in Christ despise this life and train themselves to die? 2 For man is by nature afraid of death and of the dissolution of the body; but here is the most startling fact: whoever has put on the faith of the Cross despises even what is naturally fearful, and for Christ's sake is not afraid of death. 3 Fire has the natural property of burning; but suppose someone said there was a substance that did not fear its burning but on the contrary proved it weak — as the asbestos among the Indians is said to do. Then anyone who did not believe the story, if he wished to put it to the test, would put on the fireproof material, touch the fire, and at once be assured of the weakness attributed to the fire: 4 or if anyone wished to see the tyrant bound, he could go into the country and domain of his conqueror and see the man, a terror to others, reduced to weakness. So if someone is still unbelieving even after so many proofs, after so many have become martyrs in Christ, and after the contempt for death shown every day by those who are distinguished in Christ — if his mind is still doubtful whether death has been brought to nothing and come to an end — he does well to wonder at so great a thing; only let him not prove stubborn in unbelief, nor hardened in the face of what is so plain. 5 But just as whoever has the asbestos knows that fire has no power to burn it, and whoever would see the tyrant bound goes over to the empire of his conqueror, so too let whoever doubts the victory over death receive the faith of Christ and pass over to His teaching, and he will see the weakness of death and the triumph over it. For many who were formerly unbelievers and scoffers have afterward believed, and so despised death as even to become martyrs for Christ Himself.

1 Now if death is trampled down by the sign of the Cross and by faith in Christ, it must be evident before the court of truth that it is none other than Christ Himself who has displayed trophies and triumphs over death and made it lose all its strength. 2 And if, whereas death was formerly strong and therefore terrible, it is now despised after the coming of the Savior and the death and Resurrection of His body, it must be evident that death has been brought to nothing and conquered by the very Christ who went up on the Cross. 3 For if the sun rises after the night and the whole region of the earth is lit up by it, there is certainly no room to doubt that it is the sun, spreading its light everywhere, that has also driven away the dark and given light to all things. So, now that death has come to be despised and trampled underfoot from the time the Savior's saving appearance in the flesh and His death on the Cross took place, it must be quite plain that it is the very Savior who also appeared in the body who has brought death to nothing, and who displays the signs of victory over it day by day in His own disciples. 4 For when one sees people, weak by nature, leaping forward to death, neither fearing its corruption nor afraid of the descent into Hades, but challenging it with eager souls; not flinching from torture, but on the contrary, for Christ's sake choosing to rush to death rather than life on earth; or when one even sees with one's own eyes men and women and young children rushing and leaping toward death for the sake of Christ's religion — who is so foolish, or so unbelieving, or so crippled in mind, as not to see and conclude that Christ, to whom these people bear witness, Himself supplies and gives each of them the victory over death, depriving it of all its power in each one who holds His faith and bears the sign of the Cross? 5 For whoever sees the serpent trampled underfoot, especially knowing how fierce it was before, no longer doubts that it is dead and has completely lost its strength, unless he is perverse in mind and does not even have sound bodily senses. For who, seeing a lion made sport of by children, fails to see that it is either dead or has lost all its power? 6 Just as, then, it is possible to see the truth of all this with one's own eyes, so, now that death is mocked and despised by believers in Christ, let no one doubt any longer or refuse to believe that death has been brought to nothing by Christ, and the corruption of death destroyed and halted.

1 What we have said so far, then, is no small proof that death has been brought to nothing, and that the Cross of the Lord is a sign of victory over it. But as for the Resurrection of the body to immortality, which Christ, the common Savior and true Life of all, then accomplished, the demonstration by facts is clearer than arguments to those whose mental vision is sound. 2 For if, as our argument showed, death has been brought to nothing, and because of Christ all trample it underfoot, much more did He Himself first trample it down with His own body and bring it to nothing. But if death was slain by Him, what could have happened except the rising again of His body and its display as a monument of victory against death? Or how could death have been shown to be brought to nothing unless the Lord's body had risen? But if this demonstration of the Resurrection seems insufficient to anyone, let him be assured of what is said even from what takes place before his eyes. 3 For once a person has died he can exert no power; his influence lasts until the grave and then ceases, and action and power over people belong to the living alone. Let anyone who wishes, then, look and judge, confessing the truth from what is visible. 4 For now that the Savior is doing such great things among people, and day by day is invisibly persuading so great a multitude from every side, both those who live in Greece and those in foreign lands, to come over to His faith and all to obey His teaching, will anyone still keep his mind in doubt whether the Savior has accomplished a Resurrection, and whether Christ is alive, or rather is Himself the Life? 5 Is it like a dead man to prick people's consciences, so that they renounce their ancestral laws and bow before the teaching of Christ? Or how, if He is no longer active (for this is the mark of one who is dead), does He stop the activity of those who are active and alive, so that the adulterer no longer commits adultery, the murderer murders no more, the wrongdoer is no longer greedy, and the profane from then on is religious? Or how, if He has not risen but is dead, does He drive away, pursue, and cast down those false gods whom the unbelievers call alive, and the demons they worship? 6 For where Christ and His faith are named, all idolatry is overthrown and all the fraud of evil spirits is exposed; no spirit can endure even the name, but on merely hearing it flees and disappears. But this work is not that of one who is dead, but of one who lives — and above all, of God. 7 In particular, it would be ridiculous to say that the spirits cast out by Him and the idols brought to nothing are alive, while He who chases them away, by His power prevents them from even appearing, and indeed is confessed by them all to be the Son of God, is dead.

1 But those who disbelieve in the Resurrection provide a strong proof against themselves, if, instead of all the spirits and the gods they worship casting out Christ, who they say is dead, Christ on the contrary proves them all to be dead. 2 For if it is true that someone dead can exert no power, while the Savior does so many works every day — drawing people to religion, persuading them to virtue, teaching them of immortality, leading them on to a desire for heavenly things, revealing the knowledge of the Father, inspiring strength to face death, showing Himself to each one, and displacing the godlessness of idolatry — and if the gods and spirits of the unbelievers can do none of these things, but rather show themselves dead at the presence of Christ, their pomp reduced to powerlessness and emptiness; whereas by the sign of the Cross all magic is stopped, all witchcraft brought to nothing, all the idols are being deserted and abandoned, every unruly pleasure is checked, and everyone is looking up from earth to heaven — whom should one call dead? Christ, who is doing so many works? But working is not the mark of one who is dead. Or the one who exerts no power at all, but lies as if lifeless? That is precisely the mark of the idols and spirits, dead as they are. 3 For the Son of God is living and active; He works day by day and brings about the salvation of all. But death is proved every day to have lost all its power, and idols and spirits are proved to be dead rather than Christ, so that from now on no one can doubt the Resurrection of His body any longer. 4 But whoever doubts the Resurrection of the Lord's body would seem to be ignorant of the power of the Word and Wisdom of God. For if He took a body to Himself at all and — reasonably and consistently, as our argument showed — made it His own, what was the Lord to do with it? Or what was to be the end of the body once the Word had come down upon it? It could not help but die, since it was mortal and was to be offered to death on behalf of all; it was for this purpose that the Savior formed it for Himself. But it was impossible for it to remain dead, because it had been made the temple of life. So, while it died as mortal, it came to life again because of the Life in it; and the works are a sign of its Resurrection.

1 But if His rising is disbelieved because He is not seen, it is high time for those who refuse to believe to deny the very course of Nature. For it is a property unique to God to be invisible and yet known from His works, as has already been stated above. 2 If, then, the works are not there, they do well to disbelieve what does not appear. But if the works cry out and show it clearly, why do they choose to deny the life so evidently due to the Resurrection? For even if they are crippled in their understanding, people can still see the unquestionable power and Godhead of Christ with their outward senses. 3 For even a blind man, though he does not see the sun, still knows there is a sun above the earth if he only feels the warmth it gives out. So let our opponents too, even if they do not yet believe, being still blind to the truth, at least recognize His power through others who believe, and not deny the Godhead of Christ and the Resurrection He accomplished. 4 For it is plain that if Christ were dead, He could not be expelling demons and plundering idols; for the spirits would not have obeyed a dead man. But if they are clearly expelled by the naming of His name, it must be evident that He is not dead; especially since spirits, seeing even what is unseen by people, could tell if Christ were dead and refuse Him any obedience at all. 5 But as it is, what irreligious people do not believe, the spirits see — that He is God — and so they flee and fall at His feet, saying just what they said when He was in the body: We know who You are, the Holy One of God; and, Ah, what have we to do with You, Son of God? I beg You, do not torment me. 6 Since, then, demons confess Him and His works bear witness to Him day by day, it must be evident — and let no one brazenly resist the truth — both that the Savior raised His own body and that He is the true Son of God, being from Him, as from His Father, His own Word, Wisdom, and Power, who in later ages took a body for the salvation of all, taught the world about the Father, brought death to nothing, and gave incorruption to all by the promise of the Resurrection, having raised His own body as the first fruits of this and displayed it by the sign of the Cross as a monument of victory over death and its corruption.

1 Since these things are so, and the Resurrection of His body and the Savior's victory over death have been clearly proved, come now, let us refute both the disbelief of the Jews and the scoffing of the Gentiles. 2 For these, perhaps, are the points at which Jews express disbelief while Gentiles laugh, finding fault with the impropriety of the Cross and of the Word of God becoming man. But our argument will not delay to grapple with both, especially since the proofs we have against them are as clear as day. 3 For Jews in their disbelief may be refuted from the Scriptures, which they themselves read; for this text and that, and in a word the whole inspired Scripture, cries out about these things, as even its explicit words abundantly show. For prophets proclaimed beforehand the wonder of the Virgin and the birth from her, saying: Look, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means, God with us. 4 And Moses, the truly great, whom they believe to speak the truth, judged what was said about the Savior's becoming man to be important and, assured of its truth, set it down in these words: A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man out of Israel, and he shall break in pieces the leaders of Moab. And again: How lovely are your dwellings, Jacob, your tents, Israel, like shady gardens, and like parks by the rivers, and like tents that the Lord has pitched, like cedars by the waters. A man shall come forth from his seed, and shall be Lord over many peoples. And again, Esaias: Before the Child knows how to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria before the king of Assyria. 5 That a man shall appear, then, is foretold in those words. But that He who is to come is Lord of all, they predict again as follows: Look, the Lord is seated on a light cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the carved images of Egypt shall be shaken. For it is also from there that the Father calls Him back, saying: I called My Son out of Egypt.

1 Nor is even His death passed over in silence; on the contrary, it is referred to in the divine Scriptures, and very clearly. For, so that no one should go wrong for lack of instruction about the actual events, they were not afraid to mention even the reason for His death — that He suffers it not for His own sake, but for the immortality and salvation of all — and the plots of the Jews against Him and the indignities He suffered at their hands. 2 They say, then: A man of wounds, and knowing how to bear weakness, for his face is turned away; he was dishonored and held of no account. He bears our sins, and is in pain on our account; and we considered him to be in distress, and in wounds, and mistreated; but he was wounded for our sins, and made weak for our wickedness. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we were healed. Marvel at the loving-kindness of the Word, that for our sake He is dishonored, so that we may be brought to honor. For all we, it says, like sheep had gone astray; man had wandered from his way; and the Lord handed him over for our sins; and he does not open his mouth, because he has been mistreated. Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth; in his humiliation his judgment was taken away. 3 Then, so that no one would conclude from His suffering that He was an ordinary man, Holy Scripture anticipates human guesses and declares the power (that worked) for Him and the difference of His nature from ours, saying: But who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. Because of the wickedness of the people he was led to death. And I will give the wicked in return for his burial, and the rich in return for his death; for he did no wickedness, and no deceit was found in his mouth. And the Lord will cleanse him from his wounds.

1 But perhaps, having heard the prophecy of His death, you want to learn also what is said about the Cross. For not even this is passed over: the holy men set it out very plainly. 2 First Moses predicts it, and with a loud voice, when he says: You shall see your Life hanging before your eyes, and shall not believe. 3 And next, the prophets after him bear witness to this, saying: But I, like an innocent lamb brought to be slaughtered, did not know it; they plotted an evil plot against me, saying, Come, let us cast a tree upon his bread, and wipe him out from the land of the living. 4 And again: They pierced my hands and my feet, they counted all my bones, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 5 Now a death that is raised up high and takes place on a tree could be nothing other than the Cross; and again, in no other death are the hands and feet pierced except on the Cross alone. 6 But since through the Savior's coming among people all nations on every side also began to know God, they did not leave this point without a reference either; this matter too is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. For there shall be, he says, the root of Jesse, and he who rises to rule the nations; in him the nations shall hope. This, then, is a little in proof of what has happened. 7 But all Scripture is full of refutations of the disbelief of the Jews. For which of the righteous men, holy prophets, and patriarchs recorded in the divine Scriptures ever had his bodily birth from a virgin only? Or what woman has been enough by herself, without a man, to conceive a human being? Was not Abel born of Adam, Enoch of Jared, Noe of Lamech, Abraham of Tharra, Isaac of Abraham, Jacob of Isaac? Was not Judas born of Jacob, and Moses and Aaron of Ameram? Was not Samuel born of Elkana, David of Jesse, Solomon of David, Ezechias of Achaz, Josias of Amos, Esaias of Amos, Jeremy of Chelchias, Ezechiel of Buzi? Did each not have a father as the source of his existence? Who, then, is the one born of a virgin only? For the prophet made a very great deal of this sign. 8 Or whose birth did a star in the sky go before, to announce to the world the one who was born? For when Moses was born, his parents hid him; David was not known even to those in his neighborhood, since even the great Samuel did not know him, but asked whether Jesse had another son. Abraham, again, became known to his neighbors as a great man only after his birth. But the witness of Christ's birth was not a man, but a star in that heaven from which He was descending.

1 But what king ever reigned and won triumphs over his enemies before he was able to call father or mother? Did not David come to the throne at thirty years of age, and Solomon when he had grown into a young man? Did not Joas begin to reign at seven years old, and Josias, a later king, take up the government at about seven years of age? And yet at that age they were able to call father or mother. 2 Who, then, was reigning and plundering his enemies almost before his birth? Or what king of this kind has ever been in Israel and in Juda — let the Jews, who have searched the matter out, tell us — in whom all the nations have placed their hopes and found peace, instead of being at war with them on every side? 3 For as long as Jerusalem stood there was war without pause between them, and they all fought against Israel: the Assyrians oppressed them, the Egyptians persecuted them, the Babylonians attacked them; and, strange to say, they even had their neighbors the Syrians at war with them. Did not David fight against the Moabites and strike down the Syrians, Josias guard against his neighbors, Ezechias tremble at the boasting of Senacherim, Amalek make war against Moses, the Amorites oppose him, and the inhabitants of Jericho array themselves against Jesus son of Naue? In a word, treaties of friendship had no place between the nations and Israel. It is worthwhile, then, to see who it is on whom the nations are to set their hope. For there must be such a one, since it is impossible for the prophet to have spoken falsely. 4 But which of the holy prophets or early patriarchs has died on the Cross for the salvation of all? Or who was wounded and killed for the healing of all? Or which of the righteous men or kings went down to Egypt, so that the idols of Egypt fell at his coming? Abraham went there, but idolatry prevailed everywhere all the same. Moses was born there, and the people's deluded worship was there just the same.

1 Or who among those recorded in Scripture was pierced in the hands and feet, or hung on a tree at all, and was sacrificed on a cross for the salvation of all? Abraham died, ending his life on a bed; Isaac and Jacob also died with their feet raised on a bed; Moses and Aaron died on the mountain; David died in his house, without being the target of any conspiracy by the people; it is true that he was pursued by Saul, but he was kept unharmed. Esaias was sawn in two, but not hung on a tree. Jeremy was shamefully treated, but did not die under condemnation; Ezechie suffered, though not for the people, but to indicate what was to come upon the people. 2 Again, these men, even where they suffered, were like everyone else in their common nature; but the one whom Scripture declares to suffer on behalf of all is called not merely man, but the Life of all, although He was in fact like men in nature. For you shall see, it says, your Life hanging before your eyes; and who shall declare his generation? For one can trace the genealogy of all the saints, declare it from the beginning, and say of whom each was born; but the Scriptures speak of the generation of Him who is the Life as not to be declared. 3 Who, then, is the one of whom the Divine Scriptures say this? Or who is so great that even the prophets predict such great things of him? No one else is found in the Scriptures but the common Savior of all, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the one who came forth from a virgin and appeared as man on the earth, and whose generation according to the flesh cannot be declared. For no one can name His father according to the flesh, since His body was not from a man, but from a virgin alone; 4 so no one can declare the Savior's bodily descent from a man, in the way one can draw up a genealogy of David, of Moses, and of all the patriarchs. For it was He who also caused the star to mark the birth of His body; since it was fitting that the Word, coming down from heaven, should also have His own star from heaven, and it was fitting that the King of Creation, when He came forth, should be openly recognized by all creation. 5 Indeed, He was born in Judæa, and men from Persia came to worship Him. It is He who, even before His appearing in the body, won the victory over His demon adversaries and a triumph over idolatry. All the pagans, at any rate, from every region, renouncing their ancestral tradition and the impiety of idols, are now placing their hope in Christ and enlisting under Him, and you may see this with your own eyes. 6 For at no other time has the impiety of the Egyptians ceased except when the Lord of all, riding as it were on a cloud, came down there in the body, brought the delusion of idols to nothing, and brought all over to Himself, and through Himself to the Father. 7 It is He who was crucified with the sun and all creation as witnesses, and before those who put Him to death; and by His death salvation has come to all and all creation has been ransomed. He is the Life of all, and it is He who, like a sheep, gave up His body to death as a substitute for the salvation of all, even though the Jews do not believe it.

1 For if they do not think these proofs sufficient, let them at least be persuaded by other reasons drawn from the oracles they themselves possess. For of whom do the prophets say: I was revealed to those who did not seek me, I was found by those who did not ask for me; I said, Here I am, to the nation that had not called on my name; I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people? 2 Who, then, one might ask the Jews, is the one who was revealed? If it is the prophet, let them say when he was hidden, to appear again afterward. And what kind of prophet is this, who was not only revealed from obscurity, but also stretched out his hands on the Cross? Surely none of the righteous, but the Word of God alone, who, incorporeal by nature, appeared in the body for our sake and suffered for all. 3 Or if not even this is sufficient for them, let them at least be silenced by another proof, seeing how clearly it demonstrates the point. For the Scripture says: Be strong, you hands that hang down, and you feeble knees; take courage, you of faint mind; be strong, do not fear. Look, our God repays judgment; He shall come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall speak plainly. 4 Now what can they say to this, or how can they dare to face it at all? For the prophecy not only indicates that God is to dwell here, but announces the signs and the time of His coming. For it connects the blind recovering their sight, the lame walking, the deaf hearing, and the tongue of the stammerers being made plain with the Divine Coming that is to take place. Let them say, then, when such signs have happened in Israel, or where among the Jews anything of the kind has occurred. 5 Naaman, a leper, was cleansed, but no deaf man heard and no lame man walked. Elias raised a dead man; so did Eliseus; but no one blind from birth regained his sight. For truly, to raise a dead man is a great thing, but it is not like the wonder the Savior performed. Only, if Scripture has not passed over the case of the leper and of the widow's dead son, then certainly, if a lame man had also walked and a blind man recovered his sight, the narrative would not have failed to mention this too. Since, then, nothing is said in the Scriptures, it is evident that these things had never happened before. 6 When, then, have they happened, except when the Word of God Himself came in the body? Or when did He come, if not when the lame walked, stammerers were made to speak plainly, the deaf heard, and those blind from birth regained their sight? For this was the very thing that the Jews who witnessed it then said, because they had not heard of these things happening at any other time: Since the world began it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.

1 But perhaps, unable even they to fight against plain facts forever, they will maintain, without denying what is written, that they are still waiting for these things, and that the Word of God has not yet come. For this is what they are forever harping on, not ashamed to brazen it out in the face of plain facts. 2 But on this one point above all they will be all the more refuted, not by us, but by the most wise Daniel, who marks both the actual date and the divine coming of the Savior, saying: Seventy weeks are cut short upon your people and upon the holy city, for a full end to be made of sin, for sins to be sealed up, to blot out iniquities, to make atonement for iniquities, to bring everlasting righteousness, to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint a Holy of Holies; and you shall know and understand from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem until Christ the Prince. 3 Perhaps with regard to the other (prophecies) they may even be able to find excuses and to put off what is written to a future time. But what can they say to this, or can they face it at all? Here not only is the Christ referred to, but the one who is to be anointed is declared to be not simply man, but Holy of Holies; and Jerusalem is to stand until His coming, and from then on prophet and vision cease in Israel. 4 David was anointed long ago, and Solomon and Ezechias; but even then Jerusalem and the place stood, and prophets were prophesying: Gad and Asaph and Nathan, and later Esaias and Osee and Amos and others. And again, the men who were actually anointed were called holy, and not Holy of Holies. 5 But if they shelter behind the captivity and say that because of it Jerusalem did not exist, what can they say about the prophets as well? For in fact, when the people first went down to Babylon, Daniel and Jeremy were there, and Ezechiel and Aggæus and Zachary were prophesying.

1 So the Jews are trifling, and the time in question, which they refer to the future, has actually come. For when did prophet and vision cease from Israel, except when Christ, the Holy of Holies, came? For it is a sign and an important proof of the coming of the Word of God that Jerusalem no longer stands, and no prophet is raised up and no vision revealed to them — and that quite naturally. 2 For when He who was signified had come, what need was there any longer for anyone to signify Him? When the truth was there, what further need was there of the shadow? For this was the reason they prophesied at all — namely, until the true Righteousness should come, and He who was to ransom the sins of all. And this was why Jerusalem stood until then — namely, so that there they might be trained in the types as a preparation for the reality. 3 So when the Holy of Holies had come, vision and prophecy were naturally sealed and the kingdom of Jerusalem ceased. For kings were to be anointed among them only until the Holy of Holies had been anointed; and Jacob prophesies that the kingdom of the Jews would be established until Him, as follows: The ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor the Prince from his loins, until what is laid up for him comes; and he is the expectation of the nations. 4 That is why the Savior Himself also cried out and said: The law and the prophets prophesied until John. If, then, there is now a king or prophet or vision among the Jews, they do well to deny the Christ who has come. But if there is neither king nor vision, but from that time on all prophecy is sealed and the city and temple taken, why are they so irreligious and so perverse as to see what has happened and yet deny Christ, who has brought it all about? Or why, when they see even pagans deserting their idols and placing their hope, through Christ, in the God of Israel, do they deny Christ, who was born of the root of Jesse according to the flesh and from then on is King? For if the nations were worshiping some other God, and not confessing the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses, then, once again, they would be right to claim that God had not come. 5 But if the Gentiles are honoring the same God who gave the law to Moses and made the promise to Abraham, and whose word the Jews dishonored, why are they ignorant, or rather why do they choose to ignore, that the Lord foretold by the Scriptures has shone forth on the world and appeared to it in bodily form, as the Scripture said: The Lord God has shone upon us; and again: He sent His Word and healed them; and again: Not a messenger, not an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them? 6 Their state may be compared to that of someone out of his right mind, who sees the earth lit up by the sun but denies the sun that lights it. For what more is left for the one they expect to do when he comes? To call the pagans? But they are called already. To make prophecy, king, and vision cease? This too has already happened. To expose the godlessness of idolatry? It is already exposed and condemned. Or to destroy death? It is already destroyed. 7 What, then, has not happened that the Christ must do? What is left unfulfilled, that the Jews should now disbelieve with impunity? For if, I say — and this is just what we actually see — there is no longer king or prophet or Jerusalem or sacrifice or vision among them, but the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of God, and Gentiles, leaving their godlessness, are now taking refuge with the God of Abraham through the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, then it must be plain even to the most stubborn that the Christ has come, that He has lit up absolutely all with His light, and that He has given them the true and divine teaching about His Father. 8 So one can fairly refute the Jews by these and other arguments from the Divine Scriptures.

1 But one cannot help being utterly astonished at the Gentiles, who laugh at what is no joking matter while being blind to their own disgrace, which they do not see they have set up in the form of blocks of wood and stones. 2 However, since our argument does not lack demonstrative proof, come, let us put them to shame too on reasonable grounds — mainly from what we ourselves also see. For what is there on our side that is absurd or deserving of ridicule? Is it merely our saying that the Word has been revealed in the body? But even they will agree that this has happened without any absurdity, if they show themselves friends of truth. 3 If, then, they deny that there is a Word of God at all, they do so without reason, mocking what they do not know. 4 But if they confess that there is a Word of God, and that He is ruler of the universe, that in Him the Father has produced creation, that by His Providence the whole receives light and life and being, and that He reigns over all, so that He is known from the works of His providence, and through Him the Father — consider, I ask you, whether they are not unknowingly turning the joke against themselves. 5 The Greek philosophers say that the universe is a great body, and rightly so, for we see it and its parts as objects of our senses. If, then, the Word of God is in the Universe, which is a body, and has united Himself with the whole and with all its parts, what is surprising or absurd if we say that He has united Himself with man also? 6 For if it were absurd for Him to be in a body at all, it would be absurd for Him to be united with the whole either, and to be giving light and movement to all things by His providence. For the whole is also a body. 7 But if it is fitting for Him to unite Himself with the universe and be made known in the whole, it must also be fitting for Him to appear in a human body, and for it to be lit up and to work through Him. For humankind is part of the whole as well as the rest. And if it is improper for a part to have been adopted as His instrument to teach people about His Godhead, it must be utterly absurd for Him to be made known even by the whole universe.

1 For just as, while the whole body is given life and light by a person, someone who said it was absurd for the person's power to be in the toe as well would be thought foolish, because, while granting that he pervades and works in the whole, he objects to his being in the part also; so whoever grants and believes that the Word of God is in the whole Universe, and that the whole is lit up and moved by Him, should not think it absurd that a single human body should also receive movement and light from Him. 2 But if they regard the manifestation of the Savior in man, of which we speak, as unfitting because the human race is a created thing made out of nothing, it is high time for them to expel Him from creation too; for it too has been brought into existence by the Word out of nothing. 3 But if it is not absurd for the Word to be in creation, even though creation is a thing made, then neither is it absurd for Him to be in man. For whatever idea they form of the whole, they must necessarily apply the same idea to the part. For man too, as I said before, is a part of the whole. 4 So it is not at all improper for the Word to be in man, while all things derive their light and movement and life from Him, as their own authors also say: In him we live and move and have our being. 5 So what is there to scoff at in what we say, if the Word has used what He is in as an instrument to reveal Himself? For if He were not in it, He could not have used it either; but if we have already granted that He is in the whole and in its parts, what is unbelievable about His revealing Himself in that in which He is? 6 For by His own power He is united wholly with each and all, and orders all things without limit, so that no one could have called it out of place for Him to speak and to make Himself and His Father known by means of the sun, if He so willed, or the moon, or heaven, or earth, or waters, or fire; since He holds all things together at once, and is in fact not only in all but also in the part in question, and there invisibly reveals Himself. In the same way it cannot be absurd if, ordering the whole as He does and giving life to all things, and having willed to make Himself known through people, He has used a human body as His instrument to reveal the truth and knowledge of the Father. For humanity, too, is an actual part of the whole. 7 And just as Mind, pervading the whole person, is expressed by a part of the body, I mean the tongue, without anyone saying, I suppose, that the essence of the mind is lowered on that account, so if the Word, pervading all things, has used a human instrument, this cannot appear improper. For, as I said before, if it is improper to have used a body as an instrument, it is improper also for Him to be in the Whole.

1 Now if they ask, Why then did He not appear by means of other, nobler parts of creation, and use some nobler instrument, such as the sun, or moon, or stars, or fire, or air, instead of mere man? let them know that the Lord came not to make a display, but to heal and teach those who were suffering. 2 For the way of one aiming at display would be just to appear and dazzle the onlookers; but for one seeking to heal and teach, the way is not simply to stay here, but to give himself to the aid of those in need, and to appear in a way that those who need him can bear, so that he does not, by going beyond what the sufferers require, trouble the very people who need him, making God's appearance useless to them. 3 Now nothing in creation had gone astray in its notions of God except man alone. Indeed, neither sun nor moon nor heaven nor the stars nor water nor air had swerved from their order; knowing their Craftsman and Sovereign, the Word, they remain as they were made. But people alone, having rejected what was good, then devised worthless things in place of the truth, and gave the honor due to God, and their knowledge of Him, to demons and to men in the form of stones. 4 With good reason, then, since it would have been unworthy of the Divine Goodness to overlook so grave a matter, while people were still not able to recognize Him as ordering and guiding the whole, He takes to Himself as an instrument a part of the whole, His human body, and unites Himself with it, so that, since people could not recognize Him in the whole, they would not fail to know Him in the part; and since they could not look up to His invisible power, they might at least be able to reason their way to Him and contemplate Him from what resembled themselves. 5 For, being human, they will be able to know His Father more quickly and directly through a body of the same nature and through the divine works done through it, judging by comparison that these works are not human, but the works of God, done by Him. 6 And if it were absurd, as they say, for the Word to be known through the works of the body, it would likewise be absurd for Him to be known through the works of the universe. For just as He is in creation and yet does not share its nature in the least, but rather all things share in His power, so while He used the body as His instrument He shared no bodily property, but, on the contrary, Himself sanctified even the body. 7 For if even Plato, who is so highly regarded among the Greeks, says that its author, seeing the universe tossed by storms and in danger of going down into the place of chaos, takes his seat at the helm of the soul, comes to the rescue, and corrects all its calamities, what is unbelievable in what we say: that, with humankind in error, the Word came down upon it and appeared as man, so that He might save it in its storm by His guidance and goodness?

1 But perhaps, shamed into agreeing with this, they will choose to say that God, if He wished to reform and save humankind, should have done so by a mere decree, without His Word taking a body, just as He did before when He produced them out of nothing. 2 To this objection of theirs a reasonable answer would be that before, when nothing existed at all, what was needed to make everything was a decree and the bare will to do so. But once man had been made, and necessity demanded a cure not for things that did not exist but for things that had come into being, it naturally followed that the Physician and Savior should appear in what had come into being, in order also to cure the things that existed. For this reason, then, He has become man and used His body as a human instrument. 3 For if this were not the right way, how was the Word, choosing to use an instrument, to appear? Or where was He to take it from, except from those already in existence and in need of His Godhead through one like themselves? For it was not things without being that needed salvation, so that a bare command would be enough; man, already in existence, was going to corruption and ruin. It was natural and right, then, for the Word to use a human instrument and reveal Himself everywhere. 4 Second, you must also know this: the corruption that had set in was not external to the body, but had become attached to it; and it was required that life should cling to it instead of corruption, so that, just as death had been produced in the body, so life might also be produced in it. 5 Now if death were external to the body, it would be proper for life also to have been produced outside it. But if death was wound closely around the body and ruled over it as though united with it, it was required that life too should be wound closely around the body, so that the body, putting on life in its place, might cast off corruption. Besides, even supposing the Word had come outside the body and not in it, death would indeed have been defeated by Him, in perfect accord with nature, since death has no power against the Life; but the corruption attached to the body would have remained in it all the same. 6 For this reason the Savior reasonably put on a body, so that the body, being wound closely around the Life, would no longer remain in death as mortal, but, having put on immortality, would from then on rise again and remain immortal. For once it had put on corruption, it could not have risen again unless it had put on life. And death likewise could not, by its very nature, appear except in the body. So He put on a body, so that He might find death in the body and blot it out. For how could the Lord have been proved at all to be the Life, had He not given life to what was mortal? 7 Stubble is naturally destructible by fire. Suppose, first, that someone keeps fire away from the stubble: though it is not burned, the stubble remains merely stubble all the same, fearing the threat of the fire — for fire has the natural property of consuming it. But if someone, second, wraps it in a quantity of asbestos, the substance said to be an antidote to fire, the stubble no longer dreads the fire, being protected by its covering of incombustible material; 8 in just this way one may say, regarding the body and death, that if death had been kept from the body by a mere command on His part, it would nonetheless have been mortal and corruptible, according to the nature of bodies; but so that this would not be, it put on the incorporeal Word of God, and so no longer fears either death or corruption, for it has life as a garment, and corruption is done away with in it.

1 Consistently, therefore, the Word of God took a body and has made use of a human instrument, in order to give life to the body as well, and, as He is known in creation by His works, so to work in man as well, and to show Himself everywhere, leaving nothing empty of His own divinity and of the knowledge of Him. 2 For I return to and repeat what I said before: the Savior did this so that, as He fills all things on every side by His presence, He might also fill all things with the knowledge of Him, as the divine Scripture also says: The whole earth was filled with the knowledge of the Lord. 3 For if someone will only look up to heaven, he sees its Order; or if he cannot raise his face to heaven, but only to man, he sees His power, beyond comparison with that of men, shown by His works, and learns that He alone among men is God the Word. Or if someone has gone astray among demons and is afraid of them, he may see this man drive them out and conclude that He is their Master. Or if someone has sunk to the waters and thinks that they are God — as the Egyptians, for instance, revere water — he may see its nature changed by Him and learn that the Lord is Creator of the waters. 4 But if someone has gone down even to Hades and stands in awe of the heroes who have gone down there, regarding them as gods, he may still see the fact of Christ's Resurrection and victory over death, and conclude that among them too Christ alone is true God and Lord. 5 For the Lord touched all parts of creation, and freed and undeceived all of them from every illusion, as Paul says: Having stripped the principalities and the powers, He triumphed on the Cross; so that no one could possibly be deceived any longer, but might everywhere find the true Word of God. 6 For in this way man, enclosed on every side and seeing the divinity of the Word unfolded everywhere — that is, in heaven, in Hades, in man, on earth — is no longer exposed to deceit about God, but is to worship Christ alone, and through Him come to know the Father rightly. 7 By these arguments, then, on grounds of reason, the Gentiles in their turn will fairly be put to shame by us. But if they think the arguments insufficient to shame them, let them at least be assured of what we are saying by facts obvious to everyone's sight.

1 When did people begin to abandon the worship of idols, except since God, the true Word of God, came among people? Or when have the oracles among the Greeks, and everywhere, ceased and become empty, except since the Savior revealed Himself on earth? 2 Or when did those who are called gods and heroes in the poets begin to be exposed as merely mortal men, except since the Lord set up His conquest of death and kept incorruptible the body He had taken, raising it from the dead? 3 Or when did the deceit and madness of demons fall into contempt, except when the power of God, the Word, the Master of all these too, stooping down because of human weakness, appeared on earth? Or when did the art and the schools of magic begin to be trampled down, except when the divine manifestation of the Word took place among people? 4 In a word, when did the wisdom of the Greeks become foolish, except when the true Wisdom of God revealed itself on earth? For formerly the whole world and every place was led astray by the worship of idols, and people regarded nothing but the idols as gods. But now, all over the world, people are abandoning the superstition of idols and taking refuge with Christ; and, worshiping Him as God, they are coming through Him to know the Father too, whom they did not know. 5 And, remarkably, whereas the objects of worship were various and vast in number, and each place had its own idol, and the one counted as a god among them had no power to pass over to the neighboring place so as to persuade neighboring peoples to worship him, but was barely served even among his own people — for no one else worshiped his neighbor's god; on the contrary, each kept to his own idol, thinking it lord of all — Christ alone is worshiped as one and the same among all peoples. And what the weakness of the idols could not do, namely, persuade even those living close at hand, Christ has done, persuading not only those close at hand but quite simply the entire world to worship one and the same Lord, and through Him God, His Father.

1 And whereas formerly every place was full of the deceit of the oracles, and the oracles at Delphi and Dodona, in Bœotia, Lycia, Libya, and Egypt, those of the Cabiri, and the Pythoness were held in high regard by people's imaginations, now, since Christ has begun to be preached everywhere, their madness too has ceased, and there is no one among them who prophesies anymore. 2 And whereas formerly demons used to deceive people's imaginations, occupying springs or rivers, trees or stones, and so imposed on the simple by their trickery, now, after the divine visit of the Word, their deception has ceased. For by the Sign of the Cross, if a person only uses it, he drives out their deceits. 3 And while formerly people held Zeus and Cronos and Apollo and the heroes mentioned in the poets to be gods, and went astray in honoring them, now that the Savior has appeared among people, those others have been exposed as mortal men, and Christ alone has been recognized among people as the true God, the Word of God. 4 And what is one to say of the magic they hold in esteem? That before the Word came to dwell among us it was strong and active among Egyptians, Chaldees, and Indians, and inspired awe in those who saw it; but that by the presence of the Truth and the Appearing of the Word it too has been thoroughly refuted and brought completely to nothing. 5 But as for Gentile wisdom and the grand pretensions of the philosophers, I think no one needs our argument, since the wonder is before everyone's eyes: while the wise among the Greeks had written so much and were unable to persuade even a few in their own neighborhood about immortality and a virtuous life, Christ alone, through ordinary language and through men who were not skilled speakers, has persuaded whole churches full of people throughout the world to despise death and to care for the things of immortality; to look past what is temporary and turn their eyes to what is eternal; to think nothing of earthly glory and to strive only for the heavenly.

1 Now these arguments of ours are not mere words; they have a witness to their truth in actual experience. 2 Let anyone who wishes go and see the proof of virtue in the virgins of Christ and in the young men who practice holy chastity, and the assurance of immortality in so great a company of His martyrs. 3 And let anyone who wishes to test by experience what we have just said come, and, in the very presence of the deceit of demons, the fraud of oracles, and the marvels of magic, use the Sign of that Cross which they laugh at, and he will see how through it demons flee, oracles cease, and all magic and witchcraft is brought to nothing. 4 Who, then, and how great is this Christ, who by His own Name and Presence overshadows and brings to nothing all things on every side, who alone is strong against all, and who has filled the whole world with His teaching? Let the Greeks tell us, who like to laugh and are not ashamed. 5 For if He is a man, how has one man surpassed the power of all those whom they themselves hold to be gods, and proved by His own power that they are nothing? But if they call Him a magician, how can all magic be destroyed by a magician instead of being confirmed? If He had conquered particular magicians, or prevailed over only one, it would be fair for them to hold that He surpassed the rest by superior skill; 6 but if His Cross has won the victory over absolutely all magic, and over its very name, it must be plain that the Savior is not a magician, since even the demons invoked by the other magicians flee from Him as their Master. 7 Who He is, then, let the Greeks tell us, whose only serious pursuit is joking. Perhaps they might say that He too was a demon, and that this was the source of His strength. But let them say this as they will; the laugh will be on them, for they can once more be put to shame by our earlier proofs. For how is it possible that He who drives the demons out should be a demon? 8 If He had simply driven out particular demons, it might fairly be held that He prevailed against the lesser demons by the chief of demons, just as the Jews said to Him when they wished to insult Him. But if, when His Name is named, all the madness of the demons is uprooted and chased away, it must be evident that here too they are wrong, and that our Lord and Savior Christ is not, as they think, some demonic power. 9 Then if the Savior is neither simply a man, nor a magician, nor some demon, but has by His own Godhead brought to nothing and overshadowed the doctrine found in the poets, the delusion of the demons, and the wisdom of the Gentiles, it must be plain, and everyone will admit, that this is the true Son of God, the Word and Wisdom and Power of the Father from the beginning. For this is why His works too are not human works, but are recognized as above human, and truly God's works, both from the facts themselves and from comparison with [the rest of] humankind.

1 For what man who was ever born formed a body for himself from a virgin alone? Or what man ever healed such diseases as the common Lord of all? Or who has restored what was lacking in human nature, and made one blind from birth see? 2 Asclepius was deified among them because he practiced medicine and discovered herbs for sick bodies, not forming them himself out of the earth, but discovering them by knowledge drawn from nature. But what is this compared to what the Savior did, when, instead of healing a wound, He altered a man's original nature and restored the body whole? 3 Heracles is worshiped as a god among the Greeks because he fought against men, his peers, and destroyed wild beasts by cunning. What is this compared to what the Word did in driving away diseases, demons, and death itself from humankind? Dionysus is worshiped among them because he taught people drunkenness; but the true Savior and Lord of all is mocked by these people for teaching self-control. 4 But let these matters pass. What will they say to the other miracles of His Godhead? At what man's death was the sun darkened and the earth shaken? Look, people are dying even to this day, and they died in the past too. When did any such wonder happen in their case? 5 Or, to pass over the deeds done through His body and mention those after its rising again: what man's teaching has ever prevailed everywhere, one and the same, from one end of the earth to the other, so that his worship has spread on wings through every land? 6 Or why, if Christ is, as they say, a man and not God the Word, do the gods they have not prevent His worship from passing into the same land where they are? Or why, on the contrary, does the Word Himself, dwelling here, stop their worship by His teaching and put their deception to shame?

1 Before this Man there have been many kings and tyrants of the world, and many wise men and magicians are on record among the Chaldæans, Egyptians, and Indians. Which of these, I ask, not after death but while still alive, was ever able to prevail so far as to fill the whole earth with his teaching and reform so great a multitude from the superstition of idols as our Savior has brought over from idols to Himself? 2 The Greek philosophers have composed many works with persuasiveness and verbal skill; what result, then, have they shown as great as the Cross of Christ? The refinements they taught were persuasive enough until they died; but even the influence they seemed to have while alive was subject to their rivalries with one another; they were jealous and spoke out against one another. 3 But the Word of God, strangest of all, teaching in plainer language, has overshadowed the finest sophists; and while He has emptied their schools by drawing all to Himself, He has filled His own churches; and the marvelous thing is that by going down to death as man, He has brought to nothing the grand pronouncements of the wise about idols. 4 For whose death ever drove out demons? Or whose death did demons ever fear as they feared that of Christ? For where the Savior's name is named, every demon is driven out. Or who has so freed people from the passions of the natural man that the sexually immoral are chaste, murderers no longer hold the sword, and those formerly overcome by cowardice act with courage? 5 In short, who persuaded people of barbarian countries and pagans in various places to lay aside their madness and to care for peace, if not the Faith of Christ and the Sign of the Cross? Or who else has given people such assurance of immortality as the Cross of Christ and the Resurrection of His Body? 6 For although the Greeks have told all kinds of false tales, they were not able to invent a Resurrection of their idols — for it never crossed their minds whether it is at all possible for the body to exist again after death. And here one would most especially accept their testimony, since by this opinion they have exposed the weakness of their own idolatry, while leaving the possibility open to Christ, so that from this too He might be made known among all as the Son of God.

1 Again, which human being, after his death or while living, taught about virginity, and that this virtue was not impossible among people? But Christ, our Savior and King of all, had such power in His teaching about it that even children not yet of legal age vow that virginity which lies beyond the law. 2 What man has ever yet been able to travel so far as to come among Scythians and Ethiopians, or Persians or Armenians or Goths, or those we hear of beyond the ocean or beyond Hyrcania, or even the Egyptians and Chaldees, people devoted to magic, superstitious beyond nature, and savage in their ways, and to preach at all about virtue and self-control and against the worship of idols, as the Lord of all, the Power of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, has done? 3 He not only preached through His own disciples, but also persuaded people's minds to lay aside the fierceness of their ways and no longer serve their ancestral gods, but to learn to know Him, and through Him to worship the Father. 4 For formerly, while in idolatry, Greeks and Barbarians used to make war on each other and were actually cruel to their own kin. It was impossible for anyone to cross sea or land at all without arming himself with a sword, because of their relentless fighting among themselves. 5 For the whole course of their life was carried on by arms; the sword took the place of a staff for them and was their support in every emergency; and all the while, as I said before, they were serving idols and offering sacrifices to demons, and for all their idolatrous superstition they could not be won back from this spirit. 6 But when they have come over to the school of Christ, then, strangely enough, as people truly pricked in conscience, they have laid aside the savagery of their murders and no longer care for the things of war; instead, all is at peace with them, and from then on they favor what makes for friendship.

1 Who, then, is He who has done this, or who is He who has united in peace people who hated one another, except the beloved Son of the Father, the common Savior of all, Jesus Christ, who by His own love underwent all things for our salvation? For even long ago the peace He was to bring in was prophesied, where the Scripture says: They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles, and nation shall not take up the sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more. 2 And this is at least not unbelievable, since even now those barbarians who have an inborn savagery of manners, while they still sacrifice to the idols of their country, are mad against one another and cannot bear to be without weapons for a single hour: 3 but when they hear the teaching of Christ, they at once turn from fighting to farming, and instead of arming their hands with weapons they raise them in prayer; in a word, instead of fighting among themselves, from then on they arm themselves against the devil and against evil spirits, subduing these by self-restraint and virtue of soul. 4 Now this is at once a proof of the divinity of the Savior, since what people could not learn among idols they have learned from Him, and no small exposure of the weakness and nothingness of demons and idols. For demons, knowing their own weakness, formerly set people to make war against one another for this reason: so that if they stopped their mutual strife, they would not turn to battle against demons. 5 Indeed, those who become disciples of Christ, instead of warring with each other, stand arrayed against demons by their habits and their virtuous actions; they rout them and mock their captain, the devil; so that in youth they are self-restrained, in temptations they endure, in labors they persevere, when insulted they are patient, when robbed they make light of it; and, wonderful as it is, they despise even death and become martyrs of Christ.

1 And to mention one proof of the Savior's divinity that is truly astonishing: what mere man, magician, tyrant, or king was ever able by himself to take on so many, to fight the battle against all idolatry, the whole demonic host, all magic, and all the wisdom of the Greeks, while they were so strong, still flourishing, and imposing on everyone, and at one stroke to check them all, as our Lord, the true Word of God, has done? Invisibly exposing each person's error, He by Himself is carrying off all people from them all, so that those who used to worship idols now trample on them, those with a reputation for magic burn their books, and the wise prefer the interpretation of the Gospels to all other studies. 2 For they are abandoning those they used to worship, and the one they used to mock as crucified they worship as Christ, confessing Him to be God. Those who are called gods among them are routed by the Sign of the Cross, while the Crucified Savior is proclaimed in all the world as God and the Son of God. And the gods worshiped among the Greeks are falling into disrepute at their hands as scandalous beings, while those who receive the teaching of Christ live a more chaste life than they. 3 If, then, these and similar things are human works, let anyone who wishes point out similar works by men of earlier times, and so convince us. But if they prove to be, and are, not human works but God's, why are the unbelievers so irreligious as not to recognize the Master who performed them? 4 Their case is like that of someone who failed to know God their Craftsman from the works of creation. For if they knew His Godhead from His power over the universe, they would have known that the bodily works of Christ are also not human, but are the works of the Savior of all, the Word of God. And if they had known this, they would not, as Paul said, have crucified the Lord of glory.

1 So, just as someone who wishes to see God, who is invisible by nature and not seen at all, may know and grasp Him from His works, so let anyone who fails to see Christ with his understanding at least grasp Him through the works of His body, and test whether they are human works or God's works. 2 And if they are human, let him scoff; but if they are not human but of God, let him recognize it, and not laugh at what is no matter for scoffing; rather, let him marvel that by such ordinary means divine things have been revealed to us, that through death immortality has reached all, and that through the Word becoming man the universal Providence has been made known, and its Giver and Craftsman, the very Word of God. 3 For He was made man so that we might be made God; He revealed Himself through a body so that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insults of men so that we might inherit immortality. For while He Himself was in no way harmed, being impassible and incorruptible, the very Word and God, He sustained and preserved in His own impassibility the suffering people for whose sake He endured all this. 4 In a word, the achievements of the Savior that resulted from His becoming man are of such a kind and number that anyone who wished to list them might be compared to people who gaze at the expanse of the sea and wish to count its waves. For just as one cannot take in all the waves with one's eyes, since those that keep coming on baffle the senses of anyone who tries, so for anyone who would take in all the achievements of Christ in the body, it is impossible to grasp the whole, even by counting them up, since those beyond his thought are more than those he thinks he has grasped. 5 It is better, then, not to aim at speaking of the whole, when one cannot do justice even to a part, but, after mentioning one more, to leave the whole for you to marvel at. For all alike are marvelous, and wherever a person turns his gaze, he may see the divinity of the Word on that side and be struck with very great awe.

1 After what we have said so far, then, it is right for you to realize this, to take it as the sum of what we have already stated, and to marvel at it greatly: since the Savior came among us, idolatry not only has not increased any longer, but what there was is diminishing and gradually coming to an end; the wisdom of the Greeks not only no longer advances, but what remains of it is now fading away; and demons, far from cheating anyone any longer by illusions, prophecies, and magic arts, are put to shame by the sign of the Cross if they so much as dare to try. 2 To sum the matter up: see how the Savior's teaching is increasing everywhere, while all idolatry and everything opposed to the faith of Christ is daily dwindling, losing power, and falling. And seeing this, worship the Savior, who is above all and mighty, God the Word; and condemn those who are being defeated and done away with by Him. 3 For just as, when the sun has come, darkness no longer prevails, but if any is still left anywhere it is driven away, so, now that the divine Appearing of the Word of God has come, the darkness of the idols no longer prevails, and all parts of the world in every direction are lit up by His teaching. 4 And when a king reigns in some country without appearing, keeping at home in his own house, some unruly people often take advantage of his seclusion and proclaim themselves; each of them, by playing the part, imposes on the simple as king, and so people are led astray by the name, hearing that there is a king but not seeing him, if only because they cannot enter the house. But when the real king comes out and appears, the unruly impostors are exposed by his presence, while the people, seeing the real king, abandon those who had led them astray: 5 in the same way, the evil spirits used to deceive people, clothing themselves with God's honor; but when the Word of God appeared in a body and made His own Father known to us, then at last the deceit of the evil spirits is done away with and stopped, while people, turning their eyes to the true God, the Word of the Father, are abandoning the idols and now coming to know the true God. 6 Now this is a proof that Christ is God the Word and the Power of God. For while human things cease and the Word of Christ remains, it is clear to all eyes that what ceases is temporary, but that He who remains is God, the true Son of God, His only-begotten Word.

1 Let this, then, lover of Christ, be our offering to you, as just a basic sketch and outline, in a short space, of the faith of Christ and of His Divine appearing to us. But you, taking this as your starting point, if you come upon the text of the Scriptures and truly apply your mind to them, will learn from them more completely and clearly the exact details of what we have said. 2 For they were spoken and written by God through men who spoke of God. And we, in turn, pass on to your eagerness for learning what we have learned from inspired teachers who were familiar with them, who also became martyrs for the deity of Christ. 3 And you will also learn about His second glorious and truly divine appearing to us, when He is to come no longer in lowliness but in His own glory — no longer in humble form but in His own magnificence — no more to suffer, but from then on to give to all the fruit of His own Cross, that is, the resurrection and incorruption; and no longer to be judged, but to judge all by what each has done in the body, whether good or evil. Then the kingdom of heaven is stored up for the good, but for those who have done evil, everlasting fire and outer darkness. 4 For the Lord Himself also says this: From now on you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven in the glory of the Father. 5 And for this very reason there is also a word of the Savior to prepare us for that day, in these words: Be ready and watch, for He comes at an hour you do not know. For, according to blessed Paul: We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive according to what he has done in the body, whether good or bad.

1 But for searching the Scriptures and truly knowing them, an honorable life is needed, and a pure soul, and the virtue that is according to Christ, so that the mind, guided on its path by it, may be able to attain what it desires and to grasp it, as far as human nature can learn about the Word of God. 2 For without a pure mind and a life modeled on the saints, no one could possibly grasp the words of the saints. 3 For just as anyone who wished to see the light of the sun would certainly wipe and clear his eye, purifying himself to be in some way like what he desires, so that the eye, becoming light in this way, may see the light of the sun; or as anyone who wished to see a city or country would certainly go to the place to see it — so whoever wishes to grasp the mind of those who speak of God must begin by washing and cleansing his soul by his way of life, and approach the saints themselves by imitating their works; so that, joined with them in a common way of life, he may also understand what God has revealed to them, and from then on, closely bound to them, may escape the danger facing sinners and their fire on the day of judgment, and receive what is stored up for the saints in the kingdom of heaven, which no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the human heart, all that is prepared for those who live a virtuous life and love the God and Father, in Christ Jesus our Lord: through whom and with whom be honor and might and glory to the Father Himself, with the Son Himself, in the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.