Against Heresies: Book IV

SENDING THIS FOURTH BOOK OF THE WORK TITLED THE DETECTION AND REFUTATION OF FALSE KNOWLEDGE TO YOU: my very dear friend, I will, as I have promised, strengthen what I have already stated with the words of the Lord. This way, as you have requested, you may receive from me the means to refute all heretics everywhere and not allow them, having been repelled, to venture further into the depths of error or to be lost in the sea of ignorance. Instead, by guiding them to the haven of truth, you may lead them to attain their salvation.

THE PERSON: however, who would undertake their conversion must have an accurate understanding of their systems or schemes of doctrine. It is impossible for anyone to heal the sick if they have no knowledge of the patients' disease. This was the reason my predecessors—much superior to myself—were nevertheless unable to successfully refute the Valentinians, because they were ignorant of these men’s system. I have carefully presented this to you in the first book, in which I have also shown that their doctrine is a recapitulation of all the heretics. For this reason, in the second book, we have clearly witnessed their complete defeat. For those who oppose these men (the Valentinians) by the right method also oppose all who are of a wicked mind, and those who overthrow them, in fact, overthrow every kind of heresy.

FOR THEIR SYSTEM IS MORE BLASPHEMOUS THAN ALL OTHERS: since they claim that the Maker and Framer, who is one God, as I have shown, was created from a defect or apostasy. They also blaspheme against our Lord by separating and dividing Jesus from Christ, Christ from the Saviour, the Saviour from the Word, and the Word from the Only-begotten. And because they allege that the Creator originated from a defect or apostasy, they have also taught that Christ and the Holy Spirit were emitted due to this defect, and that the Saviour was a product of those Æons who arose from a defect; thus, there is only blasphemy to be found among them. In the preceding book, the apostles' ideas on all these points have been presented, showing that not only did they, "who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word" of truth, reject such opinions, but they also preached to us to avoid these doctrines, foreseeing through the Spirit those weak-minded individuals who would be led astray.

JUST AS THE SERPENT DECEIVED EVE BY PROMISING HER SOMETHING HE DID NOT POSSESS: these men also claim to have superior knowledge and to understand unfathomable mysteries. By promising entrance into what they describe as the Pleroma, they lead those who believe them into death, making them turn away from their Maker. At that time, the rebellious angel, having caused the disobedience of humans using the serpent, thought he escaped the Lord’s notice; thus, God gave him the form and name of a serpent.

But now, since the end times are upon us, evil has spread among people, not only turning them into apostates but also raising blasphemers against the Creator through various heretics already mentioned. Although these heretics come from different places and share different views, they all share the same blasphemous goal, striking people unto death by teaching blasphemy against God our Maker and Sustainer, and diminishing human salvation. Humans, formed as a combination of soul and flesh, were created in God's likeness and shaped by His hands, specifically by the Son and Holy Spirit, to whom He said, “Let Us make man.” The aim of the one who envies our life is to make people disbelieve in their salvation and blaspheme against God the Creator.

No matter how solemnly all these heretics present their ideas, they ultimately blaspheme the Creator and deny the salvation of God’s handiwork, which truly includes the flesh. I have shown in various ways that the Son of God carried out the entire plan of mercy, and I have demonstrated that no one is called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, the Son, and those who possess the adoption.

THEREFORE: this is certain and steadfast: no other God or Lord was declared by the Spirit except Him who, as God, rules over all, along with His Word, and those who receive the Spirit of adoption—meaning those who believe in the one true God and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Similarly, the apostles themselves did not refer to anyone else as God or call anyone else Lord. More importantly, our Lord instructed us to acknowledge no one as Father except Him who is in the heavens, who is the one God and one Father. This clearly shows that the assertions of these deceivers and corrupt thinkers are false. They claim that the being they have invented is by nature both God and Father, whereas the Demiurge is naturally neither God nor Father and is called such merely out of courtesy because of his rule over creation. These misguided mythologists set their ideas against God, ignoring the teachings of Christ and concocting falsehoods of their own, rejecting the entire plan of God. They assert that their Æons, gods, fathers, and lords are also called heavens, along with their Mother, whom they also refer to as “the Earth” and “Jerusalem,” assigning her many other names.

TO WHOM IS IT NOT CLEAR THAT IF THE LORD HAD KNOWN MANY FATHERS AND GODS: He would not have taught His disciples to know only one God and to call only Him Father? Instead, He distinguished those who are called gods in name only from the one who is truly God, so that they would not misunderstand His teaching or mistakenly confuse one with another. If He indeed taught us to call one being Father and God, while He Himself recognizes other fathers and gods in the same way, then He would seem to instruct His disciples differently than He acts. However, such behavior does not characterize a good teacher, but rather a misleading and envious one. According to these people's views, the apostles are shown to be violators of the commandment, since they acknowledge the Creator as God, Lord, and Father, as I have demonstrated—if He is not the only God and Father. Therefore, Jesus would be, for them, the author and teacher of such disobedience, as He commanded that one being be called Father, thereby compelling them to confess the Creator as their Father, as has been noted.

MOSES: therefore, summarizing the whole law he received from the Creator, speaks like this in Deuteronomy: “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.” Similarly, David, saying that his help came from the Lord, states: “My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” And Esaias acknowledges that words were spoken by God, who made heaven and earth and governs them. He says: “Hear, O heavens; and listen, O earth: for the Lord has spoken.” And again: “Thus says the God, who made the heaven and stretched it out; who established the earth and the things in it; and who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk therein.”

AGAIN: our Lord Jesus Christ acknowledges the same Being as His Father when He says: "I confess to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." Who do those most perverse sophists of Pandora want us to understand as Father by these words? Is it Bythus, whom they fabricated; or their Mother; or the Only-begotten? Or is it the figure the Marcionites or others have invented as god (whom I have thoroughly shown to be no god at all); or is it, as is truly the case, the Maker of heaven and earth, whom the prophets also proclaimed, whom Christ acknowledges as His Father, and whom the law declares, saying: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord your God is one God?"

3. But since the writings of Moses are the words of Christ, He Himself declares to the Jews, as John has recorded in the Gospel: “If you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, neither will you believe My words.” He thus clearly indicates that the writings of Moses are His words. If this applies to Moses, then, without a doubt, the words of the other prophets are His words as well, as I have pointed out. And again, the Lord Himself presents Abraham as having said to the rich man, in reference to all those who were still alive: “If they do not obey Moses and the prophets, neither, if someone were to rise from the dead and go to them, will they believe.”

He has not just told us a story about a poor man and a rich one; instead, He has taught us that no one should live a life of luxury or, by living in worldly pleasures and constant feasting, become a slave to their desires and forget God. He says, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and enjoyed splendid feasts."

THE SPIRIT ALSO SPOKE THROUGH ISAIAH ABOUT SUCH PEOPLE: "They drink wine accompanied by harps, tablets, psalteries, and flutes; but they do not regard the works of God or consider the work of His hands." Therefore, to avoid the same punishment as these individuals, the Lord reveals their end to us. He shows that if they had obeyed Moses and the prophets, they would believe in the one they preached about, the Son of God, who rose from the dead and gives us life. He demonstrates that all are from one essence: Abraham, Moses, the prophets, and the Lord Himself, who rose from the dead, and in whom many of the circumcision believe, as they hear Moses and the prophets announcing the coming of the Son of God. However, those who mock the truth claim that these men were from a different essence. They do not recognize the first-begotten from the dead, seeing Christ as a separate being, who remained impassible, and Jesus, who suffered, as completely separate from Him.

FOR THEY DO NOT RECEIVE FROM THE FATHER THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON: nor do they learn who the Father is from the Son, who teaches clearly and without parables Him who truly is God. He says: “Do not swear at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.” These words are clearly spoken about the Creator, as Isaiah also says: “Heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool.” Besides this Being, there is no other God; otherwise, He would not be called by the Lord either “God” or “the great King,” for a Being who can be described this way allows neither any other being to be compared with nor placed above Him. For one who has any superior over him, and is under the power of another, can never be called either “God” or “the great King.”

BUT NEITHER CAN THESE MEN CLAIM THAT SUCH WORDS WERE SPOKEN SARCASTICALLY: since the words themselves prove they were sincere. For He who spoke them was Truth, and He truly defended His own house by driving out the money changers who were buying and selling, saying to them: “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.” And what reason did He have for doing and saying this, and defending His house, if He preached another God? But He did it to point out the transgressors of His Father’s law; for He did not accuse the house, nor did He blame the law, which He had come to fulfill; rather, He reproved those who were using His house improperly and those who were breaking the law. Therefore, the scribes and Pharisees, who since the times of the law had begun to despise God, did not accept His Word, meaning they did not believe in Christ. About them, Isaiah says: “Your rulers are rebellious, companions of thieves, loving gifts, pursuing rewards, not judging the fatherless, and neglecting the cause of the widows.” And similarly, Jeremiah says: “Those who rule my people do not know me; they are senseless and imprudent children; they are wise to do evil, but they do not know how to do good.”

BUT AS MANY AS FEARED GOD AND WERE CONCERNED ABOUT HIS LAW: these turned to Christ and were all saved. For He said to His disciples: “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And it is said that many more Samaritans, when the Lord stayed with them for two days, “believed because of His words and said to the woman, Now we believe not because of your words, for we have heard Him ourselves and know that this man is truly the Savior of the world.” Paul likewise declares, “And so all Israel shall be saved,” and he also said that the law was our guide to bring us to Christ Jesus. Therefore, let them not blame the law for the unbelief of some among them. For the law never prevented them from believing in the Son of God; indeed, it even urged them to do so, saying that people can be saved in no other way from the old wound of the serpent than by believing in Him who, in the likeness of sinful flesh, is lifted up from the earth upon the tree of martyrdom, draws everything to Himself, and gives life to the dead.

AGAIN: regarding their malicious claim that if heaven is indeed the throne of God, and earth His footstool, and if it is stated that heaven and earth will pass away, then when these pass away, the God who sits above must also pass away, and therefore He cannot be the God who is over all; first, they do not understand what it means that heaven is His throne and earth His footstool. They do not know what God is, imagining Him to sit like a man and be contained within limits, but not as one who contains all.

They are also unaware of the meaning of the passing away of heaven and earth; yet Paul was not ignorant of it when he said, “For the form of this world passes away.” Furthermore, David answers their question, stating that when the form of this world passes away, not only shall God remain, but His servants will too, as he expresses in the 101st Psalm: “In the beginning, You, O God, have founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.

They shall perish, but You shall endure, and all shall grow old like a garment; and like clothing You will change them, and they shall be changed: but You are the same, and Your years will not fail. The children of Your servants shall continue, and their descendants will be established forever;” clearly showing what things pass away, and who it is that endures forever—God, along with His servants. Similarly, Isaiah says: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall grow old like a garment, and those who live on it shall die in like manner.

But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not pass away.”

MOREOVER: regarding Jerusalem and the Lord, some claim that if it had been "the city of the great King," it would not have been abandoned. This is like saying that if straw were created by God, it would never separate from the wheat; and that vine branches, if made by God, would never be pruned and stripped of their clusters.

However, these branches were not originally made for their own sake, but for the fruit growing on them. Once the fruit matures and is harvested, the branches are left behind, and those that do not produce fruit are entirely cut off.

Similarly, this was the case with Jerusalem, which had borne the yoke of bondage (under which humanity was placed, not being subject to God when death reigned, and upon being subdued, became suitable for freedom). When the fruit of liberty matured and was gathered, and those capable of producing fruit were taken from her—spread throughout the world. As Isaiah says, "The children of Jacob will take root, and Israel will flourish, and the whole world will be filled with his fruit." Consequently, after the fruit was sown across the world, Jerusalem was justly forsaken, and the elements that once produced abundant fruit were removed; for from these, according to the flesh, Christ and the apostles were able to produce fruit.

But now these are no longer useful for producing fruit. For all things that have a beginning in time must, of course, have an end in time as well.

SINCE THE LAW ORIGINATED WITH MOSES: it ended with John as a necessary outcome. Christ came to fulfill it; therefore, "the law and the prophets were" with them "until John." Consequently, Jerusalem, which began with David and fulfilled its own times, had to end its legislation when the new covenant was revealed. For God does everything with measure and in order; nothing is without measure with Him, because nothing is out of order. It was well said by the one who mentioned that the immeasurable Father was Himself subjected to measure in the Son; for the Son is the measure of the Father, as He also comprehends Him. But Isaiah speaks of the temporary nature of their administration: "And the daughter of Zion shall be left as a cottage in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers." And when shall these things be left behind? Is it not when the fruit is taken away, and only the leaves remain, which now have no power to produce fruit?

BUT WHY DO WE TALK ABOUT JERUSALEM: since the way of the whole world must also end when its time has come, so that the fruit can be gathered into the storehouse, and the chaff, left behind, can be burned by fire? "For the day of the Lord comes like a burning furnace, and all sinners will be stubble—those who do evil—and the day will burn them up." Now, John the Baptist points out who this Lord is, referring to Christ, saying, "He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, having His fan in His hand to cleanse His floor; He will gather His fruit into the storehouse, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." The one who makes the chaff and the wheat is not different; it is the same person who judges and separates them.

But the wheat and the chaff, being without life and reason, have been made as such by nature.

However, man, endowed with reason and in this aspect similar to God, having been made free in will and with control over himself, is the cause of himself becoming either wheat or chaff.

Therefore, he will be justly condemned because, having been created a rational being, he lost true rationality and, living irrationally, opposed the righteousness of God, giving himself over to every earthly desire and serving all lusts.

As the prophet says, "Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was likened to senseless beasts, and became like them."

GOD IS THE SAME ONE WHO ROLLS UP THE HEAVENS LIKE A SCROLL AND RENEWS THE EARTH: He created time for humans so that as they mature, they may achieve immortality. Through His kindness, He grants eternal things, "that in the ages to come He may show the exceeding riches of His grace." He was announced by the law and the prophets, and Christ acknowledged Him as His Father. He is the Creator and God over all, as Isaiah says, "I am witness, says the God, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know, believe, and understand that I am He. There was no God before me, and there will be none after me. I am God, and besides me, there is no Savior. I have proclaimed, and I have saved." And again: "I am the first God, and I am above things to come." He expresses these truths not ambiguously, arrogantly, or boastfully, but because it is impossible to know God without God revealing Himself. Through His Word, He teaches people to know Him. Therefore, to those who are unaware of these truths and think they have found another Father, it is right to say, "You do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God."

OUR LORD AND MASTER: in His response to the Sadducees, who claim there is no resurrection and therefore dishonor God and diminish the law, indicated a resurrection and revealed God by saying to them, "You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." Regarding the resurrection of the dead, He says, "Have you not read what God spoke, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?" He added, "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him." Through these arguments, He clearly showed that He who spoke to Moses from the bush, declaring Himself as the God of the fathers, is indeed the God of the living.

For who is the God of the living except He who is God, with no one above Him? This is the same God whom Daniel the prophet proclaimed when King Cyrus of Persia asked him, "Why don't you worship Bel?" Daniel answered, "Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who established heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh." He also said, "I will adore the Lord my God, because He is the living God." Hence, the One whom the prophets adored as the living God is indeed the God of the living; and His Word is the One who spoke to Moses, silenced the Sadducees, and gave the gift of resurrection, thus revealing both the resurrection and the true nature of God to those who are blind.

If He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and yet was called the God of the fathers who were asleep, they indubitably live to God and have not ceased to exist, as they are children of the resurrection. Our Lord Himself is the resurrection, as He declares, "I am the resurrection and the life." The fathers are His children, for the prophet says, "Instead of your fathers, your children have been made to you." Therefore, Christ Himself, along with the Father, is the God of the living, who spoke to Moses and was revealed to the fathers.

AND TEACHING THIS VERY THING: He said to the Jews: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” What is meant? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” First, he believed that He was the maker of heaven and earth, the only God; and second, that He would make his descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. This is what Paul means when he says, “as lights in the world.” Righteously, therefore, having left his earthly family, he followed the Word of God, walking as a pilgrim with the Word, so that he might later have his home with the Word.

RIGHTEOUSLY: the apostles, being descendants of Abraham, left the ship and their father to follow the Word. Similarly, we righteously, having the same faith as Abraham and carrying the cross as Isaac carried the wood, follow Him. Through Abraham, humanity had previously learned and become accustomed to following the Word of God. For Abraham, in accordance with his faith, followed the command of the Word of God and willingly offered his only-begotten and beloved son as a sacrifice to God. This was so that God might also be pleased to offer His own beloved and only-begotten Son as a sacrifice for the redemption of all his descendants.

SINCE: therefore, Abraham was a prophet and foresaw in the Spirit the day of the Lord’s coming and the dispensation of His suffering, through whom both he and all who, following the example of his faith, trust in God, should be saved, he rejoiced greatly. The Lord, therefore, was not unknown to Abraham, whose day he desired to see; nor was the Lord's Father, for Abraham had learned from the Word of the Lord and believed Him. This is why it was counted to him by the Lord as righteousness. For faith towards God justifies a man; that is why Abraham said, “I will stretch forth my hand to the most high God, who made the heaven and the earth.” However, those holding perverse opinions try to overthrow all these truths because of one passage, which they certainly do not understand correctly.

THE LORD REVEALED HIMSELF TO HIS DISCIPLES AS THE WORD: who provides knowledge of the Father, and reproved the Jews who believed they knew God, but rejected His Word, through whom God is revealed. He declared, "No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." Matthew wrote this, and Luke and Mark recorded it similarly; however, John does not mention this passage. Yet, those who think they are wiser than the apostles write the verse as: "No one knew the Father, except the Son; nor the Son, except the Father, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." They interpret this to mean that the true God was unknown before our Lord's coming, and they claim that the God announced by the prophets is not the Father of Christ.

BUT IF CHRIST ONLY STARTED TO EXIST WHEN HE CAME INTO THE WORLD AS A MAN: and if the Father only remembered during the time of Tiberius Caesar to care for humanity, and if His Word wasn't always alongside His creations, then there was no need to declare another God. Instead, the reasons for such great carelessness and neglect on His part should be examined. It is appropriate that no such question should arise and gain strength, for it would change God and destroy our faith in the Creator who supports us through His creation. As we direct our faith towards the Son, we should also have a firm and unshakeable love for the Father. In his book against Marcion, Justin rightly says: "I would not have believed the Lord Himself if He had announced anyone other than the one who is our creator, maker, and provider. But because the only-begotten Son came to us from the one God who made this world, formed us, and oversees all things, bringing together His own work in Himself, my faith in Him is steadfast, and my love for the Father is immovable, with God granting both to us."

NO ONE CAN KNOW THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD: meaning through the Son revealing Him; nor can anyone have knowledge of the Son except through the good pleasure of the Father. The Son does the Father's good pleasure; the Father sends, and the Son is sent, and comes. His Word knows that His Father is, to us, invisible and infinite, and since no one else can declare Him, He declares Himself to us. On the other hand, only the Father knows His own Word. Both these truths our Lord has declared. Therefore, the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father through His own manifestation. For the manifestation of the Son is the knowledge of the Father, as all things are shown through the Word. So that we might know that the Son who came is the one who gives knowledge of the Father to those who believe in Him, He said to His disciples, “No one knows the Son but the Father, nor the Father but the Son, and those to whom the Son reveals Him,” thus presenting Himself and the Father as they truly are, so that we may not accept any other Father except Him who is revealed by the Son.

THE TRUE FATHER IS THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH: as His words reveal, and not the false father invented by Marcion, Valentinus, Basilides, Carpocrates, Simon, or the rest of the so-called "Gnostics." None of these was the Son of God; but Christ Jesus our Lord was, and their teachings oppose Him as they boldly speak of an unknown God. They should consider this against themselves: How is He unknown if they know Him? For whatever is known even by a few is not unknown. The Lord did not say that the Father and the Son could not be known at all, because if that were true, His coming would have been pointless. Why did He come here? Was it to tell us, "Don't bother seeking after God; for He is unknown, and you shall not find Him," as the disciples of Valentinus falsely claim Christ said to their Æons? This is indeed futile. The Lord taught us that no one can know God unless taught by God, meaning God cannot be known without God; but it is the clear will of the Father that God should be known. For those to whom the Son has revealed Him shall know Him.

THE FATHER REVEALED THE SON SO THAT THROUGH HIM: He could be shown to everyone and welcome the righteous who believe in Him into immortality and eternal happiness (believing in Him means doing His will). However, He will justly exclude those who do not believe, choosing darkness and avoiding His light. Thus, the Father has revealed Himself to everyone by making His Word visible to all; and in turn, the Word has made the Father and the Son known to everyone, as He has become visible to all. Therefore, the righteous judgment of God will come upon all who, like others, have seen but have not, like others, believed.

THROUGH CREATION ITSELF: the Word reveals God the Creator. Through the world, He declares the Lord, the Maker of the world. Through the formation of humanity, He shows the Artificer who formed people; and by the Son, the Father who begat the Son is revealed. These things address all people similarly, but not everyone believes them in the same way. Through the law and the prophets, the Word preached both Himself and the Father to all; and everyone heard Him in the same way, but not everyone believed the same. Through the Word Himself, made visible and tangible, the Father was shown, although not everyone equally believed in Him; yet all saw the Father in the Son: for the Father is the invisible aspect of the Son, and the Son is the visible of the Father. For this reason, all spoke with Christ when He was present on earth and called Him God. Even the demons exclaimed upon seeing the Son, “We know who You are, the Holy One of God.” And the devil, observing and tempting Him, said, “If You are the Son of God.” Thus, they all saw and spoke of the Son and the Father, but not all believed in them.

IT WAS FITTING FOR THE TRUTH TO RECEIVE TESTIMONY FROM EVERYONE AND SERVE AS A MEANS OF JUDGMENT: salvation for those who believe and condemnation for those who do not. This ensures that everyone is fairly judged and that faith in the Father and Son is recognized by all as the sole path to salvation. This faith should receive testimony from all, including both those who embrace it as friends and those who oppose it as enemies. For true evidence cannot be denied, even when it compels adversaries to provide compelling testimonies; they are convinced by their own reflection on the matter, testifying and affirming it, although later they may turn against it and wish to undermine their own testimony.

The one who was recognized was the same who stated, "No one knows the Father," indicating that all things were made subject to Him. He received testimony from all: the Father, the Spirit, angels, creation, men, fallen spirits, demons, the enemy, and finally, from death itself, confirming that He was truly man and truly God. The Son manages everything on behalf of the Father, working from the beginning to the end, and no one can know God without Him. The Son embodies the knowledge of the Father, and this knowledge is found in the Father and has been revealed through the Son. This is why the Lord said, "No one knows the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." The phrase "shall reveal" was not limited to the future, as if the Word began to show the Father only when born of Mary, but it applies universally throughout all time. The Son, present with His creation from the start, reveals the Father to all, according to His will, at the time He chooses, as the Father wishes. Therefore, in all things and through all things, there is one God, the Father, one Word, one Son, one Spirit, and one salvation to all who believe in Him.

THEREFORE: Abraham also, knowing the Father through the Word, who made heaven and earth, confessed Him to be God. Having learned through a message that the Son of God would be a man among men and that His coming would make his descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, he longed to see that day so that he could embrace Christ himself. Seeing it through the spirit of prophecy, he rejoiced. Simeon, one of his descendants, fulfilled the rejoicing of the patriarch and said, “Lord, now you let Your servant depart in peace. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all people: a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of the people Israel.” Similarly, the angels announced news of great joy to the shepherds who were keeping watch by night. Moreover, Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my salvation,”—the rejoicing of Abraham spreading to his descendants—those who were watching, who saw Christ, and believed in Him; meanwhile, there was a reciprocal rejoicing passing back from the children to Abraham, who had also wished to see the day of Christ’s coming. Rightly, then, did our Lord testify about him, saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

These things were said not just for Abraham’s sake, but also to show that everyone who has known God from the beginning and foretold Christ's coming received revelation from the Son Himself. In the last times, He became visible and able to suffer, and He spoke with humanity so that He could raise children for Abraham from the stones and fulfill the promise God gave him, making his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. John the Baptist says, “For God is able to raise children for Abraham from these stones.” Jesus accomplished this by moving us away from the worship of stones, taking us from hard and fruitless thoughts, and establishing in us a faith like Abraham’s. Paul also confirms this, saying we are children of Abraham because of our similar faith and the promise of inheritance.

HE IS: therefore, the same God who called Abraham and gave him the promise. He is the Creator, who also prepares lights in the world through Christ, namely, those who believe from among the Gentiles. He says, "You are the light of the world," meaning, as the stars of heaven. Therefore, I have rightly shown that no one can know Him, except through the Son, and to whomever the Son reveals Him. The Son reveals the Father to all whom He chooses to make Him known; and without the goodwill of the Father and the agency of the Son, no one can know God. This is why the Lord said to His disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also, and from now on, you have both known Him and seen Him." These words clearly show that He is known through the Son, that is, through the Word.

THEREFORE: the Jews have turned away from God by not accepting His Word, thinking they could know the Father by Himself, without the Word, which is the Son. They are unaware of the God who spoke in human form to Abraham and again to Moses, saying, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people in Egypt and have come down to deliver them.” The Son, who is the Word of God, arranged these things from the beginning, the Father not needing angels to call creation into being or to form man, for whom creation was also made; nor needing any tools to create or order things related to man while having countless servants. His offspring and likeness serve Him in every way; that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom, whom all the angels serve and to whom they are subject. Therefore, those are misguided who, because of the statement, “No man knows the Father but the Son,” introduce another unknown Father.

Marcion and his followers' effort to exclude Abraham from the inheritance is also futile. The Spirit, through many people and now through Paul, testifies that "he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." The Lord also testifies to him, first by raising up children for him from stones and making his descendants like the stars of heaven, saying, "They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and will sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven," and again by telling the Jews, "When you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of heaven, but you yourselves are cast out." Clearly, those who deny his salvation and imagine another God besides the one who made the promise to Abraham are outside the kingdom of God and are disinherited from the gift of incorruption. They disregard and blaspheme God, who, through Jesus Christ, introduces Abraham to the kingdom of heaven, along with his descendants, that is, the Church, which also receives the adoption and the inheritance promised to Abraham.

The Lord vindicated Abraham’s descendants by freeing them from bondage and calling them to salvation, similar to when He healed the woman and said to those without faith like Abraham, “You hypocrites, doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey and lead it to water? Shouldn't this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, be freed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Clearly, He freed and revived those who believe in Him as Abraham did, without doing anything against the law when He healed on the Sabbath.

The law did not forbid healing on the Sabbath; in fact, it allowed circumcision on that day and required priests to perform duties for the people. It didn’t even prohibit healing animals. Both in Siloam and on many other occasions, He healed on the Sabbath, and for this reason, many came to Him on the Sabbath. The law commanded them to refrain from all servile work, meaning from all pursuit of wealth through trading or other worldly activities, but encouraged them to engage in spiritual exercises, involving reflection and helpful communication for their neighbors' benefit.

THEREFORE: the Lord reproved those who unjustly criticized Him for healing on the Sabbath. He did not nullify the law but fulfilled it by performing the duties of the high priest, seeking favor from God for people, cleansing lepers, healing the sick, and suffering death Himself, so that exiled man might be freed from condemnation and might return without fear to his rightful heritage.

AND AGAIN: the law did not forbid those who were hungry on the Sabbath to take food that was readily available; it did, however, forbid them to reap and gather into the barn.

Therefore, the Lord responded to those accusing His disciples of plucking and eating heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry; how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread, and gave it to those with him, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?" He justified His disciples by the words of the law and pointed out that it was lawful for the priests to act freely.

David had been appointed a priest by God, despite Saul's persecution. For all the righteous hold the priestly rank. All the apostles of the Lord are priests, who inherit neither lands nor houses here, but serve God and the altar continually. Moses also said of them in Deuteronomy, when blessing Levi, "Who said to his father and mother, 'I have not known you'; he did not acknowledge his brethren, and he disinherited his own sons: he kept Your commandments and observed Your covenant." But who left father and mother, and bade farewell to all their neighbors for the sake of the word of God and His covenant, if not the disciples of the Lord? Of whom Moses also said, "They shall have no inheritance, for the Lord Himself is their inheritance." And again, "The priests, the Levites, shall have no share in the whole tribe of Levi, nor property with Israel; their portion is the offerings of the Lord: these they shall eat." Therefore, Paul says, "I do not seek after a gift, but I seek after fruit." He told His disciples, who had a priesthood of the Lord and to whom it was lawful to eat the ears of grain when hungry, "For the worker is worthy of his food." The priests in the temple profaned the Sabbath and were blameless.

Why, then, were they blameless? Because while in the temple they were not engaged in secular matters, but in the service of the Lord, fulfilling the law without exceeding it, unlike the man who carried dry wood into God's camp and was justly stoned to death. "For every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and thrown into the fire;" and "whoever defiles the temple of God, God will defile."

ALL THINGS ARE FROM ONE AND THE SAME SUBSTANCE: from one and the same God; as the Lord also says to the disciples, “Every scribe instructed for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” He did not mean that one person brought out the old and another brought out the new, but that they were one and the same. For the Lord is the good householder, who governs the entire house of His Father; who delivers a law suited for both slaves and the undisciplined; provides fitting precepts to those who are free and justified by faith; and opens His inheritance to those who are sons.

He called His disciples “scribes” and “teachers of the kingdom of heaven;” about whom He also says elsewhere to the Jews: “Behold, I send you wise men, scribes, and teachers; and some of them you will kill and persecute from city to city.” Clearly, He refers to the things brought out from the treasure as the two covenants; the old, the law given in the past; and He identifies as the new, the manner of life required by the Gospel, as David says, “Sing a new song;” and Isaiah, “Sing a new hymn.

His beginning, His name is glorified from the height of the earth: they declare His powers in the islands.” And Jeremiah says: “Behold, I will make a new covenant, not like the one I made with your fathers on Mount Horeb.” But it is one and the same householder who brought forth both covenants: the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke with both Abraham and Moses, and who has restored us to liberty, and has multiplied the grace from Himself.

HE DECLARES: "For here is One greater than the temple." The terms greater and lesser are not used for things that have nothing in common and are opposites, but for things of the same kind that share properties and only differ in quantity and size, like water from water, light from light, and grace from grace.

Thus, the legislation given for freedom is greater than that given for bondage; it is spread not just to one nation but to the whole world.

The same Lord, who is greater than the temple, Solomon, and Jonah, gives gifts to people, like His presence and resurrection from the dead, but He does not change God or proclaim another Father, but the same one who always has more to give to His family. As their love for God grows, He gives more and greater gifts. The Lord said to His disciples, "You shall see greater things than these." Paul states, "Not that I have already attained, or am justified, or have been made perfect.

We know in part and prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will disappear." When the perfect comes, we will not see another Father but the one we desire to see now, for "blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." We will not look for another Christ and Son of God, but Him who was born of the Virgin Mary, who also suffered, whom we trust and love. As Isaiah says, "And they shall say in that day, Behold our God, in whom we have trusted, and we have rejoiced in our salvation;" and Peter in his Epistle says, "Whom, not seeing, you love; in whom, though now you see Him not, you believe, you shall rejoice with joy unspeakable;" and we do not receive another Holy Spirit besides Him who is with us and cries, "Abba, Father;" and we will grow and progress, not seeing through a glass or in riddles, but face to face, enjoying the gifts of God.

Now, receiving more than the temple and Solomon, with the coming of the Son of God, we have not been taught another God besides the Creator and Maker of all, shown to us from the beginning, nor another Christ, the Son of God, besides Him foretold by the prophets.

THE NEW COVENANT: known and preached by the prophets, was to be fulfilled by Him who was revealed according to the Father's will. This was made known to people as God desired, so they might grow in faith and, through successive covenants, gradually achieve perfect salvation. There is one salvation and one God, but the teachings that shape a person are many, and the steps leading to God are not few. If an earthly king, though just a man, can grant his subjects greater benefits at times, should it not be lawful for God, who is always the same, to continually give greater grace to humanity and honor those who please Him with many gifts?

If progressing means discovering another Father besides the one preached from the beginning, and then finding another after the second, then this person's progress consists in moving from a third to a fourth, and so on. Thus, anyone thinking they are making such progress will never settle in one God. Being led away from the true God, they will always seek but never find Him, endlessly lost in a boundless abyss, unless they repent and return to where they were cast out, acknowledging one God, the Father, the Creator, and believing in Him who was declared by the law and the prophets and testified to by Christ. Christ Himself addressed those who accused His disciples of not following the traditions of the elders, saying, “Why do you make void the law of God because of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or mother, let him die.'” He repeated to them, “You have made void the word of God because of your tradition,” plainly confessing the Father and God, who said in the law, “Honor your father and mother, that it may be well with you.” For the true God acknowledged the commandment of the law as the word of God and called no one else God besides His own Father.

THEREFORE: John appropriately recounts that the Lord said to the Jews: “You search the Scriptures, in which you think you have eternal life; these are they which testify of me. And you are not willing to come to Me, that you may have life.” How then did the Scriptures testify of Him, unless they were from the same Father, instructing people beforehand about the coming of His Son and foretelling the salvation brought by Him? “For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me also; for he wrote of Me,” surely, because the Son of God is present throughout his writings: at one time, speaking with Abraham when about to eat with him; at another time with Noah, giving him the dimensions of the ark; then inquiring after Adam; at another, bringing judgment upon the Sodomites; and again, when He appears and guides Jacob on his journey, and speaks with Moses from the bush.

It would be endless to recount all the occasions where the Son of God is revealed by Moses. Regarding the day of His passion, Moses was not unaware, and he foretold it in a symbolic manner by naming the Passover; and during that very festival, long ago proclaimed by Moses, our Lord suffered, thus fulfilling the Passover. Moses not only described the day but also the place and the time of day when the sufferings ended, and the sign of the setting of the sun, saying: “You may not sacrifice the passover within any other of your cities that the God gives you; but in the place which your God chooses for His name to be called on there, you shall sacrifice the passover in the evening, towards the setting of the sun.”

AND HE HAD ALREADY PROCLAIMED HIS COMING: saying, "There shall not fail a chief in Judah, nor a leader from his descendants, until He comes for whom it is reserved, and He is the hope of the nations; binding His foal to the vine, and His donkey's colt to the creeping ivy. He shall wash His robe in wine, and His garment in the blood of grapes; His eyes shall be brighter than wine, and His teeth whiter than milk." Let those reputed to examine everything inquire when a prince and leader ceased from Judah, who is the hope of the nations, who is also the vine, what was the donkey's colt referred to as His, what the clothing, and what the eyes, the teeth, and the wine are, and let them examine each of the points mentioned. They shall find that no one else was announced but our Lord, Christ Jesus. Therefore, Moses, when criticizing the people's ingratitude, said, "You foolish and unwise people, is this how you repay the ?" And again, he indicates that He who from the beginning founded and created them, the Word, who also redeems and gives us life in the last times, is shown as hanging on the tree, and they will not believe in Him. For he says, "And your life shall be hanging before your eyes, and you will not believe your life." And again, "Has not this same one your Father owned you, and made you, and created you?"

THE LORD HAS SHOWN THAT IT WAS NOT ONLY THE PROPHETS AND MANY RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE WHO: through the Holy Spirit, foresaw His coming and prayed to experience the time when they could see their Lord face to face and hear His words. He made this clear when He told His disciples, “Many prophets and righteous people have wanted to see the things you see and have not seen them, and to hear the things you hear and have not heard them.” How, then, could they have both wanted to hear and to see unless they had a foreknowledge of His future coming? But how could they have foreknown it unless they had already received this knowledge from Him? And how do the Scriptures testify about Him, unless all things have always been revealed and shown to believers by one and the same God through the Word? At one time, He communicated with His creation, and at another, He gave His law; at one time, He corrected and at another, encouraged, then freed His servant, and adopted him as a son; and, at the right time, granted an incorruptible inheritance to bring humanity to perfection. For He created humans for growth and increase, as the Scripture states: “Increase and multiply.”

IN THIS WAY: God is different from man: God creates, while man is created. Truly, He who creates remains unchanged, but what is created must have a beginning, middle, and growth. God creates with skill, whereas man is skillfully created. God is perfect in all things, consistent and similar to Himself, as He is all light, all mind, all substance, and the source of all good; but man moves forward and grows towards God. Just as God is always the same, so too shall man, when united with God, continually progress towards God. God never stops blessing or enriching man, and man never stops receiving these blessings and being enriched by God. The person who is grateful to his Maker is the vessel of His goodness and the instrument of His glorification. On the other hand, the ungrateful person, who despises his Maker and does not follow His Word, becomes the vessel of His just judgment. God has promised to give greatly to those who consistently bear fruit and even more to those who have the Lord’s resources. “Well done,” He says, “good and faithful servant: because you have been faithful with little, I will appoint you over many things; enter into the joy of your Lord.” The Lord Himself promises abundantly.

AS: therefore, He has promised to give much to those who now produce fruit, according to the gift of His grace, but not according to the changeableness of "knowledge;" for the Lord remains the same, and the same Father is revealed; thus, the one and the same Lord has granted, through His coming, a greater gift of grace to those of a later time than what He had given to those under the Old Testament. For they used to hear from His servants that the King would come, and they rejoiced to a certain degree because they hoped for His coming; but those who have seen Him present, and have gained freedom, and shared in His gifts, possess a greater amount of grace and a higher degree of joy, rejoicing because of the King’s arrival: as David also says, “My soul shall rejoice in the Lord; it shall be glad in His salvation.” And for this reason, when He entered Jerusalem, all those who were in the way recognized David their king in His sorrow, spread their garments for Him, and decorated the way with green branches, crying out joyfully, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord: hosanna in the highest.” But to the envious wicked stewards, who deceived those under them, and ruled over those of little understanding, and for this reason did not want the king to come, and who said to Him, “Do you hear what these say?” the Lord replied, “Have you never read, Out of the mouths of babes and infants You have perfected praise?”—showing that what David said about the Son of God was fulfilled in Him; and indicating that they were ignorant of the Scripture and God’s plan; but declaring that He was the one announced by the prophets as Christ, whose name is praised in all the earth, and who perfects praise to His Father from the mouths of babes and infants; therefore, His glory has been raised above the heavens.

IF: therefore, the same person is present who was announced by the prophets, our Lord Jesus Christ, and if His arrival has brought a fuller measure of grace and greater gifts to those who have received Him, it is clear that the Father is also the same who was proclaimed by the prophets, and that the Son, upon His coming, did not spread the knowledge of another Father, but of the same one who was preached from the beginning; from whom He has also brought liberty to those who, in a lawful manner, and with a willing mind, and with all their heart, serve Him. However, to scoffers and those not subject to God, who follow external purifications for the praise of people (observances given as a type of future things—the law symbolizing certain things in a shadow, and representing eternal things by the temporal, celestial by the terrestrial), and to those who pretend to observe more than what has been prescribed, as if favoring their own zeal over God Himself, while internally they are full of hypocrisy, greed, and all wickedness—to them, He has assigned everlasting ruin by cutting them off from life.

THE TRADITION OF THE ELDERS: which they claimed to follow from the law, was actually against the law given by Moses. This is why Isaiah declares: “Your dealers mix the wine with water,” indicating that the elders corrupted a pure command of God by mixing it with their flawed tradition. They established a false law opposing the true law, as the Lord pointed out when He asked them, “Why do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” They disregarded God’s law not only by directly transgressing it, but also by opposing it with their own law, which is still known today as pharisaical. In this law, they omit certain things, add others, and interpret some as they see fit, used by their teachers individually. Wanting to uphold these traditions, they refused to submit to the law of God, which prepares them for the coming of Christ. They even criticized the Lord for healing on the Sabbath, which, as I have already mentioned, was not forbidden by the law. They themselves, in a way, performed acts of healing on the Sabbath when they circumcised a man on that day, but they did not criticize themselves for breaking God’s command through tradition and the aforementioned pharisaical law, failing to follow the commandment of the law, which is the love of God.

THE FIRST AND GREATEST COMMANDMENT: and the one that pertains to love for our neighbor, is something the Lord has taught us. He stated that the entire law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. Furthermore, He did not bring down any other commandment greater than this one from heaven but instead reinforced it to His disciples, instructing them to love God with all their heart and others as themselves. If He had come from a different Father, He would not have employed the first and greatest commandment of the law. Instead, He would have surely sought to bring down a greater commandment from the perfect Father, rather than using the one given by the God of the law. Similarly, Paul declares, "Love is the fulfillment of the law," and he states that when all other things are gone, "faith, hope, and love" will remain, and the greatest of these is love. He emphasizes that without the love of God, neither knowledge, the understanding of mysteries, faith, nor prophecy is beneficial, and without love, all are empty and meaningless. Moreover, love makes a person perfect, and he who loves God is perfect both in this world and in the one to come. We never cease to love God; rather, as we continue to reflect on Him, the more we love Him.

IN BOTH THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL: the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord God with your whole heart, followed by a commandment like it, to love your neighbor as yourself. This shows that the author of the law and the Gospel is one and the same. The precepts for a perfect life, being the same in both Testaments, reveal the same God, who has certainly given specific laws suited for each; yet the most important and greatest commandments, without which salvation cannot be achieved, He has urged us to follow in both.

THE LORD ALSO DOES NOT DISMISS GOD WHEN HE SHOWS THAT THE LAW WAS NOT FROM ANOTHER GOD: speaking to the multitude and His disciples like this: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do; but do not follow their works, for they say and do not do. They bind heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift them with a finger.” He did not blame the law given by Moses when He encouraged it to be followed, as Jerusalem was still safe.

Instead, He blamed those people because they repeated the words of the law but were without love. For this reason, they were considered unrighteous before God and their neighbors. As Isaiah also says: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching the doctrines and commandments of men.” He does not refer to the law given by Moses as commandments of men but rather the traditions of the elders that they invented, which made the law of God ineffective, and for this reason, they were not subject to His Word.

This is what Paul says about these men: “For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” And how is Christ the end of the law if He is not also its final purpose? For He who has brought in the end has also initiated the beginning. It is He who says to Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them,” as it has been customary from the beginning for the Word of God to ascend and descend to save those in affliction.

NOW: that the law previously taught humanity the necessity of following Christ, He makes clear when He replied to the one who asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life: “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” When asked, “Which ones?” the Lord again replied: “Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself,”—presenting as a series of steps for those who wished to follow Him, the precepts of the law, as the entrance into life; and what He said to one, He said to all.

But when the questioner claimed, “I have kept all these” (though likely he had not, as otherwise the Lord would not have said, “Keep the commandments”), the Lord, exposing his greed, said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell all you have, and give to the poor; and come, follow me;” promising to those who would act this way, the portion belonging to the apostles. He did not preach to His followers a different God the Father, apart from the one proclaimed by the law from the beginning; nor a different Son; nor the Mother, the thought of the Æon, who existed in suffering and apostasy; nor the Pleroma of the thirty Æons, considered vain and unbelievable; nor that tale invented by other heretics.

But He taught that they should obey the commandments God enjoined from the beginning, eliminate their greed by good works, and follow Christ. That possessions given to the poor cancel former greed was made clear by Zaccheus when he said, “Behold, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone, I restore it fourfold.”

AND THAT THE LORD DID NOT ABOLISH THE NATURAL PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW: by which man is justified—principles which those justified by faith and who pleased God observed before the law was given—but instead extended and fulfilled them, is shown by His words. "For," He said, "it has been said to the people of long ago, Do not commit adultery.

But I tell you, that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And again: "It has been said, You shall not kill.

But I tell you, anyone who is angry with their brother without cause will be in danger of judgment." And, "It has been said, You shall not swear falsely.

But I tell you, Do not swear at all; but let your response be Yes, yes, and No, no." And other statements like these. For all these do not imply an opposition to or overturning of the principles of the past, as Marcion's followers strongly assert; rather, they show a fulfilling and extension of them, as He Himself declares: "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." What did the excess referred to mean? First, we must believe not only in the Father but also in His Son now revealed; for He is the one who leads man into fellowship and unity with God.

Next, we must not only speak but also act; for they spoke but did not act. And we must not only abstain from evil deeds but even from the desire for them. Now He did not teach us these things as being opposed to the law, but as fulfilling the law and instilling in us the varied righteousness of the law. It would have been contrary to the law if He had commanded His disciples to do anything the law prohibited.

But what He did command—namely, not only to abstain from what the law forbids but even from desiring them—is not contrary to the law, as I have noted, nor is it the teaching of one destroying the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and providing greater scope to it.

THE LAW: given for those in bondage, used to instruct the soul through physical and external objects, binding it to obey its commandments so that people might learn to serve God. But the Word set the soul free, teaching that through it, the body should be willingly purified. Once this was achieved, it naturally followed that the bonds of slavery should be removed, allowing people to follow God without restrictions. Furthermore, the laws of liberty should be broadened, and loyalty to the king increased, so that no one who is converted would seem unworthy to Him who set them free. Both servants and children should equally offer the piety and obedience owed to the Master of the household, while children should have greater confidence, since the power of liberty is greater and more glorious than obedience given in slavery.

AND FOR THIS REASON THE LORD: instead of the commandment, “You shall not commit adultery,” also forbade even lust; and instead of “You shall not kill,” He prohibited anger; and instead of the law requiring the giving of tithes, He instructed us to share all our possessions with the poor; and to love not only our neighbors, but even our enemies; and not just to be generous givers, but even to offer a gift to those who take away our belongings.

For “to him who takes away your coat,” He says, “give him your cloak also; and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask for them back; and as you would have others do to you, do to them:” so that we may not grieve like those unwilling to be wronged, but rejoice as those who give willingly, acting as if conferring a favor upon our neighbors rather than yielding to necessity. “And if anyone,” He says, “compels you to go a mile, go with him two;” so that you may not follow him as a slave, but may go ahead as a free person, showing yourself in everything to be kind and useful to your neighbor, not considering their evil intentions, but performing your kind acts, becoming like the Father, “who makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust.” Now all these teachings, as I have already mentioned, were not the commands of one abolishing the law, but of one fulfilling, expanding, and widening it among us; as if to say that the greater operation of freedom implies that a deeper commitment and affection towards our Liberator has been implanted within us.

For He did not set us free so that we would depart from Him (indeed, no one, while separated from the Lord’s benefits, has the power to obtain the means of salvation for himself), but that the more we receive His grace, the more we should love Him. And the more we love Him, the more glory we shall receive from Him, when we are continually in the presence of the Father.

SINCE ALL NATURAL PRECEPTS ARE COMMON TO BOTH US AND THE JEWS: they indeed had the beginning and origin, but with us, these precepts have grown and reached completion. To trust in God, to follow His Word, to love Him above all else, to love one’s neighbor as oneself (since a person is a neighbor to another person), and to abstain from every evil deed, along with all other similar practices common to both covenants, reveal one and the same God.

This God is our Lord, the Word of God, who first drew slaves to God, but later set free those who were under Him. As He Himself tells His disciples, “I will not now call you servants, because the servant does not know what his lord does; but I have called you friends, for all things I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” When He says, “I will not now call you servants,” He clearly indicates that it was He who first established the servitude of people to God through the law, and then later granted them freedom.

When He says, “For the servant does not know what his lord does,” He highlights the ignorance of people in a servile condition through His own coming. By calling His disciples “the friends of God,” He openly declares Himself as the Word of God, whom Abraham also followed freely and without coercion because of the noble nature of his faith, thus becoming “the friend of God.” The Word of God did not seek Abraham’s friendship out of need, for He was perfect from the beginning (“Before Abraham was,” He says, “I am”), but in His goodness, He sought to bestow eternal life upon Abraham himself, as the friendship of God grants immortality to those who embrace it.

IN THE BEGINNING: God created Adam, not because He needed man, but so He could bestow His benefits on someone. Before creating Adam and everything else, the Word glorified His Father, remaining in Him, and was glorified by the Father. As He Himself declared, “Father, glorify Me with the glory I had with You before the world began.” He didn’t require our service when He asked us to follow Him; instead, He granted us salvation. Following the Savior is sharing in salvation, and following the light is receiving light.

Those who are in the light do not illuminate the light themselves, but are illuminated and revealed by it, contributing nothing to it, but benefiting by being illuminated. Similarly, serving God does not benefit God, nor does God need human obedience; but He grants life, incorruption, and eternal glory to those who follow and serve Him, benefiting them because they serve and follow Him, but He doesn’t gain anything from them: for He is rich, perfect, and needs nothing.

God requires service from people so that, as a good and merciful being, He can benefit those who continue serving Him. As God needs nothing, man needs fellowship with God. This is the glory of man: to continue and remain permanently in God’s service.

Therefore, the Lord said to His disciples, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you,” showing that they did not glorify Him by following Him; rather, in following the Son of God, they were glorified by Him.

And again, “I will that where I am, they also may be, that they may behold My glory,” not boasting in vain from this, but wanting His disciples to share His glory. Isaiah also says, “I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; and I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not hold back: bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; all who have been called in My name: for in My glory I have prepared, formed, and made them.” Since “wherever the body is, there the eagles will gather,” we do share in the glory of the Lord, who has formed and prepared us for this, so that when we are with Him, we may share in His glory.

GOD CREATED MAN INITIALLY BECAUSE OF HIS GENEROSITY: He chose the patriarchs for their salvation, prepared a people in advance, teaching the stubborn to follow God, and raised up prophets on earth, getting humanity used to bearing His Spirit and communicating with God. God, needing nothing, granted communion with Himself to those who needed it, designing the plan of salvation for those who pleased Him. He guided those who did not see Him in Egypt, and for those who became disobedient in the desert, He gave a law suitable for them. He gave a noble inheritance to the people who entered the good land and celebrated those who returned to the Father, presenting them with the finest robe. Thus, in various ways, He adjusted humanity to align with salvation. This is also why John declares in the Apocalypse, “And His voice as the sound of many waters.” For the Spirit of God is truly like many waters, since the Father is rich and great. The Word, passing through all these individuals, generously bestowed benefits upon His followers by providing a law that was adapted and applicable to every group among them.

THUS: He also commanded the Jewish people to construct the tabernacle and build the temple, choose the Levites, and perform sacrifices, offerings, legal warnings, and all other service required by the law. He truly doesn't need any of these things, for He is always full of all good and possessed all the fragrance of kindness and every scent of sweet-smelling aromas even before Moses existed. Moreover, He guided the people, who were inclined to turn to idols, by repeatedly urging them to persevere and serve God, directing them to important matters through less significant ones; that is, to real things through symbolic ones; and from the temporary to the eternal; and from the physical to the spiritual; and from the earthly to the heavenly; as was also said to Moses, “You shall make all things according to the pattern you saw on the mount.” For forty days, he was learning to remember the words of God, the celestial patterns, and spiritual images, and the types of things to come; as Paul also says: “For they drank from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.” And again, after first mentioning what is found in the law, he says: “Now all these things happened to them as examples, but they were written for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.” Through these examples, they learned to fear God and remain dedicated to His service.

They (the Jews) therefore had a law, a system of discipline, and a prophecy of future things. For God, at first, warned them through natural precepts, which He had implanted in mankind from the beginning, that is, through the Decalogue (which, if anyone does not follow, he has no salvation), and demanded nothing more from them. As Moses says in Deuteronomy, "These are all the words which the Lord spoke to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel on the mountain, and He added no more; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me." He did this so that those willing to follow Him might keep these commandments.

BUT WHEN THEY TURNED TO MAKING A CALF: and in their minds reverted to Egypt, wanting to be slaves instead of free people, they were placed in a future state of servitude suitable to their desire—a slavery that did not disconnect them from God but subjected them to the yoke of bondage. As Ezekiel the prophet, when explaining the reasons for giving such a law, declares: "And their eyes followed the desire of their heart; and I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they shall not live." Luke also records that Stephen, who was the first chosen into the diaconate by the apostles, and who was the first to be killed for the testimony of Christ, spoke about Moses as follows: "This man did indeed receive the commandments of the living God to give to us, whom your ancestors would not obey, but pushed [Him away], and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, Make us gods to go before us; for we do not know what happened to [this] Moses, who led us from the land of Egypt.

And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their own hands.

But God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets: O house of Israel, have you offered to Me sacrifices and offerings for forty years in the wilderness? And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god Remphan, figures which you made to worship them;" clearly indicating that this law, being such, was not given to them by another God, but that, adapted to their condition of servitude, it originated from the same God we worship.

Therefore, He also says to Moses in Exodus: "I will send My angel before you; for I will not go up with you, because you are a stiff-necked people."

ADDITIONALLY: the Lord also showed that certain rules were enacted for them by Moses due to their stubbornness and unwillingness to obey. When they asked Him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of divorce and send a wife away?” He replied, “Because of the hardness of your hearts, he permitted these things to you; but from the beginning it was not so.” By saying this, He was clearing Moses as a faithful servant while acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male and female, and criticizing them for being hard-hearted and disobedient. This is why they received from Moses this law of divorce, tailored to their hard nature. But why do I mention these things concerning the Old Testament? For in the New Testament, the apostles were also found doing the same thing for the reasons mentioned. Paul clearly stated, “But these things I say, not the Lord.” And again: “But this I speak by permission, not by commandment.” And further: “Now, concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give my opinion, as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful.” Additionally, in another passage he says: “That Satan may not tempt you for your lack of self-control.” If, therefore, even in the New Testament, the apostles are found granting certain teachings in consideration of human weakness, due to the lack of self-control of some, lest such persons, having grown obstinate and despairing of their salvation, should leave God,—it should not be surprising that in the Old Testament, the same God allowed similar concessions for the benefit of His people, guiding them through the laws mentioned, so that they might gain the gift of salvation through them, while they followed the Ten Commandments, and being restrained by Him, would not return to idolatry or turn away from God, but learn to love Him wholeheartedly. And if some people, due to the disobedient and lost Israelites, claim that the giver of the law was limited in power, they will find in our teaching, that “many are called, but few chosen;” and that there are those who are wolves inwardly, yet wear sheep’s clothing outwardly; and that God has always preserved freedom and self-governance in humans while issuing His own exhortations so that those who do not obey Him would be justly judged because they have not obeyed Him; and that those who have obeyed and believed in Him should be honored with immortality.

FURTHERMORE: we learn from Scripture itself that God gave circumcision not as the fulfillment of righteousness but as a sign so that the descendants of Abraham might remain identifiable. It states: "God said to Abraham, 'Every male among you shall be circumcised, and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins as a sign of the covenant between Me and you.'" The prophet Ezekiel speaks similarly about the Sabbaths: "I also gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, so they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them." In Exodus, God says to Moses: "You shall observe My Sabbaths because it shall be a sign between Me and you for your generations." These things were given as signs, and the signs were not without symbolism—neither meaningless nor purposeless—since they were given by a wise Creator.

The circumcision of the flesh symbolized the circumcision of the Spirit. For "we," says the apostle, "have been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands." The prophet declares, "Circumcise the hardness of your heart." The Sabbaths taught that we should continue in God’s service every day. "For we have been counted," says the Apostle Paul, "all day long as sheep for the slaughter," meaning consecrated to God, continually ministering to our faith, persevering in it, abstaining from all greed, and not acquiring or possessing treasures on earth.

Moreover, the Sabbath of God, that is, the kingdom, was foreshadowed by creation. In this kingdom, the person who perseveres in serving God will, in a state of rest, share in God’s table.

AND THAT MAN WAS NOT JUSTIFIED BY THESE THINGS: but they were given as a sign to the people, as shown by the fact that Abraham, without circumcision and without observance of Sabbaths, "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness; and he was called the friend of God." Similarly, Lot, without circumcision, was brought out from Sodom, receiving salvation from God. Likewise, Noah, pleasing God despite being uncircumcised, received the dimensions of the ark, the world of the second race of men. Enoch, too, pleased God without circumcision and served as God's messenger to the angels even though he was human, and he was taken up and is preserved until now as a witness of the just judgment of God, because the angels who sinned fell to the earth for judgment, but the man who pleased God was taken up for salvation. Moreover, all the other righteous people who lived before Abraham and the patriarchs who came before Moses were justified independently of the aforementioned things and without the law of Moses. As Moses himself says to the people in Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God made a covenant with you at Horeb. He did not make this covenant with your ancestors, but with you."

3. Why, then, did the Lord not establish the covenant for the ancestors? Because “the law was not made for righteous people.” But the righteous ancestors had the meaning of the Decalogue written in their hearts and souls, meaning they loved the God who created them and did no harm to their neighbor. Therefore, there was no need for them to be warned by prohibitory mandates, because they already possessed the righteousness of the law within themselves. However, when this righteousness and love for God were forgotten and disappeared in Egypt, God, due to His great goodwill towards humanity, needed to reveal Himself through a voice and lead the people powerfully out of Egypt so that humanity might once again become disciples and followers of God. He afflicted the disobedient so they would not disregard their Creator, and He fed them with manna so that they might receive sustenance for their souls, as Moses also says in Deuteronomy: “And fed you with manna, which your ancestors did not know, that you might know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God proceeding out of His mouth does man live.” It commanded love for God and taught fairness towards our neighbor, that we should neither be unjust nor unworthy of God, who prepares people for His friendship through the Decalogue and for harmony with their neighbor—matters that certainly benefit humanity; God, however, needs nothing from people.

AND THEREFORE: the Scripture says, "These words the Lord spoke to all the assembly of the children of Israel on the mount, and He added no more;" for, as I have already noted, He needed nothing from them. And again Moses says: "And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?" These things indeed made man glorious by providing him with what he was lacking, namely, the friendship of God; but they did not benefit God, for God does not need man's love. The glory of God was lacking in man, which he could gain only by serving God. Therefore, Moses says to them again: "Choose life, that you may live, and your descendants, to love the Lord your God, to hear His voice, to hold fast to Him; for this is your life, and the length of your days." Preparing man for this life, the Lord Himself spoke directly to all with the words of the Decalogue; and so, in the same way, they remain with us permanently, receiving extension and increase through His coming in the flesh, but not being abolished.

THE LAWS OF BONDAGE WERE GIVEN ONE BY ONE TO THE PEOPLE BY MOSES: suited for their instruction or punishment, as Moses himself declared: “And He commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments.” Therefore, the things given for bondage, and as a sign to them, He canceled by the new covenant of freedom.

But He has expanded and widened those laws which are natural, noble, and common to all, granting to people generously and without grudging, through adoption, to know God the Father, to love Him with all their heart, and to follow His word unswervingly, while they abstain not only from evil actions but even from the desire for them.

He has also increased the sense of reverence; for sons should have more veneration than slaves, and greater love for their father.

Therefore, the Lord says, “For every idle word that people have spoken, they shall render an account for it on the day of judgment.” And, “he who looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart;” and, “he who is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of judgment.” All this is declared so that we may know that we shall account to God not only for deeds, as slaves, but also for words and thoughts, as those who have truly received the power of freedom, in which condition a person is more severely tested, whether they will reverence, and fear, and love the Lord.

For this reason, Peter says, “that we have not freedom as a cloak of maliciousness,” but as a means of testing and proving faith.

MOREOVER: the prophets clearly indicate that God did not need their slavish obedience, but that certain observances in the law were commanded for their own benefit. Similarly, God did not need their offerings, but required them for the sake of the people who offered them, as the Lord distinctly taught. When He saw them neglecting righteousness and the love of God, and thinking that God could be appeased by sacrifices and other rituals, Samuel spoke to them: “God does not desire burnt offerings and sacrifices, but He wants His voice to be heard.

Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and to listen is better than the fat of rams.” David also says: “You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you opened my ears; burnt offerings for sin You did not require.” He thus teaches them that God desires obedience, which keeps them secure, rather than sacrifices, which do nothing for righteousness; and he also prophesies the new covenant at the same time. He speaks even more clearly in Psalm 50: “For if You had desired sacrifice, I would have given it: You do not delight in burnt offerings.

The true sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart You, God, will not despise.” Since God needs nothing, He says in the previous Psalm: “I will take no calves from your house, nor goats from your folds. For all the animals of the forest are Mine, the herds and the oxen on the mountains: I know all the birds of the skies, and the creatures of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you: for the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” Then, to avoid any assumption that He rejects these things out of anger, He continues, advising man: “Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and fulfill your vows to the Most High; and call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me;” rejecting those things sinners thought could appease God, and showing that He needs nothing; but He advises them towards things that justify man and draw him close to God.

The same declaration is made by Isaiah: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says the Lord. I am full.” After rejecting burnt offerings, sacrifices, and the new moons, sabbaths, festivals, and all associated rituals, He continues exhorting them towards what pertains to salvation: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, take away wickedness from your hearts before My eyes: cease your evil ways, learn to do good, seek justice, relieve the oppressed, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow; and come, let us reason together, says the Lord.”

IT WAS NOT BECAUSE HE WAS ANGRY: like a human, as many dare to say, that He rejected their sacrifices. Instead, it was out of compassion for their blindness and to guide them towards the true sacrifice, by which they can appease God and receive life from Him. As He declares elsewhere, "The sacrifice to God is a troubled heart; a heart glorifying Him who formed it is a sweet aroma to God." For if He had rejected their sacrifices in anger, as if they were unworthy of His compassion, He certainly would not have recommended the very things that could save them. But since God is merciful, He did not withhold good advice from them. After saying through Jeremiah, "What is the use of bringing Me incense from Saba, and cinnamon from a far country? Your burnt-offerings and sacrifices are not acceptable to Me," He continues: "Listen to the word of the Lord, all Judah. These are the words of the God of Israel: Straighten your ways and deeds, and I will establish you in this place. Do not trust in deceitful words, for they are of no benefit, saying, 'The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, it is [here].'"

3. Again, when He points out that it was not for sacrifices that He led them out of Egypt, but so they could forget the Egyptians' idolatry and hear the Lord's voice, which was their salvation and glory, He declares through Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord: Gather your burnt offerings with your sacrifices and eat the meat. For I did not speak to your ancestors or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices on the day I brought them out of Egypt. Instead, I commanded them, saying, Listen to My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and walk in all the ways I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they did not obey or listen; instead, they followed their own evil hearts and went backward, not forward."

AGAIN: He declares through the same man, "But let the one who boasts, boast in this: that they understand and know that I am the Lord, who exercises loving-kindness, righteousness, and judgment on the earth;" He adds, "For in these things I delight, says the Lord," but not in sacrifices or burnt offerings, or oblations. For the people did not receive these commandments as primary, but as secondary, and for the previously mentioned reason, as Isaiah again says: "You have not brought Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, nor have you glorified Me with your sacrifices. You have not served Me with sacrifices, nor have you troubled yourself with incense for Me. You have not bought Me incense with money, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices; but you have stood before Me in your sins and iniquities." Therefore, He says, "I will look upon the one who is humble, meek, and trembles at My words." "For the fat and rich flesh will not take away your unrighteousness." "This is the fast I have chosen, says the Lord: Break every chain of wickedness, undo the ties of oppressive agreements, give relief to those who are shaken, and cancel every unjust document. Share your bread willingly with the hungry, and bring the homeless stranger into your house. If you see the naked, cover them, and do not turn away from your own flesh and blood. Then your light will break forth like the morning, and your healing will spring up quickly; and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will surround you: and while you are speaking, I will say, Here I am."

Zechariah also, among the twelve prophets, points out the will of God to the people, saying: "These things the Omnipotent declares: Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion to each one to his brother. Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor; and let none imagine evil against your brother in his heart." And again, he says: "These are the words you shall speak. Speak the truth, each one to your neighbor, and execute peaceful judgment in your gates, and let none of you imagine evil in his heart against his brother, and do not love false oaths: for all these things I hate, says the Almighty." Moreover, David also says similarly: "Who is the person that desires life and longs to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it."

FROM ALL THIS: it is clear that God did not seek sacrifices and burnt offerings from them, but rather faith, obedience, and righteousness, because of their salvation. As God, when teaching them His will through Hosea the prophet, said, “I desire mercy rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Moreover, our Lord also encouraged them with the same message when He said, "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless." In this way, He testifies to the prophets, affirming that they preached the truth, while criticizing these people (His listeners) for being foolish by their own fault.

AGAIN: instructing His disciples to present to God the first-fruits of His own created things—not because He needs them, but so they might not be unfruitful or ungrateful—He took that created thing, bread, and gave thanks, and said, “This is My body.” And the cup likewise, which is part of that creation to which we belong, He declared to be His blood, and taught the new offering of the new covenant. The Church, receiving this from the apostles, offers it to God throughout the world, to Him who provides us, in the New Testament, with the means of subsistence—the first-fruits of His gifts—about which Malachi, among the twelve prophets, spoke beforehand: “I have no pleasure in you, says the Omnipotent, and I will not accept sacrifice from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense and a pure sacrifice are offered to My name; for great is My name among the Gentiles, says the Omnipotent.” By these words, he clearly indicates that the former people [the Jews] will indeed cease to make offerings to God, but that in every place sacrifice and a pure one will be offered to Him, and His name is glorified among the Gentiles.

BUT WHAT OTHER NAME IS HONORED AMONG THE GENTILES THAN THAT OF OUR LORD: by whom the Father is honored, and humanity also? And because it is the name of His own Son, who was made man by Him, He calls it His own. Just as a king, if he himself paints a portrait of his son, is right to call this portrait his own, for both these reasons: because it is the portrait of his son, and because it is his own creation. In the same way, the Father acknowledges the name of Jesus Christ, which is glorified throughout all the world in the Church, to be His own, both because it is that of His Son, and because He who thus describes it gave Him for the salvation of humanity. Therefore, since the name of the Son belongs to the Father, and since the Church makes offerings through Jesus Christ to the omnipotent God, He rightly says on both these grounds, “And in every place, incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice.” Now John, in the Apocalypse, declares that the “incense” is “the prayers of the saints.”

THE OFFERING OF THE CHURCH: therefore, which the Lord instructed to be offered throughout the world, is considered a pure sacrifice by God and is acceptable to Him; not because He needs a sacrifice from us, but because the one who offers is glorified in what he offers, if his gift is accepted. For through the gift, both honor and affection are shown towards the King; and the Lord, wishing us to offer it with simplicity and innocence, expressed Himself this way: “Therefore, when you offer your gift on the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go your way; first be reconciled with your brother, and then return and offer your gift.” We are bound, therefore, to offer to God the first-fruits of His creation, as Moses also says, “You shall not appear in the presence of the Lord your God empty-handed;” so that a person, being recognized as grateful through the things by which he has shown gratitude, may receive the honor that flows from Him. Amen

The category of offerings in general has not been abolished; for there were offerings back then among the Jews, and there are offerings now among the Christians. There were sacrifices among the people then; there are sacrifices in the Church now, too: however, only the form has changed, since the offering is now made by free people, not by slaves. For the Lord remains the same; but the nature of a slave's offering is distinct from that of free people, so that, through the offerings themselves, the sign of freedom is displayed. With Him, nothing is without purpose, significance, or design. For this reason, the Jews had their tithes of goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received freedom dedicate all their possessions for the Lord’s purposes, giving joyfully and freely not the least valuable parts of their property, having hope for better things to come; just as that poor widow did who gave all she had to the treasury of God.

IN THE BEGINNING: God accepted Abel's gifts because he offered them with sincerity and righteousness. However, God did not accept Cain's offering because Cain's heart was filled with envy and malice towards his brother. God reprimanded Cain's hidden thoughts by saying, “Even if you offer correctly, if you do not divide rightly, haven't you sinned? Be calm.” God is not appeased by mere sacrifice. If someone offers a sacrifice for show—correctly in order and appearance—but does not treat his neighbor with fairness or live in the fear of God, that person harbors secret sin and does not deceive God with outward appearances. Such a sacrifice will not benefit him, but only renouncing the evil he has conceived internally will. This is to prevent sin from making him his own destroyer through hypocrisy.

The Lord declared: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs. The tomb looks beautiful on the outside, but inside it is full of dead bones and all uncleanness. You also appear righteous to people outwardly, but inside you are filled with wickedness and hypocrisy.” Though they offered sacrifices that seemed correct outwardly, they harbored jealousy like Cain, and therefore they killed the Just One, ignoring the counsel of the Word, just as Cain did. God told Cain, “Be calm,” but he didn't listen. “Be calm” means to abstain from intended violence. In saying similar things, God told these men, “You blind Pharisee, clean the inside of the cup so the outside may be clean too,” but they didn't heed His words. Jeremiah says, “Look, neither your eyes nor your heart are good; they turn to your greed, to shed innocent blood, to injustice, and to murder.” Isaiah says, “You have taken counsel, but not from Me; and made covenants, but not by My Spirit.” This is to show that God is blameless and does no evil, revealing what is hidden in the heart. When Cain refused to be calm, God told him, “His desire will be for you, and you shall rule over him.” Similarly, He told Pilate, “You would have no power against Me unless it was given to you from above.” God often allows the righteous to suffer in this life so they may be accepted after being tested, while the evildoer is judged and rejected by his actions. Sacrifices don't sanctify a person, for God does not need them; it is the pure conscience of the offerer that sanctifies the sacrifice, making God accept it as from a friend. “But the sinner,” He says, “who sacrifices a calf to Me, is as if he killed a dog.”

THEREFORE: as the Church offers with single-mindedness, her gift is rightly considered a pure sacrifice to God. As Paul also says to the Philippians, “I am full, having received from Epaphroditus what you sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” It is necessary for us to make an offering to God, and in everything to be found grateful to God our Maker, with a pure mind, sincere faith, well-grounded hope, and fervent love, offering the first fruits of His created things.

The Church alone offers this pure offering to the Creator, giving thanks and offering what is taken from His creation.

But the Jews do not offer in this way: their hands are full of blood because they have not received the Word, through whom offerings are made to God. Likewise, none of the assemblies of the heretics offer this. Some claim that the Father is different from the Creator, thus when they offer what belongs to our creation, they portray Him as covetous of another’s property and desiring what is not His own.

Others, who assert that the things around us originated from apostasy, ignorance, and passion, offend their Father by offering the fruits of ignorance, passion, and apostasy, rather disrespecting Him than giving thanks. How can they be consistent with themselves when they claim the bread over which thanks are given is the body of their Lord, and the cup is His blood, if they do not acknowledge Him as the Son of the Creator of the world, His Word, through whom the wood bears fruit, fountains flow, and the earth produces “first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear”.

5. Then, again, how can they say that the flesh, which is nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood, goes to corruption and does not partake of life? Let them, therefore, either change their opinion or stop offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion agrees with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn supports our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, consistently announcing the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For just as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.

NOW WE OFFER TO HIM: not because He needs it, but to give thanks for His gift and thus sanctify what has been created. Just as God does not need our possessions, we need to offer something to God; as Solomon says: “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord.” For God, who needs nothing, accepts our good works to grant us a reward of His own good things, as our Lord says: “Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you. For I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; sick, and you visited Me; in prison, and you came to Me.” Therefore, although He does not need these services, He desires that we perform them for our own good, so we are not unfruitful. The Word gave the people the precept of making offerings, not because He needed them, but so they might learn to serve God: thus it is His will that we also offer a gift at the altar, frequently and without interruption. The altar is in heaven (for there our prayers and offerings are directed); the temple is likewise there, as John says in Revelation, “And the temple of God was opened.” The tabernacle is also there: “For, behold,” He says, “the tabernacle of God, in which He will dwell with men.”

THE PEOPLE RECEIVED GIFTS: offerings, and all the sacrifices as a representation, as was shown to Moses on the mount, from the one and same God whose name is now glorified in the Church among all nations. It is fitting that these earthly things spread around us should be types of the celestial, both created by the same God. For He could only make an image of spiritual things [to suit our understanding] in this way. But to claim that the super-celestial and spiritual things, which are invisible and ineffable to us, are types of celestial things and of another Pleroma, and to say that God is the image of another Father, is to act as wanderers from the truth and as utterly foolish and stupid people. For, as I have repeatedly shown, such people will find it necessary to continually seek out types of types and images of images and will never be able to focus their minds on one true God. Their imaginations go beyond God, having in their hearts surpassed the Master Himself, being indeed in thought elevated and exalted above Him, but in reality turning away from the true God.

TO THESE INDIVIDUALS: one might justly say (as Scripture itself suggests), To what height above God do you elevate your imaginations, O you rashly elated people? You have heard "that the heavens are measured in the palm of His hand": tell me the measure, and recount the endless multitude of cubits, explain to me the fullness, the breadth, the length, the height, the beginning and end of the measurement — things which the human heart does not understand, nor can it comprehend.

For the heavenly storehouses are indeed vast: God cannot be measured in the heart, and incomprehensible is He in the mind; He who holds the earth in the hollow of His hand. Who perceives the measure of His right hand? Who knows His finger? Or who understands His hand — that hand which measures immensity; that hand which, by its own measure, spreads out the measure of the heavens, and which contains in its hollow the earth with the abysses; which encompasses within itself the breadth, and length, and the depths below, and the height above of the entire creation; which is seen, which is heard and understood, and which is invisible? And for this reason, God is "above all principality, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named," of all things which have been created and established.

He is the one who fills the heavens, and sees the abysses, who is also present with each of us. For He says, “Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off? If any person is hidden in secret places, shall I not see them?” For His hand grasps all things, and it is that hand which illuminates the heavens, and also gives light to the things under the heavens, and examines the hearts, is also present in hidden things, and in our secret thoughts, and does openly nourish and preserve us.

BUT IF PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE FULLNESS AND GREATNESS OF HIS HAND: how can anyone comprehend or know in their heart such a great God? Yet, as if they have now measured and thoroughly investigated Him, and explored Him on every side, they pretend that beyond Him there exists another Pleroma of Æons and another Father; certainly not looking up to heavenly things, but truly descending into a profound abyss of madness. They claim that their Father extends only to the border of those things beyond the Pleroma, while, on the other hand, the Demiurge does not reach as far as the Pleroma; thus, they portray neither of them as being perfect and encompassing all things. For the former will lack in regard to the whole world formed outside of the Pleroma, and the latter in respect of that ideal world which was formed within the Pleroma, and therefore neither can be the God of all. But that no one can fully declare the goodness of God from the things made by Him is clear to everyone. And that His greatness is not lacking but contains all things and extends even to us and is with us, everyone will admit who holds worthy views of God.

REGARDING HIS GREATNESS: it is not possible to know God, for the Father cannot be measured. But regarding His love (for this is what leads us to God through His Word), when we obey Him, we continually learn that there is such a great God. It is He who by Himself has established, chosen, adorned, and encompasses all things, including us and our world. We were made along with those things contained by Him. This is He of whom Scripture says, "And God formed man, taking clay from the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life." It was not angels who made or formed us, nor did angels have the power to create an image of God, nor anyone else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power far from the Father of all things. For God did not need these beings to accomplish what He had decided beforehand should be done, as if He lacked His own hands. With Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and willingly, He made all things. To whom He also speaks, saying, "Let Us make man in Our image and likeness," taking from Himself the substance of the created beings, and the pattern of things made, and the type of all the adornments in the world.

TRULY: then, the Scripture states, “First of all, believe that there is one God, who has established all things and completed them, bringing into existence everything that had no being.” He contains all things and is contained by no one. Malachi also rightly said among the prophets, “Is it not one God who has established us? Do we not all have one Father?” In line with this, the apostle says, “There is one God, the Father, who is above all and in us all.” Likewise, the Lord says, “All things are delivered to Me by My Father,” clearly by Him who made all things, for He did not deliver things belonging to another, but His own.

In all things, [it is implied that] nothing has been withheld [from Him], and for this reason, the same person is the Judge of the living and the dead, “having the key of David: He shall open, and no one shall shut; He shall shut, and no one shall open.” For no one was able, whether in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, to open the book of the Father or to see Him, except for the Lamb who was slain and who redeemed us with His own blood, receiving power over all things from the same God who made all things by the Word and adorned them by [His] Wisdom, when “the Word was made flesh.” This was so that just as the Word of God had sovereignty in the heavens, He might also have sovereignty on earth, as He was a righteous man, “who did no sin, nor was there deceit found in His mouth,” and that He might have pre-eminence over those things under the earth, being made “the firstborn of the dead,” and that all things, as I have already said, might see their King, and that the paternal light might meet and rest upon the flesh of our Lord, coming to us from His resplendent flesh, so that man might attain immortality, having been clothed with the paternal light.

I HAVE ALSO CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED THAT THE WORD: specifically the Son, was always with the Father. Likewise, Wisdom, which is the Spirit, was present with Him before all creation, as declared by Solomon: “God by Wisdom founded the earth, and by understanding established the heaven. By His knowledge the depths burst forth, and the clouds dropped down the dew.” And again: “The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways in His work; He set me up from everlasting, in the beginning, before He made the earth, before He established the depths, and before the fountains of waters gushed forth; before the mountains were formed and before all the hills, He brought me forth.” And again: “When He prepared the heaven, I was with Him, and when He established the fountains of the deep; when He made the foundations of the earth strong, I was with Him preparing them. I was the one in whom He rejoiced, and throughout all time I was daily glad before His face, when He rejoiced at the completion of the world and was delighted in the sons of men.”

THERE IS THEREFORE ONE GOD: who by the Word and Wisdom created and arranged everything. This is the Creator (Demiurge) who has given this world to humanity, and regarding His greatness, He is unknown to all who have been made by Him (for no one has understood His vastness, neither those among the ancients who have passed away, nor any who are now alive). However, regarding His love, He is always known through Him by whose means He organized everything. This is His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the last times, became a man among men so that He might connect the end to the beginning, that is, man to God. Therefore, the prophets, having received the prophetic gift from the same Word, announced His coming in the flesh, through which the union and communion of God and man took place according to the Father's good pleasure. The Word of God foretold from the beginning that God would be seen by humans, converse with them on earth, engage with them, and be present with His creation, saving it and becoming understandable to it, freeing us from the hands of all that hate us—that is, from every spirit of wickedness—and leading us to serve Him in holiness and righteousness all our days, so that humanity, having embraced the Spirit of God, might enter into the glory of the Father.

The prophets foretold these things in a prophetic way; but they did not, as some claim, declare that the one seen by the prophets was a different God, since the Father of all is invisible. This is what those heretics claim, who have no understanding of the nature of prophecy. Prophecy is a foretelling of future events, a setting forth of what will happen. The prophets indicated beforehand that God would be seen by people, as the Lord also says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” However, regarding His greatness and glorious wonder, “no man shall see God and live,” because the Father is beyond understanding; but regarding His love, kindness, and infinite power, He grants this to those who love Him, to see God, which the prophets also foretold. “For things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” People do not see God by their own abilities; but when He chooses, He is seen by whom He wills, when He wills, and as He wills.

FOR GOD IS POWERFUL IN ALL WAYS: having been seen at that time prophetically through the Spirit, and seen through adoption by the Son; and He shall also be seen as a Father in the kingdom of heaven, the Spirit preparing people in the Son of God, and the Son leading them to the Father, while the Father gives them incorruption for eternal life, which comes from seeing God. As those who see light are within the light and partake of its brilliance, so also those who see God are in God and receive His splendor.

His splendor gives them life; thus, those who see God receive life. For this reason, He, although beyond comprehension and boundless and invisible, made Himself visible, comprehensible, and within the reach of those who believe, so that He might give life to those who receive and see Him through faith. His greatness is beyond understanding, and so is His goodness, which, when seen, grants life to those who see Him. It is not possible to live apart from life, and the way to life is through fellowship with God; but fellowship with God is to know God and enjoy His goodness.

MEN WILL SEE GOD SO THAT THEY MAY LIVE: becoming immortal through that vision, and reaching even unto God. As I have said before, this was symbolically foretold by the prophets, stating that God would be seen by men who have His Spirit within them and who patiently await His coming. Moses also says in Deuteronomy, “On that day, we shall see that God will speak to man, and he shall live.” Some of these men used to witness the prophetic Spirit and its active influences providing various gifts; others saw the coming of the Lord and the arrangement from the beginning by which He fulfilled the Father's will concerning both heavenly and earthly things; and others saw paternal glories suited to the times and to those who saw and heard them then, and to all who would hear them later.

In this way, God was revealed; for God the Father is shown through all these operations, with the Spirit working, the Son ministering, and the Father approving, while human salvation is achieved. As He also states through Hosea the prophet: “I have multiplied visions and have used likenesses through the ministry of the prophets.” The apostle explained this passage by saying, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God who works all in all.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the benefit of all.” God, who works all things in all, is invisible and indescribable to all things created by Him, yet He is by no means unknown; for all things learn through His Word that there is one God the Father, who contains all things and grants existence to all, as it is written in the Gospel: “No man has seen God at any time, except the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; He has declared Him.”

THEREFORE: the Son of the Father declares Him from the beginning, since He was with the Father from the start. He showed the human race prophetic visions, various gifts, His own ministrations, and the glory of the Father, all in due order and at the right time for humanity's benefit. For where there is regular succession, there is also stability; and where there is stability, there is suitability for the period; and where there is suitability, there is also utility. For this reason, the Word became the mediator of the paternal grace for the benefit of people, for whom He made significant arrangements, revealing God to humans, while presenting humans to God, and preserving the Father's invisibility. This was done to prevent humanity from becoming a despiser of God, so they would always have something to strive towards; on the other hand, revealing God to humans through many arrangements, so that humanity, by falling away from God altogether, would not cease to exist. For the glory of God is a living human; and the life of a human consists in beholding God. If the manifestation of God through creation provides life to all living on earth, much more does the revelation of the Father through the Word give life to those who see God.

SINCE THE SPIRIT OF GOD: through the prophets, indicated things to come, preparing us in advance to be subject to God, it was necessary for those through whom future events were proclaimed to see God, whom they indicated would be seen by people. This was so that God, and the Son of God, and the Son, and the Father, could not only be announced prophetically but also seen by all His members who are sanctified and instructed in the matters of God.

This prepared people to receive the glory that would later be revealed to those who love God. The prophets not only prophesied with words but also through visions, their way of life, and their actions, guided by the Spirit. In this unseen manner, they saw God, as Isaiah said, “I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts,” indicating that humans would see God with their eyes and hear His voice. They also saw the Son of God as a man among men while prophesying future events, saying He who was not yet come was present, proclaiming that the imperishable would endure suffering and that He who was in heaven had come down to death.

Regarding other arrangements related to His summing up, some were seen through visions, others were proclaimed by word, and others were demonstrated symbolically through actions, visibly seeing what was to be seen, announcing what should be heard, and enacting what was to happen, while announcing all prophetically.

Therefore, Moses declared that God was a consuming fire to those who transgressed the law and warned that God would bring a day of fire upon them.

But to those who feared God, he said, “The God is merciful and gracious, patient, and of great compassion, and true, and maintains justice and mercy for thousands, forgiving unrighteousness, transgressions, and sins.”

AND THE WORD SPOKE TO MOSES: appearing before him, "just as anyone might speak to their friend." But Moses wanted to see the One who was speaking with him openly and was told, "Stand in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand. But when My glory passes by, then you shall see My back, but My face you shall not see: for no one sees My face and lives." These two facts are indicated: it is impossible for man to see God; and through God's wisdom, man shall see Him in the last times, in the depth of a rock, that is, in His coming as a man. For this reason, He [the Lord] spoke with him face to face on the top of a mountain, with Elijah also present, as the Gospel relates, thus fulfilling the ancient promise in the end.

THE PROPHETS: therefore, did not openly see the actual face of God, but they saw the arrangements and the mysteries through which humanity would eventually see God. As was also told to Elijah: “You shall go forth tomorrow, and stand in the presence of the Lord; and, behold, a great and strong wind that shall rend the mountains and shatter the rocks before the Lord.

But the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a barely audible voice.” For through such means, the prophet—who was very indignant because of the people's transgressions and the slaughter of the prophets—was taught to act more gently; and the Lord’s coming as a man was indicated, that it would follow the law given by Moses, mild and peaceful, in which He would neither break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax.

The calm and peaceful nature of His kingdom was also indicated. For after the wind that rends the mountains, and after the earthquake, and after the fire, come the calm and peaceful times of His kingdom, in which the spirit of God gently enlivens and increases humanity. This was made even clearer by Ezekiel, showing that the prophets saw the arrangements of God partially, but not actually God Himself. For when this man saw the vision of God, and the cherubim, and their wheels, and recounted the mystery of that whole progression, and beheld the likeness of a throne above them, and on the throne a likeness as of a man, and what was upon his loins was like amber, and what was below like the appearance of fire, and when he described the rest of the vision of the thrones, lest anyone might think that in those visions he had actually seen God, he added: “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God.”

11. If, then, neither Moses, nor Elias, nor Ezekiel, who all had many heavenly visions, saw God; but if what they did see were representations of the Lord's splendor and prophecies of future events; it is clear that the Father is indeed invisible, as the Lord also said, “No one has seen God at any time.” However, His Word, as He willed and for the benefit of those who witnessed it, showed the Father’s brightness and explained His purposes (as the Lord also said: “The only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared [Him];” and He interprets the Word of the Father as being rich and great); He did not appear in one form or character to those who saw Him, but according to the purposes and effects intended in His works, as it is written in Daniel.

AT ONE TIME: He was seen with those around Ananias, Azarias, and Mishael, present with them in the furnace of fire, protecting them from the fire: “And the appearance of the fourth,” it is said, “was like the Son of God.” At another time, He is described as “a stone cut out of the mountain without hands,” that smites all temporal kingdoms, scatters them, and fills the entire earth.

Then, too, this same one is seen as the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, approaching the Ancient of Days, and receiving from Him all power, glory, and a kingdom. “His dominion,” it is said, “is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom shall not end.” John, the Lord’s disciple, while seeing the priestly and glorious coming of His kingdom, says in the Revelation: “I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.

And, being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of man, clothed with a garment reaching to His feet, and girded about the chest with a golden belt; His head and hair were white, as white as wool and snow, and His eyes were like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass, glowing in a furnace. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in His strength.” In these words, He presents part of the glory [He received] from His Father, as indicated by the head; something related to the priestly office, as in the case of the long garment reaching the feet.

Moses dressed the high priest this way for this reason. There is also a reference to the end [of all things], like the fine brass glowing in the fire, symbolizing the power of faith and perseverance in prayer, because of the consuming fire coming at the end of time. When John could not bear the sight (for he says, “I fell at his feet as dead,” fulfilling what was written: “No man sees God, and will live”), the Word revived him, reminding him that it was He on whose chest he had leaned at supper, when he asked about His betrayer, declaring: “I am the first and the last, and He who lives, was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and hold the keys of death and Hades.” After these things, seeing the same Lord in a second vision, he says: “For I saw in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.” And again, speaking of this very same Lamb: “And behold a white horse; and He who sat on it was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns, having a name written that no one knows but Himself: and He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. The armies of heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in clean white linen. Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, to strike the nations with it; and He will rule them with an iron rod: He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God Almighty.

He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written.” Thus, the Word of God always upholds the outlines of things to come, showing people the various forms of the Father’s works, teaching us the things related to God.

12.

HOWEVER: it was not only through visions that were seen and words that were proclaimed, but also through actual works, that He was revealed to the prophets, so that through them He might foreshadow and demonstrate future events in advance. For this reason, the prophet Hosea took "a wife of whoredoms," prophesying through this action "that in committing fornication the earth would fornicate from the Lord," meaning the people on the earth; and from such people, it will be God’s good pleasure to create a Church that shall be sanctified by fellowship with His Son, just as that woman was sanctified by union with the prophet.

And for this reason, Paul declares that the “unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband.” Then again, the prophet names his children "Not having obtained mercy," and "Not a people," so that, as the apostle says, “what was not a people may become a people; and she who did not obtain mercy may obtain mercy. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said, 'This is not a people,' there they shall be called the children of the living God.” What the prophet had shown symbolically through his actions, the apostle proves to have been fulfilled truly by Christ in the Church.

Similarly, Moses took an Ethiopian wife, whom he made an Israelite, indicating in advance that the wild olive tree is grafted into the cultivated olive and made to partake of its richness. For just as He who was born Christ according to the flesh had indeed to be sought after by the people to be killed, but was to be set free in Egypt, that is, among the Gentiles, to sanctify those who were there in their early state, from whom He also perfected His Church in that place (since Egypt was Gentile from the beginning, as was Ethiopia also); for this reason, by the marriage of Moses, the marriage of the Word was shown; and by the Ethiopian bride, the Church taken from among the Gentiles was revealed; and those who detract from, accuse, and mock it will not be pure.

For they will be covered with leprosy and expelled from the camp of the righteous. Likewise, Rahab the harlot, despite condemning herself as a Gentile guilty of all sins, nevertheless received the three spies, who were scouting all the land, and hid them at her home; these three were undoubtedly symbolic of the Father and the Son, along with the Holy Spirit. And when the entire city in which she lived collapsed at the sound of the seven trumpets, Rahab the harlot was saved, when all was finished, along with her whole household, through faith in the scarlet sign; as the Lord also declared to those who did not accept His coming—the Pharisees, without a doubt, nullify the sign of the scarlet thread, which signified the Passover, and the redemption and exodus of the people from Egypt—when He said, “The tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you.”

BUT OUR FAITH WAS ALSO PREFIGURED IN ABRAHAM: and he was the patriarch of our faith and, in a way, its prophet, as the apostle clearly taught when he says in the Epistle to the Galatians: “So, the one who gives you the Spirit and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Know therefore, that those who are of faith are the children of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, announced beforehand to Abraham that in him all nations would be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” For these reasons, the apostle declared that this man was not only the prophet of faith but also the father of those who believe in Jesus Christ among the Gentiles, because his faith and ours are the same: he believed in future things as if they were already accomplished, because of the promise of God; and similarly, we also, because of the promise of God, see through faith that inheritance stored up for us in the future kingdom.

THE STORY OF ISAAC ALSO HAS A SYMBOLIC NATURE: As mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle states: “When Rebecca conceived by one man, our father Isaac,” she received a message from the Word, “that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not based on works, but on Him who calls. It was told to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two types of people will emerge from you; one group will overcome the other, and the older will serve the younger.'” This indicates that not only were there prophecies regarding the patriarchs, but also that the children born to Rebecca foreshadowed the two nations. One was destined to be greater and the other lesser; one would be in servitude, while the other would be free, yet both came from the same father. Our God, who knows hidden things and foresees all events, is also their God; and for this reason, He has said, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”

If anyone examines Jacob's actions, they will find them meaningful and rich in significance regarding the divine plans. Firstly, at his birth, he grabbed his brother's heel and was named Jacob, meaning "the supplanter"—one who holds but is not held; binding the feet without being bound; striving and conquering; holding in his hand the heel of his adversary, symbolizing victory. For this purpose, the Lord was born, foreshadowed by Jacob's birth, of whom John also speaks in the Revelation: "He went forth conquering, so that He might conquer." Next, Jacob received the rights of the firstborn when his brother scorned them, just as the younger nation accepted Christ, the firstborn, while the elder nation rejected Him, saying, "We have no king but Caesar." In Christ, every blessing is summed up, and so the latter people have taken the blessings of the former from the Father, just as Jacob took Esau's blessing.

FOR THIS REASON: his brother plotted and persecuted him, just as the Church suffers similarly from the Jews. The twelve tribes, the race of Israel, were born in a foreign land, just as Christ was to generate the twelve-pillared foundation of the Church in a foreign land. Jacob was given sheep of various colors as his wages, and Christ's wages are people from various and diverse nations coming together into one community of faith, as the Father promised Him, saying, "Ask Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, the ends of the earth as Your possession." Just as the prophets of the Lord arose from the multitude of Jacob's sons, Jacob's children came from two sisters, paralleling how Christ brought forth children of God from the two laws of the same Father, and also from the handmaids, indicating that Christ would raise children of God from both free and enslaved people, bestowing upon all the gift of the Spirit, who gives us life.

Jacob did everything for the sake of the younger sister with lovely eyes, Rachel, who foreshadowed the Church, for which Christ endured patiently. Back then, through His patriarchs and prophets, He prefigured and declared future events, playing His role in anticipation of God's plans, and preparing His people to obey God and journey through the world as pilgrims, following His word and foretelling things to come. With God, nothing is without purpose or meaning.

IN THE LAST DAYS: when the time of freedom had fully come, the Word Himself personally "washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion" by washing the disciples’ feet with His own hands. This marks the fulfillment of humanity inheriting God; just as, in the beginning, through our first parents, we were all subjected to death, so finally, through the New Man, all who were His disciples from the beginning, having been cleansed and freed from things related to death, could enter into the life of God.

He who washed the feet of the disciples sanctified the whole body and made it clean. For this reason, He also served them food while they were reclining, showing that He came to give life to those lying in the earth. As Jeremiah states, “The holy Lord remembered His dead Israel, who slept in the land of burial; and He descended to share His salvation with them, that they might be saved.” For this reason, the disciples’ eyes were heavy when Christ’s suffering was near; and when the Lord first found them sleeping, He let it go, showing God’s patience with the state of slumber in which people lay.

But when He came the second time, He awakened them and made them stand, as a sign that His suffering is the awakening of His sleeping disciples, for whom "He also descended into the lower parts of the earth," to see for Himself the state of those resting from their labors, about whom He also said to the disciples: “Many prophets and righteous people have longed to see and hear what you see and hear.” Amen

FOR CHRIST DID NOT COME ONLY FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVED IN HIM DURING THE TIME OF TIBERIUS CAESAR: nor did the Father care only for the people alive now, but for all people throughout time. Those who, from the beginning, have feared and loved God, practiced justice and piety towards their neighbors, and earnestly desired to see Christ and hear His voice, according to their capacity in their generation. At His second coming, He will first awaken all these people from their sleep and raise them up along with the rest who will be judged, and give them a place in His kingdom. For it is truly "one God who" guided the patriarchs with His plans and "has justified the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." Just as we were prefigured in the first, they are represented in us, that is, in the Church, and receive the reward for what they accomplished.

FOR THIS REASON: the Lord declared to the disciples: "Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the regions, for they are already white for harvest. The harvest-man receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that both the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice together. This saying is true, that one sows and another reaps. I have sent you forward to reap what you did not labor for; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." Who, then, are those who have labored and helped advance God's plans? It is clear that they are the patriarchs and prophets, who prefigured our faith and spread the coming of the Son of God throughout the earth, revealing who and what He should be.

This was so that future generations, having the fear of God, might easily accept the coming of Christ, having been instructed by the prophets. And for this reason, when Joseph learned that Mary was with child and considered putting her away privately, the angel said to him in a dream: "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." Encouraging him in this, he added: "All this has been done to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel," thus influencing him with the prophet's words and clearing any blame from Mary, showing that she was the virgin mentioned by Isaiah, who would give birth to Emmanuel.

When Joseph was fully convinced, he took Mary and joyfully obeyed regarding all the rest of Christ's upbringing, undertaking a journey to Egypt and back, followed by a move to Nazareth. For this reason, those who did not know the Scriptures or God's promise, or the plan of Christ, eventually called him the child's father. For this reason, too, the Lord Himself read the prophecies of Isaiah in Capernaum: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me; He has sent Me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and sight to the blind." Showing that He Himself was the one foretold by Isaiah, He said to them: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears."

FOR THIS REASON: Philip, when he found the eunuch of the Ethiopian queen reading these words: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb is silent before the shearer, so He did not open His mouth: in His humiliation His justice was taken away;” and all the rest that the prophet described about His suffering and His coming in the flesh, and how He was dishonored by those who did not believe Him, easily convinced him to believe that He was Christ Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered as the prophet predicted, and that He was the Son of God who gives eternal life to people.

And immediately after Philip baptized him, he left him. For baptism was the only thing he lacked, having already been taught by the prophets; he was not ignorant of God the Father or of the rules of proper living, but only unaware of the coming of the Son of God, which, once he had learned of it, he continued on his way rejoicing, to become the herald of Christ’s coming in Ethiopia. Therefore Philip did not have much effort to make with this man because he was already prepared with the fear of God by the prophets.

For this reason, too, the apostles, gathering the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and speaking to them from the Scriptures, proved that this crucified Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God; and they persuaded a great multitude who already had the fear of God. And in one day, three, four, and five thousand men were baptized.

THEREFORE: since Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, he says, "I labored more than all of them." Teaching the Jews was an easier task because they could refer to proofs from the Scriptures, and those who were accustomed to hearing Moses and the prophets were also more willing to accept the First-begotten of the dead and the Prince of the life of God—He who, by stretching out His hands, defeated Amalek and revived humanity from the serpent's wound through faith in Him. As I mentioned in the previous book, the apostle first instructed the Gentiles to abandon the superstition of idols and to worship one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the Maker of the whole creation. He taught that His Son was His Word, through whom He created all things, and that in the last times, He became a man among men; that He reformed humanity, but destroyed and conquered humanity's enemy, granting His creation victory over the adversary. Although those who were of the circumcision did not obey God's words, for they were despisers, they had already been instructed not to commit adultery, fornication, theft, or fraud, and that anything done to harm our neighbors was evil and detested by God. Therefore, they readily agreed to abstain from these things because they had been taught this way.

BUT THEY WERE OBLIGATED TO TEACH THE GENTILES THAT WORKS OF THIS KIND WERE WICKED: harmful, useless, and destructive to those who participated in them. Therefore, the one who received the apostolate to the Gentiles labored more than those who preached the Son of God among the Jews. The Jews were supported by the Scriptures, which the Lord confirmed and fulfilled by coming as He had been announced. However, in the case of the Gentiles, there was a different kind of learning and a new doctrine to be accepted. They had to understand that the gods of the nations were not gods at all, but idols of demons, and that there is one God who is above all principalities, dominion, power, and every name that is named. His Word, naturally invisible, was made tangible and visible among people and descended to death, even the death of the cross. Those who believe in Him will be incorruptible, free from suffering, and will receive the kingdom of heaven. These things were preached to the Gentiles by word of mouth, without the aid of the Scriptures, which is why those who preached among the Gentiles faced greater challenges. On the other hand, the faith of the Gentiles is shown to be more noble, as they followed the word of God without the guidance derived from the sacred writings.

FOR THIS WAS NECESSARY FOR THE SONS OF ABRAHAM: whom God raised from the stones, and placed beside him who was made the leader and forerunner of our faith. This man received the covenant of circumcision after being justified by faith while he was still uncircumcised, so that he could represent both covenants. He became the father of all who follow the Word of God and live as pilgrims in this world, whether they come from the circumcised or uncircumcised, as “Christ is the chief cornerstone” supporting everything. God gathered into the faith of Abraham those eligible for His purpose from either covenant. But this faith, which exists in uncircumcision, connects the beginning with the end and has become both the first and the last. As I have shown, it existed in Abraham before circumcision, as it did in the rest of the righteous who pleased God. In these last times, it emerged again among humanity through the coming of the Lord. Circumcision and the law of works occupied the period in between.

THIS FACT IS INDEED ILLUSTRATED BY MANY OTHER OCCURRENCES: but most notably by the story of Thamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law. When she conceived twins, one of them put out his hand first; and as the midwife thought he was the firstborn, she tied a scarlet thread on his hand. But after this had been done and he pulled back his hand, his brother Phares was actually born first; then Zara, who had the scarlet thread, was born second. The Scripture clearly points out that the people who had the scarlet sign, which means faith in a state of circumcision, were first shown in the patriarchs; but then it was withdrawn so that his brother could be born. In the same way, the older one, who was born second, was marked by the scarlet thread, representing the passion of the Just One. This was prefigured from the beginning in Abel, described by the prophets, and perfected in the last times in the Son of God.

CERTAIN FACTS NEEDED TO BE ANNOUNCED BEFOREHAND BY THE FATHERS IN A PATERNAL MANNER: while others were prefigured by the prophets in a legal way, and yet others were described in the form of Christ by those who have received adoption. All these are shown in one God. Although Abraham was one person, he prefigured the two covenants, in which some have sown and others have reaped. As it is said, “In this, the saying is true, that it is one 'people' who sows, but another who shall reap.” Yet, it is one God who provides what is needed for both—seed for the sower and bread for the reaper to eat. Just as one person plants and another waters, it is God who gives the increase. The patriarchs and prophets sowed the word regarding Christ, but the Church reaped, meaning they received the fruit. For this reason, these prophets also wished to have a dwelling-place in it, as Jeremiah says, “Who will give me in the desert the last dwelling-place?” This is so that both the sower and the reaper can rejoice together in the kingdom of Christ, who is with all those approved by God from the beginning, as He granted them His Word to be present with them.

IF ANYONE READS THE SCRIPTURES WITH ATTENTION: they will find an account of Christ and a foreshadowing of the new calling. Christ is the treasure hidden in the field, which represents the world (for "the field is the world"). The treasure hidden in the Scriptures is Christ, as He was revealed through types and parables.

Therefore, His human nature could not be fully understood before the fulfillment of the predicted events, specifically the coming of Christ. This is why Daniel the prophet was told: "Shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of fulfillment, when many will learn and knowledge will be completed.

At that time, when the dispersion is completed, they will understand all these things." Jeremiah also says, "In the last days, they will understand these things." Every prophecy, before being fulfilled, is like an enigma and ambiguous to people.

But when the time arrives, and the prediction comes to pass, the prophecies have a clear and certain explanation. For this reason, when the law is read to the Jews today, it's like a fable; they don't have the explanation of everything related to the coming of the Son of God, who came in human form.

But when Christians read it, it is a treasure, hidden in a field but revealed by the cross of Christ. It enriches the understanding of people, shows forth the wisdom of God, and declares His plans for humanity. It shapes the kingdom of Christ ahead of time, anticipates the inheritance of the holy Jerusalem, and proclaims in advance that the person who loves God will reach the greatness of seeing God, hearing His word, and being so glorified by His discourse that others can’t look upon the glory of their face.

As Daniel said: "Those who understand will shine like the brightness of the sky, and many of the righteous like the stars forever and ever." Thus, as I have shown, if anyone reads the Scriptures in this way, this is what they will find. This was how the Lord talked with the disciples after His resurrection, proving to them from the Scriptures that “Christ must suffer, and enter into His glory, and that remission of sins should be preached in His name throughout all the world.” The disciple will be perfected and become like a householder "who brings forth from his treasure things new and old."

THEREFORE: it is necessary to obey the presbyters in the Church—those who, as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles; those who, along with the succession of the episcopate, have received the certain gift of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. But it is also necessary to be wary of others who depart from this original succession and gather themselves anywhere, viewing them as heretics with perverse minds, schismatics who are arrogant and self-serving, or as hypocrites acting for gain or vanity. All these have fallen from the truth. The heretics who bring strange fire to the altar of God, meaning strange doctrines, will be consumed by fire from heaven, as Nadab and Abiud were. Those who oppose the truth and urge others against the Church of God will remain among those in hell, as they are swallowed by an earthquake, just as those with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were. Those who divide and separate the unity of the Church will receive the same punishment from God as Jeroboam did. Amen

THOSE WHO ARE CONSIDERED TO BE PRESBYTERS BY MANY: but serve their own desires and do not put the fear of God first in their hearts, who act with contempt toward others and are filled with pride because they hold the chief seat, committing evil deeds in secret and saying, "No one sees us," will be judged by the Word, which does not judge by outward appearance or face value, but looks at the heart. They will hear the words found in the prophet Daniel: "O seed of Canaan, and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you, and desire has led your heart astray. You who have grown old in wicked days, now your sins, which you committed long ago, have come to light; for you have made false judgments, and have been accustomed to condemning the innocent while letting the guilty go free, even though the Lord says, 'You shall not kill the innocent and righteous.'" The Lord also said about such people: "But if the wicked servant says in his heart, 'My lord is delayed,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the lord of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers."

FROM ALL SUCH PERSONS: then, it is necessary for us to keep away, but to adhere to those who, as I have already mentioned, hold the doctrine of the apostles, and who, along with the order of priesthood, demonstrate sound speech and blameless conduct for the confirmation and correction of others. In this way, Moses, to whom such leadership was entrusted, relying on a good conscience, cleared himself before God, saying, “I have not in covetousness taken anything belonging to any of these men, nor have I done evil to any of them.” In this way, too, Samuel, who judged the people for many years and ruled over Israel without pride, eventually cleared himself, saying, “I have walked before you from my childhood even unto this day: answer me in the sight of God, and before His anointed; whose ox or donkey have I taken, or over whom have I tyrannized, or whom have I oppressed? Or if I have received from the hand of anyone a bribe or even a shoe, speak against me, and I will restore it to you.” And when the people said to him, “You have not tyrannized, nor have you oppressed us nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand,” he called the Lord to witness, saying, “The Lord is witness, and His Anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said to him, "He is witness." In this manner, the Apostle Paul, having a good conscience, said to the Corinthians: “For we are not like many, who corrupt the Word of God: but with sincerity, and as from God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ;” “We have injured no one, corrupted no one, deceived no one.”

THE CHURCH NURTURES SUCH PRESBYTERS: of whom the prophet also says: “I will give your rulers in peace, and your bishops in righteousness.” The Lord also spoke of them, “Who then is the faithful steward, good and wise, whom the Lord sets over His household to give them their food at the right time? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He comes, shall find doing so.” Paul, teaching us where to find such people, says, “God has placed in the Church, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers.” Therefore, where the gifts of the Lord have been placed, we must learn the truth from those who possess the succession of the Church from the apostles, and among whom is found conduct that is sound and blameless, as well as speech that is unadulterated and incorrupt. For they also preserve our faith in one God who created all things, and they enhance our love for the Son of God, who accomplished such marvelous acts for our sake. They explain the Scriptures to us without danger, neither blaspheming God, nor dishonoring the patriarchs, nor despising the prophets.

AS I HAVE HEARD FROM A CERTAIN ELDER: who heard it from those who had seen the apostles, and from those who were their disciples, the punishment declared in Scripture was sufficient for the ancients regarding what they did without the Spirit’s guidance. Since God shows no favoritism, He inflicted a proper punishment on deeds displeasing to Him. For example, when David suffered persecution from Saul for righteousness’ sake and fled from King Saul without seeking revenge, he sang about the coming of Christ and instructed the nations in wisdom, doing everything under the Spirit’s guidance and pleasing God. But when his lust led him to take Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, Scripture said about him, “Now, the thing which David had done appeared wicked in the eyes of the Lord.” Nathan the prophet was sent to him to point out his crime so that, by condemning himself, he might receive mercy and forgiveness from Christ:

“And [Nathan] said to him, There were two men in one city; one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe-lamb, which he cherished; it grew up with him and his children, ate from his food, drank from his cup, and was like a daughter to him. A traveler came to the rich man, but rather than taking from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s ewe-lamb and prepared it for his guest. David's anger burned against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die, and he must restore the lamb fourfold because he had no pity.” Nathan then said to him, “You are the man who did this.” Nathan then proceeded, reproaching David and recounting God’s blessings to him, showing how much his conduct displeased the Lord. These actions were not pleasing to God, and great wrath was hanging over his house. David, upon hearing this, was struck with remorse and exclaimed, “I have sinned against the Lord,” and he sang a penitential psalm, hoping for the coming of the Lord to wash and cleanse him from sin.

Similarly, with Solomon, while he judged uprightly, declared the wisdom of God, built the temple as a symbol of truth, showcased the glories of God, announced impending peace for the nations, prefigured Christ’s kingdom, spoke three thousand parables about the Lord’s coming, and five thousand songs praising God, explaining God's wisdom in creation regarding every tree, herb, bird, animal, and fish, he asked, “Will God whom the heavens cannot contain really dwell with men on earth?” He pleased God and amazed everyone; all the kings of the earth sought to meet him to hear the wisdom God gave him. The queen of the south also came from the ends of the earth to learn of his wisdom. The Lord referred to her as one who would rise in judgment with the nations of those who hear His words but do not believe in Him, condemning them because she accepted the wisdom from the servant of God while they rejected the wisdom directly from the Son of God. Solomon was a servant, but Christ is indeed the Son of God and Lord of Solomon. While Solomon served God blamelessly, he was glorified, but when he took wives from all nations and allowed them to set up idols in Israel, the Scripture said: “And King Solomon was a lover of women, and he took foreign women; and when Solomon was old, his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God. The foreign women turned his heart to strange gods. Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight, not following the Lord like David his father. The Lord was angry with Solomon, for his heart was not perfect with the Lord, unlike David’s heart.” Scripture has sufficiently reproved him, as the elder noted, so that no one may boast before the Lord.

FOR THIS REASON: the Lord also descended into the regions below the earth, preaching His arrival there too, and announcing the forgiveness of sins received by those who believe in Him. All who hoped in Him believed in Him—those who proclaimed His coming and submitted to His plans, the righteous, the prophets, and the patriarchs. To them, He forgave sins just as He does for us, and we should not hold these sins against them if we do not want to disrespect the grace of God.

Just as these men did not hold against us (the Gentiles) our wrongdoings committed before Christ was revealed among us, it is not right for us to judge those who sinned before Christ's arrival. For "all men fall short of the glory of God" and are not justified by themselves but by the coming of the Lord—those who sincerely look toward His light. Their actions were recorded for our instruction, so we might understand, first, that our God and theirs is one, and that sins are not pleasing to Him, even when committed by famous individuals; and second, that we should avoid wickedness.

For if those men of ancient times, who were ahead of us in gifts bestowed upon them, and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, were disgraced when they sinned and indulged in lusts of the flesh, what will happen to the people of today who have disregarded the Lord's coming and become slaves to their own desires? Truly, the death of the Lord became a means of healing and forgiveness of sins for the former, but Christ will not die again for those who commit sins now, for death will no longer have power over Him.

Instead, the Son will come in the glory of the Father, demanding from His stewards and managers the resources He entrusted to them, with interest; and from those to whom He gave much, He will demand much.

Therefore, as that elder observed, we should not be arrogant or harsh towards those of earlier times, but should fear ourselves, in case, after gaining knowledge of Christ, if we do things that displease God, we find no further forgiveness of sins and are shut out from His kingdom.

This is why Paul said, “For if [God] did not spare the natural branches, be careful lest He also not spare you, who, when you were a wild olive tree, were grafted into the richness of the olive tree and became a partaker in its richness.”

YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED IN A SIMILAR MANNER: not for the sake of those who transgressed then, but as a means of instruction for us, so that we understand that it is one and the same God against whom these people sinned, and against whom certain individuals now transgress among those who profess to have believed in Him. This, as the presbyter states, has been declared most plainly by Paul in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when he says, "Brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all were baptized into Moses in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

But God was not pleased with many of them, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. These things happened as examples for us, so that we should not desire evil things, as they did; neither should you be idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written: 'The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to play.' Let us not commit fornication, as some of them did, resulting in twenty-three thousand falling in one day.

Nor let us test Christ, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. Neither should you complain, as some of them complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our warning, on whom the end of the ages has come.

Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

SINCE IT IS BEYOND ALL DOUBT AND CONTRADICTION: the apostle shows that there is one and the same God, who both judged these former things and examines those of the present time, explaining why these things have been written down. All these men are shown to be unlearned and presumptuous, even lacking common sense, who claim, because of the transgressions and disobedience of many people in ancient times, that there was one God for those people, who was the maker of the world and existed in a state of degeneracy, but that there was another Father declared by Christ, and that this Being is conceived in the mind of each of them.

They fail to understand that, just as God showed Himself not well pleased with those who sinned in the past, so also now, "many are called, but few are chosen." Just as the unrighteous, idolaters, and fornicators perished then, so it is now: for both the Lord declares that such people are sent into eternal fire, and the apostle says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." He said these things not to those who are outside but to us, so that we should not be cast out of the kingdom of God by doing such things.

He goes on to say, "And such were some of you; but you are washed, but you are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Just as those who led wicked lives and led others astray were condemned and cast out then, so even now, the offending eye is removed, and the foot and hand, lest the rest of the body perish likewise. We have the instruction: "If any man called a brother is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, do not eat with such a person." The apostle also says, "Let no one deceive you with empty words; because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of mistrust.

Do not partake with them." Just as then the condemnation of sinners extended to others who approved of them and joined their company, it is also now the case that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump." As the wrath of God descended upon the unrighteous then, the apostle also says: "For the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Just as, in those times, God's vengeance came upon the Egyptians who subjected Israel to unjust punishment, it is similar now, as the Lord truly declares, "And shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry to Him day and night? I tell you, He will avenge them speedily." The apostle also says similarly in the Epistle to the Thessalonians: "Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay tribulation to those who trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us at the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven with His mighty angels, in a flame of fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all who have believed in Him."

SINCE IN BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS: the same righteousness of God is displayed when God takes vengeance—temporarily and moderately in one case, but truly, enduringly, and more strictly in the other—the fire is eternal, and the wrath of God will be revealed from heaven at the face of our Lord (as David also says, "But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to erase their memory from the earth"), leading to a harsher punishment for those who deserve it. The elders pointed out that those who try to argue based on what happened to those who didn't obey God in the past, and who try to introduce the idea of a different Father, ignore the great things the Lord did at His coming to save those who received Him. They focus on His compassion, while remaining silent about His judgment and everything that will come upon those who've heard His words but not acted on them. It would have been better for them not to have been born, and it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgment than for the city that did not receive the word of His disciples.

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: just as people's faith in God has grown through the revelation of the Son of God, allowing humans to share in God, so must our conduct in life be more careful. We are not only instructed to avoid evil actions but also evil thoughts, idle words, meaningless talk, and offensive language. Likewise, the punishment for those who do not believe the Word of God, disregard His coming, and turn away is increased—not just temporary, but also eternal. To whom the Lord says, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire,” these will be condemned forever. And to whom He says, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you for eternity,” these will receive the kingdom forever and continue to grow in it. For there is one and the same God the Father, and His Word, who has always been present with humanity through various means, has accomplished many things and saved those who are saved from the beginning. These are the ones who love God and follow the Word of God according to their place, and He has judged those who are judged—those who forget God, are blasphemous, and violate His word.

THE SAME HERETICS WE MENTIONED BEFORE HAVE TURNED AWAY FROM THEMSELVES BY ACCUSING THE LORD: in whom they claim to believe. The points they raise about God, who once gave temporary punishments to the unbelieving and struck the Egyptians while saving the obedient, will repeat themselves in the Lord. He judges eternally, condemning those He judges and freeing those He sets free for eternity. According to their words, He becomes responsible for their most grievous sin, as those who laid hands on Him and pierced Him. For if He had not come, these men could not have become the killers of their Lord. If He had not sent prophets to them, they certainly could not have killed them or the apostles.

To those who argue, "If the Egyptians had not suffered plagues and been drowned in the sea while pursuing Israel, God could not have saved His people," this response may be given: Unless the Jews had become the killers of the Lord—which indeed took eternal life from them—and by killing the apostles and persecuting the Church, fell into deep anger, we could not have been saved. Just as the blindness of the Egyptians led to salvation, so are we saved by the blindness of the Jews, if the death of the Lord is the condemnation of those who crucified Him and did not believe in His coming, but the salvation of those who believe in Him.

For the apostle also says in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: “For we are to God a sweet fragrance of Christ, among those who are saved and those who perish: to some the fragrance of death leading to death, but to others the fragrance of life leading to life.” Who then has the fragrance of death leading to death, if not those who do not believe and are not subject to the Word of God? And who were the ones who gave themselves over to death even then? Surely those who do not believe and do not submit to God. And again, who are those who have been saved and received the inheritance? Surely those who believe God and have remained in His love, like Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun, and innocent children who have had no sense of evil. But who are those saved now and receive eternal life? Is it not those who love God, believe His promises, and “in malice have become as little children?”

"But," they say, "God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and his servants." Those who bring up such challenges do not read in the Gospel the passage where the Lord answered the disciples when they asked Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" He said, "Because it is given to you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven; but to them, I speak in parables so that seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand; fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah about them: Make the heart of this people dull, and make their ears heavy, and blind their eyes.

BUT BLESSED ARE YOUR EYES: for they see, and your ears, for they hear." The same God who blesses some also causes blindness in those who do not believe and disregard Him, just like the sun, a creation of His, affects those who, due to a weakness of the eyes, cannot look at its light.

But to those who believe in Him and follow Him, He grants a fuller and greater understanding. According to this, the apostle says in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, so the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should not shine on them." And again, in the letter to the Romans: "And as they did not deem it worthy to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a debased mind, to do what should not be done." He also speaks clearly about the antichrist in the Second Thessalonians: "And for this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion, so they will believe a lie, so that all will be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness."

IF: therefore, in the present time also, God, knowing the number of those who will not believe, since He foreknows all things, has given them over to unbelief, and turned away His face from people like this, leaving them in the darkness which they have chosen for themselves, what is surprising if He also at that time gave Pharaoh over to his unbelief, since he never would have believed, along with those who were with him? As the Word spoke to Moses from the bush: “And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, unless by a mighty hand.” Because the Lord spoke in parables, and brought blindness upon Israel, so that seeing they might not see, since He knew their spirit of unbelief, for the same reason He hardened Pharaoh’s heart; so that, while seeing it was the finger of God that led the people, he might not believe, but be plunged into a sea of unbelief, thinking that the Israelites' departure was achieved by magical power, and not by the work of God that the Red Sea opened a path for the people, but that it happened by merely natural causes.

People who criticize the Israelites for taking vessels and clothing from the Egyptians by God's command before their departure, and using those spoils to construct the tabernacle in the wilderness, show their lack of understanding of God's righteous actions and decisions. As the elder noted, if God hadn't allowed this in the symbolic exodus, no one could be saved in our true exodus, which is the faith that has brought us out from among the Gentiles. Sometimes, we carry a small amount of wealth with us, and other times it is a large amount, acquired from dishonest wealth. Where do we get the houses we live in, the clothes we wear, the vessels we use, and other necessities, if not from things we gathered before we had faith, or from our non-believing parents, relatives, or friends who wrongfully gained them? Even now, we acquire such things while in the faith. Who sells something without wanting to gain a profit? Who buys something without wanting a fair deal? Who works a trade without seeking a living from it? Believers in the royal palace gain utensils from Caesar's property, and those who have nothing receive according to each Christian’s ability to give. The Egyptians owed the Israelites not just property, but their lives, due to the kindness of Joseph in the past. In what way do non-believers owe us, from whom we receive gain and profit? What they work to earn, we use without labor, even while having faith.

UP TO THAT TIME: the people served the Egyptians in the most abject slavery, as the Scripture states: “And the Egyptians exercised their power rigorously over the children of Israel; and they made life bitter for them with severe labors, in mortar and brick, and all kinds of service in the field, by all the works in which they oppressed them with hardship.” Through immense labor, they built fortified cities for them, increasing the wealth of these men over many years, through every form of slavery; yet those masters were not only ungrateful towards them but were contemplating their complete destruction.

In what way, then, did the Israelites act unjustly if, from many things, they took a few, when they might have owned much if they had not served them, and could have left wealthy, but in reality, by receiving only a very small reward for their heavy servitude, they left poor? It is just like a free man, forcibly taken away by another, serving him for many years and increasing his wealth, who, when he finally gains some support, is thought to possess a small portion of his master's property, but in reality, departs having obtained only a little for his great labor, out of the vast possessions acquired, and it becomes a subject of accusation against him, as if he had not acted properly.

The accuser would seem to be an unjust judge against the one who had been forcibly taken into slavery. Such are these men who charge the people with blame for taking a few things out of many, but who bring no charge against those who did not give them the reward due for their fathers’ services; instead, they reduced them to the most burdensome slavery and gained the greatest profit from them. These objectors claim that the Israelites acted dishonestly because they took, as a reward for their labors, unstamped gold and silver in a few vessels; while they themselves claim to act honestly when they carry away from others’ labor coined gold and silver, with Caesar's inscription and image upon it.

IF: however, a comparison is made between us and them, I would ask, which group seems to have received their worldly goods in a fairer manner? Will it be the Jewish people, who took from the Egyptians, who were completely in their debt; or us, who receive property from the Romans and other nations, who owe us no such obligation? Yes, moreover, through them the world is at peace, and we walk on the highways without fear and sail wherever we want.

Therefore, against people like this (namely, the heretics) the word of the Lord applies, which says: “You hypocrite, first take the beam out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” For if the person who accuses you and boasts of his own wisdom has truly separated from the company of the Gentiles and possesses nothing from other people’s goods, but is literally naked, barefoot, and living homeless among the mountains, like any animal that feeds on grass, he will be excused for using such language, as being ignorant of the necessities of our way of life.

But if he partakes in what people consider the property of others, and if at the same time he criticizes them, he proves himself most unjust, turning this kind of accusation against himself. For he will be found carrying around property not his own and coveting goods that are not his. And therefore the Lord said: “Judge not, that you be not judged: for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.” The meaning is not that we should not find fault with sinners, nor that we should consent to those who act wickedly; but that we should not pronounce an unfair judgment on the plans of God, because He has arranged that all things will turn out for good, in a way consistent with justice.

For because He knew that we would make a good use of our substance, which we should possess by receiving it from another, He says, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” And, “For I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was naked and you clothed Me.” And, “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” And we are proved to be righteous by everything else we do well, redeeming, as it were, our property from foreign hands.

But I say, “from foreign hands,” not as if the world were not God’s possession, but that we have gifts of this sort and receive them from others, just as these people had them from the Egyptians who did not know God; and by means of these same things we build in ourselves the tabernacle of God: for God dwells in those who act rightly, as the Lord says: “Make friends for yourselves with the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when you are put to flight, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.” For whatever we acquired from unrighteousness when we were heathen, we are proven righteous, when we have become believers, by using it to the Lord’s advantage.

AS A MATTER OF COURSE: therefore, these things were done beforehand as a type, and from them the tabernacle of God was constructed; those people justly receiving them, as I have shown, while we were pointed out beforehand in them—[we] who would later serve God by the things of others. For the whole exodus of the people out of Egypt, which happened under divine guidance, was a type and image of the exodus of the Church that would occur from among the Gentiles; and for this reason, He leads it out at last from this world into His own inheritance, which Moses, the servant of God, did not bestow, but which Jesus, the Son of God, will give as an inheritance. And if anyone will pay close attention to those things stated by the prophets regarding the [time of the] end, and those which John, the disciple of the Lord, saw in the Apocalypse, they will find that the nations [are to] receive the same plagues universally, as Egypt did particularly.

IN RECOUNTING CERTAIN MATTERS OF THIS KIND REGARDING THOSE OF OLD TIMES: the presbyter previously mentioned would instruct us and say: "Regarding the misdeeds for which the Scriptures themselves blame the patriarchs and prophets, we should not criticize them or become like Ham, who mocked his father's shame and thus fell under a curse; instead, we should give thanks to God on their behalf, since their sins have been forgiven through the advent of our Lord. For He said that they gave thanks for us and gloried in our salvation. Regarding those actions on which the Scriptures do not pass judgment, but merely report as having happened, we should not become accusers of those who committed them, for we are not more exact than God, nor can we be superior to our Master; instead, we should search for a meaning in them. For nothing recorded in Scripture without condemnation is meaningless."

An example is found in the case of Lot, who led his daughters out of Sodom, and they then conceived by their own father; who left his wife behind within the land, who remains a pillar of salt to this day. Lot, not acting on his own will or due to carnal desire, nor having any knowledge or thought of such things, indeed fulfilled a symbolic meaning. As Scripture says: "And that night the elder went in and lay with her father; and Lot did not know when she lay down or when she got up." The same happened with the younger: "And he did not know," it is said, "when she lay with him, nor when she got up." Since Lot did not know what he did, nor was a slave to lust in his actions, the arrangement designed by God was carried out, whereby the two daughters (that is, the two churches) who gave birth to children from the same father, were highlighted, without the influence of the lust of the flesh. For there was no other person, as they assumed, who could provide them with the necessary seed to have children, as it is written: "And the elder said to the younger, there is not a man on the earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth: come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, and raise up seed from our father."

THUS: after their simplicity and innocence, did these daughters [of Lot] speak, imagining that all humankind had perished, just like the Sodomites had, and that the anger of God had come upon the whole earth.

Therefore, they are to be held excusable, since they thought that only they, along with their father, were left for the preservation of the human race; and for this reason, they deceived their father.

Furthermore, the words they used pointed out this fact—that there is no other who can grant the elder and younger church the [power of] giving birth to children, besides our Father.

Now the father of the human race is the Word of God, as Moses points out when he says, “Is He not your father who obtained you [by generation], and formed you, and created you?” When, then, did He pour out upon the human race the life-giving seed—that is, the Spirit of the remission of sins, through whom we are quickened? Was it not when He was eating with men, and drinking wine on the earth? For it is said, “The Son of man came eating and drinking;” and when He lay down, He fell asleep, and took repose.

As He Himself says in David, “I slept, and took repose.” And because He acted thus while He lived among us, He says again, “And my sleep became sweet to me.” Now this whole matter was indicated through Lot, that the seed of the Father of all—that is, the Spirit of God, by whom all things were made—was mingled and united with flesh—that is, with His own creation; by which mingling and unity, the two synagogues—that is, the two churches—produced from their own father living sons to the living God.

AND WHILE THESE THINGS WERE HAPPENING: his wife stayed in the territory of Sodom, no longer a corruptible human but a pillar of salt that lasts forever. This symbolizes that the Church, which is the salt of the earth, remains within the limits of the earth and is subject to human suffering. Even when entire members are often taken away from it, the pillar of salt persists, representing the foundation of faith that strengthens and guides children to their Father.

IN A SIMILAR MANNER: a presbyter—one of the apostles' disciples—reasoned about the two testaments, showing that both came from the same God. He asserted that no other God exists besides Him who created and designed us, rejecting the claims of those who say this world was made by angels, any other power, or another God. If a person strays from believing in the Creator of all things, and admits that this creation, to which we belong, was formed by anyone else, they will inevitably encounter many contradictions and inconsistencies.

They won't be able to offer explanations that are even remotely plausible or true. This is why those who introduce other doctrines hide their opinions about God, knowing how weak and absurd their beliefs are, and they fear being defeated and struggling to defend themselves.

However, if someone believes in one God, who made all things by the Word—as Moses says, "God said, Let there be light: and there was light;" and as we read in the Gospel, "All things were made by Him; and without Him nothing was made;" and the Apostle Paul similarly states, "There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, who is above all, through all, and in us all"—this person will first of all "hold the head, from which the whole body is fitted and held together, and, through every joint according to the provision of each part, causes the growth of the body to build itself up in love." Then every word will seem consistent to him, especially if he diligently reads the Scriptures with presbyters in the Church, among whom is the apostolic doctrine, as I have indicated.

THE APOSTLES ALL TAUGHT THAT THERE WERE INDEED TWO TESTAMENTS FOR THE TWO PEOPLES: but it was one and the same God who appointed both for the benefit of those who were meant to believe in God. I have shown this in the third book from the teachings of the apostles. The first testament wasn't given without reason, nor without purpose, nor accidentally. It was meant to guide those to whom it was given to serve God for their own benefit, since God doesn't need service from men. It presented a model of heavenly things, as people were not yet able to directly see the things of God. It foreshadowed what now exists in the Church to strengthen our faith, and it contained a prophecy of things to come, so that people might understand that God knows everything in advance.

A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLE OF THIS KIND: who truly receives the Spirit of God—present with humanity from the beginning across all of God's plans, announcing future events, revealing current ones, and narrating past ones—"judges all people, but is judged by no one." For he judges the Gentiles, who "serve the creature more than the Creator," and waste all their efforts on vanity with a corrupt mind. He also judges the Jews, who do not accept the word of liberty and refuse to embrace freedom, even though they have a Deliverer with them.

They claim to serve God, who needs nothing, at an inappropriate time with observances beyond the law, yet do not recognize the coming of Christ, which He fulfilled for the salvation of humanity, nor are they willing to understand that all the prophets announced His two comings: the first, in which He became a man subject to suffering, knowing what it is to bear infirmity, rode on a donkey's colt, was a stone rejected by the builders, was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and destroyed Amalek by the stretching forth of His hands; while He gathered the scattered children from the ends of the earth into His Father's fold, remembered His own who had previously fallen asleep, and came down to deliver them.

The second coming will be on the clouds, bringing a day that burns like a furnace, striking the earth with the word of His mouth, and slaying the impious with the breath of His lips, with a fan in His hands to clean His floor, gathering the wheat into His barn, but burning the chaff with unquenchable fire.

2. Furthermore, he should also examine the doctrine of Marcion, asking how he believes there are two gods, separated from each other by an infinite distance. Or how can he be good if he draws away men who do not belong to him from the one who made them and calls them into his own kingdom? And why is his goodness, which does not save everyone, flawed? Also, why does he seem to be good with respect to men but most unjust toward the one who made men, since he takes away his possessions? Moreover, how could the Lord, with any justice, if He belonged to another father, have acknowledged the bread to be His body, while He took it from that creation to which we belong, and declared the mixed cup to be His blood? And why did He call Himself the Son of man if He had not experienced the birth that belongs to a human being? How, too, could He forgive us those sins for which we are accountable to our Maker and God? And how, again, assuming He was not flesh but only appeared to be a man, could He have been crucified, and could blood and water have flowed from His pierced side? What body, moreover, was it that those who buried Him placed in the tomb? And what was it that rose again from the dead?

THIS SPIRITUAL MAN WILL ALSO JUDGE ALL THE FOLLOWERS OF VALENTINUS BECAUSE THEY INDEED CONFESS WITH THEIR WORDS ONE GOD THE FATHER: acknowledging that everything comes from Him. Yet, they claim that the One who created all things is the result of a fall or defect. They also confess with their words one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but in their doctrine assign a separate origin to the Only-begotten, another to the Word, another to Christ, and yet another to the Saviour. They claim these beings are said in Scripture to be one, yet they argue that each should be understood to exist separately and have its own unique origin. It appears, then, that they have acknowledged the unity of God only with their words, while their true beliefs and understanding have deviated from this unity into a belief in many deities. This will be evident when Christ examines the doctrines they have invented. They say He was born after the Pleroma of the Æons, following a fall or defect, and that they came into existence due to the suffering experienced by Sophia. Their own special prophet, Homer, whom they have listened to while creating such doctrines, will himself reprove them with his words: “Hateful to me that man as Hades’ gates, who thinks one thing while saying another.”

THIS SPIRITUAL MAN WILL ALSO JUDGE THE USELESS SPEECHES OF THE PERVERSE GNOSTICS BY SHOWING THAT THEY ARE FOLLOWERS OF SIMON MAGUS:

He will also judge the Ebionites; for how can they be saved unless it was God who worked out their salvation on earth? Or how can humans become part of God unless God first became human? And how can a man escape the cycle of death unless through a new beginning, given in a wonderful and unexpected way (as a sign of salvation) by God—specifically, that regeneration which comes from the virgin through faith? Or how can they receive adoption from God if they remain in the kind of generation naturally possessed by humans in this world? And how could He (Christ) have been greater than Solomon, or greater than Jonah, or the Lord of David if He were of the same substance as they were? Furthermore, how could He have overcome the one stronger than men, who not only defeated humanity but also held them under his power, and liberated those who had been conquered, unless He had been greater than the man who had been vanquished? But who else is superior to and more exalted than the man created in the likeness of God, except the Son of God, after whose image humanity was created? For this reason, in these last days, He demonstrated this likeness; the Son of God became man, taking His own initial creation into His nature, as I have shown in the previous book.

5. He will also judge those who describe Christ as having become man only in human opinion. For how can they think they are having a real discussion when their Master was just an imaginary being? Or how can they receive anything steadfast from Him if He was merely imagined and not a reality? And how can these people truly partake in salvation if He, in whom they claim to believe, showed Himself as just an imaginary being? Everything connected with these people is unreal and lacks truth; and, in these circumstances, it might be questioned whether they, perhaps, are not men but mere dumb animals, presenting, in most cases, simply a shadow of humanity.

HE WILL ALSO JUDGE FALSE PROPHETS: who, without having received the gift of prophecy from God and lacking the fear of God, pretend to utter prophecies for the sake of vanity, personal gain, or under the influence of a wicked spirit, while they lie against God.

HE WILL ALSO JUDGE THOSE WHO CAUSE DIVISIONS: who lack the love of God, and who seek their own personal gain rather than the unity of the Church. These people, for trivial reasons or any reason they come up with, tear apart and divide the great and glorious body of Christ, and, as much as they can, destroy it—people who talk about peace while causing conflict and who, in reality, focus on insignificant details but ignore major issues. No reform they achieve can be significant enough to outweigh the harm caused by their division. He will also judge all those who are outside the truth, meaning those who are outside the Church; but no one will judge him. For everything is consistent with him: he has complete faith in one God Almighty, from whom all things come; and in the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom all things exist, and in the plans associated with Him, through which the Son of God became man; and a solid belief in the Spirit of God, who provides us with the knowledge of the truth and has shown the plans of the Father and the Son, by which He dwells with every generation of people, according to the will of the Father.

TRUE KNOWLEDGE IS FOUND IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE APOSTLES AND THE ANCIENT STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH THROUGHOUT THE WORLD: It is shown in the unique expression of the body of Christ through the succession of bishops, who have passed down the Church that exists everywhere and has reached us, preserved without altering the Scriptures. This entails a comprehensive system of doctrine, receiving neither additions nor reductions in the truths it upholds. It involves reading God's word without distortion and offering a lawful and careful explanation in line with the Scriptures, free from danger and blasphemy. Above all, it includes the supreme gift of love, which is more valuable than knowledge, more glorious than prophecy, and surpasses all other gifts of God.

THE CHURCH: because of the love it cherishes towards God, continually sends many martyrs to the Father everywhere. Meanwhile, others not only lack such examples among themselves, but even claim that bearing witness in this way is unnecessary. They argue that their doctrines alone serve as the true testimony for Christ. Occasionally, one or two individuals among them, since the Lord appeared on earth, have endured the reproach associated with His name alongside our martyrs, and have accompanied them in death, almost as if they have been granted mercy as a kind of retinue.

The Church alone purely bears the reproach for those who suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake and endure various punishments and death because of their love for God and their confession of His Son. Even though weakened at times, the Church quickly grows its members and becomes whole again, like Lot’s wife who was turned into a pillar of salt. Thus, the Church experiences something similar to that of the ancient prophets, as the Lord says, “For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” In this way, the Church suffers persecution from those who do not accept the word of God, yet the same spirit that rested on these ancient prophets also rests on the Church.

10. Indeed, the prophets, along with other things they predicted, also foretold that all those on whom the Spirit of God would rest, who would obey the word of the Father and serve Him to the best of their ability, would suffer persecution and be stoned and killed. The prophets foreshadowed these events in themselves because of their love for God and for His word. Since they were members of Christ, each one took their place and delivered the prophecy assigned to them; all of them together, even though they were many, represented just one, proclaiming the things related to one. Just as the functioning of the entire body is shown through our members, while the figure of a complete man is not displayed by one member but through all of them together, so did all the prophets foreshadow the one Christ. Each of them, in their specific role as a member, fulfilled the established purpose and foreshadowed in advance that particular aspect of Christ's work which was connected with their role.

11. Some of them, seeing Him in glory, saw His glorious life at the Father’s right hand; others saw Him coming on the clouds as the Son of man; and those who declared about Him, “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced,” indicated His second coming, about which He Himself says, “Do you think that when the Son of man comes, He will find faith on the earth?” Paul also refers to this event when he says, “If it is a righteous thing with God to repay trouble to those who trouble you, and to you who are troubled, rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire.” Others, speaking of Him as a judge, and referring to the day of the Lord as if it were a burning furnace, who “gathers the wheat into His barn but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,” were accustomed to warn those who were unbelieving, concerning whom also the Lord Himself declares, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels.” And the apostle in the same way says of them, “Who shall be punished with everlasting death from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in those who believe in Him.” There are also some who declare, “You are fairer than the children of men;” and, “God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows;” and, “Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Most Mighty, with Your beauty and Your fairness, and go forward and proceed prosperously; and rule because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness.” And whatever other things of a similar nature are spoken regarding Him, these indicated the beauty and splendor that exist in His kingdom, along with the transcendent and pre-eminent exaltation belonging to all who are under His rule, so that those who hear might desire to be found there, doing such things as are pleasing to God.

AGAIN: there are those who say, “He is a man, and who shall know him?” and, “I went to the prophetess, and she bore a son, and His name is called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God;” and those who proclaimed Him as Immanuel, born of the Virgin, demonstrated the union of the Word of God with His creation, declaring that the Word should become flesh, and the Son of God the Son of man (the pure One purely opening that pure womb which regenerates men unto God, and which He Himself made pure); and having become this which we also are, He is nevertheless the Mighty God, and possesses a generation which cannot be declared.

And there are also some of them who say, “The Lord has spoken in Zion, and uttered His voice from Jerusalem;” and, “In Judah is God known;”— these indicated His coming which took place in Judea. Those who declare that “God comes from the south, and from a mountain thick with foliage,” announced His coming at Bethlehem, as I have pointed out in the previous book. From that place, also, He who rules and feeds the people of His Father has come.

Those who declare that at His coming “the lame man shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall speak plainly, and the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear,” and that “the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, shall be strengthened,” and that “the dead which are in the grave shall arise,” and that He Himself “shall take upon Him our weaknesses, and bear our sorrows,”— all these proclaimed those works of healing which were accomplished by Him.

SOME OF THEM ALSO PREDICTED THAT AS A WEAK AND INGLORIOUS MAN: one who knew what it was to bear infirmity, sitting on the foal of a donkey, He would come to Jerusalem. They said He would give His back to be whipped, and His cheeks to be struck; that He would be led like a sheep to the slaughter; that vinegar and gall would be given Him to drink; that He would be forsaken by His friends and closest companions; that He would stretch out His hands all day long; that He would be mocked and maligned by those who saw Him; that His garments would be divided, and lots cast for His clothing; and that He would be brought down to the dust of death, along with many other similar things.

They prophesied His coming in the form of a man as He entered Jerusalem, where through His suffering and crucifixion, He endured all these foretold events. Others, when they said, “The holy Lord remembered His own dead ones who slept in the dust, and came down to them to raise them up, that He might save them,” provided us with the reason for which He suffered all these things. Those who said, “In that day, says the Lord, the sun shall go down at noon, and there shall be darkness over the earth in the clear day; and I will turn your feast days into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation,” clearly announced the darkening of the sun that happened from the sixth hour onward at the time of His crucifixion, and that following this event, their festival days according to the law and their songs would turn into grief and lamentation when they were handed over to the Gentiles.

Jeremiah further clarifies this when he speaks about Jerusalem: “She who has borne [seven] languishes; her soul has grown weary; her sun has gone down while it was still noon; she has been confounded and suffered disgrace: the remainder of them I will give to the sword in the sight of their enemies.”

THOSE WHO SPOKE OF HIM HAVING SLEPT AND RISEN AGAIN BECAUSE THE LORD SUSTAINED HIM: and who instructed the rulers of heaven to open the everlasting doors so that the King of glory might enter, were proclaiming His resurrection from the dead through the Father’s power and His ascent into heaven. And when they said, “His going forth is from the height of heaven, and His returning even to the highest heaven; and no one can hide from His heat,” they were announcing the truth of His return to the place from which He came, and that no one can escape His righteous judgment.

And those who said, “The Lord has reigned; let the people be enraged: He who sits upon the cherubim; let the earth be moved,” were predicting the wrath from all nations that came upon those who believed in Him after His ascension, causing the whole earth to rise against the Church; and also foretelling that when He comes from heaven with His mighty angels, the whole earth shall be shaken, as He Himself declares, “There shall be a great earthquake, such as has not been from the beginning.” And again, when one says, “Whoever is judged, let him stand opposite; and whoever is justified, let him draw near to the servant of God;” and, “Woe unto you, for you shall become old like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up;” and, “All flesh shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in the highest,” it is indicated that, after His passion and ascension, God shall bring down under His feet all who were opposed to Him, and He shall be exalted above all, and no one can be justified or compared to Him.

AND THOSE AMONG THEM WHO DECLARE THAT GOD WOULD ESTABLISH A NEW COVENANT WITH PEOPLE: not like the one He made with the ancestors at Mount Horeb, and would give people a new heart and a new spirit; and again, "And do not remember the things of old: behold, I make new things which shall now arise, and you shall know it; and I will make a way in the desert, and rivers in a dry land, to give drink to my chosen people, my people whom I have acquired, that they may show forth my praise,"—clearly announced the freedom which characterizes the new covenant, and the new wine which is put into new bottles, meaning the faith which is in Christ, by which He has proclaimed the way of righteousness that arises in the desert, and the streams of the Holy Spirit in a dry land, to give water to the chosen people of God, whom He has acquired, that they might show forth His praise, but not that they might blaspheme Him who made these things, that is, God.

And all those other points I've shown the prophets to have made through such a long series of Scriptures, whoever is truly spiritual will interpret by explaining, for each of the spoken things, what specific part of the Lord's plan they refer to, and by showing the entire system of the Son of God's work. This person always knows the same God and continually acknowledges the same Word of God, even though He has only now been revealed to us. They also always acknowledge the same Spirit of God, even though He has been poured out on us in a new way in these last times, understanding that He moves from the creation of the world to its end upon humanity. From among these, those who believe God and follow His word receive the salvation that comes from Him. On the other hand, those who turn away from Him, disregard His commands, dishonor the One who made them through their actions, and blaspheme against the One who nurtures them through their beliefs, bring upon themselves the most righteous judgment. Therefore, the spiritual person examines and tests everything, but is not judged by anyone: they neither blaspheme their Father, disregard His plans, criticize the ancestors, nor dishonor the prophets by claiming they were sent by a different God than the one they worship, or that their prophecies came from various sources.

I WILL SIMPLY SAY: in opposition to all the heretics, especially against the followers of Marcion and others like them, who claim that the prophets were from a different God than the one announced in the Gospel, read the Gospel given to us by the apostles with care, and also read the prophets carefully. You will find that the entire conduct, teachings, and sufferings of our Lord were predicted by them. If you then wonder, "What did the Lord bring us with His coming?"—know that He brought all possible newness by bringing Himself, who had been announced. This was predicted beforehand: that a novelty would come to renew and invigorate humanity. The arrival of the King is announced first by servants who are sent ahead to prepare the men who are to receive their Lord. But when the King has actually arrived, and His subjects have been filled with the joy foretold and have attained the freedom He gives, sharing in His presence, listening to His words, and enjoying His gifts, no sensible person would ask what new thing the King brought beyond what was announced by those who proclaimed His coming. For He has brought Himself and has given men the good things that were announced beforehand, things that even the angels desired to look into.

BUT THE SERVANTS WOULD HAVE BEEN PROVEN FALSE AND NOT SENT BY THE LORD IF CHRIST: at His coming, was not exactly as He had been previously described and had not fulfilled their words. Therefore, He said, "Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets; I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one small letter or stroke shall pass from the law and the prophets until all happens." For by His coming, He Himself fulfilled all things and continues to fulfill in the Church the new covenant foretold by the law, onward to the completion of all things. Paul, His apostle, also says this in the Epistle to the Romans, "But now, without the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, witnessed by the law and the prophets; for the just shall live by faith." The fact that the just shall live by faith had been previously announced by the prophets.

HOW COULD THE PROPHETS HAVE HAD THE POWER TO PREDICT THE COMING OF THE KING AND TO SPEAK BEFOREHAND ABOUT THE FREEDOM HE GAVE: and announce all the things done by Christ—His words, His works, and His sufferings—and predict the new covenant, if they had received their prophetic inspiration from another God than the One revealed in the Gospel? You claim they were ignorant of the ineffable Father, His kingdom, and His plans, which the Son of God fulfilled when He came to earth in these last times.

You can't say these events happened by some kind of chance, as if the prophets were speaking about someone else and it just so happened to align with the Lord. All the prophets prophesied these things, but they never happened to any of the ancients. If these events had occurred for any of them in ancient times, the prophets living later wouldn't have predicted these things would happen in the last times.

Additionally, among the fathers, the prophets, and the ancient kings, there is none in whose life any of these things specifically took place.

All prophesied about the sufferings of Christ, but they themselves did not endure sufferings like what was predicted. The events related to the Lord's passion, which were foretold, happened in no other case. At the death of none of the ancients did the sun set at mid-day, the temple veil torn, the earth quake, rocks split, or the dead rise. None of them rose on the third day or were taken into heaven, nor did the heavens open at their ascension.

The nations did not believe in the name of any other, nor did any among them, once dead and risen, reveal the new covenant of freedom.

Therefore, the prophets spoke of no one else but the Lord, in whom all these signs were fulfilled.

4. If anyone, however, advocating for the Jews, claims that this new covenant was about the building of the temple under Zerubbabel after returning from Babylon, and the people's return after seventy years, let them understand that while the temple made of stones was rebuilt (since the law given on stone tablets was still observed), no new covenant was established. They followed the Mosaic law until the Lord's coming. But from the Lord's arrival, the new covenant bringing peace and the law bringing life spread across the earth, as the prophets said: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and they shall learn war no more.”

IF ANOTHER LAW AND WORD FROM JERUSALEM BROUGHT SUCH PEACE AMONG THE GENTILES WHO ACCEPTED IT: and convinced many nations of their folly, then it seems the prophets spoke of someone else. But if the law of liberty, meaning the word of God, preached by the apostles from Jerusalem across the world, brought such change that these nations transformed swords and war lances into ploughshares and converted them into tools for peaceful purposes and now no longer engage in fighting, but when struck, also offer the other cheek, then the prophets spoke not of anyone else but of Him who made these changes. This person is our Lord, and in Him, this declaration is confirmed; since He Himself has brought about the plough and introduced the pruning-hook, representing the first sowing in man through Adam, and the harvest in the last times by the Word.

For this, since He connected the beginning to the end, and is the Lord of both, He ultimately displayed the plough in that the wood was joined to the iron, thus cleansing His land; because the Word, firmly united with flesh and secured with pins, reclaimed the wild earth. In the beginning, He depicted the pruning-hook through Abel, indicating the gathering of a righteous race. He says, “See how the just man perishes, and no one takes notice; righteous men are taken away, and no one understands.” These events prefigured in Abel, were foretold by the prophets, and were fulfilled in the Lord's person; and the same is true for us, the body following the example of the Head.

THESE ARE THE ARGUMENTS SUITABLE TO USE AGAINST THOSE WHO CLAIM THAT THE PROPHETS WERE INSPIRED BY A DIFFERENT GOD AND THAT OUR LORD CAME FROM ANOTHER FATHER: with the hope that these heretics might eventually abandon such extreme folly. This is my sincere goal in presenting these Scriptural proofs: by refuting them, as much as I can, with these very passages, I aim to restrain them from such great blasphemy and from irrationally creating many gods.

In opposition to the Valentinians and the other so-called Gnostics, who claim that some parts of Scripture were spoken at one time from the Pleroma through the seed from that place, and at another time from an intermediate abode through the audacious mother Prunica, and that many parts are due to the Creator of the world, who also sent the prophets, we argue that it is completely irrational to confine the Father of the universe in such a way that He doesn't have His own proper means to perfectly proclaim the things in the Pleroma. Who was He afraid of, that He would not reveal His will in His own way, independently, freely, and without involvement with that spirit which was created in a state of degeneracy and ignorance? Did He fear that too many would be saved when more should have listened to the pure truth? Or, on the other hand, was He incapable of preparing those who should announce the Saviour’s advent?

IF: when the Savior came to this earth, He sent His apostles into the world to accurately proclaim His arrival and teach the Father’s will, without adopting the doctrines of the Gentiles or the Jews, then all the more, while He existed in the Pleroma, would He have appointed His own heralds to announce His future coming into this world, without involving those prophecies originating from the Demiurge.

But if, while in the Pleroma, He used the prophets under the law to declare His own matters through them, then much more, upon His arrival here, would He have utilized these same teachers and preached the Gospel to us through them.

Therefore, let them no longer claim that Peter, Paul, and the other apostles proclaimed the truth but that it was the scribes, Pharisees, and others through whom the law was given. And if, at His coming, He sent forth His apostles in the spirit of truth, and not in error, He did the same with the prophets; for the Word of God was always the same. And if the Spirit from the Pleroma was, according to their system, the Spirit of light, truth, perfection, and knowledge, while that from the Demiurge was the spirit of ignorance, degeneracy, and error, and the offspring of obscurity, how can it be that in one being there exists both perfection and defect, knowledge and ignorance, error and truth, light and darkness? But if it was impossible for such differences to occur with the prophets, for they preached the word of the Lord from one God and proclaimed the arrival of His Son, then even more so would the Lord Himself never have spoken words from above at one time and from degeneracy below at another, becoming a teacher of both knowledge and ignorance.

Nor would He have glorified as Father sometimes the Creator of the world and at other times one above this one, as He declares: “No one puts a piece of a new garment on an old one, nor do they put new wine into old wineskins.” Therefore, let these men either have nothing to do with the prophets, as they are ancient, and stop claiming that these men, sent beforehand by the Demiurge, spoke things under a new influence from the Pleroma; or let them be convinced by our Lord, when He declares that new wine cannot be put into old wineskins.

3.

BUT FROM WHAT SOURCE COULD THE OFFSPRING OF THEIR MOTHER GAIN HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE MYSTERIES WITHIN THE PLEROMA: and power to speak about them? Suppose that the mother, while beyond the Pleroma, did bring forth this offspring; but what is beyond the Pleroma they describe as being beyond the realm of knowledge, that is, ignorance. How, then, could that seed, which was conceived in ignorance, have the ability to declare knowledge? Or how did the mother herself, a shapeless and undefined being, one cast out like an abortion, obtain knowledge of the mysteries within the Pleroma, she who was formed outside it and given a form there, and prohibited by Horos from entering within, and who remains outside the Pleroma until the culmination of all things, that is, beyond the realm of knowledge? Then, again, when they say that the Lord’s suffering is a symbol of the extension of the Christ above, which he accomplished through Horos, and thus gave a form to their mother, they are refuted in the other details of the Lord’s suffering, for they have no evidence of a symbol to show in regard to them.

For when did the Christ above have vinegar and gall given to him to drink? Or when was his clothing divided? Or when was he pierced, and blood and water came forth? Or when did he sweat great drops of blood? And the same may be asked concerning the other details that happened to the Lord, which the prophets have spoken of. From where, then, did the mother or her offspring foresee the things that had not yet happened, but would occur later?

THEY CLAIM THAT CERTAIN THINGS WERE STILL SPOKEN FROM THE PLEROMA: but are disproved by what the Scriptures say about the coming of Christ. However, they don't agree on what these things spoken from the Pleroma are and give different answers. If you question their leaders individually about any passage, you will find one attributing it to the Propator, or Bythus; another to Arche, or the Only-begotten; another to the Father of all, or the Word; and yet another will say it was spoken of an Æon formed from the contributions of the Æons in the Pleroma. Some will refer the passage to Christ, and another to the Saviour. Another, more knowledgeable than these, after a long silence, declares it was spoken of Horos; another says it signifies the Sophia within the Pleroma; another claims it announces the mother outside the Pleroma; while another mentions the God who made the world, the Demiurge.

These are the different interpretations they have of a single passage, holding conflicting opinions about the same Scriptures. When the same passage is read, they all begin to frown and shake their heads, claiming they could give a remarkably profound discourse, but that not everyone can grasp the greatness of the thought implied. Therefore, among the wise, they consider silence as the chief thing because the Silence above must be represented by their own silence. Thus they all part ways, each with their own opinions, keeping their clever ideas secret within themselves. When they come to an agreement among themselves on what the Scriptures predict, then they will be proven wrong by us. Even while holding incorrect views, they convict themselves by not agreeing on the same words.

We, however, follow the one and only true God as our teacher and hold His words as the rule of truth, speaking consistently about the same things. We know only one God, the Creator of the universe, who sent the prophets, led the people out of Egypt, and in these last times revealed His own Son, to put unbelievers to shame and seek out the fruit of righteousness.

GOD THE LORD DOES NOT REJECT THIS: nor does He claim that the prophets spoke from a different god than His Father; nor from any other essence, but from one and the same Father. He does not assert that anyone other than His own Father made the things in the world, as He explains in His teachings: “There was a certain householder, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress, built a tower, rented it to tenants, and went to another country.

When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. The tenants seized his servants: they beat one, stoned another, and killed another. He sent more servants than the first time, and they treated them the same way.

Finally, he sent his only son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They answered, “He will bring those wicked men to a miserable end and rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” The Lord further said, “Have you never read, 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?' Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” Through these words, He clearly indicates to His disciples that there is one and the same Householder—that is, one God the Father, who made all things by Himself.

He shows that there are different tenants: some are stubborn, proud, worthless, and killers of the Lord, while others render Him obedience and the fruits in their seasons. It is the same Householder who sends His servants at one time and at another time His Son. From that Father, from whom the Son was sent to the tenants who killed Him, also came the servants.

But the Son, coming from the Father with supreme authority, used to say, “But I say to you.” The servants, coming as messengers from their Lord, spoke as servants and would say, “Thus says the Lord.”

THESE MEN PREACHED TO THE UNBELIEVERS AS THE LORD: Christ taught to those who obey Him; the God who called those of the former dispensation is the same as He who has received those of the latter. In other words, He who first used that law which involves bondage is also He who later called His people through adoption. For God planted the vineyard of the human race when He first formed Adam and chose the ancestors; then He leased it to farmers when He established the Mosaic dispensation: He hedged it around, meaning He gave specific instructions about their worship: He built a tower, meaning He chose Jerusalem: He dug a winepress, meaning He prepared a place for the prophetic Spirit.

He sent prophets before the Babylonian exile, and after that event, even more than before, to seek the fruits, saying to them (the Jews): “Thus says the Lord, Cleanse your ways and your deeds, execute just judgment, and look with pity and compassion on your brother: do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the foreigner or the poor, and let none of you store up evil against his brother in your hearts, and love not false swearing. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove evil from your hearts, learn to do well, seek judgment, protect the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow; and come, let us reason together, says the Lord.” And again: “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit; turn away from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” In preaching these things, the prophets sought the fruits of righteousness.

But lastly, He sent to those unbelievers His own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the wicked farmers cast out of the vineyard after they killed Him.

Therefore, the Lord God gave it up (no longer hedged but open to all the world) to other farmers, who yield the fruits in their seasons,—the beautiful elect tower raised everywhere. For the illustrious Church is now everywhere, and everywhere is the winepress dug: because those who receive the Spirit are everywhere.

Since the former rejected the Son of God and cast Him out of the vineyard after they killed Him, God justly rejected them and gave to the Gentiles outside the vineyard the fruits of its cultivation. This aligns with what Jeremiah says, “The Lord has rejected and cast off the nation that does these things; for the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the Lord.” And again, Jeremiah similarly states: “I set watchmen over you; listen to the sound of the trumpet; and they said, We will not listen.

Therefore have the Gentiles heard, and they who feed the flocks among them.” It is therefore the same Father who planted the vineyard, led forth the people, sent the prophets, sent His own Son, and who gave the vineyard to other farmers that yield the fruits in their season.

AND THEREFORE THE LORD SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES: to make us become good workers: “Be careful, and constantly be alert in every situation, so that your hearts are not burdened with excessive eating, drinking, and the worries of this life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly; for like a trap, it will come upon everyone living on the earth.” “Therefore, keep your loins girded and your lamps burning, and be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding.” “For as it was in the days of Noah, they ate and drank, they bought and sold, they married and were given in marriage, and they didn’t know until Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all; likewise, in the days of Lot, they ate and drank, they bought and sold, they planted and built, until Lot left Sodom; it rained fire from heaven and destroyed them all: so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man.” “Therefore, watch, for you don’t know on what day your Lord will come.” In these passages, He declares the same Lord, who in the times of Noah brought the flood because of man’s disobedience, and who also in the days of Lot rained fire from heaven because of the multitude of sinners among the Sodomites, and who, due to this same disobedience and similar sins, will bring the day of judgment at the end of time; on which day, He declares, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city and house which does not receive the word of His apostles. “And you, Capernaum,” He said, “will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to hell.

For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. Truly I say to you, that it will be more tolerable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

SINCE THE SON OF GOD REMAINS ALWAYS THE SAME: He gives eternal life to those who believe in Him, like a well of water springing up, but causes the unfruitful fig tree to immediately dry up. In the days of Noah, He justly brought the flood to destroy the wicked race of men who could not bear fruit for God because the angels that sinned had mixed with them. He did this to limit the sins of these men while preserving the archetype, the formation of Adam.

It was He who rained fire and brimstone from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah in the time of Lot, “an example of the righteous judgment of God,” so that all may know, “that every tree that does not produce good fruit shall be cut down and thrown into the fire.” He also warned that it will be more bearable for Sodom in the general judgment than for those who witnessed His wonders and did not believe in Him or accept His teachings.

For as He gave a greater privilege to those who believed in Him and did His will through His coming, He also made it clear that those who did not believe in Him would face harsher punishment in judgment, ensuring equal justice for all. He expects more from those to whom He gives more; not because He reveals the knowledge of another Father, as I have shown thoroughly, but because through His coming, He has granted the human race the greater gift of paternal grace.

IF: however, what I have said isn't enough to convince anyone that the prophets were sent by the same Father who also sent our Lord, let that person open their heart and call upon the Master, Christ Jesus the Lord, and listen to Him when He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding for his son and sent out his servants to invite those who were called to the wedding.” And when they didn't obey, He continues by saying, “He sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Come, I have prepared my banquet; my oxen and all the fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the wedding.

But they ignored it and went their way, some to their farm, and others to their business; but the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. When the king heard this, he was furious and sent his armies to destroy those murderers and burn their city, and said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but the ones who were invited were not worthy. Go into the highways, and invite as many as you find to the wedding.

So the servants went out, gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there without a wedding garment; and he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? But he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and throw him into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

For many are called, but few are chosen.” By these words, the Lord clearly shows that there is one King and Lord, the Father of all, about whom He previously said, “Do not swear by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King;” and that He prepared the wedding for His Son from the beginning and kindly called, through His servants, the people of the former covenant to the feast; and when they wouldn't obey, He still invited them by sending other servants.

Yet even then they didn't obey Him but instead stoned and killed those who brought the invitation. He then sent out His armies to destroy them and burn their city; but He called together guests from all highways, that is, from all nations, to the marriage feast of His Son, as He says through Jeremiah: “I have also sent my servants the prophets to say, Turn now, everyone, from his evil way, and amend your doings.” And again He says through the same prophet: “I have also sent my servants the prophets early and continually; yet they did not obey me or listen to me.

And you shall say to them: This is a people that does not listen to the voice of the Lord, nor receives correction; faith has perished from their mouth.” Therefore, the Lord who has called us everywhere through the apostles is the same one who called people of old through the prophets, as evident by the Lord's words; and although they preached to various nations, the prophets and apostles were not from different gods but from the same one. Some announced the Lord, others preached the Father, and others foretold the coming of the Son of God, while still others declared Him as already present to those who were then afar off.

HE FURTHER SHOWED THAT WE SHOULD BE ADORNED WITH WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AFTER OUR CALLING: so the Spirit of God may rest upon us; for this is the wedding garment, as the apostle speaks, “Not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by immortality.” Those called to God’s supper who haven’t received the Holy Spirit due to their wicked behavior, He says, "will be cast into outer darkness." This makes clear that the same King who gathered the faithful from all directions to the marriage of His Son and offers them the incorruptible banquet also commands that anyone without a wedding garment, one who disrespects it, be cast into outer darkness.

Just as in the former covenant, “He was not well pleased with many of them;” so it is here, “many are called, but few chosen.” It is not that one God judges and another Father calls us to salvation; nor that one grants eternal light and another sends those without the wedding garment into outer darkness. It is the same God, the Father of our Lord, from whom the prophets received their mission, who calls the unworthy through His infinite grace but examines those called to see if they wear the garment suitable for the marriage of His Son because nothing improper or evil pleases Him.

This aligns with the Lord's words to the man who was healed: “Behold, you are made whole; sin no more, lest something worse come to you.” For He who is good, righteous, pure, and spotless will not tolerate anything evil, unjust, or detestable in His wedding chamber. This is the Father of our Lord, whose providence sustains everything, and all is managed by His command; He bestows His free gifts on those who should receive them while justly meting out punishment according to their deserts, deservedly, to the ungrateful and those oblivious to His grace; thus, He says, “He sent His armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.” He says “His armies” because all people belong to God. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it; the world, and all who dwell therein.” Therefore, the Apostle Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans, “For there is no power but from God; the powers that exist are ordained by God.

Whoever resists the power resists God’s ordinance, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Will you not be afraid of the power? Do good, and you will receive praise, for he is God’s minister to you for good.

But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain: he is God's minister, the avenger for wrath upon the one who does evil.

Therefore, you must be subject, not only for wrath but for conscience's sake. For this reason, you also pay taxes; for they are God’s ministers, attending continually to this very task.” Thus, both the Lord and the apostles proclaim God the Father as the one who gave the law, sent the prophets, and made all things; hence He says, “He sent His armies,” for every person, as a person, is His creation, even if they do not know their God.

He gives existence to all; He “makes His sun rise upon the evil and the good and sends rain upon the just and unjust.”

AND NOT ONLY BY WHAT HAS BEEN STATED: but also through the parable of the two sons, where the younger son wasted his inheritance by living lavishly with harlots, did the Lord teach about the one and same Father. This Father did not even permit a goat for his elder son, but for the younger son who was lost, he ordered the fatted calf to be killed and gave him the best robe. Also, in the parable of the workers who were sent into the vineyard at different times of the day, it is shown that one and the same God called some at the beginning when the world was first created; others later, some during the in-between times, some after a long period, and others at the end of time. This shows that there are many workers throughout different generations, but only one master who calls them together. There is only one vineyard, just as there is only one righteousness and one custodian, for there is one Spirit of God who arranges all things; similarly, there is one reward, as each person received a penny stamped with the royal image and inscription, the knowledge of the Son of God, which is immortality. Therefore, He began by giving the reward to those who were hired last, because in the last times, when the Lord was revealed, He presented Himself to all as their reward.

IN THE CASE OF THE TAX COLLECTOR: who surpassed the Pharisee in prayer, we see that it wasn't because he worshipped a different Father that the Lord testified he was justified more than the other. It was because he humbly confessed to the same God without boasting or pride. The parable of the two sons is similar: those sent into the vineyard, where one initially refused his father but later repented, which was of no benefit to him; the other immediately promised to go but did not (for "every man is a liar;" "to will is present with him, but he finds no way to perform"),—this parable also points to the same Father.

This truth is also clearly shown by the parable of the fig tree, where the Lord says, “Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, but I find none.” This refers to His coming, announced by the prophets, seeking righteousness which He did not find, and because of this, the fig tree was to be cut down.

Without using a parable, the Lord addressed Jerusalem: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you; how often I have wanted to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is left to you desolate." The parable saying, “Look, for three years I come seeking fruit,” and He who said, “How often would I have gathered your children,” would seem false if we don't understand His coming announced by the prophets—if He visited them only once for the first time. Yet, as the same Word of God who visited the patriarchs and through the prophetic Spirit both them and us, called together from all over by His coming, He truly declared, “Many will come from the east and west, and sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Therefore, if those who believe through the apostles’ preaching will sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, sharing the heavenly banquet, it's clear that the same God who chose the patriarchs also visited the people and called the Gentiles.

THIS EXPRESSION OF OUR LORD: “How often I would have gathered your children together, and you would not,” illustrates the ancient law of human freedom, because God made man a free agent from the beginning, possessing his own power, just as he does his own soul, to obey the commands of God voluntarily, and not by God's compulsion. For there is no coercion with God; instead, a good will towards us is continually present with Him.

Therefore, He gives good counsel to all.

In humans, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice (since angels are rational beings), so that those who have obeyed might justly possess what is good, given by God but preserved by themselves.

On the other hand, those who have not obeyed shall justly not find themselves in possession of the good and shall receive fitting punishment: for God kindly bestowed on them what was good, but they did not diligently keep it nor consider it precious, but instead scorned His supreme goodness.

Rejecting the good, and as if spitting it out, they shall all deservedly face the just judgment of God, as the Apostle Paul confirms in his Epistle to the Romans, where he says, “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, patience, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “But glory and honor,” he says, “to everyone who does good.” God has therefore given what is good, as the apostle tells us in this Epistle, and those who accomplish it shall receive glory and honor because they did what was good when they had the power not to; but those who do not will face the just judgment of God because they did not do good when they had the power to do so.

IF SOME PEOPLE HAD BEEN MADE NATURALLY BAD AND OTHERS GOOD: the good ones wouldn't deserve praise for being good, because they were created that way; nor would the bad ones be blamed, as that is how they were originally made. But since all people share the same nature and are capable of both holding onto and doing what is good, and, on the other hand, also have the ability to turn away from it and not do it, some people justly receive praise from others under good laws (and even more from God) and earn well-deserved recognition for choosing good and persevering in it. Meanwhile, others are blamed and receive just condemnation for rejecting what is fair and good. Therefore, the prophets urged people to do what is good, act justly, and work righteousness, as I have extensively shown, because it is within our power to do so, and because through excessive negligence we might forget and thus need the good counsel that the good God has given us through the prophets.

FOR THIS REASON THE LORD ALSO SAID: "Let your light shine before people, so they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven." And, "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with overeating, drunkenness, and the worries of this life." And, "Keep your waist belted and your lamps burning, and be like people waiting for their Lord to return from a wedding, so when He comes and knocks, they can open the door for Him immediately. Blessed is the servant whom his Lord finds doing so when He arrives." And again, "The servant who knows his Lord's will and does not do it will be punished with many blows." And, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" And again, "But if the servant says in his heart, 'The Lord is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat, drink, and get drunk, his Lord will come on a day when he does not expect Him, and will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites." All these passages demonstrate the independent will of man and, at the same time, the counsel which God gives to him, urging us to submit to Him and trying to turn us away from the sin of unbelief against Him, without, however, forcing us in any way.

NO DOUBT: if anyone is unwilling to follow the Gospel itself, they have the power to reject it, but it is not wise. For humans have the power to disobey God and to lose what is good, but such behavior brings significant harm and trouble. This is why Paul says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial," referring to human freedom, where "all things are lawful," since God does not impose compulsion on them. By saying "not beneficial," he points out that we "should not use our freedom as a cover for evil," as this is not beneficial. He also says, "Speak truthfully to your neighbor." And, "Let no corrupt talk come from your mouth, neither obscenity, nor foolish talk, nor coarse jokes, which are not proper, but rather thanksgiving." And, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; live honestly as children of the light, not in partying and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in anger and jealousy. And such were some of you; but you have been washed, you have been sanctified in the name of our Lord." If it were not within our power to do or not do these things, why would the apostle, and even more so the Lord Himself, advise us to do some things and avoid others? But because humans have free will from the beginning, and God has free will, in whose likeness humans were created, advice is always given to them to hold on to the good, which is achieved through obedience to God.

AND NOT MERELY IN WORKS: but also in faith, God has preserved the will of man as free and under his own control, saying, "According to your faith, let it be unto you;" thus showing that there is a faith especially belonging to man, since he has an opinion uniquely his own. And again, "All things are possible to him who believes;" and, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done to you." Now, all such expressions demonstrate that man is in his own power with respect to faith. And for this reason, "he who believes in Him has eternal life, while he who does not believe the Son does not have eternal life, but the wrath of God shall remain upon him." In the same manner, therefore, the Lord, both showing His own goodness and indicating that man has free will and his own power, said to Jerusalem, "How often have I wished to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Therefore your house shall be left to you desolate."

THOSE WHO ARGUE AGAINST THESE CONCLUSIONS PRESENT THE LORD AS LACKING POWER: as if He were unable to achieve what He intended, or as being unaware that they were naturally "material," as these people describe, and unable to accept His immortality. They claim, "He should not have created angels capable of transgression, nor humans who quickly became ungrateful toward Him; for they were created as rational beings, with the ability to examine and judge, and not as irrational beings or creatures of mere animal nature, which cannot act of their own will but are led by necessity and compulsion toward what is good, with one mindset and one instinct, working mechanically in one way, unable to be anything other than what they were created to be." According to this idea, good would not be meaningful to them, nor would a relationship with God be valuable, nor would the good be highly sought after since it would appear without their own effort, care, or study, but would be implanted in them naturally without their involvement.

As a result, their goodness would not matter because they would be good by nature rather than choice, acquiring good spontaneously, not by decision; and for this reason, they wouldn't understand that good is admirable, nor would they find joy in it. For how can those who are unaware of good appreciate it? Or what recognition is there for those who have not strived for it? And what reward is it for those who have not pursued it, like those victorious in competition?

FOR THIS REASON: the Lord stated that the kingdom of heaven belongs to "the violent," and He says, "The violent take it by force," meaning those who are vigilant and strive earnestly to seize it at once. Similarly, Paul the Apostle tells the Corinthians, "Don't you know that those who run in a race all indeed run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things: they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one.

I run in this way, not without aim; I fight, not like someone beating the air; but I discipline my body and bring it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should become disqualified." This skilled wrestler, therefore, encourages us in the struggle for immortality, so that we may be crowned and value the crown, which is achieved through our effort and doesn't come to us on its own. The harder we strive, the more valuable it becomes; and the more valuable it is, the more we should cherish it.

Things that are attained through much careful effort are valued more highly than those that come easily. Since this power has been given to us, the Lord has taught and the apostle has instructed us to love God more, so that we may attain this prize for ourselves through our efforts. Otherwise, without doubt, this good would be irrational, not being the result of effort.

Moreover, the faculty of sight wouldn't seem so desirable unless we understood the loss of being without it.

Health, too, is more valued when we have experienced illness; light by contrasting it with darkness; and life with death. Similarly, the heavenly kingdom is honorable to those who have known the earthly one. As it is more honorable, we value it more; and if we value it more, we will be more glorious in the presence of God. The Lord has endured all these things on our behalf so that, having been instructed through them all, we may be wise in the future, and having been taught to love God rationally, we may continue in His perfect love.

God has shown patience in response to human apostasy, while people have been taught through it, as the prophet says, "Your own apostasy will heal you." God thus planned everything in advance to perfect humanity, to build up individuals, and to reveal His plans, so that goodness may be apparent, righteousness perfected, and the Church shaped in the image of His Son, with humanity eventually reaching maturity and becoming ready to see and understand God.

IF ANYONE ASKS: "Why couldn’t God have made man perfect from the beginning?" let them understand that while God is always the same and uncreated, making all things possible for Him, created beings are inherently inferior to their Creator due to their later origin. It was impossible for newly created things to be uncreated. Since they are not uncreated, they naturally fall short of perfection. Being created later means they are immature and inexperienced in perfect discipline. Just as a mother could give strong food to her baby but doesn't because the infant is not ready for solid nourishment, God could have made man perfect from the start, but man was not ready for that perfection, being still an infant. For this reason, in these last times, our Lord summed up all things in Himself and came to us in a way we could understand. He could have come in His immortal glory, but we could not have handled such greatness. Therefore, He, being the perfect bread of the Father, offered Himself as milk to us, since we were like infants. He appeared as a man so that we, nourished by the milk of His flesh, could gradually learn to partake in the Word of God and be ready to receive the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father.

PAUL TELLS THE CORINTHIANS: "I have fed you with milk, not solid food, for up to now, you were not able to handle it." This means that you have learned about the coming of our Lord as a man; yet, due to your weakness, the Spirit of the Father has not yet settled upon you. He says, "For when there is envy, strife, and dissension among you, are you not acting in a human way?" This indicates that the Spirit of the Father was not yet with them because of their imperfection and shortcomings in their way of life.

Just as the apostle had the ability to give them solid food—because those upon whom the apostles laid hands received the Holy Spirit, who is the food of eternal life—they could not take it, as their soul's faculties were still weak and undisciplined in matters related to God. Similarly, God had the power from the beginning to grant perfection to man, but because man was newly created, he could not possibly have received it. Even if he had received it, he could not contain or retain it.

For this reason, the Son of God, though perfect, went through infancy like the rest of humanity, doing so not for His own benefit, but for the sake of the early stage of human existence, so that man could receive Him. There was nothing impossible or lacking in God implied by the fact that man was not an uncreated being; this simply applied to man, who was newly created.

WITH GOD: power, wisdom, and goodness are all shown at the same time. His power and goodness are evident in that He, by His own will, called into being and shaped things that did not exist before; His wisdom is shown by making creation a harmonious and consistent whole. Those things that, through His great kindness, receive growth and a long life reflect the glory of the uncreated One, of that God who generously gives what is good. The mere fact that these things were created means they are not uncreated.

However, by continuing to exist over long ages, they shall receive a trait of the Uncreated, through God’s free gift of eternal existence.

Thus, in all things, God has the pre-eminence, being the only uncreated one, the first of all things, and the primary cause of everything that exists, while everything else remains under God’s authority. Being subject to God means continuing in immortality, and immortality is the glory of the uncreated One. Through this arrangement, these harmonies, and this sequence, man, a created and organized being, is made in the image and likeness of the uncreated God—the Father plans everything well and gives His commands, the Son carries them out and performs the work of creation, and the Spirit nurtures and increases what is made.

Meanwhile, man progresses day by day, moving towards perfection, which is becoming more like the uncreated One. The Uncreated is perfect, that is, God. It was necessary for man first to be created; then, having been created, to grow; having grown, to be strengthened; having been strengthened, to abound; having abounded, to heal from the disease of sin; having healed, to be glorified; and being glorified, to see his Lord. For God is He who is still to be seen, and seeing God leads to immortality, in turn bringing one close to God.

IN EVERY RESPECT: those who do not wait for the time of growth and instead attribute the weaknesses of their nature to God are irrational. Such people know neither God nor themselves, as they are insatiable and ungrateful, unwilling to start as what they were created to be—humans subject to passions. They go beyond the law of the human race and, before becoming fully human, wish to be like God, their Creator. They, more lacking in reason than animals, claim there is no difference between the uncreated God and mankind, who are newly created.

For the animals do not accuse God for not making them humans; rather, each gives thanks for being created as they are.

However, we blame God for not making us gods from the start, but first as men, and eventually as gods.

Yet God chose this path out of His pure kindness, so that no one could accuse Him of envy or stinginess. He declared, “I have said, You are gods; and you are all sons of the Highest.” But since we could not handle the power of divinity, He adds, “But you shall die like men,” showing both His gracious gift and our weakness, as well as our power over ourselves.

After His great kindness, He generously gave us good things and made humans in His likeness, giving them control over their own lives. At the same time, in His foresight, He knew the weaknesses of humans and the results that would come, yet through His love and power, He will overcome the nature of creation. It was necessary, at first, for nature to be expressed; then for mortality to be conquered and swallowed up by immortality, and the corruptible by incorruptibility, and for humans to be made in the image and likeness of God, having gained the knowledge of good and evil.

HUMANS HAVE GAINED THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL: It is good to obey God, to believe in Him, and to keep His commandments, and this is the true life for humans; not obeying God is evil and leads to death. Since God gave humans such mental power, they can understand both the good of obedience and the evil of disobedience. This allows the mind, through experience, to wisely choose better things, ensuring that they are never lazy or neglectful of God's command.

Learning that disobedience to God, which deprives them of life, is evil, they should avoid it completely. Understanding that what preserves life is obedience to God, they should diligently follow it with earnestness. Humans, therefore, have twofold experiences: knowing both kinds of actions, they can choose better paths with discipline. Without knowledge of the opposite, how could they understand what is good? A clear and definite understanding of what is presented is better than mere opinion. Just like tasting helps the tongue distinguish sweet from bitter, vision helps the eyes distinguish black from white, and hearing helps the ear recognize different sounds, the mind uses the experience of both good and evil to firmly hold on to what is good through obedience to God.

First, by repenting and rejecting disobedience as something unpleasant and distasteful, and then by realizing its true nature—its opposition to goodness—so the mind never attempts disobedience again.

But if anyone avoids the knowledge of both good and evil, they unknowingly strip themselves of what it means to be human.

HOW: then, can someone be a God who has not yet been made a man? Or how can someone be perfect who was only recently created? Again, how can someone be immortal who did not obey his Maker in his mortal nature? You must first hold the rank of a man and then later partake in the glory of God. You do not create God, but God creates you. If you are God’s workmanship, then wait for the hand of your Maker, which creates everything at the right time, in due time for you, whose creation is ongoing.

Offer Him your heart in a soft and willing state, and preserve the form in which the Creator has shaped you, keeping yourself pliable, lest you become hardened and lose the impressions of His hands. By preserving this form, you will rise to what is perfect, for the moist clay within you is hidden there by the workmanship of God. His hand fashioned your substance; He will cover you inside and out with pure gold and silver, and He will adorn you to such a degree that even “the King Himself shall have pleasure in your beauty.” But if you, stubbornly hardened, reject the work of His skill and show yourself ungrateful towards Him because you were created a mere man, by being ungrateful to God, you have lost both His workmanship and life.

For creation is a sign of God’s goodness, but to be created is inherent to human nature. If you offer Him what is yours, that is, faith in Him and submission, you will receive His handiwork and become a perfect creation of God.

IF: however, you will not believe in Him, and will flee from His hands, the cause of imperfection will be in you who did not obey, but not in Him who called you. For He commissioned messengers to invite people to the marriage, but those who did not obey Him deprived themselves of the royal supper. The skill of God, therefore, is not defective, for He has the power to raise up children to Abraham from stones; but the person who does not obtain it is the cause of their own imperfection. Similarly, the light does not fail because of those who have blinded themselves; while it remains the same as ever, those who are blinded are in darkness through their own fault. The light never enslaves anyone by necessity, nor does God force anyone to accept His skill. Those who have turned away from the light given by the Father and transgressed the law of liberty have done so through their own fault, since they have been created as free agents, possessing control over themselves.

BUT GOD: knowing all things in advance, prepared suitable places for both groups. He generously provides the light that those who seek the light of incorruption desire; but for those who despise and mock, avoiding and turning away from this light, effectively blinding themselves, He has prepared darkness appropriate for those who oppose light, and delivered a fitting punishment upon those who try to avoid submission to Him. Submission to God is eternal rest, so those who flee the light have a place worthy of their escape; and those who escape eternal rest have a dwelling that matches their flight. Since all good things are with God, those who choose to flee from God deprive themselves of all good things; and having been deprived of all good things in relation to God, they will consequently fall under God's just judgment. Those who avoid rest will rightfully face punishment, and those who shun light will rightfully dwell in darkness. Just as in the case of this temporal light, those who avoid it lead themselves into darkness, making themselves the cause of their lack of light, and thus dwell in darkness. As I have already noted, the light is not the cause of such an unfortunate condition for them. Similarly, those who flee the eternal light of God, which contains all good things, become the cause for themselves of living in eternal darkness, lacking all good things, having made themselves the cause of their existence in such an abode.

IT IS THEREFORE THE SAME GOD THE FATHER WHO HAS PREPARED GOOD THINGS WITH HIMSELF FOR THOSE WHO DESIRE HIS FELLOWSHIP AND REMAIN OBEDIENT TO HIM: He also has eternal fire for the ringleader of the rebellion, the devil, and those who revolted with him. Into this fire, the Lord has declared that those shall be sent who have been set apart by themselves on His left hand. This is what the prophet has said: “I am a jealous God, making peace and creating evil things;” thus making peace and friendship with those who repent and turn to Him, bringing them to unity, but preparing for the unrepentant, those who shun the light, eternal fire, and outer darkness, which are indeed evils to those who fall into them.

IF: however, there is truly one Father who gives rest, and another God who has prepared the fire, their children would have been distinctly different from each other: one sending people into the Father’s kingdom, and the other into eternal fire.

But since one and the same Lord has indicated that the whole human race will be divided at the judgment, "as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats," and that to some He will say, "Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," but to others, "Depart from me, cursed, into everlasting fire, which My Father has prepared for the devil and his angels," it is clearly shown that there is one and the same Father "making peace and creating evil things," preparing appropriate things for both.

There is also one Judge sending both into a suitable place, as the Lord explains in the parable of the tares and the wheat, where He says, "As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those who do iniquity, and will send them into a furnace of fire: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Therefore, the Father who has prepared the kingdom for the righteous, into which the Son has received those worthy of it, is the same Father who has prepared the furnace of fire, where the angels sent by the Son of Man will send those who deserve it, according to God’s command.

THE LORD: indeed, sowed good seed in His own field; and He says, “The field is the world.” But while men slept, the enemy came and "sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way." From this, we learn that this was the apostate angel and the enemy, because he envied God's creation and sought to make this creation hostile towards God. For this reason, God has banished from His presence the one who willingly and stealthily sowed the tares, that is, the one who brought about the transgression; but He took pity on man, who, through carelessness no doubt, but still wickedly due to another's influence, became entangled in disobedience. He redirected the enmity by which the devil aimed to make man an enemy of God, against the creator of it, by removing His anger from man and directing it elsewhere, sending it instead upon the serpent. As Scripture tells us, God said to the serpent, “And I will place enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” The Lord embodied this enmity when He became man from a woman and crushed the serpent's head, as I have explained in the preceding book.

SINCE THE LORD HAS SAID THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN ANGELS: specifically those of the devil, for whom eternal fire is prepared; and also, He states regarding the tares, "The tares are the children of the wicked one," it must be affirmed that He has attributed all who are part of the apostasy to him who is the leader of this transgression. But He made neither angels nor men this way by nature. For we do not find that the devil created anything at all, since he is himself a creature of God, like the other angels. For God made all things, as David also says regarding all things of this sort: "For He spoke the word, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created."

SINCE ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY GOD: and the devil has become the cause of apostasy for himself and others, Scripture justly calls those who remain in a state of apostasy "sons of the devil" and "angels of the wicked one." The word "son" has a twofold meaning: one is a son by nature because he was born a son; the other becomes a son, considered so despite the difference between being born and being made so. The first is indeed born from the person, but the second is made so by him, whether through creation or by learning his teachings. When someone is taught by another, he is called the son of his instructor, and the instructor is called his father. By nature, or by creation, we are all sons of God, because we have all been created by God. But with respect to obedience and doctrine, not all are sons of God; only those who believe in Him and do His will are. Those who do not believe and do not obey His will are sons and angels of the devil, because they do the works of the devil. This is declared in Isaiah: "I have begotten and brought up children, but they have rebelled against Me." And again, it says that these children are aliens: "Strange children have lied unto Me." By nature, they are His children, because they were created as such; but regarding their works, they are not His children.

JUST AS: among people, those children who disobey their fathers are disinherited but remain their children by nature, yet legally lose their inheritance; so it is with God—those who do not obey Him are disinherited by Him and cease to be His children.

Therefore, they cannot receive His inheritance, as David says, “Sinners are alienated from birth; their rage is like that of a serpent.” This is why the Lord called those He knew to be mere descendants of humans “a generation of vipers,” because like those creatures, they act subtly and harm others.

He warned, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Regarding Herod, He said, “Go and tell that fox,” referring to his wicked cunning and deceit. The prophet David said, “Man, placed in honor, is made like cattle.” Jeremiah said, “They have become like horses, frenzied after females; each neighs after his neighbor’s wife.” Isaiah, preaching in Judea and reasoning with Israel, called them “rulers of Sodom” and “people of Gomorrah,” indicating their similarity to the Sodomites in wickedness and widespread sin, calling them by the same name because of their similar behavior.

Since they were not created by God to be this way and had the ability to act righteously, he advised them, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove evil from your souls before my eyes; cease from your sins.” Thus, having transgressed and sinned similarly, they received the same reproach as the Sodomites. Yet, when they convert, repent, and stop doing evil, they have the power to become the children of God and receive the inheritance of immortality given by Him.

For this reason, He called those who follow the devil and do his works “angels of the devil” and “children of the wicked one.” Yet all are created by the same God. When they believe, submit to God, and follow His teachings, they are the children of God; but when they fall away and transgress, they are attributed to the devil—the leader who first caused apostasy to himself and then to others.

SINCE THE WORDS OF THE LORD ARE NUMEROUS AND THEY ALL PROCLAIM ONE AND THE SAME FATHER: the Creator of this world, it is my duty, for their own sake, to refute by many arguments those who are caught in numerous errors, so that if by any means, when they are proven wrong by many proofs, they may be converted to the truth and saved. It is also necessary to include in this composition, following the words of the Lord, the teachings of Paul, to examine his opinion, explain the apostle, and clarify any passages that have been misinterpreted by heretics, who have completely misunderstood what Paul spoke, and to highlight the folly of their irrational opinions.

It is important to demonstrate from Paul, from whose writings they challenge us, that they are indeed speaking falsehoods, but that the apostle was a preacher of the truth, and that he taught everything in line with the preaching of the truth; meaning that it was one God the Father who spoke with Abraham, who gave the law, who sent the prophets beforehand, who in these last times sent His Son, and granted salvation to His own creation—that is, the substance of flesh.

Therefore, by arranging in another book the rest of the words of the Lord, which He taught concerning the Father not with parables, but with straightforward expressions, and by explaining the Epistles of the blessed apostle, I shall, with God’s help, provide you with the complete work of exposing and refuting knowledge falsely so-called; thus preparing both you and me in these five books to oppose all heretics.