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Lord, who is a hired shepherd? Is it the devil? And if the devil is a hired shepherd, who is the wolf? But the wolf is the devil, the savage beast, the ravenous, the treacherous, the common enemy of all. Therefore let the hired shepherd have his own name. The Lord spoke of hired shepherds then, turning away from those of that time. But there are also those now, would that there were not, who appropriate the name of hired hands. At that time they were pointed out as high priests and Pharisees, and all that Jewish party. He called them hired shepherds, those who took the authority of shepherding not for the sake of the truth, but for their own need. Those who pray under a vain pretense, in order to devour the bread of widows and orphans, these are hired hands. Those serving their own need, those pursuing the present, not gazing toward the future, are hired hands, and not shepherds. And now many are hired hands, giving their own life for a wretched bit of glory, who even now create a schism over the sound words of the Lord. For when the Lord said these things, a schism arose among them. Some said, He has a demon; others, A demon cannot make the eyes of the blind to see. Do you see how old is the affliction of schism? For immediately the winnowing-fan separates the chaff from the wheat; and what is light and unstable is separated from the nutritious, but what is suitable for spiritual food remains with the farmers. For this reason a schism arose, and some were divided in this way, and others in that. It is fitting for Jews to be divided; but the Church of God, having received the seamless tunic, woven from above, preserved untorn by soldiers, she who has put on Christ, let her not tear the garment. And I know My own, and My own know Me. The heretic has seized this for his own construction of blasphemy. Behold, he says, it is said that, My own know me, and I know my own. What then does it mean to know? to understand the substance? 31.597 to measure out the magnitude? Are those things of the divinity to be understood, which you with your own bold-mouthedness profess? Or from what follows do you not understand the measure of knowledge?

What do we know of God? My sheep hear my voice. See how God is understood: from our hearing His commandments; from hearing and doing. This is knowledge of God, the keeping of God's commandments. How is it not a meddlesomeness concerning the substance of God? not a seeking of the super-cosmic things? not a conception of the invisible things? My own know me, and I know my own. It is enough for you to know, that he is a good shepherd; that he laid down his life for the sheep. This is the limit of the knowledge of God. But how great God is, and what his measure is, and of what kind he is in substance, such things are dangerous for the one who asks, and unanswerable for the one who is asked; and silence is the cure for such things. My sheep hear my voice, he said, they do not dispute. That is, they do not disobey, they are not contentious. You have heard Son, do not yourself contrive for me modes of generation, nor reduce to a cause things that cannot be explained by a cause, nor define by schism that which is united. For this reason the evangelist secured you beforehand. You heard before, and indeed you hear: In the beginning was the Word, so that you might not think the Son a human offspring having come into being from non-being. He told you Word because of impassibility. He told you Was because of timelessness. He told you Beginning, so that you might join the begotten to the Father. You have seen how an obedient sheep hears the voice of the Master. In the beginning, and was, and Word. And do not say, How was he? and, If he was, he was not begotten, and If he was begotten, he was not. The one saying such things is not a sheep. A sheep's skin; but within the one speaking is a wolf. Let the treacherous one be recognized. My sheep hear my voice. Have you heard Son? Understand the likeness to the Father. I say likeness because of the weakness of more powerful bodies. Since in truth (for I am not afraid to approach the truth), I am not a ready slanderer. I say sameness, preserving the property of Son and Father. In the hypostasis of the Son, the form

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Κύριος, τίς μισθωτὸς ποιμήν; Μὴ ὁ διάβολος; Καὶ εἰ ὁ διάβολος μισθωτὸς ποιμὴν, τίς ὁ λύκος; Ἀλλὰ λύκος μὲν ὁ διάβολος, τὸ ἀνήμερον θηρίον, τὸ ἁρ-πακτικὸν, τὸ ἐπίβουλον, ὁ κοινὸς πάντων ἐχθρός. Ἐχέτω τοίνυν ἰδίαν προσηγορίαν μισθωτὸς ποιμήν. Μισθωτοὺς ποιμένας τότε μὲν πρὸς τοὺς τότε ἀποστρεφόμενος ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγεν. Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ νῦν, ὡς οὐκ ὄφελον, οἱ τὴν προσηγορίαν τῶν μισθωτῶν οἰκειούμενοι. Τότε ἀρχιερεῖς ἐνεδείκνυντο καὶ Φαρισαῖοι, καὶ πᾶν ἐκεῖνο τὸ κόμμα τὸ Ἰουδαϊκόν. Ἐκείνους μισθωτοὺς ἔλεγε ποιμένας, τοὺς οὐ διὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ αὐτῶν χρειῶδες τὴν τοῦ ποιμαίνειν ἐξουσίαν λαβόντας. Οἱ ἐπὶ προφάσει ματαίᾳ προσευχόμενοι, ἵνα κατεσθίωσι τὸν ἄρτον τῶν χηρῶν καὶ τῶν ὀρφανῶν, οὗτοι μισθωτοί. Οἱ τὴν χρείαν θεραπεύοντες, οἱ τὸ παρὸν διώκοντες, οὐ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἀτενίζοντες, μισθωτοὶ, καὶ οὐ ποιμένες εἰσί. Καὶ νῦν μισθωτοὶ πολλοὶ δοξαρίου δυ- στήνου τὴν ἑαυτῶν ζωὴν ἀποδιδόντες, οἱ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑγιαίνουσι τοῦ Κυρίου ῥήμασι σχίσμα ποιοῦντες. Εἰπόντος γὰρ ταῦτα τοῦ Κυρίου, σχίσμα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο. Οἱ μὲν ἔλεγον, ∆αιμόνιον ἔχει· ἄλλοι, ∆αίμων ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλοὺς βλέπειν ποιεῖν οὐ δύναται. Ὁρᾷς πῶς παλαιὸν τὸ πάθος τοῦ σχίσματος; Εὐθὺς γὰρ τὸ πτύον διακρίνει μὲν τὸ ἄχυρον ἀπὸ τοῦ σίτου· καὶ τὸ μὲν κοῦφον καὶ ἄστατον ἀποσχίζεται τοῦ τροφίμου, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τροφὴν πνευματικὴν ἐπιτήδειον παραμένει τῶν γεωργούντων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο σχίσμα ἐγένετο, καὶ οἱ μὲν οὕτω διεφέροντο, οἱ δὲ οὕτως. Ἰουδαίοις πρέπει τὸ σχίζεσθαι· ἡ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησία, τὸν χιτῶνα τὸν ἄῤῥαφον, τὸν ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν ὑφαντὸν, δεξαμένη, τὸν ἄσχιστον ὑπὸ στρατιωτῶν διαφυλαχθέντα, ἡ Χριστὸν ἐνδυσαμένη, μὴ σχιζέτω τὸ ἱμάτιον. Καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμὰ, καὶ γινώσκουσί με τὰ ἐμά. Ἥρπασεν ὁ αἱρετικὸς πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν κατασκευὴν τῆς βλασφημίας. Ἰδοὺ, φησὶν, εἴρηται, ὅτι Γινώσκουσί με τὰ ἐμὰ, καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμά. Γινώσκειν ἄρα τί λέγει; τὴν οὐσίαν νοεῖν; 31.597 τὸ μέγεθος ἐκμετρεῖν; Ἐκεῖνα κατανοεῖσθαι τῆς θεότητος, ἃ σὺ τῇ σεαυτοῦ θρασυστομίᾳ κατεπαγγέλλῃ; Ἢ ἐκ τῶν κατόπιν οὐ νοεῖς τὸ μέτρον τῆς γνώσεως;

Τί γινώσκομεν Θεοῦ; Τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς φωνῆς μου ἀκούει. Ἴδε πῶς νοεῖται Θεός· ἐκ τοῦ ἀκούειν ἡμᾶς τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ· ἐκ τοῦ ἀκούοντας ποιεῖν. Τοῦτο γνῶσις Θεοῦ, τήρησις ἐντολῶν Θεοῦ. Πῶς οὐ πολυπραγμοσύνη περὶ οὐσίας Θεοῦ; οὐ ζήτησις τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων; οὐκ ἐπίνοια τῶν ἀοράτων; Γινώσκει με τὰ ἐμὰ, καὶ γινώσκω τὰ ἐμά. Ἀρκεῖ σοι εἰδέναι, ὅτι ποιμὴν καλός· ὅτι ἔθηκε τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν προβάτων. Οὗτος ὅρος τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιγνώσεως. Πόσος δὲ Θεὸς, καὶ τί τὸ μέτρον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποταπὸς τὴν οὐσίαν, τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπικίνδυνα μὲν τῷ ἐρωτῶντι, ἄπορα δὲ τῷ ἐρωτωμένῳ· σιωπὴ δὲ, θεραπεία τῶν τοιούτων ἐστί. Τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς ἀκούει, εἶπεν, οὐ συζητεῖ. Τουτ-έστιν οὐ παρακούει, οὐ φιλονεικεῖ. Ἤκουσας Υἱὸν, μή μοι τρόπους γεννήσεως μήτε αὐτὸς τεχνολόγει, μήτε ὑπὸ αἰτίαν ἀνάγαγε τὰ μὴ αἰτιολογήματα, μὴ διὰ σχίσματος διόριζε τὸ συνημμένον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο προλαβὼν ἠσφαλίσατό σε ὁ εὐαγγελιστής. Ἤκουσας πρώην, καὶ δὴ ἀκούεις· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, ἵνα μὴ τὸν Υἱὸν γέννημα ἀνθρώπινον νομίσῃς ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος παρεληλυθέναι. Λόγον σοι εἶπε διὰ τὸ ἀπαθές. Ἦν σοι εἶπε διὰ τὸ ἄχρονον. Ἀρχήν σοι εἶπεν, ἵνα συνάψῃ τὸν γεννηθέντα τῷ Πατρί. Εἶδες πρόβατον εὐπειθὲς πῶς ἀκούει φωνὴν ∆εσπότου. Ἐν ἀρχῇ, καὶ ἦν, καὶ Λόγος. Μηδὲ λέγε τὸ, Πῶς ἦν; καὶ, Εἰ ἦν, οὐκ ἐγεννήθη, καὶ Εἰ ἐγεννήθη, οὐκ ἦν. Οὐκ ἔστι πρόβατον τὸ τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγον. Προβάτου δέρμα· ἔσωθεν δὲ λύκος ἐστὶν ὁ φθεγγόμενος. Ἐπίβουλος γνωριζέσθω. Τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς ἐμῆς φωνῆς ἀκούει. Ἤκουσας Υἱόν; Νόησον τὴν πρὸς Πατέρα ὁμοιότητα. Ὁμοιότητα λέγω δι' ἀσθένειαν τῶν δυνατωτέρων σωμάτων. Ἐπεὶ τό γε ἀληθὲς (οὐ φοβοῦμαι γὰρ προσβαίνειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν), οὐκ εἰμὶ ἕτοιμος συκοφάντης. Ταυτότητα λέγω, φυλάσσων Υἱοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ἰδιότητα. Ἐν ὑποστάσει Υἱοῦ, μορφὴν