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It would be a matter of great audacity to call such men members of Christ, or to say that they are ruled by him; but of a simple mind, to say with boldness, that the mind of the flesh holds sway and reigns there, according to the voice of the Apostle, who says definitively, that To whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey; and who clearly describes the characteristics of such a mind, as when he says: For where there are envy and strife and divisions among you, are you not carnal?; and at the same time teaching declaratively both the difficulty of their outcome and their incompatibility with piety, through the words in which he says that, The mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be; because No one can, says the Lord, serve two masters. Then, with the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and God Jesus Christ Himself, through whom all things were made, crying out, I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me; and that Of myself I do nothing; and, I have received a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak; and with the Holy Spirit, who distributes the great and wonderful gifts, and works all things in all, speaking nothing of Himself, but whatever He hears from the Lord, this He speaks; how is it not much more necessary for the whole Church of God, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, to fulfill that which is said in the Acts, that The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul? with no one, clearly, establishing his own will, but all together seeking in the one Holy Spirit the will of the one Lord Jesus Christ, who said: I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me; to whom he says: And not for these 31.661 do I pray only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. Upon these things, and more that are passed over in silence, having been fully persuaded that agreement on the part of the whole Church of God, according to the will of Christ, in the Holy Spirit, is so clearly and irrefutably necessary, and that disobedience to God in division from one another is dangerous and destructive (For he who disobeys, he says, the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him), I thought it consequent to examine this next: which sins, then, can have pardon from God, and after committing how many and how great sins does one become liable to the judgment of disobedience.

I find, then, taking up the divine Scriptures, in the Old and New Testament, that disobedience toward God is clearly judged neither by the multitude of sins committed, nor by the magnitude of the sins, but solely by the transgression of any commandment whatsoever, and that the judgment is common against every disobedience to God; in the Old Testament, reading that terrible end of Achar, or the story concerning the one who gathered sticks on the Sabbath, neither of whom is found to have ever sinned otherwise against God, or to have wronged man, in any great or small matter at all. But the one, for the sole and first gathering of sticks pays the inexorable penalty, not even finding a place for repentance; for by the command of God he is immediately stoned by all the people; and the other, because he only took something of the devoted things which had not yet been brought into the assembly, nor received by those appointed for such things, became the cause of destruction not only for himself, but also for his wife and children, and moreover for his very tent with all his possessions. And the evil of the sin was already about to spread like fire over all the people, and this, though they neither knew what had happened, nor had they consented with the one who sinned, if the people had not been quickly crushed by the fall of the men who were slain, perceiving the wrath of God; he fell

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Πολλῆς μὲν τόλμης ἂν εἴη μέλη Χριστοῦ τοὺς τοιούτους ὀνομάζειν, ἢ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἄρχεσθαι λέγειν· ἁπλῆς δὲ διανοίας, μετὰ παῤῥησίας εἰπεῖν, ὅτι κρατεῖ ἐκεῖ καὶ βασιλεύει τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς φρόνημα, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἀποστόλου φω νὴν, λέγοντος μὲν ὁριστικῶς, ὅτι Ὧ παριστάνετε ἑαυτοὺς δούλους εἰς ὑπακοὴν, δοῦλοί ἐστε ᾧ ὑπακούετε· διεξιόντος δὲ σαφῶς τοῦ τοιούτου φρο νήματος τὰ ἰδιώματα, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Ὅπου γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ζῆλος καὶ ἔρις, καὶ διχοστασίαι, οὐχὶ σαρ κικοί ἐστε; διδάσκοντος δὲ ἅμα ἀποφαντικῶς τό τε χαλεπὸν αὐτῶν τῆς ἐκβάσεως καὶ τὸ ἀκοινώτητον πρὸς θεοσέβειαν, δι' ὧν φησιν ὅτι, Τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς, ἔχθρα εἰς Θεόν· τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται· οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται· διότι Οὐδεὶς δύναται, ὁ Κύριός φησι, δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν. Εἶτα αὐτοῦ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ βοῶντος, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, Καταβέβηκα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, οὐχ ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με Πατρός· καὶ ὅτι Ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ ποιῶ οὐδέν· καὶ, Ἐντολὴν ἔλαβον τί εἴπω, καὶ τί λαλήσω· καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου τοῦ διαι ροῦντος μὲν τὰ μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ χαρίσματα, ἐνεργοῦντος δὲ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι, λαλοῦντός τε ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδὲν, ἀλλ' ὅσα ἂν ἀκούσῃ παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, ταῦτα λαλοῦντος· πῶς οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἀνάγκη πᾶσαν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ σπουδάζουσαν τηρεῖν τὴν ἑνότητα τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς εἰρήνης, πληροῦν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν εἰρημένον, ὅτι Τοῦ πλήθους τῶν πιστευσάντων ἦν ἡ καρδία καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ μία; οὐδενὸς μὲν δηλονότι τὸ ἴδιον βούλημα ἱστῶντος, πάντων δὲ κοινῇ ζητούντων ἐν ἑνὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι τὸ τοῦ ἑνὸς Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ θέλημα, τοῦ εἰπόντος· Καταβέβηκα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, οὐχ ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με Πατρός· πρὸς ὅν φησιν· Οὐ περὶ τούτων δὲ 31.661 ἐρωτῶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν πιστευόντων διὰ τοῦ λόγου αὐτῶν εἰς ἐμὲ, ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσιν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις, καὶ πλείοσι τοῖς σεσιωπημένοις, οὕτω σαφῶς καὶ ἀναντιῤῥήτως ἀναγκαίαν μὲν εἶναι πλη ροφορηθεὶς τὴν παρὰ πάσης ὁμοῦ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκ κλησίας, κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ συμφωνίαν, ἐπικίνδυνον δὲ καὶ ὀλεθρίαν ἐν τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαστάσει τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἀπείθειαν (Ὁ γὰρ ἀπειθῶν, φησὶ, τῷ Υἱῷ οὐκ ὄψεται τὴν ζωὴν, ἀλλ' ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ μενεῖ ἐπ' αὐτὸν), ἐκεῖνο ἀκόλουθον ἡγησάμην ἐξετάσαι λοιπόν· ποῖα μὲν ἄρα συγγνώμην τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἔχειν δύ ναται παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, πόσα δέ τις καὶ πηλίκα ἁμαρτήσας, ὑπεύθυνος γίνεται τῷ κρίματι τῆς ἀπειθείας.

Εὑρίσκω τοίνυν, ἀναλαβὼν τὰς θείας Γραφὰς, ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ καὶ Καινῇ ∆ιαθήκῃ, οὔτε ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἁμαρτανομένων, οὔτε ἐν τῷ μεγέθει τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἐν μόνῃ δὲ τῇ παραβάσει οὑτι νοσοῦν προστάγματος, σαφῶς κρινομένην τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἀπείθειαν, καὶ κοινὸν κατὰ πάσης παρακοῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ κρῖμα· ἐν μὲν τῇ Παλαιᾷ τὸ φοβερὸν ἐκεῖνο τοῦ Ἄχαρ ἀναγινώσκων τέλος, ἢ τὴν κατὰ τὸν ἐν Σαββάτῳ ξύλα συλλέξαντα ἱστορίαν, ὧν ἑκάτερος οὐδὲν οὐδεπώποτε ἄλλως οὐκ εἰς Θεὸν ἡμαρτηκὼς, οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ἠδικηκὼς, οὐ μέγα, οὐ μικρὸν ὅλως εὑρίσκεται. Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν, ἐπὶ μόνῃ καὶ πρώτῃ τῶν ξύλων συλλογῇ ἀπαραίτητον δίδωσι τὴν δίκην, οὐδὲ μετανοίας τόπον εὑρών· προστάγματι γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ παρὰ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ παραχρῆμα λι θοβολεῖται· ὁ δὲ, ὅτι μόνον ὑφείλετό τι τῶν ἀναθεμά των οὔπω εἰσενεχθέντων εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν, οὐδὲ προσδεχθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιτεταγμένων τὰ τοιαῦτα, αἴτιος ἀπωλείας οὐκ αὐτῷ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γαμετῇ καὶ τέκνοις, πρὸς δὲ καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ σκηνῇ σὺν πᾶσι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἐγένετο. Ἔμελλε δὲ ἤδη καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν πυρὸς τρόπον ἐπινέμεσθαι τῆς ἁμαρ τίας τὸ κακὸν, καὶ ταῦτα οὔτε εἰδότα τὸ γεγονὸς, οὐδὲ συνεγνωκότα τῷ ἁμαρτήσαντι, εἰ μὴ ταχέως ἐκ τῆς πτώσεως τῶν ἀναιρεθέντων ἀνδρῶν συνετρίβη μὲν ὁ λαὸς αἰσθόμενος τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἔπεσε