4

having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.”

1.17 Did you see the greatness of the bride-price? Did you see the ineffable excess of love? “As Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her.” No one would ever have condescended to do this, to pour out his blood for the one who was to be joined to him. But the philanthropic Master, imitating his own goodness, condescended to this great and paradoxical thing out of his care for her, that by his own blood he might sanctify her, that having cleansed her by the washing of baptism, he might present the church to himself in splendor. For this reason he poured out his blood and endured the cross, that through this he might also grant sanctification to us, and cleanse us through the regeneration of the washing, and present to himself in splendor those who were formerly dishonored and unable to have any boldness, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. 1.18 Do you see how by saying, “He will cleanse and present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle,” he taught us the impurity in which she previously was? Considering all these things, then, you new soldiers of Christ, do not look at the greatness of your own evils, nor count the excess of your sins; or rather, having reckoned these things with precision, do not doubt even so, but knowing the generosity of the Master, the excess of his grace, the greatness of his gift, as many of you as have been deemed worthy to be enrolled as citizens here, approach with much gratitude, and having departed from all that you have already done, show your change of heart with your whole mind. 1.19 And since you know well what sort of people you were and in what state the Master receives you, not demanding punishment for your offenses nor making an examination of your sins, you yourselves also contribute what is from you, confirming your confessions to him not only with the tongue but also with the mind. “For with the heart,” he says, “one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.” For it is necessary both for the mind to be firmly established in the pious faith and for the tongue to proclaim through confession the firmness of the mind. 1.20 Since, therefore, faith is the foundation of piety, come, let us speak a little to you about this, so that, having laid an unbreakable foundation, we may then build the whole structure with security. It is fitting, therefore, for those who have enrolled themselves in this unique spiritual registry to believe in the God of all, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the cause of all things, the ineffable, the inconceivable, who can be interpreted neither by word nor by mind, who in philanthropy and goodness established all things. 1.21 And in our Lord Jesus Christ, his Son 1.21 his only-begotten, who is in all things like and equal to the Father and has an unvarying likeness to him, who is of one substance and is known in his own hypostasis, who came forth from him ineffably, who is superior to time and the creator of all ages, and in the latter times for our salvation took on the form of a servant and became man and conversed with human nature, and was crucified and on the third day rose again. 1.22 For you must have these things precisely fixed in your mind, so that you may not become easy prey to the deceptions of the devil, but if the children of Arius wish to trip you up, you may know precisely that you must block your ears to the things said by them, answering them with boldness and showing that the Son is like the Father according to substance. For he it is who said, “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will,” and through all things he shows that he has power equal to the Father. And if Sabellius from another direction wishes to corrupt the sound doctrines by confounding the hypostases, wall up your ears to him too,

4

καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι, ἵνα παραστήσῃ ἑαυτῷ ἔνδοξον τὴν ἐκκλησίαν μὴ ἔχουσαν σπίλον ἢ ῥυτίδα ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων.»

1.17 Εἶδες ἕδνων μέγεθος; Εἶδες ἀγάπης ὑπερβολὴν ἄφατον; «Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ ἑαυτὸν παρέδωκεν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς.» Τοῦτο οὐκ ἄν τίς ποτε ποιῆσαι κατεδέξατο, τὸ αἷμα ἐκχεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς μελλούσης αὐτῷ συνάπτεσθαι. Ἀλλ' ὁ φιλάνθρωπος δεσπότης τὴν οἰκείαν μιμούμενος ἀγαθότητα, τοῦτο τὸ μέγα καὶ παράδοξον διὰ τὴν περὶ αὐτὴν κηδεμονίαν κατεδέξατο, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου ταύτην ἁγιάσῃ, ἵνα καθαρίσας τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ βαπτίσματος παραστήσῃ ἑαυτῷ ἔνδοξον τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τὸ αἷμα ἐξέχεε καὶ σταυρὸν ὑπέμεινεν ἵνα καὶ ἡμῖν διὰ τούτου τὸν ἁγιασμὸν χαρίσηται καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς τοῦ λουτροῦ ἀναγεννήσεως καὶ τοὺς πρότερον ἠτιμωμένους καὶ μηδεμίαν παρρησίαν δυναμένους ἔχειν παραστήσῃ ἑαυτῷ ἐνδόξους μὴ ἔχοντας σπίλον ἢ ῥυτίδα ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων. 1.18 Ὁρᾷς πῶς διὰ τοῦ εἰπεῖν· «Καθαρίσει καὶ παραστήσῃ ἑαυτῷ ἔνδοξον τὴν ἐκκλησίαν μὴ ἔχουσαν σπίλον ἢ ῥυτίδα», ἐδίδαξεν ἡμᾶς τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν ἐν ᾗ πρότερον ἐτύγχανεν οὖσα; Ταῦτα δὴ πάντα ἐννοοῦντες, οἱ νέοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρατιῶται, μὴ πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος τῶν οἰκείων ἐφορᾶτε κακῶν μηδὲ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῶν ἡμαρτημένων ὑμῖν λογίσησθε· μᾶλλον δὲ, ταῦτα μετ' ἀκριβείας ἀναλογισάμενοι, μηδὲ οὕτως ἐνδοιάσητε ἀλλ' εἰδότες τοῦ δεσπότου τὸ φιλότιμον, τῆς χάριτος τὴν ὑπερβολήν, τῆς δωρεᾶς τὸ μέγεθος, ὅσοι κατηξιώθητε ἐνταῦθα πολιτογραφηθῆναι, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐγνωμοσύνης προσέλθετε καὶ πάντων τῶν ἤδη προπεπραγμένων ὑμῖν ἀποστάντες ὁλοκλήρῳ τῇ διανοίᾳ τὴν μετάστασιν ἐπιδείξασθε. 1.19 Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἔγνωτε καλῶς οἵους ὑμᾶς ὄντας καὶ ὅπως διακειμένους ὁ δεσπότης προσίεται, οὐ δίκας ἀπαιτῶν τῶν πλημμεληθέντων οὐδὲ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων τὴν ἐξέτασιν ποιούμενος, καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν εἰσενέγκατε οὐ τῇ γλώττῃ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ διανοίᾳ τὰς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμολογίας βεβαιοῦντες. «Καρδίᾳ γάρ, φησί, πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην, στόματι δὲ ὁμολογεῖται εἰς σωτηρίαν.» ∆εῖ γὰρ καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ἐστηρίχθαι βεβαίως ἐν τῇ εὐσεβεῖ πίστει καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν διὰ τῆς ὁμολογίας κηρύττειν τὸ πεπηγὸς τῆς διανοίας. 1.20 Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ θεμέλιος τῆς εὐσεβείας ἡ πίστις ἐστί, φέρε μικρὰ περὶ ταύτης ὑμῖν διαλεχθῶμεν ἵνα τὸν θεμέλιον ἀρραγῆ καταβαλόμενοι, οὕτω λοιπὸν μετὰ ἀσφαλείας τὴν πᾶσαν οἰκοδομὴν ποιησώμεθα. Προσήκει τοίνυν τοὺς εἰς τὸ ἴδιον τοῦτο τὸ πνευματικὸν ἀπογραψαμένους πιστεύειν εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν τὸν πατέρα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸν πάντων αἴτιον, τὸν ἄφραστον, τὸν ἀπερινόητον, τὸν οὔτε λόγῳ οὔτε διανοίᾳ ἑρμηνευθῆναι δυνάμενον, τὸν φιλανθρωπίᾳ καὶ ἀγαθότητι τὰ πάντα συστησάμενον. 1.21 Καὶ εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν Υἱὸν 1.21 αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν κατὰ πάντα ὅμοιον καὶ ἴσον τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ ἀπαράλλακτον ἔχοντα τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμοιότητα, τὸν ὁμοούσιον καὶ ἐν ἰδίᾳ ὑποστάσει γνωριζόμενον, τὸν ἀρρήτως ἐξ αὐτοῦ προελθόντα, τὸν χρόνων ἀνώτερον καὶ τῶν αἰώνων ἁπάντων δημιουργόν, ἐν ὑστέροις δὲ καιροῖς διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν μορφὴν δούλου ἀναλαβόντα καὶ ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον καὶ συναναστραφέντα τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει, καὶ σταυρωθέντα καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστάντα. 1.22 ∆εῖ γὰρ ὑμᾶς ταῦτα ἀκριβῶς ἔχειν ἐμπεπηγότα ὑμῶν τῇ διανοίᾳ ἵνα μὴ εὐχείρωτοι γένησθε ταῖς ἀπάταις ταῖς διαβολικαῖς, ἀλλ' ἄν τε Ἀρείου παῖδες ὑποσκελίζειν βούλωνται, εἰδείητε ἀκριβῶς ὅτι ἀποφράττειν δεῖ τὰς ἀκοὰς πρὸς τὰ παρ' αὐτῶν λεγόμενα, μετὰ παρρησίας πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀποκρινομένους καὶ δεικνύντας ὅμοιον κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν ὄντα τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱόν. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ εἰρηκώς· «Ὥσπερ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐγείρει τοὺς νεκροὺς καὶ ζωοποιεῖ, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς οὓς θέλει ζωοποιεῖ» καὶ διὰ πάντων δείκνυσιν ὅτι τὴν ἴσην ἔχει τῷ Πατρὶ δύναμιν. Ἄν τε Σαβέλλιος ἑτέρωθεν διαφθείρειν βούληται τὰ ὑγιῆ δόγματα συναλείφων τὰς ὑποστάσεις, κἀκείνῳ τὰς ἀκοὰς ἀποτείχισον,