5

a change, they have called the day Pascha. And custom, having adopted the word, made it stronger, 36.637 as the hearing of the many ran to it, as to a more pious term.

XI. Therefore, that the whole law is a shadow of things to come and things perceived by the mind, the divine Apostle declared before us. And God, who before this gave oracles to Moses, when He was giving laws concerning these things: For see, He says, that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain; showing the visible things to be a kind of shadow-sketch and pre-figuration of the invisible. And I am persuaded that none of these things have been arranged in vain, nor irrationally, nor in a grovelling manner, nor unworthily of the legislation of God and the ministry of Moses; even if it is difficult for each of the shadows, for one descending into fine detail, to discover each theory, as much as has been legislated concerning the tabernacle itself, and its measurements, and material, and the Levites who carry these things and minister, and as much as concerning sacrifices, and purifications, and portions removed; and that they can be contemplated only by those who have the virtue of Moses, or who are very near to his instruction. Since even on the mountain itself God appears to men, on the one hand descending Himself somewhat from His own high place, and on the other leading us up from the lowliness below, so that the Incomprehensible might be comprehended, at least moderately, by mortal nature, and as much as is safe. For it is not possible otherwise for the density of a mind that is material and bound to the body to come into contemplation of God, unless it is helped. Then, therefore, not all appear to have been deemed worthy of the same order and station; but one of this, another of that, each according to the measure, I think, of his own purification; while some were driven away altogether, and permitted only to hear the voice from above, as many as were beast-like in their manner, and unworthy of the divine mysteries.

XII. Nevertheless, we, proceeding to a middle ground between those whose thought is entirely too dense, and those who are excessively contemplative and exalted, so that we may neither remain completely idle and unmoved, nor be more curious than is needful, and fall away from and be alien to the things set before us (for the one is somehow Judaic and lowly, the other is like dream-interpretation, and both are equally condemned); thus we will discourse concerning these things, to the extent possible for us, and not too out of place, nor ridiculous to the many. For we hold that, since we fell 36.640 from the beginning through sin, and were stolen away by pleasure even to idolatry and unlawful bloodshed, it was necessary to be called back again, and to be brought back to the original state, through the tender mercy of God our Father, not enduring that so great a work of His own hand, man, should be lost. How then was he to be re-formed, and what was to happen? The harshness of the cure was rejected, as being unable either to persuade or to strike a blow, on account of the pride arising from time, and it was managed for our correction by the gentleness and philanthropy of the therapy. For not even a crooked sapling could bear a sudden bending and the force of a straightening hand (it would sooner be broken than straightened), nor a hot-blooded and full-grown horse the tyranny of the bit, without some flattery and gentle clicking sounds. For this reason a law is given to us for assistance, like a dividing wall between God and idols, leading us away from the one, and leading us back to the other. And it concedes something small from the beginning, in order to gain the greater. It concedes sacrifices for a time, in order to establish God; then, when the time is right, it abolishes the sacrifices also, wisely substituting for us by small removals, and transferring us to the Gospel, we who have already been trained to obedience.

XIII. So then, for these reasons, the written law came in, gathering us to Christ, and this is the account of the sacrifices, as my account has it. But so that you may not be ignorant of the depth of wisdom, and the riches of His unsearchable judgments, He did not leave even these sacrifices entirely unhallowed, nor unmeaningful, nor proceeding only as far as the mere blood; but the great and unsacrificed Victim, so to speak, as far as His first nature is concerned,

5

μεταποίησιν, Πάσχα τὴν ἡμέραν προσηγορεύκασιν. Παραλαβοῦσα δὲ ἡ συνήθεια τὴν φωνὴν, ἰσχυροτέραν 36.637 ἐποίησε, προστρεχούσης τῆς τῶν πολλῶν ἀκοῆς, ὡς εὐσεβεστέρῳ τῷ ῥήματι.

ΙΑʹ. Πάντα μὲν οὖν τὸν νόμον, σκιὰν εἶναι τῶν μελλόντων καὶ νοουμένων, ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀπεφήνατο. Καὶ ὁ χρηματίσας πρὸ τούτου τῷ Μωϋσεῖ Θεὸς, ἡνίκα περὶ τούτων ἐνομοθέτει· Ὅρα γὰρ, φησὶ, ποιήσεις πάντα κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει· σκιαγραφίαν τινὰ καὶ προχάραγμα τῶν ἀοράτων παραδεικνὺς τὰ ὁρώμενα. Καὶ πείθομαι, μηδὲν εἰκῆ, μηδὲ ἀλογίστως, μηδὲ χα μερπῶς τούτων διατετάχθαι, μηδὲ ἀναξίως τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ νομοθεσίας, καὶ τῆς Μωϋσέως ὑπουργίας· εἰ καὶ χαλεπὸν ἑκάστῃ τῶν σκιῶν, ἑκάστην ἐφευρεῖν θεωρίαν εἰς λεπτὸν καταβαίνοντα, ὅσα τε περὶ τῆς σκηνῆς αὐτῆς, καὶ μέτρων, καὶ ὕλης, καὶ τῶν αἰρόντων ταῦτα Λευϊτῶν τε καὶ λειτουργῶν, ὅσα τε περὶ θυσιῶν, καὶ καθαρσίων, καὶ ἀφαιρεμάτων νενομοθέτηται· καὶ μόνοις εἶναι θεωρητὰ τοῖς κατὰ Μωϋσέα τὴν ἀρετὴν, ἢ ὅτι ἐγγυτάτω τῆς ἐκείνου παιδεύσεως. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ὄρει Θεὸς ἀνθρώ ποις φαντάζεται, τὸ μέν τι καταβαίνων αὐτὸς τῆς οἰκείας περιωπῆς, τὸ δὲ ἡμᾶς ἀνάγων ἐκ τῆς κάτωθεν ταπεινώσεως, ἵνα χωρηθῇ μετρίως γοῦν θνητῇ φύσει, καὶ ὅσον ἀσφαλὲς, ὁ ἀχώρητος. Οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε ἄλλως ἐν περινοίᾳ Θεοῦ γενέσθαι σώμα τος ὑλικοῦ καὶ δεσμίου νοῦ πάχος μὴ βοηθούμενον. Τότε τοίνυν, οὐ πάντες τῆς αὐτῆς ἀξιωθέντες φαί νονται τάξεώς τε καὶ στάσεως· ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν τῆς, ὁ δὲ τῆς, πρὸς μέτρον, οἶμαι, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ καθάρσεως ἕκαστος· οἱ δὲ καὶ παντάπασιν ἀπεληλαμένοι, καὶ μόνης ἀκούειν τῆς ἄνωθεν φωνῆς συγχωρούμενοι, ὅσοι θηριώδεις τὸν τρόπον, καὶ θείων μυστηρίων ἀνάξιοι.

ΙΒʹ. Ὅμως δὲ μέσην χωροῦντες ἡμεῖς τῶν τε πάντη παχυτέρων τὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ τῶν ἄγαν θεωρητικῶν τε καὶ ἀνηγμένων, ἵνα μήτε παντελῶς ἀργοὶ καὶ ἀκίνητοι μένωμεν, μήτε περιεργότεροι τοῦ δέοντος ὦμεν, καὶ τῶν προκειμένων ἔκπτωτοι καὶ ἀλλότριοι (τὸ μὲν γὰρ Ἰουδαϊκόν πως καὶ ταπεινὸν, τὸ δὲ ὀνειροκριτικὸν, καὶ ὁμοίως ἀμφότερα κατεγνω σμένα)· οὕτω περὶ τούτων διαλεξόμεθα, κατὰ τὸ ἡμῖν ἐφικτὸν, καὶ οὐ λίαν ἔκτοπον, οὐδὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς καταγέλαστον. Ἡγούμεθα γὰρ, ἐπειδὴ πεσόντας 36.640 ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἡδο νῆς κλαπέντας μέχρις εἰδωλολατρείας, καὶ τῶν ἀθέ σμων αἱμάτων, ἔδει πάλιν ἀνακληθῆναι, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἐπαναχθῆναι, διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν, οὐκ ἀνασχομένου ζημιωθῆναι τοσοῦτον ἔργον τῆς οἰκείας χειρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Πῶς οὖν ἀναπλασθῆναι, καὶ τί γενέσθαι; Τὸ μὲν σφοδρὸν τῆς ἰατρείας ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι, ὡς οὔτε πεῖσον, καὶ προσπλῆξαι δυνάμενον, διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου φυσίω σιν, τῷ δὲ ἡμέρῳ καὶ φιλανθρώπῳ τῆς θεραπείας οἰκονομηθῆναι πρὸς ἐπανόρθωσιν. Μηδὲ γὰρ ἂν πτόρθον λοξὸν ἐνεγκεῖν ἀθρόαν μετάκλισιν καὶ βίαν χειρὸς ἀπευθυνούσης (θᾶττον μέν τ' ἂν πληγῆ ναι, ἢ ὀρθωθῆναι), μήτε ἵππον θερμὸν καὶ ὑπερ ήλικα χαλινοῦ τυραννίδα, δίχα τινὸς κολακείας καὶ ποππυσμάτων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δίδοται νόμος ἡμῖν εἰς βοή θειαν, οἷόν τι διατείχισμα, μέσον Θεοῦ καὶ εἰδώλων, τῶν μὲν ἀπάγων ἡμᾶς, πρὸς δὲ τὸν ἐπανάγων. Καὶ συγχωρεῖ τι μικρὸν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, ἵνα τὸ μεῖζον λάβῃ. Συγχωρεῖ τὰς θυσίας τέως, ἵν' ἐγκαταστήσῃ Θεόν· ἔπειτα, ἡνίκα καιρὸς, καταλύσῃ καὶ τὰς θυσίας, σοφῶς ὑπαλλάττων ἡμᾶς ταῖς κατὰ μικρὸν ὑφαιρέσεσι, καὶ μετάγων ἐπὶ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἤδη γεγυμνασμένους πρὸς εὐπείθειαν.

ΙΓʹ. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν καὶ διὰ ταῦτα, εἱσῆλθεν ὁ γρα πτὸς νόμος, συνάγων ἡμᾶς εἰς Χριστὸν, καὶ οὗτος τῶν θυσιῶν ὁ λόγος, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος. Ὡς ἂν δὲ τὸ τῆς σοφίας βάθος μὴ ἀγνοῇς, καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον τῶν ἀνεξιχνιάστων αὐτοῦ κριμάτων, οὐδὲ ταύτας παντε λῶς ἀνιέρους ἀφῆκεν, οὐδὲ ἀσυντελεῖς, οὐδὲ μέχρι ψιλοῦ προϊούσας τοῦ αἵματος· ἀλλὰ τὸ μέγα καὶ ἄθυτον ἱερεῖον, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ πρώτῃ φύσει,