9

Do not the prophets up and down bring these charges against them? But to those who philosophize about the things in heaven, these things are superfluous. For murderers of fathers, he says, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. Well did he say, To sound doctrine. For all those things were passions of a corrupted soul. According to the Gospel, he says, of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. So that even now the law is needed for the confirmation of the Gospel; but for those who obey, it is not needed. And he calls it the Gospel of glory, for no other reason than because of those who are ashamed of the persecutions and of the passion of Christ. For the sake of the others then and for these very reasons he has called it the Gospel of glory, showing that the passion of Christ is glory; or he also alludes to the things to come. For if the present things are full of shame and reproaches, yet the things to come are not such; for the Gospel is of things to come, not of things present. How then does the angel say, Behold, I bring you good tidings, for unto you is born a Savior? Because having been born He was about to become this; for not as soon as he was born, did he work the signs. According to the Gospel, he says, of the glory of the blessed God. —Of the glory; either he means the worship of God, or that if all present things are filled with His glory, much more the things to come; when, he says, His enemies are put under His feet; when there is nothing contrary, when the righteous see all those blessed things, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man. For I will, he says, that where I am, they may be also, that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me. Let us learn who these are, and let us bless them, considering how many good things they will then enjoy, how much glory they will share, how much light. For the glory here is both nothing and unstable; and even if it remains, it remains until the end, and then is utterly extinguished; For his glory, he says, shall not descend after him; and for many it has not remained even here until the end; but concerning that glory, it is not possible to suspect any such thing, but quite the contrary, that it remains, and will never have an end. For such are the things of God, abiding and superior to all change and end. For the glory then is not from things without, but from things within; what I mean is this: Not from costly garments, not from a multitude of servants, not from carriages does glory then come, but without these the man himself is clothed with glory. For now, if these things are absent, he will be stripped of glory, but there it is not so. At least in the baths we see honored and unhonored men naked, and we see worthless men too. At least many of those in the marketplaces have often been in danger, when their servants left them for some need; but there he has glory with him everywhere. And just as the angels, wherever they may 62.513 appear, have the glory in themselves, so also do the saints; or rather, just as the sun does not need a garment, does not need anything else, but as soon as it has appeared it has shined forth its own glory, so will it be then. 3. Let us therefore pursue that glory, than which nothing is more venerable; let us leave this one, than which nothing is more worthless. In the putting on, he says, of apparel be not proud. These things were foretold from the beginning to the babes. For both the dancer and the prostitute and the actor are dressed more elegantly and more expensively than you. And apart from these things, you boast in a thing which, should moths attack it, they have deprived you of the enjoyment. Do you see how uncertain a thing is the glory of the present life? You boast in a thing which worms produce and destroy; for they say there are certain little Indian creatures, from which these threads are made. Acquire a garment, if you wish, that is woven from above, the wonderful and splendid apparel, the raiment that is truly of gold. That gold is not from metals which the hands of convicts dug, but is born of virtue.

9

οὐχὶ ἄνω καὶ κάτω ταῦτα αὐτοῖς ἐγκαλοῦσιν οἱ προφῆται; Τοῖς δὲ τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ φιλοσοφοῦσι περιττὰ ταῦτα. Πατραλοίαις, φησὶ, καὶ μητραλοίαις, ἀνδροφόνοις, πόρνοις, ἀρσενοκοίταις, ἀνδραποδισταῖς, ψεύσταις, ἐπιόρκοις, καὶ εἴ τε ἕτερον τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ διδασκαλίᾳ ἀντίκειται. Καλῶς εἶπε, Τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ διδασκαλίᾳ. Ἐκεῖνα γὰρ πάντα πάθη ψυχῆς ἦν διεφθαρμένης. Κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, φησὶ, τῆς δόξης τοῦ μακαρίου Θεοῦ, ὃ ἐπιστεύθην ἐγώ. Ὥστε καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ βεβαιώσει τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου δεῖ νόμου· τοῖς μέντοι πειθομένοις οὐ δεῖ. Εὐαγγέλιον δὲ δόξης αὐτὸ καλεῖ, δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἀλλ' ἢ διὰ τοὺς αἰσχυνομένους ἐπὶ τοῖς διωγμοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τῶν τε οὖν ἄλλων ἕνεκεν καὶ τούτων αὐτῶν Εὐαγγέλιον δόξης εἴρηκε, δηλῶν ὅτι δόξα ἐστὶ τὸ πάθος τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἢ καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα αἰνίττεται. Εἰ γὰρ τὰ παρόντα αἰσχύνης γέμει καὶ ὀνειδῶν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέλλοντα οὐ τοιαῦτα· τὸ δὲ Εὐαγγέλιον μελλόντων ἐστὶν, οὐ παρόντων. Πῶς οὖν ὁ ἄγγελος, Ἰδοὺ εὐαγγελίζομαι ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἐτέχθη ὑμῖν Σωτήρ; Ὅτι τεχθεὶς ἔμελλε τοῦτο γίνεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ ἅμα ἐγεννήθη, εἰργάζετο τὰ σημεῖα. Κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, φησὶ, τῆς δόξης τοῦ μακαρίου Θεοῦ. -Τῆς δόξης· ἢ τὴν λατρείαν φησὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἢ ὅτι εἰ τὰ παρόντα πάντα ἐμπέπλησται τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, πολλῷ δὲ μᾶλλον τὰ μέλλοντα· ὅταν τεθῶσι, φησὶν, ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ· ὅταν ἀντικείμενον ᾖ μηδὲν, ὅταν ἴδωσιν οἱ δίκαιοι πάντα τὰ μακαριστὰ ἐκεῖνα, ἃ μήτε ὀφθαλμὸς εἶδε, μήτε οὖς ἤκουσε, μήτε ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου ἀνέβη. Θέλω γὰρ, φησὶν, ἵν' ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, καὶ οὗτοι ὦσιν, ἵνα θεωρῶσι τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐμὴν, ἣν ἔδωκάς μοι. Μάθωμεν τίνες ἄρα οὗτοί εἰσι, καὶ μακαρίσωμεν αὐτοὺς, ἐννοοῦντες ὅσων ἀπολαύσονται τότε ἀγαθῶν, ὅσης μεθέξουσι δόξης, ὅσου φωτός. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα δόξα οὐδαμινή τέ ἐστι καὶ ἄστατος· κἂν παραμείνῃ δὲ, ἕως τελευτῆς παραμένει, καὶ λοιπὸν παντελῶς σβέννυται· Οὐ γὰρ συγκαταβήσεται αὐτῷ, φησὶν, ἡ δόξα αὐτοῦ ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ· πολλοῖς δὲ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα μέχρι τέλους παρέμεινε· περὶ δὲ ἐκείνης οὐκ ἔστιν ὑποπτεῦσαί τι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον, ὅτι μένει, καὶ οὐδὲ τέλος ἕξει ποτέ. Τοιαῦτα γὰρ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, μόνιμα καὶ μεταβολῆς κρείττω πάσης καὶ τέλους. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ δόξα τότε ἐκ τῶν ἔξω, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν ἔνδον· οἷόν τι λέγω· Οὐκ ἀπὸ ἱματίων πολυτελῶν, οὐκ ἀπὸ πλήθους θεραπόντων, οὐκ ἀπὸ ὀχημάτων ἡ δόξα τότε γίνεται, ἀλλὰ τούτων χωρὶς αὐτὸς ὁ ἀνὴρ ἠμφίεσται τὴν δόξαν. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ, ἂν ταῦτα ἀπῇ, γυμνὸς τῆς δόξης ἔσται, ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως. Ἐν γοῦν βαλανείοις γυμνοὺς ὁρῶμεν ἐντίμους καὶ ἀτίμους, ὁρῶμεν δὲ καὶ φαύλους. Τῶν ἐν ἀγοραῖς πολλοὶ γοῦν πολλάκις ἐκινδύνευσαν, τῶν παίδων αὐτοὺς κατά τινα χρείαν ἀπολιπόντων· ἐκεῖ δὲ μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν δόξαν ἔχει πανταχοῦ. Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ ἄγγελοι, ὅπουπερ ἂν 62.513 φανῶσιν, ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὴν δόξαν ἔχουσιν, οὕτω καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι· μᾶλλον δὲ καθάπερ ὁ ἥλιος οὐ δεῖται ἱματίου, οὐ δεῖται ἑτέρου τινὸς, ἀλλ' ἅμα τε ἐφάνη καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δόξαν ἐξέλαμψεν, οὕτω καὶ τότε ἔσται. γʹ. Μεταδιώκωμεν τοίνυν τὴν δόξαν ἐκείνην, ἧς οὐδὲν αἰδεσιμώτερον· καταλείπωμεν ταύτην, ἧς οὐδὲν οὐδαμινώτερον. Ἐν περιβολῇ, φησὶν, ἱματίων μὴ καυχήσῃ. Ταῦτα ἄνωθεν προελέγετο τοῖς νηπίοις. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ ὀρχηστὴς καὶ ἡ πόρνη καὶ ὁ σκηνικὸς χαριέστερά σου ἠμφίεσται καὶ πολυτελέστερα. Καὶ χωρὶς δὲ τούτων, καυχᾶσαι ἐπὶ πράγματι, ᾧ ἂν ἐπίθωνται σῆτες, ἀπεστέρησάν σε τῆς ἀπολαύσεως. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἀβέβαιόν ἐστι πρᾶγμα, ἡ τοῦ παρόντος βίου δόξα; Καυχᾷ ἐπὶ πράγματι, ὃ σκώληκες τίκτουσι, καὶ ἀπολλύουσι· λέγονται γὰρ Ἰνδικά τινα ζωΰφια εἶναι, ὅθεν τὰ νήματα ταῦτα κατασκευάζεται. Κτῆσαι ἱμάτιον, εἰ βούλει, τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν ὑφαντὸν, τὴν περιβολὴν τὴν θαυμασίαν καὶ λαμπρὰν, τὸν ἱματισμὸν τὸν διάχρυσον ὄντως. Ἐκεῖνος ὁ χρυσὸς οὐκ ἀπὸ μετάλλων ἐστὶν, ἃ καταδίκων χεῖρες ὤρυξαν, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ ἀρετῆς τίκτεται.